Marion Freijsen » Food

Fenugreek

Marion — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:18:44 +0000

I love the little things in life. The the beauty and simplicity of some things, the unexpected and the quirky. It’s always when you least expect it that something happens. And if you are open to it, you will catch it and learn from it even though you were not looking for it at that time.

This week I was standing in my favourite deli in the Bay Area, Colombo at Manor Drive, Pacifica, and got talking to the owner about cheese. Yes, cheese ... Read More

It is not WHAT you eat, it’s what your body does with it!

Marion — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:22:01 +0000

Last week I talked about the great misunderstanding even healthy people have about food. They think that just because they consume healthy foods, they must be healthy. Alas, if only it were that easy!!

I am one of those people, I hasten to add. Although ever since I can remember I have been conscious of what I ate ( I am lucky that I even as a child I always liked the healthy ... Read More

Correcting your behaviour – NOW

Marion — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:22:02 +0000

As I share in my introduction and many of my blogs – I am one of those nuts that has always exercised, for as long as I can remember. Which memory btw, unfortunately gets shorter every day as conversely the time I have been exercising gets longer (maybe that is a good think) ;-(

This week I had a great run with Chris Dovale – my personal trainer – along one of my favourite routes. We run along and then go up the steps to the Coit Tower in SF and back down the streets ... Read More

Sugar

Marion — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:26:31 +0000

I wrote a few weeks ago about the benefits of not eating too much sugar. And I am learning more and more as I keep coming back to this subject. Sugar actually is plain BAD for you – no sugar has never killed anyone. And if you start looking at it more – you will find that sugar seems to be in all these things that you just load in your supermarket basket thinking they are HEALTHY! Take beans in tomato sauce (ok, you may never have loaded that in your basket, but I own up to liking ... Read More

PR Bars – all good stuff

Marion — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:44:35 +0000

As you know I am always on the look out for great tasting healthy snacks, preferably one with something to offer me pre or post workout and above all, since I am one of the converted – Gluten Free!

The latter is harder then it seems, anything that was made in a facility that also manufactures your standard granola bar, is out for me – I get all sorts of stomach upsets that I don’t really care to tell you more about. Suffice to say, I am even pickier then I used to be ... Read More

Coconut Palm Sugar

Marion — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:45:43 +0000

More and more often I read that sugar seems to be rather bad for your health. Particularly with regards to Aging (which I am getting more worried about, I have to admit… doesn’t it just seem to creep up on you?) So I have recently been looking for good alternatives. There are lots of foods I don’t like eating without the added touch of something sweet (like oatmeal or coffee).

I don’t like sachrose or any of those chemical sweeteners much, honey has too strong a ... Read More

Thinking about Food

Marion — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 17:13:07 +0000

It struck me this week that food means different things to different people. I know, not exactly an earth shattering or scientifically astounding thought, but still – I had often wondered why people make such wrong choices when it comes to choosing what food they want to eat and now I have finally worked that out.

Ultimately – I think that most people view food as something they “deserve”, or in other words, a treat. When it comes to treats, you want something ... Read More

Simple stuff

Marion — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:55:34 +0000

Many of you ask me for help with diets and particularly diets when you are travelling. It is a tough one, I know from experience, I spend enough time on the road myself!

For me the rule is simple, I try and stick with foods that are as close to natural as possible. No cakes, biscuits, muffins but bananas, bags of nuts or raisins or a mix of those two, salads and simple sandwiches if you must get something solid. In terms of drinks, green tea is fine, water obviously is perfect and ... Read More

Lose weight or else…

Marion — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:30:16 +0000

Here’s one site I just came across that I just love – it’s hilarious.

The picture: you have tried everything to lose weight, you have sworn off food for life, you have bribed your husband/wife to only cook you healthy foods, you have tinkered with the scale to show that number you desperately want to see and/or you have set fire to your old wardrobe trying to kid yourself into one that is at least 2 dress sizes smaller…and none of it has worked.

The ... Read More

Healthy foods

Marion — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:31:31 +0000

My last blog resulted in a number of comments and emails showing that you all do care about WHAT you eat, not just when or how much. In replying to some of you, I talked about food combinations, which can help you lose weight more quickly then just eating or leaving out one staple food item. For instance, if you are losing weight, you will need to make sure that despite the fact that it seems easy to cut out carbohydrates completely – this is not a good thing at all. You need ... Read More

Fuel your body

Marion — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:41:52 +0000

What I have noticed, and definitely like to see, is that there is a growing awareness of the need to feed your body the fuel it needs to perform. I know, it’s been around forever – sportsnutrition is definitely not a new phenomenon and no, I am not so old that I have forgotten that! But even though I have been around in the sports world for 25 years (and a bit more), it strikes me that now, finally, even the average person is starting to understand that food does make a huge ... Read More

Eggs…what else?

Marion — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:22:54 +0000

It’s Easter – so the association with eggs wasn’t terribly hard to make… whether you are hunting for them, painting them, throwing them at unsuspecting friends, it’s all good – as long as you eat some as well.

Eggs are one of those foods that appear on every nutrition guru’s list of wonderfoods – be it Dr. Atkins, Dr. Elson Haas, George Mateljan (see his book The World’s Healthiest Foods, easy recipes!) or Dr. Phil (joking!) – ... Read More

Healthy options

Marion — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:57:13 +0000

Giving people advice on eating and sports is my passion – I am happy to answer questions and make suggestions any day. But sometimes I have to admit to wondering why I am doing it. Those days you see that you have shared all you know on good food, and then the person who asked turns round and makes choices that make you wonder if they listened to anything you said.

Eating healthily is not boring, does not have to be hard, and is certainly not about sacrificing great flavour. ... Read More

the importance of Protein

Marion — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:39:36 +0000

There are tons of myths about protein and sports. For instance, that simply eating more protein will increase your muscles. Now – it would be nice if it worked like that but then again, when have you ever found something to be that easy? No, unfortunately, eating protein alone will not build all that nice toned muscle for you – you have to work at it yourself!

But protein is a very important nutrition source for muscles and you should look closely at your diet and ensure ... Read More

Paleo Diet

Marion — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:05:23 +0000

I passed on information two days ago on the benefits of a diet that followed certain guidelines. Since then I have been doing a lot more reading about the benefits and have found some additional information that I want to share …

The info was a summary of what is called the Paleolithic Diet – which is also called Cave man diet or Hunter/Gatherer diet. Unlike Atkins which is based on not mixing your proteins and carbs – this “diet” is based on ... Read More

Healthy diets….

Marion — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:03:21 +0000

Diet is a huge part of being healthy and fit and looking great!

But what is the right diet, there are so many rules and so many myths to bypass. I have mentioned before that staying as close as possible to natural foods, so nothing processed, is one golden rule that will help you navigate safely through the food maze.

Now the below just came to me by email – it ... Read More

Timing your supplements!

Marion — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:33:26 +0000

Following my blog yesterday on B Complex, I got an immediate response from Jody de Groot on when to take these supplements to get the best result… so here goes!

There are many schools of thought on when to take supplements and I think some of this will be down to personal preference as much as anything else. But there are a number of things that might be good or even fun to know…

In general it is best to spread out your vitamins and mineral intake during the day ... Read More

Supplements – B Complex

Marion — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:16:32 +0000

This time of year, tons of people on the Northern Hemisphere start suffering from the winter blues. As I wrote in my last post, getting out in the fresh(est) air is still a good idea as you will get some oxygen but also a little bit of light which can be amazingly good for you. But there are other things that will help you get through those winter months with spirits lifted and body in great shape.

One of these supplements is Vitamin B. There is a range of different B’s in the ... Read More

Sleep your way to lower weight…..

Marion — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:51:56 +0000

Now here’s a study that will make a lot of people happy – it has been clinically proven that if you sleep well, you can lose more weight then if you don’t! Or reversely – if you do not sleep well – you will gain weight, but let’s focus on the positive!

It’s all to do with a couple of hormones, one that helps you feel full and one that makes you feel hungry. The akward thing is that as you get more sleep deprived, the one that makes you feel ... Read More

How to avoid Calories in food….

Marion — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:49:34 +0000

Women all know this particular bit of wisdom and use it to their greatest advantage….

Ever noticed we women love to eat of your plate? When it is time to order, we tell you to go ahead and have those chips, or that dessert whilst we order the mixed salad or maybe some fruit for afters, feeling very good about ourselves. But when those wicked chips come out, ofcourse we have to have one, oh go on, maybe even two or ten or half your portion.. and the icecream obviously is meant for ... Read More