Warrior Fit Boot Camp Fitness Fun!

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Choosing a favorite product at Trader Joe’s feels nearly impossible. There are so many great things that are wonderful in their own unique ways. How could I possibly choose between the freeze-dried fruit that stops my toddler from being cranky and the lavender dryer sachets that make my sheets smell like I live at Buckingham Palace? And of course there are the gluten-free Joe -Joe’s and tiny individual cans of sparkling wine, which are perfect for when you just want one glass, or want to make a Champagne-topped cocktail without opening a whole bottle (and for sneaking into movie theaters, if you are so inclined).

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If you aren’t already hip to the organizing potential of an egg cup — you know, those fancy little vessels designed to hold a single egg — now’s the time to smarten up. Believe it or not, those little egg-serving cuties actually offer up some serious storage opportunity, especially for your bathroom counter. Best of all: They’re easy to score for cheap at thrift stores, or maybe just borrow from your grandma’s personal collection.

Keep reading for a handful of reasons why an egg cup might be the answer to all of your bathroom counter storage problems.

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It’s a summer Friday and the heat index in my city is over 105 degrees. So in truly excellent news, Starbucks announced that as a special treat it would be giving away free Frappuccinos this afternoon. Friday, June 29, 2018. That’s today. And that means it’s the perfect day to take an afternoon walk and try out any of Starbucks’ new Frappuccinos that you may have had your eye on.

Serious Strawberry Frappuccino, here I come!

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I had a friend in college who said her favorite comfort food was butter. I wasn’t surprised when she said that, because I figured that butter is pretty much everyone’s favorite comfort food — we just usually do things with it first.

But not my friend. I found out later that her favorite snack was to peel a stick of Land O’Lakes and eat it like a carrot. Sometimes she’d dip the end in sugar for a treat, but really, she was just as happy to eat the whole stick of cold butter. I can’t stop thinking about her today, because I just read about the most popular steak sauce recipe on Pinterest and she would really love it.

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A cast iron skillet is surprisingly one of the most low-maintenance kitchen tools you can add to your arsenal. You don’t really need all that much beyond a basic understanding of how to care for your pan. Of course, if you love your cast iron skillet (like, really love it), there are a few things you should buy — for both your skillet and yourself.

Here are the three things we strongly suggest picking up.

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Hi, my name is Mike. I haven’t always been overweight or obese. In fact, when I was a child and teen I was skinny. To the point of being teased frequently because of how skinny I was. No matter what I ate or how much of it I ate, I couldn’t gain weight. Fast forward to January 2017 and I was at my largest: 350 pounds, barely able to fit into 4xl shirts and was about to have to purchase 48 waist pants because the 46 I was in I couldn’t button. I had to put them close, fasten my belt, and hope the pants didn’t slip through and unzip.

I didn’t get here overnight, although after finding and devouring Mark’s Daily Apple I realized that my overnight practices were definitely part of it. High stress lifestyle as a paramedic for 18 years, working nights, fast food almost every meal, then stress eating through Physician Assistant school. I was definitely the “Do as I say not as I do” healthcare provider. And done with it.

In February of 2017 I checked my Hemoglobin A1C and it was 6.4, just 0.1 short of official diabetes. I started to do some of what Mark said to do on MDA but wasn’t fully into it. I’ve always been the “why it works that way” person and, being the geek that I am, kept reading. Mark’s Daily Apple, Chris Kresser, and others increased my nutritional knowledge far beyond my education as a PA (a subject for a completely different article).

In May 2017 I had lost 10 pounds but my A1c was still 6.2 and my Triglycerides were 264. It was time to actually do something about my health instead of just talk about it and tell my patients what to do. Actually, several of my patients as well as my parents, who really listened to what I told them, read MDA and instituted the Primal Lifestyle and had lost lots of weight and were doing great, which inspired me to take my own advice.

Like many people who are obese and have tried to lose weight, I’ve done well for a little bit, screwed up, and beat myself up about it. “I don’t know why I even try” and, “Well I blew it again” were frequent thoughts. When patients would ask how much I’ve lost since I started trying I would say, “Thousands” because I had been trying and failing since my mid 20s. I’ve been telling patients recently that the flip in mentality came with the 80/20 concept that we read about on MDA. It’s true. Once I fully grasped that concept and instituted it in my life, things began to turn around.

In December 2017 I tested again. My A1c was 5.4, Triglycerides 146, and I was down 15 more pounds. 2018 has been even better. I’m only down another 10 pounds (40 total as of this morning) but that’s despite several trips for work and some vacations, and my body composition is definitely changing. In May my A1c was 5.0. I’m officially no longer pre-diabetic. I am down 6 belt loops (I keep making new loops and the tip of my belt is literally on my left hip). I actually fit into and button a pair of 40 waist jeans. 3xl shirts fit me somewhat loose. All of this without any workout program. My BMI has gone from 47.5 to 42.0, so still morbidly obese but getting close to, “just obese.” I increased my activity by moving more and working on projects around my property such as building a raised garden (pulling weeds, raking rocks, etc), but didn’t do any actual workout program until the first week of May when I started a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program three days a week.

I still have a long way to go to get to my goal of 205. The 21-Day Reset that we are currently doing has helped me get back on track paying attention to what I am doing. I’m sleeping better. Energy is better. Clothes fit better. The area I work (mountains in Arizona) has a large population that lives where it’s warm in the winter and comes up to the mountains for the summer. My summer patients who haven’t seen me since the fall are making comments about how I look. My confidence is returning and I’m re-engaging in life.

I will be 50 next year and I’m confident that I will be healthier at 50 than I was at 25. I also would like to do the Primal Health Coach Institute as well as the Functional Medicine Program at the Kresser Institute (student loans currently keep those from being financially feasible), and I have started to figure out how to institute a primal based health program at my current practice. Grok on!

The post My Confidence Is Returning, and I’m Re-engaging in Life appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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My husband and I were recently gifted a high-speed blender (a Vitamix, to be exact), when we got married last year. At first, I was intimidated by this shiny new toy with a super-high-powered motor in our kitchen. It’s not exactly an inexpensive appliance, so I felt a little nervous to dive right in and start using it.

Luckily, after staring at it on our counter for a few days, I got up the nerve to use it — and I am so happy I did. While I was definitely skeptical of just how useful the blender would be given its cost, I’ve found it to be such a smart tool. Yes, it can do things standard blenders can do, like make smoothies, but that’s really just the beginning.

Here are five unique things a high-speed blender can do.

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Long before Costco and Sam’s, Dollar General was founded as a discount wholesaler by a father-son team. This wide-reaching brand (they have more than 14,500 stores in 44 states) offers a wide variety of goods, from food to home items and apparel, all at super-low prices. But if you think you’ll just be digging through bargain bins, don’t be fooled! This well-organized retailer has a few offerings that just might surprise you.

Here are nine things to know about Dollar General before you go.

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Anyone who can make dinner can make killer cocktails — drinks as good as the ones served in fancy bars. You might not have a hand-carved Japanese stirring glass or gleaming crystal-clear ice spears, but you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve (and in your pantry).

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I’ve finally entered that chapter in my life where I’m surrounded by new mom friends, and many of them are in vacation-planning mode. I’ve got a lot of questions: Where’s the best place to travel with a baby? Are some hotels more crib-friendly than others? Is it difficult to pump and store breast milk on the road?

There are lots of options for those looking to keep their breast milk “on ice.” Some companies have created baby products whose only purpose is to keep breast milk cold; other moms get creative with conventional items not intended for breast milk, but which still get the job done. So, is there a breast milk cooler that wins out above the rest?

I surveyed some of my closest friends who are moms, and asked around in various parenting Facebook groups, about the many ways to store breast milk on the go. Here’s what everyone have to say.

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