Ten things you can do to get the lit-from-within glow that will make you look and feel healthy, happy and hot.
01: Drink More Water
There is no glow without hydration. The simplest way to get your system functioning properly is to drink a LOT of water. It clears out your system, flushes toxins, and improves your metabolism, digestion and skin. Water curbs hunger. Most of the time when you are hungry your body is actually thirsty. And not having enough water can make you bloated – the opposite of what people usually think. When you don’t drink enough, your body is forced to hang on to the water it currently holds, leaving you feeling puffy.
ACTION ITEM: Aim for 2 liters a day to stay hydrated and keep your body functions performing at their best. That’s double the usual recommended amount. You need it!
02: Rethink your Plate
Start to think of meat as your side dish. Center your meals around lean protein and vegetables, especially greens and water-soluble veggies (like tomato and zucchini). Limit cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage) which contain a lot of fiber and take longer to digest which can cause bloating. Steam your veggies to help break them down for the best digestion. Try asparagus, a slim-body superstar and natural diuretic that flushes waste from your system. And to improve your digestion and quicken the breakdown of foods, have a digestive enzyme with each meal to help your body digest the food and prevent buildup in your system.
ACTION ITEM: Make vegetables 3/4 of your plate and protein your side-dish. Eat veggies lightly steamed and focus on water-soluble veggies. Have a digestive enzyme with meals. Doing this at each meal will help you feel slimmer, less bloated and happy.
03: Eat Fat
We used to think eating fat would make us fat. Now we know we need healthy fats in our diet for healthy hair, skin, nails and, brain function. Plus, it keeps us full and satisfied. Our skin needs fat in order to stay hydrated and glowing. Two that are best- avocados and coconut oil. Avocados are nature’s moisturizer, supplying us with healthy fats acids and phytonutrients, to keep you full and your skin glowing. Don’t love them? Add them to your smoothie for a rich texture you won’t taste. Coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides to help produce quick fuel and lauric acid which kills candida/yeast overgrowth. The triglycerides in coconut oil have been shown to increase your energy expenditure by as much as 5 percent, potentially leading to significant weight loss over the long-term.
ACTION ITEM: Add healthy fats to your diet. Doing so will actually help you feel feel and make you eat less. It’s true, try it! Avocado and coconut oil are best. Other healthy fats to include in your diet: nuts, seeds, salmon, mackerel, sardines, and other healthy oils like olive oil.
04: Probiotics
Probiotics can help with everything from digestion to clearing up skin. The best source is kefir – yogurt’s more potent, probiotic-filled counterpart. It’s full of calcium and protein and low and calories. Probiotics also aid digestion. Researchers believe that when the microflora in your intestines aren’t balanced, health problems can come up (and bloating and indigestion). Kefir is an excellent source, with three times the amount as yogurt. It also contains some probiotic strains that aren’t found in yogurt.
ACTION ITEM: You can buy kefir drinks and coconut kefir water at health food stores, but it’s also easy to make your own. Subscribe to the email list as a step-by-step guide will be coming soon. Not into the taste? Make sure you are taking a broad-spectrum probiotic once-daily.
05: Eat Clean
Eating “mock-healthy products” is a major issue today. With the proliferation of gluten-free foods, and even raw or vegan foods, people assume they are eating healthy. The truth is these items are still processed to some degree. Think of it this way: anything made in a factory or put in a package is processed. These items should be seen as the occasional treat. Have your vegan macaroon, or gluten-free cookie but only on occassion. Make sure to look at the package serving size to be sure you are eating the recommended amount too, as looks can be deceiving.
ACTION ITEM: No processed foods. It’s that simple. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and refer to Tip 2 on how to structure your plate. Save treats as just that, a treat. Read labels, a TIP: Aim for no more than 7 grams of sugar per serving, no more than 8 ingredients (and make sure you can pronounce them).
06: Reduce or Eliminate Sugar
The huge amounts of sugar in a standard diet is making us gain weight; fat doesn’t make us fat, sugar does. Sugar is also one of the most addictive substances out there. Start slow in curbing sugar, so it can become a healthy habit. When you do so, you will see your skin start to clear up and your energy levels skyrocket. Simple fixes are when you have a sugar craving, reachfor a date. Stuff it with almond butter (or coconut butter) for extra yum. Look for chocolate that is sweetened with maple syrup or honey- natural sugars. There are many on the market right now and I will be devoting a post to this soon. Use stevia to sweeten anything you would sweeten with sugar.
ACTION ITEM: Use stevia in place of sugar. Now available in dropper bottles, and in fun flavors, stevia is your best option for sweetening foods and drinks. I also love adding maca to add a yummy caramel flavor (I like the maca team)
07: Dairy Free, Gluten Free
Studies also show a link to carb- and sugar-loaded processed foods and increased inflammation in the body (leading to a host of problems). The sugar in milk (lactose) is tough for the body to digest and can make you feel full, bloated and gassy if you’re the least bit intolerant. Wheat too isn’t an easy food for the body to digest. In the process of breaking down wheat, gas is produced in the large intestine causing many people to get an uncomfortably swollen stomach. Refined, white carbohydrates also spike your insulin levels and trigger increased fat storage in your midsection.
ACTION ITEM: There are so many alternatives to dairy on the market today, try them to see what you like best- almond, cashew or flax nut milk, yogurts and cheeses are my favorites (read more on the blog). For gluten-free alternatives start with a sprouted bread like
08: Add Green Juice
Full of minerals, chlorophyll, and antioxidants, fresh green juice is like a powerful multivitamin. The nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream and reach skin cells quickly. Drinking green juice is her number one skin fix to get clean, clear, glowing skin. It’s a great replacement for afternoon coffee and it will literally transform your skin in a matter of days. It also helps oxygenate the skin and stimulates lymphatic drainage so it’s de-puffing.
ACTION ITEM: Add a green juice to your daily routine. Focus on a green juice that is mainly greens with low-sugar additions like lemon and ginger. Avoid those high in fruit (to avoid the extra sugar).
08: Be Fruit Conscious
To add on the above, fruits like apples, bananas, cherries, peaches, and pears, contain a sugar called fructose, which is difficult for many to digest. While one apple or banana may be fine, if you end up consuming more fructose than your body can digest, it’s broken down by fermentation, which unfortunately causes bloating and gas in the large intestine.
ACTION ITEM: Apples and bananas are two of the highest fructose fruits out there, so stay away from those two in particular when you’re focusing on looking and feeling trim and digesting your food best.
10: Sweat
A good sweat session will do your body good. Sweating improves skin, burns calories, removes toxins, relieves pain, reduces stress and fatigue, and strengthens immune system. Yoga happens to be an incredibly detoxifying workout as twists support digestion and help to rid your body of toxins. Remember, some activity is always better than none. An infrared sauna is also great (and better than typical saunas because they are not the suffocating heat that gets intolerable). Infrared also enhances metabolic function (aka burns calories), stimulate the production of collagen, destresses, detoxifies and assists in the recovery of pain, injury, and illness by dilating blood vessels to increase circulation and deliver oxygen throughout your body.
ACTION ITEM: Sweat to get “The Glow”. And if possible go for an infrared session. In addition to staying fit and the hosts of benefits that go along with that, the increased circulation from sweating brings oxygen to the skin surface, promoting healthy, glowing skin,
IN CONCLUSION, eat more fat and less empty carbs and sugar. Make sure you are getting more nutrients, more fat
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