Traditionally, this time of year is SUPER busy for me as I head into a circuit of awesome health conferences and events such as Paleo f(x), the Mindshare Mastermind retreat and the National Association of Nutrition Professionals annual conference.

As I’m gearing up for my back-to-back weeks of travel with a million and one tasks to do, I’ve been noticing how the old sense of overwhelm from too much to do is gone. I’m not losing track of things or my mind.

I can handle stress with ease.  Nothing throws me off balance, and all because I don’t have brain fog anymore.

But that wasn’t always the case.  It wasn’t very long ago that I was suffering from brain fog; forgetting things, getting overwhelmed with too much to do, lacking creativity and simply feeling mentally tapped out.

So this week I’m bringing you a #ThrowbackThursday blog about my story of brain fog, and what I’ve done to get my mind and sanity back so you can too if you’re dealing with brain fog also.  Enjoy!

***

I never would have said I had brain fog, not until now at least.

Brain fog is a term that is not typically recognized by most traditional health professionals, yet it is extremely prevalent.

It’s a phrase that basically sums up a collection of symptoms or feelings that can include:

• Forgetfulness or confusion
• Trouble concentrating
• Lack of focus or mental clarity
• Inability to handle stressful situations
• Difficulty recalling words or putting words together
• Feeling “frazzled”
• Mental fatigue
• Feeling “less productive” than before
• Struggling creatively

All of which are very common but NOT NORMAL.

As someone who has always excelled in any job I ever had, who is hard working and likes to have multiple projects going on at the same time, I never stopped for a moment to think I might be suffering from brain fog.

I simply kept working towards my personal and business goals, thinking it was normal to need so many lists or post-it-notes lying around to keep everything straight.

It wasn’t until my brain fog lifted that I realized it had been there.

These days I’m sharp as a tack, super clear, mentally tough and I’m bursting with creativity. I’m managing multiple program launches at one time, I hardly need a list for the little things anymore, I can easily recall details, I’m knocking out tasks left and right without feeling physically or mentally exhausted, and I have energy to spare for social activities.

I am 100% back to being my go-getter self and I am more productive than ever before!

Sometimes we only know what we know until we experience something different. It took getting out of the fog for me to realize I had been in it for so long.

The fog crept up on me the same way it slowly rolls in off the coast line.  Super stealthy, low to the ground, until wham! You can’t even see two feet in front of you.

I had become so used to living in the fog, I didn’t even know it existed.  I adapted to my less efficient ways of functioning and thinking by creating more lists, using more post-it-notes, engaging in less social activities and taking on less work.

Some of which I needed to do to heal, but before I knew I needed that, I adapted because I couldn’t keep up.

Typically we tend to brush off symptoms like brain fog and associate them with “just getting older.”  But what we don’t realize is that these symptoms are NOT a part of getting older, rather they are a sign that something isn’t right in our body.

These subtle signs of brain fog can actually be early indicators of brain inflammation, and left unattended to, they can increase our risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s, other degenerative diseases and larger scale health conditions such as autoimmunity or even cancer.

In this week’s video and blog, I help you uncover what might be contributing to your brain fog and how to lift it.

Just like any other dysfunction, disease or condition, inflammation is at the core of brain fog.

It is believed that high levels of inflammation alter 3 primary hormones that dictate brain function:

1. Serotonin – your happy hormone
2. Dopamine – your wellbeing hormone
3. Cortisol – your stress, anti-inflammatory, energy, blood sugar and sleep cycle balancing hormone

And inflammation in the gut particularly has a huge effect on brain function since it can directly interfere with the gut-brain axis.

The key to lifting brain fog is figuring out what’s fueling the inflammatory fire.

Inflammatory factors can be different for everyone.  For me, in my time of brain fog, toxic mold in my home was a huge inflammatory factor along with contaminated tap water, food sensitivities and a variety of intestinal parasites, bacteria and yeast overgrowth

For others, brain fog and inflammation might be fueled by:

• Eating inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol
• Unknown food sensitivities or reactions (not allergies)
• Hidden heavy metals, chemicals or other toxic contaminants
• A leaky and inflamed gut
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
• Various hormone imbalances
• Side effects of autoimmunity
• Over exercising when the body is already depleted

For some, lifting the fog can be as simple as avoiding the top 5 inflammatory foods, eating organic and getting to bed by 10pm.

And as I discovered, even once you start to lift the fog, there is an endless possibility for how much better you can actually feel.

Remember, you only know what you know until you know something different. So if you want to feel exceptional, then lifting the fog may just be the start of it and clearing the fog completely is your end goal.

Here are my 6 steps to bust through brain fog so you can think clearly and feel like yourself again…

1. Avoid the top 5 inflammatory foods: gluten, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol
2. Be asleep by 10pm to balance cortisol and the circadian rhythm
3. Exercise at an intensity that is invigorating but not exhausting
4. Give your brain a break with a daily dose of meditation or deep breathing
5. Investigate and eliminate toxins in your home and work environment
6. Test your hormone, gut and liver function for hidden sources of inflammation and healing opportunities

If you take action in these 6 areas and find yourself still struggling with brain fog, then it just means you might need to dig deeper, investigate further and identify other contributing factors for inflammation like I did.

Don’t just suck it up and see signs of brain fog as “ getting older” OR let them get diagnosed as something else paired with a quick fix medication, leaving you settling for a lower quality of life or just getting by but still not feeling like yourself.

Do me a favor… don’t settle for anything less than what you deserve (which is the world plus some BTW) when it comes to your health and wellbeing.

Don’t let the signs your body is giving you go unnoticed.

***

If you need help getting your hands on the right lab tests and resources to lift your brain fog so you can feel like yourself again, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me here today!

What popular diet are you into these days?  Take your pick…

Keto
Paleo
Vegan
Carnivore
Vegetarian
The Whole30
Autoimmune Paleo

I’m sure that by eating according to one of these diets, you think you’re eating healthy…but are you really?

There once was a time when I thought I was eating “healthy” too, but despite my healthy eating efforts, I still struggled to lose weight, my energy tanked every afternoon, and I didn’t feel like myself in many other ways.

The same is true for so many clients I’ve worked with over the years.  They wind up reaching out to me frustrated and defeated because no matter what diet they try, they just can’t seem to get the weight off, get their energy back, get their autoimmune issues under control, or get back to feeling like themselves again.

One of my favorite quotes by Ann Wigmore says…

“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”

The food you’re eating may not be as healthy for you as you think, for a variety of reasons.  In fact, food could be at the core of your low energy, weight woes, restless nights, autoimmune issues, skin breakouts and feeling uncomfortable in your own skin.

Because the truth is, the food your feasting on could be:

• The wrong combination of proteins, carbs, and fats your body needs to function at its potential
• Contaminated with pesticides, metals or other toxins disrupting the delicate balance of your body
• Packed full of synthetic hormones that are tipping the hormonal scale and burdening your liver
• Infused with antibiotics or antibiotic resistant superbugs that are wreaking havoc on your digestive health and suppressing your immune system
• Or simply foods that you’re unknowingly sensitive to which can trigger anything from anxiety, to digestive upset, energy dips or even skin breakouts

As I often say…

“There is a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.  Eating right for your body will include healthy foods, but not every healthy food is right for your body.”

In this week’s video and blog, I want to help you make sure your food is NOT slowly poisoning you, but that it’s the safest and most powerful form of medicine you’re getting as it should be!

Eating healthy might be a simple term, but with our complex food choices these days, the act of eating healthy is not as simple as it seems.

Thousands of food commercials and packages lining the grocery store shelves make claims about being healthy, but they can be extremely misleading.

For example, the word “natural” can be used on any food label as long as the product does not contain any artificial ingredients, added color, and if its minimally processed (processed meaning it doesn’t fundamentally alter the product) – which is fairly vague honestly.  Natural labeling doesn’t address any pesticides, hormones or antibiotics that might have been involved in the farming of the food, or make it void of processing all together.

Another example is beef labeled simply as “grass-fed.” This indicates that the cow was fed grass for 80% of its life, and the other 20% of its food sources can be anything else.  This also doesn’t rule out the use of antibiotics or hormones.

Do you see now how some of your supposedly healthy foods might be slowly poisoning you?

Don’t fret.  I want to help you navigate foods so your body can get all the nutritional benefits without all of the poisonous side effects.

When it comes to food quality, here’s what you want to aim for…

• USDA certified organic produce, especially at home where you have more control
• 100% grass-fed beef and organic for extra bonus points!
• Local free-range eggs, chicken, turkey or other poultry
• Certified human and pasture raised pork free of nitrates and hormones
• And wild-caught fresh fish and other seafood

Making these food choices will drastically reduce your exposure to harmful pesticides, added hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals or other toxic substances found in conventionally farmed or produced foods.

If you’ve improved the quality of your food choices and you still aren’t seeing the results you’re looking for, then it’s time to dive deeper and investigate hidden food sensitivities and/or your ratios of proteins, carbs and fats contained in each meal.

To investigate these potential food issues:

• Start a food and body language log
• 30-120 minutes after eating check in to see how your body is responding
• Note any changes in your energy, mood, digestion, your overall sense of well-being and if you have cravings

Based on any negative changes you might experience, you can review your log and start to trace your symptoms back to certain meals you’ve had and notice trends in what foods or combination of foods might have caused them.

When you’re eating foods that are right for your body, you should have an abundance of energy, be able to go 3-5 hours or more between meals without getting hungry, and be anxiety, craving, bloat or any other symptom free!

And if you want to skip the food logging and just cut to the chase, you can do an easy at-home food sensitivity and metabolic typing test to reveal any hidden food sensitivities and dial in your food ratios ASAP.

Cleaning up my food sources, eliminating food sensitivities and eating the right food ratios for my body changed my perspective about what “eating healthy” really meant for my body, and it put me on the right path to feeling like myself again.

And I’ve seen these steps do the same thing for my clients over, and over, and over again.  Within a matter of days or weeks, they experience limitless energy, restful nights, weight loss and so much more!

Let food be thy medicine, when you’re eating the right food 😉

If you want to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources to figure out what foods are right for your body so it can function at its potential, then click here to schedule an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session.

Are you feeling overweight, low on energy, anxious and/or depressed?

If you are, you’re not alone.

There was a point in my life when I felt this way too.  No matter what I did or ate, nothing seemed to change. I was beyond uncomfortable in my clothes, I was uncomfortable in my own skin, and all I wanted was to feel like my energetic, lean and easy-going self again.

I tried changing my diet, different workout routines, detox regimens, meditations and a variety of supplements trying to get my body and my mind back.  Sometimes it seemed as if something was working, but it was always short-lived.

I went from doctor to doctor, health expert to expert, searching for answers that seemed to be so hard to find.

I racked my brain trying to figure out what had changed.  For the longest time, everything had stayed the same; my eating, drinking, exercise routine and weight hardly ever varied.

Was this just a part of getting older?

No.

This was my body telling me something wasn’t right.

If you’re feeling overweight, low on energy, anxious and/or depressed, then chances are your body is trying to tell you something too.

The problem is that these signs and symptoms can be far removed from the actual cause, and they can be related to variety of metabolic imbalances occuring in the body.

Did you know that low energy and weight gain can correlate with:

• Trouble sleeping or poor quality sleep
• Not exercising or moving enough
• Blood sugar imbalances
• Chaotic cortisol rhythms
• Elevated estrogen levels
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Toxin exposures

Anxiety can be linked to:

• Food sensitivities
• Low progesterone
• Elevated estrogen levels
• Chaotic cortisol rhythms
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Poor gut or digestive function

And depression can be related to literally all of the above, and more.

The good news is, no matter what the cause of your symptoms might be, you can have a positive effect on them with the right combination of food, sleep, exercise, stress reduction and supplements for YOUR body.

In this week’s video and blog, I’ll share with you how I untangled the web of weight gain, low energy, anxiety and depression so you can too!

In order to untangle the web of your weight gain, low energy, anxiety and depression, you first have to realize this didn’t happen overnight.  What you’re experiencing now is likely a culmination of things that have taken place over the timeline of your life.

For example, if you were a c-section baby or not breastfed, or both, then your immune and digestive system didn’t receive the vital nutrients or bacteria needed to set up your health for long-term success.  This slight setback could now be catching up to you as your immune and digestive system have had to work so much harder over the years to compensate for what they missed out on when you entered the world.

Just because you have a pile of wood doesn’t mean you have a fire.  You still need friction, a match or a lighter to create a spark and fuel in the form of oxygen, wood or gas to get the fire going and keep it roaring.

The same is true for the health fires happening in your body – somewhere you had the perfect start to a fire, something or things, triggered the fire and a variety of things are continuing to fuel it.

Remember that song from your childhood…

The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The body is a network of systems and functions just like that childhood song indicates. Therefore there is no such thing as one singular root cause for your health issues at hand because when one system or function goes down, they all start to fall.

High levels of estrogen were at the core of my weight gain, low energy, anxiety and depression, but it wasn’t the root cause.

Whatever the diagnosis is, or what you think the root cause might be, you have to ask yourself why is that happening in the first place?  What are the chain of events or cumulative factors that have lead to this scenario.

For me, there were a variety of factors.  I had been on birth control for 17 years suppressing my ovaries and negatively impacting all of my hormones.  Stealthy toxic mold had been brewing in our home burdening my liver’s detox capacity and wreaking havoc on my gut.  And despite how crappy I was feeling, I continued to push my body to workout at the same level I always had been.

As a result, the inflammatory fire burned out of control taking down my thyroid along with it and igniting Hashimoto’s.

And although I was eating healthy compared to the average person, working out regularly and taking supplements – I needed to approach these healthy habits differently based on what my body was dealing with.

Running a few simple at-home functional lab tests to look at my hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy and nervous systems gave me the insights I needed to create a health, re-building plan that was more customized to my body’s specific needs.

By supporting all systems and functions of my body, I was able to get my weight under control, my energy back, and put a stop to the anxiety and depression – and ultimately get back to feeling like myself again comfortably in my own skin.

None of which happened when I previously focused on diet, exercise, sleep or supplements alone.

The best part is that I get to use what I’ve learned to help busy health-minded people like you also find the missing pieces to your health puzzle and to see the bigger picture, so you can feel like yourself again too!

If you want to get your hands on the right lab tests, resources and customized plan so you can get your weight under control, your energy back, and/or put a stop to anxiety and depression, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here!

In our modern fast pace society, we have a tendency to underestimate the amount of stress we are under on a daily basis.

In the work I do with clients, one of the first things I asked them to do is re-define the word “stress”.

“Stress is anything that places a burden on the body resulting in inflammation or imbalance.”

Typically when we hear the word “stress” we think of mental or emotional stress, and common things such as challenges within our relationships or family, tough to deal with bosses, crappy coworkers, traffic, the loss of a loved one or friend, trying to meet expectations and deadlines.

But stress can also be:

• Foods you’re eating that aren’t right for your body or that cause inflammation
• Going to bed late or getting a bad night’s sleep (especially consistently)
• Over exercising or intense exercise when the body is already stressed
• Not exercising or moving your body enough regularly
• Toxins that you can’t alway see, hear or feel in your environment
• Nutrient deficiencies that you might be unaware of
• Tight muscle or joints that are out of alignment (specifically the spin)
• Traveling and crossing different time zones

No matter what the stressor might be, the body reacts in the same way, activating the sympathetic nervous system, more commonly known as your “fight or flight response.”

The fight or flight response is a brilliant but old primal instinct, that was originally developed to keep us safe from harm.  This mechanism was developed to help us deal with acute, or short-term stress, not the low-grade constant stress we now encounter on a daily basis.

Here is the classic textbook example of this instinctual response…

If you were to encounter a lion on your lunch break, your body would activate the flight or fight response instantly, sending blood flow to your arms and legs for quick moving, and to your brain for quick thinking so you could find a way to outrun or out-smart the lion.  You don’t have to think for a second about this, your body just does it – brilliant right?

While we don’t encounter lions on our lunch break, or in our daily lives at all (unless you’re at the Zoo or on a safari breaking the rules, LOL) –  the body responds to our modern day stressors just the same – directing blood flow outward for quick action, leaving little resources for digestion or the vital actions needed to actually heal the body.

The smallest things in our daily routine can trigger the fight or flight response resulting in a decreased ability to digest food, combat colds and the flu, and which can ultimately add up leading to weight gain, hormone imbalances, low energy, poor sleep and generally not feeling like yourself.

Stuff that could be triggering the stress response in your body might be things you wouldn’t even think of such as watching the news, sitting in traffic during your typical commute even though your enjoying your favorite podcast, and working through your lunch break.

We underestimate the stress response because these actions or behaviors are so common.

In this week’s video and blog, I help you to identify if you’re underestimating the daily demands of stress on your body, and simple things you can do to destress, boost digestion and healing!

Let’s take a look at where you might be encountering subtle stress throughout the day without even realizing it…

Are you always on the run, stacked back-to-back with meetings, trying to get from one place to another on time, or feel like you’re “on” in your job or as a parent from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed?

Moving fast through life like this activates the fight or flight response all day long.

Do you find yourself drinking your smoothie or eating breakfast on the way to work, working through your lunch break, or rushing to get dinner on the table or eating dinner fast so you clean up after and get on with the rest of your nightly routine?

All of these actions induce the fight or flight response also.

Do you get worked up about our political climate, watching the news, scrolling Facebook or social media – all of these elicit the fight or flight response too.

See how quickly the amount of stress our body deals with on a daily basis can add up, without you even realizing it?

Constant subtle stressors add up quickly throughout the day, keeping the body in a constant fight or flight mode, resulting in minimal resources to aid in digestion and healing, leaving the body depleted, and eventually leading to a lack of energy, hormone imbalances, digestive upset and other health issues.

Imagine a red solo cup, and for every stressor you encounter one drop goes into your cup. If you don’t do something to minimize the number of drops or empty the cup it will eventually overflow.  We can’t always control all of the stressors we encounter, but we can aim to minimize them as much as possible and to empty our cup throughout the day.

In order to maximize digestion and for the body to heal, you must be in a relaxed state.

Typically the only time we’re in a totally relaxed state in this modern day world is when we’re asleep, and that’s only if you’re a great sleeper.  If you struggle with insomnia then your relaxed time is drastically diminished.

But even a good night’s rest isn’t enough anymore to combat the rising number of stressors and demands our body faces on a daily basis.

To support your ideal health and weight, you want to look for opportunities to slow down in your daily life so you can empty your stress cup and allow the body to heal and digest.

Here are a few ways you can easily empty your stress cup throughout the day:

• Do some deep breathing; inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 and exhale for 7
• Schedule breaks to get outside, get some fresh air and breath
• Chew bites 20 times or put down your fork in between bites to slow eating
• Create a daily meditation, journaling or tapping routine
• Cuddle or exchange hugs to boost oxytocin hormone which decreases stress hormones

These are super simple acts, that don’t require much effort, but can make a BIG difference in your overall health.

Other actions that help to reduce the overall stress burden include:

• Eating an anti-inflammatory diet
• Sleeping during the hours of 10pm – 6am
• Exercising at an intensity that is right for you
• And minimizing your exposure to stress inducing environmental toxins

Lastly, start to notice how stress shows up in your body, because it’s different for everyone.  It could be in the form of aches and pains, skin rashes or breakouts, losing your hair, low energy, disrupted sleep, weight gain and more.

Once you get in tune with the signs of stress in your body, you can take quick action to empty your cup.

And if you’re not sure about how much stress your body might be dealing with, you can test instead of guessing by doing a dried urine total comprehensive hormone test to look at your stress hormone, cortisol, as well as other sex and steroid hormones that will reveal insights about the overall burden of stress your body is under.

If you’d like to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources to measure your body’s stress burden and strategies to reduce it, then click here to schedule an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me.

I was diagnosed with skin cancer at age 26, and I just spent a whole week fearlessly soaking up the sun in Maui.

At the time of my diagnosis, from the outside, I looked like your typical healthy person…

I ate “healthy” – low calorie, lean meats, vegetables, fruits, yogurts and sweets only occasionally.

I exercised daily doing a mix of weight lifting, cardio, training for fitness shows and half or full marathons.

On paper I even looked perfect; normal cholesterol, heart rate, blood pressure etc.  I was a skilled personal trainer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fitness, Nutrition and Health who (at the time) thought I knew all there was to know about being healthy and losing weight.

Despite doing all the right “healthy” things, prior to my skin cancer diagnosis, the intensity of my seasonal allergies had progressed to the point of wiping me out for days or weeks, migraines became more frequent, “normal” joint aches or muscle soreness seemed to linger longer and longer, and it was getting tougher to lose or maintain my weight.

I slowly started to question my health and what I had been taught all those years in school.

Skin cancer was my body waving a BIG red flag about something deeper going on.

Being diagnosed with skin cancer at such a young age sparked an undeniable urge to get to the bottom of my own health issues and use my knowledge to help others.

I practically had zero risk factors associated with skin cancer – no family history of any cancers related to melanoma, and sure I used a tanning bed or spent time in the sun without sunscreen from time to time, but I wasn’t your typical frequent tanner who was putting themselves at risk for skin cancer by any means.

The pieces of the puzzle just didn’t seem to add up.  I was “healthy”, had minimal risk factors and was young, yet for some reason cancer cropped up.  I knew there had to be more to the story.

Shortly after my diagnosis, I enrolled in the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) Course to dig deeper into my own health issues, to get to the bottom of them once and for all.  And with my newly acquired knowledge, I aspired to help others also struggling with chronic health issues and weight loss despite the fact that they were eating right and working out.

The FDN training taught me a whole new way of looking at weight loss, health and disease.

As I started digging deeper I found A LOT of cellular damage, hormone imbalances, liver congestion and gut dysfunction…

No wonder why cancer had found itself at home in my body!

As part of the FDN training I was required to run functional lab tests on myself to look at my hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy and nervous systems.  These functional lab tests are very different than your typical blood tests. Most of these tests are done using saliva, urine and stool to take a closer look at how the body is actually functioning (or not) in real time.

My test results revealed a flurry of Metabolic Chaos®.

My hormones were going haywire causing deep dips in my energy, making it difficult to manage my weight or to keep inflammation under control resulting in those intensified seasonal allergies, aches and pains.

My liver was overloaded and unable to move cancer-causing toxins out of my body effectively, coupled with high oxidative stress (i.e. cellular/DNA damage) making me the perfect candidate for cancer.

The good news is this story has a happy ending.  I’m now over 10 years skin cancer free.

And I’m not afraid of skin cancer anymore, or any other health condition for that matter.

In this week’s video and blog, I share how I overcame skin cancer, what I’m doing to prevent getting it again and how I’ve kicked seasonal allergies, migraines, aches and pains, and weight gain all at the same time.

Testing allowed me to stop guessing about what was going on in my body exactly, and it gave me valuable insights about what I could do to restore balance, prevent future cancer and other chronic disease scares.

As an added bonus, I also discovered how to put a stop to my seasonal allergies, migraines, frequent aches and pains, and the struggle to lose or maintain my weight.

With the data in hand, I set out to create a personalized health rebuilding plan that met my unique needs, one that included:

• Foods that were right for my body
• Adequate sleep during the most critical times of night
• Health boosting exercise intensity and types (instead of depleting)
• Various modalities to reduce physical and emotional stress
• Specific supplements to support my body in the ways it needed
• Transitioning to a non/less-toxic living environment

All geared towards a goal of restoring hormone balance, efficient liver function, boosting digestive health and reducing oxidative stress to prevent further cancer growth, and so I could get my energy back, lose weight and be allergy, migraine and pain free!

As Dr. Nasha Winters, author of the Metabolic Approach To Cancer, once said “you are what you don’t poop.”

Cancer-causing toxins are eliminated through stool, urine and sweat so if you’re not doing those things regularly or well, your risk for cancers and other chronic diseases escalates.

And in order to eliminate toxins well you need to have all of your systems running efficiently; hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy and nervous systems.

Upon implementing my health re-building plan, I felt immediate relief from seasonal allergies, migraines, aches and pains, and I lost weight – all signs that my body was healing and regaining its balance.

I now feel 100% like my energetic, strong and lean self again.  I’m not afraid of skin cancer because I’ve restored my health, I know what to do in order to prevent it, and I’ve been over 10 years skin cancer free to prove it.

I no longer rely on typical blood tests anymore to gauge my health.  Instead, I pay close attention to what is going on with my body and every year I run a series of functional lab tests to make sure all systems of my body are firing; to monitor my liver function and oxidative stress levels for potential cancer risks, and to make any minor adjustments needed to my lifestyle to support my best self.

Now I confidently soak up the sun on a regular basis because I feel great in my body and I know skin cancer has nothing on this #HEALTHBOSS.

As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner, I help health-mind people like you to also investigate the unanswered or puzzling pieces of your health story so you too can feel your best and live life to the fullest!

If you want to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources so you can find the missing pieces to your health puzzle and get back to feeling like yourself again, click here to schedule an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session.

This week I’m in Maui taking a much needed break from work and my typical workout routine.

Taking time off from my vigorous workout regimen was something I rarely did in the past because I thought it was the only way to maintain my weight and feel good.

However, through my personal health journey I have learned to value rest days and breaks from my typical workout routine more than diet and exercise because of the massive results they can help you achieve.

So for this week, check out this Throwback Thursday blog about why I stopped working out the way I used to and how it helped get my health back, and back to feeling like myself again…

***

I stopped working out because my body told me to.

As a former fitness competitor, personal trainer and someone who genuinely likes to be active to sweat it out and use exercise as an escape, this wasn’t easy to do.

I resisted it BIG time.  I talked myself out of it many times before I actually embraced what my body needed from me the most.

The signs weren’t very clear at first.

Over the course of 2 years I had slowly gained 15 pounds as a result of working from home fulltime and being exposed to toxic mold that then triggered a slew of health issues such as estrogen dominance, severe leaky gut and Hashimoto’s.

I was excited to see a few pounds drop on the scale initially within the first few weeks of remediating the toxic mold in our home, starting WP Thyroid medication for my Hashimoto’s and transitioning to an Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet.

But then the weight stopped coming off and I was stuck again.

The needle on the scale only moved slightly, despite all of my efforts with diet, sleep, exercise, supplements, toxin removal and meditation.

All of my old beliefs around calories-in versus calories-out resurfaced, and I started to question whether my diet, supplements, exercise and meditation where working…

Maybe I’m eating too much
Maybe I need to workout more or harder
Maybe I need to take more supplements  

I continued to push along as I had been hoping this was just maybe a plateau of sorts. If I just got over the hump, I would see results on the other side.

I turned up the volume on my workouts, put my head down and pushed onward.

And 30 days later, the scale still hadn’t moved.

I racked my brain, did more research and re-confirmed I was doing all of the right things.  I was eating the right types of food for my body, getting to bed before 10pm, meditating once if not twice a day and religiously taking supplements to support my hormones, immune, digestive, detoxification, energy and nervous system.
My workout routine was the one constant in the equation that hadn’t changed.

I was still hitting the gym to lift weights 3-4 times a week, doing hill sprints on Fridays, running 2-4 miles a few times per week, and hitting a yoga class on Sundays.

Most people would consider this a normal, healthy exercise routine loaded with all kinds of health benefits.  And yes, under the right circumstances it certainly is. However, it wasn’t what my body needed at the time, and that’s what it was trying to tell me.

Exercise is typically a good stress, unless the body is already under a lot of stress.

In this week’s video and blog, I share more about how exercise got in the way of healing my body and getting the results I wanted, and how to assess if it’s standing in your way too.

When we exercise, our bodies respond by building stronger bones and muscles.  We also get the added benefits of eliminating toxins through the lymphatic system and sweat, among other things.  All of this is obviously good.

However, when the body is already under a tremendous amount of stress from external or internal factors and existing health issues, exercise can deplete it even more.

Exercise demands a lot from our bodies in terms of nutrients to rebuild muscle tissue, to build bone density, and for oxygen and blood delivery.

Exercise also elicits a sympathetic “fight or flight” response, also known as a stress response, that signals the production and utilization of the stress hormone known as cortisol.  When we are in fight or flight mode, the body sends all of its resources outwards for quick moving and thinking, leaving little to no resources available for healing.

You have to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get healthy.

Due to the amount of stress my body had endured from being exposed to toxic mold and the domino effect it had on my hormones, my body was nowhere near healthy.  It needed time and space to heal in order to support weight loss.

By forcing myself to workout in my same old ways, I was creating a higher demand of resources and stress that my body simply couldn’t accommodate.

I had to take a step back, evaluate the burden of stress that my body was already dealing with, and take action empowered on reducing the stress even more. By doing this, I created space for my body to heal so I could receive the results I desired.

I stopped working out when I realized I could lose more weight that way.

As soon as I stopped working out in my old ways, my body instantly responded.  My energy went up and my weight slowly but steadily started to come off. I overall just felt better about myself and in my body.

I’m not the only one who has experienced weight loss without working out.  One of my clients recently lost 40 pounds without having a workout routine by simply focusing on improving his health and reducing the burden of stress on his body…

“The most dramatic change for me has been my weight, down 40 lbs since working with Jenn. The next biggest change has been with the quality of my sleep. I sleep through the night much more often than before.” – David

Often times, we think more is better.  This belief is something that has been ingrained in our modern day culture.  But more is not always better. In fact, I find that less tends to be better in a lot of cases.

The moral of this story is NOT to necessarily stop working out. It’s to listen to what your body’s needs.

There are many ways to move your body and receive the health benefits of movement without placing too much of a demand on your body.

For a few months, I shifted my focus to include more restorative type of movement and exercise such as yoga, long walks with my dog and by simply getting up from desk and moving about more during the day.

As soon as my body had healed and it was ready to take on more intense exercise, it let me know.

Now that my weight is back to my normal, my hormones are balanced and my energy is strong, I’m working out with a trainer twice a week, running and sprinting again.

***

If you suspect that exercise might be getting in the way of having better health or you want to assess the possible burden of stress on your body, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here today!

For the longest time we’ve been told that counting calories is the way to achieve weight loss – it’s all about eating less and moving more right?

Not so much.

I was an obsessive calorie counter for the longest time.  I use to log every bite I took, and I even religiously wore an Apex Bodybugg (a calorie burning tracking device) for years.

But I still struggled to lose and maintain weight.  And I’ve seen this calories-in-versus-calories-out equation fall short for many others as well.  In fact, this broken approach is a big reason why I got into functional medicine – because as a personal trainer back in the day, my clients weren’t getting results even though they were exercising and watching what they ate. This was when I knew there had to be more pieces to the puzzle.

And sure enough, as I dug into how the body really works, it became clear that calorie counting doesn’t support long-term weight loss for a variety of reasons.

So if you’re counting calories, please stop, and here’s some of the biggest reasons why…

Reason #1- Your calorie calculations are all off

A study by Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center found that “our bodies sometimes extract fewer calories than the number listed on the label. Participants in their studies absorbed around a third fewer calories from almonds than the modified Atwater values suggest. For walnuts, the difference was 21 percent.” (Read more on the study here.)

Aside from the body actually extracting fewer calories than what you think you’re consuming, food manufacturers are also allowed to under report calorie values by as much as 20% to pass inspection by the FDA.

So there’s no way to know exactly how many calories you’re consuming or not.

Reason #2- One pound of fat is not 3,500 calories  

Forever you’ve been told that in order to lose a pound per week you need to be in a deficit of 500 calories a day, which equals 3,500 calories in a week, and supposedly 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat.

Researcher Zoe Harcombe eloquently debunks this myth in her research where she shows that one pound of fat actually does not equal 3,500 calories, but in fact it can range from 2,843 to 3,752 calories. (See Zoe’s full breakdown here.)

This paired with reason #1 makes this calorie equation even more messy and less accurate.

Reason #3- We are not a closed system

The weight loss formula of calories-in versus calories-out is said to be based on the first law of thermodynamics- energy is neither destroyed nor created, it’s simply transformed– the energy of a calorie is transformed as you work out and burned off in the form of heat.

Here’s the flaw, this law only applies to closed systems where there are no outlets.  And as Sean Croxton says in his book, The Dark Side of Fat Loss, “The human body seems pretty damn open to me. It pees, poops, and sweats into the environment.” (Check out his book here.).

Our body definitely does not abide by the first law of thermodynamics.

Reason #4- All calories are not created equal

When counting calories, you naturally try to conserve what you’ll spend your calories on. This often results in a scarcity mindset; triggering you to choose foods that are less nutrient dense and less satiating, such as 100-calorie pack snacks, in order to feel like you get to eat more and more frequently.

Fats contain 9 calories per gram, while protein and carbs contain 4 calories per gram.  At first glance it appears as though carbs and proteins would be the ideal choice when counting calories.  However, a higher carb diet spikes blood sugar levels repeatedly throughout the day resulting in more cravings and leading to insulin resistance which causes weight gain; while eating more fat balances blood sugar, cuts cravings and is a better source of fuel for the brain and body.

In this week’s video and blog, I share more reasons for why you should stop counting calories and what you should do instead to achieve your ideal health and weight.

Once I stopped counting and calculating, I finally started getting real results.  Losing and maintaining my weight was no longer a struggle, it came naturally.

Instead of counting calories, I started eating foods that were right for my body so it could function at its potential and be the natural fat-burning machine it was meant to be; this is exactly what I teach my clients to do too.

When you’re eating the foods that are right for your body so it can function at its potential, you will:

• Have an abundance of energy that lasts all day
• Sleep more soundly and wake up feeling rested
• Feel satisfied between meals and no longer need to snack
• Support hormone balance, detoxification and other bodily functions

All which support the body’s ability to easily lose or maintain weight.

So you might be wondering, how do I know what foods are right for my body?

The first step to finding what foods are right for your body is paying attention to how food makes you feel – and know there is a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.  Eating right for your body will incorporate healthy foods, but not every “healthy” food is right for your body.

Next, aim to eat foods that make you feel all-around good; the foods that keep you feeling full for extended periods of time, that give you energy and that DON’T leave you feeling bloated, anxious or tired.  These foods tend to be whole, organic vegetables, proteins and fats that don’t come in a bag, box, can or 100-calorie pack.

And always eat with intention.

Before you take a bite, grab something on the go, or sit down to prepare a meal consider how you want to be feel and if the food you’re about to eat is in alignment with that feeling.

You’ll probably find that most of your calorie-counting type foods don’t meet these requirements because they result in energy crashes, the need to snack, bloating, anxiety or a variety of other ailments.

These simple steps will help you find foods that balance your blood sugar and boost your metabolism to support weight loss or maintenance.

As a recovered calorie counter for over 6 years, I can tell you this more mindful approach to eating is much more sustainable and produces long-lasting results so you’ll never have to get back on that calorie-counting rollercoaster ride ever again!

If you want more guidance on finding what foods are right for your body so it can function at its potential and you can stop calorie counting for good, then schedule an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me here.

I don’t know about you, but the health education I received growing up was sub-par to say the least.

Only one semester of health education was required during my middle school and high school years, but there were countless requirements for other courses – most of which I’ve hardly used post high school, if ever in some cases.

Health is a topic critical for everyday life, so why isn’t more education being provided or required?

Knowing how your body works is life-changing.  It takes the guesswork out of living your best life.  It puts you in the driver’s seat and gives you the ability to create a life full of freedom instead of possible life-threatening limitations.

It wasn’t until my 30’s did I really start to understand how my body worked as a woman. 

Reaching rock bottom with my long time hormone imbalance battle led me down the road to a higher health education.  Had I known as a teenager what I know now, I could have prevented the 17+ years of irregular periods, chronic fatigue, weight gain woes, allergies, brain fog, waves of depression and anxiety, Hashimotos, disrupting the precious balance of my body with birth control and so much more.

A recent survey of 2,000 women (age 30 to 60) found that nearly half of them have experienced one or more symptoms of hormone imbalances, and 72% only later understood the causes of their hormone issues.

Some of the most common symptoms they experienced included:

• Low energy
• Weight gain
• Mood swings
• Sleep disturbances
• Urinary incontinence
• Memory loss and brain fog
• Anxiety, depression and lost of interest in daily activities

I can only imagine how much money, time and angst those 72% spent trying to find a fix for their health issues, not even realizing it was all related to their hormones because they don’t fully understand how their body works.

How many of those symptoms have, or do, you experience?

And men don’t necessarily have it any easier.  I’ve seen plenty of men dealing with these common symptoms too.

Take notice of the increasing number of commercials geared towards men for erectile dysfunction, poor sexual performance and low testosterone instead of fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks during your favorite HGTV, DYI and sports channel shows.

Your hormones control many major bodily functions; your emotions, cancer risk and even memory loss.

Just think what your life, and our world would be like if we all received more education about health and hormones at a younger age, or had access to better resources throughout our lifespan.

In my functional health coaching practice, I’ve worked with too many young women struggling with the same issues I had; some fearful or frustrated about not being able to get pregnant.  Then there are the numerous pre and post-menopausal women I’ve worked with who are trying to untangle their hormone issues so they can gracefully get through menopause or restore the life they had once before their hormones got out of whack.

And let’s not forget the men who’ve come to me seeking solutions for their unexplained weight gain, low libido, lack of energy, brain fog and challenges with building or maintaining muscle.

Something has to change. So I did one of the boldest things I’ve ever done in hopes of changing the course for women’s (and possibly men’s) health forever.

In this week’s video and blog, I share what I’m doing to promote change; to give women easier access to hormone education and resources.

We all deserve easier access to hormone education and resources so you can live your fullest life, and so you can give the generations to come a better quality of life too.

I’ll never forget what my client Dee said about receiving her DUTCH hormone test results and data-guided recommendations for diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction and supplements…

“It was like Christmas.  I was so excited to hear the results because we tested for things no one else was interested in…how amazing would it be to give this gift to every woman.”

She had been on a diet her whole life trying to lose weight with limited success; trying everything from Beach Body to Weight Watchers and Keto. She even explored Cross Fit for a while.

As she entered her 40’s, she gave up on weight loss as her focus shifted to how she felt with menopause kicking into gear – which led her to uninsured hormone replacement therapy, expensive acupuncture treatments and various other hormone therapies.  None of which fully resolved her health issues and got her back to feeling like herself again. She felt helpless when it came to her hormone health.

For the longest time, it felt as though I didn’t have control over my hormones either,; dating all the way back to my adolescence as my body shifted and my hormones seemed to rip through me emotionally and physically.  A feeling both Dee and I shared, as I’m sure most women do.

A false feeling conjured up by a lack of understanding around our hormones.

I’m happy to report that after working together and getting access to the right lab tests and resources to better understand her body and hormones, Dee has lost weight, her hormones are balanced and she feels great!

Dee’s comment sparked an idea that could change the course for women’s hormone education forever.

What if every woman regardless of income, insurance coverage, demographics or social status could have access to the right lab tests, resources and education to:

• Gracefully get through menopause or any stage of hormone change
• Advocate for themselves and collaborate with their health professionals
• Formulate a lifestyle and health plan that worked for their unique body

Women all over would stop suffering, and start living fuller lives.  They would be better daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, moms, partners, leaders and teachers – and the men in their lives would greatly benefit from this too.

And so H.E.R 4 Life was born! – Hormone Education and Resources for Women for Life.

Last week I made a bold move to start a non-profit organization that would provide hormone education and resources, such as the DUTCH test, to women regardless of income, insurance coverage, demographics or social status; allowing women to embrace their bodies, hormones and be in control of their health to live their fullest life.

This project is in the beginning stages but the power it holds is incredible.

As the (W)holistic Health Boss, my mission to help busy health-minded professionals, like you, get your hands on the right lab tests and resources so you can actually fix what’s wrong and feel like yourself again – and that mission just got a whole lot bigger!

Stay tuned for more information as this project develops.

In the meantime, if you want to get the gift of the right lab tests and resources to live your fullest life like Dee did, click here to schedule an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session.