Who really knows what foods agree with YOUR body?

I've been thinking some more about the blood group diet and I'm still curious how such a generalisation can be good for everyone. Whilst our blood group might be the same, our life and health experiences are not so how do those get taken into account?
I was speaking to a women a couple of days ago who was praising this diet as it suggested to her not to eat white bread and cows milk. These are actually, products that are commonly known not to be the best for us - white bread because the flour has been processed so much there is no goodness left in it and...well...surely any animal milk is designed to be drunk by the baby of that species and so cows milk surely is designed for drinking by baby cows? what do you think?

The other thing I've been pondering on is the diagnosis by a machine of what one should or shouldn't eat. Some vegetarian friends of mine went to see a local homeopath/naturapath and he used some machine on them which said they need to eat meat and fish. There was no testing of blood or other internal physical condition and so I'm wondering how too this works. How can a machine 'listen' to a body's needs better than the owner of the body?

Fad Diets versus Listening to YOUR Body

A friend brought me a copy of a blood group diet the other day for me to see what foods were recommended and what were thought detrimental to my particular blood group.
As a vegetarian, and someone who not only doesn’t eat meat but dislikes it intensely I was surprised to see that it recommended several kinds of meat including bunny rabbit! and scavenging bottom feeding seafood like prawns, whilst my staple breakfast of banana and almonds were not.

This, to me is just another reminder to listen to MY body and to not blindly listen to information published for profit by someone no matter what their qualifications.

There is much information out there and all sorts of ‘diets’, some that have been written by doctors and have been proved to be not only ineffective long term but detrimental to one’s health and are preying on the many people who are looking for the ‘miracle’ or ‘quick fix’ diet.

I’m not saying don’t use these, I’m just saying don’t take blindly, the information. Just because someone has letters after their name does not necessarily mean they have your best interest as heart – especially if what they are sharing with you means financial profit for them.

There is much healthy eating information published by organisations such as Heart Foundations, Cancer Research and the Nutritional Society who willingly share their information for free. Government websites for different countries also publish advice and information.

One thing for sure that you need to hear is that there are no ‘quick fixes’ so stop looking for them!

The only sure way is to listen to your body, get to understand what your body can tolerate and what it cannot and when it is full and when it is hungry and when you are eating for your body or eating because of your emotions. And learn a little about nutrition, about why sugars, most fats and refined products are so unhealthy and why raw, unprocessed foods are so good.

The only sure way to lose weight and feel healthy in your body is to make a PERMANENT change to your eating. This doesn’t mean depriving yourself of the occasional snack or your favourite food but eating these in moderation and teaching yourself to ‘like’ the foods that better support you.

Giving up smoking and putting on weight!

Are you someone who has given up smoking and then put on a load of weight?

• Do you find yourself thinking you'd be better off smoking and being slimmer rather than cigarette free and fat?

The answer to this dilemma in principle is really quite simple - it's about understanding 'habits'.

You cannot simply drop one habit and expect it and everything associated with it to go away, you need to understand why you had that habit in the first place and how it was serving you. When you know how it was serving you and what it is you are REALLY needing at these moments then you will be empowered to choose a different way of getting this need met. Rather than dropping a habit you will be replacing it with another, preferable a more healthy one.

Basically what is happening when you find yourself putting on weight after giving up smoking it is because you are now 'munching' when you used to 'smoke' . However, rather than just trying to now stop 'munching' as well, what if you looked more deeply into this at what you are really wanting here. Why do you have the need to smoke or eat, what is it 'covering up'? For example, a common reason to smoke is to relieve stress, so if you can identify what it is you are stressed about and what HEALTHY option you can find to DE STRESS then you will have cracked this and you will have found a way to replace an old unhealthy habit with a new one. For all new habits to become habits they need to be 'practised', so don't give up when the old cravings come back, just notice what thoughts are attached to this and what it is that you REALLY need here and give this to yourself.

And if you want to look deeper into this and understand and change some of your habits then e-mail me for a complimentary coaching session.

Blood Donation and Healthy Eating

Have you ever considered how far and wide an impact your food choices can have?
I found out today, when I went to give blood here in Spain just how far reaching this can be.
The Spanish blood donation service have a clause in the blood donation contract that excludes people who have lived in the U.K. between 1980 and 1996 from giving blood. As a previous regular blood donor in the U.K. I felt very disappointed by this and questioned it to be told that it is as a prevention against C.J.D. or the human form of 'Mad Cow' disease.
This disease was prevelant in the U.K. during these years resulting in several people developing brain disease which then led to their deaths. C.J.D. was categorically linked to the eating of tainted beef and beef products.
Happily for me I have been a vegetarian since 1976 and once I was able to convince the medics that neither beef nor any other meat has passed my lips since then they took my blood.
This highlighted to me yet again, how our food choices today can have such a profound affect in the future.
Have you ever given any consideration to how your lifestyle choices may affect not only yourself but others too, especially those you love?

Weekend eating Versus Weekday eating

After writing last Friday's blog on seasonal eating it left me thinking about how we can also often eat differently at weekends compared to during the week and so this is where my focus went this weekend.

Why should eating be any different or more difficult to control at different times of the day, week, month or year?

I have had several conversations on this topic over the past couple of months and the consensus seems to be that it is harder to stick to 'healthy eating' regimes at weekends because that's when the family get together - parents are usually not at work and kids not at school.

...But what about those of us who are single and still have this challenge of unhealthy or over eating at weekends?

...And what about those in employment where 'weekends' are not 'weekends', for example emergency services - fire/police ambulance, just to name a few. Even when I worked shifts, Sundays always seemed to be a day for 'pigging out' - in the summer it meant large quantities of icecream and in the winter cooked breakfast baguettes.

So this leaves me with the question - Is it the change of activities at weekends that causes the difficulty in maintaining 'diets' or healthy eating? or is this just the excuse we tell ourselves and in fact it is yet another limiting belief that we have 'hooked' into?

Usually our unhelpful habits are triggered by either a limiting belief, as mentioned above or an unmet need and what I actually identified for myself this past weekend is that my eating WAS emotional and triggered by unmet needs. Having become exceptionally busy over the past month except for weekends I now feel at a loss and alone especially on Sundays and as a way to compensate for these feelings yesterday, I overate. How interesting this was to witness and to do in full consciousness, knowing that I had a choice to go and find something else to do or someone to be with that would have taken me away from the need to emotionally eat. Yet I chose to eat unhealthily.

So my challenge to those of you who find weekends tough to maintain healthy eating is to spend sometime thinking and journalling and explore what is REALLY going on for you. Once you know the truth you will be empowered to change it, or not.

Seasonal Eating

Spring here in Spain has definaltely arrived even though the high Sierra's had another flurry of snow this week and I found myself thinking, what does the change is season mean in relation to Conscious Eating?

Until I moved to the mountains is Spain I wasn't at all aware of the seasons of food or what that might in fact mean for me.
Now, seeing fruit and veg grow and buying from local farmers - this has become all very clear. For example, the oranges have now stopped, the trees are bare of fruit but loaded with blossom for the next crop next winter.

• Why is it that nature brings us oranges is winter?
• If they only grow in winter then where do the big supermarkets get supplies from the rest of the year?
• How 'fresh' can they then be?
• How many thousands of miles have they had to travel and in what conditions?

These are the kinds of questions that i'm now asking myself when I go to the grocers.

Nature knows, and if we follow her example and eat foods that are in season then surely we will be giving our bodies the best and most necessary nutrients for the time of year, whilst also contributing to care of the planet by reducing the need for produce to be shipped across the globe.

How conscious are you of the seasons of your food?

Tasting the goodness in the food you eat!

So I have now started 'harvesting' my sprouted beans and oh what flavour! Whilst munching away on the sprouted alfalfa, besides the nutty flavour, I could 'taste' the spring water that I had been using for their daily rinses. I could taste the freshness, it was as if I could taste how healthy and good they were for my body.

So it got me thinking about other things, like the occasional croissant that I also enjoy eating and how does that 'taste' to me and you know, I can 'taste' how that is not so healthy! It's not going to stop me from enjoying the occasional treat but it is another affirmation that when I listen to my body, it will tell me all I need to know about staying healthy.

So why don't you try this, next time you're eating, focus your mind, become 'conscious' of what you're eating and besides the texture and flavour, what else can you notice? what else is your body telling you about it?

Even the Kids will love eating these!

Even though I generally eat healthy, these days I am always looking for new ways to get fresh organic produce packed with vitamins into my body. So this weekend, instead of a chocolate egg, I treated myself to a seed sprouter, much healthier than a chocolate egg and will definately last longer!

Like this one in the picture it has three compartments and I have alfalfa, mung and lentils growing. Within 2 days they are already sprouting and in a day or two more will be ready to eat. As I started this it reminded me of my first ever attempt at seed growing, way back in junior school when we grew mustard and cress - the emphasis then was in the biology of growing rather than the nutritional value of eating, nevertheless I remember feeling quite proud of my 'crop' and happily ate them all.

Do you know that sprouted beans are just packed with vitamins and minerals?


And what a fun way to get the kids on board in growing and eating their own - you don't need some fancy gadget like this, a simple jam jar will do. All you have to do is make sure you rinse and drain them every day and store them in a light warm place. It's as easy as that.

Why not get your kids on board sprouting and eating today!

Getting Back on Track with your Weight Loss Goals

4 week Telecourse Begining Monday april 27th 11am EST (4pm GMT)

Cost $59 or £39

For more information or to register e-mail info@consciouseatingcoach.com

...And you're finding it hard to get back on track,

Don't despair or give up!
There's no time limit by which to have to get eating healthy, although the sooner you begin the better you will feel.

Take the next step in your self care and commitment to healthy eating &/or weight loss and join me for a 4 week Conscious Eating Telecourse focussing on re-creating & re-commiting to your goals.

And with the support of the Conscious Eating Coach and other women like you, set your intention for what you want your relationship with food to be like and commit to small, fun, achievable goals without deprivation.

Size Really does Matter

Just look at the differences between portions sizes NOW and 20 years ago

I was making my lunch the other day, totally conscious.

Conscious of both the excessive amount of veg I put in the oven, the excessive amount of olive oil I poured over it and the excessive amount of noodles I cooked.

Why did I do this I asked myself?

Well, olive oil is a 'good' oil and If I hadn't cooked all the veg then I would have had to throw the rest away because it's been in the fridge too long and if I didn't use all the noodles I would have put back in the cupboard an amount too small for a portion...and anyway...it will save me having to cook dinner tonight.

What interesting excuses I am using to overeat - all attached to limiting beliefs of course.
So what if i have to throw food away, so what if I put a small portion of food back in the cupboard and why deprive myself of dinner just because I overate at lunch!

Does this story sound familiar?

Do you have similar habits?

How conscious are you of your portion size and how that fits in with your 'healthy eating'?