Upper bounds of Hilbert coefficients and Hilbert functions

Let $(R, m)$ be a $d$-dimensional Cohen-Macaulay local ring. In this note we prove, in a very elementary way, an upper bound of the first normalized Hilbert coefficient of a $m$-primary ideal $I\subset R$ that improves all known upper bounds unless for a finite number of cases. We also provide new upper bounds of the Hilbert functions of $I$ extending the known bounds for the maximal ideal.