WHY I WENT DAIRY FREE AND A YUMMY DAIRY FREE CHEESE RECIPE

Several years ago I began to experience some mysterious symptoms. Despite following a diet rich in vegetables and good quality proteins and fats, I began experiencing joint pain, unexplainable exhaustion and terrible swelling and cracking skin around different areas of my body, especially my face and hands!

In upcoming blog posts, I hope to share with you my journey from this mystery autoimmune condition and the things I did to heal myself, but in this post I will share why I gave up dairy – after years of swearing that I was perfectly fine on it. And why I have stayed off dairy since.

Some of us may do better than others on dairy, and while some people have some more severe symptoms than others, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other things happening in the body that we aren’t yet aware of.

My background in holistic nutrition always made me question dairy consumption; On one hand there are those that claim that if you can tolerate fermented dairy and raw dairy it is an incredibly healthy food rich in calcium, vitamins, healthy fats and proteins. On the other hand if you can’t tolerate dairy, it can be behind many symptoms, such as excess mucus in the body, inflammation in the joints, stomach pain, rashes, constipation.

The question is, why are some of us ok on dairy and others not? Is this even something to debate? Is dairy even good for any of us?

After going through my own personal health issues, I realise that the body doesn’t always tell us things in the most obvious ways. What I mean by that dairy many be one of the triggers in a cascade of triggers that is leading you to not feel your best. For example you may be experiencing symptoms that you aren’t aware of. Perhaps your lack of energy, lethargy, anxiety, malabsorption of nutrients, your unknowing sluggish liver, are all being exacerbated by dairy consumption.

According to Anthony William, author of Medical Medium, dairy feeds many forms of unhealthy bacteria and viruses in the body. In the book, The Medical Medium he speaks about the Epstein Barr virus that many of us have either dormant in our body, or alive and wreaking havoc in your body. If it dormant, it may be waiting for that perfect moment when we are overly stressed, sleep deprived, dealing with emotional turmoil, to invade. If it is alive and wreaking havoc, it could be what’s behind mysterious symptoms, hypo or hyperthyroidism, and countless other autoimmune conditions. Epstein Barr feeds on dairy making it stronger to continue to attach your body.

So do you run to your doctor and get tested for lactose intolerance or a dairy allergy? You could but that may not really give you the answers you want. Like me, you may not be diagnosed with an allergy to dairy, but still do so much better without it.

Whether you are dealing with an autoimmune disease, like I was, or could simply use more energy in your day, better skin, better digestion, less bloating, then you have the power to see if eliminating dairy could bring more wellness into your life.

Eliminate it and see how you feel without it for yourself. Remove it from your diet for 6 weeks and document your experience in a journal. Ask questions such as: How is my energy level today? How are my bowel movements today? Am I bloated today? How do my clothes fit around my waist line today? …It’s a very powerful feeling taking your health into your own hands and discovering what foods make you feel great and which you want to stay away from!

Now, I know that giving up dairy is not easy. For me it certainly was! There was a time I actually said “there is absolutely no way I would ever give up dairy” …but hey, it’s now been 5 years and I can honestly say I crave it maybe once a year.

The key is to replace dairy in your day with other foods that taste good and are nourishing. Switch your morning yogurt or cottage cheese for chia pudding, your creamer in your coffee for almond milk, your cheese on your salads for nuts and seeds…the idea is that there are other options.

Here’s a really easy to make Cashew Cheese recipe that I love to make. You can use it as pizza topper, have it with crudite, spread it on anything really!

Cashew Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 garlic clove, finely minced (or a roasted garlic clove (this makes it extra yummy!)
½ date
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
¼ cup water (approximately)

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and water of necessary.

Enjoy!

Much love,

Daniela Nahas

Certified Health Coach

CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach

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KARSTEN DICKIE

Hey BBBC family! My name is Karsten Dickie and I am a coach at King West Best Body Bootcamp.

Growing up I was very involved in sports. I played competitive volleyball, basketball and hockey. I was always fascinated with how the body works, nutrition, strength training and anything that involved athletics. Applying my knowledge I noticed improvement of my health, energy and body transformation which then had me hooked on weight training. That’s when I knew I wanted to help impact people’s lives and share my knowledge about exercise, mobility and nutrition to help achieve their goals.

I received my diploma from Algonquin College for Fitness & Health Promotion and I have been doing group training for six years now. Additionally, I’ve trained hockey teams, volleyball teams, large event groups, and one-on-one training.

I’m passionate about enhancing the health, fitness and overall well-being of clients. With my skills and knowledge, I help clients achieve their goals in and out of the gym.

Outside of training I like to do yoga, read, play team sports, and spend time with my friends and family.

CERTIFICATIONS/ACHIEVEMENTS:

Algonquin College Fitness & Health Promotion
CanFitPro PTS
Lucas Parker Barbell Cycling
CPR/AED2

ANDY RANDHAWA

Hey there!
I’m Andy Randhawa, the newest addition to the Best Body Bootcamp family.

You can’t hear my accent while reading this but I’m Australian.
I grew up playing a lot of sports like tennis, basketball, boxing and footy (Aussie rules football) and competed professionally in tennis.

I have transformed bodies for over 12 years and also helped them show it off on stage.

I have an extensive knowledge about training and nutrition which I can apply to my clients to bring them closer their goals.

When I’m not making people sore or make them complain while training I spend my time doing filmmaking, videography and hanging out with friends (I need new ones in Canada).

Look forward to making you get your dream body.

CERTIFICATIONS/ACHIEVEMENTS:

Diploma of Fitness
Bachelors of Exercise Science
BoxFit Level 1&2

DANIELA NAHAS

My journey in fitness and health began about 15 years ago. Before that, like many of you I struggled with yo-yo dieting, and doing countless hours of cardio just to stay looking slim. Boy I wish I could talk some sense into my past self! But health is a journey and I am so grateful for all of my experiences, which have shaped what I have to offer our members today.
Over the years I have experienced first hand the life changing benefits of incorporating the right kind of exercise into my life. That motivated me to become a personal trainer 15 years ago, and it still continues to motivate me today. I want everyone to be able to to experience what exercise can do for their well being, self confidence and physique.
I used to struggle with my nutrition in a big way, so I completely empathize with you, if this is the hardest part for you when it comes to seeing long term change. I once struggled with eating disorders, followed by any years of a very negative relationship to food, even during my initial years as a personal trainer.

It occurred to me one day that I could not help my clients make changes and make better choices, without first focusing on myself. It was through completing my Holistic Lifestyle Coach Certification that I was able to change my relationship to food and be able to genuinely help clients get closer to their goals.

My increasing passion for nutrition and health led me to become certified as a Health Coach. As a health coach, I am able to help my clients delve deeper into your relationship with food and their health. What lies beneath our patterns and habits is fascinating and when you can tap into that it can have an incredibly powerful impact on our lives, and bring about real change!

These days I leave most of the bootcamp training to our awesome trainers, but I continue to share my passion for nutrition and fitness in our private member facebook group and work on our ever evolving member offerings.

My other passion? I am the luckiest mom to a 9-year-old boy. He keeps me on my toes and I must admit has helped me grow in ways I never thought possible. Together with hubby Roger Nahas, we like to spend plenty of time outdoors, along with the latest family hobby – board games.

When I get me time, I like to do yoga, read, cook, and spend time in nature.

I look forward to having you join us!

CERTIFICATIONS/ACHIEVEMENTS:

Health Coach Certification – Health Coach Institute
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 2
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1
Scientific Core Training , C.H.E.K Institute
Program Design, C.H.E.K Institute
Human Kinetics Exercise Anatomy
SPI Advanced Training for General Fitness
SPI Technical Aspects of Strength Training
SPI Nutrition for Sport and Performance
Emergency First Aid & CPR

ROGER NAHAS

My journey in fitness and nutrition is a little different than most. You see, I’m a former fat kid! The kid who was a total introvert! I was always the guy who was too embarrassed to take his shirt off at the beach! But I remember the day everything changed for me – I looked in the mirror and wasn’t happy with what I saw. I made the decision to change my body and my life. It was 1999 and I took a before pic and measurements and body fat and I entered the Body for Life Challenge. Over the next 90 days, I completely changed my eating habits, and worked out regularly. I actually was awarded the Canadian Grand Champion for my age category!

I was no longer the fat kid. I looked forward to getting to a beach so I could take my shirt off and I became more outgoing and fun! After seeing the difference it made in my life I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people realize the amazing benefits of optimal health and fitness.

I started out as most trainers do in your typical gym. After years of working in a gym setting, I was getting disillusioned with how Big Box Gyms operated. I wanted to train people functionally and to make their bodies strong in the movements they used in the real word. I wanted to make working with a highly trained instructor more affordable, and I wanted to make fitness fun because let’s face it; if you are having a blast, it makes it that much easier to stick to it. The result was the launching of Best Body . I have to tell you that although I looked great in the after pic above, the food and exercise plans I followed to get that after pic, hurt me in the long run. It made me look good from the outside but my body was breaking down on the inside. The way I was working out and what I thought was healthy eating was in fact hurting me in the long run. I was over training, taking longer to recover from my workouts, I tore my rotator cuff and had gut issues. Nothing I could do was helping and then I was introduced to a C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach who helped me. Turns out I was stressing my body beyond repair and then giving it food that wasn’t helping but was actually stressing my body even more. He made me look at my body and the food I put into it in a totally different way.

That lead me to complete my certification as a C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach and we pass that knowledge on and encourage holistic nutrition to our members.

In addition to running the day-to-day operations of Best Body Bootcamp, I also work with individual clients doing fitness training as well as holistic nutrition and lifestyle coaching.

When I’ve got a bit of free time, I spend as much of it as possible with my wife and son, I bike year round, play hockey, practice Tai Chi daily, read & take courses.

I hope to see you soon so we can transform your body and life!

CERTIFICATIONS/ACHIEVEMENTS:

C.H.E.K Golf Performance Specialist
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 2
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1
Scientific Core Training , C.H.E.K Institute
C.H.E.K Golf Performance Specialist
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 2
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1
Program Design, C.H.E.K Institute
Program Design, C.H.E.K Institute
Scientific Core Training , C.H.E.K Institute

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I am very happy to be a member of BBBC. Even if November has been busy and I could not come a lot, my coach was following with me and I was pushed to come back. When I came back, I felt so much energy.

Samuel LECLERC