The Down Low on Clean Eating Series: Introduction

When I talk to people about Clean Eating and specifically Paleo, I get a lot of confused, shocked, and resistant faces. What I have found in my years in this industry is that asking people to give up sugar is a no brainer. People have come to expect that if they want to eat healthier, they need to give up sugar and other white products like white rice, refined flour, etc. But asking people to give up ALL GRAINS, BEANS, and ALL DAIRY... whatsoever... is like asking them to get naked and speak in front of thousands of people.

When I was first presented with the Paleo diet "rules" I know I did the same thing. For me the grains part was easier to understand than the dairy part, especially since in the past my "healthy" way of eating often involved eating a lot more dairy products than normal like string cheese and yogurt. Often when we have a fitness or health goal we are presented with ways of eating that I now consider excuse diets; diets that allow people an easy way out.

For Example:

No sugar? Have as much fake, laboratory-produced sugar as you want, even if it’s a neurotoxin. Who cares at least you won’t be taking in calories.

You hate cooking? No problem, don’t learn how to cook and eat over processed, chemical ridden frozen meals that have as much nutritional value as a cardboard box.

Count your Calories! No need to worry about what’s in your food or where it came from, or if it will even get into your cells for your body to use.

The diet industry of today has you running around in circles believing that there is some magical,easy way out. I am so sick and tired of people trying to make hard things easier by cutting corners. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”

I really believe that this is a huge reason people are such yo-yo dieters. If you don’t re-learn what you know about food; how it affects you, how you shop for it, how you cook it, and how you eat it you will never learn any way of eating that will be sustainable for you. Remember those factors for later.

Key Point: Something that sounds sustainable for you in the future right now… to the person you are now whom you are trying to make life changes to…. probably sounds this way because it is still in your comfort zone. If I have learned anything in this life it’s that in order to grow and change we have to go OUTSIDE of our comfort zone. I know this because at one time, I didn’t think I would be able to I could sustain a life without cheese or ice cream or even ENJOY it. But I did and I’ve never enjoyed eating more than I do now.

In this series of blogs I am going to give you the down low (DL) on the 4 absolute musts that you need to learn (either for the first time from a different perspective) if you want to create a healthy way of eating that you will be able to sustain and enjoy for the rest of your life.

· How Food Effects You

· How to Shop for and Cook Food

· How to Eat Food

· How to make it a part of your NEW YOU!

I will go over things things like how body composition, emotions, energy level, performance and health are related to insulin, hormone regulation, gluten, lectins, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and other foods and non-foods we put into our bodies. We will go more in depth about what to look for in the grocery store, reading labels, and creating and finding great recipes for your weekly meal planning. And lastly I will give you some great tips along the way to begin to implement these changes in your life. Look for the DL on insulin in the next blog. I look forward to questions and empowering you to make more healthy decisions.

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America's Excuse

Americas Excuse

I have to say I’ve been running across a lot of excuses lately. As the weather gets colder more people seem to be getting sick. On top of that the holiday season is getting closer and closer and I keep thinking to myself, how many people are using all of these things as an excuse to be unhealthy, not be 100% in love with yourself and your body, all in the name of “The Holiday Season.”

What I realized is that the “holiday season” is a giant, collective, American excuse to GIVE UP!

I am here to challenge you to NOT GIVE IN! Don’t do it. Don’t give in to this ridiculous excuse to eat like crap and not have time for exercise or being healthy.

There are 8 weeks until thanksgiving and that means that you have 8 weeks to train yourself to be healthy during the busy, crazy, holiday season. It’s never too late to start so start NOW! I think there is a correlation between how out of it people get during the holidays and how they are treating their bodies.

Here are a few pointers to be on top of your game….

1) Find support. Join a workout group; find a friend to keep you accountable. I’ve got some great classes ( see below) to help you with this.

2) Start NOW. Don’t wait till the next time you go to store. Don’t wait until you finish off all the crappy food in your fridge.

3) Find info on clean eating. See my blog for recipes and resources. All your holiday sweets and things don’t have to be totally annihilating. Use alternative sweeteners, find gluten free recipes, use whole foods, do your own cooking!

4) If you have a goal why would you give up for 6 weeks or so? Keep going, keep pushing. Only you can put things in your way.

5) Believe in yourself and don’t let everyone else discourage you when they ask you “why aren’t you eating that…just have a little, it won’t hurt you.”

6) Lead by silent example, while everyone else is eating themselves into a coma over the holidays you will be productive, feel great, and be on track with whatever your goals are.

What is Clean eating?

Clean eating is a broad term to mean that you eat foods that are minimally or not processed at all and are in their purest, most nutritious and whole form. To eat clean you must shop for your own food, cook your own food, and I'm not going to sugar coat it, spend quite a bit of time researcing and educating yourself about what "clean" will mean for you and how you can make it palatable and work for your lifestyle.

Now when I say, "work for your lifestyle" this might be too broad. If you want to eat clean, you will have to change your lifestyle to fit clean eating. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You have to change your habits and your way of thinking if you are going to make clean eating your way of eating because it's not easy. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want you to understand what all this entails and not sugar coat it. The truth is that ingesting most of the food that is available and what we would call "easy" is the same as ingesting a low level poison into your body. Sugar, refined grains, dairy, gluten, soy.... these are all things that are sabotaging your digestive system, hormone regulation, and overall wellness of your body.

So I'm sure by now you are wondering how you eat clean. My simple answer is: Go Paleo. What is paleo? In the shortest possible way paleo is lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. If you can't find it and eat it raw, then you aren't eating it(obviously we usually cook out meat nowadays, but we can eat it raw).

"The Paleo Diet is a way of eating in the modern age that best mimics diets of our hunter-gatherer ancestors - combinations of lean meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. By eating the foods that we are genetically adapted to eat, followers of the Paleo Diet are naturally lean, have acne-free skin, improved athletic performance, and are experiencing relief from numerous metabolic-related and autoimmune diseases."


This means NO sugar, NO grains, NO dairy, NO beans, NO alcohol and NO startchy roots or tubers. Having said that, yes I think there is some value in whole grains like quinoa however what I recommend to some clients when beginning a program with me is to just go full paleo for 30 days in order to normalize their insulin levels and just clear their bodies of everything that might be messing with their systems. If you've been eating lots of sugr and grains, refined or not, for a long time you need to increase your insulin sensitivity in order to bring your hormone levels back to normal. That being said, any grain, whole or not, will cause too large of an insulin spike and will just hinder your efforts to normalize insulin sensitivity ( see more on this here). This is definitely situational and it depends on the person and what their stress levels and other medical issues are. Some people find it easier to ease their way into paleo before they begin their 30 days in order to lessen the stress on their bodies.

I can tell you I've already had one client discover a dairy allergy while doing her 30 days. She had had hives for 10 YEARS prior to starting, and was taking an antihistamine to control her internal hives so she could eat comfortably, but still had them on places on her skin. About a week into it, she noticed she had absolutely no hives at all!!! That is a drastic example, but easy to see the benefit. Imagine what is happening inside your body that you can't feel or see?

The bottom line here is eat REAL food. If its processed, it's not real. Look at your labels, if it's got more than 4-5 ingredients and you can't understand any of them it's not real. If you didn't make it yourself, it's probably not real food. Be conscious of what you cook with, make sure there aren't any chemicals and other low level poisons in your food. Find out how gluten, sugar, grains, and dairy, effect your body. Go clean, go paleo. Go all out or start with laying off the sugar and the grains for a week or so and go from there. This is your body, and it's the only one you have. Take care of it!!!!

You can find out more at http://www.thepaleodiet.com/

Theme of the week: Change your thoughts, change the world

“Can you afford the consequences of your thinking?”Rev. Cheri Jensen

Thoughts are a powerful thing. Thoughts have the power to drive you crazy and they have the power to create joy and happiness. Today I challenge you to think about the consequences of your thinking. How will your negative thoughts affect your mind, your body, your health?

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Budda

Just think about it for a moment. We think all day long, but we never realize how our thoughts are affecting our bodies and our spirits. Take time to be aware and conscious to how thoughts make you feel, emotionally and physically.

"The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it." Marcus Aurelius

Whatever your goals and intentions this week are, don’t let your thoughts poison you. Don’t shut your emotions out, but don’t let them rule you either. Let your thoughts flow through you not from you.

“Change your thoughts, and you change your world” Norman Vincent Peale

August/September Happenings

Transform Yourself! Express Your Health! 6 week class. This class is designed for women who are ready to dig deep, create their vision, and change their lives! Group Workouts mon/wed and with 30 for discussion/speakers on monday. I am bringing in phenomenal speakers in the community to speak on topics that will help you learn and grow mind, body and spirit, and most importantly leave you feeling inspired, empowered and buzzing when you leave.

New AM Transform Yourself class starting Tues September 8: Tue 8:30-10 and Thurs 9-10am.

Next PM class starts Sept 28 Mon-7-8:15pm and Wed 7-8 pm $ 240 (20 a class)

Class Specials

Refer 3 friends and get your class FREE!!

Refer one friend to class and save $40.

Refer 2 friends to class and save $70

New! Kitchen Sweep: Are you confused at what foods are healthy and what foods aren’t? If you want some extra attention on your nutrition program at home this is a great program for you. I will come to your kitchen, help you understand the basics of clean eating, get rid of the bad foods ( and donate the extra) , help you create a shopping list and plan some meals, go grocery shopping with you, and even help you cook/prepare a few healthy meals! $70/hour

Hot Moves Seductive dance Class Wed @ 8pm at pivotal wellness
Let your inner temptress out in this new dance class! Get confident, feel sexy, shake your stuff, and have fun with the girls.
$12 drop in, $80-8 punch card

Email lauren@empowerfitness.org or call 407-399-0170 for more info or to sign up

Theme of the Week: Attitude

"Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?"

Just think about the people you know, and think about the people you like the best, the people you admire, the people you feel most comfortable around. I bet all these folks share a commonality. They all have a great attitude.

Other people’s attitudes can wrap themselves around you. They can make you feel joyous, they can make you feel angry, and they can make you feel sad.

Surround yourself with people who have a winning attitude and you might just win. Surround yourself with people who have a destructive attitude and you might self destruct.

"Sometimes we are limited more by attitude and opportunity."

Life doesn’t always give us opportunities that are coated in sugar. Every choice we make is an opportunity to learn something new. Every bad situation life throws at us is an opportunity to grow stronger and persevere.

We may not have control over the situations life brings us, but we do have control of one thing; Attitude. The control center of your life is attitude. Don’t forget it.


<strong>New Happenings For August!


New! Kitchen Sweep: Are you confused at what foods are healthy and what foods aren't? If you want some extra attention on your nutrition program at home this is a great program for you. I will come to your kitchen, help you understand the basics of clean eating, get rid of the bad foods, help you create a shopping list and plan some meals, go grocery shopping with you, and even help you cook/prepare a few healthy meals! $50/hour


New!Referral Program for Express your health class: Refer a friend to empower yourself express your health and receive 25 % off your tuition OR I will give you 25% of their tuition if you are not participating.

**Empower Yourself! Express Your Health! 6 week class begins Monday August 10 : I am looking for 5 women who are ready to dig deep, create their vision, and change their lives! Group Workouts mon/wed and with 30 for discussion/speakers on monday. Topics include women, nutrition, femenine presence, emotions and your health and more!
Mon-7-8:15pm and Wed 7-8pm $ 240 (20 a class)


**Hot Moves! Seductive dance Class begins Wed August 12 @ 8pm
Let your inner temptress out in this new dance class! Get confident, feel sexy, shake your stuff, and have fun with the girls.
$12 drop in, $80-8 punch card

Email lauren@empowerfitness.org or call 407-399-0170 for more info or to sign up!