Health Food

Why You Should Stop Blaming Your Will Power

January 30, 2015

Author: Amber French

Why You Should Stop Blaming Your Will Power
And Start Believing in your SELF

If you eat processed foods more regularly than whole foods and you are trying to lose weight, two words…. “Good Luck”!

Stop blaming yourself for being overweight and not being strong enough to lose weight. The foods in our culture have been changed and modified. They are processed down to non foods and filled with preservatives and chemicals that leave us wanting more.

That’s right, the food we consume every time we open a box, bag or container leave us starving and simultaneously wanting more. Processed foods cannot sustain us unless they are eaten in very large quantities (with a very large quantity of calories attached to it). The food companies design food to do two things; taste really good and leave us wanting more. And they are succeeding WILDLY!!! The foods are changed by manipulating the Fat, Sugar and Salt content to reach that magic sweet spot that causes our brains to react similarly to drugs like cocaine. While we are creating our addiction we are also starving ourselves of the vitamins and nutrients we so desperately need to LIVE.

Once we have consumed that prepackaged food and received our high we are immediately hungry again because we haven’t given our bodies what they are asking for. So what does this mean to you when you are trying to lose weight??? Quite a lot;

Don’t believe in will power, believe instead, if you give your body what it needs and break the habits that cause us to eat when we aren’t hungry you won’t need to white knuckle through another diet EVER.

The amount of “Whole Foods” (foods that are as close to their original state as possible) it would take to reach the point of excess calories (which causes weight gain) is practically impossible to reach on a regular basis. Meaning most days you would only consume the amount of calories needed to sustain you and either see you weight decrease (if you had excess weight to lose) or easily maintained without gaining weight each year you grow older and your metabolism slows!

A whole host of other ailments that plague you, resulting from being nutrient deficient will start to lessen or disappear because you are feeding your body the correct vitamins and nutrients it needs. This increases your motivation as you start to remember what feeling GOOD feels like.

Try this for two weeks and let me know how it works for you….
Make you breakfast, lunch and snacks whole plant based foods. Followed by eating a well balanced dinner of a combo of your “go-to” processed and unprocessed foods.

That’s right, No packages for two weeks for breakfast lunch and all snacks. No containers, boxes or bags. What does that leave you ask? Anything you can buy in bulk and that you can eat in it’s natural state, or as close as you can get.

Fruits, veggies, whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, bulgur, oats etc) 100% juices, teas, nuts, seeds etc.

Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with berries and almond milk

Lunch: Lettuce Wraps stuffed with you favorite veggies and peanut dipping sauce or Vegetable Soup.

Dinner: Brown Rice Pasta and Marinara Sauce (and your lean protein of choice)

Snacks: fruit, almonds, chickpeas, smoothies etc.

The increase in energy, lack of blood sugar swings and clearer skin are all happy by-products you will experience!!!

Email me with your results or with any questions at info@theveganhouse.ca

Yours in Kindness,
Amber

About the Author: Amber has been in the fitness and recreation game for over 15 years (not including school!!). She made fitness her life because as the age old saying goes, study and teach what it is you need to learn. In other words, she’s battles with some weight issues for many years and wants to share what she has learned along the way.

You can follow her @TheVeganHouse

Menu Planning – The How’s and Why’s

January 29, 2015

Author: Amber French

Menu planning is not for the super organized gourmet’s anymore. More and more health professionals are recognizing the benefits of planning ahead. They range from financial and emotional to physiological (read; less wasted food and high priced “convenient” foods, stress and guilt about ordering out again and more “real” fresh vibrant foods on our plates).

Most of the nutritionists I work with (as well as my own findings) support the need for repetition and preplanning. You cannot take hold of your nutritional destiny without planning your days and being the master of your food fate. The easiest way to get a handle on your day is to limit your breakfast and lunch options to a few well rounded and simple options. You are more likely to follow through if it is easy and repetitive (especially during the crazy morning routine). Make sure you adequately covering your carb, protein and healthy fat needs.

Breakfast can set the tone for the rest of the day. Smoothies are a quick and easy way to cover your bases. You can add avocados, nuts and seeds to round out your smoothie with some hunger stomping healthy fats. However if the thought of a healthy vibrant smoothie sends you running for the local Tim Horton’s then obviously choose what works for you! Have your breakfast options easy and ready to go and add them to your weekly grocery list. Oh and not out of a box or drive through.

Lunch is the same, think about packing your kids lunch (or your fur baby’s!). We prepare, make sure we have everything ahead of time and go with choices that aren’t going to come home untouched or swapped out. But when it comes to our own lunch we expect that it will fall out of the sky, bank on co-workers left over or think we can “power through” until dinner. All of which set you up for failure (aka a trip to the vending machine). Rotate through a few favorite salads or sandwiches, Tip Here: pack components for salads/sammies separately and assemble when you are ready to eat (keeps everything from going soggy). Your other option at lunch is prepare an extra helping of dinner the night before and pack it up BEFORE you sit down to eat to ensure you and the people you dine with don’t overindulge and eat up your good intentions.

Then comes dinner – the fun part! Pick your day, some like Sundays (I do not) I like my Sundays to be easy-breezy. I like Thursday, I plan, shop and prep. It gives some much need mental motivation to get through the weekend and I am set for the beginning of the week and for me it coincides with my pay days. Pick your tried and true with no more than one or two new recipes each week MAX.

BEST TIP FOR KEEPING DINNER SIMPLE AND HEALTHY – Assemble don’t cook. We want to eat as close to nature as possible, this is how you do it. Pick your canvas (rice, protein, pasta, sweet potatoes etc) prepare (this can even be done ahead). Next choose your paints (veggies, greens and fruits) create your master piece and top with your fav light sauces or garnishes (lemon, cilantro, limes, hot sauce, soy sauce, tomato sauce etc). Combine and enjoy. This allows you to customize for your mushroom hating husband or spice-adverse children. It also steers you away from the number one North American based no-no… the casserole.

When I first started cooking I kept thinking how much more food I would be eating if I disassembled my casseroles and ate the ingredients separately. Think of how much more food is on your plate when you cook your lasagna ingredients separately and combine on your plate compared to the tiny square you get once it has been in your oven for an hour. I also felt compelled to add a salad and bread to make sure everyone had enough to eat. What I was left with was a HIGH calorie meal that most of the natural vitamins had been cooked right out of.

Back to dinner menu planning; come up with your list of “canvases” for the week and corresponding paints and flavours. Add to your grocery list and assign a day to each combination.

We are so busy now a day’s feeding our family shouldn’t be a guilt riddled stressor, it should be a time to refuel and reconnect. This is achieved by Preparation, Repetition and Simplicity. Enjoy your creations, learn from your mistakes, broaden your taste buds and savour your meal times.

Contact me info@theveganhouse.ca for a sample three day meal plan if you need some inspiration or to kick start your new way of eating!

With love and veggies,

Amber

You can follow her @TheVeganHouse

The Real Secret to Losing Weight is Self Love

January 14, 2015

Author: Ann O’Brien

From the time I was 10 years old I have struggled with my weight. My story is typical, tried the diets, the exercises, all the usual stuff you hear from people who talk about their journey in weight loss. And like the common story, it didn’t last. I couldn’t stick with it, there was always something that would come up, a party, a holiday, a major life event and I would fall apart, lose my good intention and go back into my old habits. The pounds would come back and the self loathing would begin.

It usually started in the mirror, me looking at my body. I would stare at myself and think “god what is wrong with you?” “why can’t you get this together.” “i’m so fat. No one will ever want me like this.” “I’m disgusting.” “Ugh, so gross, look at this belly.” And so on. This would send me into an energetic tail spin and the only way for me to shut those voices up was to start stuffing my face with whatever I could find. Food was something I could control and it made me feel good to eat. The act of eating was a way for me to fill myself up, the focus would fall away from the mean things I would say to myself and shift to feeling docile and relaxed, or being too full to focus on anything at all.

I couldn’t grasp what I was missing. Why was I sabotaging myself? Where is this coming from? What do I need to do? Physically I was doing all the right things, so why couldn’t I stick with them?

When I started working with Reiki things began to get clear. When I connected to myself through reiki energy I started to see how I was showing up for myself mentally. Particularly when it came to my physical body. I realized that I was so disconnected from my body that I actually viewed it as completely separate from myself. I was in a perceived fight with my body and treating it like it was something that needed to be punished because it wouldn’t do what I wanted it to.

When I began meditation, transformational yoga and reiki practice, I got really clear on where my extra weight had come from and why I was still holding on to it. My relationships through out my life were unhealthy and mentally abusive and my reaction to that was to create a barrier around myself rather then fully deal with these situations, clearing them, forgiving myself and those involved and letting them go. My being overweight was related to a story I had created about myself that I needed to protect myself with this physical barrier to keep people from getting to know me fully because

I’ve carried around a fear of being hurt.So how could I possibly stick with a diet, with exercise when I inherently believed I didn’t deserve to treat myself well and that this weight I carried was my way of protecting myself. The root of this journey for me was that in order for me truly be healthy, I needed to accept my body and to forgive and let go of my past. To say, my body is beautiful. That my body is great because it supports me in all the things I want to do. To forgive myself every time I had the thoughts that were hurtful towards me and my body. To know that my body and my spirit are fully connected to each other and it makes up the whole person that is me.

The point of it all was that I needed to change my energy around my weight and why I was holding on to it. It didn’t matter how much I dieted, how long I exercised for, if I ate or didn’t. I needed to heal how I felt about myself. Through transformational work, reiki treatments focused on the energy directly related to my digestion and personal power. Using healing affirmations like “I love my body and all the things it does for me right now.” “I honour and accept myself just as I am” “I am beautiful.” and so on. I wrote post it notes saying nice things like “you deserve to be healthy” “You nourish yourself with good food” “You are safe and protected. You can release your weight, it’s no longer needed to protect you.” and leave them up in places I would see them as reminders of what I needed to know. I would use the gift of reiki and treat myself and even reiki my water and fill it with positive loving energy. I meditate, focused on my heart and I say to myself, “I love myself right now, exactly as I am.”

As of right now, I feel the healthiest I’ve ever been. The weight is falling off which is funny because this is the first time in my life I haven’t been focused on losing weight. I’m focused on being healthy, nourishing myself and treating my whole self really well. That includes having the occasional piece of pizza and indulging in a delicious piece of chocolate cake. And it includes green juice, amazing smoothies, properly portioned meals that are full of life giving nutrients and that support my energy. And lots and lots of yoga! So please, stop fighting your body! Start loving it. Listening to it. Connecting with it. Figuring out your relationship with your body and where you can love it more will be your first step in journey to great health.

Ann O’Brien is a certified Power Vinyasa Yoga Teacher and works with Power Yoga Canada Oshawa, a certified Reiki Master and the CEO of Divine Amore Reiki and Readings, connect with her on instagram @divineamorereiki, like her on Facebook at Divine Amore Reiki and Readings or check her out at www.divineamore.com.

Food As Medicine

December 30, 2014

Lately I cant get enough regarding this topic. I am reading everything I can get my hands on and I am incorporating things like Turmeric and Nutritional yeast into my meals whenever I can.
It seems like now is the time for this topic to rise and be considered a viable option for those looking to take their health into their own hands.

I don’t know if it is my industry or my year of close family and friends suffering from heart disease and cancers, that make me want to know more… Either way the facts are astounding. I have 4 female cousins all the same age as me (38!!Yay!!) one suffered a stoke and has been hospitalized since April (confined to a wheelchair and speaking valve) and one was admitted to the hospital after suffering so many heart attacks they lost count she had 3 main attires clogged and required surgery!! Yes I said 38…..

I also just learned that a friend from high school (36) was diagnosed in the summer with breast cancer, which has since moved to her liver, bones, blood and lungs. So far these brave ladies have fought back and continue to get a little better everyday. It’s making me feel like a sitting duck (with Elmer Fudd breathing down my neck).

I don’t want to wait to start eating better. I am actually taking comfort in knowing that I can do something now and not just keep my fingers crossed that I am the next one to fight the good fight. I want to fight now. I want to fuel my body with as much good foods that aid in digestion, controlled blood sugars, cleared arteries and increased antioxidants so that my arsenal is full, in case I am called to the front lines.

I am surrounded by diabetes on both sides of my family (type I and II) and have lost most of my grandmother’s 7 sisters to various forms of cancers. I want to know more and do what I can now. I have decided to learn all I can about Juicing (which in some countries is prescribed as medicine to people fighting cancer due to the extremely high doses of Vitamin A and C) as it seems the quickest and most effective way to load my weaponry. I use Flax seeds and Chia seeds in my baking and

Smoothies to increase the levels of Omega 3’s to protect and feed my brain. I have green smoothies for breakfast every week day (and so do the kids) to keep my arteries clear and my bones strong. I don’t do this in some vain attempt to prolong the last 401 days of my thirties (yes, I am counting).

I do it because I am fighting for my life, the life of my children and my husband. I want to do everything I can to spend as long as I can with the people I love.

I will do what it takes to make sure I am prepared to fight just in case…..

My No-Fail Green Smoothie Recipe
Its sweet and full of greens that add an immeasurable amount of health benefits to your morning.

Serves: 1
Ingredients:
1 cup of Non-Dairy milk (I love Silk’s Almond Coconut blend, its unsweetened and tasty)
1 Banana
1 (serious) handful of greens (baby spinach is a great place to start)
1/2 cup of frozen fruit (favourites in my house are berry blends or mango)
1 TBSP of ground flax seed (optional, but great for adding some brain feeding Omega 3’s)
4 ice cubes (not sure why, but the magic number is 4)
Garnish however you want (oranges or peaches look nice)

Directions:
Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth.

Calorie Count is dependent on fruit/milk choices, mine rakes in at about 200 calories and the yield is a massive glass full!!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Yours in Health,
Amber

Holiday Habits

December 10, 2014

Author: Amber French

Get ready for 8 thousand articles about how to resist temptation over the holidays to hit your inbox, mailbox and Social Media stream…..

Here is one more!!! EXCEPT this one isn’t about resisting it is about accepting. We know we need to eat before the party to avoid overindulging, drink lots of water to fill up or graze on veggies to avoid the more calorie laden temptations. And once you have, you are left full (really needing to PEE), totally unsatisfied and staring all crazy eyed at the spinach dip.

Lets rewind to the morning of your Christmas party or family dinner and lets accept that today is going to be outside the norm as far as our healthy eating plans go. Let’s accept that we are going to eat more than usual and probably consume more calories than usual. So what can we do with the other 20 hours in our day (assuming you can tolerate your family for 4 hrs!!) in preparation for the evening’s events!!??

We can eliminate the horrible state that we work ourselves into by worrying about our over indulgences before the even happen. We can prepare for the shame game by focusing on what makes us feel good prior to.

Here are my tips for changing your heads space before and after the EVENT.

Get enough sleep the night before (or the afternoon before): Sleep deprivation cause over indulgence… FACT: our bodies crave sugar, fat and caffeine to “get us through” when we are staying up late or coming off a crummy night’s sleep.

Make sure your outfit fits: Seriously don’t force it if it isn’t working. Don’t spend money on “spanx” if your favorite little black dress is feeling dimply or snug. Dress in the present, don’t dress in the past. If a certain size or dress used to fit don’t force it. Instead plan on an outfit that allows you to sit, stand and mingle in comfort. Another Fact…Feeling “Fat” makes you over indulge and literally throw in the towel and eat everything in sight. If you feel good you are more likely to engage in conversations, meet new people and be the sparkly life of the party.

Hit the Yoga Studio: Do something physically active for at least 30 mins. Research shows that doing something positive for your health will lessen the urge to leave a serious dent in the Nacho platter. Plus using the time at the beginning and end of your class to visualize your event, who you are excited to catch up with, reflect on the engaging and supportive environment it is going to be.

Read the Paper: Go prepared to have something to talk about. Don’t expect to be entertained! If you are like me boredom is the gateway to extra nibbling!

Eat healthy throughout the Day: Don’t starve in anticipation to a big binge, because you may harm some small children during your beeline to the meatballs! Eat your regularly scheduled meals prior to the event and go with the attitude of enjoying the food your host has prepared for you instead of battling it.

Lastly, have fun! Don’t be the crazy lady hugging the cheese and crackers. Enjoy your food, take a picture post it online in homage to your lovely host and hostess and then hop into your family’s Christmas Eve tradition of Twister Olympics.

As for after the party…..read the article again and repeat above tips! (They apply to everyday not just “party/family dinner” days)!

With Kindness,

Amber

You can follow her @TheVeganHouse

Health Food

Why You Should Stop Blaming Your Will Power And Start Believing in your SELF

We can eliminate the horrible state that we work ourselves into by worrying about our over indulgences before the even happen. We can prepare for the shame game by focusing on what makes us feel good prior to.

Why You Should Stop Blaming Your Will Power
And Start Believing in your SELF