Day: 11 January 2018

No matter where I go in Monaco – EQvita, Song Qi or Maya Bay – I overhear women chatting about their weight, saying “how fat I am” or “how I bloated I feel”. It’s a particularly repetitive conversation at the beginning of the New after weeks of holiday indulging with food or alcohol – or both!

So here’s my advice. If you’re going to invest in anything to lose weight and feel good about yourself this year, make it this: a Health Coach.

I’m not just saying that because I happen to be one, but for the reason that “what got you here won’t get you there”.

Let me explain.

Your way of eating, moving and thinking – your “pattern” – is what determines the way you look and feel, and this is also responsible for that extra weight you want to get rid of. We all have a pattern and it’s a comfortable place to be because most of the time it operates on auto-pilot.

Every once in a while, though, and often at the beginning of January, we have the urge to break free from the mold.

I’m sure right now you’re full of hope, motivation and willpower to make a fresh start so that 2018 is your healthiest, happiest and most successful year yet … right?

You may have started a new diet or detox, a juice cleanse or committed to a new workout regime. Maybe you got yourself a new trainer, like Morgan Biancone, or a new gym membership to Thirty Nine, Ms Fit or Boost, and that’s great.

But we all know that the motivation and the drive you are feeling right now, will likely fade.

The moment your schedule get a bit tricky, you get busy taking the kids to the Monte Carlo Circus or make plans for a romantic Cinq Mondes Spa Valentine’s weekend at Monte-Carlo Bay, you or a family member gets the flu, or you get burned out from all those workouts, your pattern will be there, waiting for you with open arms.

Falling back into a pattern has nothing to do with willpower, motivation or discipline. It’s human nature and I’m afraid we’re all in the same boat here.

Those who manage to break free from their pattern are often people who either have, unfortunately, endured a trauma or somehow manage to shift their way of thinking to create a new pattern.

This is the shift we create as Health Coaches. We don’t just want you to loose weight. We want you to keep it off by addressing the reasons why it got there in the first place, like why you automatically order your favourite dessert – the velvety Tablette au Chocolat Crémeux – at Bagatelle even though you know you shouldn’t, and don’t even feel like it.

We want to know what is creating stress in your life and preventing you from getting that good night’s sleep and help you to distance yourself from it.

We treat the causes, not just the symptoms, to find what truly works for you because the only way for you to break free from your pattern and to make this the new chapter you so badly crave, is to help you create a Monaco life you truly love and that makes you feel good from the inside out.

No amount of willpower, of calorie burning workouts, powders, pills or diet plans can do this for you, but you can do it for yourself.

So if you are ready for this to be the last time you make resolutions about your weight, health and fitness, and want to drop those few extra pounds and keep them off, then remember: what got you here won’t get you there.

Reach out to a qualified Health Coach. It’s time to chat.

Maddy is the Founder of Nutrition For Naughty People, aimed at helping individuals find a better balance between the things that keep them healthy and the things that make them happy! Any questions? mk@nutritionfornaughtypeople.com.

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Sipping my morning almond milk latte at Eqvita, I’ve just read yet another weight-obsessed headline ‘Delicious “fast day” meal plans that are just 800 calories’. And with the holidays around the corner, there can only be more media reminders that you need to fit into that dress for the annual Christmas tree auction at the Hotel de Paris.

Monaco in particular is a place where some are obsessed about looking their best – just read Louis Pisano’s Weekend Style Report and you’ll know what I mean.

But looking good is also about feeling good, and “800 calories a day” is not the way to get there. I used to count calories without fail, following the theory that low-calorie foods were healthy and high-caloric foods were bad, therefore the key to staying lean or losing weight was by doing a truckload of cardio and eating fewer calories.

Psychologically, when you break it down to food = calories and calories = bad, then it makes it impossible to have a good relationship with food and not feel guilty, even when eating something wholesome.

Focusing on calories means we often restrict healthy foods, which especially happens when it comes to fat. We often omit higher fat foods simply because they are high in calories without taking into consideration the benefits they bring – you stay fuller longer, absorb anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing antioxidants and get necessary fat-soluble vitamins.

Look at the French. They’ve always had a fondness for rich food and cooking from scratch and they haven’t done too poorly with the obesity crisis compared to most other countries. A report published in July 2017 on the “Most Obese Countries by Percentage” put the US at #19 with 33.7 percent of the population classified as obese. The UK comes in at #33 (28.1 percent) and France #66 (23.9 percent).

But, in terms of overall number of obese people, the US is number one with 73,872,022.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that in 2016, 39 percent of adults worldwide aged 18 years and over were overweight, and 13 percent were obese. Add to that the 41 million children under the age of 5 also overweight or obese.

WHO remains optimistic and says the obesity is preventible. So if calorie counting isn’t a good strategy, what is?

Count chemicals, not calories
Next time you’re in the cereal aisle at Carrefour, check the side of the box and you’ll find a list of unpronounceable ingredients that are more appropriate for cleaning the toilet than nourishing the cells of your body.

Dr Mark Hyman, a leader in functional medicine in the US, believes malnutrition causes obesity so as long as the body is not receiving the nutrients it requires to function, regardless of how many calories you give it, it will keep asking for more. And as processed foods are often stripped of their nutrients (even if they have been fortified with nutrients post-production), they will not be absorbed by your body in the same way as if they come from whole foods. It’s no wonder low-cal diet foods leave you hungry.

Eat real food
“If it comes from a plant eat it. If it was made in a plant don’t.” Our bodies were designed to digest natural whole foods. If your diet is diverse enough, it will provide you with the vitamins and nutrients you need, in a form you were designed to absorb them.

An advantage of buying organic and locally-sourced food, like at TO BE, means you can ask questions, and have interaction with the staff about where your food comes from.

Read the label
If and when you buy processed foods, check the ingredients, not the calories. A low-fat salad dressing may have fewer calories than olive oil and balsamic vinegar but it contains a truckload of chemicals that your body will be better without.

Go for nutrients over calories
Judge foods by the nutrients they can bring rather than the amount of calories they contain. Yes, an avocado is high in fat and in calories. So is a bowl of porridge but both contain a wealth of nutrients that are essential for your cells and that are likely to keep you fuller for longer than a bowl of low-calorie cereal.

Follow your intuition
Once you distance yourself from calorie counting and remove processed foods from your diet, your body will naturally tell you what it needs. You are also likely to experience a reduced sense of hunger. At this point the best strategy is to switch off your brain, forget 800-calories-a-day meal plans and to follow your intuition – eat when you are hungry!

Article first published November 13, 2017. Maddy is the Founder of Nutrition For Naughty People, aimed at helping individuals find a better balance between the things that keep them healthy and the things that make them happy! Any questions?
mk@nutritionfornaughtypeople.com.

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Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have begun their 3-day visit to Ouagadougou, with a view to strengthen cooperation between both countries.

Arriving on Wednesday evening, the Princely couple was received Thursday morning at the Kosyam Presidential Palace by Burkinao Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré with his wife Sika.

The reception was followed by a meeting of the two heads of state.

The official program Thursday included two bilateral commission meetings co-chaired by Gilles Tonelli, Monaco’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and HE Alpha Barry, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation.

On Thursday afternoon, Prince Albert visited the National Fire Brigade (BNSP) in Ouagadougou.

Friday, the Prince is scheduled to visit the rural commune of Loumbila, northeast of Ouagadougou, to inaugurate the Aquatic Rescue and Training Centre, which has been funded by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and the Monaco Red Cross, before making a final stop at a corn mill in Kossodo.

At the end of his trip to Burkina Faso, Prince Albert will sign a bilateral agreement between the two countries, the result of Thursday’s commission meetings.

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The Prince’s Government has awarded two prizes in the seventh edition of the Short Film Festival, Le Temps Presse, on the topic of Sustainable Development Goals.

The ceremony took place on Thursday, January 4, 2018, at the City Hall of Paris, in the presence of many leading figures from culture and sport.

As the partner of the Le Temps Presse (“Time is Running Out”) from its first edition, the Prince’s Government aims to raise awareness among young people of major global issues.

The Children’s Prize was awarded according to the votes of 3,000 students in Monaco, France and in the countries in which the Monegasque Cooperation is involved in aid programmes.

The winner was the animated film “The Present” by Jacob Frey, on the theme of disability, which has sparked huge enthusiasm among young audiences. The trophy was presented by Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, in the presence of several members of the jury, including two students from Charles III College.

The Student Award, created by the Directorate of International Cooperation, was awarded to the short film “Kapitalistis” by Pablo Munoz-Gomez, which, with humour, deals with the nonsense of our consumer society. The jury for this prize was made up of students from Sciences Po Paris, Menton Campus, (a partner of the Prince’s Government) and other institutions of higher education in France.

Finally, the Women’s Prize, which has been decided by the Princess Stephanie jury for several years, was awarded to director Viktor Miletic for his film “Bouge pas” (Don’t Move) on the hot topic of harassment.

The Prince Albert II Foundation also participated in the Festival as a jury member for the Rivers and Oceans Award.

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French President Emmanuel Macron ended his visit to China on Wednesday with a significant prize – an order for 184 Airbus A320 aircraft to be handed to 13 airlines. The order had not previously been publicised and is valued at €15 billion ($18 billion).

Delivery of the aircraft is expected to start as early as next year. The Chinese operate a policy of balancing their orders between Airbus and Boeing. The American manufacturer has previously said that China will need a total of 7,240 new commercial aircraft over the next 20 years.

The Western press has largely interpreted Macron’s visit not only as a significant political and business success, but as representing a major expansion of France’s role as a European intermediary in the wake of the UK’s declining influence in the EU post-Brexit decision.

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