So….you want to lose weight? Well…you’ve got to change your mind first!

Over these years (and years) of thinking about weight issues, studying nutrition, food, body image and diets….I have met many people who are unhappy with their weight. And I was often amongst them.

Then, I changed my lifestyle and my diet…a few years later I started incorporating fasting into my regimen as well and the rest is history. Or is it?

Since then I have found my biggest struggle is still with these patterns, habits and tendencies – that all exist in my mind! Our minds really are the majority when it comes to overcoming any negative patterns in an effort to create new ones.

Of course, as a Clinical Nutritionist, I also know that each cell in my body contributes to my overall mind (mood, emotions, intuition, thoughts etc.). Everything works together inside and outside – with each system and function forwarding something towards the whole being….

My gut is as much involved with creating my thoughts as my brain is. And this includes what I think about my body, my food – and especially 'what I am thinking (about my body/food) when I am eating it'.

Fasting has allowed me to explore my mind (through my body) in a new and realistic way. By going into these new places and spaces, I have found and made the deeper connections to weight, body image, eating and food.

If I have found out anything over these past few years….it’s this; to lose weight permanently, you have to re-build your mind from the inside out. This entails diet changes (food, fast and feast), exercise, emotional work (getting at the patterns) and for me, making the important spiritual connections with the food I eat.

Not one part of this is complicated, in fact having food days, fasting days and feast days has made my life so much simpler and easy to manage. It also allows me to have control over my mind (approach to food) in a new way.

Changing your mind about food involves eating the foods that assist in this process as well….we need to choose (and make) food that not only nourish our bodies, but also help to reset our body metabolism.

I have found many of these to be fermented foods as well as quality proteins…and for me, my diet consists of homemade, home grown, free range, wild harvested and organic produce as much as possible.

You are so much more then what you eat….you are the energy of the food you eat. Change that energy to something better (raise the vibration) and you do the same with your body and your mind.

April

 

Down a New Road....Still Wild Foraging Food

I haven’t really been cooking much of anything (new that is) these days…I’ve been very busy with the garden and farm work….all of these animals need tending as well as planting and weeding to be done.

Most evenings I have been exhausted and kept thinking I am too tired to write…but here I am, today making some more cheese for the weekend, with a pot of goat stew in the slow cooker and have made 6 jars of jam with all the dried berries left over from the winter.

That’s on top of the farm work LOL! And I think I am not doing much of anything….

One update I wanted to make is how after nearly 3 weeks we still haven’t bought any vegetables other then 2 bags of onions and a few carrots. Not so long ago this would have been unheard of for me….I would never have thought I could get by with just the greens growing around me.

But, I am and we are! I have made soups, stews, pesto, stir-fries, casseroles and what ever I can think of using just the wild greens in the fields and things that are growing in my own garden.

And we have more then enough to eat. Of course I combine these with fish, meat, beans, lentils, couscous and rice to create a different dish for every meal. They are all quite versatile and I know we are getting an abundance of vitamins and minerals like nothing else.

I actually think it has taken me this long to notice how I am feeling on this diet of mainly greens from the fields and our own milk, eggs, meat, cheese, garden greens, herbs and so forth. To say I am more in tune would be an understatement….

Its as if I am in charge. I can feel my gut changing, my outlook and thinking is less clouded. I actually feel more like myself right now then ever before in my entire life on this planet.

I know it’s because my food is nearly fully ‘mine’ – produced or made or grown or harvested by me. When I started this experiment over a year ago (make every effort to no longer buy finished products of ANYTHING) I knew I would feel better.

But right now, I guess I had no idea how much better and what other changes this line of thinking would bring…I can look back now and see how my new lifestyle in terms of eating has taken me down quite different paths then what I had been expecting.

Stay tuned, this is only going to get more interesting!

April

Duck and Guinea Fowl Eggs

Prepare Your Garden for Spring

Even though the days are still damp and cold - now is the time to be getting your garden in order. If your's is anything like mine, you may find yourself standing around scratching your head wondering where all the weeds have come from in such a short space of time.

Then again, you might also find yourself marveling at how some plants have hung on to life - even through some of the most violent rain, wind and winter storms over these past few weeks. Herbs are like that - give them something to struggle for and they will choose life.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind at this early part of spring is to not underestimate how very much is taking place below the surface or behind the scenes, so to speak. Our gardens are accumulating great energy - ready to spring forward into rapid growth.

I hope this sounds a lot like your own life right now. The preparation has been done, the work has been put in and now with the ground ready, your dreams will simply grow up from the roots they have formed. 

We are all very much like our gardens (or our gardens are mirror images of us) going though phases, changes and energy shifts throughout the year as the seasons roll on. But, each year expanding in scope, size and dimension as the garden matures.

This maturation process is a vital aspect of a gardens growth in the exact same way we, as energetic humans develop and maintain our energetic selves. Each year of a clean diet, walking a spiritual path and seeking deeper connections to our selves through our food - we also undergo a transformation.

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a garden in full bloom.

April

Something to look forward to....

You Are the Key to Change....

Right about this time many people are either just beginning their New Years resolutions made about their health, eating and lifestyle or feeling ready to give up after only a few short days. It's a tough thing to do - especially if you have not done anything to work with your mind.

Including your mind in the process of any changes you make ensures a higher degree of success. Once I started to figure that out for myself, my own life changed in many positive and eventful ways. But, it also meant one of the biggest things in my current life.....

I had to start accepting responsibility for what I was doing, what I was eating, how I was choosing to live and then work at making changes accordingly. It also meant I had to be big enough to let things, people, relationships and negative patterns go when necessary.

I guess the most important thing I would say to anyone who has made a positive change in the New Year and who is wavering or to someone who is about to embark on a new path - do not give up easily. There will be times when you feel down, deprived, moody (and whatever else) - however, most of this will be coming from a fractured mind...

Your mind has been overly influenced by years of toxins, rubbish food, machine made meals, chemical water, antibiotics, medication and whateverelse they can throw at us. We have been breathing it in, eating it, drinking it, walking in it and bathing in it.

Now, it is going to take some time to break through these chains that bind and tether your mind to the mass consciousness (I call it the over mind) and hold you in this negative pattern of eating, thinking and believing. 

Don't be easily pushed down. Do not give up without a fight. Press on - the only thing you have to lose is - fear of change. You have absolutely everything to gain.

You are the key....

April

There is a rainbow - always!

If You Think Changing Your Diet Is Too Much Trouble...well...

If you think changing your diet is too much trouble and too much work to cook, eat at home, peel vegetables, learn a few recipes, get organised in your kitchen...

Wait until you are sick or ill because of the way you have been eating. Then trying to back track and reverse all those years of playing Russian roulette with your body - well, that takes far more, time, energy and effort then making a few small changes right now.

The beginning of a new year is just that - a fresh start. A time for renewal and with that possibilities. Absolutely everything that makes life worth living is stored deeply within our bodies. And the only way in is through treating your body well with good clean food, water and of course exercise.

A few years ago when I started making changes (and I had just as many to make as anyone else) I took things one at a time - literally week by week until I had completely reoganised my lifestyle, my diet and myself. Once I knew and felt I was on the road to better health, then I was able to relax.

During that time, each week I would take an area of my life and make a change for the better. I even remember spending a weekend getting rid of everything in the house that was not organic. We were left with a clean slate and started over.

Then another week I stopped buying boxed cereal and have only ever made breakfasts since with things like porridge, home made muesli, kippers and toast, roasted sweet potatoes with nut butter (lovely by the way!) and so forth.

Moving forward into the next week I got rid of the dairy, meats and animal products. That may not be for everyone, but at the time, I wanted to really clean out my body - so we spent the next 6 or 7 years vegan and vegetarian. 

We replaced these foods with beans, lentils, peas and other great sources of protein. We kept going until we all felt, looked and knew we were in much better health. And I have never looked back...

The difference is - you have to stick with it. You have to alter your lifestyle, your habits, set up your life to provide a framework supportive of good health. Otherwise, you end up frustrated and going back to old habits.

Once you make each of the changes you are needing to make - reorganise your life to suit your new way of living.

It really is this simple...

April

Homemade Hazelnut butter - Yumm!!! 

It All Begins with A Change in Attitude....

At this time of year there are always a couple of things on our minds - the top one being how to get healthy and stay healthy - perhaps you have been thinking long and hard about exercise, diet changes, or firming up your spiritual walk. 

Any one of these might require of you a stronger constitution - but that is exactly what is missing... so how about a change of attitude? It's often such a small thing - a slight alteration in your thinking can then work wonders on the rest of your life.

For me, it was the fact that I wanted to be fit enough to carry on with living my life...and to not ever experience sickness again like I once had. That was motivation enough and it still gets me out of bed every morning to this day.

With this change in attitude in mind - what if you were to start replacing anything nasty in your diet with something good for you - but you would still get to enjoy yourself. And who knows, you might even be surprised and actually like it! LOL

For me there are many things I no longer eat (and have no desire to) but have replaced them all with a far healthier version.....here is a list of some items for you to get started on in your own life:

Still drinking the drugged stuff? Try dandelion coffee, chicory or nut coffee, aids digestion, detoxes the liver and tastes great.

Tea is not much better and is very addictive - in place of tea why not indulge in herbal drinks such as lemon & thyme or chamomile flowers and fruit?

Next, change out that yukky yeasty bread for some homemade organic spelt soda bread...when you make it yourself you can add anything you like - cinnamon and raisin, herby rosemary or seeds and nuts.

Then get rid of those whites - they are sitting on your spare tire - instead of white potatoes have sweet potato, pumpkin or squash, in place of white sugar try honey, maple syrup and apple concentrate, and there are so many lovely kinds of rice to use such as basmati, brown long grain, brown jasmine, red rice, wild rice and black rice. 

Any of the treats (and let's face it, we've eaten enough during the holidays!) can be replaced with homemade versions of cakes, cookies - or something simpler such as a few dates, figs or my favourite, dried mango....

As you can see, this is only the beginning - but all it takes are a few changes such as these and before you know it - not only has your attitude changed, so have you.

April

Hot Apple, Pineapple, Ginger and Cinnamon juice during the holidays...healthy and delicious!

Vibrational Shift....

Today is a feast day - and for us this means lots of food and tasty treats we wouldn't otherwise have very often. But it also means many other things as well - this time of year especially is all about the return of light breaking through the darkness.

I don't know about you, but there is often nothing darker then some of the foods that people are expected to eat and perhaps nothing more evil then the energy they contain. Food is like anything else really - when depleted it will fill up on whatever it is exposed to.

And if that happens to be drained, poorly paid, unhappy employees, clanging machinery, in a profit driven company - then that's what the food will carry. It's the same with people, once our systems are pulled down by life, stress, poor diets, over exposure to chemicals and toxins, we too have a low vibration.

It takes an enormous amount of energy to pull ourselves back up from some of the dark depths we might be found in...

However, all is not lost! Once you begin to make any effort at all, with even the tiniest of intentions, your body will more then meet you half way and work very hard to come back into proper alignment within.This means balancing and bringing back normal function in all tissues and organs.

Today was perhaps the most anticipated day (in a collective global sense) we have seen in some time on this planet. With so many of us considering the changes, energy shifts and perhaps endings associated with this date - I wonder if some other important aspects were lost in the shuffle.

The only way to change your body in a healthy meaningful way (this changes your mind and spirit too by the way) is to alter your diet and the water you drink. Take this a little bit further and the only way to shift into a higher cellular vibrational frequency (or to experience states of higher expanded consciousness) is to change your diet and the water you drink! 

It really all is this simple and today was a giant leap forward towards breaking free of the old ways that have enslaved humanity for a very long time. We are moving forwards into very interesting times indeed...

April

Sticky Date & Fig Pudding was delicious!! 

A Lot Has Changed...

After this last Master Cleanse, I am still taking stock of how I feel physically while I examine each of the differences in my body, mind and life. Some changes are easily noticeable, while others are less obvious, and have sort of snuck up on me during the time I have been clearing out my diet even further.

One of the most interesting things to mention at the beginning is my diet is organic, clean, with many years as either vegan or vegetarian and even now - the majority of the foods I do eat are plant based.

So, this is what I came up with....

As I was pondering the changes that are taking place for us because we have decided to further remove any and all remaining processed items from our diets, I found they could be divided into two distinct categories. 

One main area of change was primarily physical with several places I have noticed over these past few weeks where I actually 'feel' different

• more energy - overall I feel brighter and have more energy to get through each day, I am not any busier either, even with some extra cooking, it has been quite enjoyable to be honest

• eating less - perhaps this is a result of better food, or because homemade food is richer, but I find myself full sooner, needing less to eat and generally not overeating 

• clearer, smoother, softer skin - my skin has changed quite a bit over the years, deep detoxing has also improved it considerably, but now, it is also softer as well as smooth, as if it is well hydrated

• better digestion - my digestion should be pretty good after all these years of eating well, however I do notice an improvement and my intuition tells me that my absorption is better

• senses - I have mentioned this a few times these past few days, and I can't say it enough, each of my senses (including my eyes) are stronger, sharper, better 

The other areas of significant change have been found on a day to day basis, sometimes I hardly notice it, I just seem to have broadened my interests and 'feel' differently about the same situations which would have bothered me even a few weeks ago. 

• creativity increased - in general I am finding ways to be more creative, with my children, in my writing, around the house and in the garden

• saving money - I definitely have noticed a reduction in the overall spending on food since we started making all of our own items, we are shopping far less

• food security - as a Clinical Nutritionist, I have a need to know exactly what is in the food and what my children are eating, and now I know, because I make it ALL myself 

• more organized - with the use of additional glass jars, using up storage space and generally moving things around, this has prompted me to be far more organized in the kitchen as well as to know exactly what is on hand when it comes to food

• energy is clearer in mind and body - looking back over these past 2 months or so, even though I only removed a few items from our diets, I am getting the desired results within my energy field, it looks and feels brighter

These are only some of the places and ways I have found to have changed during these last few weeks since embarking on really making every possible effort to remove the remaining processed or factory made foods from our immediate food chain.

I think it is quite impressive! All along I would have felt I was doing a superior job feeding myself and my family - yet, there are always ways to improve and of course the benefits have been tremendous. 

These are early days yet, so who knows how I will feel in the coming months as time moves on...it will only get better!

Have a healthy day,

April

One of my favourite meals - turmeric rice with vegetables

Food Revolution

**This is an article I wrote some time ago to get people to come around to the thinking - they can do something positive, even wonderful for themselves, their families and the planet, right from home. All change in this world starts with us, all it takes is just one person to stand up and say 'enough' and then act on it.

If you can't, who can?

Food Revolution

For those of us who are watching and supporting the many revolutions that are taking place around the planet but are unable to physically be there- there is so much else that can be done. And perhaps even more important work that must be done to start to break down these monopolies who control our money, economies, food, water, media, and ultimately our minds.

We see it often during some of these protests, ‘access to better health care’ written on placards and it has left me feeling perplexed. There are some basic tennents that every human living on this planet needs to get back to- and the fundamental one would be food. How to feed ourselves so that the body and mind is well nourished and in a healthy state has been eroded in less then several generations. We have been duped into thinking that we actually ‘need’ health care- what we need is self care in the form of fresh whole food and clean water.

Control of the people doesn’t stop with these Big Food, Big Agri, Big Seed and Big Market corporations either! Perhaps it only begins there, because control of the people spills over into Big Pharma, Big Gov and Big Bank. So, each of these mega corporations has a stake in how well you feed yourself and the general health of your body. This is a fact because ‘they’ have an insatiable desire to control and you cannot be controlled if and when you are eating, drinking and living in a state of natural health.

In a short period of time, you will rebuild your mind (and body) and start to think for yourself. It is so simple- all you need is real food, that is clean, fresh and simply prepared.

All this food is out there- there is NO food crisis in terms of supply, there is only a crisis in methods of marketing mass hysteria to get you to believe that the crap on the shelves in the Big Supermarket has any thing to do with food. If you walk into any modern shop you will see that only about 5-10% of the available food is fresh, unadulterated, and next to nothing is unpackaged!

In order to get your body on the road to a better way of being, you must change the food that you are eating and the water you are drinking. And for some that will mean a fundamental shift in thinking and perhaps a move out to the country where you can access well or spring water and grow a garden.

You best defence against the systems that need to control you and for you to cooperate with them, is your health- clean healthy body and clear mind. We are conformists as long as we eat what is put before us and spend our days in a spaced out haze because this food clogs up our internal processes and keeps us down.

Feeding yourself packaged, drugged up and chemical laced ‘food’ has your body tissues toxic and your mind unable to think clearly. Eating this way then gives rise to fear, depression, irritable bowel type issues, and a down regulated immune response (or call it passivity) which proceeds on to disease and dysfunction. Of course, this then requires treatment in the form of more packages of drugs and chemicals and more fear!

Can’t you see the pattern here? Eat their food, drink their water, spend your life wandering through life and not thinking beyond what the box tells you, become unwell and end your days eating tablets that only add to the misery. Is this what we have come to? Or is this what has been made of us through the extensive use of mind control, mass marketing, economic debt and poor food/water?

Today you can ask, So where to start? If you want to join a revolution, start here- with you and your family. Pick the three most toxic items in your diet (life?) and remove them. It is that simple. For some it will be sugar, caffeine, alcohol- toxins which slow down the liver and wreak havoc with our immune function. For others it will be a food that you eat far too much of- packaged cereal, take aways, chocolate.

I know that some may be thinking- well how do I live without this or that? It can’t be all that bad- no? We have been so manipulated into thinking that just because something is on the shelf in a supermarket 365 days a year that it should be consumed as such. Never before have we had access to sugar, caffeine, alcohol, packaged foods, chocolate, boxes of processed stuff- all the time.

Your body is designed to eat fresh, whole veggies, fruits, some grains, some fish, little meat and clean water. Anything else is a stress on the digestion and clogs up the nutrient pathways. And we haven’t even gotten to detoxification and the function of the rest of the body!

Choose 3 ways that you can change and start to implement them today- you will feel better tomorrow and every day that follows as you wean yourself off of an entire system that has been cleverly designed to manage the people. Refuse to be controlled, don’t conform, and do not under any circumstances eat their food or drink their water.

Join the Revolution- we shall fight, we will win!

Have a healthy day,

April