Halloween is the one day of the year most known for excessive candy intake!
I'm not here to tell you to skip the candy all together, but I would like to challenge you to be intentional about what you eat. There are a few 'tricks' that allow you to enjoy some 'treats' without derailing your health goals.
Check them out so you can stay on track during this fun and scary night!
Tricks for the Treats
- Read the Ingredients! Whenever I am temped to eat processed food, I look at the ingredient list. Reading the ingredients (high fructose corn syrup, food coloring, and hydrogenated oils) reminds me that is is NOT REAL FOOD after all, and that I really don't want to eat it. A colleague once told me that when they read these ingredients they end up viewing most processed food more like an object rather than a food
- Pass out something besides candy at your house. I remember one of my favorite houses to trick or treat at growing up had a jar of foreign coins. The top of the jar was small, but you were allowed to take anything you could grab between your fingers. Small hands could grab more than big hands. It was fun to see the foreign currency and figure out what country it was from.
- Get candy that doesn't tempt you. I struggle to avoid Reese's peanut butter cups. I know that if I pass these out at my house, I will inevitably eat more of them than I should. Buy some candy that isn't particular tempting to you, so it will be easier to resist.
- Set a limit for yourself and stick to it. Early in the day, think about how many pieces of candy you are going to let yourself to eat. You get to decide how many fit with your goals. Set the amount of candy you want to eat aside, and only eat out of your stash. This will prevent you from unconsciously grabbing candy from the bowl without realizing it.
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Hey! Are you a woman with PCOS who would like to get to the root of your issues and address them naturally? If so, I'm excited to share with you BALANCED!
In "Balanced," I walk you through my proven framework that takes the guesswork out of getting to the root of your symptoms and addressing them naturally.
I want to make sure you know that BALANCED is ready for you now, so be sure to reserve a spot! I would hate for you to miss out on this great opportunity to take control of your health and get your PCOS symptoms under control once and for all.
How do I know if BALANCED is for me?
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You have PCOS and have tried the traditional advice on addressing your symptoms without the results you desire.
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You have an open mind to learn new ways of looking at treatment.
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You are not looking for a quick fix or magic pill.
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You want to achieve your goals so you can enjoy life without the struggles of those stubborn symptoms.
Recently I hosted a Free Class that covered...
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The 3 BIG Mistakes that women with PCOS make when trying to address PCOS symptoms.
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Three simple steps of the "Balanced" method.
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How women with PCOS address their symptoms without expensive pharmaceuticals.
I've decided to leave the replay up for you to check out!
If you missed it, here’s my advice...
Take 60 minutes today to catch the replay and completely change your life! Learn how to live better with The Balanced Method - THE SAME method used by women with PCOS who want to finally address their symptoms for good!
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Everyone knows that exercise is important! But what if I told you there are certain strategic exercises that will get you better results than working yourself like crazy at the gym? And what if I told you that overall movement, even when not “working out,” is important too?
I know, it’s shocking! Our culture is so focused on working hard to the point we feel like we have to beat ourselves up in the gym. However, with a little guidance we can work smarter rather than harder.
Let’s look at the “why” behind movement and explore the best exercises for lasting results!
The Danger of a Sedentary Life
According to Dr. James Levine, the director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative, “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”
What is even more surprising is that the negative effects of sitting are apparent even in those who exercise daily. This is not to say that we shouldn’t exercise. But we need to change our view of movement, focusing on natural movement and exercises that will get us the best results!
Ways To Incorporate Natural Movement in Your Life
When you think about the history of mankind, setting time aside to exercise is a fairly new concept. Movement was simply a part of life for most of our ancestors, as their survival depended on it. They didn’t need to go to a gym, because they moved to secure food, shelter, and safety!
Let’s change our mindset around movement to include natural movement into our lives! How can you do this? Choose one of these ideas to start moving today and then add more as you are able.
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Working with your body instead of against it is important for your emotional and physical health!
When you understand the way your body works, you are more able to give it what it needs. Supporting your body and the systems in your body will allow them to function more efficiently.
Let’s take a look at the way our nervous system is wired to handle stress, so that we know how to support it and stay regulated in these trying times!
A Regulated Nervous System
The nervous system is a remarkable communication network that relays messages between the brain and the rest of your body. Your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are designed to work together to keep you safe.
Simply speaking, the body goes into a sympathetic state when there is danger. Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are released, and your body goes into fight or flight mode. This is a protective measure designed to give you the best chance of survival in dangerous situations.
A well regulated nervous system will settle once the danger is over. The parasympathetic nervous system will be activated. Heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar begin to normalize. This is often referred to as the “rest-and-digest” state of being and is where healing takes place.
Chronic Stress
In today’s world the dangers we face are not always clear. Our nervous system often registers chronic stress as a danger. This can include things such as stress at work, relationship trouble, financial concerns, loneliness, and our world's current crisis.
Chronic stress can leave us with a dysregulated nervous system, leaving us stuck in a fight or flight response. While these stress responses are beneficial temporarily during a time of crisis, we were not meant to stay in them long.
Managing Stress
Reducing the amount of stress and increasing your capacity to handle unavoidable stress, can help regulate your nervous system so you can stay balanced. Here are some helpful ways to handle stress.
- Self-Care - Establishing good self-care routines is extremely important. Each person will be different based on personality, circumstance, and values. The important thing is to choose things that are life-giving and enjoyable for you each day.
- Grounding techniques - To ground yourself, simply bring awareness back to the present moment by using your senses. It is extremely helpful in dealing with stress since most of our worry is about things in the past or things yet to come.
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In our fast paced society, many of us have lost the ability to simply be present in our bodies. We go through our days following our schedules, and to-do-lists, never really noticing what is going on inside.
From an early age many of us have unintentionally been taught to ignore our body’s sensations. While it can be convenient to disregard these sensations at times, if we consistently disregard what our body is telling us, there may be a price to pay!
Let’s look at this issue and reevaluate the importance of listening to our bodies!
How We Learn to Ignore Our Bodies
Most of us have been taught, in subtle ways, to ignore our body since we were very young. These messages were often given by well intentioned adults over the course of our lives. Some examples of these messages include:
- Having to wait until mealtimes to eat.
- Being required to clean your plate.
- Waiting to go to the bathroom until between classes.
- Being taught to hold back when you have to pass gas or burp.
- Having our feelings minimized, dismissed, or punished.
- Being pushed to keep going when we were tired and needed to rest.
Not all of these lessons are bad. Sometimes we cannot satisfy our bodily needs immediately, however it can be damaging when we learn to ignore them all the time.
What About Learning Self Control?
We all realize that we can’t act on our bodily sensations all the time. If you are in an important meeting it would be inappropriate to grab a snack, go to the bathroom, or loudly burp. But what if there is a way to honor both the body and social norms.
Ideally, we would recognize the messages that our body sends and then choose how to act on them. We don’t need to follow these sensations impulsively, but it is important to recognize them and consciously choose our response.
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Have you been enjoying a glass of wine in the evening? Do you enjoy a cocktail with your friends on occasion?
Many of us have come to rely on a drink to help us wind down or have fun with friends. And while there is nothing wrong with an occasional drink, it is important to understand the effects it has on the body, especially in regards to our hormones.
What Are Hormones?
Hormones are chemical messengers within the body that are secreted by glands in the endocrine system. These messengers tell the tissue and organs in the body what to do. The proper balance of hormones is crucial for both physical and mental health.
When something happens to make one hormone increase the other hormones are affected. It's like a delicate dance with some hormones following another's lead.
Alcohol and Hormones?
Alcohol is thought to have a complicated relationship with the balance of hormones within the body. Let’s take a look at some of the ways moderate alcohol impacts this system.
- Estrogen - Alcohol has been found to raise the level of estrogen in the body. There are a few ways that this may happen, but let’s take a look at one of the mechanisms in which this happens. Both alcohol and estrogen are processed in the liver. When the liver is busy handling alcohol, it prevents the liver from detoxing estrogen as efficiently. This results in a buildup of estrogen in the system.
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