The holidays are a time for family, food, and gratitude, but they can also be a landmine for our fitness and nutrition goals. As a transformational nutrition coach, I understand the challenge! We all want to enjoy the holiday without sabotaging the progress we've worked so hard to achieve. A great way to do this is to exercise or squeeze in some activity throughout the season, especially on days when festivities and heavy meals are on the horizon. This will help manage stress, boost your mood, burn extra calories, and even improve your mindset!

Here are some holiday workout tips that will make your season amazing and keep you on track.

1. Plan to Exercise the Day of Festivities

The morning of an event, big meal, or party is your best opportunity to set the tone for the day. Commit to a workout first thing — even 20-30 minutes of movement will make a big difference. Whether it’s a strength circuit, a brisk run, or your favorite class, getting active early helps offset some...

Going out for meals can be so much fun—but it can be a challenge for some. Many of my clients worry about dining out at restaurants when they’re trying to diet or struggle with weight issues. The concern is so understandable! But the good news is, there are strategies you can use to master the art of dining out without derailing your weight loss efforts.

1. Don’t Arrive Hungry

When you go to a restaurant, it can take some time to get seated, place your order and then wait for your entrée to arrive—hence, the bread and butter, tortilla chips and other diet spoilers they put on the table to tide us over. Instead of dipping into this well of fattening carbs and other calorie-laden food, have a healthy snack before you go. Pop a handful of nuts, a piece of fruit, or some Greek yogurt so that you’ll be able to hold out for your entrée.

2. Preview the Menu in Advance

An easy way to stay on track is by researching the restaurant’s menu...

Practicing gratitude is more than saying thank you–it’s a powerful habit that can improve your mental, emotional, and physical health. Regularly focusing on and appreciating positive areas of your life changes your perspective, reduces stress, and has life-changing effects on your body and mind. As a transformational nutrition coach, it’s one of my favorite practices to recommend. Literally nothing but good comes from practicing gratitude!

A gratitude practice is a science-backed method for improving your overall well-being. It shifts your focus to the positives in your life, which helps develop feelings of abundance and happiness. 

Here are some of the amazing benefits of gratitude.

Stress Reduction

Stress causes a fight-or-flight response in your parasympathetic nervous system that raises blood pressure, makes your heart beat faster, and triggers surges in cortisol and adrenaline. Expressing gratitude helps calm the nervous system and lowers blood pressure,...

When you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle, or are following a low carb diet, it’s important to consume lots of protein, preferably the lean kind. It’s essential for building lean muscle mass,  repairing muscles after exercise and promoting healthy digestion. The more lean muscle mass we build, the more calories we burn on a daily basis, as it is more metabolically active than fat. Lean muscle also improves bone density, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular health.

While lean chicken, pork, fish, and grass-fed beef are good mainstays, there are also plenty of other sources that are perfect for those following a low-carb, vegan or vegetarian diet. The following foods are packed with protein as well as some of the essential nutrients our bodies need to function properly.

1. Chia Seeds

One eight-ounce serving contains a whopping 4.4 grams of protein. More importantly, these tiny little seeds are considered a “complete protein,” which means...

Workout success isn't just about having the right trainer, going to the coolest gym or achieving minor gains–it’s about the right mindset. Our thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes can make or break our fitness routine and seriously impact our overall health. As a transformational nutrition coach, I work with clients to shift their mindset to uplevel their diets and workouts, and achieve optimal results. 

Here are five mindset shifts that can help you change your approach to exercise and uplevel your workouts. 

1. Positive Attitude

Approach every workout with a positive attitude. Know that you’re doing healthy things for your body and promoting longevity. Strive to do a little more each day with the understanding that you’re getting better at exercising with each workout and taking steps towards a healthier life. Even on the days you don’t feel your best, show up with what you have with the understanding that you’re still making progress...

Lean protein is essential for a healthy diet—whether you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle, or improve your overall health. As a transformational nutrition coach, I often recommend a diet rich in lean protein because it is a weight loss powerhouse! It is the most thermic of all macronutrients, which means it requires more energy to digest and metabolize, and it builds lean muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories every day. Lean protein also staves off cravings and helps you feel fuller longer so that you can control your hunger and make better choices.

Here are 5 easy ways to add more protein to your daily routine.

1. Start With Protein-Packed Breakfasts

Swap sugary cereals or refined grain pastries for protein-rich options like eggs, Greek yogurt, chia seed pudding or protein smoothies. These options offer a substantial dose of protein but also help keep you feeling satisfied and energized throughout the morning.

2. Snack Smart

Opt for protein-packed snacks...

When you’re trying to lose weight and transform your body, there are many factors to consider. You’ll want to work on your mindset, adopt a healthy lifestyle and take basic steps like increasing your daily calorie burn. In short, you’ll need to increase the number of calories you expend daily and try to eat less calories than you burn. This requires a commitment to exercise and setting fitness goals, which a transformational nutrition coach can really help you with.

Read on for a few ways to burn more calories in your everyday life.

Elevate Your Cardio

One of the best ways to improve your overall health and boost your caloric burn is cardiovascular training. This doesn’t mean jumping on the same machine every day and doing the same number of minutes. To boost results and caloric burn, you’ll need to regularly increase the intensity and duration of your workouts. In other words: UPLEVEL CONTINUOUSLY. The longer time you exercise increases both the...

When you’re trying to lose weight and transform your body, it’s essential to consume protein—yet it’s just as important to get the macronutrients your body needs to build lean muscle and be as healthy as possible. Macronutrients are vitamins and minerals that your body can’t produce on its own but requires to function properly, which means they must come from your diet or supplements. The good news is, you can get these macronutrients from produce, especially green vegetables.

As a transformational nutrition coach, I recommend incorporating some of the following veggies into your diet to get closer to your weight loss goal while boosting your overall health.

1. Kale

There’s a reason this green leafy veggie continues to trend—it’s loaded with vitamins A, C and K, a fat-soluble nutrient that helps proteins bond to calcium ions. It’s also rich in dietary fiber, so it helps satiate your hunger, and is an excellent source of other...

Have you fallen off track lately? Sometimes life gets in the way of our healthy lifestyle and weight loss goals, which makes for an ideal time for a session with a transformational nutrition coach. Whether it’s a big weekend or event, holiday, vacation or something else that throws you off track, don’t get down on yourself—and don’t give up those weight loss or wellness goals. Resist the urge to get out the scale and beat yourself up—instead follow these steps to get right back on track with your healthy lifestyle.

1. Don’t Give Into Guilt

While overindulging is not something I promote, I don’t advocate guilt either. Beating yourself up for going astray will only make you feel worse. Instead, think of it as a learning experience. Evaluate and come up with strategies for handling the next big weekend that comes your way. What could you have done differently? What triggered you to give in to cravings? What can you do differently the next time?...

Are you struggling to lose weight? Sometimes, even when we work out regularly and follow the best meal plan, we may not see the scale budge. This can be due to obstacles we are unaware of that are keeping us from hitting our weight loss goals. As a transformational nutrition coach, I see these obstacles often. The good news is, they can be identified and addressed so that you can achieve the success you’re working so hard to achieve.

Here are three common obstacles and ways to break through them.

1. Too Much Stress

We all have different levels of stress associated with work, families and social lives, in addition to our health. That stress can accumulate or turn into anxiety, which increases your levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. This leads to belly fat, sugar binges and fat cravings, which all contribute to weight gain. Keep your stress in check by adopting some new techniques for reducing its impact on your life. Learn now to meditate, go for a walk...