Fertility foods

I have been reading many pages of how to boost fertility naturally and about the foods that are suppose to be so called "fertility foods" Here is few of them I found from one of the web pages,

Linseeds -  they contain phyto oestregens which help balance oestrogen levels in our body.  Nowadays because of xenoestrogens in plastics and pesticides the oestrogen levels in our food and water are much higher plus years of taking contraceptive pills our oestrogen levels can be out of balance making it harder to conceive.  Try adding a dessert spoon full of ground linseeds to your breakfast or lunch each day.

Pumpkin seeds - Zinc is an essential nutrient in fertility for both men and women.  A deficiency can effect chromosomes and reduce fertility.  It improves the sperm health and count.  Zinc is also found in seafood such as prawns.

Salmon - Essential fats or EFAs are essential for hormonal balance and sperm health.  EFAs are also found in nuts, seeds and other oily fish.  Ensure you have these in your diet everyday.  You may know them as Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats.

Red Peppers - Antioxidants found in most red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables provide a protective action on toxins in our body called free radicals that can damage cells and cause infertility and birth defects.  They are also found in avocados and brazil nuts.

Brown rice - Fibre is not just important for preventing constipation but is also important in balancing hormones.  Fibre found in grains and vegetables helps reduce excess oestrogen levels in the body by pulling them out with your stools and preventing them being reabsorbed into the body.

Of course there is many other ones too and many ways to increase fertility natural way. I guess the basic principle is to avoid anything unhealthy and try to eat organic food. It is really interesting to learn more about this and I will try to make more of these types of posts in the future.

There is also many good books about this topic, one of them I just purchased on kindle is Naturally knocked up by Donielle Baker. On her weg pages she shares free downloads and recipes and for subscribers for example a fertility food list and a sugar detox challenge book. I have to definitely read that!

Today I have been drinking my green smoothies maybe too much. This morning I had one with   ,spinach, grapefruit, mixed berries, maca, banana. After Body Pump class, for dinner I had one with green salad, spinach, orange, cranberries, apple and half a banana. The other half of the banana went on the top of my peanut butter on gluten free toast that I also had for my dinner :)

Morning drink with green tea and lemon. 

Dinner drink with pb toast and banana on the top. The colour of my drink is not very appetising but it tasted ok.

Digesting Ombar Superfood Chocolate

How to get through an intensive digestive system study...the answer is ombar superfood chocolate!

Their chocolate uses unroasted (raw) fine quality organic Ecuadorian cocoa. The roasting process in normal chocolate destroys heat-sensitive polyphenois. It's also made of low-glycemic organic coconut sugar - wont spike blood sugar levels as unrefined nutritionally complex. Berries in the chocolate I had, acai & blueberry, have been dried at low temperatures and then powdered. They even add probiotics to some of their bars to help look after our tums!




And those probiotics and other digestive things is what I have been learning about this weekend, a quite deep review of how the human digestive system works and how big part the gut has on our immune system and other things. On the other hand the more you know, the more paranoid and suspicious you become of what you can eat and the affect of the food you put in your mouth has.

I came to a couple of conclusions and I am going to to try a gluten free diet for four weeks and see if it has any affect to me.It's crazy that humans were not designed to digest gluten. First though I need to do a little bit more study about a gluten free diet and find some recipes and start planning my lunches in advance.

I also need to make my fasting plan if I am going to do it.

And what I was also thinking of doing is to book an appointment to see a nutritional therapist. Unexplained infertility could be cured by changing my diet and taking supplements, maybe I am lacking something important that I just don't know.

On Wednesday I am going to have a fitness test and fitness plan that I can follow at the gym. My plan is to go to the gym maybe 2-3 times a week, go for run once a week and hot yoga once a week. That way I won't get bored too soon and it makes it easier to follow the plan.

After I got home from school, I went to get some gluten free bread.  For dinner I had baked beans on (gluten free) toast with salad. And a spoonful of peanut butter...

P.s I actually had two bars of chocolate, other one was cranberry & mandarin :)

Running around in London

Always when I am in London I feel like I need to run around like a headless chicken. I just can't walk slowly, not to mention stand on the escalators! I have to run on them too, up and down, take couple of running steps to catch the tube even though the next one is coming in two minutes.

This morning I was rushing to school, the College of Naturopathic Medicine, where I am studying to become a Nutritional Therapist. My course will take 3 years in total. It has been really interesting so far and I am enjoying it. This must be my first time I actually like what I am studying and also the first time I am studying something that I am interested in! What could be more interesting and useful than knowing how your body works, how to keep it healthy, how to prevent illnesses and how I can improve not only my health but also my family's health and well being.

Funny enough I have learned about stress and how it can harm you. I guess I have to take my London rush as being my daily exercise ;)

Once again I had lunch in Planet Organic. They have delicious lunches, soups, stir fry and lots of other fresh cooked food. They also have other organic products like foods and beauty things and cosmetics.

I also had some snacks and green tea with peppermint.

I loved how quite and empty Oxford Street is before the shops open and how crazy it gets in the evenings, especially now that sale is on! I didn't have time to stay shopping as I wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Back to London tomorrow! 

Could I be so lucky?

The idea of starting to write a blog occurred to me after I'd read so many healthy living blogs. There is one special blog, Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish. This blog has been such an inspiration to me, and definitely have to read Laura's post daily!

Today she has launched Get Fit, Feel Epic competition Its like she knew my fitness plan! She's giving away a FitBit Activity tracker and a set of mini scales from MoneySuperMarket! Could I be so lucky?

FitBit Activity tracker is something that I would really need and it would be super useful tracking my progress to a healthier and fitter life! Fingers crossed!

This morning I had my green smoothie with blueberries, and hmmmm it was good!

• Kale
• Blueberries
• Banana
• Greipfuit
• Almond Milk
• Water
• Stevia
• Maca Powder

For lunch I had The Food Doctor couscous & lentil wholesome pot

And for dinner I made Salmon with mashed sweet potato and broccoli. Salad on the side with cucumber, olives and lentil bean shoots!

I got couple of gift cards from Santa so I did some shopping at lunch break, I got my self this jacket and a bag from Next. I been looking for a long time for a jacket like this and finally I found one that fits  perfectly! And the bag, love it, its so big that I can finally fit everything and I can use it for my school stuff too. 

Lemon Ginger Tea and healthy shopping

This morning I started my day with a green smoothie again, using the same ingredients as I've done all week and I think is getting just a little bit boring by now, I need to make up a new mix and tomorrow morning I will blend in some berries. Frozen berries are much cheaper option than their fresh friends and they last for long time in the freezer, also they will make the smoothie icy.

I did some healthy grocery shopping today, berries, organic products, lots of fruits and nked raw bars, yummy. I bought some Lemon Ginger Tea because I feel like I have a cold coming and that tea usually helps and makes me feel better. Also got my favourite, Sweet Chai tea...

I used to have a couple of cups coffee every morning but I have been without coffee almost two months now. I decided to stop drinking it for two reason, firstly I started getting this awkward feeling when my heart was beating so fast it felt like it was coming out of my chest and that, if something felt really uncomfortable and secondly not drinking coffee is suppose to increase my fertility. I still drink black tea which has caffeine and tannin, but not as much as in coffee. Also I have started to enjoy herbal teas and especially green tea with lemon.

I really hope this cold doesn't get any worse as I have the exam coming and fitness test next week. 

Cant wait to get back to my normal exercise routine! 

Almost first fast day and Tofu stir fry

I wasn't sure this morning if I am going to do my first fast day today and only eat around 500 cal. I had a green smoothie for breakfast which had banana in it with kale, spinach, lemon, nectarine and maka powder.

Then for lunch I had a little porridge, little because it boiled over in the microwave and there wasn't much left to eat on the plate. Then I got "sushi" from Marks and Spencer, 175 cal. After I got back home from work I made myself a spicy carrot, tomato, lentil soup. Not much lentil in it, mostly carrots mashed in the blender (after boiling of course)  and then mixed with canned tomato and boiled lentils and lots of chilli and black pepper.I had my soup with couple slices of toast...

So I believe I have eaten more than 500 cal today but still really lightly. I wasn't even craving for anything else, I only ate because I was hungry.

I have to say I already feel much better than couple days ago after heavy festive eating and drinking.

Also I think I leave the proper fast days until next week, as I really need to study for the Biomedicine exam that is on this weekend.

Last night I found out that I am still not pregnant, so I made some comfort food - Tofu Stir Fry.

This is how I made it

First cut the tofu in pieces and boil it for couple of minutes. Then stir fry the vegetables and mi
x soy sauce, black pepper, sugar, chilli and put the boiled tofus on the top and mix gently with vegs.  Tofu doesn't need much frying. Serve with brown rice.

Enjoy! 

Happy New Year 2013

This morning must be an international hungover-day but not here. I did not have a one single drink last night and in fact I was in the bed before 12 o'clock. Last night I was thinking my NY resolutions and I would like add couple more, to keep up this blog for a year at least and be better with my nutritional therapist studying. This is only my first year and I have two more left...

I started my morning with green smoothie and green tea. 

I mixed together:
Kale
Spinach
Banana
Squeeze of lemon
Honey 
Maca-powder
Water







I have been reading all morning about this 5:2 fasting and was trying to find the BBC document Eat, Fast and Live longer where Michael Mosley who wants to live longer and healthier is trying out fasting.

I was planning to start this 5:2 fasting where 5 days a week I can eat normally, about 1800 cal per day and 2 days a week only 500 cal. Luckily, there is many recipes online for really light meals that I could eat on fast days. 

I am a bit against all these dieting things but this fasting is suppose to be good kick start for my weight loss, I only need to lose about 5kg and I really feel like my body needs a rest of all the crap I have been eating lately. This is going to be great cleanse for my body with Hot Yoga (yes, Hot Yoga) which I am planning to start again. I am also getting fitness program done at my gym and doing a fitness test. I had my blood pressure taken already and it was close to perfect 122/78. 

Next thing is just to decide what days will be fast days and what days normal eating days. And how long I am going to do this, probably about a month or two max.