How to start

At this stage it is important to access what you would like to achieve and where you fit in. In other words, what is your stage of health? Use the list below to guide you.

I can help you with this if you are struggling, click here. The reason for this self assessment is the degree to which you will need to change your habits and the urgency for doing it.

How do I optimise my mind and body health?
How do I cope with or avoid illness?
How do I lose or maintain weight?
How do I manage stress and achieve emotional balance?

Depending on where you are in Point Three above you will replace certain foods or cut them out. I have made some suggestions in the table below, but as every person has a different body and mind, it is only a guide and you might need more input.

How do I optimise my mind and body health?
At this stage you are healthy but are looking to improve your knowledge, stay up to date with the scientific evidence, replace certain foods with healthier options, add supplements and other forms of expression (eg. art, music) and experiment with your exercise routine. You also want to read about product reviews and case studies.

How do I cope with or avoid illness?
You are wanting to cut out foods that are harmful to your condition and introduce food to improve your immune and digestive systems. If you have an illness you will need specific dietary information and support to build up your confidence and body.

How do I lose or maintain weight?
Your focus will be on losing weight, but not through traditional fad dieting. If you fit into this group of then you will be updating your knowledge on dieting, gut and immunity. Maintaining a desired weight is a key objective for all of us and a deep understanding will make it easier to maintain your weight.

How do I manage stress and achieve emotional balance?
Everybody experiences stress at any age – some consciously and others not. In this stage, you will want to control your thoughts, reduce stress and control your emotions that lead to illness and weakening your immune system. This can range from simple meditative thoughts to deeper relaxation responses.

It all starts with your shopping basket. There are foods and supplements that you need to reduce, replace or remove. Once you have decided where you fit in, the Live Whole short blogs will show you how with useful suggestions based on experience and research. There will be Blogs on replacing all sorts of products with healthier options from sauces to sausages. The natural organic options will always be favoured, but with budget constraints there are some foods that are healthy if they organic and others where it doesn’t matter as much. Food suggestions will focus on reducing your intake of pesticides, insecticides, corn, soy and hormones which can cause havoc with your own digestive juices and immune system. In stage one you can take your time and exchange a product per week or per month, in Stage Two I suggest you detox first and exchange as many products as possible quickly.

The recipes, books and resources I suggest are to help you navigate this section. It is a good idea to make sure that you have some ready made up meals and have quick recipes to hand for those long days in the office. I don’t suggest fruit smoothies, because of the sugar content, but now and then green veggie juices can replace a meal if you are on the run. Sometimes cooking a big pot of beans and freezing it for a second meal is great, this way you can just microwave or sauté some green vegetables.

Are you getting too much or too little exercise? Also address the reasons for exercising – exercise doesn’t make you lose weight, but it does tone, firm and build strength. Be realistic about your goals, the harder you train the more you eat – be mindful of the cycle. The blogs on exercise will have some useful ideas depending on the stage of life and fitness goals you have.

Thought precedes emotion.

Learning to adjust your thoughts will help control the way you feel. Sometimes I have to do this repeatedly in order to change the negative loop in my thoughts. This is an exciting part of your Live Whole journey, because it is the way to take charge of your body and life. The Blogs will show you how to take a thought, think about the beliefs that led to that and adjust it. Being aware of your stress and anger triggers are helpful to calm your racing heartbeat and prevent a panic attack. Have a look at your bucket and note what are those thoughts and things in your life that are taking out of your bucket and remove them.

Your purpose in life is unique and sometimes we compare ourselves to where others are in their mind-body, careers, relationships goals and forget this. Identifying your purpose is a major step and for many it changes with age and stages of life. I find that prayer helps me discover my purpose and meditation helps to put it into place with some silence and deep thought. But meditation does even more than that, it allows the brain to relax and taps into a relaxation response rather than a fight or flight response. Look out for the meditation or the ‘relax and adjust’ video.