Stop Counting Calories!!!!!!!!

          The most important thing about eating healthy is not counting calories, but instead focusing on nutrient dense foods. I feel as though we could see a drastic shift in the obesity pandemic if we stop looking at eating healthy as a burden to our daily routine. View your food as something that is going to help you, medicine if you will. Every time you eat, find foods that will NOURISH your body and the cells that make up your body. 

          Shifting your perspective if you struggle with eating healthy can be the best thing you do. Instead of viewing eating healthy as inconvenient and making excuses as to why you can't, start looking at processed foods, fast foods, sugary foods, etc as food that is going to make you feel low energy, fatigue, bloated, fat, sleepy, depressed, the list goes on..

Nutrient: a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

           A nutrient dense food is going to be a food that is kind of like taking a multi-vitamin. These foods are going to be FULL of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, antioxidants. Foods that grow from the Earth. Fruits and vegetables that are very colorful. If you are new to nutrition, the best way to make sure you get plenty of nutrients is to try to eat as many different colors of food produced by our planet. 

Calorie: the approximate amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree.
              For the past two decades or so, a lot of people have been attempting to 'diet' via a method of counting calories, or  Calories in = Calories out.

             But not all calories are the same. The calories you get from avocados, bananas, salmon, seaweed, and almonds do not give you the same kind of energy as the calories that come from a grain-fed beef hamburger high in saturated fat. (some beef is very good for you in moderation)  My goal though, is to challenge people to STOP COUNTING CALORIES.

          Start focusing on foods that are high in nutrient content and less on calorie content.
..besides, counting calories is not really that fun.

Nutrient Dense Foods                      Foods To Avoid

                  Salmon                                                                               Grain-Fed Beef
                    Kale                                                                                  Cream Cheese
                 Spinach                                                                                   Pop-Tarts
                Tomatoes                                                                                 Doughnuts
                 Potatoes                                                                                 White Bread
                  Carrots                                                                          Foods with Added Sugar

This is just a small list of examples, and I am sorry to tell anyone reading this that temporary diets do not work unless you make your diet a lifestyle choice. But that is where my blog comes in. To educate, motivate, and help anyone struggling with not only weight issues, but sleep, gut, headache, depression, etc. Food can and should be your medicine.

Our Brains Are Shrinking

A diet consisting mostly of processed and refined carbohydrates, added sugar, high 
sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat is literally shrinking our brains.

          
          We have a protein in our brain known as BDNL (brain derived neurotrophic factor). This protein's job is basically to protect our existing brain cells(neurons), as well as 
supporting the growth of new ones.

          People who eat a western diet have significantly less BDNL than their whole foods consuming counterparts.

          I stumbled across a video on MindBodyGreen from a psychiatrist named Dr.Drew Ramsey who goes into a little more detail about how some of the foods we consume are shrinking our brains, literally making us less intelligent and decreasing our IQs. 

          I have experience as a psychiatric nurse and I couldn't help but feel the same way when he questions what the brain of a patient with mental illness would look like when consuming more whole foods like kale, wild caught salmon, and almonds.

          It is definitely worth 15 minutes of your day:
          Click here to view Dr.Drew Ramsey talk about how foods can affect your brain!

My First Blog: A Nurse Turned Health Enthusiast

This is my first attempt at blogging, and this is why:

           I am a registered nurse. I was a nursing assistant for 4 years before that. Since I was 6 years old, I have wanted to take care of people.  

          My frustration lies in the fact that the nursing field (depending on what you do, and more times than not) is not a whole lot about taking care of people, but maintaining them enough to stay alive while they suffer through a disease process.

          I feel as though I can help people in a much better way, and that is through food. exercise. sleep. Everyone knows that these 3 things are what keeps us happy and healthy. But why isn't anyone making it their priority?

          That is where I feel that I can make a difference.

I want to get people EXCITED & MOTIVATED about their health! I want people not only to know how to improve their lives, but to understand why these things are important. 

          I can't make everyone eat healthy, or exercise, or get 8 hours of sleep every night, but I can provide you with motivation AND information as to why these things are so vital to your health. I can provide this blog as a go-to for when you are struggling to stay healthy. 

          What I really want is to share information about health and how food can and should be your medicine. Eating healthy, WHOLE FOODS, is not at all more expensive, but it is harder and more time consuming. But if your health is your priority, it will make all the difference in your energy level and brain function (mood, fatigue, alertness, etc). If you can have amazing energy and feel good, why wouldn't you want to make that your           

                                                      priority?

          Please feel free to leave me questions. My audience will drive this blog and together we can make positive changes in our lives. I am here to help and motivate! So let's go!