A Christmas mesage: Eat, Enjoy and Exercise!

Let´s not deny the evident: Christmas is as much about eating as family gatherings and presents. We still have a few memorable days left that involve a food and drink fest: New Year´s Eve, New Year´s Day and The Three King´s day( (in many countries like Spain, Portugal, France, Philippines and most Latin American countries).

So, if you are the host or the guest, there is always a good way of enjoying this moment without reaching the point of feeling stuffed. How unpleasant is that feeling when you finish the meal and your stomach is inflated like a balloon and you almost cannot eat anything until next day. Obviously, when that happens your whole digestive system is working so hard that it is almost impossible to avoid some digestive aid.

 What is the message during these days? : The 3 E's

EAT (DON´T OVEREAT):

What is wonderful is to be able to enjoy a delicious Xmas lunch without overeating and feeling guilty of gluttony.

What can we do when we are the guests?

- Offer ourselves to prepare some great salads and fresh vegetables.Believe it or not, they are always a winner. You will help your host and you will give yourself the opportunity to create fantastic salads that you will want to try first.

- Fish, meat or any other protein like seafood are almost on any menu. Enjoy them! try just a bit of everything and you will be able to get to dessert time with just enough space in your stomach to indulge in some good nougat or chocolate.

- All types of bread are also a must to accompany spreads, pates, butter...and they are the reason why many meals end up being extremely heavy. Try those spreads in little pieces of bread instead of a whole slice for each.



 ENJOY (DON´T FEEL GUILTY ):

-That is the most important thing. To just enjoy the moment and delight yourself with all your senses in the food you are eating. This is a time for looong  conversations and laughs during meals. Now there is no excuse to rush , eat slow. As you know, the food that is slowly eaten will be much more easier to digest. Not only that, but you will also be able to recognize the moment when you are effectively full. Remember that your stomach needs at least 20 minutes to send the message of fullness to your brain.

EXERCISE(DON´T MAKE EXCUSES TO NOT VISIT THE GYM!):

Keep moving!! Always!! The key to a healthy lifestyle is the exercise. And it is of course the best way to balance a bit of extra calories accumulated in the form of glucogen in our muscles. It is actually great to work out with your batteries fully charged as you will probably perform much better.

Merry Christmas And a Healthy New Year!!

Coaching nutricional: ¿Qué es y qué no es? / Nutritional coaching: What it is and is not?

With my brand new logo (finally!) I review today the important points to take into consideration when opting for a nutritional coach service.

What do I do as a Nutritional Coach?

• I encourage change. I am your catalyst
• Motivation and follow ups reviewing all the proposed tasks
• I offer the important key tool for your balanced daily meal
• I´m on your side to reach your nutritional goal
• You learn and I guide you towards a more conscious and healthy eating
• I work alongside with you to find alternatives to reach your target about healthy lifestyle
• Together we discover your potential to improve your general wellbeing
• I introduce you to many creative and practical tools to help you overcome your obstacles

What I don´t do as a Nutritional Coach?

• Set your goal
• Impose a specific way of eating ( veganism, vegetarianism, raw, paleo...)
• Prescribe specific diet to follow according to medical conditions (that is dietitian´s competency)
• Therapy or psychology related to eating disorders
• Anthropometric measurements and weight control
• Tell you what you have to do
• Allow you to pursue a goal that might put your health at risk

Visit my Nutritional Coach Services page in the blog to find more about it.

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Estreno mi nuevo logo (por fin!! gracias inmarazola3d !)  y  repaso los importantes puntos que hay que tener en cuenta a la hora de decidirse por coaching nutricional. 

 

 ¿Qué hago como Coach Nutricional?

• Te impulso al cambio. Soy tu catalizador.
• Motivación y seguimiento de las tareas a realizar
• Ofrezco la herramienta básica clave para llevar la alimentación diaria equilibrada sin dietas
• Acompañamiento en el logro de tu objetivo nutricional
• Tú aprendes y yo te guio para tomar consciencia de alimentación saludable
• Trabajo contigo alternativas para que tus metas para mejorar tu salud y nutrición
• Descubrimos todo tu potencial para mejorar tu salud general
• Facilito muchas herramientas creativas y didácticas que te ayuden a superar barreras

¿Qué no hago como Coach Nutricional?

• Marcar tu objetivo
• Imposición de un tipo de alimentación concreta (vegetarianismo, etc)
• Prescripción de una dieta estructurada a seguir. (Esto es competencia del dietista)
• Terapia piscológica
• Medición antropométrica y control de peso
• Decirte lo que debes o tienes que hacer
• Permitir que el objetivo del cliente  ponga en peligro su salud

Visita mi página de Servicio de Coaching nutricional en el blog para más información.

Top 5 tips before going food shopping/ Los 5 mejores consejos antes de ir al supermecado

Léelo más abajo en Español

I open my fridge and I look inside. Yes, it might be a bit austere. However, and due to the tight budget most of us experience sometime, I rather have austere fridge than a greedy one. And there are some very useful tricks that once you put in practice it will help you to not come back home after shopping with the trolley running over food that you know shouldn´t have bought. Oops!

1- Plan your shopping day for the week.
2- Write your shopping list with all details.Or use a Smartphone app! Sort them out with food category and it will be much easier to focus:
Fruits
Vegetables
Meats
Fish
Dairy
Legumes
Cereals and pasta
Tins and pickles
Seasoning and spices
Oils and spreads
Household items

* Write down What food and How much of each food.( Fruit: 4 Bananas, 5 kiwis)

3- Buy with your stomach full ! So, if you go to the supermarket after work, have a healthy snack (apple and yogurt ). Try it !. You will see that the day you buy on empty stomach ,the trolley will overflow with bakery, sweets, pizzas, crisps, fizzy drinks...

elana's pantry / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

4- Go regularly to the same supermarket. You will know which aisle to go without "getting lost" in the snacks section.

5-Keep your receipt to review expenses and browse the list of items you have bought. If you find something it was not genuinely meant to be bought ,it means that you have done a compulsive shopping ;-) And next time you will much more careful!

Yes, all this might seem common sense, but let´s not forget that this is the less common of all senses ;-P and it´s always good a reminder of good habits we can start putting in practice.

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Versión en español:

Reflexiono sobre lo que hay en mi nevera y me doy cuenta de que es austera, si. Pero, prefiero nevera austera a nevera glotona. Comprar lo necesario en los tiempos que corren es de sabios. Y hay unos cuantos consejitos muy muy útiles que puestos en práctica  te ayudarán a no volver a casa con el carro a rebosar de comida que No deberías haber comprado!

1- Planifica el dia de la semana que haces la compra.
2- Escribe con lujo de detalle la lista de la compra. Hazlo por estas categorías y será más fácil:
Frutas

Descárgate una de las aplicaciones para Smartphone

Verduras
Carnes
Pescados
Lácteos
Legumbres
Cereales y Pastas
Conservas y encurtidos
Condimentos y especias
Aceites
 Hogar


Apunta Qué y Cuánto de cada alimento.

3- Compra con el estomago lleno!---> O sea, si vas después del trabajo aseguraté que meriendas sano antes de salir al supermercado. Haz la prueba, verás que el dia que estás hambriento tu carro se llena de bolleria, pan, patatas fritas, dulces....













4- Ves siempre al mismo supermercado, te conocerás bien las secciones y no te "perderás" por la sección de chuches innecesarias.

bark / Foter.com / CC BY

5- Guarda el ticket de la compra , para revisar los gastos y relee los alimentos que has comprado. Si hay alguno que realmente no debería estar según tu lista, ya sabes, la cajita de chocolates que te ofrece la cajera o el pack de galletas 2X1, es porque has hecho una compra compulsiva ;-) 








Todo esto parece sentido común, pero nunca viene mal hacer un recordatorio de todos estos buenos hábitos que ayudan a centrar, agilizar y ahorrar en nuestra compra semanal.

The Food YOU WASTE.... I EAT it / La comida que TU TIRAS... me la COMO YO.

Léelo En Español más abajo.

This week starts the overeating season starting with the Thanksgiving celebrations in America and the typical pre-Christmas lunches in December. It is all a feast of gastronomy excesses to fill up the stomach (even more for some) with momentary pleasures. 

Afterwards, the regret of gluttony arrives and sooner than later we reflect on the excess of food we eat... and we waste. According to the report of European Parliament of 2011, only in the EU more than 89 million tons of food are wasted over a year!!

Food , perfectly good and safe, is wasted daily and can be found in rubbish bins of homes, supermarkets and restaurants. This is the reason why there are many organizations  involved in collecting and recycling food in countries like UK, Germany,Italy or Spain. Small neighborhood groups actively work for free collecting from houses, restaurants and bins all sorts of wasted food that can be cooked and offered to homeless people or families without means or very little income.

All this movement has its main origin after the release of the book about Global Food Waste from the English author Tristram Stuart. In December 2009 Tristram decided to put his word where his mouth is and carried out the initiative to feed 5,000 people in London's Trafalgar Square with all the wasted food he was given by local supermarkets and all sorts of businesses. In the middle of December, snowing and with extremely cold weather, I remember joining the event with curiosity and trying the delicious wasted food. It made such a big impact in the news that the European Commission and the United Nations decided to take this initiative and spread it in other countries.

Watch Below the TED conference of Tristram, another incredibly inspiring food educator:

Remember: If after your holidays you say to yourself: I'm tired of eating and chucking away food, then it means that the gluttony monster has taken over you! Reflect on all of those things that make the monster grow and keep him in line.

The Key> Eat consciously!!

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Empieza el mes del despilfarro, de las comilonas y los abusos grastronómicos para llenar el alma insatisfecha de placeres momentáneos. Por que luego llega el arrepentimiento de tanta gula y todos antes o después reflexionamos ante la cantidad de comida que se come... y que se tira. Según un informe del Parlamento Europeo de 2011, solo en los países de la Unión Europea se tiran a la basura 89 millones de toneladas de comida al año (7.7 millones de toneladas es la cifra que desperdicia España!!).

La comida, perfectamente sana y en buen estado, se desperdicia a diario y los contenedores de los hogares , supermercados y restaurantes están repletos de comida. Es por esto que ya hay muchas organizaciones de grupos que se están involucrando en la recogida y reciclaje de estos alimentos en muchos países como Alemania, España y Reino Unido. Pequeños colectivos de barrios se encargan de recoger de casas, cocinas y locales de comidas las sobras de alimentos que van a ir a la basura para luego cocinarlas y dar de comer a muchísima gente pobre o sin recursos.

En España nos encontramos una de ellas como la organización Comida Basura :

http://comidabasurablog.wordpress.com/

Todo este movimiento tiene su origen tras la publicación del libro sobre el despilfarro global de comida del escritor inglés Tristram Stuart. En Diciembre del 2009 Tristram llevó a cabo la iniciativa en Londres de alimentar gratis a 5000 personas en Trafalgar Square con los desperdicios que recogió.Y realmente fue una revolución enorme. En pleno Diciembre, con un frio que calaba los huesos recuerdo haberme acercado para ver y probar la deliciosa comida basura. Tal fue el impacto que las Naciones Unidas y la Comisión Europea han tomado esta iniciativa para extenderla en muchos paises.

 La última conferencia de TED con subtítulos en español, es fascinante e inspiradora. Tristram, otro héroe de la educación alimentaria:

Recuerda: Si al terminar las fiestas estás cansado de comer y tirar comida,  es que el monstruo de la gula se ha apoderado de ti! Reflexiona que es lo que hace que ese monstruo crezca y mantenlo a raya.

La clave: Come con consciencia y aprende a no desperdiciar

The magic pill that melts fat away... really???

Some pretty bad news have alerted the coffee addicts out there when I man in his forties recently died of caffeine overdose after going through a whole pack of Energy mints. Ok, this is probably very rare, (hence it made the newsheadlines), however it is good to question those ingredients. 

 I have come across many clients willing to drink or take supplements incredibly high in caffeine and stimulants to make them lose weight faster. Thermogenics are those products full of stimulants like caffeine , that increase the metabolism in an artificial way. They are full of natural ingredients such as yerba mate, guarana, black tea, coffee . They claim to be the solution to the muffin tops and are called  fat burners . In America the weight loss business is huge, and many of these magic formulas come from there. Of course, they have a much wider population bordering the morbid obesity. So easy to sell them the magic pill! One thing you should know, is that this products are not reviewed by  Health Authorities before they are sold in the market , unlike drugs. Unless a health risk is found later on. 

Raspberry Ketones, African Mango... every year a new incredible formula full of even more incredible claims and empty promises from those laboratories.

Fact N.1--> Fast weight loss= Fast weight gain

Fact N.2--> Magic pills that claim to make you lose weight are never the main reason why you will lose real weight. Diet and exercise will do it. Some supplements might give you the 5% extra kick for some results , but not the 95%.

Fact N.3--> Your body is a temple, don´t mess with it. 

And because I say that knowledge is power(only if you do something with it), I want to share with you a wonderful Scientific library that is a great source to get real independent evidence based information from research. It is probably the biggest database of this kind, for unbiased healthcare decisions.  So next time you are in doubt of some benefits or effects of certain supplements (or any other health related issue) go and do a search in Cochrane. You will be suprised! 

The Cochrane Library:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cochranelibrary/search/

Change Season, Change to a Healthy Winter Diet

We are already in mid October approaching fast the month of November. It is almost impossible to not feel a little bit nostalgic at this moment of the year of the summer time. Those long days with plenty of daylight till night time. 

There are tips in our diet that we can start introducing as the cold season makes its entrance. 

Instead of... hot chocolate --->Spiced tea! with cinnamon sprinkle and milk of your choice (cow,coconut,soya, almond,rice...). Spicy teas contain wonderful spices and nutrients like  ginger, cloves, pepper, cinnamon...that not only stimulate digestion but also improve poor blood circulation, wakes you up and keeps your sweet cravings in line.

Instead of... heavy casseroles and currys---> Chicken soup! It is really one of the best natural remedies to boost your immune system while you are recovering from a cold or feel a bit weak. A home made chicken soup contains plenty of aminoacids, vitamins and minerals from the chicken. Many studies confirm that if you suffering from flu better a soup on time than tons of aspirins.

Instead of ... cold cereals---> Hot cereals! Warm muesli or cooked oats with honey and fruit are not only delicious but super comforting in a cold early morning. Oats are good for your heart with its cholesterol lowering effect and it also balances insulin.

Instead of.. potato salads in mayonnaise--->  Hotpot! of baby potatoes and vegetables garnished with spices,mustard, soy sauce, fresh ginger, olive oil...

Instead of...coffee all the time---> Herbal tea with lemon will not only top up your fluid intake but it will also strenghen your inmune system. 

It´s not about not trying that hot chocolate or curry ever again. The rule is: If you eat healthily 95% of the time, then you are on the right path!