5 Mindset Traps That Kill Motivation

Whether you realize it or not, there are some pretty massive mindset traps that will kill just about anyone’s motivation.

And in this post, I’m going to shed some light on five common mindset traps that can stall your forward progress.

Whether your mission is fat loss, changing your career, exercising, or learning a new hobby, it’s vital to have your head in the right place.

You can have the best laid plans, the right habits, and the top resources, but if your mindset is all wrong, it’s easy to lose motivation.

This is the final installment in my 3-part series on fat loss. Also read 4 Nutrition Tips for Sustainable Fat Loss and 7 Fitness Best Practices for 2017.

Mindset Matters…A Ton

In truth, the mindset traps presented here apply to just about goal or anything you’re currently working on in your life…not just fat loss.

But what often happens with my coaching clients is this:

They come to work with me frustrated that their fat loss has stalled…or that they don’t know how to begin.

They’ve tried so many different things, but nothing’s worked.

And they’re desperate for change.

They lay out a detailed list of all the diet and nutrition strategies they’ve tried: low carb, high fat, macros, Zone, paleo, low fat, more probiotics, bone broth, whatever…

…convinced that they’ve missed out on the one key strategy that’s holding them back.

But when we dig into it a little more, what often surfaces isn’t a lack of nutrition strategy or fitness gusto. No, it’s often a mindset issue.

Let me be clear:

If you’re struggling with the same stuff, just like my clients, it’s not your fault.

Sometimes you’re just not aware of the mindset traps that are dampening your motivation.

You can’t even see them. (Yet.)

Here’s the bottom line: When your mindset is wonky, it’s hard to feel motivated, to follow through long term with healthy choices, and to be consistent.

And those are the biggest factors that determine successful fat loss or whatever it is you’re after.

Even after reading this article and becoming aware – or awake as I like to call it – this stuff takes work.

This success graph (lol) from comedian Demetri Martin’s This is a Book says it all.

My point is, don’t expect that reading this list and developing some awareness is going to result in magical smooth sailing upon the seas of success.

You’re going to have to sit in the soup, weather some storms, and do the work.

But eventually, the frequency with which you fall into the same mindset traps will begin to diminish. Promise.

5 Mindset Traps That’ll Kill Your Motivation

Trap #1: Focusing on What Not To Do

This one is so engrained in diet and fitness “culture” that it’s hard to even recognize it sometimes.

“Don’t ever eat sugar.”

“Stop being so lazy.”

“Avoid snacking after 6pm.”

I could go on.

It seems like, if you’re trying to lose fat, the list of things not to do is a mile long.

Heck, even when starting something like a paleo lifestyle, most people are focused on what not to do.

The problem is, being hyperaware of the “not” creates stress, because you’re constantly afraid of messing up. Add to that the issue that your subconscious mind doesn’t understand concepts like “don’t” and “no.”

Ever wonder why, if you’re giving up sugar for a month, all you can do is think of – even dream of – sugar? Why do some things become irresistible as soon as we swear them off? Chew on that one.

Words matter. When I was competing in CrossFit, my teammates and I would cheer each other on. But as soon as someone said, “Don’t stop,” or “Don’t drop the bar,” the first urge I had was to quit.

Instead, keep your attention on what you want to do…

Eat more veggies at every meal. Get 8 hours of sleep. Lift weights 3 times this week.

Whatever your goals, focus on the positive actions you need to take to get there.

Trap #2: Using Fear As Fuel

This mindset trap is huge, and it takes a little digging into to understand fully.

When your motivation is that you’re afraid, you hate something about yourself, or you’re fearful of what will happen if you stop…

…your mind gets cut off to all the possibilities.

Fear puts you into a stressed state of mind. And that narrows your thinking, throttles your creativity, and makes solving problems really hard.

The energy that accompanies using fear as fuel is dark and heavy. It’s like you’ll never measure up or never be good enough.

It feels almost like being dragged.

Can you make progress this way? Probably, for a while. But fear is a terrible way to boost intrinsic motivation, the kind that’ll help you make lasting change.

Instead of using fear as fuel for your lifestyle changes, identify positive reasons for doing them.

Taking some time to get really clear about why you do things can shed some light on the situation…

…and help you avoid this very common mindset trap.

Trap #3: A Case of Comparisonitis

Suffering from a chronic case of comparisonitis?

Teddy Roosevelt famously said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

It happens when you look around at everyone else and think everyone else is thinner, healthier, more talented, wealthier, and more successful than you.

Keeping up with the Joneses used to require a bit more work, but now it’s as easy as following people on social media.

And while you may initially follow because it gives you “motivation,” be especially aware of the transition into a constant game of comparison.

This mindset trap is quite insidious.

Believing that everyone else is ahead of or better than you brings fear back into the equation…

…and it’s so easy to forget how green your own damn grass is.

It’s not wrong to want more from your life, to have goals and dreams.

But when what you want is rooted in a chronic game of comparison between you and the world, you’ll never, ever be happy with what you have.

The path your life takes is yours alone. It’ll never be the same as anyone else’s.

The more you’re willing to ease into that truth, the more you can be present in this moment instead of living in someone else’s.

Trap #4: Being An Expert Storyteller

“I’ve always struggled with my weight.”

Sound familiar?

Being married to our stories, the things about us that we believe to have always been true, is something humans just do

And while yes, things happen to you, remember that how you experience them and how your brain makes memories of them isn’t always representative of the facts.

That one can be hard to swallow.

This mindset trap could also be called the self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you believe you’ve always been X so you’ll always struggle with X, then what will you get? More of the same.

Not only that, we love to tell our most painful, tragic stories over and over to anyone who will listen.

That time Uncle Jim was rude at Christmas, the 5th grade bully who punched you, the way your boss is such a turdburger, the weight you still can’t lose. How do you feel when you tell those stories and relive them again and again?

It’s hard to be motivated to move forward when the past is killing all your mojo.

I’m not saying to ignore your past…

…but stay rooted in the present as much as you can. Take action now on the things that are happening now.

Trap #5: Being Success-Phobic

This is a corollary to the previous trap, and it can be a bit tricky to spot unless you know what you’re looking for.

Lots of people use fear of failure kill their motivation to move forward. But fear of success is just as toxic.

It’s so common to self-sabotage especially when you’re getting a foothold or hitting your stride.

If fat loss is your goal, you may have difficulty even envisioning what life would be like if you changed your own narrative.

You might wonder:

• Will I fit in with my peer group anymore?
• What will my family or friends think of me?
• Will people think that I think I’m better than them?
• How will I afford a new wardrobe?
• What if other priorities in my life change, too?
• Will I recognize myself?

For some, the thought of being successful is just as scary as the thought of failing because it’s still unknown.

And our brains are wired to seek the familiar, even when it’s something that’s not serving us anymore…

…like the foods we eat, amount we don’t move, or other lifestyle factors.

The solution, again, is to stay in the present as much as you can. Letting the fear of success crush your motivation is another example of living in the future.

To Sum It Up

Your mindset plays a critical role in your success with any lifestyle change, whether it’s fat loss, exercise, getting more sleep, or reducing your stress.

Readjusting your mindset takes awareness, patience, and practice…

…but in time, you’ll find the way you look at things starts to change.

Remember these five common mindset traps:

• Focusing on the negative. Keep your attention on what you want to do.

• Using fear as your motivation. Fear –> stress which closes off your mind to all the possibilities.

• Too much comparison. Yes, human nature means we like to know where we stand in our social groups. But constantly comparing yourself to others means you’ll miss out on all your own good stuff.

• Reliving your painful stories. Start paying attention to how often you let painful stories of the past create anxiety about the future.

• Being afraid of success. It can be as potent as the fear of failure.

Pin this article, 5 Mindset Traps That Kill Motivation, for later!

The post 5 Mindset Traps That Kill Motivation appeared first on Stupid Easy Paleo.

from Stupid Easy Paleo https://stupideasypaleo.com/2016/12/31/5-mindset-traps-kill-motivation/
via Holistic Clients

10 Recipe Faves of 2016

1. Blackened Fish Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Sriracha Mayo
2. Grilled Ginger-Sesame Chicken Chopped Salad
3. BLT Grilled Potato Salad
4. Sausage and Apple-Stuffed Acorn Squash
5. Double Chocolate Donuts
6. Grilled Buffalo Chicken Tacos
7. Artichoke and Spinach Roasted Salmon
8. The Best Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
9. BBQ Margarita Chicken Tostadas with Sweet Jalapeno Salsa
10. Grilled Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Arugula, and Pine Nuts

In no particular order, there you’ve got it! Some seriously delicious eats in 2016 – looking forward to an equally delicious 2017! Cheer to the new year!

Be well,

from Prevention RD http://preventionrd.com/2016/12/10-recipe-faves-of-2016/
via Heart Based Marketing

I’d love to get started… I’m just waiting for the perfect time.

Many of us wait for the “perfect time” with our health, nutrition, and fitness. But this all-or-nothing thinking — as in, “If I don’t do this perfectly then it’s awful!” — rarely gets us “all”. It usually gets us “nothing”.

Are you waiting for the “perfect time” to get started on new projects? To learn a new skill? To eat better? To exercise more?

If so, some of these phrases may be familiar to you:

When I get a different job.

When things are less busy. 

When I find a workout partner.

When I find the right equipment.

When I feel less awkward in the gym.

When I lose 20 lbs.

When I get the right workout routine.

When my fridge is full of the right foods.

Tomorrow. Next week. Never.

Human beings are always “waiting for the perfect time”. But why?

For many, it’s a great distraction and justification. It helps us avoid the real—and risky—work of doing.

For others, perfectionism and avoidance serve as strong armor against potential embarrassment, criticism, and failure.

“I could ___ but ___” keeps us safe from pain.

Unfortunately, it’s also what keeps us from growing, thriving, and being who we know we have the potential to be.

That’s why all-or-nothing thinking—If I don’t do this perfectly then it’s worthless—rarely gets us “all”.

It usually gets us “nothing”.

There is no perfect time. There never will be.

Oh sure, there might be some magic moment in your fitness journey where the universe comes together… and you’re wearing your favorite t-shirt… plus your extra-comfy sneakers… and that song you love comes on… and your body is full of exuberant, bubbling energy… and your favorite piece of gym equipment is free (in fact the gym is empty today, hooray!)… and you bang out a set of ten reps like the angels are hoisting the barbell for you.

But that magic moment will be one in the zillion other less-magic moments that make up your real life.

Indeed, if we are talking about a moment as, say, approximately ten seconds long, that means you have somewhere between 2,398,377,600 to 2,556,165,600 potential moments in your life.

Which means that a single perfect moment is, well, a very very very small part of the whole thing.

Yes, celebrate that perfect moment when it comes. But sure as heck don’t wait for it.

Take your moments. Make your moments.

Just so you know, nobody is going to give you any moments. You have to take moments.

Hunt them. Chase them. Make them happen.

Scratch and gouge moments out of other times. Chip off tiny flakes of moments from the monolith of your day. Use your teeth if you must—bite off mouthfuls of those moments.

You are holding the chisel and the pickaxe. You are the miner of your moments.

This frustrates us, of course.

It shouldn’t be this way, we think. Everyone else’s moments just… come to them. Everyone else has enough time. Enough money. Enough motivation. Enough information.

But it is this way. For everyone.

This is how it is, with moments. Moments resist expectations like water resists the intrusion of oil.

However, there is a perfect moment. There is actually always a perfect moment.

That perfect moment is now.

Here. Today. The living, breathing sliver of time that you have in this precise second.

Because that is all you ever have: right now.

Just start. At the beginning.

Here is another secret. You don’t have to actually work to get to the next moment.

All you have to do is start. 

And then, moments will keep moving, as moments do.

One moment will stack on top of another and before you know it, you’ll have arrived at your destination.

But I can’t! you say. I can’t get started! That is the problem, you see!

No, it’s not. If you can’t get started, you’re just jumping too far ahead.

You’re not starting with starting. You are trying to start somewhere in an imaginary middle.

For instance, let’s say you choose to start with reading about nutrition.

That can be a good start—if it keeps you moving on to the next moment.

But it is not a good start if it keeps you stuck in your chair, clicking through a blur of blogs and charts and plans and testimonials until it’s time for lights-out and you haven’t made a single good nutritional choice today.

So maybe, starting for you shouldn’t be reading.

It should be something else, like walking to the fridge and picking out a shiny fresh apple and eating it.

Or making a shopping list and putting it next to your car keys for tomorrow.

Or reading a menu from the restaurant you’re about to visit, and picking out the salad option in advance.

Starting means initiating action. Starting means committing to a choice of some kind or another. This is how you know it is a true start. 

Starting is when you drop the coin into one pinball machine, not when you stand there looking at the all machines in the arcade, deciding which one to play.

Starting is when you lift up one foot and put it in front of the other, not when you stand there debating which road to take or wondering if you should have worn different shoes.

For some folks, starting needs to be an even smaller action. Starting might be just lifting the foot. Or shifting their weight to one leg.

Putting the first foot in front of the second foot might require some help. Which is OK.

As long as something is moving, that’s a start.

Push through. Embrace resistance.

Many people who are just starting out assume that because they feel resistance, they have failed.

That because broccoli tastes bitter when they first try it, and because they accidentally overcook it, they just can’t eat vegetables.

That because they forget the printed list of exercises on the kitchen table, they can’t work out once they get to the gym.

That because their legs ache on the ascent, they are not ready to climb that hill.

No. That’s just how it feels sometimes.

Starting will often feel like resistance, at least at first. Like grinding the brain’s gears.

Give it time. Push through. It will switch tracks, eventually.

Remember: You don’t have to fight the resistance of the entire trip.

You just have to push through the resistance of the first few moments.

Get support. For now.

In order for a rocket to leave the earth, it has to fire extra-hard against gravity. It needs a boost.

In order for a heavy train to get moving, it might need an extra engine.

We can start—and stay moving—on our own. But it sure helps when someone gives us a push or a pull.

Someone who can call us on our procrastination and perfection. On our information-cruising and waffling.

Someone who can snap us out of our all-or-nothing trance with a gentle nudge and reminder.

For a while, we can even affix ourselves to this someone or something else, like hooking that extra engine to our front. As we go along, we can unhook superfluous cars that we realize are weighing us down. We grow lighter, leaner, more mobile.

Eventually, we don’t need that extra engine any more. Our train is now whizzing along just fine on its own. The scenery blurs past the windows and we are heading on a grand adventure.

But in the beginning, we had to start.

What to do next.

In the end, if you’re constantly saddled with “waiting for the perfect time”, these tips might help:

• Revise your expectations. Recognize that there is no perfect time and there never will be.
• Carve out time, even if it’s imperfect. Nobody will give that time to you. You’ll need to take it.
• Just start. Find the smallest possible thing you can do right now, in the next 5 minutes, and do it. Now you’ve started!
• Do something, anything. Action is a “vote” in favor of a different, healthier, fitter life. Vote early, vote often.
• You only have to get through this moment. This moment of starting will be the hardest. Luckily, it won’t last long.
• Expect resistance. It’s normal. Push through it. Resistance doesn’t mean this won’t work. It just means you’ve started.
• Get support. Whether it’s a friend or family member, workout buddy, or a coach, find someone to fire up your booster rockets until you can fly on your own.

Want help finally getting the healthy, energetic body you’re after?

If you’re looking for help and guidance, we’ll soon be accepting the next group into our Precision Nutrition Coaching program.

If you’re interested and want to find out more, I’d encourage you to join our presale list. Being on the presale list gives you two special advantages.

• You’ll pay less than everyone else. At Precision Nutrition, we like to reward the most interested and motivated people, because they always make the best clients. Join the presale list and we’ll give you 45% off the monthly cost of Precision Nutrition Coaching. This means you’ll pay the lowest price we’ve ever offered.

• You’re more likely to get a spot. To give clients the personal care and attention they deserve, we only open up the program twice a year. Last time we opened registration, we sold out within minutes. By joining the presale list you’ll get the opportunity to register 24 hours before everyone else, increasing your chances of getting in.

In the end, if you’re ready to start eating, moving, and living better, with help from the world’s premier nutrition coaching team, this is your chance.

[Note: If your health and fitness is already sorted out, but you’re interested in helping others, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program].

The post I’d love to get started… I’m just waiting for the perfect time. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

from Blog – Precision Nutrition http://www.precisionnutrition.com/the-perfect-time
via Holistic Clients

Fitness best practices can run the gamut from trustworthy to the eye roll-inducing depending on where you look.

The New Year is rapidly approaching, and it’s very possible you’re considering adding a fitness routine or modifying your current one for the start of 2017.

As a weightlifting coach and holistic nutritionist, I’ve seen it all. My mission is to add another voice to the trustworthy camp…

…so you can be successful this coming year.

This is the second installment in my fat loss series. (Read Part 1, 4 Nutrition Tips for Sustainable Fat Loss here.) And stay tuned for Part 3 which will cover mindset.

Consistent Action > Flash-in-the-Pan Effort

These fitness best practices, like the nutrition tips I shared in Part 1, aren’t anything revolutionary or trendy. There’s no secret squirrel stuff here.

If you’re incorporating exercise for fat loss, the biggest factor in your success is consistent action over a long period of time.

It’s not about going so hard for a short period of time that you burn out.

It’s not about using exercise as punishment or to make up for your “dietary sins.” (More about that coming up in Part 3.)

And, it’s not about perfection.

If you’re currently sedentary, these fitness best practices will help you get started in the right direction.

And if you’re using exercise as a control mechanism – ex: fear of gaining weight – you can use the advice here to start finding a healthy middle ground.

7 Fitness Best Practices for 2017

1) Move more.

Notice I didn’t say “exercise more.” We need to stop thinking about traditional exercise or working out as the only piece of the fitness pie.

What, exactly, does fitness mean? Look up any dictionary definition, and you’ll see mention of health, robustness, strength, athleticism, and longevity just to name a few.

It’s pretty easy to see that fitness in multifactorial. It’s not just how much you can squat or how far you can run.

The best thing you can do for yourself in 2017 is just to move more.

It sounds painfully obvious, but consider that amongst people who spend 30 to 60+ minutes a day exercising, many are absolutely sedentary when not working out.

Moving more throughout the day by standing at work, walking when you could drive, etc. is the easiest way to increase the number of calories burned without exercising.

Other ideas: Do light housework, get up from your desk often, and park farther away from stores (safety permitting).

2) Exercise smarter.

When it comes to fitness best practices, think about exercising efficiently, not exercising more.

In other words, if fat loss is your primary goal, think about getting the most fat-burning bang for your time & effort buck.

Nothing can touch strength training when it comes to efficiency. You get the most muscle-building potential and therefore fat-burning effect from the least time spent.

No more slogging on the elliptical or treadmill for hours every single day.

High-intensity interval training may work for some, but it’s not appropriate for all.

See #3 for more on that. And cardio can’t hold a candle to strength training when it efficiency…

…primarily because long slow distance cardio causes muscle to break down.

On the other hand, strength training builds muscle tissue which, in turn, causes more fat to be burned.

(Click here for a comparison between strength training, high-intensity intervals, and cardio.)

Two to four strength training days a week are all you really need to see great strength improvements, fat loss, and a huge boost in confidence.

3) Do what’s right for your body.

Look, exercise trends come and go. The more sexy and “hardcore” the workout looks, the more appealing it seems to be. (Seriously, where did this notion of exercise being something you have to loathe or something that has to hurt come from?)

Bootcamp, CrossFit, super hot yoga – hey, I’ve done CrossFit and spent many hours in a Bikram studio, so I’m not hating – and all other manner of “no pain, no gain” workouts are de rigueur.

In fact, I stopped competitive CrossFit training a few months into starting my own business in 2013 because the stress load was something I couldn’t handle.

But the disturbing trend I see with many of my clients – especially my fat loss clients – is stress overload. And yes, their exercise routines are a contributing factor.

Working out, especially if intense, long, or a combination of those, is a stressor. There are benefits to said stressor if the recovery is adequate enough…which it often isn’t.

However, I often see people who are already struggling with underlying health issues, autoimmune flares, adrenal dysfunction, and dealing with high-stress lives push themselves into intense exercise routines.

They’ve been lead to believe that just because something’s popular, everyone should be doing it. (Fitness “gurus” don’t usually talk about shit like that because it’s not sexy.)

In 2017, I strongly urge you to do what’s right for your body.

4) Do what you enjoy.

I know this sounds like common sense, but it’s something that’s often ignored.

Let me draw a parallel to dieting. A 2016 study by Baylor researchers determined that people who focused on eating healthy foods they actually liked were more likely to be successful at sticking to a diet.

I call this the additive approach.

In my coaching experience, I’ve seen the same thing…and you’ve probably felt it, too.

If you dread every moment leading up to, during, and after your workout, you’re not going to be very motivated to go back.

And you’re less likely to follow through long term.

Aside: I’ve had many women tell me they were really against strength training because they just didn’t understand it or know where to begin. See my related article 4 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Strength Training for more.

For an intermediate strength training plan, check out my 4-week Get Stronger template.

5) Get to the reason why.

I’ll cut to the chase here: So many people use exercise as a means of punishment or because they’re afraid of something like…

• gaining weight,
• not looking attractive enough,
• or not appearing disciplined.

People don’t often get called out for using exercise as a bandage to cover up deeper troubles. It’s all, “Wow, you’re so dedicated!”

Approaching exercise from a mindset of fear is never healthy. Fitness should be an expression of your beautiful, capable human body, and a celebration of what it can accomplish…

…not a way to prove your worth.

Listen to my recent podcast episode called I Just Want Abs to hear more.

Getting to the heart of your motivations is one of the most overlooked fitness best practices. Write it down, and keep asking why.

6) Keep it simple.

This fitness best practice is often overlooked because people have been lead to believe that they have to do it all and be perfect in order to achieve results.

Sadly, this flies in the face of lots of habit research…

…which demonstrates that focusing on one main habit at a time breeds success. (Read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg for more on habits.)

If you’re new to fitness or you’re struggling to get back on track, pick one habit to focus on. It could be packing your gym bag the night before, leaving your walking shoes by the front door, or even scheduling your workouts into your calendar.

Success will improve confidence which acts as positive feedback, spurring you on to change another habit and another over time.

Less successful people try to do too much or rely on willpower to gut it out. When their energy flags, they fall off the wagon, and the cycle perpetuates.

7) Keep it in perspective.

I get it. I’m a competitive athlete. I know several elite, world-class athletes.

I see the lengths some people will go to to achieve excellence in sport, including the sacrifices to mind, body, and relationships.

It’s easy to let yourself spend a lot of time, money, and energy thinking – or worrying – about exercise.

Whether you’re exercising for fat loss or to be stronger or to challenge yourself, I urge you to keep it all in perspective.

This is probably one of the most crucial fitness best practices.

If you’re not competing, are you spending a “healthy” amount of energy on fitness? Is it adding value to your life? Or has it become something that you spend a boatload of time obsessing about?

If you are competing, are you sure you want to? What’s your motivation? Is what you’re sacrificing really worth it?

Only you can answer these questions for yourself.

But you’ve got to figure out if you’re actually living into this healthier life you’re crafting for yourself…

…or if you’re spending too much time on the sidelines.

To Sum it Up

Fitness best practices are rarely those that look trendy, shiny, or sexy. Good old-fashioned hard work coupled with plenty of recovery and consistency is the key to sustainable fitness and fat loss.

Remember to…

• Move more. Being sedentary all day even if you exercise will make it harder to reach your goals.

• Exercise smarter. Strength training 2-4 times a week coupled with low intensity activities like walking is a great starting point for most busy people especially if the goal is fat loss.

• Do what’s right for your body. Just because a workout is trendy or popular doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for you.

• Do what you enjoy. You shouldn’t dread work outs. For the best shot at long-term success, pick something you like.

• Get to the reason why. Understanding your fitness motivations can have a huge impact on success.

• Keep it simple. Only focus on changing one main fitness habit at a time.

• Keep it in perspective. At the end of the day, it is just a workout. If you’re exercising for better health and quality of life, be sure you’re actually living it!

Pin this article, 7 Fitness Best Practices for 2017, for later!

The post 7 Fitness Best Practices for 2017 appeared first on Stupid Easy Paleo.

from Stupid Easy Paleo https://stupideasypaleo.com/2016/12/30/7-fitness-best-practices-2017/
via Holistic Clients

RHR: Do Emotions Impact Our Health?

In this episode we discuss:

• An ancient concept backed by modern research
• How do we define emotion?
• Can early trauma affect health later in life?
• Is there a separation between mind and body?
• My personal experience with emotions and healing

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/thehealthyskeptic/RHR_-_Do_Emotions_Impact_Our_Health_.mp3" title="RHR: Do Emotions Impact our Health?" artist="Chris Kresser" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" ] Chris Kresser: Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. I'm Chris Kresser. Today, we’re going to answer a question from Pam. Let’s give it a listen. Pam: I had a question after listening to your recent podcast on chronic fatigue and the underlying symptoms. What are your thoughts on emotional baggage, for lack of a better term, and its impact on attracting disease or allowing disease. I have a practitioner that I see that feels like your childhood scars and emotional issues that you've carried forward up to this point in life, and sometimes energetic ancestral imprints that have been left on you from previous relatives, can have an impact on your health. I was wondering if you had a thought about that, and if so, how you suggest going about rectifying those types of things. Chris Kresser: Thanks so much for that question, Pam. It’s a really interesting topic, and the more I do this work, the more I feel that lifestyle, behavior, emotions, psychological, and even spiritual factors play a crucial role and sometimes maybe even a more important role than commonly recognized factors like diet, exercise, and sleep in determining our health. Diet, exercise, and sleep are, of course, still very important and often the most important factors, but they are more obvious and they're more likely to be scrutinized. In some ways, they're easier to change. Maybe sleep is a little bit of an exception, but most people are able to make changes in their diet and even their physical activity routine without making significant changes to who they are as a person and making changes in other areas like social support, how we relate to ourselves and the world around us, or how we relate to other people. These can really require pretty deep investigation, they require a lot of awareness, and they're not the kind of changes that can be easily made overnight. I think there’s a lot more focus on diet and exercise because they are certainly very important but also because they are areas where it’s a little bit easier for people to make quick changes.

What if the mind and body aren’t really separate?

An ancient concept backed by modern research

But the idea that emotions play a role in health and disease is very old. In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, they have organ systems and each of the organ systems is associated with a particular emotion. The kidneys are associated with fear, the liver system is associated with anger, the lungs are associated with anxiety, and the spleen is associated with pensiveness or over thinking. The idea is that too much of any of these emotions damages the respective organ system that is associated with that emotion. For example, you hear about students developing what’s called spleen qi deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine because they're overusing their cognitive faculty, or perhaps someone that has a lot of unresolved anger develops a condition called liver qi stagnation. Regardless of what you think about this traditional Chinese view, modern research has also uncovered a link between emotions and disease. This is primarily expressed in the scientific literature in terms of stress. But stress is a really general term that could include, of course, emotions like grief, anger, anxiety, frustration, and worry. Most people, if you just stop them on the street and you ask them if emotions contribute to health and disease, they would say “yes” without even thinking about it. Most of us have had some personal experience that backs this up, whether we became ill after a particularly traumatic emotional event in our life or perhaps after taking care of an aging parent, a sick child, or something like that. Most of us have experienced this to some degree or another. If we think about the more modern scientific research, we know that, for example, caregivers tend to be a population that is extremely affected by stress, and when researchers want to study the impact of stress on human physiology, they will often study caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients because it is known that this population is just under extreme stress and the long-term effects of all of the emotional stress involved in caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is extreme and severe.

How do we define emotion?

But how does emotion really contribute to disease? To me, that’s one of the most interesting questions, and I think in order to answer it, we need to define what emotion really is. If you look in a dictionary, emotion is defined as a natural instinct of the mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. That’s kind of a technical definition, but we can say unequivocally that emotions are associated with sensations in our body. Again, everybody knows this. It’s not something we need research to show, but there is plenty of research that does show it. In some cases, the emotion may precede the sensation that we feel in our body. For example, if you see a snake, you then feel fear and then you experience a whole bunch of sensations that are related to that fear—your heartbeat increases, your muscles tense so that you can run away or deal with the threat. Not surprisingly, some recent research has shown that we all have the same bodily sensations associated with particular feelings regardless of culture or language, and that makes sense because these emotions or sensations primarily evolved as survival mechanisms. But in some cases, the sensation may actually precede the emotion and the thought. An example here might be that we show up at the office and a co-worker is wearing a strong scent or perfume that makes you feel ill, and you then initially feel that sensation of being unwell in the body, then you experience an emotion of anger, then a whole bunch of thoughts about how inconsiderate the co-worker is, and then more sensations and more emotions, etc. The reality is that the connection between sensations, emotions, and thought isn’t really linear in most cases, but the key point is that emotions can and do produce real psychological changes. If an emotion is chronic, for example, chronic sadness, fear, anxiety, or anger, then the sensations and thus the physiological effects of those emotions will also be experienced chronically in the body, and it’s really not difficult to understand how that could contribute to disease.

Can early trauma affect health later in life?

So, what about the idea that we store emotions and that they cause symptoms and illness later in our life? This definitely falls outside of our conventional understanding of the body, but that doesn’t mean we can rule it out. Based on what we just talked about so far, it’s at least plausible that strong emotions could produce a lasting response in the body, and there is some support for this in the literature. For example, we know that traumatic events that happen in utero or in early childhood can permanently downregulate the HPA axis and effect the production of hormones like cortisol for the rest of that child’s life. Something that happened when a baby was in the womb actually impacts hormone production for the rest of that baby’s life. You can talk about that in different ways, but the language that modern science uses to explain that doesn’t involve using terms like storing emotion or trauma in the body, but you could certainly look at it that way, as essentially an emotionally traumatic event that had lifelong impacts. I think there may very well be other cases where somebody experiences a severe trauma early on, and that trauma affects the body in other ways that modern science doesn’t currently understand. Maybe that person develops a cancer later in life, maybe they develop an autoimmune disease, or maybe they develop some other condition, but it’s not clear to them or certainly to their doctor that the emotionally traumatic event that happened earlier in their life was a predisposing factor to them developing that condition. Now, I should say at this point, I'm a little bit wary of any explanation that tries to oversimplify things. In the examples that I just used where people had an emotionally traumatic event that then manifested as a disease or a condition later in life, for every person that did have something like that, there could be people that had a traumatic event and didn’t manifest a disease like that later in life. We are very, very complex beings. There are multiple factors that affect our susceptibility to disease, including genetics, epigenetic expression, environmental factors like diet, physical activity, sleep, stress, and of course, emotions among many, many others that are both understood currently and have a lot of research behind them and others that are perhaps not as well understood. Even if it is true that emotional experiences manifest in our body both in real time currently as we’re experiencing them and then possibly later on in life, it doesn’t necessarily follow that we’ll always have the ability to identify those emotional traumas and release them unless we escape the influence of them through some kind of work, whatever that work may be. I'm not saying it’s not possible, it very well may be. I'm just a little bit of wary of explanations that make this too simple. Because in my experience, there are so many factors that affect these processes of health and disease, and some of those factors we have control over and some of them we don’t.

Is there a separation between mind and body?

Okay, there’s another interesting part of this to me, which is the relationship between modern science and our understanding of the body and emotions. I'm a big believer of modern sciences. Anyone who has been listening to this podcast and follows my work knows, but I hope I've also made it clear that I believe that modern science can't explain everything, and in fact, it’s changing all the time. Our current medical model is based on a philosophical underpinning of Cartesian dualism, which is the mechanistic view of the body as a sum of its individual parts, and it’s really not holistic in any way. However, modern physics has taught us that the parts that we perceived to be separate are in fact part of an interconnected whole of atoms and even subatomic particles. Even more strangely, these particles can exist simultaneously as both particles and waste. We could really go off on a tangent here and I love physics and quantum physics and I'm kind of a geek about this stuff. I like to read about in my spare time. But without going too deep on this, for those of us who are not aficionados of this topic, my point is that a medical model that is based not on Cartesian dualism but on a more current understanding of quantum physics would likely see no separation between thoughts, emotions, and the physical body because they're all made of the same stuff. We have this phrase that you see all the time, the “mind-body connection.” To a certain extent, I appreciate that we’re seeing more about this because it indicates at least an increasing awareness of the importance of what is meant by saying “mind-body connection” but even to use the term “mind-body connection” is misleading because it creates the idea that there’s a separate mind and a separate body that are then connected. I think that’s inaccurate and even kind of a dangerous way of looking at it. The traditional Chinese medical physicians knew this and they didn’t have an idea of the mind as being separate from the body. I mentioned earlier that they have different emotions and thought states that are associated with each organ system, so within that structure is a view of the mind, body, and emotions essentially being one, not separate and not even connected. To say that they're connected really misses the point. I think as our understanding of the nature of reality really is what we’re talking about here, which includes as the human body has changed and evolved, eventually our conception of medicine, health, and disease will change and evolve along with it. Unfortunately, that process turned out to take decades if not hundreds of years based on what we’ve seen historically. It could be a while, and it may not happen in our lifetime, but we can now look at all of what we understand about physics and matter including the matter that’s in our bodies, our thoughts and emotions, and see that there is a lot less distinction between these things than we might have previously thought. All of this suggests that even though with our current conventional medical paradigm, we may not understand the mechanisms behind how emotion could contribute to disease. There is already, even within that paradigm, quite a lot of research that supports that connection. As our understanding of both the nature of reality and human nature evolves, I think medicine is going to look very different in a hundred years than it does today. It’s best to keep an open mind. I will say also anecdotally as a clinician, I have seen big transformations in patients when working with emotions in whatever modality they are working on them with, whether it’s a psychotherapist, in some cases, people using ethnobotany or plant medicine, and other methods to get in touch with emotions that they may not normally have access to. I've seen very big shifts and transformations in people that are taking the time to explore these aspects of health.

My personal experience with emotions and healing

Many of you may also know that this was also a big part of my own healing process. When I got sick, I spent the first few years really deeply exploring diet, herbs, supplements and all of the typical things that we think of when we become sick. But after doing that really extensively, leaving no stone unturned, as is my way, and not making the kind of progress that I was hoping to make, I began to consider other possibilities or other avenues of exploration. I actually ended up moving to Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and living there for two years. For those of you who are not aware of Esalen and its history, it’s a retreat center that’s focused on increasing awareness, spiritual and personal growth, and it’s got a very interesting and colorful history going back to the ’70s. There are a couple of books about it. It’s kind of a fascinating place, but I moved with there with the intention of really exploring the emotional and psychospiritual aspects of my illness, seeing if through doing that, I could make progress that I hadn’t made with just looking exclusively at the physical realm. Looking back on it now, I think all of that was important for me. Diet was a huge key as, of course, you know. A Paleo-type of diet was one of the big keys for me, but that emotional and psychospiritual work that I did at Esalen was also a very big key to my recovery, and my understanding of what was contributing to illness. The more I do the work that I do with patients, the more that I see that as an important part of the process for anybody that’s dealing with a chronic illness or anyone who wants to optimize their health. Pam, thank you so much for asking this question. I think it’s really important to turn our attention to these aspects of health because they don’t get as much air time as they should especially for people who have already explored the finer points of diet and they’ve got their physical activity and their sleep dialed in, and they're still experiencing illness. I think it’s really worth exploring the emotions, psychology, and even the spiritual roots of illness in an effort to expand our horizons and make progress that we may not be able to make purely by looking at the more commonly explored factors. I hope this has been helpful and I would love to continue the discussion, so if you have any thoughts or ideas about this, head over to the website chriskresser.com and leave a comment on the blog post because it’s a really interesting topic and I would love to explore it further with you. Okay. That’s it for now. Thanks everybody for listening. Please keep sending your questions in to chriskresser.com/podcastquestion and I will talk to you soon.

from Chris Kresser http://chriskresser.com/rhr-do-emotions-impact-our-health/
via Holistic Clients

The 2016 WMAs: My Completely Biased Best of the Web List

This is the week that many of us set goals for the next year, make final charitable contributions, start planning for taxes, and maybe drink some champagne and kiss those we love as we welcome in the new year.

The last 525,600 minutes have been busy, crazy, hectic, hard, amazing, rewarding and so many other things all rolled into one crazy year and I’m so grateful that I got to spend some of it with you.

The Official Wellness Mama Awards (WMAs)

To celebrate, I’m creating a totally unofficial and mostly biased set of awards: the Wellness Mama Awards (WMAs) with the top posts, comments, videos and content I found from around the web this year. Unlike official award ceremonies, there are no fake gold statues to give out, no fancy dresses, and no performances. Just some of the best things I found around the web (and on WellnessMama.com) that I wanted to share with you.

Super exciting, right?

Read on for the list… (and scroll down to see the most popular content on Wellness Mama over the past year).

Product of the Year: Instant Pot

The Instant Pot would be in the running for the “best of everything” category if there was one. I use it weekly and apparently many of you do as well! It was the most-sold kitchen product on Amazon and one of the favorites with you guys too!

Runners Up:

• RTIC Stainless Steel Tumblers
• Dry Brushes for Skin
• Salt Lamps

Useful Tip of the Year: Natural Drain Cleaning

Not super exciting and you’d never see this on any real award show, but this beyond-simple natural drain cleaning method really works! It saved me when my hubby was out of town and the drain in our kitchen clogged thanks to the three-year-old’s attempt at dishes that resulted in her pouring a bowl of butter and melted olive oil down the drain.

Runner up: These smart uses for the camera on your phone

Course of the Year: Kids Cook Real Food

Kids Cook Real Food E-Course. I seriously wish I could give this course to every family and go to their houses to make sure they actually watch it. It is that good. Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship teaches your kids how to cook (with your help). My kids love it, and it includes a free knife skills class without even purchasing it!

Favorite Healthy Hack of the  Year: Saunas

If you’re not a regular sauna user, I’d highly recommend it, as there are some inexpensive ways to try it at home. I’m a tad biased because she is one of my best friends, but I love this post from MommyPotamus about the amazing benefits of regular sauna use. I’m also excited to announce that Heather will be the new co-host of The Healthy Moms podcast this year and that she and I will occasionally do a “SaunaCast” episode from her sauna to answer reader questions. Stay tuned! 😉

Podcast of the Year: Ben Greenfield

I really enjoy Ben’s podcast (and he has some great articles on his website too!). Ben interviews experts in a variety of fields and isn’t afraid to tackle controversial topics like EMFs, GMOs and extreme hot and cold therapy.

Runner up: The Tim Ferriss Show. He has some great interviews with a very random assortment of guests.

Best Blog for Pregnant & New Moms: Mama Natural

If you are pregnant or a new mom, you have to check out Mama Natural. She has a great natural birth course, and a week-to-week pregnancy book coming in 2017. Check out her blog for hundreds of posts about all things pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Bundle of the Year: Ultimate Bundles

Everyone is doing bundles these days, but there is only one Ultimate Bundles and they are the only one I will promote or become an author for. I’ve become good friends with them over the past year and their commitment to quality and customer service is AMAZING! With them, you won’t be buying the same books that have been in every other bundle and you’ll learn a ton. They are running a flash sale (and the best deal of the year) right now. Check it out here.

Best Time-Saver In the Kitchen: Real Plans

Without a doubt, the tool that saves me the most time in the kitchen is Real Plans for meal planning. The Instant Pot (see above) saves me the most time in cooking, but Real Plans saves time planning and shopping (and it has many Instant Pot recipes too!). My favorite part? It is so easy to use that I can plan everything from my phone while nursing the baby!

Best Handmade Product: Kokomo Cream Deo

It is so exciting that you can now buy so many handmade products if you don’t want to make them yourself. I still make a lot of my own, but often use this Kokomo Cream Natural Deodorant from Crunchy Betty on Etsy.

Runners up:

• MadeOn Lotion Bars (and all of their products)

Kids Choice Award: Gorilla Gym

The kids have picked the Gorilla Gym as their favorite toy/product for the last three years since they got it as a Christmas gift. They use it daily and I love that they can get their energy out inside on rainy days.

Pet Choice Award:

I’ve been making DIY products for years, but just started making them for our pets too! They love this protective paw wax recipe from Frugally Sustainable.

Runner up:

• Our puppy (aka- the one who chews everything) is loving this Kong toy and I like to freeze yogurt in there to help his teething.

Drink of the Year (Besides Water)

This is totally a legitimate category, right? There were some tough contenders for the title this year, but the winner goes to… Dry Farm Wines for their natural and organic wines.

Runners up:

• Bone Broth (yes, we drink it)
• Camel Milk (our kids love it!)

Food/Snack of the Year

When it comes to pre-made food, there are a few that we use all the time. These Paleo Valley beef sticks win because they are healthy, portable, and great for camping and travel.

Runners up:

• Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo (it’s delicious!)
• Coconut Aminos (like soy sauce but better!)

Best Random Gadget I Love

Do random gadgets deserve their own category? I say yes… and this Wine Bottle Tiki Torch Kit is my favorite this year. We made a few from up-cycled wine bottles and now they serve as functional decorations.

Runners up:

• Grocery bag carrying handles
• Aromatherapy car diffuser

I’d Like to Thank…

YOU!

As I reflect on the last year and what it has brought for our family, for WellnessMama.com and for relationships, I’m overcome with love and gratitude. I am so grateful to have gotten to e-know many of you this year in the comments and on Facebook and for the amazing community that has developed that is so much more than I could ever have imagined.

This community, and all of you, give me true hope that we are going to make lasting changes in our communities and in our world for future generations. Your passion, dedication, and interest in creating a healthier future for your family is creating ripples that can truly change the world.

The Most Popular Posts on Wellness Mama…

This year was busy over here at Wellness Mama headquarters (aka my kitchen & laundry room). I wrote a book (this one) along with a bunch of new posts, had a baby, re-branded the Podcast (now the Healthy Moms podcast), and did a whole lot of dishes and laundry.

These are the top posts of 2016 on Wellness Mama as voted by you guys (by number of times they were visited).

101 Uses for Coconut Oil

This coconut oil post is actually the most visited post of all time on the blog. It may also get the award for my most copied blog post of all time, as I’m constantly finding it (or very slightly modified versions of it) on other blogs and websites. PSA: Originality is attractive… write your own original posts people!

How to Use Castor Oil for Hair (Grow Beautiful Hair Fast)

What’s old is new again. Castor oil is one of my secrets to keeping my long hair healthy (and to long eyelashes!) This is a remedy my grandmother probably used and now it is really popular again.

Chia Seed Pudding Recipe (+ 5 Delicious Variations)

The humble little chia seed packs a powerful nutritional punch and chia seed pudding is apparently the method of choice to consume it. This recipe for chia seed pudding was among the most visited and most commented posts this year.

How to Make Bone Broth

Bone broth has been gaining popularity over the last few years. Based on the number of visits to this tutorial about how to make it, I’d say its popularity continues. I also found a great grass-fed non-perishable bone broth that I order when I don’t want to make it.

5 Minute Turmeric Tea Recipe (How to Make Golden Milk)

My long-time favorite recipe for turmeric tea was very popular this year. I’m glad to see so many people trying this delicious healthy beverage!

Himalayan Salt Lamp Benefits For Your Home

Looks like there are a bunch of us coconut oil using, turmeric tea drinking, chia seed eaters with salt lamps in their home. Or at least the salt lamp part, since it just missed the top 5 this year by a couple of votes. Here’s why I love them!

7 Natural Remedies for Eczema

I’m sad that this post is popular, because it means there may be a lot of people struggling with eczema. I hope they all found relief this year!

Natural Bug Spray Recipes (That Actually Work)

Natural products for the win! This natural bug spray works really well. I love that so many people are choosing natural options over harsher ones that may leave harmful chemicals in our bodies and the environment.

How to Balance Hormones Naturally

An oldie but a goodie. This is one of my oldest posts but it still got a lot of love this year.

Luxurious Sugar Scrub Recipe

Put food on your face… just don’t put this particular food in your mouth! Sugar scrubs are great for skin and are a much better option than eating the sugar!

Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe (From Fresh or Canned Tomatoes)

Who knew homemade pasta sauce was so popular? If you haven’t tried it, the flavor is so much better when you make your own! Here are the recipes.

The Benefits of Lemon Water (in the Morning)

One simple change… so many benefits. I love that so many people are drinking lemon water in the morning. Have you tried it?

How to Make Your Own Deodorant

Homemade deo is super-simple to make. It also works better for me and many of the 1000+ commenters on the post. Don’t want to make it? I also love this handmade coconut lime version made with the same ingredients.

Homemade Lotion Recipe

This 3-ingredient homemade lotion recipe was very popular this year. Ever tried making your own?

Coconut Milk Shampoo Recipe

This simple homemade shampoo doesn’t work for everyone, but many of you seemed to love its softening effects over the past year.

Natural Remedies for Allergy Relief

I live in a state known for being one of the worst in the country for allergies. That makes me totally unqualified to write this post, except that I’ve personally tried (and succeeded) with many of these remedies. Apparently, they work for many of you too!

How to Detox Your Armpits

Did you know that body odor may not be the worst thing in your armpits? Many of the products we use have harsh chemicals and unnatural junk that can build up in your pits and cause itchiness when you try to use a natural deodorant. I used an armpit detox to get that stuff out!

Why I Don’t Reduce a Fever (And What I Do Instead)

Without a doubt this post gets the award for most controversial (of this year and every year since I wrote it). Notice the title says “why I don’t” as I’m just sharing what I do. I’m not a doctor and am certainly not giving medical advice. All that said, these are the reasons I (typically) don’t reduce a fever.

Oil Pulling for Oral Health

I was swishing with coconut oil long before it was trendy, but I love that so many other people are now too! (You can also do it with sesame or other oils if you can’t tolerate coconut.)

Spirulina Benefits

This once-ridiculed algae is now sitting at the popular kids table! Spirulina is a nutrient dense food with a lot of uses.

Healthy Coffee Recipe

It may be old news now, but everyone is putting butter in their coffee. Here’s my take on bulletproof coffee.

Magnesium: How to Make Your Own Magnesium Oil & Signs of Deficiency

My favorite mineral got some attention this year with both of these posts getting a lot of visits:

• How to Make Magnesium Oil
• Signs of Magnesium Deficiency

How I Remineralized My Teeth

I love to talk about oral health. I’ve always found it fascinating and this was one of my first posts about how I stopped my cavities and avoided fillings.

Top Uses for Gelatin

Gelatin is a kitchen staple for me. I use gelatin and collagen in many recipes to make everything from marshmallows to fruit snacks.

How to Make Elderberry Syrup

A remedy I always keep on hand, especially in the winter. I hope you don’t ever need it for illness, but love it for avoiding getting sick!

Most Commented This Year

The two posts that were the most discussed this year are Why I Don’t Post About My Kids Online and Dear Parents, We Owe It to Our Kids to Stop This. Needless to say, you guys are VERY passionate about your children, and that’s a good thing!

My Favorite Thing From This Year…

From the beginning, the mission of Wellness Mama has been to help other families live healthier lives and empower families with practical ways to accomplish this.

I feel like the food mission to help parents provide healthy foods for their families doesn’t stop in my own community or even just in the blogging community as there is such a need for this internationally.

Did you know?

If you’ve ever purchased something through a link on my site, you’ve helped keep WellnessMama.com up and running, and a percentage of that is also donated to charities that provide sustainable food and water sources worldwide. Thank you so much if you’ve helped support my blog in this way and also helped support many others worldwide.

Reviewing the numbers today, the giving is the real thing that I’m most excited about and most proud of. Over the years, the Wellness Mama Community… YOU… have helped provide things to families in need all over the world.

These gifts not only provided food or clothing to those in need, but in many cases, also a  sustainable food or water source and a way for a family to earn income.

Over the years, you’ve helped give:

• 2000 pounds of non-perishable foods
• 840 chickens for eggs, meat and income for families
• 72 Pigs for food and income for families
• 12 goats for food and income for families
• 4 donkeys for transportation and tilling
• 3 water pumps that each provide water to a village
• 4 beehives for food and income for families
• 20 Fruit Trees so that families can grow the fruit and sell
• 10 pairs of work boots so farmers can work safely
• 5 sets of agricultural tools for small farmers
• 10 large Coolers for fishermen to store fish to sell
• 8 sewing machines and thread/material for women to open sewing businesses
• plus medical supplies and school supplies for children around the world

These things were donated through Food for the Poor in case you want to send some chickens to someone in need this year 🙂

I’ve always been a big believer in the “teach a man to fish” mentality, and giving in this way not only provides food or water for someone one time, but helps other families to start their own businesses and provide food for their children regularly. Because at the end of the day:

It is all About Relationships and Family…

Again, thank you so much for reading, for being a part of this community and for sharing in the mission of providing a healthier future for our kids.

This next year, I hope you’ll join me in one of my personal goals: to focus on my family and on relationships more. To prioritize not just making healthy food and creating a healthy environment for my husband and children, but being more present and spending more time together as a family.

Nourish not only your body, but the important relationships in your life. Tell people you love them, and show them. Because at the end of the day, that is what is going to make the biggest difference in your own life and in the lives of your family members and the next generation.

Happy New Year! I’m so thankful and honored that you took the time to be part of this crazy journey with me this year and I can’t wait to continue it in 2017.

What are your goals for the next year? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

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16 Best Paleo Recipes of 2016

Time to find out what my 16 best paleo recipes of 2016 are!

It’s always fun to look back and see which Stupid Easy Paleo recipes were the most popular of the year.

While most on this list are tried and true favorites, a few brand new recipes from the year squeaked into the 16 best paleo recipes.

Of course, when we revisit the list next year at this time, who knows which recipes may pop onto the most-loved list. Let’s count them back from #16…

#16 Thai Coconut Soup

This cheater Thai Coconut Soup – also known as Tom Kha – comes together so quickly at home. And you can easily achieve flavorful broth with ingredients from pretty much any market. Make it with chicken or shrimp…it’s your choice!

#15 Crock Pot Mocha-Rubbed Pot Roast

The coffee adds a subtle depth of flavor to this Crock Pot Mocha-Rubbed Pot Roast that the spices alone can’t achieve. The end result was very tender meat and a flavorful sauce…and this fall, I updated it to have Instant Pot directions, too.

#14 Easy Pan-Fried Lemon Chicken

My Easy Pan-Fried Lemon Chicken is the antidote to dry, rubbery chicken breast. Make it on your weekly food prep day, and you’ll have plenty of succulent chicken to add to salads or just eat as an entree.

#13 Homemade Gummy Snacks

Homemade Gummy Snacks are a great way for kiddos of all ages to sneak more gelatin into their daily. And let’s be honest, making these in fun shapes with different molds doesn’t hurt. You can use lots of different fruit juices to change it up.

#12 Bone Broth 101

Making homemade bone broth is pretty easy, but if you want the step-by-step breakdown, be sure to check out this Bone Broth 101 tutorial. Bone broth is healthy and delicious for lots of reasons, and I make it weekly. If you’re looking for an Instant Pot update, click here.

#11 Homemade Kombucha

Kombucha is a type of fermented probiotic tea. Making Homemade Kombucha is pretty simple, and when you realize you can craft your own for just pennies a jar, it’s even more of a win. The flavor combinations are endless…lemon ginger is my personal fave.

#10 Green Chile Chicken

My Green Chile Chicken cooks up perfectly in the crock pot…it’s the ultimate in hands-off cooking. Serve this one with cilantro lime cauliflower rice and some avocado slices for a complete meal. This one’s a favorite in our house for meal prep day.

#9 Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs

Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Thighs are a new addition to the site for 2016, and they’ve quickly become a favorite. The chicken is seared, skin down, until it’s super crispy. Then, I toss it into a hot oven to finish roasting. Stupid-easy.

#8 Three-Ingredient Banana Pudding

This Three-Ingredient Banana Pudding is really simple. While I love convenience, the little cups of chia pudding goodness you can buy at the grocery store can be kind of pricey, especially if you’re watching your wallet.

#7 Paleo Cabbage Rolls

These satisfying little rolls of meat and cabbage take me back to my childhood. When I these Paleo Cabbage Rolls, I instantly reminisced about my grandma standing in the kitchen, cooking. Traditionally, golumbki are made with rice so I substituted cauliflower to give a similar look and texture.

#6 Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad is a new lunchtime favorite in our house, and I think you’ll see why the first time you try it. The crunchy napa cabbage, carrots and snap peas play so well with the tender chicken and crunchy cashews. Plus, the simple orange ginger dressing adds a fresh pop of flavor that brings it all together.

#5 Paleo Chick-fil-A

This Paleo Chick-fil-A is so tasty, and the secret’s in the pickle juice! It basically brines the chicken which makes it super moist and tender. The recipe is easily doubled, and it makes the perfect, dippable nuggets.

#4 Dark Chocolate Coconut Chia Pudding

Dark Chocolate Coconut Chia Pudding is so easy to make for an every-once-in-a-while treat. It’s gelatin-, egg- and dairy-free! Serve it in small dessert cups for just the perfect little bite. Tiny spoons are fun, too.

#3 Paleo Zucchini Fritters

If you have a food processor with a shredding blade, these Paleo Zucchini Fritters becomes even faster to make… but have no fear: I broke out my trusty box grater to do the job, and it worked like a charm. The key is extracting as much moisture as possible.

#2 Emergency Meatballs

We always have a batch of Emergency Meatballs stashed away in the freezer, and they’ve saved mealtime more than once! I’m a firm believer in having emergency protein, soups, or stews on hand in the deep freeze. In those moments, being prepared with a batch or two of Emergency Meatballs is priceless.

#1 Simple Paleo Tortillas

If you’re looking for a really easy paleo version of a flour tortilla (or a crepe), look no further. My Simple Paleo Tortillas are much more flexible than other grain-free versions…and they’re one of my best paleo recipes. Sure, you can buy pre-made paleo tortillas now, but these are much cheaper and a snap to make.

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