Health: it isn’t all about food and exercise

Like so many other “typical” women out there, I have a tendency to over analyze just about anything and everything.

Lately, with each new Facebook or Instagram post that doesn’t involve vegetables or a recipe, there’s a negative voice in the back of my head saying to me, “Abbey, why are you posting this? This is not focused on your target market. This post is not going to reach those that need your health coaching services. What does this have to do with weight loss, fitness or health??”

Whether or not this is a question that’s ever entered your mind when viewing my latest social media post, I’m here to give an answer.

First and foremost, I post pictures of me hanging out with friends or a donut that was consumed moments after posting in honor of National Donut Day because that’s the real me. I am so far from perfect, I don’t want people thinking that all I ever do is eat organic broccoli and farm raised chicken. Of course, I do do those things, but that’s not 100% of who I am. I am a no nonsense girl and I like to keep it real. There was a time about a year ago that I contemplated creating a third (yes, third) Instagram account simply for my family, friends, non-health coach or non-photographer followers. But then I realized, that’s crap! If you follow me for wellness advice, I want you to see it all. I want you to see that even us health pros eat donuts and drink alcohol from time to time, too.

Okay, so what’s the deal with all the sunset pics? Or the day I went to the salon to get highlights? Or my friends baby?

Well I ask you this, when was the last time you had a wellness goal (let’s just go with weight loss as it is the most common) where you were doing everything you knew to do to make sure it was achieved and yet, the weight just would NOT come off? You worked out 5X/week. You ate more veggies than you ever had in your life. Yet weigh-in after weigh-in, your scale would not budge. Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps food and fitness are not the only two components to weight loss?

At The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, we were taught about Primary Foods. If you’ve never heard of such a thing, what’s the first thought that comes to mind? Primary Foods would be what lands on your plate, right? WRONG! The food that physically goes in your mouth is actually Secondary Foods! “Food”, by the technical definition, is not the only thing in life that feeds us!

Primary Foods include things like: Finances, relationships, social life, spirituality, physical activity, etc.

Primary Foods are what nourish you beyond the plate in front of you. Though you may eat a veggie packed protein shake every morning for breakfast, local chicken on a bed of organic kale for lunch and grilled veggies for dinner- if you are stuck in a job that you hate, or an abusive relationship, or struggling to find if God has a place in your life after years of being involved in church, you will likely have a difficult time achieving the healthiest version of this person you want to be.

For me, I’ve never known this to be more true than in this last year living in Austin, TX. After four years of living in NYC, one of the coolest cities in the U.S. I finally stopped listening to the voices in my head telling me that NYC was where I needed to be (this place that I thought made me look cooler to the outside) and I followed my heart out of the Big Apple and into a place a little weirder…. While my life today is still far from perfect or exactly where I want it to be, I am considerably happier with almost every aspect of my life. Not only that, but I have not ONCE gotten sick whereas in New York I was getting sick at least once per month. I was eating plenty of veggies and organic lean meats in NYC but I wasn’t nourishing my primary plate!

So, the next time you see me on Instagram posting anotherrrrr picture of the gorgeous Austin Sunset (or sunrise) know that in that moment, the belly of my primary foods is bursting at my seams as if it were Thanksgiving.

If you’re interested in taking a quick “test” to find out what areas of your Primary Foods need the most work, try THIS exercise. Feel free to leave your results in the comments or you can email me privately: abbey@achievinghealthy.com

My trip to Boggy Creek Farm

Happy Belated National Farmers Market Week, Achieving Healthy fans!  Did you even know there was such a ‘holiday’? I didn’t until a few days ago, but I’m so glad I learned!

And it couldn’t have come at a better time! A couple weeks ago, I had a photo shoot with the super talented Austin photographer, Angela Doran. We were shooting for new images to use with Achieving Healthy and I thought a farmers market would be the perfect setting for such an occasion. Being so new to the Austin area, I put my trust in Angela to help me find the perfect farm.

Neither of us had been to Boggy Creek Farm, but from what we could see from the website, it looked perfect! Coming from NYC, this farmers market was a little different than what I had become accustomed to, but it did not let me down. In fact, it was better! Not only did I get to meet the farm staff (pretty typical in NYC) but I got to meet one of the owners, Carol Ann, and she let Angela and I roam all around the farm to get into whatever our hearts desired. Boggy’s gorgeous fields of greens (see what I did there) were the perfect backdrop for some fabulous new AH shots.

 

Now I ask you, when was the last time you took the opportunity to really, truly investigate where your food has come from? Have you considered shopping at your local farmers market or signing up with a CSA in your area? Did I loose you there? What are farmers markets and CSA’s and why shop there over your local grocery store? Only a bazillion awesome reasons, but I’ll try to sum up the most important reasons.

What is a farmers market: That one’s easy- it’s a food market at which your local farmers sell their harvest. This usually includes fruits, veggies and sometimes meats, cheeses and other dairy. Many cities will have what will look like a big farm party in the middle of town where all the farmers get together to sell their goods. This is an awesome opportunity to get a variety of what’s being grown within just a few miles of where you live.

Ok, so what’s a CSA? By definition, a CSA (community supported agriculture) refers to a network or association of individuals who pledge to support local farming by bringing the farm to you! So rather than going to your farmers market where you’ll either have to choose from one or a few different farmers selections, with a CSA, you don’t get to pick and choose what you want to take. You are given a bundle of whatever the farmer has in season at that moment. This may not be the option for you if you’re just dipping your toes into the veggie world or if you hate cooking (unless of course you love raw veggies). You also have to be more willing to try new things with this option. Since you don’t get to pick and choose what you get, as long as you keep an open mind, this could be the perfect opportunity for you to find your new favorite vegetable!

This all sounds great, but why is this any better than hitting up your local produce section at your neighborhood Super Wal-mart or even your fancy Whole Foods?
Fruits and veggies are great, no matter how you get them. Fresh, frozen, canned, even non-organic veggies are better for you than no veggies at all. But I believe eating locally is important above all other things because 1) it supports small local businesses. Do you really think Tyson Farms cares when you buy a bag of their frozen chicken breasts? I doubt they even notice. When you buy from your local farm, not only are you putting food on your own table, but you’re putting food on your neighbors table by paying them directly for your produce. 2) Your immune support will thank you! Your body will react more positively when you’re eating the same things that are in the environment that you’re directly living in.  3) The foods you buy locally are almost guaranteed to be more fresh than what you find in the store. When Angela and I were at Boggy Creek, Carol Ann told us that our bounty we were taking home had just been picked that morning… Doesn’t get much fresher than that people! I could go on and on about the benefits and perks of eating locally, but I encourage you to do some research on your own!

Do you have a favorite farmers market, farm stand or CSA you like to frequent? Leave a comment below so that other readers can hear about your experience! 

***A huge thank you to Angela Doran for doing such a great job with my photos. Carol Ann, thank you for being so welcoming, and so educational. I learned so much by visiting with you! I can’t wait to come back soon!***

If you’d like to visit Boggy Creek Farm, they are open every Wednesday and Saturday from 8am – 1pm. They are located at
3414 Lyons Rd Austin, TX 78702

My personal science experiment with BPA

Look at that cute little cup – lookin’ Mason Jar-y n’ stuff with its cute swirly straw!

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of people saying you should be more proactive about using reusable drink-ware as to cut down on waste. You see a “BPA-Free” sticker slapped on every reusable plastic water bottle in the store. First of all… do you even know what BPA is!? BPA stands for: Bisphenol A is a carbon-based synthetic compound with the chemical formula (CH₃)₂C(C₆H₄OH)₂ belonging to the group of diphenylmethane derivatives and bisphenols. Did you know that BPA is water soluble? Basically meaning, that those plastic chemicals are leaking into what you’re drinking. So we’re safe, so long as we buy the ones with the “BPA-FREE” labels on them, right? Maybe not…

The pictured plastic mason jar above is sold at Walmart for under $5, and claims to be BPA-free. It’s so dang cute, it’s hard to resist, and for so cheap, well forget about it! GIMME DAT!

I made said cup my new official “work cup”. Sure, I’ve heard that glass is better for you! But I didn’t see any glass ones available and I felt like I was still doing my duty of protecting the environment. I was sip, sip, sipping away carefree for a few days. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed that I’d been getting headaches at work almost if not every single day. I thought, maybe it was from the heat + humidity combo that I just wasn’t used to but that I’d acclimate eventually.

A month later, still daily headaches.

I figured, maybe it was from spending so much time staring at a computer. So I brought my glasses to work.

Still daily headaches.

I had considered that maybe I wasn’t getting enough water, so I started making sure I was refilling my cup at least every hour or so.

Still daily headaches.

It finally dawned on me… what if the mass amounts of water I was consuming was the issue?

At work, we use one of those big water coolers that’s allegedly filtered water – kicker was, it’s still coming from a plastic bottle! (which I’m sure has “BPA-free” plastered on it somewhere)

Then, with one more sip from my *uber cute* fake plastic mason jar and straw… THIS was what was causing my headaches. So I experimented with it- I stopped drinking water right away and waited to see if my headache would go away. I figured, it would be a while before a dehydrated headache would come on that I’d be able to tell the difference. Within in ONE HOUR, my headache had gone away.

I seriously could not believe it. All this time, I thought I was doing something so good by using a reusable cup and staying well hydrated and in turn I was literally poisoning myself! Knowledge is power, people!

So what did I do? Chucked that cheap plastic cup for starters! I then finished my bottle of Synergy Kombucha and made that sweet glass jar my new drinking glass of choice.  The chemical risks of drinking from a glass receptacle vs. plastic is almost null. What about stainless steel? Check to make sure that there is not any sort of lining inside the water bottle or you may as well be drinking out of plastic.

Please, PLEASE! Stop drinking out of plastic as quickly as you can! The harmful effects it has on your body are so not worth having something “cute” to drink out of.

Why I quit my 15-day juice cleanse after only 3 days

As you may know, if you follow me on this blog or social media, then you know I’d signed on to do a 15-day juice cleanse back in April.

It all seemed like a good idea at the time. My friend Erin was game to be my main support system and has done numerous juice cleanses before so she was also going to be a huge resource for me. We went so far as to creating a Facebook group, and invited a few dozen people to join us so we could all support one another. I’d made the decision to do this cleanse for a few different reasons. All rolled up into one, I was having a really rough moment in life. When I say moment, I mean past few days weeks months. Erin seemed confident that a 15-day cleanse was just what I needed to get me back on my feet and be somewhat of a “reset button”. I’d talked about wanting to do one for months prior, so I decided to just trust her and dive in.

I went in with good intentions. I did my best to “transition in” the days leading up to it by eating mostly salads or fresh veggies and juicing at least once a day. I put down a wad of cash with Fresh Direct on a load of produce I assumed would get me through my first week (give or take a little). When it came, I was so excited! I was so thrilled to see 3 big boxes filled with nothing but fresh fruits and veggies! It was after having made 4 or so juices and my veggie stash had gone down to about half that I realized, “Sh*t. Financially, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this for 15 days.”

On the first day of my cleanse, I had plans to go see a live taping of The View with a friend and so I juiced my first 3 juices the night before since I had to be at the studio pretty early. I had the first juice before I left the house and felt pretty good. I was mentally craving food, but I knew my body was doing just fine with the nutrients I had just poured into it, quite literally. Immediately following the show, I let my emotions get the better of me and I scarfed down a big sugar cookie. It didn’t even taste that great! I just wanted to put a band aid over my emotions with food. I felt so disappointed with myself but rather than allowing it to completely derail me, I continued on with the cleanse. After 2-3 more juices that day, I realized how quickly I was blowing through them and still needed juice for the following day. So I allowed myself to eat a small bowl of refried beans with avocado. Eating felt amazing. Even though I’d eaten a cookie earlier in the day, it felt like I was eating for the first time in years! I’m not sure if the beans had dairy in them or if it was just the fact that it was my first time really eating that day, but my stomach started hurting so bad. I followed it with some raw kombucha in hopes that it would help soothe my belly, but it just tasted too sweet.

The following day, I slept in much later than normal and didn’t get to my first juice until almost noon! If I ever try doing this again in the future, I definitely need to make sure I plan my days better. I will say, I found it interesting how I didn’t seem to ‘suffer’ from any of the common side effects that you generally hear with juicing- no headaches, no dizziness, no fatigue, I didn’t even feel very hungry. What I did feel was the yearn for food. I missed the act of eating so much! I missed that satisfying feeling you experience when you have a fully belly after a great meal.

As I review the notes I kept from those 3 days, I just kept writing “I want food! I can’t stop thinking about food!” That was honestly the biggest struggle for me. I missed the satisfying feeling you get when you pick up a fork, and put food into your mouth. So why did I quit when I knew that would be a struggle before I even got started?

On day three, I started like the days prior with some warm lemon water, followed by my first juice of the day. As part of my cleanse, I wanted to experiment more with ingredients and juices I hadn’t made before. I promised myself I’d drink them no matter what. The problem was, I had some serious flops. I didn’t realize how bitter Swiss chard was or how “pulp-y” mango was going to juice. I was choking down these juices and not enjoying a bit of the process. Not only that, but by day 3, I was almost completely out of produce. Given I’d “transitioned in” a few days before going in 100%, I was just not in the position at that time to be taking on a juice cleanse at ~$30/day. By 2pm on the third day, I gave in, had a hearty bowl of kale and white bean soup and came to terms with the fact that now is just not the time for me to be making such a drastic “diet” change.

I fully understood and agreed  where Erin was coming from in the beginning when she said that she thought honestly that it could benefit me in many areas of life. I think the one component that I really wasn’t fully aware of going in was the cost. In NYC, it’s easy to spend upwards of $40/day on breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I was not your average New Yorker! When I was working, I packed my own lunch almost every single day and made the majority of my breakfasts and dinners at home. If I ordered out, it was generally on the weekend and even then I’m pretty lucky in that my super awesome boyfriend pays for the majority of our meals together (which happened mostly on the weekends).

Once my life here in Austin really gets rolling, I get into my own apartment and start boosting my salary up to where I was once accustomed to it being, I think I’d like to give a cleanse another shot. I’m not going to get on my soap box again proclaiming to do it at X date for X number of days. I just know that I’d like to try it again sometime in the near-ish future.

 

Have you done a cleanse before? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear what you think, positive or negative!

A Juice a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

I’m sure many of you are just on the edge of your seats wondering how my 15-day juice cleans is going, right?

Well… it’s not. I promise you, I’m going to write about my entire experience in an upcoming post and will give you all the dirty details of why I chose to stop juicing after only 3 days. For now, I want to share with you some of my favorite juice recipes from the 3 days as well as my “transition in” to the cleanse.

Kale, spinach, celery, carrot, cucumber, green apple, ginger

A day or two before starting my cleanse, I was running a lot and not getting enough hydration which caused some nasty headaches. I just did a google search and found this recipe (minus the carrot). I had all the ingredients and figured it was worth a shot. LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE, Y’ALL!!! I shouldn’t have been surprised, but this did surprise me with how quickly it worked. Within 30ish minutes of getting half way through this, my headache was quickly disappearing… That’s about how long it takes for an Advil to kick in! The carrot was probably a little overkill since it adds some unnecessary sugars so feel free to omit.

12 kale leaves, a handful of mint, 1 carrot, 1 green apple and 1 lemon

I posted this picture in an earlier post, but without the recipe. So here you go!

Spinach, mint, celery, rainbow chard, green apple, ginger

This one came out a little better than I had originally expected after the first sip, though I’m not sure I’m a fan of the ginger/mint combo.

Red kale, cucumber, carrot, pear, ginger

Juicing with pears opposed to apples is a good way to spice things up without making a drastic change.

Red & green kale, celery, 1 red apple, 1 green apple, 1 lemon

I definitely over did it on the fruit for this one, it was pretty sweet. But quite delicious!

Red cabbage, celery, apple, lemon

The color on this one made me so excited to drink it!

Orange bell pepper, carrot, celery, ginger, apple

Have you ever juiced with bell pepper before? This was my first time and I was pleasantly surprised!

 

 

Rainbow chard, red cabbage, spinach, red apple (2)

I’ll be honest with you guys… this was probably one of my least favorite juices I made. I didn’t realize how bitter chard is! If I juice with it again in the future, I’ll probably hold back from combining it with cabbage.

Romaine lettuce, Celery, Spinach, Lemon, Pear, Ginger

This was my first time juicing with romaine lettuce and I loved it! Very mild and has a high water content so it makes for a lot of juice 🙂

 

Have you tried any of these recipes? How did you like them? Leave your feedback in the comments below!

 

 

My First Juice Cleanse

Tomorrow morning, I will begin my first ever juice cleanse….

I love juicing and have my own Breville juicer at home, but I’ve never done more than one juice per day and never have I ever used a juice as a meal replacement. I’ve had the desire to do a multiple-day cleanse for quite some time now, but have never really had the guts to commit (no pun intended). I’ve heard it can be really hard, especially the first few days. I also love food. Like, a lot. So the idea of doing nothing but drinking my food for multiple days on end has always terrified me a little bit.

Of course, ultimately it was my decision to do this, but I really became motivated after a conversation with a fellow health coach and juicing guru. I’m really hoping that this will be somewhat of a “reset” button for me. For months now, I’ve only been eating one meal a day and when I do eat more than that, it’s not always the healthiest of choices. I’m aware that this could come as a shock to some considering I’m a health coach, but I’m a very honest person and I want to keep it real. I also don’t really like eating (especially healthy foods) when I’m not hungry, and for reasons I’m not really sure of, I just haven’t been very hungry lately.

This is not as glorious as it may sound. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’m currently at a heavier weight then I typically like to be. So it’s not like my lack of meals per day is doing me any favors, at all. Not to mention the effect it’s having on my half marathon training (hello headaches!)

As I go into this journey of doing a 15-day cleanse, I’ve already gotten some backlash on the length I’ve chosen for the cleanse. Yes, it’s a long time. But I trust that my friend that is my main support behind this knows what she’s talking about and feel like I can fully trust her considering she’s done at least a half-dozen 15-day cleanses in the past.

If this is something you’ve been sitting on the fence about doing, I urge you to join us in the process! We have created a Facebook group for anyone doing a cleanse. You don’t even have to do a 15-day cleanse! You can do whatever you feel suits you best. One group member is doing a modified cleanse that will include smoothies and some foods. Another woman doesn’t own a juicer, but has talked about doing a smoothie cleanse. Some are only doing five or seven days. Whatever cleanse sounds best for you is the one you should take on (or not). Please get in touch with me if this sounds like something you would be interested in doing. You don’t even have to start tomorrow!

A note to you if you’re interested in joining the FB group: This group has not been formed as a means of telling you HOW to cleanse, or what juices to make. It is simply there to be a supportive community. We know how difficult it can be to do something like this on your own and want to be able to give support to others as well as have it be there for ourselves in times of need. We will be sharing our recipes and will be encouraging the other group members to do the same.

I am so excited to tell you that I will be blogging my entire experience! I’ve yet to decide exactly how I will be publishing it, but I will be journalling each day, every thought that goes through my head about the experience, every juice recipe, everything. Keep your eyes peeled for my updates. 

If you have done a cleanse yourself, I’d love it if you would leave a comment below. What did you feel the pro’s and con’s were? Do you have any recipe suggestions? Please! Leave me some feedback!

 

10 tips on cutting grocery costs

Think eating healthy has to be expensive? In this post, I’ll give you ten different ways to help you cut costs at the grocery store and get the most bang for your organic buck!

1- Waste not, will not! Save every part of your veggies, and turn the odds and ends into a homemade veggie soup. You can make this is bulk too, and freeze so you can always be prepared with a bountiful lunch option! Don’t have enough of veggie “rubbish” to make a full pot of soup now? Freeze it!
2- Look up what an actual serving size is to avoid over eating/spending/waste. Chances are more than likely you’re eating double if not more, than the recommended serving size.
3- Choose organic from the dirty dozen plus list/ the clean 15. Go standard on whatever else you feel you can’t afford.
4- Drink more water. Skip the coffee, tea, soda and processed juices. There’s absolutely no need to buy bottled water. Buy yourself a fun glass if it will more you more excited to drink from it!
5- Make your own almond milk. It’s actually quite simple, and almond milk lasts almost three times as long as cows milk!
6- Make your own nut butter. You don’t have to own a fancy nut butter machine, a Vitamix or any food processor will do just fine!
7- Skip the dessert. If you’re one who craves an after dinner treat, try reaching for a banana or an apple. You’ll still give your body the sugar it’s craving, without all the added sugars and chemicals. You can even use some of your freshly made nut putter to smear on top!
8- Buy a whole chicken and use it ALL! Here are a few good ideas of how to make a whole chicken last for many meals. Not to mention, the phenomenal benefits of bone broth. HERE is just a few reasons why you should consider eating it with a great recipe too!
9- Shop local/volunteer at a co-op. A lot of small, local shops will trade hours worked for merchandise or at least a sweet discount. Look here to find your closest food co-op, farmers market or CSA.
10- Make your own bread. Got a crockpot? Put that bad boy to use! This recipe looks delish!

Did you like this post? Make sure you follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more tips!

 

Your Health Coach, my story.

If you’re anything like me, throughout your life, you’ve gone to see personal trainers, dietitians, nutritionists, running coaches, you name it. All with the hopes that they will hand deliver to you, the secret formula that you’ve been searching for all your life so you can lose weight and keep it off. But then maybe you sit back and take a look at them and you can’t help but wonder, “Do they even know what it’s like to be me? Have they ever struggled with weight the way that I have?”

From my experience, often times, the answer to those questions, is no. I have a lot of friends within this industry and I have a great deal of respect for all of them, but many of them are of the lucky crowd that has never had to worry about a constant fluctuation in weight. In an odd way, I feel like I’m fortunate enough to have experienced this. Why do I find this to be a positive (no pun intended)? Because it allows me to relate to my clients on a level that I feel a lot of trainers and nutritionists just can’t get to.

I know what it’s like to battle the voices in your head when they’re telling you that a meal from Burger King over a nutritious home cooked meal will be more satisfying. I know what it’s like to cry in frustration over the fact that your favorite pair of pants are suddenly way too tight. Or maybe without much effort, your favorite pair of pants are loose and baggy and don’t look as cute on your hips anymore. The latter can especially be difficult when on one hand you’re thankful that your body has been responding to the efforts you’ve put in to eating better and exercising more. But on the other hand, now all of your clothes don’t hug you the way they are meant to and you now feel frumpy, in a whole new way.

I  wanted to post the below picture because I feel it very accurately shows the results of what can happen to your body from eating “no/low-fat” and “no/low-calorie” foods but more importantly, what happens when you STOP eating that way.

In 2009 I was fed up of feeling sorry for myself and hating the way I looked, so I dug deep into my pockets and paid for a personal trainer. I worked out with him 2-3 times a week and sprinkled in my own cardio here and there maybe 1-2 times a week. I also followed his menu plan and ate exactly how he told me to: 1200 calories a day, with one cheat day at the end of the week. My meals often consisted of lean chicken, egg whites only, (chemical filled) low calorie protein shakes and bars, high protein anything, blah, blah, blah… you know the deal. The picture on the far left is the result of that work. I was doing really well for about 6 months when I went through a painful breakup and found excuses as to why I could no longer pay him. I stopped working out completely and I was having cheat weeks rather than cheat meals. The middle picture is the result of what happened after going back to “real” foods, and little to no working out. I’d lost all respect for my body and shot up to the heaviest I’ve ever weighed (nearing 165lbs).

In 2011, I’d started running and became more aware of what I was eating again. Only problem, was that I was going back to eating chemical filled crap. Protein bars, shakes, egg whites, non-fat milk, grilled chicken and broccoli for every meal… It wasn’t sustainable for the rest of my life.

It really wasn’t until 2013 when after debating it for years, I decided to join IIN and turn my burning curiosity for the health & wellness industry into a career. Over the last three years, my interest (and love) of vegetables has grown significantly from being the pickiest eater in the world (think like a 4 year-old) to actually craving veggies, loving green juices and being more aware of where my food is coming from. I know how hard it can be to justify buying organic over it’s cheaper alternative. I know it’s easier to buy a prepared frozen meal over making it from scratch. Especially living in NYC, I know how much easier it is to just order out rather than trying to make a meal in your microscopic [joke of a] kitchen. Working out in the winter? It sucks! As a runner, I HATE running in this crap! But what keeps me going is knowing that what I’m doing now is setting up myself for the future. I know that the efforts I put into my health now will greatly pay off down the road. Do I sometimes wish that my stomach was as flat as it was in the 2009 picture? Yup! But realistically, I know that that is not a maintainable body for me. Not for life. I could probably get back there if I really put my mind do it, but it’s not something that I would be able to keep up for longer than another 6 months, and I’d rather not deprive myself of food (and life!) the way I was back then.

I know that my body doesn’t appear to be too far off now than it was in 2009, but trust that there is a drastic difference. But the biggest difference that no one can actually see, is that now I care about what I eat for my health- not just to be “skinny”.

I urge you to take a look at your habits now. Where do you see areas that could stand for improvement? To you, what is the easiest area to start chipping away at? What grocery items could you manage to trade for organic ones?

I hope that this post resonates with some of you. Know that even us professionals aren’t always perfect, but we’re able to pull from our own experiences to help you become the healthiest you possible.