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!

I’ll never forget the day I wore my hair pulled back with a headband and my coworker called me out for having a big forehead.

I had been self-conscious about it before, but that day made me feel ultra self-conscious moving forward.

The idea of growing out my bangs for more long, luscious locks around my face and less hairstyling work quickly vanished.

At the time, I had no idea my forehead could be used as a tool to evaluate which foods were right or wrong for my body such as gluten.

Sometimes what we take for granted or dislike about our bodies can hold the most valuable clues about our health.

For example, the extra weight you might have put on around the middle can be a big clue for blood sugar imbalances, toxic exposures, chronic stress, and hormone dysfunction.

Or how weight gain specifically in the breast and hips strongly correlates with excess estrogen circulating in the body, which can be true for both women and men.

And early signs of gray hair are linked to high stress and low levels of glutathione in the body, which is the body’s master antioxidant and detoxification nutrient.

When it comes to feeling like your best self, your body holds all of the answers.

Conventional Western Medicine takes more of a “let’s stop the issue” and “take this pill for that” approach instead of checking in with the body to understand where it’s coming from or what is causing it.

That’s why it’s so common to get prescribed medication, such as birth control for acne, only to have it partially resolve the issue and for something new to pop up.  It’s like chasing holes in a sinking boat!

This conventional approach works perfectly in acute and serious situations such as car accidents or catastrophic events when measures need to be taken immediately to stop the bleeding and save a limb or life.  But they aren’t effective for the common chronic health and weight issues that most of us face on a daily basis.

We could spend hours breaking down all of your body parts and what clues they hold about your health.  Correlating body parts with symptoms and nerve meridians have been the main focus in eastern medicine practices such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries.

For today, let’s just focus on the little nuggets about your health that your forehead has to share and how it can be used as a free gluten sensitivity test..

In this week’s video and blog, I share 3 super clues that your forehead might be holding about gluten and your health, and what you can do with the information.

These 3 clues will give you insights into gluten sensitivity, digestion, liver health, hormonal balance, and thyroid function.

Super Clue #1 – Metabolism & Thyroid Function
I first learned about the forehead’s correlation with your health status when I started studying thyroid conditions on a deeper level.

Hair loss in the “widow’s peak” area of the hairline or forehead points to a sluggish thyroid usually indicating hypothyroidism or Hashimotos.

Missing the outer 3rd portion of your eyebrows (also in the forehead region) is another strong clue indicating low thyroid function that should be investigated.

Super Clue #2 – Digestion & Gluten Sensitivity
I was fascinated when I heard Dr. Tom O’Bryan (one of the pioneers in gluten sensitivity research) quote a study that connected the dots between the size of your forehead and your susceptibility to gluten sensitivity.

In the study, they found that a large forehead directly correlates with being sensitive to gluten and/or having Celiac’s disease, so much so that the study stated, “This sign along with the presence of other clinical signs and symptoms, should alert a physician to test a patient for celiac disease.”

I removed gluten from my diet long before hearing this and felt SO MUCH better as a result. I lost weight, gained energy, and don’t get bloated anymore.

I was never diagnosed with Celiac, but food sensitivity and other functional lab tests indicated that gluten-containing foods were not my friends just like my large forehead did.

Super Clue #3 – Liver & Detoxification
You may have heard how acne in specific areas of the face can correlate with your diet, stress, dirty hands, and allergic reactions.

Well, there’s actually some truth to this.

According to the nerve meridians used in eastern medicine, the area of your forehead is linked to your major detoxification organs such as your liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and bladder.

Acne on your forehead can indicate a backup in your body’s ability to detox and process toxins or excess hormones, such as estrogen, adequately.

When I was in the midst of healing Hashimotos, detoxing from toxic mold and estrogen dominance I had forehead acne for the first time in my life.

And even more interesting, on an emotional level forehead acne can be related to anger, anxiety, fear, frustration, worry and grief!

On top of it all, all of these clues can also be connected!

In order for your thyroid to function at full steam, your digestive tract and detox organs need to be running effectively.

An inflamed digestive system from gluten sensitivity will allow more toxins into your bloodstream, leading to liver overload and then taking your thyroid down with it.

And the vicious cycle could go on and on and on.

Next time you look in the mirror, take a closer look at your forehead to see what it might be saying about your health.

If you notice any of these clues that I mentioned, you’ll want to…

• Confirm gluten sensitivity with a functional food sensitivity and gut health test
• Test your thyroid to see if your thyroid hormones are in optimal ranges
• Boost your detox capacity with some high-quality liver support supplements and naturally detoxifying foods such as beets, dandelion greens, and cruciferous vegetables

I’ve learned to love the size of my forehead because of the valuable insights and empowerment it gives me about my health.

And as many of my clients and I have experienced, it may not be possible to change the size of your forehead but you can learn to appreciate the health knowledge it has to offer, and it is possible to get your thyroid, digestion, and detoxification back on track so you can feel like your best self!

Share this with a family member or friend who might find it useful too!

P.S. 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)!

Sleep great and lose weight TONIGHT!

This question might be personal, but do you wake up to pee in the middle of the night?

And if you do, are you paying attention to the time when you wake up for a quick bathroom run before falling back asleep?

I would say that 90% of the people I’ve spoken to are in this late-night bathroom boat; waking up to pee usually between 1-3 am.

But here’s the thing, waking up to pee in the middle of the night is NOT normal AND it contributes to weight gain.

Waking up to pee in the wee hours (pun intended! LOL) of the night or morning is actually a huge clue about your health.

It can give you great insight into your blood sugar balance, detoxification organs, and emotional state – all of which ultimately dictate your energy levels and ability to lose weight and feel like your best self.

However, we’ve been conditioned to think that using the bathroom in the middle of the night is common; just a part of getting older and drinking too many fluids before bed.

Personally, I can take down over 8 ounces of water before bed and sleep soundly through the night.  And as I’ve aged, I haven’t developed a need to pee in the middle of the night.

I’ve also seen many of my clients turn their late-night potty runs into a thing of the past once they address the underlying issues triggering their body’s need to hit the head.

Aside from waking up to pee providing a clue about your health status, this disruptive habit also interferes with your body’s ability to fully recover at night. This can leave you feeling less rested when you wake up, and more prone to cravings, weight gain, hormone imbalances, and other health issues down the road.

It’s time to re-potty train your body so you can sleep completely through the night, and wake up feeling like your best self.

In this week’s video and blog, I’m going to bust through these late-night bathroom break myths and give you my top tips for solid sleep so you can wake up rested, lose weight, and feel your best!

To start, let’s talk about why waking up to pee in the middle of the night is such a big health deal breaker in the first place.

According to your body’s internal clock, known as your circadian rhythm, the most optimal sleep time frame to feel like your best self is 10pm to 4am.

This internal clock is ruled by the sun and the moon cycles.

When the sun rises in the morning, temperature and light increase, letting your body know it’s time to get up and get moving.  Morning is when you should have the most energy, and it will slowly taper off throughout the day into the evening in alignment with the sun cycle and your internal clock.

When the sun sets in the evening, temperature and light decrease, signaling your body to prepare for sleep by dropping your energy levels, releasing the sleep hormone known as melatonin, and transitioning into the nervous system’s parasympathetic rest and digest mode.

In parasympathetic mode, your body sends all of its blood flow and resources inwards to organs that support digestion, detoxification, circulation, and restoration.

Based on this internal clock, your body does some massive repair work in the middle of the night while in peak parasympathetic mode from 10pm to 4am.  If you’re not sleeping, the parasympathetic process is interrupted and this work can’t happen, leaving you feeling tired and unrested the next morning.

This is why if you go to sleep late or wake up in the middle of the night, you still feel tired no matter how much you sleep in the next day or despite the number of sleep hours you get.

Low energy can then lead to cravings as your body searches for fuel to keep you going throughout the day.  You find yourself craving quick energy fixes in the form of carbs, sugars, and caffeine that can in turn disrupt your sleep even more.

And all of this negatively impacts your ability to lose weight from the foods you end up eating for energy to the hormone imbalances and detox backup a disrupted night of sleep creates.

So now that you know how important it is to sleep through the night in order to wake up rested and feeling your best, let’s address re-potty training your body so you can get the critical window of sleep you need.

Waking up to pee in the middle of the night is strongly correlated with 3 different scenarios…

Scenario #1 – Your Blood Sugar Drops
This is the most common one I see.  When your blood sugar drops too low, your body releases the hormone cortisol to bring it back into balance.

You might know of cortisol as your stress hormone, which it is, among other things.  Cortisol is also what spikes in the morning time when the sun rises as part of your circadian rhythm to give you the energy to get up and get going.

When your blood sugar drops in the middle of the night, cortisol is released, giving you this same boost of energy.  It’s like getting a shot of adrenaline, and what does everyone do instinctually when they wake up?…go to the bathroom!

Constant high outputs of cortisol like this also strongly correlate with weight gain around your midsection.

So balancing your blood sugar is the first thing you can do to promote sleeping through the night.  Having balanced blood sugar also helps you to avoid cravings and lose weight.

Eating the right ratios of proteins, carbs, and fat at each meal will help you to balance your blood sugar and get better sleep.

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 or needing to snack
• Have energy for hours and feel recharged
• Think clearly, feel uplifted, and be more positive

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!

To help you figure out what ratios are right for your body to get a good night’s sleep, click here to get my Food & Body Language Log.

Scenario #2 – Look at Your Liver
Balancing blood sugar usually resolves about 90% of the peeing at night problems I see, but when it doesn’t completely resolve the issue, it’s time to look at your liver.

Based on your internal clock, your liver and other detoxification organs do their deepest detox work from about 1 to 3 am.

If you find yourself waking up during this time, it could indicate a toxic build-up or detox traffic jam.  Your liver and detox organs could be burdened by too many toxins or struggling to eliminate them.  This can lead to a build-up of estrogen and toxins in the body that also can contribute to weight gain.

In this scenario, beefing up your intake of detoxifying foods such as beets, grapefruit, lemon, and dandelion can give your liver the boost it needs to do its job.

A daily natural liver support supplement containing ingredients such as milk thistle, dandelion, artichoke leaf, and burdock root can be extremely beneficial given the number of toxins our body is bombarded with on a daily basis.

Pairing this with balancing your blood sugar should do the trick and give you the best nights sleep ever!

Scenario #3 – Emotional Influences
When you’ve tried loving your liver and balancing your blood sugar but still wake up in the middle of the night, it’s time to address emotional influences.

According to Chinese Medicine, each organ of the body is associated with a certain emotion, and as we just discussed in scenario #2, organs do deep work during a certain time of the night based on your internal clock.

We can put these two clues together to uncover emotional influences waking you up at night.

For example, waking up between 1 to 3 am is associated with the detox organs (i.e. liver and gallbladder); the emotions connected to these can be grief, anger, fear, and depression.

Doing some journaling, meditation, or seeking counseling around these emotions can quickly put your sleep issues to rest.  Sometimes we don’t suspect we’re dealing with these emotions, but we are.  Grief, for example, isn’t always related to the loss of a loved one. It could be related to a recent job change, as we grieve leaving behind the old ways even with excitement for what is to come.

Bottom line, waking up to pee in the middle of the night is NOT normal and it disrupts your ability to wake up rested, lose weight and feel like your best self.

I’ve yet to see a client who can’t sleep through the night when we address these three scenarios, and as I said, most of the time we knock it out with just one.

I’d love to know what you found most helpful about the information I’ve shared.

Comment below with your biggest aha, insight, or takeaway! 

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 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 a variety of metabolic imbalances occurring 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 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 systems 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 systems 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, something to create a spark and fuel such as oxygen and wood 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 is connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The body is a network of complex 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 are all connected and 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 is the chain of events or cumulative factors that have led 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.

Here are the 3 exact steps I took and that I guide my clients through to boost energy, balance hormones, achieve weight goals, and overcome just about any other health issues that might be ailing you.

#1 – Figure out what foods are right for your body so it can function at its potential.
You are unique and therefore your diet should be too.  What works for one person won’t necessarily work for you, and yet you’re trying to fit yourself into a specific framework with most dietary approaches.

There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body. Eating right for your body may include healthy foods, but not every healthy food is right for your body.

So how do you figure out what is right for your body?

You can do this by testing to see which foods your body responds best to, and then dialing in your macronutrient (protein, carb, and fat) ratios using my Food and Body Language Log.

This will instantly boost your energy, reduce any bloating, and provide the nutrients your body needs to function at its full potential.  When I discovered what foods were right for my body, I instantly started feeling more like myself again.

#2 – Find the missing pieces and restore balance to all body systems.
The body is a complex network of systems, each doing an important job that the other systems depend on.  When one system goes down, they are all affected.

Functional lab testing will help you find the missing pieces so you can see what systems of the body are out of balance and how they are impacting each other, revealing your healing opportunities!  These are NOT your typical blood tests.  They are usually saliva, urine, and stool based to show the physiological aspects of the body and how it’s working, or not working.

Functional lab tests will take a deeper look at your hormones, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy, and nervous system. In turn, this will guide you towards the right diet, rest, exercise, supplementation, stress reduction, and toxin removal you need to feel your best.

#3 – Tune into your body and give it what it needs to feel your best all the time.
Your body holds all of the answers you need, and it always has, but we’ve been conditioned to disconnect from our body and to search externally for solutions. When something doesn’t feel right in your body, it’s your body asking you to pay attention, to tune into what it’s trying to tell you. When you do, you’ll know what to do to feel your best all the time.

The health and aging concerns you are facing today are not your destiny.  They are an accumulation of things that have happened over your lifetime which have slowly chipped away at that “feel good” feeling until you barely recognize yourself anymore.

With these 3 steps, you can unravel the doings of time and reveal the REAL YOU.
What step are you committed to taking today so you can feel like yourself again?

Comment below to let me know!

P.S. 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)!