Build it Beautiful Podcast

Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat

Posted on October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

One of my favorite summer events is taking a boat out to the middle of a lake, turning it off, and just sunning on the back bench. I love the feeling of the boat gently rocking in the waves, the hot, sun-warmed vinyl from beneath my body, and the intensity of the Utah sun beating down from above.

nutrition and personal training for women — Photo by Ahmed Zayan

Can you relate to this peaceful feeling?

Unfortunately, this moment of peace always has an ending.

I remember at a lake here in Utah we had stopped the boat. After resting for a while I sat up only to find our boat was mere feet from a rocky shoreline. From past experiences (*cough cough*), I knew the boat, being that close to the shore, was in a red zone. It was going to be a huge risk to start the motor and the propeller without a rock mangling it and therefore hindering our ability to get to the dock. We were in a bad place.

It took a lot of effort and teamwork to get the boat away from the rocks, start it up on a prayer, and head away from danger.

I’ve thought about this experience a lot and have really built a beautiful analogy from it relating to whole health that I want to offer you today.

As humans, we are wired for the desire to find and accrue peace. Those moments of weightless peace on the boat? Yeah, we seek that out constantly. Effortlessness that comes easy. Haven’t you heard so many people say, “it seems so easy for ‘so and so’ to lose weight,” or, “stay constant,” or, “be able to eat anything they want and not gain weight.”

So we are searching for those moments where we can turn off the boat and relax in the Sun so to speak, but if we do that we tend to slowly drift towards red zones. For example, if I don’t track the foods that I eat I have a tendency to just take one bite or just one more piece of chocolate and the next thing I know after a couple days or weeks, I have lost complete control of my healthy eating. Same thing goes with missing exercise or your journal and meditation for the day.

The effort it takes to get away from that red zone is a lot and usually cannot be completed without members of a team in your boat. Now I’ll come back to your team in a second but I want to point that out. In your help red zones what does it take to get out of that zone? In my example it could be that I go through my kitchen and throw out everything that could cause me to overeat; or it could look like menu planning for the week and then putting that into an app.

Once you pull away enough from that Red Zone you can turn on the motor and really make some progress ( this might look like those first initial 5 lb that you lose or the ability to work out 5 days or 6 days in a week). The next question would be where are you headed next? That new destination is just like when we make goals.

When We choose to make goals we choose to move into the neighborhood of success and failure. Success and failure live next to each other. How does this relate to our boat?

It seems to me that when I have been on a boat heading for a destination it never fails that there’s some sort of friction that comes upon me. It’s to be expected. That friction could look like waves, other boats, wind, rocks, not quite knowing where we’re going, or even disagreement within my boat. But it is bound to happen.

When you make a goal you Essentially turn on the motor of your boat and head towards that goal. Those obstacles and frictions that come up will come up because you are trying to go somewhere. They make you work harder than just floating with the motor off. Sometimes you might lose sight of your goal. But if you are headed in the right direction with the right behaviors you will resurface so to speak and find her goal again.

Ironically enough when I’m talking to my clients I find that when we set a goal we tend to expect that it will be effortless or it is effortless while we turn our boat around and get it started in the first 10-15 ft but then after that it becomes harder.

But it is the friction actually allows us to make progress. If our boat was in the air in the prop was going at full speed you wouldn’t go anywhere. We need that water we need those waves in order to get us movement.

Now onto the next idea that I wanted to come back 2 was about the crew in your boat. Who do you want in your boat? Who will get you or help get you to your destination safely, more efficiently? either out of their previous experience or their skill set to help you man the boat. we want a good team on our side..

Two weeks ago when I talked to my client about this exact analogy I asked her who she wanted in her boat. She talked about her husband who supported her unconditionally in her goals. She talked about having me as her coach in the boat. And then she also talked about a woman who is a friend that she looks up to. So it wasn’t necessarily somebody who had skills but it was somebody she aspired to be like and be friends with; who could give her courage when the waters got rough.

In your boat it could look like a doctor, it could look like a therapist, family, friends, colleagues, boss, a lady down the street, somebody who always has your back, or somebody who can help you think rationally as well.

We could continue to find parallels with this analogy, so if you discover one for yourself, consider sharing it below. However, to come full circle with the final points of this analogy…

We tend to go easy and want to turn off our boats, but when we do we drift without control into Red zones.
When we make goals we essentially are turning on the motor of our boat and we will need friction in order to make progress.
The crew inside your boat will make or break your ability to reach your mile marker goal

So my question to you today is: What areas of your health are you floating with the motor off and, unbeknownst to you, heading for a red zone?

As a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and behavioral help coach I get in the boat with you. I help you have awareness of where you are on the lake and, As you make help goals, help you know how to navigate the friction will be ahead. We work together to be able to man your boat.

If this is something that has sparked some thoughtfulness in you, consider sharing it with a friend or family member and consider setting up a free consultation with me to see if we will be the right crew together to reach your new destination. I’d be honored to work with you.

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Finding a Whole Health Coach

Posted on October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 by Clarissa Thomas

What is health to you? What is in the description you’d give and what is excluded?

Next question: Is your health important to you? This means that what you said above is included in your health. Can you say that it is and each factor of your definition is thriving?

For example, if spirituality was included in my definition of health (not just exercise or diet), then I would need to account for my level of current spirituality when I thought about the importance of health and level of whole health in my life.

When I decided to become a coach, it was because I was missing a coach that considered ALL of what was important to ME as a client. I was getting “eat this like I did” and “do this workout according to what’s written.” I was missing the individual, whole health aspect and therefore didn’t come away with a lifestyle change. Because I couldn’t find the coach I was needing, I figured that there were people out there who also weren’t finding what they needed. So I became the coach I needed.

So what is WHOLE health to you? Have you found a coach that considers your full definition?

Whole health to me considers – physical, nutritional, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, financial, and environmental. Among many other things, it looks at genetic disposition, sleep, dietary needs, time constraints, and more. It shifts day to day, week to week, and even year to year.

May sound really complicated, and it is! That is why having a coach who can help you settle into your individual whole health is important. The navigation is tiring on our own right? It is always better to have a guide in untapped territory.

Whole health is comprised of basic guidelines for the many different areas of life, and then within those basic guidelines are the individual applications to each person. But it can be hard to know what individual applications you need to apply without someone who has been through and knows ins and outs of the road you are travelling on.

As a coach I help teach the umbrella of whole health guidelines and then we define, through a journey, what the personal needs are.

You need someone who can clearly see, through experience, how to help you navigate your health journey. Then you won’t feel lost, you won’t feel alone, and you WILL navigate successfully your individual whole health.

15 Weeks of Bikini Prep?!

Posted on June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

I have just completed 15 weeks of a bikini prep program. No competition but all the work to get to one. Let’s say, I started full force with great success and came crawling through mud to the end. Wow, did I learn SO much! Pros and Cons! I cannot wait to share these things with you. As always, it may look different for each one of you. All our bodies are SO different and circumstances/lifestyles – so what I needed, wanted, experienced is all from my perspective and not through others. I’d love to hear what you have learned if you have done one before.

First, I wanted to start with my why and motivation. For years I have pushed hard in the exercise realm and also ate well. But I noticed I was missing some key components to getting “ripped.” I wanted to prove to myself that getting my body fat % below 15% was possible and doable without a gym membership. I also was totally ready to grow as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. I wanted to experience the process so I can coach my own clients with empathy, understanding, and vision.

Next in the process. You start at a moderate but low calorie amount. Foods are mainly one ingredient foods with some exceptions. No sugar, no dairy, no gluten. Pairings of foods are placed together to give you the most bang for your pound. Every week there are subtractions or replacements to your feeds so you eat less but your body adapts because they are well placed adjustments. Exercise runs the opposite course – five one-hour sessions to six two- to three-hour sessions a week.

Alright, without further ado, my list. I have been pondering on this for about 5 weeks now as I came dragging into the homestretch. They are in no particular order and definitely aren’t exclusive to all of my thoughts.

The same insecurities I had 18 pounds ago are the same insecurities I have now.
Eating whole, one ingredient foods make me feel the best
I am emotionally connected to food
I am socially connected to food
There was a point where my body rejected more programming and I needed to pull back for a while and reset.
My mental health is almost MORE important than my physical health. Without good mental health, anything good I pursue didn’t matter.
Eating one ingredient foods and ridding my body of sugar, gluten, and dairy changed three things drastically that weren’t my size – my acne is all but gone, my hormones were in a better balance range, my mental health is DEPENDANT on whole, one ingredient foods
You need a good coach to guide you and talk you off of the wall at times
You need serious accountability to make serious changes
This world is obese because of added sugars and too little protein
What you learn about yourself is WAY more important than the results at the end
Even a small step forward is a BIG win!
I wanted to throw the towel in multiple times and I am SO thankful that I gritted up and tried again – because 80% or even 50% or even 30% is better than 0%
Different goals require different nutrition and exercise programs —- too many women try to do everything ALL at once. Example: I had a client text me to see if I could coach her while she 1) lost weight 2) built 10 lbs of muscle 3) trained for a triathlon 4) wanted to intuitively eat. Yikes! We do better when we pick one or we’ll be knocking heads with the cross points of our goals.
Supplementation is a must with a cutting diet
Timing in your eating is IMPERATIVE to keeping muscle and not crashing mid-day.
You can do anything!!!
Because of this program, I have revamped parts of my nutrition coaching in what I have learned and am implementing it to be a better coach for you.
If you don’t eat right, you won’t see change. I swear nutrition is 90% of the equation to body change.
Get a coach! Nuff said there!
Food can be ritualistic and there’s definitely a FOMO in certain ritual situations (like my birthday) when you don’t eat what everyone else is eating and what you look forward to so much.
I love allowing myself a treat on Sunday’s. It keeps me sane.
Sugar makes me feel SO junky and slow and bloated and all the wrong things.
But my body craves sugar if I am not eating the right kinds of foods at the right times.
When you lose enough weight to change clothes sizes, it is really strange and difficult to fork up the money to purchase new stuff.
Sometimes weight drops don’t lead to clothing size drops. Don’t go there with expectations.
When you lose a bunch of weight, there is a fear of gaining it all back every single time you eat or shop for a new clothing size or get close to finishing your program.
You can’t possibly maintain a super low weight on a restricted diet without injuring your hormones or body in general.
To achieve an extremely low body fat %, it will take complete sacrifice of all else. Between meal prep, recovery, and gym time, it is hours of each day. Too many women want the body but aren’t willing or can’t do 3 hours a day, 6 days a week in the gym.
My body can’t eat cake and cut weight at the same time.
It is always about trusting the process and hanging onto your coach’s knowledge
There is an end to every season – from the actual program and challenge it was to even the weight I ended with, it is all temporary and the only thing certain is change.
Peanut Butter is king!
My body craves nuts and peanut butter when I am in a calorie deficit – like cannot stop thinking about anything in that realm.
This is a lifestyle I’d like to continue in – I truly was eating the right foods, just in a deficit. So now, I get to keep eating them in, but more!!!
You can fuel your body super efficiently with whole, one ingredient food.
It is all about finding volume foods and spices to liven and fill you.
There is always an event or an excuse. There just is.
Foods during low hormone phases vs high hormone phases tasted and pleased/disgusted differently.
Two hours in the gym plus little caloric intake wipes you out. YOU MUST REST and rest MORE.

So here are some before and after photos – honestly, I can’t see much change in myself but I FEEL better and have had others notice a difference. I guess it is all the eye of the beholder and sometimes we have to hold onto how others see us if we cannot see that change and know there is one.

Hopefully you have gained some insight into all the thoughts (even contradicting ones) of a rigorous program. There is a right season to everything, just not all at once. That is why I NEVER give my clients the same program as anyone else and NEVER try to achieve too many goals at one time. Everything is thought out to where the client is at and the circumstances they are in and where they want to be. Time, accountability, and consistency in anything is key and that is what I, as your coach, can do for you.

If you’d like to take a 12 week nutrition coaching course, do a bikini prep program, or get some amazing personal, personal training, reach out via the Contact Us link in the Train menu up top. I’d love to coach with you.

Overall, would I do the program again? Yes, I would, and I am planning on it already – I know there is more progress I can make. Would I make some changes in how the program is set up and given? Yes, I would. Was I perfect in keeping with my guidelines? Nope, I definitely had fails, but we have to be honest in our mortal bodies. Can I be a better coach because of this? Yes, I can and have already implemented some of the process to dos into my coaching to get better results for my clients.

***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational and journaling purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***

This is PMDD – Day 20

Posted on April 14, 2021April 14, 2021 by Dan Thomas

I once saw a thriller movie and at one point in a scene, there was blood oozing under the door frame into the closet where the actor was hiding. The actor had no idea what was going on until there was so much blood, he was 4-5 inches deep and it was “too late” for him. He succumbed to the monster with a blood curdling scream. I always wondered why that scene stuck with me… until it made a lot of sense for me today.

That’s what I start feeling around day 20-22 in my PMDD cycle. Everything is going wonderfully up until that point. In fact, yesterday I was just thinking how much energy and drive I had and how I could keep up with my goals for sure! I would smash my PMDD out of the water and win this month. I just knew it.

But today I noticed the muck leaching under the closet door.

It came in a way of noticing my bloated belly and my 4 lb weight gain overnight. How could I possibly send that to my coach?!

It came when I just couldn’t get the seam on my sock to sit right in my shoe or the drawstring on my pants kept loosening. I didn’t hate those pants last week, they were my uniform and now I can’t wait to get rid of them.

It leached more when I looked at my calendar and had dread of this coming weekend. Too many social events and planned things I need to “show up” for… panic, sweat, heat… how do I cancel these? Too much going on.

It came in more when I realized that my whole house was SO dirty and I am the ONLY one who seems to care. The load of work gets heavier and I notice everything wrong.

It leached when one hand on my back from my husband sent so much electric energy into my body I was awake for another hour trying to calm back down. OVer stimulation of simple things.

It rose with foggy mind issues, frustration of my hair today, feeling SO gross that I haven’t had time to shower and shave since Saturday and the hairs are catching on my leggings. In my workout where I couldn’t even look myself in the eyes I was that disgusted with who I am.

And with all these things I think, “That’s just weird. I know those thoughts and feelings aren’t who I am. I wonder what is going on?”

After a certain point in my day, it hits me. Every time, it hits like a bus. PMDD is here again. And I sorrow. I ache. I mourn.

For the life I am losing. For the pain I will cause. For another month, another round, another destroyer coming though of all that I had tried to build the past two weeks.

And I am tempted to just sit in the muck and let the monster take me too.

The Break Up with Sugar Strategies – Part 3

Posted on January 29, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Let’s talk sugar strategy here… Now remember that everyone’s definition and needs are different. Why? We are all on different health paths and our readiness or behavioral change journeys are different too. So take what you feel to apply to you to help you be just one step better and work on it.

We are talking three strategies today – food ingredients, abstaining vs moderating, and replacing. Along with some other tips to get your sugar break up started, there is something for everyone here.

First item of business, learning how to find sugar in your foods. You won’t find it on the front of a label, but you can search for it in a couple places on the back of labeled foods. Here are five tips that I use with my clients on nutrition labels:

The best tip I can give is to purchase foods that come with NO ingredient labels. Can you think of any? Like fresh meats, fruits, veggies, etc.
Going along with #1, if it does have a nutrition label, try to stick to less than 5 ingredients. The number is pretty arbitrary but the principle is that the less ingredients, usually the less processed. And less processed usually means more nutrients because they haven’t been stripped away during the processing and random additives put back in.
In looking at the ingredients, if there is sugar (see the many names below), try to look for foods that do not have sugar in the top 5 ingredients. The top 5 ingredients mainly constitute the bulk of the food you are eating, so the further down, the better.
There are SO many names for sugar (see section below). Companies are getting smarter about the placement of sugar on their ingredient list. To make sugar later on the list, they are actually using more than one kind of sugar to break things up so there are two + types of sugar in your product, but all those sugars can add up to a lot. So educate yourself on the names of sugar and what you need to look for on a label.
Look at the added sugar line in the nutrition facts. If it has less that 10 grams of ADDED sugar, you are pretty good for a more whole food.

So an apple doesn’t come with a label (good), it has less than 5 ingredients (good), and there is NO added sugar (even though they are super sweet). These are just great basic guidelines to practice in your shopping.

Next strategy is to learn if you are an Abstainer or Moderator. This comes from the amazing book of Gretchen Ruben called The Four Tendencies. Such a great read btw and worth your time! Helped me parent and wife in a whole new way. Anyway, she talks about people who are really good at being moderators and those that find it easier to just abstain. My hubby is a total moderator. He can take one bite of cake, taste it, and say no more. Me? I have a slice. Then a second. Then a third. And the rest of the pan when I am cleaning up. Then I’m sick. It is like I don’t have a system that tells me to stop. I’m that way in a lot of other areas of my life too. So it is MUCH easier for me to say NO to everything. And it works really well once I get going.

This can help you decide better how a sugar strategy might look for you.

During my luteal phase of my PMDD cycle I HAVE to be a complete abstainer because my hormones mess with my ability to regulate/moderate. During the follicular phase when hormones are running my body through a wringer, I am much better at regulation and can relax a little bit, but still do try to stay in the abstainer habit. Just makes it easier for me.

If you are a moderator, it is helpful to set your limit before you eat your sweets so you stick to that with no exceptions. I have heard that after three bites of a dessert you really don’t taste it anymore. So you could set yourself at three bites, one small slice, one cookie, etc. We actually have set some guidelines like this with our girls. I talked a little about this in part 2 of this series but we have set that we only do baking on saturday or sunday, we don’t purchase and premade sweets from the store, and we only need one serving of what we make and can share the rest.

This has saved our house immensely. There is less pressure to eat sweets as a “snack”, less pressure to snitch sweets because there aren’t any lying around, and we are enjoying our sweets more because we are making them ourselves! The girls (I only have girls) also can have any candy they get from school, class, friends, etc. There is no pressure from us as parents there because we know that there isn’t the rest of the bag. Loved setting some guidelines on health with our girls. They were part of that discussion. We talked about fully abstaining or allowing everything and we found what would work for use as a whole.

The next strategy is a replacement strategy. I love to use this one with my clients but it always seems to take a while to kick in because we have to remember we have options and in the middle of a craving, this can be tough. The idea is this: instead of focusing on what you can’t have, what are some things you can have without guilt and that also add nutrients to your body.

Other ways to cut back on added sugars:

Sugary drinks – stick with sparkling water, Zevia soda, herbal teas, infused water (I love mango and strawberries), and pure water
Avoid Sauces and Condiments – stick with spices, herbs, mustard, salsa (no sugar added), vinegars, and pesto.
Eat more healthy and full fat foods – there is usually more added sugar in low fat varieties of foods to help it taste good. Also healthy and full fat foods make you feel full.
Avoid any processed foods – you can be an unhealthy healthy – stick to as whole foods as possible
Watch your breakfast – one of the sweetest meals of the day – start your day with a good protein and fat filled meal – eggs and ham, protein oatmeal, etc
Add your own sugar – purchase unsweetened and then add your own sweetener in like stevia or erythritol.
Don’t keep sugar in the house
Don’t shop when you are hungry
Get enough sleep
Destress!

In conclusion, I hope that this series has been helpful for your awareness and desire to take bits and pieces and apply them to your life to be healthier. It isn’t about perfection, it is about small little steps over time to create a lasting lifestyle.

Below are the many names of sugar. I am sure this list probably isn’t all of them since new products are coming on the market, but it is great to be aware of the names when you are shopping.

The Most Common Names for Sugar

(Excluding artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes)

‍Basic Simple Sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides):

Dextrose
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
Lactose
Maltose
Sucrose

Solid or Granulated Sugars:

Beet sugar
Brown sugar
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Castor sugar
Coconut sugar
Confectioner’s sugar (aka, powdered sugar)
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose
Date sugar
Demerara sugar
Dextrin
Diastatic malt
Ethyl maltol
Florida crystals
Golden sugar
Glucose syrup solids
Grape sugar
Icing sugar
Maltodextrin
Muscovado sugar
Panela sugar
Raw sugar
Sugar (granulated or table)
Sucanat
Turbinado sugar
Yellow sugar

Liquid or Syrup Sugars:

Agave Nectar/Syrup
Barley malt
Blackstrap molasses
Brown rice syrup
Buttered sugar/buttercream
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup
Evaporated cane juice
Fruit juice
Fruit juice concentrate
Golden syrup
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Honey
Invert sugar
Malt syrup
Maple syrup
Molasses
Rice syrup
Refiner’s syrup
Sorghum syrup
Treacle

The Break Up with Sugar Part 2

Posted on January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

After posting the last post, I was surprised and happy to hear how this resonated with so many of you. Breaking up with sugar was something you have either thought about or are putting into practice. I did, however, get some questions that I would like to answer in this post, the second in the Breakup with Sugar Series.

First question I had gotten. What do you define as sugar?

I think how this “breakup” can be defined is mainly left up to who is choosing how to break up. It could be a break up where you go pretty much “KETO” eating only proteins and fats with minimal veggies and fruits. Or it could go to only candy and the “breakup” isn’t necessarily about ALL sugars. As your coach I would ask you how you want that to look like for you right now. What can you leave out that won’t “rock your world” or make you feel “deprived” because if you feel that way, your choice isn’t a lifestyle you can sustain.

Sugars are found in pretty much everything we eat. Not only are we bombarded with sweets (cookies, cakes, candy, sodas, chocolates, ice creams, etc) but then there are ADDED sugars in SO many items in the grocery store (like 99% of grocery items). But there are also natural sugars found in anything with a carbohydrate – from breads to fruits to even veggies because carbohydrates are essentially sugars.

However, our bodies use different kinds of sugars in different ways. So they may all be calories (another word for energy) but the different sugars will leave different results. An oreo is going to affect your body differently than a pear.

Sugar from the Oxford Dictionary is defined as:

noun

a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink.

Our bodies are GEARED for sugar – it was a mechanism for survival before the years and technological advancements in food. But with these advancements, we aren’t in life threatening danger anymore. In fact, humans eat about 700 more calories a day than they did 60 years ago. But also our obesity rate has risen exponentially during that same time. Why? Because of what we are choosing to put in our bodies. Yes, you are in charge.

Why do we love sugar so much outside of survival?

It makes food taste good – most processed foods HAVE to add in sugar (and salt/sodium) to make the food they processed taste good to our pallet
It is quick energy
It is a coping mechanism due to its chemical reaction to our brains = it gives us comfort when in distress
It is everywhere and inexpensive

There are simple and complex carbs/sugars…. Those that hit your bloodstream really fast and those that hit it slower. When sugars hit hard and fast, your blood sugar rises quickly, you get a severe dopamine hit to the pleasure center of the brain, insulin is released to cope and then everything drops steeply to levels below where you started, leaving you low energy, depressed, and not satisfied. When you eat a complex carb the spike and hits are less steep and so is the drop. You also tend to stay heightened for longer before your blood sugar drops. Essentially it takes your body longer to digest the complex carbs.

Coming back to my breakup, I have chosen to define sugar as – all “junk foods or calorie condensed foods in the sweet categories” and as much added sugars as possible are out. With the exception (because moderation in all things) of when my girls bake on the weekend, I can have one serving if I desire.

Your choice of breakup may look different and that’s okay. I picked these guidelines for a couple of reasons, both personally and scientifically… When your diet consists of too many sugars, testosterone (a hormone) rises and can cause weight gain, hair loss or growth in unwanted areas, and anxiety. Estrogen also rises and progesterone (also hormones) can drop which is called Estrogen dominance and can lead to infertility, PMS symptoms, breast tenderness and irritability. Over time the amount of insulin and sugar pulsing through your veins trying to level eachother out gets exhausted and in excess and can cause massive inflammation – which ALL chronic diseases (arthritis, cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, mood disorders, etc) are caused by inflammation.

With PMDD I have found that because I am SO sensitive to normal hormonal changes even a small amount of sugar effects will derail my body and mental health for a long time. If I eat, let’s say, a bowl of ice cream (because who ever eats just a scoop), not only will I have a massive headache, but angry digestive issues from stomach all through the intestines from inflammation and I will also get really foggy in my thinking, less emotionally regulated, and I tend to slip into negative thought patterns really fast. If I have too much sugar (which usually happens if I start with one piece, I eat a lot more) my limbs will even buzz with almost a jittery feeling. I sleep awful and can have body dysmorphia too.

And these things all can happen within an hour of a dessert that has too much for my body. And effects can be lasting long after the sugar rush dies down.

If I were to eat simple sugars/carbs during my luteal phase (the week before my period) my PMDD and sugar buzz are the perfect storm to crash my ship into a million pieces and my PMDD symptoms can be severe and life threatening.

What is so crazy and may be scientific or psychological, but it is truly real for me, I do not get these effects from complex carbs – berries, rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains, veggies, other fruits. So I truly do agree with the studies saying different sugars can affect our bodies differently.

I feel good when I eat right for MY body’s needs today. Period.

So as much as possible, I am saying “nope” to them. However, I mentioned my girls baking. I think that life still needs to be full of memories and making good ones can get us through the bad days. We have decided as a family that if we are going to have sweets, it needs to be something we make from scratch and with love.

***TIP: When coaching my nutrition clients we talk about how if you are going to eat something sweetened – whether that’s yogurt or pasta sauce or cake – it is ALWAYS better to add your own sugar than let a company add it for you. #1 you are in control #2 you can decide what that sweetener is – you could add honey instead of table sugar #3 you know what is going into your food.

In my next post I am going to talk about how to look for sugars (education) and ways to change your food choices (application).

As with all things, we are creating an awareness through these posts and not rigid rules. Once you create awareness, you will be able to look clearly at your food choices and start to gain questions and curiosity on what your body needs. As with all my clients, take what rings true to you and what sparks the “I need to add that in/take that out” promptings and use them to better your life. One little step at a time. It is a process as always.

A way you can do that is to make a list of foods that you eat that make you feel good when you eat them… truly energized and content, and food that make you feel guilty or “buzzed” for lack of a better word. I think we all know what those are for us when we are honest. Just keeping a postit note on the fridge and jotting something down after you eat it can help too.

Break Up with Sugar – Part 1

Posted on January 7, 2021January 29, 2021 by Clarissa Thomas

Sugar and I had a good go, but it is time to break up. The more I study about it, the more I just can’t have it as a part of my life. I’m going to have to get my joy ride from something else. For 2021 (and I can’t believe I am saying this out loud and on paper FOR-EV-ER in the clouds) that I am going to try my darndest to go the whole year without it. And, from what I’ve studied, it may take up to 5 years, FIVE, to get the cravings to go away. Sheesh… I’m in it for the long haul. But it is imperative that we breakup.

Not convinced you are ready to say goodbye to your best friend who always has your back, even though you know that they aren’t doing you good? I get that. It is a sneaky one and an addicting one as well. but being open to this idea may help you create some awareness around your body and diet and you may be able to start some simple changes to help your health.

Here are just some of the main ways sugar affects your body. Definitely a big list and seriously not even the tip of the iceberg….

First off, sugar messes with your energy regulation. No one needs energy drops. Eating sugar alone can be an issue too so pair it with a protein and small amount of healthy fat to sustain and regulate energy better.
Sugar can mess with your brain’s ability to regulate. When you eat sugar, you can get the same rush of endorphins that can be equal or even greater than a hit of cocaine to the pleasure center of the brain. And next time, in order to get the same degree of rush, you must eat more sugar. If you are an emotional eater, this could cause a problem with consuming sweets to “feel better.”
Studies are showing that too much sugar leads to higher depression in adults. One of the main thoughts on this is that sugar can give you a burst of energy, but when that energy runs through your body, you body may drop to an even lower state of mood and energy than before. So think twice about hitting up for that mid-afternoon slump. Witching hour anyone? But also sugar decreases and interferes neurotransmitter effectiveness in your brain due to… you guessed it, inflammation of the brain on sugar.
We all know that sugar can rot your gorgeous smile, even if you brush your teeth, your saliva can hold more sugary goodness long after you eat it.
Did you know that sugar can also cause joint aches and pains? Yep. Sugar is an inflammatory, dare I say, DRUG. With that inflammation your joints cannot work in full range of motion and you are more likely to cause injury to them. Too much sugar over time is also linked to rheumatoid arthritis. Yikes!
Inflammation just doesn’t happen in your joints, it can also happen on your skin… hello acne AND wrinkles! We definitely don’t wait to age faster for any reason but that is what sugar is going to do to your skin due to the loss of elasticity because of how sugar reacts with the collagen in your skin. You will get acne because the inflammation causes the fatty layer of your skin to produce more oil and your pores cannot keep up so they get clogged.
When you eat excess sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream can affect the arteries all over your body. It causes their walls to get inflamed (another inflammatory response), grow thicker than normal and more stiff, this stresses your heart and damages it over time. This can lead to heart disease, like heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes.
When you eat, your pancreas pumps out insulin to help your blood sugar levels regulate. If you’re eating too much sugar, your body stops responding properly to insulin and regulations. It is on overload. So then your pancreas starts pumping out even more insulin. Eventually, your overworked pancreas will break down and your blood sugar levels will rise, setting you up for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Or even milder symptoms such as bad sleep and heart palpitations… which as a mom, sleep if everything for me!
Added and refined sugars in your diet can increase your risk of cancer. Cancer FEEDS on sugar and so does estrogen which can be instrumental in breast cancer is levels get too high or the hormone mutates.
And it can cause weight gain due to the inflammation stress that happens to your body with increased blood sugar levels. Soda is the biggest offender here because of its concentrated and liquid sugar content.
AND (maybe the most important lol) it can seriously decrease your sex drive because your blood flow isn’t working properly due to the chemicals and sugar fighting throughout your body. I don’t think we need ANY of that going on.

For me, having PMDD, eating sugar really messes with my hormone balance and therefore my mood and body image. The times when I have eaten a sugary diet (around the holidays for example or even a “craving week”), my anxiety and disruptive thoughts skyrocket. I don’t necessarily know the science of why but I can only guess that inflammation has a major part in this change. I feel crappy and therefore I act crappy. Super sciency words right there!

I hate that I don’t sleep well when sugar is a main part of my diet and I feel like I can’t be a good teacher and coach being sluggish. Everything is so connected in my body (and yours) that removing sugar is going to help in SO many areas as I talked about above.

Check out my next post on ways to limit sugar and a further post on some other ideas about sugar. In the meantime, you can watch this video that was produced a while ago, but still so pertinent to the breakup with sugar…

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM&t=69s&ab_channel=UniversityofCaliforniaTelevision%28UCTV%29

Thoughts on December

Posted on December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

December is always a month that I see numbers drop at all studios I teach at. Never fails. Because of all the “happenings”, attendance drops and I worry about my students and their health.

At the same time that attendance drops, pounds pile on. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard all about the holiday binge eating and lack of “self control” during these times. Don’t get me wrong, I love food. Food is the key to the soul and speaks to memories and community. It truly is a love language and gathers people. Especially to me.

With this being said, we need to love ourselves. Most of the time, binging or eating too much comes from our lack of connection to food, connection to the real reason we have gatherings, and our fear of missing out or lack for later. Below are a couple of tips for honoring your relationship with food.

Slow Down. Take a deep breath and become mindful of the food you are choosing to eat. Be thankful for the bounty of the holidays.
Get curious. Analyze what you are eating with questions like: Why did I choose to put these foods on my plate? What hints of spices can I taste? What textures are in this and how do they changes as I chew? What could I add or take away that might enhance of change this if I were to make it myself?
Choose foods for health AND fun! It isn’t an either/or event. It is a full event and when you respect, you tend to choose better.
Plan your treats – if you are going to eat something sweet, be present with it and enjoy every single bite. To be honest, I have learned that most sugar isn’t worth it and there are very few desserts that I love that I am willing to have the headache afterwards. It is a tradeoff and I plan with focus.
Be present with the people around you. You aren’t there for the food, you are there to have better relationships with others. Ask those around you as many questions as you can and listen with true curiosity to their answers.
Leftovers… are you hungry, bored, tired, or emotionally wound up? Again, slow down and get curious, go through the same process again. Also, sometimes we also think we are hungry when we really need hydration, so take a drink and wait 10 mins to hit the leftover decision.

If you are feeling guilt after a celebration, get curious why your relationship with food and your body are not happy. This may lead to some coaching needs that I can help you with. We want to have good holiday memories and your guilt will not help that come to pass. We can work together to overcome that roadblock. Just shoot me an email to set up a time to coach – clarissa@adagiofit.com

To finish my thoughts on the month, There is NO bandwagon, but there is your priority, your values, and your behaviors. Priority changes after certain seasons in life but we choose our outcomes by behaviors meshing with our values. So this month, think about what 3 things you need to accomplish every day to come out of the holiday season feeling the best you can and do something each day that lines up with those three things. Exercise is my #1 – I need it to emotionally stabilize daily (ask my hubby and kids). It is probably one of your top three too. Nutrition is my #2 and creation/productivity is my #3.

I’d love to know what your top three are! Drop them in the comments below and enjoy your nutritional feast this week!

Late Periods are the Worst

Posted on December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

There is something about coming seeing that first period bleed that as a PMDD warrior, you cherish. Might be too much info for you, but not for me. It is my saving grace.

For someone with PMDD it means that you made it through the luteal phase. That you are alive and that good days are ahead. That you didn’t follow through with your crap thoughts and motives. And that you can finally start picking the pieces up from your shattered PMDD choices to rebuild for the next three weeks and maybe make life stronger and more stable for the next go around.

As much as the period kills me in other ways, I would rather be physically sick than mentally sick for how deep I go during the luteal phase.

Periods are heaven for those with PMDD.

This past month, my period decided to wait 4 MORE days to start. No doubt, I was freaking out that I was pregnant, but more importantly, that meant my luteal phase lasted an EXTRA FOUR DAYS!!! And not just any normal day… FOUR. PEAK. DAYS! Brutal hell (said in a British accent like Ronald Weasley in Harry Potter).

Don’t know why my hormones decided to wait to shift. Maybe it will be a blessing for next month, but it frustrated us all in this household for sure. I had planned and prepared and made goals, but was not prepared one ounce for FOUR extra days. I suffered under the cravings and ate my way through those days.

It threw everything off! I was supposed to be feeling good for all the events I planned around my period – dance concert backstage mom, hosting a Christmas dinner, making it to church, recording new workouts without blemishes and having the energy to do so. But instead, I was a ball of tears, morbid thoughts, and not one ounce of patience or libido left.

My poor family… extra Christmas presents you say? (Mom is def getting coal in her stocking though).

I ached to see that red and was SO thankful for it FINALLY starting to help me shift my focus to build instead of destroy.

If you know, you know. Late periods are the worst.

20 BODY & MIND TOOLS TO OVERCOME ANXIETY

Posted on December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 by Clarissa Thomas

These tools are taken from Emiliya Zhivotovskaya. I first heard of these while I was mowing my lawn and had to stop, run in the house and spent the next 30 minutes writing furiously to take notes of each of these tools. Then I found them on her site, much better explained and written out. You can learn more from the website below.

I find that I like the body ones and then can move on to the mind tools. With all my studies on anxiety, I felt this finally helped a more broad population, like me, that feels anxiety really fast and really hard.

https://theflourishingcenter.com/20tools/

The following is written by: Emiliya Zhivotovskaya but simplified slightly for reading purposes.

BODY TOOLS:

1. EXERCISE

There are thousands of research studies that support the impact of exercise in completing the stress cycle. Engaging your muscles use up the chemicals that your body releases. A 2014 study by Wegner et al., aggregated data of over 37 meta-analyses and research on 42,264 people and identified that exercise made a significant impact on anxiety.

Cardiovascular exercise like running is great as our evolutionary ancestors were often running from something when they were anxious. But, if you don’t have anywhere to run to escape the tiger in your mind, exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation can work too. Tense all of your muscles and hold for a slow count of ten and then relaxing.

2. TOUCH

Whether you’re petting an animal or receiving a hug… touch releases oxytocin. This feel good chemical is responsible for bonding, connection and a sense of trust.

3. SELF-HAVENING

Havening is a psycho-sensory therapy that utilizes physical touch to down-regulate the nervous system.

4. BUTTERFLY TAP

This is one of my favorite techniques for creating calm utilizing bilateral stimulation of the brain. This is the use of visual, auditory, or tactile external stimuli occurring in a rhythmic side-to-side pattern which if frequently used as a core element of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

5. TAPPING & EFT

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, is a novel treatment of stress related conditions using a step by step process of self-stimulating acupressure points throughout the body while repeating a statement. While research on EFT is in it’s infancy, the data is promising and the self-reported uses and impact is strong, including this research summary Medical News Today which offers the EFT steps, along with a summary of the most recent research.

6. FORWARD FOLDING

Benefit from the impact of gravity on blood flow to slow your beating heart with forward fold poses. Consider some of these simple possess for 5-7 breathes. Inhale and fill your body with breath. Exhale slowly and mindfully ease into the stretch.

7. SING, CHANT OR HUM

The vagus nerve passes through by the vocal cords and the inner ear and the vibrations of humming is a free and easy way to influence your nervous system states. In particular, chanting the sound “OM” or anything with a “mmm” sound stimulates the vagus nerve as it is connected to the vocal cords. Consider the bumble breathe (bhramari), it’s one of my favorites. The first time I ever did bhramari in yoga class, was also the first time I had ever experienced a “silent mind.” (Even though it only lasted 2 seconds :-).

8. WATER THERAPY

As water flows, the crashing of water particles creates negative ions which when inhaled and felt on our skin has been shown to lift mood and decrease stress. And what’s better than listening to the sound of running water? Getting in! A 2018 study by Goto and colleagues examined the impact of showering versus bathing on the well-being of 38 participants. They found that while both are beneficial, bathing led to significantly lower stress, tension-anxiety, anger-hostility, and depression-dejection. According to the authors, “Immersion bathing, but not shower bathing, exerts hyperthermic action that induces increased blood flow and metabolic waste elimination, which may afford physical refreshment. Immersion bathing should improve both physical and emotional aspects of quality of life.”

9. BREATHING

Breathing is the only autonomic function that you have direct control over. Every inhale stimulates your sympathetic nervous system, your body’s gas pedal. Every exhale stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system. Use these techniques to drive the car of your body. To decrease the experience of anxiety and stress, make your exhale longer than your inhale. To stimulate the body, make your inhale significantly longer than you’re exhale. To relax the body, make your exhale significantly longer than your inhale.

The simplest and safest way to start is to notice your breath and count what a natural breath cycle feels like. Then try to match the length of your inhale and exhale. Then, to create calm, keep breathing with your inhale count the same but slowly extend your exhale count until the exhale is twice as long as your inhale.

Here are the many ways that breathing impacts your mind-body health:

10. SOFT BELLY BREATHING

The vagus nerve is one of the primary nerves of the relaxation response. It innervates the most in the stomach region. When you practice abdominal breathing you slow the breath down and relax the muscles around your stomach, you further stimulate the vagus nerve.

MIND TOOLS:

1. CATCH THE CHATTER

Set a timer to go off. When it does, write down your thoughts. Knowing what types of thoughts you’re working with will give you greater mastery over the process below. You may notice that there are a handful of core worries that you have and everything else is on loop.

2. TALKBACK TO THE THOUGHTS

Reminder yourself that you are not your thoughts. You are not worried. You are you, having the experience of worry. Reperceiving is defined as the ability to “disidentify from the contents of consciousness (i.e., one’s thoughts) and view moment-by-moment experience with greater clarity and objectivity” (Shapiro et al., 2006, p. 377). Mindfully witnessing your thoughts helps you separate yourself from the thinker.

3. THANK YOUR PROTECTIVE BRAIN

Instead of wrestling your thoughts, recognize that they are trying to protect you. Appreciate your worrying mind doesn’tWhamean you have to give in to the thoughts. Remember that worrying interrupts long-term problem solving. If there is actual threat, then what you need is problem solving and action. Worry makes you want to run away instead of leaning and doing something about it.

4. MANAGE YOUR “WHAT IFS”

Your neo-cortex is the human, rational thinking part of your brain. It is the part of your brain that has the capacity to use reason and logic to make decisions about the future. Your emotional limbic system in your brain, is the part of our brain that is wired for survival. In a relaxed state, the emotional brain is aware of “what is happening” and the rational brain is capable of planning into the future of “what will happen” with “what if” scenarios. When you’re in threat mode your worrying brain decides it should be responsible for “What Iffing”. It does so with worst case scenario thoughts and makes you think it’s real. Remember, the emotional brain treats the “what ifs” as though they are happening now.

5. DESIGNATE WORRY TIME

Setting aside time to worry creates a container. I suggest picking a daily time and writing for at least 15-20 minutes. Most people find they max out around 5-10 minutes. Then when you’re brain offers worries at other times throughout the day, remind it that it can wait till the next time.

6. “I’VE HANDLED IT BEFORE. I’LL HANDLE IT.”

7. WORST CASE, BEST CASE, MOST LIKELY

Check out the step-by-step process at GoZen.com

8. MINDFULNESS

9. 5 SENSES & NOUNS

10. CERTAINTY ANCHORS

Check out Jonathan Field’s description of the Certainty Anchors and how to use them to find calm in a stormy world. Use these anchors to center you and calm the brain. Create rituals that bring meaning to the simple actions of day to day life.