The last couple of months I’ve been consulting with my friend and nutritionist Jes Cox from The JCN Clinic to try and resolve some of my long standing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) issues. I am already saying to myself ‘why did I wait so long to do this!?’ I love the approach Jes and the team at The JCN Clinic take to gut health. They don’t see IBS like the rest of the medical world that says – ‘well you’ve been diagnosed with IBS – just do your best to manage the symptoms.’ They actually work with you through clinical lab testing to discover what is really going on inside your gut so they can treat the cause through a tailored nutritional diet and quality supplements if required. One of the things I admired the most though was the first thing Jes did was look at my current nutritional intake and then assess whether I had a good balance of macronutrients in my meals and snacks. Having a healthy balance of macronutrients is the foundation of any sustainable, healthy diet. This especially important to be mindful of if you are going to be looking at removing food groups like gluten and dairy (as I would need to do for a time to begin work on reducing the inflammation in my gut). Jes provided an amazing information sheet which outlined what macronutrients are, what foods contain certain macronutrients and how much you should be aiming to eat per meal and I found this a welcomed refresher. She’s kindly allowed me to share this information about a macronutrient balanced diet, because we both believe it is knowledge that is so important – even life changing! Regardless of whether you are following a particular diet or not, these are foundational diet principles for everybody to follow.
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These Choc Orange Hemp Protein Cookies were a recipe I created to enjoy post workout to aid recovery. I’ve found I really need more food since starting this 
This year I’ve felt a bit sad that I’ve not been able to show you my workouts because I’ve mostly been doing classes at the gym, rather than my own workouts. I didn’t want to be the creepy girl filming in class, haha! I do classes because a) I can show up and someone else tells me what to do (far less effort than planning my own workout) and b) there’s a creche for the kids at the gym.
We are constantly being influenced and shaped by the culture around us, by what we hear, see AND scroll through. Have you ever thought about how what you look at shaping you? If like me, you’re a frequent user of social media it’s likely that this is having a big impact on what and how you think about yourself and others, and like anything, this impact can be positive or negative. Interestingly, our Instagram feed can even impact your diet and your activity levels. It may sound silly, but think about it. If you’re scrolling past chocolate mousse and loaded fries all day you’re more likely to go out and get yourself that sugary or salty hit. Similarly, if you’re feed is full of healthy, active influences you are much more likely to make time for making a wholesome meal or getting some activity in your day. So, with that in mind, I’ve put together a list of my top ten Australian Instagram Fitness accounts to freshen up you feed and positively influence your mindset and activity levels. These gals have a realistic approach to fitness and they are good at what they do, so have a look through and choose a couple to add to your feed!
