It seems like there are more and more articles coming up in the news about sugar consumption, and the risks that excess sugar poses on our health. While this realization is nothing short of common sense, people still have the notion that sugar consumption, is no big deal.
Just like cigarettes were once considered "safe", and even recommended by physicians, sugar is following suit. With study after study showing the damage that sugar causes on our liver, health professionals still say that consuming sugar in moderate quantities is safe.
Kombucha. Maybe you've heard about it, maybe you haven't, or maybe like me, you're an avid drinker of this wonderful, fizzy, "full of good stuff for you" drink. I've been drinking kombucha for the past 4 years, and I absolutely love the stuff. I greet my husband when he gets home from work with dinner on the table and a glass (a wine glass for that matter) of kombucha that he's always so excited to drink. The phrase "Oh ya, kombucha" is one of the many we use to show our affection for this stuff.
Breaking any cycle that’s damaging to your health requires one key element that every human must have to in order to be successful and overcome any obstacle they face. This key element is discipline. What exactly does discipline mean, and what does having discipline do our lives?
If you think eating psychology or nutrition coaching has nothing to do with you, think again. Every person in the world is effected by eating because we all have to eat to live. Unless you're a martian living in outer space reading this, listen up. Eating has everything to do with YOU, whoever you are, wherever you are, you should be extremely interested in what I'm about to say.
I absolutely love cars. I love fast, exotic, hand crafted, beautiful pieces of artwork. I just look at all the work that's been put into a high performance vehicle and I'm amazed at how something can be so graceful and elegant, yet so ferocious and agile at the same time. If you know anything about expensive cars, you know that in order for them to run efficiently you must put premium gasoline in them, and you must maintain them on a regular basis. If you don't, your beautiful car will eventually stop running.
After reading an article interviewing food writer and finalist of TV series Great British Bake-off, Ruby Tandoh, I couldn’t help but share my thoughts and feelings towards her views on clean eating and the wellness movement.
Do you notice that your diet or eating habits change when you're under stress? Do you eat when you're stressed or do you lose your appetite all together?
The effects of stress on our body, mind and spirit are very tangible, and the effects of stress on the way we eat or the way we view food are even more pronounced. Many people don't realize that when they're under stress, their eating will be compromised in one way or another. Whether you eat more, eat less, have digestive ailments or find yourself reaching for foods you normally wouldn't, your eating and physical health will change in the presence of stress.
Over the last month I have been challenged to rise above the current standard I have set for myself, and to go beyond the complacency that can so easily encompass me. There are times in my life where I sit in a place of comfort and become complacent to stay where I am knowing that true success and breakthrough in any area comes when we get out of our comfort, or complacency, zone.
Have you ever heard someone say "I'd rather eat unhealthy and be happy, than eat healthy and be miserable"?
I find it very interesting that people assume they would be miserable eating healthy foods and happy to eat foods that harm them. Although people will say something like “at least I’ll die happy” and laugh it off, I don’t truly believe that this is what they want. The last time I checked, and correct me if I’m wrong, no one in the world has ever said “I absolutely love being on my high blood pressure medication, these statins are amazing, I feel great”! People who are sick are generally unhappy about being sick and people who are healthy are generally pretty happy about their health. The phrase “I’d rather be unhealthy and happy than healthy and miserable” is an oxymoron to say the very least. I’ve never met anyone who is chronically sick or dying from a lifestyle related disease that has said how happy they were that they ate a diet that led them to where they are now. No one in their right mind enjoys being sick and feeling unhealthy.
One of the main excuses I hear when talking to people about changing their diet is that eating healthy is too expensive. I realize that eating processed, mass produced food may appear to be cheaper, but in the long term it will cost you much more than you think. Does eating healthy really cost you more money? I want to share with you that eating healthy may cost you a little more money on your grocery bill, but will save you more money as you keep your body free from disease and your productivity levels higher.
I never thought in a million years that I would stop eating meat, but here I am. Being in the health and fitness industry for the past 5 years, and being involved in my own fitness for the past decade, I bought into the belief that I needed to eat animal protein to be healthy, maintain lean muscle and to keep weight down. Nothing could have been further from the truth though.
As an eating psychology Coach and Personal Trainer, I have seen many people, including myself, go on diets or exercise programs that they don't really enjoy all in an effort to achieve the optimum weight, health, energy, etc. While this may seem rational if you have a "no pain no gain" mentality, it's actually counterproductive to our goals, especially when it comes to the way we eat and optimizing healthy nutrition on every level.
Becoming a powerful person over the way you eat and the way you look at your body takes a commitment to change the way you think, and the way you talk. “Whatever a man thinks in his head, so he is”. What you authorize yourself to think and say will be what you allow to exist in your life. The things you think and the words you say impact our metabolism and have tremendous power in altering our health, whether for good or bad.
How many times have you been frustrated with trying to figure out what foods work and what foods don't work for your body?
With all the contradicting advice there is on what you should eat or not eat, it can be hard to maneuver our way through the chaotic world of nutrition. It seems like every time you turn your head, there is new way of eating that supersedes the rest. We are constantly bombarded with the belief that there is one diet that trumps all other diets, and only one diet that will work for everyones body. To believe this notion though is simply foolish. What works for one person may not work for another because we are all created differently. Our likes, dislikes, genetics and a host of other variables make up our own individual approach to eating.
Maybe you're exercising like mad and believing you're eating as clean as you can, but your weight just doesn't seem to shift. If this sounds like you, you're not alone! Many of my clients and people I talk to on a daily basis seem to have the same theme of struggles. People everywhere are struggling to lose weight and struggling to keep weight off that they may have lost from being on previous diets or meal plans.
There has been a lot of talk going on about sugar over the last 5 or so years. The topic of sugar is coming up everywhere in the world. From a Canadian Senate committee urging to introduce a sugar tax in hopes to combat obesity, to the WHO calling on all countries to reduce their sugar intake from 10% to 5% of their daily energy intake. Sugar has been, and is going to become, more and more of a hot topic nationwide.
What is the meaning of life if there is no passion?
I've had passion on my mind lately. In fact, I've had passion on my mind on and off for a few years now. I believe that passion is the missing link to true weight loss, body transformation, and a fulfilled and abundant life.
Have you ever heard of people going on vacation, eating and drinking whatever they want, and not gaining a pound, or even more shockingly, they actually lose weight?
Maybe it's you or someone you know that has experienced not gaining weight or even losing weight while on vacation, or maybe you've just heard stories from others expressing their surprise and amazement at this paradox.
I'm sure everyone is very aware of how many job losses Canada has seen in the last year, particularly how many job losses Alberta has seen. Analysts speculate that by the end of 2016 Canada will see around 185,000 job losses in total, and not just in oil and gas exclusively, but other job related fields have been effected as well. Not only has low oil prices and the plummeting Canadian dollar been affecting people's bank accounts, but it's affecting their weight and their health too.
