back to basics | restricted diets
Help! I’ve been put on a restricted diet! What do I eat? As I’ve mentioned before, my work in nutrition services at the local medical center provides plenty of food…
back to basics | nutrient density
What is nutrient density? It’s a measurement of how nourishing a food is (or isn’t). March is National Nutrition Month, and so our Back to Basics theme continues with a…
back to basics | macronutrients cocktail
What do I mean by “macronutrients cocktail?” I’m not talking about the ratio of gin to vermouth or cream and sugar to coffee. March is National Nutrition Month, and so…
back to basics | nutrition 101
It’s National Nutrition Month! What do you mean you don’t celebrate it? Our first quarter Back to Basics theme continues with a deeper dive into secondary foods nutrition—the value of…
back to basics | in summary…
Earlier this month, we kicked off the “Back to Basics” series, digging into my principles of healthy eating. If you recall, my five principles are as follows—we’re leaving the first…
back to basics | portion moderation
Earlier this month, we kicked off the “Back to Basics” series. This week, we’re taking on my third food rule: portion moderation. If you recall, my “food rules” are as…
back to basics | cook from scratch
Cook from scratch?!? But that’s so much work…. Last week, we kicked off the “Back to Basics” series by talking about whole foods and how as a health coach, I…
back to basics | whole foods
Welcome to 2023—and to a blog series I’m calling “Back to Basics.” So this month, January 2023, we’ll be going back to two questions: What are the basics of healthful…
baby steps | crowding out
Here’s a great way to think about making the better choice most of the time: don’t make the choice! The Integrative Nutrition® principle of “crowding out” is sort of like…
baby steps | portion awareness
As with “meal plan,” the words “portion control” can strike panic in anyone on a health journey. It brings up visions of weighing and measuring every BLT (bite-lick-taste) that goes…
baby steps | eat your veggies
Happy Springgg! Let’s talk about veggies. How are you doing with our Baby Steps to Health challenge? If you’re just tuning in, you can find the first three challenges here:…
baby steps | DGLs + PFCs
Hey hey—it’s already March?!? Before we dig into DGLS and PFCs, how are you doing with our Baby Steps to Health challenge? If you’re just tuning in, you can find…
winter menus
It seems that winter has finally arrived in Michigan, and on my 57th birthday, we had a gorgeous, cold, snowy day with a few moments where the sun peeked through…
baby steps | hydrate or die
Yes, hydrate: this is step one in our Baby Steps to Health series for 2022. It may sound overly simple—bear with me. My daughter and I have a saying, “Hydrate…
a healthy lifestyle in 2022
[W]e’ve lost ground in other [health] areas, and a lot of them are a function of the fact that we don’t have a very healthy lifestyle in our nation. Particularly…
winter is coming—and so is delicious winter squash!
Yeah, yeah. I know: it’s pumpkin spice season. Pumpkin everything season: seriously, when did Halloween decorations start appearing before the first day of school?!? But I’d like to put in…
6 ways to tame the kohlrabi monster
For some reason, when my kids were little, they invented a kohlrabi monster, who lived in the (then unfinished) basement of our house. It did have the effect of keeping…
how (terrifyingly) long is your food chain?
I suspect that there will be a lot of lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a health coach, I’m hoping that one of them will be that we…
12 tips for grocery shopping safely during the pandemic
What has the pandemic made possible? was the question I raised in last week’s blog post, and this week I’ve been paying attention to just that—from the halls of government…
what’s your worth?
As you well know if you’ve been with me for a while, I’m a big language buff. And so I was tickled to see this article on the term “value…
life after dairy | chocolate
What else to write about around Valentine’s Day but chocolate?!? (Fun fact: one of my most popular posts, also appropriate for this time of year is Because taxes. (And because…
A taste of my own medicine
This website’s blog page holds more than 300 posts: that’s a lot of writing about nutrition and health. And most of the posts boil down to a few basic Integrative…
fl!p your k!tchen® | group coaching now available!
does your kitchen feel overwhelming? Looking to improve your health this year? Feel like you need to shift your eating style? Not sure what and how you “should” be eating?…
It’s about navigating the gray areas
Issues of race and ethnicity have been swirling around in my head this week because they’ve popped up in a few places over the past week: In my reading, I’m…
Happy 2020!
I’m on vacation this week, trying to practice what I preach and keep boundaries around my family time, so no musings for you this week! Instead, just a quick reminder…
Hey, Baby, what’s your sign?
Have you been fortunate to catch a glimpse of the moon these last two nights? She was so full and bright, I didn’t need a flashlight for the early morning…
To Impossible … and Beyond!
As a health coach, I’m often asked to weigh in (hahaha) on what is the best way to eat: Keto? Paleo? Vegetarian? Vegan? High carb? Low carb? Zero carb? High…
Am I in climate change denial?
To everything there is a season…. Some of you might know where in the Bible that line comes from. And I know at least half of you went there: turn,…
Greatest hits | What’s for dinner, Mom?
As summer winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the recent changes in our family life are playing out in the kitchen. My daughter spent her first summer…
Back to the kitchen
When my husband took his job at University of Michigan, we had just bought a house in Southern California—and I mean that literally: the morning of the day he found…
Meet Melea Alexander
I’ve been intrigued by Traditional Chinese Medicine ever since college, when I was a Chinese major (yup, that really was my first field of study!), and I’ve always wanted to…
Meet Tania Elfersy of The Wiser Woman
From the moment I read one of her blog posts, I just knew that Tania had to be the first person to do a Q+A in the (Sorta) Secret Sisterhood…
#eatmorekale
Spring is here—which in Michigan means the temperature still dips below 40ºF and yet the upper limits (in the 60s) are starting to show up more often than the dips….
What’s in a name?
Have you ever changed your name? My friend Audrey, a business coach for women entrepreneurs, has a podcast called Women Are the Journey, on which she talks to women about…
Vitamin P(ee)
One of the principles of Integrative Nutrition® is the idea of bioindividuality: what is healthy for one person may be toxic to another, whether we’re talking about secondary foods (what…
Healthcare policy, healthcare agency
In the months leading up to and following the 2016 election, I stopped reading and listening to the news and I purged my social media channels. That doesn’t mean I…
Health coaching learnings … from Netflix?
Helllp! I seem to have fallen into a Netflix trap, one that features crime dramas from the UK: first there was Shetland, then there was Hinterland, then Broadchurch, and now…
Advance? Retreat?
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably come across my Kale + Kryptonite exercise, which is a tool I use with my clients to help them assess the…
Spring into health
Spring has sprung, the grass is riz…. My father used to recite the poem every year around this time. In Michigan, it’s still blustery, and the the grass is not…
Life without roads
I recently had a conversation with some much younger friends who were talking about what they see as one of the problems their generation faces: too many choices. Yes, this…
What’s for dinner, Mom?
what’s for dinner, mom? For a working woman, that one innocent question at the end of the day can cause a lot of stress. (Yes, yes, I know men cook,…
What was I thinking?
Every month in the (Sorta) Secret Sisterhood online community, I get to record a Q+A with an expert in her field—most often a health practitioner who works with women in…
Sweeten it, naturally
I recently conducted a survey of my virtual community to learn more about you, and one of the requests that came up most frequently in response to my question about…
Food porn fast
‘Fess up: did you binge watch the first season of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix? Because yeah, I did. And I read the book in 2015. I saw…
What’s your value?
This month, I’m taking a look in the rearview mirror at 2018 and a peek ahead at the road ahead in 2019. I invite you to hop in and take…
Come up to the lab…
If your mind immediately filled in that blank with “and see what’s on the slab,” you’re proof that campy movies never die. THAT one has been entertaining college students since…
I can hook you up … with some good bacteria!
“I fed my sourdough this morning.” “What? What sourdough? Who’s got sourdough? I want some!” “Liza got it for me.” “Oh! That reminds me, Liza, can I get some more…
Oxymorons, their opposite … and hot breakfast
If you’re a working mom … ha, what is the opposite of an oxymoron? I mean, if an oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two seemingly opposite ideas (living…
New (School) Year’s Resolutions?
It’s Labor Day weekend, and we’ve made another circle around the sun: as hard as it is to believe, I have two sophomores now: one in high school, one in…
Velcro + Teflon | What’s new + good?
Like many health coaches, I offer a free initial consultation—I call mine a YOURstory session (like HIStory, but we live in a world where “gendering” has become a frowned-upon practice,…
Is self care really the answer?
“Self care” has become a real buzzword in the past decade—and it can include anything from an hour (or a day) at the spa to meditating to practicing yoga to…
Everybody poops…
When I was studying to become a health coach, one of my favorite lectures was titled, “Does Your Poop Float?” I wish I could remember the lecturer’s name, but it…
Al Perkins teaches portion control
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that in addition to being a health coach, I have a side hustle that used to be my full-time job and…
Joint pain | On diet, physical therapy, and woo
In response to my question about curve balls two weeks ago, Susan wrote, “I had pinching pain in my left hip which turned out to be early onset arthritis. At…
My own personal summer
Sooo much wisdom (and a fair bit of humor!) in last week’s conversation on the blog in response to my question about what (if any) curve ball/s your body suddenly…
Why should I clear my (virtual) plate?
I recently had the honor of interviewing the lovely Dr. Fiona Lovely of the Not Your Mother’s Menopause podcast and Facebook community. We talked a lot about bringing peace to…
SOUL food | Unique
This is the third post in the SOUL food series—you can find the first one at SOUL food | Seasonal and the second at SOUL food | Organic. Integrative Nutrition®…
Overwhelmed in the kitchen?
Join me Tuesday, January 16 at 5:30pm at Argus Farm Stop on Packard for a hands-on introduction to meal planning. Argus is a next-generation farmers’ market whose mission is to…
SOUL food | Seasonal
As I mentioned at the end of last year, my focus has been shifting from helping clients with their SOLE foods—the seasonal, organic, local, and ethical foods that I recommend…
If it ain’t broke, reframe it
Occasionally, I need to disappear from my health coaching practice due to the demands that my side hustle as a grants consultant places on my schedule. Late November and early…
Do you really need another blender?
My biz bestie, Holly Southerland of Waco Home Organizers, recently sent a note of encouragement to her email list about FOMO (fear of missing out) and doing a “digital detox”…
How do you come to the kitchen?
As I mentioned last week, explaining what I do as a health coach can be difficult: while the profession is certainly growing, it’s still an alien concept for many. I…
Thanksgiving 2017 Helpline
Have you downloaded the Fl!p Your K!tchen Thanksgiving 2017 recipe packet yet? If you have and you have questions about the recipes or the strategy that will help you cook…
Where are you hiding?
Explaining what I do as a health coach can be difficult: while the profession is certainly growing, it’s still an alien concept for many. In my workshops, I often like…
SOLE food | Ethical
This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…
SOLE food | Local
This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…
SOLE food | Organic
This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…
SOLE food | Seasonal
This month, we’re stepping away a bit from primary foods nutrition and focusing again on secondary foods, the ones we put in our mouths. As you find your way on…
Happy Labor Day, Happy Birth-day
Labor Day weekend has come to represent a lot more than just a moment to honor the labor movement in the United States, so much so that we don’t often…
A few of my favorite things | Books
Last week’s post on the podcasts I recommend generated quite a few replies, one of the more common being, “But what if I don’t listen to podcasts?” I don’t find…
Laundry loads and mental (over)load
A few weeks ago, I was tickled by a comic strip in The Guardian about “mental load.” Yes, it’s sexist, and it generalizes (a lot), and yet, based on the engagement a…
Belly up to the [fill in the blank] bar
It’s a gray early Sunday morning in Ann Arbor—even I sleep in most Sundays (sometimes even as late as 7am 🙂 ), but today is my first 5K—nope, just walking—and…
Guest Blogger | Why Don’t Fad Diets Work for Everyone?
Thanks to Helen Sanders of Health Ambition for this guest post! Helen is chief editor at HealthAmbition.com and says, “Established in 2012, Health Ambition has grown rapidly in recent years. Our goal…
Granola | GOOD 70s hippie food
Back in the 90s when I was working for a caterer in Boulder, CO, one of my coworkers also hailed from Vermont. The two of us would often talk about “back home.” Jordan,…
Put your schedule on a diet | Authorization
First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone, because let’s be real—whether you’re female or male, whether you have borne children of your own or raised someone else’s or been part of a…
Put your schedule on a diet | Delegation
If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you’ve probably heard that healthy, sustainable weight loss is not something that happens quickly; after all, you didn’t put on all those pounds overnight,…
Life: rewind, fast forward, or play?
Have you ever noticed how when you’re paying attention, you see “coincidences” everywhere? Last week, I had two acquaintances, both of whom have colored their hair for years, start conversations about…
Are you cancelable?
When I was being certified as a health coach, I live-streamed the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s live events, which are weekend long extravaganzas of top speakers from the world of health…
Month of Margin
Are you… Overwhelmed by the clutter in your pantry, closet, or home office? Feeling like you don’t have time to take care of your home the way you want to? Busy taking…
Fill Your Plate | Feed Your Life
One of the fundamental principles of Integrative Nutrition® health coaching is that we are not only nourished (or toxified) by the food we put in our mouths—our secondary foods; we are…
A (video) taste of the Fl!p Your K!tchen™ project
You can now order Fl!p Your K!tchen! More details about the book can be found on the blog. And check out this beautiful video created by Christian O’Grady and Victoria Zegler of…
Baby Step #11 | SOLE Kitchen
This is the eleventh of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…
Self-care + Happy Stockholders!
I wrote this for a wonderful networking group I am privileged to belong to—if you’re an entrepreneur looking for a facilitated referral team, check out Caerusnet (and if there isn’t one…
Supper + Support | Spring 2017 series open for registration
do you need a new cooking/eating + life style? Have you decided (or have you been told) that you need to change your cooking + eating style – eat more…
Guest Blogger | A Full Circle: The Conclusion from Growth to Ground
Part of my Fl!p Your K!tchen™ system encourages you to minimize the amount of food wasted in your household. There are plenty of ways to “flip” your ingredients, but if they’ve…
The buzz in the kitchen
Seventeen years ago, I spent Labor Day in labor: Happy 17th Birthday to my firstborn! This year, I’m spending Labor Day weekend on the final revision of Fl!p Your K!tchen. If my…
Baby Step #9 | Try on a new eating style!
This is the ninth of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…
Registration deadline extended for Fall 2016 Supper + Support
I’ve extended the registration deadline for the Fall 2016 Supper + Support group coaching series to September 7, 2016. You can read about the series here: https://simply-healthcoaching.com/supper-support-fall-2016/ Questions? Please don’t hesitate…
Why farmers go organic
Ever since we lived near (actually, right next door to!) the farmers’ market in Torrance, I’ve loved supporting local small farmers. Moving to Ann Arbor gave me the chance to…
Baby Step #7 | Cure the sugar blues
This is the seventh of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…
Supper + Support | Fall 2016
do you need to develop a new cooking + eating style? Have you decided (or have you been told) that you need to change your cooking + eating style – eat…
Share the love!
FL!P YOUR K!TCHEN How to cook 21 meals a week from scratch (without spending your life in the kitchen) Cookbook, cooking class, and time management tool all in one, Fl!p…
15 Ways to Make Life Simple Again
“It’s complicated….” Just about everything feels complicated these days, … and there’s a great excuse for not taking action, which causes us even more (di)stress. How to make life simple…
Baby Step #5 | Try sea salt
This is the fifth of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I’ll post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…
Mother’s Day Sale!
Mother’s Day is May 8 – and Mom doesn’t want more stuff she has to dust! Show your love by getting her a hands-on cooking class or sign her up for…
Health coaching…in a client’s words
If you’ve ever been curious about what it’s like to work with a health coach, here’s an awesome peek into a (star) client’s side of the health coaching equation! I wasn’t…
Everyday Power Blog | Five things to (not) do first thing in the morning
How do you feel about mornings? Yes, please – the earlier, the better! Meh – I can survive them when I have to. Please don’t make me morning. If you…
Introducing: Supper + Support
Do you need to develop a new cooking and eating style? • Have you decided (or have you been told) that you need to change your cooking + eating style…
Baby Step #3 | Eat more kale
This is the third of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I’ll post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every day…
“But I’m not the cook…” | Supper + Support
When I was studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I often envied my single, childless classmates: as we were introduced to a large number of dietary theories – from…
How do you show up in the kitchen?
You can read my most recent guest post on mindful cooking on the blog at Crazy Wisdom Community Journal!
Fl!p Your K!tchen | Cookbook now available for pre-order!
Drum Roll, please! The Fl!p Your K!tchen cookbook is now available for preorder – at a special price! Part cookbook, part cooking class, part time management coach, Fl!p Your K!tchen will teach you…
Baby Step #1 | Drink this first
This is the first of a 12-part series titled “Baby Steps.” On the first of each month, I’ll post 1 tiny step toward better health that you can take every…
Taking it back to the basics
Fl!p Your K!tchen, the cookbook, will be published in time for the Holidays in 2016, and there are a number of ways you can come along with me on the publishing journey!…
Fl!p Your K!tchen | Subscribe to the online course!
Woohooo – my Fl!p Your K!tchen cookbook will be published in time for the Holidays 2016! Why am I telling you this a year in advance? Because there’s something you can…
What if you threw a party…and nobody came?
When I was a caterer (in the years BC – before children), my husband would often watch me preparing madly for a party and comment, “What if they throw this…
Nourish Yourself for Fall…and into the Future!
PLEASE NOTE THAT REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED. JOIN US IN APRIL FOR OUR SPRING MINI-RETREAT. Full price – $200 per person 3/4 price – $150 per person…
What pneumonia taught me
Being sick in the summer can be truly awful. But my recent bout with pneumonia (the walking variety) this summer was oddly…not awful? It was, instead, very instructive. Back up…
Your Harvest of Health
What does Autumn mean to you? How do you prepare for the season with its ever-shorter days and the hibernation instinct lurking around the bend? This year, I’m collaborating…
Happy Spring!
It’s Spring in Michigan! (Finally? I think?) We have one of those northern Springs – it starts, it stops, it teases, it backs off, it relents, it restarts. At my…
Beat the Sugar Blues Workshop
Do you suffer from the sugar blues? Do you constantly crave sweets? Find out how you can control your sugar cravings without feeling deprived! Join me for a workshop hosted…
How do you come to the table?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea that we show up at the table much the way we show up in the rest of our lives, and it is…
New workshop: Spring into Healthy Eating + Positive Energy
I’m thrilled to be offering a new workshop in collaboration with Hands of Light Energy Healer Lucinda Kurtz from 11am-6pm on Sunday, May 3 – it promises to be a energizing…
Guest Post: Learning to Cook and Eat All Over Again
I’m delighted to welcome my first guest blogger – a high school friend who shares her recent (ongoing) experience with a drastic lifestyle/diet change. Love Kellie’s can-do attitude – she gives…
My take on going gluten-free
Full disclosure: I am not gluten-free, but I have given it up for extended periods of time – the advice below is not meant to replace proper diagnosis and treatment…
FREE workshop: Eating for Energy
Does winter have you d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g? What would life be like with abundant energy and vitality? What foods have the power to increase your energy? What else contributes to boundless vitality?…
Why eat off the grid?
There are plenty of documentaries and books out there about health and its relationship to our food system, and of course, some are better researched and better made/written than others….
Ready to invest in your health and happiness in 2015?
Ready to invest in your health and happiness in 2015 so you can really thrive – and not just survive – each day? Registration now open for virtual group coaching series, January – April 2015.
Letters from camp, part 2
Hahaa – letter #2: Heartwarming for a health coach – the lines about the food and the kale are definitely meant for Mom!
