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What does “Mindful Eating” really mean and how can it help your food intolerance?

For years I put everything into what I was eating and the quality of the food without ever thinking about the words I used around food and the way I spoke to my self when I ate that food or even prepared my food. Now I truly know the power of words and thoughts and how they can effect everything you eat and how your body responds to the food on a cellular level and if it will react to it or not.

So how the hell does a word effect if you react to tomatoes or not? Well in one way it doesn’t . . . but in another way it does. By using positive words, mindful eating and affirmations daily you raise the vibration of your body and when you are vibrating at a higher frequency your body heals it self. Your cells rejuvenate faster, repair more efficiently and cope with foods better as it’s not in a state of inflammation.

So what is “Mindful Eating” it’s banded around so often in blogs, but what does it really mean?

 

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What it means is to slow down when eating and take some care over what you fuel your body with. When you are busy and running around at work or with kids or shopping, your in fight or flight mode, most of us live in this state 90% of the time. We are at a very anxious level all day and can not switch off. Then when we eat we inhale our food throwing it in our mouths. So not only do we not digest in fight or flight but also as we have eaten to fast it puts an added burden on our bodies. To digest our food we must switch back into our parasympathetic nervous system ‘repair and digest” or there is not point eating at all, as all it does is laden the body with a burden you don’t get the minerals and benefits from eating food.

wen you cook your food think about how much it went through to get to you. Thank the farmers, the animal that sacrificed it’s life, or the earth, sea or tree for providing it to you. When you have it in front of you touch, taste and smell it to start appreciating it. When you eat it, smell it to start the saliva in your mouth, which tells the brain to start activating the juices in your stomach, and prepare your body to start the digestion process. An example of the reverse of this is inhaling a burger in a few bites and that burger sitting in your stomach unable to be digested, as the body has had no warning signs it was coming. But if you cut ripe water melon and smell it and lick your fingers, your body is aware of what your about to eat and it gets excited as it pulls up that memory of eating it. You feel grateful for this watermelon and say to yourself ‘this will replenish my body and hydrate me, this is exactly what I need right now’ your body will digest this very easily.

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How you talk to yourself and feel makes a big affect on your digestion system and how the body takes nutrients to the cells too. An example of this is: ‘This food will heal me’ ‘This food is nourishing my body’ or ‘I’m so grateful for this food’.

The opposite to this is: ‘This isn’t very good for me’ ‘I shouldn’t really eat this’ or ‘I’ll have to pay for this tomorrow and have to go to the gym for 2 hours’

One is telling your body this is great food to eat and the other is saying don’t digest this it will harm you and the body will send out white blood cells to eradicate it. Now this doesn’t mean you can eat junk food with positive affirmations, as junk food is junk food at it serves no purpose in your body and causes inflammation . . . but it means not to beat yourself up when you have an indulgent healthy treat as that will be worst than the treat on the body and your everyday food should be eaten with appreciation and in a slow mindful manner. CHEW CHEW CHEW!! Oh and CHEW!

Your posture can play a part in this too up right strong and happy or slumped tired and unhappy? Choosing a positive mindset

Another level of this is: choosing the right “diet” or way of eating for your body. There are so many celebrities out there who indorse their way of life. But we have all got different bodies and our bodies all react differently to food, environment have certain genes are switched on or not. Just because it worked for that celebrity it may not be right for you. So how do you know what “diet” I hate that word . . . is right for you?

Well if you eat meat and your body feels heavy, sluggish and you feel guilt for eating an animal, then maybe that’s not right for you no matter what fade “diet” is in at the time. Or maybe you eat meat and it gives you so much energy and makes you fit and lean and you have no issue eating an animal, then maybe it is right for you.

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Your mindset when going into a new way of eating is so important. If you believe in it and feel it is right than it most likely will be right, as your mindset is in alignment. If you go into a new fade diet and you say to yourself ‘this will be a hassle’ or ‘it will be hard and I wont be able to stick to it.’ Or something I hear all the time ‘my kids wont eat that!” . . then you guessed it, it will be hard and not work as you have set your self up for failing before you started you are sending out that vibration and you and your kids will pick up on that. Go in to any thing in life with the right mindset and alignment and things will fall into place and work for you.

The food it self is vibrational and a plant just picked or a fruit just picked will have a high vibration that will help to keep your body vibrating at a high level and running efficiently. If you choose food that is void of vibrations and a dead food like an over cooked burger which hold no life force in it at all. All it will do is dull your body’s energy and flow of life force, over time this plays its price on your body and inflammation and disease.

So is it mambo jumbo or scientific fact? Try it and see! Think about the way you talk to your body and how you feel when you eat a food and they way you talk to your self after eating a food and see if you can twist it positively and see any changes. I used this to overcome my fear of food as so many foods I used to react to. I just kept saying before I ate a food ‘oh I will react to this’ and low and behold I did! When I started to say ‘I love this food and I’m going to eat it and have fun and be relaxed’ suddenly foods I couldn’t eat caused me no problem. Even some foods I eat everyday might cause a reaction if I’m in the wrong mindset as my conscious ego pops up and says ‘oh don’t eat that your eyes will come up’ NO NO NO they won’t hahahah!

Positively and positive words raise Serotonin and reduces Histamine in the body. Help regulate the glands and lowers the white blood count. I.e. inflammation!

So how do you actually eat mindfully?

You need to prepare your body for food. Shovelling food into the body and not chewing properly stops digestion and if the body is working hard on digestion it will take energy away from other functions and you will feel sluggish and tired and bloated after you eat . . . (Christmas dinner anyone?). You are supposed to feel energised and light after food. If you are not re think the food you are eating!

So do the following before you eat always!

  • Take 10 deep belly breaths
  • Be grateful for the food
  • Smell your food
  • Touch your food
  • Thank the farmers or who ever made it for you

By this stage your mouth will be watering sending signals to the gut to start the digestive juices and the enzymes that are needed to break down the food. Digestion starts in the mouth!

CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW 30 times each mouthful!

  • Savour each mouthful
  • Thank your body for digesting this food.
  • Be grateful for how lucky you are for having great food and the time to eat it-if you have not got time to eat re think your priorities and work on the balance in your life like what we spoke about earlier.

The other side to mindful eating is knowing where your food comes from and looking after the planet.

  • How was it raised and killed?
  • What part of the world did it come from?
  • What has it been through to get here?
  • What the life force or vibration of this food?

The Hairdresser that lost her hair . . .

As an ex Hairdresser and trained Tricholgist, when I started to loose my hair and my eyebrows I was so alarmed and it caused me massive self esteem issues. I’d always had thick curly hair and most of my life I wished for thinner hair and spent hours straightening and flattening it so it wasn’t so big. Suddenly I was adding volume and putting rollers in to to make it seem big . . .

At the same time I and lost a lot of weight and was very malnutritioned due to by body failing me with Hypothyroidism, Adrenal Fatigue and Mast Cell Disease so it was not a surprise.

But recently as I’m returning to health my weight is equalising,  my body and cells are healthy so my hair has started growing thick and strong and my eye brows are there!!

It made me want to share with you all why this happens and how you can stop or prevent it if it’s happening to you. It can range from the simple and temporary issue like a vitamin deficiency, to the more complex like an underlying health condition.

Firstly I think the best way to look at it is your blood carries nutrients to each cell in your body, and if your under stress or have inflammation the body concentrates on the vital organs and fighting inflammation. So the hair, skin and nails are not as import and and tend to be the first thing the suffer. Which is why ladies when you are pregnant your blood supple increases and you have thick luscious hair and your nails grow like crazy and then you have baby and the body goes into repair and feeding mode and your hair nails and skin suffer. It’s not far I know . . .

Your hair goes through life cycles too and will not always be the same, for example hair has a programmed life cycle, a growth phase, rest phase and shedding phase. It also sheds more in the Autumn/Winter again due to the blood supple, and as does your skin loose more layers. But if outside of these normal stages you are thinning and its not normal you may want to look at the following to see if you have an underlying issue that may be causing your hair loss.

  • Thyroid Function (Hypothyroidism or Hyperthyroidism: Hair, nails, and skin may become more brittle and break more easily if your thyroid is producing to many hormones or not enough hormones. 90% of hair loss in women is to do with their thyroid. A blood test will determine this and i’d advise that if your have more than a few symptoms of either Hypothyroidism or Hyperthyroidism, but your test result come back in the ‘normal range’ to take them to a Naturopath as you can be out of range but still have issues.
  • Iron Levels: Women who have heavy periods or don’t eat enough iron-rich foods may be prone to iron deficiency especially after child birth. This is because the blood doesn’t have enough red blood cells and red blood cells transport oxygen to cells throughout your body, giving you the energy you need which is why it can cause extreme fatigue, weakness, and pale skin. You may also notice headaches, difficulty concentrating, cold hands and feet, and hair loss.  Ask you Doctor for a blood test to measure ferritin, the protein that stores iron in your body, is usually needed to diagnose iron-deficiency anaemia. By eating iron-rich foods such as beef, pork, fish, leafy greens preferably, along with foods rich in vitamin C, which enhances iron absorption. And steering clear of food that prohibit iron being absorbed like dairy, alcohol, coffee and black tea, soy, and eggs (not to say you can’t eat these but just don’t pare them with iron rich foods have them as stand alone foods.)
  • Inflammation: Inflammation on the body can cause each cell to be under stress and causes scalp and skin issues like seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff), psoriasis fungal infections. By healing your gut you will reduce inflammation in the body and repair your scalp and skin. See my post of healing Leaky Guts.
  • Iodine, zinc and magnesuim levels: The thyroid gland relies on iodine to make the hormones necessary for the growth of healthy hair, teeth and bones. When we are deficient in these nutrients, such as iodine, magnesium and zinc the health of our hair can suffer, leading to hair weakness or total hair loss. Taking a safe nascent iodine supplement recommended by your Naturopath or Doctor and eating iodine and zinc rich foods may boost hair health and growth, and may event prevent or reverse hair loss. it has been a massive help to me.
  • Fat Malabsorption: If your bodies not absorbing important nutrients and fluids like proteins, carbohydrates and espically fats your skin and hair will suffer. The problem may be caused by inflammation or an auto-immune disease. Sometimes, the condition may be the result of the body’s failure to produce enzymes needed to digest some foods and taking digestive enzymes can help along with healing the gut lining. Talking to your doctor about taking a stool test to see if this is happening is the best choice here.
  • Your diet: plays a massive part, and of course if you are not putting the good stuff in your body will not be able to function and your hair will suffer. A diet rich in greens, protein and good healthy fats is essential for good hair growth. Supplementing with iodine, magnesium, grass fed collagen and MSM will help boost hair and nail growth.
  • Low B vitamins but high vitamin A: A deficiency or excess of any vitamin will upset the balance of the body but vitamin B-12 plays a big role in many parts of the body, including the liver, eyes, skin and hair. One possible symptom of vitamin B-12 deficiency is hair loss, because cells need to divide constantly to produce new hair, a process that requires production of new DNA. Without enough B-12, hair grow slows or stops and existing hair starts to fall out. Hair loss that is accompanied by symptoms of malnutrition and gastrointestinal disorders should be checked for deficiencies of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B-12. On the flip side to much synthetic vitamin A can cause hair loos too.
  • Stress: Any kind of physical trauma, surgery, a car accident, emotional stress or trauma or a severe illness, even the flu can cause temporary hair loss. This can trigger a type of hair loss called telogen effluvium. as I said hair has a programmed life cycle, a growth phase, rest phase and shedding phase. When you have a really stressful event, it can shock the hair cycle, (pushing) more hair into the shedding phase. Hair loss often becomes noticeable 3-6 months after the trauma. Which is why mothers loose hair 3-6 months after giving birth. But if this is your case your hair will go full cycle and grow back to be thick again. Mediation and self care will help balance your life and allow your body to equalise and repair.

If your hair is failing out your body is not nourished and is in need of proper nutrition. Part of the detoxification stage you may also loose hair and this is normal as your body sheds and rebuilds, it will regrow as mine did. Please contact me and I can guide you through changing your health!

 

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What is a ‘Health Coach’ and how can they help you achieve your goals?

If you have heard the term “Health Coaching,” or “Wellness Coaching” and find yourself wondering what a health coach does and how engaging health coach can help you, then this is the answer . . . Health Coaches support people to help them work towards un-achieved goals in all areas of life, they keep you moving forward not in the past talking over old hurts. Health coaching is different to life coaching which is often solely goals based and does not look at you holistically. It may be nutrition, career, overcoming autism or auto-immune conditions, finance, relationship, exercise and health or any other aspect of their life that they do not feel fulfilled in. It’s my belief that all aspects of your life have to be in balance for true happiness and healing to occur. If one aspect is out it can throw out the others I have tools and personal experience that helps you see this and we work through it together. How I do this is by guiding and creating an environment for you to be empowered to achieve small steps toward your goals. Anything is possible with the right mindset and a supporting guide!

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I work by empowering my clients to embark on this journey to health for themselves, for you to feel excited by Nutrition and see the importance of loving your body enough to fuel it correctly, and take charge of healing YOUR own body, mind and spirit. I teach you the skills to build your mindset with daily practices to become able to deal with any of life’s up’s and down’s and not need another person, place or thing to “fix” you.

Goals and lifestyle changes I can help with are:

  • to empower you to achieve your goals
  • to up-skill you
  • to show you ways that have worked for my family in healing
  • help you find a pathway to heal autism or and auto-immune conditions
  • to save you the 7 years of study and personal ups and downs I had
  • to build up your self esteem and teach you how to love yourself
  • to advise you on your bio-individual nutrition needs
  • to teach you how to use professionals to get results
  • to work alongside your doctor or naturopath to understand result and treatment options
  • to support your whole family and there health and work on getting everyone on board
  • to improve your self-management
  • to teach you how to stay motivated
  • to show you how to live mindfully and a chemical free lifestyle
  • to understand the reason or blockage of why your not where you want to be in life
  • to give you tools to improve your wellbeing
  • to be someone to talk too and someone who will listen un-judgmentally to you
  • to believe and encourage you
  • to have a positive body image just the way you are
  • to strengthen your mind
  • to be someone to make you work hard on your goals
  • to teach you how to incorporate meditation and mindfulness in to everyday busy life

But a Health Coach is not:

  • a shrink
  • a personal trainer
  • a gym teacher
  • a yoga instructor
  • someone telling you what to do
  • someone telling you what your goals should be
  • someone who will make magic happen without hard work from yourself
  • someone who know it all

Only YOU can heal your body. I am just guide to help you see your own power!

Bio-individuality is the most important key to health and wellness. We are not all the same and one lifestyle will not fit us all. This belief leads to despondency and disappointment when you try a diet or exercise and it does not give you the results you wanted. How I work at ‘Nourish To Health’ is to mentor you find your path and to work through your goals in a safe confidential way. I recommend Plant Based Nutritional science based diets, lifestyle choices and exercises that suit your needs at that given time. I work with you to emotionally unblock painful situations that could be causing you to keep failing in your goals and teach you how to plan realistic, manageable goals and achieve them over a time frame we plan together. I do not do the work for you but empower you to achieve them with me guiding you. If you choose to work with me I would take you on a journey to achieve your goals working closely with you on a one to one or via Skype.  I recommend working together between 3-6 months, as there is always highs and lows in a wellness journey and often you get despondent after an initial excitement and need to be encourage to stick to health goals. Weight loss, food intolerances, and depression or nutritional deficiencies take time to correct as does lifestyle changes that are needed to achieve these. I look forward to hearing from you and helping you achieve the health and wellness you deserve. Much love and successes on your health journey and I hope we get to work together when your ready.

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If you connect with my message and approach and feel I could help you on your health journey please email me today on hannah@nourishtohealth.com.au and we can arrange a free 20 minutes Skype consultation to see how we fit together and I will create a plan for you. I work globally via Skype 🌏

Please also join my ‘Detoxing Families – supporting ASD & Behaviours with Raw Foods’ private group too for more advice and a safe sound board to ask questions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/974279649338594/

Blessings and love on whatever path you are on, and what ever stage of the journey you are on . . . we all must start somewhere! 🦋

Hannah Miles

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Getting your child to drink green juices!

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This may seem very far off for you to imagine, or you might be ready to add more greens in to their current juices that they drink now. Either way be mindful that green juice is something that takes more caution when giving it to children. Because greens are very nutrient rich and a potent detoxifier, our bodies naturally begin detoxifying a bit quicker with greens then other juices. Not that this is bad and when you are trying to heal Autism this is essential, but it can make you/them feel ill if you do it too fast. If you feel that your child needs to detoxify, their bodies will naturally do it through a good diet full of fruit, herbs and vegetables combined with fresh green juices and or green smoothies over time and a chemical free happy environment. But start slowly and build up so they are used to the taste and their bodies get used to detoxify anything that needs to come out. With my boys we started with carrot, cucumber and celery juice and built up to removing all root vegetables and now they have a few different greens like spinach kale, celery, lettuce and cucumber with lemon, and sometimes ginger and turmeric . they have this most mornings before their breakfast. In the afternoon they might have a beetroot or carrot juice but we personally don’t add fruit as they find it sweet enough and I like them to eat their fruit on its own with out mixing with vegetables, this helps their bodies digest it better. As with my smoothie post go slowly and build them up.

The truth about fruit . . .

The difference between a smoothie and a juice, is when you make smoothies they contain fiber which means you can only eat a certain amount at each meal before feeling full (we need the fiber so keep making them!) That is the reason I do not suggest fruit juice  as it doesn’t have any finer in it. Even cold pressed organic fruit juice.

How to get your child drinking and loving ‘green smoothies’ . . .

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But with juicing you can include a large amount of greens that you normally would not be able to fit in to your body in one go. A juice is a large amount of vegetables and it’s a nutrient dense shoot of goodness for the gut and each and every cell! Would your child sit down to a large green salad? Maybe not but a green juice sweetened with some apple might go down well.

Here are a few suggestions that taste yummy and mask the bitter flavour some greens can have.

  • I recommend starting with fruit and wining them off fruit till it is just vegetables as fruit spikes the blood sugar level and causes hormonal crashes. Coconut water is a better option to add with greens.

These recipes are for 1-2 glasses of juice

Carrot Celery:

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 1 cucumber (with skin)

Beetroot Apple:

  • 1 small beetroot
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 cup spinach
  • Cucumber Apple:

 

Cucumber Pear:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 2 pears
  • Small handful of kale

Cucumber Orange Grapefruit:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 small handful of spinach greens
  • 1 orange peeled
  • 1 grapefruit peeled

Broccoli Pineapple:

  • 4 broccoli florets and stalks
  • ½ pineapple
  • 1 small bunch of parsley

Broccoli Apple:

  • 8 broccoli florets and stalks
  • 1 small bunch of parsley
  • 3 apples

Green Citrus:

  • 1 small handful of spinach
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 handful kale
  • 3 oranges or 1 lemons peeled

Cucumber Watermelon:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 thick slice watermelon
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 lemon peeled
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful of parsley

Green Bullet!

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 1/4 lemon
  • hand full of coriander
  • hand full of parsley
  • 1 cup coconut water

Simple Green:

  • 4 sticks celery
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1/4 lemon

Melon fantastic:

  • 1/4 water melon
  • 1/4 cantaloup
  • 1/4 rock melen
  • 1 hand full of fresh mint

Why Leafy Greens are so good for you and the Nutritional breakdown.

Enjoy trying them all and play with what your child likes!

Tips: I suggest finding glasses and cups that are fun and even using flowers on top to diguse the colour so they try without making assumptions. Also get the kids involved in chopping and making them it will encourage them to want to try it more.

Good luck and remember they sense your fear and emotions – if you are hesitant and scared they will not go for it. Be confident and set an example by eating well yourself. Monkey see monkey do. Kids can not buy their own food, so only stock the best at home and choose only the best when you are out. If you are suffering with self sabotage and food binging and cravings. Contact me to coach you to break free of these . . . like I did.

Much love and Thanks Hannah xx