Anyhow, my persistence seems to have paid off, because he’s agreed to do my Break Through! Signature Cleanse to address a few health niggles.

Knowing how many husbands have gone along for the Break Through! ride with their wives (and received tremendous benefit from it) probably helped! And I’ll be shepherding the poor darling through it, you know, just in case he starts coming apart at the seams given his appetite.

So join my husband (Adrian) as he journals his experience of the cleanse. Here we go……

Written by Adrian Janschek

In an effort to get on top of a few health problems, I decided – well, was ordered (also known as gently and lovingly suggested) to take on one my wife’s Break Through Program. Given I’m more partial to a ‘cleanser’ than a cleanse, as well as a self-confessed chocolate degenerate, this was always going to be an interesting endeavour.

So, to mark the end of my hedonistic lifestyle for 3 weeks and step into the chocolate-less unknown, I guzzled a couple of glasses of red and nibbled a couple if choccy drops from the baking cupboard, before later washing it down with a glass of milk.

Oh yes, I am a bad man.

Rock. And. Roll.

After a coffee and a jam donut on my first morning, I was ready to give this cleansy thingee a good old crack for the remainder of the day! I am nothing if not stoic and iron-willed …

I’m kidding!!!

The reality was that I was facing a chia pudding and a cup of Rooibos tea, a slightly different approach than normal, and yet strangely tasty! Who knew? And waiting in the fridge was my grass-fed sausage and vegetable salad. Given the fact that finding a decent meal in my part of the city is about as likely as me winning an argument at home, this was actually an upgrade … And continues to be.

The reason I’ve decided on this type of cleanse is to address some lingering issues such as persistent headaches, lack of energy generally, moodiness and feeling bloated after meals, to name a bunch. I’m a real catch, no doubt about it. I felt the cleanse was a good way to remove potential trigger foods and those foods that are known to cause problems for those with intolerances, then observe the results before reintroducing foods such as eggs, dairy, Tim Tams and James Boag etc etc in piecemeal form once it’s over. Hopefully I’ll get a good handle on whether I do have any food intolerances which we can then single out and treat. Or just avoid.

For those interested, I’ll update the results of my first week and what I’ve learned in coming days. If you don’t hear from me, I could be curled up in a corner amongst a mountain of Toblerone wrappers and remnants of assorted grains and dairy. If so, call the President. But I’m confident we won’t reach that point.

Til later …

Stay tuned for the next instalment to find out how he went on the cleanse….

Once I posted a photo of my healthy breakfast on Facebook, and very promptly received this message from a follower:

“I’m trying extremely hard to lose the baby weight after my fourth bubba. Right now I am 10 days in, eating clean, but I find I’m fighting it everyday. I am feeling better in my body but I always feel starving and that it will only be a matter of time before my mental strength fails me. I was drooling over your eggs and bacon this morning and I basically would love to know how you eat that everyday and look amazing.  Do you eat like a sparrow the rest of the day to counteract this? I’m curious and starving.”

I know exactly where this mum is at. What’s more, I receive similar messages like this regularly. As a health coach, I offered her a complimentary half hour chat to find out more. During that conversation, I learned that what she really wanted was to be able to lose weight, but not to starve herself in doing so. The thing is, most people think that deprivation is the only way to make this happen (possibly because that’s how diets are designed) and because they have set up goals based on an archaic goal-setting method, and not in a way that gives them purpose and joy (but that’s a story for another time).

But how long can this be sustained for? Sure, you will most likely lose weight on any diet you try, but only over a specific period (usually very short!). It’s unnatural, and hardly sustainable. The research shows that you will end up putting the weight back on , and then some.

During dieting we are often depriving the body of wholesome and nutritious food (your body’s fuel), which it then craves, causing binging post-diet. It’s madness, and it’s unhealthy. Placing stress on the body is the route to immune-system dysfunction and susceptibility to disease. Although in jest , this mum said herself, the hunger was making her feel a little aggressive.

What she needed was permission to let go of her clean-eating superfood diet and feed her hunger by enjoying the type of breakfast our ancestors would have eaten. Yes, the very same type of breakfast she was droolng over on my Facebook page. A delicious breakfast full of wonderful fats and protein sourced from healthy animals and farms, with carbohydrates in the form of lots of vegetables.

The point is that our diets need to be natural, nutritious and sustainable for our health to respond similarly.

The next morning after we spoke she messaged me,  and sent me these photographs:

And after less than an hour of coaching this is how she is feeling today…

“Happy, content, satisfied, calm, nourished, relaxed and peace. These are all the feelings I have this week, which are total opposites to last week. I had to share with you what life changing tools you have given me. I’m a very satisfied Mumma. I haven’t weighed myself all week and part of me is still a little scared too. But I haven’t had any cravings for 2 days and can’t believe how amazing I already feel. So thank you”

If you are struggling to lose weight, or reverse your  health issues, or simply want to know how to feed yourself in the most nutritious manner, then please take a look at my 28 day cleanse program, Break Through! To Feeling Fantastic in a Body You Love and learn which foods enrich and which foods to ditch, understand how your thinking plays a big role in your success, learn how to forgive yourself when you don’t make the best choice, stay motivated to keep on track, set yourself up for success, love yourself and your body, enjoy eating delicious, healthy foods and find all the support in the world with with this new amazing lifestyle.

Please share this blog post with anyone who you know who may be struggling with dieting and is ready to move to achieving their weight and health goals through a natural diet or are interested in moving their family to a nutritious and delicious real food way of life.

Bren x

A large part of that in modern society relates to body image – helping our little girls feel confident and worthwhile in their own skin. Women always seem to be under pressure to look their best, and quite often the ideal presented by airbrushed magazine models is potentially dangerous to how we view ourselves (and our heath). Our girls need to know the reality.

From a very young age girls are exposed to music videos, fashion magazines, Barbie dolls, advertising and TV shows that focus on appearance. The ideal image the media bombards us with is the skinny supermodel or actress, who’s image has most likely been manipulated to within an inch of it’s life. My fear is that this creates the unnecessary expectation of body image, setting them up for disappointment, low self-esteem, or even depression and eating disorders. In other words, failure by someone else’s rules.

But make no mistake, we are our little girls most important role models. They are listening when we talk about our (and other’s) bodies. They notice when we diet and how often we do so,  and this will become their reality too…

Our daughters need to know that true beauty lies within, and that they are respected and loved by their family and friends for who they are, not how they look.

My mother was very focused on her appearance, and knew that Dad liked his women skinny. I don’t recall specific negative self-talk about her body, but she seemed to be perpetually on a diet and certainly appearance was a hot topic on everyone’s lips at get-togethers. It’s a habit even amongst my own peer groups today, to the point where it’s almost a ‘conversation-padder’ like the weather. It wasn’t long before I was on the Weight Watchers bandwagon, beginning the diet merry-go-round which included diet pills at one point as appetite suppressors.

In my own home we don’t talk about our bodies in context of weight or shape. Rather, our bodies are strong, flexible or fit, and we like to explain how ‘moving our bodies’ makes us feel healthy and happy. It’s all about body function in our household, and proper nutrition and exercise takes care of that. We also don’t keep any scales, fashion magazines, watch video clips or the like around the house. However, Amercian sit coms are worryingly entering our zone, so it’s time to be vigilant!

As much as I try to protect my own daughter from this sort of exposure, this is the real world. The best I can do is to instill the values that I think will build a resilient woman who is confident and happy in herself.

Some tips:

– communication is crucial- explain how photos are manipulated, and why

– avoid emotive descriptions such as ‘fat’ or ‘thin’ and emphasise the benefits of a nutritious diet and exercise regimen for positive well being

– teach our girls to appreciate what our bodies can do, not just how they look

– focus on other factors other than appearance – effort, skill, positive personality traits and achievements

– draw attention to inspiring role models

– explain how sports and exercise clear the mind, and reduce stress and anxiety and highlight the good feelings produced after exercise and when eating a
nutritious diet

– explain how sport and recreation connects you with nature (surfing, rock climbing), or how Nippers (surf life saving) gives you confidence and skills, while connecting you to your community

Above all, I want to be a positive role model for my daughter, and I am in the best place to do it! My 8yr old knows I am passionate about healthy food and exercise, but she doesn’t even imagine it is born of wanting my body to look a certain way. She knows it’s because I want to feel a certain way – healthy!

I have worked hard throughout life on acceptance and self love, and finally in my 40’s I have not dieted in years! It’s funny in a way that the process of eating properly gives you the results that dieters search for, the difference being that one is sustainable as a way of life, and the other is temporary.

I am healthy and happy, and I hope that’s how my daughter will be, not just in her 40’s, but from today onward.

Bren x