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Mental Health Awareness Week

19th May 2016

This week in the UK is National Mental Health Awareness Week, so we’re doing our part now to raise awareness. This year the theme and focus of National Mental Health Awareness Week “Relationships“.

We wanted to highlight the fact that its Mental Health Awareness week as its a fantastic initiative to get those of us who are fortunate enough not to suffer mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, to better understand the everyday problems and challenges faced by those who do. And thats a whopping 1 in 4 of us currently in the UK, experiencing mental health problems every year (stats from Mind: http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/)

Focus on Relationships:

With no nonsense nutrition we talk a lot about food/drink and what we consume on a daily basis to keep our bodies healthy. What we don’t mention as much, although think about and practice all the time, is feeding our minds (as well as our bodies and bellies!) – which obviously includes feeding our relationships.

Relationships can span anything and everything from that with with your partner, family and friends, to for example your relationship and how you interact with work, finance, education, spirituality and learning. (Plus of course our relationships and how we think about food). Therefore relationships and how we think about them have the potential to impact on just about everything in our daily lives. Keeping your mind on your relationships and how you interact and react to aspects of them, is a very big task we face every day.

This year for Mental Health Awareness Week, the mental health foundation are asking us to make a “Relationship Resolution” https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/relationships/my-relationships-resolution.

Have a read via the link above and a think about yours. Then tell me – Whats your Relationship Resolution? You can share it with us via our social media channels – Facebook and Twitter for a start – just use the hashtag #RealtaionshipsResolution

There’s more on this weeks BLOG here.

All about eggs !

24th March 2016

Morning all – today I wanted to re-share the egg blog. Easter – its all about eggs right? And I know its not Easter just yet, but its nearly, almost, just about, round the corner Easter and nearly, almost, just about, round the corner time for a weekend chocolate indulgence!

I’m sorry and in full disclosure – the blog is not about eggs of the chocolate variety, but it is all about eggs. Thought we’d mix it up a bit and talk about real eggs – yolks and all!

So go ahead and READ MORE HERE about real eggs, the frittata vs tortilla debate, plus full recipes. How about eggs for breakfast/lunch/dinner today? Plus as always you can check out Facebook / Twitter / Instagram for more…..

And to all those celebrating we wish you a very HAPPY EASTER x

irish stout alcohol nutrition and hydration week

Day 4 Nutrition and Hydration Week

17th March 2016

Thirsty Thursday and Day 4 Nutrition and Hydration week we are sharing the full blog here with a focus on alcohol and (de)hydration: READ MORE

What about alcohol? It’s a fluid, its made of fruits and some even comes out of taps…

One of the most common questions when talking about hydration or more likely dehydration is the one of ALCOHOL. People looking for a hangover cure – if hangovers are caused by dehydration isn’t hydration the means to the end?

Not quite.

The NHC says: “Dehydration can occur as a result of drinking too much alcohol. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means that it makes you urinate more. If this fluid isn’t replaced you may become dehydrated, so drinking alcohol should be balanced with drinking non-alcoholic fluids, such as water”.

Simple. But you’ve tried to drink water in between beers, or match wine with soda water, mix spirits with soda and drink long drinks to get more fluid in that’s not just alcohol too. Doing that will help. Ensuring you are fully and properly hydrated before you know you will be drinking alcohol will help. Drinking water after alcohol consumption and before you sleep will help. And yes, gulping down a glass of water on waking will help too. BUT as alcohol is a diuretic, you will use the toilet more when you drink, you will rid yourself of more fluid than you take on board and topping up before, during and/or after the event will not help 100%. Sorry to break it to you. The only way to not get a hangover = not drink. No nonsense. Not fair.

The British Nutrition Foundation says: “Alcoholic drinks contain water, but drinking alcohol increases the amount of water you lose as urine, so drinks with a high alcohol content, such as wines and spirits, are not the best choice to stay hydrated. Normal strength beers, lagers and ciders also cause an increased loss of water as urine. However, because they are more dilute, drinking them causes a net gain in water overall. It is still important to keep alcohol consumption within the recommended limits (no more than 14 units per week for both men and women)”

And they make a great point. Think about the units of alcohol you’re drinking. Its recommended (in the UK) men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week, no more than four units in any one day, and have at least two alcohol-free days a week. Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, no more than three units in any one day, and have at least two alcohol-free days a week.

If you are a pregnant or lactating woman, my advice would be to avoid alcohol entirely. In my opinion it’s simply not worth the risk.

If you want to look into alcohol consumption / limits / risks etc further on Day 4 Nutrition and Hydration Week:

Drinkaware – https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/effects-on-the-body/why-does-alcohol-make-you-pee-more

And here is a simple breakdown from NHS change for life: http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/alcohol-lower-risk-guidelines-units.aspx

For more on day 4 Nutrition and Hydration week please see their website here: www.nutritionandhydrationweek.co.uk

Biggest Breakfast!

11th March 2016

Its TODAY. Friday 11th March. Its finally here – Britains Biggest Breakfast in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Many thanks for your donations so far – the online ones and the cold hard cash! There is still time to give – just hit the justgiving link here: http://www.justgiving.com/nononsensenita and let your credit/debit cards give too! Remember as we cant physically host a biggest breakfast event, in return for your donation you can get your hands on our smoothie recipes to try for breakfast yourselves. If you want the recipes, just let us know your email address once you’ve donated and we can send them over! (email it to me info@nitakothari.com / sign up to the newsletter via the panel on the right, or facebook message us here)

Go on – give – do it – and enjoy your breakfast!

For further details on the work of Cancer Research UK please see: Cancer Research UK

If you want further details on Britains Biggest Breakfast please see: Britains Biggest Breakfast

Power of You

10th March 2016

The Power Of You – well just in case you missed it, here’s another opportunity to check out this weeks blog post. Inspirational doesn’t even cover it – you need to know these women! Shaa Wasmund, Lynne Franks, Suzy Greaves – get to know them here: IWD BLOG while celebrating International Womens Day (Tuesday 8th March) and realising the power of you!

I really want to urge all the wonderful women reading this to do themselves a favour, take a look at the BLOG and get to know these ladies celebrating their own power and the power of you. I had the pleasure of sharing last Friday with them and I was blown away by their positive generosity and their incredible achievements. Power to you, power of you, powerhouses!

You can also find out more about these women here too:

Shaa Wasmund

Lynne Franks

Suzy Greaves

Interantional Womens Day 2016

8th March 2016

Today is International Womens Day 2016. I want to urge all my wonderful ladies to do themselves a favour and take a look at the wonderful women I had the pleasure of sharing last Friday with. Inspiring doesn’t even cover it. I was blown away by their positive generosity and their incredible achievements. Without sounding too much of a hippy chick – all these women resonated with me and the journey I’m on. I know you’re are with me, so encourage you, really, to take a look at the stories of these strong women too.

Please go ahead and seek out all you can about these 3 women today: IWD BLOG

Thank You

25th February 2016

This we just want to say a great big fat huge thank you. I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone that has got involved with no nonsense so far. Our little tribe is growing fast and that makes me happy and grateful to you all, every day. This last week especially, I’m grateful to all of you who who have come to me personally and shared your recent successes and said thank you for advice and help. This is what makes it all worthwhile and this is exactly why I do this. I realise how important a thank you is, so I’m paying it forward (or back?!) and appreciating you all today too!

So who are the no nonsense tribe and should you be with us?

Well we’re not athletes or pros, we are not dieters or body/food shamers, we don’t have a lot of time, or a lot of money. We are not too interested in health products that we cant pronounce or have to buy online rather than the supermarket, we don’t do fads! We do enjoy healthy eating, healthy living and are very much interested in nutrition. We do enjoy a drink, a night out and (lots of) cake. We understand BALANCE. We want to save time and money while preparing real food to make us feel good. And in all ways, we strive to create an environment and outlook that makes and keep us and those around us happy. We like to share how we do this by following a no nonsense, easy, practical approach.

Does this sound like you too? Well come join us then:

you can find a bigger thank you and ways to join in via this weeks blog right HERE

and to keep in touch, sign up to the newsletter via the link on the right of this page >>>>>>>

For the LOVE of PANCAKES

11th February 2016

For the love of pancakes this is definitely one of the better weeks of the year. Tuesday was Pancake Day – whoop! And Sunday will be Valentines Day, so love is in the air – another whoop! Two of my favourite ever celebrations! Come on – who doesn’t LOVE PANCAKES?!

And ok – who has never actually made pancakes before? Who enjoys a stack when eating out? Who has a friend/family member/other half that cooks them for us?

Well me too. My love of pancake day and all things pancakes was threatened this year when I realised I wouldn’t get to see my best mate who makes THE BEST blueberry pancakes ever, or see my boy who has a simple but classic pancake recipe that works every time. So I decided to make them myself. If you follow me on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram you will have seen the (amazing if I say so myself) results. If you don’t follow me on social media do it now to see the results, then email me on info@nitakothari.com for the recipes we tried and tested and the alterations to the creations we used to A) make things healthy and to B) save time and effort, while giving maximum results and taste – no nonsense.

How to: GET THINGS DONE!

28th January 2016

Anyone noticed the mornings are starting to get a little lighter and the evenings stay lighter longer now? Yep, we are slowly but surely creeping out of January! So congratulate yourselves on getting through officially the darkest 10 weeks of the year! To celebrate we have been shaking things up a little this week and tackling the dreaded TO DO list that always seems a little longer in January! We have taken on the TO DO’s in a new fashion to actually get things done – and its working – so this week we wanted to show you how.

We look at time monitoring, “done” lists and simply doing one thing at a time as these are the ways we have learned help to literally get things done after staring blankly at a 16 page to do list for a few weeks and feeling the overwhelm of the list seemingly getting longer – not shorter – each and every day! Sound familiar? Well that’s OK, because we found a solution – read this weeks blog for more HERE and please do share your tips and tricks on how to get things done via the comments here or join the discussion on Facebook and/or Twitter

Superfood/Superfad? Whats trending for 2016?

14th January 2016

Last week the boyfriend asked me “Do you like black pudding?” Well yes is the answer. “Good” He says, “Cos that’s a superfood this year”. Now due to our love of lists and because this got us thinking about superfoods and perhaps superfads for 2016, we’ve put together a handy list – or guide if you will – of the foods and health trends to look out for this year….They are all in this weeks blog HERE

For more info on superfoods and how to incorporate the right amount of vitamins and minerals in your diet, please give us a shout: info@nitakothari.com or book a free dietary assessment via: bookings@nitakothari.com

To join the superfood debate or to let us know your health trend predictions for 2016 get involved by leaving a comment, or joining us on social media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram