Do you like eating out? maybe you enjoy take-out on a regular basis?

If you're like me - I used to love eating out all the time! I thought it saved me time and energy. Although it did save me time - I was constantly exposed to seed oils, added sugar/gluten and soy on a regular basis which made my symptoms worse.

Here are some blood sugar friendly ideas for a health conscious person if you're eating out!

1. Ask for food to be cooked in olive oil or butter
2. Salad with vinegar to start
3. Protein forward meals
4. Minimal sauces
5. Go for grilled vs. fried
6. Earlier reservations (5-6PM)
7. Save carbs for last

Remember:

Progress > perfection
You CAN make it healthy
The order in which you eat your food WILL make a difference
It's not about constant restriction. We're human in the end
Most restaurants will be willing to accommodate your needs
It's OK to ask your food to be cooked in olive oil or butter

Now tell me - what is #1 thing you'll try differently when going out to eat?

If you’ve ever tried to go lower carb, keto or get off sugar, you quickly realize how carbs and sugar are EVERYWHERE!!

One of the best ways to stay consistent with your blood sugar stable lifestyle is to be prepared.

This includes bringing food with you when you’re on-the-go to help you reduce temptations and also to give you nourishing options when there are none to be found!

These are some examples of some portable, blood sugar-friendly foods.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of nuts and seeds due to their anti-nutrients but sometimes it’s better than some of the crap that’s out there.

With meats and animal products, I recommend buying the highest quality you can afford.

And remember, investing in a thermos and bringing home cooked meals with you is really the best way to go for things like lunches at work!!

My favorite on the go foods:

• Hard boiled eggs and hot sauce
• Meatballs and homemade mayo or ranch
• Sausage or good quality hot dog
• Guacamole and veggie...

Our blood sugar controls how we feel at every second of every day and also has huge impacts on our long-term health.

But you already knew that So now I want to teach you all how to better understand your Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) graphs.

When your graph has lots of spikes and crashes and goes out of that happy green range, you start to feel lots of unwanted symptoms (like cravings, dizziness, shakiness, urgent hunger, fatigue, anxiety, & more) and this is what contributes to long term health issues (like high cholesterol & blood pressure, hormone imbalances, diabetes, etc.)

But when your graph stays in that happy green range (which I recommend setting at 70-110 mg/dL /3.9-6.1 mmoL… more on this in future posts), you feel stable energy, have better moods, sleep soundly, don’t have cravings or intense hunger and you set yourself up for better overall health and well-being!

Over time, after you heal, you can get more leniency with your green range. I now put...

Have you been deceived by the marketing on these foods?? I certainly have!

Just because a food is *marketed* as healthy, doesn’t mean it is. Or that it’s good for your blood sugar.

Even in non-diabetics, blood sugar spikes and dips have been shown in research to be more harmful to health and lead to increased inflammation and cardiovascular events as compared with even steady higher blood sugar levels.

Reducing blood sugar spikes is important for everyone and it can start with swapping out these Super Spikers!

So where are these "fake healthy" foods usually hiding?

1. Oat Milk

2. Fruity Yogurt

3. Granola or Protein Bars

4. Rice Cakes

5. Cereal

6. Dried Fruit

7. Sauces/ Condiments

Make sure to always pay attention to carb content as well as sugar content.

The best way to see how much these foods spike you is by testing your own blood sugar with a continuous glucose monitor.

If you want to get support with your blood sugar, to know what you should eat that makes you feel good...

In 2013, I was eating a whole food, paleo diet that just helped me effortlessly get rid of my severe seasonal allergies, asthma, chronic sinus infections, Candida and get off my 5 prescription meds.

But I started gaining weight, I lost my period for 6 months, my acne was worse than ever, I was tired all the time, was waking up shaky, needed to eat every few hours….

So what was happening?! I was eating all healthy, real foods?!

What was happening was that I was not paying attention to my blood sugar! Even though I was eating *healthy* carbs, I was eating WAYYYY too many for my body’s needs at the time.

I temporarily cut out these foods, added more healthy fats and voilà.. good bye insulin resistance, hypoglycemia & PCOS!!

The good news is that after some time, I was able to start adding back in these foods in smaller quantities with no change in symptoms and without my PCOS, hypoglycemia or IR returning.

We need to get rid of all or nothing thinking and be more...

Some people see a lot of improvement with their digestion when they go low-carb or keto…

But for others, things might get worse.

These are just a few of the common digestive issues I see with my clients and when they start increasing healthy fats and proteins , oftentimes they really struggle.

Why is this?? ‍

So many people I see already have low stomach acid (from stress, nutrient deficiencies, past history of excessive carb consumption or plant based diets), and when they start eating more meat, their low stomach acid levels struggle to break down all that protein.

This leaves them feeling excessively full after meals as if the food is sitting in their stomach like a brick , it can drive heartburn ‍ and indigestion, constipation, undigested food in the stool, inflammation, burping and bloating after meals, and more.

Low stomach acid will also negatively impact the whole sequence of events in digestion so we may not get the trigger for the pancreas to produce enzymes...

Looking to cut down on caffeine?? These are 5 of the drinks that I have on a regular basis to help my energy levels.

Pssst: I can’t tell you how many clients I have who have slowly eliminated caffeine and then told me they have WAY more energy… just saying…

I put @redmondrealsalt in all the water I drink. I drink @wearerasa regularly to support my adrenals and also help me wind down or when I’m just craving a warm beverage and don’t want more coffee. I drink Quinton minerals every morning on an empty stomach. I drink @drinkkenetik ketones when I have a cognitively demanding task like podcasting or recording videos or writing copy, or before a workout! And I drink @goodideaus before some of my meals that have carbs (usually if I go to a party or to the beach or to a place where I can’t control the menu and I don’t feel like drinking nasty tasting Apple Cider Vinegar). I also have weaned myself to fully (organic Swiss water process decaf)...

There’s a ton of info out there about high blood sugar but almost nothing about LOW blood sugar.

Often, this is the first stage we pass through as we are beginning to experience metabolic issues.

Sometimes high insulin drives down our blood sugar too low when fasting or after a meal.

Sometimes our low cortisol levels might not be able to keep our blood sugar in a healthy range.

And sometimes we can experience these *low* blood sugar symptoms at ANY blood sugar number.

Often my clients report they experience these symptoms if their blood sugar is dropping too quickly.

(And these symptoms may also occur for some people when their blood sugar gets too high! Confusing, I know!)

So if this is you, you are probably wondering what to do!

1 First off, start measuring your blood sugar when you feel these symptoms or with a Continuous Glucose Monitor so you can start to see your patterns.

2 Second, use strategies like eating lots of protein and healthy fats before carbs at meals, go for...

High insulin levels block your body from efficiently burning your own body fat for energy. This leaves you dependent on consuming sugar and carbs every few hours to “keep your energy up.”

This only worsens the blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance. It’s a vicious cycle.

When you’re a sugar burner, you feel like crap and have lots or all of the symptoms on the left.

The solution to this is to become “metabolically flexible” where your body can burn sugar AND fat for fuel.

It’s amazing how that little switch absolutely transforms your entire health. To make your metabolism flexible, you need to start with optimizing your blood sugar.

To help you do this in the most effective and efficient way possible, I have created a program that serves as the bridge to get you there.

This revolutionary program is Blood Sugar Mastery. It is the ultimate program to help you control your blood sugar so it stops controlling you.

Want to learn more about...

A blood sugar-friendly breakfast should contain loads of protein, healthy fats, and fiber!

It can also contain some carbs depending on your metabolic health, activity levels and your goals! (Carbs aren’t the devil, carbs are a tool!)

This helps keep your blood sugar stable and keeps you satiated for hours without that crash (that something like a big bowl of oatmeal will give you!).

My best tip for a fast breakfast is using leftovers from the day before.

For example, grab out some leftover chicken thighs & asparagus, reheat on a pan in some butter. Then pair with half an avocado and some raspberries and voilà!

A nutrient-dense, blood sugar stabilizing meal! But let's not forget our breakfast beverage!

Most people have blood sugar spikes from coffee. Plus, caffeine drives up cortisol and I think most of us are way too stressed to be borrowing from tomorrow's energy.

This is why I recommend to wean onto an organic, Swiss-Water Processed Decaf. @wearerasa has a great...