Q&A With Laura Dundovic: CFS, Internal Beauty & Natural Healing
She’s the gorgeous former Miss Universe Australia, TV host and Myer ambassador, but what many people don’t know about Laura Dundovic is that not only is she one of the nicest girls in the business – but she also manages chronic fatigue syndrome.
In my opinion, this condition needs to be renamed. I used to think that it meant that someone was just extra tired. This is far from the case. Chronic fatigue can be so demanding that those who have it spend days, weeks and even months bed bound with no energy to do anything. Lovely Laura was kind enough to let me quiz her about her clean living lifestyle and how she manages her busy career on top of what is often a debilitating condition.
I am a big believer in carving out a morning routine that will set the tone for your day. What does your morning routine involve?
While it is ideal to wake the same time every day, I have found the best way to manage my chronic fatigue is by getting 8 hours sleep every night. Because my schedule is all over the place this means that my wake up time can vary. Once up though I stretch before anything else. I have started swimming, so I love to do this a few mornings a week to wake up my body, and I then sit down to breakfast. I have been having a gluten-free muesli with fresh berries and non-dairy milk with some UDO’s oil through it for the last few weeks.
How do you stay healthy while travelling?
I love running and even more so when I am travelling because I love exploring new places. I usually run each day while I am overseas and soft sand and bush runs are so much better for your joints, so I really make the most of it. I rarely take cabs unless my destination is miles away, I walk from place to place. As well as that I pack snacks like almonds or goji berries to keep me going through the day especially when I am working otherwise when the 3pm crash happens and the chocolate bowls comes around I don’t stop! I also take sunscreen with me for my body and I already wear SkinActive Day everyday which has spf 30+ in it. As well as that I think as long as you pick the cleanest, freshest option you can find something healthy and nourishing pretty much anywhere. I take a water bottle with me to make sure I am still drinking 2L a day because when you travel you tend to forget it.
What do you do to tame the wild monkeys in your mind?
Mindfulness is very important. Taking time each day to ensure you are living in the moment. I recently downloaded an iPhone meditation app which is great to listen to in bed if I have had a tough day and haven’t made it to yoga or pilates. It is very important to focus on what you can change not what you can’t.
Juices or smoothies: Which do you prefer? And what is your favourite combo?
I am more of a smoothies girl because you can pack them full of nutrients when you are on the run. I have been adding spirulina to mine and find Hawaiian is the best. My favourite at the moment is cacao (great antioxidant and tastes great), frozen raspberries, half an avocado, coconut oil (I scrape some chunks of it from the shell too), lsa (linseed, soy, almond mix) for fibre, a raw egg and non-dairy milk.
How has a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome changed the way you treat your body?
I am a lot more in tune with my body now and sensitive to the slightest changes. I can feel a cold or illness coming along early and instead of ‘hoping’ I will beat it I slow down to make sure I do. I have also learnt the importance of moderating what you put into your body and how hard you work it, not just so it looks good on the outside but so that it works well on the inside.
What are some ways that you manage your condition?
Ensuring I get eight hours sleep a night to give my body a chance to repair itself. I also make sure I eat six small meals throughout the day so my body is constantly full of nutrients. I eat a well balanced diet and I drink a lot of water to wash out toxins and not a lot of alcohol because my body doesn’t take to well to it. Over the last few months I have started to ‘Eat Right for My Blood Type‘. I was at a Myer function when designer Matthew Eager told me how good it is for CFS. I am blood type a which basically means no wheat, no dairy and no red meat, which I thought would be impossible, but after a few simple changes, like skim milk to a non-dairy milk, I am feeling amazing. I also exercise regularly. Exercise is a tough one for CFS. It is so hard to get the motivation to go and exercise, but once you do you feel fantastic for two or three days so keeping active is really important for me.
I really think that illness can be a huge blessing because it forces us to slow down and take care of ourselves. How has your illness been a blessing for you?
I think as I get older I will learn to appreciate it more. From a young age I have had to watch how I treat my body and monitor what I put into it, which I hope will leave me better off in the long run. It was quite a blessing in disguise because rather than being out partying (I hated it at the time but am happy with it now) I was able to really focus on work. I am also incredibly in tune with my body, which means I have managed to pick up quite a few other things before they have become a problem. I am a bit of a Google doctor in a way, but it means when I go see my doctor I can be specific about my symptoms and what I think it is and she can run the appropriate tests. Nobody knows your body better than you do, you just have to start listening to it.
What does being a Wellness Warrior mean to you?
Being a wellness warrior is all about looking after your body mentally and physically. It means having the positive outlook on life, healthy self esteem and ensuring you keep active and fill your body with all the vitamins and minerals it needs. I try to eat a balanced diet of fresh, clean products but sometimes there are some things I can see my body is lacking by looking at my skin or nails etc and then I look into things I can take to get things running smoothly. Being a wellness warrior is about knowing your body and always looking for new ways to nurture and look after it. It won’t always run smoothly, so it’s great to look at alternative medicines and therapies. Be well researched and search wide for solutions. I picked up shingles a few years ago, on day four of the virus I was told by the doctor that I could get an injection to get rid of it if I came in up to day three of the illness. I researched and managed to get over the virus in two weeks rather than eight with acupuncture and a moxa stick.
If you were to stick a post-it note on your mirror with a message that you choose to live your life by, what would it say?
It’s hard to name just one but I do have a board in my room with this on it.
Follow Laura on Twitter: @lauramdundovic
Positive affirmation for the day: My internal environment remains calm even amid chaos in my external environment.
MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR PLATE: HOW TO END YOUR TORTURED RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD.
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POSTED IN: acupuncture, blood type diet, CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, Laura Dundovic, Miss Universe Australia, Myer, natural beauty, natural healing
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Laura you are Gorgeous 
and i love your post it note motivations. I try to live by this every day. Glad you also have a love for running, i have been running for 15 years, needed to slow it down unfortuently due to a knee issue 
, nothing like the wind through your hair, heart pounding and feeling invincible. Take Care Laura and wish you heaps of luck for the future x
Wow! She’s so grounded… and what an inspiration! Love the affirmations!
Thanks Jess and Laura. Both such an inspiration! You are spot on about the name change! When I was first diagnosed I thought it was a condition where the sufferer fell asleep often and i debated the diagnoses as I didn’t think it explained what I felt. Soooo far from the reality of the illness. Debilitating fatigue is just one of many symptoms. Can’t wait to be able to fullfil my dreams and get ontop of my illness. Finally after 3 years of hard work house bound and bed ridden I have made it to Byron bay to heal. The food here is
Incredible!! Thanks again xox : )
Great post!
Laura is very inspiring. Even with her condition she has shown it is possible to have a successful career and keep in tune with your body.
Great interview! Jess I love your questions (esp the post-it question! and the food/exercise/mindfulness questions… hell, all of it!!) and Laura, your answers are very insightful. Thank you both for sharing!!
Wonderful read, and I love the last inspiring pic, will be printing it out to stick on my wall Thank you. x
It is always so important to share our techniques and knowledge about health and also, to break down the separation of information. Wellness is different for all of us, but the feeling is the same. Often it’s very simple. Clean, fresh, raw, pure…with out foods, with out thoughts, with our relationships. It affects how balanced our life is. I have recently added the OM herb satchel and pillow (double sided for your changing body temperature). It has helped immensely and it has been a really effective way to get the benefits of chinese medicinal herbs. http://www.omherbpillows.com. Spirulina is a given in my diet, aromatherapy, massage, acupuncture, teas. Just adding these things naturally eliminates the stuff that doesn’t work for me. Thanks again.
Great post¡ Thank you very much, I love all the additional information, like Eat right to my blood type. You are amazing¡
I’m very thankful to Laura that she has shared her story – the more people who know about CFS and the role it plays in many lives, the more understanding people may have about this condition that Jess rightly points out needs to be renamed. (CFS sounds pathetic! Imagine if a broken bone was called Chronic Hurty Bone Syndrome!)
Because while Laura has discussed her experience with fatigue, and how she manages it, for many CFS sufferers – myself included – fatigue is just the tip of the symptoms iceberg – and management certainly isn’t as possible for some. Being able to work a busy job, run daily, do swimming/yoga/pilates and take a cab instead of walking is nothing more than a dream for most of us – and sadly it has nothing to do with motivation.
While motivation certainly helps, severe sufferers are often left deciding between carrying out the most basic of chores. “Do I spend what little energy I have making sure I get a proper nutritious meal… or do I use it washing my hair so that I can feel good about leaving the house tomorrow?” “Do I push myself to attend that dinner/party/whatever like ‘normal people’… and then spend a week or more trying to recover?”.
To echo commenter Amy, above, debilitating fatigue is just one of many symptoms. I have often said that if I was “only” tired, I could possibly deal with it. But then there is the fibromyalgia (all over body aches and pains that occur for no reason), heart palpitations, loss of concentration and focus, short-term memory issues, and the symptom that’s like a ride to hell-and-back: multiple chemical sensitivities. Simply walking down the cleaning row of the supermarket, standing next to someone with the ‘wrong’ deodorant, staying in a hotel that uses chemical-loaded washing powers, or doing what most women take for granted – wearing cosmetics – is enough to make me sick, tired, achey and out of action for days, if not weeks. Thank goodness I do work that allows me to work from home.
But of course, all of these things put us into the “but you don’t look sick” category, and we’re told to get on with it, or that it’s mind over matter. Thankfully over the years I have learned not to judge people who haven’t walked in my shoes. And I am kind enough to hope that they never have to experience what it’s truly like.
Laura is very fortunate that her case is manageable. I’d love to hear more stories on Wellness Warrior of those who have more serious CFS, including how they contracted it (particularly if via a virus like myself – I was well before it) and how they deal with it.
Bree… you took the words right out of my mouth! If I could walk more than a few feet without feeling like I’m going to collapse, attend yoga/pilates classes, or run again I would be in heaven! I miss my old active life… I appreciate, like you said, that she has her ME under control and manageable… but the majority of us have lives that are so drastically changed and THIS must be addressed as well. People need to know that it can take more than ’8 hours of sleep a night’ for the majority of ME sufferers to function even at a basic level. I have choices every day like you say… do I wash my long hair (it is the only thing left of my pre-ME life and my husband loves it) which is a day-long process of combing, resting, washing, resting, combing out, resting, adding products to make it easier to stay tangle-free, resting, then recovering,,,,, or do I ‘try’ to make a simple meal without forgetting I left the pan on high or the oven turned up? When I began reading this article I had to go back and read the headline as I thought I had the wrong story! This is NOT the face of the average person wtih ME… I only wish it were. Thank you, Bree, for so eloquently expressing mine, and many others I’m sure, feelings towards this Disneyland version of suffering wtih ME. <3
I understand you 100% Jonikas – long hair, pan left on high, and all Take care – you’re not alone x
I have to agree with Bree+ Jonika’s on this one! I have had CFS for 6 years now, and whilst I am somewhat ‘better’ than I was the first couple of years, I certainly cannot do yoga, pilates, run or exercise daily. Sometimes, getting out of bed is impossible.
I do want to say however, that CFS is one of those illnesses- there is no ‘typical’ aetiology. Some people can still maintain exercise, whilst others cannot even leave their beds. Some have fibromyalgia symptoms and chemical sensitivities, some do not.
I too would love to hear the journey of other CFS sufferers, in the hope of shedding more light on the illness and how it affects individuals in different ways, how is was contracted (many differing ways) and how it is managed, again there are many different ways of this too. I believe it is sometimes thrown in the ‘too hard to understand’ basket. I have been guilty of it too, for two years I denied even to myself that there was an issue and tried to maintain a facade over the truth of this debilitating illness for fear of being misunderstood and for fear of saying those words: ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.’
Totally agree with you ladies re: CFS. Exercise in itself would be a dream, let alone tidying and cleaning the house! I’d love to hear from more CFS suffers too. I’m coming up to 3 years & whilst I am doing better than I was, I have to take things day by day. It’s amazing what I call exercise these days… a short walk around a park or hanging clothes on the line… if i’m having a good week!
Great interview. Great to hear about how Laura has improved her health and is more in tune with her bodies needs. Love the last affirmation and have this on my fb page as a great positive affirmation