Alcohol ... friend or foe?

What is "heavy drinking" to you? Do you have boundaries around alcohol?

Maybe you don't drink at all. Or maybe you drink a maximum amount of drinks per week / month. Or mayyyybe you never considered setting boundaries around alcohol (yet).



I shared THIS REEL on Instagram last week about what I consider "heavy drinking" for myself and so many reasons it can be messing up our health and body goals. Psst ... none of the reasons was "calories" because there are so many bigger things happening that deserve our attention.

The most current research might make you wanna avoid alcohol entirely or at least consider indulging a lot less often + with less drinks per sesh.


That being said, what if you want to still drink occasionally? Anything to do that can help?


Kinda no — your body still has to process and remove the poison itself over time, and kinda yes — you can support your body so it’s in a slightly better position to do so.


Consider these:


1️⃣Eat protein, fat, and fiber-rich meals. Keep your blood sugar as steady as possible. Avoid alcohol and sugar or processed carbs at the same time. I know, right?? But just sharing the info.

2️⃣Discuss with a trusted healthcare provider whether or not NAC, milk thistle, and / or dandelion root tea would be good for you. And avoid Tylenol!! These are liver + methylation things.

3️⃣Sleep! If you will be short on sleep the night of the ‘event’, make it your job to sleep well the night before and the night after.

4️⃣Hydration + electrolytes

5️⃣Try to avoid additional toxins in that drink to avoid an even bigger blow. Choose organic wine or liquor + water or club soda + low sugar mix-ins like lemon, lime, mint, cinnamon sticks.

6️⃣Expect all the signs + symptoms of blood sugar imbalance for at least 24 hours or so: hunger + fullness cues off, cravings up, energy dips.

7️⃣Exercise, walk, dance, sauna or hot bath, dry brush … think about supporting healthy lymphatic circulation.

Some things I do in case it helps you:

🍷 Drink of choice: gin + club soda + muddled lemon. When the bartenders don’t wanna muddle a lemon for me 😆, I just get A BUNCH of lemons.

🍷I am ok not finishing a drink. I can order one and drink half. It’s a waste whether I make my body deal with it or leave it, so no guilt.

🍷I’m a 1 drink MAX person these days. Smart? Boring? Probably both. If I DO want a drink that night, I’ll decide if it’s 1 with dinner or 1 at the concert or whatever, but not both.

🍷I am perfectly fine being the only one not drinking. It’s an intentional choice and one I make often.

🍷I want a really FULL + FUN life. I also wanna feel great. This means drinking at every social event isn’t a good idea for me.

I figured now might be a fun time to share a couple of mocktail recipes with ya. Hope you enjoyyyy!



XO,
Tara



P.S. We dive much deeper into alcohol and all things indulgences in TRANSFORM: Body + Mind so you can make informed choices regardless and not feel as though the social or fun times are derailing your progress at all. The next round starts in March. Are you on the waitlist yet??

2023 Ripple Habits

2023 Ripple Habits ... here we come!

Last week in The After Party (the sequel to TRANSFORM: Body + Mind), we had Kathryn Lattimer as a guest speaker talking about Non-Toxic Living. You might know her as Earth Minded Mama. Anyway, she mentioned something towards the beginning of the workout that gave me pause. Each swap we make for better quality / less toxic products we use on or around us is like a stone thrown in a lake. The first ripple is small, but then it gets bigger and bigger as time goes on. How true ... and genius!



It got me thinking, while everyone seems to be vowing to revamp everything about their nutrition, fitness, and identity right now b/c it's a new year (and WHY do we start a new year a few weeks into winter, anyway? Isn't that bizarre?), you might want to focus on smaller, more manageable habits that each start with a small ripple but gain momentum over time.


If you're having trouble sticking to big resolutions, just know mid-winter isn't really when most people feel ready for big change. This season tends to be more of a reflective time with spring bringing about more of that energy needed for bigger change. So you're not lazy ... you're just really in tune with the seasons. ;-)



Here are some 2023 'ripple habits' for you to consider. Pick 1 or 2 at a time so as to not overwhelm you:

1. Commit to at least 5 minutes of morning sun each day. Sure, longer is great but before we can dial up a habit we need to make it a habit first. Morning sun influences mood, energy, sleep quality later that night, stress levels, metabolism, immunity, and more. Kind of a big deal.

2. Coffee happens after you've been awake for 90 minutes, with or after breakfast. Check of at least one of those boxes but if you can check off both, great. This helps keep your circadian rhythm in check and your adrenals will thank you.

3. Make movement a priority. No more "go big or go home" vibes. Have a little cold? No energy? You can still get out for a walk or do some dancing or stretching at home.

4. Consider adding minerals to your hydration plan. Water is great, but it's even better when we can get it into our cells more effectively. No affiliation, but I love LMNT and Relyte brand. You could also save money and add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon into your water. It's not quite as complete, but it's something.

5. Identify patterns that aren't serving you and mix it up. Journal about it. Do you keep fighting with your kids during homework time b/c they're bored and you've had it? Try mixing it up ... do homework with them in a different room or in a fort. Do you keep binging at nighttime and you feel cr*ppy afterwards? What needs to be in place to help you prevent this next time? If you're currently in this round of TRANSFORM, we will be diving deep into this. But if you aren't, make sure you're well-fueled during meal times and not riding the blood sugar rollercoaster all day. Then when you want to binge, understand you're looking for something. What is that something? A break? A few minutes to yourself? Joy that you aren't giving yourself enough of throughout the rest of your day? Shake things up.

6. Create a food acquisition system. Meaning, have a plan. Your plan could mean you meal plan every Saturday and grocery shop every Sunday and spend 30 minutes in the kitchen prepping 1 protein source for the week. It could mean you go with a food delivery service you've been meaning to set up to save some time. It could mean you find 5 take out meals that are pretty nicely balanced so you can rely on them in a pinch. Maybe you get Thrive Market deliveries once a month, Misfits or a CSA for produce weekly, and you hit Costco biweekly for the rest. All that matters is ... do you have a system? Is it working for you?

7. Get 7-8 hour sleep opportunities nearly every night. "Sleep opportunities" b/c you can't always control when you fall asleep or get woken up. But you do know you'll never get enough if you're not even in bed for long enough. If you're a monkey brain person like me, a pen-and-paper brain dump can be so helpful. Get all the thoughts, follow ups, To Dos down in writing so there's less swirling around up there. Oh, and your blue blockers are cool and all but are you turning off your overhead lights around or just after sunset? If not, don't be surprised if you have trouble sleeping. Melatonin production won't be sufficient with house lights on in the few hours before bed or if they're turned on at all in the middle of the night ... like during a bathroom trip.

Little ripples, big momentum!


XO,
Tara

Can I help you create an exercise HABIT?!

Remember when you said you'd workout more often?

Maybe it was December 31, 2018 when you made that proclamation. Maybe it's been on your to do list for a decade? Or maybe, maybe you've recently decided that exercise (or ANYthing else) needs to be a part of your life in a more meaningful way.

We talk a lot about habits here at Tara Allen Health. My clients know alllll about habits as we work on breaking up with old ones and implementing new ones to create the health, body and lifestyle that aligns with their dreams.

Where are my DIYers out there? Today I want to get really tactical with you on how to start this process for yourself. There are 4 parts of a habit, and therefore, 4 steps to creating a new habit that will actually (seriously) stick.

And THAT, you guys, gets me very excited.

First, check out this video from last week all about the 4-step process. It has all the tangible advice you need to know to get started on creating whatever new habit you'd like in your life.

Then - for extra credit ;-) - check out THIS video that I posted inside my private facebook group as a follow-up. It will teach you why you can't seem to stick to a "diet" or plan even when you *know* what you should be doing. Better yet, it teaches you exactly how to work WITH the way your brain is wired so you can make progress and reach your goals. YES, YOU! It's about freakin' time, isn't it?

Side note: I mention my upcoming healthified holiday dessert cookbook coming in early November (so soon!) in the beginning of that video. I am SOOOOO excited to put this thing out in the world after dreaming about it for YEARS and working on it for just as long. Hard work usually happens when no one's looking. It happens when no one's there to give you credit. The results of your hard work usually come along much further down the road. Does this sound at all like what we talk about with our health + body transformation goals?! ;-)

I will keep you posted very soon!



XO,
Tara