Pomegranates. I'm sure some of you have seen me tout the benefits of utilizing pomegranate, and a lot of my clients have heard me recommend it as well. I want to dive into WHY I'm being such a pomegranate pusher (insert mean girls quote: I'm a PUSHER, Cady).

A lot of folks think that they need to do MORE MORE MORE to lose weight, gain muscle, or achieve performance/athletic goals, and yes, we DO want to exercise, but people forget that exercise is also a stressor on the body.

When I first started writing this post it had a different tone and feel. I initially started writing it for me because I wanted to share my story. The more I asked around and spoke with fellow strength-sport athletes, the more I realized that this isn’t about me, and my experience is about all of us. I discovered I was not alone and that 90% of the women I spoke with shared a similar story. I was shocked.

There are some mixed feelings on aesthetic-based goals; it is healthier to focus on self-love and not agonize over every little thing on our body that we can’t always control. Don’t get me wrong; I think for our mental health, we should focus most on internal health, such as what we put into our bodies and how we treat ourselves, as well as how we deal with stress. But sometimes we want to look good too, and that’s OK! It’s natural to want to look good. As long as we don’t give it too much focus on our health and have positive intentions behind it.

The warm months are coming (and if you are in the Northeast like me, THANK GOODNESS), but you know what that means for a LOT of people - that panic to *lose the winter layer of fat* and to lose it quickly.

Our bodies need to recover. The harder you train, the more important it is to make time for it. Preventative care is so important, yet many of us wait until we’ve pushed ourselves too far. I hear it all too often, the frustration from clients who’ve suffered an injury because they weren’t proactive or they ran themselves into the ground. Recovering from an injury is stressful and a test of our mental strength. Trust me, I’ve been there myself.

It’s 2:45 AM and I’m lying in my bed listening to my husband snore. My mind is racing - thoughts like “I’m never going to fall asleep”, and “my day is going to be ruined” stream across my mind. After flipping over onto my side for what feels like the thousandth time, I accept defeat. I lost the battle. I crawl out of bed, stomp downstairs, and flop onto the couch, much to the dismay of my 4-year old Rhodesian Ridgeback…