GRATITUDE LOVE LIST 2015

We all love a good REFLECTION don't we? 

For some reason it's felt a little tricker than usual for me to do this week ~ I've put off my written "wrap up" of 2015 and my intentions for 2016... and have been left feeling a little off. Unbalanced. Anxious. It's happened this way for no particular reason really, except that I haven't felt the right time to sit down, go within, and look at it all, and as the Type A Christie likes to have mentally wrapped up one year before moving into the next, it's felt challenging internally.
Alas... here I am typing a few things down and I suppose I can add these to my written book when I get the chance to be with myself; in a park under a tree, at a cafe with an organic coffee, or in a tiny nook of someone's house with cushions and candles.

For now... here we go. My 2015  G R A T I T U D E.  L I S T.

HEALTH HACKS FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH AT CHRISTMAS

If you hadn't noticed (or perhaps you like to bury your head down a bit this time of year), Christmas is literally around the corner. With that comes many mixed emotions and they are different for everybody.

I love Christmas time. I love present shopping. I love planning and prepping (and eating of course) all the meals, treats, and food we have this time of year. I love decorating the (real) tree. I love laughing til my abs, my cheeks, and my brain hurts with my sisters at mums place. I love the travel to get to mums. I love making rum balls. I love beach swims. I love lazy snoozy afternoons.

However... I'd be lying if I said I didn't get stressed at some point by everything going on.

XMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE :: THE EBOOK

A few of you would have already seen this (perks of being part of the newsletter tribe) but I am yet to birth it into the online space here.

NEXT LEVEL NUTRITION XMAS GIVEAWAY

Did you see this on Instagram?!? I am sooooo excited for this ~ in fact I would be all over this if it were someone else's competition.

I am running this from December 1st to December 15th, but only on Instagram. You need to jump on over to @christiefischernutrition and like this photo, share this photo, tagging myself and #NextLevelNutritionXmas telling me why you need this loot of goodies in your life! It's that easy!

NOURISH :: CHOC MUD TRUFFLES FROM DR LIBBY

WELL IT'S OFFICIALLY DECEMBER! Can you believe it! It was a training this morning we were chatting about it... and how quickly the year seems to fly by. But as a kid, it seemed to take  f o r e v e r  except when it was the school holidays, which also flew by.

Are we not as present to our daily life when it seems to fly past us? Or it simply a case of "Time flies when you're having FUN"? I'm not going to dwell on it too much - I like to jam as much FUN stuff into my days (read: into my life) as I can so I'm always doing what I love, whether time stands still or moves at the speed of light!

I digress.... CHOCOLATE MUD TRUFFLE BALLS!

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS

Ebook's on sales. 1:1 Consultation's on sale (with bonuses). And freebies incoming for all newsletter subscribers (check your inbox first)! What's not to love about the biggest online shopping weekend of the year?

I wanted to offer you a sale on my ebooks, and for anyone who books my 1:1 Nutritional Consulting services between now and the end of Cyber Monday, I've got some extra goodies for you too!

NOURISH: 4 ELIXIR RECIPES

What is an elixir? I like to think of it as a healing beverage. It’s different to a smoothie, different to a juice, and usually with ingredients that can boost our immune system, help balance hormones and blood sugar, heal leaky gut, and can flood us with antioxidants, just to name a few. And I love them. They are super easy to make, you just need a few ingredients that you may not have tried before. But never fear, I have explained them all below, and you will find them all at great health food stores.

UPGRADES :: TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED

PHOTO TAKEN FROM TONE IT UP - THATS ME FRONT + CENTRE IN PURPLE AND GREEN

Hey sexy legs!

Today I really want to touch on Upgrades.

Upgrades. Upgrades. Upgrades.

This is what I am all about lately ~ quite fitting considering my clients are going through the same vibes right now; upgrading their diet, their water intake, their movement, health, energy, their thoughts, beliefs and more.

I'm a firm believer that your health is the supporting role to living an incredible, abundant, beautiful life.

DO YOU WANT TO UPGRADE YOUR HEALTH + WELLBEING TO NEW HEIGHTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS?

Do you want BOUNDLESS ENERGY in time for Summer? To actually WANT to get out of bed and start your day as the sun rises and the world awakens?

Have you tried everything to lose weight and feel better, but nothing has worked? Or have you had success, only to gain it all back again?

As someone who had been yo-yo dieting for years, following strict food plans, and then falling into the dark hole of chronic fatigue, I now know what it takes to lose weight for good, and have energy to do all the things you love in life (not just sleeping-in on weekends).

NOURISH: MY NEW LIVER PATE RECIPE

If you had told me 3 years ago I would creating and re-creating recipes using chicken livers, I would have laughed in your face. Strange how to world works isn't it? Well, here I am, and doing just that.

SUNDAY : THE PALEO CHALLENGE PART 2

Pardon my French, but I LOVE SHIT LIKE THIS!!! I was so excite to watch the second instalment of Mike Willisee's experiment following a Paleo diet on Channel Seven's Sunday over the weekend. FINALLY someone on national television says it out loud - that the Dieticians Association is sponsored by multi national companions (making shit fake foods that will kill us) which literally puts them in a conflict of interest... So you be the judge as to whether or not you'd like to listen to what they are telling you to eat.

SUNDAY : THE PALEO CHALLENGE

In case you missed it, last night on Sunday there was a segment called The Paleo Challenge. Reporter Mike Willesee, who was questioning Pete Evans about the paleo style of eating, was skeptical, unconvinced, and unsure about the whole paleo concept and exactly what benefits it heralded, given that he had also seen some research say that it could be in fact dangerous.

But then the plot twist happened, and Mike decided to undertake a 10-week Paleo diet program to test the claims by advocate Pete Evans.

CELEBRATING MY 30TH BIRTHDAY

Last week I celebrated my 30th birthday. I didn't want anything fancy. My biggest wish was to see my mum, and my two sisters (...or be gifted a one way ticket to California... or Rome... and with Brocky of course). 

Well... no travel plans as such but mum and my little sis both made it up (big sis has a totally valid excuse tho - she had just flown to Europe! Forgiven! I would have done the same).

NOURISH: CREAMY QUINOA PORRIDGE

Most of us are familiar with quinoa these days as it's been touted far and wide as an alternative to rice for those who want to follow a grain free diet, as quinoa – pronounced keen-wa – is actually a South American seed, even though it cooks and tastes just like a grain; which is why it is so popular in paleo, gluten free and vegan lifestyles. 

TRAVEL SECRETS TO STAY SANE WHEN AWAY (WITH EXTENDED FAMILY)

I like to think I travel quite frequently, but most of the time they are very shorts trips away from home for a few days. I recently went on a family holiday to Noosa and that was the longest both Brock and I had been on since 6 weeks in California last September. We were down south for 10 days in total and it was during this time both Brock and I got thinking about tips to offer others when they go away.

The brainstorming started quite early in our trip as we were staying 2 nights with my mum, 2 nights in Byron, and then a week in Noosa with B's family. All these locations had a proper kitchen but there were times when we knew we could have better prepared.

NOURISH: QUICK + EASY VEGO FRITTATA

This is a life saver dish for me. You know the ones - they are ridiculously easy to make, require very little time and effort, yet taste amazing and are pretty much fool-proof to cook. All you really need to have for this is eggs. And the rest can be a mish-mash of whatever you've got in the produce drawer of your fridge - or even leftovers!

THE EXCITING THINGS I'VE BEEN M.I.A DOING...

I just wanted to pop in today to say HELLO and I MISS YOU and no, I haven't abandoned you! I've just been pre-occupied with so many other exciting things the past couple of weeks that I haven't gotten around to jumping in here as I hadn't come up with any new material. 

I still haven't but felt to jump on in anyway and let you know what's been happening.

SELF SABOTAGE: WHERE WE LIMIT OURSELVES DUE TO FEAR

I had a thought last week that kinda stopped me in my tracks. It was a complete Aha moment when I could very clearly see my own self sabotage in action.

NOURISH: SUPERFOOD HOT CHOCCIE

I whipped this up the other evening - if you follow me on Instagram you'll know why. I wasn't hungry, my tummy wanted no food, and a superfoodie hot chocolate was exactly what I felt like. In bed. So this is what I came up with...

NOURISH: STRAWBERRY + COCONUT PUDDING

I put this on Instagram the other day and you guys wanted the recipe... So here you go! This is perfect if you like a light brekkie. I like to team it up with a Bulletproof coffee for something a little more satisfying. It also makes an awesome snack. It takes... oooh about 3 minutes to create, and 30 minutes to set (unless you wanna eat it straight away, which you can, it's just more of a smoothie not a pudding then). And it's bloody delicious!

4 QUICK POST-EASTER LIFE SAVERS

It goes without dying that the majority of us "over-do" it during Easter. And I use inverted commas because it is only a point of view laid upon us by ourselves, the media, friends and family, our trainers, or nutritionist... Having said that, there is merit to it. But we need not buy into feeling guilty about how much we ate and the lack of exercise we may have done, and instead, pick ourselves up and get on with Life once more, as we choose to enjoy our time here on Earth.

MY NO.1 TAKE-HOME FROM THE PALEO WAY CAIRNS

On the Sunday just gone, Cairns played host to Pete Evans and The Paleo Way tour, and I was lucky enough to be volunteering the whole day. Now I'm usually the first eager beaver at the door with my notepad and pen, but as I didn't know what I would be doing all day, I didn't have those with me. Nevertheless I have a few big key take home notes that required no pen and paper to remember, and here they are.

WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADD OILS AND BUTTER TO YOUR COFFEE

Adding fats to caffeinated beverages is a tradition in several cultures. The Nepalese, Tibetans and Indians of the Himalayan regions add yak butter to teas and chais, and the Moroccan people add fermented butter, known as smen to their traditional teas. The resulting beverages are considered strengthening and fortifying, providing energy, nourishment and clarity for long days in rugged environments.

NOURISH: LEMON DELICIOUS PROTEIN BALLS

Miessence have just brought out a protein powder. Yep, the world's first certified organic skin care range also does food products. Although this is not their first.

Lucky me I got sent a bag of this stuff as I'm friend's with the gorgeous Narelle who owns and runs Miessence. This is in no way a promo post for her and I was not asked to do this. But when I find a product that's amazing in it's own right, I'm gonna share it with you. And this is one of them.

GLORIFYING BUSY-NESS :: WHY IT NEEDS TO STOP

Lately I've been feeling it. 

Female business women, life coaches, stay-at-home mums, students juggling full time jobs, you name it. Everyone is busy. We all have shit on. There's always more we feel we could be doing. And that we're forever chasing our tail. 

Or... is that just what we have bought into from a society around us, who one by one, seem to be getting busier, and having more on, resulting in something that I am now seeing as glorifying being busy, like it's now some form of status - if you're busy you're one of the cool kids.

HOW TO CREATE & START LIVING YOUR DREAM LIFE

This week I went to one of my partners workshops, 1. As support and 2. As a participant. Amongst the evening, the spotlight was in me and I was being asked to describe my best day ever seeing clients. Now rewind hours before when I had been pre-menstrual crying all. day. long. and feeling as though nothing in my life was working (gotta love our cycles hey). So, I tried my very best to say something nice, without sounding like I really didn't give a f*#k.

It went something like...

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: NATUROPATHS AND GP's

I need to vent!!

All because of an appointment I had with a GP yesterday, and it's left me asking questions across a host of different groups and sites I am a part of as a practitioner.

TIME FOR A CHANGE IN DIRECTION FOR ME (I'm very excited!)

For a while now I've had ideas, thoughts, and creations brewing inside of me. Not slowly bubbly, but more of a 

BAM - Here's an idea Christie! Run with it! And not because it's a good idea, a lucrative idea, or one none else is really doing... but because it feels. so. damn. right.

If you know me, you'll know that unless something is FUN I won't be doing it. Movement, travel, books, online courses, catch ups with friends... You name it. If I don't find it to be fun, I'm in no way interested. And this... oh man does it feel FUN.

SHARING THE LOVE THIS VALENTINES DAY

If you hadn't already clued on, yep, it's Valentines Day this weekend. Whether you believe/participate/love or hate it, I see it as an excuse to eat more chocolate than usual and snuggle up on the couch with a good movie and my gorgeous man. Go all out or not at all... we can all have a little more chocolate in our lives now can't we? 

So here is a small collection of a few recipes I've made over the years that will satisfy any loved-up sweet tooth, is perfect for sharing, and will not ruin your health like a block of Cadbury might.

NOURISH: THE EASIEST CHICKEN CURRY EVER!

I love a good curry. I love any good Indian food period. And would often get it when I lived in Sydney. Sadly, no Indian up in Cairns is good enough and I very, very rarely eat Indian anymore. Yes I could make my own, but I suppose cooking Indian is not a real love of mine due to the lengthy ingredients used and the prep time involved.

Enter this Chicken Curry recipe.

CAN I PINCH A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME MY DEAR...

I want to know what YOU want more of. What you are happy not to see and read. What you cannot live without.

SAY YES TO YOU. FIRST.

A letter from me to you gorgeous one.

Say Yes to You. More often.

BIOCHEMICAL INDIVIDUALITY + LOVING MY CLIENTS

Nutrition has got to be one of the most confusing sciences out there. For every so-called positive there is the exact same negative. For every 100 people saying butter is healthy there's another 100 people saying butter is unhealthy - and both parties hold just as much evidence to prove their point. I thought studying Nutrition would straighten out a few things I (thought I) knew, but to be honest, sometimes it can only make it all the more confusing.

I touch on Biochemical Individuality in my ebook, Breakfast of Champions ~ What Nutritionists Eat for Brekkie, but I want to hone in on it a bit more, and explain why I follow the principles of it so much.

FAT LOSS + STRESS: HOW YOUR STRESS AFFECTS YOUR WEIGHT

I see this all too often -- "I'm eating healthy and exercising but not losing any weight? What am I doing wrong?"

I see many women who are so detached from their body, un-educated about their body, and cannot read the signals their body is giving them because they are more interested in their outer world than their inner world.

When I hear this my ears alert me to the word “healthy” – the meaning of which is something completely different for everyone, and their meaning of the word may not actually be what their body needs for optimum health. So I always dig a little deeper...

NOURISH: SUGAR FREE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

I was going to start this post with a "Who doesn't love chocolate cake?!?" but then I realised that, in general, I'm not a huge fan. I'll always pick something orange or lemon or raspberry when it comes to cake. Cookies and brownies though... That's another story.

But today it's about cake. And regardless of my preferences above, this one is fab-u-loso! It's fudgie, and dense yet still light, with a rich deep chocolate-ness. And it's sugar free!

HEALTHY + TASTY DINNER IDEAS THAT ARE QUICK AND EASY

I have previously written on 8 Quick and Easy Dinner options for when you can't be stuffed (quite fitting in the tropical north Queensland heat this Summer), but I wanted to give you more suggestions, again based around quick and easy 'cause that's just how I roll... But also incorporating some more gut loving foods and meat options that I'm loving at the moment.

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS: EBOOK FEATURE ON I QUIT SUGAR.COM

My humble little ebook, Breakfast Of Champions ~ What Nutritionists Eat for Brekkie has been featured on Sarah Wilsons website, I Quit Sugar.

Jump over here to check it out and grab yourself 4 FREE RECIPES from the book!

And then be sure to grab yourself a full copy while you're at it so you have access to all 21 recipes from qualified Nutritionists who know what they're talking about when it comes to breakfast fuel!

NOURISH: CREAMY VANILLA LATTE (sans coffee)

So you've more than likely heard about the Bulletproof Coffee - if not, this is great short youtube video with Dave Asprey, the guy behind Bulletproof, explaining it all. In short, it's a brewed black coffee + grass fed butter + MCT oil or coconut oil. Blend and voila. Now if you've never tried one I know exactly what is going through your mind right now --

Butter in coffee !?! Gross !

FROM 2014 INTO 2015 :: AND MY BIG SAYING TO LIVE BY THIS YEAR

A few wicked moments of 2014...

// Brock and I moved into our (current) Dream Home surrounded by trees with views of the ocean.

// We got dressed up all pretty for not one but two weddings down in Sydney.

// I (finally) graduated college.

// California. Yes Brock and I got over there. The Tone It Up Retreat changed my life + was the best 4 days of my life. Period. All the cool kids we met and David Wolfe's Womens Wellness Conference also need special mentions here.

// I created my very first ebook (after 5 years blogging).