Healthy Eating Buzzwords and What You Actually Need to Know

There are so many buzzwords when it comes to healthy eating - clean, organic, non-GMO, etc.- but how do you know what these terms actually mean and if it’s something you should even pay attention to? Today we’re going to dive into what you need to know to make an informed decision for your family. 

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Have you ever found yourself wandering around the grocery store, trying to make healthy choices for your family, only to be confused by all of the labels placed all over the boxes or hanging over the aisle? Well, you aren’t alone. Food makers have started adding tons of different labels to their products - some of them are important and some are just marketing to fit into the latest health trend. So, how do you know which is which? Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as any of us wish that it was, but I’m hoping that what I share here with you today will help clear it up a bit. 

3 of the most confusing food labels:   

GMO - it means that this crop has been genetically altered to make it more resistant to environmental factors or pests. Concerns about GMOs are that they can add to overall body toxicity, allergies and sensitivities, and could possibly contribute to cancer risk.                                                                                                                                                   

A lot of packaged foods and ingredients are common GMO crops such as sugar, corn, soybean, canola, and cottonseed oils as well as ingredients commonly used in animal feed (so what your meat is eating). 

Organic - this term has a lot more complexities in what it can mean. There are many different artificial ingredients used in food production that come with concern especially for things like allergies and sensitivities, contributing to cancer risks and DNA damage, as well as an overall negative effect on gut health and detox pathways.

When referring to produce it means that only allowed synthetic chemicals or preservatives have been used (about 25 different ones allowed vs 900 allowed in conventional produce) and that any chemical used went through testing that proved that it wasn’t harmful to human health or the health of the environment, as well as that the farming practices used passed the organic standards set by the USDA. 

When referring to packaged foods it means that the products contain none of the following: artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially or hydrogenated oils, BHT/BHA (hormone), GMOs (specifically important with corn, sugar, soy, canola, and cotton), glyphosate sprayed crops, added hormones, antibiotics, glyphosate by-products or GMOs used for animal feed. It also means that if any herbicide/pesticide was used they followed organic standards and rules. 

Natural Flavors - this one is super confusing and seems to be in everything. It could consist of approximately 2500 different ingredients. The FDA has some standards that say it must be derived from an animal or plant, however, that’s a very broad category. It also means that GMOs or chemically treated ingredients can be included as “natural”. 

Other common labels to watch out for: 

Natural - this term is completely unregulated and therefore could mean anything or nothing. 

Zero / Low calorie or Zero / Low sugar - look at that label. In order to make something zero-calorie, it has most likely been stripped of any actual food or nutrients and is full of artificial ingredients instead. This also applies to low / no sugar labels. If they aren’t using sugar, what are they using to sweeten it? Most likely something artificial. 

High in protein - this is a completely subjective term so it could mean anything. It likely refers to a ratio of carbs to protein and means that it’s not super high in carbs compared to protein. A lot of people have different protein intake goals based on health goals, but generally for adults, specifically for women, I recommend shooting for 20-30g of protein per meal - so think about all of the components of that meal and what the total protein would be. That should get you in a generally good place for your overall daily protein intake.

Here are a few of my top tips for navigating these confusing terms:

1. Pay attention to the ingredient list, not just the nutrition facts. A lot of times we think we are making healthy decisions if the item has good protein or low sugar, but that isn’t always true. Do you recognize most of the ingredients as real food? Are there 30 ingredients? Are the first few ingredients one of those common GMO crops? If so, look for a better alternative. 

2. Stick to buying organic produce for the dirty dozen and don’t worry about the other produce items. This frees up money in your grocery budget for buying the organic versions of other foods like meat/dairy as well as those packaged foods that contain the commonly modified crops that we talked about earlier - sugar, corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oils, as well as any product containing wheat as it is not a GMO crop but it is one of the crops most commonly sprayed with glyphosate. 

3. If you’re buying a product that includes “natural flavors” which most do, make sure it also has an organic label so that you can at least know that a lot of the artificial things that we want to avoid like GMOs, dyes, preservatives, etc. can’t be it. 

There are so many more things that I could share about food labeling with you but I wanted to really focus on the most common ones today. If you’re wanting to hear more about healthy eating and how to make healthy - yet realistic - food choices, check out Episode 70 to learn how I do meal planning or Episode 90 for tips on making healthy eating choices at parties and in social settings. 

I hope that this has helped make food labels a little less confusing and you walk away from this episode feeling more educated and empowered to make food choices for your family. 

If you’re looking for more ideas for healthy meals, I have a few resources that I think you will love. You can download my Healing Foods Guide as well as my recipe ebook “Easy, Healthy Eats” by clicking here.

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Easy Health Tips for a Busy Season

Hi friends! We are right in the middle of one of the busiest seasons of the year with Christmas just a couple of weeks away at this point, and I think it’s safe to say that for most of us, making healthy choices and prioritizing our health goes on the back-burner during this time. It usually becomes something that we just push off until January, right? Then we’ll really “get back on track”! Well, what if I told you that there are ways that you can continue to make decisions that support your health even in the hustle and bustle and it doesn’t require you to miss out on any of the fun? Today I’m sharing a few ideas with you to help you do just that, so let’s get into it! 

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I don’t know about you guys but I am running at full capacity most of the time during this season, so the thought of adding something else is not appealing to me - and I would imagine it probably isn’t to you either. The ideas that I have to share with you today, I’ve adapted from the 1-minute wellness mentality. It started with a book that I read years ago that helped change my perspective on what a healthy lifestyle looks like. It was built on the premise that instead of continually striving for perfection in our health or bodies, we just try to get 1% better every day. By choosing to take just one simple action we can make a positive impact on our health that really adds up over time. While these ideas may not only take “one minute” they are easy to incorporate into a busy day and take minimal effort.  

So here we go. Remember, we’re not trying to do all these things simultaneously. We’re choosing one or two to add to our daily routine. As it becomes a normal part of your life, you can add something else. Little by little adds up to a lot. 

Drink 6-8 oz of warm lemon water as soon as you wake up

Not only does this help rehydrate your body after waking up, it also helps your liver flush out toxins and gives your metabolism a boost!

Eat a balanced meal (carb + protein + fat) before or at least, alongside, your morning coffee

Coffee, while delicious and having some health benefits, raises your blood sugar, so without balancing it out with protein and fat, you’re more likely to experience cortisol/stress hormone issues and a major crash. Over time, this can also contribute to chronic blood sugar dysregulation. 

Switch out your coffee for green tea. 

Green tea has a ton of health benefits! While it still contains caffeine, it’s a bit less than coffee and it also contains many antioxidants and catechins that have been studied to contribute to many positive health outcomes like improved metabolism, increased brain function, decreased risk for heart disease and diabetes, and reduced inflammation. 

Get outside in the morning w/o sunglasses 

Morning light has the highest amounts of red light which help with circadian rhythm and adrenal health; in warmer months or climates, morning and midday sunlight can help with vitamin D absorption too. 

Add a handful of green veggies to every meal (raw or cooked) 

Especially in this season where there are parties every other day and delicious desserts everywhere, it’s easy to go days without eating any vegetables at all. Veggies contain many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that our bodies need as well as fiber that feed our good gut bugs and keep our digestive systems happy. So whatever you’re eating, add some veggies! Add a couple of your favorite options to your next grocery trip and then take 5 min to prep them when you get home so they are ready to go. 

Add protein to every meal or snack 

Most of us struggle to get enough protein throughout the day. This can be even harder during the holidays. Grab some easy protein options - think hard-boiled eggs, beef/turkey sticks, a bone broth protein powder, rotisserie chicken, etc to keep on hand. Then make sure to add one to every meal and snack. 

Give your body a break between meals.

This one can make a huge difference in your gut health and in helping to regulate blood sugar.   Aim for 3-4 hours in between without continually grazing through the day.

Drink a cup of bone broth daily 

Bone broth is full of amino acids that help support digestion and the integrity of our gut lining. This is a big deal and is a major first step in dealing with any gut health issues. This is a great thing to add to your daily routine during the holiday season when most things that we do/eat can be difficult for our guts. 

Take a probiotic daily 

Another great way to support overall gut health and therefore, overall health. This is a big deal for immune system support as well. 

Take a good quality, whole-food multivitamin 

Especially when we’re struggling to get quality nutrients into our diets, but really all of the time, we can benefit from a good quality multivitamin. Our food supply just isn’t what it used to be, unfortunately, and many of us are operating on less than optimal levels of a lot of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. You can find some of my favorite brands on the favorites page of my Fullscript Dispensary. You can also always find that link in my Instagram bio. 

Take magnesium baths 

Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins through food, environmental factors, stress, etc., and our livers/kidneys have a BIG job to do in order to filter and flush those toxins out. Magnesium baths are a great way to support your body, especially when you’re more stressed and have more sugar than usual (hello, holiday season). Adding Epsom salts also provides an extra level of liver support and up the relaxation factor. 

Magnesium is also huge immune system support - honestly, just an overall health supporter and most of us are deficient. Transdermal magnesium is a faster and easier way to increase those magnesium levels, so even more of a reason to add this into your routine. Not a bath person? You can also do a foot soak and get the same benefit. 

My favorite transdermal magnesium is from Living the Good Life Naturally. You can order some for yourself by clicking here or at the link in my Instagram bio. Save 10% on your order with the code HF10. 

Set some screen time boundaries

This time of year is overstimulating in and of itself. Even more so when we add in tons of screen time while traveling, waiting in lines, etc. Set a time in your day to unplug and be screen-free. This is especially after sundown to help with getting good sleep, so maybe make this part of your evening routine or start a “no screens at dinner” rule to bring a little more connection and peace to your family time. 

Practice meditating or a breathing exercise

Holidays are stressful sometimes - there’s no way around it. Help your body handle stress by incorporating a calming practice like meditation or square breathing. This is a great one to add in before bedtime or before a meal as stress can interfere with sleep and digestion. 

Gratitude journal in the mornings

We just celebrated Thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean that we stop being grateful, right? Practicing gratitude can help keep us feeling grounded and with a healthy perspective when the to-do list feels really long. 

Stretch for 5 minutes before bed

This can help promote more restful sleep, helps break the scrolling to fall asleep habit, and can help with tight and sore muscles in the mornings. It’s also so easy to do and just a great way to end your day. 

Okay, so those covered a lot of areas  - nutrition, gut health, stress management, and movement. Which one or two of those will you try to incorporate into your daily routine this season? I’m definitely keeping up with my magnesium baths most nights before bed and working on making sure I’m adding in those veggies with each meal. Whichever one you choose, I know that you’ll be glad that you did. 

I can’t believe we’re here at the end of 2022 already! I have one more episode coming out at the end of December to help us get ready for the new year and I’ve also been working on a new resource for you guys that will launch in January, so make sure that you’re subscribed to the podcast and follow me on Instagram, so you don’t miss anything! 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families! Keep moving forward, go love your people well, and I’ll talk to you next time!

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Plan Your Plate! Healthy Eating Tips for Your Next Get-Together.

Hi friends! Fall is here and it brings so many things that I love, including lots of get-togethers for football parties, holiday parties - and for us our anniversary and our daughter’s birthday. It’s basically one big party all season, which is both wonderfully fun and totally exhausting lol. 

Fall also brings with it so many cozy flavors and a lot of concentration on delicious foods. This combo of tons of social events and get-togethers plus tons of pumpkin-spice-laden treats can leave us feeling a little stressed about making healthy eating choices. 

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Fall!! It truly is my favorite season.  As an enneagram 9, it’s hard for me to choose a favorite in anything, but I love fall so much that it’s the obvious choice. 

I know so many other people who love all things fall too, but I also know that fall can bring with it some stress or maybe even worry about making healthy eating choices. Fall leads right into the holidays and for anyone who is trying to make health-conscious decisions or may be worried about their weight, there seems to be a little nagging voice in our heads that’s a little stressed out about all of the food. 

So today, I want to give you a few practical tips to quiet those nagging thoughts and help give you confidence in making healthy choices while still completely enjoying the season. 

Adjust your expectations 

We have to live in reality, friends. How often do we go to a party or some kind of holiday get-together thinking we just won’t eat anything or we’ll just pass on the dessert? First of all, that sounds miserable, doesn’t it? Secondly, it’s hardly realistic for most of us! The reality is that dessert, snacks, and whatever else that you are thinking of avoiding will be there, and you’re going to want to eat it, and that’s okay. So let’s just adjust our expectations, that avoidance isn’t really realistic in most cases and it’s probably not the best idea anyway. 

Decide what a “healthy choice” means for you. 

This doesn’t always look the same for everyone and it doesn’t look the same in every season. Spend a little time thinking about what foods work best for your body, what makes you feel bad, and what foods you love and can’t wait to enjoy. For some people, this may look like not eating certain foods, and for some this may mean eating healthy portions of everything! Don’t follow the crowd on this. Be intentional (but remember those realistic expectations). 

Quit with the guilt. 

 We need to be conscious of unhealthy patterns when it comes to eating - and I’m not at all talking about food. I’m talking about unhealthy patterns when it comes to our mindset. One of the most common ones is feeling guilty when we eat something that feels indulgent or something that may not be the most nutritious. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve worked with who find themselves caught up in this pattern of eating something that they’ve deemed “bad” and then spend the night or next day feeling guilty about it and sometimes even punishing themselves or trying to “make up for it” with extra long workouts or by barely eating anything the next day. There are not any bad foods. Food is amoral. It is both physically and mentally unhealthy for us to assign morality to certain foods and immorality to others and it has led to some really deep rooted issues with food in our society. So when you catch yourself feeling guilty or saying something like “I’m going to have walk off this dinner” or “run an extra mile tomorrow because of this dessert” try to change that narrative to something like “I’m thankful that I get to enjoy this meal”. Also, one more thing on this - remember that while food is fuel for our bodies, there is also an emotional component to food that is connected with the pleasure centers in our brain - and that’s a gift. God didn’t have to give us taste buds or allow us to enjoy our food, but He did, so let’s not rob ourselves of that. 

Always Balance It Out (carb + protein + fat)  

Remember that one of the major factors supporting your health is blood sugar balance, so make that a priority over counting calories or another arbitrary focus. Some examples of how this may look at a party: choose hummus and guac with chips; add some chicken or a few meatballs to your plate along with all of those starchy carbs; when it’s time for dessert, add some high-quality half-and-half or higher protein nut milk to your coffee, or add a handful of nuts to your plate along with the brownies. This starts with making sure that you are familiar with some good protein and healthy fat options that you enjoy. Download my Foods that Heal List for some ideas - also a new resource for this coming soon!) 

Support Your Digestion

This is important all of the time, but especially so when we’re eating different foods or foods that are very rich and can cause some digestive upset. Try to eat your meals when you’re seated, calm, and can really enjoy your food. When we’re hyped up or upset, we often have a lot of adrenaline and stress hormones pumping through our bodies which makes digestion and nutrient absorption, so when possible eat at a more calm time in the get-together. Also, avoid grazing throughout the entire event. Our bodies digest best when we have at least 90 minutes in-between eating, so enjoy your meal and then give your gut a break. This will help to avoid or reduce unwanted symptoms like bloating. 

Bring an Alternative 

Bring something that you know you enjoy and will make you feel good. Ideally, something with protein or nutritious ingredients. One way to be sure there are foods there that you feel good about eating is to bring them yourself. This is especially important for those with food allergies or sensitivities. 

I hope these tips help you enjoy this season to the fullest while still making decisions that prioritize your health!

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Prioritizing Your Health as a Mom

Hi friends! This past Sunday was Mother’s Day so in honor of that, this week’s #hfpodcast episode is focused on prioritizing your health as a mom. This can be such a struggle and takes intentional planning and effort that if we’re being honest, oftentimes we don’t feel that we have the energy for. Today I want to encourage and hopefully inspire you to think through some ways that you can support your health and care for your body so that you can continue to love and serve your family well for years to come!

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I reached out to my followers on Instagram and asked them what some of their obstacles were to prioritizing their health as a mom and here are the most common responses that I got:

• Time 

• Hectic schedules

• Exhaustion 

• Lack of motivation 

• Body image struggles 

• Guilt when taking time for yourself

I think all of us moms can relate to pretty much all of that!

The thing we need to remember is that we are all in this together. Most of us who are caretakers in any capacity, moms or not, but especially when you have tiny humans that you are responsible for 24/7 can relate to the struggle of knowing that it’s best for us to take care of ourselves and do things that support our health and figuring out how to actually do it. 

It’s also helpful to remember that this is just a season - not forever. We’re just not going to get to it all every day no matter how organized and planned we are and that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try to do things that we know will help us, but we’re going to agree here together to stop beating ourselves up about it when it’s not all done, okay? Deal! 

Here are a few tips and ideas that I hope will encourage and inspire you to take the time and be intentional about caring for your body and supporting your health:

• Spend time with Jesus every day in any way that you can. This will look different in every season, maybe even from day today. The truth is that we just simply cannot care for other people well and pour out of a cup that’s empty. Mothering well requires amounts of patience, wisdom, and care that I just simply do not have without the help of the Holy Spirit. I literally need help with it and I can tangibly feel a difference in my parenting on the days that I don’t prioritize this. 

• Take a little time for yourself. This can be so incredibly difficult to do, but I truly believe that it makes a difference in our mental and emotional health. This may mean asking for help or trying to get up a little earlier before the kids do, or maybe choosing 10 minutes of time to decompress instead of doing the dishes {again}. Get creative - it’s worth it.

• Eat actual meals that are for you (protein+carb+fat, every 3-4 hours, including snacks). The key here is to have a plan but know that it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Stick to the basics and make it work for your season. For ideas or help with this, grab my Foods that Heal Guide and my Easy, Healthy Eats Recipe eBook.

• Try to have food before coffee - I know. 🙈 Here’s the deal - coffee (while amazing) spikes one of our stress hormones- Cortisol - and can make your blood sugar unstable as well as put stress on your adrenals and hormones. Essentially, it can make you have less energy and more irritable. Bad combo for a mom (well, anyone - but you get what I’m saying). So simply adding a small balanced meal or snack before your morning cup of coffee can help to stabilize your blood sugar and support your energy levels and mood.

• Prioritize your sleep. I’m well aware that our kids do not care about our sleep at all. However, a long-term lack of sleep can take such a toll on our health (if you want to hear my personal experience with this, make sure you listen to the whole episode). There is some lack of sleep that comes with parenthood, especially in the newborn days, but I want to encourage you that it’s worth the money, effort, time, whatever you need to do to help your kids to sleep well and independently so that you can too! Also, choose sleep over an extra hour of work or even scrolling. I know that it feels like you’ve earned some numb-out time (and you have) but if it’s a choice between staying up really late to “escape” or get more sleep, the sleep will serve you better every single time. 

• Have a plan for moving your body. This is one of those areas that really has to adapt after having kids but it’s still totally doable. We just need a plan and realistic expectations! Find ways to make it work for your schedule and season of life. You can include the kids by letting them join you in your workout if they’re old enough or let them have a little screen time will you fit in a workout at home. Go for a walk and take them in the stroller or let them ride their bikes or scooter along side you. If your budget allows, joing a gym that provides childcare - this will give you a little alone time and you can fit in a workout - win win! Just be realistic with your expecations of what it will look like. It won’t happen everyday, but if you make it part of your daily plan and shoot for it, you will at least hit it some days. 

• Give yourself some grace. Choose the priorities from this list and don’t try to do everything! Remember, living a healthy lifestyle is really about balance, it’s more like juggling. So choose a couple things that you can focus on and feel good about. Also, learn to let go of some things. Maybe the house isn’t perfectly clean all the time, maybe you have to ask for help, maybe you can’t go to every event you’re invited to. Spend some time thinking through what is most important and what you actually feel called to, and be okay saying no to other things. 

• Don’t give up when you have an off day (or week, even month). It’s not starting over, it’s not getting back on the wagon,  it’s just living your life and tomorrow is a brand new day!

Mama- friends, it’s okay to take care of you too. You will love and serve better if you aren’t trying to pour out without ever taking the time to refill. Think through what you know will help you the most a prioritize a few of these things we’ve talked about today.

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"Balancing" A Healthy Lifestyle

Hi friends! Today we are jumping into the topic of “balancing” a healthy lifestyle and how I believe this idea of “balance” is leading a lot of us to burn out and or leaving us feeling stuck. Let’s get into it! 

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I think we’ve gotten too attached to the idea of balance, especially when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle or maintaining healthy habits. So often when I ask people what they’re most frustrated with or what they’re struggling with in regards to their health, I get a lot of responses about frustration with inconsistency with working out or how they’re eating as well as a lot of frustration with not being able to balance it all. The question - “how do I do all of this” comes up a lot. Sometimes a “healthy lifestyle” can feel like a whole lot of boxes to check, which really feels like a whole lot of work! Right? 

I mean, that’s why so many of the fad diets become so popular, even though they often aren’t actually good for your health long-term, but they promise a result without all the work. 

I think we have made the ideal “healthy lifestyle” into something that is actually not realistically attainable. In reality, who can get 8 hours of sleep (2 of those being deep sleep, at the optimal time of night) every night, wake before the sun, drink 32 oz of perfectly filtered, lemon water, eat a nutritious large breakfast with the optimal amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and fat within an hour of waking + 15 different vitamins/supplements; practice complete mindfulness while getting completely ready for the day; spend time outside; space perfectly portioned and balanced meals out all throughout the day the day; stand for 10 minutes every hour; get 10k+ steps; get an hour workout in; be totally present and accessible for your family; feed your kids a beautiful, nutritious dinner; avoid too much caffeine or screen time; keep your home completely clean and laundry caught up; get everyone to bed at the ideal time of evening…. And then turn around and do it all the next day! Oh and did you notice I didn’t even mention anything about actually working a job or having any obligations or responsibilities… 

You hear me say all of this and think it sounds ridiculous - and it does! But how often do we subconsciously hold ourselves to this kind of standard and then feel like we just can’t “balance” it all when we don’t measure up. I have 100% felt this way and tried so hard attain this kind of “balance”. 

So what do we do? If we aren’t looking for balance, what are we looking for? 

I think that living a healthy lifestyle, and maintaining healthy behaviors/habits, looks a lot like a balanced scale and a lot more like juggling. 

Do we want to build a solid foundation for our health? Yes. Do we need to focus on all the different areas of a healthy lifestyle - sleep, stress, exercise, nourishment, relationships… yes - but not all at the same time. And I think that shift in mindset is what makes the difference between someone who is able to settle into participating in healthy behaviors, steadily making progress in their health, and someone who sets a goal, is all “into it” for about two weeks or a month, and then burns out. 

Think of someone who is juggling 5 bowling pins -  is he aware that all 5 are there? Yes. Is he focusing on all 5 of them at the same time? No! Just the ones in his hand at that moment and then his focus shifts as it needs to in order to keep all of the pins in the air. 

It’s just not possible for us to focus on all aspects of our health at the same time. I kind of wish that it were! My personality’s bend toward perfectionism wishes that I could master all of these areas of health and check off every box, but the thing is that I’ve tried it and it just doesn’t work! 

When we allow ourselves to focus on 1-2 areas of our health or 1-2 healthy habits at a time, it prevents us from becoming overwhelmed and burnt out so quickly. Then when we feel confident in one area, we can move onto another. This allows us to actually feel successful and to make real forward progress - it may be slower than we want to go, but it greatly increases the odds of us actually achieving our goals.  

So think about the most pressing or needed change that you need to make for your health. Is it sleep? Is it hydration? Is it eating more plants and veggies? Maybe it’s cutting out processed, chemical-full foods? 

I asked you guys on Instagram earlier in the week to give me an example of just one thing you feel like you need to focus on for your health and I would walk through what this practically looks like in the episode. Several of you said exercising consistently or being more active - something like that.

That’s a great one and super common. So let’s talk through some ideas of what that may look like practically:

• Make an appropriate goal - to move your body 5 days a week (not to work out every single day and lose 10 lbs.). The goal is simply to move your body. 

• Make it work for you:

  • Figure out what activity/exercise you actually enjoy

  • Decide if you do better alone or do you need someone to keep you accountable? Would you enjoy a group activity more than a solo workout? 

  • Brainstorm your usual excuses - time, energy, soreness? What has prevented you from being consistent in the past?

  • Schedule it ,but be flexible. Your week won’t go exactly as planned, so you need to be able to not be completely thrown off. (This may look like planning to walk M,W,F and do Barre or Pilates on T/R but it is 12 degrees outside or it’s raining all week, so you do a quick youtube workout or stick to pilates/barre every day instead.) You have to be able to pivot or you’ll never stick with it.

  • Track your activity with an app or watch to give yourself a little extra accountability. 

Do you see how changing your focus from 5 goals or areas of focus to just this 1 could lead to more successful progress? It’s like a snowball effect. A little change and progress leads to another change, which leads to another, and another. Before you know it, you look back and things look completely different. 

Here’s the thing - consistency and success in one behavior or habit usually crosses over into another. For example, when you’re feeling good about how you’re moving your body, you will likely naturally be more intentional about what you are eating and if you’re hydrated. Or maybe you’ll notice that your sleep starts to naturally improve and you start to pay more attention to the quality of your sleep overall. Success usually breeds success leaving you feeling more confident in how you’re caring for your health. Which is really the goal at the end of the day anyway. 

So I hope that you will try adjusting how you approach living a healthy lifestyle and choose to focus on 1-2 things at a time. I believe it will be a game-changer for you. 

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My Simple Method for Meal Planning

Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are talking about meal planning. There are many different methods and ways to meal plan, so this is not necessarily a “how-to” or a list of things you “should” do, this is just me sharing how I do things in this current season of life that I am in. I’ve had other podcast episodes about meal planning - tips for meal planning, the importance of it, etc., and even since recording those episodes, things in my life have changed and I don’t do things exactly the way that I did then. That’s just normal and a part of life. Everyone has to learn how to shift how they do things based on the season that they’re in. So today I’m sharing what is currently working for me and I hope that it gives you new inspiration or ideas, as well as give you permission to meal plan in a way that best serves you. 

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A little something you may or may not know about me, depending on how long you’ve been around the podcast, is that I am an Enneagram 9w1. (If you don’t know what that is it’s a personality test that I often reference because I think it’s super helpful.) So, that basically means my mind is a complicated, sometimes contradictory place. So I love all things organizing, order, planning, ideas, and future, but I don’t always love executing said plans, and I’m not very good at motivating myself to carry out a plan that I’m not “feeling” in the moment. I also don’t like chaos or feeling stressed about what we’re having for dinner, regretting an impulse choice, etc. (like I said, it’s complicated). So, as you can imagine, meal planning is extremely important, for me. I have tried many times to go without some kind of meal plan in place for the week and it always turns out badly. I most often end up stressed, and really frustrated with myself for not just taking the time to have a plan in place, get groceries, and get ahead of things rather than feeling like I’m constantly playing catch-up or regretting my choices. You may have a totally different personality and be absolutely fine to just go with the flow and not really need a plan in place, but that is most certainly not me. Also, from my experience working with clients, it seems that most people do better with some kind of plan in place, especially if they’re trying to be intentional about what they are eating.

There isn’t one certain way that is “right” when it comes to planning meals for yourself or your family, and there are tons of different methods that are great! Depending on your personality, the season of life you’re in, and your schedule, you may find some methods more helpful than others. I encourage you to be open to trying new ways of doing things, as well as willing to change methods of meal planning if what you have been doing is no longer serving you. 

For example, I have previously used methods where I meal plan and grocery shop two weeks at a time, or even a month at a time, but in my current season of life, I do not have the mental capacity or time to devote to doing that. Currently, I only plan meals about a week at a time, and instead of using a particular system or journal like I did before, I simply use my notes app on my phone. 

As I said in the title, my current method is super simple: 

• I start by looking at my calendar to see how many meals we will be able to eat at home that week.

• Then, I plan any themes/special things that we have going on. For example, we try to stick to something taco-ish on Tuesdays and we always do pizza Fridays - sometimes out at a restaurant and sometimes at home. 

• Next, I look for inspiration for recipes. I’m not a person who enjoys eating the same things over and over, so I’m often looking for a new recipe, something we haven’t had in a while, or a new spin on something we love. I mostly use Pinterest and a couple of my favorite Instagram accounts (Real Food Dieticians, Shawna from A Little Less Toxic, my own recipe highlights) to choose new recipes. 

• Once I’ve assigned meals to certain days (very loosely), then I add any needed ingredients to my grocery list (which I keep in the same document in my notes app) and add any items that I can to my online grocery order.  

• Currently, I’ve been getting the majority of my groceries through Kroger’s online pick-up or through Thrive Market.  On occasion, if I have time and mental capacity, I’ll go to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods for meat and specialty type items but that’s pretty rare these days. 

The key here is to do what works for you in the season that you’re in.

I have a couple of free resources that may be helpful for you: The Foods that Heal Guide is a list of my favorite nourishing and nutrient-dense foods to keep your fridge and pantry stocked for easy meal prep; and the Easy, Healthy Eats recipe e-book has a few of my go-to recipes with ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

How Your Life Affects Your Health with Dr. Clayton Bell, MD

Hi friends! In this episode of the #hfpodcast, Integrative Medicine Physician - Dr. Clayton Bell, MD, shares the impact that different aspects of our lives can have on our health. He discusses how the foods we eat, intense seasons of stress, and even unresolved trauma can lead to common health concerns.

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Questions answered in this episode:

• How did you become passionate about integrative medicine?

• Why is what we eat so important? Does it really have that much of an impact on our health?

• With hundreds of types of diets out there, each promising to be the best, how do we know which is the best for us? 

• The phrase “food as medicine” has become popular but is a bit ambiguous. Can we really use food to help our bodies heal? Can you give some examples? 

• What are some common issues with women’s health that you see in your practice and what do we need to be aware of?

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• UT Medical Center TRE Research Study - Jill Maples (jmaples1@utmck.edu/865.305.9367)

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Living Life 'A Little Less Toxic" with Shawna Holman

In this episode, Shawna Holman of A Little Less Toxic shares how making simple changes over time drastically improved her health and why the ingredients that we put on, in, and around our bodies matter so much. She also shares practical ways to start reducing the toxic burden on our bodies without feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.

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Questions answered in this episode…

How did you first learn about the impact of toxins on your health?

Is reducing one’s toxin exposure/burden actually important or just something trendy to market “clean” products? Does using less toxic ingredients really impact our health?

How did you start reducing your toxic-burden? How do you recommend others get started in their own journey?

Learning about toxins can feel overwhelming, what is your encouragement for those who are afraid they can’t live a perfectly “clean” lifestyle?

Resources mentioned in this episode: EWG, Think Dirty - Live Clean App

Follow Shawna in all the places: Instagram, Youtube, alittlelesstoxic.com

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Intermittent Fasting: Helpful or Harmful?

Hi friends! Today we are talking about Intermittent Fasting (IF). It’s been a buzzphrase in the health and wellness industry for a while and there are wildly different perspectives and opinions on it. In this episode, I want to look at exactly what IF is and what are the ways it can be helpful, as well as how it can be harmful and who may not benefit from it.  I’m also going to throw my own opinion into the mix and share why I haven’t adopted this practice for myself. Let’s get into it! 

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What is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?

Intermittent fasting is a term used to describe a certain approach to eating that includes abstaining from food for short periods of time. Time-restricted eating Is the most common method of intermittent fasting. For this type of in a minute fasting you eat during a shortened window of time during the day, which extends the amount of time you’re not eating overnight. This can be anywhere from a 12 hour fast to a 16 - 18 hour fast, and often includes skipping a meal either breakfast or dinner. You can choose to eat three meals while using this method but they will be closer together than usual. 

How it can be helpful:

A quick search on Google or Pinterest will list out multiple health benefits from intermittent fasting. Things such as helping with weight loss, burning fat for energy instead of glucose, lowering insulin levels, improving insulin sensitivity, benefiting cognitive abilities, and supporting the circadian rhythm and leading to better sleep.

Sounds amazing, huh? Well, before you decide to skip breakfast forever, let’s look at some of the ways IF can be harmful. 

How it can be harmful:

While it’s true that some people to do well with intermittent fasting, it’s also true that certain people may not do well with it, particularly women. Fasting, while possibly having short term benefits, can also lead to long-term ramifications. IF leads to higher amounts of cortisol to be produced in the body, which again can be good short term (like as in exercise), but in the long-term can lead to chronic inflammation (just as in exercising too much). This spike in stress hormones can cause the body to feel unsafe. Our bodies thrive and function their best when they feel safe. Food is a signal of safety to our bodies - that’s the way we are wired. So when we go longer amounts of time, or even days, without eating that can signal to our bodies that something is wrong and that we aren’t safe enough to eat. Again, this can lead to chronic inflammation in the long term, which is the exact opposite of what we’re trying to achieve. 

For this reason, IF can have negative effects on women’s hormone health and fertility. When a woman’s body does not feel safe, having a well functioning reproductive system is not a high priority. Some studies have shown that by simply extending the fasting window to 14 to 16 hours, or quickly reducing the amount of food that someone takes in during the day, the body can start to shut down some of the communication between the brain and the reproductive system. 

Also, while some say intermittent fasting can help with insulin resistance and blood sugar issues, the flipside to that is that it can also lead to blood sugar dysregulation in the long term. 

An increase in stress hormones can lower  insulin levels, but also increase blood sugar (glucose) levels. Insulin is the hormone that allows our body to use up glucose or blood sugar, so having an increase in glucose while also having a decrease in insulin can lead to having higher blood sugar levels overall - which again is the opposite of what we are wanting. 

The other issue that can sometimes happen with intermittent fasting is that because you’re eating your meals closer together, in a shorter window of time, this can sometimes lead to not having enough space in between meals for proper digestion and good gut health. 

In a healthy gut, the MMC (migrating motor complex) - sometimes also called the housekeeper of the gut - sweeps through the small intestine, moving any food or waste along into the large intestine for further digestion about every 90 minutes (Think of it as our gut’s clean up crew). The problem Is that any eating or drinking of something that has calories (even a cup of coffee) can interrupt that process. Ideally we would be spacing our meals apart about every 4 hours, but that becomes very difficult to do in an 8-hr or shorter window. 

When this mechanisms can operate as it should, it can create an environment for Dysbiosis, SIBO, and overall poor gut health. 

So as you can see, there are both possible pros and cons to intermittent fasting.

Why I don’t practice IF, personally: 

Personally, I’ve chosen not to practice structured IF. As a woman who has an inflammatory condition- an inflammatory hormonal condition, at that, the risks outweigh the possible benefits for me. I also don’t recommend it to most of my clients, as most are women also dealing with underlying chronic inflammation, gut issues, and hormonal imbalances.

Also, an Interesting note - an ISSA article states that most of the studies done on Intermittent Fasting have been done on men. It states that *“Out of seventy-one studies found in Harvard’s database for intermittent fasting, only thirteen include women at all. Beyond that, absolutely none of the controlled studies focus on the female population in general. There are no controlled studies that allow us to draw intelligent conclusions about how intermittent fasting affects the female population.” 

The article goes on to say that women are less likely to lose weight or experience positive health benefits from IF and seem to experience the best health when they maintain an unchanging flow of nutrient intake throughout the day. 

This is what I recommend to my clients and implement in my own life as well. I think a 12:12 model can work really well for women - a 12 hour eating window and a 12 hour fasting window at night. That pretty much follows our natural circadian rhythm of eating while it’s daylight. I advise my clients to eat a balanced meal that includes carbs/fiber, protein, and fat within an hour of waking - and then ideally eating balanced meals every 4 hours. I also think it’s important to listen to your body and follow your hunger cues. Again, it’s important to make your body feel safe, and restricting food will likely have the opposite effect. 

At the end of the day, remember that food is nourishment and fuel for the body. It’s not something to restrict and/or reward yourself with.

*https://www.issaonline.com/blog/index.cfm/2018/this-hot-diet-trend-is-not-recommended-for-women

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Why We Struggle with Consistency

How often have you heard “consistency is key”? It’s everywhere, right? In a lot of instances, I think this is absolutely true, but I want us to go a little deeper today because consistency is often a pain point for people when it comes to their health. Often when I ask my friends or even my Instagram followers what they are struggling with the most or where they feel like they need the most support, every single time the overwhelming popular response is “consistency”. Consistency in exercising, getting good sleep, eating nutritious food, not eating junk food every night, and on and on it goes. I would venture to guess, you’ve probably had a few of those thoughts yourself and I would say “me too”. I have found myself feeling the same frustration - “ugh! Why can’t I stay consistent in this?!”

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Recently I’ve been doing some work that’s prompted me to dig deeper into the idea of body image and diet culture - and why we so often feel like we are failing in this area of consistency. One thing that has come up for me and that I think may be one of the biggest contributors to this common struggle is a misalignment between our mindset and our goal. 

I know that sounds a little philosophical, but hear me out on this. 

When the goal (our desired result) is to lose weight, get our bodies “summer-ready”, change sizes or “tone up” a certain area, or even to feel “good” or get back to feeling energetic like we did 5 or 10 years ago, etc. - we will get overwhelmed. First of all, those things are not always in our control. We can do all the “right things” - follow all the principles of living a healthy lifestyle and sometimes still not lose a pound, or still not get pregnant, or still have a disorder or disease. So that’s going to feel really frustrating and we’re probably going to give up. We will also often give up because of the massiveness of the goal. It doesn’t seem attainable - it feels so far out of reach, so we often won’t see the value in sticking to whatever plan we had made for ourselves. 

However, when the goal is something attainable, something we can control, something that is directly and immediately affected by our choices, it makes following the plan easier, therefore allowing us to be “consistent” in our behavior. 

Let me put this in a practical context and use this for an example: 

Scenario - It’s 9:45 pm and you can’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. 
Goal: Be able to fit back into the jeans you wore two summers ago (the pre-covid ones :P)

Your thinking will most likely go something like this: “ugh - this sucks! I bet ____ doesn’t have to worry about not eating ice cream.”, or “meh! Who cares? I’ll never get back in those jeans anyway”, or “I’ve already fallen off the wagon the past few days, what’s one more treat? I’ll do better tomorrow”... and then you either deprive yourself and don’t eat it while inducing shame and judgment on yourself and others; or you do eat the ice cream and immediately feel regret or apathy about the goal you set for yourself. This leads you to the question, “Why can’t I be consistent in what I’m eating?!” Does that sound familiar?

Now contrast that with the same scenario but a different goal:

Scenario - It’s 9:45 pm and you can’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. 
Goal: To feel good about how you are caring for your body 

Can you already feel the difference? In this scenario, your thinking may go something like this: “hmmm… well, every time I eat that ice cream, my stomach gets so bloated and I feel miserable for hours. I don’t think it’s worth that. What else do we have instead?” , or “I love that ice cream - that sounds so good, but it is going to probably spike my blood sugar pretty high. What can I eat with it to help stabilize my blood sugar?”, or maybe even “Ah yes! I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to try that ice cream and I know it’s made with good ingredients. Let’s go for it!”. So either you choose to eat the ice cream or you don’t, but you make a conscious decision that won’t be followed by guilt or regret. 

The difference is that with the second goal, you are making a decision from a place of loving and caring for your body right now, just as it is, rather than making a decision from a place of shame or apathy while putting a ridiculous amount of pressure and expectation on yourself. 

One of the biggest enemies of consistency is unrealistic expectations. 

There is definitely something to be said about being intentional and scheduling things into your day or week like prioritizing sleep and exercise. There is a practical, logical piece of actually planning things into your calendar or schedule because if you don’t, it probably won’t happen. But again, we are much more likely to make choices that support our wellbeing when we are operating from a goal of caring for our bodies and stewarding them well. 

So I want to challenge you to take a look at your goal or your lack of goal. If you are feeling discontent or wanting to change something about your health, what is your goal? Is it to take good care of your body, to love it well, and to support it in functioning well? If not, consider making it your goal. It will change how you make decisions. It will change how you feel the decisions you make. It will change how you feel about yourself. 

If this idea rubs you the wrong way or you find yourself rolling your eyes a little bit while listening to this, ask yourself why. Dig in a little bit. Does the idea of loving your body, caring for your body, or stewarding your body well seem weird or even wrong to you? Do you feel like your body is subpar or broken or maybe shouldn’t even be considered at all? If so, why? Where did that idea come from? 

If you find yourself feeling this way - let me ask you a few questions that I hope will change your perspective. Do you believe that your body was created by God? The same God that created the sky and the ocean, and the sun and the moon. Do you remember that after He created man and woman - their bodies - He said that it was good? Do you actually think that He could make something that is bad or subpar? If you find yourself thinking that about your body that way or talking about your body that way, isn’t that insulting your Creator? 

Please know that I don’t ask you these questions to put shame on you, if anything I want to help pull shame off of you. Friends, we think that our biggest problem or struggle or obstacle is not being consistent, but in reality, our biggest obstacle is that we have a misalignment between our mindset and our goal. 

When we view our bodies as something to be fixed, or a project that always needs to be improved, or even as just a tool, or really anything other than a good creation of the Father in which we get to experience this life and experience Him, we will not be motivated to be consistent in caring for our bodies. It will feel useless, pointless, we might even find ourselves believing that it’s vain. 

I’m not saying any of this as someone who has conquered this or figured it all out but as someone who is right there with you. I’ve been working through some of these thoughts and feelings myself over the past few weeks. I’ve had to dig deep and ask myself these same questions about what I believe about my body and the One who made it. I can honestly say that realigning my mindset with what God says and focusing on the goal of caring for my body out of a place of love, gratitude, and stewardship, has made a huge difference for me and I believe it will make a difference for you too. 

It’s easy to get caught up in what culture says about health or about what we should look like, eat like, workout like but as believers, as women who follow Jesus, that is not where we find truth and direction for our lives. 

If you feel frustrated with yourself because you don’t feel that you can “stay consistent” or because you lack motivation, ask yourself these questions. Check your mindset and focus on the goal of caring for your body, being kind to and grateful for your body instead of trying to make it into something or make it look a certain way. 

If you feel like you need to do some work around the issue of body image or body shame, or if you would just like to know more about a kingdom mindset about health and body image, I encourage you to check out Jess Connolly’s Good Body Gals community. I have found it incredibly helpful for my own soul as well as helping me think about how I teach and coach other women. You can find all the information about it in her Instagram bio or by searching for the tag #goodbodygals. 

If you feel like you need one-on-one support in this area or in knowing what steps to take, what being kind to your body looks like, what a healthy lifestyle looks like for you, I’d love to help you with that. I offer a free initial consultation where I learn about your specific needs, goals, and current obstacles and together we can come up with a plan to help. You can learn more about that by going to yourhealthforward.com. 

That does it for me today, friends. Thanks for spending some of your day here with me. Keep moving forward, go love your people well and I’ll talk with you next time!

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What Is the Deal with Gluten?

Welcome back, friends! Today I want to spend a few minutes talking about gluten and why everyone seems to be hating on it. For the past several years this topic has become more and more popular and just about every health and fitness guru out there has contributed their two-cents to the conversation. While there are no shortages of opinions on the matter, what I do seem to not find nearly as often is simple information that explains what gluten is, why it’s been labeled as “bad”, and how you can determine if you should cut out gluten or not. So that’s exactly what I want to provide for you in this episode. You know me - I like simple, clear info so let me just jump right in! 

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What is gluten? 

Gluten is the main storage protein found in wheat grains. It’s most often found in products containing wheat, barley, and rye, as well as occasionally in oat products. Think of it as the component to most bread, pasta, and baked goods that give a stretchy, soft texture. Gluten can also be added to several different foods like soups or sauces to increase the thickness or volume, processed foods to make them more filling, and even seemingly random things like soy sauce.  

Why has gluten been labeled as “bad”?

There are a few different factors that have caused some in the health and wellness field to have a concern regarding the regular consumption of gluten-containing foods. Gluten intolerances can vary from mild to severe. 

Those with Celiac Disease have an allergic, inflammatory response to gluten in which their bodies attack their intestines and create an autoimmune response. However, in the past several years, it’s become more well-known that those with Celiac Disease are not the only ones who can have negative reactions or side effects from consuming gluten. 

Gluten has been found to be highly inflammatory for a lot of people. Those with non-celiac gluten sensitivities or intolerances experience symptoms like bloating and digestive discomfort, brain fog, headaches, joint pain, anxiety and/or depression, and often eczema or other skin issues after consuming gluten, but these symptoms typically go away when gluten-containing foods are removed from their diet. 

It’s not exactly known yet why gluten can be so inflammatory. Research has shown that when gluten is consumed (by anyone) it causes a temporary increase in the production of Zonulin - a protein that regulates intestinal permeability. So it can be assumed that high consumption of gluten would lead to chronically increased intestinal permeability (sometimes known as leaky gut). This allows gluten, plus other organisms, to be released into the bloodstream, which triggers inflammation in the body.

One of the most common questions I have heard in regards to eating gluten is “if people have been eating gluten for centuries, why is it just now become an issue? Isn’t it just a trend?”. 

This is just my opinion, but in a lot of cases I feel like gluten - or really most food sensitivities - may just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. As I’ve talked about before, our bodies were made to handle small amounts of inflammation - we have pathways designed into the functionality of our bodies for that kind of thing. However, due to the lifestyle of the majority of us, we have a much higher level of exposure to inflammation-inducing foods and experiences than ever before. Never has there been so many processed foods available and consumed on a regular basis. Never has there been this constant exposure to stressors both physical - like environmental toxins and emotional - like 60-hour workweeks, social media, and 24/7 news. 

I don’t think that gluten, by itself, is the issue. I think it’s that we have all these other issues going on, and in our Standard American Diet, we consume a lot of it. 

How can I determine if I should go gluten-free?

There are lab tests that can be done to look for certain antibodies but personally, I think that an elimination diet is often the easiest way to determine if you have a sensitivity. An elimination diet is just like how it sounds: you eliminate all gluten-containing foods from your diet for at least 30 days (60 is ideal). During this time you note your symptoms and how you feel. Then after the elimination time is up, you add gluten back into your diet and note how you feel. If your symptoms return or you feel worse, then you know that you have a sensitivity. 

If I cut out gluten, what can I eat?

Lots of things! There is a learning curve to going gluten-free, however, there are a lot of great alternatives out there. Our meals should be a combination of high-fiber carbohydrates, mainly vegetables, and healthy protein and fat. 

There are a lot of gluten-free alternatives available now like GF noodles, flours, crackers, bread, baking mixes, etc. You do need to make sure you are looking at the ingredients as sometimes those items can be full of unhealthy ingredients. Just because it’s gluten-free does not mean it’s healthy.

I’ve created a free guide with some of my fav gluten-free alternatives  - download it here. 

If I go gluten-free, does that mean I can never eat it again?

It depends. If you have celiac disease, then you really shouldn’t be consuming gluten at all, ever. However, sometimes those with just a mild sensitivity can occasionally eat gluten after they have allowed their gut to heal and worked to decrease inflammation in their bodies. In my experience, after following an elimination diet, those with gluten sensitivity prefer to avoid gluten long-term because they feel so much better. 

The Bottom Line

Gluten is not “bad”. Foods are amoral - they cannot be good or bad. We really need to change our way of thinking around this. Gluten is a hot topic because it is known to be inflammatory for the majority of people - likely due to other lifestyle factors in combination with the overconsumption of gluten. So, it’s not the enemy, but it can contribute to inflammation in the body and poor gut health, and in my opinion, that makes the idea of eliminating it something worth considering.

028 - Should You Be Counting Calories?

Hey friends! In today’s episode, we’re talking about calorie counting. I feel like calorie counting used to be the gold standard of nutrition when it came to weight loss. Even when I first started getting into the nutrition world, which has only been about ten years ago, that was still one of the main methods taught. There was just such an emphasis put on quantity - like it was a simple math problem: “You want to lose weight? Simple! Eat fewer calories than you burn!” Thankfully, since that time, so much research has been done and so many people have spoken up about the fact that there has to be more to it, or otherwise it would work for everyone every time. 

Now, I’m not going to go so far as to say you should never track a calorie or have any idea how many calories you burn on a regular day, but I don’t believe that counting or tracking calories needs to be your primary focus and I want to share why I believe that.

The main reason… it’s distracting!

Most of us have some level of dysfunction in our bodies due to our lifestyles and common exposure to toxins and focusing on calorie counting alone can distract us from noticing what is really going on in our bodies. 

Focusing on calorie counting alone can also distract us from focusing on the quality of the food we are eating and cause us to only focus on the quantity. 

The calorie counting method can also be harmful to those who have a history of eating disorders and food addiction. Even for those of us who haven’t shared in those struggles, it is easy to become obsessive and overly rigid about what foods you eat - even to the point where you can’t enjoy food any longer (this is a symptom of Orthorexia which is an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy).

One of my biggest concerns with the calorie counting method is that it distracts you from learning how to listen to your body. It is so easy to become solely focused on this number of calories we are “allowed” a day and logging every single thing that we do in order to stay in the good graces of this “health math equation”. Unfortunately, what often happens is that we lose out on noticing how eating a certain food makes us feel - how it affects our energy levels, our mood, our digestive system. We see that it meets our calorie count standard and deem it “healthy” or good for us with very little thought of how it actually affected us.

I want you to know that there are healthier ways to lose weight and there are tons of methods out there! Just make sure the one you are choosing actually TEACHES you how to care for your body, listen to your body, fuel your body well, and why it matters. 

Just a side note: I am not naive to the fact that sometimes choosing these methods is slower and more work - they can be - but here’s what I’ve found to be true: when someone is unhappy with their bodies or how their bodies are functioning and all they focus on is weight and numbers and physical appearance results - they often miss all there is to learn and heal along the journey. A lot of times they end up right back where they started, or maybe even less happy with themselves because they didn’t really fix the root issues - the physical ones or the emotional ones. Weight gain or difficulty losing weight is so often a symptom, not the root cause. So find out why things aren’t functioning well or why you are unhappy with your health and then work on that. Don’t miss what’s really going on looking for a quick fix or by trying to ignore the root issues. It will be work but the work is worth it! 

As always, if you have questions or are ready to take the next step in getting personalized support and guidance to move your health forward, feel free to send me an email or schedule a free 30-min consultation call. I’d love to help you! 

Talk to ya next week!

026 - Ask Alaina: Q+A

Hey friends! Today we are doing something fun and a little different - we are doing a Q+A episode! A while back I asked you guys if you had any questions or needed help with anything in particular and I’ve compiled all those questions + a few others that I’ve been asked a lot and thought it would be fun to answer them all in one episode. If you guys like this format and it’s helpful for you, we may make this a regular thing!

So let’s jump right into the questions!

“How can I be motivated to cook healthy at home when I’m not a good cook?”

I think cooking can be intimidating. Whether you grew up in a family where your parent was a really good cook, so you just feel like you can never live up to that measure or maybe you were never really taught how to cook, so you feel like you have no idea where to begin. The good news is that cooking is a skill - it’s not really a natural-born talent. So if you are labeling yourself as “just not a good cook”... add a “yet” to the end of that sentence. It takes practice to feel comfortable in the kitchen. 

As far as how to feel motivated? I think it’s mostly a mindset of acknowledging that cooking your meals at home truly is the healthiest, most cost-effective, and loving way to eat. In cooking for yourself and your family, you are providing care and love. There is just something really rewarding about that. 

My suggestion would be to not bite off more than you can chew as you start out. Begin with 2-3 really simple, healthy meal ideas and get familiar with making those recipes until you feel more comfortable. Then you can slowly add new things in. Something like the sausage + sautéed veggies recipe in my Easy Healthy Eats recipe guide is a perfect example of this. It calls for very few ingredients and can all be made in one skillet. Win-win!

“What are some tips for handling social eating when it’s mostly junk-type foods and sugar?”

This can be so challenging! I think that it helps to find a balance in these situations. Unless you are following a short-term elimination diet, then I would recommend choosing which of the less-than-nutritious options look the best to you - which of those may be worth any negative side-effects you may experience and then making a conscious choice to enjoy them. 

Often when we find ourselves struggling or dealing with regret later, it’s because we just flippantly or impulsively ate rather than thinking about it and then making an intentional choice. Denying yourself and putting extreme limits on what you eat is rarely beneficial, but throwing all cares to the wind or thinking that if you have one bite, you might as well have 20 bites is also not a good thing. Just look for some balance and opt-out of the extremes. 

“How can I find time to eat a healthy lunch in the middle of a busy workday?”

This is going to look different for you depending on your job and workday structure, but first, let me just remind you that what and how we eat is a form of self-care. So, working through lunch or always defaulting to the drive-thru will not only have a negative effect on your body’s ability to function, but it will also have a negative effect on your mental health. 

As far as planning for a healthy lunch, I think that meal prep is key if your situation allows for it. Whether it’s left-overs from dinner the night before or a protein-packed salad or bowl - taking a few minutes the night before or at the beginning of the to prepare will go a long way in helping you feel like you have healthy options. You want to be sure that whatever you are choosing to eat consists of carbohydrates - high in fiber, clean protein, and healthy fat in order to keep your blood sugar balanced and help prevent the mid-afternoon crash. It’s a great idea to keep some nuts (my favorite is salted cashews) in your car or at your desk, just in case your lunch choice doesn’t contain enough protein or fat. Eating a couple of handfuls of cashews can give you that extra boost to keep everything stabilized. Just make sure that isn’t all you are eating. 

“What is the deal with Intermittent Fasting? Healthy or no?”

So, Intermittent Fasting is something that people have been doing for a long time to give their digestive system a break and to promote healing in the body. It has recently become more trendy again, but the idea isn’t new. I mean, if you think about it, we are already designed to do this to some degree throughout the night when we are sleeping. Some of the issues that we have run into in the standard American diet are that we stay up way too late and eat way too late. Ideally, we would all have around a 10-12 hour fast between our last meal of the day and breakfast the next morning. Our digestive systems really need that break, in order to work well.   Also eating too late can really interrupt our sleep patterns.  

The current trend of IF is more like 12-16 hours with most of those being overnight (there are some other methods that I’ve seen but I’m really not comfortable with any of those - particularly skipping entire meals or days of eating unless for a very specific purpose and very short term).  I personally feel that IF can be helpful when done correctly, however, I don’t believe it is the best idea for everyone. People with blood sugar issues, for example, can benefit from a smaller fasting window overnight, but I am personally not comfortable with skipping meals - and the same for those with hormonal imbalance. I think that it’s smart to talk to your doctor before trying IF and if you have a specific health issue, also talking with your specialist to hear their concerns. 

Ultimately, we want our bodies to be in a calm, relaxed state the majority of the time - not wondering when we will eat again. When our meals become very inconsistent, it can push our bodies into more stress - a fight or flight response - and that can cause a lot of dysfunction in the body, especially the metabolic system. 

“If you could change one thing about people’s understanding of their health, what would it be?” 

This is such a good question and honestly, it was hard for me to choose just one thing. But I think that I would want them to know that they can actually make a difference in their health. They can change. Things can improve. 

I think it’s so easy to get into a mindset, especially after we’ve received any kind of medical diagnosis, that this just is what it is, that there are no alternatives, and that they are powerless to affect the situation. And unfortunately, that kind of mindset often cements our reality. We don’t really try to change or improve because we honestly believe that we can’t - but that just simply is not true. 

Our bodies were created to heal, to function, to parts to even regenerate. Our decisions - what we put in our bodies, how we care for them - it makes a difference for the better or for the worse. I just want people to feel hope and not feel stuck. If you want to improve your health, you can. 

Well, this has been so fun! If you have any questions you would like for me to answer, leave them in the comments here or send me a DM on Instagram. I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your week and I’ll see you next time!

025 - How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle on a Budget

Hi friends! Today we are talking about how to live a healthy lifestyle on a budget. 

One of the most common arguments for not eating healthy foods or living a healthier lifestyle is that it is too expensive. While it is true that some healthier food options cleaner household products can be more expensive, there are ways to mitigate that expense and stay within what your budget will allow. 

Today I want to share a few tips that have helped my family as we’ve been on a journey toward a healthy lifestyle. 

Choose your priority 

It’s helpful to go into the idea of a healthy lifestyle knowing whether you prioritize expense or convenience more. There’s not a wrong answer here but just know that it’s rare to find a healthy, inexpensive AND convenient option. It’s best to just know ahead of time which of these is a priority for you and then adjust your budget or time accordingly. 

Eat most of your meals at home

I think most of us know that cooking our own food and eating in the comfort of our homes with the people we love is a healthier option, but it is also usually the less expensive option. It does take some planning and effort though. Here are a few ideas to make it a bit easier:

• Always have a meal plan and make a shopping list 

I do way better when I have made a plan, otherwise, I am likely to get distracted by a “deal” or new product and overspend. If you find yourself in the same boat, download my free meal planning guide and meal plan + grocery list template to help keep yourself on track! 

• Shop at multiple grocery stores

While definitely not a convenient option, I have found that I save a good amount of money on groceries each month by shopping at two different stores - for me, it’s Trader Joe’s for most of my produce, meat, and pantry staples and then Kroger pick-up for most of my household items plus a few items that Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry.  

• Stick to buying whole foods

A good way to remember what “whole foods” means is to think of foods that come from the ground or have a mother. These are mostly found in the perimeter of the grocery store and don’t come with an ingredients label - think kale or ground beef. By choosing mostly whole foods, you will be skipping a lot of the pre-packaged and more processed foods which will not only be helpful for your health but also your budget.

• Prep your meals ahead of time

Whether it’s all your meals for the week, just a few dinners for busier weeknights, or prepping some staple breakfast items, taking this time to prepare ahead of time will save you both time and money - and likely keep you from going through the drive-thru after a long day! Find my episode all about Meal Prepping here for some tips to get you started. 

• Use simple ingredients and make things from scratch

Okay - this one may not be as popular BUT hear me out! :) One way that we have been able to save money is by buying individual ingredients for things that I will use multiple times. For example, I buy individual seasonings rather than a packet of seasoning mix for things like taco seasoning, chili powder, ranch, etc. A lot of these packets use similar spices, so I can buy them once and then use them multiple times. They usually last a while and this gives me more control over exactly what I’m using to season our food.

Choose household and personal care products that have multiple uses 

This is similar to the point above, but specifically for household products, something like white vinegar can be used for a clean, safe fabric softener, multi-purpose cleaning spray, produce soak, an ingredient in recipes, etc. Another example is jojoba oil. It can be used as an oil cleanser and makeup remover, moisturizer for your face and body, carrier oil for essential oil rollers, a deep conditioner and probably more. We don’t necessarily need a separate cleaner or product for every room in the house or every part of our bodies.

Share meals and drink water when dining out

This is a very basic idea but also a great way to lower expenses. Eating at healthier restaurants or choosing healthier options can add up quickly, so choosing to share a meal can not only help reduce the cost but may also help with healthier portions. 

Skip the trends and stick to the basics

It’s easy to get swept up in the latest health trend or diet program, but when you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle within a limited budget, this probably isn’t the best idea. For example, things like diet programs that require you to buy a lot of products or have indefinite monthly fees can take a chunk out of your budget. Also, if your funds designated to health and wellness are tight, gym memberships may not be the best use of your money. You can get a great, effective workout for very little cost or maybe even free at home! Obviously, this isn’t the best choice for everyone, so consider your personal situation, but it’s something to think about!

Check with your insurance provider for free resources or discounts 

A lot of health insurance companies are offering free health coaching consultations or discounts on fitness classes and products. If this isn’t an option for you, check with your community center or local churches to see if they have free or low-cost classes available. There are also tons of free resources like this podcast, many other health-related podcasts, and social media accounts that can help you get started in the right direction. 

Friends, living costs money. The choice is do you want to prioritize your health and spend the money now, while enjoying a better quality of life, or do you want to wait to focus on your health when you don’t have as much choice and possibly a less optimal quality of life?

I hope that this episode has given you a few ideas of ways that you can continue living a healthy lifestyle without busting the budget. If you still feel paralyzed or just aren’t sure where to start, send me an email or DM - I’d love to chat with you. I offer a free 30-min consultation or discovery call where we can get to know each other and determine what your next steps should be. Sometimes one of the most cost-effective things you can do is hire a professional that will take a lot of the guess-work out of improving your health and can guide and support you along the way.

016 - My Favorite Tips to Stay Healthy While Traveling

Hi friends!! So, I don’t know about you but I feel like the end of the year is flying by! I can’t believe we are already well into fall and almost into the holiday season! I can already feel our schedule busier, and at least for us, that is just how it is throughout the end of the year! 

One thing that the holiday season typically brings with it is some travel, whether to visit family or just for fun. We just got back from a week in California visiting family and seeing a lot of fun things in San Francisco. It was a blast!

On the flight home, I got to thinking though about how while traveling is a lot of fun, it can be really hard on our bodies. We’re exposed to a lot of things outside of our norm, whether it be long times sitting in a car or being cooped up with hundreds of other people in an airplane. 

However, there are some easy things we can do to help support our bodies and our health while traveling, and that’s what I want to share with you today! 

Bring your own snacks!

- Bring snacks to eat on the trip and while waiting at the airport. 

- Most airports do not have healthy food options and if they do, their usually very expensive. Save yourself some money by bringing along balanced snacks (balanced meaning they contain good amounts of carbs, protein, and fat). This will help you stay full and keep your blood sugar levels stable. 

Bring your own water bottle!

- In my opinion, airplane water is pretty gross (and not filtered well). Plus, those little cups are bound to spill, especially with littles around.

- Fill your cups with water after security so you will be set on the plane (I ran out of time to do this on our depart flight last week and I was miserable while we waited for beverage service).

- Also, be sure to drink enough. Planes are super dry and it’s easy to not want to drink a lot in order to avoid the airplane bathrooms / rest-stop bathrooms, so when and where you can, try to get the water in. 

Plan ahead!

- Start packing several days ahead and make a list for all the last minute things. Traveling can be stressful with so many moving parts and so much to keep up with, so do yourself a favor and don’t wait until the last minute. 

- Go to bed early the night before your flight. While you may be lucky enough to catch a little snooze on the plane/ride, the quality of sleep won’t be nearly as good as a night’s sleep. Lack of sleep raises inflammation levels in the body, as well as lowers immune function. That’s like a double-whammy on your body. 

- Start taking immune support supplements at least a week before the flight. We chose these immune gummies by Mary Ruth Organics that have great amounts of vitamins C and D, zinc and elderberry extract in them - and they are sourced from whole foods and yummy too! You can also make your own elderberry syrup to start taking before your trip (it’s just a little more difficult to travel with, in my opinion). 

- I also think it’s a smart idea to take a regular whole-foods based multivitamin and a probiotic leading up to the trip, as well as for the duration of the trip. It really sucks to get sick while on vacation or visiting family for the holidays, so this is just one simple way to help prevent that. 

Manage the germs as much as you can, but don’t freak out about it.

Germs are everywhere and are unavoidable, however, you can use a clean, non-toxic hand sanitizer like the Honest brand, Dr. Bronner’s, or Branch Basics to clean hands before eating, as well as when you get off the plane. It’s also a great idea to spray down trays etc. if you can, but don’t make this something to stress about, that’s why all of the prevention measures are helpful. 

Eat a good meal before and after your flight.

Even your healthy snacks are usually decently high in sugar and just aren’t as rich in nutrients as whole foods, so try to eat a balanced meal both before and after. Obviously, if you’re on vacation or seeing relatives, you probably aren’t going to eat perfectly balanced or super nutrient-dense foods the whole time, and that’s totally okay, but being more intentional on the day you actually travel can help your body deal with all the changes / stressors and less nutritious foods better.

If you need to detox a bit when you get home, do it! 

Your body will tell you if you’ve pushed it too far. A few easy ways to detox are by doing a 5-7 day standard elimination diet (eating only whole foods and eliminating the main inflammatory ones like sugar, maybe gluten/dairy, any processed foods), drinking extra water, drinking Dandelion-Root tea and bone broth daily, and taking detox baths*. Also getting lots of good sleep and movement (walks are great for this)!

Most of all, relax and enjoy your trip!

Just like everything else, perfection is a myth. So do your best and make the conscious choice to not stress about the things that are out of your control. 

I hope these tips will be helpful as you plan your travels for the upcoming holiday season! As always, feel free to reach out on Instagram or Facebook if you have any questions. 

If you feel like you need more personalized support as we enter this holiday season, I would be happy to help you stay on track with your health goals or maybe set some for the first time! You can schedule a free 30-min consult with me by going to www.yourhealthforward.com/free-consultation!

*My fav easy detox bath recipe - Add to a hot bath and soak for at least 20 minutes:

• 1-½ C Epsom salts (unscented or only scented with essential oils, nothing synthetic)

• ½ C baking soda

• 1 tsp ascorbic acid (Vit C powder - this helps neutralize chlorine in the water)

• 5-10 drops lavender essential oil

** Some links in this post are affiliate links. I will earn a small commission if you choose to purchase items using these links. 

012 - 3 Tips for Making a Healthy Choice at Any Restaurant

Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are keeping with the healthy eating theme we’ve had going for the last few episodes and talking about how to make healthy choices when you’re dining out! 

Obviously, the healthiest choice is usually to cook your meals at home where you have more control over what ingredients are included, but it’s not possible to ALWAYS eat at home. Sometimes your schedule demands that you dine out and sometimes you just want to, which is great! I don’t know about you but I absolutely love the thought of someone else preparing my food, bringing it to me, and then cleaning up the mess, (Yes, please!) but sometimes when you’re trying to make changes to your health and be intentional about the food you’re eating, going to a restaurant can be a bit of a challenge. It’s difficult to know what ingredients are in each entree and it can be easy to feel like there aren’t healthy options, but usually, that isn’t the case!  

Today, I want to give you three easy tips for choosing a healthy option so you can enjoy your restaurant experience and not spend an hour staring at the menu! 

Now, before I get into the tips, let me just say this - you won’t always do these things. I won’t always do these things! Not every single meal has to be the healthiest choice. Sometimes, you want the splurge! Sometimes it’s cheeseburger night - go. for. it! Don’t take these tips as me saying that if you’re going to be healthy, you have to eat perfectly 100% of the time! It’s also important to note that obsessing and stressing over our food decisions is just as unhealthy as eating processed, junk foods - so we don’t want to find ourselves doing that!

When we fuel our bodies well the majority of the time and take the time to learn how what we eat affects us, we then have the freedom to go a little wild now and then! No, it wouldn’t be good to do that all the time or even every day, but every once and a while, it is totally fine! Our bodies have the ability to turn less than perfect food into energy and nutrients that we need when we are taking care of them and nourishing them the majority of the time.  

Okay, now that we cleared that up and you guys don’t think I’m some kind of kill-joy, :) let’s get into these tips! 

• Look at the menu before you go!

This can be really helpful if you know where you are going to be eating beforehand. It can feel overwhelming to get to a restaurant, especially with a group of friends or even on a date, and feel like you can’t talk to anyone for the first 15 minutes because you are intensely reading the menu. Most restaurants have their menus posted online, so it's so much easier to take time before you go to read over the menu and choose a couple of options that will be good for you and sound delicious! 

• Think about balance!

Eating a balance of carbs, protein, and fat with each meal is so important for properly fueling the body as well as maintaining stable blood sugar levels. This will keep you from having an energy crash as soon as you finish eating and will keep you full longer. When looking at the menu, choose entrees that include all three macronutrients. If the entree you want doesn’t have all three, you can always customize or add something to your order. Also, remember that things like salad dressings or other toppings (usually fats) will count towards having a balanced meal. 

Let me give you a couple of quick examples to make this a little more practical:

Instead of getting the normal cheeseburger and fries, to make it a healthier, more balanced choice, you could do a burger bowl or salad. Skip the bun and ask for your burger to be on a bed of greens, and then add all the toppings you want like onions, mushrooms, tomato, pickles, avocado, and sauces. Then have your fries on the side. By doing this you have a good mixture of fiber-rich veggies and other more starchy carbs, protein and some fat from the burger patty, and fat from the avocado and maybe from the sauces.

Another common entree option you can find almost anywhere is grilled chicken. You could do grilled chicken with rice and either a salad or other green veggie, but you will need to add in some fat. So again, avocado is a great choice or ask for some real butter or olive oil to drizzle on your veggies.  

• Get some greens in there, if nothing else!

We’ve talked about this before but the majority of us come nowhere near eating the amount of fiber we need in a day. An easy way to fix this is to add some leafy greens or other high-fiber veggies to every meal. Even if the entree you choose isn’t the healthiest, you can not only get a nutrient boost from adding on some spinach or broccoli, but also the fiber will help your body digest and process your meal more easily. 

• Bonus tip - get water! 

Unless you are specifically going to a restaurant for a specific drink that they serve, just go with the water! It’s free and will again help your body process and digest your meal more easily than if you were to drink something sugary. Instead of giving your gut and liver something else to “work on”, so to speak, it actually supports their natural processes.  

So there you have just a few easy tips to hopefully simplify making healthier choices when you’re dining out. It doesn’t have to be hard, and as long as you aren’t eating at restaurants most days of the week, you don’t have to stress over your choices. If you are following a more restrictive or elimination-style diet for a time, restaurant food probably isn’t going to be your friend or the easiest option, but by following these tips - especially the first one about looking up the menu beforehand, it is still possible to do. 

If you find yourself dining out more than you feel like you should or you want to, go back and listen to the past few episodes about meal planning and prepping ahead. This is going to be key to eating more at home, especially when your schedule is really busy - and whose isn’t? Right?! 

Alright friends, that does it for today’s episode! As a reminder, you can find my healthy eating resources, like my Meal Planning Guide, Meal Prep info, or my Healthy Kitchen Swaps Makeover Guide by clicking here. 

010 - How I Meal Plan for My Family

Hi friends! Today we are going to be talking all about meal planning and specifically how I meal plan. There is no one way or “right” way to do meal planning or grocery shopping, but this is a topic that I am asked about a lot and I think it can seem overwhelming if you’ve never done it before. So, I’m going to share with you my process and what I have found best to work for me at this stage in our lives. Just remember that if this isn’t the best method for your life, that’s okay! We can still all learn from each other’s tips and methods.

So let’s just get real for a minute before we jump into the details...

Sometimes the idea of having to sit down and meal plan feels like a pain - there are days I just straight up don’t want to do it -  but do you know what is more of a pain than taking the time to meal plan? The stress of trying to decide what is for dinner every evening right around 4-5 pm, which also happens to be when my toddler seems to have the most meltdowns; or going way over budget at the grocery store, and then getting to come home and tell my husband that I spent the entire month’s grocery budget in this one trip because I didn’t go in with a plan. The truth is that this is something that I have learned from experience! I have found my life to be so much easier if I just make the decision and commit myself to make a meal plan for our family.  

Now like I said, there is no ONE way to meal plan, but I think there are a couple of universal tips that I think can be helpful for anyone no matter what method you use:

• Get organized! 

Set a specific time every week or two to devote to planning your meals. Make it a fun thing if you need to - a coffee date by yourself! Yes, please!

• Have a flexible plan!

  One of the most frustrating parts of meal planning can be when you set this really beautifully laid out plan and then something happens and throws the whole thing out the door! Most likely your week will not go exactly as you planned it but you are still going to benefit from working off of a plan rather than completely winging it.

My Meal Planning Process

When I’m making our meal plan, the first thing I do is sit down with a pen, paper, and my calendar (yes, I like to physically write it out - but that’s just me). I plan our meals two weeks at a time - so I list out the dates for the next two weeks and make a note of any nights that we won’t be home or we know that we will be eating out. I also make a note if there is a night that maybe only one of us will be home for dinner or a date night for us, which would mean that I will only need to make dinner for our daughter. This lets me know exactly how many dinners I will need to plan. 

Next, I usually go to my Pinterest boards or scan through a few of my favorite cookbooks as well as any recipes I’ve saved on my phone that I wanted to try out (I love to just take a screenshot of recipes or meal ideas I come across online). While there are usually a few staple meals that we have every two weeks, I like to change things up and not eat the same things all the time. 

I have a few criteria that I look for when I’m looking for new meal ideas for our family:

• Is it something that will be nourishing for us?

• Are the main ingredients something that both my husband and I like? 

• Is it too complicated or does it have too many ingredients?

• Can I get it on the table in less than 30 minutes? If not, can parts of the meal be prepped ahead?

So I encourage you to think through what your criteria may be - especially if you’re not familiar with trying new recipes or cooking at home a lot. You don’t want to choose a bunch of recipes that will overwhelm or frustrate you! As you cook more, you will get more adventurous!

Once I’ve chosen my meals for those two weeks, I will go through and note any ingredients I will need to buy and get started on my grocery list. 

My Grocery List 

I like to organize my grocery list by the way the store is laid out. It just helps my brain not to feel too overwhelmed and helps me to not be as likely to forget things. I add all the ingredients I need for my chosen meals, plus any staples items we may need for breakfasts or snacks. 

There are several different methods of buying groceries. Some people prefer to go into the store and shop themselves and some choose to order their groceries online and either pick them up or have them delivered. 

Last week I asked in my Insta Stories for some of your tips for buying healthy meals and staying in budget, and you guys had great ideas! A few of the ideas were things like shopping at multiple grocery stores - which is something I also personally do; stocking up on whatever organic meat is on sale that week and cutting and freezing it for future meals - which is such a smart idea; sticking to your meal plan and only going to the store one per week or two (if you shop bi-weekly) - this is a great tip because I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but every time you need to stop at the store for one little thing, you always walk about with 5-6 little things because they were on sale or because it was a new product; someone else mentioned going in with some other people on a CSA or maybe a cow-share, which can be a little expensive on the front-end but really save you some money over time, plus it gives you a chance to get to know the farm where you are getting your food from, which is pretty cool!

So you just need to decide which method is best for you, whether you want the convenience of buying everything from one store or if you are trying to be more budget-conscious, shopping in multiple stores!  You are the expert on your family! 

Personally, having a plan and walking into the store with a list not only helps me to feel more organized but it also helps me stay on budget (well.. mostly 😏), minimize food waste and just gives me the assurance of knowing that I’m feeding my family healthy, nourishing meals. That’s an invaluable benefit to me! 

I have designed a freebie Meal Planning Guide for you that covers everything I’ve talked about today but also includes a downloadable blank template for you to use to make your own meal plan and grocery list! The guide also includes a link to my exact meal plan and grocery list from two weeks ago! I know sometimes it’s just fun to see what meals other people make and what they buy at the store, so I’ve included that as a little bonus!

I hope this guide will give you a little inspiration and encourage you to make the process of meal planning work for your family! 

Don’t forget that you can always follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more helpful tips for healthy meals and meal planning! If you feel like you need more personalized support I also offer a specific Meal Planning and Prepping Coaching Call! It’s a 75-min virtual session where we work on your specific obstacles with meal planning and prepping your meals ahead of time. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and I’ll see you next time!