Day One

So I managed to complete my first day sugar free. Good God it was really quite tricky. I knew I had a love for the sweet stuff but it was only yesterday that I appreciated how big a love this was. As  I closed my eyes to go to sleep all I could see was a plethora of chocolate bars whilst craving the sweet taste of a date stuffed with almond butter...

I was quite moody, felt a little weak, had a headache and was hungry all day. I know I hadn't eaten enough which I think could have contributed. I'll be honest though, I don't really know what I should be eating! I'm worried about everything I put into my mouth and I'm finding the whole thing really rather all consuming at the moment. We've not got our own kitchen yet, it's my mum's birthday this weekend and we're eating out tonight. It's not the best week to start doing something like this but I don't believe that's not a reason not to do it. Sarah Wilson says to ease yourself in for the first week so I'm hoping if there is a little slip up, it won't put me on too much of a back foot.

I had always thought I had eaten very healthily; fruit, homemade granola, dates, smoothies...In essence, everything that contained rather large amounts of sugar. It was only yesterday that I really appreciated this and will admit began to doubt whether I would be able to continue this experiment (after just one day!) It's the fact that I genuinely love all of the above as well as the odd cake and biscuit treat and I do believe that life is for enjoying and these little treats along with cocktails and wine are something I thoroughly enjoy with friends and family. Do I really want to give up something I enjoy?

I've come to the conclusion today that yes, yes I do. At least for these next 8 weeks. I think I just need to get my head around it and am going to use this week particularly for doing that, trying to understand what I can and can't eat, how much of things I should be eating (I'm overloading on almonds at the moment which I know cannot be good!) and gradually settling into this new way of thinking and enjoying. If I make a mistake this week I'm not going to worry, by next week I'll have a better understanding and IQS 8 week program book only really hits the hard stuff in week 3 so I've got some time to get used to it.

If there is any advice out there on how to stave off the hunger send it my way!

Lizzie x

Jumping on a bandwagon

Since the 18th of December last year life has been somewhat of a whirlwind. It was on this day we found out the startup my husband co-founded had been accepted onto a program in China for 4 months. At the time I was working for myself (on the cookies) and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to jump on board and for us both to head out on a little adventure to the Far East.

Since then life hasn't slowed down and we've basically been living out of a suitcase. It's been and continues to be an amazing adventure but it is exhausting. We're renting our flat out in Cambridge and have now moved to London. However since returning in mid May we haven't had anywhere to call home. We've stayed at the in-laws, in hotels and now in house share air bnb's. Everyone has been amazing but there's nothing quite like your own space. This continued living out of a suitcase has presented me with a sense of complete and utter loss of control (and mind on more than one occasion!). We've had an offer accepted on a flat down in London now and should hopefully be moving in two weeks...

This loss of control, lack of routine, constantly eating out etc hasn't left me in the best state mentally or physically and I want to fix it. I've been dabbling with the idea of completely overhauling my diet for a while and have decided today that I'm going to jump on the old quitting sugar bandwagon. Or at least experiment with it for the next 8 weeks.

Every single tooth in my mouth is a sweet one and although I don't have a daily chocolate/cake/donut habit, I do enjoy all of the above and I absolutely adore fruit - the sweeter the better as well as dates and all of the other yummy 'healthy' foods I have discovered today contain hideous amounts of fructose which is the bad stuff. It's always been sweet over savoury. Always. Now however I'm going to try and change this.

I won't lie, I'm a little bit scared and keep thinking of reasons not to do it - we don't have a place to cook in yet, I'm meeting up with friends for dinner next week and so on. But not doing it now is only going to prolong the receiving of the hopefully beneficial effects...

I made the first step at lunch time and went out and bought the I Quit Sugar 8 week program book. I'm going to start in earnest tomorrow and see how it goes. I know I'm going to find it hard and I know I will have wobbles but I feel there could be more to gain than not.

I want to make sure I'm doing it right though so if you have any hints and tips on what not to do/eat etc please send them my way! Particularly for when eating out and when the sweet cravings hit!

Day one starts tomorrow!

Lizzie x

The return to the kitchen

So, five months ago we moved to China to work on a startup. It was great, it was intense, it was an experience. I've now entered the tech world, something I have never been a part of or in all honesty taken a particular interest in prior to this. Now however, it has become my life. Anyone who has been part of a startup of any kind will understand how much of your life and time becomes immersed in this exciting but frankly quite strange world. All of a sudden the talk of VC's, seed rounds, the valley, viral content, traction, internet of things, API, early adopters and this elusive cloud are part of everyday conversations surrounding me; a couple even managing to sneak into my own speak. This now means for the time being, the kitchen is no longer my work place so this blog has become my escape from the maddening world of open source, components, growth hacking and 'ninjas' in varying fields of engineering.

China really was a great experience, their food and eating culture is so different to what we were used to here in England which was wonderful to be able to experience. Steamed buns, kumquat lemon teas, pak choi, noodles, rice and of course the odd eye ball and chickens foot (neither of which I could bring myself to indulge in. That was more Rich's territory). A downside to our life out there though was the lack of a working kitchen. This meant four months of no cooking and no baking. This was actually one of the parts we found most difficult. So today, as it was a bank holiday and a week since arriving back on home turf I had my first bake in 5 months. It was simple but truly scrumptious.

Enjoy these with a simple breakfast tea and your favourite book :)

Raisin and oat cookies

Ingredients:

200g plain wholemeal flour
100g rolled oats
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp corn flour (starch)
170g butter
150g brown sugar
100g golden granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2sp vanilla

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C

2. Brown the butter by melting it in a pan and stirring on a medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. It will start to froth on the top and develop a caramel colour and smell, then leave it to cool. This process gives the cookies a scrummy, deep, caramel like flavour.

3. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

4. Once the butter has cooled, mix in the sugars, egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

5. .Stir in the dry ingredients and add a couple of handfuls of raisins. You could also throw in some figs, dates or prunes if you would prefer.

6. Pull all the dough together and flatten slightly into a disk. Wrap the disk in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight. This helps the flavours intensify but if you're in a rush it can be skipped.

7. Once the dough is out of the fridge, leave to warm up slightly then roll into balls, flatten only very slightly with a couple of fingers and pop on your baking tray.

8. Put them in the oven and leave for 12 minutes.

What have you done with your bank holiday? Any lovely kitchen antics?

Lizzie x