So the time has come to go public...

The time has come to go public...

After asking the question on my Facebook group A Lusher Life, I have listened to the responses with anxious happiness and decided that I need to stand proud of the fact that I am in fact a BLOGGER!
As well as all this, I am forever creating movies to share with the world on my Youtube Channels, both personal VLOGGING and my nutrition channel.

Why?

And why didn't I share this sooner?

Let's answer the last question first. I didn't share it for fear of unfriendly judgement. Yet I should know better at my age, with my life experience, as friends tell me to ignore those.
"You'll never please all of the people all of the time."
True.  If those people all knew my reason why, surely they would be kinder.  I'll tell you my Why in a sec.

Why have I chosen to share so much so publicly?  Great question.  It began back in 2009 with me hearing about the Law of Attraction, The Secret, Abraham Hicks and postivity.  To me, this was all new news. 
"Why doesn't everyone know life is meant to be amazing?" I asked myself.  
Turns out, lots of people Do know this stuff.  Yet, I still continue to remind others as I continue my learning around the subject too.

Bring this all forward to the here and now, today.

You may know, you may not, there is a list of health issues I often find a struggle.  Thinking about listing these as bullet points here may induce disbelief and possibly an air of sympathy which is definitely not what this post is about.  This post is about having these 'issues' and carrying on regardless.  So for me, a regular job is difficult, near on impossible.  Asking too much these days for employers to be sympathetic and patient when results are achieved or not.  
So in a passionate mindset of positivity, I am determined to honour the work ethic I have been raised to carry.  Despite illness, disease and hearing impairment (let's not go too far down the route of what's wrong although it's the biggest WHY) I want to continue to work. Should the health stuff become an issue and I can't hear anymore, leave the house or simply need to take to my bed randomly, I have this dream and notion that I can do all this from home.
Possible right? Many folks are doing this! Why not me?

Spending the past 7 years researching, learning and finding a craft which I love and adore, I am now ready.  Judgements be gone.  I'm ready to embrace life and work in the field I love (helping others) from home using both blogs like this and my love for creating films to add to Youtube.  My aim and my dream is to share my knowledge and a bit about life too as I pop health tips and even some meditation links as I find them.

Unsure if this makes any sense,  I ask you to support me.

My aim is to share these writings and videos as far and wide as I can.  In the hope they will help others as well as the hope that the tiny affiliate links I share help create an income from the blogs.  Should you find you wish to subscribe for more or share my links, please do. I would be eternally grateful.

Below, is a chance to leave comments.  Let me know what you would like to see here.  We can do some regular Q and A sessions too.  Ask away.  My door is open.

Much love, as always, 

Louise xoxo
Become a super fan https://www.patreon.com/louiseusher

Me. Opening up to you. 

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Are you ready to say "Bring on 2017"?

Bring on 2017. 

Never before have I said I'm glad Christmas is over. But I am. 
Not sure why but there is an agenda ahead. Lots to achieve. It's not new year resolutions. 
It's "let's get this done", if there's a difference!

What about you? Are you looking forward to something?
Work?
Achievements?
Health?
Holidays?
As for me, I'm super ready to get my teeth stuck into my career. I know in tiny detail what I want. Tiny. 
Now the challenge is to stop those inner voices talking me out of those wishes. 

We leave behind 2016. A year of many tragedies. Taken beautiful souls who created music. Big names. And Dad. Life isn't the same. Somehow, I have a strong knowing that he's just fine where he is. 

So what does 2017 hold for you? What would you like to see next year?

Much love

Louise xoxo

Christmas is different now.

Christmas. 

Not what it used to be as a child. Crickey, Christmas even used to have its very own smell. Let alone a feeling to surround its aura. 


Who would get the biggest gift?
What would be on TV?
Would we be allowed to sit in the living room with the warm coal fire? Would we be sent to the cold hallway for bad behaviour?

Different. Not worse. 

This year, I've a job to do. Looking after mum. Keeping her tears few as she spends this Christmas without dad. First time in 50something years. 
First time I spend it with my loved one. Thankful of him surviving myocarditis. 

My babies are growing up. I sense the ease and quiet with which Christmas may be in future years as they spend times with their partners. Ease and quiet making this sound amazing. Yet who doesn't love chaos at Christmas?
There is certainly a new feeling this year without dad. I feel Christmas will never be the same again. 

Professor Brian Cox presents a show on TV which caught my eye. Speaking of the science of the universe. 

I remember. 

I'm a tiny dot in the universe. I can also be, do or have whatever I want. 
2017, hurry along now. I'm waiting.

Happy Boxing Day everyone

Much love

Louise xoxo

Become a super fan https://www.patreon.com/louiseusher

London Concert at Christmas

Mentally writing blogs in my head is a luxury these days.

I missed you guys! How are you?  How are your Christmas plans?  There have been so many revelations in my life recently and it's all around this blog, this place I love.  Yes, I want to do more.
Since the template (face of the blog) has changed I love the new look.  I'm not sure all the features like your RSS feeds are working so well but I digress...

This has been a challenging few weeks at University with lots of work on.  You know, it's never quite so bad as you think it will be once you get going on these jobs you put off is it. Although it's not that I put things off, I just love working to the deadline.  Gives me a bit of a rush!  Last night I completed the last big one for this year.  Excited.

As you now, I lost Dad earlier this year and I have found it created a myriad of feelings that is so hard to put into words.
Surreal
Comforting
Heartbreaking

The list goes on.  Comforting because I have a strong sense of his peace.  Who wouldn't wish that for their loved ones?  Yet I know Christmas is going to be a challenge.  And I'm head of the house these days regarding my family.  I need to honour Dads memory,  remember him, still sing the silly songs we sang all while keeping the tears in check so Mum laughs with fondness and not a broken heart.  It's my job now to take care of her.  Of course, I love that.

Anyhow, we had a few tears, much laughter and a wonderful, amazing concert to get us in the Christmas mood.  The Royal Albert Hall was the host and the London Concert Orchestra were in residence accompanied by the AMAZING London Concert Choir.  I loved it.  So did Mum.

For the first time in I don't know how long, I felt like Christmas was going to be an exciting time! Mum enjoyed it too.

Prior to arriving at the concert, we spent time having a wonderful lunch, browsing Fortnum and Mason and watching the skaters in Somerset House. All so festive and beautiful.
The video of the day is below and I will forever watch this with a smile.  Love it.

I promise we will speak again before the big day on the 25th but meanwhile, much love

Louise xoxo

Are you too busy to stop?

Hungry.

Me, this lunchtime.

Crazy busy writing and more writing.  Not even the stuff I love.  No pretty pictures, very few paragraphs.  Yet write I must.  Two lab reports to submit; soon.

So, I worked until my stomach roared.  Fear of losing my momentum saw me carry on regardless.

Until I could wait no longer. I headed to Nandos.  My saviour.  Heading for the menu with a healthy head on, I grabbed chicken, sweet potato and avocado.  Delicious.  Then hurriedly I left onto the next crazy minded 'thing' that needed doing!

Ah it must only be the week before Christmas.  Stress and busy times.

My saviour?  Abraham Hicks and the guided meditations I have been listening to.  

Finding out this week that I am now able to add videos to a playlist on my youtube channel.  This is so exciting. As I find such videos I will be sharing them for you to enjoy.

Let's do this amazing life thing.  Can we?

Much love

Louise xoxo

ps...

I'm working on an amazing blog post for you guys.

I know you are going to love it.

Louise xoxo

Did 'the busy life' get you yet? Start PUTTING YOU first!

It's the most magical time of the year here in the UK.

Also known as one of the most stressful times.  How are you dealing with everything?

I'm up against 2 massive deadlines (hours and hours of scientific writing) and I have already completed 2 this week as well.  Literally ten minutes ago I was queuing for lunch, spotted the chicken legs and thought "I know, I'll get chicken and salad."
What happened?  I walked out with Snickers and diet coke.  Will that sustain me until I finish this evening at 9pm?  Unlikely.  Why oh why didn't I take half an hour out of my day to eat properly?

This hamster wheel does that to us.

Stops us putting us first.

Yet put us first we must.

You've heard those frequently used analogies of 'put your oxygen mask on before helping others'?  Well it's true isn't it. And apart from helping others, how about you deserve to be better?  Feel better? Sleep better? Achieve more.  Achieve the life of your dreams.  That's not going to come from working way too hard is it?  Take ten minutes tonight. Listen to this guided meditation.  It's free.  I love these.

I promise in the new year I will begin to make some guided meditations for you all.

Motivational Monday. What's holding YOU back?

It's gone 11pm.

I tell myself bedtime is 10pm, with 11pm as the cut-off point.  Holding myself accountable to my health.  You see with Crohns disease comes a whole host of responsibilities. One being 'taking care of self'.

Yet, today, my motivation is through the roof.  Not motivation to do my looming homework, but motivation to edit my videos, to share my stories with you guys, to get you guys feeling fired up with belief that you too can have an amazing life!

Looking through drafts of blog posts half written, I wonder when I will be getting the time and opportunity to complete and upload those blogs.  I have like, 7 blogs and goodness knows how many ideas and unfinished blogs. I would and could happily sit and write all day long. I've more ideas and ways forward than I know what to do with.

So to answer my own question, TIME is holding me back. Time to write and share with all of you wonderful readers.  MY stats are going through the roof and I totally love connecting with all of you. Yet right now I do need to sleep.

I urge you to have a look at this motivational video and answer the questions to yourself.

Ask yourself today if you might be able to perhaps take a tiny step towards bringing your dream into reality.  Even if it is a simple thought process.

Good night you amazing folks xxxoxxx

2016 #Vlogmas day 1

I LOVED making this video. It's up so late today but as always life is crazy. Are you doing VLOGMAS?

Much love

Louise xoxo

Vlogmas and advent calendars YANKEE CANDLE

Why don't starbucks do gluten free?

What is good and what is bad about Starbucks?

Firstly, this is good and bad for me.  Of course.  My opinion.  Not anyone else will find the same things and of course it will also depend on where you visit.  You see as I sit and write here, this shop is pretty empty and quiet and I love that there are loads of other people on their laptops too!  Many students I expect as we have my campus which shares the campus with 2 other universities too. 

I also love the coffee. Except for the one time they ran out of soya and I had to have it with coconut milk which is most unpleasant. 

Just one thing….where are the gluten free muffins?  In fact, where are the gluten free anything?  Jeez even the smoked almonds contain gluten on the dusting on the outside.   Why no gluten free products?  There are dried fruit and nut bags which frankly don’t hit the spot!

When will you be catering for celiacs like me Starbucks?  You do everything else so well!

Why I HAD to write this blog post

Yesterday,  something, 'that thing' in my head was nagging at me.  

Write that blog post.

Write that blog post.

Which blog post? I asked my mind silently. Which? What is it  I am supposed to be saying?

I'm still unsure yet I have opened up my laptop in Starbucks (more on that in the next post)  and let my fingers do the talking.

You see, yesterday, I stumbled upon a blog post from a lady I follow on twitter.  See that blog post here: http://sableyes.co.uk/?p=4004 and while I'm not overly sure what the blog post does/is/is about there are many followers, likes, clicks, pins etc that turned me green with envy while also finding myself incredibly impressed.
In her post, she writes of news reflecting leaving the full time job.   Oh yes.  How many of us want to feel that?  Hands up?  Me for one.  Yet i guess I already have.  
Working as a freelancer already has its benefits for sure yet the one big passion I really have (and have told you guys a million times before) is writing my blog.  Yes, I love it.  I want it to be the full time gig.  The full time job.  So what's stopping me?

If I tell you will you promise to give me feedback? 

Fear.

Yes, fear.  Fear of it not being well received.  

After investing much time and money into all these lessons we are constantly told 'you need a niche'  and that noone is going to want to hear about your daily life.  Well, a little part of me doesn't believe that.  A little part of me feels I have something to offer those who are llike me,  wanting it all yet struggling due to health/mental health/ belief.  I'm trying hard to get there.  Yet the belief stops me.

So, I kinda stopped writing.

Then sense kicked in.  Ok, I was going to stay on at university and do the whole Phd thing.  Then I changed my mind (I will tell you but it will have to wait a few months) as I realised my health is really suffering!

So back to the idea of blogging, working from home, spending my days with Harley and topping up the muscle which is losing itself in my legs.  

While trying to help others through health and nutrition, I am ending up causing my own health to suffer.

Then I noticed the blog post above.

Feeling inspired,  I thought,  she is doing it.  She is actually doing it.  Why can't I?  

With expertise in many areas I have something to offer,  although the thing I really want to offer is a blog full of experiences, both good and bad and showing how despite life 'going against us' (it doesn't,  but that's the best way to put it!) we can all achieve our Lusher Life.

What say you? Would you read that?  With some carefully taken photographs to look at too?

Do you get my emails to your inbox?  Did you sign up to that box on the left for that?  Please leave me a comment so I know...

Then, my lovely friend Stephen who has been absent for some time from the blogosphere posted too...more clarity.

What say you?  Would you read?

Much love

Louise xoxo

Become a super fan https://www.patreon.com/louiseusher

Ever felt overwhelmed?

Indulge me in a little self pity?

For I’m sure this is somewhere we have all been at sometime.  Overwhelm!

Wow – I’m sure feeling that my feet are back on solid ground, in the rainy UK, with more work than I know what to do with.  So please, sit with me and picture the scene.  Coffee shop; (pretty cold here) with my nice soya latte and a gluten free cake (yum!). Plenty of note paper, a nice pen and my glasses.  My diary (one is not enough so I consider buying another to use as my day diary for personal stuff and anything non uni related.  Yes, there is lots to do and frustratingly my fingernails are beautifully long (looking wonderful after the wedding but way too long to type at my usual speed) as I sit and ponder about life, the future and how I can figure all these things out.

The Law of Attraction has a lot to answer for.  Not only did it have me confused for ages and ages (knowing that life is supposed to be joyous after being raised with comments to the contrary) yet I felt inclined to write list upon list of how to figure out what I should be doing.  You may have seen the several blog posts I wrote suggesting how you can figure out what you should be doing.

Take me back?

So, then I cracked it. I should be working online. Yay.  Love that idea.  One for a challenge, I decided to take things one stage further and get myself more knowledge and qualifications.  Then the tricky bit began.  The real work started.  Whoever said ‘students have a cracking time lording it up in the pub’ had things very misunderstood.   University is HARD work.  While I love a challenge and I definitely love hard work,  this is frustrating at times.  Not always clear on what is expected of me or how I am supposed to be learning, I often wonder what the flip I’m doing.  On top of this, I know within my heart, soul and gut that I need to start growing my online practice as soon as possible.  Yet time is of the essence as I see to writing the next lab report or doing another piece of research. 

Can I be honest with you here?  My health has suffered.  I don’t find the time to get to the gym anymore.  Eating right is a luxury (and I know better than that) and I find myself an unwell victim of society.  Rushing around, without proper nutrition and exercise.  So while I’m hoping to help others at the end of all this, I seem to be doing myself more harm than others.

Should I quit?  Throw in the towel?  Heck, no.  Not without a darn good crack at the whip.  Maybe I need to accept that for the next 18 months life will be more than a challenge, maybe we will need to get take-aways or microwave dinners and I will for sure need to keep taking my anxiety medication (which goes against everything I believe in).  At the end of all this, I not only get a gown and mortar board photo but I gain credibility.  As a nutritional scientist who uses evidence based approaches to help my clients.  Hoping to bring an end to some people’s health issues along the way. 

Will it all be worth it?  Today it’s hard to believe. Yet I’m sure it will all be worth it!

My wedding dress doesn't fit!

The wedding dress doesn't fit. 

Alterations last week saw needles flying at the speed of light. Yet efforts were in vain. 

I love this dress. 

What makes a dress?

For me, I would say the fit. Then you can tell a 'great made' dress too. Going hand in hand. 

Although I tried and even got Scott to put it on for me to get his opinion. 

We all knew it was wrong. 

Off I go after work to try and find myself a new wedding dress. 

We leave on Wednesday for Jamaica. 

Wish me luck!