Denice Murray Health Coaching

This is your friendly reminder that just because you engorged yourself for Thanksgiving, doesn’t mean you’ve blown it and can’t get back on track. The turkey. The stuffing. The mashed potatoes and gravy. The rolls. SO MANY ROLLS . The pies. If you’re anything like our family, you probably stuffed yourself sick and woke up Friday morning regretting life (thanksgiving) choices. But fear not. This is not the end of your healthy eating journey. The key is to RECOGNIZE that you went overboard (and it’s completely reasonable and understandable that you DID – no shame or blame in it), and to regroup in a healthy, non-dramatic way. Don’t say, “Forget it,” and eat ALL the leftover pie the next day. You’re just asking for trouble. But on the flip-side of that, don’t go crazy with cleansing, detoxing, or fasting either (again, unless you just want to). It was food, it was a holiday, and it’s fine to celebrate for a day – or two. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to eith...

Okay, I’m going to preface this post by telling y’all up front that I’ve been going through perimenopause, so my “filter” is broken. I’m being a lot more blunt than I used to be. So, if what I write seems abrupt or even straight up rude, my apologies. I’m just trying to get my point across but my finesse is currently offline. That being said, there is actually a good reason why calories in/calories out doesn’t always work when you’re trying to lose weight. On paper, it seems like it should be pretty straight forward – you eat fewer calories or burn more calories, you should lose weight. You’ve probably heard your body compared to a well-tuned machine many times before. But here’s the part that is just now being studied and researched as our society reaches historic overweight and obesity rates – your body is also a complicated chemistry set . And as I have mentioned before in other posts, your body is also UNIQUE . Down to the cellular level. So the way YOUR metabolism works is ...

At what juncture did we, as a society, hit the point where eating whole, minimally-processed, nutritious food became “diet” food….and ultra-processed, sugary, salty, extra-fatty foods became “normal”? I like pizza. I like fries. I like chocolate cake.  But I find it frustrating when I’m looking for healthy options on a menu or when we’re attending a game or tournament for Mini-Me, and I get asked, “Are you on a diet or something?” when I eventually settle for a grilled-chicken sandwich at a restaurant, or popcorn at the game because there are no other options. I know this is also an incredibly frustrating situation for Hubs as well. He is actively working on his health and wellness. He’s lost 40 pounds (YAY Hubs!), and is working on more. He has to limit sugar, white flour, and processed foods. That makes most foods at a concession stand null and void. It makes most fast-food places difficult to navigate. Sit-down restaurants are a little better, but still have very limited optio...

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I should really go take a walk”, and instead you scrolled on social media for an hour? Or told yourself, “I’m going to prep a salad for lunch tomorrow with grilled chicken and a homemade vinegarette”, but then you convinced yourself you didn’t have time because there was laundry to finish, the dog needed to be fed, and it was almost time to start the kids’ bedtime routine? We don’t like to make changes. As humans, our brains are hard-wired to keep us safe. And part of that process includes being averse or resistant to changes. If what we’re doing has been keeping us safe and maintaining the status quo, our brain will play all the tricks it can to stop us from disrupting our peaceful existence. Even at the expense of our own health. So while you may want and need to take that walk or prep that salad, your brain is going to view it differently. If this is not part of your normal routine, the brain automatically reverts to, “What change is this?...

I am SOOOO guilty when it comes to sitting my butt on the couch (or in my chair) after a long day. Whether your job is more mental, physical, in an office, work from home, SAHM, on your feet all day, or whatever, after a long day doing ANYTHING , it’s difficult to find the willpower or motivation to get yourself up and moving again.        To help make sure you’re getting the movement you need throughout the day, I have 3 key recommendations. 1.  Schedule time into your calendar and guard that time like it is a sacred ritual.   Now, does this sound dramatic? Yeah, a bit.  But for some people, this is what needs to be done in order to make it work.  I have clients who treat their exercise time as a non-negotiable part of their day, and someone better be bleeding or missing a digit to disturb that time. If this fits your personality type, or if you’re the kind of busy mom who deeply needs to schedule each part of your day to make sure you’re getting...

So, Ozempic is a hot topic in the health, wellness, and nutrition world right now. It works by simulating GLP-1, a hormone that stimulates insulin production which helps to regulate blood sugar levels, prevents blood sugar spikes, and slows down food leaving the stomach. I t also plays an important role in making you feel fuller for longer and suppressing your appetite. This has made Ozempic not only an effective Type 2 diabetes medication, but also an effective weight loss medication. There is currently great debate and continued study on the long-term effects of taking Ozempic and other medications that act as GLP-1 simulators and stimulators. This post really isn’t intended to debate the pros and cons of using a GLP-1 medication. This is to give anyone who is interested in the AFFECTS of taking a medication like Ozempic an option of getting the same GLP-1 hormone stimulation from some of the foods you can be eating. The 3 things that stimulate this hormone naturally are Fiber...

You’ve said you WANT to lose weight, eat better, move more, be healthier. But what are you doing to make it happen? As Busy Moms, we have good intentions, but then the week starts, and something pops up. A kid wakes up sick. The dog got out of the house/yard on your way out the door and you spent 15 extra minutes getting them back inside. You didn’t have breakfast planned and, in the rush, you forgot to eat anything, just grabbed a coffee instead, and then the boss brings in donuts for the morning meeting and your good intentions for the day are sunk. Sound familiar? We all have similar versions of this scenario. My teenage daughter needing permission slips signed, can’t find the WHITE jersey for the game today so we spend time looking for it only to discover it was actually in her gym bag the whole time, and the cat decided this was the morning to throw up on the stairs in a trail down three steps – carpeted stairs. So, my good intentions for making a healthy breakfast are sh...