Tips to Boost your Energy

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Do you ever feel like you have absolutely no energy or that you are running on low for some (or most) of the day?  I’m pretty sure that we all have felt like that at one point or another. Everyone has different ways of dealing with their lack of energy. Some reach for the nearest Diet Coke, some just push through to make it through the day, and some go to extremes like taping their eyes open or something crazy…just kidding I hope nobody does the third option;). I am here to tell you that there are natural ways to fill your tank when you are running on empty. Here are a few ways that I have found help boost my energy.

1. Stick to an exercise schedule:

Some people think, “Ah I’m too tired to exercise!” Well guess what? Research has shown that exercise has actually been found to boost energy. People who exercise feel more energized throughout the day if they have had a workout. I have definitely seen this in my life. I notice a HUGE difference on the days that I do not exercise than on the days that I do. I feel a little sluggish when I don’t stick to my workout schedule.

2. Eat a balanced diet:

“You are what you eat”, your mom always said….Moms are so smart! This really is true. Try to eat a nutritious diet. Stick with whole grains, lean protein, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and low fat dairy. Eating a nutritious diet will keep your blood sugar at a steady level throughout the day, give you the energy you need to perform your daily tasks, and provide your body with the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients it needs to stay energized.

3. Stay hydrated: drink more water:

According to Boston College, two-thirds of Americans do not get enough water. I mean I am no math expert, but that sounds like a whole a lot of thirsty Americans! Haha Water is super important for our bodies and we need lots for our bodies to function properly. The daily recommendation is eight 8 oz glasses (or 64 ounces) of water per day. If you are exercising, you need even more. Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink water. You are already slightly dehydrated when you get thirsty. My biggest tip for drinking more water is to always carry a water bottle with you and drink it throughout the day. Your body will thank you.

4. Get enough sleep:

We learned from the last post on sleep, how important it is for our body to get enough sleep. If you can, try to get 7-8 hours of shut-eye per night. When we are well rested, we can think more clearly and have the energy to make it through the day.

5. Don’t skip meals and have a power snack if you need to:

When we skip meals, our blood sugar can plummet. When our blood sugar drops, our energy drops. Our bodies need food…weird right?! ;) If we keep fuel in our tanks, our body will be able to go for longer. If you get hungry in between meals, eat a snack! Keep your blood sugar steady. Eat a snack that combines whole grains and fiber to give you a pick-me-up, and protein and a little fat to help your energy last. Try to avoid eating too many sugary snacks. Sugar can cause your blood sugar to spike and then drop quickly, leaving you feeling "wiped out".

Examples of healthy snacks:

-1 serving of whole wheat crackers and 1 TBSP of peanut butter

-Apple slices or banana slices with 1 TBSP of peanut butter or almond butter

-Greek yogurt with fruit or granola

-Whole wheat toast with nut spread

-Veggies dipped in hummus

-Trail mix of nuts and dried fruit

6. Laugh:

Laughter is the best medicine! Watch that funny youtube video that your friend sent you! Laughing not only helps improve your mood, but it also raises your blood pressure and heart rate, giving you that extra boost of energy. And who doesn’t like to get a little laugh in during the day?!

7. Get moving!

Aside from your regular exercise schedule, make sure you are moving throughout the day. If you are feeling sluggish, go for a 10 minute walk or do some stretches. Getting out the door when you are exhausted really can be a difficult task, but I promise you won’t regret it. It’s amazing how much better you feel after you move around, no matter how tired you were before you did.

Do you have any energy boosting tips that have worked for you? If so, please share!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

-McKell

The Importance of Sleep—Quanity and Quality

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Since I am away this weekend, running a NYC 1/2 marathon, I decided to turn my post over to my husband. I hope you all have a great and safe weekend! Enjoy.

-Jaeme

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Why is sleep important?

Most of us know sleep is important. All you have to do is get one bad night of sleep to know firsthand how important it is; you feel fatigued, foggy, and just plain crapy. On the other hand, the feeling of waking up after a great night sleep is pretty awesome; feeling rejuvenated, energetic, sharp minded, and ready to take on the day! So what is going on during our sleep that makes it so important? Unfortunately much of sleep remains a mystery, and there have been many theories over the years as to why sleep is so essential. Most recent research shows that sleep is the most important for our mental capacity. It is extremely important in processing new memories, integrating learned tasks, and other such things like judgment and attention. To illustrate just how important sleep is, here are just a few of the side effects of sleep deprivation:

• Decreased attention and reaction time
• Deficits in memory
• Poor decision making
• Altered mental status (i.e. depression, anxiety, poor mood, irritability)
• Low energy
• Decreased libido
• Increased rate of accidents (workplace, driving, etc…)
• Associated with increased risk of mortality
• Associated with increased co-morbidities:
• High blood pressure, coronary artery disease, stroke, heart attack, obesity, type II diabetes
• Decreased immune function

How much sleep do I need?

It is generally recommended to get around 8 hours of sleep, although this can vary significantly from individual to individual. The best way to find out how much sleep one needs is to pay attention to one’s own internal cues and to monitor for signs of sleep deprivation. However, making sure you aren’t sleep deprived doesn’t simply boil down to a magical number of hours that you need to hit. Another factor that is just as important to consider is the quality of sleep one is getting. It may be that you are getting 8, 9, or even 10 hours of sleep, but if it isn’t good quality sleep it won’t count for much.

How do I improve my sleep?

One way of improving our sleep and reducing sleep deprivation would be to simply increase the amount of time we allow ourselves to sleep; however, for many of us the quantity of our sleep may be difficult, or even impossible, to adjust. For many people it is often easier to try and focus on improving the quality of sleep one is getting. There are many factors that affect the quality of sleep that we are getting and are commonly referred to as our “sleep hygiene” habits.  Here is a list of suggestions for developing good sleep hygiene:

• Sleep just long enough to feel rested and then make sure to get out of bed
• Go to bed and get up at the same time every day
• Have coffee, tea, and other foods that have caffeine only in the morning
• Avoid alcohol in the late afternoon, evening, and bedtime
• Avoid smoking, especially in the evening
• Keep your bedroom dark, cool, quiet, and free of reminders of work or other things that cause you stress
• Solve problems you have before you go to bed
• Exercise several days a week, but not right before bed
• Relaxation therapy, in which you focus on relaxing all the muscles in your body 1 by 1
• Working with a counselor or psychologist to deal with the problems that might be causing poor sleep

While improving the quantity and quality of one’s sleep isn’t always the easiest thing to do, it is incredibly important for both our physical and mental health. Hopefully this article will provide some insight into ways you can try and improve your sleep and overall health! If you have any questions or suggestions for ways you have found to improve your sleep, please let us know.

-Randy

Ways to Help with Weight Loss Plateau

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Are you stuck in a rut with your health/weight loss journey? Are you feeling like you have seen some improvements in weight loss but now its stopped and you feel like all your hard work is not helping? You may be in a plateau, a weight loss plateau that is. They are very common and happen to many people while going along in their journey to achieve their health goals. A plateau is a discouraging time when your weight loss slows down or stops altogether because your body has adapted to the exercise and form of healthy eating you have been doing. There are many reasons this can happen and I'm going to give you a few tips on how to over come your weight loss plateau.  

Re-evaluate your Incoming Calories-

Weight loss happens by consuming fewer calories than your body is expending. Make sure you are not eating to many calories for your body at its new weight. Since you have lost some weight during your journey make sure you have re configured your needed calories and are consuming enough for your current weight and not your starting weight. On the other hand make sure you are not starving yourself and making your body retain fat. If you are not getting enough calories to sustain your bodies needs then your metabolism will drop drastically and your body will store everything you eat as a fat. Our bodies adapt to the changes we place them under and in this case if your getting to few calories then your body will store everything being afraid you wont feed it again soon.

Take Control of Forgotten Calories-

Most the time people will hit a plateau because of those forgotten calories that they ate. I'm talking about little snacks that we munch on in the car or that soda we drank at lunch or even that bigger sized portion of dinner we ate out. Calories that you forget you have eaten that are hurting your weight loss goals. The best way to help get yourself back on track with this is to keep a food journal. This way you can write down everything you ate that day and keep track of those little calories that are sneaking into our diet that we are not even being aware of.

Make a Change with your Workout Routine-

Like I said before our bodies adapt to the lifestyle we are living and the demands we place upon it. Our muscles get familiar to the workouts we perform and this is why you stop seeing results. In order to over come this you have to either increase your intensity, duration, or change the type of exercise you are performing.  If you are used to walking everyday then try increasing the pace or doing intervals to increase your heart rate. Try doing the elliptical or bike instead of walking. If you are doing strength training try increasing your weight and performing new exercises. This will help increase your muscle mass which will in turn make you burn more calories.

Remember Why you Started this Journey-

Reassess your goals and reasons why you started this healthy living lifestyle. Going through a plateau is frustrating and can be difficult but it also gives you the opportunity to reevaluate your goals and desires to live a healthy lifestyle. Re adjust your approach to weight loss and continue to work at it each day and not to give up. Write up your game plan and goals and put them on your mirror so you can see them each morning to help you stay on track and get you through this plateau.

If you are going through a plateau right now remember that they happen to everyone and you can work to get through it. Just remember these tips and try reassessing your healthy living goals. Good luck and let me know if you need any more help or tips.

-Shauna

Food Prep: Eating Healthy and Saving Time

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Happy Sunday Everyone! So one thing I like to do over the weekend besides spending time with my family is Food Prep. I am not a major over the top food prep-er but I do do a few things that help my busy life run smoother and save me lots of time. I know one of the complaints people say about eating healthy and creating meals from scratch is that it takes to much time. People think it is easier to open a box of already-made pasta or some form of processed food then it is to make a healthy meal. Which sometimes it can be but with these helpful tips eating healthy can be a breeze.

At the start of every month I buy 2 big packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts. (The biggest they have at the store). I also buy from Costco their package of lean Ground Turkey. (It comes with 4 individual packages to make one great big one.)









 I first start cooking all the ground turkey in a skillet on my stove top. I add whatever seasoning to it that I would like and let it cook.











While that is cooking I start cutting up all the chicken into bite sized pieces and place them aside to cook next.

Once the ground turkey is all cooked I place it all into a big bowel and set aside. I hurry and clean my skillets and then starting cooking all the chicken. Add whatever seasonings you would like and cook until no longer pink.

 While the chicken is cooking I divide the ground turkey into portions of how much I would use for each meal. I have a Food Savor that vacuum seals the food but you can also just use the big Ziploc bags meant for the freezer to store your turkey in. After the chicken is done cooking I do the same, divide and then seal it up. By the end of this I have 6 bags of ground turkey and 8 bags of chicken. Now throughout the month I can just grab one of these bags out of the freezer and hurry and make a meal from it. It saves me a ton of time.

The next thing I do is buy, wash, and divide all my fresh fruit up into Tupperware and place them into my fridge so we always have fresh fruit on hand ready to go. If it is a type of fruit that you eat the skin (berries, apples, gapes etc.) I wash/let them soak in a vinegar water mixture 4/1 ratio water/vinegar for about 10 min each.

The vinegar helps clean the fruit and also helps preserve them to last longer I have noticed. Once they are washed I let them dry completely, especially the berries so there is no moisture on them when sealed and put into the fridge.

A few other things I do at the start of the month is make my homemade granola, energy balls, (recipes already given in previous blog posts) and pancakes. I use the granola a lot and my husband takes it with him to work as breakfast. Energy balls are great snacks and post workout meals. My daughter loves pancakes and could eat them all the time. I hate making them everyday and don't want to give her store bought preservative filled ones. So I make a huge batch once a month and put the rest in the freezer. Then I can just grab one out and put it in the toaster whenever she wants one.

This all sounds like a lot of work but really it is not. The amount of time I save during the weeks to come because of doing all this is is so worth it. Plus my family always has fresh and yummy food at hand.

What type of food prep do you do to make your life easier? I would love to hear more ideas I can add to my list. :)

-Shauna

Breastfeeding your baby and still maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

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Hey all you Mommas out there or Soon to Be Ones. This post is all about Breastfeeding and still maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle. Being able to workout and eat healthy while trying to breastfeed can be tricky for some and was especially for me. I had a very hard time maintaining my milk supply and learned a lot of things along the road. I hope I can share some tips with you so you don't have to deal with the stress and frustration of a hungry baby and you not being able to feed them enough.  

How many calories should I be eating while breastfeeding? 

First when it comes to nutrition you need to be eating an additional 400-500 calories a day to support your milk production. But if you are also working out while you are breastfeeding then you will need to be replenishing the calories lost during your workout plus that additional 400-500 calories. So for example if I burned 600 calories during my workout then I would be needing to eat around 1,000 extra calories a day. That is a lot when you think about it. This is where I had problems, I was not eating enough to make up for all the lost calories and it showed in my fluctuating milk production. Now not every person is the same and everyone has different metabolisms so this may be a bit of trial and air. You don't want to be eating to many calories so you start to gain weight either. 

What types of food should I be consuming while breastfeeding? 

You don't need to go on any special diet while breastfeeding but you should try to maintain eating a healthy balanced meals. For those extra calories you need to add try and make them whole grains with veggies and fruits. If you need ideas of healthy snack alternatives go check out our pervious posts for ideas.

When it comes to variety of foods and how they will affect your milk and baby make sure you are attentive and aware of how baby reacts to certain foods. If baby is being fussy or has an upset stomach make sure to monitor what foods you have eaten. Some foods you consume can be the cause to a sick baby tummy that you will then need to eliminate. 

What types of fluid should I drink and how much should I consume?

Water is your best friend when trying to breastfeed. On average you should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day. But if you are working out then you will need to replenish your water stores after your workout also. A good way to see if you are getting enough is to drink more if your urine is dark yellow. Goal is to have a light yellow to clear urine. The best tip is to drink a large glass of water before you breastfeed every time. This will help increase your milk supply. Have a water bottle with you at all times.

Try and make water your ultimate source of fluid you drink. This is a good rule even if your breastfeeding or not. Be wary of juices and sugary drinks, to much sugar can lead to weight gain. Too Much caffeine can be troublesome, too. Caffeine can interfere with the babies sleep and also cause discomfort in their stomach. 

What types of exercise should I do while breastfeeding?

  
It does not matter what type of exercise you are doing as long as you are eating well and drinking enough. You do want to make sure to not start any intensive workouts until you have been to your 6-week post pregnancy appointment and your Dr. has given you the ok. Start out easy when you get back into working out. Do not over do it and injure yourself. Start with a fast pace walk or with light weight training. 

Another thing to be wary of that is common in women after birth is Diastasis Recti. This is a condition where the right and left side of your rectus abdominis have not closed all the way back together. If you do have this you want to be careful doing some core exercises to not agitate them until they are closed. Go check out this website http://www.befitmom.com/diastasis_recti.html for more information about this situation and how to help fix it faster.
  
Helpful tips if you are having a hard time Breastfeeding 

Like I said before I had a very hard time breastfeeding and got mastitis 3 times while breastfeeding my little girl. I was only able to breastfeed for 9 months until my milk dried all the way up. But from all the bad experiences I have learned lots that will help me with my next baby some day. Some things I learned that could help are…

-If you have been having trouble breastfeeding try making yourself and baby comfortable. Think calming thoughts and don't stress. Your baby can sense you being tense and will not nurse well.

-If your not making enough milk try pumping after your baby has eaten on both sides to stimulate more milk production. 

-If your baby does not finish eating all the milk that is in the breast then pump out the rest. You do not want to leave milk in there. If you do it can cause mastitis and will also signal to your body that you do not need to make that much milk. Make sure your baby is eating a full meal every time they nurse and are not just snacking every hour without emptying the breast. 

-Another help to increase your milk supply is the herbal supplement Fenugreek. It is a natural herb that has helped many women. You take it in a capsule form and can find it at any natural food store. It recommends to take 2 pills three times a day but the best way to know if your taking enough is when your sweat starts to smell like maple syrup. Haha yes it sounds weird but is true. This herbal supplement helped me a lot! 

I hope this post can help some of you in your breastfeeding  adventures. It is such an amazing experience between you and your baby that you want to cherish and not stress about. Let me know if you have anymore questions or problems? I don't know everything but I have been through a lot and learned so much a long the way.

-Shauna

Love is in the AIr, So lets make sure We Love Ourselves!

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Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! 

We all know that today is about showing love towards our significant other and our family and friends. But there is another person that deserves to be shown love today and that is YOU! We all need to remember to love ourselves just as much as we love everyone else. I'm not talking about a vain or stuck up type love, but a love for our beautiful healthy functioning bodies. A love for our powerful and creative minds (brain), and a love for how strong and powerful of an individual you are. 
 

Our bodies are the greatest gift that has ever been given to us. They are the most perfect creation ever made. Our heart continually beats all day long without us having to remind it to do so, never tiring and never stopping. We have an amazing immune system that will fight off and overcome illnesses all on its own (thank you white blood cells).  We have a skeletal system made up of thick bones that can grow and heal themselves if ever broken. Our skin cells are continually growing and making new skin. It protects us from our environment and is full of sweat glands to help cool of our body temperature. The last and most important thing is that no two human bodies are exactly the same. Each and everyone of us is unique and beautiful in our own way. NEVER FORGET THAT. 

The human mind amazes me! It controls and oversees all of the bodies functions without us knowing. It can remember things that have been stored away for many many years (unless you are pregnant than you just cant remember anything :) haha) It helps us form sentences so we can communicate with others and reports our five senses so we can enjoy and experience life. We all have the same physical properties in our brains but our minds let us be creative and unique. Our minds let us express our talents and share our differences with one another. Don't be afraid of being different; love and be proud of who you are. Be grateful for your healthy functioning mind and remember to love the individuality of it. 

Since I became a mother I am always trying to be a better person and example for my daughter. I continually try and make her life better every day (Try is the key word). But at the same time I definitely have moments when I feel like I have failed or not been good enough for her. I get down on myself for not being the type of mother she deserves. In those types of moments in our lives I want us to remember how remarkable we are and to never feel inadequate. Whether you are a parent of not we all have moments when we feel we have failed. But I want us to remember that you are a good person and a beautiful example to someone. Don't ever belittle or think less of yourself because you feel you have failed at some point. Remember all the good things you have done and accomplished. Love yourself for not being perfect but for never giving up on trying. 

This Valentine's day pleases remember to love yourself for who you are. Its okay if you mess up as long as your continually moving forward with a positive purpose. Never compare your self to another in a negative way. Being on the road to a Healthy lifestyle is to Love The Skin You're In!
 

On a Nutritious note a good way to show love towards your body this Valentine's Day is by eating healthy treats. Here are some ideas of cute but still healthy desserts you can make for yourself or loved ones. 

Get cookie cutters and cut out heart shaped Fruit. Have fun with them by putting them on kabobs or just make them look pretty on a plate. My little girl LOVES fruit so these did not last long at our house.

Another Valentine favorite treat is the Chocolate dipped strawberry. Some ways to make it healthier is to use dark chocolate as opposed to milk chocolate and I also topped it with coconut flakes. You could add nuts to yours also to add a little protein and crunch. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love towards others and most importantly yourself.

-Shauna