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Vacation - reading a book
Emotions

I’m back from vacation. Calm, energised & inspired!

by Cherryl

Officially I only had 2 weeks vacation, just like so many others, when it comes to work. However it felt way longer and although I started working again four weeks ago I can still feel the holiday vibes. Lucky me! I wonder how much longer I can hold on to that vacation feeling…… Especially if you realise the run-up was kind of crazy.

Pre vacation hurdles

This year I was unemployed for a couple of months. Heading towards the summer I was still not sure if and when I would be working again. Everything maintained unclear and I got uncertain and frustrated. Should I use my savings and go on a holiday no-matter-what? What to do if a job-opportunity required me to be available the entire summer? I really looked forward to spending some vacation time with my blended family, as we don’t have that many opportunities together. And what if I still had no perspective on an employment and I spent too much of my savings on a holiday? Altogether I didn’t feel comfortable spending money upfront on a holiday. So last-minute-holiday was the idea. However last minute became so last minute we ended up staying in the Netherlands, visiting the region ‘Sallandse Heuvelrug and one of the Wadden Islands (Ameland).

Mind games

As logical as the previous all sounds I sometimes felt really bad and full of stress. I felt disappointment, failure and even a low self-esteem. My mind played many tricks with me leaving me with a feeling that I wasn’t able to provide sufficient for my daughters. I could

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Vortexes of life
EmotionsMind

Vortexes of life: getting sucked in and feeling overwhelmed

by Cherryl

On a daily basis I can find myself in a situation feeling overwhelmed by it or at least an emotion is triggered in one way. I call it the daily vortexes of life (in Dutch: draaikolken van het leven). Vortexes of life can be:

    • A friend who is canceling a dinner-meeting; in some occasions I can feel rejected instantly
    • My daughter who ends up in tears. Sometimes I don’t even kno why, she is crying, but it for sure will panic me and I want to comfort her immediately. Most likely I want to comfort myself via her; as her pain became mine in a split second
    • Somebody at work who shows no interest in a result we have achieved, will get me frustrated because I feel unseen
    • Instant panic attack with an incoming call of my mother. And sometimes even finding myself not answering her call at all, because I assume and fear that I have to repair a phone, computer or any other device in her home
    • The daily news can get me worried, frightened and/or even insecure. Although almost all topics are out of my circle of influence
    • Driving my car and getting very annoyed by the slow driver in front of me
    • While doing some grocery shopping (especially in the case of feeling hungry and being stressed out already) feeling pure anger once I notice the long queues in front of the check out’s.
    • And getting even more upset once I notice 3 check out’s are still unopened, although there is sufficient staffing (at least in my opinion)
    • Accusing my daughters falsely of replacing my keys in case I have to rush to a dental appointment and not being able to find my keys
    • Getting real quiet, but raging internally with anger once I feel criticized (mind: the feeling itself is enough)
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Gut as second brain
BodyEmotions

Your gut as second brain. How to take better care of it?

by Cherryl

In a previous blog ‘Improving my health‘ my biggest insight was that I didn’t know my body and it’s functioning at all, let alone the impact of my diet on my health. Due to this insight I decided to start taking full responsibility again for my health. Which meant two things; 1) change my diet and 2) educate myself more how to change it. What elements did I need to (re)consider? So I started reading books. And one book turned out to be a real game changer for me personally. Gulia Enders pictures in her book ‘Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ’ (in Dutch ‘De mooie voedselmachine’), our gut as second brain.

Gut as second brain

Gut as second brainAnd apparently she wasn’t the only one recognizing the importance of this organ (microbiome) on our health. On Facebook I found several articles on this topic and I kept on reading more articles and books. This is extremely fascinating information and a completely new area of scientific research. There’s an entire ecosystem of bacteria and a vast neural network operating in our guts. This ecosystem is our second brain, and comprises some 100 million neurons, more than the spinal cord. This is not a thinking brain—it does not reason, write poetry, or solve multi-linear regressions—but mounting evidence suggests that your gut’s health strongly influences your mood. If you are interested you can check out this video I found on Youtube from AsapScience for more information about the second brain and its connection to everything from food cravings to autistic traits.

Gut bacteria

So, our gut bacteria produce hormones and neurotransmitters that our bodies require for emotional stability and cognitive function. They also adjust the immune system, switch genes on and off, and send messages to the brain via the vagus nerve. One of the articles I have read ‘Microbiome: The Body’s Great Conductor‘ is even quoting the renowned ancient physician Hippocrates. As this approach connects to an old idea about health.

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EmotionsFood

Diary: my 10 days all sugar free

by Cherryl

Okay today I start my challenge: going 10 days all sugar free, so no sugar of any kind. To make sure I get sufficient minerals and vitamins, I start each day with a glass of water with Himalayan salt and a multivitamin Omnium. I’m allowed to  drink as much water, tea (coffee or coconut water) and eat some nuts (Brazil (in Dutch: paranoot), cashew, almonds and hazelnuts) as snack. I don’t drink coffee or coconut water, so have to stick to water and tea. That might become real boring….I’m going to keep a diary 10 days all sugar free. I cannot imagine giving up sugar for a week will have that much impact.

Day 1: Wednesday June 3rd 2015

My weight: 53,8 kg. I’m hesitant about this challenge. Just today my menstrual cycle started and already I’m craving for different tastes and want to snack whatever is available. Must be my mind playing games with me already. At 7.30 I start my day with one boiled egg and some salmon. I run 7 km in an easy pace and at 11.00 I eat 4 Brazil nuts and I can feel a light headache coming up and the feeling of depression. At 12.45 I have arugula, smoked trout and a teaspoon homemade mayonaise (oil, eggs, vinegar) for lunch. Apparently arugula is the only type of lettuce I’m allowed to eat, all the others contain sugar. Have to be better prepared and I am getting a bit worried now!

Around 16.00 I have 3 chicken breast cubes, spiced up with some homemade sambal. For dinner I have sashimi salmon with some sesame seeds and go to tennis practice for an hour. Nothing special. After practice I felt like drinking a cola, but I don’t. Around 21.30 I feel nauseous and tired and go to bed at 22.30. I’m done.

Day 2: Thursday June 4th 2015

In general I don’t eat breakfast so this time I skip it as well. Preparing curd cheese with fresh strawberries for my daughters is a real challenge! Every fiber in my body wants to put that spoon into my mouth. I can resist and at noon I eat scrambled eggs with parsley and sesame seeds for lunch. I consider myself lucky not to have to go to work this week. But on the other hand distraction might have been helpful. Dinner is served early today at 17.15 tuna with some mayonaise and capers. During the day I have been active in my garden; pruning, mowing and cleaning up. Early in the afternoon I felt a slight headache, but at night I woke up feeling nauseous again (like a had a hangover). The entire day I crave for fruit, I love to eat an apple or grapes or anything else…

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Biohacking, neurofeedback
BodyEmotionsMind

A new trend: Biohacking. What???

by Cherryl

Last year my husband (although we don’t have the legal status, it is the best way to describe the nature of our relationship) came across Bulletproof Coffee. And thus in contact with, Dave Asprey (founder of Bulletproof and author of the bestseller ‘The Bulletproof Diet’) and his many biohacks. Immediately we both were fascinated by his approach and especially the joy he expressed in his podcasts doing some of the weirdest hacks. Biohacking was a complete new phenomena to us.

So, what it is biohacking?

Biohacking is about changing both your external and internal environment so you have more (full) control of your biology. Allowing you to upgrade your body, mind, and life. Or by quoting Dave:

The art of using technology to change the environment both inside and outside of your body to take control and make it do what you want.

DAVE ASPREY

Just some examples of biohacks, to get a better understanding:

  • Cold therapy (the Wim Hof Method for example, as mentioned in an earlier blog, or cryotherapie)
  • Drink coffee with butter (Bulletproof coffee) as morning routine
  • Taking supplements (like ketoprime or MCT-oil to increase brainpower)

The curious, geeky and playful child in me had awakened and wanted to be part of the fun. After my 10-days-100%-sugar-free challenge and 30-days-no-cheese-at-all challenge I was ready for the next step :-)!

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Necklace made of daisies
BodyEmotionsFood

Improving my health

by Cherryl

As a child I often played on the streets, ran or cycled as much as I could or sat in the meadow, creating necklaces of flowers or just gazing at the clouds and wondering what shape would appear this time. I could also stare at an ant and wonder how he was able to carry that relatively big grain of sand. At that time I felt part of nature, took my health for granted, was curious and playful at the same time.

My personal health diagnosis  

Three years back I noticed a lot of chronic physical issues amongst myself, my friends and family-members. Ranging from diabetes, chronic pains, cancer, migraine, rheumatism, obesity, inflammation (in Dutch: ontsteking) or just not being able to run for 5 minutes.

My personal health diagnose:
a) 10 kilo’s overweight (set against a length of 1,62 m is quiet a lot) and
b) I wasn’t even able to run three minutes in a row!

However although I wasn’t as healthy as I could or should be, I didn’t do anything at all about it yet. Except gaining some additional weight during that same year. Why? Because I still believed the story I kept telling myself. I believed that I respected my health and took good care of it. I had never smoked.  I hardly drank alcohol. I had never used drugs. And even common medication (like pain killers or antibiotics) I refrained from. What more could I do?

 100% sugar-free challenge

Sugar

But than in 2015 I got challenged: eating 100% sugar-free. So no sugar at all, not even fructose. Main idea was to find out how hooked I was on sugar. My thought was this experiment would be a piece of cake, because if it comes to taste I prefer both sour and salt over sweet. The result: I was more hooked on sugar than expected. I even experienced some serious withdrawal symptoms the first days. The five most important insights related to this experiment:

  • Almost everything in a grocery store, contains sugar
  • I mistook my sugar cravings for hunger
  • Quitting sugar only takes 4-5 days!
  • Your brain needs sugar to function (short term memory started to falter)
  • My taste improved and I felt so much better without sugar (no brain fog)

However my biggest insight was that I didn’t know my body and it’s functioning at all, let alone the impact of my diet on my health.

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