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Move. Nourish. Heal. – Mike Murdoch

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About Me

You are here: Home / About Me
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Welcome to Move. Nourish. Heal! My name is Mike Murdoch and  I’m a Plant-Based Chef & Recipe Developer, Yoga Teacher, Motivational Speaker, keto & intermittent fasting enthusiast and all around Nice Guy. I have a passion for science-based nutrition and have a clear vision: Fix our broken food system by expanding people’s knowledge, shifting their dysfunctional relationship with diet and eating. By sharing my personal journey, experiences and recipes I’m hoping to help YOU find your own path towards Optimal Health.

My entire life has revolved around food. From my early years as a little fat kid, struggling with weight, body image and eating disorders; to my career in Food Service spanning 20 years. For better or worse, cooking and eating has always played a central role in my life. Growing up inactive, overfed and undernourished; that feeling of being “healthy” was something that eluded me for most of my early life. Beyond giving my thumbs a good Tetris or Mario workout, no form of physical activity was ever remotely enjoyable. My body was embarrassing, weak and useless in my adolescent mind. The whole thing was just too exhausting to think about. With help from the Low-Fat craze that stuck in the 80s and 90s; by the age of 13, I topped the scales at nearly 240lbs! My teenage years saw huge fluctuations in weight from uneducated “flexitarian” eating habits and near starvation. All of this left me exhausted, unhealthy and riddled with inflammatory conditions like cystic acne, osteoarthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and depression.

As life pulled me along, I made a decision that changed everything: instead of pursuing a degree in microbiology and immunology at University of Toronto, I went to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Institute in Ottawa. After receiving a Grande Diplome in French cuisine and pastry at the top of my class, the culinary world was my oyster. This experience allowed me great opportunity; apprenticing at both the Governor General and Prime Minister’s residences, as well as working at one of Ottawa’s oldest and most prestigious restaurants.

After years of the restaurant industry grind, my path shifted again; I began working as a corporate chef. In the last decade I’ve worked for three of Canada’s largest food retailers as a recipe developer, tester and product taster. There are currently no less than 100 products on Canadian grocery shelves that have recipes I created on their labels. Plus hundreds more that my tastebuds played some small role in developing. This was prestigious and satisfying for a time, but as the years went by I became more and more unhealthy and unhappy in my work. I was helping to sell the processed foods that made me overweight as child. And they weren’t doing a lot to improve my health in my 20s either…

Meditation and yoga changed all of that. These practices transformed me. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. A consistent yoga and meditation practice helped me to find inner calmness and self-appreciation. Ten months after my first yoga experience, I was a certified teacher! My yoga practice gave me access to a different experience of my body. Suddenly the dietary abuses that were second nature undeniably altered my body’s ability to flow and recover. The more my practice evolved, the fewer excuses popped up in regards to my unhealthy eating practices. I felt amazing when my diet was clean. I felt sore and depressed when I slipped back into old eating patterns. When the two lined up, my practice exploded.

In the last few years I became increasingly interested in the healing potential of food and diet choices. That latent biologist in me became fascinated with all the newest science around the ketogenic diet, plant-based eating, gut microbiota, inflammation, intermittent & prolonged fasting, epigenetics, autophagy, stem-cell generation, meditation and mindfulness… What we think we know about the body, the gut and the mind seems to be undergoing a renaissance. In 2016 my curiosity lead me to obtain a Culinary Nutrition Expert certification. This started combining my passions of mindfulness, movement and yoga with food, science and nutrition. I began running Mindful Eating workshops all over my yoga community and now have a small tribe of Mindful Foodies spreading the word about Plant-Based eating.

This stuff works, and now the science is starting to appear to back it up. I’m determined to share the magic with anyone who is open to shifting what they believe is possible. My own struggles shaped who I am. Through sharing my knowledge and experience, I hope to help you and your family find a path towards Optimal Health and Wellness.

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Happy International Women’s Day!!! I feel truly Happy International Women’s Day!!! I feel truly blessed as a gay man to have had SO MANY powerful women in my life over the years. These women have lifted me up and made me the man I am today. Ladies... Thank you for all that you do. Men, do something today (and everyday) to lift up and support the women in your life!
✨🥰✨
Despite ALL the oppression women have endured throughout history, they’re still the glue that holds society together. Where would the world be without women?? It would be an even bigger dumpster fire and all the men would be throwing gasoline and fireworks in to watch it burn. What could be possible if things were more equal?! 
#ChooseToChallenge
#IWD2021
#internationalwomensday
EXCITING NEWS! @bellaverni and I are finishing up EXCITING NEWS! @bellaverni and I are finishing up the final details of the new and improved Plant-Based Power-Up 2.0! Stay tuned for more info. SAVE THE DATES; we would love to have you as part of the group!!
EXCITING NEWS! Join me THIS Saturday February 27th EXCITING NEWS! Join me THIS Saturday February 27th at 9:30am EST for a FREE 45-minute LIVE Journey into Power class. Over the coming weeks, I'm going to start teaching LIVE classes over a NEW platform called Interval!! It's similar to Zoom but much more streamlined and user friendly in regards to payment and registration. Please join me this weekend for a sample. I would LOVE to see your faces! Click the link in my bio to register and Mr. B and I will see you there! 🙏🏼
Woke up to this... 😂 Mr. B doesn’t often slee Woke up to this... 😂 Mr. B doesn’t often sleep on the bed with me but he talked me into it last night. Did you know a rottie can take up more than half of a king sized bed without even trying?? He was laying there with his eyes peeled open refusing to budge. We had a late night filming before bed yin classes for YouTube... Well, I did. He slept through it all then kept me up being a bed hog. But he just so cuuutteee!! 🥰 9-Days of Night-Time yoga coming soon to YouTube. Stay tuned.
Getting in a bit of PLAY @saor_studio after my liv Getting in a bit of PLAY @saor_studio after my live-streamed class last weekend. I’ve seen these powerful statements dozens of times now but felt compelled to do some yoga in front of them on Sunday. I’ve been feeling pretty down on and off for these last couple weeks... anyone else? Adding in some playfulness and joy was just what I needed. 
✨🧘🏻‍♂️✨
Had a revelation around “Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing” Social media has been dragging me down lately. I’m aware of it, but I’m not doing anything about it. Feeling less than and lost has got me playing small. Endless Insta and Facebook scrolling hasn’t helped... So, a social media fast is in order. In fact, I’m aiming for a full dopamine fast to end out the month. I’ll be back in March bigger and better than ever!
🙏🏽✨
What are YOU choosing to stay stuck in? Where can you see that you’re playing small where there could be something BIG just waiting to burst forth? So... why don’t you do something about it??
🤔
Happy Valentine’s Day! I taught my livestream on Happy Valentine’s Day! I taught my livestream on YouTube today to self-love and did the whole thing with my shirt off... This may not seem like a big deal, but those that know me get it. I’ve suffered with Body Dysmorphic Disorder for most of my life and was a hard NO for taking my shirt off in public until a few years ago. Taking it off on YouTube was a huge step forward for me. Body Dysmorphia affects more people than many realize.. It’s especially rampant in the LQBTQia+ community. Seeing my body through a negative lens stopped me from being able to enjoy simple things in life and kept me constantly stuck in self judgement and feelings that I was unlovable. It all started to shift by simply changing the narrative (with a little push from @paigeelenson )Was it easy? No... but it was well worth the challenge. Love yourself!! As @rupaulofficial says at the end of every episode of @rupaulsdragrace “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an Amen?!” Amen!! 🙌🏽✨💖
Leftover Indian feast for a late lunch! Parippu, C Leftover Indian feast for a late lunch! Parippu, Channa Masala, Pulao, Laccha & Split Pea/Basmati Flatbread. The recipes are from one of my first Zoom cooking classes and are on my YouTube channel. All plant-based & gluten-free! Check it out on YouTube or my website www.MikeMurdoch.ca
What are YOU looking at?! 🤣 This guy rarely dis What are YOU looking at?! 🤣 This guy rarely disappoints when I need a smile put on my face. #goofball
Cauliflower Risotto recipe is up on YouTube! Super Cauliflower Risotto recipe is up on YouTube! Super simple and versatile with endless variations. I eat this once a week lately; 15 minutes from start to finish. Check it out and hit the like while you’re there. 👍🏽🙏🏽😉
Finally got around to finishing up this project... Finally got around to finishing up this project... have had the frames for like 6 months but they sat empty on my stairs all that time. These new pictures taken since I’ve been single on my solo travels. Pics on the left side of the stairs are years old, the right side from the last two years. With a light spattering of motivation reminders. I almost didn’t hang the frames that hung in my old house as they were all trips with my ex, but I realized they still made me happy because they were MY photographs and memories. The didn’t need to be tied to the ended relationship. The past is not something to avoid, HOW and WHAT we put importance on is up to us. ✨🙏🏽
Cold Thai Noodle Salad for dinner tonight!
🍜🥗
So goooood... Konjac noodles, sliced carrots, celery, green onions, Brussels sprouts, red chilies and fresh turmeric tossed with Thai peanut (almond) sauce topped with toasted sliced almonds and sesame seeds! The sauce is almond butter, tamari, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, lime juice & zest, rice vinegar and black pepper. Didn’t use a recipe... just tossed everything in a bowl. 😋
This sunset last night... 🤩🌅 This sunset last night... 🤩🌅
Who knew walking was so addictive? Best New Year’s Resolution ever. I’m hooked! 
🏃🏻‍♂️👀✨
Sometimes the answer is a little chocolate cake... Sometimes the answer is a little chocolate cake... or two. 😳 These totally hit the spot and brought some momentary comfort. Gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free AND delicious. Not vegan, there’s an egg yolk.. But the egg was top notch so we can still call this plant-based. Modified a recipe online to make it all these things. See below for a quick running copy recipe if you want to try it out. First time making this so I can’t tell you if ingredient substitutions will work... Try and see. That’s what I did!
😋🍫🎂
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) & brush two standard ramekins with oil; I used avocado oil. 
- In a small bowl, sift together 1/4c (60mL) coconut palm sugar, 1/4c (60mL) cassava flour, 2.5 tbsp (38mL) cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp (1.25mL) baking powder, 1/8tsp (0.625mL) baking soda and a pinch of sea salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 large egg yolk, 2 tbsp (30mL) coconut milk, 2 tbsp (30 mL) avocado oil, 1/4 tsp (1.25mL) vanilla extract and 1 tbsp (15mL) warm coffee or water. 
- Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add remaining dry ingredients and whisk to combine. 
- Divide batter evenly between the oiled ramekins; place ramekins on a baking tray. Bake in center of preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
- Cool and enjoy! Or eat them warm. Didn’t use icing, but you do you!
Good Morning! This one was extra snuggly today... Good Morning! This one was extra snuggly today... anyone else have trouble getting out of bed after that intense full moon last night? Struggle to start the day is REAL. lol. It’s Friday though; not that the days really mean anything lately. 😳🥰✨
Been struggling with your mental health lately? Me Been struggling with your mental health lately? Me too.... We are all in this pandemic together and need to start having some more compassion and understanding for how much it’s affecting our minds and bodies. Went LIVE on YouTube this afternoon to talk about how my mental health has been up and down these last couple weeks, what’s been helping and what hasn’t. Let’s talk about mental health... 💖🙏🏽✨ Link in my bio.
#bellletstalk
Can you tell Mr. B is excited about the snow?!? Th Can you tell Mr. B is excited about the snow?!? The little hop kills me. 
❄️😂🤪
#snowdog
If you need a chicken taken out, Mr. B is your man If you need a chicken taken out, Mr. B is your man! 🐓🤪😂
Bought myself some swag as a birthday present! 👀😂✨
Getting my logo changed to white so I can order a black apron for my zoom classes. Want to book a private workshop or cooking class for your friends, family or work team?! Didn’t know I did that? I do! DM me!!! #movenourishheal
Dragon Broccoli for dinner! 🐉🥦🌶 Steamed b Dragon Broccoli for dinner!
🐉🥦🌶
Steamed broccoli, grain-free miso gravy, homemade pickled peppers, toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions. No recipe. Yet... 😉
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Welcome to Move. Nourish. Heal! My name is Mike Murdoch and I’m a Plant-Based Chef & Recipe Developer, Yoga Teacher, Motivational Speaker, keto & intermittent fasting enthusiast and all around Nice Guy.

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