Honestly, you shouldn’t be allowed to leave home not knowing this critical life skill. But, alas, some do. And then you email me. And so I post a little guide…

how I poach an egg…

1. Fill a shallow pan (a small frying pan that has a lid) with water. Bring to boil.
2. Add a dash of white or rice vinegar – it helps the egg whites to congeal. Don’t worry if you don’t have any.
3. One at a time, break the eggs into a teacup, then tip from  cup into the water. Do a few eggs at a time if you like.
4. Turn off the heat immediately and cover tightly. Leave 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove with a slotted spoon.

BONUS TIP: You can poach eggs a few days ahead and store in a bowl of cold water in the fridge! They’ll keep several days.

put a poached egg on top…

This little parcels of goodness are designed to plop ontop of a meal that is otherwise a little lacklustre/lacking in protein/lacking in goobiness

Try this:

• Using the hot egg water after you’ve removed the eggs, steam up some frozen peas and chopped zucchini. Place in a bowl with a tin of tuna, some shallots (green onions) or red onion finely chopped and capers, eggs on top.
• While the eggs are poaching saute some garlic and silverbeet (that perhaps you’ve already presteamed and frozen). Toss in some parmesan. Put in bowl, eggs on top.

this week in Sunday Life I trust my search function

“It’s like we’re programmed to make life hard for ourselves.” The woman in front at the supermarket on Tuesday was apologizing for the complex plans she’d just made with her three boys to call when they got to the skate shop or text if they needed more time, but not at 4.45 when she was expecting a conference call, and not on her Blackberry number because it was flat. I was privy to the lot.

photo via lucky mag

“Whatever happened to ‘meet me outside the Post Office at five or I’m going without you’,” she said offloading her diet frozen meals and family-size bottles of multi-vitamins (no judgment!).

“I know,” I laughed. “I know.”

Overcomplicating life is what we do. And brilliantly so. Look what we’ve done to the simple act of eating – we follow more rules than ever. And yet we’re only getting pudgier. Me, I overcomplicate my weekends, my hand washing, my afternoon cup of tea. I’ll swirl a simple plan to meet a friend for a walk into a maelstrom of extra considerations and tasks.

I was chatting about this recently with a journalist. She pointed to our chaotic way of life and asked for my antidote. I was blunt. “Back the f*ck off,” I told her. Which was not a threat, but my uncomplicated answer. (Prefer a more palatable version? Do less. Get your grubby hands off it. Step back…)

This week I applied my BTFO thinking to an issue I reckon causes an overcomplicated amount of angst among us all: inbox organising. There’s only one thing more stressful than being bludgeoned with emails and that’s not having a system for filing and saving said emails. The fear we’ll need a record of a correspondence in the future sees our inboxes bulge and our heart rates rise.

Which is a fair fear. We are in fact expected to retrieve the commission rate agreed to in June 2009 and our Foxtel installation code from two apartments ago – and preferably in 30 seconds or less. Was it always like this? Can anyone remember how we disputed the price increase on the carpet cleaner’s invoice before the internet? Did it take weeks? Did we have immaculate filing? Did this kind of data retrieval fill us with dread?

I think it did. Which is why we’re now so paranoid about inbox organizing now. Folders is where the angst bottlenecks. David Allen has become one of the world’s best known productivity gurus off the back of his site Getting Things Done and his New York Times bestseller of the same name, both premised on attending to our fear of folder chaos. Ditto, the very popular business blog 43 Folders.

But working to my BTFO mantra, I’m here to proffer an easier way: don’t file, don’t save. Because technology is here to (finally) save us.

It’s another Friday summer giveaway, and this week, I’m giving away

5  x one-year subscriptions to Clean Eating magazine

Simply buy your copy of my ‘I Quit Sugar’ ebook before 5pm AEST on Monday 28th November, and you could win one of these five subscriptions.

Clean Eating is a shiny new magazine geared at foodies like me: into REAL ingredients, simple recipes, whole foods (including the fat), minimal sugar…etc, etc. I’m actually the editor-at-large…as a fairly relevant aside.

Buy a copy of the ebook (if you’ve already bought one, buy for a friend and I’m sure they’ll share the magazine with you!) and post below to confirm that you’re ready to be included in the draw.

Happy Friday. Enjoy the last weekend of spring! x

As I wrote yesterday, I have reached another chapter with my hashimoto battle. I’d been doing everything right, but I was still having “thyroidy days” 3-4 days a week. My blood tests were also doing weird things (in the most recent case, coming back with low TSH AND low T3 and T4) and so the doctors were just shrugging at me and ushering me out the door. I thought I was at a dead end.

By Anna Hatzakis

Which was driving me MENTAL But then. I delved deeper. And I made some VERY EXCITING discoveries that I think will help many of you out there who write to me about your similar frustrations. Many of the principles will speak to anyone with an autoimmune disease, too.

I’ll be writing a few posts on some of the things I’ve found. To kick off, I chatted with Chris Kresser during the week. He’s had his own battles and understands frustration. He runs The Healthy Skeptic and is a practitioner in integrative medicine and acupuncturist (and has a wife with thyroid disease). Anyway, he’s come to specialise in hashimotos. And his info is sound and generous.

Listen in:

Chris Kesser Podcast [ 40:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In the podcast we cover (and I’m outlining the details below cos it’s all very DENSE info):

The three reasons why your thyroid medication might not be working.

Primarily it’s because hashimotos is an inflammation disease, not a thyroid disease as such. But only the thyroid gets treated (with a band-aid fix – the medication)…causing the other factors involved to continue on. So

1. Medication doesn’t address the damage done by inflammation to the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, which is key to hashi.
2. Medication doesn’t address the damage done by inflammation to thyroid hormone receptors. If there aren’t enough receptors, or they aren’t sensitive enough, it doesn’t matter how much thyroid medication we take. The cells won’t be able to use it.
3. Medication comes in the form of T4 (this is what thyroxin is), which our bodies are meant to convert into T3 (which is the active form required by our cells).  BUT if your system is stuffed (by inflammation), it can’t make this conversion. Which is just so dumb (and the reason why I supplement my thyroxin with a compounded T3, since the drug companies don’t make it in this format…yes, DUMB!).

The six situations that might explain why your thyroid might be playing up

…and what to do.

As you listen to the six scenarios, we’ll be referring to a bunch of blood tests that will help you work out which scenario might be yours.

Below I’ve outlined the blood tests you’ll need to have on hand to do this.  If you’re feeling like crap, I suggest you go to your doctor/therapist and ask for all these to be done at once.

I’ve struggled a bit  to write this post. You know, with whether to share or not. But since gaps will soon appear, and I disclose a bit about the trajectory of my life on a pretty over-sharey and consistent basis, I kinda have to. Just to not appear gappy, I guess.

I’m also feeling a little ashamed. Shame, hey. It’s the most alien of emotions. Most of our personalities are in fact the cruddy layers with which we mask our shame. Unmasking is to get naked and squirm in the breeze. To be without our fun! brash! personalities. To be just plain, old ordinary us.

You see: I bang on virtuously about all the healthy stuff that I do. Noticed?  I’ve also shared that I’m writing a book. And in the past few weeks, both have come a little undone. My health has taken a nosedive. My thyroid has arked up again – it’s tired of the pushing. And, as always, it’s done so because I needed to be told. And so my book has had to be put on hold while I stop, recalibrate, listen. And begin the slow process of going back to me.

Which feels shameful. And a lot like failure. When I let it be seen that way.

I’ve done this many times before. I know what to do now. Hey, I bang on about it on this blog all the time!! Much of the decision to stop and recalibrate is about me “being my message” and not just preaching it. And actually living the only life I will ever want to live.

The truly wonderful thing in all this is that this (temporary) unraveling has, as always, reminded me of what this life I want looks and smells like. Being unwell does this. It pulls into sharp view the vulnerability of life. We could go any time. So, FUCK IT, let’s get real and raw and shed the layers!! Cut to it, Sarah!! Live it…CRUDLESS!!

Following on from my recent why i get excited about coconut oil post, I’m sharing some of the things I do with coconut oil…a few of you have asked the difference between oil and butter. It’s the same thing. The stuff does become an oil in the warmer months, so store in the fridge if you prefer the harder, smoother consistency.

photo via My New Roots

1. Fry and roast your roots!

As I mentioned the other week, coconut oil is by far the safest, healthiest and tastiest oils to cook with (along with ghee). But it’s particularly tasty for cooking sweeter vegetables like pumpkin and carrots. I really like this recipe from My New Roots, which I’ve tried without the dressing she suggests, and the maple syrup.

coconut roasted carrots

zest of 2 oranges
juice of 1 orange
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp. maple syrup (or some stevia)
1 tbsp. coconut oil or ghee, melted
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
pinch sea salt

Whisk all marinade ingredients together, add the carrots and toss to coat. Pour carrots and marinade out onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and place into preheated HOT oven. Roast for 15 minutes.

I love pumpkin fried off in coconut oil. I’ve shared this recipe here.

Also, brussel sprouts!!!!

2. Eat it straight from the jar (my #1 fail-proof craving curber)

After lunch I still get sweet/”I need something more” cravings. So this is my failproof trick. I eat two tablespoons of coconut oil. It satisfies my need for something sweet and KILLS appetite for about 4-5 hours. I really challenge you to try it (allow about ten minutes to feel the effect).

3. Use it as a moisturiser, especially in summer!

I scoop straight from the jar (I keep a jar in the bathroom) and apply onto moist skin. I mix in a few drops of Vitamin E oil, too. The wonderful health properties seep through the skin, too. In ayervedic terms, it’s a cooling oil and so is perfect at this time of year – it will help you sleep at night (PS in winter I use untoasted sesame oil, which is a warming oil).

Breakfast seems to be a big topic on this blog (a few previous posts here and here).  I often get walloped with responses like, “but I don’t have enough time” and “I’m not a breakfast fan”. My answer to such queries is protein shakes.  HOWEVER, there are protein shakes and then there are protein shakes. Some are full of sugar and crud, some are geared at blokes with bulging muscles and odd little gym swaggers. But I’ve come across this one which is neither: 180 nutrition’s protein superfood.  Below, Jo has outlined the deal with protein shakes and some great recipes for this sponsored review. Enjoy!

photo by Maria Laitinen

what to look for in a protein shake: 

Most of the info out there advises it’s all about whey protein. But know this: the whey needs to be…

• raw
• cold pressed
• derived from grass fed cows
• free of hormones, chemicals
• free of sugar

180 nutrition’s protein superfood ticks all these boxes.
Also, less is more. This superfood contains only a handful of (recognisable, no “numbers” involved) ingredients:

• grass fed whey protein isolate
• flaxseed
• almond meal
• sunflower kernels
• coconut flour
• cocoa (chocolate flavour only)
• chia seeds
• pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• sesame seeds
• pysillium husks
• inactive brewers yeast
• stevia

So: no gluten, no artificial flavourings or preservatives, no processed sugars and sweeteners, no bulking agents or thickeners. PLUS the whole lot is 100% raw and organic.

This week in Sunday Life I sign off, sincerely

Illustration by Lottie Frank

Poor Sreejesh got me so very wrong. During the week the charming and enthusiastic IT specialist from some outpost in India contacted me, trying to win some online business. He was doing well. Until he got to his sign-off. There, it was, alongside his name: “<3333333”.

First, the kid mistook me for someone who cared to know what his little flurry of key strokes meant. I Googled it and found it’s emoticon-speak for “lots of hearts” (turn your head on its side if you’re still stumped). Second, he signed off with hearts?!  We’ve never met, not even virtually.

We all know by now by now that technology is meant to be making us fat, dumb and boring. But I mostly think the rapidly shifting electronic world is making us confused, and so we do awkward things, like bag out our boss on Twitter etc, as we adjust.

It’s like the nascent stages of a sexual dalliance – we’re awkward and cringy until we get the hang of things. Which would make the fraught issue of electronic sign-offs the bra unhook – something we seem unable to ever master, despite the fact we’ve been on email for decades now.

The issue prompted me this week to have a good look at my own sign-off style. For years I’ve run an automatic signature at the bottom of my emails with the sign-off, “Be well, Sarah”. Which was highly efficient – if a little worthy – in that it saved me 12 whole characters every email.

Time to share feedback. I’ve been very much taken by surprise by how my I Quit Sugar ebook has been received. I’m beside myself with satiated joy that so many people have been able to experience some REAL results from quitting the white stuff. Thousands have now tried the 8-week program. Here’s some feedback on what they’ve found and learned…heartening!

image via weheartit.com

Jasmin says: I’m in week 4 and i’m amazed by the changes so far, I hardly have anymore headaches, I’m not craving sugar or any crap food actually, people have commented on me losing weight, my afternoon slump is pretty much gone so I’m so happy and grateful Sarah, I have been surrounded by cakes and sweets etc this past week and for the first time in my life it wasn’t an issue for me, I didn’t want any and I was happy not to have any so that’s pretty amazing, this is def something I want to keep continuing on with so THANK YOU!!!!

Jon says:  When you originally spoke about quitting sugar early this year in the Sunday paper I had, “had enough” of being overweight (113kg), on BP medication for nearly 30 years (I’m not yet 50!!), anti-depressants, thyroid drugs (from a tumour, so I think I have to stay on them), so I thought I’d give it a try. Over this last year, I have dropped 20kg through diet alone, I’ve now joined a gym and getting ‘ripped’ (?!?!), I’ve just weaned myself of the anti-depressants, I’m now dropping the BP meds due to dizzy spells and LOW BP, due to the meds; my skin has cleared up (been bad since highschool), people are saying I look 10 years younger and I feel like I want to do things and get on with life again.

James says: I quit sugar a few weeks back and after some withdrawal symptoms at about the 1 week mark I noticed a huge change in the way I felt. I used to be exhausted after eating and feel like I needed to lie down. Now, I feel energised after eating. I’ve even found that if I need to force my body to stay awake I can do it by eating something like unsweetened organic peanut butter. This is totally opposite to before! I also feel much clearer in my mind. I’m eating less, but still have the odd binge so don’t really seem to be loosing belly fat.

Trish: I was worried that (eating more fat) would affect my cholesterol levels, so I had a blood test, and after a year of not worrying about the fat content of foods, it was 3.3 (with the good cholesterol high and the bad cholesterol low)!The blood test also measured my risk of cardio-vascular disease,

I’m starting an occasional series where I share a couple of my favourite books. First up, cookbooks and nutrition guides I live by. I’ve put nifty links to Amazon if you’re busting to get your hands on them….

photo via trendsters

Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions

Sally is the co-founder and president of the Weston A Price Foundation, and this cookbook is a comfy, organic bible for anyone wanting to live a truly nourished, mostly paleo, sugar-free life. It’s the real deal. The lovely Jo Foster got me my copy and I pore over it regularly.

I love the sub title (“The Cookbook that Challenges Politcally Correct Nutrition and The Diet Dictocrats”. Right on, Sally!), the detailed nutrition tips all the way through and the fermented vegetables, sprouting and “how to make your own yoghurt, whey and kefir” sections. You can buy the book here.

Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health

The best introduction to Ayervedic healing, hand’s down. I mostly live by the Ayervedic approach – which is to say I eat according to my dosha. This style of living is about healing through food. I’ve written on this here. Chopra weaves the Indian traditions with our western thinking, showing what types need to eat more root vegetables, more oil, less salad, more bitter foods etc. You can buy the book here.

Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion

This is the cookbook I keep going back to. Why? It orders recipes by the ingredient. Which is the logical way of going about things when you eat according to what’s in season. I buy fennel when I see it in season at the