Yup, I’m overweight. Not obese, at least not yet, but definitely overweight. So like a few billion others, I keep telling myself, “I can lose the weight if I really wanted to, or if I really tried”. I’ve been putting it off for years and now my health is at risk. It’s interesting (in a terrifying, looming threat sort of way) how much weight control problems affect the whole system. Headaches, blood pressure, breathing, chest pains, heartburns, back pain; and that’s just for me. I hear horror stories, most from my doom loving doctor, about how failure to control my weight can destroy my body. Not speaking figuratively people, but literally.

So, like probably a billion other people this year, I have made a New Year’s resolution to get to my desired weight by the end of 2019. But, unlike the other billion, I’ve got something quite unique to help me, CBD.

I started working at Green Garden Gold six months ago, and I’ve learned a lot about CBD. It’s truly amazing for pain relief and hundreds of other issues. Working as the Web Master here at Green Garden Gold, I read hundreds of stories from customers and dozens of reviews each month that motivate me in a way no other job has.

CBD’s applications in the nutraceutical and fitness arena are equally impressive.

A CBD Supported Workout

Working out is an important part of successful weight control efforts. For those that are overweight like me, we have to lose the extra weight through diet and exercise until we get to the weight we desire, and then we can maintain that weight with less exercise and a controlled diet. 

Workouts are hard, especially when you haven’t done any for a long time. After that first one hour workout you feel its effects for many days. It’s hard to get motivated to keep to a workout when you are always in pain for days after. That’s where CBD can help. It’s widely supported by testing and studies that CBD helps with inflammation and cellular regeneration. In a word – healing.

Most people have never been to a photo shoot for those muscular and tone fitness models we all desire to look like. If you had, you would’ve noticed weights lying around that aren’t in the photo. The weights are there because the models all do a quick workout right before their photo shoot. Why? It’s because every workout causes microscopic damage to the body’s muscles and tissues, which causes inflammation. Those gorgeous swelling muscles you see in the photos are in fact swollen. It’s this inflammation that triggers the body’s repair processes, allowing tissues to grow back stronger and leaner. It also, obviously, makes your muscles look fantastic.

When you next workout, you will feel that “tightness” around your muscles. Your body is attempting to repair the muscles you just over worked, expending energy and hopefully burning unwanted fat in the process. CBD helps this healing process, by speeding it up. The sooner the muscles heal, the quicker the effects of your workout are felt and seen. Incorporating CBD into your workout recovery can greatly impact your efforts.

The alternative is one we are much more familiar with; sore muscles for days and slow heal times. Trying to force through the pain can also cause too much inflammation and can contribute to excessive muscle damage and poor workout results.

Ketones+ also adds CBD into the product, so your muscles and tendons recover from torn and swollen muscles more quickly. You also have the added wellness that CBD provides, making you feel more energetic and healthy.

The IT department here at Green Garden Gold has decided to join together and use our own products for our weight control goals for 2019. We will be having a sale this New Year’s Eve weekend to help everyone else too! This weekend only we will be giving 40% off our Ketones+ and MCT Power+!

Support from close friends or family is also a key factor to success, so get someone to join you! Good luck to all of us!

CBD has been the all the rage lately – we give it to our pets, our kids, and ourselves to solve a myriad of different issues, and it seems to be the cream of the crop (the hemp crop, that is).

It’s also the next Superfood. Move over, Açaí and avocado! CBD is here to stay. CBD comes from Hemp (and Marijuana, but that’s a whole other subject, that I’ll get to another day), and Hemp seeds are already widely regarded as a popular superfood due to their damn near perfect balance of nutrients. Seriously, these things are LOADED with Omega 3 and 6, iron, vitamin E, and amino acids. CBD is also derived from hemp, and is a heavyweight champion when it comes to health benefits. However, CBD either has little to no taste (isolate), or a very earthy (oil) taste, which many find undesirable, or slightly bitter. So, you either have a flavorless powder, or an earthy tincture for options when it comes to ingesting the cannabinoid. Enter CBD as a food additive.

Use carriers, or beneficial fats in conjunction with your CBD wherever possible. Healthy saturated fats like MCT Oil help your body with the absorption of nutrients and CBD. Try infusing it into butter or ghee, or use a tincture where the CBD is already infused with MCT oil. Bulletproof coffee, anyone? You can also use spirits such as rum, whiskey, or vodka as a carrier. Who doesn’t want to wind down with a CBD Jack n’ Coke after work?

In late June, the Senate passed a version of the 2018 Farm Bill, which includes the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, that could federally legalize industrial hemp nationwide if seen to the finish — legislation that has been an ongoing project of one of the most powerful men in America, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The bill contains provisions that will make hemp into a legal commodity crop. In fact, hemp cultivators will even be eligible for crop insurance.

For the first time in over 80 years, this bill legalizes hemp in all forms nationwide, including CBD oils. Before being classified as a narcotic in 1937 and later a Schedule 1 controlled substance in 1970 due to lack of knowledge besides its association with cannabis plant, hemp was a commodity widely grown in the U.S. for a variety of different uses. With the passing of this bill, combined with today’s technology and advancements in industrial manufacturing, we can expect the global market for hemp products to consist of over 25,000 different varieties — many of which will be created and used for the benefits of the plant’s CBD oils.

The federal government’s decision to legalize hemp is part of a longer, more comprehensive process that stretches back to when President Obama first signed the 2014 Farm Bill. The 2014 Farm Bill created a pilot research program permitting state departments of agriculture and universities to grow and research hemp plants.

However, due to the previous federal regulation of the crop, it was extremely difficult to go about this cultivation during the pilot period. Farmers that were seeking to participate in the hemp cultivation program had to first obtain a waiver from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the number of acres in which a farmer could legally plant hemp were severely limited. This meant that while hemp-based products were not illegal to purchase by consumers, only specific groups had legal permission to cultivate hemp and had to go through a multitude of hoops in order to do so.

With the progression of the new bill being pushed forward by Senate Majority Leader McConnell, if passed, all forms of hemp will be unscheduled and excluded from its legal association with marijuana, provided the THC content is below 0.3 percent. This means that hemp would be able to be grown freely in any area of the country in the same manner as other crops, which will lead to exponentially rapid growth in the hemp and CBD oil industries that have already been progressively rising.

So, What Happens Next?

A joint committee comprised of representatives from both the house and senate will be established. The goal of this “conference” is to find a compromise, and a new version must be established for the bill to continue. Once a compromise is found, the bill goes back to vote. Senator McConnell is in a prime position to advocate for its inclusion in the joint bill, scheduled to be heard in both chambers for finalization by Sept. 30, 2018, as this is when the previous Farm Bill expires. Assuming this version of the bill passes both the house and senate, President Trump will likely sign this bill into law.