We want to maximize and regulate hormone function particularly insulin and cortisol.
Have 2-3 balanced meals during the day and finish eating by 7-8pm in the evening.
Use a greens juice or smoothie for breakfast if you are at work early, or for lunch if you have to work and have no time.
Try to make your lunch the main meal of the day so you don’t overeat in the evening.
Your meals should have protein, fat and carbohydrate to balance your blood sugar
Reduce stimulant foods, sweets, high glycaemic carbohydrates (fruits), caffeine.
REST is essential. Practice good sleep hygiene lights out before 10pm turn all mobile phone devices off.
Complete a body composition test and pulse rate test to monitor what your lean tissue (muscle) fat to lean ratio and water balance is and establish what your basal metabolic rate (number of calories required for you to perform normal breathing) is on monthly basis. Track this going forward.
It is possible that exercise can make you gain weight if your thyroid and adrenals are fatigued. Make sure you are performing the correct intensity of exercise for you –set up a consultation with your nutritionist, personal trainer or current therapist.
Modern research has shown the importance of healthy gut bacteria to aid weight loss and also the link between unhealthy gut bacteria balance and obesity. Consider using a probiotic, and food intolerance sensitivity test, to eliminate ‘trigger foods’ which may include gluten, wheat or dairy?
See recipe ideas below
Breakfast
Poached eggs with rocket spinach watercress tomatoes & a small slice of sourdough bread
Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on a slice of wholegrain rye bread or sourdough
Fish kedgeree with brown rice
Live natural yogurt with fruit and chopped nuts & seeds
Wheat & sugar free muesli, soaked overnight in full fat “live” yogurt, rice milk, apple juice with added ground almonds, seeds, topped with dark berries.
Chia pudding with winter berries and pumpkin seeds or flax seed
Smoothie: ½ cup coconut milk, ½ cup water, tspn flax, hemp seed,1 cup frozen fruit (optional)
Overnight oats (soak overnight in almond milk) chopped apple raw cacao nibs hemp seed
7 oz natural “live” yogurt with 1 cup Muesli (no added sugar) •Smoothie: 1 cup full fat milk, ½ cup water, 1 cup frozen fruit, 2 tablespoons hemp/pea protein (protein source)
2 eggs scrambled in ½ tablespoon coconut oil with 1 oz feta cheese, 1 slice sourdough and 1 half pink grapefruit
2-egg omelette made in ½ tablespoon coconut oil with red peppers, onions, garlic, spinach, and glass of fresh juice
Lunch
Avocado and green salad (rocket, watercress, radish, spinach) with chicken breast
Poached salmon and salad with rye crackers & little (vegan) mayonnaise
Roast chicken and vegetables with a little brown rice or quinoa
Mackerel/sardines/ with mixed salad and oatcakes
Vegetable soup with added beans served with oatcakes parmesan (vegan cheese)
Cold turkey slices with beetroot salad and oatcakes
Avocado and mixed green salad with half pink grapefruit
Poached salmon and quinoa salad.
White fish with steamed greens.
Vegetable soup with beans with rye bread and a little goat’s cheese or Halloumi.
Chicken Salad with ½ cucumber, sliced, and 1 orange
Greek Salad (if veggies are in season): 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3 oz chicken, ½ cucumber sliced, 1 Roma tomato sliced, 1 oz feta cheese
Dinner
Grilled or poached white fish with steamed greens. Add organic butter to greens.
Tempeh with Quinoa and steamed vegetables
Grilled chicken and roasted Mediterranean vegetables
Roast venison, steamed green beans & broccoli with lentils
Stir Fry with vegetables with lentils and chick peas.
Cold turkey slices with beetroot and oatcakes.
4 oz grilled cod fillet with low glycaemic index vegetables, 1 tablespoon coconut oil or organic butter
3-4 oz prawn, 1 cup courgette /cabbage sautéed in 1 tablespoon butter, and ½ cup applesauce
Beef or Lentil Dhal Chili green beans and 1 piece of fruit
4 oz grilled halibut/haddock, 1 cup courgette/cabbage sautéed in 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and 1 apple
Snacks
Generally, I’m not a fan of snacking between meals as this can spike insulin and raise blood sugar levels. Not useful for fat loss - However, if your schedule, or physiology demands it then here are some options
• Fruit with nuts - unsalted, (not salted peanuts) and seeds - like a pot of “Munchie seeds”.
• Celery and carrot sticks and 10 almonds
• Avocado and oat cakes
• 1/3 cup hummus, 1 medium carrot, ½ medium cucumber
• ½ cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of pineapple
• 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 oz feta or Haloumi cheese, 2/3 cup pineapple
• Raw Carrot & Beetroot Salad
• 15 almonds and a seasonal apple
Avoid
SUGAR & SUGARY FOODS, STIMULANTS LIKE RED BULL ETC
CHOCOLATE – (occasional 70% cocoa solids allowable) COLA DRINKS & FIZZY DRINKS
'WHITE' CARBOHYDRATES (BREAD, White RICE, PASTA)
ALL “DIET” PRODUCTS
ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
ALL “LOW FAT” PRODUCTS
Whenever possible eat fresh, unprocessed, free range, grass fed and organic foods
If you get hungry soon after meals or are craving, then you probably need to increase protein and fat and decrease carbs at the main meal. Remember if you feel hungry don’t worry you will have a snack time coming along soon.
Organic and Pesticide free as much as possible - See www.ewg.org for the best and worst foods for pesticides
Grass fed, free range (Not grain feds)
Not refined or from a packet
If it wasn’t around 5,000 years ago don’t eat it
Use natural oils like butter, coconut butter, ghee and olive oil. Do not used other processed vegetable oils, nut oils, margarines or trans fats
Soak grains, such as porridge over night. This removes the phytic acid in it which grabs hold of beneficial minerals in us.
Reduce all processed foods and white foods, such as flour, white rice, sugar, cakes, white bread (also minimise brown bread)
If you don’t feel well on your current diet, then try something different. For example, if you are vegetarian and lack energy, have hormone problems, anxiety and depression, then you might be healthier eating fish or meat. If you are vegan then its important to supplement specific vitamins such as B12, iron and vitamin D
Start listening to your body and keep a journal as to how you feel and what you ate that day. Did you wake feeling tired? What did you eat for dinner? Was it a steak or a piece of fish? Try eating it again and see if you feel tired again, if you did, don’t eat it again!
Don’t worry if you sway occasionally. Once you notice that you don’t feel good when you sway, then it becomes less likely that you want to feel that way and you won’t do it again.
MORE LIFESTYLE IMPROVEMENTS
Increase your circulation and elimination channels
• Start dry skin brushing before you shower or bath. In small circles brush your skin from your feet up your legs, from your abdomen and low back up your body and your hands up your arms, all towards the heart. This encourages lymphatic drainage.
• After you shower briefly spray yourself down with cold water to stimulate your circulation. If you bathe, then stand up and spray yourself down with cold water in the same manner. If you haven’t time to skin brush just do this one.
• Once per week have an Epsom salt or Magnesium salt bath. Use about 250g. This old naturopathic technique actually draws toxins out through the skin. The Magnesium salts also allow some absorption of magnesium into the blood too, which is very helpful for muscle relaxation and enzyme function.
Fasting Approaches
How Intermittent Fasting Works for Weight Loss
Intermittent fasting (IF), also known as time-restricted feeding (TRF), is less of a “diet” and more of an eating schedule.
Instead of restricting food type and quantity, it centres around feasting and fasting windows.
For example, a 16:8 intermittent fast involves a 16 hour fast followed by an 8-hour period during which you consume all of your daily calories.
The windows’ timing is up to you, and the length of the fasting and feasting windows can vary. Other popular variations include 12:12, 16:8, and 20:4.
In principle, by shortening the eating window, you may achieve better control and ultimately reduce your caloric intake.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work for Weight Loss?
Yes, intermittent fasting does have other advantages for weight loss. One of which is simplicity and ease.
Many diets strive to reduce caloric intake by restricting calories (by way of calorie counting) and limiting food choices.
Intermittent fasting, on the other hand, only requires that you keep track of time. For many, intermittent fasting is less stressful and time-consuming than traditional calorie-counting and can be built into daily habits and work schedules without too much disruption.
As a result, it can be adapted to fit a range of lifestyles and is easier to introduce and sustain than traditional diets.
Additionally, when done mindfully, intermittent fasting can improve self-awareness. Mindful fasters learn to ride the waves of hunger and discern between psychological hunger and physiological hunger and just plain thirst. With increasing self-control, you can resist the impulse to indulge in emotional eating and that awareness results in healthier choices that support your weight loss goals.
Regular exercise and non-exercise activity like walking are critical to ensuring that the “calories out” side of the weight loss equation is accounted for. However, when you reduce your calorie intake, your body will respond by reducing your calorie burn or metabolic rate to maintain homeostasis.
What you can do: Keep your physical activity up. Prioritize regular exercise and create opportunities to get more non-exercise activity like simply walking.
· To lose weight, its beneficial to maintain a caloric deficit for a period. In other words, you must consume fewer calories than you burn as well as the right balance of fibre and macro nutrients.
· Unlike traditional diets, intermittent fasting doesn’t restrict what you eat. Instead, it promotes weight loss by controlling when you eat.
· In theory, by shortening your feeding window, you will find it easier to consume fewer calories.
• Intermittent fasting’s effectiveness is partly due to its simplicity, which can be adapted to various lifestyles and is relatively easy to sustain.
• Although intermittent fasting can be a powerful weight loss tool for some, it doesn’t work for everyone.
Start moving your body
Exercise appropriately for your fitness, age, and illness. If you have adrenal or thyroid fatigued, this should be only light movements, such as Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi and walking.
• Remember if you are exercising a lot, without a day rest in between, then your may have to cut back for a period of time to allow your body time to rest and repair.
Still wondering if intermittent fasting is right for you? That’s ok. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss and having discretion before jumping on any bandwagon is always a good idea.
Alternatively, if you want the convenience of having everything prepared for you and delivered in a box the popular fasting mimicking diet (FMD) is a great option.
This approach has been developed after 25 years of clinical research by Professor Longo who is considered a worldwide leading expert on prolongation of lifespan and longevity.
This ‘pretend’ fast appears to have all the health benefits of water fasting without the hardship.
Over the past year I have seen hundreds of people get amazing health results through the power of the ProLon® Fasting Mimicking Diet® The remarkable thing is it can easily be added to your healthy lifestyle at home regimen. ProLon is a Nutritional Breakthrough.
It is the first and only clinically studied, doctor-recommended 5-day meal program designed to provide you with everything you need to experience many of the benefits of an extended fast, while enjoying soups, crackers, nut bars, olives and more.
Here's what some of the press had to say: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/beat-erratic-eating-lockdown/
Here's a short video on how it works https://youtu.be/Ao27hhxgfXY
Fasting Mimicking Diet – (FMD’s)
The FMD approach consists of between 34% to 54% of normal adult daily calorie intake with the macro ratio made up of 9-10% protein, 45% fat and 45% low GI carbohydrate and fibre.
Here is what the 5 day meal programme looks like
The FMD has been put together carefully to contain exactly the right amounts of nutrients, so it does not feel like a fast but still gives the same health benefits.
However, the FMD places less of a stress on the body than complete water fasting and supplies most of the carbohydrates in the form of vegetables.
The advantage of vegetables is that they have far more phytonutrients and minerals than grain sourced carbohydrates and less calories.
If you would like try it out or learn more simply visit the website here
https://shop.prolon.co.uk?sca_ref=700357.SGKJFtscvZ Use discount code DGOFF at checkout.
NB: If you are on hyperglycaemic medication for type 2 Diabetes (metformin) or insulin you will need primary care supervision/ or oversight to conduct this 5-day programme.
Ultimately enjoy whatever works for you and if you are looking for any further tips or support, I have developed a personalised 90-day Total Health Transformation Programme which you can access from this website.
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