
Heal Nourish Grow Podcast
156 episodes — Page 1 of 4
The Science of Healing: Mitochondria, Oxygen and Real Recovery with EWOT

Ep 113Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Cancer
In this episode, Cheryl interviews Dr. Christo Frangopoulos about how certain lifestyle factors related to cancer. Most people overlook one of the most powerful tools in preventing cancer: movement. Dr. Christo Frangopoulos reveals surprising facts about how simple lifestyle shifts, like breaking up sedentary time, can drastically cut your risk of cancer and boost your body’s ability to fight it. If you’re tired of just hearing “eat healthy and exercise,” this episode uncovers actionable strategies backed by the latest science to enhance your health span. Discover why sitting is just as dangerous as smoking when it comes to cancer risk, and learn the practical tips to make movement a seamless part of your day. From how often to get up during work hours to the science of muscle-derived anti-cancer proteins called myokines, Dr. Christo shares insights that can change your approach to health. We break down the true impact of sedentary behavior, the science behind autophagy and muscle contraction, and the critical role sleep plays in cellular repair and cancer prevention.You’ll also uncover: the truth about alcohol’s relationship with cancer, the importance of inflammation markers like CRP, and why maintaining consistent sleep and circadian rhythms is crucial for lowering risk. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to take control, whether you’re battling family history or just want to live longer healthier lives.Dr. Christo Frangopoulos is an anesthesiologist, lifestyle medicine expert, and personal trainer known for integrating science-backed strategies to improve health outcomes across the U.S. His insights on cancer prevention through lifestyle modifications are revolutionary yet accessible, making this a must-listen for health-conscious individuals and medical professionals alike. Don’t miss this opportunity to turn simple daily habits into potent cancer-fighting tools. Your health journey starts with the right knowledge and this episode delivers it. Hit play now and learn how to reframe your lifestyle for longevity and resilience. Visit Dr. Frangopoulos at AltasMD360.com Takeaways How sedentary behavior independently increases cancer risk, even with regular exercise The importance of muscle contraction and myokines in fighting cancer Lifestyle changes that can lower the risk of developing common cancers, especially colorectal cancer in young adults The critical role of sleep in DNA repair and cancer prevention The impact of inflammation markers like CRP on cancer risk Rethinking alcohol consumption and its nuanced effects on health Practical habit formation techniques, including the ‘two days’ rule for sustainability Resources for health professionals and individuals via AtlasMD360.com Book: The Telomere Effect by Elizabeth Blackburn & Elissa Epel A scientific approach to aging and health Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube: Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNurshGrow and today I’m really excited to be joined by Dr. Christo Frangopoulos and he is kindly letting me shorten his name to Dr. Chris or Chris, but he will introduce himself here in a moment. And why I really wanted to have Dr. Frangopoulos on today is because he is a board certified anesthesiologist. He’s also a lifestyle medicine doctor and he’s a personal trainer. So, you know, those are all things if you’re a listener to this podcast that I am super excited about and that I love to chat about. take it from here and just introduce yourself and share with people what you’re all about and what you’re here to talk about today. Christo (00:35)Wonderful. Well, I just wanna say thank you so much for having me. This is an honor and I really hope we can reach at least a fe

Ep 112The Power of Community in Health
In this conversation, Kiara Loucks shares her profound experiences during a health crisis that taught her the significance of community and support. She reflects on a moment of vulnerability when she had to rely on her husband for help and the intimate experience they shared before her surgery. Kiara emphasizes the importance of allowing others to be there for us in times of need and how such situations can strengthen relationships and foster personal growth. Outdoor retreats: heroutdorjourney.com Kiara on Instagram @kiara.loucks Takeaways Other people need to be in our lives sometimes. Facing health crises can reveal the strength of our relationships. Intimacy can be found in shared vulnerable moments. It’s okay to lean on others during tough times. Support from loved ones can be a source of strength. Crisis situations can deepen our connections with others. Prayer and faith can provide comfort in uncertainty. Allowing help can be a sign of strength, not weakness. People often want to step up and help when we need it. Vulnerability can lead to personal growth and understanding. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube Show Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Carol Nourish Grow, and today I’m joined by Kiara Lux. Kiara and I met this year when I competed in the fit model competition in Kentucky and she had the same coach that I did and ended up doing the same show. And I just immediately loved this woman. So what I learned. about her journey and her health stuff I had to have her on. anyway, Kiara, welcome. If you could ⁓ just tell everyone a little bit about who you are and then we’ll get into some of your health journey. Because I think it’s really interesting and I think there’s a lot of things there that will help a lot of people. Kiara Loucks (00:35)Absolutely. First off, thank you so much for having me. I’m so honored to be here. My take on our meeting is very similar. I just fell in love with you from the second you texted me asking if I wanted sourdough. We had never met. You brought me sourdough. I was like, I don’t know her, but I love her. So yeah, I’ve had quite a wild journey. Health and fitness have been at the center of my journey. Cheryl McColgan (00:43)you Kiara Loucks (00:57)Really since I was young, I’ve been an athlete my whole life in different sports that have taken me all over the world and brought wonderful people like yourself into my life. Outside of professional athletics, I work in tech on my, like my nine to five, I work on Wall Street in paid media. And then I actually am now running an organization on the other side of that. with all of the spare time called her outdoor journey, which is really focused on bridging the gap for women and families in the back country. So whether it’s survival, holistic wellness, it’s really this concept of community and education to get women and families outside, which is now actually evolving into co-ed opportunities. So in a very, very high level nutshell, that is me. My fitness journey was, I’m sure we’ll dive into it, but. I don’t think you knew this, but I’m actually over 100 pounds down from my heaviest, so that was 11 years ago. Just, think, like most people, kind of gave up and had always wanted to compete, but it was a pipe dream that never had any real legs to it until it did. So really excited to dive in with you, and I’m just excited to be able to chat with you. You’re one of my favorite people. Cheryl McColgan (02:04)I know it’s been I wanted to catch up for so long. And we just like you’ve been traveling so much and doing really exciting work with the project that you mentioned, and we’ll get into that. But before we go into all that, and we go into the weight loss thing, because that is definitely a subject that people are on this podcast are interested in. But I have to have you tell people, you to kind of just glossed over that whole professional athlete thing, tell people what you what your sport is, because I think it’s so wild. Kiara Loucks (02:07)I know. Yeah, so I’m kind of in this purgatory season right now, so not actually professionally competing in anything, but I’ve been a professional rower. I’ve been a professional bobsledder for the US and Canada. I’ve been a bodybuilder, Olympic weightlifter. We’ve been all over the map. Yeah, and I’m kind of getting back into the endurance side of things right now. I’m not done with bodybuilding or Cheryl McColgan (02:43)That’s the one. Kiara Loucks (02:54)Bodybuilding isn’t done with me yet, but we’re on a little hiatus. As you know, it kind of takes over your whole life. And I’ve lived
30 Day Challenge Series: What Comes Next?
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan shares actionable insights on establishing sustainable habits, building strong foundational practices for health and wellness, and overcoming common challenges like overwhelm and inconsistency. Whether you’re starting out or looking to refine your routine, this conversation offers clear steps backed by research and personal experience. Takeaways The importance of small, consistent habits over quick resolutions How to implement a 30-day healthy habits challenge Transitioning from habit trials to long-term integration (90-day focus) Introducing the Foundation Series: organizing habits into manageable categories The role of protein, balanced nutrition, and strength training in health Simplified strength training: two full-body workouts per week Overcoming gym intimidation and creating an accessible strength routine The value of coaching for accountability and skill-building Moving toward mastery and self-sufficiency in health management Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow. And today I wanted to chat with you about a new program that I just started. And it’s actually a whole little system called the Foundations series. So a lot of this came about because over the years, as you know, if you’ve watched some of my content before, I’m very focused on habits. My background is in psychology and I’ve been basically interested in health and wellness my entire adult life and have had many different kind of jobs and coaching in this kind of area. And so it’s something that I’ve worked on for myself for a long time. It’s something I’ve worked with other people on for a long time. And it is the content that you see every day on Heal Nourish Grow all has something to do with these sorts of things. So when I thought about it more like how can I put this all these learnings and all the information that I have learned for myself over the last years and practice for so long, how can I put it into a foundational system that will actually help other people without being overwhelming, being organized and get you to a place where you actually do these things. Cause I feel like a lot of people will say to me sometimes, well, I know what to do. I just don’t actually do it. And so part of that, I think is the overwhelm of it. Part of it’s just that life is so busy, you know, so many factors, but this really breaks it down into little buckets that you can focus on for a small period of time. And just again, As I always talk about with habits, just starting really slow and building on them. And so that’s why I called it the foundation series, because it literally is the whole foundation, find foundational practices, foundational ideas that will really help you just build your life to meet your goals from there. So these very small things that you start with and creating this very strong foundation will really allow you then to create whatever it is that you want for your life, for your health, all of that. So I feel like most people, again, they just don’t fail because they’re not trying or they don’t want to. It’s just they’re not really clear yet about their own priorities. Like they think that they know what’s important, but you know, quite often the choices that we make every day don’t match what we think are our priorities. So really identifying them and making them clear in your mind is a really big part of that. So the first thing I started with, with the health of the situation because once you get your health in order, once you are able to sleep well, eat well, feel good in your body every single day, that also just helps everything with your mental health as well. focusing on these foundational principles that relate to your health that are small things you can do every day, I think really make it a lot less overwhelming than it might be otherwise. And so
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 30: Choose Your Three Habits to Continue for 90 Days

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 30: Choose Your Three Habits to Continue for 90 Days
In this final session of the 30-day healthy habit challenge, Cheryl McColgan encourages participants to reflect on their journey and choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. She emphasizes the importance of building consistency through small, manageable changes and aligning these habits with long-term goals. Cheryl also discusses the significance of flexibility in habit formation and encourages participants to map out their habits for greater success. Takeaways Choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. Set specific, achievable minimums for each habit. Focus on sustainability rather than perfection. Building habits starts with small, consistent actions. Align your habits with your long-term goals. Flexibility is important in maintaining habits. Mapping out habits can enhance success. Reflect on your journey and celebrate wins. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of FeelNourishGrow and welcome to day 30 of the 30 day healthy habit challenge. You made it to the end and I’m so excited to be here with you for this last day and to hopefully hear all about some of your challenges, some of your wins. I would love it if you would respond to the email after the challenge is finished and just let me know how it went for you. I am always rooting for you. But anyway, for the final day, it’s another kind of reflection thing. but it’s more future focused. I want you to choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. So if you discovered there was a particular habit during this challenge, you did a lot of the reflection and reset throughout the challenge, and there were probably ones that you noticed that worked really well for you or that you thought, okay, this is a good habit. I can see this really helping me in my everyday life. Go back to those and commit to doing it every day for the next 90 days. So ideally, I’d love for you to keep moving for 10 minutes every single day. Maybe it turns into 15, maybe it turns into 20, maybe it turns into going to the gym. These are the way that habits build. We keep doing these small little wins over time, and that’s how you create really big change. So choose those three habits for the next 90 days and set tiny minimums for each one. So you want it to be really specific with yourself what it is that you’re intending to do for those three habits. So again, if I mentioned movement is the one that you want to continue, you could keep it at 10 minutes. Or you can say for the next 90 days, I’m going to do for the first 30 days, I’m going to do 10 minutes a day. For the second 30 days, I’m going to do 15 minutes a day. And for the third 30 days, I’m going to do 20 minutes a day, whatever it is for you. But making it specific, making it something that you meant to and making it something that’s still relatively small so that you’re going to maintain it. Because at the end of this next 90 days, I want you to set you up for another really big win where you prove to yourself that you can trust yourself. and that you can make changes and you can create new habits that actually stick. So again, create the minimum, but let’s do three. Over the next 30 days, hopefully some of these habits have turned into a lifestyle. The focus involved with doing little challenges like this just builds like confidence in yourself and it beats perfection. We’re not looking, we can’t all be perfect all the time. We’ve got to just go for sustainability. And that is really how I’ve been able to like. create these habits for myself that people always talk about me being so disciplined, that kind of thing. It really all started like this, just small little things. Whenever I get onto a new thing that I want to try, I’ve taught myself that if I go big in the beginning, I might be able to stick with it for a little while, but quite often I crash and burn or I just get burned

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 29: Reflect on What Changed This Month
In today’s episode, Cheryl guides you through one of the most important parts of building lasting habits: reflection. As the challenge nears the end, this is a chance to look back on the entire experience and notice what actually shifted for you. Cheryl explains how reflection helps reinforce progress, identify what worked, and spot what did not work without judgment. Today’s habit is simple and quick, but powerful. You are going to write a few notes about what changed, what you learned, and what you want to carry forward. The goal is not perfection. It is awareness, progress, and building a sustainable approach to healthy habits that fits into real life. Takeaways Reflection reinforces progress and helps you recognize what is working Noticing change helps your brain see the challenge mattered and created results Small changes and small increments are the most sustainable way to build habits Looking back helps you identify which habits you enjoyed and which felt harder The tracker can help you spot patterns in consistency without judgment Awareness is the first step to improving what comes next Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 29 of the 30 Days of Healthy Habits Challenge. So we’re getting here towards the end and it is time to reflect again. So this will be similar to some of the reflect and resets that we did throughout the challenge on each seventh day. But today we want to reflect on what has changed this whole. So what is it that you’ve learned from this challenge? What things changed for you? Did you enjoy moving every day? Did you discover a form of movement that brings you some joy while you’re doing it? I want you to write three quick notes about what changed today. So just the minimum, two or three things. Reflection helps you reinforce the progress that you’ve made and helps you notice what is actually working and also maybe what is not working. So as you’re reflecting, can write down really any thoughts that you have around this, but at least three bullet points is what I’d like for you to come up with that changed. And we also see that there’s some evidence that your brain can see there was a change, that this wasn’t all for nothing, that it wasn’t just another exercise in futility, but things actually did change or shift. And so even if you weren’t perfect every single day, even if you missed some of the days, this was never meant to be about. Perfect, right? Like when I said from the outset, I don’t want this to be something like a challenge that’s like 75 hardware, you miss something, you have to start all over, it’s really punitive. And I think there are obviously some advantages to those kinds of challenges as well, but this is just something to ease you in to making changes and to learn how the best way to make sustainable habits is to make small changes, small increments. note your progress, really create it in a way that works, that can fit into a busy schedule, but that you’re still actually making changes and making progress along the way. Notice, maybe look at your tracker, if you need help thinking about things that worked or didn’t work, notice how consistent you were or lack of consistency if that’s the case. Again, we’re not judging here, we’re just noticing and hopefully thinking about some things that would carry well into your future. As always, the links for the research are in your tracker and in today’s email. And if you haven’t signed up, if you’re just finding this and you’re like, what is this whole challenge all about? Just go to heelnourishgrow.com slash habits, and you can join anytime. So that is it for today 29. And I will be back with you one last time tomorrow for the habits and the final day. So get ready.
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 28: Schedule Connection (Put It on the Calendar)

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 28: Schedule Connection (Put It on the Calendar)
In today’s episode, Cheryl returns to one of the most impactful habits for long-term wellbeing: connection. In a world where so much communication happens through texts and social media, it is easy to feel socially connected without actually getting the benefits of real support and real interaction. Cheryl explains why true connection is closely tied to both mental and physical health, and why it is worth repeating this habit later in the challenge. Today’s focus is about moving beyond good intentions and turning connection into an actual plan by putting something social or supportive on the calendar. Takeaways Real connection supports mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing Texting and social media can make you feel connected without providing real support Scheduling time with people turns a good intention into a real plan Community and support groups can be just as valuable as time with close friends Making a specific time and date matters more than saying “sometime” Social plans can be simple and still create meaningful connection The sooner you schedule it, the more likely it is to actually happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BnlCHBdhGc[k/embedyt] Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey, everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 28 of the 30 Days Healthy Habits Challenge. Today, we’re going back to connection. We did this earlier in the challenge, but I think it’s important to hit on it again because in this day and age where everything has become text and social media and learning things about your friends and people in that way sometimes, reaching out and making true connections is becoming more more valuable. And it is so related to good health, good mental health, good physical health. Thank you. Bro. community a strong support group. people finding new people to connect with. And so today’s habit is make it happen. So it’s going to be a social or supportive thing on the calendar. I would say that this could be, you know, an event, a social meeting with a person that you already know, or if we’re calling it a supportive thing, it could be more like seeking out a book club or a support group or a way to meet new people. So either one that you choose and one may be easier the other depending on if you’re introverted or extroverted, but you’re going to do one thing. like that. So it’ll be to schedule this social time, you’re gonna get real support in real time, hopefully boost some happiness, get a few laughs. And putting it on the calendar turns this intention into an actual plan. The planning part is key because we all have intentions, right? How many times does somebody say to you, we should get together, but they don’t actually make a date or make a plan for doing to you. and mental health and physical health. So one of the things that you can choose to do if you want to be mental health and physical health is to do something like make a walking date. Just take a walk with a friend, go for a walk in nature, go for a walk on the treadmill next to each other, but somewhere that you can talk and interact and actually have real connection. You can go for a coffee. It could even be a phone call if you can’t get together in person, but set aside time that you’re actually going to do it. And both people have availability. Yeah. So time and date. leave it as, some time is not okay. It’s gotta be a plan, it’s gotta be on the calendar, it’s gotta be like, map. If it’s something that you can’t accomplish this week, I just want you to get on the calendar. It can be something in the future, but I really want you to intend to treat it as part of the calendar, actually do it. But if you can’t, this first day or tomorrow, actually have that interaction, have that schedule time with somebody, the sooner the better. There’s no time like the present, right? As always, the reason links w

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 27: Pause Before Reacting (10 Seconds)
In today’s episode, Cheryl shares a simple but powerful habit that can completely change how you handle stress, conflict, and emotional triggers. The focus is on building a short pause between what happens and how you respond, even if it is something small like a frustrating comment, an anxiety spike, or an email that instantly sets you off. Cheryl explains how taking just 10 seconds can reduce rumination, support more consistent decision-making, and help you respond in a way that aligns with the person you want to be, not just your first impulse. She also offers an easy cue phrase you can use in the moment, plus a beginner-friendly option if 10 seconds feels too hard. Takeaways A short pause helps create space between the stimulus and your response Reacting immediately often leads to choices you would not make once you calm down This practice can reduce rumination, meaning you replay the moment over and over later Pausing works in social situations and in private moments when you feel triggered internally Deep breathing during the pause helps settle your body before you respond If 10 seconds feels too long, start with 5 seconds and build from there Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nurse Grow and welcome to day 20. I call it a practice because this one is tough sometimes. It’s something that I have been practicing for a long time in my own life. And that is to today, your habit is to pause before reacting for 10 seconds. So a great example of this is usually better word triggers you or makes you anxious or makes you frustrated. And you may want to just react in that moment. And quite often what you’ll find is if you just take a pause, a couple deep breaths are useful here as well, but take a pause, give yourself a moment to think, give yourself a moment to feel where that comment or conflict or whatever it was, where it landed in your body, where you’re feeling it and just take a deep breath and then respond. And so why this is good. And it’s going to reduce rumination, which is that idea that you just keep playing something over and over in your head. All of this is going to support consistency and create a space between the stimulus and the response. And this usually leads to better choices or better interactions. Another thing, you know, I’m talking about reacting with someone else, but it could also be that you’re alone. It’s a personal thing that you’re just reacting to in the moment. So that’s a time to again, take some time, take a deep breath and just let it settle and figure out what you’re really thinking about it rather than just your initial knee jerk response. Because it could come in the form of an email or something that just happens to you and you’re just anxious and caught up in the moment. Just give yourself a beat. Pause, breathe, and then choose. That’s like a cue phrase. So along with this habit today to take that pause, think of pause, breathe,

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 26: Make One “Future You” Money Move
In today’s episode, Cheryl revisits one of the most important stress-related topics in the challenge: money. Since financial strain is a major source of anxiety for many people, today’s habit focuses on taking one small action that supports your future financial wellbeing. Cheryl explains why progress on financial goals is linked to better overall health and stability, and she shares simple, realistic examples you can complete in 10 minutes or less. The goal is not to build a full budget or overhaul your finances. It is to make a quick “future you” move that reduces stress, creates more control, and supports your ability to stay consistent with other healthy habits. Takeaways Money is a common source of stress, and reducing financial strain can improve overall wellbeing Small progress toward financial goals can help you feel calmer, more stable, and more in control The habit is about long-term support, not daily spending perfection Financial stability can make other healthy habits easier to maintain because stress is lower Automation is one of the easiest ways to reduce mental load and improve consistency Even small savings can matter, especially over time with compounding interest If money habits feel overwhelming, the best approach is a tiny step and then pause Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow, and welcome to day 26 of the 30 Days Healthy Habits Challenge. Today we’re back to money. We did this one habit earlier in the challenge and we’re coming back to it again because as we learned from the previous one, if you read any of the research or just listened to the podcast from before, that money is ⁓ quite a source of stress for a lot of people and this is no surprise, right? But it does show in the literature that making progress, making financial goals and taking some of your financial stress away actually creates greater wellbeing. It just helps you feel more settled, less anxious, less stressed. So addressing money things now and again is a good idea. Cheryl McColgan (00:45)obviously I think we should be considering what we’re consuming, what we’re spending money on, that sort of thing every single day. But when you’re doing these future plans or kind of more extended timeframe things for savings, that’s maybe not something that you’re thinking every single day. So I didn’t mean to say that, obviously you shouldn’t be focusing on spending on a daily basis, but these kind of larger goals might be something that’s more a once a week, once a month sort of thing. So back to today’s habit is to make one future you money move today. And so this is going to be something that lowers financial strain and just gives you stronger financial capability in the future. And that’s all associated with better health and wellbeing. It reduces stress, as I said before, creates stability and having stability and having control of your finances supports other healthy habits as well. It gives you the finances and the ability to invest. in other areas of your health if you need to. And it also having less stress in your life makes all the behaviors easier to repeat when you don’t have stress cropping up. So to give you some examples to make this easier, do something like set up an auto-save program at your bank or on an app. So taking $10, $20, $1,000, whatever works in your particular financial situation to automatically save each month. Automated bill. have a bill or two or all of them that are scheduled to pay every single month so that it takes the stress off of you remembering to send a check or to submit your payment online. Maybe increase your retirement contribution by 1%. This is an area that I’m really interested in because I have always been involved in some degree and both my partners have been in finance and I actually ended up doing a speech about it in college. But the compounding Interest is such a h

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 25: Do a Short Strength or Stability Session
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan emphasizes the importance of strength training for overall health, particularly as we age. She discusses how even short sessions can be effective and encourages listeners to incorporate strength and stability exercises into their routines. Cheryl highlights the benefits of consistency and the need to challenge oneself with appropriate weights to stimulate muscle growth. She also addresses common misconceptions about strength training and reassures listeners that it’s never too late to start. Takeaways Strength training is crucial for functional health and aging. Short sessions of strength training can be effective. Two days a week of strength training can yield significant results. Lifting heavy means finding the right weight for you. Body weight exercises can be a great starting point for beginners. Balance and stability exercises are important for overall fitness. Osteoporosis and muscle loss can be reversed with strength training. It’s never too late to start strength training, regardless of age. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01.902)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to a day 25 of your 30 day healthy habits challenge. This is one I’ve been waiting for to send to the very end here the last few days and that is to challenge you to do a short strength or stability session. So this is not going to require any equipment. It’s not going to require going to the gym or anything like that. But I just want you to try it if this is something that you don’t do on a regular basis. because strength training has just so related to so many aspects of health. There’s more and more stuff coming about all the time. It is maybe more important than strict cardio for a lot of reasons, but it supports again, functional health, just moving around on a day-to-day basis. And it’s a lot of longer term, less health risks when you strength train. So strength and stability, it all supports healthy aging, it supports confidence and just again, your function in daily life. I always say, you I’m training to be able to get off the toilet by myself when I get older because these are the kind of things that people lose the ability to do because they lose the strength in their legs. And that is just crazy scary. Also short short sessions are easier to maintain and it builds this consistency, which is an awesome thing for habit building. I’ve actually been following along with this other podcast recently called mind pump. I’m pretty sure that’s right. Like 99.9 % sure. But anyway, these guys have been training people for years and years and years and just a great collective wealth of knowledge. And they have programs that are just 15 minutes a day. Now people do them six days a week for strength training, but that 15 minutes a day, it supports the habit, keeps the habit going. And it’s enough time if you do for 15 minutes, you probably do two to three sets of some strength training exercise, kind of a full body. idea and they’re doing all the big lifts like deadlifts, squats, lunges, that sorts of thing. I don’t have their program unfortunately, but that’s the idea behind it is supporting this daily habit, doing it an amount of time that doesn’t scare people off and that people can fit into their schedule. And that’s all it takes to build strength. You can build strength with that little of strength training a day. And actually if you didn’t want to do it 15 minutes a day, like if you would have to go to a gym to do this and that seems like, oh, that’s a lot of Cheryl McColgan (02:26.766)driving time to go to the gym for just 15 minutes of work, even just two days a week of a longer strength training session that hits all parts of your body is enough to get 80 % of the 80 to 90 % of the strength that you’re going to get anyway. It comes from just two days a week. You’re h

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 24: Plan Tomorrow’s Movement + One Healthy Meal
For Day 24 of the 30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge, Cheryl shares a habit that makes healthy living feel way easier: planning ahead. Today’s goal is simple, plan tomorrow’s movement and one healthy meal. This helps reduce friction, decision fatigue and makes following through with healthy choices easier. This habit is all about keeping it realistic. Your healthy meal doesn’t need to be fancy or time-consuming, it just needs a plan. If tomorrow feels too tight, you can plan for a healthy meal sometime in the next three days instead. Takeaways Planning reduces friction and helps you follow through without relying on motivation. Deciding ahead of time reduces decision fatigue, especially at the end of a busy day. Meal planning supports variety, helping you include more ingredients and avoid repeating the same meals. Aim for at least 30g of protein in your planned meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner your choice). Try adding one produce item you don’t normally buy to increase variety and support gut health. Planning your movement mean choosing what you’ll do and when you’ll do it so it actually happens. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.014)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 24 of the 30 days healthy habits challenge. So today is one that I am particularly fond of and I think it’s fun. Some people will not think this is a fun habit to have, but that is to plan tomorrow’s movement and one healthy meal. ideally we’re going to plan one healthy meal for tomorrow, but I will say that if you have a particularly challenging work schedule or this is something that you don’t do on a regular basis, you can really plan for that healthy meal just sometime in the next three days. But the idea is to plan ahead to figure out what it is, how you’re gonna make it, what ingredients you need for it, if you need to find a recipe, all that kind of good stuff. And everybody’s definition of a healthy meal will vary slightly, obviously, depending on your goals and depending on. you know, what that looks like for you. There’s, you know, there’s all kinds of different dietary practices that anybody might be following. So I’m not prescribing a specific one. Of course, you know, I’m going to say that I would challenge you to, for whatever it is to have at least 30 grams of protein in it. And this one healthy meal you can plan, can do it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever that means for you. It’s going to be, you know, if you’re not used to cooking, I don’t want you to plan like a big elaborate thing, unless that sounds fun to you, then yes, you could do something like that. But it would mean just a nourishing healthy meal. It doesn’t have to be necessarily anything fancy or anything that requires a lot of cooking. It just has to have a plan. So planning reduces friction, reduces decision fatigue later. It might be decision in the moment that you have to make, but once that is done and once you’ve already planned for it and gotten the ingredients, you already know what you’re having for dinner tomorrow. So that should make everything really easy through. throughout that next day, not having to worry about that one part of your day, that’s already decided. And then it also, in the literature, the research for today, it says that it supports food variety, which is really also great for your diet, great for your gut microbiome. People that plan meals tend to include more different ingredients rather than if you just, if you don’t do much planning, you just might grab whatever’s available, grab what you typically tend to buy anyway. And so it gets… Cheryl McColgan (02:18.71)you know, can get pretty repetitive. So this planning ahead to try a new recipe or to make something slightly different can also just introduce variety into your meals as well. And then as far as picking your movement, that can be whatever you̵
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 23: Create a “Stress Release” Ritual (Movement or Breath)

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 23: Create a “Stress Release” Ritual (Movement or Breath)
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of creating a stress release ritual as part of the healthy habits challenge. She emphasizes the benefits of consistent practice in managing stress, including physiological and mental health improvements. Cheryl shares various breathing techniques and practical applications for stress relief, encouraging listeners to find what works best for them and to incorporate these practices into their daily routines. Takeaways Create a stress release ritual to manage stress. Consistency in practice helps build resistance to stress. Breathing techniques can significantly reduce stress levels. Box breathing and movement can aid in stress relief. Anxiety during breathing practices may indicate shallow breathing habits. Research supports the benefits of meditation and breathing exercises. Incorporate stress release practices into daily life for better mental health. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.494)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McCogan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to a day 23 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today’s challenge is to create a stress release ritual. This is either going to be movement or breath. And this is just going to be something simple. It’s something easy and that you can repeat and that’s about 60 seconds of breath if you’re choosing breath or two minutes of movement. And we’ve had some… of this in the challenge already, you’ve tried different types of movement, you challenge yourself to move in a different way on some of the days. And so maybe if there was something that you tried and you notice like, hey, that’s really good for me. And it does relieve stress. Maybe it’s that maybe it’s if you try to need a mobility exercises we talked about or stretching or something like that to release stress or if it’s 60 seconds of a breath practice, one of the previous days we mentioned the three just three deep breaths, something that simple 60 seconds is going to take longer. So it might be like five deep breaths, 10 deep breaths, but you’re just doing something that’s more extended amount of time. was like a quick stress release in the moment. This is something that is more focused on bringing your heart rate down, just, you know, bringing your stress in your body, your heart, your blood pressure, that kind of things like reducing all of those are really getting the parasympathetic system nervous system to come into play on this so that it relieves your body and your mind of stress. So we’re just doing the minimum, the minimum, the minimum today. We’re just doing the minimum today on this. And this short stress ritual is good for a couple of reasons. It can reduce physiological stress, so your body stress and build resistance over time. And then can also reduce mental stress. So if you do this consistently as a reset, it’ll help you to respond rather than react in the moment. It’s going to make, you know, that makes for better discipline, better decision making. If you’re not just flying off the handle at a moment’s notice, it also helps with your interactions with people. If you happen to notice when you get stressed that you snap people little more often or respond in a way that is not professional or calm. Having this little ritual will give you a way to kind of downshift. And the more that you train yourself on this, you know, you might notice anytime that you take some deep breaths, it helps. But when you train this every single day as a habit, Cheryl McColgan (02:17.43)It is a response that trains your brain to automatically go into that more relaxed state just by the act of you starting to do it. So it’ll become more effective and act more quickly every single time. So here’s some examples. If you’re having trouble thinking of one to do, we can go back to that three breath rate set, but you might do it for longer. Just set y
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 22: Habit Stack (Attach a Habit to an Existing One)
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 22: Habit Stack (Attach a Habit to an Existing One)
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan discusses the concept of habit stacking, a technique that involves attaching a new habit to an existing one to make it easier to adopt. She shares her personal struggles with maintaining new habits and provides practical examples of how to effectively implement habit stacking in daily routines. The conversation emphasizes the importance of cues and motivation in forming lasting habits, as well as the value of research in validating health information. Takeaways Habit stacking is a technique to make new habits easier to adopt. Attaching a small habit to a daily routine can enhance consistency. The perceived importance of a habit affects motivation to maintain it. Using strong cues can help in forming new habits. Daily routines can serve as effective cues for new habits. Habit stacking can reduce decision fatigue. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.174)I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 22 of the 30 days healthy habits challenge. Today is something that we’ve talked about a little bit throughout the challenge, but I haven’t really dedicated an episode to it yet and I haven’t challenged you to actually do it as part of the habit challenge and that is to habit stack. So habit stacking is really simple. It can sometimes be hard to find ones that put together that make sense. But when you can find those ones that go together that make sense, it just really makes this such an easier thing. So today’s challenge is to attach a small habit to something you already do every single day. So I think I just even mentioned this in the last recording for day 21 in the reflection thing is about if you missed habits, know, habit stacking is a great way to do those. Because if you’re finding them challenging to fit in your day, sticking them to something you already do is going to be one of the easiest way that you can make that stick. And then so I’ll give you an example of the one since I started making this challenge, I’ve been thinking about this a lot for myself. And here’s the one that I’m working on right now. So I have had this hair trauma for the last three years. It’s a really long story that you don’t need to hear about in this episode, which I have actually done a podcast episode on it before. But at any rate, it’s, you know, I’ve had a lot of trauma to my hair. I’ve had a lot of hair falling out. I’ve had some scalp irritation, things like that. And so I’ve been very focused on that. And one of the things I purchased to help me deal with this is this OS one supplement. I’ve been using their skincare for a while now. Absolutely love it. I have an article over at the website all about it. He says a peptide science. It’s really cool technology and it actually works and there’s some good clinical data behind it all. But anyway, oh, and just because I mentioned that If you read about it, you do get a little extra discount with my link or something. But anyway, the point of none of that is the point here. The point is that I find it difficult. I bought this hair serum and I bought like I can’t remember if I bought a three month supply or six month supply because you definitely get a bigger discount if you buy more. And plus, if you’re doing anything with your hair, it’s going to take you a little bit longer to actually notice results. Right. So anyway, I’m getting to the point I promise is that I bought that serum, probably a good Cheryl McColgan (02:20.305)six months ago now or maybe even longer. And I’ve only used it maybe a total of five times and I’ll start to think, okay, I’m going to use it today and then I’ll get on the new habit of doing this every day because you got to do it every day for it to really be effective. So I haven’t been able to do that up to this point. I don’t know why it’s such a simple t

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 21: Weekly Reset: Reflect and Adjust
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of reflecting on progress during the 30-day healthy habits challenge. She emphasizes the flexibility of the challenge, encouraging participants to celebrate small wins and make adjustments to their habits for better integration into daily life. Cheryl also highlights the significance of planning for long-term habit maintenance beyond the challenge, ensuring that participants can sustain their new habits over time. Takeaways You don’t have to be perfect on this challenge. Celebrate the progress and reinforce the behavior. Small adjustments prevent an all or nothing mindset. Keep your focus on being consistent. Choose the habits that resonate with you. Missed days are just data for you. List out three wins this week, even if small. Creating small daily habits supports your core values. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.142)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNourishRo and welcome to day 21 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. So day 21, we’ve made it through the third week and if you’ve been doing the challenge along with us the whole time, then you know that this is time for the weekly reset. We reflect and adjust. So again, you don’t have to be perfect on this challenge. That’s why all the habits have only taken five to 15 minutes a day is so it gives you some things to try, gives you some things that see which habits could really work well in your life, what could help you the most. And knowing that you don’t have to start over again, if you miss something, you can just do the little habit along with the next day’s habit, or you can just jump right back in. It’s not anything, one of these challenges where you have to start over if you miss a day. This is meant to be very flexible, to fit easily into your life, and to just give you some new ways of thinking about habits that might be helpful to you, and that you might wanna integrate. each and every day going forward instead of just trying it on these little five minute, 15 minute intervals. So today’s habit is look at your tracker, celebrate what you did, and then choose one habit to make easier next week. So some of these, if you’ve been going through, you know, I’ve encouraged you, you’re just trying the one habit each and every day. But if you found a habit that speaks to you or that was super easy that you wanted to add in for the entirety of the challenge, maybe you’ve been doing those. And so notice if you told yourself, hey, I was gonna drink that glass of water every single morning before I drank coffee. Have you stuck with that? Have you done it? And just notice what’s making it more difficult to keep that habit in is that you didn’t put the water next to your bed like I suggested, or maybe you go downstairs and you just go straight for the coffee and you forgot one day to do the water first. So whatever it is, just look what’s making these easier. And so I’ve been sending out the emails at 6.30 a.m. Eastern time. Eastern time, that’s probably not the perfect time for everyone in the whole world that decides to do the challenge, obviously. But noticing if it’s harder to integrate into your day because you just got it later, maybe you kind of set it the day behind where you read today’s habit and you actually do that tomorrow so that you can plan ahead for it and know where it best fits in your day, that sort of thing. So again, we’re just looking to make these easy. We’re looking to make them fit with the habits that we already have, trying habit stacking, putting one habit, sticking it with another that makes it easy. Like we had the idea about, Cheryl McColgan (02:19.554)taking supplements when you brush your teeth kind of thing, or putting your running shoes next to the door where you have to see them before you go outside to go to work and remind you t

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 20: Declutter One Small Area (5 Minutes)
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of adopting small, manageable habits to improve mental clarity and reduce stress. She emphasizes the benefits of a five-minute decluttering practice, which can lead to a calmer environment and a sense of accomplishment. Cheryl shares insights on how clutter can increase anxiety and how small wins can build trust in oneself. The conversation encourages listeners to embrace these habits as part of a broader 30-day healthy habits challenge. Takeaways Clutter increases your stress. It creates a calm Zen mind. You get to check it off your list and it’s done. Touch it once, that’s the practice. Don’t be tempted to deep clean. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.62)Cheryl McColgan founder of HealNourishGrow and welcome to the day 20 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today is one that I use pretty frequently and I think it is so helpful and actually looking into the research about it I always knew that there was a reason that this was a thing that was good for you. But today’s habit is that you’re going to declutter one small area for five minutes. So you’re just going to set a timer on your phone or in the kitchen time or something like that and stop when it ends. Now, I will say what happens to me when I use this little habit is that sometimes I kind of get on a roll and I don’t really want to stop. So if you want to keep it super manageable and not let it go kind of taking over other parts of your day, if you have a really busy day, you might want to just take a five minute section that’s right before you need to do something else. So you definitely have to stop. And it’s interesting how it almost leaves you kind of craving more because once you get started, quite often you get a little bit in a flow and then a rhythm or you want to do a little bit more. And it’s kind of like the other habit that I shared with you, I mentioned how I would kind of trick myself when I used to have to get out the door to go run or go exercise or something like that. And so it’s kind of the same with this. saying I’m only going to declutter for five minutes and then I’m going to stop. So it takes away the resistance to that. Because I know a lot of times if I have a big cleaning project or if I have an area that’s a big mess and I just I want to reorganize it and I want to deal with it, but I just I will mentally put it off forever because it seems like it’s going to take too much time. And it creates a lot of mental stress for me specifically. So I think that this habit is a really good one to take on. It is something that, again, like all of these habits has research to support why it’s good for you. But basically clutter increases your stress. So like I just described, for me, it definitely creates, it’s more like anxiety for me, what it creates when I have a messy space. And a calmer space also supports calmer routines. It makes it easier to carry through on your other habits because you’re not looking around thinking about all the things that you need to clean up or organize or do. It’s just a calm Zen space really creates a calm Zen mind. So this small reset can also help reduce visual stress and make your environment just more supportive for everything that you’re going to do in that space. For example, right now, if I look at my desk, there’s a few papers and things on it that aren’t making me so happy in the moment, but Cheryl McColgan (02:22.466)That’s probably what I will do for my five minute little clutter cleanup today. So you start these short sessions and it really helps you build trust with yourself because again, it’s a small win. And so in this scenario, the way that we set this up, decluttering a small space, you’re going to have the small win where you finish what you started and you get to check it off your list and

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 19: Set One Digital Boundary
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of setting digital boundaries to improve mental and physical health. She highlights the negative effects of excessive screen time, particularly from social media, on anxiety and overall well-being. Cheryl offers practical strategies for implementing a digital detox, such as uninstalling apps and creating physical distance from devices, to foster healthier habits and reduce stress. Takeaways Setting digital boundaries is crucial for mental health. Excessive screen time can disrupt sleep patterns. Social media contributes significantly to anxiety levels. A digital detox can free up valuable time. Uninstalling distracting apps can help focus. Physical distance from devices can improve well-being. Using Do Not Disturb features can reduce interruptions. Awareness of screen time can lead to healthier habits. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00)Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 19 of the 30 days of healthy habits challenge. So today’s habit is that we’re going to set one digital boundary for the day and why this matters is probably obvious to you. There’s so many so much information and so much research now on screen time and how it’s affecting people and there’s so many reasons it’s not healthy. So the number one and we talked about this before in relation to sleep is the blue light that emanates from your phone. You’re holding it very close to your face for a great part of the day. So it definitely interferes with your circadian rhythm and sleep. In addition, you know, just the act of looking at your phone, having it in your hands can create wrist carpal tunnel kinds of issues. It creates a hunch in the shoulders and this forward head lean that is very hard to counteract. And then saving the probably the most important one to talk about for last. is that it really affects depression and anxiety. And we’re seeing a lot of research come out on this having to do with social media specifically and young children and screen time. And there’s kind of two separate things just screen time in general for children is less clear, I think in their literature, because I saw at least one research study recently that was saying something about it. wasn’t really the screen time itself necessarily interfering with neural development so it can be a positive in some cases but screen time as far as social media for both adolescents and adults is not healthy. It creates a lot of anxiety and depression and some of this is by design. So the app designers and if you ever listen to any of the interviews with people that talk about this stuff it’s really interesting how they purposely want to make you scroll more and spend more time on the app and now I think TikTok has gotten to be especially the worst because now it’s all like live streams of people trying to sell you something. So it’s also become a means by which you can, you know, lose some control of your financial situation. And, know, TikTok in particular, they’re just making it so, so easy to click on a live video and purchase the product immediately or put it into a cart where you’re still can watch the video and then prompts you to buy. So there’s any number of reasons giving yourself a digital detox is a good idea. In addition to just freeing up some of the time during your day, if you ever look at the stats on your phone about time spent on social media, like unless you’re scrolling social media while you’re on a treadmill or working out or something like that, that’s probably about the only other thing you could really reasonably do at the same time. But if you ever look at your screen time on your phone for specific apps, it can be really interesting and give you a big clue as to whether you need to do this type of detox a little more often or not. those, the links to that, some of the research

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 18: Reach Out to Someone (Text, Call, Plan)
Today’s habit for the 30 day healthy habits challenge, is a seriously under appreciated part of health. However, it’s one that impacts both how you feel now and how you age over time: connection. Having supportive relationships and a sense of community isn’t just good for your mood, it’s strongly linked to longevity, resilience, and overall well-being. For today’s habit, you’re going to reach out to someone. Call or text, but take it one step further and make an actual plan. Suggest a specific day and a specific activity, even if it’s simple and free, like a walk or a coffee. If you can, I want to encourage you to call. Hearing someone’s voice or even leaving a quick voice message creates a deeper kind of connection than a quick text, and it’s something we’ve gotten away from over time. Relationships require communication and follow-through, and today is about being the person who makes it easy for connection to happen. Takeaways Connection and supportive relationships are linked to mental health and longevity Isolation can negatively impact health over time, and reaching out helps reduce that A quick message is good, but a real plan is better Suggest a specific date and a specific activity so it doesn’t stay vague Consider calling instead of texting to create a more meaningful moment of connection It does not have to be expensive or complicated, a walk, coffee, or casual catch-up counts Relationships require communication and consistency, and someone has to initiate it You can build a strong support system with just a few key people, but you have to invest in it Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.394)Cheryl McHogan founder of HealNourishGrow and welcome to day 18 of your 30 days healthy habits challenge. Today is one that is such an underappreciated part of health and that is to reach out to someone and having connection in your life and having a supportive community is really just so key not only to your mental health but also it’s highly related to longevity. So if you want to be healthier Creating a small circle or a large circle of people that you have in your life that are available to you is just really important and an underrated aspect of health. So today’s activity, today’s habit is to reach out to someone. Now I’m gonna say call or text, but plan something. Plan to meet, plan to meet in person, plan to go somewhere. It doesn’t have to be somewhere where you spend money necessarily, maybe go for a walk or just grab a coffee or it could be dinner. just anything like that. And I am going to encourage you, I said text or call, but I’m going to encourage you to call because we all have gotten maybe a little lazy with that over time. And it’s just nice to hear people’s voices, even if I’m not able to pick up the phone for some reason in that moment, I always love getting a nice voice message because it’s just something we don’t do that much anymore. Why this matters again, social connection, it’s protective for your mood and longevity and It’s just going to make you less isolated, which is also related to health over time. And if you don’t reach out, you’re not going to have those connections. You’re not going to have a actual relationship like relationships require communication. It requires touching base. And I have to say, I’m really impressed. There are certain people in my life that are just so very good at this. And I really admire that quality. They’re always the one to reach out or just say, thinking about you or let’s get together soon and throw out a date and throw out an idea. That’s another thing. mean, people, I feel like that’s one thing when you say, yeah, we should get together soon. That’s not a plan. That’s why that’s part of this conversation of this habit is to get you to be the one that says, how does next Thursday work or throwing out a date and an activity? Bec

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 17: Do a Small Financial Win (One Action)
Today’s habit might surprise you, but it’s one of the most important for overall well-being bring some attention to your finances by creating small win. Financial stress doesn’t just live in your bank account, it aksi shows up in your body and your mental health, too. For a lot of people, the biggest stress isn’t even the numbers, it’s the avoidance of financial related tasks or thinking. So today, we’re keeping it simple: one small money action that helps you feel more in control, builds momentum, and makes bigger financial tasks feel less overwhelming. Key takeaways: Financial stress is closely tied to mental and physical health, this is wellness, too. A tiny step helps break the avoidance cycle and builds confidence fast. Keep it small and doable. Ideas: cancel a subscription you don’t use anymore, move $10–$100 into savings, pay a bill you’ve been putting off, review your expenses for the week or month, look at your credit card statement and spending categories, use your card’s built-in tools to spot patterns. Even a one-day change (like skipping a habitual purchase) can be a helpful reality check and can add up over time. If you want extra support, I’ll include a tool I’ve been testing (Rocket Money) in the show notes (free trial link if available). Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Watch on YouTube Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.43)Cheryl McCogan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and today is day 17 of the 30 days of Healthy Habits Challenge. So today is an interesting one and I think it’s one that people don’t always think about when you’re thinking about your health and wellness but it is actually so important especially for your mental health and just for overall well-being and that is today’s habit which will be to do a small financial win. So this could be anything really just a small money action that’s going to lower your financial stress because financial stress is really linked strongly to mental and physical health and taking a small action can help build confidence and reduce the stress of avoidance because a lot of people don’t do financial stuff because it’s like they just don’t want to think about it they don’t want to take the time to deal with it they think if they ignore it it’ll just go away something like that but you can have this tiny win today that will create some momentum and make bigger challenges feel less overwhelming. Is it like anything else? Like all of these habits we’ve talked about, you got to start small and build on it. So to make it easy, here’s some few options and examples of things you might do. One might be to cancel a subscription that you’re no longer using. That’ll save you maybe $10 a month, $20 a month, something like that. The streaming services have all got us crazy lately because everything you want to watch is on a totally different channel. So take a good look at that and maybe consider pairing that down. You might move $10, $20, $100 to your savings account, a pay a bill that you’ve been putting off, review an account, maybe review your expenses for the whole month or review your expenses for the week. Review your credit card bill. Really just take time to actually look at it and see where your money is going. There’s actually some good tools in most of the credit card things. If you log on to your account online, it’ll kind of… break it down into categories like, you know, bills and utilities. You might be looking at Amazon specifically, it’ll give you the whole amount that that has. If you look at whatever card that you have, it tends to have some good tools along with that that can show you how you’re managing your finances or where you’re spending. And then noticing once you see where you’re spending, that’s how you have been able to like create one of these small wins, see if there’s something that you can eliminate or something that you can change. Cheryl McColgan (02:28.586)Also an
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 16: Do Something Fun or Creative for 10 Minutes

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 16: Do Something Fun or Creative for 10 Minutes
Today’s habit for the 30 day healthy habit challenge is simple, powerful, and genuinely fun: set aside 10 minutes to do something creative or playful. As adults, we often stop making time for “silly” or purely enjoyable moments, but those short creative breaks can lower stress, boost your mood, and make it easier to stay consistent with healthy habits the rest of the day. Whether you put on music and fully immerse yourself, try painting, cook, take photos, knit, or explore something totally new. This is about giving your brain a reset and letting yourself experience a little joy. Takeaways Today’s habit: Do 10 minutes of fun or creativity, in addition to your daily movement. Fun isn’t “extra”, it can lower stress and support your overall well-being. Short creative breaks can improve mood and stress resilience, making healthy choices feel easier. As adults, we often forget how to play, making fun a habit helps bring that back. If you work in a creative field, choose something different from your job to truly reset your brain. Aim for an activity that helps you enter a mini flow state. This allows you to be extra focused and not thinking about everything else. Try something new you’re not “good” at. Being a beginner can actually make it more immersive and fun. If you’re too tired for “fun,” choose something restorative (like a relaxing read) and still count it. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.558)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 16 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today is fun because it actually is doing something fun or creative for 10 minutes. So this is of course, in addition to your 10 minutes of daily movement, but you’re going to take a separate 10 minutes at some point today and set that aside to do something creative or fun. So this is often challenging for people. When I even think about it for myself, I’m like, what do I find fun? What would I actually do with this 10 minutes? Well, the beauty is it can be anything. And hopefully you have a hobby or a thing that you do, whether it’s art or singing or dancing or just something that speaks to you and creates fun. This fun or creative activity, it can lower stress, it supports your well-being, and it just makes healthy habits throughout the day easier to maintain if you always have a little bit of fun. Short creative breaks can also support your mood and it creates stress resilience. fun, we don’t always make time for it, but you can make that a habit too. And that’s why I wanted to include this one in the challenge because I definitely think it’s something that when we become adults, that we do this less and less. And it’s too bad because those times that you’re silly, and I find, at least for me, it’s often easiest for me to do this with friends, is that the silly creative or just fun times, it creates so much joy and you almost forget what it’s like. Whereas I feel like when we were younger and kids, we were more carefree and had less responsibilities. it was easier to just say pull off work and do something fun for 10 minutes. But it really will pay you benefits if you look at it in terms of your work, because when you give yourself that little mental break, and especially if you’re in a creative field, it is nice to take a break and do something fun or different from whatever it is creative that you do for your actual job. So I would encourage you if you are in a creative field, if you do, for example, you do some people call it I do creative, I don’t know if I really think that it’s because I don’t. Cheryl McColgan (02:12.332)I don’t think of writing creativity in the same way that I think of like drawing or painting or things like that. To me, that seems more like creative activity, but it is, it really is creative. And even when you’re doing it kind of more in a work component, that it’s no
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 15: Write a Simple Morning Intention (Pick One Priority)

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 15: Write a Simple Morning Intention (Pick One Priority)
Setting an intention for the day can help keep you focused on what’s really important. It gives you the ability to make decisions that are in alignment with what you’ve chosen to focus on for the day. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.142)everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 15 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. This morning is going to be simple. We’re going to pick an intention, just one priority. So at the beginning of the challenge you identified three areas that were your top priorities. So let’s set one intention that’s related to one of those priorities. You don’t have to do all three, just one. So. You will do this, write it down like we said before, there’s something about hand to real paper, actually writing something out that is very different than writing in the app. But if you’re using the app or you’re using a simple note in your phone, something like that, that is totally fine as well. But if you’re keeping a journal or you’re using that throughout the challenge, I definitely recommend actually handwriting this one. You could also write your intention for the day on a post-it note and put it somewhere where you’ll see it often throughout the day so that it keeps reminding you. So whether that’s on your computer, if you’re working or maybe putting in your purse, or if you’re in the kitchen a lot, dealing with your kids throughout the day, putting it on the refrigerator, something like that. So just one thing, and this thing about choosing a priority, or choosing an intention for the day, it really reduces decision fatigue. So if you’re really trying to stay mindful of that intention throughout the day, it’ll just make your decisions. easier. So you’re like, okay, is the decision I’m about to make in line with that priority, that intention that I set for the beginning of the day or not, and you definitely want it to be one try a whole day where you’re just really being in alignment with what it is that you want for yourself. It also just helps you reduce mental clutter and it directs you gives you some attention to your purpose. And it just makes the chances that you’re going to follow through a lot more realistic when you set that intention at the beginning of the day and actually Like I said, keep reminding yourself of it. Another thing you can do is actually set a timer or a reminder on your phone so that it pops up every once in while and again, just brings it back to the forefront. So you can keep it as easy as two sentences if you need it some kind of more, a little bit more direction around this, but it’s today I will blank and I will show up as blank. Cheryl McColgan (02:16.576)Again, having those little reminders around are a great way to approach it, but you could also attach it to some cue that you do something that you do throughout the day. You might be like every time I open my laptop, top, I’m going to repeat that intention and then just bring it to top of mind. So however it is that you’re going to be able to keep it in the forefront, do that, whether it’s the writing, the putting it on the phone, the attaching it to a cue. It’s kind of like the attaching it to you is like that idea of habit stacking that we’ve talked a little bit in the past. If warnings are too hectic, you could always write this intention the night before, or if you get stuck and you’re just can’t figure out something, maybe choose from being calm, consistent, present, kind, focused. Those are all ways that you could show up. Or today I will be one of those things, something like that. As always the links for the research are in your tracker and in the day’s email. If you’re not signed up yet, healthy habits challenge, be sure to go to healnourishgrow.com slash habits. You can easily sign up

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 14: Weekly Reset: Reflect and Adjust
This is the end of another week of the healthy habits challenge, and Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of evaluating the week in order to identify ways to improve for the rest of the challenge. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.846)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Feel Nourish Grow and welcome to day 14 of your 30 days healthy habits challenge. We made it to day 14, that’s the end of week two and now it’s time for the weekly reset. So every week we do a reflect and adjust. It’s not a time to make any judgments about yourself or to be sad or unhappy with yourself for not doing a particular day or anything like that. You’re not perfect, you don’t need to be perfect. We just need to keep repeating the habits and not get stuck on, you know, this idea that we, you know, there’s the streaks and stuff are fun. And I, again, I made this challenge to be manageable so that it’s five to 15 minutes a day. So that ideally you’re getting those wins every single day. But if you do miss a day, it’s totally okay. You’re just jumping back in. So for the weekly reset, we’re going to go back to the same thing that we did on day seven. And that is to list one win. one challenge and one small adjustment for next week. Again, we’re doing always the 10 minutes of movement every day. I hope you’re enjoying that. I’d love to hear how it’s feeling in your body, what you’ve been doing for movement, what’s different for you with that. And then also going back to your focus areas. Ideally every day when you are looking at the habit that we’re doing, and I’ve tried to mention this a few times throughout the videos, but it’s not always easy for me to remember to do it on every single one, but to… Keep the habit in the framework of your, the three things that you identified at the beginning as your focus areas, trying to integrate that in some way that supports those focus areas. And if it just doesn’t fit for you, maybe that’s not one of the habits that you’re going to keep going forward. But those focus areas, again, ideally when you have these kind of focus areas in mind, and I like to take the focus areas and eventually, you make them into goals that are maybe a monthly goal or a five-year goal or a 10-year goal. things that are much bigger goals, you have to take these small steps to get there. And so, but these focus areas in, I have this other thing that I wrote up a long time ago and it was just about your daily or your goals and habits and kind of identifying what things are most important to you in your life. And, Cheryl McColgan (02:23.566)So was this program that I wrote about and it’s still on the website. I’ll include the link in the show notes for you, but it’s a goals and kind of identifying things in your life. Like what are you about? What are your primary drivers and what are some big goals in the future that you want to get to? You might have a five-year goal, a 10-year goal, but these daily little habits that we’re creating should all support your focus areas, your future goals, things that you’re gonna get to. the… Example I always like to use is the marathon. You know, you’re not going to go out and run 24 miles, 25 miles, 26.2 to be technically correct in a day. I’d like just do that tomorrow. You’ve got to build up to it. Ideally, if you’re going to run a marathon that’s four months in the future, you’re starting out by running a few, you know, maybe it’s even minutes at a time if you’ve never run before. And maybe it’s a six month build up to this or a year build up to this goal. But it’s these little daily habits that get you there. So anyway, all that is to say to just take these into account every habit that you try in this challenge, notice what’s speaking to you and then see

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 13: Quick Emotional Check-In
For day 13 of the healthy habits challenge, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of emotional check ins for mental health and behavior change. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.046)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 13 of the 30 Days Have Healthy Habits Challenge. Today we’re doing a quick emotional check-in. So this is something that I noticed that when I’m just, you know, in work mode and I’m kind of moving through my day and I’m just checking things off my to-do list, you often don’t take time to just kind of check in with yourself and see how you’re actually doing. So it can be useful just to make sure that you know what’s going on. You can check in and see if you’re you notice you’re overly stressed overly anxious if you’re doing too much and it’s just a simple one-sentence thing that you’ll do for this emotional check-in and that is to say right now I feel blank and we’re also noticing if there is any feeling in the body that’s associated with this. So it’s just taking kind of an overview of both your physiological and emotional state at the same time. Quite often when we experience certain emotions, whether it’s stress or anxiety or excitement, you know, they don’t always have to be negative emotions that we’re feeling, but you’ll notice that you feel it somewhere in your body. And so that can just be useful to notice where you’re holding extra tension. And again, it just gives you some bullet points or some things to notice that you can try to counteract them. So for example, yesterday’s habit was the movement stack. And if you take an emotional check-in and you notice that you feel anxious in that moment. Well, it might be useful to do one of our breathing exercises that we’ve checked in as a habit or to do a little bit of movement to, you know, move some of that anxiety out of your body, but to first notice it, you have to notice it if you’re going to be able to do actually address it and do anything about it. So the cue is right now I feel blank and just notice where you feel it in your body. So the reason this matters is that labeling emotions can help reduce anxiety and help you respond with more intention. And then it also reduces the intensity. So especially if it’s a negative emotion, this naming it and noticing it will help you calm down and actually respond instead of overreact or react in a way that is not helpful for you. It also strengthens just self-awareness and mindfulness. So this is also something that we do sometimes in a meditation practice that you are Cheryl McColgan (02:19.957)you know, people’s minds are going everywhere, but you’re just observing thoughts and noticing them in a meditation and not necessarily trying to change anything, but just getting this idea of self-awareness. So if you get stuck and you’re not like can’t name what you’re feeling, you can use this simple list. This is or some of the most common ones that people might experience in the moment is stressed, calm, anxious, excited, tired, hopeful, frustrated, happy, sad. all there’s all kinds but those are kind of the typical ones that people might feel and then add one sense to this and say I feel this because so you might again it’s this idea of tuning in so that you can be more aware of actually what’s happening to you in the moment and an example might be I might feel this way because I’m frustrated with my boss or I might feel this way because I’m excited to go on my trip tomorrow or something like that. And if you want to go even a little bit deeper, you can ask what do I need right now? So if you are feeling stressed or anxious again, that’s what do you need? Maybe it’s some of the tools that we’ve practiced so far that help reduce stress and anxiety
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 12: Do a “Movement Snack” After Sitting Too Long

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 12: Do a “Movement Snack” After Sitting Too Long
Cheryl McColgan discusses day 12 of the Healthy Habits challenge with the idea of a “movement snack.” Getting up from your desk on a regular basis and adding in small bouts of movement throughout the day has a number of benefits. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.11)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNourishGrow and welcome to day 12 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today’s habit is to do a movement snack after for sitting too long. So I love the name of this and normally I’m not a big, not opposed to snacks generally, but you’ll do better if you just eat real meals, but movement snacks, we’re all about those for sure. So all this is going to do is do some kind of movement after you have been sitting for a while during the day. a lot of us have desk jobs where we sit in front of a computer. If you’re very active throughout the day, you have an active job. Maybe this is more like a movement snack in the evening after you’ve kind of wound down. You’ve been sitting around on the couch for a little bit. But anyway, just any time that you’ve been sitting for, you know, say maybe 45 minutes. For some people, you might get antsy quicker than that. For other people, you might want to sit longer. but try not to sit longer than 45 minutes. So you’ll just do like a two minute little movement break. Ideally, you want to stand up if you’re working in front of the desk, doing stretches like I’m demonstrating here on camera. So if you’re watching audio only, I’m pulling back my hand with the other hand just to stretch out my wrists. I do a lot of typing. So that is a really good one for me. You can also put your arms behind your head and grab one elbow and do a nice stretch there. So that could be the first part of your movement snack. And then to just get up for a minute, maybe go get a glass of water or just take a walk down the hall, maybe step outside for a minute, something like that. So your body is just really designed for frequent movement. And these long times that we’re sitting just really aren’t good for us. So especially if you’ve been sitting at a meal for a little bit, having that little bit of movement after. a meal, whether it’s a walk or something like that is really good for blood glucose. So doing something like some air squats that there’s also a recent study on that where it showed doing some air squats. When I say air squats, I just kind of mean like body weight squats where you don’t need any equipment or anything like that is as effective as walking for blood glucose control. So that’s pretty cool. It also just can support circulation, energy, focus. These are just Cheryl McColgan (02:19.24)nice way to break up your day and again just not have yourself sitting all the time. Eventually when you sit for long periods you don’t counteract that it’s know shortens your hip flexors it create a lot of issues in your body. We all get this kind of forward head when we’re working in front of the computer so things that you can do to counteract that like bringing your arms behind your back and interlacing your hands and then really stretching back to create a stretch in the front of the chest is a way that you can kind of counteract some of that you know, hunched forward movement. So I am mentioning a lot of stretching, but I do want you to get out of the chair for sure. Again, try to keep it to 45 minutes. If you get up more frequently, of course, that’s always amazing. But that is the habit for today. So try not to sit for too long. As always, if you’re not yet part of the challenge, you can go sign up. The link is in the show notes or in the comment box below. If you’re looking at YouTube in the description box, it’ll be there. And yeah. Let me know if you find this helpful and I’ll see you tomorrow.
30 Day Challenge Series, Day 11: Track One Thing Today (Movement, Water, Mood, Etc.)

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 11: Track One Thing Today (Movement, Water, Mood, Etc.)
Cheryl McColgan introduces the idea of tracking one thing during the day for the healthy habits challenge. Tracking brings awareness to your behaviors and gives you a powerful tool for habit change. This link is for the free Cronometer food tracking app mentioned in the episode. The habit tracker we recommend is Griply. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.014)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow. Welcome to day 11 of the 30 Day Habits Challenge. And today we’re going to start a practice that is something that’s useful for a lot of parts of your life. It may be something that you’re not used to doing yet. For a lot of people, this is a very foreign thing to them. But the habit for today is to just track one thing. And so that could be tracking your movement, that could be tracking water, it could be tracking your mood, something like that. Again, this is all about learning the skill of discipline. So it doesn’t need to be perfect. You just need to do it. So pick a thing that you’re going to track. Maybe it’s steps, maybe it’s water, maybe it’s like your mood, like I said, or maybe it’s protein. We talked about protein a lot, so maybe you want to track protein. But you’re just keeping it neutral. You’re just collecting data. You’re not judging yourself. So if you’re tracking steps, you’re not shooting for a certain amount. Or if you’re tracking calories, you’re not trying to restrict or anything. You’re just… tracking what is and using it as a simple data point. So that’s the minimum today to just track one single thing. If you need tools for tracking, I’ve mentioned to you the couple of apps before that we have in the resources for journaling, for tracking things. One that I have not mentioned yet, if you’re going to use… If you’re going to track things like protein or calories or things like that, an app is super helpful. mean, back in the old school days, we literally used to write it down and try to find ways to look up calories and stuff. It was a lot more challenging. Now it’s super easy. My favorite, one of the ones that people know a lot is my fitness pal, but I find that one to be very inaccurate, just not that good. Chronometer is amazing. I use the free version for years. I pay for it now because it’s that good. I love it. It’s not super expensive. But if you go to https://healnourishgrow.com/cronometer that’ll give you the link that gives you access to the app. Like I said, it’s a hundred percent free. You get really access to most things you need without ever having to pay anything. It’s just if you want more advanced tracking features like tracking. I think one of the advanced things is more like tracking your micronutrients kind of things, but for just everyday calorie tracking and things like that, it’s a great app and it’s super easy to use. Yeah, so one thing, whatever it is, pick that. That’s your habit for the day. It should be super simple as always. Cheryl McColgan (02:17.922)Hope you’re keeping track of these things in your tracker. If you ran across this and you’re not part of the challenge yet, just go to healnourishro.com slash habits and you can join at any time. It’ll set you on day one. And so whatever time of the year it is, whenever you find this, would still love to have you join. So that is it for day 11 and I will see you again tomorrow.

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 10: Practice a Three-Breath Reset
Cheryl McColgan discusses the habit for day 10 in the Healthy Habits Challenge, a simple 3 breath reset. Breathwork is a great tool for stress relief and attention. Watch on YouTube: Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.414)I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 10 of the 30 day healthy habits challenge. So today is going to be a habit that I have been practicing for a really long time because it’s a little bit based in yoga, which if you know a little bit about my background, I’m a certified experienced yoga teacher, tons of hours teaching, have been doing yoga since… gosh this is… tough to say, but like over 30 years now I picked it up while I was in college. But anyway, it’s about a breathing practice. And this one’s not a structured breathing practice. This is just to try this one time today. And that’s just to practice a three breath reset. So at some point during the day where you’re either tired or feeling a little stressed, or you’re having an interaction that is making you tense up, you’re simply going to take three deep breaths. Now the one thing I want to teach you about this because there are a lot of structured breathing programs and they all have maybe slightly different purposes. There’s box breathing, there’s alternate nostril breathing, there’s a ton of different breathing practices. And we are going to talk about another one I think later in the series that’s for a different purpose. But really this is just a practice to just get you thinking about breathing. And the thing I just want to bring home is that the most One of the more important parts of any breath practice, I think if you’re using it to calm down or to fight stress, which is what we’re trying to do with this one, and that is to extend the exhale slightly longer than the inhale. So if you inhale for a count of four, for example, you want to exhale for at least a count of five. And the reason that this works and there’s plenty of data on it, like you know, with this whole challenge, there’s always research and the links for those are in your tracker and emails. But the slightly longer exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system. And that’s the part of your nervous system that’s for calm, that’s for rest and digest. And it’s the one that a lot of people really have trouble accessing. So just having that slightly longer exhale is a great way to do that. So today, like I said, one of those times you’re just going to do that slightly longer exhale. Cheryl McColgan (02:18.487)This is gonna cue your nervous system to be more calm and it’s gonna help with stress and impulsive decisions. So it’s particularly useful in situations maybe with your significant other or at work or with your children. Anytime you’re feeling a little frustrating, just take a moment, three deep breaths, slightly longer exhale, and then deal with whatever the situation is. So you might wanna use some kind of trigger moment today. that makes you think of it. Like again, if we do this habit stacking thing, the thing that’s going to help you do it most easily. Now that’s most useful when you, it’s something that you want to accomplish every single day. And I certainly think taking this time, any time of day, doing it at a specific time is really good, but I think it’s really more useful even, like I said, in those little situations where you might have some stress, like before a meeting or when you’re driving in traffic or something like that, or just using it to really settle yourself down before bed, you could make it. part of your bedtime ritual if you wanted to do that. So that’s today’s thing. Super easy. Just breathe. If you want to read the signs, make sure you’re signed up for the challenge. You’ll get all the links in the tracker and in the emails. And that

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 9: Protein First at One Meal
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the significance of prioritizing protein intake in meals, particularly as one ages. She emphasizes the benefits of starting meals with protein to enhance satiety, meet nutritional needs, and support muscle health. Cheryl explains the concept of anabolic resistance and the importance of leucine in protein synthesis, providing practical advice on how to incorporate more protein into daily meals. The discussion highlights the challenges of meeting protein requirements and offers strategies for achieving a balanced diet without feeling restricted. Takeaways Eating protein first can help you meet your protein needs.Protein is highly satiating and can prevent overeating.As we age, our protein absorption efficiency decreases.Aim for 30-40 grams of protein per meal for muscle health.Leucine is crucial for stimulating muscle protein synthesis.Tracking protein intake can help ensure adequate consumption.Eating protein first can change your overall eating habits.It’s important to balance protein with carbohydrates and fats.Consider adding a protein snack before bed for muscle recovery.One meal a day focusing on protein can be a great start. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.524)I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Peel Nourish Grow, and welcome to day nine of the 30 Day Healthy Habit Challenge. So today we’re going to talk about one of my favorite things, one of my favorite hacks, if you want to call it a hack, and that is today’s habit, and that is to eat protein first at one meal. So you don’t have to do it every meal, just one meal today. It’s not about perfection. This is just about sequencing. So doing this one meal totally counts, if all you do is that, you win today. The reason that you want to start with protein is because it really highly satiating, it increases fullness. And one of the things that I’ve been working on my protein intake, I’ve been tracking it for about the last five or six years now, where I’ve really been more focused on intentionally getting more protein each day. And even after all that time, if I am not focused on it, I will tend to not get enough protein on any given day. So one of the things that eating protein first does for you is if you’re if you’re one of those people that they’ll say when they learn what their optimal amount of protein is, you’re like my gosh how would I eat that much protein it’s so difficult. Well it’s probably difficult because you’re eating other things first that take up this, I always say when I’m talking about a salad or bread before meals, I’m like, no, that’s just gonna take up the space where the meat should be, right? So I always keep that in my mind. That’s how really I approach every meal is I know how much protein I’m supposed to get each meal. I get that out of the way, I put that on my plate, I weigh it out, and then I know that I’ve gotten that. And then I use carbohydrates and fats to fill in the energy calories after that. So that’s… Really the main reason to do it is because protein is very satiating. Most people don’t get enough of it. And eating it first really allows you to make sure that you get it in. This is important for a few reasons. First of all, as we age, there’s this thing called anabolic resistance. So basically it means that the protein that we eat is not absorbed properly or might not be broken down effectively. I don’t know if they really know what the exact mechanism is, why that happens. Cheryl McColgan (02:17.934)But basically, it’s like if I eat 30 grams of protein as an 18-year-old person, that’s almost getting 100 % utilized in the body. Whereas if I eat 30 grams of protein as a 45, 55, 65-year-old person, maybe only 80 % of that gets broken down into amino acids. so especially as you get older, that getting the proper amount of protein is

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 8: Take a 15-Minute Walk
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan emphasizes the importance of daily movement, particularly through walking outdoors. She discusses the health benefits of connecting with nature, the accessibility of walking as an exercise, and the significance of discipline over motivation in maintaining a consistent exercise routine. Cheryl encourages listeners to take a 15-minute walk as part of their healthy habits challenge, highlighting the positive effects on mood and energy levels. Takeaways Walking outdoors connects you with nature.Daily movement is essential for health.Discipline is more important than motivation.Walking is an accessible form of exercise.Fresh air and sunshine benefit your well-being.Getting outside can improve your mood.Consistency in exercise leads to better health.Small steps can lead to significant changes.Enjoying the scenery can enhance your experience. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube: Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.174)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day eight of the 30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge. Today’s challenge is going to be something, you’ve already been doing movement every day as part of the challenge, but today I’m going to task you with taking a 15 minute walk. There’s specific reason that we wanna do a walk. So it doesn’t have to be any fast kind of walk, it doesn’t have to be a specific pace, but ideally I would like for you to walk outside. And there’s a good reason for that. It is really a healthy and important thing to connect with nature on a daily basis. And I realize, you know, depending on what part of the country you live in right now, as I’m recording this, it is the end of December. And so it was about 25 degrees today here in the Midwest. And I realize it might not seem like the most pleasant thing to do, but if it’s cold, bundle up. get outside if it’s too warm where you are, go earlier in the day where it’s cooler. Obviously be safe if there’s ice, if there’s an excessive amount of heat, maybe walk inside on the treadmill instead. And if you can’t walk outside for whatever reason and you don’t have a treadmill and you can’t go to the gym, then you’re just going to do whatever the movement you’ve been doing. So you’re still gonna keep your habit of daily movement. But the walk outside is so great because you’ll get some fresh air, you’ll get sunshine, getting real sunshine on your eyeballs outside is so important for your circadian rhythm. It allows you to connect with nature, like I said, so just observing the trees. I’m looking out the trees outside my window right now, not in how many leaves, but just noticing the sights, being outside, breathing the fresh air. is so wonderful to actually get outside and get out of your office. Now, For most of us, walking is pretty accessible. So just about the most accessible exercise that there is. Even people that are seriously deconditioned or very, very overweight can have small little walking snacks as part of their routine. And mostly people can handle this pretty well. It really supports heart health. So you’re doing cardiovascular work whenever you move, you’re making your heart pump harder. And I said, you know, there was no… Cheryl McColgan (02:16.206)speed or intensity kind of goal with this walk is just meant to be a stroll and get outdoors. But if you take on walk as kind of your normal daily movement activity, you can definitely make it a heart healthy activity if you go a little bit faster. And it’s really one of the it’s it’s just so like I said, it’s so accessible to everybody. It’s so easy. It’s free. You just walk outside your door and do it. And I realize There are parts of the country where maybe it’s not so safe to walk for various reasons. Like don’t have sidewalks in my neighborhood, so that’s bit of a challenge. Here’s a tip for walking outside. If you don’t have sidewalks, you’re always supposed to walk against traffic, right? Because you want to be able to see the cars coming out, you know, so that you can easily jump to the side if needed. But, you know, and there might be, you know, maybe you live in an area that’s higher crime or something like that. So maybe it’s not as safe to walk outside, but you can possibly drive to a park or, you know, just take some time to get outside. Ideally daily, but definitely weekly and I know that in cities it can be more challenging, but it’s definitely going to help with your energy. It’s going to help with your mood. It’s like I said helps heart health and it’s probably one of the ea

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 7: Weekly Reset: Reflect and Adjust
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of reflecting and adjusting weekly habits to foster personal growth and discipline. She emphasizes that perfection is not necessary, and encourages listeners to integrate small habits into their daily lives. The conversation also highlights the significance of aligning habits with personal priorities and sharing wins and challenges with others for support. Takeaways You don’t have to be perfect; just keep trying.Reflecting on habits helps identify challenges and adjustments.Completing a habit is a win, no matter how small.Aligning daily habits with priorities simplifies decision-making.Weekly evaluations can enhance personal growth and discipline.Small adjustments can lead to significant improvements over time.Sharing wins and challenges fosters community support.Self-reflection is key to understanding personal resistance.Tracking workouts can reveal patterns in energy and motivation.Integrating reflection into weekly routines is beneficial. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.162)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day seven of the 30 day healthy habits challenge. So today you made it through a week. You’ve tried six new behaviors up to this point or maybe not so new, maybe you’ve tried them before, but you just haven’t integrated them into your everyday. And now it’s time for the weekly reset. Time to reflect and adjust because again, this is about learning the skill of discipline. through habits. You don’t have to be perfect. You’re just need to get it done. And again, if you missed a day, it’s no problem. You just jump back in. You can do the habit the next day or just restart, pick up wherever you are. It’s not meant to be this crazy restrictive thing. I do think it’s fun, you know, to use the tractor to keep streaks going. These are such little small habits every day that it’s almost they’re too small to ignore. Like you kind of have to do it because it’s like, I always notice if I have a bigger thing that I’m dreading, like a big project for work or going to the gym on a certain day where I’m not really feeling it. If I put it in the perspective of it’s a big long task, like it’s going to be an hour workout, it’s got it supposed to be a heavy leg day and thinking about all of those things that can definitely make you not want to do it. But if you put it more in the perspective of, okay, I don’t feel great today, but I’m just going to work out for five minutes and if I really don’t feel it, I can quit that kind of thing. That will make it a lot more likely that you follow through. So that’s why it’s good to do these reflect and adjust evaluations of the week. If any resistance came up around doing any of these habits, I’d be surprised again, because they’re so small, but it could happen. It could just be got super busy one day and you just didn’t even feel like it was worth it. It seemed too silly or didn’t speak to you for whatever reason. This is the time to reflect on that. and adjust and kind of just get some learning out of it about yourself and you know why are you resistant to certain things and just self-reflection basically. So what we’re going to do today is write down one win, one challenge, and one small adjustment for next week. Hopefully you can find one of each of those. Again it’s kind of like the gratitude practice sometimes it can be hard to think of at first or if you’re having a particular bad day but Cheryl McColgan (02:25.774)One win is any day that you completed the habit. That’s a win. If you completed all six of the habits, that’s a big win. What was one challenge? What was the one thing that or one habit that you kind of thought about that didn’t speak to you you didn’t want to do it or you tried it and it

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 6: Swap One Thing (Replace, Don’t Restrict)
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of replacing unhealthy habits with healthier alternatives rather than restricting them completely. She emphasizes the ease of substitution in creating sustainable dietary changes and introduces the concept of mindfulness and tracking behaviors to facilitate change. The discussion is framed within the context of a 30-day healthy habits challenge, encouraging listeners to adopt small, manageable changes for long-term success. Takeaways Substitution is easier than restriction for behavior change.Small swaps can improve diet quality without drastic changes.Mindfulness in tracking behaviors can lead to automatic changes.Replacing unhealthy foods with healthier options enhances adherence.Cutting out beloved foods can lead to a rebound effect.Practicing discipline is key to forming new habits.The challenge encourages starting changes immediately, not waiting for a specific time.Mindful tracking can help in reducing alcohol consumption.The goal is to create sustainable habits through gradual changes. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00.152)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day six of your 30 day healthy habits challenge. So today we’re going to work on doing something that is not restrictive, but yet just replacing. So for example, this is just again, all about practicing discipline. And so instead of cutting something out completely, we’re just gonna do a swap. So one of the easier, Examples I can think of for this is maybe you drink a sugary drink or soda every day. Instead, consider drinking a glass of water in place of that or replace it with something closer to a soda, which would be maybe a diet soda, sugar-free soda, something like that. So rather than just trying to ditch the habit completely, we’re going to do a replacement behavior. And the reason this works is that substitution is just a lot easier than restriction, right? So small swaps can really improve your diet quality without having to do any crazy, really restrictive things. Like for example, keto, as you know, that that’s what I’ve done very strictly in the past. Right now, just so you know, I would still say I’m low carb, but I have kind of changed the way that I have been eating over the last year because I’ve started strength training a lot more and I did a bodybuilding competition. And so my diet looked a little bit different than it has for the past seven years, but I’m definitely still low carb and go in and out of ketosis at times still, but much more carbs in my life. Right. So that’s the example is that when you do something like keto and you go all in at the beginning, you’re really doing a lot of restriction, but instead can you replace those? And that’s really what it looks like for a healthy diet, no matter what kind of style of eating you choose, whether it’s just eating more whole foods or eating less sugar, whatever it is for you, making those adjustments in a sense that you’re replacing something rather than restricting it is a lot easier. So in the idea of like the keto diet, one of the things like so for example, carbs, let’s say potatoes well. Cheryl McColgan (02:09.814)instead of just getting rid of potatoes altogether, maybe replace it with something else that’s lower carb like cauliflower. Cauliflower is the solution for everything, right? So it’s just a replacement thing. And it also just create better adherence because if you try to cut everything out at once, and that’s really, again, what this whole challenge is all about is that year after year when I’ve talked to people or worked with people on doing new habits or New Year’s resolutions or goals for the new year, people always tend to bite off more than they can chew because when it comes to the time of year, like if you happen to be doing this in January, I mean, I hope you pick it u

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 5: Write One Thing You’re Grateful For
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of developing a gratitude practice as a healthy habit. She emphasizes the challenges of recognizing positive aspects in life due to our brain’s natural tendency to focus on negatives. Cheryl shares personal anecdotes and practical tips for cultivating gratitude, including writing down daily appreciations and reflecting on small joys. She highlights the scientific benefits of gratitude for overall well-being, resilience, and stress management, encouraging listeners to adopt this simple yet impactful practice. Takeaways Developing a gratitude practice can be challenging but rewarding.Our brains are wired to focus on negatives rather than positives.Finding small joys in daily life can enhance our perspective.Gratitude practices are backed by research supporting well-being.Writing down what you’re grateful for can change your brain’s response.Reflecting on your day can help reinforce gratitude.Using a physical journal may enhance the gratitude experience.Gratitude can improve resilience and stress management.Small, manageable habits are key to success.Consistency in practicing gratitude leads to lasting benefits. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:01.07)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNursH Grow and welcome to day five of the Healthy Habits Challenge. So today is a habit that I’ve tried many times in the past. I haven’t always been able to get it to stick, but whenever I do it, I do find it really useful. And that is to develop a gratitude practice. But today, in the light of just, you we’re just doing small habits, manageable habits, we’re just gonna write one thing. that we’re grateful for today. That’s it, one thing. And this is a challenge for some people because it’s really, you you might have a day where you think that there was nothing good to appreciate, and I hope you don’t have too many of those days. But what happens is our brain is kind of naturally wired to notice the negatives more than the positives. Our brain was evolved under this paradigm of like, there’s a lot of danger in the world. There’s animals and things that we had to watch out for and it’s a lot. different nowadays, but our brains are still wired in that way. And so it tends to go to the negative things first and not notice the positive things in life. part of this habit is really changing the way that you look at everyday life and finding small joys. The way I like to look at finding things to be grateful for is it’s not always this grand thing. I mean, yes, every day we can be grateful for having a roof over our head or having a job that pays us so that we can buy food and all those kinds of things. And those are probably the more obvious things that we’re grateful for. Or maybe your friend did something nice for you that day, or your husband or your spouse or your partner did something that you really appreciated. So those are all kind of easy things to think of to be grateful for. But I’ve started finding some things in my day where there’s just like these little moments of joy, and it’s something that just brings a smile to my face and… you know, makes me think in a more positive way. So for example, the first time I recorded this, I lost some of the recordings, unfortunately. There was no sound for some reason. But anyway, I have this silly little sticker on my desk. And so if you’re not watching on YouTube, I’ll describe it to you. It’s just an alpine scene, retro with, it says, apres on it, like for apres ski. And this little silly thing. Cheryl McColgan (02:18.988)It just made me smile. was on Amazon looking for some Christmas things and I saw it and it’s just a sticker. So was very, very inexpensive and I bought it and it just brought me a little moment of joy. Now this doesn’t mean to say that it needs to be something that you buy because

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 4: Create a Simple Wind-Down Cue Before Bed
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the significance of establishing a wind down routine before bed to enhance sleep quality. She emphasizes the importance of calming activities, such as reading, warm baths, and reducing screen time, to prepare the body and mind for sleep. Cheryl also touches on the use of sleep supplements and tools to improve sleep, highlighting the critical role of good sleep in overall health and wellness. Takeaways Create a simple wind down cue before bed.Calm your brain and nervous system for better sleep.Screen time at night is a poor habit for sleep.Reading before bed can help you relax.Warm baths signal your body to calm down.Turning off bright lights aids in winding down.Sleep is critical for health and longevity.Good sleep supports weight loss and fat loss.Consider a warm drink as part of your bedtime routine.Engage with others about effective wind down routines. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.078)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNurshGrow and welcome to day four of your healthy habits challenge. Today’s habit is very simple, but it’s so powerful and it has to do with one of the things that I think is one of the most underappreciated aspects of health and that is sleep. And so the habit that we’re going to do today is to create a simple wind down cue before bed. So what this does is basically gets you ready for sleep, starts to calm your brain, starts to calm your nervous system so that you can actually get in bed and go to sleep instead of getting in bed and staying wired for multiple minutes or even hours after that. Definitely something we want to avoid. So having this consistent wind down cue is exactly what it does. Cues your brain and your body to be ready for sleep and to start to calm down. There’s any number of things that this could possibly be for you. One of the things that you will have heard from many people in the past, and this is so true, is that screen time at night is really a poor habit to have to get good sleep. So maybe your wind down cue is putting your phone in the other room and putting it on the charger before you get ready for bed. That’s a great way to do that. It also cuts down on the blue light. So that will allow your body to produce melatonin, which gives you better sleep. But this cue is something you want to do consistently every day, just so that it gives again, your brain and your body that idea that it’s time to calm down. Another thing that people really like doing for this type of cue is to simply do some reading before bed. And so again, not reading on a device like your computer or your phone, but maybe an old school book. I know that sounds crazy or the the Kindles now have, they don’t have any blue light coming off of them. And just reading is just very calming in the evening. It’ll put you right to sleep. Even books that you’re in love with and excited about. Sometimes it’s like, it just starts to get you very drowsy and you want to ideally do it in bed. as soon as you really start to get sleepy, you just put the book aside and go to sleep. Cheryl McColgan (02:16.782)Another one that’s great for bedtime is a warm bath. The whole reason that this works is warming up your body. And ideally you want to do it maybe an hour to an hour and a half before bed. But again, it’s a relaxing activity. It’s something that signals it’s time to calm down and get ready for sleep. But it also has a physiological response in the body where you warm up your body temperature a little bit. Then when you get out and it starts to come back down, your body temperature coming back down actually makes you sleepy. So that’s another good one. But really any of these, can be anything that works for you. You just want it to be something that you can do on a consistent basis and that actually helps calm your nervous system. So it could also be, you know, a breathing exercise or som

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 3: 10 Minutes of Movement (Anything)
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan emphasizes the significance of incorporating movement into daily life as part of a healthy habit challenge. She discusses the importance of discipline, consistency, and starting small with just 10 minutes of movement each day. Cheryl highlights the benefits of exercise for both physical and mental health, including its effectiveness in combating depression and anxiety. She encourages listeners to find ways to make movement a habit and to build up their heart health gradually. Takeaways Discipline is just repetition and consistency.Start with small steps to build a habit.Exercise can be as effective as medication for depression.Aim for at least 10 minutes of movement daily.Strength training twice a week is sufficient for health.Consistency is key to maintaining healthy habits.Find ways to make exercise enjoyable and engaging.Track your progress to stay motivated.Overcoming mental barriers is crucial for exercise.Building heart health takes time and patience. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01.08)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNourishGrow and welcome to day three of the 30 day healthy habits challenge. Today we’re going to talk about movement. So even though you’ve already been doing that as a component of this challenge from day one, I just want to talk about the importance of it. Again, reminding you that discipline is just repetition and consistency. So even on days that we aren’t motivated to move quite often, just knowing that it’s a habit, making that commitment to discipline is enough to make it work. And so today you’re just doing 10 minutes of movement. Maybe you’re trying something different than the other days that you’ve already moved in this challenge. That’s one thing I want to encourage you to do throughout the 30 days is you’re doing your 10 minutes of movement per day. Say you like, like I do have already a regimen where you lift weights a few times a week. I happen to be doing five, but whatever works for you actually based on the research, just two days a week of strength training is enough, but we’ll talk more about that at some other time. But so for example, for me, I’m very bad about stretching and mobility. So that’s the kind of thing that I’m going to be doing for my 10 minutes a day for my movement. So I’m going to keep my regular thing that I’ve already been doing on a consistent basis. And I’m going to add that in through the 30 days. So the minimum counts, you don’t have to do more than 10, but just challenge yourself to do 10 minutes of whatever it does. So why this matters is obviously there’s so many components of health. And I think that everybody has pretty much heard all of these things at this point. But for your heart health you need to get your heart rate up every day I think that the recommendation now that is being said is hundred and fifty minutes per week So we’re just doing ten minutes a day. We’re not quite there yet But what I want to do is again encourage you to start slowly. You don’t go from zero to a thousand Instantaneously, you know, we need to build up practice build up our heart health build up our heart strength to get to those longer amounts of activity. And so if you’re a person that doesn’t move consistently on a daily basis now, setting yourself up for failure is what’s going to happen if you say, I’m going to walk for half an hour every single day when you’ve been doing nothing. It’s just too much. That’s the way that people, you know, get into these new year’s resolutions and don’t make it very long because they, bit off more than they can choose. So doing these small steps really helps. In addition, Cheryl McColgan (02:22.912)Exercise is actually more effective than antidepressants for depression. Yes, you heard me say that right. Why

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 2: Drink a Glass of Water After Waking
For day two of the 30 day healthy habits challenge, Cheryl shares why hydration is so important and how to use this simple yet important habit to start your day. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.098)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan and welcome to day two of the 30 day healthy habits challenge. This one I’m really excited to share with you. It is something that I have been meaning to do for a long time. So I will be doing this throughout the challenge with you. And that is to drink a glass of water after waking. That is so simple and yet I don’t know, I never do it. Do you? So ideally you want to do this. before you have your coffee, before you have anything else. I’m not telling you a very specific amount, but they make it a large glass of water. So in my world, I have this, actually I have it right here on my desk. It is empty. So it’s proof positive that I need to be drinking more water. But this is about 16 to 20 ounces in this glass. And that is what I like you to do before you do anything else. Now, if you happen to get this on the, you you get this in the morning, but more than likely, You might have already had your coffee or you’re listening to this while you’re drinking your coffee. If that’s the case, like I said, this is easy peasy challenge, right? No big deal. Just try it tomorrow instead, along with your habit that’s going to come tomorrow. But if you’re hearing this in time, drink that glass of water before anything else and then you can move on. So why this is important. Even mild dehydration can affect your mood and attention. And hydrating early in the day, it supports everything, energy, digestion, performance, you’re hydrating your cells. And one of the people that I interviewed before on the podcast, they were saying, ideally, you know, for the challenge, we’re drinking this kind of large glass right at the beginning of the day, but ideally, you want to be hydrating throughout your day, because you need that extra hydration for your cells on an ongoing basis, not just all at once. So as much as we hate those little Stanley cups and everything that people carry around, If you can have one of those or have this glass of water on your desk and take a few sips like every few minutes, that’s really the ideal way to hydrate. And this is again, starting the day with a simple success. just gives you a good mindset for the entire day, knowing that you already had one small win and it’s just a great habit to start. So another thing you can do is you can set this habit up at night. So maybe you actually put a glass of water Cheryl McColgan (02:14.754)by your bed before you go to sleep. And that way when you wake up, you immediately drink that glass of water. This can also help if you’re like me, I take thyroid medication first thing in the morning and I have to wait 30 minutes before I can eat or do anything else anyway. So how I’m gonna approach this challenge is I always just, my thyroid pills are very, very small. So I always swallow them dry while I’m still in bed in the morning. But I’m gonna make it a point for this challenge to bring up a glass of water with me in the evening, put it next to my bed, put it right next to my thyroid pills. And I’ll just do that all at once. So that’s also a little intro into what we call habit stacking, which we’ll be talking about throughout this challenge, but more specifically on one of the days. but basically all habit stacking is, is just take one thing that you already do consistently and then put another habit right with it. So for me, I am very good about always taking my thyroid medication in the morning, but I don’t have a glass of water next to it. And I generally don’t get out of bed to do it. So the way I’m going to make it easy on myself is to just put a glass of water next to the bed. So anyway, it’s like I said, if you missed it this

30 Day Challenge Series, Day 1: Choose Your Three Focus Areas
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan introduces the Healthy Habits Challenge, emphasizing the importance of choosing three focus areas for personal growth over the next 30 days. She discusses the significance of daily movement, consistency, and mindfulness in forming new habits. The challenge encourages participants to track their progress and integrate meaningful habits into their daily lives, ultimately aiming to reduce overwhelm and enhance motivation. Takeaways Choose three focus areas for the next 30 days.Daily movement should be at least 10 minutes.Focus on what is meaningful to you.Track your progress to stay motivated.Customize the challenge to fit your lifestyle.Reduce overwhelm by having clear priorities.Practice discipline through repetition and consistency.Integrate new habits into your daily routine.Eliminate decision fatigue with focused goals. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01.048)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Feel Nourish Grow and welcome to day one of the Healthy Habits Challenge. I’m really excited to get this started and kick this off with you. This, if you’re in 2026, this is the first year I’ve started this, starting on January 1st, but the awesome thing is it’s available anytime. So whenever you’re hearing this, this is your day one. So today is to choose your three focus areas. We’re doing discipline as repetition as consistency. It is just something that you learn over time, but you do have to practice it. You don’t have to be perfect. You just need to do it. And so today’s habit won’t take you too long at all. You’re going to choose the three focus areas for the next 30 days and then write the smallest version of each one that still counts. And so this could be things for you. I mean, we have the daily movement, which is 10 minutes a day. So if you already have a really regular exercise program, maybe you commit to adding one day a week of some new movement or maybe it’s a slightly longer movement or maybe your focus area is working on your spirituality or maybe it is mindfully drinking if you drink alcohol. I actually have some friends over at Sunnyside. And they are doing a totally free challenge for this month too that focuses on just being more mindful around drinking. You don’t have to do a totally dry January. It can be kind of a semi dry January. But anyway, they are offering that for totally free. You don’t even have to put your credit card in. I’ve got a special link for that and I will make sure that that is in the show notes and down below for you if you’re on YouTube. So it could be that could be your focus area. It could be your relationships, focusing on your relationships. taking more time to connect with people or to make sure that you communicate with certain people on a daily basis in a certain way. So really it’s just going to be whatever is meaningful to you. I want you to pick those three focus areas and the way that you’ll carry that throughout the challenge is ideally you’re going be tracking in some way. So I’ve designed a spreadsheet tracker for you and that is in the email. You’ll copy that and then you can use it to just check off the things you’re doing. Cheryl McColgan (02:14.39)You can also use it to make a note of what your three focus areas are. And so ideally, every day when you get the email and or watch the video or listen to the podcast, I want you to have those three focus areas in mind and see if there’s a way that you can integrate the habit that we’re trying into those focus areas so that it’s really meaningful to you. It won’t always work. There will be some of the habits that you’ll just be trying just to try and they won’t necessarily relate to your three areas of focus. but you’re just going to be mindful on a daily basis of these focus areas and keep those as something in t

30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge Series, Introduction
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan introduces Healthy Habits Foundations, the free 30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge created for anyone who is tired of starting over. Instead of relying on motivation or chasing perfection, this program helps you build discipline through small daily actions that fit real life. Built around three pillars, movement, mindset, and consistency, the challenge takes just 5 to 15 minutes a day and includes a daily video or podcast, supportive emails, research links, journal prompts, and a tracker to help you stay consistent. It is not another weight loss challenge and it is not an all-or-nothing reset. If you miss a day, you do not fail, you simply begin again. Cheryl explains why small habits are the foundation for bigger goals, how flexible daily movement can work even in a busy schedule, and why systems and repetition matter more than willpower. This is an anytime, evergreen challenge you can start whenever you need a reset. Refined takeaways How small habits become the foundation for bigger long-term goals Why motivation fades and discipline is the skill that lasts How 5 to 15 minutes a day can build real momentum Why movement, mindset, and consistency are the foundation of the challenge What participants get each day: audio or video, emails, research links, prompts, and a tracker Why this is not a weight loss challenge or an all-or-nothing program How flexible 10-minute daily movement can fit real life Why missing a day does not mean starting over from scratch Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.184)Hi everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNourishCrew. And today I wanted to chat with you about a new program that I’m starting. And it’s basically this time of year, know, everyone’s interested in making a lot of resolutions and starting new habits, but they’re really hard to maintain over time. And that’s where I really wanted to be able to help you and hopefully create a program that will actually help you meet your goals and make the challenges. that you want to make this year. So what I’m starting is a 30 day healthy habits challenge. If you’re tired of starting over, this is going to be the program for you. Everybody starts the new year, you know, with a lot of motivation. And that is something that wanes over time quite often before even the end of January people have given up. But the challenge is to create something that you can maintain for the whole year, right? And that really comes down to discipline. because while motivation may wax and wane, discipline is something that’s very real and it’s also something, a skill that you can actually train so that you will be better and better at it the more that you practice. And that’s what this program is all about. So building that skill over 30 days, it’s going to be small habits each day so we can learn to train that skill and it’s free. It’s totally free. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time because habits and consistency and discipline are something that has been in my content for years now. And I’ve always wanted to do this and I can never just quite figure out a great way to deliver it and to make it make sense. But basically it’s built on three pillars. And this is how I wanted to challenge you with this because I think it’s habits that will sustain you for your whole life, obviously. And that is daily movement, mindset and consistency. And so each day that we practice these short habits, it’s only going to take five to 15 minutes total each day, get a short video. And that’s why I’m starting this now, because this is the introduction, tell you all about it. And then there will also be audio on my podcast feed. And so if you are in a big rush and you are driving to work, you can still listen to the habit, learn the research behind it, learn a little bit about why we’re trying it. And you’ll be able to listen to that. Cheryl McColgan (02:21.898)on your daily movement, you’re taking walks or you’re biking or whatever it is you’re doing. So there’ll be the podcast feed. And then you also get an email that lays out the challenge for the day, gives you the research links. There’s a handy tracker. I’m suggesting some apps for tracking. Also, if you’d like to do that and make it completely digital. the habit tracker spreadsheet still works perfectly great too. So you don’t, if you want to keep it simple and old school, that’s totally fine. So what this is not, this is not another weight loss challenge. This is not all or nothing like a lot of you have heard of or tried 75 hard. This is not about perfect. This is about just practicin

Ep 111Creating Lasting Habits for the New Year: Free Program
In this episode of the Heal Nourish Grow podcast, Cheryl McColgan shares her holiday greetings and personal updates, discusses the importance of building habits for the new year, and introduces a 30-day habit challenge designed to help listeners create lasting changes in their lives. She also highlights resources for a healthier new year, including a Quit Sugar summit and the significance of understanding macros in nutrition. Cheryl emphasizes the importance of small steps and invites listeners to join her on this journey towards better health and wellness. Five Things You Need to Create Good Habits: https://youtu.be/8OVjrPu9UoM Takeaways The importance of building habits for the new year is discussed. A 30-day habit challenge is introduced to help listeners create lasting changes. The challenge focuses on small, manageable habits rather than overwhelming resolutions. Listeners are encouraged to join the challenge and share it with friends. Cheryl highlights the Quit Sugar Summit as a valuable resource for the new year. Understanding macros is essential for nutrition and flexibility in diet plans. Cheryl is creating a Macros 101 class for listeners. The podcast emphasizes the significance of small steps in habit formation. Listeners are invited to participate in the challenge and share their experiences. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. https://youtu.be/Gu77hsJN-g4 00:00 Holiday Greetings and Personal Updates01:23 Building Habits for the New Year04:03 Introducing the 30-Day Habit Challenge06:58 Resources for the New Year: Quit Sugar Summit08:36 Exploring Macros and Nutrition11:42 Upcoming Content and Closing Thoughts Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01)Hey everyone, welcome to the Heal Nurse Ro podcast. If you can tell a little bit of difference in my voice, I’ve actually had a cold for a bit and I’m just now to the point where my voice is somewhat normal and I’m not sniffling and sneezing and being totally obnoxious. So I really wanted to go ahead and record this episode to share several things with you and to wish you happy holidays. Where I am right now in the US, it is currently Christmas Eve. So I have actually still got a lot of things to do today. We’re actually having lasagna for dinner. The boys are both home for Christmas. So that is their request. So I’ll be making some homely lasagna tonight. And then tomorrow we will be enjoying a roast beast, which I always kind of laugh when I say that because it’s from the Grinch movie, I believe. I always call it the roast beast. So just a roasted. Primed Rib Roast and yeah, so looking forward to sharing the holiday with my family and just catching up on some things quite honestly, because the last several weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and with me not feeling as well, I’m behind on some things that I need to record and share with you. So we’ll just get right into it. The first thing I wanna talk about is building habits in the new year. So. We’re getting ready to come into that time. And if you followed my content for a while, you’ve heard me talk about it before is whenever we come to this time of year, people make a lot of New Year’s resolutions. And typically what happens is by sometimes even before the end of January, people have already given up on their resolutions or they what usually happens actually is they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. They’ve made these kind of resolutions that are just too big without taking the steps they need to do first to build up to that. And so I always like to encourage you to take small little steps towards habits. That’s really how you create lasting change. If you go to my YouTube channel, if you’re listening to this on audio, if you’re watching a video, you’re already on YouTube and I will try to link the video here if I can figure out how to do that. But I have a video on five things you need to create better habits. And that was covered by Authority Magazine. think it’s maybe it was in 2019 or something like that. So this is certainly something that I have been focused on a long time in my content and in my own personal life, trying to create better habits, new habits. As I go through that the year, I really don’t wait until January. I’ll pick something up whenever it occurs to me that I really need it in my life. So right now I’ve got several things that I’m working on. A lot of it related to work. But the one thing I kept thinking about this and I’ve thought about doing this for years and sharing this with you and it really wasn’t until this year where I was able to conceive of it in a way that I can bring it to fruition and really deliberate in a way that I think will be useful to everyone. It’s 1

Ep 110Navigating Holiday Wellness: Stress, Travel and Eating Strategies
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan discusses strategies for maintaining wellness during the holiday season. She emphasizes the importance of setting realistic intentions, managing weight, coping with stress, making mindful eating and drinking choices, and balancing social obligations with self-care. Cheryl provides practical tips for navigating holiday challenges, including travel and family dynamics, while encouraging listeners to be intentional and mindful throughout the season. You can find Cheryl’s previous episodes about avoiding holiday weight gain here. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Takeaways The holidays can be stressful, and it’s important to plan ahead for wellness. Setting intentions rather than big goals can help maintain focus during the holidays. Protein intake is crucial for satiety and managing weight. Eating to 80% fullness can prevent discomfort after meals. Cortisol levels can rise due to holiday stress; managing stress is key. Alcohol consumption should be mindful, as it can cloud judgment and lead to poor food choices. The holidays should focus on nurturing relationships rather than just food and drink. It’s okay to say no to social obligations to prioritize self-care. Post-holiday, it’s important to return to normal routines quickly to avoid weight gain. Mindfulness and intention are essential for a balanced holiday experience. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/1lgmn__CCgs Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01.038)Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Peel Nourish Row, and it has been a little while since I’ve been on the mic. I took an unexpected longer hiatus than I thought I would, and I’m just now getting around to starting to record again. And I really wanted to get on here and do this episode because the holidays are such a stressful time for everyone. It’s a time where people could use extra support, could use extra ideas about how to de-stress, not gain weight during the holidays, and just find ways to support your wellness in this busy time of the season. So I’ve done another episode like this in the past, and I’ll be sure to link that in the show notes, but for this one I did map out a few bullet points to keep me on track. I’ve got my laptop here with that on it so that I can glance over there occasionally and remind myself of what I wanted to share with you today. But the first thing is this why this, what does holiday mean? wellness even mean or why does it matter? Again, it’s a stressful time. We’re around family for some times that’s very exciting and sometimes it can be very stressful and there’s a lot of travel involved typically and a lot of extra events and cooking and things like that. So it can be just a time where there’s so much going on that you forget to actually take care of yourself. So planning ahead now so that you don’t have to recover from everything at the beginning of the year is a good plan. And usually what I like to say during the holidays, I mean, if you’re a lot of people that listen to this podcast are interested in weight loss or fitness or health and wellness. If you’re trying to lose weight during the holidays, that can be particularly challenging. I think what would be a better goal for most people is to just maintain during the holidays and not gain extra weight that you then have to kind of backtrack from the progress that you’ve made throughout the year. So all that being said, I think the good way to start with this is just to set some intentions around the holidays. So for example, just to be really mindful every time that you eat or, consistent movement or practicing on your sleep during the holidays to make sure that you stay on track with your wellness. So whatever that intention is, just making something specific enough that you know what it is that you’re trying to accomplish, but generally it’s not going to be any big goals during this time of the year. Cheryl McColgan (02:24.606)Just because it’s like I said a lot of extra stress a lot of extra things going on and so Setting really big goals around health and wellness this time of year can just be a way that sets you up for failure Which is not what we want want to go into the new year Thinking positive feeling positive and having every intention that way when we get to the new year We’re kind of set up in this place. been mindful, we’ve been practicing taking care of ourselves and then once we get to the new year we can really focus on those bigger goals that you want for yourself and your wellness in 2026. So after you’ve set the intentions let’s address the first thing is weight. I actually looked this up before I got on here and most people gain anywhere betw

Ep 149The Real Cause of Acne and How to Fix It
In this episode of the Heal Nourish Grow podcast, host Cheryl McColgan speaks with holistic nutritionist Meg Gage about her personal journey with acne and how it led her to help others. Meg discusses the multifaceted nature of acne, emphasizing the importance of mindset, gut health, and customized skincare approaches. She shares insights on how stress and limiting beliefs can impact skin health and offers practical tips for listeners to start their healing journey. The conversation highlights the need for a holistic approach to acne treatment, integrating mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Connect with Meg to learn more at her website. Takeaways Everyone has the potential to heal acne, regardless of their past experiences. Mindset is crucial in the healing process; negative beliefs can exacerbate skin issues. The body communicates through symptoms, and understanding this can aid healing. Gut health plays a significant role in skin conditions like acne. Customized skincare is essential for effective acne treatment. Stress management is vital for overall health and skin clarity. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/Hv7zOyux71E Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01)Hello everyone, welcome to the Heal Nourish Grow podcast. Today I am joined by Meg Gage. I hope I got that right, it’s spelled a little differently. And she has a really interesting health history. She’s a holistic nutritionist. She specializes actually in acne, I guess, prevention and treatment. And as you can see by her skin, I mean, it looks amazing here if you’re watching on video. So if you can’t see it, maybe pop over to YouTube. Meg (00:08)You did. Cheryl McColgan (00:30)But it wasn’t always this way Meg, right? So I’d love it if you could just start by sharing a little bit of your history, your health journey, and then we’ll eventually get into how you came to figure out like how to get rid of acne. So welcome. Meg (00:45)Thank you. Yeah, it’s quite the journey. feel anyone who becomes a healer always has quite their own story as to how they got there. But yeah, ever since I was five, I just dealt with multiple traumas and that kind of stress of living in prolonged kind of fight flight breathe since I was little showed up very physically for me in a lot of symptoms, one of which was long standing acne. since I was 12 and others were chronic pain, chronic fatigue, a lot of misdiagnosed disease of like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. All the while at that point when I was 12 being put on hormonal birth control without any kind of questions asked, that’s just what we did back in those days. So, you without having many cycles of my own, I was just put on these synthetic hormones as well. And kind of throughout dealing with major health issues over the years and a couple of car accidents and whiplash and PTSD and concussions, my acne was always such a consistent thing in the background. And when I came off hormonal birth control without any prep work or understanding that after a decade, this might have crazy impacts on my hormones when they try to kind of rebalance themselves, my acne exploded into very cystic hormonal me all over my face, all over my back, all over my bum, very painful. And it really just started my quest in kind of the natural healing world. And for the next five years, I tried everything from, you know, naturopaths to nutritionists to Chinese medicine practitioners to herbalists to acupuncture, all in a quest kind of to heal my skin and nothing worked. And it was a very frustrating journey. I was spending upwards of $30,000 on this. It felt like a full-time job, distress when you’re kind of putting 100 % of your effort into healing something for it not to work. And then just seeing so many practitioners that were telling you so many, so many varying things. And I just… got to a point where I was like, need to do this myself. I need to listen to my own intuition. I need to take my power back. I
Ep 1Special Series: Fit Model Journey
In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan shares her journey of preparing for a NPC Fit Model bodybuilding competition at the age of 52. This episode is in vlog format and best viewed on YouTube although it’s still being released as an audio podcast. She discusses her training regimen, nutritional strategies, and the mental challenges she faces throughout the process. Cheryl emphasizes the importance of protein intake, understanding ketosis, and the role of supplements in her routine. She also reflects on her daily activities, meal preparations, and the significance of maintaining a healthy body fat percentage while training for the fit model competition. Takeaways Challenging oneself can lead to personal growth. Nutrition plays a crucial role in competition prep. Understanding individual carbohydrate needs is essential. Daily routines can help manage energy levels during prep. Supplementation can enhance performance and recovery. Protein intake should be prioritized for muscle synthesis. Meal prep can simplify tracking macros. Finding enjoyable foods can make dieting easier. Maintaining a healthy body fat percentage is important for women. It’s important to listen to your body during training. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWat2qgDcsE Episode Transcript New NPC Fit Model Division Cheryl McColgan (00:00.504)So I’m back a little later in the day here getting ready to make my dinner, but I realized when I started editing the video that I did not really set this up very well. So I wanna put this at the beginning. I am sharing with you a day in what I’ve been doing for the last almost 10 weeks now. And that is training, eating, losing fat for possibly competing in the fit model category in the NPC. When I thought about this in the, well first of all, thinking about doing this at age 52 is quite daunting, never having been stepped on stage before in a bodybuilding competition. But if you wanna learn more about that thought process, I have another podcast that I did on that and I’ll link that down below. But basically, I’m still not 100 % certain that I’m. to do it, but I’ve been training, eating, doing fat loss for last 10 weeks as if I am definitely going to do it. So it’s just a little scary and that’s the only reason I’m thinking about not doing it. I think it’ll be fun in a lot of ways. I think it would be a great experience and I’m all about challenging myself and putting myself out of my comfort zone. So that’s why I started it. anyway, so this is kind of just my day, how I’ve been training, how I’ve been eating, bio hacks that I do, supplements that I use, all that kind of good stuff that will all be here in the video. Yeah, I don’t normally do vlogs, so this is totally new format for me, but hopefully you’ll find it helpful or somewhat entertaining or maybe while you’re trying to get through your cardio, you’ll be watching this video, which is how I’ve been getting through a lot of my things that I’ve been doing over the last several weeks, listening to podcasts, watching videos, watching other people talk about their preps and things like that. Cheryl McColgan (01:55.946)So without further ado, let’s move on to my day. Hey everyone, good morning. This is going to be a totally different kind of video for me. I’ve never done one of these before, but I thought I would take you through a day in the life of prep. So you can see a little bit what it’s more about, get some of my feelings on it. Yesterday was a particularly difficult day. So we made it through, woke up this morning. Actually, the first thing I do in the morning that I did not video is get on the scale because that’s what you do you’re tracking and I… this morning, so despite yesterday being an awful day, we did have progress, at least in the sense of what the goal is right now, is moving that body fat down. So now, I’m just goin

Ep 108To Compete or Not to Compete
In this episode, Cheryl McColgan shares her personal journey in health and wellness, focusing on the importance of muscle mass, protein intake, and the development of consistent habits. She discusses her experience with weightlifting, the potential of competitive bodybuilding, and the role of coaching in achieving fitness goals. Cheryl also addresses the challenges of fat loss and the daily commitment required to maintain a healthy lifestyle, emphasizing that it’s never too late to start lifting and pursue personal goals. Episode mentioned: Motivation is Overrated: How to Crush Your Goals Without It Takeaways Every meal is an opportunity to stimulate muscle growth. Optimal protein intake is crucial for muscle maintenance. Building habits is more important than motivation. It’s never too late to start lifting weights. Diet fatigue can impact your commitment to goals. Having a coach can provide accountability and guidance. Setting specific goals helps maintain focus in fitness. Muscle mass is vital for longevity and quality of life. Transitioning to a new gym can reinvigorate your fitness journey. Daily commitment is key to achieving health and wellness goals. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:01.806)Hey everyone, welcome to the Heal Nourish Row podcast. I am Cheryl McColgan, your host and founder of Heal Nourish Row. And my apologies for showing up on here looking a bit disheveled, but I just finished my basement workout. And so while this is on my mind, I thought I would get this recorded for you. So it’s something I’ve been wanting to share for a little while. And I actually started to record it yesterday, but it was such a weird day. I had gotten some crazy news and It was just, I was not in good head space. So thought I’d revisit it today and try to put together my thoughts for you a little bit more coherently. But anyway, just in case you haven’t listened to previous episodes, I will give you some background here. So, you know, the whole channel and the whole podcast is focused on health and wellness, and that’s probably how you found it if you’re listening to this. But pretty much my whole life I’ve been involved in health and wellness in some way. And over the years I have dabbled in lifting kind of on and off, but I’ve never gotten to stick until the last couple years here. I finally I’m over 50 now and I’m like, well, this whole push in social media and in education for older people about maintaining their muscle mass and how it really relates to longevity and just overall. you know, however long you are going to live, living your life well, because you can function on your own when you have muscle. And it’s really an epidemic right now of sarcopenia, which is the lack of muscle mass as you get older, as well as obesity and many other things, but a lot of things that are just really preventing people from living well into their older years. And so having seen, you know, various people over my life and having been blessed with still being healthy at this point after watching my dad battle cancer and things like that. I’m like, owe it to myself to really take this on and finally commit to maintaining my muscle. So that is what I’ve been working on the last several years. And it started with really just Cheryl McColgan (02:10.913)getting optimal protein and making that a big focus. And so if you’ve followed my content for a while, I’ve been talking about that just in case you have not heard this before. I want to make sure I put this out there. Every meal that you eat is an opportunity to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, which is the process by which your body maintains and builds muscle mass. And in order to stimulate that, you need about 30 grams at least of protein at each meal. is that will include about three grams of leucine, which is thought to be the amino acid that really stimulates muscle building. And then as you get older, your

Ep 107Creating a Healthy Relationship with Food
In this episode, host Cheryl McColgan interviews mental health professional Celeste Rains-Turk. She specializes in helping individuals improve their relationship with food and body image. Celeste shares her personal journey of overcoming disordered eating and how it inspired her to help others. The conversation delves into the complexities of disordered eating, the impact of body positivity movements, and the importance of mindfulness in achieving a healthy relationship with food. Celeste emphasizes the need for a balanced approach to health and fitness, advocating for self-love while also recognizing the importance of caring for one’s body. The episode concludes with practical strategies for changing food associations and fostering a healthier mindset around eating. Celeste shares insights on diet breaks, the impact of choices on long-term health, and offers resources for improving food relationships, including coaching programs and an upcoming wellness retreat. Connect with Celeste and learn more about the upcoming retreat at celestial.fit and follow her on Instagram. Takeaways Many individuals struggle with their relationship with food and body image. Disordered eating can often go undiagnosed due to its complex nature. Mindfulness can significantly improve self-esteem and body image. The body positivity movement has both positive and negative implications. It’s essential to focus on health and longevity rather than just aesthetics. Self-love should not lead to self-destructive behaviors. A balanced approach to nutrition is key for long-term health. Understanding food relationships is crucial for emotional well-being. The cycle of restriction and bingeing can be interrupted by trust in oneself. The power of choice allows for healthier eating habits without guilt. Diet breaks can provide mental relief and improve long-term results. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/vcAQRWNmSbs Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.494)Hi everyone. Welcome to the Heal Nourish Grow podcast. Today I am joined by the lovely and very smiley Celeste Rains-Turk and I am really excited to chat with her today because she is a mental health professional. She specifically deals a lot with helping people with their relationship with food, has so many free resources for that and so many programs. And in addition to that, she is a prolific podcaster and I’ve basically been pod-stalking her for the last two or three months. Celeste Rains-Turk (00:07.45)You Cheryl McColgan (00:30.294)I know a lot about Celeste, but now I’m going to share that with you guys, because I just think she is a really amazing source of information and really a light in the world of health and fitness. So Celeste, all that being said, welcome to the show. And could you just share with people a little bit about yourself? How did you become attracted to this mental health work and what lights you up about doing this kind of work? Celeste Rains-Turk (00:53.403)Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I like your vocabulary usage. It’s great. So what I’ll start with what lights me up about this work because I think that lends insight into what got me into it. So what lights me up most about the work that I do is seeing people achieve something they didn’t think was possible. So a lot of the people that I work with, they come to me almost on a last hope, a last resort. thinking is there any way I can actually heal my relationship with food and my body without sacrificing my fitness and physique goals? Because so many of them have been told by fitness professionals or mental health professionals that they cannot do both and I want them to know that they can. So it is incredibly rewarding for me to see them actually achieve that goal. That is amazing because they don’t expect to do that. Now, as far as what got me into it was I personally Cheryl McColgan (01:32.974)been pulled by. Cheryl McColgan (01:37.998)you Cheryl McColgan (01:43.982)That is amazing because

Ep 106All The Benefits of Fasting While Still Eating? 106
In this episode of the Heal Nourish Grow podcast, Dr. Chris Rhodes, a nutrition scientist, discusses his journey into the fields of longevity and fasting. He explains the significance of autophagy and shares his personal experiences with fasting. Dr. Rhodes also introduces Mimio, a product designed to mimic the benefits of fasting at the molecular level, and discusses the clinical studies that support its efficacy. The conversation delves into the science behind Mimeo’s ingredients and their roles in promoting healthspan and longevity. Visit Mimio to learn more and get an awesome discount! Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Takeaways Fasting can activate longevity bio programs within our cells. Autophagy is a crucial process for cellular health and longevity. GLP-1 drugs like Ozembic may positively impact longevity pathways. Mimeo is designed to mimic the benefits of fasting without actual fasting. Clinical studies show Mimeo can improve metabolic health markers. The formulation of Mimeo includes powerful anti-aging molecules. Nicotinamide plays a key role in cellular energy and metabolism. Using Mimeo can enhance the benefits of shorter fasting periods. Maintaining a balance between mTOR activation and fasting pathways is essential for health. https://youtu.be/CidbXEJcj3k Episode transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.834)Hey everyone. Welcome to the Heal Nourish Grow Podcast. I don’t even know the name of my own podcast. It’s loving my words today. But anyway, I’m really excited about today’s guest. I’m here with Dr. Chris Rhodes and he is a nutrition scientist. I’ll let him better describe himself, but you will have heard his full bio, of course, before this, but I always like to start out, Dr. Rhodes, with just having you kind of share in your own words, what brought you into this space? What made you passionate about working with Mimeo Health and the technology there. Like what led you to this point? Dr. Chris Rhodes (00:32.962)Yeah, great question. Really happy to be here, Cheryl. Thanks for having me on. really got me interested into the longevity space, the healthy aging space, and eventually the fasting space was coming out of college. I got my BS in biochemistry from Leroy LaMaria Mount University, but like a lot of college kids didn’t really know what I wanted to do there. So to try and figure that out, took an immunology fellowship at Stanford, just kind of pouring through all the research I could get my hands on going to all these seminars, and eventually came across the longevity research. And I thought that was so fascinating because it was this thing that used to be relegated to myth and legend, right? It was like Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. And now it’s this very active, very rigorous area of scientific research with a ton of funding and a ton of companies and a ton of government and scientific attention on it. And it’s one of those things that helps with everything, right? If you can solve aging, then you can pretty much also solve disease because by and large, most young folks don’t get disease. really see that aging is something that’s an underlying factor in every disease that happens. So if you can tackle these fundamental issues of aging at the cellular level and really slow that process down, then you can not only potentially enhance lifespan but also healthspan at the same time, which I think is what we’re all really going for, living our lives as well as possible and as best health as possible for as long long as we can. When you’re in the healthy aging and longevity space, eventually you come across fasting because fasting is one of the only ways that we know of to reliably extend lifespan and health span helps to treat, prevent, or delay most major diseases. And the reason why that was so fascinating to me is because it does all of that without actually adding anything into the system, right? So it’s not this superfood or this wonder drug that’s doing all the