6-Week Fat Loss & Health Boost Reboot starts June 1st (Order by 5/20 for bonus gift)
Posted on May 19, 2023 Leave a Comment
Feel happy, carefree, and optimistic during this fun, energizing, empowering 6-week reboot.
$199 Reboot Includes:
- Six weekly one-on-one, 25-minute, full-body metabolism revving, virtual exercise sessions with Nina
- Warm-up & cool down videos + exercises
- Daily workout plan
- Peaceful meditation videos to calm the body & mind
- Fat burning, mood-boosting videos
- Anti-inflammatory recipes to replace one of your meals to expedite fat loss, detoxification and healing
Program Includes SIX Customized Personal Training Sessions!
Order within 24 hours, by May 20th to receive your bonus gift: Low-fat, plant-based, gluten free recipe PDF book with over 25 fat-burning recipes.
Reboot starts June 1st.
Order by May 20th to get your bonus gift.
Offer expires May 31st.
Contact me below with any questions and I’ll call or email you back.
vegan pasta cream sauce (low-fat, plant-based pumpkin sauce)
Posted on May 16, 2023 Leave a Comment
written by Nina Shantel, blog: RealDietHelp.com, published January 31, 2023
This low-fat, plant-based, oil-free, sugar-free, vegan pumpkin cream sauce is silky smooth with a touch of sweetness, and is delicious on both wheat and gluten-free pastas. There’s a video demonstration at the bottom of this post to see exactly how I make it.
Ingredients:
One box drained, firm organic tofu, sliced into cubes
One can of pumpkin purée
One ripe banana, broken into 1-inch pieces
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp garlic powder
freshly ground white or black pepper to taste
Red chili flakes to taste
1 tsp + coconut aminos
Directions: add Tofu cubes, pumpkin puree, banana pieces, cinnamon, garlic powder, and coconut aminos into a large food processor. Blend until creamy.
Cook pasta as directed on package, drain water from pasta. Place cooked pasta back on the burner and add desired amount of pumpkin cream sauce (usually a few dollops will do). Turn up heat on the burner to warm the pasta with the sauce to the temperature of your liking.
Pour pasta with sauce into a bowl and top with freshly ground black pepper, red chili flakes, and a splash of the coconut aminos or salt. It’s ready to eat and enjoy!
Store the remaining sauce, covered, in the refrigerator.
If this post is located on any other website other than mine, which is RealDietHelp.com, it’s been unauthorized, plagiarized (copied without my permission). The other social media sites where my articles and videos are approved to be published are on my YouTube channel (Nina’s Nutrition & Exercise Videos), my Fit Girl Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheHighFiveDiet/ and my Twitter account https://twitter.com/medairyfree
How to change your mind (A psychologist’s perspective to improve healthy eating habits)
Posted on May 9, 2023 Leave a Comment
(if you are viewing this on email or on social media, please visit site at http://www.realdiethelp.com for the most updated version of this post; it looks better, and it shows me an accurate count of views)
written by Nina Shantel, blog: RealDietHelp.com, published January 31, 2023
Changing one’s diet starts with mentally accepting change, giving up foods one enjoys, and putting changes into actions. Making big changes is hard, which I understand, but what I don’t understand is why some people won’t even make small changes to improve their health, when they are sick.
Why do sick people ignore health advise and allow their health to deteriorate, when others are proactive. To seek answers to these questions and others I have, I asked licensed clinical psychologist Marcy Witkin-Lupo, author of “The Embrace of Spirit, A Woman’s Guide to Mind/Body Healing,” if I could interview her and record the conversation for my YouTube channel. She agreed to the 30-minute video which you can watch below.
Dr. Witkin-Lupo said there is no one definitive thing that makes one person amenable to change, but pain, a disease diagnosis, or a medical incident, is usually the driving source for change. For some people, a medical diagnosis will not make them change their diet or prompt them to exercise. Some people will have to have the heart attack before they start taking their heath seriously. Then, there are other people who still won’t make any changes to reduce their pain and exacerbate their symptoms and make them more susceptive to cancer and disease.
Reasons for avoiding exercise and refusing to give up processed foods, sugar, fatty foods, red meat, dairy and animal products are varied and can include one or more of the following reasons:
Denial – they are in denial of their medical condition, refusing to believe the diagnosis
False information – Some people don’t believe that diet and exercise can reverse disease and pain (in most cases, it can)
Negative attitude – they don’t believe they can change because other people tell them they can’t
Lack of confidence – they don’t believe they have the strength to change their habits
Pain is tolerable – the pain isn’t bad enough to make changes
Prefers instant gratification – would rather eat the burger now than put in the effort and time to look & feel good six weeks, six months or a year from now
Change is hard – changing ingrained habits is challenging
Unsupportive family or friends – having people around you that push you to eat unhealthy foods and engage in unhealthy habits makes it that much more difficult to make changes that you don’t really want to make
Unclear consequences – If the consequences of one’s actions or inactions aren’t clear, a person may not be motivated to make lifestyle changes
Undefined Why – To make permanent lifestyle changes, one needs to define why they are making these changes. Everyone’s reason for why they are making drastic changes varies from person to person, so your reason for giving up pizza and milkshakes, which may be weight loss, is different from another person’s reason for avoiding dairy, which could be to stop painful rheumatoid arthritis attacks.
People don’t exercise, don’t eat healthy foods, and continue harmful habits due to denial, false information they believe, a negative attitude, a lack of confidence, pain being tolerable, changing habits is difficult, having unsupportive family or friends, not connecting the consequences to one’s habits, and/or not defining why specific changes are needed.
To listen to the entire interesting interview with psychologist Marcy Witkin-Lupo, play the YouTube video.
Let me know why you exercise, why you choose to eat healthy food, or why you haven’t made changes to unhealthy habits.
If you have additional insights as to why some people will make positive changes and others won’t, please write in the comments below; multiple perspectives can be enlightening.
You can order Marcy Witkin-Lupo’s book, “The Embrace of Spirit, A Woman’s Guide to Mind/Body Healing,” directly through an on-line retailer, or you can contact her directly, $20 includes shipping, by emailing marcyspt@gmail.com
Her book is about her personal story of abuse, how to acknowledge the past while living life without toxic fear and anger, and moving forward to live a happy, healing life.
To read about my story of illness and how I regained my health and lost excess bodyfat, and try my low-fat, plant-based, anti-inflammatory healing vegan diet, click the image below to order your copy of my paperback book, revised and re-published October 2022
Exercise is good stress for the mind and body; it doesn’t have to be grueling, it can and should be fun
If this post is located on any other website other than mine, which is RealDietHelp.com, it’s been unauthorized, plagiarized (copied without my permission). The other social media sites where my articles and videos are approved to be published are on my YouTube channel (Nina’s Nutrition & Exercise Videos), my Fit Girl Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheHighFiveDiet/ and my Twitter account https://twitter.com/medairyfree
full body dumbbell and cardio workout, no repeats (28-minute strength & cardio workout video)
Posted on May 2, 2023 Leave a Comment
In this 28-minute, full-body workout, you’ll gain strength and get in a cardiovascular workout. All you need is a mat, a set of light dumbbells, and water. I’m drinking zero calorie mint tea.
I’m using three different sets of dumbbells, 8’s, 10’s and 12’s, but one set is sufficient, just do a few more reps or squeeze the muscles more if the exercises are easy (I’m guessing they will be more challenging than you realize).
If you have difficulty with balance, have a chair nearby to hold on to.
Stop at the first sign of pain. Go at your level. Don’t hold your breath on any of these exercises.
Here are the exercises in order:
Warm-up: fast marching
Workout:
- Leg lifts and lowers to work the hips and gluteus medias (aka the side butt). Lay on your side, knees bent. With a pointed toe, lift the top knee upwards to the ceiling, leaving the top toes pressed against the bottom foot. Reverse the rotation by bringing the top knee down to the bottom thigh, while bringing the toes up to the ceiling this time. Perform a total of 20 reps. (see video below to see the exercise and to follow along)
- Reverse short and long lunges with or without dumbbells, your choice. 8 or more reps on each side.
- Bridge hold with alternating heel lifts. 30 seconds
- Bridge hold. Lift both heels up and down. 10-30 seconds
- Glute bridge with heels up the entire time. 30 seconds
- Quadruped leg lifts. Get on all fours. Extend one leg with toe pointed down on mat. Lift leg up no higher than your back, tap leg down. Repeat for 30 seconds.
- Same as #6, but don’t let the toe touch the ground. Perform exercise for 20 seconds or until failure
- Same as #6, but pulse the same leg at the top for 10 seconds or until failure.
- Same as #6, but hold leg at the top for 10 seconds.
- Two push-ups, then stand up, perform 5 lateral shoulder raises. Repeat for 3 sets.
- Triceps shoulder crushers. Lay on your back. With dumbbells in each hand, flare the elbows out to the sides; the triceps should touch the floor. Bring dumbbells towards the shoulders. The dumbbells do not need to touch the shoulders. Repeat for 8 reps or until failure
- Pull-overs in a bridge with 5-count eccentrics and 1-count concentric. 8 reps. Lay on your back. Bend your knees with feet flat on the floor. With one dumbbell in each hand, press the weights over your chest. With straight arms, lower the weights to the floor, then bring the weights back up over your chest. Repeat.
- Narrow shoulder press with dumbbells. 8 reps. Jump up or pop up, for the last 7 reps, for a total of 15 reps. Land softly.
- Calf raises with 90-degree dumbbell biceps hold for 20 reps.
- Biceps curls for 8-10 reps with calf raises.
- Ten plank jacks, or tap the outer toes if this plyometric exercise is not suited to you.
- Lay on your back, legs extended with a slight bend in your knees. Put your hands behind your head and perform 10 small circles with your upper body. This strengthens the upper abdominal muscles. Then lift one leg and perform 5 more upper body circles. Repeat this sequence on the other direction. This strengthening the upper and lower abdominal muscles.
- Cobra or upward dog abdominal stretch
- Downward dog stretch with calf pedals
- Standing quad stretch
- Standing hamstring stretch
- Lateral lunge to stretch the inner thighs
- Cross-body triceps stretch
- Overhead shoulder stretch with also stretches the lats (the large back muscles)
- Forward and reverse windmills for the shoulders
I forgot to add a glute stretch. To perform a figure-four glute stretch, lay on the floor with knees bent and cross one leg over the other with the elevated shin pressed against the thigh with the foot on the floor. Lift the leg up that has the foot on the floor. Interlace your hands behind the thigh that you just lifted and hug the leg towards you. Perform this stretch for 30 seconds. Switch sides.
best CLEAN vegan cosmetics, groceries & nutrition books
Posted on April 25, 2023 Leave a Comment
For many years I have been searching for the cleanest cosmetics, certified organic vegan foods, and best books on plant-based nutrition so I have compiled them into lists. Click on the photos below to see which foods, books and cosmetics are my favorites. I have also provided direct links to these products so you can buy them and have them shipped directly to you.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases,
Photo by Anderson Guerra on Pexels.com
Photo by Sarah Chai on Pexels.com
Photo by Alexander Grey on Pexels.com
I will be updating these lists regularly so keep this page link to you can refer back to it whenever you are looking for new cosmetics, books on health and nutrition, and disease prevention & reversal; and healthy plant-based vegan groceries.
why are vegans quitting? (A former vegan explains why she’s no longer vegan)
Posted on April 18, 2023 Leave a Comment
written by Nina Shantel, blog: RealDietHelp.com, published December 27, 2022
I wanted to understand why vegans stop being vegan. Why do most vegans quit?
To gain more understanding, I spoke to two people on this topic, a yogi, animal advocate, vegan of 39 years, and published author, Victoria Moran; and Caroline, a mom with two young children who was vegan for two years.
Victoria Moran and I came up with some possible reasons why previous vegans are drinking animals’ milk and eating animals:
1. It’s easier to be a follower and less stressful to do what everyone else does, than a be leader. It’s harder to be different, criticized, questioned and in the minority (ex: vegan).
2. Money and fame. People in the media get more attention, likes, views, and are welcomed back with open arms to the meat-eating pack, if they announce they were vegan and no longer are.
3. Some individuals are “people pleasers,” and would rather harm themselves by eating unhealthy foods, than hurt other people’s feelings because they value friendship and family over their own wellbeing.
4. Change is hard. Sometimes it takes several times to get accustomed to a new diet, especially a vegan diet because only a small percentage of people avoid animal products completely.
One of my favorite vegan meals: Roasted tofu, potatoes and veggies
Those above reasons for not being vegan are hypotheticals, so I wanted to talk to someone who was vegan and find out his or her reasons for eating animals again. I was introduced to Caroline, a former vegan, who said she would be happy to record our conversation and share her journey in and out of a vegan lifestyle.
Caroline said she was 100% vegan for over two years but was concerned her daughter would develop an eating disorder because her daughter was continuously asking questions to find out if a food was safe to eat. Since someone else she knew who went away to college didn’t have very many meal options at the school cafeteria, ended up underweight and possibly anorexic, her concern was that her daughter might become underweight, deficient in nutrients, and ill too.
She also said there is so much information available, she doesn’t know who to believe.
She said it’s easier for her and her family to eat what other friends and family serve so she doesn’t have to bring vegan food with her. Peer pressure, wanting to follow traditions, simplicity, and worry, have all played a part in her decision to resume eating animals.
Caroline admitted that she doesn’t consume gluten and dairy because her skin conditions cleared up and her children feel better when dairy and gluten is avoided.
I reminded Caroline than an animal had to die for her to eat that meal, which didn’t appear to be compelling based on her expression and what she said after I made that statement. She believes that the animals she eats lived wonderful free lives because they are free range, organic, or she knows the farm they came from. I don’t know if it would have made a difference if I went into details about animal suffering.
She said that her son visits the next-door neighbor to eat two eggs. I was shocked to hear that eggs would be a food choice of a child instead of cookies or soda. Sometimes “forbidden fruit” makes people want that item they wouldn’t normally crave; it’s a form of rebellion. As parents, we need to set ground rules based on what we feel is right. If I had my say when I lived with my parents, I would never have eaten green vegetables, cussed nonstop, and had candy with lunch and dinner.
Photo by Jane Doan on Pexels.com
I told Caroline that eggs are high in cholesterol, but that didn’t seem to matter to her, and her justification for allowing her son to eat this fatty food, is that he “only” eats the two eggs once a week.
Many people are under the false impression that people who are young can eat whatever they want without any repercussions. Maybe I should have told her that heart disease can show up as early as age two.
Photo by samer daboul on Pexels.com
I explained to Caroline that animal products trigger autoimmune conditions like cancer, but because her and her family aren’t visibly sick, she didn’t see why she needs to avoid consuming animals.
As a vegan myself, I have found that, oftentimes, I cannot convince someone to change their diet no matter what I say.
Two people can read the same books and watch the same movies and come up with different decisions as to what is healthy for them. One person will completely revamp their diet or make small changes over time so that in the not-too-distant future, they will be 100% vegan, whereas the other person, will eat the same way they have always eaten. Same information was presented, yet there are two different results.
I have also found it to be true if a person doesn’t make climate change and/or animal welfare a high value and a priority, they are unlikely to change their diet unless they are a lot of pain and believe changing their diet will get rid of their pain.
I repeatedly hear that people say they are healthy, because they are not in pain all the time, even if they are on medication due to the high protein, high fat foods they eat regularly. If they feel well, they probably won’t change their eating habits.
Photo by Robin Stickel on Pexels.com
How am I, who is not her doctor, to convince her that eating animals is harmful, if after watching “The Game Changers” and Dr. Brooke Goldner’s videos of how she reversed Lupus and thousands of patients of life-threatening diseases, or after reading “The China Study,” “Starch Solution,” and “How Not to Die,” didn’t change her mind?
If someone isn’t open minded, or receptive, or has already made up their mind as to what they believe, even if it’s false, no conversation, book, or video, will sway them.
I don’t want to change people; I want to save them. I couldn’t save my dad from a horribly painful death from multiple sclerosis (MS) because, at that time, I didn’t know that animal products trigger MS and autoimmune conditions. I feel terrible guilt every day for not searching for the cause of MS when my father was alive. (I’m fighting away tears as I write this). To deal with my failure to save my father, I have made it my mission to educate people on how reverse disease and prevent disease with lifestyle.
The facts I should have reminder her about is that animal products increase IGF-1, a naturally occurring growth hormone, which is bad because excess IGF-I makes cells grow, thus promoting cancer.
The other thing I neglected to mention to her is that people have been able to reverse cancer & autoimmune disorders with a vegan diet; it takes years for cancer and autoimmune disorders to show up, which is why it’s important to avoid foods that promote disease before symptoms develop, as a preventative measure.
After watching the video below, was there something else I should have said that you think would have convinced her that a vegan diet is the healthiest diet?
Also watch the highlights of the discussion with long-time vegan and animal advocate Victoria Moran, as to why so many vegans are no longer vegan, and why caring about animals and not eating them is best, not just for animals, but also for people and planet earth.
Victoria Moran has a unique perspective, which may be more compelling than my health-based approach. Let me know if you think her conversation or mine is more effective at getting someone to give up drinking animals’ milk and eating animal flesh, and why.
Her website: VictoriaMoran.com Victoria’s Main Street Vegan Academy: MainStreetVegan.com The Victoria Moran Podcast: Meetings with Remarkable Women Victoria’s Interfaith spiritual center: The Compassion Consortium
If this post is located on any other website other than mine, which is RealDietHelp.com, it’s been unauthorized, plagiarized (copied without my permission). The other social media sites where my articles and videos are approved to be published are on my YouTube channel (Nina’s Nutrition & Exercise Videos), my Fit Girl Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheHighFiveDiet/ and my Twitter account https://twitter.com/medairyfree
What’s a gym rat? (What type of gym rat are you? )
Posted on April 11, 2023 Leave a Comment
What’s a gym rat? I define a gym rat as someone who exercises at a gym at least three times a week.
I used to be a gym rat even before I was a certified trainer because I was at the gym anywhere from three to seven days a week. From being at the gym so much, I’ve come to believe that there are seven types of gym people (make sure to watch the funny video below too!)
- The SPAZ: This person performs quick, spastic moves with weights, as if it’s a cardio class.
- The dilly-dallier: This person doesn’t really want to be in the gym and just likes to people-watch
- The procrastinator: This person doesn’t seem to enjoy exercise and takes excessively long breaks, delaying the next set, either by talking, texting or stretching.
- The socialite: This person spends most of his or her time talking to others at the gym, and it doesn’t matter who it is.
- The attention seeker: This is the person who grunts, belches, squeals, or slams the weights so everyone can hear and notice him or her.
- The serious lifter: This bodybuilder is at the gym for a reason, to gain muscle, and will probably get annoyed if you try talking to them. If you ask this person a question, don’t be surprised if he or she gives you a dirty look and says, “Don’t talk to me in the middle of my set.”
- Hates Exercise: This person will sit at the abductor machine, bike, or some other cardio machine, with their nose, either in a book or on their phone.
Which gym rat are you? Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. I’m a combination of the socialite and the serious lifter, but it will depend on the day and how much time I have available.
Photo: yes, that’s me in the above photo performing a lat pull-down.
Press play on the laugh-out-loud, 1-minute video below to see how I roleplay all seven gym rats
