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Are you feeling emotional and want to eat everything in sight? A good idea to ward this off is to eat a huge satisfying salad or huge bowl of vegetables with protein and fat. Fill your belly with fiber so that you feel a sense of fullness, protein to slow down release of blood sugar, and fat to control cravings.
Are you going to a party and do not want to overeat? Have a smoothie with a few fruits and protein (or any meal). Hydrate yourself so that you are not confusing hunger with thirst. As the body can misread these two cues.
Going too long without eating, or walking into a food “festival” without preparing can lead to trouble. In these cases, have a preventative meal so that you will end up eating less overall!
If you do not eat (fast) prior to your workouts make sure that you refuel with a meal or snack within 30-40 minutes post workout. This would be a situation where you wake up and workout fasted because you feel better doing so. Which is completely healthy! If you do eat prior to your workout (maybe you workout later in the day) this is not an issue. A postworkout meal speeds up recovery, refills your glycogen storage (stored energy in muscle used in some workouts), decreases inflammation due to stress of workout, and controls the backlash of hunger that will hit you with a vengeance later on in day if you do not have a post workout meal.
This meal should consist of 2 parts carb (fruit or plant based starch depending on goals) and 1 part protein.
Smoothies are a great option.
Dehydration can and will negatively impact how well your muscles move. Which can cause strain or injury.
Dehydration also causes low energy. Be aware and make sure to hydrate if you have any drinks. A good B complex vitamin is helpful too as alcohol depletes and may lead to headaches and depression. B vitamins in our systems help us stay happy! Dehydration is confused by our bodies with hunger. When you are dehydrated, you may eat more because of this confusion.
Alcohol can interrupt sleep. Sleep is when we produce the hormone that tells us that we are “satiated” and to stop eating, this hormone is Ghrelin. Alcohol also increases Cortisol which is our stress hormone. It can raise Insulin which raises blood sugar and reduces with your energy and metabolism. All important to know when you are on a path of well-being. Knowledge is power.
Not all sugars are equal. Glucose is a byproduct of photosynthesis and present in plants, fruits, and vegetables. Our bodies even create it when needed. It is used as energy and/or stored as glycogen in muscle for energy. Fructose and Sucrose are found in fruit. Incredibly sweet and healthy to consume as the fruit offers so many vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal health. Both are simple sugars and needed in certain quantities. This program focuses on consuming simple sugars because of the health benefits, necessity, and easy digestion.
There is also Lactose, a byproduct of breaking down dairy, many people do not possess the enzyme necessary to break down Lactose, thus why dairy isn’t optimal and can cause stomach distress.
All sugars are carbohydrates. Starch foods have more complex sugars/carbs to break down. The overflow of sugar means high insulin levels and high insulin levels means storage in your organs and fatty tissue. Thus, why too much sugar and too many carbohydrates can cause fat, disease, and poor well-being.
The majority of your daily intake should be whole foods. Your plate should look close to what they have been looking like during this reset. To make sure you do not feel deprivation and as if you are missing out on what you love, social occasions, etc. You CAN allow for 20% (give or take) of your daily intake to be FUN/ENJOYMENT. This could mean that drink at dinner, the slice of birthday cake, the cheese sprinked on your eggs, the ranch salad dressing, and so on. One day you may not feel like you want any “fun” foods, the next you may feel like you want all the fun foods, let yourself ride and flow. If you implement all of the other stategies that we have covered you should have no problem with this.
Protein Bars with little to no sugar.
Power Crunch
LaraBar
GoMacro Bar
Perfect Bar
RXBar
Dairy
Ideally Farm Fresh Grass Fed Dairy is the healthy option (refer to week 1)
Add dairy in slowly and see how you react. Look for bloating, skin disruptions, and phlegm
Greek Yogurt no sugar
Cheeses Etc..
These days there are so many great dairy alternatives. I would start by trying some to see if you like them.
Non Dairy Alternatives
Unsweetened Coconut or Almond Milk Yogurts
Cashew and Almond Cheeses
Almond, Soy, or Coconut Milk Coffee Creamers
Snack Foods (sparingly)
Non GMO popcorn
Rice Cakes
Non GMO Corn Chips
Potato Chips with Avocado Oil
Home made or healthier store bought energy balls
Grass fed meat sticks (like slim jim but not, Trader Joes carries) or EPIC Bars
Healthy Salad Dressings
Drew’s, Annie’s, and Braggs brands are good