Month: March 2016

Are you a pre-crastinator?

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I am. Researchers at Penn State have identified what I would suggest is a modern coping phenomenon – hurrying to get something done so we can cross the task off our mental to-do list, even if doing so is non-productive.

pre-crastinating Sarah Wilson
Image via Jack Shainman Gallery

They call it pre-crastinating and they suggest those of us who do it, do so to offload “working memory”. That is, we plough through something just to reduce the number of things we have to remember to do.

My main pre-crastinating activity is attending to email each day rather than prioritising the more important tasks. I can get totally caught up in cleaning out my inbox. Ditto social media fussing. As I fuss and tend I convince myself I’m getting shit done. I convince myself I’m in control. And I’m validated.

But it’s an illusion. It’s like trying to plug a dyke with your thumb. Except it’s worse. Your thumb-plugging is

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Golly! Your nail polish might be making you fat…

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Nail polish. I don’t use it. For the same reasons I avoid conventional beauty products, sun screen and perfume. The stuff is toxic and not necessary. Now, new research claims nail polish can cause weight gain. Good Lord.

Image via coolechicstylefashion.blogspot.com
Image via coolechicstylefashion.blogspot.com

The recent study, conducted by researchers at Duke University and the Environmental Working Groupg (EWG), tested the urine of 26 women who had recently painted their nails. It found traces of Triphenyl Phosphate (TPHP), in every participant.

What’s TPHP?

TPHP is a chemical commonly used to make plastics and fire retardants in foam furniture. In nail polish it’s used to provide flexibility to the product.

TPHP is a chemical known to disrupt hormone function by mucking with our endocrine system, affecting a variety of vital functions, including reproduction.

Plus, it specifically and significantly interacts with a protein which is central to regulating our metabolism and the production of fat cells.

How does it get into your body?

First off, you inhale it as soon as you open the bottle. But the more remarkable finding of the study is that women who directly applied polish to their nails (as opposed to those who wore gloves and applied the

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This is the goal of the human experiment

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Bite on this and chew it:

“You will be civilised on the day you can spend a long period doing nothing, learning nothing, and improving nothing, without feeling the slightest amount of guilt.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

doing nothing Sarah Wilson
Image via Mery.jp on Pinterest

Reader Leonie shared this with me following my post about my time in an Ayurvedic clinic in India from a few months back. I read the quote. And absorbed the “civilised” notion. I get the full weight of this.

I take civilised to mean solid, steady, considered, wise, tempered. It’s non-reactive. It comes from a place of full consideration. To reach this point, we need to be reflective. To sit. To allow. To witness.

Doing is great. But we also have to sit back and allow. Sprint, rest. Sprint, rest.

I know many people don’t know where to start this experiment. And it is an experiment that takes a lot of building up of

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Your favourite songs to lull anxiety

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A few weeks ago I shared a post about songs that can lull anxiety. And why.

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

To refresh, this is the top ten list as compiled by a bunch of boffins from the British Academy of Sound Therapy:

  • 1. Weightless
  • 2. Electra (Airstream)
  • 3. Mellomaniac (DJ Shah – Chill Out Mix)
  • 4. Watermark (Enya)
  • 5. Strawberry Swing (Coldplay)
  • 6. Please Don’t Go (Barcelona)
  • 7. Pure Shores (All Saints)
  • 8. Someone Like You (Adele)
  • 9. Canzonetta Sull’aria (Mozart)
  • 10. We Can Fly (Café Del Mar).

You lot had a bit to say on the matter and shared your Music for Quietening An Agitated Soul. I like your work:

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Why the one Simplicious book, three covers around the world?

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I like to clear up confusion. My latest book I Quit Sugar: Simplicious is now available around the world. But there are currently three different covers. And two different titles?

Aus, UK and US versions of the Simplicious book cover
Aus, UK and US versions of the Simplicious book cover

The thing is this. Some territories like to create their own covers that suit their market segment. I designed my Australian cover. Here it is.

xxx
The cover of Simplicious (Australia and NZ).

Actually, I designed two.

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There’s this excellent thing happening to young boys…

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unnamed 2 There's this excellent thing happening to young boys...

Lately, I’ve had a stack of correspondence from young men. When I say young, I mean pre- and early-teen. It makes my day every time. Not least because I know what it takes for a boy to approach an old battleaxe like me. I’d be petrified!

unnamed-2
“Here’s some of my favourite pics of my ‘sugar free’ family! Hope you enjoy them!” Jack, 11.

There’s been Jacob Towers who travelled with his Mum to meet me in London a few months back. He made me a bookmark. There’s been Ryan, or “Worm”, 9,  who made me a green loom band “to go with your green shorts”.

My note, from Ryan ("Worm")

I recently worked out 12 per cent of my Facebook audience are young men aged 13-34. And in the 13-17-year-old bracket, there are double the number of boys to girls following. And that’s Facebook. Which doesn’t strike me as the most popular hang for boys. Or am I wrong?

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Sorry, but you shouldn’t be drinking almond milk!

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Almond milk. Everyone’s drinking it. Indeed, it’s recently overtaken soy as the most popular dairy-alternative. Everyone, I fear, also seems to think it’s the clean and green cousin at the lactose-free barbeque. I’m really sorry, guys, I have news for you…

Should I drink almond milk - Sarah Wilson
Image via ohsheglows.com

There’s a bunch of factors not commonly discussed. It’s time they should be.

1. The water.

Cop this:

It takes 5 litres of water to grow one almond.

Ouch. But it gets worse. Almost 82 per cent of the world’s almonds are grown in California, one of the most drought-affected places in the world. Australian almonds? Um, same issue.

2. The waste.

Almond milk is essentially a big bunch of almonds, blended with water and strained to extract the “milk”. The almond meal that’s left behind is tossed when almond milk is commercially produced. Very sad stuff.

3. The carbon footprint. 

The majority of almonds used to produce almond milk (even in Australia) are grown in the US. This means they have to be shipped around the world. Add the environmental cost of the packaging and you have yourself a small environmental disaster.

4. The dose of additives. 

Most brands are packed with thickeners, emulsifiers, sugars, and other crap stuff.

5. The nutritional value. 

Yes, almonds are full of vitamin E and B2, magnesium and copper. But most brands only contain about two per

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How to have a morning routine (and why you should)

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I’ve banged on about the importance of a morning routine before. And I’ve shared my own routine. I’m not alone when it comes to religiously sticking to a morning schedule. The creatives and entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed across the globe over the years all have one. And stick to it.

Image via womenforum.com
Image via womenforum.com

Likewise on website Mymorningroutine.com. Intrigued by morning routines and how living by them leads to success, these guys have interviewed 161 professionals about their morning rituals. Looking through the stats on their site, and the people I’ve spoken with, the same three things rate highest:

  • 50% of interviewees drink water
  • 78% exercise
  • 69% meditate

Drinking water

The average waking time of all interviewees is 6:38 am. And about half of them have a glass of water as their first drink.

I do the same.

I drink about 1-2 litres of warm water with fresh lemon juice. Sometimes with a dash of apple cider vinegar. Why? Drinking water on waking helps detox the liver and boosts your metabolism, making it easier for your body to digest your breakfast.

Exercising

They say if there’s one thing successful people have in common, it’s their morning exercise. Barack Obama,

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Why songs heal anxiety (especially these ones)

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Music can very much help with my anxiety. It lulls, it distracts, it provides a lofty, expansive perspective from which I’m able to “see” my anxiety and ride it out.

Most relaxing song Sarah Wilson
Image via Playbuzz

Sound therapists at the British Academy of Sound Therapy looked into why this may be so and created the most scientifically relaxing song possible. Listen to their creation – ‘Weightless’.

The gist to why it works is this: Feelings of euphoria and comfort are created by deliberately chosen gaps in the notes. It begins at 60 beats per minute then gradually slows to around 50, at which time the your heartbeat falls into line with the beat. The study showed this process, known as entrainment, takes about five minutes to start.

Which is why their song is a loooong 8 minutes.

This gentle slowing of the song brings calm to the body, shifting the heart, respiration, blood pressure and brainwaves, lowering blood pressure, slowing heart rate and reducing cortisol at unprecedented rates.

Plus, the absence of repetitive melodies prevents the brain from trying to predict what comes next, allowing the

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