Functional Wellness Practitioner and Fitness Trainer. Get to the root cause of Metabolic Chaos. Uncover HIDDEN stressors. Go Optimal or Go Home...But Never Go Home Suboptimal
I love this trail. It’s physically demanding and packed nature. Today, it was different and for a few reasons. It rained yesterday and overnight. Birds were happy and chirping loud, air was fresher, fannies moved fast, and great company. What a great workout. Mother nature does wonders for hormones! Body and mind win!
A couple of days ago, I got my friend Karl, on my left, to commit to join me rain or shine! He recruited a couple of his hiking buddies. I woke up at 6am and looked at forecast: 75% rain precipitation at 9am and 100% at 11am. We took our rain coats and went for it.
Guess what? We did NOT get one drop of rain! Instead, fog and high humidity 🙂
We completed 5.17 miles with two long and steep hills (4,000 ft and 3800 ft elevation) in 2 hours and 21 minutes. Your first step is heading uphill–no time to warm-up. Karl’s friends, Scott and Jason are experienced hikers (compared to me, at least). They have covered 600+ miles of the Appalachian Trail. They hike fast and don’t look back. My fanny’s only option was to keep moving.
These guys hike fast and don’t look back. My fanny’s only option was to keep moving. I told the guys I was happy I had decide to leave my heavy backpack home for this hike. I would have NOT been to keep up with their pace otherwise.
If your body isn’t ready for hills and other activities and you want to change it…NO EXCUSE! At home. At Work. I come to you! Services available online, by phone or in-person (Atlanta/Vinings area). Call (770) 835-5490 or learn more here.
Take the first step! It’s a marathon, one step at the time. Bring commitment to your well-being, sense of self-care, and an open mind. It’s for YOU. It’s YOUR time to feel FAB!
This recipe is full of nutrition. It delivers healthy carbs and protein from vegetables and healthy fats from coconut. Plus, cruciferous vegetables are natural detoxifiers. Meals like this will bump your energy, you feel nourished and light—refreshing meal for hot days. Help your digestive system by taking a few deep breaths before your meal. Close your eyes and smell the food. This process gets your hormones and digestive system ready for a meal. Chew your food well, especially dishes with rich vegetables like this one.
Ingredients:
4 cups shredded raw greens: cabbage, kale, chard, collard greens, baby bok choy, any combination
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 medium red onion , thinly sliced
1 – 2 large carrots, shredded (substitute daikon radish if your blood sugars are sensitive to carrots)
2-inch piece of lemongrass
2 – 3 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons coconut butter
1/2 – 1 jalapeño pepper
1 bunch fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Put greens in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Massage greens until they are wilted. 2. Put lemongrass in blender with 1/2 cup water and blend until liquefied. 3. Strain through cheese cloth, a fine mesh strainer, or a nut milk bag. 4. Combine liquid from lemongrass with lime juice and coconut butter in the blender and blend until smooth. Add water if needed. 5. Pulse in jalapeño and cilantro. 6. Shred carrots or daikon, and thinly slice the red onion. Add to bowl with greens. 7. Pour dressing over the vegetables and massage in well. The greens should be wilted. 8. If possible, allow to sit for an hour before serving. Place a second bowl over the salad and put something heavy in it to press the dressing into the salad and allow the vegetables to fully absorb the flavors.
As a blood-sugar balancing expert, it is important to me that individuals truly understand the impact of blood sugar imbalance on their health. One major issue that people don’t usually think about is the effect of sugar intake on blood pressure. Many people know that salt and sodium directly affects blood pressure level. But, did you know that sugar is actually worse than salt for your blood pressure? May is National Blood Pressure Month – Let’s celebrate it by taking steps to improve our sugar intake…and our blood pressure!
If you haven’t heard of the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), it is claimed to be among the most effective for controlling hypertension because consists largely of fresh vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and very low sodium content. In addition, it’s also low in sugar/fructose. So, while people on DASH diets do tend to show reduced hypertension, the reason for this may not be solely the reduction in salt, but the reduction in sugar.
However, if you’re not ready to go all-in on the DASH diet, just take a look at your current food intake. If your regular diet consists of processed foods, you’re causing a lot of harm to your health. Processed foods are top sources of both heavily-processed salt AND sugar.
In general, I recommend staying away from grains and dairy products because of their impact on blood sugar and insulin levels. Dairy products may cause gut imbalances because of deficiency of enzyme lactase that breaks down lactose (sugar) in milk—this is typical of most people. Gut issues lead to a series of problems from skin to brain function. It is important to NOT generalize how foods, like grains and dairy, impact our bodies. You don’t have to pay for expensive tests to find this out. I will help you figure it out.
What do you do if you have high blood pressure?
In order to effectively treat and recover from high blood pressure, it’s important to understand its underlying cause, which is often related to your body producing too much insulin and leptin in response to a high-carbohydrate and processed food diet. As your insulin and leptin levels rise, it causes your blood pressure to increase. Eventually, you may become insulin and/or leptin resistant.
As explained by Dr. Rosedale in the journal Open Heart, insulin stores magnesium, but if your insulin receptors are blunted and your cells grow resistant to insulin, you can’t store magnesium so it passes out of your body through urination. Magnesium stored in your cells relaxes muscles.
If your magnesium level is too low, your blood vessels will be unable to fully relax, and this constriction raises your blood pressure. Fructose also elevates uric acid, which drives up your blood pressure by constraining the nitric oxide in your blood vessels.
Nitric oxide helps your vessels maintain their elasticity, so nitric oxide suppression leads to increases in blood pressure. So, any program adapted to address high blood pressure needs to help normalize both your insulin/leptin sensitivity and uric acid level.
If you’re insulin resistant (the majority of Americans are and do not know), have high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic disease, I can help!
Be Fab – Be You Blood Sugar Balancing Program
If you or someone you care are struggling with Weight and belly fat; Fatigue and low energy; Brain fog; Burnout; Difficulty focusing; Intestinal bloating; Cravings for sweets and/or coffee; Eating often or feeling hungry after a full meal; Cranky and irritable if meal is missed; Increased blood pressure; High cholesterol and triglycerides, changes are you blood sugar is compromised and needs attention.
Blood Sugar Balancing Program
I spent most of my life compromising my health, but after I learned I was pre-diabetic and experienced digestive and gastrointestinal issues since childhood, I decided to make a change. I discovered that a “healthy diet” wasn’t enough, what I really needed to reach my full potential in life was a “healthy lifestyle.”
I was highly addicted to sugar and, consequently, suffered from l chronic issues related to imbalances of my own. I reversed my conditions entirely through lifestyle changes. I developed the Blood Sugar Balancing Program to help others kick the sugar addiction, learn sustainable and healthy ways to quench the unhealthy temptations and behaviors, and ultimately empower them to turn their health 180º, one step at time, and BE FAB!
My program discusses many ways to balance your blood sugar and restore insulin levels – positively impacting your overall health. Throughout the program, participants receive the tools they need to get and stay on a healthy path. Change is scary, but so is poor health. Let me guide you through your journey! I’ve been there, done that, and I will have your back throughout the way.
Some quick advice to get you started on your road to better health: total fructose consumption should be kept below 25 grams per day. If you have symptoms discussed above, limit your fructose to 15 grams or less per day, until your condition has normalized. (The Sugar Fix, Dr. Richard Johnson). Another day we will discuss the dangers of high fructose syrup. In the meantime, read the labels and avoid foods with it!
Fruit
Serving Size
Grams of Fructose
Papaya
1/2 medium
6.3
Honeydew
1/8 of med. melon
6.7
Banana
1 medium
7.1
Blueberries
1 cup
7.4
Date (Medjool)
1 medium
7.7
Apple (composite)
1 medium
9.5
Persimmon
1 medium
10.6
Watermelon
1/16 med. melon
11.3
Pear
1 medium
11.8
Raisins
1/4 cup
12.3
Grapes, seedless (green or red)
1 cup
12.4
Mango
1/2 medium
16.2
Apricots, dried
1 cup
16.4
Figs, dried
1 cup
23.0
For more information on my Blood Sugar Balancing program or other wellness services, call (770) 835.5490 and visit www.befabbeyou.com/blood-sugar-balance.
If you would like me to address a specific topic related to health and fitness, let me know. I would love you hear from you!
I made this recipe of zucchini bacon frittata with mushrooms, spinach and kale and loved it. If you like eggs and bacon, you and your family will not regret it. Nourishing and tasty food is great at anytime. I encourage you to think of the nutritional value of a meal or snack and how it will fuel my body and mind so you feel accomplished by the end of your busy day.
If you think this way, you are likely be fine eating dinner for breakfast, lunch for dinner, breakfast for lunch 😉 . It’s a mindset type of deal. Mind over matter gives you control!
Give it a try and share with your family and friends next gathering and/or holiday.
Ingredients
3 slices of bacon. My recommendation for uncured pork bacon that is FREE of nitrites, nitrates, sugar, hormone, and antibiotics.
4 cups of chopped baby spinach and kale (or other greens of your choices—all greens are game)
2 small zucchinis, spiralized. Don’t have a spiralizer? Sliced them thin.
1 cup sliced mushrooms
½ tsp garlic powder
6 eggs, beaten. I recommend eggs be pasture-raised, non-gmo, soy free, and organic
pepper to season
Salt, celtic sea salt or Himalayan (pink) salt for trace mineral, electrolytes, and much more benefits. My recommendation is to avoid, at all costs, the highly processed table salt found everywhere. It’s easy to bring your salt with you. Seriously!
Instructions
Organic foods, especially greens, are best for nutritional content and to minimize adding more chemicals to your body, which disrupt your hormones and body function. If organic isn’t an option, wash vegetables really well.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until medium-crispy. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate, leaving 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the skillet.
Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes and then add in the kale, zucchini noodles and garlic powder. Cook until the kale wilts mostly.
Pour the eggs over the noodles, distributing evenly. Top with a salt and generous amount of pepper and let cook for 2 minutes, letting the eggs cook to set on the bottom.
Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can stick a knife through the center of the frittata and it comes out clean.
Original recipe calls for pesto sauce on top, which I think it’d be wonderful but I didn’t make it since I was cooking another 4-5 other recipes the same night. This girl here likes to keep things simple and minimize time in the kitchen without compromising tasty. It’s delish as is, warm and cold. Try it!
Zucchini_Bacon_Frittata_Side
Personally, when it comes to animal protein, I am very selective and it’s part of the food budget I spend the most. When consuming conventional protein sources from animals, it can be packed with hormones, inflammatory fats, hormone disrupters, etc. Ultimately, it can do more harm than good.
Considering that May is Blood Pressure month, we must make smart choices. Quality is essential for heart health. Over the past four years, I have reduced consumption of animal protein significantly. Technically, we can get 100% of protein from plant base, even if you rarely eat legumes such as beans and lentils. Protein is found in many vegetables including broccoli, peas, spinach, kale, and the list goes one. If you pack your smoothie with vegetables, it won’t be hard to get 15 grams of protein without adding powders. Then, you can complement your smoothie with vegetable protein such as pea protein and even eat one or two hard boil eggs separately.
Enjoy it!
Want to learn more about healthy meals, healthy choices, healthy lifestyle? Schedule a complimentary Energy Audit call session here. No Excuses. At Work. At Home. Online. In-Person.
Exercise ≠ Weight Loss Ticket. Yet, Exercise = World’s Best Drug?!?!
The notion that exercise is the ticket to the weight loss express still prevails. Unfortunately, looking at long-term studies, exercise does not drive weight as it ‘should’ (= as it is perceived or believed). Why is that? A few reasons…
People eat back their exercise. A little extra dish or drink because they have moved their fannies. We’ve been told to refuel, so eat away. That is true to elite athletes doing endurance sports. Chances are most people don’t need to do any of that. I certainly do not.
The concept of constrained energy expenditure is interesting. Recent research (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01577-8) looked at the impact amount of exercise has on total number of calories burned in a day. It suggests that the more exercise we do, the more our bodies slow down during down time. This might explains why people who hit the gym really hard are NOT seeing results they want. This might discourage people from exercising. The indirect benefits of exercise to diet and weight management is significant. That include blood sugar and insulin management, energy level, sleep, hormone balance, brain and digestive health. These benefits will in turn drive dietary changes more. Think about the overall health benefits thousands of people of join the gym every January and leave it a couple of months later are missing out because their driver is weight loss!
The notion that more muscles we have, more calories we burn. That is true but it seems highly overrated…isn’t a fair fight. World-renowned exercise physiologist Claude Bouchard went on record to say, “Skeletal muscle burns about 13 calories per kilogram of body weight over 24 hours when a person is at rest.″ In other words, Bouchard ascribes the resting metabolic requirement for 1 pound of muscle at less than 6 calories per day. He also states that, “Weight lifting has virtually no effect on resting metabolism.”.
Let’s say one gains 15 pounds of muscles while shedding 15 pounds of fat, one might be burning an extra 90 calories only or a couple of oreo cookies. So well, well…are there any benefits to increasing skeletal muscle percentage? You bet! I can address another day.
I say, let’s rebrand the role of exercise.From weight loss and management ticket to overall health management ticket. Understanding its indirect benefits to diet and weight management might help people building a long lasting relationship with it, making it part of their lifestyle forever!
Would you like to learn more and techniques how to apply all this? Tired of procrastinating? YOUR health is the only one you got! Reach out and let’s get started.
Four Tabatas = Energy Boost = Moving Fanny Works!
It was one of those days. I went to the gym not really certain whether I should have gone. My body and mind were feeling a little tired and it was my forth day in a row working out. I considered going because it was a tabata of movements I feel very comfortable with and there was not heavy lifting involved. Otherwise, it would NOT have been a good idea. Tired body during technical lifts can lead to injury instantaneously and in the long term.
A Special Loving Reminder
Four minutes into the routine and I was reminded why I love to move my fanny and encourage everyone to do the same and become a personal trainer as well. Total workout lasted 18 minutes. I was sweating like if I had just left a shower and fully energetic.
Full Mixed Tabata* •Box Jumps (20 inches) •GHD Sit Ups
– Rest 2 Mins –
Full Mixed Tabata* •Lunge Steps •Kettlebell Swings (35 lbs)
*Tabata is a time interval of 20 secs of work followed by 10 secs of rest, for 8 rounds (4 total mins). The mixed Tabata alternates movements, with the same interval. A full mixed Tabata is alternating movements for 8 rounds EACH (8 total min).
Soon after the tabatas, Bianca and I did 3 rounds of 10 reps of 4 different core movements. Hello to abs.
I had not stepped on a treadmill in a while. Sunday, 4/10/16, was a good day for that. I used to run a lot…45 miles a week. Until I started to have injuries. Not blaming running, only myself for my ignorance at the time.
I like to incorporate burst training when running on a treadmill. Getting the most out of it. It is an excellent way to burn stress and increased cardiovascular performance.
My treadmill burst training routine was:
5 minutes fast walk to wake up muscles
6 minutes jog. On minute 11, started bursts at speed of 6.2 mph
11 rounds of 1 min run with 20 seconds rest. Increased speed by 0.2 mph every minute
From 8.2 to 8.8 mph, took 30 seconds rest between bouts.
At 8.8 mph, took 45 seconds rest to run the last minute burst at 9.0 mph.
Ended the circuit at 31:45min
For my cool down, i did 7 sets of 25 abmat situps (175x) in 10 minutes.
This was a great cardio and mini ab blasts. I’m positive legs will be sore.
Try incorporating bursts to your jog, run, and walks. Give it all out for 30 to 60 seconds. In a treadmill, start at a comfortable pace and keep increasing speed. You can vary time of each bout especially when it gets pretty high for your comfortable zone. Just keep pushing and do your best to stick to at least 30 second bouts.
It takes just a few minutes to slice and place plantains in dehydrator to make your own plantain chips. I like them cut very thin!
Dehydrated green plantains or green bananas are great resistant starches and less sugar content compared to ripe ones. I recommend the very green ones!
Ingredients: plantains. Dehydrate for 7 to 10 hours (more hours won’t hurt just make them crisper).
No added junk such as sugars, unhealthy fats from vegetable oils, preservatives, additives, etc. All you need is to take another step toward your health.
A dehydrator like this one is less than $40. You can use for vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc.
Questions? Or need help revamping your health and lifestyle? Visit www.BeFabBeYou.com or call 770.835.5490
Welcome to Be Fab – Be You Blood Sugar Management Video Series
Part 1 gives an introduction to symptoms and consequences of insulin resistance and lifestyle areas that can be addressed to manage long term impact of high blood sugar and insulin resistance in the body. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and don’t miss a thing!
Are you prediabetic? 46% of California adults are, UCLA study finds. My guess is that if such study were done in various states in the South East, the percentage would be much higher. Most Americans do not know they are pre-diabetic or insulin resistance. I did not know, even though my blood marker said so, doctor said nothing either.
I started to take responsibility for my health 5 years ago. I am no longer pre-diabetic and got rid of several other health concerns. Today, I am an insulin resistance / blood sugar coach, trained by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, founder of INE. I have a step-by-step program to get your blood sugar balance and help you achieve your long term goals. Trust me when I say you don’t want to go through this process alone. At the time, I wish I knew of someone like me to educate and guide me. Help is available.
Finally, I’ve caught up posting my workouts 🙂 Today, 3/30/16, got back to deadlifts combined with DB press and wall handstand hold. Then, Tabata row bursts — push hard to improve heart and muscle capacity in the long term!
Strength & Conditioning: 20 min EMOM (every minute on the minute) Odd Minute: 5 Deadlifts: started with 95 lbs and ended with 155 lbs Even Minute: 5 DB Press 20 lbs each for 5 rounds and 20sec wall handstand hold for remaining 5 rounds
Cash Out: Tabata Row (Total Calories). Completed total of 48 calories
One of the most efficient ways to increase increase aerobic (cardiovascular) and anaerobic (muscle) capacity is to tabatas training or bursts which you give it all during the working seconds. I will write a piece on tabatas. In the meantime, know that tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi in 1996. It consists of 20 seconds work (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set) for a total of 4 minutes.
Blood Sugar, Neurons, Insulin Sensitivity, Muscles, and Your Health.
Just listened to Dr. Diano shared her study on how sugar impacts neurons in the mitochondria of brain cells. Had to share my notes. As an insulin resistance/blood sugar coach, this topic is important for knowledge and general awareness.
Dr. Diano explained that when there’s an increase of sugar in the blood (i.e., sugar, simple carbs, stress) a subset of just about 5-10K neurons in humans in the mitochondria that are responsible to production of energy, decrease the size of the mitochondria but increase their number…that is, cause a split (more but smaller). Scientists running the study believe, not sure, the issue can become chronic overtime.
So, this mechanism (split/higher # of mitochondria) is extremely important to the cell to sense glucose. If we impair the mechanism, we impair the ability for the animal to regulate glucose in circulation. The mechanism induces an increase of glucose utilization by our muscles. that is, it causes an increase of insulin sensitivity of peripheral organs.
Thus, these neurons regulate the blood sugar by bringing levels down by increasing the insulin sensitivity and glucose utilization by muscles.
So is it ok to keep consuming high levels of sugar? Of course not. Scientists believe that high blood sugar levels may cause the neurons to lose sensitivity/response and break down the protective mechanism above. Ultimately, this could lead a series of problems to eventually metabolic disease such as Type 2. Eventually, such study can be really helpful in the development of new drugs to treat metabolic diseases.
Food Amount, Food Composition, Neuron Pathways
On a side note, she also commented that AMOUNT and COMPOSITION OF FOODS we eat will affect the neurons, the brain, and metabolic pathways. Speaking specifically of foods high in sugar, processed foods, high in preservatives, additives, and hormones… can eventually be dominating and affect the activity of neurons and induce them to behave in a certain way. This is one of the reasons it is hard to switch diet and our behavior regarding foods in general. Earlier a person is exposed to a bad diet, harder it will be to change. This is especially important for pregnant women. Their diet will directly impact the baby who will be born with a certain imprint and will be stronger to change later on in life. That is, mother diet impacts the future metabolic pathways in the brain as well.
Assuming a mother who grew up eating junk, processed, and sugary foods gets pregnant, doesn’t change the diet, is it possible for the child to change the pathway to a better one? Dr. Diano says it is possible for someone to alter overtime. That is because we are a combination of genetic predisposition and the environment, which is extremely important. Will be very hard? yes but not impossible by introducing new healthy eating habits and new overall lifestyle habits to clean up!
Unicoi Trail was different today!
We completed 5.17 miles with two long and steep hills (4,000 ft and 3800 ft elevation) in 2 hours and 21 minutes. Your first step is heading uphill–no time to warm-up. Karl’s friends, Scott and Jason are experienced hikers (compared to me, at least). They have covered 600+ miles of the Appalachian Trail. They hike fast and don’t look back. My fanny’s only option was to keep moving. 
If your body isn’t ready for hills and other activities and you want to change it…NO EXCUSE! At home. At Work. I come to you! Services available online, by phone or in-person (Atlanta/Vinings area). Call (770) 835-5490 or learn more here.
Cardio Blast – Treadmill Burst Training 
It takes just a few minutes to slice and place plantains in dehydrator to make your own plantain chips. I like them cut very thin!
