Which Nutrition Plan is Right for Me?

When it comes to nutrition, there are lots of ways to reach goals and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Weight, though potentially an important part of the equation, is not all there is to enjoying health and finding a sustainable path forward in nutrition. 

Most people don’t think about nutrition much unless they are trying to improve their health. If a person wants to lose weight, begin an exercise program, reduce inflammation, or use food to help with some other physical ailment, then they might begin to really focus on what they put in their mouth. 

There is no limit to what you can find on the internet about nutrition. Just do a quick search of anything related to weight loss, food as medicine, or best foods for working out, and you’ll find thousands, if not millions, of nutrition articles. The access we have to information can be good. But it can also be very overwhelming and confusing, especially if the information is about a topic that you don’t fully understand. 

My goal in this post is to help you have a strong understanding of some of the most popular nutrition plans around today and exactly how and when they might be beneficial to you. 

Before embarking on a particular plan, you should determine whether it is sustainable in your life. 

What exactly is sustainability in nutrition? Sustainability in nutrition considers whether or not a plan works for an individual every single day, in any situation. 

And before we can add to our sustainable plan, we need to be able to do the very basics of nutrition really well. 

So what do these two things even mean in real life? 

Basically, if your plan doesn’t work for you on vacation, then it doesn’t work. And in turn, if you start and stop a plan over and over, then it’s not working either. Lastly, if whole foods aren’t the majority of what you consume, then trying to follow a plan, probably isn’t going to work either. 

In other words, first and foremost, you need to get the basics. Before we move on to some higher-level plans that are popular right now in the nutrition world, if you need help getting started on basics, grab my free 5-day Nourishing Wellness Ebook now. 

Once you consistently master the basics of nutrition, then you might be ready to move on to a higher-level refinement of those basics. 

So let’s talk about some of the most popular nutrition plans floating around our culture today. 

Paleo Diet - The Paleo Diet has built it’s fame on claiming that it includes foods that our ancestors ate for thousands of years before the modernization of farming. This diet gained popularity back in the 1970’s but gained quite a bit of popularity after the publication of a book in 2002, and then really began to soar after one of my favorite nutrition & health experts wrote a book called The Paleo Solution in 2010. 

Paleo is a fairly simple plan based on whole foods. It doesn’t exclude many God-made foods, but it does discourage grains and legumes. It also definitely cuts out processed sugar and most dairy, though in recent years, the Paleo community has begun to accept raw, organic, grass-fed dairy as a reasonable addition to the everyday diet. 

This diet is highly sustainable and can easily be done when eating out or going on vacation. It has a plethora of options available on the internet for things like dessert recipes that fall into the “acceptable” range for Paleolithic followers. 

Keto Diet - The Keto Diet is an extremely low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet. The goal of the Keto diet is to get a person to maintain a state of ketosis, which means that the body moves into using fat for fuel instead of the sugar that is its preferred method. Like Paleo, Keto isn’t a new concept, but it is one of the newer strategies for weight loss. 

As claimed, the Keto Diet can definitely lead to rapid weight loss. However, it will be a little more difficult to sustain when it comes to things like vacations, holidays, and birthday celebrations. Unfortunately, this unsustainability factor can set back your body’s response to the Keto Diet guidelines pretty drastically. 

Intermittent Fasting - Intermittent Fasting (IF) can be summed up as an intentional meal timing schedule in which a person chooses not to eat for a certain period of time and then chooses to eat for a certain number of hours. There are many various forms of IF, which range in length and frequency. 

Intermittent Fasting, similar to Keto, starves the body of glucose, its preferred energy source, and pushes it to use fat for fuel. The biggest difference between Keto and IF is that meal timing is restricted, but carbohydrates are not, and the variety of “acceptable” foods is broader. 

Carnivore Diet - This is exactly what it sounds like. In this diet, an individual eats like a carnivore, consuming only animal products, including all types of meat, poultry & fish. Eggs, butter, and organ meats make the cut as well on the Carnivore Diet. And, since you might be wondering about the fact that fruits & veggies are not on this list, that is intentional. Those are a no-no on the Carnivore Diet.

This diet can be sustainable, but participants must understand the depth of the reality they are getting into. If eating only essentially meat, butter, and eggs for the rest of your life sounds exciting to you, this might be the thing you need. It also can serve as a short-term way of eating if you are considering an elimination diet, which can be very long and tedious. Participants who choose this way of nutrition make some very bold statements about how good they feel when doing so. 

Carb Cycling—Like the Carnivore Diet above, this diet’s name gives away the plan's plot. Carb cycling involves alternating carbohydrate intake on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The biggest wins of this way of eating are typically weight loss and a more mindful approach to what goes in your mouth. 

Because Carb Cycling requires intentionality, you will think long and hard about what you eat. This mindfulness is a natural by-product of the carb-cycling diet. It is indeed sustainable, but it does require quite a bit of planning on the part of the participant. 

Calories In, Calories Out method—Probably one of the most popularly touted methods, the Calories In, Calories Out method is less about weight loss and more about sustaining weight and its premise is to eat the same amount of calories that you burn each day. Many people turn to this method after reaching a weight loss goal. As with all the others mentioned here, this one can be sustainable but will require a lifelong commitment to counting calories. Also this method is only a guessing game unless a participant gets tested to find out exactly how many calories their body needs each day. 

There is also a problem with counting calories alone: not all calories are created equal. So, if you’re looking to put the best food options into your body by eating whole foods, this method will be great. However, if you’re more concerned about making your daily candy bar fit into your calorie count, you may eventually destroy your own progress by spiking insulin through the intake of high-carbohydrate, processed foods.

Macronutrient Counting—This method is similar to the Calories In, Calories Out method. However, it focuses more on the Macronutrient side of food, which ensures you intake plenty of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. The Macro Method still requires daily counting, but calories simply add up as you count the Macros that they are made of. 

This type of counting can still have a downfall in that you can use up all of your allotted carbohydrates & fats for the day quickly if you are consuming processed foods. By eating processed foods, you’ll probably do more harm than good for your body. The goal with Macronutrient counting would be to eat only whole foods to help your body feel its best. 

While every diet and plan has substantial evidence that it can work, choosing the plan for your life is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We all live unique lives and have unique DNA, so what works for one person may not work for another. 

Carefully choosing what will best fit into how you live your life, what your goals are, and how your body feels all need to be taken into consideration. 

Though each of these plans can be sustainable, the best option for you may be no plan at all. 

If you need help figuring it all out, Contact Me & let’s have a chat about what might work for you. 

How to Maintain Your Weight on Vacation

Summer is upon us! Ahh the days of warmer weather, shorts, tank tops & sandals ANNND vacations!

It’s always so fun to plan a getaway, whether it’s for a long weekend, several days to the beach, or maybe a longer trip out of the country. But through the years I’ve worked with women on their health & nutrition, I find a common fear that is prevalent among them… gaining weight on a vacation.

About 10 years ago, my family & I had the pleasure of going on a 17-day cruise through Europe. We saw so many places in Italy, Greece & Turkey. The vacation was like an amazing dream & full of all of the magic of what you would expect of a trip like that. When we returned, I got on the scale to see what the damage was to my weight. To my surprise, I weighed the exact same thing I did before we left!

That couldn’t be right, could it? I stepped off the scale & got back on. Still the same wight.

What had I done differently? I had only “worked out” one time on that whole trip. We did walk a ton, as is common in European countries, but surely just walking didn’t keep my weight the same.

Then when our next vacation rolled around, we returned, and my weight didn’t change again.

I know I was enjoying myself on these vacations. New foods, desserts & drinks were part of all of our trips. I never deprived myself.

But, what I had done was make a conscious choice not to go crazy, eating all the things because of some extreme idea that this was the only time in my life I could ever enjoy those things.

No, instead I had discovered in my normal everyday life, how to have balance. Eating mostly whole foods but enjoying desserts on a random Tuesday if I so choose. Also, I had realized that making extreme resolutions to never eat again dessert, chips, or have wine, weren’t serving me so I stopped doing it.

The way I lived my sustainable life at home was carrying over to vacations.

I still ate the things, drank the things & didn’t exercise as much as I normally do.

And it was working.

So, here’s my advice for you when you’re going on vacation:

·      Eat fairly consistently with what you eat at home – every meal doesn’t need to be a splurge. This won’t be the last time you can enjoy food so don’t treat it as such. That is a bondage mentality that leads to the guilt you feel when you return from vacation.

·      Eat dessert when you want it – don’t feel like you have to eat the dessert at every single location. Instead, eat it if you want it & eat it in a normal portion size.

·      Choose protein first at every meal – protein helps balance blood sugar. Having protein with added carbs & fats you wouldn’t normally eat will help keep insulin production lower. Also, eating protein helps the body process alcohol better.

·      Don’t overeat or overdrink – as mentioned in point one above, this isn’t the last time you’ll get to enjoy. Overdoing it on a food or beverage actually leaves you feeling bad. Why would you want to remember that feeling from a vacation? Wouldn’t it be so much more enjoyable to enjoy something & remember feeling good about the taste of it & the emotions you felt with the people you were with?

·      Move some – bodies need rest. And if you work out on a regular basis, maybe vacation isn’t the time to do that, but gentle movement is still important. Go on walks, ride a bike, take a leisurely swim, do a yoga video.

·      THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT TIP – if you come back from vacation & you’ve gained a couple or a few pounds, DO NOT GO ON A CRASH DIET! Simply base your meals in whole foods, stop snacking for a few days, cut out dessert for a week or so & drink plenty of water. You’ll be back on track before you know it!

If you want help in figuring out how to make your everyday life become a sustainable way of living so you can enjoy life but still maintain a healthy weight, email me. Let’s chat about what that can look like for you!

How a lack of sleep increases cravings for junk food

 You probably already know that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with things like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure & heart disease, but did you know that a lack of sleep can greatly increase cravings for highly processed foods, aka junk food?

 Your ability to make good decisions in nutrition is not just a mental decision you make but are also highly influenced by the amount of sleep you do or don’t get on a regular basis.

 Sleep is your body’s way of restoring energy to every system that helps it function properly. Your brain, hormones, muscles, and nervous system need enough rest to allow you to function in the fast-paced life you live. You’ve likely heard the dangers of driving while sleepy, but making nutrition decisions while functioning on too little sleep can also have extremely damaging effects.

There is a true physiological aspect that goes into your nutritional decision-making process: Leptin & Ghrelin. These two incredibly important hormones are made by the body while we sleep & are solely responsible for telling your body when you are hungry and when you are full. When they do not function properly, your decision-making is off.

And studies* show that when your decision-making is off in your nutrition, it typically leads to choosing highly processed foods that are nutrient deficient and full of an unnatural amount of carbohydrates and fats combined.

Your body also knows that when you are sleepy, it needs energy to keep going. That’s why it craves food. Physiologically food is the body’s first line of defense to gain energy. Your nervous system, including your olfactory glands & taste buds, go into overdrive in search of smell & taste to keep it going.

An ongoing issue with sleep not only keeps your metabolism functioning sub-par but also leads to ongoing choices to fill your belly with highly processed junk food instead of whole foods.

Next time you have a “craving,” ask yourself if you’re tired. If so, try to take a nap & reorganize your day so you can get to bed earlier, but if you truly need to eat something, have a mindful snack of berries & nuts and a large glass of water. Doing this each time you have a junk food “craving” will begin to rework the neuropathways of your brain to help you make better decisions even when you can’t get enough sleep.

Making sleep a priority will take some work, but in the long run, it will keep your entire body functioning properly & help you make the best nutrition decisions.

*check out this sleep study

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Improving Gut Health

Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.”

Gut health is more important than you might realize. The mindset of "we are what we eat" is only partly true. A better way to think of our overall health & nutrition is that we are what we eat & what we absorb through digestion.

There are many signs that your body may give you to tell you that the symbiosis of your gut health is out of whack. Some of these include:

·      Poor digestion

·      Chronic yeast infections

·      Chronic upper respiratory infections

·      Skin inflammations such as psoriasis or acne

·      Bad breath

·      Migraines

 Many other common health issues can be cleared up simply by getting your gut healthy. But how do you do that?

Four of the simplest ways to get started include: 

1.     A consistent nutritional routine – Whole foods-based nutrition is the best way to keep your gut health in alignment. By choosing whole foods most of the time, you minimize the hazardous preservative ingredients contained in many packaged food items.

2.     Chew your food – This may be one you want to pass over, thinking, "of course, I chew my food," but this is so important. Your digestive system begins working before you even put the bite in your mouth via your olfactory glands. When you smell food your saliva production immediately increases. Chewing your food thoroughly, produces even more saliva & it is that saliva aids your stomach in its job to fully finish the digestion. Complete digestion of food is how we absorb the benefits of the food we eat.

3.     Add in foods that aid digestion – Plain Greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurts, bone broth, kombucha & fermented foods are all incredibly beneficial to your gut. They help in allowing your body to digest food & turn on the body's ability to produce the right kind of stomach acid.

4.     Probiotics & prebiotics – You’ve probably heard of both as they are a hot topic lately. Still, you may think they are only found in supplements. However, you can find probiotics & prebiotics in many foods. Probiotics can be found in things like the fermented foods mentioned above. Prebiotics can also be found in foods like bananas, berries, asparagus, garlic & onions, to name a few. Both probiotics & prebiotics play a significant role in food digestion & good gut health.

You can definitely attain good gut health through a whole foods plan. However, it will take disciplined effort & consistency. My top recommendation would be to work on the above list first; however, if you feel like working on each item only a few times a week, then adding some quality probiotic & prebiotic supplements can help get you on track as well.

The Just Thrive brand of supplements for gut health is a great place to start. Their broad spectrum of supplements can help you get your gut health on track. {Use code NOURISH at checkout for 15% off your first order!}

Improving gut health can improve many common inflammatory health symptoms. Making your gut health a priority is worth the effort!

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

Achieve your health goals

Why is health so hard?

You know the basic practices of health: don’t smoke, limit alcohol, eat mostly whole foods, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. 

Even though studies show the benefit to following these low-risk lifestyle behaviors could increase life expectancy by up to 14 years, as a whole, our American population doesn’t do the above things well. Only about 6% of Americans practice all the above basic, healthy habits on a regular basis. 

Even though there is a basic clear motivator of feeling good and an unseen motivator of knowing that our cells and organs would benefit from changing health habits, many people just can’t seem to stick with a plan for making the change.  

Part of the inability to stick to new changes lies in not knowing how to change. Though it seems that it should be easy to simply decide and act on it, change is a process with multiple stages. Making a lifestyle change for health requires a well laid out plan. For instance, you can’t go from being someone who never exercises to running a marathon without some steps in between. 

A very popular methodology used in the health and fitness industry is found in the acronym SMART.

This method aims to help an individual establish and obtain their goals by making them:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

If you’re ready to set SMART goals around your healthy, considering hiring a nutrition and health coach to help your through the process. With a coach, you get one-on-one support to make sustainable changes through learning consistency and other strategies.  The SMART methodology will empower you to accomplish your goals. 

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

Mood & Food

Your brain is far more complex than any computer, phone, or tablet operating system. Your brain has been so intricately designed by God that it can store thousands of various memories, facts, data, and knowledge, but can also adapt & learn as new information is input into it.  

In order to make this living information system, that is the powerhouse of your entire body, work properly it needs a myriad of stimulation not just from knowledge and information but equally as important, from food (and sleep too, but that’s a different topic). 

By ignoring nutritional imbalances, i.e., feeding your brain junk food instead of a wide variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, and clean proteins, you are setting your brain up for a hard drive failure. 

Though new information emerges constantly, scientists have known for decades that the brain is extremely sensitive to nutritional deficiencies and imbalances. When your blood sugar crashes, your mood is only steps behind, leaving one with impatience and irritability stemming from the brain’s response to a lack of good food.

Common mood and cognitive issues include things like mood swings, irritability and anger, depression, anxiety, and tension. 

So, what to do when your mood is crashing based on nutritional deficiencies? 

First, cut out the processed foods which are the main culprit of spiking blood sugar levels and then causing a screeching crash. Your body just doesn’t know how to respond to the edible ingredients in these packaged items. 

Second, replace packaged snacks with fresh items like berries, carrot sticks or whole raw nuts. It’s a small change that can make a big difference. 

Third, make sure you are eating enough quality protein. Most Americans believe they eat enough protein, but in reality, our culture is highly deficient in the protein area. Shoot for .7-1.0 grams per pound of body weight. Simply multiply your body weight by .7 (or up to 1.0, depending on activity level) to determine how many grams of protein you need per day. Email me if you need help with this. 

Lastly, there are some great supplements that can help. The top two being Omega-3’s and B-Complex Vitamins. Deficiencies in these micronutrients have far reaching neurological problems. Much research has found that EPA and DHA, which are the two principal omega-3 fats, benefit a wide range of mood problems, including anxiety, depression, and anger. Likewise, B-complex vitamins have been found to be integral in supporting mood and brain energy levels. Try adding in 1-3 grams per day of fish oil and a high potency B-complex vitamin supplement in addition to a whole foods diet. 

Making a few small changes could be the difference in mental health for you.

Need help figuring all this out? CONTACT ME & let’s work together to get you to your healthiest life ever!

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

Simple Nutrition Habits

The nutrition world is full of advice on how to make nutrition work. The problem is that all the meal plans, diet drinks, supplements, misleading information & weight loss propaganda, will never work if it isn’t sustainable. And, well to be blunt, it isn’t sustainable. 

The truth is that keeping nutrition simple is the only method that is proven to work time & time again. 

There is no magic pill or potion that will cure your sugar addiction. There is no plan that will make you lose 10 pounds in 10 days that will actually last beyond the 10 days. In fact, simple nutrition is the best way. So, what does simple nutrition look like?

Simple nutrition looks like progress over perfection. It looks like making a bunch of small choices that benefit your health over drastic ones that don’t last. 

Here are some basic nutrition habits that you can put into place to make a big difference in your health:

Don’t drink your calories – I’m not just talking about sugar laden coffee drinks or sodas. Even pure fruit juice can ruin your weight loss goals. You may be taking in way more calories & carbohydrates than you actually need for your day just by enjoying a simple glass of juice. Plus if you’re juicing to replace a meal, you’re missing out on many of the micronutrients & fiber available to you by simply eating the fruit or veggie that you are choosing to drink as a juice. Most everything that is not water, unsweetened tea or coffee is just empty calories!

Drink water with every meal – drinking water can actually help you be mindful of when you are full. Sometimes thirst actually feels like hunger. So making sure to consume plenty of water during the day. Drinking at least 8 ounces before every meal can help you stay on track with eating the right amount of food. 

Eat veggies at every meal – not only does the fiber content & water contained in vegetables help you feel satiated longer, but you will get a ton of vitamins & minerals from eating lots of them.  Make sure not to oversoak veggies in oil because that will make them soggy. Roasting with quality spray oil at 425 will yield perfectly crisp vegetables & many veggies like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli & snap peas are super easy to wash & prep into portioned containers for quick snacks.

Make calculated indulgence choices – never, ever say “never again” to dessert or special treats. Why? Because deciding to never again indulge, will lead you straight into a pit of binging. Thus the “diet cycle” will continue. I encourage my clients to indulge, but to know when the right time is to do so. Indulgences should always be shared with someone. That way they never lead to a secret binge session or overeating until you feel stuffed & ashamed. When we have a special meal or dessert with someone else, it deepens the emotions tied to those relationships. Make sure to take the time to be mindful of how good the item tastes. Savor it as you eat it. 

Avoid “triggers” – do you overeat when you have alcohol? Do you indulge too much when you are stressed or tired? Do you know that you always eat the whole bag of a certain flavor of chips? If so, then do your best to avoid these things. Also, use some retraining methods to form new neuropathways in your brain surrounding your triggers. Doing so will require some mindful changes in how you enjoy those things going forward but it will help keep you out of the pit of guilt & shame. 

If something is too hard to follow, it is already set up as a recipe for failure. Making your nutrition choices simple will keep you going straight on the path you really want to be on.

Need help with your decisions surrounding nutrition? CONTACT ME & let’s work together to get you to a place of weight loss or weight management through grace not guilt.

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

Here's Why Hunger is Important

Are you the type of person who wakes up & isn’t hungry for hours upon hours? If so, there might be a problem.

 Hunger is in fact, a God-given signal that your body needs some energy. And food is where we get that energy from. It’s actually not a good thing if you can go for hours & hours without feeling any hunger.

All of the cellular processes in our body depend on eating enough & the right type of food to work well.  Your energy, brain function, hormone production, and much more are all dependent on food. 

Not feeling hungry may be a sign that your metabolism isn’t working the way it should. Did you know that the less you eat, the more you slow down your metabolism? That’s right, eating more (of the right foods), will actually increase your metabolism.

Some other reasons why you might not be hungry may include:

Stress – stress hormones slow down digestion & can cause hunger hormones to tank.  Try reducing stress by mindful practices such as slowing down meals, yoga & self-care practices.

Medications – low appetite is a common side effect of many medications. If this is something you experience, please discuss this with your doctor.

Aging – hunger slows down as we age due to changing hormones, loss of muscle & decreased calorie needs. It’s extremely important that as we age, we remember to eat high quality, high quantity whole foods with a healthy dose of good fats from things like avocados, coconut oil, fish & nuts.

Sleep (actually a lack of) – Ghrelin is the hormone that is made while you sleep which tells your body you are hungry. Low ghrelin levels could leave you never feeling a growling stomach. A lack of sleep is also connected with high insulin levels. As you are likely aware, high insulin levels for a sustained time period can lead to insulin resistance which can lead to type 2 Diabetes. Sleep is extremely important for maintaining good functions in your body!

Hunger cues help us know when to eat which in turn helps us have the energy we need to live well. 

Eating enough food is truly crucial to maintaining a healthy weight. While it may seem logical that eating less would cause weight loss, that scenario only works for a short time period. Eventually, the body hits a “plateau”, which you’ve likely experienced if you’ve ever dieted for an extended time. 

What causes that plateau is often that the body decides you are starving it, so it begins to hold on to all extra energy & thus forgoes weight loss as a self-preservation measure.

To be sure you are eating enough, check out Are You Undernourished and Eat More, Lose Weight. If you’re interested in also increasing your metabolism through food and exercise, check out, Make Your Metabolism Work 24 Hours a Day.

Remember not being hungry is not ideal.

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

How to stay on track with healthy eating when life gets busy

Let’s face it. The busyness of life can get in the way of a lot of things, but the easiest thing to get derailed when life gets crazy is eating healthy.

Why is it that the one thing we need the most to give us sustained energy for our busy life, is the first thing we put on the back burner (no pun intended)?

When I coach my nutrition clients, there are several things I see over & over that derail people’s best intentions for healthy eating when life gets busy. I believe taking the time to notice these things, will be the way to stop the roadblocks that seem to detour your healthy eating plans. 

First, many people only make a mental plan of how they want their nutrition to look. As great as it may seem to make goals in your head, if they are not written down, those goals are just less likely to succeed. So, take some time to write down what you want out of healthy eating. Is it to keep insulin levels in a normal range? Is it to have enough energy to play with your kids at the end of the day? Or maybe it is simply because you know how good you feel when you are eating whole foods as most of your diet. 

Second, many people simply try to eat healthy because it’s on their “I should do this” list. If you are not rock solid on the reason why you want to eat healthy, it will be super easy to choose unhealthy foods when life gets busy. But when you know your why, your how becomes a whole lot easier.  

Lastly, time management can be one of the biggest issues when it comes to “having time” to eat healthy. If you are already overwhelmed with life, it is going to be much harder to make choices about nutrient rich foods & much easier to choose pre-made, pre-packaged & convenience foods. Honestly evaluating your schedule may help you realize you actually do have some time at the beginning of the week to meal prep or that there is enough time each evening to make a 30-minute meal that is full of quality nutrition. 

If you struggle in any of these areas, CONTACT ME & let me help you figure out a plan to get your nutrition back on track even in the middle of a busy life!

Get a free 5-day E-book to start your transformative health journey from a
Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

6 ways to make cooking fun

Eating is essential for living, and even those who don’t love cooking have to figure out ways to make food. Though eating out is an option, doing so is not only more expensive than cooking at home, but also makes it impossible to be completely sure what ingredients are used in the food you’re consuming. When health & nutrition are important, eating out has to become a rare occasion & that’s why I want to help you find ways to make cooking more fun!

Here are 6 ways that you can make cooking more fun:

1.     Get inspired – spend a little time on Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, searching through actual cookbooks, or perusing The Nourished Body and Soul’s recipe section.  One of my favorite new ways to find inspiration is by watching YouTube videos. Two of my favorites are Downshiftology and Pick Up Limes.

2.     Play your favorite tunes – spend a little time creating a playlist of songs you love to jam out to. You know the ones that make you want to sing really loud & dance a little. This can completely change the mood of your kitchen.

3.     Give yourself a break by cooking double – most recipes are easily doubled, so every time you cook, make extra for a leftover night the next day or to put away in the freezer for next month. Imagine you could cook double meals for an entire month, freeze them & then not have to cook again the whole entire next month!

4.     Stock up on spices – spices change everything. You can use the exact same meat, but create a Mexican, Asian or Indian dish all depending on the spice you choose to use. Spices are also the key to making homemade foods taste as good as what you get at a restaurant. 

5.     Make your own condiments, sauces & dressings – you would be surprised to find how incredibly easy most condiments, sauces & dressings are to make at home. Not only do you get to be absolutely sure of the quality of ingredients in them when you make them yourself, but it’s super fun to get to try new recipes for condiments, sauces & dressings. Try this Romesco Sauce to add to just about any protein to make a creative meal.

6.     Invest in good kitchen tools – having the right tools can make all the difference in the world. For instance, a good waffle maker will keep your waffles from sticking, a good food processor will be able to complete any task you give it & a good blender can help make the new condiments, sauces & dressings you are going to try.

 I hope these ideas help you make your kitchen a place you enjoy! 

Make your metabolism work 24 hours a day

Metabolism. It is evasive. You know it’s there but how can you tell how well it’s working?

 It’s somewhat like the wind. You can’t see it, touch it or hear it, and more importantly, you can’t measure it very easily.

So how can you know if your metabolism is doing its job?

Most people want a faster metabolism, but they don’t know how to get it. A few people are genetically blessed with a speedy metabolism but for the most part, diet & lifestyle are the key factors to keeping this important factor working well in our bodies. And to make matters harder, after the age of 40, most people’s metabolism begins to slow drastically.

Though you can’t control your age or inherited DNA, there are some things you can control that will help lead to a better metabolism.

Here are the top 3 ways to improve your invisible friend:

  • Lift weights – Building muscle is the number 1 way to increase metabolism.  That is because everyone has a resting metabolic rate (RMR).  Your RMR is what your body uses to keep the most basic cellular functions going in your body.  Every pound of muscle you have uses 6 calories a day, but every pound of fat only uses 2 calories per day. That means more muscle & less body fat increases your overall metabolism. Muscle is built by weight training. There is no way around it.

  • Eat more whole foods – Whole foods are complex, which means it takes your body longer to digest them and it uses them to fuel you over a longer period of time, which in turn helps increase your metabolism.  Whole foods have what is known as a thermic effect. Thermic effect is defined as the increase in metabolic rate after a meal. Your metabolic rate after a meal will not only be faster after eating whole foods, but it will last longer after eating whole foods. In other words, 2 cups of berries containing 120 calories is going to burn more & burn longer than 2 cookies containing 120 calories. The effect is the same when you eat quality sourced proteins and healthy fats as when you eat whole fruits & vegetables. Every whole food you eat will increase your metabolism so aiming to fill the majority of your meals with whole foods is getting you closer to building your metabolism.

  • Stop dieting – A diet seems like a good idea when you are wanting to take a little weight off. But that diet may actually be what is ruining your metabolism to begin with. Low calorie diets are a bad idea if you want your metabolism to actually work more. While you may drop a few pounds, most diets ask you to do this at the cost of good nutrition, which in turn actually hurts your chances of improving metabolism. Plus, fast weight loss generally means you are losing some muscle as well. And remember point #1 above, muscle increases metabolism.  And once you get off that diet, you are likely to gain weight back quicker because the diet slowed down your metabolism even more.  Pick a way of eating that includes whole foods & is sustainable in order to improve a waning metabolism from previous diets. 

The bottom line is that making these small changes can help your metabolism work harder for you 24 hours a day, give you a lot more energy & help you manage your weight in a way that is healthy. 

CONTACT ME & let me show you how to make these changes possible in your life!

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3 Weight Loss Myths Exposed

The latest diet trend is taking over.  You know the one you keep seeing on social media & the covers of magazines.   

The billion-dollar diet industry in America is what keeps people on the end of a yo-yo string of starting something new every Monday morning & feeling like a failure by Thursday afternoon. 

It’s because of this diet cycle, that people are so confused about what exactly they need to do to make a lifestyle change that is sustainable to lose weight & maintain a healthy weight.

Decisions that are made for short term goals are typically not the healthiest way to approach a goal such as weight loss.  And when you make a decision to go on one more diet you not only affect your weight, but you also affect your thinking & even more tangible things that can be measured like your blood sugar balance, adrenals, gut health & hormones. 

After working with many clients, I know how easy it is for people to fall into the trap of focusing solely on the scale & weight loss as the magic cure to all other problems. 

While wanting to lose weight isn’t a bad desire in itself, if you destroy other aspects of your health in the midst of trying to do so, then you might be doing just as much harm as you are good. Trendy diets have a tendency to only focus on the scale when there are so many other things that need to be addressed if you want to lose weight in a healthy way.

Here are 3 common myths people generally believe about weight loss: 

  • Calories are the main thing – Calories in, calories out only works on a theoretical level.  As a general rule, the estimation of calories eaten, calories in a food & calories burned during a workout can be off by 100-200 calories per item.  So, while calorie tracking can have benefits, it’s definitely not the only or the best way for some to lose weight. 

  • Complete food groups must be cut out – If losing weight requires losing an entire macro group such as fats, carbs or proteins, then it’s probably not a sustainable approach. While you might get results by following a plan such as keto or low carb, you aren’t likely to be able to follow it forever. With plans like this, as soon as a person adds back in the macro group that was lost, they often also add back on the weight that was lost. This is generally due to not actually learning how to eat balanced meals but instead just following dieting rules.  While some of these have good results, they aren’t all good for every part of your body such as the things we discussed in myth 1. Information you google or what you find on Facebook doesn’t know your body & doesn’t know if that style of eating is actually good for you.  This is best determined by a nutrition professional.

  • If it fits your macros (iifym) – Basically this myth says that if you eat things that fit into your macros, then you could eat anything you want.  Pizza, Doritos, ice cream are all okay as long as you eat the amount that fits in your macronutrient profile. But this method doesn’t address what these foods actually do on a cellular level in your body.  While you may see initial weight loss with this plan, eventually the inflammation caused by processed foods like these will not only halt weight loss but may lead you to some other health issues such as diabetes & heart disease. 

Weight loss isn’t just about what you eat.  It’s also about your cells, your hormones & how your body is responding to the food you eat. It’s about how much energy you have, your emotional health & if the path you’ve chosen is sustainable.

If you’re struggling to find your way with a weight loss program, CONTACT ME & let me show you how I’ve helped so many other people find true freedom in their nutrition journey.

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Biblical perspective by clicking the button below!

Do You Have Disordered Eating Patterns?

If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written or heard me speak, you’ve noticed how I emphasize over & over the importance of breaking the “diet mentality”.  Besides the slew of physical problems that are created by a diet mentality, there are mental ones that come along for the ride as well.

The problems often manifest in Disordered Eating Patterns (DEP).  Disordered Eating Patterns are complicated, multi-faceted behaviors.  DEP comes from not only years of yo-yo dieting, but can also stem from social, familial & genetic issues.

Here’s what Disordered Eating Patterns actually are:

·      Any type of eating that regularly doesn’t match physiological needs – This could mean eating too little or too much on a consistent basis.

·      Eating behaviors that interfere with & harm proper physical, psychological & interpersonal functioning – These are behaviors that alienate & isolate people from their deeper selves, other people & the world around them.

·      A systematic & longstanding preoccupation with food (whether eating or not eating) – This is pretty self-explanatory & goes back to “diet rules” but is made more complex by an extreme focus on those rules.

·      Eating behaviors that both relieve distress & cause distress – This is eating as a method of self-soothing, distraction from situations, avoiding experiences, helping to manage feelings, or as a coping mechanism to a problem.  This way of eating comes in to play in order to relieve distress but then causes distress such as guilt, shame, weight gain, etc. 

Disordered Eating Patterns are a full body, full person, full life experience that has multiple dimensions.  It involves thoughts, beliefs, feelings, physical sensations & personal narratives about the “story” of who we are & how the world around us works.

All of these have reason, function & purpose.  It’s as though Disordered Eating Patterns have a job to do in our life.  

Most importantly, Disordered Eating Patterns are a coping mechanism & a seeming solution to another problem, however ludicrous it may be.

Just like other addictions, Disordered Eating Patterns are never the original problem. There is always an underlying issue that leads us to DEP.  Disordered Eating Patterns are simply a distress signal that something deeper is wrong.

Simply put, if you ever feel guilt, shame or an obsessive need for control surrounding food choices, there is likely some form of Disordered Eating in your life.

People with a Disordered Eating Pattern mindset often say things like, “I shouldn’t eat that” or “I can’t have that.” They also typically struggle with black & white rules surrounding food. There is no room for error or “gray areas” in their rules.

Other things people with DEP experience are periods of compensation & bargaining with themselves.  This is an episode where they feel like they’ve made “bad” choices, so they compensate with purging, over-exercising & fasting (not in a healthy way).  Restricting food, finding another, seemingly better “plan” & cleansing or detoxing are other telltale signs that a person is struggling with Disordered Eating Patterns in their life.

What can you do about Disordered Eating Patterns?  I’d like for us to pull that answer from a passage where Paul talks about how we as believers have the ability to do anything we want to do.  

“I have the right to do anything” – you say, but not everything is beneficial.
“I have the right to do anything” – you say, but not everything is constructive.
1 Corinthians 10:23

This passage tells us that you can do whatever you want to do, but beware: all the things your flesh wants you to do aren’t beneficial for you.  Not everything that you think will bring you happiness is actually going be constructive for building you up.

Any Disordered Eating Patterns that might surface in your life come from somewhere in your heart that is searching for what you think will bring happiness, freedom or abundance.  But what Paul tells us later in that same chapter is that everything we do should be for the glory of God (vs. 31). 

How does that work into our Disordered Eating Patterns?  

It stops us from using food as a comfort for painful feelings by driving us to God with our wounds.  It keeps us from over-indulging in food because we know in Jesus, we always have enough.  It stops our extreme dieting by reassuring us that our worth & value are not found in how much we weigh or the size of our clothes.

Knowing we have the right to do whatever we want & yet choosing to do what glorifies God (self-control in the Spirit) is the path out of Disordered Eating Patterns.

Do you think you might have Disordered Eating Patterns? CONTACT ME & let me help you find out how to break them through God’s Un-diet. A way of life that brings sustainable weight management through grace, not guilt.

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Eat More, Lose Weight

The “calories in, calories out” philosophy does work: if you burn more calories than you take in, it is a surefire way to lose weight.  But this methodology isn’t always sustainable because not all calories aren’t created equal.

Following a 3 shakes & a sensible dinner plan is also a surefire way to slow down your metabolism.  Why is this the case if those shakes equal the same number of calories as a meal?

You see, in terms of nutrition, our body can only work as well as the cells that we are comprised of.  Your cells are the most basic functional unit of your body.  Cells have 2 roles in our body: get nutrients from the food we eat & use those nutrients as fuel to keep us alive.  How well your body does this depends on how well your cells work.

At the most basic level, your cells need to absorb & digest nutrients well in order to perform a cellular task known as metabolism.  

If we want a good metabolism, we need the right nutrients in the right amounts.  When we eat well, our cells function well, thereby increasing our metabolism.  When we don’t eat well, problems happen. 

So how does eating more real, whole food cause your metabolism to increase? It’s an amazing system God designed when He gave us the feeling of hunger.  

When you feel that first hunger pang, your body has already begun the process of preparing to eat.  This alerts your body to expect food & nutrients to arrive.  Then when you smell the food you are about to eat, your mouth begins to salivate.  This salivating process combined with chewing, is the crucial in the digestion process.  

Digestion is what leads to your body’s ability to use the nutrients you just ate.  If you are drinking every meal, your body begins to slow down digestion to self-preserve, which also means it slows down your metabolism.

This is just one example of how your metabolism slows down.  There are many other factors throughout life that can slow it as well, such as, stress & anxiety, medications, over-eating, hormones, lack of sleep & yo-yo dieting.

No matter the cause of slow metabolism, the only way to get your body back on track is to begin with a foundation of a variety of minimally processed whole foods.

While it may sound sensible to just eat less food or eat less often if you want to lose weight, this isn’t the best way to do it.  

If you’ve ever tried the “eat less” approach, you know it isn’t easy.  That’s because living in a state of deprivation causes a domino effect of physical & emotional problems.

If you want to see significant, long term changes to your body & overall health, eating more whole foods, more often is the majority of the battle.  It has been estimated that 80% of our body composition comes from what we eat.

Eating more frequent, whole foods-based meals will increase your metabolism.  Three solid meals + 2 healthy snacks in during the day beats barely eating all day & then cramming down an enormous meal because you’re starving at night.

Eating smaller, yet more frequent meals, burns more energy, simply through digestion whereas eating a large meal can put a heavy strain on your digestive system.  Only so much can be put to work for energy at one time, which means the rest of it likely takes up residence in your body as stored fat.  Eating too much at one time will also cause a blood sugar spike, which will in turn make you feel like you have low energy shortly after eating.

Despite not asking you to reduce your caloric intake, I guarantee that eating a whole foods-based approach will result in lower caloric intake.  This is because your body will level off & begin to realize you are feeding it well. 

By sustaining this method of whole foods, for an extended time period, your body will in turn begin sending fewer messages that a late night ice cream run is necessary.  Following this direction long term will increase your metabolism & decrease your cravings.

Because this way of eating is built on balance with a focus on your health, your mind & body will respond positively.  And there will never be a need to cycle off, drastically change or deprive yourself of food.

Most nutrition clients I work with come to me wanting a diet that will give them immediate results.  Unfortunately, this just isn’t sustainable.  You will see results within a couple of weeks of eating a whole foods based approach, however, the foundation of long-term change is crucial.  

It reminds me of the story Jesus told in the gospel of Matthew.  

“Everyone who hears My teaching & applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his
house on an unshakeable foundation.  When the rains fell & the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his 
house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation.  But everyone who hears my teaching & does not
apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained & rained & the flood came, with wind & waves beating upon his house, it collapsed & was swept away.”  {Matthew 7:24-27 TPT}

Just as we must build a lifetime of right living on the words of Jesus, so we must build lifelong habits of choosing whole foods in order to reap the benefits of health.

Here are some things we can keep in mind when building our life in Jesus & our life of health: 

·      We must lay the foundation first – It’s too late to think about weatherproofing our home once the storm hits.  It’s the same with our eating habits.  The night out with friends, the leftover cake & the extra-large popcorn at the movies will overcome you if you don’t have a foundation of choosing whole foods for the sake of health first.

·      We need outside help – Having a friend, family member or nutrition coach who can keep you focused on your why & your path to achieve that goal.  Deep, supportive relationships are crucial when it comes to protecting our house {aka our body}.

·      We need to consider how much storm damage will cost – Making certain choices about what you will & won’t consume in regard to food may cost you something from day-to-day.  However, the cost will be insignificant when compared to the cost of long term effects of choosing quick over quality, or momentary flavor over long-term satisfaction.  You might have to make a hard decision not go out with friends because you know it is your pitfall for eating or drinking too much.  You may have to sacrifice a couple of hours on the weekend for meal prep because you know that your weekday schedule is not going to allow you time to make a whole foods meal.

The sacrifice of choosing daily health is much less than the cost of collapse under the weight of guilt, shame, regret or long-term health problems.

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Is your sleep affecting your weight loss?

For some reason our culture has morphed being tired into some sort of badge of honor.  

Maybe it comes from the root of wanting people to believe we have so much to do in our lives we don’t have time for sleep, maybe it springs up out of wanting to pine away hours in a hipster coffee shop (who needs sleep when you can function on caffeine?), or maybe it is an issue you’ve faced for much of your life where good sleep always seems physiologically just beyond reach.

There are many valid reasons why someone doesn’t get enough sleep during certain seasons of life, such as a new baby or taking care of an ill loved one.  There are also many people who face real hormonal imbalances that make quality & quantity sleep unattainable.  But there are also many people who just choose to go to bed too late or allow stress & anxieties to rob them from a good night’s rest.  

Then His disciples said, “Lord if he sleeps he will get well.”  {John 11:12}

People in ancient times were in tune with the fact that sleeping makes us well.  In this case, the scripture refers to getting well from a sickness, but sleep makes us well in many ways.  

Adequate sleep allows our bodies to heal & produce hormones that help all of our organs & our brains function normally.  Better functioning organs & brains leads to better food & health decisions overall, plus scientifically leads to a healthier weight.

Our Creator, gave us sleep to restore us from not only our physical tiredness but so that our body could work on healing itself in the cover of night.  

If you’ve ever taken care of a sick person with a high fever, you know that the fever almost always “breaks” when the person is asleep.  They will wake up covered completely in sweat.  This is because while we sleep our nervous system is hard at work to keep our body functioning properly.  

Sleep is crucial to balancing health.  

A lack of sleep affects our mood & cognitive function but, like stress, it can also affect our weight-loss or weight maintenance.

When you sleep, there are two specific hormones made in your body.  One is called Leptin & the other is called Ghrelin.  These two hormones tell your body when it’s full & when it’s hungry.  If you are lacking in sleep & you don’t make enough of these hormones, it’s likely that you will not recognize proper signals of when you are full & when you are hungry.

Have you ever noticed when you’re tired you crave food?  This is the body’s response to needing energy.  Even if you don’t feel a physical hunger, Leptin & Ghrelin are at war inside of you, trying to make you eat.

If you want to level out food cravings & likely get to a place where you can balance weight-loss or maintain weight, getting enough sleep is your first line of defense.

Though it seems like going to bed should be natural, our modern culture gives us so many distractions that getting in bed no longer happens in a natural rhythm.  

 So how do we conquer the problem of getting enough sleep?

 First, decide on a bedtime that will actually work for you, but make sure it gives you ample sleep before the alarm goes off. 

Second, ask someone in your house to keep you accountable to getting in bed on time.  If you live alone, ask a friend to keep you accountable.  Even knowing that you will need to report your sleep habits to someone will give you cause to keep to your goal.

Third, use a sleep tracker on your watch or phone. Making sure you get plenty of sleep might move into a priority when you have a way of tracking your progress in your pursuit.

If you are someone who truly struggles with falling asleep, consider taking some of the following scriptures & writing them on note cards.  Place them next to your bed & read them every night before you lie down to sleep.  Let the Word of God be the last thoughts that you meditate on before you go to sleep.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.  {Proverbs 3:24}

 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.  {Psalm 3:5}

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.  {Psalm 4:8} 

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.  {Psalm 127:2}

 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  {Psalm 91:1 NIV}

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5 Myths of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is the latest diet revolution to sweep the country.  However, this powerful health tool, which can and has changed the lives of many people, is often misused & misunderstood.

Fasting has been around since the beginning of time.  Some fasting is used for spiritual purposes, but as early as the second century A.D., people have used it for its health benefits as well.  It was noted by Greek doctors & scholars that fasting could make a person well & clear the mind.

Of course, the centuries old version of fasting came not only from choosing to limit food to a certain eating window but also from the very real fact that food wasn’t always readily available, nor was it convenient.

While I am a huge proponent of eating enough food, I am also keenly aware that IF works & provides many health benefits.  I never recommend my clients start with Intermittent Fasting, but instead use it as a tool once they have a firm foundation of whole food eating.

I find that people are very confused about IF because of the vast amount of information available through social media, internet articles, mainstream publications & word of mouth. 

Simply put, Intermittent Fasting puts an emphasis on when you eat & the time you spend between eating your last meal of the day & the first time you eat the next day(s).

But as most things relating to nutrition are, IF is a little more complicated than just the amount of time in which you eat or don’t eat.  The problem with the modern-day version of this ancient health tool is that it has been complicated by too much misinformation, thereby leading to a lot of misunderstanding.  

So, let’s clear up some of the myths floating around about intermittent fasting:

MYTH #1 – it’s is a great way to lose weight
While losing weight will likely be a benefit to Intermittent Fasting, it is not a weight loss program.  An IF program, whether used daily, certain days of the week or longer time periods, is designed to improve health, including insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, heart & other disease risk, & brain health. While there are several different methods to using IF as a health benefit, research has shown that all of them improve things like bloating, mental clarity & cravings.  Over time, these things lead to choosing smarter & being mindful of what you eat, which in turn leads to weight loss & management.  IF is not a quick fix & it will likely take several weeks or months on a specifically designed plan for you to notice changes.  Working with a nutrition coach is the best way to make a plan.

MYTH #2 – you can eat anything you want during your fasting window
I cringe every time I hear someone say this or read it in an Intermittent Fasting article.  This method does not lend itself to improving your actual health, but instead just puts you into a diet mindset where all you need is a little willpower in order to put off indulgence.  It makes absolutely no sense to follow an IF pattern but eat foods that are full of processed ingredients.  Keeping meals to whole food choices is the only real way to allow IF to do its job of reviving your cells so that your body makes positive changes, such as increasing metabolism & regenerating healthy cells to give you energy, & decreasing odds for diseases. 

MYTH #3 – it slows your metabolism
The opposite is actually true: while traditional diets slow metabolism, IF has been proven to help maintain muscle tissue which is the key source for increasing metabolism.  This is because when you fast, your body produces a hormone called human growth hormone (hgh) which increases the burn of stored body fat.  While traditional dieting causes your body to slow down because it learns how to function on fewer calories, IF causes your body to use the energy stored in your cells.

MYTH #4 – it makes you binge later
It would seem that if you refrain from eating for a long period of time you would initially want to stuff yourself with food when you finally get to eat.  But this just isn’t the norm with IF.  When a person is doing Intermittent Fasting correctly, ghrelin, an appetite boosting hormone declines over time.  In turn, leptin, the hormone that tells you when you’re full, works better because you are more aware of how you are feeling. 

MYTH #5 – it makes you sluggish
Generally people believe this because in the past when they have felt hungry, they might have gotten shaky or light headed.  These are typical signs of hypoglycemia, a condition which occurs when your blood sugar drops.  But your body is smart & it has many parts that store food energy to use when needed.  When you fast, your body turns stored fat into fuel & your liver breaks down stored fat into ketones & can even make new glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. Simply put, if doing IF correctly, you should not feel sluggish or have blood sugar issues.

Overall, Intermittent Fasting is a great tool for someone who has built a foundation of eating whole foods & has a good handle on their nutrition.  It is not however, a good resource for someone who is a chronic dieter, has a history of eating disorders, is pregnant or breastfeeding or someone who is already underweight.  

And as for those with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who want to consider IF; it is possible for it to be done safely, but only with the supervision of medical personnel.  

If you are considering Intermittent Fasting, please CONTACT ME & let me help you find the right plan for your life & your specific body needs.