I’ve had the question posed so many times…. “What do you really do as a health coach?”. 

The answer is surprisingly simple.  As a health coach, I teach busy, professional women how to conquer their cravings and heal the relationship with food and their bodies so that they can lose weight easily and organically without diets or deprivation.  I offer support and accountability to help women create the body and life they have always wanted.

My methods are super secret, Ninja-type stuff, but you get the idea.

Once we get past that, people always want to know what I eat and what I do for exercise and all the other healthy habits, like sleep and self-care, that I spend tons of time coaching my clients around.  I think the hope is that I will share some earth-shattering secrets that will unlock the mystery to eternal life or something.

The truth is, everyone is different and has different goals, so what works for me, might not work for you.  However, by sharing a day in my life, my hope is that it sparks an idea for you and you will try something new or feel empowered because you do similar things!

To start, it’s important that you know what my personal goals are for eating and exercise.  Again, we are all different and at different points on the health journey.  A few years ago, I shifted my thinking from weight loss goals to performance-based goals.  This was due to my progression into strength training and functional fitness.  I am focused now on what my body can do, and how I feel in my own skin rather that the number on the scale.  Do I have the endurance to hike for 2 hours with friends?  Can I carry 6 grocery bags into the house at one time?  Can I make it over the fence when the cops are after me?  Kidding, but you get the point.

As for eating, I consider the effects that food has on my overall well-being.  Am I eating in a way that supports my focus and mood and the strenuous workouts that I do?  Am I eating clean 80% of the time so that my mood is stable and my skin looks good?  Most of the time, the answer is yes, but of course, I’m not perfect.  When I “slip up”, my body and mind let me know!

So let’s look at a typical day…In addition to coaching, I’m a teacher so I have this summer off and this changes things a tiny bit, but mostly I stay the same and stick to the routine!

This is my set up for morning coffee.  I LOVE my coffee and I will never go without it (unless temporarily on a detox).  I limit myself to 2 cups per day and add collagen to support healthy joints and skin.

I also take a few supplements daily… Glucosamine, Turmeric, a probiotic, and some B-12.  I keep these out where I can see them by the coffee so that I don’t forget them!  The Glucosamine and Turmeric have helped me immensely with joint pain and inflammation after my workouts.  The probiotic helps keep the gut in check, and the B-12 gives me a boost of energy!

Next, you’ll see a pic of our WOD at my gym.  I love my gym ( shoutout to Xcell Fitness Academy in Signal Hill! ), and I love working out in the mornings because it sets me up for an amazing rest of the day.  I make better food choices when I work out first thing, and I have more energy, so I strive to make it to either a 7 am or 8 am class.  I don’t like to eat breakfast before working out in the mornings, but I try to have a banana with almond butter, trail mix, or a protein bar to fuel the workout.  Black coffee is a great pre-workout drink and way cheaper than C-4 or some of the other pre-workouts.

After the gym, it’s time to EAT!  I love food and I love noticing the ways it makes me feel.  My go-to for breakfast is overnight oats with blueberries and half a banana.  I make mine with almond milk, chia or flax seeds, a scoop of protein powder and almonds or walnuts.  If I’m hungry and if I have time, I will make 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and feta.

Mid-morning, I’m hungry again so I like to make a green smoothie or juice and sip it as long as I can.  This is something new I’ve been incorporating and I love how it quells my appetite and allows me to get a ton of veggies in.  This pic is a great idea that I got from Pinterest…make-ahead smoothie bags so that you can just grab, blend, and go!

We plan our meals every Sunday and post them on the fridge.  When planning, I always make enough food for dinner to have leftovers so my lunch is always packed.  Today, I had leftover sweet potato nachos.  So yummy!

Lately, my ritual for the afternoon is doing a meditation.  I use an app called Insight Timer that was completely free.  You can see some of my bookmarked meditations.  I try to spend between 5 and 15 minutes daily and have found this practice to really help with my relaxation, joyfulness, and even discipline.

Snack time is usually 3 hours after lunch.  I try to eat for energy at lunch meaning that I’m checking in and not eating too much.  I’m basically a 70% full, so a snack is welcome a few hours later!   Eating for energy and honoring fullness is one of the techniques I teach my clients so that weight loss becomes easy and effortless.

I like to have homemade protein bars, protein balls, carrots and hummus, hardboiled eggs, or apples with almond butter.  One of my favorites in the summer is a grapefruit that I cut up and stick in the fridge.  It’s cold, tart, and refreshing snack!

Did you know that citrus helps with sugar cravings too?

By the late afternoon, I am usually finished with my 32 ounces of water with my Hydroflask bottle.  What I love about this bottle is that drinks will stay cold (or hot) for 24 hours!

We try to cook 4 times per week for dinner with Fridays and Saturdays being a “FREE” meal that we go out for.  Like I said, we plan our weekly meals on Sundays and mainly use Pinterest to pin easy recipes to a board titled “This Week’s Meals”.   We’ve been thinking about trying Gobble for a few meals per week.  If you don’t know this particular meal delivery service, they deliver ingredients for meals that can be made in 10 minutes of prep per meal!

Tonight, we had “Bowl Of Doom”, which my friend Lori turned me on to.  It’s lean ground beef (or turkey, or bison), sweet potatoes, spinach, and onion topped with an egg and avocado.  We opted to leave the egg out tonight and made it with zucchini.  We put a twist on it too by flavoring it with curry, and turmeric.

After dinner, sometimes we will go for a short walk.  I like to pick out my favorite neighborhood homes and note where the fruit trees are…in case I need an emergency lemon for something I’m making! I like to watch TV and then read before bed, and you guessed it…I fall asleep pretty early.  I know I do best with 7-9 hours of sleep, so I make it my priority!  Here’s a pic of me reading  “Wishes Fulfilled” by Wayne Dyer.  It’s so good, and I’ve read it twice before, but I always go back to see what new insight I’ll have.

So there you have it, a typical day.  It certainly isn’t the only way to do things, but it’s the way that helps me meet my needs and incorporate the healthy habits that make me a much better person!  And that’s the point—find what works for YOU.  Find the routine, the food, the exercise that makes you feel your best.  If you need help figuring those things out, I’m here for you.  Schedule a complimentary strategy session with me HERE!