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how to stop eating Fast Food. (1)

Why is junk food so addictive? (video)

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Do you know how many times I’ve stood in front of my refrigerator with the door open… waiting… wondering… thinking about ‘what will satisfy me right now…’? How many times I’ve found myself lurking in the pantry… looking for something.

Do you have any idea how many clients and people in our community who share these similar stories with me? It’s SO common that sometimes, around 3pm, I imagine that thousands of people are getting up to walk around in search for that special junk food or fast food snack.

I created a video for you that not only answers why junk food and fast food are so darn addictive but it also talks about How To Stop Eating It!

Watch now below

PS…. There was a time in my life when fast food and junk food were my normal, i did not cook. I drank a lot of soda, smoked cigarettes and ate a lot of sugar. So when i talk about fast food – I don’t judge. I’ve been there. Check out this video and let me know your thoughts.

 

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This should be illegal to market to children…

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Mike from our community posted something within our community forum (thank you Mike). I shared it on social media and it’s caused some conversation and reactions. I want to include you in on the conversation and give you a heads up about a free online workshop I created.

This should be illegal to market to children, what do you think? By the way 93 grams of sugar is equal to 19 teaspoons of sugar.

This should be illegal to market to children…

Notice I said “illegal to market”, not illegal to sell. Freedom to sell things is important, even if I don’t happen to like it. (wink)

If people want to do drugs or smoke cigarettes, they can have free choice to do so. There are laws so cigarette and liquor companies cannot market towards children.
 
Now sugar, that’s a different story. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than heroine or cocaine. Click here for the short version of the science behind this.
 
Why don’t we have laws in place in the United States that restrict marketing sugar and junk food to young children? I live in the states and I know there are many grass root efforts. We have what I would consider a corporate oligarchy when it comes to our food system. A handful of companies and an elite few control our food system. This makes short term change challenging.
The money spent on selling sugar in the United States in particular, is staggering. Coca Cola spent $269 million on advertising Coke in the states and Pop Tarts spent $32 million last year. Here is a quote from the article:
 
“Despite the fact that fruits and vegetables are the only foods that experts encourage us to eat with abandon, all fruits, vegetables, and nuts are considered “specialty crops” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Less than five percent of land planted with food goes to growing fruits and vegetables. More than 50 percent goes to growing soybeans and corn, to feed animals and refine into sugar.”
 
In contrast, there are over 8 countries that are taking action against junk food marketing to children.
 
How will the United States get on that new marketing train?
 
You + Me + Education.
Okay, back to this conversation I’ve been in with people on social media that I want to include you in on. We were looking at this McDonald’s advertisement for a shamrock shake that markets to children and adults alike with 93 grams of sugar!
 
Many people are chiming in and saying things like:
“yuck” or “disgusting” and some are sharing how good it tastes.
Some are sharing that this is about education and teaching people how bad this is for them.
 
I could not agree more that it is about education. Education is where it all begins.
 
Another person was sharing that she spent 25 years dieting and starving herself because of her weight. She shared that it was her biggest source of stress and angst and that the struggle ruled her life. She ended up reducing her sugar and dropped 25 pounds in 40 days. She went on to lose 85 lbs! She explained that she was eating a lot of other foods and not sugary ones and her weight came off.
I started wondering a few things…
  • Do people know how much sugar impacts brain health, hormones and the body’s ability to gain or lose weight?
  • Do children know how they are being marketed to with products that can hurt their development and brain health?
  • Do parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and caregivers know how both they are their loved ones are being targeted by marketing companies?
  • Do people realize how much the constant marketing of sugar, driven by the subsidies that we give our agricultural industry for corn, soy and refined sugar, are psychologically impacting them, their family and children?
  • Do you know about the fact that sugar hides inside 74% of our packaged foods and this makes it challenging for people to stop eating so much sugar, even though they may want to.
I am curious if people within our growing community realize the addictive dependency that sugar/fructose/artificial sweetener creates on a person’s physical, emotional and mental self.
 
Do you know how much excess sugar impacts you in your daily life?
 
These questions and so many more inspired me to create an online workshop on the topic, called:
 
The 4 Types of Sugar Addiction: How To Control Your Relationship With Food, Create Long Term Harmony and Become Truly Happy On The Inside

click here to register 

We must start with educating ourselves first. Knowledge is powerful. Learn the 4 types of addiction to sugar and which of those 4 ways is impacting you most.
 
I hope you join me and so many members of our community on this free online workshop and in the revolution to create change in our body and minds.
 
Talk with you soon,
Renee

PS. Remember, seats are limited for the online workshop, whether you’ll be with us LIVE or desire the recording make sure you register here.

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This is what happens when you drink soda

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I was 17. There was a old, yellow, 70’s looking fridge in our garage; it had a 2 liter of coca-cola sitting right inside the door… That bottle was just sitting there, waiting for me to return home from class. It was on my mind while I listened to the professor speak. I was in my first year of college.
As I drove home in my 1990 gray Jeep Cherokee, I would eat an entire container of orange Tic Tacs that I picked up from Costco in bulk earlier that week and think about drinking in a tall glass of my Coke when I got home. It was my special treat. This all felt very normalized and yet somewhat secretive… maybe even sacred.

During this time, I had yeast infections (just being honest), stomach issues and daily allergies that involved me taking regular antibiotics and allergy meds. I popped allergy meds almost every day like they were another container of Tic Tacs. I was constantly sick with a cold. I was in a codependent relationship with a boy, he was charming, wonderful and an addict, at the time. It all felt unhealthy and yet somehow safe. I was a committed Marlboro Lights cigarette smoker and also addicted. My addictions were different than his. I liked cigarettes, refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

I had no idea the harm I was inflicting on my body at this time. I remember one day, when I came home, The Coca Cola was gone. My father had taken it I guess, it just wasn’t in the fridge, like normal. I remember this day vividly. When I asked, he shared that I had been drinking too much and I needed to stop. I was so livid with him! I knew he was right though. My grandmother came over later that week and shared with me that Coca Cola would “take the rust off the cars”. She barked at me, “imagine what it’s doing to your insides and you drink so much! You need to stop it!” I heard her, but I didn’t want to believe her. I closed my mind to the ideas she shared.

If you are someone who drinks too much Diet Soda or regular “pop” or soda. You need to stop it too. And yet, you already know this, I don’t need to tell you that drinking soda accounts for 184,000 deaths each year (source: Science Daily). Or that artificial sweeteners alter your gut microbiome making your very susceptible to disease. On some level you know this to be true, right?
Let me show you how to do this: The 7 Day Sugar Challenge begins soon.

Register for it free right here.

Love,

Renee

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Renee’s Interview: Let It Out Podcast with Katie Dalebout

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I personally love listening to podcasts and being interviewed on them is always a treat. If you aren’t listening, I highly recommend it! My most recent interview was with Katie Dalebout on her Let It Out Podcast. Katie is an inspiring woman and we had a lot of fun together.

Katie and I talk about:

  • Conscious parenting tips
  • How to surrender and find acceptance with your body
  • We talk favorite books, movies, shows
  • We talk “loving yourself naked” and what that can mean for you.
  • At the end of the show we talk about the issues with seeing ourselves as “separate” and looking at the realness of racism and how important it is to listen and understand.

“The art of surrender is letting go of control and allowing yourself to feel trust that it’s all going to work out for your best and highest good…. When you surrender to acceptance of where you are right now it’s actually the opposite of giving up.”

– Renee Heigel

LISTEN BELOW or DOWNLOAD ON ITUNES HERE

Check out the show notes on Katie Dalebout’s website here.

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Wellness Women in the D

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This is a special edition of The Cassie Sobelton Show – a full hour 6 fabulously fierce wellness warriors and myself — all from Detroit, Michigan, a community that is rapidly growing. Get ready for an a powerful estrogen infused podcast, full of diverse women centered on holistic health with different perspectives on everything from vaccines, to parenting to feminine issues and business!

In this week’s episode, we have (pictured left to right) Renee Heigel, Angie Niedzinski, Cassie Sobelton, Natalia Petraszczuk, Amber Poupore, Preya Shah and Julie Kwon Evans.

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The Cassie Sobelton Show: Wellness Women in the D

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The Cassie Sobelton Show: Wellness Women in the D

 Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit/the-cassie-sobelton-show-wellness-women-in-the-d?in=podcastdetroit/sets/the-cassie-sobelton-show
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Do you need more magnesium? (The best and worst kinds)

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I am so picky about the supplement industry and you may want to be too.  After years of using something that I thought was great for magnesium deficiency, I have learned differently.  I have access to some of the best resources and it impacts what I refer to others and take for myself. In this case, testing has proven that some things are not as they seem. Note: the supplement industry is massive and mostly not regulated.
I was shocked and angry to discover that a product I have taken and referred to countless people that I love and respect (many of you) turns out to not be as quality as I thought it was!

It’s a Magnesium Supplement called Natural Calm.  I’ll get to the details on Natural Calm and it’s quality ratings and why we need Magnesium so badly. I will also share a new option for you to choose from in just a moment, but first…

I get so many questions about supplements from you. I must admit, I have purposefully not wanted to affiliate myself with specific companies and this is a prime example why:
Most of them are just not that good and I fear that if I affiliate myself with that company and they end up not as reputable as I thought, then we all suffer. So i research and study and test things out on myself.   

You know, it’s actually really scary when you consider the massive amounts of supplements on the shelves in stores and how many of them are filled with stuff that you would never, ever want going into your body.  Often, the quality of the vitamin or supplement itself is so low that it’s pointless for you to take it.  Thousands of dollars wasted on crap that doesn’t even help.

magnesium-rda-intakeMagnesium is one of the supplements that the majority of people are lacking in. The reason has a lot to do with our soil quality and the depletion of minerals that are in it. A study in 2005 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed that at least half of the US population had inadequate intakes of magnesium and it’s gone down since this survey.

Magnesium has involvement in about 300 processes in your body and it helps produce energy.  It has an impact on neurological, metabolic, muscular and cardiovascular processes.

I know you have a lot to manage with what foods to eat and what supplements to take – it’s a lot to keep track of, I get it.   You probably hear a ton about things in the headlines often, but know this: magnesium is one of the most important things for your body to function on a cellular level.  It literally impacts almost everything.

This is not the new cool headline mineral, it’s an essential basic mineral so listen up.

Do you eat sugar, flour or unhealthy carbs?

cravings
Join the 18 Day Love Yourself Naked Challenge

Eating refined sugar can cause the body to excrete magnesium through your kidneys. So not only does the white flour, carb and sugar filled foods have basically zero magnesium but it also helps to deplete your levels.

Lots of alcohol and caffeine have a similar impact on excreting magnesium through the kidneys.  I know! Boo hoo.

When we are low in magnesium we complain of the following:

Sleep issues or insomnia, ADHD, depression, headaches, migraines, muscle cramps, high stress, anxiety, chronic pain, constipation, digestive health, low energy and for ladies and men all kinds of hormonal issues. 

Children can have low magnesium levels as well.

Adding in more magnesium can improve deficiency and the symptoms above. Increasing your magnesium can also have a good impact all kinds of issues like diabetes, autoimmune issues, heart problems, hormonal troubles, thyroid issues, body pain, osteoporosis.

I want to add that some auto-immune issues and pharmaceutical drugs can actually deplete the magnesium in our bodies.

Have your levels checked with a blood test – this is a great idea.

Oh and if you have magnesium in your multivitamin, it may not be enough. I would be skeptical of the quality of that multi-vitamin too.  I will give you a website, in a moment, to check the quality of certain supplements if you are curious about yours.


I’m a huge advocate of getting magnesium from whole foods first – this always outweighs the supplements in my book. However, remember how I shared that problem above ,about our soil quality… it’s really hurt the foods we consume. We just do not get as much magnesium as we used to but it doesn’t mean you should not the foods. Please load up on magnesium-rich foods.   Here are some that you want to add in immediately:

2 Natural Calm Is NOT So Natural.

I’m angry to write that I have been referring Natural Calm as a magnesium supplement to many people – including taking it myself regularly for years and years!  It did not rank well recently and I’m throwing mine away in the trash. I suggest you do the same. I know that many people were as shocked as I was to see this result with this product. 

What supplement can you trust?

img_0047A few years ago, I started using select products from a company called Metagenics.  I have over a dozen great supplement companies I trust now and time and time again, Metagenics stands out above the rest. They have super strict testing and quality control systems and meet the highest standards for research and quality manufacturing – so basically I know that the I’m getting a lot of magnesium in my product. I also know that a bunch of other nasty chemicals are not finding their way in.


I bought Magnesium from Metagenics and it’s called: Mag Glycinate (Magnesium is the essential mineral and the glycinate which is from glycine – this is a non-essential amino acid). “Non-essential amino acid” implies that your body is able to produce it.

I have the ability to give you a discount today off Metagenics products so please take advantage right away and get yourself some magnesium.

I just ordered some more myself! 

Note: I am an affiliate of Metagenics and it’s only because I believe 100% in their product quality and have purchased their products and used them myself for years. You’ll see they test really well on the below website I suggest you use too.

I want all people to get the best nutrients and minerals for their bodies and sometimes that requires whole foods and quality supplements. I desire for us all to feel safe and secure in the choices we make when we are putting something into our body.

Rest assured, I will keep working hard and doing my part to make sure you have that security and feeling of safety with you health choices.

Are your supplements quality?

This company tests products in an FDA regulated lab and gets a detailed chemical analysis. Not many companies do this these days so I’m grateful Labdoor exists.

Check your supplements here  ——> https://labdoor.com/

Magnesium love,

Renee

PS. Reminder, the discount on ALL Metagenics products including the Mag Glycinate (Magnesium) product ends soon – Click here to order.

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Getting Back to Balance

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Hey there!

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Cassie Sobelton and I getting “Back To Balance” with some yoga during the week

You know those moments of overwhelm, when you just cannot seem to get it all done and you know making yourself a priority is necessary but you keep ending up buried at the bottom of your long list?

It’s in these moments, when we are craving a way to get back to balance but sometimes those cravings turn into more sugar, sweets, white flour and white carbs.
We forget about ourselves and the big picture and we succumb to the craving.
I’ve been there, it’s tough. The guilt follows and it’s a vicious cycle…

My great friend, Cassie Sobelton, best selling author, wellness company owner of Synbella and host of the Cassie Sobelton Show just interviewed me on this topic.

We had the most incredible chat – friend to friend and from one health practitioner to another on these topics of loving yourself back to balance and beating those out of control cravings in the process.
Watch our podcast below:

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