Lifestyle

What’s Your Body Really Craving?

1 Comment / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Many of us live on a schedule, and make choices based on habits. Most of the time, our decisions are based on what’s right or in the norm versus how we’re feeling.

We eat the boring iceberg salad with fat-free dressing because we’re trying to slim down, even though we may really want the juicy, grass-fed burger. We sign up for 5 cardio classes in one work-week to stay in shape, even though we may really need some yoga (or heck, even a nap.) We do what’s right and punish ourselves for being “bad” when we do what we presume to be wrong.

How is this behavior showing up in your life?

This week, I’ve been lacking on the fitness front and old me would have beat myself up about it. New me realizes my body needed rest, nourishment and replenishing. Instead of ignoring my body’s signals by forcing myself to run it off on the treadmill for hours (old me), I now understand the beauty of looking within and taking a break. And this morning’s 7 a.m. Vinyasa flow at Back Bay Yoga with the lovely Cara Gilman totally hit the spot.

After all, our bodies are smart, and … Read More!

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The Beauty of Slowing Down

6 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

I live a very fast-paced, go-go-go, give it my all, “you can sleep when you’re dead” lifestyle most of the time (as I assume most blossoming entrepreneurs do.) It’s full of passion, excitement, life and color! Staying up late letting the creative juices flow…parking it at coffee shops for the day to hit last-minute deadlines…taking chances…booking meetings…picking up the phone…showing up…saying “Yes.”

I won’t lie: while it’s wildly inspiring and entertaining sometimes it can be plain exhausting. Exhausting to the point of burn out, fatigue and “enough.” Does that mean I’m not cut out for it? Not one bit.

You see, what I realized lately is that you don’t have to pick one or the other: the “play it safe” unplugged life or the fast ‘n’ furious audacious life. Rather, they can play off each other and you can have the best of both worlds. You can create your perfect blend.

How? By slowing down (when you need to). It’s wonderful to live a life full of wild excitement, but if you suddenly get too wrapped up in being “on” all the time, that may be a sign that it’s time for you to slow down, take a break … Read More!

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Monday Inspiration: On Starting Over

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

I used to think that starting over was impossible — it seemed completely out of my reach.

If I over-indulged for a weekend in college, I’d punish myself for being “bad” and “ruining” my diet by starving myself and stuffing my face with sugar-free, low-cal crap.

And if I made a mistake, chose the wrong path or felt “stuck” in a life I didn’t love, I’d think there was nothing I could do about it. This is just how it is. It’s “too late.”

I now know it’s never too late to start over & create the life you want for yourself. With this new mindset, I’ve left jobs that didn’t feel right to me, let go of a toxic “relationship” that was draining me, broke up with the scale, and released the thoughts “I can’t.”

By doing so, I have found a career path that makes me stay up late at night feeling inspired, I know what real love feels like, I have developed a healthy & fun relationship with food and I now tell myself “I can do it” as much as possible.

You see, it truly is never too late. Your life is like a blank … Read More!

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Flashback Friday + 40 Reasons I’m Head Over Heels for Summer

3 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Happy first day of summer ladies! The day has finally come…let the celebrations commence. I don’t know about you, but summer didn’t always bring up warm, happy, fuzzy feelings for me. In fact, it gave me a whole lot of anxiety to tell you the truth.

Pool parties, beach days, bikinis, BBQs, and heck even my birthday brought up lots of negative emotions for me. “Why can’t I have her body?” “How can I hide my ginormous, fat thighs at the beach?” “What can I do to work off all the ‘bad food’ I ate last night?” “Great…another birthday…another year…and I’m still single AND heavier than last year.”

Oh the endless guilt, self-hate and body-bashing. It was pure torture.

Once I quit dieting and began to fall in love with life, the weight started to come off, the negative emotions started to fade and I started to be a little nicer to my body.

Alas, summer has by far become my favorite season once again. Without further adieu, here are 40 reasons why summer gets my heart pumpin’!

1. Camping trips with zero makeup, zero distractions and zero drama

2. My birthday. July 5th that is. It’s a day to … Read More!

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Do You Need to Re-think Your To-Do List?

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Last week, I was meeting with one of my clients talking about goals, dreams and all that good stuff. I really like to get deep inside the eyes of my clients to find out what drives, motivates, and really lights them up. When we got to the part where we discussed any blockages or things getting in the way from living the life of her dreams, she simply said “My weight.” In fact, “Lose weight” was at the top of every to-do list she had ever created for herself.

I then asked her what she’d be doing, eating, living, seeing, being if her weight was not a factor in living the life of her dreams. I soon found out that not only was her weight holding her back from being comfortable in her clothing, but it was preventing her from doing things she truly loves like connecting with people on a deeper level, taking zumba classes and being truly happy in her own skin.

That right there was a huge wake up call, one that she needed to see. One that we all need to see every once and a while. So what did I have my client do? … Read More!

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Friday Flashback: Why Confidence Plays a Role in Your Weight Loss Journey

3 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Good afternoon lovely ladies, and Happy Friday! This week’s Friday Flashback has to do with something that’s  been on my mind a lot lately: confidence.

To me, confidence means trusting your inner self to guide you & feeling certain that things will work themselves out. It’s knowing that, even though things aren’t perfect just yet, everything is going to be OK.

Often times, confidence gets a bad rap, mistaken for cockiness or being arrogant. But today I’m going to talk about the other end of the spectrum…when you let your confidence (or lack there of) hold you back and prevent you from living your greatest potential.

Back when I was dieting and in a pretty messed up relationship with the scale, my confidence level was about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 100. While I went about my day all smiles pretending everything was “perfect,” in the inside I was struggling.

I felt unhappy with my weight, weighing myself 2, 3, 5 times a day hoping that a drop in numbers would make me truly happy, only it didn’t. Every time the scale went up a pound, my confidence (and self-worth for that matter) would take a … Read More!

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Healthy Chick(en), Broccoli & Avocado Fettuccine “Alfredo”

7 Comments / Food & Recipes, Lifestyle /

I’ll let you in on a little secret: my go-to requested birthday meal is Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken Parmesan. Yes, the two of them together. But it has to be homemade by my mother. And it only tastes that good on my birthday. It is my birthday meal, after all. I simply adore the combination of a hearty, homemade marinara with the creamy white Alfredo. Not a likely combination, but it’s genius.

Sometimes I think I could eat that meal every day for the rest of my life, but then again it wouldn’t taste as good that way. Since it isn’t my birthday every day (and no one should consume that amount of cream & cheese 365 days of the year), I’ve created my own health-i-fied version. The Healthy Chicks version.

Using avocados in place of cream and just a pinch of optional parmesan cheese, you can feel a bit more confident indulging. I’m not saying you should eat this meal every day of the year either, but you can feel a little better about it (as will your tummy) when you do prepare it. Enjoy!

Healthy Chick(en), Broccoli & Avocado Fettuccine “Alfredo”

Makes 4 to 5 servings

What Ya … Read More!

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How to Ditch Dieting & MindBodyGreen Post

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Do you weigh yourself 2, 3, 5 times a day?

Do you  let the number on the scale control your emotions & make or break your day?

Are you sick and tired of yo-yo dieting and ready to make changes for REAL?

Do you constantly compare yourself to your friends, co-workers, siblings, etc.?

Do you put food into two categories: “good” and “bad?”

Do you constantly tell yourself you’re fat, ugly and not skinny or pretty enough?

Have you tried everything…and I mean everything?

Are you fed up with counting calories, and ready to make the bigger things count?

I know, it’s not fun. I’ve know because, well, that used to be me.

I’ve been in your shoes! That’s why I’ve created a brand new program “Ditch Dieting, Fall in Love with Yourself” 90-Day Mind/Body Transformation to break through all that “stuff” holding you back & create a life you love.

For me, one of the most integral parts of ditching the diet-obsessed living was breaking up with the scale. Like any breakup, it isn’t easy but once you move on everything becomes so much more clear. Read my post “How I Broke Up With The … Read More!

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