Today’s guest is Ariel Boyle.  She is a certified Life Coach and Weight Coach, as well as a certified Health Coach. She teaches women how to lose the weight for the last time without the restriction and deprivation that typically comes with traditional dieting.  (OMG, right? Where has she been hiding from us??!!) Her weekly podcast Lose It & Leave It provides tips and strategies for losing the weight and leaving it behind for good.  I love episode #3 where she talks about keeping promises to myself as being a practice -something that we have to keep doing it over and over until it becomes a habit - LOVE IT!

In this episode you will learn

1. How to shift your mindset about your relationship with food.
2. How to stop stress eating without using willpower
3. How punishing yourself for eating comfort foods is actually increasing your stress and not helping you to eat healthier

 Be sure to listen to the podcast for more in depth explanations - and...

Today we are going to get to explore why and how to meal prep.  What is meal prepping and how can it help you?   And of course this will include action you can take today.  That’s right, you can get started transforming your life right now.  

In this episode you will learn:

1. What is meal prepping?
2. Why and how it can be valuable to you.
3. A 3 step process to help you start meal prepping

What is meal prepping?

Well, lots of people say that it’s this thing or the other thing.  Here’s how I think about it:  it’s a way to prepare food that helps you achieve a goal.  Maybe you are wanting to eat healthier overall, but find it challenging in the hustle of day to day life to cook and eat healthy.  Maybe cooking is getting in the way of you being as productive as you would like.  Maybe you hate cooking and want to get it done.  Meal prepping is a way to create several meals at once - the idea...

Note: some of the resources/links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Today I’m going to share with you the three cookbooks that I’m using right now to help me stay healthy and sane. I know how hard it is to figure out how to eat healthy and then integrate those foods into your life.  Soooo many rules and so much kale.  I have a simple approach to healthy eating and three cookbooks to support you to do it.

In this episode you will learn:

1. How I approach eating healthy 
2. Why Pinterest and online cooking apps do NOT work for me.
3. The three cookbooks that I’m using right now to support me

How I approach healthy eating

It's so hard to eat healthy consistently, especially when you are stressed.  I have two simple things that I do to help me keep prioritizing eating healthy.

1. Planning

I plan out my meals to support me.  Sometimes I...

Today we are going to get to explore the idea of cleaning out more than just your closet this spring - but using this time to let go of anything that is no longer serving you.  This episode will include action steps to help you use spring cleaning to feel more in control and focused.  That’s right, you can get started transforming your life right now to have less of whatever you don’t want anymore - less stress, less anger, and less stuff in your closet.  

In this episode you will learn:

1. How spring cleaning your life, not just your closet, can help you feel less overwhelmed and more in control
2. Four new ways to think about spring cleaning and how to do them right now
3. How to let spring cleaning be an opportunity for something else to grow and take it’s place

Spring is an amazing time.  It’s a time of growth.  Of new beginnings.  It’s also a time to clean.  If you are anything like me, I love...

In this episode you will learn:

1. 6 questions to ask yourself.
2. How to use them.
3. 3 tips to take action today.

Questions to ask yourself about things you are doing (or want to be doing) for your health and wellness:

1. What works for me?  
2. What doesn’t work for me? Check out Podcast 16 for a deep dive into #1 and #2
3. What do I love about this?
4. Why do I think I should do it?
5. What is realistic? 
6. What action can I take today?

How to use these questions:

1. You don’t have to use them all.  There isn’t an order to them.
2. Pick something specific you are doing (or want to do) for your health and wellness - like running, meal-prepping, meditation, etc.. and ask yourself questions #1-6 (as needed, sometimes they don’t all apply).  Consider journaling about them or having a conversation about this with a loved one.
3. TAKE ACTION.

3 tips to take action:

1. Start small.  Pick something that you can do today and do...

The amount of health and wellness information that is out there today is insane!  For reals. It’s intense.  Meditating will fix everything.  But also I need to be reading a book every single week. And I need to be taking a HIIT class because so-and-so did it and she loves it.  And I’m sure that there is something new that I’m supposed to be eating and something that I’m not supposed to be eating anymore.

OMG.  I’m tired even talking about it.  But here’s what I used to do.  I would hear about something and then I would be ALL IN. I’d decide that meditation is THE ANSWER.  That it’s the thing I’ve been looking for - without ever considering if it actually works for me.  It’s hilarious.  Sometimes it does work out.  That’s how I found yoga over 20 years ago.  But I’ve also pushed through on plenty of health and wellness things that just weren’t...

Note: some of the resources/links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

In this final part of this 6-part series on self-compassion we are going to practice noticing our awesome and be a little better at appreciating it.

What you will learn in this episode:

1. Why it’s so freaking hard to appreciate yourself, even when you are good at appreciating others
2. 3 ways self-compassion can help us be better at self-appreciation
3. Action steps to start appreciating your awesome TODAY

Why would you care about appreciating yourself?

Like all of the aspects of self-compassion, learning to appreciate yourself is an incredibly powerful tool.  When I am better at noticing my good qualities or the stuff I do really well or the ways I impact the world in a positive way - when I notice those things and I can name them, then I become stronger.  I build my self-confidence. I build my...

Note: some of the resources/links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

What? We are still working on self-compassion?!  And that's somehow related to forgiveness? Yup.  Welcome to part 5 of this 6-part series. 

In this episode you will learn:

1. The 5 steps to forgiveness
2. Some ways to forgive others and why that’s useful for you
3. Some ways to forgive yourself and why that’s useful for you

Let’s start by saying this… forgiveness is really freaking hard.  It’s exhausting. But spending time and energy and thoughts and emotions on being angry at yourself or someone else is also exhausting.  Ugh. And, no surprise, self-compassion is a big part of forgiveness.  

What I’m NOT saying:

I am NOT saying you have to forgive anyone or everyone. I am NOT saying that everything is forgivable. I believe that some...

Note: some of the resources/links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

I think that I created this episode because I found myself exhausted from caring for others.  I've experienced this before, when I got to care for my mother as she was dying from cancer - but during these unprecedented and challenging times, I find myself exhausted by caring for others.  

That's OK.

But I wanted to give you some strategies to make sure you can still love and support others right now. 

Remember- if you are depleted or exhausted then you can't keep showing up for others.

Part 4 in a 6-part series.

In this episode you will learn:

1. Why caring for others might make you tired.
2. Steps to take care of yourself so that you can still take care of others.
3. What self-compassion looks like while caring for others

"Caregiver fatigue is not a sign of weakness. But a sign of caring."  Kristin...

Note: some of the resources/links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Sometimes things suck.  It's ok.  Here are three strategies to still be nice to yourself when things are challenging. 

I would argue that self-compassion during challenging times is even more important.  If I don't show up for myself, I'm not going to be able to show up to help or serve anyone else. 

Here are three strategies I am using right now to help me be a little nicer to myself.

1. Self-compassion for wanting your basic needs to be met

Let's time travel back to your Freshman psychology class and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  This is a pyramid representing human needs, and how if our basic needs are not met, then we don't really get to grow as humans. 

Level one, the basis for all of this, includes your physiological needs- food, shelter, rest.   The next level...