March Rambles

The weather was kinda bleh this week, which thankfully increased my productivity at the library (so over the whole library thing). But today the sun was out and just in time for me to hand in my final MA proposal. Fantastic. The weather Gods know what's up.

My week was full on. Yesterday I flipped open my diary to discover it was March. Fuck. I hate when that happens. Melbournian's miss February already, I can tell. March signals the early signs of winter - crisp dark mornings, evening layers, and umbrellas. So many umbrellas. I've lost one and broken two over the past year. Who does that? Me, clearly.

In all seriousness, happy March! It's going to be a killer month, don't you think? After 7 days of intense exercise (OMG cross-fit. Hello and welcome, again, into my life) my energy levels are way up and I'm feeling strong momentum. I recently purchased a bike, which makes me smile every time I ride it. Or look at it. I mainly cycle in and around the city to work, gym, uni, and yoga. I love it! My tushie is a little sore, but I reckon it'll take some getting used to.

I got home around 8:30pm starving and tired. Poor combination. I quickly stuffed my face with sweet potato fries, avocado, and leftover grilled chicken, and plopped myself in front of the TV to catch American Idol, Top 10. A sexy Friday night, I know. It felt good.

And it got even better when I discovered and drooled all over Punch Fork. I mean, just look at this screen shoot! Heaven. As a food blogger, I feel a little embarrassed for not knowing about Punch Fork sooner. In my defence, there is a lag between North America and Australia.

Looking at all the food-porn made me realize I had some big wins in the kitchen this week, including paleo coconut cereal. Delicious. I didn't take any photos, which was silly, but I'm feeling a little uninspired with my SRL at the moment. I need to rekindle the love by snapping more photos, no thoughts necessary. I plan to recreate the recipe, with some improved tweaks, and share this weekend ;)

And that's all I really wanted to share. Punch Fork and omg-it's-March-already.

In the words of Calvin Harris, I'm ready for the weekend.

My Commitment

With time your passion(s) can evolve, change, or fizzle into something entirely new from where you started. I've always been a health and wellness nut, but over the years my passion has evolved from a love for sport to holistic medicine, power yoga, paleo inspired eating, and more. Sometimes it feels like I'm doing a million and one things for my health journey; so much so, that I'm actually back-stepping as opposed to push-peddling forward.

It's like I give myself acupressure, whist drinking a superfood smoothie, stretching my hammies, and downloading recipes...while the barbecue is on, my sports bras are hanging to dry, and paleo podcast #102 is streaming in the background. Prodigy for holistic health combustion? Maybe.

To stay on track and in balance with my health, personal, and career goals, I've realized both the value and importance of defining my commitments. What am I committed to? What do I really stand for in my health journey?


My commitment is broken down into three parts: real, variety, and fun.

I am committed to eating real, local, and nourishing food. If it's packaged, canned, processed, or 'questionable', I skip it whenever possible.

I am committed to fresh air and taking my exercise outdoors whenever possible. Yesterday I enjoyed a 25 minute walk to the gym, with a detour through the gardens. Weights + fresh air = best of both worlds. I also purchased a bike! I'm tad terrified to cycle on the road, but super excited to add an additional form of exercise into my daily regime.

I am committed to having fun. If at any point my love and passion for heath feels like a struggle, I stop and adjust accordingly.

There is huge difference between wanting to fix something and wanting to heal. If you're committed to your health journey, I reckon the healing process will be a lot more fun.

I am committed wholeheartedly.

Make a commitment, be courageous, and just go for it. Successful people don't do things half heartedly. They're engaged with their whole hearts into their activities and goals. Whether it's your health, job, relationship, or personal goal...what are you committed to? Can you see it? Feel it? Taste it? What does it look like on a rainy day? If it's a challenge, will you get out of bed in the morning? What's the cost of not committing? Skip snooze already and do it. I believe in you.

Self Love & Satisfaction

I haven't been very nice to myself. Over the course of three months I've picked, prodded, and pruned my most important relationship of all - myself. What began as a clear plan toward healthy weight gain for hormonal balance, prompted an obsessed paleo-meal-planning-sugar-controlling-side-pinching freak. My natural ease and fluidity in the kitchen suddenly felt stifled, like a sudden and unfamiliar chore.
is that too much avocado? steak or chicken? Eggs, again? Shit. 

My passion for raw baking dwindled and post-meal satisfaction was close to nil. And to my absolute horror, when I went to slip into my double 00 little white short shorts... they did not fit. While I laughed with my roommate and moved on to a different outfit choice, in that moment an alarm went off. A judgemental siren, screaming one thing: you're not enough.

There was an obvious block, manifesting and growing on the inside. A sort of discomfort. Without wasting much time, I started to inquire and explore this unfamiliar feeling. On day two of my Urban Remedy detox (fantastic by the way, I'll share soon) my discomfort smacked me in the face.

I stopped listening to me. My self love and mindfulness went out the window. Hello Mr. Obvious. Did I congratulate my consistant yoga practice? No. Did I take time to sit and enjoy a stimulant-free (tv, computer, blackberry, reading material) meal? Of course not. Muti-tasking, people! And what happened to my evening walks? Oh ya, I forgot that I love lengthy walks.

I'm not embarrassed to admit that my self-love has suffered.

So, now what? Anything I want. I caught the drama, allowing me to invent something new. I want to whole heartedly love every inch of myself. I want to honour every delicious morsole and beed of sweat dropped. I want to create a space for others to do the same.

Inspired by both Dee Brennan from thinkoutloud and my talented Naturopath Johanna Clark, starting now (for 1 week) I am challenging myself to stimulant-free meals. No more running out the door, protein smoothie in one hand and blackberry in the other. Just me and my chewing for 20 whole minutes. Tonight I lasted 10.

But I seriously enjoyed the process, from start to finish. Baby steps. I said a little grace and honoured the perfectly ripe avocado, grilled chicken, organic spinach, sweet crisp asparagus, and zestful lemon. It was delicious. And I didn't even clean my plate. My hunger and satisfaction signals were switched on, for the first time in too long. 

I love my hair, it's naturally thick and voluminous. I love my wrists, they're dainty yet strong in downward dog. I love my arms, they're lined with beauty marks. I love my teeth, they're straight and white. I love my passion for health. I love my love for food. I love a lot of things about the world, and myself. I just don't acknowledge them often enough. 

We could all use a little more self-love. Today I am starting with mindfulness. And to me that is really satisfying. 

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours" - swedish proverb

Clean & Green

Urban Remedy graciously sent me a 3-day, level 3 cleanse, complete with 18 juices. I tend to shy away from sugar, including natural sugars such as fruit, etc, so I was hesitant to embark on a juice based cleanse. After carefully assessing the ingredients, I was quickly reassured. My level 3 cleanse includes a green superfood smoothie, green detox juices, an alkalising chlorophyll, mint elixir, spicy lemon, and nut milk. Six juices/mixtures for 3 days. 

My delivery arrived on Friday, but I began preparing my body for the detox well in advance. I started by eliminating all caffeine, sugar, and nuts. I drank warm water with lemon first thing in the morning and tweaked my exercise from high yang (boxing, running, weight training) to more yin (yoga and walking). 

I also whipped up my classic green concoction of avocado, spinach, and nut milk. Sounds gross, but I like to think of it as a delectable green pudding. Trust me, when you're about to detox for three days, you'll appreciate the pre-detox-green-pudding-sludge. 

Detox-Prep Breakie Bowl 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup spinach, packed
• 1/2 avocado 
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

Method: Blend until smooth and enjoy. Simple, no?

"Your body is a temple. Keep it clean". I couldn't agree more. Time to sip juice, practice yoga, sleep, and meditate for three whole days. 

Day 1 is almost done and I'm feeling good. Slightly lethargic, but good. I'll share a breakdown of each juice with you all soon ;)