Food - You Become What You Eat (Part 2)

Welcome back to Part 2 of this article. This week we are going to focus on what your body needs to function.

WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS

Your body needs fuel to function, just like a car needs petrol to run. Different parts of our body will need different nutrients, which is why it is so important to have a varied diet

Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin, infection protection, in the assimilation of proteins, vision; it is also a powerful antioxidant and immune system booster.

Vitamin B1 is vital for energy production, brain function, digestion, and is also an antioxidant.

Vitamin B2 helps turn fat, sugar and protein into energy, repairs and maintains healthy skin, regulates body acidity, helps with red blood cells formation and is essential for hair and nail growth.

Vitamin B3 helps with energy production, aids in balancing good sugar, assists with digestion and cleanses toxins.

Vitamin B5 is also an important actor in energy production, controls fat metabolism, is essential to the brain and nervous system and helps produce anti-stress hormones, as well as healthy skin and hair.

Vitamin B6 is essential for protein digestion and utilisation, brain function, hormone production; it is also an immune system booster and helps control allergic reactions.

Vitamin B12 is needed for protein assimilation, helps blood carry oxygen, is essential for energy and nerves, deals with toxins and helps with DNA synthesis.

Folic acid (Folate) is critical for the foetus to develop the brain and nerves in pregnancy stages, assists in blood red cells formation, protein utilisation and nerve and brain function.

Biotin (Vitamin B7) assists with healthy skin, hair and nerves, and is essential in childhood for general development.

Vitamin C strengthens the immune system, makes collagen, keeps bones, skin and joints healthy, firm and resistant, is an antioxidant, detoxifies, increases absorption of iron, magnesium, copper and potassium, speeds wound healing, protects against cancer and heart diseases.

Vitamin D maintains strong, healthy bones by retaining calcium, increases immunity and protects against osteoporosis.

Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, protects cells from damage, helps the body use oxygen, improves wound healing, fertility, retards aging and boosts the immune system.

Vitamin K controls blood clotting, protects against osteoporosis, and is essential in the calcification of bones.

Calcium promotes healthy heart, clots blood, improves skin, bones and teeth, promotes healthy nerves, maintains correct acid and alkaline balance.

Magnesium strengthens bones and teeth, promotes healthy muscles, heart muscles and nervous system, and is essential for energy.

Phosphorus forms and maintains teeth, builds muscle tissue, is an important component in DNA and RNA, maintains the PH of the body and aids metabolism and energy production.

Potassium helps with removing waste products from cells, maintains fluid balance in the body, promotes healthy nerves and muscles, helps insulin secretion, maintains heart function, stimulates gut movement for proper elimination and is highly involved in metabolism.

Sodium maintains water balance and blood PH, prevents dehydration, helps nerve function, muscle actions, energy production, as well as moving nutrients into our cells. Sodium intake is important but should be controlled (no more than 6g a day but at least 5g as deficiency and over-consuming can both bring health concerns).

Boron is essential for muscle building, bone structure and brain function, and also helps prevent post-menopause osteoporosis.

Chromium forms part of the glucose tolerance factor, balances blood sugar, reduces cravings, helps protect our DNA, stabilises insulin function and is essential in the synthesis of fats and proteins.

Cobalt prevents anemia and aids in the synthesis of our DNA.

Copper is vital in the formation of barriers around nerves to protect them, is required with iron for oxygen to be transported in our blood, is involved in the production of collagen in bones, cartilage, skin and tendons, gives blood vessels, skin and lungs their elastic properties, and is a possible anti-inflammatory for arthritis.

Iodine protects against toxic effects of radioactive materials, and is a powerful antiseptic for water purification.

Iron is a component of hemoglobin (red blood cells); it transports oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from cells, is vital for energy production of connective tissue and brain neurotransmitters, and plays an important part in preserving the immune system.

Manganese helps with healthy bones, cartilage, tissue and nerves, stabilises blood sugar, promotes healthy DNA, is essential in the reproduction of red blood cells, and is required for brain function.

Molybdenum helps rid the body of uric acid, strengthens teeth, detoxifies the body from free radicals, petrochemicals and sulphates, and is an antioxidant.

Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that protects us from free radicals and cancer, reduces inflammation, stimulates our immune system to fight infections, promotes healthy heart, and is needed to maintain a healthy metabolism.

Silicon also stimulates the immune system.

Sulphur (or sulfur) disinfects blood, helps resist bacteria and toxins, stimulates bile excretion for digestion, and is an important part of the chemical structure of amino-acids.

And, finally, Zinc is a major component in over 200 enzymes in the body and DNA; it is essential for growth and healing, controls hormones, aids stress ability, promotes a healthy nervous system, and is vital for energy.

As you can see, there is a multitude of nutrients (vitamins and minerals) essential to our body's optimum functioning. While many good quality supplements are available to meet your body's nutritional needs, food is always a richer, better quality and more satisfying option.

Whole natural foods will be the best source for all these nutrients to be absorbed in our body and do their job.

If you are limited due to specific diets, allergies or financially (after all, not everyone can afford the best quality foods and in a wide variety), ALWAYS choose foods that contain the maximum variety of nutrients to meet your body's requirements and ensure your good health.

I hope this week's article has given you a better understanding of how complex and varied our body's needs are, and will help you select your foods with more awareness and purpose.

In our Part 3 next week, I will focus on the food industry and food industry standards, and how dependent most of us have been for pretty much all our lives on their influence for our food choices.

Until next time...

Sunday Journaling Prompt #6

Happy Sunday all.

I hope that last week’s prompt helped you find some kind of direction.

This Sunday’s prompt will also be deep, although not focusing on what you need into your life, but what you bring into others’:

We all have an impact on others around us, and while our inner critic is always quick to point out how useless and insignificant we are, I just thought that, this Sunday, we could shut it up and show it the gifts we bring others to help them shine their light.

Shine on...

Food - You Become What You Eat (Part 1)

You know the adage, "You are what you eat"? I think it is oh so true.

Food, and more specifically what we eat, mostly determines how our body will look like, how effectively the bodily functions will work and your general level of health.
No matter how many hours a week you exercise and how intense your workouts are, if what you eat does not go in line, it will be all for nothing.

Understanding what foods do to you body, how your body works and what your body actually needs are essential if you want to achieve or maintain optimum health and fitness. Also, understanding how the food industry works will be a real eye opener for many of you, and be an essential part of how to choose your foods wisely.

I have now completed my Nutrition course and, even though I am planning to do an Advanced course probably next year, this added knowledge, as well as the Wildfit 14 Day Reset online program, have given me a better understanding of foods' dos and don'ts, optimal digestion and increased well-being.

PART 1 - How Your Body Works

Absorption of nutrients - and water - is essential for the whole body to function. Therefore, eating is not optional but a genuine physiological need, and what you eat should cater for those needs.

The process of digestion of foods will provide for those needs to be met.
Food is first masticated to make it more digestible but also for it to descend more efficiently through the oesophagus. Put very simply, the bolus of food will then be passed on into the stomach where gastric juices will break down the food for the nutrient to be separated. The pancreas, which produces insulin, will pick up the glucose extracted from the food, and the insulin will store it and transform it into energy.
The food gets moved into the intestines and all nutrients will then be sent into the blood stream. The energy is what will enable the body to move, run, play... Any waste from the food will be passed on into the intestines, to be transformed into urine (pee) or excrement (poo).

This is a very well-regulated system that takes what it needs to thrive and gets rid of what doesn't serve it (toxicity).

The digestion process will last an undefined amount of time, dependent on what foods are ingested, the combination of foods ingested as well as how masticated (broken down) the foods have been.
Mastication is extremely important as the more you chew your food, the more you break it down and the easier it will be to digest as the gastric juices will be able to dissolve it and extract nutrients quicker.

Different types of foods will also vary in their breakdown time due to their texture and consistency.
Fruits and vegetables will take between 30 minutes to 1 hour to get digested (smoothies take 15-20 minutes). Carbohydrates will take about 3 hours. Proteins will be digested on average in 4 hours and fats will take 2-3 hours, depending on the type of fat you eat. Be aware that fat added to your meal will slow down the digestion progress.
Combining foods in the same meal can also extend these digestion time ranges. The stomach will try, in general, to digest first the foods that take the longest to be broken down. So any foods combined that usually take less time will actually be digested after the other harder-to-digest foods have been broken down. The longer the foods stay in your stomach, the more they will putrefy (rot), causing the creation of bacteria and toxins sitting in your stomach and, in time, when accumulated, will lead to digestive problems that could easily become chronic if not addressed.

The reason why different types of foods cannot be digested at the same time is because each type of food requires a different enzyme in the stomach to break it down. Therefore, for optimum digestion, it is advisable to design simple combinations meals.
Bearing in mind that vegetables will be digested rapidly with anything, they can be easily combined with protein or carbohydrates very easily.
Ideally, protein and carbs (grains, pasta, rice, potatoes...) should not be combined in the same meal as the digestion process will be over-extended.
Fruits should always be eaten on an empty stomach, before food, as they are naturally rich in sugar. Sugar is a natural appetite booster so eating sugary foods at the end of your meal encourages you to eat more than your body actually needs to consume. It will also putrefy as other foods combined will take longer to digest.

While general meal sequence of starters, mains and dessert is fully embraced by restaurants and home meals alike, this sequence will focus more on culinary experience rather than nutritious needs and optimum digestion. It is not to say though that, on occasions, you shouldn't experience a delightful and indulgent culinary experience. At the end of the day, and it is certainly true for me despite the fact I try to learn about nutrition and food to optimize my health, you also need to enjoy what you eat as it is an important part of life, especially its social aspect of meeting with friends, catching up and bonding with family, otherwise what's the point.
We're not eating robots, we are human beings entitled to pleasurable experiences.

It is also all a matter of choice.

In our next part, we will explore what our body needs to function. In the meantime, I hope this introduction to food and the process of digestion has given you "food for thought" and more awareness of the relationship between food and your well-being.

Until next time

Sunday Journaling Prompt #5

Happy Sunday, my fellow journalers.

Today I am asking you to dig deep and be extremely honest with yourself, without any shame or any fear. It is important for you in order to progress to a place in your life where you will find your happiness.

I know, this is scary shit, but we’ll worth doing. It doesn’t mean that you’ll need to drop everything in your life, but it will give you a clearer idea of what you actually need and devise a plan of action to get it.
It was this question that led me on this journey  - one baby step at a time...

What Song Are You?

If you should pick a song to represent you, which would it be?

Funny how other people’s words, such as quotes, lyrics, poems, can speak so much to us, in ways so deep that they feel like they uncover our true feelings and experiences, when words fail us to describe what we want to say.  

Like many people in this world, I’m sure, music and songs have always been part of my life - I’m not a singer or a musician, unfortunately (or fortunately!) but I’ve always considered music and songs in particular, a perfect way to feel what I was going through at the time. We all have songs dear to us, representing certain parts of our lives, events or remembering other people - every time I hear Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough”, I always think of my dad and can’t help but feel emotional. He loved this song so much; I made a mixed tape for car trips including this song and the tape soon died as he’d ask me to rewind that song so often.

Like many in this world, I have gone through shit, more than once, struggled, got betrayed by people I cared about and/or trusted. I got broken into so many little pieces that it took me years to get myself back together, the time the way I really wanted to be. For many years, all I could feel was despair, hatred, jealousy, resentment, anger, I had my dreams shattered and, through all that, music and songs helped me express what was stuck inside me. I felt emotionless and empty, except when I was listening to music. Thank god I’ve gone past that stage now, but I still cry at songs that are so close to my heart for all these reasons. They remind me of who I was, what I went through and who I have become.

 My song is Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter”: After all you put me through, You think I’d despise you, But in the end I wanna thank you ‘Cause you’ve made me that much stronger (...) After all of the stealing and cheating You probably think that I hold resentment for you But uh uh, oh no, you’re wrong ‘Cause if it wasn’t for all that you tried to do, I wouldn’t know  Just how capable I am to pull through So I wanna say thank you ‘Cause it Makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a Fighter Made me learn a little faster Made my skin a little bit thicker Makes me that much smarter So thanks for making me a Fighter (...) You thought I would forget But I remembered ‘Cause I remembered I remembered” This song, to me , symbolises my journey and the person I have become despite the obstacles. What does your song say about you?

Sunday Journaling Prompt #4

Hello guys. I hope you’ve been having an awesome weekend.
Here is a new journaling prompt for you:

My teddy is giving you a super easy prompt to wake up your observation skills. Be as detailed as you like - it’s a really fun exercise.

Until next Sunday...

Much love x 💕

Wake Up Your Senses

This is a simple exercise that I have included in my meditation practice, but can be done any time really - even at work when your stress levels are hitting the roof. It only takes a minute or 2, so your colleagues won't think you've fallen asleep!

I have found this practice to be very calming and grounding, and it also develops your senses to become more attentive and receptive to what is going on around you.

We have 5 recognised senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch - but most of us will mainly rely on 2 or 3 to navigate through life. Senses are like muscles, the less you engage them, the less responsive they will become in time.

The technique:

• Sit down comfortably but straight with your back supported (you can also lie down if you want to do this exercise in bed or at the end of your yoga practice, for instance). You do not need to be in a quiet place;
  
• Close your eyes and relax - breathe slowly and deeply for 4-5 breaths;
  
• Focus on what you can hear close to you (or inside you) - it can be your breathing, your heart beating, often I can hear internal buzzing - whatever comes to you. Don't force it and do not think about what you should hear. Just listen and pick it up;
  
• Focus on what you can hear further away - kids playing near you, cars outside;
  
• Then switch to what you can see with your eyes closed - I know it sounds pretty contradictory, but even with your eyes closed, light does go through your eyelids, so you are still able to see specks of light, or maybe colours. I very often can see the blood vessels in my eyeballs, the same way I do when I have an eye test; at the beginning, it really freaked me out but I have now learnt to make my peace with it;
  
• Next, focus on what you can smell - it can be a fragrance or the smell of cold, rain, warm... That is the one sense that I personally struggle the most with in this exercise, even though I can always smell someone's perfume on the bus, even if they are at the very back;
  
• Then, focus on what you can taste - from your bad morning breath to the delicious chocolates you've just gobbled up!
  
• After this, focus on what you can touch, what you can feel - your bum sitting on the chair, your clothes on your skin, your hair falling on your neck or your forehead, your watch around your wrist - anything. Again, as for all the other senses, stay with it, observe it internally, enjoy it;
  
• Finally, repeat all the steps briefly but, instead on focusing on each sense individually, layer them up one by one to eventually feel all your 5 senses fully active. Hold them and enjoy the experience of what it feels like to be fully human;
  
• Finish by a few deep breaths and slowly open your eyes to come back to where you are.

The order in which you go through the senses, both individually and in the last phase, doesn't really matter. You can go with the order that you feel most comfortable or natural for you. It will not alter the effects.

Have a try and let me know how your experience was, either by commenting below, or on the Facebook page HERE. I'd love to hear what you thought of this exercise.

Enjoy x

Sunday Journaling Prompt #3

Happy Sunday everyone 😊

Please find below our new journaling prompt for you to explore:

We are given so many gifts from nature that sometimes we take them for granted. Which ones mean the most to you and why?

Nice to be reminded and re-focus on what truly matters...

STRESS - What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing?

Stress is such a nasty word nowadays.

People are off sick for stress like never before in humankind's history, and, therefore, stress has been labelled in the media and medical circles as the plague of our century.

So what is the fuss all about? What IS stress?

I know that we all have experienced it at some point or another in our lives; we have all felt the symptoms it creates - no focus, panic, feelings of overwhelm, no control, heart racing, unable to speak, weight on your shoulders you feel will crush you forever, fear, migraines, and so many more that ruin our lives on a daily basis.

But when we look at stress from a biological point of view, it is nothing more than an automated chemical reaction starting from the brain.

It is a well-designed mechanism in-built in every human being.

Its function? To really understand its function and how the reaction unfolds, we have to go back to our very far ancestors living in caves and in the wild - prehistoric times.

Obviously, life was extremely different to ours then. Food had to be collected by scavenging and hunting, with no guarantee of success. Neighbours were not all friendly as they included wild animals who, as well, were hunting - and our ancestors were food to them.

So, imagine this - your ancestor is hunting for food, on stealth mode as they now say in video games. It is vital that they are careful and silent if, first, they do not want to scare their prey off and have any chance of bringing food home to the family/community, but also not to attract the attention of other predators, to whom they would become prey.

Our ancestor's heart is beating fast, he may well start sweating - this is one way that stress is experienced. Fear of being discovered and/or failing.

Now, without warning, our ancestor comes face to face with a tiger, who will think "yummy food" and prepare to attack. The full range of the stress chemical reaction will kick off - the brain identifies danger and starts creating 2 substances called adrenalin and cortisol, both hormones secreted by the adrenal glands. These hormones will affect most systems in the body, to engage it and prepare it for what is called "fight or fight" [or freeze, which is the third option] response.

The musculoskeletal system will tense the muscles all at once, the respiratory system will create rapid breathing and shortness of breath (as the airway between the nose and lungs will be constricted due to the muscles tensing), the cardiovascular system will increase the heart rate, which will send most blood pumped into the larger muscles (organs for self-preservation, and legs), the endocrine system will create more cortisol (the stress hormone) to increase the level of energy fuel available to the body, and the gastrointestinal system will kick off by emptying (I know, not nice, but so true - we've all had nervous poo syndrome prior to interviews or big presentations) to enable the body to be as light as possible. And all this starting from the nervous system sending alarm messages to the rest of the body on sight of danger.

All in all, stress is nothing more than a natural reaction that will kick in at first sight of danger, to ensure our survival.

This is what it is designed to be.

Now our lives in the 21st century are quite different.

Even though for soldiers on the battlefront, populations facing war and genocide, as well as in the case of natural catastrophes or bombings, for whom the stress reaction will consist of the same scenario as for our prehistoric ancestor, we, on the other hand, are rarely faced with such horrid and life-threatening situations - luckily.

Our lives have become more secure, sheltered in a way as everything you could wish for you can order online and have it delivered direct to your doorstep in a relatively short time.

So, really, the stress reaction should not apply to our day-to-day life circumstances.

As we are now never really faced with actual danger, our brain has learnt to perceive every hurdle, every offense, every disagreement, every unpleasant circumstance as a threat. But a threat to what? you will ask, as it is very rarely a threat to our lives.

Our society has, for the last century or so, made us focus more, as individuals, on who we are, what we represent, what we want, in brief, on our ego. 

Every "NO" that you get is a threat to your ego in the way that it will not get what it wants. Every pile of work your boss dumps on you and that you really don't fancy doing but still have to do, is a real threat to your ego who wants it its way, who wants to have control.

And this is nowadays the type of incidents that declares an all-raging war to your body, just for the sake of your ego's survival, as opposed to your own.

From something quite positive - life-saving - our society and way of life have transformed the natural physiological reaction of stress into one of the most dangerous condition to our health, well-being and good-function in our world.

The intended dose of stress to be inflicted to the body was only meant by nature to be occasional, but our lives have made the occurrences multiple on a daily basis, in such a way that it affects both our mental and physical abilities. Constant or regular tense muscles will create chronic muscle pain, encouraging bad posture and limiting our mobility as well as increasing chances of injuries, while, mentally, fatigue, feelings of being drained, headaches, migraines, lethargy, depression will settle.

You know when they say that stress makes you stupid, it actually does as, when stress hormones are released and more blood is directed towards the legs and vital organs, the brain is depleted of blood flow, making it extremely hard to think or focus (I'm sure you've all experienced this, being put on the spot and not knowing what to say, and when the stress is over and you think over it, "I should have said..." - it all comes to you). For a long time (most of my teens and twenties years - and to some extent my thirties as well), I was stressed constantly by life, by other people, by my fear of speaking up and saying my own mind. Very often, I was speechless, not knowing what to say at that particular moment, standing like an idiot and being crushed silently by the situation or the person - and the more it would happen, the more stressed I would be. I genuinely believed that, despite all my varied skills and academic achievements, I was one of the stupidest people on earth. I do believe that my constant motivation to keep learning new things all the time and understand is partly due to this feeling I used to have and that used to crush my life so miserably.

Coming back to the effects of stress on your brain, if there is no or little blood flowing in your brain, then brain cells will lack oxygen and eventually die. Less brain cells, less thinking power.

I think it is important to understand what stress is actually meant for and how it works on a biological level.

Next time you get stressed for nothing, hopefully this knowledge will put things back into perspective for you and will limit the amount of unnecessary stress you're exposed to.

Will I die if my report is not finished on time? More than likely, no; so all I can do is focus and do the best I can. No meany stress required - breathe in deeply, and out, keep calm and trooper on...

Sunday Journaling Prompt #2

Happy Sunday!

Time for our second journaling prompt:

I hope this prompt will inspire you.

Much love x

The Pili Pala Transformation and Healing Facebook Page

Hi everyone

Just a quick one to let you know that we now have a Pili Pala Transformation and Healing Facebook page.

On top of featuring the blog posts, the page will feature shared videos, websites and photos that I love, find helpful or inspiring. It will also be for you to react, suggest, support or ask anything you need that Pili Pala Transformation and Healing might be able to help with.

Follow the page at https://fb.me/PiliPalaTransformationandHealing or click HERE.



See you there :-)

How Food Intolerance Took Me Back On Track With Food

I think that, over the years, my relationship with food was pretty much standard - eating quick, snacking, massive love for chocolate and cakes, huge love for food overall, food always makes you feel better when things go wrong or are too stressful. Crisps, ready meals, carbs full blast, takeaways. And, when I was unemployed and on super minimal budget, Value food - cheap and nasty, but better than no food at all.

Until about 2 years ago - I started having belly cramps, more and more often and more and more uncomfortable (sometimes painful). At one point, it got so bad that I ended up in the toilets every 20 minutes - how embarrassing when I was at work.

I knew my diet was not, and hadn't been for many years, particularly good.

When my mum died two years ago, something clicked inside me and I made the conscious decision to eat more healthy - that roughly meant for me adding more fruits and vegs to my diet.

But the cramps did not subside. I didn't get it.

I started a food diary to monitor, every day, everything I was eating and drinking.

After a month or so, I started to identify foods I was eating all the time. It also kept me accountable for keeping up with my greens intake.

One of my colleagues suffers from coeliac disease and, when I mentioned my health problem, he immediately suggested to start an elimination process. I started with everything that had gluten. I replaced my bread and pasta (the main foods I was eating) with gluten free alternatives.

Little by little, the symptoms diminished. I still had the occasional cake or cookie and I was OK. Only for a short while though. I soon had to stop as, every time I was having a piece of gluten-based cake or biscuit, the symptoms would be back with a vengeance after only half hour to an hour.

This forced me to be even more aware as to what foods I was putting in my body. By carefully looking at the ingredients lists before buying, I realised that a lot of what we eat is full of chemical additives, most of them you can't even pronounce. I have now the rule that if you can't say it, there is a fair chance you shouldn't be eating it.

A lot of processed foods also have added sugar, adding considerable amounts into our bodies.

Sugar actually increases appetite - don't you find that once you've had a sweet, you want another one? Food companies, by adding sugar to our foods, make you want to eat more, and therefore buy more. It's a vicious circle and, in the meantime, you are endangering your health one step at a time. There is a reason why our century has known the biggest percentage of obesity in our history.

Being in my mid-forties, my health has become increasingly more important as the state of my health now will determine the quality of my life in my later years - and that's motivation enough for me to protect it as much as I can.

I started reading diets articles and there are so many diets - keto, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, meal replacement, eggs only, coffee, mediterranean, flexitarian, low carb and whole food, Atkins, DASH, Dukan, calorie restriction, high protein, carb cycling... So many you lose count, and a lot of them contradict each other. It is overwhelming and confusing, especially if you are unsure what to look for. What the heck are you supposed to eat to be healthy?!

Bearing in mind that what you eat accounts for over 90% of your health level and your body shape, it seems to me that this world out there in the media has got it all wrong.

Exercise, yes, but not an hour each day, exhausting yourself and damaging your body (torn ligaments, muscle pull and strain...) - overdoing it will take its toll on you - and especially when it only accounts for 10% of your body shape and state of your health.

You would think that talking to your doctor about it would help but, believe it or not, traditional medical training does rarely cover nutrition unless you specialise. So, no offense but What do doctors know about food? It was obvious to me that I would not get any genuine help there so I didn't bother asking.

I decided to start an online course on nutrition and, even though I'm only on Lesson 5, it has given me a good starting understanding on nutrients essential to good health and how the digestive system works. It has helped me to focus on the health of my digestive system, keeping it clean, and keeping away from the uncomfortable bloating symptoms (something I had suffered for most of my life).

I do not eat processed foods, foods with added sugar. I eat fresh or frozen foods, organic when I can to avoid pesticide traces.

I snack on nuts, yogurts and fruits, make my own healthy gluten-free snacks, go gluten-free all the way.

I ensure I include in all my main meals (breakfast - lunch - dinner) proteins, greens, healthy fats and carbs and, for my snacks (2 or 3 a day in between meals), at least 2 of them.

I don't use sugar, I replaced it with raw honey, only occasionally, on fruit salads, in warm milk, plain yogurt and porridge.

I don't buy ready-made sauces, I make them from scratch, and I use spices and herbs to flavour my food - especially with rice and pasta, quite bland if not seasoned.

I drink water throughout the day and during my meals, even though I am not a big fan. My trick is to infuse my water with washed fresh citrus peels or fresh herbs (I love mint leaves in water). I also drink green tea and herbal teas, as well as fresh orange juice (only for breakfast).

I also take good quality natural supplements to ensure all my nutritional needs are met (Nu U Nutrition Multivitamins & Minerals Formula, and Omega 3 Fish Oil).

The first thing I ingest when I get up (before eating or drinking anything else) is a mug of warm water (whatever is comfortable and not too hot to drink for you) with a teaspoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother, which is the active ingredient). It cleanses your digestive system in no time. Additionally, the warm water - close to your body's natural temperature - prepares your digestive system gently. Nothing worse for you to start the day with a glass of freezing cold water. If the apple cider vinegar is too much for you, start with the lemon juice only and, after a few weeks, add the apple cider vinegar.

I have been doing this every morning for almost a month now and, not only am I super regular (sorry for the "too much information" here, however it is important), but also I don't remember feeling bloated a single time during that period.

I was worried at first as I have been on tablets for over 2 years for gastric reflux, so the acidic nature of the lemon juice and the vinegar could make it worse. It was not very pleasant the first few days but, so far, it has not affected me in that way. I even managed to cut down my tablets to one every other day instead of every day (something one of my doctors asked me to do over a year ago and I couldn't at the time).

I also balance my carbs intake and my healthy fats intake depending on the amount of activity I am doing or stress I am exposed to.

On days at work, I will increase my carbs intake and lower my healthy fats intake, whereas on a day off chilling at home, I will lower my carbs and increase my healthy fats.

Your body will burn carbs first for fuel as it is easier. Burning fat is more complex and require more effort, so this is why carbohydrates are the body's preferred energy source.

I am keeping all this up as it seems to be working for me.

I still have some belly fat I want to get rid of but I'm not rushing it. It will go little by little, in due time - I hope. I just need to fit in workout sessions (the 10% I'm not currently doing enough of).

So, all in all, I am quite happy that I have become gluten intolerant as it has opened my eyes tremendously and has forced me to re-focus my attention and awareness on the foods I need for my body to function at optimal level and protect my health in the process - a varied diet of natural foods.

And, by the way, if you are wondering about what happened to my love of chocolate, it is still very much vibrant- only I replaced the milk chocolate bars for 70% cocoa chocolate. And it makes me happy :-)

Sunday Journaling Prompt #1

Happy Sunday.

Here is the first journaling prompt I have for you this week.

Just pick up a pen and a notebook and get started...

Much love from me and happy journaling.