Here are Seven Satisfying Food Tips to help you get back on track in the new year. Try these tips for the month of January. Maybe start slow by adding a couple tips over the next few days and then add more. Take charge of what you eat and enjoy every bite!

1. Eat more vegetables and with every meal including breakfast. Heavy on the leafy and green vegetables. Make friends with broccoli and spinach. Limit carrots, beets and corn (actually a starch).
2. Eat more protein. Get creative with the chicken. Use spices. Ground turkey is good with taco seasoning in it. If you like fish, stick to white fish and albacore white tuna (packed in water). No-fat cottage cheese counts as protein! It is so good mixed with fresh green and red peppers, fresh pineapple chunks and blueberries. Give it a chance. It’s the kind of friend that grows on you after a while.  
3. Drink lots of water. Try drinking 16 ounces before your coffee in the morning and before each meal. Not a big water gal? Start by buying a new fantastic water bottle that speaks love to your heart! Aim for one of these options daily: Option 1 = 64 ounces, Option 2 = 72 ounces, Option 3 = between 72 and 108 ounces. Yes, I know that last option goes up to one gallon.
4. Plan one average sized dessert a week. Other than that, limit or remove sugar. This alone will bless your heart.
5. Remove all artificial sweeteners from your diet.
6. Eat fruit but limit fruit juices. Limit bananas. Consider one serving to be about three inches of the whole banana.
7. Limit fats and dairy. Dairy is that friend that you will need to take a little time away from after the holidays. Dairy is hard to process and stores itself in the most unwelcome places. But do eat a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. Eat some avocado too. And olive oil with cracked pepper is great for grilling vegetables and meat.

Bonus!!! Please eat some bread. Try whole grain breads. I like the brand “Dave’s” which has a nice amount of protein in it, filling the belly in a good way. Eat rice (white and brown) and quinoa! Mix rice and quinoa together if you’re not a big fan of quinoa. Eat your potatoes and eat sweet potatoes. Just watch the portion size of the potato. Eye ball it. You should be able to hold it in the palm of your hand. A great treat is a sweet potato with honey and cinnamon on top. You don’t need the sugar. You are sweet without it!
Easy Steps to Success

• Make a grocery list (don’t forget to include the Bliss Ball ingredients). Stock up on the items listed that you enjoy eating.
• Shop (don’t forget the fancy new water bottle).
• Come home and prepare enough food for the next 3-5 days. Turn music on or listen to an inspirational book on tape while you prepare the food. Cook meats, rice/quinoa and potatoes. Clean and cut vegetables. Wash the fruit and leave it out on the table. Make the Bliss Balls.
• Add a new exercise to your healthy eating practices. Adding just 10 minutes of exercise twice a day will make a difference.
• You are ready for success in re-setting your metabolism.

Dominate the day or it will dominate you!

Krunching Kris Kringle (pictured above) was gifted to me a couple Christmas’s ago. The gift-giver knows me well. She knows that I love the exercise ball. She knows that this little ornament will speak love to my heart. What a sweet little gift. Thank you Jen! It’s one of my favorite tree ornaments. I smile every time I see it.

​God the Father gave us the perfect Christmas gift through Jesus Christ His Son. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Penny

So if you're tired of the same old story, 
Oh, turn some pages
I will be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes, yeah, yeah  
              Keep On Rolling -- REO Speedwagon 1978

Oh my goodness! I am loving my professional soft roller. Learning to work with a roller especially for relaxation and self-massage has been an amazing journey for me so far. I’ve been able to address (like never before) the constant pain I have in my neck and shoulder which knots up, holds tension and messes with my posture and alignment. It’s a stubborn overworked and stressed out upper trapezius muscle that started to go awry after the birth of my 17 year old. Seventeen years ago, I twisted funny to lift him and found myself in a neck brace for months, and the little booger (the trapezius muscle, not my son!) continues to plague me. But now, Oh! The satisfaction of using the roller to push into and break up that knotted muscle, while releasing the tight and tense fibers through gentle rocking motions has me “Oo’ing” and “Ah’ing”!  I found that the roller unlike any other tool for stretching (including the exercise ball which, if you’ve taken “On the Ball!”, you know I absolutely love) breaks up knots and surrounding tissues in order to heal stubborn areas of pain.  I actually went through one whole day this week without feeling any aches or pains. That is a first for me. I also learned a position on the roller which when done for about a minute or two totally relaxes my body. Last time I did it I fell asleep on it. I’m very happy to be on this roller adventure.

My husband has long suffered periodic back and shoulder pain. He tried one of my new roller discoveries. Although reluctant to admit it, he is finding relief. I know because he keeps going to the wall with the roller to work out his pain. Why is he reluctant to admit it? He lives with me! I have put that poor man through so much. I experiment on him all the time. He has to suffer all the contraptions I pull out to fix whatever ails him and to try it before I use it on my students. He’s a great sport and we all can thank him that he allows me to practice on him. Unfortunately the last time I practiced on him he could hardly walk for a week. Now the roller is helping him heal up from that experience.

Here’s one more reason to love the roller. My students love it! One of my “One-On-One” Personal Training students has a goal to de-stress. She is a 24 hour round the clock care-giver in her own home. She needs ways at home to relax her mind and body. Being very in tune to the complexities of the connection of mind and body and the importance of this connection for healthy daily living she embraced the roller with me. We used the roller to find neutral spine for relaxation, to massage through arms and wrists to help with tennis elbow, to roll through the foot to help with plantar fasciitis and to stretch out tight hip flexors. And she was able to relax and roll. Her response has been emphatic! “I love the roller!” Used by permission, Thanks Margaret!

​Friends, I’m enjoying the roller so much. It’s fun to explore. I’m not at a stage of life where I get to travel much. My heart longs for Italy, France, Scotland . . .  I don’t know if I’ll ever get to any of those places. But I’m going places with my roller. I’m on a rolling road exploring my own connections between my body and my mind. I’m learning the language of self-massage, relaxation and Pilates for strengthening as I roll along. The travel gear is light because the roller is all that is needed. The carry-on bag consists of yoga socks and a hair band. I’ll admit feeling a little out of my comfort zone when I roll my body out on a new place, but I’m trusting my instincts and finding comfort. I’m pleased to encourage my students to new experiences and their personal benefits as they use the roller too. It’s a beautiful journey. Come with us! Let’s get “On a Roll!”