Written by: BrynAlyn Evorik, Health Coach

If I were to ask 100 people how they thought their eating habits ranked on a scale of 1­10, 10 being the absolute best and 1 being in the gutter, the average answer would be 6­7. Everyone responds by saying “Well, it’s not the best, but I eat pretty good”.

Let me just start off by saying that if this were true the percentage of Americans who are considered to be overweight or obese would not be almost 40%.

Every time we turn the t.v. or radio on we are bombarded with commercials about food. Sugary, fatty, addicting foods. Food has become so readily available we don’t ever have to cook if we don’t want to! We can open a box of cereal or microwave a store bought frozen breakfast sandwich to start our day and stop at any one of the fast food restaurants on our way to work…..and on our way home! We are flooded with billboards and newspaper ads claiming that kids yogurt is healthy for them….even though it is rainbow colored and comes with a packet of chocolate chips to dump on top of it! Our children are brainwashed into wanting and craving foods they have never even had because they have seen the commercial so many times they actually believe they want that cheeseburger or taco/burrito/crunchwrap!

As a matter of fact, eating has become such a nonchalant behavior for us we don’t even notice that we are eating. We grab a sugary granola bar on the go..and a handful of pretzels from the cabinet at work and add 4x the amount of coffee creamer to our coffee than we should because the 1tsp. Serving size just isn’t sweet enough. And at the end of the day we have eaten 3200 calories and we are still hungry because we have starved ourselves from a nutritional standpoint, and stuffed ourselves with junk food.

And we didn’t even notice we were doing it!

Here’s a little secret….our bodies will continue to tell us we are hungry until we satisfy it with nutrition. Ever eat half a pizza and think to yourself “I am so full I could burst” but you continue to graze on the leftovers? 2 things are happening…

1. You are feeding the addiction
2. You are nutritionally starving yourself

So…how do we break these habits? How do we change a behavior that we didn’t even know we exhibited?

Food journal. Sounds simple enough, right? Get an old notebook and start writing. From the time you wake up to the time you go to bed record every single thing you put in your body. Start with the coffee and creamer…how much did you really add? Every snack, every handful of pretzels, every sip of pop, water and beer until you go to bed.

Here’s the hard part…don’t cheat! Be honest. This journal is only for you. Don’t skip anything.

Look it over. Every day look back at what you ate. Be mindful of what you put in your body. Be aware of the serving sizes and the amount of mindless eating/drinking you do every single day. Did you really need that bag of chips at lunch? Do you even remember eating them? Did they make you feel good?The idea is basic accountability to yourself…not anyone else. By simply making yourself aware of the amount of food, good or bad, that you are eating every day creates a new mindset for Mindful Eating.

Food is life. It is too important to just allow it to be a casual part of your day that you do without any thought or feeling. Eat foods that nourish your body, mind and spirit. Be aware of the foods you putting into your body and take note of how differently your body responds to fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts than it does to pretzels and fast food.

Your body is your temple. Feed it with Love.

Need help taking the first steps to creating sustainable lifestyle changes? Call me! I would love to get help you get started!

(219) 661-­8680

So let’s go over my story. Being a former fitness and bikini competitor I thought I knew it all about how to get lean and stay lean year around. Well my normal fitness protocol from my college days of spending 3-4 hours in a gym everyday didn’t seem to work so well now that I owned and basically lived at my new business. My weight exploded over such a short time from taking over the business in August to after the holidays in February, and I didn’t even realize it. Where I once walked about between 125-130 pounds, I now weighed in at 151 pounds. I knew I had to do something. I did the only thing I knew how to do in order to get my “bikini body” back; which was compete. So I did what I knew and entered a contest that was 7 weeks away.

Most of you know that 7 weeks to lose over 20 pounds is not practical; however, I utilized the knowledge of ketosis which is the same protocol I push my nutrition and diet clients on with the Ideal Protein Program I run through my office. I have researched and studied ketosis for many years. I was always extremely interested in how effective the protocol was in athletes that did minimal cardiovascular training. Athletes are able to successfully achieve the leanness they desire by simply changing their diets. No sweating to death on the treadmill, or slaving away on the elliptical. These athletes could change their body composition just by manipulating their proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to desirable conditions to support fat burning in the body. With my chaotic schedule, this is obviously what I needed!

So what did I do? I did what I teach all my Ideal Protein clients to do!! Keep your carbohydrates in a range lower than 50 grams/ day; elevate your protein content to make up for the difference (but not too high! That will completely defeat the purpose and you will store it as fat in the long run. There is a happy medium J ),and lastly eat good fats that support fat burning! You have to eat fat to burn fat (as weird as that may sound)! Seven hard weeks of ketogenic nutrition and a few Ideal Protein treats here and there (because lets be honestly, those rice crispy squares are addicting!), I was able to accomplish my goal of quick and rapid weight loss that would have me lean enough to jump on stage in my bikini. The best part of ketosis is that is burns from the fat stores while sparing the lean muscle tissue in the body. This is really important for anyone, especially someone that is competing in a bikini bodybuilding competition.

I was absolutely thrilled I was able to get back to my normal weight where I feel confident and just really healthy; however, it was an extra surprise to be awarded 1st place in my contest! I can honestly say I feel in control of my diet, craving, and health again.

Beating the sugar and processed food cravings is one of the most difficult things for American’s to do since it’s so easy to become addicted to sugar. Whatever your weight loss goal, whether you are trying to lose just a few pounds or have a complete transformation; Optimal Chiropractic in Crown Point, Indiana is dedicated to helping you get there! Myself and my amazing staff pride ourselves in not only helping you get to your confident body weight, but also teaching you about diets, nutrition, macronutrients, supplementation, and why and why not particular diets work or do not. Due to media, advertising, and fad claims; Diets and weight loss are confusing and discouraging after failed attempt after attempt. Don’t let this happen to you! Schedule your nutritional consultation today so we can help you become the healthiest version of yourself! Call 219-661-8680 or stop by our Crown Point location on Broadway.

For more information about nutritional counseling and Ideal Protein Diet at Optimal Chiropractic check out our website

www.crownpointchiro.com, our facebook page, or www.idealprotein.com