What’s your gut feeling?

Let me just preface this post by saying that we're about to get reeeeeeaaalllll intimate. 
This blog post is about probiotics, so in order to talk about my experience with them I have to let you in on my innermost workings (literally). Which can be super uncomfortable. So let’s just agree to ditch feeling lady-like and get real about the realness of this situation. Because, guess what, we’re all humans. So... you get it.

Now that we got that out of the way. 

Obviously, I’ve established that I’m really into health and fitness. Over the past few years, I’ve learned a great deal about nutrition and exercise. I pay close attention to what I eat. I exercise daily. I drink a ton of water... blahblahblah the whole nine. Most of the time, particularly when I first cleaned up my diet, I noticed significant change in the “regularity” department. Things were moving smoothly and efficiently. I felt like a well-oiled machine. I would hear horror stories from friends about various digestive issues and I would think, “Yikes. That sounds awful. Thank God I don’t have that problem.”

But then, gradually, as life goes, I started to have digestive issues of my own. I was NOT used to this. And I was horrified, because I hadn’t changed anything at all about my diet and exercise routine. I was eating the same, super healthy, high fiber, nutrient dense foods. And still...UNCOMFORTABLE ISSUES. I freaked out. What... WHAT is going on?! 

I stepped off my high horse to examine what might be going on with my health that diet and exercise weren’t doing the trick anymore. Was it stress? Yeah, probably. It was a time where I was super stressed out and anxious all the time. But... isn’t that just normal life stuff? Isn’t everyone stressed out? 

“In your 20s and 30s, so many things are changing. The anxiety about the future and relationships is much more intense, and your gut takes a hit from all that stress.” -Greatist.com

I did some furious google-ing to figure out what might be going on. And all kinds of stuff about gut bacteria started popping up. Maybe the problem was a bacterial imbalance? This could be caused by any number of pretty unavoidable factors. Yes, you can still eat well and exercise and take care of yourself and have digestive issues. Especially the more you read about all the screwed up ways in which we (yeah I’m looking at you, ‘Merica) have poisoned and contaminated our food supply. Even the most conscious of eaters wind up ingesting some funky stuff that can throw your gut bacteria all out of whack. It’s not uncommon (read: much more common than not) for Americans to have a bacterial imbalance in their gut. I just stupidly thought since I was eating this:

 

instead of this 

source: http://www.med-health.net/Fast-Food.html 

I was somehow immune to this issue. Wrong. 

So, sometimes life does this funny thing where it hands you a solution to your problem in a really unexpected way. 

I was going about my actor business and submitted for an“Untitled Commercial Spot: Filming in Central Park, Sunday 9-12. Copy, Credit.” I don’t have a ton of commercial footage, and I was free from 9-12 on Sunday, so I thought sure, why not, whatever, and submitted for the role. I was in touch with the director, set it all up, and I arrived in Central Park for the shoot. Turns out, it’s for a probiotics company called Lovebug. They were a new company, and hadn’t yet launched their website, so they were looking to get some promo shots they could use for their launch. 

photo by Kevin Anton (www.orangecrushfilms.com) 

Hmm... probiotics. 

When I was fiercely googling what was wrong with me and how I could solve it, probiotics kept coming up as the answer. And now, here I was, in the park for the day with people who make probiotics. Synchronicity, much?

I talked to Ashley, one of the founders of Lovebug. She told me her story and why she was so passionate about probiotics. After the birth of her son, she started having all kinds of unfamiliar issues. After consulting with medical professionals, she found they were all related to an imbalance of her gut bacteria- hardly any good guys and lots of the bad ones. She started taking probiotics and immediately her health zapped back to normal. She was so amazed by the drastic transformation that she and her husband developed their own line to share with the world. They teamed up with leading scientists and developed a line of probiotics that would have all the right goodness to get the good bugs to clean up even the most stubborn of tummies. 

Listening to her story, I was amazed. 

It also made so much sense. I knew from what I know about food that we’re exposed to all kinds of antibiotics (literally, the opposite of PRObiotics... I know I just blew your mind) in the meat we eat and pesticides and chemicals we’re exposed to. I had just never connected that it might be having a larger effect on me than I was aware of. And I thought, wow if probiotics are really so magical I HAVE to try them. Plus I had read so much about them on the internet I was already interested in taking them. But there are so many different kinds and strains and information and I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know where to start. Well, obviously, here was the answer. Thanks, Universe. 

After the shoot, Ashley was kind enough to mail me a bottle of Lovebug of my very own as a thanks for the shoot and so I could give them a try. 

Wow. 

I IMMEDIATELY noticed drastic changes to my health. In some ways that were expected, and some ways that really surprised me. I kept track of the changes I was experiencing (bear in mind I changed nothing else about my diet or lifestyle, the only change was adding the probiotics) and so I will share these with you, what I noticed week by week, of my first month taking the Lovebugs. 

Week 1: The Obvious 

Remember all those digestive issues I was telling you about? Well, in the first week, those immediately disappeared. Seriously, like magic. Things went from backed up and horrible to cleaned OUT. I honestly felt like someone took a chimney sweep to my insides. All of a sudden things were flowing again. I had my well-oiled machine back. I was so happy I literally cried. All of the discomfort and stress I had been battling went away. I knew I had found the right answer to the issues I was experiencing. 

photo by Kevin Anton (www.orangecrushfilms.com)

Week 2: The Vain 

Having digestive issues sucks for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was feeling really bloated and puffy all the time. By week 2 of Lovebug, that awful, puffy feeling went away. And I looked so much better. By no means am I 6-pack status, but a little confidence boost never hurt anyone. Here are some poor-quality mirror shots of my week 2 self-esteem lift.

  

Photos by me and my lame cellphone 

Week 3: Third Chakra Magic 

If you’re familiar with the Chakra system, then you know all about the third chakra and its connection to self-empowerment. For the uninitiated, chakras are the 7 energy centers in our body through which energy passes. The third chakra, (or, to get fancy, Manipura) is located righhhhht by your belly button. That’s right. Your gut. It’s connected to feelings of strength, confidence, and purpose. When your third chakra energy is healthy, you feel like a superhero with clear goals and a roaring inner fire. When your third chakra is blocked, you feel powerless and crappy about yourself. Shocker, third chakra is connected to digestion and metabolism. So, when your Manipura is blocked... you become...well.. physically blocked. You see? The mind/body connection is huge. So when you’re stressed and feeling down on yourself, this can manifest as a spiritual and physical energy center block. Hence, “knot in your stomach” or “gut-wrenching decision."

One of the coolest things that started to happen when I began taking Lovebug was that with a physical “unblocking” came an energetic unblocking as well. My feelings of purpose and self-esteem rose. I began to feel less anxious, less stressed, more goal oriented. These were results I had never anticipated, but I was definitely grateful for. 

Image source: www.houseofshakti.com

Week 4: Serotonin Blast

One of the coolest things I’ve learned since delving into the world of probiotics is that our gut is quite literally a second brain. To get science-y for a minute, the “second brain” is comprised of a multitude of neurons that line the walls of our guts (from esophagus to anus). These neurons enable us to literally feel what’s in our guts. Our second brain controls what’s going on in our guts independently from the brain in our head. So while the brain in your head is busy philosophizing and being poetic and thinking big thoughts... your other brain is busy with digestion and keeping things moving. But here’s the cool thing, the second brain plays a HUGE part in our emotions and moods. Those butterflies you feel in your stomach are for reals. 

Actually, 80-90% of serotonin, the brain’s feel-good hormone, is produced by nerve cells in the gut. Because of this connection, new research is emerging that links mood disorders and digestive issues, in fact 1 in 3 people who suffer from depression are thought to have leaky gut.  www.lovebugprobiotics.com  

Boom. Happy gut = happy you. The biggest, most positive change has been in my overall mood and sense of well being. I’m happier. And that is a side effect I never anticipated. I just wanted my digestive issues to go away... but I got so much more.

To wrap it up

Obviously, I can’t get enough of Lovebug and highly recommend you order your own to experience the magic for yourself. And because they’re the coolest, they’re letting me offer you a 20% discount on your first order when you use the code 2RACHAEL when you checkout. This works on Amazon or on their website. 

Also, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the world of health/nutrition information is complicated and over-saturated and can be scary and intimidating. Which is why I feel confident in vouching for these guys. I’ve met them. They’re good people. They’re smart, and friendly and educated and they’ve aligned themselves with the top scientists in order to create the highest quality product. You can geek out (like I did) over way more info on the science section of their website here http://www.lovebugprobiotics.com/science/ to get ALL the information about the why and the how. 

And in case you’re into this kind of thing:

All of LoveBug’s probiotics are manufactured in the U.S. without GMOs, yeast, gluten, sugar, lactose, soy, wheat, iron, chemicals, preservatives or artificial colors. We even package them with Organic Cotton!

So, they got your back, homegirl. Give them a try. And when you do, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section. If you have any questions, or want some more info, you can also e-mail me at morningendorphin@gmail.com

Stay happy. Stay healthy, ya’ll.

Is it a blog if no one reads it?

I’ve been keeping this blog for about a year now. 
Ok, well, “keeping” is probably a pretty loose definition because I’ve been a little (lot) inconsistent. But health/fitness/wellness is something that is hugely important to me. I love learning new things about nutrition, exercise & health in general. And sometimes I feel like the people around me get a little annoyed when I spout about the new things I’m learning out loud and in their face. Which I get. If you’re trying to lose weight but for lunch you slipped up and ate a bacon mac&cheese burger (because, YUM) you probably don’t want to listen to me talk about all of the benefits of kale and how awesome I feel after the salad I just ate. Then I’ve accidentally made you feel bad about yourself. Not because I meant to, but because kale is legitimately exciting to me.

This is my food porn. 

So the place for me to gush about lifting weights and eating yummy foods that grew out of the earth is clearly best left for the internets... and not at work in a restaurant whose single serving sizes could feed an entire African village for a week. It’s all about the audience, I guess. And if you’re here, it means you’re working on your health/fitness & positivity too.

The issue I’ve had up to this point... is that I have only allowed one person I know to read this blog and that is because that person is my partner in all things life and the one who inspired me to start my fitness journey in the first place. (Ok blerggghhhh you can throw up now, I know it’s corny but IT’STRUEOKSOISAIDIT.)

Michael

If you hung out with those muscles all day, you would want him to teach you how to grow your own, too.

Anyway. 
I recently mentioned to my mother that I have a health/fitness blog and she was all,

Mom: What?! You have a blog?
Me: Yeah!
Mom: Does anyone read it?
Me: .... No.
Mom: You don’t have a blog. You have a diary.
...
Putting me to shame like only a mother can.

Ok so let me cut to the chase. I love all things health&fitness and working on them and learning more things and living a healthy life and all of that nonsense that I don’t know any non-cliché words for. I like to write about them. The reason I resisted publishing this blog for the world to see for so long is because this shit is PERSONAL! Like, the MOST personal. So I guess I was afraid to let the world get inside my body and my brain. Because, AHH!

But as Michael, {who in addition to being a super jacked & inspiring fitness motivator also has his MFA in dramatic writing (I know, right?!)} pointed out.... that is the ENTIRE. POINT. OF WRITING. It is personal. Putting it out there is scary and embarrassing.

We run a theater company together (shameless plug, “like" us! The Outer Loop Theater Experience) in which we host a monthly new work salon. It’s a place for artists to come and get a look at a new piece they’re working on. A lot of people who do something else professionally but have a secret writing habit read work they’ve written (sometimes for the first time EVER in front of other people) and it is so beautiful and so brave and so inspiring. And I’ll bet it’s every bit as scary as my publishing this blog. So, really I would be a hypocrite if I spend all my time encouraging others to share their work while in the mean time hiding my own.

All this to say... OK. You can read this now.

I’m not an expert in anything I write about here. I don’t have an MBA in nutrition. I am not a certified trainer. I’m just a person, like you, who stumbled upon health & fitness and found out I really liked it. I like to write about my experiences with it here. I’m not always a strict health nut. Sometimes I eat cheeseburgers. Sometimes I drink too much. Sometimes I eat an entire pumpkin pie in one sitting (not recommended.) But ultimately, I’m just living my life the best way I know how. If you want to read, if maybe I’m hitting on some stuff that’s interesting to you too.... Ok. I’ll share.

Let’s do it. 

Oh... and I guess since I’m putting it all out there, you can follow my fitness instagram too.

Easy bake oven

I woke up this morning and wanted to bake. (no, not like that)
Which is super weird for me because “domestic” is never a word I would use to describe myself.

If you obsessively follow fitness accounts on instagram like I do, your feed is likely filled with all kinds of delicious looking, healthy, protein-packed baked goods. And if you’re anything like me you think “OH MY GOD YASSSS” take a screen shot of the recipe and.... never ever make it ever.

I don’t know what makes today any different. Maybe it’s the fact that I happened to have a bunch of bananas that are so overripe they were soon to be inedible. Or maybe my domesticity is finally kicking in at 25 (doubtful). But whatever. Today I made some Oatmeal Banana Nut Protein cookies. Whatwhaaaattttt.

This is the recipe I found online:

Oatmeal Banana Nut Protein Cookie
Ingredients
2 overripe bananas
1 cup of oatmeal
1/8 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of baking powder
1 scoop Muscle Milk Vanilla Creme

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with olive or coconut oil. Evenly distribute the spray with a napkin or paper towel.
3. In a large bowl, mash bananas until creamy. Add oats, protein, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and any additional ingredients of your choice. Mix well.
4. Plop mounded spoonfuls of the mixture onto cookie sheet. Sprinkle with almond slivers.
5. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. Eat and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Calories: 673 Fat: 11 g Carbs: 121 g Protein: 29 g 


But I modified it a little- instead of the Muscle Milk Vanilla Creme I used this casein protein powder 

So mine should in theory taste like chocolate peanut butter deliciousness.
I also used a little bit of skim milk when mixing it all together, so hopefully that didn’t fuck anything up. Oh, and I used walnuts instead of almonds. Cuz... I had walnuts, and not almonds.

Here they are in all their glory:

ok don’t make fun of them. yes, they are hideous. I am aware. Nothing I make ever turns out as cute as the photo of what it’s supposed to look like...

but like, close enough. 

UPDATE: Pop this shit in the microwave before you pop it in your mouth./ DA BEST. 

Heavy Lifting

As much as I love routine, sometimes when you're in one for too long it gets a little... well.. routine.
I've been really good about my gym routine, and lately I've been focusing on my form and making sure I'm actually using my muscles to lift the weights and not just my willpower. This involves mostly just really thinking about the muscle/ muscle group that you're targeting when you lift a weight, and making sure you're not using either momentum/swing/surrounding muscles to help you lift it. Ie: no thinking about the laundry you have to do later, or what you're gonna eat after your workout, or about chocolate (oh god just try not to think about chocolate)

 If your form sucks then you're basically wasting your time. If you think your form might suck... find the least intimidating looking trainer in your gym and ask them to give it a look.

 orrrrrr your sneaky boyfriend might take a video behind your back (literally) to show you you’re keeping your form in check :)

Layin’ off the sauce

Alcohol. You are basically poison, and contradictory to everything I try to accomplish for my body all day long. And yet you’ve made yourself an integral part of social situations, fun to partake in, and goddamn it, you taste pretty fucking good too.

I finally did a week without it, though.
When I first started my health/fitness (obsession) I went without it for a month. I remember that I felt like a superhero with boundless energy and positivity, and yet I still hadn’t been able to give it up again for an extended period of time.

However, Michael & I were planing a beach excursion, and I wanted to capture similar results, so I (finally) committed to a solid week without it.

The results are in: worth it.

I feel better, and I look better too.

Strength vs. Scale

This is a big one. A big, tough important one.

I'm not sure I can say anything new about how the media (also, the world) makes women feel. (Ok, all people. Guys, I'm sure the world makes you feel all kinds of crap about yourself too, but I better understand what it's trying to tell the ladies). You get it. You'll walk around all day feeling pretty awesome about yourself and then you pass a model on the street and suddenly you feel huge and vow never to eat again. {Is this just a New York problem? I swear to god I pass so many models on the street it seems statistically impossible}

I'm pretty sure most women feel like to be super hot they should be striving to basically stop existing. That's why our clothing sizes make no sense. Like for dudes, your size is an actual number that correlates to a measurement of your body. Makes sense. Ladies sizes are like WhatTheFuckAreYouEvenBasingThatOn. Like what the fuck is "0"?! I am a size "0" in most stores and every time I try it on I'm just like WTF that is not a size! I do not measure zero inches! I exist, I swear. Worse, I went shopping with my mom and in Ann Taylor Loft I am a size double zero petite. Like, bitch, who you callin' a double zero? Fuck you. BUT everyone is so obsessed with small numbers.

The other number we're all obsessed with is weight. Everything (esp. for women) is all like "loose weight!" "drop pounds!" so we're all like trying to be zero everything all the time. Which is what makes girls in their heads go "Aiight well I'll just stop eating and run forever and then I will be so small I will collect all the zeros and be the smallest number winner and win at life".

I have definitely felt that way for most of my life. Obvi, this creates all kinds of fucked up mental problems because that's not actually a healthy mindset, and it's for sure not sustainable because you brain/body needs like fucking nutrients to keep you alive and shit.

Like I mentioned in my first post, when I first started actually lifting weights I was terrified of "getting bulky". There are some photos of female body builders that are absolutely terrifying and for some fucked up reason I was afraid that lifting was going to make me look like that. (Yes, this is ridiculous. Those women work HARD to look like that). But whatever that's the thought I had in my uneducated little mind.

When I first started noticing muscle definition from lifting I was like "wooooooaaaaaa, cool!" Turns out, muscles are awesome. And yes, on females. And not only does muscle definition look awesome, it feels awesome too. I'm not a good enough writer to accurately describe how baller it is to actually feel yourself getting stronger, so you're just going to have to start lifting and see for yourself. But I do have one distinct memory of running up the stairs coming out of the subway and actually feeling like Rocky. Mock me if you want but running up the stairs and not getting winded because of pure strength is prettyfuckingcool.

So basically what I'm try to say... is stop obsessing over zeros. 

I'll admit that when I first started my gym rat-ness, I was losing weight. And that was really exciting. Stepping on the scale and seeing a lower number was a visual representation of the progress I was making.

But then I got a little too into it. I figured out that with more cardio, the numbers would get lower. So I was running more and more. At my lowest weight I was 97lbs and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that a sick twisted little part of my brain was full of joy at being the lowest number winner.

That's all well and good... except I was also tired all the time. Instead of feeling energized after my workouts, I felt like I wanted to take a nap (and letsbereal then I would take a nap). And I wasn't able to lift as heavy. I was still lifting but I was pretty much just bullshitting through the weights part of my routine so I could get my skinny ass on the tredmill and hamster it out.

So I'm shifting my focus. 
I feel so.much.better when I'm stronger. I feel my best at a solid 103-105lbs of muscularness. So I'm going to keep my focus on increasing my strength and building muscle, and ultimately achieving a better body composition. Because that, I've learned, is what's really important. And guess what, there's not really a number for that. If you need one to track your progress, get your body fat percentage tested. I started gaining weight when I relaxed the cardio and lifted heavier and at first I got really depressed. Then my friend Steph said she had gone through the same thing and told me to get my body fat tested. She said she had gained weight but had moved from the "acceptable range" to the "fitness range"... which is a TOTAL win, WAY more than a lower number on the scale. I got mine tested too and, sho' nuff, major progress.

I'm gonna write another post about cardio later and my love/hate relationship with it... but I'll save that for another day.

Ninja.
Michael and I were watching that American Ninja Warrior show (which wins for most ridiculous title ever. and stop judging me) but there was this chick on it who is a TOTAL. BADASS. Some dude right before her tried to finish the course, and couldn't And apparently no woman has ever completed it, ever. But this chick BEASTED IT. She finished the whole thing, like a champ. Why? Because she is strong as fuck. Her name is Kacy Catanzaro, check her out:

You think she was able to do that shit because of hours spent running on the tredmill? Nope. She's a gymnast so she's pretty much in the best shape ever. And she's pretty much my new fitness hero. (Also she's only 5 feet tall, and as I'm 5'2 I need a fellow shawty to look up to)

To wrap it up. 
Lifting weights is awesome. Focused, strength training is awesome. I'm going to keep that in mind, focus, and work on my strength. And be a ninjaaaaaaaaa warriorrrrrrrrrrrorsomethinglikethat.

PS: Here's a link to watch Kacey destroy that obstacle course like a little tiny ninja badass.

Failure.

Remember when I said I really like red wine? Yup. I drank some. Even though I was trying not to. Oops.

But, instead of beating myself up over it I’m going to rip myself up over it.

...what? 

I did something I said I wasn’t going to do. So, that’s a failure, right?

Ahhhhh grasshopper, but failure has another definition in the fitness world. If you’re a fitness noob, failure in the gym means picking up a heavy thing and repeating picking up that thing until your body literally just canNOT anymore. That is an incredibly unscientific definition.
Here is a much more eloquent one, in case you’re into that:

Definition: Muscle failure refers to lifting weights to the point where a muscle can no longer contract concentrically. If you're a bodybuilder, powerlifter or involved in competitive strength training, lifting to momentary muscular failure may be part of your training. For the average exerciser, you don't necessarily have to lift to complete failure to increase strength and see results. Make sure that you lift a heavy enough weight that you can ONLY complete your desired number of reps - the last rep should be difficult, but not impossible and you should be able to finish the set with good form.

If you repeat an exercise “to failure” it basically confuses the shit out of your muscles that are used to doing said exercise a comfortable number of times. They get all like whatthefuckisthis?! ... and in response they get all ripped up and then they have to change and grow to accommodate the new activity.

(...you see where I’m going with this yet?)

So what I decided this morning is that every time I have a “failure” in my life (like the wine, or if I decide to eat something that’s delicious and terrible for me, whatever) the next day in the gym I’ll repeat all of my regular exercises to failure.

Thus, using my failures to make me stronger. Literally.