If you’re stressed and trying to lose weight, check this out!

It’s something a little personal but something you need to see to understand the various forms of stress and how you may also be affected. Have a look at the image below. That’s me. The photo on the left was taken just before a blood test where we needed to elevate my bodies stress response, the photo on the right was me 2 weeks after. Both taken outdoors in natural lighting with no make up on.

Our bodies are incredibly adaptive but when those adaptations keep our nervous system in an elevated sympathetic state, elevated levels of stress become a ticking time bomb in our life.

So what did we do to elevate my bodies stress response? Having already made a lot of improvements with my nutrition, all I needed to do was start eating inflammatory foods! Inflammatory foods can be different for everyone but the most common ones are wheat, gluten and dairy. For me, they are not food allergies but rather food intolerances.

Symptoms of food intolerances can be hard to identify for the individual suffering because sensitivities develop over time. We only know what we feel as “normal” until we experience a new normal or something abnormal has us visiting the Doctor, or worse hospitalised.

Our mind and body adjusts to stress until stress produces other symptoms. Some of the common symptoms of food intolerances are:

• Trouble dropping body fat
• Trouble staying focused
• Skin conditions
• Weakened immune systems
• Digestive issues and pains
• Anxiety and/or brain fog
• Lacking energy

The father of Western medicine, Hippocrates made famous “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. The truth to this statement is genius. In 2016 I did a functional nutrition course with Bob Guiel, an integrative medical practitioner from Massachusetts who taught me mind blowing facts about the human body and how food and supplementation can heal or break down our bodies systems, making me more passionate about helping educate as many people as I can about the power of the foods we eat. I eat foods that I know my body can transfer into fuel. I eat what I want, when I want because I have developed a healthy relationship with food. Most of the time I eat foods that nourish my body, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my sweet or savoury favourites anymore.

Since learning from Bob and other well respected mentors, I’ve taken a much more holistic approach to help our clients do the same. I’ve created a 3 week online course to teach you how you can start making the switch without ever feeling deprived of your favourite foods.

This course is for anyone who:

• doesn’t feel like they have control over their snacking

• has been told they need to avoid foods like gluten and/or dairy but are still eating little bits of it here and there

• for those who are suffering health issues but haven’t yet successfully addressed nutrition

If this is you, come join me! Food Freedom kicks off on 30th July and there are still early bird spots available. This is a program you can do from home with all the support you need from me.