Non-Toxic Baby Must Haves

Our Non-Toxic Baby Must Haves

Prioritizing non-toxic products for Beck was and is very important for my husband and I. On a daily basis, we are all exposed to countless toxins and chemicals that are absorbed through our skin, the air we breathe, the food we eat, etc. SO being able to limit and control the amount of toxins he’s exposed to from the beginning is a huge focus for our family. Is EVERYTHING 100% clean? Absolutely not. But do we try to keep the majority clean? Yes.

If you struggle to decide or prioritize which non-toxic products to go with and when (because let’s be honest- they’re more of an investment), I recommend assessing the following: What is your little babe going to be wearing the most? Sleeping in the most? Having skin to skin contact most frequently/the longest duration on a daily basis? Those are the items you want to prioritize when you can! Another tip… YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY A TON OF SHIT. Babies need you. Try not to get caught up in the pressure that the baby product market puts on families to buy, buy, buy the next best thing ALL the time. Get some basics and as you learn more about your babe once they arrive, pivot as needed!

(We also love buying certain products second-hand when possible to save on budget. Facebook Marketplace and Goodwill have been a DREAM).

As requested, I have compiled a list of all of our “must have’s” that we use with Beck on a daily basis. For the sake of time, I linked them in a Google Doc rather than making a full blog post with all the bows and whistles. (#momlife) If you have any questions about the products we use, comment below or shoot me an email at bunsinbalance@gmail.com!

Pregnancy and Birth Plan

My first pregnancy

This pregnancy (while it’s my first and only so far) has truly been wonderful. Most people are quick to throw the “just wait…*insert their negative experience*” or the “oh you just got lucky” comments into the conversation, but I have no doubt that if I hadn’t laid the foundation that I did prior to getting pregnant, this pregnancy would have looked very different.

As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I understand (on a physiological level) how conducive a nutrient dense diet is for not only our overall health but our reproductive health in particular. This exact reason is why I am so intentional about not only what I put into my body on a daily basis, but what my clients put into their bodies as well to help optimize their hormonal health and fertility.

The moment I found out that I was pregnant, my priority remained the same. To eat as many properly prepared, nutrient dense foods as possible. Thankfully, I had been unintentionally “prepping” my body for this season for the past few years which didn’t require me to make many adjustments to my diet and supplementation. Not that I was oblivious to the fact that proper nutrition would in turn ABSOLUTELY benefit my fertility and pregnancy, but it just gave me so much grace knowing that nothing really needed to change even though my body was now entering into a completely different season.

SO. Let’s get to the goods. Throughout this post, I’ll be sharing my experience during my pregnancy along with the decisions that both my husband and I made alongside our birth and medical team. Moving forward as a disclaimer, none of this information should be taken as medical advice. Since every person and pregnancy is so bio-individual, always consult with your birth/medical team prior to implementation!

Pre-conception nutrition

My pre-conception diet/supplementation and prenatal diet/supplementation were practically identical. I had been been implementing the following nutrition staples for 2-3+ years prior to trying to conceive (TTC). The focus? A whole food, diverse, nutrient-dense, non-restrictive diet that focused on quality and variety rather than calories, macros or a number on a scale.

Daily/Weekly Food Staples

  • For a full breakdown of my daily supplement regimen and more, you can find that in my Fertility Focus Workbook here!

  • *Below I have intentionally included how each of these foods are sourced. (AKA “grass-fed”, “wild-caught”, “organic”, etc.) Where your food is sourced is one of the most important factors that you want to be on the lookout for as you’re stocking up on groceries for you and the future little one. BUT, if you can’t always find “grass-fed” or “organic” options due to budget or other circumstances- that’s okay. The foundational focus is to incorporate as many whole foods as you can and significantly limit/reduce anything with a label on it. By keeping the processed and packaged foods out as much possible, this will drastically decrease your exposure to inflammatory ingredients, artificial additives, chemicals, pesticides, etc.- all of which can negatively impact fertility. This could be an entire blog post in itself so I’ll save that for another time and jump to what you came here for. My daily and weekly food staples!

    • Protein/Fat:

      • Grass-fed bone broth

        • Kettle and Fire- Discount Code: KELSIE

      • Pasture-raised eggs

      • Pasture-raised chicken and/or organic turkey

      • Grass-fed beef and lamb

      • Grass-fed beef sticks (Nick’s Sticks, Paleo Valley, Chomp Sticks, etc.)

      • Grass-fed or raw cheese

      • Raw or grass-fed whole milk

      • Organic whole-fat cottage cheese

      • Organic whole-fat, Greek yogurt

      • Wild-caught fish (mainly tuna, salmon, scallops and tilapia for me)

      • Organic coconut oil, coconut cream and coconut milk

      • Grass-fed butter and ghee

      • Organic nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew, etc.)

      • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

      • Avocado oil

    • Carbohydrates/Fibers/Misc.

      • Organic fruits (lots of berries, cherries and citrus fruits)

      • Organic fruit juices

      • Cooked/steamed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, brussels sprouts, etc.)

      • Organic spinach (would always throw in smoothies frozen)

      • Organic beets

      • Sauerkraut and other pickled veggies

      • White potatoes and sweet potatoes

      • Butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash

      • Organic white and brown rice

      • Organic quinoa and brown rice pasta

      • Organic popcorn

      • Sourdough bread

      • Dates

      • Dark chocolate (75% cocoa and higher)

      • Pure maple syrup and raw honey

      • Purity decaf coffee

      • Kombucha and kefir

      • Dandelion Root Tea, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, Throat Coat Tea

Once my husband and I were actively TTC, it took us 4 months to successfully do so. As I have shared on my IG account, I was suspicious that I was not producing enough cervical mucus (CM) during my ovulatory window during those 3-4 months. *Healthy CM is imperative for a successful conception due to the fact that sperm NEED it to survive. Without it, the acidity of the vagina will kill sperm off.

After running a Complete Blood Count (CBC) with Differential and a urine test, it was determined that I had a bacterial infection that needed to unfortunately be treated with one round of an antibiotic. (Yes, I was bummed but sometimes antibiotics are necessary!) I continued to take my daily probiotic and focused heavily on probiotic rich foods to ensure that the good bacteria that the antibiotic would kill off could replenish. This is just one example of why it is so important to understand your fertility markers (like your CM production and basal body temps) so you can narrow in on potential factors that could be working against your TTC journey. If you are struggling to conceive and notice that your CM is not what it should be, it’s helpful to be aware that any type of infection (as well as dehydration, stress, etc.) can diminish CM production!

The month after the infection cleared up, we were so grateful to see a positive pregnancy test! (It’s hard to say if the infection was the sole reason behind our inability to get pregnant right away, but I do feel it was playing a large role).

First signs of pregnancy for me (prior to the positive test)?

For the past couple of years I had been using the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) as my birth control. Having said that, I had been diligently taking my basal body temps (BBT’s) in the morning and tracking my cervical mucus patterns daily. I knew my ovulatory patterns and bio-markers inside and out. So when my late luteal phase temps remained elevated past their normal duration leading up to my period, that was my first clue that we could be pregnant. (Typically temps will drop right before your period due to the drop in progesterone). My second clue? I was constipated AF for about 3 days. This is NOT like me. I pride myself in at least pooping once or twice (or sometimes three times a day) like clockwork. Both symptoms provided insight that my progesterone levels were still high and pregnancy was possible. SO I took a pregnancy test the morning after Thanksgiving and sure as shit… we had a positive test!!!!

If you’re TTC, I highly recommend looking into these IG accounts as well as getting the appropriate testing done FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER to determine best next steps!

A few Instagram accounts worth following while TTC:

Recommended Books:

First Trimester

Alright so we’re pregnant…. Now what???

Right around week 7/8 of being pregnant, a few symptoms started to kick in. The (intermittent) yet all day long nausea was the most memorable. And contrary to the “morning sickness” stigma it wasn’t just isolated to mornings. In fact it would often worsen around dinner time. Thankfully, I never was so nauseated to the point that I threw up but there were times I thought I was close! Beyond nausea, fatigue and breast tenderness were the only other two symptoms that stuck out during the first trimester. Naps were this mama’s best friend!

Symptoms That I Experienced and Remedies For Each

Nausea

  1. Keeping a snack on my night stand and eating a handful in the morning before even getting out of bed. During first trimester it can be hard to stomach much, so anything that sounds good goes. I just always tried to stay conscious of the ingredients in it! My go-to night stand/morning snack was a handful of peanuts (with just peanuts and sea salt- no added oils like canola, vegetable, etc. as those are inflammatory)

  2. Eating breakfast nearly immediately after getting up and moving. This was often the one meal when I personally wasn’t too nauseas yet, so I really tried to pack in as many nutrients as I could. It was typically 2 pasture-raised eggs (scrambled) + berries or oranges + sourdough toast with grass-fed butter

  3. Trying to snack every couple of hours throughout the day to keep blood sugar stable. When you go long periods of time in between meals (especially when all you can stomach is carbs) this is going to cause your blood sugar to SPIKE then drop before your next meal which can intensify nausea. Always trying to pair a carb with a protein or fat is ideal. Bone broth is a great, easy to digest and stomach protein that I drank frequently!

    1. By far, my favorite bone broth is from Kettle and Fire! There are many flavors that you can choose from and it’s all grass-fed so you know you and that baby are getting the best of the best. (You can use my code: Kelsie for a 20% discount on your order)

  4. Ginger tea, ginger chews, all things ginger!!!

  5. Peppermint essential oil and edible peppermint


Fatigue

  1. Sleep whenever and wherever you can. Take advantage of those naps and don’t feel bad about going to bed at 7:30 pm! Your body needs rest.

  2. Regulate blood sugar as much as possible

    1. Eating right away after sleeping through the night to bring blood sugar back up

    2. Trying to eat a balanced snack (if having a carb, always pair with a protein or fat) every couple of hours. I know this can be hard if experiencing nausea but even small nutrient dense snacks like bone broth can help!

  3. Replenish nutrient stores

    1. Desiccated beef liver capsules and trace minerals

    2. The “Adrenal Cocktail” in the morning or afternoon

    3. Bone broth

Cravings and Aversions

Throughout this entire pregnancy, I haven’t experienced many legit CRAVINGS. Are there foods that I prefer? Totally. During the first trimester did chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese sound great 24/8? Yes. But I’ve never had a “drive me to Dairy Queen and then stop at the China Buffet on the way home” request at 2 am. I do really believe that blood sugar regulation plays a large part in keeping some cravings at bay just because when your blood sugar drops low (in general- not just during pregnancy) this is when you find yourself blankly staring at the open fridge or pantry ready to BINGE. We’ve all been there.

Aversion wise, I had a solid few weeks where I could not even be in the same house as broccoli, rice or potatoes. Which is WILD because one, they are very bland foods in general and two, we eat them constantly. (I do think part of it was the smell of the Air Fryer which I still can’t stomach to this day at 38 weeks pregnant). Bottom line, if something doesn’t sound good don’t force it!

Pro tip: Adding collagen to tea or incorporating gelatin in “Gut Gummies” were very easy was to get in some high quality protein without feeling like I was EATING a ton.

Resources that I enjoyed/would recommend during early pregnancy and on:

second and third trimester

After week 12 (like clockwork), my nausea disappeared and I was feeling like a new person. I felt like I was finally able to get at least 3 full meals in with snacks in between. LET’S GOOOO. The fatigue let up too and I had far more energy throughout the day which was really refreshing. Supplement wise, my regimen remained the same, as it did through my entire pregnancy. If I was experiencing more restless leg syndrome though for example, I would bump up my magnesium intake but overall my regimen was very consistent throughout.

A few habits that I began/adjusted after first trimester was complete:

  • I began working out twice a week with Katie Dougherty, CPT/IIN Coach (friend and cycle syncing master). We had one-hour long, virtual sessions that focused on total body strength and pelvic floor work. Staying active has been very important to me during this pregnancy and to my surprise, I’ve actually gotten STRONGER since pre-pregnancy. It’s also mind-blowing how important focusing on the pelvic floor is during/post pregnancy. Working with Katie was a great way to keep me accountable to do more than my typical daily walks (usually 30-60 minutes) and her ability to cater workouts to my pregnancy and goals took so much weight off mine and the babe’s shoulders.

  • I began introducing more herbs into my daily/weekly routine! As I’ve mentioned before, herbs and pregnancy are mucky. There are some herbs that ARE well researched and proven unsafe during pregnancy that you want to stay away from. While in the same breathe, there is such little research (or funding) done on the “safeness” of others. As always consult with your doctor/midwife, doula, etc. when introducing herbs into your routine!

    • Red Raspberry Leaf Tea daily

    • Dandelion Root Tea every other day

    • Nettle Root Tea every other day

  • At week 16, we officially discontinued care through our M.D. and switched over to our current Midwife at Authentic Birth Center.

    • What is a birth center? Why did we switch? What concerns did we have prior to switching? (I’ll cover all of this soon- I just haven’t had time to sit down and type it out since the babe has arrived).

  • We hired a doula!!!!!

    • If you’re in the Milwaukee area, Amy Loomis my friends. She is INCREDIBLE. Emboldened Life Wellness Collective in Cedarburg, WI.

      • Whether it’s due to the fact that I surround myself with very like-minded, holistic professionals OR just the nature of where labor/birth education is headed- doula’s are becoming much more mainstream AS THEY SHOULD BE. In my opinion, every mama/family should have access to a doula. They are a phenomenal resource, teacher and advocate that help bridge the gap between doctors/midwives and mama’s/their partners throughout pregnancy, during labor and postpartum. Our doula provided so much support leading up to our birth, including but not limited to:

        • Discussing and creating our birth plan for the birth center

        • Discussing and creating our birth plan if a c-section or hospital birth were to be necessary

        • Education on the various stages of labor, labor positioning/ comfort measures, natural pain relief, etc. for both myself and my husband

        • Breastfeeding education

        • Herbal education

      • While so many aspects of birth are out of our control, an equal amount (if not more) ARE in our control. With this being my first pregnancy, we wanted to feel as educated and empowered as we possibly could be so every step of the way we would feel an overwhelming amount of autonomy. Regardless if the scenario was our “ideal” scenario. And our doula helped us feel just that!



Natural Remedies I Incorporated to Induce Labor (37 weeks and on)

*These are all remedies that I introduced under the guidance of my midwife and doula. Dosing, frequency, etc. should be determined within your team. Not medical advice!

  • Walking!!! Throughout my entire pregnancy, I walked at least 30 minutes per day. After week 37, I ramped it up even more as long as my energy was good. After meals is a great time walk to help regulate blood sugar. Walking also irritates the uterus (in a good way) to stimulate contractions

    • We don’t have any curbs around our house otherwise curb walking is said to be extremely helpful as well

  • Red raspberry leaf tea: Helps tone the uterus

    • 4-6+ steeped tea bags per day

  • Dates: Soften the cervix

    • 6 dates per day (stuffed with grass-fed cheese to regulate blood sugar with sea salt sprinkled on top… you’ll thank me later)

  • Miles Circuit: Allows baby to get into proper positioning for labor due to pelvic positioning/sequence. Our babe was head down at 28 weeks (huge relief) but getting it’s head facing my back with its chin tucked was the goal!

    • Once a day or once every other day. I found the first two positions to be super relaxing, the last…. never looked forward to haha

  • Sex: Semen is a prostaglandin which softens the cervix and the female orgasm can stimulate contractions as well as the oxytocin released during

  • Evening primrose oil/EPO (taken orally and vaginally)

    • Daily under the recommendation of my midwife

  • Chiropractor Adjustments (Webster’s Technique)

    • Once a week (our birth center had a chiropractor in house which was wonderful)

my birth plan

Now I won’t get into EVERY detail of our birth plan, but I am happy to share the biggies (and the most frequently asked questions regarding it). Before moving forward though, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a birth plan. Regardless if you are able to stick to it or not (because sometimes things just don’t go as planned), thinking through these scenarios and options (THAT YOU DO HAVE) during labor/delivery prior to giving birth is insanely beneficial for both you, you and your partner and your baby.

I’ll never forget listening to one of my first podcasts about creating a birth plan and the host so perfectly stated, “What you don’t know CAN hurt you”. And it’s so true. Modern and conventional births are all about volume and efficiency rather than quality of labor and birth. So often times, you will be persuaded (if even asked) to do what is most convenient for your doctor and medical team rather than what’s best/most desired by YOU, your partner and your baby. And the thought of that made me cringe. So I took time to do some research into what our options truly were and where exactly I could gain more autonomy.

My Birth Plan for Labor and Delivery

  • First and foremost, we will be birthing at our Birth Center rather than a hospital. Birth Centers inherently take a much more natural, no intervention approach while also naturally respecting the importance of mother/baby bonding. (Birth Center’s do not offer epidurals, Pitocin, IV pain medications, C-sections, etc.) That being said, I’m very grateful that our desires will be the standard practice of care rather than something that needs to be advocated for unless we have to transfer to the hospital.

  • Ideally, I would like to labor at home for as long as possible and our birth center has a 4-1-1/5-1-1 rule where I would only come in when contractions begin following this pattern

  • Natural water rupture and limited cervical checks

  • No medications or IV unless medically necessary

  • Intermittent monitoring via a doppler rather than continuous EFM

  • Water birth

    • The world’s most natural epidural (or so I hear!)

  • Free movement

    • Typically in hospitals (especially if you receive an epidural) you are confined to laying on your back, in your bed. BUT YA GOTTA LET GRAVITY DO IT’S THING. Squatting, kneeling on all fours, standing, etc. are all much more natural birthing positions- making it easier on both mama and baby

  • No membrane sweep, episiotomy, or forceps/vacuum extraction

  • Food and drink for mama (will share the snacks and drinks I brought) and lights dim

  • Will be using essential oils (clary sage can be wonderful to expedite labor, same with castor oil if needed) as well as birthing combs for pain management

    • “The teeth of the comb are held to the base of the fingers which helps to relieve pain. It also plays a part in the pain gate theory where it distracts the brain into focusing away from surges (contractions) and towards the sensation in the hand”

My Birth Plan for After Delivery

  • Immediate skin-to-skin and breastfeeding as soon as possible

  • Delayed chord clamping

    • Conventionally, the umbilical chord is clamped from the placenta almost immediately once the baby is born. By waiting even 5 minutes (or however long it takes for the chord to stop pulsing), this allows for the blood that’s still in the placenta to transfer fully to the baby. This makes the baby less likely to hemorrhage and more likely to have higher iron stores!

  • Save placenta to be desiccated into capsule form

    • The Birth Center has an affiliated company that will come take the placenta, do the whole process and send us our capsules when they are done. You can look into private companies that offer this service if you are birthing in the hospital or your home!

  • No bath for baby

    • The vernix/coating that covers the baby’s body when born contains extremely beneficial antimicrobial and anti-fungal agents. The baby also prefers the smell of the amniotic fluid (that has been surrounding it for the past 9 months) which helps them bond with mama and breastfeed.

  • No pacifiers or formula

  • No eye ointment and no Hepatitis B

  • Aluminum-Free Vitamin K

  • Would like any procedures for baby to be done while mom is holding baby or breastfeeding, if possible

  • Chiropractic adjustment for baby and mama

  • Limited visitors

    • We plan to have no visitors within the first 6-8 hours of baby being born to respect the “Golden Hour” as well as the “Restorative Sleep Window” that allows both us parents and the baby to recover after a physically and emotionally taxing labor and delivery

Miscellaneous

  • I can’t remember exactly when but somewhere during early second trimester, I experienced really bad heel pain if I wasn’t wearing any type of supportive shoe. (Even if I was just walking from our bed to the bathroom, woofta). This is to be expected though after gaining 20 ish pounds at that point, right?? I was minutes from buying some Hoka tennis shoes (because I’ve heard they feel like you’re walking on pillows) but then instantly the fear of my feet growing during the rest of pregnancy (or post-pregnancy) scared me out of spending $150+ on a pair of shoes. Enter….. the most magical pillow slides from Amazon that truly have saved my life. I eventually ordered two pairs, one for wearing out and about and the other for wearing around the house. Worth every cent of $24.99.

  • Maternity clothes. SIGH!!! I was so stubborn when it came to this, so if you’re looking for an extensive list of recommendations, I am not your gal. Thankfully, I received a few hand-me-downs from my friend so I had a pair of biker shorts, a pair of leggings, a few bras, a pair of overalls, etc. Beyond that, these are all of the maternity clothes that I purchased:

    • Target Cotton Tanks (Literally bought 4, all in different colors and lived in them)

    • Target Biker Shorts

    • And then a couple of maternity dresses from Pink Blush for showers we had this summer and maternity pictures

    • Aside from that, I went straight to Goodwill and bought several comfy, lounge shorts in a larger size and then I just lived in oversized dresses and t-shirts. (A huge perk to being pregnant in the summer is not having to EVER wear maternity pants or pants in general). Also working from home helps a lot haha

  • All maternity photos (that you see here are that were shared on my IG) were done by Mariah Bormann in Milwaukee, WI. Could not recommend more if you are local to the area! We are so grateful that she was able to capture so many special little moments before our space cowboy arrived. And to think we almost didn’t even do maternity photos???

  • I’ve had several questions about items I added to our registry so I thought I’d just add the full link here! Remember, this is our first time around so everything is trial and error. Many choices were based off of friend/family recommendations and personal research.

Imagine If We Prioritized Our Health Year Round, Not Just When Crisis Hits

Hello my quarantiners, how we doing?

Anxious? Confused? Overwhelmed? Relieved you don't have to see your boss today? Hoping you and your significant other can land on a movie you both don't hate?

Whatever you're feeling, it's safe to say that someone else (if not everyone else) is feeling the same way. I have had several of you reach out asking my opinion about the COVID-19, what we are doing in this time, and what steps I would suggest taking.

My first response always, is to control what you can control. We can't control the media, we can't control where we are working or if we are working, and we can't control what tomorrow will bring. In times like this where it seems hard to find the silver lining, I can't help but reiterate how important it is for us to practice prevention rather than reaction. Right now and as we move forward through this weary time.

As a society, we are stellar at reacting. Like grade-a professionals.

We react to pain with painkillers. We react to high cholesterol with statins. We react to colds, flus, heartburn, headaches, cramps, anxiety, depression, ADHD, with what? A pill. But imagine if we supported our bodies in a way that we wouldn't have to react. That the pain was never there because you eliminated inflammatory foods from your diet. That your heartburn was never there because your body was making enough stomach acid. That your cramps were never there because your hormones were balanced and you had ample amounts of magnesium in your diet. That you didn’t wind up with the flu every year because your immune system was more than capable of fighting it off. That your anxiety was manageable because your gut microbiome had the proper amount of good bacteria to bad and your gut lining was strong as an ox. 

Imagine if we prioritized our health year round, not just when crisis hits. 

And I get it, some facets of our health are out of our control and can't always be prevented. But I believe with every bone in my body, that SO MUCH OF IT CAN BE if we just act proactively. Truth be told, what we are doing in our home to support our bodies today compared to what we were doing pre-COVID-19, is near identical. Sure, we are being more intentional about getting certain immune boosting vitamins and minerals in- but our diet and lifestyle regimen doesn't look much different at all. And what I hope is that we can all learn from this pandemic to love, feed, and support our bodies year round so that when we are uncertain in times like this, we know we are prepared as we can be.

Immune boosters we are incorporating into our diet every day: sauteed raw garlic, oil of oregano, elderberry syrup (except we just ran out wahhh), colloidal silver, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, bone broth, grass-fed butter, HELLA water with electrolytes, and plenty of fruits and veggies. (We also supplement with Biotics L-Glutamine to support our gut lining, Vitamin D3, K, as well as fruit and veggie capsules for an easy “nutrient insurance”. I know it can be hard to get all of your servings in throughout the day, especially if the stores can’t keep them stocked anyway!)

Immune suppressors we eliminate/limit from our diet: processed/packaged foods, canned items, sugar, vegetable oils/ canola oil, alcohol, gluten, etc.

If there is a product that you currently use or have for your family and are curious if it is helping or harming your immune system, feel free to reach out and I would love to have a conversation!

Sh*t is a little weird out there and although there are a lot of unknowns at the moment, all we can do is lay the groundwork for our immune system, build on it like crazy, and not be idiots when it comes to personal and public hygiene. Be proactive until you have to react. 

What Your Doctor Hasn't Told You About Cholesterol

Cholesterol does not cause heart disease and foods high in cholesterol does not raise your cholesterol. Do I have everyone’s attention? Good.

We have been told for FOREVER that “cholesterol” is a swear word and should be avoided at all costs. When in fact, cholesterol from food virtually has NO effect on our cholesterol levels and it is one of our body’s saviors. Per usual, our bodies are incredibly intelligent and are wired to effectively keep our cholesterol levels in balance without our help. When we eat more cholesterol, our body produces less. When we eat less cholesterol, our body produces more. So no matter how hard you avoid cholesterol in your diet, your body will still produce it in order to function.

The trend (*and encouragement) of low-fat, low-cholesterol diets hav been fueled by bias, vested interests, and institutional momentum which our media, health organizations, and pharma companies have RAN with. But on what grounds?

For my evidence based homies out there, here are a few major studies that were done on the effect of cholesterol in our diets and what was ACTUALLY concluded:

  • The Framingham Heart Study: the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol.

  • The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT): People who ate less animal fat and cholesterol actually had more serum cholesterol. We can’t survive without cholesterol, so the body will actually produce more when we eat less.

  • The Women’s Health Initiative (The longest and largest trial ever conducted on the connection between fat consumption and disease): 49,000 women were put on a low-fat diet and they did not lose weight, nor did they see a significant decrease in their risk for heart disease or cancer.

  • Whitehall Study: Followed 18,000 men over 10 years, asking half of them to reduce consumption of saturated fats/cholesterol and consume more unsaturated fats (vegetable oil/margarine) instead. After just ONE year, participants eating a diet low in saturated fats/cholesterol and high in vegetable oils and margarine had 100% more deaths than those who ate saturated fats/cholesterol.

So why are we still being told to eat diets low in fats and low in cholesterol ON TOP OF taking cholesterol lowering drugs? Ignorance and some blind faith in our historical “research” and biased data perhaps? Seems like quite the trend lately.

So if cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease, what does? Chronic inflammation.

And what causes chronic inflammation?

  • A diet high in sugars and refined carbs (metabolic syndrome)

    • Which causes AGE formation that leads to atherosclerosis as well as a chronic deficiency in magnesium which plays a huge role in heart function and arterial muscle function.

  • Toxic chemicals (personal care products, cleaning products, pesticides on foods, chlorine, fluoride, etc.)

  • Trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and processed seed oils (canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, etc.)

  • Gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, etc. (COUGH, COUGH *GUT CHECK COURSE 😊)

  • Deficiencies in necessary vitamins

  • THE LIFE WE LIVE IN. (High stress, lot of processed foods, low movement)

Cholesterol is not the cause, it’s the response. For the sake of this argument, I’m going to paint you a picture. Cholesterol is the firefighter and chronic inflammation, plaques, and all of the consequences leading up to those are the “scene” or the “fire” if you will. When we chronically consume trans fats (canola oil), refined sugars, and processed foods- this causes a fire of chronic inflammation which leads to atherosclerotic plaques in our artery walls. Who is sent to save the day? CHOLESTEROL!!!!!

““When we have a high blood cholesterol level it means that the body is dealing with some damage. The last thing we should do is interfere with this process! When the damage has been dealt with, the blood cholesterol will naturally go down. If we have an ongoing disease in the body that constantly inflicts damage, then the blood cholesterol will be permanently high. So, when a doctor finds high cholesterol in a patient, what this doctor should do is to look for the reason. The doctor should ask, ‘What is damaging the body, so the liver has to produce all that cholesterol to deal with the damage?’ Unfortunately, instead of that, our doctors are trained to attack the cholesterol.” ”

Okay so now that we’ve determined cholesterol isn’t the bad guy, let’s highlight a few reasons why it’s the GOOD guy

  • Without it, your cells would lack the structure needed to function properly

  • It’s required for proper function of serotonin receptors (explains why low levels of cholesterol can lead to depression, violent behaviors, and suicide.)

  • It’s necessary for optimal growth and development (no wonder mother’s breast milk is so concentrated with it.)

  • Without it, your liver couldn’t create bile salts which would lead to digestive dysfunction on top of the inability to absorb nutrients

  • It helps keep your gut walls strong. Low cholesterol can lead to leaky gut, allowing for unwanted proteins and pathogens into the bloodstream

  • Without it, you can’t make estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, cortisol, etc. (Bye-bye sex drive, fertility, and stress responses.)

  • It’s required to make hormones called corticosteroids that prevent cancer and heart disease

  • Without it, you wouldn’t be able to produce vitamin D

Bottom line, we need cholesterol. We have been persuaded in the opposite direction by advertisements, popular media, and fiscally driven food and pharmaceutical companies which have made it near impossible to re-invent the idea that fats are good, and cholesterol is essential.

EAT THE EGGS, MEAT, AND SEAFOOD (*properly sourced of course) AND DITCH THE LOW-FAT, PROCESSED, CANOLA OIL FILLED BS. That’s the stuff that is going to put you in the hospital.

How To Love On Your Hormones

how to love on your hormones

Hormones give us a perspective of the reality that surrounds us every day. We quite literally filter the world through hormones. If your cortisol levels are high (high sugar or stress), it makes the world look stressful to you and interprets events far more stressful than they are. If you have low serotonin, the world looks depressing and vice versa.

In Nutritional Therapy, we focus HEAVILY on six foundations. Everything is built around them and our body cannot function if they aren’t supported. If your digestion isn’t supported, don’t expect your blood sugar to be balanced, nor your hormones, nor your sleep, nor your metabolism. So let’s take a look at hormone health and why if you come to me with thyroid symptoms, your thyroid may not be the first thing I look at.

how each foundation effects your hormones

Digestion: If we can’t digest the good food and nutrients we are eating, we can’t make hormones. Bottom line. Hormones are derived from foods high in cholesterol, quality meats, and fatty acids. If we’re not digesting these foods, that means we’re not absorbing them, which leaves hormones sitting on the bench. (Serotonin being a biggy! If you don’t digest your food, you won’t have the amino acids to make it.)

Blood Sugar Regulation: Blood sugar regulation must be addressed in order to normalize hormonal imbalances, but it is a delicate balancing act. When glucose levels are constantly on an up/down roller coaster, adrenal glands are forced to produce “emergency” hormones that can cause severe imbalances in the body. By incorporating healthy proteins and fats into each meal, eliminating stressors and avoiding processed food when you can- it will be much easier to keep blood sugars stable and hormones in check.

Mineral Balance: Every endocrine organ has a mineral on which it is particularly dependent. (I.e. the thyroid is dependent on iodine.) This is why it’s so important to eat in variety ensuring that you get all of the nutrients you needed for your hormones to function properly.

Fatty Acids: Detestably, the queens when it comes to hormone health. Our body can’t make hormones without fats. The hormones that effect our inflammation levels, blood pressure regulation, blood clotting, fevers, etc. are literally derived from fatty acids. SO STOP FEARING THEM!

Hydration: Drink your water (And electrolytes) ! This allows hormones to frolic around in the body as they want to without getting stuck in traffic jams.

Look holistically at your body and support it accordingly. Simply throwing a thyroid medication in the mix is not going to give you the support you want long-term, and you can’t expect it to! If you want your hormones jiving and thriving, you have to look at the big picture. So chew your foods, drink your lemon water, and eat your fats fam.

(I’ll take on the toxic world in a later post. Woofta.)

Why I Quit Beachbody Coaching

Why I Quit Beachbody Coaching

For those of you who didn’t know, I was a Beachbody coach for some time. (Around a year and a half I believe.) And for those of you who did know, I have chosen to no longer coach. A few days into the start of my Nutritional Therapy program, this decision was a no brainer for me but I want to explain why.

First off, this is not going to be a post bashing Beachbody so if you clicked on this for some juicy gossip about it- you’re in the wrong place. Being a coach came with some amazing benefits and I will forever be grateful for that phase in my life. I loved being able to workout from home because at the time, I was not jazzed about the way I looked or felt, so this was a way for me to get started away from the “pressure” of the gym. I loved being able to motivate people by creating challenges, programs, goals, etc. that didn’t always just focus on a weight goal. I loved (and still love) the crazy variety of programs that Beachbody offers because it’s given me a platform to run with on days where I don’t really have a plan in the gym. What I didn’t love? The “one size fits all” approach to their nutrition plans.

Now if you’ve done Beachbody before, you’ll be able to catch my drift pretty quickly. If you aren’t familiar, let me explain. With each workout program comes an attached nutrition plan based off of the caloric expenditure per each program. Within the nutrition program, comes an “individualized” equation which determines which nutrition plan you will follow. What factors into this equation? Your weight. That’s it. You will then be encouraged to follow Plan A, B, C, or D, all which vary in caloric intake and allow for specific portions of each macro-nutrient.

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Fast forward to today and let’s take a ride in the brain of Kelsie’s Magic school buns Bus.

“Okay so they get three portions of protein throughout the day, what if they don’t have enough stomach acid to digest it?”

“Okay so they can have 1/4 cup of oats with berries and honey, but what if they have a fruit and sugar intolerance they don’t know about that’s keeping them from assimilate any of those nutrients?”

“Okay so they are getting all of their workouts in, but little do I know they’re only getting 5 hours of sleep, working 50+ hours at work, and under-eating which is causing their thyroid to shut out which in turn stops the release of T3, their fat burning hormone.”

“Okay so they’re having their Shakeology in the morning, but then feel hungry and tired around 10 am. Is the surplus of carbohydrates/natural sugars and a lack of healthy fats in the shake causing blood sugar dysregulation? Which prompts them to swing through Starbucks on their work break? Is this habit going to put them on a continuous blood sugar roller coaster and cause digestion, hormone, thyroid complications?”

“Okay so they texted me saying they are going to miss today’s workout because it’s that time of month and their cramps are taking over. What are their estrogen levels like? Are they getting enough magnesium? What personal care products are they using that could be affecting their hormone health?”

HA. WELCOME TO MY BRAIN, SHALL I CONTINUE??? (Sometimes I wish I didn’t know half of the things that I now do, but man am I thankful for it.) My point is, now that I have the knowledge that I do, it doesn’t feel right in my heart to continue advocating for this “one size fits all” approach. Can Beachbody work for some people? Absolutely! And I’ve seen it done. But will it work for a good majority of people? No. Because it’s not created to dig deep, it’s created as a platform to get people started on a healthier habits.

Bottom line, your weight is not the only determining factor to your health and this is the reason why diets and generalized nutrition recommendations (like portion control containers) are not effective for everyone. A number on a scale can’t be the only thing you take into account for how much food you are putting into your body and what kind of foods you are putting into your body. You have to look holistically at every aspect of your life and how it is affecting your health. Which is why I’m here! I WANT to dig deeper. I WANT to figure out exactly how you digest and assimilate the egg you’re eating in the morning. I WANT to help you understand why it’s important to sh*t once or twice everyday. I WANT you to feel less restricted and more empowered in the kitchen, at the office party, in the grocery store, and on the internet when you are surrounded by FAR TOO MUCH FALSE AND OVERWHELMING INFORMATION.

And I want you to know that I didn’t quit Beachbody coaching because it didn’t work for me, I quit because it doesn’t work for everybody. And that made me feel icky inside.

Label Reading 101

By now, it should be no mystery that our health is 1000000% not a priority to the Big Food Industry. Making money is.

But I’ll hand it to them, they have a sneaky way of marketing their products to make us think otherwise. The best way to avoid the scams and see through their bullsh*t is to educate yourself and spend a few more minutes in the isle to determine what you want going into your body. So let’s talk labels!

So you pick up your bag of granola. Where do you start?

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1. ignore the front of the box, bottle, or bag.

The front labels are where you will find marketing ploys to grab your attention. Claims like “All Natural, Low-Fat, Gluten-Free, Heart Health” etc. typically hold very little truth. Or if they do, there’s almost always a caveat. Flip it to the back.

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2. Head straight to the Ingredients and worry less about the calorie/nutritional label

While the macros and content of the product are relevant, they aren’t if the ingredients are crap.

Alright, so we’ve found the back and we’re looking at the ingredients. What next?

1. Take note of how many ingredients there are. If there are ingredient lists that look like this, I put it back almost immediately

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2. What are the first few ingredients? Ingredients are listed in order of product by weight from highest to lowest. Highest being listed first and lowest listed last. So, if sugar (or other synonyms for sugar) or oil is in the lineup first, I would proceed with caution.  

3. Do you recognize the ingredients, or do you feel like you’re reading through a chemistry textbook? If you can’t pronounce it, put that sucker back on the shelf. You want to see foods as close to their whole food forms as possible. For example, if you are shopping for orange juice- look for “oranges” not “orange juice concentrate”. Catch my drift?

common ingredients/claims to look out for:

  • Dextrose (one of the many names for sugar) is a man-made sugar made from genetically modified corn. No thanks.

  • “Natural flavor” FOR THE RECORD does not mean that the ingredients came from a natural source. It’s kind of catch all ingredient name that could contain anything- including MSG’s. Not trying to mess with that chemical sh*t storm.

  • Citric Acid is produced from a certain type of mold. I’m sorry and WHY is this deemed safe for us to put into our bodies?  

  • Low-fat or “skim” products are stripped of the nutritious fat that our bodies benefit from and pumped with sugar, synthetic vitamins, and fortified garb to replace it. I mean think about it- one of the best things about fatty foods is their amazing flavor. BUTTER- need I go further? So, when all the fat is stripped, companies must replace it with something (sugar)  in order to make it taste good and keep us coming back for more. Same thing goes for the vitamins and minerals that are taken away with the fat- they have to get it up to “regulation” standards somehow.  

FILL OUT THIS FORM BELOW FOR THE TOP 12 INGREDIENTS THAT i try to AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

Food First, Supplements Second

LET’S TALK SUPPLEMENTS.

Even though the first approach in Nutritional Therapy is (and always will be) FOOD, food, food, food- sometimes our bodies need a little extra boost to regain balance and overcome dysfunction.

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At various points throughout our life, we require a little extra lovin’ from certain nutrients. During performance training, menstruation, pregnancy, travel, while on medications, stressful Tuesday’s, you name it. Even though I wish we could get all the nutrients we need from our fruits, veggies, and booch, that’s not always the case and here’s why:

1.  Due to a lack of regenerative agriculture, our soil is now depleted which has caused a decrease of nutrients in our food.

2.  We are constantly exposed to various toxins, stressors, medications, etc. that use up a ton of nutrients that can be hard to replace.

3.  Every single person has a different story going on down under. Your digestion, hormones, genes, microbiome, etc. will never look like mine and vice versa.

Okay so how do you figure out what nutrients you are lacking? There are a few ways to go about it!

One of our tools as NTP’s, along with an extensive Nutritional Questionnaire Assessment is to provide a Functional Clinical Assessment. This is a functional exam where we are able to place specific nutrients on your tongue (which is called Lingo- Neuro Testing) and assess how your body responds to them through various palpation points. Through this test, we can determine nutritional deficiencies almost immediately which is beyond helpful moving forward. Pretty cool right? Yeah, I thought so too. Only a little witchy.

But what if you’re not able to do the Functional Clinical Assessment with me?

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1. Listen to your cravings- they are giving you information! How sweet.

Our gut communicates with our brain through the vagus nerve, and if you are craving sweets for example, this could be one of a few things. One, your “bad” bacteria could be outweighing your good bacteria and you may need to implement more probiotics into your diet. And two, your cravings could be telling you you’re deficient in magnesium. YOU HAVE TO TUNE IN!

2. Pay attention to what medications you are on- if any

Here are a few common medications that deplete specific nutrients in the body when taken. If you are continuously using any of these, here is a great resource to know which vitamins and minerals you may be lacking!

SO! With all this supplement talk, please don’t run to the drug store and buy a multivitamin because it was featured on the Today Show. What supplement(s) your body requires will be completely different from the next, so if you’re wanting to take the next step in supporting your body- listen to my tips above!

Overall, here are a few takeaways:

1.  Always approach nutritional deficiencies with whole, properly prepared, nutrient dense foods. This means organic produce. This means grass-fed/finished beef. This means ditching the canola oil and putting good sh*t in whenever possible.

2.  Eliminate toxins and stressors when you can. Like I mentioned before, doing so will help keep your nutrients from being used up by a**holes that don’t deserve them. (Medication list from school with deficiencies and supplements)

3.  Pay attention to the quality of supplements you are spending your money on. Medical grade, whole food supplements are always worth it and the way to go. My favorite brand is Biotics and what we use with all of our nutrition protocols!

4.  Reach out. I would be more than happy to chat with you if you’re curious about potential deficiencies and symptoms you are experiencing!

Don't Shoot for the Stars This Time

DON’T SHOOT FOR THE STARS THIS TIME

I'll be honest- I'm not super big into New Year Resolutions and if I hear “new year, new me” one more time I might roll myself into an even deeper hangover than I’m already in. (Cheers)

One, if you want to build a new habit, work harder towards a relationship, spend more time on your yoga mat and less time on Netflix,(whatever it is) why wait for a mark on a calendar to determine your start date? Just do the damn thing. Or ease into doing the damn thing. And two! More times than not, the resolutions we set are big shooters that can be hard to stick to. That’s not to say that you can’t stick to them- I’m not trying to dump out anyone’s sparkles. Shine on my friend. But going back to big shooters, I want to talk about resolutions like "I’m going to eat healthier this year.” THIS IS MY FAVORITE. (Sarcasm noted.) 

Okay, so you want to eat healthier. That's amazing and I am totally here for it, obviously. But in all honesty, "eating healthier" can be an overwhelming resolution. And if you don't set specific action steps for how you are going to crush this new-foodie-you, it's easy to fall back into old habits after a week or two. So, here is my advice. Start slow. 

In nutritional therapy, we focus heavily on supporting specific foundations. We start by implementing a nutrient dense diet, then we address digestion, then blood sugar regulation, then essential fatty acids, mineral balance, and finally hydration. It’s a cascade effect that works north to south. My point? If I were to skip directly to hydration with a client and bypass diet, digestion, blood sugar regulation, etc., it would be near meaningless.

So how does this relate to your New Year resolution of “eating healthier”?

Maybe don’t shoot for the stars for this one. Maybe don’t jump headfirst into a crazy fad diet. Maybe don’t have an expectation to lose x amount of pounds. Maybe don’t eliminate anything, but rather limit it. (Unless it’s canola oil, that sh*t is trash.)

There is no quick fix to your health, so stop searching for that magic pill- I’m telling you, it’s not out there. So what can you do? Start.

Pick out one thing. Pick out two. Pick out 7, whatever you can handle- and start there. Maybe the next time you go grocery shopping and every time thereafter, you swap out your white factory farmed eggs for free-range eggs and that’s IT. That’s your one feat. THAT’S AN AMAZING START.

Have grace with your body. Be patient with the process. Allow room for missteps.

Even though I’m not big on the resolutions, a new year is a new year. And if this is the day that is going to put a fire under your ass- RUN WITH IT. Know that you can absolutely do whatever you’re wanting to and manifest the crap out of it. This year has SO many amazing things in store (including a last name change) so I can’t wait to ball out with you guys.

If you are looking for some of my favorite simple food and product swaps, check out my “2020 Swap Guide” here!

The Proposal

Alright you romanticals, let’s get to the good stuff

A little background for some of you strangers out there, Nick still owns his house out Colorado and it is HANDS DOWN our happy place. (And polar opposites to Chicago, so it’s nice to switch it up every now and then.) So this summer we decided to block off a long, two-week trip in to relish in all of its mountainous glory and satisfy Banks’ hiking fix. About a week and a half goes by while we were out there and we decided to take am impromptu mini road trip through the state. The plan was to drive down to Breckenridge, then Salida, the Great Sand Dunes, Aspen, Grand Lake and then make our way back up to the house in Estes.

SO! We packed up the car, our sleeping bags, all of Banks' toiletries, and hit the road.

After a few hours in the car and several crime podcasts later, we were in Salida. We walked around downtown, let Banks play in the stream, and then watched an amazing sunset from the top of a random trail road.

With an early morning ahead, it was now time to catch some z’s. (Did I mention the plan was for all three of us to sleep in the car???) I’m still very much afraid of the wildlife eating our son and a bear sniffing out all of our snacks, so this was the cheapest and most uncomfortable option available. Little did we know how hard it was going to be to find a good spot to park it for the night. We spent an hour and a half driving around debating our options. AN HOUR AND A HALF. It’s a very tricky balance of finding a parking lot that wouldn’t arrest us for being on private property and somewhere where Banks wouldn’t bark at everything that mosied on by. Anywhooooo, we finally found a place around 10:45 pm and all three of us cozied up in the back. Now remember, I am near 6 foot, Nick is 6' 3, and Banks is a straight up tank. "Cozy" was a very generous term. Assuming a few hours had passed I rolled over and asked Nick what time it was. His response? "11:01 pm”

We booked a motel. 

Woke up the next morning super grimy, grabbed some very mediocre continental motel breakfast and coffee, and headed for the Dunes. (If you've never been, you need to add it to your bucket list ASAP.) Acres and acres of massive sand dunes, surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and the bluest skies you will ever see. You literally feel like you are in another country. (It’s also a great spot for wearing out a 17 month old Australian Shepherd.) The drive from Salida to the Dunes took a little under two hours and there were absolutely no signs of a proposal in the future. Like I’m talking zip. Banks was in the back snoozing, Nick was going on about aliens and solar powered fields, and I was sipping on some coffee and wishing I would've showered.

When we finally pulled up to the Dunes, we were completely in awe of what we remembered to be true and headed in the opposite direction of everyone else there. We hiked (on scorching hot sand) up to the top of one of the dunes and were taking it all in. Banks and I started digging our way to China in hopes to find cooler temps for our toes and Nick started setting up his camera stuff. (For those of you who don't know- Nick is a photographer/videographer so his camera is like our second child. It's ALWAYS out. So this process is more than normal and did not set off any red flags at all.) We hadn't taken our traditional family tripod pic yet, so Nick called Banks and I over to snap it.

We ran over to the spot he had all framed up, I kissed him a few times with my hands around his neck (you know the smooch), and I noticed his pulse pumping like CRAZY through his neck. Like a "do you need to get horizontal with a cool rag?" type of crazy. Internalizing my concern for his health, I brought my hands down on his chest. Again, PUMPING. Before I could put two and two together (that this was no longer a family tripod pic), he started saying the words that you dream about as a little girl. Don’t ask me what they were though, I 100% blacked out.

Thankfully he was filming the entire time (Sneaky little devil. Family photo my a**) so we were able to re-watch the whole thing. He got on one knee, I said "yes", and somehow the ring got on my finger. Check, check, check. The tears were running down my greasy face, I was hugging his shaky body uncontrollably, and I lost all sensation in my limbs.

And now I get to spend the rest of LIFE with my guy.

Aldi Finds

5 ALDI FINDS YOU NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF

If you haven’t gotten on the Aldi train yet, you need to. Also, if you pronounce “Adli” like “Aldis”, you need to not.

Eating healthy is not always about perfection, but rather about making the best choice possible at that time- for yourself and your family. This means being mindful of how your body reacts to certain ingredients, reading ingredient labels, understanding ingredient labels, and making the better choice- one choice at a time!

I have compiled a list of quality Aldi favorites and staples that we always pile into our 25 cent cart, so here you go!

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1. sprouted 7-grain bread

So why “sprouted” instead of your typical whole-grain wheat? The process of sprouting neutralizes the anti-nutrients that grains contain. These anti-nutrients bind to various vitamins and minerals in our intestinal tract which prevents their absorption and they also act as enzyme inhibitors, making it very hard to digest starches and proteins. This puts a ton of pressure on our pancreas and overall GI tract, which can lead to chronic diseases after continual exposure. All in all, the sprouting technique has been around for hundreds of years and is a win-win for our gut!

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2. Grass-fed beef

You’ve heard me saying it once and I’ll say it time and time again. SPEND THE EXTRA DOLLAR OR TWO ON GRASS-FED PRODUCTS.

Grass-fed beef is sourced from cows that are properly nourished and naturally raised, which gives the beef amazing nutritional value. Beef sourced from factory-farmed cows that consume corn, synthetics, antibiotics, and hormones, can be directly correlated with so many of the the health and hormone problems our country suffers from.

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3. grass-fed Ghee

Ghee is one of the purest forms of butter. “Normal” butter is made of 80% fat, 18% water, and 2% of protein/milk solids like lactose. Ghee is made by heating butter for 15-20 minutes until the healthy fat separates from the water, protein, and milk content that many people are sensitive to. Ghee is often found to be much easier to tolerate, with numerous nutritional benefits, and a highly stable cooking oil!

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4. Peanut butter

Although there are more nutritious nut butters out there, peanut butter is a FAN FAVE in our household. (All three parties included). And what I love about this peanut butter is it’s ingredients: peanuts and sea salt. That’s it.

Many well-known peanut butter products that you see on the shelves add in ingredients like sugars, oils, and other additives that are completely unnecessary. So like always, check those labels! The less ingredients the better.

5. organic produce

Aldi has an amazing organic produce selection that we ALWAYS take advantage of.

(Sure, there are times we don’t always go organic) but I have never been disappointed in the quality or the price of their fresh/frozen produce! Especially those avos, haaa-damn.

Some more goodies we LOVE…

How Stress Can F*ck Your Metabolism (And So Much More)

How Stress Can F*ck Your Metabolism (And So Much More)

When you're continuously flipping off that Michigan driver on the interstate, drinking 4 cups of coffee before 10 am, and working out before and in between every meal, you are putting your body in a chronic state of stress.

Now you may be thinking “coffee is the least stressful part of my day” or “working out is my only way to relax” but let’s talk about why they could be doing more harm than good.

When we are in a chronic state of stress, this leads to a continuous output of cortisol in our body. Cortisol is the emergency hormone released by our adrenal glands to combat a fight or flight situation. Cortisol is innately designed to be released far and few between, yet with the stressful lifestyle that we have come to adapt, the release of cortisol is triggered almost constantly. To our bodies, this cortisol release is a sign that almost everything else needs to shut down and we just need to prioritize staying alive. (Sounds dramatic but stay with me.) This stress can shut down our digestion, our hormones, our fertility, our metabolism, you name it. Yet in order for us to alleviate these stressors, we have to be aware of them. So here are a few common examples of stress that we may not realize we are putting on our body:

Coffee. Now don’t get me wrong, coffee is my jaaaahaaamm. But just like everything, you have to be smart about it if you want to keep it in your life. A couple ways to do that? Always, always drink coffee with a meal or a snack (preferably one high in protein and fat) and be conscious of the garb you are putting in your coffee. Doing so will help you avoid the blood sugar/caffeine spike that is then followed by the dreadful afternoon energy dip.

Processed Foods. And I’m not just talking about fast food. I’m talking about granola bars, cereal, pasta, salad dressings, soups, you name it. All of which are fine in moderation (ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE BEING A GOOD LIL’ STUDENT AND READING YOUR LABELS) but regardless, they are processed. Consuming these foods causes a dramatic increase in your blood sugar which signals to the body that there is an emergency. Our pancreas releases insulin to bring blood sugar down, our adrenals release cortisol (which can often over-correct), epinephrine is released to bring the blood sugar back up, and then we are officially on a blood sugar roller coaster that is hard to come off of. Stabilizing your blood sugar throughout the day is one of the very best favors you can do for your body.

Over-Exercising. Yep, you heard me. Sometimes we need to CHILL. Over-exercising is another signal to the body that there is an emergency. This signal of stress can shut down everything from our digestive function to our thyroid function. For the sake of this argument, let’s dive into why we specifically want our thyroid to be running smoothly.

Our thyroid releases the fat burning hormone, T3 and when we over-exercise, this fat burning hormone is turned off. MERRRPP, not the goal right? In an ideal situation, the pituitary at the base of the brain can sense whether or not you have enough thyroid hormones in your blood. It then can signal for more or less hormone production in order to regain balance. But what happens when we are in a stressed state? When we exercise too often? When we eat too much refined garb? When we restrict too many calories?

One of a few things: The brain never sends the signal in the first place, the thyroid may not send enough hormones, or the thyroid may not respond to the signal at all. Because our thyroid regulates so much more than just our metabolism, it is crucial that we keep that sucker turned on and working smoothly.

Now you may be thinking, “Well I don’t drink coffee” or “I only exercise a few times a week” or “I only eat out like once a month” soooo I should be fine right? You’d be surprised. Our bodies categories stress generously. Drinking a smoothie full of fruit, fruit, and more fruit. Not fully chewing your food before swallowing.Waking up after only 4 hours of sleep to make it to your Orange Theory class. Not eating enough calories. ALL STRESS.

So what’s the goal here? Quite simply, to have zero levels of stress. (For those of you laughing out loud, I hear you.) That sounds impossible right? Maybe. But this is what we want to strive for. We want to continually signal to our body, brain, and soul that everything is AAAAAAAAAAAA- okay. That yes, this traffic may make me late but do I need to get worked up to the point that cortisol is shooting out of my a**? No. That yes, although I woke up tired should coffee really be the first thing I put in my mouth? No. That yes, I ate a couple of brownies at Friendsgiving last night but will a restricting myself to 900 calories today make my body happier? No.

We have to learn how to diminish the stress. We have to learn how to prioritize differently. We have to learn how to slow down. We have to learn how to give our bodies grace.

The fact of the matter is, your body can’t chill until you do.