My Journey

Despite being mostly vegetarian since the age of 12, leading a healthy lifestyle was never really something I cared about. I ate because I enjoyed food and wasn’t the most athletic of kids outside a few dance classes and mandatory sports at school. Like most girls who grew up in the 90s I struggled with weight and body issues from a very young age and spent a good chunk of my adolescence trying to lose weight. It wasn’t always easy, and looking back on it now, I really hate that I was so misinformed.

As I grew older and moved to university – my eating habits rapidly declined – as is expected. Take-outs and frozen pizzas were the norm and the only thing I could actually “cook” was pasta (in copious amounts by the way, because I could never really tell just how much was enough). Also, being a vegetarian who grew up in the Middle East I was instantly enamored with the abundance of soy imitation products available – veggie sausages and burgers galore ! UK readers - Quorn definitely made a good chunk of money off of me. Little did I know these fake meats I was consuming heavily were over-processed, sodium loaded and actually pretty high in calories. Needless to say, my weight became an issue again. I joined several gyms, flirted with low-carb diets occasionally and got moderate results, but because I never really stuck to anything my weight fluctuated regularly and I can’t say I was ever 100% happy with my appearance.

In the past year a lot changed. I moved to London for my industrial placement year and started my first real job with a large multi-national corporation. I joined a great gym and started working out regularly, and as a result I was eating better. I also started avoiding dairy, which lead me to research Veganism – enter another honeymoon phase with fake cheese/dairy products, but also started experimenting with more whole foods and vegan sources of protein.

My transformation came much later – following a trip to the US. I had resolved to eat healthier but being in the fast food nation itself for two weeks, that didn’t last long. When I got back to the UK, I vowed to get back on track. I started working out 5-6 (and sometimes 7) times a week, before and after work. From Monday morning Spinning classes to intense cardio sessions and body pump I literally did everything I could get my hands on. Food wise I stayed away from carbs and loaded up on leafy green salads, beans and legumes. I also started cutting out processed foods which I slowly began to realize were loaded with horrible things like HFCS – bye bye veggie burgers! Embarking on this new way of eating required a lot of research – I was constantly looking up new recipes and along the way came across an entire network of food bloggers who advocated clean eating, organic whole foods and plant-based nutrition – I was so in awe and intrigued by all the new things I was learning! I switched my soymilk for home-made almond milk, cooking spray for coconut oil, and started putting spinach in my morning smoothies (my roommates thought I was nuts).

Somewhere along the way, despite the fact that I was consuming more healthy and nutritionally dense foods than ever before, my relationship with eating and exercise became unhealthy. Calorie counting drove me insane and started ruling my life. Everything became a calculated equation – I planned my meals, snacks and workouts to a T and didn’t allow much time for anything else besides work. I denied it at the time because I thought I had become so well informed on nutrition that there was no way I could be harming myself, but I had slowly worked myself into a form of disordered eating. I think I knew things weren’t right – I felt exhausted all the time from working out so much and was generally unhappy, I never stopped thinking about food – and not in the good way. I’d become obsessive but there was no way I was going to stop, the weight was finally coming off and everyone was noticing – friends, work colleagues and even the personal trainers at the gym. I thought if I was finally getting the results I wanted it was worth being temporarily unhappy.

Salvation came through raw foods. I came across Gena’s blog and was instantly intrigued. A way of eating that entailed eating only raw and living foods for optimum nutrition and health benefits. The claims associated with raw food are endless, better skin, improved digestion, natural detoxification. And best of all the raw food diet is not a restrictive one – NO CALORIE COUNTING! I knew it wouldn’t be hard for me as I was pretty much already eating a high raw vegan diet so I decided to try it for myself and started a 30-day challenge. The first thing I did was delete the silly little calorie and fitness tracking app from my iPhone that I had slowly grown to hate with every fiber of my being. I joined websites, bought recipe books and started experimenting with raw nuts and pastes, sprouts, as well as raw desserts. I even bought a juicer and started juicing every day. I just loved the idea of knowing that everything I was putting into my body was nourishing me to the fullest. I also loved that I could eat 2-3 bananas a day and not worry about whether it was too many calories. I had amazing skin, better moods, and more energy than before. Things were looking up.

My Food Philosophy – Today

Raw foods are great, and I’m so thankful I discovered them because it made me see how restrictive my previous way of eating and exercise was. I think there is much to be gained from incorporating more raw foods into one’s diet, but I don’t believe in being 100% raw – partly because I could never give up hummus – but mainly because I believe there is a wide array of nutrients that can be gained from cooked foods too. Also, to say it was seriously impractical is an understatement. Now I eat for nutrition and do NOT believe in calorie counting. It can be a useful tool for those trying to lose and especially for those trying to gain weight, but it’s a slippery slope and can do more damage than good if not used properly. I personally don’t recommend it.

What I eat

A lot of people are intrigued when I share my new lifestyle with them, and the general reaction I get is “Okay well, you don’t eat dairy, you don’t eat meat, you don’t have processed foods or sugar – what do you eat?” My diet consists of a wide array of cooked and raw fruits and vegetables. Generally speaking I don’t think I’ve ever met a fruit or vegetable I didn’t like (with the exception of Guavas – gross!). I also incorporate a lot of whole grains and seeds (buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth), beans, legumes and raw nuts. I occasionally dabble with “superfoods” like Chia seeds and spirulina powder, but that’s mainly out of curiosity – I don’t believe superfoods are necessary to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet – vegan or otherwise. I stay away from all processed foods and try to eat as fresh and organic/local as possible.

Some favourites/typical eats include:

• Green smoothies

• 

  pineapple-grape-spinach-kale deliciousness

• Hummus/chickpea anything
• 

  Italian inspired chickpea spinach "curry"

  
  

• Dates (in all shapes and forms)
• 
  
• Chia pudding
  

  Mango Banana Chia pudding

  DIY Breakfast Cereal/Oats

  

  Cinnamon Almond Milk Oats

  Fresh Vegetable Juice

  

  Beet, celery, carrot and apple juice - one of my favourite combos!

  Exercise

  Post my obsessive gym phase, I still exercise very regularly. I aim for about 4-5 times a week, but I don’t freak out if I miss a workout, nor do I over exert myself. If my body’s not feeling up to it, I’ll give myself a rest day – guilt free. Now I work out because I genuinely enjoy staying active, (what they say about post workout endorphins is true!), and in order to maintain a healthy body image. After I stopped going to the gym, I discovered that I actually really enjoy running and I’ve also recently got into HIIT courtesy of Bodyrock.tv, so these days my workouts are a mix of cardio, strength training and HIIT. I also enjoy spinning, yoga, and swimming when I’m home for the summer and have regular access to a pool.

  Why Blog?

  I’ve been meaning to start this blog for a while, but I was too scared to up until now. It’s taken a lot of courage for me to share all of this, but it was something I needed to do for myself. Those who know me know that I don’t take criticism very well, and  that I hate admitting when I’m wrong. When friends approached me in concern over my rapid weight loss I was upset and offended at the insinuations. I was also in denial, and I can see that clearly now.  Although I didn’t exactly overcome a serious eating disorder, I still feel as though I struggled with a lot during the past 6 months, and this is my way of coming to terms with it. Writing is a outlet for me and always has been. I’m far more articulate on paper than I could ever be in person.

  My journey towards optimum health is only just beginning, and I’m still learning things every day. I hope to study nutrition some day and possibly pursue it as a career, but for the time being I’m going to focus on finishing up my Bachelor degree and living my life to the absolute fullest in all respects – no restrictions.