The Green Queen

How did my husband Mark lose 20kgs (3 stone)?

Attention all Brides (and Grooms!)

Get Your Groom in Shape for Your Big Day!

With Special Guest Mark Duffield-Thomas

  

^{_{Want to learn how eating a natural diet of whole foods can help your man become a healthier, thinner and more confident groom?}}

^{_{For the first time, this FREE teleseminar will feature Denise Duffield-Thomas (the Bride Transformation Expert) interviewing a very special guest, her husband Mark Duffield-Thomas,who lost over 3 stone (20kg+) and became a more confident and happy groom and more influential and successful businessman by choosing a natural vegan diet.}} 

^{_{Register now.}}

When?

Date: Tuesday 16th March 2010
Time: 9pm UK time.
Format: Teleclass (you can join from anywhere in the world, you just need a phone or Skype to join)

Free mp3 recording available if you can't make it.
 

Here's what we're going to cover in this free 1-hour call:  

• Mark's story and previous relationship with food
• Mark's first thoughts on raw food
• How Mark incorporated natural foods in to his busy corporate life
• The health benefits Mark enjoyed by including more whole and natural foods in his diet
• What raw food has given Mark and us as a couple
• Exciting information for you on how to discuss food and nutrition with your future husbands 
• Come male FAQs and concerns about raw food - Can real men be raw?
• Advice for brides and grooms to be in the build up to their wedding

If you're getting married this year, you and your groom-to-be have to be on this call to learn how the most natural diet on the planet can give you both an amazing glow for your wedding.
 

Can't make it live?

No worries, still register and you'll get sent the recording free afterwards to listen to at your leisure.

Register by clicking here

Not getting married?

You might be interested in the Raw Brides Affiliate Programme and rewarded by spreading the word about the best and most natural diet on the planet to brides-to-be.

Learn more and register here. 

Raw Hen Party - What lovely friends I have!

I had my hen party last weekend organised by my bridesmaid Jacqui, and it was such a lovely day!

A tea party in the afternoon and then drag queen cabaret and chinese food afterwards.

What was even more lovely is how supportive my friends are of my (aspired) diet and lifestyle choices.

We had a raw chocolate mousse cake by Charlie's Raw Treats, as well as her brownies, figgy bites, lemon pockets and almond cookies. Blanka of Gracefully Raw made raw crackers and the most amazing lemon coconut macaroons! My writer friend John Tyson of Be Free, even made a raw chocolate mud cake (he's not even raw - he googled it - how sweet!). Karen Knowler told me that champagne is raw too and I had a LOT of that!

Of course there were lots of other non - raw goodies and I ate them all - gorgeous muffins, meringue (my favourite!), cute little sandwiches, gorgeous potato salad! Washed down with pimms of course!

Thanks my lovely friends! More photos on my facebook page - I'm laughing hysterically in all of them!

Getting married? Check out my site for brides to be who want to lose weight for the wedding - but hate dieting. www.RawBrides.com 

Drastic measures are called for !

*WARNING* This post contains pictures you might find embarrassing, unpleasant or gross. Feel free to click away now to this picture of a cute cat!

After a truly shocking non-raw month, I've vowed to spend this next one taking care of myself (and fitting into that damned wedding dress!). 

I'm starting a herbal colon cleanse! A friend, let's call her "Jess" just finished it, and the pictures of her... ahem...eliminations impressed me so much I've been showing people on my mobile phone! (Pictures at the very end of the post)

Why a colon cleanse?

In the past month, I've eaten all sorts of stuff that has made me feel terrible. Pizza, chinese food, bags and bags of crisps, ice-cream, etc etc. My body feels clogged and bloated. I want to kickstart a detox to have a summer of good food and exercise.

You might be thinking - "well, that's not bad.... I eat pizza all the time, and it doesn't affect me".

YAY for you! The problem is that I can't stop with one slice of pizza, one handful of crisps, one bowl of ice-cream. If I could, then I wouldn't even mention it, let along write on a blog! I have a junk food addiction, and so have to treat myself like a junkie.

I wrote in a previous post that I've had some emotional and physical upheavals. It's also really made me face how much I use junk food to numb myself. I'm committed to a life of health and self nourishment and I want to do everything I can to help me on that path.

I also bought a mini trampoline, and some hand weights. I've heard trampolining, or rebounding is an incredibly easy and efficient form of exercise, low impact which works your whole body - I'm loving that idea! Mark loves it too, and probably just woke the neighbours with 15 minutes of loud bouncing!

Back to the cleanse. After my experiment with the month-long Ejuva Intestinal Cleanse, I figured I needed something shorter, but also has good results. The Blessed Herbs cleanse is only 9 days, so I think that might be easier for me. It's also cheaper than Ejuva, and I'm doing it with another friend, so we got a small discount for buying two. 

It promises to:

Remove Old, Accumulated Waste from Your Small and Large (Colon) Intestines (which generally means, people in this cleanse lose weight)

Rejuvenate the Digestive System

Reduce Cravings and Food Dependencies (YAY)

Give more mental Clarity and Focus (this will be great too, I'll be really busy over summer)

I'm thinking - SWEET! Also, "Jess" said her skin was amazing, and she felt great afterwards. So anyway the pictures....after a couple of days, people report a sea-weed like substance being eliminated. I've come across these pictures before but didn't believe them until someone I knew did it.

Can you believe it? Seriously - what is that stuff? Apparently it's old waste and toxins that have built up for ages, called mucoid plaque. Gross, GROSS! Definitely a case of better out than in!

"Jess" is really skinny already and has been a vegan for years, so I really wonder what's lurking in my colon - let's find out, shall we?! I promise to post a small diary and the results for all to share and delight in! Will start next week sometime.

Hope I didn't ruin your dinner!

Bad News = Bad Food - but hopefully not forever

The last three weeks have been incredibly challenging, with some really unexpected circumstances. Forgive me for the vague terms, I'm not going to share specifics, but it's nothing life threatening.

While I've actually been strangely unemotional about this upheaval, what's telling is my diet. All that stuff that I thought was sorted, has been sorely tested with emotions come into play!

Each time I've had to face the problem(s), I've reacted in a very robotic way - and then I've CHOWED DOWN. When the first news hit, I found myself at a local pizza joint ordering a large margharita and a tub of Ben & Jerry's which I then ate at the bus-stop..... with a plastic fork. I then had pizza AGAIN for dinner.

The next time I had to face reality, I "found myself" at the local Chinese for some stirfry and prawn crackers. This morning was another tough wake-up call, so I ordered in Thai for lunch, even though I wasn't all that hungry.

If I find myself thinking about how "hard" or "unfair" my life is right now...... well, I'll just pick up some crisps at the train station and all is well... for about 30 minutes. 

The result of all this takeaway junk is that I'm feeling lethargic, have spots all over my face and I've very quickly gained a couple of kgs. The way I look and feel feeds another cycle of self pity, which is easy to solve with mind numbing junk food. Look at my eyes. So dull and lifeless. 

Bad circumstances are not permanent, and I know that. This month has really shown me how much I stuff my emotions in food, and it's probably a positive experience because my years of bodily abuse has been magnified to show me how pointless and destructive it really is. The weird thing is that it's not just bad news that makes me do this. I've noticed that really good news sometimes has the same effect. Like the happiness is too much for me to bear, so I'll numb it with some MSG.

I'm being really gentle with myself over the next couple of weeks. I'm still making sure I have a juice or a smoothie every day and I'll try not to obsess over the food, or the extra weight. 

The great news is that I start Karen's Raw Online Business Programme next week. I'll be staying in a hotel and will a lot of time to dream and reflect and get ready for the new me which will emerge over the six month programme. 

A very cooked long weekend

Well, over the last four days I ate all sorts of things.

At the cinema on Friday (Wolverine), I had Pringles and chocolate buttons, Saturday was a normal rawish food day. Sunday I went to the seaside with some friends, and I had a massive portion of French fries, 5 hot sugared donuts, pasta, sugary sweets. When I got home I had a nice salad, so at least I got some greens. On Monday I had a lot of hummus, bread, cous cous, toffee cheesecake, Eton mess (cream, meringue, strawberries and raspberries). So, lots of sugar and carbs. Not very much salad or fruit.

I definitely could have eaten better food, but it was kinda fun being by the seaside. I was also with friends who encourage me to eat bad food, and they “know me” as someone who likes to pig out. I really need to watch how I eat around them, lovely people that they are!

Friday Mark and I had the amazing facial at Being Content. It was gorgeous. We had the same problem skin – little bumps on the forehead. Mark has more spots than me, but the facialist said we might share a good allergy. She squeezed all the little spots and blackheads I have everywhere. She also told Mark that we need to come back in two months, and then two weeks before wedding. God bless her. Mark loves following rules and it means that he won’t think about the cost so much!

I bought some new skin care products. Even though I’m making my own – sometimes I’m very lazy, so I’ve just been using water on my face. The face wash is from Nude, which smells like jasmine and I got an eye cream. I’m using it sparingly, but it’s good to have an option I don’t feel guilty about.

We also did some exercise – running in the park, abs exercising and yoga. My running is pretty bad. I can only run about half a kilometre, and then about 750m. Mark ran at my pace, but I get a big pain in my right lung (where I had severe pneumonia) and get a horrible taste in my mouth. Hopefully, I’ll get better. I really, REALLY want to wear a bikini in Bali.

 

Going to Brighton was fun – great having some sun on my body, wonderful seeing the ocean too. The cool thing is that I saw one of the famous Banksy art works on the side of a pub. Lovely.