Phew!!  That was REALLY REALLY hard!

30+ AMAZING women sharing their stories of inspiration and hope….what’s a woman to do?

Well, being the crafty minded muffintista that I am, I decided to choose more than 5 candidates, for starters, and here they are….(come back here after you check them out)

Our Candidates

Call me crazy, but I had no idea how MOVED I would be by this experience of having to choose….. Seriously, ALL 30 we’re amazing, and I felt awful having to choose!

But there is some good news! Beginning next week, I will have this blog operating as a fully (well almost fully) functioning site. I will have the Muffintop Makeover program available online, for those who are ready to make the change. I’m so excited!

So stop back next week and check out our muffintop makeover program, and  see who the lucky winner of our Muffintop Makeover is! Meanwhile, support these amazing women by casting your vote by clicking on the link above.

All good things,

Heather <3

heather@muffintopmakeover.com

Coming Soon!

Our new sister site!

Wedding Makeover!

with Nutrition Expert Heather Morgan, MS, NLC…

Lose weight, be healthy, look vibrant.

30, 60, 90 day programs….

BRIDES: to inquire about a wedding makeover, email heather@muffintopmakeover.com

Website coming march 1, 2012

www.wedding-makeover.com

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, eat this salad, and your muffin will thank you!

 Roses are red, gardenias are white, make this for your husband, and he will surely treat you right!

Roses are red, muffintops are horrible, check out these figs, aren’t they adorable?!

Roses are red, violets are bright, it takes two minutes to make this bowl of delight!

 Roses are red, lemonheads are tart, I hope you’ve enjoyed this, from the bottom of my heart <3

Thanks for stopping by Muffintop Makeover. Check back next week, my muffintop makeover program will be here! Check out last weeks post below to see how you can win a 90 day muffintop makeover!

 All good things,

Heather <3

 

Welcome to Muffintop Makeover!

How would you like to be the lucky winner of a 90 Day Muffintop Makeover?!

Yipee!! Cuz we’re giving one away!

Just tell us why you want a Muffintop Makeover and you could receive a full assessment of your metabolism, including potential areas of fat loss resistance, all necessary nutritional supplements from Designs for Health, a high quality line of professional brand supplements, nutrition and fitness guidance for 90 days, and a $100 gift certificate from Yummie Tummie, the coolest shapewear on the planet!

Here’s what  you need to do:

1) subscribe to this blog by entering your email into the subscribe box in the top right corner of this site.

2) Go to our facebook fan page, “like” it, and tell us why you want to get rid of your muffintop…..www.facebook.com/muffintopmakeover

Feel free to post a video!  Creativity goes a long way, but it’s your COMMITMENT that will win you the makeover!!

I will read all of your comments, along with my MM fitness and fashion contributors, and we will announce the top 5 candidates next Friday, February 17th.

Candidates will be chosen based on their desire and readiness for change,  level of commitment, and uniqueness of story….

Once the top five candidates are established, we will then ask our followers to vote for 1 of the 5 candidates. All votes will be tallied the following Friday, and the winner will be announced on Friday, February 24th!

Thanks for joining in, muffin friends, I look forward to hearing your story and hopefully making over your muffintop with you!

Good Luck!!

Heather Morgan, MS, NLC

Nutrition Coach

heather@muffintopmakeover.com

 

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Muffintop Makeover.  If you have not already joined our healthy living book club for 2012, it’s not too late! Just go to our facebook “group” and join in! http://www.facebook.com/groups/332028896820837/

We’re reading this years top healthy living books, and this month’s book is a MUST READ for everyone! It’s Naked Calories, by Mira and Jayson Calton.  I have come to know this dynamic couple, and must say the world is better because of them!

I had the pleasure of interviewing this amazing duo yesterday, live on my radio show at SUN FM 91.3, Sonoma, and here’s some of what they had to say…….

Muffintop Makeover Q&A with Mira and Jayson Calton, Naked Calories

1) What are naked calories?

Jayson: Food has two primary components. First, there are calories, which are comprised of MACROnutrients such as protein, carbohydrates and fats – and secondly they contain MICROnutrients, which are our vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids (EFAs) and other accessory micronutrients. Naked Calories are created when the MICROnutrients are somehow stripped away from the calorie due to a variety of different reasons such as food processing, factory farming and cooking methods. This leaves us with nutritionally impaired food, which we call “Naked Calories.”

2) How do naked calories contribute to muffintop?

Mira: Naked Calories don’t supply your body enough of the essential micronutrients that can help you keep that muffin top at bay.  For example, women who don’t get enough vitamin D are on average 16.3 pounds heavier than those sufficient…a muffintop for sure!  That is because vitamin D is essential for the production of leptin, the hormone that lets you know you are full.  But, its not just vitamin D that can help that control weight. In studies women who supplemented with Omega3 reduced their weight more than 20 percent when compared to a placebo. Additionally, supplementation with omega-3 can reduce the body’s stress-induced production of cortisol by 22 percent. In fact, in a study at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, individuals supplementing with omega-3 had significantly lower cortisol levels. These same test subjects were able to shed three and a half times more body fat, while increasing lean muscle mass.

There are studies on each of the micronutrients that prove just how effective and necessary they are to achieving or maintaining a healthy weight. I would never want a client to try dieting without becoming micronutrient sufficient first. Sufficiency super-powers the body to make any diet more effective.

3) From a Naked Calories perspective, what do you feel is the ideal diet for a person trying to get rid of their muffintop?

Jayson: An ideal diet is a diet that is rich in micronutrients.  We believe that regardless of which dietary profile you chose to follow, the most important thing you can do for yourself, is to choose foods that follow our RICH FOOD, POOR FOOD philosophy which advocates eating an abundance of micronutrient rich foods and avoiding micronutrient poor foods in order to achieve optimal health through micronutrient sufficiency. Think of it as a new-and-improved method of food swapping, rather than choosing foods based on their fat, sodium or calorie content, we focus on the essential vitamins, minerals and EFAs in the food, and replace micronutrient-poor foods with micronutrient-rich food. Rich foods are natural, unprocessed, or minimally processed, high in micronutrient content, and help you to increase your micronutrient sufficiency level. Poor foods are often highly processed and are low or void of micronutrients. These foods are full of naked calories and provide an inadequate amount of essential micronutrients to maintain health. They can even rob our bodies of certain micronutrients increasing the likelihood of micronutrient deficiency. Our goal is to spread the message that processed, micronutrient-poor foods, filled with naked calories are detrimental for everyone – no matter what dietary philosophy you may follow. Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, low fat, Mediterranean, paleo or low-carbohydrate dieter, following our rich food, poor food philosophy will help to maximize weight loss, prevent disease, and achieve optimal health.

4) Your top foods for muffintop control (fat burning)?

Mira: Your best bets for weight loss are any foods that are real foods. A 2010 study out of Pomona College in California determined that individuals eating rich real foods burned more calories than those eating poor processed foods. When individuals ate meals made of unprocessed, RICH foods they burn twice as many calories as similar meals made with highly processed, POOR foods. We think this is great news because not only will they help weight loss, but they taste a whole lot better as well.

For me personally, I start each day with a plain, yogurt that has no sugar in it, or any of that strange fake fruit stuff.  I know that my micronutrients need a clean healthy gut to be absorbed, and I want to make sure I have healthy gut bacteria promoting that absorption.  It starts me off knowing that I have done a little something every morning to make sure that my micronutrients can fight off that muffintop.

5) Most important take away from your book that you feel readers need to know….

“Your health is not something you biologically lose as you age. It is something you build or give away a little each day, in what you do, and what you don’t do.” —DR. JAYSON CALTON

Jayson: You can do it!  Your health is in your hands.  You have the potential power to improve your health and create a life for yourself worth living.  But you have to do something about it.  I say potential power because your knowledge will never improve your health, or the health of your loved ones, until you put it to use. It all comes down to one simple fact: knowledge is useless . . . unless we use it.

It comes down to the three simple steps we lay out in Naked Calories. By embracing the  HYPERLINK “http://caltonnutrition.com/nutrivore.aspx” Nutrivore lifestyle and following our easy 3-step program you will literally SUPERCHARGE the health benefits of what ever dietary philosophy you follow whether vegan, low carb, Mediterranean, paleo, vegetarian, low fat etc. Additionally, share your new knowledge.  After all, we are all in this together. Tell friends, family member and co-workers that their health is in their hands. Together we can make some real changes in the food system and with our combined numbers can demand change. It is time we all make micronutrient sufficiency the foundation of a global initiative that can protect us from the world’s most devastating health conditions and diseases, and usher in an age of optimal health.

There you have it, friends, from top selleing authors, Mira and Jayson Calton.  A big thanks to Mira and Jayson for sharing their wisdom with all of us over here at Muffintop Makeover! We wish you both much continued success!

See you back here soon!

 Heather Morgan, MS, NLC

heather@muffintopmakeover.com

 

 

 

Check it out, friends, it’s February, and we’re getting our PALEO on!

Ever wanted to gnaw on a bone, or harpoon a fish for dinner? OK, well you don’t have to do those things here, either, but you do get to make a dent in that muffintop of yours, as well as improve your cholesterol, blood pressure, energy, and mood by eating like a caveman for a month……how does that sound?

Then join our paleo diet challenge!

The Paleo Diet is not a fad diet. It has been around for 2.5 million years. It’s tried and true. It is the very diet you are desiged to eat, because it is the diet our bodies have evolved on for over two and a half million years. Unlike some of the other diets out there, there is no guess work as to whether or not it’s for you, as long as you are a human, genetically, it’s the healthiest way for you to eat.

Get this. We have only evolved .02% of a genome in the last 40,000 years! That means we are genetically still cavemen.  But about 10,000 years ago, we changed our way of eating when man found a way to domesticate livestock and cultivate agriculture. Before 10, 000 years ago, we ate what nature dictated.  We ate what we found as we hunted and gathered, based on what nature was providing to us at that time. When man started cultivating crops and dictating his own diet, it launched a way of eating that our bodies have yet to adapt to….consumption of dairy, corn, and other grains, to name a few….many of the foods people are most sensitive to in our culture today.

So why go back now?

Simply put, WE ARE STONE AGE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SPACE AGE. Our bodies are still very much adapted to the hunter and gather way of life, and our current lifestyles are far from being in harmony with the lives of our paleolithic brethren. In fact, the differences are so drastic, that todays lifestyle threatens our very existence. If human life makes it another 1,000 years eating the way we we do today I would be surprised…..

 

So what do we do about it?

I am not so sure we can change the course of mankind at this point, but we can certainly have a positive impact in the right direction. What we put into our mouths can have a bigger impact on global civilization than we think.  With the way you chose to eat, you make choices about your health and the health of your family, as well as whether or not you support big industry and the very things that are taking this world down.  It all starts with what you eat….

What’s it ganna be, wild, fresh or local, or contribute to taking the world down by choosing convenience?

Forgive me if that sounds harsh, we are all in this together, there is no judgement here. I, too, am searching for the right balance. I think the obvious answer is a certain amount of both, working towards an 80/20 paleo/modern goal…..

Our paleo challenge is about helping you to learn how to be more “caveman” in your eating and consuming practices, yet it allows for the realities of our world today.

So here’s how it’s going down:

Go to our facebook group page for details on how you can get started: http://www.facebook.com/groups/219830271442588/

You can chose between 3 levels of commitment: 1 regular “modern” meal per week of your choice, and the rest Paleo, 2 “modern” meals per week, and the rest paleo, or 3 “modern” meals per week, and the rest paleo…. so you have a realistic start to learning to incorporate a more nautral diet into our lifestyle. it’s not all or none, it’s baby steps.

YOU GOT THIS….I hope you will join us and please tell your friends and family. It’s much easier to do with the support of others.

By joining, you will get a getting starter kit that has food lists, meal plans, a resource guide, and other info to introduce you to a paleo lifestyle….you also get weekly guidance by me via email or facebook group as well as the support of our fellow cavefriends…

The cost for materials and guidance is $25. paid through pay pal by using email hmorgannutrition@aol.com. Once payment is received I will email you materials.

Look forward to seeing you over at our facebook paleo challenge page!

Heather

heather@muffintopmakeover.com

……of 21 inch waist lines!!

Sad, but true, muffin friends, waist lines around the world are expanding, and it’s ganna take a miracle to turn back the evolutionary clock. Thanks to the SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating that has rocked our world over the past 50+ years, we have officially become muffintop nation. From TV dinners to fast food restaurants, to big box stores and coffee houses, American culture has gone from bad to worse when it comes to food and lifestyle choices. Sadly, we have advanced ourselves right into obesity….go figure, literally!

Welcome to Generation MT 

Our muffintops tell a story of evolutionary change in America.  They are a dead give away of something gone awry, and an important visual barometer of more serious health related issues lurking beneath our belt buckles…..as mid-section fat grows, so does a clustering of other negative health factors, which is why I am on a muffintop mission. I see it as a win, win….You look and feel better, and we save a sick nation, one person at a time…..

Muffintop phenomenon, which involves a high ratio of mid-section fat in comparison to other areas of the body, is a fairly new human physiological trend, and is largely (no pun intended) due to changes in diet and lifestyle over the past 75 years…Blows my mind to think that in less than 100 years of the entire history of mankind, we have created a “sick” culture. To me, that is one of the most serious and profound acknowledgements we can make today.

That muffin you are sporting is the direct result of a culture attempting to do things bigger, faster, and cheaper…..Thank you Uncle Sam!!

Here are some of the main reasons why we have become a Muffintop Nation over the past 50+ years…..

1) Empty calories – due to processed, packaged foods, which deliver very little nutrition…

2) Toxins – from both diet and the environment.

3) Stress – due to higher paced, more competitive lifestyles.

4) Sugar and fake sweeteners- need I say more??

5) Simple carbohydrates- Americans have come to love our pastas, breads, and pastries.

6) Pharmaceutical drugs- Yea, drugs can make you fat, toxic, and cause other health imbalances…. not to say there are not benefits when appropriately prescribed, but drugs are over prescribed and a big part of muffintop nation.

7) Dining out- Fast and convenient is what we want, poor quality food and illness is what we get.

My book goes into these at length, in addition to how to address and reverse their effects on muffintop, but today’s take-away for you is related to empty calories.

So here’s the skinny on calories…

don’t count calories, count the nutrients in the calories

Nutrients per calorie, a very important aspect of muffintop control, and one of the main reasons why we have become generation MT. Americans are the most over fed, under nourished country in the world, and that has happened due to over consumption of calories that deliver little or no nutrition. So when you begin your muffintop makeover program, a big part of what we will be doing is making sure that every calorie you consume counts! You will re-train your body to learn to be sensitive again to the hormones and metabolic functions that support fat burning.  If you’re reading this, chances are your body has become very efficient in fat storing. The good news, however, is that through diet, exercise, and supplements, we can train it to become efficient at fat burning again, and nutrients per calorie will be an important part of that happening….

The Muffintop Makeover program involves removing toxins stored in your body via a 14 day liver cleanse (can’t lose fat very easily if you are toxic) followed by 30 days of fat burning nutrients in addition to a clean nutrient dense diet. There is a 30, 60, or 90 day program for you to choose from… to get started, just email me at heather@muffintopmakeover.com and we can decide on the program that is right for you.

So glad you stopped by today….please check out our facebook page at www.facebook.com/muffintopmakeover, and join our healthy living book group.

Book group link:  http://www.facebook.com/groups/332028896820837/

Yours in good health,

 Heather 😉

 

 Do YOU know the muffin man?

I’ll bet you do… he’s at the beach, the bars, the coffee shops, and even at the gyms. Fact is, you don’t have to do a whole lot of muffin huntin to find a man with a muffintop today. America IS the Muffin Man!

Yep, it seems there is a certain kind of muffin that needs a little lovin. Whether they like it or not, men are sporting muffintops, and something needs to be done about it.

Problem is, last time I checked at the cafes and the football games, there didn’t seem to be too many men worried about their muffintops. Burgers and beers in hand, the muffin men seem content. I can count on one hand the men who have approached me to lose weight verses the hundreds of women. But in fairness to men, it’s not that they don’t care, I just believe there is a difference in priorities between men and women. Women are generally the ones who are seeking the answers when it comes to eating and looking better, where as men, the emphasis on how they look is generally not as important.

So how can we help our muffin men to help themselves?

I have a whole chapter on this in my book, because it’s important.  Women aren’t the only ones who have hormones that effect their weight. Just like women, men go through a change of life called Andropause. They have muffintops for many of the same reasons women do, and yet, they are very different creatures behaviorally and biochemically.

When it comes to muffintop for men, here are the major contributors:

1) lack of play. (exercise)

2) Over eating poor quality foods

3) Not sleeping enough

4) high stress

5) Toxins from work and environment

6) lack of nutrients

Could any of this be your man? If so, have him take my muffin man quiz (will be posted on this site when it’s had it’s makeover in February) and lets get him on the right program. He needs to know that the best thing he can do for his family is to be healthy, and besides, helping our men get rid of their muffintops and moobs means we get to keep our girdles and bras all to ourselves…. Now if that’s not a motivator, then I got nothin.

So the next time you see your man going back for thirds or laying on the sofa watching football when he hasn’t exercised in days, tell him you no likey lovin from a muffin, and ask him to check out my muffin man program. It’s designed especially for men’s unique metabolic needs, and it takes their need for simplicity and baby steps into consideration and it works.

Lastly, if your man comments about your muffin, just kindly repeat the following:

Thanks for stoping my Muffintop Makeover. I’m just getting going, so I’d really appreciate your help in sharing this blog (below) and be sure to check out our facebook page, because that is where the daily action is.. www.facebook.com/muffintopmakeover . We also have a book club where we read one healthy book per month. Check out some of the past posts for details, or go to our book group on facebook (it’s a separate page from our fan page). If you want to know more about me, or my work as a nutrition coach and author, check out past posts or contact me directly (below).

Hope to see you back here soon as we “makeover” this site to include our book club, MMO Challenge, Muffin Man, muffintop fashion, and more…. I’m so excited!!

All good things,

Heather Morgan, MS, NLC

heather@muffintopmakeover.com

Hi there, ready to RISE and SHINE?

The good news is, I’m not talking about sinks and silverware, or even shoes, that’s seriously so 1960’s…. I’m talking about YOU. How about we help YOU shine, and then you can dress up in an adorable 1960’s number and shine on with your beautiful self….that’s what I’m talkin about!

How does your morning go?

Here’s mine:

I wake up with no alarm at about 5:15.

I move the pile of puppies off of me — my 2 schnoodles stock pile on top of me at night, which is not great for the beauty rest, just sayin’….

…then, I start my morning meditation/prayer…. approximately 15 minutes of deep breathing and setting intention for my day. By starting my day off filling my body with oxygen I set the pace for a calming effect on my central nervous system in addition to energizing my cells. I am actually calming myself and energizing myself at the same time….is this possible? YES. Infact, through slow deep breathing, I calm the systems that ultimately affect muffintop. I help reduce stress chemicals in the body, yet the abundant oxygen flow provides cellular energy and mental focus.

Does that mean we can trade OXYGEN for COFFEE??? Hmmmm….

I then RISE and stretch for a few minutes while continuing to breathe….healthy glow starting to flow….

After getting work out clothes on, the schnoodles and I head downstairs for work. My chi is rockin and early morning is great for creative process, so I write. But not until I’ve had a room temp glass FULL of water.  I start hydrating right away, a principle I learned at the CHEK institute. Warm green tea, or occasionally organic coffee to follow…

So lets see….

• Oxygen, check
• positive thoughts, check
• stretching, check
• hydration, check
• creative production, check

Have you ever gotten up and instantly started to stress about your day? If you do, chances are your breathing is shallow, your joints most likely feel stiff, and the first thing you drink is probably coffee. That’s most people. By starting the day like that we miss out on a golden opportunity to get a head start on a healthy day. By just paying attention to these minor things, we can have a huge impact on our day….

Enter food….. I love greens in the morning. I NEED greens in the morning. Breakfast usually goes something like this:

• hard boiled egg, fresh organic veggie juice, nuts.
• turkey bacon, egg salad on an endive
• egg over easy, or left over dinner meat, on top of left over cooked veggies.
• smoothie loaded with nutrients, healthy fat, protein and carb, ie. kale, frozen berries, coconut milk, seeds, nut butters, protein powders, probiotics, etc.

Notice there are no grains here…I have them once in a while..quinoa or gluten free slow cooked hot cereal with healthy fat (coconut milk), spices, walnuts, seeds, protein powder, etc., but only once a week, at the most. My main staple in the morning is mostly MEAT and VEGGIES.

More hydration + first round of supplements….What I take varies, depending on what is going on in my health regime, but I always take the kick ass nrft2 activator, Protandim, and VitD….

QUALITY IS EVERYTHING WHEN CONSUMING SUPPLEMENTS. I preach local, fresh, organic foods, and I preach high quality supplements. Unfortunately the good stuff, the stuff that is most effective, is usually only available through health care professionals, and there is a reason for that….

It takes knowledge and understanding when it comes to knowing how to supplement safely and effectively with therapeutic quality and dosing of supplements. The store bought stuff, in order to keep it safe and affordable for everyone, usually has fillers, lesser quality ingredients, and low, non-effective doses. I know this because I spent four years studying nutritional medicine and was trained by one of the top professional companies in the U.S., Designs for Health. Even the best diets need to be supplemented. We burn though so many nutrients with our high paced lifestyles, and even the best food sources do not yield enough nutrition to make up for what we are lacking and need. Bummer, but true.

Lack of proper nutrients is a huge part of why we have muffintop. Our metabolic pathways are made up of nutrients. If you want to have a great metabolism, you need loads of nutrients. First from high quality food, and then from supplementation. Many of my clients come to me for weight loss. I always run a Comprehensive Metabolic Profile on them, which involves a blood spot and urine test and helps me to determine nutrient deficiencies, fatty acid imbalances, detoxification functioning, neurotransmitter imbalances, food sensitivities, and more. This allows me to recommend a targeted supplementation program that boosts the aspects of their well being that are lacking. THIS IS HOW SUPPLEMENTS SHOULD BE USED, to make up for what is lacking, and to support daily functioning. I appreciate people giving themselves a daily boost in the basics, but, more often than not, if they are poor quality, thats just money down the toilet, literally.

HERE IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE GETTING YOUR SUPPLEMENTS THROUGH A PROFESSIONAL. Knowing what supplements YOU need is key.  A health professional such as a Chiropractor, a nutritionist, a holistic MD., or an OMD is trained in nutritional medicine.  They are also trained in how to properly assess what is needed. FYI, most general doctors are not. If you ask a general doctor for a vitamin program they will look at you like you have three heads. Don’t fret, it’s just not they way they are trained.  They are trained to treat you with pharm drugs, not nutrients. It is what it is, so move on to someone who knows nutrition. We see Dr’s for emergency medicine, and we see alternative health professionals for preventative maintenance. Two different, very needed aspects of addressing our health.

Exercise.  After kids are off to school, I work for a bit and then head to the CrossFit gym.  CrossFit is great for conditioning. Being Conditioned should be your fitness goal. There is a difference between being in shape and being conditioned. CrossFit is my number one recommendation for getting rid of muffintop..

Morning is the best time to exercise, studies have proven this to be true. And the best exercise for your muffintop is high intensity short duration bursts, involving a multitude of training techniques that confuse your muscles and keep you on top of your game.  If you are doing the old school approach to exercise, such as aerobics classes, time on treadmills and weight machines, or running, you are probably not getting the results you need to take care of that muffintop.

As this blog continues to take shape (no pun intended) it will be a fully functioning site with food plans, exercise plans, supplement plans, all designed for fat burning and metaboic happiness….So stick around, lots of GREAT things in the works.

Thanks for making it all the way to the bottom of this long post. I hope it was helpful for you. See you next time,

 

Heather Morgan, MS, NLC

heather@muffintopmakeover.com