Do you wish you could just press the “easy” button on having a healthy lifestyle? Yeah, you’re not the only one. And I don’t want to burst your bubble, but ... you can’t. Whether you made a decision to be the healthiest version of yourself one decade ago or one day ago, you should know that your goal will require daily effort from you. It’s going to take some work.

So, now that you know that your new lifestyle won’t be easy, I have good news for you! It can be simple. So, please let it be simple. Simple, not easy. And, because I’m a nerd, let’s look at the definitions of easy and simple, as according to Merriam-Webster.

Definition of easy:

1. causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort

2. requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection

Definition of simple:

1. free from ostentation or display

2. sheer, unmixed

3. free from elaboration or figuration

4. readily understood or performed

As the old adage says, nothing worth having comes easy....

What is a diet?

According to Merriam-Webster, a diet is:

1. food or drink regularly consumed (noun)
2. habitual nourishment (noun)
3. the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person for a special reason (noun)

As a surgeon, this is how I used to define “diet.” When I’m caring for my patients in the hospital, I select their diet. And I make my selections according to their needs:

• High blood pressure? Low sodium diet.
• Weak kidneys? Low potassium diet.
• Diabetes? Low sugar diet.

Made sense to me! A diet is simply what someone eats. And you pick what you eat based on what your body needs, right? It turns out a diet is not that simple. It doesn’t just address a physical need. It incorporates mental and emotional needs too. And that’s how it gets complicated.

What is a diet … really?

Merriam-Webster also offers these definitions of diet:

1. A regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight (noun)
2. To eat sparingly or according to prescribed rules (verb)
3. Re...

When I first started health coaching, I asked a lot of professional moms a lot of questions. My questions were geared to learning how to help them the most. I wanted to know if and how health coaching could help them. I asked questions like:

• What are your current eating habits?
• Are you content with them?
• Have you tried to change them before?
• What has stopped you in the past?
• What are your obstacles now?
• How do you want to feel in your body?

And I got amazing feedback! I’m so grateful for those women who gave me their time and their thoughts. From those conversations, there were two overwhelming ideas. I’m going to share one with you in this post. (Don’t worry. I’ll share the other one in time.)

These accomplished, Xennial and Generation-X moms asked:

What should I eat? I can do it if I know what to do!

And honestly, I struggled with that. I didn’t want to tell them what to eat. That sounded like a d-i-e-t to me. And I don’t support the d- word.  See … I can barely write i...

Last week’s blog post was about how to use healthy habits to achieve your goals and how each goal gets you one step closer to your dreams. And it’s true! But there are a lot of healthy habits to choose from! Such habits include moving your body, getting organized, thinking positively and sleeping well. Each of these habits will definitely build you up and not tear you down. And each one will help you level up your health.

So, where do you start? There are arguably hundreds, if not thousands, of healthy habits that can help you get from where are you now to where you want to be. But which one is the most high-yield? Which habit can be the first domino that will knock down all the other dominoes in your life? Which habit will have the biggest, most meaningful impact on your health?

What’s the most important healthy habit?

Start with eating well. When you eat well, you will feel well which allows you to perform well. It’s true! Now, there are plenty of opinions out there that will disa...

As the month of January comes to an end, I’d like to take a closer look at the number one New Year’s resolution for 2019: “Eat healthier.” Sounds simple, right? But there’s so much noise out there about how! Should you start a diet? If so, which one?! U.S. News & World Report declared the Mediterranean diet as the best in the nation. But your office mates say you should “Go paleo!” And how is that different from “going keto?” And what in the world is gluten and why can’t I have it?! Let’s take a closer look at these four diets: (1) Mediterranean (2) Paleo (3) Keto (4) Gluten-free.

Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean region surrounds the Mediterranean Sea and includes several countries including Greece, and some of Italy and Spain. The Mediterranean diet is quite popular in the U.S. right now and encapsulates much of the region’s eating habits.

Why are fans raving?

In a study of more than 1.5 million people on the Mediterranean diet, there were fewer deaths, especially those ...