No Added Sugar Challenge!

Happy Friday & OFFICIAL last day of the challenge! 

We have made it to day 30 and I am so proud of each and every one of you! I hope you have learned and discovered that there ARE different ways to eat AND better ways to fuel your body that still satisfy you. At the end of the day, food is fuel and what we put into our bodies directly affects so many things that determine how we feel, act and continue to move through our day to day lives. I hope you have also gained a bit of knowledge from this challenge on how certain things work in our bodies and ultimately affect our nutrition as well. 

The main thing I hope you have realized from this challenge is that you are fully capable of doing anything you put your mind to! I know how difficult and challenging doing…

As promised, I want to continue on yesterday's topic - alcohol!

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ALCOHOL INCREASES YOUR APPETITE:

• Alcohol can stimulate appetite, often leading to overeating. Alcohol can affect the production of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates hunger, leading to increased cravings, particularly for high-fat, high-calorie foods.

ALCOHOL AFFECTS YOUR SLEEP:

• While alcohol may make you feel sleepy initially, it can disrupt the quality of your sleep. Alcohol often brings the body into a “flight or fight mode” instead of a restful mode, even though it may not feel that way, this leads to less deep sleep and important sleep stages.

Happy Wednesday! 

Today, I wanted to talk about one last big topic that I feel is very relevant when it comes to weight loss/fat loss and a “healthier” lifestyle. I saved the best for last… and that is; ALCOHOL! 

I’m sure we all know alcohol is not great for us… many drink it anyway and I am not here to tell you to give it up for good, but it is important to look at how alcohol affects our body and how it can interfere/play a role in fat loss/weight loss. 

Alcohol provides empty calories. It has 7 calories per gram, which is almost as much as fat (which has 9 calories per gram), but alcohol has little to no nutritional value in terms of vitamins, minerals, or protein.

For example:

• A 5 oz glass of wine can have around 120–130 calories.

I just noticed some of my list from this morning got cut off! Here is the continuation!

1. Shrimp (cooked) Plant-Based Protein Sources:

2. Portion: 6 oz

3. Protein: ~30g

4. Calories: ~180 kcal