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December 19, 2024

Easy Holiday Baking and Cooking Substitutes

Holiday meals are about bringing people together, but when some guests have food sensitivities or allergies, it can feel like a challenge to make ever

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Christmas, Food, Health
December 12, 2024

Doorstep Dining Done Right

‘Tis the season of parties, buffets, Christmas cookies and oodles of joyful gatherings that include delicious, even healthy, food. At the same time,

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Christmas, Food, Health
December 5, 2024

Post-Thanksgiving Mini Reset

Thanksgiving may have left you feeling a little too much like the stuffed turkey centerpiece. If you’re ready to shake off the sluggishness before m

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Christmas, Food, Fun, Health
November 28, 2024

Savor, Stroll, and Stay Thankful

Thanksgiving. A time to enjoy the company of loved ones, share stories, and of course, indulge in delicious food. Here’s a tip to help you savor

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Family, Food, Fun, Health
November 19, 2024

Gobble Up These Thanksgiving Preparation Tips

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, gathering, and indulging in an amazing feast. However, hosting can sometimes feel more like a marathon than a ce

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Food
November 14, 2024

Mediterranean Feel-Good Soups for Fall

As we transition from fall into the holidays, staying mindful of our health goals can help us enjoy the season without feeling run down or overwhelmed

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Food, Health
November 7, 2024

Healthy Eating FAQs and Answers

Before I get into this week’s topic, I must first retract a statement that I made last week about Mr. Non-Compliant. I stand corrected, as he did NO

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Food, Health
October 31, 2024

Mr. Non-Compliant’s Birthday Fest

This week Mr. Non-Compliant (aka my dear hubby) celebrated a birthday. He flaunted his morning non-compliance by leaving the EMPTY cinnamon roll box o

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Family, Food, Fun, Health
October 24, 2024

Not a Vegetable Fan? Read This

It’s not just kids that wrinkle their nose at a plate of green stuff. Lots of fully-grown adults feel the same—inclined to hide their Brussels spr

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Food, Health
October 17, 2024

How Safe is Your Cinnamon?

I’m a huge cinnamon fan. I shake it in my coffee, smoothies, muffins, stewed apples, and of course, pumpkin pie. Years ago I mixed it with a little

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Food, Health

3 Simple Strategies to Maintain Your Happy Weight

August 6, 2020
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Food, Health

Weight loss vs. weight maintenance are very different animals. It’s almost easier to be in the camp of losing pounds rather than maintaining equilibrium.

Almost.

There are 3 simple strategies to help end yo-yo dieting and give you the confidence you need to stay in your happy place.

In order to drop those excess pounds, you had to develop a certain set of habits and skills. You still have them, only they can now be adjusted to suit your lifestyle.  

For instance, you’ve already mastered:

  • An understanding of the foods that work best for your body, avoiding those that don’t align with your goals
  • Ways to incorporate activities you enjoy into your week
  • Consistency in this healthier way of living

You know how rewarding it is to feel this good in your body.

I CONGRATULATE you and ACKNOWLEDGE your work!

With everything from a pandemic to extreme levels of stress to an overabundance of highly addictive foods, hitting your health and fitness goals is a CHALLENGE.

Now that you’ve hit your goal, here are the strategies to help you stay the course.

#1. It’s okay to say ‘YES” to that special treat sometimes. Let’s say you have been avoiding going out for pizza with friends, eating cake at birthday or graduation parties, or enjoying a glass or two of wine with dinner.

Remember my rule of “only eat (or drink) it if it’s AMAZING” and enjoy that special something. When you say “YES” to the treat, be fully present to the occasion and be happy. Do not feel any guilt when you decide to add a bit of festivity to your life!

You may want to journal about how it felt to be a bit “frivolous” and if it was worth it! Completely denying yourself of fun food experiences with friends will send you back into a full-blown eating frenzy that will not end well.

Practice this attitude of moderation and track the results until you are comfortable. If you go overboard, reign in your “YESSES” before you are out of your happy range.

#2. Adjust your Life Dials. During your weight loss program, perhaps you hit the gym for an hour 3x/week and walked 20 minutes most days. Of late, your job got crazy, and you’ve missed a few of those workouts and/or walks. You may notice that your appetite has diminished a bit, so honor that and eat less.

Or if your stress level has increased, you may dial up those workouts in order to enjoy more restful sleep and minimize stress eating.

You may be feeling a bit isolated from family or friends for any number of reasons. Finding a way to restore those connections will help you maintain your desired weight and health goals.

 Health is your body plus the way you live, think, feel, and connect with others. Once you’re in maintenance mode, you are able to be more attentive to EVERYTHING that may influence the number on the scale.  

#3. Connect with your deep reason to stay motivated. It can be rather novel and exciting to begin a health and fitness program. When the appeal wears off, the habits kick in. Once you’ve reached your goal, well…

Time to dig deep. WHY did it initially matter for you to lose weight, improve your lab numbers, feel like a million bucks, and love who you are in your body? WHAT difference does it make in your life and in your relationships? HOW are you affected if you revert back to your old ways?

Ask yourself WHY any of this matters to you. Then ask yourself WHY that reason matters. Ask WHY, 5 layers deep. Get to the HEART of the matter and use that as your driving force to stay motivated.

Your meaning and purpose can replace weight loss and become your exciting goal—for life.

Trust yourself to be flexible and make the necessary corrections when necessary. You’ve got this!

Much love,
Carol

“What’s wrong with extreme dieting and hard-core fitness plans is that they don’t take into account the rest of your life.”— Alison Sweeney

Why I Can’t Get it Together

July 29, 2020
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Health, Hope

I’m still out of my pre-pandemic routine.

Some days, the struggle feels way too big. And that soothing bowl of ice cream is SHOUTING my name.

For you, maybe it’s wine, chips, fast food, or binge-watching Netflix. Perhaps all of them, depending on the day.

Everything is complicated, and this emotional roller coaster ride is no fun.

What’s weird is that I’m loving summer, yet I feel out of sync.

Can you relate?

My guess is that many of you can. Here’s the good news: you are not alone in this struggle.

What we’re experiencing is known as collective trauma.

There are many types of trauma that may affect an individual’s deep health. By deep health, I mean every component that makes us human: Relational, Existential, Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Environmental.

Everything affects everything, which is why we must look at more than food when we discuss health.

Today, I’m addressing collective trauma.

Trauma is anything that overwhelms our existing resources and ability to cope. 

Collective trauma is a psychological effect that destabilizes the foundation of a society or group. The current pandemic falls into this category.

Other examples include: Bombings, natural disasters, wars, and famines.

Collective trauma can also come from violence, abuse, and indignities perpetrated against a specific group. This can happen cumulatively over time.

Before you start calling me “johnny rain cloud” here are some ways to cope.

First of all, by recognizing what’s happening and naming it, we have power over it.

Second, it helps to know that there are lots of us dealing with this. We’re all in this together.

Third, when you need to calm yourself, try exhaling twice as long as you inhale. For example: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, and exhale for 8 counts. By extending your exhale, you spend a little bit more time in the parasympathetic, calm-down state. 

Fourth, give yourself some grace. Understand that these are trying times, and we are all doing the best we can to cope. Make time each day to do things that bring you joy, even if it’s 20-30 minutes. 

And finally, feel free to book a complimentary call with me. I’m neither a trauma expert nor therapist, however together we will come up with a workable plan to help you get back on track—most days, anyway.

Sending you love,
Carol

“I am learning to trust the journey, even when I do not understand it.”—Mila Bron

Vegetables for Lazy Days

July 23, 2020
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Food, Fun, Health

There are days, many of them lately, when I’m happy to prepare a meal, yet I am not in the mood to peel and chop a batch of vegetables to sauté, roast or grill. It feels like WAY too much work.

And yet, I know that eating lots of them is a really good idea. Vegetables are very plentiful and extra delicious right now.

So, I’m working on a repertoire of vegetables that I can have on hand for times like these. We have fall and winter months to spend more time chopping for soups, stews and roasting. These days, I’d rather be enjoying the outdoors.

Here are a few of my summertime veggie favorites, designed to keep you healthy and enjoying whatever it is you’d rather be doing.   

Spinach

I love the versatility of spinach and have discovered that I must never be without it. Toss with other varieties of greens in a salad; spinach salad with strawberries, goat cheese (or your favorite), pecans, and balsamic; sauté in avocado oil and generous amounts of garlic. Ready in 5 minutes or less; toss in your smoothies, omelets and scrambles.

Tomatoes

These will be showing up in massive quantities soon. I’m ready! Simply slice them to accompany any meal; make caprese salad; lightly sauté halved cherry tomatoes in a bit of butter and your favorite seasonings; tomato sandwich; tomato toast with chives and sesame seeds; cucumber Greek salad.

Sweet Bell Peppers

My favorites are red, orange, and yellow, as they are ripe and sweeter than the green ones. Slice and add to salads; add to stir fries and eggs; stuff them and bake or put in the crock pot; great raw on their own.

Salad Greens

I keep a big box of mixed spring greens on hand most of the time. Salads are quick, delicious, and lots of other vegetables can be added without much effort. Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It’s easy to get 2 to 3 servings of vegetables into your day with one swift swoop. When I use prepared dressing, I like Primal Kitchen brand for the simple ingredients.

As I mentioned last week, it’s time to bake a cake—from scratch! There’s still space for you to join me this afternoon. Let me know and I’ll send you the special Zoom link. Remember, you can make any kind of cake you like!   

Here’s your invitation:

WHAT: The Amazing Cake Bake with Health Coach Carol

WHERE: ZOOM, so you’re in your own kitchen, and we’re together

WHEN: Thursday, July 23, 2020 from 1:00pm to 2:30pm

HOW: You gather the ingredients you need to make whatever cake you desire, and we all make cake

WHY: Creating a cake from scratch is an act of love, and the world could use more love

COST: FREE

While the cakes are baking, I’ll be coaching you on a variety of health tips. We learn from one another and share lots of laughs. BONUS: Because it’s a small group, you’ll get some personal coaching!

Much love,
Carol

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”—Jim Davis

Creating Art in Your Kitchen

July 16, 2020
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Family, Food, Fun, Love

Years ago, I did not believe that I had a single creative bone in my body. This was due to the fact that I got poor marks on my drawings in art class. Stick figures were a challenge for me.

Art = Drawing, and that was that.

Interesting how our belief system develops when we’re children and has immense staying power.

Today, I challenge you to discover your creative self in the kitchen. Designing meals, playing with recipes, creating delicious dishes with ingredients that you have on hand, all equal priceless artwork.

Cooking and baking can be a form of meditation—when you’re not rushed to get food on the table in 10 minutes.  

Now, I know that if you have young children or children that require chauffeuring or you’re working 60 hours a week, you may have to carve out some time on the weekend to enjoy your creative binging.  

Perhaps you could bake a cake. When did you last take the time to measure out flour, sugar, butter, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk, and vanilla, to make an amazing “scratch” cake?

I’ve been thinking about making a coconut cake (gluten and dairy free) for a long time. The standard birthday cake in our family is yellow cake with chocolate frosting, so that’s what happens.

Next week, I’m going for the coconut cake. It will be fun to try something new.

Care to join me? Here’s your invitation:

WHAT: The Amazing Cake Bake with Health Coach Carol

WHERE: ZOOM, so you’re in your own kitchen, and we’re together

WHEN: Thursday, July 23, 2020 from 1:00pm to 2:30pm

HOW: You gather the ingredients you need to make whatever cake you desire, and we all make cake

WHY: Creating a cake from scratch is an act of love, and the world could use more love

COST: FREE

Once you taste your homemade cake from scratch, you’ll have an entirely new perspective of a cake that tastes AMAZING! And you know my rule, only eat it if it’s AMAZING! As a result, what may on first glance appear counterintuitive, is not.  

While the cakes are baking, I’ll be coaching you on a variety of health tips. We learn from one another and share lots of laughs.

To join in the fun, be sure to email me prior to Thursday, July 23 to save your spot. I’ll then email you the special Zoom link, along with any special instructions.

Much love,
Carol

“I think careful cooking is love, don’t you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who’s close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give.”—Julia Child

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