0 SHARES ShareTweet Grasshopper Fudge is our favorite flavor because it reminds us of our favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream, making it a perfect treat for the summer. With its refreshing mint taste, mixed with sweet chocolate, this protein powder makes a great ingredient to add to so many delicious recipes, especially those you wouldn’t expect to show up in a healthy diet. The Morellifit Nutrition Protein Isolate is all natural and is sourced from 100% grass-fed cows. Not only is it all natural, but it is made up of only 5 ingredients. Healthy and good doesn’t need to be complicated and you can taste the difference in Morellifit Nutrition and you can taste the difference in these recipes. Here are our top 3 Grasshopper Fudge recipes that are sure to become your favorite too: 1) Grasshopper Fudge Donuts 2 scoops Grasshopper Fudge ½ cup almond flour 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 egg 1 tbsp greek yogurt ¼ cup chocolate chips ½ tsp vanilla ½ tsp baking powder Preheat oven to 350º. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Mix wet ingredients and slowly fold in dry ingredients. Pour into greased donut pan and bake for 15 minutes. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Makes 6 Macros: Calories 200 Fat 13g Protein 11g Carbs 10g 2) Grasshopper Fudge Waffles 2 scoops Grasshopper Fudge ½ cup almond flour ½ cup coconut flour 1 tbsp coconut oil 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla 4 eggs ⅔ cup almond milk Spray preheated waffle iron with coconut oil cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Makes 6 waffles Macros: Calories 193 Fat 12g Protein 12g Carbs 8g 3) Grasshopper Fudge Cookies 2 scoops Grasshopper Fudge 1 cup oatmeal ½ cup sunflower seeds 1 tbsp coconut flour ½ tsp baking powder pinch of salt ¼ cup coconut oil 3 eggs 1 tbsp honey ¼ cup almond butter Preheat oven 375º F. Blend dry ingredients (the first 6) in a food processor and pulse until chopped to a coarse consistency. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Shape into balls and pat them flat. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Makes 12 cookies Macros: Calories 179 Protein 8g Fat 13g Carbs 9g 4) BONUS! My favorite, Protein Balls! ½ cup cashew butter 2 scoops Grasshopper Fudge ½ cup almond meal 2 tbsp applesauce ½ cup chocolate chips ½ cup raw cashews 1 tbsp chia seeds (optional) Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Using a small spoon to scoop, roll into balls. Macros are based on 1 tbsp. Prep time: 15 minutes Makes 12 balls Macros Calories 175 Fat 11g Protein 8g Carbs 11g As with anything, the key is moderation and these are best eaten as a healthier alternative on your cheat days. Let us know below what your favorite Protein recipe is, whether it is one of these great tasting snacks or if you have come up with your own and can’t wait to share it with others. Also, let us know what your favorite flavor is and whether you’d like to see more recipes you can incorporate your whey into. Then, check out the Morellifit Nutrition supplement line where, for a limited time, you receive a massive discount when you choose the auto-ship option. This way, you never run out of your supplements as they are automatically shipped right to your door.
115 SHARES ShareTweet Dial in Your Nutrition – #SweetPotatoDiet If you are not on a custom meal plan at the moment and you are struggling with dialing in your nutrition, I want to tell you some things you can do to help you shed those extra pounds. Here are 4 things that you should do in with your diet if you are still struggling to get those extra pounds off and you want to tweak your nutrition to work in your favor. Replace all of your carbohydrates with sweet potatoes. It doesn’t matter if the carb is processed, unprocessed, refined or unrefined, I want you to replace all the active carbohydrates in your diet with sweet potato. These doesn’t mean to replace your vegetables with sweet potatoes as they are not active carbs. If you are eating your sweet potato with a meal, you will want to eat about the size of your fist and if you are eating them as a snack, you will want to eat about half a fist. While you are doing this and posting to your social media accounts, please use the hashtag #sweetpotatodiet. This is because I will have a book coming out in January 2017 called The Sweet Potato Diet and it will be 250 pages of carb cycling, why it makes sense, anabolic versus catabolic and how to balance it. Make sure you are staying hydrated. You should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces every single day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to consume 100 ounces of water a day. You need to be eating a palm-sized piece of protein at every meal throughout your day. Whether you are eating beef, chicken, pork, lamb, or turkey, you need to be eating a palm size amount of protein for each meal. The catch is, when you begin to eat, you need to eat your protein first, before your carbohydrates or your fats. This is because protein is the most satiating food and has the highest thermic effect of food, which means it takes more for your body to digest it. This means that you burn more calories digesting protein than your carbohydrates or your fats. The last thing you should be doing is drinking an 8-ounce cup of coffee 30 minutes before your workout and you need to drink it black. No sugars and no cream. Down it. Not only will it give you added energy, but it also boosts your metabolism and acts as a fat burner. The key to getting this strategy to work is consistency. Proper nutrition is a lifestyle and consistency is what makes it work. It is also crucial to remember that nutrition only plays half the role in losing fat and getting into shape and its fat loss is your goal, HIIT workouts are the best because they target fat, only take 15-20 minutes, and will keep burning fat hours after your workout is done. Now, mix HIIT workouts, as seen in HIIT MAX™, with an easily to follow, Custom Meal Plan, in which you can incorporate all of these tips, and you will be burning fat faster than you ever have before! You won’t have to wait for results, as you will begin to see them for yourself, fast!
94 SHARES ShareTweet There is one thing that we all do, whether we are willing to admit it or not, that we shouldn’t do and it is something that even I am guilty of. We all want to make ourselves better and to make our lives better, but too often we define “better” by comparing ourselves to others. We tend to look at other people and tell ourselves that somehow, that other person, is better, for whatever reason. Some do it more often than others, but we have all done it. We try to convince ourselves that we need to keep up with other people. We tell ourselves, “I want a big house like that guy”, or “I want to be famous like that person”. What Happens When We Compare What happens when asking ourselves these questions? What do we do to the mind and the psyche when we tell ourselves this? And what happens when we become obsessed with our own deficiencies, as opposed to the things we are really good and efficient at? Instead of looking at another man or a woman and comparing ourselves to them, telling ourselves “I’m not that” and “I’m not as good as him or her”, why don’t we look at our own achievements and accomplishments? This type of thinking and comparing ourselves to others does nothing but cause us pain through envy and jealousy. Let me put this into perspective for you, because it is something that we do every single day. We are only human after all. We do it when we see an ad in a magazine or when we are on social media. Looking In On Ourselves Instead of comparing ourselves to others that we see on the street, in magazines, television or social media, take a look at yourself in the mirror and identify the progress that you’ve made. Learn to recognize your accomplishments and achievements and allow yourself to be proud of the things you’ve done. The reality is that when you compare yourself to others, there is a chance you are comparing your beginning to somebody else’s middle or end. Are you comparing yourself to somebody who has been in the gym for their whole life, yet you are just starting out on your first training program? Be you, be authentic and be transparent. Serve others unconditionally and live a more simplistic life. Many people chase the things that they don’t have and often these things are items and materialistic things that we don’t need. We keep buying more stuff because we think that it will make us better and make us happier, yet almost right away we are wanting the next thing and then the next. Understand why you are doing this, understand why you are constantly comparing yourself to others and telling yourself you are deficient in some way so that you can be truly happy and proud of yourself for being you.
Top 5 ways to stay motivated We all struggle from time to time with motivation. It seems like just as we pick up steam in our fitness journey, as fast as we find it, we can lose momentum. Instead of just giving in, there are several ways to restart or continue finding motivation to keep up your progress. Vision board: Know EXACTLY what your goal is. Know 100% what your goal looks like, feels like, smells like and what it represents. If your goal, like most people, is losing weight, what will you gain from it? How many more things in life will you accomplish out of more confidence and self-love? When you think about your goal, does it resemble something positive? Making a vision board with pictures and quotes will allow you to see your “vision” daily in an area that is visible multiple times a day. Think of this as manifesting a goal and making it come to fruition. Envisioning your future self and who or what you are emulating is one of my favorite forms of motivation and keeping myself excited for the future. I keep my vision board directly in front of my bed, so as it’s the last thing I see as I’m reading before bed, and the first thing I see when I wake up. Motivational videos and music: Who doesn’t need a little good kick in the tush to get on track and motivated? Motivational videos are ALWAYS my go to when I’m feeling a little down on drive and need something more. The best way to stay motivated is to never lose the motivation. My best advice for this is after waking up, put on something motivational, whether it be a podcast, YouTube video, or your favorite quotes to jump start your day and keep you hungry for more. YouTube videos are free, and this is a habit that you have no excuse to not live out daily. Affirmations: Never underestimate the power of daily affirmations. The easiest way to do this is to buy post-its and write down quotes or certain words that you find will inspire you and keep you on the grind. I keep these in my car, on mirrors in my room, you could even put them in the fridge if you have issues with eating late at night! The point is that you need to do whatever you have to in order to keep you on track. Don’t let anyone try to talk you out of these small steps that will lead you closer to your goal. Do whatever you possibly can to keep yourself on track. Journaling intentions daily: This is also called goal setting, which will set your intentions from the beginning of the day. Intentions are powerful because it programs your brain to know exactly what you need and want to accomplish that day. These do not need to be large tasks. Even something small like smiling at everyone you see will in turn have a huge impact on that person as well as yourself. Larger intentions such as, “I will work out for at least 45 minutes today, and after I will make sure to eat the proper foods to replenish my body properly” is a great example. Do not look at these as “to do” lists, they are not one in the same. Intentions have more of a deeper meaning and are more related to your goals in life, rather than things you need to check off for the day. Accountability partner: Support from like-minded people is crucial. You are the company you keep, and if you do not surround yourself with those who have similar goals and intentions you will set yourself up for failure. Find someone in the challenge group who is very similar to you and hold each other accountable. Exchange phone numbers or email addresses and check in with each other daily. When you feel you are slipping in any area or loving motivation, reach out to that person so they can check you. At the end of the day, like-minded people have similar goals. If you try to reach out to those who aren’t making health and fitness a priority, it’s more than likely they will discourage you instead of encourage. If you don’t have anyone like this you can count on, sign up for our one on one coaching sessions where we hold you accountable, keep you motivated, and answer all of the questions you have in regards to health and nutrition. Motivation only runs so far, so having a professional check in with you once a week is one of the best investments you can possibly give to yourself. Next time you feel yourself stalling, and you cannot muster up what you need to get to the gym or eat the right meals, use one, two or all of the motivational tips to keep going. Vision boards, music and affirmations are all great to keep to goals in mind and keep focused. Journaling is a great way to keep yourself aware of how far you have come. And of course, the best motivator of all, is the accountability partner. Having someone to talk to, who shares your goals and feelings, is the best way to help keep you motivated. Look to friends, family, or even coworkers who might be on a fitness journey as well. Even without identical goals, just support in changing your life is enough to help keep you on track. Our coaches know the power of support and accountability, and spend their days working with people to keep them on track and reaching their goals. If you are interested in the amazing support of our highly trained coaches, click here to see what they can do to help you reach any goals you have. Support from someone who can help you through a tailored training program, a custom meal plan, or just continuing HIIT MAX™, might just be what you need to
What is a detox and why should you be doing it? Throughout the years, even before I began working with morellifit, I have been able to help many people with many different issues, whether it be fat loss, hormonal issues, thyroid problems or they just want to detox, and this is what I want to focus on. When people think of the word detox, often times their mind automatically goes to the idea that it is a fad and that detox isn’t real. In reality, it depends on what your definition of detox is. What is a Detox? Let’s start with what a detox is not. A detox is not a skinny tea, it is not a starvation diet, it is not a magic pill and it is not taking fat burners. Some people resort to these things as a type of quick fix, and while some may work, the results are only temporary. The weight will come back. A true detox is when you are giving your organs a break, such as your liver, your kidneys and just your lymphatic system in general. By giving your organs a break, you are giving them a chance to rejuvenate, replenish the cells and get the toxins out. There are many different ways you can get the toxins out of your body, but I always emphasize doing it through the use of whole foods and drinking a lot of water. This is what the 7 Day Detox is based on. This is a jumpstart program, meaning it is not just a quick fix to temporarily drop those extra pounds, but rather an introduction to a lifestyle that will help you clear out toxins and keep weight off. When your body becomes sick, that sickness can manifest itself in many different ways. For example, you can begin to have acne on different areas of your face. Acne on your chin is usually an indication of issues with your intestines, acne on your upper lip can indicate hormonal issues, and acne on your forehead can indicate liver problem. Different ailments can begin to show up in different areas of your body. Fat Loss and Detox Here at morellifit, we know a lot about fat loss and we know that all fat loss begins with your liver, because that is your filtration system. Think of your body as a car. If you want your car to continue to run well, you make sure to get the oil changed and the air filters replaced so that you can keep it running clean and it doesn’t break down. So, why would you not apply this same concept to your body? You want it to keep running well and not break down, so you need to be sure that it runs clean by getting rid of the toxins. But unlike a car, you only have one body. This is why you need to constantly detox. It is not something that you do for a week and you’re done. You need to constantly detox and replenish your cells and you can do this by eating whole foods. Your food, literally, becomes you, so when you begin to incorporate a whole food diet into your life, you are beginning a detox. The Fat Loss Plateau The build up of toxins is one reason that plateaus happen during fat loss and in order to get through this, you need to restart your metabolism. There are many different ways you can do this, but you want to make sure you do so in a way that is sustainable, so you can continue to keep that fat off, rather than gaining it all back. Because of my background, I would never want to promote something that isn’t sustainable, healthy or realistic. No matter what you are doing in your life or how you try to avoid things that are not all natural, there are environmental toxins that you just can’t avoid, such as something that comes in contact with your skin or the air pollutant that you ingest just by breathing in the city air. Toxins find a way into your body. When you are toxic, it can manifest itself in many different ways, whether it be hormonal issues, where women aren’t able to have their menstrual cycles or you become fatigued. If you are fatigued, you are absolutely toxic, as it is not normal to walk around tired all day and you must to restart your system. Restarting Your System Restarting your system is important for clearing out the toxins in your body and for restarting your metabolism and your fat loss. This is why I highly recommend the 7 Day Detox. It will clear out the toxins and help you with your fat loss. You can find many testimonials on YouTube of people discussing how this program has helped them. If you have already done this program, please let us know what it did for you. I’d love to hear your feedback! What this detox program does is it begins to reset you as you begin taking all the herbs, along with Primal Body’s Reds and Greens Super Foods. This will replenish and detox your body. You can begin to detox your body by using things like, milk thistle, dandelion root, turmeric, lemon juice and green tea. All of these things are in the Greens that I take daily. Again, detox is something that you should do daily and not something you just do for a week and forget about. It isn’t just a quick fix, it is a higher quality lifestyle that you live. Get on the 7 Day Detox and incorporate it into a whole food diet. Easiest way to do this is to get onto a Custom Meal Plan. Do it and I promise, you will feel amazing!
We all have bad habits that we want to get rid of, and doing so can be difficult. When it comes to habits, there are four main pillars that they all fall under; health, wealth, love and happiness. Being in the health and fitness space, I get a lot of emails from people who are trying to get rid of bad habits so that they can live a healthier life. I get emails from people who want advice on how to get rid of their habit of smoking, or how to quit drinking soda or even how to form the habit of eating better. One thing that I have learned is that we often set ourself up for failure by trying to accomplish too much at once. We try to change too many bad habits all at once and we end up overwhelming ourselves. For example, some people want to quit drinking soda and stop smoking at the same time, all the while changing their diet so that they can start live a healthier life right away. And while that is great to want to change all of those bad habits and want to be healthy, trying to tackle both at the same time can set you up for failure right out of the gate. I’m guilty of trying to do this as well, so I know how difficult it can be. One Step at a Time One thing that I have learned from the many books that I have read is that in order to break bad habits, you have to break them one at time. Pick one thing and work on that and don’t move onto something else until that habit is broken. In order to change a habit, it takes repetition and constancy. When you want to stop a bad habit, there are three things that you need to pay attention to: the trigger, the behavior and the reward. This is the cycle that happens every time you engage in the bad habit. So if you want to quit smoking, you need to recognize the trigger that makes you want to smoke. Is it stress? When something irritates you? Maybe its when you go to drink that cup of coffee? The behavior is the act of smoking and the reward is what you get out of it. In this case, how that cigarette makes you feel. The key is to identify the trigger point. Understand what that trigger is and why its happening. This is the point where you need to be able to step out and begin to shift your habits that you want to change. Using Goals to Change Habits When changing your habits, you should also attach goals to them. We all have goals and you can use the skills you have learned from setting goals to overcome your bad habits. If you need help setting a goal, check out my blog, “How to achieve your goals by making them S.M.A.R.T. Goals and adding some NLP”. Next time you set a goal, I want you to ask this question: How will I know when I have achieved my goal? At what point will I have officially quite smoking? Is it after one day of not having a cigarette? Or is it after a year of not having a cigarette? What will you feel like when you stop smoking? How will you look once you quite? What will it smell like? So, be conscious of the cycle (the trigger, the behavior and the reward), so you can know how to alter it. Learn to recognize the trigger so that you can learn how you need to change your behavior. This way, you can either eliminate the trigger, stopping the trigger from happening, or you can learn how to deal with that trigger in a new, healthier way. How to Apply it to Anything This approach to stopping bad habits works for all types of habits, whether it is smoking, eating unhealthy food that we know we shouldn’t be and getting on a better nutrition program, or perhaps a habit that is disrupting your relationships or financial situation. As you probably know, I get a lot of great advice just from reading books and they have really helped me out in my own life. Some of the books that have helped me learn how to deal with changing habits are, Greg McKeown’s Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Jeff Olson’s The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness, and Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. So when you want to break a bad habit, realize there is a trigger, before the behavior, and a reward you get once you complete that behavior. And realize that most of the time, the reward that you receive from that behavior is often superficial or very short lived and when the reward wears off, we feel bad about the behavior. This can even lead you to repeat the cycle over again as the let down from the reward can become a trigger and cause you to repeat the unwanted behavior. Pay attention, be aware and ask questions. Remember, I came from some really bad habits, like drug addiction, and through the power of habit and becoming self aware, by becoming consistent and repeating the good habits, I was able to break those bad ones and now I want to help you do the same. I hope that this information serves you and you can learn to recognize the cycles so you can fix your bad habits.
No matter who you are, we all tend worry about things and that worry turns into self doubt. I remember a time, probably about 7 months ago, when I was going through a little legal tiff and, while I wholeheartedly believed that I was in the right, I couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming cloud hang over me as I worried about the outcome. I knew that even if things didn’t go my way, it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but rather just a hassle to deal with. Knowing that, I still couldn’t keep myself from worrying and letting my mind wander into a hundred different directions. All of that worry and none of it ever even came to fruition. Let me put it like this: If someone continued to give you bad advice, time and time again, you would stop listening to them, wouldn’t you? So why is it any different when we do it to ourselves? Why do continue to take bad advice from our own mind, again and again, knowing that things don’t ever turn out like the scenarios we imagine in our heads? Your mind will give you a hundred different ways something can turn out, yet they never happen. So why do we continue to listen to it? Self doubt and Relationships We are plagued by worry and self doubt and that self doubt can turn into sabotage, which can ruin your personal relationships and your work. Our relationships and our lives become negatively impacted because of our own worries, our own self doubts and our own perceptions of reality that aren’t even reality. I’ve been reading and giving into as much mindset stuff as I can, to get as much information I can. I recently read a book that addresses this idea by Dale Carnegie, called, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living and it is this book that prompted this discussion about worry and self doubt. I also read The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, and together these books have really helped me take on a new perception of things. These are the books and ideas that have influenced today’s mindset. So, how do we stop worrying and how can we train our brains to be happy? Happiness really is just training our minds to be happy. We all have it within us to be happy. Its our reality, our perception of reality and how we continue to train our minds to be happy and content. “Don’t Let Tomorrow’s Worry Overshadow Today’s Accomplishment” If you want to eliminate worry in your life, you focus on one thing and one thing only and that thing is the now. Nothing happens in the future or has happened in the past that doesn’t relate to or effect the now. Once we understand that and understand that nothing happens that isn’t effected by the now, we can learn to focus on the now. Right now is the only thing that matters. The only thing that matters, in this moment, is this discussion on worry and self doubt. Any fires I may have to put out in the future don’t matter until they happen. Whatever happens tomorrow, doesn’t matter until tomorrow comes. When the future becomes the now, we will know how to deal with it. When have you ever met a problem head on, in a conscious state that you have not been able to attack it and plow through it? It is the mental obstacles leading up to the problem that leads to the worry, rather than the problem itself. No matter where we are in life, we tend to worry about the things we don’t have, and we tend to focus on the things that will make our lives betters and so we think that we cannot be happy until we get it. If we’re young, we think once we move out and go to college, things will be better. If we get more money, things will get better. If we only had “this”, our life would be better and then we will be happy. Gratitude The key here is gratitude. We need to be thankful for the things we do have, here in the now, not focus on the things we don’t have. There are millions of other people who don’t have what you have now. There are millions of other people who don’t know where their next meal will come from, let along have a roof over their head or running water. So many people don’t know when they will eat next, while we have everything we need, including food, right outside at our fingertips. We know that we are not going to go without today. You need to be truly grateful for what you do have and once you are, you won’t have time to worry about those thing you don’t have that you think you need to be happier. When we continuously want for things, we will never be able to fulfill that need no matter how much we may get. We will continuously try to fill a whole with ‘stuff’, yet we will never be able to. We always want what we don’t have and once we get it, we no longer want it anymore and we move onto something else and it becomes a vicious cycle. We need to continue to be present on the only thing that matters. You must do your best today (#doyourbesttoday), as it is all you can do, and not worry about the future. I encourage you to focus on the present and be grateful. What I want you to do is leave a comment and let me know one thing, the first thing that comes to your mind that you are grateful for. I know I am grateful for my family, for our health and so much more, but I want to know what you are grateful for. So many people face so many
So, a while back we brought you a blog on Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, and all of the health benefits that come with it. Plus, if you are following us on our social media accounts, you’ll see the morellifit employees taking shots of apple cider vinegar each day! But, what if don’t want to start with just a straight shot of diluted vinegar? We understand, it might take some getting used to, but we also know you don’t want to miss out on all of the benefits. So, instead of asking you to take the vinegar straight, we would like to introduce you to three of our favorite, all natural Bragg salad dressings. Each of these dressings are made with all natural products, and most importantly, with Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Remember, Apple Cider Vinegar 1) can aid in weight loss, 2) helps control blood sugar, 3) has antibacterial effects, 4) can lower bad cholesterol, and 5) has been shown to suppress cancer and tumor cells. If you have not read our blog on Apple Cider Vinegar and want to catch up on the details of these benefits, or simply want a chance to review them, please click here. Braggberry Grapefruit Dressing & Marinade: Made with Blueberry, Raspberry, Açaí, Goji, Grape and Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, this is a fruity dressing that goes great with a romaine lettuce topped with berries, such as, blueberries, strawberries or raspberries. This dressing can also be used as a marinate to sweeten up meats like chicken or lamb. Pomegranate Vinaigrette: This is a great, gluten free vinaigrette that is tangy in flavor and can be used as a dressing for your salads or as a seasoning for your vegetables. It is made with the superfruit, pomegranate, and Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider. We recommend pairing this salad with spinach, topped with apples, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese. Ginger & Sesame: This ginger and sesame salad dressing is made with Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. This delicious salad dressing is a great to use as a seasoning for veggies, a salad or as a marinade. We recommend a nice kale salad with salmon as a paring with this dressing. Just shake it up and pour on top! These three different salad dressings give each salad a fantastic and unique flavor, all the while supporting all of the amazing health benefits of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Click the link below to view our blog, where we discuss all these great benefits and where apple cider vinegar comes from. Plus, these dressings go beyond just salads and can be used to dip veggies in, or even marinade your favorite meats. Remember no matter how you use it, just having it in your diet can be bringing you the multitude of benefits that Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar brings.
While at Fresh Box, Brian and I got into a discussion about hormones and the role they play in fat loss, especially for women, making it almost impossible to lose weight. Brian, being a nutrition expert, was able to help shed some light on how you can help reverse the effects of low hormones with foods you can get at your local grocery store. Top Detoxifiers Brian acknowledges that this is a question he deals with all the time and points out that as we age, our body produces less and less hormones and this can play a massive role in your body’s ability to burn fat. Nowadays, with all the toxins that we put in our bodies, form the stuff we are breathing in through the air to the stuff that is in our food, there is a massive shift in your hormones ability to perform effectively. Here are some great detoxification techniques that you can do with the food right in your local grocery store: Cilantro – If you are talking about environmental toxicity or heavy metal toxicity, this is the one that will help. This is your top heavy metal chelator and can help improve neurological dysfunctions, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. By chelating the heavy metals from your body, you body is able to function at a higher level. Avocado – This is your second highest detoxifier and you can actually use the avocado seed (blending it into a powder) and add it into your smoothie. The seed is very potent and useful for clearing the plaque out of your arteries. The key term to remember is glutathione, which is the master enzyme that our body produces when it is functioning right. This is the enzyme that detoxifies your body. Broccoli – Your third highest detoxifier and since it contains I3C (Indol-3-Carbinol), it is useful for those dealing with estrogen based cancers, such as breast cancer. When eating broccoli, it is important to remember not to throw away the stem, but rather, eat it, as it contains glucoraphanin. The top of the broccoli has all of your vitamins, while the bottom contains all of your minerals and phytochemicals, making it your detoxification piece. Top Immune Boosters When it comes to wanting to boost your hormones, here are some foods that Brian has recommended: Oysters – Since oysters are a great source of zinc, this is your top food for boosting testosterone, an important hormone for both men and women. Pumpkin Seeds – Your second highest food for promoting healthy hormone production. Black sesame seeds – These seeds are massive at boosting Jing, our hormones are called in Chinese medicine. It also helps with reversing gray hair back to its natural color and with arthritis pain. You can add these seeds to your salad or grind them into your smoothie for a really potent way to boost hormone function. The great thing about these foods is they don’t take a week or two to for you to figure out what’s going on, but rather you will feel the effects pretty quickly. Taking care of your hormones is very important as they play a large role in the vitality you experience in your life. Pay a visit to your doctor and have your hormones checked so you know where you are at and where you need to be. Figuring Out How Foods Affect You These foods will provide positive changes in your hormones, even if your diet isn’t as clean as it could be. The key is to check in with your self 30 minutes before and after you eat. How do you feel before you ate and how do you feel after? This will help you feel what it is your foods are doing, as what you eat has a fast effect on how you think, what you think, and how you feel. Take into account how the food you eat effects your nervous system and any stomach issues you may have. Everyone is different and by understanding how these different foods make you feel can help you decide which foods work best for you. If you liked the information provided here or have any questions, please let us know and the two of us will work together to answer them. Also, check out our Custom Meal Plans where we provide a nutrition program specifically designed for you. We make knowing what foods you need to be eating to stay healthy easy.
I’ve been reading a lot lately and the newest book is Conscious Language: The Logos of Now by Robert Tennyson Stevens. It is an amazing book and I would like to hone in on one thing that I got from it and leave you with an action, something you can go out and do tomorrow, that will improve the relationships in your life. The Art of Validation What I want to discuss is that art of validation and the need to be and feel validated. The reason I wanted to focus on this so much is because of what I am learning as we raise our two kids. What we have learned is that if we spend 10 minutes a day, two times a day, with each of our kids, separately, giving them our undivided attention, they are much better behaved. What I realized was that humans in general just want to be validated. If you look at the definition of validated, it means to confirm, or make valid. At the end of the day, we just want to matter, whether it is to just one person or to thousands of people. We are all after the same thing and that is to just matter…Matter to our parents…Matter to our kids…Matter to those closest to us. What I have learned from all of this, and through reading, is that if you validate people, your relationships will 10X and blossom. And while we know we can’t tell people how to feel, or teach people how to feel, as feelings are based on perception and experiences. Because perception and experience differs from person to person, it can be difficult for us to understand how other people are feeling and so we discredit those feelings. Removing Layers of Awareness We need to start by removing the layers of our awareness and be aware that reality changes based on the perceptions and experiences of the individual. We need to be aware that everyone needs to be validated because everyone is a unique being. Despite things that go on, such as trials, tribulations and even crime, we are still unique beings. If you were to uncover all the things in a person’s life, such as how they were raised, what they were given or not given, where they grew up, you would begin to understand what made them who they are. In the end, what everybody really wants is to be validated. I firmly believe that if you start telling people that, and start to validate others, the world would be a much better place and you will to start to 10X your relationships. What would happen if today you went home, looked your spouse in the eye and told them how much you cared about them and how much they matter to you? What happens when you spend quality time with your kids, become present, and told them that you love them and that they matter? At the end of the day, we all just want to matter to somebody, myself included. Apply it to Live a Happier Life These are the things I have been reading about and the things that I will continue to try and implement into my life and improve upon more and more. We all want to better the relationships in our life and to attract better people and we know that we teach the people around us how to treat us. If you constantly validate people and constantly tell them that they matter, you will begin to improve those relationships, as they will start doing the same back to you. Be honest with the people around you. If someone is there for you and they have your back, tell them how much they mean to you and how much you appreciate everything they do. While we know it is important to take care of ourselves physically, by eating right and working out, we need to remember that we need to take care of ourselves mentally and emotionally. Click here to take the first step towards eating right with our custom meal plans. All in all, we need to do the same for those around us, making sure that they are happy, feel loved and know they matter. Do this, and I assure you, you will live a happier, healthier life.
