Episode 7 – Fitness with Adriana Albritton

  • Tell us about yourself and your qualifications 
  • Certified personal trainer and  fitness nutrition. I also work with children. 
  • Who were some of the people who inspired you and why
  • Reading biographies and reading about people who are doing what they love. If you’re able to do something you love and speaks to you, it plays a huge part in your physical and emotional health. 
  • What is the 28 days to a new life program and book?
  •  The book addresses nutrition, fitness ad mindset. For example, if we are constantly stressed, you will struggle to lose weight. It addresses our thoughts. Our thoughts are often automatic, but we need to learn to stop and address them. When you only address one habit, you are more likely to return to previous bad habits
  • In your blog, you mentioned cultivating a healthy internal environment, What do you mean by that?
  • I consider this 2 prong approach. 1. Dealing with the imbalances and bacteria in our gut, having a diverse microbiome. 2. Dealing with our thoughts and stress . 
  • What particular challenges do you and  clients face in the Covid19 environment?
  • The lock-down seems to impact mental health. The stress and fear leads us to drink and eat more. Most of the news is negative. There is an increase in anxiety and depression. By changing our focus, we can take control of our health, even in this environment. CDC reports show that most people who are hospitalized are overweight or have at least 1 underlying health issue. 
  • Tell us about your upcoming app. FitnAll
  • My blog is FitnAll . I am working on a new website and app called Health6Fit that we will launch in the next couple months. It will be a fitness platform to include nutritionists, therapists, trainers and more to help you improve your health on a holistic level. 
  • What is your favorite healthy food?
  • Good fats like avocado and almond butter
  • What are your non negotiables?
  • I have to be active everyday, even habits like walking or stretching. I work on my mental health daily like meditation, practicing gratitude.
  • How can we connect with you or solicit your services?
  • You can find me on Instagram or my blog FitnAll  

Episode 6- Overcome Anxiety with KRISTINE OVSEPIAN, M.A., C.HT.

  • Tell us more about your qualifications 
  • M.A. in Psychology and is a Certified Hypnotherapist & Life Coach, Certified NLP and EFT Practitioner , Author of “Living through Choice” and is an Intuitive Healer & Breathwork Facilitator.
  • What led you down this path? 
  • Growing up I always felt I was different. At an early age, I heard the call to be of service to humanity. For decades, I tried to avoid the messages coming from the Universe to follow my true path, because I wanted to “fit in” to the norm of what society required of me. By 2009 I was deeply depressed, felt empty inside, I was lost, and unsatisfied with my life. When my doctor warned me that I would not survive more than 2 years, if I continued on that path, I knew I had to make drastic changes in my life. My struggle and suffering was caused by the career I had chosen ten years prior.
  • Tell us more about your book Living Through Choice 
  • It helps you to:
  • Understand how your past (in this lifetime and beyond) influences your present
  • Overcome stress, anxiety, and depression
  • Banish anger and resentment to forgive yourself and others
  • Overcome addictions and other illnesses
  • Manifest spiritual, emotional, and physical healing
  • What is a life coach?
  • It is widely known that people who practice healing meditations, energy healing, and other holistic modalities experience deep and profound cleansing and balancing of their mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical bodies – in turn achieving an enhanced quality of life and healthy longevity.
  • What is hypnotherapy and how does it work?
  • Journey Into Your Healing and rejuvenate your mind and body with this powerful therapeutic guided meditation. This meditation will help boost your immune system and increase your inner healing power. It is excellent for individuals that have been affected by cancer and or other physical illnesses.
  • What is the Emotional Freedom Technique?
  • EFT works with the body’s energy system called the meridians. It is a form of psychological acupressure based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments. By simply tapping with the fingertips at the end points of the body’s energy meridians, the client is able to transfer energy onto the meridians on the head and chest area while they think about the specific problem and say positive affirmations.
  • Because negative emotions contribute to physical pain, disease, and anxiety, EFT helps release the disruption in the body’s energy system. This technique restores the mind and body’s balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease
  •  How can we get in touch with you?
  • Her website is https://journeystoheal.com/ that explains her qualifications and services.

Episode 5- The History of Sugars

According to savuer 

10,000 B.C.: Before sugar ruled the world, honey was queen. Basically any part of Europe, Africa, or Asia that isn’t covered in ice had bees, and thus honey. There are no bees in the Americas, though, so their sweeteners are syrups from trees, agave nectar from cactus, or mashed fruits. 

8,000 B.C: Sugar is native to, and first cultivated in, New Guinea. Initially, people chew on the reeds to enjoy the sweetness. 2,000 years later, sugar cane makes its way (by ship) to the Philippines and India. 

Up until this point sugar was mostly enjoyed in its natural state.  

Which is better for human consumption and health.

According to healthline honey is a good source of antioxidants, helps digestive issues, a potent prebiotic and much more. These benefits can promote good gut health and even support sustainable weight management. 

An article on healthambition states that The processing of the sugar cane plant into table sugar essentially removes all of the phytonutrients from sugar cane juice. The nutrients play a role in fighting disease and free radicals. 

Sugar is first refined in India: the first description of a sugar mill is found in an Indian text from 100 A.D. 

According to cancercenter , Foods with natural sugar have an important role in the diet of cancer patients and anyone trying to prevent cancer because they provide essential nutrients that keep the body healthy and help prevent disease. Refined sugar comes from sugar cane or sugar beets, which are processed to extract the sugar. It is typically found as sucrose, which is the combination of glucose and fructose. We use white and brown sugars to sweeten cakes and cookies, coffee, cereal and even fruit. The article continues to explain that the body breaks down refined sugar rapidly, causing insulin and blood sugar levels to skyrocket. 

Now, with the birth of sugar manufacturing, many cultures started to call on it for desserts, like rice pudding, sweet barley meal and fermented drinks. 

327: Greeks and Romans learn about sugar during visits to India. Nearchus, Alexandria’s general, writes of “a reed in India that brings forth honey without the help of bees, from which an intoxicating drink is made, though the plant bears no fruit.” Small amounts are brought back to the Mediterranean and traded to physicians who use it for medical purposes.

500-600 A.D.: A university in Iran, becomes the meeting place for the world’s scholars (at least those west of China). Greek, Christian, Jewish, and Persian scholars gather to create the first teaching hospital. They study texts from various cultures, and by 600 A.D. They are writing about a potent Indian medicine: sugar. They also develop better methods for processing sugar cane into crystallized sugar.

1801: Franz Carl Achard, a student of Margraff, is credited as the first person to extract sugar from beets on a commercial level. Around 1837, As slavery dies out in the Caribbean, European governments enact policies to support their beet growers. With governmental support, the European beet sugar industry expanded through the 20th century.

1879: A graduate student at Johns Hopkins refines saccharin, a crystalline powder 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar but with no calories. 

1952: Calcium cyclamate starts appearing in diet sodas

1965: Aspartame (a.k.a. NutraSweet and Equal) was invented in 1965, and by the late 1970s is used in diet sodas.

1967: The bad boy,  High-fructose corn syrup hits the scene.

1998: Sucralose, which goes by the brand name of Splenda and is a whopping 600 times sweeter than sugar, is approved for use in the U.S. Artificial sweeteners supplement or replace sugar in all kinds of food products. 

Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes are found in a variety of food and beverages marketed as “sugar-free” or “diet,” including soft drinks and baked goods. 

Sugar alcohols generally aren’t used when you prepare food at home. But they’re in many processed foods and other products, including chocolate, chewing gum and toothpaste and even in processed meat.

 Artificial sugar is not just the issue, excess sugar in our blood stream can lead to a host of health issues, including diabetes and cancer.

We may be eating sugars, when we think we are not. 

Next time you go shopping, look at the label, you can identify excess sugars by looking for words that end in “ose,” such as fructose, dextrose, and maltose, and look for syrups and juices.

It is important to educate ourselves and take control of our health. 

As artificial sweeteners fall out of vogue, ancient forms of sugar make a major comeback: agave nectar, stevia, dates, and of course honey, which is delicious, shelf-stable, and linked to many health benefits. 

As these sweeteners are being studied and approved for health benefits, we are learning how they can be good for health and fatloss. 

It is usually best to eat sugars in their natural unprocessed forms, i.e apple, instead of apple juice or sugar cane instead of added sugar derived from cane.

Download a Glycemic Index App on your phone and eat according to the index. This can help you maintain healthy blood sugar. 

Episode 4- Holistic Health with Gina Di Iorio

Gina A. Di Iorio, Certified Holistic Health Consultant, television
personality, home health advocate, author, and speaker,
discovered her passion of healthy living at the age of 15 years
old. She has followed the Holistic Model: body, mind and spirit.

Gina believes taking an active role in your own health and
well being starts with developing healthy daily rituals.
She founded Holistic Nutritious Solutions, LLC, in 2016. Her
mission is to eradicate the “privileged theory” and empower
while providing access to achieve optimal health naturally.

Gina creates customized health and wellness plans for her
clientele. Lecturing on topics of “Home Pollution” and “Toxic
Beauty.” Gina has successfully converted homes from a toxic
environment to an eco-friendly sustainable “Green Space.

You can reach Gina by:

email Info@HolisticNSolutions.com

Ph# 609-556-3741

Or visit her website: https://www.holisticnsolutions.com/

Episode 3- Candida with Ilana Labourene

Ilana was a chronically sick child, and spent much of her life studying Chinese and holistic medicine, determined to find an alternative to the western medicine practices that weren’t serving her.

She learned about the importance of gut health, and was able to heal herself through diet and holistic remedies.

She eventually became certified through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and now runs her private coaching practice Ilana Integrative Health as well as a cooking show for gut health and disease prevention, Candida Kitchen.

You can access her information at

candidakitchen.com or ilanahealth.com

Episode 2- Daily Habits and Nutrition

  1. Hydration: 

a. When the stomach senses that it is full, it sends signals to the brain to stop eating.

b. Water also helps the body to recover from digestive problems, such as diarrhea and indigestion.

c. Drinking water can limit your intake of sugary and high calorie drinks

d. Water helps with workouts.

e. How much water do you need to drink?

See the link to the hydration pee test.

https://www.healthline.com/health/hydration-chart

2. Nutrition: 

  1. Fat- there are many high fat diets like Paleo- the caveman diet, Carnivore- mostly meat, almost 0 carb, Keto- the most popular and needs no introduction. Studies have shown that high fat diets can cause issues like: raise your LDL (bad cholesterol), can have negative effects on intestinal permeability, even renal failure since these diets tend to be high in protein as well. In the beginning of your journey, I generally recommend that you stick to incidental fat. Fat that comes as a normal part of your meal, i.e the olive oil used to saute your spinach, fat that comes with your meat. Saturated fat: the type found in meat, cheese, and other dairy foods. Unsaturated fat: typically comes from plant sources like olives, nuts and seeds.  Naturally-occurring trans fats are produced in the gut of some animals and foods made from these animals (e.g., milk and meat products) may contain small quantities of these fats. Artificial trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Trans fat has been clinically proven to cause weight gain, even when the participants were consuming a diet that didn’t include enough calories to maintain their weight. Trans fat not only triggers weight gain but it causes fat stored throughout the body to be transferred to the abdominal region.
  2. Protein breaks down to amino acids through the process of digestion. Amino acids are key for muscle building, strength & recovery. I generally recommend .7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight, but there are variations, especially if you are an athlete or if you have any underlying health issue that makes it challenging to metabolize protein properly. There are apps like Samsung Health, Apple Health or MyFitnessPal where you can set your macro goals (Fat, carbs and protein).
  3. Carbs- For most of us who want to lose weight, we should not make carbs a large part of our nutrition plan. Even though our bodies need carbs, our bodies store excess sugars as glycogen and get this, fat! Try to eat more complex carbs. Download the Glycemic Index App on your phone. Eat Carbs that register well on the Index. These will generally be complex carbs. These do not spike your blood sugar as much as simple carbs. Keeping your blood sugar steady has many benefits that are not limited to weight loss. 

Now let’s put it all together! 

  1. Stay Hydrated- Use the pee test
  2. Do not starve your body of fat and carbs . Your body prefer to use carbs for quick energy and can use fat for slow energy.
  3. Let’s put your plate together: A. Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Veggies- preferably non starchy vegetables and fruit that register low on the glycemic index. B. Add Some Lean Protein- fill in a quarter of your plate by adding some lean proteins- Lean proteins include chicken, fish, lean beef, beans, tofu, eggs or dairy proteins, like cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. C. Round Out Your Plate with Healthy Carbs- The last quarter of the healthy plate includes higher carb foods, such as rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, bread products and other grains. For best results, try to make at least half your grains “whole grains.” Examples include brown rice, wild rice, wheat berries, oatmeal and whole wheat products. Instead of grains, you could also add more fruit to your plate to provide healthy carbs. Remember to stick to grains and fruits that are low on the glycemic index.

4. Here are few possible adjustments. As you are more active, you may slowly increase your protein size. If you move to an athlete level of activity, you may even increase your protein to half your plate, under the right guidance . You may increase your carbs on your post workout meals, especially post lifting. 

5. Eat slowly and eat in this sequence: veggies and protein first, wait 6 to 8 minutes to eat your carbs. This can greatly reduce the amount of carbs you eat which can be vital if your goal is weight loss.

How to Begin Your Weight-loss Journey

Episode 1

Part I

Mental Factors

1. Know Your “Why”

  • We often begin, yet quit by March
  • Keeps your eyes on the prize
  • Marathon, not a sprint

2. Know your “Limiting Factors”

  • Negative surroundings
  • Mental roadblocks
  • Identify and eliminate. 
  • My limiting factors was “Mindet” “image”

3. How are you motivated?

  • Intrinsically ( inner motivation, easy to set and accomplish your goals)
  • Extrinsically  (external factors, sign up for an event, workout out partner, hire a coach)
  • Combination, I begin outwardly motivated and move inward as I see results and fall in love with the process. 

4. Set Realistic Expectations

  • Focus on one goal at a time
  • Make it your own
  • Make it SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. )
  • Play The Long Game (fall in love with the process)

Part II

Daily Habits 

1. Sleep

2. Walking 

  • 10 to 15 k
  • 5k before eating

3. Stay Hydrated

  • Pee Test

4. Do Not fall for fad diets!

More to come in next episode, but in the meantime 

  • Do not eat too much fat . Aim for incidental fat
  • Protein (generally .7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight)
  • Keep carbs low

Part III

Workout 

More details in future episodes, but in the meantime  

1. Cardio

  • 3 to 4 days per week (Short sessions i.e run /sprint , bike ride , rowing, 15 to 30 minutes) 
  • Turn on your body’s ability to burn fat 

2. Weightlift 

  • 4 to 5 days per week 
  • Need to be balanced 
  • Hire a coach if you need putting together a program 
  • Instagram and Youtube has videos from trainers 

3. Yoga 

  • 4 to 5 days per week (short sessions – 10 to 15 minutes)
  • Great for recovery and development of small muscle groups)