Weight loss is all about the journey. There are times when the pounds come off a little faster in the beginning, and then progress stalls. This frustrating obstacle is the dreaded weight loss plateau—a time when the pounds no longer melt away even though you’re dieting and exercising. As a weight loss coach, it’s a common issue clients complain to me about. It’s actually a normal part of the process because, as you lose weight, you’re also shedding lean muscle. When lean muscle mass deceases, your metabolism slows down.

While plateaus are frustrating and seem difficult to break through, don’t get discouraged. There are several strategies to help you break through and start seeing results again.

Reduce Carb Intake

Decreasing carb consumption can help you overcome a plateau. Low-carb diets often help control hunger, promote satiety and boost the production of ketones, which have been shown to decrease appetite. As a result, you’ll eat less...

Intermittent fasting has become a go-to for losing weight, breaking through weight loss plateaus and boosting overall health. It’s different than a diet—it’s a pattern of eating. Intermittent fasting doesn’t change what you eat; it changes how and when you eat. This makes it an excellent complement to actual diets.

Intermittent fasting offers many benefits. It helps banish belly fat, improves body composition and promotes cellular repair, while reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Intermittent fasting can also reduce insulin resistance, which decreases the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Some early research in rats shows that intermittent fasting, through caloric restriction, may even extend lifespan.

Intermittent fasting is basically an extension of the “fasting” period that takes place when we sleep. It’s easy to implement and modify for almost any lifestyle. Its popularity has prompted the development of several...

Thanksgiving is around the corner—and along with it, loads of temptation. Research shows that, on average, Americans eat somewhere between 3000 and 4500 calories during Thanksgiving dinner. That’s more than a pound! The bad news is, this kind of overindulgence wreaks havoc on your metabolism and can set the stage for weight gain during the holiday season. When you spend so much time and effort to exercise, follow a healthy diet and work with a nutrition mindset coach, it doesn’t make sense to blow it all on Thanksgiving.

The good news is, you don’t have to derail your efforts this holiday. Follow these strategies to keep your waistline in check while still enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend.

1. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Proper hydration will keep energy levels high, while helping to regulate blood sugar levels and keep cravings in check. Often times, we mistake thirst for hunger—if you’re drinking enough water, you won’t have to worry about...

Exercise plays a key role in both your weight loss efforts and overall health. But when you travel for your job or are always on the go, it can be difficult to fit a workout in. The good news is, you don’t need a lot of time or a gym to get in a great workout that will help transform your body. There are inexpensive, easy-to-use tools that can help you get in shape: resistance bands.

Regardless of your fitness level, you can find ways to exercise with resistance bands that keep your muscles challenged and build endurance without putting too much pressure on your joints.

Here are a few excellent resistance band exercises to get you started. Strive to do three to four sets of 12-15 reps of each exercise, several times a week.

1. Biceps Curl

Sit down somewhere—on a chair, stairs or your heels. Put the resistance band underneath one of your knees. Using the hand on the same side of your body, pull your hand upwards, towards your shoulder. Keep the upper part of your arm...

Did you know that half of all American adults regularly take a multivitamin or another vitamin or mineral supplement? This means that over $12 billion per year is being spent on multivitamins as people try to improve their health. But is it a waste of money?

If you take a multivitamin, it’s probably because you want to do everything you can to maintain your health.

But it's important to research these products as they are not created equal. I like to go directly to the company website and research the ingredients for quality. For example, does it contain clean ingredients, and are they in optimal form for the body to absorb? I think of a multivitamin as the body's insurance policy, as we often don’t get what we need from food.

What are multivitamins?

Multivitamins are supplements and have several different names, including multi-minerals, multis, multiples, or simply vitamins. You can get them in tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, and chewable gummies. Most of them...

Whether you like cardio, bodyweight exercises, lifting weights, or you aren’t really into working out, your regime is likely to have changed recently. With gyms, closing, opening, then in some places closing again, it’s made it harder for you to stick to an exercise plan.

The good news is that it’s possible to work out and get benefits without equipment. Great if you’ve been trying to maintain your physical fitness. Not so good if you’ve been using that as an excuse!

 Whether you like to exercise or not, the bottom line is it’s good for your mental and physical well being to get 30 minutes of activity in a day.  It may be hard to fit into your busy schedule, but there are options. Plus, exercise is cumulative.

While bodybuilders may say you need heavy weights to build strength, your body is an excellent piece of work out equipment. You can use your body to build muscle and burn fat with the power of gravity. There is no excuse...

It can be very uncomfortable if you eat food that makes your belly bloat. You may not have had a big meal, but if the food you have eaten triggers you to swell up in your stomach, you feel like you have eaten three times as much as you should have.

Some of the other symptoms you may have with belly bloat can include heartburn, a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and pain or discomfort in your stomach. You may also struggle with constipation or diarrhea as a result of bloating and gas. And along with the gas, you can also have belching and flatulence. So all in all, not very pleasant! 

One thing to point out here is, if you have severe symptoms continuously, you may want to check whether you have a food intolerance. This could be lactose intolerance (an issue with milk), a gluten allergy (a protein found in wheat), or celiac disease.

You may also have a gut disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn’s disease. These can cause frequent...

I'm sure you've been there. You're feeling stressed and anxious. And you've reached for the ice cream or a bar of chocolate and mindlessly plowed your way through it. Or you've been trying to hit a deadline and grabbed the easiest food you could find – insert 'fast' in front of that! Then you've chowed down, taking mouthfuls between typing. 

Maybe you've just had the worst possible day. So you reach for that bottle of wine and pour yourself one glass, which soon turns into three. 

You aren't alone! Eating and drinking for comfort when you are stressed or anxious is the go-to comfort for so many people. But the problem is when you are dealing with a prolonged period of stress, seeking solace in the refrigerator is ultimately not going to make you feel any better. And it's a massive whammy for you when it comes to your weight gain.

Added to that, stress and anxiety by its very nature can have implications on your body and weight. Did you know it can make you hold...

Fatigue can have a significant impact on every area of your life. Have you ever had that feeling when you are desperate to sleep, but you are lying in bed staring at the ceiling? Your thoughts are going around your head like they are a high-speed train trapped on a never-ending circular track. You know that as the new day dawns, you will feel irritated, fed up, and exhausted.

The worst part? This pattern is happening night after night. And you can’t figure out why you can’t get some valuable and restorative rest when you are so tired. 

When you are suffering from fatigue, it starts to impact your ability to focus on work, and how you care for your children. You begin to feel like you are not fully engaged, and you struggle to do exercise. Your eating patterns may go awry, and you strive to have healthy regular meals. And this can, of course, lead to weight gain. Which makes you even more miserable and fed up.

Added to this, you are stressed because you are not...

Getting your body into a shape you feel comfortable and happy with can be a complicated and frustrating process. While you watch what you eat like crazy, and do all the right things, when you get on the scale, sometimes that number just won’t go down. It can leave you feeling despondent and miserable.

How is it when you are doing everything you can - choosing healthy snacks, cutting out sugar, and watching your calories - you cannot get to the place where you want to be? This can lead to you feeling like you should abandon your plans to get a better body and head for the nearest fast-food drive-thru.

What you may not realize is, there are a lot of ‘healthy’ foods and ‘good habits’ which can seriously sabotage your efforts to achieve that dream physique you have always wanted. 

Here are my top five which have the potential to see those pounds staying firmly on when you are trying your very best to battle your way to a better...