All posts tagged: #Health

Enjoy Food. Don’t avoid food.

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Over the course of the last decade plus, I’ve experimented with countless of different eating styles and diets – Atkins, Vegan, Vegetarian, Octo-Lacto, Pescetarian, Macrobiotic, Paleo, Juicing, Cleansing, high fat, low fat, Intermittent Fasting, Bulletproof, etc. To this day I continue to try new things and research how I feel and how it applies to my life. Each eating style certainly has their benefits but, in my opinion, there is NO PERFECT WAY TO EAT because each and every single person on this planet is unique. There are different body types, people have different goals, different lifestyles, food sensitivities, live in different climates, geography and food availability could be an issue, age requires different nutrients, and even weather play a part in our food needs. Having countless food options increases your chances to achieve optimal health, vibrancy, and your own fitness goals. Whether it’s too much of a particular type of food or too little of certain nutrients, the best way to harmonize the body is by creating balance but as many of us know …

Feeling Bloated?

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With today’s typical diet being low in nutrients and high in empty calories coupled with high levels of stress and added medication, it’s no wonder that more and more people are suffering from some kind of bloating. In addition to feeling discomfort bloating can come with every embracing symptoms such as gas or needing to go to the bathroom very quickly. So what are the most common symptoms of a bloated stomach? If your stomach protrudes outwards and you constantly feel uncomfortable because you have built up gas inside of you then this is a sign of bloating. In fact many sufferers from bloating even joke around saying how pregnant they feel because of the need to unbutton their pants when their bloating becomes severe. The great news is a bloated stomach is very different from actually gaining fat mass around your stomach since the bloating is temporary with air simply being stuck around your abdomen causing the tummy to distend outwards. Even better, stomach bloating can be rectified very quickly by simple changes to …

The Scoop on Himalayan Pink Salt

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Salt often gets a bad rap… I’m certain we’ve all heard someone say that we have to cut out sodium to avoid cardiovascular disease to be our healthier but, in actual fact, salt is an extremely important electrolyte and essential mineral for us.  One of the health benefits of sodium is the integral role it plays in enzyme operations, muscle contraction and also its importance for fluid homeostasis maintenance within the body. Some other health benefits of sodium include improved heart performance, nervous system regulation, and glucose absorption. Personally I’m an advocate of all quality food sources and I never believe in cutting anything out completely. What is bad food anyway? If we label something bad, we either feel bad when we consume it or we want it more. The solution to this is to learn about food and have deeper understanding of it by learning about the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to feel our best.  Ask yourself, “Are there better choices and how can I incorporate these sources into my diet?” As a Nutritionist, I opt …

BERRY BLAST BONANZA PROTEIN SHAKE

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I love summer and what better way to go into my weekend than a refreshing and cool protein shake with my signature BERRY BLAST BONANZA PROTEIN SHAKE powered by Interactive Nutrition! Ingredients for my Berry Blast Bonanza Protein Shake: ■ 1 cup water or almond milk ■ 1⁄2 cup frozen or fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries) or a mixture ■ 1⁄2 frozen banana ■ 1 tbsp chia seeds ■ 1 scoop Vanilla InterActive Isolate or Whey protein powder Directions 1. Blend in blender for 10 to 15 seconds 2. Savour and enjoy! For more delicious STRONG LIKE MOMMY recipes, download my Prenatal Ebook (http://jvbstronggirls.com/ebook/) and watch out for STRONG GIRLS Recipe Book coming soon!

Your weight loss journey…

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When you focus on a program to “lose weight”, you might very well be setting yourself up for failure because programs imply an ending – which is why many individuals “that diet” return to their previous habits that don’t add any value to their health. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, make changes that you can live with indefinitely – do not over restrict calories, do not eliminate food groups, enjoy food flexibility, find an exercise program that challenges you, providing progression and offering sufficient variety so that it is maintainable and sustainable, and (most importantly) have fun. “IT IS GOOD TO HAVE AN END TO JOURNEY TOWARDS; BUT IT IS THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS IN THE END.” – E.H. photo: Liana Lauzon MUH: Florencia Taylor

Good Habits from a STRONG MOMMY

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I had to share this amazing post by TEAM STRONG GIRLS Coach, Kim G. A Habit – from Wikipedia; is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur unconsciously. No matter if you live an extremely regimented and scheduled lifestyle or are a free spirit who lives life day by day, we all have habits. Some we consider good healthy habits while others maybe not so much, and it’s these that can cause us some internal struggles. We know that we are doing things that are not benefiting us but the unconscious nature and ease of these actions is difficult to break away from, and even harder to change and replace with new more productive behaviours. So the question then becomes how do I replace old habits with new ones? I’d love to say I have the magic answer to that question but unfortunately I do not. Just as all of us are unique so are our behaviours and the methods that will motivate us take action and implement changes. What …

3 ingredient Macaroons! 

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I love how this recipe has only THREE ingredients and one of them is coconut (my absolute fav!).  Coconut has been a superfood by many cultures around the world and the saturated fat in coconut is a fat that is rarely found in nature known as Lauric Acid. This type of fat is like a miracle ingredient because of all the health promoting properties.    Our body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-protozoa properties which help with viruses like HIV, herpes, measles and the common cold and flu. Coconut is also amazing for our hair, nails, skin, metabolism and supports the health and proper function of our thyroid.  So while these macaroons are quick and deliscious they’re also a powerful package of nutrients.  Ingredients: 3 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut  3 egg whites  2-3 tbsp Maple Syrup or sweetener of your choice  How to make: Preheat oven to 300 degrees Spray a muffin tin with coconut spray  Mix shredded coconut, egg whites and syrup together until combined  Press mixture into …

The Importance of Patience with Dieting and Fat Loss

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I wanted to share this analogy which emphasizes the importance of being patient when it comes to dieting and fat loss. This was written originally by Alywn Cosgrove who’s work I adore and adapted for my female client base. ========================= Let’s assume you go out and buy two rolls of paper towels, each with 112 paper towels on it. You put one aside and keep it for future reference (which will be your “before” picture). The other one represents you (which I’ll call your paper towel “Sally”). The core of the paper towel roll represents the lean version of Sally. The towels wrapped around the core represent the body fat that is covering the “lean Sally”. For sake of argument, let’s say that Sally wants to lose 28 pounds of fat, so (112/28) each sheet represents a quarter-pound of fat lost. Let’s also assume that Sally loses her fat equally during each day of the program for the sake of the post. Each day during the first week, you tear a sheet off of Sally representing …

We’re moving

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Hi everyone! We are so eager and excited to share the launch of our new website (www.jvbstronggirls.com) over the next few weeks which will be chalk full of STRONG GIRLS information on training, nutrition, recipes, motivation, and (of course) our Success Stories of REAL WOMEN achieving REAL RESULTS. In the meantime can I kindly ask you to head over to the new JVB STRONG GIRLS Facebook page and click “LIKE” as we slowly move all of our Facebook content over? Thank you. https://www.facebook.com/JVBStrongGirls

Hip Flexor and Lower Back Relief

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Located deep in our abdominal cavity, our hip flexors are responsible for some of our most daily functions such as lifting our knees and bending at our waist. The hip flexors are one of the most powerful muscles in our body but, over time, can also cause us much discomfort if over abused or under used. With most of us sitting at a desk for extended periods of hours for work, the hip flexors stay in shortened position and can tighten up due to being in a contracted position. Because of the antagonistic relationship to our lower back, this can also be the cause of poor posture leading to mild or severe lower back issues. If we throw in heavy exercise without adequately stretching our hip flexors out, we can cause mild to severe injury over time. One of the best ways to make sure we don’t develop any future issues in our hips and our lower back (and to also protect these muscles in the long term) is to always ensure we stretch out …