WEEK 8 - RECALIBRATE...If you know your sensitivities, feel free to omit those foods from the meal plan. If you try any of the foods and you suspect that it’s not agreeing with your

CONTENTS

1. WEEK 8 CHECKLIST...........................................................................................2

2. REINTRODUCING WHITE RICE & CREAM................................................5

3. EXPERT Q&A – DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY..............................................9

4. THE WHY’S & HOW’S OF DECLUTTERING...........................................14

5. SETTING UP A MORNING ROUTINE..........................................................17

6. LIFE HACKS FOR TIME MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIVITY.............20

7. HEALTHY BAKING GUIDE.............................................................................22

WEEK 8 - RECALIBRATE

www.happybodyformula.com

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WEEK 8 - RECALIBRATEWow, only two more weeks to go! We’re a little sad, to be honest, but we know this is only the beginning of your health and wellness journey, and hopefully we’re getting you equipped with the right knowledge and tools to continue going forward.

As part of our Recalibration phase, we are introducing two new foods this week – white rice and cream. Please read more about these foods in the next article and check out more de-tails in the meal plan for this week. Keep monitoring your reactions and any unwanted symp-toms this week and please avoid the foods that you are definitely reacting to.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy is this week’s other focus. We’re talking self-love, dealing with doubts and negative thoughts, building your confidence, setting goals, decluttering your life and be-coming more productive. It’s about those little things and worries that prohibit us from being truly content and happy.

Don’t lose focus now! Let’s get this week started.If you need a reminder about the Recalibration phase and what we’re reintroducing and when, check out your one page cheat sheet, and make sure you have read our recalibration Q&A with Claire Yates from last week.

Week 8 Reintroductions During Week 8 we are going to introduce two foods – white rice and double cream (high-fat dairy). We’re only adding small amounts of these foods, which is how they should be integrated in your eating plan going forward, provided you don’t have any reactions.

The key to enjoying a little white rice and cream is all in the pairing.

If you know your sensitivities, feel free to omit those foods from the meal plan. If you try any of the foods and you suspect that it’s not agreeing with your body, you can remove it going for-ward.

https://happybodyformula.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/9-Week-Food-Cheat-Sheet.pdf

https://happybodyformula.com/expert-qa-recalibration-basics-with-claire-yates/

https://happybodyformula.com/expert-qa-recalibration-basics-with-claire-yates/


This week’s focus: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Follow our declutter checklistThis week you will learn how and why to declutter your life. Read our top tips post and follow our Daily To-Do checklist. Your Monday’s declutter task is sort out that pile of papers. You know which one! All those unopened letters, bank statements, receipts and old magazines sitting on the coffee table. Take 15 minutes to go through the pile, throw away what you clearly don’t need (be ruthless) and file or take a digital photo of what you need to keep.

Set up and follow a morning routineAlready have a routine? Good for you! If you lack focus or feel frazzled as you begin the day, it might be time to set up a new morning routine. Studies show that having a healthy, individualised morning routine helps you be more productive through the day. The more productive we are, the more confident and happy we feel. They key is to avoid stress and overworking and instead achieve more productivity by starting the day right. Learn more about the morning routines later in this eBook.

Keep a gratitude journal this weekAs part of learning about and practicing more conscious gratitude, we are asking you to keep a daily journal and to write down 3 things you are grateful for at the end of each day. It can be something as simple as feeling good or having great friends, or thank-ing that amazing avocado for making your smoothie extra rocking!

Make someone feel good every dayYou daily goal this week is to make at least one person feel good about themselves. Why? Because when you do, you feel good about yourself. This is the simplest technique to create positive energy. Give someone a compliment, tell your colleague they’re good at what they do, send a joke, or share your lunch.


Read Week 8 material

Reintroduce white rice

Reintroduce cream

Stick to 2 units of alcohol

Do a little exercise every day

Follow our declutter checklist

Meditate at least twice this week

Shopping for Week 9

Meal prep for Week 9

YOUR WEEK 8 GOALS

Follow your morning routine

Stick to eating guidelines

Write 3 things you’re grateful for today

Make someone feel good today

Sort out that pile of papers

Declutter your email inbox (check out an online tool called Unroll)

Throw away expired goods

Declutter Facebook

Clean out your wardrobe

SOME OF YOUR DAILY TO-DO ITEMS

REMEMBER TO KEEP ACTIVE

How active have you been for the last few weeks? Remember, we ask you to exercise for 20 minutes every day for the duration of the program. That’s it! You get to alternate be-tween flexibility, cardio and strength workouts custom designed by our fitness expert or you can pick your own activities.


REINTRODUCING WHITE RICE & CREAMLet’s talk about our reintroductions this week. We’re going to be including some white rice and full-fat cream. Remember, these foods are meant to make up small por-tions of your meal while using them. They are tasty additions to a balanced diet, but we recommend that you follow our serving suggestions from here on out for the best results.

Why do we avoid grains in the first place?• Grains, especially refined grains, are high in carbohydrates. Over-consumption of

carbohydrates can lead to insulin resistance, various metabolic dysfunctions, and weight gain. I must point out, again, that a healthy diet is not about cutting out car-bohydrates completely, but instead it focuses on moderate-to-lower consumption and on getting them from more nutrient-dense sources like veggies and fruit.

• Grains, and legumes, contain a variety of toxins and gut irritants (also referred to as anti-nutrients) that can compromise the integrity of our gut lining and gut health in general (aka lectins), prevent certain nutrients from being absorbed by the body (aka phytates or phytic acid), and inhibit the production of certain enzymes that we need to digest the protein in the food we eat (aka trypsin inhibitors).

• On top of that, grains contain little nutrition, when compared to meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruit.

Why white rice?

You may have heard that brown rice is superior when it comes to clean eating. It’s a choice food for plant-based dieters, bodybuilders, and the health-conscious commu-nity in general. Brown rice isn’t all bad, but we’re talking white. You know, the inferior rice. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. White rice ain’t so bad.


Here’s the deal with this “safe starch.”

• Lower in phytic acid. Because the bran is removed, so is the high phytic acid con-tent found in brown rice. This also gives white rice its colour.

• Higher digestibility. Because there’s almost no phytic acid, the rice is more easily digested by the body as it doesn’t contain much as much grain-based fibre as brown rice.

• Less arsenic. Brown rice has a higher arsenic content (yikes!) because it’s often found in the bran of the grain.

• Naturally gluten-free. All rice varieties are naturally gluten-free, so it’s easier to incorporate rice into a diet than whole wheat products.

• Historically healthy. Countries with high white rice consumption (Thailand, Bangla-desh, Indonesia) have very low rates of diabetes.

• Easy source of glucose. Athletes, women, and carb-lovers can rejoice. This is a safe way to get your daily dose of starch or glucose – what the body runs on – and a great meal for post-workout glycogen restoration.

• Less fibrous. Dietary fibre is a good thing, but we don’t need to supplement with grains like brown rice. A real food diet rich in fruit and veggies provides plenty of fibre without digestive distress.


Our tips for including white rice• Consider your goals and current health when deciding to include white rice in your

diet. Ask yourself these questions. Do I have a healthy metabolism? Am I trying to lose weight? Am I lean and active? Then work out if you should eat rice AND how much.

• Pre-soak the rice in some salted water for at least 2 hours before cooking (4-6 hours is ideal), rinse well under cold water and then cook as usual. This will help to remove any remaining toxins.

• Use rice as a carrier for nutrient-dense foods rather than the main portion of your meal. For example, it can be a vehicle for healthy oily fish in sushi, you can serve rice noodles cooked in nutritious bone broth with beef and vegetables like in a Vietnam-ese Pho, or it can be stir-fried with prawns and lots of crunchy veggies or served as a little side with turmeric and coconut oil.

• Consider what oil the rice is cooked in when eating out and maybe avoid fried rice and opt for steamed instead.

• Add protein, vegetables and fat to rice to reduce the glycemic index of the overall meal.

• Some people can be allergic to rice so obviously it should be avoided.

• Wild rice, although more nutritious then white rice, is more similar to brown rice and would need to be soaked, sprouted or fermented, and cooked to partially break down some of the present anti-nutrients.

• Different varieties of rice have a varying glycemic index. Basmati rice is considered to have the lower GI (43-65), compared to other types.

• Our favourite ways to enjoy rice – with oily fish (sushi, kedgeree, fish rice cakes), broth soups with rice noodles, rice paper rolls.


Let’s talk about cream…

High-fat foods, such as double cream, should ideally be served alongside protein and lower carbohydrate fruit and vegeta-bles. Remember that if you give your body both fats and carbohydrates, it will use the glucose first before utilising the energy from the fats. If you’re having a vegeta-ble-based dish and would like to increase the caloric value for extra satiation, add some extra fats – like we did with our hearty mushroom stew this week.

Why full-fat dairy is healthy

Surely, we’re all over the fear of fat that boomed in the 90’s. Fat is back in style, and we kinda sorta like it. Full-fat dairy is a flavour bomb adding consistency and creaminess to everything from soup to dessert. Whipped cream anyone?

• It’s satiating. Feeling hungry between meals is no good, and having enough fat is vital. Adding some cream to meals can be just the boost you need.

• It’s nutrient-dense. All creams made from milk contain vitamin A, calcium, and ribo-flavin to name a few.

• More digestible. High-fat dairy is just that – it’s fatty! Considering most of the carbo-hydrates and proteins are removed, so are the common allergens (casein and lac-tose).

• Stabilises blood sugar. One study linked consumption of heavy cream to a lessened risk of diabetes. Even if you’re not at risk, it can help keep your blood glucose stable.

• Conjugated linoleic acid. CLA, which we talked about while reintroducing dairy, can be found in full-fat milk products. It can help enhance fat loss and is thought to fight cancer.

• Heart disease prevention. A 16-year long study of women who ate full-fat dairy reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Convincing stuff, eh? While reintroducing dairy products, we’ve chosen the types of dairy which are least likely to cause adverse reactions. Again, high-fat dairy is gen-erally low in the most common allergens, casein and lactose, because of its high-fat content. Like fermented dairy, these are often incorporated into a healthy person’s diet without many issues. Those looking to heal autoimmune disease or individuals with severe allergies or sensitivities should avoid dairy altogether.


EXPERT Q&A – DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY

Amy Crawford is the creator of wellness hub The Holistic Ingredient, CTC Master Therapist, recipe book author and holistic business coach. She is passionate about health and wellness and helps people to overcome their fears and doubts in order to achieve their full potential and to feel amazing about themselves – making Amy the perfect expert contributor for this week.

At HBF we believe that most people don’t know how amazing they can actually feel and our goal is to get people to feel better not just physically but also emotionally. You specialise in a Combined Therapy Cocktail (CTC), which addresses many factors that are holding people back from feeling amazing. What is CTC?

You’re quite right, most people don’t have any idea how good they can feel and, from my perspective, it’s typically rooted in lifelong patterns of behaviour stemming from childhood.

CTC is a life-transformational 2 hour session (held face to face or via Skype), including 6-8 different processes combined in such a way as to free a client from every single thing that is holding them back from feeling amazing. It’s a mind, body and spirit pro-cess including hypnosis, emotional freedom technique (EFT), neuro-linguistic program-ming (NLP) and Reiki.

What we do in this therapy is find the root cause of ALL of a client’s negative emotions. We don’t treat the symptom – we find the root cause which created a negative feeling, fear, limiting belief, illness, addiction, insecurity, trust issue, anything at all, and then manifested over the years. Upon discovery, that root cause is cleared and the client finishes the session feeling hugely empowered and free of everything they walked in with. It’s absolutely extraordinary.

Can dissatisfactions in different areas of our lives have an impact on our physical well being? (E.g. our jobs, relationships)

Unquestionably! Limiting beliefs, negative emotions, fears of the future, issues from the past, stress – all of these things will impact our energy and therefore our well be-ing. The thoughts we choose to have on a daily basis will create either an alkaline or acidic reaction in our body. If we choose to sit in stress and overwhelm or negativity and fear for example, we will make ourselves physically sick.


We have to recognise that we are the power; we get to choose how we think and feel every minute of the day. No one can take that away from us, we simply need to learn to make better, more empowered choices.

Why do people find it so difficult to change things that aren’t working for them or that make them dissatisfied?Because so many of us are carrying around lifelong patterns of behaviour, limiting beliefs that were created when we were children – patterns of behaviour that have be-come so ingrained, we have difficulty making the right choices. So many feel stuck or blocked, and more often than not this is because they don’t feel good enough. This feeling of not being good enough creates self-doubt, a fear of failure, a fear of judge-ment, amongst a whole host of other issues. As adults we get caught up in our minds and lose connection with our heart, we lose that sense of trust. Once we let go of all of this stuff holding us back we can move forward and finally live the life we dream of.

What are some of the worst mental habits that negatively impact our overall well being? (E.g. negative self-talk, irrational fears, etc).Unquestionably, one of the worst habits is the amount of time we spend thinking about what we don’t want, instead of what we do want. Everything we think, say or feel becomes our reality – our minds are so very powerful.

For instance, if you believe you can’t stick to a healthy eating plan, you won’t. If you believe that every time you start losing weight something happens to trigger a fall off the wagon, you will fall off that wagon. If you believe and tell others that you are not motivated, that you wake up tired every day for example, these things will become your truth.

In my practise, what I do is clear these beliefs and teach people to start manifesting the life they DO want. If we have the power to manifest all the stuff we don’t want, we surely have the power to manifest the stuff we do want.


What can we do to change some of the negative habits into positive ones?

Simply change your thoughts and start making better, more empowered choices that will then positively affect your life. We have to take responsibility for the choices we make – we have to be ready to choose different thoughts and therefore change old patterns of behaviour.

Rephrasing negative thought patterns is absolutely vital. For instance, saying “I will lose weight” or “I will be happy one day” is no good, nothing will happen. We must learn to think in present tense, “I lose weight effortlessly and easily”, “I am happy, life is wonderful”, “I fall asleep easily and wake feeling refreshed and calm every day”. Again, every thing you think, say or feel becomes your reality.

What does happiness mean to you and is it possible for anyone to achieve it and maintain it?

Finding moments of joy in any given moment, appreciating the simple things in life, understanding how blessed we are to have all that we do have. I don’t think happiness is something to be chased; it’s more an appreciation for what we have in the here and now. Too many are on a constant quest, believing that when they lose weight they’ll be happy, when they find true love they’ll be happy. Happiness is within us right now; we simply need to learn to appreciate what we have here and now.

It’s important that we understand that life is a journey; it’ll never be smooth sailing. We’ll have moments of joy and moments of despair but it’s the knowledge that our greatest learning comes from the challenges we face that can help put things into per-spective.

Let’s talk about fear. It holds many people back from achieving their goals, following their dreams, and trying new things – and ultimately preventing us from feeling really happy or content with ourselves. What are the most common fears and how do we deal with them or rather can we make them work for us?

The fear of failure, a fear of what others think, a fear of not succeeding, a fear of speaking our truth, of not having enough – these are all very common fears in my


practise. In my view, our greatest fears stem from that feeling of not being good enough. If we felt good enough, we wouldn’t care what others thought, we wouldn’t fear failure, we wouldn’t allow ourselves to sit in dissatisfying jobs and relationships. I don’t believe we can be entirely devoid of fear; however, we need to recognise where it stems from and not let it take over, to allow it to take the front seat.

At the end of the day, we can only be who we are. We need to learn to live our truth, speak our truth and be our truth. We need to believe how utterly amazing we are.

What are your top tips on staying on track and seeing something through to the end?

My best tip is to keep visualising how you would love to be feeling at the end. Imagine yourself celebrating your fabulous energy, a sense of vitality, weight loss, whatever your goal is. Keep focused on the end result and let go of the need to know how you’ll get from A to B – the universe will take care of the rest.

Remember, too, that nothing has any meaning other than the meaning you give it. A setback is simply that: a setback, nothing more. Recognise it for what it is and simply get back on track.

Having a happy body is also about feeling happy in your body. What are your tips on feeling more confident and positive about our own bodies?

It’s about learning to speak to our bodies with love and kindness. I spent many years hating my body, criticising it every time I looked in the mirror or saw my reflection. The day I let go of that and learned to look at my body with a loving eye was a glorious moment.

Again, recognising that we are not perfect, that we are beautiful in our own unique and imperfect way is crucial. No one is just like us and how wonderful that is.

Stuff. We know it doesn’t make us happy. What are your thoughts on living more minimally or with less stuff?

I wrote this blog post about simplifying my life recently; it’s something I think about often. Clutter, in our physical environment (or minds for that matter), can lead to overwhelm, it burdens us, ties us down. By simplifying our lives, living more conscious-ly and consuming less I believe we become more present, more appreciative of what we have. I feel we need to focus more on building connection with others rather than building a long list of belongings.

http://www.theholisticingredient.com/blogs/wholesome-living/86400966-these-are-the-steps-im-taking-to-simplify-my-life


In Week 7 we talk about the toxic load in our lives. I often think that idea extends to people as well. Can certain people or relationships be toxic to us? What are the signs and what do we do about them?

Yes they can, though we always have a choice. People don’t drain us, we choose to give our power or energy away – we get to decide how we feel every minute of the day and no one can take that away from us. I hear this a lot in my practise, clients say-ing, “Oh I can’t be around that person, he/she just drains me!” I don’t believe this to be true. If a relationship is not serving us we will feel discomfort, dissatisfaction of some kind and in this instance it is up to us to let it go. Too often, we have difficulty trust-ing our feelings and we fight and fight to make something work when deep down, we know the right answer.

If we are unable to walk away from a relationship (let’s say it is a family member), we must learn not to lose power to people in situations that we cannot change.

And finally, what are your top 5 take away points on living a more fulfill-ing, satisfying and happier life?

• Simplify your diet. Eat whole foods as far as possible and avoid packets with num-bers on the back that you don’t understand. The food we eat has such a significant impact on our energy and mindset.

• Slow down. Learn to meditate. Create space in your mind to allow creativity to find a way in. Declutter your mind.

• Whilst I don’t believe it’s truly possible for all of us to find true work life balance (given the hours we spend at work), I do feel it’s possible to put greater focus on pursuing those things that make us feel good, that bring us joy. Look at where you expend your energy and ask yourself is it worth it? How much time do you spend at work, with your family, doing the things you love?

• Invest time and energy into building a positive mindset. Each of us has the abil-ity to manifest the life we want. What we radiate, we attract – every thought, feeling or belief becomes our reality. Be very, very aware of your thought patterns and re-member to think only about that which you do want, not about that which you don’t.

• Live consciously by showing gratitude for what you have in your life. Give to others without any expectation. Living consciously raises our vibration and invites all the great stuff in.


THE WHY’S & HOW’S OF DECLUTTERING

Let’s talk clean up. We’ve asked you to clear out the pantry in the kitchen and the medicine cabinet. We’ve asked you to take inventory of the cleaning supplies. Before you start thinking we want you to get rid of everything, we want you to remember the results! Decluttering has some serious power behind it, and living minimally can do wonders when it comes to decluttering your mind. Besides, you should know by now that stuff doesn’t make you happy; people and experiences do.

Think of your surroundings like your brain. We’re engrossed in our homes, offices, desks, closets, and cars. The space we occupy has the ability to occupy us. When those spaces are poorly organised and filled to the brim with things we simply don’t need, so are our brains.

• Less stress. Maybe it’s obvious, but you’re probably able to reduce a lot of stress just by being at home. If the house is a bit messy or cluttered, it adds additional stress from the need to clean it.

• Focus, focus, focus. If you work from home or have trouble finding time to unwind with a hobby, writing, or just meditation, clutter can distract the mind from the task at hand.

• Less clutter = less work. By decluttering, cleaning up the shelves and the closets, and getting rid of some of our things, we have less to clean. This means a lot less work for you to maintain a clutter-free home.

• Living less toxic. We went over this last week, and the rules apply here as well. Junk tends to collect dust which can genuinely make it more difficult for us to breathe. Your home should be a safe haven free from most toxins; make it one!

• Raise your credit score. If you’re digging through the stacks of papers or hoarding emails, you may be missing out on important stuff. With all the bills we owe each month, it’s easy to forget one if it’s not right in front of us. While owing money isn’t fun, having less to worry about is.

• More energy. One study found that people who lived in cluttered spaces felt more exhausted due to the mental toll messes can take on you.

• Always on time. Can’t find something? Well, if you had less of everything else, may-be the same things wouldn’t keep getting misplaced! Organising a space for those objects and clearing out the clutter that our keys are hiding out in can turn you into the friend who’s always on time.

LET’S TALK ABOUT WHY


• Make a list. Before you even set out on your journey, make a list of the most cluttered spaces in your environment – at home, at work, and online. Put them in order and prioritise.

• Follow the 12-month rule. You can even lessen it to six months if you’re re-ally determined. If you haven’t touched it, worn it, or eaten it in x amount of time, toss it.

• Go day by day. If you don’t have much to work with, set a goal to declutter by getting rid of one thing a day. You may be surprised at how many unnecessary items were taking up space.

• Talk to yourself. Ask questions. Whilst struggling to toss a dress you haven’t worn in a year, ask yourself, “How much would I pay for this now?” or “Would I still be inclined to buy this at a store?” We often overlook these things just be-cause we’re inherently attached to our belongings.

• Put your funds on freeze. When you’re decluttering, you’ll likely notice what your home is missing, too. If it’s vital, buy it. If you’re in the midst of cleaning out your closet and you decide to go on a shopping spree? Well, that sounds counter-productive, doesn’t it?

• One space at a time. This isn’t a one-day affair, so don’t try to make it one. This will lead to exhaustion and frustra-tion when what we’re after is exhilara-tion. Set asides 2-3 hours a few days a week. This week, we have one clear task at hand each day that will take you less time than that.

• DIY it up. You know all of those Pinter-est posts of savvy storage space you pinned for later? Make one! If the cabi-nets or drawers are crowded, consider a hanging device for pots and pans in the kitchen. Create space for the neces-sities.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

• Introspection. By taking some inventory of foods and clothes you’ve let sit around, you can better examine what suits you. Notice patterns in what you throw away; what gets put on the backburner? Quit bringing it into the house! Consider it an im-portant lesson learned.

Hopefully, our reasoning is convincing enough. Even the cleanest of people can afford to give the home a quick look-through and toss a few things. The hard-est part is the mental attachment. After that, you might even get a little addicted. Don’t take it too far, though!


• The “Four-Box” Method. Label boxes accordingly: Put away, give away or sell, stor-age, and trash. Voila! With this, you give yourself options. You can repeat this until you’ve reached your goal, or just do it every once in awhile to maintain a clutter-free life. stores is no good, and you’re putting that stuff in your mouth!

THIS WEEK’S OPERATION DECLUTTER CHECKLIST• Monday. Sort out that pile of papers.

You know which one. All those un-opened letters, bank statements, re-ceipts and old magazines sitting on the coffee table. Take 15 minutes to go through the pile, throw away what you clearly don’t need (be ruthless) and file or take a digital photo of what you need to keep.

• Tuesday. Declutter your email inbox. Delete or archive some old emails. Un-subscribe from newsletters you haven’t opened in 6 months. That big ol’ red number on your inbox creeping into the ten thousands has had its fifteen min-utes of fame. Let it go.

• Wednesday. Throw away expired goods. Have a look at the products in your bathroom, pantry and fridge and throw away anything that is expired or that you haven’t used in 6 months. Not all things are meant to last forever, es-pecially if it’s growing mould.

• Thursday. Declutter your desktop. Delete unwanted files and icons. Create folders to group needed files by catego-ries. Maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for next time

you want to revisit your last birthday party.

• Friday. Facebook declutter! Spend 10 minutes going through your Facebook friends list. Unfollow or unfriend anyone you would no longer want to catch up for a coffee with. Social clutter is a real thing, especially with social media.

• Saturday. Clean out your day to day bag/purse. Maybe you’ll find some loose change. Hopefully, you don’t come across any unpaid parking tickets.

• Sunday. Clean out your wardrobe. Pack away any clothes or shoes you haven’t touched for 12 months. Donate them to a local charity shop. Sell pricier pieces at a consignment store and purchase some storage for all those things with no place to go.


SETTING UP A MORNING ROUTINE

You know it by now. The early bird gets the worm. Just because you’re rising before the sun doesn’t mean your morning is running smoothly. We often wake up short on time, overwhelmed, and short on sleep. It’s in-credibly easy to get caught up before we even hit the ground, let alone hit the ground running. If your wake-up call needs a little tweaking, we’ve got the lowdown on why a morning routine is so important and how you can spend that time a little more wisely.

HOW TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON• Quit hitting snooze. It’s tough getting up when you have less than stellar sleep the

night before, during the winter months, or because the commute to work just isn’t so enticing. Makes sense. The alarm interrupts your REM cycle and the more times you doze off and wake up, the worse it gets. Give yourself a break!

• Get your vinyasa on. You don’t necessarily need to hit the hot yoga studio before work every morning, but it’s good to stretch a bit. This is especially true if you sleep and wake up in the fetal position. Studies have shown that this can put people in a grumpy mood. Move around before you even get out of bed. Take a minute or two to really stretch your body.

• Zen out a bit. Your attitude straight out of bed in the morning sets a tone for the rest of the day. Attitude changes everything. Try daily affirmations and tell yourself, “I GOT THIS.” Alternatively, you can try writing in your gratitude journal or meditation upon waking up. Ellen Degeneres is known for following up her morning workout with a 20 minute meditation. That’s probably why she dances so much.

• Chug, chug, chug. You naturally wake up dehydrated, so it only makes sense that your body is craving water. Even if you’re not thirsty, have a glass of water as soon as you wake up. It will work from the inside out, rehydrating you and giving you a natu-ral energy boost.

• Plan ahead. Like with our meals, it’s good to plan ahead of time for the morning. Lay out the outfit you’d like to wear, pack your bag, make sure lunch is good to go, and tidy up the night before. That way, you wake up without a long list of things to do.


• Hit the ground running. Maybe quite literally. If you’re having trouble waking up in the AM, a workout can give you the energy and endorphin boost you need. You can feel good and productive before you do anything else in the day which sets a great tone. First lady Michelle Obama is known for her 4:30 a.m. wake up call to work out, and it’s obvious by her awesome arms!

• Turn off emails. It seems as though work can pile up overnight. If you’re bombard-ed with emails and tasks first thing in the morning, shut ’em down for the night. That way, you can get to work when you’re ready – not when your inbox is.

WHY YOU SHOULD MAXIMISE YOUR EARLY HOURS• Most people are more productive in the morning. If you can wake up with some

enthusiasm, bank on that productivity, and keep it going throughout the day, you’re golden.

• Peace and quiet. Mornings are often the only time we can wake up to no distrac-tions, a quiet environment, and a place to ourselves. Jane Austen was known to wake up before her family so she’d have time to play piano and take on priorities before she sat down to write. Your morning routine could pen the next ‘Pride and Prejudice.’

• Organisation. Simply waking up early allows you the time and gives you the disci-pline you need to be truly organised.

• Mornings foster success. Think of it this way; people with solid morning routines are often more successful than those without. When you set up each day with that discipline and drive, you set up your whole life for the same.

• You make time. Adding just an extra hour to your day can be enough to quit mak-ing the “I don’t have time” excuse. No time to work out? Sure you do! The dishes stacking up? A few minutes in the morning means a clean sink all day. Kim Kar-dashian is known to work out, tend to the kids, eat breakfast and shower all before 9 a.m. It’s important to make time for YOU, especially when you have kids.


• Discipline in the morning = discipline all day. Gwyneth Paltrow sticks to a morning routine explaining, “It’s just sheer determination. I’m very strict with myself. When I practice six days a week and eat clean food, I feel much better.” The drive to get up and go can easily turn into motivation for eating well and exercising.

If you’re not already a morning person, think of how you feel when you get out of bed. Rushing around in the morning, waking up to a to-do list, and not having time for yourself can be detrimental, adding to our negative mentality. By habit-stacking, we can easily turn one good morning ritual into five or six which then becomes our every-day song and dance.

In this instance, little things add up. Waking up to an organised and clean home, run-ning on autopilot with minimal decisions, and getting straight to the tasks at hand sets you up for success. Oh, and you might have time to squeeze in those workouts and have some fun. Turn on some music or listen to your favourite radio shows when you get up instead of lazing around in front of the television.

Early bird gets the worm, so go and get it!


LIFE HACKS FOR TIME MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIVITY

Time management. It’s the elusive goal that we all have, yet we seldom feel as though we’re doing enough with what time we’re given.

Here’s the trick: you DON’T have to get everything done at once! Keep that in mind as you peruse our favourite life hacks for getting things done and being the most productive version of yourself.

Plan realistically

Think about your average workday. Set timers for a week to see how many hours per day you actively work. Set goals based upon your average numbers. If you con-stantly fall short of working strict 8 hour days, set a goal of 4-5 hours instead.

Take advantage of your good days

Guess what? It’s totally normal to have days where you don’t get anything done and other days you could and do work for 12 hours straight. It’s the ebb and flow of life. Instead of getting discouraged, take those rest days and pack those productive days full of goodness.

Save the best for last

In other words, tackle your least favourite tasks first. This will remove the burden of doing them later, and consequently, you can focus on the work you like better for the rest of the day. You’ll inevitably get more done efficiently by implementing this habit.

Put your perfectionist in its place

Facebook is known as one of the most successful businesses, and there are probably plenty of reasons for that. Their company motto? “Doing is better than perfect.” Doing a little or a lot is better than setting unrealistic expectations you simply won’t reach. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.

Organise your time

If you aren’t already making lists, start! Write down what you aim to do today (again, be realistic in your approach) and get it done! Maybe some things will take longer than the projected time, and at the very worst, you can carry a task over into tomorrow.


Plan for downtime

Interruptions, distractions, and being beckoned from your productive space will inevitably happen. Let it. By not feeling stressed about missing out, you eliminate half the battle. Besides, you probably deserve a short break. Time management experts often suggest planning for 50 percent of your time, leaving the rest up in the air.

Break it down piece by piece

It is almost always easier for us to break off a small piece. When you’ve got one huge project begging for your attention, break it into smaller pieces to make those tasks more attainable. Your mind can bet-ter wrap its head around something that takes less work and less time.

Delegate

What are you good at? Ideally, we’re good at everything we’re assigned to do. The re-ality of it is that we aren’t. While you may be an expert in one realm of your work, pass off things that could be done more efficiently to someone else.

Communication is key

Make sure that what you’re doing is ap-proved and nobody else is doing it. Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks suggests to “have open conversations about what is being done cross-functionally, and work with your manager to understand what he or she sees as top priority.”

Screen your emails

Leaving the email tab open all day is easy enough, but we become distracted as soon as we see a new number pop up. Fetch emails when you have time to read through them, and don’t leave unimport-ant emails unopened. Don’t forget to change the settings on your phone, too!

All in all, there are a zillion ways to man-age your time and become more pro-ductive. It only makes sense that trying to do all of these things at once is in and of itself counterproductive. Work on one thing at a time. Observe your habits and see what needs the most work. The bet-ter you know yourself, the better you’ll be able to optimise your time.


HEALTHY BAKING GUIDELiving your most balanced and healthy life means that you won’t feel deprived. While our main focus tends to be nutritious vegetable and meat dishes, we value the occasional baked treat. We even incorpo-rate them into the menu. Where there is a will, there is a way, and boy do we have will! With new products popping up and recipes being developed, we have plenty of strategies for you to indulge your sweet tooth in the healthiest way possible.

FLOUR SUBSTITUTIONS

• Almond meal. Ground up almonds (and most other nut varieties) work very well as a wheat flour substitute. It’s affordable and it can be made at home in a flash if you have a food processor handy. If you’re sensitive to almonds, you can grind just about any nut or seed and use it in the same way. The major downfall? Nuts pack a serious calorie punch! Recipes using nut flours are best reserved for special occasions and indulgences. You can sub this flour 1:1 for wheat flour, though, so it’s an easy, fool-proof alternative.

• Coconut flour. Coconut flour works a bit differently in recipes. It’s best used in com-bination with another flour substitute as it’s highly absorbent. For a cup of regular flour, you’ll only need to use 1/4-1/3 of coconut. Since it’s so absorbent, you’ll gener-ally need a lot more liquid. While baking, this usually means more eggs. The texture of the final product will likely be drier than other paleo flour substitutes. Coconut offers its “superfood” powers in flour form; it’s high in fat, protein, and fibre.

• Cassava flour. This magical flour substitute is the closest to wheat that you’ll get. Cookies, cakes, and breads will take on the most authentic texture and taste with cassava. You can generally use a 1:1 replacement in most recipes. If it calls for a cup of wheat, you can use a cup of cassava; no math or guesswork required! This flour is both nut and grain-free, so it’s friendly to those who might be allergic to nuts.

With most cookies, cakes, and muffins come flour. As we know, wheat flour is nutri-tionally inadequate and has potential to cause problems, especially in conjunction with refined oils, dairy, and refined sugar. Yikes! Fortunately, there are quite a few options when it comes to cooking without wheat.


• Tigernut flour. For probiotics to work to their full potential, you need prebiotics. Tigernut flour is great fuel for the good bacteria to thrive, so use that as your excuse to whip up a little something sweet. Despite its name, this product is nut-free since tigernuts are actually a tuber. This root has a slightly sweet and slightly nutty flavor. It contains lots of good stuff including fibre, iron and potassium. You can generally use a 1:1 ratio when adapting recipes with this flour.

• Arrowroot and tapioca starch. These are both suitable alternatives to corn starch, but these starches can also be used in conjunction with other flours to give your sweets, treats, breads, and cakes a little extra fluff. On its own, a little bit of arrow-root has the ability to transform the texture of gravies, stews, and pie fillings. As a thickener, you can use about a teaspoon per tablespoon of wheat flour in recipe ad-aptations. While using this starch in a baked recipe, you can expect a soft and chewy turnout which is best reserved for loaves of bread.

BINDERS

• Eggs. Naturally, this is the most common binder used in almost all baking recipes. Unless you are sensitive to eggs, they are the most versatile binder and will work in most recipes.

• Flaxseed meal. When you mix up flaxseed meal with water, it gels up and becomes a suitable binder packed with fibre. One tablespoon of flax meal mixed with 3 table-spoons of water can easily replace one egg.

• Chia seeds. Much like flax seeds, you can mix one tablespoon of chia with 3 table-spoons of water for an egg replacement. These seeds are highly absorbent and will gel with liquid. They are loaded with healthy omega-3’s.

• Unflavoured gelatine. When mixed with hot water, this amino-acid powerhouse can act as an egg. This is a great option for those with both sensitivities to eggs and seeds as it is a pure source of animal protein without allergens. The one tablespoon to 3 tablespoons rule applies here as well.

You’re not going to get very far with flour if you have nothing to hold it all together. Binders are step two when it comes to baking healthily.


• Applesauce or mashed banana. Looking for a way to naturally sweeten AND bind your baked goodies? Applesauce or mashed banana works. Try about 1/4 cup in place of eggs.

• Honey. The sticky stuff acts as a natural sweetener, binder, and moisturizer adding depth and flavour to any recipe.

• Nut butter. If you want to add a gooey, fudgy, nuttiness to any recipe while binding it, nut butters will work great. You can’t substitute eggs with nut butter, but you can add it to any recipe for a denser final product.

• Plantains and pumpkin puree. Adding starch to the recipe gives it some fluff and holds it all together. Using 1/3 cup of either in place of eggs will give your recipe a natural sweetness and hold.

SWEETENERIn place of white sugar, you’ll need a little something sweet. Here are a few options to keep in the pantry for an au natural approach to baking.

• Honey• Maple syrup• Blackstrap molasses• Coconut sugar• Dates• Banana or fruit• Stevia

Not so hard, huh? We have a huge variety of options in baking that stray from the norm and go against the grain quite literally. All of these ingredients contain nutrition superior to their processed and refined counterparts. Get your Betty Crocker on.

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WEEK 8 - RECALIBRATE...If you know your sensitivities, feel free to omit those foods from the meal plan. If you try any of the foods and you suspect that it’s not agreeing with your