Feeding Your Optimal Being: Energize Your Body,Engage Your Brain, Explore Your Creativity

By Kathleen H Bulger and Hannah K Gosselin

We all have things we see as barriers to overcome, but after time reflection and by working through the situation we can usually find the gift in it all. I am here to help you unwrap your lessons, reveal some of your gifts and learn to love the journey of becoming the Optimal Being that you are here to be.  All the aspects that contrib

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Release date: Oct 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640856011

Kathleen H Bulger

Kathleen Bulger knows first-hand and understands the challenges of overcoming what conventional medicine believes your future should be after life-altering events. Kathleen became a Registered Holistic Nutritional Consultant, coach and author after surviving a life-threatening horseback riding accident, a stroke, heart attack and compression fractures in her spine. She believes it's time to for all of us to shed defeating habits and limiting beliefs. Throughout her career, Kathleen has discussed personal health concerns with over 20,000 people. She has learned through life experience and years of coaching that optimal health looks very different for everyone. The time has come to feed your body the right balance of real food and expand your brain through connection, creativity and meditation.

Book preview

Endorsements

Finding people in the world who share your visions, beliefs and values is not always easy, especially when moving to a new city, province or town. When I moved back to the Maritimes from 23 years in Ontario it was difficult for me to find my new tribe. When I met Kathy, I instantly knew she was part of my new tribe, that instant feeling of ease you get when you meet such a person flooded over me. Wise beyond her years Kathy has an incredible gift for making others feel included and at ease, a calm steady presence and vibe! I value Kathy as a holistic professional peer and as a true friend, always there to listen and offer calm reassurance. I view my friendship and professional relationship with Kathy as a gift.

Sonita Pouliot, RHN, CPT, Chef.

In my conversations with Kathy, it is clear that she understands the connection between the mind/body and the real root causes of dis-ease. I expect her book to hold a wealth of information from her training and experiences and will be of value to anyone, from novices to experts.

Dr. Adrienne Wood, Naturopathic Doctor

Feeding Your Optimal Being

Energize Your Body

Engage Your Brain

Explore Your Creativity

Kathleen Bulger RHN

Copyright © 2019 Kathleen Bulger.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

Paperback: 978-1-64085-599-1

Hardback: 978-1-64085-600-4

Disclaimer

No information in this book should not be interpreted or construed as providing medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment in any way. This book is for educational purposes only. You should always consult your primary care provider or family physician before beginning any new dietary changes, starting any nutritional supplements or any products mentioned in consultations or on this book. Each and every person is acknowledged as biologically different and therefore may respond differently to any changes. If you are on medications it is your responsibility to consult your qualified pharmacist for any contraindications.

Please read this before making any of the recipes in this book.

My daughter, a trained chef and myself have tested these recipes in our own kitchens using quality ingredients. Substituting any ingredients, quantities, or making any other changes to these recipes may affect the final outcome. To the best of my knowledge, these recipes are healthy, nutritious, and safe. If you have a food allergy, food intolerance, any other allergy or special medical conditions please read through the ingredients in each recipe carefully and determine if they are appropriate for you.

All recipes are prepared and consumed at the risk of the consumer. I cannot be held responsible for any losses, damages, or other hazards that you may sustain or encounter as a result of shopping for, preparing, consuming any recipe, or its individual ingredients. The nutritional information, recipes, or other content in this book is not intended to be interpreted or construed as providing medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment in any way.

If you have any special needs, allergies, requirements, or health problems contact your primary care physician or health care provider before making or consuming any of these recipes or its individual ingredients.

Dedication - Expression of Gratitude

Expressing gratitude for the people who supported this book is an amazing part of my journey. I truly want to thank everyone who believed in me, offered to help, and was patient while I spent time totally absorbed in the writing of this book.

Thank you to my husband, Tom Bulger, for allowing me to bounce ideas off him and for taking the time to type up the recipes even though the computer crashed and they were all lost the first time. I appreciate all the evenings you accepted that my attention was committed to the writing. Thanks for always believing in me, even in my most disorganized, chaotic moments. Thank you for all your proofreading and editing.

Thank you to my amazing daughter, chef Hannah Gosselin, for her commitment in getting me the recipes so they could come from her creative heart and mind to the pages of this book. She made each one of them to perfection, both on paper and in real life. Hannah, you are always a great cheerleader for me, and I am so proud of you!

Thank you to my unwavering friend, Stacy Sullivan, for reading through chapters to see if they made sense on the page because I only knew what I wanted to say and not always how they sounded to others. Your kindness in sharing my work and supporting me by sharing your clients means the world to me. Thanks for making me laugh and hearing me rant.

Thank you to my friend and long-lost cousin Ruth Pelerine Link, for always offering support and proofreading some of the information for me. Your willingness to promote my work and make holistic connections to others is greatly appreciated.

My appreciation goes out to Ann Perry, Numerologist and long-time friend, for helping me with book titles, business names, course creation resources and accepting my random calls for help. Again, our friendship has been about life lessons and gratitude. She has encouraged me to step into my optimal being.

Thank you to my editor Veronica Price and your lovely daughter, Aimee Brown, who connected us. I am proud to call her my friend. It is such a gift to have someone who is spiritually aware and connected to edit and be a part of making this book a reality.

Thank you to my friend, Jodi Bastian, for always supporting me, both in our other career and the writing of this book. Thank you for being a great proof-reader. She offered her time and passion for the things she referred to as her wheelhouse that helped this book come together.

Thank you to everyone who was kind and supportive on my journey, including Dr Adrienne Wood and chef Sonita Pouliot RHN, for believing in me as I found my way on this journey. Thank you to everyone who offered assistance and words of encouragement. I am forever grateful.

My biggest expression of gratitude goes to you, the reader. Thank you for allowing me into your space by purchasing my book and being a part of my journey. I hope I can contribute and give back to you as much as I have gained from my life experiences, including writing this book.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 To You, the Reader

Chapter 2 Hello Readers!

Chapter 3 About Hannah

Hannah’s Favourite Taco Salad

Chapter 4 The Journey Begins with Choices

Nova Scotian Hodge Podge

Chapter 5 Energetic Value of Food

Coffee Chocolate Truffles

Chapter 6 Water the Garden

Pico De Gallo

Chapter 7 Discovering the Value of Bugs- Bacteria

Turkey Stock

Chapter 8 The Intuitive Gardener

Flank Steak

Chapter 9 Sprouting Ideas

Baked Eggplant

Chapter 10 Tending to the Roots

Goulash

Chapter 11 Perspectives in the Garden

Chili

Chapter 12 The Environmental Factors

Quinoa Risotto

Chapter 13 Clearing the Air for Growth

Cauliflower Mash

Chapter 14 Personal Growth in Every Garden

Guacamole

Chapter 15 Mental Health – Unearthing

Fresh Cheese

Chapter 16 Motion and Connections

Cauliflower Soup

Chapter 17 Unique Colours of the Garden

Cauliflower Cheese Bread

Chapter 18 Wrapping up the Season

Harvard Article – Totally worth a read

Interesting Sites for Reference

To You, the Reader

Have you ever walked into a room, looked at a person and thought that he or she is simply radiant or glowing? When you see people like that, they are their optimal being in that moment. They radiate energy and love and they just really stand out to you. They may look like they have it all together, and they do, in that moment, but it is a journey.

When I began writing this book it wasn’t a new concept, I had the idea for several years. I told a few people I really wanted to promote wellness and get the information out on a bigger scale than only doing one on one client consultations. I was met with great support. It has been a hard road and I have had to make a lot of decisions around my health, but everyone has been worth it. I am here to serve and support you as you make great decisions to become your optimal being. If you decide not to make a decision to improving your health right now, that is still a decision. I believe Jim Carrey said" if you can fail at something you don’t like, why not try to do something you love." I love inspiring and supporting people on their journey towards wellness.

If you don’t make a decision now to move forward, you will still move forward but without clarity or a clear direction and you may look back on this moment and wish you had started now. Today, you can make a decision to value yourself physically, mentally, and creatively. Do it out of self love, self-worth and self care. Consider this your permission to be selfish and become more like yourself (I will explain this concept later).

My concern for you is genuine, if you work from your heart and raise your awareness, the possibilities are endless. I want to give you the tools to connects with yourself and connect with the greatest feelings in your body. As Kyle Cease often says, In the beginning you can only measure what you can lose and not what you can gain.¹ He talks a lot about the fact that you only can measure your current situation by what you already know and you just don’t know how amazing things can really be if you haven’t experienced it at these new heights before. This is true on so many levels including all aspects of your health, they can’t be separated. You have to think of working towards optimal being as improving your lightness of being, or brightness, and ask yourself, What feels amazing to me in my body? What are the risks and vulnerabilities I have to face?

Make the commitment to really take the time and steps toward loving yourself. Embrace developing your optimal being, your physical health through food and movement, your mental health though awareness and creativity by being with meditation and colour all to stimulate the body mind and soul.

I have written this book for you. I have done it by embracing my life lessons and my new way of being in the world after some significant life experiences you will learn more about in the coming chapters. In my present state of being I can only write when it is completely quiet and I am free from distractions. After say that, I guess we are never totally free from distractions because we actually distract ourselves most of the time with thoughts of what is out side of our selves and not in this moment. I need quiet because I have a new neuropathway in my brain from that happened after a stroke. External noises and stimulation make it very hard for me to focus intently on things. I can manage it for short spurts with persistence. Sometimes I will interject a word in what I am saying that is not relevant to the sentence if I am thinking of one thing while hearing another. It is both frustrating to me, and mostly my husband, but it is often a reason for a good laugh. My stroke has given me permission to express that I need quiet and that electronic stimulation is sometimes overwhelming to me. If the TV is on, I can’t have the radio on in another room. It doesn’t just distract me; they blend together and I can’t hear either so my brain tries to concentrate on one or the other and I get frustrated. I have learned to shut off one, or more often than not. both. We didn’t have TV for a couple of years and just recently got it back, it was free. But was it? It might not be costing us anything financially with our new internet deal but it is costing me hours of distraction. I have had to learn to set boundaries and express my needs. My unique medical history has created a situation that is a blessing. It has given be permission to find the quietness in my life and really treasure it. I would encourage you to do the same, notice your distractions, are they worth your time? If not reduce or eliminate them.

My amazing daughter, chef Hannah has created recipes inserted after each chapter to inspire you to make something wonderful to feed your body and spirit with real amazing foods that are tried and tested by us! We hope you enjoy them and take the time to create them. Hannah has had her struggles as well but has overcome them with grace and perseverance, but that’s her book to write someday.

We all have things we see as barriers to overcome, but after time reflection and working through the situation we can usually find the gift in it all. I am here to help you unwrap your lessons, reveal some of your gifts and learn to love the journey of becoming the Optimal Being that you are here to be

Hello Readers!

I’m Hannah! The daughter of a wicked, awesome, beautiful mother who wrote this book!

I have spent the last few years of my life traveling Canada, going to culinary school, working in different kitchens and having wonderful experiences. I have