My uni semester finished 2 weeks ago.  I finished the semester early as I had no exams, all my assessments were written assignments. Some of my friends are still studying for exams and will be doing them over the next week.  I've filled my time ensuring that all my notes are up to date, that I have downloaded all the learning materials and readings, just in case I've missed the odd thing here and there in the business of the semester. I'm usually pretty good but had missed some updated notes that were put up on Blackboard after our workshops.  In addition to this I did a lot of sleeping in the first week of the holidays.  My body needed rest.  This has been my best semester so far as far as my health and energy goes.  I've been on low-dose Naltrexone for 6 months now and it has definitely helped with my ability to cope physically as well as assisting my cognition.  I'll write a post specifically about Naltrexone over the next few days.

As I've mentioned previously, taking care of myself, in addition to taking all of my medication, is vital to me being able to be independent and to cope with uni. With that in mind I regularly prep food so that I always have healthy, nutritious food on hand so it takes little to no effort to throw together a healthy meal or snack for myself. I've been gifted some food this week. An abundance of oranges from Mum's tree, lemons, limes, mandarins, lettuce, English spinach, an avocado and a custard apple.  I cut the oranges into pieces and store them in old jam jars in the fridge as a ready snack or to add to Sophie's dinner - yes she eats well too which is why she is in such good shape at 13.5 years old. There is a 9 year old lab called Sally who lives near my parents and she looks considerably older than Sophie, can barely walk and has lived on dry food all her life.  I really think nutrition makes a huge difference.  I've always raw fed my dogs.  Anyway, back to the food prep.  In the fridge I have a salad made up (blue bowl), carrot sticks and cut up cucumber stored in water in jars at the back, orange slices cut up and stored in jam jars at the front and a bottle of homemade hummus made with my friend Tiia's recipe.  I also have a container of berries washed and ready for when I feel like a sweet snack or to sprinkle over my porridge of a morning.

 

It makes it so easy to throw together a healthy meal.  To the salad below I added some parsley and tomatoes from my garden. My tomato plants here grow with wild abandon and I am rarely without cherry tomatoes.  As I'd been gifted so much food I splurged and picked up some smoked salmon which I added to the salad.

Sophie and I take our regular walks most days.  Some days she's a bit wobbly and stiff so I keep her at home but we both love getting out. It keeps us healthy too. That and doing yoga and pilates here at home.  Sophie joins in to these at times which makes some sessions more of a wrestle and giggle fest than an exercise session.

Another aspect of my lifestyle is to reduce my carbon footprint further and I'm very happy to be able to recycle my coffee pods.  I have a Nespresso machine as I knew that Nespresso provided a recycling program.  As there is no collection centre for the pods close to me I can use the Nespresso postal service by putting my pods in their postal bag and simply popping it in the post box.  Very convenient.

Catching up with friends in person has been on the agenda too which seemed odd after being so isolated during the Covid lockdown.  Everyone's lives have been so different, each with their unique challenges.  Today I am visiting my friend Susanna who is one of my friends from uni. Susanna and her husband moved to Australia this year.  Sadly she lost her father during Covid and was unable to return home to his funeral due to the restrictions.  I felt so deeply for her so far away in a new country, in lockdown, navigating her grief.

While I'm out today I'll call into the bulk food store and get the ingredients that I need to make gluten free flour.  Far cheaper than purchasing the same mix at a local health food store and containing far more nutrients than the regular gluten free flours commonly found in our supermarkets.  I'll share some more about being gluten free and the flour mix I use when I write about low-dose Naltrexone.

Blessings of the day to you my friends. xxx