Happy Monday, and Happy Labor Day, friends! Hopefully, most of you have the day off today to honor your contributions to our country—and if you do, that means you have plenty of time to dive straight into our STEPtember programming and get your steps in today! 👟 8,000 - 10,000 steps a day!! Your iPhone will track under the Health app. TAKING ACTION: ✅ How are you spending the Labor Day holiday today? Share all the fun plans with us below! ✅ Comment STEPS if you’re ready for our challenge this month!

For many of us, it’s our favorite day of the week! 🙌 Here's the deal, however; like with anything else in life, we have to work first, then play. That means we all need to commit to crushing our nutrition. It's been said before and I will continue to challenge you on this topic - the weekend counts, friends. Regarding your average weekend habits, check out these compromised percentages: - Over-indulging on Saturday = 14% of your overall week - Over-indulging on Saturday and Sunday = 29% of your overall week - Over-indulging on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday = a whopping 43% of your overall week! Can you see why the weekend matters? Remember, your body is always tracking, even when you aren't. How do you decrease or prevent this pattern of behavior? Consuming ENOUGH of the RIGHT foods during the week! 💯 TAKING ACTION: - Did you realize weekends can account for up to 43% of your week? Is this an eye-opener for you? - What are your plans for this weekend?

🎉 One day down, nine days to go and I’m dying to know - How did you do yesterday?! I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again: Cooking at home is one of the best strategies for staying on track - - and especially this week! 💯 Having naturally sweetened treats on hand (that you’ve prepared beforehand) is an excellent way to set yourself up for success while you’re navigating the time it takes to change your brain and taste buds. You can’t always stop the craving from coming, but you can have a plan in place when it does come. 👏 So, I’ll ask you ➡️ What’s it worth to you? Is your success this week worth spending a couple of hours in the kitchen? When you have pre-made snacks on hand, you’re much less likely to grab snacks that are filled with processed sweeteners and ingredients. A little planning goes a long way, friends. And by a “little planning”, I mean like 30 minutes of your time. Everyone has 30 minutes of wasted time throughout the day in which you can set yourself up for success! Don’t believe you can whip up a healthy sugar-free recipe in just 30 minutes? Well, just check out this delicious and easy sugar-free date cookie recipe below! You can thank me later…😉 Sugar-Free Date Cookies Recipe (allrecipes.com) Tuesday Tip: Make up enough to last you for the rest of the week! One batch makes 18 cookies so consider this a sweet one-and-done recipe! 🍪 TAKING ACTION: - Have you prepared any sugar-free snacks already this week? Preparation is key, friends!  - Share your favorite move from today’s workout below! ⬇️

Here we go, friends! Today marks the first day of our SUGAR ELIMINATION challenge! You’ve been educated for the last few weeks and this week, I’m going to focus more on encouraging and motivating you. Eliminating processed sugar ain’t easy (especially if you regularly consume it), but I believe you can do anything you put your mind to! 🫶 What if you could burn more fat and reach your weight loss goals faster simply by reducing your processed/added sugar consumption? Would that motivate you? Well, you’re in luck! Reducing the amount of processed sugar in your diet will reduce the amount of insulin circulating in your body. Your body has an incredibly difficult time burning fat when there is too much insulin circulating. What this means for you is that if you can reduce your processed sugar intake, you can reduce your insulin levels. When you reduce your insulin levels, you can become a lean, mean, fat-burning machine! 🔥 And the best news is that you don’t have to drastically diet to reach your goals! If you’re used to eating sugar, this one change will improve your body’s ability to burn fat. Well, friend, NOW is the time. We’ve been learning all month and now is the time to buckle down. This week, the goal is to eliminate all forms of processed or added sugar. Your body is already well on its way to becoming a better fat burner and this week alone will ignite your progress! ➡️ Who’s ready to crush this week?! If you haven’t gone all in yet, don’t allow another week to pass. Commit to this week and make yourself proud! Remember, you aren’t going at this alone. We’re in this together! 🫶 Monday Education: You’ve heard the term “detoxing from sugar”, but technically speaking, you can’t detox from sugar. Our bodies and brains rely on some sugar (glucose) to survive; however, we will talk more about the sugars we don’t need (yet often consume too much of) this week. TAKING ACTION: - How are you feeling about this week? Are you ready? Share your thoughts below!  - Do you have some go-to foods on hand for when a craving hits?

All sugar is not created equal. 💯 You’ll be glad to know that you can still have sugar (insert sigh of relief 😉), but we’re going to focus MORE on natural sugars and LESS on processed/added sugar over the next few weeks. 👌 ✅ Natural sugar isn’t the problem, friends. Natural sugar can be found in fruit, honey and pure maple syrup. Our ancestors consumed natural sugar. While they certainly had their fair share of hard times, they weren’t riddled with the diseases we are today (that are caused by processed sugar). Of course, any sugar can be consumed in excess, but not many people overeat foods with natural sugar. 🚫 The problem arises when it comes to processed sugar/added sugars. These are the sugars that cause both physical and psychological cravings. Food manufacturers know this and they know if you crave it, you’ll buy it. When you buy it, they make more money…💲 ✅ Natural sugar is found in foods that also contain other healthy vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. Fiber and other nutrients can actually help your body process sugar more healthily! 🚫 Processed sugar/added sugar is stripped of these nutrients; therefore, you’re consuming empty calories because added sugars don’t offer your body any nutritional value - just calories. Processed sugar is also highly inflammatory and too much of it turns into fat. The overall point is that all sugar isn’t created equal. That’s why it’s important to know and be able to recognize the difference! 👌 Wednesday Wellness Thought: Did you know your brain actually needs sugar to survive? That’s right! But there’s one caveat - it needs NATURAL sugar to survive. The brain is the most energy-demanding organ and uses ½ of the sugar in your body for energy! 🤯 According to Vera Novak, MD, PhD, an HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, “The brain is dependent on sugar as its main fuel. It can not be without it.” This is great news for all you sugar lovers out there! We just gotta rewire our brains a little so they can learn to enjoy NATURAL sugar instead of processed sugar! 💯