Make Healthy Eating SIMPLE With These 6 Steps:

#1. Schedule a standing weekly grocery shopping/delivery date

Because if you don’t have access to the food you need for the week, even the best plan won’t work.

#2. Always have pre-made, ready-to-eat options on hand

Greek yogurt, string cheese, steamable rice and veggies, canned tuna/salmon, rotisserie chicken, etc.

Having a healthy alternative that’s just as easy as takeout will save you calories and cash!

3. Don’t sleep on canned and frozen produce

It’s often as nutritious and more cost-effective when compared to fresh fruits and veggies!

#4. Stop wasting time searching for the *perfect* 32-step recipe. Pick a protein and pair it with a vegetable and a favorite carb

#5. Stop overcomplicating food prep

You don’t have to be a chef or love cooking to set yourself up for healthy eating success.

Hard boiling eggs, grilling protein, and/or stocking up on steamable carbs and veggies in advance of the week is food prep. Keep. It. Simple.

#6. Slow down and sit down when eating

Instead of standing over the sink or scarfing food down in the car, make enjoying your food a priority. Sit, chew, taste, and embrace how food makes you feel.

Tune in to episode No. 305 of the Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast with Ali Elman to learn more about how to make healthy eating SIMPLE + enjoyable.

5 healthy habits to STICK WITH

Now that the 73 days of January have passed, it’s officially love month and according to most research, 80% of New Years resolutions have been abandoned by February.

And while, in some cases, that could be a good thing (like if your resolution was too restrictive or aggressive), here are five healthy habits you definitely want to stick with this season:

Prioritizing sleep 💤 

Skimping on sleep is a great way to ensure you’re hungry more often and feel like working out less often. 😬 So stay up late when it really matters, but make sure you’re still prioritizing sleep whenever possible. 

Gold ⭐️ goal = 7-9 hours/night

Eating veggies 🥗 

There is nothing quite like a happy digestive system and easeful bathroom trips! 🚽 Enjoy your favorite fun foods and beverages, but don’t forget your fiber too!

Gold ⭐️ goal for women = 25+ grams of fiber/day

Gold ⭐️ goal for men = 35+ grams of fiber/day

Getting steps 👣

Inside or outside, fast, or slow, walking is a healthy habit you can (and should) stick with all yearlong. The risk is low and the benefits - blood sugar stabilization, mood boosting, weight management, bone and heart health - are wiiiild. 

Gold ⭐️ goal = 8-10K steps/day

Prepping protein 🍤 

Carbs and fats are always easy to find and can usually be prepared quickly. But protein requires forethought and preparation. Make balanced meals easy by having 1-2 prepared options in your fridge at all times. 

Gold ⭐️ goal ‎ = -.7-1 gram of protein per lb. of ideal body weight or lean body mass

Planning for your faves 🍪 

You can enjoy ALL foods and still make amazing progress, it’s true. But it’s easy for foods hyper-palatable, low-nutrient value foods to add up quickly. In an effort to more easily balance them with the foods your body NEEDS (like proteins, fiber, complex carbs, and healthy fats), plan for them! 

Know weekend cocktails are your jam? Commit a drink max that will leave you feeling good but not hungover. 

Look forward to Friday pizza night all week long? Plan on eating a high protein, high fiber meal beforehand knowing you’ll get plenty of carbs and fats later. 

Need help establishing these healthy habits and ensuring you can confidently maintain them all year long?

We’re here to help.

Your Online Nutrition Coach,

Nicole Hagen

What does it mean to have a healthy relationship with food?

If you ask 10 people this question, you might get 10 different answers, but here’s what we mean @nutritionwithnicole when we say that we help our clients create healthy, confident relationships with food:

We teach them how to create long-term behavior change 

Anyone can demonstrate compliance without understanding only for old habits to resurface once the diet ends. Building a healthy relationship with food teaches understanding, addresses the root causes of eating patterns, and allows our clients to make mindful and informed choices moving forward. 

We help them address their emotional patterns 

We all eat in response to stress, boredom, and emotions rather than physical hunger sometimes. Learning to understand the emotional triggers behind those choices creates awareness that allows us to build healthier coping mechanisms moving forward.

We teach them how to irradicate food morality 

Labelling foods as "good" or "bad" creates guilt and shame around eating, which leads to a cycle of restriction and overeating. A healthy relationship with food, on the other hand, allows for balance, where all foods can fit in moderation, and reduces the likelihood of overindulging in “forbidden” foods.

We help them improve their quality of life 

Rather than being a source of stress (as is often the case with dieting), food becomes a source of nourishment and pleasure, contributing to a life without food noise, as well as improved mental and physical wellbeing. 

We help them create autonomy 

Creating a healthy relationship with food equips individuals with the tools to make choices that align with their needs and values, fostering habits that are healthier, more enjoyable, and sustainable over the long term.

Having a healthy relationship with food DOES look like eating a balance of nutrient-dense foods most of the time in a quantity that allows you to look, feel, and perform your best, but it’s also so much more than that.

If you want to address the deeper issues contributing to your current eating habits and lack of results, fill out a 1:1 Nutrition Coaching application and let us help you create true, lasting change in your diet, your body, and your relationship with food.

3 Things You Need To Know About Hormones

Your hormones aren’t the problem. Hormones are messengers in your body that react to stressors and tell your body what to do and when to do it.

Hormones themselves aren’t keeping you from reaching your goals. 🙂‍↔️

However, the stressors in your life (under eating, over exercising, poor sleep, nutrient deficiencies, etc.) could be.

Getting “more strict” or going on another diet isn’t going to solve your hormone imbalance.

In fact, it could make your symptoms worse.

Eating for hormone health involves a nutrition strategy that supports stable blood sugar and emphasizes a variety of nutrients and antioxidants from whole foods. Cutting carbs, skipping meals, and eating as little as possible does the opposite.

Supplements alone will not balance your hormones or heal your symptoms.

Healing starts by ensuring your foundational habits (nutrition, sleep , movement, stress management, etc.) are in place, not with a pill, potion, tincture, or tonic.

If you want to learn more about what it means to have happy hormones and how to balance them naturally, don’t miss this week’s Health, Wealth & Wisdom Podcast episode featuring Functional Dietitian & Women’s Health Specialist, Jillian Greaves.

Dieting doesn’t work, so, what does? (3/3)

Step 3: Think in terms of YEARS, not DAYS or WEEKS

Dieting teaches you how to transform your life in 30 days FOR 30 days, but after the diet ends so do the results you worked hard for. 

Instead of asking, “How can I lose weight fast?” you need to ask, “How can I lose weight in a way that will LAST?” 

#hardtruth, it’s going to take longer than you want it to, 

you won’t reach your goal in days or weeks. 

But when you take your time and build skills and habits you can maintain through even the toughest seasons, you’re never at risk of “falling off the wagon” and gaining all the weight back. 

Think of the version of you who has reached her goals. 

• What does she do consistently? 

• What does she NOT do consistently? 

• How does she show up when stress is high and life feels hard? 

• What skills and habits does she have that allow her to live healthy and happy?

Write ✍️ those down and then list them out in order from least to most challenging.

Start by building the skill that feels the least challenging (even if it seems too easy) and once you’ve mastered it 80% of the time, add a new focus. 

Not only does this build your proficiency over time, it also builds your confidence as you realize what a capable badass you are.

If you want to successfully lose weight without dieting this year, don’t miss our FREE Nutrition Audit Challenge where my team and I will help you identify the skills and habits you need to reach your sustainable weight loss goals. 

Starting January 20th in the Nutrition Coaching with Nicole Facebook Group. 

I can’t wait to see you inside!

How To Set A Weight Loss Resolution That Works

Did you know that more than 50% of Americans set weight loss related resolutions,

and only 9% of people who make them, complete them!?

23% of resolution makers quit by the end of week one, 

and an additional 43% of people quit by the end of the month. 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with resolutions. It’s how we do it and what we resolve to do/not do that’s problematic. 

• We go all in starting January 1st 

• We leave no room for error or flexibility which means we quit when we fail

• We make overly challenging commitments and stack them on top of each other

If that’s been your experience, I suggest resolving to do things differently this year. 

Because it’s time to reach your weight loss resolution. Don’t you think?

Here’s how I recommend reaching your weight loss resolution: 

• Set realistic goals 

You’re not going to lose 10# in a month. You might want to, but if you’re looking to lose body fat and keep it off (vs. gaining/losing water weight over and over again), you can expect to lose .5-2# per week if you’re consistently eating in a calorie deficit. 

• Focus on behavior changes

Rather than focusing on the outcome (weight loss), focus on the behaviors you need to create in order to encourage the desired outcome. 

“I’m going to eat protein at every meal this week” vs. “I’m going to lose 5# this month” 

• Make sustainable changes

If you can’t see yourself sticking with the behavior, don’t try to create weight loss that way, because if you can’t sustain the behavior, you won’t maintain the weight loss. 

• Be patient and persistent 

Sustainable weight loss isn’t a 30 day game. It takes TIME to create results that last and you will likely encounter unexpected barriers and curve balls along the way. 

• Track your progress

Keep a record of the metrics that mean the most to you and ensure you’re tracking more than only weight. 

• Recruit support

We are more accountable to others than we are to ourselves, so whether a coach, mentor, friend, or family members, build a support system and stop trying to do it alone. 

• Use positive reinforcement

Reward yourself for the wins you achieve - no matter how small. Success begets success and when we pause to recognize what we’re doing well, we’re more likely to do those things and create additional progress.

• Be flexible 

Circumstances will change. Shit will hit the fan sometimes. Be prepared to choose the “next best thing” when the best, most ideal option isn’t available. 

• Prioritize overall health and wellbeing

There are many different ways we can lose weight. Not all of them are health-promoting, meaning that while we might see the scale go down (initially), over time, we will be left feeling poorly and costing ourselves health and happiness, which will likely lead to poor health markers and weight regain. 

Fill out a 1:1 Coaching Application 

Let my team and I help you create weight loss you can confidently maintain and a healthy relationship with food in LESS time and with LESS frustration.