Welcome to RebelHealth

Nutrition and Diet Coaching are available. See OTHER SERVICES.

RebelHealth International  – because health and fitness are universal.

So many things about our diets can “hang us up”:

• what is actually healthy?
• our environment
• the media and advertising claims
• the RDA for nutrients
• our habits
• our own personal challenges
• our addictions and obsessions with food

There is no “one-size-fits-all” fitness and diet plan.  And living a life of constantly trying to adhere to something extreme isn’t a “life”.  We need to find a healthy normal and be able to maintain it. Everything (OK, almost everything) works, but you have stick with it. Now, if you’re idea of good diet is Jack Daniels and Cheetos, and you stick with it, THAT probably won’t work if our goal is health! But almost any “idea” within a framework of what’s considered generally healthy WILL WORK, if it makes sense, and if you stick with it. Sticking with it is the problem.

We help those wanting to improve their fitness and performance through:

• education – knowledge is power
• support – our community is so caring, but also holds you accountable
• diet coaching – to help you better understand ” how food works” in the body, why we crave certain foods, what “real food” is, and most importantly, how to change your mindset and your routine so that you are always prepared with healthy meals and snacks; whether your goal is weight loss, weight gain, or improved health, we can help!
• performance diet coaching – we can take body composition and tweak macros on an individual basis – no cookie-cutter templates – to help athletes achieve their goals and do better in their sport

THE BASICS OF A GOOD DIET

Here’s some free brain fodder!

1. There’s a saying:
   • The overall quantity of food you eat determines your body weight. e.g. how many calories
   • The quantity of each macro determines your body composition  (% body fat and % muscle mass)
   • The quality of food you eat determines your health.
   • Chew on that as you make decisions on what and how you put in your body and as you decide what will guide your choices!
2. Lead with protein. When creating meals, prioritize protein.  Ensure you get enough (.7-1.0 grams per pound of body weight – for CrossFitters), and consider eating it first in a meal. Studies show eating protein, fat and non-starchy veggies before starch helps keep insulin levels more stable than eating starchy carbs first in a meal.
3. Eat a rainbow!  Focus on colorful non-starchy vegetables.  Eat them in-season when possible.  Use the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list to determine when you go organic (it’s not always necessary – especially with the “Clean 15“).  Variety is both the spice of life and also the key to getting enough of all of the various nutrients you need from food in your diet. These nutrients are essential for cellular health.  The fiber content is high in this food group and the nutrients (antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals) are high here! From carrots to bell peppers to tomatoes to cucumbers to ….you know, there’s a vast array of foods in this super-healthy category.
4. Eat high-quality fat…and no, eating fat is not going to raise your cholesterol (there is no link between dietary fat and blood cholesterol levels) or make you fat. It’s going to make your skin glow, keep your brain functioning right and help all of your cells function optimally.  Olive, Coconut and Avocado oils, grass-fed butter or ghee, nuts and seeds, avocados…all healthy choices! Avoid vegetable and industrial oils.
5. Eat fruit in season, and based on your goals. For the most part, fruit is a carbohydrate that lies in between non-starchy vegetables and starchy vegetables on the carbohydrate scale. In excess, it can stall weight loss, and because fructose is digested differently from glucose, limiting it when body composition is a goal can sometimes benefit the end-goal.
6. Eat enough starchy vegetables to support your activity and /or training. In other words, the more active you are, the starch you deserve. That could be anywhere from what we recommend, which would be the least processed foods like potatoes, white rice, oats, ripe bananas, beets, squash or plantains.  Sure, donuts, bread, etc have a place in some people’s diet but not as the norm….rather as treats and when you need to be social.
7. Avoid extremes.  If you are generally under control with your diet, and you want to experiment with intermittent fasting, ketosis, Carb Nite/Carb Backloading, or other versions of bio-hacking, we’ll support you. What we want to see, though, is that you respect your body and understand that you are what you eat – and often you are what your food eats. So finding a happy place with food is much more recommended than starting with an extreme.
8. Depending on your age, the effects of a bad diet in the past may play a role in your current health.  Hormones, life changes, stress, sleep and training volume, all affect us differently at different stages in our lives. There’s no one cookie-cutter program that works for everyone. But this is your life, your health, your performance, and your diet…it’s up to you to experiment and find what works for you – meaning your health, your body composition, your performance.  How you “look, feel and perform” is at the very root of all of your decisions.  Make them good!