I treated myself to an afternoon bath just now, as Aaron is next to Daddy having an afternoon nap (still asleep now).
I went to my 2 bookcases to choose a book for the bath and felt myself drawn to Spent? I got it (full RRP) at a book-signing event years ago, and have never adopted the recommendations it makes, even though so much of it fits with my core beliefs (i.e. anti aspartame, anti sugar, pro vitality etc...).
Anyway I just read the 1st two chapters in the bath and ladies, if we did half of what this book suggests, we'd have so much energy and the weight would fall off.
The 1st task is cutting out sugar. I personally did that in 2001 and lost 3 stone, I went from a size 16 to a size 12. My boss at the time couldn't understand it, as she still saw me eating McDonalds for lunch etc... but I kept telling her, I have CUT OUT SUGAR and felt loads, loads, loads better. I started drinking water instead of fizzy drinks, nuts instead of chocolate etc... etc... I know it works.
Anyway back to the book.
On page 5 he has a questionnaire to check if you are Spent? I take the liberty to reproduce it here:
- Do you wake up in the morning and not feel refreshed?
Do you feel unusually tired most of the time?
Do you need coffee, soda, or sugary snacks to get going and keep going?
Although you feel physically exhausted does your mind continue to race?
Do you feel as if you are aging too quickly?
Do you have gas, bloating, constipation, and/or indigestion?
Is it a struggle to lose wight in spite of dieting and exercise?
Do you have achy muscles and/or joints or tension in your body - particularly your neck and shoulders?
Do you have a diminished sex drive?
Do you often feel depressed or have trouble concentrating and focusing and remembering things?
Have you found that little or nothing seems to rejuvenate you?
Do you lack motivation to accomplish even small tasks?
Do you find that you get sick more frequently and that it takes longer to recover.
I won't tell you which one I said HELL YES to but I say yes to every single one - do you?
The great thing with this chap, is that he is a fully qualified medical Doctor and has studied Chinese Medicine, so he takes the best from all walks of life and sees the body in its entirety.
I am going to re-read the book and this time practice what it preaches.
He splits the book into weeks and splits those into do-able tasks called "Daily Beats".
The first one is "Create a Sweeter Life" and is about cutting out sugar. He makes really good suggestions as to what to replace it with.
I will certainly be giving it a go once I buy the ingredients he suggests for smoothies.
I leave you with a Daily Mail tongue in cheek review of the book - she doesn't get passed chapter 1 but it makes interesting reading nonetheless - such an awful shame she did not give it a try, but then my book has been languishing on my bookcase for the last few years - I wish he'd dated it when he'd signed it, then I'd know how long.....
Bye for now, Liska xxx
