Life can feel overwhelming. Stop waiting for willpower and just choose 1-2 new habits you can focus on RIGHT NOW.
1) Start moving your body 🏃🏻♀️- but keep it short and sweet! I recommend picking a consistent time that you can move every day, but allow yourself to vary what you do. Some days it might be a slow walk, others a strength workout. Find a time that will work most or all days of the week, schedule, with reminders, and start to prioritize moving in that window - even just for 15 minutes. Rather than waiting to have a full & elaborate plan, start by moving for short periods of time each day, and then build from there. ☀️ Bonus points for getting outside and getting sunlight during your movement.
2) Meal Planning 🍽️- everyone’s least favorite topic in busy seasons. But here’s the thing, it can be simple and flexible and it can include take out! I like to call it meal mapping so you don’t feel like you have to have a detailed plan, nor that you have to cook every night. Choose a recurring time each week when you can look at your calendar for the following week and identify what meals you are going to prepare, and which you need to outsource. I recommend doing this on a Thursday or Friday so you can think about the coming weekend and week to come. 🗓️ During extra busy seasons of life, keep the meals simple and no new recipes! Having a plan for the week will make you feel so much more in control.
3) Turn off screens 30 minutes earlier than you have been.📱Ideally we all stop the screens around sunset, but I know that’s pretty hard for most of us. Set a time (with alarm) each night that you set your phone aside and minimize screen time as your bedtime is approaching. Remember nothing you are doing at that hour is probably more important than sleep!💤
4) Hit autopilot when it comes to meals. 🥗 Pick 1-2 lunch options that focus on protein & non starchy veggies, and that you enjoy. Then, stock your fridge with the parts to make those meals quickly and easily, and repeat. Boring is helpful sometimes. Don’t try to be creative during chaotic times; save that for another season!
Blood Sugar Balance
Blood Sugar - Why it matters
I’m sure by now you’ve heard the buzz about blood sugar. 🐝 Maybe you’ve been sucked in by a CGM ad, or maybe you assumed the conversation doesn't apply to you because you don't have diabetes. 🤷♀️
While I am not going to tell you that blood sugar is the only thing that matters, there is tremendous value in understanding more about how to keep your blood sugar stable, and why it even matters. ⭐️ And, sneak peak, it doesn’t have to involve removing all sugar from your life! 🙌
Let’s start with why you should even care about balancing your blood sugar. 👇
When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to circulating glucose in your bloodstream. It is the primary source of fuel for your body’s cells - which means we want some glucose in our blood stream at all times! 🕓
When our blood sugar goes too high or too low, it essentially triggers an alarm system in our body. 🚨 When blood sugar is too high, the pancreas is signaled to release insulin, which helps get glucose back into the cells where it should be. When blood sugar is too low, the pancreas and adrenal glands play a big role in helping to increase glucose in the bloodstream. 🎟️
In the moment, this alarm system is helpful for re-establishing balance. 🧘♀️ However, when the alarm goes off too often, your blood sugar can be on a bit of a rollercoaster, affecting a number of systems. 🎢 Sex hormones, thyroid hormones, hormones that regulate appetite, lipid metabolism, and organ function can all be affected by fluctuating blood sugar.
The more your blood sugar varies in a day, the more insulin resistant you become. 📈 This means that your insulin doesn't respond as quickly or as efficiently as it should. And this is where we really see issues. In addition to diabetes, insulin resistance is linked to a number of health conditions. Check out the slides for how it develops.
In practice, insulin resistance and repeated blood sugar swings leads to these symptoms:
Mood swings
Excess androgen production, PCOS, Irritability, Acne
Delayed ovulation, missing periods, irregular cycles
Weight loss resistance
Increased or insatiable cravings, Hanger
Fatigue, Headaches, or Brain Fog after eating
Poor or Disrupted sleep
Shakiness
Excessive thirst
Blood Sugar - what affects it
The first thing to know is that food is far from the only thing that will spike your blood sugar.❗️Remember that alarm system from last week? Glucose is increased in your bloodstream to help you deal with threats (internal or external) - many of which have nothing to do with what you are eating. 🍽️ I think this is particularly important because as soon as we start talking about blood sugar people get a little crazy and start pulling all sugar, including natural glucose, from their diet. And that does not have to be the answer! 🙅♀️
There are a number of ‘alarms’ for your body that might cause your body to increase blood glucose, independent of food, including:
🚨Stress - triggers the adrenals to release hormones cortisol and adrenaline, both of which increase glucose in the bloodstream and inhibit insulin’s effects
🚨Exercise - blood glucose increases in order to help your brain and limbs function during exercise (exercise can also lower blood sugar by increasing uptake into muscle)
🚨Poor sleep - research has shown blood glucose is much more variable after a night of poor sleep
🚨Infection or illness - particularly those driven by fever and inflammation
🚨Time of day - this is hugely variable from person to person, but often you will find the same foods will affect you differently at different points in the day, largely due to natural changes in cortisol and hormones
Additionally, these physical factors affect how quickly your body takes up glucose and moves it into the cells and muscles where it belongs:
⚡️Amount of lean body tissues, or skeletal muscle which is particularly effective at utilizing glucose even when you are not moving
⚡️Sex hormone production, where you are in your cycle (females), and hormone imbalances (such as PCOS)
⚡️Amount of adipose tissue (body fat) which can interfere with insulin signaling
⚡️Liver & digestive health which affects glucose absorption and processing
And yes, food too. All carbohydrates will spike your blood sugar to some extent but there a few things that can affect how intense the spike is, including
🌱Which carbs you consume (which is different for each of us)
🌱The order in which you eat the food groups / types of food in your meal
🌱How much protein and fat you have with the carb
🌱How much fiber is in the carb
🌱How processed the carb is (more refined typically means faster glucose spike)
Hopefully now you can see that there are so many avenues you can take to support balanced blood sugar. 💪
Blood Sugar - How to support it?
Now that we know there are quite a few things that affect blood sugar, let’s talk about how to keep it stable and minimize insulin resistance. 📉
As you saw from my last post, there are THREE main categories that are worth paying attention to in order to help your body better stabilize blood glucose:
Physical & Physiological Factors 🧘♀️
Environment & Behavioral Factors 💤
Food Factors 🍎
Physical and Physiological Factors
⚡️Amount of lean body tissues, or skeletal muscle
⚡️Hormones
⚡️Amount of adipose tissue
⚡️Liver & digestive health
⚡️Infection
So what to do about it?
Physical Factors
⚡️Lift heavy things! Muscle has more insulin receptors than other tissue and is one of the most efficient organs at utilizing glucose. What’s more, having more muscle means less adipose tissue, which can release cytokines that interfere with insulin signaling. Find a program (I’m an @evlofittness fan) or a trainer and start incorporating more resistance training in your routine. I find more resistance training and less cardio is the ticket for improved health markers.
⚡️Know your cycle & get hormone support. SOOO many women are walking around with NO clue about how their body works, where they are in their menstrual cycle, and how their hormones work. It’s sad that most of us were never taught about this incredibly amazing system. Most women are more insulin sensitive (meaning our blood sugar is naturally more stable) in our follicular phase - which is the first half of your cycle, and less so in our luteal phase (which is the last half of your cycle). What’s more, conditions like PCOS make you naturally more insulin resistant so it can be incredibly helpful to work with a practitioner for managing both blood sugar and hormones.
⚡️Address gut issues & support your digestive health. Digestion plays a critical role in blood sugar because it is so intimately involved in both the breakdown and absorption of glucose. What’s more, we know that certain gut bacteria affect blood sugar balance differently and both pancreatic and liver health play a role in managing blood sugar. Digestive health isn’t always obvious so it’s worth working with someone to understand your digestive system better and how you can support it. And until then, start by taking a few deep breaths before you eat and chewing your food more than you think to better support your digestive health. It can be helpful to minimize alcohol and highly processed foods as two starting points for better digestive health.
Behavioral Factors
⚡️Support your nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of your body that interprets and responds to possible stressors, triggering a cascade of events. One of the main ways your ANS supports you is by increasing blood glucose so that you can think and move. This means that sometimes your blood sugar might go up (or down) because of the way your brain perceives the world! No, the goal is not to remove stress altogether, but to find ways that you can support your ANS in feeling less overwhelmed. This could include creating more margins in your day, saying “no” more often, doing breathwork, spending more time outside, or even physical support, like massage.
⚡️Move your body - but not too much! I talked last week about the value of muscle mass for BS balance. It’s huge. Strength & resistance training can help build muscle which will naturally make you more insulin sensitive. However, overtraining is a huge stressor for many of you and will cause more fluctuations in BS. Make sure you are doing more strength than cardio, and incorporating rest days in your week. Bonus points for moving your body after a meal which can make a huge difference in how efficiently you use that glucose!
⚡️Go to bed. That’s right, get off your phone and go to sleep. I know some of you don’t have as much control over this, and life happens. But the more often you can get good quality sleep, the better your body will respond to BS. There are lots of studies to show that a poor night of sleep will automatically set you up on a BS rollercoaster, independent of food!
⚡️Drink water. No, you don’t have to guzzle 100+oz, but aim for 1/2 your body weight in ounces. Use fruit or herbs for more flavor if that helps. And sparkling water counts!
⚡️Eat during daylight hours. Our bodies don't necessarily treat food any differently at 10pm than they do 10am. But, because of circadian rhythm hormones (things like melatonin, cortisol, glucagon and insulin), our bodies will respond differently to blood glucose at different points in the day. This is hugely variable from person to person, but most of us are more insulin sensitive during the middle of the day and less so after the sun has gone down.
Food Factors
🌱Which carbs you consume (which is different for each of us)
🌱The order in which you eat the food groups / types of food in your meal
🌱How much protein and fat you have with the carb
🌱How much fiber is in the carb
🌱How processed the carb is (more refined typically means faster glucose spike)
⚡️Focus on Fiber. Prioritize starchy vegetables, fruit, and legumes over grains and sweets. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy all foods, but when possible choose fruit, legumes, and starchy veggies like sweet potatoes, white potatoes, winter squash, and beets as your primary carbs. Because of their rich fiber content, these typically are digested more slowly, minimizing the glucose spike.
⚡️Never have a naked carb! That’s right, whether it’s fruit, a glass of wine, crackers, dessert, or candy, Always have your carbohydrates with fat and/or protein. Ideally both and more than the amount of carb you are eating, but any bit will help.
⚡️Did you know the order in which you eat can affect blood glucose?! Start your meal with your protein (or non starchy veggie if you prefer) and this will help slow down the absorption of glucose causing less of a spike. No, you don’t have to eat like a toddler and finish one part of your meal at a time but try to have a few bites of the protein before digging into your carb.
⚡️Minimize processed carbs, as much as possible. Typically processed carbs have less fiber and more simple sugars - this means that they will be digested and converted into glucose faster than whole food forms of carbohydrates.
Now that you’ve learned what affects blood sugar, why it matters, and how to support balanced blood sugar, what is one way you will focus on improving your blood sugar this week?
Are You Eating Enough?
One of the MOST important steps towards better health, and yet, the ONE that my clients like the least , is to make sure you are eating enough.
I know, YOU DON’T THINK THIS IS YOU.🫣
Because you can down a bag of chips in one sitting, have an insatiable sweet tooth, or can eat more than your husband at dinner. Yes, EVEN YOU 🫵 might be under-nourishing yourself on an average day, often leading to the urge to over consume when you have no energy left to control yourself.
You come to me complaining about low energy in the afternoons, wonky periods, constipation, weight gain, and no control around food, despite fasting and exercise.
THIS is a picture of undereating.
Many of you have been eating in a deficit for so long that you don’t even know what it feels like to consistently eat enough. And, it’s terrifying for you to consider that you might need to eat more, because your focus until now has always been on what you are over consuming. I hear it every day.
Nourishment means eating enough to cover your body's basic needs, as well as physical activity, stress, and movement. Nourishment also means getting enough rest, joy, sunlight, movement, and so much more. Eating below your needs for too long can impair both thyroid and sex hormone production, slowing down metabolism, muscle repair, and digestion, and making it harder for you to see changes. In short, it makes your body feel unsafe.
Don’t get me wrong, deficits can be super helpful at times, but only when used intentionally. And, ONLY AFTER you’ve started from a place of nourishment.
Knowing what symptoms to watch for and understanding your body needs are important steps towards health. I’ll be breaking down how to know what you need, and how to truly eat to nourishment in my new virtual group program.
Make sure to sign up for my newsletter to get exciting program updates!👀
Signs you may not be eating enough include:
Feeling Cold Frequently
Struggling to Gain Muscle or Lose weight
Irregular or Missed periods
Low Sex Drive
Particularly Low Heart Rate or Low Blood Pressure
Frequently Feeling Fatigued
No Motivation to Move or Exercise
Poor Muscle Recovery
Frequent Blood Sugar Swings
Including Struggling to Fall asleep or Stay Asleep through the Night
Constipation, Slow Gastric Motility
Irritability; Frequent Mood Swings
Brittle Nails, Hair loss
Frequent Mouth Sores or Cracks on the Corners of Your Mouth
A Lack of Interest in Food or Lack of Hunger
Your Symptoms are Messengers, Listen!
I’m here to remind you that your body is incredibly wise. While you might not like the symptoms you are experiencing, they are usually your body’s only way of communicating. I think of it like dealing with kids (or people in general)- typically a bad attitude or tantrum often means that they are upset about something completely unrelated to what is going on in the given moment, right? Similarly, your body will likely sound off some alarms, but it isn’t always in a direct way.
In my upcoming program I will challenge you to be curious, to explore, and even record what your body is saying with any of these systems. And then we can use that list to evaluate change that is personalized for you.
If you are pursuing whole body health, it can be helpful to be curious about the messages your body is sending.💭 Yes, labs and numbers might be part of that larger picture, but nothing is more important than noticing what is going on in your body.
Sure, you might not know why your body is sending certain symptoms, but you can pay attention to whether they change as you make changes. Labs and numbers can take a long time to budge; sometimes the more obvious symptoms are the first to adjust when you start to nourish yourself appropriately.
-Energy, Focus, Brain fog, Memory
-Sleep - Duration & Quality
-Digestion - Constipation, Diarrhea, Bloating, Gas, Heartburn, Reflux, Stool frequency & consistency
-Hormones - Sex drive, Period duration, flow, & frequency, Headaches, Cramping, Breast tenderness, Mucus changes
-Weight or Muscle changes, Body composition
-Rashes, Acne, Rosacea, Oily, Dry or Itchy skin
-Joint pain, Stiffness, Swelling
-Moods, Mood swings
-Body Temperature, Heart rate
-Eyes - Twitching, Dark circles, Redness, Blurred vision
-Mouth - Sores, Cracking, Swollen or White tongue
-Hair & Nails - Brittle, Dry, Ridges, Falling out
Mindset Shifts
I talked a bit last week about how to identify long lasting sustainable habits rather than short term goals. As you are doing this work, there are a few key pieces that are important to keep in mind. I will cover these at length in my upcoming online program, so make sure you are signed up for the newsletter for updates on that. Especially those of you who have been hoping to get in with me but can’t!
1. CURIOSITY. HOW you approach that change matters - even on a cellular level. I encourage you to be CURIOUS & consider that your body has something smart to tell you.
2. AWARENESS. Learning how to tune in your own symptoms and messaging, connect with yourself, and create your own rules and supports is critical. What helps you connect with your body better?
3. PERSONALIZATION. There is NO SINGLE answer or protocol that works for everyone. When we believe that there is only one way to do things, we set up a terrible cycle of shame and guilt. Move towards the mindset that your journey is going to look different from anyone else's.
4. CONSISTENCY. Gentle consistency over intensity will always be a more effective way to see change. Rather than cutting everything out or taking on too much at once, what baby steps can you make and STICK to consistently?
5. PATIENCE. We all know that the fast shortcuts never work. Instead of focusing on results, focus on the process as the GOAL of change instead and note small changes in how you operate so that you can stay motivated.
6. ABUNDANCE. I challenge you to think about GAINING HEALTH instead of losing whatever it is that you've been trying to fight. Similarly, rather than thinking about what you are not doing, or eating too much of, consider focusing on what you could ADD to your diet or your routine that you might be missing?
Increasing Your Protein
You’ve heard it everywhere recently. And, for once, all the health experts in your feed might actually agree on something - focusing on protein can be a game changer when it comes to nutrition.
Protein provides amino acids and fat soluble vitamins that are critical for making enzymes & signaling molecules, such as neurotransmitters & hormones, supporting liver function and detox pathways, maintaining and building skin, hair and muscle, and healthy growth and development. When paired with carbs, protein helps stabilize blood sugar and helps keep us full longer between meals.
Protein is the macronutrient that I see clients struggle with the most. If you are not regularly consuming enough protein, you may notice symptoms such as frequent hunger, fatigue, poor hair, skin, and nail health, headaches, thyroid issues, low sex drive, and an inability to gain muscle.
How much do you need? Most active adults benefit from 0.8-1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight a day. I recommend aiming for at least 20-35g of protein per meal, but some of you might need even more if you are frequently doing strength training. Bonus points for getting a variety of protein sources in the week, including a mix of animal, seafood and plant proteins so that you get a variety of amino acids.
Keep in mind ALL of the macronutrients are important and work together - more on carbs and fat to come!
Building Sustainable Goals
You've been here before....
You've enjoyed some down time and indulged in a few more treats than usual, you feel a little puffy, a little blah, and are actually interested in making changes. You’re motivated, and that is a great start!
Meanwhile, the 72 billion dollar diet industry is quietly slipping you messages that there is a way out... YOU ARE IN FACT BROKEN, but not to despair, there is still time to find a NEW you! So you start a new program, eliminate food groups, follow new recipes every night of the week (only ⅓ of which your kids actually eat), establish a meditation routine, AND start exercising. And you kill it. For a few weeks.
Resolutions and goals DO have value.
But, this much I know to be true - The plan that WILL WORK for you is one that
✔️You helped design based on YOUR life, schedule, barriers and more
✔️Is built in phases, rather than changing everything at once.
✔️Is built on habits rather than outcomes
✔️Includes flexibility and leads to success without relying on perfection, rigidity and control.
So this year, I CHALLENGE YOU to think differently about your resolutions.
You feel good at first, then slowly things start to unravel. 🫠 Life gets busy, you realize you are exhausted and overwhelmed by all of the new tasks you took on, and obsessing over what to eat. Your anxiety has gone up because you aren’t even sure if what you are doing is right for YOU. You feel better when you are 'on your plan' but can't figure out how to sustain it all. So, ULTIMATELY YOU GIVE UP, go back to take out, wine at 5, and feel like a failure, yet again. Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing. I know it feels easier to just follow what someone else tells you to do. And someone else’s plan might work for a little bit .But is that what you want? Something that works for a little bit? ⠀
I challenge you to start by building your goals around HABITS and ROUTINES. 👏
And then to think about which ONE you can start with.
Here are a few ideas…
Doing 2 strength workouts a week
Walking 20 minutes every day
Eating a vegetable or fruit at every meal
Going to bed by 10pm
Getting morning sunlight
Starting every meal with protein
Limiting alcohol to 0-3 nights/week
scheduling a weekly meal planning appointment
Creating more margins in your day so that you have time to notice, adjust, and support yourself
Digestion Signs, Symptoms, & Support
Part I
In addition to tracking the health systems we’ve discussed in the last two posts, paying attention to your bowel habits🚽🧻 is a great way to tune into health as you start to make changes. I know, no one really wants to, but our bowel habits can tell as much or even more about health as things like tracking🗓️ your periods, your weight, moods, hair & nail health, or anything else that you pay attention to regularly.
So, what are you looking for? Here are some signs of a healthy digestive system💩:
⚡️1-3 bowel movements a day:
Pooping is how we eliminate toxins – both endogenous and exogenous, so the goal is one 1-3 poops a day that feel full and productive each time. Ideally your bowel movements are spaced throughout the day and not clustered together.
⚡️Stool that is:
- Well formed, not fluffy or falling apart, resembling a snake or sausage – ideally a #4 on the Bristol Stool chart
- Sinks, not floats – Floating stool can be a sign that your gallbladder isn’t doing it’s job breaking down fat appropriately, or a sign of gluten intolerance
- Free of obvious undigested food pieces – A possible sign that you don’t have enough stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to break down food appropriately
- Generally brown – Some change in color is ok (for example, red tinted if you eat beets) but, usually we want to see brown stool without yellow/green/clay/red colored tint
- Not greasy – A sign that you might not be breaking down fats appropriately
- Easy to pass, free of blood, and does not cause irritation, or hemorrhoids
⚡️Absent or very infrequent reflux, heartburn or stomach pain:
Just like bloating, an occasional bout of heartburn after a night out is not concerning. However, reflux or heartburn that flares up more often, including after more acidic foods, is not a good sign and can often be caused by a bacterial infection (ie H.Pylori) or microbiome imbalance.
⚡️Gas that is not frequent or foul smelling:
Passing some gas is normal, but if you are passing gas throughout the day or if your gas can clear a room, you might be dealing with a microbiome imbalance or excessive amounts of certain types of bacteria.
⚡️Bloating that comes and goes occasionally:
Some amount of bloating is normal and not unhealthy, especially after eating things like cruciferous veggies, legumes, or artificial sweeteners. Bloating that increases throughout the day no matter what you eat, or bloating that causes pain or discomfort, on the other hand is not OK.
💥Remember these are just generalizations and everyone is different so you will have to pay attention to your own digestive health.
Part II
Now that we know how digestion plays a role in so many other systems of health, it’s time to help you figure out how to maximize gut health.💥 And while WHAT you eat does matter, I often think focusing on HOW you eat is a much better starting place.
⚡️Here are some tips and practices to start with:
01. Make time for your meals:
I know, we all have a million things going on, but if you want to help your body, you have to set aside time to nourish and feed yourself (not just the people around you). When possible, I challenge you to set aside even just 10 minutes⏰ to enjoy your meals rather than multi-tasking or rushing through them — and put the phones away! This doesn't have to look like a meditation practice, but give yourself the space to pay attention to what you are eating and enjoy your food more without any distractions.
02. Breathe:
Hopefully you already know I love to encourage deep breathing before your meals.🧘Deep breathing helps tell our brain that we are about to eat and are not still running from that tiger (=project/boss/child/errand) that we just escaped. Breathing helps turn off our sympathetic response (think lower cortisol) and prepare our digestive system to break down and absorb nutrients (think stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and stimulating your migrating motor complex). Bonus points for sitting🪑 - it’s hard to do any of this without sitting first.
03. Chew:
Yes, you've heard it before. And no, you do not have to chew each bite 100 times. But, chewing (along with breathing) is the first step in digestion. Chewing helps break down food, but did you know that you actually release chemicals that communicate📡 with the rest of your digestive tract by chewing? Chewing helps relax the stomach and esophagus, stimulate digestive enzyme production, and increase nutrient absorption.
04. Balance Meal Timing:
This one might be different for each of us⚖️, but there is often a rhythm that helps support digestion allowing for some down time and some focused time. Giving yourself a 12 hour fast between your last and first meal can be a huge support for digestion and allow for critical processes that only happen when you are not eating. And then, once you start eating in the day, you want to make sure you don’t go too long between meals which could trigger a stress response.
05. Support your Stress Response:
I’ve talked before about stress. The goal is not to eliminate all stress from our lives — that alone might create more stress in itself! 🌿But, how you respond to stress and support yourself in more stressful seasons is something you can focus on — this includes psychological stress but also how you take care of and nourish your body. Stress has various impacts on gut health, including slowing down digestion, releasing toxic chemicals that break down the gut lining, and impairing microbiome balance.
06. Move your Body:
Many of you have probably noticed that when you are more active🚴 throughout the day you stay more regular. Or, maybe you have seen that walking after a meal helps minimize heartburn or reflux. Most gentle forms of movement can help with various aspects of the digestive process, in particular motility. Keep in mind that too much intense exercise🥵 can actually slow down digestion and lead to bloating and gas for many people.
07. Get adequate sleep:
Good quality sleep is critical for digestive function and detox pathways. When we sleep💤, our migrating motor complex works to move food and bacteria along. Poor sleep can elevate cortisol levels which can then decrease gut health. And, research has shown that good sleep leads to increased melatonin production, which can improve your microbiome balance.
Part III
Too often I see clients wanting to jump straight to testing, treating, and even adjusting diet for digestive support. It’s important💥 to me that you read through and work on the last post before this one‼️. ONLY ONCE you have those foundational supports in place for HOW you are eating and living, here are some tips for WHAT to eat to support digestion:
01. Balance cooked & raw fiber:
Fiber, especially from vegetables🥕, in its raw form, can be particularly hard for our digestive system to break down. In general (and especially with GI distress), it can be helpful to include more cooked fruits and vegetables than raw. Most nutrients are actually more bioavailable in the cooked forms of these foods anyway. This doesn’t mean you have to eliminate all raw veggies, but pay attention🧐 to whether certain veggies seem to cause more discomfort when raw versus cooked.
02. Eat PRE & Probiotics:
You’ve all heard of probiotics, and these can be great for gut health — think fermented🫧 foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and yogurt. But, what you might not have heard yet is that we want to also consume Prebiotics, which are plant🌿 fibers in foods that help feed bacteria. Foods that are rich in prebiotics include garlic🧄, onion🧅, leeks, artichokes, asparagus, bananas🍌, oats, apples🍎, flaxseed, and cacao.
03. Consume Bitter foods:
So many of us have lost the taste for bitter foods. And yet, bitter foods are not only packed with nutrients, but help stimulate digestion and gallbladder function. Try to include bitter foods in your meals or even before meals. Examples include citrus🍋, ginger, mint, dill, turmeric, greens🥬, radicchio, radishes, turnips, apple cider vinegar, dark chocolate🍫, and coffee☕️.
04. Replenish hydration & minerals:
Both water💧, and minerals💎 can make a huge difference in gut health, in particular motility and constipation. And, while water is great to focus on, I love to encourage clients to add in minerals, or electrolytes, once a day, including magnesium, sodium🧂, and potassium🍌 to better hydrate your body. There is no perfect amount for water intake, just play around with what makes a difference for you using skin and gut motility as great indicators.
05. Minimize highly processed foods:
You all know that I don’t love labeling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ However, there are, no doubt, more negative digestive effects from consuming highly processed foods🍟. For one, it’s harder for our bodies to recognize and process ingredients that are not naturally occurring — and not just the ingredients themselves but the chemicals🧪 that are used in growing and processing that food. In particular, there are some chemicals and toxins in our food system (ie, glyphosate and artificial sweeteners) that kill☠️ beneficial bacteria, and increase intestinal permeability. When you have the choice, try to focus on the less processed form of any food.
06. Balance fiber with fats:
We have heard of the amazing benefits of fiber, but sometimes your system can be overloaded with fiber. This is where fat comes in! Fat is lubricating for your body🧍 and especially your digestive tract and helps move the fiber along. Fat helps to nourish🌿 the digestive lining, part by helping you absorb🧽 more nutrients from other foods. In particular, Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to help increase microbiota diversity as well. Especially for those of you dealing with constipation🚽, I often recommend focusing on increasing fat first!
07. Cut back on alcohol:
Ugh, personally I hate this one. But, alcohol🍺 can be a doozy on our gut lining. There are countless studies showing the negative📉 impact of alcohol (of any kind) on the intestinal lining. Best to minimize or eliminate🚫 alcohol as possible, and especially if you are dealing with known gut issues.
💥Be sure to review the previous posts in this series on digestion!
Digestion & Hormones
One of the most frequent topics I dig into with clients is digestion. In fact, I talk about it so much my kids don’t even find poop funny anymore.😜 What most people are surprised to learn is that digestion might be a root cause for you, without having overt GI symptoms - maybe you have health issues that you never even realized could be tied to your digestive health ✨
In this series, I will dig into how critical systems can become dysfunctional because of gut health and what you can try in order to support gut health.💥 Remember, gut health is highly individualized - so anyone trying to sell you on a list of foods or supplements is not giving you the whole picture - healing the gut is a healing journey like any other.
Just remember, digestion alone is not always the root cause.⚡️I often see clients desperately seeking answers through testing and treating gut health, while missing the larger-picture root cause work, such as lifestyle, trauma, mental health, movement, time outside, and so on.⚡️What’s more, each of these are bidirectional - meaning that sex, thyroid and adrenal health, can all impact gut health as well.
So what systems are most commonly affected by digestion?
- Sex Hormones
- Thyroid & Metabolism
- Adrenal health
- Skin
- Blood Sugar
- Immune health
- Brain health
Hormones are one major category that can be affected by digestion and each system a little differently.✨ Maybe you have hormone imbalances and never realized that it could be triggered or affected by your gut health. What’s more, most of these impacts are reciprocal — meaning that sex, thyroid, and adrenal hormones can also throw off digestion when they are out of balance.
⭐️ Here are some of the ways that digestion affects hormones:
1. Sex hormone imbalances:
⚡️A healthy digestive system (including liver and gallbladder) and microbiome balance is necessary for keeping hormones in balance, and for the elimination of both external toxins and internal byproducts of hormones. When metabolites and byproducts aren’t removed effectively they can cause hormone imbalances, such as estrogen dominance, PCOS, and endometriosis.⚡️What’s more, infection from certain bacteria (ie, H. Pylori), or inflammation in the gut lining, can affect hormone balance for women, and decrease sperm health and motility for men.⚡️Lastly, we need excellent gut health in order to absorb the nutrients that are critical for making sex hormones, such as B vitamins, including choline, vitamin E, A, and more.
2. Thyroid imbalances:
⚡️Approximately 20% of thyroid hormone conversion takes place in the gut — which means if your gut is not happy, you could be experiencing thyroid symptoms simply from a lack of active thyroid hormone.⚡️Increased intestinal permeability, and/or intestinal inflammation can trigger an autoimmune thyroid response, such as Hashimotos or Graves. And, just like sex hormones, effective absorption of micronutrients and minerals in your gut (think B vitamins, selenium, and iron) is essential for the production of thyroid hormones and maintenance of thyroid health.⚡️And the problems can be reciprocal as thyroid health can impact gut function by slowing motility, contributing to bacterial overgrowth, impairing bile production, and decreasing stomach acid production.
3. Adrenal health:
⚡️Internal stress is one of the biggest burdens on our adrenal glands. This can come from any system that is off, including gut health. Issues such as increased intestinal permeability, infections, and bacterial endotoxins (such as LPS) can trigger a stress reaction, increasing the production of cortisol.⚡️Impaired gut health will lead to a decreased production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, creating more work for the adrenal glands.⚡️And just like with sex hormones, it’s all reciprocal, meaning that increased cortisol can then continue to damage the gut lining, decrease absorption of nutrients, and keep your body in an overwhelmed state.
💥Remember these are just possible pathways — you are still the expert of your body🌿 and none of this information should be used to diagnose!
So, what else can be affected by digestion?
👏 Just about every system in the body is affected by digestion, but here are some ways that digestive dysfunction can affect your skin, immune system, blood sugar balance, and brain health:
1. Skin issues👃:
✨As you might imagine, the gut is intimately tied to skin health. When there is damage to your intestinal lining, gut bacteria and their byproducts can seep into the bloodstream, accumulate in the skin, and disrupt your skin's healthy balance.✨What’s more, having an imbalance of certain bacteria can help or hinder skin health by increasing histamine production, or cause heightened sensitivity reactions, leading to additional skin symptoms.✨Lastly, effective absorption of nutrients, such as Vitamin A, C, & E, and zinc, is critical for skin health.
2. Blood sugar🩸:
✨Impaired intestinal function can lead to decreased absorption of macro and micro nutrients leading to unstable blood sugars. ✨The impact of gut health on hormones (adrenal and thyroid in particular) as discussed in the previous post, can also alter blood sugar and insulin response. ✨Additionally, insulin is in part regulated by the bacteria, Lactobacillus reuteri, which is stored in the gut. When there is an imbalanced microbiome, a deficiency of this beneficial bacteria makes insulin production and response even worse.
3. Immune health🦠:
✨It’s estimated that 70% of the cells that make up your immune system are actually housed within your gut - we call this your GALT (gut associated lymphoid tissue). ✨A healthy gut microbiome and intestinal lining is essential for producing and maintaining immune cells and processes. ✨Secretory IgA (sIgA) is the main immunoglobulin (antibody) found in the gut’s mucous secretions and provides protection against potential pathogens and toxins. sIgA is the first line of defense against bacteria, food residues, yeast, parasites and viruses, and imbalances may provide the link between gut imbalances and systemic illness.
4. Brain Health🧠:
✨Many of you have probably heard that gut health can impact mental health. Gut bacteria are responsible for producing neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, and GABA, which are critical for mood, anxiety, concentration, reward, and motivation. ✨It’s estimated that 90% of serotonin is manufactured in the digestive tract and not the brain. ✨What’s more, the human gut is lined with more than 100 million nerve cells - that’s more than in the spinal cord or in the peripheral nervous system.
Check out my next blog post on signs of a healthy digestive system and how you can support your gut. 🌟
New Years Resolutions
You've been here before....
You've enjoyed some down time and indulged in a few more treats than usual, you feel a little puffy, a little blah, and are actually interested in making changes. You’re motivated,👊 and that is a great start!
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Meanwhile, the 72 billion dollar diet industry is quietly slipping you messages that there is a way out...🤦♀️ YOU ARE IN FACT BROKEN, but not to despair, there is still time to find a NEW you! So you start a new program, eliminate food groups, follow new recipes every night of the week (only ⅓ of which your kids actually eat), establish a meditation routine, AND start exercising. And you kill it. 💪 For a few weeks. 🤷♀️
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You feel good at first, then slowly things start to unravel. 🫠 Life gets busy, you realize you are exhausted and overwhelmed by all of the new tasks you took on, and obsessing over what to eat. Your anxiety has gone up because you aren’t even sure if what you are doing is right for YOU. You feel better when you are 'on your plan' but can't figure out how to sustain it all. 😵💫 So, ULTIMATELY YOU GIVE UP, go back to take out, wine at 5, and feel like a failure, yet again. Sound familiar?
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Here’s the thing. I know it feels easier to just follow what someone else tells you to do. And someone else’s plan might work for a little bit .But is that what you want? Something that works for a little bit? ⠀
Resolutions and goals DO have value. ⠀
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But, this much I know to be true - The plan that WILL WORK 💯 for you is one that ⠀
✔️You helped design based on YOUR life, schedule, barriers and more ⠀
✔️Is built in phases, rather than changing everything at once
✔️Is built on habits rather than outcomes
✔️Includes flexibility and leads to success without relying on perfection, rigidity and control. ⠀
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So this year, I CHALLENGE YOU to think differently about your resolutions. 🧠
I challenge you to start by building your goals around HABITS and ROUTINES. 👏
And then to think about which ONE you can start with.
Here are a few ideas:
Doing 2 strength workouts a week
Walking 20 minutes every day
Eating a vegetable or fruit at every meal
Going to bed by 10pm
Getting morning sunlight
Starting every meal with protein
Limiting alcohol to 0-3 nights/week
scheduling a weekly meal planning appointment
Creating more margins in your day so that you have time to notice, adjust, and support yourself
Embracing Holiday Foods Without Guilt
Halloween🎃 might be my least favorite holiday of the year. Surprisingly, NOT because of the candy, but because it seems to trigger a whole SEASON of FOOD FEAR.
First, it’s the buckets of candy 🍫, and the guilt that many of you experience no matter how much you enjoy. Then, you start thinking about Thanksgiving 🦃 stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie, with a mix of delight and overwhelm, and at that point you can already picture yourself nibbling on cookies, and eating yourself through Christmas🎄charcuterie boards, and New Year’s Eve appetizers..
💥The fear of “overconsumption” can be all-consuming and downright crippling. And here’s the thing, that fear ends up distracting you from the true JOY and ABUNDANCE of the seasons we are about to enter.
So, what if, this year, you enter this holiday season with the intention to ENJOY food rather than obsess over how to AVOID It. It’s amazing how giving yourself PERMISSION to enjoy something allows you to slow down and actually enjoy that food more, while also responding to your body’s hunger and satiety cues.
Candy is just food. It has no moral value and there is no reason to feel bad about enjoying it. Sure, most of us probably wouldn’t feel great or function well if we ate it in abundance daily. But, I would argue that it is even more appealing in part because we’ve labeled it dangerous.
✨The more you can move away from the idea that food is “good” or “bad,” the less you will use that food to meet emotional needs that it might not have the power to do.
I am not saying this work is easy, or simple.
But, instead of focusing on how to avoid the candy this Halloween, I encourage you to consider exploring the following:
🎃Which candy is my favorite that I want to prioritize enjoying?
🎃What environment, situation, or timing helps me eat candy in a way that allows me to truly savor and enjoy it?
🎃How can I support my needs best this week so that I do not reach for candy to meet a need it cannot fill?
🎃How can I support myself even if I do eat more candy than makes me feel good?
🎃How can I stop the cycle of food shaming and avoid making my kids feel guilty for doing the same?
🎃What foods help me feel Satisfied, Satiated, and Energized that I could enjoy before having candy, when possible?
What holiday food are you going to embrace without fear or guilt this year?
Satisfaction, Satiation, & Energy
I’m back, and ready to dig into some of my favorite topics this fall.
Learning how to tune in to what your body and your brain are communicating might be one of the most valuable parts of your health journey. We are so trained to rely on external information, like social media influencers, your apple watch, the scale, calorie calculators, and more, that sometimes we don’t even know where to begin. Yes, these tools can be helpful but your body has some pretty smart built in signals and sometimes we forget to listen to those first.
As you work towards eating in a way that brings you health and vitality, there are THREE things to pay attention to. In fact, these three aspects alone are enough for many of you to start eating in a way that fuels your body and helps you feel your best physically, while also fueling your heart and soul. No doubt, this process takes way more work and attention for you than for me to just tell you what to eat - but that’s why it works! And yes, there are nuances and special circumstances that might require you to layer on more structure and tools, but focusing on these three things can often be all the information you need to build a plan for yourself.
So what are they?
1. Satisfaction
2. Satiation
3. Energy
Remember, the goal is to find meals that fill ALL three aspects, not just one or another.
Satisfaction
We all know that for most of us, the only eating plan that you will stick to is one that you enjoy. When we find pleasure in our meals, we are less likely to reach for more and eat between meals, and more likely to stick with our plan.
Do you ever finish a meal and just feel like you’re not quite finished. You’ve eaten what you planned to eat, but you want more. Sometimes it’s obvious and other times you can’t figure out what else you need or want. This to me, means you are missing the element of satisfaction.
By Satisfaction, I mean, did that meal bring you pleasure and leave you feeling content? I do not mean that it was the most mind-blowing meal ever. But, are you content at the end of your meal? Did you enjoy that meal? Remember satisfaction likely looks different for each of us so this might take some work to figure out what and how much helps you feel satisfied. Your emotional and mental needs are just as important as your physical needs and there are ways to eat that meet both. You can please your taste buds AND eat for health.
Satisfaction isn’t always gained simply by eating more. Here are some other things to pay attention to and explore as it relates to satisfaction:
1. Flavor - Seems kind of silly to say, but sometimes we eat things that we don’t like because we think we should, and it usually leaves us feeling unsatisfied. Add spices or sauces, adjust ingredients, or choose something different if you don’t enjoy the flavors of your meal.
2. Presentation - Believe it or not, making the meal look appealing helps you feel more satisfied by it. This might simply entail putting your take out or frozen meal on a plate, arranging food on a tray or board, or using fresh herbs or other garnishes.
3. Texture - If you’re someone who loves texture, consider making sure that you have a variety of textures in your meals and snacks by using both raw and cooked fruits and veggies, and adding things like chopped nuts, and seeds, or having crackers or chips on the side.
4. The Environment that you are eating in - Maybe like me, you get overwhelmed by loud or chaotic surroundings and need to find environments that help regulate your nervous system in order to feel satisfied by a meal, like going outside or even eating alone or with a good book. Or, maybe, you get energized by music or having people around and need to find ways to work music or eating with friends and family into your meals more often.
5. Amounts of each macronutrient (Protein, Fat & Carbs) - This is probably the most variable from person to person, and one that you will have to explore. I find that many of my clients notice improved satisfaction by adding a little bit more fat to their meals. Or, if you are someone who has been restricting carbohydrates you might play around with adding just a little bit of carbs to your meals.
6. Lastly, the amount of new food versus familiar flavors - This might vary for you from meal to meal or day to day. Sometimes you might need more familiar or comfort foods than usual and other times you will want to lean into more creative or innovative flavors to find satisfaction.
Satiation
Many of us have been encouraged over the years to eat every two hours. While this is helpful if you have high demands from exercise / stress, or extremely unstable blood sugar, I find that most of us benefit by going a little longer between meals.
When we focus on meals, rather than lots of small snacks /nibbling throughout the day, we tend to build more balanced plates, better stabilize our blood sugar, and can think about food less.
What’s more, eating less frequently in the day allows your digestive system’s rhythmic motility waves, the Migrating Motor Complex (MMC), to kick in and keep things moving. When we eat (or when we experience stress), these waves are temporarily halted and your digestive motility slows back down. Your MMC is not only critical for moving food and pathogens along, but is part of a more extensive interconnected system involving your gut, brain, and nervous system.
So, our second goal is satiation. There is NO exact number that is going to work for everyone, but I often encourage clients to look for meals that help keep them full for 3-5 hours.
Remember, your job is to be curious and explore. You might not find any single meal that keeps you full for 5 hours, or your eating times might need to be dictated by work or life some days. Simply compare one meal to the next and notice how well and for how long they keep you full. Take note of the patterns you see and build meals around what you find.
Keep in mind, especially for you ladies and more intense exercisers, that what satiates you one day might not be the same as another day. You will hopefully find some trends, but will likely have to adjust based on how much or how intensely you exercised and where you are in your cycle.
Some things I want you to pay attention to and play around with as it relates to Satiation are:
1. Total amount of food - You might be surprised to find that many of my clients are under-eating for their needs. If you can’t figure out satiation, start by consuming just a little more of anything already in your meal.
2. Amounts of each macronutrient (Protein, Fat & Carbs) - Just like satisfaction, different food groups will affect your satiation differently. For many of us, protein is especially satiating. And high fiber carbohydrates can certainly help keep you full as well by slowing down digestive motility. However, fat is actually the macronutrient that gets absorbed the slowest and so tends to have the biggest effect on satiation.
3. Types of food - Beyond simply paying attention to macronutrients, you might want to dig deeper and compare different foods within those groups. For example, some people find that animal protein/fat fills them up more efficiently than plant protein/fat. Maybe you notice that potatoes satiate you better than bread. I am not advocating you only ever eat these foods, but try to think of each food individually and see if you can tell a difference in how they affect satiation.
4. Breathing - This is a hard one to believe, but one of the best ways you can support satiation is by focusing on breathing before meals. Calming down your nervous system with breath work helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, increase blood flow to the stomach, and support digestive function. This means you maximize absorption and stay full longer. Breathing also helps you better recognize satiety cues. Practice taking just 3-5 deep breaths before you eat, and see if it doesn’t help you feel even more satiated. *Bonus points if you can breathe in the smells as you are cooking which contributes even more to satiation.
5. Chewing - After you’ve taken a few deep breaths, don’t forget to chew your food! We’ve all heard it before, and it’s not just a hoax. Believe it or not, chewing actually helps stimulate the release of brain and digestive chemicals that help increase satiation. You don’t have to obsess over this one, but try to avoid inhaling your food, and practice spending more time on each bite. This is especially true for you mamas who love to multitask while eating.
Energy
I find that more than anything, my clients just want to feel good. More than losing weight, better labs, or any other health indicators, most of us want to feel good. Yes, if you feel satisfied by your meal you will likely reach for that meal again, and if you are satiated you will not need to nibble all day. But, what will really make you want to go back to variations of that meal time and time again, is whether or not it leaves you feeling your best.
So, the third aspect I want you to explore is what we will call ‘Energy.’ By ENERGY I mean, do you feel better after eating your meal than you did before?
- Do you feel energized, and like you just got a boost from your meal? Or, do you feel sluggish, tired, or ready for a nap?
- Does your stomach and digestive tract feel settled and happy? Or, does it feel upset, bloating, burning, or rumbly?
- Does your brain feel clear and focused? Or, do you feel foggy, distracted, or anxious.
- Does your body feel calm and restored? Or, do you notice a racing heart, shakiness, or a drop in body temperature?
And NO, I do not expect you to ALWAYS choose foods that leave you feeling amazing - that’s where balance comes in! But, it can be so helpful to know what foods and combinations leave you feeling your best, physically and mentally so that you can prioritize those in meals most of the time.
Start exploring which meals leave you feeling better and which ones leave you feeling off. Be curious. And most importantly, try to stay focused on which foods DO make you feel your best rather than obsessing over which ones drag you down. Adopt an abundance mindset by filling your plate and meals with those foods first.
No question, there are times you might choose to eat something that doesn’t make you feel your best - and that’s important to do sometimes! But I want you to explore and know what it is that really helps you feel your best and aim to include more and more of those foods in your week.
To be clear, this aspect is probably the most individualistic of the lot. In other words, what makes YOU feel great, might not be the same thing that makes ME feel great. And no doubt, this is going to be highly dependent on immune & gut health.
But, here are some things I want you to consider as you explore what meals leave you feeling your best:
1. Amounts of Macronutrients and Types of Foods. Just like Satisfaction and Satiation, the amount of different food groups in your meal might matter. It might not be that any one food is causing issues, but that too much of the same kinds of foods can be an issue. For example, some of my clients notice that having TOO many raw vegetables in a meal can be hard to digest all at once. Or maybe you notice that having more carbohydrates than anything else leaves you feeling sluggish and tired. Again it doesn’t mean you can’t eat these foods, you might just want to play around with how much you have at any meal.
2. Frequency, or how often you eat that food. Our bodies are smart! Your stomach and pancreas will down regulate how much digestive enzymes and HCL you produce if these are not needed for you to break down your typical meals. So, if you eat a meal with ingredients that you have not had in a while, it’s possible that it might make you feel a bit off. Instead, if you are introducing new foods go super slow so that your body can adjust!
3. Individual Foods. While pursuing food sensitivities can be a slippery slope to disordered eating, there are absolutely some foods that make some of you feel worse. And again, it’s essential that you do some good gut work before you rule out any food, but it’s worth paying attention to whether single foods or ingredients do seem to affect you differently.
4. And lastly, pay attention to the amount of Processing and Additives in food as well as the Quality. How our food is raised and treated in the fields and the factories matters! Generally, whole, real, minimally processed foods make most of us feel our best. To be clear, these are NOT bad foods, and we eat processed foods EVERY DAY. But it’s worth paying attention to whether the foods in their whole form bother you in the same way you notice when you have a meal with the more processed or manipulated version.
So many of you have spent years thinking about what to eat. And you continue to get different information from every health expert out there, myself included. But YOU are the only one that can figure out the right plan for you. I will continue to give you the best nutrition advice and research I have, but you have to do the hard work to make it yours. The right plan is going to meet all of your needs, both physical and emotional, and we can’t view these things separately.
When you use this method, you will start to recognize that most (although maybe not all!) foods will fit into your plan but maybe in different amounts or at different times. Instead of removing food after food, consider what you could ADD to your plate to find Satisfaction, Satiation, and Energy. You can start to play around with timing, relative portions, and types of foods rather than ruling foods in or out.
And remember, the goal is to find meals and snacks that fulfill ALL THREE of these elements. If you notice a meal doesn’t hit the spot for any one factor, start adjusting. This isn’t easy work, and most of us want a quick fix. But this is the work that will serve you for the rest of life.
Start to pay attention to how food makes you feel. Even if you don’t feel amazing after your meal, you can still learn something. As you notice meals that do not hit the spot, here are some things you could adjust and try:
- Add more of any or all of what you are eating
- Have more of any one particular part of your meal
- Try replacing one food for another in the same food group
- Use different combinations of foods
- Try that same meal at a different time of day
- Add texture, flavors, or culinary creativity
- Make sure you have something that brings you joy on your plate
- Adjust where, when, or with whom you eat your meal
It might change from day to day, but you will start to see some trends. You will start to put together a plan that is based on what your body is telling you rather than what anyone else dictates. And that is our goal!
Check out my instagram for more series like this one!
Perfection is NOT the Goal
Friends. A dietitian wants nothing less than for you to assume we eat perfectly. We do not. Nor do we want you to. Nor do we teach you to.
I had one too many people this week confess “how badly” they have eaten recently. Or how they just cannot eat, nor feed their kids, as well as I do.
My kids eat junk. They eat dessert, candy, and chips, and they don’t like fish. My kids also eat vegetables, and we try not to have dessert or chips at every meal. None of that makes them “good” or “bad” eaters.
Hopefully if you learn anything from me, it’s that I want you to learn how to eat in a way that makes you feel amazing AND that brings you pleasure. Sometimes those might overlap nicely, and other times they will not. And that’s ok. I want you to learn that you will probably always be tweaking and adjusting What, How, and When you eat as you learn how it makes you feel physically AND mentally.
Sometimes you’re going to eat out, and the nutrients might not be ideal, but the mental health benefits are worth it. Other times you’re going to recognize that a home cooked meal is probably a better fit for what your body is craving. Sure, I want you to feel your best and optimize your health, but the idea of working towards perfection is likely not going to help towards that end.
What we are working on at home, and what I can hope you can keep focused on instead, are things like:
What foods & habits make you feel your best
What you might need to ADD to your meals to make you feel your best
What foods you need to keep in your fridge, freezer or pantry to feel your best
What helps you tune in and notice when things (moods, digestion, energy, sleep) feel off
What habits & behaviors matter even more than obsessing over what you are eating
How much, or in what context, you can enjoy certain foods and still feel great
How to experiment & learn from your choices
Adopting a mindset of curiosity & exploring what your body-mind might be saying
Recognizing that what works today might not work tomorrow
Acknowledging that health looks different for each of us
Food perfection, whatever that might mean in your mind, is NOT the goal.
Shifting your Focus
My hope in doing this series on Foundational Mindset Shifts was to show you that there are some critical steps in making health changes, all of which come long before counting macros or reading labels. We tend to get a bit frantic when it comes to health, and try to jump straight to the answers. But it is the mindset pieces that will actually make your changes stick, and keep you from repeating the process over and over. Once you can start to believe and experience that it matters HOW YOU THINK about health changes, you will approach the practical details in a new, and hopefully refreshing way.
Last up in this series is that I hope you can make yours a journey of Pursuit rather than Fear, Shame, Minimalism, or Restriction.
Instead, I want you to consider this: What do you want to GAIN?
Not, what do you want to lose, what is wrong with your body, what do you hate, what are you eating too much of, or what you need to stop doing.
What are you working TOWARDS?
What do you want to LEARN about yourself in the process of practicing health?
So many clients come to me with lists of what they don’t like, what they want to get rid of, or stop doing. And tuning in to what feels off can be important. But, it’s not until they identify what they are working TOWARDS that they really start to see change.
Sometimes it’s simply semantics. How we communicate matters, especially with ourselves. This does not mean you have to always be positive; just be clear about WHY you care enough to change what is it that you hope to feel or achieve that can motivate you? Fear, shame, and regret will only go so far to motivate you in the long run.
Before you get overwhelmed this DOESN’T MEAN you have to have it all figured out. Remember how I talked about health as a practice? That means that your practice will evolve, and what you are working towards might shift and change. But, you will keep looking ahead.
So, Where are you headed? What do you want to GAIN? How do you want to FEEL & FUNCTION? What can you learn about yourself, about your body in the process?
How might focusing on GAINING health look differently for you?
Consistency and Patience: The Power of Success
This week's mindset focus is consistency & patience.
How many of you have adopted a super intense health plan only to recognize that you couldn’t keep up? One of the fastest ways to experience failure is to adopt a plan that is too intense for you.
Remember back to the post where I talked about the PRACTICE of health…IF our goal is to focus on the day to day behaviors and practice of what helps us feel & function optimally, then hopefully you recognize that consistency is critical.
So, rather than cutting everything out or taking on too much, I want you to think about what baby steps you can make AND STICK TO most days. And, be honest with yourself and your reality!
I suggest starting even SMALLER than you think you might need to.THEN once you can be consistent with that, you can add on another layer. Consider choosing only ONE or maybe two things to work on - and make them almost obnoxiously easy. The POWER OF SUCCESS is pretty motivating and will do far more to get you to your goal than overdoing it and giving up. I KNOW, you want to do more, and it’s hard to go slow, but I promise it’s more effective!!
Gentle consistency over intensity will always be a more effective way to see change.
You likely have caught on at this point that if we are focusing on baby steps, this isn’t going to be a fast. Patience is a hard one in a culture that pushes us to demand instant results. As much as I’d like to appreciate the value of waiting for things, it's rarely easy.
BUT, remember that being patient is NOT the same as being still. Patience isn’t passive!! It takes work 💪🏼 to go slow and to be patient. If you want to actively pursue patience, pour your energy into noticing progress even from the smallest of changes. You SHOULD see change, it’s just likely to be smaller than you expect. And, you have to pay attention.
This is one of the main reasons I work with clients to create a comprehensive list of the areas we want to work on. That way, if one aspect isn’t budging, but everything else is moving, we know we are on track. That way, you can be mindful to look for the change and carry that success on to your next focus.
Listening to Your Body
Next up in my list of foundational mindset shifts is that you adopt a mindset of curiosity and awareness.
After last week's post, maybe you are finally willing to embrace health as an individualized practice. But, how do I know what to do if I’m not an expert?!
My answer is this: START with CURIOSITY & AWARENESS. And as you do, I want you to do your best to TUNE OUT the nose, and IGNORE the VOICES of criticism and judgment in your head from years of absorbing nutrition information.
I encourage you to
SLOW DOWN, TUNE IN, BE AWARE,
and consider that maybe YOUR BODY HAS SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.
That maybe, just maybe your body is actually trying to communicate using symptoms and cues.
Now before you consider this request outrageous, please note
The goal is to NOT to be present 100% of the time - that’s way too unrealistic
You might not understand what all of your symptoms mean, and that’s ok!
Not everything you feel or notice has a meaning
BUT, if you can adopt a mindset of curiosity you might find that your process is now to EXPLORE
WHY you might be experiencing any given symptom, or craving and HOW you can address, fill, or heal that need. Curiosity is a drastically different pathway to health than constantly trying to FIX yourself, or STOP something from happening. Restriction and control rarely produce long lasting results.
Rather than white-knuckling your way to change, I wonder what it might look like to consider WHY you are following certain patterns in the first place? Or, WHAT your body might be missing that leads you to crave certain foods?
What if, instead of restricting, failing, and then giving up, you tried adding MORE of something else - MORE walks, MORE sunshine, MORE sex and hugs, MORE ways to engage your brain and your body, or MORE of another food - and paid attention as you tweaked and adjusted until you found something that works.
When you approach health with a mindset of curiosity suddenly it becomes less about good/bad, and more about understanding your own health process and what is going to work for you, right now, in this season.
Creating your Own Plan
In my series on foundations, the second mindset shift that I hope you will start to truly embrace is that this practice of Health is NOT going to look the same for you as it does for ANYONE else out there.
I’m pretty sure you know this one. But maybe you keep hoping (just like the rest of us) that one day someone will discover a universal plan that works for everyone and just tell you what to do.Sounds nice.
Way too often, I hear from clients and friends that they are overwhelmed by all the conflicting health information. We can all get caught in the weeds with what we consume online - eggs are good for you, kale will kill you, eat more fat, eat less nuts, limit carbs but don’t forget to eat berries. Who knows, right?!
Here’s the thing. Nutrition science is an imperfect science, and it’s based on populations, not individuals. What works for you is likely not what will work for me, or for your neighbor or your mom. Sure, there are absolutely some overlapping themes, and elements that work for a variety of people. And, I can share with you tips and tools and strategies based on anecdotes and research.
But at the end of the day,YOU have to create YOUR OWN plan.
Part of this concept of really moving towards personalization requires moving away from black and white thinking as it relates to health. Just as I referenced last week, this is NOT a one size fits all process, there is NO ONE answer, and there’s not even ONE destination that is best for all of us.
So, stop scanning Instagram, or even research, looking to discover the one secret plan that you haven’t tried yet. You know what THAT does -the endless searching- It takes away from the time that you spend actually tuning into your own body and refining YOUR PLAN.
This week, I encourage you to consider moving towards the mindset that your journey is going to look different from anyone else's.
Use social media to learn tools and ideas, but then be willing to tune in, practice, fail, adjust, tweak, and repeat until you figure out what works for YOU in this season.
The Practice of Health
Recently, I shared how so many of us get caught up in the weeds of nutrition before establishing a solid foundation.
The first mindset shift that I hope you can start to move towards first is recognizing that when it comes to HEALTH, there is
NO Static Destination
NO On/Off Button
NO Wagon to Fall from
NO List to Check off
Instead, I believe it helps to see health as FLUID and EVER EVOLVING, as a PROCESS and a PRACTICE rather than a destination.
Health is found in the active tension of figuring out what habits and practices KEEP YOU feeling and functioning optimally from day to day. As your body and your circumstances will change, it will forever require some level of attention, adjustment, and input.
I want you to think about character…I imagine you would agree that character traits, like honor or compassion are NOT aspects that can be achieved and checked off. I know personally that how I embody certain character traits can change from one day to the next. And that what I am practicing, or leaning into, may be different from day to day, or season to season.
Similarly, it helps to view health not as something you can achieve and check off, but something that you will always be ADJUSTING, TWEAKING AND GROWING into.
Shifting your mindset to thinking of health as a PRACTICE is helpful for 2 reasons:
1. Your destination WILL change. Likely your vision of health has looked different throughout life. What’s more, the health markers that are appropriate for you now are not the same as when you were 10, and will not be the same later in life.
2. Health is a balance that you will always have to WORK to MAINTAIN. Sure, I want you to figure out what tools and resources help you stay in a healthy space. And I want you to know what DIRECTION you are moving in. But health as a practice means you will have to continually adapt and adjust, to re-prioritize, and to figure out how to make those health-giving behaviors a part of your routine. When we view health as outcomes, we start to think in terms of on/off, black/white, binge/restrict, which tends to help us achieve only one part of a goal at the expense of others.
So rather than getting caught up in the fastest way to get to that one destination, what if you started thinking about what it could mean to practice health TODAY. Start focusing instead on what practices, patterns, tools, and support systems help you right now. Consider that your direction might change slightly throughout life. And start giving yourself permission to explore what the practice of health looks like for you rather than being fixated on the destination.
Shifting Your Mindset
At this point in the year, I talk to a lot of people who feel quite defeated.
Most likely, at the end of 2021, you felt off, and maybe you decided you needed a detox. In fact, you likely indulged a little more in December in anticipation of your January reset.
So come January, you went ALL in. You gave it your best, and followed the program perfectly. You were sleeping better, had more energy and started to really feel good. But, you just couldn’t keep it up. The RULES didn’t seem that hard at first. But then we had that snow day, someone got Covid , you ran out of groceries, the sun still wasn’t around, and life just felt hard. You declared yourself a failure and gave up.
When it comes to nutrition, too often we jump ahead to the details, and take on too much, without establishing a solid foundation first. And yes, even if you have thought about nutrition for years, you might have skipped right over the foundation part.
What I have seen in years of practice, is that there are some FOUNDATIONS & MINDSET SHIFTS that are essential to any sustainable health change. And in my opinion, these are far more important than all the weeds we get caught up in about what and when to eat.
But, no one wants to talk about mindset, right? It’s way more work than if you just TELL ME what to do. Mindset work can be hard, and takes time. And, the worst part might be that NO ONE ELSE can do it for you.
Still, I’m here to tell you that THIS is the difference between the clients that see lasting changes, and those that do not.
So over the next few weeks I want to share with you what I think are a few of the most fundamental mindset shifts.
But here’s the thing, you don’t have to adopt them all at once. In fact, most mindset shifts take a good bit of practice. So I encourage you, as you follow along, to identify 1 or 2 things to focus on first. Pick the ones that feel like the most natural next steps.
How to Avoid the January Detox
As you might imagine, my January calendar fills up quickly.
So many of us have this deep set “all or nothing” mentality with health. If I can’t keep up with daily workouts, and homemade dinners, then I might as well not try🤷🏻♀️. As soon as that first holiday party hits, followed by a day of cereal and biscuits, we declare that healthy eating is unachievable this month, and give up🙅🏻♀️
⚡️Most of us have such a narrow, black and white definition of nutrition, that we decide holiday eating is “unhealthy,” and rather than missing out on joy, we might as well embrace it⚡️If we can’t stay ON with our health, then we might as well go all out and be OFF.
And we all know where that leads.You feel like crap and you desperately crave a reset come January. In fact, you have likely already planned on that reset, so you don’t even bother trying in December. 😕Sound familiar?
I’m here to remind you that health is 💥NOT a game of PERFECTION. In fact, who can even define perfection when there are a million opinions about what is healthy? And, there is NO ON-OFF switch.
What if, instead of blowing it out in December, and planning to detox in January, you simply give 5 minutes of thought to what 2-3 things you can keep doing RIGHT NOW that will help you feel your best this season?
💥Is it scheduling a weekly grocery store pickup so that you have fresh food around?
💥Is it planning incredibly simple meals rather than assuming you’ll want to cook?
💥Is it committing to 2 workouts a week? Or making sure you take a daily walk with your family?
💥Is it giving yourself a few minutes to breathe before entering a gathering so that you don’t use food to meet your emotions? (PS, there's nothing wrong if you do, but that food might not bring you what you’re looking for!)
💥Is it scanning the spread before making a plate to think through what combination of foods will leave you feeling satisfied, satiated, and functioning at your best?
💥Or, is it reminding yourself to make a plate, do your best to enjoy the food, and then move on!