Clarity Wellness

Everywhere I go on social media this month I see posts on how to stick to your dietary plan over the holidays, nasty ingredients that are in your favorite dishes, and recipes for healthier options.  I'm all for eating healthier (obviously!) but aren't the holidays stressful enough?   Case in point: one of my family favorites at Thanksgiving is a corn pudding that we've been eating for as long as I can remember.  It's pretty basic—corn, butter, yogurt, and a corn muffin mix packet.  I saw a post this week on the ingredients in the corn muffin mix that was quite horrifying, along with a link to a healthier option you could use.  The price difference?  Twelve dollars!  Now, I'm all for healthier options (especially the gluten-free varieties), and quite honestly, I don't recommend eating corn muffins—even the twelve dollar ones—at all, but if you're only eating them once a year, why break the bank and stress over it? I will be making the cheaper versi...

Yes, I’m in the business of building meal plans for people who want to improve their health and (usually) lose weight. Most people, however, use my meal plans as “training wheels” to ultimately build their own meal plans, and that's the way it should be. Building a healthy meal plan doesn't have to be complicated.  In fact, the easier the better, IMHO. Here are the basic tenants that will start you on the road to better health almost immediately! 1.  Eat   two or three full meals a day . Build nutrient-dense, satiating meals, so you won't feel the need to snack later. If you find yourself getting "snacky" between meals, add a little more protein to your meals, drink plenty of water, and take a look at whether or not you're really hungry. You might just be bored, upset, or in the habit of eating at that time.   2.  Start with a savory,  protein-packed breakfast (whenever that is) .  Save your carbs for later in the day. Eggs, Greek yogurt, a prote...

  5 "healthy" foods I don't eat anymore I have been interested in nutrition for as long as I can remember, and the more I learn the more my diet evolves.  Here are five things I used to eat that I've realized were really not as healthy as I thought. 1 .   Dried fruit .  Sure, dried fruit has fiber and a few vitamins, but it's also a highly concentrated source of sugar that will spike your glucose and insulin levels quite quickly.  And yes, that goes for dates too.  Eat your fruit whole, and preferably with some fat or protein to blunt the glucose spike. 2 .   Fruit smoothies or juices .  If I make a smoothie these days, it includes a lot of protein, some fiber and fat, along with a small amount of fruit--usually in the form of berries.  Most juices have as much, if not more, sugar as a soft drink, with no fiber to slow down the sugar rush. 3 .   Whole grain bread or pasta .  I know t...

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...

Habits make our lives easier. They make things automatic and free us from the decision fatigue that hits us near the end of the day. However, you probably already know how hard it is to create a new habit. The old ones are so deeply ingrained. It should be simple—there really are only 3 steps involved. Trigger, behavior, reward. With some things it really is that easy. Walk into the bathroom, brush your teeth, enjoy the reward of fresh minty breath. Unfortunately, other habits are not so easy to implement. Habits around food can be the hardest! That’s where we bring in the big guns: habit stacking. Throw every trick you’ve got at it. There are lots of things you can do, but here are some of the most powerful tools I have found for creating better habits around food: 1. Put it in front of your face. If you want to drink more water, fill your water bottle and take it with you everywhere. If you want to eat according to a plan, print it out and post it on your fridge....

I really could care less who wins the Super Bowl.  I've never been much of a football fan, but I do love a good Super Bowl party.  I'm totally in it for the company, the food, the commercials, and the halftime show. I only wish it was Super Bowl Saturday instead of Sunday.  Or make Super Bowl Monday a national holiday.  But I digress... For many, the Super Bowl party marks the beginning of the end of a great streak of healthy eating .  You make it all the way through January eating clean, exercising, and maybe even abstaining from alcohol.  Then along comes the Super Bowl and wham!  All those yummy treats start you on a slide that continues through heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, Mardi Gras beignets, and Spring Break beach drinks.  It's the holiday season 2.0.   So what do you do? First and foremost, make a plan .  Don't let it take you by surprise.  Make sure that plan is reasonable and doable.  Recognize the p...

  In case you haven't seen my latest post, I recently had skin cancer surgery, and ended up popping a few stitches.  Now I have a hole on the top of my head that is healing very slowly.  It's been over a month now, and I'm still a long way from being healed.  My next stop is a wound care clinic, and then I'm on to a plastic surgeon.   Looking in the mirror in the mornings and trying to do something with my hair while hiding the mess under a headband is the hardest, and honestly, for a few weeks there, I had a really tough time dealing with it.   I'm tired of playing the victim role, though.  I know what I need to do to heal myself, and the answer doesn't lie at the bottom of a box of cookies.  Not that I had gone overboard with the junk food, but I did let things slip a little.   In my nutrition coaching business I give my clients a meal plan to follow each week, and those that do see the greatest results.  So...why was I ...

College move-in day Wow. I look at my Facebook group and blog and realize I’ve been quite the slacker lately. What’s going on? Well let me tell you… Life’s been going on. My oldest went off to college a few weeks ago, and though you might think that would free up more time for me (it technically has) I’ve also been having a hard time sitting still with my feelings or sitting still at all. The realization that my children are leaving the nest and my role as their mother is changing is throwing me for a loop. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for this. What does it mean for the rest of my life? Instead of thinking about that, I’ve been keeping quite busy-- cleaning the house, cleaning out closets, painting her room, planning band events, and planning an Alaska cruise. All things that need to be done eventually, but also things that can be parceled out after I’ve done the things that are really a priority to me, like writing and coaching—and maybe a little introspection. room makeover ...

  It's easy to get frustrated when it comes to health and nutrition.  We try so hard to follow a healthy eating plan.  We work out as much as we can.  We try to do all the "right" things, and sometimes they work for a while until they don't.  At that point it's easy to just give up and skip the workout, stay up late eating popcorn and ice cream, and have that extra margarita with your friends.  You get down on yourself, you feel like nothing will ever work, and you're resigned to holding on to that Covid 19 that you gained over the last couple of years. For me it often happens after I've lost a few pounds during the week, then go out for dinner and drinks Saturday night.  Sunday morning I wake up having gained back everything I lost, and sometimes more.  Was it the wine?  The salad with cheese and questionable ingredients?  Was it the little piece of bread I snuck from the bread basket, thinking that one little slice wouldn't hurt? Inste...

  My husband and I went to band camp last week with our youngest daughter and 160 or so of her closest friends.  We handed out Band-Aids, ice packs, and Tums like there was no tomorrow. We dealt with vomit at 6:00 am (and 11:15 pm), the bloodiest noses I've ever seen, and a rifle butt to the eye. It was intense and unpredictable, and here I am several days later still feeling like I could sleep 10 hours a night. We had a blast, however, and loved seeing how their music progressed throughout the week. At their parent performance on Saturday I got a little teary-eyed, feeling parental towards all 160 of them, and just so darn proud of all the hard work they put into it. So how does one eat low-carb at band camp, you ask?  I gotta admit, it's pretty tough unless you want to bring all your own food.  Here's what I did, as well as some things I should have done better. 1.  I chose my carbs carefully .  At this particular camp they make their own bread, and oh my...