How I recovered from CFS
There are some things in life you spend all your time running from, namely things that are found in the past you do not want to identify with, but sooner or later they catch up with you……
In the past few weeks the universe has taken me back to my past and I have gone back kicking and screaming.
If you read my post about success and the bathroom floor you will have learnt things have been a little tough lately and I had to move out of my beautiful home by the ocean. I had nowhere to go but my parents place in the suburbs and here I am staying in their living room (no bedrooms free for me) To say I have felt like I had hit rock bottom is an under-statement. For too many reasons I have felt as though I have discovered a whole other dimension to rock bottom.
I am one who believes everything happens for a reason and there is a lesson in everything but this one I couldn’t figure out. I had been through so much already I didn’t see the point in this little lesson.
Staying with my parents was my worst nightmare and some may wonder why the idea was torture to me. I mean my parents are amazing so it’s not to say I have a bad relationship with them or they were so horrible to me.
The reason it’s so bad for me is because it takes me back to the worst time in my life and I feel like I have literally walked back into my past and I don’t like it. Continue reading
Finding Peace with Yoga Teacher Ananda Trettin
There are time in life that get so overwhelming and stressful that you don’t know where to turn. You may find yourself looking for a distraction from these feelings in all the wrong places. Sound familiar?
Ananda worked as an international model from the young age of 16 through to her mid-twenties. She faced some very challenging times and despite experiencing great success with this career, she lost complete faith in herself.
It was not until she felt an urge from deep within herself- calling her back tot he yoga mat that she was able to regain a sense of commitment to her growth and development.
What drew you to yoga over other exercise practices?
Initially, my mother introduced me to the practice of yoga. Later in life I was drawn to yoga because I was seeking something deeper. I wasn’t interested in going into a space and sweating. At this time, I had many issues with my body and felt that if was going to a gym class and sweating, it instilled something in my mind that made me feel as though I needed to eat more. At the beginning, I was struggling with eating disorders and found the practice was one of nourishment and nurturing for this body that had become such a battleground for me. Through yoga I began to nourish my body, feel safe and re-establish a relationship with myself.
I’ve heard yogis say that you can deal with any of life’s challenges on the yoga mat. Can you explain how yoga can help every area of your life? Has it helped you overcome challenges? What has yoga taught you about life?
It is true that a lot of yoga teachers say that this practice can generate something that you can pull from into your daily life. On the matt, if you breathe through the exercises, you’ll be able to breathe through other situations in your life. On a very real level, I believe this whole-heartedly.
What the practice has instilled in my life is more of a storage bank. Through a long period of time, showing up time and time again no matter what state of mind I am in- that dedication and discipline has built within me a bank of strength to turn to during life’s challenges. It has given me the space to observe myself and how I am participating in the world. It has given me time and space to breathe and listen.
For me, it is not so much what I get from the practice anymore on a day to day basis, but rather the experiences that have happened from day to day over time. I have had the opportunity to discover who I am and wish to be in the world.
Sugar-Free Apple Crumble
I have spent the day trying to avoid sugar. The temptation is everywhere at the moment and I have had a day working from home with ice-cream, chocolate, biscuits and cakes in the kitchen calling my name!
But I stayed strong, because I am really run down at the moment working 12 hours in front of my laptop, 7 days a week, creating a new business! When you are run down your body may scream out for you to eat comforting junk food but really that is the last thing you need. Your body does not need foods that zaps all the nutrients from your body.
So instead of giving in to my sugar cravings I quickly whipped up a sweet alternative. I had apples, oats, coconut sugar and cinnamon in the pantry so off I went to create a sugar-free apple crumble
My Top 5 Ways to Strengthen Your Willpower!
We are about to go into week five of the skinny secrets challenge and I bet most of you are struggling with having the will power to stop yourself grabbing a chocolate bar when you are feeling an energy slump.
Willpower is the secret to making the changes that stick!
So what do you do to stop yourself saying yes to cake?
1. Create one teeny tiny habit to support this new lifestyle. I read somewhere that if you want to create the habit of flossing your teeth every day (because I’m sorry but who actually flosses every single day?!) you commit to flossing just one tooth every day. It takes 2 seconds to floss one tooth so it’s not overwhelming and easy to do. After a few weeks you will begin to thing about flossing the other teeth and it will be no big deal because you have created the habit. So how do you do this with food?? I would begin to create a habit around something that is easier to manage. Try giving up something that you aren’t that hung up on. Not really into coffee but just drink it to be social? Well begin to strengthen your willpower by replacing coffee with herbal tea. Find something that won’t be too much of a stretch to give up.
2. Replace don’t remove. You don’t want to feel like you are starving and depriving yourself. If you are giving up sugar make sure you are replacing sugar with something else that you enjoy. Whenever you are removing foods from your diet always be adding other things in so you feel satisfied. Start baking with sugar-free alternatives, experimenting with food and exploring new flavours. You will be surprised how much junk food affects our taste buds and you will re-ignite a whole new dimension to your love for food! Continue reading
Fitness, Fashion and Food with Lauryn Evarts
I am super stoked to interview one of my favorite bloggers Lauryn from The Skinny Confidential. I have been following her blog for a while now and she has a unique & fun way of bringing fashion, beauty, fitness, health and life together. Lauryn has recently launched a fashion youtube channel called The Style Kittens which is my new obsession!
Firstly I have to say I have such a girl crush on you, and your style is ridiculous! (in a good way!) I envy how you can throw together not just your outfits but how well your blog pictures are styled.
What is your inspiration behind your blog?
There was an opening in the fitness/health/lifestyle blogging world. I feel like a lot of fitness bloggers are extreme. I promote a balanced lifestyle…because everyone needs a glass of wine or a few hot Cheetos once in a while ; ). The idea began when I was attending San Diego State University and there were no healthy options. I started modifying my lunches so they were healthier than what was offered…& then The Skinny Confidential was born!
What motivates you to stay fit?
Feeling strong and healthy. There’s nothing better than an endorphin high. Of course the mirror always motivates me too!
What is your favorite natural beauty product? Continue reading
Week 4 of The Skinny Secrets Challenge – Eat Real Food!!
We are up to week 4 of the Skinny Secrets Challenge! If you have made changes to your diet in the past few weeks, I am proud of you! Making changes to your every day diet can be really tough, especially in the first few weeks.
From experience I also know you are probably hitting a wall of resistance and this is normal. I can guarantee you will at some point despise me, be frustrated and want to go back to your old ways. It seems to be human nature that we resist things and want to throw in the towel just before breakthrough, so please stick with it and walk through the resistance phase.
Good news is, if you have followed my guidelines it is all uphill from here.
I wanted to give you one thing at a time to reduce and I knew you would have been struggling with giving up sugar but it’s time to…
Eat Real Food & Cut the Crap!!
This means we are slowly starting to reduce the amount of processed and packaged foods that we are eating.
Vegan-Gluten-Free Vanilla Bluberry Pancakes from Oh She Glows
This is a big one and may be the secret to why you are struggling with your energy, have headaches or not losing weight. Continue reading
Banana Walnut Muffins
This is another great recipe from Elana’s pantry. If you are struggling with reducing your sugar intake this is a great website to get lost in as all her recipes are not only sugar-free but gluten-free. You could try this as base for any fruit combo but leave in the dates as they help sweeten the muffin.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 medium bananas
- 3 dates, pitted
- 10 drops stevia
(this is optional – I didn’t use any stevia – the banana and dates make it sweet enough)
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
- I also added in coconut and cinamon which wasn’t part of original recipe
- Place eggs, oil, bananas, dates and stevia in a food processor or blender
; blend on medium speed until combined
- Add in coconut flour, salt and baking soda and blend until smooth
- Fold in walnuts
- Scoop ¼ cup batter into a lined 12 cup muffin pan
- Bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 15-20 mins
Week 3 – The Skinny Secrets Challenge
We are up to week 3 of the challenge and if you have been implementing my advice you will probably have gone through a week of cravings and feeling like you can’t go without a chocolate or cookie. Trust me I have been there!
To tell you the truth I have been faced with a lot of sugar temptation. The past few days I have been hanging out with my parents and my Dad has offered me lollies, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, you name it. You can see how I became a sugar addict!! When I visit my parents it’s a miracle I get out of there sugar-free!
If you have been successful at giving up sugar the past week – well done to you. If you have caved, don’t worry about it or be hard on yourself, every day is a new day to make better choices and changes!
This week I want you to continue to stay away from sugar and limit the amount of fruit you are consuming. We want to get away from having sugar cravings so unfortunately we will need to limit fruit for a little bit. You can get by without fruit just makes sure you are still consuming a lot of vegetables.
You may feel like you are hungry but this really is the cravings talking as you should be eating a decent amount of food. I want you to make sure you have Continue reading
The Power of Failure
I wanted to share with you this video I just found which was posted on Positively Positive about the power of failure.
I am in a situation which I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get out of. Every comfort has been taken away from me including the bare basics like a home.
The fear, anger and hopelessness is paralyzing and suffocating but this video showed me something I knew deep down. Although I feel completely abandoned I know there is purpose in where I am at. I can’t see it, I can’t even see a slight glimmer of light but watching this video made me see that sometimes we are forced into situations where we need to figure it out ourselves. We need to just pull ourselves out some how. We may seem completely clueless as to how but it’s part of our spirit to pull ourselves out of adversity and climb to the top again.
Take a look at the video and to see what I mean….
Week 2 of The Skinny Secrets Challenge – Reducing Sugar
Hi Gorgeous,
Have you been following along with the challenge to clean up your diet and experience weight loss and lots of energy? If not it’s never too late to start!
Last week I asked you to start adding more vegetables to your diet to bring in added nutrients which often helps with cravings. I hope you have been able to do this, even if you have just made a tiny change it’s still a step in the right direction!
This week we are going to get a little tougher and start replacing processed white sugar with healthier alternatives. Now I can hear some of you kicking and screaming, this is the toughest part but we have to do it! It doesn’t mean you can never eat sugar again, it just means we need to start distancing ourselves from it so we can form better eating habits.
You can eat as much as you want of anything else at this stage. Whatever helps you get off the crack! Now I know a lot of health coaches or nutritionists would not agree with my tactic but if you are a total sugar addict and this just seems like to big of a stretch than you can still eat junk food at this stage. Just not sugar!
Want to know the payoff for reducing your sugar intake? Continue reading
