Things Not To Do;

Set rules on food, except for 'eat what feels right'. Just do it, and don't look back.

Don't worry, no body performs at it's peek on high sugar, high fat, low nutrient diets.

You'll work it out.

Food guilt, begone.

Diets begone.

Calorie Counting, begone!

In other news, this lady & her new book is amazing;

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Look out for related posts.

Eat well to stay well, and smile for your Monday..

Nat x

Reflections

I am in the middle of some annual leave (3 days out for 10 days off, consecutively? I can't believe the whole of Australia isn't on annual leave!), and although I love it, my brain is having a mini fit of thinking.

Why, oh why, must my brain constantly think? I really need to start practicing meditation again. I did reach a beautiful place once, (only once! It was a lot of work to get there), where my brain had nothing in it. As soon as I realised it had happened, it went away and I felt like my head was going to explode from the constant stress it came back under which always seemed like what 'normal brain state' felt like, until I experienced that, experience, whilst meditating. Anyway, story for another day (just quietly, if you meditate but have never reached that place, I promise it's worth it).

This first thing is that I've been treating my body quite terribly, and the universe is trying to send me this signal in every way it can. Cue 4th course of antibiotics and still not ridded of this darn infection! So, inspired by my own extreme passion for studying nutrition, and the amazing Amanda at Me vs. the Bulge, I am going to start eating like I used to, eating to keep my body in peak condition, eating like a nutritionist. It's not as hard is it sounds, it's just going back to balance and running far away from extremes. It's not for weight, it's for health. I feel gross.

Whole foods with a big focus on vegetables is what my body responds best to.

The second thing is my mind. My brain is constantly working on everything from problems at work, to what I'll cook for dinner tomorrow night. I need to learn to stop thinking. I plan on doing this by returning to meditation and trying to still my mind at least once a day, even if it's only for a few minutes. Everything starts with simply deciding to do something. Right now, I am doing nothing.

Beautiful, but my favourite place to meditate is on a surf beach.


I spent some more time on the coast over the weekend, (Barwon Heads), and again it was mentally spelled out to me in giant writing on massive brain billboards how much I want, (can I say need?), to live there for at least a few months, preferably an undefined amount of time. My entire body is happier at the beach. My energy is higher, my mind occasionally stops thinking without meditation and I sleep a lot better. Most of my spare thought space is currently spent trying to think of a way I'd be able to do this. The breaking factor is that I wouldn't go where M wouldn't, and he works in the CBD.

How could you not want this 5 minutes away every sunny day? It's just as beautiful in Winter.


I need change in 100 other ways, but I'm planning on actioning it and will discuss when ready.

I'm also trying desperately to get through to a man who I believe will help me to be able to do a Bachelor of Nutritional Therapy part time, on campus, around full time work. I'm super struggling to get in touch with him. (I had a chat to 2 nutritionists who both told me I'd be better off with the degree rather than the diploma. Glass roof factor).

I'm not happy and must change things, so I'm going to.

Have you decided on any changes lately?

I hate to admit it, but I think this was all triggered by the book, "Eat Pray Love". I'm on the band wagon and I love it.

Stay well,
Nat x

Photos, except beach, from flickr.

This is how I Detox

Last week was a seedy one for me - way too much food, alcohol too frequently and a serious lack of exercise. By Saturday I was feeling really slow and, after having friends over for a 3 course meal Saturday night, I felt properly sick on Sunday.

We all have these weeks/months/seasons, so I want to share with you how I eat to eradicate this feeling. I'm not big on the word 'detox', I just find that, today, it's the one most people will understand when I am trying to describe what I'm doing (stopping putting crap in my body, basically). I'm usually a healthy eater anyway, but the difference between me 'detoxing' and my normal eating habits is a big cut back on sugar, salt, packaged foods and an increase in exercise. I also put more work into my food so it doesn't need rubbish to flavour it up.

A week eating like this usually gets my body back to happy, but I prefer a few weeks, (which isn't scheduled, I just usually feel like a nice glass of wine by then!), as after a few weeks my body starts to feel more energised, lighter and happier. I think it's really important not to try and schedule your eating or force yourself to be healthier, eating shouldn't be a chore on any level and your body will tell you when it needs a change (ever felt like 'just a salad' for dinner in Summer? Yeah, like that).

I'm breaking down this post into 2 or 3 parts, as large bodies of diary-like text make blogs boring.

Here's Day 1 & 2:

Sunday

(lazy day at home)

(45 minute slow walk)

Breakfast

Glass of water with a big squeeze of lemon

1 piece Rye toast with honey & tahini

Mug of green tea

Lunch

1 mashed sweet potato with Greek yogurt, flaked almonds and pepitas

1 fresh fig

Afternoon Snack

1 piece Rye Mountain Bread with hommus

Dinner

Minestrone soup with beans & wholemeal pasta

Monday

(exhausted and no interest in going to work)

(did 45 minutes of cardio & 15 minutes of free weights)

Breakfast

Bircher muesli made with milk, stewed apples (no added anything), Greek yogurt, sultanas and Cinnamon all warmed up.

Morning Snack

6 pretzels (offered by a colleague) and a cup of coffee (decaf, no sugar, low fat milk)

Lunch

Big bowl of vegetable minestrone with wholemeal penne

1 plum

Afternoon Snack

10 plain Sakata rice crackers with 2 tablespoons hommus

Dinner

Home made vegie burger with sauteed vegetables & 1 piece Rye Mountain Bread

Fruit Salad of fresh pineapple & strawberries with a sprinkle of coconut

(I need sweet after dinner, always).

What do you do after way too much seediness?

Stay well,
Nat x

Sugar is Poison?

One of my favourite writers, Sarah Wilson, has been blogging extensively lately on why sugar is poison in accordance with the writings of David Gillespie in his books titled; Sweet Poison.

Though I plan to, I haven't yet read these books so my knowledge only goes as far as Sarah's blog posts. In a similar way to my reason for believing humans weren't designed to eat meat, (which I will talk about one day), it seems that David Gillespie has managed to find seemingly good reason why humans aren't designed to eat sugar, or more specifically, fructose, and why it is sugar and not fats, (we're talking avocados and nuts, not cheeseburgers), that are making us fat and causing disease.

Now I don't see anything wrong with cutting out things like lollies, chocolates, cakes and biscuits, but from what I've read in Sarah's blog, he also suggests that honey is incredibly bad for you and we should only really consume 2 pieces of fruit daily. Though I haven't read it, I have no doubt his theory also warns people off dried fruit and fruit juice, which I find hard to get my head around having not read the book.

Either way, I am inspired. Not completely, as I am a huge fruit eater and I adore the dried fruit I put in my muesli and the Jalna yoghurt I eat it with, (which I have no doubt contains fructose), but enough to make some changes. I can't commit to no chocolate or cake for months yet, that's overwhelming, but I am committing, just for the next week, to no obvious sugar. So cakes, chocolate, lollies, biscuits, jam, ice creams and all your friends, I bid thee farewell. At least for a while.

I've started by giving away the super-sweet cereals I eat for dessert almost nightly.

It's not the full hog, but it's something, and as a person who has to have at least 2 or 3 pieces of chocolate a day, and some honey in the morning to get me going, (I'm not saying I'll ban honey, but at least try not to do it), it's not going to be easy. I hate admitting it, but I am heavily reliant on sugar and carry a chupa-chup everywhere in case I get tired. Really.

Not having a little dip of a cookie in my coffee this morning was the first hurdle, but I'm hoping I'll feel some positive effects by the end of the week.

I'll report back.

Anyone else want to try this less-extreme version?

Stay well,

Nat x