So it’s pancake day, how exciting. I love pancakes, my favourite is the traditional thin pancake with a sprinkle of sugar and a large squeeze of fresh lemon!
So easy peasy, if you want the traditional crepe style pancake and you want to make them gluten and diary free, use Doves farm self raising flour instead of the wheat flour, and replace cows milk with almond or the new brand of plant based milk call “Mylk” whole, I love this new product, its too tasty.
However these days, pancakes are more ‘gourmet’ so I made some fabulous american style pancakes, gluten and dairy free too. (*vegan option)
My recipe for the american style pancakes (gluten and diary free):
I used about 150ml RudeHealth’s Mylk Whole
1 large egg (*to make egg replacer, use two dessert spoons, then add some water to them and mix until they go gluppy)
1 dessert spoon of milled flax seeds for extra fibre
1 dessert spoon of melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon of ground almonds (you could also use coconut flour)
2 large tablespoons of buckwheat flour
1 large tablespoon of doves farm plain four
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
+ some coconut oil for cooking…
Add everything into the blender or use a hand whisk, for 1 minute, let it rest whilst the the pan heats with a little of the coconut oil.
Pour about two tablespoons of mixture into the hot frying pan…wait a minute (you could add in some blueberries before you flip them) then flip it. I had mine with maple syrup, but lemon and sugar also amazing and I had made some home made blackcurrent jam to use up too, which took 10mins to make! Protein and fibre!
Blood sugar balancing…nutritious and delicious! How did your turn out?
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Are you ready for a Six week *online reset progamme? hurry ONLY £275
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Who is this for?
Would you prefer one on one support and need regular contact. Need help with how to improve your wellbeing, you need to a manage a busy work life, find conflicting information in the media creats havoc with food choices and eating habits.
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Give me a call today! 07957 806 207
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Interesting read on sugar and how more research is required to establish if sugar has more than just empty calories to its detriment. Hypothesis is often found to be real and whilst the PhD students spend a few decades proving that sugar is detrimental to health besides the calories, shall we just all agree to stop sugar being added to everything and educate parents to limit fizzy drinks and snacks… brilliant
http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.j5808
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It’s that time of year again. All the new fad diets are plastered across magazines, social media and popping into your in boxes. Diets and diet books are money-making machines, they make us look at ourselves and feel unhappy about how we look, then feed us information about how to quickly shift weight which is not suitable long-term resulting in, piling it all back on again. These articles and books rarely focus on creating healthy relationship with food, discuss the quality or quantity of what we eat. If they truly worked for the long-term, we wouldn’t need them to make up new fancy names and diets every year. Rant over…
However we all know that (fad) diets, if followed 100% do work in the short-term. But most of us use them to lose weight for a holiday and/or post-Christmas weight gain etc, then we go back to how we used to eat and all the weight comes back on, albeit gradually with a bit of extra to boot. And we have all read why this happens right? Being obese is a serious health risk, and fad diets will generally damage your health further due to the yo-yo effect.
Fad diets tend to make the body lose water and burn through muscle (due to calorie restriction). Muscle is a metabolic organ, it burns fat. Reduce our muscle ratio and our metabolism slows down. Slowing down the metabolic rate means your body has to store calories as fat, rather than using them as energy; resulting in further weight gain.
What’s the answer?
I find when we focus on improving digestion, energy and finding an exercise that is fun, improvements in weight, energy and happiness are seen quickly.
I use a timed eating programme. By leaving 5 hours between meals, no snacks and no calories after 7.30/8pm, (it is *scientifically proven to burn fat, rather than muscle) there are no other rules. Once you start to feel more energized from these gaps in eating, food choices tend to lean to the more unprocessed foods. It’s a great way to feel well and improve vitality. You can do this 80% of the time once you have reached your goal and it should sustain a healthy weight and gut.
The improvements are believed to be partly due to the migrating motor complex. This is the action of cleansing the stomach and gut during a fasting state (gaps between eating). This makes sense, as when the digestive system is constantly in use, this process is not able to take place. If we don’t clean our kitchen because we are constantly using it, it soon becomes dirty and bacteria and fungus can overgrow, just like in your gut. Improvements in blood sugar balance, cravings and energy are some of the benefits I have seen.
When my clients follow this new way of eating, the obsession of weight tends to go away, they are happier and more energised, which allows them to have a more active life, bringing further benefits of improved strength and confidence. I am offering an online programme starting week of 8th January, which will give you the tools to tackle your health goals and a side effect may well be healthy weight loss, rather than the focus. This programme will include coaching and confidential weekly consultations for 6 weeks for only £275. Hurry as I only have 5 spaces available.
Starts week beginning 8th January! A new year gift to yourself. Get in touch for more info and to book your slot!
*Reference
University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Time-restricted feeding study shows promise in helping people shed body fat.” ScienceDaily, 6 January 2017.
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- Firstly Smile! and always eat a good breakfast: Incorporating protein, a good example poached eggs with grilled mushrooms, spinach and fried tomatoes, or scrambled egg with smoked salmon or just some nut heavy granola with grated apple, yoghurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon
- Keep hydrated: If you drink alcohol you will benefit from drinking more water during the day, to help prevent dehydration. Thirst is often confused with hunger, reach for a glass of water before a turkey sandwich!
- Dinner: Load your plate with the vegetables rather than the potatoes, you can have potatoes but not as many as you would normally eat, if you eat turkey it’s a great source of protein and will help to keep you full and a good nut roast will do the same.
- Dessert: It’s all about portion size, have a little and enjoy the flavours rather than eating at speed. (we use small bowls at home rather than the desert bowls in our cupboards, you could use tea cups or small glasses if you haven’t got small bowls)
- Keep your left overs out of sight: Remove the temptation to keep going back for more. You can make the left overs into something yummy the next day, either soup, fry up the vegetables and sliced turkey, sausages and add some eggs for a hearty breakfast, yummy
- Take a walk: Get some fresh air after your meal and even before if you can
- Offer to wash up: Keep moving your body and help out the host!
- Have some healthy snacks to hand: Make mini turkey and salad sandwiches with some fresh fruit and nuts to nibble on. Try displaying them on pretty plates to make them look even more delicious, use fruit and sliced carrots and cucumber and mint leaves to garnish.
These tips are easy to implement and will help you to sustain a calm Christmas. If you do over eat and drink lots of alcohol, you may be left feeling a bit worse for wear. So it’s totally up to you isn’t? Maybe a January Detox is on the cards?
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For those who have children, work in an office, use London transport or work in a hospital or doctors surgery and anyone else who is interested, here are some important tips to help avoid this horrible virus which is highly contagious:
Do these 2 simple things:
1. Use soap and hot water to wash your hands, take 20 seconds to do this and dry thoroughly with clean paper towels, do this regularly and especially after travelling on public transport and before you eat.
2. Keep your gut healthy – probiotics this time of year can be benenficial along with zinc and vitamin D3 supplements, to help support a healthy immune system. And of course a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fresh vegetables and a few pieces of fruit.
Don’t do these:
1. Don’t rely on alcohol hand sanitiser, it does not kill the Noro virus on your hands and it is also not protective against clostridium difficile (a very serious gut infection) you have to use soap and water as described above
2. Don’t use sugar and alcohol (in excess) they destroy the immune system, avoid eating sugar for energy and focus on energy giving foods like nuts and seeds and vegetables sticks for snacks. Chopped up apple, carrots and celery is so refreshing with a few toasted pumpkin seeds or walnuts
3. Don’t burn the candle at both ends…. do get some good quality sleep – the body heals when its sleeping and gets worn out through poor quality sleep and late nights and this damages the immune systems function.
Hope this helps to keep you well! Here’s to keeping warm and healthy this Christmas.
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There are so many people coughing and spluttering at the moment, I wanted to give my body an immune boost to help me fight off those horrid viruses, which seem to be incubating well in this warm, humid and wet weather.
Here is my new breakfast smoothie with lots of immune fighting elements, it tastes amazing!
Yellow mellow immune smoothie: vegan and gluten free
*1 cup frozen mango (lots of vitamin C and fibre) makes it really smooth and adds a little sweetness
*1 dessert spoon Organic cold milled flax seeds (fibre for gut health, omega 3, zinc for immunity)
2 teaspoons Maca powder (fantastic for an energy boost and supports many bodily systems contains lots of minerals)
1/2 courgette (great fibre for the gut and lots of minerals and vitamins – easy to digest and tastes of very little)
1 teaspoon of inulin powder to support the gut and immunity (natural fibre tastes sweet)
*Heaped teaspoon of turmeric (fresh turmeric is amazing but couldn’t get hold if it)
Pineapple core (to support the breakdown of the nutrients so its easy to absorb – bromelian supplements are good to add if you can’t get pineapple core)
*200 ml Almond milk (choose your favourite plant based milk)
*2 inches of fresh root ginger (great for the immune system and acts as an anti-inflammatory supporting Th2 immune reactions which increase inflammation)
Add all the ingredients to your nutribullet or blender and whiz it all up then pour into a glass and enjoy!
Sounds like a lot of ingredients, but I had everything in the kitchen so it wasn’t a bore having to go to the supermarket, but remember you can leave some of the ingredients out if you don’t have them. The 5 ingredients that are essential are indicated with *
Here’s to a cold and cough free September!
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Now that’s got your attention. I have been reading the papers and felt quite saddened by the amount of articles and promotion of diets for weight loss since 1st of January 2017.
I realise there are many overweight people in the UK, but dieting always making us fatter in the long run as normal eating patterns always resume. I have been using a combination of 5:2 fasting and time restricted eating for my clients and myself. It’s something you can do forever and you can eat most things, so long as it isn’t really unhealthy all the time. We know that the diet industry makes millions every year, and yet every year we are seduced by the promises of a “lean body in two weeks” or a body image that is never attainable. Of course this creates unhappiness, when we should be focusing on health and happiness, not what weight we are, it should not define us. Focusing on being healthy and fit rather than thin is a positive way of thinking and stops us feeling bad if the scales are not shifting. This will also have long lasting effects and dieting will no longer need to happen as you will be toned, motivated and fit. Ever noticed how fit people always look attractive! Thin people don’t always look attractive. Being fit makes you radiant and energised and that’s very appealing.
For me changing when you eat, rather than what you eat can be so liberating, you don’t have to buy a Nutri Bullet, you don’t have to use powders and potions and you can pretty much eat ‘normally’ within reason, and once a few pounds have dropped off exercise will feel easier and the rest will be history. None of this clean eating, although you can eat that way if you choose to of course. Getting back to tradition, eating 3 meals not 5 and enjoying fat and not eating too much carbohydrate, simple?
Here’s a great article, it reports that for the first time in humans, eating early in the day lessens daily swings and hunger and changes the 24-hour pattern of fat oxidation and energy metabolism, which may aid in weight loss.
What are you waiting for? Need more guidance, cooking lessons or support? Come and see me and I can motivate you and support you on your journey back to health and happiness! Book an appointment
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Breakfast is a great way to start the day, most of us enjoy breakfast but what’s the best breakfast? Its one of the most co
mmon questions I get asked, so here is a super healthy energy boosting gut supporting breakfast, and it tastes great too.
This is a small bowl, I encourage everyone to use smaller bowls and plates, unless they are manual workers, we really don’t need to eat as much as we do. This breakfast is a slow releasing energy meal with a good amount of fibre.
What’s in the bowl?
Apple sauce, home made with organic braeburn apples, no added sugar – about 1 tablespoon
1 fresh ripe fig (or a dried fig)
Quinoa, buckwheat and chia porridge cooked with almond milk – serving size 50g
Dark brown muscovado sugar (less than a teaspoon)
What are the benefits and nutritional advantages of eating this for breakfast? In a nutshell, supports energy production, helps keep blood sugar levels stable and provides your body with an array of vitamins, minerals and fibre! It tastes great too.
The apple sauce/puree can be batch cooked and I keep mine in the fridge, or I freeze it. I don’t peel the apples, I cook them with the skins on and then puree them, saves time and adds fibre. Cooked apples contain glutamine, which can help support the gut lining. I use apple sauce for gut healing, especially for newly diagnosed celiac patients and those with auto-immune conditions. Core the apples and add to a saucepan with a little water and cook for 10mins, then whizz them up in a blender. Apples are slow releasing energy foods and help keep blood sugar levels stable due to their low sugar and high fibre content.
Figs are amazingly delicious, we are lucky enough to get them in UK even when they are not in season in Europe, but I look forward to fig season in July and August when we can make lots of amazing desserts with them. Figs are rich in minerals including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper and are a good source of antioxidant betacarotene and vitamins E and K.
Quinoa is a high protein seed, provides magnesium, potassium, folate, iron and copper. Vitamins B1, B2 and B6, less of B3 and vitamin E. Pretty amazing for such a small seed. High nutrient density helps support the body to create energy and support hormonal and cognitive health.
Buckwheat is a good source of fibre, manganese, zinc, iron and copper. Buckwheat provides various plant compounds and is richer in antioxidants than many common cereal grains. The plant compounds found in buckwheat include rutin, quercetin, vitexin and D-chiro-inositol. Buckwheat is gluten free and is an excellent alternative to wheat, which it is not related too. Buckwheat is a member of the rhubarb family and is a seed rather than a grain, like quinoa.
Muscovado sugar, with some minerals present provides magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and iron. Unlike refined sugar which provides no nutrition only sucrose/glucose, which provides no helpful nutrition to the body, just a massive sugar hit. This small amount provides a great dense sweetness with the added benefit of the minerals.
Why not swap this breakfast for your usual cereal or porridge to increase your nutrition?
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With the Christmas festivities well underway, you may be considering how you will feel by January 1st?
I am offering a 21 day detox including 60 mins consultation with me (in person or via Skype) at the beginning, we will schedule weekly phone calls or emails, throughout the detox and you will receive a 30 minute follow-up consultation at the end. You receive 21 days worth of supplements, food ideas and recipes to support the detoxification processes within the body. It’s doable whilst carrying out your daily life, you will need to plan ahead though to make this work for you.
Why not buy a voucher for yourself, your best friend, or Mum if you are still searching for the perfect Christmas gift, just give me a call and we can arrange delivery. The detox is £250 all in, all you have to do is follow the instructions and stick to it for two weeks! You will be saving £65 when you buy this voucher
This is a great opportunity to focus on your health, to ensure you achieve your professional and personal goals that you have set yourself for 2017
Can I help answer any of your questions? please call on 07957 806 207.
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