I remember feeling anything but sane around the age of 40 when I suddenly started to gain belly fat.

What made it worse was even though I was faithfully eating on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, I was also experiencing:

>> Low-level anxiety 

>> Lack of motivation

>> Low libido (no libido)

And having sleepless nights AGAIN- after all those sleepless nights with 9 babies. 

My cycle was regular but my moods were unpredictable.

Brain fog set in as did some depression.

So, I went to my Gynecologist with my complaints and she gave me two options: the pill or an antidepressant.

And then she said this could last up to 10 years!! 

What!?! 

I wasn’t willing to try either of these.

There had to be a better way.

I started researching and ended up joining a life coaching school that was teaching people how to “get control of their life and start creating the results they wanted”.

I learned...

Low self-esteem can cause negative self-talk. This can further lower your self-esteem causing a vicious cycle where you continually feel bad about yourself. The good news is that you can change the way you talk to and about yourself. When you conquer negative self-talk, your self-esteem will improve. You’ll gain more self-confidence and you’ll feel more optimistic about your life in general. 

If you’re ready to break the cycle of negativity, you need to understand these essential truths. 

Actions follow thoughts, so your thoughts are important. 

Your actions always begin with your thoughts. If you think that you’re destined to be overweight, then it doesn’t matter how many diet books you buy or how many nutritionists you talk to, you’re still going to be overweight. You’ll stay overweight because you haven’t changed your mindset. 

If you want to change your life, you have to change your thoughts first....

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As you age, you start to lose bone and muscle mass. But, there is 1 nutrient that is key to helping you retain muscle mass and bone density. 

Protein.

Every day you are faced with food choices. Some of those foods help your body and others simply don’t.

If you are in the throes of perimenopause or menopause, even in post menopause one of the best ways you can support your body is to pay attention to what is at the end of your fork. 

Your hormonal symptoms like inability to sleep, hot flashes, low-level anxiety, and stomach bloating are directly related to the foods you choose to eat. It is time to put on your big-girl panties and declare that your health will take priority over your desires and urges and choose foods to heal &...

Let’s talk about SIT training. 

Have you heard of this?

No, it’s not sitting in a chair.

SIT is Sprint Interval Training.

The studies about SIT say that it is very important for women in perimenopause & menopause to perform.

Why do you need to include Sprint Interval Training?

 #1 - It turns up your body’s ability to burn fat

#2 - Helps with insulin sensitivity and Insulin resistance

#3 - Gets you using more oxygen, burning more calories and burning more fat

The key to SIT is the high-intensity SHORT interval plus recovery.

Your sprint could be on a bike, on a treadmill, in the water, or up a hill. You sprint really hard, get breathless for 8-30 seconds, and then recover for as long as you need to.

A big benefit of SIT will be the improvement of your body composition. It increases lean muscle mass and reduces fat mass in a relatively short period of time. 

SIT helps burn belly fat...

Thankfulness.

Colossians 3:15- “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.”

Is your heart thankful?

What does it take to orient my heart toward thankfulness?

Have you ever thought about that? If by nature I am corrupt and selfish, how do I turn that around? I know there are times I have wondered about this. Especially when I have failed miserably. 

The opposite of thankfulness is selfishness.

I hate to admit it, but I can offer many examples of my selfish heart. When something doesn’t go my way and I pout. Or when someone cuts me off in traffic and I grumble. And definitely, after I have an impatient outburst towards my family. Ugh! Those are the worst! It’s when the “Me, Me, ME!” monster rears its ugly head and destroys relationships. And later in the quiet moments, I wonder, how can I become less self-centered? 

The problem is a...

A word from Coach Leslie:

 “He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.”  Proverbs 11:27 

Have you ever noticed that you find what you’re looking for? Maybe not every item you misplace, but you do find the thing that your heart looks for. This is true in many areas of life. God used this concept in my life to curb my habit of complaining. Here's what happened…

Just as I was processing this concept my family and I went on our first family vacation. At this time, we just had two babies (who are now 20 and 17!). We knew it wouldn’t be a “vacation” for my husband and me, per se because after all, our boys were little and still required all the care and energy given at home, now we were just taking it all to another location. Yet, we were hopeful that it would still be a nice getaway to do something different with our young boys.

The plan was to stay with my husband’s...

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Progesterone naturally begins to decline around age 30, and by age 50 has decreased significantly. According to the late Dr. John Lee (leading progesterone specialist), estrogen levels drop only 40-60% at menopause, just enough for the monthly cycles to stop. Sadly, progesterone levels may drop to near zero in some women causing hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and other troubling symptoms. Stress, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and xenoestrogens all accelerate the progesterone decline. During perimenopause and menopause, the sharp decline of progesterone can lead to estrogen dominance – despite lower estrogen levels.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF PROGESTERONE

• Enhances thyroid hormones
• Good for your bones
• Good for your heart
• Helps weight loss
• Keeps estrogen in check
• May offer protection against some cancers
• Prevents hot flashes and night sweats
• Prevents some...

Trim Healthy Mama is not about obsessing or number counting. But having a few guidelines can help you bring your eating into balance. This can be especially important if you have gotten confused with all the chatter around about what you “should” and “should not” eat.

Your body craves balance. Blood sugar balance, fat balance, and carb balance.

With Trim Healthy Mama, you will bring your body into a place of healing and balance so it can release fat. You do this by cycling your fuels. Choosing a fat focus fuel (S-Satisfying) means you add healthy fats to your protein-focused meal but keep your carbs very low. A carb-focused meal (E-Energizing) is focused on a lean protein with added healthy carbs. Both meals should include good amounts of non-starchy veggies. Read here for a refresher on your fat & carb number guidelines.

Let’s take a look now at the Fuel Pull meal (FP). This meal will be centered around lean protein ...

You can learn a lot about what you are putting into your body by simply taking a moment to read the labels on packages. 

Let’s get super clear on what you are looking for when you read those labels. <<Click for a helpful guide

When you are putting together an S (Satisfying) meal, you will be focusing on fats anchored by protein but limiting carbs. Your carb count should not exceed 10 grams for an S meal. You will not count the carbs in non-starchy vegetables, those are freebies!

For an E (Energizing) meal, your focus is to anchor your lean protein with healthy carbs. You may include starchier vegetables and will keep your carb amount 45 grams or less. Watch your fat amounts with this meal and keep the fat amount 5 grams or less.

If you find that a regular E meal is a bit more carbs than your body likes, feel free to rotate out with a pulled-back E meal. Take your carb amount down to 12 grams instead of 45 grams. 

Are you ready to learn about a fuel you can eat that won't kick your body out of fat-burning mode?

Meet the Fuel Pull!

A Fuel Pull (FP) meal is going to be low calorie and low fat.

This fuel is delightfully neutral. You can even start your meal as an FP and add carbs to convert it to an E (energizing) meal or add fats to make it an S (satisfying) meal.

The FP foods can balance out meals that have a heavier calorie load and they are very weight loss friendly.

But, be very careful that you do NOT abuse your use of the FP meal. 

Remember, we are not going to deprive our bodies of good fuel. You need to switch out your fuels to see healthy, sustainable weight loss. 

Fuel Pull meals still start with a protein foundation. Choose a lean meat like chicken breast, lean deli meat or lean turkey (check all labels to make sure your choosing low fat & low carb). Egg white are a perfect FP fuel along with low fat dairy options. 

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