Denice Murray Health Coaching

After my sons went to college, our household food routine changed. We were able to cook a more diverse array of foods at home. We no longer had to go to restaurants that the boys would eat at because they were EXTREMELY picky eaters and would only eat certain things at certain places (pizza, pasta, chicken strips, etc.). Once they started eating chicken strips more often, it actually took a LOT of stress off our family food dynamic. Then in college they started to branch out a bit more and have been willing to try a few more things – seafood, burgers, more types of vegetables, etc. Now we are faced with a new dilemma and that is picky eating for Hubs. Let me preface this by saying that this is not his fault . Due to medications, there are certain foods he can’t eat at all or things he must be really careful about so they don’t interact badly with his meds. But regardless of HOW it happened, we are still in the situation of having a limited set of options for him to eat. Some o...

This is probably going to sound a little contradictory, and quite frankly, it is. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, the 4 th of July, or any other holiday that revolves around food generally leads to overeating. This is not always the case, obviously, but many times it happens. So, what do you do? Do you give up and go all in on all the things you know you probably shouldn’t be eating? Do you swing the opposite way and try to avoid all the less healthy options? Or do you look for that balance somewhere in the middle between healthiest and least healthy? I feel like holiday meals are what you make of them, and with Thanksgiving only a couple of days away, these are a couple of tips and hints to make the holiday meal enjoyable without driving yourself crazy with guilt. Give yourself some grace .  Sweets and treats are going to be available more easily and you need to allow yourself to not feel terrible if you want to eat a piece of fudge. Giving yourself grace also means understa...

I’ve never tried a post like this before. I got this idea as I was talking to my daughter about cooking….mainly, what did she actually know how to cook? I know she can do some basics – scrambled eggs, pasta, anything frozen that goes in the oven, anything that goes in the microwave, and boxed baked goods (brownies, cakes, muffins, etc.). But what else did she actually know how to cook? She mentioned she’s not comfortable making meat. Like, any kind of meat. So that’s where we decided to start. I had a 3 pound package of ground turkey that I was planning on using for different recipes, but we decided that she would cook and season the meat, and then we would use it to make recipes she wanted to do. We decided on tacos, spaghetti with meat sauce, and sloppy joe’s. And that’s what got me thinking about this post.  What other proteins can you make a big batch, or just take part of a larger package and use it for several different recipes? Batch Cooking is not a new concept....

Cold and Flu season is here.  And it sucks.  No one likes getting sick. No one wants to take off work to deal with the fever, stuffiness, coughing, aches, and overall feeling like crap. Or, as busy moms, when our babies get sick and we’re trying to take care of them and ourselves too, especially if everyone is sick at the same time – been there, done that, NO THANK YOU ! Kids are going to go to school or daycare. They are going to come in contact with other kids who are sick. They are going to bring it home and spread those germs around because that’s what kids do. You are going to have to go to work. Or to the store. Or to run various errands. You are going to come into contact with other people. You are going to touch surfaces that have not been completely sanitized. So, what can you do? Not surprisingly, it’s the little things that matter when it comes to fighting off colds and the flu.  The most basic of basics . NUMBER ONE – Wash Your Hands .  Just st...

I'm going on about adjusting your flavor profile to fit your likes and dislikes.  This is a topic I’ve touched on before, but I wanted to go a little more in-depth about it. The conversation got started in our house when Dearest Step-Daughter sent her dad (my husband) a Mediterranean Cookbook to help with his health and weight loss efforts. Hubs is NOT a fan of the Mediterranean flavor profile. I, on the other hand, am a HUGE fan of a lot of the flavors involved in Mediterranean cooking. Some of them I’m still not 100% on board with, but I’m learning little by little. This sparked a debate in our house. I told Hubs that we don’t have to cook exactly like the cookbook says and that we can adjust things to fit his flavor preferences. He asked, “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of it being Mediterranean ?” Well....he has a valid point. The long and short answer is – Yes and No. Perfectly clear, right? Insert eye-roll here . To make it Mediterranean, it has more to do wi...

Encouragement.  I know people talk about it a LOT these days. And if you will bear with me for a moment, I’ll explain why I think encouragement is so important – especially if you’re on a health journey. We are wired to cling together as a group. Survival and all that. But we are also unique people with quirks and individuality. It’s difficult to reconcile our need to do things on our own with our instincts for connection and interaction. Any mom who has ever battled their toddler knows what I mean. We watch our toddlers try to climb up the steps or put the sock back on their foot and we instantly jump in to help them. And are met with the familiar phrase, “I do it!” So, we step back – still hovering – and watch as they struggle to make it up the step or get the sock to slip back over the toes. And we start telling them they can do it. You’ve got this. Keep trying. Sometimes they make it to the top, or get the sock back on (crooked and half falling off, but it’s over the toe...