Be Fab - Be You LLC
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In this edition of Be Fab – Be You’s Weekly Digest of March 25-29th, 2019, the most popular topics/posts along with attached articles, videos, strategies and tips I published on the Facebook Page included:
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In this edition of Be Fab – Be You’s Weekly Digest of March 18-22nd, 2019, the most popular topics/posts along with attached articles, videos, strategies and tips I published on the Facebook Page included:
When do you think of, hear, or say the word ‘diet’, how do you feel?
Personally, I do not LIKE the word and how it is used. It has a negative connotation to me and here is why…
Reason #1
Dieting was part of my life from my teens thru my mid-30’s when I started my health transformation journey. I gain weight very very easily and have a hard time losing it. Knowing of my ‘bad’ genes for hypothyroidism (double mutations / homozygous) and what therapies (nutrigenomics) I can positively impact their expression is amazing. Not all genetic mutations are a problem.
The expression of these mutations is highly influenced by our nutrition choices, toxicity, and environmental factors. That is great news because each one of us has a great deal of control over these choices. Surely, from childhood to my mid-30s, I ‘poked’ my bad genes day in-day out. I had blinds on and had no idea.
That’s also another reason I love what I do. I find that offering nutrigenomics, along with functional blood chemistry analysis and uncovering their lifestyle preferences is a great tool to my clients. Click here to schedule time to learn more about genetic testing and nutrigenomics.
Reason #2
The word reminds of ups and downs, uncertainties, restrictions, inconsistencies, the on and off type of stuff, and disappointments. Over the years, I realized I am alone.
When I ask people what emotions the word diet brings to them, it often includes frustration, deprivation, stress, guilt, discouragement, helpless. Rarely, I hear anyone say they feel positive, encouraged, excited about embarking on a diet—ok, they may feel encouraged for a few weeks before all goes downhill because of some of the reasons we discuss shortly.
When I coach my clients, I help them build a nutritional template and redefine the word diet to a more positive and sustainable approach to eating, socializing, and living.
Obsessed with Dieting?
If you pay attention to conversations whether among friends/family gathering or at coffee shops, gyms, restaurants, and many public places, the topic of diet will come up sooner than later. When you read the news on health and fitness, dieting is definitely the center topic.
We know that “diets” for weight loss, whether it’s something like Atkins, Weight Watchers, 500-calorie diet, Jenny Craig, or whatever it is DOES NOT WORK. What I mean with that is that rarely a person reaches a healthy weight and sustains for the rest of their lives.
Every year, U.S. News puts together the Best Diets Rankings report. The 2019 report includes 41 of today’s most popular diets. 41??? Let’s get real. This is insane. If you are following any ‘diet’, especially for weight loss, press the PAUSE button NOW!!!!
Redefining The Word Diet…
#1) Diet is Essentially What Your Food Intake Is.
Your diet could be you are eating Taco Bell every day or you go down to the building’s cafeteria to have a turkey sandwich. You may choose the healthiest options among the restaurant and fast food places. Or you may choose to eat based on the smell and taste and whether is healthy, it is often not too important. Or all the above!
#2) Diet is a way to fuel your body and mind.
Here you think and plan about what is ideal from a lifestyle standpoint to help yourself reclaim and/or stay healthy, productive, energized, and feel good. You are intentional with a purpose!
You may guess that as holistic health coach with a focus on weight management, energy capacity, and physical and mental strength, I choose and recommend YOU to FUEL your body and mind.
The Maria’s Diet
People ask me what diet I follow and recommend. There is no name–OK, it is ‘The ‘Maria Diet’. I eat to maintain a healthy weight, give me strength, feel good and energized, and support an active life. I eat to protect me from infections, lower the risk of diseases and medications. I seek to understand my body and mind, its mode of operation, and predispositions so that I do my best to fuel it to thrive. I eat to enhance the quality of my life, slow cognitive and functional decline.
Nope. I am perfect! My goal is to feel proud of my choices and aligned with my goals. Do I have my down days? Absolutely. There is a conscious decision each time so I minimize the risk of the emotional rollercoaster. I’ve been there, done that. My commitment to my long-term health and growth has helped me build practices and resilience. It’s a commitment!
Everyone is unique and deserves a personalized solution that fits their lifestyle and is based on their goals, dreams, conditions, predispositions, medications, and environmental exposures.
I must share my enthusiasm about the ‘Everything in Moderation‘ blah blah out there. Sorry, I do not mean to hurt your feelings or judge you. I am here to ENCOURAGE you to REMOVE this sentence from your ‘dieting’ and lifestyle beliefs and vocabulary.
3/4 of Americans are overweight and/or obese and trust me, most are firm believers that moderation is the way, yet they cannot get and/or sustain results. You are NOT an average, you are YOU. Toss it. Get help.
And for the ‘everything in moderation’ believers, please keep it to yourself. I get you to stop sharing the moderation speech recommendation with anyone. Here is why I am so passionate about this…
It is great you know your body and needs well, but you do not know theirs and changes are moderation for that person is NOT a solution. If the moderation routines YOU PRACTICE keep you emotionally, physically and mentally healthy and happy, AWESOME. Understand that your body/mind and needs are yours. You know little of those around you. Instead, if applicable, say that you have learned what it works for you. Be kind and respectful to others.
Complexity and Confusion
I understand and know this is not simple. Maybe it’s finances. Maybe it’s time. Maybe it’s the area you are living. Maybe it’s your living and family situation.
There are many ways to get help. There are in-person and online programs available. You can consult with a holistic health coach, a dietitian, various medical doctors, an alternative health consultant, a fitness trainer, etc. You can read books, watch YouTube videos, enroll in online programs that offer support and advice. Yet, I feel like there this interesting obsession that we have deserves to be questioned. Where does it come from? Where does each person’s relationship with food and diet come from?
Putting Yourself In An Island
Our relationships with food are very complex and complicated.
People tend to jump on and off various diets depending on whether a friend is doing, or whether a celebrity is doing it, or whether it’s the latest book or headlines on the newspaper. Plus, it is far more complex and calories in and out.
Not everything is for you. You don’t want to put yourself in an island.
What I mean is if you’re a carnivore and you like to eat meat, why are you doing a Vegan Diet? It’s not your lifestyle. Is this something that’s sustainable for you to do? Is this necessary? What’s the root cause of your health concern?–Do you know them or are you guessing? Are there other modifications you can make to your nutrition and quality of foods that may allow you do still enjoy foods you love? So many questions…
Sure expect to be a learning curve and period of time during your healing journey that it is to your best interest to avoid certain foods to give your organs to rest, rediscover itself, and re-establish balance.
I also like to think that we shall start any plan with the end in mind. Reflect on reasons you are starting, goals, and what happens if after a while, with results or not, you figure that what you are doing is no longer viable? Or you need to take it to the next level? What’s the exit plan?
As far as your nutritional choices, please do NOT put yourself in a space where you are not able to be social, where you’re not able to afford it, where you’re not able to do the things that you need to do to achieve your goals. Your nutrition plan is to work for your life and not be confused with your friend, family, and celebrity on TV. Yes, adjustments and patience is required.
Lastly, our weight and health are a lot more complex than the foods we choose to eat. Nutrition is a lot more complex than calories in, calories out. Toss the calorie concept away NOW, please. Your physical activity, stress levels, sleep quality and quantity, environmental exposure, fun, and mindset are all components of building and sustaining a healthy lifestyle. And of course, medications and genetics, as mentioned previously, play a role as well.
Simple Small Steps…
Here is a simple success story that has happened this week. I met this young man who came to Atlanta to take a brutal 9-hour board exam. When he learned I am a health and fitness coach, he shared his latest fitness and nutrition regiment and choices. He is working with a personal trainer to keep him accountable to his workouts–kudos for recognizing the need. He shared what he is doing for his nutrition. That included calorie counting. He asked what I thought about what he had just said. Well, I had a bit to say :-). He seems focused and enthusiastic about his goals. Let’s say I did some pro bono work :-). My thoughts included:
Next day, I followed up with him and asked he felt about the exam. Here is what he texted me back.
The test was a killer but I made it through! Brought all the Kroger snacks you suggested and made it through without being hungry and with an unusual amount of energy. Usually I start to poop out 4 hours in but I felt great until hour 6 or so. Thanks for everything!
–Theddy B.
Thank you for the amazing talk, meeting passionate and motivational people like yourself makes every traveling hassle worth it ten times over. I’ll be thinking of your words during my renewed fitness journey.
Theddy’s reply made me smile. It shows that small adjustments can make a big difference. I was proud of this young man for his curiosity, active listening, and for taking action. All this happened within a 36-hour window between Jan 30th and Jan 31th, 2019.
I could dive into metabolism and dieting (healthy eating or for weight loss), but stop here. Whether its weight or disease prevention, or fatigue, or blood sugar and insulin and so on, NUTRITION is ONE of the pillars of health. Yes, it is a very important one, the most confusing and discussed out there.
To achieve long-term results, we must combine nutrition with lifestyle modifications. That is the path to maximize what we can do from a hormonal perspective with food.
Remember that you are in charge. You have choices. You can choose better–one thing at a time. You can take steps that will get you closer to your goals. You are strong. You are smart. You are enough. It starts with one step. Take a step into possibilities. No Excuses!
P.S. If you need help finding answers, setting your goals, staying accountable, getting support, and diving into the root cause, take the first step and book a complimentary ‘Energy Audit’ strategy session with Maria.
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Click HERE or the video below to listen or continue to read the FAQ!
Howdy! It’s Maria, your holistic health and insulin resistance coach and personal trainer at www.BeFabBeYou.com. I would like to take a few minutes to answer potential questions you may have about the upcoming 5-Day Intermittent Fasting (IF) Challenge I’m offering YOU for FREE.
My goal is to make you feel comfortable about what you’re getting into it or really to actually motivate you to join because I’m really excited about it. So let’s just start with the basics.
First of all, this five-day IF Challenge is going to be based on educating and giving you guidance about it whether you have not done IF or whether I can help you take it to the next level from what you are doing right now or did it in the past.
In a nutshell, IF is a lifestyle practice you choose the number of hours you will fast and feed. There are different types of IF. The method/type I will introduce you to is one of the healthiest and most discussed types amongst health practitioners. Part one: during the hours you fast, you drink water and avoid all sorts of foods or beverages with calories or those who induce insulin. Part two: during your feeding hours, you will eat. You will learn a great deal of how, what, when, why during the challenge.
Let’s talk about the structure of the challenge. Live educational sessions will be done daily via Facebook Live. If you don’t have a Facebook account, don’t worry about it. I’m going to be recording the sessions, upload them to YouTube, and share a link with you daily.
During the five days, you will receive daily emails and scorecards so you can keep track of a few awesome items that will reflect the daily theme. That will allow you to measure where you are, where you going, and your progress.
Again, the live sessions will be done on Facebook closed group Be Fab – Be You Tribe. The recordings will be available to you. In case you are not a Facebook member, you will not miss anything. Plus, you can email me questions in advance, I will answer them live, and you will get the answers in the next video.
On Day One, we will be about what intermittent fasting is and what your starting point is. What I mean is that there are variations and number of hours you will fast. This is not a hardcore intermittent fasting which you must follow specific guidelines strictly. You get to choose your starting point. The true benefits of intermittent fasting happen when a person chooses to incorporate it into their lifestyle. Let’s put this way. If currently, you do not go on without food for more than eight hours (during your sleep), we will get you to space it out gradually. The bottom line is, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT! Do not fear something you have not tried yet. We can do about anything we want when we decide to do so. I will guide you through the process.
On Day Two, we will focus on the health benefits intermittent fasting may offer and what your commitments will be for this health journey that you’re going to start with me. What kinda of diseases are you trying to prevent? What kind of diseases are you trying to manage? What kind of health challenges are you trying to STAY AWAY FROM, right? Or you could be joining to simply to boost your energy, health, stamina, and clarity.
On Day Three, we’re going to talk about Intermittent Fasting and Nutrition. I do not recommend anybody start intermittent fasting with a protocol of foods to eat or not eat. We will start with spacing your fast, give you enough information to make progress, set your intentions, then, I will general guidelines to help you build a nutritional template that works for you. Right now, don’t worry about the nutrition portion of the chalenge. Plan that you’re going to eat whatever you’re eating today.
On Day Four, we’re going to talk about Intermittent Fasting and Exercise. Can you exercise or intermittent fasting? What is the best types of exercises during fasting? How and when do you fit that in your day?
On Day Five, we will talk about strategies to get you going forward. Again, if you have never done intermittent fasting, I would encourage you to join this challenge anyway. This is a safe environment for you to learn and apply techniques and apply as much as you want to. The benefits of intermittent fasting are when added to our lifestyle are fantastic.
I will answer a few questions that you may have before you sign-up for the challenge >>> Sign-up to the Challenge NOW at http://eepurl.com/gbkvPT.
1) Who should not do intermittent fasting? Pregnant women; women who are breastfeeding; people who are underweight, and children under the age of 18. Now, if a teenager has obesity and is overweight, I would encourage the parents to join to and learn some of these techniques, especially what we will cover on nutrition.
You will require supervision if you are taking medication, have Diabetes Type I and Type II, have gout or reflux. You can join and do intermittent fasting but you need to consult with your physician. You may ask whether you need to take the medication during the hours you are expected to fast. And if you do need to take the medications and with food is best, you can eat leafy greens. It does brake the fast but with minimum impact.
There are considerable benefits of intermittent fasting for people with Type II diabetes. Yet, you do want to be careful because of hypoglycemia.
2) Will fasting put me into a starvation mode? No. The body has its own ways to regulate itself. You will learn more about that. Your body will burn glycogen, amino acids, stored fat, and so on. So do not worry about starving and breaking down muscle tissues.
3) Will I be able to exercise during the fast. Yes, you can exercise. You are going to learn a few tricks about what kind of exercises during short and prolonged fasting. I don’t stop my exercise routine during intermittent fasting. You’re not going to destroy your muscle tissues. The body is going to adapt and burn stored fat for energy.
4) Is fasting the same thing as calorie reduction? No. It quite different. You may not eat as much, but that’s not the intention. We’re talking about adjusting the hours that you eat in order to optimize your body. Fasting it’s not a caloric restriction diet and I do not refer to fasting as a diet. I recommend fasting as a long-term approach to anyone’s lifestyle.
5) Will I lose weight? Generally, yes, people do lose weight because we’re talking about managing and optimizing your insulin levels. And insulin is a fat storage hormone. When we fast, we allow the body to burn more fat.
6) Will fasting make me cranky? Well, I’m just going to say this, if you’re a cranky person already, maybe it’s going to actually help you improve that because it’s going to help you balance your hormones. But no, generally intermittent fast is not going to make you cranky. We’re going to set your intentions for this challenge, right? You and your body will adapt to this journey. Many people are already doing some kind of fasting, but they don’t realize it. A few tweaks might assure greater optimization and results.
7) Will fasting make me tired? No. Actually, it might give you more energy. However, if you have adrenal fatigue and are exhausted all the time, fasting will often elevate your energy. We will adjust the time of your meals to make sure that you eat in certain times to help you feel well.
8) Will fasting make me confused or forgetful? No. Actually, the opposite as you will balance hormones, allow your brain and body to utilize the glucose in the system, regulate the insulin, and the burn stored fat.
9) Does fast lead to overeating? Well, it can, especially if that’s your first time fasting. If you eat every two to three hours and do not fast for more than eight to ten hours between dinner and breakfast. Again, we’re going to learn the strategies to do this best for you. Plus, even if you overeat, the amount will likely be less than that preceding the fast.
10) How about if I take medication with food? First, you’re going to consult with your doctor, right? If you’re a physician, if you want, you, you need to take those medications too, is if you have to take the medications, then we can put some leafy Greens in there that does break the fast, but it’s so minimal that the side effects are not going the fast, the positive side effects are not going to go away.
11) What if I have diabetes? That’s an important question. You may have heard about fasting for those with diabetes, insulin resistance, prediabetes, for weight loss, etc. As you know, people with diabetes have issues with insulin in the body. That is a very important hormone that helps take glucose to the cells and once in the cells, energy is produced. A person with diabetes type I, she/he must have insulin, otherwise, it can lead to death. So when fast, there is a chance that your blood sugar will go down. If you have either Type I or Type II, you will be talking to your doctor, manage your insulin, track your blood sugar frequently.
I hope answering these questions brings more clarity and get you motivated to embark on this journey with me.
A quick note about my history with intermittent fasting. I’ve been doing this for quite some time now and that includes short intermittent fasting to longer periods from one up to five days. I did a five day fast between Christmas and New Year’s. It was water throughout the day and about eight ounces of coffee in the morning. Coffee does not break a fast.
I have done a five day fast 4-5 times. I have been doing a 24-hour fast weekly in the past two years…I’ve barely missed a week. I have done two days, three days and a variety of hours. I exercise during extended fasting days as well which also give me a boost of energy. Yes, the first time was a little challenging, but then, the body adjusts.
When we decide to experiment with fasting, we need to start slow. I also don’t envision a person who is eating multiple times a day to go into a 24 hour fast or longer without adaptation. If that’s you, we’re going to start at your pace, see where you are at, and I’m going to guide you through the process.
I hope this was informative to you. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach me at info@BeFabBeYou.com. You can join our facebook group tribe. And you can also call me at +1 770-835-5490.
I’m excited to be leading this challenge. I have plenty of experience doing it myself and I have a lot of scientific data to share with you. I hope this has motivated you to join.
Sign-up to the Challenge HERE and I hope to see you at the challenge.
I’m excited to be leading this challenge. I have plenty of experience doing it myself and I have a lot of scientific data to share with you. I hope this has motivated you to join.
★★★ LOSE WEIGHT, RECLAIM ENERGY, BUILD PHYSICAL & MENTAL STRENGTH ★★★
Schedule a FREE ‘Energy Audit’ [Health] Strategy Session’ via Zoom with Maria TODAY. Let’s discuss your goals, get you to healthy tips, and pave your path to achieving your goals. NO EXCUSES! Get Started. Choose YOU.
Click HERE to Schedule Your Energy Audit
★★★ ONLINE & LIVE FITNESS ASSESSMENT ★★★
Let’s discuss your fitness goals and based on your current level, all levels are welcomed, we will determine a plan and the next steps for you to achieve your fitness and health goals. YES, I can train you from anywhere. All you need: a reliable internet connection, smartphone/tablet or computer with a webcam so I can see you.
Click HERE to Schedule your Fitness Assessment
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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.
Visit https://www.BeFabBeYou.com/blood-sugar-balance to lear more about step-by-step program. Schedule your FREE 45-minute Health session!!
P.S. By the way, this is my 3rd video ever. Forgive me for amateur performance. Practice will take care of it, i hope 🙂
