Despite the fact that we have…

more information,
more diets,
more gyms,
more tools than ever before

…as a society, we’re also more overweight, overstressed, and overmedicated than ever.

As this study pointed out, “It is frequently stated that it takes an average of 17 years for research evidence to reach clinical practice.”

That means on average, it takes 17 years for new research and advancements in health and medicine to actually reach your doctor and be put into practice.  By the time it hits their desk, it’s already outdated.

You need to become your own health boss, assume responsibility, and take back control of your health.

I know this first hand.  The conventional medical system has failed me in many ways over the years…

It prescribed me birth control at a young age to mask a painful and irregular period.
It told me to eat a standard American diet, which inflamed my body.
It overlooked health risk factors and markers, which led to skin cancer.
Routine lab tests painted me as the picture of health, but my body was an internal mess.
Various doctors dismissed my symptoms and told me to “wait it out” while suffering.
No one checked me for Hashimoto’s, I had to discover it myself.
And forget about the mold toxicity, because in conventional medicine, it doesn’t even exist.

I refused to live a life full of pain, fatigue, mood swings, weight gain, and suffering.  I wasn’t going to let a broken and outdated system get the best of me when we live in a world where information is available immediately on our phones and at our fingertips.

I became a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner because I knew there was more to be known about our health.  Educating myself has helped me to overcome and heal every single health issue I have faced, and now I help my clients do the same.

Sometimes the challenge though is with an abundance of information also comes an equally staggering amount of misinformation.

My new friend and fellow health expert Lauren Sanchez believes that far too many people are “victims of what they don’t know when it comes to taking care of their health.” I admire and share her passion for changing that.

So I’m thrilled to invite you to an event I’ll be speaking in next month hosted by Lauren called:

Total Wellness Mastery Show: Powerful Secrets to Finally Lose Weight, Boost Your Energy and Naturally Heal Your Pain

This is the 6th season of this annual event and it’s all about supporting you in figuring out the best food and lifestyle plan for your goals and overall health!

Click here to redeem your FREE access to this event as my special guest!

Whether you want to improve energy, prevent disease, reduce pain and inflammation, improve body composition and metabolism, or are looking for a general health upgrade, this free event will help you sort through the noise and misinformation on everything from nutrition and eating styles, to lifestyle approaches for increasing your energy and resilience to stress.

As part of the event, you’ll have access to a panel of over 20 functional medicine doctors and me, nutritionists, healers, fitness experts, personal development leaders, and educators as we each share the latest information and insights on how to heal, slim down, and live a healthy life you absolutely love! 

The event will cover a wide variety of topics such as:

• Ways to heal your body with food and herbs
• How to break through weight loss resistance to drop body and belly fat
• Tips for feeding your brain, boosting your mood, and creating resilience to stress
• Strategies for healing your gut, reducing inflammation, and detoxifying your body
• How programmed thoughts and feelings impact our health & ability to heal
• Fun and practical non-dietary ways to get healthy, and prevent or heal illness
• Surprising reasons for pain, brain fog, cravings, low energy, or weight gain — and what to do about it!

It’s time to take back control of your health and wellness! The insider advice you’ll receive from these top health and wellness experts is invaluable.

Click here to redeem your FREE access to this event as my special guest!

Good health is your gateway to a happier, more meaningful life. You owe it to yourself to check it out!

I look forward to “seeing” you there!

P.S. This incredible annual show goes LIVE on Monday, October 10th. So be sure to redeem your free access. Here’s the link again

Have you tried going gluten-free and it didn’t help you feel better?

It didn’t banish your bloating, solve your digestive upset, clear up skin rashes, help you shed pounds, or do any of the other things a gluten-free lifestyle promises.

You’re not the only one.

I hear this all the time from clients who have tried a gluten-free lifestyle with little to no results.  When I first went gluten-free, it didn’t free me of all my health issues either.

So what gives when going gluten-free doesn’t work?

That’s exactly what I’m here to reveal – the top 3 reasons why a gluten-free diet doesn’t work.

Let’s first explore what the deal is with gluten in the first place and why it could be a big contributor to whatever health issue is ailing you.

FACT: Everyone is negatively impacted by gluten, regardless if you have been diagnosed with sensitivity or not.  Gluten molecules are larger than most food particles making them harder to digest.  This increased stress on the digestive system can lead to inflammation and eventually destruction of the intestinal lining.

These larger, inflammatory gluten food particles increase something called intestinal permeability for up to 5 hours, meaning elements such as toxins or undigested food pieces that aren’t supposed to cross the intestinal barrier into the bloodstream can.  When these foreigners cross the gut barrier, the body goes on attack, increasing inflammation, even more, resulting in food sensitivities and toxic overload.

Wheat, the most popular gluten-containing product, is also one of the most pesticide-contaminated and genetically modified foods.  Milling of wheat actually embeds pesticides in small fractions of the food particles, making it more contaminated than most other food sources!

These toxic pesticides come with a variety of health side effects which can also lead to bloating, weight gain, skin issues, hormone imbalances, digestive upset and so much more.

These are just a few of the ways that gluten directly impacts your health every time you come across it.

One bite of gluten is the same as eating the whole slice of bread.  There’s really no such thing as being “gluten-reduced.”

On average, it can take 3-6 months for the intestinal lining to heal from a gluten encounter; whether it was one bite or one slice.  And this healing process can take even longer for individuals who are experiencing stress…but aren’t we all under some level of stress all of the time in this modern-day world?

Eating gluten certainly isn’t going to help you reach your health goals, so let’s explore why you may not be getting great results when cutting it out.

In this week’s video and blog, I’ll reveal the top 3 reasons why a gluten-free diet might not be working for you and what you can do to get the results you’re looking for.

First, I want to applaud you on your efforts to go gluten-free in pursuit of resolving your health issues, and also say that if it didn’t work, it’s not your fault.

Going gluten-free isn’t as clear-cut as avoiding wheat, barley and rye as it appears to be; there’s just more to truly being gluten-free.

Here are the top 3 reasons why going gluten-free probably didn’t work for you.

#1 – Sneaky Ingredients
Gluten is a sneaky little ingredient hidden in soy sauce, other condiments, medications, and even your personal care products such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and makeup.  Why is gluten added to these things?  Because it’s used as a thickening agent, binder, or filler. So when you thought you were gluten-free, you probably weren’t.

You may have been eating gluten-free and still being exposed to it in the most unlikely of places.  Give going gluten-free a go again and this time double check food labels for “contains wheat”, medication formulas for fillers, and personal-care products for “hydrolyzed wheat protein.”

To learn more about hidden gluten, check out this Sneaky Little Ingredient blog I wrote.

#2 – Cross-Reactive Foods
You could be eating gluten imposters that are tricking your body into thinking you’re eating gluten when you’re really not.  These foods are called gluten cross-reactive foods.  They have similar protein structures as gluten, so when your body sees them it responds as if you ate gluten!

The top gluten cross-reactive foods are:

• Dairy
• Corn
• Oats
• Millet 
• Rice
• Quinoa

Often these are the exact foods found in all of those alternative gluten-free products you were so excited to find!

If you tried going gluten-free but didn’t cut these guys out too, your body was likely still reacting as if you were eating gluten and therefore tricking you into thinking going gluten-free didn’t work.

Try taking your gluten-free approach to the next level by going grain-free to really see if gluten and its cross-reactive friends are part of the problem for you.

#3 – Deeper Dysfunction
As I’ve said many times before, if the diet isn’t working, there’s likely something going on underneath the hood rendering it ineffective. Going gluten-free is a right step in the right direction, and if you pay close attention, I’m sure you’ll probably see some improvements even if it doesn’t completely resolve your primary health issue.

And if it doesn’t completely solve your health problems, that means it’s time to dig deeper.  Symptoms can be far removed from the root cause.

Bloating, weight gain, skin issues, digestive upset, or whatever else you’re dealing with can also be related to hormone imbalances, liver congestion, food sensitivities, parasites, bacteria, yeast overgrowth, or a combo of other physiological aspects.

Testing is the best way to stop guessing, get to the bottom of your health issues once and for all, and heal them for good.  And not just any tests, but functional lab tests that will look in-depth at the hormones, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy, and nervous system to give you the full picture of what is going on with your body.

Going gluten-free helped me take a positive step forward toward feeling better, and using functional lab testing to uncover other hidden healing opportunities is what finally helped me get back to feeling like myself again, and it’s the key to helping my clients do the same thing.

So don’t give up on being gluten-free, dig deeper, take the next step and uncover more healing opportunities!

If you want to explore the missing pieces of your health puzzle on a deeper level so you can actually fix what is wrong and feel your best, then click here to get on my waiting list for an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me (and get an awesome list of practitioner referrals if you want to take action now)!

Health products have come a long way over the years, but it can still be hard to find ones that actually work or taste good.

I’ve tried my fair share of health products along my health journey, as I’m sure you have too, and there definitely have been ones I wished I could get my money, time or energy back from, and then there are others I just can’t live without.

Some of the products I’ve found along the way have been pivotal in helping me reverse Hashimotos, restore hormone balance, get my energy back, and feel at home in my body again.

This week I’m sharing some of the health-supporting products I LOVE to help YOU go from feeling fat, sick, and tired all the time to energize, vibrant, and completely comfortable in your body…

***

Shop & Eat AIP with Ease!
Eating an Autoimmune Paleo diet can be tricky until you get the hang of it, but that’s why Sandra Dorst founded Shop AIP, an online food store that specializes in AIP-friendly foods.  Now you can find AIP-friendly foods without having to read every ingredient or research every food you’re interested in.

Check out some of my favorite products such as the rosemary lamb jerky, pizza crust mix, Paleo Jack’s cookies, and KC Natural’s condiments 🙂

Get 10% off August 24th-28th with code LABORDAYSPECIALS

Start shopping AIP with ease here!

Queen of Thrones Castor Oil Pack
I started using castor oil as part of my health routine over 9 years ago and it has been a staple in helping me to get my energy back, get my hormones on track, and to keep my skin cancer-free and Hashimotos in remission.

I LOVE castor oil because it contains natural healing properties such as fatty acids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, amino acids, terpenoids, and phytosterols, which help to reduce inflammation, increase antioxidants, protect the liver, heal wounds and produce antimicrobial effects.

See what a Castor Oil pack is all about and get one here 

Real Plans
This tool literally takes the thinking out of menu planning for me each week and it’s 100% customizable to fit all of your menu planning needs; personalize your dietary needs (such as Paleo, AIP, Whole30, etc.), how many recipes you want per week, how much time you want to spend cooking each day, and how many servings you want to make.

Then, get weekly recipes and a grocery list according to your specs and where you live for seasonal availability of ingredients!

Try Real Plans and take the work out of menu planning here!

LMNT Electrolytes
I take LMNT electrolytes at least once a day to ensure I’m getting enough minerals and electrolytes to stay hydrated, and twice a day if I’m doing a longer fast or have been more active than usual.

Electrolytes are essential for every action in the body – they keep us properly hydrated, assist in hormone balance, muscle contractions, and so much more! Most people don’t realize how deficient they are in electrolytes from eating a low-carb diet or poor food quality.  This is why LMNT electrolytes are a part of my daily morning routine to ensure optimal levels, and I recommend them to everyone for the same reason.

Stay hydrated and grab your LMNT Electrolytes here!

Pique Tea
Now that my hormones and energy have been back in balance for a while, I do a quarterly 72-hour gut rest fasting routine using Pique Tea as an essential element to get me through the 3 days, and for its health-boosting benefits! Pique Tea has the highest quality and purity standards.  This pure, organic, and convenient tea has 12x the antioxidants compared to others and is triple screened for pesticides, heavy metals, and mold.

Even if you’re not fasting, teas are packed with all kinds of health benefits. They contain high amounts of polyphenols which support digestion and microbiome (beneficial gut bacteria) balance, antioxidants known as catechins, and EGCG that reduces inflammation. Green tea can also help with satiety to prevent food cravings.

Peak your energy, health, and taste buds with Pique Tea here!

Get Your Mojo Back
Blood sugar imbalances are the number one robber of energy, sleep, and weight loss.  When your blood sugar is on a roller coaster of highs and lows, so is the rest of your life.  The secret to having stable energy, sleep, and weight is stabilizing your blood sugar and Keto-Mojo is the perfect tool to help you dial this in and get your mojo back!  I personally use the Keto-Mojo to spot-check my blood sugar responses to food and to ensure my body is in a fat-burning ketosis mode.

Click here to easily check and track your blood sugar and ketones to feel your best!

Boost Your B Vitamins Naturally!
Did you know organ meats are one of the richest sources of B vitamins which are essential for hormone balance, energy, detoxification, and so many other bodily functions?  But eating organ meats regularly isn’t exactly easy or appetizing.  That’s why I’m so glad I found Pluck – an organ-based seasoning making it so simple to get all the vitamins and benefits of organ meats daily!

Pluck is a simple and delicious way to increase the nutritional value of everything you eat.

Click here to check out Pluck and boost your B vitamin intake naturally!

***

I can’t imagine my life without these products.  They have been so crucial to getting my body back and feeling like myself again.  They continue to support my ability to feel like my best every single day, and I know they can do the same for you too!

Give one or some of them a try and let me know what you think!

What if I told you it was possible to reduce bloating, boost your energy, balance your hormones, regulate your bowel movements, and reduce inflammation and stress all while you were sleeping?

And that it didn’t require changing your diet, workout, sleep, daily routine, or investing in fad products, supplements, and health foods.

In fact, it would only take 2 minutes of your day to help yourself get all of these amazing results.

Well, it’s true.

So true that the benefits of the health tool I’m about to tell you about can be traced all the way back to 1500 b.c. when Egyptian doctors used it.

I’m talking about good ‘ol castor oil.

Castor oil has been used medicinally for thousands of years to cure everything from constipation to heartburn, to induce labor, promote hair growth, and boost liver function.

I personally started using castor oil as part of my health routine over 9 years ago and it has been a staple in helping me to get my energy back, get my hormones on track, and to keep my skin cancer and Hashimotos in remission.

The coolest thing about castor oil is that it doesn’t take you much time, effort, or money for it to work its magic.

Castor oil helps with a WIDE range of health issues such as:

• Bloating and weight loss
• PCOS and uterine fibroids
• Constipation and digestion
• Muscle or joint aches and pains
• Skin rashes/issues and hair loss
• Trouble sleeping, anxiety and depression
• Cortisol, thyroid, and other hormone imbalances

And so much more!

Castor oil is so effective because it contains natural healing properties such as fatty acids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, amino acids, terpenoids, and phytosterols which help to reduce inflammation, increase antioxidants, protect the liver, heal wounds and produce antimicrobial effects.

In this week’s video and blog, I share more about how you can use castor oil to banish bloating overnight and improve your overall health.

Typically castor oil is used topically in the form of a “castor oil pack” in order to soak up all of its healing benefits.

This involves getting yourself some wool flannel and organic castor oil in a glass bottle (so it’s toxin-free) to make your castor oil “pack”, and some saran wrap to secure the pack on your body and prevent the oil from leaking out and staining your clothes or furniture.

Or you can get a done-for-you hassle and mess-free Queen of Thrones Castor Oil Pack here.

To sum up how castor oil is so effective for banishing bloating and boosting your overall health, my dear friend, naturopathic doctor, castor oil expert, and Queen of Thrones founder Dr. Marisol came up with this witty acronym… FAITH.

Function.
Castor oil packs improve the function of the digestive tract by strengthening the intestinal barrier (aka healing leaky gut) which improves the absorption of nutrients. Plus, castor oil packs help to regulate bowel movements, which help you eliminate unwanted toxins and excess hormones.

Antioxidants.
Castor oil boosts your antioxidant status because it’s a source of Omega 6, Omega 9, and vitamin E, and supports prostaglandins in the body, which are the end result of consuming Omega 3’s.  Castor oil packs are a great way to get more antioxidants topically, through the skin, especially if you might be deficient or have digestive issues and can’t absorb them well through food sources.  It also supports Glutathione production, which is your master detoxification agent.

Inflammation.
Castor oil can be used to target and reduce inflammation in specific areas of the body.  You can use it to reduce stomach inflammation, related to that “spare tire” effect, back pain or anywhere else that might be inflamed! Once inflammation is reduced, other processes can return to normal.

Tension.
Castor oil also triggers the creation of Oxytocin, known as your love hormone, which reduces your stress hormone cortisol and gives you a sense of stress relief and an improved sense of well-being.  Dopamine, your feel “good hormone”, also increases with the use of castor oil packs, all resulting in less tension and feeling more relaxed.

Host.
Lastly, castor oil helps break down biofilms, candida, and bad bacteria that you might be hosting to ultimately reduce your body’s stress burden and improve overall health.

Essentially, castor oil packs help restore faith in your body’s natural abilities 🙂

Castor oil can also be used orally for oiling pulling to improve dental hygiene, and in some cases, it can be ingested (but definitely check with your health practitioner before consuming it!).

The benefits of castor oil go way beyond banishing bloating for you overnight. It’s a fantastic and simple tool you can implement easily into your life to improve your results and enhance the benefits of anything else you might be doing for your health.

If you want to dive deeper into the healing benefits of castor oil, check out the Facebook Live video I did with Dr. Marisol, the Queen of Thrones, and one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to castor oil.

And don’t forget, you can get a done-for-you hassle and mess-free Queen of Thrones Castor Oil Pack here.

I get it.

Life is really hard when you are struggling with exhaustion — but you can’t sleep at night — you feel drained and your mental focus is gone.

You’re trying so hard to eat right and exercise, but… the weight keeps on climbing, and you’re still tired… And the worst part is your doctor does not have the answers.

You’re not alone.

I too was told for years I was the picture of perfect health on paper at my annual physicals, although I felt exhausted all the time, struggled to maintain my weight, and had seasonal allergies that grew worse every year.

For years I counted calories, tried diet after diet, and exercised excessively; yet I always felt tired and frustrated trying to shed pounds, just like so many of my clients…until I found the missing pieces of the puzzle.

There is a LOT more to health than diet and exercise.

The body is a complex network of systems that all need to be online working together for you to feel your best.  Some of these major systems include the:

• Hormone
• Immune 
• Digestion 
• Detoxification
• Energy
• Nervous

Let’s talk about hormones because they directly impact every other system of the body in a BIG way…

I’ve dealt with a variety of hormonal challenges throughout my life.

Right out of the gates, my cycle was a hot mess.  As a teen, I suffered from not only painful periods, but also wildly irregular ones.  This entry into womanhood started my 17-year abusive relationship with birth control.

I say “abusive” because I literally used the pill to control my body; to skip my period so I didn’t have to deal with it while doing damage I had no idea I was doing. All along, I was told by my doctors that it was safe and that it was okay to continue what I was doing.

Can you or at least one of the women in your life relate to this?

After years of skipping my period, I finally hit hormonal rock bottom when mold in our home stressed my hormones to their breaking point.  I put on 15 pounds, my face was riddled with cystic acne, my breasts were inflamed, my period went on for 12 days, and this hormone wildfire sparked Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune thyroid disorder.

That’s when I finally got off of birth control in an effort to give my body a break and finally balance my hormones for real.

It wasn’t easy at first, but as time went by my body healed; my period was perfect, I had zero PMS, lost weight, regained my clear skin, and reversed my Hashimotos.

The minimal education we were given in high school or even college health classes about hormones doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you should know to be in control of your body, health, and weight.

That is why I was thrilled when I heard that Monika Szumilak was hosting an online Summit all around the topic of hormone health, which was actually born out of her research project on how people achieve hormone balance naturally.

Click here to learn more about your Hormones for FREE!

Like me, as a young girl, Monika was prescribed birth control pills, and shortly after her health started declining.  Fed up with feeling crappy, she set out on a quest to find answers so that she, and others, could feel the way nature intended: strong, energetic, and balanced.

Now, Monika has organized top-notch experts, including me, to talk about how to regain balance, and energy and fix the hormonal mess so many struggles with!

This is a great opportunity for you to get practical, actionable solutions to the hormonal mess you may be in.

This is something I wish I had back when I was trying to solve my energy and weight challenges to fast-track my results. That’s why I am so glad Monika is hosting this summit and I get to share it with you…

Click here to learn more about your Hormones for FREE!

One of the greatest lessons Sachin Patel has learned while building a successful health business is that people we hold in the highest regard make mistakes.

Mistakes are what make us human, and how we choose to respond to them is what can make or break our success personally and professionally.

Sachin Patel and I met each other years ago in the early days of starting our health businesses.

Since then, our roads to success as functional health practitioners working with clients worldwide and evolving into business mentors to support others in doing the same have been almost parallel.

We both have made many mistakes along the way but we didn’t let that stop us. We used those experiences to find our true path and create a more significant impact.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Sachin on his podcast to discuss what we’ve learned along the way so you can use these lessons to help you fast-track your health business success.

Here are a few highlights from this must-listen-to interview: 

• Making the leap from the corporate world to health entrepreneurship.
• Overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
• The root problem practitioners have in their business.
• The keys to attracting the right clients into your practice.
• Systems to keep you organized, free up time, and scale your business.

Sachin and I are both on a mission to help other functional health practitioners (like you) get your business going or growing so together we can collectively have a greater impact on the health of the world

Listen to our podcast interview now so you can accelerate your health business success!

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 would 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 are 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 underreport 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.

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 equal 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 workout 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.

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.

There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.

Eating right for your body will incorporate healthy foods, but not all healthy foods are right for your body.

This topic is exactly what I’ll be talking about at the upcoming FOOD FREEDOM SUMMIT: How to be truly free in your food choices, get the amazing body you want, and live the life you deserve!

Claim your free access for July 1st here! 

I was thrilled when Lara Muzio interviewed me for her upcoming Food Freedom Summit. Born out of her desire to help everyone break free from diets, honor their bodies and reverse health issues, this summit is going to help you get the information and guidance you need to take your first steps in the right direction and find your food freedom.

Because the truth is, there is no single diet right for everyone or even you.  Your body is unique and therefore your food needs will be too.

Attend the summit and my talk starting July 1st to help you figure out what foods are right for your body so you can instantly have more energy and feel like your best self!

Claim your free access for July 1st here!

Food used to basically rule my life in so many ways, but it doesn’t anymore and I want to fill you in on my secret as to why, so you can find your food freedom too.

First, let me rewind for a minute and tell you where this all started…

In 2001, I went off to college to pursue a career in Sport Psychology.  About halfway through my undergraduate I decided the Athletic Trainer to Sport Psychology route wasn’t for me, so I changed my major to an emphasis in fitness nutrition, and I landed my first job as a personal trainer right after graduating.

All throughout college, everything I learned about health centered around diet and exercise.  And even to this day, the old paradigm of calories-in versus calories-out is still considered the equation for weight loss and good health.

I was also taught how eating small meals every two hours fueled the body and fat loss, and how many servings of each food group should be consumed based on government-recommended guidelines (aka the food-guide pyramid now known as My Plate).

So as a personal trainer straight out of college, of course, I thought I knew all there was to know about diet, exercise, weight loss, and health, and I followed what I had been taught.

And all of a sudden food became the boss of me.

I planned my personal training client schedule around having to eat every two hours, not just because I thought it was what I was supposed to be doing but also because I found myself hungry every two hours.  If I didn’t eat on time, I would become hangry.

As a result, my whole life started to revolve around food preparation.  I spent hours going to the grocery store, cooking meals for the week, and portioning out my meals and snacks for the week on Sundays.  I basically would devote almost half the weekend to food prep.

It was exhausting, monotonous, and time-consuming, to say the least.

Fast forward to now…

I can go hours without feeling hungry or thinking about food while feeling completely satisfied and energized.

About once a quarter I even do a 72-hour fast to give my digestive system a break and uplevel my health.

Yes, you read that right, I go 3 days without eating about once every 3 months.  Food is no longer the boss of me and I have the ultimate food freedom!

Would you like to be totally free around food like this too?

I get it though. Choosing what is best to eat and when to eat can be confusing and overwhelming.

The thing is…you are unique and therefore your food needs will be unique too.

As someone who works with busy, health-minded professionals helping them find the missing pieces of their health puzzle so they can feel like their best selves, I know that getting the right information on nutrition and creating an easy-to-follow system that works for YOU can feel like a hopeless quest.

That’s why I was thrilled when Lara interviewed me for her upcoming Food Freedom Summit. Born out of her desire to help everyone break free from diets, honor their bodies and reverse health issues, this summit is going to help you get the information and guidance you need to take your first steps in the right direction and find your food freedom.

The FOOD FREEDOM SUMMIT: How to be truly free in your food choices, get the amazing body you want, and live the life you deserve!

Claim your free access here!

The whole intention behind the Food Freedom Summit is to create a safe haven where you will get real information and actionable steps to finally make the change you need and deeply deserve for your life.

Lara, the other experts, and I will support you and share our expertise, advice, and best tips to make your journey to food freedom a breeze!

This is perfect for YOU if you want to reshape your relationship with food once and for all!

This is perfect for YOU if you want to know exactly where to start! No more confusion!

This is perfect for YOU if you want to take care of your body in a loving way!

Claim your free access here!

I’ll see you there!

Here in the U.S., Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, but is your body feeling summer-ready?

Summer is supposed to be carefree, fun, and full of adventure!

If a little extra fluff around the middle or belly bloat has you feeling down, insecure or uncomfortable in your own skin, then I’ve got you covered.

The Summer Solstice is officially the start of summer and it’s just around the corner, so there’s still time for you to get a flat stomach so you can wear your summer wardrobe carefree.

And it doesn’t require counting calories, crash dieting, or spending hours at the gym.

Because the truth is, belly fat or bloating is NOT always from eating too much and exercising too little.  In fact, calories-in versus calories-out is a dying school of thought.

I previously wrote a calorie counting blog showing just how broken the calorie-counting and crash-dieting approach is.  In fact, cutting calories and crash dieting can actually cause weight gain long term.

Everywhere you turn you’ll see all kinds of marketing, promotional products, and advertising geared towards the calories-in versus calories-out method for weight-loss and finding that flat stomach.

And yet, people still struggle to lose or regulate weight, even when they’ve tried almost every diet and exercise routine out there.

And what about the people who have stick-skinny arms and legs but are round in the middle – what’s their story?

What’s up with that belly fat or bloating that just won’t budge?!

The accumulation of fat, particularly around the midsection, and bloating is way more complex than what is portrayed in mainstream health.

Calories and exercise actually play a small role in your overall health with all things considered.  In some cases, eating “healthy” and exercising can even contribute to fat accumulation and bloating.

The biggest contributors to pudgy tummy and bloating are:

1. Inflammation
2. Digestive upset
3. Stress

In this week’s video and blog, I give you 3 steps to getting a flat stomach instantly so you can feel comfortable in your own skin and have carefree fun all summer long!

As I said before, calories aren’t the culprit, but what you’re eating could be.

The first two steps to a flat stomach do involve your diet as it relates to inflammation and digestive upset, which alone can cause bloating but also contribute to inflammation.

When I work with clients, figuring out what foods are right for their body so it can function at its potential is the first thing we focus on.  And as a result, they always immediately notice a reduction in their waistline and an increase in energy.

Step #1 is to avoid avoiding inflammatory foods.
You are unique, therefore the foods that cause inflammation for you would be unique too.  Doing a food sensitivity test is the best way to pinpoint foods that aren’t doing you justice.

But there are some foods out there that are inflammatory for everyone and should be avoided based on their molecular structure, how they interact with the body, and the load of toxins they contain.

The top inflammatory foods for everyone, regardless of a sensitivity, to avoid are:

1. Gluten
2. Dairy
3. Sugar
4. Soy

Cutting these foods out completely will quickly get you one step closer to that flat stomach for summer.  Keep in mind it can take a few days to get these toxic and inflammatory foods out of your system completely, but once you do you’ll definitely notice a difference!

Step #2 is eating the right ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body.
Eating the wrong ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body can cause digestive upset leading to bloating and inflammation resulting in that spare tire feel.  Plus, this could be a big source of your energy and sleep struggles which doesn’t help your flat stomach game either.

When you eat the right ratios, you can avoid digestive upset, boost your energy, and ensure your body is getting the nutrients it needs to achieve your health goals.

So how do you know what the right ratios are?  Lucky for you, I’ve put together a food and body language log to help you figure this out and dial it in.

Click here to get the log and lock in your ratios for a flat stomach.

Step #3 is to de-stress, especially around mealtime.
Stress, in general, can lead to a pudgy tummy, and especially stress around mealtimes.

Stress of any kind triggers your body to release the hormone cortisol, and too much cortisol causes your body to deposit fat right where you don’t want it, around your midsection.

And if you’re eating while stressed then you can’t adequately digest your food resulting in that uncomfortable belly bloat, food cravings, and low energy.

Stress de-activates the digestive system as your body’s way of conserving resources to deal with the stressor, which is a brilliant mechanism if there was a true threat trigger you needed your fight or flight response for, but even low-grade stress from watching the news, sitting in traffic or having a tough conversation with a loved one sends your body into stress-fighting action.

The cool thing is that you can turn off the stress response to aid in digestion, banish bloating and flatten your stomach just as quickly as it was activated.  All you have to do is adopt the deep, rhythmic breathing patterns of a relaxed person, and voila!

To do this…

Inhale for the count of 5 seconds
Hold for the count of 5 seconds
Exhale for the count of 7 seconds

And repeat 5-10 times.

Do these 3 steps and I promise your stomach will look and feel flatter in less than a week!

And keep doing them to look and feel your best for the long run 🙂

Remember, you don’t have to count a single calorie or run yourself into the ground working out to get the results you’re looking for.  There are many pieces to the puzzle to consider.

If you’d like 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, then click here to get on my waiting list for an Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me (and get an awesome list of practitioner referrals if you want to take action now)!

Do you know what diet is right for you?

Do you feel overwhelmed or confused about all the diet info circulating the internet?

Are you tired of feeling bloated, low on energy, or not losing weight no matter what you eat?

Have you tried eating a Paleo, Keto, AIP, Whole30, vegan or another type of diet but didn’t get the results you were hoping for?

These are some of the same questions and frustrations my clients also have when they start working with me. The first thing we focus on in our work together is figuring out what diet is right for their body so they can feel their best, and I want to help you figure this out too.

Naturally, you will feel more uplifted, motivated, energetic, and lean when you’re eating a diet that is right for your body.

AND when you feel this way, making food choices that are in alignment with your health goals and how you want to feel becomes second nature – there’s no question or challenge about it.

The truth is, you are unique and therefore your diet should be too.

This concept is grossly overlooked when trying to figure out what diet is right for you, but it’s the most important one because what works for one person does not necessarily work for all.

How many times have you felt frustrated about a diet because you’ve compared yourself to others who are getting results from the same diet you’re doing, even though you’re not?

Here are some BIG reasons why your dieting efforts might not be working for you:

• You’re eating the wrong ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body
• You have not-so-obvious food sensitivities or intolerances causing inflammation
• You have underlying hormone imbalances preventing your diet from being effective
• Your digestive system is a disaster resulting in poor nutrient absorption and overall bodily function

Simply changing your diet without understanding what diet is right for you won’t help you get to the bottom of these bigger result-blocking issues.

BUT when you do know what diet is right for you, it can help to resolve food sensitivities, hormone imbalances, digestive dysfunction and ultimately help you get your energy back, lose weight, sleep great and feel like yourself again.

In this week’s video and blog, I want to help you figure out what diet is right for your body so you can get back to feeling like yourself again, or for the very first time.

The number one reason why most dietary approaches don’t work for people like you is that you’re usually eating the wrong ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body.

When you eat the wrong ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body, it can leave you feeling:

• Tired, anxious, irritable, or needing to nap
• Snacky, stomach heavy, or craving sweets
• Brain foggy, wired but tired, or physically full but still hungry

These are all signs that your ratios are off, your blood sugar is likely not balanced as a result, and the nutrients in the food you ate were inadequate.

Aside from the Keto diet, most dietary approaches don’t actually address the ratios of proteins, carbs, or fats that you should be considering for each meal or throughout the day. And the ratios associated with Keto definitely aren’t right for everyone – especially if you have a thyroid or other type of hormone imbalance.

Most diets fall into what’s called an “elimination diet” approach; telling you what foods to avoid and what foods are considered ok.

For example, Paleo and Whole30 diets promote eating whole, unprocessed animal and plant foods, and they avoid processed foods such as sugar, dairy, grains, and soy.  The Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet adds another layer of elimination to the Paleo diet by also excluding foods containing lectins such as eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, and nightshade vegetables.  But all three of these diets are non-specific in regards to the ratio of protein, carbs, or fats that you should eat in each meal.

Vegan or vegetarian diets are also based on elimination.  They exclude certain animal products but don’t address food ratios.  As a vegan or vegetarian, you might need a higher ratio of protein sourced from plants to feel your best, but you probably don’t hear many people talking about this.

To sum it up, an elimination diet alone won’t typically get you the results you’re looking for.  However, elimination diets do provide a great foundation to help you figure out what diet is right for you.

Elimination diets help you to avoid foods that commonly cause inflammation such as processed foods, grains, dairy, sugar, soy, or those that contain lectins.  Implementing an elimination diet to reduce inflammation means you are taking one BIG step in the right direction.

The next BIG step to figuring out what diet is right for you requires dialing in your ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats so your body can get the fuel it needs to function at its full potential.

When you’re eating the right ratio of protein, carbs, and fats per meal, you will:

• Be able to go 3-5 hours or more without feeling hungry
• Have energy for hours and feel recharged
• Think clearly, feel uplifted and be more positive

You can use the elimination diet of your choice as a guide to create a clear list of foods you can eat and those you should avoid.  Then take it one step further by customizing the ratio of protein, carbs, and fats included in each meal so you can feel your best.

Figuring out your food ratios is actually pretty simple.  All you need to do is:

1. Tune into your body 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating
2. Notice how it’s responding to what you ate
3. Adjust your food ratios until you get the perfect response!

If dialing in your food ratios while following an elimination-style diet doesn’t get you the results you’re looking for then it’s clear you need to investigate these other factors to find the right diet for you:

• Food sensitivities or intolerances causing inflammation
• Underlying hormone imbalances preventing your diet from being effective
• Digestive dysfunction resulting in poor nutrient absorption and bodily function

Dialing in my food ratios has been a game-changer for me, and my clients too!

I would love to hear how dialing in your food ratios changes the game for you too.

Download my Food & Body Language Log, log 6-10 meals for food ratio feedback and then send me an email, or message me on Facebook or Instagram to let me know what you discover about the right diet for you!