Gillian McKeith's Food Bible (54 page)

Change your snack mind-set. Stop thinking of quick snacks such as sugary granola bars, cookies, chocolates, chips, and other nasties. Start associating fast, on-the-run snacks with easy, healthy alternatives like your favorite fruits, freshly squeezed juices, nuts and seeds, or carrot sticks and sugar snap peas.

Don’t shop when you’re hungry. You’ll end up buying all kinds of things you know you don’t need.

Cook in the raw. I always advise my clients to include raw foods in the same meal when they prepare cooked foods. This is because raw foods contain food enzymes that are essential for optimum digestion and general well-being.

Keep moving. Walking to the shops, mowing the lawn, and taking the stairs at work all count and keep you moving throughout the day.

Drink warm water in the morning. A warm cup of water first thing in the morning (and even better with a squeeze of lemon) goes right through the bowels and cleans out mucus. Drink another cup of warm water in the evening, too.

Break the fast. Always eat something healthy and substantial for breakfast. This is the time period when your stomach energies are at their strongest, and your digestive enzyme juices are rearing to go. You will gradually weaken your stomach and digestive function if you skip breakfast. No matter how little it is, eat something decent. Fresh fruit, oatmeal, millet, or quinoa porridge are all good morning choices.

Eat when calm. You physically can’t digest food properly if you are upset or have just had an argument.

Nimble at night. Eat your last meal of the day at least a couple of hours before bedtime and a snack later if you need it. When you eat too late, you stress and wear out your body. You cannot digest a late meal effectively if you go to sleep on a full stomach. It’s bad for your digestive organs, heart, and liver, not to mention your libido! A light snack is OK.

Early to bed. The earlier you get to bed, the better you will feel. The liver and gallbladder conduct their detox work generally between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Being tired slows your metabolism and can affect your food choices, making you go for high-calorie, fatty foods for a fast, brief energy burst.

Go to www.gillianmckeith.info for advice and support, especially the Club and Gillian’s Boot Camp.

Menopause

The average age women experience menopause is 50. But, like puberty, it’s not an overnight experience. The months and years leading up to menopause (perimenopause) and menopause itself (the very end of your menstrual cycle) last between five and ten years. During which time, the production of estrogen and progesterone by your ovaries gradually wanes.

The decline in hormone production and the associated symptoms can start as early as 40, although premature menopause occurs in only a small minority of women. Common symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, night sweats, depression, insomnia, headaches, mood swings, lack of energy, low libido in a few, and weight gain that feels harder and harder to shift. Osteoporosis (page
337
) and heart disease (page
281
) can also increase, as the protective effects of female hormones lessen. But notice I said all these symptoms can occur—I didn’t say they will, so don’t go looking for them. Menopause is portrayed as such a negative time for women when often it can be a liberating, joyous, sensual time, too. And even if you do experience some of these symptoms, there’s plenty of advice I can give you on how to minimize and even eliminate them.

Raging hormones

You may have heard reports that women reach their sexual peak later in life than men. Well, it’s all true. By your late thirties or early forties you’re likely to experience an increase (sometimes quite intense) in libido. This is due to fluctuating hormone levels and changes in your menstrual cycle. In the buildup to menopause, production of the sex hormones—testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone—can become unpredictable. This affects different women in different ways, but it will most probably have some effect on your sex life.

Now, as estrogen production falls, this triggers your brain to release higher quantities of other hormones in an attempt
to make your ovaries work harder. Nonetheless, the number and quality of the eggs released from your ovaries inevitably falls and your fertility decreases.