How to Stay Wellduring the Cold Winter Months
Without Piling On The Pounds!
Believe it or not, here we are at the beginning of autumn – the leaves have begun to turn brown and fall, the blackberries have either been picked or gone rotten and being natively English, I am definitely feeling an autumnal wind here in the Welsh mountains. It’s as we head towards winter and the temperatures begin to fall, we think seriously about putting on the central heating, we can’t really bear to think about salad leaves, however crunchy and fresh they may be and we turn our thoughts more toward heart warming casseroles, stew & dumplings and pies which will fill us and warm from within.
Unfortunately, as the weather chills down, we also feel less like going out and have a tendency to comfort ourselves with thoughts of snuggling by a roaring fire, whilst munching our favourite nibbles and watching a good movie! Not to mention Christmas right there in the middle of it all! So what does this kind of eating + central heating and a lack of fresh air + no exercise add up to – very often weight gain and becoming susceptible to colds and flu.
So here’s what we are going to do… Prepare you to go through the winter and out the other side – healthy, well, fit and without gaining weight. Does that sound good? Great! stay with me now – I need to warn you that it’s going to require some discipline on your part and some compliance with my advice but anything worth having costs something ..
Just to give you some encouragement on how easy it can be I want to tell you about a client of mine. I’ll call her Penny. Penny holds a high powered job so the demands on her adrenal glands (see August’s article) are huge and to be fair she ‘thrives’ on this kind of stress. She didn’t really have any time for food in that she only thought to eat if she actually felt hungry. However, whenever she was hungry the only things on hand were biscuits and chocolate and her evening meals consisted of ready to microwave meals or ham sandwiches and cake or beans on toast. She drank coke zero and lots of tea with sugar and no water at all and her diet diary read like a toxic waste manual.
I ask my clients to tell me what they want to work with so that they will be more motivated to aim for the goal. She told me she had been steadily gaining weight over the past couple of years and was now “uncomfortable enough to do something about it”, had constipation and couldn’t sleep at night – these were the things that she wanted to address.
One of the main things that I felt I needed to do was to test the state of her adrenal glands to see how bad things were, given that she was not sleeping well so I was unable to put a supplement programme in for her until I had those results. So in the meanwhile I focused on her diet to begin to tackle the weight gain and the constipation. To summarize I told her to eat a healthy balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables, the brighter and more colourful the better, together with good quality protein such as organic eggs, fish especially oily fish, occasional organic chicken and lots of beans, lentils and chickpeas (she told me she is now addicted to hummus). I told her to avoid sugar, alcohol and fried and fatty foods completely. I suggested that she avoid any white breads, pastas, rice and choose wholegrain alternatives instead. I also mentioned to her that it was important to avoid carbohydrates after 4pm as her body would not be able to utilise them and they would be stored as fat. I told her she needed to try to drink 8 large glasses of water throughout the day.
Compliance is the key to success and Penny did exactly what I asked her to do and within 2 months she had lost 1 ½ stone. In view of the busyness of her lifestyle I was expecting to see her again and find that she had not been able to keep to the programme; however, she told me that the day after I had seen her she shopped for alternative snacking ideas and healthy ready to go meals. She gave her partner the recipes that I had left with her and he being a whizz in the kitchen, knocked many of them up for her to come in from work to. She told me that at first she didn’t believe she would be able to eat so much food and lose weight, but trusted her judgment and decided to try what I said. I instructed her in some lifestyle aspects and she now walks 3 miles a day + does a relaxation class and I taught her how to deep breathe.
Her adrenal glands were in fatigue and I have now been able to put her supplement programme together to fully support her nutritional work and she is off on holiday to celebrate – assuring me that it has changed her life – that it is not a diet but a lifestyle change that she wants to stay with.
I hope that inspires you to take a hold of this, as Penny did and run with it. So in addition to the nutrition mentioned above which is good for all, for weight loss, here are some other top tips to keep you healthy through the cold months.
1. In spite of the weather, get out there – above all else the fresh air will do you the world of good, make your cheeks glow and your skin look great. Even if you get wet you can have a hot shower or bath as soon as you get in. Wrap up warm and walk or cycle. Running in the rain is really quite exhilarating – I had to learn to do it because it rains so much here – there’s nothing quite like being on top of a Welsh mountain with only the sheep to talk to (and yes I do that too!) but I am sure, if you don’t live in Wales, you could find yourself a nice little route to use – having a route is very focusing and helps you to stick at it. Don’t forget to change it occasionally though. Admittedly, there are days when my body screams “no, let’s stay in I don’t want to go out there” – if you get that - do it anyway – it will shape your character too besides which when you have done it you will feel amazing and be happy to know that your body will continue to burn calories even when you are freshly showered and curled up relaxing! However, if you really can’t bear the thought of being out in the elements then there are plenty of indoor exercises that you can do such as gym, badminton, squash, swimming, netball and even the Wii Fit - you don’t have to have kids to have one! Make sure that you do something you enjoy but DO something. Additionally, as with all exercise please ensure that you seek the advice of a trained professional before embarking on an intensive exercise programme as too much exercise is almost as bad as not enough.
2. Make sure that you get plenty of sleep. Having put exercise and a healthy diet in place, you should now find this easier! A lack of sleep causes inflammation in the body and consequently will reduce the optimal functioning of the immune system which is what protects you against all the winter bugs! Try to get 7 hours per night and a power nap in the day (even laying down (as opposed to sitting down) for 10 minutes will be extremely revitalising.
3. Wash your hands – this may sound like a simple thing – but many people don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet, sneezing or coughing and if you touch surfaces that are infected, bacteria can be transmitted to you. Wash your hands at least every 2 – 3 hours and use a natural biocide such as colloidal silver solution to spritz with. A diluted solution of grapefruit seed extract can be useful for sanitising surfaces and avoid contact with many of the household brands which contain toxic chemicals that further cause a challenge to our immune and detoxification systems.
4. Think positively – research shows that the happiest people live the longest! Negative thinking can have a detrimental effect on the immune system and although life can be very trying at times keeping positively focused can be hugely beneficial to overall health. If you are struggling with depression – nutritional therapy can offer great help in this area rather than the allopathic medicines that can often compound the problem, but either way – seek help don’t suffer in silence.
5. Relax – actively slot in a time to just pray, be still, read, soothing music (mellow jazz works for me), have a hot lavender bath, salon massage, or whatever works for you – but living with constant noise, fast pace, and pressure will add to the problems of wellness and good health so MAKE time – everything else can wait. If you would say “that it is not possible for me” then you need to re-evaluate your priorities. Your health must come near the top!
6. Choose immune supportive supplements (please feel free to contact me for help with these if you need to). If choosing yourself, check that it is a good quality product without things such as sweeteners and other additives – remember like with anything you will get what you pay for.
a. Vitamin C – our bodies use up vast quantities of this Vitamin all year round but most especially when we are unwell and if you do fall to a cold or the flu, Vitamin C will usually greatly reduce the duration of the illness.
b. Zinc – important to maintain immune system integrity. Zinc deficiency is known to increase susceptibility to infectious agents.
c. Beta glucans 1,3/1,6 – the numbers are important! Play an important role in triggering an appropriate immune response.
d. Cat’s claw a Peruvian plant useful for supporting white blood cells which help to fight infection – can be drunk as herbal tea!
e. Selenium – enhances immune response and immune messaging systems.
f. Probiotics – are the good gut bacteria and although they largely support digestive function, 70% of our immune system is in the gut so it makes sense that they help to maintain immune function.
g. Olive Leaf Extract-not only is this good for its health supporting properties, it also acts as an antifungal so that if you have an overgrowth of yeasts in the gut, due to antibiotics, too much sugar or stress then this will help to kill these off.
As far as your dietary plan goes, do just that - PLAN what you will eat ahead of time, using the foods mentioned above, use recipes and any ideas you can think of to help you. This is a wonderful season for fruit and in particular dark green leafy vegetables – make the most of them. Don’t forget to drink water, especially during and after exercise.
As far as our immune system goes we will not ever be able to obtain a bug free environment but we can prepare our bodies to deal with what comes! Additionally, if you have faith use it, if you used to have faith, revive it and if you have no faith consider how great it would be to have Someone who can answer your prayers! Forewarned is forearmed and it is never too late to make the changes. As always I am available to help if I can on anything mentioned in this month’s topic.
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