Tag Archives: exercise

Are popular fitness lifestyles destroying our fertility?

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𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳!

In Summer of 2020, my health began to take a dive. Years of chronic dieting, over-exercising, negative self-talk, and hormonal birth control was taking its toll. I was eating next to no carbs, minimal sugar, low fat, no dairy, lean protein only, working out 6 days a week, hours of cardio & felt terrible physically, mentally and emotionally. I began to take a hard look at the way I was living/eating/training and how it was working against my physiology.

When I began my healing journey and found the “pro-metabolic” community, I wasn’t looking for more diet dogma, but to improve my overall metabolic function and support progesterone creation and a healthy ovulation. Gaining weight was a necessary part of the equation. and when Discussing this with @fundamental.nourishment she brought this research to my attention 🤓

We can easily fall into the traps of the diet and fitness industry. We constantly chase perfection and the desire to alter our bodies because we live with the belief that we are not good enough. We want to be a smaller size, a smaller number on the scale.

Recreating the relationship that we have with exercise and why we do it, is one of the most important aspects of shifting from restrictive-driven behaviors to cultivating a happy and lasting lifestyle that is pleasant to keep up.

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!


LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️


#womenshealth #prometabolic #prometabolicnutrition #prometabolicfitness #fitnessandfertility #fertility #womensfitness #dietculturedropout #hormonehealth #hormonebalance #fitnessforwomen #onlinenutritioncoach #onlinefitnesscoach #workoutplan #metabolism #progesterone

What body appreciation ACTUALLY is

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🚨 SPOILER ALERT 🚨 Weight loss, DOES NOT & WILL NOT improve your body image. It’s body appreciation and gratitude towards the body that are KEY 🔑 in cultivating a positive body image.

Body appreciation is finding value in our body’s functionality and uniqueness as well as appreciating the differences of others. There is a benefit of having body appreciation above and beyond just the absence of a negative body image. After accounting for body dissatisfaction, body appreciation positively influenced self-esteem and coping skills, Intuitive Eating ability, as well as decreasing the risk of eating disorders.

Body appreciation can be present even in the face of dissatisfaction. We can have things we wish we could change about our body while still respecting and appreciating it for the life vehicle it is.

While we all may have our days where we feel awkward or uncomfortable in our bodies, the key to developing a more positive body image is to recognize and respect our natural shape and learn to overpower those negative thoughts and feelings with positive, affirming, and accepting ones.

Please have compassion for yourself as you retrain your thinking. Do not beat yourself up for your insecurities, show yourself patience and gently replace any harsh thoughts you have about yourself with kindness and understanding. Changing deeply ingrained thought patterns takes time, but with consistency, you’ll get there.

Accept yourself. 💕

Accept your body. 💕

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️

Sources:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006
PMID: 11948650

#bodyimage #bodyimagehealing #bodyimagemovement #bodyimageissues #onlinepersonaltrainer #onlinefitnesscoach #onlinenutritioncoach #dietculturedropout #bodyneutrality #bodyneutralfitness #prometabolic #prometabolicnutrition #fitness #selfhealers #improvebodyimage #eatingdisorderrecovery #disorderedeating

How your monthly cycle can impact body image.

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🌀Body Image & your cycle🌀

Something I’ve noticed with myself & with clients is fluctuating body image days. 🎢

The more we understand about our monthly cycles, the hormonal fluctuations & how they impact everything from our brain chemistry, energy levels and metabolic function, the better we can support our physiology during these more challenging times.

👉🏻Swipe through to learn what the research says, and my tips for working through this!

Have you ever heard of the term & concept cycle syncing? It was created by @alisa.vitti the founder of @floliving and it’s a practice of planning your life according to the phases of your monthly cycle. Like the foods you prioritize. The movement you focus on, the work project you take on, the social activities you commit to & so forth. It’s more intuitive than you may think!

❤️

Listening to @hormonehealingrd Are you Menstrual podcast 🔊 is informative as well!

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️

#bodyimage#bodyimagemovement#bodyimageissues#bodyimagehealing#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinepersonaltraining#onlinenutritioncoach#nutritioncoach#pms#pmsproblems#womenshealth#womenshormones#womenshormonalhealth#fitnessjourney#dietculturedropout#period#periodproblems#periodtalk#cyclesyncing#womensupportingwomen#women

Food as Medicine: How food and diet impact the treatment of disease.

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🍽 FOOD AS MEDICINE 🍽
My heart skipped a beat when I saw this report released last week, Which also includes 10 key recommendations to stakeholders to advance food as medicine practices in the prevention and treatment of disease which are all very impressive calls to action. 👏🏻

This is the first of MANY posts I’ll be doing on this.

Let’s dive in👇🏻
In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientific investigation and innovation dominated Western understanding of medicine During that time, American medical education underwent notable advancements. In 1745, the first formal course in human anatomy was established at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1829, the first American textbook on pathology was published.

These innovations, among others, ultimately inspired a shift away from nutrition-based medicine towards allopathic medicine.

Allopathic medicine is defined by the National Cancer Institute as: “A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery. Also called biomedicine, conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, and Western medicine

However, the use of food as medicine is rooted in science and has been adopted and practiced by numerous cultures despite the fact that the history of food as medicine was largely ignored by academics until the 21st century.

Now, largely because of its increasing social media presence and online attention,academic study of the history and use of food as medicine has begun to gain momentum, finding its place in journals, conferences, and programs of study!

Last slide says it all 🙌🏻

SOURCE:
Platkin, C., Cather, A., Butz, L., Garcia, I., Gallanter, M., Leung, MM., Food As Medicine: Overview and Report: How Food and Diet Impact the Treatment of Disease and Disease Management. Center for Food As Medicine and Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center; March 30, 2022

Pro-metabolic Strength Training Guide 2.0

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🥁 Drumroll Please! 🥁I am so excited for this guide!

My intentions are to educate you on how to approach strength training while honoring your physiology.

When dealing with hormonal issues, PCOS, thyroid & adrenal issues, and autoimmune flare ups it’s important to be working WITH your physiology not against it.

👉🏻In these women, we typically see low thyroid hormone (either production, conversion or cellular uptake) and high cortisol. So, over-exercising or the KIND of exercise can potentially set you back, push you farther away from achieving hormone balance and reversing your symptoms. 🙅🏻‍♀️

As you know, my message centers on shifting away from the diet culture mentality, over exercising, and “earning” your food, and refocusing on learning to properly and intentionally nourish, appreciate & respect your body.

We can easily fall into the traps of the diet and fitness industry. We constantly chase perfection and the desire to alter our bodies because we live with the belief that we are not good enough. We want to be a smaller size, a smaller number on the scale. I’ve learned these lessons the hard way, as I’ve shared my fitness/health journey coming from a fitness/bodybuilding competition background & the health repercussions of competing.

Swipe through to learn more about it!
👉🏻slide 4 The Pro-metabolic Decision Tree: For clients and I, the top recommendations for non-negotiables prior to incorporating intentional exercise would be: close to ideal temps/pulses, adequate rest and nutritional intake. There is obvious nuance and context here, but this is a general guide.

If you’re low on rest, but really wanting to move your body more than walking/household chores, stick with the blue color-coded workouts which are more core & mobility focused, or a light yoga session. If you’re well rested and well fed, the purple color-coded Strength Training workouts are more appropriate.

LINK TO GUIDES HERE! Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching 

#onlinepersonaltrainer #personaltrainer #prometabolic #fitnesscoach #onlinefitnesscoach #onlinefitnesscoaching #fitnessprogram #pcosfitness #womenshealth #womensfitness #strengthtrainingforwomen #strengthtraining #fitfam #womensfitness #thyroidhealing

How restrictive dieting (low calories) negatively impacts your thyroid

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Your thyroid is a 🦋-shaped gland that powers every cell in your body. It sets the pace for your body to function and operate.

Thyroid health can be so confusing, especially because you don’t need to be diagnosed with a thyroid disorder to suffer from thyroid issues. Hypothyroidism or sluggish thyroid is much more common in women than hyperthyroidism—see symptoms on slide 6.

Swipe👉🏻 to learn how chronic dieting, under-eating, under-nourishing can lead to impaired thyroid function.

It’s important to understand that the years of stressors (Like: undernourishment, overexercising, lack of rest, sunlight, constant stimulation, trauma, halogen exposure, etc.) will not disappear overnight.

Here are some areas to focus on to bring back balance:

Managing STRESS — Developing positive stress coping mechanisms like: journaling, getting outside, asking for help, breath work, taking a bath, therapy, &hanging with pets. Be sure to prioritize morning and bedtime routines, quality sleep, gentle exercise, and support your circadian rhythm by getting enough natural light (and less blue light exposure).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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NUTRIENTS — Our thyroid requires specific minerals, like Vit. A, iodine, zinc, copper, selenium, etc. to properly function. Focus on nutrient-dense foods like shrimp, organ meats, bone broth, quality dairy, &fresh fruits.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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DIGESTION — We need to properly break down and absorb our food to get the nutrients our thyroid requires. We also need enough stomach acid for a healthy digestive process. Try adding in digestive bitters if you suffer from digestive issues.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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TOXINS — Specific chemicals called halogens (bromine, chlorine, and fluorine) compete with iodine and bind to thyroid receptors, preventing thyroid hormones from working properly. Filtering fluoride and chloride out of your drinking and bath/shower water helps those with thyroid dysfunction.⠀⠀⠀

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching 🫶🏻

#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinefitnesscoach#chronicdieting#hormoneimbalance#womenshealth#strengthtrainingforwomen
#thyroid#thyroidhealth#fitnessjourney

Challenging the ALL or NOTHING self-talk:

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🗣 ALL or NOTHING Self-talk

This type of thinking is between two extremes: you are either a success or a failure. If you’re not perfect, then you’re a disaster.

This mindset is too strict, which leaves no leeway for mishaps which are inevitable.

In a previous post, we dove into common types of negative self-talk: The worrier, the critic, the perfectionist, the victim and how we interpret external events and our self-talk directly afterwards greatly influence our feelings and reactions.

The two most effective ways to deal with negative self-talk is to question it & counter it with neural/positive supportive statements. You can weaken the hold of your negative self-statements by exposing them to any of the following Socratic questions or rational investigation. Countering involves writing down & rehearsing positive statements that directly refute or invalidate your negative self-talk.

I wanted to provide some of examples & work throughs that may be helpful in developing the habit of re-framing and countering negative self-talk.

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching 💛

#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinenutritioncoach#personaltrainer#nutritioncoach#allornothing#mindsetmatters#selftalk#selftalkmatters#mentalhealthawareness#mentalhealth#cognitivebehavioraltherapy#selfawareness#healthcoach#dietculturedropout#reframingthoughts#negativeselftalk#negativeselfhelp#fitnessmotivation#explorepage

What is self-talk? and WHY is it so important?

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🗣 Self-talk 🗣
On average, we have between 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day, this means between 35 and 48 thoughts per minute per person.

“I am not worthy, I’m not lean enough, I’ll never be able to do ____” or maybe it’s the voice of someone else “you’re too chubby, you’re too skinny, you don’t deserve this…” etc

Self-talk is that voice in your head that operates from auto pilot. You’re evaluating, judging and affirming things that you’ve been reinforced throughout your life. What you’re communicating to yourself about your life is what you’re reinforcing all day long.

Which of the negative self-talk sub personalities is the strongest for you? I’d appreciate hearing from y’all 👇🏻
For me, I have a bit of all four 😂😭 mostly the critic though.

💡 A large focus on my coaching process is working with clients to counter their negative self-talk, learn how to reframe their thinking & improve overall outlook on life ❤️

Your self-talk is like a movie soundtrack & you’re narrating all the nuances and happenings in your life— make it positive to see and feel the shift ✨

Source: The anxiety and phobia workbook by Edmund J Bourne, PHD

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching 💛

Reasons to move your body, that aren’t weight or appearance focused!

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Intention is 🔑 👇🏻

🧠 Intention is a mental state that represents a commitment to carry out an action or actions. Intention involves mental activities such as planning (If this happens, then I’ll do that) and forethought (Reflective to reflexive).

Have you ever thought about WHY you are engaging in your fitness & nutrition routine?

One of the main drivers behind WHY I used to exercise was to “change my body.” I spent years dieting and exercising to change my body and make her look a certain way. To be accepted. To be seen as worthy. These past few years, I’ve done some deep soul digging, therapy, and LOTS of unlearning and relearning. In this process, I found the Body Neutrality movement which promotes accepting and appreciating your body for what it can do for you, rather than for how it looks.

Instead of aesthetics being the main intention, the focus is more on how you want to FEEL and cultivating a positive body image through developing body appreciation.

Exercise is not meant to be a punishment. If your body needs a rest day, then give it a rest day. I work closely with my clients to build their programming with activities that they enjoy. More recreation, more walks, more FUN!

If your focus is to
•Improve confidence 🦸‍♀️
•Increase strength & performance 💪🏻
•Boost mood 😆
•Stress relief 😮‍💨
•Improve sleep 💤
•Boost energy ⚡️

You’re more likely to develop a positive body image through developing body appreciation. And have more FUN 🤩 in the process!

Exercise and movement are not meant to feel like a complete chore or punishment!

There are many reasons to move your body besides wanting to change the way you look. 💗

I work closely with clients to build their fitness programming with activities that they enjoy. We work to create a healthy relationship with exercise that is flexible and fulfilling. Not punishment or deprivation.

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my pro-metabolic strength training guide! Check “programs” highlight reel to learn more!

✌🏼Link to apply for coaching 💗

#dietculturedropout#bodyneutrality#bodyneutral#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinefitnesscoach#fitnessmotivation#motivation#intentions#desire#goals#personaltrainer#infographic#explorepage

Loss of Smell/Taste & Thyroid Function PART 1

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Most individuals think that the immune system is a separate from thyroid function, but this is not the case.

Body temperature has been shown to correlate with mortality in C-19 patients. Low basal temperature possibly indicates less thyroid immunity and reduce functionality to deal with a threat.

🤔Could this be why some of us have lost smell/taste for extended periods of time? And/or developed Paromsia?

I firmly believe that in supporting thyroid & adrenal health, increasing Whole Foods like oysters 🦪 that are rich in Zinc & selenium are crucial aspects to bringing healing.

Long periods without eating, chronic stress, Birth control all impact thyroid function. & Low thyroid hormone can also impact neurotransmitters, & cause low dopamine levels leading to a loss of motivation and willpower, compounding with other issues, such as elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and gallstones. Low thyroid hormone leads to poor digestive function, including low digestive enzymes and constipation. More of this will be covered in part II post!

Sources: Keith Littlewood BSc, PgDip, MSc Endocrinology – check out his page @tommolittlewood

doi:10.1186s13054-020-03045-8

#lostsmellandtaste#lostsmell#nosmell#parosmia#rottensmell#parosmiaawareness#parosmiatips#weirdsmell#smelldisorders#smellsbad#nutritionist#losstaste#parosmiarecovery#proteinpacked#thyroidhealing#thyroid