Saturday 25 October 2014

Get Active, Nourish & Be Grateful


Get Active, Nourish & Be Grateful came about when two friends were sharing a love and passion for all things health, yoga, wellness and mindfulness.  We both had a burning desire to share all the learnings and information that we have gathered over our time on this planet and so our partnership was formed.

The Active Nourish Grateful ebook is packed full of simple tips and guides covering everything from fat burning circuits, yoga sequences, meditation and breathing mini guide and simple easy to make recipes.  

Get ready to live your best Active Nourish Grateful lifestyle today. 

PS. We both love instagram and seeing people live their ANG lifestyle so don't forget to hashtag any photos you post on Instagram with #activenourishgrateful


The ebook will be available on the 1 November 2014.  Click here to get your pretty little hands on the book right away.






Thursday 2 October 2014

Having fun and getting fit at the same time - Skyfit has the answer

Have you ever wanted to feel like a big kid and jump around with the absolute freedom of flight?  Do you like to have fun when you are getting fit, well Sky Zone has the answer.




A few weeks ago I was invited to come out and have a play at Sky Zone, the world's first indoor trampoline park.  Imagine hundreds of trampolines, all connected to form one massive trampoline that literally allows you to jump off the walls.  And jump off the walls is exactly what I did, after a 30 min session I was literally running and jumping into a spider man squat on the trampoline wall.
It was such an exhilarating feeling, jumping so high in the air, given the absolute freedom of flight, all the while I was getting a sneaky sweat up.  This was incidental exercise at it's absolute best.  These days I love any form of exercise that I'm laughing more than I'm recognising that I'm absolutely exhausted.


So next time that you are wanting to try something a little out of the ordinary, head out to Sky Zone in McGregor and give the Skyfit classes a a try.


+  For more information on the Skyfit classes check out the video below or click here.
















Sunday 14 September 2014

A Lesson in Facing My Fears


I'm now 6 days away from getting married... so many mixed emotions, absolute joy, excitement, love, feeling full, nervous and worried about one thing and one thing only - will I fit into my wedding dress on the day???

This one consistent worry of mine has stopped me listening to what my body needs, the last few weeks I have been doing everything from a place of fear.  I had stopped my meditation practice and substituted for pushing myself out of bed, getting hyped up on pre-workout supplements and pushing my body to the limits with crazy hard workouts - and believe me, I know how to push myself to the limits... think ex-Personal Trainer with a hardcore bootcamp mentality... yeah I can push through my breaking point without anyone else around.

I have been putting myself down almost every moment of every day with thoughts of "too fat", "your not going to look as good as you could", "You've put on too much weight", "your ass and legs are huge - what is wrong with you", "you should have done more"... seriously this has been on constant repeat for weeks now.  The first thing I think when I wake up in the morning is - crap I haven't lost any weight since yesterday - and I run my hands over my body in bed and all I can feel is the wobbly bits, then I get up and weigh myself and I hate the number I see on the scales so I instantly have a shit ass day.  Seriously it's been a little bit of mental hell!!  I haven't been stressed about anything to do with the wedding, except for this one thing - I'M NOT GOING TO FIT INTO MY WEDDING DRESS!

You know what, all this negativity towards my body has gotten me absolutely nowhere!

So this brings me to today, 6 days away from my wedding, I woke up - same thing, ran my hands over my body, "ooo i feel a bit tighter this morning" I think, jump up and weigh myself and the number I see on the scales is 3kg more than it was yesterday morning... "WTF!" I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought enough is enough.

Firstly these mother F scales are broken - throw them away, I did not put on 3kg overnight - I ate like a champ yesterday and I have for days / weeks even - Not Possible!

Secondly, I love the way I look right now, I can see a bit of an outline of my abs, I love my shoulders, I love the way my back looks, yeah my butt is a little bigger than I'm used to at the moment, but heck - I can't change that in a week and Kim Kardashian is so hot right now - Hello Big Sexy Butt!  AND my man loves my butt... maybe I should listen to the loving words that come out of his mouth every once in a while.

I stopped myself, went outside and meditated in the warm sun on this beautiful morning.  I calmed my mind down, checked in with my body and I asked myself "what do I need to know right now".





Peace.  Calm.  Relax.  Stop Worrying.  What you concentrate on is what you get.


Click!  Law of attraction 101 - What you think about constantly becomes true for you.

What do I want out of life, how do I want to feel when I see my man standing at the end of the isle on our day, how do I want to start the rest of our lives - with LOVE, pure, all encompassing LOVE.

So with that, I booked myself in for a Hot Stone Massage this morning.  Changed my outlook, if my wedding dress doesn't fit (still a possibility, that much I have accepted) you know what I'll take myself into Myer's or DJ's and I'll find a beautiful white dress that I'm comfortable in and sell the one I've got, it's all going to be ok, I am ok, life is ok, there is nothing wrong with me.

You know what else, when I stopped and opened myself up, my inspiration came flooding back! I haven't felt the pull to blog or do anything over the past few weeks, not even put beautiful pictures up on Instagram or chat with my tribe on Facebook, I really retreated inward.

But I'm so glad that I did, because now I've been reminded of how beautiful it feels to find the light again and I'm humbled to remember that I'm always learning and I'm always improving and life is giving me the lessons that I need at the exact time that I need them.

Tell me, is there anything that has been worrying you lately, that has halted you in your tracks and sent you a little in reverse?  Let me know in the comments below or leave a comment on Facebook.

Love, Love, Love you

xx




Tuesday 26 August 2014

Week 3.1 - Drunk in Love Project - All Things Exercise, Play and Taking Risks

This week I'm covering all things exercise, play and taking calculated risks.  I haven't done a video for this week, so I'm covering it off in a 3 part blog series.





First cab off the rank is EXERCISE



I have to start this off by saying, I love keeping active.  Getting out and exercising is like my meditation, it gets me out of my head and into my body and makes me feel alive, focused and ready to tackle my day.

I've come up with some exercise guidelines that I work towards each week.  I never feel exhausted by the end of the week, but I know that I am giving 100% in each session that I get out and do.  What I would encourage you to do is come up with your own exercise guidelines that leave you feeling motivated and full of energy.  Fill your week with movement that you love doing, make that your number one focus.  

My Magik Exercise Guidelines:



  1. Lots of moving around at a slow pace
    • 2 - 5 Hrs/week of walking - walking is my go to, I like to try to hit 10,000 steps each day.  I make a habit of walking to the gym, the shops or just going out for a walk around the block.  I love going for a nice long hike on a weekend or even getting my bike out occasionally.  Do what ever you like, as long as you keep your heart rate below 75% of your max - to gauge this, you should be able to hold a conversation while walking.
  2. Weight training
    • I lift 3 - 4 days per week, I like to do a 4 day split.  I do a mix of supersets, heavy reps, light reps, plyo's and majority of exercises are compound movement.
  3. Sprint Sessions
    • Nothing makes you loose excess fat and increases your fitness faster than sprinting.  Make HIIT training your best friend and you won't go wrong.  I don't do anymore than 2 hard sprint sessions per week.  I give 120% for those two sessions and I spread them out so that I have at least 2 days recovery between each session.  My go to session is 20mins total, 1min walk : 1 min all out sprint.
  4. Yoga
    • I love Bikram, I love the discipline and the structure around the 26 moves.  Above all else I love the sweat that you get up.  I understand it's not for everyone, but for me there is nothing more relaxing than standing in a heated room for 90mins.  Weird I know but I love it :) 
  5. Play
    • I'm going to talk all things Play in my next blog post :)
I'm not rigid in my training routine above all else I listen to how my body is feeling, if I get to the gym for a weights session and I'm just not feeling it, I'll go home and take the time I need so that I can give 100% the next day.  There is nothing worse than not feeling up to it, pushing through anyway and then doing more damage or pushing yourself and then being exhausted for the rest of the week.  I call this guidelines because that's exactly what they are and it helps me create balance around my training approach.


In my next post I'll be discussion how I like to get out and Play and why it's such an important part of my weekly exercise routine.

Drop me a message, I'd love to hear what you include in your exercise guidelines.

Sunday 24 August 2014

Have You Made the Decision to Be Healthy?




For some people, it's a New Year's resolution.  For others, it's impending nuptials, a big life event.  Maybe it's a scary diagnosis of your own or a friend or relative.  Sometimes it's a long thought out process, even when it seems more of a spur of the moment pledge, the decision to be healthy usually comes after good thought out consideration.

What exactly plants the seed of possibility?

Who and what figures into the picture as we go over the thought process in our minds and think about how our health could be?

Where do we end up inspired to finally make a change?

Ultimately, the path that we each take is/was different.


For some of us, the urge could be bought on by the memory of having been very healthy at one time in our lives and the desire to get back to that level of activity and enjoyment was at the forefront of your mind.  Perhaps we've felt plagued by obesity or poor health concerns as long as we can remember but ultimately cling to the idea that life can be more after all.  Possibly you've always enjoyed good health and fitness but wanted to take it to the next level after a fresh bout of motivation spurred on by competitiveness, new information or a different perspective made us think differently about how we went about achieving things.


More than likely the common factor in all our journeys is that lingering feeling and concluding acceptance that we are not living the life we ultimately want and that we could do better for ourselves.



Whatever the reason we finally begin to value ourselves more highly and see that our physical health goes hand in hand with what we have to experience and offer in this life.  Finally it hits us; if we want to be healthy - we must make the decision to be healthy.  Coming to this realisation is a turning point when our desire becomes more than a lofty goal, the decision we make for health becomes the way we live.

This is the beauty of making a decision over a set in stone goal.  A goal is something that you wish to attain, a point of future success, it implies an end point.  Of course you will have to work hard and be dedicated to achieve this goal, but the focus is often on a future fixed point.  A decision is present resolve that permeates every moment, starting with the here and now.  It's not an image of success that we project our desires onto, it's what we make of each day we're living on this earth.

A decision ultimately shapes a lifestyle.


Ahh... I love the power that making a decision has over our lives.  When you make a decision to lead a healthy life, you don't put a goal at the centre, you put yourself at the centre.  You situate your beautiful self at the core of your life and there is no straying from that.  No excuse will change it or overturn it, because you have put yourself and your concept of health at the absolute centre, the heart of your life.  That's when it dawns on you -

Your health and wellness (the balance, the energy, the vitality it brings) is a vital centre that supports every aspect of your life and self.


I believe this is the critical step that makes a difference for so many of us.  Most of the time it's not so much learning new or more information, but seeing it with fresh eyes, seeing health from a new vantage point, it's seeing health from the heart centre rather than some distant pining observer.  You can now begin to build support around that decision, add things and people to your life that reinforce the decision.  You can begin to weave the way you live day-to-day into that remarkable choice, the decision to be, to live, healthy.


I would love to hear from you, what led you to make the decision to be healthy?  What where your defining moments, your motivations?  What are your thoughts on choosing health?



Tuesday 12 August 2014

Drunk In Love Transformation Project - Week 2

I firmly believe that we are what we eat and that when given the opportunity, your body will heal all ailments.  Food and nourishing your soul truly is medicine.  Learning to harness that power is difficult.

What I’m going over this week in the video:

+ Bio-Individuality;
+ Intuitive Eating; and
+ Getting to know your flow






Here is a little recap:

Bio Individuality

Long story short, no to people are the same, what heals me may be poison to you.  What works for you at the moment may not work for you in 10 years time.  Our bodies are progressive and ever changing, accept and honour that.



Intuitive Eating


Learning how to listen to what your body needs is number one.  Learn to read your body’s messages, are you truly hungry or is it really thirst.  Ditch the food labelling, stop defining the food you eat as “good” or “bad” trust in your instincts and be ok with change, have an absolute trust that your body knows what it needs. Ask yourself these questions before you eat:

+ How will I feel after I eat this food?
+ Which foods am I instinctively drawn to?
+ What foods am I craving?



Get to know your flow


I’ve made the decision to get off the contraceptive pill after 16 years of use.  I am a woman and very honestly I don’t know how everything down there works for me.  I don’t want to get pregnant, so I’m learning when I’m most fertile, when I’m ovulating and repairing any hormonal damage that may have be done from extended use of The Pill.  Knowledge is power sista and as a woman, I want to know my body and own the power of fertility.  Because one day I do want to make a baby and I want it to be a beautiful experience.

xx

PS. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below...  What are your main food complaints?  Is there anything ailing you that you need a hand to heal?




Friday 8 August 2014

Sacred Dance Party - Are You Game?



I recently watched The Secret again to brush up on my knowledge of the Law of Attraction.  Since then I’ve been way more aware of my thoughts and what I’m manifesting into my world.  But I was still plagued with the thought, can we really make our thoughts become our reality??


Well last yesterday, I became a total believer and I danced the night away with 40 other women, I was hot, sweaty, wild, uninhibited – I was FREE!







So lets start at the beginning on how I came to be at a crazy dance party at 6pm on a Friday night.

I was lying in bed a few weeks ago when the thought just hit me, I feel like going out and dancing all night, I want to feel the music and move without a care in the world I want to just feel in my body and not in my head.  My next thought – I need to get my hands on some MDMA stat!

But hold up… I don’t do that stuff anymore, where are these thoughts coming from - but I desperately wanted to move and feel free and I don’t know any other way…

The weeks passed since that thought, I still wanted to go out and move but the opportunity hadn’t presented itself, it was just left as a burning desire in the back of my mind.

Fast forward to the beginning of this week and I’m starting on my 6 Week – Drunk In Love – Transformation Project.  I’m learning and absorbing all information I can that will assist me in achieving my goals and help me to transform my life.  I was listening to Connie Chapman’s - Awaken Radio – and she was interviewing Susana Frioni.  I’d never even heard of this woman, but that interview gave me so many AHA moments that I had to find out more of what this woman had to teach.

Fast forward to Thursday and I stumbled across her podcast station, I promptly downloaded all episodes and started listening.  On Friday I was driving home from the coast, listening to her podcasts, totally in awe to the new, out there, game changing information that I was soaking up.  I needed to meet this woman. 


Now this is where the universe comes into play…



I got home from the coast and thoughtlessly started checking my emails on my phone.  There was a hell of a lot of Facebook notification emails that I normally delete straight away without second thought, but just this once I decided to open up this message.

A beautiful acquaintance was gifting a ticket to a Susan Frioni Dance Party, happening that night – WHOLEY MOTHA!!! I NEED THAT TICKET!

So I promptly messaged the beautiful Kelle (check her site out over here) and she passed her ticket onto me – I was going to this dance party, I was going to meet this woman who was literally changing the way I was thinking about myself, my desires and literally about SEX full stop.


Sacred Dance Party!!



When I got there, I got hit with this sudden realization… WHAT in the HECK have I got myself into?!  I don’t do sober dance parties, what is everyone going to think of me, I’m literally going to be standing in the corner all by myself, I don’t know a single sole here, everyone is going to be so free and I’m going to be rigid as all heck, maybe I should leave…

Feel the FEAR and do it ANYWAY.


So in I went, trying to let go of all attachments, all expectations and just be there in the moment… Easier said than done.

Susana started us off with a shake to loosen up, a little meditation (which admittedly got me feeling super anxious again instead of relaxed) and then we wrote what we wanted to get out of the evening in our journals:

I want to feel wild and free, to be open, feel the music, to let go and get in touch with my inner goddess.”


Then the music began and we stood still, we felt the music penetrate our souls.  Not being able to move and just feel the music build up inside you is an awesome feeling.  Then we danced.

Susana guided us through the first hour of dance, we danced on our own, with partners, in straight lines, stomping, free movement.

Then out came the blind folds.

That’s when I really felt free and was able to let go and come into my own.  That’s when I felt wild and in touch, for me this is when the magik happened.


Now we’ve come full circle, O universe you crazy kid!



It all started with a burning desire to go out, get wasted and dance my little heart out – it ended up being something way more beautiful and gratifying.


Wild, Courageous, Sensual, Erotic, Calm, Liberated - FREE








+ For more on Susana Frioni and her dance party’s, click here.

++ To check out fellow health coach, and the awesome chick who gifted me her ticket, click here.

Monday 4 August 2014

Drunk in Love 6 Week Transformation Project

Today I made my first video blog.  I've been thinking about a little transformational project for myself on the lead up to my wedding.  Check out the video for a little more information.




As an overview of the video this week I'm covering:

+ Getting clear on my intentions
+ I'm sharing my goals and action steps with you to keep me accountable.
+ If your keen to do your own transformation project and join me over the next 6 weeks I'm happy to share my work and activity sheets just email at nicole.kropp@me.com

xx

PS. Excuse the um's and the funny expressions and I'm very new to editing and all that... Onwards and upwards from here x

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Why it's so Incredibly Important to have a Goal or a set of Clear Intentions




Having a set of clear intentions and clear goals for yourself is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that you are getting the most out of life.  Essentially by having a goal to work towards you have harnessed the power of making a decision, you have made the decision to set out and achieve your goal.  Making a decision is the ultimate power, it is the single factor that shapes and controls your destiny.  It gives you something to focus on that excites you, it gives you something to achieve with meaning.  When you have a clear goal, it's your decision then to follow through and achieve the goal you've set out.  That decision you make at that moment can change the course of your life forever.


So I have been assessing my goals and thinking about some of the times that I've felt my absolute best and most comfortable in my own skin.  One of those times was when I had made a decision to only eat un-processed foods for a whole year.  The intention of that goal was to essentially change my eating habits so that the way I was eating became a lifestyle for me.  I've been thinking about what is truly important to me and what I should be doing to bring my intentions into balance.  One thing that is important to me is to stay true to what I stand for and what I believe in.  I guess I haven't done that because I've been worried about rocking the boat at home.


Last year when I was competing, my relationship with food and achieving my fitness model body was my number one and everything else took a back seat, including my own self love, my fiancé, friends and family.  But I had determination, an unbreakable drive to achieve something and I was not going to let anything get in my way.  Once I had it bought to my attention by my fiancé that he was well and truly sick of what I was doing.  I reassessed my goals and decided that fostering a loving relationship with my man was way more important to me than eating chicken every 3 hours on the dot.  So I stopped what I was doing, essentially, I didn't have a goal to work towards anymore.  That brings me to today.  I've made some huge life decisions and I have some big things going on in my life, but I don't have any clear cut goals that I am so incredibly passionate about, that fill me up with light and that add energy to my life, more importantly I haven't flexed my decision making muscle in months.


I really had to get clear about what is important to me and how I can be living my life with integrity.  Some things I don't want is to go back on a cookie cutter diet program that doesn't take into account how my body is actually feeling and what it is telling me, but I do want to feel better about myself and I do want to loose some weight, but I want to do it in a way that makes me feel incredible not deprived.  I also want to get my business off the ground, I have all the time in the world right now to be making my dreams become a reality but I'm not using my 24hrs wisely.


With those parameters in mind I need to create some SMART goals for myself and make the decision to achieve these goals that I am setting for myself today.  There are three main goals that I will be setting today:


  • A health goal;
  • A fitness goal; and
  • A business goal.


Because my blog is health and wellness related I'm going to share my health and fitness goals with you, my tribe as a bit of a declaration.  Because I believe in the law of attraction and what you put out into the universe you will get back.  Also I love having someone to be accountable to and sharing goals and tracking those things with my tribe is a sure fire way of being held accountable because I don't want to let a sista down!

Deep breath, ok here we go!

Health 

For the next 60 days, I will only eat un-processed foods, using my knowledge of nutrition and healing, so that I will look and feel my absolute best on my wedding day.  I will keep an online journal (here) of my daily food intake so that I am accountable for my actions and so that I can measure my progress.

Fitness

By the 21st September 2014, I will complete Kayla Itsnie's BBG program, I will not miss a single day, so that I will look and feel my absolute best on my wedding day.  I will keep track of my progress in an online journal (here) so that I am accountable for my actions and so that I can measure my progress.

 These are my goals and I have made the decision today to achieve these goals in a loving way that serves me.  I believe that I can achieve what ever it is I put my mind too.  I know that I can achieve these goals and I now have you my beautiful tribe to keep me accountable.

xx




Tuesday 22 July 2014

4 Elements Diet and My Very First Attempt at Blogging

So I've gone to bed, tired and ready to fall asleep, but something is keeping me awake.  It's a drive and a push to do something more that is keeping me from falling asleep but I can't quiet work out what that is.  Maybe I'm just thirsty....



Well anyway, I got myself some water and was lying here scrolling through Instagram, yep 'cause that's going to help a sista fall asleep, not!  I then started thinking about my first ever blog that I started way back in 2011.  I called it 4 Elements Diet.  I had been sitting in bed one fateful Tuesday evening, around the same time as now and I remember I had been trolling through the internet in search of anything and everything and I came across a girl who had challenged herself to eat only foods that where provided from the Earth for 365 days (it was called the Earth Diet, you may or may not of heard of it?!)  So I was sitting up late on my laptop and was thinking, hey I should do my own version of this and blog about it!

And so 4 Elements Diet was born.  Here is my very first blog post, (killin' it in 2011).  Ok, so I had this thing that I didn't want to use capital letters ever... yeah I got over that, don't know where that came from, guess I thought I was being a game changer and leading the pack.  Second is the hideous theme, lol I was learning!

Anyway the point of this whole post was that re-reading my old blog got me really inspired.  I was someone who inspired me to make a change for the better for myself.  I've been inspired by my own determination from 3 years ago, my absolute authentic and pure passion for living a healthier and clean life.  My last journal entry ends at 61 days, I think that's when I threw the towel in.  I don't know why I did though, I do remember that I felt incredible, I was never stressed about food or my weight, I was loosing weight, it was falling off me effortlessly, I just knew that my body was finding it's balancing point I had this absolute belief that my excess weight would come off until my body was happy, I remember getting to a point that I never felt hungry because I always listened to my body's cues, I had boundless energy and my sex drive was through the roof!

I kinda want that back, that raw authentic energy, that passion and drive for inspiring others through my daily choices, I wonder if I can go 61 days of eating only un-processed foods?  

Could you?



Getting Grounded and Grateful



I am just loving connecting with so many self inspired women, who are real, authentic and living and breathing their passions.  Today's guest to the blog is the incredibly talented spiritual coach Pip Herbert from Grounded Guidance.  


Pip is going to share some insights on how to get practice mindfulness through being grounded and showing gratitude.  Pip take it away...

Each morning, I get up, go outside and ground myself, I usually exercise at this time too, and I get present.

But what does this mean and what difference does it make?


By stopping to listen to the sounds around me, tune into my body, my breath, notice my emotions, I am fully present in the moment.  It is very challenging to maintain this level of mindfulness, of presence throughout the entire day, as of course we lead busy lives filled with distractions… doing several things at once, day dreaming, or thinking about what to cook for dinner.

If I’m ungrounded, I am clumsy, my head is in a haze, I feel scattered and may try to put the milk away in the cupboard, I am certainly not feeling empowered by what I want to create in my life.
 Like anything, mindfulness takes practice and getting grounded takes intention. Remembering to stop for a moment and BREATHE. Plant your feet on the ground and send all that buzzing energy into the earth, let go of the exhaustion. Be in that moment.


Allow yourself to be fully present with the person you’re listening to.  To feel what your body needs, and be connected to your soul-essence, your intuition.

 In this space of grounding and mindfulness, I find what naturally arises is gratitude.

I am present enough to notice the beauty around me and appreciate how lucky I am. You do not have to be feeling particularly optimistic to allow the blissful feeling of gratitude to envelope you. If you are struggling to think of something, simply remember how privileged you are, that there is always someone worse off than you.

When we are focusing on the many wonderful things in our life, we create more of this thanks to the universal law of attraction. Often we are thinking about what’s yet for us to achieve, to buy, or what we don’t have yet. When we shift our attention to what we DO have, the universe conspires to give you more of that. In the space of gratitude I experience joy, happiness, thankfulness, peace, love, excitement. Hell yeah to more of that!


So – try it. Each day, think of or write down 3 things you’re grateful for. Really connect to the emotion of it when you do this. You may be surprised how great it feels.






+ To follow Pip on Instragram click here.

++ Check out Pip's website here.

+++ To follow Pip on Facebook click here.


Sunday 20 July 2014

What exactly is a Holistic Health Coach

Setting an example is not the main means to influencing others; it is the only means.

Some of you may know that I've been studying to become a Holistic Health Coach.   I am so damn excited about it, I love my course so much.  Every Monday night around 10pm the next weeks module is released and I can pretty much say that I wake up during the night every Monday and download the next module just so I can see what I'm learning that week, then try to calm my excitement to go back to sleep.

I have honestly never studied anything that lights me up so much.  It is in line with my true purpose and god damn, I know that this is what I was put on this earth to do!

Seriously this is what I feel like doing when I talk about Health Coaching. (photo from the gorgeous kinfolk site)

In our current healthcare system, almost no time is spent discussing daily diet and lifestyle.  I believe that there needs to be more well-trained professionals to teach people how to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

As a Holistic Health coach I will offer guidance and inspiration to help my clients shift their behaviour to healthier habits by making step-by-step changes to their diet and lifestyle.  I'll be able to teach you about new, healthy foods and the concept of primary foods - i.e. relationships, physical activity, career and spirituality.

When you work with me I'll make sure that you develop a deeper understanding of the foods and lifestyle choices that work best for you, and implement lasting changes that improve your energy, balance and health.  Instead of prescribing one diet or one way of exercise (because we all know this doesn't work), I'll be focused on teaching you to become self-sufficient by observing your own unique responses to various modifications and choosing health-promoting behaviours that work for you.




So what exactly is a Holistic Health Coach


A Holistic Health coach is a guide and mentor who empowers clients to take responsibility for their own health and supports them to implement and sustain lifestyle and behaviour changes that will contribute to the achievement of their personal wellness goals.  Some common areas where a Holistic Health Coach may help a client to focus include weight management, food cravings, sleep energy, stress management, and digestion - just to name a few.

As confucius says:

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.


If you are interested in working with me, please don't hesitate to get in contact with me.  I'd love to hear from you.


Monday 14 July 2014

Guest Blogger - Berry Coconut Chia Pudding by Claire Power


Claire Power is one wellness babe to watch, she is putting her passions of health and cooking to good use to inspire others to get in their kitchens and to start cooking their way to better health.

I absolutely love any babe who is out there inspiring and empowering other women to look after themselves and live up to their truest potential.

Claire has been kind enough to share a "tote-able" recipe for us for day 15 of the Get Active, Nourish and Be Grateful challenge that Kat and I are running for the month of July.


Claire thanks so much for sharing your recipe with us today!!  How did the inspiration for this recipe come about??

Chia puddings are popping up everywhere on social media and on television due to the new ads for the Chia Co company with brand ambassador Kelly Slater.  I think it's great that these little seeds of goodness gets some more publicity.  They are so nutritious and delicious!

However, it is very easy and cheap to make it so you should try to make your own at home.  There are different ways o do them using different milks or using mashed banana.  The flavour combinations are endless, mango, apple, berries, cacao, matcha and so on.




Berry Coconut Chia Puddings recipe:

Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds;
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk (you could use almond milk, cashew milk or cow's milk too);
  • 1 vanilla bean;
  • dash of cinnamon;
  • optional: honey or rice male syrup; and
  • toppings: fresh or frozen berries, nuts, bananas use whatever you feel like!
Instructions:
  1. Mix chia seeds and milk;
  2. Add vanilla & cinnamon;
  3. Leave overnight until the chia seeds absorb the milk and become a jelly like texture;
  4. Top with fresh fruit, berries, nuts... and
  5. Serve cold.

+ To follow Claire on Instagram, click here.

++ Check out Claire's blog here.

+++ For more information on the Get Active, Nourish and Be Grateful, click here.


Thursday 10 July 2014

Nourish Yourself from the Inside Out




After getting active for 10 days straight, it's now time to concentrate on Nourishing yourself from the inside out for the next 10 consecutive days.  The question that I am going to put to you, is what does Nourishing Yourself mean to you?  The reason I ask this is because what works for me may not work for you.

We live in a world of modern nutrition.  Almost everyone is on one diet or another.  So many people dwell on calories, carbs, fats, proteins, restrictions and lists of good and bad foods.  It would seem that each day we are hit with a new discovery, proclaiming the health benefits of a certain food or the best way to lose 5 kilos in a week.  Diet books are best sellers, cooking shows are more popular than ever, while more and more families are eating out.

The world of nutrition has become incredibly complex.  How is it possible that one expert can prove dairy is a necessary component of a healthy diet, while another expert can prove dairy is extremely detrimental to health; one expert can claim meat is essential to a healthy human body while another expert says meat is an unnecessary and unhealthy part of the the human diet?

So to avoid and navigate myself confidently through a media-driven an perplexed diet industry, I now take a new approach to nutrition and that is one of bio-individualtiy.  

No perfect way of eating works for everybody.


The food that is perfect for your unique body, age and lifestyle may make another person gain weight and feel lethargic.  Similarly, no perfect way of eating will work for you all the time, what may have worked for you a number of years ago, may not be right for you now and what you eat during the week may be totally different to what you eat on a weekend when you are relaxing.

One thing that you need to remember is that being healthy is really not that complicated.  Trust that your body knows what it needs and what it wants to eat.  It's the brain that makes mistakes.  It's very easy to convince yourself to follow some diet plan and after a week it may leave you feeling lethargic and bloated.  You don't need to read nutrition books to know what to eat, instead you have to foster a deep relationship with your body in which it naturally tells you what it needs to function at its highest potential.

So for the next 10 days I don't want you to think about restricting anything from your diet, I want to you concentrate on ADDING IN the right clean foods.  

Here is a list of things that I would encourage you to ADD IN to your diet each day:

  • Upon rising have a warm glass of water with 1/2 a lemon. 
  • Pump up your green vegetables, have at least 4 servings of vegetables per day - you might do this by having a green juice or a green smoothy in the morning, then one serving of greens with lunch and one serving of greens with dinner.
  • Don't be afraid of fruits, have 2 servings per day - this could be an apple with a spoonful of nut butter, strawberries, blue berries, add a banana to your smoothie for breakfast.
  • Eat good quality and properly prepared whole grains - have at least 2 servings per day - think quinoa or oats for breakfast, sprouted bread, sourdough bread for lunch
  • Lean meat and protein sources - have at least 2 servings per day - think chicken, pork, wild salmon, sardines, and white fish
  • Good fats - have 2 serving per day - think coconut oil, olive oil, fish oils (essential fatty acids), seen and nut oils and organic butter - use coconut oils for cooking, pour olive oil over your salad, add seeds to your salad, spread organic butter over your toast.

Real food is medicine.


Great food and a healthy diet means enjoying full flavours and invigorating meals while relishing the fresh, simple and unadulterated.  Remember that processed food is loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners, damaging hydrogenated fats and oils, white flour, chemicals, fillers, synthetic vitamins and minerals, food additives, preservatives, heavy metals and pesticides, all of which contribute to the toxicity with our bodies and are damaging the health of our planet.

Over the coming days I will go over some of my favourite super foods, we'll have a guest post from the fabulous Clair Power from Power of Wellness and plenty of fun recipes and healthy tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your diet.

Nic
xx

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Fitting Out and Living in the Now




So I went for a ride this afternoon and had the biggest realisation!

I've been living in the past and I haven't been meaning too!


I had got so caught up in coming clean about my bad eating habits that I couldn't move past them and sub consciously I had let them define me.  It made it so easy to slip back into that hole because well I had admitted to everyone what I had been doing... well admitting is the first step, moving past it is the second step.

I'm not letting my binge eating habits define me anymore, that's not who I am.  I am that girl, you know, the one who loves to get up before sunrise, just so I can see the beginning of a new day.  I'm the one who wakes up and writes my morning pages so that I am clear on my intentions for that day.  I am that girl who gets changed into exercise clothes as soon as I get out of bed so that I can get outside and move my body. I am that girl and I'm going to be a happy, healthy active person for the rest of my life.

Yeah, you know what, I don't fit into the standard mould, I FIT OUT and I love that I do!  I do weird things like oil pull with coconut oil and drink warm lemon water first thing in the morning and meditate and journal and I do it all because I understand the benefits but most of all it makes me feel A-MAZ-ING!

I believe in chasing your dreams, I believe in seizing the day, I believe in living and being your best self and I believe in empowering other women to do the same.

Remember, your past does not define you, it's what you do in the now that makes you.  Always live in the present and stay true to who you are, even if everyone around you doesn't understand why you do what you do.

Nic
xx

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Guest Blog for Day 9 - Get Active, Nourish and Be Grateful

I am so stoked to have this amazing trainer on board with the Get Active, Nourish and Be Grateful challenge for the month of July.  Even more stoked because this absolute babe knows how to train hard and her clients are seeing incredible results because of it!

Meet Candy!









So Candy tell us what's your favourite way to train?


HIIT training is my favourite type of training. I use the HIIT training method with my running, rowing, body weight and even my strength training workouts! 




Tell us a little more, what is HIIT style training all about?



HIIT is a workout method that alternates maximum effort "work" intervals with low intensity "rest" intervals. 

The benefits of HIIT include:
  • weight loss. HIIT is more effective then steady state cardio for weight loss! 
  • HIIT increases agility as it trains the body for explosive power. (Helping you jump higher & sprint faster) 
  • HIIT training increases your metabolism & has an "after burn" effect (keeps the body burning calories hours AFTER your workout) 
  • Increases stamina. It's easier to continue short bursts of intense training when you know you have a rest interval coming up! 
  • HIIT is less time consuming! HIIT sessions usually go for 45 mins and has the same (if not better) benefits then a long low intensity workout. 
  • Increases mind power. HIIT training makes you stronger mentally allowing you to push yourself through short spurts of pain & high intensity workouts as there are small "rest" intervals to break it up. 

There are many forms of HIIT training. My favourite is the Tabata workout. 
(Each set is 30 secs long- 20 secs work interval & 10 secs rest interval.) 


So can you give us a session to follow for Day 9 of the challenge :)


Here is a Tabata workout anyone can do at home!

So here are the rules: There will be 8 x 30sec Rounds.  You will work your butt off for 20sec and then rest for 10sec and repeat that for each exercise 8 times.

So for example, you do as many Burpees as you can for 20sec, rest for 10sec, then do Burpees for 20sec then rest for 10sec then repeat another 6 times (8 rounds in total).

Remember to push each round as it's only 20 secs! 

  • Burpees 
  • Jump squats 
  • Push-ups 
  • Mountain climbers (each leg)
  • Power jump lunges (each leg)
  • Plank

Good luck and let me know how you go in the comments section below!!

Be sure to check out Candy here : Facebook or on Instagram 


xx

Monday 7 July 2014

Warm Turmeric Balance Bowl




I like to enjoy this particular warm bowl of oats on cold and windy winter mornings.  


There is nothing quiet like going out for a walk in the fresh winters air and then coming home to a warm bowl of porridge.  Particularly one that has amazing anti-inflammatory properties.

Turmeric has a natural anti-inflammatory compound.  Now don't get me wrong, a little inflammation in the short term is incredibly important.  It helps the body fight foreign invaders and also has a role in repairing damage.  Without inflammation, pathogens like bacteria could easily take over our bodies and kill us.  Although short term inflammation is beneficial, it can become a major problem long term and inappropriately deployed against the body's own tissues.  This is a problem and it is this chronic inflammation that is now known to be a contributor to many common Western diseases.

Turmeric can inhibit many molecules known to play major roles in inflammation.  Therefore, anything that can help fight chronic inflammation is of potential importance in preventing and even treating and inflammation causing disease.  So sprinkle Turmeric on everything (I do!)

So to make this warming balancing bowl of goodness you'll need:
  • 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 1 cup water (or enough water to cover the oats in the pot, I normally do this by site)
  • 1 tablespoon of LSA mix
  • 1/4 cup of activated nuts
  • 1 tablespoon shredded coconut
How its done:

  • Add the oats, water and spices to a pot and whisk with a fork to get all the spices combined.
  • Bring the oats to the boil, stirring (this should only take a couple of minutes)
  • Then pour into a bowl, then add the nuts, LSA mix and shredded coconut
  • I like to smash my nuts up in a zip-lock bag before I add them to the top
Then sit in the sun, or the warmest part of your home and saviour each and ever mouthful.  Ahh bliss

xx



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