Must-Have Monday: Non-Toxic Facial Cleanser & Moisturizing Oil

As a trainer and wellness enthusiast, I'm asked daily about the products I trust to support my active, healthy lifestyle, so I decided to start a new Vlog series called "Must-Have Monday"! Every Monday, I'll share a product I can't live without - and no, I'm not being paid to record these... We're all consumers and I want to empower the B Strong Fit Fam to make choices as consumers that both improve their well-being and make the world a better place :-) I'll record these every Monday, Live on IG and FB, but post them here on the blog a week later to make sure you don't miss out!

Last week, for my 1st ever installment, I shared the Facial Cleanser & Moisturizer I SWEAR BY - Indie Lee's Brightening Cleanser and Squalane Facial Oil. When I lived in Boston, I bought it at Follain, and here in San Diego I grab it at Seamakers & Co. Click play to hear exactly why I love it so much!!

60sec Read: Regular Exercise Can Naturally Reduce Chronic Pain

There are over 1.5 billion people on the planet who struggle with chronic pain. Living with conditions like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and migraines is a confusing and frustrating struggle. Living with a non-stop, seemingly untreatable pain may lead to other health issues like depression and insomnia. Completely understandable, right? Not only that, but when it hurts to move, it’s difficult to go out and run errands, let alone hit the gym… and then you’re at risk for developing chronic diseases that result from an inactive lifestyle, like heart disease and diabetes. And then there’s the opioid crisis. Traditional medications used to rid people of pain, when you’re dealing with chronic pain, could lead to a life of addiction. A nightmare scenario… Needless to say, living with chronic pain can be uh… stressful. It’s not hopeless though!! Regular exercise can help reduce stress, boost your mood, and improve your quality of sleep - all things that people with chronic disease often struggle with. Not only that, exercise can actually help to reduce the pain itself. With certain conditions, like arthritis, researchers have found that strength training at least twice a week is an incredibly effective way to both reduce pain and improve quality of life. In my experience with clients who battle chronic pain, while a particular workout might feel fantastic one week, it may feel like absolute shit the next… that’s just the nature of these conditions, but it’s nothing to be discouraged about. Consistency is key, and it will get better if you stay consistent. If you or someone you know suffers from chronic pain, do your research about what exercise methods will best help with your condition, and know that: each day you’ll have to play by ear; it’ll be trial and error; just keep an open mind and always be flexible. If you commit to regular exercise with that mindset, your quality of life will improve in ways you never imagined!

60sec Read: Regular Exercise Can Reverse Symptoms of Type II Diabetes

Chances are you or a member of your family suffer from Type II Diabetes. More than 29 million adults in the United States have the disease, which is the 7th leading cause of death in the country. What’s worse is that nearly three times as many adults, [over 86 million], are pre-diabetic. Here’s the kicker… Type II Diabetes usually develops as a result of poor lifestyle choices, and in those cases, it’s completely preventable. But that’s kind of awesome news, right?! It's preventable! So what do I do? Well, you have to: eat a diet that mostly consists of nutritious produce, whole grains and lean proteins, and exercise regularly. Here’s the thing though, being physically active alone isn’t going to cut it; strength training each major muscle group at least twice a week is what will truly help your body improve it’s insulin sensitivity. This is something many medications for diabetics are designed to do, but strength training does it naturally. Cleaning up their dietary habits and committing to a strength training regimen may be all a pre-diabetic individual needs in order to get their blood glucose levels back under control and prevent themselves from developing full blown diabetes. As for those who already suffer from the disease, they may find that they rely less on medications, or may even get their blood glucose levels down to pre-diabetic levels, at which they no longer need the help of prescriptions. How amazing is that?! So now you know: stay active, lift weights often, and put good foods into your body. Then hopefully you won’t ever have to worry about Type II Diabetes. The End.

60sec Read: Regular Exercise Improves Your Sleep Quality

Do you lay in bed most nights, tossing and turning, while you wish you were actually sleeping? Or do you struggle to make it through the entire day without feeling as though you could climb into bed and immediately fall asleep? Whether you have trouble falling asleep, struggle to stay asleep, or just feel exhausted during the day, regular exercise can, and probably will, help improve the quality of your Zzz’s. In fact, just 150-minutes of physical activity each week, [30-minutes per day, 5 days a week], improves people’s sleep quality by an average of 65%! Researchers have found the correlation, but have yet to really nail down the cause. They speculate that the reason for the improvement in sleep quality may be related to the fact that exercise reduces stress, which can ease your mind as your head hits the pillow. Not to mention, exercise can help “use up” excess energy in general, making your body more ready and willing to recharge when the lights go out. It is worth noting though, that you may want to finish your workout/activities at least 3 hours before hitting the hay… Otherwise your endorphins may still be flowing too heavily and work against your quest for better shut-eye. Oh! And 1 more cool thing about sleep - it improves the results you achieve from your workouts, which makes a pretty solid case for the mutually beneficial relationship between exercise and sleep. So we can agree that both are extremely important, and neither are as effective without the other. That’s all you gotta do to be a dope human: earn quality dream time with your workouts, and then earn quality results from your workouts with your dream time, repeat. You’re welcome ;-)

60sec Read: Regular Exercise Can Help You Overcome Exhaustion & Chronic Fatigue

Did you know that 75% of people who reportedly suffer from chronic fatigue are not also suffering from a serious medical condition? Weird, right?! We equate fatigue with being sick and unhealthy, yet the majority of people suffering from exhaustion don’t have any tangible health issues to speak of… so what’s going on here? To put it simply, we as a society just aren’t moving enough. [Wait a minute… exercise burns calories, aka energy, so I’m calling your bluff.] Actually, while that may seem logical at first thought, it’s not correct - the science backs me up! What it all comes down to is blood flow. When we move, our heart rate increases, so then our blood starts pumping through our veins more rapidly and, in turn, our muscles and brain receive a greater supply of nutrients and oxygen. Nutrients and oxygen work together within our cells to produce energy, so naturally, when our cells are receiving more nutrients and oxygen they’re going to produce more energy. There have been studies that support this, too! Here’s the best part about it: low to moderate intensity exercise, [think a brisk walk or bike ride], for just 20-minutes a day can decrease the feeling of fatigue by 50-65%! It’s that simple. Feeling blah? Move! Movement increases blood flow which increases energy production. Just like that, problem solved. Don’t give yourself time to list off excuses. Get up and move! You won’t regret it.