Megan Rand

Tag: weight loss

  • 6 Ways Juicing Can Help You Lose Weight

    6 Ways Juicing Can Help You Lose Weight

    Juicing is all the rage lately!  There is a juice bar on every corner and $8 cold pressed green juices are flying off the shelf.  Is this a silly fad?  Why not just eat the fruits and vegetables?   Juicing provides a high level of quality nutrition that many people may not be able to otherwise absorb. By bypassing the need for stellar digestion (which is uncommon nowadays!), we can help build our vitamin and minerals stores. Having optimum nutrient levels will naturally assist in weight-loss.   Read on to find out how adding in a juice can help you slim down.

    1) Easy Digestion

    One of the best benefits of juicing fresh fruit and vegetables is that drinking them (as opposed to eating them) makes them really easy for your body to digest.  Many of my clients find through functional lab work that they have “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability.  With a compromised GI tract, it can be hard to digest and absorb the same amount of raw vegetables found in a juice. But by juicing those vegetables, you can absorb a dense quantity of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients really easily.

     2) Reduction in Cravings

    When you drink a glass of freshly made vegetable or green juice, you are loading every cell of your body with detoxifying minerals. By drinking your veggies and fruit, you are giving your body all the amazing nutrients that it needs to heal, stay healthy, and reduce the risk of illness. In turn, you will also find that you experience a reduction in cravings, particularly for sweets or processed foods. Often when we eat junk foods, we confuse the body.  After eating, a message is sent to the brain announcing that it is still needing certain minerals and vitamin causing cravings.  After drinking a nutrient dense juice your body is getting all that it needs and has no need to signal the brain. And it is pretty obvious how not having cravings can help someone losing weight.

    3) Tasty Fuel

    It is also handy to know that green juices taste great! You can make your juice really flavorful by adding in lemon, mint or ginger to add a tasty punch. You may enjoy the flavors of the juice so much that you choose to make a juice rather than eat another less healthy snack food. It is also worth noting that juice you make at home is a much better option than that which is store bought. Fresh juice made with a base of vegetables is going to contain much more nutrition than the kind that comes from a carton. Even fresh, store-bought juices often have sugars and other additives as well as preservatives added to the juice. On the other hand, a homemade vegetable and fruit juice delivers nothing but goodness that is healthy fuel for your body.

    4) Crowding out

    This is a principle we learned at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and is my favorite approach to weight loss.  By adding fresh juices into your daily regimen as either a snack or a meal, you are crowding out the junk that you would have otherwise eaten.  Instead of focusing on what you cannot have which leaves people feeling deprived and just wanting that forbidden junk even more, we focus on adding in the good.  Over time you start to realize that your body chemistry has shifted and you don’t reach for the junk food as often.

    5) It is not a fad diet

    Once you start making juicing a regular part of your lifestyle, and start to experience all the health benefits and begin losing weight without a struggle, you will realize that incorporating fresh juices into your life is definitely not a diet fad. Unlike regimented diets that are difficult to follow and which can often make you gain weight, juicing works in such a remarkable way that you will want to include juicing in your life forever. You will never feel deprived or hungry. Not only that, but other aspects of your health will also improve. You might notice your skin is clearer, your eyes are brighter, and your nails and hair grow more quickly. You will also have more energy and you will start to feel amazing. Juicing will become a way of life you will want to follow forever!

     6) Fun and Variety

    In order to lose weight and to stay motivated, life needs to be fun, right? Juicing is the ideal way to bring this into your life. As you start to get into juicing, you will find it great fun making new combinations of fruit and vegetables cocktails. You will make all kinds of unique and interesting drinks, and you will find that you never get bored from the endless variety of beverages that you can make for yourself and others. You will also want to share these drinks with others, which will mean getting encouragement and support from those around you as you continue your weight-loss goals. Support is extremely important when it comes to making, and sticking to, healthy changes in your life.   Really, juicing is a fabulously fun, easy, and healthy way to shed those unwanted pounds without any struggle or deprivation. You have nothing to lose by starting to make green juicing a regular part of your lifestyle. To get you started, here is a delicious and easy juice to kick-start your weight-loss:

    Green Ginger Juice

    4 carrots

    2 apples

    1 cucumber

    ½ beetroot (peeled)

    1 rib celery

    1 lemon

    1-inch piece of ginger (or more!)

    Run the vegetables through your juicer and enjoy!

  • Top Ten Tips for a Tired Mama

    Top Ten Tips for a Tired Mama

     

    Two years ago I didn’t have the energy to brush my teeth. I would lie in bed before work thinking about what body part I could break that wouldn’t be that painful but would keep me out of work for a few weeks? Yes, I was THAT tired. I was in phase 3 adrenal fatigue. There is no phase 4.

     

    Two years later, things are quite different. I am able to juggle a full-time corporate job (although not for much longer!), build my own health coaching business, attend courses for continuous education and keep delicious, nutritious food in the house all while running after a 3 year old.

     

    Don’t get me wrong, my health is always a work in progress, but the difference between 2 years ago and today is night and day.

     

    As you can guess, one of the most common questions I get asked is this “What did you do to restore your adrenals and your energy?” Here are my top ten tips for the busy person or mom who suspects adrenal fatigue or hormonal imbalance.

     

    1) Start with the numbers. Get your hormone & cortisol levels checked with a Functional Medicine Doctor or a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) practitioner like me. We use a saliva test with samples taken at four times during the day. This provides a baseline of the state of your hormones and also gives clues into what other areas need investigating. An individualized supplement protocol based on your lab work can offer support and improve energy while we are digging to find the root cause of your adrenal fatigue. Sometimes we need a little boost before we can make lasting changes in diet and lifestyle.

     

    2) Blood sugar balance is key. This was incredibly important for my shift in energy. I learned that when you eat is just as important as what you eat. One study looked at the fasting blood sugar levels of nearly 2,000 men, over a 22-year period. Men with fasting glucose levels over 85 mg/dL had a 40 percent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The same study indicated that with fasting blood sugar between 85-90mg/dL, there is a 20 percent increased risk of dying of a stroke or heart attack; from 90-95mg/dL there is another 20 percent risk of dying of a stroke or heart attack. (1)

    • When to eat. This is the most important factor when trying to maintain blood sugar balance. For busy mamas who get up and go, you MUST eat breakfast. I know, I know. How many times have we heard that this is the most important meal of the day? But it is true! Eating within 30-60 minutes of waking will set you up for a balanced day. Establish a route of preparing all of your smoothie supplies the night before, or make an egg burrito ahead of time and heat it in the toaster oven.
    • What to eat. For every meal and snack, include a carbohydrate, protein and fat. All carbs are not created equal when it comes to blood sugar regulation. Complex carbs such as quinoa, brown rice and sweet potato are ideal. After eating a half of a sweet potato every day at lunch with cinnamon and coconut oil, my blood glucose numbers stabilized.
    • Test your blood sugar.  Consider buying a glucometer at the drug store. Take your blood sugar first thing in the morning and then thirty minutes before each meal for a week. This will give you an idea of exactly how you are reacting to what you are eating.

     

    3) Drink water with minerals. Are you constantly thirsty but then when you drink water it doesn’t seem to quench your thirst? This is really common for those with adrenal fatigue. Making sure you are getting enough water is important, but the quality of the water is just as important for adrenal health. Our body is craving the minerals that are naturally in spring water. Since nowadays it has become necessary to filter our water, the good stuff gets filtered out with the bad. We drink a tall glass of water and our body is thinking “where the heck are the minerals that I asked for?” My suggestion is to buy spring water if you can. If you cannot, then you can add the minerals back in with a product like Concentrace Trace Mineral drops.

     

    4) Sea salt on everything! Salt is bad right? Not anymore! I remember when my nutritionist told me to put as much Pink Himalayan salt as I could stand on all of my food. Sure! Sea salt is packed with minerals that support the adrenals and it is delicious.

     

    5) Chicken Bone Broth just like Grandma said. Christa at The Whole Journey taught me that daily bone broth with help someone recover from adrenal fatigue 30 percent faster! I don’t know how I would measure that 30 percent, but bone broth was an important part of my protocol. Bone broth made from organic raw chicken bones (all of the bones!) that is cooked over a 24-hour period helps with gut repair, has highly absorbable forms of calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and sulfur and is an easily digestible protein. It’s the perfect food for someone in deep adrenal fatigue who needs the maximum nutrients with minimum effort.

     

    6) Don’t forget Vitamin C! Healthy adrenal function requires vitamin C. Tissues in the body use more vitamin C during times of stress. Vitamin C is found naturally in a lot of foods such as citrus fruits, leafy greens, tomatoes, sprouts, kiwi, papaya, red pepper, and cauliflower. One teaspoon of Camu Camu powder added to a smoothie has the same amount of vitamin C as eating 6 oranges, so this is a good option for those of us who really need a boost!

     

    7) Magnesium is essential. Magnesium was really important for my journey out of zombie-land. I would add 2-4 ounces of Magnesium oil, 1 cup Epsom salts and lavender in a bath and soak most evenings. The same thing can be accomplished with a foot bath while you read a book or watch TV. It is a great way to help your body relax while you are also absorbing your way to feeling better!

     

    8) Sleep! Maybe this should have been #1, because this is very important. Every hour of sleep that you get before midnight is like 2 hours in terms of rest and recovery for the adrenal glands. Aim to be in bed by 10pm every night. Don’t forget that the lights from the TV or electronic devices stimulate the pineal gland and can throw off your sleep cycle. I ask my clients to avoid all screen time after 8pm.

     

    9) Less Stress, more massages. As a mom, we sometimes feel that we have to do everything. Create a list of all of the top activities that drain your energy. Brainstorm which of these activities are critical and which could be put on the back burner or delegated. This might sound silly or simple, but this is crucial! We must give ourselves the space and energy for recovery if we want to be able to restore balance.

     

    10) Minimize alcohol & caffeine. Do you wish you had an intravenous drip of caffeine every morning but instead settle for multiple cups of coffee? Although VERY common, heavy use of alcohol and caffeine is very stressful to the adrenals. They give us a quick fix that leaves us ultimately in a more depleted state, causing us to need even more the next time around. This is a very rough cycle.

    If you are heavy coffee drinker, start by switching to organic and try to get yourself down to only 1 cup. Always make sure to eat you breakfast first. If you really love the morning ritual of coffee, you could try something like Teechino, an herbal coffee alternative or green tea.

     

    Note: In addition to the above recommendations, the basis of all of my programs to restore hormonal balance starts with eating whole foods while minimizing refined packaged foods, additives, chemicals, toxins, alcohol and caffeine.

     

    Disclaimer: Please see your Doctor to rule out any serious conditions. This information is not meant to diagnose or treat disease, but is just what I have personally found to work well for me.

     

    References:

    1. Bjornholt JV, Erikssen G, Aaser E, et al. Fasting blood glucose: an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular death. Results from a 22-year follow-up of healthy nondiabetic men. Diabetes Care. 1999 Jan;22(1):45-9.