Finding The Right THC Dose For You

FINDING THE RIGHT THC DOSE FOR YOU

I love CBD products, but when it comes to falling and staying asleep, CBD alone just doesn’t cut it for me. I have no interest in using cannabis products recreationally, so I’ll admit I was nervous to try products with THC in them. Figuring out which products and dosage helps me get restful sleep without waking up groggy the next morning did take some time… but now I’m getting the most restful sleep I’ve ever gotten! (And I’m recovering from my workouts more efficiently because of it.)

To successfully add cannabis to our wellness regimen, we need to find the best dose for our body. When THC is present and we’re not interested in feeling the “high”, it’s wise to “start low and go slow” until we find our body’s “lowest effective dose”.

The lowest effective dose of THC is the dosage that maximizes the benefits of the cannabis plant while minimizing the unwanted effects - like getting high. Because every person’s lowest effective dose is unique, it takes some patience to figure out which products and what dosage will ultimately give you the effect you desire.

In this awesome Weedmaps article, they break down how THC is labeled on different kinds of products.

FLOWER AND VAPES are labeled with the % of THC present.

10% or less: mild

10-20%: moderate

20% or more: strong even for seasoned users

For people who are interested in the health benefits of cannabis though, most beginners lean toward edibles and tinctures.

EDIBLES AND TINCTURES are labeled with the mg of THC present.

Ideally, beginners should ingest just 1mg.

Observe the effects for at least 24hrs.

Gradually increase the dose 1mg at a time until the desired effect is achieved.

So it’s important for beginners to keep in mind that edibles like gummies and chocolates are usually 5 or 10mg of THC per piece. With tinctures, it’s much easier to control dosages under 5mg.

It’s also important to remember that every person will respond differently to various products, strains and methods of consumption because each person’s endocannabinoid system is incredibly unique. One person may only need to consume 5mg of THC and another may need to consume 20mg to experience the same effects. If you’re sensitive to THC, you’ll find your lowest effective dose fairly quickly, but if you’re not sensitive to THC, it will take a while to build up to it.

Figuring out your body’s lowest effective dose takes some experimenting, but once you figure it out you’ll be happy you took the time!

If you’d rather stick to CBD, there’s no brand I trust or recommend more than Papa & Barkley. Use the code BSTRONG to receive 15% off your first order!

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Why Do Squats and/or Lunges Hurt?

SQUATS & LUNGES FEELING OFF?

Are squats and/or lunges uncomfortable for you? Maybe you feel wobbly and off balance… or maybe you feel stress and strain in your joints, (ankles, knees, hips), or back. There are a variety of things that could explain these struggles, but a great place to start is to make sure your feet are grounded throughout the entire movement.

Here are some things to observe when you’re performing squats/lunges:

• does your weight shift toward the outside of your foot - toward your little toe?

• does your weight shift toward the inside of your foot - toward your big toe?

• does your weight shift forward so that it’s all in the front of your foot?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it’s possible that the lack of alignment in your feet is creating a lack of alignment up the rest of your body. Poor alignment can cause:

• lack of stability (balance and control of movement)

• stress, strain and discomfort in joints and spine

• ineffective movement

When the feet are not grounded this can create stress in strain in the ankles, knees, hips and/or spine.

It’s crucial to keep the tension out of our joints and within our muscles when we’re exercising. Since our feet are our foundation for standing exercises, keeping our feet properly aligned can set us up for success!

Here are 2 things I teach my clients to help them keep their feet grounded and load their muscles more than their joints:

1. Keep all 5 toes and your heel connected to the floor. In a squat, this is true for both feet. In a lunge, this is true for the front foot.

2. Push the floor down and away from your body as you stand up from the squat/lunge. I say this because most people think about this portion of the exercise as moving their body back up to a standing position. For some reason though, flipping our perspective and imagining that we’re moving the floor away from our body instead of our body away from the floor helps keep the feet grounded and aligned.

I demonstrate all of these adjustments in this 55 second video.

Happy squatting and lunging!

How To Use CBD For Health and Wellness

HOW TO USE CBD FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS

There are a variety of ways to use and consume “the plant”. Luckily, for those of us who prefer not to smoke or vape CBD and other cannabis products, there are many other options!

TOPICALS

1. Lotions

2. Oils

3. Salves and balms

These products are a great option for people who are wary of the potential psychoactive effects of edibles, ingestibles and sublinguals. Rubbing an oil or salve on sore muscles and joints can provide purely physical relief. These products are also great for daily skin care as well as managing uncomfortable skin conditions like eczema.

EDIBLES AND INGESTIBLES

1. DIY snacks, beverages and infused butters/oils

2. Pre-made snacks, beverages and infused butters/oils

3. Capsules (like a traditional vitamin/supplement)

Edibles and ingestibles are considered “slow acting” because the digestive process can prolong the effects up to 2 hours. That said, every body is different. Some people will feel the effects within 15 minutes. Also, every body has a unique response to different products. A person could have a completely different experience with a 10mg gummy from one brand than they had with a similar product by another brand.

SUBLINGUALS

Often referred to as “tinctures”, these concentrated bottles of oil are considered “fast acting” because they’re designed to spray or drop under the tongue for quick absorption and effects. What’s cool about tinctures is that they’re extremely versatile! You can add drops to a food or beverage to create your own edible, or use them as a topical on your skin. Since tinctures are more concentrated, it may be in your best interest to add drops into your normal lotion or skin cream so that you can cover more surface area using less product.

WHAT METHOD SHOULD I USE?

Ultimately, every person needs to experiment to figure out the 1. products and 2. dosages that give them the effects they’re looking for. Personally, I use every single one of these methods weekly, if not daily.

I’ve yet to come across a person who didn’t love Papa & Barkley’s products, so they’re a brand I always recommend for beginners. Code BSTRONG gets you 15% off your first purchase of any of their CBD products!

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An Excuse To Let Go Of "No Excuses"

AN EXCUSE TO LET GO OF “NO EXCUSES”

Let’s talk about the tough love trend of “no excuses”.

So often, when clients explain to me why they didn’t follow through with an intention they set, they’ll end up saying something along the lines of:

“I don’t know. I just need to stop making excuses.”

But I don’t agree. What I hear when my clients tell me their “excuses” are quite literally the things that are holding them back from accomplishing their goals. And that’s valuable insight! Our “excuses” help us understand the

1. obstacles

2. barriers

3. challenges

that are holding us back!

Identifying these things gives us some really helpful, (and pretty obvious), hints as we try to figure out the answer to the question: what do I need in order to make this goal a reality?

What

1. tools

2. skills

3. mindset

will get me there??

The reason why positive mantras and motivational quotes aren’t enough is because they don’t help us overcome the obstacles, barriers and challenges that make it so difficult to get it done.

The reason why dismissing our excuses doesn’t work is because we need to acknowledge and work with our reality in order to identify the tools and skills that are essential to our success.

If a person set a goal to travel across the water to the other side of a lake, but 1. didn’t know how to swim and 2. didn’t have a boat (or anything else they could use to travel across water), we’d set them up for failure, (and potential danger), if we simply said “Ok, well do it then! No excuses!” We need to make sure they have the tools - floatation devices, a kayak/boat, etc - and/or the skills - the ability to swim - in order to safely and successfully achieve their goal.

So make your excuses! But don’t stop there… Figure out ways to prevent those obstacles, barriers and challenges from having as big of an impact on your efforts.

Approached from that angle, our “excuses” are actually the key to our success!

The Entourage Effect

THE ENTOURAGE EFFECT

We only want to buy CBD products if we know they’re actually working, right? So it’s important to know that other cannabinoids and compounds found in the plant may enhance the effects of CBD.

This theory is called “the entourage effect”, which Weedmaps defines as: “the combined effect of different compounds found in cannabis that work together as a whole to produce a greater effect than if working separately to produce separate effects”.

Said differently: cannabinoids like CBD, (and other plant compounds), may not be as effective when they’re isolated. While the entourage effect is still a theory, it’s the reason why many people believe it’s to our benefit to shop for CBD products labeled as “broad spectrum” or “full spectrum”.

image from Leafly.com

As you can see in Leafly’s image I shared above, both broad spectrum and full spectrum CBD products leave in other cannabinoids like CBN, CBG, CBC, and sometimes THC. You can learn more about the variety of cannabinoids found in the plant here.

Many people prefer to avoid THC altogether because they’re not interested in, (or are concerned about), the “high” that’s associated with it. However, many full spectrum CBD products are made with a very small amount of THC present. The intention is to leverage the entourage effect by minimizing the side effect of the “high” while enhancing the effects of the CBD.

Here are some CBD products that I trust and use as part of my wellness regimen:

Papa & Barkley Full Spectrum CBD Balm (available nationwide). Code BSTRONG = 15% off first purchase.

Papa & Barkley 30:1 CBD Rich Releaf Tincture (available only in California).

On a similar note, there are some cannabis and medical researchers that believe studying the plant as a whole and learning more about the entourage effect is what will ultimately lead to the exciting medical breakthroughs we expect the plant to bring in the future. Here’s a review about it that was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

While the entourage effect is a theory that’s yet to be proven, many people - myself included - have experienced better results when using broad spectrum and full spectrum CBD products. If you’d like to give Papa & Barkley’s CBD products a try, use the code BSTRONG when you check out to receive 15% off your first order!

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