Foundations

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RebelHealth International (as health and fitness are universal, not just here!)  takes a look at health, fitness, nutrition and diet, our environment, the media and advertising claims, the RDA for nutrients, our habits, our challenges, and possibly our addictions and obsessions with food and the wrong types of exercise (too much, not enough, lack of variety).   There is no “one-size-fits-all” fitness and diet plan.  And living a life of constantly trying to adhere to something extreme isn’t a “life”.  We need to find a healthy normal and be able to maintain it.

I help those wanting to improve their fitness and performance through:

  • personal training to fill in deficiencies in strength, endurance, gymnastics/calisthenic skills, mobility and skill, and
  • diet coaching to help better understand ” how food works” in the body, why we crave certain foods, what “real food” is, and most importantly, how to change your mindset and your routine so that you are always prepared with healthy meals; for performance, we can take body composition and tweak macros on an individual basis – no cookie-cutter templates – to help people achieve their goals.

Contact me to schedule a consultation for personal training or diet coaching.

If you’re here to learn about the  NEXT DIET CHALLENGE…scroll down the page for all the deets!

WHAT’S IN THE REBELHEALTH BLOG?

There WERE over 300 posts in the RebelHealth Blog when my husband and I sold our gym. Unfortunately, hindsight has taught me not everyone is a good person nor will they do the right thing. We lost all of our content due when the old website was taken down (sad face). We are now in the process of rebuilding our content – thanks to the Wayback Machine! So over time we hope to get much of our content back and available.  In the meantime, you can start your perusing HERE.

WHY YOU SHOULD EVALUATE IMBALANCES IN YOUR TRAINING?

As an athlete, whether endurance, power, strength or recreational, many of us are “better at X than Y”. Being a well-balanced athlete contributes to better overall performance as well as better overall health and function.

Personal Training can help you balance out deficiencies. I’m not a fan of long-term personal training. I believe it has its place, but not forever.  I’m a huge fan of groups, and of CrossFit. Find a CrossFit Gym! But if you’re imbalanced – your strength is awesome but your gymnastics suck; your gymnastics rock but you’re weak as a kitten; your power clean is bigger than your squat clean; your great at rowing but can’t run an 800 to save your life…you’re not doing yourself any favors.  One to two times a week for a few months and I can help get you on track to being more balanced.  Personal training is just that – tailored to your deficiency needs.  I love CrossFit for fitness, but sometimes you need a little extra work in some areas and you may not have all the options you want.

I’m not only a CFL2, but an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Trainer, and as well, I have certifications in Olympic Lifting, Gymnastics, Running and Strength and Conditioning…for over 15 years I’ve honed my skills and will spend the rest of my professional life helping people reach their peak fitness levels. 

Contact me to schedule a free consultation.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT YOUR DIET?

You must invest in your health. You must make that commitment. It’s a responsibility you have to yourself, your family, and your community.

You’ll find there’s an investment required…both personal (time) and financial (money), but just like any “investment”, you make, it pays dividends in the future. At the turn of the century through around the 1950’s Americans spent around 34-40% of their income on food.  Today, we spend around 13% of our income on food.  And we’re most definitely sicker as a population today than we were in the past 100 years. It’s time for a change!

And that’s why RebelHealth was created…you have to be a Rebel for your health…you have to fight against mainstream “health”.  What do I mean by that? Health is often defined as the absence of disease. We believe we should be way beyond that. Not just “the absence of disease” but robust, durable, resilient health!   Knowledge arms you and prepares you so you know what to do – what to eat – how to prepare…how to find the best deals on healthy foods…whether you choose to follow what you know is right or not is for another time! THERE’S NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH KNOWLEDGE.  

I invest with you – but not without your commitment.  In other words, if you’re committed, so am I.  If you’re looking for someone to do this for you, you’re in the wrong place. If you’re looking to go on the cheap, you’re going to see a lot of canned tuna because like in the past, health seems to be linked to the quality of food. 

Your diet is the foundation of your health. You can’t out-train, out-supplement, out-red light therapy, out-cold plunge, out-fast, out-massage, or out-medicate a crappy diet. Sorry – it’s just the truth. 

There is freedom and confidence in “mastering” your diet – just the same as when your retirement portfolio tells you that you have a 95% probability of success!

THE BASICS OF A GOOD DIET

  1. There’s a saying:  the food quantity (your macros) determines your body composition (% body fat/% muscle mass) and your food quality determines your health. Chew on that as you make decisions on what you put in your body and as you decide what will guide your choices
  2. Lead with protein. When creating meals, prioritize protein.  Ensure you get enough (.7-1.0 grams per pound of body weight), and consider eating it first in a meal. This is a case for appetizers of shrimp, calamari, and charcuterie.
  3. Eat  colorful non-starchy vegetables.  Eat them in season when possible.  Use the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list to determine when you go Organic (it’s not always necessary – especially with the “Clean 15“).  Variety is both the spice of life and also the key to getting enough of all of the various nutrients you need from food in your diet. These nutrients are essential for cellular health.  The fiber content is high in this food group and the nutrients (antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals) are high here! From carrots to bell peppers to tomatoes to cucumbers to … you know, there’s a vast array of foods in this super-healthy category.
  4. Eat high-quality fat…and no, eating fat is not going to raise your cholesterol (there is little to no link between dietary fat and blood cholesterol levels) or make you fat. It’s going to make your skin glow, keep your brain functioning right, and help all of your cells function optimally.  Olive, Coconut and Avocado oils, grass-fed butter or ghee, nuts and seeds, avocados…all healthy choices!
  5. Eat fruit in season, and based on your goals. For the most part, fruit is a carbohydrate that lies in between non-starchy vegetables and starchy vegetables on the carbohydrate scale.  
  6. Eat enough starchy vegetables to support your activity and /or training. In other words, the more active you are, the more starch you can tolerate.  The least processed and least likely to be allergenic are potatoes, white rice, ripe bananas, beets, squash or plantains.  Sure, donuts, bread, etc have a place in some people’s diet but not as the norm….rather as treats and when you need to be social.
  7.  
    • Let us help you: write down what you eat for three days. Be specific: what you eat, when and how much.  Tell us your goals, and we’ll help you out. But remember – garbage in = garbage out. We’ll be able to tell by the effort you put into this tiny task, how much effort you’re really willing to put into changing your diet. So do it right!
  8. Avoid extremes.  If you are generally under control with your diet, and you want to experiment with fasting, carnivore, plant-based… or other versions of bio-hacking, have at it. Just journal and pay attention to how you look, feel and perform.  
  9. Depending on your age, the effects of a bad diet in the past may play a role in your current health.  Hormones, life changes, stress, sleep, and training volume, all affect us differently at different stages in our lives. There’s no one cookie-cutter program that works for everyone. But this is your life, your health, your performance and your diet…it’s up to you to experiment and find what works for you – meaning your health, your body composition, your performance.  How you “look, feel and perform” is at the very root of all of your decisions.  Make them good!

BEING RESOURCEFUL ABOUT YOUR RESOURCES

Finding credible information is very hard to do today – compared to even 5 or 10 years ago. With the advent of the “influencer” (interpret that as an internet saavy individual or company who’s got something to sell or gain from followers – not necessarily a credible source of information) and social media/You Tube channels – it’s very difficult to sift through what really works versus what gets likes and followers. 

The following websites and accounts are some we find to be not only credible but also sources of good information without a subscription or cost. Some of them give you the ability to subscribe, but it’s not necessary to gain high-quality health and fitness education from them. 

Robb Wolf’s website
The Paleo Solution, book
Sacred Cow, book
The Paleo Diet website
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, book
Chris Kresser’s website
Sarah Ballantyne’s website
Paleo Principles by Sarah Ballantyne, book
Practical Paleo by Diane SanFilippo, book
The Whole 30 Resources Page
The Sustainable Dish website

Sacred Cow, book
Guide to Food Additives, by EWG
Guide to Cooking with Fats and Oils, Center for Functional Medicine
Cold Water Fish
Secret Sugars, by Virta Health
The Dairy Manifesto, by The Whole 9 (this site has been replaced, and the certificate has expired but we consider it a safe site – you will be warned when attempting to access it)
Paleo Poor: Your Guide to the Grocery Store, by The Whole 9
Chris Kresser’s Resources
A Case Against Grains,  by Mark Sisson
EWG’s Consumer Guide to Seafood
Dr. Cordain on “Are Potatoes Paleo”
Robb Wolf on potatoes
Chris Kresser’s take on potatoes
The Obesity Code, book