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April 24, 2025

Healthy Popsicles That Make Summer Sweeter

Consider the humble popsicle. A nostalgic symbol of sticky fingers, grass-stained knees, and that sweet relief on a blazing summer day. But here’s t

admink
Food, Fun, Health
April 16, 2025

Time to Reflect, Release, Move Forward

Whether you celebrate Easter, Passover, or simply welcome the longer, brighter days of spring, this time of year invites reflection. It’s a season o

admink
Family, Food, Health, Personal Development
April 10, 2025

How to Stop “Night Worrying”

Ever find yourself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling while your mind races through tomorrow’s to-do list, replaying conversations, or wondering i

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Health
April 2, 2025

Four Cheers for Angelos and a Birthday Recipe to Reel You In

If you’ve been following my blog for several years, you may recall my weekly posts that were written comparing the size of my friend’s baby in ute

admink
Family, Food, Fun, Health
March 27, 2025

Springtime Tips for Home and Health

Spring is here, bringing longer days, warmer sunshine, and the perfect opportunity to refresh our spaces and our diets. Just as nature renews itself,

admink
Food, Health
March 20, 2025

Spring into Spring

The spring (vernal) equinox happens on Thursday, March 20 at 5:01 A.M. EDT, marking the moment when the sun crosses directly over the Earth’s eq

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Food, Health
March 12, 2025

Natural Ways to Tackle Seasonal Allergies

Seasonal allergies occur when your immune system mistakenly identifies harmless substances—like pollen from trees, grasses, or weeds—as dangerous

admink
Food, Health
March 6, 2025

Why Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the Kitchen MVP

When it comes to cooking oils, not all are created equal. While seed and vegetable oils like soybean, corn, safflower, and canola are common in proces

admink
Food, Health
February 27, 2025

Are You Stuck in the “I’ll Start Tomorrow” Loop?

Ever told yourself, “That’s it! Tomorrow, I’m eating healthy!” And then tomorrow shows up, and you think, “Eh, maybe next week.” Guess wha

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Food, Health, Personal Development
February 20, 2025

Simplifying Dinner with HelloFresh

I recently stayed with a friend and when I offered to cook dinner, she presented me with a brown paper bag that said “HelloFresh” on the outside.

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Food, Health

The Outward Olive

November 3, 2022
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Food, Health

Today I bring you some happy news about fat.

(It’s okay to cheer about this.)

Olive oil is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is good for you to consume. Experts agree that it may be the healthiest oil on the planet!

Especially extra virgin olive oil. 

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), part of the Mediterranean diet, is a traditional fat that has been a dietary staple for some of the world’s healthiest populations.

Benefits of EVOO include reduced inflammation (inflammation is responsible most illnesses/diseases), reduced risk of stroke and heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduced joint pain/swelling from rheumatoid arthritis, and antibacterial properties.

 You don’t need much in a day to experience the health benefits. 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons is a good amount. Keep in mind that it’s a high caloric food.

Use EVOO on your salads, veggies, fish, in place of butter, mixed with some balsamic for bread dipping. I often use (unflavored) EVOO in my baked goods with delicious results.

It’s important to buy the right kind of olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest. Be sure that it is not diluted with other refined oils, so check the label for ingredients and quality certification.

When you’re looking for the best quality extra virgin olive oil, check out The Outward Olive, located in Crown Point, Indiana. They recently opened a tasting room and it’s fabulous!

They have oodles of flavors of EVOO and vinegars to try before you buy.  

How great it is to experience tasty AND healthy.

Jim and Kristina DeRolf and their four daughters are the owners of this beautiful business. They have a variety of other delicacies and gifts available too. 

From their website, “We have decided to offer only the highest quality of premium olive oils and vinegars. All of our products are hand crafted and hand bottled, vegan, made to order for maximum freshness, made from all natural flavorings, and are third party tested for both quality and purity.”

If you’re not local, not to worry. They will assist you with your personal order or help you design a gift basket and ship it. You just won’t get to taste. 🙁

To learn more, here’s the link to their website: https://theoutwardolive.com/

Experience a bit of the Mediterranean right here in the Midwest. Bon Appétit!

Much love to you,
Health Coach Carol

“To be outward is to live. …our purpose is greater than our fears.”—The DeRolf Family 

What’s Your Favorite Treat?

October 27, 2022
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Food, Fun, Health

It’s that ghoulish time of year again (already) when we can pretend to be someone, or something, we’re not. Take a risk, get out of our comfort zone, scare people.

Or keep it simple and enjoy the treats instead.

Last October, Instacart reported that 116 TONS of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were purchased in this country. Those little delicacies walked away as the #1 Halloween candy.

The next most popular treat purchased during the 2021 Halloween season was plain M&M’s, with 94 tons sold. The peanut variety came in 3rd at 92 tons.

That’s a lot of candy. Bet it outranked vegetable purchases.   

Indiana’s favorite was the Reese’s.

Mr. Non-Compliant loves plain M&M’s. And Reese’s. Guess I’ll be handing out some of each to the little—and not so little—monsters that show up on Halloween.

Now I just need to work on my costume…

A Challenge for This Week

I’m a realist. I know that many of you will have Halloween candy in bowls decorating your coffee and end tables.

I also know that the candy is not just for the little goblins that show up on your doorstep.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is this: roast a big batch of vegetables to help balance out your candy intake. If you can, make enough for a couple meals.

You’ll probably even enjoy them.

Need some vegetable roasting guidance? Here you go. https://inkwellcoaching.com/2022/09/29/roasted-root-vegetables/

The Struggle is Real

Losing weight and keeping it off is hard.

There are numerous weight loss programs that help with meals, psychology, apps—all designed to help you reach your goals.

Then what? For some, the weight stays off and all is well.

For others, the struggle to maintain their desired weight is more of a challenge. Add the upcoming holidays into the mix and—well, party over.

If this scenario is a familiar one for you or someone you know, I can help.

Together, we’ll design a way of life that takes on the battle of weight loss once and for all.

The best part: it’s simple and you get to enjoy a variety of foods that are tasty AND healthy. And yes, we’ll even create a plan to navigate the holiday buffets in a way that makes sense for you. 

In addition to personal coaching, my programs include kitchen makeovers (of the non-construction variety), kitchen coaching (we cook together), grocery shopping trips/tips and more.

If you have a Mr. or Mrs. Non-Compliant in your life, we can tackle this as a team. Weight loss is easier when your Significant Other is on board.

Want to lose (instead of gain) weight during the holidays? Let’s get started. Shoot me an email.

Enjoy your vegetables…and your Halloween treats.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

 “There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch.” —Robert Brault

The Importance of Rituals

October 20, 2022
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Health, Personal Development

There are days when everything just feels BLAH. I don’t really feel like doing much of anything, and I don’t even know what to do first.

It’s not that I don’t have plenty to keep me busy.

Could the weather have something to do with it? Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep. Perhaps I’m trying to do too much.

Am I striking a familiar chord with any of you? 

We all have days.

This is where rituals come into play. They’re important. They help us stay grounded. They’re what we rely on when everything feels discombobulated. (Yes, it’s a real word.)

Rituals: an act or series of acts done in a particular situation and in the same way each time.

Rituals are the autopilot of life that can get us through a day.  

Like steppingstones across a fast-moving river. If we want to get to the other side, we had better look for those stones.

Perhaps you have a morning ritual. You wake up, head to the bathroom, brush your teeth, make the coffee…

The day goes on. You head to work, make the necessary calls, are courteous to others, say “thank you,” have dinner with your family, conclude the day with your bedtime ritual.

Those things we just do because they’re the right thing to do, no matter how we feel.

Rituals.

Consider your daily rituals. Are there any that you’d like to change or improve upon?

Maybe it’s time to revamp some of them because circumstances have changed.

Are you a recent empty nester? Is your youngest child in school all day—finally? Is your work satisfying?

Various life situations can push us to come up with different rituals in order to improve the quality of our lives.

I have a good friend who found herself feeling a bit depressed. Her children are grown and gone. She needed to find a new purpose for her life. She found a job. She has a new reason to get moving. She’s happier.

Sometimes we simply need to spend a few quiet moments to consider our day-to-day activities.

We can easily fill our days with busyness, and not feel as though we’re accomplishing anything worthwhile.

And sometimes we just feel BLAH because we need more sleep and sunshine. 

If many of your days are discombobulated, perhaps you could stand to update some of your rituals.

As a coach, I can help you find the clarity necessary to make a small, yet significant, update.

Send me an email and we’ll figure it out together.

You’ll even enjoy the process.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

 “There is a comfort in rituals, and rituals provide a framework for stability when you are trying to find answers.”—Deborah Norville

4 Tips to Gain Some Control of Your Life

October 13, 2022
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Health, Personal Development

As we approach the holidays and see Christmas decorations showing up in store aisles before Halloween, it can make us a bit, well, CRAZED.

How does this happen? Where do the days, months, years disappear to? 

Maybe it’s just me. I highly doubt it. It’s true what my dad told me years ago. The older I get, the faster the years seem to fly by.

My dad was a very smart man.

A word of truth to all of you who are control people: There’s not much that we can really control in life. (I’m only the messenger, so please don’t delete me from your Inbox.)

With that being said, there are some things we CAN control that will help us feel more at peace, even on the craziest of days.

These are simple. The key is remembering how to spend your time and energy.

4 Tips to Gain Some Control of Your Life

  1. Focus on what you CAN control. It might help to make a list so that you can refer to it on really challenging days. For instance, you can decide your mindset for the day, how you’ll best utilize foods that are available to you, how much you’ll move your body (even if you have limitations), when you’ll begin your sleep ritual so that you get a good night’s rest, the relationships you’ll nurture and those that you’ll release.
  2. When you don’t know what to do, do the next right thing. What can you do that takes 5-10 minutes that will help you move forward in your day? Perhaps you can write a quick note to a friend who could use some cheer, meditate or pray, wash the dishes from the last meal, take a walk around the block, read a few pages of a very good book, fill up your water container and take a drink, make a salad for later. Doing a quick and easy activity starts the momentum when you feel stuck.
  3. When things go way off track, give yourself permission to start over and let the guilt go. Life isn’t perfect for anybody, even though social media may lead us to believe a different story. Whether it was the pizza, chips, or disagreement with a coworker that brought you down, consider what pushed you to that point, then move on. Forgive, and go back to tip #2. Do the next right thing.
  4. Take some slow, deep breaths. When we get stressed, our breathing gets shallow, or we may even forget to breathe. Paying attention to our breath and exhaling slowly tells our brain that we are safe. We reduce the stress and anxiety that we are feeling.

Something else to keep in mind. I know many people that are grieving loss, battling illness, nervous about world affairs, and much, much more. 

As we take on a spirit of loving kindness, we help others feel better, whatever their circumstances.

People will wonder what you are up to. Keep them guessing.

Remember, you have control over your mindset.

Much love to you,
Health Coach Carol

P.S. Need coaching around this topic? Would you like to create a plan that sends you into 2023 with some well-established fitness habits? Let’s do this together!

“Let go of the need to control. Trust in the wisdom of a divine plan.”— Cheryl Richardson

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