Tag: Nutrition

Well-BEing Workshop
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Mindfulness

Well-BEing Workshop
Register Here!

Come have a breakthrough, identify the reasons and old patterns that are restricting you from the life you want.

When: Sunday, January 12, 2020 7:45am – 4:00pm  

Where: Summit Training Center, 3223 Bear Tooth Ct, Bettendorf, IA 52722

$139 / Individual 

15% Discount for Partner Registrations

Schedule:

Follow our instructors on social media to receive a discount code.

What you can expect: 

Mindful Movement 

This segment of the workshop  will cover the physical, mental and emotional benefits of natural movements and play, body awareness, and the mind-body connection. You will walk away with a better understanding of the importance of movement in your life and how body awareness is an integral part of health and well-being. Wear comfortable clothes you can be active in because we will be moving those bodies!

Body scans, balance exercises, functional movement and “play” will all be part of the active part of this session. We will have tons of fun and prep our brains for all the amazing information to follow!

Learn more about Lindsey Spencer HERE!

Meditation 

During this session you will practice an awareness guided meditation and learn how to incorporate self-journaling into your routine. If there are patterns in your life you are struggling to change or transform, self journaling is a great way to step out of the habit and see yourself doing and creating the new habit you choose. Meditation will allow you to become aware of your body and breath. Practicing being calm, getting out of fear and getting into the space of love and creativity. With a small daily practice  with these tools you will feel empowered and see how capable you are.

Learn more about Ashley Fawks HERE!

Experience Nutrition

In this session we will mindfully share a meal together. We will eat slowly with minimal distraction, learn how to listen to our body and eat when we’re truly hungry and talk about the guilt and sometimes anxiety associated with food. What signals are the food giving you vs. what meaning do you assign?

Also we will uncover the truth behind nutrient density and how to choose foods that give you the most benefits per calories without sacrificing taste. Get to know your human body and the effects of sugar and other “edible” compounds. Learn to use food as medicine and how to eat in harmony with nature. 

Lunch will be catered by Bayside Bistro in Davenport, IA.  

Learn more about Emily Collingwood HERE!

Network Spinal 

During this session participants can expect to learn how to integrate an enhanced perspective through neurospinal restructuring. Slater will demonstrate a specific and properly contextualized chiropractic adjustment that will empower the presence to navigate life’s challenges, blessings, and miracles. What will be received is the gift of freedom to consciously choose new habit(s) and if desired, a new life.

Learn more about Slater Murphy HERE!

unREASONable Results 

During this session you are going to have a break through. You will begin creating the life you want to live with sustainable results. 

This process will outline the ideal life in the confines of what you are doing, who you are being, the people that support you and the things you have. The “shoulds” and reasons that you, your job, your parents and/or your past have placed on your life will be diminished leaving you with the clear direction. We will begin to build consistent wellness practices and internal and external environments that support the actions you will take to begin creating your dream life. 

This session is designed to facilitate being productive and organized in all areas of life.

Learn more about Raschel Biagioli HERE!

Register Here!

What’s provided? 

A gluten free, dairy free, soy free lunch is being catered by Bayside Bistro.  

What to bring:

You will be doing a variety of activities throughout the day so comfortable clothing is recommended. You may want a change of clothes for after the Mindful Movement portion of the retreat and layers for workshops. A yoga mat or cushion of choice for meditation and other floor activities are optional. 

The Wellness Way
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Fitness

The Wellness Way

I am a fitness professional, I train my body both with stress and rest, I track my macros, I sleep, I drink enough water, I follow all of the instructions of “what to do” and yet, I felt like health should be easier than what I have been doing. I was still not able to sleep, had gas, having a hard time breaking plateaus, carried a lot of information, brain fog and digestion problems.

In October of 2018 I jumped and I decided I wanted to take my health to the next level. I wanted to identify why my body was acting up and was not operating at its highest level. I had been visiting Integrated Functional Health in Bettendorf Ia. I had some dramatic improvements and shifts in my body by working with Matt DeWild and he recommended I look into the work that Dr. Stacey Wiley at Complete Balance Chiropractic was doing with The Wellness Way.

I dove right in.

Dr. Stacey is a chiropractor that works through a system call The Wellness Way. She is amazing, personable and understands the real life application of trying to heal from the inside out. This system starts with testing. She will not treat without doing testing. There are no guesses or adjustments to programming without looking at the data first.

http://thewellnessway.com/

I followed Matt’s instructions and emailed Dr. about what I was looking to heal. She personally got back to me in less than 6 hours and then asked me if I would rather text her. I got a phone appointment that next week and we talked through the testing kits she would have me do.

I had to have my blood drawn by a local lab and then I completed 4 stool samples and sent them off to the lab as instructed in the testing kit. It would take 1-4 weeks to get the results back from the two labs.

My blood results came back the following Monday and she immediately got in contact with me because the results show that i didn’t have an intolerance or allergies to food (which i had been tested for before), but i had the antibodies for 17 different foods. All of which I had consumed the weekend before.

Antigens:

Having the antigens for foods means that when I consume them my body believes that they are a virus and attacks them vs. warding off many of the other viruses that we come into contact with. (This explains the years and years and years of constantly becoming ill). I have been in a constant state of war.

The biggest hurdle would be switching up my routine to accommodate new foods and avoiding this list:

  • Almonds
  • Beef
  • Casein
  • Crab
  • Egg Whites
  • Egg Yolks
  • Lobster
  • Cows Milk
  • Mustard
  • Peas
  • Peanuts
  • Pork
  • Scallops
  • Sesame
  • Soybean
  • Tuna
  • Bakers Yeast

I tackled this head on and communicated with the people in my life so they would know how best to support me through this discovery and learning process. I got to play with this for 3 weeks prior to my other test results coming back.

At this time i met with Dr. Stacey in person and we would talk about the supplements to add my routine to help combat.

The remainder of my test results would reveal that I did not have a candida problem (had always been told that this was an an issue), but i didn’t have a high count for a different yeast in my intestines (dysbiotic flora). Some of the symptoms that I experience from this internal yeast infection include: inflammation, gas, cramping, normal disturbance, fatigue, ear infections, acne and brain fog. I also found out that my immune response is upgregulated the tissue in my GI track is normally the first immune barrier and mine was angry!

In December I started on a course of supplements to help start to tackle and bring my system better into balance. I still track my macros and eat all the foods but now these things are added in to help out. I have 2 courses of supplements I take when I wake up and when I go to bed and then every time I eat i take a few supplements to help break down the food and help start to tackle the yeast.

When I first eliminated the foods that were on my list I immediately began to notice differences. I am less puffy, I can sleep better, I have no gas, and I am able to focus better. Spiritually, a whole different connection to my mind/body experience is different and a lot of fun. The cheetah print on my skin has started to change. The spots on my arms would turn red or purple at least 1 time per week if not every day. For the past 3 weeks they have been white.

on my skin has started to change. The spots on my arms would turn red or purple at least 1 time per week if not every day. For the past 3 weeks they have been white.

I am not perfect with all the foods but I avoid my list 85% of the time. It takes time to look at labels but once I learned what things work for me I have been sticking to those items. Aldi has been the cleanest grocery story to find things at and Thrive Market online has been a savior.

The Wellness Way has clinics all over the country and I would recommend checking them out if you are curious of how to optimize your body. Going through the hard time to walk out on the other side healthier has been worth it. This journey is not over with and I will update you along the way.

Fear and Love
Posted by Ashley Fawks on in Blog

Fear and Love

“Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached loves perfection.”
1 John 4:18

What is it you’re afraid of? What has you awoken at night or stressed during the day? What brings your soul anxiety?

Fear and love cannot be mixed together. They are like oil and water. They don’t mix. Could it be, that the fear you feel is just a place where love is not?

What if instead of fear, stress, anxiety, you delve into the realm of complete love knowing that you are in fact, a beautiful soul who is worthy of such love? knowing that, before you ever do anything good or right, you are loved? Knowing that you do not have to do anything, or be anything, that just as you are, right in this very moment, you are loved. You are perfect. There is no ifs, ands, or buts. There is no maybe later I can be deserving of love. there is no, if I get it right next time I will be deserving of love. These are all expectations we place upon ourselves to create the illusion that we can control who and what will love us when… When we are ready to love ourselves. Fully.

What if we took the areas in our life that are incomplete and we engulfed those areas in love? What would happen? Even the areas of our life we don’t like. Our procrastination, our doubt, our sickness, our hurt we wish would go away … Could we choose to own it. Own our doubt. Own our procrastination. Own our sickness and choose it. Not allowing ourselves to be victim of our circumstances but instead, taking ownership for the reality we see.

And still loving ourselves through that.

Could we possibly become fearless when we consume our hearts and lives in all the utterly gross places of ourselves that no one else knows, could we then choose love?

In choosing love, fear has no place.

Complete. Beautiful. Ownership. Fearless. Love.

Resolution vs. Intention
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Mindfulness

Resolution vs. Intention

Lets set INTENTIONS instead of RESOLUTIONS.

Resolution is an acknowledgment that something is wrong and trying to fix the past. The past does not exist. The past only lives in our memories. We have choice to set all of those memories aside and decide how we want to show up moving forward. You no longer need to carry that experience from your childhood or last week into your future.

Your way of being was built as a protective mechanism so you would not have to feel like something was wrong, you were not good enough or that you don’t belong. These beliefs no longer serve who you are becoming.

Having a clear vision of what that looks like is setting an intention to live into.

Setting an intention is being free to create your life as possibility.

Setting an intention is having integrity with the current situation.

Setting an intention is knowing that the universe/god/your guides/etc. will guide the path for your greatest growth. You may not know how and now it’s time to choose the “what”.

The path and days to your intentions may not be of least resistance but it will be perfectly set up for you to grow the most and become who you were meant to become.

This year I am choosing to have an intention to live life as unreasonably and sweet as possible.

And so it is.

Meal Prep, Meat Production
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Real Food

Meal Prep, Meat Production

The macronutrient I struggled the most to get enough of was protein. I decided find the most organized AF way to hit my minimums.

Below is the mass production of turkey taco meat. I will make 30 or more servings of a single protein. I make 1 type of protein each weekend. This allows me to rotating the meat, I don’t get bored and have variety to choose from.

Step 1: Invest in Tupperware. For protein I have about 60, 1 cup containers (I like the rectangle so they stack nice in the freezer) and I also have about 60, 1/2 cup containers (also a square so they stack on the door and in the freezer).

Step 2: Measure /Weigh ALL of the raw meat.

Step 3: Enter these into you fitness tracker as a recipe; I use MyFitnessPal.

Step 4: Add seasoning to the meat and add these to your recipe.

Step 5: Cook all of the protein.

Step 5a: My trick to get finely shredded ground turkey is while and after you are cooking each batch, mash it up with a whisk. That 99% ground turkey is stubborn and this helps a ton.

Step 6: Re-weigh all of the protein. Divide this number by the number of servings or containers you have available

Step 7: Portion and let cool.

Step 8: Freeze

Step 9: Pull them out of the freezer as needed. I use the ice cold meat as the ice pack in my cooler for work.

Chipotle Lime Coleslaw Turkey Rachel
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Real Food

Chipotle Lime Coleslaw Turkey Rachel

Leftover thanksgiving turkey that you’re getting sick of? Here is a way to mix things up for a zesty open faced sandwich.

Macros

127cal (makes 2 servings)

3.5C | 8F | 17P | 1Fib

Bread & Cheese not included

Ingredients:

  • 85g raw coleslaw mix
  • 10g Horseradish brown mustard
  • 15g Primal Kitchen, chipotle lime mayo
  • 5g white wine vinegar
  • Celery salt – to taste
  • Black pepper – to taste
  • 140g roasted thanksgiving turkey

1. In a bowl mix together coleslaw, brown mustard, white wine vinegar, chipotle lime mayo, celery salt and pepper.

2. Layer coleslaw over turkey on top of your choice of bread. Open faced sandwiches cut your carbs but still allow you to enjoy the flavor of your favorite bread. Add Swiss cheese to make it an official “Rachel” sandwich. I am trying dairy free right now so I skipped that add-on.

Wellness: Cheetah Print
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Life’s Weird Moments, Mindfulness

Wellness: Cheetah Print

For many years I have struggled with my health and wellness. From the outside I am put together, fit and “well”. The reality is that I have struggled. I have strugged with skin conditions, hormone inbalances, immune suppression, and digestive problems. I have spent close to $10,000 on testing, medications, doctor visitis and supplements. I have had all sorts of  diagnoses: gluten intollerance (which was then negated), candida, allergy to the female hormones, PMDD, high recommendation that I do not have children, and the list goes on.

About 5 years ago I was sick of everything and I quit going to doctors all together. I take care of myself and I figured my body would eventually just balance.

I experience highs, lows, frustration, saddness and insecurities. These are all symptoms you can’t see. From the time I was 12, I had a never ending menstrual cycle. To this day my hormones are all over the place, so I’ve chosen to go with an IUD.  Even with this, I still experience a cycle.

This year I have gone down the path of working to heal my life and try different experiements. My goal is to optimize my human performance in the gym and in my every day life. Personal development school, hiring coaches, trying new doctors and all sorts of things to live as long and as healhty as possible.

I can tell my gut health is not the best and I am consuming soemthing my body is adverse to because I have what I call “Cheetah Print”. You can see in this picture. There are some spots on my neck and chest. I call this my cheetah print.

The cheetah print covers most of my body. It changes colors depending on the time of year, the clothes I wear and things I eat. I’ve had them on and off most of my life. If I do a Candida cleanse, they can go away but that’s just as awful three months of just eating green beans, clay and protein.

I also recently learned that this is hereditary, a few of my aunts also have cheetah print. I’m lucky right now that it has not spread to my face. I do a lot of skin care because I have acne.

I experience a lot of anxiety and insecurities because of the spots. Ego sometimes takes over the human form and I just want the outside to match the inside.

I realize that the root cause is likely something I’m consuming. Now I and this platform are going on the journey of research, experiments and progress.

Here goes everything.

And so it is.

Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Real Food

2.5 Minute Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

I love cake.

Having minimal macros can make this difficult so i needed to write a recipe that was quick and delicious!

Macros

509 cal /cake

55C | 10F | 54P | 13Fib

Topping not included

Ingredients:

  • 60g pumpkin purée
  • 22g chocolate protein powder
  • 138g liquid egg whites
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 2g stevia
  • 70g Dark Chocolate Kodiak Cake Power Pancake and Waffle Mix
  • 1 second spray of cooking spray

How to

  1. In a mixing bowl mix Kodiak Cake mix, pumpkin, protein, powder, stevia, and egg whites.
  2. Spray microwave safe bowl with cooking spray.
  3. Scoop cake batter into bowl.
  4. Microwave 2.5 minutes or until the center is stiff.
    5. The bowl will be hot.
  6. Flop onto plate immediately exiting the microwave.
  7. Top with available macros. Pictured is Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup mixed with PB2

Spaghetti Squash How To
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Real Food

Spaghetti Squash How To

Step 1: Stab with knife

Step 2: Place on microwave safe plate or bowl

Step 3: Cover with plastic wrap

Step 4: Microwave 12 minutes

Step 5: Split open and scoop out seeds

Step 6: Scoop flesh into strainer

Step 7: Forget while you do 10 other things in the kitchen (about 10 mins)

Step 8: Serve

Flexible Dieting
Posted by Raschel Biagioli on in Blog, Fitness, Real Food

Flexible Dieting

What is “Flexible Dieting”?

Flexible dieting is a style of dieting that is based around counting the three main macro-nutrients that you consume daily (carbohydrates, protein and fat). This style of diet can lead to long term success because of its ability to be less strict. You are able to choose the foods you want to eat and when you want to eat them.

The word gets a bad reputation because 95% of them fail. The reason they fail is because they are a short term solution, are unrealistic and unsustainable. Most dieters attempt to lose weight and reach goals by making radical changes and completely restrict themselves from eating a certain foods or entire groups all together. Going between the extremes often results in a failed diet attempt. Flexible dieting allows you to find balance.

For this style of calorie restriction these are a few of my recommendations:

  1. Body Weight Scale: I recommend that you weight yourself daily. Weigh yourself naked, every morning when you wake up and after using the restroom. Your weight will fluctuate week to week and using the same scale every day over the week you can see you average change over weeks’ time. Many things will fluctuate your weight: water intake, hormone levels, exercise intensity, travel, salt, large meals etc.
  2. Food Scale: a food scale will allow you to be as precise as possible. The size of cups can be deceiving and 1 table spoon could turn into 2 very quickly. The most accurate way to work flexible dieting is to weigh everything.
  3. Calorie Tracking App: this will be essential so you can track what you are eating each day. I recommend MyFitnessPal, MyMacros, and LifeSum. For the foods without labels, a helpful website to find accurate macro-nutrient is: www.calorieking.com .
  4. Weekly progress photos: this will help you monitor changes in your body composition that will help me make custom macro-nutrient breakdowns.

Info:

  • Carbohydrates – 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate
    • The primary role of carbohydrates is to provide energy for the body.  We store energy from carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in our liver and muscles.
  • Protein – 4 calories per gram of protein
    • Protein is a well-known macronutrient for it’s role in muscle recovery from exercise. Protein is are the ‘the building blocks of life’. Unlike carbohydrate and fat, there is no way for our bodies to store excess protein for further use, so it is important to have an adequate amount of protein on a daily basis for health and recovery.
  • Fat – 9 calories per gram of fat
    • Dietary fat plays a crucial role in hormone balance.
  • Alcohol – 7 calories per gram
    • Does not provide any nutritional value other than calories.
    • Here is how you can calculate it:
      • Take the total amount of calories in your alcoholic beverage and divide it by 4 if you would like to track your beverage as carbohydrates. Take the total amount of calories in your alcoholic beverage and divide it by 9 if you would like to track your beverage as fats. You can do a mix between carbohydrates and fat if you prefer.

Meal frequency:

Feel free to eat as many or few meals as you desire. The most important factor is total daily calories. As long as you hit your target macro-nutrients goal for the day, it doesn’t matter if you have 2 meals or 10 meals.

Meal Timing:

To optimize performance and recovery around exercise, I recommend a higher amount of quick digesting carbs before and after a workout with a lower amount of protein and low fat.

Other Terms or things to know:

  • RFFYM – real food fits your macros, this will be used in different recipes
  • Macros – short term for flexible dieting macronutrients
  • IIFYM- if it fits your macros, commonly referred to when looking at different recipes because a lot of things will fit your macros
  • Cook in bulk, it makes life easy
  • Carbs – a “5 point variance” once you determine the number of carbs you are eating try to stay within 5 above or 5 below.
  • Fats- a “2 point variance” once you determine the number of fats you are eating try to stay within 2 above or 2 below.
  • Fiber – try to remain above 25 grams.
  • Water: half your body weigh in ounces, +4 oz or every 15 mins you workout and +8 for every cup of coffee you consume.