The temptation to set yourself an intention for weight loss is so high - I know! Now that the holidays are over, all the special food you looked forward to all year has been eaten, and the newest Keto Diet book has found its way into your stocking at Christmas, I know that you want to just set the intention of dropping 10 pounds or however much you feel you "should" lose. Don't set yourself up for failure this year. How many times have you started a new diet on January 1st, a

Baby Zand pampering me on Mother's Day :-) I have not felt in love with my blog this year. I feel rushed putting up recipes and exercise videos that I have tweaked for weeks, sometimes months. So often it’s just a quick “I love this so much, give it a try”, but there is no love or a story in my posts anymore. I feel like I am just trying to get posts done between taking puppy Haigo for a walk and picking up Baby Zand, quickly typing everything up so it can go live, and you ca

This is one of the most confusing topics most of us face. Should we be taking a multivitamin? And how do we make sense of all the products on display in the vitamin aisle? What is a multivitamin? Let's begin with a short definition of a multivitamin, so we all know what we are talking about :-). A multivitamin can come in the form of a pill, capsule, powder, gummy bear, liquid or even in the form of an injection (only get this done by certified integrative doctors, not at any

Many times when we suffer from high blood pressure, our doctors tell us to lower our salt intake. That can be difficult when we are so used to the salty taste, and often crave chips, popcorn, and other salty snacks. Without salt, all of our food would taste bland, and we would not enjoy mealtimes. On top of that, salt is used to extend the shelf life of a lot of products, as certain bacteria find it difficult to grow in a salty environment. Think of pickles - this was a natur

“There is no one way for every human on the planet to eat, despite that holy grail having been searched for, for aeons. This book is […] about how so many of you no longer trust your own instincts and desires, and that you feel like your tastebuds and your body betray you.” I wanted to share the December book pick early, so you can put this on your Christmas wish list or even make it the best gift you are giving this year. Quick logistics note: this book is not available on A

Every day on my Instagram stories I give a tip of the day: from a quick nutrition fact, to exercises you can do on the run, or insights into a healthier lifestyle. Today I talked about three movements to add to your daily life to ease aches and pains specifically neck, back, and hip pain. Check them out quickly before they go away! :-) I think the distinction between movement and exercise is so important in today's sedentary life we all lead. Our bodies were designed to move

Our social calendar is stuffed full with graduations, birthdays, and BBQs for the next few months. And while I LOVE spending time with the people, the food situation is my worst nightmare: burnt meat everywhere, packaged onion dips, chips laced with every food additive imaginable, mayo drenched potato and pasta salads, drinks, drinks, drinks, and not a single vegetable in sight... well if I am lucky there is some GMO corn. This is not at all dissing you who is putting on thes

In all my sessions with clients I always say how unfortunate it is, that we use the same word for a nutrient in our food, and for too much substance on our body. Both are called fat, both are very different, and just because you eat fat, you don't get fat. :-) What I want to write about today is fat the nutrient: one of the only three nutrients in our food, with the other two being carbohydrates and protein. All mainstream diets consist of cutting out one of the three nutrien

The first Monday of the year is here, and I bet you you have committed yourself to some kind of diet/ restriction of certain foods and/or drinks, or serious self imposed gym torture. The New Year always brings with it so many expectations of how you should look, how much you should weigh, and what dress size you will fit into this year. As if by magic your approach this year will change what you were unable to do every year before. I don't want to bring you down, and say it's

If you follow me on any social media channel, you may have noticed that I have been absent in the last month. I have been receiving more and more worried messages from lovely people all over the world. Everything is ok! It was a conscious decision to take a break from social media activity. With Halloween, Baby Zand's first birthday, and Thanksgiving, I wanted to spend my time with family and friends instead of scrolling through endless feeds of food, exercise, and cats (yes,

I have been asked a million questions around how I started solids with Baby Zand, how I make sure she gets enough nutrients, and how I get broccoli in her. There seems to be so much information out there for new moms, which is just plainly overwhelming and often confusing. Pediatricians can only give you limited answers in the short amount of catch up time you have with them once a month. I will share some more things about the path I chose with Baby Zand in upcoming posts, p

When it comes to wanting to lose a few extra pounds, most of us immediately think about the calories we eat versus the calories we burn through exercise. We come up with an arbitrary number of calories we should be eating, very loosely based on some research we read about somewhere, and start our own opposed diet. Quickly we realize that the only thing going down is our mood and our motivation to continue starving ourselves in the kitchen and killing ourselves at the gym. Let

Ah, a new year is here and with it an array of New Years resolutions. In my line of work, this is definitely the busiest season of the year. Everyone is keen to keep their resolution of finally losing those extra few pounds that have been piling on in the last year(s). If this is your goal too, let me destroy your dreams right now. 85% of people will give up on their efforts by the end of January. How sad! Another 14% will not make it through the rest of the year. Why is it s

While I love the holidays and all the delicious foods that come with it, I do not enjoy how those foods make me feel: tired, sluggish, exhausted, lethargic, and just down. This is the typical food coma most of us fall into after indulging a bit too much. But where does all your energy go? To your digestion! It is working overtime right now, trying to digest foods you usually wouldn't eat, working through the quantities you are consuming at the moment, and making sure you are

Let’s kick off the holiday season with a delicious and super easy apple crumble. I make this with spelt flour, which is not gluten free, but a great substitute for wheat. Apples and cinnamon are the perfect wintery combination to make you feel all warm inside. Plus, once you put this gorgeous crumble into the oven, your home will smell Christmassy delicious! In the 4 Week Health Kickstarter I talk about the difference between gluten intolerance and wheat allergy. Although it

Even though a holiDAY is technically only a day, most of us overindulge for the entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Office parties, school bazaars, and family dinners fill the diary and fill your belly with foods you wouldn't usually choose on your plate. Of course there are some things you eat because of tradition (think freshly baked cookies in front of the Christmas tree), others you eat because you are starving and there are only pigs in a blanket at the even

In most big cities - and especially here in Shanghai - eating out is part of your daily life to socialize, work, and to conveniently fill your belly without making a mess in your own kitchen. Of course there are more and more healthy options on most restaurant’s menus, but can eating out regularly really be part of a healthy diet? While I completely understand the convenience eating out can provide, once you start to cook yourself, you will realize that eating out can just ne

When the WHO released their newest statements on processed and red meat causing cancer a few days ago, my social media went crazy. Every vegan blog, person or magazine I followed rejoiced with "see, we told you so!" I was literally shocked at how vicious some of these statements were towards meat eaters, especially paleo followers. I really hate putting a label on a healthy lifestyle, no matter what you choose to eat. Does it really matter if you are vegan, vegetarian, raw, g

When I first start with new nutrition clients, most of them are extremely concerned about my taking away their cup of coffee. Their fear is literally in the air when they first sit down with me. It’s like they are worried I will take their life line away. When I ask if they drink coffee - without any intention of judgement - there are usually immediate excuses: yes, but I keep it low calorie with skim milk; yes, but I don’t use sugar, I use Equal or Stevia to sweeten it. Thes

While in the summer I prefer to eat mostly raw to make me feel light and cool on my feet, as soon as temperatures drop I crave cooked foods. This is normal, and you absolutely want to go with what your body is craving during the changes of the seasons. While there are some warming raw food recipes you can maintain throughout the winter, there is nothing wrong with eating cooked foods - although some experts may want you to believe otherwise. There are actually certain nutrien

Getting restful sleep is the most important thing you can do for your body’s longterm health, consistent weight maintenance or weight loss, and to lower stress levels from your daily life. Yet most of us don’t get the full 8-9 hours our bodies so desperately need. Not just because there aren’t enough hours in our days to sleep for such an extended period of time, but even if we do make the time, the sleep might just not be restful. When I work with coaching clients, we discus