My Year of Healthy week 7
What the F?
Hope you enjoyed yesterday, all about football, food and fun. Life is about balance and deprivation should not be a part of it, especially on holidays and life events with enjoyable traditions. ( and Congratulations to Rihana on her baby bump.) With the Super Bowl behind us, let's all get back on track.
Wellness has an F word that has been trending for a reason. Many experts promote the benefits of Fiber and here are two that have been inspirational to me on my wellness journey.
Years ago, I lost weight and added in many healthy habits following F-Factor. For those not familiar with F-factor, created by dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot, it is all about Fiber. Her plan promotes and explains the effectiveness of combining protein and fiber at every meal. This has helped many women achieve their goals. You can do this with real food as recommended in her first book,The Miracle Carb Diet. Even if you don’t want to eat the high fiber gg crackers she made famous, you can fill up on fiber with lots of vegetables and some fruit. Her later books incorporate the bars and powders she now sells. I found success and feel best eating a high fiber diet with whole foods. Her plan limits fats and net carbs. She advocates tracking fiber intake as opposed to counting calories which is easy with the F-Factor app she created or many others on the market that track macros like Carb Manager and Cronometer. Currently, I am reading Dr Amy Shah's book, Why am I so Effing Tired. ( She also has a new book just released, Why am I so Effing Hungry, which I plan to read next.) Dr Shah is a double board certified doctor who shares useful tips for resetting your gut microbiome and balancing your hormones. She explains medical jargon well to the lay person and shares how you can alleviate fatigue, weight gain and anxiety by addressing chronic inflammation with “some targeted tweaks and adjustments to your lifestyle”.
“The quality of the foods you eat impacts your health. Dr Shaw explains why processed foods and their genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) should be avoided. “These additives are meant to increase the shelf life of different foods and food products, but they also rip apart our microbiome and mess up our hormones in the process.” “In general, we are eating too much processed dairy, gluten, and sugary foods, and we are not eating enough prebiotic fiber and vegetables. (We need prebiotics that encourage the growth of “good bacteria,” “Centenarians are known to follow a whole foods diet with tons of vegetables. So if you want to live that long, fiber is key”
— I'm So Effing Tired: A Proven Plan to Beat Burnout, Boost Your Energy, and Reclaim Your Life by Dr. Amy Shah MD
Both of these women have a huge presence on social media and share inspirational and educational content. They both educate about the benefits of eating a high Fiber diet. Vegetables and fruit are natural real food sources of fiber that provide antioxidants, polyphenols and phytonutrients. They heal your gut, fight inflammation and can help balance your hormones. Dr Shah recommends at least 3 cups of vegetables daily but promotes eating as much as 9 cups daily. ( start slow when adding more fiber and drink a lot of water to keep everything regular)
Dr Amy Shah also promotes a specific type of Intermittent Fasting, Circadian Fasting. She has a Free 3-Day Fasting Challenge on her website for those interested in learning more about this.
It is so much easier to focus on what you should add in as opposed to try and remove foods and behaviors that are not serving you.
As always, Fill Up On Healthy and have less room for the other stuff!
Regards,
Paula Gladstone
*DISCLAIMER: While Paula Gladstone is a certified Health Coach from Precision Nutrition, this website does not provide medical or nutritional advice. The blog and related articles have been developed for informational purposes only. The content on this website and blog does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, nutritionist, dietitian or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding certain dietary needs or restrictions before proceeding with a new diet or health care regimen.
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