​Hi everyone!  Every month, our wellness community locks arms for a Shred10 - 10 days of shredding habits and foods that don't serve us, and flooding our bodies with the food and habits that move us forward.  One of our guidelines is to try to finish our last meal by 6 pm. I want to dig into this suggestion and a little bit more because it's not about just what we eat, but when we eat it.  Here's a few things to chew on:

• Giving your body at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast allows the body to rest and digest - as opposed to fight or flight, which is the state many of us hang out in on a regular basis.  
• When you sleep, you want your body to be able to perform all of the critically important functions that improve our health, not digesting food.  Going to bed on a fairly empty stomach has huge health benefits.  
• I listened to a fascinating podcast between Michael Roizen and Mark Hyman (many of you know my nerd crush on Dr. Hyman) and it talks about how our bodies become pre-diabetic throughout the day.  So our ability to process food later in the day is very different than if we at the very same foods earlier in the day.  This is huge information and can make such a big difference in how we eat!  If you'd like to learn more please watch or listen to the podcast.  And buy the book here.  

So here are some things I'd like you to consider: 

• Could you play around with creating at least a 12 hour window between dinner and breakfast? 
• Could you push breakfast off a bit?
• Could you flip the traditional meal model and consider making breakfast and your lunch bigger meals? 
• Could you try to eat a small dinner, earlier? 

I know what many of you are thinking...

 "I don't even get out of work until 6 pm!"
"I have dinner with my spouse and I wait for her/him to get home!" 
"I'm hungry at night!"

Constraints can get in the way, and habits and desires can be barriers. So I'll just ask you to think about how you could shift.  Could you have a small salad or your smoothie with your spouse at dinner instead of a full meal?  Can you shut down the kitchen for the night after, say, 7 pm?  Can you push breakfast off in the morning and focus on rehydrating before refueling?  This is all about small shifts, that lead to changes, that lead to lasting changes.  

We are planning our next Shred10 as I write this so let me know if you want to jump in, give me a holler!  

Love you all!