Zeenat Ahmed-Peto – Page 8 – Embrace Coaching

June 9, 2011

Vegetarian Experiment Day 2

This is actually day 5 of eating a vegetarian diet for a month, but as I may not be able to blog every day, I thought I would give myself a head start! I was teaching today so I virtuously made my lunch last night, put it into a tupperware box, into the fridge. Then of course this morning I forgot to take it to work! At lunchtime I headed over to the local cafe to buy my lunch, and in my head I had decided to have a jacket potato with baked beans. But they had run out so I had to make a snap decision as a queue was forming! In my panic I ordered my default lunch – a prawn sandwich. Now it was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but I was teased mercilessly over lunch by friends who kept asking what kind of vegetable a prawn is! (David, you know it was you!) I guess sometimes, even when you plan your meals, things go wrong. Oh well, this is what I ate last night:

Corn on the cob, pasta with spinach, pine nuts and feta cheese, beetroot salad and cucumber and avocado saladI also bought some of these delicious snacks today, which were recommended to me by my friend Caz (you can see her blog ‘Life is Limitless’ here). They are very natural, give you lots of energy and are super tasty too 🙂

June 8, 2011

My 30 Day Vegetarian Experiment

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I am eating and what the food I eat is doing to my body.

In a previous post I talked about Paul McKenna’s weight loss system and how my weight has fluctuated over the years. (You can find out how it has been for me so far here.) But now I am thinking about more than just losing weight. I am looking for a way to increase my energy levels and reduce the fatigue and stodgy feelings I get inside my body, and although I don’t eat masses of meat, I am keen to see what difference this makes (if any) to how I feel. I will also monitor the effect it has on my Psoriatic Arthritis (if any). I also have some other some bad habits which I am going to work on too!

So for the next month I am going to eat vegetarian food only – all manner of vegetables, pulses, grains and fruit. As well as this I am going to try to:

cut my intake of tea from 6 cups per day to 3 cups, plus herbal tea at night
I am going to increase my intake of water gradually over the month from 0.5 litres to 2 litres
I am going to attempt to avoid processed foods as much as possible

I will post as often as I can on my progress and upload photos of the new delights and recipes I discover!

To whet your appetite, here is an example of the lunch I ate on day 1 of the vegetarian experiment:

Avocado, tomato and pepper and chick pea and beetroot dips with pitta breadFollowed by mint tea!

I would love to hear from anyone who is trying a vegetarian experiment at the moment or has tried this before. Please share your experiences or comment below. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe so you can keep up with my progress. Thanks!

June 1, 2011

Love Music, Love Live Music?

I love music. And I love watching my favourite bands playing live. The weird thing is though, that I didn’t even realise that other people didn’t love music as much as I do until fairly recently. And weirder still, I didn’t realise how much the live experience means to me and has enhanced my love of music and of the musicians who create it!

Recently I was discussing this with another music-lover over coffee. What my friend had to say was interesting. She described in great detail, the memory she has of one of the very first concerts she went to – the way her idol first appeared on stage, just in shadow and the first beats of the drum that she heard. While she was telling me about it my hairs stood on end – my mirror neurons picked up the emotion in her voice, the nostalgia and the teenage-crushiness of her experience. Of course, I have experienced that feeling too, many times. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to identify with it.

Amy Winehouse at The Shepherds Bush Empire 2007 (Sorry about the terrible photo)We also discussed the fact that we both have friends, with whom we have lots in common, who share our other interests, but not live music. I have had people say to me ‘It’s so expensive to go to concerts. And besides, you can just listen to the music on the iPod!’ Well to me, that sounds like someone saying I can eat a three course meal, but I can only eat it blindfolded. It will still taste good, but if I could see the food, and eat it in a beautiful place, accompanied by a good friend, served by professionals… of course my experience would be even more memorable and exciting!

Lady Gaga at The O2 Arena, 2010Not quite a Philip Treacy, but a bird hat I made to wear to Gaga

Child of the 80’s…

I remember becoming interested in pop music at a really young age – around 8. I bought my first ever LP record with my birthday money when I was 9 (‘Rio’ by Duran Duran you may not be surprised to hear)!

Duran Duran at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 2011

A rare live concert by Adam Ant, La Scala 2010

U2 ‘s Adam Clayton, Cardiff 2009

I still feel as excited when I am going to watch live music as I did when I was teenager. The anticipation is excrutiating, waiting for my favourite singer or band to come on stage. I feel excited just thinking about it 🙂

View of the stage at a Prince concert. The musician I have seen the most times!

June 1, 2011

Meditation for Children

This weekend is going to be an exciting one! I’m off to Brighton on a training course to further explore my interest in teaching meditation to children. In one of my guises, I am a teacher and I have been trying out whole class meditations with pupils aged ten and eleven. I have had some great responses from the pupils; some of whom have said they employed the techniques I taught them when they were sitting their recent SATs tests. It is amazing how much presssure there is on young people these days to perform well in exams, get into ‘good’ schools, not to mention trying to fund university or find a job when they are older. I do remember however, feeling anxious and worried about similar things myself when I was younger, so maybe it was always this way? I think I could have done with knowing more about how to lower my own stress levels and also being more able to put things in perspective. I am a true believer in enabling young people to do things and think for themselves by skilling them up and teaching them how to be pro-active. We are not all destined to stay they way we were when we were born! We can improve and develop ourselves, and this includes learing to take care of our own levels of stress through meditation.

Visualisation is a simple and effective tool in meditation

May 22, 2011

Women’s Networking Meeting and Goal Setting

As you may know, I am a member of the Wonderful Women’s networking group run by the fabulous ReeRee Rockette. We meet once a month for full meetings, and are invited to smaller meetings depending on our particular needs. The meetings usually have a theme and so far we have discussed topics like using social media, branding, marketing, webdesign and copyright. Today’s theme was about setting goals, which is the sort of thing that I know works, given my NLP background!

Each of the women articulated in words one goal for their business in the next 5 years, 3 years, coming year and 6 months. Many of us were saying it was difficult to start with, but by the end we had lots! We also tweeted our goals so that we weren’t just saying them to each other, but were putting them out there to the world (or at least our followers). As we all agreed, how can you know if you’re there if you don’t know where you’re going? We also tried to have measureable and specific goals. Needless to say I came back very excited and fired up about the goals I had set for myself this afternoon. I was even more excited to see that a few Twitter followers said that my goals summed up what they wanted to do and gave them some clarity and support. That made it even more worthwhile!

We met at the delightful vintage cafe Drink Shop and Do on Caledonian Road.

Picture: ReeRee Rockette

Picture: ReeRee RocketteAmongst our group of women this month we had our host, ReeRee Rockette, owner of Rockalily London Make-up, photographer Tigz Rice, Editor of New Empress Magazine Helen Cox, The Thrify Stitcher Claire-Louise, and sound engineer at Sounds Wilde Kirsty Gillmore. We also had the owner of Wonderland Wigs Sam, milliner LittleMissB, hair and make-up artist Miss Honey-Bare, Lizzie of Betty Blues Loungerie and burlesque performer Duchess Divine as well as new member Rosie who is considering her business options! We are quite a diverse bunch, but inspite of this and being at different stages of running our own businesses, we all contribute and gain so much from our meetings.

May 22, 2011

Self-Coaching Tip – Take Action for Your Own Happiness

Sometimes we need to remember we can all positively affect our own happiness.As you may have read in my blog I did a charity walk yesterday for Cancer Research UK. As well as gaining a sense of achievement for myself, I really felt good knowing that I was part of something bigger, and that the money I raised through sponsorship would go towards the fund for finding new treatments and ultimately cures for different cancers. So why do we feel good when we give our time or money to charity?

The Action For Happiness website says:

“When we give to others it activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust. Altruistic behaviour releases endorphins in the brain and boosts happiness for us as well as the people we help.”

I have been following the Action For Happiness Campaign founded by Richard Layard, Geoff Mulgan and Anthony Seldon with interest ever since its launch. This inspiring campaign looks at how we can increase levels of happiness in our society. The website itself is interactive and engaging, and I become hooked every time I visit it.

I love their three fundamental values:

1. We can each affect our happiness and the happiness of those around us

2. We need to prioritise the things that cause happiness

3. Helping others is essential for a happier society

“We make a living by what we get, but we making a life by what we give.” ~ Winston Churchill

You can join the Action for Happiness campaign today, pledging to help yourself and those around you feel happier. On the website you will find tons of advice and ways to get involved in your local area.

May 21, 2011

What I love about London…

On my way back to the station from my walk this morning, I stopped to watch this man who was busy painting in the middle of a traffic island. A few others were glancing as they walked by and a passing traffic warden seemed quite engrossed too. Perhaps he was working out he could give the man some kind of ticket!

Painting Holy Trinity Church, opposite Great Portland Street tube station

May 21, 2011

Race for Life for Cancer Research UK

This morning I did my first 5K walk for Cancer Research UK. I have done a 7K walk for Kidney Research UK before, but although that was longer, I took it at a more leisurely pace. This time I was determined to do it as quickly possible and I only stopped when I wanted to video an amazing display going on as part of another event. I am very pleased with my time as I walked the 5K in an hour and 3 minutes. My dream would be to jog it eventually, but for now, I am pleased. Next year I would like to try and walk 10K. I am sure that would be much more of a challenge, and one I plan to pursue! If you would like to get involved yourself, why not sign up for one of the many walks all sround the country? Go to www.raceforlife.org

Walking along with women of ages, shapes and sizes We were in the gorgeous location of Regent’s Park

I finished in an hour and 3 minutes

Remembering lost loved ones and those fighter cancer today

May 16, 2011

Self-Coaching Tip – Sleep on It

The phrase ‘let’s sleep on it’ is one that I have been aware of for many years, and to me it simply meant ‘Here’s some time for you to think before you make a decision’. In recent years I have found it to be very useful in a literal sense.

Quite often I go over something that I am puzzling over or trying to work out, before I go to bed. I give it my full attention for ten minutes or so and then I do something else, like get ready for bed, watch t.v. or read. I trust that my subconscious mind will be working on the problem whilst I am asleep. This means that I have had mornings where I have woken up and the problem is solved, or it feels clearer, or I feel more prepared for what is ahead.

I am a great believer in the idea that I know deep down what I want, even though on the surface it sometimes feels like I am struggling to make a decision. In fact I am struggling with quite an important decision at the moment, and rather than panicking and get myself into a complete tizz, I trust that I will come to a decision and it will be the right one.

Try this for yourself:

Go over in your mind something that you have been thinking/worrying about
Ensure that you set aside ten minutes of uninterrupted time so that you can think clearly
Feel inside that you trust that the issue will become clearer by the morning
Go about your business before going to sleep so you are no longer thinking about it
Go to sleep trusting that you don’t have to worry; in time it will be resolved naturally and you will know what to do

This is one thing I do to help me make decisions or prepare for a big day ahead. What do you do? Please leave me a comment on any of the tips and share your experiences!

May 12, 2011

London’s Statues, Mythology and Stories

I am obsessed with statues! I know, it’s a bit weird. I think it started when I watched Clash of the Titans when I was a little girl and the statue of the Goddess Thetis came alive with Dame Maggie Smith’s face superimposed on it. It freaked me out, but at the same time I couldn’t stop looking! I had a similar experience as a teenage visitor to New York and saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. I just couldn’t believe the magnitude of the statue before me, and I think the early cinematic memories from ‘The Planet of The Apes’ (1968) were etched into my psyche. The closing scene which shows the Statue of Liberty only from the chest upwards, haunted me as a child!

London is a fantastic city in which to indulge one’s interest for statues, but if you can’t get to London yourself, have a look at this book – it’s full of beautiful colour photos and background information into the lives of the subjects.

A fabulous book on the subject

On a recent trip to St Paul’s I spent some time looking at the cathedral and some of its many statues. The monument to Queen Anne is flanked by four ladies representing England, Ireland, France and North America.

I think my love of statues also stems from the fact that I also loved Greek mythology as a girl. I was an avid reader who became easily engrossed in stories, and was rather prone to day-dreaming! I would stare at the pictures in the books, and always wanted to see more pictures than were there. When I started becoming interested in art, my appetite for myths returned as so many painters depicted heros and heroines in a way I had never encountered before.

The painting below is by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1693-1770) (photographed from An Introduction to GreekMythology by David Bellingham, 1989).

‘Zeus sits in majesty on a cloud, while Hermes performs aerobatics above; Aphrodite sits with Eros (Cupid) aboard a chariot pulled by sacred doves; Athene appears below.’

Paintings like like reignited my love for myths and stories by adding another dimension to them for me.

A monument to Queen Anne who reigned from 1665 -1714