This has been a topic I have wanted to write about for a long time. I recognize that this can be a controversial topic and I am not here to sway your opinion just to present it from another perspective!

Let’s just talk about the elephant in the room that everyone is either beating themselves up about or trying to hide at all cost.

YOU GAINED WEIGHT DURING COVID. Great, so did I! And its’ not a big deal.

In part 2, I would like to discuss leaky gut. There are several other highly skilled practitioners who have already gone in-depth about this topic.

In fact 70% of our immune cells are located in our gut. So if our health is 100% connected to our gut’s health, it seems pretty important to make sure that it is functioning at peak capacity!

Ready for some crazy news?! The foods you eat directly impact your mood. In EVERY way! I have talked about this topic before in my food and mood blogs parts 1 and 2. Today we are going to go a little more in-depth about specific foods impacting your mood.

As a dietitian I focus heavily on food during our sessions, however I don’t ignore that other factors impact your nutritional and overall health as well. Those who have been with me for a while constantly hear me say that you need to look at the person as a whole focusing on NUTRITION, SLEEP, STRESS, AND MOVEMENT.

Today I really wanted to break down just a few of the reason why you should be taking into consideration your stress levels.

The more I opened up to others about my previous struggles with food the more people started to admit they were using food to cope with emotions and felt out of control with in their relationship with food.

And so I created Sustainable Nutrition. The name was born out of watching people struggle, and my own personal struggle, with finding a way of eating that was not only healthy but SUSTAINABLE.

I was driving home this morning and heard a statistic on the radio that shocked me….

55% of couples are hiding food from their partner.

The D.J.’s on the radio station made a few funny jokes about how they will go to a drive through in secret and throw away the wrappers in a different location. Or that they would have a “treat” and then hide the wrapper at the bottom of the trash.

Last blog I talked about creating New Years Intentions vs New Years Resolutions. To show the enormous impact this mental shift made in my year I wanted to share my 2019 experience with intention setting!

In 2019 I set out with two clear intentions:

1. Make health a priority over weight loss

2. Become physically stronger

To be honest I started with very vague ideas because I was so sick of trying to micro manage my body. All I knew was that I didn’t want to follow any eating plans and that I wanted to feel strong.

I grew up with people making New Years resolutions of how many pounds they were going to loose and fantasizing what size pants they were going to squeeze into.

I can remember New Years resolutions being romanticized during the holidays. As friends and family were grabbing extra helpings of desserts, they would say “I am going to eat this now because come the new year I am going to be disciplined. Next year I am going to be so thin”

Let me give everyone a little freedom. The holidays are not the time to be focusing on weight loss!!!

If you are focusing on weight loss during the holidays season you are just setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. AND creating more emotional tension around your relationship with food.

Feeling a tad Melancholy? Have the winter blues finally hit?

I have been feeling them coming on…

For me it’s more like an itch that something is just not right It has been growing slowly over the past two weeks and no matter how much meditation or positive thoughts it just wouldn’t seem to go away…..

Let’s all be honest with ourselves Thanksgiving has turned into a holiday solely about eating and drinking. I whole heartedly encourage you to eat the foods you truly want and drink with a merry heart! I fully plan on doing exactly this!

All I ask is that you consider doing it with a different mindset:

Healthy people naturally look sexy. We all can agree.

The reason you are considering starting a diet after the holiday season is to look sexy right? But what if I told you that just simply striving for health gets you to the same results and is significantly more sustainable.

This month marks the 1 year anniversary of me not weighing myself. And guess what! All of my pants still fit!

I tell my clients to frame all of their decisions around the simple question “Is this serving my purpose?” It’s an easy way to assess if something is giving you an opportunity to reach your health goals without calling yourself good or bad. After years of letting a number on a scale dictate my worth I decided enough was enough, the scale was not serving my purpose.

It’s coming whether you like it or not…..THE HOLIDAY SEASON!

You will be invited to parties and family gatherings with endless amounts of food and alcohol.

We tell ourselves stories about who we are and what we should act like every day. 

• “If I let someone see I am struggling I am weak.”

• “All the responsibility falls on me. If I don’t do it, it won’t get done.” 

• “I am the peace keeper, it’s my job to be polite and not ruffle feathers.”

• “If I take time for me I am selfish.”

So I have been gone. The reason I haven’t posted in a while is because I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

It was one of the most fun and stressful times of my life. I had some incredible experiences and gained some weight during the process. AND GUESS WHAT????? I LET IT HAPPEN!!!!

I touched briefly on how we are a society that has now become obsessed with feeling happy and content, yet now more than ever we are struggling with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and sense of not belonging. 

Today we are going to focus on how nutrition is impacting our mental health. 

There are two large parts to linking nutrition to mental health:

1.     Gut Brain Axis

2.     Blood Sugars

Food has a significant impact on your mood. One of the many reasons is due to the fact that roughly 90% of the "feel good" hormone serotonin is made in your gut.

 For part one of Mood and Food I wanted to share a personal and very eye opening experience!

A gentleman I admire greatly named Jason Seib sent out an email last week that I have to share with you! His information has personally shaped my life and professionally helped me to understand long term fat loss and people’s motivations.