Stop Dieting, Start Living

Stop Dieting, Start Living

When Dieting Takes Over From Living   Being on a diet is like forcing your real life body to squeeze into a Barbie and Ken sized dollhouse. Not a great fit if you really want to feel at home there. Does weighing all your food, watching your food portions and eating to the clock actually satisfy your hunger? What about when the rebel in you says, “Stuff it! I’m so hungry and I hate this food. I’m going to eat that cake anyway”? And what if you can’t stop at one piece after a week of willpower and restriction, and end

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Spelt Coffee & Pecan Cake Recipe

Spelt Coffee & Pecan Cake Recipe

Coffee & Pecan Cake Recipe Spelt is an ancient grain widely recognized for its many health benefits. Triticum spelta, the scientific name for spelt,  is a hardier and more nutritious cousin to modern wheat (Triticum aestivum). Some taxonomists classify spelt as a parent of wheat. Spelt is classed in the wheat family, even though there are significant differences between common wheat and spelt, including that the molecular structure of the protein in spelt is more brittle and soluble, allowing it to be assimilated more easily. It’s high in fibre and tastes great! Who said eating clean and healthy for the whole family,

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Dark Citrus and Roast Almond Chocolate!

Dark Citrus and Roast Almond Chocolate!

Dark Citrus and Roast Almond Chocolate Oh I do love creating new textures, aromas and flavours in my raw chocolate! This one rivals one of my favourite combo’s from a Lindt bar – orange and almond. I really love peppermint and orange with dark chocolate. There’s just something delicious about the blending of these two sweet and fruity flavours with the intense richness and bitterness of the cacao bean. Adding a bit of crunch with roasted almonds simply completes the deliciousness! Mine beats Lindt hands down!! 🙂 #‎rawchocolatelove  Enjoy! V xo     Dark Citrus and Roast Almond Chocolate Ingredients: • 250g

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Brown Rice Caramel Blocks Recipe

Brown Rice Caramel Blocks Recipe

Brown Rice Caramel Blocks So I was playing around with the ever versatile hulled tahini and decided to throw in some puffed brown rice to the caramel mix. Of course the brown rice remains soft, surrounded in the caramel fudge so they’re deliciously sweet, cold and satisfying with a soft chewy texture. The perfect little pick me up to curb your sweet tooth craving. Enjoy! V xo     Brown Rice Caramel Blocks Recipe Ingredients: 1 cup hulled tahini 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, B grade 3/4 cup coconut oil, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla powder (organic preferred) 3/4 teaspoon celtic

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PB Choc Balls Recipe

PB Choc Balls Recipe

PB CHOC BALLS   Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls – need I say more…. They’re simple and very easy to make because you only need one bowl, one spoon and one tray to make them! If you’re a lover of wholefood and nutrient dense treats, chances are you’ll already have these ingredients staples in your pantry. Enjoy! V xo     PB (peanut butter) Choc Balls Recipe Ingredients 1 cup organic smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup organic hulled tahini 1/2 cup raw cacao powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 to 3/4 cup rice malt syrup (Optional 1 tablespoon of raw honey can

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Overcome Negative Body Image

Overcome Negative Body Image

Overcome Negative Body-Image Here’s how just one of many clients did it! Sometimes in my coaching practice I need to get down into the pit with a client… really sit down in the mud with them and wade through the shit in their lives. It’s my job to hold steadfast as an anchor for them while they experience losing control or embracing their fear. Whatever the overwhelming emotion is, I’m always willing to go to the depths with them in order to help guide them back out of it. Not many traditional therapists allow themselves to do that, with the idea

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I Felt Like a Fat Failure

I Felt Like a Fat Failure

VULNERABILITY ALERT… (spoiler, I’m not perfect) Yesterday I felt like a fat, inauthentic, hypocritical failure. I know I’ve gotten into some bad habits this year as I’ve struggled to balance a growing business and demand for my time with now building a second training institute, being a supportive partner, a loving and present step-mum, and delivering consistent energy and enthusiasm at my classes, workshops and live events. Somewhere in there I forgot to PRIORITISE myself. I forgot that my body doesn’t like missing breakfast, and especially does NOT like skipping lunch or being delayed to the point of feeling famished.

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Is Being Healthy Your Obsession?

Is Being Healthy Your Obsession?

I really dislike labels. I especially dislike labelling the way we eat, the way we look, and the way we behave. “I eat clean. I am fat. I am a perfectionist.” Why do we need to make judgement instead of making way for growth, understanding and change? Labelling the way we eat is a dangerous tendency. We get so caught up in whether we’re doing it right or not. It develops a righteous thinking attitude, that for some can translate into control: If I can control my healthy diet, I can control the way I feel. Strong, intelligent and capable

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6 Natural Sweeteners to Replace for Sugar

6 Natural Sweeteners to Replace for Sugar

6 Natural Sweeteners  For the last three and half years I’ve been teaching Raw and Healthy Chocolate and Desserts Workshops. They evolved out of my own desire to eat without guilt, upsetting my digestive process, or overdosing my hormones on sugar. They’ve been tremendously popular over the years and I’ve had a fantastic time teaching people how to make and eat more real food. I believe that everyone deserves to enjoy their food in the healthiest way for their own unique bodies. Whether you avoid gluten, wheat, dairy and sugar out of necessity or choice, these workshops were designed so

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Rustic Rosemary + Hazelnut Torte [Gluten, Grain & Sugar Free]

Rustic Rosemary + Hazelnut Torte [Gluten, Grain & Sugar Free]

Rustic Rosemary + Hazelnut Torte [Gluten, Grain & Sugar Free]  Real Food Friday!   I really like how food can look imperfect yet still absolutely divine, appetising and stimulating to our senses. I’d had it in my mind to make some sort of tart – or torte – that wasn’t visually perfect, but more rustic and outdoorsy with a farm or orchard feel. It may seem odd to pair rosemary with chocolate, but if you’ve already tried this combo recipe from my Healthy Chocolate Delights eBook you’ll know how curious and moreish it is! The style of this nutty crust combined with rosemary, adds to the laid

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Is Food Controlling Your Life?

Is Food Controlling Your Life?

Is Food Controlling Your Life…. Or are you just eating your feelings?   So many people have an unhealthy relationship with food. They habitually use it for comfort, distraction and punishment instead of true nourishment, information and energy for the brain and body. Your relationship with food is usually a reflection of the relationship you have with yourself. When clients come to me for food issues, they are totally exhausted from fighting back emotions and living inside their heads. No matter how hard they try, they just can’t seem to get a handle on their eating! Is this really the way

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When Hunger Isn’t Real

When Hunger Isn't Real

When Hunger Isn’t Real…   We eat for all sorts of reasons: when we’re angry or sad, stressed or festive, starving or hormonal. Most people over-eat, and usually when they weren’t actually hungry in the first place. Eventually, distracted from the stress of daily life and worries, it becomes impossible to distinguish between hunger that is real and hunger that is fake. There are actually several different types of hunger, because our drive to eat comes from various sources that often don’t have anything to do with physical hunger – that real, true hunger that begins as a rumbling sensation

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If Not Dieting, Then What? Life After Diets Interview with Robyn Patton

If Not Dieting, Then What? Life After Diets Interview with Robyn Patton

Life After Dieting – interview with Robyn Patton Recently I had a lot of fun speaking with Robyn Patton from Intuitive Nourishment. Turns out we have quite a few things in common: we both like crazy hair, we both like to make real food, and we’ve both worked as weight loss counsellors back in the day. We’ve also both spent a ridiculous amount of years operating from a dieting mindset and trying to feel safe in our own bodies.   If Not Dieting, Then What? (It’s a book!) After following the dieting path for years trying to like her body and fit in, Robyn

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The Easiest Way to Exercise

The Easiest Way to Exercise

Easiest Way to Exercise? Just Move Your Body   I’m grateful to report that our family of four (including one fully fledged teenager and one on the cusp) managed to survive six nights away together at the Sunshine Coast. We had a wonderful time exploring the hinterland, enjoying the pool and walking along the beach. Unsurprisingly, the Sunshine Coast is abuzz with health enthusiasts. People of all ages, sizes and capabilities were busily huffing and puffing as they walked, ran, jogged and rode their bikes, or walked their dogs. Early in the morning, late in the afternoon and any time in-between,

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Chocolate JAFFA Cake with Choc Orange Ganache

Chocolate JAFFA Cake with Choc Orange Ganache

CHOCOLATE JAFFA CAKE that’s healthy!   I’m pretty sure you all know how much I love to create whole food dishes to replace the store-bought and processed versions. This one does not disappoint – it’s bloody delicious! I decided to have a play with the Chocolate Chia Berry Cake from my Healthy Chocolate Delights eBook that’s always a winner. By doubling the mixture and changing a few key items to achieve the flavour I was after, it’s turned out to be a deliciously moist and rich cake with a beautiful aroma and flavour. The chocolate ganache icing is a delightfully

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