Low-fat & Chemical Free Meal Cleansing

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blog post 12-4-17

The holiday season can pack on the pounds if you’re not careful of what and how much you eat. Not only that but being on the go day and night to get everything ready for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza…etc. & New Year’s Eve & Day can cause your body fatigue and exhaustion which is breeding ground for colds and flu. Don’t let the hustle & bustle of the season catch up with you or get you down.

A few small things you can do to help keep your spirit alive and well involve eating whole, natural foods without added sugars, salt, preservatives and other chemicals.

  • When dining out choose main course salad with lots of fresh greens, assorted vegetables and healthy proteins.
  • At parties choose vegetable dishes and appetizers instead of deep fried, cheesy, greasy choices. Keep dessert eating under control; have some but take small portions. Drink water between mixed drinks, beer and wine.
  • Eat slowly and always practice portion control. Don’t attend any event hungry – satiate your appetite beforehand with healthy choices to help you control famished bingeing.

Relax a little and enjoy your quiet time. Take time to breathe throughout the day and though the weather is cooler, stay hydrated with water.

Fat flushing foods – Detox Soup, Detox water, Detox Main Dish

Detox Soup

  • 6 cups vegetable or homemade (or low-fat, low-sodium, organic) Chicken broth
  • 6-8 cups of chunky cut vegetables
  • **Carrots, celery, onion, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, turnip, kale, spinach, chard, arugula, peas, okra, peppers, tomatoes, etc. anything green, red, white, orange, yellow, purple
  • 1 cup beans- rinsed & drained (kidney, cannellini, black, garbanzo, navy, any of your choice)
  • 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1-2 cups water if needed
  • Parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, oregano, rosemary – use one or several mixed

Heat broth, add heavier veggies such as cabbage, kale, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnip and cook for about 15 minutes on a gentle simmer. Add any remaining veggies, beans and garlic and simmer another 10 minutes. Add herbs (parsley, basil, etc.) – serve & enjoy.

Detox Water

  • 1-quart warm water,
  • lemon juice about 2 Tablespoons,
  • 1-2 teaspoon ACV (apple cider vinegar)
  • ½ teaspoon honey optional

Drink throughout the day.
Detox Baked-Stuffed Winter Squash

Choose Acorn, pumpkin, butternut or buttercup squash

  • 1 cup Brussels sprouts cleaned and cut into quarters (use frozen if fresh isn’t available)
  • 1 cup mushrooms (optional) sliced
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 large clove garlic –chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Seeds- sesame, sunflower, poppy, ground flax, pumpkin
  • 1 small apple – diced small
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Cut squash in half, oil cut side, sprinkle with salt and lay cut side down on baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 45 -60 minutes until knife goes in easily. Remove from oven.

While squash is baking, sauté Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onion & garlic for about 20 minutes.

Place each squash half on dinner plate and spoon sautéed mixture into each half – sprinkle with seeds and apple. Season with salt & pepper and serve.

*Optional: sprinkle with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.

Weekday Detoxing

Don’t wait for the new year to begin getting your health back. Start today by taking small steps toward better health.

When you enjoy your weekends and holiday parties, take advantage of the weekday back to work schedule to detox your body. By eating detoxifying, clean, whole foods you can expect to clean your blood, your intestines, and flush fat.

Eating healthy is simple when you have the right foods on hand. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated, sauté, bake, steam or raw is fast, easy and healthy. All you need to do is have a few good things on hand to throw together a weeknight meal in no time flat. Remember, we eat to fuel out body. Meals don’t have to be heavy, fatty or fancy to satisfy us.

The following is a quick list of things to keep on hand each week.

  • Leafy greens – help clean our blood and flush fat cells
  • Kale, spinach, arugula, chard, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (red & green), broccoli,
  • Cauliflower, celery, carrots, snap peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, peppers, (all great for snacking on throughout the day)
  • Mushrooms, onions, garlic
  • Winter squash – orange fleshed and spaghetti squash – can cut each one in half and bake it for simplicity
  • Variety of beans – canned or dried – remember to always rinse canned beans well
  • Herbs – parsley, cilantro, basil
  • Fruit – Apples, bananas, pears, grapes
  • Wild caught fish, lean meat/chicken, turkey, pork, beef (pork & beef should be on occasion)

With a combination of these foods you will be able to build or create a meal in minutes. Use various spices, seeds, nuts, oils and vinegar for flavoring.

Make enough dinner meals to take a small portion of leftovers for lunch the next day.
Drink plenty of water and herbal & green tea throughout each day.

Eat well, feel well, feel alive!

If you don’t like where you are in life, don’t stay there.

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Your life is busy. You go to work, you take care of the home, yard, laundry, shopping, cooking, bills, the car, the kids, extended family, and maybe you take care of yourself on occasion and all of this leaves you feeling empty, unfulfilled.

What will you do?

If you don’t like where you are, don’t stay there. I’m not suggesting that you up and leave it all behind though that might seem like a sweet dream. I’m suggesting that you make changes within your lifestyle. If the same thing keeps happening over and over making you crazy it’s up to you to stop allowing it.

Whether you feel overwhelmed and absent of personal care around diet and exercise or time for doing things you love doing, you can make a shift to get yourself back.

You might not have control of every aspect of life but you do have control of a good part of what happens to you. Decide what needs to change and find ways to make those changes happen.

Take small steps, make small changes. You’re never stuck, you have choices and the opportunity to make changes that suit you, don’t wait for your life to change, make it change.

You can work on it yourself or you can work with a health coach who can work with you to make the transition simpler and long lasting through creating lifestyle changes and new habits.

Salt Cravings: Why You Get Them & How to Satisfy Them Safely

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Whether you eat a lot of salt on a daily basis or you watch your salt intake your body craves salt from time to time largely due to activity level and hot weather. When this happens, you might reach for potato chips or another salty junk food snack, cheese, fast food or countless other convenience foods. When this happens stop yourself from grabbing the closest junk food and balance your sodium levels naturally and safely.

Why You Crave Salt

Your body is low in minerals such as, but not limited to, calcium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and zinc.

You’re dehydrated-salt keeps water in the body to hydrate the cells, when you’re dehydrated the salt holds onto water, hence fluid retention, and your body craves more salt because it needs to hold on to more water.

Under-active adrenal glands – low blood pressure is a symptom, doctor can test easily through saliva

Poorly functioning taste buds due to age and illness such as cancer (treatments) & bulimia

The Dangers of Too Much Salt

Makes arteries less flexible (stiff arteries) which doesn’t allow them to dilate to let blood flow through easily, causes kidney disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis through calcium loss, thickens the heart muscle that pumps blood making it work harder, and causes dehydration.

How much Salt is Enough and How to Replace It Safely

The amount of salt that is healthiest, given that you’re not on a salt restricted diet, is 2300 mg. per day according to the FDA and if you’re over 51 just 1500 mg. per day. In today’s food society an average of 80% of sodium comes from prepared foods including snacks, sweets, and frozen or canned convenience foods. If you eat out a lot you can be sure you’re getting a whole day’s worth of salt in one meal based on restaurant meals sodium levels averaging 1300-3000 mg. and higher per dish! Read labels and details on menus when available.

Whole foods offer natural sodium as well as minerals so by eating them regularly and when you’re craving salt you can safely balance your sodium levels and hydration. Eat foods such as broccoli, spinach, kale and other green vegetables, potatoes, bananas, citrus and other fruit, cheese, eggs, fish, lean meat, beans (if using canned always rinse well to remove excess sodium), raw nuts and seeds. Whole foods have sodium naturally and eating them regularly is the best way to keep your sodium levels balanced as well as drinking plenty of water every day.

There is so much focus on fat and calorie intake everywhere you look and less of a focus on sodium intake. Take charge of your health and control your salt intake before it takes control of you.

Being Fully Balanced

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20170921_104141Nutrition is an important key to physical and emotional health. When our body is deficient in phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals we become physically and emotionally unbalanced. By eating whole foods including 5-8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, 2-3 servings of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, 8-10 full glasses of water daily , and lean proteins like beans and meats we can begin to heal the body.

Physical activity and exercise every day is also an important part of healing and maintaining a healthy body and mind. Proper nutrition is equally important. Discover the foods that are best for your personal history and body type and begin taking care of you on a deeper level.

“We need to be proactive about how we want our lives to be.” You keep hoping for your life to be different, it’s necessary for you to take the steps needed to make it different; no one else can do that for you, only you can. You can seek guidance so that you will know what direction to head but only you can take the steps into your desired direction.

Happiness, emotional health and personal fulfillment will never find you, you need to find it. You have to want it bad enough to get it and it goes beyond hoping, it takes personal action.

Keep an open, positive mind and remember it’s up to you to take action to change what you don’t like in your life.

Food for Health Not Habit or Pleasure

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Our health is all we have and our diet is one of the few things we can have complete control over most of the time. Once we neglect our body through diet we become dependent on dietary restrictions and it’s no longer up to us.

One important thing we can learn from our parents and grandparents is their health history. We can take their illnesses or disease and apply it to our own lives and fight back. If there is heart disease we should never take it lightly; we should take care of our own heart that much more, if there’s diabetes we should be concerned with our own blood sugar balance and so on. I’m not suggesting that we are doomed and destined to fall prey to our relative’s poor health; but take care of your one and only body right now.

  • Eat fresh fruits and fresh vegetables daily and try to eat what is in season.
  • Eat whole grains on a daily basis as they are heart healthy, digestive track healthy, filling and fat burning. Whole grains consist of more than whole grain bread and cereal. True whole grains are far more nutritious and beneficial to you than those breads and a cereal so adding more is necessary. A few popular whole grains are oatmeal, bulgur wheat, barley, brown rice, and quinoa. A meal that includes a small portion of one whole grain, half a plate of steamed or raw mixed vegetables and a 4-ounce portion of lean meat or beans is a complete meal as the grains offer a significant amount of protein as well as fiber. A meal like this will keep you full and help burn away fat cells which will lead to weight loss, less joint pain, less inflammation and a healthy heart.
  • Drink plenty of water every day. Remember, half your body weight in ounces is a rule of thumb [i.e. 150 lbs. needs 75 ounces of water], or as close to that as possible.

It’s okay to eat for pleasure once in a while like during a celebration or on vacation, just don’t live to eat – eat to live!

 

Protein, Carbohydrate & Healthy Fats Balance [in the simplest foods]

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As I read through social media, newspaper and magazine articles and listen to news reports I hear an overwhelming amount of different diets out there. A big fad right now is low-carb to no-carb diets that boast a high amount of animal protein such as the Paleo diet. While each of us is different and are looking for different results my personal feelings, based on what I learned as a holistic nutritional coach, are that getting back to basics and everything in balance is foolproof and easy to adapt to and follow through as your new and improved lifestyle habits. Of course I would never push someone to doing something they don’t understand or believe in as everyone has a choice and I‘m not against what anyone thinks is best for them, but I will always be here to help those who are ready and want help in making positive changes in their life.

High animal proteins cause your liver to work harder and become congested or clogged due to animal proteins being harder to break down and digest.

Personally, I eat proteins of all types including small amounts of animal proteins, I’m not a vegetarian but my diet is highly vegetable based, which includes true whole grains; I don’t eat meat every day due to personal preference but I don’t demand that everyone eat exactly as I do either. The following is a quick, handy guide to foods and their protein amounts.

Protein

  • 4 oz. chicken-36g
  • 4 oz. turkey-31g
  • Shellfish, 6 oz. shrimp-23g (plus a healthy amount of B-12), scallops-20g.
  • Beans, 1-cup boiled soybeans-29g., white beans-19g., lentils-18g., black beans-15g., (plus fiber, folate, potassium and magnesium)

Get Healthy Fats from:

  • Fish, good quality fish oils (read my article on fish oils here),
  • nuts and nut oils,
  • olive oil,
  • avocados and avocado oil,
  • sunflower oil,
  • all-natural, no sugar added peanut butter.

Finding a good balance between proteins, carbs and healthy fats is the key to living a healthy life. Your balance is different from anyone else’s and that is perfect because that is what makes you fantastically unique.

In a word, how do you feel?

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I once posted a question on my Facebook page asking followers to leave one word describing how they feel and I got an astounding number of responses; somewhere in the 60 -70 plus range! The common flow of answers followed a theme; exhausted, hectic, long day, busy, frustrated and sad were among some.

The answers made me more aware and wanting to help. I compiled a small list of tips and ideas for stress relief and mental and physical rejuvenation.

Busy/Hectic – make weekly to-do lists beginning with most important to least important, check things off as you complete them; this gives you a sense of accomplishment and releases thoughts of overwhelm.

Frustrated/Sad – Take time out for yourself. From time to time we all need space and quiet-time to re-sort our thoughts and settle into our positive well-being. Taking this time will give you the space to breathe and refocus.

Exhausted/Long days – Proper sleep, proper nutrition & hydration, scheduling tasks, making lists, saying ‘no’ once in a while, time for yourself, unwind time.

Proper nutrition, hydration, self-care, physical activity and fun are all important factors in finding calm balance in your day-to-day life happenings. Making note of the must-do’s, could-do’s and want-to-do’s are helpful in creating balance and ease for you each day and each week. Choose at least one day a week for yourself to do things you find fun, relaxing, and distressing-after all, you know what you need more than anyone else does. Take care of you so that you can live life fully and happily.

Hypertension/High Blood Pressure

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Hypertension aka High Blood Pressure (HBP) puts strain on the heart – think of it as “hyper = excessive” “tension = Stretch/strain”. When there is excessive strain on the arteries and the heart it can lead to stroke, aneurysm, peripheral artery disease and is a cause of kidney disease.

Some signs and symptoms of hypertension are headaches, dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus (ringing or hissing in the ears), changed vision issues, fainting, fatigue, chest pain, difficulty breathing, blood in urine and pounding or pressure in the ears, neck and/or chest.

Regular check-ups and getting a baseline of your blood screenings are important and necessary in improving your heart-health as well as overall health. Even if your numbers are in the safe zone it’s important to be sure your diet is clean and healthy; if your numbers are closer to or already in the danger zone, it’s necessary to make changes in your diet and lifestyle choices.

Dietary and lifestyle changes can greatly improve blood pressure control and decrease the risk of complications. A few steps you can begin with include:
Eliminating fried foods, fast foods, sugary treats and sweets, lower salt intake and salty foods,
Reducing the consumption of full-fat dairy, fatty and processed meats
Increasing lean vegetable proteins such as beans, seeds, nuts and olive and flax seed oils,
Increasing fruit, berries and vegetable intake
Switching to leaner animal proteins such as chicken, fish and eggs

You don’t have to figure it out alone. Talk to your doctor about the best route for you, a healthy diet and you can seek guidance from a health coach. You can feel great at any age when you take steps to better health! Even if your blood pressure is at a normal range but you want to get a better understanding of how to stay healthy as you age, let’s talk!

The Disorderly Mess of a Chaotic Mind

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Your head feels like it’s spinning just as fast as your thoughts come and go. You have a list of things you have to do, want to do, should do, wish you could do and dream about doing. You have another list, probably written, of things you wish you didn’t have to do, things you have already done, and things you will probably never do. You have sticky note reminders reminding you to make a list for this and a list for that and the list goes on and on and on…

You have errands, chores, work, indoor and outdoor household responsibilities, kids, pets, appointments and extracurricular activities. You want to start checking items off of your list but feel overwhelmed, tired, weary, exhaustion, mental and physical tension, confusion and fatigue. You have no idea where to begin and just the thought of it stresses you to the max.

You might feel alone, but take a deep breath and rest easy because you’re not alone. Today’s fast paced society and gadget gallery world that is supposed to make things easy and more convenient for us somehow brings on more confusion, stress and distraction.

Sometimes it might be helpful to take a step back, take a break, take a personal day to get your ‘lists’ and priorities lined up. Take a day away from technology overload and bounce back refreshed with a new and positive outlook. Put all your lists together and pool them into one big categorical TO-DO sheet.

How? Here are a few tips:
1. Decide on what items are priorities and put them above all
2. Make categories: Urgent, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Must-Do, Want-to-do, Dreams, Optional…etc.
3. Put each item under the appropriate category
4. Use 3×5 index cards for list items and 8.5×11” papers for categories and assign each item appropriately; by using this method, you can change the category or importance of a particular item and file away what items have been finished; a true feeling of accomplishment!

Don’t let chores and must do activities burden your emotions, mind and mental clarity. Take control of the things you can do and let go of those things you have no control over. Take a personal day every month or two to clear the disorderly mess of your chaotic mind and begin to feel the overwhelm lift!

7 Common Diet Mistakes & Misconceptions

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1- Using low-fat or fat-free options – often lower fat products have added sugars and/or sodium to improve the taste due to removed fats; many people also use more than necessary assuming they can due to it having lower calories. In the case of dairy, low-fat is fine as the fat is simply skimmed off, usually.
Fix – use the real stuff, just use less, or what is recommended, and reap the benefits of the less processed foods.

2- Portion sizes; especially when you know something has reduced fat. Start becoming more aware of your portions and refrain from taking seconds.
Fix – if you’re still hungry or if you have a hard time controlling your portions, heap your plate with more vegetables (make sure they are not swimming in sauces- steamed or roasted and lightly seasoned are best.

3- No exercise – even if you’re active or have a physically demanding job it’s important to get some exercise into your routine. If you’re trying to lose weight, diet alone won’t help significantly – without added physical activity you merely maintain your weight, that’s great once you reach your goal.
Fix – introduce 10-20 minutes of exercise 2 times a week and work up from there; choose something you know you can do such as walking, dancing, yoga and bicycling, all can be done inside or outside.

4- Water intake – many of us do not drink nearly enough water in a day. Often hunger and food craving is mistaken for dehydration. Drink half your body weight in ounces every day or as close to that as you can get. (175 pound person needs 87.5 ounces)
Fix – keep water handy at all times – if it’s handy you’re more likely to sip; find ways to log your intake by using phone apps. Or wrist bands (put 6-8 bands on in the morning, and remove one for every 10 ounces you drink)

5- Using artificial sweeteners – they are made with chemicals, they hurt your system more than help it, they lead you to craving more of it and they aren’t proven to help you lose weight.
Fix – replace artificial sweeteners with natural options such as honey, pure maple, and cinnamon. Learn to cut back on sugar and you will soon enjoy the taste of the real food more.

6- Not enough veggies or using only salad as your vegetable. Salad is great especially if it is made with a variety of dark leafy greens but it shouldn’t be your only vegetable option. Eat more of the colorful in season veggies along with your lettuce salads.
Fix – stock up on veggies, think of a rainbow of colors in your refrigerator and on your plate. When eating out, ask for an extra vegetable instead of the fries, potato or rice option.

7- Not reading labels and just trusting what the packaging claims. It’s important to become a label reader in the grocery store. Sure it takes more time but when you learn what your better options are, you will be able to fly through your shopping chore quickly again.
Fix– look for sugar, carbohydrate, protein and sodium content. Choose the lower sugar/carb, lower sodium and higher protein options.