“Change Comes from Self Love, Not Self Loathing.”  –Lauren Fleshman I love this quote and I must say that during my 18 years working as a fitness, health and lifestyle coach, every time a client of mine has made meaningful change it has always been because they have made the shift out of self loathing and to a place of self love.  This is authentic health, authentic motivation, and authentic adherence to any program. When you do something because you love yourself and want to do good things to take care of yourself it becomes far more simple and a guaranteed success. Today I want to talk about a foundation  piece in nutrition and eating well….your relationship with food.  The reason I developed my mindful eating program, Just Eat, is because I found that I could not help my clients eat more nutritiously until they addressed their relationship with food. Continue Reading →

Happy Heart Month! For those of you who know me, I used to grow and produce Extra Virgin Olive Oil during my ranch life about 10 years ago.  We made the most delicious early harvest Tuscan style extra virgin olive oil.  It was grassy, pungent and fresh. This is when I fell in love with Olive Oil and learned so much about it. Olive oil is one of my favorite foods.  I love everything about it, and best of all it is a powerful nutrient source and essential for a healthy heart! Olives are like grapes, there are over 100 varietals and the type of oil produced depends on varietal, region, climate, season, farming, harvest time etc. etc.  There a different olive oils from all over the world, just like wine and they are not all created equally. Just like all food, the fresher the better so a local, fresh Continue Reading →

What really is a healthy lifestyle? Often we think of eating nutritious foods and exercising when we think of having a healthy lifestyle.  Both of these components of healthy living are very important but I think we all too often lose sight of the bigger picture. Having a healthy lifestyle is just that, living in a way that supports our health, and our health is dependent on so much more than just food and movement. I have always believed that the single most powerful thing we can do to be healthy is to have a positive attitude.  I believe that our body responds instantly to our thoughts, releasing health enhancing chemicals when we are happy, fulfilled, peaceful and calm.  When we are stressed, unhappy, dissatisfied or negative our bodies release chemicals that, over time negatively affect our bodies balance, harmony, vitality and well-being and eventually can cause disease. This is Continue Reading →