As a health and nutrition coach, I look into clients’ lifestyles to get to the root of their weight loss blockages. I do not claim that diet can cure mental health issues because there are a lot of individualized factors leading to them that need professional guidance. But I do know that diet is a controllable factor that can help to reduce symptoms. 

So, in this blog I’m going to discuss vitamins, minerals and nutrients that can decrease the burden of depressive disorders and what foods they can be found in.

Embarking on a journey towards a healthier lifestyle can seem hard, but with the guidance of a qualified Naperville nutrition coach, it becomes an exciting adventure. Here's how you can get started and create lasting changes to your well-being.

Clients have followed diets and workout plans found online for years with only yo-yo results. As a health coach, I get to the roots of their weight loss difficulties and through nutrition, health and fitness coaching, find a lifestyle and plan that will ensure consistency, and therefore, long-lasting results. 

There is always a checklist I run through to find where they could have been going wrong in their health journey up until now.

I’m too busy to work out. I don’t have the time to think about nutrition nor prepare my food. My sleep is all over the place. I feel stressed ALL the time.

These are just a few things my health coaches and I hear regularly. If this is you, then read on. We can give you manageable tips to make more time in your day for doing the things you need to do to move the needle in the direction you desire. Building the foundations strong is how you sustain your health and therefore a body shape you no longer have to work for but can actually live in.

If I could permanently eliminate one myth from your mind it would be this: 

less calorie-in and more calorie-out = successful weight loss

This is a strategy 9 out of 10 individuals I talk to have tried, initially with some success, but quickly finding their way back to the same weight (or more) than what they weighed before starting. There’s so many factors that need to be taken into account when losing weight, from lifestyle habits and movement, to sex hormones, cortisol and thyroid hormones. So, I want to provide you some knowledge surrounding this strategy and educate you.

Why? This myth can be so damaging.

I get a lot of women coming to me with what they call a ‘slow metabolism’. Usually this is due to desiring weight loss or fat loss. However, there are many roles your metabolism plays in your health that are important to know including: converting food and drink into energy to sustain life, and bodily functions like building and repairing the body and getting rid of waste (all of which are directly affected by hormone regulation playing a role in fat distribution, appetite and energy burning). 

We have all found ourselves reaching for the chocolate or pretzels as that afternoon energy slump starts up and unfortunately it often comes with a slice of guilt and not much of an improvement. Let me teach you how to knock that energy dip out of the way with some simple shifts in your food choices (even with all the busy in your life) and with the bonus of making anyone who has a goal of weight loss, set up for an easier time making it happen.

Most clients come to weight loss coaches with a similar story:

They’ve been trying to lose and/or maintain their weight for years with unsuccessful sustainability.

They’re too busy to find time to focus on nutrition and fitness, they opt for quick fix diets and extreme exercise plans. The weight drops but the results don’t last.

Sound familiar? Thought so and girl, you’re not alone.

The biggest tip I can share for supporting fat loss: Eat for muscle gain vs fat loss.

If you are seeking fat loss to change the way your body looks, you have it ALL backwards.

Gaining muscle will change your body shape MUCH more than losing fat will. Not to mention, you’ll improve your hormones and metabolism too. Talk about a triple win.

Eating more fruit and veg is one of the most common areas for improvement I see, I call it micro-nourishment.

Most often, diets teach us to focus on how much we are eating, that "calories are king" and flexible dieting with macronutrients is queen. When we are busy it’s simpler to only look at calorie intake as we grab a quick working lunch but as a nutrition coach, I find clients usually have a lack of emphasis on what they’re consuming. I’m talking about nutrients, vitamins and minerals. They are what make the difference in weight loss.

I talk a lot about “What TO do” to sustain your weight loss, however some minds think better in “What NOT to do” - this is for you. Most of us make the same health and weight loss mistakes, and most of us repeat them for years before seeking a nutrition or fitness coach. You might not quite be at that stage, (reach out if you are!) so for now, let’s discuss the top 4 dieting mistakes.

Countless women come to me saying “I just can’t stop overeating at night!”. From here we have to dig deep to get to the roots of the problem before we can change habits and get them on track for their health and weight loss goals (this one major benefit of health coaching!)

Stress isn’t always bad. In fact, we need a certain amount of stress to thrive. What is more commonly the issue with stress is the amount and type of stress balance in our day to day lifestyle. Stress, or too much of it, is a root to so many discomforts and diseases.

For women, stress tends to be at the root of things like sex hormone imbalances, pms and menstrual cycle dysregulation, digestive discomforts, slow metabolism and weight loss resistance.

Time and time again I see women turn to diets where they: Restrict foods they love, eliminate entire food groups, eat as little as possible and follow diets without understanding IF it’s right for their body and situation.

I see it leaves those same women high and dry without results, a worse relationship with food and a harder struggle the next time they try to get their body to respond.

Is this you too?

The internet is flooded with weight loss coaches and nutrition gurus but how do you know who to trust? Something that frustrates me as a holistic health coach, is the phrase ‘weight loss nutrition’. This is a myth. Let me teach you why and what nutrition coaching really is.

Often women seek health coaching after they feel like they have exhausted all diet and fitness plans.

They tell me that nothing has worked: They are tired of chasing fat loss, want to see their muscle tone, can lose weight but always regain it, think they’re metabolism is broken and want to know if they can improve it and they REALLY want to lose the fat and be the best version of themselves.

So what if we rebranded dieting and weight loss, and thought of them in a different way? How would that affect your metabolism? How could you optimize it rather than blaming it?

When starting with a 1:1 coaching client I will often ask,

“what do you think it takes to get past a weight loss plateau?”

This client could have come to me for a variety of reasons, common ones are wedding weight loss, postpartum health, digestive issues or just being too busy with their career to dedicate time to their health and fitness. Regardless of their pain points and end goals, the answers I get are all pretty similar with versions of, “I need to: Eat less, eat more fruit and veggies, work out more and for longer, control myself around food and eat out less”

After our initial consultation, these answers change dramatically. Read on to find out how to get yourself out of the plateau (it’s NOT to eat less and do more)!

We have all (including me) tried random diets, workouts and weight loss techniques we have seen online or heard from other people. Even though they don’t deliver long lasting results, we still try them. Stop and ask yourself, how long have I been trying to lose weight? Trying to feel better? Trying to follow through on that behavior? Here I share the simple truths behind our ‘random acts’ of health and what you should be doing instead.

Trust in your body should be innate, but after talking with so many women hearing them blame their body for how they are feeling, I know it is not innate.

Have you set yourself rules like “no pasta or peanut butter” or “workout EVERY day”? These are not sustainable and will actually be hindering your efforts to lose weight. Your body will not trust you and you will not trust yourself.

Through making mistakes myself in a 15+ year pursuit for health, I have developed methods for gaining trust in my body that I now share with other busy women through coaching.

Not eating enough can lead to a TON of health problems: disrupted sleep, hair loss and hormone imbalance to name a few. I know that often what we eat, when and how much, gets put second behind our demanding job, busy mom-life and social commitments. But by not paying attention to our eating habits, such health problems can affect other aspects of our lives. Let me break down the importance of eating the right amount.