Welcome to mind and body education and mastery!

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Want to learn about why you may be at risk for diabetes, why you store extra weight, why you crave certain foods, or why you overeat or over drink? Learn about your mind and body in an entertaining, practical and easily-understandable format by browsing the collections below.

What are insulin resistance and diabetes, and how do you reverse them?

How and why do you store body fat, and how do you decrease how much fat you store?

What are urges, cravings and habits and how do you stop them?

What is emotional eating, and how do you stop doing it?

How does sugar and alcohol addiction happen, and how do you get over it?

Scroll through the posts to see what catches your eye!

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All Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Backyard Chickens!

What do backyard chickens have to do with you? Read more to find out!

Wait, what?

What to backyard chickens have to do with anything I’d be remotely interested in reading about?

Want to find out? It might surprise you! And no, you don’t need to start a backyard farm…

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Cholesterol! The Good, The Bad, The Truth

What is “cholesterol” exactly? And how does it interact with heart disease risk?

I've been thinking about cholesterol and heart disease lately.

One thing I appreciate about my own journey is that I've been able to separate my weight from my health. You can be overweight and healthy, and slender and unhealthy.

A much stronger and more sustainable motivator for a healthy lifestyle is better health, not how much you weigh or what you look like!

I am a normal weight and have been for several years. I have a pretty healthy diet most of the time. The way I live is not "perfect" from a disease-fighting perspective, but it is sustainable, and that's far more important than perfection.

And I have heart disease. Will I change anything in my diet? Nope. And I'll tell you why.

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All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Protein!

What’s up with protein? How much do you need? What are the risks? What does protein do for you?

We have all heard about body builders and other elite athletes needing more protein to build those amazing muscles.

But how about the rest of us?

And how much do you need? Are there any risks? Other than muscle growth, what else does protein do?

Want to read all about it?

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Herbs and Spices!

Did you know some of the very herbs and spices you cook with can lower your blood sugar?

Did you know they can lower blood sugar?

And do so much more? And you do NOT need to buy supplements for these benefits. Just eat good food!

Want to learn more?

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All, Weight Loss, Sugar, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Sugar, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Bread!

Do you love bread? Does bread love you? It all depends on what you choose!

Do you love bread?

I sure do! Does bread love you? That all depends on what type you choose! It might just surprise you to learn which are best and why!

Want to read more?

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Intermittent Fasting Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Intermittent Fasting Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Coffee!

Did you know coffee has fiber in it? And polyphenols? And that you have gut bacteria that thrive on coffee?

Did you know coffee has fiber in it?

Or that it is full of polyphenols? Or that you have tiny bacterial organisms in your GI tract that specifically thrive on coffee?

Want to read all about it?

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All, Weight Loss, Emotional Eating, Overdrinking Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Emotional Eating, Overdrinking Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Be the Watcher

How do you become the watcher of your own thoughts? Why does that even matter? How do you learn to do it?

No matter how you describe your perceived difficulty staying away from certain highly palatable food (usually combinations of flour and sugar, or just flour, or just sugar, or sugar and fat, or fat and salt – did I peg yours in there? I’ll bet I did), the “reason” you can’t stop eating them is actually very simple: you have “train tracks” built that lead you to those foods.

And you can become the watcher of those train tracks, and by watching you gain awareness, and by gaining awareness you can then harness the ability to change your actions.

Want to read more?

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Apple Cider Vinegar

What does the research say about Apple Cider Vinegar as it relates to weight loss and blood sugar control?

What does this picture of a horse have to do with Apple Cider Vinegar?

Because it’s a crazy face!

In all seriousness, what does the data really tell us about Apple Cider Vinegar for weight loss and blood sugar control?

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All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Anticipation!

How can you leverage the concept of anticipation to enhance lifestyle change?

Have you ever noticed how great you feel when you are happily anticipating something you enjoy?

Not only does anticipation affect you in wonderful ways psychologically, it also affects your neurology!

How does this relate to sustainable healthier lifestyle change?

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

What is the Glycemic Load?

What is the “Glycemic Load” and why does it matter? This article might be surprising!

It is helpful to understand this term, “Glycemic Load,” even though in no way do I ever recommend doing complicated food math on the food you are deciding to eat!

But understanding the physiology of our interactions with food IS useful.

Want to read more?

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All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

The Easy Way Fails the Happiness Test

Taking the easy way fails to improve happiness! This may not be news to you if you have ever accomplished a goal and given yourself a high five in the mirror!

I made cupcakes to look like they were store bought, and I gave myself an entire afternoon of pleasure!

Say what? Yup. I chose to make cupcakes that look store bought instead of buying cupcakes from the store because it made me happier. And you know why it made me happier? Because it was harder to do! There is real science behind this.

Want to read more?

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All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Emotional Eating, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Diabetes, Emotional Eating, Sugar Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Intuitive Eating

Why can’t pretty much all of us eat intuitively? There are a lot of reasons!

When I first heard about eating intuitively, I had high hopes that there was some secret that I could learn that would suddenly help me tap into my innate ability to eat when hungry, stop when full, and follow my body’s natural cues to choose healthy foods.

Boy did this NOT work for me! And I am not alone.

Want to read more about why this fails? And what we can do about it?

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Survival by FAT!!

Survival by FAT! This answers those confusing questions about why we gain weight so incredibly easily! And how to reverse that scenario!

How do humans, just like bears, turn on the emergency fat storage systems?

And why are most humans in the US always in this emergency mode when bears are not?

Prepare to have your mind blown when you read all about it.

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All, Weight Loss, Urges & Cravings & Habits, Emotional Eating, Sugar, Overdrinking Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC All, Weight Loss, Urges & Cravings & Habits, Emotional Eating, Sugar, Overdrinking Sarah Aitken, RN, MS, WHNP/FNP, NBC-HWC

Are you the lucky one?

Have you ever felt that if you were “scared straight” you could quit all kinds of habits?

One of my clients recently said he “wished he would have a heart attack” so he would finally take his health seriously. He wanted to be “scared straight.”

Does this approach work?

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