Eat to Balance Your Energy, Mood & Drive

Balancing your blood sugar is the foundation for having the energy, stable mood, happy digestion, clear skin, and sex drive you want. All of that, yep. It all starts with your blood sugar.

I'm reading Alisa Vitti's WomanCode: Perfect Your Cycle, Amplify Your Fertility, Supercharge Your Sex Drive, and Become a Power Source right now and it's totally rocking my world! If you like knowing how your body works so you can work with it, THIS is your go-to book. Trust me, I've read a lot of books about taking care of your body and this is the best practical, informative handbook I've picked up that connects all the dots.

Here's a selection of Alisa's steps for managing your blood sugar and busting your cravings for sweets all day long (and yes, my dudes, this goes for you too)!

Morning

• Drink at least 8 oz of water immediately upon waking - try it warm with lemon.
• Eat breakfast within 90 minutes of waking, and have a good quality protein (such as eggs, salmon, hemp protein shake...)
• Don't consume caffeine of any kind before breakfast.
• Minimize carbohydrates in the morning to 30-50 grams (read your food labels - 2 slices of sprouted whole-grain bread have about 30 grams) depending on whether you're a fast or slow burner.

Lunchtime

• Eat lunch within 3.5 hours of breakfast.
• Eat the majority of your daily calories at lunch (this is when you're active and using them!).
• Try to have only one complex carbohydrate (brown rice or black beans, not both).
•  Incorporate at least one good-fat food (like avocado, olive oil, sunflower seeds) to keep blood sugar more stable and prevent you from craving simple carbs later in the day.

Midafternoon

• Eat a snack within 2.5-3.5 hours of lunch.
• Choose a nutrient-dense snack that will keep you satisfied until dinner (apple with natural nut butter, rice cracker with hummus or slice of turkey breast - check out my Snacking 101 article and list of favorites here!)

 Dinner

• Eat dinner within 2.5-3.5 hours of your snack.
• Stick to a meal of vegetarian or animal protein (lentils, tempeh, salmon, etc...) and raw or cooked vegetables.
• Avoid grains and sugar of any other kind. If you consume sugar at night when you're least active, the resulting glucose in your bloodstream is more likely to be stored as fat than used as energy.
• Schedule dinner so you'll be going to bed 3.5-4 hours after you last eat.

Get more tips on how to live in your "FLO" at Alisa's site FLOliving.com...