3 tips to losing weight without losing your mind

Losing weight can be a long, ongoing process and it is too easy to "throw in the towel", so to speak.  This is primarily due to frustrations because of slow results or the seeming lack of results.  Keep your sanity in your weight loss goals - learn how to take the little strides to achieve your long term weight loss goals.

1. Make a plan

Do you have a plan?  People sometimes get confused by plans and goals. The end result goal in your case is weight loss, the plan is the means you are going to use to get there.  While you will undoubtedly have short term goals and a long term goal, they are not your plan.  A plan would consist of, for example, eating breakfast; walking a half hour per day; not eating after 8pm; eliminating soda from your daily routine; etc.  These are plans that can help you reach your goal of weight loss.  If you've tried certain things before and they didn't work because of your lack of commitment then try loosening the plan a little for something that you could easily achieve without pushing yourself too hard. If you have a plan of walking/running 1 hour a day but you think that you might give up too easily on that: shoot for 15 minutes a day & once you've made the 15 minutes try and push yourself for 15 minutes more.  You're much better off making a plan for 15 minutes of walking a day and doing it than making a plan of walking 1 hour a day and never leaving the couch.

2. Execute the plan

The greatest weight loss plan in the world will do no good if you don't use it.  That's where so many people fail is that they want to lose the weight but aren't willing to take any steps to actually meet their goals.  It's like someone saying "I want to make $5,000 this month" but doesn't have a job and never leaves the couch to look for one.  A job is no more going to show up at your door and give you $5,000 for sitting than you are going to lose weight if you continue to do nothing about it.  Again, if your plan is not something you think you can commit to: loosen up your plan to something that is feasible given your lifestyle and situation.

3. See the plan through

Keep on keeping on, stay focused on your weight loss goals, and don't give up.  It is not the easiest thing getting started, but it is a proven fact that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Keep your plan up for a few weeks and you'll be well on your way to your weight loss goals.

By simply creating a plan, working a plan and staying with it, you'll soon begin to see results with your weight loss goals.  Sometimes it only takes us seeing the start of results to get us really motivated to take the weight off.

For a plan that you can stick to and execute at your own pace, click here!

Love can make you desire a healthier life

Most people make promises to get healthier but never seem to attain their goals. Perhaps it is because of lack of motivation. Well, one thing can help with increasing the enthusiasm for self-improvement through weight loss.  Love …it’s a beautiful thing.

One of the many reasons why several people let themselves go in the first place is by overeating and lack of exercise. This may be due to an intense loneliness and the need to compensate for this. “No one wants me anyway”, they’d say or think to themselves in self-pity “so it shouldn’t matter what I look like, so let me enjoy something at least!”

I get it. However, it is not the right approach to handling the situation. Instead of resorting to unhealthy binges as a resort to compensate for being alone, why not occupy your time making the effort to focus on you and exploring a wellness journey. In the meantime, that special someone may just be around the corner.

It is a known fact that the first thing people judge others on is their appearance. If you don’t look as appealing or at least come off as being concerned about your appearance to some degree, this could be an instant turn-off to most people. People aren’t perfect so it is what is, right?

So, instead of giving up on yourself, work on yourself. Eat like you love yourself. Move like you love yourself. When you make the effort to be healthier and fitter, you automatically create the foundation for increased self-confidence, happiness and a positive outlook on life…and that’s attractive!

How about being in love with you?

That’s a start. When you love yourself (not being vain or overly superficial now), you will make the effort to always look and BE your best naturally. As a result, that motivation could and should serve as the spur to action to start a journey to live a healthier life.

Now, if you are in a relationship already, this should serve as a motivation to want to look and be your best for you AND your partner. To simply let things get out of hand with your health and appearance can make you appear less attractive to your partner, in spite of whatever people say about “it’s not what’s on the outside that matters…” Again, it is what it is.

Did I mention that excess weight and poor fitness levels can obstruct what may have been a healthy and happy sex life for two people in love? Listen, I didn’t make the rules…But I do know by recent studies I’ve read (and by my own experience) the better you eat and the more you move the higher the sex drive in both men and women.💏*cue the music…boom chika wow wow*. So, don’t let lack of discipline mess up a good thing or prevent you from spicing things up a little bit. Here’s an idea…start a wellness journey together!

For a simple to follow plan that will inspire you to work out more, eat better and attract more love in your life, click here.

Here’s to a healthy and happier you.

Sources:

How to boost your libido: 10 natural methods (medicalnewstoday.com)

How To Increase Libido: 7 Ways To Boost Sex Drive – Forbes Health

How Exercise Can Improve Your Sex Drive (healthgrades.com)

How to Lose Weight At Home Without Starving Yourself

Many people believe that weight loss is a painful thing. To shift those stubborn pounds, you must go hungry all the time. Many are afraid to even set a weight loss goal because they can’t stand the thought of going hungry and the frustrations that it brings.

For a lot of people, it's just better to be overweight than to suffer hunger pangs. 

Well, who can blame them? 

If the only way to lose weight or stay slim was to go hungry all the time very few people would be at their ideal weight and the vast majority of the planet would be extremely overweight! It isn’t necessary.

Our body is a marvelous device. It is truly amazing! Its natural rhythm and internal workings tell us when we are hungry. It has a self-protection mechanism that lets you know when you need to stock up on fuel. A hunger signal is the body notifying you that you NEED to eat in order for you to sustain a healthy level of energy and have the reserves necessary for healing, repair and maintenance of your cells. Serious hunger pangs are a strong self-preservation signal from the body that it is in danger and needs food immediately to restore its balance. These signals should not be ignored!

Your body has no idea that food is in plentiful supply and that it is one of the cheapest commodities of the 21st Century. Your body is acting the same way your ancient ancestor’s bodies worked. The general design of the human body hasn’t changed one bit since then. When your ancient ancestors were living in caves they relied on their ability to hunt for food to feed themselves. Sometimes they would go days or weeks without a kill and the body would send them warning signals that they were in serious danger. When they did eat, the body immediately, being still in self-preservation mode, stored as much of the energy as it could in reserve as FAT! Your body works in exactly the same way today.

Starving yourself just doesn’t work. It goes against nature to think that you can starve yourself and lose weight. Of course, there are people who just don’t take in anywhere near enough food to sustain themselves, but we all know the effects of this kind of dieting! When you’re done starving yourself and resume eating normally, you can gain up to twice as much as the weight you lost in half the time. In fact, starving yourself could be a sign that you have an eating disorder. Please seek help from a medical professional if you find yourself skipping more than 2 meals a day on a regular basis.

So, we know that starvation diets don’t work, and you don’t want to spend 2 hours a day in the gym. How do we lose weight then? Well, the good news is you do not have to go hungry to lose weight. Nor do you need excessive amounts of exercise. The truth is, eating regular nutritional meals and allowing your body to fill itself to satisfaction is the key to reaching and maintaining a healthy, slim body. By not allowing yourself to go hungry you will in fact avoid overeating - which is the very thing that usually happens when you break a starvation diet.

One method is to eat five or six, fairly small, healthy meals divided up throughout your day. Instead of eating three large meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner, divide the same quantity of food into 6 meals instead and eat an extra small meal between a small breakfast and lunch, one between lunch and dinner and if you are hungry later have another one. Try to avoid having the last meal close to bedtime, anytime up to 2 hours before bed is all right. 

Don’t wait when you feel hungry. Eat as soon as you can. If you wait for a long period of time before you eat your body will go into panic mode, thinking that you don’t have enough resources to feed it and you will overeat! Therefore, eating frequent yet smaller meals will help to keep your body satisfied and you will be less likely to over-indulge.

Do not miss a meal in the hope that it will help burn some extra calories. You may believe that by skipping a meal you will save some calories or fat intake, but, as you have seen, the opposite tends to happen. In addition, if you go for a long period without a meal, you are much more likely to over-indulge when you get fed-up and can‘t take being hungry anymore. 

Did you also realize that by skipping meals you are actually slowing down your metabolism? Because your body thinks there is a food shortage it not only stores extra fat but it also slows down the amount of fat it burns. The body’s natural survival instinct is triggered, you put on extra weight and burn fewer calories and fat. As the body burns fat to convert into energy you will find that you become lethargic and tired. Starving yourself just doesn’t work!

In addition to eating smaller, more frequent meals, you should also teach yourself to eat slower. Place your knife and fork down between every bite and chew for a few seconds longer than normal. It can take us up to twenty 20 minutes to realize that the body is full and completely satisfied. When you eat at a fast pace “stuffing“ food into you before you have time to recognize the “full“ signal your body is sending your brain. When you eat at a slower pace you start to recognize these signals from your body and train yourself to identify them at an earlier stage.

Get a few minutes more of non-exercise activity (outside of your regularly scheduled work out session). To some of you this may sound like a lot. But all you have to do is split it up throughout the day. Leave for work with an extra 5 minutes to spare and walk to a bus stop further away from or park the car 5 minutes further away than you usually do. At lunch, take a 5-minute stroll or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk to the local shop instead of driving. It is easy to complete 15, 30 or even an hour of extra exercise everyday if you split it up like this. And remember don’t starve yourself, it just doesn’t work! Again, starving yourself could be a sign that you have an eating disorder. Please seek help from a medical professional if you find yourself skipping more than 2 meals a day on a regular basis.

A Healthy Guide to Good Nutrition

Whether you are at your ideal weight or striving to reach your weight goal is it simply a matter of burning more calories than you take in? The answer, I suggest, is no! Overall body composition and health improvement as well as weight gain or loss must be factored into the equation or you could be heading for problems. The right nutrition can help to reduce the risk of a myriad of health-related problems, the most frightening of which are surely heart disease and cancer. Proper nutrition, however, entails eating many different foods, monitoring your consumption of some food and beverage items, and counting calories. Good diets offer balanced nutrition that reduces cholesterol, blood pressure, and helps with weight control.

To function properly, your body must have the correct combination of nutrients:

Carbohydrates

They are the primary source of ammunition in your diet. The body uses carbohydrates to build glucose which can be used immediately or stored in your body for later. Too much glucose, however, is stored as fat. There are two types of carbohydrates - simple and complex. Sugars are simple carbohydrates. Starches and fibers are complex carbohydrates.

Proteins

Proteins help your body build and maintain muscles and other tissues. They also function in the creation of hormones. Like carbohydrates, excess protein is stored as fat. 

Animal and vegetable are the two major types of proteins. Too much animal protein can cause high cholesterol, as it is high in saturated fat.

Fat 

Strange as it may seem; fat is another nutrient your body requires. It comes in both saturated and unsaturated forms. Saturated fat puts you at risk of health problems. Unsaturated fat is healthy, but if it goes through any type of refinement process, it can become saturated fat.

Vitamins

These are also required nutrients. Different vitamins perform different tasks within the body. They can work with the metabolism to help with energy levels for any task you can think of that you need your body to perform. It has also been noted that certain vitamins can prevent disease. 

For example, vitamins A, C, and E, also called antioxidants, can assist with the prevention of coronary artery disease by keeping build up from occurring on artery walls. Vitamin B-1 is needed for digestion and proper nervous system function. Vitamin B-2 is needed for normal cell growth. Vitamin B-3 helps to detoxify your body. Folic acid assists with production of red blood cells. Vitamin D assists with the absorption of calcium. Vitamin K helps your blood clot. 

Minerals and trace elements

These are another nutrient your body requires. Both are used in many different body processes. Minerals like chlorine help make your digestive juices. Phosphorus helps build strong bones. Both can be found in the foods we consume, but with a trace element, your body just needs a tiny amount. Salt is one final nutrient your body requires. You should not consume more than 2400 milligrams per day, though, as it might raise your blood pressure. 

You should follow several guidelines to create a well-balanced, nutritional diet. First, try to consume 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit each day. When making your selections for each day, be sure to choose a good variety. A good rough guide is to eat as many different colors as possible, this will help you to select from all five vegetable subgroups at least four times per week.

You should eat at least three ounces of whole grain products each day. At least half of your grain intake should be whole grain based. Milk should also be part of a healthy diet. Consume at least forty-eight ounces of low-fat milk or milk products on a daily basis. Your total fat intake should only be between ten and thirty percent of your calories. Most of the fats you consume should be in the form of unsaturated fats, as saturated fats can do much to damage your health. Meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products should all be lean, low-fat, or fat-free. Less than ten percent of your calories should come from saturated fats, and you should always try to avoid trans-fatty acid.

Fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains should be a regular part of your diet as should potassium rich foods. Alcoholic beverages should only be consumed in moderation.

Excellent nutrition is the basis of a healthy diet. For simple meal plans that have all the components of this healthy guide to good nutrition and suits your lifestyle, TAKE THE QUIZ!

7 Reasons to Grow Your own organic vegetable garden

During the last few decades there has been a change towards mechanization and homogenization of farming, which uses pesticides, additives, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and mass-production techniques. All this is clearly affecting mankind's health, and new diseases are spreading rapidly amongst humans and animals (bird's flu being the most recent one). 

The World Health Organization produces reports to show how the use of chemicals and other products on food, coupled with the manufacturing processes involved, are actually a threat for our health. 

If you have space for a few pots or even a small piece of land, it is a wise decision to grow your own organic vegetable garden. Today I'm presenting you with seven reasons for doing this:

1. You will have no additives in your vegetables. Research by organic food associations has shown that additives in our food can cause heart diseases, osteoporosis, migraines and hyperactivity. 

2. There will be no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers used. These chemical products are applied to obtain crops all the time regardless of plagues or weather conditions and affect the quality of the vegetables. Besides, pesticides are usually poisonous to humans.

3. Your vegetables will not be genetically modified (GM). Antibiotics, drugs and hormones are used on vegetables to grow more and larger ones. One of the consequences of this practice are vegetables which look all the same and are usually tasteless. Besides, we end up consuming the hormones that have been used on the vegetables, with the potential risks for our health.

4. Eating your own organic vegetables will be healthier for you. They will not contain any of the products or chemicals named above, and they will be much more natural than any ones you would find at the supermarket. Your health will not be at risk because you will then know that nothing has been added to your vegetables.

5. Your own organic vegetables will be tastier. The use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics make vegetables grow unnaturally and take the taste away from them. With organic vegetables, your cooking will be enhanced as their flavor will show fully.

6. Organic farming is friendly to the environment. Because you won't use pesticides or other equally harming products on your vegetables, you will not damage the soil or the air with the chemical components.

7. When you grow your own organic vegetables you are contributing to your own self-sustainability and the sustainability of the planet. Small communities have been founded where members exchange products that they grow naturally, thus contributing to create a friendly and better place for us all.

In the end, eating organic products only means that we do not add anything else to them than they would naturally have. As you can guess, additives, fertilizers, pesticides or hormones are not components of naturally grown food. To better care for your health, grow your own organic vegetables -and a few pots is all you need.

10 Ways To Sneak Some Extra Fruits And Vegetables In Your Family’s Diet

We all know by now that we should be eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. But knowing and doing are two different things, aren’t they? Sometimes it is just not easy to get them all in there. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. If your family is anything like mine, they’d much rather fill up on a bag of chips or a bowl of rice or pasta instead of trying an apple or a plate of steamed broccoli. So we’ll have to get creative. Here are a few ideas to “sneak” some extra vegetables and fruits in your family’s diet. 

1. Start the day with a breakfast smoothie. 

All you have to do is throw some fruits, low-fat yogurt and ice in a blender. You may also want to add a scoop of protein powder in there for good measure. Just blend for a few seconds and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go. I like to sip mine about an hour before a sweaty yoga session. To make it even more appealing for your kids, use some frozen yogurt in the smoothie. They won’t believe that they’re not having a milk shake for breakfast. 

2. Dried fruit makes an excellent snack any time of the day. 

Add some small cartons of raisins to your child’s lunch box, pack some yogurt-covered raisins in your husband’s briefcase and keep some trail mix sitting around for snacking. You can also add dried fruit to oatmeal and cereal in the morning. My family loves banana chips in their breakfast cereal. 

3. Add some fruits and vegetables to your family’s sandwiches. 

You can add some banana, sliced apples or strawberry slices to a peanut butter sandwich. Top a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and anything else they will eat. You can even make a sub shop style vegetable sandwich by combining several different vegetables with some mayonnaise and cheese on bread. 

4. Have a salad bar at dinner. 

Set out a variety of chopped vegetables, some cheese and croutons as well as several choices of salad dressing along with the lettuce and let everybody create their own perfect salad. 

5. Let them drink their fruits and vegetables. 

Keep an assortment of fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and encourage everyone to drink them as a snack. Get creative. You could start “family cocktail hour” by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favorite juice over ice. Add some straws, cocktail umbrellas and sit together to talk about how everybody’s day went. 

6. Try this for dessert. 

Put a small scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit. 

7. Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks. 

You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter or cheese. Cube cheese and serve with grapes. Cut up some fresh veggies and serve them with ranch dip. And of course there’s ants on a log. Spread some cream cheese or peanut butter on the inside of a stick of celery and sprinkle raisins on it (wow, fruit and vegetable in one snack). 

8. Try some new fruits and vegetables. 

Pick something exotic to get your family’s curiosity. With a little luck their curiosity will outweigh their initial apprehension to trying something new. You could try artichokes, plantains, papaya, mango, star fruit, or anything else you can find in the produce department of your local store. 

9. Make a pot of vegetable soup or a stew that’s heavy on veggies and easy on the meat. 

Both of these make some great comfort food when the weather gets cold. 

10. Start “My Veggie Day”. 

Each family member gets to pick a vegetable one day of the week. They qualify to pick a vegetable as long as they tried each vegetable the week before, otherwise they lose a turn and Mom gets to pick. 

Incorporate a few of these ideas and you will have everyone in your family eating more fruits and vegetables in no time.

Bonus tip:

Now that everyone in the family has gotten a taste for it, make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies available and ready to snack on.

Eat Your Stress Goodbye - Stress Reducing Diet

When you’re stressed out, the foods that you’re turning to are most likely going to be traditional ‘comfort’ foods – think big meals, take-out, fatty foods, sweet foods, and alcohol. Let’s face it – we’ve all found some comfort in a tasty meal and a bottle of beer or glass of wine when we’ve been stressed out or upset about something. However, this isn’t a good permanent solution.

When you’re turning to unhealthy foods you can feel better temporarily, but in the long run, you will feel worse. When your body isn’t getting the right nutrition, you can begin to feel less energetic, more lethargic, and in some cases less able to concentrate and focus. All of this can lead to even more stress.

Foods that Fight Stress

If you’ve been feeling more stressed out than usual lately, it’s important to know which foods are best to choose and which to avoid when it comes to combating stress and helping you to deal with feelings of stress and anxiety. The best way to fight stress is to have a healthy, balanced diet which includes a moderate amount of each of the different food groups.

Filling up on foods such as whole grains, leafy vegetables, and lean proteins as the basic staples of the diet is the best way to ensure that your body gets the optimum amounts of nutrients to fight both physical and mental health problems. When it comes to choosing the foods to eat, some have a range of great properties which help the body to combat stress. Choosing these stress-busting foods will help to heal and calm your mind permanently, rather than providing a temporary fix.

Some of the best stress-fighting foods include:

Avocado - Avocados are a creamy and versatile fruit which can be eaten in a range of different ways whether you enjoy it raw, made into sauces, dressings and dips, or in a smoothie. These nutrient-dense fruits have the properties to stress-proof your body, thanks to their high glutathione content which specifically blocks the intestinal absorption of certain fats which cause oxidative damage. Avocados also contain higher levels of vitamin E, folate, and beta-carotene than any other fruit, which boosts their stress-busting properties. However, be careful with portion control when eating avocado, as it is high in fat.

Blueberries – If you’re feeling stressed out and reaching for the snacks, swapping chocolate or chips for one of the best superfoods is a great way to help you deal with your stress levels and achieve a higher level of calm. Blueberries have some of the highest levels of antioxidants, especially antho-cyanin, which means that this berry has been linked to a wide range of health benefits including sharper cognition, better focus, and a clearer mind – all of which can help you to better deal with stress.

Chamomile Tea – Of course, it’s not all about what you’re eating when it comes to managing stress; what you’re drinking can also alleviate or worsen the stress you're feeling. Drinking liquids which are high in sugars and caffeine, such as coffee, energy drinks or soda, can actually increase your stress levels if consumed regularly. Chamomile tea has long been used as a natural bedtime soother, and it has also been used in clinical trials, which determined that chamomile tea is effective in reducing the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

Chocolate – Although it’s usually seen as an unhealthy treat, there is an undeniable link between chocolate and our mood. Studies have shown that eating chocolate can actually make you happier. However, that doesn’t mean that you can start munching on chocolate bars every time you're stressed out – chocolate works best as a de-stressor when eaten in moderation and as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Dark chocolate in particular is best for you, as it contains more flavonols and polyphenols, two hugely important antioxidants which can help combat stress, more than many fruit juices.

Beef – Grass-fed beef is not only kinder to the planet and to animals, it’s also good for people too. Grass-fed beef has a huge range of antioxidants, including beta-carotene and Vitamins C and E, which can help your body to fight stress and anxiety. If you’re looking for more reasons to spend a little more money on organic, grass-fed beef, it’s also lower in fat than grain-fed beef while being higher in omega-3.

Oatmeal – Oatmeal is great in that it can be a filling comfort food, but also has a large number of healthy properties to actually make you feel better from the inside out. A complex carbohydrate, eating oatmeal causes your brain to produce higher levels of the feel-good chemical serotonin, helping you to feel calmer and less stressed. Studies have shown that kids who choose oatmeal for breakfast tend to be much sharper throughout the morning in school compared to kids who had alternative morning meals.

Walnuts – If you’re looking for a healthy snacking option which will help you to stay better in control of your stress levels, walnuts are a great choice. There is no denying the sweet, pleasant flavor of walnuts and they can be a tasty snack for in-between meals or as part of a desert. A versatile nut, walnuts are great for salads, or add them to a sweet treat such as coffee and walnut cake.

Pistachios – another food which is great for snacking on and can also help to combat stress and anxiety in the long term is pistachios. Studies have found that simply eating two small, snack-size portions of pistachios per day can lower vascular constriction when you are stressed, putting less pressure on your heart by further dilating your arteries. Along with this, the rhythmic, repetitive act of shelling pistachios can actually be quite therapeutic!

Green Leafy Vegetables – leafy, green vegetables should be a pivotal part of anyone’s diet. Along with helping to combat stress, leafy greens are full of nutrients and antioxidants which help to fight off disease and leave your body feeling healthier and more energized. Dark leafy greens, for example spinach, are especially good for you since they are rich in folate, which helps your body to produce more mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which is a ‘feel-good’ chemical. Making leafy greens a part of your diet will help you to feel happier and less stressed out overall.

Fermented foods – last but not least, eating fermented foods such as yogurt can help to keep your gut healthy, which actually in turn will help to improve your mental health and reduce stress levels. The beneficial bacteria which are found in fermented foods such as yogurt actually have a direct effect on your brain chemistry and transmit positive mood and behavior regulating signals to your brain via the vagus nerve.

Putting Together Your Diet Plan

Planning your meals wisely is key to not only staying physically fit and healthy, but also to staying mentally strong and being able to best manage your levels of stress. Knowing which foods to avoid and which are the best to reach for to snack on when you’re feeling worried and anxious is important to helping you get control over your emotions and fears.

When you’re feeling stressed, you may be tempted to reach for classic ‘comfort foods’ – usually foods which are laden with sugar, very starchy, or greasy. However, although these foods can make you feel momentarily better, they will actually make you feel worse in the long run.

Having stress-busting snacks such as fresh berries, dark chocolate, yogurt, walnuts or pistachios, or even a fruit smoothie with avocado and leafy greens in it can help you to feel better in both the short and long term when it comes to stress. When it comes to combating and dealing with stress in the long run, it’s important to make sure that for the most part, you are eating a diet which is healthy and balanced.

In order to stay on track, it’s a good idea to make a meal plan for your week and plan ahead to make sure that you have a good selection of these stress-busting foods in your kitchen to make meals and snacks from when you’re feeling like stress-eating. Making sure that the majority of your meals include foods such as lean proteins and leafy green vegetables will not only make you feel healthier overall, but can improve your mental health and stress levels, too.

A good example of a healthy, stress-busting menu would be:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries or a fruit smoothie with avocado and berries

Mid-morning snack: Natural yogurt with fruit or a handful of pistachio nuts

Lunch: A whole-grain pasta salad filled with plenty of leafy greens

Afternoon snack: Dark chocolate

Dinner: Grass-fed beef with vegetables

Before bed: Chamomile tea

Of course, you don’t need to stick to this menu – but it gives you a good idea! Remember to exercise good portion control when eating foods such as nuts, chocolate, yogurt or avocado! As the saying goes, you are what you eat – so make sure that first and foremost, you’re filling yourself up with foods which are good for your mental health.

Protein...your muscles' best friend

While getting protein from food is the best way to get your macronutrient daily dose, taking a protein supplement while training hard may be a good idea.

 

You may say, "Well, Michelle, I don’t do supplements!"

 

Really?? Well, here’s the TEA!!

 

A systematic review of 49 randomized controlled trials with 1,863 participants who performed resistance training at least twice a week for 6 weeks or longer revealed that protein supplementation significantly increased strength, lean body mass, and muscle size in healthy adults who were not restricting calories compared to placebo or no supplements (NASM 2022)

 

If you really want results that actually changes your body composition, consider taking a protein supplement as part of a healthy diet while training hard. 

Don't take another supplement until you read this

The proper use of dietary supplements, particularly multivitamin and mineral formulas, has been shown to help fill common and widespread nutrient gaps (Bailey, Fulgoni, Keast, & Dwyer, 2012; Blumberg et al., 2017).

 

The use of a daily multivitamin and mineral to avoid common insufficiencies and meet recommended intakes based on age, gender, and life stage appears to be an effective nutritional strategy.

 

Although dietary supplements do not replace a healthy diet, they can help achieve recommended intakes of essential nutrients, which may play a supportive and critical role in healthy aging.

 

If you’re feeling sluggish, sleepless, or the train is not leaving the station as fast as you would like it to, then you might need the help of a good multivitamin.

 

 

But what if I told you that you could quickly prepare a simple, healthy meal that also fills the nutritional gaps of a multivitamin?

 

Replace one meal a day with Shakeology and get a delicious treat while getting the daily recommended vitamins and minerals to fill those gaps where needed!

 

Source: Bailey, R. L., Fulgoni, V. L., III, Keast, D. R., & Dwyer, J. T. (2012, May). Examination of vitamin intakes among U.S. adults by dietary supplement use. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(5), 657–663. e4. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2012.01.026.

Blumberg, J. B., Frei, B. B., Fulgoni, V. L., Weaver, C. M., & Zeisel, S. H. (2017, Aug.). Impact of frequency of multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement intake on nutritional adequacy and nutrient deficiencies in U.S. Adults. Nutrients, 9(8), E849. doi:10.3390/nu9080849.

Oven Baked Salmon

Remember the benefits of omega 3s to brain health I talked about last week?  Here's a delicious way to get those nutrients in your diet in less than 30 minutes. I'm excited to try this for dinner this week.

🥺Push. Past. Pain.🥺

 It really is all in your head. 

One thing I’m know I’m really good at is suffering😂but any success I’ve had in life has been because I pushed past pain (try saying that 5x fast😆) and I was relentless in achieving my desired outcome.  

After all, I raised a whole human for God’s sake! I don’t mind telling you that she is an amazing and fantastic human with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. I can’t take all the credit tho… I had a little help from the Almighty🙏🏽

It takes courage to put your trust in God! For me, that’s the pushing past the 40% that David is talking about in his book, Can’t Hurt Me. Anyone can push up until it hurts. But it takes a whisper in your soul to make you take action and push past pain to get to where you wanna go. It’s the mind, soul and spirit vs. the brain for me. 

Your brain is there to protect you. But your mind, soul and spirit will take you where you want to go❣️🧠🧐🙏🏽🤗