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Feast Upon This
Who’s ready to indulge in all of the holiday feasts! That was a trick question. This time of year, we are presented with the perfect example of why dieting is a bad idea. Please allow me to explain: So you’ve been on a “diet”. Maybe you’ve gone keto or gluten free or dairy free or who knows what. The point is, you have been withholding your body from something. So if you’ve gone months (or weeks or days) without a certain food group, what sort of shock do you think you place on your body when you decide to indulge during the holidays? In all truth, these fad diets are…
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Why Weight Loss Matters
How has weight affected your Intracranial Hypertension? No doubt, one of the first things your doctor suggested upon diagnosis was to lose weight. Why? While the medical field is still trying to figure out exactly what causes IH, there seems to be a high percentage of patients with IH who are overweight or obese. In fact, many patients develop this condition after or during a period of significant weight gain. As obesity rates increase, Intracranial Hypertension is being found to be less and less rare. But it’s not just about the weight loss. What’s Causing the Weight? While aiming for a healthy weight in general is always important, doctors will…
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What’s the Deal with Protein?
What is protein? To put simply, protein is pretty much the composition of life itself. From the basis of your DNA, protein can be found in every single cell of your body, creating and repairing everything that makes you exist. For you science nerds out there, protein is composed of various amino acids such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen. Some amino acids however can not be produced by the body and must be consumed through food. Examples you may have heard mentioned before would be tryptophan, lysine, and phenylalanine. Thought it was all about the muscles? Try your bones, your blood, your skin, cartilage, tissue, hormones, everything! Protein is…
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The Perfect Kitchen
When people tell me they want to lose weight or get healthy or even simply eat better, the first thought that comes to mind is, “What’s in their pantry?” I have a bit of an obsession with sorting through pantries and refrigerators and pruning them until they are beautiful in my sight. It is my idea of interior decorating. So if you are interested in making some healthier choices for your life, I’m here to help. Designing Your Dream Kitchen The first thing to understand about cleaning out your pantry is that you never go in and throw everything away. Frankly, that’s just wasteful. Instead, understand the method behind it.…
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A Pinch of Salt
Salt is crucial for survival. In fact, sodium is actually an electrolyte the body needs for muscles and nerves to function properly. It helps regulate how much fluid is in the body. Unfortunately however, many people consume too much salt. This means your body is retaining too much water. Your blood pressure can increase, and your heart has to work harder. This can all cause cardiovascular diseases, stroke, hypertension, and kidney disease. While we do need sodium for our bodies to function properly, it’s important not to overdo it. So how much salt can we have? The American Heart Association recommends less than 2,300 mg a day, ideally aiming for…
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Six Tips for a Healthy Grocery Trip
In order to develop a healthier diet, you must first learn what your diet is actually composed of versus what you want it to be composed of. So today, my friends, we will take the first and most important step of learning how to read labels. Now, I do understand we all might have different dietary restrictions or needs, but most of these are general guidelines. From these guidelines, you can begin to learn what you’re looking for and adjust accordingly. Get your grocery lists ready because I have six tips for a healthier shopping cart! 1.) Keep it Simple Think about the layout of most grocery stores. Outside Isles:…
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Learning & Loving Your Body
Diet and exercise isn’t one size fits all. We’ve all heard it, but do you believe it? Or are you still trying to copy what the latest fads and trends are saying? Stop being pulled in all directions. Learn what works for you and your body! You have to stop hating your body and using that as the motivation to get healthy. It is never a good idea to have any sort of negative outlook on yourself. Love Your Body Love your body so much that you want what’s best for it. Appreciate the fact that you were created so intricately, with each muscle, organ, and system wanting to function…
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Sugarcoated Lies
“It is not good to eat much honey.” – Proverbs 25:27 Sugar, sweeteners, and sugar substitutes. Touchy topic. Still, it can be agreed that we all consume way too much of these things. But why is sugar so bad for us? Did you know that sugar is as addicting as drugs and alcohol? Studies have suggested that it is as addicting as cocaine. If you don’t believe that to be possible, you should know that some addiction centers have actually extended their hotline to help people who suffer from sugar addiction or withdrawal symptoms. But that’s not all. Excessive sugar affects the way your body understands hunger. Your body can’t…
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Are You Feeding Your Problems?
Are you afraid of your food? How many of us have tried “diets” time and time again only to end up going back to binging on junk? Ignorance is bliss right? Sure, we know we shouldn’t eat junk, but if we don’t know the real reason why we shouldn’t, what’s really stopping us? If someone in the 1950’s said don’t smoke, nobody would listen. If someone said don’t smoke because smoking has been proven to kill you. Big change right? How It Affected Me When the doctors first told me weight loss helps keep IH under control, I didn’t pay it much mind because I wasn’t overweight. When the doctors…
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Breakfast
I don’t know about you, but I find that once I make a bad decision in my day, I’m more likely to keep making bad decisions. If I start my day off with a frozen waffle, I’m more likely to skip my workout and call it a lazy TV watching day. I’m more likely to continue eating junk food because I’ve already screwed up once. The key is to start your morning off on the right foot. I’m a firm believer in breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Make it count. Odds are, you currently skip breakfast most mornings. No, a coffee flavored beverage does not count…
