* provides bulk and holds on to fluid making our stools softer and therefore much easier to pass.

* encourages the correct bacterial balance in our bowels, it’s the perfect food for the ‘friendly bacteria’.

* can help to prevent cancers like breast, prostate and bowel.

* ‘soluble fiber’ helps to lower levels of cholesterol.

* speeds up the transition of waste out of the body, this ensures that auto-intoxication is kept to a minimum. The faster waste matter passes through the body the less toxins are re-absorbed.

* helps to keep our blood sugar levels stable, less insulin is produced, so less fat is laid down.

* makes us feel more full, and less likely to over eat if our diet consists of whole foods which contain a balance of fiber and vital nutrients.

Avoid wheat bran

1)      it is not a whole food – it’s too highly concentrated

2)      it’s too harsh for the bowel lining – causes irritation of the bowel lining

3)      hinders absorption of several minerals, especially iron and calcium

4)      contributes to dehydration

This herb is being given to those  suffering from diabetes, helping control healthy blood sugar levels.

So if you are having trouble giving up those sweet things then I suggest you try this tea. Make a tea about 30 to 60 minutes before your “weak time”. For instance some people’s weak time is at about 4 o’clock, for other it can be 11 o’clock. So be prepared drink a cup of gymnema sylvestre tea around 10.00 to 10.30 or 3.00 to 3.30.

Have a piece of fresh fruit at this time  instead of your usual sweet snack. There is no place for sugar in a healthy weight loss program. Use this tea to re-educate your taste buds.

Animals fed on processed oils have a body fat composition chemically similar to the fats in the foods they were given to eat (this goes for you too except you have choices). So the meat would be equally as toxic as the processed oils themselves. The same goes for farmed fish like salmon, their diet makes them fatter but they have far less omega-3 than their wild cousins. The natural salmon have less body fat but more omega-3! A direct association – they are what they eat.

Highly processed refined oils are not nutritious they damage enzymes and parts of our cells interfering with their energy production. Eating these processed oils and fats increase your risk of abnormal blood clotting, inflammation, immune deficiency, stroke, aging, obesity and cancer.

I hear all the time people say at dinner or a party “I am starving”. That person will be eating whatever is laid out in front of them. These people say to me “you have so much self-control, are you not tempted with all those unhealthy treats?” I never go out hungry I have a healthy snack before I go, so when I get there I can make choices. Never expose yourself to that, make sure you never go out hungry.

A habit of a dieter is to not eat much during the day, as they think about what they are going to eat when they go out that night, some will even obsess about it. They book a table for 7.00 by this time they are really hungry.

While blood sugar levels are low ordering food is more hit and miss, invariably not making good choices or eating more than they would have, even ordering a dessert (after all they deserve it as they have been saving themselves, having eaten little during the day).

Starving, who can resist the bread on the table while you’re waiting for your food to be served and by now it’s 8.00 to 8.30 or later before their order arrives.

It’s important to eat regularly during the day have a healthy snack before you go out (around 6ish), blood sugar levels will then be fine – less temptation, so much easier to make sensible choices.

It is also a good idea if you go food shopping go on your own if you can. Leave the children, the grand-children and husbands for that matter, as they are so good at filling the shopping trolleys with all sorts of unhealthy fattening things.

Important steps –

1) Read more articles on NATURAL weight-loss – this will give you a much better and deeper understanding

2)  It really is well worth while filling in a daily food mood journal – the evidence has proven it helps in many ways

3) Relax and enjoy your food – this means chewing your food really well, most people don’t, there are so many benefits to chewing well

4) Be truly aware of what you are eating and how it might affect you

5) Don’t eat standing up or on the move

6) Don’t eat while watching TV

7) Don’t eat until you are full, wait just 10 minutes before deciding to have more

Do drink some water 20 to 30 minutes before a meal

9) Really taste your food – you could do an experiment of blind folding yourself and concentrating on the food you eat, this has a profound effect. Try it.

10) Do eat more during the day and less in the evening

11) Don’t go food shopping when you are hungry – research shows it make a big difference to what you buy

12) Don’t skip meals – eat on a regularly basis

13) Remember taste buds need a little time to be re-educated

14) Remember old habits die hard

15) Do have a positive attitude

16) Avoid all sugar and white rice, white bread, white pasta etc

17) ‘Carbohydrate’ is not a dirty word

18) If you have to have alcohol then only with food – ie glass of wine when you are actually eating, not before eating. Drinking before food messes up blood sugar levels more

19) See this as a new adventure – exciting new possibilities

20) You are NOT going to be one of the 95 to 98 % of dieters who put their weight back with time

21) Take care of your health and the weight takes care of itself almost

22) If you wear glasses for reading – take them to the supermarket with you -read ingredients labels

23) Essential fats are vital for weight-loss and health-gain, stay away from all processed fats

24) Do not chew gum

25) Do not count calories

26) Clear kitchen cupboards or pantry of any processed foods, any half used foods, anything almost out of date etc – start a new

27) Any clothes you have not worn for a year or two clear out of the closet, give away or throw away, making space for a new you. If you want to keep one or two things that didn’t fit properly, get then altered so they do fit

2) Do not be tempted to buy big size, family size, super size, or economy size. The bigger the packet the more you eat, happens all the time. Small individually wrapped sizes might seem a little more expensive but as you eat less they work out the same, if not cheaper.

3) Color wise, nothing stimulates the appetite quite like red – avoid restaurants with red table cloths, decor etc. The color that calms the appetite most is blue. So add blue table cloths, napkins, blue plates (smaller ones), if you can paint the dining room walls blue etc.

4) Chew, chew, chew. If you chew well (few people do), it feels like you are eating more than you actually are. So you will eat less.

5) The brain and the ‘I am satisfied center’ lag behind your eyes and stomach by as least 10 to 15 minutes. Before you have more, wait a while then make a decision.

6) Eat watery foods – they are filling and generally full of nutrients, help detoxify, reduce cellulite,  and maintain the metabolism. They turn off ‘brain confusion’ by hydrating the body. When the body is not well hydrated the brain gets confused between hunger and thirst. Fresh fruit and vegetables are generally full of water some more than others.

7) Most people live with other people who are not necessarily trying to get healthy and lose weight. Have a kitchen cupboard that is full of only their stuff . Out of sight out of mind, in experiments this seems to worked. However, the long term goal would be to try bit by bit to get the family healthier.

Strangely enough sitting and eating in front of a large mirror made people eat less, up to one third!

9) A fruit bowl placed somewhere highly visible, easily accessible  – stops you reaching for fatty, starchy, sugary salty snacks. All the statistics show very few people eat enough fresh fruit .

10) A really great way to stimulate the appetite is have a glass of alcohol before a meal. Its even called an aperitif, an appetite stimulator. Wait until you start eating then consider having a glass of something, remember choose a smaller glass size.

11) NEVER shop when you are hungry – the decisions you make are quite different, than when you shop after a meal.

12) Most people visit the same super market or couple of supermarkets on a regular basis. The good news is supermarkets don’t change around their displays (no much anyway), so most people know where to find things. Plan a route in your mind and avoid certain isles, out of sight out of mind.

13) Try not to take the children shopping with you if you can help it. They generally don’t make healthy choices and are very persuasive.

14) Having some good labor saving kitchen gadgets – you are more likely to prepare, or cook  and eat healthily – which adds up to weight loss.

15) Keep a journal – in research it was found most people eat more than they realize, or certainly not as healthily as they had lead themselves to believe.

Moving out of the ‘box’, out of your ‘comfort zone’ can be a daunting experience but it is also an exciting experience. Changes in life are inevitable we need to view them as good things.

Be serious about making life-long changes, remember what you were doing in the past has not worked. The changes are simple often easier than you thought they would be but the effects are profound. Don’t under-estimate how dramatic small shifts can be.

Think of a dripping tap, one tiny drop at a time, it’s just amazing how fast a bucket fills up – drop by drop.

Tip of the Day – if you are unhealthy or overweight or both – your lifestyle made you that way and the very idea that sometime in the near or distant future you can return to your old habits – is counter-productive. This is exactly what happen in 95% of cases – going ‘on’ a diet then come ‘off’ the diet.

Quote of the Day -Very little of what people eat goes to nourish them, most goes to waist – Sonia Jones

Being dehydrated or not drinking enough water slows down the metabolism – so make sure you drink enough water for a healthy metabolism.

However drinking too much will put too much strain on your kidneys, can cause an imbalance of the electrolytes – sodium, potassium etc and it will not after a certain point make your metabolism even faster?

You will also switch off the ‘brain confusion’ confusion between hunger and thirst – research has shown that often people eat because they think they are hungry but in fact they are thirsty. So if you are always hungry make sure you are hydrated with water.

GET HYDRATED WITH WATER!