6 Healthy Habits to Adopt Now
Are you looking for ways to get healthier? Here are 6 healthy habits to adopt now.
As of today, we only have 55 days left in 2018 - I can barely wrap my mind around it! Chris and I just celebrated our first year of marriage on October 27th and it’s hard to believe that a year already flew by since then. I guess this is just how life goes when you are adulting!
Right around this time is when everyone is buzzing about the holidays (I literally just bought 2 small glittery Christmas trees from Target yesterday and it’s only the first week of November - I am part of the problem), before you know it, those 55 days will have zipped right on past us and we will be staring 2019 in the face!
It’s been mine and Chris’ goal this season to help our clients and you build healthy habits BEFORE the New Year starts instead of waiting until January 1st when all the damage is already done. Just because you will be celebrating with holiday parties, desserts, cocktails, and dinners, doesn’t mean that your entire rest of the year is already ruined.
Read Chris’ post: 5 Tips for how to avoid holiday procrastinating so you can crush your health and fitness goals
So, I have listed some super easy tips that you can start implementing today to help you de-bloat and feel awesome all throughout this holiday season. It’s not about perfection, just start making better choices and building healthier habits that will help you feel good mentally and physically!
Drink half your body weight in water -
One of the easiest things you can do daily that will help you look and feel healthier is make sure you are drinking enough water. Drinking water can help improve digestion which decreases belly bloat, flushes out toxins from our environment as well as all the yummy goodies you will consume this holiday season, help you have clearer skin, and help you fight of cravings! Everyday you should aim to drink about half your bodyweight in ounces of water. So say you weigh 150lbs, then you should drink about 75oz in water throughout the day! So easy and refreshing! Want to bump up the refreshing factor? For added taste and benefits such as better digestion and a possible weight loss boost - make your first morning cup of water, warm and add half of a fresh squeezed lemon to it.
Start meal prepping and make it a weekly habit -
This is an easy one but so beneficial! When you cook your own meals, you are in complete control of the foods that goes into your body! You have the power to eat foods that make you feel energized and healthy. How amazing is that? Meal prepping weekly can save you lots of time, money in your pocket, and inches around your waistline. It can seem like a daunting task, but really what isn't when you are first learning something that is new to you?! You just have to remember that it will come easier over time! Check out these tips on how to get started meal prepping as soon as tomorrow!
Start taking a high quality probiotic -
We have about 100 Trillion bacteria in our digestive tract which weighs about 3 pounds. So as you can imagine these guys make a pretty big impact on our health. Our gut is full of 85% good and 15% bad bacteria which helps to keep our immune system strong, keeps us happy – about 80% of our serotonin is in our gut, It helps to maintain healthy gut flora so we can reduce inflammation as well as avoid leaky gut syndrome which can cause food allergies and sensitivities, eczema, weight gain, as well as a host of other issues, and keeps our digestion running smoothly. Many things we put in our body such as antibiotics, medications, alcohol and certain processed food can kill off both these beneficial bacteria. Supplementing with a high quality probiotic supplement (this is the one we use and suggest to our clients!) with at least 15 billion live organisms as well as probiotic-rich foods like kefir and sauerkraut can help you to be healthier by keeping your gut flora in check and digestion functioning better. Better digestion = flatter belly!
Chew your food well -
Digestion begins when you first see and smell food, this gets your saliva going which contains enzymes to help break down your food as you chew. That's why having a quiet moment before you eat is so great, you can sit in prayer or a quiet moment to give thanks while you let those enzymes start working! Next we have to slowwwwww down! Most of us do not chew food properly as a result of being distracted and rushing through meals. Large chunks of food then go through the digestive tract without being broken down properly making it harder for our stomach acid to break down properly. It is important to really focus on the food you eat, try eating without distractions such as TV and phones (I know that seems impossible but you can do it!). Really concentrate on the look, feel and taste of your food. Chew until it becomes liquid in your mouth or aim for about 20-30 bites depending on the type of food you eat. As we get older our body produces less enzymes so we have to give our digestive system as much help as possible!
Move your body every day -
Keeping your body moving every day is key to stimulating circulation, creating a healthy digestive system and maintaining good energy. Exercise helps you to reduce cortisol, a stress hormone, which can cause you to store fat in your midsection. When you are under constant stress, your body goes into "fight or flight" mode and holds onto fat for dear life. But daily exercise will actually create a healthy stress on your body which in-turn helps you to deal with other life stressors in a healthier way and also helps to boost your mood by releasing endorphins, your bodies natural pain-killer and mood elevator. Win-win!! Getting in about 30 minutes or more of exercise a day will help improve your daily bowel movements and will make a huge difference in every aspect of your life! We get into this practice with the ladies in our 28 Day Beat Belly Bloat group via our fitness app so they can keep on top of it! Don't get overwhelmed, just start moving. Take a walk, jog, weight lifting session, a hike, a class at your local gym or a yoga class. You can also check out these workouts to get you started at the gym or in your home! The time to get started is now!
Supplement with Magnesium daily -
Taking magnesium daily is vital for great health because it can affect everything from headaches to our sleep. Magnesium helps control over 300 bio-chemical reactions in the body so when we become deficient, it can lead to things like headaches, migraines, constipation, moodiness, insomnia, dizziness, PMS, restless leg syndrome, eye twitches, leg cramps (hello Charlie horse cramp at 3am!!) and so much more! Most Americans are deficient in magnesium due to lack of it in our soil and therefore the food we eat, poor nutrient absorption, and it leaving the body through both sweat and stress. Magnesium deficiency has personally affected my health in many ways and it may be unknowingly affecting yours in ways you would never think of. I take 400mg of magnesium citrate each night before bed each night. Magnesium can also be absorbed through the skin by taking a relaxing Epsom salt bath at night with 1-2 cups of Epsom salt in very warm water or magnesium spray on the bottoms of your feet. Add some lavender essential oils in your epsom bath as well to get the most amazing spa-like experience! Your body will thank you for adding in this vital mineral!
So there you have it! You don’t have to wait until the New Year to start implementing healthy habits. You can use these tips and start right now! Do you have any tips to share that have made a big impact on your life? If so, share them in the comments!
Want to learn more about how you can stop bloat from happening?
Want to reduce inflammation and lose fat for good? Start by downloading our free guide: 5 Easy Steps to Beating Belly Bloat!
We are Chris and Amber, a husband and wife team dedicated to helping you improve your nutritional and personal fitness habits for a better lifestyle. If you have issues with bloating, inability to lose fat, brain fog, or are in need of a proven nutrition and fitness plan to get you out of a rut, then sign up for our 28-Day Beat Belly Bloat Program today!
Thanksgiving Day Bodyweight Workout
3 days until the big feast! Things start to get a little crazy as we get closer to Thanksgiving day, we all get in preparation mode with grocery shopping, party planning and of course food preparation. We understand that it gets harder and harder to make it to gym when family is in town and you have a million things on your todo list. Last week we gave you 3 solid ways to avoid holiday weight gain and we really want to keep the momentum up so this week we are giving you another tool to arm yourself with. So here is a at-home workout to help you stay on track with your goals this holiday season. This bodyweight workout can be done in your backyard, garage or wherever you can find space. Start thinking about when your ideal time to workout would be and have a plan, morning before everyone is still sleeping is probably best and you will feel motivated and ready to start the day!
THANKSGIVING DAY BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT ROUTINE
3 Sets of each workout with 90 seconds to 2 minutes rest in between each circuit before repeating
1)Prisoner Squat (4 seconds down, 2 second hold at bottom) – 20 reps *raise your heels up slightly with a book or something equivalent if you are having trouble keeping from folding forward too much in your squat or you can't get low enough in your squat
2)"Happy feet" for 10 seconds then drop and do 10 push ups – 6x (Happy Feet - find a straight line to step over, one foot at a time forward and then one foot at a time backward, as fast as you can.)
3)Reverse crunches on floor - 20-30 reps
4)Forward lunge to a raised step-up to back lunge on the same leg then alternate to the opposite side – 20 reps per side
5)Jumping Jacks – 30 reps
6)Vertical Jumps w. stabilization (2 second hold at the bottome of the squat) – 10 reps
7)Planks – 30-60 seconds
8)Dive bomber pushups – As many as possible
9)Side planks – 30 seconds per side
10) Shuttle Sprint – 30 seconds
We hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing all of your foodporn photos on instagram! If you have any questions about the workout, leave them in the comments below!
What are some of your favorite workouts to do when you have a crazy busy week?
3 Ways To Avoid Holiday Weight Gain
TGIF! The week has almost come to an end and before you know it we will all be preparing our Thanksgiving feast! Do you have your menu and Turkey Day activities planned yet? For the past few years it's a tradition for us to wake up early to watch the Macy's Day Parade in Central Park, then go back home to cook and of course watch football. But that usually means we don't actually eat until late afternoon. Once all of our mess is cleaned up, the day is just about over. So this year we decided that we would skip the live parade and opt to watch it on TV that way we can have our Thanksgiving lunch and still have the entire day to do whatever we want! Movies, workout, walk in the neighborhood...the possibilities are endless!
Chris and I are still trying to decide what delicious food we want to eat on Turkey day. Last year we chose recipes from my Clean Eating Thanksgiving Pinterest board to make us a pretty healthy meal. We will probably do the same again this year because it all tasted really good and without a lot of guilt! I realize that we are lucky, in a sense, because we have total control over our menu and can make a healthy meal without the fuss of our relatives. The downside is that we are not with our relatives and we of course miss them a lot during the holidays! So I wanted to give you some clean eating holiday tips to help get you through day!
- Make some of your own healthy side dishes! Vegetables and sweet potatoes are pretty easy to prepare especially if you don't have to make a ton for the whole family. Find a few of your favorite holiday side dishes, swap out some of the less-healthy ingredients for healthier options {like replacing butter with coconut oil} and make a few portions just for you to enjoy!
- Choose your splurge! You don't have to feel deprived on Turkey Day in order to stay on track with your goals. Find one or two items that you REALLY love {like pumpkin pie with whip cream, a dinner roll, or stuffing} and enjoy a healthy serving with your meal.
- Turn your "I can't" into "I don't want to"! When your family or friends are lovingly pushing deserts in your face, tell them {and yourself} " I don't want a second helping of pumpkin pie" rather than say "I can't have the second helping of pumpkin pie". Telling yourself "I can't" will leave you feeling deprived and powerless, and will probably result in your giving in at some point. When you tell yourself "I don't" you are empowering yourself to make the decision because you know it will hinder your goals and are no longer restricting yourself because it is an active choice. Click here to read more on this topic.
I hope these tips help you get through the holidays without unraveling all your hard earned work! Don't worry about what your loved ones will think or say about your lifestyle choices, just remember that you have to do what's best for YOU and your goals!
What are some of your tips for avoiding holiday weight gain?
Immune Boosting and Gut Healing Bone Broth
I don't think you're ready for this gelly...
Your grandmother was right when she said to drink chicken soup to cure a cold or flu but she was referring to homemade bone broth and meat stock not chemical filled Campbell's or Progresso. Our ancestors were in the know and made gut healing broth out of the bones that came from the meats that they ate, nothing went to waste! But in the land of factory farming and processed food factories that practice faded out and chemically powders took its place for convenience purposes. I don't know about you, but I will take the extra effort along with the wonderful benefits over convenience any day! Bone broth and meat stock are great for supplying magnesium, calcium, glucosamine, amino acids arginine and glycine, collagen, other trace minerals, and much more. It aids in digestion, helps with achy joints, heals the lining of your gut to help boost your immune system and prevent diseases, sickness and leaky gut...just to name a few of the many benefits.
Talk to your local butcher about getting animal bones or use the carcass of a whole roasted chicken. Any bones, head, neck or feet will do! I can usually find organic necks and backs at Whole Foods throughout the week. These can be frozen until you are ready to use them. Also another great time to stock up is right after a big holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas because they will most likely have an overflow of turkey necks and backs, and will be sold even cheaper than the already low price!
Broth or stock can be used to make delicious soups, to cook your vegetables in for added nutrients, to boil your rice or quinoa, make sauces or gravy, or you can drink it alone from a mug throughout the day.
Classic Bone Broth
Ingredient:
- 2-3lbs of bones, preferably organic, free-range/pasture raised
- 4 quarts cold filtered water
- 2 Tbsp organic apple cider vinegar, Braggs brand
- 1-2 tsp sea salt
Optional:
- organic garlic, onions, celery, carrots and parsley
Instructions:
To make broth in your slow cooker or stove top in a stock pot:
Soak 2-3lbs of bones in 4 Qts cold water with 2 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar for about 30 minutes, this will pull the minerals out of the bone.
After soaking bring water to a boil and skim the gunk and fat off top of the broth with a spoon for the first hour. Add 1-2 tsp of sea salt, I use pink Himalayan salt.
Then, leave alone to simmer for the next 12-24 hours. For the last hour of simmer add in your favorite vegetables, I add organic garlic, onions, celery, and carrots. Add parsley and other fresh herbs for the last 10 minutes if desired.
Strain out the bones and vegetables, I use a sheet of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag (these are great because you don't waste as much and can wash the bags to use over and over!) to catch anything left behind.
Let cool and either store in wide-mouth mason jars to keep in the fridge or freeze to enjoy later or go ahead and use the broth as a base to make a huge pot of your favorite soup to eat throughout the week! Broth will last up to a year in the freezer and 5-7 days in the fridge. If you use the freezer, make sure to use wide mouth jars and leave about an inch or so extra room at the top so the jars do not crack. I also like to put the lids on loosely when I first put them in the freezer and then tighten the lids once the broth is frozen solid.
*If making a meat stock you can cook your whole chicken in the slow cooker first for a few hours and once done, remove and debone meat, then throw the bones back in the pot and add more filtered water to cover if need and continue cooking for 12-24 hours.
Leave a comment below telling us your favorite way to enjoy bone broth?
Resources:
Sally Fallon - Weston A. Price Foundation "Broth is Beautiful" http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/broth-is-beautiful
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I Am Awakened!
Welcome to Awakened Nutrition! I am so excited to be able to connect you here!
My name is Amber, I am originally from sunny Florida and I now live in beautiful Brooklyn, NY. I moved up to NYC in September of 2008 and at the time I was a vegetarian and the heaviest I had weighed in my life.
I met Chris, the love of my life, while working together at a boutique hotel in lower Manhattan. By this time I had started eating meat again, but my diet was far from healthy. Chris was also working as a part-time personal trainer and I eventually went to him for help with my weight. He explained the importance of a healthy diet which consisted of having protein, healthy fats and complex carb with every meal, and advised me to eat 5 to 6 meals per day. This wasn't like the diets I was used to where I expected quick weight loss results, this was a healthy way of eating where I could expect gradual and safe weight loss. He then went into the importance of having a consistent weight training and cardio routine. He had to reassure me that weight training would not “bulk” me up, but that it would create lean muscle that would turn me into a fat burning machine! I took all of the wonderful information he gave me, as well as information I read from magazines and fitness websites and started on a NEW journey. I eventually lost 17lbs and got into the best shape of my life!
In July 2011, I started my blog Exsoycise and started to share my soy-free health and fitness journey. My goal has been to show others that eating healthy foods does not have to be difficult or boring; it can be an easy process and taste delicious at the same time!
Over the last year and a half of blogging, I realized that I wanted to do so much more than just blog about my own health and fitness journey. Comments and emails started pouring in from various social media websites, and text messages from friends started coming through on my phone, everyone was asking me for health, fitness, and weight loss tips. I realized that without even knowing it, that I was a health coach! I knew my passion alone did not qualify me to be a health coach, and because I wanted to have the chance to help even more people achieve their health goals, I decided it was time to go back to school!
I am currently enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and am now coaching clients! During my training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I have been trained in more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, I will help others create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits their unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.
When I am not blogging and studying, I am creating new healthy recipes, exploring New York City with my love, and working on my own health goals!
