Lacto-fermented Recipes

So I had some left over Whey from when I separated my milk to make some cheese the other week. What better way to put it to use then to ferment some apples and beetroot's

First things first. You'll need some Whey.

Whey made from separated raw milk. Pour milk into glass jar and allow to separate
out of the fridge. Usually takes 2 days. Then separate in a very fine material, a
hemp pillow case works well. Let the milk hang in the material for about 24hours till all the whey has drained through into a bowl. The curd (that's left in the material) can be salted and made into soft cheese.




As always with food, own your own health decisions as I can not recommend the consumption of raw milk because it's illegal for human consumption. Can legally only recommend raw goats milk as always do your own research - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_milk

What you will need!

Beet Kvass:


3 to 4 beets
Salt
Grated ginger
Water

Slice beets in to Chunks. Place into 2 Litre air tight glass jar.
Grate a GENEROUS amount of ginger add to jar with beets.
Pinch of organic sea salt.
Fill the rest of the jar with filtered water.

Leave out some where warm on the kitchen bench for 4 days or more then place in the fridge.

Apple Cider Ginger:

3 green apples
Grated Ginger
Whey
Salt


Slice beets in to Chunks. Place into 2 Litre air tight glass jar.
Grate a GENEROUS amount of ginger add to jar with apples.
Pinch of organic sea salt.
Fill the rest of the jar with filtered water.

Leave out some where warm on the kitchen bench for 4 days or more then place in the fridge.


ENJOY a glass before each meal of the day!

Love & Chi
Shane Richards

Sick Animals

The last week or so has been a real battle for me to understand certain people’s outlook on animals and food.

To me, being healthy means taking every opportunity to make informed and educated decisions that will best suit my personal, physical and mental goals.

To do this, I make sure I understand what I'm supporting with every dollar that I spend. I buy from local farmers who farm in a sustainable manner and look after their animals, their soil and the earth.

I have a question for everyone to think about.

How can a person experience supreme health and wellness unless the animals, fruits and veg they consume are coming from a healthy source to begin with? Do people honestly expect to help repair nutrient deficiencies by eating animals that were less healthy than them to start with?


Let’s use cage chickens as an example. If you chose to buy a caged chicken, you are basically saying that you're happy to purchase/support the inhumane treatment of that chicken. You're also ok with it being abused almost, if not all, of it's life - kept inside ALL it's life (like a prisoner); never allowed to just sit and relax without having to FIGHT for it's life every day against other chickens. Think about how stressed you’d get if you were trapped inside and couldn’t get out. Stress releases certain hormones and these hormones are absorbed throughout the body – YOU’RE EATING STRESS!!



These animals are incredibly unhealthy and definitely nutrient deficient in so many areas. The obvious one is Vitamin D. Not being allowed outside has some serious health impacts and effects. How will you make Vitamin D if the food you're eating to help you produce vitamin D didn't have it in the first place?

Instead, what you may opt to do to help support your own health, the animal and the environment, is find a farmer who allows their chickens to roam outside, having a full and complete life. Allowed to eat their natural diet, allowed to bath in the dirt and dust and able to stretch out their wings and lay in the breeze relaxing, not freaking out from over crowded pens. This way, you too can be healthy and so can the chicken that has been purpose bred and raised to provide you the best nutritional outcome.



Consuming sick and dead animals will only lead to more of the same in humans! When you look at it logically, it makes perfect sense.

Is it any surprise that 1:2 - 1:3 Australians are suffering from some form of cancer or other health related disease?

When will we learn that getting back to HOW WE EVOLVED and supporting the LIVING EARTH will be the only way that will prevent this ratio from getting worse?

We have gone off our traditional diets SOOO much that it scares me to think how further off track we may get unless someone starts to see the link!!



In these busy, consumer based times; it can appear difficult to break from certain cycles of consumption. To assist you in making changes, list your eating habits and identify areas where you can improve. Are your choices (because everything is a choice) giving you and your family the maximum health benefits or could you be doing more? Over time, with small incremental changes, you will eventually benefit from these changes.

The first people who can start this revolution of change, is you and me. Own your thoughts and decisions on ALL your health choices. Support local farmers doing it right by the soil, the animals and the earth. Make sure you eat organic, fresh fruit and veg grown without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and chemical fertilisers.

We can do it. Together, we can make the world change for the better.

Health and Chi.
Shane Richards

Michael & Justine Pearsons - Scotch Eggs!!

Scotch Eggs Recipe:


To make six scotch eggs

8 medium eggs ( 6 for cooking , 2 for basting )
Coconut flour ( approx 1 cup)
Shredded coconut, fresh ( approx 1 cup)
Approx 500 gms mince. we used Spring Hill black Angus (grass fed/finsihed) mince and Spring Hill sausages (grass fed/finsihed) ( take off skin) mixed together.
2 bacon rashers (without rind)
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
4 Tablespoons flat leaf parsley
5 sage leaves

Place 6 of the eggs in cold water, bring gently to boil, reduce and gently simmer for 7 minutes. We don't want the eggs hard boiled as their colour wont look so good. Yet we want to be able to peel them easily without squashing them. Run eggs under cold water , then sit the in cold water for five minutes. Peel them, dry them, coat in coconut flour.

Whisk the remaining two eggs, set aside.
Have some coconut flour ready to toll the scotch eggs into.
Have shredded fresh coconut ready for rolling the eggs in at the end.

Combine the mince, sausage mince, finely chopped bacon, lemon zest, herbs, season with salt and plenty of pepper.

Put down some baking paper, or lightly flour bench, divide meat into equal portions, making circles about 1/2 to 1 cm in thickness, about 10cm in diameter. Now take a floured egg, place it onto the meat that has been basted with wet egg mix. This helps the egg and meat stick together. You don't want heaps of meat around the egg, if there is too much take excess off the egg. Press the meat firmly around the egg, roll it in coconut flour, then into the wet egg mixture you have set aside, then dip in shredded coconut.

Normally recipes say to deep fry, but you can use a little coconut oil on the eggs. Sit them in muffin tins and cook for about thirty minutes. Oven temp about 180 deg, This is plenty of time if the meat is not too thick. (or longer time on lower heat)

When Michael and Justine made these eggs they doubled the quantity. Sausage mixed with beef helps it to stay together. Original recipe said to use 12 pork chippolatas (340gms for 6 scotch eggs) but you don't want to run short of meat.

Thank you Justine and Michael for this wonderful dish!! :)

Super Pooping!!

A lot of you will look at this post and laugh. But back in the day, seeing you poop sitting on a white porcelain bowl would have made many people laugh and look quite silly!



Why? Because a full squat position is the NATURAL way to defecate. Toddlers will naturally squat down to relieve themselves. Do you think our caveman ancestors (Grok) would have known what to do with such a device like the toilet?

No! Of course not. Grok would have just done what felt good and this was his natural instinct. This natural urge to fully squat down to do number twos is something that not only EASY but is a HEALTHY and FUNCTIONAL way to use the bathroom!

Not only do you get a FULL movement and evacuation you do so with minimal effort. You massage your organs at the same time, you stretch out your spine and you also get a great stretch in all your lower body muscles that sometimes NEVER see that range of movement. Keeping them moveing and keeping them flexible can only mean that when you're old and grey you will not need anyone to help you do something that you should always have the ability to do. Age should not prevent you from using the bathroom alone. Plus, even as a 90 year old, you'll have a pretty cool squat!!

Grok had his shit sorted, excuse the pun! haha He knew that he could eliminate all waste, and do it as quick as possible if he squatted down instead of sitting on top of something.

The lillipad has been invented to help us re-connect with our Grok selves!!
The lillipad is a wooden stool designed to help you get in to a proper position with having to stand on your toilet seat or instead of having it taken out! haha

There are other benefits to squatting and they are:



Proactive in avoiding colon cancer
Alleviate hemroids (hemorrhoids)
Optimum birthing position (gets you pregnant ladies prepared for birth and better control)
Beneficial spinal stretch (as discussed above)
Help prevent Knee and hip and degenerative disk diseases

What do you have to lose? Give it ago. You be the judge. I first experienced squatting this wonderful way of using the bathroom about a year ago now and have not looked back (unless it was a freezing cold morning and getting undressed was not an option!! haha) In hindsight I think never having to sit on a cold toilet seat again is a good enough reason to give it up!!

Post to comments your thoughts and let me know if you've had ago!!


Health & Chi

Shane Richards
Lifestyle and Movement Coach and Educator

Book Review!

So over the last year I have read many books. Some AWESOME, some TERRIBLE...
But I guess like life, you need balance. Good with the bad, Yin and Yang.

I decided to put together a list of the books I have read or partially read and got what I need out of them. For now, anyway! :)

---------------------------------------------

Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat


I'm 3/4 of the way through. This book is a wonderful book to grasp an understanding of our bodies and how different macro nutrients play a BIG role in our physiology.
This book highlights some important issues with sugar. fructose in particular.
A good light book that is not dry and an easy read. The writing style keeps me infomred and most things are broken down, no prior knowledge is really needed.






Good Calories. Bad calories.

A top book to help you understand that fats are not as bad as they are made out to be. Fats have been vilified for decades now and it's time that we put a stop to this by educating ourselves. This is a great book to help do that. Granted it can be dry but when you get the juicy parts it's worth it!









How To Eat Move & Be Healthy:


My first book that I read that got me hooked in to the whole holistic approach of the body, mind and the spirit. It is an easy book to read for anyone who is interested in anything health related. It talks alot of about food and one thing I really do like is that it slightly goes in to SOURCE and PROCESS which most books don't normally talk about but in my opinion has a HUGE overall impact on a person in every aspect.






Metabolic Typing Diet:



Never really fully got into it. Has some interesting concepts and is a worth wild read but it really didn't strike a note with me. I may read it again in the near future and see what it's like the second time around. Have to wait and see.




These are just a quick look into what I have been reading over the year.
Feel free to add your comments on each book you also may have read. Also, if there is any book you would like to recommend, do so in the comments section of this post and I will give the book a read! :) I enjoy reading so much, it's my time out! haha

Health & Chi

Stay Classy

Shane Richards

What Have You Changed In 12 Months?

Life changes, constantly!

Life is amazing and the only CONSTANT is change!
Pretty cool huh!?!



I was sitting here thinking of all the changes that I have made in the last year and a bit. Mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Here is what I came up with.

I changed:
I changed my hair
I changed my clothes
I changed the way I brush my teeth
I eat more eggs then anyone I know
I changed my diet and now eat mainly meat
My diet is 70% fresh, happy, healthy and whole pasture raised fats
I have dropped carbohydrate consumption down to 60g a day at most
I changed the way I vote, instead of voting once a year I now vote every day with my dollar.
I care more now then ever about the environment
I care about humanity and understand it more
I changed the way I see myself and now I care more about myself then I ever did
I have a great connection with the earth and changed my perception and instead of always taking I try to give back to this amazing life force that gives to me everyday
I have created a website and change how my voice is heard
I have several new clients, together we are changing!
I changed the way I store my foods (in glass)
I don’t buy plastic bottles anymore (instead I use Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottle)
I try my best not to use plastic bags where I can (re-usable)
I learnt to cook good whole foods
I changed how I cook and now slow cook 80% of my meats
I changed how I eat and now I eat raw foods more often
I have changed my perception on life. I don’t know that thinking and being positive will work all of the time, but I do know negativity will!
I now cook with stainless steel and not Teflon
I go to bed at 10:30 or before almost every night (expect now cause I have THIS on my mind) haha
I changed the way I breathe (deep belly, instead of shallow neck and chest breaths)
I changed the way I train. Smarter, not harder.
I changed the way I see the seasons. I try to cleanse with them and work with them.
I changed the people I hang out with and socialise with
I changed the way I spend my 24 hours and realise we all have the same time in each day, the only difference is what i do with mine.
I decided to start practical mediation
I changed my rush around and panic life style for one that’s slow paced and more relaxed. I now MAKE time to lay in the sun when it’s out.
I changed where I live

These are honestly just the changes I have thought of in the last 15 minutes I have been sitting here. I know there are PLENTY more and there should be!

Are you changing? Are you growing? Are you moving forward or standing still?
These are questions that I like to ask..

Just like migrating animals, moving on with life means growth and survival. Standing still and not doing anything can mean death. It’s not so morbid or dramatic when you think about how important it really is for us all as animals.

It’s been one year. You will all make new years resolutions at the end of this one. But maybe we should first reflect on how much we have done THIS year and give ourselves a big pat on the back and say, well done! What can I now do, to get me to where my life journey will take me?

Post thoughts and changes you’ve made to comments below! I look forward to hearing from you all. :)


Health & Chi

Shane Richards

Sunday Dinner Recap!

Sunday Dinner! Another HIT yet again!!

The weather was back in full force after a few weekends that were very wet.
The nice warm weather brought together 16 people to the river to join in on nourishing foods and fantastic conversations.



We would like to welcome Alison, Kylie and Ian to Sunday Dinners. It was great having you down hanging out with us and joining in and it will be awesome to see what you will bring to the next one. All the regulars were there and as usual it was a pleasure spending the afternoon with you all. Thank you to each and everyone of you that made the afternoon a great one!

So now enough of me talking, let's get to the good part, THE FOOD!! :)

1. Michael & Justine Lasagna with zucchini base (no Pasta)






2. Johnny M - Grass finished Beef with Eggplant, garlic and dried tomato












3. Justine Ward - Butter Chicken










4. Pete and Kylie Lime, Ginger & Coconut beef Stew

















5. Michael and Justine - Strawberry cream cake





To anyone who has made a dish people have said that they would LOVE to make (you know who you are) for themselves, could you please add to comments the method and recipe.

Thanks everyone! See you at the next event on the 21st of November.


Health & Chi

Shane Richards

Reduce Your Carbon Emissions

Change a light
Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact
fluorescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of
carbon dioxide a year.

Drive less
Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more
often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide
for every mile you don’t drive!



Recycle more
You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide

per year by recycling just half of your household
waste.

Check your tires
Keeping your tires inflated properly can
improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!






Use less hot water
It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less
hot water by installing a low-flow showerhead
(350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and
washing your clothes in cold or warm water
(500 pounds saved per year).

Avoid products with a lot of packaging
You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if
you cut down your garbage by 10%.
Re-usable bags where possible.

Adjust your thermostat
The simple adjustment of moving your
thermostat down just 2 degrees in winter and
up 2 degrees in summer could save you about
2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon
dioxide over its lifetime.

Turn off electronic devices
Simply turning off your television, DVD player,
stereo and computer when you’re not using
them will save you thousands of pounds of
carbon dioxide a year.


Unplug
Unplugging hair dryers, phone charges, toaster
ovens and power cords when not in use can
save up to 20% on home energy use.

Activated Almonds

Activated Almonds are a fantastic snack! Especially when you're in a rush to get back to the park to train your next client and you can't take something that will require a plate or a glass!

First things first. What are activated almonds?
They are almonds that have been soaked in filtered water for at least 24 hours, then dehydrated in the oven on a very low temp (under 70) for 8 - 10 hours.

I can hear a lot of people now "WOW 10 hours!!! What a waste of time!!! I just eat them raw from the packet. Why would I bother doing all that?"

Basically, unless you are activating your nuts, seeds and grains (soaking then dehydrating them) the nuts, seeds and grains you're consuming are acting as anti-nutrients. This basically means that they are stealing from you not giving to you like they should!

A common miss conception that is running around is that plain raw almonds are good to consume. Many people don't understand the importance of activating your nuts, seeds and grains before consuming them for this to be a healthy choice.

It's easy to see why soaking your nuts and seeds is a good idea once you understand the job that each seed or nut has.

A seed or nuts job is to protect it's self until the conditions are just right that it can start to create new life! Until then it protects it's self in phytates. These phytates are enzyme inhibitors and will block the absorption of many valuable nutrients and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron.

Activating (soaking) them will diminish the effects of phytates thus enabling the nut, seed or grain to give you nutrients that you need to be non-nutrient deficient.

De-hydrating them will arrest the growth and life process so that once you consume them this process will be re activated and off-load it's valuable nutrition to you once you have consumed it!

Give it ago. You add so much taste to each bite once you have activated your nuts and seeds that once you have done it once you will never want to consume another un-activated nut or seed again! This is proof enough that it's good for my body!

Find Priority In Your Change & Change Will Find You!

Today I’m going to put things into perspective a little. Not only for myself but to share with everyone that change is possible.

I’ve decided to share a little bit about my background and how I got into looking for a better answer when it came to nutrition and how I now OWN every health choice I make!

I follow a 2 part philosophy that someone won’t do better, unless they know better. Part two follows that. Find priority in your change and change will find you.
People often don’t understand or know any better. How can they then be expected to do better? The reverse is also common. People often know what is better for them but have not surrounded it with enough priority or enthusiasm to prompt change. So in order for change to take place, a person would need to first understand a better way, then make it their priority to change.

Sometimes, a person is forced into change i.e. health related illness, emotional energy either expressed by themselves or by an external force like a wife or a child to change their habits and ways, for example. Sometimes change comes from looking at other people, wishing that you yourself had what they had. You might look at these people and say “wow, it’s really working for them! Maybe if I change I can also have it work for me.” (Just to clarify “it” can be anything. It’s your change!)


Now I guess the reason I changed was a little of column A and a little of column B. (emotional and health) I had some pretty restricting health problems and I had seen some things in some people that made me think change needed to be done. It was just that the things I had seen were not very inspiring.

My parents at the time represented a bunch of things that I did not want for my life. They seemed to be un-happy; they were angry, bitter, negative, victims of the world and stressed. This was obvious to anyone who knew them. So instead of me looking at someone I wanted to become, I was seeing and living with people who I knew I didn’t want to become.

Mum, dad if you’re reading this, please know that you gave me the values I now have and am EXTREMELY happy for these gifts. Without you two, I would have not started on my amazing life journey. I might have taken life for granted for a lot longer and missed the multitude of opportunities I have taken already. This is in no way, shape or form an insult to you! You were good parents but you had a very different lifestyle to the one I wanted for myself.

I feel that if you have seen a life that is not right for you, not only seen it, but lived it for a considerable amount of time then it will motivate you to push towards the things you DO want in life, eventually.

Change is not hard, unless that is what you make it. I used fear as a motivator. Fear is a powerful emotion. It pushes us to our best. It can sometimes however devour us in irrational thinking, negative thinking and worst of all, procrastination. The fear of doing NOTHING with my life scares me the most and makes the idea of change an easy one.

Do you have fear in your life? If so, what are you doing to use it as a way to get what you want out of life? After all, life is about growing and achieving the things in your mind that make you happy. It can be anything!

Blame is useless and I don’t blame my poor nutritional habits on my parents. Sure they were older, had more experience, and had the income and the resources to give a better nutritional up bringing. But did they know better? How could they DO better unless they KNEW better? Did they know that through my younger years how important OPTIMAL nutrition was? That because of the foods I was eating it was adding to the chance of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, a bunch of autoimmune disease and hormonal suppression?


There’s no way any parent would do that deliberately. Did they realise that not only was it important for my growth and development of my body but how important it was to my mind and metal ability? My ability to handle my own emotions, my own thoughts?

All too often do we put the responsibility for our well-being in the hands of other people and then blame them when things go wrong. This is a waste of time and energy! The first step towards change is ownership.

Eventually I had the information. I had grown up, I was now in charge of the things I did, the food that I ate and the way I lived. I took advantage of this. Now I was the only person who was going to help me! I owned my decision to change. This is very liberating.

Over the next 7 – 8 years after moving out of home, I studied the human body, the effects of foods, the different types of ways of eating and came to one conclusion - I needed to own my own health decisions. I could not listen to others about what was good for me. I needed to teach myself, listen to my body and do what it needed. Sure, I could see how some of the mainstream health recommendations might be beneficial but ultimately it would always seem to lead to an ulterior motive for this advice (like product sales). One place you can see this in full force is our food pyramid or product pyramid as I like to call it (an article on this soon).


The best advice I have ever received was to look at the source of the information. Is there a reason that this information is being presented in a particular way? Do they have something to gain from you doing this and the best question of all. What if they’re wrong? These question help me filter through the useless crap I find on the internet and help me side up to things I like and see merit in. Thus enabling change!

In conclusion, if a once negative, nutritionally void individual can see a clearer brighter future in changing my ways one step at a time until I’m where I want to be and can implement small things in to my life in order to help, so can you, so can anyone.

We all have the same TIME each day. It’s just what we each do with our time that makes us different. What will you do today to bring you closer to happiness and your much wanted goals?



As always, keep smiling and stay awesome!
Also, if there is anything or any story you would like to add. Please do not hesitate to add it to the comments section. If you share your thoughts then people can get a broader perspective. Plus I like reading comments! haha


Health & Chi
Shane Richards

Sunday Dinner Update! :)

Well well well!
Once again I was massively impressed by the amazing dishes everyone cooked up on Sunday! As I mentioned briefly on Sunday, it is so awesome for Myself, Steve and Pete to see every single person who is coming along developing their culinary skills.

Everyone is researching their foods, sourcing ingredients from local areas (even their own back yards). This is EXACTLY why we decided to start up Sunday Dinners. We are hitting our goal of cultivating health and creating a strong community that is educated and supportive of good QUALITY food!

We also would like to welcome Tash and her friend Shani (I hope i got that right) to the Sunday Dinners. They came along and it was great having them there! Can't wait to see the dish that you create at the next event!

Enough of me chit chatting. I'll post up some photos from the last 4 Sunday Dinners we have had! :)

But first, if you are reading this and have not yet come and joined in on this AWESOME event, then your next chance to come along is the 7th Of November.

1. Eliza (Grass finished steak and vegetables)



2. Michael & Justine - Scotch Eggs (Free range eggs, grass finished mince)















3. Justine and My - Slow Baked Apples With Cinnamon and Strawberries



4. Justine Ward - Pumpkin Muffins



















To anyone who has made a dish people have said that they would LOVE to make (you know who you are) for themselves, could you please add to comments the method and recipe

Thanks everyone!


Health & Chi

Shane Richards

SharkWater

I just finished watching a documentary called “Shark Water”. A friend of mine told me that this was something I needed to watch, as it would be an eye opener to the horrible practice of Shark Finning happening all around the world.

Little did I know how deeply it would affect me! Not only how it would affect me, but after looking into this subject a little deeper, eventually it will effect us all, whether or not we know about it or not.

First off, let me fill you in on what Shark Finning is and why it’s such a problem.
Shark Finning is the process in which sharks are taken from their habitat and have their fins cut off. This is not done in a humane way. Once the fins have been removed the sharks are then dumped back in to the ocean to die slowly. Most sharks will take days to completely die. It’s a slow, cruel and painful death for these sharks. Because they are left without their fins, they cannot get water to run through their gills which enables them to breathe. If they don’t die by suffocation, they are either eaten or bleed to death.

Why are people killing sharks for their fins??
Some people believe that sharks are a cure for traditional diseases and that because sharks have a tendency to have strong immunities against most diseases that humans suffer from and sharks are resilient against some parasites then they are some magical creature that can help to prevent people from contracting deadly diseases if we consume their fins (silly right?).

There is NO scientific proof that eating shark fin will have ANY positive impact on a persons susceptibility to things like cancer or arthritis. Shark fin soup is also a very popular delicacy in a lot of Asian countries particularly China. A bowl of shark fin soup can typically cost over $200. One pound of dried shark fin can cost upwards of $300. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry. You can see why so many people keep it quiet.

Now for the shocking news:
It’s estimated that sharks are being wiped out at an alarming rate – up to 90% of sharks. It’s also estimated that 100 MILLION sharks are killed for their fins annually. At this rate we will have almost no sharks left within a decade.
This is a scary thought. Sharks are one of the top predators in their ecosystem. Without a top predator controlling an eco system you get a big shift within that ecosystem. It will have an effect on all below it. Seeing as though the majority of our oxygen comes from the ocean. Maybe we should stop to think about what might happen to us by disturbing this ecosystem?

Like many cases of animal cruelty and exploitation, it its incumbent on us to act on behalf of these magnificent creatures. It comes as no surprise to see victims of shark attack recently appeal to the Australian Government to act on the world stage to stop this cruel and needless practice. These animals cannot ask for our help, they cannot walk in to a cop shop or a court room and tell someone what is happening to them on a MASSIVE scale. They cannot protest, they cannot beg for mercy, they cannot create awareness to help SAVE themselves.That’s our job.


Questions:

What do we want future generations to think of us after we have wiped out certain species, burnt all the fossil fuels, desecrated the oceans, destroyed ecosystem, polluted the air, the soil and the water, all the while knowing what we’re doing?
What will happen to humans if we keep on fishing for sharks?
What can we do to help stop this type of thing from happening?
Ways to help:

• Contact with Wild Aid, the Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace and other groups
• Petition and contact politicians and Government agencies
• Create awareness where ever you can.

Talk to friends and family members about this. Ask what they would do, how can they help?

Interesting Shark Facts:

• Sharks have been around for more than 400 million years
• There are 375 shark species
• Sharks are intelligent and can be trained
• 100 million sharks are killed each year for their fins
• The largest shark is the Whale shark, averaging 9 metres (30 feet) in length—the size of a large bus
• Whale sharks are not aggressive. They eat zooplankton, small fish and squid.
• When a shark loses a tooth, a new one grows in its place
• Mako and Blue sharks are the fastest swimming sharks
• Sharks can take hours or even days to die after being finned
• Sharks are a critical part of marine ecosystems

I’ll lave you with an extract from the movie. Said by “Captain Paul Watson” He sums it up like this:

"I think the problem is, that we don't understand what we are. In essence we're, uh, you know, just a conceited naked ape, but in our minds we're some sort of divine legend and we see ourselves as some sort of god, that we can just walk around the Earth deciding who will live and who will die, and what will be destroyed and what will be saved. But the fact is, we're just a bunch of primates out of control.

We're now in the midst of a Third World War, but this time the enemy is ourselves and the objective is to save the planet from ourselves. There is no hope for the masses of humanity to do anything. They never have, they never will. All social change comes from the passionate intervention of individuals or small groups of individuals.

Slavery wasn't ended by any government or any institution. Women got the right to vote not because of any government. The civil-rights movement, the same thing- India with Mahatma Gandhi, South Africa with Nelson Mandela. Again, it's always individuals. You need those individuals with the passion and the energy to get involved. In fact, I don't know of any governments or institutions that are doing anything to solve any of these problems. All over the world, though, I am seeing individuals and non-government organizations that are passionately involved in protecting ecosystems and species, and that's where I see some optimism that's where results are happening."

Food for thought!

I feel that ignorance is BLISS and knowledge is POWER.
I can choose to be ignorant of my food choices, my connection with others, the earth and things around me. I can be ignorant to pretty much anything I want and still live my life.

What happens when you change that perspective? When you start to wonder about these things. Understanding how you operate at your core is VERY liberating and helps us become more stable in all areas of our lives!

I am constantly asking myself questions to help better understand myself, my life, my morals and to help inspire some growth from within.

I feel that when you ask the questions below it can give you a greater understanding of what you want from this life. It helps you achieve happiness and can give you some purpose. Without purpose does life have meaning?

Clearly, there are more questions to this article then answers. This is simply because these answers are always entirely up to you!

Perception of self:
What do you want to look like & Feel like

Your lifestyle:

What is your perfect Day, Month, Yr, Life?

What to you want emotionally?

What type of relationships do you want?
With yourself?
With your partner?
With family?
With friends?
In business?

What do you want Mentally?

What do you want to learn from you life experiences?
What do you want to offer and teach to those around you?

What type of connection do you want?

What gives you a sense of Purpose?
When do you have the greatest sense of connection?
When do you feel the most energy running through you with tingling up your spine and tears of inspiration in your eyes.

POST ANSWERS TO COMMENTS!!!

Sunday Dinner # 2

It's that time of the week again when I fill you in on what's been happening with Holistic Foundations and The Lower Blue Mountains in general :)

As you should be aware, last week Myself, Pete and Steve launched our SUNDAY DINNERS!

What a turn out we got! I was so impressed with EVERYONE'S commitment. We had at least one organic, fresh, locally sourced and a raw dish. We had such a great turn out that it was clear to us that this was something that we could do on a fortnightly basis.

The location changed to the river, but the energy, commitment and the enthusiasm still showed up in force. We had some new faces and all the old regulars. I don't think the day could have been better. The sun was out and nature was in full force letting us know that we are well and truly in spring!

We will be running this event every fortnight from here on in with the next event falling on the 10th October.



Everyone is welcome. Myself, Pete and Steve are trying to create a healthy, happy community who support local farmers doing it right by the soil, humanity and the environment. Come join us when ever you can and join in with a bunch of fun people who care about their health.

Look forward to seeing you one Sunday soon! :)

Holistic Foundations Presents - Sunday Dinner - Converstaion & Nourishing Food

Hey everyone,

Last week was a MASSIVE success. (thanks to all of you!)

Over 15 people turned up and pretty much everyone prepared something for us to share that was organic, raw, fresh and locally sourced.

Keeping the energy flowing, myself, Pete and Steve have decided that we would like to hold this event this coming Sunday. Then every fortnight thereafter, because of it's success at creating healthy communities.

If this is the first you have heard about it, then I have left the event description that I wrote up last week for you to read over at the bottom.

If this will be your 2nd week attending, then we look forward to seeing what you come up with this week. You all did so awesome last week. Hopefully, you are now a wear of a lot of the benefits of locally sourced organic food. Not only on our health, but on our planet as well and will use more of it this week.

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The idea and concept is to get everyone involved in cooking with locally sourced, fresh, organic ingredients to help us nourish our bodies and become healthy. While connecting as a community and bonding over food and conversation!

Don't worry if you can not get organic, fresh or local food. Just bring along a dish this week and the following week try to replace an ingredient each time we meet. Ultimately we all will be able to hit the requirements of a wholesome nourishing meal!

You can make an entrée, a main meal or a dessert. Just so long as you bring enough to share.

If you are not confident in the kitchen just yet. Still come along and ask questions and learn about how other people were able to make the food that they made. Then have a go yourself the following week.

Bring the kids and the family. This will be a fortnightly event for all of Spring and Summer.

Let me know if you're coming and what you might be making.



Recap:

Fresh
Local
Organic
Slow cooked, fermented, sprouted or raw.
Enough to share
Cooked with love (haha)

See you Sunday! :)

Nourishing Food - A Few Simple Recipies!

You want to eat something, but you’re not sure what?

You have goals that you want to achieve, but making the right choice is sometimes hard.

Instead of racing for that sugar hit and feeling guilty, think of eating something that will last you a little longer, give you a feeling of satiety, balance and best of all – is good for you.

Well you’re in luck. Below I have put together some fail safe recipes. Always have at least ONE of these in the fridge or on its way in the oven and you’ll never be without a nutritious meal.

If we leave it till it’s too late to do something about our hunger pangs then our choices extraordinarily decrease. Why leave it to chance? With the help of these recipes you will have food on hand to help you through the tough times. You’ll also notice there are minimal carbs in these recipes. This follows on from my previous blogs that we need to source our energy from fat and protein, not so much from carbohydrates. All part of healthy living.

Snacks:



1. Organic cheese. Made from good culture! You can buy some or make it yourself from separated milk (REAL milk).

• Weigh up around 50g – 100g for a little snack on the run.


2. Raw Eggs. These amazing things, in my opinion, could be the best, most valuable thing in my fridge. You will never enter my kitchen and ask, “Do you have any eggs?” Eggs are an amazing source of Vitamins A, D, E and K!


• 2 eggs
• 50g Blueberries

Pop your eggs into a blender with 50g of blueberries and whiz them up. Short sharp pulse just enough to wiz up the berries. Enjoy!



Nourishing food:



Raw Beef Tartare*

Carbohydrates Calories
1 kg Raw Beef Chuck Finely Minced 1800 Calories
1 Medium Spanish Onion finely diced 4.6 30 Calories
2 Medium Lemons, juiced 4.5 68 Calories
2 Birds eye Chili's
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
5 Tablespoons Olive oil 603 Calories
10 Cos lettuce leaves
1 bunch of fresh basil, coriander and/or mint

1. Put all the ingredients except for Olive Oil in a Pyrex tray and kneed until mixed thoroughly.

2. Seal with olive oil.

3. Leave to marinate in refrigerator for min. 2 hours.

4. Scoop 3 big tablespoons into lettuce leaves and put chopped herbs on top and serve.

Total 1200g contains 9g Carbs and 2051 Calories
200g serve contains 1.5g Carbs and 416 Calories



Raw Beef Carpaccio*

1 Kg Beef Sirloin (Get the sirloin in one piece) 2250 Calories
2 Medium Lemons, Juiced 2.5 68 Calories
5 Tablespoons Olive oil 603 Calories
Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Place Sirloin in freezer for 1 hr. This makes it easier to cut.

2. Cut the Sirloin as thinly as possible. 2-3mm is best

3. Cover beef with Lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and garnish with parsley

4. Ready to serve immediately

1100g Serve contains 2.5g Carbs and 2921 Calories
220g Serve contains 0.5g Carbs and 584 Calories

Slow Roast Chicken*

1 Pasture Raised Chicken 1900cal ave for 1kg meat
1 Medium Lemon 1.25 34 Calories
1 Tablespoons Dried Organic Thyme
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Pepper

1. Stuff Chicken with the lemon, a pinch of thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper

2. Coat the chicken with remaining herbs, salt and pepper

3. Place Chicken in a cast iron pot with the lid on at 90° for 4 hrs.

4. Baste the chicken with its juices

5. Take the lid off and cook for another 20-30 mins

Total 1100g contains 1.25g Carbs and 1934 Calories
200g serve contains 0.2 Carbs and 352 Calories



Slow Roast Lamb Leg or Shoulder*

1.2 Kg Lamb Shoulder or Leg, on the bone, untrimmed
2556 Cal shoulder 2244 Cal leg
2 Cloves Fresh Garlic, peeled, cut into fine spears 0.7g carb 17.5 Calories
Fresh Rosemary
Salt and Pepper to taste
200g Butter 1.4g Carb Calories

1. Pierce Lamb and insert spears of garlic

2. Mash herbs, salt and pepper and butter together using your hands and coat the lamb.

3. Place it into your cast iron pot and cook at 80° for 4-6 hrs with the lid on.

4. Remove the lid for the last 30mins to brown the finish or you can cook the whole way with the lid off. Leaving the lid on allows for moisture to be retained

5. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and then serve
Total 1415g contains 2.1g Carbs and 4013 (Shoulder) or 3701 (leg) Calories
200g serve contains 0.6g Carbs and 573.2 Calories (Shoulder) or 528.7 (Leg)

Avocado Salad*

10 Cos lettuce leaves, washed, dried and cut into 2 cm strips 130g 2.3 24.7
1 Medium Ripe avocado, peel and seed removed, cut into strips 190g 1.14 387
1 Small Cucumber, Sliced finely 120g 1.5 14.4
1 Medium Ripe Tomato, Diced 100g 2.4 18
1 Small Lemon juiced 100g 1.8 27
3 Tablespoons of Olive oil 362
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Mix lettuce, avocado, cucumber and tomato in a salad bowl.

2. In a small jar mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and shake.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss

Total 615g contains 9g Carbs and 833 Calories
115g serve has 1.5g Carbs and 138 Calories


Chocolate Coconut Smoothie*

1 Virgin coconut 14.4 117.4
2 Eggs 0.3 162
10g Raw Cacao 6.3 49
10g Coconut oil 88
Stevia 1/8 teaspoon


1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds

*Always put the coconut oil in just before you blend so it doesn't turn solid in the cold milk. During the winter months you may have to melt it on a gentle heat before you put it in.

*On carb days you can use honey instead of stevia and add fresh &/or frozen banana

1x 400ml serve has 21 Carbs and 416.4 Calories

To bring carbs down & make caffeine free substitute the Cacao for 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. This way the smoothie can be used in the afternoon & during the seasonal cleanse.

Blue Berry Yoghurt Smoothie*

250ml Kefir or Paris Creek Yoghurt 12 210
2 eggs 0.3 162
50g Blueberries 5.65 26
1 Tablespoon Coconut oil 88
1/2 Teaspoon Fresh Cinnamon
Stevia 1/8 teaspoon

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds

2. Serve in cup with a sprinkle of fresh Cinnamon on top

*Always put the coconut oil in just before you blend so it doesn't turn solid in the cold milk. During the winter months you may have to melt it on a gentle heat before you put it in.

*On Carb days use more berries
1x 400ml serve has 17.95 Carbs and 486 Calories
To reduce carbs, cut berries. Still makes a delicious cinnamon yoghurt smoothie
Calorie & Carb% Referenced from Food Standards Australia New Zealand


OOE*

The Cost Of Healthy Eating. Cheaper Than Chips!!

It should be everyone’s right to eat whole, organic foods and buy the best quality food you can buy but a lot of people are put off because they think organic or grass fed means $$$. Unfortunately, this is perpetuated by the big chains who operate on very small margins (Woolies run a 3% profit margin. Fact) and make it seem – by advertising their low low prices – that healthy food is out of reach of the average person. Not necessarily so.

I decided to break down my own shopping budget for the week so that you can see that eating healthy is not a break-the-budget matter.

Here’s what I consume weekly (cooking for my girlfriend and myself):

$50 - Eggs (If you know me, you know I consume a lot of eggs)
$90 - Meat (Buy roasts, they last a lot longer than single serves)
$21 - Milk (6 litres a week)
$16.90 - Cheese (A great healthy snack to enjoy between meals or after training)
$15 - Blueberries (can’t live without them in my yummy shakes!)
$8 - Coconuts (Food of LIFE. Do you have the food of life in your house?)
$15 - Fruit and Veg (added flavour and texture to some meals)

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$215.90 - Total (107.95 Each)

Now, the above list is pretty much starting from scratch. Once you have these things, it’s a simple matter of topping them up each week as you consume. I put that list up to show you what it would cost to go and buy everything you'd need to set yourself up with good food in the house so that you can make something that is fresh and healthy every meal!

My bills thereafter would almost be between 1/4 to 1/2 less, every other week.

Broken down, it looks like this:

I spend $108 per week divided by 7 days in the week = 15.42 per day.
I eat close to 6 meals almost everyday so daily price (15.42) divided by each meal = $2.57 per meal!

$2.57 a meal on average - So realistically, even if you double the $108 to $216pw it would still be CHEAPER than chips, pardon the pun ($5.17 per meal).





These costs are based on the foods I'm buying being organically raised or grown. For example the meats are grass fed and finished, hens are 100% free range, and fruit and vegies are from organic sources. The benefits include:


• Supporting myself with good nourishing food.
• Supporting the environment.
• Supporting humanity and rewarding farmers for doing things right by the soil.


There’s another benefit but I have to get on my soapbox for this one. When you buy from big corporations and big chain supermarkets you help to secure their dominance on our food industry and support poor quality food and the destruction of our environment. [You may even notice that lately the big guys are putting ‘Grass fed, grass finished’ on some of their labels in an effort to corner the rising tide of people looking for better quality.

Sure, you might pay a couple of dollars less than me but look at my shopping list. It’s not that much to eat high quality food is it? The expression ‘you are what you eat’ is spot on so knowing you’re eating 100% organic food from a reliable source gives you piece of mind that you’re as healthy as you possibly can be. Can you put your hand on your heart and say unequivocally that you know where the big guys’ meat and veg is sourced?

We need to understand that by paying for goods we are voting to have MORE of whatever it is we're buying in our lives. I'm comfortable knowing that my income goes to people who are doing the right thing and creating healthy wholesome foods.

Bon Appétit and use the big guys to buy nappies, soap and tissues. (Also be mindful that you can get sustainable options for these products to)


Health & Chi

Shane Richards

(Thanks to Alex Smith for his editorial skills!)

The Weight Loss & Gain Pin Code! Unlock Your Bodys Secret Passcode!

I had a very interesting question today!

How many calories should I consume daily to either lose weight or gain weight?

Awesome Question!! Something that I’m sure all of us has asked ourselves.
Hopefully, I can shed some light on this topic.

As I’m sure you are very aware, all calories were NOT created equal. Calories from fat, protein and carbohydrates - when being broken down by our bodies - behave VERY differently inside of us.

As a broad guide, use these numbers as a reference point:
Carbs = 4 cals per Gram
Protein = 4 cals per gram
Fat = 9 cals per gram
Alcohol = 7 cals per gram

As you know, I’m by no means a Nutritionist and I encourage all of you to source a GOOD naturopath or nutritionist to help you find what works for you and your body.


With that being said, I will give you a look inside what I try to do daily to hopefully give you a better understanding!

Let's get started:

First we must assess what our total ACTIVE TISSUE (AT) is. We don’t want whole weight; we want to subtract our body fat from our total weight to establish active tissue weight. It's easy to find out.

We can do one of two things.

1. Get a Dual Energy X_Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) body scan. This is the best way to find out as it won’t leave you guessing. This is a relatively inexpensive procedure and can cost as little as $60. Check out http://www.bodycomposition.com.au/index.php?pageid=2 . As an added bonus, the DEXA scan also supplies you with your Bone Mineral Content (BMC). The BMC is useful to know as it can be an early warning sign of osteoporosis if you come back with a low BMC. The mineral content of your bones is extremely important as this is your body’s BANK account so to speak which we will draw from as we get older.

2. Body fat percentage test. If you have some Tanita scales you can use them to find your overall body fat percentage. Most of these scales require you avoid eating for 4 hours before hand and limit water intake 30mins before you stand on the scales. This will help to get a more accurate result.

Once we have our active tissue mass we need to work out our Resting Metabolic Rate. Using the Cunningham formula below, I worked out my RMR as follows:

64kg (my AT, NOT my overall weight) x 22 + 500 = 1908cal

This is the amount of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment. In other words, this is what my body needs EVERYDAY just to function all of my organs, muscles and glands, my breathing, my heart beat, my core temp... everything!


This is what my body needs if I DON'T MOVE, everyday!!!!! If I was to lay on a bed without doing anything, I would burn 1908cal per day until I waste away.

Take a moment to think about that for a second...... ready to move on? If you know your AT, go ahead and work out your RMR.

Now that we know what we burn doing nothing, we can find out how much we burn in our active, daily lives. Because our lifestyles predominantly dictate our activity levels, we will all have a different coefficient (activity factor). Check out the table below for where you sit. We can then use this table to work out our activity levels and multiply our RMR by the activity factor that matches our activity levels.

Activity | | Factor Category | | Category description |

1.25 | Sedentary | | Little or minimal exercise |

1.50 | Moderate |Training 2 -3 times per week |

1.75 |High | |4 hard workouts plus some activity on rest days |



Getting the hang of it?? :)

So check out my numbers below using the formula and the coefficient:

64kg (AT) x 22 + 500= 1908 cal (RMR) x 1.75 (coefficient) = 3339 cals.

That might seem a lot to take in but when you simplify it like that, pretty easy hey? Even for a Personal Trainer.


If we eat LESS then this, our body will USE our muscle (AT) to get an insulin spike when it has no energy or it’s running low, in turn, decreasing our metabolic rate and making it harder to burn body fat because muscle is more metabolically active then fat tissue. So, in other words it just needs more energy than body fat everyday to stay on our bodies.

Moving on.......

Now that we know “our numbers” we need to work out what to do with them. For maintenance purposes, our caloric intake will remain fairly close to If you wanted to lose some kg’s, these must be done incrementally otherwise you will lose muscle, not fat, and inevitably put it back on shortly thereafter. I’ve done the math for you. Check the numbers below:


To lose:
250g per week = 321cals LESS per day. 3339 calories - 321 = 3018
500g per week = 642cals less per week. 3339 calories - 642 = 2697


So what I’m saying is this:


• We can see if we're feeding our bodies enough to keep it healthy and to maintain our ACTIVE tissue and bone mineral content.

• We can see if we are meeting our daily requirements to support movement, active tissue (muscle) growth.

• We can work out how many calories less we need to consume to get a reduction of 250, 500g of fat per week. This is key because when a lot of people lose weight they lose water and muscle which they will put back on at some point.

• We can work out how many calories more we need to consume to get an increase of 250, 500g of weight per week. This is key because when a lot of people put on weight they add a lot of fat mass which is not ideal. In turn people go through a cycle of bulking and starvation which by what you can see, is also not ideal.


I hope this helps and you become slimmer, fitter, more educated and more energetic!


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Additional Reading: Rules of engagement found in the blogs below this one.

This will give you the ‘rules’ of which to go by to make this journey a successful one. Knowing the numbers is only HALF the equation. You need the numbers + Source and Process of food to = Success.

Keep smiling!

Health & Chi
Shane Richards

Add your equations, success stories, a friendly hello or experiences to comments below! I look forward to reading them! :)

Slow Roasted Apples and Strawberries

Slow Roasted Apples and Strawberries

Want a great dessert that won't leave you feeling guilty?

Then this is a great recipe for you!




Here's what you'll need:

Green Apples (Cut out the core)
Strawberries
Cinnamon
Freshly grated coconut
Fresh butter from pasture raised cows

Here's how you do it:

1. Cut apples in any shape you want. I just do halves.
2. Cut strawberries and place them on top of your apples.
3. Sprinkle cinnamon over the apples and strawberries.
4. Cut a few squares of butter, place on top of apples and strawberries so that the butter melts into the fruit. I use about 50g, but you can use more or less.
5. Place in the oven under 90 degrees and bake for 3 hours
6. Add some fresh cream and grate coconut over apples to serve.

There you go!

Enjoy. 10 minute dessert for friends and family!

Post to comments how yours turned out. :)

Health & Chi,

Shane

Rules Of Engagement

What are the rules of Engagement?

Basically, they are rules in which I choose to live my life by.
This blog entry is a little insight in to what I have decided is right for me, for my body and for my mind.

I have decided to write this because I get a lot of questions about my lifestyle and why and what it is that I do. Hopefully, this will be a way for people who are curious, to get an inside view of what I do each day.

Enjoy reading and remember, own your own health decisions! I can't stress this enough. This is so very important, mostly because we have got ourselves into a lots of trouble by taking the words of people who have financial interest in us buying their products.

I'll put them into categories over the next few days to make it easy to follow first up;

Nutrition:

Eat WHOLE natural foods:

This is easy enough. If it's natural, and whole. Eat it. Pretty easy huh?! It would seem a lot of people try to do this. Where they seem to fail is the packet sauces and toppings, dressings and what not on top of their whole meats and veg. If you haven't made it from scratch, or it cannot be made fairly easily in your kitchen, then why are you eating it?

Buy food from local farmers and support them for doing good things:

With out these farmers we can not get access to clean, healthy food that can help us build vitality and health. If we don't support these farmers, we will be left to eat the crap being dished out at large supermarket chains all over the world. Not cool!

Eat Grass fed and finished beef and all other free range, organic meats:

Let me ask you this? If you are trying to become healthy, but you decide to save some money here and there on your food. So, you choose to buy lower grade meat and lower grade fruit and vegetables. You know very well that these foods are cheaper for a reason but yet you decide to buy them anyway. All in the name of saving a few bucks a week (You really do only save $3-$4 per kilo, in most cases) It all evens out.

Do you think that you can ever achieve optimal health? I'm no expert, but it makes perfect sense to me, that if you eat low grade meat and veg, then you expect that your animal/crop was raised/grown on low grade food/soil.

In particular, for cows, foods like grain and hay. Clearly this is not a food designed for COWS. You have a lot of people who are, trying to make their bodies and minds as healthy as they can. Yet, they are consuming an animal that was on a diet it was not raised to eat!

Let me ask you you. Do you think that this animal was as healthy as it could have been before it was killed? Of course not. How do you expect to become healthy, while eating animals that were not healthy them selves. There are a myriad of health benefits, but this is a whole other article.


Eat 1g of Carbohydrate for each gram of lean body mass:

As it turns out. There is no essential carbohydrate. Interesting huh? People avoid fats because they are scared, they fear it may make them fat, yet there are essential fatty acids. You do not make these, you need to EAT these essential fats to have a healthy body.

The human body can run more effectively on protein and fat.
Protein can be converted to glucose (gluconeogenisis)and every triglyceride is 3 fatty acids connected by a glycerol molecule (carbohydrate) this is more than adequate for replenishing glycogen & cognitive function.**

Eat every 3 - 4 hours:

Eating regularly will help keep your blood sugar levels even throughout the day. This will prevent a blood sugar crash. Which is normally followed by a binge of quick unhealthy snacks! To avoid this, remember that eating every 3 hours will help you from feeling this way. It gives you more energy and helps you to feel balanced.

Skipping meals and not eating at regular intervals puts your body on HIGH alert, survival mode. It does not know that you just have been busy finishing a deadline for work, getting the kids off to school and rushing home in traffic. It Assumes that you may be entering a time of famine. It will break down muscle tissue to get a blood sugar spike. In turn leaving you with less and less lean body mass each time it does this and making it harder to shift that extra body fat you may be carrying.

Eat raw and fermented foods:

Raw and fermented foods are a great way to get much needed enzymes, fatty acids and amino acids in it's more readily available state. Your body can actually use what you're consuming!

Obviously, unless you're getting your food from a clean healthy source free of any herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and chemical fertilisers then it is not advisable to consume them raw. The same goes for meats, unless you have traced the source back to the farmer and know that your animals are free range and fed a natural diet they were supposed to digest then once again, it would not be advisable to consume in any matter. Know where your food comes from, this is the key to health. That being said by law I can not advise anyone to eat raw food especially milk and meat.** You make a decision for you while you're in your kitchen and I'll do the same.

Just think about this also, when we domesticate animals and give them our cooked denatured food they end up with the same diseases as us. Interesting huh!

Seasonal Cleanse:

A great chance to give your body a break. Help it rid itself of all the impurities picked up through the season. It gives you a sense of vitality and health that you welcome at the start of a new season. Embrace the cleanse!


So there you have it. Some of the things that I do daily in my life to help me obtain health. I feel these lifestyle modifications are correct for me and that if you see anything in this article you agree with, you should research it for yourself and own that decision. You are in control of everything in your life from the thoughts you have to the food you eat. Start taking that and start cultivating health with every hour that passes, not once in a blue moon!

Post any thoughts to comments! I would love to hear from the people reading! (if that's anyone haha)

Health and Chi

Shane














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