It’s that time of year – cold and flu season when we have to take care of ourselves to stay healthy.

If you don’t want to catch a cold or to reduce stress, have more energy, sleep better, or even to lose, or at least not to gain some weight, you need to know not only which foods to eat but also which foods to avoid to survive the busiest time of the year.

Did you notice that we always look for super foods to be healthier and feel better? But what about foods that might make us super sick?

These are super unhealthy foods which add more stress on our system and are super harmful for our health:

• Hydrogenated oils
• Sugars
• Artificial sweeteners
• High-fructose syrup
• Flour products
• Refined grains
• Junk foods
• Fast foods
• Processed foods
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Tobacco

*** The trans fatty acids most fast and processed foods contain actually reduce circulation and raise blood pressure, keeping your body in a constant state of stress.

*** Alcohol upsets the blood sugar level and disturbs sleep patterns.

*** Caffeine boosts the production of the stress hormone adrenaline.

*** Sweets, raise your insulin levels increasing serotonin for a little while, and then serotonin level goes down very fast turning you into cranky and irritable person.

Did you know that average American consumes more than 190 pounds of sugar a year, and 3/4 of it are “hidden” in processed foods?

Be aware of hidden sugars in the following items:

• Breakfast cereals
• Salad dressings
• Luncheon meats
• Canned fruits
• Bread
• Peanut butter
• Crackers
• Soups
• Sausage
• Cheese dips
• Chewing gum
• Jellies and jams
• Fruit Yogurts
• Fruit Juices
• Frozen deserts (ice cream, sorbets)

You don’t have to avoid these items entirely.  You just need to be wary of them.

A lot of people don’t realize that to stay healthy sometimes it is not about what to eat but rather what not.

So let us be food smart to feel and look fabulous during this holiday season.

Click to listen to Pamela Reilly, Naturopath and Raw Food Coach on How to Boost Our Immunity During Cold and Flu Season.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor

So how good are your eating habits?  Do you eat while reading, watching TV, looking at your computer, talking over the phone, etc.?

Have you ever noticed when you multitask you can eat a lot without noticing what you are actually eating? Even when you have dinner with your friends or coworkers, as soon as the conversation starts, the control of how much you eat ends..

As a Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach and Counselor, I always remind my clients that if you eat while multitasking, you will give your brain the wrong signals. You can call this mindless eating.  If your brain is thinking of work, it isn’t thinking of eating and won’t tell your body to stop eating .

If you focus your mind on your eating you will:

• eat less,
• be full faster,
• digest your food properly,
• absorb all nutrients
• lose weight

Here are some healthy tips and ideas to help focus your brain for mindful eating:

• Take a couple of deep breathes to slow down before your meal.
• Bless your food, or at least give thanks – it will help you feel gratitude, which by itself a powerful stress relief technique to help your digestion.
• Try to enjoy what you eat by noticing the food, smelling and savoring it.
• Chew properly – it helps enzymes from your pancreas and other organs get into your stomach and small intestines.
• Eat slower to feel full faster.
• Have a quiet happy family dinner at least twice a week instead of eating on the go.
• Chant “Sat Nam” five times.( Sat Nam is a healing sound or meditation mantra).
• Say Bon Appetit before every meal even if you eat alone. It will help you set your mood for eating and enjoying the food.

Establish these stress free eating habits to maintain your weight more easily and feel and look fabulous, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach and Counselor

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Do you consider yourself a happy person? What if I tell you that you can add more joy and pleasure into your life just by practicing mindful eating?

How long does it take you to eat your breakfast or lunch? When was the last time you enjoyed your food while chewing properly? Our eating habits are our choices, and they can tell a lot about the person. To choose joy of eating, pleasure from food at least three times a day is a choice. To make our choice a healthy habit will take time and practice.

In order to have more joy and pleasure and less anger, frustration and anxiety in our lives we need to practice attentive eating at least once a day. It will help us reduce stress, speed up our metabolism and absorb more nutrients which is very beneficial for natural weight loss/weight management and overall health.

I would like to share with you the extract from the book The Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein.

Tips to Practice Attentive Eating and Stress Relief Techniques for Natural Weight Loss

• Slow down your eating. Even you are absorbed in good times and conversations, reserve a tiny part of your awareness to see that each bite is fully chewed and swallowed before the next one enters your mouth.
• Before all meals. Observe a moment of silence or say a prayer of grace. This is actually a very powerful practice, and it takes less than a minute.
• Every day take one meal, perhaps breakfast, in silence , without the distraction of a newspaper or television. Devote that meal to just eating. Or if this too difficult, devote just five minutes of one meal.
• At every meal, let the first bite you take from every dish be with perfect attentiveness.
• During lulls in the conversation, or when someone is dominating the conversation you are not interested in, take the chance to patiently experience the pleasure of each mouthful.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Counselor and Coach

From time to time you may need to refresh your memory on how to read labels so as to avoid foods, drinks, fruits and vegetables that can make you and your family sick.

Take some time to read some of the articles below.  They may help you make smart food choices when shopping at your local food or grocery market and when cooking at home.

How to Read Labels and Find Hidden Sugar

We (in the U.S.) have sugar consumption more than 170 pounds per person per year! Did you know that average American gets more than 400 calories a day only from sugar?!

How to Read Labels and Find Fat, Calories and More

If you want to lose weight, get rid of cravings, lower your blood pressure,  prevent headaches and migraines, help with PMS and hormonal imbalance, reduce risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, learning how to read labels is a must.

How to Avoid Sugar and Caloric Overload Foods

If you want to be healthy and raise healthy kids you should be familiar with the worst high sugar and caloric overload foods.

Let us be smart grocery shoppers, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Counselor and Relationship Expert