Looking after yourself in challenging times...

  I made Sarah Brittons Life Changing Bread again recently.   This photo is my version. Sarah's photo and fab recipe are here....   I love it. It's gluten free, super healthy and I adore it with Macadamia Paste, which is like Peanut Butter only a zillion times better.   Strangely, this bread really does change my life every time I make it.   I love it and it's earthy flavours and texture so much, that I always feel motivated to extend the healthy living to other areas of my life.   It's heading towards Winter here, so some lifestyle compromises are necessary to avoid a scary situation after several months of hiding beneath Winter woollies.   Skin needs regular de-flaking due to the hazards of in home heating, and out of home winds, facial products need a review, and mind, body and soul are in need of maintenance due to Covid-19 restrictions.   Time for self-maintenance for a minute.   I started a week ago, first signing up for the free 7 day trial of My Fitness Pal. I'm finding it a great tool, and have happily paid for a 12 month premium subscription.   The first feature and the one I find most motivating, is the one where, once your daily food and exercise diary entry is completed, you get a prediction of what you would weigh in one month if 'every day was like today'. So a bad day yields either zero progress or a weight gain (heaven forbid!), and a good day, gives a realistic prediction for your weight loss. This really keeps me on track.   The second and a real eye-opener, was that it told me I wasn't eating enough. Yes, true. I was eating less, forcing my metabolism to slow down. Eating more (of the right things), has helped me shift some of this stubborn mid-life weight!   The third, and a really useful time saver, is that you can copy and paste the URL of any recipe on the web, into the app, and it automatically logs the meal, including kilojoules and nutritional value, into your diary.   No, My Fitness Pal are not paying me. I've just used a few of these apps, and this is the one I've personally found most useful.   So, with healthy habits and a long life expectancy as my ongoing goal,  here is my morning, 6 days a week. I give myself Sundays off:   Get up when the alarm goes off at 6am. Do not grumble..much. Have a quick shower, and dress as I normally do, in a pretty dress and cardigan. I don't see the point of 'active wear'. It depresses me. I don't sweat when I walk, so why dress in something as unflattering as active wear? Nearly give up the whole idea because I hate exercising before breakfast. Resolve to keep going now that I'm up. Drink a large glass of water. Eye off the teapot lasciviously. Eat my customary single slice of Life Changing Bread with Macadamia spread. Squint at the sun as I exit the front door. Walk briskly, swinging my arms. Stop that after ten minutes because it makes my dodgy shoulder hurt. Continue walking at a leisurely pace for 50 minutes, always surprised when I reach the front gate, because I've been off in La-La land the whole time, planning a trip to Iceland in my head. Check my phone for step counts. Note that I've only done 4,756. Walk up the hill near home and back to generate my current step goal of 5,000.   Now the bit I really like.   Once  a week, usually on the weekend, I indulge myself a little further in a DIY Korean bathing experience. This results in the silkiest, smoothest skin ever.   Get started by putting the plug in the bathtub, but don't turn the shower on, or get wet just yet.   Stand in the tub and scrub all over with DIY glycerine and raw sugar scrub, scented with Sandalwood. Glycerine and sugar make the best ever spa style body scrub. It actually sticks to you, instead of just falling off like the oil-sugar combination.You can find Glycerine in little bottles in the Medicinal aisle of your supermarket and it's under $5. I scent mine with different essential oils depending on how I feel. West Indian Lime and Sandalwood are favourites as is Jasmine Absolute or Frangipani Absolute. The 'abolutes' are a little more expensive, but totally worth it and still less expensive than a trip to a Day Spa.   To make sugar scrub, just put a few tablespoons of raw sugar in a jar or bowl, and add enough Glycerine to make it moist enough to clump together like soil.   

    Turn on the shower now, and allow the tub to start filling (assuming you have one, if not, ignore this bit). Wash hair with moisturising shampoo. Condition hair with moisturising conditioner. Next shopping trip, I'm trying that Clairol Herbal Essences Coconut one just because I love the scent of it. Sit in the tub with the conditioner in hair. The tub should have a couple of inches worth of water in it by now, so soak feet and toes, and use the last of the body scrub to give self a mini pedicure. Rub the very last crumbs of the scrub into hands and nails, pushing cuticles back as you go. Cuticles will be really soft and easy to groom, due to all the lovely oil and warm water.  

    Cleanse your face with home made Goats Milk soap for more sublime moisturising, or use your favourite cleanser. At this point, on alternate weekends, slather face in a treatment mask, whether it be a bought one, or a pantry one of Oatmeal and yoghurt, or White Clay and Vanilla Soy Milk, and just soak for a little while. Stand up in the tub again, and use a Korean Scrubbing mitt, to exfoliate a second time. Don't be tame. Really give the skin a good going over. By this time, the mask has worked it's magic, so rinse that off, and rinse the conditioner from nicely scented hair.   Get out of shower/tub, towel off, slather yourself in moisturiser, and get dressed. Smooth hair with smoothing balm, and allow it to dry naturally.   Brush teeth to the count of 120 with Colgate Optic White toothpaste. This is one of the few commercial products I've bought that really lives up to it's reputation. Awesome stuff. Yes, I could add Hydrogen Peroxide to Baking Soda and brush with that, but come on. The penny pinching has to stop somewhere.   Enjoy a breakfast as recommended by My Fitness Pal, of another slice of Life Changing Bread, a boiled egg, a piece of fruit, 5 almonds, and a tea or coffee.   Do it all again next week.   You can buy the Korean Scrubbing Mitts inexpensively on eBay, or you can buy Korean Scrubby yarn and knit or crochet one yourself. As a bonus, you can also use this to knit pot scrubbers...lol. Truth!   A truly invigorating experience, guaranteed to leave you bright eyed and bushy-tailed.   ...Mimi...