Therese Kerr is such an inspiring & amazing women. She is the proud mother of Miranda & Matthew Kerr, has released her first eBook 'Lunchbox Solutions' & has 3 more on the way. She is such a vibrant women, that shines radiant light & I feel honored to call her my friend. Welcome to the very first 'Thankful Thursdays' segment!
What are you thankful for?
My family, my health, my friends and my life in
general and all of the experiences I have had. I am blessed and truly thankful
for all of the experiences of my life; good and bad, for without any of them, I
would not be who I am today and at my soul level - the person I truly am, I
would not change a thing. One can
always find gratitude and ways to be thankful for even tragedies that occur in
their lives. I am thankful for having been given the gift of being
brought up in a loving family with parents who instilled in me the importance
of contribution, kindness and love. I am thankful for living in a country that
offers me freedom of speech and unlimited possibility and I am thankful for my
passion, determination, my never give up attitude and for every opportunity
that presents itself along my path..
How do you stay healthy & why is it important to
you?
I could give you a long answer on this but I will try
to keep it brief… In 2001/2002 I had
tumours in my spleen and I had to have my spleen removed. That was a
turning point in my life. Up until that point, I thought I was healthy, but
basically I was uneducated in relation to what my body, mind and spirit truly
needed. I have spent the last 12 years of my life, living and breathing health.
I have been a sponge for information and have applied what I have learned to my
life and seen first hand the results. So in a nutshell, here is what I do to
stay healthy, and why.
Just about
every morning I make myself a healthy shake (sometimes in winter I make myself
sprouted quinoa porridge as it is warming and nourishing to my body). You can
see a lot of my shake recipes (plus a lot of other healthy recipes) on my
website www.theresekerr.com (they are there free of charge for you to take and to
learn from if you choose).
My shake has
raw kale, raw spinach, raw sprouts, cocao powder, avocado, coconut syrup,
Macqui, Chia Seeds, Chia Oil, Vital Greens, the flesh and juice of a fresh baby
coconut, Vital Greens Protein Powder, blueberries, banana (sometimes or other
fruit), ice and filtered water. I simply blend these together and that is my
sustaining breakfast.For lunch I
predominantly eat a healthy salad and sometimes that has a bit of fruit in in,
it definitely contains nuts and I make my own healthy salad dressing to go with
it. I believe as a
society we eat too much and put too much pressure on our digestive system
(which 60-70% of your immune system operates from your digestive system, so it
is vitally important to look after your digestive health as without it, you
really don’t have health of the ability to assimilate nutrients effectively).
Sometimes if I am hungry mid morning or in the afternoon I will have a handful
of nuts or I will have made a protein bar slice or some raw food snack that I
eat (I love raw foods).
Even though I
am O Blood Type I don’t eat a lot of meat. On average I will have meat two to three times a week.
A typical
dinner for me is fresh partly steamed vege’s and a dressing that I make to go
with the meal. I believe in 80/20
rule, 80% healthy and 20% indulgent and what I find is the healthier I eat the
more I want to eat healthy. I exercise in
some way just about every day, whether it is a walk, tennis or working out with
my personal trainer. Exercise
oxygenates the cells and is so important in preventing the aging process.
What inspires you?
Making a difference and contributing to other people’s
lives, especially to the lives of young people is what inspires me most. You see, we are all incredibly unique,
gifted human beings and sometimes we lose sight of that. Reminding people of
that is what I love to do. Sometimes, people lose sight of how amazing they are
and all it takes is for someone
else to see the greatness in them and remind them of how incredible they are.
They then get the opportunity to discover it or rediscover it for themselves. My family also inspires me. My son Matt, my daughter
Miranda and my husband John, they all inspire me to be the best person I can
be.
What is your favourite way to exercise & why do
you enjoy it?
I exercise using my own body weight. Ricardo Riskalla
is my personal trainer and he has taught me so much about the physiology of my
body and how to get the best results using my own body weight with repetition
and the great thing is I don’t need to go to the gym – all I need is my lounge
room floor. I also love to play tennis and adore horse-riding.
Horses are an extension of me, I love the freedom of being on a horse and being
totally present to the experience, letting everything else go and being one
with the beautiful animal that grants me the space to be that with them.
What inspired you to create the beautiful life you
live?
The turning point in my life in having lost my spleen
inspired me to truly look at my
life in every aspect, to question my life in the fullest detail, to look
at why I behaved in the manner I did (pain in the neck over-rated achiever) and
to transform so many areas of my life. Things happen to us in our past and I
share a lot of my story in my new soon-to-be-released book “Live, loving you –
living from the heart”.
The challenge is that we make those things “mean”
something about us. As human beings, we are “meaning making machines” and unfortunately
we live into the story we create and our story becomes our reality and most of
the time the “story” is so just that “a story”. My mum died when I was 17 and pregnant with Miranda. When
mum died I created a “story” that firstly because I fell pregnant in the first
place I was an embarrassment to her and secondly that I would prove to her that
I could be anything she had hoped I could be. Basically, when mum died all I
wanted was to make her proud of me.
So for twenty odd years, I worked my backside off, always striving to be
the best I could be with an attitude that I could do anything but I never
understood, until I did a lot of work on myself, why I was so driven. You see,
the story became my reality. The truth is mum died and she would have been
proud of me anyway. I have done so much work on myself over the past
twelve to thirteen years. I am not
the same person I was and I will continue to evolve in every minute to
hopefully always be a better version of me. I have true power in my life over my past, I have a calm and
a peace within me that I never thought was possible, even when difficult things
happen, I am still at peace and know that it is all part of the bigger picture
of my life and whatever happens, happens because there is a lesson to be
learned and an opportunity for growth on a persona level.
I am blessed to live a life I love, because I choose
to live a life I love and create my “being” every day. After all, we are human beings, not
human doings and by choosing our “being” we get to say how life goes moment by
moment and that is such a blessing.
What is your favourite ‘Go-To’ vegetable?
I have this thing for sweet potato, but I love kale as
well. Kale is so full of essential nutrients and I like eating it raw in my
shakes to maintain all of those incredible nutrients. That may not sound
enticing for some, but try adding it to shakes and you will see and feel the
result. I also love carrots.
When you are busy, how do you maintain a consistent,
healthy lifestyle?
Health happens by choice, not by accident. We cannot live
in today’s society and expect health to fall in our lap, that won’t happen.
With the highly refined, highly processed, high sugar-content foods that most
people fill their body with, and that coupled with the amount of chemicals,
preservatives, colourings, etc that traditional food and personal care products
contain, our bodies are basically working over time just to survive, let alone
prosper. Just about everyone’s liver is so taxed at trying to rid their body of
toxins that it can’t perform vital roles like breaking down fat and chemicals,
toxins etc in our body effect all of our organs and every part of us.
Personally, I want to be around for a long time, but I
only want to be around for a long time if I am healthy and enjoying life. I am
48, my mum died of a heart attack as a result of over work, stress and possibly
genetics at the age of 50. I want to be around and be vibrant, lit up and alive
by life. I have been told that our cells have the ability to live to an average
age of 122, yet how many people live anywhere near that? Simply “choosing health” even when you have a super
active, busy life is the answer. I am committed to my health and wellness and
to my future and to being around to be a vibrant, spontaneous great great
grandmother.
What spiritual practice makes you feel most balanced,
thankful & grounded?
Mediation. I meditate of a morning and of an evening
and it grounds me and provides all of the answers I need. All answers are found
within, we just don’t take the necessary time out to listen and to be present
with and for ourselves. I used to do yoga but haven’t for a while and my next
step is to resume that such that I can give my body the continued agility it
needs.
Can you share with us one of your favourite recipes?
Raw Coconut, Nectarine and Chia Breakfast Pudding
There is a video of this on the post on my website. I
have so many raw recipes I love and they can all be found on my website www.theresekerr.com
SOAKING TIME: overnight for almonds (if making fresh almond milk)
Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk or milk of choice
1 cup of coconut water (from a fresh young coconut)
Coconut flesh (from 1 fresh young coconut)
½ cup chopped pitted dates (room temp)
1 –2 tbsp chia oil (optional)
1 tbsp maple syrup, honey or agave syrup (to taste)
1 white nectarine or other stone fruit
½ cup of chia seeds
2 tbsp probiotic/biodynamic yoghurt (optional)
2 tsp desiccated (shredded) coconut
Mint (for garnishing)
To Make Fresh Almond Milk:
Place almonds in a blender and process until well blended. Then
strain either using a wire mesh strainer or a nut milk bag (available at
any health food store).
To make pudding:
1. Place almond milk, coconut water, coconut flesh,
pitted dates, chia seeds, chia oil and maple syrup in the blender and
blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute to combine well. Pour into a bowl and
set aside.
3. Slice nectarine or other fruit and add to almond milk and coconut mixture then add the chia seeds and stir.
4. Pour mixture into 2 glasses or bowls and place in
refrigerator and allow to set for at least 1 – 2 hours or overnight.
You can also place in the freezer for a few minutes to help set the
pudding quicker if you desire.
NOTE: We like to also pour the mixture in a few little shot glasses to make chia puddings for snacks.
5. Serve chilled and garnish with a little yoghurt, fresh mint, a sprinkle of desiccated (shredded) coconut and a few chia seeds.
Therese Kerr
Purchase There's eBook Lunchbox Solutions here:
I absolutely love this eBook, not only is it simple to use, it is filled with amazing recipes that are easy to make. All the recipes are creative & unique, are perfect for people on the go & busy mums! If you haven't already, I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of your own; a fave & go-to recipe book for me! Fabienne x
