5 Top Tips for Rock Climbing Betty’s

Are you wildly active and eat pretty darn healthy?

Do you still struggle with allergies, constipation, hormonal hell, shedding the muffin top, daily fatigue, depression, and/or wake up like clock work every night?

As I rolled into my 30’s and now my 40’s, I have learned three things that are imperative for the health of my body and the health of my clients. Now let me preface this with my short story. I grew up with severe allergies, including allergy shots in high school, and then later taking a daily dose of Claritin when I was climbing over 150 days a year, spending most of my time outdoors. My diet growing up as an athlete was Capt.’ Crunch cereal, grilled cheese, bananas, macaroni and cheese, pizza, green beans, Caesar salad, and NY strip steak on occasion. No fault of my amazing, and damn good cooking mother – I was just one picky kid. SO this is a judgment free zone. My mission is to educate women on how to take charge of their health, including balancing their hormones through healthy lifestyle habits and foods. You betcha, I had adult cystic acne, anxiety, irritability, PMS, night sweats, and well I just didn’t feel like myself anymore by the time I hit 35.

You have to have a strong foundation. This includes balanced sugar levels, a healthy digestion system, and a healthy functioning liver. Everyone has a unique body and composition, and I teach my clients what fuels their mind and body in my 6-month transformation program.  They learn all the tools they need to achieve a solid foundation and sustain it for the rest of their rocking life!

So let’s talk about this strong foundation, which is going to be your brain and gut relationship. There is such a strong connection between our brain and our gut; researchers are calling our gut the second brain! Think attentive belayer, and determined climber. Your gut is the belayer, which must be attentive and in this case, capable of preventing disease and managing any dysbiosis in the gut. In other words, managing the balance between good and bad bacteria. Your brain, and your body, is the climber. You want to be sharp, rational, capable of managing risk, and moving thru a crux at any point in the day.  If the term “hangry” resonates with you, especially after a long day sending or even running errands when you didn’t bring any snacks, understand you may have a blood sugar imbalance. Becoming hangry (where hunger meets angry) is like being on a 5.7 run out, either your belayer has fallen asleep (gut is not functioning properly therefore neither is your brain) or you’re out of gear (aka food to stabilize blood sugar). A healthy digestion is imperative to ensure you absorb the nutrients from all the high quality healthy foods you choose on a daily basis. After all, I know you eat well and make healthy choices.

Last but not least, a highly functioning liver is needed to carry the toxins, wastes, and metabolized hormones out of the body. Understand that climbing is a stress-induced activity and produces cortisol (and other energy depleting hormones) on all levels by hiking, climbing, flying thru the air, après’, and life in general. Our goal is to get educated so we can manage it. This last one is over looked so much and needs more attention. At this point, you will just have to trust me. Having a sluggish liver is what can throw us into hormonal hell, leaving our hormones to have a mind of their own – potentially leaving us feeling crazy, and not like our love filled, confident, laughing, and soulful selves.

As a climber, it is more important to have a strong foundation because of the demand that we put on the body. We can create 10X’s more oxidative stress in the body just by going climbing for the day. Therefore, we need to eat 10X’s the amount of fruits, vegetables, and clean protein then the average sedentary person. And what cleans up oxidative stress in the body? Antioxidants found in clean fruits and vegetables. Make sense? Ok let’s look at the top 7 tips for getting our foundation in place, climbing longer, and stronger. On belay? Read on.

1.  Breakfast: So important whether climbing or not ladies. You need three things: protein, fat, and fiber. Eating within an hour of waking up will supercharge your BRAIN (yes girlfriend no more brain fog!).  This addresses balancing your blood sugar right when you wake up. Focus on whole foods (not cereal, baked goods, bagels, burritos etc as these all cause a spike in sugar levels). My favorite is an egg over easy with bacon crumbles, avocado, 1 tbsp fermented veggies, and sesame oil drizzled on top of a beautiful bed of greens. Delicious! Toss it in a mason jar, cut it up with your kitchen scissors and take it to go!

2.  Manage your stress with down time: 90% of all dis-ease started with chronic stress! Do something that does not get your hormones cranking. Take a bath, write in your gratitude journal, walk with a friend, meditate, and learn some great breathing technique for “off the rock” that have been proven to reduce stress levels.

3.  Clean protein: Hormone free & antibiotic free meat is a GOOD FAT. It builds muscles, is loaded with amino acids, and helps you to climb stronger and longer. This addresses our blood sugar level and digestive health, and reduced the toxic load on the liver. Conventional meat raised with growth hormones and anti-biotics (which is absorbed into your body) gives you twice the toxic load, double whammy, because the fat and protein are now toxic. Know your meat and where it’s coming from. Especially eggs. Get organic whenever possible. Learn more by watching Food, INC. free.

4.  Bone broth for joint health: This addresses your digestive health. Bone broth is packed with amino acids. The greatest gift of this delicious and simple to make broth is that it reduces inflammation in the joints and heals a permeated gut lining. It is loaded with glycine which is the glue that helps joints feel better and heal the gut from any inflammation. This is the number one thing we can do as climbers to encourage our joints, tendons, and cartilage to maintain strength and good health. We all know you can’t build muscle with out having the healthy strong cartilage of tendons and ligaments to back them up! Read more on benefits of bone health for athletes here in this paleo article. One cup a day keeps overuse issues away.

5.  TRY the elimination diet: There is a reason every health coach, functional medicine doctor, and integrated medicine practitioner has been using this concept for years. It is an incredibly valuable tool for measuring what foods fuel your body, brain, and performance, and what foods do not. Everyone has a different blueprint therefore everyone has his or her own list of foods. No one can do this for you, only you. It is temporary and can last for up to 4 weeks. Taking out the “big dogs” as I call them, will address your entire foundation, which is why it is so powerful. The blood sugar, digestion, and liver will all benefit profoundly from reducing these inflammatory foods.  Learn more about how to eliminate the big dogs on my recent blog on my last cleanse.

Ladies, go here for my lil’ freebie ebook, 9 smoothie recipes to change your game!

I hope you will be brave and bold, and step into what is possible for you with your health, purpose, passion, and possibilities!

Love ya big
Shannon Lee

Certified Health Coach
Writer, speaker, health educator
www.shannonnickerson.com
843.452.2561

I’m Shannon Lee –

Lil’ about me…I’m a mountain lover and climber, wellness warrior, and soul driven health coach. In my 1:1 coaching sessions and programs, I will help get you on a path to a life affirming, whole food based, nourishing way of living. My clients learn what foods fuel their unique body, what lifestyle habits will ensure they sleep like a baby, and how to maintain their ideal shape, all in a way that is delicious and sustainable.

You want to learn more about how to balance your hormones or take your climbing to the next level with food and lifestyle?

This one’s on me! Schedule a complimentary 30 min laser coaching session with me today. We will explore your one biggest struggle or goal, and you will learn simple, applicable tips you can put to use ASAP!

I would love to chat, just email me nickerson.shannonlee@gmail.com to schedule today