The Nutrition Test for My Squirrel-like Brain

I've made 4 specific nutrition changes that I’ve really focused on 100% for the last couple months.

Sugar

Processed foods

Wheat - Gluten

Dairy  

You might be wondering why I’m sharing all of this.   

Here’s a little background as to why I’ve been all-in with eliminating these certain foods.  

Almost 4 years ago, I had decided to cut most - about 95% - of sugar, processed foods, wheat & grain and dairy just because they bothered my stomach, weren't good for my waistline, contributed to cravings, caused my skin to breakout and so much more.  

Then, a few months ago, through genetic testing, I learned that I carry one Celiac gene, meaning that I’m at a much greater risk of developing Celiac disease.  And with my family history of autoimmune disorders, the decision to eliminate wheat and gluten was very simple for me since I already know I’m sensitive to gluten.  I made that decision over a month ago.

I also learned through testing that my gut health was not good.  One of the first steps to healing our gut is to eliminate foods that cause inflammation.  All of these foods, sugar, processed foods, wheat, grain and dairy have been proven to cause inflammation. 

Things were going well.  After these changes I’ve been feeling better than I’ve felt in a LONG time.  My energy is back, my brain fog is gone, my brain feels less squirrel-like, my anxious feeling have disappeared and I feel more relaxed and calm.  All of these improvements are so exciting to me – I’m feeling like my old self again.

So, I decided to do a test on myself.  I needed to prove to myself that all of my efforts to strategically limit certain foods were worth it.  

Tuesday night I had cake, a good piece of cake and cupcakes.  Loaded with sugar, flour, milk, processed ingredients and everything else.  And I’ll be honest, I love sweets – they taste good.  Sweets have always been my struggle.

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling horrible.  Worse than I had felt in over a month.  I felt anxious, nervous and my brain felt super squirrel-like. I felt like I’d been up all night even though I slept a full 8 hours.  My brain fog was back. 

ALL of this just from a little bit of sugar, wheat, gluten and dairy.

ALL of the symptoms that I’d worked so hard to resolve were back – with just 1 piece of cake and a cupcake.

It was BAD – the whole day yesterday was bad.  And this morning, I’m still not feeling good.

This test worked – it proved to me that I’ve been making the RIGHT changes to begin feeling like my best self.  I just needed to prove it to myself to make this journey and mission a little easier.  

Nutrition can FUEL us or it can STALL us out.

The type of fuel we put into OUR tank determines our performance.

Better fuel equals better performance.

FOOD is FUEL.

I realized a couple shifts that I’ve made with my nutrition while putting together the content for Your BestSelf Challenge.  

Over the last couple months, I’ve strengthened my commitment to eating healthier foods that fuel my body with more nutrients.  This renewed commitment started out of necessity, but has become one of the most important factors in changing how healthy I feel.     

I still follow the 90/10 guidelines for eating but the type of treats that I have for my 10% has changed drastically.

These 4 changes have helped increase my ENERGY, change my MOOD, decrease my feelings of STRESS and help me feel more RELAXED.

During YOUR BEST SELF 5 Day FREE Challenge, I’m sharing the science behind how FOOD impacts our mood and stress levels. 

Click HERE to join the challenge.

We begin Monday September 4th.

A Little Tough Love IS Required to Feel Our Best

For FAR too long, longer than I would like to admit to you and myself, I’ve NOT felt healthy.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve felt energetic, fantastic and healthy.  Admitting that outloud to you and myself is one of the best decisions I’ve made over the last couple months.  Admitting and the a little tough love can make all of the difference.

I’ve been going through the motions of “being healthy” with my nutrition and exercise BUT I’ve known the whole time that this isn’t enough.  

It isn’t enough to eat mostly healthy food and exercise each day.  If we’re not taking care of our WHOLE body, all the exercise in the world and all the healthy food in the world won’t make us healthy.  

When I say our WHOLE body, I’m talking about our mind, our gut, our soul, our WELLNESS.  Everything. 

These are the reasons that I’ve created the YOUR BEST SELF 5 Day Free Challenge.  During this challenge I’m sharing with you exactly how I began HEALING to FEEL like MY BEST SELF AGAIN. 

Click HERE to read more about the challenge and to sign up for this FREE 5 day challenge.

Today I want to share with you how I began this mission of healing my whole body.

It all began with admitting to myself, figuring out where I needed to make changes and making a game plan.

Tip 1

Think about areas where you’re not taking the best care of yourself.  Think about all of your habits throughout the day and asked yourself these questions. 

How’s your sleep? 

How’s your nutrition?

How’s your exercise routine?

How’s your hydration?

How important is your ME time each day?

TIP 2

Then decide where to start based on what is most important to you. 

Using these areas from Tip 1 that you decided to work on, choose what’s most important for you right now.  This is where you’ll begin making changes to feel your best.

TIP 3

Create a game plan to make habit changes happen. 

Based on what you determined from tip 1 and tip 2, what daily habits do you need to change? 

What daily habits do you need to begin incorporating into your day that will help you feel your best?

These tips are exactly how I began this mission of healing.

These are just some of the topics that we’ll be talking about during YOUR BEST SELF 5 Day Free Challenge.  

I would LOVE for you to join me in the challenge.  All of the information is HERE, as well as the sign up link.

Once you begin with the tips above, I would love to hear how these tips have helped you.  

You can email me at kristinratliffhealth@gmail.com to share with me all of the changes you’re making and how good you’re feeling.

Your Best Self 5 Day Free Challenge

YOUR BEST SELF 5 Day Live FREE Challenge

I know what you’re going through…

You’re smart, successful and driven.  

But here’s the truth – that success and drive has changed your health.

  

You do not feel your best.  

You DO NOT feel your healthiest.  

You do not have the energy that you used to have.  

Each day at work feels like the longest day ever because you’re struggling to hold your eyes open.  

You feel completely exhausted at the end of the day.

Seriously, YOU are TOO YOUNG to FEEL SO OLD and SO TIRED.

/best/: of the most excellent, effective or desirable type

You are meant to THRIVE, not just survive each day.

You are meant to be FULL of ENERGY, not barely make it through the afternoon.

You are meant to LIVE as your BEST SELF not as your half-awake, exhausted self.

Here’s the deal, I know how you feel right now because I felt these EXACT same ways just a few months ago.  I also put myself and my health on the back burner for far too long because I honestly didn’t believe that we can have everything AND our health too.

Let me get serious with you for one second.  

YOU can have a successful career AND YOUR HEALTH.

During YOUR BEST SELF 5 Day Live FREE Challenge, I’m going to share with you the exact strategies that I’ve used to become my BEST SELF and to FEEL MY BEST SELF once again.

Here’s what we’ll be covering during the 5 day challenge.

Day 1 – Why SLEEP is the cornerstone of our health.  You’ll learn smarter sleep strategies to help you get the most benefit from your sleep.

Day 2 – How NUTRITION effects our energy, our mood and our thoughts each day.  You’ll learn nutrition strategies to help you have more energy and feel more relaxed each day. 

Day 3 – Why WATER is the simplest solution to help us immediately feel better.  You’ll learn the healthiest ways to effectively hydrate our body.  All water is not created equally.  

Day 4 – Why EXERCISE should be a non-negotiable for all of us.  You’ll learn how to use certain types of exercise to your advantage to have so much more energy each day.

Day 5 – Why JOURNALING and MEDITATION need to be habits that you use each day to de-stress, relax and feel more at peace each day.  You’ll learn simple ways to begin journaling and meditating to simplify these overwhelming habits. 

Click HERE to sign up for Your Best Self 5 Day FREE Challenge

What the Gut?

What the gut?

How does our gut health effect our mood?

For as long as I can remember, I just assumed that I would always struggle with certain mood issues.  I just thought that I was one of the people who had to deal with emotional struggles.

What I’ve learned over the last year is that our gut health impacts our mood and emotions.  I’ve learned these things, but just over the last couple months, I’ve actually experienced these things.  I’ve felt exactly the improvements with my mood that I’ve learned about.

Over the last couple months, I’ve made it my mission to heal my own gut out of absolute necessity.  And as an exciting bonus in addition to healing my gut, I’ve begun to heal my brain and my mood.  My mood changes have been a total surprise to me. 

And now that I’ve looked into more research and studied more about how the brain, gut and our moods are connected, it’s even more fun for me to keep making changes.  It’s seriously fun to feel better and know that each healthy habit I create is helping me feel more calm, more relaxed, more at ease and more focused.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Dr Amen’s book Change your Brain Change Your Life.  “Our gut is one of the most important organs for the health of our brain.”  This is just the reminder that I need to keep me inspired to learn more, implement more and share more about the gut-brain connection.

Our gut is called our second brain for a good reason.  The gut is loaded with nervous tissue and is in direct communication with our brains.

I recorded a video sharing 4 different ways that our gut health impacts our moods.

You can watch that video on YouTube by clicking below.

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today.

Enjoy your day.   

    

Intentional Healing 4 Week Beta Test Program

Intentional Healing

Live 4 week group coaching program beginning September 25th.

You have the success.

You have the career.

You're accomplishing the goals.

You're focused.

You're achieving.

You're excelling.

But honestly, HOW DO YOU REALLY FEEL?

When someone asks you how you're feeling, what's the real answer that you want to tell but just don't tell?

Do you feel healthy?  Do you feel full of energy?  Do you feel rested?  Do you feel calm?

Or do you feel completely exhausted and emotionally drained after working all day? 

Do you feel like you just cannot slow down?

Are you struggling to make it through a complete day without crashing?  

Do you find yourself struggling to keep your eyes open when 3 PM rolls around each day?  

Do you feel like your brain is running in overdrive with all of your responsibilities at work and home?

I’ve been where you are, and trust me when I say I KNOW how you feel.

You DESERVE to FEEL healthy and BE healthy, honestly healthy.  

You DESERVE to have amazing amounts of energy.  

You DESERVE to FEEL calm, cool and collected.

Introducing Intentional Healing

   

A 30 day beta test program created to help women like you HEAL and THRIVE.  To help you feel YOUR most vibrant, energetic, calm and healthiest self.

Now it’s time to take care of you.

It’s time to make yourself a #1 priority.

It’s time to put your health first.

It’s time to EMPOWER yourself.

It’s time to intentionally LIVE HEALTHIER and to INTENTIONALLY HEAL.

The deadline to join the program is September 24th.

We begin on September 25th.

Click HERE for all of the detail of the Intentional Healing program as well as the link join the program.

Our Brain on Stress

Our brain on stress…

Today's blog post is all about how crazy busy days and schedules effect our brains.

And in the videos below, I'm sharing all about what I've been learning!  Stress is no good for our brains.  The more I read and learn, the more motivated I am to keep my brain healthy.

I'm also sharing 3 tips to help clear the clutter by implementing daily habits that help keep our brain healthy.

“When your brains not right, you’re not right.  When your brain is troubled, you have trouble in your life.” Dr. Daniel Amen

We’re in a war for the health of our brains.

Science shows that stress can actually change the physiology of the brain.  In the videos below, I'm sharing all of the details!

Part 1 of "Our brain on stress..." 

Click the video below to watch.

Part 2 of "Our brain on stress..."

Click the video link below to watch.

When we align our daily habits with next level healing that begins from the inside, we can truly begin to heal and become our healthiest.

I'm releasing my newest program, Intentional Healing, as a beta test program beginning September 4th.

Click HERE to read all of the details about Intentional Healing and learn how you can join me for this 4 week program.

Sleep Week Part 2

Sleep Week  is wrapping up today!  If you missed Sleep Week Part 1, that blog post is HERE.  There are tons of great tips in that post also - so you don't want to miss it.  And I'm telling the story of why I'm learning smarter sleep strategies.

I'll jump right into the tips!

Tip 4 (remember tips 1 through 3 are on the other blog post, link above!)

Getting more sunlight during the day can help us sleep better at night.

Our circadian timing system (our own internal 24 hour clock) is heavily impacted by the amount of sunlight we receive during the day.  This circadian timing system is responsible for releasing specific hormones at certain times throughout the day.

Morning sunlight specifically improves sleep by signaling a certain part of our brain, as well as the organs and glands involved in this hormone production, to be more alert and “wake up”.  

The best times of the morning for this sunlight exposure is between 6:00 AM and 8:30 AM – for at least 30 minutes of exposure.  Your eyeballs actually take in the sunlight without sunglasses.  Sunglasses during this time especially, inhibits the natural exposure of light we need to ensure healthy hormone secretion and healthy sleep.

The morning sunlight exposure triggers our body to produce optimal levels of daytime hormones and neurotransmitters that regulate our internal circadian rhythm timing system. 


This helps regulate the timing, production and release of specific hormones involved in sleep at the appropriate times throughout the day.

Tip 5 

FIX YOUR GUT TO FIX YOUR SLEEP 

The food that we eat and the environment in our gut will either make or break us getting a good night’s sleep.

About 95% of our body’s serotonin is located in the gut (it’s produced there).  And serotonin plays a role in mood, digestion, sleep, appetite & memory to name just a few responsibilities.

Serotonin is the building block for melatonin.  Melatonin is the “get-good-sleep” hormone.

Now, let’s relate this all to gut health.  A healthy gut has good digestion – to help with nutrient absorption, hormone production, etc.  And remember that most of our immune system is located in our gut!  

A healthy gut also has a very diverse ecosystem of bacteria with the right balance of good bacteria and bad bacteria – this ecosystem is what drives our belly.  Think of this ecosystem just like a rainforest and our gut bacteria is just like all of the thousands of animals & critters found in a rainforest.

When we change our food – we can dramatically change our sleep.

 

By eliminating those foods that damage our gut’s bacteria, we help our digestive system function at it’s best – to have better digestion, more balanced hormone production and better nutrient absorption from the foods we eat.

Here are a few things that damage our healthy balance of good bacteria in our digestive system.  Agricultural chemicals, PROCESSED FOODS, chemical food additives (read labels), food preservatives (read labels), chlorinated water, diet soda (all soda!), high sugar foods and excessive antibiotic use.

Tied into all of this is the fact that most Americans have some degree of leaky gut (because of our food supply) which means that we also have to focus on HEALING OUR GUT.

Tip 6 

All about the BATH TIME! 

If you have trouble falling asleep, try taking a warm bath 1 ½ to 2 hours before bed.  

This may sound counterintuitive because the warm bath will raise our core temperature.  BUT the secret is that by the time we go to bed, our core temperature will have dropped and leveled out a little cooler.  

This cooler core temperature makes it easier for us to sleep because our body’s internal thermostat naturally tries to cool us off at night to prepare us for sleep.

Tip 7

Foods to help with sleep.

Magnesium is an anti-stress mineral.  It has so many different functions in the body – from balancing blood sugar, optimizing circulation and blood pressure, relaxing tense muscles, reducing pain and calming the nervous system and more.

Magnesium is also necessary for optimizing sleep!

Here are a few magnesium rich foods to help our bodies NATURALLY get better sleep.

Spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, yogurt or kefir, almond, black beans, avocado, figs, dark chocolate, bananas, cashews, salmon, goat cheese & artichokes.

Tip 8

I’ve saved THE MOST INTERESTING sleep topic for last!  

GET GROUNDED, for sleep’s sake.

I won't go into an in-depth science lesson here, although I totally geek out with science.  Just think free radicals, chronic inflammation, damage to our internal tissues and cells.  Then think of allowing our bodies to naturally produce more of it's own antioxidants to combat free these free radicals.

We’re at our most natural electrical state when connected to the Earth.

To summarize, it’s critical that we get our body in contact with the Earth on a regular basis to:

1. displace the positive charge that we’re carrying inside our body

2. absorb free electrons to improve recovery, heart health, hormones

3. to get a great night’s sleep

We need to come into contact with the earth’s surface directly with our bare feet for a minimum of 10 minutes each day.  

We want to have bare foot contact with soil, grass, sand (like at the ocean) and living bodies of water like the ocean.  

How interesting is all of this information?  I could talk about sleep for weeks and weeks!

Thank you so much for reading the blog today :-) 

*Disclaimer: The entire contents of this blog are based upon the opinions of Kristin Ratliff, PharmD. The information on this website is not intended as medical advice, nor is it intended to replace the care of a qualified healthcare professional.  Always consult your healthcare provider before changing your healthcare regimen.  *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Sleep Week - Part 1

So why sleep week?  Why all of a sudden am I spending so much time talking about sleep?

I'll just be honest - I'm a pitiful sleeper.  Wait, that's not quite accurate.  I do sleep well, WHEN I actually sleep.  But the problem is I don't sleep enough.  I have habits of staying up late and getting up early on my work days.

Over the last 6 weeks, I've begun my journey towards healing myself and my health.  And SLEEP is one of the most important habits that I'm working to change.  And let me tell you, it's a daily battle with myself and my brain!  

You know those feelings at night when you just can't turn your brain off because of all that happened during the day?  As a Pharmacist, my brain is "ON" at work for my ENTIRE 12 hour shift, non-stop, dealing with distractions from all directions, constantly thinking and analyzing.  I've decided that this is why I'm struggling to turn my brain off each night :-) 

And those feelings of thinking that you'll just stay up to catch up whatever work needs to be done at home and then catch up your sleep on your day off?

These are all "those" things that are keeping me up too late at night!  But each day, I'm making a conscious effort to change my bad sleep habits.  I'm also working each day to create new sleep habits that will serve me as I'm on my journey towards healing!

All of these reasons are why I've declared this week - SLEEP WEEK!
This week on my social media.  I'm sharing tips to help all of us get a better night sleep and create healthier sleep habits.

First, I'll share some helpful tips for good sleep habits that we can start to create each night for ourselves.

1. Stick to a sleep schedule.  Sleep & wake at the same time each day.  The "money time" for sleep is between 10 pm and 2 am.  These are the most crucial hours for our body to get the most benefit from the rejuvenating effects of sleep throughout our body, beneficial hormone secretions (human growth hormone, melatonin & cortisol), rest and recovery AND to allow our body's to detox and heal from the day.

2. Create a relaxing bedtime schedule.  Start 30 minutes to 1 hour before bed with relaxing habits such as reading a paper book, warm bath, yoga, journaling, listening to calming music, etc.  Doing the same routine each night allows your brain to begin to realize naturally that it's time for sleep.

3. Turn of all electronics at least 90 minutes before bedtime.  The blue light emitted from devices negatively effects our body's natural melatonin production.

4. Sleep in a cool, super dark room that feels relaxing to you.

Food before bed - the truth.

1. Close the kitchen after supper – if you’re feeling snacky, have some herbal tea (non-caffeinated).
2. Try not to eat fatty foods or too much protein at suppertime.  This causes our digestive system to work overtime during the night.  Nighttime is when our digestive system should be resting to allow other healing, recovery and detox functions to work in the body.
3. Try not to eat high carb foods or high sugar foods because this will cause a spike in blood sugar immediately disrupting natural feelings of sleepiness.  Also during the night you’ll have a blood sugar crash that will disrupt sleep.

Here are some more ideas for evening habits that you can add to your nighttime routine.

1. Stretching before bed – to help relax our body, increase flexibility and muscular strength, calm our brains and begin to unwind from the day.  
2. Planning our day the night before – this helps take everything that we want/need to do out of our brains.  A brain dump each night.  Once we have everything on paper, our brain can relax and not think about trying to remember everything.  
3. Journaling – yesterday I mentioned this as a good habit before bed.  This can help you work through all that happened over the course of the day, you can think about how you feel, work through emotions that you’re having, etc.
4. A warm bath 1 ½ to 2 hours before bed helps with temperature regulation.  You’ll initially increase core temperature during the bath, but by the time you go to sleep, your core temp will drop to a more conducive temperature for better sleep.

And the last topic for part 1 of Sleep Week is caffeine!

When is the best time to have coffee?

Caffeine has really interesting effects on our body’s nervous system and endocrine system.

When caffeine effects our endocrine system, it causes release of 2 anti-sleep hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. These tend to help us be more alert during the day, but we don’t want an imbalance of these hormones at night when we should be sleeping.

Tip for helping yourself have a better night sleep: 

Set a caffeine curfew for yourself. 

Consume all caffeine (coffee, chocolate, tea) before 2:00 PM each day.

Thanks for checking out the blog today!

*Disclaimer: The entire contents of this blog are based upon the opinions of Kristin Ratliff, PharmD. The information on this website is not intended as medical advice, nor is it intended to replace the care of a qualified healthcare professional.  Always consult your healthcare provider before changing your healthcare regimen.  *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.