Grabbing something to eat, running through the drive-thru and throwing something together. All phrases that certainly reflect our lifestyles and all too often, our approach to food. While doing any of these every now and then is fine and can even be done in a healthy way, letting these phrases describe our overall attitude toward food means that we could be missing out on some of the huge benefits of what the food we eat can really do for us.

Transformational and Energy Medicine Specialist Jean Atman works with people on aligning their energy in every facet of their lives, including through the food they eat. In this Q&A, she explains how eating with intention can change your entire relationship with food and how its energy can fuel you.

Peppermint Tea & Me: What does eating with intention mean?

Jean Atman:I think it’s a mindfulness practice, you know. To really think about what foods you’re putting in your body and how they affect you as you’re consuming them. Basically, we get kind of caught up in the busyness of things, and so we don’t take time to even think about what we eat. We just sort of go to our defaults. I think eating with intention is increasing the mindfulness practice of thinking about “What do I feel like I want, what do I feel like I need, and then how do I feel after eating this?”

PTM: Why is it important that we eat with intention?

JA: We’re all made of energy. So, what we’re eating is either going to increase or decrease how we feel, how our body functions, and how our life works. If we’re congesting our energy field with a lot of processed foods, we’re going to feel more stagnant in our lives, and we’re going to be less able to proceed forward in achieving our goals and desires and dreams. We don’t have that free flow of movement and momentum that we can build as easily. So, it’s really vital to consider what we’re putting in our bodies and how we’re feeling based on it. If we’re eating something that makes us feel bad, we’re not going to be as inspired to do anything else in our lives. It really does start with what we’re putting in our bodies.

PTM: What is the role of energy overall in our bodies and in our lives?

JA: We’re all just millions of particles of energy that put together creates this form. We feel solid, we look solid, but in reality, we’re really not, we’re just a lot of moving parts. That’s why it’s really vital to focus on what we’re creating within our energy. If we’re eating something processed without a lot of life force energy, we’re putting that in our bodies and that becomes part of us. So, it’s not a real efficient product that we’re creating.

It’s everything that we put into our body, all the experiences that we have, how we respond to those experiences, and then we kind of have a set vibration based on all those moving parts. Whatever vibration we’re at, we’re going to automatically attract other things of that vibration. If our vibration is of a lower scale, you know we’re going to attract experiences that reflect that. Lower vibrational experiences mean more struggle, more hardships and more hard work to accomplish anything. Kind of trudging through mud knee deep to get to where you’re going, as opposed to skirting on top of it.

PTM: What do you mean when you talk about our vibrational scale?

JA: To test people’s energy, we use the Hawkins Scale of Consciousness. Based on that, anything under 500, you’re dealing with jealousy, hate, envy and other lower vibrations. So, if you’re eating foods of a lower vibrational scale, they’re vibrating within that same frequency.

PTM: Where does processed food fall on the scale, and how does that make us feel?

JA: Foods that have a life force of their own, like fruits and vegetables, grow from the earth, they’re nursed from the earth, and they’re nourished from the sun and water that’s created within the earth. It’s all this beautiful synergistic creation which is grown from life force, and that gives us life force. Lower vibrational foods, like processed foods, are stripped. Anything that’s put in these processed foods is stripped down so far that it has no life force of its own.

While these foods might fill us, you know, physically, they’re not nourishing our energy, our bodies, our spirits, our minds. We’re not gaining any energy to uplift our vibration from eating those foods. They really can cause depression. When people are depressed, it is actually just energy that is depressing the field, so they carry a lot of heaviness within their energy which makes them feel heavy mentally, physically and emotionally. When you start to recognize that “When I’m eating this food, I feel a little bit lighter and a little bit better,” you actually clear through some of that depression energy by eating something that’s more nourishing, that’s more life giving, that increases the feeling of being lighter.

So those things are really, really important to choose wisely, especially if you suffer from something that just feels chronic that you can’t seem to break free from, and you’re wanting some relief. A lot of times when people are sad or depressed, they’ll reach for the comfort foods: the donuts, the ice creams, the cakes and the cookies. But again, with the law of attraction, like attracts like. If you’re already feeling that way, you’re going to be more drawn to those types of things, because they vibrate there. But if you know that, and you can make a conscious decision and say, “I’m feeling kind of low today. I want to uplift my energy and I’m having a little bit of a struggle doing it emotionally right now, so I’m going to reach for something that’ll help support that movement. I’m going to eat a salad. I’m going to eat an apple.” Things like that. It can help.

PTM: Which foods give us the most energy?

JA: Anything that’s made from the earth, that’s nourished from the earth’s elements will give us a lot more energy. Even if you’re going to eat an orange versus orange juice, even things like that. Foods in their most complete form are made specifically to nourish us in the best possible ways. So even by keeping an orange fully intact and eating it that way can offer more energy than an orange juice could. That’s not to say that you can’t eat cooked whole foods. You can because your body knows what to do with that and how to break it down.

PTM: How do we gauge what types of foods we need or energy we need from our food?

JA: They say that if you’re craving something sweet, that you’re actually craving more sweetness in your life. And if you’re craving something salty, you’re searching for something more grounded. You’re wanting to be more grounded within your life. So, our cravings will give us a lot of information about what we’re actually needing energetically and emotionally. It’s learning to translate what the body is saying into giving us a direction of where we can go with it.

 PTM: If someone is just starting to connect with the energy of their food, what are some ways that they can do that?

JA: What works for one person is not going to work for the next person. It really is coming back to the mindfulness practice of how foods make you feel. There are a couple of ways that you can do that including approaching it from a beginner’s mind and taking a week to eat clean and cut out dairy, gluten and processed foods and see how you feel. Then add things back one at a time and make a note of how you feel then. You can also journal each day, or if you really want to learn about yourself, journal each meal. Think about “What did I eat? How did I feel after this? How was my energy after that meal?” Really tune in to how you feel. Also, if you’re trying to lose weight, ask yourself before you reach for anything, “Is this really serving my highest good?” Think about the kind of energy that you want to have and whether that particular food would serve as fuel for that energy.

Additional Resource

Jean is happy to offer you a copy of her free e-book called How to Energize Your Life. Through it, she shares information, insights, and “Mindfulness Practices” to better assist you in creating not only what you want in life, but to release what that you don’t.

The post Eating with Intention appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Let’s face it, the way we live our lives every day is full of stressors – both real and perceived. The food we eat, our commute to work and the toxins in our environment are just a few of these, but they’re all taking a toll on our bodies. One way this may show up is through what’s commonly referred to as “adrenal fatigue.” In reality, this syndrome of signs and symptoms that tells us our bodies aren’t functioning properly is more accurately called HPA Axis Dysfunction. Since this is an incredibly frustrating and often misunderstood condition, I read numerous studies and research articles and went to Dr. Daniel Gonzalez, a Certified Functional Medicine Doctor, to find out more. What I learned could help shed some light on what you or someone you know may be experiencing and how it could be treated with and without medical intervention.

What is HPA Axis Dysfunction?

HPA stands for hypothalamic – pituitary – adrenal axis. According Dr. Daniel, this system primarily regulates our body’s stress response, and if it’s not working correctly, neither will we. Chris Kresser M.S, L.Ac is the co-director of the California Center for Functional Medicine and the founder of the Kresser Institute. In this article on the topic, he explains that, “Stress activates the HPA axis and sets off a cascade of neuroendocrine signals that ultimately leads to the release of hormones and neurotransmitters like cortisol, norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and epinephrine (adrenaline).” This is what’s supposed to happen. It’s the way our bodies are meant to adapt and respond to the immediate changes and needs triggered by stress. But, if we’re in a chronic state of stress, according to Dr. Daniel, our bodies can’t maintain stability. The HPA axis simply wasn’t meant to work like that.

Dr. Daniel says there are many “feedback loops” associated with the HPA axis. “It’s your central nervous system, your metabolic system, immune function, gut function and cardiovascular system. All of these systems are going to be affected by the HPA axis.” In their review for the Point Institute on Chronic Stress and the HPA Axis, Thomas G. Guilliams Ph.D. and Lena Edwards M.D. agree that “Chronic and repeated stressors can lead to one or more forms of HPA axis dysregulation, altering appropriate cortisol secretion and affecting end-organ function.”

So, what’s causing all of this stress on our bodies? Dr. Daniel points to our modern lifestyle. He says it’s “our inability to adapt to the chronic stressful exposures caused by poor diet, which really translates to nutrient deficiencies; chemical toxicity; sleep deprivation; physical or emotional stress; lack of or too much exercise; and inflammation.”

While it’s very rare for someone’s adrenals to become so fatigued that they don’t produce enough hormones (Addison’s Disease), it is much more common for all of these stressors to cause our HPA axis to be overworked. This causes what Dr. Daniel calls a “constellation of signs and symptoms.”

Symptoms of HPA Axis Dysfunction

Depending on whether you have increased activity of the HPA axis or decreased activity, here are some of the primary ways that Dr. Daniel says HPA Axis Dysfunction or HPA-D might show up in our day to day lives.

• Difficulty sleeping
• Impaired exercise tolerance or recovery
• Waking up tired after a good six to eight hours of sleep
• A weakened immune system
• Brain fog
• Extreme hunger or irritation even after eating
• Palpitations, especially in the middle of the night – almost like a panic attack
• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Headaches

There are also studies^1,2,3 that point to depression as a symptom of HPA Axis Dysfunction.

How HPA Axis Dysfunction is Diagnosed

Since these symptoms can be indicative of many conditions, the first step is to see a traditional medical doctor and make sure that nothing else is going on. If their assessment is that “nothing is wrong” or they can’t pinpoint the cause of your symptoms, you may want to explore whether it could be HPA Axis Dysfunction. While it’s not always necessary to seek medical intervention for this, if you don’t see noticeable changes with lifestyle adjustments, you will probably want to see a trained professional such as a certified functional medicine doctor who has experience in treating the syndrome.

Dr. Daniel says that there are three categories of assessments he uses in diagnosing HPA Axis Dysfunction. He begins with the signs, symptoms and history of each patient. If he suspects HPA-D, he follows up with lab testing. This testing includes collecting samples in four different ways – blood, hair, saliva and urine. He says that testing in all four ways is important to do if possible because it can help to determine exactly what’s going on and how the patient should be treated. Dr. Daniel stresses that while lab testing is very helpful, it should never be used solely to diagnose HPA-D.

The third assessment he uses is the Perceived Stress Scale, which is a questionnaire that measures the degree to which situations in one’s life are seen as stressful. According to Dr. Daniel, this is important because what’s stressful to one person may not necessarily be stressful to another. The Perceived Stress Scale helps to quantify that.

How HPA Axis Dysfunction is Treated

Dr. Daniel recommends that if you’ve been to a medical doctor and they feel sure that nothing else is going on, if you have several to many of the symptoms listed above and you know that your way of life is conducive to causing HPA Axis Dysfunction, then it’s probably safe to assume that it’s HPA-D and you should start treating it as such. While every individual is different when it comes to how HPA-D can be corrected, Dr. Daniel advises that the best place to start for most people is their lifestyle – diet, sleep and stress management.

• Diet. Dr. Daniel believes that Paleo is a good starting point and would not advise anyone with HPA-D to go low-carb. That’s because “The main hormone that becomes dysregulated is cortisol, and cortisol appears to increase on a low carb diet and decrease on a moderate to high carb diet. For someone who has HPA-D, the diet itself can become a stressor.” That’s why Dr. Daniel says optimizing macros by figuring out the right amount of protein, fat and carbs for each person is important. Avoiding sugar, caffeine and processed foods are also all steps in the right direction in treating HPA-D.
• Sleep. Circadian rhythms and optimizing sleep patterns through light/dark cues are critical to addressing HPA-D. There are important hormonal functions that should and shouldn’t be happening when we sleep, and if we don’t get enough at the right times, those functions are thrown out of balance.
• Stress Management. Meditation, deep breathing, yoga and gentle exercise are all part of a good stress management plan that can help treat HPA-D.

If you try all of these things and still aren’t feeling any better, you should consider seeing a functional medicine doctor for a diagnosis and help with treatment. For instance, it may be that you need to address inflammation, but this may involve screening for and eradicating chronic infections like small intestinal bowel overgrowth or gut infections. Autoimmune reactions such as food sensitivities should also be addressed.

Dr. Daniel says that there is value in using supplements for HPA Axis Dysfunction, but they should not be looked at as the primary means of treatment. The three areas listed above should be given priority and then supplements can be used in addition. This is most effective if you’ve had lab testing done because a trained professional would know which supplements would be appropriate for your specific situation.

Identifying and treating HPA Axis Dysfunction can be very frustrating because it may seem nebulous or that you’re just “run down.” Dr. Daniel says that in most cases, there’s nothing further from the truth. He believes that no one should have to suffer with it needlessly because there is treatment. You just have to know what you’re dealing with first.

Helpful Resources

If you want to find out more about HPA Axis Dysfunction or adrenal fatigue, Dr. Daniel recommends Dr. Mark Hyman (see his informative video here) or Chris Kresser M.S, L.Ac as good resources. You can also contact Dr. Daniel for a free consult at drdaniel.com.

*This is just a sampling of the studies that link depression to HPA axis dysfunction.

1.      John D. Guerry, Paul D. Hastings; In Search of HPA Axis Dysregulation in Child and Adolescent Depression; Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-011-0084-5

2.     Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School; What causes depression? Onset of depression more complex than a brain chemical imbalance; https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression

3.     Kazushige Mizoguchi, Hirotaka Shoji, Ryuji Ikeda, Yayoi Tanaka, Takeshi Tabira; Persistent depressive state after chronic stress in rats is accompanied by HPA axis dysregulation and reduced prefrontal dopaminergic neurotransmission; Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091305708002578

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We’ve all gotten sidetracked at one time or another when it comes to healthy eating and exercise. Life happens, we get bored or we might lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing in the first place. It’s not the end of the world. The most important thing is recognizing what’s going on and getting back on track. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but it’s probably easier than you might think – especially if you use these 10 steps for restoring your health and wellness to guide you along the way.

1. Acknowledge that you’ve gotten off track. As with anything, this is the critical first step – acknowledging that we’re not happy with the way things are going or that we want them to improve. It’s hard to make any changes if we don’t do this first. This isn’t meant to judge or to be hard on ourselves. It’s just looking at the situation in a very matter-of-fact way and recognizing that we want something to be different.
2. Track macros and other nutrients if possible. I am not a proponent of this on a regular basis because it’s too easy to get obsessed with it, but it is a beneficial exercise to do for a week or so if we feel like we’ve gotten off track from where we want to be. Unless weight loss is your goal, that’s not how this is meant to be used. This is primarily to let us see how many carbs and how much sugar we’re really taking in every day. That’s not to say that either of these are necessarily bad, but if they are the wrong types of each, they could be among the culprits for us not feeling our best. Complex carbs and natural sugar from whole fruits and vegetables are usually okay. But if we’ve gotten off track, it may be that we’re eating too many processed foods which tend to be loaded with simple carbs and added sugar. While eating those types of food every now and then is okay, we have to be careful that “every now and then” doesn’t become every day. Tracking what we’re eating and figuring out what that really meant for our numbers that day is an eye-opening way to recognize where we may be getting off track. Keeping up with other nutrients is all the better. If we can make a connection between something we might have been low in for the day or for a few days in a row and how we were feeling those days, it can be very helpful in recognizing where corrections need to be made.
3. Accept responsibility. When we get off track, it’s very easy to blame outside circumstances and to convince ourselves that we really didn’t have control over the situation. Life does happen, but we need to recognize that’s it’s still our choice as to how we handle different situations. Again, this doesn’t mean that we should be beating ourselves up, but it does mean that we should recognize where we’ve made our choices and what the consequences of those choices were. It’s truly an empowering truth. We are the only ones responsible for our health and wellbeing. While our life circumstances may change from month to month or even day to day, and we do have to be flexible, it’s still our choice as to whether we find a way to do the things that keep us healthy or not.
4. Think about how you’re currently feeling and how you felt when you were feeling good or at least better. This exercise is most effective if the responses can be written down. That way we can easily compare the two and recognize how we want to be feeling and whether that’s different than how we’re currently feeling.
5. List your current challenges to eating healthy or exercising. The more specific we can get with this, the better. Don’t just say, “I don’t have enough time right now.” If we had time at one point, we can find it again. If it’s that “The kids are out of school for the summer, and our schedule is very unpredictable,” then say that. Or, if it’s that you’re planning certain meals at the beginning of the week and then don’t find them very appealing when it comes time to make them, admit that. Or, “I’m in a food rut, and it’s all just boring right now.” Say that. Be honest. No one is judging us on our answers, but the more specific we can be on what our current roadblocks are, the more specific the solutions can be.
6. Set new goals – short-term and long-term. We have to start where we are with this, not where we were previously. If it’s that cooking meals at home has become more difficult, we can’t rely on the fact that we were cooking at home every night at one point. If that’s no longer happening for whatever reason, it’s no longer happening. While it’s critical that we set short-term goals to get us where we want to be, it’s also important to set long-term ones as well. Sometimes we get off track because we lose sight of the big picture of what we want for ourselves in the first place, and sometimes this happens because the long-term goals we once set no longer fit. That’s fine. Re-evaluate and set new ones.
7. Get specific with possible solutions. Once we know what our current challenges and new goals are, we can list possible specific solutions. The more specific we can be with this, the better. If cooking meals at home again is a goal, then get back to a reasonable starting point of saying that three to four meals for the first week is what we’re shooting for. Once we’re back in the habit, it will become more natural again. If getting exercise in has become difficult, aim for two to three days for the first week.
8. Recruit a partner or partners to help you. This is huge because accountability and support can make the difference between whether we’re able to get back on track or not. The most important thing is that it’s someone we feel okay being completely honest with and who won’t judge us because we were doing great and have now gotten sidetracked. This can be one person or many people – whatever works best. If putting it all out there on social media and asking for help and support that way feels comfortable, then by all means, go for it. The main thing is that a support network is in place.
9. Adopt a positive attitude about health and wellness goals. If it’s not something that excites us or makes us feel good, it’s not going to work – again. Drudgery is not what we’re going for here, and if that’s how we’re feeling about it, then that’s probably why we got sidetracked in the first place. Really recognizing why we’re doing what we’re doing and the impact it’s going to have on our overall wellbeing can help get us back in the right frame of mind.
10. Give yourself some grace. This is probably one of the most important steps we can take when getting back on track. We are not perfect. No one is. But that doesn’t mean we don’t keep trying. Beating ourselves up because we didn’t get exercise in one day or that we had two days of eating foods that we knew weren’t good for us isn’t going to help anything. We have to simply accept it, think about it enough to figure out why we made the choices we did and work to make choices we do feel good about the next day.

Getting sidetracked doesn’t mean we’re failing, and it doesn’t mean we can’t still accomplish our health goals. Sometimes getting sidetracked shows us where tweaks need to be made in what we’re working for in the first place, and sometimes getting off course just happens. It’s all okay. The most important thing is that we learn from it and move on toward our best life possible.

Lean on Your Community

If you need help or support in getting back on track, leave a comment below, head over to the Peppermint Tea & Me Facebook page or to keep it more private, feel free to email me at Robyn@robynmooring.com.

The post Getting back on Track with Your Health appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

You’re traveling for work or pleasure, and the hotel fitness center looks like your primary means of getting in exercise. What can you do to make the most of what equipment is available? Plenty! You just have to get a little creative. While hotel fitness centers can vary, most have fairly standard pieces of equipment that you can count on. Keeping those in mind, here are six ideas to get you started so that you can stay in shape while away from home.

Exercise or Stability Ball. This seemingly simple piece of equipment lets you work your hamstrings, triceps, chest, shoulders, abdominal muscles, core, back, glutes, quadriceps and inner and outer thighs. Talk about a lot of bang for your workout buck! FitnessBlender has a helpful video that offers a 10-minute total body workout that targets all of these muscles.

Bosu Ball. You can work your core as well as get in cardio, flexibility and strength training just by using one of these. By the way, it’s pronounced bow-sue. Popsugar Fitness offers this video on how to get a full body workout in about four-and-a-half minutes with five basic exercises.

Treadmill. Most of us know what to do with a treadmill, but did you know that you can use it to not only get in a good cardio workout, but it can work your thighs, hamstrings and quadriceps as well?  Check out  this article from the Houston Chronicle for more on how it does this.

Recumbent Bike. – If you have back pain or balance problems, you can still get in a good workout with the recumbent bike. But, if you don’t have these problems and an elliptical is available, you’re probably going to want to go with the elliptical to get in the best workout possible. See this article in the New York Times for more on Recumbent Bike vs. Upright Bike vs. Elliptical Machine.

Elliptical Machine. This machine lets you work your quads, glutes and hamstrings as well as get in a good cardio session. If you’re sitting in meetings all day or watching and waiting for your kids to finish an event, you’ve hardly moved at all before you even know it. An early morning or evening cardio session can energize you and help get your stagnant muscles going. This article at LIVESTRONG.com offers a more in-depth look at what an elliptical machine can do for your body.

Adjustable Bench and dumbbells. It’s amazing how much you can really do with one bench and some dumbbells. You can work your core, chest, arms, glutes, legs and get in cardio – just to name a few. For ideas, check out this article from Women’s Health magazine that lets you tone your entire body. Note: all of these exercises rely on the bench being in the flat position.

If you’re like me, it’s easy to say that while I’m traveling, I’m just not going to worry about getting in good exercise because all that’s available is the hotel fitness center. But there’s plenty that can be done, so don’t let the seeming lack of facilities or equipment stop you. As we’ve seen here, it doesn’t take much to keep you feeling great, so that your time away from home doesn’t end up being a bump in the road to your fitness goals.

Connect with Your Community

How do you stay in shape when you’re away from home? If you use the hotel fitness center equipment, let us know what you do, so we can all get ideas.

The post Hotel Fitness Center Tips appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

(updated June 5, 2019)

When we go on vacation, we want it to be relaxing and fun. In most cases, the last thing we want to think about is whether we’re being healthy or not. After all, this is our time to take it easy on ourselves. While that’s definitely true, if we do everything differently than we do at home, we may end up feeling run down, tired, having digestive problems because we’re eating differently and just not ourselves before the vacation is even over.

Integrated living is an important concept all of the time and not one that you can really take time off from. But that’s the whole idea. Recognizing how everything is connected shouldn’t be a burden, a hardship or create a lifestyle that isn’t enjoyable. It isn’t something that you should need a break from and is a mindset that you should want to take with you wherever you go. Yes, when you are in a different place or have a different schedule, you do have to be flexible. But you don’t have to compromise on everything and your health certainly shouldn’t suffer. That’s why we’re going to take a look at a few ways you can keep it relaxing, fun and healthy all at the same time.

Vacation Pitfalls

If you’re spending the entire week at one place – like a grandparent’s or the beach – it’s fairly easy to have at least some control over your routine and what you’re eating. It’s when you’re on a vacation where you’re staying in a hotel the whole time or moving from place to place frequently that things can get a little more challenging.

In my family, we usually put our vacations into two categories – “do nothing” and “see stuff.” The “do nothing” ones are where, you guessed it, we go to do as little as possible and to just relax (hello beach!). The biggest pitfall I run into on these types of vacations, especially now that our kids are older, is that before I know it, I haven’t truly moved in several days, and I start to feel it. Sitting for long periods of time without getting up and stretching or moving is just as unhealthy on vacation as it is when I’m working.

The “see stuff” vacations are where we do a lot of sightseeing or other types of activities. If I’m not careful, I tend to get a little crazy with these. I simply want to pack as much into the time as possible – to the point of wearing everyone out. Eating even halfway healthy is also a challenge on these types of vacations – although it is possible.

Healthy Vacation Eating

When you think about it, how you fuel your body is just as important when you’re on vacation as it is at any other time. What you eat is part of what gives you energy and makes you feel good. That doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself to local specialties – by all means, take advantage of getting to taste different foods than you might not get to have otherwise. But remember, if it’s something that would make you feel bad at home, it will probably make you feel worse on vacation.

Here are some tips for keeping it somewhat healthy while you’re away.

Take your own snacks for the airport and plane ride. Yes, you can take many food items through security, just remember that all food must undergo x-ray screening. This will keep you from relying only on the packaged cookies that are offered by the airlines and will prevent you from being ravenous once you reach your destination when you still have to get your luggage and possibly a rental car. According to the TSA website, “Solid food items (not liquids or gels) can be transported in either your carry-on or checked bags. Liquid or gel food items larger than 3.4 oz. are not allowed in carry-on bags and should be placed in your checked bags if possible.” For a list of what is and is not allowed, visit the TSA website.

Suggestions include:

• Fresh whole fruit
• Carrots and celery (in a baggie or container)
• Natural nuts (this is one place where you do have control over whether you can avoid refined oils) ** If you’re sitting next to someone you don’t know, be sure and check with them first about any nut allergies
• Chunks of real cheese **out of consideration for other passengers, avoid strong-smelling cheeses.

If you’re traveling with someone with food allergies, Million Mile Secrets has a helpful guide on How to Fly Safely With Food Allergies. You’ll definitely want to check it out because it will help you know what to expect and how to prepare, which, as anyone with food allergies knows, can make all the difference in whether a vacation is stressful or truly relaxing.

Pack snacks and healthy breakfast and/or lunch items for long car rides. This is an easy one when it comes to staying healthy (and on a budget) on vacation.

Suggestions include:

• Natural nuts
• Whole fruit
• Pack a cooler and load with hummus, cut up veggies, cut fruit, pre-made (at home) salads, chunks of real cheese
• Waters
• Whole wheat bread, peanut butter and jelly
• Whole wheat or other healthy-ish crackers

Stock your hotel mini-fridge (and cooler if you have a car). Once you arrive to your destination, make one of your first stops the grocery store. My family recently took a trip to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and surrounding areas. I packed a big cooler bag in my suitcase, and once we got there, we stopped at a grocery store and loaded up on food for breakfast and lunch for the week. This enabled us to meet everyone’s different dietary needs* and to have plenty of food along as we hiked and did different activities. Simply pack lunch before you head out for the day and put it in backpacks to take with you.

Suggestions include:

• Pre-peeled boiled eggs
• Natural nuts
• Whole fruit
• Hummus
• Cut up veggies
• Cut fruit
• Pre-made salads
• Chunks of real cheese
• Waters
• Whole wheat bread, peanut butter and jelly
• Whole wheat or other healthy-ish crackers
• Oatmeal (plain because everything else is loaded with sugar)
• Healthy-ish cereals (If you don’t regularly eat cereal, vacation is not necessarily the time to start because it can cause serious bloating and digestive issues if that’s not something you’re used to. I speak from experience on this!)

*Full disclosure – this type of eating was not necessarily the best for my teenage protein-fueled/several thousand calorie-a-day weightlifter son. He was “starving” (according to him) and felt pretty bad by the end of the trip.  I’m still trying to figure out the best way to travel with him when we’re not just staying in one place the entire time. I’ll let you know what I figure out.

Down time

Scheduling in some down time each day is a must for a successful vacation. If you’re doing a “see stuff”- type trip, it can be very tempting to want to pack every minute. But then everyone starts to get very tired and grouchy and that’s not good for anyone. Making sure that there’s an hour or two every day for each person to just relax and do their own thing can make all the difference in the world. We know to do this when we have babies, but it’s just as important for older kids, teens and adults too.

Be sure and agree on the maximum amount of time that’s going to be set aside so that everyone is on the same page. If everyone is ready to get at it again before then, that’s fine.

Suggestions for how to spend down time include:

• Nap
• Read
• Meditate (or just go off and be quiet by yourself)
• Exercise

Sleep

This one is really fairly straightforward. Make sure to get enough sleep while on vacation. Getting a regular seven to eight hours is important for everyone and can make the difference between a miserable day or one that’s so good you’ll never forget it. If there’s a snorer in the bunch, try to get him (or her) to sleep on their side. Just in case that doesn’t work though, everyone else may want to have ear buds or ear muffs at the ready.

These are just a few of the ways you can make sure that you’re staying as healthy as possible while on vacation. We’re not talking about weight gain here. Those pounds will come off. The main thing is that you feel good so that you don’t miss a minute of making memories. If you can do that, you’ve had a successful vacation.

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If you love being out in the sun as much as I do, I have some good news. It appears that not all unprotected sun exposure is bad for us. That doesn’t mean we can go crazy and spend hours outside in the summer with no protective clothing or sunscreen, but it does mean that slathering ourselves in the highest SPF possible may not be necessary all of the time. As it turns out, a growing number of studies^1,2,3,4 show that a limited amount of unprotected sun exposure is not only okay, it’s actually good for us. That’s just one of the summer skin care dos and don’ts that I’m going to be sharing here as well as tips on ingredients to look for in sunscreen. I highly encourage you to keep reading because this post is full of vital need to know summer skin care information.

How is the Sun Good for Us?

While I’ve given up the days of thinking I could ever be tan, I do NEED to get my share of sunshine every day, otherwise I just don’t function correctly. Up until now, I couldn’t really tell you scientifically why that was the case. It just was. Now, I know that the sun is good for us in a number of ways, including the fact that it’s one of our primary sources of Vitamin D. According to researchers M Wacker and MF Holick in their 2013 study Sunlight and Vitamin D: A Global Perspective for Health, Vitamin D deficiency is linked to an “increased risk for many chronic diseases including autoimmune diseases, some cancers, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes.” It’s also well documented that Vitamin D is critical for bone health and brain activity.

Certified Health Coach Hannah Stoffel says the sun “does a lot of good things for our body. It’s anti-microbial, it’s anti-fungal…dealing with bacteria and things like that. There’s some research that shows that a certain amount of sun exposure is good for acne because at the root of it, acne is bacteria. Sun exposure also increases the production of serotonin, which is the happy hormone, so it helps to lower the rate of depression.”

Recommended Time in the Sun for Summer Skin Care

The key word when it comes to summer skin care and time spent without sunscreen in the sun is “limited.” Hannah says, “Producing your own natural Vitamin D will help protect you from sun damage. The way you do that is not by avoiding the sun but going out in small increments of time where your skin is exposed to the sun and letting it absorb the sun’s rays. That’s going to build up a tolerance and a natural, internal SPF against sun damage.” She recommends 10-15 minutes every day in the summer.

For most places in the world, that’s the time of year when the sun is high enough in the sky for the Ultraviolet B rays to get through the atmosphere. These rays coming in contact with our skin produce Vitamin D. According to the Vitamin D Council, the more skin that is exposed, the more Vitamin D that’s produced. That means that Hannah’s recommended 10-15 minutes if you have fair skin could make 10,000-25,000 IU of Vitamin D. If you have darker skin, it may take longer. The Vitamin D Council also says the time of day you’re exposing your skin to the sun makes a difference, with the middle of the day being best.

As a frame of reference, the U.S. Government’s Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Vitamin D is 600 IU for anyone between the ages of 1 and 70 and 800 IU for anyone over the age of 70. Many experts believe these amounts should be higher, so soaking up what you can in 10-15 minutes in the summer sun should have you covered or at least get you close for part of the year.

Important note

It is important to note that despite all of the research showing the benefits of limited unprotected sun exposure, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)  still cites skin cancer as the reason it does not recommend getting Vitamin D from sun exposure or indoor tanning. Instead, the AAD recommends getting Vitamin D from a healthy diet that includes foods naturally rich in vitamin D, foods and beverages fortified with vitamin D, and/or vitamin D supplements.

Prolonged Sun Exposure – Summer Skin Care and Protection

One thing it seems like everyone can agree on is that if you are going to be out in the sun for an extended period of time, protection is the name of the game when it comes to summer skin care. Hannah suggests wearing protective clothing and limiting peak times of direct exposure. She recommends going out earlier in the morning or late in the afternoon or evening.

Zinc Oxide

Hannah also says that using a sunscreen that contains zinc oxide with SPF 30 is the healthiest and most effective option for protecting your skin if you are going to be out for a long period of time. She warns that “The hard, cold truth is that most sunscreens are not good because they’re filled with possible carcinogens.” The Environmental Working Group (EWG) agrees that zinc oxide poses a low risk in lotions and is one of the safest options for protecting your skin because it comes with few health concerns and doesn’t break down in the sun. Studies also show that it does not penetrate the skin in significant amounts and enter the bloodstream. The EWG does caution that zinc oxide in powders and sprays is a health concern because it can be inhaled.

While many products may include zinc oxide, the best way to know if it’s the main ingredient is for it to be listed as the primary active ingredient on the ingredient label. Be sure and check out the EWG’s rankings of sun, beach and sport sunscreens that contain zinc oxide if you want to see the exact products they recommend.

Be wary of high SPF sunscreens

If you also want to find out why the EWG says we should be wary of high SPF sunscreens, read their article on that here. As I replace my non-zinc oxide SPF 100 sunscreen with a safer version, I definitely won’t put as much stock in the high SPF – especially since I’ve gotten a sunburn within an hour of application even when I’ve used SPF 100. That’s why I try to wear my hat whenever possible.

Other Ways to Build Up Your Body’s Internal SPF for Summer Skin Care

In addition to building up a tolerance for the sun by exposing our unprotected skin for a few minutes each day, Hannah also says that we can boost our body’s internal SPF as part of our summer skin care routine in the following ways:

• Eat colorful, antioxidant rich foods such as carrots, tomatoes, organic red bell pepper, organic dark chocolate and organic green tea. These are all excellent choices for building natural sun protection.
• Avoid highly processed and highly refined sugary foods. They will hinder your body’s natural protection from the sun.
• Consider adding carrot seed essential oil to your moisturizer (she trusts and recommends the Young Living brand). Don’t wash your face in the morning, although you may gently rinse it with warm water. Then apply your toner and moisturizer as you normally would. Switch out your skin care from products that strip away your skin’s natural protective barrier. A face wash that suds is a sign that it’s stripping away your natural protective oils.

Do What Makes Sense for You When it Comes to Summer Skin Care

As you’ve seen here –  there are some conflicting opinions on the subject of even limited unprotected sun exposure. But I, for one, will be taking the information and tips I’ve passed along here and put them to a sensible test for myself. It all makes sense to me, but you have to do what makes sense for you when it comes to summer skin care. We are all responsible for own health and our own decisions, but the goal of Peppermint Tea & Me is to provide you with reliable (and sometimes conflicting) information to help you along the way.

If you have had skin cancer or a skin cancer scare, by all means, do exactly as your dermatologist recommends. I’m assuming that’s to stay out of the sun whenever possible and if you do have to be out, protect with sunscreen, with what you’re wearing and by providing your own shade with an umbrella or a tent.

Find Out More

If you haven’t read my other two posts in this skin care series, please feel free to check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section below or on Facebook.

• Demystifying Natural Skin Care
• Skin Cancer Awareness in the Summer Sun

Unprotected sun exposure sources

1. Sunlight and Vitamin D: A Global Perspective for Health
2. Vitamin D: Light Side and best time of sunshine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3. Vitamin D Status and Sun Exposure in India
4. Sunlight, UV-radiation, vitamin D and skin cancer: how much sunlight do we need?

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I am a fair-skinned redhead who loves, LOVES being in the sun. As a teenager, laying out in the sun was very soothing and relaxing to me, but unfortunately, I grew up in the days of slathering on baby oil to attract the sun. Then we got wiser and used a maximum of SPF 4 – still barely anything compared to today’s SPF standards. Let me repeat – I am fair-skinned with freckles. The only way I turn tan is for my freckles to run together.

Given the kind of damage I did to my skin early on, I count myself as very lucky that so far (knock on wood), I haven’t had any skin cancer scares. But since we know that skin damage accumulates and can become cancerous decades later, I now get checked regularly and have several places that the dermatologist is keeping an eye on. It would have been much easier if I’d been better informed and as conscientious when I was younger, but there’s always room for us to change our ways. Since May is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month and before we head out into the summer sun, we should all take the opportunity to learn about the different types of skin cancer, possible causes and what to look for.

Types of Skin Cancer and Where It Can Occur

The three types of skin cancer are:

• Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) – Most common form

• Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) – Second most common form

• Melanoma – Deadliest form

Matthew Enevoldson is the Public Relations Manager for SkinVision, a smart phone-based medical app that looks for early signs of skin cancer. He offers this insight as to where these cancers can occur.

• Basal Cell and Squamous Cell Carcinomas tend to be more on areas that are exposed to the sun such as the head, neck, arms and legs, but they can also show up anywhere.
• Melanoma can appear anywhere, including areas that don’t get a lot of sunlight. The hands and feet are fairly common for this deadliest form of skin cancer, as is the trunk of the body in men. The back and neck are also places where it can appear, which Matthew says is part of the problem because “they’re places people don’t necessarily see. That’s why Melanoma can progress to late stages before people get the treatment they need.”

What to Look For

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are five primary things to look for when keeping an eye out for possible areas of concern.

• Asymmetry – Moles or lesions that are not round – where one half isn’t like the other half.
• Border – If you see a border around the mole or lesion, it should be checked out
• Color – If there are different colors within the mole or lesion such as shades of tan, brown, black, white, red or blueish.
• Diameter – Melanomas are usually greater than the size of a pencil eraser but can be smaller.
• Evolution – A mole or lesion that is changing over time.

Certified Health Coach Hannah Stoffel also cautions that any lesion, no matter how small, should be checked out immediately if it starts bleeding. She had a recent scare where she had a little spot on her nose that had been there for a long time and hadn’t changed. One night when she was simply washing her face, it broke open and started bleeding. Her dermatologist didn’t want to cause scarring from a biopsy, so he went ahead and treated her as if it was cancer or a pre-cancerous cell. She had to apply a cream to her entire nose every day for two weeks, but because they acted quickly, it seemed to do the job. Hannah says the moral to her story is to either have anything that doesn’t look right checked immediately or at the very least, monitor it closely.

Causes of Skin Cancer

Most of us are well aware by this point that too much exposure to the sun is the primary cause of skin cancer. According to Matthew, that’s especially true of Basal Cell and Squamous Cell Carcinomas, but it can also cause Melanoma as well. He also cautions that cancerous lesions can be found around scars or anywhere you’ve had damage to your skin. Genetics can play a role too, Matthew adds, especially with Melanoma.

Detecting Skin Cancer

The first step in detecting skin cancer is to check yourself frequently. Notice any moles or lesions and use the criteria above to determine whether there are any areas of concern. If there are parts of your body that you can’t see such as your back, the back of your neck or the back of your legs, have someone else check those areas for you. The American Academy of Dermatology has a number of free resources that you can download from their website that show how to check yourself or how to check someone else.

If you have a mole or skin lesion that you’re suspicious of, your best bet is always going to be to make an appointment with a dermatologist. You’ll definitely want to tell them that you have a place that’s concerning you, and they should fit you in fairly quickly. If that doesn’t happen, Hannah strongly recommends finding a new dermatologist.

If you live anywhere besides the United States and Canada, you can also check into whether the SkinVision app is available. Matthew says the app is based on a “scientifically validated and clinically validated algorithm.” You take a photo using a camera within the app so that it can make sure every image is the same size and framed exactly the same with the mole or lesion in the middle. The algorithm then compares the image to the 3.5 million photos in the app’s database. These include images it knows have been diagnosed and verified as Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma or Melanoma. Within 30 seconds, you receive a risk indication. High risk means that it’s flagged as possibly being cancerous, medium would suggest that it’s something to keep an eye on, and green is safe.

According to Matthew, the images that receive a high-risk rating are automatically sent on for review by a team of dermatologists. Usually within 48 hours, the user will get a message with more information about how serious the area of concern is and how quickly they should move forward in getting it seen.

Matthew says the app is currently going through the FDA approval process in the United States but can be found pretty much anywhere else in the world except Canada. In fact, the company now has 1.2 million users globally. He says the tool is needed because in many countries, both developed and developing, there simply aren’t enough specialized dermatologists. In many cases, for people “To go see their general practitioner, they have to travel two hours there and two hours back. To see a dermatologist, it can be a 10-hour round trip.” For those people, it can save a lot of time and money to know for sure whether there’s something to be concerned about. In fact, it’s such a cost-saving tool that in Europe and New Zealand, SkinVision has partnerships with a number of insurance companies that provide it to their policy holders for free because it can help to bring down the cost of detecting and treating cancer so dramatically. The earlier skin cancer is detected, the less the cost of the treatment and most importantly, Matthew adds, “more lives are saved.”

Saving lives and preventing skin cancer is what Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month is all about, so take this opportunity to become familiar with what to look for. If you’ve never been to a dermatologist and have had prolonged sun exposure throughout your life, make an appointment whether you have areas of concern or not. This will establish your baseline, alleviate any fears or catch something hopefully early. You can’t live an integrated life if something as important as your skin isn’t healthy, so please take these important steps today.

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Now that the temperatures are warmer, we’re wearing shorts, sleeveless shirts and dresses and bathing suits. We may even be wearing less makeup. In short, more of our skin is exposed, and if we’re being honest, we want it to look and feel as good as possible. While the overall quality of our skin care routine may be in the spotlight in the warmer months, as we all know, it’s a year-round self-care process that can be complicated with mixed messaging from a multi-billion dollar a year industry. This is especially true when it comes to the concept of “natural” skin care. That’s why we’re demystifying what that really means and finding out how you can protect your skin so that it can protect you.

 
Defining Natural Skin Care

Hannah Stoffel is a Certified Health Coach who is passionate about skin care. She says that the first step to figuring out what natural skin care really means is to recognize that your skin is more than just a barrier or level of protection for the rest of your body. She acknowledges that’s what it does, but it’s also “your body’s largest organ. It is a receiver, and what you put on your skin does get into your body.” So, the idea of “I don’t need to worry about what I put on my skin. I’m not ingesting it, I’m just putting it on my skin” goes out the door.

Keeping that in mind makes it easier to define what natural skin care is and what it isn’t. Since natural can really mean anything, Hannah cautions that we need to recognize as consumers that “just because a bottle says natural cleanser or natural moisturizer, that word alone doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight in and of itself.” She points out that a lot of things that are natural aren’t necessarily good for us and considers petroleum by-products to be among them. “Petroleum is natural. It’s crude oil. It comes from the ground. But do you want to put it on your skin? No, you don’t. It’s very aging, and potentially a carcinogen, so no, that’s not something that we want to be putting on our skin.”

While there are many studies that show that the common skin care ingredients mineral oil, paraffin wax and petrolatum (petroleum jelly) are safe for use in skin care products, it’s important to recognize that these are all petroleum by-products. It’s also important to note that there are other studies that call these ingredients into question when it comes to health concerns, primarily because of possible contamination during the refining process.

For those reasons, Hannah says that when she is defining natural skin care, she’s looking for products or processes “infused with things that are going to help our skin” and that definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, won’t hurt it.

5 Steps to Protect Your Skin

Hannah recommends the following steps to protect your skin. My notes are included in italics. Know which ingredients to avoid. When you’re evaluating your current skin care products or when looking at a new product, check the ingredient list to be sure they do NOT contain:

• sodium lauryl sulfate
• BHA – butylated hydroxyanisole
• Triclosan – common ingredient in hand sanitizers.
• Parabens – mimics estrogen and is linked to breast cancer and skin cancer
• Propylene and butylene glycols
• Mineral oil, paraffin wax, paraffin oil, petrolatum
• PEGs – polyethylene – these are tiny plastic beads found in exfoliating washes
• Fragrance – this one is tough because fragrance is a blanket term and it can mean a number of different chemicals are included. Look for fragrance free when you can
• Hydroquinone – found in skin-lightening products
• Nanoparticles

The federal government classifies most skin care products as cosmetics, and as such, there is no approval required before they go on the market unless they contain color additives. The FDA does regulate these products, but as a smart consumer, you need to know what the ingredients are and what multiple tests have shown about the way they’re being used. If you don’t know what an ingredient is or how to pronounce it, it’s a good sign that you need to look it up.

Hannah suggests using Hello Glow’s 12 Ingredients to Avoid in Makeup + Skincare Products as a helpful reference if you’re just starting out reading skin care product ingredient labels.

Know which ingredients you do want to be included in your skin care products. Hannah says the key question to ask when deciding whether to use a product or not is “What things does it have that are going to benefit my skin?”

She advises looking for the full ingredient list. Only seeing the key ingredients is not enough. You should be able to access this information fairly easily. If you are considering buying a product from a company that won’t disclose the full ingredient list then take that as a red flag and walk away.

The first few ingredients make up the majority of the product. This is good to know because if a product is touting a great antioxidant such as green tea, but it’s listed way down at the bottom of the ingredient list, then you know there is very little green tea in the product. It’s safe to say you probably won’t experience the maximum benefit of that ingredient.

Some things to look for: cold-pressed plant oils, plant butters such as shea, green tea, pure essential oils and vegetable glycerin. The brand Hannah uses, recommends and is an advocate and educator for is Young Living.

You should also know the comedogenic rating of an oil. This simply means how likely an oil is to clog your pores. A 0 rating is completely non-comedogenic and a 5 rating is severely comedogenic. While everyone is different, and plenty of people can tolerate oils with a high comedogenic rating and have no problems (hello coconut oil!), if you have acne prone skin, you’re probably going to want to look for products with a 2 rating or lower.

Oils that have a low comedogenic rating are rosehip oil (Hannah’s favorite), argan oil, castor and hemp oil. The only downside to hemp oil is it must be kept refrigerated once opened.

Feed your body with nutritious food. According to Hannah, “How we look is a direct reflection of what’s going on inside.” As we age, it becomes important to nourish your body well. “Learn to feed your body the way it wants to be fed,” she says. “And believe me, it does not want a bunch of packaged products, it wants real whole food.

Drink plenty of water. This one doesn’t need much explanation. If you hydrate enough, you may not even need that expensive bottle of moisturizer. It’s that simple.

Stop washing your face in the morning. Yes, you read that right. One of Hannah’s friends is a skin therapist, and she learned this through her. When you go to sleep, your body, including your skin, goes into cleanse and repair mode. That means that in the morning, your skin has a natural built-in protection from the elements and the sun. When you wash your face, it’s basically washing all that protection off. Hannah says, “You’ve been sleeping all night. You haven’t been out rolling in the dirt, so you don’t need to wash your face.” You do need to wash your face every night though, whether you’ve worn makeup that day or not. Since you’ve been exposed to the elements, you want to cleanse your face before your head hits the pillow.

Natural Skin Care on a Budget

If you’re on a tight budget, Hannah recommends looking into the Oil Cleansing Method as one of the most effective ways to clean your skin. It works by mimicking the skin’s own natural oil production so that you don’t disrupt the oil production balance. Hannah says that “If you’re using stuff that strips the oil away, your body is going to freak out and over produce, which is what a lot of acne sufferers do. They just want to get the oil off and inadvertently produce more oil.”

According to the Oil Cleansing Method website, the basic idea is that “the oil used to massage your skin will dissolve the oil that has hardened with impurities and found itself stuck in your pores. The steam will open your pores, allowing the oil to be easily removed.” You’ll need two oils for this – castor oil and another of your choosing. Hannah suggests using rosehip oil, which you can buy on Amazon for about $14. Hannah says the whole process is “kind of like having a little steam facial every night.”

Finding Your Why

When we’re thinking about natural skin care and taking care of our bodies without using toxic chemicals, Hannah believes you have to first figure out why you’re doing it. She calls this “finding your why.” Since the process of finding products that work for you and that you can rely on can be a bit tedious and sometimes disheartening, it’s important to be able to remember why you’re doing it in the first place. To help with this, Hannah has a free resource called Your Most Beautiful Self Guidebook. It’s a great tool for getting you started with natural skin care or any other aspect of living a more connected life.

Lean on Your Community

If you have any questions for Hannah, include them in the comments section below, post them on Facebook or email her directly at hannah@hannahstoffel.com. If you have natural products that you’ve tried and can recommend, please share those as well.

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I’ve had quite a few people say to me that they want to adopt a healthier lifestyle, but they just don’t have time right now to figure out how to do it or what exactly that looks like for them. I completely get it, but if you think about it, when we’re at our busiest, craziest and stretched to the limit, that’s when we need to be our healthiest and sanest or something’s going to give. We’re simply going to fall apart. So, I get not having time, but on the flip side, can you really afford not to spend the time getting started on a healthier lifestyle?

Getting Started on a Healthier Lifestyle

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Even baby steps toward getting started on a healthier lifestyle can make all the difference in the world and put you well on your way to feeling better, having more energy and simply being able to cope with life a little easier than might be happening now. That’s why I wanted to share the things I consider to be the easiest steps you can take that will make the most difference. I dig deeper into why these things help so much in other posts, but here, we’re just keeping it simple. Feel free to click on the links to the more in-depth posts once you have more time.

1. Begin to change how you eat.

I did this very gradually as I was getting started on a healthier lifestyle, and then, once I noticed how good I was feeling, I wanted to do more. I started by adding more dark green leafy vegetables and other brightly colored vegetables, which simply didn’t leave as much room for unhealthy stuff. While prepping vegetables does take a little more time than opening a box or can of something, if you set aside a few minutes on the weekend or while you’re waiting for something else to cook at night, you can have what you need ready so that it’s as easy as the processed and packaged alternatives.

I also started taking out simple carbs – again, replacing them with more vegetables. What made the most difference was reducing the amount of white bread and pasta I was eating. In doing that, I realized that I was addressing part of what was making me feel so bad in the first place. I fairly quickly stopped feeling so heavy and weighted down even before the pounds started coming off, and it definitely helped to regulate my blood sugar.

My morning green smoothie. I wanted to share the recipe for the basic green smoothie that was one of the first things I used to replace other not as healthy breakfast foods and that’s still one of my favorites. This is a powerhouse of nutrition as your day is just getting started. By the way, I also use the cheapest blender possible, so while it’s great if you have a really nice one, it’s not necessary. The recipe I use as my standby is a combination of other recipes I’ve picked up along the way. You can easily add other ingredients as you like. It makes 1 serving.

½ to ¾ cups almond milk

½ to ¾ cups kale

4 slices cucumber

½ banana

2-3 tablespoons frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

½ cup of ice cubes (to add some thickness)

2 tablespoons of almond butter (natural – no sugar or oils added) **If I’m going to exercise afterward. If not, I don’t add the almond butter.

2. Get your mind ready for the day.

Instead of checking your phone the second you wake up, wake up 20 minutes early and let yourself lay there for a minute and just be. Then do 15-20 min of meditation, a gratitude exercise or whatever else helps you to set your brain for the day ahead. I’ve always jumped out of bed immediately when the alarm clock rang – sometimes in a “I can’t wait to start the day” way, but more often in an “I need to do this and this and this” way. My mind naturally starts racing the second I become even somewhat aware that it’s time to get up – even before I fully open my eyes. That’s why this has been a day changer for me. I let myself just be, reel my thoughts back in and take several deep breaths. Then, ideally, I’ll get up and do 15-20 minutes of meditation, list three to five things I’m grateful for or just sit and be quiet. The main thing is that I don’t let my scattered thoughts or “to do” list take over.

I fully admit this is a little difficult for me because I am usually awake some during the night. By the time I get back to sleep, it’s hard to then wake up 20 minutes earlier than I absolutely have to. But, this made such a difference when I was getting started on a healthier lifestyle that it’s well worth being a little groggier at first than I might be otherwise.

3. Move.

Even if you’re having trouble adding regular exercise into your daily routine, find a way to add in some movement. Dr. Heidi Hanna reminds us in her book Relax Your Fat Off that “As human beings, we were built to move.” But many of us now sit behind a computer at a desk for much of the day, and we’re simply not moving nearly as much as we could or should be. While getting in a good workout of some type every day is ideal, even general activity boosts your metabolism. Dr. Hanna suggests setting a timer to alert you every hour and then get up and move for three to five minutes. Here are some of her recommended ways for doing that:

• Just walk around – down the block and back or simply to another part of the building.
• Do a few squats next to your chair
• Climb the stairs
• Use a standing desk for a while and do some calf raises
• Make a few calls using a headset and walk while talking

You don’t have to make a choice between turning your life upside down in getting started on a healthy lifestyle or doing nothing. That’s what real health is all about. Anything you do is connected to everything else. There are steps that you can take no matter how busy you are that will have a dramatic effect on how you feel and toward your overall outlook on life.

Lean on Your Community

What are three seemingly little healthy steps that you can take this week that maybe you’ve been putting off because you didn’t think you had enough time or energy to put into them? Let us know in the comments below or over on Facebook. We’re here to support each other!

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We all know that when we’re stressed, we automatically tend to reach for foods that aren’t necessarily good for us. For some, it’s something sweet, smooth and comforting. For others, salty and crunchy are the name of the game. Doing this over any period of time clearly leads to weight gain and not feeling your best, so I’m not going to spend too much time on the obvious. What I want to do is go beyond stress eating and look at why stress causes weight gain in other ways and more importantly, what we can do about it.

My Stress Causing Weight Gain

In the spirit of keeping it real, I will fully disclose that my scale and my jeans say I’m gaining weight while writing this. It’s been a very stressful week. Like you, there’s a lot on my plate.  I’m finding myself walking around with my hands clinched and shoulders an inch and a half higher than they should be. Not the end of the world if that’s a once in a while kind of thing, but unfortunately, I, like many of you, find this is an all too common mode of operating. I also find that when I’m like this, even if I can avoid the pitfalls of stress eating, I still notice the numbers on the scale creeping up and my clothes not fitting quite right.

Why Does Stress Cause Weight Gain?

Dr. Keesha Ewers is an integrative medicine expert, board certified functional medicine provider and best-selling author. She compares it to a lion chasing a zebra. When the zebra is fleeing for its life, it knows it’s not safe to stop and go to the bathroom because obviously it would be caught but also because it can’t let go of any nutrients since it needs everything in its body to get away from the lion. “Our bodies are wired the same way a zebra is. Whenever we feel threatened, which can happen by listening to the news or being late for an appointment, then the body gets the signal that it’s not safe to lose weight because we have to hold onto everything for dear life.”

We, and the zebra, are able to react appropriately in fight or flight situations because our adrenal glands produce cortisol. Dr. Keesha says that’s “one of the stress hormones that’s released when the body believes, based on what the mind is telling it, that you have a lion on your tail.”  Unlike the zebra though, whose body can take a break when the true life and death situation is over, our way of life is full of stressors that can go on and on. These can range from dealing with elderly or disabled parents, having a big deadline for work, rushing from place to place or dealing with issues with your kids. When your body’s systems get the message that there’s a stressor, they’re going to kick into action as if a lion is right there. That’s when stress causes weight gain.

Dr. Heidi Hanna warns in her book Relax Your Fat Off that “Once stress is gone, cortisol levels should fall, but if stress persists, or if a person’s stress response gets stuck in the “on” position, cortisol may remain elevated.” That means the brain is going to try to conserve energy by slowing down metabolism and by storing and protecting fat in our body. It’s also going to look for as many calories as possible so that we’ll have the energy needed to deal with whatever’s causing us stress. Again, fine for the short term, but devastating for our health and our waistline if it goes on for too long.

“I’m Doing Everything Right and Still Not Losing Weight!”

Dr. Keesha has patients that come to her frustrated because they say they’re doing “everything right” and still not losing weight. They’re watching what they eat and exercising every day, but the weight simply isn’t coming off. While she agrees that cutting out unhealthy foods and adding in exercise and regular movement is the place to start, if you’re already doing those things and not getting results, you should look at your level of stress. “If your body is getting the signal that you’re not safe, then you’re not going to lose weight.”

Learning to Relax and Manage Stress

Dr. Keesha doesn’t tell her patients to “get rid of stress” because in many cases, that’s simply not possible. You can’t get rid of your aging parents or special needs child but learning to manage stress is very doable. Both of our experts say the stress response is a function of the body’s sympathetic nervous system, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system’s job is to keep us in balance. While both have important work to do, if we want to lose weight or stop gaining weight, we can’t let our sympathetic nervous system run the show.

According to Dr. Hanna, “To eliminate unnecessary fat stores for good, we need to train our body and brain to make extra calories less of a priority. We do this by convincing our systems that there is no emergency…which will help keep our biological stress responses in check.” That means that in addition to learning to manage stress, we have to learn to relax and let our body’s systems work the way they’re supposed to.

Here are some tips for doing that:

• Watch your language. Dr. Keesha says this isn’t referring to curse words. This is referring to what you’re saying internally. “If you have a very busy schedule, are you telling yourself that it’s a terrible state of being? Because if you are, then it is. But if you’re saying to yourself, ‘Gosh, I’m so lucky that I have this job that I love or that I’m raising these beautiful children, and I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, or that I’m doing my life’s purpose in the world, and then all of a sudden, this is no longer a stressful environment that you’re living in.” Much of it is in your perception.
• Breathe. “When we are in our usual on-the-go mode,” Dr. Hanna says, “It’s easy to slip into a breathing pattern that is associated with the stress response: one that is short, rapid and shallow.” This causes “a cascade of the stress hormones because it signals to the brain that there must be some sort of emergency.” She advises bringing awareness to your breath and focusing on a more natural, relaxed breathing pattern because it tells the brain there’s no danger.
• Biofeedback, massage, meditation and yoga. Dr. Hanna encourages everyone to try these interventions because they’ve shown in studies to be the most promising for triggering the relaxation response and aiding in the weight loss process.
• Get enough sleep. Not only does it keep you from being cranky the next day, there’s important work that goes on in your body when you sleep. Dr. Keesha says this includes the release of the human growth hormone (which helps to regulate sugar and fat metabolism among other things), your liver starts to dump, and your lymphatic system engages by “picking up all the garbage on the outside of your cells.” All of this is necessary for your body’s mechanisms to be efficient, which, according to Dr. Keesha, is what your metabolism actually is – “efficiency of your biochemistry.”

Stress can hijack our health in a number of ways, with weight gain being among them. As we’ve seen here though, we can learn how to take control so that our body functions as the well-oiled machine it’s supposed to. We want our stress hormones to kick into gear when we need them, but we also want our body to understand that being stuck in traffic is not the same as having a lion coming after us. We can’t operate that way all of the time and feel our best. That’s why I for one will be doing a lot more to change my perception and to remember to breathe deeply. Care to join me?

Lean on Your Community

What can you do to better manage stress and learn to relax so that you can feel your best? You can reply in the comments section below or head over to the Peppermint Tea and Me Facebook page and leave your answers there. We look forward to hearing from you and supporting you!

Helpful Resources

It’s important to note that both Dr. Keesha Ewers and Dr. Heidi Hanna offer resources to help learn more about the impact of stress on our bodies. Dr. Keesha offers the Academy for Integrative Medicine health coach certification program, which enables women to learn more so that they can help themselves and/or other women. Dr. Hanna has a free stress survey that lets you explore your current relationship with stress and see how effectively you’re managing the stress in your daily life. 

I have no affiliation with either of these, but I do want to make sure and share information and resources that I believe would be helpful to you.

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