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We've all heard the claims that "soy is bad for you" or that "soy causes cancer" or that "men shouldn't eat soy because it mimics female hormones". Let's set the record straight once and for all with this definitive article, written by Susan Levin. My thanks to Susan for this excellent piece (and for contributing to my book, Vegan Vitality, a few years back)! Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., is director of nutrition education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting preventive medicine, especially better nutrition, and higher standards in research. As director of nutrition education for the Physicians Committee, Ms. Levin researches and writes about the connection between plant-based diets and a reduced risk of chronic diseases. Through her work, she also addresses the need for nutrition guidelines that reflect the benefits of plant-based dietary patterns. In addition, Ms. Levin assists in teaching nutrition and health classes to participants in clinical studies exploring the links between diet and various medical conditions. Ms. Levin received her Master of Science in Nutrition and her registered dietitian training at Bastyr University in Seattle. She also earned a specialty certification in sports dietetics from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Take it away, Susan! I’m not exactly sure how soy got its bad rap. It’s one of those nutrition mysteries, like when protein became an elusive, hard-to-find nutrient or when milk became synonymous with bone health. I guess hammering away at untruths for long enough can actually be effective. I could insert an allusion to U.S. elections here, but I’ll refrain(-ish). Regardless of how the misinformation started or even how it was spread, the evidence does not support reason to fear soy products. So let’s break it down by categories and follow the trail of science. Cancer Let’s start with one of the biggest misconceptions – soy products increase your risk for cancer, specifically breast cancer. Soybeans and many other foods contain isoflavones, natural compounds whose chemical structure is vaguely similar to estrogens. Some people have called these compounds “phytoestrogens” (“phyto” comes from the Greek word for “plant”). In 2008, researchers combined the results of eight prior studies on the relationship between soy products and breast cancer, finding that women who had the most soy—in the form of soy milk, tofu, etc.—were 29 percent less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with women who ate little or no soy products.[1] In 2014, researchers looked again, this time combining the results of 35 prior studies. Again, soy had a preventive effect, cutting breast cancer risk by 41 percent.[2] So soy products appear to reduce the likelihood that breast cancer will strike. But what about women who have had cancer already? Some women who have been treated for breast cancer avoid soy products, on the theory that soybeans contain estrogens that can make cancer grow. However, in 2012, researchers analyzed the results from 9,514 breast cancer survivors. It turned out that women consuming the most soy products had roughly 30 percent less likelihood that their cancer would recur, compared with women who consumed little or no soy.[3] Male Hormones Soy products have no adverse effects on men and may help prevent cancer in men. A meta-analysis based on more than 50 treatment groups, showed that neither soy products nor isoflavone supplements from soy affect testosterone levels in men.[4] An analysis of 14 studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that increased intake of soy resulted in a 26 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk.[5] Researchers found a 30 percent risk reduction with nonfermented soy products such as soymilk and tofu. Thyroid Health Clinical studies show that soy products do not cause hypothyroidism.[6] However, soy isoflavones may take up some of the iodine that the body would normally use to make thyroid hormone.[7] The same is true of fiber supplements and some medications. In theory, then, people who consume soy might need slightly more iodine in their diets. Soy products can also reduce the absorption of medicines used to treat hypothyroidism.[6] People who use these medicines should check with their health care providers to see if their doses need to be adjusted. Summary Soy products are in no way essential. They are very handy for replacing meat, milk, and many other foods, and, if anything, soy products reduce the risk that cancer will ever start and, in women who have been treated for breast cancer already, reduce the risk that cancer will come back. They do not appear to have adverse effects on the thyroid gland, but may reduce the absorption of thyroid medications. The benefits of soy products appear to relate to traditional soy products, not to concentrated soy proteins. To read more about soy and its benefits, including for bone and heart health, click here. References 1. Wu AH, Yu, MC, Tseng CC, Pike MC. Epidemiology of soy exposures and breast cancer risk. Br J Cancer. 2008;98(1):9-14. 2. Chen M, Rao Y, Zheng Y, et al. Association between soy isoflavone intake and breast cancer risk for pre- and post-menopausal women: a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. PLoS One. 2014;9(2):e89288. 3. Nechuta SJ, Caan BJ, Chen WY, et al. Soy food intake after diagnosis of breast cancer and survival: an in-depth analysis of combined evidence from cohort studies of US and Chinese women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;96(1):123-132. 4. Hamilton-Reeves JM, Vazquez G, Duval SJ, Phipps WR, Kurzer MS, Messina MJ. Clinical studies show no effects of soy protein or isoflavones on reproductive hormones in men: results of a meta-analysis. Fertil Steril. 2010;94:997-1007. 5. Yan L, Spitznagel EL. Soy consumption and prostate cancer risk in men: a revisit of a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1155-1163. 6. Messina M, Redmond G. Effects of soy protein and soybean isoflavones on thyroid function in healthy adults and hypothyroid patients: a review of the relevant literature. Thyroid. 2006;16:249-258. 7. Divi RL, Chang HC, Doerge DR. Anti-thyroid isoflavones from soybean: isolation, characterization, and mechanisms of action. Biochem Pharmacol. 1997;54:1087-1096. Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time.

Most people who make New Year’s resolutions don’t keep them. Many of us start working toward our goals but fizzle out within a few weeks, and other goals are never even attempted. This year, don’t just ditch New Year’s resolutions - ditch goals altogether - and you’ll get better results. Here’s why. Goals are not necessary in order to achieve something. Sure, they may provide structure to your life and motivate you for the short term, but they often don’t lead to lasting behaviour change and amazing results. You don’t need goals to do awesome things in life. We’ve been conditioned to set and work toward goals as if that’s the only track to success. It’s not. For the best results, success, and contentment with your life, you need to commit to habits and processes, not goals. Here are four problems with goals and how you can solve them by committing to habits instead. 1. Goals reduce the happiness you feel right now. When you’re working toward a goal, you’re essentially saying, “I’ll be happy as soon as I achieve X.” Then once X is achieved, you immediately move on to the next goal. What about being content with where you’re at now, or at least enjoying working on day-to-day habits? Why habits are better: You’ll learn to love the daily habits and processes involved in achieving something great. Instead of being motivated by potential happiness in the future, you’ll be motivated by the enjoyment you get from consistent habits now. 2. When we don’t achieve a certain goal, we feel bad about ourselves, even if we’ve made immense progress in whatever we’re trying to achieve. Our goals are typically quite arbitrary, or perhaps based on someone else’s performance (which may or may not apply to us). Why habits are better: Instead of obsessing about a particular outcome, focusing on habits will make your daily practice enjoyable, while still getting you amazing results. 3. Goals are limiting. Goals are made with the assumption that we can predict the future, by trying to figure out where we’ll be and when. Obviously we have no idea what situations will come up along the way. Goals not only shut us off from other opportunities worth pursuing that may come along, but they can also force us into behaviour patterns we no longer feel passionate about. Why habits are better: Make it a habit to check in with yourself regularly so you can keep track of how you’re doing, without the unnecessary pressure of predicting what will happen in the future. Ask yourself what’s working, which habits need tweaking, which ones you need to let go of, or which habits you’d like to add. Habits are easy to tweak: say you’re no longer interested in working toward increasing your bench press, but you still want to work on your fitness. All you need to do is switch the three-times-a-week bench press habit you’ve created to something else, like squats or core training. The habit of working on your fitness has already been built. 4. Goals can be overwhelming. “Write a book” or “lose 30 pounds” can seem too daunting to even try. And when we do try to work toward a lofty goal, we often start out working so hard and so intensely that we give up within a few weeks. Why habits are better: “Write one page a day” or “walk 15 minutes per day” sounds (and is) much more manageable than “write a book” or “lose 30 pounds”. You’ll still get results – probably even better ones than if you’d committed to an abstract goal instead of a habit or process - minus the stress and overwhelm. So, what habits are you committing to in the coming year? Three gym workouts per week? Starting every morning with 5 minutes of meditation? Adding greens to your post-workout smoothies? Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less. Let me know what you’re committing to in the coming year! I’d love to hear from you.

We’ve all heard of “cleanses” or “detox” diets. Maybe you’ve even tried one (or a few). Many people think that a good way to kickstart a healthy lifestyle change is to do a cleanse. Others look to cleanses for weight loss, increased energy, or to rid their bodies of toxins. Unfortunately, “cleansing” or “detoxing” is based on a misunderstanding of human physiology. One of the best ways to find out whether a certain concept in the health and fitness field has any validity is to look up peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic. Peer-review is a process whereby a panel of professionals evaluates research to ensure it was conducted well and is up to professional standards. Scientific journals are specialized publications in which researchers publish findings from their studies. So, we’re not talking about websites written by hobbyists, or even books written by PhD’s. If there is no – or limited – good quality published research from clinical studies to support a certain claim, you can be pretty sure it’s B.S., or you’re ahead of the game and your topic hasn’t been researched yet, but that’s unlikely. Google Scholar is a great resource for finding peer-reviewed journal articles. In the case of dietary cleanses, which have been around for a long time, extensive research has been conducted. And guess what? Not only is there no evidence that detox diets actually do anything beneficial, but there’s also no evidence to support the very basis of detoxing. Detoxing is based on a misunderstanding of how our bodies work. And, ironically enough, going on a detox diet can actually increase toxins in our bodies. Of course, nobody actually ever defines what a “toxin” is. Melanie Hackett, who has a B.Sc. in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (and a whole host of other health-related certifications, and also happens to be my sister) is here to share her expertise and to set the record straight on so-called “cleanses” or “detox diets”. Importantly, she has a specific definition of a toxic effect in the body caused by detox cleanses. Let’s turn things over to her! If you are interested in health you have probably heard of “cleansing” diets aimed at ridding your body of toxins by reducing what you consume to a very limited selection of healthy products for two or three weeks. Unfortunately, our physiology is not nearly that straightforward, and these diets simply don’t do what they are intended for. In fact, more toxins are created during these diets! Of course, there are many different types of detox diets. Like all fad diets, most of these are merely a tool for companies to earn money off unwary consumers and aren’t based on science at all. Even my mother, a very health-conscious and active 61-year-old who generally looks for the science, used to do annual “cleansing” diets consuming nothing but elderberry juice for several weeks in an attempt to “flush away” toxins. I will focus on these types of “cleanses”. In a normal human body with a healthy diet where caloric intake equals caloric expenditure, blood sugar levels are well regulated by two hormones: insulin and glucagon. Insulin, released by the pancreas after a meal, takes the blood glucose and helps it enter all body cells where it can be used as energy for all cell function. Extra glucose combines forming a substance called glycogen, which gets stored in muscle and the liver. These stores are crucial for maintaining blood glucose levels. They can be completely depleted after only a couple of hours of exercise at a heart rate 80% of your maximum heart rate, and do not build back up unless a diet high in carbohydrates (fruits, veggies, quinoa, rice, whole grain bread, etc.) is eaten. These stores can also be depleted within a couple days of consuming much less than you are expending, or not having a diet consisting of about 60% carbohydrates. When glycogen runs out, fatty acids and proteins are broken down instead in the liver. The by-products of this process are three types of ketone bodies, two of which the heart and brain use. The third is a waste product stressing the kidneys. Ketones also lower the pH of the blood. To correct this acidic blood, the respiratory system starts to hyperventilate to expel more carbon dioxide. In the blood, carbon dioxide combines with water and forms bicarbonate and a hydrogen ion (the latter makes the blood more acidic). If there is less carbon dioxide available, fewer hydrogen ions will be produced. However, less carbon dioxide also means less stimulus for breathing, and in extreme cases this can be fatal. Excess ketones and the physiological effect they have can be considered toxic in the human body. These effects are pretty much identical to what happens both during starvation and during a diabetic coma when a diabetic’s blood sugar is extremely high because they lack insulin to help shuttle the sugar from the blood to the starved cells. This is also what happens during the Atkin’s diet, one that should only be tried in morbidly obese people who are at alarming risk of fatality if they don’t lose weight. In general, if a diet is not healthy or is impossible to maintain permanently, it probably should not be done at all. Additionally, the net breakdown of proteins to provide energy (either in a high protein diet or when the body is starved of carbs) causes a negative nitrogen balance, and taxes the liver, which tries to rid itself of the nitrogenous waste products that are produced. The immune system is weakened, and the levels of cortisol, our long-term stress hormone, may increase, further weakening the immune system. The physiological effects discussed above merely state what toxins build up in the body and the negative effect on health during “detox” diets. This doesn’t take into account the nutrient deficiencies that can occur during such limited diets, which have a cascade of harmful effects in the body. Of course, some cleansing diets instruct you to eat lots of dark green veggies, a variety of plant-based foods, limited processed foods, legumes and nuts instead of meat and a healthy caloric intake for you. To me, this sounds like a diet that might as well be maintained permanently. Melanie Hackett B.Sc. Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology Certificate in Health and Fitness Studies Certificate in Human Nutrition The article above appears in my book Vegan Vitality. Check it out for more than 100 easy recipes made for active vegans, interviews with vegan athletes, daily living tips, and more. Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time.

One of my clients recently asked me, “How do I navigate pre- and post-workout nutrition on a plant-based diet without adding too many extra calories into my day?" Here’s my answer: Once you’ve built a foundation of healthy, mostly whole foods eating, you can start thinking about specific pre- and post-workout nutrition needs. Master the basics, then start thinking about the details. Pre- and post-workout nutrition changes depending on the type of workout you’re doing (and regardless of whether you’re plant-based). For a cardio workout, focus on getting some healthy complex carbs an hour or so before your workout (I have oatmeal every morning before training), plus a bit of easy-to-digest protein, like soy yogurt or hemp hearts. After cardio, replenish with a meal or snack that includes both protein and carbs (e.g. apple slices with nut butter, almond yogurt with low-sugar granola, banana with a handful of nuts). For resistance workouts, focus on protein. Protein is the building block of muscle! Before strength training, you want to get both carbs and protein, like before a cardio workout. This ensures you’ll have enough energy to get through your training session. After strength training, you’ll want to focus on good quality protein, plus carbs. It can be as simple as a PB&J on whole wheat! Or how about a smoothie made with protein powder, non-dairy milk (e.g almond, flax, hemp, soy), and fruit? Pre- and post-workout nutrition don’t necessarily add calories to your diet. If you time your meals right, you don’t really need to make any calorie changes at all. For example, I have oatmeal every morning and work out an hour later. Right after my workout I’ll have a second breakfast (usually flax waffles with peanut butter plus a fruit/hemp heart/flax seed/chia seed smoothie). I’d be eating these meals anyway, I just happen to time them around my workouts. Need a friendly kick in the ass to nail your nutrition and fitness goals? Wanna show the world what plant-based athleticism is all about? Check out my award-winning coaching programs. Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less.

In order to reach your fitness goals – and to give a shit about your fitness in general – you need to NOT give a shit about what others think. Yes, we all know it’s important to have a support network rooting for us and helping us to make healthy choices, but very often in our daily lives it’s necessary to go against the grain and be a Lone Wolf in order to achieve our goals. In my work with clients over the years, the ones who constantly give a shit what others think are less likely to achieve their health and fitness goals compared to those who don’t. In our society, it’s normal to be over-fat (that doesn’t mean it’s healthy, obviously). About 70% of North Americans are classified as overweight! Our culture caters to over-eating, under-nourishing, and leading extremely sedentary lifestyles. So, if you want to be lean, strong, and fit, and lead an active, healthy lifestyle, you need to do something different from what the average person does. You need to stop thinking about what “normal” or “expected” behaviours are, and do your own damn thing. Embrace being the Lone Wolf, and you’ll be the one getting health and fitness results while everyone else keeps doing the same ol’ and complaining they’re not getting anywhere. I went vegan 14 years ago, so I’ve had my fair share of practice being the Lone [herbivorous] Wolf. Back then, there were no all-vegan restaurants, social media groups, vegan certified food package labels, faux meats that actually tasted good, or any other vegans I knew of other than my best friend. I was constantly the Lone Wolf bringing my own food to events, and ordering off-menu items at restaurants. These days, my vegan lifestyle is a non-issue, especially living in an extremely veg-friendly city. I still do many fitness-related “non-normal” things of course, but most people chalk that up to being a fitness coach, doing this for a living, and having a gym as my workplace. This is why I’m turning things over to my esteemed clients. My clients know that not caring what others think is an important piece of the fitness puzzle. As strong, active, and healthy individuals, they go against the grain to achieve fitness goals so they can be non-“normal” (i.e. overweight and sedentary) like everyone else. Six of my clients shared with me their experiences in setting aside expectations and social norms in the name of reaching their health and fitness goals. I asked them, “What health behaviours (no matter how small) do you engage in that necessitate being non-self-conscious?” So, here are the ways my clients are nailing their fitness goals by not giving a shit what others think: Sylvia: ​- Carrying a huge cooler bag containing many ice packs every day to work with multiple meals in it. - Packing my cooler bag packed with shakes and prepared food to Las Vegas or Arizona when visiting so I have healthy choices available and not mini bar food. - Packing my full-size Vitamix to Hawaii for ten days on multiple occasions so I can make healthy snacks in the hotel room. - Being the only person carrying around a big cooler bag of food while attending all-day photography training events. Lugging it a hell of a long way to the rocks to take photographs on the beach when everyone else packs only their camera gear. I stand out for doing this but I do it anyway. Sam: - Going to work every day with a Samsonite trolley bag and having to answer “Are you going on a trip?” “Yeah, to the gym twice so I need 3 changes of clothes and all my gear with me at all times.” - Asking a girl out on a date but having to tell her it can only be an early dinner as I have to get up at 6am to work out. - Going to the movies with friends but leaving early because the movie is too long and I’d be late to my spin class. - Taking long lunch breaks but coming back with lunch in my hand because I went to the gym instead. - Choosing hotels based on how their gym is equipped. - Having all these and more at the office kitchen: Nutribullet blender, shaker cup, infusion bottle, protein powder. Getting stares while making smoothies while everyone else is loading up on carbonated drinks. Angelika: (<-- that’s my mom!): - I recently did yoga in the airport lounge while waiting for a connecting flight. Someone even approached me to ask whether I’m a yoga teacher! - Doing squats while in an hour-long passport renewal lineup with a book. Ashley: - I always take the stairs instead of the elevator at work. I often run into coworkers in the parking lot and they wait for the elevator instead of walking to the fourth floor with me. They give me strange looks every time but I take every opportunity to be active, and it's often faster! - Opting out of "fried chicken Fridays" (or whatever terrible takeout they order). I always bring my own lunch but for some reason they still act like I'm betraying the team by opting out. The best part is when they say, "Don't be such a stick in the mud; one meal won't make you fat." Tony: - Going on a multi-day sailing trip with a friend on our shared boat (sailing is non-stop physical work). Upon docking on a small Gulf Island, we didn’t crack open the beers like most people would. Instead, we immediately headed to the local gym for a strength workout! [Karina’s note: This badass client is 70 years young. And benches 200+ lbs.] Here are a few more Lone Wolf examples my clients have shared with me. Many of these have been mentioned by more than one client: - Leaving work parties early to work out, and to skip the drink-eat-drink cycle. - Drinking mineral water + lime at work/office functions instead of alcohol, even though the expectation is to have multiple drinks. - Ordering off-menu entrees at business meetings to better align with nutrition goals. - Doing sprints and walking lunges out on the street because the condo gym is too small. - Doing push-ups and squats at the office desk to break up long periods of sitting. - Jumping rope and running sprints while keeping an eye on the kids at the playground (instead of sitting on the sidelines like everyone else). - Planning hiking events with friends instead of the usual dinner and drinks. Some true Lone Wolf wise words from my client Kensi: “Even though having a support network is extremely important, very often we as fitness nuts will be the Lone Wolf and make decisions that run counter to what everyone else is doing - without support from friends or family. Once you realize that you are alone, your battle will be psychologically much easier. Lone Wolves know that when standing alone for something they want, their personal resolve gets stronger, and in turn forges the assertiveness to accomplish the goal. Understanding the Lone Wolf concept in itself becomes the motivator.” You alone are responsible for your actions. You’re not in this to please anyone but yourself, so you need to stop giving a shit what everyone else thinks. Just get out there and do what you need to do, and embrace being the Lone Wolf. Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time. Are you a Lone Wolf in need of some support? Get in touch; I'd love to hear from you!

We all know that if you’re serious about getting - and keeping - amazing fitness results, eating well and being active need to be a part of your DNA. That means creating a sustainable, enjoyable, regular practice for yourself that you do all year, every year, for the rest of your life. "I do the same exercises I did 50 years ago and they still work. I eat the same food I ate 50 years ago and it still works." - Arnold Schwarzenegger - Now, I realize that maintaining a picture-perfect exercise and nutrition routine all the time isn’t entirely realistic. Indeed, the people who succeed at reaching their health and fitness goals are pretty good most of the time, instead of 100% perfect some of the time. Major life events happen. Big unforeseen stresses may pop up. And sometimes you may actually want to take a short break - perhaps while on vacation. It sounds cliché – but if your own fitness isn't one of your absolute highest priorities in life, you're never going to make it a lifelong, sustainable practice, and you're never going to get the results you're after. There's no such thing as a "good" or a "better" time to start. Shit is always going to happen in our lives, and the only way to prevent said shit from derailing your fitness is by making it a top priority, now and forever. How you go about doing that is up to you. If you don’t build yourself an exercise and healthy eating lifestyle that can withstand everyday challenges and roadblocks, you’re not gonna get results. Period. Many of my clients are coming across extra challenges right now, with summer schedules, vacations, family events, and kids at home instead of in school. Many of them are finding it more challenging than usual to make time for fitness. Yes, it may be extra difficult right now - I get it - but these things are not excuses for taking a break completely from workouts for weeks at a time. So, What Would Karina Do?™ in various situations that seem designed to take us off course from our all-important fitness and healthy eating plans? CHALLENGE #1: Keeping up with fitness and healthy eating while on vacation. What Would Karina Do? I book only places that have full kitchens available, so I can make my own food. I use VRBO, HomeAway, and Airbnb when planning vacations, and very rarely stay in hotels (when I do, 80% of my luggage is food, and 20% is personal stuff). I pack my TRX, resistance bands, jump rope, swim gear, and running gear. I get my workouts done early in the mornings so I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. CHALLENGE #2: Going out for dinner with friends, or for work events. What Would Karina Do? I get restaurants to make me something off-menu if they don’t have what I want listed (I do this all the time as a vegan). Otherwise it’s pretty damn simple making healthy choices. Lean protein, salads, stir fries, healthy sides like edamame, etc. If you’re watching your portion sizes and you know what you’re ordering is going to be huge (ask first), get the staff to pack half your meal to go before they bring it to your table. CHALLENGE #3: Being invited out for drinks (it’s patio season, after all!) What Would Karina Do? I don’t drink, but if I did, I’d have one if it was something I enjoyed (it’s not). Note that I’d have one drink, not eight. I often order sparkling water (add whatever flavouring you want, like a lemon wedge) and as long as I have something to sip on, nobody seems to care. If your friends whine, guilt trip you, or otherwise make a big deal about your drinking-related choices, you need new friends. CHALLENGE #4: Having young kids at home from school during the summer with nobody to look after them, so you can’t make it to your personal training appointments. What Would Karina Do? I don’t have kids, but I don’t think that should prevent me from making some suggestions here. Several of my clients bring their kids to their training sessions if they have to. I’ve been known to carry around a client’s baby in a wearable carrier while my client works out. Older kids hang out and read or play iPad games while their parent trains (and often, the kids join us for part of the workout!) Teach your kids early that you need “me time” to work on yourself. You’ll be a better parent, and you’ll teach your kids about prioritizing fitness. Also, realize you don’t need to head to the gym to work out – especially if your gym doesn’t have childcare. Take the kids out to the park and do a bodyweight routine on the playground while they run around. Go for a run with your kid in a stroller. Use resistance bands and a TRX suspension trainer at home. CHALLENGE #5: "My kid is a picky eater and/or likes treats, so I end up eating all the junk he/she eats because it’s in the house." What Would Karina Do? I gotta say, this is the most bullshit of all excuses. Even people without kids use this one, about their partners/roommates/other people they live with! There is absolutely no reason your diet should be dictated by your kids (or anyone else, for that matter). Why are you teaching your kid(s) to eat crap you wouldn’t eat, anyway? If you absolutely can’t get your kids to enjoy the types of foods you'd like to eat, or make separate meals if you have to, remember that you don’t have to eat something just because it’s in the house. Read this awesome article for more on this topic. As the author, Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, writes, “Stop using your kids as an excuse to eat crap.” Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time.

Behold: cinnamon rolls, a selection of homemade dried fruits, coconut milk dark chocolate mousse, cherry sorbet, and Jamaican ginger beer. All vegan, all insanely delicious.​​ This weekend my husband and I had his mom, my parents, and my grandma (who's 95!) over for dinner. I made a ton of vegan shepherd's pie; we'll be eating it for days to come! Find the recipe in my book if you're interested. I also went a little nuts in the dessert department. Those who know me know that I'm obsessed with vegan desserts! (Indeed, I catered my own wedding, which was a giant dessert bar for 45 people.) Anyway, yesterday's dessert bar featured cinnamon rolls, a selection of homemade dried fruits, coconut milk dark chocolate mousse, cherry sorbet, and Jamaican ginger beer. These dishes all have their own unique flavours, but work together very well in a buffet-style setting. I'm sharing all five recipes so you can make your own badass dessert bar. Impress your non-vegan friends! Celebrate a special occasion! Make desserts just for the fun of it! Find everything you need below, in one big-ass repository of recipes. P.S. I'd love to see your creations! Hashtag #karinainkster on Instagram :-)​​ Vegan Cinnamon Rolls [Makes 1 dozen rolls] This is one of my absolute favourite desserts, and really quick to put together (no yeast means no rising time)! The Grub: Dough: 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp baking powder 2 tbsp sugar Pinch salt 1/3 cup non-dairy margarine 1 cup plant-based milk Filling: About 1/4 cup margarine 2 cups brown sugar (I use Demerara sugar, which has a nice crunch) 2 tbsp ground cinnamon The How To: Preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in cold margarine until the mixture looks like small peas (I use a fork and knife). Gradually add plant-based milk, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms around the fork. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl. Gently form dough into a ball. Lightly flour a clean countertop. Knead dough a few times. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 cm thick. Spread margarine carefully onto dough rectangle, leaving a 1 cm edge. Spread cinnamon mixture over margarine 1 cm away from edge. Roll up the dough by starting from the long edge. Pinch ends. Slice into 12 slices and place into muffin liners in pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until outsides of buns are firm. Homemade Dried Fruit Dried fruit is really easy to make yourself (not to mention more economical and less additive-laden than store-bought). I made dried apples, strawberries, and kiwis. Use your oven: Set your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Place sliced fruit onto parchment-lined baking sheets, making sure the fruit pieces aren't touching (you need air to circulate around each piece). Drying time depends upon the type of fruit you're using and how thinly you've sliced it. My strawberries (sliced into quarters) took about 4 hours. Just check your fruit every so often; it's ready when it's pliable and leathery (but not so dry you can snap it). Smaller pieces will be ready first, so take them out of the oven when they're done and keep drying the larger pieces. Use a dehydrator: If you have a dehydrator, you probably already know the drill! Load up its trays with your selected sliced fruit (making sure the pieces aren't touching each other). Set to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and off you go. My kiwis and apples took about 9 hours, and strawberries took a bit longer (10-11 hours). ​ Coconut Milk Dark Chocolate Mousse This rich, thick mousse is every chocolate lover’s dream. It’s also extremely simple to make! It's from my cookbook, Vegan Vitality. Once fully chilled, top with fresh berries, shredded coconut, or serve as is. I made fancy-pants chocolate curls for mine. Just take a vegetable peeler to a bar of dark chocolate! The Grub: 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk 1 tbsp vanilla extract 7 oz. (200g; or about 1 1/4 cups) 70% or more dark chocolate chips or chocolate bar pieces The How To: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring coconut milk to steaming. Make sure the coconut milk doesn’t boil – you want to get it steaming with small bubbles appearing around the rim of the pot. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Add chocolate chips or pieces. Without stirring, let coconut milk and chocolate mixture stand for 5 minutes to allow chocolate to soften. Use a whisk to stir until mixture is smooth. Pour into 6 small dessert glasses or glass tumblers and chill in the fridge for 3 hours (or overnight). Cherry Sorbet You can use whatever fruit you like! I had great success recently when a peach/ginger/lemon combo. I had a massive bag of frozen cherries on hand, grown my a client's dad in BC's Okanagan, so that's what I used yesterday. The method is exactly the same for any type of fruit. This recipe is a rough guide, since the amount you make will depend on the capacity of your silicon moulds and your food processor. The Grub: 3 or more cups cherries (or fruit of choice) 1 tbsp lemon zest 2 tbsp granulated sugar Liquid of choice (water, lemon juice, Limoncello, etc.) The How To: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until fruit is soft and sugar is completely dissolved (usually about 10 minutes). Puree fruit with a handheld immersion blender, or in a food processor. Pour into silicon moulds (I used chocolate and baking moulds) or silicon ice cube trays. I learned the hard way that regular non-pliable ice cube trays don't work! The fruit mixture doesn't harden as much as ice does, so you'd need a serious pickaxe to remove it from regular ice cube trays. You can also try pouring your fruit into a rimmed parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze your fruit mixture until a solid; at least a few hours. Place frozen fruit into a food processor and add a few tablespoons of liquid. Process until smooth, scraping down the bowl a few times and adding more liquid if necessary. Jamaican Ginger Beer [non-alcoholic!] Ginger beer is one of my favourite summertime beverages. Too bad the store-bought versions contain a ridiculous amount of sugar! My version here is a delicious and healthy alternative that won’t spike your blood sugar levels but will still satisfy your sweet tooth. Traditional ginger beer is made with yeast and is fermented over a number of days, but this version is much simpler. Double the recipe if you need more than 4 servings, or to store in a pitcher in the fridge. (Recipe is from my book, Vegan Vitality.) The Grub: 1 cup fresh ginger, grated or chopped in food processor 1 lemon 2 cups pure apple juice 3 tbsp agave nectar or coconut sugar Chilled sparkling water to taste (4 – 6 cups) The How To: Scrub ginger under running water (you don’t need to peel it). If using a grater, grate ginger. If using a food processor (much faster!), first cut ginger into one-inch pieces, then pulse in food processor. Cut lemon into quarters. Squeeze juice into medium saucepan and place squeezed slices into saucepan. Add grated or chopped ginger, apple juice, and agave nectar, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Using a fine sieve or mesh tea strainer, strain concentrate mixture into a pitcher or punch bowl. Add between 4 and 6 cups chilled sparkling water, depending on your flavour intensity preference. Alternatively, serve ginger concentrate and sparkling water separately and mix to taste. Makes 3-4 servings. Making this ridiculous dessert bar? Or some of it? Don't forget to hashtag #karinainkster on Instagram! Questions? Want vegan health and fitness coaching? Just wanna say hi? E-mail me! I love hearing from you. Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less.

This rich, thick mousse is every chocolate lover’s dream. Featured in my book Vegan Vitality, it’s also extremely simple to make! I was inspired to create this recipe after enjoying a similar mousse at Wild Rice restaurant in Vancouver, BC. I like to be able to stand a fork in my mousse, but if you like yours less thick, use a bit less chocolate. Once fully chilled, top with fresh berries, shredded coconut, or serve as is for a decadent finish to any meal. Feel free to add flavourings of your choice, like peppermint or almond extract, along with the vanilla extract. The Grub: 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk 1 tbsp vanilla extract 7 oz. (200g; or about 1 1/4 cups) 70% or more dark chocolate chips or chocolate bar pieces The How To: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, bring coconut milk to steaming. Make sure the coconut milk doesn’t boil – you want to get it steaming with small bubbles appearing around the rim of the pot. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Add chocolate chips or pieces. Without stirring, let coconut milk and chocolate mixture stand for 5 minutes to allow chocolate to soften. Gently stir until mixture is smooth. Pour into 4 dessert glasses or glass tumblers and chill in the fridge for 3 hours (or overnight). Serves 4. Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time. Questions? Want fitness and/or nutrition coaching? Just wanna say hi? Please get in touch!

When Vancouver's go-to vegan (and raw!) chocolatier and fitness trainer/cookbook author get together, delicious things are bound to happen! Emma Smith, founder of Zimt Chocolates, and I had ourselves a little bake-fest a few days ago, and we'd love to share our results with you. First of all, if you don't yet know about Zimt, do yourself a favour and check it out. It's a line of 100% plant-based, raw, ethical, and all-around amazing chocolates. You can find it at specialty stores such as Whole Foods, Choices, and even SPUD organics delivery. Of course we had to include some Zimt in our baking extravaganza, so we made an insanely delicious and creamy chocolate ganache to top our cinnamon buns. Below is the recipe so you can make your own easy cinnamon buns! No yeast and no rising time. Do keep in mind that spelt flour can be a bit tricky to work with, since it doesn't have as much gluten as wheat to hold things together. Once you've rolled out the dough and topped it with margarine and cinnamon sugar, just be careful when rolling it up so you don't accidentally rip it. Vegan spelt flour cinnamon buns with chocolate ganache topping [Makes 1 dozen rolls] The Grub: Cinnamon bun dough: 3 cups spelt flour 2 tbsp baking powder 2 tbsp sugar Pinch salt 1/3 cup non-dairy margarine (we used Fleischmann’s brand) 1 cup plant-based milk (we used soy) Cinnamon bun filling: About 1/4 cup margarine 2 cups brown sugar (we used demerara sugar, which has a nice crunch) 2 tbsp ground cinnamon Ganache: About 1 cup plant-based milk (we used soy) About 1 cup dark chocolate (we used Zimt, of course!) The How To: Cinnamon buns: Preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in cold margarine until the mixture looks like small peas (we used a fork and knife). Gradually add plant-based milk, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms around the fork. The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl. Gently form dough into a ball. Lightly flour a clean countertop. Knead dough a few times. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 cm thick. Spread margarine carefully onto dough rectangle, leaving a 1 cm edge. Spread cinnamon mixture over margarine 1 cm away from edge. Roll up the dough by starting from the long edge. Spelt flour dough crumbles easily, so take your time and try not to let the dough rip. Pinch edges. Slice into 12 slices and place into muffin liners in pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until outsides of buns are firm. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before topping with ganache. (Why not make the ganache while you wait?) Ganache: Heat non-dairy milk over medium heat until just beginning to steam, with small bubbles forming around the rim of the pot. Place crumbled chocolate into a small bowl and pour warmed milk over top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Don't stir the mixture during this time or you'll cool the ganache too quickly, which will make it grainy. After 10 minutes, stir the mixture until completely smooth. Drizzle over cinnamon buns. Here are a few photos of our little baking adventure (guest-starring my cat Yoshimi, who quickly made friends with Emma). First 5 photos courtesy of Emma Smith. Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less. #fitnessgoals #consistency #recipe #vegan #speltflour #cinnamonbuns #veganbaking #zimtchocolates

Today I’m profiling Jenny, a long-term client of mine! Jenny, who’s 40 and mostly vegetarian, had her first baby less than 6 months ago, cares for her live-in parents, owns two high-energy dogs, and runs a successful immigration consultancy business from both Vancouver and Whistler. I’m consistently amazed at her ability to make time for her fitness in her jam-packed schedule of work, travel, and family responsibilities – which happens only because she’s made it a priority, by the way – and I truly believe that if she can do it, so can you. Jenny has made an amazingly quick recovery after having her baby, and has been training for a 10K race she’ll be completing in Iceland (you should see her regular travel schedule – it’s mind-boggling). Read about how her reasons for being fit have drastically changed over the years, how she manages to fit in her workouts among her crazy busy life, and what good health means to her. How long have you been working with Karina? More than 3 years. Why did you start working with Karina? What was happening in your life that made you take this step? I was getting married and wanted to look my best! What were some of the hurdles you dealt with as you got started? What was difficult for you? It was difficult to find time to get my workouts done. I had a crazy busy schedule, working in two cities, and travelling on business far from Canada every two months. I had no routine or structure, so incorporating time to exercise was kind of new and hard to do. What was easy for you as you started? Karina made it less difficult for me. She was always happy and understanding, and that helped a lot for me to keep trying. Are your reasons for increasing your health and fitness different now than they were when you started working with Karina? If yes, how? Yes, completely. Now fitness is part of my life. I want to be healthy and strong. I like to eat a lot, never been on a diet, so I need to exercise and make sure I am active. I also learned that by building muscle, I burn calories even when I am not moving. When I exercise my energy improves, and that also helps with the rest of my life: family, baby, business, clients, dogs, friends, crazy social life! Jenny (second from left) with her husband (left), baby, two dogs, parents (middle), and sister + brother-in-law (right) What are some of the day-to-day changes/adjustments you had to make (and continue to make) to maintain and improve your fitness? Making fitness a priority in my life. Improving my choices when eating. I’ve always been a healthy eater, but now I think I have improved (I’m not great, but in general I’m good). I also encouraged my husband to join me in some activities, so it is something we do together – like running or walking with the baby and/or the dogs. Adding some additional purpose to the activity helps. Now that I understand stretching is also important, I even do some stretch moves while drying my hair, working on my computer, in the shower, etc! What does health mean to you? I strongly believe that health is all I need to accomplish anything else in life. If I am not healthy, I cannot be there for my family, my daughter, my business, my clients, my friends, for anything or anybody. I needed to make it a priority. It is just common sense, that is not so ‘common’. Why is good health important to you? I have a stressful job, so I need to balance it by working out! I want to play with my baby as she grows. I want to keep traveling and doing a lot of things. I want to age gracefully. I know that what I do now will have an impact on how I will age later. What’s your secret (or not-so-secret) health/fitness superpower? I do not think I have any secrets (my life is an open book, haha). I keep saying that I have no fitness superpowers; I was always the nerd at school, not the sporty type of person, but I know in my case it is just the power of the mind and wanting to get things done. Anything else you’d like to add? Note to Karina: I am always grateful that you are in my life. You are more than a personal trainer. You are an example, an inspiration, a great person. I enjoy spending time with you even though you make me sweat and hurt later! Jenny is an absolute blast to work with and I feel lucky that I get to have a client as amazing as her! I'm excited to see Jenny's future feats of strength and distance running, and I hope her dedication to her fitness inspires you to make health and fitness a top priority in your own life! Please share this article with your friends - or anyone who could use a motivation boost to keep working toward their fitness goals. Have questions? Wanna chat health and fitness? Just wanna say hi? Get in touch with me any time. Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard is a bestselling book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, published in 2010. Whether you’re a health and fitness professional, just starting out in fitness, a recreational athlete, a superhero-in-training, or anything in between, you’ll get something out of this book. It outlines a framework for successfully making – and sticking to – changes in your life, which you can apply to nutrition, fitness, and other health habits (and if you’re a fitness professional, you can use the framework to help your clients). The book discusses individual, organizational, and societal change. My summary article focuses on the individual level, and how you can apply the book’s principles to improving your own health and fitness. The book's basic idea Imagine that your mind is divided into two parts: the rational mind and the emotional mind. The rational mind wants to be athletic and lean, and is motivated to create a lifestyle change. The emotional mind wants to eat a jumbo-size bag of Skittles and is motivated to stay in the comfort zone of the couch. As you can see, the rational mind and the emotional mind are often in competition with each other. But what if we could get them to work together? The authors of Switch argue that when this happens, impressive changes can result. (And by the way, a lot of peer-reviewed psychological research supports the idea of a “divide” between the rational and emotional minds.) The Heaths borrow an analogy first used by Jonathan Haidt in The Happiness Hypothesis. The emotional part of our minds is the “Elephant”. It seeks out the easiest path (sitting on the couch) and is interested in short-term benefits (eating delicious Skittles). The rational, conscious part of our minds is the “Rider” perched atop the Elephant. The Rider can plan, set goals, and look toward the long-term (like losing 20 pounds of fat in the next six months). The Rider can direct the Elephant – but not for long. It takes a lot of effort for the tiny Rider to lead the massive Elephant in a direction that it doesn’t want to go, and thus the Rider gets exhausted very quickly. This is why it’s important to make sure that the Elephant is on a path it wants to follow, which occurs when the rational and emotional parts of our minds work in harmony. The authors call our environment (which influences our behaviour) the Path the Elephant is following. When these three components of change – directing the Rider, motivating the Elephant, and shaping the Path – are aligned, you’re more likely to make a successful change. Direct the Rider The Rider needs to know exactly where to go in order to make lasting change. The first part of the book describes how to make it as simple and easy as possible to re-route the rational, intellectual part of your brain (the Rider) onto a new path. Find the bright spots You can solve a problem by looking for areas in which it’s already been solved, on a small scale. Rather than asking, “Why isn’t this working?”, ask “When does this work – even a little bit – and how can I do more of that?” Maybe you’re having difficulty trying to increase the number of hours you sleep per night from 7 to 8. Instead of wondering why it’s not working, think back to a time when you did manage to get 8 hours of sleep, even for only a few days. What was different about those days? Maybe you read a book for 20 minutes before bed those nights instead of getting caught up in hours of Netflix shows. So do more of what’s working (reading) and less of what’s not (Netflix binges) before bed. Rather than focusing on problems, which impedes change, take a solution-based approach by investigating what’s already working. That will lead you to a realistic action plan. Script the critical moves To guide your Rider through the process of change, you need to make sure that you have a clear, unambiguous set of steps to follow. When we see people who seem resistant to change, the real reason may be that they just aren’t clear about what to do. For example, Shauna may seem resistant to go to the gym and work out. But it’s not that she’s resistant to change – it’s that she has no idea which exercises to do once she gets to the gym. When I give Shauna a step-by-step workout program, she now has clarity and is more likely to make (and keep) her new fitness change. Point to the destination The Rider, who thinks long-term, needs a clear goal. This is what the authors call a “destination postcard”. Perhaps your destination postcard is performing 10 strict pull-ups in a row four months from now. Once you have a clear destination, you’ll need a set of immediate, short-term actions or habits that will achieve that goal. Your short-term actions could be to do three sets of pull-ups every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the beginning of your regular workouts. This way you’re scripting the critical moves so you’re 100% clear on what you need to do in the short term in order to achieve your long-term goal. Motivate the Elephant In order to be successful in creating change, we need to give the emotional part of our brains (the Elephant) a kick in the butt. We can’t rely solely on sheer willpower – which is the Rider attempting to drag the Elephant onto a path it doesn’t want to follow. Inevitably your Rider will tire out from dragging the resistant Elephant along, and you’ll abandon your change. You need to find a path your Elephant wants to follow. Find the feeling In order to make a change stick, we need to find an emotional driver for making that change. For example, I’ll see a new client (let’s call him James) in the gym office for a consultation. James says, “I want to lose 20 pounds and start weight training.” I could leave it there, move to the gym floor, and immediately start his training program. Instead, I’ll ask “Why is that important to you?” James might say, “Because I want to feel healthy.” “Why?” “My wife and I just had a baby, and I realized I need to be a role model for my son as he grows up. I want him to grow up in a healthy, active environment.” That’s the real reason, the real “why”. Find yours. Shrink the change The Elephant gets spooked by large, overbearing changes. Don’t be afraid to make your destination postcard a big, scary, awe-inspiring goal, but you’ll need a way to shrink this down into manageable chunks if you want to prevent your Elephant from getting spooked. Here’s an interesting study summarized in Switch: a car wash ran a promotion using loyalty cards. One group of customers received a blank 8-stamp card that would earn them a free car wash once filled. The second group of customers received a 10-stamp card with two stamps already filled. Both groups had to earn the same number of stamps, but a few months later, only 19% of the 8-stamp customers had earned their free car wash, and 34% of the 10-stamp customers had earned theirs (the 10-stamp group earned their free wash faster, too). We’re more likely to be successful when we feel like we’re already on our way toward making a change. The Heaths write, “The challenge is to get the Elephant moving, even if the movement is slow at first.” So focus on one small (but effective) diet change at a time. Break your workouts into 20-minute chunks. Don’t spook your Elephant! My hypothetical client James wants to lose 20 pounds. If I were to say, “You need to completely overhaul your lifestyle, start working out 6 days a week, and follow a meticulous diet plan”, that’d spook his Elephant and he probably wouldn’t stick to this plan for very long – if at all. Instead, I could say, “Let’s work together twice a week for the next month.” This makes workouts a no-brainer for James, since I do all the programming. “Also, keep making your morning smoothies, but add one tablespoon each of chia seeds and ground flax seeds.” These are small wins that are within immediate reach, and they build on what James is already doing. Grow your people [in this case, person] The authors describe the difference between a “fixed” mindset and a “growth” mindset. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe your abilities are basically static. You believe you might be able to get a bit better at certain skills, but your abilities reflect the way you’re wired. You’re less likely to tackle challenges, because if you fail, you’re afraid people will see you as a failure as a person. Maybe you believe you’re just “not someone who works out” or you’ve never been good at long-distance running so you never will be. If you have a growth mindset, on the other hand, you believe that “abilities are like muscles – they can be built up with practice”. You’re not afraid to tackle challenges and you’re not afraid of criticism, because it tends to make you better and doesn’t define you as a person. People with a growth mindset reframe failure as a natural part of the change process. You’ll need a growth mindset if you want your change to stick. Interestingly, people with a fixed mindset can learn to adopt a growth mindset. “You’re so good at soccer!” is fuel for a fixed mindset. A growth mindset compliment praises effort rather than skill: “I’m proud of how hard you worked on your speed drills today!” In order to make a successful change, you need to make your change a matter of identity. Aspire to be the type of person who would make a certain change, like going to the gym 3 days a week. Rather than worry about consequences (like feeling guilt for missing a workout), ask yourself, “What would a recreational athlete like me do in this situation?” Shape the Path After directing the Rider and motivating the Elephant, we need to make the Path as easy to follow as possible (remember that the Path is our environment). When we attribute problems to people, rather than to the environment, we’re committing what’s called the Fundamental Attribution Error. A research study on irrational eating behaviour found that people ate 53% more popcorn when given a larger container. The lead researcher of this study was Brian Wansink, who wrote Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life, which I recommend reading, by the way. We’d be committing the Fundamental Attribution Error by assuming that these people were gluttons. It was the environment (container size) dictating their behaviour, not some intrinsic personality trait. Sometimes it’s easier to change the environment (like giving people smaller popcorn containers) than it is to direct the Rider or motivate the Elephant. Tweak the environment The Elephant will follow the path of least resistance. Remember that the Rider can only direct the Elephant for so long before the Rider gets exhausted. You’re more likely to overindulge in Oreos if you’ve walked by the box on your kitchen counter 18 times than if you didn’t have the box on your counter, or in your house, in the first place. Tweaking the environment is essentially the Rider outsmarting the Elephant. Here are some ways I do this (feel free to use these yourself): I put my phone out of reach so that when the alarm rings in the morning, I need to get out of bed and walk across the room to turn it off. Now I’m up, awake, and ready to work out. When I’m craving a treat – usually something sweet – I go to the bulk section of the grocery store and buy a small handful of Jujubes. That’s all I need, but if I were to buy an entire bag, I’d probably eat the whole thing! I pre-schedule some of my workouts with friends and clients. I swim every Saturday at 8am with a friend, meet at least one client at the track on Wednesdays at 7am to do our own workouts, and schedule partner workouts with our gym receptionist at least once a week. Now my environment is shaped to support sticking to my workouts, and I don’t have to rely on sheer motivation or willpower. Build habits Habits are behaviours we engage in without thought, as if on autopilot. This is a way of bypassing both the Elephant and the Rider. Our environments can promote or detract from our health habits, so try to find changes in your environment that shape good habits rather than bad ones. Building habits also involves creating action triggers, which are predetermined actions that dictate the next step. For example, dropping off your son at school triggers the next action, going to the gym. By creating action triggers, you’re conserving the Rider’s self-control and passing the control of your behaviour onto the environment instead. A meta-analysis of 85 studies found that people who set an action trigger did better than 74% of people who didn’t set one for the same task. Try attaching a new habit to an existing habit (as suggested by Leo Babuta of Zen Habits). For me, putting my oatmeal into the microwave every morning triggers the next action: doing my stretches and corrective work for my scoliosis-related lower back issues for 4 minutes while my oatmeal cooks. Rally the herd We’re influenced by the behaviours of those around us, and we can use this to our advantage when it comes to health and fitness. One way I “rally the herd” is by publishing Client Spotlight blog articles profiling various clients. Other clients see what these superstars are up to, they’re more motivated to stay consistent with their own health and fitness habits. Some trainer friends and I created a “Monthly PR” sheet in our staff room for each of us to keep track of personal records for 6 different lifts. It’s not about beating the others (well OK, maybe a little bit!) – it’s about seeing that they’re all working on their weighted pull-ups, or handstands, or deadlifts, which helps me to stay consistent with my own practice. Keep the change going As we all know, change is a process, not an event. Remember to recognize and celebrate steps in the right direction, even if they’re small. The authors write, “We can say this much with confidence: When change works, it tends to follow a pattern. The people who change have clear direction, ample motivation, and a supportive environment. In other words, when change works, it’s because the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path are all aligned in support of the switch.” Comments? Suggestions? Just wanna say hi? Get in touch with me any time. Download Karina's 350-item vegan grocery list! Need inspiration for healthy plant-based eating? Need to spice up your daily meal routine? Download your free vegan grocery list! With more than 350 healthy items (some of which might be new to you), you'll be a vegan nutrition superhero in no time. #habits #lifestyle

Here’s an all-too-common scenario for you: A new female client comes to my gym for her first session. She tells me she wants to start training because she’s incredibly unhappy with how her body looks and wants everything about it to change. (If this is you, you’re far from alone.) She points out her “problem” areas and sighs with frustration. What she doesn’t realize – or refuses to believe – is that countless other women would kill for her physique. We all want to look awesome and feel good about our bodies. Nothin’ new there. The problem is so many active women don’t feel good about their bodies, and are training for reasons that won’t serve them well long-term. We also tend to waste energy yearning for what we don’t have, instead of being thankful for what we do have. Here are some examples of women I see: • The 30-year-old with an 8-year old daughter who feels she can’t bare her abs because she’s embarrassed about her stretch marks. (She showed me; they’re hardly even visible.) She realizes she needs to be a better, more psychologically healthy role model for her young daughter but doesn’t know where to start. She can’t believe the majority of other moms envy her leanness and muscle tone. • The 51-year-old in incredible shape who could easily out-perform most 20-somethings who avoids wearing shorts because she feels her thighs aren’t firm enough. Little does she know she’s serving as a role model for other clients in their 40’s and 50’s who want to kick as much ass as she does. • The 40-year-old who gave birth for the first time only 3 months ago and is recovering from pregnancy and C-section more quickly than most 30-year-olds. She’s depressed about how her body looks and often comments on how “big” her stomach looks. She wants to shed her baby weight as quickly as possible. • The 35-year-old who, at 5 foot 4 inches, weighed 105 pounds when she started training with me and felt she needed to lose weight and decrease her body measurements. Body image has been discussed and written about to death. But because I train so many women, it’s something I’ve wanted to address for a long time, even if it’s just to lay out my approach to training. I realize it’s idealistic to assume we can all just “snap out of it” and stop using looks to judge ourselves (and each other). It's also unrealistic to be 100% happy with our bodies 100% of the time. But I am suggesting 5 ways we can move toward accepting our physiques, training for reasons other than looks, and staying sane in the process. 1. Train because you love your body, not because you hate it. Training solely for aesthetics isn’t healthy or sane. (That’s why I don’t train people for physique competitions, but I’ll get to that in a sec.) I realize that people whose #1 priority is changing the look of their bodies also have other reasons they want to increase their fitness, like keeping up with their kids, increasing their strength, being able to hike mountain trails well into their 80’s, or moonlighting as a superhero. Making these other, more meaningful motivations your top reasons for being healthy and fit will help to make fitness a positive aspect of your life, rather than something you dread. You want fitness to be something you get to do, not something you have to do. And that, most likely, means you’ll stick with it long-term. Very often, a female client starts training with me because she’s unhappy with how she looks. Her sole motivation at the gym is to change her physique. Once she starts training regularly and realizes what her body can do, she continues training not because she hates how she looks, but because she’s amazed at what she can do and she wants to keep doing more and more amazing things. Training for non-aesthetic goals will most likely have an effect on your physique, anyway! How’s that for a win-win? As hard as it is to accept, however, genetics play a huge role in how we look and how we respond to exercise. You may not see any outward physical changes, but that doesn’t mean you’re working out in vain. If you set goals, consider training for performance instead of aesthetics. Working toward and achieving performance-based goals is much, much more empowering, and will keep you focused and motivated even if you don’t see the physical change you’re after. In an article titled “Ripped and Miserable”, Neghar Fonooni – an internationally recognized fitness professional and kettlebell instructor – describes her endeavour to get as lean and shredded as possible. Sporting a sixpack and 12% body fat, she certainly got there. But she was far from happy. Neghar writes, “Inevitably, I fell apart, because what I was pursuing wasn't fulfilling. I didn't love who I was, and no amount of leanness would change that. What I would eventually discover is that true contentment comes from a place of self-love and compassion. Lifting and eating nutritiously are only sustainable if you do it because you love your body, not because you hate it. When you know, with the utmost certainty, that you are enough right now - not 10 pounds from now - only then can you begin your journey to the highest expression of you. Only then will fitness enrich your life, as opposed to detract from it.” Training just for looks doesn’t fit into my approach to health, so I don’t work with people who want to take part in physique competitions. When it comes to competing, I think it’s borderline pathological to focus so much on aesthetics, and it sends many, many people into negative spirals of self-loathing and problem eating – even among professional fitness coaches. Several coaches I know ended their competition prep early because they realized a short-term result wasn’t worth sacrificing their long-term health. If you’re one of the very few people who can compete in a healthy way, go for it. But my problem with the industry is that many people (probably most people) need to force their bodies to extremely low levels of body fat, and need to sacrifice their long-term health in the process. It’s common for female competitors to lose their periods for several months because their body fat percentages are so low. That’s a major risk for health problems down the road, especially osteoporosis. In my books, that’s not worth it. This “stage-ready” look also happens to be the one we see in the media of so-called fit people (who look like that for only a few weeks of the year, by the way), which sends a completely unrealistic message to the other 99.9% of us. Remember that you can love your body while it’s changing – you don’t need to wait until you achieve a specific goal. If you think you’ll be happy with your body once you lose 2 inches around your waist, or once you gain muscle definition in your triceps, or whatever else, you’re probably wrong. You’ll most likely find the next thing to nitpick about. We need to learn to love our bodies right now. Tell yourself, “I’m happy with my body now, while I work on improving what it can do and changing how it looks.” Or “I’m content with my body now, but I’m open to change.” 2. Detach your self-worth from your physical appearance and current fitness level. Your physique and current fitness level don’t define you as a person. Your mission is to detach your self-worth from your physical appearance and athletic ability. Easier said than done, of course, but it’s very important to staying healthy – both physically and mentally – and being able to stick to healthy living and fitness habits long-term. You’re already awesome, right here and right now. Being upset with your current situation is fine, and happens to all of us. Being upset with who you are based on your looks or current fitness level is destructive and isn’t going to get you anywhere. I could write an entire article on the pro’s and con’s of CrossFit, but here’s an excellent quote from one of their CrossFit Games videos: “There are people who spend their entire lives allowing the reflection in the mirror to determine their self-esteem, submitting to a cultural judgment established decades ago. But in CrossFit gyms all over the world, mirrors are conspicuous by their absence. Fitness is gauged in reps, in speed, power, virtuosity. And beauty is measured in joy. And in pride…” 3. Stop worrying about the number on the scale, already. Our cultural obsession with the scale might be declining, but it’s still very pervasive. Just as physical appearance and current fitness level have no bearing on who you are as a person, neither does an arbitrary number on a scale. The scale isn’t a great measure of most people’s health and fitness levels, anyway. In many cases, as fitness level increases, so does the number on the scale. If a client’s waist measurement is staying the same or decreasing, and his/her weight is going up, I see that as an excellent sign of having built lean muscle. I have a client who started training with me and had never before lifted weights. In a few months of training, she lost 3 inches around her waist. I showed her comparison photos (with her permission, of course) to a doctor client of mine and asked him to guess how many pounds she had lost based on how she looked. He said, “Between 20 and 25 pounds.” In reality, she’d lost only 3 pounds on the scale. That meant her body composition had changed: less fat and more muscle. 4. Stop comparing yourself to others. Comparing yourself to others is not doing you any good. Everyone’s goals, training schedules, priorities, experiences, lifestyles, genetics, and resulting physiques are different. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard things like “I want her shoulders” or “I want her legs”. Well y’know what? You’re never going to have her shoulders or her legs. And she’s never going to have your shoulders or your legs. Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. Did you finish your first year of weight lifting, look at someone’s 10th, and think, “I’ll never be as strong as that”? Did you finish your first race, look at your age group winner’s 200th, and think, “I’ll never be as fast as that”? Constantly comparing yourself to others means you’ll never feel good enough, and you’ll always struggle to celebrate your achievements. Use others’ achievements to inspire your own. Ernest Hemingway wrote, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” 5. Stop worrying about your perceived flaws and instead focus on what makes you awesome. We all have perceived flaws. Whether or not we spend time obsessing over them is our choice, and will have an effect on how we approach health and fitness. Also remember that you’re the one who is most critical of yourself; most others don’t even notice the things you’re nitpicking about. In case you’re wondering, fitness coaches like me aren’t immune to this issue – far from it. I could write a brand new book manuscript on the negative things I catch myself thinking about my body, even though I’m very happy with it overall. I try to focus on being proud of what my body can do and the consistent effort it took to get there, rather than bringing attention to “flaws”. In the interest of illustrating a point, however, I’ll share one. While having a discussion on this topic with one of my clients recently, I told her that sometimes I catch myself wishing for a more curvy hourglass figure, instead of my ectomorph/stick-like/no-curves shape. My client said, “But your shape suits you! It’s just…you!” Damn right it is! She had a great point. What you need to realize is that whatever you’re complaining about is you, too, and everyone else thinks it suits you. To stop worrying about your so-called flaws, start by adding in more positive thoughts, and focusing on all the awesome things your body can do (as opposed to how it looks). One of the five points in my service agreement for new clients is the following: “I maintain a complaining-, body shaming-, self-blame-, negativity-, and ‘can’t-do’ attitude-free zone. This doesn’t mean I expect you to be sunshine-and-rainbows all the time. But it does mean that you commit to focusing on the positives as best you can during your quest for increased health and fitness.” It’s OK to feel down about yourself sometimes. We all do. But what’s not OK is to obsess about perceived imperfections while you’re training with me. I aim to foster a positive workout environment where we focus on all the awesome things your body can do. Your thoughts and feelings are entirely legitimate, and I always encourage you to share them with me, but expect me to call you out on repetitive negative statements about your body so we can start thinking about something more positive instead. Looking in the mirror to criticize how “big” your stomach looks 32 times in 20 minutes does nothing for your mindset or your fitness goals. Amber Rogers, one of the most important voices of reason in the fitness industry today, says, “We all have flaws. They do not define you. Trying to get rid of them takes mental energy away from the far more important task of being awesome. None of us will ever be perfectly flawless, so focus your mental energy on what makes you awesome.” So, let’s go forth and be awesome! Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Thoughts on life? Get in touch with me; I'd love to hear from you! Calories and macros on a vegan diet: A free e-book for you! ​​ Download Karina’s free 32-page ebook that shows you how to track your food, calculate calories, and set macro goals on a vegan diet. You’ll even get step-by-step instructions – complete with a printable grocery list – for how to prep a week’s worth of delicious Buddha bowls in 60 minutes or less.