You all know how passionate I am about maintaining our physical health, but I’ve also really been loving learning about all the ways we can improve our brain health. Which, FYI…it’s NEVER too early to start thinking about!!
Your brain runs the show, so let’s give it some love! Here are a few simple ways to keep it sharp and happy:
👉 Move a little every day – walks, workouts, even dancing in your kitchen count!
👉 Get good sleep – your brain needs that reset button just as much as your body. Aim for heading to bed just 15 minutes earlier each week until you hit the 7-9 hours of recommended sleep (always a work in progress for me).
👉 Learn something new – puzzles, books, or even a new hobby to keep your mind strong.
👉 Stay connected – chatting with friends and family boosts brain and mental health too.
👉 Chill out – stress weighs on your brain, so make space for calm. Daily gratitude journaling and meditation are my fave ways to incorporate this.
👉 Drink your water – hydration = better focus + energy. And make sure you’re adding CLEAN electrolytes!!
👉 Supplement smartly – things like omega-3s, vitamin D, magnesium, creatine and nootropics can give your brain an extra boost—just make sure to choose quality and check what’s right for you. You know I’m always happy to share my fave brands!
✨✨And, if you’re free this Saturday, join my friend Cherie at this incredible brain health workshop. You will learn SO much and come away with practical tips to implement in your life.
I’m currently focusing on consistently taking my omega 3 supplement, using clean electrolytes every day and spending time engaging in a hobby a few times a week instead of working in every moment of spare time. I’d love to hear what you’re incorporating to boost your brain!
Little things add up—your brain will thank you later 💛
How bout this?? We get to get STRONGER every decade 💪💪💪
Long post, but if you or anyone you love is just feeling “off”, this is worth the read!
This past weekend, I attended a conference where there was a huge focus on women’s health and the lack of research that has been done over the years. As a woman in my early 40s, I’m really starting to feel the effects of hormone changes, and I’m watching many of my friends, family and clients go through the beginning stages of perimenopause and menopause. And having worked with clients navigating this stage of life over several years, I’ve learned so much and am excited to share some of the important research being done.
But first, let’s talk about some (crazy) facts: 😡women were excluded from clinical trials until the 1990s. Like, what the actual…??? 😳 Only 8.8% of funding from the NIH goes to women’s health. 🤦🏻♀️For many, many years, women were labeled as hysterical when talking about the symptoms they were experiencing at certain stages of life, and hysterectomies were actually performed to help women “calm down” in the past. 👎Currently, only 25% of clinical trials today include women, and less than 20% of OBGYNs are trained in menopause. Less than 7% of internal medicine doctors get trained in menopause.
And yet… ❤️many women, age 35 and up, are in perimenopause ❤️women spend 40% of their life in perimenopause! ❤️and it is this optimal time, the most important time of life, to take care of our health.
Why?? ✅ During perimenopause and beyond, we start to see a huge increase in cardiovascular risk factors. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and much of this has to do with the decrease of estrogen that we experience. ✅Perimenopause lasts, on average, 2 to 10 years.
Common symptoms of perimenopause: -vasomotor (like hot flashes and night sweats) -sleep disturbances -joint and muscle pain -genitourinary symptoms -weight gain -anxiety -Increase in visceral fat (the dangerous kind around our organs) -Increases in cholesterol and triglycerides -Decrease in HDL cholesterol -increased risk of type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and cognitive decline
So it is so important that we start talking about what we can do in our 30s and beyond to prevent some of these risk factors. Because we CAN do SO MUCH!!!
So where do we start???
✨ It’s really important that women are getting a comprehensive blood panel done in perimenopause and beyond, including LPa and APOB markers. Ask your doctor for this! ✨You’re going to want to optimize your body composition to decrease pain, decrease vasomotor symptoms, and protect your heart. ✨And then we’re going to talk about things that you can do every day through nutrition. This is the area that I love to talk about:
Number one is protein pacing. You’re going to bookend your day with protein. I do like to use a protein shake in the morning and something called a tri-release protein at night. That’s super important because it’s low in sugar, low in carbs, and high in protein, which is important to do before bed.
You’re going to make sure you’re using clean forms of protein. I could talk about this all day. Super important that we’re not using things with artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, excess sugars, et cetera.
Adaptogens to help mitigate your hormone spikes. They can also help with sleep, stress and mood
And then a supplement called Harmonia, which can be used alongside HRT (when that’s indicated).
You’re going to use creatine, which is so important for our brain health, bone health, and muscle health (all things that start to decline in our late 30s)
And you’re going to hydrate!! 🥥🥤love using electrolytes. It just helps your cells absorb water better.
Lastly- do not forget the importance of strength training. Gone are the days of hours of cardio, under eating and skipping the weights 💪💪💪
Let’s not wait till we start experiencing severe symptoms to act on this!! I am offering 20% off my “women’s wellness pack” this week to celebrate the fact that women’s health is being talked about more and the fact that we have solutions that empower us to take charge of our health and prevent some of the symptoms that older generations have had to go through.
So please reach out. I will send you a link for 20% off your women’s wellness bundle. I’ll share recipes and grocery lists, share customized tips with you, and will throw in some workouts for you too.
Wellness Wednesday- be your own health advocate!! The other day I had a crazy experience at my dentist, right after having a consult with a biological dentist and feeling so empowered to take another step on my wellness journey (removing a harmful amalgam filling). My dentist basically told me that she agreed that I needed to have it removed (there’s a crack in one that is likely leeching heavy metals into my body 😬😬), but that she didn’t believe in biological dentistry or SMART removal (you can do your own research on this but my take is it is ABSOLUTELY essential to go to a biological dentist for this). She then proceeded to tell me that she didn’t see any reason for my to stay in her practice if I proceeded with the smart removal of my filling with a biological dentist instead of her office. I left angry, disempowered and threatened by her reaction and I’ve chosen to wait a few days to write this. My hope is that she was acting out of concern and not reacting to the loss of a patient for this one procedure (though I will continue going there for regular dentistry). I’m going to choose to believe she acted in a reactive manner and likely regretted it later. I’m also going to choose to follow the research on this type of removal and the dangers of heavy metals in our bodies and get this filling removed by a trained, accredited biological dentist. I’ve had similar experiences when specialists have prescribed me prescriptions for other conditions, while refusing to admit that supplements (the ones that are third party tested and proven by science to work) will help me. I have done my own research and pursued natural healing options with significant success. I have chosen to leave those medical practices because of that closed mindedness and find new doctors who are willing to look at both types of solutions- “traditional” and functional. I work in the medical profession and I value medical professionals beyond words. I have also seen my life and health changed through functional medicine, functional nutritionists, acupuncture, supplements and herbs. I truly believe we need both and I think it will be a beautiful world when both sides of medicine choose to open their minds and work together 🙏 In the meantime, find me over here getting all my annual medical visits and regular screenings as well as pursuing natural and holistic healing, nutritional solutions and effective supplements. We get to be our own advocates. And we need to. Doctors know SO much in the areas they are trained in-and that is beyond valuable! They also don’t know what they don’t know, and it can be super valuable to acknowledge that as well. Do your research, listen to your gut and choose whatever solutions work best for your family!
You guys – it’s nice outside! Finally!! Spring is, like, the best time of year and when I really start planning all things summer…vacations, summer camps for the kids (not as fun to plan, amiright??!) and…our summer garden!!
We’ve been gardening for the last 15 years or so (or, to be honest, my husband has been gardening and I’ve been enjoying the harvests). It started back in our days of living in an apartment in the city, where we did container gardening on our patio and realized how very cool it is to be able to pick veggies for dinner, make a salad for lunch each day and have goodies to give away to friends and family.
And, let’s be honest…home grown veggies are SO much tastier than what you get in the store. And a good year’s harvest leads to some pretty decent savings over the summer too.
If you haven’t gotten into gardening yet, here are some pretty cool reasons you might want to consider it:
Gardening:
Has been shown to improve mental health
Can improve the gut microbiome
can provide vitamin D, which is so important for overall health and immunity
can be a super fun family experience and can support healthy eating for the whole fam (studies show that exposing kids to a variety of fruits and veggies and inviting them to participate in the whole process, from seed to plate, can do wonders for making kids more likely to try new foods
can limit our exposure to harmful pesticides and toxins
can improve stress levels
can provide increased physical activity and mobility
From an early age, our kiddos have been working for their dinner 😂
My favorites every year are the cherry tomotoes, cucumbers (SO much better than the ones at the store) and eggplant. But the year we did potatoes was pretty cool too…
What are you growing this year in your garden?? Share your faves and give us a new idea to try!
Ok, so it may be a little strange for me to be writing this the day after I went out with some of my Mom friends for tacos and margaritas last night…but hey, it’s all about moving the needle forward, right, friends??
Aside from last night, I’ve been rocking dry January and damp February. My husband and I have done a “dry January” the last few years and love the way we feel afterwards – improved sleep quality, better energy, no wine headaches (anyone else sensitive to histamines??). And, I don’t actually drink much all year round, so that felt like an easy but positive health promoting step for me.
This year, I realized how easy it actually is to go out to a restaurant without ordering a drink, or how much better I feel when I open a can of my adaptogen drink instead of having a glass of wine on the weekend. So, I decided to keep this thing going – maybe a drink or two over the month instead of a drink or two over the span of a week.
But, if you’re wondering what my motivation might be for keeping this thing going, check out some of these facts:
1/3 of cancers are attributed to LIGHT alcohol consumption
Drinking adds calories and raises the risk of problems in the digestive system (just one day of drinking can lead to leaky gut, so I recommend that everyone avoids drinking on consecutive days)
drinking moderately does not, after all, reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, as was once thought
and per the Mayo Clinic, “any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer”.
But what about when having that end of day glass of wine or drink with a friend is a part of your routine. And you don’t want to miss out on the social aspects of that??
Here are my top tips:
When I’m at a restaurant, I order a seltzer with lime and a dash of cranberry juice (restaurant mocktails can be as calorie dense and sugary as real alchohol or soda, without any of the fun). Or, if I’m going for something non fizzy, I bring a packet of my electrolyte powder in my purse and mix with water. Bonus: it gets me to drink wayyy more water and often keeps my appetite at bay, so I’m not eating the huge restaurant portions.
At home, I’ve been experimenting with some mocktails. They’re fun – and they actually have “side benefits” instead of “side effects”. I call that a win/win! To make, I mix either my adaptogen elixir or collagen elixir with some seltzer and lime, or some non alcoholic rose and a spring of fresh rosemary. My tastebuds think I’m indulging in some fabulous cocktail, but my body benefits from all the incredible ingredients for gut health, smooth skin, hydration and decreased stress! (If you wanna try, grab your collagen elixir here – great for every day use
If you could benefit from some more motivation to decrease or stop alcohol consumption, give these two articles a read:
For every time a client asked me “but how do I get rid of my belly?”
Well, first – I always like to remind people that health looks so different on everyone. And if you’re working with me, I really hope your primary goal is HEALTH.
But, 20 years of training/coaching clients, and the question still comes up all.the.time.
20 years later, and my answer remains the same:
Abs are made in the kitchen. Truly. It’s true. I promise.
80% of our efforts for achieving body composition goals should be focused on what we’re putting in our bodies. My secrets are protein pacing, significantly decreasing processed foods and eating more veggies. Like, 5-7 servings per day. These strategies will keep you full, keep things moving, help you build muscle and give you more sustained energy. The system I use incorporates high quality protein, organic greens and undenatured, well tested supplements to help me meet these goals. Message me if you want to give it a try for 30 days, risk free…
A day in the protein pacing life…never about deprivation over here!!
Next, I recommend strength training. I know…I went through all those phases in life where I tried to run, ride, row it all away. I don’t recommend. Cardio is SO important for health, but when it comes to building lean muscle (which we want to do to help burn more calories overall), we need to lift. We need to lift often. And we need to lift heavy enough with progressive loading over time. I can’t recommend enough the benefits of proper deadlifting, squating and heavy upper body lifting, but make sure your form is solid and you build up appropriately. If you want to know what this means, reach out!
Lift correctly, lift often, lift heavy- and your abs will work harder than you realize
Now let’s talk about stress and sleep. I’ll often ask clients how many hours of restful sleep they’re getting a night. Less than 7? This could definitely contribute to belly fat. Excess stress does the exact same thing, as the stress hormone cortisol contributes to weight around the belly that can be stubborn and hard to release. For this, I recommend daily walks (nature plus movement plus sunlight is a powerful combo), meditation/gratitude journaling/yoga and adaptogens.
Powerful morning combo: gratitude + adaptogens
You’ve heard me talk about cellular cleansing before. For good reason. This supported intermittent fast releases toxins, which tend to reside in fat cells in our bodies. It also lowers overall inflammation, and who doesn’t want that? This is a gentle cellular cleanse, it will not have you living in a bathroom, it improves energy and mental clarity and it includes yummy snacks you get to munch on while your body is doing the hard work of detoxing. Pretty great, right??!!
I know. It seems too good to be true. Best.detox. Ever 🙌🏼
Ok, ok…I guess we can talk about ab exercises now. Trust me, I did used to be that girl that did 1,000 crunches a day and I am here to tell you that it was pretty much a waste of my time. I do like tacking on a quick 5 minute ab workout to my workout routine 2 days a week maybe, but it’s really not a focus of my exercise these days. That being said, when I’m choosing ab exercises for myself and my clients, I choose wisely. Functional movements are my fave – rotation, woodchops, that sort of thing. I also have a solid appreciation for pelvic floor conditions and diastasis recti that so many of my postpartum mamas (including myself) have had – so I’m also hesitant to recommend full sit ups, constant flexion and excessive forward planks without real attention to what’s happening in the abdominal region. But, some of my faves that are safe for most everyone:
Side plank variations (side plank hold, leg lifts in side plank, “thread the needle”, side plank crunches…)
Oblique work (oblique v ups are a fave, but check with a pelvic floor PT first if you have any of the conditions mentioned above)
Russian twists (with or without weights and I prefer to keep my feet on the floor to ensure good form and muscle activation)
Ok, so there you have it. Tried and true advice that has worked for my clients and myself over the last 20 years, and that I expect will work for many more years. If I hear of anything revolutionary, I’ll let ya know. But in the meantime, lay off the 10,000 hours of ab work, focus on what’s going in your body and try one new nutrition, strength training or stress management/sleep strategy at a time.
Let us know what works for you or what you’re trying. And let’s all collectively agree to leave spot training in the far, far away past…
Last weekend, my little girl had the stomach bug. All she wanted was to cuddle, read books, have me sing her back to sleep. All I wanted to do was comfort her and remind her that she would feel better soon.
Fast forward a few days, and I started wondering “ok, when are the rest of us gonna get this?”Cause we all know how that works, right??
And, while I fully recognize we may still get this virus, or any others, this winter, that isn’t stopping me from doing all the things I can to keep our immune systems as robust as possible. You all have read many of my blogs before about habits you can include in your daily life to best support your body’s natural immune defenses. So, I won’t sit here and remind you to get 7-8 hours of sleep and eat 5-7 brightly colorized fruits and veggies today (but please- keep aiming to do that). Instead, I’ll share all that I’ve learned over these past few years about specific supplements that support the immune system.
Mushroom extracts: It can’t be just me they gets inundated with these ads, right?? Well, it’s for good reason. I’m still learning about these powerful ingredients. Reishi, turkey tail, shiitake, maitake…all such good varieties for supporting the immune system!
Fruiting bodies: Make sure your mushroom supplements include this. Supplements that include this part of the mushroom can be up to 30-50% more effective
No sugar! No gummies!: I’ll spare you my whole explanation about this. But sugar is definitely not supportive for the immune system, so having a supplement with too much added sugar wouldn’t be helpful either
GMP certified and third party tested. Again, this goes for all supplements. So so so important!! (Rule of thumb- don’t buy your supplements where you buy your toiled paper).
Special thanks to Camille Johnson (info@bereaver.com) for her excellent article about wellness for this week’s blog. This time of year, it can feel overwhelming to focus on our wellness goals, but Camille shares some great tips below to make your wellness goals achievable, enjoyable and easy to integrate into your busy life! Thanks, Camille for all the great tips!
Embarking on your wellness and self-care journey requires more than desire; it demands a deliberate and strategic approach for lasting improvement. This guide, courtesy of Jessica’s Fitness, equips you with actionable strategies to effectively pursue your wellness goals. By adopting these strategies, you ensure a solid foundation for your journey towards personal well-being.
Clarify Your Personal Wellness Definitions
Start by explicitly defining what wellness and self-care mean specifically to you. This personal definition will guide your journey and help tailor your objectives to be more meaningful and achievable. Break these broad goals down into specific, actionable tasks such as scheduling daily mindfulness sessions or setting a weekly meal planning routine. This approach not only simplifies your goals but also integrates them seamlessly into your daily life, making them more manageable and less overwhelming.
Make Walking a Priority
Walk more often to optimize your mental and physical health. Seek out areas with a high Walk Score of 70 or above to easily achieve your daily step goals. This practice boosts both your cardiovascular fitness and mental well-being. Regular walking in pedestrian-friendly areas can enhance your overall health. Making walking a daily habit helps you maintain consistency in your physical activity routine.
Integrate Self-Care Into Your Routine
Embed self-care practices into your daily routine to make them feel less like chores and more like a natural part of your day. Whether it’s reading a book, taking a long bath, or practicing yoga, finding activities that relax and rejuvenate you can make self-care an anticipated part of your schedule. This integration helps to prevent burnout and ensures that self-care remains a priority, not an afterthought.
Explore Diverse Activities
Experiment with a range of activities to discover what genuinely brings you joy and relaxation. Whether it’s physical exercise, arts and crafts, or learning a new skill, diversifying your activities keeps your self-care regimen engaging and exciting. This variety ensures that your wellness plan remains fresh and appealing, increasing the likelihood that you will stick with it over the long term.
Recognize and Celebrate Achievements
Take time to recognize and celebrate each achievement, no matter how small. These celebrations act as milestones of progress and are essential for sustaining motivation. Whether you’ve stuck to your wellness plan for a week, or have successfully managed stress through learned techniques, acknowledging these victories provides encouragement and builds confidence in your ability to meet your goals.
Engage a Support Network
Share your self-care and wellness goals with friends and family who can offer support and motivation. Having a supportive community provides external accountability and encouragement, which can be incredibly valuable on days when your motivation wanes. This network also serves as a sounding board for sharing successes and challenges, making your journey a shared experience.
Utilize these strategies diligently to enhance your wellness and self-care efforts. The foundation of success in personal growth lies in your consistent efforts and unwavering dedication. Keep your goals in clear focus, and rely on your support network for encouragement and accountability. Make it a habit to acknowledge and celebrate each accomplishment, no matter its size, as this will help you stay motivated.
Jessica’s Fitness offers both individual and group personal training and health coaching sessions for those who want to make healthy changes to their lifestyle. Get in touch today to talk about your needs!
Raise your hand if you grew up on Flinstones vitamins too?? 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️
Maybe had some Lucky Charms or Pop Tarts for breakfast growing up? 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️
Guys, you’re not alone! I was a child in the 90s, and back then, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Vitamins were vitamins, right? As long as we were eating something for breakfast, we were well nourished and ready to learn, right?!? 🤷🏻♀️
Thankfully, we’ve come along way and so has the nutrition and supplement space. Now, you still have to sift through rows and rows of sugar laden or artificially sweetened vitamins, and we still need to REALLY look at nutrition labels when deciding what to feed our families, but we have knowledge – and options- now, and that’s a beautiful thing!!
One thing that I’ve learned more and more about is the difference between naturally sourced and synthetic vitamins. I won’t bore everyone here, but here’s a few cool points to know:
✨if your vitamins are listed in the nutrition or ingredient label with parenthesis around them, they are synthetically made!
✨synthetic vitamins offer only a portion of the whole food vitamin, so synthetic vitamin B is not the same as getting your vitamin B from a whole food.
✨whole food vitamins, on the other hand, allow for a slow release of nutrients, making them easier to digest
✨there are now whole food vitamins that offer diverse and bio active vitamins and minerals 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Supplementing with a good vitamin and filling in the nutritional gaps in our food supply is more important than it’s ever been. I’m excited to try these innovative new whole food vitamins and would love to offer you a discounted price on them as well!! Follow this link to read more about these cool Pura Plant vitamins and to try your own pack, risk free: https://jessicatreadwell1.isagenix.com/en-us/shop/daily-nutrition/pura-plant?pid=14362b1208ab4bbb98d7a92657b105bc
Here’s to a new season of focusing on our health, boosting immunity and finding joy in the everyday moments 🍁🍁 To your health, friends!
Hey friends!! Please welcome my friend Lior to this week’s blog! Lior is a functional herbalist who I’ve had the pleasure of learning fromover the past year. I invite you to read this blog and share one tip you’re gonna try this summer!
From my kitchen window, I look at my garden. It is summer, and the garden is filled with an abundance of vegetables and herbs. Bees are zooming between the tulsi and lavender; birds are chipping on the trees, and butterflies hover over the Mexican sunflower.
Staying connected with the season is not just about the physical changes but also about tuning in to nature’s energy or vibe. It’s about stopping, observing, and feeling the rhythm of the natural world.
What are the energetics?
Ancient cultures all over the world observed the ebb and flow of the seasons. They paid attention to details and looked for patterns. The Western tradition, descended from the alchemists and herbalists of Europe, identified six foundational states called the energetic.
The six energetics were used to describe the patterns in plants, people, health conditions, and the seasons.
The energetic/vibe of summer
Summer is associated with the fire element. While in some places, the heat of summer is dry, like in Africa, in others, it is hot and humid, like in India. But all over the world, summer is a time to relax and have fun.
The Taste of Summer
Drinking cold lemonade can give you a clue to how sour food and herbs can counter the relaxing effect of heat on the body. The sour taste is astringent, meaning it tightens tissue and reduces fluid leakage. Some cooling foods and drinks you might want to consider in the summer are berries, citrus, kombucha, and vinegar.
Food tips:
What to do in the summer?
Like the sunflower, people chase the sun. Not literally, but because sunlight is essential for many bodily functions, from regulating appetite and sleep to balancing our mood, people celebrated the sun and nature, especially in the summer.
Be it in the garden or on a camping trip, summer is when you spend time outdoors, stock up on vitamin D, and enjoy the abundance of vitality and growth. Like a butterfly, I am attracted to the garden’s colors, forms, and sounds. My heart is filled with joy and reverence for the creative forces of nature.
Summer is a good time to build an altar in the garden using sticks, stones, and dried plants. You might want to plant a special plant next to your altar, like tulsi, burn incense, and offer prayers of gratitude to the forces of nature that sustain us.
This is the time to follow your passion, manifest your inner fire, and follow your dreams. The organ associated with the energy of summer is the heart and the circulatory system. It calls upon you to leave the comfortable safety of your home and step into an adventure. Explore new possibilities and create from the heart.
Don’t be afraid of being messy playing with finger colors or making a lot of noise while drumming. Summer is for letting your soul soar.
Being in tune with nature means stopping and noticing the changes in light, temperature, moisture and tune in the ecosystem around you. As you slow down, you will observe how different seasons resonate differently with your body.
Jessica's Fitness 