Reboot Introduction



NUTRITION PREPARATION

The following tips should help you feel your best during the week no matter what point you are at with your diet.

Caffeine

Tea, green tea, coffee, coca cola and chocolate all contain the stimulant caffeine. For some people it’s a lifeline that helps them get through the day and for others just a pleasant habit. Either way it’s good to give your adrenal glands a rest from the stimulation that caffeine provides. As REBOOT is a largely caffeine free zone, it’s a good idea to wean yourself as much as you can before you arrive to avoid having withdrawal headaches.

Start by swapping any drinks after lunch to caffeine free for a week and then also swap as many of your morning drinks to caffeine free. Make sure that you don’t switch to squash or sugary drinks as these will just create a different problem to deal with. Stay hydrated while you wean yourself off caffeine to avoid headaches – but don’t drink litres of water, follow your thirst.

Caffeine free alternatives:

• Rooibos or Redbush. Drink black or with milk or lemon – Earl Grey and Chai Rooibos are delicious.

• Pukka teas. Herbal teas with lovely spicy flavours and sweetened with a little liquorice root.

• Add hot water to any of the following for a really fresh tea: fresh mint leaves, fresh lemon slices, fresh ginger slices, lemon balm leaves, star anise pods, cardamom pods, orange peel.

• White Tea. This is like green tea, but because it’s made from the young buds of the tea plant, it has virtually no caffeine in it whilst still delivering all the bioflavanoids. Available with vanilla added (from Clipper).

• Dandelion Coffee. Made from dandelion root, this is nothing like coffee! It does have a nutty, slightly bitter flavour with caramel notes and acts as a tonic for liver and kidneys.

• Carob powder. An alternative to hot chocolate that is naturally sweet, caffeine free and high in both calcium and iron. Use like cocoa and add only as much sugar, maple syrup or honey to make it sweet enough for you. A drop of vanilla extract is good too. It has a nutty, fruity, slightly chocolatey flavour with no bitterness.

• White Coffee. A Lebanese after dinner drink made by adding a few drops of Orange Blossom Water to a cup of hot water. Obviously nothing like coffee what-so-ever! It is soothing and sedative – great as a night cap. You can also add a few drops of rose water to a cup of herb tea to give it a comforting fragrance that is said to lift the spirits.

• Sparkling Water. If you love fizzy drinks, try sparkling water with some lemon or lime squeezed in, a few crushed mint leaves or even a few berries muddled at the bottom of the glass.

• Vegetable juice. If you have a juicer, try making yourself vegetable juices - rather than fruit juices that can raise your blood sugar. You can add half to one piece of fruit to a glassful to sweeten it, but no more. Try beetroot, pear and celery, carrot and ginger, or cucumber mint and apple.

Refined Carbohydrates

At REBOOT the focus is on satisfying whole-foods that sustain energy and nourish the body. If you would like to start changing your diet positively before you come, the best thing that you can do is to swap convenience foods for home cooking and white versions for the brown, wholegrain kind. Here are some suggestions of changes you could easily make before you come.

• Swap white or granary bread for: rye bread, sourdough bread, wholemeal bread, spelt bread, pumpernickel, oatcakes.

• Swap sugary desserts for: fresh fruit with cream or Greek yogurt, home made custard and stewed fruit, cheese and oatcakes, salami, olives, salty nuts, a couple of dates or figs and a handful of raw nuts.

• Swap sugary chocolate bars for: dark chocolate – 70% or higher, dried fruit and nuts, a cup of hot chocolate made with cocoa, milk and maple syrup.

• Swap white pasta for: wholemeal pasta, wholemeal spelt pasta, buckwheat (soba) noodles, brown basmati rice, quinoa, wild rice.

• Swap sugary breakfast cereals for: sourdough toast, butter and peanut butter or eggs, porridge, with fruit and yogurt, eggs and ham with mushrooms, muesli, oatcakes with hummus and cherry tomatoes…

Just do what you can for now. The more you can improve your diet, the better the whole experience will be. If you only make one change this week eat more vegetables!

The nutrition sessions are fun and relaxed – they are your chance to learn as much as you can about eating well, enjoying your food and making it work with your lifestyle.

Don’t worry if you struggle to reduce caffeine or give up refined foods and sugary treats. Whatever place you are starting from is just fine and we’ll work to help you make the next step on your journey to health.

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