We're halfway through 2021, and I wanted to write this blog as a bit of a check-in. I'm writing this in the middle of a Sydney COVID-19 lockdown and I'm using it as my reminder to look back at 2021 new year resolutions (remember those?) and assess what I've achieved, what's happened so far and how I've been feeling.

My goal throughout this year has been to simplify my life, both physically, mentally and emotionally. 

That’s it.

I know.

Simple, right? 

Well, I've downsized homes, gotten rid of a lot of stuff I didn't need or use, tidied up my finances and my relationships to spend time working on underlying trauma.

Doing so has left me feeling alot more balanced and calm and helped me erase the exterior to focus on my own needs and desires, not the needs and desires of everyone around me.

Let me say that one more time for the people at the back: focus on your own needs and desires, not the needs and wants of everyone around you.

So, here’s a list of ten of the ways I’ve simplified my life this year. You may resonate with one, all or none of these, but it’s time to tune into your own radio station and figure out what you want, what you need and what you can leave behind. 

1. Downsize your Environment 

At the beginning of this year, I moved out of the bustling eastern suburbs of Sydney to the calm and quiet of Palm Beach, also known as Summer Bay, for those who watch Home and Away. As someone who’s lived close to the city for most of their life, I didn’t truly understand how your external environment can make your heart beat faster and increase the rate of your breath until I left.

While everything here runs on Palm Beach Mean Time rather than Stressed City Time (commonly known as AEST, haha), I've grown to love it. People here aren't rushing from one thing to another; when you go for a walk, everyone moves slowly and greets you. I live with my daughter and Oscar our dog and Tinkerbell the cat love it too. 

While I know everyone can’t move home, it’s worth looking at how your external environment impacts your internal environment – your mental health, stress and anxieties and seeing how you can downsize and simplify it.

2. Minimise your Things

If your wardrobe looks like your clothes are at war, begging for room to breathe, this one’s for you!

When I moved homes, I had to take my stuff with me, and there was more than I had realised that had accumulated. As someone who considers themselves somewhat minimalist, I was surprised at how much unnecessary stuff and clutter I still had. So, I went on a decluttering mission. 

I sorted my clothes into yes, no and maybe piles. 

My no pile went into bins to be sold or donated, and my yes pile went into my suitcase. I then asked myself if I needed and wore the maybe items. If the answer was yes, I kept it. If not, it went into my donation pile. 

Now I have a capsule closet – I only have one or two of everything in my closet and stick to the basics. As hard as it may seem to say goodbye to the thirteen identical black pants from your corporate days, I can honestly tell you that you won't miss them, and you'll know they're in a new, good home where someone wears them. 

The same theory goes for my beauty products. I have a couple of products that do more than one thing, like tinted sunscreen or an oil cleanser.

Simplifying my clutter has helped me make room for other things that I value more.

3. Live in Alignment with Nature

Have you ever been praised for being busy or for doing it all? Or perhaps, you’ve peered into someone else’s life and couldn’t understand how they do everything.

If someone looks like they're doing a brilliant job at juggling it all, they're probably not juggling everything at all. If someone is saying yes to every work opportunity or event, perhaps they're saying no to their health or time with their loved ones. While things can look easy from the outside, the hustling lifestyle many of us lead can't last forever without some burnout and unwanted compromise.

As a previous juggler (not in the circus, in real life), I’ve transitioned to living a life more attuned to nature’s rhythms. I wake with the sun, walk in nature, meditate next to the ocean and rest when I feel the call to do so. While it’s not exactly the hustling lifestyle advertised by every entrepreneur on Instagram, living this way has calmed me down, gotten me back to basics and helped me focus on what I find most important.

I’ve also spent lots of time with my dog and cat to put me in touch with cycles and seasons. Their needs are simple – they need care, love, food and walks outdoors, and I’ve realised, as humans, we don’t really need much more than that. 

4. Simplify your Diet 

I've cut down on the fancy mushrooms, superfoods and exotic foods and focused on the foods and supplements that help me feel best and are easy to prepare. I use Love Your Gut Powder for gut health and Fulvic Humic Concentrate for energy.  I shop at my local farmers market and only head to bigger grocery stores for essentials. I've been eating at fewer restaurants and instead focus on cooking foods I enjoy. We've been enjoying this Green Eggs No Ham Frittata lately.

When I feel like a slow-cooked delight, I’ll pop either my hearty lamb shanks with root veggies or low FODMAP hearty meatball stew and slow-cooked ham hock soup  in the slow cooker and let it sit all day while I work. When it’s time for dinner, these meals are ready and waiting for me to savour and enjoy.

I'm also sharing my easiest lockdown green soup recipe below, just scroll down for the video. It's a great recipe if you haven't got much in the pantry and want to eat something nutritious and calming.

I’ve also upped my smoothie game. I mean, is there anything easier than a smoothie? I think not. If you’re looking for some smooth smoothie inspiration, my top three smoothies at the moment are my vegan edible smoothie, microalgae green smoothie and pretty in pink smoothie.

5. Daily Meditation 

Vedic meditation came into my life last year, a time when I needed it most. That said, I wish I added it into my routine twenty years ago. Meditation has been one of my most significant catalysts for simplifying my life and has come with many benefits.

Vedic meditation has helped me:

• Turn inward and work on my trauma.
• Live in the present.
• Increase my creativity.
• Sleep better and have more energy.
• Increase my intuition and awareness.
• Decrease my anxiety and stress.
• Turn inward and stop seeking external validation.
• Understand my place in the world and my purpose.

I meditate daily and can say it’s been a life-changer.

If you want to find out more about Vedic Meditation, you can read about it here.

6. Create a Budget

Is money a dirty word for you? Does the idea of a budget make you cringe? 

Money can feel overwhelming, tedious, and like it's meant for someone else and yet, to others, money can help them create freedom and live more in alignment with their values. If you want the latter, it's time to simplify your relationship with money.

When I took the time to understand my income and outgoings and how they balanced out, I created a budget that I can stick to which makes me more conscious of where I spend my money. For example, I enjoy making my own homemade sticky chai above, instead of buying one out.

Perhaps it's time to make a budget, have a look at where most of your money goes or simplify your superannuation. 

7. Downsize your Relationships and Media Time 

The more work I've done on myself, the more I've realised that I am responsible for the time I spend on things that aren't working for me.

I've distanced myself from friendships that were no longer serving me to make way for new and deeper relationships that make me laugh, feel supported and who fill my cup rather than take away from it. 

The same goes for my social media and email list. I’ve unfollowed and unsubscribed from people and businesses who don’t inspire me or make me laugh. I’ve limited my time online to make time for enjoyment.

I also close all of the tabs on my computer at the end of the day – I find it easier to start each day with a blank screen and focus on one thing at a time. I spend less time overworking and more time looking after my mental health.

8. Create a Routine and Stay Open to Learning

Creating physical distance from my previous life has helped me think about what serves me and what doesn't. As a result, I've started to make more firm boundaries about living in a way that fits me. I have a routine that brings me joy and fulfilment.

As an introverted word nerd, I make time to meditate, cook balanced meals, read books at home, play card and boardgames like cribbage and backgammon, garden and learn. I've also completed my advanced diploma in clinical nutrition this year which was four years in the making. There is always time to learn more about nutrition and the things that interest you.

What does your routine look like, and how can you simplify it to suit you more?

9. Learn How to Say No 

The more you say yes to other people, the less you say yes to yourself. Sit with that for a second.

Where in your life are you saying yes when you really want to say no?

I've said yes to other people for a long time and found it the ultimate energy drainer. 

I now ask myself what I want before I mindlessly reply yes to keep everyone else happy; this goes for anything from business invitations or time with friends. While it's not always easy, if something doesn't feel right, I'll say no.

Let's leave people-pleasing in 2020. Thank you, next.

   10. Trust the Process and Don't Give Up

If you’ve read this blog, you’ll know that last year was one of the most challenging years I've ever had, and I know I'm not alone in that. While I'm so lucky to live my life, it hasn't always been easy. I've had to let go of my grasp of what I know to be true and trust that everything will fall into place.

When I loosened my grip a little, it made me realise that I needed to move away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and let go of friendships and things to make way for new ones, and so far, it’s been the change I needed.

I’d love to know – do you resonate with any of these? Let me know in the comments what you have done or want to do to simplify your life.

I'd also love you to try this delicious and very easy to make Green Soup that I've been making in the recent Sydney lockdown.

You can watch a video of how to make it here.

Lock Down Green Soup 🌿 🌿 🌿

Serves 2-3

• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen beans
• 1 cup frozen broccoli
• Any fresh greens in crisper drawer such as broccoli/ snap peas/ zucchini (optional)
• Handful fresh rocket/ spinach
• 2 sprigs fresh coriander
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 tbs tamari
• Squeeze of lemon
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• Nutritional yeast flakes and coriander to serve
• Olive oil if using

Method

• If using fresh greens place in a tray in the oven drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 mins
• If using frozen green veg place in saucepan and warm through, adding any other cooked greens you have plus rocket and coriander
• Add a squeeze of lemon
• Pour in vegetable stock and stir and bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins
• Add tamari and stir
• Pour in coconut milk
• Place in blender and whizz until smooth
• Pour into a bowl and top with nutritional yeast, coriander and stir in some Love Your Gut Powder to serve 🌿

Enjoy the recipe 🙂

Lee xo 

No matter who you are, you eat food. Every human needs to eat food to survive. But, what we eat varies greatly between individuals. 

While we often think of the foods we eat as having implications on our physical health, it is not often that we consider the mental health ramifications of consuming certain foods. 

The study of food choices on mental health has developed into a new subspecialty of psychiatry, called nutrition psychiatry. 

Various mental health disorders - anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, depression, etc. - have become much more commonplace in society. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, states that around 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with some kind of mental health disorder at one point in their lives. 

In fact, mental illness is the third most common cause for hospital admission in the United States among adults aged 18 to 44. 

The high rate of mental disorder diagnoses, when considered in conjunction with poor diet in the United States, caused scientists to postulate that there is some sort of connection between diet and mental health. 

Exploring the Relationship Between Food and Mental Health

Over the past ten years, there has been much research conducted regarding the link between food choice and mental wellbeing. 

Studies have shown that the risk for depression in teens increases dramatically when a low quality diet is consumed compared to a high quality, whole food diet. 

Additionally, the risk of acquiring ADD (a term used to describe what is now known officially as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD) doubles for teens when consuming a low quality diet. 

Why does diet matter so much?

Most contemporary research studies have focused on the interrelatedness of diet and mood disorders (depression, anxiety, etc.). 

To this day, there has not been any direct evidence linking any particular diet with mental health. 

But, scientists are working hard to find this link. Even without a direct, proven link, it’s clear that a balanced diet can be beneficial for both mental and physical health overall.

As of now, scientists and physicians are aware that consuming a healthy diet positively impacts the brain in the following ways:

• Aids in brain development so that you may cognitively function in a normal manner. 
• Increases production of neurotransmitters by altering brain proteins/enzymes. Neurotransmitters are chemical signals that make connections between nerve cells.
• Promotes healthy gut bacteria. This decreases inflammation, which can affect mood and cognition. 
• Elevates serotonin, which contributes to a good mood. 

While diets consisting of rich and diverse nutrients can change brain proteins that lead to improvements in brain cell connectivity, diets consisting of large amounts of saturated fat and sugars cause the opposite effect. 

These poor diets can be destructive for brain proteins and lead to poor cognitive functioning. Also, high sugar and high fat diets tend to destroy healthy gut bacteria, which can decrease the body’s ability to prevent severe inflammation. 

How to Improve Your Diet    

If you would like to eat healthily to promote good brain health, and mental health by extension, there are certain foods you might want include in your diet. 

The following nutrients can be added into your diet whenever possible:

• Omega 3s. These can improve mood, improve memory, and improve cognition.
• Zinc. Too little zinc has been linked to depression.
• Vitamin B12. Low B12 levels increase risk for cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain atrophy.
• Iron. Anemia (too few healthy red blood cells) caused by iron deficiency contributes to depression.
• Vitamin C. Low Vitamin C intake in older adults is associated with depression.
• Fulvic Humic Concentrate. Re mineralises the body, energises and improves leaky gut.

Takeaway: Diet and Mental Health are Linked

Choosing to eat foods - such as whole grains, vegetables with colour, beans, fruit, and fish - that are dense in nutrients will promote physical and mental health by giving your body the fuel it needs to function at its best.

Eating well helps your brain operate at its best, in particular, and has the potential to improve your mood, energy levels, patience, and willingness to participate in activities.

All of these factors combined with the confidence that comes with taking good care of yourself can help you live as happy and as full of a life as possible.