Check out my segment below that highlights my favorite and expert-approved beauty remedies with ingredients that come straight from your own kitchen! People’s bodies take a toll due to stressful lifestyles, lack of sleep and exercise and the high prevalence of processed and fast foods. This segment proves to readers that you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on popular anti-aging and moisturizing creams (most of which don’t work and have foreign ingredients that are toxic to the body). These DIY secrets I share in the video below are the best beauty formulas for getting young, firm and rejuvenated skin the natural way and without the cost. Trying these beauty recipes will most definitely help “reset” your mind and body for the New Year.

Hope you enjoy

I recently attended a Christmas party with a cocktail in hand, not to mention a chip ready to be dipped into an amazing looking, delicious, meaty, cheesy, fatty, anything and everything, dip. And as I am living out this fantasy of mine (bells are ringing around me), I get interrupted by a voice asking, “don’t you write a health column?” I looked at this individual and said, “excuse me?” He said, “I just saw you eat 3 chips and now you are about to eat your fourth WITH dip…do you actually live what you write about?” The food nazi had officially ruined my moment of bliss.

How dare he! I live and breathe a healthy lifestyle, putting clean foods into my body, sweating hours on end at the gym and spending most of my time educating myself and now others on ways they too can become a healthy, happy person. Yet heaven forbid, one day out of the week, I let myself splurge a little (as you can see, I’m still a little heated about the exchange).

Well, let me tell you Mr.: Being healthy and fit is a LIFESTYLE. It’s not about restricting yourself every hour of every day, never partying until late, never having margarita’s with girlfriends or wine on date nights – what is the fun in that? Life is too short. Being healthy is about treating your body right, but knowing when to let go a little. Having a balance is what will keep you mentally sound and physically feeling and looking your best.

If you want to have a chip, you have a chip. If you want that burrito at 4 a.m., you have that burrito and enjoy the heck out of it. You want that beer or two during that football game, you chug that beer.

Why live if you can’t enjoy your guilty pleasures once in a while? I’m not saying eat the burrito at 4 a.m. and then wake up for Burger King’s breakfast; I’m saying: if you want to indulge, go ahead, but the next day, jump right back on the bandwagon. Having a work, life, play, exercise, you name it balance, is what is going to keep you from going stir crazy. And that my friend will help you find the balance your body seeks – and when your body is finally content, your weight will settle, and you will be the best you.

Has anyone ever scrutinized what you’ve eaten and claimed you “weren’t a healthy person?” Here’s your chance to share your experience and write that fool off (as I did above)

P.S. – The photo of the gorgeous, fit woman within this post is Jennifer Nicole Lee, America’s most famous fitness model who still eats and drinks, and stays in the best shape of her life. It can be done!

One of the BIGGEST culprits, in my opinion at least, is left out of almost ALL expert get-in-shape tips: Get rid of toxic people. Period.

If you’re making over yourself, whether it’s achieving glowing skin, losing 20 or 100 pounds, or just living a healthier lifestyle full of hikes and apple picking, the past life of partying until the wee hours of the morning followed by a trip to the local Mexican restaurant for late-night munchies, will no longer work for you – if you want to achieve your goals that is.

I think deep down we all know that in order to achieve our health and fitness goals, we need to accept that who we once were will no longer suffice moving forward. For me, this was the most difficult part of my wellness journey. Making a life change such as this means that you probably no longer fit in with the crowd you once ran with, you probably won’t have the same desire to join colleagues at happy hour every evening, and weekends might be swapped with dinner dates and movies or hiking in the mountains, rather than day or night drinking depending on what football game is on or whose birthday it is. When it comes down to it, friends and acquaintances that you have known forever may no longer fit into your newer lifestyle. Finding a new balance that incorporates the people worth keeping around with your new found healthy passions is the key to long-term success.

And let me tell you, it wasn’t until recently, maybe 5 years after I realized this was the single most important factor in long-term health, that I’ve finally found somewhat of a balance and that the individuals I have chosen to be around, understand this lifestyle. But within those 5 years, I lost friends, boyfriends, moved several times, and have essentially started over. It was a difficult time for me, but in the end, I am happier and healthier than I have ever been before.

And if you too desire a healthier lifestyle, because after all, fitness is not a destination, it is a lifestyle, you have to rid your life of toxic people, places, food and anything else that disrupts you from living the life you now want. Instead, surround yourself with supportive friends that want to accompany you to a spin class, that want to stay in on a Saturday night and cook dinner/drink wine instead of hitting the bars, that want to wake up early and go for a run on the beach or hike in the mountains. Eliminating the toxic environment that made you fat before will do wonders for your body, mind and spirit in the long run.

I’m not telling you it will be easy, because it won’t. But it will be worth it. But remember (as I always say!): live life in moderation. It’s okay not to be perfect all the time – drink until 4 a.m. one day, eat pizza on Sunday, but do it sensibly…in a way that fits into your brand-new, amazing, healthy lifestyle

Cheers to a non-toxic life in 2012!

Jicama, broccoli sprouts, chia seeds: they sound so appetizing, don’t they? Not. But you will want to find easy ways to incorporate into your diets because these super foods are the cancer-fighting, age-defying, energy-boosting eats for the new year!

See Women’s Health contributor and registered dietitian, Keri Glassman, explain why these are the “new” super foods of 2012 and how you can incorporate them into your daily nutrition plans.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Eat up!

Year in and year out, come January 1, folks across the world dream up ridiculous goals for the coming year, which after two weeks often fail miserably. These usually take the shape of “losing 100 lbs,” “finding a husband,” or “winning the lottery.” Ok, those were a little exaggerated, but you get the gist. Setting unrealistic goals, or rather do-able goals with unrealistic timelines, sets you up for failure from the beginning. Start small – it’s the baby steps that add up to a big difference. Use these tips from the top life coaches in the country interviewed by Forbes Magazine to help you set your 2012 dreams into motion. Follow them and you’re likely to be a whole new person (mind, body and spirit) come this time next year!

Get in the Right Mood

1. Begin in a positiveand confident frame of mind:
I encourage clients to put themselves in the right frame of mind before goal
setting. Whether it be working out, going to your favorite work space, read an
inspiring book and/or reviewing recent successful projects or wins, do
something that will open your mind up to think creatively and confidently about the
future and what is possible for you
- Jennifer Bezoza, Executive Coach and Organizational
Development Consultant

2. Start from neutral:
Take the ‘should’ out of goal-setting. Goals fueled by guilt and shame are
less likely to be successful. By removing emotional reactions from any goal –
personal or company-wide – you can develop your game plan with a clear and open
mind. Reframe goals by stating what you want to accomplish instead of what you
feel badly for not having done already.

- Jennifer Edwards, change management consultant and founding partner at
Edwards & Skybetter LLC.

(3 Ways to) Set Your Eyes on the Prize:
3. Don’t Settle for Less Than Wildly Inspiring:
The place to start is to write up a one-page, year-long vision statement
containing very specific, wildly inspiring goals for the top three to four areas
of your life on which you want to focus on for the year.  This document must
reflect what I call “the goosebump factor”: if you are not stretching your
vision for the year to the point where your goals give you goosebumps, put a
very broad smile on your face and make you thrilled at the thought of living
your life, you haven’t gone far enough.  That level of inspiration is necessary
to stay on track to executing your vision over the course of the entire
year.
- Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, Executive Consultant and CEO ECM
Executive Consulting

4. Pay Tribute to the Many Facets of Your Life:
Reflect on your true priorities. To do lists can get really long, and what
makes it to the top doesn’t always mean it matters the most. Take a few minutes
to consider your major goals in the most important parts of your life. With my
clients I talk about the 5 ps (Parenting, Partnership, Personal, Pay and
Professional), and help them focus on their goals in each area. Consider each
category and ask yourself, “Am I getting to what really matters to me?”

- Rachael Ellison, coach, organizational development consultant and
founder REworking Parents

5. Pick a Theme:
In addition to specific goals for the year, I like to pick a theme.  In 2011,
my theme was Foundation (i.e., getting more solid), and my specific goals were
to get healthier (I worked with a personal trainer, tried gyrotonic and
acupuncture for the first time, etc) and to put more structure and systems in my
business.  In 2012, my theme is Joy b/c I had a super hectic 2011 and felt like
I took on too much.  I wanted a theme that would remind me to have fun.  A vivid
theme acts as a compass when you make decisions about specific goals or
strategies to ensure they are aligned with how you’re feeling overall.

- Caroline Ceniza-Levine, career coach, author, and partner at SixFigureStart

Then, Ensure Success:
6. Opt for Guidelines Not Rules:
Avoid creating hard and fast rules when it comes to setting action steps for
your goals.  Rules are by their nature engineered to be broken.  All too often
clients abandon goals because they set a steadfast rule that they were too
tempted to break early in the process.  A quickly broken rule and the subsequent
fall out can be all the reason someone needs to say farewell to a goal. Instead,
consider adopting guidelines or policies.  For example, instead of saying “no
frivolous purchases” soften it too “if I want to buy something frivolous, I will
wait 48 hours. If I still want it after 48 hours, I can buy it.”

- Diane Costigan, Executive, Career, and Life Coach and Senior Career Advisor
with Shannon & Manch LLP.

7. Scale Back by 20% & Get Constructively Addicted:
Once you identify a goal, determine action steps and assign metrics for
measurement, scale it all back by 20%–particularly if you are an overachiever.
For example, if your goal is to be totally debt free by year-end and you have a
considerable amount of debt, scale it back to “decrease debt by 80%”. If an
action step to your fitness goal is to go to the gym 5 times a week and you
currently go zero times, readjust to a more realistic number like 2-3 times.
People can get energized and excited at the beginning of the goal setting
process only to lose steam when they feel it’s more of a burden or an
obligation.  Better to set the bar slightly lower, exceed your expectations and
get addicted to your success. There’s always room to add and grow on to goals
which can feel empowering–sliding backwards on your own expectations can be
dispiriting.

- Diane Costigan, Executive, Career, and Life Coach and Senior Career Advisor
with Shannon &
Manch LLP.

8. Make Sure Your Goals “Line Up”:
What I do as a coach is simply encourage people to look deeply at their own
internal value system to see if priorities line up properly. Are the things you
are striving for in line with your own deepest held values? Are you being who
you want to be, doing what you always wanted to do? Be honest. Because if your
compass is off by even a few degrees, then every step you take gets you further
away from where you really want to go.

- Ann Mehl, Executive Coach

9. Factor In Your Resistance and “Level of Readiness”:
It’s important to evaluate the goals from the perspective of your readiness
for change. Sometimes we write out and articulate goals based on what we feel we
should do, and don’t evaluate our real readiness/desire to make it happen.  A
relevant model is the transtheoretical model for change, which talks about the individual
stages of change.  For example, someone in the “contemplation stage” may articulate a goal,
which they are not quite ready to focus on and take action against. It’s important to be
realistic with oneself about where you are in wanting to really take action
against particular goals.

- Jennifer Bezoza, Executive Coach and Organizational Development Consultant.

10. Consider What You Will STOP doing:
If you’re setting a goal that involves doing a new activity (going to the
gym, writing an article, taking a dance class) consider what you’re going to
STOP doing in order to make room for the time you’ll need. (I’m going to STOP
watching “Mad Men” marathons for hours at a time; I’m going to STOP online
shopping on a regular basis).

- Yael Sivi, Managing Partner of Collaborative Coaching

11. If Necessary, Sweeten the Deal!:

If you’re trying to take on a new goal/activity that you find
less-than-exciting but necessary, find a way to sweeten the deal as a way to
convince yourself to do it. (For instance, years ago I realized that I found
paying bills utterly boring and as a result I would procrastinate it and
sometimes would pay bills late as a result. I thought of what I loved to do—go
to a café and enjoy a latte—so I decided I would combine activities. For months,
I took myself out for a latte and brought all my bills, checkbook, and stamps
with me (I date myself here!) and ended up paying bills and enjoyed some
downtime with myself

- Yael Sivi, Managing Partner of Collaborative Coaching

“If a person performs a behavior regularly and for long enough, the behavior becomes part of the person’s self-identity or self-concept,” speculates study author Alison Philips, Ph.D. “For example, if I made a goal to start running and succeeded, I’d begin to see myself as a runner.”

Since I’ve been in what seems to be a health, diet, fitness and you name it, slump for the last month or so, I thought I would post this great advice from Men’s Health on how to get yourself out of any slump. As I’m sure many of you can relate, I’ve started a new job recently, am part of a professional sports team (of course hockey which has the longest season second to baseball), have moved (and now commute an hour to and from work every day) and who knows what else – lets just say life has gotten in the way, and in the process my backside and love handles have expanded. Needless to say, even this fitness fanatic needs a little boost here and there to get out of a rut. Take the below baby steps and in no time you’ll see yourself changing (mentally and physically) just in time to fit into that sexy red dress for the holidays!

THERE IS HOPE:
“For those of us who don’t pump iron to make our living, going to the gym might feel like a chore. But stick with it and your sentiment might change, according to a new Rutgers University study.

Researchers asked students to keep a difficult goal (like going to the gym five times a week or quitting the tube) for 40 days, and found that those who were successful at maintaining their goals actually ended up liking the activity more—even if they didn’t enjoy it initially. Why?” – MH

TIPS:
Keep sight of your goal. Philips believes that the study participants didn’t start to enjoy their goals until they started to see some reward in it (i.e. until you start seeing your muscles grow, you might feel tempted to quit the gym). So to keep you going, remind yourself why you’re following through. Don’t quit until you start to see results. Once you do, that’ll keep you going.

Set a playlist. Researchers found that individuals prefer a playlist with variety (read: songs you haven’t heard in a while) rather than a list of only their favorite songs. Plus, a California State University study found that men had increased performance during exercise and a more positive mindset when they listed to music.

Have a contingency plan. What will you do if you work late? If you feel too tired to work out? Know your backup tactic in advance so that you can’t use these as excuses. “You’re about 40 percent more likely to work out if you have strategies to help you overcome these obstacles,” says Rod Dishman, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at the University of Georgia.

Thanks Men’s Health for being so resourceful once again. Yes, I’m a lady, but it continues to be my favorite source of fitness material out there Get moving ladies…the holidays are quickly approaching!

Happy CMA night! Carrie Underwood has not let us down with her bangin’ legs once again. Need I say more?

Here’s too FIT-tastic HUMP day motivation!

Good new to all of us martini lovers: You CAN lose weight and still throw back shots! But not so fast…you must practice what I’ve called it for years: “healthy drinking” . My friends (and every bartender I’ve come in contact with!) have always made fun of me when I order my “healthy” skinny vodka/diet or aged Cabernet – they were convinced there was no such thing as “smart drinking.” Oh, but they were so wrong!


Read this interesting article from the fab FitSugar experts that explains what exactly you need to consider before sipping that sugary cocktail. And next weekend when you hit the sports bar to cheer on your favorite college team, you’ll be able to make “smart alcohol choices!”

…you can thank me later

Q: Can you drink alcohol and still lose weight? What if you work out on a regular basis?

A: Yes, you can drink alcohol and lose weight — as long as you’re smart about it. When looking at the weight-loss impact of having a drink, there are two things you need to consider: calories and alcohol content.

1. Calories: For most people the calories in the mixers of their favorite cocktails pose a far greater barrier to weight loss than the actual alcohol. Just four ounces of some daiquiri or margarita mixes can contain upwards of 35 grams of sugar (that’s seven teaspoons of sugar)! Plus, they’re more than double the amount of calories in the shot of rum or tequila included in the drink (that is, if you’re only served ½ cup of mixer). What’s worse, the calories from mixers are the worst kinds of calories, simple and refined sugars. When they’re combined with the metabolic effects of alcohol, it gets even worse.

2. Alcohol content: One myth about alcohol is that it will make you fat. But the truth is, it’s the combination of alcohol and sugars found in mixers (or the bar food often consumed with alcohol) that causes problems. Alcohol does contain calories, but it’s safe to assume that no one gains a lot of weight by throwing back shots of straight vodka. Instead, it is the metabolic priority that your body places on alcohol (over carbohydrates and fats) that causes the problem. Your body wants to process alcohol before anything else, which has been shown to create a metabolic environment that is almost the opposite of the environment your body creates following exercise — one of high circulating levels of fat and inhibited fat burning.

While this may sound all doom and gloom, there are upsides to drinking alcohol. Moderate alcohol consumption (one drink per day for women) increases your HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, and studies show that people who have a couple drinks each week live longer. How can you get the best of both worlds?

For more on the benefits of drinking alcohol (in moderation!), click here.

This is not directly related to health, diet or fitness, but more life in general. My friend shared this with me this morning and I thought it was perfect (and timely) given the difficulties I’ve been faced with lately. It reminded me that no matter what happens in life, you can’t let it affect your spirit. Because if you do, there’s no hope.

Stay positive, love deeply, give to others, and most importantly keep smiling…you never know whether someone else is fighting a bigger battle, and you certainly don’t know whether these simple ways of living just might be making the biggest difference in someone else’s day (you would be surprised…). Remember, everything happens for a reason – have faith in the process and never lose that

*Life is beautiful and there is so much to smile about*

Make your smile change the world but do not let the world change your smile ♥