ARE MEDJOOL DATES HEALTHIER THAN REGULAR DATES?

This is the question I found myself tapping into Google yesterday, after I'd spent a pretty penny on a handful of medjool dates. Medjool Dates are enjoying buzzword status in the world of healthspiration at the moment, but how do they differ from regular dates?

Well, I taste tested a few yesterday and can tell you that they are a helluva lot sweeter, stickier and softer, which makes them a great option for recipes. They would work well in my Raw Fruit and Nut Cacao Balls.

But their sweetness and texture didn't answer my question - are medjool dates better for you than regular dates (I believe the ones commonly found in supermarkets are called deglet noor); are they worthy of buzzword status? I'm inclined to think not. I'm no expert, but from what I've read online there seems to be little difference between the two, in terms of the nutrient kick.

For a sweet snack, I would prefer regular dates as the medjools are extremely sweet. I don't make a habit of snacking heavily on dried fruits since they have a concentrated sugar content and it feels counter-intuitive to me to overload on sugar. But when I have a sweet tooth, and we all get them (there has to be a reason that we have sweet sensors right on the top of our tongue) I don't mind poppin' a few dates for an energy burst.

My Conclusion: medjool for baking, regular dates for sometimes snack poppin'.

Image Credit: Groundworks

THE BEST EVER HOMEMADE LEMONGRASS SUGAR SCRUB

I blogged a recipe for homemade sugar scrub a little while ago, but I had to risk sounding like a broken record and come back with an update. I've been tweaking my concoctions and this is hands down the best I've made. Just popped out of the shower and feel 100% invigorated and fresh - you have to try this.

Homemade sugar scrubs are just a mixture of sugar, a carrier oil, and an essential oil for scent. The purpose is of course to exfoliate your skin and buff away dead cells, but the oil also acts as a moisturiser.

I've been experimenting with a few different carrier oils. Previously I've tried coconut oil and sesame oil. Coconut oil is okay; it's obviously known for its hydrating properties, but personally I find the scent overpowering. The same goes for sesame oil. I had read about its amazing moisturising power so decided to give it a try, but it left me smelling a bit like a stir fry? That brings me to my third experiment: olive oil.

Recently I saw a TV interview with a hand model. When asked for tips for keeping her hands in good condition, she said that her secret was good old, humble olive oil. Well, if you're going to take advice from anyone!

For body purposes, you want to use a light/mild olive oil. The brand that I have in my cupboard is Moro Light Taste Olive Oil. This is perfect because the smell is so mild, it enables the scent of your essential oil to take the limelight.

As for the pure essential oil,  I've used bergamot and lavender in the past, but obviously used lemongrass for this pot and it's my favourite, hands down. Lemongrass is refreshing, uplifting, calming, relaxing, all at the same time. I love it!

How To

Find yourself a plastic tub that is safe to keep in the shower. Fill it with sugar (to measure) then tip the sugar in a larger bowl. Add about the same quantity of light olive oil (so, 1 cup of each, for example) and mix it in. You want the consistency to be moist and only slightly liquidy so just play around til you get the consistency right. Next, add your essential oil bit by bit until you get a desired strength. I added about 1.5 teaspoons lemongrass to my batch (which was a bit more than a cup of sugar).

Enjoy enjoy enjoy. x

RAW FRUIT AND NUT CACAO BARS

I was on the hunt for something sweet and chocolatey one day, and was pretty excited to come across Emma & Tom's Life Bars at Woolworths. I was doing that thing where you buy the 'healthy' chocolate, so you don't feel so bad...

What I really appreciated about these bars was the short list of actual ingredients - ingredients that I could identify on a line up. Such a rarity with processed foods.

Because of this, I was able to recreate the bars myself by playing around with the quantities. Thanks and sorry, Emma and Tom.

I added some protein powder to my bars. I look for unflavoured protein powder with the fewest amount of ingredients. I like Vital Protein 100% Pea Protein and Planet Food 100% Whey Protein Isolate. Read the ingredients lists on your proteins because a lot of them contain sugar (using those sneaky names!) or artificial sweeteners and other who-knows-what.

Raw Fruit & Nut Cacao Bars

200g dates, finely chopped

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/4 cup raw organic cacao powder (note, this is different from cocoa)

80g cashews, finely chopped in a blender

90g raisins, finely chopped

2 tablespoons protein powder
1 tablespoon almond milk (if needed, to add moisture)

Combine all ingredients and shape into balls. You might even like to roll the outsides in coconut or crushed nuts. Store in the fridge. 

Vegetable Oils are Bad

Nope.

The other day I posted a recipe for homemade mayonnaise and told you to come back (like obedient little readers!) to find out why I bother making homemade mayo when the supermarket mayo is so freaking delicious! Here's why.

Science shows that vegetable oils are bad for you, specifically, that they cause heart disease and cancer.

I don't have a holier-than-thou attitude about food and will be the first person to tell you that my diet is far from perfect, but my attitude is that every little good thing helps the big picture.

I have shunned fake mayo (that is, anything that isn't whole egg) for years. If you have a bottle of fake mayo  (e.g. "Praise Traditional" Mayonnaise) in your fridge, I'm sure you'll find that it contains a LOT of sugar. Unfortunately, the supermarket varieties of whole egg mayo use toxic oils (i.e. vegetable and seed oils) in their recipes. Hopefully one day soon, there will be a variety that uses healthy oils (and it'll cost a bomb).

By the way, 'vegetable oil' is the umbrella term - when we're talking about oils to avoid, the list includes Canola, Soybeen, Sunflower, Sesame Seed and more (see table below).

It's a funny concept to grasp - it's VEGETABLE oil, that sounds like a good thing?

If you're interested in the topic, you should read Toxic Oil by David Gillespie.

The science gets a little complex and I'm no expert, so I'll just give you a excerpt from this article written by Gillespie for the Sydney Morning Herald. It's a wad of text but if you can't commit to a whole book, at least give this a go. If you can't commit to these paragraphs, I've made the crux of it bold.

'Almost every fat we put into our mouths today is a vegetable oil manufactured by an industry that didn't exist 100 years ago. We are eating vegetable oil because it is much cheaper for manufacturers to make food with oils chemically extracted from plant seeds than it is to raise and slaughter an animal. We've also been told that the secret to reducing heart disease is to consume these unsaturated vegetable oils rather than saturated animal fats. Now all the fats in our processed foods are labelled vegetable oils, and the labels are rarely more specific than that. Vegetable oil can be found in everything from potato chips to muffins, frozen foods to canned soups, to enhance flavour and texture.

The irony is that there is no such thing as oil from a vegetable. The products being sold as "vegetable" oils are in fact fruit oils (coconut, palm, avocado), nut oils (macadamia, peanut, pecan) or seed oils (canola, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed, grapeseed, rice bran). While the fruit and nut oils are relatively harmless, the seed oils pose a real risk to our health - and unfortunately they make up most of the "vegetable" oil in our food. It is now almost impossible to buy a packaged or takeaway food that is cooked in anything but a seed oil, and while some seed oils are unhealthier than others, they all contain damaging levels of omega-6 fatty acids.The process that initially permitted the huge expansion in the consumption of seed oil in the 20th century was hydrogenation, a chemical process that introduces hydrogen to liquid oil extracted from plants under extreme heat, making a thin oil thicker or even solid. Unfortunately, hydrogenation produces its magical thickening effects by turning polyunsaturated fats into trans fats. 

A trans fat works in the same way as a normal fat in cooking, but during the early 1990s evidence started to emerge that once these fats are inside our bodies, they significantly increase our risk of heart disease. They do this by decreasing HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, the so-called "good" cholesterol associated with lower rates of atherosclerosis) and raising the "bad" LDL form (low-density lipoprotein, which contributes to blocked arteries). A series of studies in the UK produced consistent evidence that trans fats also significantly increase a person's chances of developing type-2 diabetes.'

The chart below categorises oils and fats so that you can easily see which ones are safe and which to avoid. I have this chart printed and stuck inside the door of our pantry.

So there it is. That's the long (but short) reason why I am making my own mayo. It's not everything, but like I said, every little thing contributes to the whole!

Homemade Sugar and Salt Coconut Body Scrub

Today I have a completely guilt-free sugar recipe! A beautifully scented and amazingly moisturising body scrub. Probably about $2 worth.

I love salt/sugar exfoliating and like having one at-hand in the shower for a tri-weekly exfoliation sesh. You can buy some beautiful scrubs from the shops, of course, but they will set you back anywhere between $20 and $40 a jar. Why would you? I finished my jar of store-bought scrub yesterday and decided to make my own. I made it entirely from things I already had lying around.

The scrub is made up of a few simple ingredients, which is fantastic, when you compare it to the 20+ ingredients in the commercial tubs! I used salt, sugar, essential oils and coconut oil. The scent evaporating in the shower steam is so very dreamy. This mix also makes for a lovely no-reason gift.

Sugar or Salt?
With this scrub, I used a mixture of white sugar (regular sugar, not brown, not caster) and sea salt that I pummeled with a motor and pestle. The reason for the combination is because I only had a little of each left in the cupboard. I think I will stick with this combo in the future because it seems to work.

The Carrier Oil
I used coconut oil in my scrub, which you can get from the supermarket for about $5 a jar. Coconut oil is meant to be super moisturising. It does leave a slight 'oil slick' feel when you're putting it on (which I don't mind) but it easily melts into the skin when you towel off. You can use sweet almond oil instead but I think this is probably more expensive.

Essential Oils
You can use any combination of oil you like - just pick the scents you enjoy! I used a combination of lavender (calming) and bergamot (uplifting). Peppermint essential oil would be divinely refreshing in the shower, and sandalwood would be nice for the boys. Make sure that you use 100% pure essential oils, not those cheapo burner oils from Dollar King. Pure essential oils are a little pricey (~$20) but the bottle will last ages. Whatever essential oils you choose, just add a little bit at a time til you reach your desired strength.

My Mix
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup table salt (or crush sea salt with motor and pestle)
2/3 cup coconut organic coconut oil (health food section of supermarket)
1 teaspoon lavender oil
12 drops bergamot oil
Crushed lavender (This is optional. I actually sprinkled some dried thyme in mine as I did not have a lavender bush at hand. I probably won't add more 'bits' to future scrubs as they tend to stick and get lost places.)

Combine all of the ingredients and store in a plastic container in the shower/bath. The oil will naturally separate from the sugar/salt so just give it a little pinkie-stir before using. Enjoy!

How To Deal With Emotional Eating One Cupcake at a Time

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, today I'm going to write a little about the super fun topic of emotional eating!

What is emotional eating? It's a sudden urge for a particular food, often sugary and fatty, usually accompanying an uncomfortable emotion. It's when you go to the shops and purchase 10 chocolate bars, a wheel of brie, a packet of Tim Tams, a tub of icecream and a box of chicken nuggets for your personal consumption instead of dealing with a situation. Emotional eating is usually done in secret, not socially. Emotional eating is NOT enjoying good food or having the occasional party pig-out. Totes different things.

Emotional or binge eating is a common problem, so I gather. Why am I writing this post? Well firstly, the other day I was airing my grievances about some Sugar Quitting Plans, and it got me thinking about how certain dietary advice seems to wash over the issue of emotional eating, which, in my opinion, is probably the main reason why people struggle with weight and diets.

This thing is, if you've had any experience with Emo Eating then you will know: it doesn't matter HOW well-intentioned your plan is, it doesn't matter HOW much you want to not look like a strangled caterpillar in your skinny jeans, it doesn't matter HOW high your motivation is at the start of your plan - emotional eating tends to butt-in and mess things up, amiright?

Any person who has experience Emotional Eating will know that often, when your resolve crumbles, nothing will stand between you and your junk food, in spite of your best intentions. 

So my intention with this post is to fill that gap and to hopefully help someone that Google-izes this topic. I'm no expert, but I do have a brain and a cake hole.

This is what I know: you could be the most well-informed person on the planet with regards to nutrition and what you are supposed to be eating, but if you have an emotional dependence on food, your emotional dependence will always try to override that information.

It's not something that can be fixed with this illusive thing called "willpower" or with knowledge about nutrition (although that is obviously useful). Take heart, there are some little tricks that you can have up your sleeve. I'm just going to tell you outright, because no book is going to be this honest - these tricks are not going to help you every single time, but they will help you a lot. They're not quick-fix techniques; they need time and practice, like any routine, but they will help you regain control so that you're the one managing your life, not the King Size Twix.

I have wrestled with emotional eating many times, like a lot of people. It's so frustrating when you have health and fitness goals but your stupid french fry mcflurry brain keeps butting in. I doubt my "case" is severe - I've had minor weight fluctuations over the years but I deal because I never really give up on the health goals, and, I'm vain, I guess. It's okay to press the reset button over and over again when it comes to healthy eating and what not. But okay - you need to get some control over that silly bingeing beast.

How do you recognise it? If you're not yet in the habit of trying to stop emotional eating in its tracks, you might not even realise that you're trying to escape an uncomfortable emotion or situation when you're bingeing. But I bet if you thought it over for a second, you'd be able to identify a trigger. Even if it's something like procrastinating doing the vacuuming. Vacuuming can be very taxing on the emotions.

Food bingeing can be sought as a "remedy" to stress, boredom, unease, embarrassment, procrastination, or even the prospect of a pending diet ("diet starts tomorrow, better eat all of the things because this is my last chance to eat tasty food, ever"). But emotional eating doesn't even discriminate to negative emotions. Yep, I've had happy food parties, too - rewards for feeling on top of the world. Waaahooo!

A couple of years ago I read a really great book that I strongly recommend. The book walks you through some steps that require written responses to get you to identify the reason for your predicament, how to recognise it and what to do about it. Many of the lessons in the book have stuck with me. Case in point: I'm writing this post based on information I retained a few years ago - the book itself is buried in a box somewhere. Anyway, time to fire that King Size Twix, so let's get onto it.

BUT WAIT: Please accept that sometimes these tactics will work, sometimes they won't.

I'll get this bit out of the way. The truth: I still do grapple with emo eating and the urge to clear out the confectionery aisle at Coles sometimes. Sometimes the tactics totally fail me, but a lot of the time, they work. That's why I just want to be honest and tell it like it is: you can't expect to read a book and have everything fall into place (you know what I mean - when even the action of purchasing the diet book makes you feel better?!). As far as I am aware, there's no cure, so you gotta be willing to try and fail and try again. I used to feel like I was powerless under some kind of food spell, and saw Emotional Eating as something I would just have to accept and deal with for life. But after reading the book, doing the homework and drawing on the tactics over a few years, I brought le power back to me, just to sound like total cheese. I do make bad decisions sometimes but a lot of the time I can make a good decision.

Again: Sometimes tactics to sidestep emotional eating urges will work; other times the Chocolate Bitch within will put up a fight and win. You know that situation. The Chocolate Bitch wants her treats and there's no way in hell she's going to go without. On those occasions there's probably very little chance of using any tactics because Chocolate Bitch has already hightailed to the shops and is dumping Snickers into your shopping basket. You can't really work with those situations because sometimes they just happen. They suck, but no one said you can't try to avoid it next time.

Don't despair, once you start thinking about this more consciously, more often that not there should be that little voice in your head that is wanting to fight the urge. THOSE are the little moments you can work with. You just have to hit pause for a minute. Then what?

1) Pause to question your urges and start asking yourself what's going on

The simple answer is that I try to be mindful of emotional eating (usually classified as eating naughty foods on the sneak) and coax myself out of using food as an emotion-suppressor. When people emotionally eat, it's usually because they are experiencing an uncomfortable feeling and they are desperate to shift the focus away from that feeling. They attempt do this by distracting themselves with food. When you suppress an emotion with food, it doesn't solve the underlying problem, it just pushes it away for the problem to resurface later.

An uncomfortable emotion is usually a sign of an underlying issue and the need to work through that issue. For example, if you're stressed or anxious, you need to ask yourself what the cause is and what action you need to take to resolve it.  If something awkward happened and you are feeling embarrassed, although the urge to run away and jump into a vat of Nutella is strong, you really need to process the situation and make peace with it. If you are unhappy, what are you unhappy about? What steps do you need to take to be happier? Food is only a temporary distraction, not a lasting solution. When you allow yourself to sit with the emotion/issue/situation, process it and let it wash around you, even though it may be uncomfortable for a bit, the result is that you will often end up facing the issue and finding a solution, therefore moving forward with your life and maturing as a person.

Sounds quite neatly-packaged when I put it like that, but I can honestly say that making myself face up to my emotions and issues almost always results in some kind of meaningful realisation, idea or progress that carries me forward. I would not have experienced these ideas if I had been busy fossicking for Maltesers. It's not an easy process, but it is 100% more rewarding than just staying stuck in a rut with your Cheesy Poofs!

When I find myself craving junk for emotional reasons (totally different from enjoying a birthday cake or pizza night - social eating) I am now in the habit of stopping to think about the situation. I'll do a quick brain scan and ask myself if I'm trying to suppress/avoid/escape? Again, it's not always something serious. It could just be boredom. If it's a frequent problem though, there's probably a bigger issue that needs a look-in.

2) Have an imaginary conversation with that little voice inside your head

Sometimes if I want to talk myself out of burying my emotions in a Pity Pizza, I will take a few moments to have an internal dialogue with myself. For example, if something demoralising happens to you, your habitual inkling might be to find a treat to comfort yourself with. That's not going to deal with the issue. A better response might be to engage in some internal dialogue with that chastising voice in your head. The voice in your head might be berating you, telling you how useless you are, but you might just say to it, "That situation wasn't my fault, I did the best I could, and actually, I did pretty well in handling it because XYZ". Turn the negative into a positive - whatever is relevant to the situation. Counsel yourself in a kind and encouraging way, like a friend would. In essence, by engaging in this internal dialogue you are dealing with the emotion then and there, not squishing it with food. If you deal with it then and there, you are empowered, and you will probably even learn a valuable lesson, or come up with a great course of action for moving forward. If you squish it with food, the issue is unresolved and you don't grow at all (except for your bottom and pot belly). 

So, if you realise you're in the dangerzone of emotional eating, just hit pause and have a silly chat with yourself. Sometimes, this delay is enough to stop you from reaching for the food crutch. You would be surprised, once you give yourself the chance, how often and easily the craving WILL just wash away.

3) Remember that if you allow yourself to experience the emotion you will become a stronger person

When I suspect I might be succumbing to emotional eating, I sometimes find that it helps to remember the purpose of emotional eating: to block out an uncomfortable feeling. The opposite option is to let myself experience the emotion. When I remind myself that I will be in a better place emotionally if I let myself experience these emotions, it can really take the edge off the craving, and sometimes flip it on its head completely, where suddenly I truly DON'T want the food crutch because I'm more excited about the idea of working through the problem and becoming a stronger person. Self: One. Chocolate Bitch: Zero.

If you feed your uncomfortable emotions with food, you don't resolve your issues, the issues keep building on top of one another and resurfacing, plus you have the added issue of getting fatter/unhealthier, and you don't grow or mature as an individual. If you view uncomfortable emotions as what they truly are - a normal part of every person's life, and the opportunity to learn and grow, then suddenly, a lot of the time, you won't want to squash your emotion by zoning out with junk. You will be more interested in working through the issues so that you come out the other side a better version of yourself. 

Since having a few party tricks in my backback, I know that, even if I occasionally flop, there are countless other times where I have and will be able to make positive choices, without it being much of a struggle. Just remember, success comes from jumping back up every time you fall, and the more you flex your muscles (your tactics) the stronger they will become.

Please leave a comment if you have any experiences or tips you'd like to share.

Here are a couple of other net reads that you might like:

She Said | How to Stop Binge Eating

Awaken Your Wellbeing | Free ebook 6 Must-do Steps to Stop Emotional Eating

10 Benefits of Yoga and Pilates / I Quit the Gym

Image Source: Yoga By the Sea

There's a bit of a back story to this post, but if you want to skip to the informative part, scroll down to the numbered list!

So, I calculated this morning that I have signed up as a gym member five times over my 31-year-old life, and two of those memberships were at the same place. I've just quit my fifth and hopefully last, and have asked The Main Squeeze to remind me not to join another.

WHY such reckless? Me and gyms have a hot/cold relationship. It's the same pattern every time. I start off all gung ho, then winter and chocolate happen and gung ho turns to don't go. After months of abstinence I get a renewed surge of energy -- roughly enough to get me to one class and back -- before I graciously contact the gym to inform them that as I am moving cities I am so very sorry but I have no choice but to discontinue my membership, with regrets, deep regrets. 

I have absolutely no gripes with gyms or people who enjoy the gym - good on you, I say. Although, I do find it interesting that our Nannas were not gym bunnies nor did they live in an obesity epidemic [read: it's more about the food we eat and obsessive exercise is probs not needed]. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed my share of bouncy gym classes but the relationship gets tired pretty quick, then I end up wasting my money and stressing about the fact that I'm not at the gym. This is surely counter-productive to one of the main benefits of exercise - stress reduction.

Personally, I suppose I just find the whole gym routine a little chore-like. The pulling on of the fugly pants, the pre-filling of the water bottle, etc. etc. what am I Arnold Schwarzenegger? You have to know what works for you and what doesn't. Obviously, I'm a slow learner: five gym memberships.

A little while ago I stumbled across a daily free-to-air Yoga/Pilates program (9am M-F on channel 4Me, NSW). Currently I have the means to do a 9am class from home, so I've been giving the classes a go this week and am really enjoying it. There is no gym commute, there's no flip-flops in the shower rule, and I don't have to namaste worship the yoga teacher at the end. What is that about? The classes alternate between Pilates and Yoga each day.

Alexandra's School of Yogalates - beats a sweat-drenched hardwood floor!

Those who are new to Yoga or Pilates might be wondering which is better? I really like combining or alternating the two (this is based on a few years of classes, not the two TV classes I've done this week, FYI smarty pantses). This keeps things interesting though if forced to pick I would choose Pilates as it's a little more varied from class to class.

I'm the sort of person who likes to look up the benefits of things. I will stand in the shower and read the back of the shampoo bottle while I'm sudsing so I know exactly what is taking place. Understanding the benefits of Yogalates expands the motivation, as does reading the shampoo bottle motivate me to wash my hair. This is what I've investigated...

By the way, there are many different styles of Yoga and Pilates -- this isn't supposed to be a comprehensive list, just a general list of benefits that seem to cross over both Yoga and Pilates - Yogalates.

Health Benefits of Yoga and Pilates

1. Flexibility: Moving and stretching in new ways will help you become more flexible, bringing greater range of motion to tight areas. Over time, you can expect to gain flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders, and hips. 

2. Strength: Many yoga poses require you to support the weight of your own body in new ways, including balancing on one leg or supporting yourself with your arms. Holding poses over the course of several breaths also builds strength.

3. Improved Posture: The back and abdominal strength you build, along with increased flexibility, can help improve your posture, giving the appearance of a taller, leaner body.

4. Muscle tone: As a by-product of getting stronger, you can expect to see increased muscle tone (particularly of the abdominals through Pilates)

5. Balance: Improved balance is one of the most important benefits of yoga as you get older. Poses where you stand on one leg and, for more advanced students, inversions, are great ways to build core strength.

6. Pain Prevention: Increased flexibility and strength can help prevent the causes of some types of back pain.  Yoga also improves your alignment, both in and out of class, which helps prevent many other types of pain.

7. Better Breathing: Most of us take shallow breaths and don't give much thought to how we breathe. Yoga breathing exercises, called pranayama, focus the attention on the breath and teach us how to take deeper breaths, which benefits the entire body. Certain types of breath can also help clear the nasal passages (helpful for people with allergies) and even calm the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits.

8. Mental Calmness: Yoga asana practice is intensely physical. Concentrating so intently on what your body is doing has the effect of bringing a calmness to the mind. Yoga also introduces you to meditation techniques, such as watching the breath and how to disengage from your thoughts. 

9. Stress Reduction: Physical activity is good for relieving stress, and this is particularly true of yoga. Because of the concentration required, your daily troubles, both large and small, seem to melt away during the time you are on the mat. This provides a much-needed break from your stressors, as well as helping to put your problems into perspective. 

10. Body Awareness: Doing yoga will give you an increased awareness of your own body. You are often called upon to make small, subtle movements to improve your alignment. Over time, this will increase your level of comfort in your own body. This can lead to improved posture and greater self-confidence.

Sources: One Two Three

FIND A FLOWER // PICK IT UP

Good morning and happy Monday! I started off my day with an early morning walk down to the beach. I made sure to take off my shoes, roll up my cuffs and sit on the sand for a few minutes, getting grounded and refreshed for the day and week ahead. Being very busy at the moment with a to-do list a mile long, (it's mostly exciting) I need to remind myself to regularly get back to nature and take a few moments to Just. Breathe. It's pretty amazing how restorative that simple action can be.

Before I left the sand I walked down to the shore and let the waves lap over my feet. It was fresh. Not quite ready for a dip. I thieved a stone from the beach - it was calling my name - I think it shall be a paperweight for the daily mail. I also thieved the pink geranium from the rock wall garden. Thank you, North Gong beach.

And then I thieved some azalea and jasmine on the way home. Our little flat is full of flowers and sprigs of this and that at the moment. Maybe I have Floral Kleptomania? I think it runs in the family. My Mum has always kept a beautiful garden and whenever I visit home (when I tell her I'm coming, she asks me if I'd like to make a reservation for a Garden View room at The Inn) she always has a vase of freshly picked flowers on my bedside table.

One of my missions at the moment is to sort through my epic collection of photos on my laptop - they are in dire need of categorising, culling and also printing! Yesterday I found these photos of my Mum and nieces from Summer 2012 when we took a wander through the garden. I am biased, but I'm positive they are crazy cute. <3

SALLY SPATHIPHYLLUM // THE BEST AIR PURIFYING INDOOR PLANT

Zen Your Desk ebook from Anita Byrne at Employment Insight. Grab a copy here.

Whether its been my desk at work, or now, at home, I'm all about pimping my work space. Lately, it's also been about creating a space of positivity, calm, creativity, zen - all those crazy things. I almost always have a tealight and essential oil burning; also present are your more kookster items like my lumps of rose quartz and amethyst crystals - but that's a story for another day.

Last Thursday morning I decided to do something I never do and walked around the corner to treat myself with a coffee to get in the mood for job applications. Well, I have been known to be sensitive to coffee but this cup made me high as a kite from 10 til 5. Not pleasant. I couldn't sit still so I went for a drive and literally chased a rainbow all the way to Bunnings, and bought myself a plant for the "office".

Possibly the most amazing rainbow I have ever seen - it was a full arc, and a double, against a stormy steel-grey sky. And, errr, the Maccas/Bunnings carpark.

Actually, the plant wasn't an impromptu purchase. I'd received the aforementioned  'Zen Your Desk' guide and it got me thinking about the benefits of having indoor plants, including clearing the air and filling it with freshness, removing indoor pollutants and chemical toxins, softening the surrounding space, and of course, having that connection to nature. At one of my past office jobs I went so far as to bring a plant to work from home. People may think you're cray, but who cares? I think it's cray to be stuck inside all day.

According to this handy chart from the NASA Clean Air Study (yeah, bitches: NASA) the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) ticks all the boxes when it comes to air purification. I cross-referenced with this pictorial guide to air purifying indoor plants and discovered that the Peace Lily is also extremely easy to care for, requiring very little light or water. Perfect for the office, and perfect for not having to ask your boyfriend to keep the greenery alive while you're out of town.

Sally Spathiphyllum now has pride of place in the corner of the office. Air quality aside, she really is a mood lifter! If you're in the market for some indoor plant therapy, I picked up Sally for $15 at Bunnings and she had plenty of luscious sisters. Peace out. x

HELLO CACAO | NICE TO SEE YOU

Today I had to come and share one of my recent and marvelous new discoveries: cacao powder (yes, I discovered it, it was me).

Cacao powder is not the same as cocoa - it's not that tin of Nestle in your pantry that you use to make choccy cakes. Sorry.

Let's just get one thing sorted before we continue: how to pronounce cacao. *Leaves page to find out how to pronounce cacao.*

Okay everyone, it's KA COW. I was saying it wrong. *How embarrassment*

Alright, so lately I've been adding a friendly spoon of cacao to my morning smoothies. As a lover of chocolate, I feel like I'm having a treat, and my body agrees! Lately I've been thinking about redefining the word 'treat'. As far as food goes, when we traditionally think of having a treat we think: piece of cake, chocolate, dessert, take-away. But whom are you treating? It's a treat to your taste buds, fair enough, but not a treat to your internal organs or your bootay (depending on your preferences). When you eat nutritious food, your body, your internal organs (just imagine them as cartoons with big smiley faces) are screaming "THANKS FOR THE TREATS!".

Just another way to think of it.

Anyway, ka-cow powder adds an extra taste element to my smoothie and is a treat to both my taste buds AND my body (UH-HUH MOMENT ALERT!)

I'm going to borrow a couple of paragraphs from this Body + Soul article about the benefits of cacao (it basically says that raw cacao power is crazy high in antioxidants and is great for your hair, nails, healthy organs, bloodstream and mood).

Naturopath Aimee Robbins says raw, powdered cacao is full of flavonoids, which act as natural antioxidants. "Antioxidants protect the body from ageing and disease caused by free radicals. Raw cacao contains up to four times the antioxidants of traditional cacao powder, and has the highest antioxidant value of all the natural foods in the world." Scientists from Cornell University in the US recently discovered that raw cacao contains nearly twice the antioxidant content of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidant content of green tea.

The cacao bean is also rich in magnesium, an energy mineral and vital electrolyte. This super-food is also a good source of sulfur. Sulfur is associated with strong nails, shiny hair and a healthy liver and pancreas. Medical herbalist Dominique Finney says the flavonoids in cacao prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidising and clogging the arteries. "Cacao has also been found to help regulate blood pressure and reduce cholesterol while building the immune system."

...Raw cocoa is an aphrodisiac because it contains anandamide, a substance that induces euphoria. It also contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which is a mood enhancer. While this super-molecule exists naturally in the brain, the only other food that contains PEA is blue-green algae. 

Shiny hair AND happy organs? I can tell you're sold, now where do you get it?

I bought a 125g  pouch of Nature's Way Cacao Powder (100% certified organic raw - all of the things) from Chemist Warehouse on special for $8.95 and that will last me a few weeks. Some sources say that mixing raw cacao with dairy inhibits the absorption of nutrients. Admittedly I need to find some alternative ways to mix it as I've been having it in a dairy smoothie. Do you have a cacao powder concoction you can share with me? I'm not a fan of store-bought soy, coconut, rice or almond milks because they contain a lot of additives/sugars/seed oils/gums (whatever they are). Maybe I should try my hand at home-made almond milk... that's a story for another day!

Happy cacao!

Edit: Went to Coles this morning and read the ingredients list on the back of at least 10 different varieties of almond milk and coconut milk. Yep, that person. Most of them are rubbish - way too many ingredients and sugar high up on the list, but I think I found a winner:

Pure Harvest Activated Almond Milk. 4 ingredients only - water, almonds, sea salt and rice syrup as a sweetener, but in negligible quantities (2.4g per 100g). 

This concoction: 1 cup almond milk, half a banana, 2 heaped teaspoons cacao powder. Good thanks!

PINK HIMALAYAN SALT - SUPERFOOD OR FAD?

A friend of mine recently put me onto pink Himalayan salt, with the simple recommendation that "it's actually good for you". I like salt, and I love pink - sold. But being the information fiend that I am, I had to further investigate this claim with a little reading. So, is this just another food fad or is there substance to pink Himalayan salt beyond its exotic name and rosy hue?

According to this read, pink Himalayan salts "are one of the world's most potent and powerful hidden secrets... prized for its healing and restorative powers". The salts are a pure substance sourced from the Himalayan mountains and have a supposed list of health benefits including the following:

- 84 minerals and bio compounds

- Used to effectively detoxify the human body

- Lowers blood pressure

- Relaxes muscles and mind due to its ability to be easily absorbed into the bloodstream

- Used to treat sinus issues and other respiratory conditions including asthma

- Improves sleep

- Balances the body's acidity and alkaline levels

- Clears and heals arteries

Why might pink salt be superior to ordinary table salt? According to this post, "commercial refined salt is not only stripped of all its minerals, besides sodium and chloride, but is also chemically cleaned, bleached and heated at unnecessary high temperatures. In addition, it is treated with anti-caking agents... [that] also prevent dissolving within our system leading to build up and then deposit in organs and tissues, causing severe health problems. Finally, the iodine that is added into salt is usually synthetic which is difficult for your body to process properly."

While that all sounds convincing, there are just as many articles that claim the Himalayan pink salt hype is bogus, and definitely a fad. This health blog says that the quantity of extra minerals in pink salt are too small to count, and that at the end of the day, it's all salt (this blog does not like salt). 

This site claims that pink Himalayan salt is unusually high in fluoride and that this is damaging to your health; it labels the emergence of pink Himalayan salts as a scam, but it does talk about the various benefits of different varieties of salts.

Damn. I really liked my pink salt grinder. You know, my parents were never huge salt consumers, I think I picked up the habit of adding a sprinkling of salt to my dinner (especially my peas) from my Nanna. She definitely didn't have pink salt, and if you'd asked her what a superfood was she might have said that it was a really good baked potato?

At the end of the day, I feel like there is something to be said for the health benefits of different types of salts, including the way these salts have been treated before reaching the supermarket. But I also believe that for something that I consume in moderation, it's probably going to be neither here not there at the end of the day (or at least until they make up their minds). If you like the look of the pink Himalayan, join the club, but otherwise, I don't think a light sprinkle of the Black & Gold is going to send you early to the grave.

RESETTING YOUR FOCUS | WELLNESS

I need colour at my desk space, even if it's in the form of an old melon.

Today I'm feeling inspired to write a little about resetting your [read: my] focus when it comes to health and fitness goals.

This morning I decided to go for a walk down to the beach before breakfast; about an hour round trip. The walk wasn't intended for exercise, but merely to get outside into the fresh air and sunshine and to enjoy the refreshing sounds and sights of the ocean. Once at North Gong beach, I walked down onto the sand and as close to the shore as I could go without drenching my joggers. I laughed at a one-legged seagull (sorry) and then laughed at myself as I had to sprint away from the water as it came too close. I picked a stalk of pink geraniums from the edge of the beach and walked on home.

As I was walking I was thinking about the matter of exercise and how and why we do it. The other day I saw an interview with Jessica Alba where she admitted that she basically didn't enjoy exercise, but she enjoys the way she feels afterwards. I am much the same. I go through stages with exercise, both in terms of motivation, and what I like doing. I do envy folks who genuinely enjoy the gym or who can stick to a daily running routine. Sometimes I will have spurts of motivation and can run for weeks/months, 3-5 times a week. Sometimes I enjoy gym classes and give that a good run, too. But inevitably my motivation wanes. It always comes back, but while it's away, I tend to give myself a hard time.

Well, I had a bit of an epiphany this morning. It's time for some self acceptance. People enjoy different things and are good at different things. Some people are very motivated by the gym, enjoy the gym, and have the discipline to exercise every day. I am not one such person. I am shifting the focus. I am grateful for the fact that my motivation at least shows up sometimes, even if it comes and goes. I will no longer rat on myself (is that a saying) for another "failed" exercise regime. My "regime" is just a little more, fluid. Accept it.

That brings me to my point about resetting the focus. I have some current goals that involve the relinquishing of some fat that I neither need nor want. My focus has been on losing weight to see a lower number on the scale and to look better, if I'm honest. I think that I need to shift the focus from a number and a look, to wellness.

If I shift to wellness, exercise takes on a whole different purpose. I am like Alba. (Almost exactly.) I love the way that I feel after a good hard workout, especially if that workout is in the morning. I feel refreshed, alive and strong. The endorphins are most certainly pumping. Especially now, when I am in job searching mode, exercise helps me feel more in control and stable. When I look at this morning, the focus wasn't on the shape of my body - I just wanted to get out and feel the warmth of the sun and breathe the fresh coastal air. And so, when I think of exercise, I don't want to think of burning fat. I want my focus to be on these other rewards. This shift in thinking may or may not get me exercising more than I have been, but I'm dead sure it will be more rewarding and I have an inkling it will be more motivational.

The same goes for food. When you are in weight loss mode, it's as though you enter into a battle with food - all food. It's You VS. Food. How ridiculous. You're an intelligent human being with a brain, going into battle with cucumbers, chickens and Tim Tams, and you're letting them dictate your worth. News Flash: they are just compost. When you're in a battle with food, it takes the enjoyment out of it. It's all "I was good today" or "I was bad today". As we well know, food has many other implications for our health other than weight. So I want to shift the focus here, as well. Instead of thinking "will this make me fat or thin", I want to think of what makes me feel good, and what makes me well. Because, let's be honest, chocolate will mostly make me fat but on occasion it makes me feel damn fine and perfectly lovely! This would be a personal thing for everyone, but I know, for example, that I usually don't enjoy drinking alcohol on weeknights, and I know that I sleep better without alcohol in my system (it disrupts REM sleep, the period of sleep where your subconcious sorts through all the baggage from your day). I know that sugar affects us in greater ways than just weight gain, for example, it has been linked to depression and Alzheimers. I know that I don't feel good if I go overboard on junk. I feel like a sack of potatoes and look like a drab old soandso. So I am shifting the focus. I'm going to try not to think "will this make me fat or thin", instead, "how will this make me feel" and "what is this doing for me, my body and mind".

I'm sure I will make better decisions, because who doesn't want to feel well and good?!

All this good thinking from a morning walk :) Have a good day!

Little flowers picked from this morning's walk. I love these bursts of nature.

My crazy tea lady shot. Tea helps me through boring job applications and chilly mornings, and my Typo phone case makes me happier than my old black one. #wednesdayadamshead

A little inspo from the #designsquid Insta feed.

COCO-NUTTY GRANOLA

Totally sugar-hungover, no thanks to the Easter Bunny's many well-meaning helpers, this morning I decided to make this Coco-nutty Granola recipe from Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar book. It's pretty good! I'm eating it with milk (right this second) but I think it would go even better with a dollop or two of natural yoghurt.

To make: Combine 3 cups coconut flakes, 2 cups combine chopped almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts and pepitas, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 80-100g melted coconut oil and 3 tablespoons rice malt syrup (for sweetness: optional. I didn't use it, simply because I can't seem to find it in any supermarket. I don't think you need it though, as the coconut brings a little sweetness of its own). To make this into more of a muesli, add 2 cups rolled oats to the mix and a little extra coconut oil.

Spread on an oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 120 Celcius, turning halfway through the cooking time.

It's hard to find a muesli in the supermarket that's not sweetened either with sugar, honey, agave or dried fruit; in fact, I plain just can't find one. So the DIY option is a good one if you're trying to kickstart the day sugar-free.