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Posts Tagged ‘fat loss’

Find a new favourite food

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Avoiding foods that disagree with your gut can play an important role in fat loss.

Have you started your 3 weeks without wheat or dairy yet? To be able to carry out an elimination challenge diet without pain and suffering you need to stock up your kitchen with alternatives!

Preparation is the key to success with this diet.

But the good news is that there are a huge amount of alternative products on the market nowadays.

Wheat alternatives

Rye bread, rice, quinoa, brown rice, millet, corn, buckwheat pasta.

Wheat and gluten free pasta and bread.  Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and contains less gluten.  You might feel better with spelt but it’s probably best to avoid for 3 weeks.

Read labels carefully – sometimes buckwheat pasta or rye breads contain wheat.  You will be surprised at how many products contain wheat.

I love quinoa – I add it to soups to fill me up.

Dairy Alternatives

There are a lot of calcium alternatives to dairy.

Soy milk (Bon soy is the best brand), Oat milk, Rice milk, read labels carefully to check for hidden sugar and additives

Goat milk and sheep milk can be good for your gut, cows milk can cause problems.

Fresh Almond milk is easy to make at home.

Easy & yummy  fresh almond milk recipe

1 cup of almonds soaked over night (6-12 hours)

Wash almonds and and blend with 2 cups of water.  Blend on high speed for 1-2 minutes

Sieve through a muslin cloth or cheesecloth. Delicious!

Foods that cause bloating, gas and heaviness make impure energy (Damp) in Chinese medicine.

The digestive system does not like damp energy and fat is the accumulation of damp energy in Chinese medicine.

Avoiding these damp forming foods such as wheat, dairy or banana is something worth trying to see the effect on your body.  When you reintroduce the food in your system, you need to investigate how much is too much for your system.  Once a day? Or once in a 3 days?  Half size pasta is Ok? Or  can you cope with quarter of a pizza?

I keep out wheat and dairy at home to enjoy Italian restaurant with my friends or to eat sandwich at café if there is no other choice.

I am fine now. I have established good relationship with my dear wheat & dairy, and so I believe knowing what foods that suit your system plays a big role on sense of well-being as well as weight loss.  Foods you like not necessarily agree to your gut but there are a lot of other choices make you healthy and happy.  Please  take this opportunity to enjoy  new discovery of foods for your gut.

Food should give you energy and smile not trouble.

Ayano Izuta, Naturopath

☆If you need any help or support, want to ask questions, please do not hesitate to grab me at Marylebone Physio.

Fat Loss Rules

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Fat Loss Rules


Rule 1 -  Don’t skip meals

Rule 2 -  Eat regularly every 3-4 hours – healthy snacks between meals.

Rule 3 -  Avoid eating only Carbohydrate or sweets.(high GI) Eat Protein in every meal.

Rule 4 -  Choose Healthy protein such as chicken, fish, egg, beans, legumes, quinoa  and nuts and seeds.  Red meat and organ meat are

pro-inflammatory

Rule 5 -  Try and stick to the ratio:   Carbohydrate: Protein = 1.5:1

Rule 6 -  Believe it or not we need fat in our diets! Do not cut all fat out. Increase the amount of omega-3 unsaturated oil (flax seed oil and fish oil) avoid saturated/ hydrogenated fat (animal fat, butter, margarine and too much cheese)

Rule 7 -  Avoid deep fried foods (oils become damaged when heated)

Rule 8 -  Reduce caffeine intake (boosting adrenaline causes a stress response in the body causing fat storage)

Rule 9 -  Increase green leafy vegetables, colorful vegetables and fruits. Refer to a GI chart to choose medium and low GI fruits and vegetables.

Rule 10 – Read labels carefully to find hidden sugar and hydrogenated fats.

Menu suggestions

Drink a large glass of room temperature water when you wake up with fresh lemon or Kiki’s green powder (I can order this for you)

Breakfast:

  • Whole meal bread/toast with eggs – poached is best! Cooked with olive oil not butter.
  • Porridge cooked with oat milk/water/soya milk – add berries /apples /ground nuts and seeds. To sweeten use cinnamon or agave syrup.

  • If you’re in a rush grab a protein shake
  • Be careful of ready made cereals – so called healthy mueslis can contain a lot of sugar – look for sugar contents under 12g.
  • Cornflakes are high GI

Morning snacks:

  • 3-4 brazil nuts, some nuts and seeds (no more than a handful)
  • 2 Oat cakes with nut butter (sadly no peanut butter! Go for pumpkin / walnut / almond or sunflower butters – you can get these from most health food shops)
  • Soya yoghurt with berries

Lunch:

  • Poached salmon with brown rice pasta with vegetables
  • Avocado & chicken sandwich (whole meal or rye)
  • Quinoa salad with beans and legumes
  • No time for lunch? Grab a protein drink!

Afternoon snacks:

  • Oat cakes / vegetable stick with hummus
  • Edamame beans (chew well and choose unsalted options)
  • Handful of nuts and seeds – if you like variety try Graze
  • Kiki’s Green powder for energy boost instead of coffee

Dinner:

  • Grilled chicken / Grilled fish with brown rice, steamed/boiled broccoli, legumes, asparagus
  • 2 egg omelet with spinach, mushroom, onion and tomato (if you have to have cheese try smaller quantities) Add a beetroot salad – good for the blood.
  • Sushi
  • Vegetable / chicken / tofu / prawn curries – use low fat coconut milk
  • Stir fried vegetables with tofu and quinoa
  • A large green and tomato salad with pea soup

Drink?

  • You must remember that alcohol contains a lot of sugar.  Alternate your alcoholic drinks with water.
  • Drinking green tea after meal helps burn calories and has antioxidant properties.  Do not pour boiling water to green tea for keeping it benefits.  75-85 centigrade is the best temperature for green tea.
  • Herbal teas – fresh mint or ginger tea after a meal can aid digestion
  • Suffer from gas? Try fennel tea.

Ayano Izuta, Naturopath