• Have I gained weight? No. 
• Was my muscle suddenly hijacked and replaced by fat overnight? No.
• Did my metabolism fall apart while I slept? I seriously doubt it.

Here’s the thing - I’ve lived through most of my 30s now, and I distinctly remember having fat days in high school, then college and even my 20s…which were probably the roughest. The difference between then and now is that I talked about it a lot – or at least in retrospect it seemed like I did. I can’t tell you the number of times I uttered the words, “Does this make me look fat?”  First of all, who in their right mind is going to answer that question honestly? Second, what good does it do? 

Negative Talk = Negative Thinking = Negative Outlook = Negative Talk = Negative Thinking…

Interestingly enough, a recent study done through Notre Dame’s Body Image and Eating Disorder Lab revealed that people generally like us less when we talk “fat” about our own bodies. Bottom line, people don’t like it when you diss yourself. What’s more, the study showed that fat talk can cause body dissatisfaction. 

I’m no psychologist, and the rest of this is simply my opinion, but having done my masters thesis on the perception of the female body in media, I’m well-acquainted with how badly women can feel about themselves, especially their bodies. There is a big distinction between a couple fat days a month and clinical body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). “Fat days” are usually fleeting. You feel gross. You feel fat. You don’t like how you look. You get over it. BDD, on the other hand, is characterized by obsessive negative thoughts about one’s appearance – lasting from several hours a day to an entire day. 

Why Fat Talk is Bad

I’m a big believer in being positive. A positive attitude creates positive energy. It lifts you up and makes you feel better about yourself. People can sense it when they’re around you. Life is generally a little rosier. When we’re negative, and this includes being self-depricating, everything seems less bright. We create negative energy, have a less-than-positive attitude and people get sick of it fast. Before I make myself sounds all Pollyanna, there are some exceptions when it comes to self-deprication…at least in my world.

I like to make fun of myself from time to time. At least daily, I will make a joke about me at my own expense. For instance, if you’re a fan of my Facebook page, you’ve probably noticed that a GREAT many of my posts come fully equipped with grammatical errors. In fact, one of my recent posts, something I worked on for about an hour to put together, included the image of a scale and about two sentences. I noticed the error about nine hours later – far too late. It’s kind of mortifying for me when this happens. How I couldn’t catch that a word I learned to spell in second grade was misspelled is beyond me. In situations like this, I feel it’s entirely appropriate to make comments to people around you (in my case, my husband), like, “I can’t believe I can even speak in full sentences!” or “I have no idea how I’m even capable of getting out of bed in the morning.” 

On the flip side, if I were to walk up to my husband and say something like, “I’m so fat. Nothing looks good on me,” well…that’s a little different, especially if I make comments like that day after day. It’s self-depricating, yes, but it’s just not the same. A lot of people might refer to this as “venting” or commiserating – often times with friends. I say misery loves company. I’m hardly saying no one should talk about things that are negative, I’m just saying talking about YOU in a positive way will lead to a more positive outcome. 

Keep in mind, when I work with clients, I fully expect them to express why they’re dissatisfied with their bodies, if they are at all. They’re making a positive change by working with me – and I know they’ll feel great after we get to work. 

When it comes to your body satisfaction, it’s up to you to make it happen and the first step is to stop letting the “fat talk” come out of your mouth. Whether you think you’ve got a great body or not, focussing on the good things about you (and we ALL have them) can completely change your outlook. Maybe not overnight, but it will happen quick enough.

Other things that perpetuate body satisfaction include doing healthy things for your body. It takes a little bit of self-discipline, but here are a few tips:

• Exercise most days of the week, exerting yourself intensely at least a few minutes of every workout. (“feel good” opiates get a boost)
• Eat unprocessed foods. (most processed foods possess chemicals and additives that can cause water retention, weight gain, etc)
• Drink lots of water. (dehydration can cause head aches, make you feel hungry and slow your metabolism really fast)
• Eat veggies all day long. (think of veggies as super fresh vitamins and minerals)
• Give at least one other person a compliment every day…and mean it. (people are awesome and they should know it!)
• Avoid negative news and try to separate yourself from gossip and negative talk. (it’s petty and doesn’t help anything)
• If you’re a “mirror-watcher” and have a tendency to focus on the trouble zones of your body, avoid mirrors. (mirrors are great for make up, hair, a quick check before leaving the house and to make sure our skirts aren’t tucked into our panties – that’s it).

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) is exactly what it sounds like. It’s muscular pain associated with a workout completed, usually in the last 24 hours. When I work with a client – and we’ve done a new exercise, something their body hasn’t done in a while, or if they’re just starting a workout regime, I let them know that they might be a little sore the next day. Sometimes the pain is mild, leaving muscles tight, but with that feeling that you know you’ve done something. Sometimes the pain is severe, making it challenging to walk down the stairs, stand up from a chair or turn over in bed. 

I’ve had clients who are in agony the day after doing a series of body weight only exercises, such as lunges or push ups. They’ve called me saying they think “something is really wrong.” I’m not a doctor and I can’t diagnose, but I do ask them to describe the pain. When they tell me that they’re legs burn just to sit down on the toilet, I let them know that it’s probably just DOMS. 

If You Have DOMS

• Drink lots of water: expect that you’ll be sore after a workout, so start right away
• Keep moving: you’ll get the blood flowing through the muscles, pushing the build up of lactic acid out of the tissue
• Get back in the saddle: it may sound crazy to workout with sore muscles, but the pain will diminish significantly shortly after you start your workout
• Work muscle groups on non-consecutive days: If your legs are sore today because you did lunges until they came out your ears, then don’t do lunges today. Even though you might be a little sore tomorrow, you’re probably ok to do lunges again. I always recommend that my clients work any given muscle group on non-consecutive days. (applies to strength training only, not cardio)
• Eat protein: Whether you’ll develop DOMS or not, your window of opportunity for protein after a hard strength training workout is 15 to 30 minutes. Eat or drink something with plenty of high quality protein. 
• Don’t freak out: DOMS is common and happens to everyone who exercises at some point or another.

When It’s Not DOMS

If you have unusual joint pain, chest pain, neck pain, low back pain, bruising or feel something pull (or tear), seek medical attention immediately. This isn’t DOMS, and could be something much more serious. Sometimes in cases like this, waiting can make the situation worse. 

Cardiovascular Exercise-Related Pain

Conditioning our bodies, muscles, lunges, joints and brain is an important part of any form of exercise. Cardio exercise, when pushing hard enough, can cause a burning feeling in the lungs, too. Respirations are higher and people generally have a hard time catching their breath. Anyone who has run a 5K , 10K or some other shorter endurance race can probably relate to this. This feeling of discomfort is normal, and probably can’t be sustained for too long (less than a minute to 45 minutes or so – depending on previous training). 

Personally, I think mental conditioning is half the battle. Longer runs, bike rides, swims, or stints on the elliptical machine, etc., require patience and self discipline. I’m not a big fan of long, slow workouts, nor do I think people should spend too much time doing them, but developing the ability to not just tolerate longer workouts, and actually enjoy them, will make getting into great shape that much easier. 

I have dozens of workouts on my website that are free and available for anyone to do. Check them out! 

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

Right now I can’t remember the reason I wanted to have the party in our house and not some place that we could love and leave, like a place called Pump It Up, a really popular bouncy house play area, but it all worked out. Two hours go by really fast! For me, the most entertaining and surprising thing was not the balloon artist, rather that each and every one of those girls crammed themselves into my kids’ playroom to listen to a CD of music from school. I went up to check on them only to hear the song “The Rules of the Classroom,” one of their kindergarten graduation songs, being belted out as loud as they could.

Beet Juice Colored Frosting

You’re probably wondering, what does this have to do with food coloring? When I made the cake, I wanted to use natural food colorings instead of store-bought food coloring. I will explain a little more later, but store bought food coloring can be mildly toxic for some, and extremely toxic for others. This is probably no secret to you, but my last trip to Ireland really got me wondering why we aren’t doing more about artificial coloring in food here in the United States? We know it’s bad, we know it’s hurting kids (and adults), the solution is simple, but we’re not doing anything about it. I’ll get to more of that later, too!

The party had a balloon theme. In fact, I coined it Balloonapoolza. Because I didn’t have enough to do the morning of the party, I also committed myself to blowing up dozens and dozens of balloons while my husband was out buying the helium balloons. I made the cake from scratch in two different size Pyrex bowls and frosted it with homemade frosting – and homemade food coloring. I used juiced beets to give the cake a really nice pink color. Using about two teaspoons of beet juice, the color never carried over. For the stem of the balloon, I used hibiscus, turmeric an beet juice combined. FYI – hibiscus is available at Whole Foods in the dried spice section. It’s an edible flower and not terribly expensive. I think I paid 50 cents for the amount of hibiscus I needed. Not bad. And it shows you CAN get a deal at Whole Foods! In fact, when I buy raw turmeric, I never pay much more than a dollar. Now I wish everything else at Whole Foods was that reasonable! 

I won’t say that the cake was healthy…it was cake. I did add plenty of sugar, which has it’s effects. BUT it didn’t have one thing in it that was synthetic, like most store-bought frosted foods. I strongly encourage you to try playing around with bright. vibrant foods as food coloring. It’s easy, inexpensive and non-toxic.

Some foods you can use include:

*Blueberries
*Turmeric
*Purple Carrots
*Beets
*Golden Beets
*Hibiscus
*Spinach
*Parsley
*Raspberries
*Avocado (to make vegan…you’d never know!)

When my family and I went back to Dublin last month to visit my husband’s family, we went over Easter.  Like any holiday, there is an incredible amount of candy – particularly chocolate. I happen to be a fan of dark chocolate and will buy some and even stock up for when I come home. Personally, I think the chocolate tastes so much better. There is just no comparison. The cheapest piece of chocolate from a gas station in Dublin will taste so much better than an expensive piece of chocolate here. Well…maybe with the exception of Vosges chocolates. Those are pretty good.

When I’m not selfishly stock-piling my own dark chocolate, I’m monitoring what my kids are eating. I have no problem letting them eat a little bit of candy on very special occasions, but they don’t eat it often.

One of the candies they love to eat when in Dublin is Smarties. They’re not the same kind of Smarties we have here in the US, rather closer to an M&M. Candy coating and chocolate underneath. Candy is still candy, and in no way am I suggesting one brand is healthier than another, or that one could even be healthy, however, there is a glaring difference between these two ingredient lists: food coloring.

Smarties Ingredient List
Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Lactose and Proteins from Whey, Butterfat, Cocoa Butter, Wheat Flour, Skimmed Milk Powder, Rice Starch, Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin), Fruit and Vegetable Concentrates (Safflower, Radish, Black Carrot, Lemon, Hibiscus, Red Cabbage), Spirulina Concentrate, Orange Oil, Glazing Agents (Carnauba Wax, Beeswax, Invert Sugar Syrup)

Smarties

M&Ms Ingredient List
Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Cocoa Butter, Lactose, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Artificial Flavors), Sugar, Cornstarch, less than 1% – Corn Syrup, Dextrin, Coloring (Includes Blue 1 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2), Gum Acacia.

M & Ms

Health Consequences & Artificial Food Coloring

In recent years, Nestle, the makers of Smarties, pulled all artificial coloring out of the confectionary products sold in the UK (and in my experience, Ireland, too). Why? Consumer concerns about health consequences.

Seems logical enough. If an ingredient, particularly an ingredient in a product marketed to children, contains ingredients that can cause harm, it should be removed.  It’s no secret that people, young and old, are sensitive to artificial dyes in food here in the US, too. Despite studies that have shown the consequences of regularly food dye ingestion, the FDA has yet to put the breaks on the steady flow of candy made with these ingredients – most marketing to children.

Here’s a quick breakdown of problems associated with artificial food coloring from Dr. Joseph Mercola: 

• Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue)

  An unpublished study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice. What it’s in: Baked goods, beverages, desert powders, candies, cereal, drugs, and other products.

• Blue #2 (Indigo Carmine)

  Causes a statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. What it’s in: Colored beverages, candies, pet food, & other food and drugs.

• Citrus Red #2

  It’s toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. What it’s in: Skins of Florida oranges.

• Green #3 (Fast Green) 

  Caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats. What it’s in: Drugs, personal care products, cosmetic products except in eye area, candies, beverages, ice cream, sorbet; ingested drugs, lipsticks, and externally applied cosmetics.

• Red #3 (Erythrosine)

  Recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. What it’s in: Sausage casings, oral medication, maraschino cherries, baked goods, candies.

• Red #40 (Allura Red)

  This is the most-widely used and consumed dye. It may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice. It also causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in some consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. What it’s in: Beverages, bakery goods, dessert powders, candies, cereals, foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

• Yellow #5 (Tartrazine)

  Yellow 5 causes sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. What it’s in: Pet foods, numerous bakery goods, beverages, dessert powders, candies, cereals, gelatin desserts, and many other foods, as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

• Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow)

  Caused adrenal tumors in animals and occasionally causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. What it’s in: Color bakery goods, cereals, beverages, dessert powders, candies, gelatin deserts, sausage, cosmetics and drugs.

  (source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/24/are-you-or-your-family-eating-toxic-food-dyes.aspx)

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

When you delay meals, skip meals, eat too little, eat foods with very few calories, or eat dead foods (most packaged/refined foods), it’s very likely that your body will store fat. Some people store fat and gain weight faster than others – but eventually it will probably happen. 

Delaying Meals, Skipping Meals, Eating Too Little
Skipping breakfast (or any meal) because you want to save calories so you can eat a little more later, or simply cut calories to shed a few pounds is not a clever weight loss strategy. Your body perceives meal skipping – which leads to hunger, fluctuating blood sugar levels and myriad of other hormonal fallout – as stress. You may not feel stressed, but that doesn’t matter to your body. Your body has a mind of its own. The only thing that it cares about is keeping your body alive. As dramatic as it may sound, when you stress your body out by skipping meals, or going too long in between meals, your body stores fat. This fat usually gets stored through the midsection. Since most of our vital organs are situated in this area, it makes sense that the most “protection” (aka: fat) gets put there. 

This is really important to understand, so take note. Your body makes no real distinction between any type of stress. Emotional, physical and physiological stress…they’re all translated the same. Skipping meals and feeling hungry leads to a hormonal chain of events that do nothing but stress our body out. Essentially, our body goes on autopilot and right into a primal “fight or flight” mode. 

Eating Regularly
Our body likes rhythms and consistency. Eating at roughly the same times throughout the day, at regular intervals will keep your body moving along. Generally speaking, most people should eat breakfast within about 90 minutes of waking up. After a good night of sleep, our liver – which acts as our body’s blood sugar gas tank – is running low. Eating a healthy breakfast shortly after waking will fill that tank back up. For some people, the “tank” may take three hours to empty, for others it may take five – but somewhere in between three to five hours is time for another meal or snack.

On a side note, I just worked with a client who was extremely hungry by lunchtime – a few hours after eating a really healthy breakfast. This had an effect on the rest of her day and what she ate as well. I had her completely change her breakfast and it resolved her problem with hunger by lunchtime. This had a positive effect on the rest of her day, too! The point is, even though she was eating a healthy breakfast to begin with, the amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat she was taking in was off for her body. Everybody is different. 

What About Fasting?
If you choose to fast, you need to know what you’re doing. It’s a bad idea to wake up one morning and start fasting because you feel bloated or because your jeans are too tight. It is not uncommon for people to fast anywhere from 24 hours to upwards of a month. Short fasts are believed to be very healing and recuperative for the body’s organs. Personally, the only fasts I’ve done have been three day juice fasts. I can’t say that I love them. I don’t hate them either. I’d just rather eat clean. 

My advice: understand WHY you want to fast. Is it because you feel a lack of energy, or run down? Maybe you need to clean up your diet first. Go three days without eating food from a package, without drinking alcohol and without eating any sugar. Just 72 hours! You’d be amazed at how fast your body will respond to that!

What You Can Do To Help Your Body Lose Fat

• Eat breakfast: even if its small, make it nutritious. A cereal bar and a latte is not ideal. Neither is a diet soda and a bagel. If you have questions, contact me. Some of you might do better with a couple hard boiled eggs and a sprouted grain muffin, and some of you might do better with oatmeal loaded with blueberries and some walnuts. Listen to your body. 
• Eat every 3 to 5 hours: This is just a guideline. But it’s an hour after breakfast and you’re ready to eat cardboard, something went wrong. Get on it. That’s stress. Similarly, you shouldn’t go much more than five hours in between meals, particularly if you haven’t had a snack. It’s GOOD to feel that just-about-hungry-but-not-famished feeling. 
• Drink lots of water: I always tell people to drink a *big* glass of water first thing in the morning, and a cup or two of water before EVERY meal and snack. This doesn’t include water you drink if you workout, etc. 
• Eat protein and fat at every meal: Regardless of the type of diet you follow, a good amount of protein and some fat with every meal is good. It will help level off hunger and energize you. How much protein and fat? Depends. Don’t be afraid to alter your macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) until you get it right. This might be as subtle as adding a tablespoon of almond nut butter to toast, or replacing fat free yogurt with low fat. 
• Ease off sugar: I can’t overstate this enough. Even though sugar is fat free, it will probably get stored as fat. Cut out sugar. Your belly doesn’t want it anymore.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

The fact of the matter is, we can get fit doing just about anything. Walking, running, tai chi, yoga, Zumba, spinning, P90X, dancing, swimming, surfing, etc., etc, etc., can all get you fit…very fit. That is if we combine our physical fitness with healthy dietary habits. Here is my list of 10 steps to achieving REAL fitness. You might have a laundry list of your own. I happen to think these ten are pretty valuable!

1) Get Focused
If your head isn’t in the game, it’s going to be hard to get started – regardless of what you choose to do to get fit. Somehow you have the make a very strong connection that exercise + clean eating = a healthy body that shouldn’t be taken for granted. This connection grows and gets stronger the more you take care of your body. If you never workout you may not know how good you could feel if you exercised. Just ask someone who exercises regularly how they feel if they go a week or two without working out. Chances are they tell you that they feel sluggish or “off.”  If you don’t eat the healthiest all the time, you might now know how good you could feel if you did. Ask someone who never eats refined sugar how they feel after they eat a super sugary dessert. Chances are they might feel sick. The connection between exercise, food and health grows both mentally and physically.

2) Get Clean
I could make 90% of this article about eating clean, but I not going to. I will say that fitness and food have to go hand in hand. You can NOT be truly fit unless you make an effort – a really strong effort – to eat mostly clean foods. You don’t have to be perfect, but there is no way your body could be running as optimally as it could if you feed it junk. If you’re already eating clean – fantastic! If you’re not, challenge yourself by going three full days without eating a food that comes from a package and contains more than one ingredient. For instance, fresh chicken breasts are often packaged in the grocery store, but (usually) only contain chicken breasts. Whereas chicken nuggets are anything but just chicken. At first, you’ll have to find different foods to eat that are actually food, not food products. But once you have that figured out stick to it for three full days. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you feel better than you thought you could.

3) Prioritize Yourself
Kids. Jobs. Friends. Errands. We’re all busy people. Put your need for activity in front of something else – if only for 30 minutes or an hour. I’ve got a couple kids. I’ve got a hefty work schedule. I’ve got a husband, and a dog and lots of awesome friends that I like to hang out with. Fitness is still an absolute priority with me. I often have to wake up very early, which means I go to bed early. For me, the sacrifice I make is missing out on a girls’ nights and networking events. Both of those mean a lot to me – and I DO stay connected with both – just not all the time. My friends will still be there, and my work-related associates know I am passionate about my business. It’s important to find your time. It could be early AM, lunchtime or right after work. You don’t have to workout for hours on end, but 30 to 60 minutes of strong activity will be nothing but rewarding for your as a person.

4) Get Mobile
I went into a little more detail about this in my weekly newsletter, but what I mean by ‘get mobile’ is you’ve got to move in all directions. This is particularly true for runners, cyclists, swimmers and anyone else who moves in a linear motion. Our bodies were made to bend, rotate, twist and turn, yet most of us move forward – that’s it. Flexibility and mobility are one-third of your fitness. You are much more likely to get injured if your body starts to seize up in the ways it was meant to move. Fortunately, this is something that can improve fairly quickly by incorporating some stretches, taking yoga, pilates, tae chi, dance or other movement classes, including marital arts. You don’t even have to work at this daily – just often enough to keep everything moving.

5) Do Something You Enjoy
If you’re miserable every time you jump on an elliptical machine, find something else to do. You owe it to yourself. A lack of enjoyment in exercise often leads to boredom, which leads to quitting all together unless you find something that makes you happy. You might need to try a quite a few things before you find that one thing that keeps you coming back. And what are you coming back for? That great feeling when you finish. Expect to be challenged. Expect to feel uncomfortable. But there is no reason you shouldn’t feel great after you finish a good workout.

6) Become Accountable
My first recommendation is always to start a food and exercise journal. Without leaving out details, write down every little detail of your day in terms of what you’ve eaten and how you’ve exercised. This is an easy way to be accountable for your actions. Beyond that, find a friend or group of friends to workout with. Keep the date and time consistent and anticipate meeting them there. Hopefully, if you feel like ditching, they’ll call you out on it. On a side note, it’s equally important to surround yourself with people who want to see you get healthier. It’s hard to get fit or eat healthy if you’re constantly around people who have no interest whatsoever in what they eat or how they move.

7) Small Bites Only, Please
It’s easy to wake up on January 1st of every year making multiple commitments. “I’m going to workout at least five days a week!” “I’m going to eat salads everyday for lunch!” “I’m going to run 30 miles a week every week starting NOW!” “I’m not going to eat chocolate for a year!” (whatever) “I’m going to lose 50 pounds in two months.” Take it easy with your commitments until you know you’ve got your arms around them. Make them realistic and attainable. If you don’t really run much, but make a commitment to running five miles a day everyday, you’ll likely end up with an injury after three weeks and be sidelined for way too long. If you want to lose weight, go easy on yourself. Weight loss can come quickly for some, and slower for others. We don’t live on the Ranch and life is not The Biggest Loser. It’s not common to lose 12 pounds a week. Set your sights even and shoot for one to two pounds a week. It adds up quickly and you’ll feel better fast.

8) Be Consistent
Get on a schedule and try to stick to it. It’s easier to stick to a schedule is you’re keeping regular hours. What’s more, when you workout at the same time – if you do so in a gym – you see the same people and build a little fitness community of your own. You become a familiar face and are now in a comfortable environment that was once unfamiliar. If you workout from home, workout at the same times. When you throw off your exercise schedule, work schedules, kids’ schedules and everyday errands get thrown off, too. Find the best time for you to workout and stick with it.

9) Have a Mental Plan for Setbacks
Don’t be surprised if you get injured, lose some momentum and start getting burned out. It happens to all of us. Expect that this will happen and figure out now what you might do should you have a fitness setback. The most important thing is not to get discouraged. Personally, I’ve been injured, I’ve lost momentum and I’ve definitely gotten burned out. When I was running a lot I injured my ankle by falling down a couple stairs – of course completely unrelated to running!  I started swimming a couple days later (gingerly) and found other ways to compensate through cycling and strength training. When I’m burned out or lose momentum, I find something else completely different to do. If I’m fried on running, I turn to yoga or another movement class. My body is better for it, and healthier from the variety. More importantly, those periods of “burn out” are far shorter if you address them quickly!

10) Don’t Compare
Comparing yourself to anyone else – from celebrities to your siblings – is the kiss of death. We ALL do it, including me! But whenever I feel a sliver of comparison coming on, I think of Jack Handey circa 80s SNL. What did he say? “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggoneit, people like me!” I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. I actually process that SNL skit in my head every time I say to myself, “Why can’t I be JUST like Jillian Michaels.” I guess comparing ourselves is as silly as that. It does no good. Compare and despair, friends. Compare and despair. All joking aside, my advice is to do the best you can, nothing less and you’ll be happy. Don’t seek approval from others. Those who truly care for you will offer support without expectation. And those who don’t are too busy comparing themselves to your progress and accomplishments.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

The main ingredient in the recipe is almond meal. In fact, the recipe has no flour in it at all. It’s gluten free and fairy low on sugar. I ran the recipe through my nutrition software, and this is what I came up with in terms of calorie, protein, carb and fat breakdown:

Muffin…by the numbers

172 calories per muffin
(14 grams protein)
(13 grams carbohydrate)
(7 grams fat)

This is great. If you’re cutting back on starchy carbs, or trying to get more protein in the morning, this recipe is an ace. For perspective, 14 grams of protein is equivalent to the protein you’d get in two eggs. There is enough healthy fat in this recipe that will keep hunger away long enough.

That said, I doubt this would fill me up for breakfast, so I might add a tablespoon of almond nut butter with a little cinnamon to the top, or have a sliced apple on the side. It all will depend what I’m going to do later (workout/no workout). As a snack, this is spot on.

This recipe I posted below only makes four muffins. I experiment a lot with recipes in my house. Let’s just say not all of them are a success. I’d rather err on the side of conservative than make too much. But all in all, this recipe took me about 30 minutes to make, including bake time.

I adapted this recipe from Elana’s Pantry, a great gluten free blog I sometimes get ideas from. If you’re ever in a pinch and need to make something healthy, whether you eat gluten free or not, check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Blueberry Muffins
serves 4

1 Cup Almond Meal
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Blueberries
1 Tbsp Honey
1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

See steps below.

You’re looking at the ingredients: Eggs, Almond Flour, Honey, Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar and Blueberries.

Step 1: Combine almond flour and baking soda. Mix well.

Step 2: Combine eggs, vinegar and honey. Mix well.

Step 3: Mix dry and wet ingredients together with the exception of the blueberries. Mix well.

Step 4: Add the blueberries to the mixture. Don’t over stir. Just get them mixed in.

Step 5: Throw them into a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let site for a few minutes.

They’re done! Enjoy them as they are, or with a little almond nut butter, honey, or even a little butter.

If you have any easy, but healthy recipes – share them in comments. Readers would love to see them.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter. It comes out every Monday. Next week will include a couple great juicing recipes. Very cleansing and detoxing! Just what your body – everybody -needs.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

So in the last couple days, multiple people have mentioned to me that they’re buying a juicer, starting to juice, going to buy a juicing program, or that they “made a great juice this morning.” It’s like an avalanche of juice comments, and there is no end in sight. Doesn’t bother me one bit! I sincerely love hearing all of this. In some convoluted way, I think “The Rule of Threes” applies here. And here are my two cents:

Juicing

I love juicing. I really really do. I wish I juiced every single day, but I’m happy with stock-piling juices two to three times a week. I have an Omega masticating  juicer. It makes juice very slowly. This is different than a centrifugal  juicer, like a Jack LaLanne, which spins the heck out of a fruit or vegetable at warp speed. The result of both is juice.

The difference between the two is the masticating juicer will typically get more juice out of what you’re juicing, and the integrity of the enzymes of the fruit or vegetable will stay in tact. In my opinion, nutrition is greater. On the flip side, the centrifugal juicer is a lot less money. Both are a pain in the butt to clean. If you don’t have a juicer yet, and are thinking about getting one, I recommend masticating juicers if you know you’re going to commit to juicing. If you just want to juice here and there, or think juicing might be a seasonal fling, there might be a case for saving yourself a few bucks and going with the centrifugal type. 

What’s Healthy About Juicing?

Fruits and vegetables are naturally healthy. Juicing is great because you have the ability to concentrate the nutrients into a cup. The fruit or veggie in its juiced form is usually more digestible, too! When juice is fresh, all the enzymes and nutrients are available and ready-to-go. The longer the juice is exposed to air, light or heat, the quicker they diminish.

What’s Unhealthy About Juicing?

I worked with a client years ago who started juicing. He was a lean enough man with two young kids and a busy, but successful business. He was intent on juicing. So he started juicing every fruit in site ever single morning. If memory serves, he drank a couple big glasses of fresh juice every day. The result: weight gain. My response: no shit. 

Juicing involves so much more that fruit. Fruit is high in fructose, and to be honest, I don’t think most of us need much more than a serving or two of fruit. Fructose – even if it’s from fruit – can promote weight gain and elevate triglycerides if eaten in excess. When juicing, we should focus on veggies, and even some spices (see below).  

A Good Rule of Thumb to Follow

The upside of fresh juicing is the nutrients are alive and available. Your body absorbs them and uses them, unlike store bought juices that have been sitting on shelf for months. The availability of vitamins is diminished and the enzymes are pretty much gone.
Most people start juicing because they enjoy fresh juice, and feel good about having something healthy in the morning. If possible, try to combine three parts vegetable to one part fruit. Instead of a sugar-laden juice like apple/pineapple/orange/raspberry which sounds great, but is pure sugar, try apple/spinach/carrot/celery instead. No, it won’t be as sweet, but it will be lower in sugar. 

 What About Juicing Programs?

Home-delivered, or store bought juices can be (and often are) extremely healthy! After a fruit or vegetable is juiced, however, the nutrient level drops significantly within a few hours. After three days, the nutrients are a sliver of what they once were. If you’re going to buy juice from a store or home-delivered service, drink it right away if possible. At the very least, drink it within a couple days. 

My Favorite Juices

My absolute favorite juice doesn’t involve fruits or vegetables at all, rather two spices – turmeric and ginger. Combined, they’re really great detoxers, they’re loaded with nutrients, and as a bonus – they have anti-inflammatory properties [read: helps to get rid of aches and pains]. 

I also like to juice beets, carrots, spinach, kale, sometimes celery. When in season, I add cranberries. I don’t really like juicing cucumber though. It’s good for you, but I’m not a fan of the texture. 

Great Vegetables to Juice 

• Carrots
• Celery
• Beets
• Kale
• Spinach
• Tomato
• Cucumber
• Parsley
• Chard

Great Fruits to Juices (3:1 ratio works best – 3 parts veg/1 part fruit)

• Apples
• Melons
• Berries
• Pineapple
• Kiwi
• Lemon
• Lime

I’ll be including a couple great juicing recipes in my newsletter next week. It comes out every Monday. Have you subscribed?

There are hundreds of combinations you can come up with! Think of adding spices, like ginger or turmeric, or even healthy grasses, like wheat grass for an extra kick of nutrient. Juicing is great and can be really healthy. If you have any questions, ask away on my Facebook page, or leave a comment! 

How can I help you reach your ideal weight, create a juicing plan or get you fit? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

Moving along to college, I had another breakout in my junior year. I was prescribed minocin, another antibiotic known for helping get rid of acne. This one did not make me feel sick, so I took it pretty regularly – and for quite a while.

I took these antibiotics, along with a couple different rounds of antibiotics throughout my early years to treat strep throat. Looking back, I really wish I would have pushed for a different way to treat acne other than antibiotics. My strep throat – well, that seemed reasonable at the time.

Antibiotics are great, but…
Antibiotics are probably one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. They have saved a great many lives – exactly the purpose of why they were created in the first place. I’m grateful to say, they saved my life in 2001. But I seriously doubt they were created to help teens with acne or keep sick factory-farmed cows and other farm animals healthy.

Bacteria and Weight Gain
Antibiotics are, as your would expect, extremely effective at killing bacteria…all bacteria. Antibiotics make little discrimination in between killing the bad and the good bacteria that’s critical to maintaining a healthy body and optimal weight. About 70% of our body’s immune system lies in our gut, so in order to stay well – it’s an important part of our body to take care of. I can’t site a study off the top of my head, but I took a workshop several years ago that covered the rampant use of antibiotics. I distinctly remember our group facilitator telling us that it takes several years to rebuild a healthy amount of good bacteria in our gut after taking a course of antibiotics. You can’t just eat a couple containers of yogurts and expect everything to be back to normal. It takes a little more work than that.

When it comes to weight loss, studies have shown that people who are obese or who have excessive belly fat have a different type of bacteria in their gut than leaner people. That’s not to say that leaner people have perfectly healthy guts either, but it goes to show that a balance of healthy bacteria is needed to maintain a more optimal weight.

**Important** When you look on the back of your probiotic (if you take one), you’ll see a bunch of different bacteria. The one strain that has been associated with promoting weight loss is the Lactobacillus strain. Sound familiar? It should. It’s the primary bacteria found in yogurt. According to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who consumed fermented milk products (yogurt, kefir, lassi) for 12 weeks, showed a 4.6 % reduction in abdominal fat. It’s not an enormous number, but it’s nothing to roll your eyes at either.

What Creates BAD Bacteria?

Antibiotics don’t create bad bacteria, but they do wipe out plenty of the good stuff, too. In order for good and bad bacteria to grow, they need to be fed. Sugary and processed foods help bad bacteria grow. Stress, birth control pills, a lack of sleep, and steroids have also been shown to kill the good bugs in our belly.

What Creates GOOD Bacteria?

Foods that are probiotic include fermented foods, like:

• yogurt (homemade is best)
• sauerkraut (note: just about any vegetable, not just cabbage, can be fermented)
• kimchi
• miso
• even microbrew beer.

  Check out this website for easy-to-make fermented foods. Heather Dessinger has done a great job with the recipes.

A lot of foods contain prebiotics that help to feed the good bacteria. They include:

• artichokes
• kale
• cherries
• berries
• garlic
• onion
• chard

You can also take a good probiotic. It’s usually recommended to take a probiotic on an empty stomach before breakfast. If you forget, take them anytime. It won’t hurt.

How can I help you reach your ideal weight? Check out my weight loss and fitness coaching services and let me know.

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.

What’s my point? And what does this have to do with my cleanse?

I’m really happy to have the jars and am truly optimistic I will eventually use them all. Somehow. I truly have mad love for these jars and went crazy today preparing for my 30 day cleanse, which starts TODAY! I’m cleansing, not fasting- so 30 days is really doable. I also know a thing or two about nutrition and diet, so deciding what I’m going to eat, juice, supplement with and avoid is a no-brainer. 

The key to a good cleanse is preparation and intention. It would be really hard to wake up on a Monday morning to do a cleanse of any sort without having a plan. My 30 days consists of lots of “mini plans.” The big picture remains the same, but – especially for juicing purposes – foods will change. 

My rules

I have a few rules I will follow through mid-May, which include:

• No refined sugar
• No alcohol
• No grains (other than soaked oats every now and then)
• Tons of turmeric, ginger, garlic, lemon and cinnamon (both juiced and added to meals)
• No caffeine (other than green tea)
• Epsom salt baths a couple times a week (healthy and my skin feels incredibly soft the next day)
• Water, water, water
• Plenty of fresh and lightly steamed vegetables 
• Regular sleep/wake times 
• Eat and drink regularly throughout the day (NO unconscious eating)

My helpers

I would say the hardest thing for me to avoid is going to be this place my family and I go to for gluten free pizza once a week. We always order a gluten free chicken pizza, which is great! When it comes to dairy, I can take it or leave it, so the cheese isn’t the craving. It’s just a really yummy crust. 

I spent some time today making yogurt for my family, and juices for me. Yogurt is really easy to make and if you’re a fan – give it a try. Here’s the method I use. The juices I made for the next couple days were turmeric/ginger and parsley/beet. I had help from my kids who love pushing food into my juicer. The beets and turmeric (especially the turmeric) stain, so if you ever juice with either one of those, be careful. When you juice with turmeric, wear kitchen gloves or your hands will be orangey-yellow for a couple days. 

I also made about seven bottles of a ginger spice tea that I love. Here’s the recipe, if you’re interested. It’s really simple and is more of drink than a tea. I store my tea in old kombucha bottles. I could have used the mason jars, but have a hard time throwing away any glass bottles that look like they could be useful one day. I guess I’m a glass bottle/jar horder. 

Why am I doing a cleanse?

I want my body to be running optimally. I want to have consistent energy throughout the day – every day! Usually I do, but sometimes I’m dragging. I almost always attribute those days to poor sleep, but truth be told, hormones play a BIG role. Speaking of hormones, every month I get insanely cold right around the time I start my period (I think that’s the first time I’ve ever referred to my cycle in a blog!). Seriously, it could be 85 degrees and I will be shivering. When I’ve done cleanses in the past, the “cold spell” nearly resolves itself.  

So that’s what I’m up to now. One of the best motivations for me are my clients! They are doing amazing! I started working with a couple new clients last week as well and love making connections with people when it comes to living healthy – whether their goals are to lose weight, eat healthier, or exercise better. 

I’ll keep you posted on how things progress. And I’ll definitely let you know if I come up with any new recipes. One great way to stay up to date with my is to subscribe to my newsletter. Stay healthy!

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here. 

That class aside, I’m not a big “sweater.” When my husband and I go for a workout , I’ll take a look at him after 20 minutes and it looks like he needs to change his shirt already. I’m barely glistening at that point. 

Even though you can get in a great workout without breaking a sweat at all, those little drops of moisture on your skin mean something. Here are a few benefits of sweating:

1) Sweating cools your body. It’s a built in ventilation system.

2) It improves your skin’s elasticity and tone. You’ll look younger!

3) It improves blood flow. Your circulation gets a boost.

4) It has a great detoxifying effect. Sweat helps to push out “junk” from your lymph system, liver, blood, etc.

5) It improves digestion and helps eliminate constipation. What goes in should come out within 24 hours. 

6) Sweating rids the body of pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals we breath in. Yes, it’s detoxing (point 4), but worth mentioning on its own.

7) Sweating boosts your endorphins. You’ll be happier.

8) It’s a natural antibiotic! That’s right, sweat can actually kill bacteria that can cause infection through antimicrobial peptides.

9) Sweat naturally elevates your “bad ass” level. When you finish a yoga class or run all sweaty and hot, you look like you’ve earned your stripes.

10) It helps you relax. Keep calm and carry on. 

As you can see,  sweat has plenty of benefits. Probably lots more than these 10. Many of these qualities also apply to sweating as the result of hanging out in the steam room or sauna. The average person sweats somewhere between 0.8 to 1.4 liters per hour (27.4 to 47.3 ounces). Your water bottle is probably somewhere between 20 to 30 ounces. That’s a lot! Many of us sweat and don’t even realize it. Sweat evaporates off the skin quickly. 

It’s really important to stay hydrated. Unless you’re sweating somewhat excessively, or having been working out for 90 minutes plus, you probably won’t need a bottle of Gatorade, but you will need plenty of water. 

Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.