November 2010 - Page 3 of 3

Friday: it’s a wrap!

October 18, 2012November 5, 2010 by Sarah Wilson

Hey, it’s Friday. I had a great week.

(For more baby animal cuteness check out this indulgent mid-Term angst antidote Salon link).

* So, this week the astute, “give it to me, I’ll do it” Jo Foster started with me in my office on Monday as a writing assistant and general life helperer. I’m beyond grateful and happy and even getting used to her singing. Check out her thoughtful, kind blog The World Is Your Oyster.

* I filmed Good News Week. Much more relaxed this time. Akmal was on my team. The guy is stupendously bright. It’s on the telly this Monday night.

* And on Sunday, the official announcement about the new show I’m filming goes out. I can say this much for now: it’s a nutrition show, I’m the host and it will screen on Lifestyle YOU next year. More to come. Much more.

But to some great stuff you guys shared (thanks for the ideas!):

This week’s ‘Tuesday Eats: a guide to grains’ yielded some great comments on grains and gluten.

Mia Watson outlined the deal with oats (gluten or not; it’s always very vague): “Gliadin – is a protein in oats that is nearly identical to the gluten protein in wheat, and some people who are sensitive to gluten can be sensitive to this too. So, even specially prepared gluten-free oats (grown in non-gluten-contaminated fields, etc) can still cause problems for some. Something like 25 percent of celiacs are also allergic to gliadin”.

bike accessory porn on a Thursday

November 4, 2010 by Sarah Wilson

Oooola! Pretty things for bikes. I post this by way of getting you excited about riding a bike. When you ride a bike you can enter this world of cool stuff. This is a new inflatable bike helmet that won’t ruin your ‘do. Unless you stack. To see how it works, check out the video … Read more

three ways i deal with the vile, judgey voice in my head (and be a slightly nicer person)

February 20, 2011November 3, 2010 by Sarah Wilson

Do you do this? I ask because I really want to know.

Do you find yourself walking along and two blokes in front are walking super slow, oblivious to the fact they’re blocking the path, and you have to shift your pace and it all feels really inconvenient and you get – uggh – irritated…

…and then it pipes up…

…the vile, judgey voice in your head. “You wouldn’t be so fat if you walked a bit faster, mate!” or “I bet you’re like this at work – taking over things like you own them”.

When I’m driving it really gets loud and stereotyping. And when I’m in the city trying to get to a meeting and I’m surrounded by office workers on their lunch breaks (“Lemmings!”). But the poor unsuspecting soul doesn’t even have to be inconveniencing me to cop a lashing from my vile inner voice. They might just be engaged in conversation nearby. Or it might just be a dog doing its thing. And my head makes snap judgments about the kind of person (or dog) they are and where they might be going wrong in life and why they need to read a newspaper every now and then and GOSH could people stop talking in mindless cliches.

These are really ugly things to admit. And apologies if I offend. But I’ve mentioned my vile, judgey voice to others over the past few days and they’ve TOTALLY got it. They have one too. Which is why I felt brave enough raising it here.

And, besides, I think these kind of blogs can get a bit Pollyanna-ish at times….just as an important aside.

I’ve been grappling with the voice for a while now. It horrifies me. But it’s suddenly got louder and uglier.

That’s what happens when you need to shift something – it becomes more apparent and more intolerable. Louder. Uglier. So that you can see it. And be pushed to change.

I’ve realised in the past few days that we voice these things when we’re feeling separate. When we’re feeling removed from our fellow humans it makes everyone else seem like they’re working in opposition to us. “YOU over there are doing THAT to ME over here”.

Tuesday eats: a guide to grains (and my good news!)

December 28, 2011November 2, 2010 by Sarah Wilson

A few weeks back I got some tests back saying my immune antibodies have chilled out and are back to normal after three years of being off-the-scale-crazy. My body is no longer eating itself…and is slowly repairing!

The doctor was impressed. How did I do it? It was a bunch of things, most of which I’ve documented on this blog…but if I had to narrow it down to One. Main. Factor. It would be:

I cut out gluten.

I’m going to post on this again soon. But for now, some tips on how to cook other grains…and a guide to which are gluten-free. Feel free to print out and magnetise to your fridge.

1 cup grains	Water	Cooking Time	Contains Gluten?
Common grains:
Brown rice	2 cups	45-60 minutes	no
Buckwheat (aka kasha)*	2 cups	20-30 minutes	no
Oats (whole groats)	3 cups	75-90 minutes	questionable due to content, contact, or contamination
Oatmeal (rolled oats)	2 cups	20-30 minutes	questionable due to content, contact, or contamination
Alternative grains:
Amaranth	3 cups	30 minutes	no
Barley (pearled)	2-3 cups	60 minutes	yes
Barley (hulled)	2-3 cups	90 minutes	yes
Bulgur (cracked wheat)	2 cups	20 minutes	yes
Cornmeal (aka polenta)	3 cups	20 minutes	no
Couscous**	1 cup	5 minutes	yes
Kamut	3 cups	90 minutes	yes
Millet	2 cups	30 minutes	no
Quinoa	2 cups	15-20 minutes	no
Rye berries	3 cups	2 hours	yes
Spelt	3 cups	2 hours	yes
Wheat berries	3 cups	60 minutes	yes
Wild rice	4 cups	60 minutes	no

Some little extra tricks:

*ALWAYS rinse quinoa before cooking. Here’s why.