Manage Stress: Routine In Chaos

Our daily lives have been up ended and our routines have gone out the window.

Now is the time to get yourself and keep yourself on track by implementing your own routine for you and your family. Today’s episode is all about how you can do this to make the most of your time at home.

ALSO! We're releasing a new program that WILL get you results & we'll be running this initial phase at a very discounted rate. We're looking for 5 parents stuck at home ready to drastically reduce stress, have more energy, and lose 5-10lbs in the next 60 days.

Head over to Enlightened athlete.com to sign up & be notified of the details!

Is Your Coffee Causing Cardiovascular Disease?!

This article is about information and habit change nutritional changes. It’s all about how you can change your life by taking small steps and having the knowledge to make better decisions. If this style of learning and nutritional education interests you, please reach out to us, info@enlightenedathlete.com We would love to set up a free consult to see if you’re a good fit for our nutrition coaching program.

Let’s talk about coffee. It’s one of the best things about modern civilization in my opinion. You can stroll to almost any street corner and get a wonderful cup of warm, hand crafted, cup of caffeinated gold. If you couldn’t tell, I’m an eternal fan of coffee.

There was once a time in my life where I viewed coffee as a drink for the weak. If you needed it you needed to sleep more and eat better. Holy cow, the ignorance of youth on display at its finest am I right? Little did I know the powers that coffee contained. It is a productivity power house. My brain feels like it runs at higher RPM’s after a solid cup. The aroma, the taste of a GOOD cup of coffee is amazing.

So we’re all in agreeance that coffee is great. Unfortunately though, our beloved liquid life saver has been hijacked by an all too common fiend. Coffee’s innocence and benefits have been transformed into an insulin raising monster. SUGAR.

Sugar has infiltrated our supply of coffee at every possible vendor. Some may say it’s due to our addiction to sugar that companies have started dumping sugar into all of the pre-made coffee, and specialty coffee drinks at all major chains. Our desire for it justifies doing this and keeps the products on the market. I don’t agree with this statement as some of you may know. I believe it is an education issue.

You know the drinks I'm talking about. In bottles and perfectly colored to look like caramel, or huge cups of sweetened liquid with a hug dollop of whip cream and sprinkles on top. That's not coffee. That's blasphemy. 

Diabetes in a cup. :)

Most of the people I have talked to don’t even realize that the coffee they’re drinking is a fucking liquid candy bar. It’s not an innate desire, the cause is sneaky tactics by corporations and sugar lobbyists to get you hooked to their drinks and stay hooked to the SUGAR.

If you think this sounds like conspiracy, read the book, “The Case Against Sugar” by Gary Taubes. This sneaky adding and justification of sugar has been going on since the industrialization of sugar cane.

Just take a look for yourself at the sugar content of some well-known candy bars, and then at the content of specialty coffee drinks which many of you probably currently consume.

Ranking of Candy Bars by Sugar Content

Okay, even if you didn’t read that great article the smallest amount of sugar out of the 17 bars listed was 19 grams. THE LOWEST. In one bar! Whew, my pancreas is sweating reading that. Here comes the alarming part, some of these common “coffee” drinks make those candy bars look like a health food.

20 Coffee Drinks With More Sugar Than A Can of Coke

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Seriously, my mind is blown. Almost all of those drinks have at least 40 grams of sugar, with one reaching over 90 grams of sugar. That is just completely insane. You are literally drinking multiple candy bars in a single drink.

For reference, a moderate amount of sugar for DAILY consumption according to the American Heart Association, is 20-36 grams of sugar. Which is still to high honestly for most sedentary people. That’s for an entire day. One of your morning drinks may contain up to 2 days’ worth of sugar. So no wonder you’re having trouble losing weight. You’re filling your body with hidden sugar.

So let’s go over human physiology just a little bit. What happens to your body when you consume this sugar with absolutely no fiber attached to it?

The sugar enters your body, it raises your blood sugar very rapidly and overwhelms the body. The sugar has to then be turned into fat by the liver for storage (this is how you accumulate body fat directly from sugar intake). Chronic over-consumption of liquid sugar leads to accumulation of visceral fat, fat around your internal organs.

It will make you fatigued, sleepy, sick, and lower your immune response drastically. This also leads to things like Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease. Pretty shitty huh?

That’s why I want to bring up the fact that you are consuming sugar without even knowing it, it’s hidden from you and you are unconsciously consuming it.

I want to show everybody that nutrition doesn’t have to be so complicated. Small changes like avoiding sugar laden drinks as a first step will undoubtedly move you towards the direction of health. You do not have to overhaul your entire life in order to get healthier.

Being cognizant of foods that are stealing your health and having the knowledge to make better choices (even something as simple as switching your coffee choice) can lead to drastic changes in your health.

If this information and habit based style of nutrition education piqued your interest, please reach out to us at info@enlightendathlete.com We would love to set up a free consult for you to see if you’re a good fit for our nutrition coaching program. We help a lot of clients make better decisions that lead them to a life of health and vitality. We would love to have the chance to work with you.

Badass Breakfast Casserole: Recipe & Step-by-Step Guide

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See what benefits you’ll get from incorporating an effective training program in your life.  If you’re eating the right foods while using the most effective training methods you will undoubtedly experience results like never before. Our training program is the perfect tool to get you to where you want to be.

Check out our extremely effective training program, Complete Athlete Formula 

Now onto Breakfast!

Don’t have time to cook breakfast every single morning? Don’t feel like getting up early enough for the time that it takes to cook before work every day? Don’t sweat it, here at Enlightened Athlete we have your back.

Life happens, and there are days when you just do not have the time to prepare a nutrient dense breakfast for yourself. This can put you at a disadvantage because you’re forced to pick something out of the dreaded vending machines, or go out to grab some processed bar from the gas station or store.

Enter: Badass Paleo Breakfast Casserole.

Here’s a step by step recipe with ingredients and detailed pictures. This is super quick and easy and will have you set for breakfast all week.

Here’s what you need:

• 1lb. lean ground beef
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 6-8 eggs (preferably free-range)
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 medium sweet potatoes (previously cooked)
• 1/2 red onion
• 8-9 cherry tomatoes
• 4-5 small mushrooms
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tsp. paprika
• 1 Tsp. cayenne pepper
• pink Himalayan sea salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

---Preheat the oven to 350---

Step 1. Heat up 2 Tbsp. of coconut oil in skillet

Step 2

Step 2. Chop up mushrooms into small pieces. Do the same with the bell pepper and onion.

Step 3

3. Place all three in skillet and cook for 5 minutes.

Step 4

4. Add 1lb. lean ground beef and cook until browned. This is where you add in the chopped up sweet potato.

Step 5

5. Add in sliced cherry tomatoes, paprika, ground cayenne pepper and mix together.

6. Add Himalayan sea salt and pepper to taste.

Step 7

7. Transfer mixture from skillet to baking dish, crack 6-8 eggs over mixture and then bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Step 8

8. Pull the casserole out of the oven and let cool.

9. Transfer into individual containers for the week and then top with sliced avocado and some salsa verde!

Voila! 

Now you have prepared yourself nutrient dense fuel for breakfast that is going to turn you into a high performing machine!!