Do you amplify your wins or your losses?

Most of us amplify our losses, and I'll bet you do it, too.

Not sure? Answer these questions:

1. You were feeling kind of tired today when you went to your workout. You completed most of your plan but not everything. When someone asks you how your workout went, what do you answer?

A) It was great! Instead of ditching the gym, I did what I could.
B) I got it done, but I didn't finish everything.
C) It was terrible. I was too tired to complete everything.

2. You set a goal to drink a gallon of water every day. Today, you barely drank half that amount. At the end of the day you say:

A) Ugh! I failed to reach another goal.
B) That didn't go as planned, but I drank more than I normally do.
C) Why can't I do anything I plan to do?

If you answered B or C for #1 or you answered A or C for #2, you amplify your losses.

Why does this matter?

Without getting all metaphysical about energy and negativity, the fact is that we like to do things that make us...

I had the best night’s sleep last night. A full 7-and-a-half hours uninterrupted. No bathroom run, no uncomfortable sleep positions, just 7+ hours of unconsciousness.

When I woke up and checked my phone, I fully expected it to be about 3am. That’s the time I usually pop out of my sleep cycle for whatever reason.

What did I do differently?

I ran 3 miles yesterday.

Can I say for certain that it was the run that had me sleeping so soundly?

Without hesitation, yes.

Does this mean you have to run miles each day to sleep soundly? No.

Struggling with Sleep? You're not Alone.

Did you know that up to 70 million Americans don’t get the recommended amount of sleep each night to maintain great health? As a matter of fact, a Gallup survey from 2022, shows that 33% of Americans rate their sleep as fair or poor. You may count yourself among them.

What can you do?

One of the simplest ways to improve sleep is to move your body more. A scoping review (similar to a meta-analysis)...

There are so many health benefits to living a plant-based lifestyle. The benefits compound when you ditch (or greatly reduce) the animal-based foods and beverages in your life.

You may already know the big benefits:

• Weight loss
• Reducing or eliminating medications.
• Reducing joint pain and inflammation.
• Reducing cholesterol and blood pressure.

Did you know there are even more benefits?

I’ve been living a plant-based lifestyle, and I coach my clients to do the same. Here are some of my favorite benefits that I don’t see anyone talking about. They can show up in kind of weird ways.

1. Spend less time cleaning up. This is probably my favorite. I use less dish soap, and I rarely scrub any pots or pans. Nothing sticks. There are no drippings to clean up, no grease to get rid of. Most of the dishes only need a rinse in hot water. I actually love doing the dishes these days, well, as much as you can love any chore that you have to do. It takes me minutes, and my dishes are...

What’s different about strength building for women over 50 versus someone in their 20s? A lot and not that much.

 It’s not that the exercises are different, but how you do them is different and how you progress them is different.

Why?

If you’re starting over at 50, you will be less strong now than you were in your 20s (assuming you’ve led a typically sedentary but busy life of most mid-life adults). That means starting weight in your 20s will probably be out of reach for you in your 50s.

The good news is that while you may be starting a bit behind the start line, you’ll be able to progress and build strength quickly. And your workout doesn’t have to be complicated. As a matter of fact, the simpler you keep the exercises, the more likely you are to complete them.

Here are 3 simple exercises you can do anywhere and how to increase their difficulty as you get stronger.

• Squat. This basic human movement has a wide range of options. The simplest...

Health and wellness can seem complex and overwhelming, especially when you’re a woman over 40. By this time in your life, you feel like you’ve tried everything to manage your weight and health. On top of your own experience, every friend and neighbor has a story to share with you about their own weight loss or health journey. Things can get complicated very quickly.

• There are all things you haven’t been doing for the past 20 years (or more).
• Then there are all the new fitness crazes (should be doing Pilates or HIIT?).
• Throw in the complications of Keto, Intermittent Fasting, and Menopause, and it’s easy to see why you might opt out altogether.

There has to be an easier way.

And there is.

Meet The Four Fs.

I like to think of health and wellness in terms of The Four Fs… Food, Fitness, Feelings, and Friends. Mastering each of these categories is simpler than you think.

Food

What you put into your body determines what comes out in terms of weight and...

I’ve been helping women (and a few men) to lose weight and sustainably embody strength and health without starvation or body-breaking workouts for over 20 years.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is hugely popular in the weight-loss world. Popularity is not an indicator of effectiveness. I know that sounds weird.

If it doesn’t work, why is it popular?

There’s a bit of legend, machismo, and toughness that is implied with IF. If you can successfully deny yourself food for any length of time, you’re “conquering” yourself. You’re exhibiting willpower of steel. At least, that’s what people think when they hear you talking about it.

That has not been my personal experience with IF, nor has it been the experience of my clients.

The reality is that IF doesn’t work for everyone. For some, it sets up binge-purge cycles. Others are left with an overwhelming sense of failure when their bodies rightfully overrule their willpower.

Here are the top 3...

Want to feel Ah-MAZING in your own body? 

If you answered yes, this is for you.

If you want to go from cringing every time you look in the mirror to loving the skin you’re in, then you have to STOP telling yourself these 3 things: 

• Stop telling yourself that you suck for letting yourself go. 
• Replace it with:
  I love me for everything I've gone through and survived. 

• Stop telling yourself it’s too late to have the body and the health that you want.
• Replace it with:
  The best time to change my body and health is right now! 

• Stop telling yourself you fail every time you try to make a change. 
• Replace it with:
  I keep trying until it works.

You’re probably asking yourself, why does this matter to me right now, at this particular moment in my life? 

Here’s why this matters (or it should matter) to you most…

• You're not going to lose 30 pounds in 30 days, but the only way to see...

Pick up something heavy and put it down. Do it again. Do it often. Doing this keeps you strong, healthy, and active. It is the Fountain of Youth. 

Why should you care more about muscle now? 

"Muscle mass decreases approximately 3–8% per decade after the age of 30 and this rate of decline is even higher after the age of 60. This involuntary loss of muscle mass, strength, and function is a fundamental cause of and contributor to disability in older people." Published in a study in 2010 by the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

This isn't urban legend. Muscle loss in aging has been studied and documented. 

If you're reading this, you're over 30.

You're probably over 50, which means you may have already lost 6-16% of the muscle mass you had before you were 30.

Do the math, and it's a slippery slope to 0 muscle mass (you can't actually...

Change your mind to change your health.

When you’re working on creating healthier habits or losing weight, get your mind in the game first.

If your thoughts circle around all of the reasons you can’t change, then you won’t change.

Instead of mastering new habits, you’ll sabotage your efforts ending up in a pool of frustration and self-doubt.

Here are 5 simple thoughts to turbo-charge your efforts and have you smashing your goals.

1. Set short-term goals.

Regardless of how you got to where you are today, believe that today is a new day and that you CAN make a change. One way I like to do this is to focus on the short term.

For example, “This meal or snack will be full of healthy items.” If you stay focused on THIS meal or snack, you can make a healthy choice right now and not worry about what’s happening next. As you string together each “now” choice, days and weeks can go by in which you’re making a healthy choice...