For the past 8 days, I've been posting a Daily Tip for a healthy and happy Christmas season over on my Facebook Page (Like & Follow my page so you don't miss out on any of my tips, tricks or recipes!)
In case you missed them, I'm including them below..(plus, you get 4 days of tips early!) On to the 12 Days Of Christmas Tips: Day #1 Drink water throughout the day to keep your energy levels up, help you think more clearly, ward off dehydration headaches, ease bloating, detoxify. Carry a water bottle with you to help you remember. Day #2 Bring a healthy dish to potlucks. This way, you're guaranteed something healthy to eat. You can still have treats and snacks of course, however, they don't have to be your main focus. Day #3 Bundle up and get some fresh air. I know, outdoor excursions aren't nearly as tempting when it's cold outside. However, fresh air is a great way to clear the lungs and the mind. We spend so much time indoors breathing recirculated air in the winter, and it does the body and the mind good to escape outdoors. Day #4 Take vitamin D drops throughout the winter. We need vitamin D for many reasons, including for our immune system (to fight off colds and flu's) and for our mood (ie seasonal affective disorder). The thing is, we don't get even close to enough without daily exposure to the sun with our bare skin (no sunscreen). A vitamin D supplement is essential to maintaining good health. Remember, there is special pricing in my online dispensary for those in my healthy community. Get high quality supplements such as vitamins, minerals and protein powder quickly delivered right to your door! Check out my list of FAVORITES category for your everyday needs. CLICK HERE for access. Day #5 Take a time-out! The to-do list will always be there. It won't ever not be there. In order to keep up with the many demands for our time, and be able to give the world our best, we need to take some time for ourselves. Add an app like "Calm" to your phone and set a notification for a 10 minute time-out. Day #6 Carry healthy snacks with you so you're not tempted to grab fast food when you're on the go and starving. Healthy ideas are raw nuts & unsweetened raisins, home made energy bites, fruit, veggie sticks & hummus. Day #7 Plan your Christmas Day meals ahead of time and buy what you need several days in advance. This reduces the scramble and chaos of last-minute shopping. Day #8 Eat breakfast! Include a healthy fat and/or protein to keep you fuller, longer, set your metabolism for the day, keep your energy levels up and ward off cravings. Day #9 Include protein with every meal (vegetarian or animal source). Protein is a thermogenic food and it takes energy to burn, so you burn more calories. It also keeps you fuller, longer and reduces energy crashes. Day #10 Eat throughout the day. Don't go more than 4 hrs without eating. This keeps your blood sugar balanced, your moods more on an even keel and reduces the urge to crawl under your desk for an afternoon nap! Day #11 Don't skip your workouts. As I always say, you don't have to go to a gym to get (or stay) in shape. Hiking in the snow is a fantastic workout (just bundle up!), as is toboganning, skating and working out in your basement. Make a commitment to keep your body moving regardless of the weather outside. Day #12 En-JOY your day with your loved ones. May your heart and mind be filled with all of the JOY possible that this time of year has to offer and your tummy filled with delicious (and healthy of course!) food. Until Next Time, May Anne xo P.S. Don't forget there is 10% off my online dispensary for those in my healthy community. Get high quality supplements such as vitamins, minerals and protein powder quickly delivered right to your door! Check out my list of FAVORITES category for your everyday needs. CLICK HERE for access.
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I want to share with you some simple strategies to enjoy the holidays without gaining weight.
Let’s face it, no one wants to start a new program or a diet during Christmas. It’s not realistic. There are too many get-togethers and too many temptations. What I want to share with you are tips to help you to get through the holidays and at least not gain weight that you’ll just want to lose again in January. Let me start by saying that making it through the holidays is not about perfection. It’s about remembering your goals and being prepared. It is possible to enjoy healthy treats without feeling bad about it, and one of the key ways of doing this is to keep your blood sugar levels balanced. This is so important to avoid overindulging in all the wrong treats… and then feeling bad about it afterwards. Cravings are a huge effect of a blood-sugar imbalance. Cravings can easily sabotage our health and weight loss goals. Most of us crave sweet or salty carb-rich food when we are feeling stressed or tired. The following tips I’m going to give you are to keep your blood sugar balanced, so you can keep your energy levels up and reduce the cravings that will have you constantly reaching for all the wrong foods. Tip #1 Eat at least 3 meals per day, even on the days that you’re going to a party or a potluck. Don’t save up all of your meals for the party because you’re pretty much guaranteeing that you’re going to overindulge. Eat well-balanced meals throughout the day of the party, making sure to include healthy fats and proteins, so you won’t be starving when you get to the party and craving all the wrong foods. Allow yourself one or two treats and then remember your goals and how you want to feel the next day. Tip #2 Drink plenty of water throughout the day. If you don’t have a water bottle, I highly suggest getting one and take it with you wherever you go. We all need about 8 glasses of water each day and not having enough will cause tiredness and make us think we’re hungry when we’re actually just thirsty. Tip #3 Eat a form of protein with every meal. Whether it's eggs or meat or a vegetarian source of protein (like quinoa) make protein your first pick when you sit down to eat. This will help keep your blood sugar from crashing and will reduce cravings and because protein is thermogenic, it will help you burn more calories. Tip#4 Be on the lookout for healthy treats that contain healthy fats, protein and are free from refined sugar and flour. If it’s a potluck you’re going to, be the one to make healthy treats and bring them with you. Trust me, no one will know the difference, except that they’ll feel so much better the next day. These are just a few of my favourite tips for being able to enjoy the holidays without overindulging and feeling bad about it afterwards. If you would like more tips like these and want to discover how to get off the blood sugar rollercoaster and learn how to reduce sugar in your diet, without reducing taste, sign up for my FREE 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge, where you will get:
To join my FREE 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge, click the link below. >>FREE 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge Until next time, May Anne I strongly believe that food is where we should get the majority of our nutrients, and eating a variety of foods that are as close to nature as possible is what we should strive for.
Our bodies need certain nutrients to survive, and if we’re not getting them on a regular basis, we start to experience sickness and disease, and at the very least, we don’t look and feel as good as we were meant to. The problem with getting our nutrients from our diet is that most of us don’t eat a variety of fresh foods that are as close to nature as possible. Convenience foods are so popular because they provide what almost everyone is looking for, and that’s a quick and easy meal when our lives are SO busy. I get it, my life is busy too and I know how tempting it is to grab something out of a box and throw it in the oven for dinner. The thing is, there’s usually more nutrition in the box itself than there is in what’s inside the box, and because these convenient meals are full of chemicals and preservatives and are so highly processed, they’re usually causing more harm than good by not only NOT giving our bodies the nutrients that we need, but they’re adding to the toxic load that’s already in our bodies. Even those of us that don’t regularly use packaged foods for meals, still aren’t getting the same quality of nutrients from our foods that we would have with those same foods 50 years ago. The soil quality just isn’t the same, and unless you’re eating fresh, organic and local foods all the time, you’re not getting all of nutrients that your body needs. So, this is where supplements come in. They are meant to ‘supplement’ the nutrients that you’re not getting from your diet. The problem with the majority of these, is that we’re not absorbing them. A lot of the common supplements are made up of binders and fillers that our bodies can’t process. So now, we’re literally flushing these supplements down the toilet. Unless you’re investing in a good quality supplement that has been third-party tested, you may as well not waste your money. I know how frustrating it is to think that you’re doing right by your body by taking supplements only to realize that you’re only absorbing a small portion of what you think you’re getting. I’m often asked about where to get good quality supplements, so after doing some research myself, I’ve found a company that offers practitioner-grade supplements, and as a practitioner, I’m able to share the link with you and by using my link you can receive 10% off your order. To gain access to practitioner-grade supplements and to receive 10% off every order, simply click HERE. Until next time, May Anne Most women have been “on a diet” at some point in their lives, hoping to lose extra weight so they can feel good about themselves and like what they see in the mirror.
And It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with dieting information, a lot of which is contradictory. Just try googling “weight loss,” and you’ll come across an overwhelming amount of diet advice and dietary plans. Fads are everywhere, from magic diet pills to juice detox diets. People are desperate for that quick fix that will make them feel better right now. But are these quick-fix, often-extreme diets effective, and more importantly, what are they doing to our health? One thing that most nutrition experts agree on, is that the biggest problem with fad diets is that they’re not sustainable. You may be able to survive on way less calories than your body really needs, but the motivation level with all-or-nothing dieting hardly ever lasts for long. Also, fad diets can be dangerous. A common result of dieting is slowing down your metabolism because of not eating enough. (Don't feel like reading? No worries, just watch the video above. It contains the same information.) I remember starving myself as a teenager wanting to be as skinny as possible and I ended up looking and feeling really unhealthy. My body wasn’t getting the nutrients it needed to run well. Your body needs the proper balance of nutrients to function and it needs a steady supply of fuel to run well, and without it, it’ll do whatever it needs to survive. So in the case of under-nourishing your body, your body is smart and it will hold on to whatever you do eat because it senses starvation and wants to protect you, so even when you do exercise or exert energy, your body won’t release the weight that it normally would if you were eating more. So bottom line, you don’t have to eat less, you just have to eat right. Another negative effect of dieting is the increase in anxiety or stress over your food choices. This often comes with all-or-nothing mentality. Thinking that you’re either on the wagon or off the wagon. The truth is, life happens and you’re not always going to eat perfectly. Christmas parties and family dinners happen, and you’ll choose to indulge a little more on certain occasions. That’s life, and it’s ok. I personally live by the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the time I’m intentional about eating whole, live foods as close to nature as possible and making sure I eat balanced meals, and I don’t get stressed out about the other 20% of the time or if I’m in a situation where my choices are limited. Also, what works for one person may not work for another. Each one of us is unique in our thoughts, lifestyle and physiology, which is why when I work with clients one on one I customize nutrition plans based on their lifestyle and their goals, not on what necessarily works for someone else. My recommendation for clients and for you is to practice patience and putting your effort toward taking the long-term approach to developing healthy, sustainable eating habits that are life-long and enjoy life without restrictions or starving yourself. If you want my help figuring out what will work best for you, send me an Email and I would be happy to chat with you. Until next time, May Anne xo I’d like to talk to you about winter weight gain and to tell you that this year can be different. We all seem to be so focused on getting in shape for the summer. When the layers of winter clothing come off and we’re more exposed, we want to look and feel great. I think all of us can agree with that. This time of year though, seems to be where the weight that was lost in the summer seems to creep back on again. It’s easy for that to happen. We’re inside more, we’re not always doing the same amount of physical activity and the month leading up to Christmas provides us with a lot of temptation. The problem with gaining the weight back again is that it’s going to be there in the spring and that’s when dieting usually comes back into play. So, there’s a few problems with that. The first problem is what dieting does to your body. Every time you diet, you’re running the risk of damaging your metabolism. Usually, the more you diet, the slower your metabolism becomes over time, making it harder to lose weight the next time. So not only is it harder to lose the weight the next time, but every time a woman loses and gains back the weight, feelings of lowered self-worth and shame come into play as well. Those are even harder to deal with the weight gain itself. The solution is to eat in a way that promotes health and weight loss at the same time. This takes the focus off of dieting, which is temporary, and allows for life’s indulgences along the way, without guilt or shame. I know how hard it can be to try to figure out how to eat in a way that helps you to lose weight. It’s confusing to walk into the grocery store and easy to get completely overwhelmed by all the different "healthy" choices and options. It’s hard to know how much food you should be eating and what to cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The money factor comes into play too. You might be worried about how much it will cost you to start cleaning up your diet and get rid of those cheap, processed meals that are just so darn convenient. You might even be afraid a "clean," whole foods diet will be tasteless and you'll have to sacrifice flavor and fun to lose weight and feel better. The thought of having to prep and cook healthy food every day while simultaneously taking care of your family, working and fulfilling all your daily responsibilities is sometimes too much. Those are valid reasons for not making a change. I want to tell you that making those changes does NOT have to be stressful, confusing, tasteless, hard, or expensive. To help you get started on your health and weight loss goals, I’m offering a pre-Black Friday Special on my 14-Day Body Reset. It’s only 14 days and it’s a great way of seeing if my way works before going all in. The 14 day Body Reset will show you just how simple, yummy, and satisfying clean eating truly is! So, if you want to go into this winter armed with the knowledge of how, when and what to eat, so you can lose weight this winter instead of gaining it, just click on the link below. 14-DAY BODY RESET Talk soon, May Anne xo Hi there!
For those of you who don't know me, my name is May Anne. I’m a holistic nutritionist, and my passion is working with women who want to lose weight naturally, by eating right, not less. I want to share with you 3 MINDSET STRATEGIES for successful weight loss. The FIRST STRATEGY is to get started. There will never be a ‘perfect’ time, and there will always be an excuse to put it off. The only time that’s ever going to seem like the perfect time is if there’s a major crises that brings everything important to your attention. Let’s not wait for that. If you’re unhappy with where you are right now, chances are, you’re going to be unhappy with where you are 6 months from now, if you continue to put it off. Don’t wait for the New Year to start making this a new day for you. Why not take one step in the right direction today. Long term success is a series of steps in the right direction. You don’t need to dread the upcoming holiday parties or go into 2018 with regrets. (Don't feel like reading? No worries, I've got you covered. Just watch the video above for the same content) The SECOND STRATEGY is to try something new. If diets worked, the diet industry would go broke. There’s a reason why it’s a billion dollar industry. Fads, pills and quick fixes are temporary and they’re damaging your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight the next time. Studies have found that 98% of people who lose weight gain it back again, and 90% of those gain back more than they originally lost. Plain and simple, diets set you up to fail. A better choice is to make a shift in the way you eat. Learn the basic fundamentals of eating healthy, give your body the nutrients it needs, fuel your body when it needs it and in doing so, you’ll balance your hormones and blood sugar, both of which have everything to do with lasting weight loss. TRY SOMETHING NEW! The THIRD STRATEGY is to get rid of old beliefs and ideas. Just because you learned to eat a certain way growing up, doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Most of the time, we do what we learned from growing up in our family home, and if our family members are healthy and fit, then what we learned is working, but if not, then maybe it’s time to open up to new beliefs and ideas. Basically, if what you’re doing isn’t giving you the results you want, then maybe it’s time to try something new. I believe that everyone is capable of living their life to their fullest potential. It IS possible to lose the weight for good, regardless of your previous experience. WHAT CAN YOU DO RIGHT NOW? If you haven’t signed up for my 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge yet, I’ll include the link below. I’m offering it FREE right now, and it’s a great way to kick start weight loss by balancing your blood sugar and hormones and helping you to take charge of the cravings that could otherwise sabotage your weight loss goals. >>JOIN HERE: 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge Make it even more fun and ask a friend to join you! Just send them the link below: https://wellnesswithmayanne.lpages.co/5daysugarfreechallenge/ If you have any questions or comments please leave them below, and I’ll make sure to reply. I’ll see you next time! May Anne xo With sugar addiction at an all-time high, I want to talk to you about why you need to avoid processed sugar.
You might be wondering What’s the Problem with Sugar? You probably haven't spent a ton of time wondering what happens to your body after you eat something sugary – it goes in there with all the rest of the food you consume and keeps you alive – end of story. Well, sugar is definitely needed to stay alive. Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy and play an important role in the functioning of the internal organs, the nervous system, and the muscles, but our systems do not need sugar in the quantity that we are used to. Before food processing, when sugar was mainly obtained from fruits and vegetables, people consumed about 30 grams per day of it. Today, an average American consumes 76 grams a day, which is about 19 teaspoons. That adds up to 96 pounds of sugar per year. Canadians consume slightly lower amounts at 88 pounds. The World Health Organization would like to see the number get down to 25 grams a day for both men and women (which would be 6¼ teaspoons). High amounts of sugar can wreak havoc on our immune systems, our hormones, and digestion. Some of the negative effects are premature aging, weight gain, fatigue, bone loss, mental fatigue, depression and it is a major contributing factor to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. (Don't feel like reading? That's ok, I've got you covered. Watch the video above for the same content) How much sugar do you consume in a day? At first thought, you probably think, "not that much." Let's have a look, starting with breakfast. For example, you begin your day with a bagel with peanut butter and a small strawberry yogurt - for a total of 33 grams of sugar. At mid-morning you have a large cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop (double/ double) - 34 grams of sugar. For lunch you decide to go easy on the calories, so you have a salad with Italian vinaigrette and a slice of whole wheat bread - that's another 14 grams of sugar. For an afternoon pick-me-up, you have a can of pop - 39 grams of sugar. And then for dinner, you have some pasta with grilled chicken and store-bought tomato sauce - that's 9 grams for the sauce and about 2 grams from the noodles. The GRAND TOTAL: 131 grams of sugar or 32 teaspoons (roughly ¾ of a cup)! That's an eye-opener for sure. Sugar is labeled as an addiction because it stimulates the brain in a way that is similar to cocaine and alcohol, causing the release of the feel-good chemicals dopamine and serotonin. When sugar is consumed in large quantities it has several effects:
I know how hard it is to quit refined sugar and you may be wondering where to even start. You might even be thinking it’s impossible to quit all sugar. The thing is, you don’t need to quit it all, but you do need to be aware of how to make better choices and how to reduce your sugar intake. To help you out, I want to offer you a Free 5-day Sugar-Free Challenge. It may be difficult to stay on track when the cravings hit – but I’ve provided emergency fixes and a very detailed and easy to follow meal plan and recipes. With some advanced planning, a trip to the grocery store and a positive attitude, you will come out the other side feeling great. Join the Free 5-day Sugar-Free Challenge HERE. Also, the number one change I made was switching out sugary breakfast foods (and foods that turn into sugar, which is anything made with processed flour like bagels, bread and muffins) was to switch to Juice Plus+ Complete® smoothies to start my day. Juice Plus+ Complete® is a whole-food-based beverage mix that provides balanced nutrition in every scoop. It has the nutrients, protein, and fibers of whole foods that keep me going all day long. Check them out HERE or send me a message for more information. The more I talk to first-time clients, the more I realize how many people initially think that weight loss and healthy eating is an “all-or-nothing” thing, and that if they commit to healthy changes they’ll have something taken away, that it’s removing their freedom in a sense.
I question them on whether or not they actually feel free in their life when they eat whatever they want. Most people say no, because they know deep inside that food is controlling them and they feel a sense of guilt and shame when they allow themselves to eat whatever they feel like. True freedom comes from the ability to say no to things that are harmful for us. (Don't feel like reading? That's ok, I've got you covered. Just watch the video above - it contains the same information!) Freedom is also being able to do the things we enjoy in life without being physically or mentally restricted from doing so. Having the physical ability to go for a family hike, to me, is freedom. Feeling confident in form-fitting clothing to me is freedom. Not being able to join your friends or family at the beach because you’re too embarrassed to be seen in a bathing suit, to me indicates a lack of freedom. I know it doesn’t have to be that way, and I want other women to know that regardless of where they are in their health journey right now, they can move towards a life of freedom. We were all created to be free. I think a lot of resistance towards changing how we eat and how we live has to do with that thought of having things taken away. I want to challenge you to think the opposite. When you choose your food based on what it can do for you, when think of food as fuel for your body and give it what it needs to thrive, think of the freedom you will gain. I’m going to be a little vulnerable here and share my age with you. I’m in my mid 40’s, and honestly, I feel way better now than I did twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, I wasn’t thinking about food as fuel for my body and I ate whatever I felt like. Although I wasn’t overweight, I felt pretty yucky most of the time. I was tired, bloated, had candida and IBS, and at the time, I didn’t even correlate how I felt with what I ate. Now that I’ve studied it and seen first hand the difference that food choices can make, I’m intentional with the way I eat and exercise. It doesn’t mean never having the foods you love. I love food. I personally live by the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the time I am intentional about eating whole, live foods as close to nature as possible, and I can choose to indulge the other 20% of the time. Once I got into the routine of being purposeful about what I ate, and started thinking about food as nourishment for my body, I actually started to crave good food and the way it makes me feel. It’s the same with exercise. It’s always hard to start at first, but then with consistency, it turns into a habit and it becomes your norm, and you actually start to miss it when you don’t do it because it makes you feel so good. So, I hope this has helped you to think a little differently about making healthy changes, that it’s a step towards freedom, not away from it. I would love to hear your comments and feedback, just post them below. If you would like information on how we could work together, just send me an email HERE. May Anne xo I know how difficult it can be to make both healthy and delicious meals after working all day, and I know what it’s like to fight against the temptation to throw a box of frozen pizza in the oven with a pre-bought container of macaroni salad on the side.
That’s why convenience foods are so popular, because they’re convenient. They’re easy, when our lives are so busy. The problem is, the main purpose of convenience foods is just that - convenience. Not nutrition. (Don't feel like reading? No worries, I've got you covered. The video above covers everything in this post! Just click play on the video to listen.) Convenience foods are highly processed, which means, most of the good stuff is removed and cheap fillers and preservatives are added. The majority of the time, artificial flavours and colours are also added to make it look nice, not to mention the pile of sugar that is added to pretty much everything. These chemicals are really difficult on our digestive system and can wreak havoc on our bodies when they’re used long-term. A convenience meal here and there isn’t going to hurt, when it’s just a one-off type of thing, but in the long run, relying on these types of foods too often will have a negative impact on our health and the health of our families. That being said, I also know that without proper planning, it’s difficult to have consistent delicious, healthy meals. Planning ahead is the key here. I’d like to share some of my favourite tips with you that have saved me from take-out many times, and I would love to hear your tips too! Please share them in the comments below.
There you have it - 5 of my favourite tips for making evening meals easier and healthier when life is busy enough, and when you don’t want to keep reaching for convenience foods that are void of the nutrition that you and your family need to stay healthy and strong. Please add any of your own personal favourite tips into the comments below so you can share them with the rest of us! May Anne xo P.S. If you really want to eat healthier, but aren't quite sure what that looks like or don't know where to start, contact me HERE for a complimentary 30 minute Discovery call, so you can see what it would be like to work with me. I don’t know about you, but I’m finding this time of year to be extra busy. With all of the back-to-school activities, full weekdays, and my son’s hockey on both Saturday’s and Sundays, with a lot of early morning practices, I’m already starting to feel drained.
(Don't feel like reading? No worries, just watch the video above for the same content) With all of this busyness as well as the role of hockey mom, it’s a balance of making sure I take care of my needs and make sure I’m getting enough sleep. I’m sure a lot of you can relate, and you don’t have to be a hockey mom to have a busy schedule and a lot of balancing going on between work and family activities. Did you know that just two nights of poor sleep can equate to lost productivity, lowered immunity and slow response time? Just two. I’m sure a lot of us have missed more sleep than that. To make matters worse, it also leads to weight gain, imbalanced hormones and premature aging. Click HERE to view my video on "The Link Between Exhaustion And Weight Gain." And if you’ve had a few restless nights, it’s really hard to catch up on missed sleep. While there are other factors at play, including stress and the atmosphere in your room, if you’re looking for a better sleep there are a few foods that can lend a hand. You can try adding these foods to your diet:
Remember, too, that eating too much before bed can disrupt your sleep. Try to eat your last meal 3-4 hours before you go to bed, and keep bedtime snacks small. As always, if you have questions or comments please leave them below. If you would like a 30-Minute Complimentary Discovery call, just reply to this email so we can set up a time to chat, and see if we would be a good fit! May Anne xo |
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AuthorAs a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, May Anne's passion is working with women who have lost themselves in the busyness of life and don't feel comfortable in their skin anymore. She uses a step-by-step program that includes nutrition and lifestyle strategies, along with coaching and support, leading them to feeling vibrant, energetic and confident in their skin, without dieting or spending hours in the kitchen. Archives
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