1-219-765-8600

carol@inkwellcoaching.com

Crown Point, IN

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July 15, 2026

Better, Not Perfect

I have a confession. This week I was completely overwhelmed, by my own house. I had been traveling and busy with life, and when I looked around all I

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Health, Hope, Personal Development
July 8, 2026

Theo of Golden

“Theo of Golden” is a beautifully written novel that I highly recommend. In the summer months, I often splurge and read something other th

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Hope, Love, Spiritual
July 2, 2026

Your Plate Called About Hydration

It’s hot. You know it. Your wilting basil plant knows it. Here’s a little trick to remember: drinking enough water isn’t the only wa

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Food, Fun, Health
June 25, 2026

The Art of Doing Less Better

The Art of Doing Less Better Somewhere along the way, we decided that a good summer meant a packed one. Camps, cookouts, travel, projects, events, wor

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Health, Personal Development
June 18, 2026

Savor the Solstice and Embrace Summer

On Sunday, June 21 at 4:24 A.M. ET, the sun will reach its highest point in the sky, ushering in the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphe

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Family, Fun
June 11, 2026

Smart Swaps that Feel Like a Treat

Do you ever find yourself standing in the kitchen around 3 p.m., staring into the pantry or fridge, wondering why nothing looks good…and yet you kee

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Food, Fun, Health
June 4, 2026

Why I’m Loving LolliPeppers™

If you’ve never heard of LolliPeppers™, let me introduce you to your new summer best friend. These are Sunset’s seedless mini sweet pepp

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Food, Fun, Health
May 28, 2026

Eating for Your Body Type

Last week we talked about the three main body types, ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph, and how to figure out which one sounds most like you. If you

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Food, Health
May 21, 2026

Do You Know Your Body Type

Have you ever noticed that your neighbor can eat pasta every night and never gain a pound, while you look at a breadstick and your jeans get tighter?

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Health, Hope
May 14, 2026

Your Body Isn’t Broken, Just Confused

You’ve done everything right. You cleaned up your eating, cut back on sugar, maybe even started walking every morning. And yet… the scale

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Food, Health, Hope

My Best Workout Tip for Top Results

February 14, 2024
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Health, Personal Development

Ever wonder how to get the most out of your run or walk or strength training workouts?

It’s the same way you can feel the most productive about your days.

Intention.

Intentionality involves being present and fully engaged in the current activity, making conscious decisions aligned with one’s values and goals.

Let’s say you’re doing strength training exercises to build up your biceps (or any muscle group).

According to a new study, achieving maximal strength requires as much mental effort as physical exertion.

In other words, the more you put into training—including mental effort—the more you’ll get out of it.

When you intentionally focus on those biceps while you’re lifting and lowering those weights, the more benefit your work will have on that muscle.

Of course, if you’re new to an exercise program, simply showing up and moving through your routine with proper form will bring results–even if you’re thinking of your “To Do” list instead of focusing on your movements.

However, if you’ve been training for some time, getting intentional could give you the edge you’re looking for. You can actually think yourself stronger.

Simply imagining yourself contracting your muscles as forcefully as possible will increase your strength.

If you’re going for a run or taking a walk, what is it you’re trying to accomplish today? Never mind that you’re training for a big race in a month or moving in order to lose 10 pounds.

What is this doing for your mindset, body, energy now? Is it fun—or drudgery? If it’s the latter, what can you change about your intention to make it more fulfilling?

Perhaps you’d like to feel powerful, peaceful, relaxed, happy, carefree. Take your pick.

Intention can be applied to all areas of life to experience increased productivity, better decision-making, more meaningful relationships, improved mental health and a deeper sense of fulfillment.

In yoga, we are often encouraged to choose an intention for our practice—one that we can take with us and come back to throughout our day.

What is it that you need today?

Sending love,
Health Coach Carol

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” –Mary Anne Radmacher

Celebrating the Birth Month Without FOGO

February 8, 2024
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Fun, Health

This year’s birth month is a rare one because I get to celebrate for 29 days.

Those of you who get 30, or if you’re REALLY lucky, 31 days, may not appreciate the beauty of this.

Fellow February Birth Month Celebrators Rejoice!

“We are always the same age inside,” said Gertrude Stein, an American writer who also had a February birthday.

That’s how I feel. The number changes each year, yet when I get together with my Delta Gamma (aka DG) sisters from college, we’re still the same in many respects.

Probably because we don’t have FOGO.

Fear Of Getting Older.

Perhaps you’ve heard of FOMO—Fear Of Missing Out.

Those of you who have even a slight case of FOMO probably don’t have FOGO.

In other words, you’re enjoying life, staying active, have a sense of purpose and love deeply.

This is good because FOGO can actually accelerate aging and poor health.

The reason: People who have high age-related anxiety typically participate less in health-promoting activities.

Those who enjoy physical activity tend to have less psychological concerns about aging and less overall aging anxiety.

People who participate in more strengthening activities are less concerned about their physical appearance as it relates to health and fitness with aging. They are also more confident.

Strength training is not only great for maintaining muscle, promoting bone health, and increasing metabolism, it may also serve as a potent anxiety-reducing tool.

If you should experience FOGO, remember that an effective antidote is exercise. Find activities that you enjoy and get moving. Go dancing, garden, take a bike ride, join your friends in a strength training class.

Cheers to celebrating the birth month—and to all my DG sisters who are still 18, sort of.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

How to Stick with Exercise

February 1, 2024
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Health

Work is really busy.

Or your kid is going through a “phase.”

Or it’s chocolate season.

Any number of obstacles, distractions, and competing demands can make it so easy (and understandable) to put your fitness, nutrition and health goals on hold.

Most of us have done this. We tell ourselves, “I’ll start that new habit when life calms down a bit.”

Problem is…

Things never really slow down permanently.

And so, we persistently delay improvements to “another time.”

Occasionally, life does offer a tiny, ideal window, and we try to do it all—all the food prep, all the fitness classes, all the meditating.

But it’s just a window.

When it closes, we’re stuck again, struggling to make progress.

Here’s how to keep moving.

It starts with a paradigm shift:

Don’t think of your health habits as an “on” or “off” switch; imagine they’re on a dial.

 When life is sweet and smooth, you can turn your exercise, nutrition and sleep dials way up—if you choose. Hit the gym most days, eat arugula and kale salad like it’s going out of style, meditate like a monk.

But if life is bumpy and crunched, you don’t have to switch off completely.

Just turn the dial down a little.

If you can’t do the whole workout, do some stretches for 10 minutes. If you can’t make healthy, balanced meals at home, add a side salad to your takeout and skip the French fries.

Here’s how the dial method might work for exercise, but you can apply this same thinking to your nutrition, sleep, stress management, relationships and environment.

Whatever the goal, there’s a range of improvements to make—it’s never “all or nothing.”

The Big Secret: The strongest people aren’t doing it all.

They’ve just learned to do something—even on the messiest, busiest, temptation-filled days.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. People can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.”– Jeffrey Gitomer

Find the Right Foods for You

January 24, 2024
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Food, Health

You know what it’s like to create a pump-up playlist, right?

You compile a list of songs that—when they come on—make you say: “Yes, I feel like Rocky!”

And then your feet start to move and groove, and you are a force to be reckoned with.

Feels good, right?

Well, what if I told you that you could do this with food?

A traffic light eating method can help you create your own personal power-food list, one that—just like a good playlist—gives you energy, and makes you want to get out there and dance with life. 

Answer the questions below to create your own.

 

🟢 What foods make you feel awesome?

These are your green light foods.

These foods make you feel good—physically and emotionally.

You digest them well, you like the taste, and you have a healthy relationship with them. (Read: You can count on them for regular nourishment; you’re not just calling them up when you’re lonely or sad.)

 

🟡 What foods work for you, but only sometimes?

These are your yellow light foods.

You might like these foods, but when you eat them regularly or in larger portions, you just don’t feel great. For example, a small portion of lentils feels good, but a big bowl of them makes you feel bloated–like one of those big balloons in the Macy’s Day Parade. Yikes!

Alcohol and certain “junk foods” might wind up in this category, but so could kale.

 

🔴 What foods make you want to crawl into a hole after you eat them?

These are your red light foods.

These foods aren’t inherently “bad,” but they sure make YOU feel bad. (Think: They cause allergic reactions, indigestion, or make you feel out-of-control.)

Ultra-processed foods often fall into this category since many people find that, once they start eating them, they can’t stop. Cheetos, chips, M&M’s, ice cream—you get the idea.

At the same time, so-called “healthy” foods can be red-light-listed too. For example, if eggs give you hives, they’re red.

 

Everyone’s lists will be different.

While many nutrition coaching programs and health coaches use the traffic light method, they tend to resemble “eat this, not that” lists: Some foods are allowed and others are forbidden.

And the list is the same for everyone. Well, as you know, not everyone is the same.

With this traffic light approach, no foods are glorified or demonized.

And each person’s list is unique.

Nutrient quality is just ONE consideration.

 

Consider how foods make you feel—holistically:

🤔 Does this food feel good in my body?

🤔 Does this food align with my culture and values if that’s important to me?

🤔 Do I like how I behave when I’m around these foods?

When you make choices considering the questions above, you’ll probably tend to eat healthier. But more importantly, you’ll likely feel a greater sense of autonomy, flexibility and enjoyment when you eat.

Need help customizing your best holistic plan? Have a goal in mind that you could use coaching with? 

As your health coach, I don’t tell you what to do, I listen and support what you need to do.

Make this YOUR “Rocky” year. He had a coach. Shoot me an email and we’ll plan 2024 to be your best. 

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“The toughest opponent you’re ever going to have to face is in the mirror.” – Rocky Balboa

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