Today my friend Sarah Laucks is chatting with me about natural hair care. Sarah and I met through work and immediately felt a kindred spirit. You know, when you meet someone you could talk to for days on end and still have plenty more to talk about? The first subject we found in common was that we both were committed to natural hair care and had stopped coloring or highlighting our hair years ago.

Being of an age when many women do color their hair, it can sometimes be a challenge to feel good about myself.

On many occasions I've noticed a woman with beautiful highlights and lowlights or a color that just stands out and I feel a little wistful about not coloring mine. The feeling passes pretty quickly, however, as I often remind myself that I no longer sit in the chair at the salon for hours getting my hair colored. (Something that was always hard for me because I like to be doing something all the time!)

In addition, even when using the least toxic permanent hair coloring, which is an oxymoron because technically it doesn't exist.

What is "Natural Hair Care" anyhow?

So first, let's look at what Sarah and I mean when we discuss "natural hair care" in this podcast episode.

Unfortunately, when it comes to labels, the word "natural" doesn't mean much. The word has no regulation, so if you find it on a product label, just know that it means absolutely nothing outside of clever marketing.

For our purposes today, when we mention "natural hair care" what we are referring to is the choice to use products that do not have harmful, toxic, chemicals. We are talking about allowing our hair to be the color it is without altering it with any substance.

Chemicals, ammonia, sensitizers, and other ingredients used in permanent hair colorings are not natural. Jojoba, Coconut Oil, Emu oil are natural ingredients. Here's an example. These are the ingredients on my shampoo bar:

Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Aqua (Water), Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Ricinus communis (Castor) Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Montmorillonite, Lavandula Stoechas (Lavender) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Flower OilMorrocco Method

In case you're wondering, "Sodium Hydroxide" is lye, the ingredient our great grandparents used when making homemade soap. Pretty much all real soap begins with lye, but it goes through a process called saponification which is a reaction that causes lye to become soap, and safe to use.

Hopefully that clears up what we are referring to when we say natural in this episode. We are allowing our "natural" gray hair to grow out instead of coloring it.

What causes gray hair:

This is not to judge anyone who chooses to color their hair at all! Most women I know and love color their hair. Each of us have to make our own choices. For Sarah and I, the choice was to allow our hair to be its natural color because the alternative was hurting our health.

Each of us will go gray at a different stage in life. Some women have grays evenly distributed throughout their head and end up with gorgeous salt and pepper hair, like a coworker of mine many years ago, I used to admire her hair in my early twenties! Others will get a section of gray long before the rest of our head catches up (like me) and if we're lucky it looks intentional!

So why do we go gray anyhow?

Hair color is determined by cells called melanocytes, which produce the pigment melanin. New melanocytes are made from melanocyte stem cells that live within the hair follicle at the base of the hair strand. As we age, these stem cells gradually disappear. The hair that regrows from hair follicles that have lost melanocyte stem cells has less pigment and appears gray. source

As Sarah mentions in this episode, there are so many groups on social media that support women who go gray! I'm a member of two on Facebook and find the other members are very encouraging and helpful. You can also find hashtags and profiles on Instagram for support in going gray.

Products we mentioned in this episode:

Castor OilDermal RollerEmu OilChagrin Valley Coconut Primrose Hair BalmRahua Oil (has Rahua and Palo Santo - super clean and smells like heaven!)

Sarah’s Supplement Recommendations:

Fermented Cod Liver Oil/Butter OilOyster Max

More tips on letting your hair go gray

Whether you have silver hair or just a few random grays, transitioning away from dyed hair will allow your naturally beautiful hair to shine! We are no longer bound by the fashion rules society placed on us in the past, so if you want to stop coloring your hair, don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Read more about how to transition to gray here.Naturally Rebecca

Other Posts on Hair Care

If you're trying to improve the health of your scalp, get hair to grow faster, thicker, longer these posts will help.

Bottom Line:

You can have beautiful hair that you absolutely love yet still use natural hair care products and techniques. Our goal in sharing this information isn't to make anyone feel judged for coloring their hair; but to encourage you to be informed. Do the research about the hair coloring products you may be using and what risks come with the ingredients. Not everyone will have a physical reaction to coloring agents, however, the long term effects are still worth investigating.

Meet Sarah Laucks

Sarah Galbraith Laucks has been fascinated with simple ways to be well for the longest time. She pairs her love of wellness with her professional work, leading to experiences that connect her with wellness leaders of all kinds. Her day-to-day work is focused on helping small businesses in the wellness and food communities learn to use the art of content marketing. When not working she is probably reading a book, weeding the garden, or chasing after her family's flock of backyard chickens.

Check her out at

trueleaf.io sarahgalbraithlaucks.com.

A habit is an action, choice, or decision that you perform on a regular basis. When can you call a new action a habit? That depends. Perhaps when the action reaches automaticity; doing the thing without thinking about it. When it becomes rote.  For example, you automatically begin flossing after brushing. Your mind is elsewhere,...

Life expectancy in America is 78.7 years according to Data from the National Vital Statistics System.(1) Although it varies from state to state. If you’re an Asian American, your lifespan is expected to be about eight years longer. (2) Most people say they want to live a longer life, although the number of years is...

As parents, you’ll face countless important decisions over your child’s lifetime. One of the most important is the living space in which your child will grow and sleep. One of the most exciting things parents-to-be do while they are waiting for the arrival of their bundle of joy is designing the baby’s nursery. Browsing Pinterest...

Summer break can often be a stressful time for parents and kids. Routines change and pressure is on to take advantage of the limited amount of time together, to keep up with summer learning, and maybe even to have the perfect vacation!

This year parents may also be feeling the pressure to "catch up" on learning after hearing concerns about gaps in learning or the "Covid-slide" after the pandemic. It can be a bit overwhelming.

Kids may be feeling a bit worn out from Zoom School, lack of connection, and too much screen-socialization. Not to mention they may feel stressed, too.

Don't let all of this stress steal your joy; instead, take a different approach. Enhance your child's summer with strategies that don't feel burdensome for either of you! If you're wondering how to go about that or maybe it sounds like "more work" you'll want to listen to today's episode.

Emily Greene, author of School, Disrupted: Rediscovering the Joy of Learning in a Pandemic Stricken World, is on A Healthy Bite today to share some key takeaways and ideas that will revolutionize your summer break as well as the upcoming school year.

The giveaway for the list of 65 Boredom Busters Emily mentioned can be found on her site, so make sure you go grab that download!

Free Download 65 Boredom Busters

When you break free from the system and from its constraints, you can approach school with a completely different attitude, mindset, and frame of reference for what learning can be. Freed from the mentality that grades and tests are the be-all and end-all of learning, children can truly understand that learning is not external; learning is internal. That is the ultimate joy in this journey of wonders: the realization that learning cannot be contained in a building or a classroom or a curriculum or a school system. Learning is contained inside.Emily Greene

You'll learn all about fostering your child's sense of creativity, curiosity, and joy in learning. Plus plenty of resources to support your efforts. Checklists, questions to ask, and the big question for us all: what are the differences between school and learning?

Start by answering the questions that will help you assess: is your child losing interest in school? Then explore the Seven Wonders of Learning to help your family navigate school outside the status quo.

Ideas for a Stress-Free Summer

Play - enjoy doing things with your kidsAsk questions that lead to more questions and invite conversationsSet aside a place where your child can work with his/her hands Give kids free time Encourage them to spend time outdoorsAllow them to get bored and sit with that boredom (it really does spark creativity)Limit screentimeAddress Chronic Stress in Your Life

We have the opportunity to shift the paradigm of what education is, to rekindle our children’s joy in learning, and to light the torch for them to carry through the rest of their lives. But we have to make the active choice to keep that torch burning. We have to make the choice not to let it be snuffed out again by the strictures of the educational system. We’ve reached the moment where we need to make the choice to change the status quo.Emily Greene

School Disrupted

Grab a copy of School Disrupted on Amazon, available in both paperback and Kindle. You'll love the boredom busters, conversation prompts, and other helpful resources that every parent will appreciate.

This book will help you and your child rediscover the joy of learning.

I especially appreciated the section on putting together a portfolio for students and getting feedback on the spot, rather than waiting until it's time for college applications to do so. This is such good advice and helpful for parents of both homeschooled and traditional schooled children.

(While you're on Amazon, just read through all the 5-star reviews!)

Watch this episode on my YouTube channel here: How to Have a Stress Free Summer and Still Encourage Your Child's Joy of Learning.

Meet Emily Greene

Author of School, Disrupted: Rediscovering the Joy of Learning in a Pandemic-Stricken World in which she shares her experience educating her children inside and outside of traditional schools. She inspires parents to think differently about the future of the school, offering practical strategies to help bring back balance and optimism as we reimagine a better way to learn—in the pandemic and beyond. Emily developed the Kiddovate program, working with hundreds of teachers and students to ignite curiosity and creativity in the classroom and at home.

Emily also is co-founder of VIVA Creative, where she and her team create live and digital events that helps to bring people together in innovative ways during the pandemic. In 2020, she received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award recognizing innovation during the pandemic. She holds M. Ed. in creativity from Drexel University’s school of education. 

Read more of Emily's blog posts on her website www.emilygreene.com

Transcripts: How to Have a Stress Free Summer

[00:00:00] Rebecca: [00:00:00] Yeah. So what actually makes a summer break so stressful for us parents.

[00:00:06]Emily: [00:00:06] I think as parents, what makes summer break stressful is when we feel like we have to continue being in school. You know, we're so excited to have that reprieve and everybody's talking about summer break. And now this year, we're, we're inundated with messages about gloom and doom learning loss.

[00:00:24] And the COVID slide, but really we know intuitively that we need to step into, to a summer to recover and restore our energy and our joy in learning  

[00:00:36] Rebecca: [00:00:36] and it's okay if we learn a few things while we're doing,  summer break, as long as we're enjoying it. Right?

[00:00:43] Emily: [00:00:43] Absolutely. And I think one of the greatest myths in education is that learning only happens when it's based on.

[00:00:52] The education system standards. Our kids will learn a lot this summer just as they learned a lot the last year. And you know, in my book, I talk [00:01:00] about a lot of ways that kids can learn. I mean, deeply and joyfully learn that might not look anything like the summer packet your child is supposed to complete.

[00:01:11] Announcer: [00:01:11] Welcome to a healthy bite. You're one nibble closer to a more satisfying way of life. A healthier you and bite size bits of healthy motivation. Now let's dig in on the dish with Rebecca Huff.

[00:01:30] Rebecca: [00:01:30] I'm so happy to be here today with Emily Green. She is the author of a book that I think every mom's going to want to get her hands on, whether their children go to public school, private school or homeschool, the title of the book is, "School disrupted, rediscovering the joy of learning in a pandemic stricken world."

[00:01:48] And I think it's just amazing because in the book, Emily shares her experience inside and outside of traditional schools

[00:01:56] and so today we're going to pick her brain a little bit and the focus of our [00:02:00] conversation is going to be on how we can have a stress free summer break. And I think that's really important coming out of this past year.

[00:02:08] So Emily, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your experience? 

[00:02:13] Emily: [00:02:13] Absolutely. I'd love to, and thank you so much for inviting me on to your podcast. I,  like all parents across the world have come off of this challenging pandemic era schooling year with a lot of learnings. My perspective is oriented in having three sons.

[00:02:30] I have a third grader, a ninth grader, and a soon to be 12th grader and all with very different , types of learning and different needs. And so like many parents when we found ourselves, uh, inheriting the responsibility of completely supervising our children's learning, whether we were already homeschooling or not.

[00:02:52] Um, you know, there's a lot to talk about. This is a great topic and how not to carry a lot of the stress from the [00:03:00] last 12 months into the summer, which should really be a time for rest and reflection and learning. 

[00:03:05] Rebecca: [00:03:05] Right. And I think this summer is going to be a little bit different than all the summers before.

[00:03:10] And I think that focusing on how to get through the summer with as little stress as possible is going to be so beneficial for so many parents out there. 

[00:03:20]Emily: [00:03:20] In previous years, I think we can all agree that one of the priorities for, for parents is thinking about how they're going to keep their kids busy and engaged and , to pass the time in a way that's meaningful.

[00:03:34] And I think what's different this summer is that we have a little bit of this weight on our back as education experts all over the country are asking. What about the COVID slide? And what about the learning loss and how are we going to make up for how, how, how badly our children have fallen behind. And, you know, I think coming into this summer, parents feel the burden, not only to keep their children [00:04:00] busy and entertained, but also to make up for loss learning.

[00:04:05] And I feel like it's , It's not asking the right questions and maybe parents are bearing an unnecessary burden with this weight on our backs.

[00:04:16]Rebecca: [00:04:16] Wow. That is so well-spoken. I think that it is really important to, at all times, continue learning throughout the summer because you know, they do say that there's a certain amount of progress that is lost just in a traditional school summer break.

[00:04:32] So with the past challenging year, not only, some of the time away from school and the disruption in the regular routine, but stress also makes it hard for kids to learn. And they've had a stressful year, not just as moms and dads who are,...

Weight loss can be challenging under normal circumstances, but it becomes even more frustrating when a hormone imbalance is at play. Today's guest is the author of The Women's Guide to Hormonal Harmony, Lacey Dunn.

Lacey Dunn, MS, RD, LD, CPT, founder of UpliftFit Nutrition and host of the UpliftFit Nutrition podcast, is a functional medicine dietitian with a fiery passion for helping women feel and look their very best. People call her the “Hormone Fairy Godmother,” as her one mission in life is to help women go from surviving to thriving. Dunn specializes in all things hormones, thyroid, gut, and metabolism and incorporates on-going education into her daily life.

In this episode, Lacey will share information and strategies that will help you get your hormones back in balance and shed a few pounds in the process.

Calories in vs. calories out is not all that matters. Your body is an everchanging organism, not a car with one set fuell-need and way to run. You have hormones that can increase or decrease your metabolism, and hormonal imbalances can play a great role in your ability to maintain or change your body composition and weight.

Hormonal Imbalance Signs and Symptoms

Some of the signs and symptoms of imbalanced hormone levels may include the following:

loss of muscle massaccumulating more belly fathot flashestender breastsmenstrual cycle being either too light or too heavydebilitating pain with menstruationlow motivationlow libido hair losstrouble sleepingcold intoleranceheart palpitationsinsulin resistance overweight or obesitynight sweats (mostly occurring during menopause)infertility

Hormone Imbalance Weight Loss Tips

We want to bring back that hormonal balance. Especially if you have low levels of cortisol, progesterone, testosterone. Caring for your adrenal glands is one of the best things you can do for overall wellness, including being at the right body weight for you.

Allow yourself to sloth (chill out when you need to and rest when necessary)Focus on good sleep hygiene (wear blue light blocking glasses)Don't starve yourself in dietingBalance your blood sugar throughout the daySmart snacking - always adding in that protein to balance mealsAvoid the grind and treat your body wellHave thyroid hormones checked See a practitioner well versed in women's health, have hormone levels checkedKnow about leptin, ghrelin, and how to stop cravings

Estrogen

One of the major role players when it comes to metabolism. Estrogen dominance can cause weight gain around the middle body and even hips and thighs. 

keeping estrogen levels balanced is important for the maintenance of lean muscle tissue, bone health, and regulating body temperature.

Cortisol

Too much cortisol will cause your body to store fat, you may notice it in your face, back, and abdomen. With an excess of cortisol, the body holds on to water weight. 

Blood sugar levels and blood pressure along with proper immune function are controlled by cortisol. Having too much cortisol will leave you tired and wired, crashing mid-day, but unable to sleep at night. Too much cortisol can lead to insulin resistance and even heart disease.

Meaning we can less use glucose for fuel and more readily store glucose as body fat. So we develop insulin resistance. We develop a lot of inflammation because the cortisol that normally helps combat inflammation then actually becomes inflammatory.

Which further makes you insulin resistant starts causing you a lot of pain, aches, holding water weight. Then it starts contributing to sleep dysregulation because our cortisol levels have a natural rhythm. 

On the flip side... Too Little Cortisol

Too little cortisol will lower your tolerance to exercise and cause energy crashes late in the day, both can keep you from getting in that daily walk or workout. In addition, the muscles will begin to lose tone and become hard to maintain.

With too little cortisol, everything feels stressful, you may get sick frequently and those blood sugar swings will keep you feeling pretty rough. 

Lack of cortisol will lead to a lack of motivation. Those with too little cortisol will struggle to lose weight. The libido will suffer as well, so there goes that form of exercise!

The Women's Guide to Hormonal Harmony dives deeper into the subject of how progesterone can be converted to cortisol in your adrenals and why that's important. If you have an imbalance of cortisol levels, hypothyroidism, or improper adrenal function, you would do well to read the book!

Progesterone

Without a proper balance of progesterone, it can be hard to stay calm and relaxed, it may even be harder to get a good night's sleep. Quality and quantity sleep is one of the pillars of weight loss. Progesterone helps to balance the mood as well, so when there is too much or too little, mood swings follow.

A Word About Vitamin D

While we call it a vitamin it is actually a precursor to your hormones; your body converts it from sunlight or dietary cholesterol. Without it, you may experience fatigue, depression, muscle weakness, pain, or cramps. Being low in this hormone may steal your thunder when it comes to your workouts.

Vitamin D levels can be checked with a simple blood test, you can even do it at home.

Covered in this episode

Let's talk about the stigma of weight (at any age) and how people relate it to "being healthy" What are the signs and symptoms of hormonal imbalance?What is happening with hormones when someone is trying to lose weight but doesn't seem to be able to? What are the hormones that are most responsible for weight gain? How do hormone imbalances lead to metabolic disease?What hormones can cause hormonal imbalance? How do they work together?What tests are recommended to address and find hormonal imbalance?You say a little food and lots of exercise is a recipe for disaster, can you explain why and what is better?Why is "the grind" is the last thing that is helpful for your body and weight loss goals?What foods and nutrition changes can someone make to support their hormones?Lacey's best advice/top tips for hormone health for women of any age along with the lifestyle changes are essential to create and keep healthy hormones.

Meet Lacey Dunn

Lacey Dunn, MS, RD, LD, CPT, founder of UpliftFit Nutrition and host of the UpliftFit Nutrition podcast, is a functional medicine dietitian with a fiery passion for helping women feel and look their very best. People call her the “Hormone Fairy Godmother,” as her one mission in life is to help women go from surviving to thriving. Dunn specializes in all things hormones, thyroid, gut, and metabolism and incorporates on-going education into her daily life.

The Book

The Women’s Guide to Hormonal Harmony: How to Rebalance Your Hormones, Master Your Metabolism, and Become the Boss of Your Own Body gives women the knowledge, tools, and confidence to rebalance their hormones, master their metabolism, and become the boss of their own body. From thyroid disorders, hormonal imbalances, and gut disorders, to navigating the best "diet" plan, this guide serves as the one book you need to feel your best and reclaim your hormones, health, and body. In this book, you will be given the knowledge that you need on what your hormones are, how they work, and how they interact and influence the body. You will learn the truth about what healthy eating really means, what foods will help nourish your body, and how to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. This is a secret sauce book of knowledge bombs for all women to not only know what is going on in their bodies, but why.

The Women’s Guide to Hormonal Harmony: How toRebalance Your Hormones, Master Your Metabolism, andBecome the Boss of Your Own Body gives women the knowledge, tools, and confidence to rebalance their hormones, master their metabolism, and become the boss of their own body. From thyroid disorders, hormonal imbalances, and gut disorders, to navigating the best "diet" plan, this guide serves as the one book you need to feel your best and reclaim your hormones, health, and body. In this book, you will be given the knowledge that you need on what your hormones are, how they work, and how they interact and influence the body. You will learn the truth about what healthy eating really means, what foods will help nourish your body, and how to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. This is a secret sauce book of knowledge bombs for all women to not only know what is going on in their bodies, but why.

Connect with Lacey Dunn, MS, RD, LD, CPT on Instagram @faithandfit, Twitter @laceyadunn, and Facebook @LaceyDunnRD. Visit www.upliftfitnutrition.com and listen to UpliftFit Nutrition on most podcast hosting platforms.

The Women’s Guide to Hormonal Harmony: How to Rebalance Your Hormones, Master Your Metabolism, and Become the Boss of Your Own Body is available on Amazon.

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review! Here's how. Have questions or want to talk about this episode more, join the community!

Can Hormone Imbalance Cause Weight Gain

[00:00:00] Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to a healthy bite. You're one nibble closer to a more satisfying way of life, a healthier you and bite sized bits of healthy motivation. Now let's dig in on the dish with Rebecca Huff.

[00:00:20] Rebecca: [00:00:20] I'm excited to be here today with Lacey Dunn. We're going to get into all of the nitty gritty about how hormone imbalance can alter your ability to lose weight can cause you to gain weight. We're going to get into all of the details about that in a little bit. And I'm going to let Lacey tell us a little bit about her book.

[00:00:40] And I want to introduce Lacey the founder of uplift fit nutrition, and she is also the host of a podcast by the same name, uplift fit nutrition. So go and check that out. There'll be links in the show notes . So Lacey is a functional medicine dietician,...

Listen to the podcast in the player above, you can also subscribe on Spotify.

Recently one of my besties called me flaming mad after an encounter at the gym she'd been going to for half a year or more. After I heard the story, I was inspired to help other women avoid a similar scenario.

What happened was, my friend had recently overcome some obstacles around weight loss and avoiding the gym due to feeling self-conscious, then was basically body-shamed by her trainer.

So crazy when you think about the fact that fitness centers are there to help people get in shape, but many people who need them don't go because people might stare or judge them.

Red Flags that Signal You May Need to Fire Your Trainer

Maybe it's hard to discern between excuses and legitimate limitations. Although he seemed to discount what she told him and make the assumption that she was not willing to work hard enough to get the same results that he gets when he diets and exercises.

What Makes a Good Personal Trainer

First, there is no excuse for body shaming. Second, don’t waste your time on a bad trainer. This week, we turned to Jessica Mazzucco, an NYC area certified fitness trainer and founder of the fitness platform www.theglutereceruit.com  to help us with the top 10 signs you’ve found a good trainer (and how to avoid the bad ones!)

On today's podcast, Jessica shares insight on identifying traits that make or break the relationship with your trainer. Two signs I'd like to suggest as my own personal top priorities are good communication skills, motivating and training clients does not equate to body shaming.

A good trainer should never use body shaming as a means to make you work harder.  He/she should never say something like, “give me 30 crunches to burn that flab off your gut,” or “keep giving me those squats to burn the fat from your butt.”  Jessica says that a trainer should motivate by focusing on the positive, with statements such as, “you’re so much stronger since we first began, your cardio has really improved, you’re becoming more flexible.” You must be empowered by your trainer, not belittled or ashamed.Jessica Mazzucco

Let's dive into this interview. You can listen to the audio version right here on this page, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon music and others. If you prefer to watch, the video version is on YouTube.

After you listen to this podcast, I'd love to hear what you think, take a minute to rate A Healthy Bite and leave feedback. Don't know how? Instructions are here.

10 Signs of A Good Personal Trainer

A successful personal trainer will give you an assessment on the first session to set your starting point and come up with a training plan. Jessica explains that a great personal trainer will assess a client's overall wellness, strength, and endurance levels.  The fitness business is built on making progress. You have to measure where you start to know where you're going!  If your trainer has studied sports medicine, they'll have some experience in Kinesiology which is the scientific study of human body movement addressing physiological, biomechanical, and psychological dynamic principles and mechanisms of movement.They don't waste your time/give you what you pay for; in other words, they won't send you off to do warm-up exercises on your own. Potential clients are hiring their trainer because often, they don't know how to do stretches or warm-up. This is why they hired a trainer in the first place! Training courses, like Jessica's "plump your rump", contain foam rolling warm-ups and stretches.  A good trainer should show you what movements to do, which muscles to focus on, explain the when and why of dynamic stretches over static stretching, and the benefits of partner stretching. If a client goes and warms up on a stationary bike but has a core-dominant training program, the time has been wasted,” says Jessica.They give you a plan to work on when you're not together - homework to complete outside of training sessions. A big red flag, according to Jessica is when your trainer doesn't assign you work outside of your sessions.  They give you their undivided attention when you're together instead of staring at their phone or chatting with other nearby trainers. "If your personal trainer is taking (non-emergency) texts and phone calls or checking social media in the middle of your session, they suck," says Jessica. Fitness professionals need to be focused full-time on their clients. They get down to business instead of chatting with you more than they train.  Your trainer should be maximizing the time with you, not gossiping or telling his/her tales of woe. It’s fine to chit-chat with a trainer before the “clock starts” or after the workout has ended.  The actual training time should be confined to instruction, supervision, coaching, your form and the workout you are doing. Stick to business!They make the most of your time together and don't just coach you, they instruct you. A good trainer will make sure that multiple body parts are being used and include cardio, bodyweight resistance, free weights, bands, medicine balls, machines, etc.”  Finding a certified personal trainer who doesn't just follow fitness trends, but practices exercise science and holds several personal trainer certifications will instruct you on exercise physiology, not just stand beside you while you train.They believe you when you have an existing physical limitation and don't use the motto "no pain, no gain!" There is nothing wrong with doing crunches until you “feel the burn.”  Pain is your body’s alarm to alert you that something is wrong: that you should, in fact, stop doing what you’re doing and figure out the problem. Someone with a history of back, knee, or shoulder injuries might not need to participate in CrossFit. It's a matter of assessing and choosing the best exercises to make gains without setting you back due to injury or being overly sore.Body Shaming to Motivate A Personal Fitness Trainer should never use body shaming as a means to motivate you into working harder on the gym floor. A great health coach will motivate by focusing on the positive, with statements such as, “you’re so much stronger since we first began, your cardio has really improved, you’re becoming more flexible.” You must be empowered by your trainer, not belittled or ashamed.They coach you well on the sessions you book and don't expect you to overspend on more sessions than you need. Three to five sessions per week is a good healthy lifestyle habit. Again, a skilled personal trainer is a good communicator and will not push you to book more sessions than necessary.The best personal trainers practice what they preach! You want a trainer who practices what he/she preaches.  This does not mean they need to look like an Adonis, but they should be able to run without huffing and puffing too much.

We're discussing fitness and body shaming in the Healthologist Community, join us!

Meet Jessica Mazzucco, Successful Personal Trainer

Jessica Mazzucco is an NYC area certified fitness trainer and founder of The Glute Recruit® A native New Yorker, she graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University. The latter enables her to use skills of therapeutic communication and client-centeredness to help her clients transition through change. 

Jessica has over 7 years of experience in the fitness industry and a multitude of diverse fitness certifications including Jessica Mazzucco is an NYC area certified fitness trainer and founder of The Glute Recruit® A native New Yorker, she graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University.

Areas of Focus

Her specialties include butt sculpt/lift through exercise, resistance, strength and weight training for women, nutrition, muscle building, flexibility, mobility, posture enhancement, and pre and post-natal workout regimens.  Jess has trained celebrities such as former MSNBC Legal Analyst Mimi Rocah and country singer Jessica Lynn. 

Her personal journey

Jess has helped women worldwide achieve their fitness and lifestyle goals. She embarked on her own journey toward a healthier lifestyle in 2010 when she realized how unhealthy she was physically due to poor dietary choices and lack of exercise. Her weight gain had led her to develop low self-confidence and poor relationships with food. Healthy dietary changes and slow implementation of exercise helped Jess to become physically healthier and restore her self-esteem. This success gave her the platform to pursue a career in fitness and personal training. Her mission is to educate women on how to take control of their lives and become the healthiest versions of themselves without setting unrealistic goals of an "ideal" body type.

10 Signs of a Good Trainer with Jessica Mazzucco

[00:00:00] Announcer: Welcome to a healthy bite. You're one nibble closer to a more satisfying way of life. A healthier you and bite-sized bits of healthy motivation. Now let's dig in on the dish with Rebecca Hough.

[00:00:16] Rebecca: Hey it's Rebecca here on a healthy bite today we have a special guest, Jessica Mazzucco. She has seven-plus years of experience in the fitness industry and a bunch of certifications, she is the founder of the glute recruit, and she's going to help us today to figure out how to find the best personal trainer.

[00:00:42] And I have a really interesting story to tell you, but I want Jessica to introduce herself before we get going. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

[00:00:51] Jessica: Sure. My name is Jessica. I am a native New Yorker. I've been a personal trainer for over seven years now. And my specialty is working with women in terms of getting them into their best shape, their healthiest mindset,...

When you hear deep water running, you might picture women doing water aerobics or using pool dumbells with high-knee stepping exercises in the pool. That's not the kind of deep water running we're talking about on today's episode of A Healthy Bite. 

This low-impact exercise is not the aqua jogging class you've seen at the local gym, and it's not aqua aerobics. Most of all, it's not just for seniors or injured athletes, although both groups will benefit.

Fluid Running is a system created by Jennifer Conroyd that mimics true land running and incorporates the same movements you'd see a runner performing. Arms pumping and legs moving in a sweeping motion, no high-knees. Imagine marathon runners, only picture them in deep water. 

Feet do not touch the pool floor, so zero impact. The upper body remains above the water, lower body submerged. Arms are not floating out to the sides, but instead are pumping in true runner fashion, and not just treading water. 

A flotation device that you can tether to the side of the pool or a lane rope is secured around your waist. Guided exercises (which can be considered a "run" for runners) are delivered via Bluetooth earbuds via an app. The workouts are all performed in the deep end of the swimming pool. 

Fluid running, or deep water running, truly is "going for a run" only in deep water as opposed to hitting the pavement. Each workout consists of a warm-up, workout with music, and cool-down.

The system was created as a training method for injured runners who needed a break from running on dry land but wanted to maintain their current fitness level. (Make sure you listen to the podcast to hear Jennifer's story.)

Aqua Jogging vs. Fluid Running

While fluid running in deep water may appear similar to aqua jogging, it is a very different type of exercise. Both require a flotation belt and water, but the movements are very different. 

Fluid running is always performed in deep water and doesn't require weights or pool dumbells that prohibit proper arm swing. Where you work out could be the deep end of a pool or even a lake.

Running in the deep end allows you to run faster and is zero impact as it is completely non-weight-bearing. Fluid running is science-backed and mimics the biomechanics of normal running. 

While performing these exercises, you are taught how to remain in one place without the need to run back and forth across the pool so that it can be performed in a small space. A bonus for those who need to use public pools. 

Articles often describe aqua jogging as a form of cross-training.  Fluid Running mimics land running form so it counts as a run, but better.  Deep water running gives you all of the benefits of land running plus the added advantage of engaging your core, stabilizer muscles, shoulders, and arms which are all forced to work hard when running in deep water.  Fluid Running for an hour, keeping your heart rate in the same zone (adjusted for hydrostatic pressure) counts the same as running for an hour on land.

Benefits of Deep Water or Pool Running

First, many injured runners have used fluid running to keep up their training program while recovering. Beyond that, it beats treadmill running and even the elliptical to deliver a high-intensity workout with zero impact. 

Whether you are dealing with sore muscles, injury, osteoarthritis, lymphedema, POTS, fibromyalgia or other forms of inflammation, getting in the water might be your best bet. Learn how the properties found in deep water such as buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, and viscosity (resistance) can help you.

Reduces InflammationMimics Land RunningMinimizes PainHelps Flush ToxinsTotal Body WorkoutStrengthens Cardiovascular SystemBurns CaloriesBetter Running Performance on Land

Deep water running also allows you to exercise for longer periods of time, thus increasing stamina and endurance. "Deep-water running maximal heart rate and oxygen consumption values have been consistently shown to be lower than those found during treadmill running."

Fluid running is the only app-based deep water running system in the world. No personal trainer or physical therapist required.

Flushing out toxins and reducing pain associated with acute or chronic inflammation is just one of the many benefits of Fluid Running and aquatic exercise.  Increased mobility, weight loss, and emotional and physical wellbeing are added benefits that can significantly improve overall quality of life.  There’s nothing to lose but your pain by trying Fluid Running or other water-based exercises.

Burn more calories because running in deep water burns 30-40% more calories than running on land because water is 800 times denser than air. Water running uses your arm muscles more than running on land!

Who Can Benefit From Deep Water Running

Anyone can benefit from aerobic fitness, and deep water running delivers a good workout that will definitely get your heart rate up. In particular, deep water running is an excellent form of zero-impact exercise for:

Injured AthletesThose with OsteoarthritisLymphedemaFibromyalgiaLower Body PainFor weight-loss

Best for Cross-Training

Doing multiple types of exercises (cross-training) is the best way to have a welll-rounded fitness routine and an overall conditioned body. Because fluid running engages core strength and stabilizer muscles, it is an excellent method for cross-training. 

Cross-training is important for everyone, not just athletes. Jennifer mentioned in the podcast interview that most people do these workouts two to three times per week. Those who have always wanted to be a runner but have trouble getting started because of impact stress, joint pain, or soreness can use this method to start running. 

Whether you are a runner, were a runner, or want to be a runner, Fluid Running is a great workout for you. Running in deep water builds strength, cardio, and endurance without the wear and tear on your joints. In so doing, you will be able to train harder and run longer without pain.

It's always best to include a few different types of exercise, movement, or methods when possible, especially weight-bearing exercises, as they are important for strengthening and building bone. However, if you are someone who can't do exercises at all due to injury, etc., deep water running is an excellent choice and will allow you to reap the benefits of a workout without the impact.

Watch the video version of this interview and subscribe to my YouTube Channel here.

Meet Todays Guest Jennifer Conroyd

Jennifer Conroyd is the quintessential momtrepreneur. A certified fitness trainer, she founded Fluid Running in 2010 after an injury left her unable to run in preparation for the 2010 Chicago Marathon. She ran exclusively in deep water for the six weeks leading up to the race, and not only finished that marathon, but qualified for the Boston Marathon.  

Jennifer, a graduate of Miami University, certified personal trainer, and mom of three adult boys, wanted a way for everyone to stay active without the risk of injury. She is an accomplished athlete, having completed the Ironman and has run 16 marathons, qualifying for the Boston Marathon 15 times. Jennifer resides in Chicago and was named a finalist for the 2018 Women in Tech Founders award.

The Path to Product Development

Jennifer met Mike Lambert, a technologist and digital marketer in a co-working space during a weekly entrepreneur lunch. Jennifer’s inspiring story prompted Mike to share his idea about using an app to deliver classes instead of instructors. Within a month, they had people testing out a prototype, and six months later, the product was complete. Fluid Running offers in-person classes in the Chicago area, however, the program is available for purchase in Canada and The United States.

Jennifer Conroyd is a Fitness Professional working directly with athletes, doctors, and physical therapists to promote the benefits of deep water running as a means to accelerating recovery and maintain fitness during injury.  Supported by extensive research as well as personal experience, Jennifer brings passion and knowledge to her presentations.

She is the founder of Fluid Running, the only company in the U.S. to develop a method to teach proper deep-water running and offer app-based deep water running workouts.  

Jennifer is a graduate of Miami University, an A.C.E. certified personal trainer, and USA Track and Field certified coach. She has worked individually with hundreds of clients helping them maintain and even improve their fitness while injured.

a personal note from rebecca

I downloaded the Fluid Running App, signed up at the nearest Health and Fitness Center and started watching the videos. My first attempt at deep water running was successful. I'll add an update to this post after I have a few more sessions under my belt (my flotation belt that is!) to let you know how it's going.

Along with the complete system, I downloaded the "Run with a Pro" workout because it included sprints. If you haven't already, join the Healthologist Community, we'd love to chat with you about your health and fitness goals.

Sources

fluidrunning.com

Killgore GL. Deep-water running: a practical review of the literature with an emphasis on biomechanics. Phys Sportsmed. 2012 Feb;40(1):116-26. DOI: 10.3810/psm.2012.02.1958. PMID: 22508258.

Beyond health and wellness, there are other incentives when you teach your child to cook. One of the side benefits of getting kids in the kitchen is that it helps them develop fine motor skills. Such as using a butter knife to spread, cookie cutters on dough, or stirring batter. These kitchen skills will stay with your child for the rest of their life. When they are in college, they won't need to rely on fast food. When they have their own family, they can pass on their skills to the next generation.

The word crisis is defined as "a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger." If we're lucky, we'll all see midlife, but must we have a crisis? How can you avoid a midlife crisis? Some women sail through those middle years with ease, while others may begin to question the meaning and purpose of life. Menopause may be around the corner, or it may have already begun, but you're far from old age!

No matter what age group you are in, life satisfaction will have a lot to do with how you experience the mid-life years. Changes in family life, living without kids at home for the first time, a health crisis, and hopes for new opportunities may be things people experience during this midpoint in life.

What do you want to do with the rest of your life? How would your younger self respond in the same circumstances. It's amazing how much the perspective changes in middle-aged people and I love it!

This Interview Covers

In today's episode author Lisa Levine is with me to discuss the topic of midlife for women today (since we are both women and my podcast audience is primarily women.) 

What do we mean by a midlife crisis, and can women avoid one? Does our transition in and through these years have to be a crisis?

We've all seen the portrayals of a midlife crisis, which is usually depicted by middle-aged men with flashy red sports cars, perhaps an affair. To some degree, a transition of identity appears to occur. While the stereotype exists for a reason, is this what we see with women? What does a midlife crisis look like for her?

Is a midlife crisis inevitable for all women, what factors come into play? Hormones, childhood trauma, mental health, circumstances, personality, etc? How much does menopause play a part in a woman's well-being during these life changes?

Are some women better prepared somehow to cope with the challenges that occur in middle age - why do some people seemingly sail right through while other women may go through drastic changes?

As a woman who has gone through a turbulent midlife crisis and having walked through it with multiple friends, I'm wondering, is there some advice you can share on decision-making during this period? 

How can we spend less time feeling the angst and longing for either things that are past or some new adventure that we can't necessarily identify? 

Do you have any tips for family members who have a loved one experiencing a midlife crisis?

What would you say is the best thing a woman can do if her best friend is going through this period of life and considering giving up on say 25-30 years of marriage?

It's difficult when you are in the midst of a midlife crisis in your own life to see younger women maybe on social media, advertisements and such idolized, do you think as a society we'll ever get this right? As they say, youth is wasted on the young!

How can women embrace midlife?

Lisa's Actionable Steps

Be present in the momentMeditationJournalingPausing practiceDon't compare and despairPractice mindfulnessSet new goalsCreate a vision boardCommit to a mindset changeGet quality sleep

How to Support a Friend

Practice active listeningDo something out of the ordinary and have fun.

About the Author

Lisa Levine is a Martha Beck Institute-certified Life and Health Coach at Audacious Health & Wellness. She helps women who are approaching midlife to create new and healthy habits in the way they think, eat, sleep and move, empowering them to live their lives fully and audaciously. Originally from the East Coast, she currently resides in Seattle spending much of her time writing, drinking matcha, overusing emojis, parenthesis, and punctuation (can’t stop, won’t stop), enjoying the beauty of the PNW, and playing in the kitchen, creating healthy fare for her family and friends. She is comforted by the reminder that the only constant in life is change and by the deeply rooted belief that ultimately everything will be OK in the end. If it’s not OK, then it’s not the end.

eBook full of Healthy Snacks Kids Can Make20 Healthy Recipes Kids Can Make for Themselves

Visit Lisa at the links below:

Website: AudaciousWellness.com

Instagram: TheLisaLevine

Other Resources

The Artist's WayIt's Never too Late to Begin AgainWhat is Midlife Crisis for a Woman

 Timing for these transcripts are for the video which you can find here: https://youtu.be/GKWazluMaoQ

[00:00:00]I am so excited to be here today with author. Lisa Levine,  Lisa has written a book that is called midlife, no crisis, and I love it because I actually even have slides from a talk I used to do called midlife without the crisis.

[00:00:16] Because I think this is such an important topic, so I'm so glad to have you here. Thank you for coming on the show. It's my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me. And yeah, it's something that I could talk about, endlessly, because it doesn't have to be a crisis and certainly it can be it's so filled with possibility of transformation, which is in my opinion, always a good thing.

[00:00:40] I agree. So let's clarify right up front. I just want to let everyone know that for, for the discussion today, we're mainly going to be focusing on women. And although we know that the typical image or stereotype that you think of when you hear midlife crisis is usually the man or at [00:01:00] least that's the way it's portrayed in Hollywood.

[00:01:03] But for today's discussion, we are going to be talking about women's issues. So why did you write this book? Can you start with telling me a little bit about that? Yeah. I wrote this book I actually really probably started writing this book when I started writing a blog and that, because I'm now 57 and I started writing my blog when I was around 49.

[00:01:29] And I guess I was 50. I was going through my crisis when I went. Quote unquote crisis when I was 48. And I recognized when I got to the other side of it, how what a remarkable thing, well remarkable opportunity. It was to dive in and to re I don't even want to say reinvent myself because it was not a complete reinvention.

[00:01:51] It was just a reconnection of getting in touch with the things that filled me up and allowing the space for that. And so once I started [00:02:00] to write about it, it kind of grew from there. And then the book was born really from those blog posts from  that feed  () so  it started with a blog -  and it means a lot to me .

[00:02:13] To - I feel like one of the things that I can do is to help other women feel empowered in their journeys. And so it meant a lot to me to help others reconnect to themselves as opposed to falling into the crisis.

[00:02:26] story.   For sure so in your blog, when you were starting this out, was it more from the perspective of what you were going through or was it kind of like sharing advice for other women? I think it was a combination. I wouldn't, I would not share advice about something I hadn't experienced myself. And so it was very much about, this is how it looks.

[00:02:49] This is what it looked like for me. These are the things I was thinking or feeling. And this is what I learned from that. And this is how it might also apply to your own personal experience. [00:03:00] Gotcha. Well, we know from, like I said, the stereotypes, what a male midlife crisis looks like, at least the portrayal.

[00:03:09] What does the midlife crisis or this phase   I know some people don't like to use the words midlife crisis, so whatever you want to call it, we're calling it for the sake of this podcast. We're going to call it a midlife crisis. What does that typically look like for a woman? Typically it's a conflict between a person's perception of themselves in their lives, the way they think it should be and what they want them to be versus what it, what is happening right now.

[00:03:37] So it's generated by a desire to change your identity in some way. And I found that there's actually a really interesting term called middlescence sort of like it's like adolescence, but it's, it happens. I don't remember who coined that phrase back in the, I think it first came out in the sixties. I'm not sure, but there's a woman named Barbara Waxman who talks about Middlescence quite a bit.

[00:04:00] [00:03:59] And it correlates with adolescence in terms of that it's a traditional time for searching for identity and greater meaning, but. The difference is that you're not driven by your hormones, your more you find yourself. There's, it's spaciousness. It's openness because you're not being driven by your hormones.

[00:04:19] Your hormones are still in play mind you. And it's, it's all about menopause. And we can talk about that, but there's a spaciousness, there's a room all of a sudden, because you're not driven in the same biological way that you are when you're an adolescent. So middlescence is, yeah, it's about, it's about a transition and a searching.

[00:04:36] And I think a mid, life, it can feel like a crisis because you're, you're going, what, what is this all there is like what and in fact, it, again, it's an invitation, in my opinion, it is an invitation. So that's kind of what it is. It's really, you can look at it almost like a second adolescence except with a whole lot more wisdom and less.

[00:05:00] [00:05:00] Hormonal drive. And so, and the way that is the reason it's a crisis is because again, it's that perception of of the it's a questioning of the perception of who you are and what you're, what's going to happen. And maybe the questioning of some choices they've made in the past. A hundred percent of choices in the past and what that will look like going forward.

[00:05:26] You know, if there's something about turning 50 or hitting that middle mark where you suddenly go, Oh my gosh, I really there I do have, there is an expiration date. On this life of mine. So the urgency about what do I want to do is come