We’ve all been there. That bloated, heavy, swollen feeling we can’t beat - the stomach bulge that won’t flatten. And one of the most asked questions women always ask themselves and their coaches is how to get rid of it.

The truth is ladies, you will not ever have a flat stomach all day, 365 days of the year. However, there are so many ways to prevent it, manage it and live with it when it’s inevitable to happen (like around our menstrual cycles).

Before we get started on how to prevent or help it, it’s very important to know why it happens in the first place. There are a few main reasons why you find that you can’t part ways with the stomach pooch:

1. You have had a heavy day or night of eating heavy, inflammatory, or salty foods.
2. You are dehydrated causing the body to retain water.
3. You are in the week before your menstrual cycle or at the start of a pregnancy and due to fluctuations in the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone you will feel bloated.
4. You are constipated and your body is not getting rid of toxins properly.
5. You have eaten or drank something really fast, you chew a lot of chewing gum, drink a lot of carbonated or alcoholic drinks all of which cause a significant amount of air to enter into the stomach.

So as you can see it’s only normal that we occasionally get bloated as women. However, when is it NOT okay to feel bloated? When you start seeing that you are CONSTANTLY bloated or feeling swollen, when your bowel movements aren’t regular and when no matter what you eat or drink you feel this stomach bulge forming, then that’s when you know you’re probably experiencing some form of chronic inflammation in your gut or intestinal permeability which means the lining of your gut permeates and the contents of what you eat leaks into your bloodstream.

In this case it’s best to address this inflammation by eliminating certain inflammatory foods for a temporary period of time in order to reduce bloating and inflammatory responses. These foods include gluten, dairy, sugar and all sweeteners, alcohol, caffeine, soy, corn, red meat, legumes (including peanuts and peanut derivatives) and any bloat friendly foods such as onions, kale, cruciferous veggies, white mushrooms and artichokes.

Now if you’re feeling constipated, then bloating is a natural side effect of that! So in order to get your body flushing out toxins regularly the three most important things to remember are: hydrate, eat fiber and make sure you have a lot of diuretics as part of your diet (such as parsley, asparagus, red radish, pineapples, cucumber, ginger, garlic). These foods flush the system out and get your body’s natural detoxification process back in gear.

No matter what the reason is that you feel bloated here are my go-to natural remedies for beating the bloat:

• Eat potassium-rich foods like bananas as they regulate the fluid balance in our systems and reduce the bloat feeling.
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
• Reduce the amount of salty food intake.
• Add diuretics to your diet and pile on the anti-inflammatory spices while cooking such as ginger, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cinnamon and garlic.
• Eating good quality dark chocolate reduces inflammation (you’re welcome).
• Stop chewing gum 
• Take a bath with Epsom salt.
• Avoid sugar and fried foods.
• Eat slowly and mindfully and make sure you chew your food properly.
• Ditch the kale and eat spinach instead!
• Soak any nuts before consuming as it helps them digest easier and cause less bloat.
• Avoid heavy carbs before your period.
• Eat fermented foods like kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut which are all amazing for gut health.
• Boil some fennel seeds and sip on the tea all day.
• Drink fresh mint tea after dinner.
• Lower stress as increased cortisol = increased inflammation and therefore bloating.

I think the most important lesson is to remember we need to embrace our bodies. The ebbs and flows and fluctuations in our bodies are only a true testament to how incredible female bodies are. Being the same every single day is boring! We will have days we see our six packs and we will have days our jeans will feel a little snugger. It is all normal and it is all okay! We need to listen to our bodies, appreciate the hard work our bodies do for us and take very good care of our bodies so that they can in return take care of us.

We are currently going through a health revolution. The subject of holistic nutrition has become more and more a topic of interest and many believe that Integrative & Functional Medicine is the future. Why? Keep reading.

Over the last few decades there has been a massive increase of dependency on medication, supplements, packaged foods, toxins and junk that enters our bodies. Yet, with all the revolutionary healthcare over the years, we are actually getting sicker. We see everything ranging from chronic disease, to autoimmune diseases, to hormone imbalances, being less physically fit and struggling with mental health. Here’s a list below that may help to explain why:

1. Over prescribed antibiotics and over dependency on medication in general.
2. The lack of proper knowledge and education about food and the healing power of a clean eating lifestyle consisting of WHOLE, unprocessed foods.
3. The over obsessive diet culture and fad diets that have been marketed over the years.
4. Overexposure to toxins in our food, our skincare and household products and the environment.
5. Less sleep and QUALITY of sleep across all age groups.
6. More STRESS and fatigue in our everyday lives.
7. Less connection with people and communities.
8. Less movement and exercise.

Integrative and holistic nutrition looks closely at the lifestyle habits of the individual – mind, body and soul. Functional Medicine takes a step further looking at the root causes of disease and treating the PERSON rather than the disease (esp. chronic disease, autoimmune, diabetes, obesity). We all have biochemical individuality and acknowledging this has really revolutionized the approach to healthcare. It’s not really a one size fits all.

Through Functional Medicine, doctors stop masking and treating only symptoms, as not only is that not sustainable but we will never find out the underlying issue.

Through my coaching and guidance, I empower clients to combat chronic inflammation in their everyday lives and take control of their hormone health. If you’re suffering from hormone imbalance and would like to know more about how I can help you, don’t hesitate to reach out.

For years, there has been a common misconception that weightlifting should only be an activity that men partake in, mainly due to the bodybuilding fad that happened in the 90’s and continued to grow thereafter.

However, in recent years it has been proven that weightlifting is not only something women can partake in, but that strength training is a form of training they SHOULD partake in.

Just because you lift weights does not mean your body is going to look like you are entering a bodybuilding competition – female bodies NEED weight training.

Here’s why:

• Weight training builds lean muscles and the more muscle your body has, the more your basal metabolic rate and the more fat it burns. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, which needs carbohydrates and body fat to burn for energy.
• Adds strength and confidence.
• Helps with bone density to avoid conditions like osteoporosis later in life and, therefore, less prone to injury.
• Builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability leading to less risk with conditions such as arthritis.
• Reduces the risk of heart disease as it increases cardiovascular health, lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL), increases the good cholesterol (HDL) and lowers blood pressure.
• Lowers your risk for Type 2 Diabetes as it helps your body process sugars better.
• Aids in decreasing anxiety and improving mental health as exercise produces mood-improving neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
• Improves athletic performance.
• Increases body’s ability to respond better to childbirth and be more prepared for postpartum healing.

Unfortunately, there has been a stigma around weight training, as women fear their bodies will ‘bulk’, even when lifting the smallest of weights! Here is a fact you might not of thought about before, but your children weigh equal to, if not more, than the weights you will be regularly lifting with!

Women CANNOT physically bulk and the reason for that is because of our genetic make-up. Our bodies have 10 to 30 times less hormones necessary to ‘bulk’ when compared to men. Specifically, we have way less testosterone and human growth hormone. These two hormones build more muscle mass and create this “bulky” look. Weight training doesn’t bulk, it’s actually excess body fat that makes you think you look bulky. And, if the image of ‘weight training will make me look like a man’ is still in your head, the female bodybuilder look is the wrong reference to go by. The reason is that female bodybuilders need to take substances such as anabolic androgenic steroids, testosterone and other ergogenic aids that will help them gain much more muscle. But ladies, this is not the norm, or the reality and our bodies will not look like this naturally.

Another common misconception is that women believe they can tone certain areas of their bodies or spot reduce fat in certain parts. However, toning really means losing more body fat, getting leaner and building muscle, which will create a tighter, firmer look. That’s why you often hear the term ‘abs are made in the kitchen’ – because it’s true! Losing body fat and eating a clean diet will help you achieve a leaner, tighter, firmer look. When you build muscle over a higher percentage of body fat, this is where you start to feel like you’re bulking (even though you’re technically not). You’ll also experience some inflammation and swelling in the muscles post training due to blood rushing to the muscles. That feeling will always subside as long as you eat the right foods and hydrate enough, post training, to help the torn fibers of the muscle heal and repair.

Start looking at weight training as your friend not your enemy. Our bodies need weights to go through life’s daily motions with strength and confidence. So, start lifting those weights!