http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

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http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

A new study from researchers at North Carolina State University looked at best-selling cookbooks and found that 99.7 percent of recipes don’t address food-related risks. Is this a problem?

The study, published in the British Food Journal, looked at 1,749 recipes containing “raw animal ingredients” from 29 cookbooks featured on the New York Times best-sellers list. The team looked at the following three things: If the recipe says to cook a dish to a specific internal temperature, if the temperature provided is accurate, and if any food-safety cooking myths are perpetuated. Of the recipes, only 8 percent (123 recipes) stated the internal temperature.

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Every office has an anonymous, agile employee who steals other people’s delicious food from the communal kitchen. Those delicious meatballs you made for lunch? Gone. That bottle of gatorade you brought to work because you’re a little hungover from happy hour the night before? Vanished. Maybe you’ve been the victim of such an offense, or maybe you’re the office perpetrator.

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

(Image credit: Ellie Arciaga Lillstrom)

From Apartment Therapy → 7 Home Habits Scientifically Proven to Make You Happier

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

Deviled eggs are perfect party food. They are small and delicious, and you don’t need a plate to eat them. The only problem is that they can be a pain to display on a table or transport to someone else’s home for a potluck. Sometimes the eggs fall to their side, or get squished in transportation. What are you supposed to do?

If you’re dreading making deviled eggs for Easter or another spring party, I have a budget-friendly option for you: Right now Amazon is selling two deviled egg trays for just $8.

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http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

It always starts with coffee, doesn’t it? When you’re introduced to a new food, a new way of eating, a new culture and its cuisine, there are so many gateways, but for me it always seems to be coffee. Sooty and astringent in Turkey, café bonbóns in Spain, and then giant saucers of café con leche in a now-closed Cuban restaurant — La Rosita — that used to sit on Broadway and 108th. That restaurant is where I was first introduced to Cuban food — by way of breakfast.

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http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

 I’ve entitled my story as an ‘Almost’ Success Story because my story is not yet complete. After having lost 50 kilos (just over 100 pounds), I still have about 10 or 15 kilos to go.

Can I say that while I don’t consider myself Paleo (mainly because I don’t believe in evolution, so I’m pretty sure that disqualifies me….lol), but I do appreciate the articles on all the individual foods that have helped me make healthful choices in what I eat and how many carbs I consume. They have been invaluable, and I am so very grateful for this community and especially for Mark and all he does to help people on their journey to good health. I have adopted the low-carb way of eating (between 50 and 150g daily), and I believe this has been the key to my success. I seldom eat anything refined or highly processed, and I eat all dairy.

For me, it all started after I got a blood test back on October 10, 2015. I was prediabetic at 47 Hba1C, had a slightly fatty liver, and my triglycerides were 2.9 mmol/L. I was also experiencing gout in my big toe (OUCH!), my hips would burn in pain after walking anywhere, I was barely able to move without feeling discomfort, and I had IBS which pretty much ruled my life (as any of you with that condition can attest to). When I got my blood tests back, I remember saying out loud (I was the only one in the room), “I am NOT going to get old and sick!” (I was 48). I had tried so many diets and failed. I, like many of you, had had some successes on the typical LF/HC diets commonly recommended, but I could never stick at it long term. Cravings were simply insatiable, and, let’s face it, who has the superhuman willpower needed to be able to apply it every single day for the rest of your life, which is what one needs to do if one is going to keep the weight off eating LF/HC.

I had already done quite a bit of reading on this website, and I knew controlling my carbs and eliminating highly refined/processed foods was going to be the key for me. So I began immediately. I’m an all-or-nothing girl, and I literally went through my pantry and all my cupboards and ditched everything that was now out of bounds. My darling husband, who is simply awesome, btw, was supportive from the start. After being together for 25 years, and not once with him telling me I needed to lose weight (Oh, and he is slim and 6’4″), I knew that he would eat whatever I put in front of him and never complain. Just as well, because at that stage I simply didn’t have the energy to cook two different meals every night. He has also adopted this way of eating fully, although I am stricter with my carb load than he is.

So off I went, full tilt. I remember sitting on the couch about 3 days after I started, and I said to my husband, “I feel funny….in a good way, but I can’t put my finger on it.” It took me 24 hours to realise what it was: I was no longer experiencing any cravings! Seriously, you’d think I would have recognised that instantly, but what can I tell you. I didn’t. Then, after about two weeks, I was sitting on the couch watching some telly at about 10 pm, and I said to DH, “Man, I feel so good that I could literally get up and go for a long walk!! This is so weird!!”….lol.

Can you believe that! I mean, why couldn’t my doctors have told me that? I’m very grateful for the medical profession when it comes to broken arms, surgeries, etc…but nutritionally…..forget it. Man, they are hopeless at dealing with health issues using food.

I had a blood test three months after I began. Predictably, my fatty liver disappeared, my cholesterol improved (even though I was eating way more saturated fat than I used to), and my BS had gone from 47 to 32 (barely on the start of the scale they measure with). A couple of blood tests later showed that my HDL had risen, my Triglycerides had dropped from 2.9 to 0.4!, and my BS had dropped to 26 (with a note on my tests from my doctor that you don’t get much lower than that!!). My gout has gone, as has the burning pain in my hips. The tiny skin tags all over my neck have disappeared, and, unexpectedly, but very happily, my skin really cleared up! At 48, I still had terrible skin from acne, and the colour and texture also improved.

My hobbies used to be: couch potato or anything else that involved sitting on my chuff. And my poor, enduring husband, who hunts and is as fit as the day is long, would ask if I would accompany him on the odd walk, to which I occasionally agreed out of guilt, but would struggle to complete even short walks. Now he calls me a machine as I hike with him up and down dale (and this coming from a guy who would hunt deer and pig, walking for anything up to 8 hours at a time, carrying a pack and then meat from any animal he was blessed enough to get). So I take his encouragement as a real compliment.

I also love to cycle. I don’t think I’m super fit, by any means, but I’m pretty fit. The first time we walked up Kaiti Hill together (a local landmark in my city which is a 1 kilometre hill climb), I thought I was going to have a heart attack at the top. I was heaving and sweating like the proverbial and honestly, I only shuffled up that flippen hill at a snail’s pace. But it almost killed me….lol. Now it’s like a walk in the park. Really. I love it. And we do much longer walks together.

My life has changed completely. I am, in the first, so grateful to God, and second, to the people who have encouraged me along the way, and to the people in this community who have shared their stories of encouragement, and of course, last but certainly not least, to Mark and his diligence in food research.

To anyone who is contemplating changing their eating to reduce carbs, eat whole foods, eliminate grains and sugars…..don’t wait one more day! Do it! I am turning 50 this year, but I feel like I have gotten younger!

Thank you, everyone.

The post My “Almost” Success Story appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/

Name:   Jill McLean
Age:  35
Location: Salem, Oregon

What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you?
To me it means being strong and confident on the inside and out. It means not being afraid to show off my “guns” while also wearing lipgloss. It means not being afraid to be more, to take up space and to encourage other women to do the same by lifting one another up.

How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started?
I’ve been strength training for about seven years. I first got started with a popular home DVD workout series that I borrowed from my sister-in-law. I followed that program for about nine months. I saw some great results, and that’s when people started pouring in with the “How did you do that?” questions. I quickly learned that I absolutely loved helping others find ways to get strong, and that’s when I decided that I wanted to be a personal trainer. In order to learn about the field, I decided to hire a personal trainer (who, spoiler alert, ended up becoming my best friend and business partner!). This helped me hone my craft, but it also gave me a lifting partner who was as in love with lifting heavy stuff as I was!

What does your typical workout look like?
I always start out with core and pelvic floor exercises for my warm-up. Even though I’m 16 months postpartum, I still find this a very important part of my exercise program. After that, I start getting into my lifts. Usually they include some type of body weight exercise, barbell and kettlebell exercise. The format looks a little like this:

1. Core/Power
2. Push/Pull (Upper and/or lower)
3. Finisher

A lower volume, higher intensity approach has helped me gain strength without exhausting all of my energy, which is a precious commodity these days with a toddler.

Favorite Lift:
The Turkish Get-Up. It is just a flat-out awesome exercise that makes me feel pretty badass.

Most memorable PR:
When I got a TGU with the 28kg bell on each side. This PR actually happened for me twice. Once before I had my son, and once after. Training postpartum has been a whole new animal. It’s been like training with a totally differently body that I’ve had to take time to honor and get to know. So, I’ve nicknamed my PRs after baby as PPPRs (postpartum PRs).

Top 5 songs on your training playlist:
I usually don’t workout with headphones, so whatever is playing in the gym is good enough for me. But, I usually have to stop and jam to any of five:

1. Turn Down for What – Dj Snake Feat. Lil Jon
2. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
3. Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin
4. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5
5. Sail – AWOLNATION

Top 3 things you must have with you at the gym or in your gym bag:
Lip gloss, water bottle, chalk

Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why?
I usually enjoy training with others. There’s just something about surrounding yourself with like-minded people who want to enhance their life and feel good.

The energy of a good gym is hard to beat. You never leave feeling worse.

Most embarrassing gym moment:
My husband and I met at the gym where we both worked. Normally, I work out in the evening, but because I knew he would be working out there at the same time, I started doing my lifts at lunchtime to you know, impress him with my dedication and super sweet moves of course. I had band-assisted pull-ups in my program, so I got up on the box and went to slide the band around my  heel, only I missed! The band snapped me right in the crotch. So, there I stood with one leg on the box and the other hiked up to the heavens in the band looking at my crush. He didn’t rush over to help me, just stared. And I blurted out, “I’m fine!” No worries, he married me anyway.

Most memorable compliment you’ve received lately:
“You’ve been kicking butt. I’m proud of you.” A compliment from my cousin Heidi on my progress with my business lately, which means a lot to me because entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart!

Most recent compliment you gave someone else:
“I am diggin’ those pants!” A compliment I gave another woman at the gym who was wearing these awesome red workout pants that I totally dug.

Favorite meal:
Paleo pizza, hands down!

Favorite way to treat yourself:
I love getting pedicures. I could just fall asleep in those comfy chairs.

Favorite quote:
“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”
— Edmund Lee

Favorite book:
I am a big Stephen King fan. My favorite book is The Stand. It’s unbelievably long (1,153 pages in the uncut version), and I read it in one summer. It had me riveted, and I cried near the end.

What inspires and motivates you?  
Other strong women. I’ve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of years really finding my tribe. Just like one of your awesome T-shirts says, “Strong women lift each other up.”

I’ve surrounded myself with strong women, and it has truly inspired me to do things that I would have never done before.

I’ve already spent too much time playing small and taking up less space. Spending time with strong women has helped me reach beyond my borders, find my true potential and dream big! Because…..why not?! Go for it!

What do you do?
I co-own a personal training business with my best friend Cara Turnquist called Movement Duets. We specialize in pre and postnatal training with a focus on core and pelvic floor health. We’ve been running our signature online group training program Fit Mom Foundations for about a year and recently started offering in-person training services in Salem, Oregon as well. I also work part-time as a chiropractic assistant.

What else do you do?
This should come as no surprise but my main hobby is weight lifting! I love challenging myself to reach new PRs. I also compete in the Highland Games, which is an awesome extension of what I already love to do. The difference is that not only do I get to lift heavy stuff, I also get to let it go! It’s awesomely therapeutic, and the Highland Games community is filled with some of the kindest and most amazing people that you will ever meet. I also recently started going out line dancing with Cara which is super fun because the place we go to offers lessons at 7:30 p.m. and we’re home by 10:00 p.m. Perfect for us, because #grandmastatus. I’m not the best at it, but at the very least I can follow directions, not run into people, and have a lot of fun.

Describe a typical day in your life:
I wake up around 6 a.m., hop in the shower, and get ready for the day. After that, my son Jack usually wakes up, and we have a quiet nursing session. This is also when I check my task list for the business, to make sure that I know what I need to have done for the day. Then Jack and I both eat breakfast, and I get him ready for the day. After dropping him off at the babysitter’s house, I head to the gym where Cara and I teach our Mommy and Me classes, pre/postnatal strength training classes, mobility classes, and do individual training sessions and table work. After work my husband (Sam) and I regroup at home with Jack to eat lunch. We usually take a little down time before going back to the gym for my own workout. After that, we head home for the day. Jack usually goes down for a nap in the afternoon and this is when I get my writing for done (blogs, emails, social media posts, etc.). After my writing work is done, the rest of the evening is dedicated to family time.

Your next training goal:
32kg Turkish Get-Up on each side. I’m coming for ya!

What are you most grateful for?
I’m most grateful for my husband and son. Ever since the day that I met my Sam he put me first. He always goes out of his way to make sure that I’m taken care of and that I feel special. When I said that I wanted to quit my full-time job to pursue building up my business, he barely even flinched. He said that I had to go for it. He’s been supportive every step of the way. He also helped give me the greatest gift that I  could ever ask for, our son, Jack.

What life accomplishment are you most proud of?
Giving birth! The labor and delivery of my son changed me in a million and one ways. I never knew that I was capable of such an amazing miracle.

Which three words that best describe you?
Funny. Strong. Kind.

What’s a risk you’ve taken recently, and how did it turn out?
I had been working full time at a corporate gym for almost three years when I even first thought about starting a business with my best friend. When I was about to go on maternity leave, my boss at the time gave me an ultimatum: when I was ready to return to work, I was either to work solely for his company or my business. Even though I wasn’t taking home a paycheck from it and it had absolutely zero security, I chose my business. Cara and I went all-in. We shaped and molded this beautiful business of helping moms and moms-to-be have fit, healthy pregnancies, successful postpartum recoveries and strength and support during this transitional time in their lives. Our business continues to build, grow, and change and it’s absolutely amazing seeing how it all continues to unfold.

What’s the coolest “side effect” you’ve noticed from strength training?
Getting strong on the outside and seeing that strength seep into all other aspects of my life. It truly inspires self confidence and strength on the inside as well.

How has lifting weights changed your life?
If it weren’t for me borrowing that workout DVD set from my sister-in-law, I never would have ended up where I am today. I never would have seen what my body can do. I never would have pursued a career in the fitness industry. I never would have worked at the gym where I met my best friend and husband. I never would have started my business. I never would have shared my story with others.

Lifting weights changed everything. Absolutely everything.

When did you start the Moms Gone Strong, why did you decide to start, and what helped you make the decision to start?
I started the Moms Gone Strong program when I was 29 weeks pregnant. I decided to start the program because I knew that how I had been exercising before pregnancy wasn’t necessarily appropriate for how I should be exercising during or even after for a while! I believe that every good coach should have a coach, and as a trainer myself, it was really nice to not have to think about my workouts or do my own programming. I was so excited to hear that this was something that GGS was now going to be offering that I couldn’t not do it! It was really great to work so closely with Molly and Jessie during the pilot program, and at 16 months postpartum I’m still continuing to work with Jessie.

What was your biggest challenge in the Moms Gone Strong program? 
My biggest challenge was my ego. Haha. Prior to becoming pregnant I was already a regular exerciser, and I loved heavy lifting. It was hard for me to let go of heavy lifting for a while, but it was the right thing to do for me and my body. I found my way back to it safely.

Throughout my pregnancy the “I can” vs. “I should” struggle was constant.

What has been your biggest success from the Moms Gone Strong program?
One of the things that my mom friends have told me throughout the years is that after having a baby I should expect to pee my pants. I refused to believe that this had to be the case. I was diligent about my core and pelvic floor exercises and not placing too much stress on my core and pelvic floor, and I am happy to report that it paid off! I’ve had minimal postpartum issues, and I can say with conviction that peeing your pants after you have a baby might be common, but it is not normal. Prevention and healing can happen!

What do you like best about the Moms Gone Strong community?
Motherhood can be really, really lonely if you let it be. I really struggled with depression during the first few months after my son was born. Having a community of like-minded women who relate, love, and support you throughout this crazy journey of motherhood made a huge difference. No more crying alone and Googling, “Is it normal to….?” I just leaned in and asked my sisters.

What is the habit you’re currently working on most?
Continuing to do safely do more heavy lifting that’s appropriate for my postpartum body.

How has Moms Gone Strong changed your life? 
It brought on so much more body awareness on my part. It helped me to really tune in and learn what “listen to your body” truly means. It’s helped me make smart decisions about exercising during pregnancy and after. And it’s introduced me to so many amazing women.

What would you tell a woman who’s nervous about starting Moms Gone Strong?
Whether you’re a regular gym goer or a first time exerciser, this program meets you where you are. The programming is smart so you don’t have to wonder if you’re doing the “right” things, and the community is a safe place to come as you are and get support along the way.

What do you want to say to women, in general, who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training?
I know what it’s like to walk into a gym and not know where the heck to start. I’ve been the one who walked around the weight room, reading all of the instructions on the different machines and hesitantly trying them out, hoping that no one was looking at me. Don’t let fear keep you from starting. Go with a friend. Hire a trainer. Reach out, don’t hide out. You never know how picking up a weight might change your life. It certainly changed mine.

The post GGS Spotlight: Jill McLean appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.