5 ways to energise your day

Alarm goes off. Mind starts racing with the day’s to-do list (how will I get everything done?!). Launch out of bed. Get glance of self in mirror and subsequent huge fright, setting adrenalin into overdrive. Make coffee. Strip off onesie (What? You don’t wear a onesie? Get with the times!). Jump into shower. Brush teeth and clean self whilst in shower. Get out. Get dressed. Do hair. Grab coffee in travel mug. Run out door.

Sound familiar? If this is how you start your morning, then chances are your body has been kicked into fight or flight mode before you have even left the house. You have effectively set your body to up to be in a heightened state of stress for the rest of the day.

Running around stressed is far from something to boast about. You know what I mean – when someone says “how are you?”, you respond with “oh I’m so stressed!” like it’s some badge of honour to show how much you can juggle. I know this because this use to be me. Until it all came crashing down.

Stress is no good for anyone. Check out this impressive list of "did you know's":

• Did you know chronic stress increases your risk of a heart attack?
• Did you know that stress causes the hormone cortisol to increase, which increases inflammation in the body? 
• Too much cortisol is also responsible for that belly fat you can’t seem to budge, no matter how well you eat or drink.
• Did you know that chronic high stress and cortisol wreak havoc on your hormones, contributing to problems such as low testosterone in males and amenorrhea and fertility problems in females.
• Did you know that chronic stress can disrupt your gut flora and, in turn, your overall health and wellbeing?
• Did you know that too much stress and cortisol can lead to adrenal fatigue and low energy?                
• Did you know stressing all the time can reduce your stomach acid and therefore your ability to properly breakdown and digest your food?                   

Now who's boasting? 

If you are a stress-addict and/or poor sleeper, no matter how hard you try with squeaky-clean eating and smart training, you’re probably not going to get the results you want.

So, what can you do about it? Well, I believe the morning is a pretty good place to start. Try out these 5 ways to get your morning off to a great start, reducing your stress, and energising your day:

1. Take 10 deep breaths. Before you get out of bed. This will only take 2 minutes, so no excuses please. Hold your hands over your belly and feel the rise and fall as you take deep breaths in and out through your nose

2. Have a healthy breakfast. If you don’t have time to make anything, prepare something the night before, such as my Berries Extraordinaire. If you do have time, fry up some eggs and veggies and serve with avocado.

3. Chew your food well, chew it slowly and do nothing else. A little while ago I found myself sitting down to my breakfast with my phone, checking my emails, then Facebook, then Instagram, then Twitter, then wondering where my breakfast went. No good for digestion. No good for stress levels. Concentrate on just one thing – your meal – to allow adequate digestion and to optimize the nutrition you obtain from your meal.

4. On that note – don’t touch your phone until you walk out the door. Trust me, you’re not going to miss anything of importance that the inter-webs has to say in that short amount of time.

5. Let this be your new mantra:                                                                                         

“There is plenty of time in the day to get everything done”                                              

I heard Tim Ferris say he did this to keep him focused and prevent him from becoming overwhelmed and stressed with everything he had to do in the day. He said it made him more productive. More calm. I tried it. Completely agree! You don’t need to say it out loud – just repeat it over in your head a few times, especially when you feel a little frazzled by your to-do list.

6. Yes, I know I said 5, but when do I ever stick to what I say I’m going to do. This was meant to be a short post. Clearly incapable. Right, number 6 (which I think is the most do-able and most rewarding):

Smile at 2 people that you walk past. Complete strangers. Hopefully they’ll smile back (if not, chase them down and ask what their problem is. Kidding! Don't do that). Maybe even say good morning. It’ll give you (and them) a little warm fuzzy feeling to kick-start your day, and theirs.

What’s your best way to start the morning? Let me know if you try any of these and if you notice a difference. I would say number 5 and 6 have made the biggest difference to my day.

Hypothalamic amenorrhea - huge thanks and an update

First of all I have to say how blown away by how much support I received from you all following my last blog post (which you can read HERE if you haven’t done so already). It was honestly so overwhelming – I can’t even express in words the gratitude I felt/feel.

I also received a lot of comments/emails/messages from women/girls who are in the same situation. No period for quite some time. Realise they need to put on weight as they are jeopardising their health and fertility. Scared to do so. 

What bothers me is the amount of conversations I have had that go like this:

Me: “I haven’t had my period in 2 years”

Them: “Oh that happened to me too”

Me: “Really? How’d you fix it”

Them: “Oh I just ate more and stopped being obsessive with exercise”

And what really concerns me is how blasé everyone is about all of this. Like losing your period in the pre-menopausal years is normal. I’ve got news for you – IT’S NOT! If your health is suboptimal, your reproductive system will be the first to stop working. You don’t need it to survive. And the first sign of your reproductive system going into shutdown mode is a lack of menstruation. Let’s not dull down how significant this actually is peeps!

OK, so I thought I should give you an update on my progress. No period yet. I have put on 6-7kg. Note – this has been over the past 4-5 months, not the past 5 weeks. That would not be healthy. Just as a healthy weight loss is around ½ kg per week, a healthy weight gain is about the same. I have reached the weight that gives me a BMI of 22 (I was 19.6 before). This is where my doctor and naturopath felt would be ideal for me in terms of baby-making.

How have I done it? I eat more. And I eat more carbs. I snack – mostly on smoothies. Yes, I have become one of those annoying people who drinks green smoothies, but not in a mason jar. My friend Caitlin won’t allow that kind of crap. She already tells me that giving thumbs up isn’t cool anymore. 

Just for you, Caitlin. xx

Aaahh where would I be without my young uni friends to keep me in line?! But I still eat in a paleo/primal/Weston A Price manner. Just because I have needed to gain weight doesn’t mean I should throw away all of my basic nutritional beliefs and principles. Especially in the pre-baby-making phase of my life. You can read my post on that here.

How do I feel about it? I’m not going to lie. I still have the occasional “I’m fat” moments. And then I just give myself a mental slap in the face, tell myself I’m beautiful (yes, I have also become one of those hippy-dippy self-love people. Laugh all you want. It helps), then get back to focusing on things that actually matter in life. You see, what I have realised is this – nobody cares if your thighs touch except you. And you only care because you think everyone else cares. Which they don’t. So stop caring! And please….go and un-like anything related to the “box-gap”. That shit is just going too far!

Because I like lists so much, I have decided to create a little pros and cons of gaining weight:

Cons

• My jeans don’t fit me anymore – actually it’s only one pair that doesn’t fit. The rest are pretty good with their stretch-ability (yes, that is a word!).
• I probably won’t be called up by Victoria to replace Miranda as her new Angel.

Pros

• I have boobs (see below) – this may seem insignificant to all you life-long well-endowed ladies out there, but coming from someone who has always struggled to fill an A cup (don’t laugh!), it’s pretty exciting! My husband also agrees. Although he says he likes my old boobs just as much. Smart man. Very smart man. Learn from this, gents!
• My skin and eyes are clearer than they have ever been (see below). And I don’t use any fancy shmancy skin products. I use olive oil and soap. Maybe a bit of rosehip oil in the winter. That’s it!

No filters - I felt it only right to show my skin as it is. And boobs.
Thanks to Bloch for the new top! 

• I feel stronger. I can lift heavier weights in the gym! Despite doing less exercise overall. Maybe there’s a lesson there….?
• I have more energy. Eating more = more nutrients getting in!
• Most of the time, I actually feel more comfortable in my body. Seriously. For the first time in about 15 years, I feel good. Really good.
• My husband still finds me sexy and my friends still want to hang out with me. Some of you may laugh at this one and say “of course they do!”, but this is actually a legitimate concern for some people (including me) as stupid as it may sound (and yes, we know it sounds stupid too, but the mind works in funny ways).
• Did I mention I have boobs?!

So it would seem that this whole business ain’t so bad after all!? And yes, as I said, there are days when I feel a little frumpy and want to go back to my svelte ways. But slowly, the good days are crowding out the bad. These things take time. And they can be scary. If you’re in the same position as me, please don’t feel that you have to do it alone. Telling friends and family (or, in my case, the entire inter-webs) about what’s going on can be so powerful. The feedback and support you receive might surprise you. I can tell you – writing that blog was the best thing I have ever done for my health. But if you don’t want to tell people close to you, feel free to tell me – either in the comments below or email me kate@theholisticnutritionist@gmail.com. This is an issue that needs more attention! So let’s get talking!

Thanks again everyone! Much love to you all! I'm off to have a bath and admire my new boobs! (kidding! Or am I?) xx

There’s more to life than a 6-pack

And I’m not talking about the beer variety, I’m talking abs-of-steel variety – the much desirable flat tummy.

I want to preface this post by saying I don’t want this post to sound convoluted, nor arrogant. I understand that some things I say may sound like “first world problems”, but I would like to share my personal experiences here in the hope that if someone else out there is going through the same thing, or might be heading down the same path, then perhaps they can change their situation before it gets to the state that I let mine get to.

I have been debating over whether or not to blog about this for a long time. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I am a bit of a perfectionist and I have been scared to show others (and myself) that I in fact am human and have flaws. Maybe getting it down on paper will help put things into a bit of perspective. I think it is important for me to be completely transparent as a practitioner and as a regular gal. A little bit of honesty with the world (and myself) could go a long way. So here we go….

Image at lostateminor.com

As I mentioned, for as long as I can remember, I have been a perfectionist.  I have pushed myself to the limit in every aspect of my life – fitness, academia, work…you name it. I have set myself some absurdly high standards and have put such an immense amount of pressure on myself to maintain these high standards. And yeah, a high distinction average might be impressive to some, but in the whole scheme of things – who really gives a shit? And at what cost have I achieved these results?

Let’s get physical

Who knows when my body image issues started?! Until recently, I have never really considered them as “issues”.

I have always had a very athletic physique. I started competitive gymnastics at a very young age. In primary school I had shoulders wider than most boys my age. I could beat my teenage brother in a push up competition. And I had a six-pack.

Throughout high school and until now, I have always been more active than most. At times in my life I have taught up to 16 hours of group fitness each week. This is not normal. I have maintained my flat, six-pack abs throughout my life (aside from a brief 6 month beer-drinking stint in college). To some, I have the nick-name “abs”. It’s not uncommon for my friends to introduce me to others when we are out and say

“This is Kate – feel her abs”. And subsequently, I would have strangers rubbing my belly in the middle of a pub. Not weird at all….

I’m now 29. Abs still visible. Still getting compliments on my body.

Before you think I’m an absolute wanker and all “look at me with my chiseled abs and perfect grades”, let me get to my point. I have worked hard to get these results….at a significant cost…..

I have recently been diagnosed with hypothalamic amenorrhea.

Hypo whatty?

Hypothalamic amenorrhea, in lamens terms, basically means your brain stops communicating to your lady garden, female hormone production slows and menstruation ceases. Some of you may be thinking this sounds fantastic not to have a period each month. Trust me - it’s not. Especially when you get the age when you are considering baby-making.

So what causes it? The research has suggested a few factors:

• Under-eating
• Over-exercising (ergo body fat below what it should be, which I learnt today is 22% for female hormones to be working optimally)
• Too much stress
• Oral contraceptives (the pill)

Tick, tick, tick, tick. Yep, for the amount of exercise I do (which has been way above what anyone should do), I have not been eating enough food, despite eating quite sizeable, regular meals each day with plenty of fat and protein. I have always been an over-stressor (about insignificant issues). And prior to 2011, I had been on The Pill for 10 years.

Why is it so vital to fix this problem ASAP? Well there are 2 kind of big complications that can arise as a result of this condition:

• Infertility
• Osteoporosis

 Shitballs. Not something you want to be faced with before the age of 30!

But how does this all relate to having a six-pack? Well – the treatment for this is simple, or so it would seem.

Eat more. Exercise less. Stress less. Get off the pill.

In the past 2 years I have covered off most of these – I went off the pill in 2011. I now exercise less. I meditate every day to control my stress. The eating…now that’s something recent and is really the key to treatment. The research suggests, in most cases, this condition can be resolved by adding on a few kgs. Easy right?

Not so much. Having long been complimented on my physique, I struggled at first when I was told I had to put on weight. And then I gave it some thought. And then I realized – 

There IS more to life than a six-pack!

There are so many more important things in life than how you look. And if anyone tries to tell you any different, tell them to f#@k off. Sorry for half-swearing, but I want you to do it. The reality is that most of us will never look like Miranda Kerr, no matter how hard we try. Sorry. But does that mean we are unattractive, undesirable or unworthy of love? Absolutely not!! Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Don’t let your obsession with the perfect body get in the way of you expressing your true inner beauty. We’re all going to end up old and saggy one day anyway!

So here’s to getting a more womanly figure!

I will probably mention all this business in a future blog post but please, learn from my mistakes now. Treat yourself with kindness. Feed your body for health, not perfection. Stress less and play more. And get off the f@#king birth control pill! (Sorry again).

Cancer - what are you going to do about it?

My best friend's mum recently died of cancer. 

A family friend passed away a couple of years ago from a brain tumour. 


Another best friend had a scare with ovarian cancer a few years back.

One of my clients had leukaemia as a child.


I spent last year doing a research project on survivors of childhood cancer which really put things into perspective. Some kids are diagnosed shortly after birth - how does that even happen?!?!

It seems each week, at least one person tells me about someone they know who has cancer. Most of the time, the people affected (that I hear about) are under the age of 50. 

According to the Cancer Council, 1 in 2 people are affected by cancer. These are pretty shitty odds. 

NOTE: please read to the end of this post - lots of important info with not too much of my usual waffle. 

Last week I attended the Cancer Council's Australia's Blogger Morning Tea at the beautiful Chez Dee in Pott's Point, Sydney, with guest speakers Sarah Wilson and Barry Du Bois. 

The gorgeous guest speakers, Barry Du Bois & Sarah Wilson, being photo-bombed by a deer

Baz shared the inspirational story of his personal battle with cancer and that of his wife, who was also diagnosed with cancer. Can you even imagine?! What crappy luck! The thing is - his story is not unique. There are people all over Australia (and the world) being faced with this deadly disease. Barry also adamantly stated that:

"There is no way [our kids] will have sugar in their life"

Why would he make such a bold statement, you ask? When Barry went in for a PET scan (positron emission tomography) to see where his cancer was, they injected him with radioactive sugar (fluorodeoxyglucose). The reason why they did this was because the cancer cells would be the first to uptake the sugar, and this would light up on the scan, thus indicating where the cancerous cells were. Like such (the bright areas indicate cancer cells gobbling up the radioactive glucose):

This is common practice. Cancer cells thrive and proliferate via glycolysis (metabolism of glucose). 

Apparently it has not yet been proven that sugar causes cancer, and indeed the causes of cancer are many and varied, but I can tell you - if I was diagnosed with cancer, as a starting point, I would be getting every last little sceric of sugar out of my life to try and starve those nasty babies! Just sayin'. If you're interested in learning more about cancer and diet, Dr Colin Champ is doing (and has done) quite a substantial amount of research on ketogenic diets (high fat, low carb, low protein) and cancer. Interesting stuff. 

Anywho - as I mentioned, the risk factors for cancer are many and varied and we are still yearning to find a cure. The Cancer Council are doing a fantastic job researching all areas of cancer, with the hope that one day soon we'll find a cure. However, this is only a small part of what they do. Here is a little listicle of some of the other great work they are doing:

• Helping to provide better care for cancer sufferers and their families
• Providing emotional and financial support for sufferers and their families
• Helping with transport to and from hospital (especially important for those living in rural and remote areas)
• Organising legal aid 
• Organising support groups and helplines

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Australia's Biggest Morning Tea - a fundraising event to provide essential funds to the Cancer Council for the activities listed above and more. 

How can you help?

With something so prevalent and deadly as cancer it can be a little overwhelming (it overwhelms me, anyway). What CAN we do? We're not doctors, or surgeons, or carers (well - some of you may be and kudos to you). But that doesn't mean we can't contribute. And the good news is contributing can be fun! How?

HOST YOUR OWN MORNING TEA!!

The I Quit Sugar team at Australia's Bloggers Morning Tea
(Steph, me & Jo - Sarah was off hanging out with the silver fox (Baz) & a rogue deer)

Why? For me (and I suspect you, too), hosting a Biggest Morning Tea checks 3 big things I am passionate about:

1. Spending time with friends/family (or work-mates)

2. Eating

3. Helping others in need

Seriously, there is nothing to lose in this situation! Get amongst it - it's our duty as human beings to come together as a community and help those less fortunate. OK, so here are the vital deets:

What: Cancer Council's Australia's Biggest Morning Tea 2013

When: Official date is Thursday, 23rd May 2013, but you can host an event any time during May (maybe you are super-keen and want todo multiple!)

Who: You and your loved ones (family, friends, colleagues, that guy you have a crush on but can't get the guts to speak to)

Where: Anywhere! Your house, work, school, uni, a cafe, a park....

Register: Sign up at www.biggestmorningtea.com.au or call 1300 65 65 85

Head on over to the site to learn more about it and check out all of the fantastic resources they have for hosting your own tea. 

Some of the food on offer at Chez Dee for the event.
On the bottom - Sarah Wilson's Bacon & egg cupcakes from her book, I Quit Sugar- delish!

If you aren't able to host your own tea, the website lists many other ways you can contribute. Or, if none of their suggestions are doable, you can help by simply spreading the word - share this blog post and www.biggestmorningtea.com.au with anyone and everyone who will accept it. Post it on Facebook, Tweet it, Instagram it, mail it to your grandma, stick it on the fridge at your work....just do SOMETHING.

Now go forth and spread the word my friends...