Manchester United will bid £92.5million this summer in an attempt to prise Cristiano Ronaldo away from Real Madrid, according to reports.

Ronaldo leaving Madrid this summer is a more realistic proposition than ever before, with Spanish expert Guillem Balague claiming that the 30-year-old will have to seriously consider his future at the end of the season.
And according to Fichajes, United will give Ronaldo something to think about in the form of a £92.5m bid for his services.
United are also believed to be willing to pay the Portugal captain £14.7m a season in wages, an outlay that could be financed by the commercial revenue that he would provide.
PSG are also thought to be interested in a move for the Madrid star, and could offer as much as £110.8m at the end of the season.
Ronaldo has started this season in typically devastating form, averaging over a goal a game for Real Madrid with eight strikes in seven games.

How to lose weight fast ?

The Definitive Guide to Losing Weight

Losing weight is not easy, and whoever tells you differently is lying. It takes commitment, hard work, and, for many, a complete lifestyle makeover. But armed with these 56 techniques, losing weight suddenly becomes easier.

If you're looking for quick fixes or a lose-10-pounds-in-10-days kind of promise, then you've come to the wrong place. But if you want an insider's guide on how to lose weight and keep it off for good, keep reading. From basic weight-loss fundamentals to weird tricks proven to melt away that muffin top, you're only 10 pounds away from your new self.

Limit Your Calorie Intake

Losing weight boils down to simple math. To lose one pound weekly, burn or cut out 3,500 calories in the course of seven days. That breaks down to 500 calories per day. It's difficult to cut out that many by dieting alone, especially for someone who loves to eat. The most effective approach is this combo: each day, cut out 250 calories from your diet and burn 250 through exercise. Choose to either cut out one 250-calorie item such as a serving of ice cream, or omit a few small things that add up to 250 calories a day.

It's also important not to exceed your recommended daily calorie intake. Check out this calorie calculator to figure out how many calories to consume each day, based on your current weight and your weight-loss goal. Don't dip below 1,200 calories to prevent going into starvation mode, which makes your body hold onto the weight.

Get Up and Out — No Matter How Short

Even when you're swamped, stay active with a 10-minute break to rev up your body. Get outside for a walk at lunchtime as a proactive way to promote weight loss, and get sunshine as an added bonus.

Travel Smart

Just because you're going on vacation doesn't mean you have to halt your exercise routine. Travel smart by packing a few workout-related items that don't take up too much space. Want to know what should make the cut when it comes to your precious suitcase space? Watch our video for our five tried and tested fitness travel faves.

Drink Water

Aside from keeping you hydrated, regular water consumption, recent studies show, can aid with weight loss. Filling up on water before a meal helps encourage portion control, and simply eating foods that contain a lot of water (like fruits and veggies) will fill you up faster, causing you to eat less. A small study found that drinking cool water can speed up metabolism and discourage cravings for sugary drinks like soda and juice. Now that's a reason to stay hydrated!

The science behind munchies: marijuana and your appetite

We all know that marijuana is a popular recreational drug- and that it’s also got a variety of medicinal uses, including reducing nausea and boosting appetite. But what, exactly is marijuana - and how does it affect the appetite and digestive system?

The answer to that first question is pretty simple, so let’s start with that. The term ‘marijuana’ refers to several plants in the cannabis genus, including sativa, indica, and ruderalis.


Doctors typically prescribe marijuana to treat inflammatory, gastrointestinal, and cognitive ailments. Marijuana is also frequently administered to cancer patients, since it helps ease the pain associated with chemotherapy while increasing the patient’s appetite. This is why marijuana is used in an effort to minimize weight loss, which could lead to further health complications.

As you can imagine, this increase in appetite is one of marijuana’s most well-known effects, you might refer to it as “the munchies”. In fact, historical sources confirm that people as early as 300 BCE knew that cannabis stimulates appetite, and noted how these cravings were for sweet and savory food. Let’s dig into why that happens.

How marijuana works

Biotin

We’ve just updated our page on Biotin, an essential vitamin, also known as vitamin B7. It was discovered in a yeast culture at the same time as several other B-vitamins.

Biotin was initially researched in the context of skin and hair health, and today it is almost exclusively sold as a dietary supplement marketed to improve skin, nail, and hair quality. However, biotin is plentiful in food and rarely needs to be supplemented.

Apart from removing all food containing biotin from your diet (which makes it nigh impossible to maintain a healthy diet) the only way to cause a biotin deficiency is by eating excessive raw egg whites. Egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which is destroyed when the egg is cooked. Avidin binds to biotin and eliminates it from the intestines before it is absorbed.

At the moment, biotin does not have much evidence to support its use as an aesthetics supplement. Though it is biologically possible that increasing biotin intake or normalizing a deficiency could improve nail, hair, and skin quality, there is only one study to date to support this claim. This study found that women supplementing 2.5 mg of biotin over six months experienced improved nail health, as they were suffering from brittle and splitting nails. There are no strong studies to suggest healthy people supplementing biotin would experience any benefits.

There is preliminary evidence to suggest biotin could have a mild anti-diabetic effect. Much more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Biotin is an essential vitamin, but it’s an underwhelming dietary supplement. There is very little evidence to support its use as a health and beauty supplement.

Examine.com Blog

Breaking down scientific research and the language in studies can be tough, and staying on top of health news can be equally as difficult—and time-consuming. Examine.com not only helps us stay in the know, but it also presents information in a way everyone can understand and relate to (like the unbiased truth about marijuana or the 10 biggest nutrition myths). Bonus: The blog covers everything you need to know about supplements so you don’t splurge on supposed wonder vitamins that you’ll end up peeing out (and reaping none of the “benefits”).

Eating With Great Emotion And Joy !!

In the last few days, my highly intelligent friend and blog reader Elizabeth and I have been having some back and forth about a post I wrote in October, entitled “What Food is Not.” At the time, I liked the post a lot. I wrote it as a response to the many readers who have emailed about overeating and binge eating, and the jist of my argument was that we can’t look to food to satisfy all of our deeper needs for love and fulfillment.

In context, I think I made some good points. But back when I wrote the post, Elizabeth pointed out that the blog may not have given enough thought to the spiritual joys of eating. And she was right: in arguing that food can’t be our be all and end all, I think I inadvertently made it sound as though I don’t believe food offers us anything but macronutrients and calories. Food is nourishment for the body, yes, but it’s also a sensual pleasure, a source of communion between people, an expression of artistry, and much more.Food bloggers know this better than most people!

We can’t look to food as a substitute for human love, or as a stand-in for professional fulfillment, or as our sole source of contentment. Fixating on each morsel of what we eat, rather than going into the world and seeking out good friends, interesting work, and fulfilling experience, strikes me as unwise, and it reminds me of the obsessive, socially isolated mentality that often characterizes disordered eating.

But my post also missed something important, which is that food is more than the sum of its vitamins and minerals. And when the food we eat is nourishing (not only nutritionally, but spiritually), it gives us the energy we need to go out looking for all that other stuff — the friends, the work, the experience. Food may not be everything, but it is a whole heck of a lot, and stripping it of importance is as foolish as obsessing over it. Like so many things, it’s a balancing act.

This dialogue was fresh in my mind when I read Christie’s recent post on emotional eating. The post, which bravely aimed to de-stigmatize the behaviors we call “emotional eating,” struck a chord with me, especially in light of these recent musings. I realized as I read Christie’s wise words that I actually dislike the term “emotional eating,” simply because it seems to suggest that eating with emotion is bad. If that’s so, then I’m a terrible eater. I eat with plenty of emotion. I eat with joy. I eat with anticipation. I eat with curiosity, both from a foodie standpoint (what’s in this? how was it made?) and a nutritional standpoint (what’s in this? how does our body use it for energy?). I eat in the hopes that what I eat will give me comfort and pleasure.

I don’t think this is the same as the “emotional eating” that has become a catchall phrase to describe binge eating, mindless eating, and eating out of depression. Those aren’t my particular tendencies (though I did spend my pre-adult life restricting food for all of those reasons, which seems like an inversion of the same predispositions). But does the fact that I don’t eat to combat loneliness or boredom mean I’m an unemotional eater? Hardly. I’m one of the most emotional eaters I know, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Each time I sit down to a meal, I thank my lucky stars that I can muster up a wide range of positive feelings. I spent many long years eating with listless apathy, or not at all. And when I did eat, it was with fear, resentment, and mistrust. Each and every positive emotion I bring to eating now is a reminder of how radically my approach to food has changed. Thank god I can finally accept the many wonderful emotions that eating can evoke.

There’s a good argument to be made that, for recovering anorexics and bulimics, it’s important to put food in a proportionate place. “Eat to live, not live to eat,” and so on. I understand this, and in fact I’ve advised certain readers of mine to take breaks from food blog reading when they feel that the food fixation is taking over. Part of recovery, at least as I experienced it, was learning to diminish my own obsession with eating/not eating, and learn to re-prioritize relationships, socializing, and work.

Yet I would never claim that I let go of the food obsession altogether. I didn’t. I’ve simply transformed it into a source of positivity, rather than torment. Food plays an enormous–possibly abnormally large–role in my life. It certainly isn’t everything to me, but it is a great deal. And I don’t think this will ever change. Given a choice, I don’t think I’d want it to change. Yes, I’ve seen the ugly consequences of food obsession. But I also know that giving consideration and care to the things we eat enriches the human experience. So I’m proud to eat with emotion, to make my meals intense and celebratory whenever I can.

Perhaps we need to refine our understanding of “emotional eating” to specify the types of emotions involved and their origins, rather than the presence of emotion itself. What do you think? Do you eat with emotion? How important is food and eating in your life, and do you think this is positive or a negative? How do we negotiate between awarding food too much significance, and trying to divest it of its worth?

As usual, I didn’t mean to write a dissertation, and then–pscyh!–I did. It just goes to show you how wonderful it is to be engaged in smart dialogs with smart people.

Cheeseburger's Fact

Dan, would eat a cheeseburger pretty much every day of the week if I let him. This is not conjecture; it's an established fact. It's his desert-island food, and should we ever be stuck on a magical cheeseburger-filled desert island, he's free to eat as many as he wants, as often as he wants.

It's also true that Dan works in Manhattan, which is in fact an island with no shortage of great burgers. But it's not always easy for him to run out and grab one on his dinner break, so we compromise with these savory cheeseburger pies, a glorious hybrid of a Hot Pocket and a Pop Tart. Stashing a few of these in the office freezer are way better than buying a box of either of those for reheating.

Cheeseburger Hand Pies

Makes 6 pies
1 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons sweet relish
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
A few shakes Worcestershire sauce
2 9-inch pie crusts, store-bought or homemade (divided into 2 rounds if homemade)
6 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
1 large egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water

Make the filling: Brown the ground beef in a large, wide skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, breaking up any large chunks of beef with a spatula as it cooks. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature. (The beef can be browned up to 2 days in advance; refrigerate and bring to room temperature when you're ready to assemble the pies.)

Stir the ketchup, relish, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce into the beef.

Assemble the pies: Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Roll out one round of pie dough into a 12x12-inch rectangle.

Cut the dough into six 4x6-inch rectangles with a pizza cutter or pastry cutter. Three of these rectangles will be the bottom of your pies, and the remaining three will be the tops.

Place about 1/2 cup beef filling on each of the 3 "bottom" rectangles. Top each with 1 tablespoon shredded cheese.

Brush the edges of the beef rectangles with egg wash, then cover with the 3 remaining "tops."

Tidy up the edges of each pie with the pizza or pastry cutter, then crimp shut with the tines of a fork. Poke the top of the pastry a few times to vent the pies.

Brush the tops of the pies with the egg wash. Place on one of the prepared baking sheets.

Repeat with the remaining dough, beef filling, cheese, and egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until each pie is gorgeously golden-brown. Cool to room temperature on a baking sheet in preparation for freezing — or serve immediately!

Recipe Note
To freeze the hand pies: Line a large rimmed baking sheet with waxed paper. Place the cooked pies in a single layer on the baking sheet — it's OK if they are close to one another, as long as they don't overlap. Freeze on the baking sheet for about 1 hour until the pies are completely frozen through. Transfer the frozen pies to a gallon-size freezer bag or wrap each individually in foil. Freeze up to 3 months.
To reheat frozen hand pies: Frozen pies can be heated in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, or microwaved for 3 to 4 minutes.

Recovery musings: learning to fully embrace health

First of all: hi from the west coast! It’s gorgeous here, as always, and my mom and I are soaking it all up. I can’t wait to recap our adventures for you. But in the meantime, some musings today. I want to warn my readers that this post may be very triggering to some, and contains a lot of raw emotions/material about my personal recovery process. If you feel vulnerable reading this sort of material, please feel free not to skip past the “jump.”


I was at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago when the cashier–perhaps in response to the hemp milk, the nut butters, and the quinoa–asked if I was vegan. I said I was, and he responded, “Well, I have to say, you don’t look like most of the vegans we get in here.”

“What do they look like?” I responded.

“They’re usually super skinny,” he said. In response to what must have been raised eyebrows, he quickly added “I mean, it’s a good thing. You look healthy. Not, you know, emaciated like some of the ones we see.”

There’s definitely a post in here about how sad I am that vegans have the reputation of being emaciated, and how I wish more people could see the vegan community that I have seen: a group of individuals whose shapes are as diverse as they are. But since I haven’t written anything about body image in a while, I’ll take the confessional route today instead, and talk about how the comment made me feel. It was a mixture of two things: on the one hand, pride that I’d managed to somehow undermine a limited perception of vegans and vegan diet as being restrictive or under-nourishing. Isn’t this what my whole blog career is devoted to? Sharing a positive, healthy approach to veganism? Proving that the diet is abundant?

And then there was the other feeling, the one I’m not proud of. The one that vies directly with my desire to serve as a positive example of veganism and recovery. This was the part of me that winced inwardly at the realization that, to strangers, I’m no longer “super skinny.” I’m no longer a waif. My body is no longer the topic of concerned conversation, of attention. It’s a healthy body, which is precisely what I’ve fought very hard to make it. So why does “healthy” still feel like “unremarkable” sometimes? And why does that remain painful, so far into my recovery?

It’s embarrassing to admit that I should have felt anything other than pride and gratitude that, to the outside world, I appear healthy. And I don’t look back at that time in my life fondly; the moment I remember the obsession and energy involved in maintaining the kind of appearance he was talking about, I recoil and thank my lucky stars that I’ve come so far. But I can’t pretend that I don’t sometimes still long for the way my physical frailty used to make me feel: unique. Special. Noticeable.

A few years ago, I wrote about regaining a sense of distinctiveness post-recovery, and the point of that post was to break down how false the feeling of “specialness” that comes from restriction (and its consequences) is. But what’s crystal clear to me in my life as someone who writes about eating disorders is still sometimes hard to accept as someone who used to have one. Sometimes I feel ashamed that my life is no longer governed by a will of iron–an ability to say “no” to my body’s needs, again and again and again. Sometimes I’m ashamed of being healthy. It feels as if a certain intensity, embodied in that narrow and angular physical shape, has been lost. Once in a while, for a split second, I wonder if I’m diminished without it.

For the most part, this has been a year full of strides forward in the body image realm. At VVC, back in late May, my friend (and body image champion) JL made a remark to me when she saw me arrive for dinner in jeans and a fitted top. “When I first met you,” she said, “you were always wearing billowy dresses; lately you seem to be a lot more comfortable just showing up in your body.” It’s true. I don’t gravitate toward tight clothing, and I remain a big fan of dresses, but I used to hide behind drapery in a way I don’t anymore. It’s a sign that I’ve become far more comfortable with my shape. I’m more confident wearing what I want, not over thinking how things will make me look, and there’s a new kind of sexual confidence, too–a comfort that comes of accepting who I am.

And yet. There is always that little streak of vulnerability, of doubt. Every now and then, someone or something manages to unearth it.

In writing about this, I wonder how many other folks share this inner conflict. The tension feels especially acute to me because I spend so much time trying to advocate recovery on the one hand, and to present a positive vision of veganism on the other. My lingering moments of weakness are directly at odds with both of those missions, and make me particularly frustrated for that reason. But I think anyone who’s endeavored to lead a healthy life after disordered eating might be able to relate to the uneasy discord between a full embrace of good health, and the struggle to let go of the things that used to give one’s life a sense of identity and meaning–no matter how falsely.



As always, I treat these moments of struggle as an organic and inevitable part of the recovery process. Recovery is not a black and white before and after; it’s a journey, and the journey involves missteps and stumbles and occasional moments of looking back at the terrain you’ve covered, thoughtfully and with a touch of nostalgia. I never used to think it was possible to feel nostalgia or longing for any period of one’s life except the happy ones, but I realize that this isn’t the case. Even so, I’ve often been surprised this year by how far I’ve come in my relationship with food, my body, and my commitment to health. I’m so much further along than I used to be, and have made progress even through some stressful times that might have ordinarily triggered me. I am profoundly grateful for this, and can only accept and acknowledge the moments of struggle as they go by.

I hope you don’t mind my sharing these moments with all of you. I participate in the “green recovery” dialog on this blog just as actively as readers and contributors do. Writing is the and always has been the way I make sense of the recovery process, hold myself accountable, and come to resolution. I’m lucky that I have this community to share with.

Are Teens Who Lose Weight Really More Likely To Develop Eating Disorders?

That's certainly what the recent news will have you believe, but what of the actual science that's been used to generate the headlines?

Looking to the paper in question the first thing to point out is that it's not a clinical trial or even a cohort analysis, but rather is a case study of just two patients.

Both of the two teens in question chose traumatic diets as a means to fuel their losses.

The first patient, Daniel, is described as having approached his weight loss by means of eating no more than 600 kcal per day while running high school cross country. He also apparently eliminated sweets, fats, and carbohydrates, and ate only "diet food".

The second patient, Kristin, is described as having commit to a dietary regimen of 1500 kcal while running 7 miles per day for 3 years.

The authors of the case studies very sagely point out that in children, weight loss, especially rapid weight loss, should prompt primary care providers to explore the possibility of an eating disorder as eating disorders can present at any weight. In the case of these two teens, their eating disorders first manifested in the traumatic diets they both undertook in order to lose weight. Had their family physicians or pediatricians explored their losses when they began, the severity and disordered nature of the efforts might have been uncovered long before these two teens developed their traumatic-diet-induced psychological and physiological signs and symptoms.

What this paper did not however conclude is that weight loss in teens leads to the development of eating disorders and yet I've seen this references to this paper crop up regularly on Twitter since its publication and wielded by various trusted allied health professionals as proof that weight loss in children and teens is in and of itself risky.

What's risky isn't loss, it's traumatic diets, and frankly they're risky for anyone at any age.

The take home message from these case studies is that primary care providers would be well advised to respond to rapid and/or extreme losses of any patient, of any age, as a red flag suggesting their possible adoption of a traumatic diet, but the simple suggestion of the headlines and the no doubt well-intentioned tweeters, that, "teens who beat obesity at risk for eating disorders" leaves out the all-important qualifier of their traumatic means of losing.

Enough With The “Real Women” Nonsense

Lately you’ve seen a few rants on this website, and that’s because I can’t contain myself. I’ve overheard too many conversations recently and seen too many headlines to keep my mouth shut on certain topics.

For example, there’s a resurgence of comments about Cindy Crawford’s “untouched” photo that was released earlier this year. Many were saying it was empowering because, “It’s more accurate of what ‘real women’ look like.”

While many people are yelling “Amen!” in agreement I have to ask: Do you see what’s wrong with that statement? I’ll point it out – it’s the “real women” part.

Cindy Crawford is a real woman whether she has make-up on or not. Sure, we can discuss photoshopping but as a whole, Cindy Crawford is always a real woman.

You are a real woman regardless of what you weigh, your bra size, how much make-up you have on, whether you have cellulite or not, if you eat chicken wings with your hands or with a knife and fork, or if your farts smell like concentrated evil with a hint of rotten eggs or tulips on a crisp spring morning.

It’s time for ALL women to be proud of who they are and encourage every other woman to do the same. They are “real” women no matter what they look like, what job they have, what political views we possess, who they marry (or don’t marry), what hobbies they love, where they live, what color they are, how physically strong they are, their age, what music they listen to, and any other number of things that make them who they are.

                                What is a “Real Woman” Anyway?

It’s time to stop using this “real woman” language. Models are “real women” just as female chefs, moms, business owners, and everything in between are “real women”. Because by definition saying someone or a group of people are “real women” implies that others, in fact, are not real women. It’s exclusive, hurtful, and plain stupid. And it needs to end.


How every other woman on this earth chooses to look, act, and dress is none of our concern. Who are we to judge if a woman chooses a career that demands she look a certain way? Who are we to judge if a woman refuses to look a certain way? Why does society feel the need to fit us all into a one-size-fits-all mold and we, by default, just accept it as “the way things are” and so willing start pointing fingers and saying, “Yeah, that is what a real woman is/is not.”?

To me the definition of a “real woman” is someone who lives a life true to herself, authentically and unapologetically. She learns from her mistakes and is determined to be the best version of herself, in whatever ways that means, and encourages others to do the same. A real woman doesn’t think she’s superior or inferior to anyone else.

Is that definition perfect? No, but it’s what I think when someone says “real women”. How she looks, acts, votes, weighs, dresses, or talks has nothing to do with her woman-ness.

2 Strategies to Overcome Overindulgence

Listen, we’ve all been there.

We’ve all overindulged, and lived to regret it.
One too many glasses of wine, and you feel like absolute garbage the next day.
A sliver of chocolate cake turned into 3 slices, and you’re really  feeling the guilt and remorse.
Tacos at 2 am? Sure, why not. Sounds legit.
Bloody Mary’s the next morning just to imbibe a little hair of the dog? OBVIOUSLY.
FullSizeRender-14
In the past, I would treat social gatherings as an excuse to have an all out binge sesh, waking up the next day bloated, ashamed, and with a killer food hangover. I’d then spend the next few days restricting my diet and punishing myself with exercise just to get the bloating down.
I feel you.
And I also know how frustrating it can be to feel like you aren’t in control of your cravings or how much you indulge.
I know what it feels like to finally get on track with your nutrition, and then feel like a failure when it all goes to pieces in the blink of an eye. I work with clients regularly who are looking for moderation and balance–who want to put an end to the yo-yo cycle of binge, berate, restrict, repeat.
But we still want to have our favorite things, don’t we?
We want to sip and taste and never feel deprived. Because honestly, deprivation is the pits. It almost always leads to backsliding and rebounding, because will-power is finite, and we can only restrict ourselves for so long. We want to indulge without the requisite guilt that comes along with it, because if food is meant to be pleasurable, why should we feel so badly about it?
I want you to eat whatever you want and never again feel shameful. Firstly because shame over food (or really anything for that matter) is a wholly unproductive emotion. But also, because there is a better way.
We can learn how to eat for our palate and our physique, living a life of nutritional freedom, and never again uttering the phrase “I can’t eat that.” We can put an end to dieting, forever, by realizing that it isn’t a trendy diet or brand new nutrition plan that’s going to completely transform us–it’s our mindset.
Mindset can seem like a nebulous or intangible term but it’s pretty simple, actually: Your mindset is essentially your perspective, the way you view your environment, and how you choose to perceive your world.
It’s your mindset that guides how you think about food and fitness, and your mindset that ultimately determines lasting success. To help cultivate a positive mindset, especially as it pertains to food and indulgence, I have a handful of very effective strategies that I use with both myself and my clients in order to eventually develop sustainable habits for a fit, healthy life. Today I want to share two of the most powerful ones with you.
These two simple strategies, when practiced regularly, will help you put a stop to over indulging and food anxiety once and for all.

Eat foods that make you feel good during and after–this includes indulgences.

Healthy food that nourishes your body can (and should) be palatable, and food that doesn’t nourish your body can still be neutral–meaning that it won’t send you into a gut inflamed, joint aching frenzy. Remember, the motto is eat, lift, and be happy.
That last part is the most important, but it’s also greatly influenced by the first two. Either way, you want to be able to eat and never feel guilt or shame associated with your choices. In order to accomplish this, I suggest asking yourself a series of questions before consuming (or imbibing):
1) Does this food support my intentions for my body? (If so, go for it!)
2) If not, will I feel guilty about it later? (If not, go for it!)
3) Will this food that doesn’t support my intentions add to my experience in some significant way? (If not, don’t eat it!)
You get the idea. The point is to check in with yourself and hit the pause button before you go too far down the binge eating rabbit hole. Using this strategy will allow you to indulge intelligently and make mindful decisions–as opposed to mindlessly consuming whatever is in front of you.

Use the first bite rule. 

That first sip of Sauvignon Blanc on a sunny, Summer patio that makes you go aaahhh.
That first bite of a warm brownie sundae that makes you go mmmmm.
It’s such a pleasurable experience. It’s food and it’s love and it’s heaven. Food is meant to be enjoyed, but shouldn’t we enjoy every bite as much as the first? In order to do this, you have to stop and check in with yourself after every bite (or sip, in my case!).
Is it still amazing?
Am I still really tasting this, or just eating it because it’s there?
This requires mindfulness, which is the ultimate goal when it comes to nutritional freedom.
By stopping to make sure you’re still enjoying the experience, you’ll ensure that you never eat more than you truly want, and you’ll slowly start to realize that you don’t have to clean your plate, drink the entire bottle, or scarf down the whole slice of pie. It’s the most natural and effective way that I’ve found to avoid overeating and post-consumption remorse.

None of this is rocket science, but it does require constant practice and awareness. To learn more about mindset as it pertains to nutrition, make sure you check out this video I filmed with my good friend, Jill Coleman.
We talk about our own personal journeys, and how we shifted from a stressful, dieting mindset, to one of moderation and self-love. We discuss some of our strategies, and our most effective tools for relaxing around food.
Ultimately, we want to help you live an empowered, vibrant life, in which overindulgence, binging, and berating yourself about your choices are all a thing of the past.

How to deal with Assholes ??

Labor Day Weekend in Cali was hot as a mofo.
It appears that Summer is finally making an appearance, and no one in the beach cities has air conditioning…so, the ocean it is. We will brave the chilly Pacific waters because we are so damn hot we just can’t stand it.
Isaac took his board out a few times but the undertow was strong and the waves were insane. Which meant he wiped out like a boss, and then ended up taking a long nap in the sand.
It was lovely.
When he woke up I asked where he would like to eat and he excitedly suggested Finn McCools, which is a chill little pub/restaurant near the beach. They have great food and a super positive vibe. So we walked over and were enthusiastically greeted by one of the servers who pretty much knows us by now. He offered us a great table by the window and we settled in for brunch.
I ordered a “build your own” Bloody Mary (because obviously) and a Cobb salad. Isaac had pancakes and “bangers” aka sausage, which he found endlessly amusing.
All was well and good save for the exceptionally loud pair of guys at the table next to us. I get it. It’s Sunday Funday. They’ve been day drinking, which I wholeheartedly approve of. They were having a great time and a passionate conversation. I’m all for passionate conversation.
Until it turned salacious.
My cheeks burned. I don’t shelter my son by any means whatsoever, but I don’t think he needs to be hearing loud and lewd descriptions during Sunday brunch.
I let it go on a few more minutes, at which point I walked over and kindly excused myself for interrupting.
“Hey guys. So sorry to interrupt. I can see you’re having a lot of fun and I love that. I want you to keep having fun. The thing is, I have a 9 year old boy sitting within earshot, and I’d really appreciate if you could talk just bit more quietly.”
I was as calm, kind, and compassionate as I could possibly be. There was absolutely no reason for me to open the conversation with any other type of energy, and I posited that if I was cool about it, they’d be cool about it. Apparently, one of them disagreed.
“Oh wow, really? Maybe don’t bring him to a bar,” he says.
I remained calm, and explained that this is actually a restaurant as well, that it’s Sunday afternoon, and that there is, in fact, A KIDS MENU. I also reminded him that I did come over very politely and that while I understand he is under the influence, I think my approach deserved a little mutual respect.
Thankfully his friend stifled him. “No bro, she was very gracious. It’s cool. Relax.”
I sat down. They stopped making loud, adult comments. It was fine. Except it wasn’t.
It takes me a long time to cool off when I get heated up, which is why I try to stay cool most of the time. I was calm and collected when I approached these guys, but when one of them was nasty towards me, I felt a storm brewing inside me–especially given that I was in Mama Bear Mode.
For a few moments, this dude’s audacity and ignorance gnawed at me. Bro, I was nice to you–why so mean in return? I went over it in my head a few times and shortly arrived at the place where I always find peace: It’s not my problem. It’s not about me.
This guy’s attitude? Not about me. Not even a little bit.
I couldn’t control his behavior or his response. I was fully in my integrity, and I felt completely authentic in the way I approached him. That’s all I can do; the rest is completely out of my hands.

Here’s the thing: When someone is an asshole, it actually has nothing to do with you.
I know, that’s a hard pill to swallow. We hate it. We think, hey, you don’t get to be an asshole! It’s not fair. It’s not justified. And I get that. But we can’t control whether or not someone is an asshole, all we can control is ourselves and our reactions.
Are we rooted in authenticity and compassion?
Are we self-aware, self-loving, empathetic?
Do we feel empowered?
Do we have appropriate boundaries and strong connections?
Do we give ourselves and others grace?
Do we feel aligned with our integrity and our intentions?
Because the chances are, when someone is an asshole, they’re coming from a deep place of lack in one of those areas. People inevitably act out of their own pain, and many times that pain manifests into lashing out on or disrespecting others.
That has nothing to do with you.
Are pain and lack an excuse to be an asshole? Of course not. And I’m not asking you to excuse anyone for being an asshole. I’m simply asking you to hit pause before you react, and choose not to take it personally. Don’t allow the assholes to reduce you or to fire you up. Remember that they are behaving the way they do out of their own pain.
That’s their problem, not yours. Don’t let them make it your problem.
Instead, consider adopting a combination of both stoicism and compassion. The interesting thing about assholes is that they expect you to either be an asshole in return, or cower before their aggression. They aren’t expecting stoic compassion.
Why not surprise them?

Abdominal Wrapping Post-Pregnancy – Should I Do It?

A question I often hear is, “Should I wear an abdominal binder or wrap my belly after baby?”

This is a controversial topic in the fitness and rehab world, spurring strong opposing views.

One group says, “YES!” and believes that using an abdominal wrap postpartum can help give the body support and stability through the intense healing period after giving birth (whether it was vaginal or C-section).


The other group says, “NO!” and believes abdominal wrapping will cause more harm than good as it can be too much pressure on the core and floor, and not allow the body to naturally regain its true function.


Why would a woman consider using body supports after pregnancy?


The main reason given is that the body experiences a loss of support from the expanded/stretched abdominal muscles and the laxity of the joints, which occurs and subsists postpartum.

Where abdominal wraps and post-pregnancy body support systems can help:

You have a newborn and a toddler. You unfortunately don’t have 6 weeks to fully rest. Your body needs to move, and you need to be supported in your core and pelvic floor.
You have been experiencing back pain, pelvic pain, symphysis pubis dysfunction pain in pregnancy or after – some compression to your joints feels heavenly
You are healing your abdominal wall postpartum, and want to heal your diastasis recti
You had perineal tearing and/or are looking for some support for your pelvic floor
You had a C-section and need support of the belly and incision


Where abdominal wraps and post-pregnancy body support systems can hurt:


Wrapping TOO tightly can put undue pressure on your core, pelvic floor, and ribcage negating any positive effects
Using a support without adequate attention paid to your rehab exercises and alignment – this isn’t a bandaid solution
Wrapping top down, instead of bottom up (see “Abdominal Wraps”) can place stress downwards on the pelvic organs, rather than alleviating them of pressure

Amaging Cardio Workout By David Beckham

While he’s still a global icon, it wasn’t that long ago that David Beckham was widely considered one as one of the best soccer players in the world. I alway respected Beckham, but it wasn’t until I interviewed him in 2008 and tried his cardio workout that I realized what it takes to be a professional soccer player.

This cardio workout (most of which are sprints) left me needing about 24 hours of sleep and 72 hours of recovery. And if you’re looking for an abs workout, sprints are the secret weapon of all athletes. Don’t be deceived by the lack of crunches. This will burn fat as well as any high intensity interval training workout.

Before you begin, determine your maximum heart rate using the equation: 220-your age. The percentages below refer to maximum heart rate (max HR).

Each sequence is it’s own workout. Either try at the end of your weight training session or as a standalone workout. Whatever you do, do not underestimate the degree of difficulty.

My personal favorite: Challenge #3. Good luck with that.

Beckham’s training challenge 1: 5-minute run at 80% of your max HR. Rest 4 minutes. Repeat for 5 sets.

Beckham’s training challenge 2: 2-minute intervals running at 95% of your max heart rate.  Rest 1-minute between sets. Repeat for 8 sets

Beckham’s training challenge 3: Run a 20-second sprint as fast as you can. (Think running for your life.) Rest 1-minute. Repeat 30 times. (Yes, 30 times.)

Beckham’s training challenge 4: Run 60 yards and return back 60 (120 yards total). Complete each set within 20 seconds. Rest 100 seconds and complete for 10 sets.

Beckham’s training challenge 5: Sprint 60 yards. Rest 10 seconds. Repeat for 8 sets.