Health & Wellness in South America - Guest post

Hey all! We are back from South America and as you can see, my attempt to keep the blog updated failed miserably. We were too busy....living! Sorry to rub it in, but sometimes you just need to completely disconnect (not that I did - I became quite Instagram happy during our travels. You can follow me at kate_callaghan). So, while I am working on a new blog at the moment, I am also trying to get my new website for my nutrition business up and running, which means I am a little busy. Fortunately for me, my dear husband has offered to do a guest post for me! Woo hoo! Minimal input from me this time - just one little side note which you will see in purple. Enjoy!

Lessons learnt in South America

14 flights , 7 bus trips and 3 days on a boat in the jungle. What did I learn from a health and wellness point of view?

"Caldo de cordero" from La Paz, Bolivia.
Also known as bone broth - cheapest superfood on earth!

1. There is always a good, better and best food choice. Take responsibility; there is no-one else to blame. (see above for an example of "best food choice")
2. What I found from an exercise point of few: when conditions were less than perfect (e.g. equipment that you want isn’t available, limited time, energy levels are low), something is better than nothing. Often the biggest hurdle is mindset. Take in the attitude that you’re just going to do 5min -10min. Once you’re moving things usually fall into place.
3. The power of marketing is huge. The further societies get away from their traditional diets the decrease in health seems exponential.
4. Even at 40 years old it’s possible to increase flexibility with consistent work.  As a side note, 5mins of stretching before bed made me feel significantly better in the morning.
5. Always remember the attitude of gratitude. Not having access to hot water, electricity, toilets that flushed and safe drinking water was a great reminder to be thankful for what I have.
6. Yes it seems at some level calories in vs calories and not just hormone regulation seems to influence body composition. Unfortunately I’m just not sure which is more important when trying to get change. Overall my total calories would have been down but my insulin spiking (through traditional weight gaining food) was up. Yet I lost weight?? (as a side note, he did have diarrhoea for about 3 weeks, which may have contributed just a little to the weight loss. Sorry for sharing, Az!)
7. Movement and sunlight are key components for me to have a happy mindset. After periods of long travel and lack of movement, my ability to handle stress definitely decreased and levels of irritability increased.
8. We are victims of our environment.  Age should not be a limiting factor for staying supple and mobile. Being able to deep squat is a fantastic way to maintain ankle, hip and thoracic spine mobility. Unfortunately in the west we have chairs and toilets so we lose the necessity and ability to deep squat and think it is normal….
9. My body feels horrible when I have vegetable oil
10. For fat loss, maybe 4-10 mins of bodyweight exercise 3-4 x a week might be enough for great results.

The trip was absolutely amazing. I love my wife very much for being so patient with someone who I’m sure was not always easy to travel with…(he wasn't so bad)

Hope this helps. Aaron

Contact Aaron - www.primal-fitness.com.au