6 Tips to add more protein in your day (and digest it well!)

There is tons of hype now around getting sufficient protein, and this hype is definitely valid (but like everything, it requires some customization). READ MORE HERE.

I personally have found adding more protein in my day has helped me naturally lose my postpartum baby weight in a healthy, gradual way while keeping my energy strong and cravings at bay.

However, it’s not just about the amount of protein we consume, but also the QUALITY of the protein, and how well we DIGEST it. Varying your sources of protein (from both animal and plant sources, and ideally organic) is key to help you get a good variety of nutrients and help you have better digestibilty, too.

If you suspect you may be getting insufficient protein and find yourself wanting to try increasing your daily protein intake - in a healthy way that supports your digestion - then I suggest you start by applying some of these 6 easy tips to boost your daily protein intake.

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Meal Prep for a Healthier Week

Some basic meal prep can make feeding yourself and your family - in a healthy way - easier. It gives you a headstart on the week and helps you feel more in control of what you’re eating. And it ensures that there’s always something healthy on hand (that requires little extra prep time).

Just remember that every person and every household is different, so what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

That being said, many people have asked me to share my personal meal prep tips, so today I’m sharing the usual meals I prep almost every week to help inspire you with your meal prep!

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Is buying organic a hype?

As an integrative health and functional nutrition coach, I’ve taken a special interest in prioritizing healthier food choices for myself and my family. Plus, my experience as a mom has pushed me to research even more. In my experience (and based on the research I’ve done), there is a strong case for buying organic foods where possible (which I share in my blog) and this includes minimizing pesticides, GMO-foods and unnecessary food additives. So yes, I’m all in support of buying and eating organic foods as much as possible, especially when it comes to kids.

In today's blog I explain more about what defines organic foods (and non-GMO), all the reserached benefits plus the 3 main reasons why I buy organic, and I give you some tips for getting started!

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One easy way to improve your health: Eat More Plants

If you want to lose weight, improve your skin, energy and mood, poop better, feel healthier and look better…. you should start by focusing on improving your GUT.

One key way to improve your gut microbiome by increasing the variety (and quantity) of plants you eat every week.

Studies (and experiments done by the American Gut Project) show that eating more than 30 different plants per week can significantly improve your microbiome diversity, supporting your overall gut health.

To help you boost your gut health, I’m sharing with you 7 different categories of plants (with tons of options in each category) and tips on incorporating them easily into your daily meals, in order to help you reach (or exceed) the target quota of 30 plants per week.

Lastly, I’ll share various tips on how I personally exceed those 30 plants every week!

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February: Heart Month - 6 tips for optimizing heart health

February is the month of the HEART, and an important time to review your heart health and how you can support it better.

Unfortunately, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the LEADING CAUSE of death worldwide, shortening our lifespan. I strongly believe (together with many leading doctors and health experts) that this will change once we start to prioritize nutrition and lifestyle choices as our first line of defense.

Today I’m sharing 6 things you can start implementing ASAP (apart from the obvious of NO smoking, staying active and avoiding fried foods, trans fats and packaged foods!).

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How Much Protein Do We Need To Eat?

"How much protein vs. carbs should we be eating?"  "If I have a vegetarian meal, won't I be lacking in protein?"  I get asked these questions A LOT, and I would say it's one of the most controversial topics among nutritionists and health experts.  In this blog, I give you both sides of the coin; I explain the necessity for animal proteins and plant-based proteins, and the importance of personalization based on your own needs.

Let me start off by saying that eating sufficient protein is key for optimal nutrition, especially to maintain balanced blood sugar levels and hormones. 

It is absolutely crucial to get sufficient healthy proteins, fats and fiber in our daily diet, and ideally in every meal, for blood sugar stabilization and a faster metabolism, both of which aid in weight loss.  Also, including these 3 elements in each meal helps avoid the onset of sugar cravings. 

On the flip side, people often overestimate the amount of protein we need.

We don’t necessarily need to eat enormous amounts of protein to be strong; there is a lot more to it. Also, overdosing on protein can lead to tons of health issues. Excess animal protein and fat clog our cells, blood and colon. 

The average American adult consumes 100-130 grams of protein every day, which may be appropriate, BUT not when the protein comes primarily from high-fat industrialized animal products which can negatively affect our health.

The biggest issue I see is when people want to lose weight, and steer towards the popular high-protein low carb diets, without fully understanding the impact this can have on their overall, longer-term health.  While these diets work for some people in the short term to lose weight (there is good explanation on how and why they work, but I’ll save that for another day!), I really don’t recommend these diets as a way of living.  For one, these extreme high protein/low carb diets can be very acidic for our bodies.  They tend to focus on foods that lack fiber and nutrients, and under-emphasize the importance of eating enough nutrient-dense healthy carbs, namely vegetables and fruits.  This can lead to digestive and hormonal problems, such as constipation, heavier menstrual bleeding, and longer term more serious issues such as osteoporosis, believe it or not.

So while eating sufficient protein is important for our metabolic health, we need to balance it out, and also, customize to our body, our activity level and stage of life.

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Two Easy, Healthy Holiday Recipes (both gluten- and dairy-free)

Happy Holidays! Here are two of my new “holiday friendly” recipes - both stuffed veggies with creamy mixtures. One is a vegan appetizer (stuffed mushrooms) and the other is more of an entree using animal protein (stuffed squash). Both recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free, but delicious and balanced - containing tons of fiber, healthy fats and protein.

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March: National Nutrition Month - 6 nutrition tips for optimal health

March is National Nutrition Month, a month to help increase awareness about the importance of good nutrition for improving your overall health. Making healthy food choices and improving your eating habits (in combination with incorporating more physical activity and stress reduction into your lifestyle) can help prevent many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And of course, it will help you LOOK and FEEL better, have more confidence and be happier!

Here are 6 of my best tips to help you make healthier nutrition choices (to minimize risk of disease, reach and maintain your ideal weight, and feel better in your body overall).

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Intermittent Fasting: 5 Tips to Make it Work for You

I’m a big fan of fasting, for the right people. It can have some impressive results, but after extensive research on the topic, and experience with many of my health coaching clients, I’ve realized it’s not for everyone.

Even if it IS for you, you might be doing some things wrong and not getting the full benefits.

Today I share and/5 key tips to optimize your Intermittent Fasting, and make it work for YOU. (Plus I explain when it’s just NOT for you, or how you can tailor it).

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Ready to Improve Your Health This Year? Start with these 7 Steps

If this year, you’ve realized YOUR HEALTH is a top priority, you know you want to positively and definitively upgrade your health this year (in a way that does not require suffering nor excess restriction, and actually LASTS), but you’re not sure where to start, I’m here to help!

After a decade of experience as a health coach, I can share 7 key steps to embark on a successful health journey.

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15 Healthy Snacks for Kids

Today i’m sharing my basic guidelines for holisitic nutrition - aplicable for toddlers and kids - plus 15 healthy homemade snack ideas for babies and kids, and 8 more healthy packaged snacks to buy (with links to amazon!)

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A Day of Healthy, Blood-Sugar Stabilizing Meals

The foods we eat have SO MUCH power over our blood sugar, hormones, weight, mood, energy, and essentially, our overall health and happiness. If we want to FEEL good (and LOOK good!), we have to focus on eating heathy, balanced meals that help keep blood-sugar stable.

What does a day of glucose-stabilizing meals look like?

Here is one of my go-to days of blood-sugar balancing delicious meals (which I enjoy in large portions, with dessert, too!):

Upon rising: Lemon water + probiotics (and sometimes glass of AG1 greens)

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How to Eat Carbs Without Fear

Carbs can be found in SO many foods, ranging from highly processed foods (with NO meaningful nutrition!), to vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains that are rich in fiber and essential vitamins and minerals.

Some carbs are definitely more beneficial than others - though many factors play a role in determining this, including portion sizes, presentation, preparation, and even your own gut. To keep it simple, generally, the less refined the food, the better.

It’s important to remember that in moderate amounts, whole food carbs like fruits, vegetables, beans/legumes and whole grains can be excellent for our overall health, especially if we eat them right.

Read my blog to learn the different categories of carbs in terms of how often to eat them (ranging from always, often, less often to avoid) and TIPS for eating them to better support our metabolic health.

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A Key Element for a Healthy, Happy Brain (and 5 steps to take now)

The gut-brain connection is extremely powerful, which means that a huge part of having a healthy mind is having a healthy “gut”.

If you’ve ever felt butterflies in your stomach when nervous, or nauseous when scared, you KNOW your gut is sensitive to your emotions and stress. And the reverse is also true. The health of our gut has a direct effect on our brain and mood. Poor digestion from too much processed foods, bad food combinations, or poor elimination (ex. not pooping properly) can have a huge negative impact on your mood, energy levels, mental clarity (and more!).

SO if you want to have a healthy, happy brain, you need to start by having a healthy GUT! Here are 5 steps to get you started…

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6 Tips to Stay Younger and Live Longer

Almost everyone wants to know what do to “boost longevity” and delay the signs of aging.

The good news is there is A LOT we can do in our day-to-day to help delay our aging (and feel younger and healthier for longer).

Even though we often associate genetics with aging, it is now well-known that only 20-30% of longevity is related to genetics, which means that environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle play a much larger role in how long we live (and more importantly, how we FEEL and LOOK while aging).

READ MORE for 6 (well researched) holistic practices that can help support longevity.

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8 Holistic Tips to Help Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer

October is breast cancer awareness month; a month to raise awareness about our need for Cancer prevention education, something I’m passionate about ESPECIALLY since we’ve discovered how much we can do with food and lifestyle to lower our risk

Today I’m sharing 6 important doctor recommendations to lower your risk of breast cancer, plus 8 more holistic tips to help reduce your risk of disease in general.

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4 steps to make a delicious SATISFYING smoothie

I’m a huge fan of smoothies for breakfast, but only because I’ve found how to make them delicious yet still super healthy, low-glycemic and most importantly: FILLING. What’s my trick?

I always add these 4 ingredients (in good quantities)… Read my blog for the 4 important elements to a healthy, delicious, metabolism-boosting, hormone-balancing, satisfying and FILLING smoothie.

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Best foods for PostPartum – for optimal healing, a healthy recovery and weight loss

POSTPARTUM DIET: A health coach’s guide to holistic postpartum nutrition for optimal healing, recovery and weight loss

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Anti-Inflammatory Diet: 3 steps to lower inflammation naturally

I wanted to write about the anti-inflammatory diet because, even though I’m against “dieting”, this isn’t really a diet; this is about creating a lifestyle of limiting inflammatory foods and regularly incorporating anti-inflammatory foods and lifestyle choices to support better health. It’s something that has helped me immensely, and I can testify that it supports gut health, hormonal health, and maintaining a healthy weight WITHOUT dieting. Following these tips that i’m sharing below will help a lot towards achieving your health goals, I promise!

The food we eat — and don’t eat — can help lower and even prevent this chronic inflammation, to help us feel better, lose weight and reduce our chances of illness.

Today I share 4 ways to enhance your diet and lifestyle to help you reduce inflammation and feel better overall.

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I tried a CGM and here is what I learned + 8 tips to avoid glucose spikes

I'm sharing my experience with testing out a LEVELS Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to help me learn what caused increases in my blood sugar, and what helped me keep it stable. Based on my experience and research, I'm sharing 8 tips for balancing your blood sugar, to help with weight loss, balanced hormones and better overall health.

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