Blog

Lately, I've been putting more focus on exercise. Not just because it helps me de-stress, boosts my creativity, and makes me sleep like a baby, but because I genuinely enjoy it! Plus, it's well known that exercise does wonders for your immune system, mood, muscles, and heart.

But did you know that exercise also plays a key role in your gut health? Yes, research shows that working out benefits your digestion and whole gut in ways you might not expect.

Let’s Talk Gut Health

I’m sure you’ve heard that taking a light walk after a meal helps your digestion. It turns out that’s not just an old wives’ tale. In fact, post-meal walks can help food move through your system up to 30% faster and can balance your blood sugar levels. Keeping your digestive system moving also means you’re likely to be more “regular”—which is always a good thing!

Even more interesting is that regular exercise doesn’t just help after you eat; it helps...

This week I’m sharing something about your gut that you might not know about, and it’s a bit of a “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” situation.

Think about a time when you’ve felt nervous, on edge, or worried about something. That’s definitely been me lately, worrying about my son. It’s been a rough week as he hasn’t been improving as quickly as we had hoped and it’s impacting his ability to attend school and focus.

Like me, you might have had an uneasy feeling in your stomach about it. That’s because a big part of your stress response happens inside your gut, inside your “second brain” that resides in your digestive tract. It’s called your enteric nervous system. It’s made up of layers of cells (more than 100 million of them) that line your gastrointestinal tract, all the way from your esophagus to your rectum.  

Your Second Brain

Your enteric nervous system communicates directly...

It makes sense that if you want a healthy gut, you should eat healthy… But where to start? There’s so much information out there and it can be overwhelming to sift through it all, let alone overhaul your entire diet…. Which is exactly why I’m making things simple for you! 

What Your Gut Wants to Eat

Your gut is so important to your health because it impacts everything from your digestion to your brain to your heart and even your mood. As you get older, it becomes even more important to focus on your everyday wellness routine – and that includes your diet and your gut health! Even if you’re not experiencing any symptoms of poor gut health, you’ll want it to stay in tip-top shape. 

A simple way to support your gut health is to feed it properly. All the bacteria in your gut need to eat to survive, just like you. The “good” bacteria love to nibble on insoluble fiber (prebiotics) that are tough enough to survive the trip...

Right now, I’m busy working on my first gut health book to help you improve everything from your digestion to your immune system. Before I get to all that, though, I thought I would share why I’m so passionate about gut health: It’s been a key part of my family’s well-being (and not-so-well-being) over the past decade. 

Where It All Started

Up to eleven years ago, I wasn’t really concerned about gut health other than I knew to avoid antibiotics if I could and that it wasn’t a bad idea to take probiotics. But then my almost seven year old son was diagnosed with osteomyelitis (a bone infection) in his femur. He had been really sick for a few days and finally the doctor on call at the emergency department tested him for staphylococcus aureus (staph infection). When she got the results, she told us to go directly to the nearest children's teaching hospital.

Within about 24 hours, they confirmed that the infection was in his bone. They put him on...

This summer I’ve been watching bits and pieces of the Olympics, especially the cycling, swimming, gymnastics, and running. I spend half the time in tears because I’m so happy for whoever wins! Coming from an active and competitive family, I know how long and hard they’ve worked for their achievements. It takes daily, monthly, and yearly dedication and commitment to get where they are. It’s inspirational, for sure. 

Even if you aren’t in the spotlight, you can take some tips from the athletes to achieve your own goals: You need to focus on what you want and surround yourself with the right people to help you get there. That’s exactly what I’m doing to achieve my own goals! 

My First Goal: Swimming

I’m coming up on my short-term goal of swimming the Donner Lake open water swim this Saturday. I’ve swam it three times before, once 34 years ago, once 8 years ago, and again last year. I checked my times for each race, and it...

Right now I’m feeling an urgency to physically and mentally feel the best I can as I approach my 55th birthday in September. Strength and mobility are very important as we age and I had a bit of a wake up call several months ago.

My First Mistake

I had been experiencing hip pain, probably partly because I’d been driving more than normal to support the high school and middle school mountain bike team that I direct. Life was busy, as it always is, and I had let my posture therapy exercises fall to the side. I knew I should have been doing them, but I just didn’t make the time. That was my first mistake. 

My Second Mistake

So, one busy afternoon in between running errands for the Mountain Bike team party, I decided to wash my dusty car. I bent over to clean one of the wheels, and my hip and back spasmed like I’d never experienced before. Being me, I managed to complete the car washing and the other two errands for the party, which was my second mistake, and...

It’s been awhile since I wrote a blog post, and I should really be packing for our family’s two-week trip to The Netherlands, but I’m just too excited about my next project. Life has been full of ups and downs for our family the past year or so, and it’s inspired me to write a book filled with all the health knowledge I’ve expanded on and learned over that time. But wait - I think I may be getting ahead of myself, here. Let me explain how I got to this place in the first place. 

A Lifelong Health Journey

I’ve always been interested in the science of health, which makes it so frustrating when my family or I’m not well. Being diagnosed with high cholesterol was a big surprise to me early this year, and I’ve also been suffering from many symptoms of early menopause. It’s even worse when one of my kids is unwell, and my teenage son has been navigating his own health challenges this year, too. 

I was supporting him with the...

I’ve been working hard at boosting my natural energy levels after a stressful fall season. I know that when I feel good physically, I feel better emotionally and mentally, too; that’s why I started by focusing on my fitness. I’ve enlisted my son to join me on my bike rides to keep me accountable, and it’s working! I’m feeling better already. I’ve also discovered four tips to boost your energy that are food-focused that have been making a huge difference in the short time I’ve been doing them: it’s managing my glucose spikes. 

Let’s Talk About Glucose

Just before Thanksgiving, I happened to listen to a podcast interview of Jessie Inchauspé, a French biochemist and the author of The Glucose Goddess Method: A 4-Week Guide to Cutting Cravings, Getting Your Energy Back, and Feeling Amazing and Glucose Revolution:  The Life Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar.  

Her science-backed nutrition hacks...

Low energy can happen for a variety of reasons, especially at this time of year. Around the holidays there is less daylight (in the northern hemisphere), there are a lot of expectations, traditions to keep up with, and it’s harder to fit in time to recharge. Then there are the rest of life’s twists and turns that may be zapping your energy, like work, health issues, or taking care of family. My own energy has been in the dumps lately, which is why I’ve been turning to what works for me to refill my energetic cup. 

Three Types of Energy

In my High Performance curriculum I use for life coaching, we spend time first on clarifying who you want to be and what you want to be doing with your life. Then we move on to the topic of energy, because if you don’t have the mental, physical, and emotional energy to be doing what you want to be doing, you won’t get far. Read more about the three types of energy here. 

It doesn’t matter if your goal is...

I’ve always been interested in self-development and getting to know myself better. I want to live an Extraordinary Life, not an ordinary one, and understanding my inner workings is what is making that happen. Self-development is a daily practice, though, not a one-time deal. Just like any other skill, you can deepen your understanding and learn new strategies the more you do it. Last month I had a great reminder of this, one that may help motivate you to improve your daily practices, too. 

A Family Reminder

One of my daily habits is to write out what I’m grateful for. At the top of the list is always family and friends; especially now, as my father-in-law passed away suddenly this summer. As a result, I made two trips down to Colombia. The first was to attend his funeral with our family, and the second was to support my husband and attend family events. 

I spent almost two weeks there, and when I first arrived, my Spanish was very rusty. By the end of the...