Have you checked your posture at your desk, driving or even on your phone? Most of us have rounded shoulders & forward head lean. This can lead to tight chest muscles & loose & weak back muscles. The simple ‘stick up’ is an exercise you can do even in your office. You won’t even get … Continued

‘If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it’… That goes for the ability to sit/stand unassisted over time. There’s NO better exercise than squats so make sure you’ll including some sort of squatting into your day. No one wants to think that they won’t be able to use the bathroom unassisted as they age. But, … Continued

Muscle is the fountain of youth – in this video I go over three reasons why you want more of it. If you’d like a free body weight workout designed to help you lose your menopause belly while building a little lean muscle, here you go: https://tinyurl.com/exercisegiveaway2

❌No pain no gain isn’t always the case! If you’re experiencing joint pain, it’s time to stop & reassess. You can train other body parts, rest & ice. If pain doesn’t improve in 4-5 days, seek medical advice. ✅ However the saying, ‘No pain no gain’ can also be true! You just need to know … Continued

Muscle is the fountain of youth. As we age, we need to hold onto as much of it and even add more of it to our frame. If you’re looking for a program geared specifically for women 40+ to help with muscle gain AND to lose your menopause belly, here you go: http://www.MyBikiniBelly.com

To lose weight you MUST be in a caloric deficit. There is no debating this fact.   When trying to lose weight so many of us focus on eating less and workout more. This can cause metabolic adaptation.   Exercise will only burn 5-10% of your daily calories and the body just becomes more effective … Continued

Hey, you’re doing too much! I want you to stop working out so hard! Say what? Yes, if you have lack lustre fat loss results, my suggestion is to stop trying so hard. I know that doesn’t seem to make sense, let me explain… It might be that your caloric intake is TOO low & … Continued

Summer is often a time when fitness and healthy living gets put on hold… Luckily, I have the PERFECT SOLUTION for you to keep your health at the forefront of your mind. It’s a ‘challenge’ like no other. Remember those ‘choose your own adventure’ books? Well, this challenge is very much like that. YOU get … Continued

Are you discouraged with little or no progress where your health and fitness are concerned?   Here are 5 mistakes to avoid…   1. Don’t do too much too soon – start slowly to avoid overwhelm, discouragement and the temptation to quit.   2. Don’t ‘just’ rely on the scale to determine progress. Look at … Continued

This is a common question BUT can we just be clear that NEITHER will be very effective if you don’t have your nutrition & lifestyle dialled in. So, before we even discuss this question, let’s: ->Fill up on lean proteins, veggies, complex carbs ->SLEEP more ->Reduce STRESS ->Lose the liquid calories ->Skip the processed foods ->Be … Continued

❓Does walking 5-6 miles a day put you in the ‘fat burning zone’?… 👏🏻Great question!… . 🙄The whole idea of the fat burning zone is a bit of misinformation…. . 📚Studies show that low intensity cardio (walking on a treadmill for example) will burn fat & doing higher intensity exercise (like HIIT, interval training, burst … Continued

🤷‍♀️Do you have weak abs & wonder why you can’t get visible abs? 🔪💉Have you had a Caesarean or other abdominal surgery? ✅This is a common issue with many women. 🤓Let me explain why this is relevant… ✨Your body is a wonderful machine. When you have any sort of abdominal trauma or #surgery, your transversus … Continued

Some yogurt? You may as well be eating ice cream! Greek yogurt is supposed to be healthy & full of protein, right? Whoa! Hold up! That’s where label reading is needed. Certain brands have low protein & 3x the sugar compared to other brands. Obviously your best choice is plain yogurt flavored with your own … Continued

Looking for the best ab move to get rid of your menopause belly? Head into the kitchen & throw away all the processed food. Reduce stress & increase sleep to reduce cortisol levels. Include more protein in your diet to help keep you full & control insulin levels. Oh & include some sweaty exercise in … Continued

There’s NO magical food for faster fat loss. In other words, you can’t eat more or less of something to have fat melt off your body… BUT… That’s not to say that there are some foods better than others. We all know that eating veggies is better than potato chips for better health and weight … Continued

You’ve lost weight? Fantastic! Now stop dieting for a bit… I know what you’re going to say: But I have more weight to lose. Trust me when I say that continual dieting will do nothing but shut down your metabolism so that losing weight will get harder and harder. This video will explain it more… … Continued

STOP eating before you’re full & START eating before you’re famished. In other words, remember the mantra ‘Never Starving Never Stuffed’. It’s easier to make decisions when we aren’t famished & it takes 20 min for our belly to tell our brain that it’s had enough. This simple tip has saved me thousands of calories. … Continued

Worried about eating the same thing daily? Studies show it can actually be beneficial for weight loss. So don’t fuss about ‘same old same old’ foods as long as you’re getting adequate protein & a little variety over time. If you’re frustrated with weight loss, here’s a short video on why your weight may be … Continued

Do you multi-task? I’m guilty of this! I’m finding that when I’m more present when eating, I enjoy my food more & even eat less. Would you be willing to try this? Stop multi-tasking & pay more attention to what you’re eating, I promise it will increase your enjoyment! Oh, and read this for more … Continued

Here’s my favourite nutrition mantra that’s worked for me for 57 years to help me maintain my weight since high school. Never starving – Never stuffed When we get too hungry, we tend to make less quality food choices & may eat too quickly. It takes about 20 min for our belly to tell our … Continued

Want to ditch dieting for good? Have you heard about intuitive eating? This is the end goal for all my clients, but it takes some time to be able to eat whatever you want, whenever you want with confidence… Have you tried intuitive eating? How about starting with this short video? https://masterclass.shawna247.com/ It will explain … Continued

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I always start off with a good portion of protein because it helps to keep me satiated through out the morning. This is a super simple recipe: 70g Kodiak pancake mix 1 egg 4 oz plain low fat Greek yogurt dash of cinnamon 1/3 c water Mix it all up, … Continued

Whether you’re going meatless for a meal, or month or longer, your body still needs protein so here are 5 facts you need to know. Fact 1 – The human body creates 11 amino acids but must get another nine from food. Animal products are complete proteins, meaning they contain all the amino acids. Some … Continued

Your first priority is to start exercising on the regular, after which time, you’ll want to optimize your results with your post workout nutrition. You’ll want protein to help repair & rebuild muscle. Remarkably, you’ll want some carbs too. Whenever you ingest carbohydrate, your body responds by producing insulin. Typically, I suggest that we control … Continued

Feeling down? You can actually change your brain chemistry with these simple tips: 1. Exercise increases natural mood lifting endorphins so get moving. 2. Exposure to sunlight increases the mood boosting hormone serotonin so get outside. 3. McGill University found that upbeat music increases the happy hormones serotonin & dopamine in your brain. Action relieves … Continued

Fat loss is a simple concept once you grasp these three principles. Too often we get caught up in tiny details that don’t really matter. Just create a calorie deficit, find something sustainable & fill up on protein so that you maintain your muscle & don’t want to eat your fist! There are very different … Continued

One degree of change will change the course of your life. Think of a cruise ship, if the captain has the ship one degree off course, it will completely miss it’s destination over time. This is just like you with your health & wellness game. One degree of change can put you off course… For … Continued

Yes, I know that sounds counterproductive, but honestly, you may just be causing hormone imbalances by over stimulating the para-sympathetic nervous system. Your body may be holding onto every ounce of fat because it thinks it’s in a crisis situation and you may need that fat to fight a sabre tooth tiger. We all know … Continued

How do you feel about your weight? Does the number make you do the happy dance? Or does it make you want to fall in a pit? If you neutralize the number, you can use it to connect the dots between actions & results… If you want a great home workout program to help you … Continued

Want the secret to permanently dropping that dress size? I’ve got it for you… This is important to know, especially if you’re battling with menopause hormones. Are you ready? –>There’s actually NO secret<– Wait, what? There’s no ONE secret to losing your menopause belly, magically dropping, keeping the weight off… Instead, it’s a series of … Continued

Ready, shoot, aim! You don’t have to know all the answers or have every step dialed in before taking action towards any goal. 😱Do it scared. 👣You’ll never get anywhere standing still, so take a step in the direction of your goal. 💫As you do so, the next step will be revealed. 🤓And the good … Continued

🤷‍♀️Did you weigh yourself today? There seems to be two schools of thought regarding weighing. The first school of thought is to use the number on the scale as data. The second more popular school of thought is to use the number on the scale to base your FULL IDENTITY😳 Which way to you think … Continued

Don’t go it alone because there’s strength in numbers. I want to encourage you to find a ‘fitness family’ so that you can reap the benefits like these studies suggest: One study found that 95% of those who started a weight-loss program with friends completed the program, compared to a 76% completion rate for those … Continued

Sorry for the harsh message ahead. You’re special but probably not THAT special. I’m sorry that sounds harsh but hear me out. It seems that many are getting just a snippet of (mis)info and self-diagnosing some serious stuff. Some ‘coaches’ are even playing the fear card telling clients they are ‘broken’. The fact is, you … Continued

🥳Celebrate your failures. And then forget them! Amnesia serves us better than guilt. Guilt is a wasted emotion unless it’s used to course correct. 🧁🍕Blew your nutrition this weekend? 💪🏻Skipped your workout? 👎🏻Lost your temper with someone? Beating ourselves up, staying stuck in the past, paralyzed to move on…these result from focusing on the FAILURE … Continued

🙅‍♀️If you don’t do the hard things now, you won’t find time to do them later. ..‬ ‪.‬ ‪🤦‍♀️It won’t get easier to…‬ ‪✔️build good habits…‬ ‪✔️plan a head…‬ ‪✔️remove temptations…‬ ‪✔️exercise daily…‬ ‪✔️meal prep…‬ ‪✔️cut back on processed foods…‬ ‪✔️get enough sleep…‬ ‪.‬ ‪📆Procrastinating on these things will only contribute to the equivalent of … Continued

Are you choosing clothes from the fat side of the closet? Do you dress in the dark? If you’re not comfortable in your own skin, it’s not too late to do something about it. I had the good fortune to try on all kinds of sweet lil dresses at a local boutique and it reminded … Continued

Food tracking increases awareness & intentionality but can be cumbersome. So here’s an easy option to food track. Use the free app ‘See How You Eat’. You take pics of meals & snacks & it’s organized daily. It’s this easy accountability that creates awareness & intention to your eating. And any habit that you can … Continued

Impatient with weight loss? Just like spring eventually follows winter. Trust science that weight loss will happen when you do the right things. There are things happening below the surface metabolically that aren’t visible right away. Consistency & persistence are important. Hang in there! You got this! Happy to help! Let’s talk here: http://lifestyle.shawna247.com/

Menopause gets a bad rap – we tend to blame everything on it when something else may really be in play. We can’t control estrogen/progestrone but we CAN control 2 other hormones. In this video, I want to discuss INSULIN and how you can use it to our advantage to control our weight. If insulin … Continued

So I’ve got it…. It’s called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. It sounds a little like something from Harry Potter without the whimsical magic 😉 What does my diagnosis has to do with you? Skim down to the ‘important for you’ bullets if you don’t have time to read this entire blog post… I had some routine blood work … Continued

Travel delays? Ug. It happens…. Here are some tips to make it a happier experience… Pack your attitude – Decide what kind of traveler you’ll be… Prioritize your health & think of how you’ll support it on the road… Stress is a killer – travel delays can make you crazy, so let it go as … Continued

😫Do you have pain & inflammation? ❓Have you tried CBD? ⭐️There are some amazing health benefits to topical or sublingual CBD products. 🌱Consider getting a product made from hemp so that there is no TCH or psychoactive properties. ✖️That is, there is NO high associated with these products. ✅CBD has been approved by the World … Continued

If you think you’re too old 👵🏻 to be your best self, may I be so bold as to say that you’re mistaken?… 🛑 If you feel you’ve ‘tried everything’ with no results, just wait. 💃🏼Meet my 64 year old client. ✨She is an inspiration and has wise words to share. 🗣She says… ✨I think anyone can do … Continued

Do you believe in magic?… Apple cider vinegar is as close to any sort of magic potion that I’d ever believe in. Here are 11 every day uses… 1. Mouthwash – Mix 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with 1/4 cup of water. Swish it around in your mouth for 15 to 20 seconds and … Continued

💥Ever wonder how we get fat? There may be a multitude of reasons why the process happens… BUT, there’s actually a simple metabolic process that causes us to store fat that’s pretty much the same for everyone [stick with me]. 1️⃣High blood glucose elicits the release of the hormone insulin. 2️⃣This speeds the uptake of … Continued

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” Winnie the Pooh It may seem odd to quote a fictional bear when discussing fitness, but Pooh bear sums up your health journey quite nicely. For the most part, being healthy is not rocket science. You likely ARE stronger than … Continued

Do you wake up every night at 3 am? This could be the reason… You may be low in blood sugar which results in a cortisol response. One of the jobs of cortisol is to wake you up… Then if often takes up to 45 minutes to fall back asleep. It takes about 90 minutes … Continued