Today, we have a better understanding of the many consequences and correlations between what you eat and how you feel, both mentally and physically. Food doesn’t just affect your physical health but it also affects your mental well being. For example, 70% of your immune system is in your gut. For optimal immune health, a healthy gut is important. Without an immune system, we would have no way to fight harmful things that enter our body from the outside or harmful changes that occur within the body. The main tasks of the body’s immune system are:
So how does diet affect your mood?
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep, appetite, mood, and inhibit pain. Roughly 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract, and your gastrointestinal tract is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, it makes sense that the inner workings of your digestive system don’t just help you digest food, but also regulate your emotions. The production of serotonin is influenced by the good bacteria in your guts microbiome and one of the factors that affects the good bacteria are the foods you eat.
There is overwhelming evidence supporting the benefits of a healthy diet and lifestyle for: preventing cardiovascular disease, cancer, lowering inflammation, and mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety. Diet plays an important role in mental health, so much so that it has inspired an entire field of medicine called nutritional psychiatry.
If you’ve been struggling with depression and mental wellbeing. Give Whole30 a try, the program is only 30 days and what you discover may be life changing. You deserve to feel good mentally and physically.
Have questions? I'm here to help. Schedule a free consultation or submit your question here.
]]>If you’re planning on doing Whole30 and you’re thinking of incorporating movement into your program, but wonder if it’s a good idea; here are some reasons why you should or shouldn’t workout during Whole30.
First, lets discuss your current eating and workout habits as-well as your reason for turning to Whole30. Are you coming to the program and currently follow a standard American diet (SAD), which consists of highly processed and refined foods, foods with excess sugar, refined carbohydrates, saturated fat and trans fats? Do you live a fairly sedentary life? Is your goal for doing Whole30 weight-loss? Do you have a history of yo-yo dieting?
Whole30 is a dietary reset and the goal is to do it for 30 days, followed by reintroduction where you incorporate foods back into your diet that were eliminated during your program and evaluate how they affect you. Based on the information and knowledge you gain, you can then live your food freedom, eating the foods that serve you and avoiding those that don’t-- other than when the occasion, or food, is “ worth it.” For example, during reintroduction, you might discover that gluten causes bloating and stomach pain, you may realize that sugar triggers joint pain and the discomfort is simply not worth it, especially once you feel great in your body. Knowing how foods affect you, will help you determine if they’re worth eating, despite the discomfort.
If you’re doing Whole30 for the first time and want to start working-out because your goal is to lose weight as fast as possible, you’re probably repeating old patterns. Have you tried multiple diets in the past without success? Or, they were successful but for a short period of time? Are you an all in type of person, meaning once you commit to something, you follow through but once you’re done, you revert to old habits?
Habit research shows that to make healthy changes that last, it’s best to start by focusing on one behavior at a time and build upon it. Which is why it’s important to focus on Whole30 and once you’re done with the program, focus on movement.
You’re probably coming to Whole30 because you’ve heard or read about the amazing physical and health benefits of the program, but one benefit that isn’t talked about enough is the psychological transformation you’ll undergo. People finish the program feeling empowered, feeling a sense of pride because they set a goal and accomplished it. The positive emotions and sense of confidence helps propel people to set new goals and make more positive changes. If you’re doing Whole30 for the first time and alone, my recommendation is to complete the program and once you’re done, focus on creating a new habit of working out. It’s better to be successful at one thing, rather than fail at both which is often the case when you add too many changes at once.
If you’re doing Whole30 and are regularly active, I recommend you continue but listen to your body. There may be days that you feel tired and might want to push yourself to workout but allow yourself to rest. If you allow yourself to rest, you’ll discover that you have a better workout-- especially as your body works hard to detox.
I wish you success! If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to reach-out to me via email or DM on instagram. I also offer free consultations if you’re considering working with a coach.
Email: Whole30Betsy@gmail.com
]]>So you’re planning on doing Whole30 but have concerns because you won’t have family support? In this blog I'm going to cover the challenges you may face by doing the program alone and how to overcome them.
I’m Whole30 Certified Coach Betsy Karr, over the years, I’ve witnessed the ways in which Whole30 has transformed the lives of my clients and hope these tips help you prepare for a successful Whole30.
1. You don't have to create different meals for everyone in your family.
A major concern I often hear from people when they’re the only ones in their household doing Whole30 is having to cook multiple meals. How should you deal with this potential problem if you’re the person that cooks for your family?
The first thing you want to do is communicate with your family, especially those in your household that are capable of cooking. Let them know how they can help and support you during the thirty days that you’ll be following the program. Additionally, if you’re the person cooking for your family, you’re in charge and while you may worry that your family won’t want to eat Whole30, you’ll be surprised that they’ll eat what you make.
Allow your family to make modifications, for example, if your Whole30 meal is a Whole30 compatible burger, allow your family to have their burger with a bun and make them responsible for preparing it.
If you have young kids, they’ll eat whatever you give them if you don’t make a big deal over it. They don’t need to understand the rules of Whole30, and don’t have to be aware that they’re eating differently. Incorporate pasta, or any fun foods they like as a side. Also, ensure your kids are snacking throughout the day, this will keep them full and happy.
2.) Create your own pantry and fridge space.
Creating your own fridge and pantry space will be helpful when you need to access your condiments/ food. If the things you need are easily accessible without putting your willpower to the test will make your Whole30 journey easier. While you might think creating your own space isn’t necessary, especially as you’re starting the program full of excitement and enthusiasm, you’ll find that the less your willpower is tested the better. If you have to move chocolate bars, ice cream, and alcohol out of the way when you need to get your condiments and food, it will slowly start to chip away at your strength. Preparing for those tough days ahead of time when you have strength will make your life easier.
3.) Meal Prep will be your saving grace.
There will be days when you’re tired, don't feel like cooking, and days your family orders out. Having your meals ready will be your defense to fight temptation. You’re most vulnerable when you find yourself hungry, tired, and without ready to eat food, be prepared with your meals.
4.) Ask for help.
This might be a difficult thing for you. Asking for help doesn’t come natural for many of us but the people that love you want to help and support you, you just have to tell them how. Asking for help might be as simple as telling your family not to offer you foods while you're doing Whole30. Many people express their love through food and while your family might offer you food to show you they care, let them know that the best way to support you for thirty days is by not offering you food.
5.)Work with a Whole30 Certified Coach.
Working with a Whole30 Certified Coach helps for a number of reasons; one, you have someone keeping you accountable. When you work with a coach, you're no longer alone, you’ll have the support of a coach that can guide and help you when things get tough. When I work with clients, we communicate daily and I prepare their meal plan and shopping list based on foods they enjoy. I find that the less things my clients have to plan and prepare for, the better it is for them. If you're doing Whole30 alone and for the first time, working with a coach might be what you need as the process can be overwhelming.
I offer free consultations and you can schedule one here: https://calendly.com/betsykarr/
Or reach me via email Whole30betsy@gmail.com
]]>You want to do Whole30 but you don’t like or know how to cook?
Hi, I’m Whole30 Coach Betsy Karr and I’m going to help you get started on your Whole30 journey. I’ve had clients that were interested in the program but had reservations because they don’t like or don’t know how to cook. If that’s you, don’t worry, I’m going to share some helpful tips to help you reach your goal of completing Whole30.
I want you to take a moment and think about why you’re turning to Whole30. Are you interested in Whole30 because you’re uncomfortable in your own body? Have you gained weight and it’s affecting your self esteem? Fatigue? Do you suffer from joint pain? Do you have severe cravings for sweets? Interested in reducing/eliminating inflammation? Do you struggle with an autoimmune disease? High blood pressure? Was Whole30 recommended to you by your physician to help with diabetes? There are a number of reasons why people turn to the program, what’s yours?
Based on experience, I can assure you that the discomforts you’re currently going through are a lot more difficult to deal with than cooking. The way you feel, the discomforts are your norm but know that you can feel better and it will be worth it. Once you start feeling good, it’s hard to accept feeling anything less than great.
I’m going to give you some tips to make your cooking experience easy and effortless.
1.) Download your free Whole30 Starter Kit which includes the program rules, sneaky sugars and additives sheets, two items that are very important when grocery shopping. You’ll come to learn that when it comes to doing Whole30, reading ingredients labels is extremely important. Unless you see a product with the Whole30 Approved label make sure you read the ingredients.
2.) Follow these accounts on Instagram.
3.) If you’d like to dive deeper into the subject and truly understand the Whole30 program, I highly recommend reading or listening to, “ It Starts with Food.” When I decided to do Whole30, I went into it thinking it was going to be difficult but after reading ``It Starts with Food”, the thought was replaced with enthusiasm because I wanted to treat my body better, I wanted to do better, I wanted to feel better and it starts with food.
Other books I recommend:
Whole30 Day by Day
4.) Once you’re ready to start the program, equip yourself with the Whole30 Day by Day Journal, or use the notebook in your phone/another type of notepad to journal how you feel daily. Write down what you ate, your energy level, cravings, and how you’re feeling. I recommend to all my clients that they do this in the evening as the evenings tend to be the time of day when cravings are the strongest. Journaling will help you distract your mind and once you’re done with the program, you’ll be able to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come.
I wish you success on your Whole30 journey.
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