health hacks probiotic

Living your healthiest life can be a lot of work.

There is a good amount of planning and effort that goes into the classic healthy living advice: hours of exercise, meal planning, yoga, cooking, meditation. It’s a full lifestyle, but it is most certainly not effortless.

Here are three health hacks to add to your routine that you can sit (or nap!) through to reap the benefits with almost no effort.

  1. Lie down for a power nap.
    Not getting enough sleep can have a negative effect on the rest of your day. Taking a quick power nap can work magic on your energy levels. Ten minutes of shut eye or even just focusing on yoga breathing for a few minutes will leave you rejuvenated. (Of course, getting enough sleep at night is the best way to achieve optimal rest.)

  2. Take a probiotic.
    You simply take a pill and those billions of good bacteria do all the heavy lifting for you in your gut to support a healthy digestive tract and immune system.

  3. Laugh.
    Laughter is the best medicine! Laughing helps you destress, triggers the release of endorphins, and can even help you live longer.

Let’s focus in on probiotics.

Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that live in your GI tract and create the ideal conditions for digestion, helping to absorb nutrients. There are literally trillions of good bacteria that are living inside of you right now! Your GI tract also acts as a defense barrier between the outside world (aka germs) and your bloodstream. The more good bacteria it has, the harder it is for germs to get inside. If your microbiome is off, you might have symptoms ranging from minor gas and bloating to more chronic stress and mood swings. Your microbiome can even affect your skin, dental health ands personality!

Good bacteria are naturally found in fermented foods like yogurt with active cultures, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi. Ideally, you’d eat these every day and have a flourishing GI gut. Yogurt is the most popular of the probiotic foods, but many of us don’t eat the rest of them enough. Therefore, taking a probiotic supplement is a simple and convenient way to help your GI tract thrive, just like a multivitamin can fill the gaps in your diet.

When you add an optimized gut to the other pillars of good health (sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress relief), then you’re using every defense you can against getting sick.

This is even more important if you’re going through a stressful time like a move or a job change or if you’re traveling somewhere that might have different bacteria in the food than you’re used to. When one pillar of health is compromised, the rest must pick up the slack, so keep them all as strong as you can when you’re well!

Blog post written by Trainer, Sarah Oliver


VIM is now offering nutrition services with Trainer & Nutrition Coach, Christine Galvin!

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elimination diet food intolerance

Adapted from Amy Shah, M.D. Greatist.com

Since everyone and their cat (literally) is on a special diet, you might wonder if you, too, have a food allergy or intolerance.

After all, you do sometimes feel a little bloated when you eat dairy, and gluten, and vegetables… It feels like everything is off limits!

Luckily there is a relatively easy way to figure out if you have a food intolerance. You can try out this plan before resorting to expensive blood tests or extreme cleanses.

But Should You Try This?

• Before beginning any restrictive diet, it’s important to have an idea if you have a food allergy or a food intolerance. If, immediately after eating certain foods (in even microscopic amounts), your throat tightens, you get hives, or you experience anaphylaxis (a type of total-body shock), consult a board certified allergist, as that may be a food allergy—and that’s not something to self-diagnose.

On the other hand, symptoms like constipation, headaches, heartburn, fatigue, bloating, or difficulty swallowing may be a food intolerance. Sometimes this will get worse one to three hours after consuming a food, but often the timing makes it unclear if it’s diet or something else causing your problems.

Food challenges—where you take out a food out and then add back in to see if it causes symptoms—are considered the “gold standard” for diagnosing intolerances. Blood and skin testing can often give false or confusing results, so after those, sometimes doctors recommend a food challenge to confirm the sensitivity.

elimination diet food intoleranceThe Easy Elimination Diet

The plan below is a little different from a full elimination diet, where you remove 8+ food groups at the same time. For most people it’s almost impossible and of course cumbersome to avoid so many foods at once. This modified version is a lot easier because you eliminate three or four food groups at a time for 21 days since it takes about two to three weeks to notice any difference in your symptoms.
After those first 21 days of avoiding certain foods, you should feel better. That’s when you reintroduce the foods one by one, allowing at least three days before you reintroduce the next one so you’re able to notice any changes in how your body reacts to the food. If you add back all the eliminated food groups and have no symptoms, move on to the next step of the plan, when you’ll take out new foods. Continue doing this until a certain food group causes symptoms—that’s likely your trigger. You can stop the diet then, or continue if you think more than one food is at fault.
You’ll start by cutting out the statistically most common offenders, then move to less common ones, which should mean you can figure out your culprit faster. During each phase, make sure to read food labels to see if packaged goods contain any ingredients you are avoiding. These foods are hidden in a lot more things than you think! When you eat out, ask the restaurant staff what’s in dishes. (For example, are the vegetables cooked in butter or is peanut oil used for that stir-fry?)
You won’t have to worry about being hungry since you’re only avoiding some foods, and you can always chow down on lot of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Vitamin deficiencies aren’t a concern either, since each phase is only 21 days.

Your Post-Plan Plan

Let’s say you found out gluten is a problem for you. Then you should avoiding eating it and anything using it as an ingredient so you don’t have to suffer from symptoms. Yes, this means asking about meals at restaurants and reading labels, but you don’t have to cut out foods “processed in a facility with gluten” since a trace won’t throw you into allergic shock. And you may even be able to enjoy some wheat on rare occasions without many issues—for those without celiac disease, once you give your immune system and gut a break from the food and it heals, small amounts will be tolerable for most. Hello, birthday cake!


Blog post written by Trainer, Sarah Oliver


VIM is now offering nutrition services with Trainer & Nutrition Coach, Christine Galvin!

Click below to find out how you can benefit from 1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching!

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starbucks protein box

The Starbucks Protein Boxes are convenient and easy meal options that you can buy and take on-the-go.

They often have over 20 grams of protein to help keep you satisfied on your busy day, but their high protein comes at a high cost. I am a huge fan of Starbucks, but I must admit, I cannot afford to eat or drink there daily!

Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to mimic a Starbucks protein box at home!

This copycat box is convenient, tasty, and best of all, EASY! Snack boxes are great because they offer many different flavors and textures in a fun delivery, and they also offer a full range of nutrient groups (protein, fiber, fruits, vitamins, etc.). They are perfect for young eaters who love the novelty of a snack box, as well as adults who enjoy the convenience and satisfaction of a high protein lunch!

For this particular snack box, the ingredients are:

  • • Sliced cheese, cheese stick or a Babybel
  • • Apple or other fruit
  • • Pita bread or other whole grain crackers
  • • 2 hard-boiled eggs
  • • 2 Tbsp. peanut butter

That’s it! Pretty simple, and you likely already have most of the ingredients.

You could also swap out the apple for sliced peppers and carrots, the eggs for nuts, the pita for a whole grain cereal and the cheese for chopped chicken or tofu. The simple dividers of the box means you can combine essentially anything! If you don’t have a divided lunch container like this, you can also just use a series of small Tupperware. There will be more dishes to wash, but you still get to enjoy a healthy assortment of snacks. What would you put in your box? Let us know in the comments!


Blog post written by Trainer, Sarah Oliver


VIM is now offering nutrition services with Trainer & Nutrition Coach, Christine Galvin!

Click below to find out how you can benefit from 1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching!

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anti-inflammatory food

Inflammation has a bad rap, but it’s not inherently evil.

It is a natural response to illness, a critical defense mechanism that helps to heal damaged cells and fight viruses and bacteria. But there are two types of inflammation.

Acute Inflammation might be a cut that turns red and becomes inflamed. This is your body’s natural response to help heal the cut. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is a continuous inflammation with a slow onset, typically resulting from poor diet, physical inactivity, overactive immune responses, or invaders the body cannot get rid of. This is where someone may look to get treatment as we as start a better lifestyle. They may look into using products like hemp to help them. Click this link if you’re questioning “what is hemp?”

Whether you are already living with chronic inflammation or doing everything in your power to reduce your risk of disease, you can include anti-inflammatory foods in your diet to help ease inflammation!

1. Dark-Green, Leafy Vegetables

According to many experts, dark-green, leafy vegetables are considered the healthiest foods on the planet, as they offer the most nutrients per calorie. Greens are associated with the strongest protection against chronic diseases, including 20% reduction in risk for heart attacks and strokes for every daily serving. Plus, they are rich in antioxidants that restore cellular health, as well as anti-inflammatory flavonoids.

2. Turmeric

There has been a lot of information about turmeric and its health benefits. In recent years, more than 5,000 studies have been published on turmeric. Turmeric’s primary compound, curcumin, is its active anti-inflammatory component and is considered one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory components in the world. There is so much research regarding turmeric and its benefits, it can’t fully be explained here! To give you a little taste of how amazing turmeric is, research shows turmeric can beneficial in preventing or treating:

  • Lung Disease
  • Brain Disease

  • Variety of Cancers, including: multiple myeloma, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer

  • Rheumatoid Arthritis

  • Osteoarthritis

  • Lupus

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • …and more!

3. Flaxseed

The word “superfood” comes to mind every time we consume flaxseeds. Why? Because they are an excellent source of omega-3s (anti-inflammatory!) and phytonutrients (cancer fighters!). Specifically, flax contains the phytonutrient lignan, which is a chemical compound protecting blood vessels from inflammatory damage. Another thing we love about flaxseeds is they have been found to lower LDL (“bad) cholesterol and therefore reduce your risk of heart disease.

4. Oats

Oats contain a unique class of antioxidants called avenanthramides which is found to lower blood pressure and have anti-inflammatory properties. Avenanthramides have also been shown to relieve skin itching and irritation effects.

5. Berries

Dark-green, leafy vegetables may be the healthiest vegetable on the planet, but berries are are most certainly the healthiest fruits. This is because berries rank as some of the highest foods in terms of their antioxidant power, which is measured in units. For reference, apples contain about 60 units, whereas bananas contain 40 units of antioxidants. But the Aronia Berry contains much more! Also, per cup, strawberries contain 310 units, cranberries 330 units, raspberries 350 units, blueberries 380 units, and blackberries 650 units! The tremendous amount of antioxidants and phytochemicals in berries is what makes these fruits powerful against inflammation.


Blog post written by Trainer, Sarah Oliver


VIM is now offering nutrition services with Trainer & Nutrition Coach, Christine Galvin!

Click below to find out how you can benefit from 1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching!

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