Exceeding the feed limit week 4...

This weeks diet principle:
Define your health from head-to-toe

Before, you even start thinking about weight and calories we need to consider what we need to include in our diet to be healthy head-to-toe. This is a long process that involves researching the required nutrients for optimum health for every component of your body. Yes, it takes forever! But once it's done, it's done for life, and i'm going to be doing it every Monday for you anyway.

 what is the point? 

Through doing this you'll be instantly improving you're health and outside appearance. Many people who diet to lose weight often see a deterioration in their natural beauty because through cutting calories you cut vital nutrients from your diet meaning; yes, you may look skinny but rather haggard too. You can't beat mother nature and these natural changes to your diet could be the secret solution to clearer skin or shinier hair you've always been looking for, giving a massive boost to your confidence. Also eating more good quality food could make your body more efficient at processing food resulting in your actually losing weight by actually eating more!? Without building the foundations to a house, it would fall down therefore, before we can start thinking about shedding the pounds we need to understand what a good diet looks like. And yes, it's long but i'm pretty much doing all the hard work for you..

See below for the first set of nutrient rules for the head of head-to-toe health.

peace and love, Wings ox

Disclaimer: I do not own this picture!

Healthy Head..

Well hello there..

As a teenage girl i'm constantly thinking about my hair. The colour, shape, volume, smell, style, the list goes on. But how often to we think about the health of our hair? I do often invest in oils, hair masks and conditioners to help my hair externally but there are actually fundamental changes we can make to our diet to beautify our head and hair internally- 100% au natural.

List of nutrients....

Vitamin B5 -prevents hair from going grey, Vitamin A+C -aids scalp production of sebum (bodies natural conditioner), Omega 3- increases hair strength, Protein- encourages hair growth, Zinc-prevents hair loss, Biotin- Promotes stronger and more hair growth.

.....And where to find them:

Salmon:

Contains Omega 3 fatty acids to aid scalp health consequently resulting in healthier and stronger hair growth. Not a fish lover?

My mum disguises salmon with strong toppings like cheese and pesto or alternatively bulk out a yoghurt or bowl of cereal with  2 tablespoons of flaxseed a day.

Dark Green Veg:

Contains tonnes of Vitamin A+C. This helps our scalp to produce more sebum which is natural hair conditioner so hair becomes, stronger, softer, shinier etc. So eat your greens! Eg. Broccoli, Spinach, Swiss Chard etc. Vitamin supplements are out there, but there are speculations just how healthy taking supplements is. Finding them in their natural foods really is the best way in my opinion.

Beans:

Beans beans, good for your..hair!? Beans contain protein providing those all important amino acids our body uses to reassemble into hair proteins. An excellent dietary option for those veggies trying to grow their hair longer. They're also a source of iron, zinc and biotin all essential nutrients for healthy hair. Lentil soup tastes amazing and is the perfect lunch for a healthy diet. 3+ cups of lentils a week should do the trick.

Nuts:

Another one for the veggies. As well as an excellent source of protein and zinc providing a stronger, fuller head of hair they are also a great source of selenium an essential mineral for healthy scalps. No more dandruff! I love snacking on savoury nuts like cashews, peanuts or brazil nuts instead of crisps however, if you're more of a sweet tooth almonds or pecans may be the nut for you. Beware nuts are fattening in large quantities!

Poultry:

Not sure 'Nando's' chicken is the healthiest source of poultry but at least when you do indulge you can take pleasure in the fact its doing wonders for your hair! Poultry (white meat) is excellent source of nutrients to help maintain hair colour and prevent your hair from becoming brittle. Unfortunately veggie chicken substitutes do not offer the same nutrition for your hair as the real meat however, there are plenty of veggie safe options in the list such as nuts to make up for it.

Eggs:

How do you like your eggs in the morning? Eggs are an eggcellent source of protein and vitamin B12. As said before protein is an essential dietary requirement for hair to exist in the first place! And vitamin B12 is known as the 'natural beauty nutrient' by all nutritionists and wins so make sure you look out for this beauty vitamin on future lists of ingredients!

Whole Grain:

Nutritionist say you should be getting at least 3 portions of whole grain in your diet each day anyway, due to its multiple health benefits. Its a complex carb therefore, sets you up with energy for the whole day and is an excellent source of B vitamins, zinc and iron for healthy hair and scalp. We're talking cereal, whole grain rice, pasta and oat cakes here; but I guess if you are going to be naughty, a chocolate digestive wouldn't be harmful if justified as a whole grain.

Oysters:

I find this upsetting to admit but oysters are actually great for your hair. Unfortunately, you will not catch me eating one however, for the benefit for those of  you who would you'll be happy to know that oysters are an excellent source of zinc which helps with the thickness and strength of your hair. Which sucks for me because i've been trying to get thicker hair for years! However us oysteraphobes can relax as beef and lamb are an ample substitute. Sunday roasts here I come! 

Dairy:

You have yet to have been lucky enough to hear my dairy rant but I believe the only justification for cutting dairy from your life is lactose intolerance. Every article was in unison about the importance of calcium and caesium for healthy hair growth. And your best source of these being dairy. I know a lot of people have issues with dairy but, just have a little bit of cheese, milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt whatever a day. Low fat really won't hurt and your hair will thank you for it!

Carrots:

Last but not least we have carrots. Not a fan of your green veg? These orange vegetables are packed with vitamin A for a healthy scalp. And a happy scalp means shiny well conditioned hair. Plus they help you see your gorgeous hair in the dark and one of your five a day for a healthy digestive system. Three for the price of one!

That pretty much sums it up. You may struggle to fit everything into your daily diet but I think that as long as your getting some form of each vitamin in your system a day and through a variety of different  sources every week, then providing your externally kind to your hair you should see healthier results very soon!

Love and peace, Wings ox

Pinch punch second day of the month...

Hey Guys...

Did you know the second day of the month is the new first!?

Okay, maybe not but if you read below i've been a wee bit busy but still wanted to blog this post as i'm rather excited it's November!!! So I wanted to pay a little tribute to November and the five things i'm looking forward to this month! Plus hopefully upping the tempo of my blog, its was a little bit doom and gloom last month -sorry! xx

Remember, remember the 5th of November

This month I am very excited to see the 4th edition to the Twilight saga.

Snow's forecasted for end of the month! Can be a pain but it so pretty!!

It's getting rather chilly on the willy! Time to start wrapping up in cosy clothes and hibernate in your uggs.

Sorry! But for me, the countdown to christmas has begun!!

It's no use crying over spilt milk :(

Hey Guys got a bit of a hypocritical rant here but i'll try to keep it as short and as sweet as possible. As you clever people have guessed it all about not crying, over spilt milk.

Basically my inspiration for this blog was two things that happened today. Basically I had a BMAT exam.  And being super clever I decided not to do all that much revision. Classic scenario and not the first time i've done this either!!!

So I sat the exam today and I nearly had to call the invigilator over to check they hadn't given it to me in Spanish. So general assumption- it didn't go well... But at the end of the day yes, I should have done more revision but beating myself up about it will not magically change my result in two weeks time. Okay, you're bound to be upset but lets not let everything else around you suffer as a consequence. Most importantly, learn from it!! I've gone through what I feel has been a horrible last couple of weeks and if there is any positive from it, it is that I will not let another exam go the same way because I don't want to be this stressed ever again! And this can be applied to any situation.

 Granted in the grand scheme of life this whole shenanigan isn't going to affect my life all that much; so obviously, in other more serious situations you will have more of a right to be upset, and of course be upset. I love a little cry sometimes, makes me feel better. But you can't let your whole life waste away because of one thing. Keep up with the rest of your life so it doesn't crumble with you and try to do something positive from a bad situation. This can be hard, but it really is the only way.

And the big thing that made me realise this. Was something really bad happened to a good person today. It's personal and I won't go into details but this is genuinely bad and horrible situation that it makes my exam today not one bit significant. This event has brought sadness to a lot of people and so it just goes to show that there really is more to life than a test, breaking up with a boyfriend or losing your favourite bracelet. Be upset, learn to be more careful but realise its not the end of the world and there is so much more to life than that. 

So in the nicest way, cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. So long as its a nice strong and happy one (see below). You can't ignore problems so do get upset but you have to deal with it too. The time you're upset for depends on the severity of the situation but know, things will get better. And if it really is something small don't be sad for too long.

Remember:

In every cloud, there is a silver lining....

Chin up, keep smiling 

Love and Peace 

Wings ox

P.S if any of you need to talk, drop me an email and we'll have a natter!

- totally anonymously if you like. 

Exceeding the feed limit

Don't know who I love more bridget Jones or Ben and Jerry's?

Hellooo beauties!

Today you lucky, lucky people are getting two diet principles! 

So here we go the first principle is:

 to only eat when you are hungry

but you have to apply this using the second principle: 

have between 3-5 meals a day

You're body is amazing at letting you know what's going on. If every day of your life you've eaten 6 bags of crisps you're body is going to expect this and when you don't give it to yourself you're body will think somethings up and let you know, so you start craving crisps. But this is a craving. You're not actually hungry and you don't need anymore food. Next time you're having a mini argument about whether you need that chocolate bar ask yourself is it your brain or your belly doing the talking? If you're belly isn't rumbling then your body is essentially telling you, you don't need anymore food.

BUT

Baring in mind what i've just told you, you must not skip meals. Diet experts AKA not me have actually started saying you should be having 5 meals a day! And with my schedule that just aint happening! But I think 3 is a pretty reasonable comprimise. Regardless whether your hungry or not you must must must eat your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not going to get into the nerdy reasons why but trust me you just must. You'll probably find that if you eat these meals then you're probably going to end up eating reasonably well and not feel so hungry and therefore, eat less sinful snacks in the day! 

So before, we even get into logistics of what you should and shouldn't be eating following just two basic rules you'll probably already be eating better!

Feels good to get that off my chest.

Happy dieting!

Wings xox

Exceeding the Feed limit...

Not going to rant but heres a great example how the media's messing with people's minds...

 Bridget Jones once said 

"my legs only come up to here and yes, I will always be a little bit fat." 

Now, that's a women we should look up to. 

Thing is i'm no better than anyone else, when I was depressed I constantly compared my body  to other girls when really all I needed to do was stop trying to be them and try a little harder to be myself. 

It's actually much easier. 

Diets invented by some schmuck a million miles round the world from you are tailored to their lives and their way of thinking so why on earth they think they are going to work on anybody else is a mystery to me. I'm not a great meat eater, so i'm definitely going to manage to quit all my eating habits consuming  large amounts of something I don't really like a shed ten pounds at the same time

(no offence Mr Atkinson man)

 Anyhow what i'm trying to say is fad diets don't work.

My inner nerd tells me to think of everyones body like an equation;

optimum diet + optimum fitness = optimum health.

And this is what diets should really be about, how healthy you are. So naturally, i've decided to go on a diet to improve my health. In order to do this i'm going to create a set of principles which I will explain and evaluate in a series of blogposts which you can personalise for yourself. Forget calorie counting and emotional goodbyes with the food you love, this is about reading your bodies signals and getting healthy the way it wants you to. 

So, first principle to learn:

Health is defined as ones general physical, social and psychological wellbeing.

Stop thinking about what you're eating and start thinking what its doing to your body. You may believe that being paper thin is what will make you happy but actually its how your lifestyle affects your psychological health that is responsible.  

Ps. I'm not having a go at towie (i'm an essex gal myself)

Hey!

Just a quick hello from me and my good friend ed.....

Okay, so maybe my relationship with ed is a little bit more like a major obsession. Bit like rupert in ed's new video which is amaaaaazing! Open a new tap and watch now please. When you get back to my blog i'll get a bit more to the point. I was pretty much just dropping in to say hi.. I've done the little emotional "why i've started blogging post" (see below) and just want to get cracking now. My site decor, title, style etc is still very much a work in progress but I have a few ideas of what my blogging routine is going to be and hopefully when I start, with the help of all you beautiful people it should just all fall into place. Just a bit slow on the uptake because I have such a large dose of verbal diarrhoea its hard to know what to blog first. Thankfully its finally half term and I may go on a bit of a blogathon, boring you with lots and lots of pointless info..yAAAAAY. No, but hopefully some rambles will be of use, so comment and let me know if there is a feature you really like and then it can become a regular occurrence. I will be uploading another post today with an actual theme and point so keep your eye out for the slice of delight. I will just say that my blog is going to be a real higgildy piggildy blog. So not everything I blog about will be of interest to you but I hope that all the topics that will feature in my blog will fall into a regular pattern so, if you like one particular feature you could just check out my blog on the particular day I upload a post with that theme and ignore the rest!

Okay well at the end of that ramble I probably didn't say all that much

BUT none the less I hope to see you soon..

peace out, wings xox