Rainy days invite indoor play

As a self-confessed fair-weather walker, I’ve cancelled today’s walk, in favour of all things indoors. As my regular massage lady is currently out of massaging-action, I’ll be sampling a local Thai massage. I’ll report back but I’m hoping for an enjoyable experience.  

This relentless rain has redirected my focus to inside matters; inside me or inside elsewhere. There are so many things I don’t want to be doing when the sun is shining so I’m keen to utilise the day. Part of this involves an article I read recently about the latest research on aiming to eat 30 different plant-based foods per week. There has been so much recent research surrounding gut bacteria and the impact on the mind/body. As a perimenopausal women, my moods have often been at the mercy of my fluctuating hormones. (Thank God for HRT to settle this). This can be further aggravated by drops in blood sugars or the inhalation of high sugar, highly processed, low nutritional content foods. The old adage,’ we are what we eat’ is true. Not just that if we overeat rubbish and under move, we will become larger in body. But also, the quality or lack thereof of food going into our guts, can also have a detrimental effect on mood. I’ve always been prone to becoming ‘hangry’ if I go too long without eating. My moods can also suffer if I don’t put enough quality grub in my body. As the owner of a very sensitive system, I must be very careful about what I put in it to maintain optimum health.

Fortunately, as a lover of food/baking/new recipe creating, I am naturally fascinated by food. Not only am I interested in the impact on physical health but also on mental and emotional health. I’m naturally drawn to the Mediterranean diet in that I love fresh fruit and veg, poultry, fish, nuts and seeds. The article I read recently flagged up thirty food groups required to cultivate a healthy gut. Not just in size but the makeup of bacteria. I can’t pretend to understand the science of this as I don’t appear to have a science chip in my brain. At GCSE I only took biology which I got an F for! (the other 9 were C and above in case you’re wondering!). However, what I do understand about gut bacteria/grub partnership is similar to what I understand about cars ie primarily what colour they are. With grub, it is apparently good to aim for as many different colours in your diet as possible.  Whereas I’ve learned too late that white is not a forgiving colour for a car.

At first glance this goal of thirty foods may seem intimidating. However, I was encouraged to discover that even coffee, that great firer up of my system of a morning, counts as one of these. Result. Ditto green or black tea which I’ve broken through my resistance to upon hearing the lack of caffeine equates to fewer trips to the loo. Win, win right? As for the rest of these thirty foods, it’s basically fresh is best. And variety really is the spice of life as herbs and spices count too.

As with everything else in life there is no point in finding this interesting if I don’t put it into practice. I have discovered that I can achieve this with a bit of creativity and a lot of planning, organising, and preparing. I know myself well enough to know I’m unlikely to cook anything healthy after work. Instead, I’d grab rubbish, therefore I am a committed batch baker of soups, salads, curries, or chillies. And cake, because I still believe in all things in moderation. (I don’t always practice the moderation part in this respect)

This aiming to achieve thirty foods malarkey can be do-able. Here is an example of my start to today:

• 2 small cups of freshly ground filter coffee – after a glass of water to wash down the vits and mins – apparently we need daily vit d supplements even on those days when the sun does shine            1
• Bowl of frozen mixed berries (defrosted!), full fat Greek yoghurt, sprinkling of flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and oats                          4

That’s 5 before adding a mid-morning snack of almonds to make it six!

Playing around with how to get these different foods into the weekly scoff fests can be fun. And a constructive use of wet days like today. I can focus on finding, planning, and prepping interesting new recipes as a way of looking after my body/mind and the connection between them.

We really are what we eat.

And if we eat bland, boring, colourless, highly processed rubbish, our body’s and minds will pay the price in size, energy and, or moods.