What an awesome month it was on the Grace & Grit Podcast! The theme for this month was Permission to Pause: The Paradox of Doing Less in Order to Accomplish More . I hosted 3 outstanding guests, including: Chinese medicine expert, Brodie Welch ( Episode 103 ) Author of The Power of Slow, Christine Hohlbaum ( Episode 104 ) Intellectual powerhouse and master coach, Krista Scott Dixon ( Episode 105 ) This episode rehashes the ground we covered and the biggest takeaways from the month. Enjoy! Click ...
Mar 31, 2018•28 min•Ep. 106
I am beyond thrilled to have Krista Scott Dixon, the intellectual powerhouse behind Precision Nutrition’s curriculum, back on the show. I specifically invited Krista to come back to the show this month because the way Precision Nutrition goes about helping people return to health , in my opinion, is hugely on point with this month’s theme, “Permission to Pause”, because the PN methodology encourages people to slow down and become more aware of and self directed in their behaviors so they can bet...
Mar 24, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 105
Last week, in episode 103 , I had a great conversation with Brodie Welch, about our addiction to speed, hustle and always doing more and what it is costing us in terms of our health and happiness. Today’s guest, Christine Hohlbaum helps us expand that conversation by sharing a ton of great tips with us on practical things we can do to adjust the speed and overwhelm of our life and give ourselves more permission to pause. Click here to listen now. >>Are you loving the Grace & Grit Podcast? Help u...
Mar 17, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 104
Last week on the podcast I talked about this month’s theme with is “Permission to Pause” and I went into extensive detail about why I believe this topic is so important. If you missed that you might want to check it out. My guest today, Brodie Welch, has been on the podcast before and I value her opinion and wealth of knowledge so much that I have invited her back to the show. Brodie and I cover a lot of ground in today’s podcast, including: Addiction to speed and business and what it is costing...
Mar 10, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 103
Many women I work with think that the #1 challenge they have to improve their health is with food or exercise. While eating more nutrient-rich foods and moving their body more may indeed be a part of the solution, the root of the problem is often the speed at which they are living their life. When we live our life at breakneck speed, piling more and more things on our ever growing to do list, we become mindless and very reactive, which is often what leads to misaligned relationships with food an...
Mar 02, 2018•43 min•Ep. 102
This day in age, there is no shortage of studies showing us how powerful strength training is for optimizing human health and performance. And, yet, many women still have fierce resistance to making it a regular part of their life. I get it. It can be overwhelming, intimidating and even a bit scary to step into an arena that you may not be all that familiar with or have had a bad experience in. If you are a woman who understands the importance of strength training but has some fear or resistance...
Jan 20, 2018•55 min•Ep. 101
Today I am celebrating and I’d love you to join me! I may not know you personally, but I am pretty certain that you have achieved a few things in your life that required focus, hard work, and a hefty dose of GRIT. Today the Grace & Grit Podcast is celebrating its 2 year anniversary AND the 100th episode! And, to be honest, what it took to make that happen is the exact same stuff to create ANY kind of success. Listen in to today’s episode and I will tell you more about how I dealt with doubt, fai...
Jan 13, 2018•46 min•Ep. 100
As someone who has dedicated her life to helping women up-level their health, I am always on the lookout for people who understand female physiology and the unique training challenges that women face . Women, after all, are NOT little men, as my guest on the show today, Stacy Sims, PhD, so perfectly states. Stacy Sims, a nutrition scientist and exercise physiologist, understands female chemistry in a way that very few people do. Her book, “ROAR: How to match your food and fitness to your female ...
Jan 06, 2018•59 min•Ep. 99
Human biology is an amazing thing in that it is equipped to deal with stress in small doses. The problem is, we are dumping way too much stress on our poor little bodies in this day and age, largely due to lifestyle choices. The Grace & Grit podcast is fast approaching the 100th episode and while we have discussed mental, emotional and physical stress intensely, I have only had a few guests on the show to dish out tips on managing environmental and chemical stress . So, I am thrilled to have Ton...
Dec 29, 2017•41 min•Ep. 98
A LOT of women come to work with me because they want to lose weight , and weight loss can be a powerful initial motivator but it often isn’t weighty enough to carry people into long-term health. So I ask my clients, WHY do you want to lose weight, and what lies underneath is typically something that speaks to them wanting to live a bigger life . They want more confidence, they want to move more freely, they want more self-respect etc. So you can see that just having a goal of becoming smaller c...
Dec 23, 2017•51 min•Ep. 97
I am entering launch mode for my Signature Program, which basically means, according to online entrepreneurial standards, I should be selling myself and telling you all of the reasons WHY you should invest in working with me. The truth is, however, as much as I want people to be interested in the work that I do, I also want to be sure the people I invest in for the next year of my life are a good match for the level of work that I teach. There was a time in my career, I would have worked like a ...
Dec 15, 2017•40 min•Ep. 96
It is all too easy to lose traction with our health around the holidays. Often women are doing more on less sleep and compromising their own self-care to bring everyone else holiday joy. It is no mystery why so many women tumble into the New Year a hot frustrated mess. If you want to get through the holidays this year without sacrificing your health (or your sanity), give this podcast a listen . >>Are you loving the Grace & Grit Podcast? Help us keep the mic on ! Then head over to iTunes and lea...
Dec 09, 2017•36 min•Ep. 95
I have been a fan of Nia Shank’s for a very long time and she has been a champion among an army of women who’s message inspires the work that I do as a health coach, trainer and host of this podcast. If you go to Nia’s website, and I strongly suggest you do, you will see that she introduces herself as a coach and a writer who shares health and fitness information that doesn’t suck . Not only does the information she deliver not suck, it is helpful, real and goes against the grain of what the mai...
Dec 02, 2017•53 min•Ep. 94
Life is full of uncertainties, but a few things you can be certain you will face in your lifetime, and one of them is adversity. No one gets through life without facing challenges, and HOW we choose to face those challenges has everything to do with the quality of life we will live. Adversity shapes us, for better or for worse. My guest on the Grace & Grit podcast today, Alexandra Franzen, just authored an entire book on the subject of adversity and how to rise above the disappointment of things...
Nov 25, 2017•1 hr•Ep. 93
Now, typically when I schedule podcast interviews, I schedule them based on when my schedule aligns with the schedules of the guest I want to host. There is really no method behind how the podcasts are organized, which makes it extra special when I am able to host a guest like Jenny Carr to discuss inflammation and then immediately host my guest today, Kristen Boehmer, who has an incredible story of triumph in managing a serious disease via diet and lifestyle after medications and surgeries fail...
Nov 18, 2017•48 min•Ep. 92
Halloween is now over (I am sure I am not the only mother out there whispering “thank god” under her breath). I love a lot of the traditions of Halloween but the sheer volume of candy involved in the holiday drives me crazy! I went trick-or-treating for all of 25 minutes with my son and, in that short time; he must have collected several pounds of candy. Ugh! Sugar makes things taste good, but as far as good qualities sugar provides, it ends there. I really try hard not to label foods “bad” but ...
Nov 11, 2017•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 91
Welcome to the Grace & Grit Podcast. I am super pumped you are here today and I am so grateful for all of the amazing feedback I got from last week’s interview with Courtney Carver of Be More with Less. Clearly, “simplicity” is a topic that hit home for a lot of you. And I get it. The large majority of the women I work with are doing all they can to keep their head above the sea of “to-dos” they have on their schedule. I know I sound like a broken record when I say that if you want to improve yo...
Nov 04, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 90
Simplicity, in my opinion, is a topic we cannot talk about enough because we are living in a time that is everything but simple. Building the skill of living more simply isn’t sexy (just as most of the things that will truly improve our health are not). It forces us to slow down, become aware and make conscious choices and it is easy to rationalize not having time for that in a world that pushes more is better and hustle as the only ways to be successful. You are listening to this podcast becaus...
Oct 28, 2017•55 min•Ep. 89
Oct 21, 2017•53 min•Ep. 88
For years women have sought me out to help them improve their health, and often they come expecting a list of “what” they should be doing (via specific meal plans, calorie loads, foods to avoid etc.). They are often surprised when I ask them to start questioning HOW they might need to show up differently for themselves to elicit a different response. How you greet the day is just as important as what you plan on doing in the day. How you eat is just as impactful to your health as what you eat. H...
Oct 14, 2017•34 min•Ep. 87
I have had several guests on the show to discuss the power hormones have in the health equation because honestly, I do not think this is a topic we can discuss enough. Hormones influence and govern everything about our physiology: weight fertility, mood, energy, sleep and sex drive…just to name a few things. And their disruption can cause havoc on our tissues, our systems and ultimately our sanity. While there may be a time and place for pharmaceutical intervention to help balance extreme hormon...
Oct 07, 2017•52 min•Ep. 86
Exercise inspires a host of emotions in people including: fear, dread, resistance and frustration. It is a shame that something that has been proven time and time again to be so good for us, can feel like such a hardship at times. If you have every struggled to stay consistent with your exercise program, you are not alone. Everyone struggles at some point. So, in this episode of the Grace & Grit podcast I deliver my best tips for staying the course, even if you don’t feel like it (because to be ...
Sep 30, 2017•37 min•Ep. 85
“Cheat meals” and “cheat days” are an integral part of the diet culture vocabulary. And while many people could argue that it is just “semantics” and, therefore, no big deal… I beg to differ. Cheating implies dysfunction and deep health is not born out of dysfunction (not by a long shot). If you have every found yourself in a position of trying to make amends with food choices that aren’t necessarily in line with what you say you want for your health, check out this episode of the Grace & Grit p...
Sep 23, 2017•33 min•Ep. 84
You may have the best intentions for improving how and what you eat, but if you don’t have some strategies in place for doing so easily, you will never take action on it, or you will fail to take action with it consistently. I get it. Been there done that. Through my own process of working to elevate my health over the years, and hundreds of women to do the same, I have a few (okay…more than a few) suggestions for making shopping, meal prep and even meal time more simple and even fun, so you can...
Sep 16, 2017•32 min•Ep. 83
Sometimes I think we have come so far in the conversation of what it means to be a healthy woman, and other times it feels like we are having the same exact conversation we have always had using different words . We have gone from: Atkins to Ketogenic Diets Aggressive cardio to aggressive strength training Cosmopolitan Magazine to Instagram “Skinny is sexy” to “Strong is the new sexy” (as my friend, Steph Gaudreau would say, “No! Strong is just strong.) The platforms for these conversations may ...
Sep 09, 2017•53 min•Ep. 82
“I really love being a diet”, said no one ever. Dieting sucks. You know it and I know it. Being in a constant battle with food and exercise is downright exhausting, deflating and not a spectacular use of our 1 shot at this thing called life. I am a huge fan of nutrition and exercise science, AND I think that a big part of dis-ease in the human body has stemmed from people seeking so much outside perspective about what is best for them, that they have become completely detached from their own awa...
Sep 02, 2017•50 min•Ep. 81
Compromising, negotiating and rationalizing your way out of your good intentions to improve your health goals are behaviors that can all too easily become habits. Quitting can also easily become a habit. In fact, the diet industry has been benefitting for years off of people going from diet to diet to diet; it has thrived off of its customers making a habit out of quitting. Gyms too make money on the predication that you are going to quit on yourself. They know that after your initial burst of i...
Aug 26, 2017•26 min•Ep. 80
It seems we have become a culture of wanting the solution to all of our health woes to be delivered in 1 nice (and cheap) little package and, man, have a lot of people designed products and programs that promise just that. Look, I get it… It is easier to have someone tell you exactly what to do all the time: what to eat, how to move, which meditation to do, how much sleep to get, etc. And I am not trying to diminish the tremendous benefit of coaches, trainers, and processes that can make the roa...
Aug 19, 2017•25 min•Ep. 79
Living life in the 21st century is a blessing in so many ways. We have education at our fingertip and more freedom to choose than ever before. And… Having so many options at our disposal has increased overwhelm, the time, energy and money we spend on this that just aren’t all that important and we are more distracted than ever before. None of which leads us to a more health-FULL life. Many women I have coached through the years are so busy managing their stuff and schedules that they have lost t...
Aug 12, 2017•46 min•Ep. 78
The Grace & Grit podcast is dedicated to helping women expand their definition of health because deep health isn’t a look, deep health is a way of being that extends far beyond the narrow conversation of just food and exercise. Sure, as women, we all want to look good, but we also want to FEEL good and, most of all, we want to be happy. And finding our happy isn’t about adding MORE “to do’s” to our life. Often finding our happy is about being true to ourselves, granting ourselves permission to s...
Aug 05, 2017•58 min•Ep. 77
