Speaker at the Melbourne Healthy Food Show

Freshen Up Your Life For Your Waistline

This was the title of the talk I gave at the Melbourne Healthy Food Show held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre earlier this year.

It was such an exciting and positive event; Brimming with buisness's, speaker's and demonstrations on healthy living and I was really delighted to have been asked to be a part of it.

I was also supported on both days by the amazing owners of the 'Eltham Bookstore' who brought copies of my book to sell on both days. ( You can find a link to their bookstore here on my blogger page too. )

My talk's were based around using the words 'fresh' and 'inspiration' to bring a healthy, energetic vibe to your life.

Here is some of what I taked about it..

Freshen Up Your Life For Your Waistline
Fresh is a word I have come to fill my life with.

When you think of the word FRESH you may conjure up images of beautiful fruits and vegetables in their optimum state-full of goodness, colour and flavour.
You may picture pristine fresh water streams so cooling and refreshing or mountains where the air is so pure that the simple act of a deep breath fills you with awe.

This is the energy and sensation we need to bring into our lives when we are wanting to truly find ourselves within ourselves. When we are wanting to get healthier, lose that weight and tap into the magnificent energy source that does reside within us all.

Freshening up your life will lead to losing weight if that is your goal but it will also most importantly give you a whole new lease on your life.
This I know. After years battling self image issues and my yo-yoing weight I found myself overweight and depressed after having my daughter until one day upon reaching a breaking point I went for a walk-not a walk with a destination, just a walk. I bundled my baby into her pram taking every possible thing I could think of that we could possibly need and off we went.

30 kilo’s lighter with a whole new sense of self and finally a healthy attitude to food I have never looked back.
And this is the magic part of bringing freshness into your life like I did with my walks in the fresh air..you feel so good for letting just a small amount of freshness into your life that you just want to bring more and more and more...

I started with small walks, just around my neighbourhood.
It began to amaze me how much beauty was around me that I never before took the time to see. The tree’s full of life, the flowers dazzling in surrounding gardens, the local birds chirping away.
I saw my walks as my ‘time out’ and would let myself only think of pleasent thoughts on my walks-leaving all my worries at my front door as I left it.

From this exciting starting point I began to feel so alive from this fresh energy i was bringing into my life that it was a natural progression to want more.

I began to appreciate my body more-it felt so good from the refreshing exercise that I wanted to eat fresh as well.
I did this by inspiring myself and embracing the words 'fresh and 'inspiration'.
I visited a local farmers market and discovered local fruit markets and started filling my home with beautiful fresh ingredients and because I was also on a tight budget I started to grow my own fresh organic ingredients at home as well. Just a few pots of herbs at first to freshen up my cooking before ending up with a virtual market garden of delicious ingredients at my fingertips.

Any day can be the day you start to live your life more, in fact any time of any day when your focus is on making positive changes.
Bring freshness to your life.
Some of the greatest ways to bring freshness to your life are often the simplest.
Inspire yourself.
Read inspiring and uplifting magazines and books-watch inspiring tv and movies, find quotes that really move you.

Surround yourself with inspiration

Embrace fresh air.

Take time to just breathe occasionally. We all know that if you find yourself stressed you should take some deep breaths but how often do we pay attention to our breathing? Sit somewhere calmly sometimes and take some gentle slow breaths-feel your body-let your mind relax it all too often works so hard.

Walk in the glorious fresh air. It doesn’t even have to be a long walk, just getting your body moving and getting outside. Breathe deeply and let your mind be cleared of all the worries, stress and concerns even if only for your walk.
If you neighbourhood doesn’t feel relaxing to you walk in a nice park, along a river, lake or by the ocean.
Freshen up your home. Make a point of sometimes opening up all your windows and letting that glorious fresh air circulate through your house-especially if you regularly use heating or air conditioning.
Freshen up your food..
Becoming healthy doesn’t mean no more delicious food. It means getting in touch with your taste buds again and experiencing real foods and real flavours-it means learning new and exciting recipes.

We are even often surprised that many of the family favourites we already make with just a few adjustments or added ingredients can be so much better for us.
It means eating meals that not only taste great but that give you energy and vitality-foods that make your skin glow and give you a bounce of energy in your step.
You even find that the more healthy foods you eat the more you want to eat and so on..

Find the excitement in a healthy fresh new lifestyle.

Embracing a healthier lifestyle doesn’t need to be boring in fact it should be exciting!
There is a wealth of exciting recipes out there that are healthy AND delicious. Once you start
there are so many wonderful ways to get fit or exercise its all just a matter of getting out there and taking that very first step

To a fresh new you!