Memory engineering may not be a common thought passed around the health community. Still, it's the only factor that creates lasting change - at least in a positive way - as our memories are what create our beliefs, which become our thoughts and actions. Inside this podcast, you learn the importance of memory engineering and how to speak truth to create change. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/200

Have you ever asked, why can't I do what I know I should be doing? Why can't I do what is healthy? 

It's a frustration so many people have and it's what we're answering inside this podcast. Trust me, it's not as complex as you think it is - but a simple mindset shift that changes the entire biochemistry of your body. 

Dr. Alexander Loyd is on the show to talk about memory engineering and how we can become people who make the change that sticks. Living true to who you actually are. This show is MIND-BLOWING!

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/199

Fifth grade, it was the first encounter I had with my physical appearance. I had on jean shorts that had gotten a little snug over that year.  You could say I was early to blossom and I didn't quite know what to do or how to dress the new-found curves and extra pudge my legs have developed through the winter. 

It was our end of the year class party - at the swimming pool. The sun was beaming, and finally, the brisk chill of spring had left. Summer was here. I remember that morning, before the start of the last few days of my fifth-grade year - trying on my swimsuit. The one that too had grown a little snug for me. 

But I slipped it on, dressed and was giddy with excitement that finally it was our turn for the epic pool party that ended the last days of elementary school and welcomed us into middle school. 

As we walked to the pool that day, I remember giggling with my friends. Planning the next birthday party where we'd finally have a chance to finalize the dance routines we'd been making up. As we were walking, I started hearing one boy and then multiple boys, chanting, "thunder thighs." 

The words seemed to echo throughout the entire town. 

"Thunder thighs, thunder thighs, thunder thighs."
Followed by a massive roar of laughter. I turned, knowing exactly who they were speaking of - as I was one of the first and only to blossom in my class that year. They were directly talking about me! About my thighs that stuck out below my too-tight shorts.

I was mortified, holding back tears that stung my eyes. We hadn't even gotten to the pool, to reveal my full body in skin-tight spandex that has no mercy.

That moment changed me for life. It's etched in my brain and has carried me to my now 31-year old body. I doubt I'm alone - and I realize that few people can escape the negative stigma that comes with body appearance. The bar that is so hard to reach with far too many people falling short. But don't we try? 

Even today as I type these words, I can't say that my thighs bother me, but I would say it's one area that I'm most likely to not-like when I look in the mirror. I doubt it's me talking but that nasty-fifth grade boy that ruined the way I think about them.  But what do we do with this? 

How do we overcome body image issues and step into true body love - embracing the movement of body positivity? That's what I talk about inside today's podcast - the revival of the body positivity movement for what it's supposed to be. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/179

Sometimes, feeding my kids reminds me of that old saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink." Some days it's a challenge to get your kids to eat a single thing, let alone complain about it. Right?

But the truth is, eating healthy as a family can be easier than you think. As a mom myself, who believes the actual 'witching' hour in every home is between the hours of afterschool until supper, I'm always on the hunt for smart and easy food ideas my kids will love.

But how do you actually get them to eat it? This week on the podcast, I'm interviewing kitchen expert and mom who is on a mission to get kids more hands-on in the kitchen. Kiran Dodeja Smith runs the site Easy Real Food, and she is on a mission to help you find the love of real food for your family, and mealtime will no longer be a daily dread for you.

On today's podcast, I ask her how she transitioned her family to whole foods, complications she encountered, and how we can get kids more interested and active in the health world. Listen to the podcast to get more information on raising healthy eaters - and stick around to get my top favorite kid-friendly recipes. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/178

The food fight - you know the one. Where you make a healthy and delicious meal only for all of your children to turn their noses up at it and walk away complaining that you never make anything good. 

Just me? 

I didn't think so - this is the common battle between parents and children, what to eat, how much and when. Trust me, I know the frustration that kids eating patterns can be. One week they like it, the next they don't. One week they eat everything, the next week nothing. 

It's often unpredictable and somewhat uncharted territory. BUT, there are a few things as parents we can do to ensure we raise healthy eaters - and it probably isn't what you think. In fact, I think the best way to raise healthy eaters is to let go of the process in which we think it's going to take to get there. That process of forcing, depriving, and dominating over their food independence. 

Those are harsh words, I know but the food fight is a common and yet dangerous one I think we need to be aware of. Inside today's podcast, I share my ten tips for raising healthy eaters and why I think we should stop forcing our kids to clean their plates. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/177

Emotional healing has been taboo in our culture for most of history. Yet, I feel like there is an awakening of sorts, a revival happening that is desperately needed to change the course of history. That is mental health work, work I'm no stranger to. Today, I wanted to share 10 lessons I learned from my therapist that I thought might help you too.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/176

I feel a lot of things - in fact, I often tell my husband I wish I could feel less. The grip of emotions is strong in my life, but I've learned, it's not necessarily the emotion but the perception and what I do with that feeling. That's why I want to teach you the difference between emotions and feelings and how you can use it for your good.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/175

Forgiveness is something we all know we should do. We've been taught at a young age to forgive, but we rarely recognize that forgiveness isn't just to other people, but it's for ourselves. In this podcast, I question, have you forgiven yourself? 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/174

The highs and lows - we've all experienced them, male and female. Although, we'd argue that females have a more significant swing than most. But the challenging aspect of this topic is that our hormones can affect our mood and our emotions can affect our hormones. So what gives and how do you manage it all? 

Before we get into this topic, I think it's fair to state that we all deal with emotional swings. Don't feel like you're alone in this struggle - it happens because that's human nature. 

Today on the podcast, I want to address the hormonal implications of our mood and vice versa. But to fully understand how this happens, we need to be absolutely clear on what our hormones are. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/173

The in-between. Do you feel the pressure here, too? The questions, the doubts, the fear, the unknown, and yet the yearning to find the ending? The messy-middle is where I've found myself for the last five years. It's been painful, irritating, and downright debilitating at times. 

In this podcast, we talk about the messy middle and give you the perspective change that changed everything for me! Tune in to be amazed.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/172

Cravings are part of human nature. None of us escapes them and for a good reason. Cravings can be a catalyst for the growth of good things and the birth of new habits. 

The question is not should we trust our cravings, but how do we use our cravings for good? 

Inside today's podcast, we dive into the three forms of cravings, how you can learn to trust your cravings and use them for good. To crave healthy living.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/171

'This has to work." 

So many e-mails come through my inbox with pleas of help. Begging for answers in another system they're looking to sign up for. A part of me senses that they've already begun thinking "what if it doesn't work out? Playing the story out in their mind, attaching their last string to this one last thing. 

Funny, therapy for me was no different. Maybe I didn't voice the words, but I think we've all voiced them, at least in our head in times of desperate measures. We are clinging to hope in others, in solutions from systems and our prayers in programs. 

But have you ever stopped to think, what if therapy fails? 

Or is the possibility too grim? 

Today on the podcast, I interview a special guest, Lina Salazar. Lina shares her journey with failed therapy attempts, bad body image, disordered eating, and how she created sanity around food. She'll reveal how she learned to nourish her mind, body and soul.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/170

Is coffee making anxiety worse? It’s the question no one wants to ask, but deep down we wonder. How good is caffeine for us? Inside this short podcast episode, I break down what coffee {caffeine} is doing to our anxiety and how we can fix the problems that may exist.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/169

The Merriam-Webster diction defines health in four ways:

"the condition of being sound in body, mind or spirit."

"freedom from physical disease or pain."

"the general conidtion of the body"

"a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well": wellbeing"

They're all similar and yet I question how different each one is as well. But isn't that just it with health - how differently we can define one word? Like the word color, where there could be a million different variations of different colors, and yet it's all summed up into color.

I think of health the same way - there are a lot of different variations to being healthy - but yet health is defined by you. 

Now we could get all political or scientific and we have - but then again where has that gotten us? Instead, I question maybe we're all more right, more healthy, more on to it than we've ever believed we are. That instead of focusing so much on "fixing" what isn't necessarily broken we fill what is just empty?

Inside today's podcast, I give you an honest and vulnerable take on my health journey and what I believe to be a better definition of what health is and how you get there.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/168

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/167

Anxiety, fear, worry could all be clumped into unease. We know when we're feeling it, and it tends to leak out in every area of our life. But without looking closely, it's hard to identify other than being a  big mess of unidentified feelings. But today, we're ending that, calling anxiety by name and learning how to stop an anxiety spiral with expert Alli Worthington.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/166

Research is mounting for the health benefits of positive thinking. From enhancing your mood, reducing anxiety and depression, lessening pain, and even helping your body to heal - the power of the mind is monumental. But there is a reason to believe that positive thinking isn't enough. That you need more than just a mind change - you need action. Learn why positive action makes all the difference.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/165

You've changed your mind, and you're starting to see more good than bad. But yet you seem to keep stumbling around with change. You find yourself repeating the same bad habits. Inside this podcast, you'll learn why it's so hard to change even with a positive mind. And how to implement change that lasts with Dr. Nicole Avena.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/164

Anxiety isn't something you can think yourself out of. It pulls you in and makes you get stuck inside your head. But if you can learn how anxiety works, what it feasts on, then you can start to regain power over your anxiety.  This power comes from creating a battle plan for anxiety. Learn how to make your own battle plan inside this podcast.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/163

Anxiety is an overwhelming thing. Sometimes sucking you so far into fear it's hard to imagine another way. But that's exactly what anxiety wants to do. It has a field day with whatever you feed it, and it wants to be fed something substantial. Something that gives it purpose in your brain. But today, I interview Hannah Brencher as she shares her story with anxiety and depression and how she learned to come through it. It’s the practical tips from someone who’s lived through it and is committed to continuing to fight it.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/162

Before you do something, you've probably envisioned yourself doing it. Maybe unconsciously and sometimes consciously but in almost every experience, especially the new ones, your mind will naturally start writing a story using visualization. In this post, I share how you can use positive visualization to reach your goals through changing your brain chemistry resulting in a change of action.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/161

We all have a story, some good, others are great and sometimes not so great. But it's how you choose to use your story or transform that story that influences the course of your life. In this podcast, I interview Mike Foster of Fun Therapy as we dive into healing and owning your story to be used as your superpower.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/160

Self-care is a popular topic in our culture, but I question how satisfying self-care is. Has it become just another 'thing' you feel you need to do? Just another stress in your life? Today we're going to learn why you should reinvent self-care into soul care and why this gives self-care more value. It’s the personal approach to a fad topic.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/159

Nothing exists outside of our mind, body, and soul. It's who we are as living creatures and what drives us into action. Unfortunately, we can lose sight of one or more of these categories causing friction in our lives. In this episode, I interview Nicole Unice as we learn how to connect your mind, body, and soul into perfect harmony.

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/158

I remember reading books as a little girl, hearing stories about kids who kept journals. I never really understood it - definitely not something that fit into my personality. Not because I was necessarily out of touch with my emotions, but the act of writing seemed so daunting.

Let's say, writing was never a skill of mine, and it certainly wasn't one I had intentions of using. 

Funny how the tables have turned.

Now, I'm more passionate about journaling than ever. In fact, I have come to rely on it daily as a form of health. Today, I want to share just why journaling is one of the best tools in healing, in health, and how to get started. 

Inside today's podcast, I share the healing benefits of journaling, why its crucial to everyday life, and how to get started. 

Learn more: https://simplerootswellness.com/157