It's 11PM on January 2nd and I've already failed my New Years "diet" challenge. 

As many of you know, I'm really not into diets, or crazy fad juice cleanses given that I know they don't work and normally you just end up worse off than you started, But, I am really into challenges and methods of eating that push my body as well as my mind. What do I mean by this?

It's time to party! The holidays are here and I'm super happy about it. I love all of the festive lights, family get togethers and of course, all of the food and drinks! But, I'll be honest, I do try to be strategic when I go to parties so that I don't go overboard and kick myself at the end of the night. Don't get me wrong, I love to have a good time and I think it's really important to enjoy the holidays and not restrict yourself too much, but the holidays is not an excuse to go totally crazy. All that does is make you feel terrible the next day which leads to less productivity; nobody has time for that. Below are some strategies that I use so that I can still enjoy parties and have a good time without completely derailing my health and wellness. Happy holidays! 

Between holiday parties, work trips, travel and freezing cold weather, I haven't been as "strict" about eating healthily or fitting in workouts as I normally am. I mean, who wants to go for a run when it's freezing cold outside or pass up that glass of mulled wine at a friends cocktail party? It's important to enjoy the holidays and give your body rest here and there. We can't be perfect all of the time! 

During the holidays it's fun to celebrate with friends and family by sipping on a celebratory cocktail. The downside to these holiday classics is that most of them are packed with unwanted sugar and calories. So, instead of sipping on something that you won't feel great about the next day, I'm sharing 2 cocktail alternatives that deliver on taste and better health! 

It's incredibly important that you eat after you workout. Especially if it's an intense, hour long pilates class! I'm over on the Mint Studios blog this week with 4 perfect on-the-go post-workout snacks. 

The holidays are coming in hot which means lots of fun family time, cocktail parties, food and treats with a side of anxiety and stress. You feel me? In an effort to make this holiday season a little bit less stressful, I'm sharing my top tips for staying fit, happy and healthy over the next month and a half. Yes, it can be done! 

Harnessing powerful, inspiring energy is an important part of a holistic and healthy life. Mint Studios, the pilates and barre studio where I coach clients on health and wellness, has really happy, inspiring energy. Probably because there's nothing better than that post-workout high! So, how can you harness that kind of positivity and bring it into your home or office? In my blog post for Mint Studios this week I talk about how you can use crystals to get that same happy, healthy energy!

There are many out there that would argue that routine is lethal; I agree, when used incorrectly, routine can be a slow death. But, I also truly believe that routine is key to winning your day and when done right, makes you more powerful than you know. 

This week I'm sharing some much needed tips over on the Mint Studios blog to help you detox after a holiday splurge. Read on for my top tips! 

Let's celebrate Fall with some healthy and yummy pumpkin recipes!

There is a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to food and nutrition. You could google away for hours to get health and wellness tips, only to come up with different answers every time. So, this week, I'm here to set the record straight on a few things so that you can confidently go about your week and make fabulous choices!

Every week I do a guest post and instagram over on the Mint Studios blog and this week it's all about inflammation! Get the deets and start fighting this little bugger in 4 easy steps. 

Something that I've mentioned many times on my blog but that I'll mention here again is the power of living a healthy, yet balanced life. I'm a health coach, personal trainer, I have celiac disease and I care deeply about how I treat my body and what I put into it, but I still allow myself to indulge here and there. I've learned that living an 85/15 lifestyle when it comes to healthy eating (85% whole healthy foods and then 15% whatever I want) has allowed me to feel so much freedom around food.

You know my mantra. Don't focus on the foods that you should be eliminating from your diet, instead, think about all of the wonderful things you can ADD IN! I like to turn the traditional view of "dieting" on its head in this way. The dieting and health world has always focused on what we shouldn't be eating. Don't eat gluten, stay away from sugar, eliminate dairy....Why doesn't this dieting strategy work? Because trying to lose weight by focusing on food is like trying to quit smoking by focusing on cigarettes.

Over the course of this year and a half, I slowly but surely began to put on a little bit of weight and inflammation. I'm not talking a lot here, I'm talking about 7-9lbs or so, but my pants were getting tighter, I started to feel self conscious in my clothes and definitely didn't want to walk around in a bikini. With the added pressure of transitioning into the world of health and wellness, I was pretty mortified that I was putting on weight while trying to help other people lose it...weird and super uncomfortable.

If you read my posts, then you know that I'm really not a big fan of the scale. For me personally, I've found that it doesn't really do anything but make me feel bad and cause anxiety. So, for that reason, I probably only weigh myself about 2x per year and that's normally at doctors offices when I have to.