We're heading into 2020 and many of us want to work on becoming more healthy. But, life is hectic and trying to make dramatic nutrition-related changes can seem intimidating, not to mention confusing! The nutrition-related messages we're bombarded with every day are conflicting and can really make you want to pull your hair out! We've been told to eat red meat, but then don't eat red meat. Carbs are bad, but then eat mostly carbs. Fat is bad for us, but we should eat mor

I followed the L-Nutra Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) for five days and the results were amazing!    To fully appreciate this program, a little background on fasting is necessary. Fasting has been practiced in many different ways, by many different cultures, for many different reasons.  The health benefits of fasting have been elucidated through reputable, scientific research.    Fasting and calorie restriction are known to improve cardiometabolic health and increase lif

Mornings can be such a drag! Let me clarify that: mornings can be such a drag when you're working full time, trying to take care of your family, AND trying to lead a healthy lifestyle! As soon as you open your eyes, the weight of the world is on your shoulders. It's a race to see how much you can fit into that finite period of time we call the day. Is there really any way to master the morning? Our days are filled with commitments. They're different for everyone, but we

According to the NIH National Cancer Institute, the lifetime risk of developing cancer for all men and women is approximately 39.3 percent and in 2016, there were an estimated 15,338,988 people living with cancer in the United States. Survival is improving and many cancers are being diagnosed at an earlier stage making treatment more effective. The majority of cancers develop slowly over time and are diagnosed after the age of sixty. It can take ten to thirty years for ca

Why is it so difficult to trust food as medicine? I’ve noticed in the food as medicine movement, opponents are very quick to say “where’s your research on that?” or “I need proof” before using food to treat disease. Even, dietitians who should be the experts in food as medicine make those statements. As if using food to treat a disease is not a viable option. Yet, we’ll gulp down pill after pill to “control” our medical problems without even asking for information or ta

Animal protein is ok in limited amounts. But, it's definitely not a requirement at every meal. When I tell clients to try meat-free meals, I always here these words: "then what do I eat?" Meat has long been the focus of the standard American diet, but it can be problematic in several ways. I won't go into too much detail here, but think about your dinner plate. If you have a huge piece of meat, chicken, or fish on your plate, how many vegetables will you really eat? To

That sounds like a strange thing, dying healthy. Perhaps, it sounds so strange because we’ve all been sold this idea that we will inevitably age, develop chronic disease and die unhealthy. Or perhaps we have seen our own family members age and have poor quality of life in their later years. I personally saw my grandparents pass away, in their 80’s, in poor states of health. I had a grandmother die from Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer, another pass away from gast

March is National Nutrition Month and this year the theme is “Eat Right. Live Right. Feel Right.” That really sums it up for me. The foods we put into our bodies affect the way we feel physically and psychologically. Do you notice that you feel sleepy after eating? Do you get bloated, feel nauseous, or have heartburn? Do your joints ache? Do you get headaches frequently? What about sinus infections? Do you suffer from fatigue, depression, anxiety, or brain fog? How a

We took the dogs for a nice, muddy hike today. The sun is shining and the temperature is finally warming up, so we decided to get out there and enjoy nature. I'm a protective dog mom, so having the dogs off the leash in unfamiliar territory makes me nervous. But, walking muddy trails is a challenge and being dragged by a dog on a leash makes it almost impossible to stay upright, so OFF THE LEASH they went! Bailey, Coach and Lilly - our three labs. Once we unhooked thos

Could you remove your eyes, carry them around in your pocket with you all day, and still be able to see? It seems ridiculous to think about, but that’s essentially how conventional medicine sees you – you’re a set of eyeballs, a liver, a heart, a pair of lungs, a brain; all disconnected from the host. Our current healthcare model isn’t designed to treat you as a complete person, rather you are divided into organ systems. If you suffer from a chronic disease, you have likel

I get a lot of requests for simple, healthy dinner ideas. Most of us have breakfast and lunch covered, but dinner seems to be in a league of its own. There's no shortage of recipes online, but sometimes it's overwhelming to search. And trying to determine what's healthy and what's not so healthy can be so confusing. So, I've compiled a list of ten of my favorite recipes that anyone can make. They're simple, quick, and cost efficient. If you make any of these, post a pic

How often do you find yourself trying to remember what you ate for breakfast? Are there times when you scarf down your lunch and don’t even remember how it tasted? Maybe you didn’t even enjoy one bite because your mind was thinking about the ten things you needed to accomplish before you could leave work, rather than enjoying your meal. How many of us have sat on the couch with a bag of potato chips or carton of ice cream, mindlessly stuffing ourselves without even thinkin

I saw a post by a friend on Instagram dedicated to the struggle of balancing personal goals with all the demands life has to offer us and reality versus our own expectations. It made me think about my own expectations for myself and how they can negatively affect my quality of life. For example, my daily counting of calories, obsessive desire to log hours of exercise, and avoiding my favorite foods can really be a burden. I'm seemingly not satisfied until I've exhausted mys