Tag Archives: #health

Try This Health Hack for Hormone Support

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The Order You Eat Your Food Matters!

Did you know that how you eat your food—and even the order you eat it in—can have a surprisingly powerful impact on your body?

Most of us focus on what we eat (which is obviously important), but there’s another simple strategy that can help support steadier energy, fewer cravings, and healthier blood sugar levels.

✨ Try eating your meals in this order:

🥗 1. Fiber first

Start with vegetables, salad, or other fiber-rich foods. Fiber helps slow digestion and creates a “buffer” before carbohydrates enter your bloodstream.

🍗 2. Protein (and healthy fats)

Next, enjoy your protein. Protein helps you feel fuller longer, supports muscle health, and further slows the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

🥔 3. Carbohydrates last

Finish with your carbohydrates—ideally choosing whole-food sources like fruit, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, beans, or whole grains.

💚 Why does this matter?

Eating in this order can help:

✔️ Reduce blood sugar spikes after meals

✔️ Promote more stable energy throughout the day

✔️ Decrease afternoon crashes

✔️ Help reduce cravings for sweets

✔️ Support metabolic health and healthy insulin function

✔️ Support hormone balance by creating a more stable internal environment

This doesn’t mean you have to eat perfectly every meal. Even making this small shift a few times a day can be a simple way to support your overall health.

Sometimes the biggest improvements come from the smallest habits. This week, try changing the order of your meal instead of changing the menu—and see how you feel!

Have you ever tried this? Let me know in the comments! ⬇️

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Fitness Friday – When the Trainer Becomes the Client

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(Pic of a very happy Jess getting back on my bike pain free!)

Well…this year, the trainer became the client.

Back in January, my knee started bothering me. Like many fitness professionals (and probably many of you 🙈), I convinced myself it would just get better. Instead, I ignored it until walking up and down the stairs hurt, workouts became painful, and even everyday walking wasn’t comfortable.

The diagnosis? A pretty significant meniscus tear.

I’ll be honest—I was discouraged. Spring and summer are my favorite seasons to be active. My family loves hiking, biking, swimming, and spending time outdoors, and movement is such a huge part of who I am. I worried that this injury would take all of that away.

Today, I’m incredibly grateful to say I’m about 90% recovered—and, for now, I’ve been able to avoid surgery through consistent rehabilitation and lifestyle changes.

Now, this isn’t medical advice. Every injury is different, and I absolutely encourage anyone dealing with pain to work with their physician, physical therapist, or other qualified healthcare providers.

But I wanted to share a few things that made the biggest difference for me:

✨ 1. Respect the healing process.

I had to put my ego aside. Squats, lunges, hiking, biking—they all had to take a back seat for a while. Healing isn’t quitting; it’s preparing your body to come back stronger.

✨ 2. Commit to rehab.

Even as a trainer, I needed another set of eyes. Physical therapy helped identify weaknesses and movement patterns I couldn’t fully see on my own. The real magic happened by consistently doing my home exercises—sometimes even adding them after upper-body workouts so I was strengthening those supporting muscles almost every day.

✨ 3. Prioritize nutrition.

Recovery requires building blocks. I focused on adequate protein throughout the day, plenty of nutrient-dense foods, hydration, and giving my body what it needed to repair tissue and regain strength.

✨ 4. Supplement with purpose.

For me, that meant daily protein, collagen, creatine, and a post-workout recovery supplement that includes BCAAs, collagen, and ingredients that support muscle and connective tissue repair. These became tools to complement—not replace—a solid nutrition plan.

✨ 5. Think holistically.

One of the biggest surprises for me was acupuncture. Consistent treatments helped more than I ever expected. Recovery isn’t just physical—it’s about supporting the whole person, and sometimes thinking beyond the traditional approaches can make a meaningful difference.

Most importantly, I learned that healing isn’t about finding one magic solution. It’s about stacking healthy habits together, being patient, and trusting the process.

Today, I’m back on my bike. I’m easing back into lunges. My squat strength is returning. I’m hiking again. And I’m looking forward to a summer filled with all the things I wasn’t sure I’d get to do.

If you’re recovering from an injury, don’t lose hope. Whether your path includes surgery, physical therapy, medication, holistic care, or a combination of approaches, there is so much you can do to support your body’s incredible ability to heal.

Your comeback may take time—but it is absolutely worth the work.

Here’s to a summer filled with movement, sunshine, healing, and making memories with the people we love. ☀️💚

Have you ever had an injury that taught you something unexpected? I’d love to hear your story in the comments

Hydration Hacks – How to Make Sure You Stay Hydrated This Summer

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A gentle reminder that hydration is your best friend- especially these hot summer days ☀️ (but actually, always)!

Hydration plays a major role in:

• energy levels

• focus and mood

• digestion

• muscle function and recovery

• temperature regulation

• workout performance

Even mild dehydration can leave us feeling fatigued, headachy, sluggish, irritable, or extra hungry — especially during the summer months.

A few easy ways to support hydration:

☀️ start the day with water before coffee

☀️ add electrolytes after workouts or to motivate you to drink more (just choose brands carefully!!)

☀️ eat water-rich foods like fruit, cucumber, and watermelon

☀️ carry a water bottle so you’re sipping consistently throughout the day

☀️ don’t wait until you feel thirsty!!

Small habits make a big difference in how we feel day to day 💙

What are your biggest tips for staying hydrated?!?

Boost Your Brainpower: Simple Habits for a Sharper Mind

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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!

👉 Eat brain fuel – think berries, nuts, greens, and fish.

👉 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 💛

This one’s for you, ladies!!!

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Adaptogens to help mitigate your hormone spikes. They can also help with sleep, stress and mood
  4. And then a supplement called Harmonia, which can be used alongside HRT (when that’s indicated).
  5. 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)
  6. And you’re going to hydrate!! 🥥🥤love using electrolytes. It just helps your cells absorb water better.
  7. 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.

Let’s do this, ladies!! To our health! ❤️💪🌻.

Grab your pack here:

https://www.isagenix.com/share/4LDSSE7

Be Your Own Health Advocate in Dentistry

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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! 

To your health!

~Jess

Garden Your Way to Better Health

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Just a few of my yearly faves from our garden

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!

To your wellness!

~Jess

Damp February ❄️❄️

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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:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/alcohol/art-20044551

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00317-6/fulltext

Cheers to a fabulous, healthy 2025, friends!! Comment below with how your year is going so far and one health change you’re celebrating!!

But How Do I Get Rid of This??

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If I had a dollar…

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…

To your wellness,

~Jess

Supporting My Immune System, One Scoop at a Time 👌

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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).


If you made it this far and you’re looking for a clean, well tested and highly effective supplement to provide immune support, use this link for 15% off. Better yet, message me for a link for 25% off!! https://jessicatreadwell1.isagenix.com/en-us/shop/daily-nutrition/immune-shake-booster?pid=d3bf2f8e93b34bdc88efc2c05b360ba0

I love adding this to the kids’ yogurt, applesauce, etc. no taste and great for kids 4 and up 👌

Wishing you all a healthy, joyful holiday season. Stay well, friends ❄️❄️❄️❄️