April's Challenge, Decrease Hydronated Oils

 Welcome to week two of April's challenge focusing on fats.

Last week we talked about increasing healthy fats, butter, egg yolks, lard, animal fats in general, coconut oil, avocados. These healthy fats wont make you fat, especially when eaten with low carb lifestyle and high animal protein. These fats provide the body with vital nutrients, vitamins, minerals, energy for the body. Stability to insulin levels, stable insulin leads to the body being able to burn stored body fat for energy. Go eat your fats!  

For the challenge this week, I want to focus on hydrogenated oils. We want to eliminate these oils as much as possible. What are hydrogenated oils? These are fats high in omega 6 fatty acids, type of fat. They are heated to very high temperatures, processed with chemicals, leading to denaturing of the fat, this leads to health problems. These fats include soy, canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, vegetable oils.

These oils are one of the leading causes of metabolic decline, your cells not functioning properly, increasing inflammation in the body, interfere with your mitochondria, your power houses, energy sources in your cells. When these are damaged, your health declines. Hydrogenated oils lead to obesity. Inflamed, painful, sore, arthritic joints. Gut health issues. Brain, cognitive decline. Negatively impact your thyroid. Impact the expression of your genetics. Hydrogenated oils damage every cell in your body. These are truly an oil we want to eliminate from our eating. 

This could be a challenge, especially if you are used to eating processed, pre-packaged foods, or eating out, because they are loaded with hydrogenated oils. Deciding to fully eliminate these foods from your current way of eating, sounds fantastic, but probably isn't going to set you up for success. One fail swoop of a diet change is not normally sustainable for the long term. Taking it slowly and creating a healthier lifestyle is a better approach for a life time of health, not a  crash diet. Choose one of your meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner and decide to eat whole foods at this meal. Once you have this down, move onto another one. This is a journey and it can take time. If you are already well into your journey of healthy eating, maybe fully eliminating these oils is the next step for you. Where ever you are, take the next step!

Where you will find hydrogenated oils? When reading a food label, look for hydrogenated oil on the ingredient list. Even if on the front, it says no hydrogenated or trans fats, be sure to read the ingredients. Here in the US, food manufacturers are allowed to put so much in and still call it "free" from these deadly oils. Read the ingredient label! This will basically keep you buying single ingredient items, real food.

Other places to watch out for trans fats, another form of hydrogenated oils, is liquid oils at room temperature being cooked. Oils such as olive, flax, walnut, even avocado are fantastic for our health and should be eaten, I recommend not cooking them. Heating these oils changes them into trans fats.

By eliminating hydrogenated/trans fats from your diet, you will be protecting your heart, decreasing inflammation in your body, which is at the root of every disease, take off inches from your mid section, plus you will not be eating processed food and instead be eating highly nutrient rich dense foods that will nourish your body.

Where your mitochondria goes, your health goes. 

Many blessings to you on this journey to health,

Jenn

Welcome to April! Let's Eat More Fat!!!

 

Welcome to April! Can you believe it?! For our challenge this month, we are going to focus on healthy fats, the reasons these are important, why we need them, health benefits, why they aren't the enemy we have been told.

Let's begin!

Some benefits of healthy fats:
Very important vitamins and miners, A, D, K2 and omega-3's
Help with hormone synthesis, if we do not have enough healthy fat, we cannot make our hormones.

If we don't eat cholesterol, our livers will make it, it is that important for our health, our liver makes cholesterol 
Help in our weight lose or weight gain efforts, stabilizing insulin levels. 
Makes food tasty yummy
Help our bodies to uptake the water soluble vitamins.
Help our hair, nails and skin be healthy.
Help to protect our hearts.
Help protect our brains, which is mainly cholesterol.
Preferred source of energy for the body and our organs. 

This is an extremely short list, but I think you understand the idea. Anywho, how long of a list do you need anyway when someone is giving you permission to eat healthy fats, like butter?! Not long.

What determines a healthy fat, to me:
It has to be natural.

Not going through lengthy chemical processes to be able to eat it.
No hydrogenated,  chemical transfats, these are processed omega 6's, vegetable oils.
From animals that are pastured raised, eating what God intended them to eat, as much as possible.

Foods we want to increase:
Obviously butter!
Full fat heavy cream
If you can find it, whole raw milk
Whole eggs
Organ meats
Coconut oil and milk
Nuts and seeds
Bone broths
Not only the lean meat, go for fattier cuts
Cold pressed olive oil
Code liver oil
Ghee, tallow, lard, bacon

Now, I am not saying go over board and only eat fat. In my eating plan, I strive for somewhere between 50-65% coming from healthy sources of fat, a ball park range. It seems for most people, this is a good range. This will help you feel full and satisfied as well as give you good stable energy, and nutrients your body needs to thrive.

For this weeks challenge:
Incorporate more healthy fats into your daily diet.

Here's to a great challenge increasing fat!

In courage and kindness

Jenn

March Challenge: Simplify Relationships

 If you are a human, I do not think you will come across someone who doesn't say relationships are hard. They are complicated. We as humans are complicated beings and we tend to make things even more complicated than they need to be. 

For this weeks challenge of simplifying March, I would like to give you a few ideas of how to help bring peace and clarity to relationships. These aren't easy, but nothing good in life is easy. We have to go through the hard to have the good.

*Most of the time, something you do not like in someone else, is something you do not like about yourself. Before going off on someone else, take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, is this something I do? Fix it in yourself first.

*Take time to listen to your spouse, parents, kids, friends. Listen to hear them not to respond. There is a technique in coaching we use called reflective listening. There are many forms this takes, at it's simplest, it is repeating back to the person what you heard them say. Example:

You to friend: How are you today?

Friend: I am struggling today. The kids are going crazy not wanting to listen, the toddler stages. I have to tell them 10 times every morning to do their takes. I am a stuck record. 

You: You are struggling today because you are a stuck record with the kids telling them to do the same thing 10 times a day? 

Friend: YES!!!!

Can you imagine how your friend would feel heard if you responded this way instead of after asking the question, how are you, you go on about whatever you wanted to talk about not paying any attention to what they said? Imagine how things could be different with your spouse hearing them this way.

*Be present. Stop thinking about the other things you need to do, what has happened in your day, racing in your thoughts, whatever it is. Reflective listening helps with this. 

*Communicate more thoroughly. Those around you are not in your head listening to the conversation you are having with yourself. Beginning the conversation with them in the middle leaves them lost and no clue what you are saying. Start from the beginning. Don't leave out important details. But don't go on and on telling someone every little things either.

*Don't assume someone knows what you are talking about or understands what you meant. On that same token, as the listener don't assume you know what they are talking about or meant. To many disagreements happen because one or both parties assume and they are wrong. Clarify. Saves a lot of heart ache, hard feelings and ended relationships over misunderstandings. 

What are some of your tips for helping communication with others?

All my love

Jenn

March Challenge: Simplicity in Exercise

 I am a workout junky.

A gym rat at heart.

I am a sucker for a great workout.

I have adrenal issues and CrossFit feeds those so does trail running. 

It brings great joy to my heart to workout, hard, heavy, crazy, long, I am willing to try most workouts at least once.

Do I think anyone else has to be as crazy as I am when it comes to workouts? No. Do I support everyone should be moving their body in some capacity to support their health, yes.

How do you decide what workouts are going to help you achieve your goals? 

You need to decide what your goal for fitness is and what you want to build within your body type. You need to be realistic with your goals and what you want to achieve. From there, you have to train for the body you want and your goals. Try different types of workouts, you might surprise yourself and find something you never thought you would enjoy. If you are not moving your body, begin. Walk out your door and and go for a walk.  

I am not the coach, trainer who tells you if you do these simple workouts 3 times a week you are going to build a body like mine. That simply is not the case. I have been working out and building my body for the last 35 years, I started gymnastics when I was 3. I have been CrossFitting for the last 7 plus years. I have a base of fitness from a lifetime of moving my body. 

With that said, it does not mean you cannot build a body you are proud of through working out. Those workouts can be simple, they can be complex, they can be anything you want. My 90 year old grandparents have started exercising, simple exercises appropriate for them, and they are healthier and stronger for moving their bodies, as simple as these exercises might be. If they can begin exercising, you can to. It is going to take time and aggressive patients to achieve your goals. This should be a lifetime goal, not short term.

At the base of it all is some simple fitness. You have to move the body to be healthy. Our genes expect a lot of frequent movement at a slow pace. Walking is beyond powerful for our health. Doesn't mean you should be afraid of lifting heavy objects, your body weight, because you should be able to. Our long term health requires us to do this. These workouts do not have to be complicated. They can be simple. Most of the time, the simple ones are the most effective. 

What it comes down to is moving your body frequently at a slow pace, lifting heaving objects, sprint once in awhile and be consistent with it for life. Decide within your body type what you want to achieve and begin a program to go after this. Track your progress through pictures, how you feel, your accomplishments. If you need any help, please reach out.

Find the exercise you enjoy and go for it!

Otto and I are off for a walk up the mountain.

All my best

Jenn

March's Challenge: Simplicity in Eating

  

Simple meal, asparagus, salmon and shrimp

cooked in butter, salt and lime zest, juice.

Continuing our challenge for March, simplifying life, this week's focus is on simplifying our food.

As a health coach, one of the things I notice, is clients and the world over complicating eating habits.

You have to weigh, measure, have iron clad discipline and will power to not over eat, eat this and that together, not this and that together, combine this, eat this time to this time, but don't eat after this time, or before this time, then jump three times, stand on your head, wiggle your ears, say the magic words, eat the secret foods and if you aren't confused enough, my magic secret bullet will get you there. Watch some hour long video, that doesn't tell you anything, confuses you more and then ask you to buy my program, because you can't find health without me, because I have made it SOOOO complicated. 

 

How many of us through our hands in the air and say, I am confused and don't know what to eat, everyone contradicts each other, I am not going to try. I will eat whatever. In all honesty, with all my education and years of experience, when I hear some of these things, I feel the same way, confused and overwhelmed.

For myself and my clients, I strive to keep things simple. Simplify eating. 

The first step, begin eating more whole, real food.

This begs the question, what is real food? 

A list of real food

Notice, there isn't anything from a box, manufactured.

It was all living and growing. 

The second step, prioritizing animal protein and fats at the base of your eating habits. 

Choose foods from the list above and eat them abundantly. When you are hungry, truly hungry, obey your brilliant body and nourish it with food. When full, stop.

The third step, keep meal preparation simple. Foods that are in season, local, pastured taste amazing and don't need a lot done to them. Find those seasonings, herbs, spices, simple preparations you enjoy and make those. Keep the ingredients stocked in your pantry and fridge. You can always put a meal together quickly this way.

For example, I love limes and salt. I cook a lot of meat in this combination, beef, pork, chicken, fish, they are all tasty in this combination. I cook in butter and drizzle olive oil on top for extra fat and flavoring. Depending on what I am making, I might add other spices or herbs to the mix, but the base is the same, lime zest and juice and salt. Veggies are great in this mixture as well. Simple and easy. 

I have put the work in up front, finding ways I enjoy cooking, flavors I enjoy together. The pay off, meals are much simpler to make and rotate through.

How confused are you about eating?

If you need any help with your food, please reach out.

Inspiring growth

Jenn