Denice Murray Health Coaching

Recently I listened to a podcast where the host was questioning the validity of social media and the frivolousness of SOME of its use. Not gonna lie, I had mixed feelings about it. I see its’ use-FULL-ness, and I see its’ use-LESS-ness. But one of the comments really struck me. “Why do we have to post every little thing in our lives on social media? Why would I care what Great Aunt Sally had for dinner?! I don’t need to know that!” And I felt this one because, honestly, I’ve been posting a LOT of my meals lately. Why? In a word – ACCOUNTABILITY . And another word – Inspiration . Accountability because when you’re on a health/nutrition/weight loss journey, the importance of accountability cannot be stressed enough. Before I knew what I now KNOW , I didn’t understand what role accountability played. Frankly, I didn’t WANT other people to know what I was doing. What if I failed? What if I couldn’t meet my goals?  If I told people I was trying to lose 20 pounds, and ...

When we say Nutrition is Individual it means that physically, down to the genetic level, everyone processes foods differently. This is why some of us have great grandparents who lived to be 101 years old while smoking tobacco, drinking whiskey, and eating bacon and lard every day of their lives, and others can’t look at a cheeseburger without our arteries clogging. One person can eat a bowl of cereal with no problems and another can eat the same cereal and it can cause a serious spike in their blood sugar. Why is this so important? Because health, nutrition, and weight loss tend to get painted with the wide brush of “If it worked for her, it should work for me”. And this is simply not the truth. It MIGHT work for you.  It might not.  It might work for your neighbor, your sister, your friend, or your co-worker, but for you….not so much.  This is why as a health and nutrition coach I continue to stress the importance of finding what works for you on an individual lev...

I was listening to a podcast this week that honestly….was totally unrelated to health, nutrition, or losing weight. It was actually talking about marketing and business. But the “phases” the podcaster described related SO WELL to the weight loss journey that I decided to write about them on my blog. The first phase she described was called Uninformed Optimism , or “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know”. And it makes sense. You see the pictures and reels on social media of influencers who have lost weight, friends or family who have lost weight, fitness and weight loss specialists who are there to help you lose weight, and you think, “I can do this. They did it. The food looks good. The workout outfits are super cute. They’re making it look so easy!” So you jump in. Join a new program, join the gym, start following a new diet. And then you find out that this new lifestyle isn’t what you thought it was going to be. This is phase two, which the podcaster described as Informed Pessi...

This has been a rough week. Lost a family member, and it was also my dad’s heavenly birthday. When it comes to emotional times like this, I would like to say that I am good at handling the emotions while sticking with my health and wellness goals. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I have always been an emotional eater. Something to celebrate? Eat.  Bad day? Eat.  Frustrated? You get the idea. The day after I found out a member of my family had passed away, I binged on cookie dough and chips. And nachos. And chicken strips. And potato wedges. Again, you get the idea. But here’s the thing. I’m admitting all this to you because even as a health coach, I’m still a human being who makes mistakes. I mess up. I let my emotions override my good judgment and even though I have done incredibly well at reaching my goals in the last couple of weeks, I “blew” all that by binging out in a moment of stress, pain, and tears. As a health and nutrition coach, I know the benefits o...

What does it mean to let go of food “rules”? Most of us, at some point, probably learned the basics of nutrition in school – eat your fruits and veggies; eat your protein (and depending on where you live that protein source may vary); some fats are good, others are bad; carbs are good, but also bad; drink your milk; drink your water; sugar is bad. As busy moms, we got older and our lifestyles changed. So did our metabolisms. Many of us went from being able to eat anything we wanted in whatever amounts we could handle to not being able to look at a cookie without gaining weight. We have been influenced by our families and upbringing. We have been influenced by our culture and society. We have been influenced by media and marketing efforts. We have been influenced by friends and colleagues, our spouses and children. Whatever influences have been at work in your life, there is a 100% chance your views about food have been impacted. And I would like to tell you that it’s okay to le...

This is being posted with permission from one of my clients because it’s an issue that I would like to address with a wider audience and not something many of us think about when we’re starting our weight loss/health journeys. My client and her husband had a disagreement about her efforts to lose weight, and it was something she wanted to discuss in our session. The first few weeks of her efforts have gone very well. She’s been setting small, attainable goals and has met them each week. There’s not been a lot of movement on the scale, but we’re not focusing on that right now, only on helping her create the habits and routines she needs to change her lifestyle. The first issue came up over the weekend. She and her husband were out with their children – 3 under the age of 10. So, they decided the best choice for lunch was to go to a pizza place considering the kids are picky eaters. While money isn’t a huge issue for them, they still like to be financially responsible so when they ...

I had a friend disagree with me about the importance of consistency recently, especially when it comes to weight loss, and I wanted to address it because I think many people are under a misconception when it comes to being consistent when trying to lose weight. For years, people have been reading, watching or listening to sources telling them that weight loss can be quick and easy if you just follow “XYZ Method” for a fast, effective way to drop pounds .  And for many people, it works. “XYZ Method” helps them lose weight by following the “XYZ” food plan, the “XYZ” exercise program, possibly adding “XYZ Method Supplements” to their efforts, as well.      The problem is that not everyone can SUSTAIN the “XYZ Method” in the REAL world for an extended period of time. It is also imperative to understand whether the “XYZ Method” is intended to be a long-term lifestyle; or a short-term weight loss situation where you then are left on your own to figure out how to ...