my priorities this summer

my family and friends

our health and happiness

drinking lots of filtered water

exercise

our home

spending lots of time in, on and beside the water

Last summer I spent a lot of time hand watering our vegetable garden. I would be out there watering while the boys were swimming at the beach. I felt annoyed that I was doing this, while they were having fun. It was my decision to do it, but I was still annoyed. 

NOT this summer. This summer I'm going to be in the water with them.

A few weeks ago I made a decision to leave the vege garden for now. My hubby has some things planted and he is watering those, plus the things I had already planted. The thing is, we can't do everything. We can try, but it will leave us exhausted. This was a huge decision for me, but I'm finding with the studying I'm doing, that it was all too much. It was hard to let go, but for the sake of my health and happiness, I needed to. Instead, I have a few veges and herbs planted in pots and I will extend this a little bit. I 'm also buying fresh, local, organic veges from some friends that have recently started their own business growing organic veges. It's the perfect solution, for me, now, at this point in time. 

What are your priorities at this time of the year?

Is there any thing you could let go of at the moment? Are you trying to do too much?

We only have one life, and we deserve to make it the best life, for us, that we can imagine. 

The photo above is of our little 20 foot trailer sailor. She has been in our garage over winter. The boys launched her into our local river this morning ready for some summer fun. I met them out there and had a paddle in the water and did some yoga  onboard our little girl. The perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. 

This afternoon it will be study, study, study as I have an exam this week for my course. 

Take care,

love Julie xxoo

about me

I've updated my 'About Julie' at the top of the page.

Would you like to take a look?

I thought so!

This is what I've written. I hope you enjoy it.

I am a wife and mum and soon to be Certified Health Coach. I am currently studying with The Institute of Integrative Nutrition to become a Health Coach so I can fulfill my dream to guide women to create a life of health and happiness.

Why Do I Want To Do This?

2004 was a particularly difficult year for me. I was married to my best friend (and still am), and we have two beautiful boys. It was everything I had ever wanted, but I still wasn't happy. I found myself at an all time low. I was extremely tired, anxious, depressed and I had low self esteem. This was the turning point for me. I didn't want to continue living like this.

I began making small changes to my diet and lifestyle. I began looking after myself as well as my family. I had been doing a great job of looking after my family, but my self care was almost non existent. I couldn't believe that each small change that I made to my diet and lifestyle could have such big results.

Today I am full of energy, happy, healthy and I'm loving life. I am loving the person I have become. I continue making small changes to my diet and lifestyle and my health and happiness keeps getting better and better. I didn't realise life could be so good. I am the healthiest and happiest that I've ever been. I am so grateful for this.

Now, I want to share what I've learnt with other women. I am passionate about guiding other women to create a life of health and happiness. If I can do it, then so can you.

I am in the process of getting ready to launch my Health Coaching business. There will be free weekly newsletters, recipes, online workshops and private health coaching available via telephone and internet. This will all be available via my blog.

I would love you to join me in creating a community of like minded people. People who want an amazing life, full of health and happiness. People who are willing to make small changes to their diet and lifestyle, in little baby steps, to create a life of their dreams.

Will you join me? I hope so.

If you wish, you can enter your email address on the right hand side of my blog and you will be updated with each new post and future workshops etc. Or you can simply check in with me on this blog to see what I'm up to.

Wishing you health and happiness,

and much love,

 xxoo Julie

my number one tip

My biggest, hugest, most enormous tip would have to be.......

to tackle your goal in 'baby steps'.

Whether it's the:

washing up

pile of laundry waiting to be put away

mess in your cupboard

weight you want to lose

healthy changes to your diet

healthy changes to your lifestyle

painting

decluttering

business you want to begin.

Just begin. 

Make one baby step towards that goal you want to reach. 

You might set your timer for 10 mins. and work on one step for this time. You might start on one shelf. You might make one small change to your diet or lifestyle.

All it takes is one baby step, followed by another and another and another. 

Work at your own pace, not the pace of the lady over the road.

I know. I've done it. It works.

Reward yourself for accomplishing these small, baby steps. Have a soak in the tub, read some of your book, go for a walk outside, have a rest, you deserve it. 

Decluttering a whole cupboard might seem overwhelming. You might feel like you haven't got time. Just do one shelf. Tomorrow, do another shelf and the next day another. In a few days your whole cupboard will be tidy. 

Remember:


"It is possible

to move a mountain

by carrying away small stones. "

Chinese Proverb

My small stones this weekend will be studying and decluttering. 

Do you have any small stones that you'll be working on?

Wishing you health and happiness. 

xxoo Julie

Ayurveda

After doing some study this afternoon I decided it was time for a nice, hot bath. I placed a pile of magazines, covering different topics,  beside the bath tub. Today I was drawn to the Sept-Oct issue of Australian Natural Health. I can't help myself.....I just LOVE reading about health. I intended on reading the section titled 'Create Your Own Edible Garden', but as I was flicking through looking for this article, I stumbled across an article on Ayurveda.

In my studies with The Institute of Integrative Nutrition, we are learning about over 100 different dietary theories and the pros and cons of each. One of the main concepts we are taught is the concept of bio-individuality. What works for one person, may not work for another. A particular food that makes one person feel good, may make another person feel sick. It is all about eating mindfully and observing how YOUR body feels after eating these particular foods.

One of the dietary theories that I have studied so far is Ayurveda. "Ayurveda, meaning  'the science of life', originated in India as a holistic approach to create balance within the mind and the body by aligning oneself with nature. The idea is to cleanse the body of substances that cause illness through proper diet and lifestyle. The belief is that disease results from an imbalance of the doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha. Doshas are life energies made up of the five elements of nature (ether, fire, air, water and earth) and pertain to an individual's physical characteristics and personality traits. Most people exhibit a combination of doshas, but there is always one that is more dominant." Institute of Integrative Nutrition.

In this addition of Australian Natural Health, Caroline Robertson, an Ayurvedic practitioner, shares how to live in tune with your type and gain the freedom to love and accept yourself-just the way you are. She states that: " Everybody's constitution is an equal blessing, with special strengths and susceptibilities."

With every dietary theory, I believe that you need to read the information and then trust your OWN instincts. Some ideas will make sense to you and some ideas won't. It is important though to trust YOUR  instincts.

Having said that, after I read the information in the magazine, some of it really made sense to me. Some of it really helped me to work out why I feel the way I do at different times.

After filling out a questionaire in my course, to work out what my dominant mind/body type is, I found that mine is the Vata(air) type. With this type, Caroline Robertson says 'your mind often races, which leads to anxiety and insomnia, however though your energy and idealism may suffer storms, your sails are soon filled with wind again for an exciting life voyage. Your attraction to activity and stimulation can result in depleted energy and instability. You're unbalanced by lack of sleep, insufficient nutrition, overexertion, travel, cold, dry weather and worry.' Caroline explains how to eat right for your type and how to create balance for your type. For my type she says 'As you lack the same reserves as the other types it's important to replenish yourself with regular sleep, meals and relaxation. You need to quieten mental chatter with meditation and massage, which centres and calms you.' Caroline discusses other ideas too.

I am blown away by how accurately Caroline describes my personality and the ways I can use to balance myself. They are the ways I have found, through experience, that bring balance to me.

In my course I studied John Douillard. He has been teaching Ayurvedic medicine, natural health, fitness and nutrition internationally for over 20 years. He holds a PhD in Ayurvedic medicine. For more information and to work out your dominant type, you can go to John's website:

www.LifeSpa.com

On the right hand side of this page you can access for free the body type questionaire, as well as articles, etc.

image from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition

tacos and nachos

Last nights dinner, tacos for the boys and nachos for me.

In this little family of mine, the boys and my husband eat meat, but I don't. For a while we ate vegetarian meals only, but the three men in the family really craved meat. In my studies I have learnt that food is an individual thing. Food that suits one person may not suit another. 

As a result, I cook meals with meat in it for the boys every two or three days and the rest of the time we go vegetarian. This won't work for every family, but it works for us. 

Last night the boys had tacos. I browned the mince and blended a can of tomatoes with a little bit of celery and spinach. I then added the blended tomatoes to the mince and simmered it for a while. This allows some of the water from the tomatoes to evaporate off and the mixture thickens. I then added some organic tomato sauce. After heating taco shells, spoon some of the meat mixture into the shells and add a little bit of cheese, grated carrot and lettuce. This is a great way to get kids to eat more salad. 

For my nachos, I put some organic cornchips on an oven proof plate and sprinkled some cheese over the top. This went into the oven to melt the cheese. After removing from the oven I put layers of salad ingredients over the top, lettuce, rocket, grated carrot, capsicum, cucumber, parsley. This was served with sour cream and salsa. 

Two meals, one with meat, one vegetarian. Both meals based around salad. It wasn't difficult, but it catered to two different eating styles. 

my words

Release

Love

Time

Happiness


Releasing the past, releasing expectations of me, being who I want to be, who I am meant to be.

Loving myself and the people around me, the people I choose to have in my life.

Spending time on the things that are important to me. Letting go of the rest.

These things bring me happiness. They fill me with joy.

These are my words, my mantra.

Living mindfully. Fulfilling my purpose. It's where I'm meant to be. It's all good.

Sending love and gratitude to you. Thank you for being here with me.

xxoo Julie 

Goodbye Microwave Hello New Shelf

As part of my course with The Institute of Integrative Nutrition I have been doing some reading about the dangers of microwave ovens. It is important not to believe everything you read, to look at WHO has conducted the study and then to make up your own mind, to trust your gut instinct. 

The Institute of Integrative Nutrition refers their students to these articles:

Microwave Hazards by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell 

Microwave Ovens Destroy the Nutritional Value of Food by Mike Adams 

Does Plastic In Microwave Pose Health Problems? Wall Street Journal 12 Oct. 1998

After reading these articles I decided to get rid of our microwave oven. I have never been 100% comfortable in using it and these articles confirmed my fears. This left me with the perfect space for some cookbooks. 

Saturday: Study, Cookbook and Pumpkin Soup

After a morning spent grocery shopping I was looking forward to getting out in the sun this afternoon to do a bit of study. This is one thing that I'm really enjoying about my course....being able to study when I feel like it.....and being able to study where I feel like it. My iPad that was provided for my course allows me to do this.
I set up my hammock in the sun, but it was a little too hot, so I moved to the shade. Studying in the fresh air, outside, with the chickens softly clucking in the background..... this is the life for me.

I love cookbooks that are written by people with some type of health qualifications because the recipes should be healthy. This book is one of these. It is written by Lauren Burns who is a qualified naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist. Lauren is best known for winning the first Olympic gold medal for taekwondo in the -49kg category when the sport made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Lauren became a vegetarian at the age of three and is proud that, despite many nutritionists telling her it simply wasn't possible, she was able to continue being a vegetarian through her elite sporting career.

While grocery shopping this morning I found this pumpkin, locally grown without the use of pesticides, and as I've had soup on my mind I couldn't resist it. The pumpkin soup recipe is from Lauren's book.

Thanks for visiting,

Julie xxoo

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . .

(inspired by SouleMama)

My package arrived from the Institute Of Integrative Nutrition, containing the materials I need for my course to become a Holistic Health Coach. It was so exciting to receive this in the mail this week. I am full of happiness, gratitude and excitement as I begin this journey. 

Autumn Gardening + Today

I don't know if this happens to you.............. we begin spring with a flurry of garden activity. We plan what we are going to plant, order extra seeds we may need, hoe the garden and fork in horse and chicken manure, then it's plant, plant, plant. We do go a little over board with some things. We make grand plans. We are going to keep trying to grow all our own veges.
Then summer hits. We don't have a watering system set up YET, so we end up spending A LOT of time watering. Sometimes it's two hours per day and this takes a lot of time out of an already busy day. It doesn't leave any much time for keeping the weeds under control. So by the end of summer, which was officially yesterday, our garden is weeds galore.
So towards the end of this summer I have started to plant seeds in foam boxes. I didn't like this idea at first. I was worried about chemicals leaching into the veges, however our neighbour has assured me they won't. I hope he is right. If you have read differently please let me know. I am not planning on doing this forever, just until we get the garden back under control.
Kale.... I planted this a little early... will see how it goes. I will plant this into the garden when it's a bit bigger.

Lettuce and mesclun mix.....

Rocket and mesclun mix.....

Today was raining again, and I'm not complaining, so I decided to do a little baking.
Chocolate cake for the boys. We aim for 90% of our food to be healthy with a few treats here and there. I also made chocolate frogs for them, a healthyish treat but it does have some sugar in it. I'll post these recipes another time.

I bought some Nutritional Yeast (Savoury Yeast Flakes) for the first time a couple of days ago. It is ideal for vegetarians and is a rich source of B Vitamins. I tried it sprinkled over a tomato based sauce with pasta today. Quite nice.

Rain, rain, beautiful rain, unless you live on flood affected areas of course and if you do my heart goes out to you. This is over the road from our place at the front of my Uncle's property. We are a little higher than him and don't get affected. He doesn't either. He just has heaps of water laying around the front of his place. My parents live next door and are the same.

I hope your day has been a good one and that your home is safe and dry. xxoo

A New Year

I love the start of a new year.


I also love the start of a new month, a new week and a new day.


A new year, month, week and day bring new possibilities. They are a new beginning. Time to start again. Time to set new goals.


So, in keeping with this theme, I have set myself some new goals for 2012.


My goals for 2012 are:


:: to appreciate the beauty in the everyday 


:: to make family, health and happiness my top priorities. 


:: to be me....... to listen to my heart, my inner voice.......to follow my instincts. 


I have also set myself some daily goals:


:: drink water ( 2 litres)


:: make and eat healthy food


:: do some exercise and/or yoga


:: spend some time outside in nature. 


So, lets begin.........


Welcome to 2012  and to the start of my new blog. 


I sincerely hope 2012 is a great year for you. 


xxoo Julie

clean start