Daily Maddie

Daily Inspiration with Maddie |Fitness and Nutrition

Weight loss

My Top 7 Amazon Products for Healthy Lifestyle

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These are my top 7 amazon products to having and maintaining a healthy and happy lifestyle! I have tried SO many products over the years and here are my top 7. These products will help you live a happier and healthier lifestyle for God! Just remember that God is the only thing we need in this life and everything else is just a blessing!

Garden of Life Organic protein powder-

This is the BEST protein powder! I have tried SOO many protein powders and this by far beats every single one! I use this protein powder almost every day in my oatmeal, protein shake, smoothie, pancake/waffle. Why organic?

https://amzn.to/2VTn6NO

 

 

Garden of Life Pre-workout-

BEST pre-workout ever.

I have tried SOO many pre-workouts and most of the products I have tried used to give me the shakes and my heart would beat almost uncontrollably and I felt very unnatural. Although when I came along the garden of life pre-workout I fell in LOVE with it! It has NOTHING artificial in it and its only 50 calories!

 

Hydro Jug Pink

I have tried many hydro jugs and this one is the BEST. It doesn’t leak and it holds a gallon which is what I drink in a day so it’s perfect for making sure I am drinking enough water!

 

Star-west greens powder

Greens powder is a very interesting and controversial thing because many people believe that we can just eat a salad and we dont need actual green vitamins. However, the vitamin content and mineral content has decreased by 40% in the past 30 years. If you wanted to get the same vitamin C that your grandma had you would have to eat 8 oranges compared to your grandmas 1 orange. I believe this product is very helpful and getting proper nutrition and vitamins to nourish your body.

 

 

 

Garden of life Probiotics

This product is one of my favorites because we do not get enough probiotics in our food in order to digest food. I have struggled with digestion most of my life and this product changed everything! This product is essential for a healthy gut and sliming down your stomach and helping digest your food better!

 

 

Multi Collagen Powder

Want to get long hair? Do to grow your nails? Want a healthy gut? Would you like to have clear/soft skin? Well, then this product is for you! Our bodies are made up of collagen therrefore we NEED collagen in order to thrive! If you are looking for a healthy you, I highly recommend getting this collagen! I have tried many collagens and this by far is the BEST!

 

Just so you guys know, I am with the amazon affiliate program. So I do make a tiny commission off of this, but it’s not about the money. It’s about showing y’all good products for a healthier and happier lifestyle for God!

5 things you should start today

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These 5 steps are the 5 things I wish someone told me before starting my weight loss journey. Please take these steps before you start your journey so you don’t make the same mistakes I did! The main thing to take away from this blog is to understand you cant do anything without God. Meaning you cannot do anything righteous or glorious without the Lord. Therefore, rejoice in God always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances!

1. Taking responsibility for your actions and accepting the past and moving on towards the future

This is very tough. This was probably more difficult for me than actually giving up the bad foods because I made excuses after excuses of why I wasn’t ever going to lose weight. If this sounds familiar, get rid of it now!! In order to change our future we have to accept the past and realize our mistakes so we can focus on the present! I encourage you to let your past go and move on to focusing on your goals and dreams, you wont regret it!

2. Getting rid of all the negativity in your mind and with the people closest to you

Negativity is so common in this world we live in today. Everyone is always complaining or groaning over something and this does nothing… It only makes things worse! I strongly encourage you to stop thinking negative. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says “ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you”. Therefore get rid of your little thinking, excuses, set backs, and anything that you know is keeping you from reaching your goals! Then, fill these negative thoughts with all bible verses. For example, if you always say “I will never lose weight because I have always been over weight, or I don’t have time for it”. Instead…fill it with “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here”!(2 Corinthians 5:17) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

3. Setting a goal that will motivate you every single day

Have you ever woke up one day and thought “I am going to achieve all my goals, I am going to get my dream body and eat healthy!!” If so, same here, but the thing is how motivates you to say that? In order to persevere and keep endurance you must never lose sight of the goal even if you fall of eating good or don’t workout for a few days. Because here is the thing you must realize, this is a healthy lifestyle change and not a month or a few month change. Meaning you cannot go back to your old foods once you lose weight, you must continue to eat clean and nourish your body.

 4. Getting rid of bad foods by replacing them with healthy foods

This can be tough for a lot of people who love sugar, bread or fast food. Although, if you don’t do this step you will not see the results you want. In order to get rid of bad foods you cannot just say “I am never going to get junk ever again” and then do it and if you do props to you, but you get what I am saying. I am a firm believer in if you have to get rid of something in a spot you must replace it with something good or else the bad thing will come back.

5. Meal prep and always be prepared for a meal or to go to the gym

This step is crucial if you want to stay on point. Always have some type of meal ready just in case you’ve had a long day or you are super tired! Why? Because its so convenient to stop on McDonald’s on the way home work. Instead of going home and cooking a meal. Therefore, if you already have your dinner ready you have no excuse not to eat it!

I hope these 5 tips help you reach your goals! I hope you can stay rooted in your weight loss journey because it is so worth it!! Just remember “With God anything is possible” (Luke 1:37).

3 things I wish someone would’ve told me before weight training

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Wish someone wouldve told you from experience how to achieve your fitness goals? Well here I am. Here are my top 3 fitness tips when it comes to weight training in order to achieve success.

  1. GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD!

No one really cares if you mess up or if its your first day in the gym. The thing is its all in our minds. For example, you know when your thinking about doing something and you’re scared about what others think if you do it? But you do it anyway and realize they didn’t react the way you thought? Yeah same thing with the gym. In order to achieve anything in this life we must be willing to set our selfish fearful habits aside to achieve anything. In order to be successful we must step out of our comfort zones. So stop trying to come up with an excuse or doubt because the fact of the matter is no ones opinion matters except Gods in the end.

2. YOU MUST EAT RIGHT TO SEE PROPER RESULTS 

You must eat right in order to see the correct results. This is something that took me a while to realize. Even when I did realize it I didn’t want to believe it because I thought since I was working out I could still have each meals all the time…WRONG! Cheat meals should only be once a week. Not every day. Fortunately, you don’t have to go what I went through. You can start eating healthy today so you can start seeing results quicker and stop trying to cheat your way to your goals. Get rid of all the junk food aka processed, fried, sugary garbage.

3. Do Cardio the right way

HIIT training after weight training is fat loss. Oh boy this is a big one. I didn’t figure this one out until 2 years after weight training. I used to do cardio before weight training and by the time it was to start weight training I was exhausted. Not only was I exhausted, but I didn’t see the results that I wanted. I have researched a lot about this topic of doing before or after cardio and I have found from experience cardio after weight training is 100% more effective.

I hope these 3 habits can help you achieve your fitness goals. These 3 things are essential if you want to get your dream body. Along with these tips that I wish I had learned the most important thing is that I wish I had put God first in my life in the beginning. Without God we can do nothing, but with God any we can do anything. In order to achieve success in anything we want in life we must learn from our failures and mistakes so please learn from mine and you will be well on your way to success!

 

6 Steps to being Healthier

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These 6 steps will lead you in the right direction of living a long healthy joyful life.

  1. Throw away processed junk food

Junk food has become labeled as “natural” or “non-gmo” or even “gluten free”, but the thing is if it comes in a box it has been processed through a factory it isn’t healthy. Why isn’t processed food healthy? Our bodies are designed to break down meats, fruits, and veggies (everything that comes from the ground). And NOT factory produced protein bars or low sodium potato chips. If you really want to get healthy and achieve your fitness and nutrition goals then get rid of the junk food!

  1. Look at labels

If and when you buy something on the inner section of the grocery store you MUST check the labels and ingredients! Even if it says organic or non-gmo because often times companies will still put natural and artificial ingredients in there which isn’t healthy at all. So make it a habit to always check your labels and ingredients before you buy anything! If it doesn’t have a label like at a restaurant or fast food then I would consider it a cheat meal. Only do that once a week in order to stay healthy!

  1. Eat more veggies and take more vitamins
Eat those greens!!!

Why? They are Gods creation for us to get natural vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients. What kind of veggies should you eat? All sides, colors and shapes on the food spectrum. Some people only eat the greens and fail to eat the reds, yellows, purples, and whites so make sure you are mixing up your veggies to get all the nutrients!

In addition, taking vitamins is crucial to getting healthy because the food we eat today does not have enough nutritents to sustain us. That is why we must get extra vitamins and minerals to be healthy. Here is my blog on which vitamins to take.

  1. Exercise 5 times a week
Exercise! Lift those weights! Sprint! Swim that lap! Play ball!

What ever your favorite exercise activity is make sure you are doing it 4-5 times a week. Exercise is so important not only to look good, but for our mental health as well. When we exercise we are able to increase the hormone endorphins and to decrease cortisol (fat hormone) levels. If you really want to get fit, get MOVING! Even if its just walking 2 miles a day whatever exercise you will stick with make sure you are doing it.

  1. Get your sleep
Go catch those ZZZzzz.

Some people get plenty of sleep and some people don’t get any sleep. What is the correct hours of sleep? I believe 7-9 hours is the perfect amount of sleep. You should NOT get any more or any less than that! Sleep is so crucial for our health because it is scientifically proven that people that get their sleep are leaner and healthier! So start by turning off your cell phone and TV early and read a book to whine down and go to sleep!

 

  1. Stop drinking tap and bottled water
Is tap water good for you?

I believe it isn’t. There is scientific proof that tap water has fluoride and other chemicals in it that is causing damage and harms to our bodies. Tap water is free, but the cost of drinking tap water is too risky to get sick or die from it in the future.

In addition, bottled water is so easy and quick yet it is full of chemicals seaping into the water and causing cancer and other health problems. The solution? I suggest only drinking reverse osmosis/PH or well water because this water doesn’t have cancer causing or harm to our bodies. If you really want to be healthy let go of tap and bottled water and turn to reverse osmosis or PH water!

Weight Training can change your Life

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This might sound crazy, but it is true. Weight training can truly change your life. I am a walking testimony of it. For most of my life I thought cardio was going to change my life until I started weight training the whole game changed. If you are looking to get into shape and get lean definition in your muscles weight training is for you. If you are looking to lose 20-30 pounds weight training is for you. Weight training is for everyone.

 Weight training has been overlooked for so many decades because the media tells us we need to be skinny although I believe fit is the new skinny. Meaning it is more important to be fit than it is to be skinny. What I mean by fit is you are healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I am not saying that you shouldn’t strive to be skinny because we all want to be somewhat skinny, but if your thinking of skinny is dominating your thinking in calorie counting, excessive cardio and stressed about your stomach not being flat than it is time to change that.

How to change : Let go and let God take control. When you idolize your body and your goals to look a certain way it can dominate your thinking and cause you to be stressed and worried all the time. When you let it go and realize you are beautifully and wonderfully made you feel at Peace. You began to realize who is really in control. God is in control of everything and everyone. He lets us have the free-will though to please or displease Him and that is up to us to decide. If you really want to be healthy and happy put God first and everything will change for the better. Once you put God first start weight training. I normally weight train 5-6x a week.

Cardio? I still do cardio, but after my weight training session, not before. I only do is HIIT 3-4x a week.. I do not do LISS because I find it not as effective, but it is up to you. I would suggest only doing cardio 3-4 a week and 30 minutes max.

If you aren’t sure how to get started here is my weight training schedule.

If you still aren’t sure weight training is for you:

I started weight training 5 years ago. I had no idea if it was even gonna work or if I was gonna lose any weight, but I knew I wanted to lose 30 pounds and have definition and lean muscle. So I began to start weight training with learning basic exercises: squats, shoulder press, bicep curls, deadlifts and lat pull downs and then I grew from there. I would suggest starting out small with basic movements to get your body used to it than move onto a variety of exercises.

5 “Health Foods” you should never eat

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When it comes to food it can be very confusing to what is actually considered healthy and what is really unhealthy but is labeled “healthy”. I am going to express my top 5 foods that I believe are the worst foods that people confuse with healthy when in reality is unhealthy and is keeping them from achieving their health and fitness goals.

1. Canola oil/ hydrogenated oil

Canola oil is highly processed and full of GMOs. It is also processed through chemicals which negatively effect our health. In addition, the amount of trans fat in canola oil causes weight gain and possibly obesity. Also, it has been linked to causing heart disease, stroke, inflammation in the gut, Alzheimer’s, cellulite in the skin, etc.

Substitute: Ghee butter, and Extra Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil, or regular butter on (Low heat)

2. Wheat

Wheat and Gluten are the same thing. Wheat is full of gluten. Wheat is found is about 75% of all of our foods. Just go look at your food labels and ingredients and they will most likely say “contains: wheat” or “ingredients: wheat flour”. Wheat has become a bad food in disguise for what people think is “healthy” because bread is grown from the ground. Although… the bread and soil grown in wheat is not what it was 40 years ago. Today, all wheat is filled with GMOs. I recently read wheat belly, which talks about why we should eliminate wheat from our diet. I decided 3 years ago to eliminate wheat from my diet and I have never felt better, although I am highly sensitive to certain foods so for some people wheat is okay, but for most people I would suggest to cut back on the wheat intake completely.

Wheat not only effects our health on our belly, but recent studies have shown that it effects our brain as well. Wheat is linked to : obesity, Alzheimer’s, depletion of vitamins and minerals, leaky cut, celiac disease etc.

Substitute:  Almond or Coconut flour

3. Sugar

Did you know sugar is 8x more addictive than cocaine?? Because it is. Studies show that sugar and cocaine effect the brain the same causing us to become addictive and want more more and more. However, this is all preventable. I used to be addicted to sugar 3 years ago. What changed? I gave it up. How? Little by little each day I had less and less sugar and trained my body and mind to abjure the taste of sugar. Once you realize who bad sugar is for you, you will want to give it up. Sugar is hidden in just about every food. That is why I recommend to stick to whole earthly foods, and usually raw local honey instead of sugar. I do suggest still eating the main food groups: fat, protein, carbs and fiber, but sugar is not a food group: Sugar contains no no nutrients, no protein, no healthy fats, no enzymes. Sugar is linked to cancer, diabetes, obesity, inflammation, liver failure, depression, anxiety, dementia and Alzheimers, hormone imbalance.

Substitute: Raw local honey and stevia

4. Any processed/packaged foods

Processed and packaged foods are clearly not healthy because they have been processed through a facility vs being from the ground. I suggest eating as whole raw organic foods as much as possible and stay away from any protein bars, protein shakes, or anything on the inner aisles of the grocery store.

Substitute: Nuts, veggies and fruit

5. Soy and corn

Soy and corn are full of GMOs. They are the most processed foods in the world besides wheat, sugar and canola oil. Soy causes a multitude of things but the main thing it causes is hormone imbalance for men and women. Corn is a high processed food that has become more popular because of its “vegetableness” however do not be fooled. Corn is not easily digestible and can cause leaky gut.

Substitute: Almond or coconut milk instead of soy milk. Grain free chips instead of corn chips filled with almond flour or coconut flour.

I hope this blog can help y’all realize what is truly healthy and what is truly unhealthy. Society wants us to believe all these foods are “healthy” but it is all a lie to make money and not help you in any way. I hope these tips can help y’all and please let me know if you have any questions, I would love to answer them! ?