The business community of Bristol really is a small place! It’s surprising how many connections pop up.
I met Laetitia Tempelman at a Business Blogging workshop I ran a couple of years back and we’ve stayed in touch since. Laetitia not only blogs great tips and advice for mums, but she also blogs for different websites on wellbeing.
She contacted me after writing an article on Claire Stone. Claire’s a nutritionist with a twist, and as I know her too, I was very happy to showcase Laetitia’s article and Claire’s business!
When you work for yourself, often you spend so much of your time thinking about how you can help others, you forget to look after yourself!
Many of us dread the day we have to ‘call in sick’ because when you work for yourself, that means not getting paid. But, as we all know, prevention is better than cure. In this great guest post, Claire offers some top tips to make you feel better, more productive and more creative.
Top Food Tips to Make You Feel Better, More Productive and More Creative
Claire Stone is not a food dictator. She just wants people to enjoy the food they love and get more from it. “In our society we seem to be losing the joy of eating food, I’m determined to help people develop a better relationship with food.”
Claire, winner of a NatWest Entrepreneurial Spark award, is a successful Bristol-based nutritionist. Here are her top easy tips to make you eat better and feel better, which in turn will make you feel more productive, more creative and more engaged.
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Have fat and protein for breakfast
“Start the day with a good breakfast and the rest of the day tends to go smoothly. Have something based around eggs , not just a bowl of cereal. It keeps you going until lunchtime because your blood sugar levels are balanced, due to the fat and protein and relatively low sugar contents. No time in the morning? Then swap the semi-skimmed milk you put on your cereal to full-fat milk and throw in a handful of seeds for a quick breakfast which will keep your blood sugar levels more stable.”
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Drink water at the right times of the day
“Many of us are aware that we should drink more water. But how much is enough? I believe that when you drink water is more important than exactly how much. Have a drink of water when you first wake up because you have spent many hours not taking on any liquid. Avoid having liquids with a meal, particularly if you suffer from IBS, as they can dilute your digestive juices, which can make your body less efficient at processing the food you’re eating. Having said that, if it’s a Friday night and you’re out for a meal, don’t feel guilty about having a glass of wine with it!”
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It’s not what you eat but how you eat it
“You might be eating something really healthy like a salad, but if you’re eating it in a mad rush it’s not going to be quite the superfood meal that you had hoped for, because your body isn’t in a relaxed state and you’ll not be able to digest it properly.
Even if you don’t have time to sit down and eat, you can always try and think ‘I’m looking forward to this sandwich I’m going to have’. Then your body can start preparing itself to digest your food by producing acid and digestive enzymes to process the food. This way your body can extract something good from the food that you’re eating.”
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Do not go on a diet in January
“Dieting tends to consist of eating lots of salads and low calorie food. But in our climate you need those calories in the winter to keep you warm, and your body will burn that fuel. If you’re not keeping warm then your body is going to crave high-energy foods like sugar. “
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Make your goals achievable
“I like to help people eat just a little bit better, so wherever you currently are on the ‘healthy eating’ scale, by making just one or two small changes we can all go up to the next level. That way it’s not scary or overwhelming. Have an achievable goal, such as ‘I’m going to drink a glass of water every morning when I wake up’, which is a good goal and can make a really big difference. Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t quite manage a change. There are so many other things going on in our lives that sometimes we just can’t manage it all and that is okay.”
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Don’t stick to the rules all the time
“Many rules we make for ourselves are just unattainable, such as saying ‘I’m never going to eat sugar again’. I prefer to say ‘as a general rule’, so for example ‘as a general rule, I don’t eat sugar during the week’. It gives you a good guideline but it doesn’t make you feel bad if for whatever reason you need to make changes. So you can go and have that piece of birthday cake on a Wednesday and not feel bad because you’ve broken your rule.”
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Cherish the chocolate
“I love chocolate. And as long as it’s good quality chocolate made out of real cocoa or cacao there’s actually some good stuff in there for you. Good quality chocolate is high in magnesium, an important mineral which our body needs for our muscles to relax, and we don’t relax enough in our busy lives. “
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Ditch the guilt and enjoy that occasional piece of cake
“I firmly believe we were given taste buds for a reason, to enjoy our food. In our society we’re losing the sense that food is a wonderful, joyous thing. It’s become something we punish ourselves with or we fight against and that’s really sad. When eating a piece of cake for example, many people don’t enjoy it as the feeling of guilt overrides the feeling of enjoyment. I say, if you’re going to have a cake, you might as well enjoy it.”
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Not eating ‘clean’ doesn’t mean you’re eating ‘dirty’
“The concepts of clean eating are good, but what I struggle with is the label that’s been put on it. For many people the idea of clean eating is associated with the opposite; ‘does that mean if I don’t eat clean I eat dirty and badly’? This isn’t the case, it’s just the label that’s been put on it that’s making you think and feel that way.”
Claire Stone is Founder and Nutritionist at Claire Stone Nutrition.
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