Wellness By Alpa

What is the one thing that would transform your health and wellness? This is a powerful question to ask yourself and the answer could be something obvious such as eating less sugar or making time for exercise, but when considered deeply, I’ve heard some unexpected answers as well, such as, ‘I have to leave my job’ or ‘I have to end a relationship’ or even ‘I have to move to Spain’.

Do you know what would transform your health and wellness?

With love,

Alpa x

your health

Happy new year everybody! Wishing you a magical, joyous, healthy and love-filled year ahead.
Lots of love,
Alpa ❤️

#2022

✨Pumpkin Curry✨

✨Pumpkins bring a bright pop of colour, are delicious, highly nutritious and a healthy carbohydrate choice.

✨They are full of antioxidants that reduce the risk of chronic disease, are a great source of fibre, immunity boosting vitamins, (particularly Vitamin A), and minerals.

✨Pumpkin season is fast approaching, and this old family recipe is a super easy way to enjoy them. Packed full of good fats and health giving herbs and spices, this curry goes great with khichri (yellow lentils and rice) and yoghurt.

Ingredients:

-About 900g of p*eled, deseeded pumpkin chopped into 3-4cm cubes
-2 tablespoons of grass-fed organic ghee
-1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
-Pinch of hing (asofoetida) - optional
-1 finely chopped large white onion
-3 finely chopped large garlic cloves
-5cm piece of finely chopped ginger
-green chillies - finely chopped to taste - (optional)
-salt to taste
-1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
-1 finely chopped or crushed tomato
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1 teaspoon coriander and cumin powder
-chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

✨Heat the ghee and once hot, add in the cumin seeds, hing, chopped onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until tender.
✨Add in the pumpkin, the ginger, green chillies, salt and turmeric.
Cover and cook for about 10-12minutes until the pumpkin is almost done. (surprisingly, this doesn't take long).
✨Add in the tomato and cook for a few more minutes.
✨When the pumpkin is quite soft, add in the black pepper and the crushed coriander and cumin powder and half a glass of hot water.
✨Cook for a couple more minutes until well done.
✨To serve, garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

DM me for one to one help with your nutrition or join our popular 8 week group coaching Look Good Feel Good programme - starting next month - link in bio.

Enjoy and tag me when you try this out,

Lots of love,

Alpa x

✨Insulin Resistance is the single most important phenomenon which leads to rapid premature aging and all of its resultant illnesses including obesity, heart disease, stroke, dementia and cancer as says.

✨Insulin is the most important hormone that regulates our metabolism.

✨When we eat food that we are unable to metabolise efficiently or we eat too often, our insulin levels will be high for long periods of the day, and this means that our tissues, being exposed to so much insulin all the time, will start getting resistant or tolerant to its effects and this is the start of insulin resistance.

✨And insulin resistance is responsible for most of the modern illnesses of the world including weight gain. In addition, insulin resistance also causes many of the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause to worsen and makes it very difficult to control them. Insulin balance is key to getting your hormones and your health back in your 40s and 50s.
�✨I have listed the common observable signs of insulin resistance. If you have 4 or more of these, I would say that it is likely you are insulin resistant and should investigate further. Other signs of increasing insulin resistance are frequent episodes of hypoglycaemia, feeling thirsty all the time, needing to p*e all the time, increasing resistance to weight loss, night-time munchies, and blurred vision after a carby meal.
�✨Insulin resistance should be addressed in a personalised way as everyone's solution will be different. This is where I come in. I help my clients to determine the most metabolically healthy diet for them as individuals and support them to integrate intermittent fasting into their life in a way that works for them. I also provide the coaching, support and accountability needed to create real changes in your lifestyle so that you can achieve your goals for the long term.
�✨DM me if you are interested in working with me one to one or in joining our popular 8-week group Look Good Feel Good Programme that is beginning in October. Early bird tickets available now, pop to www.ucciwellness.com

✨Ask me any questions ✨ .

With love, ❤️

Alpa x .

✨I totally disagree with that common belief that as you get into your 40s you must accept that you will put on weight and there's nothing to be done about it.✨

✨In our 40s, many of us do notice that it is easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. The main reasons for this is the rapid changes in hormones and the increasing levels of insulin resistance that comes to a head at this age.✨

✨Insulin is the most important hormone that regulates our metabolism and the way we process our food.  Our sensitivity and resistance to insulin says a lot about our metabolic flexibility: The more we are sensitive to insulin, the more metabolically flexible we are, the better we can process energy efficiently without simply storing it as fat.✨

✨The thing to know about insulin resistance is that it's a spectrum and we are all somewhere on this spectrum, one end of which is zero insulin resistance and the ability to eat whatever we like without putting on any weight, and the other end of the spectrum, where we have a diagnosis of type 2 Diabetes. Finding out where you fall on this spectrum is a powerful step in achieving your health and wellness goals.✨
  
✨Insulin resistance becomes more of a problem in our 40s because this is when our past 20 years or so of poor dietary and lifestyle choices catches up with us and we are further along this spectrum.✨
 
✨The good news is that insulin resistance is reversible and responds very well to the individualised dietary and lifestyle changes that work for you and fit into your life.✨

✨This is where I can help you.✨

 ✨I work with clients in their 40s and beyond, one to one, or in groups, and support them to get to their optimal weight and sustain it for the long term.✨
  
✨DM me for one-to-one coaching or join our popular fully online 8-week transformational Look Good Feel Good Programme (early bird tickets available now, link in bio) where we have a team of expert coaches (including me :-) to help you achieve your health and wellness goals.✨
 
With Love,❤️
 
Alpa x    .

✨I talk a lot about the importance of eating nutrient dense food to satiety so that we don't get hungry all the time and are able to spend at least some time every day with relatively low insulin levels so that our body can remember to burn our stored fat and not just add to it.✨

✨Eating enough quality protein, fats, fiber and micronutrients will mean that your body will be satisfied and feel nourished, and you will be able to fast easily and painlessly. ✨
 
✨As an example of this kind of meal,  I'm sharing this quick meal I put together the other day when I didn't have much left at home before I was flying, but I needed to eat well and to satiety,  otherwise I would get hungry and pick up a lot of fast foods along the way and get hungrier.✨

✨I threw this nourish bowl together with the few bits I had left in the fridge to use up:  red and yellow split lentils with spring onions, ginger, turmeric, and cumin, purple sprouted broccoli fried with garlic and chilli and some shredded chicory lettuce leaves in an olive oil and lemon dressing.✨

✨This bowl has got heaps of everything I mentioned we need to eat: Great quality protein, fiber, folate and potassium in the lentils,  the broccoli is packed full of iron, magnesium, vitamins and bioactive compounds, and its clever to buy purple veg whenever you can as they contain anthocyanins that are strongly anti-inflammatory.  The chicory lettuce is packed full of soluble fiber which is great for feeding the good bacteria in our gut and also of course loaded with vitamin K and antioxidants.    The spices make the meal tasty and have a lot of additional anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties ✨

✨Its easy to consume seconds or even thirds of a meal like this without feeling guilty and it will keep you full for a long time. ✨

✨Let me know if you have any questions, ✨

With love, 

Alpa x 

✨The old belief that reducing our calories and increasing our exercise is going to be a successful long-term solution to getting to our optimal weight leads us into a never-ending cycle of dieting and bingeing: Losing weight, plateauing, losing motivation and gaining it all back plus more.

✨This belief has been roundly disproven by science yet somehow it still has a hold on too many of us.

✨When we go on a diet and drastically reduce our calories and starve ourselves, we wake up the reptilian part of our brain, the amygdala, commonly known as the 'lizard brain', this is the primitive part of our brain which is concerned with survival and it makes us ravenously hungry, so we lose our will power and binge on nutrient poor but energy dense foods such as bread and cookies which make us even hungrier.

✨Instead of this failed approach, I teach my clients to get aware of their hunger cues and fast in a way that is smart and works for them and eat nutrient rich satiating foods, with enough good quality protein , fats, fiber, and micronutrients so that our lizard brain is never awakened and we are able to painlessly achieve our goals. Figuring out our own individual carbohydrate tolerance level, which carbs, how many and when to eat them, is also valuable.

In this way we can achieve our optimal weight in an effortless manner.

✨If you are interested, DM me for more information,

With love,

Alpa x

✨Are you ready to take back control of your health and wellness?  ✨

✨Do you think it's time to hit the reset button?  ✨

✨If this is you,  I am so excited to tell you that our ever-popular 8-week fully on-line transformational Look Good Feel Good Programme is back, starting in October!  ❤️

✨It is available to anybody around the world from the comfort of your home and is a truly holistic programme that will nourish your mind, body and soul: We cover every aspect of your health and wellbeing, from your nutrition and physical activity to your mindset and spiritual wellbeing. We start by helping you set the goals that you truly want to achieve and support you to find that deep motivational energy that will keep you going forward to achieve them. ✨We also provide individual coaching and one to ones with our wellness expert team of  health and nutrition coach (me)! , exercise expert, , food educator and mindset coach. ✨

✨We've designed the programme to meet you exactly where you are at in your health and wellness journey, We believe that there is no one answer for all of us and our team of experts will support you to figure out how to integrate the changes that work for you into your lifestyle, long term.✨

 ✨We also create a friendly community of likeminded people who support and remind each other that we are all human, its ok not to be perfect and to acknowledge and celebrate every single achievement no matter how small.   This is the secret to creating healthy, sustainable, and permanent changes to the way you approach and live your life.✨

✨As always, this is not a temporary quick fix diet and exercise plan.  This is a science and evidence-informed approach to reaching your health and wellness goals for the long term.   We want you to use these 8 weeks to really take a deep dive into what your body, mind and soul needs so that you can live your best life. ✨

✨Stay tuned for more information. ✨

Lots of love, 

Alpa x 

✨What is the deal with Grains?   They have such a bad press, and a lot of professionals will tell you to completely avoid them.   But, are they really all bad for all of us?   When do they become a problem? And which grains should we choose❓

✨So, there are major nutritional benefits to having the right types of grains for us in our diet as part of our balanced plate.   Whole grains are packed full of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants Besides they taste so good right? 🤤

✨But they are also full of carbohydrates that drive insulin resistance leading to conditions such as weight gain and diabetes.  For example, did you know that a slice of whole wheat bread spikes your blood sugar more than sugar. Wow! 😱

 ✨Indeed, if you are overweight, diabetic, have autoimmune issues or have digestive issues, grains can be very problematic for you and it's important to investigate.✨

✨This is where personalised nutrition comes in.   All of us are unique individuals and what works for one person will very likely not work for the next.    That's why I support my clients to wear a continuous glucose monitor as this will allow us to find out exactly which grains, at which portion sizes and at what times are best for you so that you can achieve your wellness goals.   Trying an elimination diet is also very powerful.💪

✨When it comes to choosing grains, as much as possible, choose the Whole Grain, where the entire grain is intact and not processed or milled down into flour, white or brown.  This is where all of those precious benefits lie.   The grain can be cracked into bigger pieces for example, freekeh, but try and avoid the milled down flour.  Sprouted grains are a great option too.✨

✨DM me if you are interested in wearing a continuous glucose monitor or trying the elimination diet and finding out your personal response to grains and which ones suit you.✨

✨I'd love to know your favourite grains. ❤️

Lots of love, 

Alpa x

The Art of Making a Good Salad: Who thinks that making a good salad is all about finding and following a recipe? It really doesn’t have to be that complicated. I think its all about playing around with the contrasting flavours and textures that sound appealing to you, experimenting with whatever is in your fridge and of course, making sure that it still makes a balanced and nourishing meal.

If throwing away the recipe book and getting creative sounds a bit scary, here is a rough guide to what groups of foods should always be in your salad so that it is a balanced, nourishing, tasty and satiating meal in itself:

✨Rainbow of diverse colourful vegetables: Any types of colourful salad leaves and plants, go crazy with the huge variety of greens in the supermarkets, whatever appeals to you. Make sure you have some colourful vegetables : I like the idea of lightly grilling peppers/ courgettes/broccoli, even aubergine, or a handful of steamed green beans, some fresh plum tomatoes, spring onions, maybe a handful of olives for their sourness, really anything, just make sure there's a variety of colours in there so that your gut health is taken care of and you're getting those amazing phytonutrients.

✨Good Quality Protein: A must if the salad is going to be a meal in itself: good quantity of grilled chicken, meat, a tin of tuna, some smoked mackerel, a couple of boiled eggs, maybe a poached egg on top of a warm salad, grilled halloumi, goats cheese, some crumbled feta cheese, a small tin of green puy lentils, some cannellini beans, some grilled tofu or tempeh.

✨Good Quality Fat: Please don't go low fat, rather, go for good quality fat, this is what will make your salad tasty and leave you feeling full and satisfied : don't waste your money on salad dressings full of cheap oils and preservatives that cause inflammation in your body, invest in some good quality extra virgin olive oil and make easy dressings yourself: my go-to favourite is extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar. Works so well. Avocados are also a great fat to have in your salad. Remember not to dress your salad too early: you don't want a soggy mess that will kill all those contrasting textures.

✨Herbs and spices: To add that extra zing : black pepper, some dijon mustard, a little bit of worchester sause, some harissa paste if you want it extra spicy, any herbs you fancy: oregano, thyme: either fresh or dry, a bit of chopped basil or parsley.

✨Something crunchy: essential to lift the salad and create some texture: nuts and seeds work great here, my favourties are a few walnuts or roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

✨Whole grains or starchy vegetables to make sure you are getting all your macros: some warm qunioa, frika, bulgar wheat, some red rice or some roasted sweet potatoes: all great options that will make this a complete meal.

So, go crazy! The combinations are endless and as long as you have got some of each of these categories, I promise you will be thrilled at the result: A quick, delicious, nourishing, satiating and balanced meal. I regularly throw together endless combinations of all of these for quick lunches I can take to work with me.

What else would you add to your salads? Have a go at your own combo and share here. I'd love to be inspired.

Lots of love,

Alpa x

✨I really can’t overstate the importance of having enough protein in your diet.✨

They are the building blocks of our bodies and essential for health and especially if you are trying to lose weight,  proteins need special attention. ⚠️

 They are also the most satiating food,  this is what makes you full, satisfied and nourished.    There is a theory that the reason why we can’t stop eating certain snacks e.g. crisps/chocolates, is that they have hardly any protein in them and we will keep eating until our body has had enough protein.  ✨

 If you aren’t eating enough good quality protein, you will keep getting hungry and it will be hard to avoid snacking.✨

Always always make sure you have a good portion of protein on your plate at every meal.  ✨

Aa a rough guide, about 30% of your plate should be protein,or, for women:  aim for one palm sized portion of protein with every meal, for men:  aim for two palm sized portions with every meal.  ✨

The type of protein you choose to eat is a personal choice:  but, whether you go for animal or plant protein,  go for Quality, for example, if you are eating meat, go for grass fed organic meat and pasture raised organic chicken and wild cuts of fish. Organic eggs and dairy are the way to go. For the vegetarians:  soya, lentils and legumes,  all these are good choices. ✨

If you’re not sure what type of protein suits you, experiment and find out which type leaves you feeling full and energised. Maybe you are one of those people who need a little bit of animal protein to feel healthy ? ✨

Hello Lovely People! I'm Alpa Karia. I see new people here, (thank you for following!) and I thought I'd re-introduce myself🙏

✨I’m a certified Integrative Nutrition and Health Coach specialising in weight loss.   I’m also a long-time clinical pharmacist and I'm thrilled to say that I also recently qualified to become an independent prescriber in type 2 diabetes. 🎉

✨I love people, am naturally curious and interested, and like to form true connections and understanding.❤️

✨I totally disagree with that common belief that as women enter their 40s, they will naturally put on weight.   I am well into my 40s now and am in the best shape of my life.    My passion is to support other women to achieve this. ❤️

✨I'm Indian and was born and raised in Kenya.  I've been in the UK most of my adult life. 🇮🇳🇰🇪🇬🇧

✨I’m a total foodie and cooking, eating and more than anything else, feeding my food to the people I love gives me pure joy.👩‍🍳

✨I have a big love and connection to India, the country of my grandparents, where we still have a family home.

✨I am deeply connected to my multicultural roots and London with its diversity is a natural home to me.  

✨I am grateful that my background has exposed me to both Eastern and Western Approaches to health and wellness. I appreciate that medicines have their place but often they only treat the symptom and not the cause.

✨I am therefore happy to have found Ayurveda and Functional Medicine :  Both believe in treating from the root cause and their basic premises are that food and mindfulness are deeply healing.

✨My work, like myself, is therefore a blended mix of eastern philosophy and the cutting edge of evidence- based nutrition and lifestyle solutions from western medicine.

✨I believe that your mindset, beliefs and patterns of behaviour impact every area of your life and it is always possible to examine them and change them if you are willing. My work as a coach is to support you on this journey.   My joy comes from seeing your transformation.   This is my purpose.   

✨Now its your turn,  tell me a little bit about yourself,   what lights you up?   I'd love to connect with you all ❤️

Lots of love, 

Alpa x