HEALTHY EATING WHILE TRAVELLING

HEALTHY EATING WHILE TRAVELLING

Are you thinking about booking your summer holiday and wondering how you can eat healthily while you are travelling? I have a few tips to share with you on how you can stay healthy and still enjoy your holiday.

When choosing a hotel, try and get one with a mini fridge so you can store your homemade or bought healthy snacks.

An apartment is a great choice because it has its own kitchen and you have more freedom to eat healthily.

If you can maintain a healthy eating habit while you are on holiday, you won’t feel as tired or bloated and you will have more energy too.

Prepare some snacks to take with you. You could make some granola bars, almond cacao powder biscuits, raw trail mix of mixed nuts and dried fruit, a few bars of at least 70% dark chocolate or some energy balls (homemade or bought). If you like crisps, you could take kale chips, cassava chips or plantain chips.

When I am travelling I like to pack my own salad. You could chop up some tomatoes, cucumber, celery, radish, spring onion, pepper and mix in some cooked quinoa or lentils and mix in a salad dressing with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tahini and a little lemon juice. I like to add some feta cheese or goats cheese.

A tortilla wrap with filling of your choice.

You could prepare some overnight oats by mixing oats with coconut or almond milk and adding anything you like such as raw cacao powder, nuts, seeds, dried fruit.

If you have chosen to stay in an apartment, you could shop before you travel and put a few things into your suitcase if you are flying or into a cool box for your car journey.

Take your favourite tea bags with you.

Find out where your nearest supermarket is before you arrive at your destination so you can stock up on some essential items such as fruit, cut up vegetables, hummus, eggs, organic plain full fat yogurt to mix with fruit and nuts if you like. Flavoured yogurt contains hidden sugars so adding your own fruit tastes much better.

If you are staying in a hotel there should be healthy options for breakfast such as fruit, yogurts and cooked options such as eggs, bacon, roasted tomato and mushrooms. These are great options and will fill you up and keep your blood sugar stable. If you need a snack during the day, you are already prepared with the snacks that you have packed as mentioned above.

There is a great probiotic called Sacchromyces Boulardii that you can take while travelling which helps to stop diarrhoea. It helps to kill bacteria and aid in digestion. If you find yourself a bit constipated while travelling, pack some magnesium glycinate or a magnesium oil to spray onto your skin. Magnesium helps to relax you so can also help with sleep too.

Things to make a note of to stay healthy while travelling are:-

Eat a balanced breakfast which includes fruit, plain yogurt, cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon, tomato and mushrooms.

For lunch you could look for lots of salads or a tortilla wrap with lots of salad and some protein such as fish, chicken or cheeses.

Load up on vegetables and skip the white starchy potatoes, pasta and white rice. Choose sweet potato, lentils, quinoa or brown rice instead. You could order salad or more vegetables as a side dish.

Always carry a snack and some fresh water around with you.

You can still enjoy the local cuisine whichever country you are travelling to by following the above tips.

Have a great holiday.

WHAT SPICE CAN BURN BELLY FAT?

WHAT SPICE CAN BURN BELLY FAT?

This spice can burn belly fat by keeping blood sugar under control.

This spice is high in antioxidants.

This spice is anti bacterial.

This spice can help to stop sugar cravings.

This spice can help to keep your brain healthy.

This spice is Cinnamon

There are two types of cinnamon, cassia cinnamon and ceylon cinnamon.

You can identify the difference between the two cinnamons by their colour. Cassia cinnamon is darker brown and is easier to produce and ceylon cinnamon is lighter brown and tastes much sweeter.  It is the most expensive of the two cinnamons.  

Cinnamon contains Vitamin K and Vitamin E in the large quantities. It contains small quantities of vitamin A and C. It also contains minerals, iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium.

It is an anti inflammatory and can help to control inflammatory conditions such as arthritis or IBS.

It has the ability to reduce oxidative stress in the body and limit nitric oxide build up in the blood and fat which can lead to brain disorders, heart disease or cancer.  

Cinnamon is high in antioxidants which help to keep free radicals at bay and keep your cells healthy and slow ageing.

It can also help to control infections and viruses such as a cold.

You can cook with cinnamon, add to drinks or sprinkle into stews.  It is excellent to preserve food.  

Cinnamon is great to use to stew fruit especially apples to make apple sauce.  It adds great flavour and also helps to preserve food so it lasts longer.

Just 1/2 tsp of cinnamon is enough to help to control blood sugar levels and metabolism.  

You can learn more about spices in my Perimenopause and Menopause programme which starts on the 15th June.

Learn how to control sugar cravings, how to stop anxiety and mood swings, how to get more sleep and lots more.

Get more details here

I am looking forward to seeing you on the programme and getting to know you and helping you on your mid life journey.

Andrea Howard

4 KEY AREAS THAT AFFECT HORMONE IMBALANCE - ESTROGEN

4 KEY AREAS THAT AFFECT HORMONE IMBALANCE - ESTROGEN

ESTROGEN is what is made in our ovaries during menstruation and it is also made in our adrenal glands.  When we reach menopause our adrenal glands take over from the ovaries in the production of estrogen.

Estrogen is manufactured from cholesterol by a woman’s ovaries each month, circulates in the blood and passes easily in and out of all organs and tissues.  It is eventually metabolised by enzymes in the liver. 

THERE ARE 3 ESTROGENS:-

ESTRONE (E1):  The main form of estrogen produced during menopause.  Toxins such as xenoestrogens, heavy metals, and other pollutants can directly affect hormone levels stored in your liver and fat cells.  Women with higher levels of toxicity have altered and contaminated forms of estrone.

ESTRADIOL (E2) – This is the estrogen that gives us our womanly curves and is the main estrogen present during menstruation years before menopause.  It plays a big role in energy, sleep, pleasure, sex drive, skin, hair and bone health.  It provides moisture for your lips, skin, eyes, GI tract and vagina.  This is the estrogen that is used for hormone replacement therapy.

ESTRIOL:  (E3):  This estrogen is made by the placenta during pregnancy.  It is suggested that this form of estrogen is a key regulator in determining which cells are turned on or off to estrogen.

  

Estrogen is present in the first two weeks of the menstruation cycle when your body is getting ready for ovulation.  Progesterone is high after ovulation in the second half of the month and the corpus luteum keeps progesterone high to nourish the womb ready for the egg to be fertilized. 

After the age of 35, our hormones begin to fluctuate with subtle signs at first.  The menstruation cycle begins to slow down and we can start to be more aware of some symptoms appearing when this happens.  This time in a womans life is known as perimenopause and is the years leading up to menopause.  Menopause is when you have gone a full 12 months without a period.  After the age of 35 our periods will begin to get less and less and you will begin to skip a month or two of periods which is a completely normal part of ageing leading up to menopause when our ovaries are slowing down and hormone levels fluctuate.

Hormones are chemical messengers in the body  There are receptor sites all over the body for estrogen.  Think about estrogen as being the fuel and the receptor site as being the machine or even that the estrogen receptor site is the lock and estrogen is the key.

ESTROGEN CAN INFLUENCE:-

Body fat

Muscle mass

Bone health

Heart health

During perimenopause you can have symptoms of low estrogen and estrogen dominance at the same time. 

SYMPTOMS OF HIGH ESTROGEN

HEAVY PERIODS

WEIGHT GAIN

BLOATING

PMS

MOOD SWINGS

This can put you at risk of developing fibroids, cysts, endometriosis or breast/ovarian cancer.  This can be brought on by stress, diet or the liver may not be detoxing the bad estrogens well from the body.  

SYMPTOMS OF LOW ESTROGEN

HOT FLASHES

MEMORY LOSS

WRINKLES

LOW LIBIDO

DEPRESSION

VAGINAL DRYNESS

When you are experiencing stress, it can affect your adrenal glands and this can then affect levels of serotonin which will give you symptoms of low estrogen levels as above.  It is so important to reduce your stress levels and to keep your adrenal glands nourished to stop the estrogen deficiency from happening.  This can put you at risk of osteoperosis, heart disease, cognitive decline.

I have more information about how to control your hormones and create Perimenopause Heaven in my programme.  It starts on the 15th June and I would love to have you on board to guide you on your Perimenopause journey. The price is £95 but for a limited time only the price is £60.  Click the link below to find out more about the programme.

JOIN HERE

4 KEY AREAS THAT AFFECT HORMONE IMBALANCE - CORTISOL

4 KEY AREAS THAT AFFECT HORMONE IMBALANCE - CORTISOL

CORTISOL is essential and we need it for our stress levels and to save our life when we are in danger. 

Cortisol is the stress hormone.  

It also needs to be kept under control as it can turn into a bad enemy. Also please bear in mind that cortisol can steal our precious progesterone as well so you see how important it is to keep it under control.  Progesterone is the first hormone to decline during perimenopause.  When we are in stress mode our body will choose to make stress hormones over progesterone.  

When cortisol is raised by our adrenal glands, adrenaline is released to help us to get away from danger. This puts the body in danger mode/stress mode to save your life. When cortisol is released, other body functions will shut down such as your digestion and our fat burning.  If cortisol is high for a long period of time and you don't keep your stress levels under control you will start to notice these symptoms:-

CORTISOL SYMPTOMS

WIRED

TIRED

ANXIOUS

WEIGHT GAIN

SLEEP PROBLEMS

MOOD SWINGS

DIGESTION PROBLEMS

Keep cortisol in check by learning to relax and breathe deeply. Go for a walk in nature, do some yoga, take time out from a busy day, read a book. If you have a busy home life, tell your family that you need at least 1 hour to yourself when they can't ask you any questions or interrupt you.  It is a bit easier if you have younger children and they are in bed by 8pm as this can be your time to relax. You can also listen to some soothing music.  Create a night time ritual and turn off all electronics such as laptop, computer and stop using your mobile phone an hour before you go to bed.

Download my free ebook about hormone balance HERE 

4 KEY AREAS THAT CAN CREATE HORMONE IMBALANCE - THYROID

4 KEY AREAS THAT CAN CREATE HORMONE IMBALANCE - THYROID

The thyroid is located at the front of your throat, it is shaped like a butterfly at either side of your neck. The thyroid is responsible for every cell in your body, temperature regulation, metabolism, digestion, muscle control, brain development and bone health. You need iodine to keep the thyroid healthy. Also selenium is important for the thyroid. Your thyroid can become underactive or overactive and also your immune system can create an auto immune condition called hashimotos where your body's immune system will attack the thyroid.  

If you have an underactive thyroid its called hypothyroid. This is because the thyroid isn't producing enough thyroid hormone for some reason.

If you have an overactive thyroid its called hyperthyroid. This is because the thyroid is making too much thyroid hormone.  

SYMPTOMS OF HYPOTHYROID

Feeling cold, constipation, low heart rate, weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, muscle cramps, more frequent periods, course hair or hair thinning (particularly your outer eyebrows), dry skin, reduced appetite, depression, PMS,

SYMPTOMS OF HYPERTHYROID:

Increased appetite, increased bowel movements, irregular menstrual cycle, panic attacks, rapid and irregular heartbeat, palpitations, irritability, increased perspiration, protruding eyes.

You can also develop an auto immune condition called hashimotos thyroiditis. This happens because your body creates antibodies against bacteria or a virus and starts to attack your thyroid. Auto immune conditions are created because the gut is not healthy and food particles are entering the bloodstream. When this happens over a period of time, your body starts to think that these are invaders and will start to create antibodies to fight them. This can happen to any organ of the body. This causes symptoms of hypothyroid or hyperthyroid too. Its a condition that can be reversed by looking at the health of your gut.

Symptoms of Perimenopause and Menopause can be similar to that of the thyroid not working correctly so its often overlooked. Cortisol (the stress hormone) can affect the thyroid from working properly. High estrogen can affect the thyroid from working properly as well. Some medications could affect the thyroid. There are a few differences to know if it is a true thyroid problem such as losing outer eyebrow hair or eyelashes, extreme weight fluctuation, neck pain or swelling of arms or legs.

You can find out more about the main hormones to affect Perimenopause or Menopause symptoms in my free Ebook here https://www.healthylifestyleover40.com/hormone-balance-ebo…/

4 KEY AREAS THAT CAUSE HORMONE IMBALANCES

4 KEY AREAS THAT CAUSE HORMONE IMBALANCES

There are 4 key areas that can cause hormone balance havoc and they are:-

INSULIN
THYROID
CORTISOL
ESTROGEN

The first one is "Insulin"

Insulin is a hormone that needs to be kept in check as well as cortisol.  When you have high cortisol and high blood sugar, this can be double trouble.  Insulin is responsible for taking glucose (sugar) out of the blood and into your cells to be used for energy.  When you eat food, your brain signals to the pancreas to secrete insulin because glucose is present in the blood.  Glucose is then taken into the cells by insulin to be used as energy so we can go about our day.  We need glucose as fuel for every day activities such as breathing, moving around, digesting food and to use our brains!  We also need it for exercise.  When our cells have enough glucose then the rest is stored in our liver to be used throughout the day.  A problem can begin if you are eating too many high carbohydrates or refined sugar such as biscuits, sweets, carbonated drinks, chocolates, cakes, pastries, processed foods such as sugary breakfast cereals, pasta and pizza.  These foods are full of refined sugar and are not giving your body any nutrients that it needs.

When the cells and liver have filled up their stores of glucose, it then begins to store it in your fat cells and you start getting fat because there is nowhere else for the excess glucose to go!  If this continues over a period of time, your cells begin to shut down the response to insulin because your pancreas is continually producing insulin to keep up with the demand of controlling glucose levels in the blood. This is called insulin resistance. 

INSULIN RESISTANCE SYMPTOMS

WEIGHT GAIN

FATIGUE

IRRITABILITY AND MOOD SWINGS

INSOMNIA

SUGAR CRAVINGS

BRAIN FOG

AFTERNOON SLUMPS

The more you eat sugar, the more you will want sugar because sugar is addictive. This then creates a vicious cycle because its the sugar you need to stop eating so much of.

You will also feel hungry all the time because nutrients are not getting into your cells as your cells are insulin resistant.  You are at risk then of developing type II diabetes because the pancreas is tired and cannot function as well as it did before. You are at risk of developing cancer over time, heart disease, stroke or inflammatory diseases such as arthritis or alzheimers. 

It is important to look at changing your diet.  Make sure you are getting plenty of sleep and you are exercising regularly.  There is a supplement that you can take to help with sugar cravings and creating a blood sugar balance, its called chromium polynicotinate up to 400mcg a day.  You need to check with your doctor first before taking any supplements. You only need to take it until blood sugar is more stable. Ask your doctor to check this regularly for you. 

I will talk about the Thyroid in my next blog.

I have prepared a free perimenopause symptom tracker so you can track how you are feeling and what your periods are doing during the month.

You can download it here 

Perimenopause Symptom Tracker

I’M 40 AND PERIMENOPAUSAL – HOW DO I KNOW, LIFE CAN REALLY BE GREAT IN YOUR 40’S?

I’M 40 AND PERIMENOPAUSAL – HOW DO I KNOW, LIFE CAN REALLY BE GREAT IN YOUR 40’S?

When you hit 40, the saying goes that “life begins”.  This is actually true in more ways than you think.

You have probably talked to your friends or your mother about Perimenopause and Menopause” and its cascade of symptoms.  Did you know that there are At least 22 symptoms of Perimenopause (which are the years leading up to Menopause) and possibly more.  It is possible to have very little or minimal symptoms and be able to live your life and feel great inside and out during Perimenopause and Menopause.  Most women do not realise that their symptoms are not due to “old age” and they don’t have to put up with them. Ageing doesn’t have to be daunting at all. 

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE SYMPTOMS YOU COULD BE EXPERIENCING DURING PERIMENOPAUSE

Your sleep can be disrupted and you dream of sleeping like a baby.  Hot flashes can disrupt sleep or you could be waking up in the early hours of the morning.  Stress can affect cortisol levels which puts out your circadium rhythm and so you are waking up at 2 am or 3 am. 

You may have just started with your own personal sauna ie hot flashes and they can happen at any time, not just at night.  This can disrupt your day to day life as you never know when an attack is going to happen.

You may start to notice that you just don’t feel like your old self or start to feel no emotion, too much emotion or even anxiety.

You may have noticed that everyone around you is acting strangely and getting on your nerves.  Your husband or partner is suddenly agreeing to everything you say or your box of paracetamol is empty and you only bought it yesterday. 

In the Perimenopause years, your hormones – in particular estrogen and progesterone, are on a rollercoaster ride, one minute up and the other down.  Its no surprise that you feel like you have lost your sense of identity and feel like you are out of control.  This can affect your relationships with your friends, family and colleagues, you just can’t focus at work, you feel bloated and have sugar cravings that you can’t seem to control and you lack the energy to even get sexy with your husband and enjoy family life.

There are so many things that you can do but here are my favourite 5 things to start right now:-

EGGS

Eggs are powerhouses of nutrition and help to control your appetite because they contain protein, selenium, which is essential for thyroid health and your thyroid helps you to control hormone balance.  Eggs also contain amino acids to help support mental health by regulating the release or serotonin which is our feel good hormone.  They contain cholesterol which is critical for healthy hormone levels, they help to reduce the bad cholesterol and increase the good cholesterol.  They contain choline which is great for brain health to help you feel more focused during perimenopause.  They contain Vitamin D which is essential for bone health and immune system health.  The last thing is that eggs contain B vitamins which we need for energy and metabolism. 

GREEN TEA

Green tea can help you to lose weight which compliments a healthy diet and reduces fatigue as it contains a catechin called Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is a fabulous antioxidant.  Green tea contains polyphenols too, so the antioxidant and polyphenols together can help against breast cancer.  The tea also contains L-theanine which helps with anxiousness and to promote good sleep.  Green tea can also help to keep your bones strong and keep your heart healthy too.  

CINNAMON

Cinnamon is great at balancing blood sugar levels and controlling sugar cravings.  It is also loaded with antioxidants and helps to reduce inflammation.  It is also great to regulate the menstrual cycle and calm menstrual cramps and supports mood and anxiety.

WATER

It is not only essential every day to keep us hydrated, it also can help to burn calories and if you drink a glass of water 30 minutes before you eat it can reduce the amount of food that you eat.  It can increase your metabolism by as much as 30%.  This is a great help to control extra weight gain during perimenopause and hormonal imbalance.  It also helps with digestion and keeping things moving through the digestive tract to keep the toxins out of your body which helps with hormone balancing and to stop constipation.  When our hormones are on a rollercoaster ride this causes stress and can cause a disruption on the digestion too. 

MACA

A Peruvian Root which is classed as a food rather than a supplement.  It is an excellent adaptogen.  Adaptogens can help to balance the body due to stress without causing any major side effects and is excellent for hormonal balancing. 

Maca is raw and it can be hard on a sensitive digestion.  You can buy powder or capsules.  If you have a sensitive digestion, I would recommend gelatinized Maca powder.  The starch in the gelatinized Maca has been broken down slightly to make digestion much easier.  By breaking down the starch some of the nutrient content is removed.

Maca contains B vitamins, Vitamin C, E, protein and omega 3 fatty acids.  It is good for mood and brain health, increases bone density and is an energy enhancer but does not stress the adrenals.  It can also increase libido and enhance fertility.

There are three types of Maca, yellow, red and black.  The yellow type can be used by both men and women.  The red Maca is most suited to women and has a high phytonutrient content.  The black Maca is most suited to men as it boosts libido and sperm count. 

A study from 2004 in Australia revealed that Maca powder, at a dosage of 3-5 grams per day, reduced psychological symptoms, including anxiety and depression and lowered measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women independent of estrogenic and androgenic activity.

Want to learn how to take back control of your hormones?  Join my Programme now. We start on the 15th June.  The price is £95 but for a limited time only there is an early bird price of £60 so grab your spot now before the price goes up.  

Go here for more details and to book the Programme.

I look forward to getting to know about your perimenopause or menopause journey.