Denice Murray Health Coaching

There are plenty of reasons why a person can hit a plateau in their health journey. As much as we would like to believe the road to weight loss, or improving our eating habits and overall health, is a Point A-to-Point B straight-line scenario, that is simply not the case. In many cases, though NOT all, once we start making healthy changes to our diet and movement, the weight will start coming off. But then something happens. The number on the scale isn’t going down anymore. Your clothes still fit fine, but you haven’t gone down a size (or another size) in a while. You’ve stalled out. The shortest, though not ENTIRELY correct, answer is your calories in-to-calories out ratio has balanced itself out. You are no longer burning stored fat to meet your body’s energy demands. The deeper question is what is happening in your life that you have reached this impasse? There are usually 3 underlying reasons why this can happen. You’re not doing ENOUGH to lose weight . It’s time to t...

As part of a group health coaching discussion, the topic of realistic expectations was brought up. Mainly, how does one KNOW what a realistic expectation is when it comes to weight loss, nutrition, or just improving your health in general? And as with almost everything pertaining to the health and wellness spectrum, the answer continues to be – It Varies. Goals, behaviors, actions, and outcomes are going to vary depending on a MULTITUDE of factors. Again, there is no easy answer for this question, although some of the answers in the group included: Set a goal to lose 10% of your body weight. Aim for 10,000 steps per day. Try to eat a minimum of 5 fruits and vegetables each day. Practice gratitude and meditation to reduce stress. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Cut out ultra-processed foods from your diet. Drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water each day. And the truth is, ALL of these answers are “correct”. These are realistic expectations if you are trying to improve you...

When it comes to weight loss and nutrition, sometimes you can’t always get what you want. This has come up several times in my coaching with clients, and I’ve decided to go ahead and write a post about it. If you are used to eating a certain way, meaning you have always been able to eat WHATEVER you want, and suddenly find yourself in a situation where you can no longer do that (medical condition, baby weight that won’t come off, just want to eat healthier, etc.), the changes that are necessary to reach your goals can seem overwhelming. To put it mildly. In some cases, it can seem downright impossible! Going from a burger, fries, and a soda for lunch to salad with grilled chicken and water can be a shock. And it can seem even worse when family, friends, and coworkers are still eating how they want to, and you feel “stuck” eating carrot sticks and celery. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer or fix for this situation. However, there are multiple “options” to help you na...

Okay, not so much a rant. More of a cautionary tale. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been making a concentrated effort on my health and nutrition. I’ve been following the 80/20 rule (and sometimes this ends up being more like 70/30), watching my portions, and doing a LOT more walking since the weather has been so nice lately – with the exception of a few massive storms and tornadoes (IYKYK). This morning, I was curious to see what the scale had to say. Most of the time I DON’T go with my scale. I go by how my clothes fit, my energy levels, how my body feels (and I mean that literally with a massage therapy background). But this morning I wanted to know what THE NUMBER was. And to my dismay, the scale had gone up a few pounds. Wait. WHAT?!?! How in the world was that possible??? I’ve been doing everything “right” – healthy foods, limited junk food, portion control, plenty of water, more movement/walking. My clothes are still fitting loose, and some even MORE so. Energy has bee...

It's that crazy time of year. As busy moms, the month of May can be as bad, if not worse, than the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. May brings a plethora of end of school activities like parties, field trips, programs and assemblies; graduations; holidays (Mother’s Day and Memorial Weekend); the end of spring sports and the beginning of summer leagues. When you’re trying to run around getting ALL the things done and fighting a chaotic schedule, your health, nutrition, and weight loss goals can unravel quickly. It’s completely understandable. There is a time and a place for everything. While you’re navigating this hectic time of the year, I want to say that you might be at a point where you need to reevaluate your goals and action steps. Not giving up, but readjusting to the circumstances you’re dealing with. What can you do to make your actions easier? Or how can you scale your goals to keep them doable while still maintaining a balance with the rest of ...

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...