Sarah Wilson

Your solitude is profound. In case you’re despairing.

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I honestly have no idea where I came across this quote. I’ve been reading a few heavy philosophy texts lately. It came from one of them, I think. Loneliness, aloneness, craving humans while also needing to flee… these are themes I explore a lot here. For me, finding the right balance between being in and outside of the world is a journey I’ll be on for life. All the while, of course, I try to find peace with my need for solitude as well as my discomfort with being around people at times. And so this quote resonates…

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another…

“His nature – if that word can be used in reference to man, who has ‘invented’ himself by saying ‘no’ to nature – consists in his longing to realise himself in another. Man is nostalgia and a search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude.”

― Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings

Digested that? Sat with it?

To be aware is to know you’re alone. And yet the process of being aware involves seeing ourselves in others. Two

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10 reasons why coffee might not be great if you have autoimmune disease

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Coffee is good for us, yes? I reckon there’s a fair bit of evidence now saying it’s so. But what about if you have an autoimmune disease? (New here? I have Hashimotos and I often write from this particular POV.) Me, I drink coffee – about 2-3 cups per week. But I’ve been starting to wonder if I might want to back off even more. And so I dug around. Figured you might like to know what I came up with…

Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest

10 reasons why you should think twice before drinking coffee

1. Coffee can mess up your blood sugar. Caffeine impairs insulin action. In young, healthy folk, moderate intake of caffeine is unlikely to affect blood sugar levels too much, but for some AI types, drinking coffee causes both insulin and blood glucose spikes after meals. Over time, your insulin sensitivity goes down, making it harder for the body to respond to blood glucose spikes when they occur. Ergo, havoc.

2. Coffee disrupts your sleep. I don’t sleep well at the best of times. It’s one of 3984928374 AI symptoms. Further, cell damage from AI mayhem is repaired during sleep, but only once our bodies have attended to everything else we’ve put into it during the day. Which requires solid sleep.

3. It boosts stress hormones.When stress occurs, cortisol is released to make energy available – so you can fight or flee. When stress ceases, the body goes back to its normal state. But when stress becomes chronic, as it can do with drinking coffee regularly, our body is continually exposed to high levels of cortisol which have been linked to (among many other things)

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I’ve been a hypocrite and I need to move on

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I’ve been ready for a slap. It’s been building up. I’ve been too seductive. I needed to be knocked back to earth.

Photo by Vargas Photography
Photo by Vargas Photography

Last week, in the midst of the slap-down-I-needed-to-have, my mate Dan Buettner posted a quote on Instagram from the Health Matters conference he was speaking at. He cited Bill Clinton, who spoke at the conference:

“It only hurts for a while to start practicing transparency. Then you can’t believe you didn’t do it all along.”

Reading it, I realised I have been a coward of late.

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The second IQS chocolate cookbook is here!

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Life happens. Chocolate helps. And one sugar-free Chocolate Cookbook wasn’t enough for me and the I Quit Sugar Team…so we made another. And as of this minute, you can get hold of it!

Zucchini Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Popcorn
Zucchini Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Popcorn

Yes, yes, yes, this is a gratuitous post to get you to buy the book. And truth be known I’ve chosen the photo above because I think it’s the one most likely to get you to comply! (It’s the goo-ey bits!). Which feels a little grubby, given I’ve not posted for a while. 

But, a) I think it’s always better to get to The Point,
and b) I’m back on deck posting again as of this week,
and most importantly, c) it’s chocolate.

For the sake of fairness and efficiency, a very quick rundown of what you might want to know about the book:

* The book features 80 sugar-free chocolate recipes.

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Debating doing the 8-Week Program? Here’s how it’s helped others

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I get asked regularly about the benefits of quitting sugar. Personally, quitting sugar has helped me a tremendous amount with my autoimmune disease. While a lot of you ask regularly about the weight loss component – sugar does help you shift weight if you need to (I lost weight I’d put on as a result of my disease) – what I really love is that by the end of the 8-Week Program people are commenting more about their energy levels, consistent moods and their glowing skin.

natashaBA-painkillers

Wondering if the 8-Week Program will work for you? Why not check out some of the testimonies below.

Peta + Damien: “Our moods are overall better on a daily basis – which has seen us argue less! People randomly ask me if I’ve done  something new to my skin. And my body fat score has dropped from 24-19 with no adjustment to my 4-5 times a week gym routine.”

Dionne: “I have been suffering for years with IBS (first of which I thought was a gluten/wheat intolerance) and over the past eight weeks, my body has never felt better. I’m no longer bloated, no mad panics to the bathroom, no trapped wind! The whole process has changed my life for the better and I cannot advocate it enough to people that either have digestive concerns or who just need to

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How the 8-Week Program exceeds nutritional guidelines

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With the first I Quit Sugar online 8-Week Program for 2015 just around the corner, I’ve been fielding a few questions about the nutritional status of the meal plans. I figured I’d take the opportunity to tick off some of the things I keep in mind when I’m developing the meal plans for the 8-Week Program, so you know where things are at.

Screen Shot 2015-01-12 at 3.01.12 PM

1. All meals must be nutrient dense. Just Eat Real Food is the foundation of the whole I Quit Sugar food philosophy and by ensuring a wide variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables, meats and whole grains, nutritional density is key. In fact, the 8WP meal plans typically feature between 7-9 serves of veggies a day.

2. “Crowding Out” is a key philosophy. I also focus on generous serves and an abundance of flavour, both of which help you to ‘crowd out’ less healthy foods.

3. I don’t count calories. What?! I know, it goes against what mainstream health teaches us. The fact is not all calories are created equal. The calories in fat, protein and carbohydrates have different biological influence on satiety, metabolic rate,

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Your favourite posts of 2014

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Hanging at Mum and Dad’s listening to Mitch Miller carols on the turntables? Sitting through Frozen with the kids….again? You might like a bit of distracted reading. Here’s the countdown. Ten posts that floated boats in this wonderful community throughout the year. Can you guess which was number 1, according to the whizzy Google algorithms?

8f99554a07a127365e4d18a448b9614d e1400041134469 Your favourite posts of 2014
Image via Going Home To Roost

And while I have you, thank you to every one of you for being part of this community this year. It’s been a big, bodacious, fast one. And your comments and interaction has been so heartening and life purpose-creating for me.

See you in 2015….

10.  300 “typical” thyroid symptoms (yep, that many!)
A super comprehensive, whole-body list of symptoms associated with having a dodgy thyroid.

9. Why introverts just can’t handle you… sometimes

8. Fermented turmeric tonic recipe

7.  Could female self hatred be the real cause of AI

6. A Comforting note to single people. From me

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It’s National Leftovers Day

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Each year, Australians throw out $8 billion of edible food. National Leftovers Day is an initiative of FoodWise, DoSomething’s national campaign to reduce the environmental impact of Australia’s food consumption aims to change this for the better.

Image from Pinterest
Image from Pinterest

I LOVE coming up with clever ways to use up leftover food. I get pleasure from finding novel ways to stretch a chicken further. So here are some ideas I’ve come up with for your Christmas leftovers:

  • Bundle up leftovers and send care packages home with your Christmas guests.
  • Freeze single servings for when you just don’t feel like cooking (and celebrate Christmas all over again!).
  • Strip the leftover meat from your chicken or turkey carcass and freeze it in 100gm portions for sandwiches or snacks. Or, make stock from the carcasses (add leftover onions, garlic, carrot, celery and herbs) and use the flesh and some fresh veggies to make Chicken soup.
  • Use leftover greens in smoothies to curb your post Christmas food hangover.

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My Christmas travel guides round up

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Heading yonder this Christmas? I thought I’d put together a handy little travel guide compilation. You’ll see that many of my posts are ‘slow food and hiking guides‘. I like to eat and hike, both mindfully.

Screen Shot 2014 10 09 at 12.34.26 PM My Christmas travel guides round up
A favourite dawn shot, climbing Mount Amos.

From my point of view, if I get 100 people to leave their comfort zone and get out of the city to move and eat real food in regional areas…well, I will die in peace knowing my job is done. If you’re planning some bush hikes this Christmas, here is my advice for planning a great hike. 

And so, a round up of some of my trips. Hopefully they inspire you to get out and explore new destinations.

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The ultimate wellness gift: an 8 week program voucher!

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Thought I’d grab you as gift-buying tension hits fever pitch and suggest a smooth idea. The next round of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program kicks off January 22… and gift vouchers are now available! I’m betting Uncle Bob is gagging for a trimmer waistline. Maybe your sister is after a fresh start to … Read more