Today I want to give you a brief rundown of three very life changing nutritional protocols that I’ve had some amazing success with. Each is powerful on its own as well as collectively, should you so desire. The goal here is to give you a brief overview of each, including guidelines, benefits and generally what to expect.

Have you heard of “Whole30” and thought, “What the heck is that?” Or Metabolic Typing or the term IF and knew you were getting in way over your head? Let’s get somewhat familiar with each of these and then click on the links provided to dive deeper and do some of your own research.

Whole30: Looking for a complete metabolic reset with a whole laundry list of potential health benefits? Then look no further. Whole30 promises improved body composition, higher energy levels, better quality sleep, improved athletic performance, reduced food cravings like sugar and high glycemic carbs, and the list goes on. Beyond the physical benefits that Whole30 provides, it also addresses any unhealthy relationships with food. It will help you discover food sensitivities that could sometimes be less obvious. After personally doing Whole30 on a few occasions, I can honestly say it has completely reshaped the way I look and feel about the food I eat. My journey with Whole30 started first by reading the book “It Starts With Food” by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you haven’t already. For those who just want the hard facts without going into too much detail, then this is for you. Whole30 is quite simply an elimination protocol in which you completely eliminate all inflammatory and gut disrupting food groups (grains, dairy, sugar, alcohol and legumes) for 30 days. This includes all “healthy” versions of old favorites such as banana bread made with almond flour, or muffins from coconut flour or that lovely paleo pizza recipe you’ve had your eye on. Remember, the elimination period is for 30 days solid and there are no allowances for cheats. That means no 80/20 rules here. By removing these foods for 30 days you allow your body to begin the healing process and resetting the metabolism which in turn will help with fatigue, inflammation, allergies and so on. So if you’re looking for a healthy and holistic approach to reset, cleanse and discover what food sensitivities you might have, this is the perfect place to start.

Metabolic Typing: Wollcoltt and Fahey state in their book “The Metabolic Typing Diet” that chronic health problems are rooted in biochemical imbalances. Since learning my own metabolic type and finding that I’m an extremely fast oxidizer, I’ve been able to balance out my energy levels and create a stable environment within my own body by beginning to fuel on good fats instead of carbohydrates. I’ve noticed my fat stores decrease, energy throughout the day maintains and cravings disappear. With metabolic typing, every individual has a unique metabolism, and we cannot view foods in “absolute” terms. This is also the reason why any given nutrient might be beneficial to one individual, do nothing (good or bad) to another and actually be detrimental to other. In other words, one person’s nourishment is another’s poison. Going deeper, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the branch that acts as a control system to control all involuntary functions of the body such as heart rate, perspiration and, you guessed it, metabolism. ANS is then broken down into two more branches called sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. Through metabolic typing, we are able to find out how balanced these two systems are and if we are dominant in one or the other. Today we are seeing successful resolve and/or alleviation in the severity of many chronic health problems such as chronic fatigue, anemia, obesity, hormonal imbalances, mood swings, poor concentration, high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, arthritis and others.

IF or Intermittent Fasting: For those unfamiliar to the term, intermittent fasting is simply taking intermittent times with no food and working them into your lifestyle. Some might hear the word fasting and think of calorie restriction, but, to the contrary, IF merely looks at eating ALL of your calories within a specific window of the day, or your feeding window, and the rest of the time you are in what’s called your fasted state. For example, my feeding window is from 2 pm – 8 pm, allowing me 6 hours to eat all my calories followed by an 18-hour fasting window. What does this mean? When you eat a meal, your body spends a few hours processing the food you just took in and using what it can for energy. Since this food is now readily available, your body is going to use this as energy first so you never really tap into your fat or glycogen stores (glucose stored in the muscle) since you are constantly in “fed” state. The beauty of IF is that there aren’t many rules here. Just pick the time that works best for you and your body and remember that a good portion of that fasted state is when you’re sleeping. Some people choose a 6-hour window while others use a 4 or 8-hour window. I tend to lean towards the IF window instead of a one day a week, but that’s just me. I find it a more approachable method to IF that easily incorporates into my busy schedule without any stress. Since starting IF, I’ve seen energy levels stabilize throughout the day, cravings disappear and that “live to eat” mentality of a fast oxidizer become something of the past. Fat percentages have come down while maintaining and building lean muscle mass. My energy levels during workouts are at their best and the rollercoaster ride of energy has leveled out beautifully.

In summary, my goal here is to get you acquainted with these protocols. I want to get you thinking and hopefully get some curiosity stirring. Maybe you’ve been hitting all those S.M.A.R.T. goals ahead of schedule and, while I hope this would be the case, some of you might still be searching for your on-ramp. Maybe you’re interested in breaking through a plateau, or you want to just try something new altogether. Whatever the case may be, I want to encourage you to run the race and keep the momentum. Here are some great places to start that will keep you thinking in terms of holistic approaches to mind body wellness.

Keep in mind that your thoughts create your life!

Think it..Believe it..Be it. ™