Weight Loss Inspirations Online Course: The Foundations

Do you Want to Lose Weight and Keep it Off?

I want to help you achieve that goal! I have the perfect weight loss course to get you started. My 12 week course is designed to help you lose weight long-term by teaching you how to create a lifestyle plan that will continue with you for the rest of your life. You will learn how to create a plan that is realistic, personalized, and perfect just for you.

Weight Loss Course

THIS IS NOT A DIET

Diets only work for short-term weight loss. I don’t believe in diets. The foundations weight loss inspirations course teaches you how to make your own eating plan that includes a healthy balance of all food groups, works with your family, and includes your favorite foods. No restrictive dieting, no feeling deprived, no ridiculous eating guidelines. You will learn how to make your own nutrition plan through this course instead of trying to follow something designed for someone else.

Learn How To Meal Plan

The Weight Loss Inspirations online course teaches the details of making a healthy meal plan and how to implement that into your daily life. You will learn what makes a balanced plate and how to calculate your individual needs. You will also learn why dairy isn’t a necessary part of your meal plan and that you don’t have to count food group servings to have a healthy food intake!

Weight Loss Course

Gain Knowledge You Didn’t Know You Needed

Do you know how to read a food label? How to find healthy recipes? What resources are available to you to find accurate and helpful information online? Are you familiar with the Plate Method? Do you know how many grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat you need each day? Find the answers to these questions and many more in this 12 week weight loss course!

Obtain Numerous Other Benefits Too!

Struggling with fatigue? Eating healthy can help with that! Desiring a better body image? Learn how to love your body for what its capable of, not how it looks! Afraid of developing a chronic condition? Choose to eat healthy now and follow the guidelines in the Weight Loss Inspirations Course and ward off those pesky conditions (or improve your management of ones you already have). You might find that you’re sleeping better, improving your ability to manage stress, and overall just have an improved since of well-being. A healthy lifestyle can make some HUGE differences for you!

Weight Loss Course

Find Out Why “Everything in Moderation” Is Bad Advice!

If this way of thinking worked, do you think we would have an obesity epidemic on our hands? Obviously this strategy isn’t working well in the U.S. You will learn better strategies and tips to make your weight loss journey a successful one. The Foundations Course also shows you how to look at the big picture when it comes to health, weight loss, and lifestyle habits.

Receive ALL the Necessary Tools in this Course for Successful Weight Loss

  • Meal Planning Worksheets
  • Grocery List Printable
  • Food and Exercise Logs
  • Research Article Links
  • SMART PLANS Worksheets
  • Recipes
  • and More!

Weight Loss Course

Enjoy Multiple Learning Forms to Match Your Needs

Each course week includes a video presentation to watch and listen to for auditory and visual learners. Also, each week contains written content for your reading pleasure with more details and information. Printables that support each topics are included as well such as food logs and menu plans. You will watch, listen, read, and practice what you learn each week to match all of your learning needs.

Share Your Journey with a Community of Like Minded Individuals

As part of the course you will have access to discussion forums and as a bonus, you will also have access to a FREE and private Facebook group to share your journey with others. Having accountability is an important part of a weight loss plan. It is also important to have a support system for your weight loss journey as well. The Weight Loss Inspirations course is designed with that in mind and provides you with a platform to discuss your struggles and successes, learn from others, and feel encouraged along the way.

What’s Included in the Course:

  • 12 Weeks of Exclusive Content 

    • Each week will take approximately 1 hour to complete
    • SMART PLANS and Setting Realistic Expectations
    • Importance of Keeping Food Records and How to Track Your intake
    • Implementing the Plate Method
    • How to Meal Plan
    • The Best Exercises for Weight Loss
    • Why Counting Calories Doesn’t Work
    • The Problem with “Everything in Moderation”
    • Label Reading for Weight Loss
    • Finding and Creating Healthy Recipes
    • Finding and Maintaining Weight Loss Motivation
    • A Look at Meal Replacements and Other Diet Foods
    • Convenient and Healthy Eating for Weight Loss
  • Private Discussion Forums and FREE Closed Facebook Group Access

    • Community Support
    • Connect with Others Just Like You
    • No Need to Travel to Meetings or Presentations
  • Printable Resources You can Download and Keep!

    • Food Record
    • Grocery List
    • Meal Plan
    • Weekly Menu
    • Recipes
    • Food Lists
    • Example Workouts
  • Expert Advice and Information

    • All the content was created by Nancy – a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s Degree and Certified Personal Trainer.
  • No Prepackaged Foods – You purchase all your own foods

    • Stay in control of the food and ingredients you put in your body
    • Keeps cost low by allowing you to purchase your own groceries
  • Budget Friendly

    • This program is NEW so the price is LOW!
    • Give feedback and you’ll be eligible for special coupons for additional programs in the future
    •  Prices will increase over the next few months so act now!
  • Your Time Learning

    • You can go as fast or as slow through the content as you need
    • You can choose the day, time, and length of your sessions
    • Videos are designed to easily pause or repeat information as needed
    • Week 1 content is available immediately after purchase
    • Additional content will be available automatically each week as you go through the program
Weight Loss Course

Get All This and More for Only $49!

This is an introductory price offer only! It will be gone before you know it so make sure to purchase your 12 week course today! There is no time like the present, so click here, and get registered! The actual value of this course is well over $250! Similar programs range from $250-780 for 12 weeks of content and resources. This low, low price won’t last long!

Anti-inflammatory Rainbow: Yellow Foods

Anti-Inflammatory Food and Colors

The foods that help fight inflammation come in all different colors. Each color has special properties that help fight inflammation and provide a myriad of other benefits to our body. These special properties are often referred to as the large category of “phytonutrients” which is basically a fancy word for plant nutrients. There are over 100,000 phytonutrients in the plants we eat! You can learn more about phytonutrients here. The anti-inflammatory nutrients make up hundreds of those phytonutrients. The color of a plant tells us some things about which phytonurients and which anti-inflammatory nutrients that plant contains. It’s vitally important that we get a variety of colors in our diet to make sure we are getting in the wide variety of phytonutrients and anti-inflammatory compounds that we need for optimal health. This post is all about the yellow foods and how they benefit our health.

Anti-Inflammatory Yellow Foods

Yellow Food Compounds include: Lutein, Rutin, Zeaxanthin.  These yellow compounds help yellow fruits and vegetables to provide anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory benefits. Yellow foods also help protect our brain, eyes, skin, and heart. Some yellow food will be familiar such as lemons and bananas. But don’t be afraid to try something new like star fruit or succotash for variety. Many people shy away from corn but it actually has the highest amount of Lutein out of all our vegetables and fruits (see the research). Just remember that corn is a starch and should be paired with, not take the place of, non-starchy vegetables for a balanced meal.

Yellow Foods List:

yellow foods list

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY YELLOW FOODS COMPOUNDS

Lutein and Zeaxanthin:

Are carotenoids that require healthy fats for absorption; which means its best to eat them with a meal containing healthy sources of healthy fats. These two yellow food compounds are particularly beneficial for eye health. These orange compounds help filter blue-light waves to keep our eyes healthy and fight of macular degeneration. The American Optometric Association has more info on these carotenoids and eye health. Here is another study supporting both Lutein and Zeaxanthin in preventing and/or treating different diseases of the eyes including malignant tumors and possibly dry eyes.

Rutin:

A flavonoid anti-oxidant that assists with blood flow and keeps our vascular system running smoothly. Rutin is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects as well as other biological activities.  Research is currently being conducted on rutin as a potential blood clot prevention agent – but current recommendations suggest consuming it in foods until we know more.

Tips for Increasing Yellow Foods in Your Diet:

  • Add Banana slices to cereal or peanut butter sandwiches
  • Include Corn in soups and casseroles
  • Use Ginger in teas or when seasoning Asian dishes
  • Try Gold Potatoes instead of russet
  • Toss Pineapple into a healthy fruit salad
  • Choose yellow bell peppers in Mexican dishes or dip in hummus or guacamole

Don’t Be Afraid of Corn

Corn is actually a healthy food! Now of course you will want to be mindful of adding tons of butter and salt, but overall corn itself is a good choice. Many people hold beliefs about corn that are false, you can read some myths about corn here. Half a cup of corn has only 65 calories. Corn contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Although corn doesn’t always get digested completely, if you can still benefit from its many nutrients. It’s actually a good thing that some of the fibers are indigestible because that helps move things through your intestines. As mentioned above corn is extremely high in lutein and beneficial for your eye health. Keep corn limited to one-fourth of your plate along with other starchy foods (when following the plate method). Corn is a starch and should be treated as one, but you can still eat it and benefit!

Recipes to Boost Yellow Foods consumption:

Easy Pineapple Fried Rice by Emilie Eats
Oven Roasted Herb and Garlic Parmesan Potatoes by Mom on Time Out
Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken by The Recipe Critic
Orzo Salad with Starfruit Salsa by Vintage Kitty

How to Eat to Fight Inflammation

Just eating a few yellow foods each week mixed in to your normal intake of fast-foods and sweets isn’t going to get you the benefits you are after. Check out my Ultimate Guide to the Anti-Inflammatory Diet to make sure your following the full plan for optimal results. If you’d like to not only fight inflammation and gain health; but lose weight as well, check out How to Go Low Carb the Healthy Way. You can combine the anti-inflammatory diet and low-carb meal plans together for optimal health and weight management results. Sign-up for my newsletter below to get even more tips on following the Anti-inflammatory meal plan.

yellow foods benefits

Anti-inflammatory Rainbow

I’ll be sharing information on red foods, green foods, blue and purple foods, white and brown foods, and orange foods over the next few months. Make sure to check back often or sign-up for my newsletter so you don’t miss a thing! Eating a rainbow of colors is the best way to ensure a highly anti-inflammatory diet that includes the broad spectrum of phytonutrients we need for optimal health.

What’s your favorite orange food and/or recipe? Post in the comments below!

How to Find the Right Exercise for You

Finding Your Best Exercise

We all know exercise is important. From preventing heart disease and diabetes to maintaining our physical abilities to boosting self-confidence there are a multitude of reasons to fit physical activity into our weekly lives. But knowing something is important and actually finding the time to do it and enjoy it are totally different things! Many of you have tried to begin an exercise program, maybe multiple times, just to be back at square one a few weeks or months later. It’s very common to “fall off” the exercise wagon so to speak.

how to find the best exercise for you

So how do you find an exercise routine that fits into your schedule, works with your current abilities, and that you actually want to do? Well, the answer is a little complicated. See you are all individuals with different lifestyles, abilities, and enjoyments. No one exercise plan is going to work for every person. Also, it will be a bit of an experiment or trial and error to find the right exercise plan for you. I’ve compiled a list of tips and strategies to finding an exercise program to suit your needs.

Pick Something You Enjoy

This may seem simple but sometimes it takes trying out a few different options to find the type of exercise you enjoy most. There are countless options for physical activity but we often go into this short-sighted thinking we have to either run, cycle, lift weights, or practice yoga. In reality we could choose from 100 of different exercise options. Try to base what you choose off of something you enjoy. Did you enjoy dance growing up? Maybe you could try your hand at Zumba or sign up for a ball-room dance class. Are you a sports fan and pretty competitive? Check out what type of leagues may be available in your area. Does going to the gym fill you with dread? See what type of exercise DVDs your library has or download a home workout plan to try.

If you try to force yourself into doing something you hate you most likely won’t be successful at maintaining your exercise routine. Finding an exercise you enjoy might take some time, but will be well worth it when you actually look forward to lacing up your shoes and heading out the door. Keep reading for more tips on making exercise fun! You can take this fun “exercise personality” quiz to get some ideas on what you might enjoy most.

Find an Accountability Partner

Not only can having a friend to exercise with make it more fun; it also helps you stay motivated and on track. It’s easy to talk yourself out of heading to your fitness class but it’s a lot harder when your friend expects you to be there. An accountability partner can be a great source of encouragement or even competition. Knowing someone is depending on your support and commitment makes you more committed too! Research supports exercising with a buddy to increase your activity. You can also reap the benefits of being more social with an exercise partner as well.

exercise partner

You don’t have to actually workout with your accountability partner. All you need to do is set aside some time each week to check in with each other and update each other your progress. Most of us would rather share that we are making progress instead of failing to make progress. You can do this via email, phone, or even text. Just make sure to pick an accountability partner that’s going to support and push you towards your goals.

Start Small

Many times we over do it when starting an exercise program and that leaves us sore and worn out for the rest of the week, or worse, injured! Take it slow when beginning to exercise. As little as 10 minutes a day can be beneficial and it won’t eat up too much time or energy. Over time, build on the time and intensity of your workouts. If you would like more information about starting small for losing weight check out my 12 week Weight Loss Inspirations Course. Click below to find out more!

 

Try Something New

If you keep trying to make it to that 6:00 am boot-camp and keep hitting snooze instead of getting out of bed; maybe you aren’t cut out for early morning workouts. Try a different time of day! You can also try different types of exercises, classes, or programs. You might really enjoy kickboxing over step aerobics if you give it a go! Enjoy yoga? Try Goat Yoga! Like running? Try interval training or running hills. Doing the same thing for months gets boring and also prevents additional gains from exercise. Make sure you try new things occasionally to keep your interest and challenge yourself.

Determine What You Want from Your Workouts

Exercise for your goals

What are your fitness goals? If you want to build strength, training for a marathon is probably not your best choice! Trying to lose weight? Cardio is more your friend in the beginning. Need to increase your flexibility to reduce pain and tight muscles? Yoga or Tai Chi is going to be a better option than that weight circuit at the gym. When you decide what you are trying to accomplish that can help you make the best choice for your exercise plan. If you are trying to lose weight, diet is more important than exercise, so you might want to check out how to go low-carb the healthy way and just choose the type of exercise you enjoy most for you workouts.

Choose a Sport and Make it Fun

Try getting involved in your favorite sport or activity. Most cities have leagues of different kinds from volleyball to bowling to kickball. Any activity can count towards your overall exercise goals. If you’re competitive by nature use that to your advantage. If you prefer playing just for fun regardless of winning or losing choose a league or activity with a group that feels the same way. Exercise doesn’t have to mean working out in the sense most of us think. Any type of activity can count if you’re moving more and sitting less.

Set Some Goals

Consider where you want to be 6 months from now? Are you trying to lift a certain amount? Run a particular distance? Sign-up for a challenge or a race. Having a date to work towards can focus your attention on improving your fitness levels. Think about doing a 30 day fitness challenge or another type of fitness challenge. Some online challenges will even send you a medal like Will Run for Bling and Charity! You can also sign up for fun events like midnight runs or muddy obstacle courses to keep you on track.

Make Exercise a Family Event

Exercise with the Family

Include the kids in your exercise plans. Maybe you can plan weekly or monthly hiking trips where you live. Sign them up for the 1 mile kids dash offered by your 10k race program. Play flag football or ultimate Frisbee with the neighborhood families. Whatever floats your boat – just get the kids involved and the whole family can have some fun burning calories.

Fit it in Where You Can

Yes it’s optimal to have about 20 minutes set aside 3-4 days per week to get active, but maybe your schedule is really tight right now and you aren’t able to commit to that. Can you commit to a 10 minute walk on your lunch break 2 days? What about another 10 minutes after dinner 1 or 2 nights each week? Start sneaking in extra activity when you can and before long you will start noticing a difference in how you feel. Research supports benefits from small amounts of exercise. Obviously you get greater benefit with more exercise but why not capitalize on what you can achieve and not worry as much about what’s out of your reach at the moment?

Prepare the Day Before

Prepare for exercise ahead of time

Lay out everything you need the day before. Your clothing, snacks, shoes, and whatever else you need to make your workout a success. Place your gym bag in your car if you plan to hit it on your way to or from work. Have everything ready to make exercising as easy and smooth as possible.

Make it Count

12 minutes of interval training is all you need for a successful and meaningful workout (click here for more info). So if you are limited in time, make up for it with intensity! Really work towards putting in the effort when possible and increase other areas of activity as you are able. A short, powerful workout can be just as effective or possibly more effective than a longer, more moderate intensity workout.

Take the Path of Least Resistance

No I’m not talking about choosing the lightest weights at the gym. Make it easy on yourself to exercise! This might mean lacing up your tennis shoes for a run in your neighborhood instead of driving to them gym for time on the elliptical or it might mean doing a body weight strength training routine on nights you leave work late instead of hitting the gym and waiting on the machines you prefer to be available. Reduce the barriers that come up for you by planning ahead. Your exercise plan should reduce stress – not create it! Choose options that help keep you energized and calm. If you’re always rushing to your workouts, or worse, through your workouts – you’re going to be more likely to quit.

Hire a Professional

Hire an Exercise Professional

If you’re not sure where to start or would like to hit the gym but don’t know how to use the machines; you can always consider hiring a certified personal trainer. They can help lead you in the right direction based off your fitness goals and can show you how to do the exercise correctly and efficiently. Some trainers will even do group sessions – so bring your accountability partner with you! Paying your hard earned money is another way to make yourself accountable to your workout plans and keep you motivated to reach your goals.

Make a Plan

No matter what type of exercise you choose to do, you need a plan to implement it. Write it on your calendar, in your planner, or your bullet journal. Choose what days, what time, and for how long you will be exercising. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail – so make an exercise plan! You might want to check out these meal planning tips as well while you’re at it and knock out both your meal plan and your workout plan at the same time.

The Best exercise for you

What Exercise Will You Choose?

Leave a comment with your favorite exercise type below! Consider signing up for my newsletter for more weight loss, exercise, and nutrition tips delivered to your inbox. If you’re reading this because your trying to lose weight, check out these 25 weight loss tips to help improve your progress.

Anti-inflammatory Rainbow: Red Foods

Anti-Inflammatory Food and Colors

The foods that help fight inflammation come in all different colors. Each color has special properties that help fight inflammation and provide a myriad of other benefits to our body. These special properties are often referred to as the large category of “phytonutrients” which is basically a fancy word for plant nutrients. There are over 100,000 phytonutrients in the plants we eat! You can learn more about phytonutrients here. The anti-inflammatory nutrients make up hundreds of those phytonutrients. The color of a plant tells us some things about which phytonutrients and which anti-inflammatory nutrients that plant contains. It’s vitally important that we get a variety of colors in our diet to make sure we are getting in the wide variety of phytonutrients and anti-inflammatory compounds that we need for optimal health. This post is all about the red foods and how they benefit our health.

Anti-Inflammatory Red Foods

The benefits of the red food include anti-cancer, ant-inflammatory, immune boosting, DNA protection, prostrate health, natural detoxification, and vascular/heart health.  Keep the skin on foods such as red apples and radishes to reap the benefits. Watch out for dried fruits such as raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries – these often contain added sugars that may negate some of the health benefits. Strawberries are high in folic acid and Vitamin C – both powerful nutrients in their own right. Cranberries have anti-bacterial properties that have been useful in both our gastrointestinal and urinary tracts. Red or pink grapefruits have cholesterol fighting compounds. Most red foods are also high in fiber, especially berries and stone fruits, fiber fights inflammations and helps us maintain a healthy gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems.  You can read more about the health benefits of red foods and how to get more of them in your diet here.

Red Foods List:

anti inflammatory red foods

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY RED FOODS COMPOUNDS

Red food anti-inflammatory compounds include anthocyanins, astaxanthin (found in pink/red seafood), carotenoids (also found in orange foods), ellagic acid, flavonols/flavonoids, lycopene. As you can see below these compounds provider a wide variety of health benefits.

Lycopene:

High in cooked tomatoes, watermelon, and even pink grapefruit, lycopene helps protect against prostrate, breast, lung, and skin cancers. You can also reduce your risk of heart attack by consuming more of these foods. Because lycopene requires fat to be absorbed by the body make sure to include a healthy oil such as olive oil or some nuts and seeds to your meals with these red foods. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has more information on lycopene here.

Anthocyanins:

Anthocyanins are anti-oxidants and/or phytonutrients that help protect the heart and brain. They have been found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks and significantly help lower blood pressure. Other help benefits include: improving memory and cognition, fighting liver disease, and reducing the age-related decline in brain health. Anthocyanins have a strong role in preventing and/or managing many chronic conditions related to lifestyle habits such as heart disease and diabetes.  Read more about anthocyanins here from Today’s Dietitian. You can also find more about anthocyanins in this research article.

Flavonols:

Flavonols help fight and prevent coronary heart disease, stroke, and the damaging effects of LDL cholesterol. Found in apples, cherries, and cranberries these phytonutrients have been shown to reduce the risk of asthma, diabetes, cancers, and heart disease. U.C. Davis has a great fact sheet about flavonols here. Flavonols have been shown to reduce C-reactive protein – a laboratory marker of inflammation levels. They may even benefit athletic performance, although it appears the jury is still out on that topic, find out more here. Quercetin is the most common flavonoid.

Tips for Increasing Red Foods in Your Diet:

  • Add berries or pomegranate seeds to salads
  • Use marinara sauce (red) instead of alfredo or wine sauces on pasta
  • Use red onions in a tomato and red pepper salsa
  • Roast tomatoes with other vegetables for a side dish
  • Eat red foods such as red applies or plums as snacks
  • Choose dark red kidney beans for soups or bean salads
  • Consider adding radishes, beets, and red bell pepper to fresh salads in addition to tomatoes
  • Choose pink/red grapefruits over white ones

Recipes to Boost Red Foods Consumption:

Triple Berry Salad from Chelsea’s Messy Apron
Homemade Crock Pot Marinara Sauce from Life Currents
Beetroot Crisps from Nicky and Max
Skillet Red Beans and Rice from MyRecipes
Charred Green Beans with Garlic and Pomegranate Seeds from The Healthy Maven

anti-inflammatory red foods

How to Eat to Fight Inflammation

Just eating a few red foods each week mixed in to your normal intake of fast-foods and sweets isn’t going to get you the benefits you are after. Check out my Ultimate Guide to the Anti-Inflammatory Diet to make sure your following the full plan for optimal results. If you’d like to not only fight inflammation and gain health; but lose weight as well, check out How to Go Low Carb the Healthy Way. You can combine the anti-inflammatory diet and low-carb meal plans together for optimal health and weight management results. Sign-up for my newsletter below to get even more tips on following the Anti-inflammatory meal plan.

Anti-inflammatory Rainbow

I’ll be sharing information on orange foods, green foods, blue and purple foods, white and brown foods, and yellow foods over the next few months. Check back often or sign-up for my newsletter so you don’t miss a thing! Eating a rainbow of natural colors is the best way to ensure a highly anti-inflammatory diet that includes the broad spectrum of phytonutrients we need for optimal health.

What are your favorite red foods and/or recipes? Post in the comments below!