Why Protein is so Important

For the month of October I want to talk about protein… why it’s so important, how much do we need and how can we get more into our diet.

As you know, there is SO much information out in internet land… how do we know which advice to follow? 

Using weight loss as an analogy, I have gained and lost 40# at least 4 times in my life.  While I’m ‘in it’ I hit it hard and it works... until I either get bored with the routine, I have a life event, or I get to maintenance... then somehow it just starts creeping back.  This is not because my eating plan was flawed, it was because I did not have a consistent healthy lifestyle that would allow me to maintain what I lost.

The last 3 years I have been on, off, on, kinda on, not even close to being on etc... so it's understandable that I have not lost any weight and in fact have put on some weight. But at different stages of my life (I'm in perimenopause pretty deep here) I give myself some grace... feeling good is my #1 goal now. Sleeping well and feeling well are my top priorities now. At this time I don't feel as well when I zero calorie fast, so I have made adjustments. Read more... 

Keto and intermittent fasting are both very effective weight loss strategies on their own, but combining them can SUPER CHARGE weight loss and might help improve health conditions. Read more... 

I like to think of myself as a ‘work in progress’ vs ‘destination to get to’, but this has not always been the case.  For most of my life I was a type A personality and I only had 2 options – win or lose.  Either I was winning or I was losing.  I was losing weight or I was gaining weight.  I was all in or I was all out.  That’s because my journey was ‘destination’ driven vs ‘journey’ driven. Read more...

Christmas is over… now what?

Whether you stayed on course during the holidays, chose to take a little break, or have been on a break for most of the year (say this like Ross on Friends ‘WE WERE ON A BREAK!’)… what’s your plan for now? Read more... 

More than any other way of eating, experts say Keto is THE healing diet.  Search Dr. Eric Westman or Amy Berger and you’ll learn a lot about the healing powers of keto... Read More...

Have you heard of Calorie Cycling? I first heard of it when I was researching body building.  From there, I went down the Calorie Cycling rabbit hole.  I discovered that Calorie Cycling helps with weight loss, hormone balancing and it really helps promote our ‘happiness factor’. Read more...

You made the decision that Keto is the lifestyle you want to try… you probably scoured the internet for information on the rules, looked for information on the how-to’s, searched Pinterest for keto recipes, and read all the books you could find.  AND NOW…. You are overwhelmed!

Do you ever say to yourself “others are losing so much weight and keto seems to work so well for them, but it’s not going the same for me... what am I doing wrong?” Every person’s health is in different levels of healing… some may be on medication. Some have allergies or food sensitivities. Some people have hormone imbalances or are in menopause… how can you possibly compare yourself to another person? I think it’s really important that you find out some things about your body if you do not already know. Food sensitivities are a huge one. Left unchecked, you will have inflammation and you will have a hard time reaping the benefits from any healthy eating plan you embark on. How is your gut health? Grains in particular are very hard on the gut and destroy the good bacteria you have in your gut. When this happens your body is not able to absorb the vitamins and nutrients you are trying to feed it. When we eat grains it causes our stomach to have little tiny openings, which causes large molecules to escape, which leads to allergies and food sensitivities. It’s a vicious cycle. I started using bone broth years ago to heal my gut from all of the years of eating gluten, sugar, and the other foods that did not work for my body. Bone broth is one of the most gut healing foods on the planet. I make my own bone broth regularly and I also use our Intentionally Bare Bone Broth Powder, made from grass-fed and pasture raised cows. All health stems from the gut. This is why I run a Bone Both Cleanse once a month in my Intentionally Bare Keto Support Group on Facebook. Two books on this subject of grains and food sensitivities that I really like are Grain Brain and Wheat Belly. I think the best way to eat keto is to do it your way... the way that works best for your body. I had a food sensitivity test done (to confirm what I already knew to be true) and grains are a HELL NO. I did not realize how great I could feel until I cut them all out of my diet. I have them on occasion but if it's more than a 'one and done' I feel SO horrible. I used to have a lot of allergy and inflammation problems and now they are gone. I eat keto honoring what my body is telling me.  If I eat grains then I feel bad; it’s that simple. I think it’s really important that you do keto your way so you get the maximum health benefits from this amazing lifestyle. Our bodies are screaming for us to listen. Pay attention to what your body is telling you. Keto is a win-win as far as weight loss and amazing health. Do it in the way that works for you and your body and you can’t lose. You got this! Leta ~ Intentionally Bare