One kind word can warm three winter months ♥️
The beauty of people; creaky lungs; winter solstice; why we should eat well even when losing weight; stay curious; hello Bluesky
I must admit my spark has gone missing since losing Moss, and everything feels very very heart-heavy. But it’s early days and gradually I’ll come to terms with it, somehow. Gratitude is a wonderful thing, and there is a lot to be grateful for – the fact that I had him in my life is one of them (Scout too) but so is my wonderful human boy, Rory, as well as Lottie, Evie and the cats, and my family and friends, and the beauty of nature all around me. So I must go on and try to see the glimmers in every day, as we all do. So many people have sent love, kindness and support with messages and cards, little trinkets and beautiful words. I pinch myself knowing that I have such wonderful people in my life.
Crikey though, have any of you had this flu-like thing lately? It’s absolutely brutal. I’ve felt as if I have some large pieces of antique furniture lodged in my lungs – they creak and groan macabre tunes every time I breathe out. Think I caught it when I ventured down to that London – this has proved that it’s better to live a reclusive life; I never seem to catch anything off the rabbits up the fields.
And now it’s nearly Christmas. A time to show love to the people who matter to us. Not just with presents but with our presence and warmth. Try not to let it all run away with you and make you stressed and overwhelmed; keep it all low-key, take time to look after yourself and to hibernate a little bit. And enjoy gorgeous simple food, delicious and un-pressured.
Thank you to all of you who read this Substack, and to all of our clients who are so loyal and who make up a big happy and healthy Nuush family. I feel blessed to have you all in my life and to be able to look after you.
Wishing you all the loveliest Christmas, with lots of magic moments and glimmers – look out for them!
xxx
The longest night
The winter solstice is a welcome turning point in the yearly cycle of nature. It’s this Saturday, December 21st, and it brings the year's shortest hours of daylight and the most hours of darkness. For centuries, it has been surrounded by ritual and folklore, symbolising renewal as the sun comes back to us.
Before Christianity, people would celebrate the winter solstice, as we do Christmas – it was a festival of light, marking the rebirth of the sun. Lots of solstice customs were changed into Christmas traditions. Traditionally, the Yule log was a large piece of wood – often oak – chosen with care and brought into the home on the solstice. It was put in the hearth and lit using a fragment of the previous year’s log, symbolising continuity and the passing of good fortune from one year to the next. The log would burn for twelve days, coinciding with the Twelve Days of Yule, and its embers were thought to hold special protective powers. Families would collect the ashes to scatter on their fields as fertiliser, keep some in the home to ward off evil spirits, or use them for medicinal purposes. It has now turned into a chocolate cake, such are modern times!
Holly, ivy and evergreen trees were sacred symbols of life enduring through winter, and then became central to Christmas decorations. Feasting and gift-giving, which were big parts of solstice celebrations, carry on today in the name of Christmas.
The hare is a creature that is often used to illustrate the turning of seasons – it is seen as being connected with the natural rhythms of the earth – any excuse to look at hare paintings gets my vote.
Whether we light candles or just let our thoughts run deep under long night skies, the solstice makes us think about the cycles of nature. It’s more than the shortest day; it’s a celebration of light coming back to us, and of our strong connection to nature.
Stay safe when using GLP-1s
There’s no doubt about it, so many people are now using drugs like Mounjaro to help them lose weight. I can totally understand why people are attracted to them, as they seem like an easy fix and many people say they quieten the ‘food noise’ in their head. While the drugs can bring side effects, so can overweight and obesity, hugely so, and if these drugs help people to lose excess body fat then that can bring many health positives.
But (there is always a but!) the drugs need to be properly prescribed, and the person needs to be properly screened before they are prescribed them. There are far too many over-the-counter weight loss drugs being sold and there appears to be very little support or adequate screening given to people who use them.
There are risks that come with taking these drugs – aside from the known potential side effects, some serious, there is a risk of malnutrition and associated illness. Just taking a drug does not teach someone to eat more healthily, so many people end up eating less food but the food remains nutritionally poor, and they begin to suffer with deficiencies. There’s a risk of chronic low blood sugar too, so the person feels tired and lacking in energy and vitality. And in some cases people start to suffer with hair loss and skin issues due to malnutrition.
Losing a large amount of weight in a short time brings muscle loss as well. So the body’s engine is being made smaller, and a smaller engine means fewer calories are burnt. So when normal eating is resumed it meets a slower metabolism, and more is made of the food that is eaten - on goes the weight again.
The risk of developing an eating disorder is also increased, as people tend no longer to enjoy food but to see it as a bit of a chore. And some people will develop an addiction to the drugs and to weight loss.
This is why it is critical to seek nutritional support if you are using the drugs. Making sure that with reduced food intake you are still getting all the vital nutrients that your body needs to thrive. Otherwise you can end up thinner but less healthy, not what any of us wants!
If you are using the drugs, or considering it, do book a call with me so we can chat it all through; you can follow our nutrition plans so that you lose weight at a sensible rate and are properly nourished. I am here to make sure you stay well.
I recently wrote a set of Nuush principles around our support of those who use the drugs. You can read them here.
Easy carrots at Christmas
If you have an air fryer you can save some hob space on Christmas day by using it to cook your Christmas-dinner carrots. Just peel and quarter the carrots lengthways then coat them in olive oil, a drizzle of honey and some sea salt. Air-fry them using the ‘roast’ setting for about 12-14 mins at 170º. Add parsnips too, if you want.
Absolutely beautiful.
Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity.
I listened to Dr Chatterjee’s podcast today. It was about near-death experience; it was wonderful and properly stretched my mind.
I’m a great believer in listening to things about topics that I know nothing about, or have no experience of. We live in such a restricted bubble of knowledge and consciousness, because that makes our lives easier to understand and navigate. But that can mean that we close our minds to so much. You only have to try and visualise the universe, or life itself, to blow your own mind, and they are accepted things.
That’s why all the criticism of Steven Bartlett’s podcast seems very unfair. They’ve picked him out and made an example of him, saying that his guests put out false information and that he doesn’t challenge them on it. I disagree; I listen to his pods a lot and they often stretch my thought processes, in a good way. I think he’s a great interviewer, because he is very open-minded himself. Apart from anything else, the guests he has on the show tend to do the rounds in podcast world; you’ll hear them on the shows of qualified doctors, like Dr Chatterjee or Rupy Aujla but no one is calling them out (thank goodness as I love them too!). Methinks there is some jealousy at play because his podcast is so successful, and so is he.
There is so much negativity around stuff now - the fact is, we all have a choice about what we watch, look at, read and listen to. If we don’t like one thing there’s a whole host of other things for us to tap into. It’s absolutely brilliant, but as in every day life we need to be discerning – that’s how we keep ourselves safe and alive. As for this stuff misleading people, as my mum used to say “If they put their head in a gas oven would you do it too?” Obviously not because I have my own mind. But I’d be curious about their rationale!
This doesn’t mean that I’m going to practise shonky science, I’m not trained to do that at all. When supporting people’s health I need all the strong evidence I can get. But that doesn’t stop me from consuming all sorts of information. I need to stay curious and not stagnate. There is much to learn and consider, and it makes life so interesting.
Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
Stephen Hawking
Graduation day
I wasn’t exactly looking forward to my graduation, especially as Moss’s accident had only happened the week before. But everything was booked and paid for, so off I went, reluctantly, on the train to London. There were plenty of tears along the way; I couldn’t think of anything but Mossy (still can’t). To top it off, I was having one of those ‘bad hair, bad face’ days, so I was counting down the hours until it was all over.
Imagine my surprise, though, when I was walking from the station to Twickenham Stadium, where the ceremony was being held, and felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see none other than Thomas Thomarto! He’d travelled all the way from Northern Ireland to surprise me. Well, I couldn’t stay glum after that, could I?
What started as a difficult day turned into a truly lovely one, spent with my family (Thomas is my brother from another mother). Some of them even surprised me by turning up at the restaurant afterwards. I’ll never forget it.
It was also fantastic to sit with my fellow students after five long years of hard work. I felt so proud of everyone, knowing how much they’d all poured into their degrees.
And that’s that!
Now for some exciting news – Nutritional Therapy is about to launch on the website! You’ll be able to find it there in the next few days, so do keep an eye out.
I’m also running a competition just after Christmas, where two people will have the chance to win nutritional therapy sessions. I’ll share all the details in the next newsletter. In the meantime, if you’re struggling with poor health and need support alongside your medical care if applicable, please do get in touch – I’m here to help. Whether it’s digestive issues, autoimmune conditions, Long Covid, hormone imbalances, or anything else that is making you feel unwell, I’d love to support you.
Elon Musk is going to be gutted
Because after a very long time Nuush has left the ‘X’ building and entered the Bluesky building instead. Do come and find us – just go to Bluesky and look for ‘Nuush Nutrition’!
From the dog basket
Aaarghh this is a tough one. But I’m so aware of the danger of neglecting Lottie, Evie and the cats and chickens because I’m all-consumed about Moss. Fear not, Lottie and Evie come everywhere with me and are as beautiful, funny and feisty as ever. Lottie was very down at first, as she was when Scout left us. And Evie spent a long time trying to pull Moss’s blanket over his head when I carried him into the house ‘that night’ – she is so knowing and sensitive. Evie soon gets over things though, and at the moment she keeps herself busy by destroying Christmas tree ornaments. You’d think with four cats it would be they who annihilated the tree, but no, it’s the pint-sized peril. Lottie has begun to suffer with arthritis in her back legs but she’s having a special injection once a month and it’s working miracles, so she is back to loving our long walks every day. We always visit Scout and Moss in the woods, painful as it is, and we tell them what we have been up to and what’s for dinner that night, and that we miss them both so much.
All the animals send you kisses and they ask that if you have any leftover turkey, you post it to ‘The menagerie in The Fens’ ‘East Angular’ ‘Innglund’.
Love and light,
All of us xxx
Sending warm wishes and thoughts to you Sally , to the Nuush team and to your family ….. those with two legs and four of course ! Happy Christmas xx
Wishing you a calm, warming, heartfelt Christmas Sally and family. See you for help and guidance in the new year. Lots of love Kate and Koda (my boy) xx