Sup y'all! As some of you may know, I am a huge advocate for mental health. Not only is my partner a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist, but I have had the opportunity to have my own therapy and experience some really cool modalities with that which has helped in my own healing. I am very passionate about how nutrition can aid in our healing and studies do show a ton of benefits for our mental health when that is improved. I'd like to share a simple article about some ways to boost your mental health by switching some things up with nutrition: Mood Food: How to fight depression naturally with nutrition. Another great resource is the book "Food for Thought" by Dr. Lisa Goehler Food for Thought: Changing How We Feel By Changing How We Eat: Goehler Ph.D., Lisa E, Trafton Ph.D., Jodie A, Zimmerman M.S., Joan M, Gaykema, Mara: 9780983246572: Amazon.com: Books You can get it used really cheap! Happy Wednesday!

Alright, so the economy continues to screw us over (yay!). But, there are ways we can still eat healthier without breaking the bank. I did a quick google of "the average meal out cost in 2026" for one person and here is what I got: Fast food = $10-$25 Casual/Fine = $25-$50+ A lot of you are on the coasts and I believe you're likely paying more (idk you can tell me below lol). My partner and I consider it a win if we go out to eat and it's under $100 here in kansas city. Anyway, some of that is to also highlight just where we put our investments for our health. Recently, I adjusted my coaching service packages to reflect my goal of making nutrition & fitness more accessible for everyone. There is this group which has a subscription of $30/mo and you have access to my help always, resources, hopping on calls etc. My suggestion is the plan & set a limit on the number of times you eat out. I never suggest to just never eat out lol we are social creatures, but more so to just help plan and stay on track with your goals. For those you may not feel they have the cooking skills, which makes this shit hard too, take a look at this link: Learn To Cook At Home. This website has a plethora of tools/articles at the ready for you as well. My personal favorite, when just talking about good, healthy home-cooked food is: NYT Cooking - Recipes and Cooking Guides From The New York Times. This is LIFE for me. I use NYT cooking multiple times a week. It can help reduce food waste as well by searching the ingredients you have at home and whipping up the recipe. You can also search by the amount of time you want the meal to be complete (20-30 minutes). Their recipes are 🔥, for real. I would recommend this if you're more savvy in the kitchen BUT if you are trying to learn a bit more, search the "easy" recipes and explore those. Happy Saturday!!! ~Coach Em

This post will be a place to “hold” any nutrition questions you guys may have! I’ll either make a post-response to the question or a video- depending on depth of response needed. Lmk of your questions below ⬇️ Coach Em

Since I like to go off script, during our meet and greet the topic of protein powders came up. Historically, protein powders can be disgusting, and I guarantee 90% of us have had to choke one down at some point or another. With that being said, I have a resource of protein powders that are actually good, aren't chalky, and explain when/why you would choose one over the others. Please save this and read through it. Post any questions you have below! Coach Em

This was one of the questions posted on the nutrition q&a post a couple weeks ago and I'd like to take the time to address it here. On the subject of "which is better" I'd like for you to instead ask: "which is most optimal for ME." Here's why: To discuss protein shakes first- you'll have isolates and slow-digesting (for the whey options at least). Isolates are going to be the fastest digesting, meaning they are going to be the most optimal for pre/post-workout. Pre-workout: providing a bolus of amino acids preliminary to your workout, which can be beneficial of course for both the workout and recovery. Post-obviously those amino acids will be utilized in the recovery aspect from that workout. If you ask here, "which is better, pre or post?", do not overthink this. Both are great options and it can be your preference as well. Live in the nuance fam. Slow-digesting shakes are going to mimic the digestion rate of whole-food protein sources i.e. hours. This is just a great option for a snack and to help manage hunger while in a deficit or if your work schedule has you super busy for long stretches of time. With protein bars- there are a lot of good ones out there, Barebells being one of the better tasting ones imo. But to know if a protein bar is "worth it" you take a look at the nutrition label. You'll want to see if it's got at least 10g of protein per 100 calories. Typically, protein bars will sit around 200 calories, so I definitely want to see a minimum of 20g protein for that bar then. Which should you choose, bar or shake? 1. Choose bar if you're wanting more of a "food" option or crave sweets for example. They aren't my personal favorite, but they do work for a lot of people who need a quick snack. 1. Choose a shake if - You want to keep the cals a bit lower, use a powder for this. - You have to drink something as opposed to eat something due to your work schedule - You're wanting a thin shake (isolate) to help you hit your protein while you are BULKING (hunger will be lower for people during a phase like this so isolates can help)