I Need My Energy Back

Have you ever struggled to get out of bed in the morning, can't function without your morning pot of coffee, or your bottles of soda, mid afternoon slump sees you reaching for sugary snacks and drinks to get you through the day... sound familiar? We are busier than ever, the generation of do it all - juggling work, home life, relationships, family, and social activities... it's no wonder we feel exhausted! A good night's sleep isn't the only factor in feeling refreshed and awake; what we eat also has a huge part to play in powering our bodies. Choosing the right foods can have a significant impact on your energy levels throughout the day, but all too often looking after ourselves comes as a last priority in the daily whirlwind. To boost your energy, swap unhealthy quick fixes like chocolate bars and unhealthy sugary drinks for foods that give a natural boost and can send your energy levels soaring!

10 Energy boosting foods.
 Oats - Oats are high in calcium, potassium and magnesium, as well as energy boosting B vitamins. Magnesium plays a key role in converting the food we eat into energy, and a shortage of magnesium in your diet could leave you lacking in energy. Oats are also low on the Glycemic Index so they give your body a steady release of energy. Try muesli, porridge, or oatcakes for a healthy breakfast or snack.

Nuts - Packed full of protein, vitamins and minerals as well as good fats, nuts are a great snack when you're lacking in energy. Almonds contain energy boosting minerals magnesium and calcium. Walnuts are rich in potassium, zinc and energy boosting iron, while peanuts are a good source of vitamin B6, which aids the body to use and store energy from protein and carbohydrates in food. Whichever you choose, be careful not to overdo it as nuts have a high calorie and fat content - a small handful or two tablespoons is an ideal portion.

 Fruits - Full of vitamin C, antioxidants, and fibre, fruit is the perfect energy boosting snack. Vitamin C is crucial for the production of carnitine, a molecule that helps your body burn fat for energy. Being deficient in Vitamin C will not only leave you feeling lethargic but can also cause your body to store in your muscles the fat it is not burning. Oranges and other citrus fruits are packed with Vitamin C; bananas are also a great choice as they are a rich source of carbohydrate - the body's preferred energy fuel, and full of potassium an element essential for the body's growth and maintenance. There's no such thing as a bad fruit, so eat an assortment for a varied diet and for maximum nutrients.

Vegetables - Iron is an important mineral for energy. Choose broccoli, spinach, asparagus, and sprouts, all high energy foods full of key vitamins and minerals your body requires. Sweet potatoes are also a great choice as they are high in carbohydrates as well as Vitamins A and C.

Whole grains - Swapping white rice, bread, and pasta for their wholegrain counterparts will help stabilize your blood sugar levels. Refined carbohydrates contain very little fiber and are heavily processed, whereas unrefined carbohydrates are rich in fiber which slows the rate at which the sugar from carbohydrates is released, reducing the sudden spike and crash of blood sugar and energy levels. Fiber also expands in your stomach, leaving you feeling fuller for longer. Brown rice and whole-wheat breads are good sources of Pantothenic acid (better known as vitamin B5) which helps the body extract energy-giving nutrients from food.

Fish - Fish is a great source of protein,vitamins, and minerals. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, and sardines are all high in vitamins B6, Niacin (B3) and B12, which are important in converting food into energy. Fish is also rich in magnesium, another key mineral for energy production. Oily fish also contain omega-3 healthy fats, which are good for your heart.

Lean red meat - Red meat sometimes gets bad press but eating lean red meat can help your body top off its protein and iron levels - both of which are vital for energy. Low iron levels can lead to iron deficiency anemia, the main symptoms of which are tiredness, lethargy and general lack of energy. Meat is also one of the main sources of Vitamin B12, which is key in releasing energy from the food we eat. Beans and lentils release energy slowly and are full of fiber, which slows digestion and provides a more steady supply of energy. Kidney beans, lentils, and baked beans are rich in iron, an important mineral for maintaining energy levels. Eggs - One of the few foods to be called a complete protein, eggs contain all 9 essential amino acids - the building blocks of protein in your body. These amino acids are vital for building new muscles and repairing tissue damage. As a rich source of protein, eggs are great for an energy boost, and you'll feel fuller for longer as they provide a slower release of energy. Garlic - Eating lots of garlic might not make you popular on account of its odor, but its health benefits have been known for centuries. This powerful herb can help to reduce fatigue and boost energy levels. It has also been linked to improved heart health and regulating blood sugar levels - and it adds great flavor to dishes! For those times when you need an extra boost, consider using supplemental products from me Dione your local Herbalife Independent Distributor. Natural, safe, and effective, our products are sold exclusively through independent distributors. For More information please reach to me, for a consultation, or to make a purchase. Your Herbalife Independent Distributor,  Dione Neal Website: http://herbal-nutrition.net/Dione1203 Email: Stlhealthnut@gmail.com

Stop These Cravings Please.......

Cravings Cravings Cravings are the biggest obstacle for anyone who is dieting and trying to loose weight. All you hear going through you mind is I want this piece of cake or cupcake or slice of pizza or hamburger and fries or lasagna loaded with cheese, why cant I eat that, oh its not good for my diet. How many people think this on the daily basis? How many of you feel that you fall off the wagon and everything that you worked for that week is now a waste because you have given in to every craving you had. Let me also ask you this when you have these cravings what did you eat prior to the craving? Did you eat a healthy breakfast with a snake and lunch? Are you waiting to the last minute to eat something? Had you planned your meals for the day? You really should ask yourself these questions because behind those answers are the key to why you continue to have these cravings. I know from my own personal perspective I have noticed that the more more carbs I eat like breads, pastas, sugar in my coffee or tea the more intense my cravings are for my favorite foods. If I don't plan my meals out or if I wait to the last minute to eat something my body's insulin level is at the point of no return and i just want to stuff my mouth with the quickest easiest tasty food.


Here are 7 Things that will Help You Cut your Cravings Down!

1.) Add more lean protein to you diet and eat less carbohydrates. If you do choose to eat carbs please limit them to wheat or gluten free breads and pasta.

2.) Drink more water throughout the day instead of sodas, energy drinks and coffee.  You should drink at least 1 oz. of water for every 2 lbs of body weight with additional water if you exceed your ideal weight.

3.) Plan your meals, Plan your meals Plan your meals. This is so important to making sure you beat your cravings. Eat small meals and snacks throughout the day instead of eating three large meals to avoid the temptation to snack on bad foods. You should eat at least six smaller meals or larger snacks of healthy food to keep your insulin level regulated while you are awake.

4.) Avoid working out on an empty stomach by consuming high-protein snacks a half hour before you head to the gym. You should keep a steady supply of unsalted peanuts, walnuts and low-calorie protein bars in your home to avoid cravings after you get back from working out.

5.) Make sure you eat breakfest 1 hour after you wake up in the morning. But consider that if you sleep for six to eight hours and then skip breakfast, your body is essentially running on fumes by the time you get to work. And that sends you desperately seeking sugar, which is usually pretty easy to find.

www.myshakeology.com/stlhealthnut

6.) Cookies made with organic cane juice might sound like something your yoga teacher would eat, but they won't help her fit into her Lycra pants. Junk food by any other name is still junk. Ditto for lots of "health foods" in the granola aisle. "Natural" sweeteners like honey raise blood sugar just like the white stuff

7.) Find a great substitute for your cravings instead of grabbing a cupcake or cookie go for an apple or grapes. I find that grabbing a nice shake or Shakeology helps suppress my appetite.

Insanity OMG Yes It is!

I am literally on day three of Insanity and I have to say it is one of the best at home workout programs I have ever tried and I am known for purchasing everything under the sun. I have tried Jillian Michael's, The Firm, Pilate's, P90x, Turbo Fire, Turbo Jam, Yoga, Biggest Losers, Billy Blanks and the list goes on. Now there is nothing wrong with the workouts that I have mentioned but Insanity takes me back to the days were I ran track-n-field were at the end of the workout your adrenaline is pumping your endorphins are up and you know without a doubt that you just had an amazing workout and a great calorie burn. It takes away the pressure and the feeling of not getting much accomplished when you go to the gym. Insanity is a high intensity interval workout which also features, abs, plyometrics moves, it is an extreme and demanding workout that is not meant for any beginner. The best part is you are suppose to see some extreme results in only 60days and some of the other programs are 90days. With this awesome Insanity program combined with a healthy low carb diet you can not help but have success.  Are you ready to join the Insanity Family? www.stlhealthnut.com

10 Tips to help you Maintain Doing the Holiday Season

Tis the season to gain 10-15bs with all the eating and family and friends, holiday parties and going out to eat...its what happens doing the holiday season. But it really doesn’t have to be that way, there are several things that we can do to void gaining thoughs holiday pounds.

1.)    Avoid the Big Eyes Syndrome: Make sure that you are aware of what you are eating. As a matter of fact try eating before you go to the holiday party. This way you are full and you don’t feel tempted to eat everything in site.

2.)    Write down what you eat: It is holiday party season and you can start picking up random office treats, party snacks and office candy throughout the day. Give yourself a limit of what you are willing to eat or try to say no. Write down what you are eating throughout the day, so if you are gaining weight you know why.

3.)    Stay Active: Don’t stop working out because it’s the season to relax. Make sure that you are doing some type of full body workout 5-6 days a week! If you are going shopping power walk throughout the mall. Could be fun!

4.)    Don’t be a taster: If you are cooking or watching someone else cook, don’t taste everything in site. Popping random food can account for up to 300 calories in a single set. Be mindful of how often and what you are tasting.

5.)     Avoid the all or nothing trap that we fall into...Just because you indulged in a piece of cake pie or fried chicken does not mean you have to completely give up for the day. Just because you overindulged one night does not mean you have to give up the whole weekend. Get up the next day exercise and still eat right.

6.)    Find a partner: You all can hold each other accountable and challenge each other to reach your full potential with eating right and exercising.

7.)    It is the season for alcohol: Avoid the beverages loaded with cream, milk, soda; these beverages are loaded with simple sugars and extra calories. Reach for A skinny margarita or light beer; your best choice will always be a glass of wine or alcohol with no mixer. But the best choice is no alcohol at all…(but who are we kidding?)

8.)    Don’t Skip Meals: Eating anything at the last minute just means you are grabbing for the wrong foods. Your blood sugar can get low making you want to grab anything in site to feel your hunger pains. So eat 5-6 small meals a day.

9.)    Drink Water: This never gets old if you are drinking your 8-10 glasses of water a day you are staying hydrating. Drinking water before each meal tends to help you get full faster.

10.) One simple Treat: Make sure that you do have the treat that you want. It is the holiday season and you don’t want to not be able to enjoy the good foods. Just don’t over indulge and one small portion of your favorite treat will not hurt your diet. But also make sure you keep up with your exercise plan as well.

Enjoy your holiday season with friends and family and remember to keep your beachbody in tact with great exercise and a diet that is suitable to your lifestyle. Exercising should be fun; it should be a party you just have to find out what works best for you. Your diet should be something that you can live with on the daily basis not something that is draining your energy, has you over thinking and just upset with food.  So tis the season to enjoy but not overindulge!

Yours Truly,

Dione Stlhealthnut Neal

For more information on great fitness programs please visit:

 http://www.stlhealthnut.com/ or www.myshakeology.com/stlhealthnut

For questions email me at stlhealthnut@gmail.com

Yes! I’m moving but I am stressed.

OMG you are moving! I am so excited for you and at the same time I offer you my deepest sympathies. Moving is a very thrilling time but it also can be very stressful. The packing, finding boxes, taping, de-cluttering your life and lets not forget that infamous give away piles. But what keeps you going is the excitement of moving into a new home and possibly for some into a new city.

If you are like me, moving can be very stressful and takes you off track from your normal life including your workout routine. Even though you feel as if time will not permit you to workout, like any other thing that’s important to you, you want to make sure you schedule your workout into your life and stick to that schedule.  

Physical activity for anybody helps take control of the stress in your life. According to mayoclinic.com any form of exercise, from aerobics to weightlifting, kickboxing to tennis or racket ball can act as a stress reliever. It doesn’t matter how physically fit you are any form of exercise minimum 3-4 days a week is great for the body. What type of exercises are you doing? Are you thinking to hard when you go to the gym? Are you getting a full body workout in?

My favorite form of exercise is a kickboxing exercise called Turbo Fire. I am married to this workout routine and have found something that relieves my stress, and I can have fun while doing it.  I find it hard to go to the gym and then figure out what workout will work best in a short period of time so that I won’t spend 2-3 hours in the gym. If you have the luxury to be able to afford a personal trainer to do the thinking for you that is awesome and I say go for it. But at home workouts are great as well. You can throw in a DVD, pump of those endorphins, your brains feel good neurotransmitters and get in a great workout without even thinking about it and guess what you have calmed your mind your body and have relieved some of the stresses that go along with moving.

So in the middle of unpacking stop what you are doing throw in a workout DVD to relieve some of the stress. It will energize your body and put you into a better mood which will allow you to get more done with a clear mindset. Happy Moving!!!

For questions about workouts or gyms please email me at

stlhealthnut@gmail.com or visit www.stlhealthnut.com

Friend or Foe - Energy Drinks

Its been a long day and you are fatigued what do you reach for to get your energy levels back up??? Most people go for soda or coffee. But, since 2006 their has been an increase in energy drink consumption. Imagine picking up an energy drink and consuming more then 3 per day. To some people this may sound excessive but to some young adults and college students this is normal. Most of the boost in energy drinks comes from two things — sugar and caffeine — and the effect is short-term. Then you experience the "downer" were your energy level falls rapidly and you are fatigued even more then before you consumed the drink. Some people become addicted to them because they receive a high off of that increase in energy.

The problem with energy drinks is they are categorized as nutritional supplements and because of this factor they actually avoid the limit of 71 mg caffeine per 12 fluid ounces that the US Food and Drug Administration has set for soda. Consequently the energy drinks can contain as much as 75 to 400 mg caffeine per container, with additional caffeine not included in the listed total often coming from additives( guarana, kola nut, yerba mate, and cocoa).

According to Emma Hitt, PHD and author on medscape.com the maximum daily intake for adolescents is 100mg and up to 300mg for adults. The average adult consumes up to 3 cups of coffee per day and the average adolescents can have as many as 2 -3 energy drinks per day on top of the other drinks they are consuming.

Now what if a different option existed other then coffee, soda or energy drinks. What if you could have a drink that replaced your meal, allowed you to feel energized, helped you loose weight and improved your digestion and regularity. Many people would prefer to reach for an energy drink because they are cheap and easily accessible even if its not healthy and is only causing health issues amongst those that consumer them more often then they should. They are loaded with simple sugars and can be linked to increase in weight and the rapid increase of type 2 diabetes. The sugar in energy drinks causes insulin spikes which later result in a “crash like” feeling so even if you are trying to loose weight the sugar in the drinks can prevent you from reaching your weight loss or fitness goals.

As a substitute for energy drinks I recommend Shakeology. Not only will it energize you but it will also help you loose weight, improve your digestion and regularity and some have reported a decrease in blood pressure, stabilized blood sugar and an improvement in there overall health. Take back your life and control your energy levels and cravings as well. This meal replacement is filled with Protein, Digestive Enzymes, Vitamins, Minerals, Phytonutriens, Prebiotics and it has no gluten. The video below is more information about The Healthiest Meal of the Day - Shakeology.

Shakeology

Yours Truely,

For more information about Shakeology please email me!
STLHEALTHNUT@GMAIL.COM

Turkey Day Blues

As my favorite Holiday approaches I know people are getting excited about the awesome food that will sit before there eyes on Thanksgiving. The turkey, dressing, macaroni and cheese, greens, yams, green beans, sweet potatoe, peach cobbler oh my! Yessss it all sounds so delicious, and its so good that our eyes are become bigger then our stomach and we overindulge in everything. When we would normally have one serving we have two or three large plates throughout the day and nite. But unfortunately a lot of the food we eat doing Thanksgiving are loaded with fat and are high in calories, sodium and cholesterol. These are the foods that clogs your arteries and leave you with the itis(when you eat so much that you can not move and its time to sleep) at the end of the day. The average person consumes over 2000 calories on one plate of food. That's more then a large grown man should have in an entire day. There are many ways to add less calories to your food and have a lite thanksgiving but then it would be thanksgiving so I am not even going there.

Here are a few ways to help keep you from packing on the extra 10-15lbs this holiday season:

• Start working out now, there is no time like the presence to begin a workout routine. It gives you the jump start that you need in order to actually complete your new years resolution.
• Cut out all juice and soda, these are unnecessary empty calories
• Limit your alcohol intake as well (sorry i had to say it)
• Drink 3-4 glasses of water before you sit down and eat your meal
• Do not drink anything while you are eating, drink before or after your meal this helps break down the food faster in your system.
• Begin a healthy eating regime now, low carbs high protein is what I recommend
• Stop eating things that are white...white flour, noodles, sugar, bread, fried chicken(yes I said it) FRIED FOODS PERIOD.( you can treat yourself every now and then but this should not be apart of your daily diet)
• Try to make your food at home and avoid fast foods (this also helps save you money)

Try a few tips hopefully you will not be the one this season gaining the seasonal 10-15lbs. Happy Eating!

Yours Truly,

Dione Neal your,

STLHEALTHNUT

For more ways to achieve your health and fitness goal please visit:

http://www.stlhealthnut.com/