Surrounding yourself with the colors, scents, textures, images and objects that make you happy and are beautiful to you will give you energy and will help lift your mood.  This in turn lowers your cortisol levels, and has actually has been shown to lower insulin (the fast storage hormone)! Read more....

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying ‘if you fail to plan you plan to fail’… it may be a bit corny but it’s pretty accurate.  ‘Winging it’ and not being organized and prepared does more than sabotage our weight loss efforts. It can cause a lot of stress and anxiety!  Which is a double whammy because stress increases our cortisol levels, which increases our insulin. Insulin is the fat storage hormone and stops fat loss in its tracks! Read more... 

We all talk to ourselves (some of us do it out loud and that can cause some funny looks at the grocery store) but most of what we say to ourselves is internal.  If we are on our game, we may say ‘yes! I’m so proud of myself!’ or we may say ‘ya, you counted your macros today but you went over in calories.’  If we veered off our plan, it might be ‘why, why, why??? You always SAY you are going to do better but you always cheat!’

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When I first started keto, I was trying it to lose weight.  Back then that was my main concern.  I heard about some health conditions it improved/reversed, but I was mainly concerned with dropping weight. I didn’t think I had that many health issues and I wasn’t convinced that just by eating differently, that the issues I had would be solved; that would be way too easy. Read more... 

Starting off any new year most people have the motivation of holiday bloat, a hangover or higher blood glucose to motivate them into declaring their New Year’s resolutions. Read more...

I have a little secret. I don’t like tracking my macros!  I absolutely know that tracking gives me much more success than not tracking; I know this logically.  Just because we know something, doesn’t mean we want to do it! Ha ha

One thing I can tell you for certain is that everyone’s weight loss journey is completely unique.  Some people have never dieted in their lives before starting keto, then they start and BOOM, huge fast weight loss.  Others have been prolific dieters their whole lives and have sluggish metabolisms.  Some people have a lot of health issues that the body must make a priority once they start keto, and weight loss is not going to go as fast for them.  Someone who is 65 is not going to lose as fast as someone who is 30.

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  

☕️ Motivational Monday 💖 December 7, 2020

Well, it's Monday....

Yesterday was one of those days that challenged me big time. I REALLY wanted to go off the rails yesterday... thoughts of popcorn were dancing in my head!

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☕️ Motivational Monday 💖 November 30, 2020

How’s your motivation these days?

Sometimes we’re top of the world and everything seems effortless... then other times it feels like EVERYTHING is a challenge.