Nutrition is key to a good health and sharp mind.
Just like sleep it can either lift you up or bury you quicker than expected.
Getting the right amount of nutriment will support your body energy.
I have suffered from stomach and intestinal pain for a long time. IBS… Stress is also a trigger of it. As a foodie, you can imagine the daily challenges I face when I have to chose lunch, dinner or a restaurant.
Here are a few tips to put in place to avoid pain, increase your energy but most importantly enjoy food and life.
Track your food and symptom first👀
Do not change anything to your usual diet but track your overall wellbeing and energy for a few days or a week ideally. What is your mood, physical symptoms, sleep quality? What did you eat on that day? After what food do you feel bloated, or you are irritable? Track your skin quality. Certain food cause breakouts when you don’t digest them well. Assessing your hair, nails can only be done on a long term so this might be trickier. My favourite quote: “One cannot heal a wound without finding it”.
Stop all food that may be causing any discomfort 🛑
Stop for a week and note the difference! Once you know what hurts, you can eliminate it and replace it with something you tolerate more. For example, I cannot have gluten, but I am French and Arabic… yes… kind of ironic, isn’t it? I learnt how to bake with gluten free bread or moderate the amount of gluten I eat. Sometimes I chose pain… but at least I know why 🤷♀️
Substitute less healthy food for healthier options 🍟➡️🥗.
Sugar is one of the worst foods for the skin. I am a sugar addict and love candies, chocolate, or even just sugar cube that I dip in coffee. I learnt to substitute (as much as possible) sugar for honey and natural cinnamon syrup. You can use fruits like raisins or strawberries, dried fruits (if you don’t have strong IBS symptoms), dark chocolate instead of the milk one etc… This will really depend on your likes and dislikes. Substitute French fries for a mix of sweet potatoes and carrots (baked in the oven, they look and taste like fries); butter for ghee; vegetable oil for olive oil, alcohol for non-alcoholic drinks….
Reduce the killer “F2S” 🍬🧂.
Easier said than done. Everybody lives a daily internal battle when it comes to sugar. Reducing fat, sugar and salt is not a question of good digestion or beautiful skin anymore. It is a matter of lifespan, health, ability to breath easily, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, energy and so on… There is no shortcut for this one unfortunately. The minimum the better. Stop the bad cholesterol (fried food) and keep the good cholesterol (avocados, eggs, olive oil) in moderation. Stop the bad sugar (candies, ketchup, prepared meal) and keep the good one (fruits) in moderation. Stop the salt but keep natural sodium and potassium rich food (bananas, seaweed, sardines). I am sure, with all the advertising and health campaign, we all know what not to eat so let’s make it a goal and plan for success.
Make a plan and prepare your meal ahead📝
Especially if you struggle with organisation and tend to go for easy quick food or order. Prepare a few meals ahead and freeze them for the days you are short in time. Make some ready to go snacks in batch that you always carry with you (nuts, dates, oat biscuits). You can even prepare overnight porridges, protein banana bread or breakfast cake for the whole week and make your morning easier. You cannot imagine the amount of time saved in batch prep. People reported to feel lighter and full of energy because they prepared their meal in batch and reduce junk food at work. Productivity increased and changed of mood reduced. Finally, that’s A LOT of money saving too 😉
Delete all the deliveries app 🛵
We all know how lazy the human brain is. If you don’t have the app. When you are tired and lazy, the effort will be greater in re-downloading and entering all your details again than getting your prepared meal from the freezer and putting it in the oven. Make these “emergency meal” tasty and try to cook something you know you love. This will make it even easier for you to go for this healthy option instead of going out or ordering in.
Have lots of easy healthy food in store 🥦🍉
Canned tuna, sardines, canned vegetables (not in sauce), brown rice, popcorn, oat cakes, watermelon etc… are all great easy to go options. Again, this is essentially to make it easier for your lazy inner self. Whilst you are there, give or throw away all the canned sauces, chips, candies, prepared full of “F2S” meals. Don’t keep them “just in case”.
Take your time to eat ⏳
Slowness gives time to your brain to process the information and communicate to your stomach and digestive system. Eating slowly is a bigger struggle than one think because the way we eat is a habit. I force myself to put down my fork every couple of minutes. The quicker you eat the more you will suffer bloating, pain and discomfort. Also, you most likely will eat more than you need and feel “stuffed”. The golden rule when it comes to eating is 80% food and 20% air. The more you eat, the less productive you are and the bigger the sleepiness after lunch.
Keep regular timing 🕐
Eat at regular time but do what works best for your stomach⏲. Don’t follow blindly Instagram influencers but follow your gut (literally!) when it comes to eating time and portions. I know now that 3 meals a day doesn’t work with me. I cannot eat big portions as I cannot digest quick enough, so I have to eat small amount regularly. Again, this will all be down to your trial and error. Once you get the sweet balance, stick to it though. Our body doesn’t like volatility when it comes to food, sleep, etc… Keep the same eating hours even on holidays. It doesn’t have to be at the minute but approximately if you have two breakfasts and a late lunch, keep consistency. Mostly listen to your body.
Have the right amount of nutriment spread across the day 🥑
Eating protein, carbs, greens at all the meals/snacks. The trick is to have many colours on your plate to make sure your meal is well balanced. Aim to have protein (animal or plant) every single time to fill fuller. If you can, check with a nutritionist what macro is best for your body type. We are all different and each of us has specific needs.
Save money and throw all these vitamins pills 💊
Only take the supplements you truly lack of/need. In winter Vitamin D is supportive but taking a multivitamin pack the whole year around is not necessary. Get your Vitamin A or C from tomatoes, potatoes, lemon, oranges and calcium from broccoli, milk (lactose free if you are intolerant). Unless you have a malabsorption issue or anaemia, try as much as possible to get everything from food. If your doctor doesn’t prescribe or advise vitamins, maybe you don’t need them. You will only pass them through urine, and honestly, who wants to flush money down the toilets?
Watch your liquid intake ☕
Increasing your water intake whilst reducing alcohol and caffeine is nothing new. It is however difficult to respect it. We are sometimes so focused on work that we can easily forget to drink water and only realise when our mouth is dry which is terrible for our body. We are mainly made of water, so we have to drink it! You can put a reminder or always have a bottle of water on you so when you see it you remember to drink whatever works for you. Regarding alcohol and caffeine, they are both very dehydrating. Caffeine will get you addicted quickly, you will be an unpleasant person when you don’t drink it so better to reduce to one or two cup a day. In addition, caffein makes you more tired…. Alcohol impacts your ability to function, your sleep quality, it is high in sugar and highly addictive. There is a reason the law forbids us to drink and drive!
Please note that I am not a nutritionist, and you should always seek the advice of a professional before starting any type of diet.
💪🏼Challenge of the month! 💪🏼
Maybe you can use January to :
Reduce sugar (50% of current intake), alcohol (one glass a day max), caffein (one cup a day max)
Ensure to eat at least some green everyday 🥦
Remember it takes 21 days to create a habit (and 90 days to make it into your subconscious)
Please do not hesitate to reach out to learn more about the impact of Nutrition on your wellbeing or for any other questions