Karbs by Kaitlyn

Today's reminder is to try a new hobby!

When I started making bread a few years ago it was scary, frustrating, and a huge learning curve. But it is now one of my favorite things to do and although I am nowhere near perfect at it, the act of trying brings me joy.

We often think we have a short window to find our hobbies, the things we like and dislike. But the truth is, we have our entire lives to try new things! Age should never be looked at as a barrier, but rather an opportunity to continue learning and expanding.

Some of my favorite ways to find new hobbies and keep learning:

•Coursera
This is a great *free* resource with tons of topics you can learn about. A favorite of mine is The Science of Well-Being course.

•Local universities
Check out your local university to see if they offer continuing education classes. These classes don't require an enrollment at the University and can range from one-time classes to several week courses. If going back to school, in a sense, isn't your thing, don't worry these are not your run of the mill classes. They can range from very standard curriculum to how to raise backyard chickens, wine tastings, and so on.

•Local art centers and workshops
Check and see if your city has an art center and offered work shops. These classes are often catered to beginners and are a great way to experiment with different art mediums.

•Find a friend
When trying a new hobby it can be daunting. See if you know anyone that already participates in the hobby you are interested in. It can always help to connect with someone knowledgeable in an area, and can help skip over that learning curve sometimes!

What's your newest hobby?

I've been trying to improve my sleep lately and I am starting to understand why it's so hard to get good quality sleep. The influence of society and inevitably the lifestyles we live are not conducive to a good night's sleep. So here are some of the best ways to start improving your sleep!⠀
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1. Live by the two hour rule.⠀
The basis of this rule is twofold. The first, stop your eating two hours before you plan to go to bed. When we sleep our body does a lot of maintenance throughout the night to make sure we are ready for the next day. But if we tac on to that list digesting our late night snack, it can leave us feeling tired and groggy in the morning. ⠀
The second, turn off artificial light two hours before bedtime. When our body senses darkness it beings to release melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep. But if we are on our phones or watching TV it triggers our bodies need to stay up and be awake. As you begin your nightly routine, try and resort to candles and lamps, turn off damaging lighting, and if needed use blue-light protecting glasses to look at screens.⠀
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2. Tap into your parasympathetic nervous system.⠀
We have our two types of nervous systems. Sympathetic and Parasympathetic. Sympathetic is our fight or flight, it's a state that unfortunately today, we spend most of our time in. Parasympathetic is our rest and digest state. A great way to tap into this before bedtime is by doing some light stretching or breath work. As a yoga instructor I always like to suggest child's pose. This is a great one because a large portion of our nervous system is located behind our forehead and when we rest our forehead on the ground it tells our body to go into our rest and digest state. Breathing deeply is another great one that helps us to move away from our fight or flight state. I love taking 8-10 deep breaths as I lay in bed and it has done wonders for my sleep!

3. Routine, routine, routine.
We are able to sleep so much better when we follow a routine and go to bed (and wake up) at the same time. Our bodies learn when to begin powering down and in the end requires less work from us, making it easier to fall asleep quickly instead of tossing and turning.

I wanted to share a reminder that your health is so much more than the food you put in your mouth.

Your health is...

The people you spend time with

Your love for your body

The media you take in

The relationships you have

And basically every other aspect that fills your life. I always say, you can eat all the kale in the world and still not be happy if other aspects of your life are out of line.

As part of my coaching program we delve into all aspects of your life and see where you can better nourish and find your most healthful you.

Food is a key component to a healthful life but it's only a fractions of your life.

Take some time to see where you may be lacking nutrients. It could be working on a relationship, finding a new career path, adding a little more "me" time into your schedule, whatever it is, remember that it's just as important to your health (if not more important) as the foods you eat.

Tell me what areas you are working on!

📷:

A Love Letter to Olive Oil

Dear olive oil, my extra-virgin olive oil,

I don’t mean to be so forward but I love you. I love your rich taste. Your versatility, your ability to pair with anything. I love that you come in all shapes, sizes, and tastes. You are complex and exotic, an enigma inside an enigma that as humans we are still trying to understand. Although your lifespan is short, that is the beauty of you, olive oil. You aren’t meant to last forever, you are meant to be fresh and not altered like other oils. I love how you improve my health. Once you entered my life I knew you were the only one for me. I said goodbye to hydrogenated oils (I’m talking to you canola) because they never loved me. But you do olive oil. You show your love to me by improving my cognition, lifting my brain fog, giving my body antioxidants to fight off free radicals and diseases such as heart disease. You make me feel young again and again. With every use, you add years onto my life.

With much love,
Your not so secret admirer, Kaitlyn

But in all seriousness here are a few facts about the benefits of extra-virgin olive oil

•Extra-virgin is the only way to go. This indicates that it is in its truest form, when it is the least processed and refined.

•It may seem crazy but olive oil is a HEALTHY fat. It has been argued for a long time that all fats are bad for you but that’s just not true. Our brains are 70% fat (WHAT?!), which means we need fat to feed our brains. Without it our brains can begin to dwindle, leading to memory related diseases, like alzheimers.

•Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat a.k.a one of the good guys. Try to stick to only using mono and polyunsaturated fats in your diet. These are the types of oils that are liquid at room temp.

•When buying extra-virgin olive oil it is good to do your homework. Olive oil should always be in a tinted glass bottle. This helps it not go rancid and keep its quality longer.

•Look for harvest dates, not expiration dates. It is better to know how fresh your olive oil is rather than just knowing when it is definitively bad. The rule of thumb is usually two months from purchase date before your oil starts to lose its quality.

INHALE.
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EXHALE.

Now thank yourself because you just did yourself a HUGE favor! We don’t talk about the importance of breathing enough, which seems silly because we do it every minute of every day.

Did you know the length of your breath can either lead to a rest and digest state or a flight or fight state? In today’s society we are constantly on the go and our breath is often the last thing on our mind, if it’s on our mind at all! When we forget about our breath it tends to only live in our chest area. These are the types of breaths that come in short spurts, like when you’re working out.

Which is the type of breathing associated with fight or flight.

WHICH MEANS your body constantly thinks it’s in trouble.

It doesn’t know the difference between running from a bear and running late for a meeting, it just thinks it’s in trouble. So it is our job to bring it back to a restful state by taking deeper breaths.

When the stomach moves out and in as you inhale and exhale, your diaphragm moves down as you inhale, to make room for your full lungs, and then moves back up as you exhale.
Your diaphragm sits right under your heart and slow rhythmic breathing is like a massage on your heart (how cool is that?!). There are two phrenic nerves that run down the sides of your diaphragm that are used during deep breathing and it allows your parasympathetic nervous system to be exercised, putting you back into your rest and digest state.

Try focusing on your breath today and every day after that. Take a few minutes out of your day to focus on your breath. When you feel yourself getting stressed, maybe you’re having a restless night and can’t sleep.

Come back to the breath.

Inhale for eight counts.
Exhale for eight counts.
Repeat as many times as you need.

Tell me how you like to bring yourself back into your rest and digest state??

GROCERY SHOPPING!

Either you love it or you hate it. I have a very complicated relationship with grocery shopping and at times I can find it VERY overwhelming.

But the golden rule I always stick to to make my trips easier is shopping the perimeter of the store. One more time.

SHOPPING THE PERIMETER OF THE STORE.

This was something I had never thought about before but the freshest foods live on the outskirts of the store. Your produce, meats, and dairy all can be found at the perimeter of any grocery store. Most food that live in the aisles are highly processed which have been proven to lead to a lot of health issues.

With that being said there are a few things you can do to limit your processed food intake, eat more veggies, and make your shopping trip a lot less stressful!

1. Plan ahead!
It may seem like an obvious one but planning your list and even your meals on a piece of paper can do wonders! Take your list with you and stick to it when you shop. This can help from wandering around the store with no real plan and ending up with foods you won't eat.

2. The bulk section
See if you can find a store with a bulk section. Buying from the bulk section can save you so much time now and later! This is were you can find lots of raw ingredients like nuts, seeds, flours, and granola. It's a great way to find foods with less additives and you can stock up so you won't have to purchase everytime you go to the store!

3. Find a local co-op
A co-op is a store that pulls from local resources and farms to create a store with all your locally made favorites! These are great places to shop because 1) they are small which means less time wandering around and 2) produce is the star of the show, making it easier to focus on shopping fresh ingredients. And you're supporting small businesses!

Tell me about your favorite tips and tricks to surviving the grocery store!

NOT ALL CALORIES ARE CREATED EQUAL!

And with that I give you permission to stop counting calories and start eating what makes you feel good!

Diets are not sustainable over long periods of time and tend to revolve around numbers, cheat days, macros, and micros when you could just be living your life! Instead of counting numbers start to love and listen to your body and everyday make those shifts to helping your body feel good.

Calories are a numerical system that we as humans created and in no way take into consideration the nutrients in food. Too many foods these days are very nutrient deficient and are not feeding us properly, which is why our bodies are constantly craving more, they're craving nutrients!

I like to make the comparison of a white piece of bread and an egg. They have similar caloric value, so to speak, but if you were to eat the egg over the piece of bread you would be full for much longer.

So focus on foods that are nutrient dense not nutrient deficient and most importantly if anyone tells you it's all about a calorie deficit to lose weight, RUN FOR THE HILLS!

Thanks for being here!

I wanted to reintroduce myself and thank you all for your support. It is so fun to talk about food with you and hear your inspiring stories!

I am Kaitlyn and a recent graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I work with women to improve their relationship with food and with their bodies, oh and eat yummy food along the way!

I LOVE books and learning. Although whether I love buying books more than reading books is up for debate. Particularly in this realm of health and wellness I love the topic of longevity. It is so fascinating to learn about the things that can extend our life span (some of which are surprising).

I love being outside and I truly believe it is one of the best forms of medicine. And on top of that walking outside is a waaay underrated form of exercise. Living in Portland I have the opportunity to walk EVERYWHERE and I love it!

I love breakfast food so much but can never decide if I like sweet or savory more so I always get a side of chocolate chip pancakes with anything I order.

Those are a few facts about me, now I want to hear about you!

What's one fun fact about you??

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF IS PRODUCTIVE.

This is a phrase I have to remind myself of often. I think that if I'm not moving, working, cooking, whatever that I'm doing something wrong. But I improve myself most when I stop and be still for a moment and I can be more present to others when I give myself that time.

Breathing is productive.

Being still is productive.

Taking a break is productive.

What phrase has been influencing you lately??

In my coaching programs we talk a LOT about our relationships to food. Unfortunately many of us, mostly women, have a very tumultuous relationship with food. We’ve gone on this diet and that diet, we treated food as a reward, a punishment. And if nothing else, we are constantly bombarded by the media and images telling us how our bodies should look.

No wonder we are constantly at odds with food! 

The good thing is this can be changed and you can come to love yourself and the food you eat, all at the same time. My clients have the opportunity to talk about the foods they’ve come to know as good and the foods they’ve come to know as bad. Once we break down the ‘why’ behind these foods, we get to work shifting their mindset. 

The first major concept we work on is THERE ARE NO GOOD OR BAD FOODS. Our minds are very tricky things and it is often when we make something off limits to us, our minds lead us to want that thing even more! Releasing those limits in our minds can help to heal our relationship with food, making no food our enemy, but rather a tool instead.

The second concept is LISTENING TO YOUR BODY. Once you are able accept all food you can more intuitively decide what is best for you. The best example I’ve heard was from a client who had eaten something that she had considered an enemy in the past. Instead of getting mad at herself, she recognized that that food had a purpose to feed her emotionally and then she listened to what her body needed physically and shifted to more nutrient dense foods the rest of the day. She wasn’t at odds with her body anymore and as she came to love and listen to her body she found food freedom and her most healthful self.

In the past I would have beaten myself up for eating this meal, but now I can understand that it, like every other food, has a purpose. Eating this meal I was immersed in culture and surrounded by loved ones. It was in short, just what the doctor ordered.

You are not alone in this journey and I hope these tips can help you to make those small shifts in your life. We all deserve to love ourselves and the thing that gives us life everyday should definitely not be our enemy.

IT'S JUST INFORMATION

I first heard this phrase from my husband who heard it from his endocrinologist to describe his blood sugar numbers. She explained that those numbers, whether high or low, are just information. Our bodies are never mad or angry with us, all they want to do is provide us with information that tells us what we need to do next.

This is something I've used over and over again with my clients and I think is particularly relevant this holiday season. As you enter this Thanksgiving weekend and you eat all the yummy food (yes, please eat all the yummy food) you may feel full, stuffed, bloated, and that's okay because it's just information. It's information you can use to help you move forward. You will always have days where you feel frustrated with what you eat or how your body feels. But see if you can take it as an opportunity to listen to your body. What is it trying to tell you? What can you do right now for your body? Use this as your mantra this holiday season and PLEASE eat all the yummy food!

What Thanksgiving dish are you looking forward to this week?

One of my favorite things about fruits and veggies is how they change with the seasons. Every month I get to experiment with new foods and feel good about eating seasonally and local.
This concept of seasonal eating is so fascinating to me and that the earth produces exactly what we need when we need it. As we enter colder weather the fruits and veggies that are in season often have a longer shelf life and are denser foods both of which were very helpful attributes back when we were hunter gatherers.

Here's some foods you can add to your weekly menu that are in season in November:
🥦 Broccoli

🍄 Mushrooms

🍃 Spinach

🍠 Sweet potatoes

🎃 Pumpkins

🍊 Oranges/Tangerines

🍐 Pears

Try a new fruit or veggie this week or see if you can experiment in a new way!

In other news, I will be launching my site later this week and this yummy fall skillet will be making it's debut!

IT'S LIVE!!!

My site is finally live and I can't wait for you all to see it! But more importantly I can't wait to start working with YOU! If working with a health coach is something you have considered please reach out! I am here to help you make those sustainable changes in your life that make you feel good and improve your relationship with food.

And for a limited time I am sharing with you a free handout to help you get started on those changes today!!!

Link in bio!

As the holidays approach, I wanted to share some tips to help you stay balanced.

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Go outside today