New Year, New You: Three uncommon health and fitness resolutions to help you kick start your fitness for 2011

If you’ve been on the planet long enough to be able to log onto your computer and read this newsletter, you’ve most likely heard every just about every New Year’s resolution. “I’m going to lose weight” or “I’m going to exercise more.” The reason most people don’t stick to these common resolutions is simple: they are too general and in most cases, not very informed. While losing weight is a great idea, most people have no idea where to start so they usually begin cutting calories, going on cleanses and eating sugar-free products, all the while getting sicker and fatter each week. Exercise in theory is a fantastic idea but what kind of exercise is right for fat loss and what kind will actually make it harder to lose weight? Most people aren’t sure and unfortunately rely on so-called health and fitness magazines to give them the answer. This year, let’s try something different. Below are three very specific and researched resolutions to help you lose weight, look younger and feel better in 2011 and beyond.


Resolution 1: I’m going to increase my growth hormone!

Human Growth Hormone, also referred to as the “youth hormone” is absolutely crucial when it comes to looking young, staying lean, burning fat and even fixing DNA damage. Although its name suggests that it only has to do with growth, HGH is actually critical for a variety of bodily functions, such as the turnover of muscle, bone and collagen and the regulation of fat metabolism. So how can you increase your levels naturally? Through sleep, the right kind of exercise and a low-carb diet. HGH production follows a circadian rhythm and is secreted at its highest level in the first hour of early sleep (early being a 10pm bedtime) so if you want to burn fat, create lean muscle mass and look younger, getting to bed on time is a must. Additionally, recent studies show that strength training far outweighs cardio training when it comes to the production of HGH. So sticking to short bursts of high intensity exercise (such as a strength training circuit) will create more HGH than a five-mile run. Finally, because an elevated blood carbohydrate level switches off the secretion of HGH, sticking to a diet that contains high-quality animal proteins, healthy fats and low glycemic carbohydrates (in other words “yes” to dark leafy greens and “no” to potatoes) is essential for keeping your HGH revved throughout the day.

Resolution 2: I’m going to eat more coconut!

Because of its high levels of healthy fat, coconut is a wonder food for those of you who want to burn fat, think clearer and look younger (and, as a bonus, it tastes great). Simply put, for those of you who want to lose weight, you have to cut all of the trans fats, vegetable oils (and don’t even say margarine) from your diet and replace them with healthy fats (such as the fats found in organic, high quality animal products, avocados, coconuts, etc.). For those of you who are still hesitant about eating healthy fats, you should know that sixty percent of your brain is composed of fat - so when you don’t eat enough saturated fat, such as the fat found in coconuts, you actually compromise the chemistry of your brain. In addition, because the fat found in coconuts helps maintain the integrity of almost every cell in your body, it decreases wrinkles, strengthens hair and nails and even increases bone strength. In times of stress, the healthy fats found in coconuts even provide support to the heart and help lower the body’s overall inflammation, decreasing your risk of heart disease and high cholesterol. And as an added bonus in the winter months, coconut is highly anti-viral, anti-parasitic and anti-bacterial, helping you stay healthy in addition to helping you stay lean. My preferred source of coconut fat is coconut oil, a wonderful addition to any broth, shake, and even a great oil for sautéing vegetables and cooking meats.

Resolution 3: I’m going to break my addiction to stinkin thinkin!

Your mind plays a huge role in your ability to lose weight. Many people listen to the same tapes over and over in their heads, playing and re-playing negative thoughts day in and day out. These thoughts are actually addictions, and are no different than an unhealthy addiction to chocolate, cookies or even drugs and alcohol. Common thought addictions range from “My genetics make me overweight” to “I don’t like the way I look but I can’t change it” to “I’m exhausted, over-worked and living off coffee, but so is everyone else.” These tapes are like old software on your computer that no longer works and needs an update. This year I challenge you to replace your negative thinking software with one that better serves you. To do this, think about your thoughts. Categorize them. Are they thoughts of the future (rehearsing)? Are they thoughts of the past (remembering)? Do your thoughts make you feel better or worse? What would you gain from losing that negative thought? Remember, most people have not only physical weight to lose, but emotional weight as well and in MOST cases, the two are so interwoven that you rarely see one without the other. Finally, as Dr. John Sarno points out in The Divided Mind, our bodies quite literally listen to what our brains say. So if you tell yourself over and over again that you’re just not losing weight, your body will respond by not losing weight. Instead, write a positive script for the new year. Stop weighing yourself daily or beating yourself up over your calories in/calories out and instead focus on the bigger picture. Your body will thank you and your mind, no longer focused on beating you up, will allow you to relax and get that early sleep I’m always talking about.

So when everyone is saying that they are going to lose weight or eat better, here are a few specific resolutions that you can implement (and stick with) for the new year. Remember, the more specific the goal, the easier it is to achieve. Cheers to a healthy and fit 2011!

Working out, eating right and still not losing weight? What gives?

So you're spending time at the gym every week and you're eating a high-quality, gluten-free diet but you're still not losing weight. What gives? You know your diet is healthy and you feel the effects of your workout...so what's the issue?

The most commonly overlooked and most effective tool for losing weight and looking younger is pretty simple: stress management and sleep. I put stress management and sleep together because most people who aren't managing their stress also aren't getting enough sleep.

Let's take a minute to talk about what exactly I mean by enough sleep. When we were cavemen, we fell asleep soon after the sun went down and we woke up when the sun came up in the morning. Now, with easy access to work email, television and other sources of nonstop information, we are going against what our biology craves (i.e rest and repair) and moving more towards a state of degradation and disease.

According to health and weight loss expert Robb Wolf, just one night of sleep deprivation makes you as insulin resistant as a type 2 diabetic. For those of you who might now know, insulin resistance causes increased insulin and glucose in the blood, which leads to relatively rapid weight gain. So can you imagine what getting inadequate sleep night after night does to your belly? And if the idea of belly fat isn't enough to get you to tuck in earlier at night, how about this: The Centers for Disease Control recently qualified shift work (aka disrupted sleep patterns and inadequate sleep) as carcinogenic. That means lack of sleep, over time, leads to cancer.

In addition to making you gain weight and potentially put you on a path to disease, lack of sleep also causes wrinkles. It doesn't matter how many creams you put on your face, you aren't going to look youthful if you don't get enough rest. Because lack of sleep shoots up the levels of insulin and glucose in your blood, not getting enough sleep is pretty similar to eating a diet that's loaded with carbs (aka sugar). These high levels of insulin and glucose have the effect of aging your skin by degrading collagen, the protein responsible for giving your skin strength, flexibility and resilience. So now after no sleep you're not only fatter, but you look and feel older. Gross.

"Okay, okay, so I need to sleep. Let me have a few glasses of wine to unwind." Think again. Wine is like a sugar bomb to your system. Even though you might feel relaxed after drinking it, it's actually causing quite a bit of stress inside of your body. In addition, drinking wine before bed leads to disrupted sleep patterns. Even if you think you "passed out" after a few glasses, wine actually blocks the release of human growth hormone during early sleep. As you all probably know, growth hormone output is responsible for everything from developing muscle to stimulating the immune system. And for those of you who prefer a little sleeping pill to a glass of wine, you should know that drugs such as Ambien also interfere with the body's ability to generate growth hormone during sleep. Instead of relying on alcohol or drugs, the best way to fall asleep naturally is to dim the lights after 8pm, avoid the computer and TV, take a relaxing bath, have a cup of chamomile tea and/or read a book.

So now that you're going to start managing your sleep, you also need to start managing your stress. Why? Well, increased cortisol (the hormone your body sends out in a stressful situation) over time leads to decreased memory, a decreased sex drive, tons of belly fat and unfortunately, an EZ Pass to aging. Why? Well think of a zebra being chased by a lion. The only thing that zebra can think about is survival. Sex, procreation, weight loss and memory all go out the window. The zebra's only job is to get as far away from the lion as possible. When you live in a state of chronic stress (from bad food, bad relationships, unhealthy work/life balance, etc) you are that zebra, running as fast as possible from these common stress lions 24 hours a day. While we need stress hormones to live (that burst of energy that gets us away from the lion does come in handy) if you're stressed for too long without adequate rest and repair, your liver releases sugar and fat, leading to an unhealthy mind and body and tighter pants.

What You Can Do To Manage Stress Today:

1. Sleep in a cave. Okay, maybe not a cave but make your room as much of a cave as possible. Even a small amount of light on your skin impairs your body's ability to generate melatonin, the antioxidant responsible for putting you to sleep.

2. Get 8-9 hours of sleep a night and no, you aren't "fine" on 6 or 7. You might be able to survive on 6 or 7 hours of sleep, but you need at least 8-9.

3. Try working in instead of working out: You're sick, you're tired, and you're killing yourself with 2 hour workouts. You might as well have a slice of cake instead of going to the gym because that long workout is not helping you lose weight - it's just creating stress (and increased fat storage) in your body. Train smarter, not harder: stick to bursts of strength training and ditch the endurance stuff (I'm talking to you, 5 mile run - or anything with loads and loads of reps for that matter).

4. Cut back on the bevvies: Seriously. If you have to drink, drink earlier in the evening. Drinking before bedtime impairs your body's production of growth hormone. Another drinking tip: keep the alcohol clear. Beer is loaded with gluten and wine is loaded with sugar. Try Robb Wolf's famous recipe: lime, soda water and tequila (or other clear alcohols) as a lower-sugar beverage. Also have a snack with protein and/or fat (such as sliced organic meat) before bedtime to help your body metabolize the alcohol.

5. Prioritize your life. This one is usually the trickiest for people...but that fancy car or expensive vacation really isn't all that fun when you're too sick and tired to enjoy it. Instead of letting stress (and car payments) control your life, make excellent health and vitality your priority. It makes everything else a lot more fun.

If you missed it this past month, click the link below to see Holistic Fitness on CBS5:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/11/12/consumerwatch-high-tech-tool-can-help-visualize-weight-loss-goals/

Four Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight

Despite what most people believe, fat loss is not as simple as calories in/calories out. Because the human body is a system of systems, it stands to reason that weight loss relies on the ability of each of these systems to function optimally and in harmony with one another. Unfortunately many people think of weight loss linearly, wrongly believing that their bodies are like bank accounts wherein a three mile jog affords them one bowl of ice cream. The diet industry only perpetuates this myth with its system of points and balances, its bags of 100-calorie junk food snack packs and constant obsession with the number on the scale. If this way of thinking about fat loss works, why are we getting sicker and fatter each year? In starting to take care of all of the systems in your body, you’ll see how easy it is to lose weight and keep it off for good. So here you go, the top four reasons you’re not losing weight.

Not Getting To Bed On Time: If you don’t sleep, you won’t lose weight (and as recent studies show, you might even gain weight). Lack of sleep not only causes a huge spike in the stress hormone cortisol (which leads to weight gain) but also diminishes the hormone that tells you when to stop eating (leptin) and increases the hormone that makes you think you’re hungry (ghrelin). Put these three hormonal interferences together and after a night of insufficient sleep you’ll overeat (and eat too often) and your stressed body will store most of what you eat as fat.

Living in a World of Gut Dysfunction: You are what you eat. In eating the Standard American Diet (often referred to as the SAD diet) you overload your system with foods that cost you more energy to break down and digest than they yield. In addition, in eating overly processed foods such as gluten and most dairy products, you inadvertently increase your body’s stress hormones, which leads to weight gain and a host of other issues such as leaky gut syndrome, a weakened immune system, decreased digestive enzymes, nutrient mal-absorption, abdominal inflammation and even depression (as 98% of seratonin is created in the gut). Forget about counting calories. In order to lose weight, you have to cut out processed foods and switch to an organic, whole food diet. And remember: not all calories are created equal. Yes, that grass-fed steak has more calories than the Atkins meal replacement bar but where the steak is bio-available and gives you energy, the Atkins bar is as unrecognizable to your digestive system as plastic.

Riding the Non Stop Stress Express: So you’re not sleeping, you’re eating processed foods and then you think you can go to the gym and beat yourself up on a treadmill or in the squat rack and all will be right in the world? Think again. Exercise is a form of stress and needs to be modified according to your overall stress levels in order for it to be a successful weight loss tool. In our highly stressed world, traditional cardio and other forms of “training hard” serve only to exacerbate stress levels and increase body fat. Instead, take time to “work in” in periods of high stress and hire a professional to prescribe a workout plan that takes your various stress levels into account.


Too Much Mental Aerobics: Weight gain and/or the inability to lose weight can be psychosomatic. Stress doesn’t just stem from a long day at the office or from sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Your own thoughts can create a hugely stressful reality for your body. If you constantly think that you can’t lose weight, you inadvertently create stress for your body, which will lead to weight gain. The more you tell yourself that you can’t lose weight, the more your body will listen. The more you beat yourself up with the number on the scale, the more your body will hold on to the pounds. Practice letting go of the negative tapes that are on repeat in your mind and instead embrace weight loss as a long-term health plan. Being overly critical and hard on yourself will only lead you to frustration…and tighter pants.

Four Tips for Revving Up Your Fitness Routine

People find the months leading up to the holidays to be the most difficult time of year to stick to their workout schedules. It starts to get dark early, there are parties to attend, travel plans to arrange…plenty of excuses to keep them out of the gym and slowly creeping into holiday weight gain territory. To help you resist putting on those stubborn extra pounds this fall, here are four easy tips to help you stay motivated to workout through the coming months and beyond.

Put it on your calendar: Just as you wouldn’t ignore your doctor’s prescription for medicine if you were sick, you shouldn’t ignore your prescription for a consistent workout program to stay healthy. Try blocking time off on your calendar for your weekly workouts and think of them as a necessary appointment that you simply cannot miss.

Less is more: If time is truly an issue, select exercises where you get the most bang for your buck. Because total body exercises (such as lunges, squats, dead lifts and pushups) recruit almost every muscle in your body at once, they take less time and burn more calories than less demanding exercises (such as bicep curls) for a fun, time-efficient workout. The same is true for traditional cardio exercises. Instead of spending an hour doing a traditional cardio exercise at a moderate pace, try just 10 minutes of sprinting. With intervals of 30 seconds at a very high intensity followed by 60 seconds at a moderate intensity, sprinting will burn calories and rev up your metabolism without making a large dent in your schedule.

Train with a very specific goal in mind: My clients are most successful with their workout schedules when they have a particular goal in mind. So whether it’s that you’re heading somewhere warm where you’ll have to shed your sweater in favor of a swimsuit or somewhere adventurous where you’ll need to be fit for a long day of surfing or skiing, having a goal in mind will help guarantee that you get to the gym each week, regardless of how busy you might be.

Work your brain: Let’s be honest: if it’s boring, you’re not going to want to do it. Try breathing a little life into your workout with swiss balls and/or bosu balls. Because they require a great amount of concentration and coordination, using swiss/bosu balls will add more neurological demand to your workouts, keeping them fun and engaging.

Is A Vegetarian Diet Really Healthy? Three Vegetarian Diet Myths Exposed

Closely tied to the cholesterol and saturated fat scare comes the notion that vegetarianism, or the strict avoidance of meat products, leads to improved health and vitality. Pick up any so-called health and fitness magazine or medical journal and you’ll find quite a few articles promoting the benefits of decreasing your meat consumption and increasing your consumption of grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes. Where vegetables are tied to health, vitality and energy, meat products are tied to heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer and ultimately, death.

While I don’t believe that one-size fits all when it comes to nutrition (as many of us have varying macronutrient needs), I strongly believe that a vegetarian or vegan diet is one of the unhealthiest diets one can follow. Here are just a few vegetarian myths that most people wrongly believe to be true.

Myth #1: Vegetarian diets are healthier than diets that include animal proteins

Fact: Vegetarian diets cause nutrient depletion

Because there are a number of vital nutrients that you can only get from eating meat, vegetarians are often deficient in nutrients that are critical for overall health and vitality, including:

B12: Vegetarians who do not take B12 supplements often develop anemia and digestive disorders. Additionally, because B12 is also responsible for maintaining nerve health (including the optic nerve), a severe B12 deficiency can lead to blindness.

Omega 3: An essential fatty acid that is found primarily in animal products, Omega-3 promotes a strong immune system, protects from chronic disease (such as heart disease and cancer), lowers overall body inflammation and even triggers weight loss. Without supplementation, most vegetarians will develop an imbalance of Omega-6 to Omega-3, causing an increased risk of disease.

Vitamin A: Also known as the anti-infective vitamin, Vitamin A is found only in animal fats (such as butter and cod liver oil) and organ meats. Vitamin A is hugely important for the repair of bodily tissue (especially the skin), maintenance of the thyroid gland and maintenance of healthy vision.

Myth #2: Vegetarianism promotes mental acuity and increased energy

Fact: Vegetarianism is linked to depression and fatigue

High quality, grass-fed, organic red meat contains various amino acids that are essential for brain health, such as cysteine, carnitine and taurine. Over time, people who refrain from eating meat become deficient in these vital amino acids, and report experiencing depression, weight gain and chronic fatigue syndrome. Additionally, because these amino acids are so important for cognitive function, recent studies prove that a deficiency leads to decreased attention span, learning capacity and memory.

Myth #3: Vegetarianism improves athletic ability

Fact: Vegetarianism decreases lean muscle mass and does not generate adequate energy for athletic competitions

This one is pretty simple. You need to eat complete proteins in order to help your body create lean muscle mass. Complete proteins are found almost exclusively in animal products, such as eggs, red meat, chicken, etc. Because a vegetarian diet consists largely of carbohydrates, grains and sugars, those on a vegetarian diet have a much harder time creating muscle than those on an organic, balanced diet.

There’s also been a lot of hype lately regarding the benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet for athletes. Many of these athletes report feeling less lethargic and more energetic upon eliminating the meat from their diets. However, if you read closely, the proteins these athletes often refer to is actually protein powder--most likely a cheap, synthetic, highly processed, hard-to-digest form of protein. Anyone would feel better upon giving that up! You also have to wonder about the quality of the animal proteins these athletes eliminated. There’s a huge difference between eating the protein from sick, antibiotic-fed animals, and eating the protein from certified humane, high-quality, organic sources.

In addition, a recent study proved that when athletes carb-loaded for events (which would be the only option for a vegan or vegetarian) they reported having significantly less energy than athletes who fat loaded. Why? Because for most, proteins and fats are a much better source of energy than carbohydrates (which are metabolized simply as sugar).

There is no question that organic vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet. But I urge you all to make your own educated decisions when it comes to eliminating animal protein from your diet. For more information, check out Mary Enig’s research, which can be found with a simple google search, or do a search on Mercola.com for his clinical vegetarian and vegan findings.

Should you really cut salt out of your diet?

Like saturated fats, salt has earned a bad reputation in the medical industry, leaving many people eliminating salt from their diet in an attempt to lower their blood pressure and risk of heart disease. Unfortunately, most people fail to realize that there are two very distinct forms of salt: refined, white table salt, a stripped or nutritionally lacking form of salt, and unrefined sea salt, a naturally-occurring, nutrient-rich form of salt. Most people also fail to realize that most of the documentation on salt and its negative effects on heart health is based on research conducted on table salt, and not on salt in its organic form.

Why table salt is so bad:

Because our bodies are designed to eat until we are nutritionally satisfied, when we eat a food that is stripped, such as table salt, we will continue to eat and eat until our bodies believe that we’ve obtained adequate nutrition. For this reason, foods that are loaded with table salt, such as potato chips, cause people to eat and eat without ever truly feeling full. Surely you’ve heard the Pringles tagline “Once you pop you can’t stop”…well, Proctor and Gamble did their research when they developed that one. Food companies have known for years that adding table salt to their products causes people to consume more of that particular product (which provides quite a nice increase in sales).

In addition, table salt contains additives such as heavy metals (such as aluminum, a metal that is often linked with diseases ranging from alzheimers to various forms of cancer) and even dextrose, a form of sugar. Many of these additives are thought to be associated with mineral mal-absorption, bloating, joint pain and over time, kidney and heart disease.

Why sea salt is so good:

As opposed to stripped, processed table salt, sea salt contains over 40 trace minerals that are essential for optimal health, aiding in many of the regulatory functions of the body. Additionally, sea salt is a natural antihistamine, helps prevent muscle cramps, removes excess acid from cells (specifically brain cells), balances blood sugar levels, helps the GI absorb nutrition from food particles, clears excess mucus and phlegm from the lungs and increases bone strength.

So yes, you should remove salt from your diet...but it should only be the table salt. For optimal health and vitality, add some organic sea salt to your food (and a pinch to your water). I highly recommend the Celtic or Himalayan brands of sea salt. Generally, sea salts from France or New Zealand are also very high quality.

Depression, weight gain, lack of energy…Is Adrenal Fatigue to blame?

The main purpose of the adrenal glands is to protect us with the ability to “fight or flight,” or get us out of danger as quickly as possible. When we were cavemen, this “fight or flight” response was necessary for our every day survival. Fast-forward to modern day, and we create the same primitive response to a stressful day at work as our cavemen ancestors did to fighting off lions. But can you imagine what fighting off lions every day, over and over, with little or no relief would do to our ancestors?

When the adrenals are consistently taxed without adequate time to rest and repair, the result is adrenal fatigue. The major symptoms of adrenal fatigue are some of the most common health complaints heard by doctors every day: weight gain, depression and chronic fatigue. So what does adrenal fatigue look like? You struggle to get up in the morning, when you do get up you never feel fully rested, it takes more and more effort to do every day things, you struggle with memory and thoughts become a little more cloudy, you’re more irritable and you have a decreased ability to fight off that lingering cough and cold, you crave sugar, caffeine and chocolate to keep you going and you have almost no tolerance for stress.

How did I get here and how can I get better?

Stress causes adrenal fatigue. To our body, all stress is created equal so causes of adrenal fatigue range from emotional and physical to environmental and psychological stressors. In order to get yourself out of the cycle of adrenal fatigue, you first have to identify and eliminate unnecessary causes of stress in your every day life. For some, the death of a loved one or another unavoidable trauma can ignite adrenal fatigue. But for others, adrenal fatigue doesn’t come from one event but rather from a series of repeated unhealthy lifestyle decisions such as staying up too last at night, drinking too much, addictions to junk foods, etc. Luckily, with the right lifestyle modifications you can start to reverse the process of adrenal fatigue starting today. So my little cavemen and women, here are some modern day “lions” you can avoid today for optimal health and vitality:

Stimulants: If the adrenals are already over stimulated, it’s best to avoid all stimulants such as coffee, sugar and alcohol. If you choose to limit but not give up any of these stimulants one hundred percent, be sure to always have caffeine, sugary foods and alcohol with other foods (such as high quality proteins and fats). In doing this, you will help buffer the stimulant’s sudden impact on your body.

Perfectionism/Negative Thinking: Don’t be your own personal energy vampire. Being hard on yourself emotionally, feeling sorry for yourself and pushing yourself too hard can all create prolonged stress on the body and disrupt your hormonal balance. Instead, write a positive script for your life. Make sure to give yourself a healthy amount of downtime every day and try to find a relaxation process that works for you (whether it’s taking baths, focusing on your breathing, napping or practicing meditation).


Too Much Exercise: Exercise is a form of stress. However, choosing the right type of exercise in the right dosage can actually help get you out of adrenal fatigue. Avoid doing too much cardio and instead focus on “big bang” strength training exercises that deliver amazing results in a shorter amount of time. In addition to strength training, try to get out for walks in nature as much as possible. Getting fresh air and sunshine and reconnecting with the outdoors will do wonders for your adrenal health.

Poor Nutrition Choices: Skipping meals and eating poor quality foods will cause a huge stress response within your body. Make sure you eat organic as much as possible and never go more than four hours without eating. Also, eliminate all foods you might have an allergy or intolerance to. The two most common foods I see allergies to in my practice are dairy and gluten. If you’re not sure if you’re intolerant to either, strictly limit them from your diet for at least a month and then reintroduce them one by one into your diet. Be sure to record any negative reactions such as bloating, digestive issues, headaches, nausea, etc. as these are all signs of food intolerance.

Staying Up Too Late: Get to bed as close to 10pm as possible to allow your adrenals to rest. If getting to sleep is difficult for you, avoid watching TV or sitting in front of the computer after 8pm. Power naps are also a great way to pay off your sleep debt. A quick 20 minute nap is as good for you as one hour of early sleep.

Head’s up migraine sufferers! Three unexpected migraine causes (that your doctor probably hasn’t told you about)

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 303 million people worldwide suffer from migraines. Unfortunately, most doctors treat only the symptom and not the underlying cause of this disease, leaving migraine sufferers dependent on migraine medications for pain relief. Could addressing one (or all) of these three unexpected migraine causes help you relive your migraines without the use of medicine?

H. Pylori: Helicobacter Pylori, a parasite that has been known to cause stomach ulcers, acid reflux disease, GERD and gastric cancer, has recently been linked with migraines. A study presented at the infectious diseases conference in Italy found that 18% of chronic migraine sufferers were infected with the H. Pylori bug. After receiving treatment for the H. Pylori infection, migraine sufferers reported a marked decrease in both the frequency and severity of their migraines. Infecting more than 50% of the population, H. Pylori is the most common pathogen in the world. Common ways of contracting H. Pylori include unclean water, sexual fluids and contaminated raw foods such as chicken and eggs. Because H. Pylori infections often thrive in their hosts without any obvious side effects, stool testing (the best way to test for H. Pylori) is a good idea even if common H. Pylori markers are not present. It’s a nasty little bug, and one that can lead to a wide range of more serious diseases, so testing is highly recommended.

Aspartame: The consumption of aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners, is strongly associated with migraines and even seizures. Recent studies show that the chemical substance aspartame acts as an excitotoxin in the body, meaning that it overexcites your brain cells to the point of damage. Over time, this brain cell damage leads to severe migraines and a variety of other neurological disorders. Because so many products contain aspartame (everything from diet sodas to sticks of gum), you might be consuming aspartame and not even realizing it, so make sure to read all food labels (or better yet, stick to eating foods that don’t need labels).

Gluten: For many, migraines may be the result of gluten sensitivity. About 70% of the population has some form of subclinical gluten sensitivity and of that 70%, 90% have no idea. If you’ve been following my blogs, by now you know that gluten causes inflammation in the gut and inflicts major stress on the body’s immune system. Because the brain (central nervous system) and the gut (enteric nervous system) are linked, it makes sense that inflammation that happens in the gut would also affect inflammation in the brain. As doctors have started to make connections between various neurological disorders and gut/diet issues, they have found increasingly strong links between gluten sensitivity and migraines, seizures, ataxia and various proprioceptive dysfunctions. Many doctors believe that migraines are one of the most obvious red flags for gluten sensitivity, as is craving gluten. So if you are one of those people who feel you truly can’t live without gluten, the chances are very high that you’re intolerant to gluten and should avoid it completely.

The Key Nutrient for Optimal Health (that most people don’t know about)

You want to increase your energy, slow down the aging process, prevent disease and have some mental acuity and vitality along the way. You spend time working out, get a bit of sunlight and try to eat right. But are you unknowingly undermining your own health and fitness efforts with this common diet mistake?

If you’re still eating a diet that is high in grains and vegetable oils, it’s highly likely that your ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is critically out of balance. While the optimal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 should be roughly 1:1, in the average American this ratio is anywhere from 20:1 to 50:1. Recent studies show that this imbalance can be a major cause for the increasing incidences of heart disease, cancer, hypertension and even certain neurological diseases such as depression, postpartum depression and Alzheimer’s. Essentially, as the body’s omega-6 number rises, so does the body’s overall inflammation, and as most of you know, too much inflammation in the body causes the majority of the most common diseases plaguing us today.

So where does this imbalance come from? More and more, scientists are finding a link between high levels of omega-6 and the over-consumption of grains and certain vegetable oils such as soy oil and canola oil, and an under-consumption of high quality foods such as grass-fed beef, fatty fish and healthy oils such as flaxseed oil, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and walnut oil.

What can increasing your omega-3 do for you?

Omega-3, with its high levels of DHA and EPA, is extremely anti-inflammatory. As a result, if you suffer from inflammatory diseases such as arthritis or ulcerative colitis, taking omega-3 can help reduce the level of pain in your body. In addition, because of its anti-inflammatory properties, omega-3 prevents (and might even reverse) heart disease, prevents certain types of cancer, and even aids in the body’s physical repair processes (making it extremely anti-aging). In addition, omega-3 is highly beneficial and necessary for brain health. Because the brain uses DHA as fuel, low DHA levels are now being linked to low serotonin levels, which in turn causes depression, postpartum depression, memory loss, fatigue and a host of other negative health effects. In fact, omega-3 is so beneficial to brain health that researchers at Harvard Medical School have successfully used omega-3 to treat manic depression and schizophrenia.

So what can you do to balance out your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio? Reduce the amount of grains in your diet and increase high-quality fish and grass-fed meats, eliminate all vegetable oils from your diet and take a high quality omega-3 supplement. It’s very important to find a high quality brand of omega-3 as many of the most popular brands on the market today come from fish sources that are extremely high in mercury. Obviously the effects of too much mercury and heavy metal toxicity would counteract the benefits of taking an omega-3 supplement.

How much omega-3 should you take? Most likely more than you think. Check out this simple fish calculator to see just how much your body might need.

http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/

Can Your Antiperspirant Cause Cancer?

Pick up any newspaper or health magazine and you’ll see numerous articles detailing the risks that heavy metals pose to our health. Because of these risks, over the past few years many people have taken various precautions in order to reduce their heavy metal exposure, such as having amalgam fillings removed, avoiding eating certain types of fish and even choosing non-toxic paints and household cleaning products. But did you know that heavy metals could also be lurking in your antiperspirant? Unfortunately, if you use antiperspirant, you’re most likely exposing yourself to aluminum, a highly toxic metal that has been linked not only to metabolic imbalances and Alzheimer’s, but most recently, to breast cancer.

Because antiperspirants work by blocking the pores that release sweat from your body (thanks to aluminum, the major antiperspirant ingredient), they prevent your body from ridding itself of harmful toxins. So instead of being able to detoxify, the body is left re-circulating these toxins within the bloodstream. In addition to the long-term health effects of blocking your body’s detoxification process, there are also concerns about where the heavy metals go once you apply your antiperspirant. In a study conducted in 2006, researchers tested breast tissue samples from about twenty breast cancer patients who had undergone mastectomies. Through their research, they found that the women who used antiperspirants had deposits of aluminum in their outer breast tissue, close to the underarm area, heightening the researchers’ concerns about the link between breast cancer and the use of antiperspirants.

So what can you do to reduce your exposure? Switch to a non-aluminum deodorant, such as those found at Whole Foods, health foods stores and even Sephora. Make sure you also select a deodorant that is free of parabens, which have also been linked with breast cancer. Because the skin underneath the arm is usually damaged due to frequent shaving, it is more vulnerable to absorbing chemicals into the bloodstream, so be sure to look for as few ingredients as possible.

Think Before You Drink

Drinking high quality water is vital to our health and wellness. A gallon of high quality water costs about three times as much as a gallon of gasoline. However, many people show more concern and spend more on what's going into their cars than what's going into their bodies.

When it comes to finding the cleanest water, many people fail to realize that not all waters are created equal.The four BEST brands are Evian, Ice Age, Biota and Fiji. What makes these waters different? A small number on the back of the bottle listing their "Total Dissolved Solids" (sometimes listed at TDS) which is over 300ppm in just about all four brands. Total Dissolved Solids reflects the amount of trace minerals in water. The higher the number of trace minerals, the healthier the water. These trace minerals give your body vital nutrients that are essential for your hydration, digestion, elimination and even brain function. In comparison, softer waters such as Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead are extremely low in TDS, and fail to hydrate us as efficiently as higher quality brands (in fact, many people complain that they can drink and drink Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead without ever truly feeling hydrated). Other brands, such as Aquafina, have even been proven to be nothing more than bottled tap water....who wants to pay to drink that?

Of course drinking bottled water is a touchy subject when it comes to being environmentally conscious, so if you have access to reverse osmosis water (such as a reverse osmosis filter in your home or grocery store) it's much healthier to avoid bottled waters altogether. But if I had to choose between drinking bottled water and drinking tap, I'd take bottled water in a heartbeat, and here's why:

A recent Associated Press investigation recently proved that particles of pharmaceutical drugs including antibiotics, anti-psychotics, sex hormones and mood stabilizers have been found in the tap water of major cities. Although utilities insist that the tap water is safe to drink, scientists fear the long-term results of drinking water containing particles of drugs ranging from ibuprofen to birth control on our long-term health….and so should you!

So, how do drugs get in the water?

The answer is simple. While some of the drug gets absorbed into the body, the rest of the drug is flushed down the toilet and eventually ends up back in our drinking water.

The Associated Press surveyed the drinking water of the nation’s 50 largest cities and found:

In Philadelphia, there were 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

In Southern California, anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people.

In Nothern New Jersey’s drinking water they found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine.

In Arizona, three medications were found in drinking water, including an antibiotic.

And what about in San Francisco, where the argument is consistently in SUPPORT of drinking our tap water? A sex hormone was detected.

So what’s the solution for finding clean water to drink? Stick to the four brands I listed above or only drink water from a high-quality reverse-osmosis filter.

Water Dos and Don'ts:

1. DO store water in a dark, cool place and in a glass bottle if possible.
2. DON'T purchase water from smoky plastic containers as these containers leak all sorts of chemicals into your water.
3. If you DO consume water out of a plastic bottle, make sure to keep it out of the sunlight at all times.
4. DO consume water at room temperature, especially when exercising. Cold water will sit in your stomach until it reaches body temperature (creating a very uncomfortable workout).
5. DO drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water daily. For example, if you are a 200 lb male, drink 100 oz of water daily.
6. DON'T drink water out of re-usable plastic bottles such as Nalgene Bottles. Although durable, they have been found to release harmful chemicals into your water. Stick to glass bottles whenever possible.

Sleep Your Way to A Better Body

Learn how early sleep promotes weight loss, muscle gain and relief from chronic stress.

Getting to bed early is one of the best ways to burn fat, tone up, strengthen your immune system and decrease stress in your life. Although many people think that their body gets stronger and leaner while they are working out, the physical changes from working out actually kick into gear when the body is at REST. Unfortunately, the mainstream fitness industry frowns upon the concept of rest, favoring a "no pain, no gain" philosophy where the importance of sleep is rarely examined. Yet as a nation we are more tired than ever, living in a world of over stimulation where caffeine, sugar and carbohydrate addictions are actually considered normal. In fact, we are so over-tired that fatigue currently rates as the number one health complaint doctors hear daily. What does that tell you? We are quite literally a population of people working OUT and never taking time to work IN. And just as important at it is to work out for optimal health and vitality, if we aren't working in and taking time to refuel our bodies and minds, any attempt at getting in shape and feeling physically and emotionally better becomes that much more of a challenge.

Did you know that NOT getting to bed on time can actually make you fat?

Hormonally, in the summertime we are programmed to eat more carbohydrates and store them as fat to prepare for the upcoming winter. In this way, if winter comes and you are still staying up past 10pm, your body will start to think that it is living in a state of eternal summer. As a result, you will store more of the food you eat as fat to continually prepare for winter, which creates chronic stress on your body as well as weight gain. To break this cycle, follow the seasons. As the days get shorter, go to bed earlier and sleep in a little later than you would in the summer (we require anywhere from nine to nine and a half hours of sleep in the winter as opposed to seven to eight hours in the summer).

In addition to weight gain, if you're not getting to bed by 10pm your body's ability to repair and regenerate itself is drastically reduced. This early sleep is so vital for health because between the hours of 10pm and 2am the body is in a state of physical repair, rebuilding broken down muscle tissue from exercise, strengthening the immune system and repairing the damage from a variety of environmental stressors. Closely following this process, from 2am to 6am, the body goes into psychogenic repair, aiding in the recovery and strength of the nervous and hormonal systems and processing the emotions and stresses of the day. In this way, not all sleep is created equal. You will feel and look much better getting a solid eight hours of sleep from 10pm to 6am than you will sleeping from midnight to 8am. So sorry folks, no amount of sleeping in will make up for not getting to bed early.

Here are some easy tips for naturally getting to sleep on time:

1. Lower the lights and avoid the computer and television before going to sleep.

2. Take a bath or shower before getting into bed and avoid using body products (such as lotions, body wash, etc) with synthetic perfumes.

3. Close the shades. Even a very small amount of light on your skin ignites cortisol, the stress hormone responsible for waking you up.

4. Avoid caffeine past 3pm.

5. Avoid sugary desserts and/or wine before going to bed. Sugar increases cortisol levels, which leads to disrupted sleep patterns.

6. Put at least two hours between the last thing you eat and when your head hits the pillow.

If you experience a lack of sleep or just can't get to bed at 10pm due to a hectic work and travel schedule, here are a few suggestions:

1. Get a massage from a person who does not talk during your treatment. This will help not only your muscles but will also provide the perfect environment for a distraction-free nap. I recommend this especially for those of you who work long hours and can't find enough time to sleep at night or for those of you with newborns.

2. Power nap during the day. A power nap lasts only about 10-15 minutes so make sure you set an alarm to wake yourself up before the REM process begins. Recent studies show that these 10-15 minute naps are worth as much as one full hour of early sleep, making them a great way to pay off your sleep debt.

3. Hire a CHEK Practitioner to help you address your sleep pattern abnormalities. Log on to www.chekinstitute.com to find a specialist in your area.

Seemingly taboo tips for losing the weight and keeping it off for good

It seems like every time I flip through a magazine these days I’m bombarded with the newest and latest and (usually) celebrity-endorsed diet craze. Yet despite all of the information out there about diet and fat loss plans, four in ten Americans will become obese in the next five years. So what does that tell you? Diet crazes and workout fads simply do not work. It’s time to try something smarter, not harder, when it comes to your fat loss plan. So, here are some seemingly taboo tips for losing weight and keeping it off for good.


1. Get off Your Low Fat Diet. Diets don’t work. If you really want to lose fat, it comes down to calories in, calories out and getting enough of the right kind of exercise. Many people wrongly believe that eating fat (even healthy sources) leads to weight gain; however, quite the opposite is true. When you eliminate fat from your diet you actually encourage your body to store fat for survival. In Debra Waterhouse’s book “Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell” she shows that upon dieting, a female’s lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes actually increase and her lipolytic (fat releasing) enzymes decrease, making it increasingly harder to lose weight. Regardless of gender, for the average person, trying to eat normally after dieting leads to weight gain (often more pounds than they tried to drop in the first place). So instead of trying that low-fat diet to lean down this summer, convince your body that you aren’t starving by eating meals that are balanced and healthy AND do the right kind of workouts. Which leads me to…

2. Stop attending aerobics class… Studies prove that people who strength-train have a dramatically faster metabolism and burn calories much more efficiently than people who do only aerobic exercise. The reason is simple. When you continually do aerobic workouts, you train your body to be more and more calorie efficient. But when you want to lose weight, you actually want to be calorie inefficient (think SUV, not Prius). If you want to see proof of too much aerobics making people hold onto body fat, just take a look at some aerobics instructors out there. According to a recent study conducted by the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, the average aerobics instructor has a body fat count of more than 20%, a very high percentage for an athlete. So, if you really want to get lean, ditch the aerobics classes and start an intelligent strength-training program. It will encourage your body to create muscle, which in turn burns through calories even when you are at rest, which is kinda as fun as making money in your sleep.

3. Be less frugal. Well, at least when it comes to your food. Being an exercise and nutrition coach, I’ve met many people who drive around in expensive cars but claim they can’t afford organic foods. I always tell these people the same thing: Drive an expensive body, not an expensive car! It’s my belief that eating high quality, organic foods is a form of health insurance. Regardless of your budget, it’s important to keep organic, high quality whole foods in your diet as much as possible. Remember, although cheaper foods might seem like a good idea at the time, there are hidden costs to buying cheap foods: overeating (because the food is devoid of nutrients), environmental damage to our lovely planet and increased risk of disease to name a few. If you’re really worried about saving, be resourceful and find ways to cut back without having to eliminate good foods from your diet (such as becoming a member of a local co-op natural foods store).

4. Focus first on Health, then Aesthetics: To me this tip is truly the most important. Yes, having a fit, toned body is a great thing. In fact, it’s why most of us go to the gym in the first place. But the number one mistake most people who want to lose weight make is focusing too much on what they look like and not enough on how they feel. How we feel throughout the day, whether it’s energetic, clear-headed and happy or depressed, groggy and sluggish, truly dictates our quality of life and the choices we make (especially when it comes to food). If you start to see working out as a means of improving your overall quality of life rather than a means to tone your biceps, you will be much more motivated to head to the gym and stick to your workout and nutrition routines. Why? Because you can’t lose weight to get healthy, you have to get healthy to lose weight. And once the number on the scale matters less to you than how you feel day to day, you will be much more motivated to get back to the gym…regardless of your biceps or abs look that day.

And remember, the best way to actually stick to your health and fitness goals is to get very clear on what it is that you want…whether your goal is to get a flat stomach or to climb a mountain, start writing down your goals each morning when you wake up and see how much easier it becomes to make changes in your daily life once you’ve set your intention.

Change Your Body in Four Weeks Flat

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that what you put into your mouth over the course of a twelve-hour day might have more of an impact on your figure than your 45-minute workout. While we all know that smart exercise programs are extremely effective when it comes to improving overall health and wellness, it's incredibly rare that you'll ever see the long-term results you're after if you're training hard but are still confused about what constitutes a "healthy" diet. So let me make it simple for you: if you want to look and feel good, you have to cut out the foods that cause inflammation in your body. Period. These "inflammatory foods" are the foods that can negatively affect how you look, feel and function without you even knowing it.

If you strictly follow these "food rules" for the next 30 days, you'll eliminate all of the foods that cause bloating, inflammation, fatigue, weight gain, insulin roller coaster rides, cravings, respiratory issues, headaches, digestive problems and that stubborn layer of bloat around your mid-section in one fell swoop. Once you cut out these inflammatory foods and start filling up on a healthy, organic, whole food diet, you'll have more energy, better workout performance, stable (and even elevated) moods, a flatter stomach and a lean, fat-burning body that is the envy of everyone at the pool party. Seriously. And you can tell everyone that you got that lean eating bacon.

So here they are, my top 6 food rules to change your body in four weeks flat:

No processed foods - this includes processed table salt, protein bars, protein shakes, etc.

No dairy - cut it out strictly for 30 days. Add coconut milk to your organic coffee or drink it black.

No grains - no gluten, corn, oats, rice, barley...I think you get the picture.

No sugar - that includes sugar substitutes such as stevia, splenda, etc. If you have to have something sweet, go for some organic berries or some organic dark chocolate.

No soy - eliminate all tofu, soy protein drinks, soy dairy substitutes, etc.

Only eat organic foods - This rule is especially important when it comes to your proteins. As for your produce, shop local and shop often. We're not interested in shelf life.


I can almost hear it now: "But I was walking through ______ and I saw a _________ and I really wanted it because __________. Nope. The sugar bomb cookie in your office's kitchen? Have some organic, grass-fed beef jerky instead. The stack of pancakes for breakfast? How about an organic fried egg and a side of nitrate-free, organic bacon. Be strict and don't break the rules... you'll be mad at yourself and feel like garbage afterward, complete with a headache, a bloated gut and zero energy for your morning workout. Push through the uphill battle of the first 30 days and you'll be amazed...once your pants start getting loose around your midsection, you no longer get that mid-afternoon headache, you don't need as much caffeine and you start to recover faster from your workouts, you'll be glad you stuck it out. Trust me, being a stronger, leaner, more energized version of yourself truly makes it all worth the commitment.

Is it Really Soy Delicious?

Walk through the aisles of any health food store these days and you’ll see a myriad of soy substitute foods, everything from soy baby formula to soy hotdogs. But how many people know what soy is really all about? Many people who want to get healthy and lose weight choose soy as a substitute food either because they are intolerant to dairy or because they are vegetarian and want (what they have been told is) another good source of protein.
Regardless of what advertisements tell you about soy, I’d like to alert all of you to the dangers of soy and encourage each of you to do some research before you consider it to be a healthy addition to your diet.

Soy Foods Block Mineral Absorption: Soy contains very high levels of phytates, which have been proven to block enzyme activity and cause digestive issues. Phytates are also mineral blockers and decrease the body’s ability to absorb essential minerals such as magnesium (a natural anti-inflammatory), iron, zinc and calcium, to name a few. As we all know, even small amounts of mineral deficiencies can lead to chronic fatigue, a weakened immune system and lethargy. The only way to decrease the level of phytic acid in soy is by soaking and fermenting it (which is why fermented soy products, such as tempeh, are the only soy foods anyone should be eat if they decide to add soy to their diet). Unfortunately, the majority of soy products on the market today are over-processed, cheaply made and do not undergo this long, old-fashioned fermenting process.

Soy Foods Contain Phytoestrogens: Unfermented soy foods (such as tofu, soy milk, etc) contain phytoestrogens that mimic female hormones in both men and women. In fact, a recent study carried out by Geo-Pie, an extension of Cornell University, found that soy formula leads to premature maturation in males and females as well as menstruation as early as six years of age in females. In fact, it is believed that one bottle of soy formula is hormonally equal to feeding a child up to five birth control pills a day. Because all of the hormones in our body work synergistically, setting off high levels of one hormone leads not only to early development but also to a wide range of diseases later in life (soy is often linked with leukemia, breast cancer and thyroid cancer). Everyone has heard of the dangers of phytoestrogens leaking on to foods from plastics, so why would you eat a food that is naturally loaded with phytoestrogens?


Soy Foods DO NOT Help People Get Fit and Lose Weight: Most processed soy foods contain very high levels of added sugars and actually cause weight GAIN, not loss. In addition, evidence suggests that the isoflavones in soy products suppress thyroid function, causing many people on high-soy diets to experience weight gain, decreased sex drive, increased irritability, anxiety disorders, memory loss and chronic pain syndromes.

I urge all of you to do your own research and decide if soy truly is the "health food wonder" the health industry claims it to be.
For a complete list of references used in this article, please contact info@holisticfitsf.com.

Is your body ready for the beach?

Is your body ready for the beach?

I watched an amazing episode of Iconoclasts the other night, featuring Eddie Vedder and Laird Hamilton. As many of you know, Laird is one of the best surfers on the planet and also happens to be one of Paul Chek's clients. Watching him ride some of the most powerful waves in Maui and do his workout (most of which included standing on swiss balls) inspired me to revisit the art of getting your body ready for the beach. So, I hope you try these three easy tips and get the lean, toned body you're after for the summer!


Make it a Big Bang: Strength training is one of the leading ways to get a toned, lean, fat-burning body. But did you know that certain movement patterns give you more bang for your buck? For a strength-training program that will get your body into shape without a lot of time at the gym, make sure every exercise you perform works multiple muscle groups in multiple planes of motion. In other words, instead of performing a simple bicep curl, try a push up on a swiss ball. Instead of a seated leg press, try a bodyweight lunge. By incorporating bigger movements such as squats, pushes, pulls and twists, you’ll burn through more calories in less time. What’s the difference? Traditional stationary machine exercises only work one muscle group at a time. This old-school training method is highly ineffective because our body doesn’t respond just to specific muscle training--our body responds to movement patterns! So when you lunge, squat, bend, push, pull, and twist, you use your muscle groups together, which improves your balance, ignites your stabilizing muscles, improves the health of your spine, tones your abdomen, burns more calories and most importantly, gives you a body you’re proud to show off at the beach.


Get crystal clear on what you want: The secret to successful weight loss not just for this summer but for life is all in your mindset. My most successful clients write down their health and fitness goals and have a very clear reason why they want to lean down, tone up and look and feel their best. A simple strategy for staying positive and keeping your goals in mind is to visualize what the new body you’re creating is going to look like. Once you can visualize yourself as your new, lean self, make a plan to get yourself to that vision. Write down the top five things you can do EACH DAY to get you to your goal. Whether it’s drinking more water, not going so long between meals, taking time to get a massage or hanging out with friends who support you, make sure you take action every day. Finally, exercise your brain and make sure that your thoughts are in line with your actions. It doesn’t matter how many workouts you do or how well you eat if negative thoughts are constantly weighing you down. Instead, stay positive about your goals and the new body you’d like to create and watch the amazing results that follow.

Eliminate these three foods from your diet: If you truly want to see a significant drop in body fat and are after that lean, flat stomach this summer, fully eliminate gluten, dairy and soy from your diet. Because more than 75% of the population is allergic to these three foods, by eliminating them from your diet you will eliminate inflammation, bloating, cravings, fatigue and the dreaded pooch belly…all of which will drastically improve the way you look, feel and function (both in your bathing suit and in your daily life)!

Are Your Non-Fat Foods Making You Fat?

Have you been counting fat grams only to find yourself feeling continually hungry, tired and depressed?

Have you limited fat from your diet but steadily put on a few pounds each year?

Do you purchase fat-free alternatives to your favorite foods only to find yourself unable to pronounce anything on the ingredient list?


Today, so-called fitness and health magazines, food companies and advertisers encourage people to avoid full-fat foods in order to lose weight and avoid disease. As a result, most Americans have stripped fats from their diets, shunning them as precursors to obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol and a variety of other illnesses. And the result of eating low to no-fat diets? We are fatter and sicker than we’ve ever been. Approximately ¾ of Americans are considered overweight and researchers predict that in the next 20 years, diabetes rates will double, to say nothing of the people who are currently pre-diabetic.
First, know the facts:

In order for food developers to create a non-fat food product to sell, they have to replace the fat with sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. As we all know, a diet high in sugar will cause body fat to rise rapidly.

In addition, non-fat and low-fat foods are NOT satiating, meaning you actually have to eat MORE of them to feel full. Have you ever thought twice about the Pringles tagline, “Once you pop you can’t stop”…they’re right! The product is not designed to satiate you but rather to get you to buy another can of Pringles!

Also, because many low or no fat foods are high in calories but essentially devoid of nutrition, your body metabolizes them simply as sugar, causing your insulin and cortisol levels to skyrocket, which in turn causes your body to pack on fat.

By comparison, research confirms that when eating a diet that includes healthy fats at every meal your blood sugar remains stable, your metabolism speeds up and your energy levels increase drastically.

What you can do TODAY to get healthy fats in your diet.

1. Start cooking with coconut oil (great for stir frying vegetables and even eggs).
2. Eat salmon with breakfast, lunch or dinner
3. Choose meats such as lamb, beef and buffalo from grass-fed, organic sources ONLY and avoid eating meats from toxic, non-organic, grain-fed sources
4. Incorporate more avocados into your diet
5. Try eating raw (unroasted, unsalted) nuts as a snack
6. Eat organic, whole eggs (yes, including the yolk) and keep the yolk in tact to maintain the integrity of the egg’s omegas (the best methods for cooking eggs are frying or poaching).
7. Use cold-processed, unfiltered organic olive oil on salads, vegetables and meats


The Benefits of eating these fats?

1. Fats constitute about 50% of the cell membrane. Eating fats along with proteins actually strengthens our cells, helping prevent wrinkles
2. Fats stabilize blood sugar levels, helping alleviate the symptoms of stress, depression and in severe cases, adrenal fatigue
3. Research shows that healthy fats are necessary for reproduction, specifically in the production of sex hormones
4. Fats are brain food and are essential for healthy brain development and function
5. Certain fats, such as the fat found in coconut products, help our bodies fight off parasite infections
6. Fats play a vital role in the absorption of calcium and are necessary for healthy bones
7. Fats help reduce inflammation and shorten recovery time from exercise


Fats to AVOID:

1. Remove margarine from your refrigerator and your vocabulary. It’s plastic.
2. Avoid all trans-fats
3. Avoid canola, soy, sunflower and corn oils due to their high levels of omega 6 to omega 3 ratios (a leading cause of inflammation and heart disease).

The Top Three Most Compelling Reasons To Hire A Personal Trainer

While people spend thousands of dollars on cars, clothing and vacations, many make excuses when it comes to spending money on their health. Here are my three most compelling reasons for hiring a personal trainer. While it may seem like a luxury to some, working with the right personal trainer is actually an investment in your health, and offers benefits you can see and feel for years to come.

1. Exercise is a like a drug--it should be prescribed for the best results. Just like you wouldn't take any random drug when you're sick, you shouldn't do any random workout plan when you want to get in shape. When you work with a personal trainer, they assess your body's specific needs and customize or "prescribe" a workout program to help you look and feel your best.

2. Trainers offer consistency. When working out on their own, most gym-goers tend to fill their workout hour with a variety of random exercises....and random exercises only yield random results! When you work with the right personal trainer, they can tailor a structured workout program to fit your unique goals...and give you the consistency and structure you need to reach those goals as quickly as possible.

3. Motivation. This reason seems obvious but most people forget the power of inspiration. When you work with a trainer with high levels of fitness, energy and overall vitality, they inspire you to work hard and push yourself, both in the gym and in your daily life as well.

Why Vitamin D Is Absolutely Crucial For Your Health

Did you ever wonder why you feel happier and more energetic after getting a bit of sun? Or why you get sick less often in the warmer months? The answer to both of these questions lies in vitamin D, a powerful nutrient that about 80-90% of Americans are severely deficient in.

To show just how powerful vitamin D is for your body, consider this quick fact: there are approximately 30,000 genes in your body… and vitamin D has been proven to affect about 2,000 of them. In addition to strengthening bones, lowering overall inflammation in the body, decreasing depression and helping to prevent the common cold and flu, vitamin D has also been linked with preventing some of the most deadly diseases plaguing us today, such as heart disease and cancer. In fact, recent studies prove that you can decrease your risk of some of the most common forms of cancer by more than half simply by ensuring that you get enough vitamin D.

So how do you get your daily dose of D? The best source is sunlight, followed closely by vitamin D supplements and cod liver oil. Unfortunately, recent studies show that most sun blocks actually prevent your body from the photoproduction of vitamin D. As a result, even doctors are now suggesting that people get several small doses (roughly 15 minutes) of unprotected sun-exposure each day in order to keep vitamin D levels optimal.

For more information, search for Vitamin D articles on Mercola.com or google "Naked At Noon: Understanding Sunlight and Vitamin D," an amazing study on the link between disease and Vitamin D deficiency.

The Top Four Essential Post-Flight Stretches

There’s nothing worse than the stiffness that comes from sitting on an airplane for what feels like way too long. But stretching after a long flight not only feels great--it also boosts your circulation, improves your posture and gets rid of muscle imbalances that over time can lead to pain and injury. So the next time you find yourself feeling tight after a long day of travel, grab a towel and decompress with these four quick and easy stretches. Within just a few minutes, you’ll be feeling healthy, vibrant and (dare I say it) you might even get your yoga glow on.

Hip Flexors: When you’re in a seated position for too long, your hip flexors become permanently engaged, or tightened. In order to release them, simply get down onto one knee and slowly lean your hips and torso forward until you feel a stretch down into the quad of the leg that is down (if the knee of your right leg is on the ground, you’ll feel the stretch on the right side). If one side feels tighter than the other (a common problem) you can perform a 2:1 ratio (with 30s hold time) to make sure you even out any muscle imbalances you might have.

Glutes: Believe it or not, your hips/glutes can also become overly tightened from sitting in one position for too long. To open up your hip rotators, sit on the ground with one knee in front of your torso at a 90 degree bend and the other knee at your side at a 90 degree bend. Keeping your chest tall, lean forward and think about sticking your tailbone up towards the ceiling. Hold it for about 30 seconds and you should feel a nice stretch in the glute of the leg that is in front of your torso.

Mid/Upper Back: People who frequently travel tend to experience quite a bit of tightness in their mid to upper back. This quick and simple mobilization not only decompresses the vertebrae throughout the length of the spine but also provides a much-needed bit of meditation after a long day of travel. To start, simply lie down on your stomach and put your forehead into the ground. Place the palms of your hands next to your ears and as you exhale, slowly push your upper body up off of the ground, making sure to keep your lower body (glutes, hamstrings, etc.) relaxed. As you inhale, slowly lower your upper body back down to the ground. Repeat this mobilization 12-15 times at your breathing pace for optimal back pain relief and relaxation.

Neck: To release stubborn knots in your neck after a long flight, simply stand up and gently tilt your right ear down towards your right shoulder. From there, close your jaw and very gently look up to 2 o’clock. After 5-10 seconds, allow gravity to slowly take your head out of the stretch and then repeat on the other side, tilting your left ear down to your left shoulder to start and gently gazing up toward 10 o’clock.

Remember...the more you release tightness in your body and bring your muscles into balance, the better you'll look, feel and function...so make sure to add a bit of stretching into your daily routine for optimal health and fitness.

The One Simple Trick That Will Flatten Your Abs Forever

It’s not a diet. It’s not a trendy workout class. It’s definitely not a pill. If you truly want to flatten your abs forever, avoid eating foods that cause bloating. It might sound too simple to be true, but following this basic tip will help you lean down that bloated belly in days.

Despite what most fitness magazines would love for you to believe, there’s not a single trainer, exercise or workout program on this planet that can flatten your abs if your diet is full of foods that cause bloating and inflammation. The reason is simple: If your stomach is bloated, it literally turns your abdominal musculature off. So regardless of if you do 10 or 10,000 sit-ups, if you're eating the wrong foods and your stomach is bloated, you simply can't activate or tone your abdominal wall.

Once you stop eating belly-bloating foods and start to incorporate the right abdominal exercises for your body, the results are phenomenal. But the first step is not to go do a 30 minute ab class or kill yourself with crunches...instead you have to clean up your diet by getting rid of all processed or man-made foods. These man-made foods usually contain what you’ve probably heard me refer to as “the four white devils”…sugar, flour, table salt and processed dairy products. I'm talking bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, muffins...all empty foods that wreak havoc on your abs. The easiest way to cut these foods out of your diet is to eliminate any product that contains gluten as about 75% of the population is sensitive and/or intolerant to gluten, the protein found in wheat.

If you’ve already cut gluten out of your diet yet find yourself reaching for that next slice of gluten-free bread, challenge yourself to eliminate those man-made products as well. Remember, it’s not just gluten but processed foods in general that cause bloating, indigestion and a host of other negative side effects, including the dreaded pooch belly.

Start cleaning up your diet today and you'll be amazed at how little you have to do to keep your abs toned and tight.