Natalie Thinks

I am the dirty sock picker-up, the bottle washer, the taker of stones out of pockets, the kisser-better of sores. I am the lunch-box packer and the supper-server and the complaint-bearer; the driver-back of forgotten things. I am the tidier of cupboards and toys and dirty dishes. I am the homework-helper. I am the arbitrator, judge and jury of quarrels. I am the motivator after life's blows. I am the listener, the teacher, the shouter. I am tired. I am tireless. I am mother. Natalie Simmons 2010

This past Sunday I visited a new church. Again. This would be the 6 th church in as many years.  And I had practically given up hope of finding meaningful fellowship.  But this Sunday was a profound experience.  I was moved to the verge of tears throughout the service.  And I enjoyed being there.  And I didn’t feel critical or guilty or angry or annoyed once.  I don’t know when last I was in a church where I actually felt like singing or being there or actually looked forward to going again the next week. Here are some of the things that made it such an enjoyable and meaningful experience for me. 1.        When we arrived 10 minutes early for the service there was almost no-one there.  When I questioned the pastor, he said, “It is happening, everyone just comes late.” Why does this comfort me so? Perhaps because it acknowledges our human-ness.   Perhaps because when we arrived late at another church; ...

Did anyone notice that the 21 day NO Bread, NO Sugar deadline came and went?  Umm not me. In the spirit of honest blogging let me share that around day 17 I was again battling with constipation .  So shortly after reporting that I had lost 2 kg, I apparently put about 1,5 back on.  It seems ironic considering many people feel that wheat ‘blocks up’ their tummies, but clearly I just wasn’t getting in enough roughage so I reverted to my wheat bran rusks for breakfast. And that’s where it all started going wrong, because once the door was open I thought, “Mmm, I have been avoiding potatoes but technically they’re allowed…” so Friday night I had a bag of potato chips.  Then I thought I’d take the weekend off and sample all the things I’d been stashing in the cupboard.  Like: my friend’s homemade fudge, those chocolate biscuits that were on sale (disappointing), my multi-grain bread (stomach still not working at this stage), a glass of mango juice – for...

Some of you may think I am not taking this seriously enough or with an open heart, but I am, I am!  I am being very good about sticking closely to the challenge and have only cheated properly once when I had 2 slices of pizza.  I hasten to add that this was not succumbing to a craving but sheer tiredness on my part to cook anything else and the pizza was there for the 6 teenage boys! So today I will share some of the positives I have gleaned so far. 1.       What they say about cravings is absolutely true.  They do dissipate completely!  As per banting-lore the fats seem to keep me satisfied and I can truly say I never feel hungry and have no cravings.  In that sense it becomes easy to avoid unhealthy treats, although from a psychological point of view I still miss breads and rusks especially. 2.       Consequently I have lost 2 kilos so far without trying to eat less.  I can imagine that ha...

Okay, this is where I start getting the hate mail. A lot of these extreme health fads are a lot like religion, and the worst kind of religion – the kind that makes people nasty, intolerant and obsessed with rule-keeping.  When I started considering Banting, for example, I thought I could use some encouragement and tips so I joined a facebook group called ‘Banting for Beginners’, seemed fair enough. Soon after I posted the question, “ Can someone refer me to an article about whether it is necessary to cut out absolutely all carbohydrates as per the red list or can I just cut down?  I don’t quite see how I can manage it with a family of 6” .  I was thinking perhaps I could keep rice and pasta for some suppers and oats for breakfast…. Perhaps I expected a couple of links?  Maybe a succinct scientific explanation as to the need to be absolute? Some encouragement along the lines of, “That’s a great way to start, Natalie, yes, cut down carbs and increase what ...

So there’s good news and bad news.  The good news is I discovered something in the supermarket called ‘Banting bread’.  It costs twice as much as a normal loaf and it’s half the size but it’s quite palatable.  I don’t know what’s in it, but I suspect cauliflower.  Whatever it is, it really sticks to your teeth.  Anyway so I finally had egg on ‘toast’ for breakfast and it wasn’t totally awful.  It made a nice change from glop (aka oats.) Also I have to admit I haven’t been hungry once.  Well, I’m not restricting calories and I find I’m eating a lot more fruit which is odd, because I’m not a big fan of sweet fruit (as opposed to tomatoes, peppers and avocado which I love).  Which means I’m getting in more fructose… is this different or better than sucrose?  According to Jamie Oliver yes, because instead of getting in ‘empty’ calories through added sugar, fruit contains added nutrients and roughage; it's sugar with a context if you like...

Is there anything nicer than a crunchy piece of hot buttered toast?  My favourites are a good multi-seed bread, double toasted and topped with cheese and tomato or avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper or peanut butter and honey.  Well of course the toppings are endless.  Oh, oh butter and Bovril!  Mmmmm. So what the f*** can substitute bread?  What else has that substantial, I-can-sink-my-teeth-into-this feeling?  That chewy feeling? Avocado on celery stick? Bleh.  Peanut butter on apple slices? Sounds yummy but not every day.  There isn’t a vegetable on this planet I want Bovril on. Also it’s quick.  Listen I love salad as much as you do, but it involves a fair amount of chopping and tearing and eradicating green pepper seeds, so it’s not really an economical use of time when you’re preparing for one.  Also, storage!  My fridge has never been this full!  Keeping a family of 6 on a consistent diet of rabbit an...

Day 1 done: no sugar no wheat.  Issues abound. (You may find me a little grumpy here) 1.       I am scared that I’m now creating an obsession for sweets that never existed.  As I mentioned in my last blog I’m not really a tempted much by sweets, chocolates or dessert sand rarely have them.  But yesterday I walked through Spar and every single chocolate bar was calling my name!  “Eat us!” they pleaded.  This is exactly my issue with restrictive diets, I am sure they create cravings where none existed. 2.       I’m scared I might pick up weight.  What do you snack on?  I find I turned to nuts and biltong, since I’d already had salad for lunch and lots of veggies for supper.  Usually I’d have had a sandwich with cheese and cucumber or a coffee; which surely must have less calories than a handful of nuts or biltong? 3.       I’m not buying the ‘reset your palate’...

I am about to embark along with a whole lot of other people on 21 days without bread or sugar.  Read more about the initiative here.    I think perhaps one of the only ways I might actually do this is if I blog about it here.  I’ll be blogging as a very ordinary human being who is 44, a mother to 4 and leads a fairly busy, moderately healthy(?) lifestyle. The challenge has come at a favourable time for me as I had been exploring the Real Food/ Tim Noakes/ Banting/ LCHF way of eating and whilst I accept and laud the broad strokes (lots more veg, less refined stuff) I find it hard, nearly impossible in terms of time, money and taste, to follow it legalistically.  So this challenge which focusses on just sugar and wheat seems much more do-able.  I don’t have to stress about whether butternut is orange or green (banting joke). Also I find 21 days do-able.  Of course I know the goal is to change my habits and to feel so wonderful that I will turn...

7 July About 3 weeks ago I realised I was declining into a depressive episode which I wrote about in my previous blog about my chronic depression click  here  to read .  So this week I began to feel my mood lift a bit. Why? I’m so glad you asked. 1.         Well firstly I upped my medication.  I really can’t stress the importance of this enough.  As I wrote previously, depression for many people means lacking the emotional and mental will to do what needs to be done .  So even though we know all sorts of things we could do that might help, like calling a friend, going for a walk, doing a project, we feel unable to do these things.  That’s why it doesn’t work to tell depressed people to ‘do something positive’, or ‘snap out of it’.  It’s literally our ‘snapping’ function that is impaired.  Medication is really the only thing that changes this. 2.         I eased up on myself.  Th...

So… I just realised I am probably depressed and have been for some months now.  This may seem like a strange statement to make, but I am no stranger to depression, so I thought I would have recognised it straight away. I have experienced various levels of depression, on and off, throughout my life. Possibly starting around when my mom died when I was 13, but maybe preceding that time (causes and triggers are for another day). In the early years I just sucked it up and carried on.  Luckily for me I could manage like this and my depression was not severe enough to take me to darker places. Until I had two kids, and a business, and a church running from my lounge, and my father had a massive stroke.  Then I wasn’t really managing anymore, so I lay on the couch for a while and then I went to see a counsellor who finally gave me ‘permission’ to go onto medication.  She actually encouraged me to go onto anti-depressants, considering my long history of depleted se...