Clarity Wellness

A good night’s sleep is important for so many reasons, and one of them is your body’s ability to lose or maintain weight. Have you ever noticed that your cravings for sweets and other carbs increase when you’re tired? Your body is looking for the quick energy they provide. When a person is sleep deprived, their insulin response to blood sugar decreases. This means that the sugar isn't cleared from your bloodstream as efficiently and your levels will be higher, which increases your ghrelin levels (the hunger hormone), which increases your appetite. Here are some proven strategies for getting more zzz’s. 1. Get more sunlight during the day.   Try to get out and get some sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning to reset your circadian clock. Most of us could use more vitamin D, which is created by your own body when your skin is exposed to the midday sun (or through a quality supplement. My favorite is from PureVitaminClub.com ). 20-30 minutes is all it takes, but ...

I've been digging deep into the topic of emotional eating lately.  The pandemic hit a lot of us hard and we often ate to soothe our feelings while we were stuck at home.  Food was readily available and we weren't able to go out and do the things that might normally distract us from grazing all day.  We might have felt a lot of fear and anxiety that was easily comforted by eating our favorite foods.  I know at my house there were a lot of movie nights where popcorn, ice cream, and an alcoholic beverage or two made a frequent appearance. Now that we are able to roam a little more freely, and many of our fears have dissipated, we are still stuck with some extra pounds and eating habits that aren't serving us very well. One of the common themes that I have found in reading and talking to people is the feeling that we don't have control over our own lives anymore.  We don't have control over the virus, school, work, politics, other people and their behavior...and the...

If we want to build new habits around our health, it is often helpful to figure out what our anchor habits are first, and build from there.  B.J. Fogg likes to refer to anchor habits as those things that we already do every day without thinking about them--brushing our teeth, making our coffee, eating our breakfast.  If you want to build a new habit, tie it around one of those things.  For example, "While I brush my teeth I will do 20 squats," or "While my coffee is brewing I will do  some stretches in the kitchen."  That's a great ways to implement something new, but I look at anchor habits in a way that's a little closer to The One Thing philosophy touted by Gary Keller. He asks the question, "What's the One Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"  I've always had a hard time wrapping my head around this concept and narrowing it down to just one thing. I tend to have "One Things"...

Have I ever told you how much I love Costco? They do an amazing job of finding high quality products at the best prices so we buy most of our grocery staples there. Let's take a trip around the store, and I'll point out some of my favorites along the way. 1. In my store, the first section you come to after you pass the clothing and housewares is the alcohol section, so we'll start there. :) If you want to stay low-carb and still enjoy a cocktail from time to time, grab a bottle of the Kirkland vodka and a case of sparkling water. 2. Next comes the meat section, where we pick up a pack of organic ground beef, some organic chicken thighs, breasts, and/or wings, and whatever else might be on our list for the week. 3. In the refrigerated section we often find snack packs of cheese, sausage, pre-cooked chicken, and guacamole or avocado mash. They also have a great selection of good quality brie, aged cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, etc.  Look for the ones that come straight f...

I hope you're enjoying your summer so far!  If you've worked hard to establish a low-carb eating routine, you may be a little worried about what will happen when you go on vacation.  Never fear!  It's easier than you think, and you may actually welcome the chance for a clean slate and an environment that isn't full of snacks and temptations provided by the rest of your family! :) Snacks: Raw nuts, especially macadamias or pecans. They’re easy to overeat, though, so make sure you measure out a ¼ cup portion and put the rest away. If you keep them in the freezer they are even more satisfying to chew. :) Hard-boiled eggs. Top with a little hot sauce, mustard, or salt. Avocado!!! Scoop out the seed and add olive oil and salt, hot sauce, salsa, or tuna salad.  You could also get the avocado mash containers from Costco. Veggie sticks with nut butter or cream cheese. Full-fat Greek yogurt topped with berries, mixed with a spoonful of nut butter, or mixed with Everythin...

My favorite place to get in a stair workout on vacation. I know you have the best of intentions to keep up with your exercise plan this summer, but what happens when you go on vacation and your regular routine is suddenly interrupted?   It can be really hard to get back on track once you return home, so it's a good idea to keep at least a small semblance of an exercise routine in your life each day while you're away. Some vacations naturally include a healthy dose of exercise by default.  You may be hiking, swimming, or walking around Disneyland all day.  Others may include a lot of lounging on the beach or next to a pool (with a cocktail in hand!)  Whatever your idea of a good time, here are some ways to make sure you keep up the healthy habits you've worked so hard to implement. 1.  Explore the town on foot.   I love to go for long walks or run around a town that I'm visiting.  If we're staying in a hotel I often ask the front desk staff for recommen...

  I don't know about you, but I've got lots of plans for this summer.  The fact that it's going to be a shorter break than usual makes things a little more complicated, but still, I'm excited to get out of the normal routine and use the time off for some personal growth projects, some household projects, and some long-awaited travel. Many of us, emerging from our Covid cocoons, have big plans for self-improvement.  We want to implement exercise programs, eat healthier meals, and shed the Covid pounds that crept up on us while keeping us comfortably insulated from the outside world.  Making the plans is the fun and easy part.  Keeping up on our plans and actually making them work is the not-so-easy part.  Here are some ways to help you stick to your plan. 1.  Write it down.   This seems obvious to most people (ok, maybe just to me), but I like to write things down as the first step in any process I undertake.  Make a list of things you want to...