Try these simple intentional food habits this season and soak in the mind-body benefits. Gratitude and mindfulness go hand in hand and, when you really focus on welcoming that feeling into your body, it can change your entire holiday experience. Try these mental shifts over the next few weeks and embrace a more meaningful and fulfilling holiday season. Be grateful for choosing what you eat. We get to select exactly what we put into our bodies. Our favorite foods are usually a grocery store trip or click away. That’s pretty amazing. Thank your food. What you eat meets your needs, nourishes yo ..read more

As we roll right into the final month of the year, we like to take a beat and slow down, really take stock and feel into what we’re grateful for. We’ll admit it hasn’t been the easiest year. We’ve gone through ups and downs, losses and grief, redesigns and reconfigurations. Through it all, sunny days and struggle days, we have felt the support of our dedicated and oh so kind Healthy Nest Nutrition clients. We know your journey has its momentum moments and halts, its highs and lows. We know weight management, food prep and planning, and doing what’s best for your mind and body can be downright ..read more

A Closer Look at Chronic Inflammation and Food It’s been researched over and over—some foods can make you feel better, and some worse. Better might mean good energy, less joint pain, a clearer head, more focus or more strength, or all of the above. One aspect of better/worse might be related to the amount of inflammation in the body. We know that certain foods produce more and certain foods reduce inflammation. It’s not that far to leap to say how you feel in your skin might sometimes be related to what you ate. Let’s take a closer look at inflammation: what foods cause more and what foods ca ..read more

Anti-inflammatory Mediterranean-style recipes we love. We are thrilled to turn on our ovens this week. Dinners have been refreshingly roasted. Flavors are rich, savory and a little heartier than what we’ve been eating for the last several months. And we’re still able to incorporate our favorite Mediterranean ingredients. All of the recipes below are one-pan meals. Easy to throw together, easy to clean up and SO worth the effort. They’re perfect for weekdays. Pick a couple and give them a try. Let us know what you think! Chicken RatatouilleModified from Ellie Krieger I Serves 4 I Calories 41 ..read more

Choosing progress over perfection. You know that negative inner talk or certain ways we bring ourselves down when our healthy eating goals or fitness expectation doesn’t go as planned? It’s real life. And it’s a part of working toward a goal. BUT we want to flip the script and focus on the positive: You made a plan. A roadmap of the day maps out and uses what we have in the fridge. Once you’ve spent mental energy and dollars on a plan, you are much more likely to follow it. Set positive boundaries for yourself — choose progress over perfection. Here’s how: The All or Nothing Mentality is St ..read more

Here’s how to get the most out of these nutrient-filled seasonal beauties. I’m seeing fruit that is big, beautiful and enticing at the farmers market this month. So many shades of deep, dark beautiful colors fill the entryway at our local grocery stores, it seems as if there is a convergence of fruits at their peak. Here’s what’s in season in Colorado late summer: Apricots Blackberries Cantaloupes Honeydew and other melons Nectarines Peaches Plums and pluots Raspberries But is Fruit Actually Good for You? Fruit in general is quite good for you, each providing different amounts of: Vitamin ..read more

Here’s how and what to grill this summer for balanced energy and weight loss. Grilling season is in full swing and we can’t get enough of it. Why turn on the stove or oven when you can be outside, creating fresh, fast clean-eating meals? Smarter Grilling Techniques Black lines: Grilling at high temps creates heterocyclic amines (HCAs) which appear as the black charring. They are bad for you (carcinogenic) and are created when you grill muscle meats: beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken and fish. This is because the amino acid creatine in the meats causes the HCAs. Gas over charcoal: For safety ..read more

Here’s what goes into these deconstructed snack-style dinner parties. With 534 million views on TikTok and LOTS of people talking about them, Girl Dinners are a thing right now. From what I can tell, these girlfriend get-togethers, book clubs and casual family dinners are constructed around snack-y platters of food eaten primarily with your fingers. What is a Girl Dinner?These meals seem to meet the following criteria: Served at the end of the day (dinner) Easy, fast throw-together, low-maintenance meals Snack-style platters containing enough food to constitute a meal Good for grazing, ful ..read more

The summer struggle is real. Chips and margaritas are everywhere. We’re traveling, out of our normal routines and taking on LOTS of extra activities — concerts, ballgames, camping weekends, patio get-togethers with friends, family, neighbors and anyone else you can pull off the street, it seems. Many think that summer is the easiest time to eat healthy. Veggies are fresh, farmer’s markets are plentiful, the crunch and texture and coolness of salads are welcomed. So why is it so hard to eat those salads, and NOT eat the convenience foods that creep up this time of year? We all start the summer ..read more

Summertime means lots of yummy salads — but, really, it’s all about the dressings! We’ve been throwing veggies together this week. It’s hot and we don’t want to linger in the kitchen, but we’re craving the wetness and crunch of raw veggies. Honestly, it helps get the dinner job done quickly — as long as you have a good dressing! A tasty, healthy salad dressing makes all the difference. We’ve been making these summer dressings on repeat. They’re beautifully colored, offer varying textures, and they’re simply delicious. Improve your salad dressing game with these inspired recipes: Lemon Vinaig ..read more