The dictionary defines Authentic as “genuine. Real. True. Worthy. Reliable. Trustworthy.” In our current culture, we should not be surprised that so many are seeking an “authentic life.” We are inundated by the “highlight reel” that is social media.
Read MoreI spend this week the same way every year: gathering my recipes, ordering my turkey and planning my shopping. I love Thanksgiving. Growing up, I knew Thanksgiving officially started when my mother’s large, wooden bowl was stacked to overflowing with torn white bread (to sit out and grow stale, overnight, for stuffing).
Read MoreI’ve been thinking a lot about freedom lately as I’ve been working on our program: The Common Sense Transformation. Freedom from restrictive diets. Freedom from obsessing about when to eat, how much to eat or what am I allowed to eat. Freedom from the siren call of the latest lifestyle diet trend. Freedom from the guilt and shame connected to food. Freedom from hating our bodies. Freedom from the circus of our diet culture.
Read MoreIf you are confused about what is good nutrition, what is good to eat, this is for you. If you have tried time and time again to lose the weight and keep it off, this is for you. If you have tried keeping up with the latest “nutrition research” and popular diet advice only to continue to run circles and fall back into your old ways, this is for you. If food, nutrition and body issues dominate your thoughts and influence your actions, this is for you. If you know you need to take a step towards living a healthier lifestyle but feel lost as to how to even begin, this is for you.
Read MoreImagine waking up and not having food rule your thoughts. Imagine not feeling guilty or filled with regret about your food choices. Imagine not white-knuckling your way through a day because today is the day you will start being “good.” Imagine not fearing real food; wondering if a banana has too much sugar or if carbs are making you fat. Imagine trusting that you can eat more than just chicken and salad. Imagine living a life free from dieting.
Read MoreTrue health journeys must begin with WHY. "Why" is deeper than "what." "What" implies a finish line: a goal, once reached and celebrated, is often abandoned or forgotten (examples: a target weight, a body fat percentage, a jean size).
Read MoreThis is an astonishing statistic. An estimated 45 million people each year go on a diet, and 44.1 million of them not only fail to reach their goal weight, they regain every pound that they had lost in the process.
Read MoreI grew up in a home where we had liver and onions every Friday. Yep. My Mom, greeted with the joy you can imagine from a child faced with liver as their ONLY dinner choice, would exclaim, “Its good for your blood!” That was my cue. Sit quietly, cut it up into small pieces, bury some of it in my potatoes, stash some in my napkin and move the rest around on my plate so it looked like I ate enough liver to be excused. My Mom was always baffled by my dislike. She loved liver?!?
Read MoreLook crepes in Paris are lacey, delicate and crisp. The batter is finicky...requiring rest and refrigeration. The cookware is expensive and not versatile.
Read MoreMy dad loved French Onion Soup. These are the french crocks that I grew up with so this is comfort food on every level for me. You can find so many recipes out there BUT hands down none will ever beat Julia Child’s. Her technique to perfectly caramelize the onions is worth the extra time (hands off!) because of the depth of flavor. Try this...promise you won’t regret it!
Read MoreI get asked all the time what is the ONE thing I can do to improve my health, my waistline, and my relationship with food? As you might imagine there are multiple answers. Many are of value:
There are certain foods I become obsessed with making. Scones are one of those foods. My obsession began in NYC working above Dean & DeLuca. I have so many variations and make them according to what is in season. So, blackberry lemon scones are on deck today. Wonderful with coffee but not overly sweet. Just enough.
Read MoreWhat if I told you if the bulk of your intake is food products and you don’t cook, that you will be over-fat? What if I told you marketing and nutrition labels are not truthful? What if I told you all diets are the same? What if I told you any eating plan that tells you it is not a diet, but is focused on quantity and elimination is, in fact, a diet. What if I told you that quick, deprivation-based weight loss is not sustainable? What if I told you the food industry and diet culture know their promises are lies, but their wealth is built on your belief that you fail because you lack willpower and not because they fail you?
Read MoreLast Monday was my 26th birthday and I'm officially closer to 30 than I am to 20. I land smack dab in the middle of the Millennial generation. I'm young enough to have had a computer in my house since a single-digit age and old enough to have not had my first cell phone until I needed one to call for my ride from golf practice in high school.
Read MoreHippocrates, the father of medicine, claimed that “all disease begins in the gut.” Well then. If the father of modern medicine believed gut health to be the foundation of well-being, then it is crucial for us to understand the gut’s role, to recognize when its health is compromised and how to restore it.
Read MoreIn the first post I published on this blog, I talked about (more like hinted at) the true measure of the health of a body. True health is not measured by body composition or by muscular strength or cardiovascular endurance. And it’s not even measured by perceived energy or mental clarity, although these are often tell tale signs of what lies within.
If we want to know if we're healthy, we need to take a closer look at our hormones.
Read MoreI don't trust myself if left to my own devices. Really, I don't.
In my last post I talked about the divide between the mind and the brain. I won't go into the details again in this post, but this is a quick synopsis.
Read MoreSeven years, five gyms, four states: this is my history of experience working in an industry that exists to help people change their lives. And in all of my time as a fitness trainer and nutrition coach one thing remains true regardless of who I'm working with or the latest innovation or industry craze: change is hard as hell.
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