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Emotional Eating

I wanted to talk about something that I know we all struggle with especially us women!  As soon as we feel that dreadful disappointment or heartbrokenness we start reaching for the ice cream, chocolate bar, chips, cookies, pizza.  We turn to comfort food sometimes in an effort to relieving stress. 

Enter “emotional eating”.
I know I have been guilty even though I know better! Emotional eating wrecks your body and spirit as we turn for things that cannot truly give us peace. Sure it can make us happy for a moment but you will regret that you did it later and you still have to face that situation later anyway!
We all have to face stress on a regular basis. It is a part of life and it is not going anywhere.  But how we deal with it can lead to a whole healthy lifestyle or a unhealthy unfulfilled one! So you can choose the negative way of dealing with stress or the the positive way to cope.
Since it is our nature to choose the negative most times we have to actively look for and plan for the positive ways to cope with stress.
There are many things you can do to cope with stress without turning to food. Here are three things you can do when life throws you a curve ball.

1. Going for a jog, long walk, or drive
All three gives you the opportunity to let me you just zone out and think. In fact,  if you do go for a run when your stressed you will find that you may not really realize your exercising because your mind is distracted so much from the fact that your really “working”. You may even get to a mile or two without even realizing it’s been that long/far. At the same time, you are clearing your mind and getting the “feel good” endorphins pumping throughout your brain — a natural great way to relieve stress.


And if for whatever reason you just don’t feel like exercising, hop in the car and go for a drive. Nothing like cruising and thinking a bit to clear your mind and cope with whatever may be currently going on in your life.

2. Jammin’ out to some POWERFUL music

I absolutely love music. I love how music can evoke so many different types of emotional responses. Chose positive music that is uplifting and encouraging. For me, I listen to gospel or contemporary Christian music. I can completely forget my worries and I can even hear from God solutions.  My raging emotions just calm all the way down. Please do not listen to songs that encourage focusing on your problems. You know that song that make you cry every time you hear it – NO! Make you a Get Happy playlist now!

 3. Pray

I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten to do this! We cannot forget the One who cares and fixes those things that concern us! Pouring out my heart to God just does the body and soul good. If you feel like you don’t know where to begin just talk to Him like you are talking to a friend. He does hear you and if you allow He will do something about it. I say pray to God also because if you turn to one of your friends she or he might just say “Girl, we need go get some ice cream.” or “Dude, let’s go some pizza and soda.” They mean well but that is not helping you. Talk to them after your stress relief session.

And you know what’s even better? Combining music with all of the activities above. When you do…


BAM! Stress be gone!

Stay committed to your goals. Life happens but you do not have to let it happen to your goals!

This veggie will reduce your sweets cravings by 95%

Here’s a quick tip to curb your appetite and reduce your cravings.  It  seems that snacking is always the death of any diet!  I’m doing good, and then a craving comes and sometimes I cave in and I am like “Help”!

Well I have found an unlikely veggie that can curb my sweets craving! Its SPINACH!  If your goal is to lose as much body fat as possible, then you may want to start incorporating more spinach in your diet according to a recent study performed at Sweden’s Lund University.

In the study, 38 overweight women consumed either a beverage containing 5g of spinach extract (made up mostly of the cell membranes from spinach stems) or a placebo prior to breakfast each day.  At the end of the 3 month study, the spinach group lost 50% more weight!

Researchers credit the increased weightloss to an overall decrease in calorie intake as a compound in spinach stems known as thylakoids has been shown to reduce hunger, particularly cravings for sweets and fast food, by up to 95%!  Thylakoids work by slowing down the digestion process, giving intestinal hormones time to communicate to the brain that we are satisfied. 

Naturally, if you’re feeling more satisfied you won’t fall victim to regular snacking on all the wrong foods — and that means increased weightloss and a flatter stomach for you.

Here are some easy ways to get more spinach in your diet (be sure to include the stems): 

1. Throw a couple handfuls of spinach in the blender along with your next protein shake.  While it may change the color, it has virtually no taste.

2. If you’re into juicing, add spinach to your next juicing recipe.

3. Enjoy a spinach salad or sauteed spinach as part of any meal.

Trail Mix – Healthy Snack?

No it is not! It is actually one of the worst snacks you can eat and it will contribute to your belly fat and it does not matter if it is organic or not!

Here’s why:

1. Trail mixes normally has raisins, cranberries or some other dried fruit.  These dried fruits are chocked full of sugar. Now let’s throw in the chocolate morsels or chocolate covered nuts or raisins and even some M&Ms and now we are spiking insulin levels! Just 1/2 of a cup of trail mix can contain 30 grams of sugar! And once again it does not matter if it is organic – sugar is still sugar.

2. Next let’s take a look at the calories. Most of it comes from sugar and now add the fat content.  A 1/2 cup of trail mix has about 300 calories!  That’s more fat, sugar, and calories than ice cream!

3.  This snack has the most devastating combination for your body with tons of fats and carbs (the worst kind – sugar) with very little protein.  This is a recipe for fat storage.

So if you are wanting a flat stomach, stay away from this high sugar, high fat with minimal protein snack.  If you decide to ingest this snack you will slow your fitness results!

So, if you’re looking to get a flat belly fast, and you’re relying on high sugar, high fat snacks with little protein (like trail mix), I’m afraid you’re only going to be slowing your results dramatically.

Just eat nuts by themselves and drink a drink sweetened with a low glycemic-index such as stevia.

 

                                                                              

 

 

Seven Foods for Age-defying Effects

Hey 40 and up club! Below are 7 foods to help you stock up on the most powerful anti-aging nutrients known! At the same time these foods promote youthful hair, nails and skin.



1.  Olive Oil – The monounsaturated fats contained in olive oil support healthy arteries and in turn a healthy heart, Olive oil also contains polyphenols, which is a potent anti-oxidant that may help to prevent a several of age-related diseases.  Organic extra virgin olive oil is most recommended.

2.  Red Wine – A glass of wine daily may have a positive effect on your health due to its resveratrol content. Reseratrol is a extraordinary anti-oxidant that can help fight against diabetes, heart disease, and age-related memory loss. Use in moderation.

3.  Beans – The proteins in beans thicken and strengthen your hair cells, helping to prevent hair loss.

 

 

4.  Brazil Nuts – This nut is rich in selenium, which is a mineral that aids in the production of the anti-oxidant glutathione which all helps to help slow down the skin aging process.  Just 2 nuts a day will provide you with enough selenium to reap the benefits.

5.  Tomatoes – Tomatoes are rich in lycopene. Lycopene has been shown to support heart health and healthy cholesterol levels as you age.  Lycopene also acts as a natural sun block to protect your skin from harmful UV rays.




6.  Raspberries & Blueberries – These two berries contain anti-oxidants to aid in squelching inflammation and oxidative stress that contribute to wrinkles.  Just one serving of either or powerful these berries contains more free radical killers than 10 servings of most other fruits and vegetables!



7.  Organic Eggs – Eggs has gotten a bad rap because of their cholesterol content, this is based on completely erroneous science! In fact eggs are rich in biotin and iron which help to promote healthy, beautiful skin and hair.

4 BEST and effective foods to eat before bed

You may have heard that eating before bed is a big-time “no no” for those looking to lose weight. In fact, you’ve probably even heard that eating late at night will undoubtedly cause you to GAIN weight…even worse!

Well, there’s good news, and that good news is that not every food that you eat past 7PM will be automatically deposited to your butt, thighs, and love handles.

In fact, there are certain foods that you can eat as a late-night snack that can actually INCREASE your fat loss results! The key is knowing which foods to eat, and which to avoid, as the evening progresses.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Avoid carbs before bed in favor of slow-digesting high-quality protein.

Carbohydrate consumption causes significant rise in the storage hormone insulin, which also puts the breaks on fat-burning. That’s a recipe for disaster in the late evening hours as your metabolism is winding down, but fortunately, slow-digesting protein isn’t.

Instead, slow digesting proteins provide your body with a steady flow of amino acids throughout the night to help you recover from exercise and maintain your calorie-burning lean muscle as you lose fat.

Here are some of top pre-bedtime choices:

1. White Meat Animal Protein (not red meat or fish) – White meat protein sources such as chicken and turkey are great pre-bed meal choices because they digest slowly and have a very low insulin release. These sources also promote the release of another hormone, glucagon, that assists the body with breaking down stored carbs and fat within your body to be burned for energy…a double win! Red meat and fish have a significantly higher insulin response so they’re best to avoid in the evening.  

2. Cottage Cheese – Cottage cheese is very slow digesting and coats the stomach to be assimilated by the body over many hours. As a protein, it also stimulates glucagon release; a solid pre-bedtime choice. Just make sure you’re using plain cottage cheese, not the flavored varieties with added sugars.

 

3. Green Vegetables – While these aren’t considered a protein, they contain virtually no calories, are high in fiber, and they’re very filling. Often times if you eat veggies late at night you can kill a craving – a complete diet saver!

 

 

4. A Slow-digesting, Low-carb Protein Shake – Use a slow-digesting protein shake before bed literally every day. It can become somewhat of a ritual and great, tasty way to end a day. Who doesn’t love dessert before bed? 🙂 You can blend the shake with almond butter to get some healthy fats in there.

 

 

 

Excerpt remastered from BioTrust Nutrition Article by Joel Marion