Tag: weight loss

The Quickest Way to Look, Feel, and Move Better!

I woke up this morning feeling and looking quite horrible. Despite getting over 7 and a half hours of sleep, I almost fell asleep in yoga class. My balance was off, my head felt achy, my stomach was a mess, my skin was puffy and blotched, and my plans to sit and write had to be put off for hours because my brain was foggy, and I couldn’t focus. Was it a cold? Was I just exhausted? Nope-I knew precisely what was wrong: Sugar hangover. I normally eat a sugar free diet and am not a big fan of sweets (my go to treat is buttered popcorn!) but on occasion, will indulge in a sweet treat. This past stormy weekend, my son bought a cake mix and icing and asked me to make him cupcakes. He didn’t realize that the mix would make 24 cupcakes, and he promptly told me that I was going to have to eat some of them.  I shook my head and said “nope!” As the weekend moved on, those darn cupcakes kept calling out to me at all hours of the night. Half asleep, I found myself in the kitchen, picking at them until one was gone, and I feel back asleep knowing that I was going to pay for it in the morning. And I paid. Yuck!

The average American eats about 17% of their daily calories in added sugar. Sugar comes in so many forms, with so many names, and is in almost every processed or packaged food in some manner. When I first started removing added sugar from my diet, label reading became a real challenge when I realized that there were currently 61 different words used to list “sugar” as an ingredient on packaging! 61!!!

Sugar creates inflammation in the body. It wreaks havoc on our skin.  It messes with our gut biome. It fills our body with calories while offering no actual nutritional benefit. As I began to create a lifestyle that was 99% sugar free, I noticed amazing changes in so many aspects of my body and all over health. If you want to know the quickest way to look, feel, and move better-it’s removing as much sugar from your diet as possible!

Better Skin

Ready to beat those wrinkles and lines you may be seeing in the mirror? Ditch the magic creams! Sugar is terrible for the skin. It causes the collagen and elastin in your skin to become inflamed. These structural proteins help your skin stay firm and youthful looking. When they constantly become inflamed as a result of regularly eating refined sugar, they become less effective which causes your skin to sag and wrinkles to form. Less intake of sugar means more youthful skin!

Second, the inflammation caused by eating sugar has been shown to aggravate various skin disorders including acne and rosacea.

When I removed sugar from my diet, the first win I noticed was with my skin. My skin became clear and even toned, and I had less puffiness around my eyes in the morning. I truly felt as though the lines around my eyes became much less noticeable, and my skin felt much more supple and fresh.  

Enhanced Energy Levels

I said goodbye to sugar crashes and carb cravings. Refined sugar enters your bloodstream almost instantly which causes your energy levels quickly surge and crash; for many, this “crash” is what kicks in the feeling of needing more sugary carbs to get the energy back. When you start to eat less refined sugar, these fluctuations in energy levels will become a thing of the past and you’ll find that you generally have much more energy throughout the day. More energy means more movement as well as less mood swings!

Reduced Inflammation

Feeling tired? Moody? Achy? Do your joints hurt and keep you from getting the healthy exercise you need to feel your best? Is it impossible to lose the excess weight you’ve gained? Does it seem like you gain weight no matter what you do? Is your stomach a mess? Do you have heartburn and acid reflux? These are all signs of inflammation! Sugar in the diet is one of the main causes of inflammation. Left unchecked, this can lead to chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure.

Removing sugar from the daily diet can reverse all these pesky symptoms that make us feel crappy on a daily basis. You will feel healthier all over, have more energy, less aches and pains, less moodiness, and able to focus on your overall health goals much easier.

Easier Weight Loss

Sugars passes through the digestive system very quickly and because of this, foods that contain high levels of sugar aren’t as satiating as foods that contain minimal amounts of sugar. This means it’s much easier to overeat and consume large amounts of calories that lead to weight gain when you’re eating lots of refined sugar.

Quitting sugar will mean that you’ll feel much fuller every time you eat and naturally eat less food. Food cravings will come less often and because you’re consuming fewer calories, it will be much easier to lose weight.

Better Sleep

The energy surges and crashed caused by eating lots of refined sugar are very disruptive to your sleep patterns. They make it difficult to sleep and have a negative impact on your sleep quality when you do manage to fall asleep.

Cutting sugar out of your diet stops it wreaking havoc on your sleep cycles and allows you to enjoy restful, better quality sleep. And, we all know-sleep is one of the most important factors in looking and feeling our very best!

Stronger Immunity

Numerous studies have shown that refined sugar is a huge contributor to chronic disease. It causes inflammation in the body, damages your blood vessels and has a negative impact on your vital organs which leaves you open to a wide range of ailments, illness and diseases.

Reducing your intake of refined sugar stops it damaging your body in this way and allows it to heal. Not only does this make you less susceptible to ailments that are directly caused by refined sugar, but it also boosts your overall immunity.

How to Remove Sugar from the Diet without Losing Your Mind

Removing added sugar from our diets is not the easiest thing to do unless you decide to eat a completely and entirely whole food diet. If that’s not something you wish to take on, but wish to cut as much sugar as possible in your current diet, consider the following suggestions:

*Be a label reader and know your sugar words. These include words that end with “ose” like, fructose, maltose, lactose, and dextrose. Another huge culprit that has entered our food production is high fructose corn syrup, which is a chemically enhanced version of sugar that has caused quite the negative conversations within the nutrition community because this form may have even worse effects on the body than pure sugar.

*Try to eat as many whole foods as possible and limit your packaged and processed foods greatly. To accomplish this, try planning your meals by focusing only by what is on the perimeter of your market-produce, meats, seafood, and dairy. Choose whole grain breads and cereals without added sugar, and if you buy canned foods, check the label for sugars.

*Limit your condiments!! Most of these products are full of sugar! Read the labels!!!

*Removing sugar from the diet can be a daunting experience, but well worth it. Start small! Set your first goal to something you can easily achieve, like giving up sugary drinks like sodas and sweetened juices. After accomplishing that, try removing sugar from another aspect of your diet, perhaps removing sweets, or using a healthy substitute like Swerve when baking. Make small changes as you progress to easily remove sugar from your diet.

*Ditch the wine and soda! Yes, I said it. 90% of my adult clients admitted to drinking too much wine or soda. Many of my female clients admitted to drinking up to 2 bottles of wine a night since pandemic. That’s almost 1000 calories of nothing but sugars and alcohol-with no nutritional value at all! To put on a pound of weight, it takes 3500 extra calories in the diet-that means that if you’re drinking that much wine-you are possibly gaining a pound every 4 days! Aside from weight gain, that alcohol and sugar is making you feel tired, moody, achy, and ill. It’s making everything you do harder, putting stress on your body, and destroying your youthful skin.

*GO FOR IT: If you are truly ready to ditch the sugar and see all the benefits-better skin, more energy, less weight battles, better sleep, and a better overall mood, try my 10 Day Sugar Detox Program. I will guide you and give you the tools and support you need to make this transition easier. This is a short, inexpensive program to get you results you will see and feel FAST! I’m ready to help you!! Let’s do this!!

Not ready to give up sugar just yet? Curious about how Health and Wellness Coaching can help you in other ways? Let’s chat about it! Contact me now!

Ready to BOOST that Metabolism?

Hello Readers! It’s been a minute or two since I last posted, but I’m happy to be back to it! This has been summer of crazy schedules, crazy weather, and lots and lots to keep me super busy, but also super healthy and happy to share my passion of all things nutrition, fitness, and wellness with my clients and friends.

Honestly, one of the most popular conversations that I’ve have this summer concerns metabolism. How it works, how to make it work better, and why it slows down as we age. So, I thought I’d speak a bit on that today.

Did you know? After age 25, our metabolism-which is the rate at which our bodies change food into energy-begins to slow-in fact, it slows about 5% each decade. As the rate drops, and our metabolism slows, the food that is not converted into energy becomes excess weight, which becomes extra fat in our bodies. This explains those extra stubborn pounds that many gain as the decades march on. 

But it’s not impossible to reverse this decline as you age! If you want to give your metabolic rate a kick, eating the right foods and doing the right exercises is a key. However, you also need to make sure you’re leading a lifestyle that promotes optimal calorie burning. In this article I’m going to be taking a deeper look at this topic and listing the top lifestyle tips for boosting your metabolic rate.

Don’t Overdose On Caffeine

When consumed in moderation, caffeine can actually give your metabolism a boost. However, overdosing on caffeine can interfere with your body’s internal processes and cause you to become dehydrated, as well as your ability to get a good night’s rest. This has a negative effect on your metabolism and reduces the amount of calories you burn each day.

To prevent this from happening, limit your consumption to less than five caffeinated drinks per day. This will still allow you to enjoy plenty of black tea, coffee or green tea during the day without adversely affecting the amount of calories you burn.

Look For Opportunities To Stay Active

Every day is full of opportunities to stay active, burn some extra calories and rev up your metabolism. However, most people don’t look for these opportunities and as a result they don’t use up as many calories as they could during the day.

To make the most of these opportunities, be more aware of the options available to you and choose the one that’s best for your metabolism. For example, if you have a choice between taking the elevator and the stairs, take the stairs. If you’re planning to use the car for a short journey, consider jogging or cycling instead. Doing this will significantly increase your metabolism and allow you to burn plenty of extra calories each day. Aside from these added spurts of metabolism boosting habits, it’s also important to follow a regular program of an exercise that you enjoy. Look for something that brings you joy-whether it be dancing, swimming, biking, or even planned walks-and you will be more inclined to do it regularly. Even if you don’t think you can find time to exercise, I’m betting that you can-find some ideas here!

Moderate Your Alcohol Consumption

Like caffeine, alcoholic drinks are something that can be enjoyed in small quantities but when consumed excessively, they slow down your metabolism. The reason for this is that large amounts of alcohol cause your body to become dehydrated and this inhibits your metabolism and limits the total daily calories you burn. To prevent alcohol having a negative impact on your metabolism, limit your consumption to two alcoholic drinks per night and have at least two alcohol free days per week. Always drink plenty of water when consuming alcohol to avoid this dehydration-one glass of water for each drink consumed is great way to stay hydrated as well as lessen the after effects of the alcohol the next day.

Stay Hydrated

As mentioned above, dehydration slows down your metabolism and reduces the total number of calories you burn each day. Staying hydrated has the opposite effect, helps you maintain an optimal metabolism and maximizes the amount of calories you burn each day.

To ensure that you stay hydrated, consume the equivalent of eight glasses of water per day. There are plenty of different foods and drinks that can help you hit this target, so even if you’re not a huge fan of water, it’s still really easy to stay hydrated. Simply enjoy black tea, coffee, green tea, water rich fruits (such as grapefruit and melon) and water rich vegetables (such as broccoli and spinach) regularly and you’ll easily stay hydrated and burn the maximum amount of calories possible each day.

Get At Least 6 Hours Of Sleep Per Night

Getting six hours or more of high-quality sleep each night boosts your metabolism in numerous ways. First, it stimulates the release of growth hormone – a hormone which burns body fat and builds muscle (muscle cells burn three times more calories than fat cells, so naturally raises your metabolic rate). Second, it ensures that all your vital organs function optimally and prevents your metabolism from slowing down. If you’re not currently getting at least six hours of quality sleep on a nightly basis, make the effort to improve your sleep. You can even try some nutrient rich foods to help improve the quality of your sleep.

Eat When It Suits You Best

One of the biggest metabolism myths out there is that you need to eat five or six mini-meals at even intervals during the day. However, this is actually nothing more than a successful rumor created by supplement companies in order to sell more products. The truth is that as long as your total daily calories are consistent and in line with your basal metabolic rate (click here to calculate your BMR), the timing and number of meals you consume isn’t important.

So instead of struggling to fit five or six mini-meals into your day, create a meal plan that suits your lifestyle. By doing this, you’ll not only enjoy your meals more but you’ll be much more motivated as you’re not forcing yourself to eat when you’d rather not.

Utilize Spices

Spices are a great way to add a kick to your meals and they also boost your metabolism in the process. When you consume spices, they temporarily stimulate your body’s fat burning processes and this can result in you burning more body fat after you eat them. In addition to this, eating spices raises your body’s temperature and your body then uses up more calories as it regulates this temperature increase.

If you don’t currently utilize many spices in your cooking, start making some changes today. There are plenty of different spices available with different intensities and flavors, so you can easily find one that you like. Spices are also incredibly versatile and can be used to season fish, meat, nuts, vegetables and seeds.

Base Each Meal Around Protein

By basing every meal you eat around protein, you give your metabolism a huge natural boost. Unlike carbohydrates and fats (which burn very few calories during digestion), studies that when you consume protein, your body uses up 25% of the calories it contains during digestion.

If most of your meals are rich in processed carbohydrates (such as white pasta or white rice), base them around a protein source instead (such as fish or meat) and then top up the meal with vegetables. By doing this you’ll still get some nutrient packed carbohydrates in your meal but you’ll cut out the excess carbohydrate calories and enjoy the calorie burning effects of protein. If you need to brush up on the basics of nutrition check out this article.

Get Plenty Of Fiber

Like protein rich foods, foods that contain high levels of fiber require more energy to digest so naturally enhance your metabolism when you eat them. Fiber rich foods also increase the amount of nutrients you can absorb from your foods, protect against bowel disease and much more. Most plant-based foods contain high levels of fiber. Therefore, to get plenty of fiber in your diet, simply fill up on whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Avoid Processed Carbs

As mentioned above, if your diet contains a high concentration of processed carbs and you want to maximize your metabolism, then you need to be replacing your carbohydrate rich meals with protein rich meals.

Processed carbs require very few calories to digest, so the more processed carbs you eat, the fewer total calories your digestive system burns off. In addition to this, processed carbs contain very few vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. These nutrients support numerous processes within your body (including metabolism) and by failing to get enough of them in your diet, you can slow down your metabolism and reduce the total amount of calories you burn each day.

To keep your nutrient levels topped up, increase the amount of calories you burn during digestion and maintain an optimal metabolism, cut back on processed carbs and instead fill up on fiber rich, nutrient packed, natural carbs such as fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Consider Macro or Carb Cycling

This is something I use with many of my clients that seem to be doing ALL the right things, but their metabolism just won’t kick in to give them the results they are looking for. Macro and Carb cycling can help give your metabolism the jump start is needs to burn those calories and help drop that extra weight/fat. Macro cycling (macros are percentages of protein, fat, and carbs that make up the caloric intake) is something I use personally when a few stubborn pounds sneak on, and carb cycling works wonders with athletes and people that workout regularly that want to get an edge on their performance and speed by dropping a bit of weight while focusing on powering up their workouts. This type of eating can be so beneficial, but it’s best done with guidance and motivation from a professional-like me:)

Eating as clean as possible, making a few lifestyle changes, and finding an exercise program that works for you is the key to all good health, and when combined with a diet that’s rich in metabolism boosting foods and drinks, with consistency, you can get your metabolism fired up in a few short weeks.

Nutrition, health, and wellness is 100% personal! I Because of this, I create and offer programs based on your lifestyle and your needs that are designed and priced just for YOU. Please reach out to me if you are interested in discovering how to best start your total wellness journey.

In health and wellness,

Sami Bee

from my business site Beewell.com

Getting Over an Overdone Holiday

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I’m going to be the first to say-I may have overdone it! It’s not that I ate too much, drank too much, or dropped out of my regular daily exercise, but I DID eat and drink some things that left me feeling less than great! I followed my own advice when sampling the foods, being social instead of food focused, drinking plenty of water, and getting out for some long walks each day, but I enjoyed some foods that don’t always agree with me, and had some wine (the sugar in wine gives me more of a hangover than the alcohol!) So, by Sunday morning, I just felt so ICK! My body was sluggish, I was fatigued, my brain seemed fuzzy, and my joints yelled out that they were definitely dealing with inflammation. UGH! I know I’m not the only one, so I thought I’d share some thoughts on how to get over the holiday that was overdone. As I write this, I am on day 2 of a detoxing fast of sorts to rid myself of the holiday funk and do a little “tune up” healing for my gut and feeling better already. It was a GREAT holiday-I hope it was for you as well!

If you’re feeling like you overdid it, whether it be eating too much, eating foods you don’t generally eat, indulging in alcohol, or leaving your self-care or exercise in the dust, you CAN get yourself back to feeling more like yourself quickly by just following a few great tips. Give yourself a few days to try these out, and I’m sure you’ll be feeling great!

Get Rid of Holiday Treats

This is the first step in the process! And, by “get rid”, I don’t mean eat them!! Give them away, throw them out, freeze them for the next holiday, but remove them from your house! Grandma’s leftover pie, Aunt Jane’s mashed potatoes, leftover summer sausage and crackers-whatever it is, get rid of it! It will no longer be a temptation, and you will be so much happier with it GONE!

Stock Your Kitchen with Healthy Foods

That’s right-more grocery shopping! Stock up on the healthy food that you enjoy: fresh veggies, fruit, lean meats, and whole grain foods. Do a little meal planning and prep so that you have easy, ready-made, healthy choices available at all times. Be sure to pick up some healthy snacks as well like nuts, hummus, hardboiled eggs and yogurt. Keeping healthy food available will make mealtime so much easier during this busy time of year.

Eat Small Balanced Meals

Don’t try to “fix” your holiday overindulgence by cutting out meals; this will only set you up for cravings and possible binging. Instead, focus on small, balanced meals scheduled throughout the day. Focus on lean proteins like chicken, healthy fats like nut butters, high fiber foods like whole grains, and plenty of fresh veggies and fruit. If you need a little help figuring out the best choices, check out this article on basic nutrition.

Flush it All Out

Water is your best friend when it comes to getting over any period of overindulgence! It literally flushes the body clean, helps with digestion, removes bloating, and rehydrates the body. Alcohol and foods heavy in salt can dehydrate the body and make us feel sluggish, heavy, tired and even brain fogged. This dehydration can also show up in our skin, causing dryness, wrinkles, and an uneven complexion. Aim for 6-8 glass of water each day. To make this easier, try drinking a glass upon waking, before each meal, after any exercise, and a short time before retiring for the night. Getting the water in can be the quickest way to feel better!

Try Soups!

Get your balanced nutrition AND your water in at the same time with delicious broth based soups! Throw some broth into a pot, add your leftover turkey or another lean protein, and throw in some veggies and seasonings and let it simmer for an hour or so for a tasty, light, healthy, quick meal choice. For a great soup recipe with a big vitamin pack, try this Kale recipe that can easily be made with turkey instead of chicken.

Cut the Alcohol

Whether or not you indulged in too much alcohol this holiday season, try to cut it from your diet for a few days. Alcohol wreaks havoc on our body systems and makes every part of our body work harder. It dehydrates us, causes fatigue, slows the metabolism, and causes all kinds of unpleasant reactions.

Show Yourself Some Love

Going a little easy on yourself is always crucial to your health and well-being, but especially after overdoing it. Get a little extra rest, spend a little time being quiet and still, and see how it affects your stress levels. You may want to spend a little time in simple meditation, or just sitting in silence to regain your peace of mind and re-energize. The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time, so be sure to schedule time to just rest. If journaling is your thing-or you’d like to try it, consider thinking into the New Year and coming up with a “word” to define your future.  

Consider a Sugar Detox

If you truly want to feel and see a huge change in your health rather quickly, consider doing a sugar detox. Sugar is in SO many foods, and we eat so much of it without even realizing. Sugar intake has a massive effect on the body, our hormones, our skin, our brain, our weight, and our emotions. Many people are addicted to sugar! To learn more about sugar addiction and see if sugar might be an issue in your diet, check out my latest freebie! It’s an eye opener on all things sugar related, and even includes a sugar addiction checklist. Giving up added sugar was the BEST thing I ever did for my health!

Find Support

If you are struggling to get back on track after the holiday, and worried about the holidays ahead, consider finding someone to support you. A friend, a relative, an online group, whomever it might be. Sharing support and encouragement while holding each other accountable and offering motivation can make all the difference. If you need a strong support system and personal guidance, inspiration and tools, consider speaking to a health coach. This can be a life changing decision! Setting up goals and plans that are JUST FOR YOU can make all the difference! If you’d like to chat about how this might work for you, please feel free to contact me for a free consultation-no hard sales, no pushing, no pestering-just conversation about YOU and what you need to feel and be your best!

I hope this holiday season brings you many blessings, an abundance of joy, and great health and wellness! Happy Holidays from Sami Bee at BeeWell!

Let’s Have Some Food Fun! Thanksgiving Edition!

The average Thanksgiving Day Dinner intake, according The Calorie Control Council, averages 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat. And that doesn’t include our drinks, appetizers or leftovers, or our sampling of food. I thought we’d have some fun and see what that actually looks like!

Watch below! And, as this was originally recorded in 2020-I need to edit a bit and say Happy New Years 2022 in advance! Enjoy!

Looking for guidance in you health and wellness journey?? Need help with habits, mindset, nutrition, motivation, or stress relief? Let’s chat! Also, be sure to get you awesome 22 page Holiday Survival Guide for FREE right HERE!

Enjoy my video:)

Some fun Thanksgiving food facts! Eat mindfully!

Here Come the Holidays!!

And just like that…What seemed more like an endless 2020 than a new 2021 is suddenly drawing to a close. I personally have no idea where the last 11 months went; They seriously flew right on by in a blur. But now, with Halloween happening this weekend, we are headed into the frenzy of holidays bringing us to the end of another year. With that comes the endless amount of busy schedules, family occasions, parties, and food. It can be a tough time for anyone that tries to eat well, exercise, and stay with a wellness routine.

While many people have been told that the average person gains 5-15 pounds during the holidays, that is simply not statistically true. The average weight gain is 1 pound!! However, studies have also shown that that one pound is often not lost, and over a period of years, adds to unwanted weight. What I find most generally with my friends and clients is the end feeling of overdoing it too often, whether it be with food or alcohol, or the feeling of simply not feeling our best due to too many indulgences during the holiday season. It’s easy to get off schedule with movement, to eat or drink too much, or to allow ourselves to be stressed out for too long. So, I’d like to touch on some important ways to avoid some of the holiday health traps and give some tips on staying on track with your goals this season.

Because it’s Halloween, I’ll start with the obvious first obstacle-candy! If you have children in your life or enjoy treating the neighborhood kids to some trick or treating fun, it’s likely that you will face a large amount of candy at some point this week. It can be HARD having all that candy around and not overindulging. To avoid this, try planning to treat yourself to a small amount of your favorite treats, and find a time to absolutely enjoy them! Eat mindfully, focus on the taste and texture, do nothing else but enjoy. Give into a small amount of deliciousness, enjoy, and move on. If you find that you are simply weak when it comes to sugar (it’s ok, there are many!!) Try to put off buying your Halloween candy until the last minute and give it ALL away-even if this means dumpling all of it into the bags of your last few trick or treaters. Another way to deal successfully with Halloween candy is to only buy candy you do NOT enjoy. Until 2 years ago, my family home was a Halloween destination with a huge, haunted yard. We went very big and had hundreds of people show up. We handed out over 30 pounds of candy in a few hours with none left at the end of the night. My husband, however, would order the candy weeks ahead of time, and I quickly learned to remind him to leave the candy at his office, or hide it in our garage in unopened boxes. It was just too much temptation!

Halloween is just the kickoff to the holiday season, which, honestly, in my family, goes all the way to Super Bowl Sunday. Thanksgiving can present a whole new set of issues for people because it’s literally a holiday focused on eating! One of the biggest concerns I hear from clients is about “food pushers”. It seems that everyone has a friend or family member that takes a “No thank you” to food personally. Generally, this person seems to be a grandma or aunt, and they simply will not accept a “no” to their meatballs/cake/pie/cookies/casserole, nor will they accept that a small taste is “enough”. In my family, it was an aunt that would pout if you wouldn’t take a second or third helping. I can remember leaving Thanksgiving feeling sick because she’d sit next to me as a child and make sure I shoveled every bite in. I like to remind people that “NO” is a complete sentence, and a small taste IS enough to enjoy and give praise to our food pushers. Accept a small amount, enjoy it mindfully, say “no” to seconds, and change the subject or move away from the situation. It’s important to remember that holidays are about family and friends-focus on the social aspect of the holiday, and the food aspect will be much easier to navigate.

Alcohol consumption is another holiday concern for many. These drinks are often full of empty calories, they dehydrate our body, and as we drink, we lose touch with our mindset and goals, and often end up not feeling so great in the days that follow. Alcohol often leads to unplanned eating, tired days, and missed exercise. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that the sugar content of my drinks literally gives me a hangover. I call it the sugar overload hangover. If I do indulge, I find that sticking to vodka with a sugar free mixer saves me from the terrible, exhausting, headachy days that often follow just drinking a glass or two of wine. To avoid feeling crummy after having a few drinks, be sure to cut down on the sugary mixes, drink a glass of water to match each libation, and don’t drink on an empty stomach. If wine is your choice this holiday season, consider mixing it with a sugar free flavored seltzer water for tasty, less alcoholic alternative. Again, focus on the social aspect of your events, and you will find that you not only have more fun, but you will be feeling more like yourself on the days that follow.

The holiday season can be very stressful, so be sure to schedule some time for self-care to avoid burn out and exhaustion. Find some time to sneak in some quiet time to refresh your mind and find ways to stay active as the days get shorter, darker, and colder. Take a long walk and enjoy the decorations in your neighborhood or plan some recreation time with family and friends to get everyone moving. If you find that stress is creeping into your daily life, try a little meditation, or simply sit in silence for a few moments to regain your clarity and energy. Focus on basic clean nutrition to feel your best, and on days in which you plan to indulge in holiday treats, eat small, balanced meals to keep your belly full and your energy level balanced.

As our year comes to a quick, busy end, be sure to take some time to focus on YOU. Give yourself a break, acknowledge all that you’ve accomplished this year, and give yourself some praise. As we look towards 2022, start thinking about how you want to embrace that new beginning. I always like to find a word that I want to focus on as each new year begins to get my mindset in order and truly start the year with a clear sense of where I am, and where I want to be,

Have a great Halloween, go easy on the sugar, and get some self-love into your life! If you’re looking for a great FREEBIE to guide you through the holiday season, be sure to grab my 22 page Healthy Holiday Survival Guide! This beautiful guide is chockfull of tips and hacks to get you through just about any holiday wellness situations and concerns. And, if you DO find yourself indulging in too much sugar this Halloween, be sure to watch my blog, and IG, for my new 10 Day Sugar Detox program.

If you’re looking for personal guidance and accountability to motivate you through this season, consider a free chat with me to discuss your goals and needs, and see how wellness coaching might work for you. Be sure-I’ve got your back this holiday season!

Take a Bite into Great Health with Apples!

For many of us, it’s fall, which means apple season! As I packed my pantry bag this week to travel to Monday Night Football in Baltimore (GO RAVENS!) I was sure to throw in a few apples. Apples are truly one of the healthiest and easiest foods to keep on hand-no matter where you are or what you are doing! We’ve all heard the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, and there is some real science behind the saying!

No matter what type of apple you eat (there are over 7500 varieties, 2500 different types of apples are found in the US alone!!) you will get some excellent nutritional benefits along with a sweet, juicy, crunchy, treat. There are SO many different types of apples you could eat one a day for 20 years and never eat the same kind twice! Because they are so portable, and don’t require refrigeration or preparation, they are perfect for traveling and busy lifestyles.

As I did a little research on this popular fall fruit, I learned some interesting facts. Did you know????

~The apple is a member of the rose family

~it takes the energy of 50 leaves to produce one apple

~apples range in size from as small as a cherry to the size of a grapefruit

~the largest apple ever produced was over 3 pounds

~in Chinese culture the word for apple is “ping” which also stands for peace.

~the average apple has 10 seeds

~top producers of apples are China, US, Turkey, Poland, and Italy.

~Apples were planted by Pilgrims in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

~apple juice is one of the most popular juices in the US

Apples are truly a nutritional marvel, with so many benefits for the body. Here’s just a few facts to get you thinking about grabbing an apple as you go about your awesome busy life!

Packed with nutrition!

The average apple is about 100 calories, and is full of great vitamins like C, K, A, E B1, B2, and B6. Eaten with the skin on, the apple gives us a great amount of fiber as well. Because apples are small, fresh, and portable, this makes it the perfect healthy snack!

Good for elimination and bowel health

One apple with its skin contains 4 to 5 grams of fiber – the most important nutrient in keeping your bowels working like clockwork. Fiber helps with constipation, and an ingredient found in apples called pectin has a congealing effect to also help with diarrhea. Pectin is considered a prebiotic, which means it feeds the good bacteria in your gut. Apples are a healthy gut food.

Keep your body young.

Apples contain polyphenois, which has an antioxidant effect on the body. Antioxidants help protect our bodies from aging, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes. When scientists compared a 1,500-milligram vitamin C supplement to one small apple, the results were astounding – the antioxidant values were equal. That means a fresh apple has more than 15 times the antioxidant power of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. Apples also contain magnesium and potassium that help regulate your blood pressure and keep your heart beating steadily, and it’s the flavonoid quercetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant, that protects your artery walls from damage and keeps your blood flowing smoothly. Apples are also linked to better brain health and mental clarity.

Excellent For Weight Loss Efforts

Because apples are high in both fiber and water content, they are very filling. In studies, people that snacked on apple slices before meals ate fewer calories and felt fuller for longer periods of time!

Protects your Bones and Joints.

Eating fruit is a great way to maintain bone density and decrease the risk of arthritis. The high amounts of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties in apples promote bone health, and the trace mineral boron found in apples aids in joint health.

Be sure to buy apples that are unbruised, firm, and have good color. Take them out of their plastic bag and store them in your refrigerator – loose in the produce bin or in a paper bag is best. And since they will absorb odors, keep them away from strong-smelling foods like garlic and onions. If you have an opportunity to visit an orchard and go apple picking, I highly recommend doing so-there is nothing like the taste of an apple pulled directly from the tree!

For a special treat, try baking apples for a healthy and incredible smelling dessert or snack. Just core your apples and place them in a greased baking dish. Add a bit of apple cider or juice to the dish, and sprinkle the apples with maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, or apple pie spice. You can also fill the hole of the apples with oats, nuts, or raisins. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, checking with a fork for softness. Top with a dash of yogurt or vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

If you are looking for more easy superfood recipes, be sure to check out my 5 Ingredient Superfood Cookbook! It contains power food recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, and snacks. Get yours free here!

I’d love to help you with your health and wellness journey! If you are interested in a 30 minute conversation about your goals, please reach out!

Let’s Fire Up that Metabolism!

Did you know? After age 25, our metabolism-which is the rate at which our bodies change food into energy-begins to slow-in fact, it slows about 5% each decade. As the rate drops, and our metabolism slows, the food that is not converted into energy becomes excess weight, which becomes extra fat in our bodies. This explains those extra stubborn pounds that many gain as the decades march on. 

But it’s not impossible to reverse this decline as you age! If you want to give your metabolic rate a kick, eating the right foods and doing the right exercises is a key. However, you also need to make sure you’re leading a lifestyle that promotes optimal calorie burning. In this article I’m going to be taking a deeper look at this topic and listing the top lifestyle tips for boosting your metabolic rate.

Don’t Overdose On Caffeine

When consumed in moderation, caffeine can actually give your metabolism a boost. However, overdosing on caffeine can interfere with your body’s internal processes and cause you to become dehydrated. This has a negative effect on your metabolism and reduces the amount of calories you burn each day.

To prevent this from happening, limit your consumption to less than five caffeinated drinks per day. This will still allow you to enjoy plenty of black tea, coffee or green tea during the day without adversely affecting the amount of calories you burn.

Look For Opportunities To Stay Active

Every day is full of opportunities to stay active, burn some extra calories and rev up your metabolism. However, most people don’t look for these opportunities and as a result they don’t use up as many calories as they could during the day.

To make the most of these opportunities, be more aware of the options available to you and choose the one that’s best for your metabolism. For example, if you have a choice between taking the elevator and the stairs, take the stairs. If you’re planning to use the car for a short journey, consider jogging or cycling instead. Doing this will significantly increase your metabolism and allow you to burn plenty of extra calories each day.

Moderate Your Alcohol Consumption

Like caffeine, alcoholic drinks are something that can be enjoyed in small quantities but when consumed excessively, they slow down your metabolism. The reason for this is that large amounts of alcohol cause your body to become dehydrated and this inhibits your metabolism and limits the total daily calories you burn. To prevent alcohol having a negative impact on your metabolism, limit your consumption to two alcoholic drinks per night and have at least two alcohol free days per week. Always drink plenty of water when consuming alcohol to avoid this dehydration-one glass of water for each drink consumed is great way to stay hydrated as well as lessen the after effects of the alcohol the next day.

Stay Hydrated

As mentioned above, dehydration slows down your metabolism and reduces the total number of calories you burn each day. Staying hydrated has the opposite effect, helps you maintain an optimal metabolism and maximizes the amount of calories you burn each day.

To ensure that you stay hydrated, consume the equivalent of eight glasses of water per day. There are plenty of different foods and drinks that can help you hit this target, so even if you’re not a huge fan of water, it’s still really easy to stay hydrated. Simply enjoy black tea, coffee, green tea, water rich fruits (such as grapefruit and melon) and water rich vegetables (such as broccoli and spinach) regularly and you’ll easily stay hydrated and burn the maximum amount of calories possible each day.

Get At Least 6 Hours Of Sleep Per Night

Getting six hours or more of high-quality sleep each night boosts your metabolism in numerous ways. First, it stimulates the release of growth hormone – a hormone which burns body fat and builds muscle (muscle cells burn three times more calories than fat cells, so naturally raises your metabolic rate). Second, it ensures that all your vital organs function optimally and prevents your metabolism from slowing down. So if you’re not currently getting at least six hours of quality sleep on a nightly basis, make the effort to improve your sleep patterns from today.

Eat When It Suits You Best

One of the biggest metabolism myths out there is that you need to eat five or six mini-meals at even intervals during the day. However, this is actually nothing more than a successful rumor created by supplement companies in order to sell more products. The truth is that as long as your total daily calories are consistent and in line with your basal metabolic rate (click here to calculate your BMR), the timing and number of meals you consume isn’t important.

So instead of struggling to fit five or six mini-meals into your day, create a meal plan that suits your lifestyle. By doing this, you’ll not only enjoy your meals more but you’ll be much more motivated as you’re not forcing yourself to eat when you’d rather not.

Utilize Spices

Spices are a great way to add a kick to your meals and they also boost your metabolism in the process. When you consume spices, they temporarily stimulate your body’s fat burning processes and this can result in you burning more body fat after you eat them. In addition to this, eating spices raises your body’s temperature and your body then uses up more calories as it regulates this temperature increase.

If you don’t currently utilize many spices in your cooking, start making some changes today. There are plenty of different spices available with different intensities and flavors, so you can easily find one that you like. Spices are also incredibly versatile and can be used to season fish, meat, nuts, vegetables and seeds.

Base Each Meal Around Protein

By basing every meal you eat around protein, you give your metabolism a huge natural boost. Unlike carbohydrates and fats (which burn very few calories during digestion), studies that when you consume protein, your body uses up 25% of the calories it contains during digestion.

If most of your meals are rich in processed carbohydrates (such as white pasta or white rice), base them around a protein source instead (such as fish or meat) and then top up the meal with vegetables. By doing this you’ll still get some nutrient packed carbohydrates in your meal but you’ll cut out the excess carbohydrate calories and enjoy the calorie burning effects of protein.

Get Plenty Of Fiber

Like protein rich foods, foods that contain high levels of fiber require more energy to digest so naturally enhance your metabolism when you eat them. Fiber rich foods also increase the amount of nutrients you can absorb from your foods, protect against bowel disease and much more. Most plant based foods contain high levels of fiber. Therefore, to get plenty of fiber in your diet, simply fill up on whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Avoid Processed Carbs

As mentioned above, if your diet contains a high concentration of processed carbs and you want to maximize your metabolism, then you need to be replacing your carbohydrate rich meals with protein rich meals.

Processed carbs require very few calories to digest, so the more processed carbs you eat, the fewer total calories your digestive system burns off. In addition to this, processed carbs contain very few vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. These nutrients support numerous processes within your body (including metabolism) and by failing to get enough of them in your diet, you can slow down your metabolism and reduce the total amount of calories you burn each day.

To keep your nutrient levels topped up, increase the amount of calories you burn during digestion and maintain an optimal metabolism, cut back on processed carbs and instead fill up on fiber rich, nutrient packed, natural carbs such as fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Eating as clean as possible, making a few lifestyle changes, and finding an exercise program that works for you is the key to all good health, and when combined with a diet that’s rich in metabolism boosting foods and drinks, with consistency, you can get your metabolism fired up in a few short weeks. For even more focus on revving up the metabolism, I’d suggest a good protocol of detoxifying the system, adding probiotics, or even adding intermittent fasting to your life. This are things that I specialize in, and offer programs that are designed just for YOU. Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning how this might work in your wellness journey!

Healthy Meal Prep for the Busy Family

Everyone has seen all those pretty Pinterest and Instagram posts with the little containers of perfectly prepped and planned meals. This leads to the question-How can I possible do this with a family to feed??

It’s not as hard as it seems! With a few little tips, a clear grocery list, some input from your family, and an afternoon of cooking, you can have a week’s worth of healthy meals that will not only save time, but keep everyone’s bellies full-while sticking to a healthy food plan-and perhaps even saving some money and frustration at the same time.

Everyday I have people tell me that they cannot meal prep for a myriad of reasons:

-kids are picky eaters

-spouse refuses to eat “rabbit food”

-everyone in the household has different eating styles-allergies, vegetarian, gluten free, etc.

-it’s too expensive

-it’s too time consuming

With a little planning, ALL of these situations can be handled, and you will not only save time, but money.

In my home, meal prep solved ALL of those problems AND also solved the teenager issue of “There’s nothing to eat!” My family has consisted of a spouse that eats anything, a daughter that swings between vegan/vegetarian, a teen linebacker that needs food nonstop, a teen son with weight issues, and a person who experienced a million sensitivities who also eats extremely healthy (yes, that would be me, pre healing my gut-those issues are now completely gone! You can read about THAT here!). Meal prep has been an absolute blessing to me-the shopper, the cook, the mom.

To be straight up-you don’t need to prep your food in those pretty containers. You can, it looks nice in photos and stacked in the fridge, but it’s not necessary. It can be helpful for packing meals that need to be on the move, like lunch, or for the person in your family with specific food needs, but I tend to use regular large size Rubbermaid containers for prep. These can even be frozen for future use, and are microwave/dishwasher safe as well. I’ve also used Ziploc freezer bags, which work so well with small spaces in the fridge.

Make a Plan and Think Streamlining Your Proteins

The first thing you need to do is plan your meals. Ask your family for input if needed. List your favorite meals, take eating preferences into consideration, and make a menu with at least 4 main dinner meals. Look for ways to streamline your meals based on main ingredients; are there two or more meals with chicken? Beef? How can you prepare those meats for use in all your recipes? Is there a way to make or divide certain meals into half vegetarian? Half gluten free? Can you prepare some of a meal without onion, or peppers, or heavy spices that your children may not like? If you approach it this way-you will likely find that it’s not so hard to satisfy everyone in your family. For example, if you’re planning an Italian dish, can you make a small portion without meat sauce? Can you make a small portion with gluten free noodles? If your favorite dish is heavy on spice and onion,  you can separate a portion without those strong flavors. These portions are easily placed into their own small containers.

Check Your Schedule Plan your Shopping

Next, look at your schedule for the week. Are you home every night for dinner? Do you plan to eat out? Are there nights that you need to grab something and run? Make note of those occasions.

Using your meals as a guideline, start to plan your grocery list. To make things super easy, double some of your recipes for lunch leftovers, or for the freezer. List the produce and proteins you will need in total for all meals so that you can easily buy in bulk portions. Check your add-ons like spices, canned needs, cheese, etc; before doing your shopping.

Once you have your grocery list in hand, check local sales, and gather coupons if you are a frugal shopper-you can also save by shopping in bulk at places like Costco and Sam’s Club.

Plan Your Cooking

I highly recommend shopping and cooking on separate days, just to give your self a sanity break. Or, plan to cook 2 or 3 times a week, but cook more than one meal-again, using the same “main” item, like your protein, makes this mush easier! For example, using chicken bought for three meals, using one portion as a main dish, another portion for a chicken and rice dish, and another portion for chicken tacos or fajitas. The chicken is prepared at the same time, and you will have 3 dinners ready to go-and maybe even some leftovers for lunches!

Meal prep day was often an afternoon of family time when my kids were teens. They would help, learning to cook as we went along. One teen would chop veggies, another would cook up ground turkey or beef, while another stirred sauces and checked the oven. We could usually prep a week’s worth of lunches and dinners in an hour and a half. It was an absolute blessing to come home after a busy day and literally be able to list off menu items available to reheat from the fridge!

It’s been a few years since the teens became adults and moved on with their lives, but all of them still prep meals in advance. Even when I am alone at the beach, I cook once or twice a week for myself and enjoy having a very active lifestyle without concern about stopping to plan and fix my meals, or run the stove on a super hot summer day. Below is my all time healthy meal prepped favorite recipe for you to try and enjoy!

Meal planning and prep is a HUGELY popular topic with many of my clients and friends, and one of my favorite healthy lifestyle hacks to teach. If you’d like to learn more, or get some ideas and assistance in starting your journey with this great time saving healthy life hack, just reach out to me!

Meal Prepped Super Healthy, Super Yummy Chicken, Rice, and Veggies

This is SO easy and SO tasty! I keep it in my fridge year round for quick meals.

You will need:

Chicken breasts, cooked, and chopped into bite sized pieces.

Rice of your choice, I use brown rice in the cups that heat up in the microwave.

Steamed veggies of your choice-cook until blanched if storing them in the fridge.

Favorite sauce-I use a natural sweet and sour, but soy, hot sauce, all add a different flavor to this dish and can be used to mix it up.

I keep these things handy, and literally throw it all together, heat for a minute of two, add my sauce and salt and pepper-and I have a hot, incredible tasty and healthy meal ready in under two minutes!

from my professional website Beewell.com

Intermittent Fasting 101

Intermittent fasting has become a hugely popular way of eating and living for health, fat burn, longevity, and even brain clarity. It’s not so much considered a “diet” as it is a lifestyle and eating pattern. In recent months, it’s become a huge topic in many of my circles and groups, and it’s often one of the first topics my perspective clients want to discuss when we begin our health relationship. So, this week, while searching for the perfect topic for a blog post, IF-intermittent fasting just seemed like the perfect choice!

This way of eating doesn’t so much involve “what you eat”, but “when you eat”, so the restrictions as to food choices are not as critical as most eating plans. Pairing intermittent fasting with a healthy balanced diet can result in not only weight loss, but many other really incredible health benefits as well.

There have proven to be many benefits to living the IF lifestyle. When it comes to weight loss or maintaining weight, IF works! Eating within specific time frames leads to lower calorie intake without the dreaded focus on food choices or food restrictions. During periods of fasting, human growth hormones increase quickly, leading to stored fat loss and muscle retention, and insulin levels appear to drop quickly, which makes fat loss easier. And, incredibly enough, “autophagy” occurs after a short period of fasting-this is when our cells begin to digest and get rid of old and dysfunctional cells, replacing them with new cells. There are also changes to hormone levels and genes during this process that affect longevity, aging, and help protect against disease.

While people using IF usually find that making the adjustment to this lifestyle a little challenging, they soon come to realize that it becomes a rather easy lifestyle change, and are pleased to see rapid, visible results that keep them motivated to continue on. They find that weight loss is quicker, easier, and more convenient, report a decrease in inflammation in the body, find better brain clarity and mood balance, and find that their metabolism increases, and their sleep is better. Many people even report that they feel as though they have cleansed or detoxed their entire body systems!

The WHAT and the HOW

There are several ways of doing IF, and it can easily be structured to fit your particular lifestyle and habits.

16/8 is the most popular method of this lifestyle, in which you fast for 16 hours, and eat within an 8 hour period 7 days a week. For many, this may mean stopping food intake at 8pm, and not eating another meal until noon the next day.

2/24 in another way of doing IF. With this method, fasting is done for a full 24 hours twice a week, and a regular schedule of eating exists for the remaining 5 days. Low calorie beverages are allowed during this type of fasting, and some people even incorporate drinking bone broth into their fasting phases for added gut health benefits.

5:2 is yet another way of doing IF, and this method has one eating less than 500 calories 2 days a week, and eating regularly on the remaining days. This method does have the added responsibility of counting and monitoring calories and/or marcos on the two days of restricted eating, so keep that in mind when making your plans. This form of IF only works if you are NOT using the other 5 days to eat very large amounts of food.

*All of these methods work with reducing caloric intake when a healthy, somewhat moderated approach is taken during “eating times”. Some healthy regard for fueling your body and monitoring your intake is necessary as with any healthy lifestyle choice.

In my own personal experience with intermittent fasting, I have found that it works wonderfully. I have done IF in many ways over the last several months, generally using a 17/7 schedule as a regular routine. On occasion, I fast for 2-4 days every few months to balance my gut and detox my body and soul. You can read about my longer fasts here if you are interested. My routine 17/7 eating pattern has proven to improve my sleep, and given me more mental clarity and focus. It has also helped remove my nightly cravings for carbs, which is a huge win! I have also noticed that when my fasting period is up, I am NOT as likely to want to eat large meals-my stomach seems to feel full much quicker, and I stay full for longer periods of time.

Many people doing IF use apps to track their fasts and inspire or challenge them. I have found that using an app to track my fasts does two things-inspires and motivates me to complete my fast, and, there’s something about hitting the “start fast” button each night that adds some form of “closure” to my day. It’s kind of like telling my brain and stomach “We are DONE!” It’s all about MINDSET!

Fast Habit is the first app I used, and it was a free version. It simply alerted me to start fasting each night at the time I had set, and alerted me the next day when my fast was over. Simple, basic, free. Highly recommended for the beginner.

Fastic is the app I currently use. I have the paid version for the bells and whistles. This app also sends me alerts-including one an hour before my fasting time starts in case I need to take advantage of getting in my last meal. The paid version also offers daily lessons on nutrition, mindset, diet biology, motivation, and other interesting facts. I’ve learned a lot using this app, and it’s also highly recommended. Apps, of course, are not needed, you can simply add your start and finish times to a reminder on your phone calendar.

The “WHO” in Intermittent Fasting

While many studies show that Intermittent Fasting is a safe form of eating for most adults, there are some people that should not follow this lifestyle. If you are underweight, pregnant, trying to conceive, breastfeeding, or suffer from any eating disorder, this lifestyle is not recommended.

One should seek guidance from a medical professional before attempting Intermittent Fasting if they have diabetes, low blood sugar, are on medications, have low blood pressure, or have a serious illness.

Side Effects Possibly Experienced During IF

For most healthy individuals, side effects are very mild and, as the body adjusts and adapts, temporary. Hunger pains, food cravings, low energy, disrupted sleep, irritability, bad breath, and dehydration can occur in the early stages of IF.

Many of these side effects can be due to dehydration; people tend to drink less fluids when not eating meals and snacks throughout the course of a day. To alleviate this issue, be sure to consume fluids regularly throughout the day. 64oz of water should be the goal, and tea and coffee are allowed. (keeping in mind that caffeine will dehydrate you, make sure the bulk of fluids is water!)

I hope that you’ve learned a few things about this “all the rage” healthy lifestyle choice and perhaps have decided to try this out for yourself. If you’d like to learn more about intermittent fasting as a lifestyle, or are looking to make other healthy lifestyle changes to improve your life, I encourage you to reach out to me for a free and fun conversation about finding the steps, information, and motivation to live your absolute BEST life!

Please visit my professional site BeeWell.com for more info, freebies and tips!

Super Fresh and Healthy Summer Eating: Starring Kale!

It’s summer time for many of us, and it’s a fantastic time to add some fresh, light, and healthy veggies to our diet! If you’re looking for a power packed but super low calorie vegetable to add to your summer meals, leafy greens like kale, is a great choice. Kale grows well year round and is easy to find at any grocery store. It is a superfood filled with health benefits like helping to reduce various types of cancer and type 2 diabetes, boosting digestive health, and helping to manage blood pressure. Kale has antioxidants to help remove toxins from the body, as well as fiber, and a huge range of vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, K, and A, as well as calcium, magnesium, and manganese. Kale is a perfect staple for many diets, from clean eating to Paleo or Keto. At 33 nutrient packed calories a cup, kale is considered one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet!

To get you started on your quest to add this amazing green to your diet, here is a personal summer favorite recipe of mine-chicken kale soup, as well as four different types of kale salads to try out this summer!

Chicken Kale Summer Soup

1 sweet Onion chopped

1 bunch scallions chopped

2 tbsp minced garlic

3 carrots sliced

1 tbsp butter

½ bunch kale, washed and torn into small pieces

1 15oz can diced tomatoes rinsed

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and chopped

6-8 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the butter, onions, scallions, garlic and carrots until soft, add chicken broth and heat to a beginning boil. Add chicken and tomatoes, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add kale pieces, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on very low heat an additional 10 minutes.

This is a super tasty, very light summer soup that is less than 90 calories a serving.

Citrus Kale Salad with Dressing

2 ruby red grapefruit

2 oranges

6-8 oz kale washed and torn into smallish pieces

3 tbsp orange juice

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 ½ tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp honey

pepper to taste

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

small red onion sliced

4 oz feta or goat cheese

Peel and section oranges and grapefruits, removing pits. Cut into bite sized pieces.

Mix together orange juice, white wine vinegar, Dijon, sugar, salt, and olive oil-whisk until blended well. 

Toss kale, onion, and ½ of dressing together, add salt and pepper to taste. Top with citrus pieces, onion, and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with remaining dressing.

And, a few other super easy ideas for superfood kale salads:

Chopped Kale Superfoods Salad

This salad is great when you want a chopped salad and have some berries and quinoa you want to use as well. Adding quinoa, makes it a heartier salad that really fills you up. It’s an ideal meal if you follow a clean eating diet.

 Use chopped kale for this chopped salad, then add rinsed uncooked or cooked (cooled) quinoa for a nice crunch. You can add a variety of superfood toppings to this for a powerful summer meal.  Berries, like cranberries and pomegranate seeds work well with this. For more crunch and added healthy fats and proteins, add some crushed walnuts as well.

Kale and Veggies Salad

Another great option for kale salad is one that uses even more veggies. You can also add berries to this salad if you wish as well. Simply replace your lettuce with kale!This can be a good main course, but it works well as a light lunch or a side dish as well. This salad uses fresh kale, along with some brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, all of which are available throughout the summer season. If you want to add a little fat to the salad, you can add some bacon bits as well. Nuts taste great on the top. Leave it as-is or make a simple dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, and some lemon juice.

Kale and Apple Salad

Kale happens to taste great when combined with sweet fruits. This kale and apple salad is perfect when you want to combine fresh flavors for a brand new taste. Use your chopped kale, along with some sliced sweet apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or even sliced and pitted cherries, and add some chopped walnuts or almonds. To add more protein to this salad, add sprinkles of goat or feta cheese. Add a splash of lemon juice for a tasty light dressing.