Sugar Detox and Fueling Your Body with Food

Sugar Detox and Fueling Your Body with Food

Hey Tranquility Tribe!  In this week’s episode, Hehe talks to sisters and business partners, Erika and Tiffany Brown, about their passion for food and the major impacts that what you eat can have on your life.

Who are Erika and Tiffany?

Erika has always had a passion for food and a desire to run her own business.  When her son Tristan was one, she went to culinary school and decided to start her own personal chef and cleaning company.  She was hired by a holistic lifestyle coach, who taught her about the paleo diet and how to cook with whole foods rather than using processed options.  When Erika’s son was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of five, she decided to change his diet in an effort to avoid medication.  She removed gluten, food dyes, sugar, and preservatives, and began to cook more whole foods from scratch, which ended up leading to a huge change in his behavior.  As Erika became more knowledgeable about the foods she was using, family and friends began asking for help with meals, so she decided to start Fitness Foods.  At the time, Erika’s sister Tiffany, was involved in finance, so Erika recruited her to help create a website, take care of customer service, and keep track of the bookkeeping, and their business took off! 

Why get involved?

Erika and Tiffany’s clients come to Fitness Foods for a number of different reasons.  The foods that you eat can affect countless aspects of your life, from your weight to your energy level to your skin and even your susceptibility to diseases such as diabetes and cancer.  Cutting out certain foods can lead to noticeable differences in your mood and your overall health.  Although it can be difficult to make sudden changes in your diet, Erika and Tiffany recommend trying to be as strict as possible with new diets for at least three weeks to really see an impact.

The food that you eat is especially important if you are pregnant, because you’re not just eating for yourself anymore!  If you struggle with morning sickness, Erika recommends ginger drinks, which can help settle your stomach.  Erika and Tiffany also advise taking iron supplements, increasing your water intake, and eating foods like red meat, nuts and seeds, and green vegetables to ensure that your tiny human gets all the nutrients they need.  It’s also important to eat lots of healthy fats like eggs and avocado, which help you stay full, deal with cravings, and support your baby’s brain development. 

Your postpartum diet is also important to consider, as the postpartum period is a time for healing and rebalancing hormones.  This can get even more complicated if you are breastfeeding, because the food you eat can impact your new baby as well.  Erika and Tiffany recommend trying to continue eating as healthy as possible through your postpartum period by sticking to whole foods – some of their favorites include avocados, cheese, nuts and nut butters, eggs, and pasteurized meat.  Try to stay as hydrated as possible by drinking water and eating foods such as fruit rather than saltier options.  And if you’re noticing changes in your hair and nails, Erika recommends fermented cod liver oil to keep those parts of your body healthy and strong.

Erika and Tiffany’s tips and tricks

Erika and Tiffany are also full of advice for feeding your little ones as they grow older.  When your tiny human is ready to start eating real foods, Erika recommends healthy options like mashed avocado and banana and egg yolk.  And if your little one is picky, sometimes tough love is all that’s needed to help them get past their distaste for certain foods, and other times you may need to adapt and find foods that they will eat just to get through the day.  But regardless of what you decide to feed your child, the most important thing to keep in mind is to follow your instincts – figure out what works best for you and stick with it!

For parents, Erika and Tiffany emphasize the importance of making time for yourself when you need.  Don’t be afraid to lean on your partner and the rest of your village for support.  And keep in mind that sometimes you just have to let things go – remember that you’re doing the best you can and don’t take life too seriously.  After all, it’s the good times that you’ll remember the most!

If you want to learn more about Erika and Tiffany, you can find them on Instagram at @fueluptv and @fitnessfoods and online at tiffanderika.com.  You can also check out their series FuelUp TV on YouTube!

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Written by our Guest Blogger, Kyra Shreeve. She is a Biochemistry, Health Policy, and Music student at Brandeis University.