Love Notes by Jari Love

Why Is Sugar So Bad for Us?

by Jari Love

Sugar is an addiction, and the worst part is most of us don’t even know how much sugar we are ingesting during the day. Sugar somehow sneaks into all kinds of products. Baked goods and desserts are of course obvious culprits, but what about your cereals, yogurts, granola bars, breads, soups, dressings and pasta sauces? If your food is coming out of a box, bag, jar or wrapper chances are it has hidden sugar. Let’s get rid of our processed foods and switch to whole fresh foods!

 Sugar contains no essential nutrients. We all know it contributes to weight gain, but did you also know that high sugar consumption has been linked to chronic and debilitating diseases like diabetes, cancer, liver disease and even heart disease? There is no doubt that in excess highly processed and refined sugars can significantly damage our bodies’ systems and can suppress our immune systems lowering our chances of fighting off colds, flu and other viruses.

 Not only does it promote rapid fat storage, here are sugar’s other dirty little secrets:

• Sugar weakens Your immune system
• Sugar causes insulin resistance
• Sugar is as addictive as hard drugs
• Sugar speeds up the aging process
• Sugar raises your risk of disease
• Sugar is empty calories 

The good news is you don’t have to give up sweet things entirely. There are many wholesome sweeteners available like fruit, stevia, raw coconut sugar, and raw honey. Just remember because these sweeteners are higher in nutrients and lower on the glycemic index than white or brown sugar doesn’t mean you get a free pass to eat as much as you want. Add these sweeteners sparingly to enjoy their health benefits.

Try this make ahead dairy and sugar free Banana-Peach ice cream with raspberry sauce to keep in the freezer for the next time you are craving something a little sweet. 

Raspberry sauce

1 cup raspberries

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1tsp coconut sugar (optional)

1 tbs chia seeds 

1. Puree all ingredients together in high speed mixer until smooth. Pour into serving jug and refrigerate at least 4 hours (this will give the sauce time to thicken), if you are short on time you can still use the sauce, but it will be runnier than the chilled version.

Banana-Peach ice cream

4 very ripe bananas

1 ripe peach

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

 1 Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Transfer to a container and keep in the freezer until needed. Serve with raspberry sauce.

 ENJOY!

 Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Transform Stress Out of Your Life

by Jari Love

This one simple trick could transform your stressed-out life

Changing how you talk about the negative things in your life can have a surprisingly positive effect

 You were wronged, or something awful happened. Maybe you’re worried about something that might happen. How many times do you tell the same negative story over and over again to whoever will listen? Bad things do happen — but harping on them is the energetic equivalent of taking a bath in dirty water. It’s not likely to help you feel better, no matter how hard you try!

 When you keep telling negative stories, you’re marinating in those feelings of anger, fear, guilt and resentment. Your mind, spirit and body can’t differentiate between present events, past events or something happening in real time.

 Your body often sends out stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, as you talk about traumatic past events or worry about future ones. Over time, as these hormones flow through your bloodstream, you may experience health issues. Stress hormones are thought to trigger increased blood pressure and heart rate, tightening and tension of your muscles (back pain, anyone?), stomachaches, headaches, weight gain, slower healing and other health problems.

I believe that when we marinate in the negative stories of our lives, we stay stuck in the energetic vibration of those awful stories as well. Ever heard of the Law of Attraction? I’ve found that, as I talk about the negativity, more negativity comes my way. When I shift to the positive, I raise my vibration for positivity to find me.

 You might be thinking, “But this is how I process. I need to talk about it to work through it!” I agree that processing is important. But there’s a difference between “working through” and “dwelling on.”

 So, how do you stop “dwelling on” and tell a different story?

 Let’s say somebody was awful to you and you can’t stop thinking about how they wronged you. You’re not able to forgive yet —that’s okay. But you can begin telling a different story by saying, “I am opening my heart to forgive this person, in time.” Do you feel the shift of those words?

 Instead of saying, “I have no money,” say instead, “I can’t wait to see where the money shows up to pay my bills.”

 Instead of saying, “I am trying so hard to meet someone,” say instead, “Whoever is meant to be my love — we will find each other.”

 Instead of saying, “I have so many health issues,” say instead, “My body wants to heal.”

 I know it might feel tough to do, but just a simple shift in the story you tell yourself will improve the health of your mind and soul — and possibly even your body, in time. Switching to the positive will make you feel instantly better, just like you do when you bathe in clean water!

 What stories are you telling yourself?

 via sheknows.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

What’s Better for Weight Loss: Diet or Exercise?

by Jari Love

When you set your sights on weight loss, the formula seems easy: work out more, eat less. But a new study in the International Journal of Epidemiology shows that it might be more about what you eat, putting truth to the idiom “abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.”

In 2013, researchers from Loyola University began looking into the relative power of diet and exercise as they relate to moving the scale. They thought they’d discover that exercise would prove to be a crucial component for weight loss. Two years later, though, the science shows that the largest driver behind obesity is not how sedentary people are but instead how poor their diet is.

“Physical activity is crucially important for improving overall health and fitness levels, but there is limited evidence to suggest that it can blunt the surge in obesity,” the study authors explained. Why? The more you work out, the more your appetite increases.

Of course, this new Loyola study isn’t the first to come to this conclusion. Research has consistently shown for years now that exercise doesn’t necessarily lead to weight loss. In a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics last year, for example, researchers found that people only lost noticeable weight if they combined exercise and calorie restriction.

This is the problem with most weight-loss advice, the Loyola researchers said, which often puts statements like “take the stairs instead of the elevator” or “walk 10,000 steps a day” on par with calorie restriction. Study authors Richard S. Cooper, M.D., and Amy Luke, Ph.D., said they’re not trying to drive people away from fitness, but rather expose problems with current health campaigns. Take this new one funded by Coca-Cola—it (falsely!) emphasizes exercise over a healthy diet.

But don’t you dare drop your gym membership! Being active has a ton of benefits that go far beyond what the scale says. Increasing your strength and endurance has been shown to help prevent cancer, improve mental health, help diabetes, and help you live longer. Plus, research shows that dieters who exercise are better able to maintain weight loss and are also able to lose fat while keeping valuable muscle. You just need to make sure you’re logging your gym time and your food intake.

via shape.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.