Could this saying possibly be true: "To Know and not do, is not yet to know"?

It is amazing to me how much we desire a "fresh message" or a "new approch".  How we longingly keep seeking out THE answer.
I catch myself doing it a lot, I am a seminar junky, I have what one might call an information fetish, I LOVE discovering new things... but sometimes I wonder how much I am actually retaining, how much am I left KNOWING... I do get caught in the trap of... yip... "switching off" because I confuse "hearing something before" with "knowing something".

So it is not suprising to me when I hear the protest from my fellows, participants or from clients "...but I know all this already!"

"What does it mean to know something?" I have caught myself wondering more than once, and "why if I know don't I do?"
 Observing and Hearing are quite different from Knowing.  (And again, motivation for doing... well that is a whole other blog post).

I guess it's like driving a car... you can have grown up beside the best driver in the world, you can have heard all the things involved in being a good driver, steer out of a skid, accelerate out of a corner, use your gears rather than just your breaks when driving down a steep hill.  Don't have your foot on the clutch and the accelerator at the same time, keep your hands at 10 and 2.  You can watch Top Gear and Formula One every chance you get.  Yet, it is not until you sit in that drivers seat and you attempt to co-ordinate all of the actions involved with driving... and pull it off... and it's not until you are comfortable that you have mastered the art (you can get from a to b in a car in one piece) you can really say that you KNOW how to drive.  And arguably EVEN THEN that does not mean you know everything about driving or even that you will be a good driver.

It is the same principle with information.  You may have heard something before, but there is a stark contrast between this and knowing something.  Let's consider the example of healthy eating, you have heard that you need to eat a balance of natural live food (fruits and vegetables), enough good fats, enough proteins, and limit your intake of caffeine, sugar, and alcohol if you want to have vitality (energy and health) in your life.  Unless you put these principles into practice and have experienced them, it is unlikely that you know them,  you merely know OF them. 

I realised that knowing is almost about an intimacy or awareness or ownership and experience of a principle, it does not matter whether you decide it is truth or fallacy. One thing is certain, hearing is not knowing.

The challenge now is to expose the blindspots around knowing, to question that which is seemingly so familiar to the ear it has become "white noise" and mistaken as "known".  Be careful of those assumptions, it is these little truths and answers that are sitting right under your nose, the very ones that cross your path daily, that house the hidden treasure of your dreams.  Awaken to the knowing... by owning them... becoming intimate with them... trying them out... testing them out.

Do I really KNOW this all already?  And if I do, why am I not doing it and experiencing the truth of it?

So "To know and not do, is not yet to know"?  Perhaps it's a little more complicated than that...  we can know and decide not to do... but generally I would agree we need to have experienced something before we can truly know it.

It's time to GIVE IT A TRY!  Implementation and action is part of learning... this is what gets us to the point of KNOWING.  Woohoo, glad we got that one figured out ;o)

Food Shopping can be hard work...

And it can be a RISKY business, if you are trying to manage your weight

Weaving your way through the maze of a supermarket and abundance of products out there can be a challenge.  Keep your wits about you and become a SAVVY SHOPPER!

Here are some FABULOUS hints to help you:

1. Shop online!
2. Write a shopping list
3. Read ingredients lists and be suspicious of anything with a "health claim"
4. Don't shop when you are hungry.
5. Shop once a week for dry groceries and more regularly for fresh produce such as milk, bread, fruit and vegetables.
6. If buying in bulk, ensure the food is of good quality and will keep well.
7. Check out supermarket specials- they can save you money if they are items you use regularly, but beware of buying specials you don't really need.
8. If you can, compare prices and quality of items at different stores.  Read labels and check the weights.
9. Plain label of "house" brands are usually very good value for money, and no less nutritious than the more expensive "name" brands.
10. Don't go aisle to aisle
11. Ask shop keepers to direct you to products on your list rather than wondering around trying to find them yourself
12. Start in the fruit and vegetable section
13. Consider guidelines and recipes before planning your shopping list.
14. Set yourself a time frame to complete your shopping in.
15. Limit fast food meals to less than once/fortnight
16. Plan meals and snacks and shop for the ingredients needed to make those
17. Make a shopping list and buy only what you need
18. Choose fruit and vegetables instead of less healthy more expensive meals and snacks, compare per kg costs and you may be surprised to see just how much cheaper the healthier option often is.

Put a big question mark around the myth that it is more expensive to eat healthily...

Food Cents:

Fruit:
Fruit Snacks (Dried and processed fruit sticks): $13/kg
100% Fruit: $4 /kg

Pizza:
Home Delivered $30/kg
Home Made $6/kg

Chips:
Potato Crisps/Chips $12 - $30/kg
Potatoes $3/kg

Cereal:
High sugar cereals $5-$15kg
Oats $2- $5/kg

So healthier food really isn't more expensive than processed food, it's just the clever marketing, package size and convenience that can make it appear that way.

To calculate the price / kg = Price divided by weight in grams multiplied by 1000.

An amazing woman I respect and hold in high esteem sent through this beautiful piece to me as part of her newsletter... it's all about YOU! 

The Complete Package…

 You are stylish and sophisticated. You have class

You are well groomed and your clothes are always just right for every occasion You wear any clothes well, you know the correct lengths, the right colours and which outfit goes with what event

You have a strong, confident posture

You ask interesting questions, you are an excellent listener, you are a great conversationalist and people like to be around you
You only speak to add value to a conversation, you speak with confidence, you are funny, interesting, witty and quick

You have beautiful table manners but you also have the unique ability to make people who don’t, feel comfortable, at home and non-intimidated

You always know the correct gift and when to send it. You know the right words for the card, the best words for the speech and who should speak when. You

You have superb etiquette however, you would never turn your nose down at someone who doesn’t

You are the life of the party, you are invited everywhere, you are very popular at social events and you are trusted and respected in any business environment

You know how to fit in appropriately

You are a delightful acquaintance, a wonderful friend, the perfect partner and a superb lover
You are confident and strong, you are genuine and caring

You look for the best in people and you never gossip, criticise and pull people down

People admire you, respect you and like you-More importantly, you admire, respect and like yourself 

You are the complete package or you practicing and planning and preparing to be!!  

                                                                                                                                                 Rowena Szeszeran-McEvoy
                                                                                                                                                  (MAX Fitness)
I hope you were able to enjoy this as much as I was...
I certainly am on the path to closing the gap between my ideal self and my true self...

Here's to YOU being all that YOU ARE!

Is your mobile phone giving you brain cancer?

You are what you eat!

If you would like to receive the CORRECT information on how to RIGHT SIZE your weight, increase your energy levels, and improve your health.  Then don't wait.  The journey starts today.

You can find information on Rightsizing-your-weight here or you can contact Lisa and ask for her advice about what might be the best approach for you given your history and your circumstances.

Nutrition Myths Busted!

Check out this interesting video... it explores some of the assumptions or misconceptions about nutrition.
Can spinach really give Pop-eye BIG MUSCLES?  Are frozen vegetables any good?

Your question answered:

Are grains bad for you?  Is it a myth and why? 

Grains are full of B vitamins, amino acids, fibre and carbohydrates.  Are they healthy?  Yes, absolutely, there are many nutritional benefits to consuming grains, except that not everyone has the same experience with grains.  Some grains are harder to digest than others, some grains are notorious for causing digestive upsets, like wheat.  And some grains contain gluten (for example oats, wheat, rye), which an increasing number of people are being found to be intolerant to. 

There is evidence to suggest the best way to eat grains is by soaking them, and certainly some grains have been found to be superior to others, either because it is more easily digested, more nutrient dense or simply low allergy risk.  Rice for example is very low allergen, usually if people are sensitive to rice it is because their system has become severely compromised and they have a host of existing sensitivities to food and their immune system is over reacting.

Oats have fantastic properties, they are medium to low glycaemic load so they help to maintain a steady stream of energy (glucose into the blood) and they keep you satisfied for a good few hours- keeping hunger at bay.  They contain soluble fibre so help to lower blood cholesterol (they do this by binding to bile in the gut and forcing the body to take cholesterol from the blood to make more bile which is used for digestion.)  They contain beta glucans which are fantastic for your nervous system and have actually been found to help with depression.

Quinoa is a less well known grain, which could be called the king of grains alongside the likes of millet.  Quinoa is full of essential amino acids, whole grain, low GI, tasty and versatile.

Absolutely, enjoy your grains, but choose good quality whole grains as often as you can.

If you are going to eat bread, get in the habit of reading the ingredients list.  Try to avoid numbers or ingredients you don't recognise as food.  Choose heavy breads and breads that you can see grains, seeds and roughage in.  I enjoy ancient grain breads or pumperknickle or home baked breads best and find they tend to agree with me and my family more!

Please contact Lisa if you have any other questions you would like answered.

Your question answered:

Should we eat only organic fruit and vegetables?

Eating organic is a good idea for a few reasons.  The most obvious of which is that they don't have all the chemicals and pesticides on them.  These chemicals can build up in your body and cause harm.  Some experts would argue organic tastes better and contains more nutrients too.  This can be because of the quality of the soil and the farming methods.

If you don't have access to organic veggies and fruit or you feel they are out of your price range, then buy food as fresh as possible, local and in season and rinse it in water with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, this can help to remove some of the pesticides from the skin of the fruit or vegetables. 

It is especially a good idea to eat organic meat if you can, otherwise from supermarkets choose free range, kangaroo and ocean fish.     

If you have any further questions please contact me.

Your question answered:

What is happening to people who seem to be able to go without food all day?  How do they do that and not feel hungry?

Your body can adjust to whatever routine you set for it. People will have different styles of eating and their bodies will be forced to adapt.  In fact your body is fabulous at adapting short term or adopting coping mechanisms.  The problem is that long term some of the habits you may have formed can start to have undesirable effects.

When you go for prolonged periods of time without eating you start to disrupt your metabolism and can enter your body into "fasting" and then "starvation" state.  In these states your body in a desperate attempt to get fuel for your brain and your muscles to function, it will break down its own tissue to make glucose.  Once your blood sugar drops and your glycogen stores are exhausted, your body turns to protein.  It will start to break down its own muscle before it uses fat.  The problem with this is that your metabolism is primarily set on the percentage of lean muscle mass you have.  So skipping meals or not eating regularly can result in a lower metabolism, and your body can become really efficient at storing fat, because it doesn't know when its next meal is coming.

Why don't they feel hungry?  Sometimes it can be because their metabolism has slowed down, sometimes their hormones and chemical messengers have been disrupted by their irregular eating habits.  Sometimes when people wake up in the morning and they are not hungry this can be because they don't have the right enzymes to digest their food and they are not digesting their food quick enough so they are still registering as having food in their system.

It is a good idea to eat regularly, eat enough fibre and if you have digestion problems or don't feel hungry or skip meals, it may be a good idea to speak to a nutritionist or dietitian to check your body is working properly and you are getting what you need.

Feel free to email me with futher questions. 

Your question answered:

What is the best form of exercise for me?

Quite simply the best form of exercise for you is "moving in a way you enjoy".

Sometimes initially you might say, but I don't enjoy ANY FORM of exercise, then start with walking or a 10% principle where you challenge yourself to move 10% more everyday.  Take the stairs, park further away from the entrance, stand up when you talk on the telephone, get up to change the TV, don't use your bed side light, walk around the block in your lunch break.   

Depending on your personality type, your genetic make up and your lifestyle, and your objectives different types of exercise might be more beneficial or more feasible for you.  For example if you have "bad knees" cycling will be better for you than running.  If you are overweight, aqua aerobics might be kinder on your joints than aerobics or jogging. 

Generally though it is a good idea to include some resistance training (like weights) and some cardio or interval training (something to get your heart racing and your lymph pumping!)

If exercise sounds like a chore and a punishment then choose to move in fun ways like: beach walks, swimming in the ocean, joining a dance class, having invigorating sex.

If you are the type of person that loves to socialise or needs a bit of motivation or encouragement, exercising by yourself might require a lot of discipline.  Join a walkers club, ask a friend to exercise with you.  Hire a personal trainer.

Here are some benefits of exercise and sometips to avoid injury during exercise.

There are loads of fun ways to exercise, check out the link if you are looking for a bit of inspiration or some professionals that may be able to tempt you into moving more!