We all have had experiences when our bodies go into “flight or fight” mode, a quick response our bodies are meant to do to protect us in dangerous situations. This was useful when we were being chased by creatures that wanted to eat us for dinner back in the day. Luckily, we don’t face the same dangers as our ancestors in today’s world, but our bodies don’t know the difference between a prehistoric animal and a work deadline. Our stress reactions are activated far too often and for much more extended periods. The result is not only unpleasant but unhealthy.

You've decided to lose weight, you read up on how to do it, you select a plan, and you purchase exercise clothing. The first week goes well, and you see the scale dip down slightly. Woot!

You decide to keep going with the plan, but at some point, during week two, you catch yourself sitting on the sofa watching television in your workout clothing, gobbling down a pint of ice cream.

Sound familiar?

If so, you've fallen into one of the most common weight-loss traps: self-sabotage. It's sneaky and often difficult to pin down. It's also confusing, and it's completely derailing your weight loss efforts.

By definition, behavior is sabotaging when it creates problems and interferes with long-standing goals.

In other words, you know what you need to do, but you don't do it. Or you know what you shouldn't do, but you do it anyway. That's the simplest way to understand how self-sabotage works.

Are You Ready to Stop Self-Sabotage?

You say you want to lose weight, but you're not successfully doing it. Chances are you're feeling discouraged, ashamed or confused. Perhaps you also have diet fatigue or lack confidence because you don't believe in your ability to lose weight.

The harsh reality is that you're sabotaging your weight loss efforts because of those feelings. To overcome sabotaging behaviors, you first have to look at what's causing the behavior in the first place, which can be difficult.

If you're willing to make a change in your life, then I'm willing to offer you one laser-coaching session at no charge.

During the session, I'll help you:

Identify how you sabotage yourself. Self-sabotage might look like procrastination, avoidance, over-eating, not getting enough sleep.

Name your fears about weight loss. Remember, fears are usually irrational, so when you put them down on paper, they might seem silly, and that's okay!

Create a weight loss plan. We'll lay a solid foundation to get you started on your successful weight loss journey.

All you have to do is schedule the session. You'll be amazed at what one coaching session can do to jumpstart your weight loss.

Are you an artistic person? Are you looking to introduce new habits for 2022? Then this challenge calendar is for you! It’s super cool because you can use one of these for each habit you are looking to introduce. For every day you perform the habit, colour in the corresponding section of the calendar. How cool is that?! If you’d like to download a PDF version, click below.

I can’t take credit for this and I’m not sure who the original designer is but I had to share. I hope you enjoy using it!

Stress and the demands of everyday living have us all struggling to stay on track. We skip our workouts, sleep less, grab food on the run, all to keep up with the hectic pace of living.

With so much going on, cutting back from seven or eight hours of sleep might seem like the answer. You may say if you only sleep six hours, that gives you two more hours to be productive, right?

Well, not really.

First off, your brain is TIRED when you don’t sleep. You‘re operating in a fog, and making the best decisions is pretty much impossible. When you stop by the break room, nine times out of ten, you will grab the donut to go with your coffee because you’re so beat you THINK you need the one-two punch of sugar and caffeine to get you going. Your brain’s reward centers are revved up from lack of sleep, and your food cravings are in overdrive.

Studies consistently show us that when our bodies don’t get enough sleep, we opt for quick-fix, high-carb snacks to keep going. One study even showed that participants who slept less than eight hours chose snacks with twice the fat content of their well-rested counterparts.

Second, crappy choices, bigger portions, and no impulse control in the kitchen are bound to produce weight gain. In addition to changing how your brain functions, sleep deprivation has a powerful effect on hormone production. Hormones plus dieting generally equal disaster. Cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin are the three hormones most commonly connected to weight control.

Cortisol

Cortisol is your stress hormone, and it suppresses your metabolism. Your adrenal glands produce it, and if you aren’t well-rested, your stress will skyrocket. Cortisol tells your body to save its energy, which means it’s going to hang on to fat. There is a debate on whether cortisol directly affects weight loss, but for anyone with emotional eating habits, higher cortisol levels are a recipe for disaster. Stress makes us seek comfort, and for many of us, food is a go-to for feeling better.

Leptin

Leptin is a hormone produced in your fat cells. It tells your body when to stop eating and to burn more calories. When you are tired, your body produces less leptin, so your appetite is out of control, and your metabolism tanks. Not recognizing our body’s hunger signals is difficult enough without the added magic of hormones confusing our wants and needs.

Grehlin

Grehlin is a hormone released by your stomach that makes you hungrier, slows down your metabolism, and decreases your body’s ability to burn fat. When you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more ghrelin. That means you are tired, want to eat a whole lot of garbage, and aren’t programmed to burn it off.

Insulin

Insulin is the hormone your body uses to convert food, particularly sugar and starch, into energy. Four days of poor sleeping can be enough to hamper your body’s ability to process insulin. This means your body can’t process the fats in your bloodstream, so it just stores them as fat.

Research proves that dieters who cut back on sleep over two weeks dramatically reduced the amount of weight they lost from fat even when their eating patterns and intake didn’t change. Lack of sleep killed their metabolism, and that equaled weight gain. If you aren’t sleeping enough, you are disrupting your metabolism, which will make you gain weight or have trouble losing weight.

Set yourself up for success with proper sleep hygiene. That’s how you’re going to win at weight loss. If you need help with your sleep hygiene, I can help. Check out one of my upcoming sleep workshops or schedule a call with me so that we can discuss your concerns and set a plan in place to get you sleeping better.

Do You Count Calories?

If you do, here are some things you should know:

You can’t account for every single calorie

Even if you weigh your food, it’s challenging to count the unused milk in your cereal bowl or the extra teaspoon of oil you used when cooking. You should also consider how the spices you cook with can alter caloric absorption and how your body utilizes calories. Also, the type of food determines how your body absorbs calories. The more processed the food, the easier it is for your body to digest and absorb the calories. Eating whole (less processed) foods requires your body to expend more energy to digest, therefore absorbing fewer calories. It’s safe to say… it’s a very complex process!

Food and exercise can affect caloric value

100 calories from spinach is very different than 100 calories from a donut. Each food can affect satiety, digestion, metabolism, and hormones differently. It’s the same with exercise. Different workouts can result in the same caloric burn but may not have the same effect on health. When choosing foods and exercise, consider the long-term impact.

Labels can be misleading

The FDA allows food labels to be accurate within 80%. That’s a lot if you are counting calories!

Bottom Line

Calorie counting is a small part of the larger health equation. I believe most people don’t need to count calories as there are many other ways to track overall health if you are trying to lose weight.

Water is essential for the functioning of our bodies. Today, we have many choices of tastes and types of water, including carbonated water. But is carbonated water just as hydrating as still water?

Plain carbonated water is simply water pressurized with carbon dioxide. As long as the water is free of additives, it's just as hydrating and healthy as still water.

However, there are many different types of carbonated water on the market:

• Club soda contains ingredients like salt, sodium bicarbonate, or potassium bicarbonate.

• Flavored Sparkling Water may contain added natural sugars, citric acid, sodium, or caffeine.

• Mineral water comes from mineral springs and contains minerals, including salts and sulfur compounds.

• Seltzer water is just regular water that has been carbonated. Some bottled seltzer water may contain added flavors and ingredients.

• Tonic water contains added sugar, sweeteners, and flavors.

What about other benefits/risks?

Research has shown that carbonated water may help aid digestion, help improve swallowing ability, and increase feelings of fullness.

Side effects may include gas and bloating, and carbonated water high in sugar can cause tooth decay.

The bottom line is to read the label. If you're worried about sodium intake or tooth decay, stick to plain carbonated water with no additives.

How often do you hear people bragging about pulling all-nighters or saying things like, “I only need 5 hours of sleep a night,” or “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”?

Here’s a fact, your body needs sleep. Did you know that driving while sleep-deprived can be just as bad as driving while intoxicated?

There are so many benefits to sleep, but I’m just going to give you five of them.

Tips for Holiday Sips

The holiday season brings family gatherings and festive events. It also brings extra calories in the form of food and drink. Adding alcohol to the equation makes it difficult if you’re trying to maintain your weight over the holiday season.

One gram of alcohol is approximately seven calories. It’s more than carbs and fat (4 calories) but less than fat (9 calories). The issue with alcohol is that our bodies don’t burn calories while metabolizing it as we do with carbs, fat, and protein.

Alcohol is easy to absorb, so it enters our bloodstream without burning any extra calories. It’s seen as a toxin, so our liver metabolizes before anything else. Our liver can only metabolize about one ounce of alcohol per hour, which is why we get tipsy if we drink too fast.

If you’re looking to indulge over the holiday season, here are a few tips that may help:

Pour half as much

If you’re drinking wine, pour 3 to 4 ounces at a time instead of 6 to 9 ounces. With liquor, opt for a smaller shot in a tall glass with a lot of ice.

Avoid higher-calorie mixed drinks

Eggnog is usually the go-to for many holiday parties, but one 8-ounce pour can be over 350 calories! Opt for lower-calorie options like:

• Red or white wine: 5 ounces | Calories; 125, Carbohydrate: 4g

• Light beer: 12 ounces | Calories: 100; Carbohydrate: 5g

• Champagne: 5 ounces | Calories: 100; Carbohydrate: 1g

• Vodka, whiskey, rum, or gin: 1.5 ounces | Calories: 96; Carbohydrate: 0g

Alternate between alcohol and water

Drinking water in-between each glass of alcohol will help you stay hydrated, and you’ll drink less.

Sip Slowly

Enjoy that beverage! Drinking slowly will allow you to savor the taste, and you will also drink less.

Have you ever woken up on January 1st a bit disappointed in how you treated your body during the holiday season?

Without a plan in hand, it’s tough to stick to your healthy living goals with all the eggnog and sugar cookies floating around, not to mention the food pushers and saboteurs lurking in the shadows.

Here are seven ways to stay healthy over the holidays.

Do you find there are some days where you can’t get enough food into your belly? Hunger is the way your body tells you it needs food. However, there may be other reasons why you are constantly hungry.

You are not eating enough protein

Protein plays a vital role in appetite control by regulating hunger hormones. Eating protein with each meal or snack, rather than all at once, may help keep appetite steady throughout the day.

You are not getting enough sleep

As you’ve heard me say many times, sleep is essential for our overall health. Sleep regulates ghrelin, our appetite-stimulating hormone. Lack of sleep leads to higher ghrelin levels, which explains why you may feel constantly hungry when tired.

You are eating too many refined carbohydrates

Refined carbs lack fiber and cause blood sugar fluctuations, which are the primary reasons why eating too many of them may leave you feeling hungry.

Your diet is low in fat

Fat plays a role in slowing digestion and increasing the production of fullness-promoting hormones.

You’re not drinking enough water

When you are dehydrated, you will feel hungry. Often we mistake dehydration for hunger and reach for food instead of water.

Your diet lacks fiber

Fiber plays a role in reducing your appetite and keeping you full. High-fiber foods will take longer to digest than low-fiber foods.

You eat while distracted

Eating while distracted makes it difficult for you to recognize feelings of fullness.

You exercise a lot

Individuals who regularly exercise at a high intensity or for extended durations tend to have larger appetites and faster metabolisms. Thus, they may experience frequent hunger.

You drink too much alcohol

Alcohol is well known for its appetite-stimulating effects. Alcohol may inhibit hormones that reduce appetite, such as leptin, especially when consumed before or with meals.

You drink your calories

If you consume many liquid foods, such as smoothies, meal replacement shakes, and soups, you may be hungrier more often than you would be if you ate more solid foods.

One reason for this is that liquids pass through your stomach more quickly than solid foods do. Also, liquid foods do not have the same effects on keeping you full and satisfied as solid foods do. For this reason, you may feel hungry frequently if liquids are a significant part of your diet.

You are over-stressed

Stress increases cortisol levels, a hormone that is known to promote hunger and food cravings. During fight or flight mode, cortisol floods your body, which convinces it to eat, even if you don’t need the calories.

You’re taking medications

Certain medications cause increased appetite as a side effect. In turn, they may cause you to experience frequent hunger.

The most common appetite-inducing medications include antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, corticosteroids, and antiseizure drugs.

You eat too fast

Eating too quickly doesn’t allow your body enough time to recognize fullness, which may promote excessive hunger. It can take upwards of 20 to 30 minutes for your brain to realize you are full.

You have a medical condition

Medical conditions like diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, depression, anxiety and premenstrual syndrome may cause excessive hunger.

If you suspect that you may have one of these conditions, talk with your doctor to receive a proper diagnosis and discuss treatment options.

You are on a calorie-restricted diet

Consuming fewer calories than the body burns can cause the body to produce a hormone called ghrelin, our “hunger hormone.” A low-calorie diet can increase ghrelin production and cause hunger, even if you have just eaten.

You consume a lot of sugar

A high-sugar diet may cause the body to produce more ghrelin and affect activity in specific brain regions to make a person feel less full.

You are bored

Some people may confuse boredom with hunger, causing them to eat more.

You are going through menopause

A decline in estrogen during menopause may lead to an increased appetite.

You are obese

Leptin is a hormone that tells the brain when the stomach is full. Leptin levels usually rise after a person eats a meal. Overweight or obese individuals may develop leptin resistance, which can make them feel hungry more often.

You Drink Diet Soda

Soda is one of the sugariest foods you can consume. And while you may know sugar makes you crave sugar, artificially sweetened products, and sugar alternatives can ramp up your appetite even more than natural sugar, causing increased calorie consumption over time.

You skip meals

Skipping meals can make you feel hungrier when it’s time to eat. When you don’t eat, your body can deplete its blood glucose stores, promoting an uptick in the hunger hormone ghrelin, ramping up your appetite.

Your Gut Health Is Off

Unhealthy eating or meals centered on saturated fats and sugars can disrupt your digestive system. As a result, an increase in harmful bacteria in your gut may inhibit the good bacteria from regulating your hunger hormones.

Now that it’s getting cooler out, I’m starting to crave soups and stews. A base for many soups and stews is a good bone broth. It’s easy to make from scratch using the bones of a cow, chicken, turkey, and even fish.

There are so many health benefits to bone broth:

It’s nutritious

Bones are rich in vitamins, including calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Bone marrow contains iron, vitamin A, vitamin K, selenium, and zinc.

It helps your joints

Bone broth is a source of collagen, which is so essential for our joints. Our cartilage tends to wear down over time through continuous use, which adds stress to our joints. Adding collagen to your diet will help protect the joints from constant wear and tear.

It may help fight osteoarthritis

A 2016 study in the Nutrition Journal found that type 2 collagen (from the connective tissue of chickens) helped improve pain and stiffness in people with osteoarthritis.

It may help reduce inflammation and heal the gut

Not only is bone broth easy to digest, but an amino acid also called glutamine found in the gelatin of bone broth can help maintain the function of the intestinal wall and is known to prevent and heal leaky gut. Gelatine can also bind with water to support the healthy transit of food through the intestines.

It may help you sleep better

The amino acid glycine found in bone broth may help you relax, and multiple studies have also shown that this amino acid helps promote sleep. You may fall asleep faster, maintain a deeper sleep, and wake fewer times during the night!

It may support weight loss

Bone broth is high in protein, which helps the body feel full longer. It’s low in calories but can still satisfy hunger.

The holidays are a time for celebration and festivities, but they can also mean weight gain, stress, and total overwhelm. Thankfully, my 6-Week Happy Healthy Holidays challenge will give you strategies to maintain a healthy lifestyle while also enjoying the magic of the holiday season.

Let this be the year you "maintain, not gain" while enjoying some planned indulgences. We begin on November 26th. Click the link below to learn more and enroll in this 6-Week challenge.

Daylight Saving Time is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months and back again in the fall to make better use of natural daylight.

Moving the clock forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall doesn’t just affect your schedule — it can throw off your body’s internal clock, too.

That hour of sleep that’s lost or gained can leave you feeling groggy and irritable. It can also be dangerous. Studies have found that heart attacks and fatal car accidents increase after the spring shift to Daylight Saving Time.

Why is the change of one hour so hard?

Moving our clocks in either direction affects how daylight resets our 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Our internal clock, or circadian rhythm, becomes out of sync with our current day-night cycle.

In the fall, when you’ve gained an hour of sleep, you might not feel tired, but you may notice to change when you’re waiting an extra hour to eat or to leave work at the end of the day. When the clocks move forward in the spring, you’ll “lose” an hour of sleep and may have trouble falling asleep an hour earlier. In turn, you won’t get as much quality sleep as you need.

How long will it take you to adapt to time changes?

The rule of thumb is that it takes about one day to adjust for each hour of a time change. However, there are a few things you can do to prepare for the shift.

Tips for Adjusting to Daylight Savings Time

Make Gradual Shifts

About a week before falling back, go to bed and wake up approximately 15 minutes later each day.

Reverse for the spring and go to bed and wake up approximately 15 minutes earlier each day.

If you need more time to adjust, start earlier and gradually increase/decrease 15-minute increments every few days.

Keep your schedule

Stick to your schedule. Be consistent with eating, social activities, and exercise times during the transition. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on the weekends.

No long naps

Avoiding naps is critical for adjusting to the time change. Long naps will make it harder for you to get a quality night’s sleep. If you can’t get through the day without a nap, make it short and earlier in the day to avoid disrupting your nighttime routine.

If you feel sleepy the Sunday after the time change, take a short 15- to 20- minute nap in the early afternoon but not too close to bedtime.

Use light to regulate your internal clock.

Light suppresses the production of melatonin, our sleep hormone. It’s important to expose yourself to light as soon as you wake up and as much as possible during waking hours. Conversely, do not expose yourself to bright light when it is dark outside.

Did you know that adults who sleep fewer than 6 hours a night are at higher risk for dementia and cognitive decline?

Here's why:

Our brains accumulate various kinds of metabolic "gunk" throughout the day. The worst is beta-amyloid proteins. These are metabolic waste products that build up as plaque around neurons and interfere with how they transmit information to each other. It's thought that a greater beta-amyloid "burden" in the brain is a precursor to Alzheimer's disease.

The good news is that deep and REM sleep flushes out the waste particles. We get most of our deep sleep in the first half of the night, so even if your sleep is cut short, the brain will still clear some of the waste.

When you are sleep-deprived, your first full night of sleep will include more deep and REM sleep.

This explains why getting too little sleep may be linked with Alzheimer's.

Things to consider:

1. Aging changes your body clock. As we age, we typically go to bed and wake up earlier, and spend more time awake during the night, resulting in less sleep overall

2. Physical changes can disrupt sleep. For example, prostate issues will have men wake during the night to pee

3. A suboptimal diet may cause poor sleep. Too many calories, fats, and sweets and too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can lead to weight gain and obesity, which can cause sleep apnea. In turn, poor quality sleep can lead to hormonal changes linked to appetite and satiety, cause you to eat more with less inhibition

If you would like to learn more about sleep, I’m launching my new sleep course in November. Click below to get on the waitlist and receive 30% off the introductory price when registration opens. If you want more information please DM me and I’d be happy to chat with you.

If you’ve watched any of my workshops, you’ll know I’m a geek when it comes to sleep. I love understanding the science behind sleep and why it’s essential to our overall health. I wear a health tracker mainly to track my sleep at night. I know health trackers aren’t very precise at monitoring sleep patterns, but it’s better than nothing, and I can at least track how consistent I am over time. As I get older, I’ve found that my sleep patterns seem to change more frequently than I like. Lately, I’ve noticed that I’m not getting as much deep sleep as I used to.

Deep sleep is critical for restoration, allowing for bodily recovery and growth. It plays a key role in keeping our hormones balanced, and experts believe it may bolster our immune system and other key bodily processes. There is also evidence that deep sleep contributes to insightful thinking, creativity, and memory processing.

How can you increase the amount of deep sleep you get each night? The most important thing you can do is increase the total amount of sleep you get each night. Doing so allows the body to go through more sleep cycles, making it possible to obtain more deep sleep. Other activities you can try include:

• Exercise early in the day

• Lower carbohydrate intake and increase fat intake

• Warm your body in the bath or shower before bed

• Keep a regular sleep cycle, even on the weekend

Sleep issues are common for women our age, but we have options! If you have trouble sleeping, reach out to me. I’ve had my share of sleepless nights and have learned what works (and doesn’t work) for me. Getting a good night’s rest is vital for our overall health, and no one should suffer through a sleepless night.

Did you know that hormones can wreak havoc on our sleep patterns?

As we age, changes in our sleep-wake cycle cause us to feel tired earlier and wake up earlier in the morning, leading to less sleep overall. In addition, sleep issues are common in women going through perimenopause or menopause.

The most common sleep problems reported by women going through menopause include:

Hot Flashes

Hot flashes are sudden and unexpected sensations of heat all over the body accompanied by sweating. They can last as short as 30 seconds or as long as five minutes. Hot flashes that occur at night are also known as night sweats.

Insomnia

Insomnia is typically described as a chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep that occurs more than three nights a week. Some may experience restless sleep, wake up early, and often feel sleepy and tired during the day. Sleep deprivation from insomnia can increase feelings of anxiousness and irritability, impair focus and memory, and increase headaches and inflammation.

Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known as temporary pauses in breathing, leading to gasping, snoring, choking sounds, and lowered sleep quality. Research suggests lower progesterone levels may contribute to the development of sleep apnea.

If you are experiencing sleep issues related to perimenopause or menopause, consult your doctor. They know your personal medical history and can recommend appropriate medications and lifestyle changes that may improve your sleep.

The following sleep tips may also help:

• Maintain a healthy weight

• Avoid nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol, especially in the late afternoon/early evening

• Avoid drinking liquids a few hours before bedtime

• Reduce stress as much as possible

• Develop a bedtime routine

• Develop a routine for falling back asleep if you tend to wake during the night

• Keep the temperature in your room cool

• Follow a regular sleep/wake schedule and avoid late afternoon naps

Sleep issues are common for women our age, but we have options! If you have trouble sleeping, reach out to me. I’ve had my share of sleepless nights and have learned what works (and doesn’t work) for me. Getting a good night’s rest is vital for our overall health, and no one should suffer through a sleepless night.

No matter what your body shape, excess fat isn't good for your health.

In most people, about 90% of body fat is subcutaneous, the kind that lies in a layer just beneath the skin. If you poke your belly, the fat that feels soft is subcutaneous. The remaining 10% — called visceral fat — lies out of reach, beneath the abdominal wall.

Research has shown that fat cells — particularly visceral fat cells — are biologically active. The fat cell is considered an endocrine organ that secrets hormones and molecules affecting other tissues. Researchers have identified a host of chemicals that link visceral fat to a wide variety of diseases.

As women go through mid-life, the proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase — more than in men — and fat storage begins favoring the upper body over the hips and thighs. Even if you don't gain weight, your waistline can grow as visceral fat pushes out against your abdominal wall.

The good news is that visceral fat responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs. Here are some approaches that may help:

Move. Visceral fat responds well to both aerobic and strength training. Spot exercising does nothing to visceral fat.

Eat a balanced diet and avoid food that encourages belly fat, such as simple sugars, like sweetened foods, beverages, and alcohol.

Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you will store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Keep your mood in check. Middle-aged women who show more hostility and depressive symptoms tend to have more visceral fat — but not more subcutaneous fat.

Selenium is a micronutrient that cannot be produced by the body and must be obtained through food or supplementation. There are several reasons to ensure we are getting enough of this nutrient. We don’t need a lot of this micronutrient and the recommended daily allowance for adults is 55 mcg/day. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you’ll need 60 – 70 mcg/day.

Here are a few benefits of Selenium:

• It’s an antioxidant and can help reduce and protect against oxidative stress

• It strengthens the immune system and reduces inflammation

• It supports our thyroid function (the thyroid gland contains the highest amount of selenium compared to any other organ in the body)

• It may reduce the risk of cancer and increase the quality of life/decrease side effects in patients undergoing radiation

• It reduces cognitive decline

• It may protect against heart disease

If you are looking to boost your Selenium intake, consider the following foods:

• Brazil nuts (one of the highest and most well-known dietary sources of selenium)

• Eggs

• Oat Bran

• Tuna

• Brown Rice

• Beef Liver

• Chicken

• Sardines

• Sunflower Seeds

• Grass-Fed Beef

• Oysters

• Halibut

• Shiitake mushrooms

Have you ever heard someone say they can’t lose weight because they have a slow metabolism? Well, it is true that metabolism is linked to weight but having a slow metabolism is usually not the main cause of weight gain.

By definition, metabolism is the body’s process that expends energy and burns calories. It works 24/7 to convert the food we eat into energy so we can breathe, circulate blood, grow, and repair. Your metabolism controls how much of that energy your body uses.

Metabolism is broken down into two processes: anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is the storing of energy, supporting new cells, and maintaining body tissues. Catabolism is the breaking down of energy to move, heat, and energize your body.

How fast or slow your metabolism works is determined mostly by your genes, however, there are things you can control that affect your metabolism.

Read on for more information.

Building on small wins is key to creating permanent healthy behaviors. You can use the progress you’ve already made to motivate you toward your larger goal of living healthier.

Baby steps are at the heart of my programs because you don’t create success in one sudden overwhelming swoop unless you win the lottery. Winning at anything is about using each small success to motivate yourself to the larger goal.