Yes, you have it (and it’s affecting everything).

Almost everyone has inflammation for one reason or another, and if you haven’t done anything yet to heal it, you can bet it’s there. Inflammation is caused over time from all sorts of things (like sugar, processed foods, unhealthy fats, stress) and even from doing things we once thought were healthy (like consuming whole grains like bread, pasta, cereal) or using vegetable oils (which, by the way, aren’t even made from vegetables!). The problem is that inflammation compounds overtime and accumulates in your body. 

Some clues that your body is battling inflammation are:

• Belly fat
• Cravings for sugar, carbs or sweets
• Pounds that won’t budge no matter how hard you try
• Diets and exercise plans that have “worked” in the past no longer work
• Low energy
• Trouble sleeping
• Joint aches and pains
• Digestive issues
• Skin issues
• Back pain
• Headaches
• Stress
• Allergies
• Food sensitivities

If any of these sound familiar, then inflammation is present in your body. This sneaky, underlying, chronic-type of inflammation (that you can’t see or feel!) is the #1 reason why EVERY SINGLE WOMAN I’ve worked with over the past 12 years has not been able to lose weight and keep it off (until working with me. 🙂 ).

Your body knows inflammation is bad, so it allocates all of its energy toward healing it. Until this chronic inflammation is taken care of, you won’t have much (if any) energy leftover for burning fat, or feeling vibrant, energetic or healthy. In fact, it’s practically impossible to lose weight while in this constant battle with the inflammation inside of you (and even if you were to lose a few pounds with strict dieting, you’ll surely end up gaining them back because you lost them without addressing the actual reason for the pounds hanging on in the first place!).

Getting rid of this Inflammation is a big deal, because chronic inflammation is the root cause of ALL of these issues. Furthermore, inflammation doesn’t just make your body incapable of losing weight. Science shows that inflammation is the root of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and joint diseases, allergies, Alzheimer’s, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and there’s even a link to cancer.

So, even though it definitely impacts your weight and the laundry list of pesky day-to-day problems, we need to take care of this debilitating chronic inflammation to help prevent disease, too.

Can I get testing to be sure I have inflammation?

While I’m sure you have it if you’ve never done any intense regimen to get rid of it, there are a couple of tests that can help determine the type and level of inflammation you may have. Before I tell you about these, I want to be clear that nearly everyone today is living in a state of chronic inflammation unless you’ve taken measures to do something about it. Most of us have eaten low-fat (even if we didn’t intend to), just based on what was available to us at the time. Intentionally or not, almost all of us have consumed processed foods, vegetable oils and trans fats more than our bodies would like. And sugar…even if you don’t battle sugar or carbohydrate cravings like me and many of the women I have helped, if you indulge, you have inflammation.

So, before you spend the time, money and effort to get these specialized tests ordered—if you are battling ANY of the items I mentioned in the above list of inflammation clues, if you’ve ever followed a low-fat diet or counted calories, or pushed yourself too hard in the gym, or suspect a food sensitivity or have an allergy, then I think it’s very safe to assume you’ve got inflammation that needs to heal in order for your health to improve and symptoms to go away, and testing isn’t really necessary.

There are two tests that can confirm you have inflammation:

1. C-Reactive Protein: CRP is a general blood marker of inflammation. It measures a protein that signals a response to inflammation. It doesn’t tell us the specific cause, but it does tell us that an inflammatory response exists. You want your CRP level well below 1 and preferably at 0, indicating that no inflammation is present. Note: Make sure you don’t have any acute inflammation going on (from a recent injury, sickness or even a stubbed toe) when you get this test done because CRP will be elevated in response to any inflammation, acute or chronic. I consider the CRP to be the “go-to” for testing inflammation, but there is a second option:
2. Fasting blood insulin: A high insulin level when fasting may indicate chronic inflammation in the body. Insulin will go up as a response to elevated blood glucose because insulin acts as a vehicle for removing glucose from your blood and into storage. When insulin is high, cortisol (your stress-hormone) is being released to inhibit insulin production. And stress is one of the many causes of inflammation.

These two markers can be helpful, but we certainly don’t consider them to be the be-all end-all. Make sure you consider the other clues that you may have chronic inflammation, and be sure you’ve worked through the 7 steps to healing inflammation from my free guide!

How can I get rid of the inflammation?

Now that we understand how to identify if you have inflammation, let’s talk about the healing process.

This is the most exciting part of it all! Until now, you didn’t know why your diets and workouts weren’t working. You probably even felt a little crazy, or like there was something wrong with YOU because no matter how hard you tried, nothing seemed to work. Good news: It’s not your fault! There’s nothing wrong with your body, and your system isn’t broken. This is the reason you’ve been struggling all this time.

How we address controlling the inflammation is through my proven 3-Part model:

1. 1. We need to halt the inflammatory triggers to prevent further inflammation from happening! We need to work through all of the various ways that inflammation is caused and put a stop to them so we aren’t adding more and more inflammation. (Read: more weight gain! More energy sucked away from your fat-burning processes! More cravings! More stress! More sleep issues! More frustration!) 
   2. We need to heal the inflammation that’s already there (and likely built up over years and years). This is a critical piece. Most women we work with have been working hard at building great HABITS (like eating well, exercising and maybe even working on getting their hormones in balance and thyroid under control), and you might also be working on #1 (HALT IT) by doing your best to avoid sugar, steering clear of artificial sweeteners, taking it easy on the alcohol, etc., and while all of these efforts earn you gold stars, here’s the kicker: If you’re not healing the existing inflammation, you’ll never be able to lose the weight (and keep it off!). The inflammation is your #1 culprit, which means you can do all of the diets and workouts in the world, but without addressing the root cause, you’ll keep feeling like a failure as you find yourself continually stuck in that painful cycle of dieting, and weight loss/gain without ever breaking free of the pattern.
   3. We need to build lifestyle HABITS around HALTING and HEALING so that this becomes second nature! When we live a lifestyle of keeping inflammatory triggers out, and partaking in daily healing measures for ridding any inflammation that does sneak it (none of us are perfect!), then THIS is where the magic happens. This is where you experience a life of freedom, where you feel empowered, confident, fit and toned—no longer bound to your weight struggle, and off the diet roller coaster, for GOOD!

Where do I start?

There are some simple steps you can take right now to start working through this 3-part approach to taking control of the inflammation so that you can start to lose weight (and keep it off!) and feel better than you have in years!

I’ve done a lot of research on this, and there’s a lot to learn. I put together a free guide to get you started with 7 simple steps so that you can finally be liberated from the endless dieting cycles and lose the weight once and for all! Click to download the free guide to learn the 7 simple ways to heal inflammation and melt away those unwanted pounds.

Last, but not least

Don’t forget to give yourself some grace! It can be frustrating to learn that your hard efforts in the past didn’t help and even backfired, and changing years of ingrained habits certainly doesn’t happen overnight! Just like inflammation develops slowly over years or even decades, the healing process will also take time.

Work through each step, and be patient as your body heals. Once your body begins healing, you’ll know! And you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel, and how many of your issues seem to melt away. Be patient, be diligent, and allow your body to do what it was meant to do, which is to use the healthy nutrients you consume to heal itself and function to its best ability! You’ve got this!

Go ahead and download the free guide I created to get you started. I’m going to walk you through the step-by-step process of getting rid of inflammation so that you can finally be liberated from the endless dieting cycles and lose the weight once and for all!

Click to download the free guide to learn the 7 simple ways to heal inflammation and melt away those unwanted pounds.

When was the last time you change your oil filter in your car? And what even is an oil filter? All I know is that my dad and my brothers told me that I need to do that regularly. I’ve learned the hard way that if I don’t then bad things happen to my car. I’m no mechanic, and I don’t quite understand how it works. But I do know that’s true. And the same is actually true for detoxing your body. 

Now before I throw out that big word, let me just tell you my name is Cassie and I’ve helped hundreds of women lose weight and keep it off. One thing that I’ve found that breaks my heart is that women can be doing all the right things: you can be dieting and you can be exercising, you can take all the supplements and do all the things, but if you haven’t detoxed your body, if you have an accumulation of toxins built up in your body, it’s not going to work. Just the same way as you can get all the other things fixed on your car, but somehow that oil filter seems to be the thing that if that’s stuck and not working, if that does not change, then none of it’s really going to matter. 

So I want to talk to you a little bit about detoxing today because there are so many misconceptions around detox and there are so many crazy detoxes out there that are actually damaging for your body. So that’s the thing with detoxing. When you do it the right way, with real food in a clean healthy way, it works wonders on your body and helps you reach your goals faster. It helps you lose weight and keep it off. But when you’re doing one of these crazy drink juice detoxes for a hundred days, eating nothing but blueberries, all those sorts of crazy detoxes as we see on the market, those can actually be way more damaging and slow down your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight. 

So I’ve learned a lot about detoxing in my years as a registered dietitian and helping people go through this process of detoxing their body and getting rid of these toxins that can accumulate in our tissues. And by the way, we’re exposed to toxins every single day. They’re in the air we breathe, and they’re in the chemicals that are in all of the products that we use on a daily basis. They’re in sugar, and artificial sweeteners, and all of these really pile up in our body. 

So the goal of detox is to get rid of them now. Whether you’re doing my 10-day reset program or someone else’s detox program, there are a couple of things you really want to look out for and one thing you want to completely avoid when it comes to choosing the right detox. I want to tell you those. 

So the first thing you want to look for is you want to make sure it’s a detox program where you’re actually fueling your body with real whole foods. There are a lot of programs out there that are really restrictive. They’re low-fat, they’re high this or low that, and you really want to make sure that it’s balanced. The key to detoxing the right way is that you’re providing your body with the nutrients that it needs because your body naturally knows how to detox. Some people will say “Why do I need to detox, isn’t my liver supposed to do that?” And the answer to that is yeah your liver can, but the problem is when you get all of these substances that accumulate over time, it’s just a lot of work for your body. It’s a huge burden on your body. So the point of the right detox is to help your body and just make it a lot easier. The result of that is you get more energy quicker and your body can focus on the things that you want it to focus on. Maybe that’s energy, maybe it’s shedding pounds, maybe it’s better focus, but it’s all going to work better when we get rid of those toxins. So you want to make sure number one that you’re choosing a detox that’s focused on real whole foods. 

Number two: You want to detox that isn’t a long period of time. I mean, I’ve seen detoxes that are like two weeks, three weeks, three months, six months, that’s craziness! Your body does not need to be going through a detox program for a really long time. That’s why ours is only 10 days. I think anything between 7 and 10 days is the perfect length of time. It’s supporting your body through that process but not making it stay in a detox mode for a super long time. Plus, it is not super sustainable to be detoxing for months on end.

How often should you detox? You should detox at least once a year, and probably every single quarter. It’s kind of like how we change the oil filter in our car, we do it preventatively and we do it regularly. It’s the same with a detox. 

The thing about detoxing is you don’t get really sick and then realize that you need it. A lot of times it’s the small things that just kind of stop working and just don’t work as well. A lot of times with our clients, we know they need to detox when they’re just stuck with their stubborn weight that won’t come off, and no matter what they do the pounds won’t drop. We’re like look, you’ve got all these toxins blocking you and you definitely need to detox. Especially if you haven’t done one in a while. So, you know, you want a program that’s short enough where you be okay with doing it, maybe a few times a year, and one that’s not super challenging, difficult, and long to follow. The right kind of detox should be based on real whole foods, and it should be simple and pretty short. 

Now my third detox tip, this is the one thing you want to avoid: If you see any detox that looks scammy and feels scammy, it probably is scammy. So if you see something that’s advertising, drink this green juice for a hundred days, or take these big purple pills and do nothing else, those are the ones to avoid. If you’ve got that gut feeling like I’m not quite sure if that’s legit, it’s probably not. So I really recommend staying away from all those intense crazy detoxes.

So if you’re like: “I haven’t done a detox in a long time”,  and if you’re struggling with any of the things that I mentioned: intense cravings, low energy, maybe you got some stubborn pounds that won’t come off, there’s a pretty good chance that you need to detox. So if you think you want to get started, and wonder what to do next, there are a couple of options.

1) You could click this link to check out my 10-Day Reset Program. See if it’s the right fit for you!

2) You could hop in my free Facebook group. We answer all sorts of questions in there from detox, to weight loss, to health-related questions. It’s a free group and we provide a lot of resources, a lot of community, and you’ll fit in just great.

I can’t wait to support you along your journey to health and losing weight and keeping it off!

I was speaking at an event last weekend and I got the question, “What are your best tips for increasing energy?” Immediately I dished out my top 3 tips for energy, and I realized that these are the same 3 things I do for increased brain power!

I love quick and easy hacks that can improve your day and life, and I can’t wait to hear how these work for you!

My Top 3 Tips to Increase Energy & Brain Power Throughout Your Day:

1. Eat half an avocado upon waking. 

At first I started doing this as a way to increase the absorption of the vitamins I take in the morning, and I quickly realized that it’s a super simple hack to break your overnight fast and kick your metabolism into gear — especially if you aren’t a big breakfast eater. Healthy fat from the avocado boosts your metabolism for hours after you eat by allowing your body to release a turbo-fat-burning hormone called glucagon, PLUS, the healthy fat from the avocado gives you instant brain power (your brain is made up of over 70% fat so the good fat from avocado helps to boost that cognitive function!)

My routine lately is that I have the half avocado (I eat it straight out of the shell with a couple shakes of sea salt!) within a half hour of waking. Then I have breakfast sometime in the next hour or two after. If you’re hungry or have time for breakfast right away, then do that! I find that the half-avo-trick is a good one for those of us who tend to put off breakfast, or have the excuse of not being hungry. 😉

2. Have protein with all of my snacks.

A lot of women don’t think about having protein—especially outside of meals! That’s why I think it’s one for the easier (and fun!) ways to boost your metabolism, energy and brain power.

Your body does not store protein, so you need to make sure you’re eating it throughout the day –– not just at meals, but snacks too. Protein boosts your metabolism every single time you eat it. PLUS, protein is a precursor for your neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that determine whether or not you have sugar cravings, and you need adequate amounts to keep sugar cravings at bay. Big bonus to eating protein throughout the day is you get fewer cravings, which can also keep your brain power up since you don’t have that craving as a distracting nagging you!

This tip is easy because we aren’t talking about a LOT of protein — simply one hard boiled egg or a few bites of tuna salad or salmon salad will do the trick! A good rule of thumb is to aim for eating a portion of protein equivalent to the thickness and circumference of the palm of your hand at meals (2-3 eggs, 4-6 oz. of chicken, beef, or fish) and about half that amount for snacks.

The reality is that just an ounce or two of protein at snack time (and double that at meals), can boost your metabolism by up to 35% for the following 2-3 hours after eating it. Give it a try and see how it changes your day!

Think about incorporating protein every time you eat. It’s a simple metabolism and energy booster!

3. Move Throughout Your Day!

The average American spends 9.3 hours a day sitting. NINE HOURS a day sitting! We know sitting too much isn’t good for many reasons. But, if you’re wanting to lose weight, sitting too much is a big obstacle because it slows down your metabolism. Yet, when you lead a busy lifestyle, finding time to move more can be tricky. I totally get it. That’s why I’m obsessed with my treadmill desk. I’ve had it for 10 months, and I’ve used it EVERY single working day that I’ve been home. The treadmill desk is such a simple way to increase activity WITHOUT requiring any extra time! Multitasking at its finest. 🙂

There are some BIG bonuses with the treadmill desk (other than just exercise): increased focus, boosted brain power, higher productivity, lower blood pressure, less joint and back pain. Between all of the benefits, including the mental and physical stimulation, a day on a treadmill desk is quite a ride!

I always thought it would be hard to work and walk, but it’s not. You walk at a very, very slow pace. The point is that you’re moving, and staying active, and that’s all that really matters! Plus, the desk I use can be raised higher or lower with the push of a button, so when I’m tired, I lower it and pop onto a chair and relax. 🙂

That’s a wrap! Learning these 3 tips have been HUGE a-ha moments for myself and my clients. Can’t wait to hear how you feel implementing them into your days, too!

Happy 2019!

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year is to reflect on the past year before diving into the new. I write down everything that happened the past year—everything I learned, the ups and downs… all of it.

As I’ve been reflecting on 2018, I’ve summed it up into 4 lessons learned, and wanted to share those with you today. 🙂

1. Letting go of Hidden Anchors Holding You Back (the power of letting go)

I entered 2018 with a bang when I kissed my dietitian license goodbye. You may remember this tale: After nearly 6 years of battling the board of Nutrition & Dietetics to keep my credentials (they didn’t agree with my holistic approach to weight loss— the full rundown on that situation is here), in January I decided to stop fighting and surrender the letters the stood behind my name for 10 years. It was scary, yet it felt right. And I can say it’s hands-down one of the best decisions I’ve ever made—both personally and professionally.

The truth is that sometimes we don’t realize how much something is weighing on us until we let it go. We find this to be the case with clients and their weight. Even when they know it’s a burden, they often don’t realize the full extent of it and how much the weight has been holding them back until they lose it.

For me, this was the case with my dietitian license, and I’m proud of my decision to relinquish it. It wasn’t serving you or me. Ever since then, I’ve experienced a newfound sense of peace and lightness that makes me feel more faithful, connected and authentic. Plus, it’s only impacted my business and life in positive ways.

And so, looking into 2019, I’m searching for what other hidden anchors have been weighing me down. And I encourage you to do the same!

2. The power of a single conversation

It never ceases to amaze me how it only takes one conversation with one person to change the trajectory of our lives.

You may realize the power of this: Maybe a single conversation led you to a first date with your now-spouse, or landed you an interview with your now-boss. For me, a single conversation led to some of my favorite experiences of the year: a 2-week getaway in Maui, a month in Bali, and hosting my first in-person coaching event.

In a world that continues to get more “techy,” I’m valuing in-person connections and conversations more and more. Never underestimate the power of a conversation. And, in 2019, I encourage you to stay open to who you meet. You never know where a life-changing conversation might come from.

3. No Time Like the Present! (The power of taking action)

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

One of the dietitians who attended my live event in December said this to me on the phone before signing up. She knew it was time to make a change because what she had been doing wasn’t working. At least, not enough to propel her forward. She knew the event was the shake-up she needed.

And I bet it’s the case for almost anything in life. Insert your industry, dilemma, situation or goal here. If you don’t change anything, nothing changes. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insane!

Which brings us to the power of taking action… making a change… and going for it.

For me, this led me to making one of my dreams come true: hosting my first in-person event. Making it happen required putting my strategic-planning-perfectionist-self to the side so I wouldn’t overthink it! I just took action to make it happen! With our weight loss clients who are most successful, we notice that they’ve done a similar thing; they surrender their own (flawed) weight loss strategies that never led to long-term results, stay open to our process and take action by signing up for something new that they’ve never tried before!

So what new shake-up action can you take this year to bring about powerful change?

4. The power of intention

Another big event in 2018 for me was selling and donating my stuff, packing up the rest and driving from Minnesota to California where I started a new chapter.

A few weeks after moving to California I was on the phone telling my friend Kelly that it wasn’t quite what I’d hoped, and that I wasn’t fulfilled.

She asked, “Why’d you move to California?”

I said, “3 reasons: the people, the ocean and to host events.” She was quiet.

I then reflected aloud and said “Man, I’ve been busy and traveling and haven’t connected with many people, I haven’t been to the ocean in 3 days and I have no plans yet to host an event.”

What I needed to do suddenly became crystal clear. So in that moment aloud to my friend, I set the intention to connect with at least one person in person every day and I committed to joining a gym—another way to get plugged in. I vowed to go to the ocean daily—be it a morning ocean stroll with my coffee or to catch the sunset at the end of the day—even just for a few minutes. Finally, I set an intention to host an event before the year came to an end, which gave me 2 months to do it.

So I did. All of those things. And California suddenly felt like home. Having someone reflect back to me helped me see what I hadn’t seen, and setting the intention for what I would do —especially stating it aloud— committed me to it.

In 2018 I was reminded of the power of letting go, the power of a single conversation, the power of taking action and the power of intention. So much power in these four simple truths.

Today I’d like to take a moment to ask you:
1. What do you want or need to let go of to feel light and free and happier this year?
2. What conversations could you be open to having?
3. Right now, what intentions will you set?
4. And, what action will you take?

Thanks for being on this journey with me!

Also, I would love to invite you to our FREE online Facebook Community, A New Way To Weight Loss! This group is all about helping helping people like you stop the vicious dieting cycle, end the obsession over food and lose weight effortlessly—while enjoying what you eat, and feeling like your happy, confident self again. This as a community where we can connect and support each other and have a conversation with you about your weight loss goals. Click here to join A New Way To Weight Loss!

 

You think weight loss is about food? It’s not.

I have helped thousands of women and men to lose weight. And at the beginning of the process, they all share a few thoughts and traits. See if you can relate to any of these, too:

• You don’t like how you look
• You avoid getting your picture taken; or you know your “slim” poses
• You have a closet full of clothes you can’t wear
• You feel tired a lot
• You have tried working out
• You have tried cutting calories
  
• You have tried everything

You’ve followed the rules. You’ve read the blogs. You’ve bought the supplements. Cooked the food. You feel you should be able to figure this out.

But you haven’t. And it frustrates and exhausts you to no end. It doesn’t seem fair. You’re at your wit’s end.

Trying to tackle a weight loss issue just by focusing on the food is a critical mistake. When you only focus on the food, you forget about the most powerful variable in the equation: YOU.

Weight loss is about more than just food. You probably don’t even realize the degree to which you’re standing in your own way when it comes to weight loss. We are literally talking about mind over matter here. You’ve focused on the matter (the food) part of the solutions, but likely haven’t thought to put the MIND aspect under the microscope.

And that’s what we’re going to do today! Let’s get your mind optimized for weight loss success! (And bonus points, everything in here also applies to any goal you set for yourself!)

It’s time to shatter 9 limiting beliefs that have plagued you and held you back from weight loss success!

1. I’m special/different/unique. “My body is just different/My body just works differently.”

I get it. If you’ve tried a bunch of different diets and they haven’t worked, it’s understandable that you might draw the conclusion that your body must be different. You might even feel like it’s broken or working against you. Everyone else seems to lose weight more easily than you, so it must be your body’s fault, right?

Well, the truth is: You’re unique, but you’re not that unique. If we had a dollar for everyone who thought they were “different” or beyond help, well, we’d never have to work another day!

While you are special and have your own unique makeup, your body is a lot like other women’s—and that’s the good news, because it means that you’re not irreparably broken!  You’re not a lost cause, a mystery, or a problem. You’re a puzzle—and you can solve it. Once you let that sink in, and believe it, you can begin the real work.

Like I’ve mentioned, you likely have only been focusing on the food part. There are so many other things that can hinder your weight loss that you just didn’t know about. Things like your hormones, your sleep quantity and quality, your stress level management, and more! If you’d like to learn about all of those weight loss elements, I write about them regularly on my blog, or you can read about them all in one place in my book, Why Am I Still Fat? Grab it here.

2. I should love myself instead of focusing on losing weight.

Self-love and losing weight are not mutually exclusive. Being able to love and accept yourself for who you are is absolutely important, and we are big advocates of the body-positive approach. However, self love is not the opposite of healthy, sustainable weight loss. Carrying extra weight around is no way to show your body love! Truly loving your body means helping it function at its best. The good news is that when you give your body the kind of support it needs (rest, plenty of the right foods, movement), you’re showing it the love it deserves—and the weight will fall off. This part of your journey is more about mindset than metabolism, but it’s no less important.

3. The weight is the issue. / “I need to fix my weight problem.”

Your extra weight is a symptom. You may think your weight is your biggest problem, but it’s really a red flag. Even just 5 extra pounds can be a sign that something in your body isn’t working correctly. Low energy, digestive issues, low libido, skin issues, sleep problems—it’s all connected. When you get to the root cause and heal from the inside out, everything falls into place.

4. “It’s not worth it since I only have 10 pounds to lose.”

The real question here is: How are those few pounds affecting your life? You don’t need to have 50 lbs to lose to feel uncomfortable in your clothes—and your skin. It doesn’t matter how much you think you need to lose. If you don’t feel like your best self, then it’s worth addressing, period. While some of our clients have a lot of weight to lose, many of the people we work with have anywhere from 5 to 15 extra pounds. There’s no amount that’s too much or too little for us to tackle. Any extra weight is a sign of an imbalance that deserves to be addressed. Whether you have a lot of weight to lose, or you just want to fit into your favorite jeans again, there is nothing superficial about it.

5. “I hate the gym.”

You don’t have to join a gym to lose weight! While staying physically active is key, we actually don’t want you to kill yourself at the gym. In fact, we may advise that you ease up on workouts altogether! Intense exercise without rest can actually slow your metabolism and keep you from your goal weight. The best approach to working out boosts metabolism without draining your energy—or taking up all of your time.

An example of this is doing exercises like jumping jacks, walking lunges, squats, push-ups, burpees, running up and down stairs, etc.  for 10 minutes— you could go up to 15 or even just start with 5. You are “on” for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of rest. (The break is to allow your body to rest so that you can push yourself hard again, but not so long that it fully recovers between sets.) This type of workout can be done at home without going to a gym, and when the weather is nice, you can do the same type of thing outside—30-second intervals, alternating between running and walking—or skipping if you’re adventurous!

6. I need to prioritize my kids/family.

Your kids and family will be in better hands when you prioritize yourself. I want you to think right now, would it be okay for you to walk up to your child and say, “I hope it’s okay with you that I’m using you as an excuse to stay unhealthy and unhappy.” That’s what happens when we use our family as an excuse for not taking care of ourselves. We need to secure our own oxygen mask before we can be the best helper to everyone in our lives. I hope you know deep down that when you put yourself first, you can be better in every role you play —from mom to wife to friend to employee to co-worker to business owner… all of them!

7. I’ll start on [Monday/January 1st/insert-time-other-than-right-NOW).

No you won’t! (And you know that.) You’ll continue to put it off. Starting the weight loss journey is never going to be convenient, cheap, or easy.  Getting/achieving the best version of yourself does take work! Sorry not sorry for the tough love… this is reality. Make a decision right now to dive in so that you don’t waste another minute letting this suck the life and energy out of you. It’s time to get YOU back. You’re worth it.

8. It’s not working because I’ve been at it for (insert-any-time-less-than-12-months.)

SUSTAINABLE weight loss takes a year (or close to it). Anyone can crash diet for 6-8 weeks, lose a bunch of water weight and look slimmer. But it’s at a cost. That kind of approach plummets your energy levels. So you feel lethargic and pretty miserable. And more importantly, you literally don’t have the energy to stay motivated. Your overall cognition is compromised and THAT’S why you give in, fall off the wagon, and bounce back up in weight.

I would love to invite you to our FREE online Facebook Community, A New Way To Weight Loss! This group is all about helping helping people like you stop the vicious dieting cycle, end the obsession over food and lose weight effortlessly—while enjoying what you eat, and feeling like your happy, confident self again. This as a community where we can connect and support each other and have a conversation with you about your weight loss goals. Click here to join A New Way To Weight Loss!

 

Our bodies are designed to move. We were never meant to sit still all day, and when we get ourselves moving, we feel better in every way. Our circulation and oxygen intake both improve, it revs up our metabolism, we feel happier and more mentally clear and we get stronger, fitter, and more comfortable in our bodies and clothes.

But the tricky thing is, exercise can also make us feel, well, awful — especially when we exercise without the right fuel. Maybe you went into a workout on an empty stomach. Maybe you hit the gym on a belly full of muffins and coffee. Maybe you had a bad week of eating and are trying to counteract it with a workout. In all these cases, your body doesn’t have the nutrition it needs to function well, let alone step up for exercise.

After these “unfueled” workouts, you’re likely to end up exhausted, discouraged, sore, and maybe even hurt. It’s like you were trying to drive your car on diesel fuel. It just doesn’t work! Your car sputters and stalls out, no matter how hard you slam the gas pedal with your foot. And then it costs an arm and a leg to get the darn engine fixed.

In other words, what you put in determines how you work out. Below are my four top suggestions for eating to fuel your fitness, so that you can get the most out of your exercise!

1. Eat healthy fats. (A LOT of them!)

I really can’t say it enough: healthy fats are required for a healthy life, from weight loss to workouts! Healthy fats lubricate and protect your joints and organs. They help your body absorb nutrients, which keep you nourished for exercise. A body fueled up with healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut oil, and real butter) is far more prepared to handle and recover from the stress of exercise — and to be able to use that exercise to get more fit. That’s why I suggest having a couple tablespoons of healthy fat every time you eat — avocado, nuts, seeds, butter, your pick!

2. Eat before you work out.

Be attentive to your body when eating before exercise, so you have the right fuel to work out and feel great throughout the process. Some people can eat seconds before they start moving, while you might need some time to digest and let your stomach settle first. It can help to try some different things and experiment a handful of times to learn what works for you.

You also want to make sure to eat enough for the amount of exercise you’re about to do. If I’m going out for a short run in the morning, I might have half a banana and a spoonful of almond butter, or half of a snack bar (I like Rx Bars) before heading out. If it’s a bigger workout, I’ll have a full meal with all three PFC macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs). A couple eggs and half a sweet potato sauteed in butter? Perfect.

Looking for more ideas for workout fuel? Check out my Ultimate Real Food Recipe Book! With the best (and most satisfying!) balanced recipes you’ll boost your metabolism and shed pounds — while giving yourself the energy to enjoy exercise AND make it count!

3. Wait 30 minutes to eat after your workout.

It’s not the best idea to eat immediately after exercising — especially if it was on the intense side. A half-hour window gets your body into a more relaxed state so you can actually digest your post-workout food, and make the most of it.

After that half-hour time frame, I recommend re-fueling with a full, balanced meal consisting of protein to aid in muscle recovery, healthy fat to support your joints and carbohydrates to replenish the ones you burned for energy and carbs to replenish your glycogen stores that you burned. This meal doesn’t need to be anything special; it just needs to have all three: PFC. You could try eggs and spinach cooked in butter, a chicken breast served over a big salad with olives and feta cheese, or a filet of fish broiled in butter with cooked vegetables.

4. Take supportive supplements.

While there are a few supplements I recommend for workouts, Fish Oil Redefined is one of the best. (Read about the others here!) Everyone should be taking fish oil on a regular basis for a variety of reasons, such as heart and brain health. And it has extra special importance for you and your workouts!

Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil can speed up the healing process after your workout (your muscles break down and need to heal to rebuild) by reducing inflammation caused by exercise-induced stress. They can also help lubricate joints. Taking one of these soft gels at every meal is a great way to promote fast recovery, and taking a couple extra immediately after a workout will reduce soreness, too.

Now, I want to take a moment to point out that while fueling workouts in important, how much you exercise also matters. Exercise that’s too much or too hard on us stresses our bodies out, bumps up our inflammation, and can actually make us hold onto weight (that’s right: too much exercise can cause weight gain!). Read here how to moderate exercise to support your body!

Whether you’re aiming to walk around the park or bench press your personal best, exercise can be a blessing, as long as we fuel up our bodies to make the experience as positive as it can be!

Now, while fueling your fitness properly is important, exercise and food are only two parts in a multi-part equation. In order to lose weight and keep it off — for good — you’ll want to make sure you’re addressing every area! I teach you how in my free training. Check it out here!

If there’s one misguided “rule” about food that my team and I hear from clients again and again (and again), it’s this:

AVOID EATING BEFORE BED.

This food rule is so ingrained it approaches the level of a commandment: Thou shalt not eat after 7pm or 10pm or midnight, lest you gain ten pounds in the night and trolls haunt all of your dreams.

The (awful, terrible, completely false) myth is that a snack before bed puts extra calories in your stomach that sit there and somehow multiply into extra fat on your thighs. I HATE this myth. It is flat-out wrong. Skipping your bedtime snack is what can cause weight gain!

You might already know how I feel about food “rules.” Short version? You have to break the rules that never served you in the first place. (Want to hear how I became a rule breaker, and why it was the best decision EVER? Find out here.)

Not having a bedtime snack is a nonsense rule, and we’re going to break it right now. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but this pre-sleep snack could actually be the key that unlocks your weight loss. Here’s why (and what) you should eat before you start counting sheep:

A bedtime snack stabilizes your blood sugar so you can burn fat while you sleep

When you don’t have a bedtime snack, your blood sugar crashes shortly after you fall asleep. This crash, to put it simply, takes several really important body functions off. Namely, it keeps a hormone called glucagon from working, and glucagon has a very important job when it comes to your weight loss:

Glucagon burns fat. Unfortunately, glucagon can’t do its job while insulin is out doing its job. And if your blood sugar is low, you can bet insulin is trying to get that blood sugar up, which means glucagon is sitting on the sidelines and you’re not burning fat. And that’s when you pack on the pounds.

When you eat the right amounts of the right foods at the right time before sleep (don’t worry, I share suggestions in just two paragraphs!), your blood sugar levels stabilize, which makes it easier to shed pounds. This is like a green light for glucagon to drive in, and burn fat while you sleep.

A bedtime snack sets you up for success the next day

Unstable blood sugar also affects two more hormones related to digestion: ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin controls your feeling of hunger, while leptin controls how full you feel.

When you go to bed without a snack, and your blood sugars destabilize in the night, your ghrelin levels get higher. At the same time, your leptin levels get lower. This makes you wake up feeling like you are starving! You’re not actually starving, of course. You just have high ghrelin levels (and so little leptin) that you feel like it. And that’s when you reach for the carbs and the sugar-filled snacks to satisfy this (false) need.

The bedtime snack keeps this ghrelin-leptin seesaw from happening. So, when you wake up the next morning, you are in a better frame of mind and body to make smart food choices. Not only do you get to eat more with the bedtime snack (who doesn’t love a snack before bed!?), you are also likely to make better choices the next day.

So what should you eat? And exactly when?

Your bedtime snack should be made up of two of the three macronutrients: fats and carbs. (Protein can interfere with sleep so we stick with fat and carbs.) Now, when I say “fats and carbs,” I do not mean ice cream or cookies. These heavily processed, refined foods can be hard to digest, perforate your intestines, and cause chronic inflammation. Processed and refined carbs are so full of sugar that when you eat them before bed, your blood sugars will crash at some point in the night—and when they crash, you won’t sleep very well—you might even wake up.

When I talk about the “perfect” bedtime snack, I’m talking a combination of healthy fats (such as butter, avocado, olives, coconut oil, nuts and seeds) and healthy carbs (fruits and vegetables). Fifteen to 30 minutes before you hit the hay, put together a small combination of your favorite healthy fats and carbs. A few tablespoons for the fat and a ½ cup for the carbs is a good amount, such as full-fat yogurt or heavy cream with a ½ cup of berries. Other yummy choices are guacamole and carrots, almond butter and apple slices, mashed avocado and banana pudding, or coconut oil on top of a sweet potato with cinnamon.

A fat-and-carb bedtime snack won’t just break a bad, outdated rule. It will support your metabolism, which means your body can do fat-burning work while you sleep. Win-win.

Sweet dreams!

It can be hard to sort through all the food rules you’ve learned over the years. Which do you keep? Which do you break? Talk about overwhelming.

Join me on the free training where I break it down into a blueprint that you can apply to your life! There’s no calorie-cutting, no sacrificing, no starving. You’re going to feel full, energized, and satisfied—and in control of your body and your life again. Grab your seat here!

“How do you stay on track?”
“How do you stay focused and productive?”
“How do you get so much done?”

These are questions I get asked regularly — from friends, my team members, people at the gym, and clients.

While I love to be spontaneous and flexible, when it comes to productivity, the name of the game for me is routine and having a plan. For me, it all boils down to 10 simple steps. And it WORKS.

Ok, you may be wondering… why is this weight loss guru talking about productivity?

Well, when you think about it, they are actually quite similar!

When I’m asked, “How do you help people lose weight and keep it off?” the answer is, “I developed a specific methodology.” It’s not luck, or a shot in the dark, or a mystery. The secret here is that there is no secret. There’s a science. A process.

Weight loss and productivity have many parallels. That’s why I thought you’d love to learn about my proven 10-step productivity system… because it will help you in your own life (and likely in your weight loss, too).

My 10 hacks for maximum productivity:

1. A Morning Routine with 3 M’s

Perhaps the most important element of a productive day is your morning routine. For years, I heard this from many experts, but didn’t take it seriously.

Here’s what my days used to look like: Within 5 minutes of waking, I would jump on my computer and start working. “Seize the day!” I’d say, as I sat in that same spot from 6am until my body started to doze off around 11 at night.

I THOUGHT that this is what being productive meant. Work. Work. Work. But the truth was…

I was not being productive or proactive; I was being reactive.

My mind was never clear. I was constantly jumping from one thing to another. My brain was pretty much in crisis mode, alway looking for what had to be done next. Because of this, even though I was doing a lot, I never actually felt accomplished. I always felt like I was a step behind, trying to keep up, playing catch up. It was like playing a game of whack-a-mole all day long!

Starting my day in this headspace was detrimental to the quality of my work, my health, and the quality of my life.

Then I FINALLY realized that…

The brain is at its highest operating power in the morning… and I was giving all of that energy to everyone else’s tasks!

That’s when I started taking control of my mornings with a clear routine.

So now this is what I do.

The recipe for my morning routine essentially has 3 ingredients, what I call the 3 M’s of the morning: Mindset, Movement and Mojo.

Mindset: I start the morning with a time for meditation, prayer and journaling — anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. The key is to get me to a state of peace and gratitude so that everything that flows out of me, comes from a grounded place. A place of peace. Without this step, I fall into old frazzled habits.

Movement: I typically do my “Morning Metabolism Hack” which is a quick run to the coffee shop (more on that in this post), or it might be five minutes of body movement exercises (like push-ups, jumping jacks, and squats), or a few minutes flowing through my favorite yoga poses (like downward facing dog and cobra pose).

Mojo: I find my mojo once I have my PFC-balanced breakfast, supplements and coffee! Breakfast is usually a smoothie because I can make this really fast, and I don’t usually feel like eating a big meal when I wake up, AND I can jam-pack it with tons of supplements and nutrition that fuel my body and brain for the day—like Glutapowder Redefined, Multipowder Redefined and Fruits & Greens Redefined.

Mornings don’t have to be rough. I now enjoy my mornings more than ever. This short routine generates momentum, and makes me feel like I’ve already won the day!

2. I make my bed.

This one is simple. Right when I wake up, I make my bed. It gives me a sense of accomplishment right away, which has a ripple effect on the rest of my day. There may actually be scientific reasons for how this works, but for me personally, I notice that when I make my bed it sets me up for a day of accomplishing things. And because I work from home, for me to be able to focus, my space needs to be tidy. So this is an easy win-win to kick off the day.

3. I declutter.

On the regular. And I think this goes beyond the simple fact that I normally work from home and like a clean space. I think decluttering my space also declutters my brain.

So, I’ve been working really hard at leading more of a minimalist lifestyle, getting rid of clutter and extra stuff, and the more I move toward that, the more freedom I find.

Full disclosure: This has been something that’s been super challenging for me. I was raised to be very resourceful (we got our clothing from garage sales, never threw anything out, and didn’t waste anything). This is probably why it’s been hard for me to get rid of stuff.

I’ve realized that having extra, unnecessary, unused things occupies energy and space in my mind. Abiding by the rule “If it’s not beautiful, you don’t love it, or haven’t used it in a year, it goes” makes it super simple.

It also means less stuff to take care of, and less decisions to make.

That’s why, for instance, when I speak, you’ll see me wearing the same blue dress just about every time. When I’m preparing for a big speech, the last thing I want to do is waste precious brain space and mental energy trying on dresses or rummaging through my closet. I feel great in the blue one, so that’s the one I rock. Just about every time.

4. I put limits on social media.

I have an urge to check my phone right when I wake up, but I’ve made a huge effort to put this to a halt, and instead go into the first M of my morning routine (mindset). I don’t want the first things to enter my brain to be other people’s lives or what’s happening in the world. So, I save my brain space for my own tasks and projects, and I set aside time later in the day to check and post on social media. I also schedule some of my posts so that some days I can take a social media hiatus (you’ll notice my posts aren’t always in the evenings).

5. I plan my day.

By deciding what’s most important, organizing and preparing for the day, you can easily make your way through the day knowing what to focus on. At the end of every day (or after my last work task of the day), I regroup, cross off everything I did, and organize my priorities for the next day by creating a “Tomorrow List.” Then the next morning, I revisit this list to plan out my day. Planning your day allows you to proactively choose where to focus.

As I’m planning, I make note of the projects I need to work on, and I write out a to-do list on paper so I can cross out items as I get them done. This gives me a great sense of accomplishment!

During this planning time, I also make sure to schedule in a workout if it’s a day where my body feels up for it (read this post for more on my workouts).

I have my calendar set so that no calls are scheduled before 10am, because the morning is my most productive time, and I want it dedicated to my own projects and program development—not someone else’s (it’s okay to be selfish with your time!).

This entire planning process takes less than 5 minutes (some at the end of the day and some at the start of the next day).

6. Do the dreaded thing first.

Have you heard the term “eat the frog”? It comes from Brian Tracy, author of “Eat the Frog,” and he bases his morning philosophy off of a quote from Mark Twain:

“If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.”

The “frog” he refers to is your most important task—the one you’re dreading the most because it’s so huge and important. (You know what I’m talking about. Ever had that task sit at the top of your to-do list for days… maybe even weeks? And you find that it never seems to get done!? I sure have.) Creating the habit to do your biggest task first can give you a huge boost of accomplishment first thing, AND it gets it done! Putting off tough tasks until the end of the day makes it so much harder because we have a much lower brain capacity. Get it out of the way and move on!

I’ve referred to brain capacity a couple of times already in this post, so let me expand on it now: It’s all about managing your energy. Just like it’s important to manage your time, you need to manage your energy. We (ideally after a good night’s sleep!) start with our energy up, and it drains gradually throughout the day. Think of the brain like a muscle: just like any other muscle it gets fatigued the more you use it. So, as the day goes on, it wears out, until you let it rest and recover for a night. Then, when you wake up after a restful night, it is refreshed, sharp and ready to use again!

My biggest downfall (maybe yours too?) is giving away my energy to help other people get their work done (email, calls, etc). That’s why, when I plan my day, I aim to tackle one of my biggest projects first thing. When you start with a big task (“frog)”, it’s easier to do it, and then the rest of your day looks pretty awesome by comparison.

It’s most productive to get an hour or more of work done on one of your frogs that takes a lot of focus, will and determination to complete before “the rest of the world” gets into your day.

7. I stay ahead of my inbox.

And, I also limit my time in there. I’ve notice that it’s so easy to get wrapped up in an overflowing inbox. Before I know it, hours have passed!

So, I try to limit my time to 15 minutes in there in the morning. Because I have a team of many people, I do need to check my inbox in the morning to give direction, and answer quick questions so things can get done. My solution is to set a timer to hold me accountable to my 15 minute limit.

A key hack I learned from a friend that has been a total game changer for me is to keep my inbox to ZERO (another thing that makes me feel accomplished!!!). I created an Action folder, so anything that will take me longer than 2 minutes to respond to, or that I can’t delegate to someone else, is moved there. This makes it easy for me to spend 15-20 minutes in my inbox and get through everything. Then I block out time on my schedule later to get through the Action folder emails.

8. I use blue light blocking goggles.

There are all sorts of apps to block out blue light to promote restful sleep (blue light has a negative effect on your sleep), but the most effective option is these sexy goggles. They help to filter out the blue light emitted by screens as the day goes on. I find it helpful to wear these nerdy blue light blocking goggles to help me wind down and prep for sleeping. Also, the iPhone has a built in “Night Shift” option (look in your settings).

9. Power Hours.

Power hours are dedicated time to focus on a specific task or project, and get it done. My friend Stacie told me about these. I do these throughout the day, but also if I have a free evening or on a weekend or vacation if I just want to crank out some work really quick and move on, I’ll set my Be Focused PRO app for 60 minutes, turn on Brain FM and crank it out.

10. I delegate.

This concept has been key to not only help me be more productive with my time, but also (and perhaps most importantly), has allowed me to live a more balanced life (and practice what I preach!). By giving certain tasks away to my team members, I can use my energy for projects that demand more of my attention, and not spend time on ones that don’t.

Often I am asked, “How do you do it all?” And the answer is, I DON’T. While the brand “Redefined Weight Loss” may appear to be just me, that’s not even close to the truth. We have an amazing team of full time staff members from our operations manager to customer support to dietitians to graphic design, IT, and finance. It took me too long to learn the importance of delegating but once I began reaping the benefits, it became one of my most favorite things to do. 🙂 Since brain capacity is NOT an unlimited resource, delegating allows me to use mine for what matters most. This can apply to anything in life. Find the tasks that aren’t important for you to do, and practicing giving some of those away!

Click here to download my free 1-page PDF that I used to develop my morning routine!