Fit Foodie

Mareya Ibrahim is The Fit Foodie, a TV chef, holistic nutrition coach, author and award-winning entrepreneur and inventor. She is the author of “Eat Like You Give a Fork,” and a signature chef to the NY Times bestseller “The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life”. Mareya is the host of “Recipes For Your Best Life” Podcast and is a frequent guest on national cooking shows. Connect with Mareya at mareyaibrahim.com.

A BATTLE CRY: IT’S (STILL) TIME TO ARMOR UP

BY THE FIT FOODIE MAREYA IBRAHIM

Iwas flipping through an old journal as I was unpacking some boxes into the new home that I share with my new husband. Yes, my new husband! We got married on February 15th,2020. just 3 weeks before the pandemic lockdown. We call it ‘Honeymoon in Quarantine’ because we didn’t actually have the chance to go on our honeymoon. On December 31, 2019, we closed down our office in Aliso Viejo, my two teenagers and I moved out of our home at the end of January 2020 and Gabe and I closed on our first home together February 13th, 2020. Two days later, we exchanged vows among our closest friends and family and partied like it was 1999. It was an amazing day and the culmination of so much hope and love shared, witnessed by so many that said it was one of the best days they’d ever had. And days after the lockdown, we were in awe of just how amazing our timing was. No one could have ever anticipated what was coming. Top the upheaval off with national cries of racial injustice and police brutality, protests, Black Lives Matter and a barrage of mudslinging with the presidential election on the horizon, it has left us all shellshocked, to say the least. My mentor emailed me commenting on how she never thought she’d see the racial protests of the 60’s in her lifetime again.

A lot of people are surprised by how Deja vu it is all seeming.

Unless you have some intel the rest of us don’t, life can be surprising. You just don’t know what’s coming. But my very wise grandfather would say, we must live ‘fully aware’ and with our eyes wide open - about our health, our mortality, and how we handle things, small and large, because history has a tendency of repeating itself.

A little over a decade ago, when I was first working on our Eat Cleaner line of products, preparing to go to market, H1N1, or Swine flu first struck in Mexico, then the United States, in the spring of 2009. By June, the novel H1N1 flu (swine flu) was reported in every state in this country, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 70 other countries worldwide. It hit countries in the southern hemisphere during their regular flu season — our summer months. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic alert Phase 6, the highest level of alert. However, this was not because of how serious the novel H1N1 flu

(swine flu) virus is, but rather because of how quickly this new flu had spread across the globe.

And like then, a few things happened in the ‘recaps’ of how we handled H1N1

Public information and risk communication messages were disseminated through a variety of media, including television, radio, and extensively distributed printed materials. However, on several occasions, government officials issued contradictory statements on the status of the pandemic or conflicting health advice. Laboratory and analytical services were overburdened. Anti-viral drug stockpiles were lacking. Supplies of surgical masks and N95 face-fitting respirators disappeared quickly. While supply chains for many critical products and services were not interrupted during the pandemic, they certainly were for critical personal protective equipment. So many things we could have learned from that would have served us better in the early days of handling Coronavirus as a global unit.

Then there are all the repercussions. What about the crashing stock market? Consistent headlines of a recession on our doorstep? Shuttering businesses? Kids unable to school and play outside causing boredom and parents to wonder, what do I do now? People losing their livelihoods? World unrest? Normal life as we know it?

We didn’t have a crystal ball but it wasn’t our first rodeo with this type of virus. We’ve withstood centuries of inequity in how people are treated. Yet, with all the technology, money and resources in our country, here we are.

Putting the potential of infection, protests and the unknown aside for a second. How will the stress of our ‘new normal’ impact our personal health while many wait for a vaccine and the hope for a ‘business as usual’ way of doing things? This is the second wave of disease we ought to be preparing for, starting today.

That said, I want to talk about our immune system. If you are one of the millions considered ‘high risk’, meaning you have a preexisting condition that compromises your immunity like MS, lupus or cancer, you are elderly or under the age of 5, or a pregnant woman, you know that every step in life is something you need to be cognizant of. After all, that’s why we created our Eat Cleaner line in the first place, so my father could eat a salad after being told to remove raw foods from his diet with his cancer diagnosis, because a bout of food borne illness could kill him.

But if you are someone who would otherwise be considered healthy, a person whose immune system can fight When germs, such as bacteria or viruses when they invade the body and multiply,

you may be wondering, why am I being punished? Because we’re dealing with the unknown, the novel Coronavirus. Just like H1N1 was called ‘novel’ because we hadn’t seen anything like it. Superbugs are not just the fodder of big cinema movie directors like in the movie Contagion, it’s real and can create far more damage than we are even seeing.

If we are going to learn from the past and the current situation, it will take owning our personal health journeys and making different choices in our everyday lifestyle.

It starts with the food we eat. Viruses and antibiotic resistance can transmit through our forks, so taking care to eat proteins that come from clean sources is so critical. If an animal isn’t eating right, and you’re eating the animal, guess what? You’re getting contaminated too. Supporting that factory farm by voting with your dollar and saving a buck doesn’t make sense - the mind or money kind. Farm raised seafood are eating radioactive pellets and getting contaminated with lice at a rate of over 90% and you think you’re immune?

When you can’t control things, you can control how you react. That’s why we need to start without own ecosystem.

Deferring to highly processed foods and drinks with artificial colors, flavorings and sweeteners that cause cancer in animals is not something we can do with abandon. Neither is lining up at the fast-food window or giving our health over to companies and restaurants that are more interested in making a profit. We must get real with ourselves and our personal habits. If you don’t eat right, it will eat you alive. If you don’t manage your stress, your stress will consume you. If you are filled with frenetic fear, your mind will derail your body. If you don’t value sleep, your nightmares could become your reality. And if you don’t move your body to keep it active and strong, it won’t bear the weight any longer.

Never have we had to armor up like this, and it takes building up our own house first. We can eat to live instead of living to eat. Start with proper nutrition. On a regular basis, we focus on getting the right balance of essential amino acids, or protein, because they are the building blocks of humanity. Without Lysine, you’d have a hard time keeping your immunity and antibodies in check. Without tryptophan, you couldn’t produce serotonin that helps you feel joy and helps you sleep. Get your vitamin D plus some sunshine. Get your vitamin C and calcium. Fill up on probiotics to keep your gut health in check - Fermented foods are your friends! And then think about routines to help you sustain those great habits every day.

HANDLE FOOD PROPERLY

The USDA suggests we thoroughly cook our meat products and eggs. But what about our salad greens and juices? We suggest you also wash your fresh produce thoroughly, ESPECIALLY if it is being eaten raw. Leafy greens are not only the #1 cause of food borne illness according to the Center of Disease Control, there is no kill step when it comes to consuming raw produce. Using Eat Cleaner helps to reduce your risk of infection by removing up to 99.99% of the residue that can carry bacteria and viruses. Plus, it helps your produce up to 5x longer, so you don’t have to go to the store nearly as much, and risk Billy’s snot and cough juice spraying across your kale (sorry, but eww).

EAT RIGHT AND HYDRATE

Boosting your own body’s immunity and ability to fight infection is on your own plate. Eating a variety of fresh fruit and veggies, especially those loaded with antioxidants and Vitamin C like leafy greens and citrus, is important. But it’s so much more than that. Armoring up means getting a balance of essential amino acids (protein), good fat and slow burning carbohydrates so you fuel your body for maximum efficiency and strength. Adding prebiotic (garlic, onions, fiber) and probiotic rich foods (pickles, kimchi, fermented foods like miso, tempeh and black garlic) will all help with getting your gut health in check – and your microbiome is critical in keeping your immune system healthy. Antiviral and anti-inflammatory herbs and spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary and black cumin seed are powerful ways to pump up your plate. Just as important as nourishment is hydration. Drinking enough clear liquids every day to flush your system of toxins is key. You can add some lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar to your water to help with controlling bacteria, too. Check out my Eat To Thrive program and my book, Eat Like You Give a Fork: The Real Dish on Eating to Thrive for the step-by-steps, all at eatcleaner.com.

EXERCISE

Building strength in your body requires movement. Plus, it helps to take the stress edge off and the sweat helps to move toxins out of your body. Try and get at least 30 minutes of movement every day to get your heart pumping, and introduce exercises that build muscle. You don’t need fancy gym equipment, either. Good, old-fashioned pushups, sit-ups, squats and leg lifts that use your own body’s resistance are extremely effective. Yoga is also a wonderful way to move and breathe, which oxygenates your body, helps to bolster cell health and can help you chillax. I’m a big fan of online exercise videos for the convenience of working out from your own home. Check out my friends at RIPPEDPLANET.com for their exercise formats that work your whole body in a fun way. Sweating is so much better when it’s to good music!

SUPPLEMENT

I’m a big fan of supplementation because I’m a strong believer that despite a super clean and healthy eating plan, much of our food options are void of essential vitamins and minerals due to the time it takes to get from field to fork – not to mention, the soil being stripped of vital nutrients and animals not eating what they’re supposed to. These supplements may help build your immunity and body’s natural defenses to fight infection and protect healthy cells. That said, you don’t have to go crazy with the vitamin cabinet, either. There are a few that I take from reputable companies who I know walk the talk – and you may want to introduce them into your life, too. One line I’m really fond of is from Nupeutics Health. They are ayurvedic blends for different needs, so it helps take the guesswork out of what to take. The line includes Microbiome Master, Immunity Master, Stress Master, Sleep Master and Hormone Master, among others. The Immunity, Hormone and Stress Masters have been my ‘go-to’s’ in a big way lately.

RELAX AND SLEEP

There is nothing more taxing on your body than to worry. The inability to rest and sleep leads to a build-up of cortisol which leads to excess inflammation, irritability and chaos… and so the rabid cycle continues. Drink herbal tea before going to bed and adopt a practice of avoiding screen time before going to sleep. Take a hot shower. Breathe. And keep smiling. Stressing will only bring on more anxiety – and that does no one any good. Stay confident in that you’ve done everything to protect yourself and your family. Value sleep time and keep a consistent sleep schedule. Studies show it’s best for adults to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night and getting to bed before midnight is best.

If there’s a valuable lesson I’ve learned during my ‘honeymoon in quarantine’ is to stay close to the people we love. By all reports, that closeness is something humanity not only craves but physically needs. In a recent study I read, it shared that people over 65 miss ‘getting hugs’ more than anything else from pre-life pandemic. We owe it to ourselves and to the elders in our life to armor up so we can give them more hugs. They deserve it. And if you have the ability to share that love and attention, I will say, you are very blessed indeed.

Here are some of my personal tips for keeping it real and happy every day:

Start by setting your alarm to the same time every day, even if you don’t have a set schedule

Make your bed

Have time for prayer and gratitude

Set up vitamins and supplements in a place you can see

Meal prep with a plan so you know to get these foods in

Plan your day with a calendar, and schedule movement

Do something every day that brings you joy; play an instrument, read, dance, listen to music, do art, whatever it is that gets the corners of your mouth to move upward

Prioritize the people you love in words, actions and affection