Health

  • Featured, Health

    7 Tips to Sleep Better Heading into Menopause

    Why does the saying go sleep like a baby? My babies never slept, it was awful. I had to work HARD to get them to sleep, stay asleep & want to go to bed on time. And now as an adult on the cusp of menopause sleep is even harder for me. What gives? this post I just want to share a few tips I have learned along the way on  how to sleep in menopause.

    7 Tips to Sleep Better Heading into Menopause

    7 Tips to Sleep Better Heading into Menopause

    It’s sad that this has to be said, BUT there will always be the odd night where the neighbors throw a party, your 16 year sneaks out, your baby is up all night vomiting, your husband won’t stop snoring, the dog decides this is the night to lick herself at the foot of your bed.  There is always going to be that odd night. What I am talking about is the other 6 in a week where everything can go right.

    I also have to point out:

    • 📌insulin resistance/diabetics may not sleep through the night due to blood sugar drops/rises so makes sure you are on top of this
    • 📌You are a new parent – nothing I can do other then hug you. 
    • 📌Certain medicines will affect your sleep or need to be taken at night
    • 📌you are not hydrated at a cellar level so you are up all night peeing from all the water you drink during the day
    • 📌 Pregnant moms don’t sleep well either
    • 📌 people who suffer depression, anxiety, other mental health challenges don’t sleep well either

    So, if you are a relatively healthy person and sleep is still not your friend, maybe something below will help you out.

    ps. I am not a doctor so please talk with them to first to make sure any supplements, or actions don’t interfere with anything they are currently working with you on.

    7 Tips to Sleep Better Heading into Menopause

    https://heatherpalmer.ca/one-ingredient-that-should-be-eliminated/Get outside and get that natural daylight/sunlight on your face for at least 10-15 minutes minutes as early as you can in the day. Dont’s wear sunglasses, just go outside, drink your coffee out there, walk the dog. DO IT.  Melatonin the sleep hormone is created in the eyes as well as the pineal gland. Getting natural light on you early in the day helps create this hormone & reset your circadian rhythms between day & night.  

    Create a bed time routine. When my kids were young we would put them in a warm bath, have warm milk/bottle and read a story in a dimly lighted room on the bed, then wrap up in a blanket and turn the lights off and sleep away they would go. We adults need to do this to ourselves.  Create a routine that winds you down from the day. No TV, no electronics, no alcohol or sugary treats, make your bedroom for sleep not a Sunday Football game night.  Calm is what we need.

    Supplements, I take 3 every night 30-45 minutes before bed & the nights I forget, I don’t sleep so well. You can find out what they are by grabbing my free PDF by clicking here now

    No more liquids after dinner. No heavy foods or energy/caffeinated drinks either. We need to slow down our digestion at night & not be up all night peeing. I am a dinner & done kind of person. I limit any water intake at night and make sure I do use the washroom before sleep.

    Make your bed desirable. clean sheets, make the bed, tuck in those sheets, wear pretty pj’s, a nice lamp, make your bed a place you can’t wait to get to. Be proud of where you sleep.

    AND.. this one I notice BIG TIME. If I workout at night, my endorphins kick in & I have energy for days, so I need to workout early in the day. 

    And finally deal with the lemons life is throwing at you. Don’t go to bed mad, angry or anxious. The dishes can sit in the sink for the night if that means you go to bed on time. Your mental health is the biggest player in your sleep cycle. Mediate, therapy, reading personal development books. Do something to help your heart.

    There you go! 7 ways to help you sleep heading into menopause. These work for me, it’s not something that is going to work first night, but being consistent in your routine will pay off & sleep will once again be your friend every nigh!

  • Health

    Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!

    I was pregnant, twice in my 30’s, and all I heard through out both pregnancies is – don’t worry your body will come back. It’s only for a year. Well – it’s been 11 years since my last baby and I am still waiting for that pre baby body to return. Or am I? Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!  This post is about my mind shift change on my body after baby. 

    Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!

    Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!

    I have learned a hard lesson. My physical body is always changing.  I was a chunky baby, applauded for rolls on rolls. Then as a child I was way underweight & was told my mother was starving me as I was too thin. Then puberty hit – let’s not go there today. Every day something literally changes with my body. Then at around 16 I’m comfortable in my skin. And I think I am done with the changes. Wow I was wrong. Between 18-24 it’s like puberty all over again.  I like to call this phase my growing into my adult body. But I didn’t handle those changes well, in walked an eating disorder.  But around age 25 I was settled with what I looked like, I liked what I saw in the mirror & was content. Then I hit 30. there should be a book about this. Some kind of warning signal that at this wonderful age EVERYTHING changes again.  I started putting on some weight, i wasn’t as active and boom – I am pregnant. 

    All through my first pregnancy I was told don’t worry about gaining weight, you will bounce back. You will get your before baby body back. Nourish your baby. Take care of yourself, it’s only for a year. the weight will drop off after. and on and on the lies went. Well, at the time I had no clue they were lies. But the impression was on my brain.  So when my 11 pound, 24 inch baby was born – every day I awoke with the anticipation of a child on Christmas to see if my pre-baby body had returned. 

    Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!

    It took me 2 years to lose the baby weight from my first pregnancy. No one told me how hard it would be, I went from a negative double A in bra to a double D and that was a whole new ball of wax for me.  But on that journey I couldn’t help by notice the body I had, 2 years post partum was in no way a resemblance of the body I had before baby. But I couldn’t dwell on that too long as I was pregnant again. And for a whole 9 months the same lies were told to me about how easy it would be to get my pre baby body back. So when my baby was born, I was eager to begin the work to get my pre baby body back as I was done having children.

    Now many of you know my story of how it took me 7 years post baby to lose the weight. How it was about hormones out of balance and how I corrected it with food. I will save those details for another day if you are new here.  But …. I lost 45 pounds and something in me wasn’t right.

    body after baby? n thank you

    See that picture, the one right above. That is me January 2018, I had lost 45 pounds, balanced my hormones,  the scale read the same as before pregnancy #1 – but what stared back at me in the mirror WAS NOT the same body I had back in 2006 – before baby. Where was my pre-baby body? Can I get a refund? What went wrong?  My stomach used to be flat. I never had rolls. My breasts were perky. My skin wasn’t saggy, WHAT WENT WRONG?

    Pre Baby Body? No Thank You!

    And this is the lesson I had to learn. My body before baby was gone.  That body does not exist anymore. See, my body will always show the proof that it housed 2 babies.  I can never have a prebaby body as I have had babies.  It was a hard lesson, a hard mind shift change & it took me a while to get it.  What I had to come to realize is that I now had a clean slate. A brand new white board to write all over. I now had a day 1 to start a new journey.  A new story.  And this time I was in charge. 

    I get to dictate my weight, the size of my thighs, how heavy I can lift, I get to create the image that will stare back at in my mirror. And this will be, it has been, a journey I have loved. I have shared most of my adventure on my Instagram account & you can catch it there.  

    And… when you are ready to begin your journey – I am only a message away.

    Email Me To Ask Questions

    So, if you scroll back to the top of this post.. you will see me now, checking out my booty gains.  I like my body now, it housed 2 babies, been through a ton and is stronger, leaner & more badass then ever. 

    Here is my secret. I have been consistently consistent since day 1 of this journey loving myself.  I workout 20-45 minutes a day, maybe 4-5 times a week from home, I have a system in place to hold me accountable, I have created a community of like minded women to push me on my hard days & I have learned to eat foods that serve me & not bring guilt & shame.

    You are never too old to begin. I am in my late 40’s & I am only just beginning to create a body I will live with through till old age.

    Pre-baby body? no thank you! I like my body after baby way better! 

  • Health, Personal

    We All Have the Same 24 Hours

    We All Have the Same 24 Hours

    Fitness during Menopause

    I did it! I completed my 7th workout program in a year. This one was by far the hardest I have done to date. 13 weeks. 90 days. And yes I am stinking proud of myself.  And this post is going to slap you in the face. Tough love time. If you can’t handle the heat, leave the kitchen now. You have been warned. See…. we all have the same 24 hours. It’s what you choose to do with them that counts.

    This program wasn’t about developing show muscles, or losing weight. It was for me about strengthening my flexibility, mobility, range of motion & tackling the inner dark parts of my mental health.

    I started this program August 9, 2021 and here we are on November 6th, 2021 and I am done. I mentioned in my IG stories  that all the people who were watching me then are still watching me today & this could be their celebration if they had said yes to their health. 

    We All Have the Same 24 Hours

    I was so stoked to start this program. I had asked a lot of people to join me and many said no.  The top reasons were:

    • I don’t have the time to commit
    • I have a physical limitation
    • It looks too hard

    Well.. now here is the part of this post where it gets tough. So … I am warning you now.. leave if you can’t handle some tough love.

    It was not hard. Our bodies will only go where our minds go. I had to trust my trainer, trust the process and trust my body would respond in ways it was designed to. And yes my body delivered. Disfunctions I never knew existed in my shoulders & hips were pointed out & corrected. This program got easier because my mobility got better. And it pains me to hear women talk down about themselves. Sweetheart – you are so much stronger then you give yourself credit for!

    We all Have the Same 24 Hours

    Physical limitation? Um.. I have no meniscus in my left knee, that means it is 100% bone on bone in that leg. PAIN CITY EVERY DAY. So yes, some moves I had to modify and that is a-ok. I live with chronic pain of degenerative osteoarthritis in that leg on top of that pain. This program took the exercises that physical therapists use in rehab and reverse engineered it to make it preventive.  Work on that mobility so you won’t injure yourself. And yes I am stronger in my leg as a result of this.

    The #1 reason for people not joining me was time. They all said they didn’t have the time. Yet somehow… each of those persons found the time EVERY SINGLE day to watch my progress on my Instastories.  The average person spends 145 minutes a day on social media. I only asked for 45 of those minutes a day.

    Some said the commit of 13 weeks was too much as they had too much going on in their life.  (insert big sigh) My life has been crazy. The last 13 weeks have been insane. Let me breakdown the stresses I faced in the last 90 days. Not to brag.. but to show you we all have the same 24 hours and how we use them tells a story.

    Between August & November, 2021 I have had to deal with:

    • Back to school rush with 2 kids ( Middle & Jr High School)
    • Back to work routine
    • The stress of the 4th Covid Wave
    • The first day back to work 2 parents threatened me
    • I have had sick kids with vomit on my bus
    • My bus broke down on a highway with kids present
    • I had a stalker follow my route one morning in the dark
    • Almost been hit by multple deer
    • 2 children were suspended off my bus in the first week back to school
    • It’s sooo dark when I leave I stress over the safety of each child boarding my bus
    • My hubby had a birthday
    • We had Thanksgiving AND Halloween
    • I had breast surgery in which a lump was removed & I had the post surgery recovery to deal with
    • My daughter made Comp Crew for karate which added 2 extra nights out to our already 3 nights out a week for karate and now takes one Saturday a month out
    • I had a bout of food poisoning
    • An IBS flare up as well

    And I know I am forgetting more.. but you get my point. LIFE IS CRAZY. Life will never slow down, there will never be a right time, a better time or a calmer time. EVER.

     

    And to add in the mental struggle of showing up.  I was not motivated every single day of the last 90. There were day’s I went back & forth listing every reason to NOT workout.  But when I have goals to be a better human. Learn how to show up better in life. This space I give myself every day to workout is where I can put those tools to practice. If I can prove to myself I can do pushups or cleans or over head carries I can do the hard things in life.  I said yes on August 9, and here we are 90 days later. The time was going to go by anyways. Least with me saying yes to myself, I don’t regret where I am today and that is in a different space, better body then I was 13 weeks ago.

    If you don’t make the time for your health today. You will soon be forced to make time for your illness tomorrow.  #enoughsaid 

    If you need a new routine hit me up with a message & let’s chat. I can set you with the same tools I use everyday since 2018!

  • Health

    One Ingredient That Should Be Eliminated

    One Ingredient That Should Be Eliminated

    One Ingredient That Should Be Eliminated

    When I was trying to go from obese to healthy & nothing was working, I was frustrated! I was told it was all about calories.. but it so is not! Losing weight & keeping it off isn’t always about the calories. It’s what the calories are made up of that counts. A lesson I learned the hard way. There was 1 of 4 ingredients that kept popping up in my “healthy” food choices that I began to research. This is the One Ingredient That Should Be Eliminated from what you eat starting today.

    Heather Palmer Beachbody

    Let's Talk Seed Oils

    Let’s talk SEED OILS

    Did you know most of our packaged foods contain seed oils. And that these oils are very high in polyunsaturated fatty acids which promote inflammation & the accumulation of toxins in the body. In simple terms – very bad for our hormones, weight issues & brain function.

    Too many of them contain additives & are processed with hexane chemicals – sometimes even petroleum. Most of the plants used have been GMO’d which is a whole other ball of fire. These oils were originally created for either a fuel source or used in soap. Formerly called toxic waste – these seed oils now show up in way too many foods we consume daily.

    Common seed oils are:
    •Soybean oil
    •Corn oil
    •Cottonseed oil
    •Canola oil
    •Rapeseed oil
    •Sunflower oil
    •Sesame oil
    •Grapeseed oil
    And let’s not forget cooking spray, and good old fashioned vegetable oil.

    One Ingredient that Should be Eliminated!

    I encourage you to begin read your labels, leave at the grocery store any foods that contain these & begin to make healthy swaps. It surprised me that my beloved peanut butter contained them, so I began to make some choices to better my health & that is when the weight started coming off easily.

    My 2 favorite oils to use now are avocado & coconut. A little tip – when I bake I use avocado oil instead of vegetable & my baking is way more fluffier & lighter. And I even found an avocado oil spray for those sticky pans I have.

    When you begin to eliminate seed oils from your daily food intake BIG healthy changes are going to start happening to your body & yes, your waist could get smaller without even trying. #justsaying

  • Health, Personal

    Easy Summer Morning Routine

    Whether you are a morning person or not, I have found 4 simple tasks I do each morning during the summer to help me wake up, prepare my body for the day & to get my mind set on the positive. Here is my Easy Summer Morning Routine.

    asy summer morning routine

    4 Easy Tasks to do Every Morning

    Now don’t get me wrong, I am like every other human out there. My alarm goes off, I hit snooze a few times lie in bed procrastinating whether I should get up or not and my bladder usually wins that battle.  

    That battle in my mind has set me up for the day. A day of procrastination, doubt & laziness.   This summer I have found 4 simple tasks to do right after I pee that has set my day up for success.  Mindset is everything and it is soooo connected to my body.  When both my mind & body are in harmony I can move about my day without worry, without stiffness and I can be calm & relaxed no matter what my day unfolds. Here is my Easy Summer Morning Routine.

    Easy Summer Morning Routine

    After the bladder is happy I head to the kitchen.  I use room temperature water and fill an 8oz glass. I squeeze 1/4 lemon slice juice into, add a pinch of pink Himalayan salt & head outside.

    • Room Temperature Plain Tap Water
    • 1/4 Slice Lemon Juice
    • Pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt

    You have just gone 6-10 hours without water (you were sleeping) and you are dehydrated. Your body went to repair mode while you slept & during that process puts the garbage into your system to be evacuated so help it along with a glass of water. And it’s 8oz towards your daily goal intake done!!  Room Temperature so it doesn’t shock your system with being too cold or hot.  Lemon is great for vitamin C and has many cancer fighting properties. The Himalayan salt to replenish your electrolytes you lost while you sleep.  And please don’t use processed table salt. Get the good stuff – it really does the body good.

    Now grab your phone or mp3 player. Put on a good tune and head outside.  The sooner you can get natural day light onto you the better. (this is why this is my “summer” routine, you will have to come back later for my winter one). If you are like me sleep is hard.  The amount, length of and quality is not great so helping my circadian rhythm aids in tonight’s sleep being better. Our bodies have an internal system that regulates sleep & wake cycles and the lack of natural light can off set this system. So the sooner you can get natural daylight on you the better.  3-5 minutes each morning is great!  

    I have my phone with me to play my favorite tune and while the sun lands on me I bounce ( dance like a crazy perso) on the balls of my feet for the duration of that song.  This wakes up my lympatic system.  The good tunes always puts me in a good mood.

    "The lymph fluid cannot move on its own. It moves as a result of your body movements. Bouncing helps to open and close the one way valves of the lymph ducts to allow free flowing removal of waste. This is important because when toxins build up in your body you will have reduced energy levels".

    Now I prefer to do this bare footed.  I am usually checking  in on my garden during this time. You know making sure the pumpkin flowers need help in pollinating, seeing what veggies are ready to harvest & just to be grounded, also called earthling. This electrically connects me to the earth.  The benefits help my sleep patterns, my energy levels, can reduce inflammation & helps promote better blood flow.

    There you have it, my 4 easy tasks to an easy summer morning routine.

    • Light
    • Hydration
    • Fun Upbeast song
    • Grounding

    Implementing these 4 things into my morning each day this summer has helped my mood, energy levels, hormones & over all total wellness.  Connect with me on Social Media & let me know if you tried any of these Easy Summer Morning Routine and how do you feel!

  • Health, Personal

    Healthy Supplements 101

    In the world of healthy, the topic of supplements will come up. And the info on them is like a rabbit hole – never ending. Seriously, you can get lost and overwhelmed with the info out there. The why, how, when & more. I want to take this post to talk to you about healthy supplements 101 based off of what I use & why.

    ** Just a heads up, there will be outbound links to products, some do provide a commission back to me if you choose to purchase**

    Healthy Supplements 101

    I used to think supplements were for those big, hairy muscle dudes who kissed their biceps more then anything. And there was no way I ever wanted to look like that so I stayed clear of them.  And maybe once upon a time that was the case. But today, the options are endless. But let’s break this down first.

    A supplement is something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.

    Now, I am a HUGE believer that 95% of your nutrition should come from whole, clean foods. Not a powder or gelatin capsule. A supplement should fill in the nutritional gaps of the food you are eating due to the fact that you can’t find those foods, those foods taste gross ( hello kale) or would increase your monthly budget 10fold just trying to get the real food intake from those ingredients.

    Yes, I am against meal replacement shakes, diet pills & fat burners. Those products do not help you one bit. If all you take is meal replacement shakes, what do you do when you hit your goal weight? You have not learned how to eat proper real food & most likely will gain all & more of the weight you lost back.

    And when you are looking at adding a supplement to your eating plan, ingredients should be your focus, not a carb/protein count. Let me explain. Here is my healthy supplements 101.

    When I first began to take a pre-workout supplement all I cared about what was the carb count. But then I learned to look at the ingredients and the brand I was using was filled with fillers, artificial everything & nothing natural. Why would I put garbage into my body? I began to make a shift and look at ingredients and the source of those ingredients before I would purchase any supplement.

    My daily food plan puts me about 1800 calories ( & that is in losing fat mode). The bulk of my calories come from whole foods: loads of veggies, quality meat sources & topped off with healthy fats. 

    But we live in an age of mass produced food ( veggies & fruits included) and the soil in which many of our plants grow are not as nutrient dense as they once were. If you follow me on Instagram for any amount of time you will go grocery shopping a few times with me & learn how I pick my veggies & fruit for their nutrients.  ALWAYS READ YOUR LABELS, & look up the farms online to see what is really going on. You truly are what you eat and also what you are eating ate.

    My Stack of Supplements

    On the days I work out, I book end my workouts with a pre & post workout supplement. 

    My pre workout ( I like the lemon best as the other flavors have beet flour & that irritates my IBS) is formulated with key ingredients to help:*
    • Boost energy and endurance
    • Improve exercise performance
    • Sharpen focus and reaction time
    • Increase muscle power output
    • Delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue

    It contains Beta- Alanine, low dose caffeine from green tea & Quercetin ( a phytonutrient  found in many fruits and vegetables. A strong yellow color indicates higher levels and higher purity)

    I just wish I knew about this product when I ran track. Oh that would have been a game changer for me!

    15 calories and taken within 30 minutes of me starting my workout for optimum performance.

    Then after my workout is a post protein smoothie. When you’re too sore from your workouts, it’s much harder to be consistent with your program. Recover takes advantage of the critical post-workout window to help combat exercise-induced muscle soreness, speed muscle recovery, support muscle growth, and improve strength recovery.

    The brand I take helps:

    • Speed muscle recovery
    • Combat exercise-induced muscle soreness
    • Reduce muscle breakdown
    • Promote lean-muscle growth
    • Improve adaptation to exercise
    • Improve muscle strength recovery
    • Support muscle glycogen recovery

    Key ingredients are Pomegranate extract, 20 grams of time-released protein & Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Tastes like a chocolate milk shake. 

    I hate when I run out and it’s a weight lifting day. This stuff is gold!

    Now I am a HUGE coffee drinker. I like the taste & the warm feeling it brings. And I figured if I was going to drink coffee all day long I might as well make it healthier for me. I generally drink my coffee black. It took me years to go from a double double to black. But once a day I add some collagen, MCT oil & protein to my mug to give me a little extra help.

    Collagen – the one I take is flavorless and works with your skin, hair & nails. 

    Collagen is the main structural protein in the body. It makes up 25 to 35 percent of our total protein content in the form of connective tissue like tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bones, and about 75 percent of your skin. Collagen works side by side with another protein called elastin: Collagen fills out your skin, while elastin helps your skin “snap back” when stretched.

    It’s flavorless and mixes well in my hot coffee. #winwin

    MCT Oil. I actually get mine from Costco. Medium Chain Triglycerides. Again it’s flavorless and a squirt into my mug is all I need. It helps with fat burning, but also provides a healthy fat for my brain and I experience less brain fog during my day as a result.

    And I do add a flavorless protein to my coffee. I am in the process of building muscle which means I need a bit more protein in my diet and this powder once a day helps boost the amount of protein in keeping my calorie count in check. I like this one for a few reasons:

    • Canadian company
    • Grass fed
    • Inexpensive
    • Flavorless as I like the taste of my actual coffee
    • & available on Amazon so it’s door delivery when I need it

    What about a Multi Vitamin?

    It’s a hard balance between getting all the nutrients you need & keeping your calories in check. I aim to get most of my nutrients from veggies & animal products but with depleted soils most of our food just does not have the nutrient base it once did. 

    I used to take upwards of 30+ vitamins & minerals all in capsule form every day. The additional monthly cost was HUGE, I had no idea if I was taking the right combination, if they were being digested or peed out, if what i was taking was actually what I needed and then the confusion of brand, quality & nutritional value came into play.  The gelatin most came in  was actually upsetting my stomach A LOT, I was feeling oogie after that many pills, and I can’t take pills without liquid and water mixed with all those was a recipe for disaster in my digestive system.  I am thankful I have found a top up of dense nutrition that literally tops up my food and keeps my calories in balance.  You can use it as a shake, I like it with coconut oil and makes for a pudding like dessert, or put it in my coffee too! And on days where time is not in my favor, it can substitute for lunch.  It’s not a protein shake, or a weight loss shake or a meal replacement. It’s my daily dose of dense nutrition. And I can’t complain when I get it 25% off too!!

    Complete with:

    • Proteins
    • Superfruits and Antioxidants
    • Supergreens and Phytonutrients
    • Adaptogens
    • Prebiotics, Probiotics, Fibre, and Digestive Enzymes
    • Vitamins and Minerals

    Way more good stuff then a handful of guessing which vitamin is right. 

    Healthy Supplements 101

    It may seem like a lot, but really it’s not. It’s 100% health and I have built these supplements into my daily calorie bracket and they supplement what I can not get from real, clean, whole foods. I call it healthy supplements 101. 

    Need help in if you should be adding supplements or what kind? Just ask, I am only a message away & would love to chat with you.