Happy New Year!!
Have you made a New Year's Resolution to lose weight, or to get healthy? You wouldn't be alone. Losing weight and getting healthy seem to be top of the list every year. But how many people really do?
Below are 7 changes to get you started. Take them at your own pace. Some are quick and easy, others are not so much. But all of them are well worth the effort. I say that from experience.
I feel like I am only just starting to fulfil my potential, after years of taking "nanna naps" in the afternoon, a couple of bouts with depression, and working in jobs that were below my true capabilities.
I have made huge changes in the last year. In the beginning I felt worse. But after about 3 months, I noticed more energy, less hair falling out, greater mental clarity and felt more "switched on". Nowadays I feel as though I can surely take on the world.
Below are what I believe are the 7 most important changes I have made:
1.) Stop drinking fluoridated water.
We are currently drinking Pureau brand of water, which is available in Australian supermarkets in 10L casks for around $7. This water tastes SO good! However, this is not really a long-term solution, from a cost perspective, but also because this water has been filtered, any minerals and trace elements have also been removed.
Be aware that most filters do not remove fluoride. Neither does boiling the water.
Reverse osmosis filters and distillation filters can remove fluoride but these are both quite expensive. The other option is a rainwater tank, if you don't like in an area with heavy pollution.
Be aware that most filters do not remove fluoride. Neither does boiling the water.
Reverse osmosis filters and distillation filters can remove fluoride but these are both quite expensive. The other option is a rainwater tank, if you don't like in an area with heavy pollution.
After drinking pure water for a while, try a mouthful of tap water, and it will taste like you are drinking chemicals.
2.) Get rid of table salt.
Table salt is just rubbish - plain and simple! - and has absolutely no positive effects on the human body. Pure salt from the earth, is rich in minerals, but after processing all the minerals out (which are then sold off elsewhere, to be added to things like breakfast cereals), you are left with a product that is foreign to the human body. Iodised table salt is hardly much better. Still rubbish...with a bit of iodine added.
Replace it with Himalayan Crystal salt. This salt is a pinkish or gray-ish in colour, rich in trace minerals, and can be found in good health food shops.
The second best option is Celtic salt. And if you can't get either, get natural sea salt.
3.) Change your cooking oil.
Did you realise that coconut oil is the only known cooking oil that does not go rancid at high temperatures? This means that vegetable oils and olive oil are not suitable for cooking. Rancid oils have the potential to turn cancerous in the body.
Coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, and anti-microbial. This means it is great for the immune system and the digestive system, has anti-aging properties, and people have testified that coconut oil has helped with all manner of problems from obesity and high blood pressure, to diabetes and HIV. It can be used externally as a moisteriser and massage oil, and is a wonderful wound healer.
Use cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil for cooking. It is solid at room temperature, just scoop a little bit out on a spoon and add to the pan, and it will turn liquid as it heats.
Olive oil is suitable for salad dressings or any purpose where it won't be heated at a high temperature, but only buy in small amounts as it will turn rancid if left on the shelf for months.
4.) Cut out MSG.
This is not easy, seeing as MSG is in every aisle of the supermarket, even in the "health" food aisle.
This will probably mean giving up most savoury-flavoured snack products, gravy powders, stock powders, nearly all take-away food and frozen convenience food. Your tastebuds might protest for a little while, but your body will be much happier without these non-foods.
In case you need convincing, here's more on MSG
5.) Quit sugar.
This one is not easy - I won't pretend. Chances are that you are addicted to sugar without even realising it. Most people don't realise how much sugar they consume in a typical day, and sometimes from surprising sources.
For instance, in a typical day, the average person could easily consume sugar more than 20 times in a day, from things like breakfast cereal, hot beverages, fruit juice, biscuits, cake, flavoured yoghurts, tomato sauce, frozen ready meals and convenience food such as pizza, pasta sauces, savoury flavoured chips or snacks, ice-cream, soft drinks, muesli bars, pastries, and some breads.
Every single person I have known who has quit sugar has also lost weight in the process.
6.) Avoid aspartame at all costs.
I've never been big on diet soft drinks so avoiding aspartame wasn't a big deal for me. But if you use artificial sweeteners or drink diet or "zero sugar" soft drinks or desserts, etc then please do yourself a favour and get this nasty toxin out of your life.
I've picked on MSG and aspartame in this list because I feel that they are possibly the two worst food additives, and they should not be allowed in our food supply. They are neurotoxins and their effects can be devastating.
More on aspartame here.
Experiment with stevia, xylitol or raw honey as alternative sweeteners.
7.) Switch to sourdough bread products.
Commercial breads are churned out as cheaply and as quickly as possible, and while it suits us to pay bargain prices for bread, it's not really in our best interests to do so.
Bread that is made quickly and cheaply, usually needs additives, and enzymes (which are probably not listed on the label, and may be genetically modified), emulsifiers, fats and conditioners to make it soft and fluffy, AND stay that way for a week.
The adulteration of bread may turn out to be the culprit in the explosion in coeliac disease and wheat allergies. Commercial bread may also contribute to yeast infections like candida. If you suffer from bloating and gas, you may find it eases after switching to sourdough products. (I did.)
Sourdough breads are made in the ancient, time-honoured process of leaving the dough to ferment and mature, making the dough more easily digested. (In case you're wondering, no it doesn't taste "sour".)
But be aware. Some commercial brands produce a "sourdough" bread, but apon further inspection of the ingredient label, it becomes apparent that there is still a significant amount of baker's yeast used, and very little sourdough.
A true sourdough bread only needs a few ingredients: flour, sourdough, olive oil and salt. Look for stoneground or wholemeal types.
You may need to try your local health food store or whole foods market.
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In the beginning, some of these changes will seem all-too-hard. You'll feel you are being deprived. Stick with it. After a while you start to feel so much better, that it becomes easy. It's simply not worth going back...
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