Tag Archives: diet

E is for Eating for Energy

Posted on September 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s 3:00 PM and your body is starting to get tired and your eyes are beginning to close and you’re feeling depleted and drained. This may very well be caused by what you’ve eaten or not eaten during the day and it’s why you’re tired so darn early.  Many people who feel tired in the afternoon hours haven’t eaten breakfast – and I, In My Humble Opinion, breakfast is probably the most important meal of the whole day!  When you get up in the morning and eat a power-packed breakfast, full of protein and complex carbohydrates and a little bit of healthy fat, you can go on for a couple of energy-filled hours you need to get things done, have a little bit of fun, get some life-sustaining exercise and still have extra energy you need to get you — UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO EAT LUNCH!  That’s right, you will have much more consistent energy if you keep eating little bits of healthy food throughout the day – keeping your blood sugar levels constant, and maintaining high energy levels all day.

Certain foods give you more energy than others, so keep these on your daily menu for extra energy and oomph! -

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Oatmeal
  • Beans
  • Nuts
  • Chia seeds
  • Spinach
  • Green Tea
  • Mango
  • Tea
  • Cantaloupe
  • Peppers
  • Low fat dairy products
  • Citrus Fruit
  • Whole grains
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Tomatoes

To keep naturally healthy and also to keep your body and skin looking and feeling young, keep eating the right foods and don’t forget to eat.  Skipping meals will make your blood sugar levels dip and dive and your energy will falter and your eyelids will droop.  Not a naturally beautiful sight for women or men!  Eat well and you will stay lively and vibrant all day long.  For a mid-meal pick-me-up, carry a small bag of almonds with you wherever you go.  And don’t forget that the very first rule of natural beauty and natural health is – Keep yourself hydrated with lots of good clean water!

 

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E is for Eating Out Enjoyably – 10 Rules for Eating in rEstaurants – Part 2

Posted on February 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Naturally Healthy Rules for Restaurant Eating

4.  Eat slowly.  Savor every bite.  This isn’t a race, it’s a dining experience.  When you eat mindfully, you will have a complete sensory experience and find that you will be more satisfied with less food.

5.  Alcohol stimulates the appetite, and adds empty calories.  While a glass of red wine is full of natural health benefits, more than one glass will make you eat mindlessly and more – so cut down or cut it out!

6.  Order first when you’re out with a group.  Research shows that people who order first tend to make healthier choices, because they decide for themselves rather than following the crowd.

7.  Tell the waiter to Take The Bread Away!  This is a no-brainer if you ask me.  That bucket of bread sits there and stares you in the face until you can’t say no.  So Say No in the beginning.  Get it out of there and you won’t be tempted.

8.  Make sensible choices.  Just because you’re in a different atmosphere doesn’t change the rules of natural health or maintaining or achieving your optimal weight.  If you wouldn’t eat gooey, creamy high fat dishes at home, don’t do it in a restaurant.  It’s going into the same stomach after all!

9.  Eat dessert!  That’s right, I said Go For It – Eat Dessert.  But don’t eat the whole thing.  Share your dessert.  If you eat one bite slowly and mindfully, it will satisfy you.  Studies show that we are most satisfied with the first bite or two, so go for it.  And then stop!

10.  Tomorrow is another day.  There will be another opportunity to eat again.  Unless you’re from a poverty stricken, famine or drought laden country – chances are you will eat again tomorrow.  So don’t eat it all today.  Especially on a cruise ship or at a buffet.  Just because there’s a lot of food in front of you, doesn’t mean you have to be the one to eat it all.  There will be more tomorrow.  Use moderation.

See previous post – E is for Eating Out – Rules for Restaurants, part 1

And Enjoy Every Eating Experience!

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E is for Eating Out Enjoyably – 10 Rules for Eating in rEstaurants – Part 1

Posted on February 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Eat Out & Enjoy It for your Natural Health

Who doesn’t like to eat in a restaurant?  Someone to wait on you, someone to cook the food, and someone to do the dishes.  Yes!

But if you’re trying to watch your weight or lose weight, sometimes restaurant eating can be challenging and confusing.  Here are some tips to help you stay on target for your natural health:

1.  Don’t starve yourself all day before you go to a restaurant!  Hungry people make poor choices.  Eat an apple or have a cup of low fat clear soup about an hour before you go out.  This will take away the hunger pangs and let you make a conscious health decision.

2.  You don’t have to eat everything on your plate.  Many weight loss programs, including Weight Watchers recommend ordering a “to go” box when you order your food and putting half of the order in it before you start eating.

3.  Portion sizes in restaurants can be enormous, and they will make you enormous as a result.  If you’re seriously trying to cut down, order a salad to start with and then order your main dish off the appetizer menu.  It’s usually enough to satisfy a normal appetite.  See P is for Portion – A Primer for Natural Health.

See next post for Part 2 of E is for Eating Out – Rules for Natural Health

 

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E is for Essential Fatty Acids – EFAs

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

EFAs are vital for your natural health

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) which we often see as Omega-3 and Omega-6, are those fats which are vital to our health but which we cannot synthesize and must get from the foods we eat. EFAs are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids  which are made from linolenic, linoleic, and oleic acids.

EFAs work to keep our cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems in tip-top shape. EFAs are needed to manufacture and repair cell membranes, enabling the cells to get the maximum nutrition from our foods and then get rid of harmful waste products.

One of the most important functions of these essential fatty acids is producing prostaglandins that regulate certain body functions like blood pressure and blood clotting, heart rate, conception and fertility, and help the immune system by controlling infections and regulating inflammations and the diseases caused by it.  EFAs are important to maintain proper growth in children, especially in the development of the neural and sensory systems.

EFA deficiency is common in the United States, particularly Omega-3 deficiency.  We should strive for a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids 1:1 and 4:1, however most of us actually have a ratio of between 10:1 and 25:1. The minimum healthy requirement for both linolenic (Omega-3) and linoleic (Omega-6) acid via diet, per adult per day, is 1.5 grams of each.

One tablespoon of flaxseed oil can provide this amount, or larger amounts of other linolenic-rich foods.

EFA deficiency and an imbalance of the ratio between Omega 6 and Omega 3 has been shown to increase the incidence of certain diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, asthma, lupus, depression and schizophrenia, insulin resistance,  postpartum depression, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s Disease as well as accelerated aging, stroke, obesity and diabetes, and arthritis – to name just a few!

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D is for 10 Dieting Do’s and Dont’s

Posted on February 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dieting for Natural Health

OK – You’ve decided that you need to diet.  So go ahead and do it.  But do it sensibly.  Do it right.  Do it so that you maintain your natural health, because no matter what the number on the scale says, or the size on the back of your pants, if you’re not healthy it doesn’t matter!

If you’re ready to take the plunge and see the numbers plunge downward to a healthy weight, then follow these steps to sensible dieting:

  1. Drink lots of water – Drinking adequate water is the key to natural health.  It will also keep you full and flowing.  Please see D is for Drink Water – How Much is Enough
  2. Don’t starve yourself – You can’t be healthy when you’re tired and drained from not eating enough.  Keep your body fueled from the time you get up until you’re ready to relax and wind down at night.
  3. Don’t rush, eat mindfully – Savor each bite with all of your senses and you will see that you eat less (see M is for Mindful Eating)
  4. Don’t just sit there – do move – Losing weight means calories in and calories out by burning them up.  In order to lose it successfully, you need more of the latter and less of the former!
  5. Don’t give up – You can do it.  Just keep on going.  If you made a mistake and fell off the weight wagon yesterday, just get back up and make today a good day!
  6. Don’t follow fad diets – Eating sensibly is the way to be naturally healthy and maintain a healthy weight.  Don’t follow trends, be a trend setter by eating nutritionally sound foods.
  7. Don’t eat when you’re bored – Mindless eating does count!  Eating a bag of chips without thinking does count.  Sometimes eating is just a way to fill a hole that would rather be filled with love and passion and life.  Write in your journal if you’re bored, instead of just stuffing food into your mouth.
  8. Do pay attention to portion size – Size does matter, even if it’s diet food! Pay Attention to the Plate!
  9. Do eat your fruits and vegetables – Your mother was right.  Fruits and vegetables are good for you.  They are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber.  They’re pretty and they’ll keep you satisfied and healthy!
  10. Do eat good fats – Fats are necessary to nourish your brain.  Good fats are necessary to keep you healthy.  Avoid the bad ones.  Eat the goods ones – like coconut oil.

Weight loss is possible!  Ideal weight can be reached!  You can pay attention to how much you weigh and pay attention to your natural health at the same time!

I know you can Do it!

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