Where do I begin?? {& Natural Skin Care}

A lot has been going on lately, between studying for my Personal Training Cert {have my test in a couple weeks...yikes}, studying for the Fitness Nutrition Cert, Studying the CrossFit manual, Planning Music lesson plans with the School year about to start {I teach 8 different classes every week}, planning my own meals and family meals, getting the kids ready for back to school....It can all be very overwhelming!  I wish I could just focus on one thing at a time. :/

I've been sticking to eating Paleo and started Crossfit the beginning of August. I'm loving it! I feel like I'm getting stronger and I feel great! I've been really paying close attention to what I put into my body with also trying to up my Carbs to help my performance and paying closer attention to my macros.  I don't love to keep track of macro percentages.  But, I want to really be strict with it for a while to see if I notice any progress. I get my good carbs from a lot of sweet potatoes, zuchinni squash, bananas and other fruits and veggies. Can't wait to show my progress with CrossFit and Paleo!

 I'm also trying to repair my digestive system and clear up my skin.  What you eat will surely show it's self through your skin.  I've had skin issues since college.  Now that I think about it I ate so horribly during college, Dairy Queen a few times a week, late night Denny's runs.  Oh wow! What was I thinking?! Not only did I gain Freshmen 30, but that is when my skin began to break out bad! {That's been almost 15 years ago} On top of that I have sensitive skin so any break out would also leave behind scar marks. :( So, I feel like ever since then I've continued to have issues with getting my skin clear.  Now I for sure know it has to do with my diet.  I believe I am allergic or have a sensitivity to dairy and Wheat.  I will have further allergy testing and labs done this week to see if any of that is shown. But, anytime I eat Dairy my skin breaks out! :( For over a year now I started trying the Oil cleansing method as a cleansing routine on my face.  I only stuck to it for a few days at a time and then I stopped.  I started and stopped that a couple times until I started it again over a month ago I have stuck to it.  I have just been using Coconut Oil, haven't tried any combinations yet.  I love it! I love the coconut oil from Tropical Traditions.  It's great quality.  I use it to cook with and also to wash my face with. :) Ive been looking into the Skintervention Guide for a couple weeks now.  I will definitely try that in the near future.  Can't wait to get it and try it out! This is also a method and the oils that an online friend of mine does, may be worth a try too. she has also since started the Skintervention guide and says she loves it! So, I'm really excited to try it soon!  The most important thing to do when starting the Oil Cleansing Method is to stick with it.  It may seem crazy the first week or so and it might get a little worse before it gets better (that's why I didn't stick with it to begin with), but keep doing it and you will see great results!

Have you tried the Oil Cleansing Method? You can also swish with Coconut Oil every morning.  It's called "oil pulling."  I do this but not religiously. It's great for Oral Health and Detoxification. Search it on Pinterest and you will find all kinds of stuff. I love Coconut Oil! :)

Long Term Weight loss habits

It's very hard to change old habits.  I think that could be the hardest part for people when wanting to start a new fitness program or diet.  When you get in your comfort zone, it's hard to change.  But, are your habits helping you? Do you have good habits? Are you happy with your fitness and nutrition at this point? Or do changes NEED to be made? If you've done well in the past with starting a new fitness program but only stuck to it short term....old habits always come back to rule! It's time to start making new habits and make them stick for a lifetime!

                   

You need to figure out how to change your old habits!

The best place to start is:
1. Eat Whole foods- try to start incorporating more whole foods into your diet.  No more processed junk and refined sugar.  Stick to lean proteins, Fruits and Veggies, Nuts/Seeds and Whole Grains. When with family or out to eat look for the Best option with what is given.  Try to stay away from all the sauces.

2. Exercise Each day! Walk, Jog, Bike, Swim, At home Workout Videos, Weights or body weight exercises, or try something fun like Zumba or Crossfit.  You will want to start to incorporate High Intensity workouts at least a few times a week. Start to make exercise a habit.  You want to be active daily, but also learn when you need to take it easy every few days.

What you do depends on what you like and what level you are at. What specific foods you eat depends on what you like. But, sticking to whole foods that aren't fried and don't have sauces will make a huge difference.

Forming those Habits! 

The trick is sticking to it long enough that it becomes automatic. Your old habits make making New habits harder...so you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone!

*Make a habit plan*
"We are what we repeatedly do." -aristotle.

1. Pick one habit to replace an old habit.  Starting with one habit at a time sometimes makes it more likely to stick.  Instead of snacking on chips or sweets in the afternoon, snack on veggies and hummus or fruit and almond butter.  If you normally check facebook right when you wake up, go for a 5 minute brisk walk instead.  Replace that old habit with a new one!

2. Keep the habit small.  It's ok not to tackle all your habits at once.  We tend to be over ambitious sometimes in the beginining and eventually that leads to us feeling like a failure. It's ok to start small if you need to. Walk for 5 minutes in the morning and eventually make it longer....work up to 10 minutes of running and so on. Make that one habit better. If you want that habit to stick, keep it small in the beginning and only tackle one habit at a time.

3. Focus on the Enjoyment- if the habit feels like a sacrifice, you won't do it for long.  Instead of thinking "I have to do this." Start thinking "I get to do this!" Pretty soon the habit itself becomes the reward.

4.  Have some accountability.  Statistics show that having people to workout with and eat healthy with, having that support in a group on facebook or others will help you be successful in the long run. Commit to doing a habit to your support system.  They can help keep you accountable. Give it some extra spice and fun by saying you'll do something embarrassing if you don't stick to your habit, or something like that! Get creative and make it fun!

This will help you stick to a small habit for long enough that it becomes a part of your lifestyle! Do this over and over again with new habits.  Starting a new habit every 30 days is reasonable.
You can start adding more veggies, getting adequate exercise, drinking water instead of juices and soda, start doing pushups and body weight squats every day, then adding veggies to every lunch and every dinner, replace your cereal in the mornings with a smoothie or eggs and oats.  Whatever it is...build upon that and soon you will have exactly what works for you! Habits will be created and you will have a full lifestyle change! That's what works!

                                        

Making the Switch for good: Paleo Lifestyle!

I loved how great I felt doing Whole30.  Had a few vacations/camps this summer and went back to crazy eating for a while.  Nobody's perfect right!? :) But, you know what? I felt like crap...literally sick! I knew I was having an issue with wheat/gluten and dairy, so I tried not to over do it.  But, seriously after going back to sugar for a couple weeks it was hard not to stop and ICECREAM is one of my favorite things.  After eating icecream several different times during those weeks I felt sick everytime & my face would break out bad.  I do have Hypoglycemia/ Insulin resistance and eating grains even if it's gluten free does not make me feel well.  I learned how well I COULD feel while doing Whole30 and totally eliminating grains.  Trying to add them back in has been a nightmare and I have realized it's just not worth it anymore.  I can tolerate brown rice a little bit and gluten free steel cut oats in small portions, but sticking to lots of veggies, some fruit and sweet potato as my main starchy carb makes me feel so much better!

I recently had some major lab tests done {which is quite depressing} but at least I know I haven't been crazy the last couple years and that I knew I really didn't feel well.  I have had regular labs done a few times that said everything was fine.  But, I knew everything was not fine. I decided to see a different doctor to try and figure things out.

She confirmed to me that I do have Hypoglycemia and Insulin Resistance.  I know I have had that for years, so it was nice to have it truly confirmed though. I do have diabetes on both sides biologically and if I don't continue to control it it can lead to diabetes. I have learned to manage it a little bit with clean eating, but I learned to really manage it better with Paleo/Whole30 eating.  Recommended by the Doctor that is what I should do and I can't EVER skip meals, I have to eat every 2 hours and have to always pair a carb with a protein.  I already knew all that as well, but good to know I've been going in the right direction with it.  I also learned that I have a low thyroid, low progesterone, I have enough testosterone but my body doesn't use it efficiently, low vitamin d, low magnesium, my hormone ratios are flipped completely (kind of like PCOS but different), my immune globuline is VERY low which means something is going on in my gut and my immune system could be affected.  I may have a Dairy allergy and Celiac which could be the cause of the low immune globulin I'm guessing.  I have to have a food allergy testing panel done next to confirm all of that.  I now have to see a specialist, an Immunologist to figure things out.  Crazy!! I'm glad to finally know what's going on so I can fix it.

I have decided to make the switch to full time Paleo/primal/Whole30 kind of eating.  This is what will be the best way of eating for me and my health issues.  I believe that food is medicine! I still have to take different vitamins and supplements to help fix my issues and get my hormones balanced and to help control the insulin.  But, I do believe that the way you eat can fix a lot of problems that most people have with their health.  I'm determined to get fully healthy and feel my best!  I already feel better and my skin has begun to get clearer! If you have problems with your health the first place you should start is WITH FOOD!! This plan will not be best for everybody.  I do feel the healthy whole grains are great, I love them and they are healthy carbs.  But, my body does not do well on them. I may have gluten free grains here and there as long as my body will tolerate it. I'm not saying I will be a perfect Paleo/Primal eater. This is a lifestyle, I won't always eat "on plan" or perfectly, but it's about finding the right balance that works for me. Everybody needs to find what exactly works for them! Please let me know if you need help or have questions!

Being my own detective- Whole foods Heal!

Lately I've really been trying to be my own body detective and figuring out my sysmptoms. I feel like I need to get to the botom of this.  It can get a bit frustrating. I know that I have a sensitivity in some way to grains and/or wheat.  I'm pretty postitive that I have reactive hypolygemia.  I have had that for years.  But, since I really started cleaning up my diet it has helped.  I still would get symptoms until I eliminated grains and sugar completely from my diet.  Not eating grains, sugar or dairy has helped me tremendously with symptoms.  Grains turns to sugar in the body so this might just have do to with the hypolgycemia why I have problems with grains.  But, I also notice that when I eat gluten free grains I feel better than when I eat other grains.  So, it also might be an issue with gluten.  I also get bloating, tingling in the hands, some stomache pains when I eat grains and/or gluten which are symptoms of celiac...plus I get the hypoglycemic symptoms (shaky, fatique, can't concentrate, super hungry, feel like I'm going to pass out, blurry vision, etc).  When I eat Dairy I breakout and I get bloated and have stomache pains.  I love icecream! So, it's hard not to have, but everytime I do, I breakout!! :( I have had bad breakouts for 10+ years now and now I finally realize that it has to do with processed foods and Dairy!! So, I might be allergic or just have a sensitivity to dairy. Might be interesting to find out for sure. Sugar is just plain bad of course because of the Hypoglycemia symptoms I get.  I have thought about getting tested for Celiac or gluten intolerance just to make sure.  But, nobody can tell me that I will feel better not eating it, because I already know!! Celiac is more than that though and can also affect your bones among other things, so it might be smart to be tested.  I have had my blood tested a few times but everything always comes back normal, but I do show my iron is low and a level on my kidneys is low and I'm pre PCOS. Does this all correlate??!!  It's all so confusing, frustrating, but interesting!!

When I was a kid I was tested for diabetes because I would get sick everytime I ate candy or soda or something like that.  I also had stomache aches all the time and I can guarantee I ate a lot of breads and CHEESE was my favorite thing! What in the world...it's all making sense now.  I really would like to get to the bottom of it all.  But, what I do know is that staying away from sugar, processed foods, grains and dairy really makes me feel great!! If I do have any of those things I end up paying for it for sure!! Not sure it's worth it anymore.  Definitely hard to stay away long term, but worth it! That's why it would be good to know if staying away long term would really benefit my health.

Sorry for this boring post, but I find it quite interesting.  Others might be having some of these same problems and I believe it all comes down to food!! By eating Whole Foods you can heal your body!! Believe it!!

Mustard Lime Chicken with Zucchini Noodles

I love this Mustard Lime Chicken recipe.  Super easy and great flavor. I ended up putting it on top of Zuchinni noodles.  I've tried spahetti squash noodles and Zuchinni.  I definitely like the taste of the Zuchinni noodles better.  Just my opinion. :)

Mustard lime Chicken from www.stiritup.me

Ingredients:

• 2 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 2 limes, juiced or approx 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/3 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 tsp honey (optional)
• 1/4 cup almond meal 

Directions:

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and put in large freezer bag. Add all ingredients except for the almond meal and zip bag up. Be sure to knead the bag with your hands so the ingredients can cover the chicken evenly. Then put the bag in the fridge and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes or until you’re ready to cook it. When you are ready, preheat oven to 350, put chicken in a glass dish, sprinkle almond meal on top and cook for approximately 30 minutes and enjoy!

Zuchinni Noodles aka Zoodles :)



My Zoodles didn't look this cool ^^^^^ :) and I just used a simpler approach then the link suggests.  I peeled the Zuchinni, and then just used a peeler to slice off pieces of the Zuchinni until I got to the seeded center. I didn't use the seeded part. Put them in a microwavable bowl with a little bit of water and cooked them for about 4 minutes or until tender.  I drained the water and added a little bit of salt and pepper.  Easy Peasy! I topped it with the Mustard Lime Chicken and it was great!

What's the verdict? Whole30- Reintroduction

The last 3 weeks now I have been introducing some foods back into my diet.  After going for almost 2 months without Sugar, Dairy, Legumes & Grains I was curious to add them back in one at a time to see what would happen.  

I first tried Dairy.  Greek yogurt actually tastes ok to me without anything in it.  Normally I would have added some honey or stevia to it.  But, it tasted fine without it. But, still not my favorite.  I could live without it. I tried some cheddar cheese on my salad and it tasted so gross.  What? I use to love Cheese.  As a child my favorite snack was cheese.  No wonder why I always had a stomache ache. :) I also had a glass of milk. Wow, almost instantly I began to bloat and I had the worst stomache ache!! Dairy causes me gas, bloating and stomache pains. :( No good! Not sure if the yogurt and maybe cottage cheese would absorb differently than say a glass of milk would.  But, I also tried some whey protein and it did the same thing to me.  Tried some icecream too and I did not feel good after.  Also, could be the sugar. Dairy also causes me to breakout.  I feel like I have had skin issues for years and I'm almost positive now that it's from the foods I have been eating. Besides Ice cream I will not miss Dairy at all.  I'm sure I will have ice cream every once in a while from now on, but I know I won't feel good afterwards.  So, not sure if it will be worth it. :/

I tried grains and also gluten free grains and about 10 minutes after I felt so wiped out.  They drained me and I instantly felt sleepy.  I also had a stomache ache.  I couldn't tell much of a difference between the gluten and gluten free grains.  I may try to stick with gluten free grains for a while and see if I feel good or not.  The only things I really would want to have is Brown rice and Gluten free oats especially for baking.  We will see.
For info on what has gluten and what's gluten free this is a great source.

                              

Sugar gives me a huge headache, brings on the Hypoglycemia symptoms and makes my tummy feel sick!! It also causes me to want more and more even though I feel sick after.  It's an addiction...so bad.  Now I'm at the point where I feel like I can't stop...but I will! Although it's super hard.  I'm afraid that once I go back to the Whole30 way of eating that I won't ever be able have sweets because I won't be able to control myself.  But, we will see. I think having them once in a while in moderation and only when it's something I really like, then I would want it.  But, I want to feel in control!! It's a work in progress.

                                

I tried some Legumes like peanuts, peanut butter and black beans.  I think by this point I was already a mess from everything else.  Even though I spaced this all out trying a little here and a little there for about a week or more.  I still felt like since I was such a mess from a combination from everything that I tried I'm not really sure if the Legumes phased me or not. I may try them again later.  But, honestly after trying peanut butter....I realized I didn't even miss it like I thought I would.  I tried some of my homemade peanut butter and I didin't even have to add honey to it like I normally would.  It tasted fine without it.  But, I realized I like Almond Butter way more.  Weird, I know! I'm normally a Peanut butter girl.

*After reintroducing things back in for a little over a week I then went to camp.  We had amazing cooks that made all of our meals and snacks.  I did have a great time, but ate everything they gave us.  I didn't bring any of my own food and I didn't want to be a pain for them and not eat the food they made us.  And I ate every meal and every yummy snack they gave us.  I admit it was sooooo yummy! I did go a little crazy! I figured I was eating "dirty" all week, I might as well make the most of it...haha. But, I felt sick all week long!  My stomache constantly hurt, constipation, bloating and such major pains that I almost couldn't move...sorry TMI, but it was not good.  I felt so sluggish and tired.  This is a Testament to me that my Body Loves the Whole30 way of eating.  I never knew my body could feel so good.  I am excited to get back to it and  I have got to kick these sugar cravings to the curb again!!

Whole 30 Complete!!

I actually finished my Whole30 a couple weeks ago.  The only reason I stopped was because I was getting ready to go to camp and we had cooks that would be cooking each of our meals and I didn't want to be a pain for them and not eat what they cooked or ask for something different.  So, I finished my whole 30 and I wanted to start adding stuff back in to see how my body reacted and if there was something I absolutely should stay away from at camp. 

But, before I get into that here are a few things I ate the last week or so of my Whole 30. :)

The Naked burger again :) This time I grilled some peppers and put those on top along with a grilled pineapple.  I also added a little mustard.  I didn't realize my mustard was compliant and I'm not usually a huge fan of mustard.  But...this was oh so tasty!! Loved it!

Burrito Bowl made with broccoli slaw and ground beef and some toppings!  Yum!!

Sweet potato, zuchini and egg fritata! I actually liked it! I got the idea from THIS RECIPE. I just had a triangle each time and was able to split it into a few seperate meals. This is a great one to make ahead of time to have something easy to grab.

Sweet Potato and carrot cakes.  Yummy! I used these for a few seperate meals. Also makes for something easy to crab when you need.

It felt great to finish my Whole 30, especially since my first attempt I only got to Day 22.  So I guess this wasy my 2nd round and I FINISHED!! I really didn't want to stop, but I was worried about eating stuff at camp and not knowing what I should stay away from. 

What I learned during my Whole 30

*I learned that Fat is not the enemy.  I learned that Healthy fats help me feel full. 

 *I learned how important good sleep is.  

*I learned how hare it is to detox your body of all the junk (even though I thought before that I was eating pretty healthy...since I was eating pretty clean). My body still didn't like some of the things I was eating on my "clean eating" nutrition. Everybody is different and you need to figure out what your body likes and doesn't. 

*I have learned that I feel free without constantly dealing with Hypoglycemia symtoms and brain fog from eating processed foods and any kind of sugar. Sugar is in EVERYTHING and I have learned how much better my body feels without it!

*I have learned that when you start eating this way you no longer have cravings for sweets or junk food.  It didn't even phase me to be around them. But, when I start back up eating sweets I want more and more of them! :(

*I have learned more about good food to fuel my body and how great I can actually feel.  I didn't realize how horrible I actually felt before this. 

Wow...I feel like I learned a lot more that just can't be explained and that food does not control me.  Eating this way helps me feel more in control of my body.  My stomache was flatter, I had more confidence.  I lost 8 lbs and 1.5 inches on my waist and 1.5 on my hips.  Yay!!

I love Whole30! :)