Are carbs the enemy?

So if you've been watching your carb intake,  you might be noticing differences and changes in your body.

Some will be changes you want,  some won't.


Carbohydrates are a source of energy provider for the body.  When we eat carbs,  we convert them into a useful energy which we can then burn throughout our day.  Maybe you already know that.  Ok, so what happens when you eat less carbs?

On occasion,  you might initially drop some extra water you have been hanging onto.  This isn't a bad thing.  Keep an  eye on your fluid intake and just make sure you are hydrated at all times.

Folks who eat very low carb diets (VLC) can sometimes put the body into a state of "Ketosis".  This means that there are no stores of sugar for energy in the body and you will be burning fat reserves to use for energy.  During this transition,  you often find that there will be a lull in energy before a spike.

Ancient times showed us that occasionally,  fasting (and hence getting into Ketosis) can aid the body with repair,  digestion and just give it a good old break.  Also,  many individuals report that illnesses such as Epilepsy can find relief of symptoms from keeping the body in Ketosis.

So when are carbs a good thing?

If you have no extra fat to burn and use as an energy supply,  you will need to ingest more energy in the form of carbs.  Without this,  you could create more issues as the body looks elsewhere for energy such as the muscles and eventually,  your organs.

Carbs are not the enemy in my opinion.  Overeating can be and folks often get the two confused.

What are carbs?

Very often,  clients speak to me about carbs.  They think they are things like bread,  doughnuts and outer dough made items.  Often these items have yeast added too which can cause issues for those intolerant of yeast and if bloating issues arise,  carbs get blamed when in fact it may simply be the yeast.

There are healthy carbs too.  It doesn't mean flour.  It means food sugars.  The best way to think of healthy carbs are items with natural sugars such as fruit and honey.

Carbohydrates are a main nutrient that we are designed to eat.  In the right way of course. 
A healthy balance of all nutrients within your best calorie range is what will serve you best.



This months sponsor: Herts Mere Leisure.

Would you like to advertise on this blog? Click here 

Healthy food haul and juicing

Hello there!

I've been busy in the shopping aisles of Tesco!  Bringing you some foods which you can get on great deals and are pretty healthy.

Let me know your favourites and what helps you!

It's nice to see the prices and know it's possible to eat well for less.

Soon I will be creating more blog posts on cooking tips and tricks for you.  Let me know what you would like to see.

Juicing - how to do it!

Finally, a new Youtube video.  I'm so excited to share this video with you.  After many technical issues it seems I've cracked it so please hop over and subscribe to my channel and you can help me to grow this into a lovely way to share the knowledge.



Summer is a fantastic time to get juicing.  So refreshing and hydrating.  Anyway, go ahead and watch the little film and you will see so much more!

Get all your juicing supplies here! 

Making your latte healthier

These days we all love a nice latte, cappuccino or Americano. It's a trend. A fashion. 

It's yummy. 

Then, there's the guilt. 

Recently, a client asked me, "is coffee really that bad for you?" and proceeded to tell me how she couldn't 'give it up'. 

So, one thing coffee does is affect the acid/alkaline balance in your body. To help with this, a simple glass of water with a slice of lemon will help readdress the balance and pop the body back into a healthier alkaline state. 

Marks and Spencer offer free lemon water in coffee shops. Well done M and S for knowing this fact. 

Any water will help though as that will rehydrate. The coffee alone acts as a dueretic which can help you become dehydrated. 

Small things really do help. 

How's the 'diet' working for you?

Are you on a diet? It's such a massive subject isn't it!

There seems to be a 'pull' in the direction of wanting to get slim and 'going on a diet'.

We see all over the magazines that we could lose a stack of weight in just a week and still get all fired up to try it.  Yet we still seem to be ignoring the fact that....

DIETS DON'T WORK...

And here's why.  

Now I realise this is bad news for most of us as we just want a little bit of magic in our lives to make us feel better, slimmer, more energetic.... but it's a change for life that we need.  Not a quick fix.

How many friends do you hear talking about their recent slimmers diet and they say, "as soon as you start eating normally again it all just goes straight back on."

If you want to know the reason for this, read on...

It's not so much that the weight goes straight back on or as some say 'clings to me as I've been starving myself' or whatever crazy excuse they come up with,  it's because of this:

The reason the person, or you, needed a slimming diet in the first place is because something was going wrong with your everyday diet.  Too many calories, too much junk food.  Likely just too much.  So,  as soon as you start eating too much once again,  you will gain weight.  Now there are theories behind this such as it slows your metabolism and so you end up storing more fat.

Hmm, a possibility.

Although I suspect far more than that it's simply that you have not changed any habits whatsoever.  Which is the HARD bit.  Things are so tasty out there and we are in a lovely social fashion of going out for coffee and a cake and it gets very tempting.  I recognise this too.  However..... changes need to be made in order to sustain a new you.  This starts from day one and must follow right through until after you get your ideal body.  Yes... that's right,  it's a life change.

Now no need to thank me for sharing this information with you for you see while you might want to click off from the truth in favour of a quick one week diet and then back to eating what caused the unhappiness in the first place,  you need to listen up about the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule

Ok so here's the really good news.

You don't need to be an angel.  You can still have what you call 'treats'.

If you eat healthily for 80% of the time (be honest with yourself) then you will be fine to eat other things for 20% of the time.  This will only work if this is always the way you do it and only if you do it for good.

Accepting this is the first part of the mindset for you.  Diets, slimming and health are all about balance, mindset and motivation.  If you would like to know more I will be addressing lots of this on the blog here so make sure you sign up.  

Feel free to email me any questions you have and I will be addressing these over on my Youtube channel later on.  

Wishing you the very best of health.

Nutrition advice - Youtube channel

Hey folks

Here's the thing.  I need your help really.  I am in the throws of designing and updating my Youtube channel.  This is the channel which relates directly to the stuff I talk about on this blog.

I did wonder if I should begin just adding the new videos to the Youtube channel I already own which is gaining in subscribers.  Although having learned the marketing tools stuff I took the decision to keep the two separate.  There are a couple of videos over there which may make you chuckle just now but to be honest, it needs some TLC and I have been creating new videos which are not uploaded just yet.

Please be so kind as to hop over to there and subscribe to my new channel as this will motivate me highly to get these new videos up there for my new subscribers to see.

Thanks so much.  Let me know what type of videos you would like to see.  I'm a bit of an expert at cooking for the SCD diet to help intestinal issues so come on over and tell me what more I can help you with.

As a gift for you,  I totally recommend this FREE SCD lifestyle ebook to get you started on your way into health.  It breaks things down so easily for you to understand.  Click below to claim your free book.

SCD Lifestyle E-Book (Free Guide)

Ever ask "How did I get to be so big?"

You wouldn't be alone if you almost feel as though one day you woke up and suddenly had gained a load of weight.

"How did this happen?"

"When did this start?"

"How did this start?"

And you keep on looking in the mirror,  disliking what you see and beating yourself up about it.  Sound familiar?

Right now stop right there.  I see people morbidly obese walking with a struggle in town,  trying to get around.  With cruelty some people tut and say "How can they let themselves get like that?"
Well chances are,  they didn't.

We don't just end up like that do we.  Realistically. 

If we gain weight,  it's because we have eaten too many calories on one occasion.  The scales reflect a 1lb gain.
"Oh well, I'll get that off again this week."
Then another day we do the same.  So on goes another pound, then another and another.  Before you know it, you've gained a stone.  Exactly the same way everyone gains weight.  Bit by bit.

It was not your intention to become overweight.  Nor could you see it happening despite the chance that you decided to get a grip on it with that first 1lb gain.  Nor could anyone.

So it's happened.  So what is likely to happen next?

Well,  you come to a cross roads.

Now you need to make a decision.

Do you change your habits or do you carry on gaining at one pound per time?

Changing your habits means eating differently,  thinking consciously about what is going into your system.  And watching the scales go down....one pound at a time.

That's right.  Let's be real yet encouraging.  You can lose weight.  You will likely lose it faster than you gained it if you are really focused.  Yet you are not going to make the decision and then wake up the following day to see a suddenly slim you,  no more than you woke up overweight.

So make a decision to go on a journey and begin to respect your body more. 

* You will feel better,  

* you will look better, 

* have more energy

* Reduce the chances of illness

* Likely live much longer and spending precious time with your loved ones.

So,  you want to make this happen?

Want to know how?  Sign up with this blog for lots of tips,  feel free to get in touch with me to ask your questions.

One to one help - apply for free funding

Twitter: @louiseusher