Live Joy

  The other night I was sitting outside enjoying one of those perfect nights… not too hot, not too cold, just peaceful. Like most of us do, I started scrolling Facebook while I sat there, and I came across a post from Paula Abdul celebrating 35 years of Spellbound .   Now for those of you who didn't grow up in the 90s, Paula Abdul was one of my favorite singers growing up. She danced, she performed, and fun fact… she was actually the very first concert I ever went to.   The second I saw that post I thought, “You know what? Let's listen to that album.”   Back in 1991, I had it on cassette tape. Now all I had to do was open Spotify and hit play.   And instantly… memories.   Rush Rush was by far my favorite song on that album. I still remember the music video. Another fun fact, Keanu Reeves was in that video! And as the songs kept playing, it made me think about all the music I used to listen to growing up. Every song carried a memory. A feeling. A season of ...

  Have you ever noticed how a GPS never says, “You made a mistake.” It never panics, shames you, or tells you that you ruined the entire trip because you missed one turn. It simply says, “Recalculating.” The other day I heard that and immediately thought… that’s life. Somehow as humans we have convinced ourselves that every wrong turn means failure. We think every setback means we’re behind, every delay means we messed everything up, and every season that doesn’t go according to plan means we’re failing at life. But life doesn’t actually work that way. Sometimes you miss the exit. Sometimes you take the long way around. Sometimes you end up somewhere you never planned to go at all. And yet, life keeps moving. You adjust. You learn. You pivot. You recalculate. I think so many of us spend way too much time beating ourselves up for decisions we made in hard seasons, moments where we were overwhelmed, or times when we simply didn’t know better yet. We replay old choices in our mind...

There’s a conversation happening right now around protein, muscle, aging, and midlife women… and honestly, it’s one we should have been having years ago. Because somewhere along the way, many women were taught that eating less was healthy. Less food. Less protein. Smaller portions. More cardio. Less strength. And now, many women hit their 40s and 50s wondering why they feel tired, weak, achy, inflamed, or why their metabolism suddenly feels different. The truth is, muscle matters more in midlife than ever before. And one thing I personally added into my routine that has made a noticeable difference is essential amino acids. I take Kion Essential Aminos daily, and after listening to this podcast recently, I knew I had to talk about it more. This podcast episode explains so much of what women (well everyone) have been missing when it comes to protein and muscle health in midlife: 522: The Protein Lie Midlife Women Have Been Told (And What to Do Instead) So… What Are...

  I heard this the other day, and it stopped me in my tracks because it is so true. We live in a world now where pharmaceuticals can make you “skinny.” But here’s the problem, skinny should not be the goal. Strong should be the goal. Because if you’re not using things like GLP-1s the right way, yes, you will lose weight…but you won’t just lose fat. You’ll lose muscle too. And as a woman, that is the last thing you want. Seeing a lower number on the scale should never be the end goal. Getting stronger should be. I will say it until I’m blue in the face, there is a huge difference between being skinny and being healthy. I know dozens of people on GLP-1s (and let’s be honest, some won’t even admit it), and only one or two are actually doing it right. That should concern you. Doing it “right” means you are still eating enough calories so you don’t wreck your metabolism long term. It means prioritizing protein so you can maintain and ideally build muscle. And it absolutely means lifti...

There comes a point in adulthood when you realize something most people never say out loud: Reinvention isn’t just for the young. People start over at forty. At fifty. At sixty and beyond. But here’s the part no one talks about…Most people don’t. Not because they can’t. Because they won’t. They stay in relationships longer than they should, romantic and friendships because it’s familiar. They stay in jobs they don’t even like anymore because it’s comfortable. They convince themselves that this is just how life is now. But deep down? They know it’s not. They feel it every time something doesn’t sit right. Every time they think, “There has to be more than this.” And then comes the fear. The unknown. The “what if I regret it?” The “what if it doesn’t work?” So, they stay. But I’ve never really lived my life that way. I still remember being in high school and having to write a paper on a poem. And if you know me, you know… poetry was not my thing. Somehow it came up ...

  There’s a point in midlife where you realize…it’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what actually works. Because most women I talk to aren’t lacking effort. They’re overwhelmed, tired, and trying to fix everything at once. And that never works. So, if I woke up tomorrow and just wanted to feel better, more energy, more clear-headed, more like myself, these are the five things I’d go back to immediately. Not complicated. Not extreme. Just effective.   1. I’d eat protein first, every single day. Before I worried about calories, carbs, or anything else… I’d focus on protein. Because protein stabilizes your blood sugar, supports your metabolism, helps with muscle, and honestly, it keeps you full and thinking clearly. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about intention. Start your day with it. Build your meals around it. It changes more than you think. Shoot for one gram per pound of your body weight. For example, if you are 150 lbs shoot for 150g of pr...