Heather Smith Wellness - NTP

07/05/2022

06/21/2022

June welcomes Summer and brings a fruit-heavy harvest. Over the past several weeks, we have already started to welcome back cherries and peaches. Other varieties of stone fruit are on their way to the farmers markets including apricots, nectarines, plums and pluots.

Eat with the seasons!

06/21/2022

We’re so excited that after two years of distance learning, our in-person field trips are finally back! We’ve resumed bringing school groups of all ages to local farms and ranches, to spend a day fully immersed in the life of a farmer. We want to make these field trips as accessible as possible. Please join our fundraiser by sponsoring a school group to visit the farm. Donate here: https://aim-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1197835

03/21/2022

The OCA is a grassroots non-profit public interest organization dedicated to protecting, promoting, and expanding organic and regenerative agriculture, justice, good health, and advocating for just food and farming systems.

12/23/2021

Did you know that 70% of food consumed in the US is hyper- processed. Corporations are ONLY motivated by profit at the risk of your health.
Maybe you can swap out one product for a nutrient dense whole food option.
Instead of oatmeal and granola try swapping out for a protein and healthy fat.
You will have more energy because oatmeal and grains turn into sugar and elevate your blood glucose levels.
If you do eat oatmeal adding a healthy fat like grass fed butter or coconut your carbs burn more slowly.

Here’s what “processed” actually means, how these foods impact your metabolic health, and how to avoid the worst of them in the grocery aisles

12/23/2021

Holiday time when there are foods around that we want to treat ourselves to. We can also choose instead to swap foods to stay satisfied and feel good.

Delicious glucose-friendly food swaps that will bring joy to your holiday meals without the food coma.

12/09/2021

10/04/2021

As physical issues come up to reflect internal change, increase your self-care. This could include diet, exercise, spiritual practice, improving your daily routines, scheduling personal time, decreasing what causes stress, and listening to your body.

Self care is at the top of my list most of the time.
However, after starting a new job in the past few weeks my eating schedule is way off and I'm snacking too much which is taking me out of ketosis. I'm feeling more fatigue than usual.

Eating foods I don't normally eat like fruit and cheese are spiking my BS and inflammatory responses slowing down my elimination and putting added stress on my large intestines and liver and that never feels good.

Intutitivley I feel as if my liverand digestion need a break so this weekend I have been eating more steamed veggies and greens. Also, having more consistent meal times. For me, its allowing 4-5 hours between the two meals a day that I eat and no snacking. This seems to be a sweet spot for me. This allows me more regulated blood sugar levels and improved energy throughout the day.

We all vary with our individual biology depending on what is happening in our system from day to day. Today, even with the addition of animal protein and fish to my meals I am still in a low ketosis.
It can take sometimes take up to 72 hours to start burning fat for fuel again. As its Sunday and a day off I'm feeling more relaxed so my system is starting to reset.

This moment I am craving a cold nectarine that I bought from the farmers market but know that this will definetly keep me out of ketosis. I could experiment by eating a small amount with a fat. There is always the possibility that this craving will also pass and it often does.
Noticing that I am having a craving and letting it be helps.

Sometimes I bring in an affirmation as well (positive self talk) such as :
I'm learning what foods make my body feel best or I choose to eat these foods because they support my health best.

What are some of the struggles you may be having in this season of transition? Would you be open to explore a new approach to eating?
One that includes strategies that you can incorporate successfully.
A ketogenic approach to eating is not for everyone and such a change may involve substantial effort and investment.
I would like to help empower you to improve your health with a personal lifestyle healing process that is custom tailored to you.

08/19/2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/dining/dietitian-diversity.html?smid=url-share

Many of these dietitians say the academy’s research, programs and articles ignore non-Western cuisines, or imply that they are unhealthy. They feel the profession places too much emphasis on consuming less and not enough on understanding individual eating habits. And, they add, it perpetuates an ideal of thinness and gender normativity that can exclude different body types and identities.

A new generation of practitioners says the profession pays inadequate attention to different kinds of diets, body types and lives.

07/25/2021

07/19/2021

07/19/2021

Ok, so Heather Smith just finished her nutrition training and this woman has some skills! And because she's my friend, I was able to share with her freely my frustrations with my blood sugar and fatigue and chronic inflammation and she started asking me about what I eat, when and how often.
Turns out the advice I got a couple years ago to eat every 1-2 hours to keep my blood sugar balanced can actually end up having the opposite effect. And when I told her I feel fatigue, brain fog, and light-head much of the time - which I've always attributed to low blood sugar, she whipped out her Keto Mojo and said, "well, let's check!"
Really. You're going to take my blood with that thing? It was like my worst nightmare of being diabetic and having to lance myself every day for the rest of my life. But I've thought of getting the Mojo already and was super curious, so I went for it (with flash backs of getting my ears pierced and putting contacts in for the first time) and guess what?
My glucose was 71 and my ketones were .5. This means no only was my blood sugar balanced, but I was IN KETOSIS! My boss has been working to get a lot of our clients into ketosis for all the health benefits and I tried on my own last fall to disastrous effects. But apparently, my diet is keto-enough already!
So what were my symptoms about if it's not my blood sugar? Heather gave me some amazing electrolytes to try and now every time I start getting those symptoms, I take a swig and feel great. My mood is stabilizing, my mind is clearer, I've got more energy than I have in a long time, I'm exercising more, and I'm going 4+ hours between meals.
Wow. I'm getting the benefits of minerals and ketosis. It just took a little tweak. And I get my very own Mojo on Monday to start tracking what my body reacts to by what kicks me out of ketosis.
Thank you to Mystery for lining this up for me. Thank you to me for continuing to complain so people can help me. And thank you to Heather for all her research and her generosity for opening this door for me. It's a much needed breath of fresh air.
- Nancy Alder