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Lisa Axelrad Schultz (lafitnut)

@itslisaschultz

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🍽️Lifestyle Changes Before Medications🧘‍♀️
🍃Founder: @verduramethod
✨Work with me or my online courses ⤵️

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There’s one phrase I’ll NEVER use with my children:

“Just one more bite.”

Here’s why.

As humans, we have internal systems that tell us when we’re hungry and when we’ve eaten enough.

The moment someone outside our body tells us to eat “just one more bite,” we’re being taught to ignore what our body is telling us.

I work with SO many adults to undo this exact teaching.

Most adults I work with are completely disconnected from their hunger and fullness cues. They have no idea how different foods make them feel. So they rely on measurements, numbers, calorie counts, and scales instead of learning to trust their own bodies.

And I refuse to teach my children that.

I let my kids overeat. I let them be hungry. I let them experience what different foods and portions feel like.

And instead of saying “just one more bite,” I ask questions like:

“How does that food make your tummy feel?”

“If you think you’ve had enough, pay attention to when you get hungry again. What foods keep you full longer?”

“That food might make it harder to fall asleep tonight. Do you still want it?”

I ask them how certain foods made them feel before bed, during school, or after a soccer game.

If they get a stomachache, we talk about what might have caused it.

If they’re hungry an hour after eating, we talk about which foods might keep them full longer.

If they eat something that doesn’t make them feel great, we talk about it. And then I give them the autonomy to make that choice again.

Because THIS is how we learn.

I’m teaching these skills when they’re 5, 6, and 7 so that when they’re 15, 16, 25, or 26, they’ll have years of experience understanding their own bodies.

They’ll know what foods give them energy, what keeps them full, what helps them sleep, what makes them sluggish, and how much food makes them feel their best.

And most importantly, they’ll know how to make those decisions for themselves.

If this post was helpful, make sure to like, share, or follow along for more ways to teach healthy lifestyle skills to yourself and your family! ❤️ by @itslisaschultz

I travel around the country encouraging people to stop thinking about wellness as habits.

For some people, habit-building works. But for so many others, it creates an all-or-nothing mindset.

You’re either doing it or you’re not. You either keep a habit or you break it. You’re either succeeding or failing.

If this sounds like you, I encourage you to shift your focus to Skill Building.

When we learn a new skill, we expect to make mistakes. Think about learning an instrument, a new sport, a language, or a hobby like sewing, woodworking, or photography. No one masters these in 30 days. So if you’re working toward wellness goals, think of them as wellness skills.

When we learn skills, mistakes are part of the process. So what do we do?
 We Reflect and Refine. We look back and ask: What didn’t work? What could I adjust next time?

But when we snooze an alarm, skip a workout, or burn a recipe, we often jump straight to, “It’s just not for me.”
 Rarely do we stop to look at the variables around the skill and how they’re affecting the outcome.

For example, if you want to wake up earlier, you need to reflect on what you ate the night before and how that impacts your morning energy.

If you want to work out consistently, you need to look at your schedule, energy, and stress levels throughout the day and how those factors affect motivation.

When learning a skill, you buy supplies. You expect a learning curve. You don’t see mistakes as failure. You get support from classes, communities, or coaches.

But with habits, we often go it alone. We treat them as a single task in the day, disconnected from everything else.

So this week, pick one wellness goal and practice this instead: Reflect. Refine. Try again.

You’re not a failure. Yes, you can be a morning person. You can be a cook. You can be someone who enjoys movement.
You can be be anything you want to be… you just have to reframe it.

If you’re ready to gain a community and coach for your wellness skill, head over to www.verduramethod.com by @itslisaschultz

That’s me on the ground there. What followed after that awful moment were many broken bones, a few surgeries, and doctors telling me this was the best they could do.

Over the following months after that accident, I laid in bed while my pelvic bone fused back together. I did physical therapy on my leg, which now had titanium rods and screws in it. I chewed slowly as my jaw kept coming in and out of the socket. And I learned to write with my left hand, as my right was covered in a cast.

The years that followed were full of dark, dark moments of confusion, loneliness, and sadness. Until I decided (made the choice) to stop feeling sorry for myself and start taking my healing into my own hands.

As a trained personal trainer and nutritionist, I was SHOCKED by how little I had been taught about inflammation and the body. I went down a rabbit hole of books, conferences, and documentaries on how to heal the body.

I was 27 years old, and my nightstand was full of Rx meds. Was this going to be the rest of my life?

Since that day, I have dedicated myself and my career to helping people heal without the use of unnecessary medications. Unnecessary over-the-counter meds. Unnecessary supplements.

I have been in this industry now for 20 years, studying the human body and brain both as my career and as a patient.
It’s been 15 years since that day, and I believe in my work more than ever. And I’m proud to say I live Pain Free on ZERO medications. So I wanted to share this full-circle moment with all of you today.
Today, I got to do what I love. I got to stand in front of a room and speak about wellness. Not extreme routines. Not complicated systems. Not macros or supplements.

The basics.

Sleep. Water. Movement. De-stressing. Nourishing your body.

The things that actually change how you feel every single day.
The things that helped me rebuild myself from the ground up.
The specifics of each of those will be personal to you, but it really comes down to the basics.

As someone who has come out the other side of a truly traumatic moment, I want you all to know that good can come from bad. Great, even. It’s about mindset, consistency, and believing in yourself. by @itslisaschultz

2 months ago I took my daughter to a Girls Only Mud Run Obstacle Course 5K!

One of the reasons I wanted to take her to do this is because she has clear signs of ADHD. I know this because I was diagnosed as a kid. And i’ve spent the last 20+ years of my life managing it through food, fitness and lifestyle.

Did you know that people with ADHD are 2-3 times more likely to have depression, anxiety and addiction? And did you know Exercise is a natural way to manage all 3 of those things. And for many people, exercise can be just as powerful as medication in treating their diagnoses. I know this, because I’ve been able to get off (and stay off) my ADHD and depression medication by taking daily doses of exercise, meditation, nourishing foods, and other lifestyle changes.

Because of this- I’ve been working with my children since day 1 about the many benefits of exercise - ** reasons that have nothing to do with weight loss.**

📝I teach them about the correlation between exercise and focus in school.

😃I teach them about exercise and the correlation with a good, stable mood. How exercise can relieve anxiety and rumination.

🛌I teach them how exercise helps us sleep really well.

💃I show them all the different ways we can exercise that can be fun. We just have to find the one we connect with.

🚫The moment my daughter learns that exercise can CHANGE THE WAY HER BODY LOOKS, exercise will then become a weapon.

I’m doing EVERYTHING I can to teach her, my clients, and corporate groups about the many benefits of wellness that have nothing to do with weight loss.

Moving our bodies. Eating well. Sleeping. De-stressing. Re-wiring the brain. This is how we FEEL good. Each one of these are medications. Each one of these matter day and night.

Unfortunately, we are taught about calories and weight loss long before ever learning the benefits of exercise and food on the brain.

So I’ll be over here teaching the many benefits of exercise and lifestyle until it’s taught from day 1 at schools and in companies. by @itslisaschultz

Think about it like this: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo... Some of the greatest athletes of all time.

They all spent YEARS practicing their sports. But practice happens in a controlled environment. In the actual game? Anything can happen.

You have no idea what the other team is going to do. You can’t predict every play. So you have to rely on your SKILLS and intuition to make the shot, score the goal, or win the game.

And guess what? Sometimes they miss. Sometimes they lose. And they’re STILL considered the greatest of all time.

Now think about your wellness the same way.

Habits work really well when life looks the same every day. You’re home, you have your routine, and everything feels manageable.

But what happens when life throws you a curveball?

You change jobs. You move. You go on vacation. Your schedule changes. You get invited to work event, a birthday party, or a holiday.

Suddenly, the routine you’ve worked so hard to build doesn’t fit your life anymore.

This is where so many people struggle. They make the “wrong” choice, feel like they’ve messed everything up, and spiral. One day turns into a weekend, and suddenly it’s been weeks since they’ve been “on track.”

This is why I believe habits can only take you so far.

The real work is building SKILLS.

Because when you’ve developed the skills to understand your body, navigate food choices, manage your energy, and take care of yourself, you can apply them ANYWHERE.

This is what I teach. This is the heart of my work. And once you understand this concept, it’s GAME OVER. You become unstoppable.

So today, I want you to choose ONE wellness skill you want to master.

And remember, mistakes are part of learning. Bad days are part of learning. Even the greatest athletes miss shots.

Reflect. Refine. Keep practicing.

If this post resonated with you, please LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW to support my small business! I share one simple tip every day to help make living a healthier life a little bit easier for you. by @itslisaschultz

It’s about to be lunchtime here. And I’m already 6 hours into my day. And boy has it been a long weekend (I mean, 12 months 😅). I just got off a call and cravings set in. Not the healthy cravings. That’s because I’ve gone too long between meals, my blood sugar dropped and now my body wants fast energy which shows up in the way of empty carbs and sugar. Because I know this- I had to stop myself. I reminded myself “you’re craving this because you’ve gone too long between meals. Once you eat a nutritious meal, the craving will disappear. If you act on this craving it will make you feel sluggish and tired. First- get some energizing food in. And then see if you still desire that craving. If so, you can have some now that you’ve already refueled yourself”. I followed this exact prompt, knowing I still have 8 hours left of my day of responsibilities…. Made myself a lunch. And feel SO MUCH BETTER. Cravings disappeared. Energy shot back up. I’m back on track. So ask yourself today- how do you want to feel later? Tomorrow? Then choose foods in line with that feeling! by @itslisaschultz

Eating Too Fast Could Be Causing More Problems Than You Think!

Here’s what happens when we eat too fast:

1 - Weight Gain: When we eat too quickly, our brain doesn’t have enough time to register fullness signals. This means we’re more likely to eat larger portions before realizing we’re satisfied.

2 - Digestive Upset: Bloating, gas, constipation and abdominal discomfort can all be made worse by eating too fast. We swallow more air and don’t chew our food thoroughly, making digestion less comfortable. It can also aggravate symptoms for people with IBS.

3 - Indigestion like Heartburn & Acid Reflux: Eating quickly can lead to overeating, which increases pressure on your stomach and makes it easier for stomach acid to flow back into your esophagus.

So what can you do?

Start by chewing each bite 20-30 times. I know this sounds crazy, but with practice, slowing down starts to feel more natural! You can also put your fork down between bites and take small breaks throughout your meal.

But here’s the part I really want you to think about.

WHY are you eating so fast?

Do you have a food scarcity mindset? Do you constantly feel rushed? Do you feel restricted around certain foods? Did you grow up in an environment where you had to eat quickly? Are you distracted or stressed while eating?

There are so many subconscious reasons we rush through meals. Understanding those patterns, reframing your relationship with food, and practicing slower eating can make a HUGE difference in how you feel.

And while chewing 20-30 times isn’t a magic number, the goal is to become more mindful of HOW you’re eating.

Sometimes the simplest lifestyle changes have the biggest impact!

If you found this helpful, please LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW to support my small business! I share one simple lifestyle tip every day to help you feel better, live healthier, and hopefully avoid unnecessary medications and interventions. ❤️ by @itslisaschultz

6 years ago, when the pandemic hit, we didn’t know whether we should move back home to Chicago or try to make it work in Los Angeles. We had a one-year-old little girl, and so much uncertainty about what came next.

We always thought we’d someday retire to the mountains. But then we learned about this quiet little mountain town within LA County called Topanga. Sandwiched between Malibu to the north and the Palisades to the south, we stumbled upon the best place we never knew existed.

So we took a chance and bought a run-down home. We figured we could live out our dream in the mountains now and slowly fix up the house as time went on.

6 years and MANY projects later, we’ve finally completed our renovation. Just in time to move out and welcome a new family into the home… with a one-year-old daughter of their own. 🥹

Renovating homes was something I grew up watching, and I always wanted the chance to do it myself. And wow, did we learn a lot! Turns out, we’re both quite opinionated when it comes to design. 😅

But through lots of compromise, blood, sweat, and tears (Kyle’s sweat, my tears), we created something we both really love. And I’m so proud of what we accomplished together.

When we first moved in, I called it the Hot Dog Stand because the house was painted yellow with a red awning. Pretty fitting for two Chicagoans. 🌭

It’s definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to this house. It was our first home in the mountains, where we raised our little girl and welcomed our son, and where we spent 6 years turning a rundown house into something we love.

But more than anything, I’m just so happy we took that chance 6 years ago. Because we ended up finding so much more than a house in the mountains.

We found our forever home in Topanga. And along the way, we found our chosen family.

You know who you are. ❤️❤️ by @itslisaschultz

Cucumbers are one of my favorite foods for glowing skin, better digestion, and overall health! They’re about 95% water, but they also contain antioxidants, vitamins, and nutrients that support your body in so many ways.

Here are 5 reasons to eat more cucumbers!

1 - Glowing Skin & Elasticity: Cucumbers help keep your body hydrated, which is essential for maintaining skin elasticity and that healthy, plump appearance. They also contain vitamin C, which your body needs to produce collagen!

2 - Better Digestion & Regular Bowel Movements: Their high water content helps soften stool and keep things moving! The skin also contains fiber, which supports regular bowel movements.

3 - Immune System Support: Cucumbers contain vitamin C and antioxidants that help protect your cells from oxidative stress and support normal immune function.

4 - Curb Cravings: Cucumbers are crunchy, refreshing, and full of water! Pairing them with protein or healthy fats makes a satisfying snack that can help manage hunger between meals.

5 - Reduce Puffiness & Support Hydration: Cucumbers provide water and potassium, which help your body maintain fluid balance. Staying properly hydrated can also help reduce puffiness caused by dehydration.

And here’s a little tip: Keep the skin on! That’s where you’ll find much of the cucumber’s fiber and some of its beneficial plant compounds.

If you found this helpful, please LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW to support my small business! I share one simple lifestyle tip every day to help you feel better, live healthier, and hopefully avoid unnecessary medications down the road! 💚 by @itslisaschultz

Before I get crazy comments, let me explain.

First of all, my kids watch some TV. And they used to watch A LOT when I was postpartum, drowning, and completely in over my head.

But I know the research, and I so badly wanted them to grow up without screens.

Here’s the catch that no one really tells you. If you want your kids off screens, prepare to be tired. And also prepare for MESS.

Because being screen-free means you’re on duty nonstop. But the incredible creativity that comes from it is so beautiful to watch.

Now that they’re older, my kids will sometimes say to me, “I’m soooo borrrrrred.”

And I really don’t care. Go do something. Make a mess. Figure it out.

Because if I want them to be screen-free without me watching their every move or entertaining them all day, I have to allow them to just be wild and free.

I have to let the mess be. Let there be scissors, paper, paint, cardboard, towels, pillows, and sheets everywhere as they explore, imagine, and create their own little worlds.

And I love it SO MUCH!!

Is it a headache sometimes? Absolutely. Does it take a ton of effort from me? YES.

And I have absolutely no judgment when it comes to screens. I admire the women who manage to do zero screen time 100% of the time. I’m not there. It’s a goal, but I’m honestly not sure if it’s right for our family. At least not yet.

However much you use screens, I get it. I really do.

But I also think that when you put them away, it’s pretty incredible to see what else comes out. by @itslisaschultz

I don’t even need a bowl. Heaven. by @itslisaschultz

This is me in a rushed state finishing calls and then needing to get my kids from school. Im always sharing my lunch bowls on my stories. I’m not always calm and carefree singing while I chop. I’m just like you guys in the middle of a zillion things. This lunchtime bowl to me is like my multivitamin and energy drink and craving curber all in one. The veggies + leafy green + protein + high fiber carbs keeps me satisfied for hours preventing any afternoon crash. The saurkraut snd kimchi is my favorite way to add a dressing without all the junk. I have tiny containers of food in my fridge that end up all making a great mixed chopped salad! I hope this helps you guys see that it’s not fancy. But it can be quick the more you do it as I know many of you feel like chopping and prepping takes soooooo muchhhhhh time. I promise you’ll get better at it. This was less than 5 min! by @itslisaschultz