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.

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). 

No matter the efforts we make to be successful on our health and weight loss journeys, there will likely always be obstacles and speed bumps we hit along the way that are out of our control. I aim to teach my clients, and want to teach you how you can hold steady amidst the chaos, busy and out of control feeling moments, so in this blog, I’ll highlight three of the most common mistakes I find people make (including me!) and show you how to navigate them to help you stay consistent even when you can find every reason… not to.

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.

Whether you are changing body composition, losing weight, decreasing body fat, increasing muscle or desiring to look more ‘toned’… you are not going to achieve a sustainable result by using restriction, a quick/fix or any extreme method.

Most fail in their weight loss results because they fail in their strategy. You must be willing to put in the extra time and effort to trial different strategies to find what works. You will fail in the process and this information will help you find your strategy.

When it comes to mindset, it often gets overlooked but there’s actually a lot to unpack!

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!)

One of the principal components of holistic health coaching is mindset. It’s an area that is sometimes missed in general nutrition and fitness coaching. It includes things like thought patterns, self talk and motivation. I want to discuss the beliefs that might be standing in your way when it comes to weight loss and how to learn how to be successful in your health journey.

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.

The number one factor that stalls client’s health journeys is consistency. So many women (and men!) come to us as holistic health coaches having tried countless diets and health programs only to fail and return to where they started. Our coaches focus on teaching you the how in the process so that you can build a lifestyle that supports your health and wellness goals long term. If you’re struggling with consistency, read this.

Many clients continue with fad diets that don’t work for YEARS before coming to a health coach. So we want to break down how to recognize when holistic health coaching is for you.

We help busy women (and men), like you, to build better thoughts, make better decisions and choose better actions in their nutrition, health and fitness. We teach you the how and help you create strategies and tools for long term support in your wellness and weight loss journey.

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?