Today I had a Health Scare

by | Jul 20, 2018 | Healthy Living

Today was a day I won’t forget!

Today I was sent to the specialist with the suspicion that I might have a thrombosis in my leg. A number of growing symptoms over the last days and weeks had led to me visiting my general doctor and there I was, after the doctor’s visit, full of fear, a recipe for blood thinners in my pocket, so that there was no risk of me ‘dying over the weekend’, before this could be checked by the specialist!

Luckily I got an appointment for the same day with the specialist. I cannot tell you the fear and worry I was in, on my way to his praxis and then in his waiting room! Well, I also don’t really take those sort of news very well, as you can gather…

Now I am so so relieved as the verdict was „no thrombosis“! Believe me, I could have kissed that doctor when he told me!

But this was a loud wake-up call for me!

In the last months, but maybe even year, I had slipped too frequently from my health-food-journey and from my resolution to move a lot more. I had gained weight as a consequence and don’t really feel as fit and healthy as I‘d like to. That stings especially when you are a health coach and want to walk your talk at all times!

Today’s scare has finally brought me back to my senses! My parents health was not too good and chances are high that genetically I carry that heritance. But genes are only what prepares the terrain, it is to a large extent lifestyle and nutrition that leads to harvesting from that terrain or from another, cleaner one. This means that with the right food and right habits we can not only free ourselves from migraines, pains and chronic diseases, but we can also lay the foundation for our overall health for now and the years to come. It means that we can live in peace with ourselves, knowing that we are doing our best. Not perfect, but the best we can.

Because to be honest: the worst part in today’s worry was the feeling of fear and guilt! Guilt for not having followed my own advice and for having overdone it with my 80/20% rule (eating healthy 80% of the time and enjoying whatever you want for the remaining 20%), letting it slip too often into a 50/50 thing or even worse. Well guilt is never good, but today it served me into cherishing again this one life and one body I got and to start afresh!

Time to realize that NOW is the time to enjoy life and live well.

NOW is the time to start again with supporting my body and my mind with healthy and preventive food, habits and behaviours.

Because this is what I help my clients with, so why should I treat myself worse? But between late nights at the computer, not moving much and eating sweets and bread when stressed, I did treat myself worse…

Admittedly this is a long story to also tell you, why I have been absent from here and why I am back with this blog post for you today.

It’s that I felt such a strong need to connect with you, as I don’t want anybody to go through health scares like the one that I had today! I also don’t want anybody to suffer from migraines and headaches or other chronic health issues. To this day I am still so grateful to have found a way to free myself from my migraine many years ago and it’s my passion to see others achieve the same and help them start on their path to health.

That’s why I want to invite you to talk with me if you have health issues that are troubling you and that you want to tackle. So that YOU can feel as fit and healthy as you want to!

My 1:1 services are available in English and Italian besides German and I am here to support you in any of those languages. If you are ready to take action (and why wait any longer?) simply reserve a free 30-minutes slot to discuss how I can help you. Just click here.

To your health! So that you can live your full potential and enjoy every day of your precious live!

Martina

How a Salad Dressing can give you Freedom

How a Salad Dressing can give you Freedom

by | Jul 8, 2017 | Healthy Living, Recipes

Salad or sandwich? Which do you grab when you are hungry?

Do you often find yourself deciding against the salad because not only do you have to wash and prep the salad ingredients, but you also have to make the dressing and it’s that last bit that then seems to make the whole process too burdensome? And a sandwich is so much easier, right? Just grab and go!

I have been in that situation countless times, but then found a way to move beyond this and it’s been the best discovery and one that to this day still makes me happy every time.

It’s such a simple and small thing, but it makes a hell of a difference. It actually gives me freedom! Yes, I said it. Salad Dressing gives me freedom! Now let me explain that one, otherwise you might thing I am completely mad… 🙂

So… Salad Dressing. The big difference in your kitchen!

A salad dressing in a little screw top bottle, ready to be poured over a bowl with lettuce or cucumber or grated carrots and so much more. A healthy salad dressing, home made, free from any strange ingredients, just the basic stuff, just those few ingredients and voila’! Dinner or lunch or snack is served!

I absolutely love it. It has allowed me the freedom to make the healthier choice because it’s an easy choice, quick to prepare. That’s what I need, simple food, natural, quick to make, no fuss. Especially at lunch time I often ignore any signs that my body needs to be fed and continue to work until I get really strong hunger pangs and then I need food NOW!

Do you recognize this maybe?

In that situation I don’t have any patience to spend time with lengthy preparations and I would grab the first thing coming into sight, so it’s really important that the first thing coming into sight is something nutritious or reminding me of a nutritious option. Hence the bottle with salad dressing sitting on my counter, in full sight, always ready.

I thought I share this with you, as sometimes it’s those simple things that can turn our situation around. And it took me a long while before I realized that I could make this dressing in advance…

Best of course are those days when I have some prepped lettuce in my fridge as well, so I don’t even have to waste time to wash my produce. Those days are still rare occasions, since menu planning in advance is not my strong side. But every time I am so impressed by the added ease to meal preparation that I swear to do this more in the future from then onwards… hmm, I think I will get there one day. Sometimes a good thing needs time, right?

So, let’s finally get to that dressing then, shall we? Better get it out of the way how easy it is and actually not a big thing!

It’s a very simple dressing, I have been making for years and I have never tired from it!

And I never actually measured this, just went by approximate amounts and by feeling and taste testing. I tried to make one and measure it for you, but please taste test as well, since we all have different preferences. And you can always spice it up when you make the salad by adding some pepper or fresh basil leaves or garlic or spring onions. This way you have a neutral base and can give it your own twist every time.

You can make a bigger batch in the blender, this is what I do most of the times now. I actually use empty and washed olive oil bottles as they help with pouring the dressing.
But you can also just put all ingredients in a glass bottle with a wide screw top neck and then shake vigorously until all the ingredients have amalgamated.
Make sure to shake the bottle every time before you use the dressing to help amalgamate the ingredients again and make the dressing silky smooth again.

So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • ½ cup organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar (use more if you like your dressing more tart)
  • 1-2 TBS mediumstrong mustard, less if very strong
  • 2-3 TBS organic Nama Shoyu (or Tamari, Coconut Aminos or other type of organic Soy Sauce)
  • 2 tsp (or to taste) herbal salt or himalayan salt / see salt
  • 2 TBS honey or maple syrup or a few drops of stevia if you want to keep the glycemic index down

Easy, right?

Play around with the proportions and adjust to your liking. Once you have found your perfect basic salad dressing you are all set for quick healthy meals and the freedom of going for the healthy choice!

If you want to see the ingredients I usually use, you can watch me running through them in this video.

I hope you feel inspired to give this a go and if you do, let me know how you liked it or how you adapted it to your taste! I am always eager to see what you come up with!

Stay well!
Martina

If you feel like finally tackling your migraines or chronic pains with professional support, then book a free 30 minutes health clarity call. That way we can find out if being helped by a Functional Health Coach would be the best support for you right now. I am looking forward to talk to you! 

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