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Did You Resolve to the Same Resolution Again this Year?
New Years Accountability
by Penny DeJager and Megan Barefoot
It’s two weeks into 2019 and it’s time to check in and see if you are still following your resolution. I had one friend resolve to a “dry January” and has slipped up already. This friend didn’t just slip up, they have given up! Another friend was going cold turkey on sugar. They lasted ten days and gave in to half a chocolate bar to deal with the withdrawal headaches. Big goals can mean Big results but they might also need Big support!

Thank You - From No Shoes Nutrition
Anyone who has tried it knows that starting a business is no easy feat. There are SO many more things to think about than I was ever aware of starting No Shoes Nutrition. I have lucked into meeting some very knowledgeable people who have mentored me along the way and I have had the support of my amazing husband who has been there to help me figure things out. My little pet project of starting my own nutrition business has been one of the most life changing endeavors in my career and in my adult life.

Do You Work Shifts? Try These Nutrition Tips!
Are you burning the midnight oil, working around the clock and not taking proper nutritional breaks? Do you work odd shifts? Maybe you work nights for a few weeks, then switch to afternoons and sometimes days. Do you know the toll these crazy hours are having on your body? It’s not always possible to find a new job so here Penny has put together a few nutritional tips to help keep you as healthy as possible while working long hours and tough shifts.

Hungover? Here’s some Natural Nutrition to Help!
Did you over-indulge?
It was a great weekend for me. I was celebrating a BIG milestone with friends and family we ate lots, we laughed lots and there were those of us that drank too much. I realized the holidays are on the way and this might happen a little more often for some in the weeks to come. So how can I help you recover faster?

Having Trouble Sleeping? Here's Some Foods To Help!
Are you dealing with sleeping issues? Can’t seem to get to sleep because your mind is racing or maybe you are exhausted and fall asleep right away but wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. There are lots of reasons that sleep seems to elude us, but have you ever thought that some of the foods you eat at dinner or after could be the reason you can’t get a good night’s rest?

An Addition to the No Shoes Team
New Addition to No Shoes Nutrition
Today is a special day. I am pleased to be introducing to the world to a new addition here at No Shoes Nutrition. Penny DeJager, a former student of mine at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, impressed me so much with her knowledge and love of nutrition last year that after her graduation this past September I asked Penny if she would consider joining No Shoes Nutrition to bring her knowledge base and expertise and join the team. I was delighted when her answer was yes!

Could your Diet be Making you Stink?
Is the food you are eating making your body odor worse?
Have you ever been walking in a mall, crowded restaurant or party and get a whiff of body odor? Did the thought of “What the heck did that person eat?” come to mind? It’s a known fact that what you put in your body to process will affect your energy, weight, state of mind but did you know it can also affect your smell?

Are you Magnesium Deficient?
Could a Little Magnesium Solve Your Problems?
I have recently been learning more and more about the mineral magnesium. I have even been supplementing with it and have been finding the benefits are changing my health in great ways! As most of my readers know, I am a foods first holistic nutrition consultant. I will always recommend you try to get the foods high in magnesium before supplements but according to Health Canada nearly half the population is deficient in magnesium.

How Many Carbs Do I Need?
How Many Carbs Do I Need to Eat?
I get asked the question “How many carbs do I need?” on an almost daily basis. Our culture seems almost obsessed with carbohydrates these days and for good reason. Most of the convenience foods that we rely on when we’re busy and when we need a pick-me-up are made of mostly carbs.
Are you Allergic or Intolerant?

Are you Getting your Gut Bugs?
The Yogurt Culture
If you have been following my blogs and my feeds you know how much I love fermentation and the microbes, they contribute to our guts. Currently many of us find digesting dairy difficult but milk contains agents of extraordinary transformation. Bacteria. Bacteria that can produce a plethora of fermentation products that improve the way your body works. The same microbes that turn milk into yogurt, benefit your gut, brain, immune system and overall physiology.

Phyto whats? In Where? And Why?
Is there more than vitamins and minerals to think about?
When we think about the nutrients in food, we most often think about vitamins like vitamin C in oranges or minerals like calcium and magnesium to keep our bones healthy. Very rarely have I heard a mother say, “Eat those veggies because they are full of phytonutrients!” So, what are these phytochemicals and how do they contribute to our health?

Tis The Season!!
Are you Canning, Pickling and Preserving?
As traditionally done, its the season for the harvest to come in. We all know that there is much too much to eat during harvest and it’s going to be a cold winter so preserving the extra is needed. Most cultures have persevered foods by various methods to extend the shelf life of the food harvested in the fall.

Can Drinking Tea Make you Healthier?
Drinking Tea for Health
Drinking tea has become popular again recently. When I was growing up we used to think of tea as “grandma's” drink but now it’s new and trendy with just as many tea shops popping up as coffee shops. Tea has a history stretching back thousands of years and with many quality brews comes many quality nutrients that your body can benefit from.

Is Too Much Stress Making You Tired, Hungry and Fat?
Stress, Hormones and Getting Fat
We all have more stress than we should these days. There is traffic, school, career pressure, balancing family and friends with the rest of life and being about to pay for it all. This is not “real” stress, well, at least not in the sense that we are in imminent danger and about to plummet to our death kind of danger. I’m not even sure many of us have experienced that “true” primal stress but that doesn’t mean we haven’t tricked our brains into thinking we are in danger and about to lose everything.

The Art of Oil Pulling
Oil Pulling For Better Health
How does swishing oil around in your mouth for five to twenty minutes every morning sound? Cool or Gross? What if you heard that doing so might clear up your skin, improve your oral hygiene, and whiten your teeth, among a slew of other health benefits?

Do You Have An "itis"?
Is Inflammation Holding you Back?
If you have an illness or a condition that ends with “itis” you have a chronic inflammation problem. Some examples are arthritis, bursitis, sinusitis and tendinitis. This inflammation can be systemic and can be happening in the body without you being aware. It contributes to other illnesses such as diabetes, osteoporosis and even Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of us dealing with the issues of chronic inflammation. Do any of these questions ring true for you?

Eat Yeast? Are you Serious?
What is Nutritional Yeast and Is it something I should be eating?
The first time I really learned about nutritional yeast was a couple years ago when reading a food label. What is this funny thing and isn’t yeast supposed to be in bread? I thought yeasty things were bad for my health not something I want in my food!

How Are You Spending Your Calories?
Eat Your Nutrients Before Your Calories!
I know we don’t like to talk about calories, or count calories or think about calories. We’re all just ‘intuitively” supposed to eat and “know” when we are full and when our body has had enough. Then how come so many of my clients are ALWAYS hungry?

Fiber - A BIG BAD F-word!!
Fiber - A BIG bad F-word!
When I say fiber, do you think of cardboard or tree bark? I know when I have brought it up with clients I often get the stink-eye from them like I am going to ask them to eat saw dust! Some refer to it as their roughage, my grandma calls it getting her greens, but we all need it to get ourselves moving, stay at an optimal weight and feel our best. The big question is “Are you getting enough?”.