Ciao a tutti!
(That’s Italian for Hello everyone!)
When I was 21, not long after my final uni exam, I jumped on a plane and took off to London.
I didn’t even wait long enough to attend my graduation (much to my mother’s horror). What did I care for a piece of paper when I could be living and breathing a sensory overload of European design, architecture, culture and history?
I never regretted the decision to go, but I did regret a few decisions following:
- I had some pretty serious disordered eating patterns throughout high school and uni and not surprisingly, through my experience living in the UK. Instead of the liberating experience I was seeking, I found that beating myself up for my physical appearance hindered what should have been a time of pure joy and exploration. I had bought into the common mistake of many women (and some men) that my worth was my appearance, and to make myself acceptable in this world, I had to fit the mould (aka, starve myself). Food in general was a way of controlling the world, as well as the enemy, and fat became a four letter word (clearly my degree in English hadn’t taught me very well!!)
- Only several days after my 21st birthday, and only a few weeks before I left for my “indefinite trip of a lifetime”, my dad had massive stroke. At the time not much was known about stroke reversal and it left him seriously disabled with permanent brain damage. Despite the incredible trauma that followed, and skipping a good many details, I was encouraged to stick with my original plans and go overseas. (Note, #2 probably didn’t help my issues pointed out in #1). As such, the freedom experience wasn’t quite as I had once imagined and longed-for. I lasted 10 months before returning home.
The 24 years since have presented many challenges and tragedies. But my point in sharing all of this is that I, like everyone, have their demons. We all have our fears, our experiences that shape who we are, our regrets and our vulnerabilities that we fear may never allow us to be accepted (by whom I ask? by everyone else who is equally fearful of exposure?)
SO, over the past few years, I have decided to right some wrongs.
While the pining for London (my second or maybe my first home?) and Europe has never left me, I decided I needed to be IN it instead of just dreaming about it.
So for the past 2 years, I’ve travelled back there. This year, I’m planning on going again.
I’ve also started to learn Italian. Why? because it feeds my soul and gives me more pleasure than almost anything else. And because the Italian culture is, in itself, full of passion. Food is revered and embraced. Family and celebration around food is mandatory. La dolce vita is the way we should all be living life for our health, and the pure joy and pleasure it gives to us, rather than focusing on calorie counting and food restriction and pretending we love munching on raw kale every day.
Misery never made anyone healthy
And on that note… FAT. I thought I’d dealt with my fat phobia until I started on a ketogenic eating style (which calls for high fat inclusion). In essence, it’s not far from a Mediterranean or Paleo way of eating, with increased healthy fats.
Let me make it clear, I don’t think this diet is necessary for everyone but for me, it was beyond beneficial because let me tell you (esp. ladies!!) even though you think you’re OK with fat, it is astounding how much comes up around having to add fat to your diet. We’re not talking fried/hydrolysed fat. We’re talking healthy fat. Olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, grass fed butter, olives, oily fish (salmon, anchovies, sardines), fatty grass-fed meats (pork belly .. WITH the fat! I know!) etc. It challenged me on my own long-held food phobias in a very very good way, and allowed me to stop my fear of fat (whilst losing body fat and then maintaining my weight .. and dropping my cholesterol, glucose, insulin and homocysteine, a key cardiovascular risk marker, along the way).
I no longer have a fear of fat and that is one of the most healing life lessons of all.
Kate is a qualified naturopath who is passionate about helping women heal from hormonal havoc and inspiring women to know their own power, worth and wisdom.
Kate offers one-on-one Skype consults for irregular cycles, PMS and period pain, endometriosis, PCOS, peri-menopause, mood swings, fatigue and mental and emotional stress.
Simply drop me an email to see how I can help you!
