Products We Love Archives - Page 4 of 4

The Who, What, Where, When, Why & How to Bulletproof Your Coffee

December 20, 2016 By Lindsay Gee

If you follow me at all on social media, or if you read my blog, you will have heard me talk about my Bulletproof Coffee quite a bit lately. And yes, it’s MY Bulletproof Coffee…back off…get your own! If you don’t follow me on social or read my blog (*gasp*), get with the program, I’m pretty funny and sometimes I have some good stuff to say. Most times. Okay…always. Start following!

I digress.

I’ve been going through some big changes lately. Finding my heart, finding my center, getting some sleep and working really hard (that last one isn’t a change, that’s pretty dang consistent). With change usually comes growth and growth usually requires quite a bit of energy. Don’t even get me started that this has all been happening as I’ve been trying to create some Christmas magic for my kiddos! Phew!

However, I’ve been consistently drinking my Bulletproof Coffee in all its upgraded coffee bean glory (did you know a lot of coffee beans we make our brew from have mold? MOLD! EW!), with Brain Octane (hello MCT oils) and Grass-Fed Ghee. And, because I love it so much, I have a few social posts with me and my beloved coffee cuddling together in my office. Awwwww. With all the cuddling and canoodling, I’ve had quite a few questions about my coffee.

Does it really work?
What the heck is that?
Butter? Really?
Explain yourself! You don’t endorse products!

I thought I could write this post to explain Bulletproof Coffee to you, why I love it, what it is, when to drink it and how to make it. So, let’s begin.

Who?

Me, silly goose. I’m talking about my experience with Bulletproof, no one else’s. I’m a big fan of research and finding products that are scientifically sound. While I still feel there needs to be more research on the benefits of MCT oil on energy and mental focus, for me, it works like a hot damn.

What & Why? (These two just go together, you’ll see)

Today I’m writing about the three products that I use (almost) daily. Upgraded Bulletproof Coffee, Bulletproof’s Grass-Fed Ghee and of course, the product I am MOST fond of, Brain Octane Oil. There are numerous other products you can try, CLICK HERE to find more products if these 3 aren’t what you’re looking for.

Upgraded coffee beans: Think non-moldy coffee beans. And, if you think your coffee doesn’t have mold, think again. Research studies have shown that 52 – 91.7% of green coffee beans were moldy and 50% of brewed coffee contained mold. Bulletproof has mold standards. Meaning, they have a process and actual mold standards where they don’t let the moldy suckers through to their beans and then to your body. Just say NO to mold.

Grass-Fed Ghee: This is Bulletproof’s option for grass-fed fat. You can also find grass-fed butter at your local health food store (some grocery stores carry it) and use that. Unfortunately, it’s not available in Canada just yet, so for all my Canucks, just use grass-fed unsalted butter.

Brain Octane Oil: This is the secret ingredient, I swear. Brain octane oil contains 16x the healthy fats of coconut oil and can be converted to ATP (the cellular fuel your body and brain actually use) in three steps (FYI…sugar has 25 steps). It also bypasses your liver (which is probably on overdrive, thank you, Santa), so it’s readily available for your big brain and strong muscles to easily use! What does that mean? It means the effects of the Brain Octane Oil can be felt almost immediately.

I’m not kidding. Immediately. I love this stuff!

There is more and more research coming out on the benefits of MCT oil of mental focus and physical prowess (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a blog) and for me, it works. In particular, my mental focus is much clearer and I have energy to spare on my Bulletproof days.

Where?

Wherever you want, my friend. Drink it at home, in your car, at work, in the shower, while you chase your kids (wait no, don’t drink and run). Take it to go, drink is slow, drink it fast. Just drink it wherever you are.

When?

I drink my Bulletproof Coffee at 10am every morning. Now, I’m a bit of a schedule goober and I live by my calendar. So, it’s 10am for me. Aso, I drink my Bulletproof coffee after I workout. I tried to drink it before, but for me, my workouts suffered. I think too much blood was diverted to digest the fat.

I do recommend you drink it before 1pm.

How?

Here’s how I brew my perfect cup of Bulletproof Coffee:

2.5 Tbsp (or 2.5 Tbsp) of ground Bulletproof coffee go into my french press (yup, I’m that fancy now). Pour 1.5 cups of hot water (I let my kettle boil then let it sit for 2 minutes) into the french press. Let stand for 4 minutes.
Add 1 Tbsp Brain Octane Oil to your blender.
Add 1 Tbsp Grass-Fed Ghee (or grass-fed butter) to your blender.
Add 1 tsp cinnamon (optional…I likes my cinnamon!)
Add the brewed coffee to your blender.
Blend until frothy. I usually blend it for at least 1 minute otherwise, I found it wasn’t creamy enough.
Enjoy

7 simple steps to mental focus and energy all day. It’s so worth it.

Alright, party people. It’s time for you to go enjoy your coffee. There are some great sales on now AND many, many other products. There’s hot chocolate, tea and these little ampules called “Unfair Advantage”, which give you mitochondrial boosts (read more here, I need to read more on this one!). So much to choose from. Time to SHOP!

Questions? Just ask! Again, this is my personal experience with these products. But for me, it’s a game-changer. Life is mega-crazy at all times and I love that I found something that helps me focus. While some days are still a grind (life is like that), it’s nice to have a little help…from my OWN body…working WITH me. Woop! Go me! Go body! YAY!

And pssst…you really should be following me on social: Facebook, Instagram & Twitter…I’m everywhere!

Swallowing Skepticism One Sip at a Time with Bulletproof Coffee

October 11, 2016 By Lindsay Gee

I drink a lot of coffee. And, I mean a lot. I love it. I’m sure I’m addicted to it but I certainly have no plans on changing my coffee intake. I simply love the act of drinking coffee. I love waking up at 4:30am (yes, that’s actually the time I wake up), pouring myself a hot cup of coffee and working my morning away while sipping that dark, steamy, delicious nectar. I love it.

Can coffee get better? I thought no. But, I was wrong. Enter Bulletproof coffee. I was asked to try Bulletproof coffee along with their MCT oil (they call it Brain Octane…Kaaaaa-POW!) and write about it. I thought, sure, I like coffee and how much can coffee change my day really? Coffee is coffee and I have awesome energy and am super focused, but I’ll give it a try. I like trying new stuff but I honestly doubt I’ll feel any different.

*Eats her words*.

I’m a researcher at heart, so I like experiments. I like conducting my own research. This is my personal experience with this product, but I figure I should share how my one-week experiment with Bulletproof coffee went because it was pretty interesting (fellow nerds unite!) .

My Experiment:

Here’s what I did. I mixed one cup of my own coffee with Bulletproof Instamix (grass-fed butter package) along with 1-2 tsp of Bulletproof’s Brain Octane (MCT oil, I will explain that in a bit) for four days. During those four days, I had an abundance of energy and outlined four new projects for my company, Hot Mama Health & Fitness. On day five I thought, “I wonder if I’m just having a good week? Certainly, it’s not just the coffee”. I had energy to spare, I was more focused. But no, coffee can’t do that. Psh.

So, on Day 5 and Day 6 I drank my usual coffee, no Instamix, no Brain Octane. And…I was sluggish and unfocused. I think I stared at my computer screen for an hour before I wrote a single word. Maybe my thyroid is off again? Maybe I didn’t eat properly? It certainly cannot be my coffee.

Day 7 I added the Instamix and MCT oil back into my coffee…and BAM! I was back, baby. Energy, focus, mental clarity.

*Nom, nom, nom. These words are delicious*.

Well…NOW I needed to find out WHY. Why was this coffee affecting me so much? So, I started researching MCT oil and the effects it has on the body.

*Nerd Alert!!*

Why Brain Octane & Instamix?

MCT Oil: medium-chain triglyceride (it’s a “good” saturated fat), named that for the length of their carbon chain. MCTs range between 6-12. For reference long-chain triglycerides range from 13-21. MCTs are easier for your body to break down because they have fewer carbon bonds to munch through. They’re also small enough they can move into cell membranes and they don’t require special enzymes to help break them down in order for our body to use them for energy.

Bulletproof’s Brain Octane is a purified form of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, in fact, it’s pure C-8 MCT, meaning it has 8 carbon bonds and has 18 times the C-8 of coconut oil! The interesting part, at least for me, is that it takes only three steps to convert Brain October to ATP (that’s the fuel your body and brain use!) compared to sugar, which takes 25 steps! What the what?!

Okaaaay…so what does that mean? Our brain is largely made up of fatty acids, so that means you need a rather steady supply from your diet to help you focus and stay on task. MCTs? Well, they’re thought to be one of the most easily digested fatty acids. When you readily available, easily digestible fatty acids readily available, perhaps they are more easily used for brain function. Now, I’m not certain about this, but that’s what I’m reading as I do my research and that’s certainly what I felt!

More and more research is coming out claiming that MCTs help with the following: increased metabolism, better mental focus/clarity, more efficient use of fat for energy, better digestion and it can help balance hormones and improve your mood. It’s magic! If you’d like to read more information, click HERE and go nerd out with me!

Now, I could write an entire article about MCT oils and why good saturated fats are important in your diet. I could write another full article on why concentrated amounts of MCT oils like you find in the Brain Octane I was putting in my coffee are better than say, coconut oil (which is still super good and yes, you should continue to use it), but this article is just about my own personal experience with these ingredients.

And for me, one cup of Bulletproof coffee changed my day. I often find it hard to write sentences like that because I’m a skeptic. But, when coffee can make you feel that good? I had better share the information.

So…my results?

My Personal Results:

Taste: Okay, I admit that I did have to get used to the taste. It is different. I put the Instamix and the Brain Octane (MCT oil) in my blender and blended up my coffee for about 30 seconds. I added cinnamon on day 3 and that made it yummier. It’s not awful in any way, shape or form, but it is different and you’ll need to get used to it.

Energy: Loads. The first day I drank Bulletproof coffee I drank it first thing in the morning. Now, I’m a morning worker-outer, and it did affect my workout negatively. This would be because energy was put to fat digestion at the time I needed the focus to be on my muscles. Lesson learned. From then on I drank my Bulletproof coffee around 10am, after my workout. My energy was high all day and I felt awesome.

Mental focus: I don’t think you realize how unfocused you are until you have days where you’re actually very focused. This was a big eye-opener for me on days 5 and 6 when I didn’t drink Bulletproof. I hadn’t realized how focused I could actually be. It was an incredibly interesting result for me.

Conclusion (I feel like I’m writing for my PhD again!):

Summary? I like it! I’m swallowing my skepticism on this one and I noticed big changes in myself during the week I tried Bulletproof coffee. Will I continue after my one-week experiment?

You bet your sweet buns I will. I have the world I need to dominate and I’ll take any and all help I can get! I’m used to the taste now and I find that on the days I don’t drink it, I miss it.

One cup a day, that’s all I need! #BulletproofCoffee
The great news? Squeee…even if you’re not a coffee drinker, you can use MCT oils and Bulletproof products in tea or hot chocolate! AND…and, and, and they also have amazing Starter Kits you can check out! YAY! I love me a good starter kit!

Sweating with Confidence – It’s a Thing!

September 9, 2016 By Lindsay Gee

When I workout I am a sweaty, sweaty mess. My clothes are usually soaked and my hair looks “shower-fresh” (aka soaked!). Sometimes I look around at others while they workout and they’re “glowing”. Literally. They shimmer with little tiny sweat beads and I always think they look so healthy and fresh. I then wring out my ponytail, mop my face and get back to work…dripping my way through my entire workout.

So, when I find a product that is natural and that works? You bet your sweet buns I’m going to tell you about it! Enter Z Natural Life and their vegan-certified (yup, it sure is!) cream gel deodorants! What the what?!

Oh yes…I’m writing a post about deodorant.

I’ve always been very aware of what I’m putting in my body, but just recently I’ve started to think about what I’m putting on my body. I was given this product to try out and although I was hesitant (refer to paragraph one and all the sweating), I thought “Heck yes! Aluminium-free? Natural?” I’m in!”.

And put it to the test I did!

I was registered for a 13.5km wine run and figured it was the perfect time to trial out my new deodorant. As I prepared for the race I used the “Clean” version of the deodorant and thought to myself “Okay…this is going to go really well OR I’m going to need to apologize to my run team and buy them all wine at the end”.

The run was hot, hilly and very sweaty. And the result? Woop! Woop!!! An awesome new deodorant that effectively worked on my sweaty self. I ran for over 3.5 hours (with some wine-tasting in there) and my “smell-test” throughout was negative (no smell). This stuff is strong enough to last all day. I even had my best friend do the smell test on me in the washroom after the run. It was a little embarrassing when another woman walked into the washroom just as she had her nose in my armpit …but hey…all in the name of product testing! It was best friend-approved, as well.

Note: I am, once again, the sweatiest person in this picture! LOL

New deodorants that WORK, are vegan-certified, are aluminium-free (also free of propylene glycol, artificial colors and synthetic fragrances…but let’s not get technical) are exciting for sweaty people like me! I really do love this product.

You can get some for yourself online at www.znaturallife.com. I don’t endorse a lot of products, but this one, Mamas…oh this is a gooder. I’m a HUGE fan. I’m going to run and sweat and workout HARD with confidence that I won’t clear a room. Now that’s a great thing!