About Happy Healthy Strong

My goal for 2012 and beyond is to be happy, healthy and strong. I used to hate exercise and eat a typical western diet (lots of grains, low fat and at one point dabbled as a vegetarian). I was motivated to change my lifestyle in 2010 when a good friend of mine invited me to her wedding. My friend and her friends are absolutely gorgeous girls and while I knew one month wasn't going to turn years of bad habits into a stunning physique, I did know that if I had at least started upon the road to 'recovery' then I could at least hold my head up high confident that I was finally doing something about it. So I started bootcamp and counting calories and at one point I was even jogging regularly and enjoying it (shock!). It took me 12 months but I managed to lose 12 kgs and almost as many centimetres off my hips and waist. About 6 months ago I stumbled upon the concept of primal/paleo eating. I also picked up a copy of Gary Taubes' book 'Good Calories, Bad Calories'. While I'm now convinced that sugar is evil and grains are not my friend, I do struggle sometimes to resist their deliciousness. Evil or not, they still taste damn good. I also now know that calorie restriction is NOT the way to achieve a healthy mind and body (and it sure as hell wont make you happy). How many calories you consume is irrelevant - its how you consume those calories that makes all the difference. Bring on the bacon! Fortunately for me, I love to cook, so I've been finding it relatively easy to substitute bad ingredients with good ones (I did have to clear the cupboards of the bad though to avoid temptation). I'm also slightly obsessed with finding new recipes and information on the internet to enable my new found lifestyle and then sharing these discoveries with friends and family (whether they like it or not!). This blog is in part to give my friends and family (and anyone else who might be interested) the opportunity (and the choice) to share my enthusiasm in their own time. One of the biggest challenges I've faced is simply sourcing all the ingredients I want/need - ordering from overseas is often not possible (good luck getting jerky through quarantine) or prohibitively expensive (sourcing coconut cream concentrate from one very popular USA supplier could cost up to $160 per shipment!). I know I would have found it much easier to have an Australian website that said 'you can buy X from these guys' but I didn't find one, so here's my contribution to help try and fill that void. Hopefully this blog will be help me (and you) to be happy, healthy and strong.