Recharge your vitamin D

The sun is out and this is the best time to get your vitamin D reserves recharged. Your body is actually converting the sun rays UVB into vitamin D. However, most suncreens are UVA and UVB blocks. so if you are taking sun with sunscreen, you are not getting much vitamin D. 10-15 minutes exposure without sunscreen can be beneficial. However in North America, from October to March, we don't get enough strength in sun rays for the body to trigger vitamin D conversion it is therefore very important to use supplementation. In daily foods, you have vitamin D in egg yolks and fatty fish. Cow and soy milks are fortified in vitamin D but even 3 glasses a day is not providing what is recommended for optimal health, by the Canadian Cancer Society, which is 1000IU per day. By spending time outside in the summer without sun screen, you can achieve that but not in fall and winter. Go out, exercise and enjoy the sun!

D - recharge!!!

MM

Enough exercise?

How do you know if you are getting enough exercise to reach your goals? There are different ways to evaluate that but the quality of your sleep should be a good indicator. Did you have problems falling asleep last night or did you wake-up a few times during the night? If so, you may have not exercised enough in terms of time and intensity or you may have exercised at the wrong moment (right before going to sleep).

Another more scientific way of analyzing if you are getting enough or not is to simply make a mathematical calculation. On an advanced scale (if you don't have one, come to my house and use mine), you can know your basic metabolic rate. This is very important because it tells you how many calories you are burning in a day doing absolutely nothing (staying in bed all day). On top of that, someone at a desk job sitting all day may be burning an extra 200 calories maybe. So for example for me, my basic metabolic rate is 1308 cal. Since I do not have a physically active work, I may be burning on average 200 calories more. So if I jog for a half hour at a moderate pace, I may burn another 250 calories. If I eat 1700 calories during the day, I will not loose anything. If I eat 1400 calories during the day, I will lose about 300 calories of accumulated fat and in 12 days, it should be a pound less.

Make the calculation for yourself, and this will illustrate you why you are losing or not. Also, make sure you don't go below your basic metabolic rate in terms of calories consumption because then your body enters starvation mode and will be stocking what comes in.

Go exercise and enjoy!

Rhubarb in your plate

It is time right now in Gillam to taste the rhubarb that grows in the garden. It is very low in calories (one cup of diced rhubarb is 26 calories), has some fibers, potassium and some vitamin C with and lots of water. Here is an easy snack to have in the middle of the morning or afternoon.

Preheat the oven at 350. Put 400 grams of diced rhubarb and 400 grams of chopped strawberries in an pyrex baking ban, mixing the two. Add two tablespoons of agave syrup over and 1/4 cup of almond powder, 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp of coconut and 2 tbsp of sesame seeds and a mist of cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes or until the rhubarb and strawberries are soft.

Enjoy the sweet taste of summer in this relatively low GI snack.

MM

Spices...not only for flavor

You will notice that in most recipe that I give you to do, there are quite a few spices. It is very important to add those spices and herbs to your daily life (other than only salt and pepper) because they contain lots of nutrients and trace elements which are musts for your health. Turmeric is one of the most powerful spice which has strong anti-caner, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbes properties. Ginger and chili also have those three biological activities associated to them. Therefore, don't hesitate to add turmeric, ginger and chili to your meals to give them extra flavor, color and health.

When cooking with these spices, we have to look at thousands of years of culinary art and tradition to use them best. East Indians and Asians knew the benefits of those long before science was able to prove their effects. For instance, turmeric is not water soluble, so it must be cooked with a little amount of oil to be absorbed. Also, when turmeric is combined with black pepper, it is absorbed so much better by the body.

There is so much to learn from different cultures and their long held traditions, which has kept civilizations healthy for a very long time, before western medicine and medication was even born.

Readjusting your goals

When we started this program two months ago, we had a reality that is different than that from today. Events, experiences, life, people and our environment has evolved and we have evolved towards it. Although we had wonderful intentions at the beginning, life happened meanwhile, and may have changed today's reality. Those priorities and plans from last month may have evolved into a different direction, and we must understand and respect that. However, we should not give up but make a review on our situation, learn from our past experiences and evolve into the future.

It is time to make an assessment of where we really are physically, energetically and emotionally in this process. We have to be grateful for the wonderful leanings we have done, habits we have changed, and look forward to evolve further. Maybe losing steadily 4 pounds a week was not realistic for you in the actual context, and it is OK. You may have lost a lot quickly at the beginning, but not having integrated those habits completely into your lifestyle. But the most important thing now is to set realistic goals for you for the next 4 weeks and get that motivation back on.

You know that you have a lot more chances of maintaining your weight loss if you lose slowly than faster, and that those changes be lifelong. You and I know that it is possible and now is time to do it. We have a teammate who has reached her goal already, she was steadily losing more or less a pound per week, some weeks more than others but still keeping up with the efforts. You too can do it!

Take Care and go!!!
MM

Final month!

I hope everyone still have their motivation up, because we have a terrific final month to come with the final sprint. I suggest you write down your goal for this coming week. If you are not seeing the kind of results you want to see, make changes. Look at the intensity of your workouts or even increasing the length by 5 or 10 minutes can make a good difference at the end of the month.

Do not forget to do your visualizations, they are so important!). I am also suggesting that you increase by a one glass of water your daily consumption, with the extra exercise, the heat finally here in Gillam, we lose more water through perspiration.

I really hope you enjoy this final month because after, you will be doing more cooking in morning and lunch.

We have one member who had reached her goal, congratulations! )

Lets go team Canada, we can do it!
MM

Use your fingers and eat less!

When trying to reduce your servings, there are many strategies you can use. You probably have tried using smaller plates, or even china with lots of colors and patterns. You are probably doing the extensive chewing at least 20-30 times a bite. So that way, you eat more slowly and have more chances or realizing you are feeling full before you have overeaten.

However, what I am suggesting you is to let your forks and spoons in the drawer and use your own fingers. Make sure you wash your hands before. Form a spoon with your index, middle and ring fingers, and your thumb as a lever. You will find that every bite is much smaller than with a fork but yet feels fuller. I personally like the contact of my fingers in my mouth. It is almost as if eating becomes a more complete sensory experience and when eating whole foods, your skin is actually absorbing the vitamins!

Try it and see, you may even have fun! )
MM

Chocolate treat?

On a weight loss, it is very hard to let go of our favorites. For many of us, chocolate is one of the first thing to take out of our diet if we want to lose weight because of its high content in fat and in sugar. However, chocolate in its pure form (bean) has 50 to 50% of fat, most of it being saturated. However, about 35% of the lipids (fats) comes in the form of oleic acid, which is also found in olive oil, which has benefits for cardio-vascular system. Chocolate has also a good amount of polyphenols, which are great to prevent cardio-vascular disease and cancer. However, when chocolate is mixed with milk and sugar, it loses most of its properties. According to Dr. Béliveau, who is a scientists specilized in anti-cancer research on foods, 40gr of chocolate (70% cocoa) per day is a good source of polyphenols and has a relatively low GI value.

Go for some sweets but one square would be good! )

Best hummus in town...

On a low GI diet, snacking is a very important part of the daily routine because it ensures you maintain your sugar level stable. It is very important to remember that when you take a snack, you are not just snacking on a fruit or on a vegetable. Because if you do, you have a good source of sugars but no macro nutrient to slow down the absorption of the sugars like a source of protein or fat. Therefore, if you are snacking on vegetables, a yogurt dip or a beans or lentils dip can help greatly to make that snack filling effect, feeling much longer. Here is a great hummus recipe you can have with celery sticks, carrots, crakers, pita or rice cakes!

-1 1/2 cup of cooked, rinsed and drained chick peas
-juice of one lemon
-3 tbsp of tahini (sesame butter made by crushing sesame seeds)
-1 tsp of sesame oil
-1 tbsp of garlic powder or two garlic cloves crushed
-2/3 cup of water (more or less according to blender and desired consistency)
-Pepper and salt
-If desired spices or flavor of your choice (Italian, cumin, basil,olives or sun dried tomatoes)

Put all ingredients in a strong blender and blend until you get a smooth consistency.
Serve cold or room temperature with a dash of optomega oil.

Comparism?...

In your life, no matter what happens, comparison is your worst enemy. I have mentioned already a few times that self-judgment is something to avoid. Very important in your efforts is to stay focused on your objective in weight loss, is avoiding condescending comments on yourself. The other important thing to do to keep your morale up and running is to avoid comparing yourself with someone else. Comparison is so destructive, you should avoid it at any cost. It is OK to look at others for motivation and inspiration, but we should not compare ourselves to anyone. In society, we have been raised in the school system to compare our grades, our abilities in sports, our revenue, the size of our house, our garage, our car.... This is a very destructive system.

There is always someone smaller, bigger, healthier, nicer, richer, poorer than us. There are going to be people who are going to reach their goal faster and others who will never reach them. We never have the full picture on a person, a situation, and our evaluation of our own body or of someone else is always based on perceptions of reality.

Please be contented with you own body and mind, which ever state it is in right now. Be grateful for what you have and who you are. Do not compare yourself with anyone. So many genetic, environmental, relational, psychological and physical factors are part of the sum of who you are. Even you, are not fully and consciously aware of all of the factors which interplay in your own progress and development. By doing your best everyday, avoiding judgment, avoiding prejudice and assumptions you are on the way to success. Be inspired by people who reach their goals, but do not compare yourself, period.

By being a non-judging observer, you can do so much more towards your goal to get where you want by respecting your integrity.

Find your inner strength and strive towards your goal, where ever you are today!
MM

Lose or gain what?

When looking at your weekly results, it is not always easy to really understand what is happening within your body. Take out your calculator and a piece of paper, it is going to be easier for you to calculate your own values.

With an advanced scale, that many on the team have, which give you fat% and muscle %, it becomes easier to understand what is shifting in your body, as you are losing or gaining weight.

An ideal BMI (body mass index) for a women is between 18,5 and 25, according to bone structure and other factors. It is simply calculated: your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared.

However, a more precise the weight movement is whether you are loosing fat or you are building muscle. You may have heard that for the same volume, fat is lighter in weight than lean muscle. This is why, certain scales give you a good indication of your % of body fat and your % of lean muscle mass. However, your scale is giving you a percentage, which you should convert into actual kilos or pounds to see where you really stand. In terms of fat%, the manufacturers of the scale are giving between 21 and 35.9% of fat (depending on the age) for a women is normal. For a men, normal levels are between 8 and 24.9% according to age.

Let me give you an example. Last week, my weight was 131.4 lbs with 27.2 % of fat and 31.9% of lean muscle. I need to convert those to actual weight values. So last week, I had 35.75lbs of fat (lbs of fat = total weight *fat %) and 41.92 lbs of muscle. This week, although my weight is 132.8 lbs, my body fat went down to 25.7% and muscle mass to 32.9%. In absolute values it means that this week, I have 34.13 lbs of fat and 43.69 lbs of muscle.

The result of this analysis is that although my weight went up by a little over a pound, I actually lost 1.6 pounds of fat and created 1.77 pounds of lean muscle mass, therefore my basic metabolic rate increased by 14 calories. This means that this extra pound of muscle is burning for me everyday 14 more calories, not doing anything. I hope this makes sense for you. My engineer partner said it cannot be, it does not add up. There are other factors, in our body we have water, foods in the process of being digested, urine, bones and many other types of tissues, and there is movement in all of these aspects, therefore, not all fat is automatically converted into muscle and vice-versa.

I suggest that if you have such a scale, you start recording the actual values and calculate the weight of fat and muscle in your body every week so you know where you are, and you can see a progression.

Go! )
MM

Stretching on the road

When taking care of your body to feel better, stretching is very important. When you are on the road on your summer vacations for long hours, it becomes a priority to help you system function well to take time to stretch.

This week-end, I have spend over 18 hours on the train. My body needed to stretch very much. Here are a few stretch that you should be doing when you are sitting for long:

-Forward bend stretch, standing. Standing up feet hip-width apart, take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, you stretch forward and down with your upper body to reach the floor with your hands. Staying in this position for at least 30 seconds, try to bring your chest towards your knees, your tailbone up. Release slowly unrolling up.

-Standing triangle. Stand-up and spread your feet apart. With your right arm, reach up, bringing your right arm on your right ear and bend on the left side, keeping your body aligned as if you were squeezed in between two walls. Keep for 30 seconds and do the same on the other side.

-Stretch up, bring your arms up and above your head, bring your hips forward (you can also put your hands in your lower back for support.

-With your arms, do the eagle posture. Put your hands-up like if you are under arrest. Bring two elbows close together and cross one over the other, bring your hand in to lock the position. Hold for 30 seconds and do the other side.

-Tall long stretch. Feet together, stretch up, arms above the head and reach for the ceiling, come on the tip of your toes and stretch up, and release.

There are plenty of other stretches you can do but make sure you take time to do it, your body will thank you so much at the end of the road, it will make you feel good even after being in a sitting position for hours! )

Enjoy,
MM

Hunger Cruncher

Some days you just feel you need a little more! If you are eating at least 1200 cal per day, which you must be at least, then you may have that feeling of emptyness. Make sure you are having at least those 1200 cal because if not, it may be much harder to loose weight because your body thinks you are in a starvation mode, so stock everything that comes in.

If you are careful, eating enough calories to be functioning well without jeopardizing your health and still feel that emptiness, go for celery. Celery is a vegetable that is rich in water, dietary fibers, vitamin C and vitamin K. It is one of the few vegetables which require actually more energy to digests that what it yields, which is what we need when wanting to lose weight. You can go for a snack with a branch of celery and a dip made with a little bit of peanut butter and soft tofu so it brings you proteins!

Moreover, if you are the type of person with excess fluid retention, celery seeds have been used as a diuretic for a very long time, its high levels of potassium and sodium help balance fluids.

The psychology of eating...

Eating has always been amongst the most important things one must do to survive. Through different generations and civilizations, foods has gone through transformation and through different phases of abundance and shortages.

The Greeks have understood very well the relationship between the body and foods, a long time ago. Greek philosophers have also warned us that the abundance of foods was a threat to our survival just like shortage.

In North American culture is in the process of demonstrating that fact, as more and more people are dying younger from diseases related to the abundance of foods they eat. More and more research is coming on studies showing that people who under eat slightly every day, live much longer and healthier than people who overeat.

However, it is very hard to determine when enough is enough. We have been raised in a society where more, bigger, larger is better. In terms of foods, the opposite is actually true. In such a society, when you are bombarded with messages everywhere to consume more and more, it is hard to say no, and to really make your stomach believe that enough is enough. Keeping in mind that you will be eating again in a few hours, more than enough foods, may help you go easy. Some people, me included, sometimes eat just as if it would be their last meal for days, but lets face it: for most of us it is not.

In East Indian yogic philosophy, one should eat in a meal what fits in their hands cupped together, no more, and that your stomach should be half full of foods, a third of liquids and the rest is required for digestion.

So on your next meal, ask yourself, am I eating too much? Put your hands together and measure!) Wait 20 minutes before getting more, if you feel like more.

Good sleep please!

When you are losing weight, one of the important factors to watch for is to have enough quality sleep, and feel rested after your sleep. If your nights are shorter than 5 hours or longer than 9 hours, you are not putting all the chances on your side to lose weight. You want to be fully rested to make sure that you are not reaching for foods to stay awake or get extra energy.

You should be sleeping a good 7-8 hours of restful sleep, not waking up, turning and being half asleep all night. You must enter the deep sleep mode many times during a whole night of sleep (3-5 times). It is in this state that your body rebuilds and regenerate itself, and this deep sleep is more important at the beginning of the night, and becomes shorter as the night comes to an end.

In order to fall asleep better:
-Go to bed at the same time every night
-Keep your room cool and feet and hands warm
-Do not watch action or violent movies before going to bed
-Ensure your last meal was at least three hours prior
-Make sure you don't go to bed hungry.

Sleep well!
MM

Pesto from your garden

When people ask me how to cook vegetables, tofu, beans or grains, so they are tasty, I answer invariably that there are two things you can do to make these soooo good: cook right (not overcooked) and aromathise it. Grains, and tofu most invariably take the taste of what it is cooked with. The best way to really enjoy them, is to add natural aroma and flavor through herbs and spices.

A good way to bring out the taste of what you are cooking is to add garlic, onions, ginger and herbs. If you want to take advantage of what grows around you and use it for a few weeks or months, you can create your own pesto, and use it as a marinade, as cooking sauce for stir fry, rice and pasta. You can use it to marinate your fish, chicken or tofu in or simply to spread it on a piece of whole grain bread or pizza.

Here is the recipe from my garden:
Cilantro and chive - dairy free pesto
-1 1/2 cup of cilantro (fresh) or basil
-1 1/2 cup of chives
-3 cloves of garlic
-2 table spoons of pine nuts
-1/2 cup of olive oil
Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender, except for the oil. Pour the oil in gradually. If you want your pesto to preserve for longer, add more oil.

Persistence = success

There is a golden rule in life, which is so simple yet so difficult to apply in daily life. This rule states that the only way not to succeed or to fail is to give up. This is so true for weight loss efforts. You have set out an objective for you at the beginning of the reset program. It has already been half of the three months period for which you have set out your goal. It is time to take a look at the results achieved throughout.

Although it has not been a perfectly constant weight loss over the weeks, we have been able to see significant changes. Whether it is in your weight, your body measurements, your lean muscle mass, changes have been happening. For some people, it has been changes in attitude, in habits and changes in energy levels. Wherever you are in your own program, there has been some changes, which is great. The weight result may not be exactly where you want it to be by now, but we still have over a month to get there. Look back at all the recipes you have tried, the types of workouts that have worked best for you and repeat what works. Looking back at your week by week results, look at those weeks where you have seen significant results and repeat.

As long as you persist, you will succeed. Every quarter of a pound is an improvement and represents lots of effort, so be grateful towards yourself, and keep going! )

Go team go!
MM

Visualization

Visualization is a very powerful tool when trying to lose weight. Just like for anything, what the mind can conceive, it can achieve. It is very important to spend a few minutes everyday, in the skin that we would like to have, at the weight we would like to be. Here is a very simple exercise.

Every morning or every night, take a few minutes (minimum 3 minutes maximum 15 minutes) where you are in a quiet place, where you can lay down on a mat and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and start relaxing your body from toes to head. Then visualize your body exactly how you would like it to be, visualize your toes, your feet, your legs, your stomach, your hips, your abdomen, your waist, your chest, your arms, your shoulders, your face and every other important part for you. As you visualize every part of your body, feel every part slimmer, lighter, firmer. As you feel, try to reproduce that feeling into emotions, how are you feeling as you reach your goal? Probably full of confidence, and pride, you may also feel joy and relief. You probably feel more energy. Make this your reality, now.

Finish each session by being grateful for the marvelous body that you have today and be grateful for all the tools at your disposition to reach your goal. Take a few deep breaths, and take a deep long stretch before getting up.

Setting your mind onto your goal everyday will make a great difference in your actual behavior during the day, and you will find results come easier and faster, try it! )
MM

Role of vitamins in weight loss

Many people ask me why a lot of people start gaining weight when they stop taking their vitamin supplement. This is a very simple principle, which has many consequences.

Your body is a very powerful machine, very fine tuned. It knows exactly what it needs to be able to best accomplish is maintenance, and repair jobs, and support to ensure each organs works best with each other, and is in harmony. Your body needs have a central processing system in your brain, and as long as your body does not have all of what it needs to accomplish its basic activities, it sends signal to continue to eat, in case in the next piece of foods, it is going to get what it really needs. Therefore people are stuck in a wheel where although they continue to eat, the satiety signal never comes, because the body does not get what it really needs, so it continues to send the hungry signal to your brain.

Essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements are such things that your body cannot produce itself. Therefore it needs to find it in the food you eat. Eating in a optimal way every single day, every single meal, is not easy. Although lots of efforts are made to eat better, it is almost impossible to get all of the essential vitamins and minerals in optimal amounts in North American diet. Also, it is not because you you eat foods that is rich in a nutrient that your body will absorb it either. If you take tea, coffee or another foods with it or in a meal close to it, it is very possible that although you are eating it, your body does not absorb it and sends the hungry signal again.

This is why to get the best weight loss results, reduce your cravings and keep your cravings off, it is so important to rely on a very high quality, well-balanced and highly absorbable supplement.

If you want to know more on that topic, don't hesitate to e-mail me directly at mariemaxime@gmail.com.

Light and low fat is not always equal to healthy

I would like to give you tools to be able to make wise choices in terms of foods substitution to reach your healthy weight goals. If you go on different diet sites, especially American sites, you will see many suggestions to replace process foods with similar version of processed foods, which are lighter or lower fat.

I do not suggest you use the processed foods to reduce calories. In those low fat products, manufacturers must add fillers to make you see and taste very little difference compared to the regular product. Those products are added with either sugar, starches, water, artificial sweeteners, as well as many other chemicals that your body cannot process properly. Although, you may be controlling the number of calories you intake, you may jeopardize your blood sugar levels and insulin response, and you may be putting your health on the line.

The is a very simple equation to understand: low fat and lighter products are not necessarily equal to healthier. When it comes to your body, you only, can make the choice: quick and lighter version of processed foods, which may give you some weight loss results in the short run, but impair your health in the long run. On the other hand, healthy choices with slower weight-loss results in the short run, but overall health in the long run.

Here are the often suggested diet items, which I do not recommend for your long term health, the healthy recommendation is in brackets : Jello and light jello (fruits and agar-agar), non fat whip cream (egg whites or soy milk), turkey deli (tempeh), ham deli (eggs), turkey bacon (tofu), light salad dressings (lemon juice, herbs, spices a little cold press olive oil), very low fat hard cheese (tofu crumble), low fat but very sweet soy milk or dairy products (unsweetened version better), cold boxed breakfast cereals (cooked or soaked whole grains) , light crackers such as soda or other crackers which has oil and flour in its ingredients (buckwheat crepe, papadum), margarine (flaxseed oil fresh), pretzels (whole grain, home made crakers), light puddings (soft soy and fruit of vanilla, maple or melted dark chocolate 85%). There are natural alternatives, which can be much healthier. In the short term, it may be more time consuming to learn to cook and make those alternatives, but in the long run it will pay off.

Why do you overeat?

When you sit down to think why do end up in a situation where you have to loose weight, you should think to yourself, why do you overeat?

Some like me overeat because the satiety feeling does not come, or I can not be felt. It is particularly true, when you are in an inflammation situation. The inflammation process is playing on the feeling full message send to your brain, so when you feel arthritis pain or any type of pain, pay particular attention to your servings, because the satiety message transmission is jeopardized.

You may also seek some feeling good and satisfaction from food because you are not feeling any fulfillment from your job, family or personal life. In that case, the only feeling good you will get is from the food you will be eating. In this case, the best idea is to create motivation and action outside of your kitchen in activities you find fulfilling.

Eating is often a compensation from emotions we are feeling. If this is the case, it is a good idea to take a particular attention to treating the emotion side of the issue with counseling instead than with foods.

Overeating is for me quite often in a social setting, in a dinner with friends and family. When the food is on the table, I eat and talk, and talk without even realizing that I have finished my plate and go for another one and another one until I see the bottom of each dish. Unfortunately, when this happens, I realize only when I start feeling a stomach ache that I had too much foods. Therefore, I should always get one plate and one only in a social dinner, this will help me avoid overeating without realizing it, and asking questions, so others do the talking.

There are other reasons why you would overeat, but paying attention and realizing the source is already a first step to modify this situation!

We are doing great!

Congratulation
Especially to the active participants on our team Canada, we have lost one to three pounds each on the last week for those who have given me their results, which is great! Your discipline and efforts are paying off, and it is a great momentum to continue into the loosing stream.

It is absolutely normal that we go through waves in a program like this, nobody is perfect and it is hard to control life events. However, what you can control is your own reaction facing those events. According to your own reactions, it will translate in either heighten stress levels or learning and getting through the situation positively. As you are climbing the mountain towards reaching your goal, there are going to be flat stretches, plateau, and even small descents, but you always have the choice to take the trail going up, straight or down, you are the master of your own reality.
Keep going towards reaching your goal, and all the learning which comes with it!
When I get New Zeland's results, I will post it but Clare their leader is away in New-Caledonia this week on vacation with her family, so she will update me when she will have a chance.
Go team Go!
MM

Enhancing digestion

When we are losing weight, it is even more important to make sure that our digestive system works well. We can be taking the best foods in, but if we are unable to assimilate and digest properly, we will have a harder time losing those extra pounds. We have to make sure we understand that the digestion process starts even without you put the first piece of foods in your mouth. Just by thinking about a specific food, visualizing it or smelling it cook, we can trigger our digestive system. It is therefore very important to control our thought to help our body.

So many things can be made to enhance digestion such as making sure you drink fluids between meals and that you wait 20-30 minutes, after you have drank a large amount and the time you start to eat. This will help keeping the digestive fluids concentrated so the digestion works great. You may sip a room temperature water while eating, but not a lot. Avoid taking a large glass of water right after your meal.

Ginger is a spice that is helping digestion, so integrate it fresh in salads, stir fry and dressings. If works great with lemon in hot water.

A position which stimulate digestion is when you are sitting back straight on your heals.

Avoid talking a lot during a meal will help digestion, you may be chewing more your foods which is a very important factor to digest best.

So prepare mentally before a meal, sit comfortably silently, chew well your dish with ginger and avoid drinking lots of water while you eat or after. Drinking room temperature half an hour before is great! )

Incroporating cereals and grains

Grains in a low GI diet are very important, because they give you energy and make you feel full quick. They provide for fibers both soluble and insoluble fibers, which make the intestinal transit move faster.

You have to be careful because empty, white grains, pasta and bread makes your glycemic index go up very quickly, and creates an insulin response in your body. White starches are almost as efficient to increase your glycemic level as sugar.

Therefore, when you want to control your blood sugar level, it becomes a good idea to include a small quantity of whole grains in your diet. You want to make sure the grains still have the germ and the bran around it, that is where all the important vitamins are. A small quantity is a quarter to half a cup of whole grains cooked. By integrating grains such as Quinoa, Buckwheat, and Millet, high in amino-acids (proteins), it becomes even more filling and satisfying. Incorporating grains early on in your meals is much better (morning or lunch).

Enjoy a little bit and you will feel good!

Self-image

In life our body is changing through different period and different experiences. No matter what is happening with our body, our mind continues to grow. However, the growth of our thoughts are not always aligned with that of our physical body. Although, we would love our body to be a certain way, at a certain weight or a specific fat percentage, it is not it. With so many efforts we put in, it never quite gets there. But your own body is a perfect reflexion of a combination of your thoughts, your genes, your environment, what you feed it and how you move it. Period. Start to love your body exactly as it is today because you are partly responsible for it. Start thanking your body for all it does, and all it allows your mind to do and evolve. Start loving your body and every part you would like to be different. Feeding your body the right foods, making the right kind of exercise in the right amount takes time and effort. Your body will reward you for it. Meanwhile start rewarding your body with love and positive thoughts of gratitude, it will make the journey to get there so much better.

Fruity Treat

Some of you have been asking me what do I get as a treat on the low GI diet. It varies, from a piece of dark 85% chocolate to a piece of muffin with tahini. Here is a fresh recipe great for those hot summer days, which we don't have much here in Gillam. Today, it is 16 C outside!

I have used some strawberries and rhubarb, one of the few vegetable things that is growing healthy here. I picked a few pieces outside yesterday and I created this recipe:

-3 cups of fresh rhubarb stalks cut in small pieces in 1/2 cup of water
-3 cups of fresh strawberries
-3 tbsp of Agave syrup
-1 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1tsp vanilla
-2 tsp of agar-agar (or a pack of gelatin)

Cook the rhubarb cut in small pieces in the 1/2 cup of water (5 min in microwave work). Add a cup of strawberries sliced and heat another two minutes until the rhubarb and the strawberries become a uniform texture. Heat soy milk and the agar-agar to dissolve it completely. Add to the fruits with vanilla and agave syrup. Cut the remaining strawberries, and put around the container close to the edges, and in the mixture.

Put in the fridge for a few hours and turn over to make a nice jelly cake.

Enjoy! )

Eating a balanced meal

When you are composing your own low GI meal, is there a rule of thumb to respect? Yes, a very easy one. In order to eat well a good filling serving, you should really take any plate and split it in 4. I suggest you take a small to medium plate to have a good idea of the servings. Half of your plate is vegetables, one quarter is a protein source and one quarter is a grain or cereal. In order to respect low GI, your grain or cereal source should be about 1/4 to maximum 1/2 a cup of cooked whole grains. Another quarter of your plate should be a lean source of protein: tofu, beans, chicken, fish, shellfish, egg, etc.

At least a quarter of your plate should be raw vegetables with which you start your meal to make your whole meal digestion better. The other quarter should be a dark green color vegetable (raw or slightly steamed or sauté). Broccoli, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, bok choy, green beans, snow peas, sprouts are all good sources of green vegetables.

Cutting and boiling your vegetables in water is the best way to drain out most vitamins from your veggies, you are not really getting much from eating boiled and over cooked vegetables. The boiling water will get some vitamins, but it usually ends-up in the sink.

As long as half of your plate is vegetables (not including potatoes), you are on the right track to eating a balanced meal.

Enjoy!)

Skin maintenance for weight loss

When we are trying to achieve sustainable weight loss, we have to make changes in not only our eating, drinking and exercising habits, but we must also make substantial changes in our hygiene habits as well. When making a change to be healthier, we go through a detoxification process. The main ways our body uses to get rid of those toxins are through your urine, stools, breathing (exhaling) and through your skin. It is therefore normal for your skin to go through phases where a few pimples appear throughout the process, but eventually, they will go away.

Since the skin is a very important protection and breathing organ of your body, if you want to achieve the best weight loss results, you have to take care of it. One of the very efficient way to take care of your skin is to get rid of the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin daily, to allow your skin to breath and evacuate toxins.

Here is my suggestion: use a dry brush, made out of cactus hair (or another natural fiber) that you can spray with a mix of distilled water and tea tree oil before using. Then you take no more than two minutes and you brush your body from the feet up towards the heat in long strokes. You brush the thighs, buttocks and abdomen, all those places where the circulation does not flow well. Then, brush your arms, specially under the arm close to your arm pits. You brush your back as far as you can go. But do not brush your neck or face because the hair of the brush is too harsh for the skin. If you do this daily, you will see a difference in the softness and texture of your skin. Your body will be able to release toxins more easily through the skin.

Happy Canada Day!

I want to use this posting to wish to the Slimmer this Summer Canada -Gillam team the best Canada Day. Weather was with us to let us know that although the breeze is cold, it is still the best time to go play outdoors! Sebastien and I participated in a triathlon today in town which was very nice. It brings me to the subject of what to eat before and after a very strenuous training.

There are two critical meals before an intense or long activity or race, the one that you have the day before because that meal will have time to completely digest and store very needed glycogen for your muscles. Therefore the meal the day before should be high in complex carbohydrates, which will give you the energy you need on the day of the race: whole grains cooked in recipies with beans or lentils is a great match. You also want to make sure that on the day of the race you have a meal with carbs at least two to three hours before the start to have time to digest. You may keep an energy bars for during the race if it is a long one, but juices high in sugars absord much more quiclky during a race, and those filled with electolytes are also a good choice to make sure you don't dehydrate your body. After the race, you want to replenish you energy, vitamins and minerals, and eat sugars (fruits) and proteins to rebuild.

On that note, I really hope to see all of you participate next year! )

Take Care,
MM