My Experience | Raw Till 4 Week One

So much food inspo right? I've you've been keeping up with my instagram (@steph_nourishmindandbody) over the past few weeks, you will have noticed that I attempted and succeeded in doing raw till 4 for a fortnight. If you haven't heard of raw till 4, it's a lifestyle by which you only eat raw vegan foods until 4pm, usually in the form of mono meals (i.e. six mangoes, an entire melon, 8 peaches, etc.). Then in the evening you carb up and continue to avoid processed foods. Again, mono meals can be used here. The most popular dinner mono meal is a massive bowl of potatoes - and believe me, after a day of only eating raw fruits and vegetables, this is definitely an appealing choice!

The first few days for me were the best, and I think I might do it for three days once a month from now on to reset my system. I started raw till 4 a week before my first final exam, and it completely cleared the general sleepy fuzziness in my head up. I felt completely energised and as if I could take on the world.

However, since trying raw till 4, I've realised it is not the best idea for me. By time 4pm rolled around I had spent so long fantasising about cooked food all day that I ended up craving takeaways and ready meals - not something I want to eat on a regular basis. Plus, after a few days I felt as though I was really lacking in energy by time it got to about half four, and felt too lethargic to cook anything decent for myself. SO, I've taken on board what I've learnt and switched things around a little in an attempt to detox: I make a massive smoothie in the morning, and save half for dinner. I have my main meal at lunch time, which keeps me energised all afternoon!

Have you tried raw till 4? What did you think?

Love and Light

Steph

Strawberry and Basil Summer Smoothie

Smoothies are my go-to breakfast, and unless I've only got five minutes to spare for breakfast this is what I have every day. With the sudden spike in temperature in the UK, I wanted to create a new recipe that would make me think of sunshine before commencing my uni work for the day. So, here we go. Plus it's a completely cruelty-free way to boost your immune system. 

Ingredients:

1 banana

2 apples

1 pear

A handful of spinach

3 strawberries

2 basil leaves

150ml rice/almond/soya milk

1.) Chop all of the fruit up and peel the apples.

2.) Place in a blender with the rest of the ingredients.

3.) Blend and you're done!

Love and Light

Steph

Back to Basics | Days 6 & 7: Ending the Week

The last few days were all about making yummy food that was still clean, as well as upping my green tea intake and remembering to take all my supplements for the first time in months. I've now made it so that I've got a little tupperware pot on the side in our kitchen next to the kettle, which has a range of three or four different healthy teas (green, strawberry green, detox, lemon and ginger etc) in it as well as my supplements to remind myself to have both with meals.

After my mammoth gym session on Day Five I was struggling with post leg day and post post leg day pain - my bed = life saving. So, Sunday morning I sorted out a bit of a mood dip with my vegan, clean pancakes, which are divine when topped with a bit of fresh lemon juice and cooked in coconut oil. I'm not the greatest coconut fan, but this really adds something to the flavour of the pancakes.

Overall my detox helped me to remind myself of where I came from on this journey, and start to remember that I can eat clean and still enjoy myself. Plus the bloating I'd gained from eating dairy products - not brilliant when you're intolerant to lactose - as a means to avoid essay stress the week before.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Love and Light

Steph 

Back to Basics | Day Five

Yes, there was no Day Four post. I fell off of my detox bandwagon a bit and wanted to secure today's health before writing a blog post. Today was really a day for hitting things hard and boy am I exhausted. Currently fighting the urge to write this in a foetal position under my favourite fleece blanket is a challenge.

I am loving how vibrant my fruit bowls are at the moment. I have a major sweet tooth, so fruit really helps me manage to stay off of the artificial sugars and forms a fairly large part of my diet. I have at least three portions of it in my morning smoothie and will most days have a fruit bowl like the one above.

Finally, I hit the gym for probably the longest time ever today. Let's pray that I don't have to walk anywhere tomorrow. The fact that the only bathrooms in my student house are upstairs is probably going to result in me crawling around pathetically. Anyway, the second picture is a couple of gym essentials for me: my water, shower gel & body spray and spare socks (hey, no one wants to be re-using after a hard workout am I right?!).

Love and Light

Steph