Vibrant Lifestyle

Last-Minute Gift Ideas For Everyone on Your List

It happens to all of us, we think we’re going to super on top of the game and by all our gifts early! Last-minutes shopping last year was awful, that’s not going to happen again… and then it’s the week before Christmas and we’ve only got half of our shopping done.

Either that or someone you totally didn’t expect to receive a gift from hands you something and you feel the need to return the favor.

Whatever your reason for needing a last-minute gift, I’ve got a few great ideas to help you out!

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5 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight (Even on a Paleo Diet)

5 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight (Even on a Paleo Diet)

I literally had 3 conversations with 3 individual people and they all said the same thing… they came to paleo thinking that they’d change their diet and all of a sudden they’d just lose a bunch of weight! People have this impression that when they start a paleo diet they’re going to be able to lose weight more easily, right? Well, the answer is kind of yes and no.

There are 5 keys reasons the keep people from losing weight, no matter what type of diet they’re on, that I really wanted to share with you. So, let’s get started!

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2 Substitutes for Almond Flour That You Can Make at Home

In my Paleo Sweets Cookbook, a lot of the recipes use a combination of different flours including almond flour, arrowroot starch, and coconut flour. And one of the biggest questions that I get from people about those recipes is “what is a good substitute for almond flour?”

This is a consideration for myself as well because, after I wrote the cookbook I discovered that I was sensitive to almonds!

As I was creating the cookbook and testing out the recipes (aka eating lots of cake, cookies, and brownies) I was wondering why I was feeling so terrible all the time. Surprisingly, no, it wasn’t because I was eating too many sweets—it was simply because I was eating too much almond flour! Who knew?! I was thankful that I discovered the cause, but then I had to start finding substitutes for almond flour in all my recipes!

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Are Natural Sweeteners Better For You

Are Natural Sweeteners Really Any Better For You?

All foods in nature exist as a “complex,” meaning they come packaged together with many pieces, like vitamins and minerals. Your body uses these vitamins and minerals along with enzymes to digest the sugar. So, when you eat a natural sweetener, the need for enzymes and nutrients is filled by what’s in the sweetener, so your own stores stay intact. Your digestion of sugars is supported by what’s in these unprocessed sweet treats!

But when we refine these foods, the way we do with many sweeteners, we strip away all of the beneficial nutrients until we’re left with just the sugar. Without those vitamins and minerals, you are left depleted when you eat it since your body is forced to it’s own stores to aid digestion.

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What You Need to Know About S.A.D.

Do you ever notice that you start to feel blue around the same time each year? Right around the time when the days start getting shorter and the sun starts setting earlier. That’s due to a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD, (how aptly named, right?). Over 3 million people experience S.A.D each year—it’s become so common that it’s now recognized by the DSM and is defined as “recurrent depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern.”

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5 Dessert Ingredients That AREN'T Paleo and Perfect Swaps

5 Dessert Ingredients That AREN’T Paleo and Perfect Swaps

I love dessert (who doesn’t really?), but the problem that I run into is that even many homemade desserts call for ingredients that aren’t paleo-friendly! There’s NO WAY I’m going without dessert though. So, I had to find my way around it… even if it meant getting a little creative in the kitchen.

I was flipping through The Joy of Cooking looking for recipe inspiration, trying to find traditional recipes and then “paleo-fy” them. While browsing recipes, I found that there are 5 common non-paleo ingredients in most traditional desserts, and I thought I’d share my favorite paleo-friendly swaps for each one!

So, the next time you come across one of these ingredients in a recipe, you’ll know exactly what you can use instead!

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top-3-fruits-for-fat-loss-tips-to-eat-them-right

Top 3 Fruits for Fat Loss & Tips to Eat Them Right

You’ve probably heard about certain fruits that are great for fat loss, one of the most popular being grapefruit. While I’m not recommending you follow any of those celebrity fad diets or weight loss “secrets” out there (they’re dangerously low in calories), these fat-fighting fruits can be an excellent addition to your diet!

In order to see any sort of benefit, the fruits you’re consuming should be fresh, not dried, especially for losing 10 or more pounds. Why? Dried fruits have a higher concentration of sugar and more sugar = more fat retained! I also recommend skipping juices, they’re more concentrated in sugars with the fiber removed. Focus on whole, fresh fruit!

When eaten properly—that’s the key here—the fruits listed below can help you lose weight, but they also have so many other health benefits!

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