Sunday 11 March 2012

Focus - Invite More Energy into Your Life

So far I've talked about focusing on how your body feels after eating certain foods and how it responds to these foods. I've also suggested that you create a new ritual in place of one that didn't make you feel so great, or wasn't working for you - for example the mid-afternoon slump. 


Then I raised the question of passion - are you doing the things that you love? (Have you got any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear what your passion is!)


So far - you may be thinking that this is not getting dramatic results - but the key thing to consider is that until you realize that your actions are not aligned with the end result that you have in mind - you are not going to reach your goal - optimal health which happens to result in a slim healthy body!


Just like my light bulb moment when I realized that I was a fat person because I was acting like one. I expected to meander through the day eating whatever I wanted - while also expecting that I should be able to fit into anything I like!  Go figure!


So one characteristic of a healthy person became obvious to me - they all eat plant food like fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. But where I was coming from - that all seemed like rabbit food. 


My palate was so used to being saturated with full-on flavour explosions like savoury crackers with as many numbers and artificial colours in them as there were crackers in the box, or rich mud cake (that was designed to sit on a shelf for 3 to 4 weeks!) washed down with creamy coffee. Plant food was just so bland in comparison! 


With this in mind, the focus for the week is to invite more energy into your life - through living foods. 


Think about how much food that you include during your day that includes real live energy.  Do you start the day with a piece of fruit in your breakfast? Or a roasted tomato on the side of your eggs? Or avocado on toast? 


Do you choose these foods as a snack during the day? These are all very portable foods, and very easily picked up from the supermarket or corner store as a "fast food" when you're in a bind and drive-thru fast food seems like the only option!


Or do you fit the stereotype of a Standard Australian Diet (SAD diet) that includes a piece of tomato on your sandwich at lunch and then you wait until dinner to get your first real dose of vitamins and minerals from plant foods in your meat and three veg? 


This week, be mindful of how many plant foods you are eating each day, and try to increase the volume of your intake, and especially try to start consuming them earlier in the day if dinnertime tends to be your main live food meal.


You can achieve this by having a fruit smoothie in the morning, or pan-fried vegies (in good fats) with your eggs, a banana at morning tea, or Cyndi O'Meara's favourite of dips and vegetable sticks at snack times. This is great for kids too! Check out her recipe page. 


The most fulfilling part of writing this blog is hearing your thoughts - I love to know your feedback and your stories. Please let me know how you feel about this or any of my previous posts!


Have a great day!

6 comments:

  1. Great post Sarah!

    Thank you for following my blog. Mwa! As you know, I adore creating art - this is something new that I've only discovered in the past 12 months, but is something I absolutely love doing. I am at peace with the world when I set about creating and like you, am trying to inspire others to go out and try things that can enrich and bring fulfilment to their lives.

    I really relate to your blog because I am also quite a health conscious person and I consider you to be like the little angel sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear, inspiring me to make healthy choices. ;-)

    Being fit and strong and looking after my diet is incredibly important to me.

    I've been fairly active for most of my adult life but have just started up running again after five or six year's break these past few months. I was so proud when on last Thursday, I ran 8.5km for the first time in years!

    I'm finding now I am being more physically active, I'm becoming a lot more aware of whether the food I put in my mouth is fuelling my body or not. I'm still not there yet, but I'm definitely making baby steps in a forward direction.

    I can tell you every breakfast my hubby and I have 1/3 cups of raw rolled oats (yes, I know it sounds gross so far, but read on!), mixed together with a decent glob of Jalna vanilla yoghurt (full fat, because I prefer the creaminess and the calories and fat isn't too bad for the portion size), and a handful of berries. Mixed up together, this brekky is delicious and feels like I am having a treat every single morning. It also does wonders for my HDL levels and my digestive system. If only the rest of my day's eating was so incredibly noble! Still, I am slowly making additional changes and am really noticing the difference in my energy levels.

    Anyway, thanks once again for your blog. Keep up the inspiring work. I hope I haven't rambled too much!

    Kate

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  2. Hi Kate! Thanks for your lovely reply! It's so interesting to read about someone else's approach to healthy living. I'm glad I can help by being your "little angel!"

    Don't you just love the runners high! I always think of my breakfast if it's a particularly gruelling run as I'm headed home - and something like yours really hits the spot! I love oats too - my family think I'm insane!

    Little changes will eventually add up and before you know it you'll look back and wonder how you got there! Have you tried adding a new ritual to replace one that's not working as well as you'd like?

    Thanks again for your comments Kate!

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  3. Sarah, this was a timely post for me - after talking to you today, it reminded me again that I definitely need to bring more plant food back into my diet, including (gasp) a piece of fruit here and there (I'm not the biggest fan!). Keep the posts coming!

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  4. Hey Mel! Thanks for your comment! I get what you're saying! I actually find that I notice a massive improvement in my clarity after having salad at lunch - it is such a noticeable difference - I imagine it as though the nutrients are being rushed through my body to my nerve endings - which is quite possibly ridiculous - but that's how it feels! Fruit or veg - whatever floats your boat - just real live energy! Thanks again!

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  5. Sah!!! I remember thinking, scrambled eggs, with bacon, saturated in BBQ Sauce was a reasonably healthy way to start the day!! Haha....I laugh at this now....BBQ sauce no longer has an invitation to my meals! But like you (as you know) It was hard to 'start' eating better, but once you do, it's amazing how the old foods make you feel slightly ill just thinking about them!! I had a slice (big) of Barvarian cheesecake for dessert last night, and because I have not had anything like this in months, I felt so heavy all last night while sleeping, and still feel a little queezy this morning! GROSE!

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  6. LOL Hannah! I know exactly what you mean - I feel hungover when I try one of my old favourites and just like drinking I don't feel like it's worth doing that anymore - it's a waste of a good day! Hope you feel better now!

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