Food, Family and Craziness

Hey guys,

This week was nuts! I hope all of you were able to go out there, crush your goals and live your lives with an impact. I've been modifying my diet with more legumes and seeing really awesome results--all post more about that another time! HIIT and low GI foods seem to put my metabolism into some kind of sweet spot.

Who else is excited about Thanksgiving? My favorite Thanksgiving challenge is taking our traditional foods and making them healthier. You're still going to stuff yourself silly, why not make it with healthy things so you can walk afterwards, right? :) Last year, I did a low carb Thanksgiving fest for my dad, who had to change his diet to get on top of his borderline diabetes diagnosis. The food was delicious and we all had a great time. This year, I can't wait to kick it up another notch with a healthy dinner and Minute to Win It games! If we do any really crazy stuff, I'll be sure to share. ;)

I'm staying strong with my resolution to not condemn, criticize or complain. Sometimes it's hard, and often I mess up, but the results of staying positive far outweigh any temporary relief from blabbling about my problems.

I hope all of you have an awesome weekend and an even better Thanksgiving Holiday! Don't be shy to e-mail me those prayer requests.

Thankful,

Lizi

And We Work It Out!

I have changed my workout routine. I am a very driven person, and if allowed to do my own thing, I'll run myself into the ground, lay there for a second, then get up and keep running. That's just how I'm wired. I'm ready to rock and roll all the time, I talk really fast and animated (as you'll see more of with the Vlogging I'll be posting) and I love to run!

When I left weights, I have to be very careful about my form because I favor explosive, dynamic, high intensity training versus slow, steady lifting. Again, this can obviously have a giant downside, and I'm super grateful for my sweet, muscular, weight-lifting husband who watches me and is like "Slow down crazy woman! Enjoy the burn." --He's right, too, when you focus on the muscle your working on (example: bicep curls) and instead of doing 21's like I favor, you lift and then oh so slowly release you'll go much farther with less reps.

So, where oh where can I turn to in the fitness world to force myself to slow down and focus on what I'm doing instead of concentrate on burning off my extra energy with running or calisthetic exercises?

Did you figure it out yet? :p

Yoga, of course! Now I went through everything on wonderful Youtube.com last night looking for a routine that worked for me. I personally can't do a routine if it involves laying still and concentrating on your breath. So, I bookmarked a couple of these for me in the morning, when I need peace of mind the most: 

This is Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown Level 1: 

And here is Sadie Nadini's 20 minute Weight Loss & Fat Burning Routine:

Both of these were fun--especially the part where my cute little 4 year old was trying to do yoga with me last night haha! She likes to make it dangerous. Like crawling under my downward facing dog and popping up, missing my nose by a hair's breadth! I should film that and call it "Ultimate Adrenaline Yoga For Moms!" 

So, my new routine, again customizable to my daily level of crazy, is:

Morning: Yoga routine 15-30 mins

Noon-ish: Going on a run (preferably) or a Core Workout (Like Sean Vigue with Motley Fitness, he's amaaaazing!) 

Afternoon: If I still have energy left to burn, or have to skip my noon routine, I like to do the Supreme 90 videos right now. I am ashamed to admit sometimes I curse the day Tom Holland (he's the host) was born in the middle of a routine, but by the end of it I mentally apologize to him because I feel amazing :)

I hope these little glimpses into my world help to inspire you to keep growing and changing and adapting to a healthier, happier lifestyle!!! :)

Lizi

Just Do It!

I've noticed a trend in people that are changing their lifestyles.

They want to change their eating habits. They want to start working out. They have a general idea of why they want to do that: live longer, lose weight, look fabulous, have more energy and so on.

And then they talk themselves right out of it!

Either their wasn't specific enough information on exactly when to do what exercise, or when to eat what specific meal, or what kinds of foods you should combine, or that sounds like too much food or not enough food and so on.

For the love--Don't talk yourself out of a healthy lifestyle!!!! ALL OF THOSE ARE EXCUSES!!! 

The bottom line is this: Eat healthy, real foods (real foods don't come through a window or out of a bag/box).   Aim for 5 days per week of mixed exercises. Drink plenty of water. Supplement your nutrition appropriately.

That's pretty much it.

"But!!!" I hear you cry, "But do I do cardio, or yoga, or weights, or pilates, or yogalates, or Insanity, or use a personal trainer? And when I eat, do I eat according to my blood type, or low fat, or low carb, or Paleo, or according to an endo-ecto-mesomorph plan, or 500 calories a day? And do I weigh myself, or measure inches, or use calipers, or buy a $200+ body composition scale?"

The answer to those questions is...yes.

Ha! Now I've really got you trippin'!

You can do whatever kind of exercise you like. I myself, for example, love to run and lift weights. So, if my day allows it, I go on a 2 or 3 mile run (to some of you that's puny, to some of you that is a Herculean feat, to me that's what I have time for). If you like Yoga, do that! If you have a personal trainer, use them. If you used to like one thing but you got bored of it, FIND SOMETHING ELSE! It's the Age of Information, y'all--there IS something out there for you.

You can follow whatever realistic eating plan you want to--as long as it's real food (You know, fresh fruits and vegetables, the best meat you can afford, prepared in your home with healthy ingredients you add yourself. If you have no idea what real food is, open a new tab on your browser and fart around for a bit finding out--it's worth it). You cannot eat a fast food diet and be okay--you might take the buns off and have a chicken breast with a diet soda but consider this #rant: The "chicken breast" is made up of old, bacteria-laden mixed parts (bacteria laden because of antibiotic use in modern farming, mind you), then it was injected with a sugar/salt water mixture to make it moist and tasty (barf), then it was fried, then it was coated in liquid smoke to make you think it was grilled. You can re-name your diet soda chemical soup. You basically consumed a bunch of garbage that will release free radicals to zing around in your body, damaging otherwise perfectly happy cells, which (if you eat like that I'm guessing you don't care about supplementing vitamins too much) don't have the proper nutrients to then recover from the damage. You age your body every time you eat that junk. Cut it out! /#endrant

I think he says it best:

Drink your freakin' water too. Your body is over 90% water--you literally need it to live. If you get all of your water from carbonated crap, you're surviving but you're not thriving. When you drink your 8-10 glasses daily, your body releases toxins stored in your cells for your kidneys to deal with, which can often make you lose weight. Also, your cells release extra water they were HOARDING because they thought you lived in a desert, which often causes you to lose weight. Additionally, your molecular functions work properly when they have enough H2O to work with, giving you more energy. Oh, and you'll probably lose some weight.

On supplementation: The only reason I recommend it is because we've jacked up this planet so much our plants can't absorb the nutrients necessary for our optimal health. Some of us have seen the study on the peaches in the 50's versus the peaches now. Basically, we said screw composting, we'll concentrate on phosphorus/nitrogen balance in the soil only to make sure we can make more food to make more money. Do you think dirt is made up of 2 minerals? If you've gone through 10th grade chemistry, then you know it's incredibly more complicated than that. In addition to the declining nutritive value of our food because of crappy farming practices, we're now also genetically modifying it without enough testing to make sure that's okay to eat, spraying it with pesticides, covering it in salmonella, e.coli and MRSA--and recommending everyone eat more of it!  The USDA recommends 7 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily for men, and from 9 up to 13 servings per day for adolescent teenage boys. Don't get me wrong here: EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES! Just be aware that what you put in your body might have unnatural issues, and to counteract that, you might need to add additional plant-derived nutrients. Examples would be antioxidants, because they fight free radicals to keep your cells happy, glyconutrients to keep your cells communicating properly and recovering from damage, enzymes to properly break down and use nutrients from the plants you eat and so forth. Another thing to supplement is protein if you--like me--don't get enough of it. I eat really healthy, but I am also busy, and if given the choice between stopping my life to cook up a bunch of meat because I forgot to on a Sunday (when I try to prepare it ahead, but seriously, I'm not perfect) OR eating chopped up raw broccoli and roasted red pepper hummus, guess what wins every time? The faster one! And while chickpeas in hummus are healthy and have protein, that's not enough to sustain my level of output during the day. Therefore, I supplement with a good, clean, real protein powder, and vitamin complexes derived from plants, and glyconutrients, and antioxidants and omega 3 essential fatty acids (they're necessary for a healthy brain, eyes and heart as well as a natural anti-inflammatory). 

Sorry for the nutrition rant. I'm a little passionate about the care and keeping of the world and the human body. 

Anyway, you can complicate your life as much as you want to, but you'll end up feeling like a failure and quitting. Don't do that. Don't give up on being healthy, or being able to see your feet when you look down, or running a mile, or living to be 130 years old and the world's top endurance knitter (I don't even know if that exists...yet...). Don't give up on your desires for a better, healthier lifestyle. 

Just do it already. 

Eat real foods. Aim for mixed exercises 5 times per week. Drink your water. Supplement appropriately. 

Repeat, and enjoy a long, healthy, happy life. 

Lizi

Bust Your Guts

With  commercials on Activia yogurt with Jamie Lee Curtis' endorsement and billboards for Yokult popping up along major highways, the public is becoming more aware of the link between yogurt and healthy bowels. But what many people don't understand is why that link is important.

More than 70% of the body's seratonin is made in the gut. Seratonin is a brain neurotransmitter responsible for feeling calm and happy--if your gut is unhealthy, your thoughts won't be balanced. Also, more than 80% of your immune cells are made in the gut--so not only will your thoughts be hard to reel in, your health will suffer.

If you don't have the proper balance of beneficial bacteria in your bowels, also known as "probiotics", then when you are exposed to bad bacteria such as e.coli, strep or salmonella, you're more likely to succumb to the bad bacteria. When you replenish your good bacteria daily, your odds of becoming seriously ill from bad bacteria decrease.

So, take care of your guts! They're super important to your mental and physical health, and are often overlooked in whole body wellness. My kids like the GI Pro Balance sticks from Mannatech--while they've never had a pixie stick or a Fun Dip, they eat these little yogurt flavored slim sticks the same way. We just rip off the top and the kids pour it right into their mouths. I keep these and Mannabears in my purse for meltdowns--so much healthier than candy and just as effective for changing the kids' focus.

Hope you guys are enjoying this cool weather and replenishing that healthy gut flora!!!

Eating Healthy

Hey guys, how's it going? We're living life with an insane impact here at Team Kratos! We've got testimonials coming in from everywhere, I'm being asked to speak all over DFW and even at some out-of-state locations as well as having people ask for weight loss and healthy lifestyle consultations! How awesome is that? And the best part is: malnourished kids are getting fed as a direct result of our efforts. That's what it's all about, right?

So today, I'll keep it short and sweet and focus on eating healthy. I know a few years ago I was a medical assistant with tons of health information crossing my desk every day but I was 30 lbs overweight after my first child and SO CONFUSED about what healthy eating really meant. (Maybe 30 lbs doesn't sound like much to you, but I'm only 5'1"...so I looked and felt pretty hefty).

One study said low carbohydrate diets were the only way to lose significant amounts of weight.

Another study said that low carbohydrate dieters lost significant weight at first, but almost always gained it back within 1 year.

Another studies said a high carbohydrate, low fat lifestyle was the only way to go.

Another study said high carbohydrate, low fat lifestyles led to increased health risks later in life.

One study said Paleo-style diets were the authority on healthy living.

Another study said Paleo-style diets caused kidney failure and other health complications.

So you can see my dilemma. Here I was, just had my first child, the doctor told me I was breastfeeding too much and making my baby fat, my OB/GYN was telling me he was concerned because he thought I should've dropped like 20 lbs by now post-baby, I hadn't slept in 3 months because my little girl had colic and everything I was reading contradicted everything else I was reading.

So what did I do? What any unhealthy, red-blooded American woman would do--I lived on Diet Coke, popcorn and chocolate with the occasional iceberg lettuce salad...covered in Ranch dressing...

As my weight continued to stubbornly stay put almost no matter what I did, my life stress levels were increasing due to lack of sleep (my daughter had colic for her first 9 months of life and no one slept!) and increased work load. I eventually developed stress related chest pain that culminated in a panic attack. It was kind of funny actually, I had no idea what was happening and thought I was dying or something. Fortunately my husband had experience with anxiety which had never plagued me before, and was able to figure out what was going on.

Anyhow, after that period in my life I did several significant things.

#1. I jumped OFF of the bandwagon. I decided that media on dieting was too varied: the master cleanse and the 17 day diet went in and out of popularity faster than I could blink--and I'm sure they'll do it again in a few years. I just thought about what the facts were, what every body was seeing in a general blanket and that I would stick with those, namely increasing vegetables and decreasing processed foods and simple carbohydrates like white flour and white sugar.

#2. I made vegetables my best friend. Don't get me wrong--I love meat and I'm not a vegetarian. But instead of eating a giant steak with a few pieces of broccoli, I switched it around to a palm-sized portion of meat with 1 cup of broccoli. And for snacks, I avoided anything packaged and ate celery, chopped zucchini and summer squash with humus or some other kind of naturally occurring, non-packaged veggie. If I was cooking a larger portion for guests or something, I chose a meal with a basis of vegetables, such as a stir fry. That way, I could continue to eat healthy by having vegetables as the basis of the meal instead of a starch (our stir fry's are usually chicken or shrimp tossed in with frozen stir fry vegetables or cabbage and broccoli instead of rice--just as delicious and twice as healthy).

#3. I combined protein and complex carbs with every small meal, and increased my meals to 4-6 small meals daily. At first, I felt like I was just slightly hungry all the time. Eventually--probably after 2 or 3 days--my body began to adjust to the smaller, more frequent meals and it became natural to crave food every few hours and to feel satisfied with smaller meals more frequently. An example of protein and complex carbs would be: Lettuce (complex carb) and Chicken breast (protein), Apple (complex carb) and Peanut Butter (protein), raw Broccoli (complex carb) and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (protein). Or, another one of my favorites: 1/2 a banana (complex carbs) with a scoop of Osolean (protein) and some spinach (MORE complex carbs, yum!). Pretty easy stuff, right?

#4. I began to exercise. Like, really exercise, not consider walking around Wal-Mart for 20 minutes exercise. I lifted weights--dinky little 3 lb weights at first--for 10 minutes three times per week and went on 2 mile power walks on my lunch break (took me about 40 minutes at first). Eventually, I worked my way up to what I now LOVE to do: about an hour of running 5-6 times per week and weights 3-5 days per week. Mind you, I feel incredible when I work out so it's not something I'm doing to be vain or self-righteous--working out is now something I adore. I also park further away from the store to get in more of a walk, walk around a shopping center instead of going to one store, then my car, then driving to the next store haha, I take the stairs when possible, I limit my television and computer time, I walk while I read and in general do everything I can to keep my body moving. A study was just released that for every hour of television you watch, you take 22 minutes off of your life--THAT'S DOUBLE THE TIME FROM SMOKING A CIGARETTE! Not that I condone smoking--I absolutely don't, but how shocking is it that our TV habits are worse than smoking???

So, there you have it. A generalized condensed plan of how I changed my thinking patterns, my eating habits and began exercising to lose 35 pounds and keep it off for 4 years.

Have you lost weight? What worked for you? Comment below!