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Are Toxins Making You Fat?

“A Toxic Body Will Cause You To Gain Fat, While a Cleansed Balanced Body is Slim & Healthy”

Healthy Body

We don’t often use the F word at The Body Retreat.  Too often Fat is used as a derogatory term.  It’s a label used to put you in your place.  Fat… its not who you are, it’s what you have.  We all have fat, we are meant to, it is part of the body’s natural defence and survival system.  Problems only start to arise when we have too much fat and it begins to negatively impact our health.

Recently we attended a course with one of the countries most eminent sports coaches, Phil Richards is a world renowned sports coach at the very top of his game, training professional athletes like Amir Khan and Stuart Stokes as well as professional sports teams like  London Harlequins and Leicester Tigers amongst others.  A specialist in strength and conditioning Phil has trained some of the world’s strongest men and women.

On the face of it Phil might seem like an unlikely training partner for The Body Retreat and to be honest when we arrived at the training centre at least one of us felt a fish out of water.  In a room filled with muscular men, buff boys and a smattering of gym bunnies I was a tracksuit and supplement shake bottle short of the dress code not to mention a dress size (or 2) in the opposite direction.

But, at The Body Retreat we pride ourselves with not only working with the best but learning from the best.  Phil is a passionate advocate of detoxification and places this at the heart of all his training and weight loss programmes.  Intrigued to learn why this world class sport coach placed so much emphasis on this natural function we attended his certified course to learn more.

Detoxification, it’s A Natural Process, Right?

We all know that we live in a toxic world, toxins are everywhere, in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink.  They are in the clothes we wear, the products we wash in even the pans we cook with.  There is no escaping them.  The body has a perfect inbuilt system to cope with toxins and the main organ responsible for ridding the body of the toxins is our liver.

However, over the past 60 years the amount of man-made chemicals introduced to our food and drink has significantly increased and a recent survey by The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that adults carry around 700 toxic substances in the body that the liver cannot effectively cope with.

A Toxic Body Will Make You Gain Fat

When the liver cannot process these toxins fast enough it becomes overloaded and this can lead to your feeling sluggish, struggling with skin problems, aches and pains, or digestive problems.  But did you know that when the body cannot cope with toxic overload these toxins are stored in the body to be dealt with later… and you’ll never guess where the body stores these toxins….In Your Fat!!

In particular in belly fat.  That’s because the body’s self preservation mechanism kick in to protect you from the harm that storing these toxins may have, so they need to be stored somewhere safe.

Toxic Belly Fat

How the Body Gets Rid of Toxins

Detoxification is a natural process, it is happening all the time through:

Respiration– Your lungs not only filter the air you breath but provide the essential oxygen that every cell in your body needs.

Perspiration – Your skin is your single largest organ of elimination

Defecation– One or two well-formed bowel movements every day is one of the best ways to get toxins out of your body.

Urination– The kidneys are responsible for flushing waste from the blood.

Boost Your Body’s Detoxification Ability Right Now

Practiced for centuries by cultures all around the world — including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine systems.  Detoxification is about resting, cleaning and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to achieve and maintain optimum health and help you to lose that toxic fat.

4 Tips to Help to Detoxify

Respiration – Breathing techniques increases your lungs effectiveness to provide more oxygen for our bodies resulting in increased energy levels and a clear state of mind.

Try the 7/11 Breathing Technique.  Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the floor and allow your hands to rest gently in your lap.  Now take a deep breath in for the count of 7, hold it for a moment at 7 and then release the breath counting out to 11.  Now, the first couple of times you do this it may seem impossible to breath out to 11, but that is only a result of habitual shallow breathing and in an indicator that you need to practice this technique daily to increase your lung effectiveness.

Perspiration – Using saunas and steam rooms can help eliminate toxins through perspiration and can help your kidneys to increase their ability to clear the toxic material they have removed form your blood. In an ideal world you would take a sauna daily as part of your detox programme.

Defecation – Fibre helps move waste through the colon because it is indigestible by the human body. In other words, fibre adds ‘bulk’ to the stool. If your bowel movements are too loose, fibre can make them firmer; on the other hand, if your stools are too hard, fibre can make them softer.

Don’t think fibre is only found in cereals, it is in all types of plant-based foods, including fruit and vegetables. So increase the amount of fruit and veg and if I may be indelicate here keep an eye on your poo.. it will tell you when you have the balance right.

Urination – One way to ensure that the kidneys are functioning to their maximum level is to drink around 8-10 glasses of clean, filtered water daily. Its really important that the water is filtered as most water sources contain toxins which can lead to impaired thyroid function which in turn increases weight gain.

Its Hard to lose Toxic Fat

There are lots of other things you can do to help this detoxification process that will not only help you to safely lose toxic body fat, increase your energy levels and solve digestive issues and that is why we created our Detox Retreat.  With an intelligent focus on behaviour, exercise and nutrition as well as some good old fashioned R&R, you’ll emerge cleansed, balanced and an average of 6lbs lighter as an extra confidence boost!

If you would like to discover for yourself how to safely detoxify your system, kick start your metabolism and lose fat join us on our Summer Detox Retreat.

Right now we are offering 25% off Shared Rooms at our next Detox Retreat starting 7th July 2014.  

Contact us now on 0203 7011603 or by email here to secure your place

The Surprising Reason Why The 80/20 Weight Loss Blueprint Really Works

No doubt you are already aware of the 80/20 Principle.  Often referred to by its full title of The Pareto Principle, its the fundamental business and mathematical equation that states that 80% of the results come from just 20% of the actions or input.

Now, I’m not a great fan of statistics, equations or numbers to be fair, I’m much more comfortable with ideas, feelings and words.  So the thought of exploring the finer details of an equation that is the key to sustained weight loss leaves me pretty cold. Or rather it did.  Until I spotted a trend in sustained weight loss at The Body Retreat.

Patterns of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance at The Body Retreat

Over the last few years of working on The Body Retreat I have been tracking the longer term weight loss performance of some of our clients.  From a behaviour point of view I was very keen to learn what was the difference that makes the difference.  I have undertaken numerous studies and profiled key clients who not only lost the weight, but more importantly kept it off.

At first the findings were inconclusive, but there were patterns forming around the shift in mindset and adoption of key behaviours that seemed to come up time and time again.  One of the main drivers of successful weight loss maintenance  was the shift in mindset that these clients did not feel they were on a diet when they returned home from their retreat.  Our eating plan at The Body Retreat is not about excluding certain foods, its not about deprivation and will power, that doesn’t work.  What does work is adopting the 80/20 principle.

The 80/20 Principle for Eating

The 80/20 principle basically means that 80% of the time you choose to eat balanced healthy nutritious foods and you cut the CRAP* and then the other 20% of the time you can have a little treat, enjoy a splurge meal, have a night out with the girls.  Its all about balance and moderation.  Its about planning.  In the beginning healthy eating doesn’t just happen by chance, its a new skill that must be practised until it becomes a natural habit.

“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”

For most of us 100% abstinence from any food , especially those diets which advocate exclusion of carbs, sugar or  fat is not only not achievable or sustainable its down right unthinkable… Its just not normal.  You can end up feeling unable to set foot over the door again as eating becomes a chore, a puzzle that is a lot easier to solve in your own kitchen.  Yes its true,  reduce your calorie consumption for a couple of weeks and you will lose weight, but…and its a pretty big BUT… its not sustainable.  Repeated studies have found that  weight lost during crash or extreme “dieting” is almost always regained and the negative impact the diet has had on your appetite hormones can take-up to 2 years to rebalance, making you more likely to Yo Yo for that period.  Total abstinence leads to boredom and feeling deprived, which almost always results in your swinging back the other way and over eating those very items you were avoiding.

The Importance of the 20%

So back to Pareto and this equation for successful weight loss. Would you be surprised to know that on our post weight loss retreat meal planners we mandate that our clients have one treat meal and one treat snack every week, non negotiable?  Believe it or not , its not the 80% of “being good” that produces sustainable weight loss, it’s the 20% of the treats and splurges that does.  Really????  Eating treats helps you lose weight!! Yes …if you do it correctly.  The Body Retreat clients who not only lost weight but kept it off never thought of themselves as on a diet but they only had their mandatory treat meal and snack every week, there was no cheating on the cheating!

The 20% is what keeps you on track, its the difference that makes the difference.  The 20% helps you to keep focused on your goal, it rewards you for your efforts in the week of planning, preparing and enjoying healthy and nutritious foods.  Having those treat meals, that afternoon tea and cake, the cocktails with the girls make you feel normal, makes you feel like you are living a full and balanced life.  Nothing is off limits, nothing is excluded, there is no deprivation and abstinence , only balance, control and moderation.

You Still Need to Stand Up to Yourself

There are few rules and restrictions on the 80/20 Weight Loss Blueprint, but it is not an invitation to eat everything that you want every time that you want it.  It is important that you keep a sense of balance, you have an innate ability to know when you are full up, to know when something tastes good and when it doesn’t.  So you do need to listen to your body and stand up to yourself.  Check your portions sizes, are you serving yourself and your partner the same about of food? When you do eat, do so mindfully and slowly, really savouring every single mouthful and when you are satisfied stop eating.  You do not need to finish everything on the plate.

NOT 20% Treat Behaviour

On our Weight Loss Retreat we show our retreaters how to eat consciously for life.  So that the 80% begins to feel natural, easy, desirable. While at the same time the 20% feels balanced and controlled.

“Perhaps the time has come to Stand Up for Your Health by Standing Up to Yourself?”

Anxious about Splurging?

We have ladies on our weight loss retreat who have literally battled with food for year and have become anxious about eating perceived “unhealthy” foods, worried that if they allowed themselves to have a biscuit that they would eat the whole packet, have a glass of wine then order a large pizza. They are worried that if they start to have the treat meal that they will not be able to stop and will spiral out of control.  If this sounds like you then this may be a sign that you have an unhelpful emotional connection with eating or food and it may be helpful to discuss these feelings with a professional as this is something that you can work on making you free to live a more balanced nutritious life.

There is NO One Size Fits All Plan

Some of you eagle eyed mathematical types may have spotted a potential calculation flaw in my equation for successful weight loss.  On the basis that you eat 20% of your basic three meals as treat or splurge meals thats an awful lot more than the one meal and one snack I’ve set out above.  Heres the thing the Pareto Principle isn’t exact science, in some cases its 70/30 and in others 90/10 dependant upon the variables.  Likewise with weight loss , unfortunately it is not an exact science, if it were then the person who found that formula would be a gazillionaire and everybody would be slim.  The old weight loss equation of calories in vs calories out or “Eat Less Move More has long since been proved to not work long term.  The reality of weight loss is that there is no one size fits all plan.

Making the 80/20 Blueprint Work for You

So how does the 80/20 Blueprint work in practice.  Well, you can choose the method that suits your lifestyle.  You can have 20% of your Meal.  So having a grilled chicken breast salad with a few fries on the side.  Or you can have 20% of your Day.  So eating three clean healthy meals with one small treat snack, perhaps a couple of digestive biscuits with your tea.

In practice we have found that both of these methods become too complicated and can lead to “treat creep”  where two biscuits becomes three, a few fries becomes the full portion etc etc.  What we have found works is to have 20% of your week, so one treat meal and one treat snack each week.  This way you can plan it into your week, have dinner out with friends,  sunday lunch with all the trimmings or that deliciously decadent favourite pudding.  Your choice.  But remember to listen to your body and enjoy them consciously.

The 80/20 Blueprint can release you from the guilt of eating the “wrong” foods, save you from the dreaded diets and give you the energy and motivation you need to choose to eat healthily for life. Perhaps now is the time to Ditch the Diets for good, stop counting calories or grams of fat and instead choose to eat clean and healthy for 80% and then enjoy the planned 20% splurges. Literally you can have your cake and lose weight too.

woman-eat-chocolate-cake-TS-78325866-628

Enjoy your 20%

If you have found this article useful?  I’d really love to have your comments or questions.  You will find the comments box all the way down at the bottom of the page, look forward to hearing from you.

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*CRAP = Carbonated Soft Drinks, Refined Carbohydrates, Artificial Sweeteners & Processed Foods

Step away from the Sandwich

Why the Pre Packed Sandwich Lunch is Ruining your Waistline.

Lunch is such an important meal in the day.  It fuels you for the second half of the day, so get it wrong and you will find yourself craving sugar or propping yourself up with caffeine early afternoon and then your blood sugars are sent into overdrive and the afternoon slump hits big time.

For a lot of us lunch is something we eat on the go and the rise of lunch time take away meal deals makes it even easier to eat badly.  These meal deals are often carb and sugar based,  think sandwich, crisps and soft drink.  Even if you got for the healthy option that is still sandwich, fruit bag and smoothie…. sugar sugar sugar! Once all this sugar has been absorded you feel great …for about an hour or so.  Then it leave you feeling empty and vulnerable to snack attacks.

A Balanced Lunch is the Key to Avoiding Afternoon Slumps

Getting your lunch balance right sets you up for a successful afternoon and evening.  Think about it, when you eat lunch , typically 12- 1pm ish you are literally only half way through your day, so skimping here will make there rest of the day an uphill journey.  Every lunch should contain a good source of protein, some good fat and healthy veggies.

So many of the women who join us at The Body Retreat are time poor, holding down full time jobs, running busy households, being the primary carer for the family.  So often their own health and needs are quite far down the priority list.  Its can be easy to rely on convince foods to help you though a busy day.  But the the truth is that they are not supporting you in any way, in fact the are undermining your overall health and wellbeing.  Robbing you of valuable nutrients at a time when you really need them, convincing you that its ok to eat on the run to “save time”, promoting that low cal or low fat or sugar free are appropriate solutions.

The Poor Pre packed Sandwich

Consider the average pre packed sandwich, two slices of highly processed bread with added sugar, salt and other fortifiers to make it look nice and fresh in the packet for days, often smothered in low – cal mayo, again with added sugar, sweetners and salt.  The filling is generally low in protein and is almost surely not local organic and high in nutritional value,  all of this is supported by a couple of lettuce leave and a slice or two of tomato.  When you really think about the pre packed sandwich its not so attractive after all. And please don’t be tempted by the Meal Deal Sandwich, adding crisps and a soft drink for an extra few pence might seem like a great deal, but it is not a great deal for your waist line.

Don’t be fooled by the time saving properties of the repacked sandwich either. It may only take a moment or two to make your purchase, only a few minutes more to actually eat the thing.  But later in the afternoon, when you brain which has not had the nutrients it needs to be firing on all cylinder starts to feel a little foggy, your work rate begins to slow.  You start to crave something to top you up, and so the time you saved is now spent debating the rights and wrongs of a top up treat or spent nipping out for a coffee and muffin.

Those of you who have joined us on any of Our Retreats will now how much we advocate Concsious Eating.  Really taking the time to savour the healthy foods that you have chosen.  Slowing down for just a few minuets to allow your body to properly digest the foods and so allow you to avoid digestive complaints such as indigestions, heartburn, bloating, IBS etc and also helping to you never over eat again as you can hear your body signal that the hunger is now satisfied.

So even on the busiest of days aim to take at least 15 minutes to eat your lunch…. and that means no emails, no facebook, no twitter.  Just you enjoying 15 minutes of calm eating.  Your body and your mind will thank you for this.

So what is a Healthy Balanced Lunch?

Our top choices for a healthy, balanced and quick lunch are soups and salads.  Soup is great because it hydrates you and keeps you feeling full for hours.  Making a big batch in advance of your favourite soups and then freeze in individual portions so you can just grab and go and it defrosts before lunch time. Salads are actually really quick and easy to make too.  You can use prepared salad veggies to help save some time, again making the night before when you are feeling fresh and motivated will save you time the next day.  Having a healthy balanced lunch set you up for afternoon success and halve to beat those sugary craving.

Ok, so let be really honest here…. there are days when despite your best efforts you really didn’t have time to prepare your lunch in advance, or maybe you just fancy a take away lunch.  This doesn’t have to mean the end of healthy eating, by making a few simple healthy swaps you can choose a healthy lunch on the go.

Top Tips for Healthy Sandwich Lunch On The Go

  • Go to a sandwich bar rather than buy from a supermarket.  This way you can choose the sandwich that you really want the way you want it.
  • Choose a wrap rather than sliced bread, it contains fewer carbs and if you can get a whole grain wrap that extra goodness.
  • If you really want bread, make it an open sandwich, the sandwich bar can make this for you by placing your bread in a salad box and building your sandwich from there.
  • Pack in the protein, one thin little slice of ham or chicken is not enough.  You want to have about the size of a deck of cards.
  • Eggs are a great sandwich filler, but not when pre mixed with mayo.  Sliced egg with a thin spread of mayo if you much is a much better choice.
  • Load up on coloured veggies, don’t just go for the obligitary lettuce tomato and cucumber.
  • Add a good fat, avocado, drizzle of olive oil (or Rapeeseed Oil if you can get it) or even a few seeds or some organic whole butter… but under no circumstances spread.

We would love to hear from you.  What is your favourite Healthy Balanced Lunch?  Please leave us a comment in the box at the bottom of the page 🙂

 

 

Mushroom Spelt Risotto

The Body Retreat Mushroom Spelt Risotto

Looking for a quick and healthy mid week supper?

Well look no longer, this Spelt Risotto is easy to make, needs a little attention and stirring through the cooking time but the end result is very tasty.  This recipe is for Mushroom Risotto but you could easily adapt to your favourite.

Spelt is an ancient grain with a history of use in both Europe and the Middle East.  This super grain is rich in B Vits, Minerals and dietary fibre.  Its perfect replacement for rice or wheat in a variety of sweet and savour dishes.

Mushroom Spelt Risotto
Serves 2
  • 120gm Pearled Spelt
  • 1 sml brown onion, chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp rapeseed oil
  • 8 chestnut mushrooms, chopped
  • 6 dry porchini mushrooms (soaked in warm water and then chopped)
  • 1 pint stock ( veg or chicken works well)
  • Juice of half lemon
  • Handful of parsley, chopped
  • 20gm Pecoreno Romano or Parmesan cheese

First soak the dry mushroom for at least ten minutes.

Meanwhile take a heavy bottom pan and heat the oil and then add the onion and garlic with a small pinch of salt.

Reduce the heat and sauté for a couple of mins.  If it looks as through the onion will catch (brown) add a splash of the stock.

Then add the mushrooms and stir through for a few moments.  Next pour in the spelt and stir all the ingredients together.

Now add large glug of your stock and reduce the heat and give a stir.

As the stock begins to reduce add another glug, stir gently.  Repeat until the stock has been used.  This will take about 20 mins.  Don’t try to rush this stage, you want the spelt to slowly absorb every bit of the lovely stock.

Just before you are ready to serve, add the lemon juice, parsley and the cheese, stir through.

Serve risotto with a rocket salad.

We hope you enjoy this recipe, if you would like to receive more recipes from The Body Retreat then please sign up here for our weekly dose of Monday Motivation.

Top 7 Books that will improve your Health and Wellbeing

I love to read.  As a child I out read the children’s library and was allowed (under strict supervision of course) to venture into the adults section to continue my literary education.  I have books on both my Kindle and iPad but I do get quiet excited about “real” books and bookshops, I love the smell, the feel  and weight of a good “real” book.  I enjoy making notes in the margins, turning the corner over on pages I want to reread… in fact truth be told I rarely settle down with a good book without coloured pens, post it notes and sometimes even a small ruler (no judgement please dear reader 😉 )

Of course I enjoy reading the classics, love biographies and am not adverse to a bit of chick-lit but my big love are personal development books.  I love the glimmer of hope that these self help books give, between the pages there may just lie the answers I have been seeking to make me a better version of the woman I am.  But too often these books let me down, they don’t live up to the hype on the cover, or the reviews on Amazon.  I recently read a book about beating sugar addiction which advocated a diet  of fruit and sugar substitutes… really, i despair!!

So it is a real joy when you come across a book that does live up to its promise, even better for me, when I find a book that can not only be of benefit to me personally but offers something I can bring to The Body Retreat for the benefit of our ladies.

I thought I would share with you 7 books that I rate.  Books that deliver on their promises, books that I have returned to again and again, both personally and professionally, books that bear the scars of being well read (see note above about reading kit.. LoL ).

As you may know at The Body Retreat we offer 4 main retreats, Weight Loss, Detox, Stress Reset and our very popular Fitness Holiday.  All our retreats are based on our 4 pillars of well-being, Behaviour, Nutrition, Exercise and R&R.  These 7 books span the 4 pillars…well all except exercise, but as you will know that is Julie’s area of expertise not mine.  If you have joined us on retreat you may even have heard me speak about a couple of these books before.

So here you have our Top 7 self help books that will improve your health & wellbeing.

1. Feel the fear and do it anyway – Susan Jeffers

I don’t consider myself a scared person, I read Feel the fear because its a classic and I discovered that I do have fear in my life, I just never named it as such, but it was still holding me back. I read this book in one sitting, devoured it really.  Then went back through and spent time reviewing the practical exercises.  Don’t like the idea of practical exercises? Don’t worry this book is funny, easy to read and packed with poignant and profound words that will challenge how you think and help you to change behaviours that are unhelpful.   If you are feeling stuck right now, be that in a job, relationship or even in a body that doesn’t feel right for you then Feel the fear is a must read.

2. Positive Shrinking – Kevin Laye

As a Master NLP practitioner myself I liked how Kevin wound some really effective NLP techniques into an amusing and simple story. On the cover it states that this is “A story that will change your relationship with food, forever”  a big claim and not one I can hand on heart agree with, however the techniques used in the book can help you to change unhelpful behaviours fast.  One hate about this book, I know that hate is very strong word, but there you have it,  is the chapter Eat like a pig … look like a pig.  I have a real issue with anyone being likened to a farmyard animal and in my opinion while the moral of the chapter  to slow down when eating is sound the metaphor is really insulting.  I have still included the book here and will let you make up your own mind about that chapter.

3. The 9-Day Liver Detox – Patrick Holford

There is a lot to love about Patrick Holford,  I have several of his books on my bookshelf.  The 9 day Liver Detox offers both the appliance of science behind the hows and whys of detoxing combined with a step by step plan for, well you guessed it, a 9 day liver detox.  This is a safe clean eating plan, no fasting, no weird and wonderful ingredients.  Its kind of back to basics nutrition which can be adopted by almost everyone.  One word of caution is that the meals in the plan are quite low in protein and Kate Delmar- Morgan our Nutritional Therapist  here at The Body Retreat recommends adding a small amount of protein to the main meal recipes.  So adding beans, pulses, fish and even a little organic chicken in moderation will support this plan to still achieve maximum benefits.

4. The Overload Solution – Jane Alexander

Written in 2005 The Overload Solution was a book ahead of its time.  Jane Alexander’s book is a practical guide to help you recognise when chronic juggling and stress tips over into overload and what to do about it.  As someone who has herself suffered from burnout, this book spoke to me on so many levels. Again great practical exercises throughout to help you on your journey of discovery… I completed the Wheel of Life exercise and found to my shame that I was a much bigger TV watcher than I thought.  But it was great, because knowledge is power and as I don’t want to be a prolific telly guzzler I now have a choice and I now aim to read for 1 hour each day rather than lose that time to the box.  If you are starting to feel overwhelmed and over loaded then this is the book for you.

5. The Medicinal Chef – Dale Pinnock

I defy anyone to not devour this fantastic cookery book.  Its a cookery book with a difference, yes there are great and easy to make recipes, yes the food photography will make your mouth water but more importantly this is a cookery book about eating your way to better health. Dale Pinnock has a unique approach to cooking and nutrition, focussing on the individual ingredients and how they can support our health, in particular how the food we eat can impact on common ailments and diseases.

6. Mindfulness. A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world – Mark Williams and Danny Penman

Mindfulness is the buzz word de jour but please do not dismiss it is a fad.  Mindfulness has been around for quite some time and its close relation Meditation has been around a lot longer.  Mindfulness  has been shown to have a powerful influence over our health, wellbeing and happiness.  Learning to be mindful, be in the moment has been proved to have tremendous impact on our ability to cope with stress.  Through the daily practice of mindfulness you build up your relaxation reflex which in turn supports you day by day .  The best bit about this book, beside the 8 week stepped plan, is the free CD guide.

7. and finally…. 101 poems to keep you sane – Daisy Goodwin

Ok technically this isn’t really a self help or well-being book.  But it is a book that I find myself returning to time and time again.  I find poetry can be both incredibly stimulating and also soothing and this little book can offer just a moment of calm in a hectic world.  I often tell Body Retreat clients that they need to be kind to themselves, learn to calm and not critique themselves, soothe rather than scold.  For me this is at the heart of true health and wellbeing and the verse in this little volume helps me to feel calm and soothed.

Id love to hear what your top health and wellbeing book is, be that a cookery book, a self help guide or maybe even a story that you return to time and again, so please leave a comment below.

If you have found this review interesting and useful then “sharing is caring” so please share using the buttons to the side.

I will finish with my favourite poem from 101 poems to keep you sane

New Every Morning

Every day is a fresh beginning,

Listen my soul to the glad refrain.

 And, in spite of old sorrows

   And older sinning,

  Troubles forecasted

   And possible pain,

Take heart with the day and begin again

Susan Coolidge