Sexual Injury and Weight Gain with guest Alina Frank

Yummy Meal for a Good Dose of B Vitamins

Low levels of vitamin B12 can be associated with certain conditions like digestive problems, some types of anemia, fatigue, weakness, memory loss or other problems with the nervous system.  Low levels are more likely in people over the age of 50.

Some good food sources are:

• Fish and shellfish
• Meats
• Poultry and eggs
• Dairy products
• Fortified cereals

Folic acid (folate) is especially important during periods of rapid cells growth such a during infancy and pregnancy, but it’s also needed to make red blood cells and to help prevent anemia and it may also help prevent changes to DNA that can lead to cancer, according to WebMD.

Good food sources include:

• Leafy green vegetables, like spinach, broccoli, and lettuce
• Beans, peas, and lentils
• Fruits like lemons, bananas, and melons
• Fortified and enriched products, like some breads, juices, and cereals

To amp up your diet, enjoy a yummy meal of steak, shrimp, and a green salad topped with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  The carbs are low and the health benefits are great.

Do You Self-Medicate with Carbs?



If you’ve ever “self-medicated” with carbohydrates, what you’re about to read will totally resonate with you.  Carbohydrates indirectly raise the serotonin levels in our brains.  Serotonin is that “feel good” hormone that calms us down and helps us feel more relaxed.  It helps regulate our mood, metabolism and appetite.  If you’ve ever: soothed your anxious brain with a tub of raw cookie dough; crunched out your frustrations with a bag of potato chips; buried your shame with seconds or thirds at dinner; raised your spirits with a box of cereal; drowned your sorrows in a bowl of ice cream; eased your loneliness with a pan of brownies; eased your pain with a plate of pasta or found friendship with a pizza, you know what I’m talking about.  IT’S NOT ABOUT THE FOOD!  We just want to feel better. 



When we consume carbohydrates, the insulin produced in response to the higher blood sugar levels allows more tryptophan, an amino acid, to enter the brain. Tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin, and, once in the brain, nearly all the tryptophan is converted into serotonin.  This is evidenced by the drowsiness that can accompany a carbohydrate binge and it also helps explain why many of my clients say they’d “kill for chocolate” but not for a hard-boiled egg!

A good place to start is by getting the excess sugar out of your diet.  Our 14-day Family-Friendly Sugar Detox gives you the menus and recipes you need to prepare foods that you and your family are familiar with PLUS easy solutions to make them work for EVERYONE in the home. Go to SHOP to purchase this fantastic 14 day detox. 

This program includes 14 days of menus – breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Here’s what it doesn’t have:

• Added Sugars
• Processed Food
• Wheat
• Gluten
• No artificial sweeteners

It Does Have:

• Lots of healthy protein
• Healthy fats
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Easy ways to have leftovers that everyone will love
• Family friendly ingredients you can generally find in your cupboard, right now.

After completing the 14-day Meal Makeover Plan, you can:

• Feel Calmer and happier
• Find that your clothes fit better
• Get better sleep
• Increase your energy
• Have better mental clarity and ability to focus
• Get your family off the sugar train
• Detox your body of artificial ingredients that hinder weight loss efforts
• Improve your digestion

Grandpa Taps Away His Cookie Cravings!

Is Food What You “Do” for Fun?

Is Fear Affecting Your Weight?

Are You Addicted to Sugar?

  Do you self-medicate with carbs to calm down the chaos in your brain?

Be as Kind to Yourself as you Would Be to Your Best Friend.

Does Stress Really Contribute to Belly Fat?

New Year Resolution for Your Mind!

Which Labs for Weight Loss?

How Exercise for Weight Loss CAN Backfire!

Beat the Belly Fat Blues

Eat to Balance Your Adrenals

 When we’re under lots of stress – on the go 24/7, not eating right, not sleeping well, etc. – our adrenal glands can be kicked into overdrive.  We end up making too much adrenaline and cortisol to try to keep our blood sugars stable, especially if we’re skipping meals.  Or we overstimulate with caffeine and sugar.  Or perhaps we’re exhausted when we get into bed, but find ourselves wide awake a few hours later.  All of these can play havoc with our adrenal glands, making the situations worse.  Reducing the effect of stress through meditation and other mind-body techniques such as EFT can be extremely helpful as can eating balanced meals.  Make sure you eat a breakfast that includes protein and keep your blood sugars stable by not skipping meals.  Avoiding excess caffeine and sugar is also helpful.  

When people ask me what I “do”, I used to say that I was an emotional eating expert.  As I thought about this, I smiled to myself because this statement could easily imply that I was an expert at eating emotionally!  And this used to be true.  My cravings would get the best of me and I would also eat for a variety of emotions – bored, overwhelmed, anxious, and lonely – you name it, I could eat for it.  And my clients were the same way.  I (and other practitioners and programs) could give them the best advice on the planet when it came to nutrition (and exercise), but in the end they always ended up asking the same question . . .  “I know what I’m supposed to do so why can’t I do it?”

The answer to this question is simple, but the solution for permanent weight is SO much more than “eat right and exercise”.  Our relationship with food is quite complex.  At the very basic level, food provides the nutrients we need for life.  However, from a very young age it becomes more than this.  Some children are rewarded with food.  Some kids don’t have enough.  And, sadly, many times, we learn to use food to cope with the stressors and traumas of life.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACEs)  showed that the more categories of trauma experienced as a child, the greater the likelihood of experiencing obesity as well as many other illnesses and diseases such as COPD, depression, alcoholism, liver disease, and poor health-related quality of life in general.   The list of traumas included emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, witnessing their mothers being treated violently, having a mentally-ill person in the household, losing a parent due to separation or divorce, and having a household member in jail or prison. 

In many cases, overeating becomes the solution to the problem(s).  When we eat or drink “comfort foods” such as bread, cereal, pasta, candy, soda, pizza, chips, crackers, popcorn, cookies, cakes, donuts, etc., the levels of serotonin and dopamine in our brains are affected and we feel better.  That’s nice – until the extra calories get stored as belly fat and we feel even worse about ourselves.  That, combined with the guilt and shame, is a recipe for disaster. This makes it critical to address the emotions behind our cravings and overeating.