Yesterday was only the sixth or seventh time I’ve strength trained in the last eight weeks. Yes, that’s less than once a week over the past two months. I’ve done some walking here and there, but I’d be lying if I told you I’ve been moving my body regularly.
In fact, this is literally the least amount of physical activity I’ve done in the last 13 years.
What can I say? Life got crazy-busy in every possible direction. I’ve had:
book releases
in-person events
GGS stuff
family stuff
personal stuff
life stuff
… and it’s all been really effin’ hard.
Not only have I not had the time to work out, my desire to work out has been low, too. I simply haven’t had the time — or the energy to make the time.
Many moons ago, if I had gone to the gym less than once a week for two months, my lack of movement would have been accompanied by a food free-for-all (and by that I mean eating all the things). It would have also sent me down a self-loathing shame spiral…
“What’s wrong with you?” “Why can’t you just get yourself to the gym?” “A fitness pro who doesn’t work out? You’re a sham!” “Well if you’re not going to work out, what’s the point in eating well?”
But it hasn’t been like that. I’ve been eating the same way I always eat (save for a very strange three-day Brussel sprouts and Mike and Ike phase I went through back in March). Meat, veggies, chips, queso, fruit, eggs, Halo Top, fats, and my fair share of Chipotle and big-ass salads.
As for my inner dialogue about not working out?
Well, there hasn’t really been any of that chatter from my past. It just is what it is at this moment. While I’m looking forward to getting back into a regular routine, I am certain that my self-worth, my gifts, and my abilities as a fitness professional have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I’ve hardly worked out in two months.
I’m not worried about “getting back on the wagon” because there is no wagon to drag myself back onto. (By the way, doesn’t that sound exhausting? Getting back on the wagon after you’ve “fallen off.” Ugh. No thanks!)
I will simply start going back to the gym regularly as soon as my schedule and energy allow, and it will be no big deal because it doesn’t matter if I go to the gym today, or go to the gym tomorrow. It matters that I’m still moving my body twenty years from now.
I don’t need to shame myself into “getting back in shape.” I don’t need to berate myself for being a bit weaker in some of the lifts. And I certainly don’t need to crush myself as punishment for taking some time off when other priorities have demanded my time and attention. In fact, in my experience, feeling the need to do these things to “make up for” taking a break is one reason why people are so hesitant to get started again. It feels like punishment. It’s no wonder people take a short break from working out and then wake up one day and realize it’s been years since they moved their bodies.
As for me? I’ll be honest. It took a long time to get to a place where my self-worth wasn’t wrapped up in what I’m eating, how I’m exercising, or what my body looks like.
It took a very long time, but it has been one of the most worthwhile journeys of my life because it has freed up my mental and emotional energy to focus on other things. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why I feel so passionate about our Strongest You Coaching program because that’s exactly what we help women do. It’s a nine-month group coaching program designed to help women heal their relationship with food and their bodies, and help them discover a way of eating and exercising that enhances their life instead of ruling their life.
This is not a quick-fix diet, or a 30-day shred, or a “6 weeks to a new you” program.
It’s the complete opposite. Strongest You Coaching has helped so many women step off the diet roller coaster and start living their lives how they were meant to be lived — eating and moving their bodies in a sustainable way that they actually enjoy!
If you’re sick of starting over, and you’re ready to find peace once and for all, you can fill out an application here. Registration closes TOMORROW NIGHT and spots are already going fast!
In our Strongest You Coaching program, we help women just like you reach their health, physique, and mindset goals. Strongest You Coaching is about more than just training and nutrition. It’s about changing your self-talk and inner dialogue, learning to let fitness enhance your life instead of rule your life, and finally healing your relationship with food and your body, all with the help of your Girls Gone Strong Coach, and your fellow Strongest You Coaching group.
Strongest You Coaching is a 9-month online group coaching program that gives you tools to succeed and puts the power to make lasting changes in your hands. We teach you how to finally eat and exercise in a way that you love so you can sustain it forever.
We only open up this program 2-3 times a year and it always sells out fast. If you’re interested, make sure you grab your spot now!
Love the idea of hosting brunch, but begin to regret it the moment your friends start recalling their hilarious evening while you toil over a pan of bacon grease? Join the club. While I don’t host brunch often, when I do, I frame my entire menu around the fact that I don’t want to spend the whole morning in the kitchen. Sure, that chorizo and leek omelet is fantastic at your local eatery, but are you a short-order cook? No. Skip the omelets and spend time with your friends.
Here are seven tips to host a brunch without stress, and without getting up at 5 am to prep.
This is a darn fine coffee cake, with a sweet vanilla cake, generous streusel and nuts throughout, and a cinnamon-vanilla aroma that will make your house smell better than a bakery. Oh, and the cake part still only requires one bowl, thanks to our one-bowl vanilla cake.That first cup of coffee is starting to look even better.
There are a few luxuries that can make your kitchen instantly seem like it belongs in a Michelin-star chef’s home: a gorgeous range, plenty of counter space, and a seriously impressive refrigerator. When it comes to the latter, how do you decide whether you should get a built-in or if a freestanding fridge will do? The cost will play a huge role in helping you decide. Other key factors? Aesthetics and how much space you have, for sure.
Keep reading to check out the pros and cons of a freestanding fridge versus a built-in one.
Date syrup is a thick, caramel-colored sweetener made from dates. You may have seen it on the shelves in your local health food store, as many cooks embrace it as an alternative sweetener. Date syrup is incredibly easy to make at home, can be more affordable than store-bought, and has the lush caramel hue and heady date flavor of its namesake fruit.
Here is everything you need to know about making date syrup at home.
As the weather warms up and lazy cooking is the only kind of cooking you want to do, no-bake dessert recipes reign supreme. I mean, why would you even bother to turn on the oven when there are things like no-bake key lime cupcakes or icebox cake? There are so many wonderfully easy recipes that you need to try this summer that go beyond a fruit pie.
If you’re just getting into the no-bake mindset, I want to help you out. I found the most popular no-bake dessert recipe on Pinterest and it also happens to be an excellent party dip. Have you tried it?
In response to my post on oral health a few weeks ago, one reader offered a comment about the oral biome, and it’s a worthy follow-up, I’d say.
The human oral cavity is home to hundreds of microorganisms. Latest estimates place the number of bacterial species in your mouth at close to 700, with the odd fungus, protozoa and even virus thrown in for good measure. This oral microbiome isn’t a whole lot different than that of our gut, but where things get interesting is when we consider the diverse range of habitats within the mouth: teeth, tongue, cheeks, gums, tonsils. All provide different living conditions for those microorganisms that colonize them, but that diversity of habitats also encourages a diversity of species.
And it’s fair to say that human microbiological research as a whole began with the mouth. In 1683, Dutch businessman and self-taught scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek scraped off a bit of plaque from his teeth, slotted it under his home-made microscope, and was the first person ever to physically see his own bacteria. Suddenly, one’s body was no longer wholly one’s own.
Since then, the study of oral microbiology has waxed and waned, but in recent years the topic has been a hotbed of activity in the scientific sphere. While the health of your gut flora is important, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that so, too, is the health of your mouth flora.
What Is the Function of the Oral Microbiome?
By now, you’ve firmly wrapped your head around the importance of homeostasis. As hocus-pocus as it sounds, achieving equilibrium in the body is critical to maintaining robust health.
This Zen-like mantra applies whole-heartedly to the oral microbiome. In a healthy mouth, your microflora and their by-products play an essential role in the salivary immune system, bravely warding off pathogenic invasion down your throat and into your nether regions. These microscopic communities also aid in digestion, protect your teeth against acidic foods and substances, and process vitamins that are critical to our general health.
The little guys in your mouth can even play a role in odors. That glass of red smell a bit off? It could be that your oral community is haywire, rather than a crappy cork or a blast of sulfites.
And the party doesn’t end in your mouth. Research published a couple of years ago demonstrated that the small microbial population of the human lungs are populated, at least in large part, by the same microbiota occupying our mouth. It seems that the lungs, and presumably other parts of the body, “borrow” bacteria from the mouth to ensure they’re meeting their biological quota. Studies have even shown that the placental microbiome more closely resembles that of the mouth than any other part of the body. In this way, the mouth acts as a biodiversity reservoir for the rest of the body.
When Your Oral Environment Is “Off”
Back in 1929, an article published in the Journal of the American Dental Association entitled “Animal Parasites of the Mouth” first suggested that these might directly contribute to dental disease. Of those dental diseases, periodontal disease and gingivitis are the big players, and in fact contribute to the second most common human infection: dental cavities. (hint: the common cold is, not surprisingly, takes top billing).
Slowly, our understanding of the dynamics of oral disease is improving. After years of research, scientists can now use changes in the oral microbiome to predict the onset of dental cavities, months before those cavities become visible. Research has also shown that the development of oral microbiota is directly correlated to age, meaning the older one gets, the more diverse their oral microbiome should be. Those who develop cavities, however, invariably have a less mature (and hence less diverse) microbiome.
Take pancreatic cancer, for example. Research shows that those with significant counts of P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans in the mouth have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. A predominance of Fusobacteria and its genus Leptotrichia, on the other hand, is associated with a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer. It’s not coincidence.
And while the linkages between our oral microbiota and systemic disease may vary, there’s likely one thing they all have in common: our old nemesis—inflammation. Pathogenic species like P. gingivalis promote inflammation in the mouth, thereby contributing to oral disease, but they also exacerbate inflammation in the rest of the body.
Other typical pathogenic bad boys, like Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, produce much the same inflammatory effect. And considering that oral strains have been found in other far off parts of the body, it’s not overly surprising.
The Decline of the Modern Oral Microbiome
A study published in the Journal of Nature Genetics took an interesting look at our oral microbiome history over the millennia. Using calcified dental plaque on ancient teeth, they were able to produce a living oral record through the ages. The research showed that the two major shifts in oral microbiological biodiversity occurred first when we shifted from hunter-gathering to farming, and again when we started mass-producing flour and sugar during and after the Industrial Revolution.
It was at this point that our oral microbiomes became dominated by cariogenic bacteria, and it’s been a slippery slope ever since. As the research team concluded, “modern oral microbiotic ecosystems are markedly less diverse than historic populations, which might be contributing to chronic oral (and other) disease in postindustrial lifestyles.”
On a lighter note, dental archaeology has revealed some seriously interesting details not only about our own ancestors, but about our close cousins the Neanderthals. DNA extracted from the teeth of five Neanderthals in northern Spain suggests that they may have been pursuing the odd “intimate liaison” with our own human ancestors. How’d they figure that one out? By identifying the presence of a microbe that causes gum disease in modern humans. Not only does this tell us that these folks enjoyed inter-species partnering from time to time, but more to the point, it indicates that many of the microbes in our current oral microbiome were already present at least 50,000 years ago, albeit in a more diverse fashion.
Which brings us around to something else of interest. Inter-species kisses aside, scientists have now shown that an average of 80 million bacteria are swapped between kissers, with those of the French kissing inclination are probably swapping a whole lot more than that. I’ll leave that for your consideration.
It Comes Down to Balance
A traditional Western take on things is to create two mental bins: one for positive, and one for negative. Then, based on popular consensus, our minds thriftily compartmentalize the phenomena in our lives into one of the two bins. That thing is either good or bad – there’s no middle ground.
Primal thinking dictates a shift away from this black and white view of the world. We recognize that there’s rarely hard and fast “good and bad,” but more a sliding scale that becomes less desirable the further we move away from balance. When homeostasis is achieved, our health flourishes, while the opposite can be said for the outer fringes of that scale.
This, as it happens, is a great way to view the oral microbiome. Far from CW’s anti-microbial standpoint, I’ve already mentioned the diverse and critical roles that the microorganisms in our mouths play in our overall health. When the scale shifts, however, we see an overabundance of pathogenic bacteria, influential in both dental and systemic disease.
It’s that tilt of the scale that we want to avoid. And to avoid it, we need to understand just what’s going on in the microbial communities on our teeth, tongue, gums and cheeks.
Take plaque, for example. One study found that rather than just being composed of blobs of malicious organisms, plaque is actually a highly organized collection of both symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria and fungi that changes over time.
Layer upon layer of microorganisms attach themselves to the tooth, with each layer creating just the right conditions for the next species to move in and set up shop. It’s a very structured system of early colonizers, bacterial yeomen, and microbial aristocrats that are insulated by the vagaries of the mouth through their protective layers of insubordinates.
As with any ecological community, all the species have their place and (in the right amounts) ensure homeostasis is maintained within the mouth. It’s when the pathogenic species, like P. gingivalis, S. mutans and C. albicans, gain the upper hand that things start to go downhill. The key, then, is to encourage all species to live in relative harmony, like one big happy family.
Supporting a Healthy Oral Biome
On the one hand, we have many dentists advocating mechanical abrasion (aka brushing and flossing) as the only way to keep the pathogenic bacteria on your teeth and gums in check. On the other, there are those who recognize the amazingly beneficial role that certain microorganisms play in maintaining a healthy oral (and whole-body) environment. Those people recognize that brushing isn’t selective, and along with mouthwash and fluoride toothpastes, it’s wiping out ALL the bacteria, bad AND good. Kind of like antibiotics do elsewhere in the body.
Studies indicate that beneficial oral bacteria have a far harder time re-establishing themselves in the mouth after disturbance than do pathogenic bacteria. Think of the pathogenic types as weeds—they thrive on disturbance, and can easily out-compete the slower growing beneficial microorganisms under stressful conditions.
With this in mind, it seems prudent to advocate for less of a scorched earth style of oral hygiene and more of a supportive, equilibrium-restoring approach.
Diet
If the study I mentioned earlier that examined the change in our dental health over time is anything to go by, turning back the clock and returning to a more Paleolithic (i.e. Primal) style of eating should encourage a more diverse oral microbiome. I also can’t help but think that opting for organic produce would help to re-introduce many symbiotic or commensal microorganisms to our mouths that would otherwise cease to exist on sprayed fruits and veggies. A little dirt in some cases might not be a bad choice either.
Beyond dietary variation, look to alkalizing, nutrient-rich, anti-inflammatory foods to support a healthy microbiome. Anecdotally at least, vitamin C intake appears to be positively correlated with a health oral microbiome, along with A, D, K2 and CoQ10.
Like our gut and other microbiomes of the body, the bacteria living within our mouths behave diurnally, which is to say they’re most active during the day and switch into “maintenance mode” during the night. But that diurnal pattern isn’t driven by light (it’s virtually always dark in there), but by our eating patterns. Since we don’t generally eat during the night, the bacteria in our mouths are rearing to go in the morning at breakfast time and begin to wind-down after dinner every evening.
With this in mind, eating regularity is key. Studies show that disruption to the normal circadian order of things via the likes of jet lag, can dramatically alter the composition of not only your gut microbiome, but your oral one as well. The result is dysbiosis, and, in the gut at least, scientists have found an increase in certain bacteria linked to obesity in people who have flown long distances and hence skipped a few time zones.
“Regularity” might simply mean confining all of your daily eating to certain hours of the day (i.e. an 8 a.m.-6 p.m. window—or shorter), or it could mean imposing Victorian-style meal times of breakfast at 8, lunch at 12 and dinner at 6. And for those frequent fliers who spend the odd day or three abroad, perhaps maintaining a regularity of eating that mimics your home time zone, regardless of what time of day it is at your destination, might be worth the hassle.
The same might apply to variable shift workers. With a notable lack of studies in this area, it’s up to you to experiment and see how your mouth responds.
And remember, saliva is your friend, so keep hydrated. More saliva will have a buffering effect on your teeth, and promote a healthier ratio of beneficial bacteria.
Lifestyle
There’s not a lot here that will surprise you. Stress results in dysbiosis of the gut, and it does the same in the oral microbiome. While studies are notably lacking on the effect of stress on the human oral microbiome, work done on squirrels gives a good indication. Maintaining an oral bacterial equilibrium, which is critical to oral and systemic health, means keeping chronic stress to a minimum.
Then there’s smoking. Those nasty warning pictures on cigarette packaging really don’t exaggerate, and the detrimental effects of cigarettes have been shown to extend to the bacteria living in our mouths. More smoking means a greater frequency of pathogenic species.
Oral Treatments
We’ve now drifted into contentious waters. Conventional oral “hygiene” suggests cleanliness, but what is a clean tooth? There are plenty within alternative health spheres who believe that a certain amount of plaque is a good thing, provided it doesn’t get out of hand. OraWellness, who I mentioned a few weeks ago, is one of those groups. Yet, while it does make sense, I’ve struggled to find evidence to substantiate these claims. Who’s going to fund a study that advocates a shift away from toothpaste, toothbrushes, and the billions of dollars they haul in every year?
Once again, I find myself taking the middle ground. I brush, but not too hard, and I don’t stress if I miss a round from time to time. I stay away from fluoride, strong antibacterials, and conventional toothpaste in general. I continue to floss daily. And I’ll swish with salt water on a regular basis. It’s a simple strategy, but it works.
The takeaway here is likewise uncomplicated. Your oral health is what you make it. Diversifying your diet, eating Primally and regularly, minimizing stress, and adopting a more holistic oral care regime will go a long way towards sustaining oral and whole health.
Thanks for reading, folks. Have you discovered anything about the oral microbiome or good oral care that I haven’t covered? Comments to add? Questions? Share them on the board, and have a good end to your week.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
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First, I want to say thank you for convincing me to do Tabata! I was struggling to lose weight and Finally I found something that helped! I really appreciate your coaching! - Craig T.
Ever since I was convinced to do Tabata I have seen huge results, I lost 6 pounds and gained energy in the first 3 weeks. I have been working out for 3 months before I decided to do Tabata and I struggled to lose weight.
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The first day of Tabata, I wondered WHAT AM I DOING - I AM 56 !! Five weeks later I knew that it was what I needed. I learned that I could push myself well beyond my comfort zone and feel good later. I have a marked improvement in physical as well as emotional endurance. - Lyn C.
When I was first told about Tabata I was very excited from the word go, however that excitement stemmed from the fact that I had no clue what it meant. I missed the first week of class b/c I was traveling for work so when I came in during the 2nd week I had some making it up to do.
It was hard at first b/c my body wasn't used to working out at such a fast pace, but once I got into a rhythm I started to feel very good. These classes are no joke. If you stick with it you will leave there feeling stronger, healthier and overall better about yourself and what you've accomplished.
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Yesterday was only the sixth or seventh time I’ve strength trained in the last eight weeks. Yes, that’s less than once a week over the past two months. I’ve done some walking here and there, but I’d be lying if I told you I’ve been moving my body regularly.
But it hasn’t been like that. I’ve been eating the same way I always eat (save for a very strange three-day Brussel sprouts and Mike and Ike phase I went through back in March). Meat, veggies, chips, queso, fruit, eggs, Halo Top, fats, and my fair share of Chipotle and big-ass salads.
In response to my post on oral health a few weeks ago, one reader offered a comment about the oral biome, and it’s a worthy follow-up, I’d say.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
Val's Steppin it Up
