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How French Women Stay Slim by Terry Ryan
How do French Women stay thinner than American women?
What you see on TV is a typical example of a French woman that primarily lives in Paris. Paris is the largest city in France and is the capital. It is a mere 40 square miles with a population around 2.5 million. What do French women do better than American women?
French women are taught at an early age good eating habits
French have better eating habits and are taught at an early age.They say that good eating habits that are taught between age 0-7 will stay with you for the rest of your life.Think of that the next time you serve your daughter a bowlful of sugary cereal In my house growing up, we never had a big bag of chips to munch on between meals, or soda in the refrigerator. Therefore, I never crave chips and soda.
They eat many more servings of fruits and vegetables per day
French women go grocery shopping every 2 to 3 days. Their vegetables and fruit are always fresh. Women shoot for 8 – 10 servings per day of FRESH veggies and fruit and never out of can. Local beef and poultry are at almost every meal but in small amounts.
They never eat processed foods
Everything is made from scratch at home. Most homes do not even have a microwave because there is no need to own one. They like to carefully and consciously prepare their meals.
When did gluttony become the norm?
Conscious eating
French people believe in taking in all the nuances of their food as they eat. They are careful about the quality of the food, the way it is presented, and make sure they have multiple colors on the plate. Time is taken to appreciate the essence, the aromas, and they concentrate on what they are tasting.
French women eat slowly
Each forkful is eating slowly and deliberately. What are they tasting? Is that a touch of nutmeg? French women eat slower than Americans. They believe that helps with digestion, and they fill up faster.
They never overeat
How many times do you eat until you can’t take another bite? French women stop eating before they feel stuffed! Since when did gluttony become popular? I know a lot of people who do not stop eating until—-they hate themselves. Leave a little on your plate.
French women do not snack
So snacking has become a sport in America. The snack food aisle is filled with unhealthy snacks. The whole notion of snacking between meals is not done in France. They eat 3 meals, lunch is the largest. They take time to eat at lunch, and usually will devote an hour to the meal. If a French woman is at work, she will go to a quiet space and eat the healthy meal she brought. They seldom eat out, preferring to eat the food they prepare themselves.
They do NOT drink wine everyday
Sorry to burst that bubble. They only drink wine on occasion no matter what the wine industry tries to tell you. Their preferred drink is water. They do start the day off with a cup of black coffee.
They avoid GMO’s
Anything that has GMO they will not touch. Monsanto is not doing well in France. Here in America we think to ourselves…hey, if the government says it’s okay, it must be, right? Nooooo. It’s all about $$$$$$. GMO’s are bad! Stick to pure, unadulterated foods. Go to your local organic farmer’s market.
They are however stressed out
Surprise! If you think that they are taking siestas in the afternoon, working 4 hour work days, and that is why they can linger on meals take the time to prepare. That is not true. They work 10 hour work days and have long commutes, Jobs are scarce and competitions for jobs intense. So, they are very stressed out. However, they value their health enough to take the time to eat quality food.
They walk everywhere
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While with the long work days, they do not have enough time to go to a gym, but they walk everywhere. They use stairs, (no escalators) and run to catch trains and subways. A French woman seldom takes a taxis as they are too expensive. Bikes are not used because the streets are so tight that there is no room to ride.
I can relate. As a suburbanite, I drive everywhere. However, the 2 years I lived on Michigan Ave in Chicago, I walked everywhere. It was easier to walk and cheaper than taking a taxi. We had a car that was parked in the basement in the building, and you had to plan ahead to request your car to be brought up to ground level by elevator, I kid you not. Plus, tipping the garage people was important. The less you tipped the longer it took to get your car. Yes, walking was easier.
Kitchens are not the center of the house
How many people in America watch TV within eyesight of the refrigerator? Many, right. With the open concept and family rooms actually a part of the kitchen, food is always front and center. In France, the kitchens are located away from the living rooms. . In America it is so easy to look over and open the pantry to see what snacks are in there. French women don’t have junk food in the kitchen to tempt them. Maybe if architects start designing homes where the kitchen is not the main event, there would less temptation to eat.
They DON’T eat a lot of sweets
I know, I know. Every time you see a tourism commercial for Paris there is a delicious looking bakery with loads of pastries. Or candy counters with OMG yummy handmade chocolates. Be still my heart. Yet another bubble to burst here. French women do not eat a lot of sweets. No, they are smarter than that. I know, you thought they had a free-pass on sweets just because they are French. Sorry, that is not how it is. Those pastries must only be for the tourists.
They eat on a table
How many times of you come home from a hard day of work…an exhausting day of work…when you nuke a frozen food in the microwave and sit down in on the couch to watch the TV. No…NO! Take some time to unwind,and turn off the TV; grill a little chicken, salad on the side, and sit down at a table where you slowly savor your delicious meal. French women will not give up their peaceful and slowly eaten meals. It’s a must. Put yourself and your family first. As I was writing this blog, my hubby was discussing a stressful subject with me, and I stopped him as my stomach started to knot up. I said. “Can we discuss this later?”
If you and your family are too busy with a hectic schedule, you are too busy. Take off some items on the schedule. Place food shopping, preparing, and dining a priority. Have your children participate in this. They need to learn the basics of choosing healthy foods, how to prepare a meal, and proper dining conversation. Turn off the TV and phones.
They eat small portions
French women and men eat small portions. You will not see large plates overloaded with food as if it was Thanksgiving Day. It is all about quality and not quantity.
They love their homemade vegetable soup
That’s a fact. They like to eat homemade vegetable soup. They will eat it everyday. With lunch being the largest meal, dinner is a bowl of vegetable soup with some homemade bread. Yes, they eat bread but it is not like American bread. Less chemicals and GMO in France.
Summary
- Don’t eat processed foods
- Savor what you are eating
- Eat at a table
- Stay out of the kitchen
- Don’t eat until you are stuffed
- Smell, look, taste
- Stay away from GMOs
- Limit alcohol and sweets
- Teach your children healthy eating habits
- Small portions
Remember, you deserve the best!
Thank you for reading,
Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan
Researcher, blogger, pickleball addict, owned by 2 chihuahuas, hero in my husband’s eyes.
You Are Not Crazy…It’s Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis by Terry Ryan
I have Hashimoto’s thyroditis
Been there and will always be there. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It is an autoimmune disease. Plain and simple. AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE! An autoimmune disease is a syndrome where the body senses an invader and goes on immune attack. In my case, it attacked my thyroid. My autoimmune disease is named after the doctor who discovered the disease. Hashimoto’s is diagnosed by a high TSH (thyroid thyroid-stimulating) lab test and high TPO, thyroid peroxidase . Hence, I am hypothyroid. My thyroid is not producing enough of the thyroid hormone, T4. When that happened, I felt extremely fatigued, suffered with hair loss, aches and pains, DEPRESSION, just to name a few. And what do your doctors, friends and family think after your complaints about symptoms month after month and year after year? That you are crazy. You are not crazy…it’s Hashimoto’s!
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It takes years to develop
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis disease. This happened slowly. My symptoms started showing up one by one. First, I noticed my energy reducing, I started dragging myself through the day. I went to the doctor. He ran lab tests, but everything looked “fine” including my TSH. If it is high…usually over 3, it means you are hypothyroid. The TSH lab test is the standard test that endocrinologists use to determine if you are either hyperthyroid (too much thyroid hormone) or hypothyroid (not enough thyroid). Sort of goes against reasoning. If you have a high TSH reading, this means you are HYPO (I have been as high as), and if you have a zero reading, it means you have too much thyroid hormone and you are HYPER. Why is this?
How it works
The pituitary gland itself is regulated by another gland, known as the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is part of the brain and produces TSH Releasing Hormone (TRH) which tells the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid gland (release TSH). The pituitary gland located in the back of your head regulates when the body needs thyroid hormone. When it needs more, it sends a message out to the thyroid that it needs more hormone. When this happens, your TSH goes up, When there is too much hormone, it will do the opposite. By the way, in the beginning I swung back and forth between hyper to hypo. I miss the hyperthyroid times when I had more energy and could lose weight easily. This happens as my thyroid gland was sputtering to a dead stop at producing hormones.
What happened next to me? I said this happened slowly; my decline in health did not happen overnight. It wasn’t one day I woke up and I had all the Hashimoto’s symptoms. No, it crept up on me like a monster stealing my life force. Horrible and insidious.
I lost count of the doctor visits where I plead my case of I DON’T FEEL WELL, only to be dismissed as, I would guess. a hypochondriac, or a overworked and stress out middle-aged woman.
As the days, months and years went on, I felt worse and worse until I was not able to do normal activities, and I even became antisocial. Sound familiar? You are not crazy…it’s Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
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Here are some symptoms associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis:
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Weight gain
- Extreme fatigue
- Dry skin
- Headaches
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches and pains
- Temperature sensitivity
- Hair loss
The lost years…
I suffered for many years. I call them the lost years. No doctors helped me. They didn’t have the knowledge or if they couldn’t throw a pill at it, they didn’t know how to treat me. By the time I was diagnosed, my thyroid was a shriveled up gland with nodules. No worries, they weren’t cancerous. I have a ultrasound every year and they are getting smaller.
Yes, I will be on thyroid prescription for the rest of my life and I have tried them all. My greatest results are with the prescription Tirosint. It is expensive but I switched years ago when I learned that Synthroid used gluten as a filler, and I am anti-gluten. Gluten is a no-no if you have an autoimmune disease.
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The good news
The good news is that I no longer suffer with symptoms even though I still and always will have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I have figured out how to put my Hashimoto’s into remission. Some people call it that, but all I know is that I now have energy and no pain. How did I achieve that? By taking a lot of junk out of my diet. Clean living and eating. My entire life changed…and for the better.
Now I exercise for 3 hours per day, and then come home and run errands, clean house, make dinner, blog, write, read and all the things that go into a normal day. And I am so happy. So happy. I have my life back.
I have written one book on Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and it has a lot of medical information, and maybe too much medical mumbo jumbo. A lot of people have purchased it on Amazon, which surprises me because I do very little promoting. Right now, I am in the process of writing another book which will be available soon.
If you want to be on my mailing list, I send out healthful tips, recipes and updates on when my books will be available, you can sign up here.
I want you to know, that having a normal life is possible when you have Hashimoto’s. I am the proof.
Thanks for reading!
Terry Ryan, Health Blogger, Pickleball Competitor, Mom of 2 adorable chihuahuas, wife, good friend to many people, and Hashimoto’s recover-er.
Terry Ryan
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Hashimoto’s thyroiditits is a fancy name for an autoimmune disease that primarily attacks your thyroid. But while it is attacking your thyroid as if it was a foreign object in your body, it also causes a multitude of symptoms as in the following:
- Extreme fatigue
- Weight gain
- Hair Loss
- Dry skin
- Sensitivity to heat or cold
- Sore throat
- Headaches
- Aches and pains
Just to name a few.
When people ask me what having Hashimoto’s is like I tell them it is like having strep throat. It sucks!
What causes Hashimoto’s thyroiditis? No one knows for sure but fingers point at a toxic environment, genetics, viruses, or the cheap and chemical laden food we have been consuming for years.
My symptoms came on gradually. I became more tired year after year. I would describe it as being tired to the bone. My hair was falling out and it became harder to keep weight off. I went to my doctor for blood tests (all came out normal), and I exercised more, but I continued to become more ill.
As the years went on, a blood test finally presented a high TSH level. TSH means thyroid-stimulating hormone. Higher the level the more hypothyroid you are. You want to be between 0.1-3.5 (I was 45 when diagnosed) however that can differ from doctor to doctor.
A conventional doctor will not prescribe a hormone replacement drug like Synthroid until your TSH is high. Otherwise, they believe they will exacerbate the disease.
The dangers of too much hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is that it will cause heart damage. That’s the last thing a doctor wants to cause, therefore, they dispense HRT with trepidation and extreme caution.
Patients are desperate for relief from their symptoms and beg their doctors to do something. They are convinced if they either take a HRT or UP their current dosage, they will be well again. Sadly, this is not the case and many people do not feel any difference in their symptoms even with drug therapy. It is a mistake to count on your HRT as the miracle cure, because there is no miracle cure.
How to reduce your symptoms with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis?
- Take your thyroid prescription as prescribed and be tested every three months to make your levels are optimal.
- Eliminate gluten, sugar, dairy, soy, and fluoride from your diet.
- Take 5k of D3 per day. Make sure it is not a gel cap that has soy as a filler.
- Take selenium per day.
- Do mild exercise like yoga, tai chi, walking.
- Eat a lot of organic veggies and fruit per day.
- Get into juicing veggies and fruit to up your intake.
- Use coconut oil to moisturize your skin. Think of your skin as a giant sponge that soaks up anything you put on it so watch the scary chemicals.
- Get your hormones tested to see if you are imbalanced in female or male hormones.
- Write down everyday in a journal what you ate, exercised or did during the day and how you feel.
- Good grief….don’t smoke or drink alcohol.
- Get enough good quality sleep. Prepare for sleep at night. Have a routine where you wind-down for the night. Take a shower, read a little, or meditate just before bed. Keep your sheets fresh and your bedroom decluttered.
As you make these changes do not expect immediate results. It will take months of gradual improvements. You are master of your body and it is YOU who is in charge of getting yourself back to optimal health. It took me years to figure this out and I am back to feeling like my old self. You can feel good again, too.
Thank you for reading.
Terry Ryan, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patient
Here is suggested reading.
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis by Terry Ryan
Why Do I Still Have Hashimoto’s Symptoms When My Labs Are Normal by Dr. Datis Kharrazian
Lose 14 Pounds in 14 Days!
You would have to live under a rock if you haven’t heard about music’s new it man, Sam Smith. His famous song Stay With Me. won a Grammy. Sam has admitted that he has struggled with weight all his life and even posted a picture of himself as a chubby child.
Sam’s music career is on the top now but even with his success he was still bothered by his extra pounds. He decided to do something about it and consulted with Amelia Freer, the weight loss guru to the UK stars.
Sam said, “Three weeks ago I met a woman who has completely changed my life,” he wrote, before crediting his weight loss to Amelia Freer, Certified Nutritional Therapist and author of Eat. Nourish. Glow. “Amelia Freer has helped me lose over a stone in 2 weeks and has completely transformed my relationship with food.”
Sam Smith
Forget fad diets, now is the time to make a lasting change and develop a healthy, clean and sustainable relationship with food.
Being healthy is a way of life, but it doesn’t have to be about denying yourself. Amelia Freer loves food and encourages a positive and realistic approach to healthy eating. In her book, providing an introduction to her food philosophies for the first time, she offers simple changes to your diet and lifestyle to help you look and feel amazing.
Here are some of her basic principles :
- Skip process foods
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
- Leave the sugar in the sugar bowl
- Take small steps in diet changes so you don’t become overwhelmed.
Okay, we all have tried the new diet crazes and lost weight and then put it right back on once we fell off the wagon. This is more of a way of life for now on and not a fad diet.
Take a look at this video about what is in Amelia Freer refrigerator. CLICK HERE!
Here are some chapter titles from Eat, Nourish, Glow.
- The Kitchen Detox
- Grace Around Food
- Stop Snacking
- Be Consistent, Not Perfect
- Make Fat Your Friend and Sugar Your Enemy
- Why Healthy Food is Happy Food
- Are You Eating Instead of Drinking?
- Do You Need Supplements
- Movement
Eat more veggies!
Sam Smith posted on his Instagram account “It’s not about losing weight..it’s about being happy with yourself.”
Sounds like a good plan to follow and if you would like to purchase Amelia Freer’s book, you can click the link below.
CLICK HERE
Here are more books by Amelia Freer
Thanks for reading. To your health!
Terry Ryan
Do You Wake Up at 3:00 AM?
Do you wake up at 3am or some time in the wee hours of the morning when you are supposed to be SLEEPING? Ack! I know, right. It happened to me over and over again. I didn’t know why and neither did the few doctors I saw seeking a solution, but alas, it was as mysterious to them as it was to me.
Now that I am in researching health information for this blog, I stumbled upon the reason why I and millions of other people (I feel your “pain.”) were not sleeping through the night. Stress! Stress! Stress!
And what does stress do? It causes the adrenal glands to shoot off adrenaline for a burst of energy to run away from that lion that you just came upon in the jungle. Okay you don’t live in a jungle but your adrenal glands don’t know that, and your boss just assigned you another project while telling you he was going to reduce your pay. Stress! What happens is your heart rate increases, your blood pressure go through the roof, your pupils dilate and everything internally is on High Alert!
Okay, I can understand the surge of adrenaline during the day when stress is high but why in the early hours of the morning when you need sleep the most? It’s because your liver is regenerating and to do that it needs glycogen*, and you used up all your glycogen during the day from the adrenaline surges caused by stress. Your liver will look for adrenaline if it cannot find enough glucose so cue the adrenaline at 3:00am and, hello, you are wide awake. Mystery solved.
Have no fear for I have the solutions. First thing is please purchase my book available on Kindle here: The Insomnia Cure: How I Kicked Insomnia Out of My Bed! I go into detail and helpful tips on how to get a good night’s sleep. I was an insomniac for years.
Second: Here is the magic recipe for the Adrenal Cocktail that you drink before you to to sleep and it will help you sleep all night long.
Adrenal Cocktail Recipe
½ cup FRESH orange juice or FRESH lemon juice (organic is best)
½ teaspoon cream of tarter
½ teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic salt
Just mix all the ingredients and drink before bed.
How does this work? The juice replenishes the glucose your liver needs to regenerate, the cream of tartar (yes, cream of tarter) is high in potassium, an element that is essential for a good night’s sleep, and the Himalayan salt contains minerals that help feed your adrenal glands. Thousands of people say this works and I urge you to try and see if it helps you sleep through the night.
Before you ask:, here is a Q and A:
Does it have to be fresh juice?
Yes! Double yes!
Where can I find cream of tarter?
In your grocery store in the baking section.
Where can I find Himalayan or Celtic salt?
I bought my Himalayan salt at a health food store but you can order it here Click Here!
Can I add alcohol to the recipe?
No!
Should I consult my doctor before I drink this and ask him for his/her opinion?
By all means, please do.
What if I drink the cocktail and I still wake up?
I would give it at least a week before throwing in the towel and I would definitely read my book about Kicking Insomnia Out of My Bed! Click Here to Order.
Can I tell my friends about this?
Absolutely!
Should I tell my boss?
Not if he just lowered your salary. You don’t want him sleeping through the night.
Thanks for reading!
Terry Ryan
Terry Ryan, Health Blogger and Author
*Glucose is: Glucose (/ˈɡluːkoʊs/ or /-koʊz/; C6H12O6, also known as D-glucose, dextrose, or grape sugar) is a simple aldosic monosaccharide found in plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with fructose and galactose,[citation needed] that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. It is an important carbohydrate in biology, which is indicated by the fact that cells use it as a secondary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate. Glucose is one of the main products of photosynthesis and fuels for cellular respiration. Glucose exists in several different molecular structures, but all of these structures can be divided into two families of mirror-images (stereoisomers). Only one set of these isomers exists in nature, those derived from the particular chiral form of glucose that is denoted D-glucose, or D-glucose. (Source: Wikipedia)
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