The below quote did the rounds of the interwebs recently, accelerated somewhat by its erroneous attribution to Meryl Streep. Meryl didn’t come up with the rant (although perhaps she recited it once with an accent); author José Micard Teixeira did. No matter. It was brought to my attention and it fitted.
Image via Mochacafe.tumblr
“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not
If, like me, you’re over 30 you’d remember the 1986 movie Stand By Me, starring brat-packers River Phoenix and Corey Feldman. If you’re under 30, I advise you get it out on DVD (oops, download it). A coming-of-age film, it captures the Gen Xers and Boomers’ search for A Big Defining Moment, a search that’s seen us seek sea changes and stage Band Aid mega-concerts. Honestly, it’ll help you understand us better.
Image via favim.com
In the movie, Gordie, the story’s 12-year-old protagonist, awakes in a forest to a deer staring at him just inches from his face in the dawn light. The magic of the moment is palpable. As Gordie narrates (as an adult looking back), all he wanted to do was wake his mates and tell them about it, to stamp the incident and own it loudly. But he doesn’t; he keeps the quietness
In 1964, Yoko Ono published a collation of art “pieces’ in a book called Grapefruit. One such moment in artistic whimsy was the Mirror Piece.
I took from it this: It’s good to go inwards and to truly look in the mirror and pull yourself apart. To Do The Work.
But it’s better if you do this by fronting up to someone in relationship and Do The Work via what they feed back to you. It probably won’t be as sugar-coated and the feedback probably won’t come when it’s convenient for you. It will be old, fat,
Reading writer Sara Maitland’s How to Be Alone I learned the origins of the word spinster. Get this…
Image via catchannel.com
“In the Middle Ages the word “spinster” was a compliment. A spinster was someone, usually a woman, who could spin well: a woman who could spin well was financially self-sufficient – it was one of the very few ways that mediaeval women could achieve economic independence. The word was generously applied to all women at the point of marriage as
Spring has sprung Down Under. Time to really think about taking up bike riding, yeah? Each year I like to agitate you all to get on your wheels. I try all kind of tacks. This time, I’m posting this fetching image (below) and sharing some inspiring cycling Spring outfits. I’m appealing to our collective sense of vanity here. Be under no illusions!
A while back I read an interview with legendary chef and owner of ElBulli (once the most exclusive restaurant in the world until it closed in 2011), Ferran Adrià. There was a bit that struck me. This bit, about how little he owns (basically, one small bag)…
Image via Favim
“This suitcase [pictured below] is my home. I live out of it. I was born in L’Hospitalet [a working-class district of Barcelona] but I’ve never bought a house, or lived anywhere very long. I just have a small studio that’s home at the moment. My wife and I never had children, and that is a very important fact, because it enabled me to work from 9am until 2am at elBulli. And I’m not at all materialistic. I don’t have a car, or a watch. My wife bought me some pyjamas, which are great, but I’m not interested in clothes or goods.”
In 2011 – a looonnnngggg time ago now – I did the Institute for Integrative Nutrition course out of New York. I did so for personal education reasons.
I will flag very clearly, I did not do the course to become a “health coach”, but to be steered toward the latest ideas, research and thinkers. I was hungry for satiating information about wellness and couldn’t find an appropriate course here that tapped into the really contemporary approaches.
Of course, the IIN teachings certainly played a part in the evolution of my I Quit Sugar ebooks, books and business. And, as my business grew, thousands of folk out there have been keen to follow a similar educational trajectory. And so, I get questions. A lot. Mostly along the same lines. To this end, I’ve answered all the common ones here in this video below.
Update: Before you hit play, though, please take note… I’ve contemplated pulling the video down because more recently I’ve felt uncomfortable about “plugging” this course. Especially when I take an affiliates fee for it, which I am very transparent about (FYI I take the affiliate fee somewhat comfortably as it contributes to me being able to run this blog). Over time I’ve come to feel the “health coach” phenomenon has become problematic. A lot of people have done this or other similar courses and are selling themselves as wellness professionals, when, honestly, the course does not qualify them to the extent that their self-promotion suggests. This self-promotion issue stems from the course itself. As I mention in the video, part of the course targets marketing yourself as a “health coach”. I did not do this part of the course due to my discomfort around such self-promotion tactics. My point remains, however. The course very much helped me with my own personal and professional endeavours, but only as an adjunct to what I was doing.
I’ve left this post, and the video up, however, for now, as I do get asked so many questions about the course. I feel my response is important for people seeking a balanced view.
The video covers off:
That I’m an affiliate for the course*
How does the course work?
How long is the course?
How many hours per week?
Is it business-focused (as opposed to straight nutritional information)?
Will I get a job out of it?
Is the course accredited?
How scientifically valid is it?
How did the course help me?
A couple of other points I’ll also flag:
In no way does the course qualify anyone to become a nutritionist.
Yes, you study nutritional theories, but certainly not in the same way you would if completing a university nutrition degree. Some have found the fact that IIN describes itself as a “nutrition school” misleading. I tend to agree, given the common understanding of a nutrition school is understood to entail a three-year university degree. That said, the course materials very clearly delineate their teachings and outcomes from such degrees.
I don’t recommend IIN as a first or only tertiary course.
I probably stand a little apart when I say this: The IIN course is best for those who are either interested from a personal education perspective (as I was) or want to supplement another degree or career path. I don’t recommend it to 18-year-olds fresh out of school wanting to launch a career.
So what is a health coach exactly?
I put it thus: A health coach is to a nutritionist what a personal trainer is to a physiotherapist. Or, a health coach is to a
When I first started writing opinion columns for newspapers – about 16 years ago, for the Herald Sun in Melbourne, sharing a page with The Human Bolt (Andrew) – I idolised the writing of Zoe Williams and studied her prose to grow my own style.
Image via hellogiggles.com
She wrote a smart column for the Guardian on Saturdays called “Things you only know if you’re not at work”. It chronicled the minutiae of the banal of our small existence. But her slant was entirely captivating.
Zoe still writes for the Guardian. Yesterday’s column “The genius of Kate Bush in an age of Subjugation” is particularly gold. I’d love you to read it. It’s a review of Bush’s sold-out concert. She finds herself comparing the sublime experience with her conflicted thoughts about contemporary female music artists, which she often tries to analyse through a feminist lens. “(Kate) is what music sounds like when it’s the authentic creation of its author, and there are no strings being pulled by marketing guys,” she writes.
Williams realises she’s been wasting her time with the very fatiguing questioning – as a wizened old third-waver – of whether Beyonce’s lyrics are anti-feminist or Miley’s antics are destructive to the sisterhood (or are they reflective of what feminists fought for – freedom to express what you want?).
She concludes that the more important issue is that the mass marketing of culture has meant we lose the creative contributions of people like Kate Bush.
I want to add to this.
I feel that this mass, commercial approach means we’ve stopped wanting or expecting or craving what I think is a very female contribution to life – the female insight and voice.
To me, this is free and slightly wild and maybe slightly mad at times and loose and geared at digging under layers,
I was prompted to jot down some thoughts on this subject when I recently found myself once again causing a stir among those around me for there I was, a 40-year-old woman in a restaurant very happily dining on her own. Oh, the sideways glances!
Dinner for one at Bells at Killcare recently: a meal like I mean it (snapper), a modified side and a glass of red.
I was up at Bells at Killcare, a little over an hour north of Sydney having a “Think Week”, or more accurately a “Writing Three Days”. It’s something I do when I start on one of my books (which I’ve just done). It’s an indulgence, but it does the job – I go somewhere where I can have an early morning exercise explosion, be in beautiful sunny surrounds and have food covered*.
So there I was dining solo, in a full dining room of couples and… more couples. I’m so undeterred by this seemingly renegade culinary situation that it’s not until I get the glances that I realize many folk just don’t find it as blissful as I do. I genuinely love it; I find it nourishing and opening and I think I’ve felt most “me” at such times I find myself sitting in a bustling restaurant or café with a glass of wine and a full meal and my thoughts.
For those who are not so sure how it all works, here’s how I do it:
Sit at the bar. Or somewhere with high traffic and your back against a wall. Good feng shui.
To this end, reflect upon the fact that some of life’s most erudite philosophers came up with their most poignant utterances dining in restaurants and cafes alone, their backs against walls to be able to purvey life.
Have a glass of wine. Red is good for getting into the right reflective frame of mind.
Order like you mean it. A proper meal. Not just the salad. You are here to nourish (after years of living alone, I do the same at home…I never resort to a tin of tuna on a rice cake!).
Befriend a waiter. I’ve learned more about humanity from my chats at bars with waiters than anywhere else. There’s
You read it first here: The next chapter in my health explorations is the microbiome. Yep, I’m all about healing the gut right now. I’ll touch on this in more detail shortly; meantime I’m just working on recipes that get my gut gunning with gas (or without it, as preferred case may be). Kvass is one such ammunition in my holster.
My Beet and Turmeric Kvass tonic, recipe below
A traditional Ukrainian drink, beet kvass is fermented with Lactobacillus bacteria and is a pink probiotic powerhouse punch with a slightly rustic, earthy flavour. As my gutsiest guru Sally Fallon says:
“One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.”
She also says that beet kvass is widely used in cancer therapy in Europe and in the treatment of chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, allergies and digestive problems.
I’ve added turmeric, because I recently read that turmeric needs to be fermented for the full benefits of this little root to be experienced. If you can’t find turmeric, simply make it with straight beetroot.
Beetroot and Turmeric Kvass
2 large beetroots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
10 cm turmeric scrubbed or peeled (depending on how rough and gritty the skin is), chopped
