We are evolutionarily designed to nose breath. The nose is the start of the respiratory system.  The mouth was evolutionarily designed to begin the digestion process, not the respiratory process. Mouth breathing is essentially an "emergency state" that we have come to live in.

Nose breathing releases nitric oxide in the body, which increases the CO2 levels in the blood. The level of CO2 in the blood then regulates the release of O2 into the cells to maintain the balance. Mouth breathing does not release nitric oxide, and thus, less oxygen gets released into the cells (leading to all sorts of symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, digestive issues, immune issues, etc.)

Mouth breathing, especially while asleep, plays a HUGE role in dental health.  Tooth decay and cavities are a big sign of mouth breathing because  when the mouth is dehydrated (ie: you wake up with a dry mouth), there is little saliva in the mouth. Saliva plays a key role in maintaining a healthy...

Are you finding that you start out strong with a goal, but then fall off the wagon because you're not consistently working toward that goal? Listen in as I share 10 tips to increase and improve your consistency problems in any goal or habit that you want to implement into your routine.

1. Ask yourself: Do you really want what IT is? (do you want it for you, or is it something that you think someone else wants for you?) If yes? continue on. If no: Pick a new goal, because this one will not work.
2. Can you picture You 2.0 doing this habit consistently? If yes: keep doing it and picturing the future you doing this habit. If no: Not going to happen, pick a new goal that you can picture the future you doing. (The You 2.0 thought is a great technique I learned from Manifestation Teacher, Tara Brunet.  I am a part of her membership, and am always learning better ways to manifest the things I want into my life via her talks, podcasts, and workshops! Highly recommend!)
3. What doubts do you...

Hey Guys & Gals,

So, I just wanted to share a little exercise that you can to do help you reframe what your body feels or thinks when you hear "2020."  

I know I'm not alone when I say I've been struggling with my gratitude practice this year.  In fact, I've had so many days where I can't think of anything to be grateful for.  So, today, I wanted to share this little practice with you all, so that you can take a look back at your 2020 and create a list of (at least) 12 things (one per month) that you enjoyed and are grateful for experiencing. 

Here's how it works: 

1. Go back into your daily planner or calendar to look up what you were doing in January 2020.  Pick one thing that excites you; that you enjoyed.  It could be a trip you took, a project you started, a date you went on, etc.  Write it down in a list. It can be something big, or something small. There are no rules, just that it is something that excites you or that you are...

When your destination seems so out of reach and unattainable, the only way to get there is to "trust the trail" and keep making forward progress, even if it's one slow step at a time.

One month before COVID (February 2020), back when all seemed "right" in the world, I was at a crossroads in my life journey. We decided to downsize and move into a two bedroom apartment (from a 3 bedroom house with a 3 car garage). I sold my gym, which was my "haven" of escape, even though it was just in the garage. 

Even though our new apartment was small, the complex has a gym, a pool, and even a small playground for our 2 year old to enjoy.  But about 1 week after we moved, it all shut down.  

No gym. No office. No place to work in "peace." No haven to escape to.  

I quickly learned that I either had to adapt, or live in excuses.  And for a while, I did live in the excuses. I lived in victimization. I lived in hatred. I lived in resentment for this new move to a new city.  

But I also have a business that I could not give up on.  I had to get creative with my workout locations now that I had no gym, office, or space of my own to...

When I had my daughter, 2 years ago. I entered a world that I never could have imagined existed.   You mean, I have to take care of this thing that came out of me and stop taking care of myself?  I know plenty of women feel instant love and instant "motherhood."  Me? Not so much.

The first year was full of fear, doubt, anxiety, depression, hormonal imbalance, weight gain, and worry.  After a stressful and complicated pregnancy that landed me in the hospital for 3 weeks just to keep the baby inside long enough to grow, I then had about every breastfeeding struggle known to (wo)man. Top that off with a baby that wasn't growing, and a medical system that made me feel like a failure for having a "failure to thrive" baby. 

The doctors told me I was harming my baby by trying to exclusively breastfeed. They told me if I didn't supplement with formula,  my baby would be in danger.  They made me fear that my baby was hungry and that I was the...

Don't let the title of this post deceive you. It's not about calling yourself a fat ass. It's not about labeling yourself as supermom.  It's about the split second it takes to change a thought. It's about the split second it takes to change your life.  

Change doesn't have to take years (though often it's a journey and does). Change doesn't have to be drawn out and dragged on.  You can literally "change" in a split moment decision.  And guess what, we get the opportunity for these split moment decisions THOUSANDS of times per day. That means, you have thousands of chances to change your life ON THE DAILY! 

Now, let me give you a little back story. Growing up, I was never a skinny kid. In fact, quite the opposite. I would run around my hometown block for exercise when it wasn't swim season (I was a swimmer growing up).  I don't know about you, but who wasn't a self-conscious teen, especially an overweight teen?  Every time I ran, I took the...

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  Your body is powerful. It wants to heal itself. It constantly reminds us of this as aches, pains, and illness.  But often we don't listen until it's too late or the illness has become too debilitating. Today, let me share with you a small secret about food, and how important food is to heal us, and how we can use it to our benefit NOW, as preventative medicine, before we have to use it as treatment for disease.  

Every cell in your body, essentially, is made up of the food we eat.  What we eat has a direct impact on our health. So, how can we reduce our risk of certain diseases like cancer? The trick is to grow healthy cells on repeat. So, listen in as I share my top 3 tips to increasing your resistance to cancer. 

Tip #1: Reduce Sugar! Not only does sugar increase inflammation, but cancer cells thrive off of sugar! Listen in to the video for more details on this!

Tip #2: Increase your cruciferous...

I am not a proponent of taking prescription medications. In fact, my entire career, mission, purpose, journey, etc,  is about helping individuals get off their medication by creating health from the inside out through clean nutrition, movement, and through empowering the mind. So why am I asking you to take your MEDS today? 

Last week, I was sitting down to create plan to keep me focused and to make sure I get done what needs to be done during my husband's deployment.  It's way too easy to get wrapped up in reacting to life, instead of being proactive to life. So, I sat down and created a calendar on a piece of paper for the number of days that he will be deployed for.  In each daily box is four letters.  M.E.D.S.  What it boils down to, are the four things that I need to do daily, so that I don't forget to take care of me, during, not only this deployment, but through this holiday season, and new year.  

These are the four things that I need to do...

This week, I want to share with you what happened to me when I stopped monitoring my coffee shop (budget) behavior!

Here's a little back story: Last month, our TBP wellness practice was to manage what we monitor.  When you know better, you do better. So if there's a behavior you are thinking of  changing, the first step is to monitor it in order to decide if it's worth changing or not.  I chose to monitor the amount of money I spent at the coffee shop.  

At the end of the month, I deemed the amount of money I spent at the coffee shop to be appropriate, and that I did NOT need to make any behavior changes.  Fast forward to this month, and I have already spent double(ish) what I did last month when I was monitoring! And we still have 9 days left in the month!  

DID I SPEND LESS BECAUSE I WAS MONITORING THE BEHAVIOR LAST MONTH? OR DID I START SPENDING MORE BECAUSE I WAS NO LONGER MONITORING AND TRACKING?