The Seven Ps
I’m not a saint. I’m not perfect. I don’t practice what I preach every minute of every day! Yes, I generally eat pretty well. I exercise regularly and I try to get more than 7 hours sleep each night. But life gets in the way and I enjoy my morning coffee and a drink with friends on the weekend. I work early mornings and often through lunchtime, so eating three regular meals a day is tricky and I often find I need to snack because my life and career are hectic.
I am a self-confessed coffee and sugar addict. It’s all too hard sometimes and I grab a piece of toast and honey with my morning coffee and I’m on that slippery slope! When I’m stressed, I like to bake – well, who ever made cake and didn’t eat it? My usual 7 hours drops to 6 hours sleep a night and my body craves caffeine and sugar to fuel it through the day.
And so it goes on.
I know what I’m doing wrong – it’s my job to know! I need to break the cycle, but frankly, it’s tough.
So here I am on Pure 21 because I know it works. It’s a three week period which helps break bad habits and form good ones. A way of eating which is sustainable, not a fad diet which you can’t continue past Thursday. It’s backed by science and supported by top quality, organic supplements. This programme has been researched and developed specifically to heal the gut and promote a healthy microbiome, which has been proved over recent years to be intrinsic to literally all aspects of good health. It turns out we are living in a symbiotic union with billions of microbes. Keep them happy and they in turn will keep us happy – literally, by helping our gut wall to produce serotonin and sending signals to our brain via the vagus nerve!
Week 1 is all about the 7 Ps - ‘Proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance’!
I’ve shopped for ingredients which are full of nutrients and put anything naughty out of sight, prepped some veg and have some healthy snacks - nuts, fruit and veg sticks - ready for when I need a quick fix.
However, it’s also important to prepare your body, not just your food, so cutting down on caffeine, alcohol and sugar in week 1 prepares for the detoxification process in week 2. I cheated! I cut down on all these things ahead of day 1 in order to avoid the withdrawal headaches, and it worked! No headache at all this week!
Week 1 supplements are also getting the body ready for week 2, so I’ve been taking ProArgi9+ and Body Prime. ProArgi9+ contains L-Arginine which helps the blood vessels to produce nitric oxide (a natural process which slows as we age) which then allows the vessels to dilate, reducing blood pressure and increasing blood flow deep into the tissues. This is going to deliver as much nourishment into the cells as possible, and at the same time take waste away from the cells to be expelled.
Body Prime is helping my gut to work properly. Containing magnesium and fibre, this supplement helps the peristaltic motion of the gut, moving food through and helping in the absorption of nutrients through the gut wall and into the bloodstream which is now ready to take them to where they are needed.
Although my energy levels slumped a little earlier in the week due to having no quick access fuel, ie sugar in my diet, they have increased over the last couple of days as my body is now able to use the good fats, complex carbohydrates and protein I’m feeding it instead. Sleep has already improved because I’m not having any caffeine – so all good at the end of week 1!
I do love a bit of science, but enough for now. Here are a couple of tips to help you start to break the coffee-sugar-alcohol cycle and improve your health right now:
Ditch the tea or coffee first thing in the morning and start the day with warm lemon water – warm, not boiling water with half a lemon squeezed in it. Instead of sending your body into fight or flight mode and releasing stress hormones, give your liver a cleanse and add some vitamin C right at the start to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.
Eat protein for breakfast. Get up 5 minutes earlier and cook yourself some eggs. Your body, which wakes up with low blood sugar and high stomach acid, will take longer to digest this deliciousness than if you give it sugar in the form of cereal or toast. What’s more your blood sugar won’t spike and your energy levels will be more stable through the morning. All this means you won’t need those dreaded elevenses!
Sarah x