Our Daily Bread....

Poor little bread really has had a hard time recently at the hand of the carb nazis, totally undeserved too. Widespread belief, thanks to diets such as the Atkins diet, is that carbs will make you fat, and must be avoided at all costs if you are ever to look like Gisele. However, the truth of the matter is that carbs actually have just 4 calories per gram, whereas fat has a whooping 9 calories per gram. It is not eating carbs which will lead to weight gain, it is over consumption in general which makes you gain weight. 

Diets like the Atkins work by seriously restricting calorie intake so that the body has to look elsewhere for energy and starts to burn body fat. This is a process called Ketosis, which incidentally also has a side effect of bad breath! Atkins and other similar diets are completely unbalanced, and are actually very unhealthy in the long run as they promote a high intake of saturated fats (the baddies) which can lead to a higher risk of heart disease.  

There is no need to go to such extreme lengths as completely removing whole food groups from your diet in order to stay in shape and healthy - especially bread which actually has many nutritional benefits! Bread is actually a great source of protein - it contains 12g of protein per 100g - this is a fair amount considering an egg has 13g of protein. It also contains iron, fibre, magnesium, calcium and zinc - all nutrients which can be lacking in modern diets. It is also a great source of B vitamins which support your brain, nervous system, energy levels, moods and keeps skin and hair glowing. 

If consumed in moderation (like all good things!) bread really can contribute to a healthy, balanced diet. It has been eaten for centuries, and forms a large part of the healthy Mediterranean diet so many of us strive for. When choosing breads, it is always important to choose a wholegrain bread with seeds (white bread is nutritionally rather empty after the bleaching process it undergoes to become white). Wholegrain breads with seeds are also low GI which means their energy is released slowly, leaving you satisfied for longer. As with all products, labeling can be very deceiving so make sure to choose a bread labeled as 100% wholewheat or wholegrain, and check the ingredients carefully as even breads which claim to be wholegrain can contain enriched bleached flour.  

Being healthy and staying in shape is not about going on extreme fad diets which cannot be sustained and ultimately only lead to temporary weight loss, it is about making small positive lifestyle changes such as switching from white bread to wholewheat bread, exercising regularly, and eating in moderation. 

See, you can have your bread and eat it!

xx

Where the magic happens..

As hard as it is not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow, or where something will lead us, sometimes we must have faith and trust that there is something greater than us out there, and that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it is hard to see the reason at first, but this force will guide us and help us through even the hardest of times. 

For a while now I have been asking myself, 'is it really worth it?'. A life in the corporate world, a daily, miserable commute, sitting behind a screen all day feeling my back tighten and tension forming with every new email into my inbox, inwardly counting down the time until the 'working day' was over. This really cannot be what life is all about, surely there is a better way..

Being just about to take a leap of faith into the unknown, I have found myself being incredibly indecisive, anxious and doubting every single step. Even though I know that deep down that this is what I want to do, it's still not easy! What if it doesn't work? What will I do? How will I pay my bills? Doubts fill my head trying to sway my heart, and at times almost managing..but deep down I have this little voice that can barely be heard telling me to take the leap. The doubts continually morph and come and go, but the little voice is always there. 

So I have finally decided to honor that little voice and put my corporate job on hold. I have just paid the deposit to do an intensive yoga teachers training course in India. It's a big step giving up financial security in pursuit of a passion, but I feel a huge relief in finally having taking the decision, and I hope I will be able to find my way and follow my path to transform from a corporate caterpillar into a yogi butterfly! 

Sometimes you need to take a leap into the unknown, and hope that magic is waiting for you on the other side! If it is not, all is never lost, and I have faith that I will be able to put myself back on track, a happier, healthier person for having made this leap and done the course. 

I will, of course, keep you all updated on my progress throughout the course - which by the way is 6am-6pm daily with multiple yoga sessions, yoga anatomy, yoga history, philosophy, meditation and teaching, and that's just the start. Anybody who knows me knows that I have trouble rolling out of bed at 8am, never mind 6am, (in fact one friend who I recently shared my plans with almost fell on the floor laughing that I would be up at 6am!) so this is definitely going to be a challenge. I have no doubt it will be exhausting, and at times painful, but I am looking forward to every minute of it! 

As Neale Donald Walsch once said, "life begins at the end of your comfort zone", so here I go! What are you waiting for?

xx