Category: Beneficial Herbs

Since we are all human and probably have all over indulged in food this holiday season, as you should, we are seeing and feeling the consequences. When the New Year comes many of us may be getting ready to start new diet and exercise regimes. But between Christmas and the New Year, it might be beneficial to cleanse/detox your body. Most diets will cleanse your body slowly over time since you’re back on a schedule and phasing out all the holiday foods from your system. But it’s a good idea to start your body’s journey at a true start line.

Your body is a machine and when you indulge and consume high amounts of butter, sugar and carbs, your body’s gears start to get bogged down. When you detoxify your system, your body runs more smoothly over all. A detox or cleanse should also help expel excess water weight and waste, making you drop a couple pounds pretty quickly. My advice after the holidays is to find your favorite way to cleanse your body of those holiday treats, and then start any other lifestyle changes in the New Year.

There are tons of detox programs, recipes, etc. out there, so pick one you can see yourself doing and completing.

 

There are 3 main types of natural detoxes you can do:

 

Liquid Detox:

This can be anything from upping your water intake to drinking vegetable juices regularly. Many suggest drinking a tall glass of water with lemon juice in the mornings, on top of drinking more water daily. Others find that drinking more tea helps. Teas are naturally filled with antioxidants, contain caffeine, and when drunk warm can help you feel full. Most any tea will do, it does not have to be labeled specifically for detox. The goal is to help rid your body of toxins naturally and gently.

 

 

Food Detox:

As I said, this detox will come before your diet starts to help reboot your system, it is not permanent. First cut out sugar, this will detox your body of sugar and hopefully lead to fewer cravings. And of course, kiss your processed foods goodbye! Not only do most processed foods contain sugar anyway, but they also contain tons of simple carbs and provide little nutritional value. This is not what your diet will look like forever, but start with the basics (veggies, fruit, protein) and control how you add things back into your diet and always do so in moderation.

                                        

 

                                                                                 Sweat Detox:

This can mean two things, if you have a sauna on hand use it regularly or you could work up a sweat exercising. Either way the reasoning behind it is the same, sweating is a great way to rid toxins from your body and skin. Exercising does a lot more than just help detox. It also helps with blood circulation, digestion and can increase  your body’s strength.

 

 

You don’t have to get a detox pill or shake to get your body in better working condition. Remember whatever changes you make in order to detox or cleanse your body do not have to be forever changes. Most people find that seven days is enough to see and feel detoxed before they change it up. So try out a couple of the methods above and start your New Year out on a good note!

 

Paige Peterson

As a student athlete and volleyball player for 8 years throughout school, I was always active and in shape, but never had to create my own workouts. So when college rolled around, so did the freshman 15. My first tactic for tackling this problem was to join an intramural volleyball team in college. While I loved volleyball and I got good workouts at practice, it wasn’t competitive enough for me, which meant it was back to figuring it out solo. Now obviously I didn’t workout just like I would at volleyball practice but I did my best to maintain the same plyometric and cardio base.

                                                      What are Plyometrics?

Plyometric workouts are basically jump training, this type of workout it similar to HIIT or Tabata. Plyometrics are certain exercises where you exert the max amount of effort in a short amount of time. I personally love to sweat and to feel like I gave it my all and that’s exactly what plyometrics are for.

Volleyball drills were very similar, we would have a drill or an exercise to do exerting max effort and then a short rest period and repeat. Volleyball practice would last a couple hours and by the end of it I probably burned 2000+ calories a day. And honestly, if you wanted to do plyometrics for 2 hours a day you would look amazing and could probably eat whatever you wanted. But plyometric workouts don’t have to be long to see results, another reason why I love them!

Plyos are done usually with just body weight, making them home workout friendly. Many common plyometrics exercises are: jump squats, jump lunges, burpees, box jumps (lots of jumping) etc. So keep in mind if you have issues with high impact workouts this most likely won’t be for you.

Below is an example of a plyometric workout that I use often.

Plyometric Circuit

20 reps each move, 3 rounds total

Box Jumps

Jump Squat

Jump Junge

Mountain Climbers

Jump rope

Tuck Jumps

High Knees

Rest 30 sec – 1min & Repeat

Plyometric Benefits

Plyometrics burn a lot of calories quickly because you exert maximum effort when completing each exercise. Therefore with plyometrics, your workouts can be shorter. As much as I love running, I can burn the same amount of calories doing 10-30 minutes of plyometrics as I can running for an hour. And with plyos you can work specific muscle groups, targeting your specific problem areas, similar to traditional weight lifting.

Plyometrics are also great for strengthening both muscles and tendons in the areas that you target, which can help avoid injury. Because a lot of the movements are explosive and quick you also improve your muscles’ ability to contract and produce force more quickly.

You also greatly improve your endurance, similar to conditioning for sports, the more speed and power you have the less likely you are to feel fatigued. And like most other cardio exercises, you are improving your cardiovascular health as well.

You don’t have to start by doing the most difficult plyometric moves either, you can start with a jump rope to get your body used to moving in a vertical direction and go from there. But be sure to always listen to your body, if certain exercises cause you any pain or discomfort modify them. Remember that longevity and practicality are still the goals long term. So give the workout above a try and if it isn’t for you, that’s okay, the beautiful thing is there is a workout out there for everyone!

Paige Peterson

 

At this point we have discussed diet and supplement changes for a “new and sustainable you” many times, and again I think this should be the first lifestyle change you make. The next change to make is in your fitness routine, but without the proper diet you’ll be constantly trying to out-train a bad diet, which never ends well.

And similar to diet changes, don’t make fitness changes drastic and overnight. Don’t go spending a ton of money or all of your time at the gym. Make these changes slowly and really find what you enjoy doing.

So Many Options

This time of year is perfect to start a fitness journey because most people are doing the same. This can work in your favor because a lot of gyms will offer discounts and coupons. If the gym is calling your name, then now is the time to join. You still don’t have to go every single day for hours on end, but take advantage of classes offered and learn from others around you. Just getting started is the hardest part.

If a gym is not in your budget, or you’re like me and prefer working out alone, then it’s time to do some research online. There are tons of websites that offer free at home workout plans—and not to mention videos, free and otherwise, that you can follow at home. You can find weighted and non-weighted workouts such as plyometrics, yoga, jump rope, etc. that you can explore in the comfort of your own home.

And some people find having a goal, besides just being healthier, such as preparing for a 5k, Tough Mudder, or Spartan race to be a very good motivator as well. So see if any race types spark your interest and go from there.

Life Happens

Finding the right combo of diet and exercise can be difficult and honestly will take time. It has taken me years of trial and error since high school sports ended. I’ve tried everything from 5am workouts and very strict meal plans to only running and no meal plan at all and a lot in-between.

As weird as it sounds, even though I’ve started and stopped many different lifestyle changes through the years, the effort was constant and I still saw results.

Whatever changes you decide to make, even if you go bigger than advised in the beginning, be sure to keep track of the changes that happen to your body. Throughout the many years of my health and fitness journey, I kept pictures, measurements and even downloaded apps to help me track and see progress. Because even when I felt I wasn’t seeing any results, I could look back years later and see that over all I’m moving in the right direction.

My journey changes constantly as my life changes and there are inevitably going to be hiccups. You don’t have to have one plan and stick to it forever and you don’t have to feel bad if you get bored or run down. You still need to push yourself to make better choices but take your journey day by day as it fits in your life.

Paige Peterson

As the new year approaches, I don’t know about you, but my winter body is in full swing. So I’ve taken a step back to assess my health choices a bit and make some needed adjustments.

I think everyone’s biggest mistake when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle is often making changes too drastic to maintain long term. It’s not realistic to think that come January 1 you’re going to workout 1-2 hours a day and eat nothing but healthy food. While that is a good goal to strive for, those drastic changes are going to be hard to stick to and frankly hard to enjoy.

Getting healthier does not happen overnight and does not have to be a huge inconvenience, simple choices over time can end up being big changes in the long run.

DIET CHANGES

Your dietary changes are probably the most important to consider, and should be your starting point.

It goes without saying that the holidays bring all the best carbs to the table, and after having 3 Thanksgivings myself this year, carbs are where I’m going to start. I don’t go cold turkey and cut them out completely, but I monitor them. This can be as easy as planning your meals out and only having one meal with carbs such as rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes or bread. While trying to keep your other meals carb free, and eating less of things such as cereals and other refined carbs and sugars.

With carbs being a smaller part of your diet now, its time to add more protein and fat in order to feel full and get the nutrients you need. I find adding more meat, eggs, avocados, and nuts to my diet help me from feeling hungry.

And the last tip is to keep fruit on hand. Sweets are almost always my downfall especially at the end of the night. The more you eat fruit when you’re craving something sweet the more it will feel like you’re satisfying that craving, keeping you from searching for chocolate chips in the pantry.

SUPPLEMENTS

After you’ve made dietary changes you believe you can maintain, it’s time to tackle the next step, supplements.

If you’ve perfected the diet part of this you may not even need to add any supplements, but spiffing up your daily vitamin/supplement routine never hurts. Whether you’re looking to add more protein, more Vitamin C for cold season or even Vitamin A to improve hair health, KBA has a supplement for you. All of our supplements are powdered and can be added to most meals, beverages etc.

Don’t go buy tubs and tubs of protein powder or diet pills. Spend your money on only what your body needs based on your goals. Slow and steady lifestyle changes will still lead you to your goals, having crazy strict rules on your self won’t make for a fun new year or new you.

 

Paige Peterson

The holidays are in full swing and with them comes time with family, gifts and of course tons of calories. And I hate to say it, but like most people, I wait until the New Year to start focusing on new fitness and health goals. Usually at that point you have all the indulgence out of your system and are ready to start fresh.

I love the holidays and all the wonderful food and memories they bring, but it definitely takes a toll on your body. There are some things you can do to keep the calories lower and hopefully not have too much catching up to do come January 1.

Most of the time it’s as simple as only having grilled or baked goods and leaving the fried foods behind. Or you could try having more fruit and veggie trays than cookies. And lastly focus on making desserts that don’t have to contain a ton of flour and sugar.

KBA’s FREE supplement recipe e-book has a few great dessert ideas that will keep the calories lower than traditional options and will make it easy to add nutritional value with just a teaspoon of our supplements.

And as far as your guests are concerned, they don’t need to know you’ve brought a healthy dish! Let them think they are still indulging like we all enjoy doing this time of year.

Then after the holidays are over you can still use our FREE e-book to create nutritious snacks, smoothies, drinks, soups and more. Our KBA supplements can be added to most meals and beverages year round!

 

 

Chocolate Moose

SERVES: 2

Prep time       Cook time       Total time

     10 min             1 hour         1 hour 10 min

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon raw cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 teaspoons KBA Nopal Cactus Powder supplement

 

 

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Put sweet potato in the oven and cook for 45 to 60 minutes or until it’s soft (test with fork).
2. Allow the sweet potato to cool and peel the skin off.
3. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Serve immediately and enjoy!

 

Paige Peterson