I’ve got more coming this morning, but I wanted to make sure folks knew about the private (and totally free) Facebook group I have going devoted to keto living. It’s taking off in big ways, and I don’t want you to miss this discussion!
My vision with the Keto Reset book and the Facebook community is to guide you through an evidence-based approach to keto, one that focuses on achieving maximum health, fitness, and longevity by combining a ketogenic eating pattern with the Primal lifestyle practices I have written about for years on Mark’s Daily Apple and in The Primal Blueprint.
Being fat- and keto-adapted (meaning you can efficiently burn fat and ketones for energy) is humans’ default factory setting, freeing you from carbohydrate dependency and the negative health effects that come with it. If you’re looking for an active online support community and expert guidance on how to harness the power of the ketogenic lifestyle without any dogma, gimmicks, or “bro-science,” join us on Facebook, and be part of the Primal quest to #liveawesome!
I used to think the greatest thing about my slow cooker was the way it tackled dinner on super-busy weeknights, but then I learned that it does something even better: breakfast. With the same amount of ease and low effort, the slow cooker works through the night to deliver a warm breakfast when you wake up! Better yet, there’s likely to be enough to last for the whole week ahead.
Whether you reach for toast and jam, crunchy granola, or tender egg casseroles, these 13 recipes will show you all the best ways to use your slow cooker for breakfast.
Ina Garten is a household name with 10 cookbooks under her belt and a cult-favorite cooking show The Barefoot Contessa. While Garten’s food expertise is renown, the chef has book recommendations up her sleeve as well.
Painting your kitchen cabinets is the single most transformative thing you can do to your kitchen without a gut renovation. And, if you do it yourself, it can also be one of the least expensive ways to overhaul the space — just the cost of materials and, of course, your time.
And time it will take. People on the internet like to say that painting your kitchen cabinets is a quick weekend project. Maybe if it’s a holiday weekend — and you can take another day or two off work! In reality, it’s a project that can take a solid five or six days, depending on the size of your kitchen. (You literally have to wait for paint to dry!)
It’s not all that hard, though — as long as you’re patient and thorough, the transformation will be amazing. We teamed up with professional painters Chris and Lexi Dowding, of Michigan-based SwatchOut, to paint a real kitchen and distill the steps for you to DIY it. Warning: It’s going to look like a lot of steps. And it is! But we also wanted to break down as much possible here, so that you have no questions in real life.
Here’s what you need to know in order to paint your old, wooden kitchen cabinets so that they look like brand new (white!) ones.
When I think of my travels in Germany, I think of beers, brats, and mustard, and it’s still that satisfying trinity that I crave when the weather starts to cool down. Throwing everything into a slow cooker means I can come back to tender sausages that have been gently braising in beer, with a pile of sweet peppers and onions coated in grainy mustard right on top. Serve in buns if you like, but I like my sausage and peppers next to a mound of vinegar-based potato salad and some more mustard for dipping.
Nothing has tested my relationship with food like pregnancy and the early postpartum months did!
There are a couple main nutrition challenges that new moms commonly face:
First, it can be incredibly difficult at times to simply remember to eat, or to eat enough, when you’re caring for a tiny human that demands the majority of your attention.
Moreover, any eating you do typically has to happen quickly and easily, so consuming high quality, nutrient dense food can go by the wayside quickly.
If you’re a new mom, I’d encourage you not to strive for perfect nutrition. Eat in a way that makes you feel good in your body and satisfied after eating. Choose food that tastes delicious, is mostly nutrient dense, and that is easy to prepare.
1. Prioritize Protein (Almost) Every Time You Eat
I have never experienced such intense, almost constant hunger, as what I felt during the first weeks and months of postpartum recovery and breastfeeding. It was such a strange thing to be eating all day and, mostly, all night long, too!
One of the most helpful ways to not only increase satiation — because sometimes your meals must last you a few hours — but also to promote tissue repair and healing, is to prioritize protein every time you eat.
Here are a few simple examples:
A smoothie with a scoop of protein powder or collagen powder
A wrap or sandwich with deli meat or chicken
Two scrambled eggs with hemp hearts mixed in
Some Greek yogurt with banana and honey
A pepperoni stick with a slice of cheese
A good guideline is to aim for 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal. If you can hit this three to four times per day, you’ll be feeling much more satisfied after eating and between meals.
A good way to gauge this would be to eat a portion of protein with each one of your meals — that’s about the size of your palm — and a half portion with every snack. Remember, this doesn’t have to be perfect. If you can eat one hard boiled egg, which has five to six grams of protein, before feeding the baby and getting your oldest kid ready for school, that is fine. Do what you can!
2. Eat to Support Recovery
With pregnancy and birth, your body goes through an intense process. Recovery requires even more work, not to mention the huge amount of energy you’re expending caring for your newborn, and possibly your other children as well.
Do I need to point out that you’re doing all of this on very little sleep too?
It’s essential that you treat food, in part, as fuel for your recovery. Good nutrition — with protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals — will help you overcome the physical depletion that inherently stems from having birthed a child.
Additionally, eating minimally-processed and nutrient-dense food can support you on a mental and emotional level. It’s easier to deal with a fussy baby who is refusing to nap when you aren’t starving!
Early postpartum is not the time to be restricting calories or to be thinking about dieting.
Your body needs fuel in the form of macro and micronutrients to support your energy demands and your healing connective tissues, and to keep your energy as even as possible throughout the days and nights.
You might have heard that you should eat 1,800 to 2,200 calories per day, and possibly more while breastfeeding. While this could be a good calorie recommendation for some moms, this will not be effective for everyone.
Your needs are likely to change from day to day, as well, and will be different whether you’re at the first month or the sixth month postpartum.
You might have days where you have been nursing every hour on the hour and you find yourself eating 750 calories at breakfast alone. You might have other days where your activity level is lower and you’re naturally not as hungry.
If you are breastfeeding, be mindful of the fact that your body will naturally prioritize breast milk production over your own recovery. This is why you should make sure to get the vitamins and minerals you need, so that your body has the means to both feed your baby and heal itself.
Try not to get too caught up in the numbers and instead do your best to figure out how you can eat in a way that feels good for you. This takes practice, but does not have to be complicated.
3. Eat Veggies at Two or More Meals per Day
Eating veggies can feel tricky when the majority of your meals are being eaten with one hand.
Do what you can to eat vegetables at two (or more) meals each day, with a goal of eventually eating five servings of vegetables or fruits on a daily basis. Vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, and are important for good nutrition and health.
Here a few ways to add veggies into your day:
Breakfast: add a half cup of cooked leftover potatoes and a half cup chopped bell peppers into an egg scramble
Snack: use one to two handfuls of spinach in a smoothie
Lunch: make a sandwich and add lettuce, tomato, and pickles
Dinner: roughly chop veggies and roast them in the oven
You can also give yourself a “daily veggies goal” where you strive to eat a certain number of vegetable servings per day.
For example, if eating three daily servings of veggies feels quite effortless, you might consider increasing to four to five servings. You can roughly keep track throughout the day, thinking about eating a cup or two of veggies at your bigger meals.
In Tip #5 below I give you more tips on making veggie eating simpler, so read on!
4. Do Not Try to White-Knuckle Your Way Through Cravings
Cravings arise during periods of low sleep and higher stress. During these moments, you’ll most likely be craving foods that are high in sugar and high in carbohydrates.
My advice is to prioritize protein and vegetables whenever you can, while also giving yourself some grace and eating moderate amounts of the foods that will satisfy your cravings.
When cravings hit and we choose to avoid the food we really want and instead eat other, less satisfying foods, we often end up eating a bigger serving, which in turn leaves us feeling overfull, bloated, or with a sugar crash. Not an ideal scenario.
Instead, determine what would be really satisfying for you to eat, and eat it.
The most important thing is that you feel good after eating, every single time. This is typically why it’s more enjoyable to practice tuning into your cravings, eating exactly what you want to eat (e.g. selecting the full fat ice cream vs. the sugar free ice cream), eating an amount that leaves you feeling satisfied yet not overfull, and moving on with your life.
Above all, do not beat yourself up over those cravings. It’s absolutely normal under the circumstances. It will change. Once you are getting more rest and your body is more recovered from birth, you will naturally crave less sugar and carbohydrates and be more able to eat in a manner that resembles what you’re used to.
5. Keep It Simple
Eating does not have to feel hard. In fact, it’s going to feel a lot easier as a new mom if you let yourself relax as much as possible about the specifics.
There is no meal planning that happens in my house. No specific plan when I go the grocery store. There is very little meal prep done.
That being said, there are things that I do on a weekly basis that helps make eating and mealtime easier:
Buy a couple of pre-cooked rotisserie chickens
Buy a few varieties of pre-made salads
Buy two or three packets of microwavable rice
Have smoothie ingredients on hand, including protein powder, spinach, cucumber, frozen fruit, and coconut, cashew or almond milk
Get sliced deli meat, salami, and bacon
Buy salad dressings, dips, and hummus
This works in my life. I’m not necessarily suggesting that you do this, but that you see what you can do to simplify the process.
Does a local grocery store deliver?
Can you order your groceries online and pick them up at the store?
Can you buy pre-cut veggies or pre-made salads?
Can you buy pre-cooked meat?
Do you have an instant pot or crockpot?
Can you batch cook veggies or protein sources once or twice per week?
As you go about finding ways to make your nutrition work for your life as a new mom remember the cardinal rule of eating: it should make you feel good.
Eating should be enjoyable, not stressful. Don’t get wrapped up in the minute details! You don’t have to sit to eat, chew each bite X times, or track your macros.
Follow the five tips above and eat in a way that works for your body and your life!
Buffalo chicken wings are a classic appetizer. If you love this game-day starter so much that you want to translate it to dinner, this is the recipe for you. Juicy Buffalo chicken is stuffed into a soft baked sweet potato and topped with a creamy blue cheese-yogurt sauce for a healthier take on those beloved wings.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
Warrior Fit Testimonials
First, I want to say thank you for convincing me to do Tabata! I was struggling to lose weight and Finally I found something that helped! I really appreciate your coaching! - Craig T.
Ever since I was convinced to do Tabata I have seen huge results, I lost 6 pounds and gained energy in the first 3 weeks. I have been working out for 3 months before I decided to do Tabata and I struggled to lose weight.
At first I thought "How am I losing weight by bringing my heart rate up then cooling down then bringing it up again?" I don’t know how it works but it does!
Thank you!! - Theresa F.
The first day of Tabata, I wondered WHAT AM I DOING - I AM 56 !! Five weeks later I knew that it was what I needed. I learned that I could push myself well beyond my comfort zone and feel good later. I have a marked improvement in physical as well as emotional endurance. - Lyn C.
When I was first told about Tabata I was very excited from the word go, however that excitement stemmed from the fact that I had no clue what it meant. I missed the first week of class b/c I was traveling for work so when I came in during the 2nd week I had some making it up to do.
It was hard at first b/c my body wasn't used to working out at such a fast pace, but once I got into a rhythm I started to feel very good. These classes are no joke. If you stick with it you will leave there feeling stronger, healthier and overall better about yourself and what you've accomplished.
I would recommend these classes to anyone. Darrin is a great trainer and he'll keep you going with his energy.
- Jami L.
Warriors Fit Audio
Warrior Fit uses High Intensity Music to get ya Moooovin' So we can all "Get Our Sweat On"
The link below will give ya a freeee shot at Audible plus a couple audio books just to try it out and if you haven't used audio books on your commutes you are missing out. Get pumped up before you get to where you are going and exercise your mind. I use it Everyday. Go get yours now!
I’ve got more coming this morning, but I wanted to make sure folks knew about the private (and totally free) Facebook group I have going devoted to keto living. It’s taking off in big ways, and I don’t want you to miss this discussion!
1. Prioritize Protein (Almost) Every Time You Eat
2. Eat to Support Recovery
3. Eat Veggies at Two or More Meals per Day
4. Do Not Try to White-Knuckle Your Way Through Cravings
5. Keep It Simple
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
Val's Steppin it Up
