07 Mar
Healthy Epicurean

“The Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous Project” Fun Beauty Wisdom that will Set You Free!

 

Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous Project

 

Featured Beauty Wisdom Book: “Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous Project”

Author & Expert:  Esther Blum, M.S, R.D, C.D.N., C.N.S,

Welcome to our Beauty Wisdom department.  If you haven’t noticed yet, I am an avid reader of health and wellness books. It’s just my thing which we need another blog post to talk about.  However, never having been on a diet, I am not a big fan of diet books. I almost didn’t pick this book up because I saw these words on the cover “Lose twice the weight by keeping a food log”. But I was curious because Esther’s professional bio was impressive. So I turned over the book “Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous Project” and there in big capped letters it said “GET FIT WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE FUN” and then I thought “okay now we are talking!”

 

 

Slightly engaged I opened the book and just happened to land on a page that said “When it comes to making food choices instead of saying “I’ll be good” why not say “I will be good to myself”? I thought “yes! this is the message we need to get out there about beauty, health and wellness”. Now I was hooked and realized this isn’t a diet book, no this is a serious health book with a fluffy title! I might have to read this. And so I did! I loved her fun, entertaining presentation so much and almost forgot she was really teaching me about integrative nutrition and wise practices. With this said, meet Ester Blum, a well-respected nutritional expert who has a great sense of humor and a killer plan for those who want to be fit, healthy and “gorgeous”. And yes, you will lose weight following her plan but if you adopt her “gorgeous mindset”, you may never have to use the word “diet” again.  Set yourself free ladies…

Lauroly Q- Welcome Esther to World Wise Beauty. I am so happy you could join me. Sorry to say I missed your first couple of books but hopefully there a lot of other people like me that can catch up and follow you. You are called an integrative nutritionist and have a bunch of letters next to your name. Can you tell us what integrative means and why you are different from a standard dietitian?

Esther Blum

Esther Blum: I received a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition from Simmons College in Boston and received my MS in Clinical Nutrition from NYU. I am an integrative dietitian, a certified dietitian-nutritionist, and a certified nutrition specialist (CNS), a license of the American College of Nutrition. I am also a member of the American Dietetic Association, Nutritionists in Complementary Care, and the Connecticut Dietetic Association. What sets me apart from a traditional RD is that my approach is patient-centered, healing oriented, and embraces conventional and complementary therapies. It represents a broader paradigm of medicine than the dominant biomedical model. Integrative Medicine reaffirms the importance of the therapeutic relationship, a focus on the whole person and lifestyle, a renewed attention to healing and a willingness to use all appropriate therapeutic approaches whether they originate in conventional or alternative medicine. As an integrative dietitian, I use intensive diet therapy in conjunction with nutrients and herbs to treat specific conditions. This synergistic approach to wellness helps my clients restore health and balance in their lives.

 

 

 

Lauroly Q- Since we are meeting here in the “Beauty Wisdom” section of World Wise Beauty, I think we can talk freely about finding our “gorgeous within”! With so much focus on cosmetic fixes, surgical fixes etc., chasing beauty has become very expensive and scary too. Let’s talk about the best kept secret and this is the idea of beauty from the inside out. For example one of the great secrets you don’t hear much about is there are many nutrients found in particular foods that are skin-tastic. Your word Esther! Tell us more about this and share a few beauty tips that we don’t hear at the cosmetic counter or sadly at the dermatologist office.

Esther Blum: I often train professionals in the beauty industry on how to provide their clients with lifestyle, diet, and supplement recommendations for skin health. So let me share the insider scoop with you. Think of your skin as your intestines turned inside out; your skin is an excellent indicator of your digestive and immune wellness. If you suffer from acne, rosacea, eczema, or inflammation, incorporate wild Alaskan salmon into your diet at least three times per week and 16-32 billion probiotic organisms into your daily regime. Wild Alaskan salmon is an anti-inflammatory food rich in DMAE (dimethyl-amino-ethanol) that will quench your inner fires and help your skin glow. Probiotics will help re-balance the levels of good bacteria in your intestinal tract, reduce or eliminate food allergies, and help control acne. Don’t forget to pop at least 25mg of zinc daily to help balance your hormones and control acne outbursts.

Lauroly Q- Your third book and the one I stumbled upon you call a “project”. But it really is an excellent little workbook filled with useful tools like meal plans, shopping lists, and a food diary. You also have a great Q&A section in your book which is enlightening as well.  Why the “project” concept and what obstacles do most people face when it comes to taking care of themselves from the inside out?

Esther Blum: Who doesn’t love a good project, especially when that project is you! After all, there isn’t a woman out there who doesn’t want to do better for herself. Bearing in mind that self-love is the best love, I put this project out into the world to help women change the way they think and give them loads of tools to help them do better. It will turn s girl’s won’t-power into willpower. You will learn the tools and tricks from some of the best experts in the field. And although it may not be easy at first, in time you’ll learn to be the mistress of your own domain. And that’s what being Gorgeous is all about—being empowered, armed, and dangerously curved.

Keeping a food log is one of the best forms of cognitive behavioral therapy. Not only does it rewire your brain and incite change, but also brings awareness and focus to what we put in our mouth. If you bite it, you write it! A food diary is the highest form of personal accountability and will quickly help you identify imbalances in your ratios of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project contains cutting edge information on exercise, supplements, and clean eating. You’ll learn how to make your food work for you—not the other way around. Check out the Gorgeous Exercise chapter to learn how to maximize your fat-burning potential. At the end of this book are four different menu options to choose from. Go with the one that fits your goals and give it a whirl for a month—I promise you a different body in 4 weeks.

 Lauroly Q- Ok Esther, here comes the big question. What do you think it is about American culture that makes us so obsessed with diet and extreme beauty fixes? I could go on for days about it but would love to hear perspective from an expert like you that treats people from all walks of life everyday.

Esther Blum: It really stems from the beauty industry preying on women’s insecurities and trying to sell products. Every women’s magazine contains weight loss tips, creams, workout DVDs and promises that buying any and all of these products will help you lose 10 pounds in 5 minutes. No one would sell a magazine if they actually wrote the hard truths: fat and weight loss requires consistency and hard work. It requires mindful eating where you are checked in at meals without distractions. It requires shopping and cooking. Keeping a food log is crucial. Going to the gym and eating clean are the foundations to your success. Sounds scary, right? If you’re not in the right mindset for yourself, it can be. The thing to remember about change is that it takes time. So keep your focus on being healthy and strong. Forget about being skinny. When your priorities are in the right place, everything else will follow.

Lauroly Closing:  Now that was a wise piece of advice right there! Great to chat with you Esther and since I enjoyed your third book so much, I’ll have to circle back and check out your first two.  Thanks so much for sharing your “gorgeous” wisdom with us!

For those who want to begin with the first book click on this title Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous and get started. Other books by Esther are Cave Women Don’t Get Fat, and Secrets of Gorgeous. You can also follow her blog on www.livinggorgeous.com, become a fan on Facebook: Living Gorgeous, or follow Esther on Twitter @EstherBlum .

Truly Herself,
Lauroly

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