food cravings Archives - Curves Cardio And Cupcakes

August 3, 2019 by cardioandcupcakes

How To Stop Binge Eating Junk Food When You’re Bored

Do you find yourself losing control of your eating? Do you eat dinner and then find yourself eating an entire package of cookies afterward? I can totally relate! I used to be completely out of control when I started eating some delicious junk food. Sometimes I would even binge on junk food that didn’t even taste that great. I’m going to share some tips with you on how to stop binge eating junk food when you’re bored.

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How To Stop Binge Eating Junk Food When You’re Bored Or At Night

Be sweet to yourself. Binge eating is related to emotions many times. We have thousands and thousands of thoughts every day, most of which are negative. Pay attention to your thoughts and you’ll quickly see what I’m talking about. Try to keep your thoughts positive and think good things about yourself. The binge eating cycle just makes this worse because when we binge eat, we feel guilty and think terrible things about ourselves which just makes us want to binge all over again. Work on positive self-talk. I know this might sound weird or hokey, but it works. We’re surrounded by so much negativity every day. The most important thing I can say on this is to treat yourself like someone you love. Give yourself some positive vibes and it will change your mood. Try some positive affirmations to give yourself a boost.
Pay attention to what triggers your binge eating. Sometimes binge eating is triggered by boredom or a certain person’s influence. Do you binge after a stressful day at work? When you hang out with a certain friend or family member, do you tend to binge? Does watching TV trigger a junk food binge? I bet if you give it a little attention, you’ll find a pattern to what is triggering your binge sessions. Once you know what it is, you can work to change your habits. For me, my main trigger was watching TV. For some reason when I would sit in front of the TV, I needed to be munching on something (usually something sweet).
Keep junk food out of your house. It’s a lot harder to binge on junk food if you don’t have the food readily available. I know some people say “But I have to have that stuff for my kids and husband to eat.” They really don’t need to eat that stuff either. Processed food is not necessary for anyone’s survival. Keep healthy options for them and yourself to snack on. It will help you avoid temptation and they’ll be healthier for it too.
Don’t give yourself crazy diet restrictions. If you feel like you can’t have anything good to eat, chances are you’re going to go crazy and eat all the things. Focus on eating whole foods like vegetables, fruits, protein and healthy fats. Find delicious recipes so you’ll feel like you’re indulging when you really aren’t. Once I started following a plant based whole food diet, my cravings and urge to binge eat went away because I’m able to eat things that I truly love.
Heal your gut. My experience with binge eating was that I would crave things and just couldn’t stop thinking about it until I just gave in and ate it. Once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. I started eating a plant based whole food diet and adding fermented foods which resulted in my food cravings going away and my belly bloat going away. This was the way I personally overcame my binge eating and food cravings. Your gut is connected to almost every part of your body and it is directly connected to your brain. Having an imbalance of bacteria in your gut can wreak havoc in your whole body! If you’ve been eating a lot of processed foods for a while or most of your life, its’ pretty likely you’re gut needs some love.

If you’ve tried everything and nothing works, you can seek professional help from an organization like Overeaters Anonymous. I had a friend who had success with them and spoke very highly of their services.

Whatever you do, don’t give up! I know you can beat this binge eating! Believe in yourself and realize how strong you are and that you can overcome anything.

XOXO,

Cassie

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March 21, 2019 by cardioandcupcakes

How To Eat Less and Not Be Hungry

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure.

It seems the older I get the less likely I am to make sacrifices to lose weight. I used to try all of these crazy diets where I was starving all day when I was younger, but I have no interest in following any diet where I feel hungry anymore. However, I also feel like the older I get, the more cravings I have and the harder it is to lose the extra weight. I set out on a mission to figure out how to eat less and not be hungry because I needed to drop some pounds, but I didn’t want to have to suffer through it.

How To Eat Less and Not Be Hungry

Follow a diet that makes you happy is the most important thing. I always like to think about the long term instead of how quick can I get these pounds off with some crazy unreasonable diet.

I tend to lean toward ways of eating that do not limit the amount of food I can have. I feel like the keto diet is a great plan in this way because you have to limit carbs, but you can eat until you’re not hungry. And if you’re thinking “I’ve tried keto and it didn’t work for me” you should check out this keto plan. It’s so much more in depth with helping you figure out the reasons you aren’t losing (if that happens to you) and eliminating the foods that could be causing you problems. With this diet you don’t necessarily have to eat less to lose weight. So you can avoid being hungry entirely.

My Story Of Trying To Eat Less and Not Be Hungry (and Lose Weight)

I’ve struggled my whole life with my weight, but once I hit 30 years old, it was like my metabolism went on a permanent vacation. I tried to eat less and not be hungry, but nothing seemed to work and to be honest I was always hungry and craving things. Even when I worked out like a maniac, I wasn’t losing any weight. I came across this product that has been life changing for me! It’s called Mighty Maca Plus.

I love it because the first day I took it, I felt my belly go down and feel flatter! Within a couple of days I noticed I was eating less and not hungry and my cravings were going away. I always crave sugar. So this was pretty impressive to me.

I started thinking this stuff must be some sort of miracle and then something even better happened that I wasn’t even expecting… my libido improved drastically within a few days of starting it. I’ve had my hormones checked and was told that everything was normal, but now I’m really wondering how accurate those test results were and makes me wonder if this was why I was struggling with my weight so much.

Don’t be scared off that it’s a supplement that has greens in it. I had tried some greens supplements before that didn’t mix into the water at all and were so gritty and disgusting that I could barely choke it down. This stuff mixes right in and it tastes really good with no grit. It has a bit of a citrus flavor. It’s hard to explain, but it tastes very mild and good. It can even be mixed in a smoothie and you won’t even know it’s in there.

I really love that Mighty Maca was created by a female gynecologist who struggled with her own weight problems, cravings and hormone issues. I feel like she understands what we go through as women as we age and has addressed those problems with this product. She also has a free ebook that really helped me get the answers I needed about why I wasn’t losing weight.

The best part is you can get a free trial to try it before you buy a canister! I definitely got in on this deal because I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on supplements that I didn’t end up liking and wasted my money, but I knew right away after taking it that I was getting the full size canister. Their shipping is also really fast and the customer service is amazing!

Let Me Know If Mighty Maca Helps Curb Your Hunger!

I would love to hear if you try Mighty Maca how you like it! And if you try it while doing this keto diet, it’s a double whammy for your metabolism and will definitely help you eat less and not be hungry. Let me know if you try it!

P.S. If you really want to increase your libido and improve your hormonal symptoms, I also recommend getting a free trial of Julva too! You’ll absolutely love how it makes you feel!

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The Best Natural Appetite Suppressants That Work

Is your appetite completely out of control? Are you trying to stick to your diet, but you keep failing because you’re just so darn hungry? Below I have for you the best natural appetite suppressants that work! Keep reading to find out how easy it will be to kick your hunger to the curb with these tips.

I used to have an uncontrollable appetite. I would finish a meal and be thinking about what snack I could eat. I had crazy intense cravings that I just couldn’t get to go away no matter what I did. I had tried all the pills that people claim will suppress your appetite, I took prescription appetite suppressants, and I can tell you that they did me no good. Losing weight is hard enough without having to tame a beast of an appetite. These are tried and true natural appetite suppressants that work and have worked for me personally.

This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure here.

The Best Natural Appetite Suppressants That Actually Work

A Plant Based Whole Food Diet- When you follow this type of diet, you can eat until you’re satisfied which is one of my favorite things about it. I find it much easier to avoid snacking when I can eat meals that I love and feel full. Also, all the fiber you get from this way of eating will fill you up. I’ve been following this version which is starch based for quite a while now and I’m so happy with the results I’ve gotten. I also am obsessed with it because I can eat potatoes, rice, pasta, all the things I love and crave and still stick to my plan. So I never have those feelings of guilt and shame that I cheated on my diet.
Apple Cider Vinegar-Apple cider vinegar reduces your blood sugar response to a meal thereby causing less cravings and decreasing your appetite. Be sure when you buy it to get the raw unfiltered one that has the mother in it. Raw unfiltered ACV contains protein, enzymes and friendly bacteria that can help your gut. Put a tablespoon of ACV in a few ounces of water and take it before meals to help digestion and naturally suppress your appetite. If you can’t handle drinking apple cider vinegar, you can get it in pill form here.
Cistus Tea–Cistus tea is my favorite supplement EVER. I can’t even tell you how much this stuff has changed my body! Once I started drinking it I was able to kick my sugar cravings and my appetite reduced so much that I sometimes forget to eat. It helps break up biofilms in the body created by unfriendly bacteria, yeasts, and parasites. I know that sounds weird probably, but a few days after I started drinking it, my body felt lighter and my appetite and cravings were practically non-existent. You can read about my experience here if you want to know more.
Fermented Foods-Fermented foods are great for helping get your gut in balance by adding beneficial bacteria to your body. These good bacteria help push out the bad guys. Once your gut is healthy, your ravenous appetite and cravings will be no more. You can buy fermented vegetables at the health food store or make your own. There are lots of options of vegetables that can be fermented. The ones you’ll usually find in a store are kimchi, saurkraut, and pickles. I’m not talking about regular pickles and saurkraut from the regular grocery store. These would be in the health food store in a refrigerated area to preserve the probiotics that are in them. Kombucha is a tea that is fermented and it is delicious! If you’re interested in learning how to eat a whole food diet with fermented foods, read this post.
Drink More Water- Drinking water can help control your appetite. Our bodies need water for every function so it’s really important, but I’m sure you already know that. I think the key to this that so many people miss is that when you drink a lot of water, you also need to replace your electrolytes or else it never gets into the cells. I also noticed that if I drink water on a completely empty stomach it makes me more hungry, but if I have a little something in my stomach already, it makes me feel full when I drink water. Play around with it and see what works for you.

I really hope you try these natural appetite suppressants because I know they will work for you if you give them a chance. Like I said before, I tried all the magic pills that people say will curb your appetite and unfortunately, I found that none of them worked. If your appetite is out of control, your body is probably trying to tell you something. My gut problems were causing vitamin and mineral deficiencies in my body and everything was going haywire. Listen to your body and you will find the answers you’re looking for.

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May 25, 2018 by cardioandcupcakes

How To Heal Your Gut Naturally

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Our gut affects every part of our bodies in some way. You may have the obvious symptoms that would be a sign of unhealthy gut bacteria like diarrhea or constipation, but today I want to point out some of the less obvious signs of unhealthy gut bacteria and then I’ll give you some tips that you can use to heal your gut naturally.

Let’s start with the signs of unhealthy gut bacteria.

Food Allergies-Research has recently shown that food allergies may be caused by changes in the human gut flora. We are all born with certain strains of gut bacteria passed on to us by our mother. This could be why certain families have a tendency to have the same health problems. These bacteria are altered any time we take antibiotics.
Mood issues-If you have unexplained mood swings, depression, stress, or anxiety, it could be a sign of unhealthy gut bacteria. We all have our good and bad days, but if you find on a daily basis you are having mood issues, your gut could be to blame.
Skin problems-If you have acne, dry skin, rosacea, bumpy skin, eczema, itchy skin, it could be your gut causing it. As a teenager I had pretty bad acne. In my 30s I developed rosacea on my cheeks, but it was also super itchy and I would get bumps similar to pimple but not a pimple. The more cleansers and things I tried to use to fix it, the worse it would get. Once I started getting my gut bacteria in balance, it went away within days.
You get sick all the time-Most of your immune system is found in your gut which explains why an unhealthy gut could contribute to you getting sick a lot.
Can’t lose weight no matter what you do-Ugh! If this is you, I can relate. I was in the same spot. I tried everything! I was starving all the time and still not losing. Fixing your gut bacteria can change this!
Autoimmune disease-Unfortunately this is one of those medical mysteries. Your immune system attacks it’s own cells. It has been linked to gut health and is thought that undigested particles of food from leaky gut could be to blame.
Inflammation-Inflammation can present itself in so many ways. My whole body was inflamed. My feet were burning, my hands and feet would swell up, my face was round and my whole body was bloated. I think this goes along with your immune system issue above. Your body is just attacking everything.
Heartburn/Acid Reflux-This is actually caused by too little stomach acid. If your stomach doesn’t produce enough acid to digest your food, it just sits there in your stomach and gets bad bacteria growing in it and then passes to your small intestines eventually with the bad bacteria. Not good.
Yeast infections-When you gut bacteria is imbalanced, it can allow yeast to grow out of control in your body. You may have experienced this after taking antibiotics. If the yeast gets too far out of control, it can become overgrown throughout your body causing all sorts of craziness. This is called candida overgrowth.
Urinary Tract Infections/Interstitial Cystitis-The reason for this is not really known, but if you constantly have urinary tract infections or you have the painful bladder syndrome known as Interstitial Cystitis, it’s probably caused by a gut imbalance. I was “diagnosed” with interstitial cystitis after going through tons of tests, antibiotics, etc. This is a term that doctors use when they can’t figure out what’s wrong with your bladder. Once I got my gut bacteria back on track, my symptoms began to lessen.
Tiredness-If you are tired all the time for no reason, it could be unhealthy bacteria in your gut stealing your nutrients. I was deficient in Vitamin D and B vitamins due to the bacterial imbalance in my gut.
Poor Concentration-The gut and brain are connected. So it’s no surprise that brain fog, poor concentration, and memory problems are related to gut health.

Now that you know the signs of unhealthy gut bacteria, here’s how you can heal your gut naturally.

Remove processed foods, meat and dairy from your diet. These foods feed the unhealthy bacteria and yeast in your gut. Cut these things out and eat whole plant based foods to feed the good bacteria to get your gut back in balance. If you need help getting started with this type of diet, I highly recommend reading this.
Eat probiotic and fermented foods. You can take probiotics, but in my experience, the probiotic pills have never done much for healing my gut and often make me feel worse. Eating fermented foods like saurkraut, kimchi, pickles, and drinking kombucha will get good bacteria into your gut. You can get these at health food stores and even traditional grocery stores are starting to carry some of these items now. I especially love the Simple Truth brand kombucha from Kroger stores.
Take apple cider vinegar before each meal. Raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar helps your stomach produce acid and aids in digestion. You could also take an HCL supplement if you aren’t producing enough stomach acid. I took an HCL supplement, but when I switched to a plant based diet, I no longer needed it. If you have hypothyroidism, low stomach acid is a common problem.
Break up the biofilms that the bad bacteria have created in your gut. The unhealthy bacteria, yeast, and parasites in your gut form this protective layer around themselves that is really hard for anything to get through called a biofilm, which may be the reason antibiotics are becoming less effective. Cistus tea will break up these biofilms so your body can get the bad bacteria out. This is the most crucial step in correcting your gut imbalance in my opinion. The really awesome thing is that it also reduces hunger and cravings and I saw a huge change in my belly bloat when I started drinking it.
Chew your food well. I struggle with this. I was a nail technician for 18 years and would have 2 minutes to eat before my next client arrived. I developed the terrible habit of scarfing my food down in no time because of it. Chewing your food well makes it much easier for your stomach to break it down especially if you have low stomach acid.

Put these steps into action to correct your unhealthy gut bacteria and heal your gut naturally and I bet you’re going to start seeing some truly amazing changes in how you feel!

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Why Can’t I Stick To My Diet And Have Willpower?

Why can’t I stick to my diet?

Willpower.

I know you’ve heard this term and probably used it yourself in regard to dieting. Well I’ll be the one to tell you that it’s all a crock!

We start out on a diet where we have all of these restrictions, can’t eat any of the things we love and frankly, I’ve gotten quite depressed on some diets because of this. I mean who really wants to live every day denying themselves of things that bring them joy in life?

When we fail at our diet which wasn’t designed for us to be successful anyway, we feel guilty and ashamed that we couldn’t have enough willpower to stick to it. We feel like such a failure.

Why is it so hard to stick to a diet?

Your diet is too restrictive. I think the most important part of sticking to a diet is listening to your body. I did a low carb diet in my 20s. I lost 90 pounds, felt great and got in the best shape of my life. My body was loving that diet at that time. I tried a low carb diet again in my late 30s and I felt completely horrible. I felt like I couldn’t digest the food properly and I didn’t lose anything. In fact, I gained a few pounds! I now listen to my body and what it needs to do its job. If I try a way of eating that doesn’t feel good, I don’t continue with it. A starch based vegan diet is what feels good to my body and gets me results. I honestly haven’t felt this good in years!
You have uncontrollable sugar cravings. It is impossible to stick with a diet if you can’t stop thinking about all the sugary goodness that you can’t have. I know. I’ve been there. It isn’t pretty! My sugar cravings would haunt me until I just ate whatever I was craving. I couldn’t get them out of my head no matter what I did. I would read online to just have some water or go for a walk and they would subside. Are you kidding?! That doesn’t work! So I would give in to the sugar monster and eat that sweet goodness. And then of course, I would have the feelings of guilt and shame for failing myself. You can read here how I’ve kicked my sugar cravings for good.
You’re dieting only to lose weight. I know we all want to lose weight and that’s usually the main goal of going on a diet. But what if you changed the way you look at dieting? Stop focusing on the scale and focus on how you feel. If you’re eating healthy food and listening to what your body needs, you should be feeling great and the weight loss will come with that. The more we stress about the scale and pressure ourselves to lose the pounds, the more a diet sucks. Are you eating in a way that you can live with for the rest of your life? If not, search for the diet that makes your body happy and your mind happy. I’ve put my scale away and am focusing on what makes my body feel good and I’m so much happier! And I know I’m losing weight because my clothes are getting loose. Who cares what that scale says?! Wouldn’t you rather see your pants size go down than a number on the scale?
You’re deficient in vitamins and minerals. A lack of essential nutrients can cause all sorts of problems in our bodies. I was deficient in several nutrients including vitamin D and the B vitamins. It took me a long time to figure it out, but a gut bacteria imbalance was causing my nutrient deficiencies. These bad gut bacteria were using up all of my vitamins and leaving none for my body to use which caused all kinds of crazy symptoms in my body that I would never have thought would be related to my gut or vitamins. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can cause cravings that make you fail at your diet. This is how I got my gut balanced so my body can use the nutrients I put into it.

How To Have More Willpower

The most important things you can do to overcome your lack of “willpower” are to listen to your body and talk to yourself positively every day. Negative thoughts about yourself just bring more negativity. Instead of beating yourself up, take the time to try to figure out why you can’t stick to your diet.

Maybe you have one of the issues above or maybe there’s an underlying issue that’s causing you to hold on to the extra weight as protection. I had so many health problems in addition to the extra weight. I was super angry at my body for failing me. I wrote a letter to my body which allowed me to release the anger and negative feelings and the weight started coming off finally. Negative thoughts and emotions can cause you to sabotage your weight loss without even realizing it.

Trust in yourself and put in the time to try to understand what is happening and why so you can correct it. In the medical world, doctors seem to look for a quick fix band-aid rather than finding the root cause of a problem. As a society, we all want instant gratification. I fully believe in finding out what is causing your problem so you can fix it permanently rather than just masking the symptoms. If you’re having cravings, there’s a reason. If you’re body doesn’t respond well to a certain diet, there’s a reason. Your lack of willpower is your body trying to tell you something. Listen to it.

How To Stop Sugar Cravings In The Evening

This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure here.

I have to be honest here. I have had sugar cravings my whole life since I can remember. I come from a long line of diabetics. So I needed to figure out what was causing these sugar cravings and how to stop them as quickly as possible!

My sugar cravings were so bad, but the worst time for me was at night. I would literally just finish dinner and feel like I needed some sort of sweet snack. The problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I just went ahead and ate something sweet. It was out of control. I also craved bread and other processed carbohydrate foods, but the sweets were the worst.

I’ve struggled with a ton of health problems over the last 13-ish years. You can read about that here. I was on the diet roller coaster since childhood when my mom started taking me to Weight Watchers meetings with her. I’ve just about tried it all and guess what?! I would lose and gain it all back and then some. Quite a few of these diets were not healthy and didn’t teach me anything about how to eat properly and I always had sugar cravings no matter what diet I followed. Even on a keto diet I craved sugar. I read that after a couple of weeks on low carb, you wouldn’t crave sugar anymore. HA! That was not true for me!

I had read that certain vitamins and nutrients could help with sugar cravings and over the years tried quite a few of them, but none of them ever helped me kick my sugar addiction. Nothing ever seemed to work and it was super frustrating!

How To Stop Sugar Cravings

A few months ago I started eating a plant based whole food diet and I added in fermented foods to help my gut bacteria just to see if it would help. You can imagine my surprise when I started to feel better and lighter but I was still struggling with a few of my health problems and some sugar cravings even though they improved a bit with the diet and fermented foods, when I came across this cistus tea.

I’ve been drinking the tea 3 or 4 times a day and I feel like a new woman! The reason I decided to try it is that it is supposed to break up biofilms in the body. It is said that bacteria and yeast overgrow in our bodies and create these biofilms to protect themselves. So when we take antibiotics or natural antibacterial or antifungal products, the medicine can’t reach the bacteria and yeast to kill it because of these protective biofilms.

Of course I was skeptical if this was true or would even work, but the tea was inexpensive enough that I figured it was worth finding out. I’ve struggled with my health for so long that I’m usually willing to try just about anything. I started drinking the tea the day I got it in the mail. I didn’t notice much difference that day or the next day.

On my second full day of drinking it, I felt my belly bloat reducing and a sense of lightness in my body that I haven’t felt in years! It’s hard to describe, but I felt like a thousand pounds was lifted off of me. The coolest thing that happened though was that I wasn’t hungry! I didn’t find myself snacking all day like I usually would. I was having such filling and delicious foods that I would forget to eat until I was truly hungry. And let me tell you, I am not someone who forgets to eat!

My third day I felt a little rough. I still had the wonderful feelings from before but I was a bit nauseated and had a bit of a headache. I reduced the amount of tea I was drinking for that day and felt better by the next day. They say as these biofilms are broken up and the yeast and bad bacteria are dying off, they release toxins. So I think that may have been the reason for how I felt on this day. This is the first day I realized that I wasn’t craving sugar in the evening anymore!

After the third day, I felt better and better every day. My belly keeps getting smaller every day with the combination of this tea and my diet of plant based whole foods and fermented foods. I’ve vowed to stay off of the scale but my jeans are looser so I know I’m losing weight. My sugar cravings have completely stopped. I feel like I am in control of my eating for the very first time in my life! It’s so amazing!

A key factor to this is eating healthy because you don’t want to keep feeding the bad bacteria and yeast. Plus you want to get good bacteria into your body to help push out the bad stuff. So be sure to get your fermented foods in!

If you try the incanus tea, you’ll want to use the same tea and brew it 3 times. It releases different polyphenols each time you brew it. I love this because it makes it even more cost effective! It comes in loose leaf tea. So I use this little gadget to brew mine. I tried drinking it hot at first and realized the flavor of it is muted more if I drink it iced. I usually add a packet of stevia to sweeten it a little. And don’t worry, it doesn’t taste bad. I was nervous that it was going to be super gross, but I actually enjoy it when it’s iced.

Another awesome thing about this tea is that it breaks up the biofilms on your teeth too. So your teeth feel cleaner and accumulate less plaque.

I hope you find this information useful if you’re trying to stop sugar cravings. It’s amazing to me that an imbalance of gut bacteria could cause such bad night time sugar cravings. I’m so thankful I found this solution to my problem and I hope it helps you too!

Share this post with a friend who craves sugar.

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Easy Home Remedies To Reduce Belly Fat Without Exercise

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Easy Home Remedies To Reduce Belly Fat Without Exercise

I’ve been doing some soul searching lately. I’ve gone through a very turbulent 13 years with my health. As many of you know, I spent my life on a diet roller coaster, trying the next new fad diet at every turn. I’m always looking for an easy way to reduce belly fat without exercise because I have health issues that make it hard for me to workout without being in pain. I finally decided to just listen to my body and what it needs. I’m giving up the scale and doing what seems right for my health. We get so caught up in life sometimes and forget to get in tune with ourselves and do what we need to do for us. I wanted to share with you some things you can do that will help you lose belly fat without going to the gym and change your health at the same time.

Simple Lifestyle Changes To Lose Belly Fat

Cut out processed food to reduce belly fat.

Processed food is just not good at all for us. We all know it, but it’s hard to resist temptation. Focus on whole foods that are found in nature to reduce your belly. Processed foods make us bloated and feel horrible. Switching to whole foods will change the way you feel and help you reduce your sugar and junk food cravings.

Take a supplement to help with stomach acid and aid digestion to get rid of belly fat.

You can’t digest your food properly if you don’t have enough stomach acid. If you are burping a lot, get gassy after meals, have heartburn or acid reflux or feel like your food just sits in your stomach for way too long, these are signs that your stomach acid is too low and you may benefit from a supplement. Also, people with hypothyroidism tend to have low stomach acid. I started out taking a stomach acid supplement, but after I switched to a plant based diet, I no longer needed it.

Add fermented foods to your diet to beat belly bloat.

An imbalanced gut is the cause for almost everyone who struggles to lose weight. Adding fermented foods to your diet will help get healthy bacteria in your gut and create a healthy balanced body that is primed to lose weight. Taking probiotics is not the same. Some people have an intolerance to probiotics, but fermented foods work great for them. I personally cannot take probiotics without side effects, but my body does great with fermented foods. Once your gut starts to heal you will see drastic changes in your belly bloating. Some fermented foods you can add to your diet to help you lose belly fat are yogurt, kefir, kombucha, saurkraut, and pickles. If some of these things sound like another language to you, I totally understand. I had no clue what kefir and kombucha were. You can buy them or make your own with cultures. I didn’t have luck getting the cultures at the health food store, but I found them on Amazon. Can I just tell you that I am obsessed with the saurkraut?! The kombucha is so good too! I only eat the fermented veggies and drink kombucha since I’ve gone starch based vegan. No dairy for me.

Drink cistus tea is a great home remedy to get rid of extra stomach fat.

Cistus tea helps break down biofilms that bad bacteria create to protect themselves. Breaking down these biofilms allows your body to push the bad bacteria out as you get more healthy bacteria in your body through fermented foods. You’ll see a dramatic change in your belly bloating after drinking this tea for a few days! My lower abdomen had gotten really large and after a few days of drinking cistus tea, I could see a noticeable difference. Now I’ve gone down an entire size and my belly looks much flatter!

Besides losing belly fat, here’s what you can expect to see from making these changes to your diet:

Clearer skin
Easier weight loss
Decreased appetite
Stronger immune system
Decreased food cravings
Better mood
More energy
Decreased food allergies
Decreased chemical sensitivites
Better health and relief from health issues like acne, fibromyalgia, eczema, psoriasis, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune etc.

If you’re interested in learning more about losing your belly by balancing your gut, The Lose Your Belly Diet is the best resource that explains exactly what to do in a really easy to understand format. If you read the book, there’s an exact diet you can follow created by a doctor and it’s designed to help you lose belly fat without exercise. I combined the gut balancing ideas in this book with a whole food plant based diet to get my body balanced and start losing my lower belly pooch.

If you challenge yourself to try these home remedies and make these easy changes, I know you’ll lose belly fat and be feeling amazing and looking hot this summer in your swimsuit!

I would love to hear if you decide to try these ideas and if they helped you lose belly fat or what other wonderful health benefits you had!

Please share this on Facebook or Pinterest using the share buttons if you think it could help someone you know who is struggling.

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August 18, 2017 by cardioandcupcakes

How To Stop Food Cravings And What They Mean

Stop Food Cravings Now!

Cravings! We all have them sometimes and they can be overwhelming and sabotage our diets. They’re actually our bodies telling us that we need certain nutrients. Here are some of the common cravings, what your body is trying to tell you it needs, and how to get those nutrients with healthy foods. Stop food cravings in their tracks and make healthier choices to satisfy your nutrient needs.

Salty snacks cravings–Your body is telling you it needs chloride. Chloride helps keep the amount of fluid inside and outside of your cells in balance. It also helps maintain proper blood volume, blood pressure, and pH of your body fluids. Try eating lemon, fish, unrefined sea salt, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, olives, and seaweed to combat this craving.
Soda or oily cravings–Your body needs calcium. Calcium is necessary for life. In addition to building bones and keeping them healthy, calcium helps our blood clot, nerves send messages and muscles contract. You can get calcium from kale, broccoli, legumes, almonds, spinach, okra, oranges, and sesame seeds.
Bread cravings–You are lacking nitrogen. Amino acids contain nitrogen are the building blocks that make up the proteins in your hair, muscles, skin and other important tissues. Nitrogen is an important part of your DNA. Nitrogen can be found in beans, peas, lentils, oatmeal, spinach, mushrooms, almonds, white fish, and lean meat.
Sugary food cravings–Lack of chromium, sulfur, and tryptophan are to blame for these cravings. Chromium is an essential part of metabolic processes that regulate blood sugar, and helps insulin transport glucose into cells, where it can be used for energy. Chromium is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrate, fat, and protein. Sulfur makes up vital amino acids used to create protein for cells, tissues, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies and is essential to life. Tryptophan is considered an essential amino acid because our bodies can’t make it. It is important for the development and functioning of many organs in the body. Combat your cravings for these essential nutrients with broccoli, cabbage, beans, kale, cranberries and grapes.
Chocolate or acidic food cravings–You need magnesium. Magnesium is important for regulating muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure and making protein, bone, and DNA. Get magnesium from fresh fruit, legumes, and raw nuts and seeds.

A couple of other ways I stop food cravings if I’m not having a specific craving, but just want to eat and I’m not really hungry are drinking some water or brushing my teeth. Nothing really tastes good after you brush your teeth. I’ve found it’s a good way to keep myself from mindless eating. And water makes you feel more full so you don’t feel the need to eat.

I hope this list helps you crush your cravings and feed your body what it needs!

If you’re having a hard time sticking to your diet, you don’t want to miss this post!

Be sure to follow me on Facebook for helpful tips to lose weight, love yourself, and get healthy!

XOXO,

Cassie

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Easy Home Remedies To Reduce Belly Fat Without Exercise

Simple Lifestyle Changes To Lose Belly Fat

Cut out processed food to reduce belly fat.

Take a supplement to help with stomach acid and aid digestion to get rid of belly fat.

Add fermented foods to your diet to beat belly bloat.

Drink cistus tea is a great home remedy to get rid of extra stomach fat.

Besides losing belly fat, here’s what you can expect to see from making these changes to your diet:

Stop Food Cravings Now!