The Paleo Way

Since watching The Perfect Human Diet I have been really interested in trying this way of eating to see what all the fuss is about! I hope that soon I can try a paleo eating challenge.

I found some pictures that basically describe the paleo diet in a simple way:

I really hope that this can help my gut issues!

The things I am worried about concerning this way of eating is going cold turkey on grains and dairy products. I don’t drink milk, but I do add butter to things that I cook and like to have cheese occasionally. I do have grains at least once a day and I worry that I might be left feeling hungry for the first few days until I adjust!

Another issue that I have is with breakfast. If you like eggs then this way of eating will be no problem for you but I really really dislike eggs. Okay, partly true. The only part of the egg I like is the yolk, but the whites.. ew. I have really tried to like egg whites, I really have. I tried mixing them into the yolks and making scrambled eggs which didn’t help much (still ew). I made eggs sunny side up (removed most of the white but left some so I would eat it) and let the yolk dribble over what little white I had left.. but much to my disappointment.. still extremely ew. I was thinking maybe a green smoothie? If anyone has any ideas please comment below as I’d love to hear!

I also suffer from seasonal allergies so I hope eating the paleo way can help with this.

To make this diet even better I will try to incorporate bone broth as often as I can. Bone broth (broth made with good quality meat bones) has many health benefits including:

* speeding up the recovery of an illness

* healing and sealing the gut lining (important if you suffer from leaky gut)

* fights inflammation

* promotes healthy hair and nail growth

* promotes strong and healthy bones

* reduces joint pain

* promotes easy digestion of the valuable nutrients found in the bone broth

I am thinking of trying the paleo way in the next few weeks. I’ll keep you updated!

Jordie xo

Top 5 Feel Good Tunes!

The mood you are in can really make or break your day! If I am in a great mood I am pretty much always positive about life and if something goes wrong I try to look on the bright side. However, we all sometimes wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Whenever I feel down I try to think about things that make me happy, like memories of my family, friends and my dog. But sometimes I find that when I am being a little cranky, a mood lifting song is just what I need!

I have listed my top five favourite songs that put me in a great mood!

1. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift 

I have to admit that I love Taylor Swift and this is definitely my favourite song at the moment. Even though it was released in September last year, I still put this song on repeat! This is one song I will never get sick of and it is my go-to song to fix up a grumpy mood or make my happy mood even happier.

 2. Happy – Pharrell Williams 

This is such a good song. No matter where I am or what I am doing, if I hear this song I can’t help but sing a long! Plus it features in one of the funniest kids movies, Despicable Me 2, and who doesn’t love the minions? I honestly haven’t met anyone who dislikes this song and I always feel better after I hear it.

I’ll use any excuse to post a photo of minions..

3. Perfect Day – Hoku

This song is from the soundtrack of Legally Blonde and even though some of the lyrics are a little corny it is another song I leave on repeat. I find it to be really inspiring and I always play it if I want a little extra inspiration in my day.

4. Beautiful Day – U2

This song reminds me of when I was younger and would go driving in the mountains near my hometown with my Dad. This song always reminds me of these times with my Dad so I always feel happier when I hear it, plus the lyrics make me remember how beautiful our world is!

5. Mr Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra 

Ahh, Mr Blue Sky. My Poppy used to listen to this song all the time and whenever I hear it I remember singing along to it in the back of the car when I was little – even though I didn’t know any of the words! I like that this song has such an upbeat tune and it always makes me feel good.

I’d love to hear any uplifting songs you listen to, so comment below!

Jordie xo

The Perfect Human Diet: Film Review

I recently watched the documentary The Perfect Human Diet.

The documentary began with presenter CJ Hunt explaining how he suffered a heart attack at a young age and how his heart condition has affected his health. He also explains how this led him to search for a natural solution. He mentioned that he switched to a vegan diet but after a few years of eating this way he was lacking energy and wasn’t feeling as good as when he first started the diet. This led to him beginning a ten-year search for the perfect human diet.

Even though the film was loaded with scientific facts, they were presented in an understandable way, which made it a captivating film to watch. The film features a lot of different scientists, archaeologists and professors.

One very interesting scene shows Professor Loren Cordain describing to CJ how much we have changed over time. Professor Cordain used a hundred yard football field as a time line where he discussed how far and where we travelled over the world and what other foods we have introduced into our diet. He also discussed how our diets have greatly changed since we began farming and processing our food.

The paleo diet consists mostly of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, eggs, lean meats, poultry and fish.

The Perfect Human Diet closely follows the paleo diet, which consists of animal proteins (chicken, fish, beef etc.), fruits, vegetables, eggs and nuts. It is important that the produce you eat is of high quality* (grass fed beef, pastured free range chickens, organic fruits and vegetables and raw nuts that do not have salt/coatings added). Grains (bread, cereal, pasta), dairy and sugar are not allowed on the paleo diet as science shows that our bodies are not designed to eat this type of food.

The part of the documentary that I found most interesting was when CJ interviewed Dr Lane Sebring who has been recommending the natural diet of our ancestors to his patients, who are seeing great results. Dr Sebring and CJ head off to a local supermarket to go through the aisles to find out which foods to eat when on this diet and which foods not to eat.

Another aspect of the documentary that I found interesting was the different scientists opinions about how our bodies and brains have developed over time from the introduction of proteins (from animal meat) and omega three fatty acids (from fish) into our diets.

I really enjoyed this documentary and I highly recommend watching it. I knew a bit about the paleo diet before I watched this film but it was still really interesting to see the science behind it all.

I’d love to hear if anyone has seen this documentary or is living a paleo lifestyle, so please comment below if this is you!

Jordie xo

*If you are looking for high quality, grass fed and free-range meats, Grass Roots Urban Butchery has a large selection of high quality, local meats. http://www.grub.com.au/ourfarmers.aspx

Another great website to visit if you are looking for local free-range and pastured chicken is the Flavour Crusader: http://flavourcrusader.com/blog/2011/09/free-range-chicken-australia/#qld

If you want to find free range meat and eggs that are ethically raised then visit http://www.humanechoice.com.au to find a farm near you!

When life gives you lemons, make lemon water!

Warm lemon water in the mornings is a great way to start the day – and lemon water has numerous health benefits too. For my first habit, I am going to commit to drinking warm lemon water every morning for a month. I have some family members who swear by this habit and while I have tried it now and again I haven’t been able to make this habit stick yet! Every time I have tried this I haven’t noticed any major changes in the way I feel but that is probably because I haven’t committed to this habit over a long period of time.

Here are some of the health benefits of drinking lemon water in the morning:

1. Lemons are really high in vitamin C, which help to boost the immune system. If our immune system is working well it makes it easier for our bodies to fight off illnesses such as colds and flus. In Australia it is nearly winter so this habit is perfect for this time of year as I seem to get sick mostly during the winter time.

2. Lemons balance the pH levels in your body. Even though lemons are acidic, when they enter the body they become alkalising. Too much acid in the body can be inflammatory so lemons are great if you suffer from inflammation as they make the body more alkaline therefore reducing inflammation levels.

3. Lemon water flushes out toxins. Lemon water supports our digestive systems and can help to eliminate waste from our bodies.

4. Not only does lemon water aid our digestive system, it also stops bad bacteria from spreading and multiplying in our bodies, which can help protect us against infections and diseases!

5. Lemon water is also great for our eyes. It helps to look after our eye health and to protect our eyes from diseases!

These are just my top five favourite things that lemon water can do for our bodies!

If anyone watches Adventure Time you’d notice this beautiful face belongs to Lemon Grab, one of the shows more insane characters…

How do I make lemon water?

Some people make their lemon water differently – some use the zest of the lemon, others pour lemon juice into warm water and other people simply put a slice of lemon in their cup. However the things you need to keep the same in all three methods is to make sure the lemons you use are fresh (not bottled! And if possible organic) and the water you use is high quality (filtered/purified) and the water is warm! Cold water is harder for the body to digest (it takes more energy to digest) and if you use boiling water it kills the good stuff *insert sad emoticon here*.

This mornings lemon water featuring a Royal Albert mug and my sleepy dog Jakey

I am going to try all three ways and review each one. I will let you know how I am going with this habit in approximately one month!

I’d love to know if anyone else drinks warm lemon water and if there are any differences you have noticed with your body so please comment below and let me know!

Jordie xo