If we can be honest, we look forward to waking up in the morning and sitting down to eat breakfast. Needless to say, I want to be more in control of my relationship with food and wellness this year. So what are some honest and realistic changes that one can use to change their lifestyle habits? We spoke to Nora Tobin, performance enhancement and executive coach to Fortune 100 companies, nutrition specialist and CEO of Nora’s Naturals Coffee, shares a healthy lifestyle change that is easy and sustainable to implement to help get healthy, lower inflammation and while still enjoying your meals with every bite!
These Healthy Habits Will Help You Feel and Look Stronger
1) 8 hour eating window
An 8 hour eating window, also known as intermittent fasting has been linked to speedier weight loss, lower risk of chronic disease and creating hormonal homeostasis within the body. For example, starting eating at 11am and ending at 7pm. But you can choose any 8 hour period. You can ease into this by just starting with a couple days out of the week, then work your way up. Coffee and tea can be used outside of your window to give you a little bit of flavor instead of drinking regular water. This schedule gives you a clear start and stop time, to avoid the late night runs to the freezer for pizza rolls.
2) Eating a cleaner diet
When you eat bad, you feel bad. It’s that simple. What we give our bodies to work with matters and is the whole reason behind the saying, “Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.” Below are some example of clean foods to help power you through the day and that won’t have you feeling like a herbivore that’s out in the pasture:
Clean Proteins:
- Grass fed beef, steak, lamb or pork
- Wild caught fish
- Organic/pastured eggs
- Bone broth
- Protein powder (grass fed collagen, hemp, pea or brown rice)
- Grass fed butter
- MCT oil
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Avocado
- Olives
- Nuts (almonds, walnuts, macadamia, cashews, pistachios, brazil nuts)
- Seeds
- Yogurt (no sugar, full fat version)
- Kefir
- Hard cheese
- Sweet potatoes
- Butternut squash
- Black, brown or white rice
- Quinoa
- Tarro
- Plantains
- Pumpkin
- Yam
- Any type of berries
- Enjoy them all!
Beverages:
- Coffee
- Any type of tea
- Sparkling water
- Clear spirits (tequila, vodka, gin)
- Red wine
3) Stick to it
As humans, we’re creatures of habit and we tend to choose the path of least resistance (microwavable and fast food, eating whenever, ect.).It’s important to understand that making healthy choices and sticking to them is hard! But so is continuing to stay in the current lifestyle that got us to where we are today. You have to pick “your hard”, but just know that only one of them is going to give you the results that you want at the end of the day.
4) Taking a Digestive Enzyme
If you suffer from bloating, irregular stool, or any number of skin issues—your digestion may be to blame. Surprisingly, digestive issues effect both our physical and emotional wellbeing. The main problem with digestive issues is having a nutrient deficiency. Your gut can’t properly digest, assimilate, and absorb nutrients. When you take a supplement that gives you those needed digestive enzymes, you can speed up how your body processes food. These proteins are quickly absorbed by the body to make biochemical reactions happen. They break down your food and nutrients small enough so that you can fully absorb them. We love the digestive enzymes MassZymes from Bioptimizers ($66).
