by Libby

Everyday Eats 6.7.23

Happy Wednesday! We’ve made it to the middle of the work week!

Last week felt like the LONGEST week to me, even with the extra day off! Hopefully this week finishes out more smoothly / less exhausting. I also have been sleeping terribly which never helps anything! The perpetual challenge of sleeping on the top floor of a 3-story townhouse…  my weeks have felt so thrown off and less than optimal with all that!

In FUN news, Alec and I went kayaking down the Huron River over the weekend. Such a perfect day to be on the water!

We also got breakfast at Stray Hen, a newish breakfast/lunch restaurant in Ann Arbor near campus. (more…)

by Libby

5 Nutrition & Exercise Goals to Consider (Other than Directly Pursuing Weight Loss)

Something I talk about with clients a lot is the idea that we can’t DIRECTLY control our weight or body size… however difficult that may be to accept, we can’t go out and magically choose to automatically be our perfectly desired size.

That doesn’t mean throwing all care about our health and wellness out the window… far from it!! On the contrary, I see pursuing life-giving healthy behaviors (which we can generally control) as the best path to improved health, not first and foremost fixating on weight loss or changing your body size.

Letting go of fixating on weight is not the same as letting go of caring about your health!

Actually, I see fixating on weight as generally being detrimental to health. You can read some more about my thoughts on weight here.

“Weight loss” or “body change” are not actions we can go out and directly “do” or make happen. Nor do those things necessarily mean improved health! When we instead choose to focus on caring for ourselves well physically through behaviors we can actually do and control, we can trust we are on the path to improved health. When combining this approach with addressing any underlying root issues (such as environmental toxins, hormonal imbalances, gut issues, etc.) that are preventing our bodies from being in balance despite healthy behavior changes, our actions are likely to lead our bodies to the sizes at which they are the healthiest. This could mean losing weight, gaining weight, or staying roughly the same. I see the point as better health, not a specific weight or size goal.

I am all about self-improvement and setting intentions. Not focusing on weight does NOT mean “giving up on health progress.” Instead of pursuing weight loss as a goal, here are 5 behavior-oriented nutrition & exercise goals to consider! Maybe one or two will resonate with you depending on where you are currently at in your own health and wellness journey.

5 Nutrition & Exercise Goals to Consider (Other than Directly Pursuing Weight Loss):

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by Libby

Everyday Eats 5.24.23

Hello everyone! How is your May going? I can’t believe it is almost Memorial Weekend!

Aside from usual work routines, I have been getting outside on walks/runs/hikes whenever I can, spending time with friends + family, and, of course, having fun baking + cooking in the kitchen!

I hope these recent eats posts inspire you to regularly enjoy creative, satisfying, flavorful food as often as possible. In my opinion, nutritious, well-balanced eating is full of foods from all food groups, from veggie-heavy salads to chocolate frosted cupcakes! Nutrition & enjoyment for a truly healthy, freeing, sustainable approach.

Onto recent eats from the past couple of weeks! 

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by Libby

Chamomile Lavender Iced Tea

Refreshing chamomile lavender iced tea featuring a lightly-sweetened homemade lavender simple syrup. The perfect summer drink to enjoy anytime of day!

After making a blackberry lavender cake recently, I figured I needed to find other ways to use my lavender buds. Upon first thought, I made a note to grab some chamomile tea bags at the store and later on this delicious iced tea was born!

Naturally caffeine-free, I recommend enjoying this refreshing drink sitting outside with lunch or while working throughout the afternoon.

Life is that much more exciting when you have a tasty, good-for-you drink to look forward to!

All you need to make this quick & easy tea are 3 simple ingredients (+ water!) and a bit of patience to let it all cool.

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by Libby

Everyday Eats 5.10.23

Hello everyone! How is your week going so far? It has been a weird few weeks over here. We ended up getting a terrible stomach/flu sickness (or we suspect food poisoning??) that pretty much knocked us out for the end of April. So we have been catching up from that and are finally getting back into more regular rhythms. It was one of the sickest experiences I have ever had. Not fun!!

Hopefully your start to spring has been going more smoothly than that and you are getting out to enjoy the nicer weather!

Some unusual eats from the past few weeks!

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by Libby

4 Indicators of a Healthy Relationship with Exercise

Sports, exercise, and less-structured general activity are all aspects of life I have enjoyed and been passionate about for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I loved running around outside playing various games and sports with my brothers, neighbors, and friends. I tried a number of different sports throughout elementary school and eventually ended up focusing primarily on soccer and basketball throughout late elementary school, middle school, and the start of high school.

This was mostly fun for me, but as time went on, I started to experience more and more pressure internally when it came to sports and athletic performance. I felt I had to be as good as I could be and increasingly feared any sort of self-perceived failure.

Once I started high school, this fear of failure + internalized pressure led me to train even more obsessively for sports, particularly basketball. The girls basketball culture at my high school was also relatively intense, which didn’t help my fears + obsessive tendencies.

The fall of my freshman year I would go to basketball shooting practice before school a couple of times a week, participate in (mandatory) gym class daily, and go to weightlifting or other basketball skills/conditioning training after school a few times a week. I was also still playing travel soccer (practices + games) on top of all this!

This increase in activity at the start of high school (combined with not seriously increasing my nutrition, which was more ignorance at the time rather than an intentional restrictive decision) significantly contributed to my spiral into an eating disorder. While this aspect of my story isn’t the main focus of this particular blog post, I mention all this to highlight how obsessive and unhealthy my relationship with exercise had become by the time I was finishing my first year of high school. As my weight started to decrease, I increasingly felt addicted to and compelled to exercise more and more.

[Side note on this which I hope to explore further in a future blog post: researchers have discovered a similar neurobiological phenomenon (the urge to exercise increasingly more when eating less) in animal models. From Carrie Arnold’s book, Decoding Anorexia: “In the 1960s, researchers discovered that if you limited a rat’s access to food and simultaneously allowed it to run on its wheel as much as it wanted, the rat would rapidly run itself to death, a phenomenon that looked eerily similar to what psychologists diagnosed as anorexia nervosa. The researchers called this behavior activity-based anorexia.“]

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by Libby

10 Healthy Fat Sources to Include Regularly

Do you avoid, or intentionally incorporate, fat into your diet?

It seems to me that many people are under the misguided impression that fat is always something to be avoided, and that consuming a higher-fat diet will lead to weight gain or worsened health.

My general nutritional opinion is that it is more the quality of fat in our diets that matters, and that it is generally other factors (like chronic stress, overload of processed foods (including many unnaturally low/non-fat foods!), sedentary lifestyles, etc.) that lead to poorer health outcomes.

Eating a diet full of high-quality fats is essential for hormonal health, brain health, immunity, energy, nutrient absorption, and more!

My appreciation for this macronutrient was recently reinvigorated as I was learning more about the story behind one of my favorite cookbooks, Run Fast, Eat Slow. Elyse Kopecky, one of the co-authors, had been a competitive runner since her preteen years and still hadn’t had her first period by the time she went off to UNC to run cross-country in college. Predictably, the doctors she saw prescribed the birth control pill to induce what we know is an artificial period. Not one suggested she alter anything in her diet/lifestyle!

After college, Elyse tried several times to go off the pill to have a natural cycle. Time and time again after waiting and even nixing the running, her period fail to make an appearance, leading her to repeatedly return to the hormonal birth control band-aid “solution”. It wasn’t until moving overseas to Switzerland and experiencing a whole new way of eating that Elyse had her first natural period at age 30! She left behind her low-fat, processed foods diet and filled it with satisfying and nourishing high-fat foods like whole milk yogurt, aged cheeses, butter, egg yolks, and grass-fed red meat.

Elyse started her first natural period after only a couple of months of eating this higher-fat, nutrient-dense diet. (And noting no noticeable changes in body size or composition). Later on, despite being told by doctors she would have trouble getting pregnant due to her period history, Elyse got pregnant immediately with her first daughter!

You can read more about her story here or listen here.

Reflecting on Elyse’s story and my own story of using higher-fat foods to get my period back and balance my hormones has re-inspired me to be even more intentional about incorporating more quality fat into my meals and snacks throughout each week. Read on for some of my favorite fat sources to incorporate, as well as ideas for enjoying them in especially delicious ways!

10 Healthy Fat Sources to Include Regularly: 

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by Libby

Everyday Eats 4.5.23

Happy Wednesday!

We are already midway through the week. I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend with Good Friday and Easter. Also the weather forecast here in Michigan looks amazing! (Highs in the 50s/60s and sunny!) Hoping to spend some additional time outside.

In case you haven’t heard, I am starting a disordered eating-focused Bible study coming up on April 11th! Contact me if interested. Anyone is welcome!

Lettuce get to discussing the start of spring’s recent eats!

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by Libby

Mocha Almond Joy Smoothie

Naturally-sweetened mocha almond joy smoothie features all of your favorite candy bar’s flavors in smoothie form! A nutritional powerhouse with over a cup of frozen riced cauliflower and magnesium-rich cacao powder. 

If you are an Almond Joy candy bar fan like I am, say hello to your new favorite smoothie recipe! All of the classic chocolate + almond + coconut flavors combined in smoothie form. And did I mentioned it is naturally sweetened with dates??

This smoothie makes for a nourishing pick-me-up any time of day. Ingredients such as cacao, chia seeds, frozen cauliflower (for creaminess!), coconut, and your favorite protein powder provide plenty of micronutrients + fiber to energize and nourish your body and mind. While we are also adding brewed COFFEE to this smoothie, you do you – decaf or regular will do the trick! Even a couple shots of espresso if you’re feeling fancy!

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