The “I quit sugar” ebook: on sale now!

Phew! Yes. Indeed. I’ve been working on this ebook for months now. And now it’s ready and I’m a little bit scared, but ultimately really happy to be able to share something that has truly changed my life. I hope you enjoy it…. I quit sugar: a simple 8-week program by Sarah Wilson   If … Read more

what nutritionists order when they eat out

Me, I get a little tired of food types banging on about their amazing eating habits. I mean, I MUST really annoy some of you with all my “sprout this”, “slow cook” that rants. So perhaps I should mention, I also eat in food courts. And at 7-Eleven. Because I get really hungry and I move about a bit and just have to eat and not be too precious sometimes.

glycemic pasta woman what nutritionists order when they eat out

I approached some of the food types who contribute on this blog and asked if they’d come clean with their on-the-run eating  tricks. We all do it. Eat crap and live to see another day!

Mine are thus,

* I avoid Thai (the coconut cream is great, but it’s full of palm sugar). Greek is great. Pubs are my favourite. Indian is OK (coconut cream with less sugar!)

* At food courts, I eat meat. Kebab joints – the straight up meat (with their salady stuff). The beef stew. etc. These stews are likely to have homely ingredients (my experience dating chefs is that Mum makes these dishes and keeps it pretty unadulterated). I avoid anything with sauce, or bready stuff and steer wellllllll clear of salad bars with dressing.

* If you eat sandwiches, ask for it to be made up with your ingredients – pre-made ones are full of gunky sauces. Ask for mustard. Full fat cheese and tuna, toasted, is pretty safe.

* At corner shops/ 7-elevens:  I like Kat’s advice below – just buy the dark chocolate and be done with it.

* Soup is always a good option. Again, often made simply and sometimes by a Mum.

* I’ve written about what I eat when I’m traveling here.

But over to the others now…do add your ideas below!

Thai

Lee Holmes is author of Supercharged Food: I usually order a chicken and cashew nut dish and ask for no sauce.  I say I’d just like to have it stir fried with garlic.  If you’re ordering a curry you can ask for it without sugar too and most Thai restaurants are happy to accommodate you.

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would you want to “see” into your future, even if it was bad?

This week in Sunday Life I visit a witch. Yep, a witch.

124155 7 600 would you want to "see" into your future, even if it was bad?
photo by Carlos Gotay


On long road trips, in the back seat of the family Ford Falcon XB, my five siblings and I played the hypothetical game “how much would you have to be paid to…”. How much would you have to be paid to, say, drink a cup of warm sick? Sit in a pond of leeches for five minutes? Ten minutes?

You know how it went. Before Wii, we all played a version of it. It was deliriously fun and simultaneously flexed our little moral compasses, preparing us for real life.

So, let me put this hypothetical quandary to you: if you could be given a vision of your future, but it could mean learning some seriously dire news, would you sign up?

A while back I learned of a witch who’s reportedly one of the best tarot readers around. The caveat is that she tells it as it is, warts and all. Ly de Angeles is the high priestess of the international Coven of WildWood Gate. She’s been practicing as a witch for 30 years and she once told a young woman, “Looks like there’s a death in the family… No, it’ll be you.” She detailed it was going to be in a plane crash. And so it came to be several years later.

I wavered for a while, and was warned against it, but curiosity pulled me in and on Tuesday I fronted up to her dark basement abode to get slapped with my destiny.

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question: “how do you deal with infertility?”

Every now and then I answer a question from a reader that I figure best to answer en masse…here’s one that struck me recently:

I recently dug up this question from reader Dharma. It was in response to my interview with Brene Brown on vulnerability. It’s a doozie.

115572 1 600 question: "how do you deal with infertility?"

Ok, I have a question for you. And I am only asking this because I have been basking in some pretty painful vulnerability for the past six months. The area of vulnerability for me is my fertility, it’s drifitng away from me. I try to be optimisitc, sometimes I fail. I went through searching for answers through friends, family and experts only to learn no-one else has the answers either. I have learnt to let go, my life is far less in control than it was a year ago. I am learning to be ok with this, to understand not everything works out the way to plan.

But, I still struggle with, how, when you are in this state of being do you make tough decisions? How does being deliberate come into play when the risks are high and you don’t know what way to turn?

I’m a spiritual person, I meditate, I practice yoga, I do any number of things. I TRY to trust life. But when those flashes of vuneralbility do come in, it can be hard to trust.

– Dharma

OK. This strikes chords right now. For all of you who’ve followed my thyroid/hashimotos/autoimmune journey, you’d know I’ve had ups and downs. Two weeks ago I had a bit of a down. I found out I’ve got some serious complications with my hormones. Again. Sadly, things have gone wonky and so my body has reacted. Mostly to tell me to slow down. Again. I’d been travelling well, but my anxiety crept back in and BAM! my body reminded me I’d pushed things too far once more. I’m working on getting things back working again with Chinese herbs. I believe I will. I know I will. This is not the first time.

So Dharma, I answer you intimately. Because I appreciate “fertility drift”. I think the hardest thing about the issue is the uncertainty. During my 20s and early 30s, having kids was something I just knew I’d do. So it all felt safe and certain, albeit “down the track”. Now, it’s a big fat unknown. Or seems to be more so because the volume on the uncertainty is turned up by this idea of “running out of time”. And this is the bit where vulnerability comes in. Because as Brene said in my interview with her, wholehearted, life-enhancing vulnerability “means actively letting go of certainty”. And I know you’ve said you’ve been working on this. But you’re finding it tough. Fair enough!

The second hardest bit for women – and men – in this predicament, I think, is having to reposition yourself.

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when you’re the “somebody that they used to know”

Today. This. Dedicated to Pete. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/youtube] I saw Gotye play live a few months back. The most sublime experience. He played about six or seven instruments during the gig, dancing between each one. It was a dance, I tell you! More than six million people have viewed this on Youtube, so apologies if you already … Read more

frozen pea love…plus two Michael Moore power lunch recipes

I have an obsession with frozen peas. I add a small handful to almost every meal. They are instant sweet starch and can balance out rich salty kicks like olives and anchovies (which I consume a lot), and pad out all kinds mish-mash meals, like curries and omelettes.

Picture 12 frozen pea love...plus two Michael Moore power lunch recipes

I tell you, I’m yet to find a meal that can’t be improved with a frozen pea!

Anyhow. I was recently sent a copy of chef Michael Moore’s Blood Sugar and was elated (!) to find these two recipes brimful of peas. I first met Michael when I filled in for Kerri-Anne one day, and then again hosting the Morning Show. He’s owned big restaurants around the globe (including Summit in Sydney) and recently collapsed from a stroke at a dinner party. He had diabetes. Which fired him up to develop the Blood Sugar lineup of nutritious recipes. He’s kindly offered to share two very pretty lunch recipes here (he’s used fresh peas…feel free to substitute with frozen). I’ve also posted a few of my favourite Things to Do With a Pea below. Feel free to contribute to my homage…

mushroom, pea and bocconcini omelette

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 120g mushrooms, quartered
  • 90g fresh peas
  • 3 egg whites, lightly beaten
  • 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 baby bocconcini balls

Heat oil in a small non-stick skillet and cook garlic and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. Add peas and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Carefully fold beaten egg whites and yolks together. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over mushrooms and peas and allow to set for 15 seconds on the bottom of the pan.

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car sharing is to care…

This week in Sunday Life I car share

121277 3 600 car sharing is to care...
Photo by Charlotte Abramow

I own a power drill. It has moved house with me – shifting from one shelf under the sink to the next – three times. And you know how many times I’ve used it in our five years together? Twice. Which is normal apparently. The average drill emerges from under the sink for 12 minutes in its lifetime.

This sad statistic confirms a festering sentiment out there in the world: owning stuff is annoying and increasingly cluttery and inefficient. It’s like that itchy jumper you had to wear as a kid. It scratches at you incessantly, prompting a violent desire to strip.

But buying stuff is only a fraction of the equation. The real pain is living with it – storing the waffle maker in the bulging corner cupboard, servicing the lawnmower, packing up the Barbie campervan when you move house. And how can I explain it…it’s also the way it all just sits there idle, making you feel guilty like a dog needing a walk.

As Rachel Bosman author of What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption said when we spoke via email this week, “you don’t need to own a drill, you just need a hole in the wall…so borrow the drill, don’t own one”. Beautifully put. And indeed neighbourhood share schemes are popping up everywhere – in Australia there’s The Sharehood and Landshare, which launched in February and connects people wanting to grow veggies with folk who have a spare patch.

In March, sharing – instead of owning – was dubbed one of Time magazine’s Ten Ideas That Will Change the World. Since then much as been made of our itch to “live light”. Bosman confirms it’s not (just) an ethical or environmental crusade. It goes deeper than that.

This week I gave the concept a crack by signing up for car sharing, mostly because I find owning a car incredibly annoying. I also find this statistic staggering: on average we use our cars 8 per cent of the week. The rest of the time they hang about idle accumulating duco damage and parking tickets (at least mine does).

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27 ideas that make today better

A while back I asked what technique or course or mantra or philosophy or book or practice or sport or “thing” you’re engaging in that’s making life richer and deeper for you, and facilitating a deeper connection to what matters. You sent through the most mad responses and ideas. Thank you thank you thank you!! Time to share….

Picture 10 27 ideas that make today better

Sian: Reading “Born to be Free” by Jackie O’Keefe

Robin: I started a ritual every night, where I light half a stick of incense and honor the day that just passed (whether it was “good” or “bad”), this moment, myself and all life. I felt a little silly doing this at first, but it has really woken me up – forcing me to realize that there are only so many days. Sobering.

Ann: We re-joined the rock climbing gym last week. My husband and I met there 6 years ago, and then when we got married and my kids got busier, we stopped going and let our membership lapse. We are really loving the time together and I am reminded of why I loved rock climbing from the first time – it makes you be in the present moment to solve a problem, focus on technique, push yourself past the limits you think you have. It’s physical and spiritual at the same time for me, a lot like yoga.

Jodi: Writing to my friends, family and loved ones. I write at least five letters a week. It makes me feel close to people and I do it without expecting anything in return. People LOVE letters or any kind of mail that isnt bills or something that makes them feel bad.

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breakfast cereal: an anti-masturbation invention!?

I write about breakfast a lot. My breakfast choices stray left of the cereal box. I eat meat muffins. And pumpkin with sardines. And stirfried sprouts with egg. And so I’m often met with the reaction: but that’s not what breakfast is meant to be, that’s not how breakfast goes?!

Isn’t it?

82472 5 6001 breakfast cereal: an anti-masturbation invention!?
photo by Sarah Illenberger

I personally think that fat and protein are best at breakfast and that sugar should be avoided at all costs because it sets the day up for a rollercoaster ride of cravings. A protein-less breakfast leaves you unsatiated. And yet that’s the kind of start to the day we’ve been sold. Reader Dani alerted me to this article by Anneli Rufus. It’s a good succinct overview of a lot of material I read about how:

breakfast = dry cereal dripping in sugar in LARGE part because big corporations have sold us into believing such an equation.

But know this:

Breakfast foods are dictated by corporate interests + masturbation paranoia.

 

Breakfast is a much politicised meal. Rufus writes “Cold cereal, donuts and orange juice are now breakfast staples because somebody somewhere wanted money.”

  • cereal as we know it was born out of a desire to produce something that would stop us masturbating!  Not. Kidding. Seeking to provide sanitarium patients with meatless anti-aphrodisiac breakfasts in 1894, surgeon and anti-masturbation activist John Kellogg developed the process of flaking cooked grains. Hence Corn Flakes. And Rice Crispies.
  • in pre-Corn Flakes time, breakfast wasn’t cold or sweet. It was hot and hearty.
  • pre-industry, we loaded up on protein-rich eggs, sausages, ham and belly-fat bacon along with ancient carb classics: mush, pancakes, bread.

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“how I healed my thyroid with food”: my fun chat with top chef’s Andrea Beaman

This excites me no end. The other week week I got to chat to Andrea Beaman. Andrea is a US chef and health coach. She appeared on the first (and fifth) series of Top Chef. She’s the food expert on CBS News and she trained with INN, as did I. Just to put her in context. She knows food, OK.

Picture 116 "how I healed my thyroid with food": my fun chat with top chef's Andrea Beaman

But this is the thrilling bit: Andrea healed her thyroid disease with… food.

Yesireee. She refused to take medication and, after two years of careful, healthful eating, she was fixed. I remember reading about this a while back and getting so heartened. I’ve always believed this should be possible, despite being told by countless specialists that I’d been on medication for life (they also told me I was infertile, but goddamn if I didn’t turn that around).

I had to chat. So we did. I figured you’d like to hear what we shared…(and let me just say, there’s no need to tell me that I um and ah a lot. I know. It was early and I hadn’t slept.)

[display_podcast]

The concept is friggen fabulous. It fits with everything I believe in. I haven’t got there yet. I’m trying. I lapse. My stress still puts spanners in works for my progress. As do my hormonal fluctuations. But stories like Andrea’s inspire me. As you might know, I believe my thyroid disease is a symptom of the way I lived for a long time. I damaged my body with my previous lifestyle habits. Ergo, I believe, I can fix it with better ones. This is why I do what I do (bang on about sprouts and bone broth and quitting sugar).

The key bits I took from my chat – and that I believe work, too – are flagged below:

* you need to experiment with different eating styles. Andrea played with macrobiotic eating and it worked for her for a while. Me, I’m finding a grains-free approach better.

* cholesterol-rich foods are needed for thyroid health. Eggs! Eggs! Fat! Eggs!

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