The Diet Conundrum

 Have you noticed how many articles and features there are currently in the newspapers, magazines, on social media and not to mention TV, about how to lose weight, how to maintain a healthy weight, how to eat well and the rest?

If you haven’t, it begs the obvious question of where you might have been, as we can barely escape from it at the moment following the recently-ended season of excess, hedonism and abandon that Christmas has come to mean for many of us. January marks the prime time for the health-brigade marketing machines to get whirring, promising us instant youth, a sylph-like figure, and a waistline that a Hollywood movie star would be proud of.

So why do we subject ourselves to this annual food and drink binge, knowing full well that the return to work in January will spell misery as we struggle to fasten our belts, puff and pant up the office stairs with a fuzzy brain and try to repair the damage to our bank account that December has inflicted?

This is a question I now find difficult to answer, as I no longer engage in this frenzy, though I readily admit that I did succumb to it frequently throughout my 20’s, 30’s and most of my 40’s. I then changed, and it simply didn’t seem to feel right or desirable any more once I had embarked on my own journey on a healthier lifestyle, which those who know me will be aware of. Be assured that my intention here is not to be sanctimonious and all holier than thou. What interests me particularly is the peculiar tendency we British appear to have of throwing caution to the wind every year in December, and then living to regret it afterwards. ….…Which brings me back to my initial observation at the start of this blog post about how we are subjected to the bombardment of diet ads and fads at this time of year.

So it is that there is invariably a ‘new kid on the block’ to add to the plethora of diets that have been doing the rounds. This bobs in and out of our consciousness throughout January and part of February, only to fizzle out and be cast aside to gather dust, as most of us unfortunate enough to have been wooed by its spurious claims find that it just about enabled us to lose a few pounds but was ultimately too downright miserable and joyless to be able to sustain for more than a few weeks.

Recently, and perhaps interestingly, the so-called experts at large have been evaluating and comparing the benefits of the ‘Vegan Diet’ vs the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ vs the ‘Raw Food Diet’. The jury has given its verdict and not surprisingly, the revered Mediterranean Diet is the one that has come out on top. Obvious really, the Mediterranean way of eating is both joyous and nourishing and is one which I and my wife Annette partake in each and every day….and yet, remarkably, a typical meal for us will emphasise food in its raw state (ie.salad greens, vegetables and fruit) and food that would sit comfortably on any vegan’s plate, as we choose not to eat meat, eggs or dairy.

So, my point is, why be absolutist and why focus on labels and on the negatives of this or that way of eating, instead of looking at the bigger picture and the positives and giving thought to why we may choose to eat in a certain way? For some, this may be for health reasons, for others perhaps for the sake of animal welfare, for the environment, for the taste and quality of the food…or simply to avoid man-made, highly-processed and nutrient-void food that may do us harm?

Fad diets will come and go, but eating food that is wholesome and that is based on what nature offers us will invariably allow us to flourish and help us to maintain balance. The more we eat this way, the more aware we become of what makes us feel good and what brings us down, and on a more spiritual level, of the world in which we live.

What is it to be ‘a real man’?

There is no doubt that more and more of us today are succumbing to the pressures of modern day life and experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety and stress. Not only does this have a huge impact on the NHS, it also has an effect on our families and on our marital relationships as well as our productivity as a nation (the latter resonates less with me, since I feel strongly that we are not made to be living and breathing automatons whose role is simply to toil and provide, come what may).

Whilst this situation affects all of us, male and female, we may respond to this quite differently according to our sex, personality, culture or upbringing. I am a man and consider myself to be reasonably in tune with how I feel both emotionally and physically, and if I am feeling overwrought, I generally recognise this and look at possible reasons and causes and ways in which I can respond to this. However, this wasn't always the case, and I have probably learned this through experience and through having reached the ripe age of 54, though there is still room for improvement.

Everyone is different of course, and what might be the case for one person is almost certainly going to be different for another. But (I am inevitably going to generalise here), one thing I have become increasingly aware of is that many men, whether of a similar age or younger or older than me, are not able to easily shed that outer skin we so often wear and look at what is within. For this reason, men often suffer the effects of stress without ever really recognising it as that, until they become sick and then have to face their situation head-on.

I witnessed this recently in a conversation with someone I met in the course of my work. The person in question (a man, incidentally!) wanted some advice as he was having trouble sleeping, or more precisely with sleeping too long and then feeling utterly tired and lacking energy the following day. I asked him how long this had been the case and he told me it had been this way for some time. It turned out he worked as a prison officer. He felt he handled stress reasonably well, and was baffled as to why he felt like he did each and every day. When I asked him about his diet, he told me that he ate meat….lots of it. His typical meal of choice would revolve around meat and chips most days and very little in the way of vegetables or fruit.By this time, of course, I was able to build a picture which indicated the likely causes of his tiredness and lack of energy. He was working in probably one of the most stressful jobs on the planet and was almost certainly not consuming anywhere near enough of the necessary amount of nutrients required for most people to function properly. My guess is that this man was suffering from adrenal fatigue and that his body was trying to repair itself by going into sleep mode, only to be subjected to the same recurring pattern day after day.

Whatever the reasons or cause in this example, I believe this is fairly symptomatic of a general malaise in our society, especially amongst the male population. We live our lives in a way which puts our bodies and our minds under constant strain, subjecting us to repeated onslaughts of the fight or flight hormones which are released when we perceive a threat (no longer a wild animal, but something much more banal and less life-endangering!). When this becomes habitual, we are inevitably going to suffer the effects and this is when we begin to suffer from chronic stress, anxiety and possibly depression, as well as a whole range of potential physical conditions.

What if we were to recognise this and act on it earlier? Why do we constantly choose to ignore these signs and symptoms and only then act when we have begun to suffer in some way?

Perhaps this is what it is to be human in today’s world. We have lost sight of what it means to live well and in synergy with its natural rhythms. Instead, the real world has been concealed behind layers of technology and padding. We feel this is progress, but is it really? Haven’t we lost something special and spectacular, namely to be the best possible version of ourselves?

So, how can we do things differently? Where do we start? Perhaps, for men in particular, the simple answer is to stop hiding behind our macho pride and to acknowledge our intrinsic value, that we are worth taking care of, and to be able and willing to recognise what is at stake.

It undoubtedly takes courage to do this, but the benefits we stand to reap for ourselves and for those who love us make it worth the while..

Something in the Air

Something in the Air

Call out the instigators
Because there's something in the air
We've got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution's here, and you know it's right
And you know that it's right.

Songwriters: John Keen

Something in the Air lyrics © T.R.O. Inc., Abkco Music, Inc, Spirit Music Group

The lyrics to this well-known song resonated with me when I decided to write this blog about the increasingly noxious air that we are forced to breathe today across our land. The urge in the song ‘to get together sooner or later’ is if anything too tame for me, as I believe we need to act now, today, each and every one of us, if we are to avoid millions of premature deaths caused by air pollution.

This problem is not a recent one, it has plagued society since the wheels of the industrial revolution started to turn, but it remains a major challenge to the health of all of us thanks to the way we live today. There is a good deal we can do both individually and collectively, but it seems that as with many things, we wait until it is too pressing to ignore before we commit to any action.

One of the chief causes of the current air crisis is the pollution caused by traffic on our roads. This has worsened each and every year as the level of vehicle ownership has increased. There are simply more cars than ever on the roads, and not just in this country but across the world as economies prosper and people become more affluent.

I recently heard some alarming statistics about Malta, a small archipelago in the Mediterranean. A staggering 329,053 motor vehicles are currently licensed in Malta, 58,000 more than were licensed ten years ago. 252,000 of these are passenger vehicles, so with a population of 431,000, there is a car for well over half of the population! In the UK, it’s a little less than half of the population with 456 cars per 1000 people (Source: Index Mundi Get the data).

From an environmental standpoint, the picture is not great. There are still only relatively few hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and battery-operated vehicles on our roads compared to standard petrol and diesel cars. As we now know, diesel engines cause significant pollution compared to other engine types owing to the particulates in their emissions. Whilst we know this, there has still been no specific course of action set out to deal with this. One of the reasons for this is surely the powerful car manufacturing and dealer lobby which has an obvious vested interest in this.

 So, faced with this reality, what can we do individually to steer things in a different direction?

One way we can effect change is to make different choices. Whether we run a car or not, how often and for what purpose is down to choice. If it had been suggested to me 2 years ago that I would now be living without a car, I would have been very dubious and would have invented all sorts of reasons as to why I needed a car. Nevertheless, it is now more than a year since I took the decision to sell my car and opted instead for trains, trams, my bike and most frequently my own two feet instead. The decision has been unimaginably liberating, more than I could ever have imagined. The stress levels I used to suffer when stuck in traffic have been replaced by a sense of freedom and satisfaction in the knowledge that I am doing something that is kinder to me and to the environment. It’s difficult to suffer from road rage when you’re sitting on a train or walking along a footpath, unless of course you get soaked by an inconsiderate driver ploughing through a puddle as it passes by!

Another change I have noticed, and perhaps the one for which I am most grateful, is the fact I have become more aware of what is around me. On a walk, it may be the simple beauty of a tree or bird song, or the sight of green fields stretching to the horizon under an azure sky (ok, let’s get real, grey sky!). It is also the conversations and focus you are able to bring to bear when you are unencumbered by other distractions.

I do not intend or wish to demonise cars or those that use them, that would be needlessly hypocritical as I do occasionally borrow or rent a car where circumstances dictate. My main reason for writing this blog is to say earnestly that I think we can change things for the better if we are willing to make different choices and become more conscious of the sometimes negative impact our everyday choices can have on others and on our beautiful world.

So, if you are the driver of a car, perhaps give it some thought the next time you are planning a journey to the shops; is it really necessary to use the car or could you walk or cycle instead? If you need to travel further afield, might it be possible to take the train? When you’re waiting at the roadside or in a supermarket car park, is it really necessary to leave the engine idling? Yes, actually, why is that?? I used to do it, I’m not even sure why, I guess I wasn’t really aware of it, it seemed like just one more thing to do and it interrupted my concentration on something more enticing like my phone. I’ve now noticed it happens everywhere, every day….so perhaps this is one of the small, easy things everyone could do to make our air just a little cleaner, so how about giving it a try?  

The Art of Eating Well

These days it seems we are constantly bombarded, through our national and local media, with stark reminders of the dangers linked to our modern lifestyles. The toll which our cravings and attachments to pleasure is taking appears to be growing ever larger, such that a not insignificant percentage of the population of this country is likely to suffer from one or more of the following conditions, which we commonly term as ‘lifestyle diseases’ :  obesity; diabetes; high blood pressure – and many of us are at risk of succumbing to the often fatal consequences of these diseases if they are left unchecked.

Possibly as a result of the warnings, a good many of us take action in a desire to intervene before things get out of hand and spiral completely out of control. New Year is a time when we typically experience a powerful urge to rebalance our minds and bodies and to renew. This urge is franked in the form of a New Year’s Resolution and so it is that once we have bid farewell to the Christmas season and its excesses, we embark on a journey to ‘put things right’ and undo the damage we have inflicted on ourselves.

We set off with the best of intentions. How many of us start by following a strict calorie-controlled diet, or take out a subscription to the gym?  Sadly, and perhaps inevitably, it is not long before our noble intentions founder and we revert to our former behaviours. The cravings that are borne out of a need to reward ourselves gain the upper hand and we jettison the diet plan. The gym loses its appeal and we convince ourselves that at least we gave it a try. We forget our original motivation for setting out on this journey because, after all, there’s always next year…..

This moreorless happened to me, every year for 20 or more years. For a good part of my adult life (I am now 53), I was overweight, substantially overweight. I tried many diets during that time, and whilst I did succeed in losing some weight, this was invariably short-lived as the diet was not sustainable for me; it was either prohibitive and left me feeling hungry, or it was simply boring and lacked any degree of excitement. I also exercised regularly and went to the gym, convinced this would help me to burn off the excess calories I was eating. Again, this made me feel better, but it didn’t enable me to lose weight. It rarely does of its own accord.

What I now know, profoundly, is that this was the wrong approach, that our systems are much more complex than that.

I now know it is not just about how much we eat, how many calories we consume, but what and how we eat that makes the difference. The reason I know this is that I am a direct beneficiary of a simple and easy-to-follow approach which is open to anyone anywhere so long as they are willing to embrace it. It involves eating food that is primarily raw and plant-based, not processed or refined, and preferably organic. It doesn’t involve a 'diet plan' nor does it require counting calories.

It incorporates all the food groups including fats, carbohydrates, proteins and fibre. Last but not least, it is never boring; on the contrary, it is exciting, vibrant and satisfying. It is a way of eating which, instead of regarding food as the enemy, rejoices in food and in the act of eating. It makes ‘healthy food’ pleasurable. It is eating a ‘Mediterranean Diet’ with a twist.

Since 2009, I have lost 7 stone and have come off blood pressure medication, as my levels normalised. This was a wholly unexpected bonus for me, having taken the medication for 20 years. I also no longer take statins as my cholesterol level is well within the acceptable range.

I have loved every minute of this way of eating and it has added a more vivid colour to the tapestry of my life, to the point where I, together with my wife Annette, am excited to now share our experience and knowledge with anyone who is feeling ‘stuck’ and doesn’t know which way to turn, who is fearful of what may happen because they are suffering from a condition that they feel is irreversible or for which they feel they lack the energy to face without the support of medication.

Both of us recognise that many people have mind blocks which can become obstacles to improving our life situation. The key to resolving and removing these blocks is the ability to become more aware and to recognise that our minds, whilst being the incredible tools they are, can sometimes hamper our progress.

The reason for our excitement is that it doesn’t have to be this way if we are willing to embrace change, to accept our situation and be more compassionate with ourselves and think what we might be able to do differently. If we can do this, we can heal ourselves, and that feels rather special! Our Art of Calm Detoxing For Healthy Weight Loss Programme is designed to help anyone interested in embarking on this journey.

Breaking Free

In the course of my work, I encounter many people who suffer from what we might term a modern lifestyle disease, or condition, including one or more of the following : diabetes; high blood pressure; insomnia; anxiety & panic attacks; joint & muscle pain; fatigue.

I myself have suffered from a few of these, including high blood pressure and anxiety, for which I took medication for 20 years. Initially, I was prescribed a beta blocker called Atenolol by a doctor while I was living in The Netherlands in the 1990’s. He felt the drug would help with my anxiety by its action on adrenaline, effectively mediating the ‘fight or flight’ response in my body. The same doctor, who I respected and who I’m convinced had my best interests at heart, also encouraged me to take a drug, little-known at the time called Seroxat, which he felt might help with the panic attacks. Seroxat is an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) which at the time was being increasingly prescribed as an antidepressant and mood-enhancer. After speaking to my mother about this (she was concerned about me taking a drug in case I became reliant on this), I declined. In retrospect, I am especially pleased to have heeded my mother’s advice owing to the now widely-known controversy surrounding this drug. I agreed to take the beta-blocker though (I continued to take this for more than 10 years before changing to an other drug to control my blood pressure, this time an ACE Inhibitor called Lisinopril).

Looking back, I realise that at the time, I felt I was somehow responsible for my condition, that I was to blame, and that I needed help from outside, and this was in the form of medication. The hypochondriac in me was convinced there was something wrong with me, that I was ‘broken’ and I needed to be ‘fixed’.  Admittedly, I was overweight, substantially overweight. I exercised regularly and worked out in the gym, convinced this would help me to burn off the excess calories I was eating. Sadly, this was the wrong approach, our systems are much more complex than that.

I now know it is not how much we eat, how many calories we eat, but what and how we eat that makes the difference. In my previous blog I described my journey and how I was able to lose weight through a different approach to eating, and how I was able to come off all my medication. Therefore, for me, food did become my medicine, perhaps Hippocrates would have been proud of me. I should also add it was by no means an overnight fix, it took a number of years, but at no time did it feel that I was having to endure or put up with a way of living that lacked fun or enjoyment – on the contrary, I have loved every minute of it and it has added a more vibrant colour to the tapestry of my life, to the point where I and my wife Annette are sharing our love of raw natural food with others as part of our day-to-day business.

So, this is why I am so excited to share this experience and knowledge with everyone I meet who is feeling ‘stuck’ and doesn’t know which way to turn, who is fearful of what may happen because they are suffering from a condition that they feel is irreversible or for which they feel they lack the energy to face without the support of medication.

The reason for my excitement is that it doesn’t have to be this way if we are willing to embrace change, to accept our situation and be more compassionate with ourselves and think what we might be able to do differently. If we can do this, we can heal ourselves, and that feels rather special! 

Surviving & Thriving in a Land Of Plenty

Recently, a programme aired on TV called "Make My Body Better" presented by Davina McCall. 

The particular episode which was the catalyst for this blog, was concerned with James, a 27 year old man from Liverpool who weighed 32 stone and was described as 'super morbidly obese', a body state which can be life-threatening. 

James came across as a very pleasant and upbeat young man who had simply begun to overeat at a young age and had continued to do so into adulthood. The images of pizza, chips and fried chicken which the camera flashed up repeatedly gave a clear indication of the types of food favoured by James. In a moment of insight a few minutes into the programme, James admitted that he needed to start to view food as fuel rather than a means to provide comfort (a point I understand, though I would also suggest food should be enjoyed for its own sake and perceived as more than simply fuel).

James's condition was deemed to be so life-threatening that an eminent obesity specialist recommended that James underwent bariatric surgery to reduce the size of his stomach so that he would only be able to eat small amounts in future. In order to allow the procedure to go ahead, James needed to lose 2 stone. James succeeded in doing so, and his journey up to and after the surgery was compelling viewing. He showed a resolve and commitment that was inspirational and a credit to this likeable young man. By the end of the programme, James had trained to become a jockey, ridden a Shire horse in a race at Lingfield Park alongside professional jockeys (up to this point in his life, he had never even sat on a horse before!), and had lost more than half his body weight, all within a period of less than a year. The final credits at the end of the programme flashed up a caption so say that he was now 14 stone 5 pounds and was training for a triathlon!

This programme threw up a number of interesting issues and questions for me as I'm sure it did for a lot of viewers. One of these is why so many of us repeatedly engage in activities or actions that result in a less than favourable outcome which threaten our health and welfare, and yet we continue to do this. Similar to smoking, excessive alcohol-intake, or gambling for instance, overeating and poor diet is one of those activities that is affecting more and more inhabitants of the Western World and in many cases, we are aware that it is doing us potential harm, yet we are seemingly unable to veer from our habits. In James's case, it appears that 'comfort' was a key reason. In the programme, we met his mother but there was no mention of his father. Our assumption was that this was a figure which was missing from James's life. Was his mother's moving assertion that James was so special to her because bringing him into the world had 'taught her how to love someone' a clue?

Whatever the reasons and causes of the obesity, the programme was enlightening in many ways. It reminded me of my own situation as someone who had battled against obesity for a large part of my life and had failed to find an antidote until a life-changing event turned things on its head.

The life-changing event was not an accident or illness, nor was it winning the lottery. It was meeting a wonderful, intelligent woman called Annette who is now my wife. Seven years ago, we got back in touch after many years, having originally met as students while spending a year abroad in Germany in 1983. In 2009, when we met up again, it was clear that both of us had changed quite a lot but one thing we had in common was our need to be loved and find our soulmate. Something clicked and after a short time we got engaged and got married in 2011. Eating healthy foods has been a central theme in our lives and I have learned a massive amount from Annette, who was able to overcome a chronic condition through eating food that is primarily plant-based, organic and unprocessed. I adopted this approach to eating and without following a 'diet plan' or feeling the need to count calories, I have lost 7 stone since 2009 and now weigh marginally less than 11 stone. I have come off blood pressure medication which I had been taking for 20 years and I have also come off statins, and maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

I often think about my reasons for overeating earlier in my life, but I can't pinpoint one specific reason. I have never thought about myself as being unhappy and needing comfort, though I was unhappy about my weight and tried many diets, all of which were to end in failure. That alone led to eating more, almost in a  'oh, what the heck, I'm just made this way so I might as well enjoy it' kind of sense. Perhaps I was just looking for a solution in the wrong place. What I do know now is that being overweight is not something we have to endure if we are willing to try to venture out and adopt a different approach to how and what we eat, one which doesn't have to be prohibitive and boring, and which can actually revolve around tasty and vibrant foods that are not processed, mand-made or out of a packet.

Annette and I are passionate about what we eat and how exciting the food can be and this is why we like to share our passion for food with others who are ready to experiment!