STRATEGY #1 DRINK ½ OUNCE OF PURE WATER PER POUND OF BODY WEIGHT DAILY
Water is the most essential nutrient your body requires to function.
Everyone needs between 2 ½ (85 ounces) and 4¼ litres (144 ounces) of water every day (more if you are active, exercising or in a warmer climate).
You use water for every single one of your bodily functions, including digestion of food, absorption of nutrients, blood circulation and the removal of toxins and waste.
If you are not drinking enough quality water daily, you may notice fatigue, headaches, a lack of mental clarity and focus, difficulty losing weight and inappropriate hunger.
If your body does not get enough water, it siphons what it needs from the colon. The result is dehydrated stool, which is so sticky and gluey, it cannot easily pass from the bowel. Without
adequate water intake you will have difficulty achieving and maintaining proper bowel function.
Our Advice
Aim for ½ oz of filtered water per pound of body weight daily. Pure water and non-caffeinated herbal teas are the only beverages that count toward your water quota.
Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink your water; by then you are already dehydrated.
STRATEGY #2 EAT TWO CUPS OF VEGETABLES DAILY
Most people are not getting enough fiber from their diet. You need fiber because it acts like a broom in your intestines decreasing the time it takes for the food you eat to pass through your intestinal tract and be eliminated in a bowel movement.
The less time food sits in your colon, the less time it has to rot, decay and produce toxins. Fiber can also absorb toxins, which helps eliminate them from your body.
Dietary fiber absorbs water in the intestines to provide bulk and soften the stools so that you can pass them quickly and easily without straining.
We need at least 25 to 35 grams of fiber daily to maintain colon health. The average North American consumes an average of only 12 grams of fiber per day.
Our Advice
Start by eating 2 cups of vegetables every day (not including lettuce, peas, corn, mushrooms and/or potato). You can eat them they just don’t count. Organic vegetables are better for you.
Do not replace vegetables with a supplement, greens drink or vegetable juice. It will not help your fiber quota.
Why Not Lettuce, Potato, Peas, Corn and Mushrooms
You can eat these foods, they just don’t count in your daily quota.
Lettuce is a zero food, mostly water, low fiber and loaded with chemicals (if it’s not organic) to keep it from wilting. Have you ever wondered why an iceberg lettuce lasts seemingly forever in your fridge?
Corn is a grain, not a vegetable. Most corn is also GMO, so if you choose to include this in your diet, please select organically grown corn.
Potatoes aren’t bad vegetables, however they are so big and bulky that it would be easy to eat two cups of them, leaving no room for the healthy range of colored vegetables that I want you to choose from, like dark leafy greens, broccoli, peppers, carrots, squash, beets, cauliflower and turnip (to name a few).
Mushroom I count as a fungus.
Peas, until you learn to slow down and chew well you will spot them when stool watching the day after you eat them or (if you aren’t eliminating properly) maybe a few days after you have eaten them.
STRATEGY #3. REDUCE CAFFEINE INTAKE
The main reason we give this advice is that caffeine is an added stress to your adrenal glands and most women’s adrenal glands are stressed enough. When your adrenals get over stressed they become fatigued and don’t function optimally. This condition is known as adrenal fatigue and it is associated with the following symptoms.
- Difficulty losing weight
- Fatigue
- Low libido
- Hot flashes/night sweats**
- Inability to cope well with stress**
- Poor concentration and memory
- Headaches and migraines
- Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
- Depression or mood swings
- Anxiety
- PMS
- Cravings for salt** or sugar
- A feeling of shakiness or irritability when hungry**
- Asthma**
- Eczema
- Rheumatoid arthritis**, joint pain
- Frequent colds and flu
- Hay fever and other allergies**
- Dark circles under your eyes
- You feel worse after exercising**
- Water retention
- Need caffeine to get you going in the AM**
Should You Give Up All Caffeine?
Reduce your caffeinated coffee consumption to a maximum of 16 oz per day. But if you have adrenal fatigue then you should consider drinking no more than 8 oz of caffeinated coffee per day and if you suffer with severe adrenal fatigue you should cut out caffeinated coffee entirely until you have completely rejuvenated your adrenal glands.
If you drink a lot of caffeine, then slowly reduce the amount, otherwise you will feel much worse before you feel better.
To learn more about adrenal fatigue, GO HERE.
What About Decaffeinated Coffee?
Methylene chloride is the solvent for the extraction of caffeine and it is an acknowledged animal carcinogen linked to liver and lung cancers. Purchase organic coffee that has been decaffeinated by the Swiss water process.
Because coffee is generally acidic, can curb hunger, preventing you from eating nutritious foods, or create blood sugar imbalances, it doesn’t matter if it is decaffeinated or not. You should still limit your intake to no more than 16 oz per day.
What About Black Tea?
I would limit your black tea intake to no more than 16 ounces per day and follow the same rules as coffee. The more severe your adrenal fatigue, the less black tea you should drink.
STRATEGY #4 CREATE SUGAR FREE DAYS
Sugar is one of the worst non-foods that you can consume.
It is known to:
- Weaken Immune System
- Overtax your adrenal glands
- Increase your risk of type 2 diabetes
- Contribute to low moods and depression
- Cause weight gain
- Feed cancer cells
- Increase triglycerides and elevate cholesterol levels
- Deplete your supply of nutrients
- Feed Candida yeast
Our Advice
Once you learn to eat foods without the sugar, you will see why you don’t need them. Try eliminating sugar entirely for about two weeks and notice of how you feel.
You should experience higher energy levels, better moods, fewer food cravings, improved sleep and possibly some weight loss. You should also notice how much better foods taste and that you don’t have as much of a sweet tooth.
Action Plan
If you aren’t ready for a two-week abstinence from sugar to see how good it feels, then the best plan of action is to incorporate “sugar free days” into your lifestyle.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to choose one day a week and for the entire 24 hours do not eat any refined sugar. Then create two sugar free days per week and so forth. Your goal would be to create 4 to 5 sugar free days per week. Every week. Ongoing. This isn’t a diet; this is your lifestyle for vibrant health.
When we say sugar free days we are referring to cutting out refined sugar such as alcohol, ice cream, cookies, cakes, muffins, energy or granola bars, candy, frappuccino’s, chocolate and pop (and do not replace sugar with artificial sweetener which is extremely toxic).
When we say sugar free days, we are not referring to the naturally occurring sugar found in vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and whole fruit (notice we say whole fruit as we don’t agree with drinking fruit juice).
STRATEGY #5 GET REGULAR EXERCISE
Perhaps we should say, get regular “physical activity”. The word exercise might conjure up the notion that you must go to the gym and work out, or train for marathons. Of course, if you enjoy those options and feel good when doing them, then go for it.
Our bodies are designed to move, not sit for hours at a time. We recommend you get regular physical activity by doing something you enjoy so that you WANT to exercise and you DO it. No point in joining a gym that you don’t want to go to.
You can walk, dance, rebound, hike, swim, ride a bike, garden, clean your house, or go to a Jazzercise or Bellyfit class. Just do something and do it regularly. At least 4 to 5 times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time.
Keep movement regularly throughout your day as well, park further across the parking lot, take the stairs, walk to your coworker’s desk instead of emailing, get outside on your lunch break, meet your girlfriends for a walk date instead of a coffee date, and dance with your kids or grandkids when the opportunity presents itself.
5 Top Benefits of Regular Physical Activity
- Reduce your stress
- Stimulate brain chemicals that will make you happier
- Improves your sleep
- Increases your energy
- Increases and maintains bone mass
Information made available through this website is provided for educational or reference purposes only. Nutritional Therapy and/or Coaching is not intended as a diagnosis, treatment, prescription, or cure for any disease, mental or physical, and is not intended as a substitute for regular medical care.
Copyright Brenda Eastwood, RNCP and Megan Boff, RNCP 2016 – 5 Critical Lifestyle Strategies
MaximumResults@shaw.ca www.BrendaEastwood.com www.TotalHealthPack.com
Would you like to use this article in your E-zine or website? You may, if you include this complete write-up with it: Brenda Eastwood is a holistic health expert who specializes in Women’s Health Issues. Her expertise stems from over 35 years’ experience as a Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner. This includes ongoing research, 17 years running a successful private practice, presenting hundreds of seminars and workshops, as well as coaching clients through her unique online Inner Circle program. Today she is reaching out to even more women through her regular article contributions to HANS (Health Action Magazine) and her book “Get off the PMS and Perimenopausal Roller Coaster, Learn 9 Natural Fast Track Solutions to Balanced Hormones”. For more information on Brenda Eastwood please visit www.BrendaEastwood.com or for information on her Total Health Packs visit www.TotalHealthPack.com
