All throughout my 20's I had a pretty great diet - I ate in moderation, easy on the sugar, light on the chocolate (although both were definitely included), lots of fresh fruit & veg, lots of seafood & lentils. Don't get me wrong, there was also lots of alcohol & lots of eating out, but on the whole, it was a pretty balanced nutritional picture. Regular visits to my regular naturopath saw me often go on mini-detoxes and I started each morning with lemon and hot water. Good on the supplements and herbs.. life was rocking.
Enter the
dirty 30's and they've lived up to their name.
More sugar.
More responsibility.
More hours. Stressful job. You know,
adult stuff. The last office job I had before dedicating my life back to yoga full time saw my adrenals burn out, my stress levels sky rocket, and sugar became the only thing that got me through the day. I wrote a tweet during this period:
Red jelly frogs and coke = diet of the stressed. Of course it wasn't an overnight thing - I loved my job for a long time, and it was a slow journey to burn out. I'm an awesome multi-tasker - I'm just not so great at listening to the signs my body gave ME (I didn't have time, haha). All of this, I've shared before.
But then this brings us up to today.
The adrenals are getting back to normal. This means I'm putting weight back on. I'm not a gal who's ever deprived myself of the joys in life, and food is definitely one of them. And while the 10 kilos I lost due to burnout wasn't healthy, it was not all bad to be able to eat
anything and not put weight on. However, it's healthy to put on weight when you eat a not-so-hot diet, and that's where I am back to.
I get it now (and realise how lucky I was in my teens & 20's to never have experienced any issues with food). I get how even though you know that you can't have jelly lollies and coke every day, when the physiological body is addicted to the sugar rush and high, it's damn hard to stop. I get how unhealthy it is to have coffee for breakfast, and I believe the
Skinny Bitches say
"Coffee is for pussies. You should not need anything to wake up. If you can't wake up without it, it's because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob." (You can read more about their thoughts on
coffee here)
But more than anything, it's starting to worry me how diet is affected to everything - from energy levels, sleeping patterns, skin & eyes, to depression.
Duh.
I know! I know! But really, it's all coming to a head for me right now. I got a body x-ray done and while I was shocked by some of the things I saw structurally (thank god I do yoga!), I was more shocked to see these little black shadows come up via the x-ray -> gas!!
Eeep! I had a LOT of gas in my x-rays! (So unladylike). That very same day I had a
shiatsu treatment and the practitioner talked about my digestion, just by touching my tummy and feeling where it was moving, blocked etc.
Furthermore, who wouldn't want to be free from drugs and let the body heal naturally? I want to come off my anti-depressants and let the body be it's own doctor. To do that, I need a balanced healthy body - which is something I can definitely take control over.
So here we go.
Follow the journey of an inner-city living, sugar-loving, too busy yogini as she transforms her diet and her life.
Wow, sounds pretty cool :) But seriously, the time is now.
I'll take my tips from Hippocrates (the father of Medicine, 2500 years ago!) who said,
"Let food by they medicine, and medicine be thy food"
and Michael Pollan (renowned food expert and journalist, 2007) who is often quoted for,
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"
Tips, stories, support - all welcome. Let's
share cool posts,
inspiring blogs, & laughs along the way. I'd love to hear how you keep healthy, happy and shiny - from the inside out.
xo