Clarity Wellness

I've been hearing a lot lately in the nutrition stratosphere about the fact that our metabolism doesn't really slow down at menopause, and as a woman knocking at that door herself, I find that very frustrating.  I talk to women every day who tell me that the tricks they used in their 20s and 30s to slim down don't seem to work anymore.  They tell me their weight is redistributing itself and their clothes don't fit the same way.  They tell me they are doing all the things they've been told to do (move more/eat less) and nothing changes.  How can you tell these women that their metabolism hasn't changed? I wish there were an easy answer. There seem to be a multitude of answers--some of them biological, and some lifestyle related. Let's start with the biological. As we age we tend to lose muscle mass, and when you add declining hormone levels, you're going to see a change in body composition. Loss of estrogen causes weight to accumulate around your middle i...

  I noticed this morning during my walk that I was ravenously hungry about an hour into it. This doesn't usually happen to me. I can typically go all morning without a twinge of hunger. However, I've had a couple of weeks of not-so-low-carb eating and I can definitely tell a difference! Give me a teacher appreciation donut, some graduation cake, or a couple of pizza slices with the kids, and boom! I'm right back on the blood sugar rollercoaster.  You know how I can tell? I wake up in the middle of the night a hot mess, I run hot periodically throughout the day, my brain is foggy, my running injuries are aching, my nose is stuffy, and I'm hungry more often than usual. I'd like to think that I can have a little bit of sugar and feel ok, but every experiment fails and I find myself scrambling to get off the rollercoaster and back onto solid ground. Here are some key ways I've found to get back on track and feel better soon. Get it out of your house (and work...

I am truly like a toddler sometimes. If I can't eat something everyone else is eating, I throw an inner tantrum. (Cheese! I want cheese!) If I don't get enough sleep, I can be quite grumpy.   And if I'm upset, I may just want my binky (in the form of whatever snack is handy--usually mixed nuts or raw almonds). At 52 years old, you would think I'd have that figured out by now, but the hormonal roller coaster ride I'm on right now is actually making it harder.  So what's a girl to do?  Well, remember back to when your kids were toddlers?  What did you do with them?  Do the same thing with your adult self! Make sure you have healthy and easy food choices in the house. Make sure you are drinking enough water. Have a consistent bedtime routine and get enough sleep.  If you can make it work, naps are pretty awesome. Make time for play.  If you want to call it exercise, that works too. Preferably go outdoors. And most importantly, get lots of hugs and cu...

Ever have one of those days where everything you had planned flew out the window and you became a slave to everyone else’s agenda? Who am I kidding? I have a hunch you all have, and if you have kids, I KNOW you have. This morning I had plans to go on a long, soul-soothing, solo hike. However, when I woke up, my aching hip had other plans. No problem, I thought, I’ll walk to the coffee shop with my husband and get some quality time in with him, while loosening up the hip at the same time. That I did, and then worked on meal planning for the week, baking a birthday cake, and doing some PT for my hip. All well and good, until the shizzle hit the proverbial fan. Suddenly I found myself putting out fires right and left, hunting down a rotten smell from the fridge, calling the dentist for the third time this week to reschedule (yet again), and rushing to the store for last minute groceries, all while trying to plan a birthday get-together. Oh, and did I mention that my hormones are a...

There's a lot of anxiety going on in my house these days.   I have two very driven, overachieving high school daughters born of two driven, perfectionist parents, and we're all pretty hard on ourselves sometimes.  Add to that a pandemic, followed by a variant, a divisive political climate, underfunded schools and overworked teachers, global warming, AP tests, honors classes, and 4:30 am wake up calls for marching band...Yep, there's a lot going on. I was reminded last week of a technique that I had heard of in the past but hadn't done a very good job of implementing.  It's called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique for dealing with anxiety , and it goes something like this: 5: focus on 5 different things that you can see in your immediate surroundings. 4: look for 4 things you can touch around you. 3: notice 3 things you can hear right now. 2: find 2 things you can smell. 1: acknowledge 1 taste, usually whatever you ate or drank last. The problem with this technique, like many ...

  Do you wake up tired, puffy, and foggy-brained? Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you have asthma, allergies, sore joints, skin issues, or other autoimmune conditions? Are you moody, anxious, or depressed? Do you deal with PMS or other hormonal conditions on a regular basis? Do you have chronic gut issues? If you’ve been following my posts, you know that I would recommend a sugar free/grain free diet to reduce the inflammation that leads to these conditions.   I believe in a holistic approach, however, and another big factor that may contribute to these conditions is the environmental toxins we surround ourselves with every day. Toxic chemicals are found in our food, furniture, carpets, cooking utensils, mattresses, cleaning products, body care products, and cosmetics. And that’s just a start… Entire books have been written about all the things to watch out for, but I’m going to try and narrow it down for you so you at least have a star...

Ummm...what?  Seriously, what messages are your things sending you on a daily basis?  Is it "Clean me, you lazy bum!" or "You have such good taste--I'm here to make you happy!" or "I know you don't like me much, but I belonged to your great aunt Alice so you're stuck with me for life!" And when you walk into your closet, do you hear "Put me on, daahling, and you'll look faaabulous!" or "Don't even think about--I can't believe how much weight you've put on, you pathetic pandemic porker!"  (I know, pretty harsh, but admit it, sometimes we're not very nice to ourselves.) Our homes should be places of refuge and serenity for us --a calm, peaceful place where we can relax, especially when we are working from home and staying at home more than ever now.  If the things in your house are adding to your stress because you have to take care of them, or making you feel bad about yourself because they point out your ...

A good night’s sleep is important for so many reasons, and one of them is your body’s ability to lose or maintain weight. Have you ever noticed that your cravings for sweets and other carbs increase when you’re tired? Your body is looking for the quick energy they provide. When a person is sleep deprived, their insulin response to blood sugar decreases. This means that the sugar isn't cleared from your bloodstream as efficiently and your levels will be higher, which increases your ghrelin levels (the hunger hormone), which increases your appetite. Here are some proven strategies for getting more zzz’s. 1. Get more sunlight during the day.   Try to get out and get some sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning to reset your circadian clock. Most of us could use more vitamin D, which is created by your own body when your skin is exposed to the midday sun (or through a quality supplement. My favorite is from PureVitaminClub.com ). 20-30 minutes is all it takes, but ...

I probably don’t have to tell you about all the ways sugar affects your body—the information is everywhere!  Inflammation is the number one problem, and it leads to almost every other health problem out there: diabetes, cancer, heart disease, mood disorders, skin problems, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer's--they are all caused by excess inflammation in one way or another.  Unfortunately, you may not realize how much sugar you are eating each day because it is skillfully hidden by the people who make your food. People today eat an average of three pounds of sugar a week, and much of it is found in processed food that may not even taste sweet! Food manufacturers know that there is a 'bliss point' at which the ratio of salt, sugar, and fat is so enticing that you want to keep eating. Sugar enhances the taste of salt, and vice-versa. They also know that consumers are smart people who look for sugar on the label. That's why there are new names for sugar coming out every day....

I've been noticing myself saying the phrases, "but, whatever," and "who knows?" a lot lately.  Yes, there are a lot of things that we don't know right now, but if I step back and really listen to myself, there's a lot of indecision and resignation in those wishy-washy words. Information overload leads to confusion, especially when it comes to things that are new to us, like the "Novel" Coronavirus.  How do we best protect ourselves?  How effective are the vaccines?  How can I even get a vaccine? And on and on. Then there's the nutrition and wellness scene.  What's the best diet for me? Vegan? Carnivore? Keto? Low-fat? Low-carb?  Who knows?   The research I read says this, but Self magazine says this... but whatever . Self talk affects everything we do throughout the day.   That little voice in your head determines how you react to a situation, how you feel about yourself, and how you feel about others.  Do I want to be resigned and in...

I've gotten a lot of questions lately about how to manage stress.  (Apparently people are feeling a little stressed these days!) I've talked about self-care, getting out in the sunshine each day, making sure you sleep well each night, connecting with others, eating well, and exercising.  Of course those are all important pieces to the puzzle, but one thing that seems to be the glue that holds everything else together for me is meditation.  I've read a lot about how mediation lowers blood pressure, boosts mood, focus, and creativity, and increases patience levels (all badly needed during the last few weeks!)  Knowing this, it's a habit I've tried to implement again and again throughout the years, with varying degrees of success.   I've tried apps like Calm, Insight Timer, and Stop, Breathe, and Think, which walk you through guided meditations focused on different topics, and have liked different things about each one.  I also like the accountability and...

In an effort to keep the Christmas spirit alive and well this year, I baked all the usual cookies and treats:  buckeyes, fudge, caramels, snowball cookies, chocolate crinkles, ginger snaps... Everyone has a different favorite, of course, so I had to make them all, despite making proclamations that we would not go overboard this year and I was going to narrow down the list of things we would make.  I could try and make gluten-free, sugar-free versions, but what would be the point, really?  My kids wouldn't eat them, I would be stuck looking at them and feeling guilty that I wasted the time and money on them, and would feel obligated to eat them all myself.  Usually we make cookies and keep them in the freezer, doling them out little by little as we make our rounds of holiday parties.  This year, however, there are no parties to go to, and home baked treats are not as well-received as in years past. So...guess who's eating the cookies this year?  Yep, I fell ...