The Body Transformation Coach

One of the most common reasons you eat food your body doesn't need is because you think...

“I deserve it.”

The wine
The ice cream
The pizza
The candy
The croissant

You think...

I’ve been "good" all week.
It’s the weekend, I should live a little.
It's a holiday, it's a special occasion.
I worked out really hard today.
Its my turn for a change.

"I deserve a treat"

But then you eat food and you feel...

*Let down.
*Depressed about how you feel in your clothes.
*Disappointed in yourself, again.
*Frustrated with your body.

And that's the opposite of what you actually DESERVE.

You deserve to nourish your body
You deserve to feel strong as you age
You deserve freedom from food guilt and cravings
You deserve to love getting dressed every day
You deserve to free your mind to focus on living
You deserve to look and feel f*ing amazing at every age.

YOU deserve it, damn it.

And I know exactly how to get you there.
I’ll teach you in 6 months what took me 30 yrs to figure out.

Xo. S

PS. DM me to book a call to see if working with me is a good fit.

Stop doing these 3 things if you want to age lean and strong.

1. Focusing on calories
2. Adopting a plant based diet
3. Doing lots of cardio

Today I am going to discuss #1.

Calories do not matter (entirely).
The laws of thermodynamics matter of course but we were mislead to believe all calories function the same way in the body-they don't.

Nutrients matter.

Let's talk about the mythical 1200 calorie minimum.

We've all been told that if we go below this number we will damage our metabolism, go into starvation mode and weight loss will stall.

WRONG.

If you're a 50 year old woman who weighs 175 pounds at 5'6". You likely have 65-85 pounds of fat on you.

That fat IS calories. Almost 300,000 calories, of stored fuel right on your body.

But our modern diets, which are extremely high in processed carbs, sugars and oils raise your insulin level which prevent your body from turning all that stored fat into fuel.

So when a typical woman tries to lose weight, she cuts calories without regard to nutrients and her insulin levels stay high preventing access to her stored calories. Her protein needs aren't met and her body begins to breakdown muscle to meet the essential need for protein and because muscle regulates blood sugar and metabolism, she becomes more insulin resistant.

If that same woman were to eat the same 1200 calories from a high in protein, low carb diet...her muscle would be protected and her insulin levels would drop allowing her body access to her stored fat for extra fuel.

AND

Because protein and fiber increase GLP-1 satiety hormones, this woman would be far less hungry than when she was eating a standard American diet of 1200 calories.

I am not suggesting you eat 1200 calories but most women over 50 have so little muscle, so much extra fat tissue and are so sedentary...they do not need calories- they need nutrients.

So start focussing on nutrients.

I eat 30-50g of protein 3 times per day. Which is about 1.5 POUNDS of meat, chicken fish and/or eggs.

Seems like a lot right?
Well it IS a lot of food but it's only about 800 calories.

To the protein I add lots of veggies-usually a half pound each at lunch and dinner and of course a serving or two of dark chocolate. If I need more calories, I eat fattier meat, add an avocado or my home made mayo...And I still rarely hit 1800 calories.

If I wanted to lose weight, I wouldn't cut the protein or veggies at all, I would just reduce my fat content until the scale started to go down, allowing my body to replace that dietary fat with fat from my body.

Unless you are very skinny, growing, building muscle, growing or nursing a human...you need nutrients-not calories.

Next time, I'll talk about #2-Adopting a Plant Based Diet.

Hit me below with your questions.

Xo. S

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There are many reasons we eat food our bodies don't need...

One of them is because we are afraid we will offend the host, not fit in or get a bunch of questions we don't want to answer...

But the truth is:

No one cares what you eat/drink or don't eat/drink.

Not at a party.
Not at a holiday dinner.
Not at a movie theater.
Not in the lunch room at work.
Not out to dinner.
Not at a birthday or special event.

Even if they say (or think) something about you like...
"Come on, live a little"
"Just have one drink!"
"Now you won't even eat desert?"
"I made this just for you, just have a bite"
"But meat is so bad for you"

It's not about you. It's about them.

Our choices can trigger other peoples feelings about their own choices.

And that is on THEM.

YOU decide what to put in your body and no one else.

YOU can say "No thank you" to ANY substance you don't want...

FOR ANY REASON AT ALL OR NO REASON AT ALL.

Decide what YOU want to put in YOUR body.

Honor your own wishes.

Your desire to feel good in your body is something worth caring about because YOU are worth caring about.

Xo. S

Peri menopause is often called puberty in reverse.

Can you imagine when going through puberty, if we had careers, families, homes, and other responsibilities?

And instead of bursting into tears when things felt overwhelming we had a cocktail or ate a carton of ice cream.

Or we stayed up all night watching Netflix then got up at 5am to go to an Orange Theory class instead of sleeping.

Puberty would have been 1000x harder. Maybe impossible.

In puberty, the body and brain are adapting to higher hormone levels. The transition to menopause is adapting to losing them.

Many argue menopause is a natural process that every women in history has gone through...
so why are we all having such a hard time compared to our mothers and grandmothers?

Here's my take-

Until the 1930s most women weren't expected to live past 50. Our longevity is barely 100 years old. So there's that.

And until recently much wasn't expected from women after age 50 beyond cooking, cleaning and helping with grandchildren. Today women are running businesses, raising families, caring for elderly parents and working out every day.

Now I am not saying other generations of women had it easy-none did. I am saying the pace of life and expectations for each new generation are daunting.

AND when our ovaries start to slow down, they recruit the adrenals to help produce hormones. But our 2024 adrenals do not have the band width to help because they are busy dealing with all the stress hormones we are cranking out so we shorted and the signs and symptoms of menopause show up faster.

I'm almost 53 and still in perimenopause. When I was 41, I had low progesterone because of my lifestyle choices. After I made changes, I began to produce more and didn't need to supplement progesterone until my 50's. My sense is that's happening to a lot of younger women.

The other reason we are making a bigger deal of menopause today is this generation is very comfortable asking and even demanding for what we need. If a doctor doesn't help us and tells us, "welcome to 40, 50, etc" then we will move on and find someone who WILL help us. Historically women didn't feel allowed to challenge a doctor or express their pain, discomfort, mood swings, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness etc.

I went through FIVE supposed experts, that I payed out of pocket for, before I found someone that would take my issues seriously.
I am so thankful we are setting up future generations for more inclusive health care because until recently, a women's health was seen through the lens of reproduction and THAT IS IT.

And it tuns out our hormones aren't just for baby making.
They actually regulate brain function, dementia risk, neurotransmitters that regulate mood, cholesterol, heart disease, hearing, vision, skin, tendons, joints, muscles, temperature regulation, blood sugar control, appetite, sleep, s*x drive, bones and digestion to name a few.

And I think all of those things are important until the day we die not JUST until we can't make babies anymore.

Peri menopause, which can begin in your 30s, is a time to practice becoming an expert on caring for YOU.

Menopause is not a transition to suffer through and chalk up to "getting older", it is a transition to be CLAIMED.

This phase of life can be the most powerful version of YOU.

You are not alone.

I'm in the thick of it with you. And researching the science of menopause has been a part time job for me the past 2.5 years.

And I am continually learning to put myself first...above family, career and relationships because having a healthy body, mind and spirit is required for me to show up fully for my life.

If you're ready to start putting your health first. I will support you as fiercely as I do myself.

Xo. S

PS. Click the link below to set up a time to talk.

PSS. Pictured is 13 yr old me, going through puberty with Sun-In highlights feeling so confused.

If you're waiting for your life to slow down before you start trying to get healthier or lose weight...

Get comfortable- cause you're gonna be here a while.

Life is always gonna life.

Change will ALWAYS feel hard at some point along the way.

So, you have 3 options:

1. Go for it and let it be hard (and get some support).

2. Wait until the HERE of where you are now is worse than the fear of the THERE you are trying to get to.

3. Stay HERE forever.

You can do hard things.

Look at all you have accomplished in your life, look at all the obstacles you have overcome.

You know how to do hard.

Now it's time to choose which hard you want?

The hard of staying stuck HERE
or the hard of doing to get THERE.

I choose the hard of doing because that actually gets you somewhere new.

The hard of staying stuck, just gets you more stuck.

Pick your hard.

Xo. S

PS. I am here to help. You don't have to do this alone.

The magic ingredient for staying lean as you age…

Pleasure.

It’s the third pillar of my coaching program.

Have you ever wanted to eat a bag of cookies while getting a massage? Not likely. Cause you aren't looking for something to feel better when you already feel pleasure!

Modern life is full of stressors and overwhelm. Waking up to an alarm, driving in traffic and meeting deadlines are not natural stressors.

And we are taught to manage all this stress, overwhelm and discomfort with man-made pleasures I call false pleasure.

Too much false pleasure only feels good in the moment and
often makes our life feel worse…
🥸Scrolling your phone or computer
🥸Binging Netflix until 2am
🥸Junky processed foods, flour and sugar.
🥸Booze, drugs, ci******es, p**n, gambling
🥸Overspending (🙌online shopping for the win)

When we re-focus our desire on true pleasures…
❤️A hug, human connection, laughter
❤️A sunset, a sunrise
❤️The smell of coffee or tea in the morning
❤️A warm bath, fire or a cozy blanket
❤️A smile from a stranger or given to a stranger
❤️A hobby or interest that lights us up

We begin to break the cycle...

You can start to feel pleasure right now:

Notice ALL the little things around you and pause to soak it in.
Make a mental (or written) Rolodex of things YOU love. Begin to train your brain to find the pleasure everywhere.

Here's 10 things I noticed in the first 45 minutes of waking up.
1. Wake up naturally at 6:30 am (ahhh)
2. Spend 5 min cuddling up to my sleeping husband.
3. Notice how nice my body feels in silky PJs.
4. Enjoy dry brushing my skin and combing my hair.
5. Appreciate my strong body as I slip on my robe
6. Feel love while I cuddle my puppy
7. Joy as I smell my jasmine tea and brew a pot
8. Savor the quiet house as the sun comes up.
9. Light jasmine candles and sip my tea.
10. The peace of meditation and journaling.

Front load your pleasure and set yourself up for the entire day.
Let your brain learn that your pleasure matters. REAL PLEASURE.

😊You will think of food as entertainment less often.
😊Your body will want food for fuel not distraction.
😊You will begin to crave real pleasure.

This is a practice, not a one and done.

My program is based on this and two other pillars; mastering your metabolism is the first and mastering your mindset is the second. We work together for a minimum of 6 months so that you can try, fail, practice and integrate these habits into your life with VIP level support and guidance from me.

You deserve more than temporary pleasure.
You deserve to live without regret.
You deserve to be delighted by YOUR life.

Xo. S

PS. I want to help you look and feel amazing as you age. Book a call using the link below or message me and let's talk.

Want a fool proof appetite suppressant?

Protein

Want a metabolism booster?

Weight lifting

Want to boost fat burning, cut inflammation, disease risk and reduce wrinkles and puffiness?

Cut or dramatically reduce processed carbs, sugars, seed oils and alcohol.

Want to learn how to do that?

Hire me.

I will teach you how.

Xo. S

Changing the way you take care of yourself will take effort.

Sometimes it may feel hard.

Sometimes you may lose patience.

But

when you
start to feel better in your skin,
have more energy,
get sick less often,
feel better than you have in years,
enjoy getting dressed in the morning,
love how you look
and age strong...

You realize how much EASIER effort and patience are than decades of suffering.

You will spend over half your life in menopause.

And its not supposed to suck.

Your habits create your results not your circumstances.

Xo. S

*Let's create new habits. Click below to set up a call.

I can help you find the life changing "AND".

Be whip smart AND delight in a good a rom com

Be a feminist AND look hot in a bikini

Fight for social justice AND want to be rich AF.

Rock your career AND be an amazing parent.

Choose nourishing food AND love chocolate.

You are allowed to want it all...

AND

I want to help you get it.

Xo. S

www.RecovRDhealth.com

So I have a little experiment for you to try.

Download a food tracking app.

Ok. Pause.

Do we need to sage our brains about how "diet-y" and restrictive logging our food used to feel? 😉

Those days are over. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water (what an awful saying!).

Today, we log food to ensure we are NOURISHED and that each of our beautiful cells is fed optimally...not as punishment but as pursuit.

So let's update those old files and delete that restrictive BS.

OK? Ok. Download an app on your phone. I like the Loseit app because it is super simple and I have been using it forever so I have decades of data saved. It's not the best but I find it the easiest and so do my clients (just ignore the name of the app). The free version is fine.

Next, I want you to log everything you eat in a day- AFTER you eat it.
I want you to do it after because I don't want the results to influence what you eat.

Then, come back here and tell me how many grams of protein you had at each meal and snack.

I'll go first in the comments with my food intake yesterday.

If you have ANY questions, put them in the comments.

Xo. S

Many women tell me they have trouble eating 100g of protein let alone 150g...

And it does take time to get used to higher amounts in our culture because the Standard American Diet (SAD) is almost 90% carbs and fats.

A pile of pasta with a little meat sauce.
A ton of bread, with a few slices of turkey
A huge bowl of rice with a bit of fish or chicken

Here's the funny thing you need to know...

100g of protein is only 400 calories.

So if you are struggling to get 400 calories in each day...you are likely eating so much carbohydrate and/or fat that you don't have enough actual hunger for protein.

Want to try something fun?

Eat nothing but meat, fish and eggs for a few days.

Have eggs for breakfast, a huge piece of salmon for lunch and a plain burger patty or large steak for dinner and see how hard it is to eat.

Want something more realistic? 😂😂😂

Add a serving of protein and remove a serving of starch or added fats. Keep doing that until you get your protein intake up high enough.

What's high enough?

About 1g of protein per pound of your ideal body weight.

How do you calculate "ideal body weight" ?
This is in quotes because it is used for medical purposes NOT to evaluate or judge our weight.

So IBW for woman is calculated using 100 # for the first 5 feet of height then add 5 # for each inch (or minus 5 # for each inch under 5 feet)

I'm just under 5'5" so 120-125g of protein is the minimum I try to consume. Some days I eat closer to 180g because I have days where I literally can't be bothered to cook and I just eat protein.

Many woman in the US get less than 60g a day.

WE MUST AGE STRONG!

Do you know how much you get?

Xo. S