baby steps | just. breath.
Since the murder of George Floyd, I’ve been especially aware of telling people to “just breathe.” Breathing is NOT a privilege—it’s a right, and yet so many in our country…
soul care, self-care, social media
I’ve struggled with the term “self-care” for a long time—it’s why I started to use the phrase “soul care” a few years ago, and so I greatly appreciated Angelica Puzio’s…
we’re on vacation!
The Simply: Health Coaching Team is on vacation December 23, 2020–January 3, 2021! May your holidays be merry + bright, safe + healthy.
the (highly unusual) holidays of 2020
As Hannukah begins and we hurtle toward Christmas and the new year, the holidays feel different in 2020. Online shopping is booming—although judging by the line at the post office…
control issues: what’s 1 thing completely in my power?
Irrespective of our political leanings, many (most? all?) of us seem to be feeling our world has spun out of control. As I’ve written about recently, it is stunning to…
lockdown survival(ist)
As cases of COVID-19 begin to multiply, there’s a lot of panic around putting in supplies for self-isolation and/or being quarantined. (I learned a new German word for this behavior:…
preparing for the virus: a civic duty
funny / not funny I’ve been rather amused by our sudden obsession with hoarding toilet paper. I get it—everybody poops—but really? Are we back to the age of atomic bomb…
catalysts, catastrophes, and cataclysms
It’s been a few years since my family saw Hamilton in Chicago. Before we went, we obsessed over the soundtrack for at least a year, listening to it incessantly to…
New things I love
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with friends about how our devices are definitely listening in on our conversations: it sounds like a Big Brother-esque conspiracy theory—and there are…
podcast love | nonprofit lowdown
We’ve survived our first bi-continental holiday season, thanks in large part to technology. The logistics involved in my parents making phone contact when my father would travel to the USSR…
I got nothin’…
In an unusual turn of events, I’ve been traveling 10 days out of the last 25—first to Chicago to speak on a panel, then to Ohio for parents’ weekend, then…
WHO said it
going grammanda I’m an admitted grammarphile. I still correct my children (and others): come—not go; bring—not take; lie—not lay; if I were —not if I was; I wish I had—not…
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…
Greatest hits | Breakdown on the 110
This week finds me at home in the Green Mountains of Vermont—I know that I can’t claim to be a Vermonter because I wasn’t born here, and their rules about…
Greatest hits | Absence makes the self care fonder
How is it possible that it’s been more than four years since I wrote this week’s flashback post, Absence makes the self care fonder?!? I’m now measuring time in BDL…
Greatest hits | Where are you hiding?
As of May 2019, burnout is finally recognized as a syndrome according the the World Health Organization’s 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), a handbook that provides…
Meet Diane Babalas
Diane Babalas practices something called Biogeometric integration—like acupuncture, another “dark magic” that will make you wonder how it really works … and it does! Check it out, then leave me…
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 Heather Glidden of Joy | Freedom in Motion
I visited Heather and Darlene’s studio, Joy | Freedom in Motion, for a presentation on Gyrotonic one evening a few years ago and was inspired. Heather is a wealth of…
Let’s get this party started!
How is it already May 31?!? That means tomorrow is the start of our month-long anniversary celebration of community! (Catch up on the details of that if you missed them…
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…
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…
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…
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…
#healthcoachvacation 2019
Once again, our family’s Spring Breaks didn’t align this year—and we did manage to have some fun anyway! After last year’s epic fishing adventure, my son and I decided to…
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 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…
Self-ism as a scheduling tool
We’ve all had teachers (often more than one) who have little phrases and stories they use so much that while you’re in their class, you get really tired of them….
Sharpen your saw
I’ve spent a lot of the past 10 years writing grant proposals and reports, and I’ve been musing about the parallels between how a majority of funders invest their money…
When the POTUS is late for dinner
A quick shout-out to those who filled out my Tell me about yourself survey—I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to help me out—and a request…
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…
My relationship with what?
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…
Yes, I am.
This week, I’d like to revisit last week’s post, Full stop. Why? Because I can and because it sparked a lot of responses, not just a couple in the blog…
Early birds, night owls, and soul care containers
I’ve always looked at my ability to wake up without an alarm as a superpower: whether it’s for my usual wake-up time (ungodly early) or from a power nap or…
Green lights, stop signs, and speed bumps
My son is learning how to drive (yay? yikes? jury’s still out but leaning towards yay), and something that we’ve been commenting on is that he seems to have a…
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…
Scotland, self care, soul care … and social justice
I’m “on holiday,” as the people of the UK would say—spending two weeks touring Scotland. Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser and Dougal MacKenzie might be involved—no sightings yet, but stay tuned….
I’m going on a trip….
After years of staycations, 2018 is becoming the year of traveling for me—and I’ve been thinking about the learning that comes from not just the trips themselves but the packing…
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…
Who are your VEEPs?
Uh oh—am I really going to stray into politics on a health coaching blog? No, not entirely, but with the news focusing so much on the administration’s attempt to rid…
Reclaim your flame
The clubhouse doors are open at the (Sorta) Secret Sisterhood online membership site, and last week, I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Tania Elfersy of The Wiser Woman…
Who are you comparing yourself to?
I recently walked the Dexter Ann Arbor 5K in 40:49 (beating last year’s 52:12 by a long shot despite the pouring rain)—I had meant to run this year, but some…
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…
I’ll have what she’s having…
If you’re about my age and you’ve seen When Harry Met Sally, there’s at least one line that people of our generation all know: I’ll have what she’s having. It…
Normal vs. common | Learning in the loud moms’ corner
I’m not much of a gym fan—I’ve flirted with them before, even had (always brief) love affairs with them, but I always return to working out at and from home….
Are you in the (Sorta) Secret Sisterhood?
Let’s take a look at the business side of health coaching for a minute. As a business owner, I spend a fair amount of time networking, and in networking groups—as…
Happy Mother’s Day (just say no)
Ahhh, Spring. We wait for it with longing, especially here in Michigan, where it comes quite late and often teases us for a while before committing. And then, just as…
Whine + cheese | What’s the payoff?
Very often, when I encounter a deeply-entrenched, clearly unhealthy habit in a client, I get curious about the payoff: every habit, according to research in this area, brings with it…
#healthcoachvacation
When I was growing up, it seemed as though my vacations never lined up with those of my parents, who taught at a small liberal arts college. There may have…
The secret’s out….
Last night at the dinner table, my son asked how long it’s been since the new Administration has been in the White House. More than a year, I said, thinking…
Breakdown on the 110
If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I was recently featured in an interview on my friend Audrey Groeschel’s Women are Journey podcast—you can check it out…
Do your own (!@#$%) dishes!
Why…was it always my responsibility to turn on the stove and begin to think about my family’s food needs, even when I wasn’t hungry? Why couldn’t my husband get the…
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…
I can still get 3 hours….
I’m one of those lucky people, blessed with the ability to fall asleep just about anywhere, anytime, even during a bus or train commute (yeah, sleeping on the Red Line…
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…
“Can we tawk?”
I once introduced myself in a networking group by saying that I support women who believe the only way out of their overwhelm involves a plane ticket, a wad of…
SOUL food | Loving
This is the final post in the SOUL food series—you can find the first one at SOUL food | Seasonal, the second at SOUL food | Organic, and the third…
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®…
SOUL food | Organic
This is the second post in the SOUL food series—you can find the first one at SOUL food | Seasonal. “Organic” has a lot of meanings—perhaps the most familiar in…
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…
Unlimited do-overs
It’s pretty common for New Year’s resolutions to dissolve just weeks into the new year, and as we approach the start of 2018, I have some thoughts on why that’s…
SOLE food | SOUL food
At the end of 2016, I shifted my health coaching practice from focusing almost entirely on secondary foods—what we put in our mouths—to primary foods—everything else in our lives that…
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”…
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 | 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…
I know I should be….
I spend a lot of time talking to people about their health goals and their primary and secondary food choices. And one of their most frequent comments is, “I know…
We interrupt this programming…
Fair Food Network, the awesome non-profit where I work part-time as a contractor, has been growing in leaps and bounds since I started there eight years ago. When I reduced…
A still, small voice
We have a freshman in college, and as most freshman parents, we attended a parent orientation when we dropped our daughter off in August. The auditorium was packed with parents,…
Happy New (School) Year | What’s new + good?
I’ve always felt that September is, in an odd way, the start of a new year, and so it was nice to hear this confirmed by Lisa Woodruff of Organize…
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…
A few of my favorite things | Podcasts
Vacation ends soon—I’m slipping in another quickie post before I run out to enjoy the end of it! If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m…
Guest Post | From Ow to Wow, Overwhelm to Wonder
Look, look—another guest post! This one comes from Linda Joy Stone, OMD, L.Ac., with whom I connected on Daocloud, which I describe as social media for practitioners and answer-seekers in…
Guest Post | Tending the Wild Heart
There’s still time to RSVP for Ruth Wade’s workshop on Gyrotonic and bone health tonight, July 26, and in the meantime I have another cool guest blog post and offer…
Dear Wonder Woman…
Have you seen Wonder Woman yet? It’s definitely been a hot topic of conversation at my house this summer, and it’s getting rave reviews from a lot of critics. My own…
Multitasking | To hack or not to hack?
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m a big fan of podcasts—I listen to a fair number of self-improvement, health, and entrepreneur/business related ones, and my…
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,…
Are you cancelable? (Part 2)
In a post from February (Are you cancelable?), I wrote about how we often let our self-care appointments slide off our calendar: those things—some big, some small—that we tend to think…
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…
Mixed Metaphors | Stories of the resistance
I learned one of my favorite mixed metaphors from a fellow coach who said, “I view my job as leading a horse to water, then teaching it how to fish.” (My…
Do less better.
Today marks the beginning of a series of workshops my collaborator, Holly Southerland, and I are calling Month of Margin. The goal of the workshops is to help women create margin in…
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…
Got blank space?
I know how one of my teens would respond to that question, and if you do, too, then you’re welcome for the earworm. But the kind of blank space I’m thinking…
About those resolutions…
Where do you stand on making New Year’s resolutions? Do you set them each year and achieve at least part of them? Do you set them and never think about…
Baby Step #12 | Celebrate (yourself)
This is the final installment 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…
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…
Q + A with Su Hansen | Where does your soul want to go?
As a health coach, I love meeting colleagues who not only can serve as a resource for my clients but also challenge and inspire me in my own work. Personal and…
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…
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…
Baby Step #8 | I get to…
This is the eighth 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…
Ask us anything | The recording
Yesterday, I had the extreme pleasure of sharing an hour on the phone with Andrea Catherine Bachman of Grounded Here, LLC. We had a great conversation about who we are,…
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…
How I learned to meditate
About five years ago, I switched from a conventional primary care physician to an integrative medicine physician. My hope was that when I brought up alternative therapies such as massage…
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…
“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…
Baby Step #2 | Breathe
This is the second 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…
Food (and) sobriety: a conversation with Marc Azoulay
As an integrative nutrition health coach, my scope of practice does not include diagnosing, treating, or prescribing – instead, many clients with whom I work use my health and kitchen coaching…
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…
Baby Steps
With me it’s all er nuthin’. Is it all er nuthin’ with you? ~Will in OKLAHOMA! Making New Year’s Resolutions, particularly about our health, is a ritual many of us…
Breaking Bad: It’s Really about Self Care
Breaking Bad: A colloquialism popular in the American Southwest referring to when someone has taken a turn off the path of the straight and narrow, when they’ve deviated from what’s…
Health is a journey – be sure to carry a map!
Before I work with a client, we have what I call a YOURstory session (like a history, but a little less gendered and a bit more personal!), an opportunity to…
What media messages do you ingest?
As an integrative nutrition health coach, I spend a lot of time working with clients to identify their ideal nutritional choices – the ones that nourish their bodies in a way…
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…
Absence makes the self care fonder
My husband travels to China on a regular basis – not only does he teach and write about Chinese literature, art history, and visual culture, he still has family in…
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…
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…
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.
On the edge of getting it right
I have an 11-year-old son and a husband, so (if you’ll forgive a generalization) I watch a fair number of action movies. Okay, full disclosure: I kind of like them,…
Unplugged…on vacation in Montague, MI
Last weekend, my kids and I spent 24 hours “unplugged” at a fellow IIN student’s lakeside cottage in Montague, MI. (Our kids were initially a bit weirded out by the fact…
