May 1, 2017 | Fueling Healthy Families

Healthy Living Revolution & Shred10

May 29, 2017 3 Comments

Is your health exactly where you want it to be? What if you could learn about tools to take your health back? That’s why I’m so excited to have found the Healthy Living Revolution and the tools it provides for 10-day jumpstarts and overall nutrition guidance.

Healthy used to be SIMPLE! It wasn’t the latest superfood or the new diet craze.

Healthy was fresh vegetables from grandma’s garden. Kids played outside until it was dark. You drank water straight from a hose. We had energy all day long and 70% of us weren’t on medications. Healthy was a lifestyle that we lived and we can again.

This Healthy Living Revolution is about taking our health back, our families’ health back, our schools’ health back, our country’s health back.

Toxic Chemicals

Part of the reason we need to #takehealthyback isn’t something that we can easily control. In our world today we are exposed to toxic chemicals that are putting our health at risk. Many of the health challenges and diseases that we are facing can be linked to these toxins.

Silent Spring researchers found that BPA and other toxins could be reduced significantly after just 3 days by eating whole foods! Fruits and vegetables are powerful not just because they detox us but because they contain ANTIOXIDANTS. Antioxidants reduce oxidative stress which causes aging and disease. They also contain thousands of phytonutrients – plant nutrients! These phytonutrients prevent cancer and other diseases. The second image shows a list of 400 ingredients in an apple but scientists believe there are probably 10,000 or more ingredients yet to be discovered. All of these ingredients create synergy which means they work together to prevent disease. An isolated supplement or multivitamin has maybe 20 ingredients. We need ALL of those thousands of ingredients in fruits and vegetables every day. WE DON’T HAVE A VITAMIN DEFICIENCY WE HAVE A FRUIT AND VEGETABLE DEFICIENCY. I loved learning this!!!!

And not only are we eating fewer fruits and vegetables, but the mass-produced produce that many of us find in the grocery store is packing less nutritional punch than just 2 generations ago. According to Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London, you would have to eat 8 oranges to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange. And you would need to EAT FIVE to get the same level of iron.

The Answer!

Can you imagine FLOODING YOUR BODY with 45 whole foods daily? We found a way to do this. It’s called Juice Plus+! Juice Plus+ is 30 raw, vine-ripened fruits, veggies, and berries in capsules or chewables. It’s juicing made easy! The Juice Plus+ Complete is a powdered shake mix that can be blended with plant milk or even water. It’s low fat, low sugar, low glycemic, gluten-free, vegan, and 100% NON-GMO plants. It has 13 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, and wonderful ingredients. And the JP Complete is delicious!

Cleansing

This image shows us why counting calories and even exercising without proper nutrition can do more harm than good. Look at the top portion. When you diet and exercise without proper nutrition, it causes stress to your body. You burn fat but toxins are exposed that have no way to get out of your system because there is a lack of good nutrition to help cleanse the toxins while losing that fat. This will make you feel worse because it creates a rebound effect. In an effort to self-protect, your body will increase fat production to protect your vital organs. You can see why dieting is a vicious cycle! Now, look at the bottom portion. FLOODING YOUR BODY with fruits and veggies every day will help your liver convert these toxins into something that can be carried out of the body.

Blood Sugar

Did you know that willpower is a function of blood sugar? Think about a time when you skipped a meal or you were too busy that you just forgot to eat. We all have those days, right? And then you want to eat anything in site 🙂 Here is why.

Will power is a function of blood sugar. Normally our blood sugar will fluctuate after every meal when we eat one without crunchy raw veggies which is represented by the light blue graph below. Crackers, bread, soda, box cereals, soup, baked goods, alcohol, dessert, and candy; all these will suddenly raise our blood sugar and then there is a drastic dip that follows. Or we may skip a meal and our blood sugar drops and we then have no self-control. This also happens first thing in the morning when we wake up on an empty stomach and even though we might not feel hungry our blood sugar is very low and we are convinced we need caffeine to wake up.

JP+ Complete Shakes are an awesome solution to this problem! The fiber content creates a low glycemic load, which means sugar enters the blood slowly… like what happens when you munch on fiber-rich broccoli. It stabilizes the blood sugar and makes it easier to avoid bad habits and food addictions that we reach for when our blood sugar drops. Many people who start on the JP complete also notice they are craving more good food and less junk. It’s literally liquid WILLPOWER 🙂

Shred10

A great way to jumpstart your health and implement the concepts just covered is the Shred10 program!

The free Shred10 Guidebook includes Q&A from experts, Shred10-friendly recipes and options for meal planning, nutritional shake recipes, and more! The Shred10 is not a fad diet, it is a jumpstart into lifelong health.

Healthy Living Community

The final way to be part of the Healthy Living Revolution is to be part of our Healthy Living Community. Our hope is that your experience in our community is filled with positive engagement, encouragement, and on-going education.

Our Healthy Living Community Offers:

Facebook Inspiration to keep your healthy lifestyle fresh, fun, and inspiring. Join here today – Fueling Healthy Families
A free cookbook that you can download!
Children’s program
LIVE Events, which will be in person and online to reach everyone, no matter where they are.
Continuing education from a variety of healthcare and fitness professionals.

If I gave you $2.38 to buy produce at the grocery store how much do you think you could buy? Maybe one organic orange and one apple?

That’s what I love about Juice Plus+! Starting at just $1.67 a day, you can get the nutrition of 20 different fruits and vegetables!

Next Steps

Watch the Shred10 Introduction video
- This video briefly explains what Shred10 is (<3 minutes)
Order your Juice Plus+ products
- Go to rachelflavin.juiceplus.com or contact Rachel at 314.496.8303
Watch the Shred10 Informational video
- 23 minute video that explains in depth what will occur during the Shred
Request the Shred10 Guidebook.

Ready to Shred10?

Uncategorized

Bloglovin’

May 23, 2017 No Comments

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Follow all of your favorite blogs in one place with Bloglovin’. Lots of bloggers turned to it after the demise of Google Reader. When you create an account there, you can follow any blogger on any platform, whether or not they’re also signed up. Then, you can log in and see the latest posts from all the blogs you follow in one spot. There’s also an app, so you can catch up with your reading on the go.

Bloglovin’ also lets you explore other blogs you might be interested in. You can browse and follow blogs by topic…

Art
Beauty
Family
Lifestyle
Fashion
Food & Drink
Fitness
Travel
DIY & Crafts

Exercise

Race 13.1 St Louis – Review

May 23, 2017 No Comments

This past weekend I ran the half marathon at Race 13.1 St Louis. This is the 2nd year that this national race has been held in St Louis. Starting from Missouri Research Park in St Charles, this was the 1st race that I have ran in this area of St Louis. The course covered portions of the Katy Trail, Busch Greenway, and Hamburg Trail.

Pre-Race

To start the day, my alarm went off at 4:30am. I live about 40 minutes away from the race site and still needed to check in between 5:15-6:15am. With a high temperature of 69 degrees predicted for the day, I chose to wear a tank top and running shorts. Driving into the Reseach Park, there was plenty of close parking available. The race had a cap of 2,000 half marathon participants and 1,000 5k participants, but only 872 participants registered and only 753 finished. With these small numbers, I had no wait to pick up my bib and race t-shirt and then use a porta-potty. At packet pick up, I received a pre-printed race bib personalized with my first name and a race t-shirt. They also directed me to tables with safety pins, rubber bracelets, and temporary tattoos.

Race Start

The half marathon started at 7:00am, with the 5k to start at 7:15am. Pace groups were available for the following half marathon times: 1:45 | 2:00 | 2:15 | 2:30 | 2:45 | 3:00. This made it easy to line up in an appropriate spot. But again, with the small race numbers, there was no starting corral congestion as so many big races have.

Race Course

The course started in the Research Park with paved roads for the first 1.5 miles. We then entered the Katy Trail, with crushed limestone and beautiful views of the Missouri River. We stayed on the Katy Trail through mile 6. Hydration stations were located about every 2 miles, but the first station at mile 2 had ran out of cups by the time I got there, but had gallons of water that you could use. All other stations had both water and Gatorade.

We left the Katy Trail for the Hamburg Trail through mile 10, also on crushed limestone. The overall race was pretty flat, except for mile 8, which had a steep incline. At mile 10, we entered Busch Greenway, a paved trail that ran near Highway 94, back to the Research Park. Up to mile 10, the trail had been pretty well covered by tree coverage, but opened up at mile 10 for a warm final 5k.

The race organizers had warned runners of muddy areas on the Katy Trail after the recent floodings, but the Katy seemed in great condition. There was light muddy areas on the Hamburg Trail, but nothing that impeded your progress or slowed you down.

Finish Line

There was great crowd support and cheering upon exiting the trail and entering the finish area. There was someone on a loud speaker cheering all the finishers and announcing runners as they crossed the finish line. After crossing the finish line, volunteers handed out race medals and wet cloth to help cool down. They had tables set up with bananas and granola bars and a beer tent available. Papa John’s was also there handing out pizza. As I was one of the later finishers, they offered me a full pizza as they still had a large stack to give away.

Conclusion

Race 13.1 was a great experience on a beautiful course! It’s a race that I will be adding to my annual “Must-Run Races”.

Upcoming Race 13.1 Races

Nutrition

May – What’s In Season?

May 17, 2017 No Comments

Whether shopping at the grocery store or farmer’s market, it pays to shop what’s in season. You’ll get the most bang for your buck and nutritional value when the produce you seek was just harvested out of the field.

Here’s what’s in season during May in the United States.

Turnip

Scallion

Strawberries

Radishes

Blueberries

Cauliflower

Nectarine

Mushrooms

Potatoes

Rhubarb

Onions

Asparagus

Collared Greens

Kale

Carrots

Plus,

Arugula
Brussel sprouts
Lettuce
Peaches
Spinach

What is your favorite dish to make with what’s in season this month?

Nutrition

20 Tips for Choosing Healthy Fats in Your Diet

May 7, 2017 1 Comment

For the past few decades, we’ve heard all about the virtues of a low-fat diet and the dangers of dietary fat and cholesterol. But with the number of overweight and obese people climbing every day and statin drugs for lowering cholesterol the most commonly prescribed medications in the world, researchers have recently reviewed the low fat trend. Emerging research has shown that there is such a thing as healthy fats which can increase your good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol-think H for healthy) and decrease your bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol-think L for lousy).

But with so many so-called healthy oils and butter substitutes on the market, how do decide what’s best to buy? Here are 20 tips for choosing healthy fats in your diet:

Exercise

What Happens To The Body When It Doesn’t Get Enough Exercise

May 2, 2017 No Comments

Many things happen to the body when it doesn’t get enough exercise. Unfortunately, it goes way beyond gaining weight. It’s important to remember that even a little bit of exercise is better than no exercise at all. Continue reading to learn more about the dangers of inactivity. No one is immune!

Energy Levels

Mitochondria are energy producing structures, which live in the cells of body tissues, organs and muscles. These amazing little structures need carbohydrates and oxygen to work properly. Since mitochondria are required for all bodily functions and movement, you definitely can’t live without them.

Mitochondria levels drop when your heart isn’t working at its full potential and your oxygen levels are diminished, due to lack of exercise. Fatigue occurs when energy production is slowed down and the body requires the same amount of energy to get work done.

Bone Issues

Bones love a workout, almost as much as they love calcium. The lack of weight-bearing exercise causes bones to lose density and the ability to properly store calcium. Less calcium in your bones means more of a mineral build up in organs such as your kidneys, the cause of kidney stones.

If the period of inactivity is long enough bones eventually began to weaken. This oftentimes results in osteoporosis, which leads to a much higher risk of painful bone fractures.

Muscle Problems

Just like bones, muscles benefit from a good workout. One of the first signs of being out of shape, due to inactivity, is loss of strength and muscle tone. When muscles are idle, blood flow slows down and the exchange of waste products and nutrients decreases. Less mitochondria results in lack of muscle coordination.

Without exercise, the “electrical” connection between your nerves and muscles is sporadic at best. How does this affect you? You’ll typically find it more difficult to move around with the agility that you once could. It can also mean decreased strength and an increased risk of muscle injury, because of shrinking muscle mass.

Heart-Related Difficulties

Whatever your age, it’s important to keep your heart as healthy as possible. Even though your heart muscle is different from your skeletal muscles, the same health-related principles apply. Without proper exercise, the heart muscle shrinks. This makes it difficult to adequately distribute blood throughout the body and causes the heart to work much harder to get the blood to where it actually needs to go, especially in your hands and feet.

Sluggish blood flow can lead to plaque formation in the blood vessels. This, in turn, sometimes causes high blood pressure, dizziness and circulation problems. All of these conditions are potentially dangerous if left untreated.

As you can see, inactivity causes havoc in and damage to your body. This is especially true for individuals who already deal with chronic conditions, because it typically only makes things worse.

In many cases, periods of inactivity are inevitable. But, the sooner you can participate in even a light exercise regimen, the better off your mind and your body will be.