Thanksgiving Day: 5 Simple Steps to keeping to your fitness goals.

Another year has passed and its time to gather with friends and family for some fun, football and FOOD.

What have you been waiting all year to eat? I LOVE stuffing and pumpkin pie, but I’ve planned my weekly diet around my plans to indulge this holiday... Don’t let one day blow all of your hard work by following these simple steps to keeping to your fitness goals on Thanksgiving.

1. Keep regular meals outside of Thanksgiving Dinner in line with your current nutritional plans and goals.

DON'T SKIP breakfast! If you usually have eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, have egg whites and pass up oatmeal and any fruit. Keep on schedule and have your nutritional small meals 2-3 hours apart. When its time for turkey and all the fixins, ENJOY! Eat mindfully, enjoy every bite as you would any other reward meal, then get back on track. Any remaining meals or snacks, consume as your nutrition plan states.

Need a nutritional meal plan? Click here for holiday pricing and discounts...

2. Do some sort of activity the morning of to get the blood flowing and calories burning.

Get your family outside for some healthy competition. Flag football, ultimate frisbee, boot camp? Get outside, get active and start burning some calories before the big feast. 

For a fat BLASTING workout to get into Thursday morning click here!  

3. Minimize alcohol intake.

Eating outside of your usual calorie consumption is going to happen this holiday. That being the case, minimizing alcohol intake can keep healthy digestion on track. Because alcohol inhibits digestion (and therefore calories consumed are stored) our body will always attend to purifying the body of harmful alcohol toxins if it has to choose between that and digesting food.

4. Drink a lot of water.

Healthy digestion also requires adequate amounts of water. In order for your body to carry out toxins, burn fat and lubricate organs and joints, you must make hydration a priority. Not only will you cut cravings and get fuller more quickly, you’re replacing minerals lost during activities. 

5. Use your stored energy from Thanksgiving Dinner to blast major body parts in the gym on Friday.

Plan your workouts accordingly this week. Because you're going to be indulging in extra calories and carbs, use the stored energy to get an awesome workout the next day. Focus on major body groups like legs or chest and back. Do super sets with heavy weights and 20-30 minutes of interval cardio post workout.

Whatever you choose to do this Thursday, sticking to a plan will help keep you on track towards your fitness goals. Implement these 5 important steps during the holidays and come up with New Years resolutions your actually interested in following through on without the distraction of those extra pounds.

I want to wish everyone and all of the GNS followers a very special, happy Thanksgiving day. Don't forget, everyday offers the opportunity to be thankful for our blessings, relationships and so much more. Living with a heart of gratitude brings forth more joy, patience, love and LIFE than you've ever imagined. Now go work hard and enjoy your holiday!!

Best creamed cauliflower... EVER!

I can't take credit for this recipe -- but you better believe I'm bringing this to our Thanksgiving get-together. http://nomnompaleo.com/post/1657598867/best-make-ahead-side-garlic-cauliflower-mashed

Inspired Wellness by Lauren Rae

Your thoughts are in the drivers seat. Do you know where you are?

Where are you?

If you answered that question you could answer referring to your physical location as well as your mental state. What I'm interested in knowing is where are you in your life? Are you living out your life in the past? Are you absolutely focused on your future? Or are you here, in your life experiencing its richness, here and now?

Stop whatever you're doing and contemplate your current actions. 

Whatever you're doing is a representation of where your goals and priorities lie. (This goes for every moment of your life, whether you like it or not.)

Are you in the gym? Are you contemplating calling your parents? Are you reading in your field of work or study? Are you taking a nap? Are you on the ultimate distraction -- Facebook?

Whatever your current actions, its not that what you're doing is either right or wrong. Your actions are just an inclination into where your thoughts are. Taking the time to become present to your actions is just an opportunity to become curious about why you chose to take that action in the first place. Every action is a choice, even INaction is a choice. 

Now check in with yourself emotionally. Are you happy? Sad? Irritated? Bored? All of those are also a choice. I'm not saying that your feelings are bad or good.... Just another clue into where your goals (thoughts) are.

Now you're going to say to me, "Lauren - No way this is true! I don't WANT to feel frustrated and annoyed. I'm tired because I'm tired... Thats IT." What I have to say to you is, nothing happens accidentally. If you're unhappy with where you are in physical action or emotionally, something is driving you towards that (and vice versa). Perhaps its to prove to yourself that you are lazy and not good enough. Maybe its to prove that you are strong and capable. I don't know - You tell me. All I know is that when I am being true to myself and in the present moment, I know who I am and I love myself. And that is where your life really happens. When you can love yourself wherever you are and still impact the surrounding world in a positive light - You're in your life and your LIVING it.

Every moment you're alive IS your life. Not the past and not the future... So if you find yourself where you are and decide if its where you want to be.

Before you go anywhere else copy this travel-ready recipe down!

If you are in the mood for a travel-ready meal in your on-the-go life, try this healthy and easy chicken or tuna salad.

What you'll need:

2 boiled chicken breasts OR 2 cans of tuna in water

1/2 c sliced red grapes

1/4 c sliced pecans

2 tbsp finely diced red onion

2 tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt

2 tbsp hummus

salt free seasoning of choice for added flavor (I like to add a few dashes of tobacco or cayenne to spice things up.)

Add it all into a bowl! (If you're using chicken, shred it completely before the remaining ingredients.) Stir together and throw either in an Ezekiel Wrap or Tupperware and pack with some of your favorite whole grain chips.

Get Inspired Wellness :) Lauren Rae

Artificial Sweeteners: Silent KILLERS!

Halloween might be over... but watch yourself, your health is STILL in jeopardy! Liquid, solid or syrup... what is making your food and beverages sweet could be eating your brain and turning you into a zombie. 

Don't believe me? Keep reading...

Low carb diets have sparked a trend in sugar watch -- But are artificial sweeteners the answer to your sweet tooth cravings? NO! (Not unless you want toxin filled foods, over stimulated and dying brain cells, digestive issues, the generation of free radicals and the possibility of degenerative disease that is....)

You scared yet? Check these commonly used artificial sweeteners:

Aspartame - 

Would you like the pink or the blue? 50% Phenylalanine, 40% Aspartic acid, and 10% Methanol, aspartame causes rapid firing of brain neurons and can potentially cause cell death. When consumed in the packaged form, aspartame is a solid toxin. Diet soda addict? Perhaps you're addicted to the excessive neuron firing and NOT the soda or caffeine itself.

Splenda - 

AKA - Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar with no calories. Marketing Splenda as a 'natural' sugar substitute has made it a leader in artificial sweeteners worldwide. What people don't know is that it was discovered in a chemistry lab that was formulating new insecticides. Uhh yeah. It is actually the opposite of a natural sugar substitute and is classified as a cholorcarbon

Sugar Alcohol -

Sugar alcohols are the ingredients in many sports supplements and 'low carb' protein bars. These are the ingredients on a food package that end in "-itol." Including mannitol, erythritol, xylitol and sorbital. This low to no calorie form of sweetener can lead to extreme digestive upsets like, bloating, flatulence and diharrea as well as long-term issues like IBS.

So - What can you do to fight becoming an artificially sweetened zombie?

1. Read labels. On everything... be curious! Look up ingredients and their effects on your health.
2. Put DOWN the boxes, bags and cans that have a list of ingredients you can't even pronounce.
3. Eat fresh, raw natural food as it was intended to be consumed.

I do use Stevia or SweetLeaf as it is a no calorie sweetener derived from a plant and, for the moment, considered to be safe to use. 

Vanilla Creme and Irish Toffee are GREAT in coffee as well as in oatmeal, shakes and many other recipes.






Thats INSPIRED WELLNESS by Lauren Rae! Check out my facebook page and twitter for more fitness, nutrition and lifestyle tips.