Clean and Lean living

Following on from my 48 hours of David Kirsch's pink lemonade-hell, I’ve been loosely following James Duigan’s popular book Clean and Lean. The argument is fairly simple: stick to raw, organic and unprocessed foods wherever possible. Rather than cut out sugar, fat and carbs altogether it’s all about knowing the right types i.e. natural sugars from fruit will sustain energy levels, fats from avocados, nuts and oily fish will provide the body with nutrients and get burned off easily, the same goes for complex carbs (again fruit, seeds, oats, wholegrain bread). Synthetic ‘toxic’ foods can’t be processed by the body -  such as saturated fat, chemicals and refined sugar (any junk food, white bread, chocolate – you get the idea) so they will get stored as fat, not to mention zap your energy and increase your stress levels.

Typical brekkie - eggs & avocados

The main point James wants to hammer home is avoid sugar where you can, which I totally agree with (see my previous post on how sugar ruins your skin. The Guardian also ran an interesting article about how it is as arguably as toxic as cigarettes or cocaine). He argues it’s primarily what makes you fat, not fatty foods  - it toxifies your body, messes up your energy levels and gives you hunger pangs which is why you’re inclined to ‘grazing’ come 4pm. As well as cutting down on sugar, I’ve cut out wheat as well as per the book’s advice, as again it leaves me feeling sluggish – a sign that I’m probably intolerant to it – as many people are. Instead mid-morning and afternoon snacks consist of nuts and fruit. I can’t stick to all of it: only one ‘cheat meal’ a week, no alcohol (!!), cutting down on caffeine, cutting out processed foods altogether proved more than  a little tricky) but I am eating a lot more avocados and making breakfast more of a meal - which the book also advises.

M&S Nutty Super Wholefood Salad with chicken (lunch of the gods ...) 

So rather than a croissant grabbed from Pret on the hoof, it’s gluten-free toast with some avocado on top – and unusually for me, I’m not scratching at the door come lunch time. And for lunch I’ve swapped my carb-laden sandwich for an M&S Nutty Super Wholefood Salad (nuts, quinoa, broccoli, green beans, almonds and pistachios). While for tea it’s homemade guacamole (gotta love those avocados) some chicken or salmon, houmous and salad. I still eat out a few times a week, so my once-weekly ‘cheat meal’ turns into ‘thrice-weekly’ – still not sure how to get around that one. But hopefully it’s balanced out by the other stuff.  I’ve definitely noticed a difference already, people have remarked I ‘look well’ and have ‘lost weight’. As a diehard carb-lover and the world's least successful dieter, I may not be the perfect ‘Clean and Lean’ candidate, but I’m getting there - one avocado at a time.

The Late-20s Energy Dip - How Pink Lemonade Can Help

The worst thing about this getting older malarkey (aside from the frown lines and the 'do you think you'll ever get married?' questions from well-meaning relatives) has to be the massive dip in energy. I'm really not sure why I still feel tired after a decent night's sleep and a relatively stress-free day at work. Plus feeling exhausted at the end of the week means I haven’t had a ‘late one’ on a Friday night for as long as I can remember. (To quote Chandler from Friends: “I’m 29 years old dammit. And I want to sit in a comfortable chair, and watch television, and go to sleep at a reasonable hour.”)

Hence aside from cutting back on caffeine, I’ve realised the key to all this is what I'm eating. So I've decided to embark on a diet-overhaul. Not to resemble a stick insect (which, after nearly 20 years of failed diet attempts, I have finally accepted will never happen) but more to avoid falling asleep at my desk. So I’ve sought help from two chaps: David Kirsch and James Duigan; the former has created a 48-hour cleanse which I did a few weeks back, while the latter is the author of the famous Clean & Lean book which is now my food bible (more on this in my next post).

I’d wanted to try the David Kirsch 48 HR Super Charged Cleanse for a while. Its basic premise is that you drink this ‘nutrient-rich’ food supplement in the form of a ‘pink lemonade’, which to quote the Space NK website blurb is full of “colon, liver and kidney cleansing antioxidants, such as acai berry, milk thistle and cranberry extract. It also features added fibre and energy-boosting vitamin B12.” Hence I toddled down to Space NK to try it for myself, the kindly shop assistants warning me that it’s “not easy.” They weren’t kidding.

The idea is you drink this bland-tasting lemonade (which contains no added sugar) over the course of two days. I’d advise you do this over a weekend and cancel any plans you might have, as you will be KNACKERED. Not to mention the headaches from the sugar and caffeine withdrawal.

Literally the day after the cleanse, a colleague told me how well I was looking. I also noticed I was less tired and irritable (probably tied up with feeling a little smug at having got through it). It also gave me the motivation I needed to eat healthily the following week, lest my two days of semi-starvation were in vain. Having craved food in any shape or form for two days, I found I was taking the time to appreciate each meal. And tucking into healthy food with relish – rather than resort to bread, KitKats and bags of Doritos after a stressful day.

My verdict - it’s not for everyone and shouldn’t be done more than a few times a year, but it’s a good (albeit hardcore) way to kick-start a healthy eating plan. If you’re looking for other ways to boost your energy levels, I’ve also heard great things about David Kirsch’s Super Charged Greens – especially for when you’re travelling on long-haul flights.

'Sh*t - I'm nearly 30' Skincare Wisdom ... (Part 1)

When you get past the 25 mark, your face starts to look a little ... different. Lines start to appear on your forehead that weren't previously there. A night on the town is like an anti-facial, you wake the next morning and look like you've been hit with a shovel. Pores get larger and more obvious - cue a whole host of blackheads swarming in like the plague. Eyelids get slightly baggier, dark circles more pronounced ... you get the picture.

I've started looking at girls in their early 20s and marvelling at their gorgeous, peachy skin (I missed most of the dialogue of Silver Linings Playbook - so entranced was I with Jennifer Lawrence's porcelain complexion, damn her). Then there's sales assistant Corina who works in Rachel Vosper's beautiful candle emporium in Belgravia  - which I was lucky enough to visit yesterday - who has the kind of flawless skin you only see in magazines. (I kept talking to her just to gaze and gaze ...)

Yes it's all very well for me to sit here at say how I'm glad to be out of my 20s (more life skills, less naive, better pay cheque yada yada yada) and I certainly am. But the one thing those girls in their early 20s have over us is bloody brilliant skin - effortlessly brilliant I might add. Seriously - at 21, once those teenage hormones have calmed down, I was left with the best skin of my life (sigh!).

My skin isn't looking too bad these days but I have to work at it a little more (with the addition of a flattering Instagram filter). And I imagine, in ten years' time, I'll have to work even harder. So what have I done?

Water = good; sugar = bad
The most important thing you need to know? Your skin loves water and hates sugar. So you best start chugging that H20 (sorry, in the middle of a Breaking Bad marathon ...) like a bloody pilgrim in the desert. Have a hot water with lemon in the morning and eight glasses for the rest of the day after that. It flushes out those toxins and keeps skin plump and hydrated. I've also cut out sugar wherever possible (it's a long story, but trust me - it's your skin's arch-enemy and will give you spots and wrinkles. ELLE wrote a good piece on it recently here).

Facial Massage 
I've been massaging my mush day and night to boost circulation, firm up the jaw line and prevent dreaded 'Churchill Dog' jowls (oh, no no no no....) I'm a big fan of SUQQU's Gankin Massage - and you can follow these handy instructions to learn how to do it. Another technique I'm fond of is to get your index fingers under one cheekbone and rotate them around each other (as if you were motioning to someone to 'wind it up'). It's also super de-stressing, which brings me onto ...

Stop Whining and GO TO SLEEP
Few things (aside from UV exposure) pile on the years as much as stress does. Aside from causing tension and frown-lines, it's all down to telomeres - found on the end of our chromosomes - which are responsible for cells (e.g. skin cells) reproducing healthily. These deplete with stress - which means our skin will look the worse for it. Some good de-stressing techniques I've found so far include yoga, decluttering, running, positive thinking, cutting 'toxic' people out of your life (think I might have to dedicate a whole separate post to this one later on). And of course getting a decent eight hours' sleep speaks for itself - nothing makes your skin less hydrated and more spotty than a bad night's kip. (Calling all insomniacs - a great book I've come across recently is called The Sleep Book - which tells you everything you need to know about getting some shut eye).

Hope this advice proves useful - more to come ...