#only thing is my nutrition is still a bit insufficient. but i’m doing the best i can to remedy that

[mars-ipan]

JUST GOT LAB RESULTS BACK AND MY BODY IS RECOVERING WELL BABYYY

[theblogtini]

I’m not from the us but what’s with the baby formula? No one in my country uses that we just breast feed. And if there is a shortage of the powder then why aren’t people you know breast feeding which is the normal way to feed a baby?

Not trying to be rude lol

So, earlier this year we (as a country) basically ran out of baby formula because 1 of the major manufacturers (it's VERY highly and carefully regulated - as all baby food is - so there are only a couple of manufacturers) had to issue a recall and close down 1 of their plants due to contamination or something. So the shelves were basically COMPLETELY EMPTY.

As you can see from the below chart (source), in the US, most babies are breastfed at SOME point, but not for the recommended duration of time. Only 45% of babies are exclusively breastfed for 3 months, and that number drops dramatically to 24.9% for 6 months - so 75% of babies are receiving formula at some point in their life.

This is most likely attributed to the fact that in the US, some employers (those who have a certain # of employees, etc) are only required to provide full-time employees with UNPAID maternity leave for 12 weeks. Some employers do offer paid maternity leave, but even those that do only provide it for a few weeks (some really amazing companies do provide it for longer, but most women do not receive paid maternity leave at all. My sister works for A HOSPITAL SYSTEM and she will only receive 6 weeks of PAID maternity leave and then 6 weeks of unpaid leave. A FREAKING HOSPITAL!) And since most women can't afford to be unpaid that long (or for any period of time at all), they have to go back to work and put their child in daycare or with a nanny or with a family member.

Often times in order to take any paid maternity leave at all, women have to use their vacation time and sick time which amounts to maybe - MAYBE - 3 weeks?

And then, of course, there's the fact that some women - such as myself - don't have a strong enough supply to be able to sustain a baby. (I will admit - I was never really in love with the idea of breastfeeding, I tried to pump for my kids but didn't have much of a supply and was only able to get maybe 4-8oz per day. Newborn babies eat like, 2oz every 2-3 hours round the clock - so this was woefully insufficient. And for my youngest, he was an IUGR preemie so he had to be on specialized formula anyway (even though I did still try to pump a bit for him).) ALSO - in the 1950s and 60s, with the growth of the suburbs, middle class, and women working outside the home, baby formula became a thing and it was deemed the more hygienic, proper way to feed a baby. Doctors would even say it was better because you knew exactly how much food the baby was getting, it was coming out of sterilized bottles, so there was no risk of germs from the mother, etc. So most people my age (35) and my parents' age were formula-fed and breastfeeding was seen as a "hippy" or crunchy thing.

Now we all know about the health benefits of breastfeeding v. formula feeding so it's gaining popularity again, but for literally 2 generations breastfeeding was considered the less desirable option (and I also think was a bit stigmatized because only women who "couldnt afford" formula were breastfeeding so it was seen as a "poor" option).

ALSO I would like to say that in the US they are pushing breastfeeding so much that it actually has done harm to some women and babies. Mothers are so ashamed if they have to formula feed (due to low supply, etc) that they DONT. They keep trying and trying to breastfeed and their babies end up getting sick because they're not getting enough nutrition. Some babies have even DIED because of it.

So let's be very clear - (and this is not directed at you Anon, but to anyone who comes for me on this post b/c it can be a heated topic) - FED IS BEST. Getting your baby the proper nutrition they need, any way that you can, is the MOST important thing. And you DO NOT NEED TO JUSTIFY why you've chosen 1 way over another. Ever. Period.

[ocular-intercourse]

every once in a while, i am remembered that i should probably nail down what exactly is in the realm of possibilities with the enhancements in the gyoverse

is the process government regulated, or more of a talent thing, the way anybody can learn how to draw with enough patience? I think it’s a mixture of both, people are not forbidden to gain certain abilities, you literally can’t keep it from happening, those are just things that can develop naturally when a person has the right mindset, but it’s also a dangerous process if certain levels are reached and things go wrong, so the government tries to keep certain levels.. I guess certified? At the very least registered. If you gain a certain amount of power you will be observed.

So there are two areas of use: personal & professional life.

In personal life a person can develop certain helpful abilities, imagine a fisherman training himself without trying to a point of being able to sense the location of fishes in the water. It’s very close to people in our world who just get very very skilled in their labor and get the ability to do specific things simply by experience (the way people in food stores can eyeball the weight of a specific item and be 100% right). Those are not particularly ‘powerful’ per se, more little every day helpers that might not even entirely get recognized as an enhancement. A lot of these abilities are inherited, but that might be less of a genetic thing and more grounded in the upbringing, environment, and education, one person teaching their skills and experiences to the next generation and them developing these enhancements themselves.

Then there’s professional life especially in jobs that are highly competitive, because everybody wants to be the best they can be in their field so naturally they would use any tools they can get their hands on. The biggest example of course is the army. The country with the strongest soldiers wins, so there have been raised standards and whoever cannot reach them loses by default. Hence the imperial army usually weeding out people with insufficient talent for the enhancements (thembo supreme raime being an exception). A whole nation selecting and breeding for the ultimate warriors at all times. There have been certain Levels established, a class of soldiers with Level A, Level B, Level C (those are not the actual names I’m still workshopping here), each with stronger abilities than the last. I imagine there are tests, either on set dates, or evaluations a person can apply for, to be moved to the next class (and get more pay and status). These Levels of evaluating a person’s capabilities can vary from job to job. A soldier with Level B would probably score lower in a scientific, research-based field, it’s all depending on how good you are at the enhancements that are useful for your job. (Army standard’s being pretty much universally accepted as the most powerful and useful skillsets and therefore valued the most)

Now this feels like a JRPG leveling system. My character’s skillset scores are Army Level C, Medicine Level A and Barter Level B+. (Now I’m picturing Trading Cards with your favorite Soldiers. Noor has one and every skill is at S cause propaganda. Gyo’s is a lot of S with worse scores in anything communicative, also S+ in immortality)

But what are the basic and less basic abilities a soldier can gain?

At base level are physical enhancements. More stamina, more strength, more agility, general healthiness (better immune system, faster gradual healing).

Followed by your base senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and feeling. Later Levels of this ability include higher control, shutting down some senses or enhancing only one.

A little bit more difficult are things that need tighter control. The ability to influence your digestion, your blood flow, your oxygen intake. You can go longer on less food and air, you can slow your bleeding down, or trigger adrenaline rushes at will.

The next step is adding supernatural senses. The ability to feel the presence of other people, even at a distance and out of sight. The more trained you are in this area the better the feel is you get on the person and their intent. You cannot read minds, but you can certainly feel anger or admiration, general feelings or moods.

The next step is learning how to hide these things in yourself. These can cancel each other out depending on who is involved. A person that is good at hiding their intent can not hide it as well if the other person is better at seeing people’s intent than they are at hiding it.

The next step would be considered elemental magic by most standards. You can create a spark of flame, a bit of fluid, a gust of wind. These will most likely not be impressive flame thrower like attacks or anything, but can be practical here or there.

Also magical but more difficult, and mostly requires the student of this direction to split from developing other enhancements to concentrate solely on this area to be effective: healing magic. Gyo for example has mostly ignored healing magic, he can keep wounds shut enough to keep someone from losing blood but he cannot close them entirely, while Noor chose to stop their studies of techniques that would help in fights to focus on learning how to heal and nurture (it’s not only wounds, they can also relieve pain and control infections and other things). To be skilled in both is incredibly difficult and I don’t think it is currently seen. Something must be put on hold to learn other powerful things, so you have to pick and chose what you want to be proficient in. It is also an ability you can only use on others and not yourself, so most soldiers (at least those that get to this point and are therefore most likely power hungry in some way) chose to ignore it for something that helps themselves rather than others.

A similar direction but removed from regular healing magic because that focuses on healing other people while this is entirely self-focused: the next level of the control over your own body, the ability to sustain the body without meeting nutritional needs or rest. Beginners of this Level can go several days without sleep or rest, depending on a.. let’s say amount of ‘spiritual’ energy they have gathered before. They are, in that moment, basically feeding their body’s needs from this energy. The better you are at this, the longer you can go. This Level is only reached by those soldiers, that are willing to focus as much on their intellectual studies as they do on physical training. Many talented soldiers who exceed in fights get frustrated by these requirements. The ultimate Level of Control over your own body is the step Gyo has reached where he entirely halted all aging and is practically immortal, if not killed or dying of an illness. I imagine it has a lot to do with gathering such a vast amount of energy, that you can feed on it indefinitely, because you have learned to gain the energy quicker than you deplete it. There are earlier levels of this ability when you learn how to stretch less energy and slow down your aging instead of halting it completely. (many ppl in or out of the army will try to gain some bits of this ability to prolong their lives, everybody wants to squeeze a bit more out of it if they can) There are varying degrees of aging speed depending on the person’s skill level and energy intake.

The problem, aside from many people not having the mental or physical requirements to begin with, and the fortitude, discipline and patience to stick with it, is that said energy is also extremely volatile. People who begin gathering it often get overwhelmed by moodswings, the energy wanting to get out and presenting itself in any way that is currently available for it to be released by, whether that is physical or psychological. In higher concentrations the amount of energy can be literally corroding if your body and mind are not prepared to handle it. People carrying a large amount of energy can be caught in a bad moment and lose the ability to contain the energy, often with catastrophic consequences, definitely for the person themselves, sometimes for their surroundings too. People on Gyo’s Level are basically walking nukes, he could take out a small town if he ever lost it. Key to get to where Gyo is, is a strong enough anchor, a feeling or a motivation that drives you that is enough to sustain your willpower. (While in universe the idea is more philosophical, trained soldiers being told “think of something that motivates you”, this is more literal than they think. Gyo’s current anchor is wrath, that is why his sword which is known for its gruesome owners, attached itself to him. You could see the wrath as a fingerprint scan, if he did not have it, the sword would not work for him. A person’s anchor can also switch, which Gyo’s will, eventually, to his need to protect, and it will cause trouble with his sword and I assume some of the ways his other abilities have worked for him in the past)

The different Levels soldiers can be classified as are defined by a combination of these abilities, since each of them have multiple levels (from lesser to higher control over your body, stronger elemental magic and so on). So, to reach Level A you need Skill A Ability Score 1, Skill B Ability Score 1, Skill C Ability Score 1 while reaching a higher Level requirement might look more like Skill A Ability Score 2 Skill B Ability Score 3 Skill C Ability Score 6. So, a test that would allow you to reach the next Level would test how high your Ability Scores in each Skill are and see where that lands you. So even if your Levels are Skill A Ability Score 6 and Skill B Ability Score 6 if you do not have Ability Score 6 in Skill C you will not reach that higher Level. Gyo probably has all Skills maxed out (except healing but that one is counted separately since the army knows most soldiers will not reach high Ability Scores here).

But like I said, this Grade System is army specific. In another job field requirements might look more for skills that help you read and retain information faster, or specialize in reading other people and putting pleasant emotions out there to influence others.

This also explains Raime’s situation. While they are, from birth on, unable to gain these things that count as army recognized enhancements, they have an ability more on par with those private uses that develop naturally through talent and repetition. They DO technically have enhancements, but they are exclusively social, enhanced emotional intelligence if you will. The ability to read people, not the way the army enhancement works where it is basically a  supernatural sense you gain, but more through being able to instinctively read faces and voices and putting together what that means rather than sensing it. 

I don’t think this is entirely a class system based on your Level of enhancements, but typically people with enhancements are respected more, more so if they are high skilled in ‘popular’ fields (a soldier Level A will be more respected than a Scientist Level A). There is definitely a certain pressure to gain certain Levels, especially in higher society. If a first born noble does not gain high army Levels they are considered shameful.

[drlaurynlax]

How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now!

Our gut is very important. How healthy is your gut?! Take this 10-Question Quiz to find out! PLUS get 3 Game-Changing Action Steps you can do to improve any markers that show up today. 

Gut Health Quiz

Answer the following questions based on your typical symptoms. 

1. I get bloated after meals…

1. Rarely! I feel pretty good after most meals. 2. Only on occasion. Like if I eat something out of my routine. 3. At least once per day if not more.

2. I experience heart burn/reflux symptoms or feel like I need to pop a Tums…

Never

Occasionally. Like after spicy Mexican food or when I eat foods like tomatoes, citrus or beans. 

Daily!

3. How often do you go to the bathroom?

Daily. At the same time. Like clock work

Most days. Occasionally if my schedule is off or I travel I’ll skip.

Who knows?! Sometimes I go days without going or I often feel constipated.

4. When you DO the doo, how would you describe your poop?

Well-formed, brownish color, smooth and sausage-like.

Sausage shaped, brown with lumps or cracks in the surface. 

Random! Sometimes it’s loose, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s pellets. 

Sometimes it’s snake-like. I’m all over the place!

Like pellets or little turds.

Mushy with ragged edges!

Super loose or watery! Sometimes even diarrhea like with food in it. 

Light clay colored OR greasy, shiny stools. 

5. How many servings of green veggies do you eat per day?

3 or more! 

About 2 most days. 

Do French fries and ketchup count?

6. Within an hour after eating you usually feel…

Refreshed and enlivened to get on with the day!

Maybe a little bloated initially, but overall no crazy differences. 

Sleepy (like I need a nap) and/or super bloated or constipated. 

7. We all pass gas! What is yours like?

Not super frequent. Maybe once or twice a day.

Most days. Slightly embarrassing, but no one has to clear the room (I can keep it covered up).

P-U! Foul and smelly. Silent and deadly farts OR belching/burping after most meals. 

8. What foods (if any) do you notice you’re sensitive to (check all that apply):

Dairy

Gluten

Grains

Nuts

Eggs

FODMAPS (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, apples, avocados, onions, high amounts of fruit)

Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, chili powder & spices, egg plant)

9. You often crave…

No real intense cravings. I like yummy food, and enjoy it when I eat. 

Occasionally I get a hankering for dessert after dinner, or a favorite meal, but

Sugar, bread or starches, coffee, chocolate, cheese or any other food that you eat most days(even if you don’t feel great after)

10. I eat a “healthy” diet, and I feel…

Amazing!

Pretty good. Definitely different (in a good way) than life before this diet.

Still have gut issues! Even though I eat ____ (paleo, vegan, AIP, etc.), I don’t get why my gut doesn’t love me back?!

11. Do you have… (Check all that apply) (If check any, they get 1 point)

An autoimmune condition 

Dark circles under your eyes

Adult acne, skin breakouts or dry/itchy skin that peels

Seasonal allergies

Been diagnosed with anemia

Loss of taste for meat

Use over the counter medications (NSAIDs) or prescription medications regularly

Drink tap water or plastic bottle water most days

Pain under the right side of your ribs or abdominal cramping

Significant coffee or alcohol consumption (more than 1/day)

History of an eating disorder or drug/alcohol abuse

Easily get sick or colds frequently 

Difficulty losing weight or easily gain weight (even if you do all the right things)

A sedentary lifestyle (rarely exercise, often sit at a desk, in traffic, etc.) OR Overtrain or workout a lot (more than 60-90-minutes/day most days)

Less than 6 hours of sleep most nights

11. Bonus: When it comes to gut health, you feel…

Like you know a lot and you do your best to love your gut.

You’ve heard buzz words like “leaky gut” or “apple cider vinegar” and you try to eat “healthy,” but you’re interested in learning more

In the dark: What’s the got got to do with it?!

Quiz Submit Response

Woo hoo! You finished! Thanks for taking the quiz.

Survey Says…. ______

Scores

1 = Lookin’ good.

Based on your answers, your gut is on point. However, there’s always more we can do to love our gut and boost our health! Your gut is the gateway to ALL THINGS HEALTH (including your hormones, mindset, mood, skin, immunity and more). Continue to love your gut and elevate your total body wellness with these 3 Game Changers:

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters

1. Eat Bugs.

Incorporate probiotic rich foods and pre-biotic rich foods into your diet. Aim for a serving of fermented foods daily (sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, beet kvass, grass-fed full-fat yogurt), along with a little bit of pre-biotic starchy tubers or veggies (like green-tipped plantains or bananas, cooked and cooled sweet potatoes or squashes, leeks, onions, fresh garlic, or partially hydrolyzed guar gum)

2. Get your greens on!

Only 1 in 10 Americans eats the recommended servings of 3 veggies or more per day (ESPECIALLY leafy greens!). Get your greens on girl! I love cooked greens especially! 

3. Detox (your life).

Beyond the food we eat, there are TONS of other lifestyle factors that impact how you feel (energy, hormones and brain health included).From our toxic exposure to our environment (over 85,000 toxins in our water, foods, plastics, beauty products), how long we sleep, screen time and burning a candle at both ends (i.e. saying “yes” to everything), your body ultimately desires balance!Detox 1 stressor from your life such as:

Replace plastics with stainless steel and glassware

Ditch the conventional shampoo and conditioner from Target in favor of a sulfate and paraben-free version

Try natural, fluoride-free toothpaste

Download f.lux or Nightshift on ALL your electronics; use blue blocking glasses at night; and/or rise with a sun alarm

Cut out 1 thing draining you and your schedule. 

2 = A little squeaky.

No one is perfect and based on your answers, you have a little bit of “squeak” or imbalance going on in your gut.

The good news? You’re not too far gone.

75% of people have some sort of gut dysfunction that impacts their total body health (not just their gut). In fact, did you know that your gut health influences other things like your skin health, mood, metabolism and immunity? 

Continue to love your gut and boost your health with these 3 game changers: 

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters:

1. Boost Stomach Acid.

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Drink Up.

Are you drinking enough water? Make sure you’re getting half your bodyweight in ounces (at least) most days of clean filtered water. Tote around a stainless steel water bottle if you need.

3. Check In.

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people.

If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

3 = Your gut needs some love!

Based on your answers, you indicated clear signs and markers of underlying gut dysfunction. And guess what? You are not alone! 3 in 4 Americans have some sort of gut imbalance, including conditions like leaky gut, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), healthy bacteria insufficiency, fungal/parasitic infection, food intolerances and/or IBS.

There is a wide array of underlying gut imbalances that can happen when our gut is unhealthy! The good news? You can heal! Knowledge is power, and there are TONS of lifestyle factors (nutrition, stress management, movement), along with support (supplements, lab testing, working with a practitioner) that can help you reset your gut and feel amazing (from the inside out). 

1. Boost Stomach Acid!

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Ditch the Commercial Probiotics

95% of probiotics on shelves do NOT contain the probiotics they claim. This is due to heat  processing, shipping, shelf-life and non-necessary bacteria strains put into many of these “lactic acid” based probiotics. Ditch MOST commercial lactic acid probiotics in favor of Soil Based Organisms or Probiotics that not only withstand shelf-life, but are wayyyy more like the natural gut bacteria humans had in our ancestral time. Try Primal Probiotics or MegasporeBiotic, and ideally take 1 in the morning and 1 at night.

3. Heal (Don’t Just Manage)

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people. If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

  The post How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/gut-health/how-healthy-is-your-gut/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/

[clarencebfaber]

How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now!

Our gut is very important. How healthy is your gut?! Take this 10-Question Quiz to find out! PLUS get 3 Game-Changing Action Steps you can do to improve any markers that show up today. 

Gut Health Quiz

Answer the following questions based on your typical symptoms. 

1. I get bloated after meals…

1. Rarely! I feel pretty good after most meals. 2. Only on occasion. Like if I eat something out of my routine. 3. At least once per day if not more.

2. I experience heart burn/reflux symptoms or feel like I need to pop a Tums…

Never

Occasionally. Like after spicy Mexican food or when I eat foods like tomatoes, citrus or beans. 

Daily!

3. How often do you go to the bathroom?

Daily. At the same time. Like clock work

Most days. Occasionally if my schedule is off or I travel I’ll skip.

Who knows?! Sometimes I go days without going or I often feel constipated.

4. When you DO the doo, how would you describe your poop?

Well-formed, brownish color, smooth and sausage-like.

Sausage shaped, brown with lumps or cracks in the surface. 

Random! Sometimes it’s loose, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s pellets. 

Sometimes it’s snake-like. I’m all over the place!

Like pellets or little turds.

Mushy with ragged edges!

Super loose or watery! Sometimes even diarrhea like with food in it. 

Light clay colored OR greasy, shiny stools. 

5. How many servings of green veggies do you eat per day?

3 or more! 

About 2 most days. 

Do French fries and ketchup count?

6. Within an hour after eating you usually feel…

Refreshed and enlivened to get on with the day!

Maybe a little bloated initially, but overall no crazy differences. 

Sleepy (like I need a nap) and/or super bloated or constipated. 

7. We all pass gas! What is yours like?

Not super frequent. Maybe once or twice a day.

Most days. Slightly embarrassing, but no one has to clear the room (I can keep it covered up).

P-U! Foul and smelly. Silent and deadly farts OR belching/burping after most meals. 

8. What foods (if any) do you notice you’re sensitive to (check all that apply):

Dairy

Gluten

Grains

Nuts

Eggs

FODMAPS (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, apples, avocados, onions, high amounts of fruit)

Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, chili powder & spices, egg plant)

9. You often crave…

No real intense cravings. I like yummy food, and enjoy it when I eat. 

Occasionally I get a hankering for dessert after dinner, or a favorite meal, but

Sugar, bread or starches, coffee, chocolate, cheese or any other food that you eat most days(even if you don’t feel great after)

10. I eat a “healthy” diet, and I feel…

Amazing!

Pretty good. Definitely different (in a good way) than life before this diet.

Still have gut issues! Even though I eat ____ (paleo, vegan, AIP, etc.), I don’t get why my gut doesn’t love me back?!

11. Do you have… (Check all that apply) (If check any, they get 1 point)

An autoimmune condition 

Dark circles under your eyes

Adult acne, skin breakouts or dry/itchy skin that peels

Seasonal allergies

Been diagnosed with anemia

Loss of taste for meat

Use over the counter medications (NSAIDs) or prescription medications regularly

Drink tap water or plastic bottle water most days

Pain under the right side of your ribs or abdominal cramping

Significant coffee or alcohol consumption (more than 1/day)

History of an eating disorder or drug/alcohol abuse

Easily get sick or colds frequently 

Difficulty losing weight or easily gain weight (even if you do all the right things)

A sedentary lifestyle (rarely exercise, often sit at a desk, in traffic, etc.) OR Overtrain or workout a lot (more than 60-90-minutes/day most days)

Less than 6 hours of sleep most nights

11. Bonus: When it comes to gut health, you feel…

Like you know a lot and you do your best to love your gut.

You’ve heard buzz words like “leaky gut” or “apple cider vinegar” and you try to eat “healthy,” but you’re interested in learning more

In the dark: What’s the got got to do with it?!

Quiz Submit Response

Woo hoo! You finished! Thanks for taking the quiz.

Survey Says…. ______

Scores

1 = Lookin’ good.

Based on your answers, your gut is on point. However, there’s always more we can do to love our gut and boost our health! Your gut is the gateway to ALL THINGS HEALTH (including your hormones, mindset, mood, skin, immunity and more). Continue to love your gut and elevate your total body wellness with these 3 Game Changers:

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters

1. Eat Bugs.

Incorporate probiotic rich foods and pre-biotic rich foods into your diet. Aim for a serving of fermented foods daily (sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, beet kvass, grass-fed full-fat yogurt), along with a little bit of pre-biotic starchy tubers or veggies (like green-tipped plantains or bananas, cooked and cooled sweet potatoes or squashes, leeks, onions, fresh garlic, or partially hydrolyzed guar gum)

2. Get your greens on!

Only 1 in 10 Americans eats the recommended servings of 3 veggies or more per day (ESPECIALLY leafy greens!). Get your greens on girl! I love cooked greens especially! 

3. Detox (your life).

Beyond the food we eat, there are TONS of other lifestyle factors that impact how you feel (energy, hormones and brain health included).From our toxic exposure to our environment (over 85,000 toxins in our water, foods, plastics, beauty products), how long we sleep, screen time and burning a candle at both ends (i.e. saying “yes” to everything), your body ultimately desires balance!Detox 1 stressor from your life such as:

Replace plastics with stainless steel and glassware

Ditch the conventional shampoo and conditioner from Target in favor of a sulfate and paraben-free version

Try natural, fluoride-free toothpaste

Download f.lux or Nightshift on ALL your electronics; use blue blocking glasses at night; and/or rise with a sun alarm

Cut out 1 thing draining you and your schedule. 

2 = A little squeaky.

No one is perfect and based on your answers, you have a little bit of “squeak” or imbalance going on in your gut.

The good news? You’re not too far gone.

75% of people have some sort of gut dysfunction that impacts their total body health (not just their gut). In fact, did you know that your gut health influences other things like your skin health, mood, metabolism and immunity? 

Continue to love your gut and boost your health with these 3 game changers: 

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters:

1. Boost Stomach Acid.

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Drink Up.

Are you drinking enough water? Make sure you’re getting half your bodyweight in ounces (at least) most days of clean filtered water. Tote around a stainless steel water bottle if you need.

3. Check In.

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people.

If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

3 = Your gut needs some love!

Based on your answers, you indicated clear signs and markers of underlying gut dysfunction. And guess what? You are not alone! 3 in 4 Americans have some sort of gut imbalance, including conditions like leaky gut, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), healthy bacteria insufficiency, fungal/parasitic infection, food intolerances and/or IBS.

There is a wide array of underlying gut imbalances that can happen when our gut is unhealthy! The good news? You can heal! Knowledge is power, and there are TONS of lifestyle factors (nutrition, stress management, movement), along with support (supplements, lab testing, working with a practitioner) that can help you reset your gut and feel amazing (from the inside out). 

1. Boost Stomach Acid!

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Ditch the Commercial Probiotics

95% of probiotics on shelves do NOT contain the probiotics they claim. This is due to heat  processing, shipping, shelf-life and non-necessary bacteria strains put into many of these “lactic acid” based probiotics. Ditch MOST commercial lactic acid probiotics in favor of Soil Based Organisms or Probiotics that not only withstand shelf-life, but are wayyyy more like the natural gut bacteria humans had in our ancestral time. Try Primal Probiotics or MegasporeBiotic, and ideally take 1 in the morning and 1 at night.

3. Heal (Don’t Just Manage)

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people. If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

 The post How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/gut-health/how-healthy-is-your-gut/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/

How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! via https://drlaurynlax.weebly.com/

[elizabethbgrimes]

How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now!

Our gut is very important. How healthy is your gut?! Take this 10-Question Quiz to find out! PLUS get 3 Game-Changing Action Steps you can do to improve any markers that show up today. 

Gut Health Quiz

Answer the following questions based on your typical symptoms. 

1. I get bloated after meals…

1. Rarely! I feel pretty good after most meals. 2. Only on occasion. Like if I eat something out of my routine. 3. At least once per day if not more.

2. I experience heart burn/reflux symptoms or feel like I need to pop a Tums…

Never

Occasionally. Like after spicy Mexican food or when I eat foods like tomatoes, citrus or beans. 

Daily!

3. How often do you go to the bathroom?

Daily. At the same time. Like clock work

Most days. Occasionally if my schedule is off or I travel I’ll skip.

Who knows?! Sometimes I go days without going or I often feel constipated.

4. When you DO the doo, how would you describe your poop?

Well-formed, brownish color, smooth and sausage-like.

Sausage shaped, brown with lumps or cracks in the surface. 

Random! Sometimes it’s loose, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s pellets. 

Sometimes it’s snake-like. I’m all over the place!

Like pellets or little turds.

Mushy with ragged edges!

Super loose or watery! Sometimes even diarrhea like with food in it. 

Light clay colored OR greasy, shiny stools. 

5. How many servings of green veggies do you eat per day?

3 or more! 

About 2 most days. 

Do French fries and ketchup count?

6. Within an hour after eating you usually feel…

Refreshed and enlivened to get on with the day!

Maybe a little bloated initially, but overall no crazy differences. 

Sleepy (like I need a nap) and/or super bloated or constipated. 

7. We all pass gas! What is yours like?

Not super frequent. Maybe once or twice a day.

Most days. Slightly embarrassing, but no one has to clear the room (I can keep it covered up).

P-U! Foul and smelly. Silent and deadly farts OR belching/burping after most meals. 

8. What foods (if any) do you notice you’re sensitive to (check all that apply):

Dairy

Gluten

Grains

Nuts

Eggs

FODMAPS (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, apples, avocados, onions, high amounts of fruit)

Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, chili powder & spices, egg plant)

9. You often crave…

No real intense cravings. I like yummy food, and enjoy it when I eat. 

Occasionally I get a hankering for dessert after dinner, or a favorite meal, but

Sugar, bread or starches, coffee, chocolate, cheese or any other food that you eat most days(even if you don’t feel great after)

10. I eat a “healthy” diet, and I feel…

Amazing!

Pretty good. Definitely different (in a good way) than life before this diet.

Still have gut issues! Even though I eat ____ (paleo, vegan, AIP, etc.), I don’t get why my gut doesn’t love me back?!

11. Do you have… (Check all that apply) (If check any, they get 1 point)

An autoimmune condition 

Dark circles under your eyes

Adult acne, skin breakouts or dry/itchy skin that peels

Seasonal allergies

Been diagnosed with anemia

Loss of taste for meat

Use over the counter medications (NSAIDs) or prescription medications regularly

Drink tap water or plastic bottle water most days

Pain under the right side of your ribs or abdominal cramping

Significant coffee or alcohol consumption (more than 1/day)

History of an eating disorder or drug/alcohol abuse

Easily get sick or colds frequently 

Difficulty losing weight or easily gain weight (even if you do all the right things)

A sedentary lifestyle (rarely exercise, often sit at a desk, in traffic, etc.) OR Overtrain or workout a lot (more than 60-90-minutes/day most days)

Less than 6 hours of sleep most nights

11. Bonus: When it comes to gut health, you feel…

Like you know a lot and you do your best to love your gut.

You’ve heard buzz words like “leaky gut” or “apple cider vinegar” and you try to eat “healthy,” but you’re interested in learning more

In the dark: What’s the got got to do with it?!

Quiz Submit Response

Woo hoo! You finished! Thanks for taking the quiz.

Survey Says…. ______

Scores

1 = Lookin’ good.

Based on your answers, your gut is on point. However, there’s always more we can do to love our gut and boost our health! Your gut is the gateway to ALL THINGS HEALTH (including your hormones, mindset, mood, skin, immunity and more). Continue to love your gut and elevate your total body wellness with these 3 Game Changers:

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters

1. Eat Bugs.

Incorporate probiotic rich foods and pre-biotic rich foods into your diet. Aim for a serving of fermented foods daily (sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, beet kvass, grass-fed full-fat yogurt), along with a little bit of pre-biotic starchy tubers or veggies (like green-tipped plantains or bananas, cooked and cooled sweet potatoes or squashes, leeks, onions, fresh garlic, or partially hydrolyzed guar gum)

2. Get your greens on!

Only 1 in 10 Americans eats the recommended servings of 3 veggies or more per day (ESPECIALLY leafy greens!). Get your greens on girl! I love cooked greens especially! 

3. Detox (your life).

Beyond the food we eat, there are TONS of other lifestyle factors that impact how you feel (energy, hormones and brain health included).From our toxic exposure to our environment (over 85,000 toxins in our water, foods, plastics, beauty products), how long we sleep, screen time and burning a candle at both ends (i.e. saying “yes” to everything), your body ultimately desires balance!Detox 1 stressor from your life such as:

Replace plastics with stainless steel and glassware

Ditch the conventional shampoo and conditioner from Target in favor of a sulfate and paraben-free version

Try natural, fluoride-free toothpaste

Download f.lux or Nightshift on ALL your electronics; use blue blocking glasses at night; and/or rise with a sun alarm

Cut out 1 thing draining you and your schedule. 

2 = A little squeaky.

No one is perfect and based on your answers, you have a little bit of “squeak” or imbalance going on in your gut.

The good news? You’re not too far gone.

75% of people have some sort of gut dysfunction that impacts their total body health (not just their gut). In fact, did you know that your gut health influences other things like your skin health, mood, metabolism and immunity? 

Continue to love your gut and boost your health with these 3 game changers: 

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters:

1. Boost Stomach Acid.

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Drink Up.

Are you drinking enough water? Make sure you’re getting half your bodyweight in ounces (at least) most days of clean filtered water. Tote around a stainless steel water bottle if you need.

3. Check In.

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people.

If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

3 = Your gut needs some love!

Based on your answers, you indicated clear signs and markers of underlying gut dysfunction. And guess what? You are not alone! 3 in 4 Americans have some sort of gut imbalance, including conditions like leaky gut, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), healthy bacteria insufficiency, fungal/parasitic infection, food intolerances and/or IBS.

There is a wide array of underlying gut imbalances that can happen when our gut is unhealthy! The good news? You can heal! Knowledge is power, and there are TONS of lifestyle factors (nutrition, stress management, movement), along with support (supplements, lab testing, working with a practitioner) that can help you reset your gut and feel amazing (from the inside out). 

1. Boost Stomach Acid!

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Ditch the Commercial Probiotics

95% of probiotics on shelves do NOT contain the probiotics they claim. This is due to heat  processing, shipping, shelf-life and non-necessary bacteria strains put into many of these “lactic acid” based probiotics. Ditch MOST commercial lactic acid probiotics in favor of Soil Based Organisms or Probiotics that not only withstand shelf-life, but are wayyyy more like the natural gut bacteria humans had in our ancestral time. Try Primal Probiotics or MegasporeBiotic, and ideally take 1 in the morning and 1 at night.

3. Heal (Don’t Just Manage)

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people. If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

 The post How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/gut-health/how-healthy-is-your-gut/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/ How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! via https://drlaurynlax.blogspot.com/

[brian-cdates]

How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now!

Our gut is very important. How healthy is your gut?! Take this 10-Question Quiz to find out! PLUS get 3 Game-Changing Action Steps you can do to improve any markers that show up today. 

Gut Health Quiz

Answer the following questions based on your typical symptoms. 

1. I get bloated after meals…

1. Rarely! I feel pretty good after most meals. 2. Only on occasion. Like if I eat something out of my routine. 3. At least once per day if not more.

2. I experience heart burn/reflux symptoms or feel like I need to pop a Tums…

Never

Occasionally. Like after spicy Mexican food or when I eat foods like tomatoes, citrus or beans. 

Daily!

3. How often do you go to the bathroom?

Daily. At the same time. Like clock work

Most days. Occasionally if my schedule is off or I travel I’ll skip.

Who knows?! Sometimes I go days without going or I often feel constipated.

4. When you DO the doo, how would you describe your poop?

Well-formed, brownish color, smooth and sausage-like.

Sausage shaped, brown with lumps or cracks in the surface. 

Random! Sometimes it’s loose, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s pellets. 

Sometimes it’s snake-like. I’m all over the place!

Like pellets or little turds.

Mushy with ragged edges!

Super loose or watery! Sometimes even diarrhea like with food in it. 

Light clay colored OR greasy, shiny stools. 

5. How many servings of green veggies do you eat per day?

3 or more! 

About 2 most days. 

Do French fries and ketchup count?

6. Within an hour after eating you usually feel…

Refreshed and enlivened to get on with the day!

Maybe a little bloated initially, but overall no crazy differences. 

Sleepy (like I need a nap) and/or super bloated or constipated. 

7. We all pass gas! What is yours like?

Not super frequent. Maybe once or twice a day.

Most days. Slightly embarrassing, but no one has to clear the room (I can keep it covered up).

P-U! Foul and smelly. Silent and deadly farts OR belching/burping after most meals. 

8. What foods (if any) do you notice you’re sensitive to (check all that apply):

Dairy

Gluten

Grains

Nuts

Eggs

FODMAPS (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, apples, avocados, onions, high amounts of fruit)

Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, chili powder & spices, egg plant)

9. You often crave…

No real intense cravings. I like yummy food, and enjoy it when I eat. 

Occasionally I get a hankering for dessert after dinner, or a favorite meal, but

Sugar, bread or starches, coffee, chocolate, cheese or any other food that you eat most days(even if you don’t feel great after)

10. I eat a “healthy” diet, and I feel…

Amazing!

Pretty good. Definitely different (in a good way) than life before this diet.

Still have gut issues! Even though I eat ____ (paleo, vegan, AIP, etc.), I don’t get why my gut doesn’t love me back?!

11. Do you have… (Check all that apply) (If check any, they get 1 point)

An autoimmune condition 

Dark circles under your eyes

Adult acne, skin breakouts or dry/itchy skin that peels

Seasonal allergies

Been diagnosed with anemia

Loss of taste for meat

Use over the counter medications (NSAIDs) or prescription medications regularly

Drink tap water or plastic bottle water most days

Pain under the right side of your ribs or abdominal cramping

Significant coffee or alcohol consumption (more than 1/day)

History of an eating disorder or drug/alcohol abuse

Easily get sick or colds frequently 

Difficulty losing weight or easily gain weight (even if you do all the right things)

A sedentary lifestyle (rarely exercise, often sit at a desk, in traffic, etc.) OR Overtrain or workout a lot (more than 60-90-minutes/day most days)

Less than 6 hours of sleep most nights

11. Bonus: When it comes to gut health, you feel…

Like you know a lot and you do your best to love your gut.

You’ve heard buzz words like “leaky gut” or “apple cider vinegar” and you try to eat “healthy,” but you’re interested in learning more

In the dark: What’s the got got to do with it?!

Quiz Submit Response

Woo hoo! You finished! Thanks for taking the quiz.

Survey Says…. ______

Scores

1 = Lookin’ good.

Based on your answers, your gut is on point. However, there’s always more we can do to love our gut and boost our health! Your gut is the gateway to ALL THINGS HEALTH (including your hormones, mindset, mood, skin, immunity and more). Continue to love your gut and elevate your total body wellness with these 3 Game Changers:

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters

1. Eat Bugs.

Incorporate probiotic rich foods and pre-biotic rich foods into your diet. Aim for a serving of fermented foods daily (sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, beet kvass, grass-fed full-fat yogurt), along with a little bit of pre-biotic starchy tubers or veggies (like green-tipped plantains or bananas, cooked and cooled sweet potatoes or squashes, leeks, onions, fresh garlic, or partially hydrolyzed guar gum)

2. Get your greens on!

Only 1 in 10 Americans eats the recommended servings of 3 veggies or more per day (ESPECIALLY leafy greens!). Get your greens on girl! I love cooked greens especially! 

3. Detox (your life).

Beyond the food we eat, there are TONS of other lifestyle factors that impact how you feel (energy, hormones and brain health included).From our toxic exposure to our environment (over 85,000 toxins in our water, foods, plastics, beauty products), how long we sleep, screen time and burning a candle at both ends (i.e. saying “yes” to everything), your body ultimately desires balance!Detox 1 stressor from your life such as:

Replace plastics with stainless steel and glassware

Ditch the conventional shampoo and conditioner from Target in favor of a sulfate and paraben-free version

Try natural, fluoride-free toothpaste

Download f.lux or Nightshift on ALL your electronics; use blue blocking glasses at night; and/or rise with a sun alarm

Cut out 1 thing draining you and your schedule. 

2 = A little squeaky.

No one is perfect and based on your answers, you have a little bit of “squeak” or imbalance going on in your gut.

The good news? You’re not too far gone.

75% of people have some sort of gut dysfunction that impacts their total body health (not just their gut). In fact, did you know that your gut health influences other things like your skin health, mood, metabolism and immunity? 

Continue to love your gut and boost your health with these 3 game changers: 

3 Game Changing Gut Boosters:

1. Boost Stomach Acid.

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Drink Up.

Are you drinking enough water? Make sure you’re getting half your bodyweight in ounces (at least) most days of clean filtered water. Tote around a stainless steel water bottle if you need.

3. Check In.

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people.

If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

3 = Your gut needs some love!

Based on your answers, you indicated clear signs and markers of underlying gut dysfunction. And guess what? You are not alone! 3 in 4 Americans have some sort of gut imbalance, including conditions like leaky gut, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), healthy bacteria insufficiency, fungal/parasitic infection, food intolerances and/or IBS.

There is a wide array of underlying gut imbalances that can happen when our gut is unhealthy! The good news? You can heal! Knowledge is power, and there are TONS of lifestyle factors (nutrition, stress management, movement), along with support (supplements, lab testing, working with a practitioner) that can help you reset your gut and feel amazing (from the inside out). 

1. Boost Stomach Acid!

Add 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar to 2-4 oz. water around meals to boost stomach acid (necessary for healthy, complete digestion)

2. Ditch the Commercial Probiotics

95% of probiotics on shelves do NOT contain the probiotics they claim. This is due to heat  processing, shipping, shelf-life and non-necessary bacteria strains put into many of these “lactic acid” based probiotics. Ditch MOST commercial lactic acid probiotics in favor of Soil Based Organisms or Probiotics that not only withstand shelf-life, but are wayyyy more like the natural gut bacteria humans had in our ancestral time. Try Primal Probiotics or MegasporeBiotic, and ideally take 1 in the morning and 1 at night.

3. Heal (Don’t Just Manage)

Be aware of how food makes you feel. (Even healthy foods). Common gut-inflammatory foods don’t just have to be fast food or sugar. Foods like nuts, eggs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yogurt and rice impact a lot of people. If you suspect a certain food may be making you feel worse or symptomatic, take it out for 7 days, then reintroduce it back in 3 days in a row. Note how you feel. 

The post How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! appeared first on Meet Dr. Lauryn.

Source/Repost=> https://drlauryn.com/gut-health/how-healthy-is-your-gut/ ** Dr. Lauryn Lax __Nutrition. Therapy. Functional Medicine ** https://drlauryn.com/ How Healthy is Your Gut? Take this Helpful Short Quiz Right Now! via http://drlaurynlax.tumblr.com/

[zhouwerthoughts]

1/1/2019

2019. What an idea. Seems like each year goes by faster and faster. So then the time comes - what resolutions can I make that I can actually resolve to accomplish? Over the year 2018, I have learned quite a lot about the general upper limits of my capability to get things done in certain areas, and hopefully that can lead to accurate and achievable resolutions.

Between meeting family, going out to eat, and sightseeing, I’ve had a bit of time. Mostly, I’ve been planning out some resolutions for the upcoming year. I’ve fleshed out pretty detailed steps on my own, but I’ll just list below the overall goals of the year with a bit of explanation at the end

1. Physical Resolutions

- Cut below 10% body-fat by the end of summer break

- Run a 5k in under 25 minutes before spring break

- Implement a comprehensive daily mobility workout, pre-workout warm-up, and post-workout stretch protocol

2. Creative/Emotional Resolutions

- Meditate 10 minutes a day

- Read 20 minutes a day

- Write 1000 words a week

3. Mental/Technical Resolutions

- Learn JavaScript/Python

- Start a real blog / start a youtube / keep podcasting

- Create content for at least one of the above

Next year’s gonna be pretty busy for me on campus. I decided to stop making excuses and get a job, as well as max out on classes to put a challenge in front of me. Factoring in that my total activity time will more than double as a result of my new lifting, running, and mobility plans, It’s going to be a helluva ride. I’ve got secondary plans in place for when I make progress on each of these goals, and I’ll be ready to put those in place once it’s time. 

One thing I had to think about for next year was reevaluating my speed of fat loss. I began to realize that I was much too obsessed with getting results as fast as possible for the recognition of others rather than myself. So I gave myself a pretty long timeline to get to 10% - and even if I don’t make that, I’ve guaranteed at least below 15% to put me in a healthy range. I’m gonna start taking it slower.

I really suck at running. My endurance improves excruciatingly slowly, but it does improve. So the 25 minute 5k, though easy to imagine, may not even be in my realm of possibility as soon as I’d like. Once I do achieve that though, I’d feel comfortable calling myself a serious beginner and starting to look into progressing in a smart way - I’ve got some resources lined up to look through to learn more about running in general.

The stretching stuff is important because I want to be able to move well for a long time with minimal injury. It’s going to take a quite a bit of my time, but I think I’ve convinced myself that it’s worth it.

I would like to do meditation more seriously than the bit of dabbling I’ve done in the past. See where it takes me.

The reading is super important because I’ve got this huge fucking reading list to get to - I’m already halfway through Extreme Ownership, and really look forwards to reading 12 Rules for Life soon after. The opportunity to glean knowledge from those who have lived through so much more is definitely understated.

The writing is important for reasons I’ve laid out in past posts, but I’m not sure I want to continue just typing away in an unorganized fashion like I have been. I think this personal blog will change over the next year as well. I want to focus my efforts more on thought experimentation and book reviews, honestly. It might be boring - but hell, I’ve always thought what I put here is excruciatingly boring, but it seems some of y’all still find a way to get through it.

I’m not sure if I want to pursue a minor in Computer Science, but I think I’ll at least learn the programming languages and create some projects with them to bolster my resume - it’s useful, technical stuff I can learn this year.

Now the last thing - I want to start writing and creating content on the side pertaining to nutrition/college fitness and put it somewhere. I feel like just documenting stuff keeps me accountable, even when there is an almost guarantee to be no audience for me as I start out. Which is OK, in my experience. I really don’t mind talking to nobody. I’ve actually got 37 plays on my podcast, surprisingly enough, even with my insufficient verbal flailing around and lack of focus or speaking ability, I somehow managed to pull THIRTY-SEVEN listens? That’s more than a small class! Though of course I have multiple episodes up, so that accounts for much less people, but whatever. 37 is a big number compared to the number I had in mind XD.

My episode exploring the carnivore diet tripled every other episode in listens, which really spoke to a potential niche that I can fulfill as a beginner in fitness going through my journey. I scoured YouTube, as well as other blogs, for a similar perspective and found minimal competition in the “MSU fitness/nutrition/vlog” category. If I go specific to MSU, but give application to colleges in general, maybe I can provide something of value. I’m no expert or experienced veteran in anything, but maybe as long as I don’t promote myself as such and more as someone exploring topics and giving my honest but insufficient opinion, someone will find value in it.

There are a couple other personal resolutions pertaining to morality and thinking that struck me as a bit… self-important? That’s not the right word. I can’t seem to find the right word for it. But it just rubbed me the wrong way when I wrote them down here where I know people will read them. Something disingenuous within myself gave off some strong warning signals as if telling me that my intent was not pure in putting them out for people to know. As if I was signaling for some sort of attention. So I’ll keep those to myself and reevaluate them on my own.

Maybe it’s time to think about my romantic life a bit more. Treat myself - and someone else, too. I don’t really get lonely, as I’ve always got a mission, but some nights, I can’t lie, I wish someone could join me. I feel as if I have a lot more to give than I’ve ever had in the past, and a part of me really wants someone to care for and give to and learn from. I’m a child when it comes to relationships, and that scares me. I’d like to go and fail a couple times.

I might drop off the face of the planet. Maybe I’ll randomly decide to quit this blog completely. Cut off from the world outside of my personal experiences. Social media and the such. Blog might not make the cut, who knows. I just know that’s when I can perform the best. Contact with others is some risky ass business, sometimes. Especially when those pesky emotional ties come into the picture.

And Hey, when it comes to this kinda stuff, I’m only doing my best. I really don’t know anything. But I know a ton of places to look to for anyone wanting to improve on anything with me. It’d be cool if you hit me up and asked! It’s really nice to know when people I don’t already know read my shit tell me they do. Let’s crush 2019.

[marjorieclarkcom]

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Tips That Slim Your Face

Can face fat be lost?

Absolutely, but not by doing facial exercises you find online and in magazines. The way to lose cheek fat and avoid a double chin involves strategic diet and exercise.

My background is training fashion models.

I’ve never had a single one do specific facial exercises to get a slimmer face.

I have a special nutrition exercise suggestions that work rapidly and blows away “puffing your cheeks” or doing “fish face” exercises.

There is only one study that sort of showed a positive effect of facial exercises, but even they think that the results of their study were inconclusive:

The evidence to date is insufficient to determine whether facial exercises are effective for facial rejuvenation.

Your time is much better spent doing things that work.

I’ll discuss approaches that I’ve used over the years with clients.

Here are some helpful tips to reduce face fat.

Tip 1: Increase Potassium to Reduce Face Bloat

This isn’t a way to lose fat in the face, it is a quick hack to reduce water retention in your body and face.

Most people probably know that sodium can increase water retention, so they REDUCE their intake of salty foods so they don’t look smooth and puffy.

This helps, but INCREASING potassium takes this a step further.

You see, potassium opposes sodium.

Typically, when you increase potassium you decrease the effects of sodium.

Here is a partial list of face slimming potassium-rich foods.

White beans

Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

Beets

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Oranges & Bananas

These are the my main go-to sources of potassium, but here is a site with a more extensive list.

Potatoes top my list when it comes to flushing out water.

The protocol I would now recommend before a photo shoot?

Reduce sodium for about 48 hours while increasing water intake.

This may sound odd, but I also recommend eating an all-potato diet for these 48 hours (or potatoes with cooked spinach or other greens).

This will push out any water retention you may be experiencing and will have you looking your best.

Obviously, most of us aren’t models…

This is a great strategy for any special event.

Make sure you don’t cut sodium too early. Your body adapts to sodium intake and normalizes after a few days.

The magic in cutting sodium a day or two ahead of time is that your body will hold less water for a few days before it adapts to lower sodium intake.

A side benefit of eating potatoes is that it makes your muscles appear full. The combo of full muscles and less water retention will make your body appear leaner than normal.

Tip 2: Increase Fiber Intake to Slim Your Face

This is another tip that isn’t really about losing face fat, it is just another tip for a quick fix for a special event.

Fiber is a crucial part of our diets.

It’s actually one of my criticisms about the keto diet. People following a ketogenic diet are typically eating a low-fiber diet.

Fiber reduces water retention because it absorbs water to allow for the fiber to pass through your intestines.

Fiber also plays a role in reducing the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

According to the Mayo Clinic here are daily fiber recommendations.

Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.

The Mayo Clinic has an extensive list of high fiber foods, but here are some common high fiber food items.

Whole wheat spaghetti

Whole wheat bread

Oatmeal

Green peas

Corn

Potatoes

Lentils

Beans

The nice thing about potatoes is you get a double whammy, high potassium and decent fiber.

Eat the potato skins to get even more fiber from your potatoes.

Tip 3: Strategic Cardio to Reduce Face Fat

I always find the cardio bashing amusing, because it is such an effective fat loss tool.

Yes, your diet needs to be dialed in.

Yes, lifting weights is important to look your best.

But…

If you master cardio, you gain the ability to dial in your physique (and face) in a way that is close to impossible with weight training and diet alone.

Cardio is a killer tool to combat chubby face syndrome.

The best way to approach cardio, in my opinion, is to use a combination of HIIT with slow steady state cardio.

Intense exercise like HIIT and/or CrossFit circuits are incredible for burning a ton of calories.

Something else also happens when you train with intensity.

Your fat cells release stored body fat into your bloodstream.

Here’s a chart from my cardio course:

You still lose fat with HIIT and other intense exercise, but you will lose quite a bit more if you follow all intense exercise with low-intensity cardio.

Much of the released fatty acids will get re-deposited as body fat if not used for fuel.

Walking at a brisk pace for 20-45 minutes will use a large portion of these free fatty acids.

Instead of re-depositing that fat, much of it will be used to fuel the low intensity walking.

This does take more time.

(If people are honest with themselves it is probably just cutting into TV time.)

What I like to do is listen to books on tape on audible during this time.

This is a way to have a great mind to go along with your attractive face.

Tip 4: Resistance Training for Definition NOT Bulk

This isn’t as much of a face thing, but in my experience people who are looking to slim the face down are typically after the same thing for their body.

The common advice for getting slim is to do high rep training to failure.

Here is the problem with high rep training:

Training to failure, regardless of rep range, has been shown to increase the size of a muscle.

So even with light weights, it is possible to greatly increase the size of that muscle if failure is reached.

Higher reps pump blood into the muscles and cause a pump, which builds size and vascularity.

This is one of the reasons why bodybuilders switch to high reps before bodybuilding competitions… they are after large vascular muscles.

This is fine if that is what you are after.

It is not ideal for fashion models or anyone who wants to be slim VS large.

What should you do instead?

Pretty much the opposite.

For people looking to create a slim and sleek physique, I recommend sticking to medium-to-low reps and stopping short of failure.

About 5 reps seems to be the sweet stop.

The idea is to pick a weight you are able to do for 7-8 reps and stop at 5. Perform 3-4 sets just like this for each exercise.

As far as HIIT goes, I prefer to do this on a treadmill vs doing intervals with weights or body weight.

The reason for this is that you can lift weights in the way I describe above for firm, tight and compact muscles… and use cardio machines for fat loss.

When you try to lift weights to simultaneously burn fat AND increase strength and definition, you aren’t able to do either 100%.

It reminds me of Pert Plus 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.

I’m bald now, but at one point I did have hair.

Anyway…

The problem with this stuff is that it never cleaned your hair as well as shampoo or conditioned your hair as well as regular conditioner.

When you try and use weights as your cardio, you are unable to focus on hard quality contractions.

Quality contractions are what creates firm muscles.

When you don’t rest enough in between sets you will be unable to create maximum contractions since your lifting is being compromised by fatigue.

I recommend lifting for maximum contractions and strength… and using a separate cardio portion of your workout for calorie burning and fat loss.

Separating weight training from cardio gives you the ability to fine-tune your physique better than resistance training alone.

Tip 5: Maintain an Ongoing Calorie Deficit to Lose Face Fat

To lose face fat, you need to lose body fat.

The way to lose body fat is to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than you burn.

I already covered the way to effectively burn calories.

Here are some dieting strategies.

There are countless dieting strategies that work, I’ll cover some of the more popular approaches.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dieting approach that involves fasting for a period of time followed by a feeding window.

People can continue to eat a variety of foods and lose weight by cutting the time they eat down to 4-6 hours.

A common approach is to fast and allow food from Noon to 8:00 PM (called 16:8 Intermittent Fasting).

There are other ways to do this.

I have had my best success by eating normally all week and picking 2 days per week, where I only eat one meal.

I’ve been doing this on and off for 18 years and have an article about my experience here:

Intermittent Fasting Tips: My 18 Years of Experience Using Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss

Note: You can use the intermittent fasting strategy with other dieting approaches. Right now, keto intermittent fasting is especially popular.

If It Fits Your Macros

If it Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is an approach of eating whatever you want as long as you hit your protein, fat, and carb goals for the day.

This is an approach I’ve also used for years (we just never had a name for it in the 80’s and 90’s)

The nice thing about this approach is you just need to figure out your macronutrient goals and how you hit them is up to you.

Here’s a calculator that will give you protein, carb, fat, and calorie suggestions based on your height, age, current weight, goal weight, activity level and gender:

IIFYM Calculator

The Ketogenic Diet

This is a high fat, moderate protein, and ultra-low carb diet. If carbs are restricted for a long enough time the body reaches a state of ketosis and begins using fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbs.

There is absolutely nothing that matches the ketogenic diet for rapidly losing scale weight. 

Since carbs bind to water, you lose a ton of water weight in the first week when you drastically cut back on carbs. Over a 2-3 month period, the keto diet is pretty awesome for losing weight.

I’ve been friends with a lot of the “online keto gurus” for 10+ years.

I wrote about success stories with this diet along with some of the challenges:

Keto Diet Benefits and Challenges

High Carb Low Fat

This is almost the opposite of the ketogenic diet. Since carbs and protein rarely get converted to body fat and stored as body fat, fats are drastically cut to 10% or less of daily calories.

This is my preferred approach to getting lean because it allows for starches like pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes.

*This dieting approach is also beer-friendly. 

Increasing carbs means the body holds more water, so you won’t lose as much scale weight at first compared to the keto diet.

After about 2-3 months the fat loss on this diet catches up and surpasses the keto diet.

I wrote a post about it here:

Are Carbs Making Us Fat?

Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)

This is a 5-day diet plan using specific foods in a way that puts the body in a similar state as fasting.

This is a more aggressive approach than intermittent fasting. It’s a low-calorie approach meant to only be used once every 6 months.

The biggest benefit is that it directly targets visceral fat (belly fat).

It also has anti-aging and anti-cancer fighting properties.

For full details, here’s my article about it:

The 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan

Pick whatever dieting approach makes it easy for you to eat fewer calories than you burn.

You need a caloric deficit to lose body fat and face fat.

Get Rid of Face Fat (Summary)

I was compelled to write this post after seeing so many articles focusing on facial exercises.

Studies don’t show much promise when it comes to slimming the face by doing various face exercises.

At best, they can possibly slightly improve your appearance.

For drastic face slimming improvements, simply reduce your body fat with diet and exercise.

This isn’t what a lot of people want to hear.

But…

The benefit of using diet and exercise to lose face fat is that it will improve the appearance of your entire body.

It will also make you a healthier person overall.

So choose a diet and exercise strategy that you can stick to…

…and make the world a more beautiful place.

Cheers,

-Rusty Moore

The post How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face appeared first on Visual Impact Fitness.

source https://visualimpactfitness.com/how-to-lose-face-fat/

[anthonystopscom]

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Tips That Slim Your Face

Can face fat be lost?

Absolutely, but not by doing facial exercises you find online and in magazines. The way to lose cheek fat and avoid a double chin involves strategic diet and exercise.

My background is training fashion models.

I’ve never had a single one do specific facial exercises to get a slimmer face.

I have a special nutrition exercise suggestions that work rapidly and blows away “puffing your cheeks” or doing “fish face” exercises.

There is only one study that sort of showed a positive effect of facial exercises, but even they think that the results of their study were inconclusive:

The evidence to date is insufficient to determine whether facial exercises are effective for facial rejuvenation.

Your time is much better spent doing things that work.

I’ll discuss approaches that I’ve used over the years with clients.

Here are some helpful tips to reduce face fat.

Tip 1: Increase Potassium to Reduce Face Bloat

This isn’t a way to lose fat in the face, it is a quick hack to reduce water retention in your body and face.

Most people probably know that sodium can increase water retention, so they REDUCE their intake of salty foods so they don’t look smooth and puffy.

This helps, but INCREASING potassium takes this a step further.

You see, potassium opposes sodium.

Typically, when you increase potassium you decrease the effects of sodium.

Here is a partial list of face slimming potassium-rich foods.

White beans

Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

Beets

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Oranges & Bananas

These are the my main go-to sources of potassium, but here is a site with a more extensive list.

Potatoes top my list when it comes to flushing out water.

The protocol I would now recommend before a photo shoot?

Reduce sodium for about 48 hours while increasing water intake.

This may sound odd, but I also recommend eating an all-potato diet for these 48 hours (or potatoes with cooked spinach or other greens).

This will push out any water retention you may be experiencing and will have you looking your best.

Obviously, most of us aren’t models…

This is a great strategy for any special event.

Make sure you don’t cut sodium too early. Your body adapts to sodium intake and normalizes after a few days.

The magic in cutting sodium a day or two ahead of time is that your body will hold less water for a few days before it adapts to lower sodium intake.

A side benefit of eating potatoes is that it makes your muscles appear full. The combo of full muscles and less water retention will make your body appear leaner than normal.

Tip 2: Increase Fiber Intake to Slim Your Face

This is another tip that isn’t really about losing face fat, it is just another tip for a quick fix for a special event.

Fiber is a crucial part of our diets.

It’s actually one of my criticisms about the keto diet. People following a ketogenic diet are typically eating a low-fiber diet.

Fiber reduces water retention because it absorbs water to allow for the fiber to pass through your intestines.

Fiber also plays a role in reducing the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

According to the Mayo Clinic here are daily fiber recommendations.

Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.

The Mayo Clinic has an extensive list of high fiber foods, but here are some common high fiber food items.

Whole wheat spaghetti

Whole wheat bread

Oatmeal

Green peas

Corn

Potatoes

Lentils

Beans

The nice thing about potatoes is you get a double whammy, high potassium and decent fiber.

Eat the potato skins to get even more fiber from your potatoes.

Tip 3: Strategic Cardio to Reduce Face Fat

I always find the cardio bashing amusing, because it is such an effective fat loss tool.

Yes, your diet needs to be dialed in.

Yes, lifting weights is important to look your best.

But…

If you master cardio, you gain the ability to dial in your physique (and face) in a way that is close to impossible with weight training and diet alone.

Cardio is a killer tool to combat chubby face syndrome.

The best way to approach cardio, in my opinion, is to use a combination of HIIT with slow steady state cardio.

Intense exercise like HIIT and/or CrossFit circuits are incredible for burning a ton of calories.

Something else also happens when you train with intensity.

Your fat cells release stored body fat into your bloodstream.

Here’s a chart from my cardio course:

You still lose fat with HIIT and other intense exercise, but you will lose quite a bit more if you follow all intense exercise with low-intensity cardio.

Much of the released fatty acids will get re-deposited as body fat if not used for fuel.

Walking at a brisk pace for 20-45 minutes will use a large portion of these free fatty acids.

Instead of re-depositing that fat, much of it will be used to fuel the low intensity walking.

This does take more time.

(If people are honest with themselves it is probably just cutting into TV time.)

What I like to do is listen to books on tape on audible during this time.

This is a way to have a great mind to go along with your attractive face.

Tip 4: Resistance Training for Definition NOT Bulk

This isn’t as much of a face thing, but in my experience people who are looking to slim the face down are typically after the same thing for their body.

The common advice for getting slim is to do high rep training to failure.

Here is the problem with high rep training:

Training to failure, regardless of rep range, has been shown to increase the size of a muscle.

So even with light weights, it is possible to greatly increase the size of that muscle if failure is reached.

Higher reps pump blood into the muscles and cause a pump, which builds size and vascularity.

This is one of the reasons why bodybuilders switch to high reps before bodybuilding competitions… they are after large vascular muscles.

This is fine if that is what you are after.

It is not ideal for fashion models or anyone who wants to be slim VS large.

What should you do instead?

Pretty much the opposite.

For people looking to create a slim and sleek physique, I recommend sticking to medium-to-low reps and stopping short of failure.

About 5 reps seems to be the sweet stop.

The idea is to pick a weight you are able to do for 7-8 reps and stop at 5. Perform 3-4 sets just like this for each exercise.

As far as HIIT goes, I prefer to do this on a treadmill vs doing intervals with weights or body weight.

The reason for this is that you can lift weights in the way I describe above for firm, tight and compact muscles… and use cardio machines for fat loss.

When you try to lift weights to simultaneously burn fat AND increase strength and definition, you aren’t able to do either 100%.

It reminds me of Pert Plus 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.

I’m bald now, but at one point I did have hair.

Anyway…

The problem with this stuff is that it never cleaned your hair as well as shampoo or conditioned your hair as well as regular conditioner.

When you try and use weights as your cardio, you are unable to focus on hard quality contractions.

Quality contractions are what creates firm muscles.

When you don’t rest enough in between sets you will be unable to create maximum contractions since your lifting is being compromised by fatigue.

I recommend lifting for maximum contractions and strength… and using a separate cardio portion of your workout for calorie burning and fat loss.

Separating weight training from cardio gives you the ability to fine-tune your physique better than resistance training alone.

Tip 5: Maintain an Ongoing Calorie Deficit to Lose Face Fat

To lose face fat, you need to lose body fat.

The way to lose body fat is to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than you burn.

I already covered the way to effectively burn calories.

Here are some dieting strategies.

There are countless dieting strategies that work, I’ll cover some of the more popular approaches.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dieting approach that involves fasting for a period of time followed by a feeding window.

People can continue to eat a variety of foods and lose weight by cutting the time they eat down to 4-6 hours.

A common approach is to fast and allow food from Noon to 8:00 PM (called 16:8 Intermittent Fasting).

There are other ways to do this.

I have had my best success by eating normally all week and picking 2 days per week, where I only eat one meal.

I’ve been doing this on and off for 18 years and have an article about my experience here:

Intermittent Fasting Tips: My 18 Years of Experience Using Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss

Note: You can use the intermittent fasting strategy with other dieting approaches. Right now, keto intermittent fasting is especially popular.

If It Fits Your Macros

If it Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is an approach of eating whatever you want as long as you hit your protein, fat, and carb goals for the day.

This is an approach I’ve also used for years (we just never had a name for it in the 80’s and 90’s)

The nice thing about this approach is you just need to figure out your macronutrient goals and how you hit them is up to you.

Here’s a calculator that will give you protein, carb, fat, and calorie suggestions based on your height, age, current weight, goal weight, activity level and gender:

IIFYM Calculator

The Ketogenic Diet

This is a high fat, moderate protein, and ultra-low carb diet. If carbs are restricted for a long enough time the body reaches a state of ketosis and begins using fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbs.

There is absolutely nothing that matches the ketogenic diet for rapidly losing scale weight. 

Since carbs bind to water, you lose a ton of water weight in the first week when you drastically cut back on carbs. Over a 2-3 month period, the keto diet is pretty awesome for losing weight.

I’ve been friends with a lot of the “online keto gurus” for 10+ years.

I wrote about success stories with this diet along with some of the challenges:

Keto Diet Benefits and Challenges

High Carb Low Fat

This is almost the opposite of the ketogenic diet. Since carbs and protein rarely get converted to body fat and stored as body fat, fats are drastically cut to 10% or less of daily calories.

This is my preferred approach to getting lean because it allows for starches like pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes.

*This dieting approach is also beer-friendly. 

Increasing carbs means the body holds more water, so you won’t lose as much scale weight at first compared to the keto diet.

After about 2-3 months the fat loss on this diet catches up and surpasses the keto diet.

I wrote a post about it here:

Are Carbs Making Us Fat?

Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)

This is a 5-day diet plan using specific foods in a way that puts the body in a similar state as fasting.

This is a more aggressive approach than intermittent fasting. It’s a low-calorie approach meant to only be used once every 6 months.

The biggest benefit is that it directly targets visceral fat (belly fat).

It also has anti-aging and anti-cancer fighting properties.

For full details, here’s my article about it:

The 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan

Pick whatever dieting approach makes it easy for you to eat fewer calories than you burn.

You need a caloric deficit to lose body fat and face fat.

Get Rid of Face Fat (Summary)

I was compelled to write this post after seeing so many articles focusing on facial exercises.

Studies don’t show much promise when it comes to slimming the face by doing various face exercises.

At best, they can possibly slightly improve your appearance.

For drastic face slimming improvements, simply reduce your body fat with diet and exercise.

This isn’t what a lot of people want to hear.

But…

The benefit of using diet and exercise to lose face fat is that it will improve the appearance of your entire body.

It will also make you a healthier person overall.

So choose a diet and exercise strategy that you can stick to…

…and make the world a more beautiful place.

Cheers,

-Rusty Moore

The post How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face appeared first on Visual Impact Fitness.

source https://visualimpactfitness.com/how-to-lose-face-fat/ source https://visualimpactfitnessco.tumblr.com/post/176743396837

[visualimpactfitnessco]

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face

How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Tips That Slim Your Face

Can face fat be lost?

Absolutely, but not by doing facial exercises you find online and in magazines. The way to lose cheek fat and avoid a double chin involves strategic diet and exercise.

My background is training fashion models.

I’ve never had a single one do specific facial exercises to get a slimmer face.

I have a special nutrition exercise suggestions that work rapidly and blows away “puffing your cheeks” or doing “fish face” exercises.

There is only one study that sort of showed a positive effect of facial exercises, but even they think that the results of their study were inconclusive:

The evidence to date is insufficient to determine whether facial exercises are effective for facial rejuvenation.

Your time is much better spent doing things that work.

I’ll discuss approaches that I’ve used over the years with clients.

Here are some helpful tips to reduce face fat.

Tip 1: Increase Potassium to Reduce Face Bloat

This isn’t a way to lose fat in the face, it is a quick hack to reduce water retention in your body and face.

Most people probably know that sodium can increase water retention, so they REDUCE their intake of salty foods so they don’t look smooth and puffy.

This helps, but INCREASING potassium takes this a step further.

You see, potassium opposes sodium.

Typically, when you increase potassium you decrease the effects of sodium.

Here is a partial list of face slimming potassium-rich foods.

White beans

Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

Beets

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Oranges & Bananas

These are the my main go-to sources of potassium, but here is a site with a more extensive list.

Potatoes top my list when it comes to flushing out water.

The protocol I would now recommend before a photo shoot?

Reduce sodium for about 48 hours while increasing water intake.

This may sound odd, but I also recommend eating an all-potato diet for these 48 hours (or potatoes with cooked spinach or other greens).

This will push out any water retention you may be experiencing and will have you looking your best.

Obviously, most of us aren’t models…

This is a great strategy for any special event.

Make sure you don’t cut sodium too early. Your body adapts to sodium intake and normalizes after a few days.

The magic in cutting sodium a day or two ahead of time is that your body will hold less water for a few days before it adapts to lower sodium intake.

A side benefit of eating potatoes is that it makes your muscles appear full. The combo of full muscles and less water retention will make your body appear leaner than normal.

Tip 2: Increase Fiber Intake to Slim Your Face

This is another tip that isn’t really about losing face fat, it is just another tip for a quick fix for a special event.

Fiber is a crucial part of our diets.

It’s actually one of my criticisms about the keto diet. People following a ketogenic diet are typically eating a low-fiber diet.

Fiber reduces water retention because it absorbs water to allow for the fiber to pass through your intestines.

Fiber also plays a role in reducing the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

According to the Mayo Clinic here are daily fiber recommendations.

Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.

The Mayo Clinic has an extensive list of high fiber foods, but here are some common high fiber food items.

Whole wheat spaghetti

Whole wheat bread

Oatmeal

Green peas

Corn

Potatoes

Lentils

Beans

The nice thing about potatoes is you get a double whammy, high potassium and decent fiber.

Eat the potato skins to get even more fiber from your potatoes.

Tip 3: Strategic Cardio to Reduce Face Fat

I always find the cardio bashing amusing, because it is such an effective fat loss tool.

Yes, your diet needs to be dialed in.

Yes, lifting weights is important to look your best.

But…

If you master cardio, you gain the ability to dial in your physique (and face) in a way that is close to impossible with weight training and diet alone.

Cardio is a killer tool to combat chubby face syndrome.

The best way to approach cardio, in my opinion, is to use a combination of HIIT with slow steady state cardio.

Intense exercise like HIIT and/or CrossFit circuits are incredible for burning a ton of calories.

Something else also happens when you train with intensity.

Your fat cells release stored body fat into your bloodstream.

Here’s a chart from my cardio course:

You still lose fat with HIIT and other intense exercise, but you will lose quite a bit more if you follow all intense exercise with low-intensity cardio.

Much of the released fatty acids will get re-deposited as body fat if not used for fuel.

Walking at a brisk pace for 20-45 minutes will use a large portion of these free fatty acids.

Instead of re-depositing that fat, much of it will be used to fuel the low intensity walking.

This does take more time.

(If people are honest with themselves it is probably just cutting into TV time.)

What I like to do is listen to books on tape on audible during this time.

This is a way to have a great mind to go along with your attractive face.

Tip 4: Resistance Training for Definition NOT Bulk

This isn’t as much of a face thing, but in my experience people who are looking to slim the face down are typically after the same thing for their body.

The common advice for getting slim is to do high rep training to failure.

Here is the problem with high rep training:

Training to failure, regardless of rep range, has been shown to increase the size of a muscle.

So even with light weights, it is possible to greatly increase the size of that muscle if failure is reached.

Higher reps pump blood into the muscles and cause a pump, which builds size and vascularity.

This is one of the reasons why bodybuilders switch to high reps before bodybuilding competitions… they are after large vascular muscles.

This is fine if that is what you are after.

It is not ideal for fashion models or anyone who wants to be slim VS large.

What should you do instead?

Pretty much the opposite.

For people looking to create a slim and sleek physique, I recommend sticking to medium-to-low reps and stopping short of failure.

About 5 reps seems to be the sweet stop.

The idea is to pick a weight you are able to do for 7-8 reps and stop at 5. Perform 3-4 sets just like this for each exercise.

As far as HIIT goes, I prefer to do this on a treadmill vs doing intervals with weights or body weight.

The reason for this is that you can lift weights in the way I describe above for firm, tight and compact muscles… and use cardio machines for fat loss.

When you try to lift weights to simultaneously burn fat AND increase strength and definition, you aren’t able to do either 100%.

It reminds me of Pert Plus 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner.

I’m bald now, but at one point I did have hair.

Anyway…

The problem with this stuff is that it never cleaned your hair as well as shampoo or conditioned your hair as well as regular conditioner.

When you try and use weights as your cardio, you are unable to focus on hard quality contractions.

Quality contractions are what creates firm muscles.

When you don’t rest enough in between sets you will be unable to create maximum contractions since your lifting is being compromised by fatigue.

I recommend lifting for maximum contractions and strength… and using a separate cardio portion of your workout for calorie burning and fat loss.

Separating weight training from cardio gives you the ability to fine-tune your physique better than resistance training alone.

Tip 5: Maintain an Ongoing Calorie Deficit to Lose Face Fat

To lose face fat, you need to lose body fat.

The way to lose body fat is to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than you burn.

I already covered the way to effectively burn calories.

Here are some dieting strategies.

There are countless dieting strategies that work, I’ll cover some of the more popular approaches.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dieting approach that involves fasting for a period of time followed by a feeding window.

People can continue to eat a variety of foods and lose weight by cutting the time they eat down to 4-6 hours.

A common approach is to fast and allow food from Noon to 8:00 PM (called 16:8 Intermittent Fasting).

There are other ways to do this.

I have had my best success by eating normally all week and picking 2 days per week, where I only eat one meal.

I’ve been doing this on and off for 18 years and have an article about my experience here:

Intermittent Fasting Tips: My 18 Years of Experience Using Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss

Note: You can use the intermittent fasting strategy with other dieting approaches. Right now, keto intermittent fasting is especially popular.

If It Fits Your Macros

If it Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) is an approach of eating whatever you want as long as you hit your protein, fat, and carb goals for the day.

This is an approach I’ve also used for years (we just never had a name for it in the 80’s and 90’s)

The nice thing about this approach is you just need to figure out your macronutrient goals and how you hit them is up to you.

Here’s a calculator that will give you protein, carb, fat, and calorie suggestions based on your height, age, current weight, goal weight, activity level and gender:

IIFYM Calculator

The Ketogenic Diet

This is a high fat, moderate protein, and ultra-low carb diet. If carbs are restricted for a long enough time the body reaches a state of ketosis and begins using fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbs.

There is absolutely nothing that matches the ketogenic diet for rapidly losing scale weight. 

Since carbs bind to water, you lose a ton of water weight in the first week when you drastically cut back on carbs. Over a 2-3 month period, the keto diet is pretty awesome for losing weight.

I’ve been friends with a lot of the “online keto gurus” for 10+ years.

I wrote about success stories with this diet along with some of the challenges:

Keto Diet Benefits and Challenges

High Carb Low Fat

This is almost the opposite of the ketogenic diet. Since carbs and protein rarely get converted to body fat and stored as body fat, fats are drastically cut to 10% or less of daily calories.

This is my preferred approach to getting lean because it allows for starches like pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes.

*This dieting approach is also beer-friendly. 

Increasing carbs means the body holds more water, so you won’t lose as much scale weight at first compared to the keto diet.

After about 2-3 months the fat loss on this diet catches up and surpasses the keto diet.

I wrote a post about it here:

Are Carbs Making Us Fat?

Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)

This is a 5-day diet plan using specific foods in a way that puts the body in a similar state as fasting.

This is a more aggressive approach than intermittent fasting. It’s a low-calorie approach meant to only be used once every 6 months.

The biggest benefit is that it directly targets visceral fat (belly fat).

It also has anti-aging and anti-cancer fighting properties.

For full details, here’s my article about it:

The 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan

Pick whatever dieting approach makes it easy for you to eat fewer calories than you burn.

You need a caloric deficit to lose body fat and face fat.

Get Rid of Face Fat (Summary)

I was compelled to write this post after seeing so many articles focusing on facial exercises.

Studies don’t show much promise when it comes to slimming the face by doing various face exercises.

At best, they can possibly slightly improve your appearance.

For drastic face slimming improvements, simply reduce your body fat with diet and exercise.

This isn’t what a lot of people want to hear.

But…

The benefit of using diet and exercise to lose face fat is that it will improve the appearance of your entire body.

It will also make you a healthier person overall.

So choose a diet and exercise strategy that you can stick to…

…and make the world a more beautiful place.

Cheers,

-Rusty Moore

The post How to Lose Face Fat: 5 Effective Ways to Slim Your Face appeared first on Visual Impact Fitness.

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