Do you rumble with the truth?

Brene Brown. I mean, how much do you just dig her? Of the various life experts that I’ve met over the years she is probably the most authentic. We cried when we met. You can read what she shared with me to prompt the tears here. Anyways, Brene shared this recently on Instagram:

xx

If we’re living consciously we rumble with the truth, don’t we. We don’t waltz with it, or sit calmly with it. We wrestle around with it and steer it and heave it, tirelessly, in more and more gallant directions. At least we do if we want the better ending.

We don’t want to accept an ending that’s beneath what we feel is the point of our existence. Actually, we can’t.

Do you feel there is more to this mortal coil than what is served to us on the conveyor belt? Sure, we can stick to

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Dear Sugar Research Advisory Service

My mate David Gillespie pointed me to this video yesterday (the clip is below), in which advertising strategy expert Carolyn Miller (of TV show Gruen fame) provides marketing advice at The Sugar Conundrum Workshop, put on by The Sugar Research Advisory Service last year to dieticians. Yes, you read right. Dieticians. Miller uses me as an example of what, as David puts it, “the enemy” looks like.

The obligatory "Laughing with salad" photo as referenced
The obligatory “laughing with salad” photo, as referenced

The clip is more than a year old, but it remains relevant and enlightening.

I was intrigued to see how the industry views my calculated marketing skills. I was also struck by how baffled the sugar industry and dieticians seem to be by “wellness” and having a lifestyle. I shouldn’t be after all this time, and after witnessing the lengths both go to to discredit and hinder anyone who questions the vested interests of the sugar industry and the health impact of the stuff. You can read more on this here.

I decided to write the SRAS a letter. Better late than never.

Hey there Sugar Research Advisory Service,

Thought I’d reach out with an idea. Next time you hire someone to talk you through the calculated insider tactics of wellness bloggers and they use my (supposed) strategy for duping people into eating less sugar as a case study, maybe think about getting me in instead to talk you through things. You know, go straight to the horse’s mouth.

I’d be happy to show you that I don’t fit the profile you’ve given of what I presume you see as your nemesis. I’m not young and I didn’t grow up in the Eastern Suburbs. I also am not one to share my thoughts on unicorns and rainbows.

I just got very sick eating sugar. You can read about my very uncalculated journey here if you like. Don’t have time to read the details? (I don’t think Ms Miller did). Let me give you the topline: I have Hashimoto’s disease and sugar played a massive part in it. I had to adjust a number of wellness/lifestyle issues, as directed by my team of doctors and endocrinologists. I started blogging about it six years ago. For two years, I made no money from sharing my experiences and helping thousands do the same. I was just into it. No vested interest.

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Are you really an introvert?

Ha! I quite love this. Just when we thought it was cool to be an introvert, we get a whopping great mirror held up to us that says, “get over yourself”.

Image via dailydoseofstuf.tumblr.com
Image via dailydoseofstuf.tumblr.com

I’d been cringing about this for a while with my mate Rick, observing that everyone around us was suddenly coyly declaring themselves an introvert to all and their sundries on social media (the preferred expressive outlet for introverts, apparently). 

Then, wonderfully, the New York Times stepped in with the proverbial reflective glass for us both.

In an article by KJ Dell’Antonia, we’re pointed to the introversion explosion, led by Susan Cain’s “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” Suddenly. “A resistance to social intercourse became, not just acceptable, but cool, “ she wrote. Everyone started posting pictures of themselves in their pyjamas on a Friday night and sharing personality test results they’d done on Facebook.

I can be accused of doing the same. My schtick has been more to the tune of loneliness. And aloneness. However, I’ve definitely been known to chime in (at parties where I’m standing “awkwardly” by the door) that I’m a functioning introvert, while allowing for the possibility I might just be a dysfunctional extrovert.  

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What should we give a f*ck about?

You might have heard of Mark Manson’s book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck? The guy’s a personal development blogger and hyped-up online marketing dude. I skimmed his book recently in a bookshop. And frankly, I think it should be called The Subtle Art of Giving a Fuck (leaving out the “not”) because, in some ways, this is the more pressing issue (knowing what to give a fuck about amongst all the fucks that fly our way).

Image via ShopRiffRaff
Image via ShopRiffRaff

We’re all wanting to know where to draw the fine line on our fucks. And where to draw the line on the pain inherent in caring so much about so many things. Or at least the expectation to.

I pull out a point that Manson made in a recent interview on Mother Jones, a great political and cultural site you should subscribe to, BTW.

He points out the importance of giving a fuck:

“Pain is inevitable, and the only really reliable way to persevere or deal with (pain) is to find a worthy cause or a worthy reason for dealing with it.” 

He uses an example from his book: 

“If the biggest problem in my life right now is that my favourite TV show got canceled, that’s a pretty poor reflection of my values and the quality of my life. That’s a poor thing to care about, it’s not controllable, it’s not immediate, it has no immediate effect on the people around me or the people I care about. The highest priorities in our life should be something that’s grounded in being constructive toward the people around us, and something that’s immediate and we have control over.

“So if someone says they want to be a famous singer on TV, for example, it’s a poor value, because there’s so many factors that could influence that. The thing that will bring greater quality to life is something more controllable, more like, ‘I want to the best singer that I possibly can’.”

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I have my freedom today because nothing really happened

I’ve been reading poet David Whyte’s The House of Belonging. In it is a poem, “It happens to those who live alone”. Which is a grand title for anything right there.

There’s a line in it that is particularly special…

Image via rebellesociety.com
Image via rebellesociety.com

“I have my freedom today because nothing really happened and nobody came to see me.”

This sings for me. The freedom that Whyte refers to lies in the happy acknowledging that nothing and no one needs to happen upon you for you to feel complete. You don’t need more. You are enough right now.

This is, indeed, freedom. When you’re no longer subject to the tyranny of “out there”, and you can rest comfortably in your own skin, little can harm or impede you. You already, and always, have what you need.

We need to practice this sitting in non-happeningness to be able to experience the freedom that comes with it. We need to sit in this still, alone shit when we start to fret that no one has

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My 7 favourite ways to use turmeric

Look, I’m aware turmeric is fast becoming the new kale, that is, an over-hyped “superfood”. I guess, though, unlike kale, turmeric has some unique health properties grounded in a long history of healing cooking (nothing against kale, but it doesn’t really stand apart substantially on any front from good old silverbeet).

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I use a fair whack of turmeric because of its great anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. But the one thing that stands out for me is that it’s anti-inflammatory. It inhibits the enzyme responsible for inflammation, puffiness and throbbing. Stacks of recent studies are showing how effective it is in bringing down swelling in the cells.

If you have auto-immune disease of any sort, turmeric is your friend.

In the Ayurvedic tradition it’s also used for digestive issues, inflammation, joint pain and blood purification.

But before getting too sucked in by such claims, I did look into a few studies and found that turmeric always needs to be fermented, and eaten with fats and pepper. And that you shouldn’t have too much.

If you’re wondering how much you can have, in which form, note:

  • maximum 2-3 grams (1 – 1.5 teaspoon) of fresh turmeric per day
  • maximum 1-2 grams (1/2 – 1 teaspoon) of dried, powdered turmeric per day (this includes turmeric powder or spice forms)

If you’re feeling particularly inflamed, up your dosage to 2 teaspoons a day for a few days. But do remember to drop back down.

Because I’ve been asked to share such information a bit lately…here, a rundown of how I (try to) get my teaspoon or two into a day.

1. Sweet coconut and turmeric yoghurt. I mix 1/2 – 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and turmeric powder into coconut yoghurt for breakfast or dessert. I do the same with normal yoghurt, too. I travel with both (turmeric and

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“All over the place” girls

Are you an All Over The Place girl? I could be accused of such a thing. I have swings and lows and roundabouts. I demand too much of those around me. I aim too high and crash. I feel bad about this. I often try to take up less room, like a long-limbed dancer at the disco, afraid I’m too much trouble.

So I was sweetly soothed when I came across the words below by artist and poet Cleo Wade.

xx

I like Cleo’s words because they flip the coin called “complex” and show the other side of being a complicated and demanding and uncertain human. Often, on the other side of these bombastically messy traits, is an equally big and useful ability to give and contribute and love.

Indeed, when big love is misunderstood or badly communicated it becomes complicated and demanding and

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An updated foodie guide to London.

I’ve written a slow-food and paleo guide to London. But that was a while back. And since London has a constantly changing culinary landscape, I thought my latest trip to town (August 2016) warranted an update.

Drinks at Silo, Brighton. (Details below)
Drinks at Silo, Brighton. Turmeric and lemon, nettle beer, fermented elderflower bubbly tasting…Because I was really rather curious. All of it delicate, effervescent, and alive. (Details below)

I’m keeping it simple. And mostly visual. A post packed with images of my favourite meals and links to the best joints I know.

45 Jermyn Street

Oh My Weird Breakfast Goodness! This was quite a revelation. Homemade crumpets with marmite and fried duck eggs, plus pink grapefruit, kale and chia smoothie with a mountain of tumeric… They let me add my

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