TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! ✅I’d love to see everyone—old and new clients—post a sweaty HIIT day selfie in the comments below! 🤳 To caffeinate or not to caffeinate…☕️⬇️ There’s a lot of controversy when it comes to caffeine, but generally speaking, a little caffeine probably isn’t harmful. However, when you consume it absolutely matters when it comes to balancing your cortisol. ⚖️ ☕A little caffeine in the morning can actually benefit your natural cortisol rhythm. Remember, your body’s natural cycle is to have cortisol higher in the morning. The important thing to note is that you should hydrate with water first. You’re slightly dehydrated upon waking, and coffee dehydrates you further. Water first, then coffee. ☕The goal is to have your cortisol levels slowly decrease later in the day so that you can develop a healthy sleep/wake cycle. Since caffeine is a stimulant, it’s best to stop consuming caffeine around 2:00-3:00 PM if you typically fall asleep between 9:30-11:30 PM. This isn’t a hard rule for all, as some of us are more sensitive to caffeine than others. However, if you suspect you have an imbalanced cortisol rhythm, this is a good strategy to adopt. Also, when you’re stressed, your cortisol increases. With caffeine being a stimulant (and a cortisol booster), it’s best to consider this before reaching for a caffeinated beverage during times of stress. 👌 Check out these healthy, caffeine-free drink recipes to enjoy during times of stress or in the evenings! 8+ Healthy Caffeine-free Drinks - Food By Mars **WOROUT IN THE COMMENTS** ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ Last week, I gave you the freedom to practice carb cycling—but this week, you’re going to learn the HOW and the WHY behind this excellent fat-burning strategy! 🔥

I made tacos yesterday and made some me a Loaded Breakfast Burrito Bowl for lunch. 😋 It has taco meat, jasmine rice, salsa, chopped romaine lettuce, and 2 scrabbled eggs. If I had some ripe avocado I would have added it too. 😋

TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! The ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO at the bottom of each day’s post will be your go-to this month! If you read yesterday’s article, you already know some of the signs that chronic high cortisol has on the body. Let’s review them below ⬇️ 📌Persistent fatigue, even when you feel you are getting enough sleep 📌Weight gain around your midsection, face, or back of the neck 📌High blood pressure 📌Thinning skin and easily bruising/slow healing 📌Mood changes, depression, and anxiety 📌Trouble sleeping and irregularities in menstrual cycle **Breathing to lower cortisol video in the comments** Obviously, these symptoms are classic symptoms for MANY things—not just for chronically high cortisol. Just because you experience one or more of these does not mean your cortisol is to blame. As we navigate this month, we’re going to stay in our lane and give you helpful cortisol-balancing tips, but it’s always important to talk with your doctor if you’re concerned about your cortisol. 👌 _________________________________________________________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ We try to consume mostly whole food nutrition in our program. Most of your food needs to be unprocessed and unrefined foods (aka, whole foods). Whole foods are going to be your vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, fruits, legumes, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and eggs. If the food comes from the ground or has a mother, it’s fair game. We are going to try to eliminate gluten and dairy, as well (more on that later). So, let’s get to the “why” behind whole-food nutrition, shall we? ⬇️ 🥑Reduce inflammation: Processed food is a main cause of inflammation. Conversely, whole-food nutrition helps reduce inflammation in the body. Many people do not even realize how much inflammation they have until they decide to start consuming whole foods. 🥑Hormone health: Processed foods with sugar or unhealthy fats can negatively affect your mood, sleep, and hunger hormones. Again, whole foods help keep your hormones happy and optimally functioning!

TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! ✅Comment BALANCE if you’re ready to dive into and implement the cortisol-balancing tips we’re covering this week! Happy Monday, everyone! We’re officially one week into our Cortisol + Strength programming, and I’d like to hear how you’re doing! Are you liking the shorter fasting window? These little details, along with the others we’re implementing this month, will only help you balance your cortisol, get healthy and shed fat. 🙌 Speaking of cortisol-balancing strategies, last week we briefly discussed some AM and PM tips to practice—and I promised we’d dive a little deeper into them this week. So, buckle up—we’re going to learn the science behind why some of these strategies work! It’s going to be another great week of fueling our bodies, reducing our stress, and building muscle! 🔥 ** WORKOUT IN COMMENTS ** ___________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ Simply put, all calories are not created equal. Think about it this way—a 100-calorie bag of potato chips does not offer the same nutritional value as a 100-calorie baked potato. Some foods have no nutritional value whatsoever. These are called “empty calories”. These types of processed, refined foods are not fueling your body. They leave you hungry shortly after consuming them, and they are damaging your body. You do not have to excessively deplete calories to burn fat and build lean tissue. Anyone can lose weight with extreme dieting and extreme calorie restriction. What most people do not realize is that if the scale goes down with extreme dieting, much of it is water weight and muscle loss—not fat loss. We want to utilize strategies that will burn unwanted fat, and fueling your body with a balanced diet of macronutrients (carbs, fats, and protein) will help you become a pro-fat burner. While excessive calorie restriction may offer short-term results, it isn’t sustainable long-term. That’s why you’re constantly on the weight loss roller coaster. Long-term calorie restriction results in loss of muscle mass, decreased energy, fatigue, lack of nutrients to support body functions, and more. On the other hand, consuming appropriate amounts of carbs, fats, and proteins supports hormone health, energy, and fat loss goals. 🔥

This book has been SO good! 📖💖 I’m almost finished, and it has really made me stop and think about how much our thoughts can affect us and how important it is to take control of what we allow to stay in our minds. Next up is the study guide, and I’m excited to dig even deeper!