Calm Metabolism: Strong Starts

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Hilary Fox
5 years ago
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1 Calm Metabolism: Strong Starts LifeWork Summary Quick Points: Webinar Overview The All-Important Breakfast The Breakfast Experiment Explained The Breakfast Experiment Worksheet

Strong Starts Your Replenishing Toolkit Breakfast Experiment: Focus this week on experimenting with how different kinds of breakfast foods impact you throughout your day.

2 Strong Starts Your Replenishing Toolkit Breakfast Experiment: Focus this week on experimenting with how different kinds of breakfast foods impact you throughout your day. In particular, pay attention to the impact on your energy, moods, and cravings. As you work through the Breakfast Experiment (pages 5-6), you ll begin to identify what works best for you right now. Stress/Sugar Connection: Start to pay attention to any tendencies of looping into the stress/sugar cycle (where stress leads you to reach for sugary foods which feeds your stress response which causes more sugar cravings and so on). Just note it for now - or start practicing reaching for alternatives to sugar - and we ll come back to this in more detail later in the course. Setting Your Intention My intention this week is to deeply care for myself in these ways: To help me, I can seek out support or prioritize my time in these ways: Lisa Byrne 2015 Replenish 365, page 2

3 Quick Points: Webinar Summary I. Chronic stress creates: A. insulin spikes which set off sugar cravings, depress our immune system, and prevent HGH from being produced. B. sugar-dependent metabolism which can establish a strong craving/binging cycle with sugar if we do not adequately dismantle the stress response through calming nutrition and wellness techniques. II. III. Our stress response itself is not the real problem. We were designed so that our adrenal system is a necessary and useful part of our whole-person health (when it is engaged properly). Chronic stress is the real problem of living in the modern world. For example, we have a natural rise in cortisol in the morning to help us wake from sleep. IV. By intentionally engaging in calming practices first thing in the morning, we reset our internal compass to calm after the cortisol spike. V. An excellent way to reset in the morning is by eating calming foods for breakfast which include high amounts of fiber and nutrients, as well as quality protein and healthy fats. Lisa Byrne 2015 Replenish 365, page 3

4 Webinar Notes: Lisa Byrne 2015 Replenish 365, page 4

The All-Important Breakfast When we first wake in the morning, we are literally breaking our fast from the night and shifting into awake, alert, productive mode.

5 The All-Important Breakfast When we first wake in the morning, we are literally breaking our fast from the night and shifting into awake, alert, productive mode. This sets off a string of hormones too - cortisol, adrenaline and insulin. The very best way to keep your hormones balanced is to provide your body with the food it needs, when it needs it so you don t enter the day with hormonal chaos which is tremendously difficult to get under control. Research is absolutely unanimous. The less you eat at breakfast, the more you eat as the day goes on. AND study after study has shown that breakfast eaters tend to have a lower body mass index (which means they are slimmer) than breakfast skippers, and obese individuals are more likely to skip breakfast or consume less energy at breakfast. The breakfast experiment will have two goals: 1. You ll experiment with ways that work for you in order to get a solid breakfast in and 2. You ll explore what kinds of foods work best for you in the morning. Overall it is important to balance healthy carbs, fats and protein in the morning, but the types of foods specifically that work best with your body (animal protein vs vegetable protein, fruits vs veggies, etc.) are unique to you. That is what The Breakfast Experiment is going to help you identify. The Breakfast Experiment Explained As a way of tuning into your body and learning to listen to its messages, explore eating a different breakfast every day for a week. On the following worksheet, jot down what you eat and how you feel, both right after eating and again two hours later. Sit quietly for a moment after you eat and reflect. Note how your energy level, moods and physical symptoms are affected by the food in your body. Day 1: Day 2: Day 3: Day 4: Scrambled eggs or omelet Oatmeal Yogurt (with fruit and/or granola) Vegetables (leftovers are great for this one) Day 5: Muffin and coffee (or whatever your typical breakfast is) Lisa Byrne 2015 Replenish 365, page 5

6 The Breakfast Experiment Worksheet What I ate How I feel right after eating Two hours later Day Day Day Day Day Lisa Byrne 2015 Replenish 365, page 6

TRACKS Lesson Plan. Breakfast Fuel Up with Breakfast Grades 5-8

TRACKS Lesson Plan. Breakfast Fuel Up with Breakfast Grades 5-8 TRACKS Lesson Plan Breakfast Fuel Up with Breakfast Grades 5-8 I. Lesson Objectives: A. Students will recognize characteristics of a well-balanced breakfast. B. Students will describe the importance of