Why You’re Overeating (Even When You Know Better) You’re not lazy.There’s nothing wrong with you And no, you don’t need another damn diet. But if you’re like most of the women I work with, you still find yourself in the kitchen most nights, rummaging through the fridge like you’re going to find answers behind the almond milk. You ate a balanced dinner.You’re not physically hungry.But you’re standing there, eyeing that chocolate or the leftover pasta like it’s a lifeline. Sound familiar? This is what emotional eating in midlife often looks like.It doesn’t always show up as a dramatic binge. Sometimes it’s quiet, just a little bite here, a few crackers there. But it adds up. Not just on the scale (although let’s be real, that’s part of it), but in how you feel. Physically heavy. Mentally foggy. Emotionally worn out. And you beat yourself up.Because you know better. You’ve read Read More . . .
Does Health in Midlife Feel Like You Just Can’t Win?
Health in midlife can feel like an endless struggle—one where no matter what you do, someone says you’re “doing it wrong.” One day, carbs are the enemy. The next, it’s dairy. And somehow, even water is up for debate. If you’re tired of the conflicting advice, the guilt, and the constant second-guessing, you’re not alone. In this post, I’ll show you why health feels so confusing in midlife—and how to reset in a way that actually works for you. Read More . . .
How to Eat to Manage Menopause Symptoms & Weight Control
Tired of unpredictable hot flashes and endless food confusion? Discover how targeted meals, simple habit tweaks, and better “menopause nutrition guidance” can finally bring calm, energy, and confidence back into your life—without giving up everything you love to eat. Read More . . .
How to Overcome Relapse and Get Back on Track Faster
You don’t fail because you mess up—you fail when you let a mistake turn into a month-long spiral. The truth is, relapse is a normal part of habit change. It’s not an “if,” it’s a “when.” The key isn’t avoiding it—it’s knowing how to get back into action faster. In this post, I’ll break down why relapse happens, why frustration is actually a sign of progress, and how to stop letting one bad day turn into weeks of quitting. If you’ve ever struggled to get back on track, this is for you. Let’s talk about what actually works. Read More . . .
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Anymore: The Truth About Weight Loss Plateaus
If you’ve been trying to lose weight and suddenly the scale won’t budge, you’re not alone. It’s frustrating, and it can feel like all your hard work isn’t paying off. You’re eating better, moving more, and doing everything “right,” yet nothing is changing. Here’s the thing—weight loss plateaus are normal. They happen to everyone. Your body isn’t broken, and you’re not failing. A plateau doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong; it means your body is adjusting. But if you’re not prepared, a plateau can feel discouraging. You might start second-guessing yourself—Am I eating too much? Should I work out more? Is this even worth it? That kind of thinking can push you to make drastic changes that aren’t sustainable or even make you want to give up altogether. The good news? You don’t have to stay stuck. There are smart, simple strategies you can use to push through plateaus without Read More . . .
Why You Feel So Alive on Vacation (And How to Keep That Feeling at Home)
“How do I feel like I’m on vacation when I’m at home?” Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe it was a different form of the question: Living in Mexico for the past eight years has shown me something about American culture I couldn’t see when I was in it. Like a fish doesn’t know it’s in water, I didn’t realize how the constant pressure to achieve & do more was affecting my health and happiness. From my quiet beach town, I watch Americans & Canadians alike arrive for vacation. Their success markers are clear: the designer luggage, the scheduled activities, the need to make every moment “count.” Even on vacation, they’re measuring, achieving, optimizing. What Success Looks Like Here But Mexico measures success differently. Here, a good day isn’t about what you accomplish. It’s about how present you are. How deeply you connect. How much joy you find Read More . . .
Self-Care: Beyond Massages & Manicures
I talk about weight loss on my blog a lot. But, to be honest, the topic of weight loss has become less and less interesting of a topic to me. I’m much more concerned with how my clients think, feel, move, and their general health. However, our weight is a really good barometer for our health, and for that reason, I still think that it’s important to discuss. If we are taking good care of our body, that means feeding it properly and in the proper amounts, exercising it, giving it enough rest, (and since our brain is inside our body) not stressing out, and having a healthy attitude towards our relationships and the world around us. Our weight is a symptom of our lifestyle. Many folks like to manage the symptoms without addressing the root cause. Knee hurts? Get an injection. Can’t sleep? Take a pill. Low energy? Take Read More . . .
Why crowdsourcing for health doesn’t work
I LOOOOOOOVE what I do. I love talking to folks about their health. The more I learn about it, I think the body is an amazing organism, and the way it works is brilliant. The body’s primary goal is to keep us alive. So, it will do everything that it needs to do to preserve our life. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, or is counteractive to what we want (like losing body fat. We want to look good, but the body sees that fat as storing energy for some famine-day when it might need it!), but most everything it does, it does to preserve our life. A few weekends ago, I was talking to a woman I had just met about her health. She was complaining that over the past few months, she’d gained almost 30 lbs! She was frustrated – and understandably! I don’t Read More . . .
Two tricks I use to avoid the “eff-its” over the weekend
We all work so hard during the week. And once Friday night rolls around, we just want to put on our sweatpants, sit on the couch, and be a vegetable – not eat vegetables. We are worn down from all the adulting that we do during the week, that all we want to do on the weekend is NOT be responsible. Weekends tend to be a bit more relaxed. We typically have more time, so we want to sleep in, hang out with friends, have fun & not have to think about our diet. Well, unless you have kiddos who are in soccer, baseball, basketball, go to birthday parties, and other activities. In that case, weekends aren’t such a relaxing time O.o When we finally get through the week, we feel like we deserve a treat – and one of those treats is to not think about it. So, there are a Read More . . .
Your Future-Self Thinks Your Body is AMAZING!
I recently volunteered to host a screening for a movie about women’s body image. It started innocently enough; I heard about the movie; it sounded great! But it wasn’t being shown in general theaters. The only way to see it was if someone volunteered to host a screening. I hopped on to the web to see if it was showing anywhere locally, and it was, but it was a bit of a drive – which was a bummer. I didn’t want to do it. So I got all mopey for about 2 minutes, until I decided that I could host a screening! I knew enough women around town who were interested in their health – why couldn’t I do it?!? The movie Embrace is great! It covers a huge breadth of topics that all influence women’s body image – and the media, societal, and other messages that we receive about Read More . . .
Eat the Freakin Banana
So, here’s the scene: It’s after dinner, and you want something. A banana. But you don’t eat it. Because you heard that it’s got a lot of starch in it. And sugar. And they can also have a lot of calories! And all of that is bad to have before you go to bed. So you eat a handful of almonds. Because even though they can be higher in calories, at least they don’t have any starch or sugar. And that’s good because you’ve heard that at least it won’t raise your blood sugar before bed. But the almonds don’t really hit the spot. So you find some fat free Greek yogurt. And you put a touch of honey in it to sweeten it a little. But that’s okay because you read that you should always eat carbohydrates with protein – because protein slows down the spike in blood sugar. And Read More . . .
Why the scale isn’t a good tool for weight loss
When clients come to me saying that they want to lose weight, I understand what they mean. If I were to be snarky, I could say, ‘oh, you want to lose 10 lbs? Let’s just chop off your right arm. Would that make you happy?’ …but that probably wouldn’t make a good first impression now, would it? When folks say that they want to lose weight, what they mean is that they want to lose body fat. We want to look ‘toned’ – like our muscles are flexing even when we’re sitting on the couch. The degree of muscularity desired, however is different depending on the individual, and what they perceive to be an ideal physique. What’s counter-intuitive, though is we say that we want to lose weight, even though we want to lose fat, but we’re measuring that success with a tool that only measures our gravitational pull to the earth – the scale. Read More . . .
Why goals might not get you to your goal
There are no shortage of memes about goals. “A goal without a plan is just a wish” “Set your goals high, and don’t stop until you get there” “Goals that are not written down are just wishes” Aaaah! They’re endless! Not only were goals a huge part of my early success with my weight, but they were a cornerstone of my health coaching business for a long time. I would teach folks about SMART Goals. How to create them, and help them through the process. But I’ve changed my attitude about goals. I don’t think they’re necessary anymore. I have a client who’s daughter is one of the most disciplined kids that I know. Every year, she’d create New Years Resolutions, and actually complete them! I Know! Who does that?!? I think they were tests of her willpower. When she was in high-school, she created a New Years Resolution to perform Read More . . .
How can meditating possibly help me lose weight?
I don’t know why, but I’m reluctant to admit that I meditate. It just seems so new-agey, and I am so NOT new-agey. Because it’s not like that. The vision that you have in your head right now? Yep – nothing like that. What is it then? I guess it’s just breathing to me. But paying attention to breathing with the intent that I’m not focusing on anything else. About once a day, (but there have been periods where I’ve totally forgotten to practice – for like weeks!) I just sit, wherever I am, and pay attention to my breathing – and then, as I’m doing it, I’ll also check in with my body. I start with trying to match the length of my inhale and exhale. Then I’ll try to make them last to a count of 4. Sometimes, to start, I repeat, “In, two, three, four. Read More . . .
How do you find balance?
It seems like balance is a never ending quest that we seek in our lives. Oftentimes, our lives feel ‘out of balance’. What does that mean to have a life that is out of balance? Spending too much time at work? Not enough time with your family? If one person feels like they have balance, if you spend the same amount of time in each of those areas as that other person, will you have balance too? Is balance a certain percentage of play, work, family/friends, health, creativity or spirituality? I think that balance is so elusive because it’s different for everyone. Introverts and extroverts would certainly be different in the amount of social time that they each need. Additionally, someone who is an entrepreneur, who is completely excited and energized by her growing business is going to feel very differently about spending 60-80 hours per week at work than the Read More . . .
Should you eat breakfast ‘like a king’?
One of the things I love about going on vacation (other than the obvious) is that I get to talk to people who I’ve never met before: people who are completely different from me, who have different life experiences, and know totally different things! Of course, when they hear that I’m a Health Coach, they either they tell me how much they know about health and fitness, or they start confessing their diet and exercise sins as if I’m a health-priest, with the ability to absolve them of their fitness sins. Ha! But the other thing that I get is a TON of questions. Which I LOVE! Because A) I could talk about health and fitness all day long (just ask Gary) and B) There is SO MUCH misinformation ‘out there’ that I get to clear up – or at least, give folks another perspective. As I was talking to Read More . . .
You’re not a freakin’ child! Eat your damn Veggies!
Last week, I met this woman, socially. I don’t remember how we got on to the conversation, but she said, “I don’t like vegetables. I don’t eat them. I don’t eat fruit or seafood. I like meat and potatoes. And dessert! ” It’s not the first time I’ve heard an adult say ‘I don’t like veggies’. And sadly, I don’t think it will be the last. I usually don’t know how to respond to this. What I wanted to say is, “You’re freakin’ 60 years old! You’re not 5! Grow up & eat a freakin’ carrot! Pshaw!” It drives me nuts! Because, One – There are so many awesome, delicious veggies out there & so many ways to prepare them that are fantastic! And Two – How does this happen? How does a person grow into an adult and choose not to eat vegetables? They say that kids need exposure Read More . . .
What did I learn from a crazy kettlebell challenge?
Just last week I challenged myself to do an ungodly number of kettlebell swings for 8 straight days. Why on earth would I want to do that, and what would I learn? I don’t even think I was thinking about what I would learn. I was only wondering, ‘Can I do that?’ But I learned a LOT! I learned about my strength, how my body works, and also how a small shift in mindset can make a HUGE difference in my motivation. Why It all started innocently enough, I guess. I was getting up from the kitchen table quickly. I wasn’t watching where I was moving, and I kicked the kitchen table with my little toe. OUCH! But I brushed it off – how many times have you jammed your toe into something without consequence? Not that I’m totally clumsy, but it happens, and it hurts, and I forget Read More . . .
Get Over Your Motivation Problems – 3 steps
Yesterday when I woke, I drank my liquid wake up potion, and headed to my workout room to get that started. It was supposed to be a simple workout – one that I had done before & it would be over in 30 minutes. But yesterday the weight felt heavier than it usually does. My body didn’t move as well as it usually does. My push-ups and planks were harder. Everything just seemed so difficult. For some, this could have been permission to stop because I just didn’t ‘feel it’. I think that most people believe that we have to be motivated to exercise. Like every day I get up, jump out of bed with a smile on my face, and greet the day with a Tony the Tiger, “I Feel GGGRRRRRREEEAAT! I’m going to do lift weights with my TEETH!” Yeah – no. That doesn’t happen. I don’t even know Read More . . .
Is doing something better than doing nothing?
I don’t have time to do a full workout, so I’m just going to skip it. Does this sound familiar? I know that there was a time in my exercising life that I had this mindset: “Well, I can’t do the workout that I’m supposed to do, so why do it at all?” And so I get it. You want to be all in. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to doing it, it’s not worth doing. But here’s the thing: This mindset is holding you back. Because exercise doesn’t work that way. Health doesn’t work that way. Consistency is the true contributor to progress when it comes to exercise, eating, and your goals. I posted this on FaceBook the other day: Many folks feel that they need to be ‘on’ all the time, or follow their plan perfectly to get results. Yes, you do need to be ‘on’, Read More . . .