My advice: read, and seek advice from other people who are on their fitness journeys too! You can pick up tips from them. So without further ado, here are my TOP five quick picks for you!
Buying these five things have been so great in my journey, because they are versatile. Who knew eating clean could be so great?
1. Coconut Oil
Okay, this isn't a health food tip. This is a health LIFE pick. My dad is from Trinidad (mixed girls, STAND UP) and so coconut oil has actually been in my life for a while. My VERY Trini grandmother (rest in peace) cooked with it and used it ALL the time. The best thing about it? MULTI-PURPOSE. Here are the things I use it for:
- Cooking: less fat/caloric and healthier for you than butter, other vegetable oils, and even olive oil (even though I luh me some olive oil!)
- Hair: Yes. I use it on my hair, straight up, sometimes instead of conditioner. It helps nurture and strengthen. Only use a bit and rinse well, especially if you have thin hair (I have TONS so it works better for me than any other conditioner!) I advise DEEP conditioning your hair with it once a week! Promotes healthy hair growth, less breakage. EVERYTHING.
- Skin: It's literally the ultimate moisturizer. I use it after almost every shower.
- Oral Health: Have you heard of oil pulling? Coconut oil is the most natural mouth wash. Swishing it around your mouth quite literally PULLS all of the toxins from your mouth and even down your throat to promote awesome dental hygiene.
- Ingesting: Even if you don't cook with it. Eat it plain. It's NASTY. But heart healthy. Your immune system will thank you. My grandma ingested a tea spoon of coconut oil every day. THE WOMAN DID NOT AGE. I'm not kidding. NO wrinkles. The softest skin imaginable and rarely got sick up until her death in 2000.
- For more info on coconut oil BENEFITS click here.
2. Mrs. Dash
The ultimate dried veggie seasoning. Why do fitness pros cook with it? It's SALT FREE my friends! Incorporate this into your recipes. Just because you're trying to lower your sodium intake doesn't mean cooking has to be FLAVOURLESS. Remove the salt from your spice rack, and implement Mrs. Dash instead!
3. Ezekiel Bread
WAIT WAIT WAIT. I can eat healthy and still have bread!?!?!?
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say you have to stop eating bread or carbs all together in order to see results. That may work for some people. But this girl needs carbs! In fact, particularly if you're lifting weights, you SHOULD be eating carbs to replenish and give you stamina for your workouts! Ezekiel bread is made from sprouted grains and has absolutely NO flour. Instead of getting a random gluten free bread, I'd suggest this! The best part? It's actually SO good! Because its made with sprouted grains its nice and crunchy. The BEST for toast. I actually like the TASTE better than most breads! Spend the bit of extra money and pick yourself up some o' this! It'll probably be in the natural or organic section of your grocery store! (P.S that doesn't mean go bread crazy and eat ten sandwiches a day! A serving of carbs for me is one slice of this bad boy, and it's more than enough! I usually have two carb servings per day based on the 21 Day Fix meal plan)
4. Natural Peanut Butter
It's true... I cant live without peanut butter. And I'm so glad I was introduced to this stuff! One of my favourite snacks - sliced apples with a teaspoon of peanut butter! Its basically just mashed up peanuts with oil. KEEP IT REFRIGERATED so it doesn't get too oily and gooey. You may not love the taste at first if you are used to having regular peanut butter. Once you start replacing the regular stuff with this, you'll get addicted. It actually tastes like peanuts, which is a plus. I go back to the regular stuff and all I can taste is sugar, and hardly any peanuts! Get into this groove folks!
5. Vanilla Extract
Last but certainly not least. Just because you are lowering your sugar intake doesn't mean you can't have anything sweet! I like to add extracts to a lot of my snacks to sweeten them up! I put vanilla extract in my yogurt (natural or greek) and my COFFEE! It's better than a flavour shot and will do no damage to your healthy diet! Another extract I LOVE is peppermint. But a couple drops of that into your chocolate protein shake and it's a chocolate minty DELIGHT!
WELL THOSE ARE MY TOP PICKS! What are yours?!?!!? I'm interested in trying new things :)
Thanks for taking the time to review these, folks! If you want more fitness tips from me, or want to make me your free fitness coach, fill out one of my forms, or add me on facebook/instagram so we can chat :)
P.S Here is my sweaty #selfie after todays workout! When you're done reading this, GO DO YOURS.
Xo M
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