Here are our top 6 wellness tips for 2019 – We guarantee that incorporating even one of these tips will drastically improve your overall health and longevity
1. HYDRATION & FASTING: Drink a large glass of water in the morning when you wake up. I like to have hot water with lemon/ginger, tea, or
When glucose is low, the liver can produce fats called ketones which are essentially a clean burning super fuel for your brain that increase cognitive function and reduces oxidative damage – this is one of the best ways to eliminate morning brain fog. For me personally, no amount of coffee can compare to a fasted am workout to get my brain feeling its best in the morning. If you are not accustomed to delaying your morning meal, you may want to try adding some fat such as MCT oil to your morning coffee, tea, or matcha to help your body adjust to using fat for fuel instead of sugar. I also supplement with MCT oil in my morning coffee because it is readily converted to ketones by the liver, increasing your natural production. MCT oil has been shown to increase energy, endurance, metabolism, satiety, and brain function. It took my body about 6 months to become adapted to this way of living so don’t get discouraged – the benefits of being able to seamlessly switch between fat and sugar burning for energy will be well worth it!
Contrary to common beliefs, fasting is also ideal for muscle development. We’ve learned that the hormone needed to stimulate muscle growth called Hgh is actually only produced in a fasted state. This is another reason why I typically choose to workout in the morning when Hgh is peaking. Working out fasted helps promote healthy weight loss as your body will use fat to fuel your workout while blood sugar and glycogen stores are low. Fasting also tells your body it’s time to clean house and recycle old dysfunctional cells – this process called autophagy, ensures that your immune and energy systems are functioning effectively and wards off chronic disease. Interestingly, bergamot oil found in real earl grey tea also stimulates autophagy and is therefore an excellent choice during am fasting. After a workout, give your hormones time to come back down to baseline following the spike that occurred during exercise. Then fuel your body with a large nutrient dense meal filled with protein, fat and fibre when you are hungry again. Basically, if you are not hungry, don’t eat – always listen to your body. With that being said, avoid trying to extend your fast too long when you are starting to feel like a fasting superstar. Becoming overly hungry stimulates stress hormones and triggers your liver to break down tissues into sugar to release into the bloodstream. For women, I would stick to 12-14 hours for a fasting window and for men 14-16 hrs. Of course, everyone is different so experiment with these times and determine what works best for you. Fuel your body with whole food meals, full of fibrous veggies and 2-3 tablespoons of healthy fat instead of grazing or snacking. Fat + fibre will keep you full, decrease cravings for sugar and carbs and will increase absorption of vitamins and minerals. Think big green salad with a variety of veggies, wild salmon, and a nice organic EVOO dressing topped with nuts and seeds.
Organic coffee is an excellent source of polyphenols and has been shown to have positive effects on metabolism and cognitive function
2. BREAKFAST: Most days I try to avoid any type of sugar/sweeteners/grains for breakfast. For me personally, I always have better energy levels and cognitive function when my first meal of the day is composed of fibre, fat and protein. This way my blood sugar remains stable from my nighttime fast and I have fewer cravings throughout the whole day. I love eggs, avo and veggies such as cucumber, peppers, tomatoes with S&P and hemp hearts on top. I also do chia pudding and low-sugar smoothies often. Organic coffee is an excellent source of polyphenols and has been shown to have positive effects on metabolism and cognitive function. However, too much caffeine can be a bad thing. Generally, I like to limit my caffeine intake to before noon to ensure it has been eliminated from my system by bedtime. Excessive caffeine can stimulate stress hormones and cause dehydration. Try making a turmeric latte, cacao latte or herbal tea in the afternoon as an alternative.
Shift Workers: When I am working night shifts, I try to avoid caffeine altogether. This may seem irrational since I have to be up all night, but the goal here is to let the body know it’s still night time even though you are awake. Caffeine at night can disrupt natural circadian rhythms that are essential for good health and normal hormone cycling. Since shift work already interrupts this cycle, I try to minimize it as much as possible. Drink herbal tea instead and your body will slowly adjust to not having this caffeine fix. Additionally, dim all of your screens including your mobile and consider wearing blue-blocking glasses to help promote normal melatonin and cortisol cycling. I bought mine here. Melatonin is an essential hormone that regulates so much more than just sleep, including your body’s ability to burn fat. Avoid taking synthetic melatonin – supplementation downregulates receptor sites for this hormone and causes it to be less effective in the body.
The #1 ultimate goal for overall health and weight loss is to always minimize blood sugar spikes and therefore the release of insulin
3. CARBS ARE ESSENTIAL: Don’t be afraid of carbs, be smart with carbs. The best time to eat carbs is after a strenuous workout because they help replenish energy stores and rebuild muscle tissue. Choose slow carbs made by mother nature vs man-made ones. Slow carbs such as beans, lentils, chickpeas, yams, squash, root vegetables, peas, banana, hummus, berries and almonds promote a slow release of sugar into the bloodstream and provide a variety of beneficial micronutrients. Faster carbs like quinoa, rice, and high sugar fruits are ok choices occasionally, especially if you consume a smaller portion together with a well-rounded meal including protein and fat. These combinations together help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. The #1 ultimate goal for overall health and weight loss is to always minimize blood sugar spikes and therefore the release of insulin – insulin tells your body to store energy as fat, so when insulin is around, weight loss cannot happen. Since fat is the only macronutrient in our diet that does not cause a release of insulin, it just makes sense to incorporate it into each and every meal. Especially since burning fat instead of sugar reduces oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.
Fibre from carbohydrates in plants is absolutely essential for proper digestion. It ensures normal movement of food through your bowels and provides food for the bacteria in your gut to promote a healthy microbiome. As I have talked about here, improving the health of your microbiome is one of the best ways to improve your overall health and prevent chronic disease. Having diversity in your diet helps feed different types of healthy bacteria in your gut, which wards off bad bacterial growth and promotes synthesis of nutrients for your intestinal cells such as vitamin B12, K2 and butyrate.
People need connection, community, and socialization to thrive and that’s what eating out allows you to do
4. 80/20 METHOD: When it comes to balance, I like to use the 80/20 method. 80% of the time I cook at home, eat
Sleep should be your #1 priority if you are looking to improve any aspect of your health. Poor sleep is directly associated with increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia
5. SLEEP & WORKOUTS: You’ve probably heard this a million times before and for good reason, but adequate sleep should be your #1 priority if you are looking to improve any aspect of your health. That’s right – sleep comes before nutrition and before movement. Recent research has shown that just ONE night of poor sleep dysregulates hormones and causes a temporary state of insulin resistance, causing inflammation and cravings throughout the day. If you are interested in losing weight, sleep should be your BFF and just like food, QUALITY matters. Research has shown that poor quality sleep causes us to overeat and make poor food choices similar to a hangover, which is also partially caused by poor sleep. Getting good sleep at night is also essential for brain health. Our glymphatic system – which is our brains internal cleaning system – only operates while you are sleeping and provides the essential maintenance needed for your brain to function optimally. Poor sleep is directly associated with increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Consuming alcohol before bed has been proven to decrease sleep quality dramatically, causing an increase in heart rate and blood pressure while sleeping and dysregulates your metabolism. Having a regular nighttime route is paramount in signalling to your brain that it is time to sleep. Watching TV is one of the most detrimental activities for your brain before bed. Blue light from screens and emotions triggered while watching TV tells your brain it is time for action and will leave you sleepless well into the early morning. Even if you initially fall asleep faster from screen time, studies have shown that you will spend less time in REM, wake up more often throughout the night, and wake feeling unrested. If you interested in learning more about sleep and what you can do to improve it, check out this book called How To Sleep Smarter.
Here are some simple tips I incorporate into my sleep routine to increase sleep quality:
- Keep lights and screens dim after sunset
- Wear blue blocking glasses after sunset: blocking blue light at night promotes healthy melatonin and cortisol regulation which tell the brain when to sleep and when to wake naturally with internal circadian rhythms
- Take time for self-care at night- anything that you find relaxing, taking a bath, facial mask, hot tub, essential oils, reading, knitting, walking etc
- Magnesium supplementation promotes relaxation- I use a topical magnesium spray as Mg is best absorbed through the skin. Mg
epsom salt baths are also a great choice
When it comes to workouts, always listen to your body. 80% of your energy burned in a day is from activities of daily living, going to the gym is really a small contributor as far as energy consumption goes. The brain alone uses 20% of your energy for the day. So if you are feeling run down, you had a shit sleep, are super busy or lethargic, don’t work out. You will burn yourself out and develop a negative relationship with exercise. Taking care of your mental health is the best way to achieve a sustained healthy weight. Have intense workouts when you are feeling optimal and well rested. Walking/hiking is the absolute best activity for long-term cardiovascular and brain health. Walking up-hill incorporates both cardiovascular and resistance exercise. So if you haven’t taken care of your sleep or nutrition first, go for a short 10-30 min walk in the am and take a rest day. Movement in the morning promotes healthy cortisol cycling which should naturally peak in the morning to stimulate wakefulness and tapers throughout the day. Walk, stretch, and foam roll often. Muscles that are tight are at greater risk for injury. Know when your muscles are sore and need a rest day, especially with high-intensity training, they will need adequate time to recover. Rolling is an excellent tool to assist with recovery and muscle flexibility. The major benefits of gym workouts is the opportunity to build muscle, release endorphins, regulate hormones, increase confidence, and for socialization. Exercise has recently been shown to be the most effective intervention, including all medications available, for preventing dementia and depression. This doesn’t mean you need to hit the gym 5 days a week, simply staying active and increasing your heart rate for 30 mins a day appears to be adequate.
Food quality is far more important than anything you are going to find on a nutrition label
6. COUNTING: the only thing I count when it comes to food is quality ingredients. Food quality is far more important than anything you are going to find on a nutrition label. I cannot emphasize enough that counting calories is not only ineffective and exhausting but also completely inaccurate when it comes to calculating how energy is burned and utilized in the human body. If you are still believing the 1980’s thought that the only way to lose weight is to count or restrict calories, click here to read more by my top 3 fav nutrition experts who will all tell you this is an unsustainable and ineffective way to go about weight management (sorry weight watchers). Leave your counting apps in the app store and free yourself from unnecessary food drama. It doesn’t take a scientist to know what a healthy meal looks like. As long as my diet is mostly plants, I’m happy. When it comes to food with a label, I simply look at the ingredients list to know if I am going to buy it or not. If there are sugars, fillers, stabilizers, sweeteners, and/or nonfood-like ingredients, skip it. Google a recipe and make a healthier version of it at home. Eg. I love making ice cream from frozen coconut milk or banana in my Vitamix or crackers from ground flax seed. I always try to use whole #realfoods as sweeteners instead of processed sweeteners such as bananas or dates. I’ll use sweeteners such as stevia or monk fruit if I am making a healthier version of a dessert. I try to keep as many non-perishable foods out of my diet as possible. When that is not possible, choose products with simple ingredients. Always buy meat products that are organic, grass-fed/pasture raised, and nitrate free.
The #1 “food” I aim to completely eliminate from my diet is vegetable oils (ie canola, soybean, safflower, sunflower, and corn oils) as they are the worst highly-processed fats you can put in your body. They can be almost impossible to avoid since they are added to pretty much everything these days – seriously, check the labels in your home. These fats are almost exclusively used for cooking when you eat out at restaurants. They are not compatible with human biochemistry and can cause dysregulation issues in your cells for up to 4 years post-consumption! My go-to fat is olive oil (extra virgin, organic, cold pressed) when using raw oil and avocado, coconut, organic grass-fed butter or ghee for cooking.
That’s it for our 2019 Wellness Guide, we hope you enjoyed reading this content and wish you a happy and healthy new year!
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