🌪️ Stress Relief Mirage: The Alcohol Trap 🚫😰

Raise your hand if you’ve turned to alcohol for stress relief! 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️ While it may seem like a quick fix, the relief it brings is often short-lived. ⏳🚫 Don’t let alcohol fool you into thinking it’s a long-term solution to stress!

😣 Hang-xiety and the Happy Hormones 🥴🎭

Ever experienced that post-drinking anxiety or a sudden mood dip? 🥴😕 Let’s dive into the science behind it! Alcohol mimics the effects of GABA, a brain chemical that promotes relaxation. So, while you’re sipping, it feels like a stress-free zone. 🌟✨ But the morning after? Hang-xiety strikes! 🌧️ The rebound effect reverses those soothing vibes, leaving you feeling more anxious.

But wait, there’s more! Alcohol messes with serotonin, the “happy” hormone, leading to a mood rollercoaster. 🎢 Brace yourself for guilt, bloating, and those frustrating temporary scale fluctuations. It’s a recipe for mood disaster! 😔📉

💤 Sleep Struggles: Alcohol’s Sneaky Sabotage 😴⚡

We all know that initial drowsiness alcohol brings, but what happens next? 🌙✨ Brace yourself for the sleep sabotage! Alcohol disrupts the delicate balance of your sleep-regulating hormones, making it harder to get deep, restorative sleep. 😫🛌 And guess what? Lack of quality sleep directly impacts your mood and energy levels. No one likes feeling drained and unmotivated! ⚡👎

📚 Unmasking the Truth: Choose Your Mood Wisely! 🎭💪

It’s time to break free from the alcohol-induced mood swings! 🚫🎭 Don’t let temporary relief fool you. Instead, opt for healthier coping mechanisms and prioritize your well-being. 😌💚 Remember, true happiness comes from within, not at the bottom of a glass!

 

Protein synthesis is your body’s ultimate repair system! 💪🛠️ It’s the amazing process where amino acids come together to create proteins, mending those hard-earned muscles you’ve worked so hard for. Whether it’s exercise or just your daily routine, protein synthesis keeps you in top shape! 💥

🍺 A Disruptive Force: Alcohol’s Impact 🚫🍻

But wait, here’s the plot twist! 🔄 When alcohol enters the picture, it throws a wrench into the gears of protein synthesis. 🚫🔧 It doesn’t matter how clean your diet is, the introduction of alcohol tips the scales away from muscle growth and towards protein breakdown. 😱

🥗🍗 No Cheat Codes: Good Nutrition Alone Can’t Help 🚫🍹

Even if you’re rocking a diet filled with wholesome, unprocessed foods that support muscle growth, adding alcohol into the mix still sabotages your gains! 😫🚫 Your body needs more protein synthesis than breakdown to build muscle, and alcohol disrupts this balance. Good nutrition alone can’t offset the negative impact of alcohol. 🙅‍♂️

⚖️ Hormone Havoc: Alcohol’s Ripple Effect 🌊

As if that wasn’t enough, alcohol messes with your hormone regulation too! 😱 It spikes cortisol, the muscle-breakdown hormone, while suppressing testosterone, the muscle-building superhero! 🦸‍♂️📉 This unfortunate combo leads to increased muscle breakdown and makes it harder for your muscles to recover after a workout. Cheers to gains? Not quite! 🍻🚫💔

📚 Conclusion: Do the Math, Skip the Drink! ➕🍹

Here’s the equation for success: Less alcohol + more protein synthesis = Maximum gains! 📈💪 So, if you’re serious about achieving your fitness goals, it’s time to say no to that drink and yes to a powerhouse protein synthesis process! 🚫🍹✅

🔓 Unlock your full muscle-building potential by prioritizing protein synthesis and leaving alcohol out of the equation! 🗝️💪

For our Well Fed Friday post we wanted to re-share our oldie but goodie Betty Bite recipe.

If you are looking for better balanced hormones and a rockstar snack this is it!  Make double or tripe batches and store them in the freezer and just take out one each day!

Say Bye Bye hot flashes and hello Happy Hormones!!!

 

 

 

You feel like you have done everything to balance your hormones.

You have looked at your intake and tracked everything you eat.

You have looked at your daily activity and your exercise.

You have incorporated all the Happy Hormone Habits you can think of!

Now what?!?

Now it might be time to look into not only hiring an expert but also testing.

A full hormone panel like a dutch test might be the next step.  Females especially need to test during a very time of the month depending on where you are at in your cycle so work with a professional or a coach here.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

While many people think weight gain is a part of menopause or part of the transition there isn’t a change of weight directly related to the change in hormones but rather a change in the distribution of body fat.

Many women experience an expanding waistline due to increased fat storage in and around the internal organs. This change in body fat distribution is part of the reason why after menopause women have an increased risk of heart attacks.

Aging is also linked to fat gain which often gets misinterpreted as a symptom of menopause. Studies using HRT to alleviate menopause symptoms showed that while vasomotor symptoms subsided, fat gain was the same among all subjects including control subjects.

That suggests that fat and weight gain is not caused by menopause but is age related. Most likely brought on by loss of muscle mass and lower overall activity with aging.

Is this good news or bad news?

Well we cannot control the fact that our bodies are aging BUT we may not need to view menopause as the cause of ALL health concerns.

Menopause is the natural cessation of the menstrual cycle and refers to when menses have not been present for at least 12 months.

Average age is 52 years old.

During this period women may become susceptible to a host of physical and psychological symptoms as a result of the drop in the hormone estrogen.

Menopause may feel like a time where many women feel “out of control” of their body.

Symptoms can include:
Vasomotor instability- Hot flashes and sweating
Insomnia
Increased risk of osteoporosis
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
Urinary incontinence
Depression
Mood swings
Anxiety
Lack of motivation
Aggressiveness
Difficulty concentration

 

This week were are going to dive into hormones and how our habits can have a huge impact on them! Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#1 – You Struggle to wake Up and Stay Alert thru the day

Serotonin is key to quality sleep, and if the gut isn’t creating enough, you may experience an exhausting sleep/wake cycle. Additionally, slow digestion takes energy from your body that could be used to crawl out of bed — or conquer that to do list.

#2- Frequent Heartburn

Sure, you might get heartburn after eating too many acidic foods like tomatoes and chocolate (even though chocolate is worth it). This may not be cause for concern, but frequent bouts could be a sign that more is going on in your gut. If you experience this heartburn more than once a week, it’s time to look deeper into your gut health.

#3 – Food Intolerances or Sensitivities

If our gut wall begins to break down, it causes a condition called a leaky gut. This is where large particles of food can then enter the bloodstream and wreak havoc on our immune system.

When leaky gut becomes an issue, foods you’ve enjoyed plenty in the past — especially those that increase inflammation, like gluten, dairy or sugar — may cause digestive distress. If you find that caffeine increases these symptoms this can be a clear sign also.

#4- Brain Fog

Frequent forgetfulness and bouts of brain fog can be linked to your gut. Not only are your gut and brain connected through neurological pathways, but your gut is in charge of sending nutrients and healthy fats to your brain. Without sufficient nutrients, you may find yourself struggling to remember words or keep your thoughts straight.

#5- Frequent Breakouts

If you suffer from unexplained acne that refuses to calm down no matter what expensive cream or treatment you try, it might be time to look at your gut.
Acne has been associated with a gut disorder called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)or certain food intolerances (especially dairy). Leaky gut may also allow bacteria to travel outside of your gut, causing widespread inflammation and eventually seeking your skin as an exit point.

#6- Hormone Imbalance

For women who suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Hashimoto’s, and menopause, hormone imbalance is nothing new. Usually, hormone imbalances are diagnosed through blood tests or dry urine analysis ordered by your doctor or health coach.

If you struggle with any of these diseases, you know that maintaining healthy estrogen levels plays an important role in your overall wellness. But did you know the gut is responsible for some estrogen production? 

Taking care of your gut and nourishing your microbiome may help to ease symptoms of estrogen dominance.

#7 – Extreme Weight Fluctuation

Rapid unexplained weight gain or loss can be caused by a lot of different things. Your gut influences how your body stores nutrients, it has a lot of influence over your weight. 

#8 – Inflammation

Inflammation is a hot-button topic in the holistic health world. Inflammation-driven gut diseases like Crohn’s disease, lyme’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, to name a few, are on the rise. If you experience inflammatory symptoms like regular headaches, fatigue, and decreased appetite without a direct cause, it could be linked to leaky gut.

#9 – Chronic Constipation

Do you poop once a day?To maintain healthy digestion, you should be going at least once a day. If less frequent, your body could quickly become overloaded with toxins. Healthy BM’s are a sign of a healthy you — so make sure you’re eating plenty of fiber and drinking plenty of water  to help your motility stay consistent.

#10- Unexplained onset of slight Depression or Anxiety 

Although we associate most “happy chemicals,” like serotonin and dopamine with the brain, they are produced in the gut as well. In fact, the gut produces  95% of our serotonin! 

Neurotransmitters in the brain and gut regularly communicate with each other — connecting the two in what’s called the gut-brain axis. When the gut is in chronic distress, the brain is almost always affected. 

This is why we see cases of slight depression and anxiety so often in people with gut issues.

Why “Eat Less, Move More” Isn’t Enough

Lauren Gunter | October 2, 2022

You’ve been told that in order to lose weight, you need to eat less and move more. And that is technically true. However, sometimes you’re doing all that you can to follow that simple rule, and nothing seems to be changing.

 

Even if you understand that way calorie intake and expenditure work, and you trust the science, it’s still really hard to execute for some reason.

 

On Sunday, you stock your fridge with you celery and prepped chicken, and grapes, you signed up for CrossFit, you scheduled food prep and workouts into your calendar like they’re an important work meeting. And yet, by Friday afternoon you have wilted spinach in your fridge, your gym owner is reaching out asking where you’ve been, and there’s not a prepped meal in sight.

 

After this cycle repeats itself week after week, it’s easy to feel frustrated and even a little hopeless. “What’s wrong with me?” we ask ourselves. First of all, nothing. Nothing is wrong with you. You do a lot of really great things like work, raise your family, keep your home clean, support your friends, and while these are all such great things, they definitely complicate the simplicity of “eat less, move more.”

 

We do a lot of things that actually decrease our ability or desire to move, and increase our desire to eat, especially calorie-dense (but not nutrient-dense) foods.

Job – stress, long hours

Family – complaining, constant need for support, can drain you

Sleep – bad sleeper? Waking up, can’t get to sleep

Partner – loves you the way you are and also loves Taco Bell

Take-out – it just saves SO much time

Shame – for eating poorly, so you continue to do it

Kids – you love them, but they’re energetic and take up a lot of energy, especially if child care isn’t consistent

Pain – if you have any kind of injury, moving more can feel good, but it can also increase your pain

Meds – using them to help boost mental health, but certain ones also increase your appetite

 

Every one of you is a complicated person with your own set of obstacles when it comes to “eat less, move more” and that’s why even though that is technically true, it’s not even close to enough. This is why coaching is so helpful, because we want to know the whole story so that we can give you a plan that will work FOR YOU.

 

If you’re not working with a coach right now, a good place to start is identifying what makes “eat less, move more” so difficult in the first place, and start taking action steps with those.

This can looks like:

1. If social situations are the issue: having a tough and awkward conversation with the person who you make bad decisions around. If your partner is constantly bringing you a treat out of the goodness of their heart, explain what your goals are and why, and try to find a solution so they can still show you love, but also help move you toward your goals instead of away from them.
2. If anxiety and worry, or even busyness are the issue: journal for a few minutes before going to sleep to create some separation and resolve from those thoughts so that your mind can relax and fall asleep.
3. If the shame of not being consistent is the issue: keeping a food AND feelings journal. Most of you have tracked your food at some point, stop neglecting logging when you get that Taco Bell, and start journaling your feelings around that eating experience. What were you feeling that made you want to get it? How did you feel while you were eating it? How did you feel after, and why is that? This can be scary, but it will help you start working through some of these shameful feelings.

 

This doesn’t really sound like nutritional advice, so why do those things matter? Because the outcomes make EVERYTHING easier, and when it’s easier, you’re more likely to do it.

 

Having that hard conversation is awkward, but if this person loves you and wants to support you, usually a compromise can be reached. Instead of eating out 5 times per week, decrease it to 3. They still get to eat out, you get two more healthy meals. Being vulnerable is what deters us from doing this, but we often feel more loved and support after. Prioritising your health is NOT selfish.

 

Getting some of those anxious thoughts out of your head, even if it’s just temporary, can help you to relax a little more, get better sleep, and have the energy to make better choices like eating at home, or have more energy to move, like walking to work.

 

Keeping a food journal can help us recognize triggers. Every time I hit a drive thru unplanned, it happens to fall on a day where I had to work late and I leave the office hangry and tired. I feel shame for eating it, and also for not being home with my family for dinner. Once you KNOW this, you can start planning to change it. Spending some extra time with your family in the morning when you know it’s going to be a long day, or bringing a protein bar with you for the car ride home so that your hungriness doesn’t take over and you’re able to think through your dinner choice and eat slowly can help save you hours of stress and hundreds of calories.

 

The changes are small at first, but over time, you’re able to eat a little cleaner and move a little more, AND most importantly, feel better about the choices you’re making. Your body will begin responding to these changes, and the emotional and physical health together are what lead to those bigger changes we’re all chasing.

 

Eat less and move more does still work. But we are all complex, and it takes more than you hitting your macros or going to CrossFit every day to see the changes you are looking for. Look behind your difficulty with eating right or working out consistently. How are you managing your stress? How are you sleeping? What are you doing for recovery? It might actually be these things that are preventing your progress.

 

It may seem like this will prolong the process, but caring for your mental health, sleep, and recovery give you the fuel you need to actually follow through on those nutrition and fitness goals you have.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkPZU_nJ1G5/

How does birth control affect my weight loss journey? 

Could it be the reason I’m not losing consistently?

Short answer: yes.

Complicated answer: it depends.

A lot of women, specifically 18-30 take birth control and for a lot of different reasons. Yes, we are trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but it can also be used to help teenage girls regulate their cycles or control their acne. I did learn in a podcast, however, that until your early 20s, using it to regulate your cycle can actually be harmful to your cycle’s rhythm long term.

Birth control is super effective in doing these things, but it also has some huge risks, possibly the biggest one being putting you at an increased risk of cervical, liver and breast cancer. That should scare you.

Another side effect, though, is often an increase in body fat, specifically in the lower body and upper arms, and extreme difficulty losing fat in these areas even when increasing exercise or decreasing calorie intake.

I read a few case studies, and came across a few where the client had been on birth control for years went off of it, and their body fat decreased in two months, and that’s without changing anything with their exercise routine or calorie intake. Now, these girls were pretty lean to being with and didn’t have a super hard time staying in shape, but if they EVER went off track, they’d immediately backslide in a way that made it seem almost impossible to come back from. And if they tried to get leaner, like for a competition, they couldn’t do it.

A lot of the other side effects go far beyond physical health, and I’d argue that they’re worse.

First off, many women report a decrease in their sexual desire and arousal, and discomfort during sex. This is tough on us emotionally and can really strain our relationships, which as we know, can affect our physical health.

So what exactly causes these side effects? Hormones. If you are taking a pill, or have something in your body that is affecting your hormones, you are chemically preventing one of the principle functions your body is designed to carry out, and you’re doing that by altering your hormonal environment. Because everyone’s starting point is different, the pill will affect everyone differently. For some people (me), it’s terrible and I will never do it again. For others, like my sister, an unwanted pregnancy would not go over well, and she has no side effects. And for some, it’s fairly neutral, you use it for a time to prevent unwanted pregnancy or whatever you need it for, and then have an easy time transitioning off of it. 

So, even though they work great as contraception, you are still altering your hormonal set-up which has effects to your physique as well as your overall health. Interestingly, many women report a depressive and “down” mood when on birth control, and many of the symptoms we deal with are the reason that men’s hormonal birth control was actually denied approval by the FDA.

• Things that CAN happen as a result of birth control:
  • You aren’t losing weight no matter what you do exercise-wise or comply with your diet. This COULD be why.
  • The trade off of gaining a little weight or not being able to lean out might be worth it to prevent pregnancy, say for a college student or young professional.
  • Sexual desire COULD decrease which strains relationships and thus strains health.
  • It COULD be hard to lean out if you’re working really hard, and it also COULD lead to fast weight gain if you took a break from working out or eating clean, and you COULD see this reverse pretty immediately when you go off of it.
  • You COULD see a change in mood, just not feeling like yourself, feeling sleepy and tired a lot of the time
  • If you take progesterone, you know that feeling before/during your period? That’s how you ALWAYS feel

 

• What do I do?
  • Research what options are out there and don’t just go with the first things your doctor recommends, there are non-hormonal methods like the copper IUD or condoms
  • Not every birth control will give you every side effect. Some people do fine on the pill, but don’t respond well to injections, etc.
  • Remember: no bikini contest is worth an unwanted pregnancy, but no prescription is worth years of hormonal disruptions

“My sex drive is the best its been in a decade!” JM –

Ok is this TMI for you?  

A healthy libido and sex drive is so important and a clear sign of hormone health.

This was feedback from a client who started the betty bites and was 3 months in!  

Our bodies are so amazing! It is so exciting to see hormone health not only recover but THRIVE!!!!