At RISE we focus on small steps that add up to significant results…

...and we’ve found integrating these five foundational tips into your daily routine promises to improve your health, shed unwanted weight and rev up a sluggish metabolism.

#1 Eat a Diet Rich in High-Quality Protein
A diet rich in high-quality protein is a proven way to reduce your cravings and burn extra fat. In fact, research indicates a diet high in quality protein is associated with a lower percentage of belly fat, leading to increased muscle mass and a higher metabolic rate. 

RISE healthy proteins include chicken, turkey, beef, bison, lamb, eggs, wild- caught fish (check out www.seafood.org) and plant-based proteins like lentils, quinoa, tofu, and tempeh. 

#2 Increase Your Intake of Healthy Fats
You may be thinking this seems counterintuitive. However, increasing your intake of healthy fats keeps you fuller for longer periods of time and helps prevent weight gain.

Enjoy a variety of...

Ingredients

• ½ cup water
• cup wheat-free tamari or soy sauce
• 2 drops liquid stevia extract
• ¼ cup fresh orange or pineapple juice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1 pound flank steak, cut against the grain into thin strips
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1½ teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 cups brown rice

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the water, soy sauce, stevia, juice, garlic, and ginger strips. Pour ½ cup of it into a plastic bag; add beef. Seal bag, and turn to coat the beef. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.
2. Remove steak from bag, and discard marinade. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry beef in oil for 2−3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from pan but keep warm.
3. Add broccoli, onion, and minced ginger to pan; stir-fry for 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Return beef...

We all want to make positive changes in our life, and Dr. Daniel Amen provides an encouraging roadmap of how to reach our goals and make them stick.

“If you have come to the decision that you want to make changes in your life, you probably want them to happen NOW! But after nearly 30 years of helping patients navigate the change process, I have learned that taking a gradual approach is the surest way to success.

So many people try to change all at once, but this almost inevitably invites disappointment and failure. You don't have to change dozens of behaviors at once. Start with a few vital behaviors—the ones that will have the biggest immediate impact—and go from there.

Here are 5 essential tips to retrain your brain to make the long-term changes you want most.

1. Focus on your successes. 
Rather than dwelling on the habits you haven't managed to change yet, focus on the positive steps you have made. Are you drinking more water? Terrific! Are you...

We’ve gleaned some great tips from Dr. Aviva Romm, a Yale trained MD, specializing in all areas of women’s health (and not to worry to all the men reading this, her practical tips will apply to you as well!)

We all know it’s essential to bring some form of relaxation into our daily lives in order to achieve the well-being we all desire. Volumes have been written about relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness, but here are a few fantastic tips from Dr. Romm to replenish and repair… 

Cave Proactively
When you hit the wall of overwhelm, stop everything. Unplug. Step away from your cell phone, stay off the internet, turn off alarms and notifications, and take some time to be a human being — not a “human doing.” It takes downtime for productivity to blossom, clarity to return, and your mood to smooth out. It could be a minute, an hour, or a vacation! But when you need it: cave.

Take a Bath
Before you go to bed, or anytime you need to...

Sticky Cauliflower Rice

• 5 cups cauliflower rice (use ready-made or see step 1)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut vinegar
• ½ cup coconut milk

Tahini Miso Sauce

• cup tahini
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely grated
• 1 teaspoon wasabi paste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon fermented miso paste
• 1 tablespoon coconut vinegar
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
• ¼ cup cold filtered water

Add-ins

• 6 organic raw nori seaweed sheets
• 1 large cucumber, julienned
• 8 ounces wild-caught pre-cooked salmon, skinless and broken into pieces (option to use smoked or canned salmon instead)
• 1 cup purple cabbage, thinly sliced
• cup scallions, white and green part, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. If you’re making cauliflower rice at home: Chop the cauliflower into one-inch chunks, including the core. Transfer a third at a time to a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower has a rice texture.

2. Heat the coconut oil in a large sauté pan over high heat....

When we think about making lasting changes in our health, we are convinced that all changes begin with a renewed mindset…

Want to eat healthy? Get your mind right. 

Want to build relationships that nourish you? Get your mind right.

Want a fitness routine that you enjoy and actually do? You got it— Get your mind right!

When we trade our old thinking in for new thinking, true transformation can begin. Proverbs 4:23 says to be careful what you think, for your thoughts run your life. 

And Romans 12:2 goes on to say that we are actually transformed by the renewing of our minds. 

It’s our thoughts and attitudes that determine what we feel. And our thoughts, attitudes, and feelings then ultimately determine what we do.

So let’s bring more focused attention on our thoughts, as we bring in the good and put aside any negative thinking that may creep in to derail our attempts to get healthy.

We thought a good way to renew our mindsets would be to start...

In Michael Pollan’s great little book, Food Rules, he lays out a diet paradigm that any Functional Medicine practitioner or wellness coach would heartily endorse…

Eat food. 
Mostly plants.
Not too much.

With these six words, he encapsulates so much of what we know about the benefits of eating a healthy diet. Today we want to focus on the middle two words, “mostly plants”, and share some incredible insights on the topic by our dear friend and colleague Dr. Mark Hyman.

“We all know that veggies are good for us, and most of us know we ought to eat more of them than we do. Vegetables are the ultimate low-calorie, high-nutrient foods. They are filled with antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins that we need to optimize our health. Moreover, they provide a myriad of health benefits like:

• Improving gut health. Veggies are a great source of dietary fiber, which helps food pass through your gut easier and may also improve the body’s...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup organic raspberries frozen
• 1/2 cup organic blackberries frozen
• 16-20 ounces iced green tea (prepare in advance)
• 1 handful of ice
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2 kale leaves torn from stem
• 2 scoops vanilla- or chocolate-flavored protein powder (pea protein, sweetened with stevia)*
• 2 droppers full of liquid stevia I prefer berry or chocolate flavor
• 2 tablespoons avocado about ¼ avocado
• 1 scoop freeze-dried greens (optional and recommended)
• 1 tablespoon flax, hemp or chia seeds (optional and recommended)
• 1 tablespoon fiber inulin or glucomannan (optional and recommended)
• 1 teaspoon Maca powder (optional for the adventurous)
• 1 teaspoon pomegranate powder (optional for the adventurous)
• 1 teaspoon acai powder (optional for the adventurous)
• 1 teaspoon ...

We all want strategies of how to keep our hunger at bay, maximize our metabolism and to be fully satisfied in the process. And thankfully it doesn't mean maintaining willpower of steel or depriving yourself. With these seven strategies from Nutrition and Fitness Expert JJ Virgin, you have everything you need to get the results you desire.

“Manufacturers have conditioned us to believe that even the slightest degree of hunger means we should run to eat something. As a result, we habitually reach for something at the slightest whim—usually a high sugar impact snack.

It isn’t just big food corporations that are promoting that graze-all-day mentality. Some people in the nutrition and fitness world still promote this myth that we should be grazing from the moment we wake up till when we doze off.

Trust me, you shouldn't be. If you eat a meal and feel the need to snack a few hours later, I encourage you to look carefully at what you’re eating. When you’re...

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen peaches
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp protein powder
• 1 tbsp coconut butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Directions

1. Add all ingredients into your blending container.
2. Blend ingredients for 45 seconds.
3. Enjoy and serve!