The good news is that I’m doing well with my eating, focused on clean, unprocessed foods that I’ve been making on the weekends. I’ve been enthused to try some new recipes, do some entertaining (we even hosted a clean eating dinner party over the weekend with some yummy dishes) and stay pretty true to my clean eating roots (doesn’t mean I haven’t had a few detours, but all in moderation).

But this does beg the question of what one’s to do when faced with the winter doldrums about eating. Once you fall off the wagon, it can be easy to just not get back on, justify that you deserve to not exercise or eat well because you’re tired or sick of winter, and just plain not do what you know you should.

Question is, what will it take to motivate you to eat clean, get through the next few weeks of winter and feel energized for spring?  I’ve put together a few simple things you can do to kick the winter doldrums to the curb and get reinvigorated about clean eating without a whole lot of “I really don’t want to do it” drama.  Remember, clean eating is all about keeping it simple, so no fancy schemes needed here.

1. Try a new recipe or food that intrigues you.  I’m a big fan of experimenting with foods that I’ve never tried making. For example, there was a recent article in Clean Eating magazine about how to prepare fresh artichokes. That’s one of those foods that I’ve never tried making because it looked complicated.  Truth be told, it’s really not, I just needed a little information and inspiration to help me.
2. Eat less meat and lighten up. It’s so easy for Americans to OD on meat.  We eat far more protein than we need and it’s often of mediocre quality, at best.  Plan your weekly meals with at least 1-2 less servings of meat and instead focus on the variety of plant based proteins that exist. I’m a huge fan of beans — they’re inexpensive and eat to prepare.
3. Add more whole grains.I’m always amazed out how easy it is to eat clean and inexpensively when you build more whole grains into your diet.  I love quinoa and making a pot on Sunday can add a healthy side dish to our repertoire that we’ll eat for 3 or 4 days.  Check out one of the simple recipes on my blog for delicious quinoa dishes — quinoa tabouli, Southwestern quinoa stew or basil quinoa — yum!
4. Revel in a leisurely meal.  So many of my clients spend copious amounts of time running around from one task to the next barely making the time to eat, let alone to really enjoy and savor a meal.  One of the simplest ways to tune into your body, eat less and kick start weight loss is to make time for meals when you can be present to your food.  Can’t do it every meal? Commit to at least twice a week when you can sit down without distraction (yep, I mean NO TV!) and enjoy your food.
5. Visualize how you’ll look and feel a month from now.  I’m a big picture kind of a girl and I love visualizing the result I want to achieve. There’s no time like the present to create a vision for your energetic, fit and happy spring self. It just may motivate you to try one of the first four steps.

What’s your plan to make it through the rest of winter and what’s one proactive step above you can easily take to give you a late winter kick start and banish those doldrums?

My friend and colleague Angie Schumacher is back with another guest post on finding our motivation to keep exercising. I love her 5 tips below for getting and staying in the exercise zone. Read on and get inspired.  Learn more about Angie, join her Fit Chick Express community and get into action at

What is the single most reason my clients come to me for my group fitness classes or individual training? MOTIVATION, or should I say lack of it!

We all seem to lack motivation from time to time, even I have trouble staying motivated at times. It’s very easy to just ‘fall off the wagon’ and get back into our bad habits. It’s always easier to do nothing but sit around watching TV or to order out or make a meal from a box. It’s just easier…and that’s why we go back to it.

So what things do I suggest to my clients that will make it worth it to stay motivated? Here are some ideas to get you started or get back on the right track. Remember, sometimes all you need to do is take baby steps…

1. Set a goal. Just one goal. Set a deadline for that goal and when you achieve it, set another…remember, I said baby steps. By setting a goal, you know in your head what it is that you want. You should put it down on paper and read it daily and maybe even a couple times a day. Put it where you can see it and remember why you have that goal. Eventually it will be a part of you and all you will be able to think about is achieving that goal!

2. Set a Reward. How do you want to reward yourself when you reach that goal? A new outfit? A new hairstyle or some new jewelry? A skimpy little bikini? Whatever it may be, make sure it’s something special, not something you do for yourself all the time.

3. Find a “workout buddy”. Do you have a friend that lacks motivation as well? Get together and plan times during the week to workout or help each other plan meals for the week ahead. Knowing that if you don’t meet your friend, you will let them down is a great way to stay motivated! Join a group fitness class with a friend! It’s always harder to skip a class if you know the other members are going to ask you were you have been!

4. Don’t give up. If you feel yourself slipping or you do slip, don’t have the ‘all or nothing’ attitude. Just because you had a piece of chocolate cake after you promised yourself you wouldn’t is no reason to eat the whole cake! Move on…promise yourself you will do better tomorrow.

5. Always be positive! This one can be one of the hardest things to do. I am always making my clients tell me something positive after they come to me and tell me all the negative things that have happened in the past few days. If you didn’t reach your specific goal that you set, look at what other accomplishments you have made in that time period. There is always something that you can find that was positive about what you have done, so think about that and not about what you didn’t do.

What things do you do to stay motivated? What keeps you from slipping up and moving forward and eventually reaching those goals?

The good news is that I’ve finally gotten back on track and today I went to my new gym for my first workout.  And it was totally refreshing. The gym is large, bright and has some great equipment.  The weight machines are so much better than at our old gym, where half of them seemed ancient.  With lots of open space and multiple machines for just about every part of the body, there’s simply no reason why I shouldn’t be able to happily work on my definition and increase my strength. Not to mention that lifting weights helps to kick that fat burning into gear and supports healthy weight loss.

I also love that they have row after row of cardio machines (not that I’m such a huge fan of mindlessly using the machines.  I much prefer classes but they don’t offer them). Only downside is that as I was moving to a different treadmill today, I managed to step on the one next to me that my husband was on and didn’t see that it was moving! If you could have seen the spill I took and the scene I made as I, quite clumsily, fell to the ground, tumbled over and hit my arm.  The fact that I didn’t break anything is nothing short of amazing.  And thanks to the helpful gym staff I quickly got an ice pack on it minimizing the swelling.

Despite my little mishap, I have to say it was a great start at a new gym that’s got my very excited to maintain my motivation and stay in shape.

What have you done lately to get back on track with exercise when you were in a slump?

That’s been me of late, as I wrote about a few days ago in a post.  I’ve had a hard time staying on the exercise wagon lately which all started when I injured my knee.  Add on having the shingles and finding out my gym was closing, and you can see why I’ve gotten into a serious gym funk.  Motivation? Out the window. And with all our rain lately, even walking outside seems less than compelling in the midst of a downpour!

But getting back on track is all about taking a new approach to shake things up. The easiest thing I could do would be to just sign up for another gym and quietly go through the motions again.  Hello?! Why in the world would I do that? I want change, not more of the same. And since summer is a time of new beginnings for me, I’m all about looking at exercise from a different perspective.

So I thought it fortuitous when I saw my friend Steve the other day at a party. Steve just got certified as a yoga instructor and when I asked about where and when he was teaching he mentioned that he has a Tuesday evening class at a yoga studio minutes from my house. He said that it’s a beginners class, and even though I’ve done a fair amount of yoga, it struck me that taking his class would serve me well — I’m the queen of overdoing it and easing back into yoga with the basics immediately resonated with me.  Besides, I’m going easy on my knee and the last thing I want is to make it worse.

I’m leaving for vacation for a week tomorrow, but when I’m back, I’m committed to kick starting a new exercise routine with a healthy dose of yoga from one of my favorite people.  And then we’ll see about the gym situation and what makes the most sense.  In the end, it’s about taking small baby steps to get back on track and that’s my plan. 

When it comes to exercise, when was the last time you really shook things up and tried something different?

But that’s exactly what happened recently when I headed over to Bally’s last week just to find a sign posted that they’d be closing in a week.

Funny thing is, I used to be devoted to exercise — a nice combination of weight training, cardio and yoga. I was so into it that I actually met my husband at the gym four years ago when we both used to workout out at 5:30 in the morning before heading to work. And if I missed a day of my routine you would almost think the world was coming to an end.

But shoot, things sure do change sometimes, don’t they? That’s before I started running a business, juggling multiple priorities and trying to make it all work with limited time.  You know that feeling you get when you don’t go one day and swear you’ll go the next?  But when the next one comes around, there’s a compelling reason why it won’t quite work either. That’s what started to happen to me of late. And then throw in the fact that I injured my knee in Step class several months ago and got the shingles, and you can see how a girl can get in an exercise funk.

So now that the gym is officially closed, it does beg the question about what I’m going to do to get back on track and get my gym mojo back. First on the list, my overdue physical therapy for my knee.  I’m going to couple that with some low impact walking at least three days a week. And we’ve even been contemplating getting Bruce a bike so we can ride together.

Bottom line: we can all fall off the wagon sometimes but it’s all really about the small, baby steps we can take to get back on track. I’m keeping my plan simple and doable.

What about you? What do you do to get back on track when your exercise routine falls by the wayside?

Why?  A whole combination of variables have come together to render it a bit lifeless –  too much stress, getting shingles, not feeling my best and taking time to rest, insufficient exercise and a general malaise that’s so unlike me. And given that it’s spring and time for new beginnings, it sure seems appropriate to turn things around.

But here’s the thing — we can get stuck in a de-motivation malaise or we can try to snap out of it in creative ways. To me, so much of getting and staying motivated has to do with my mindset, simply believing I can snap out of it and redirect my energy.  But the question is, where can we turn to for inspiration when we’re not feeling sufficiently inspired?

Enter my friend Denise Hart (in photo at right), aka, the motivation mama! As I was feeling less than my vibrant best, I did a little searching to see what might perk me up and I couldn’t help but get jazzed just my reading Denise’s blog and looking at some of her motivation videos.  What motivates her? Gratitude, sharing successes and being held accountable, just to name a few.  In particular, I love her blog post on accountability is king to keep us motivated. And one of her recent video tips on motivation — the power of positive thinking was right on the mark.  Getting clear about what we deserve and is most important to us, and tuning into those feelings, can get us on track for more motivation and focus.

Watching the video helped me tune into creating some simple affirmations about great health and easing back into exercise. No, it don’t have to go out and run a few miles but I will do some gentle yoga and walking this week, a good start to more healthy activity.

Thanks Denise, this is just what I need to get re-motivated!

What do you do to regain your motivation mojo, especially when it comes to getting and staying healthy?

As we were talking and sharing, we got into an interesting discussion. Why is it that when our backs are against the wall — in this case someone’s husband had lost his job — that we get serious about doing something with our spending?  This particular mom mentioned that instead of using her debit card, aimlessly buying items, she now brings only a certain amount of cash and has to buy what she needs within this limit.  Wow, what a concept — consciously saving money.

The same can be true when we’re diagnosed with an illness. Perhaps before than we had a pseudo or less than healthy lifestyle and all of a sudden, the bad news jump starts us into action. We get focused on our health like never before, going the extra mile to eat well, exercise more and treat ourselves like we always should have anyway.

So what’s up with that, waiting until there’s a problem? Why can’t we adopt the mindset that today, from this day forward, we’re committed to healthy eating, saving money, disease prevention and the host of other things we hope to get around to some day?

I say we all need to find a deeper motivation within us to get and stay healthy. My friend Denise, the motivation mama, talks about this everyday. She regularly inspires us to get and stay motivated with her helpful tips. I love what she had to say yesterday about adopting a “just say yes” mindset.  That life is full of possibility and we have to be willing to embrace it.

I’m all for choosing one area of your life (not a laundry list) where you can shine and go the extra distance. What’s that area for you and how soon will you get busy putting real actions behind your words and your health?

In that short 1-hour class, I found a form of exercise that’s new and totally inspiring and ripe with possibilities for helping me maintain great health and feel my best.

It all occurred at a women’s health conference where I was leading one of the afternoon breakout sessions (on overcoming sugar addictions).  Even though I had a hundred things on my to do list, I was committed to taking the day for myself to attend other sessions, connect with interesting women and learn something new.

But when I showed up for belly dancing, I really didn’t know just how transformative it could be. 

I’ve been drawn to the idea of belly dancing for quite some time. Might be that I’m enthralled with the music. Or maybe it’s that I’ve always been fascinated by some of the cultures where belly dancing is a tradition, like Turkey and Morocco. But on this given day, the stars must have aligned and I was truly in the right place.

What I loved about the experience and what resonated with me is that belly dancing is totally about feeling empowered. It doesn’t matter how big or small your belly is, anyone can do it. In fact, one of the women teaching the class had a tummy of ample size and she made the moves look easy (which they’re really not).

Here are just a few insights I glimpsed in my short class:

• This is about tuning into your body and getting comfortable with it.
• It’s all about moving in ways that I don’t normally. And with a little patience, I started to get some of the rhythm.
• It’s about letting go and having fun, no need to worry if you look silly
• You don’t have to hold your stomach in — I love that part!

I know most of us are concerned with getting sufficient amounts of exercise and to me, it has to be something I really want to do. I’ve tried salsa and ballroom dance but they just weren’t right for me.  Fun but not motivating enough to keep doing them.  I can see how belly dancing is the perfect addition for me to mix it up and do something totally different yet keep my interest (and the good news is that there’s a place right in New Haven that teaches lessons).

And when we’re interested and motivated, stay healthy doesn’t have to be so hard.

What about you, ever tried belly dancing? What’s your favorite exercise to stay healthy and feel your best? What keeps you motivated?

And when I say health, I’m talking about all areas of our life – our financial health, physical health and mental health.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with my colleagues Jill Jordan and Katana Abbott (pictured here with me) to inspire and motivate women into action.

We teamed up with HAP, the Health Alliance Plan, a large HMO in the Detroit area, that’s committed to women’s health.  We were part of their “Wise Woman: Finding Your Balance” seminar on Saturday and it was a blast.

What I loved is that these awesome women had a chance to take a break for the day and practice some much needed self-care. I don’t know about you, but often I say I’m going to do some self-nurturing things but then I get busy and don’t make it enough of a priority – and that’s in all parts of my life, especially mental health. Simply taking the time to get quiet and clear my mind does me a world of good given the hectic pace at which I’m often working. This was a reminder that I need to do so a lot more often.

And here’s a great example of how information and inspiration equals better health for me. The first speaker at the event, Dr. Cathy Frank, did a great presentation on mental health, focusing specifically on a variety of anxiety disorders. Did you know, for example, that women suffer from anxiety at much greater rates than men? For years, I’ve been convinced that I’ve got some kind of anxiety problem because I tend to be a worrier. But lo and behold, it looks like what I made out to be a huge problem, isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. I don’t have OCD, general anxiety disorder or many of the other disorders she mentioned. Frankly, it was a relief to understand where I fit in.  And simply getting that information inspired me to think differently about my own health within a broader context.

What about you? Have you had the opportunity to get some information about your health that’s informed your thinking or motivated you to get into action?  In what way has that helped you?  I’d love to hear about your experiences and what you have to say!

I did a survey to my mailing list recently, asking about where people get stuck when it comes to their health and creating a healthy lifestyle. One of the biggest challenges: preparing healthy, simple and delicious meals.

I totally understand why consistently eating healthfully is a lot of work — it’s time consuming and who’s got a lot of time these days? For years my eating was inconsistent and less than healthy, at best. Mostly because my approach was catch-as-catch-can.  Yes, I went to the grocery store but I didn’t necessarily know what to buy, and I cooked dishes that were elaborate and too time-consuming. Definitely a de-motivator.  Plus cleaning up was a whole other job that I hated.  And as a single person back then, I found it to be all a bit overwhelming and not much fun.

That was before I understood how our mindset plays such an important role in not only the actions we take – am I or am I not going to make healthy meals – but how we feel as we’re doing it. I notice this with my clients all the time. When they talk about what drudgery it is to prepare healthy meals, guess what? It feels like drudgery. But when they decide that shopping and prepping food can actually be fun (or at least not feel like punishment), that’s a whole other story that can lead to lots of possibilities (I’ll feel you in on how I make it more fun in future posts).

These days, I’m inspired to spend the time planning every week because I’m motivated by feeling healthy and energetic when I do. When I’m eating well, I don’t get those mid-afternoon drops in energy, I feel focused all day. And I feel more inspired to get to the gym (which is key for me). Plus when Bruce, my husband, and I have a plan for the week, we save SO much money. These days that’s a big motivator too. For awhile we were wasting a lot of food that we’d buy and then end up not using. It would go bad and was just a terrible waste. Not to mention that Bruce grew up in huge family where you just didn’t waste anything so he couldn’t stomach good food going bad.

What about you, do you plan your meals each week? How does your mindset affect how you feel about preparing food? And what motivates you to plan things out anyway? Please share your thoughts.