Importance Of Rest & Recovery

Sleep is the #1 Fat Burner

Fat loss is all about hormone function.

Sleep, is the reset button for hormones.

As you sleep, your body is releasing reparative enzymes that balance your hormones.

An easy way to think about it is, "As I recover, my hormones recover and get into balance."

Hormones such as cortisol, insulin, estrogen, testosterone, and HGH, all play a role in how much fat your body stores and releases.

Even with a perfect diet and exercise plan, it will be difficult to see sustained results if you are sleep deprived.

One study conducted on over weight individuals, saw a 55% increase in fat loss in the sub group that slept 8 hours, vs 5.5 hours.  

This show us that when all things are equal in nutrition and exercise, you need quality sleep to see better results.

Sleep quality is not just measured in hours.  Quality refers to uninterupted sleep that allows you to go through full REM cycles.

Here are a few tips to increase the quality of your sleep.

1.  Exercise regulary

2.  Develop a pre sleep routine: hot bath, light reading, limit device time 1 hour before, go to bed around same time.

3.  Create a cool environment. 68 degrees is optimal. If you run hot, take cool shower before bed.

4.  magnesium spray - most people are deficient. 

5.  Epsom salt bath - help magnesium absorption as well as relaxes you.

6.  Dim the lights in the house.  

Melatonin helps our body and mind shift gears and become sleepy. 

Instead of taking supplements, use the above natural methods to promote healthy melatonin levels.

When you are tired and sleep deprived, you will have more sugar cravings as well. 

The easiest way to beat cravings, is to not have them in the first place.

The more proactive you are throughout the day with setting the proper framework, the less you will have to fight off cravings.

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Sleep also aids in muscle recovery & boosts immunity.

Rest and recovery is a huge part of living a healthy lifestyle, and is completely controllable. 

Other Tips for self care and recovery: The more the better.

- Drink filtered water.

- Meditation & or prayer

- Journaling

- walking / hiking

- being outdoors

- foam rolling, massage

- sauna / hot cold therapy

- alone quiet time

- epsom salt bath.

Balance Your Macros: Portion Control

In the human diet, our food consists of,  3 primary macro nutrients.

- Fat

- Protein

- Carbohydrate

A lot of media and hype surrounds macros and which ones you should eat and what you should completely avoid.

You should never completely eliminate a whole macro group.

In the 90's we were told all fat is bad and makes you fat.  (False)

The new macro to bash and eliminate currently, is carbs.  (False)

We will break it down for you below, on why you need each macro group.

Its all about choosing the correct foods to find the required macros.

We can not live without eating all three of these macros.

Each of the 3 macros provides an important and distinct role in our body.  

What macros help with:

Control weight

Balance hormones

Immunity

Growth and development

Protein

Protein helps to form and maintain muscle mass, provide energy for our cells and our brain function. 

It also helps control satiety, the feeling of being full.

Deficiency in protein can contribute to weakness, mood changes, trouble sleeping, ;anxiety, and muscle weakness.

Fat:

Healthy fats are an essential part of our diets. They plan a key role in weight managment and regulation of hormone production.

It is best to get a variety of fats, that are naturally occurring in whole foods. 

Eating the wrong fats will cause weight gain, inflammation, hormone disruption, and a decline in health.

Eating the right fats helps skin and organ health, hormone balance, vitamin absorption, digestion, satiety, and energy levels.

The different types of good fats are:

Mono unsaturated:  olives and its oil, avocado and its oil, nuts

Saturated: grass fed beef, dairy, coconut oil. MCT oil.

Poly unsaturated:   fatty fish, nuts, cold pressed seed oils (hemp, pumpkin)

Don't eat vegetable oils like:  canola oil, soybean oil, palm oil,  sunflower oil.

Carbs:

Carbs are the new kid on the block to hate.

The reason for this is that sugar and processed junk, consists of mostly carbs.

Think about any junk food or treat you like.

It most likely contains carbs, as well as other bad oils and chemicals that make you want more.

Refined ( processed) carbs, release glucose into the blood stream more quickly than good starch.

This leads to increased cravings, and over eating.

But, we can not vilify this whole macro group based on the above information.

Carbs are the bodies preferred energy source, and the only source for your brain.

We like to break down carbohydrates into 2 groups:

Vegetables and Starch

Vegetables are a group that provides us with fiber (regulates digestion and increases metabolism) 

and micro nutrients and minerals that are essential to proper body function and regulation.

The amount of calories in vegetable is essentially what your body burns, to digest it.

This means, eat as much as you like.  

Some vegetables will fall under healthy starches.

Healthy starches:

This is where we get the energy source for our muscle and brain power.

Grains-- Quinoa, Steel cut oats, Rice, millet

Vegetables --sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes, squash.

Fruits -- fruits can be starchy and some have higher sugar than others.  Eat them but don't go crazy.

We recommend eating 1-2 portions of fruit / day in order to reap the benefits of the fiber and micro nutrients they provide.

Some people prefer not to eat grains, that's fine, just make sure to get starchy vegetables and fruit in, to balance your plate.

If you workout at all, you need starch.

If you fail to eat starches in your diet, you may slowly lose fat but you will surely lose muscle. (NOT good)

However, they are not the only energy source.

Your body can convert fat and protein into energy if it has to.

That is why it is important to get your portion sizes under control and get the quality of carbs you are eating down, 

as the foundation of your nutrition plan.

Once we have this in place, we can start to shift the amount and the timing of carb ingestion, to get the body to do different things,

like, lose fat, gain muscle, gain energy, and recover, when we want it to.

Your body requires certain things in food to survive.

If the food you are eating is not providing you with the right macros and micro nutrients, it will keep giving you the hunger signal, hoping that the next thing you eat, will provide it with what it needs.

Processed refined foods lack essential nutrients that the body needs.

That is why eating a balanced, whole foods diet, rich in diversity, is so important.

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So just remember:

YOU NEED TO EAT ALL 3 MACRO GROUPS - in balance and variety.

Nutrition 101: Where to start

The main focus of this blog, is to educate you and how to create a nutrition plan, that is healthy, sustainable, and individualized to you. 

One of the main focuses of this plan, is to get you to start eating more whole foods. 

Why is this important?

Most of nutrition advice comes in the form of what you should eliminate.

But you can't take out foods, without first adding in what your body needs.

We like to start off talking about what you should add more of, into your diet.

Because lets face it, your body needs nutrients and calories to survive.

Cooking at home is one way to ensure that you know what is going into your body.

Vegetables:

Adding in lots of vegetables gives you the fiber and minerals, for you body to function properly. The average american diet will not supply you with what you need. Eat a rainbow of colors in you vegetables. That doesnt mean every color every meal, Think for the day and week. 

It can be hard to get all your veggie servings in with meals. 

**This is why we highly recommend adding a green smoothie in every day.

Protein:

If you are working out, you need additional protein to help build and sustain your muscles. When it comes to protein, quality is more important than quantity.  

You want to make sure you are eating organic, grass fed animal proteins.  Are they more expensive? Yes, but its worth it. You can eat less quantity, when the quality is higher.

Fat:

Your body needs fat to survive. No, eating fat doesn't make you fat. Eating the wrong fats, can make it easier for you to gain fat though. You want to eat fat that is naturally occuring in foods. 

Processed fats like vegetable oil, seed oils, margarine, and soybean oil are manufactured.  You can't find them naturally. They are high in omega 6 fats and disrupt the balance of omega 3 to 6 inside your body. Good fats to eat are coconut oil, olive oil, avocado & it's oil, grass fed butter.

Starch:

Not all carbs are bad for you. No, they won't all make you fat.  Too much of some may though. On this plan we want you to highly reduce the amount of wheat and corn you take in.  Some people have no problem with these starches, but they are a problem for a majority of people.  They can be highly inflammatory and usually contain little nutritional value. 

We suggest you eat quinoa, rice (brown or white), sweet potatoes, potatoes, steel cut oats, and millet. When it comes to starches, it is very different for different people. 

Do some experimenting with one and pay attention to how your body feels afterwards.  Check your energy levels, your inflammation levels, and cravings.

Inflammation

Can come in different forms, gas, bloating, feeling too full, intestinal issues, heart burn, indigestion, and sluggishness.