For those of you who don’t know, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and a variety of other grains. Although most people think being gluten free is simply cutting out bread and carbs, there is so much more to it. Gluten, which is also a thickening agent, is hidden in a extremely wide variety of products. Salad dressing, cereal, power bars, alcoholic drinks, pasta, soups and many more items are packed with gluten. Reading labels becomes a necessity when you’re adopting a healthy lifestyle, gluten or not.

After suffering from a plethora of digestive issues as a freshman in college, I knew I needed to make a change in my eating habits. I was eating healthy grains, such as organic whole wheat bread and pasta, but my stomach couldn’t take it. It was very difficult to remove gluten from my diet at the beginning, but the positive results were immediate!

Today I’m going to share with you a few reasons why becoming gluten free changed my health for the better.

Digestion

Regulating healthy digestion is like writing down the formula for a difficult math problem. You have to get all of the components lined up perfectly to get the correct answer, and in this case the correct answer is wellness! The minute I removed gluten from my diet my digestion drastically improved. Previously when I would consume gluten I would feel extremely bloated, looking like I was 7 months pregnant with my 4 foot 11 frame. It was so uncomfortable because the air in my stomach would push on my spine, giving me debilitating pain. There were multiple days when I would have to leave class early because I couldn’t even sit still. Becoming GF eliminated that problem immediately. Not only did my bloating go away, but I also felt lighter and healthier as a whole. I felt like a new person when it came to my fitness routine, simply because my digestion was on the right track.

Clear Skin

If one in every ten people has a gluten sensitivity, then we’re all more susceptible than we think. If you’re dealing with a gluten sensitivity, your body is viewing gluten as a minor allergen and irritant. This irritant is then causing your body to go into “fight mode,” causing skin inflammation in the form of rashes, redness and even acne. After subtracting gluten from my daily diet, the redness in my skin drastically decreased. Even my friends noticed! I really didn’t expect this benefit, but the longer I remain gluten free the more I appreciate it! Just think about how gluten thickens foods… and then imagine what it’s doing to your health.

Energy

The inflammation that your body may be experiencing because of gluten could also be causing you to lose vital nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Once you reduce your gluten intake and decrease the inflammation within your body, you will begin to absorb the vitamins that have been missing all along! Instead of munching on crackers, rolls, sandwiches and chips, reach for the healthier options with your gut in mind! After I removed gluten from my diet I felt immediately more energized and driven. My body felt like it was finally operating the way it should’ve been all along. My motivation to workout increased because I just didn’t feel as tried!

So before you decide to run by the bagel shop for breakfast, access your symptoms. If you’re feeling great, by all means keep doing what you’re doing. If you feel lethargic and bogged down by unhealthy digestion, try it out for at least two weeks. The benefits are endless! Learn more Burn nutrition tips by signing up below!

My Top 15 Paleo Snack Foods

1. Banana with Raw Almond Butter – This is a go-to! Think you are hungry? Have a nice big banana and load it with some RAW creamy almond butter. Great filler and keeps the paleo train full steam ahead!

2. Plain Avocado – Good fats are ALWAYS a great snack. This is an excellent and quick pre-workout snack that will give you tons of energy.

3. Hawaiian Berry Mix – Cut pineapples up into cubes and place at the bottom of the bowl. Throw blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries on top. Make a big bowl! When you get through with the berries the pineapple is infused with the various berry juices! SO GOOD!

4. Egg Whites – Sometimes all you need is some pure protein to satisfy you!

5. Egg White/Avocado/Salsa – Mix all parts even…make a big bowl so you can have it for a couple of days!

6. Apple with Raw Almond Butter – Make sure the Almond Butter is raw! Roasted almonds have more sodium and less nutritional value.

7. Grilled Chicken with Raw Honey – Who says we can’t have an adult version of a Happy Meal?

8. Protein Balls – These are supposed to be a HEALTHY snack so don’t poison it with bad protein powder! Make sure you know what you are putting in your body. If you see the word “Sucrolose” or “Neotame” throw it in the trash!

9. Shaklee 180 Snack Bar – One of the MUST HAVES in your snacking regiment! Powered with the Amino Acid Leucine Shaklee 180 bars are perfect for building lean muscle and keeping you full!

10. Pumpkin Spice Muffins – You don’t have to be in the fall spirit to enjoy these! REALLY, REALLY good one if you have time to prepare it!

11. Kale Chips – A Tasty way to get your veggies in. I do not recommend baking with lemon juice though!

12. Sweet Potato Fries – Especially great right after a workout! The chemical components of sweet potatoes make this tuber a great post-workout snack!

13. Quick and Easy Cabob- Easy one cut shrimp, avocado, and zucchini into small pieces. Get toothpicks and stab a shrimp, avocado, and zucchini…a quick little version of paleo sushi and tastes wonderful! Use any vegetable that you like.

14. Raw Nut Mix – Almonds, cashews, walnuts – through in some organic dried cranberries or blueberries!

Some of these are my own creation and some  I have linked you recipes to other helpful nutrition blogs that I follow. Feel free to share this with your family and friends! Eating healthy isn’t so bad when you have good food to eat. Eat to fuel your body and not for pleasure. Learning to do this will change your life forever!

Garden Fresh Salad

Adding some juice in your regular diet will change your life! I know what your thinking, “I already drink juice on a regular basis.” Maybe so, but the juice I am talking does not consist of a liter of Juicy Juice or those little poison packets of Capri Sun. I am talking real juices that contain the live enzymes and nourishment that our body needs to be health and perform. With that being said, it is nearly impossible to go to a grocery store (whole food stores included) and purchase a juice that is full life. So where do you get the super juice? Let me tell you…

Juicing is the topic of this blog post. By juicing I mean extracting all the essential vitamins and minerals out of organic produce and getting them to a liquid state. Morgan and I have been juicing a lot, and I mean like a scary amount of concoctions from fruits and vegetables that have no business being blended together. This might sound crazy but juiced broccoli, carrots, apples, mango, spinach, kale, and ginger together the other day…sounds gross right? Well, it was the most AMAZING thing I have ever tasted! I could literally feel the live enzymes going to work in my body. I posted the lime green mixture on the Burn Boot Camp Facebook Page and all of the BBC moms told me I was crazy! Long story short…juicing is the healthiest habit anyone can adopt!

Why is Juicing So Important?

Vegetables were not meant to be heated up. Did you know that when you apply heat to any food you lose over 50% of the nutrients the food in comprised of? When we cook chicken breast over 50% of the protein in the meat is destroyed from the heat. When vegetables are exposed to heat the nutritional value (including live enzymes) are cut in half.

Another reason juicing is crucial in your diet is because we will NEVER maximize the speed of our metabolism by eating cooked and processed foods. These foods are not meant to go into our body, period. When they are ingested the body will attack these foods as if they are a foreign attack using all your white blood cells (body’s immunity cell) thus lowering your white blood cell count! If you can convert your diet to consist of 51% raw whole foods you body will maximize metabolism and not trigger a white blood cell invasion. When our white blood cells don’t have to tend to our food they can be defending bacteria and fungus in the body like they are supposed to!

Not Convinced Yet?

If that is not enough reason to start juicing, how about this…certain regiments of juicing have literally cured cancer! There are several  medical journals from the 1950’s proving that raw juicing is very strongly linked to curing several types of cancer. Why haven’t there been any studies since the 1950’s stating this? Believe it or not, there have been thousands of cases recorded but the United States Government banned these studies from being publish! That is a topic for another day, but if you want to learn all about raw foods and their link to disease prevention I highly recommend you watch the documentary, Food Matters.

So go out and get a juicer and start living a healthier life today!

What is the Best Juicer? 

Breville, Two Speed Juicer ===>> Check it out here!

Check Out These 15 Excellent Juicing Recipes for Immunity, Digestion, Weight Loss, Detoxifying, Cleansing, Metabolism, Curbing Cravings, and Overall Health!

Super Juice Recipe (My Go-To)

Recipe #1

• 1 Organic Kale Bunch  (Substitute: Spinach Bunch or one whole Cabbage)
• 1 Organic Collard Greens Bunch  (Substitute: Dandelion Greens Bunch)
• 1 Organic Celery Bunch
• 1 Organic Cucumber
• 6 Organic Carrots
• 2 Organic Tomatoes
• 2 Organic Lemons
• 1 Organic Apple  (Substitute: Pear or Mango)
• 1 Handful of Organic Blueberries (Substitute: Blackberries)

Single Serving of Super Juice

• ¼ Kale Bunch
• ¼ Collard Greens Bunch
• 2 Celery stalks
• ¼ of a Cucumber
• 1 to 2 carrots
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Lemon
• ½ Apple
• Small Handful of Blueberries

Detoxifying and Cleansing Recipes

Recipe # 2:

• 4 carrots, tops and tails chopped off
• 4 stalks celery
• A handful of parsley including the stems
• 1 small organic zucchini chopped but not peeled
• 1/2 of a beet
• 1/4 grapefruit peeled

Recipe # 3:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• A bunch each of green kale, spinach, collard greens and water cress
• 1 tomato
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 carrots

Recipe #4:

• 2 organic peaches, cut in half, seeds removed
• 1 organic apple
• 2 oranges, peeled
• 1/2 cup blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries

For these recipes you will need to use a juicer. If you don’t have a juicer, you can use a plastic citrus juicer for the citrus items and blend the remaining items in a blender. After you’ve blended all of your fruits and vegetables, strain them with a strainer or using cheesecloth to get as much of the juice out as possible. You may need to double the recipe in order to extract more juice. Here are a couple of easy recipes that don’t require a juicer:

Recipe #5:
1 large pink grapefruit
1 large orange
3 tomatoes
1 cucumber

After juicing the grapefruit and orange with a citrus juicer, blend the tomatoes and cucumber in a blender and strain the juice. Add the tomato and cucumber juice to the citrus juices and stir well.

Recipe #6:

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 beet, peeled with the tops and tails chopped off and cut into small pieces
• 1 bunch of spinach or kale
• 1/2 of a bell pepper
• 1/2 small lemon
• 1/4 cup of water

Blend the tomatoes in a blender, strain the juice, place in a large glass or container and set aside. Blend (with a 1/8 cup of water) or use a food processor to “juice” the beet, strain it and add it to the tomato juice. Blend the spinach, bell pepper and lemon with the remaining water. When well blended, strain the juice with a strainer or cheesecloth and add it to the tomato and beet juice mixture. You may add a dash of cayenne pepper for flavor.

Super Immune Boosting Recipes

Super Immune Booster

Recipe #7:

• 1 apple
• 4-6 carrots ( depending on size)
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup parsley

Super Immune Shot

Recipe #8:

• 1-2 limes ( or more.. enough to get about 2 ounces of juice)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic

Blend in blender.  I prefer this remedy poured into a shot glass
so i can quickly shoot it down!

Super Immune Burn

Recipe #9:

• beet root
• ginger

If juicing with masticating juicer add about 3/4 beet root to 1/4 ginger and experiment to your desired “heat” tolerance from the ginger. If in blender add a little water or lemon juice. Shouldn’t be more than a few ounces as this is designed to be taken in a shot glass.

Juicing for Weight Loss: Veggies

Speedy Digestion

Recipe #10:

• 3 carrots
• 1 tomato
• 1 stalk of broccoli
• 1/4 head of cabbage

Juice everything and spritz with some lemon juice if desired.

Healthy Snack

Recipe #11:

• 4 stalks celery
• 1 beet
• Handful of spinach
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cucumber

Green Metabolism Energizer

Recipe #12:

• 2 green apples
• 1 cucumber
• 1 lemon
• Handful kale
• Handful Spinach
• Handful flat leaf parsley
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/4 bulb fennel
• 1/3 head romaine lettuce
• 1 small piece ginger

Run each item through your juicer, and stir or shake before serving.

Perfect Green Juice

Recipe #13:

• 1 stalk broccoli
• 1 cucumber
• 1 beet
• 1 inch wheatgrass
• 1 handful spinach
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1 apple (optional)

Juice everything and enjoy!

Green Juice for Controlling Cravings

Recipe #14:

• 3 celery stalks
• ½ cucumber
• 1 apple ( green of course!)
• 2 large handfuls of spinach

Greens Apple Celery Lemon

Recipe #15:

• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 1 apple ( green of course!)
• ½ lemon
• 2 celery stalks

What do you eat then? Your pre-workout meals should consist of GOOD fats and high in protein. Good fats burn fat and bad fats store extra blubber. Use pure sources of good fat mixed with pure sources of protein for optimal fat burning and mental focus. When we think of good fats with we think of Olive Oil and Canola Oil for the most part, right?

Did you know this?  – When heated over 160 degrees F Olive Oil actually turns into a Trans Fat (GREASE)! 160 degrees is about the “2” setting on your stove top burners! Thought you were eating healthy?

– We have all heard of the Canola Plant, right? Wrong, no you haven’t because there is no such thing! Canola Oil is manufactured in Canada and stands for the Canadian Oil Low Acid and was nick named Canola Oil to trick us. This oil is hydrogenated and basically the same as vegetable oil. So choose GOOD fats!

Here is a couple ideas of pre-workout meals that will optimize fat burning:

1.3 Scrambled Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg cooked with 1 TBSP of Coconut Oil (Good to add spinach)

2. Full Fat Butter Spread on Ezekiel Bread Toast (non-pasteurized)

3. Pina Colada Smoothie-

•  ½ cup crushed organic pineapple in juice
•  ¼ cup full fat cottage cheese (non-pasterized)
• 1/2 cup Almond Milk
• ¼ tsp coconut oil
• ¼ Natural Vanilla Flavor
• 3-4 ice cubes

4. Breakfast in a Cup –

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup Almond Milk(use more or less to adjust to desired consistency)
• 1/2 cup Almond Butter
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• dash organic cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla
• 1 cup spinach (optional)

5. Shaklee Protein Meal Bar – To research ingredients go here =====>> Shaklee Cinch Bar

Does it shock you that eating fat actually burns fat? Go ahead and type “pre-workout meals” into Google right now and see how many say eat “slow burning” carbohydrates! Not to worry thought because I always got your back!

Forward this to your friends that cook with Olive Oil and think they are being healthy!