ERIKA: LIVING HER BEST LIFE AT 45!

Meet Erika. Her nickname is “Mighty Mouse” and she juggles a lot in her life. She balances her work, her fitness, and being a single mom to two kids, including a son with special needs – which is no easy task. But her determined attitude and work ethic helps her create a life she’s proud of. Erika’s no stranger to fitness. She competed in her first bikini competition at age 38, which is quite an accomplishment. And she went back to school at age 42 in 2016. But, fast forward a few years, and despite her best efforts, Erika was feeling…

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WEEKENDITIS: HOW NOT TO OVEREAT ON WEEKENDS

Are you 5 days “perfect” followed by 2 days of anything goes? When 5pm Friday rolls around, is it “party time with the pantry”, time to unwind with a few (dozen) beers or glasses of wine? “Oh, c’mon man, it’s the weekend, it’s meant to be enjoyed!” Friday is like the gateway drug to the weekend! And, perhaps you might even have a social circle that supports and encourages this type of behavior.  Whether it’s “wine o’ clock” with the girls, or beers with the boys, it’s pretty understandable why this happens. Modern life is stressful and often frustrating.  We…

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6 SIMPLE TRICKS TO BEAT MINDLESS EATING

How do you make “mindless snacking” MINDFUL? You interrupt it. Disrupt the “food trance”. When we’re not paying attention, we can graze our way through hundreds of calories of BLT’s (Bites, Licks and Tastes).  Why do we eat when we’re not hungry though? ​ (e.g. “I WANT FOOD, even though I don’t NEED food”) Why do we do this??  Here’s the 3 main reasons why: 1. “I need a ‘pick me up’” It’s mid-afternoon, and the slump just hit, but you still have work to do.  Cortisol dips between 1-3pm normally, which then creates cravings for something sweet.  If it’s…

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THE BEST FAT LOSS ADVICE YOU WILL EVER HEAR

I used to weigh 328lbs. I was miserable, in pain, cranky, exhausted and frankly, hated my life. In an attempt to alleviate said pain, I desperately tried numerous methods and fixes. I know what it feels like to wake up, and obsess over your weight every day, and wish it could be GONE. In order to lose 110lbs, I had to change my MINDSET and APPROACH. I had to do something DIFFERENT than anything found in the wreckage of my many failed attempts to diet the fat away. So how did I lose 110lbs? One Day at a Time.  One…

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SHAME CULTURE HAS GONE TOO FAR

“The over use of the term “shaming” has stretched a once-useful word into near meaninglessness.” –  Mark Peters, Slate Shaming will NEVER work as a long term solution to ANY problem. What seems to be disappearing rapidly in our society, is an ability to hear legitimate constructive criticism, and the unwillingness to accept that we might be incorrect in our perception or thinking of an issue. In my arena, this typically comes up, when trying to navigate this particularly thorny topic of “fat-shaming” and it’s cousin the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement. These movements have noble aims, and are…

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HOW TO NAP LIKE A PRO

The big mistake people make with naps, is trying to use them to make up for a lack of sleep.  Nap = recharge, not compensate. 1. Keeping naps shorter means you’re less likely to wake up groggy and halfway into deep sleep. 2. Using a sleep mask to create darkness over your eyes signals time for sleep, and improves the quality of sleep you get. 3. White noise Blocks out most disruptions, and using the same noise every time (e.g. bubbling creek, waves etc) helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep. 4. Most people get anxious about a short nap,…

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ARE YOU SAYING I CAN’T EAT COOKIES?

“I caved in last night, and I ate a batch of cookies I baked.  I know it’s not good, it’s just that, when my husband started eating them, I couldn’t resist.” ​In a situation like this, a really important question to ask yourself here, is, if you weren’t eating the cookies out of a physiological need (hunger), what need were the cookies meeting? A cookie is not a very satiating (physiologically satisfying) food.  But it is being eaten to meet a need. Now, there’s all kinds of potential emotions in play here. Jealousy/Envy (why does he/she get to and I don’t?); FOMO…

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“JUST BREATHE” … NO THANKS, RIGHT NOW I FEEL LIKE PUNCHING SOMEONE IN THE FACE

Being told to “calm down” or “just breathe” can be absolutely infuriating and make the situation worse.  This is because it completely invalidates what you’re feeling right now, when in fact, your feelings are perfectly valid (even though your thoughts might not be rational). Often, calming down isn’t the best option right away. Maybe you’ve just had a stressful encounter with a co-worker, and you’ve built up some nervous energy.  Maybe now you want to scream and punch things.  You’re not a bad person, you just need an outlet for all that pent up stressful energy.  What can you do,…

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“YOUR HEAD LOOKS SO SKINNY!!”

“Your head looks so SKINNY” my wife exclaimed, when she saw the photo … (below) I didn’t realize how stark the contrast until I saw this photo from 2 years ago … I was nearly 290lbs, suffering from major stress, high blood pressure, and in pain most days It was also just after that first picture was taken, that I swallowed my ego, and hired a coach to help me. It turned out to be a life-changing decision.   I thought he was going to tell me what a fat loser I was, and prescribe me a meal plan, and…

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WHY CAN’T I STOP SNACKING AT NIGHT?

Let’s touch on what goes on in the brain.  I like analogies.   To keep it simple, we’ll say you have 2 “brains”. A small logical “thinky” brain, and a big powerful emotional brain. In the book, The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathon Hardt suggests we imagine it like an elephant with a rider. Your logical brain (the rider) has a flyswatter to steer the emotional brain (the elephant). When everything is going just fine, it’s pretty easy to steer the elephant. But when the elephant gets annoyed, bored, startled etc … it completely overrides any instructions from the rider. Over the course of a…

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