Juicing Vs. Blending

Here are my thoughts

In theory, juicing sounds like a great idea. You can get all the fruits and vegetables you need in just one drink! Here is the problem with this:

1. When you go out and buy all that beautiful, organic, expensive produce and put it through the juicer you will realize that you just wasted a ton of it. This translates over to lost $$$. Who wants that?
2. When fruit is juiced, it takes out all the fiber and just leaves the natural sugars. If you were to eat a whole apple, you blood sugar levels would stay even, when you eat a juiced apple your body doesn't get the fiber needed to blunt the sugar, leaving you with elevated blood sugar levels. This is not good.

(My dad is a master at making delicious Vitamix smoothies)

What then is a better solution? My answer.... a Vitamix! A Vitamix is a high powered blender that will mix up anything (excluding rocks). You can make smoothies, add nuts, lettuce leaves, fruits, vegetables and not have to worry about your drink coming out chunky. You will get all the nutrients from the vegetables, and you wont waste anything! These drinks will also be much more filling if you are going to have one as a meal replacement. And of course, all the fiber in these drinks will also help with your bowl function. :)

So rather than giving into the juicing fad that's going around, go buy a Vitamix or a high powered blender to make your drinks. You wont regret it! 

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

P.S. You can even make your own nut butters and hummus in the Vitamix!

A Girl & Her Ice Cream

A few years ago, or even a year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be writing a blog. It’s just never been something I’ve done. I can’t even manage to write in a diary/journal. What I have found is that I need to write when I am inspired. The only problem with this is that I typically get inspired at very odd times. Like now for instance. It’s currently Friday night at 11:30pm. I just got done sitting on the couch for a couple hours doing a whole bunch of nothing. Obviously, I live a very exciting life that you should be very jealous of. Anyways, to my point. I am inspired. Very inspired… to write about ice cream. Yes, ice cream.

Confession… I really really really like ice cream. And I need to apologize to all my past, present, and future roommates. If you have ice cream sitting in the freezer… Welp… I probably have, did and will help myself to a little bit of it, in a very common moment of weakness. I am truly sorry.

I know many women can relate... and probably men too.. but I don't know about it because I'm not a man... There are just those times when you need something sweet. For me, ice cream hits the spot every time. BUT recently, I have gotten on this kick of reading food labels… and has been devastating! I found that a high percentage of the ice cream on the shelves have high fructose corn syrup in them. This, I cannot stand for.

With a heavy heart, I decided to go on a mission, a mission to find my favorite flavors of ice cream… without high fructose corn syrup.

Thank God for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! They have my FAVORITE ice cream and it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it! God is good! 

I hope this post has made you chuckle or even smile a little bit. The main point that I would like to share with you is this. I think it is very important to make sure that you are giving your body the nutrients it needs to function at its best. However, we are all human (me especially), and just want something sweet sometimes. I don’t think it’s wrong indulging once in a while BUT with these indulgences why not choose the ice cream without high fructose corn syrup versus the one with it? Do your body that little favor while you enjoy your treat.

These are the thoughts of a 23 year old, on a Friday night, sitting at home. I am now going to go to sleep because I just spelled "cherry" wrong. Good night!

Until Next Time,
Hope
xoxo

P.S. I never buy the half gallon of ice cream because it will be gone within 24 hours. They've recently come out with these super small ice cream containers! Perfect for your little indulgence! :)

Dream Big, Set Goals

Dream big, set goals. I feel like that is the story of my life right now. Granted, I am a semi-recent college graduate, with a just enough of a taste of corporate America to know that I would rather skip the endless hours in a desk, and ladder climbing as my fast track to success and a decent salary.

It has been about eight months now, since I resigned from my job as a recruiter and started this adventure. This is not the path I had planned for myself. I have always been a planner. My plan had always been to graduate college, get a good corporate job, work for about seven years, save money, then start my business. Needless to say, my "plan" is so far from my currently reality I have to laugh, but I would have it no other way.

As I have taken time to reflect, I am not sure that I would have ever taken the leap of faith and stepped out to do my own thing if I hadn't been in a job that made me miserable. I had no idea how I was going to make ends meet. Businesses don't usually start over night. The day I walked out of my job for the last time I felt that I had just stepped off a cliff, I was in free fall. I wasn't even sure if I had a parachute on, but I knew I had to jump. If there was a time to do it, now was that time.

The great thing about being miserable is that it really has a unique way of making you realize what makes you happy. 

I've realized that there are a lot of things I want to go out, do and experience. The question I have been asking myself is why shouldn't I do ALL these things? By the grace of God and a hale Mary (as my grandmother would say) I have a good 60 years left in me and I don't want to look back wishing I had taken a few more chances. I realize I'm not going to be able to do all these things at once, but if I take them one at a time, set attainable goals, they will happen. Some of these things will take longer than others, but if I'm patient, one by one I'll be able to start checking them off.

A few of the things I would like to do/experience are:

1. Have my own successful business
2. Compete in ballroom dancing
3. Master a form of martial arts (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai)
4. Travel the world (I'm trying to get a side job with Delta)
5. Go skydiving
6. Set a world record (Probably a variation of the deadlift)
7. Become proficient at surfing
8. Be a part of fashion week NY
9. Start a Non-profit

These are a few of the things I would really like to experience/learn. Now I just have to figure out how I can make them happen. For instance, traveling the world is expensive... unless you work for an airline. Which is why I'm trying to get a part-time job with Delta. I would be totally okay traveling the world on standby. :)

It's never to late to make a list of dreams. But if you make the list, you have to make a second list mapping out how you plan to accomplish them. Set goals, whether that be saving money, signing up for a class, or looking for that part-time job with an airline. 

I think it's important to realize you don't have to look successful from the worlds outlook. Every persons journey doesn't look alike. From a worldly perspective I would say my life looks pretty sad right now... but, I have decided that that doesn't matter. What matters is that I am doing what I feel God has called me to do. I'm going after my dreams one at a time. 

Here is a Chinese fortune I got recently:

"Talk is cheap, barbers give it away free with haircuts."

Let's stop thinking and talking about what we want to do and go do it! 

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

Read Your Labels

Nothing pains me more than seeing people get tricked into weight loss products. There are many companies that have done their job well and have pulled the proverbial "wool" over the eyes of your everyday consumer. Some of these products include diet sodas, vitamin water (Check out my post Drinking Fat Is Gross), slim fast and the list continues. 

How can we escape the traps set for us by very clever marketing departments?

The Answer...

READ YOUR LABELS

As I have become more educated I have begun reading labels much more frequently. I have been shocked. The amount of foods that have chemicals in them and the amount of sugar just astounds me. So, today's mission is to make sure you are not a gullible consumer. Let's learn how to read our labels and UNDERSTAND what we are looking at.

Let's start by taking a look at the ingredients list for a Slim Fast product.

(click to enlarge the image)

When looking at the nutritional value of a product I immediately skip down to the ingredients section on the bottom. It is too easy to manipulate the nutrition facts of a product based on serving size. However, more importantly the ingredients section will tell you exactly what is IN the product.

When we look at the ingredients for Slim Fast, do we really believe it's going to make us slim? Our first ingredient is fat free milk. I haven't written on this topic yet, but I believe it is important to avoid "fat free" products because to make a product "fat free" typically the product is modified and there are additives in them. Our next most present ingredient is water--no problem with that. The third ingredient is sugar. Now, it is important to note that ingredients are listed in the order from most present to least present. Meaning that besides milk at water, sugar is the third most predominate element in this drink. I don't believe drinking milk, sugar water is going to have a slimming effect on your body. I think we can all agree on that.

However, this is not were the problem stops. There are 43 ingredients (I think I counted right) in this Slim Fast shake. In my post The Many Names Of Sugar, I show 50 names of sugar you may not know. Among many ingredients I can't pronounce, I see a few different names for sugar--one of which is high fructose corn syrup, one of the worst forms of sugar/sweetener you can consume.

Here are four keys to becoming an efficient label reader overnight: 

1. Skip the nutrition facts and look at the ingredient list
2. The shorter the ingredient list, the better
3. Look for hidden sugars--sucrose, fructose, syrups (cane, corn, high fructose, etc.), fruit juice concentrates etc. (see my post The Many Names Of Sugar for a full list)
4. If you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't eat it

Reading and understanding labels doesn't have to be complicated. You don't need to understand everything that is on a label. Just know, that if it has a weird name it is probably made by chemists in a food lab.Your body won't be able to break it down and digest it as easily and efficiently as it should. Additionally, it probably doesn't have any nutritional value. 

Next time you are in the grocery story, pick up some of your favorite products and read the labels. You might be shocked by what you find! :)

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo  

Rethink Your Dinner Plate

Today, I would like us to rethink our dinner plate. If we look at the food pyramid that is given to us by our government, we see something that looks like this...

A rising health concern in America is the increasing number of type 2 diabetes cases along with obesity. What causes type 2 diabetes? Mainly, diet. I know a number of people with type 2 diabetes. When they changed their diets and start getting the proper nutrition their diabetes was reversed as quickly as one week. Isn't that crazy?? No drugs, no surgery. Mainly, a balanced diet and sometimes added nutritional support with natural supplements. 

So what is a balanced diet and why is this pyramid leading us astray? In my opinion, and others with many more credentials than I, believe that there is a need for restructuring of the food pyramid. Dr. Bob Rakowski came up with a plate that I believe will help you achieve optimal health. 

As you can see, this plate is very different than the food pyramid above. I believe this approach to your daily eating will do a couple of things for you:

1. It will increase your intake of plant nutrients. This will feed your cells, promote gut health (keep your regular), and they are fat burning foods.
2. Increased protein will give your body the fuel it needs to balance your blood sugar and nourish your body. 
3. This diet has a low glycemic index. When you eat grains, even when they are "whole wheat," your body quickly converts them into sugar. When you get too much sugar in your diet from eating sugar OR grains you may become insulin resistant. This is where a number of health problems start.

Let me revisit insulin resistance for my previous post Too Much Good?:

The relationship between your blood sugar and insulin is sensitive. Let me introduce insulin resistance to you--this happens when you continually eat foods that spike your blood sugar (soda, donuts, candy, bread, etc.). When you eat these foods you actually down regulate your blood sugar receptors (they become desensitized)--making your body produce excess insulin. Here is the problem, insulin is your main fat storing hormone.  When your body produces too much of any hormone it stores in your fat, because there is no use for it. Ever looked in the mirror and noticed your love handles or that you might have some excess upper back fat? Yep, that is the favorite place for your excess insulin to dwell.

In conclusion, increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables and protein you consume and decreasing the amount of "carby" foods you eat with promote health and help shrink your waistline. Who doesn't want that? Hopefully, this post will help you load up your plate differently and help you see the results you're looking for!

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo

Make Sure To Eat Your Carbs

I'm back! After 3 weeks of constantly running life is starting to slow down a bit and hopefully allow me to get back to writing more consistently. My gypsy lifestyle can be pretty crazy at times but thankfully, as much as I've enjoyed this season new things are just round the corner and I'll make sure to update all of you soon.

So, I hope the title of this post grabbed your attention. As a athlete in high school we would have team meals before games and these meals almost always consisted of spaghetti or lasagna or some other type of pasta. I'm not sure where or when people begain to think we need to eat a bunch of carbs before a big event such as a basketball game, tennis match or marathon but I believe this mentality is flawed.

When we eat breads and pastas, even if they are "whole grain," our body quickly metabolizes these carbs into sugar within our blood stream. This increase insulin levels and will give a short burst of energy due to high sugar levels but then there is the inevitable crash post sugar high.

It is true, your body does need carbohydrates, however, contrary to popular belief, these carbs do not need to come from pastas or breads. Fruits and vegetables in your daily diet will not only give your body the carbohydrates it needs to run efficiently but will also keep your blood sugar and insulin levels balanced, giving you sustained energy, and fueling your fat burning machine.

I would like to challenge all of you to start to rethinking your carbs. Making small changes in this area over time can produce big results and over time your craving for starchy carbs will decrease.

Best of luck! Please feel free to leave any questions in the comment section below.

Until Next Time,
Hope
xoxo

Sleep

Sleep. I would like to start by saying, I LOVE sleep. Last night I got to bed at 3 a.m. which is a very bad idea for me. I slept till 1 p.m. and literally had to drag myself out of the house so that I could make an attempt at being productive. If I had stayed home I would have most likely spent the afternoon on the couch doing a whole lot of nothing. Can anyone relate?

Sleep is one of the main pillars of optimal health. It was included on my post The Magnificent Seven. Think right, eat right, drink right, move right, talk right, poop right, and SLEEP right! I have found for myself that I am an eight hours a night type of girl. If I get any less than that I have trouble functioning. I typically make horrible decisions in regard to my eating and forming sentences that make sense can be an issue.

There isn't an exact number that I can give you for the perfect amount of sleep. It's generally excepted that most people need somewhere between 6-8 hours. However, there are definitely people who need more that. This can fluctuate depending on your age, vocation and stress level, etc.. Dr Naiman, who is a sleep specialist says that you have found the perfect amount of sleep when you have slept enough hours to have sustained energy through the day without having to use artificial stimulants, with the exception of a mid-afternoon nap.

There is research suggesting that getting less than six hours of sleep a night can increase your chances of becoming insulin resistant. As I talked about in my post, Too Much Good, insulin resistance can prevent weight loss and cause you to gain weight and develop type 2 diabetes.

I have also found from my own experience that my quality of life is SO much better when I get sleep. Especially, if it is within a consistent sleep schedule. Sleeping from 3 a.m. to 1 p.m. does not leave me feeling refreshed despite being 10 hours. When I get good sleep my outlook is more positive, my productivity increases and I am able to enjoy conversation with the people in my life. So experiment with the number of hours you sleep until you find the right number for you. This could take awhile but it will be worth it.

Some keys to getting good sleep include:

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule
• Avoid watching TV before bed--it has been shown to be over stimulating to your brain which causes you to struggle falling asleep
• Keep you house no warmer than 70 degrees Fahrenheit
• Make sure to eat protein within a few hours before bed to increase melatonin (your sleep hormone) and avoid hypoglycemia (high blood sugar) which will cause you to wake up

I would like to end with some of the side effects of not getting enough sleep. Some of them include:

• Increased risk of getting sick and developing severe health issues
• Constipation
• Stomach Ulcers
• Depression
• Heart Disease 

I hope this post will help you see the benefits of making sleep a priority, no matter what stage of life you're in.  Feel free to leave a comment in the section below with additional questions!

Until Next Time,

Hope

xoxo