Read more about the article Sip, savor and stay skinny with this coffee creamer guide
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Sip, savor and stay skinny with this coffee creamer guide

For many, the comforting ritual of sipping a steaming cup of coffee is a cherished part of the day. However, concerns about weight gain often loom large, especially when considering the addition of creamy, flavorful coffee creamers. The good news is that with a mindful approach and a few clever techniques, it’s possible to enjoy the indulgence of coffee creamer without tipping the scales. In this article, I will give you specific recommendations and a great method to make sure no matter what you choose, you can sip and stay skinny! Thanks to my husband’s friend Chris H for inspiring this article!

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Read more about the article The DAO of Metrics: Why You Will Succeed With Food Tracking
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The DAO of Metrics: Why You Will Succeed With Food Tracking


In business, accountability and metrics are important. How is a company supposed to know if it is meeting its goals and gains if there is no understanding of daily, weekly, quarterly sales? Similarly, fitness goals also need measurable metrics. But what are the right ones, and how should you track them? The #fitprofessional is here to help.

NOTE: This is not to be interpreted as a recommendation of how many calories/macronutrients you should be eating. While the tools highlighted here are a good litmus test, everyone should consult with a medical professional and/or dietician to ensure that the numbers are consistent with their individual health profiles.

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Read more about the article Why Portion Sizes Matter! (more than most things)
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Why Portion Sizes Matter! (more than most things)

We are going to talk about portion sizes. I categorized this as a saboteur because I have seen many cases, including with me, of eating nothing but healthy whole food and gaining weight. It is SO frustrating.

The only explanation lies in CICO, Calories in = Calories out (read my cardio post for more explanation and breakdown of CICO). Portion sizes matter in this equation. And thanks to Supersize menus, we have a skewed view of what they should be. So I will use this article to understand the problem, and then offer a guide to retrain your brain – which is what I had to do after being brainwashed by the skewed portion size saboteur.

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Read more about the article What Happens when ChatGPT Designed My Meal Plan
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What Happens when ChatGPT Designed My Meal Plan

When I saw influencers start to post videos with AI-designed meal plans, I immediately opened my Chat GPT app and joined the fun. I will say that ChatGPT did a pretty good job, if not lacking a little in variety. I also learned you have to be REALLY SPECIFIC about what you want, so you don’t get weird combos (you will see).

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Read more about the article The Best Low-Carb Wraps
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The Best Low-Carb Wraps

When I need something to eat during the day when I am working, I literally sometimes have NO TIME to either prep or time to get lunch out. Not to mention, the latter is expensive and can add up to 100s of dollars a month!

For this post, you will find the DAOFitLife “awards” for the best types of low-carb wraps.

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Read more about the article Love and Other Weight Loss Drugs: The New Wave of Injectable Treatments
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Love and Other Weight Loss Drugs: The New Wave of Injectable Treatments

Sometimes the greatest success comes from a mistake. Or an accident.

In a drug originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, scientists discovered during the process that the active ingredient in these drugs could also be used prescriptively to aid weight loss. Boom, an industry estimated to be worth 200 Billion dollars by 2030 was accidentally born. 

So what do you need to know about the trend sweeping social media and dominating the headlines? And why does it matter?

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Read more about the article When Your Jeans Feel Tight: A How-to-Deal Guide
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When Your Jeans Feel Tight: A How-to-Deal Guide

Have you ever taken a pair of jeans out of the closet you haven’t worn in a while? There is already an inner battle in my head when I do. Should I try them on? What if they don’t fit? What if I’ve gained weight? How did they fit the last time I wore them?

Now you shimmy them on. You might already be on the struggle bus in the shimmy process. Or you might get them all the way up but they don’t quite zip. Or they might zip, but that’s only a technicality. It zips but doesn’t quite fit.

In my day job, I like developing a “mode of analysis” for all my projects and issues I handle. So here is the DAOFitLife “Mode of Analysis” for your tight-jean issue. Step by step, with decisions along the way that you make based on what you feel is right for you!

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Read more about the article Healthy Easter Candy: Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Without Compromising Your Health
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Healthy Easter Candy: Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Without Compromising Your Health

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  • Post category:DietsTools
  • Reading time:4 mins read

As Easter approaches, it can be challenging to resist the temptation of indulging in sugary treats. Especially if you have kids and Easter baskets to fill. But even without, there are aisles of colorful candies in every store, office candy bowls, and commercials witth the clucking bunny.

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Read more about the article Foods that are no better for you than their “evil” cousin
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Foods that are no better for you than their “evil” cousin


In a morality-laced wellness culture, the world is divided into two food groups: Virtue-signaling “clean” foods, and evil, bad foods.

You know what? In many cases, the virtue signaling-food is actually not materially healthier. I have identified several common categories that compare the demonized food and the halo effect, then shine a light on reality. As for a solution, you can now eat the food you really want knowing that there is no real moral superiority to the alternative. OR you do what I do in many cases which is identify the core craving behind wanting a particular food and satisfy it with a healthier alternative, not a “faux healthy” version of that food.

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Read more about the article Your Brain on Lab-Grown Food
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Your Brain on Lab-Grown Food

Do you ever wander through a grocery store, and you start snaking through the center aisles through the bright beautiful colors of foods in boxes and bags? If you stop and pay attention to how you feel, it may be giddy, excited or just want to eat everything in sight?

Believe it or not, you are being seduced.

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Read more about the article Your A-Z Guide to Popular Diets
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Your A-Z Guide to Popular Diets

You want to try a diet. I get it. I am not here to stop you. It’s that time in the middle of winter when you have that panic moment – you’ve been super busy at work the holidays threw you off and you started a fitness kick but stopped it at the end of dry January.

So here is a list of popular diets – and some criteria to consider before going on one. I am also including DAO resources with deep dives on the super popular ones – Keto, Paleo, and Intermittent Fasting.

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Read more about the article How to cut sugar without going crazy
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How to cut sugar without going crazy

If you have been listening to mainstream media, you probably are convinced that sugar is the devil incarnate when it comes to healthy eating and weight loss. Yes, sugar is delicious and tempting and even comforting. But eating too much can lead to all kinds of problems – including weight gain and obesity, . And most Americans eat way, way too much. (up to 5 times the recommended amount by the American Heart Association).

Sugar is also really sneaky. It is EVERYWHERE…in places you don’t even suspect. So when you are at a conference and innocently picking up that cup of yogurt at breakfast, thinking you are being “good”, you are likely just inhaling a bunch of sugar. You might as well have had that danish! Even when it comes to less obvious “evils”, there are so many conflicting opinions. Fruit is good. No, fruit’s just like sugar, it’s bad. White sugar is bad, but honey and date syrup are legit “clean eating.” Or the “sugar is sugar is sugar” trope.

It all comes back to being smart, not being dogmatic. In this article, I boil down what you need to know to be smart about sugar. Most of the reason we overconsume is lack of information and marketing hacks. This article will give you the knowledge you need, so you don’t have to deprive yourself.

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Read more about the article New Year’s Resolutions for People With Real Jobs
Whatever you write down will fade by February. So do something different, now. Photo by Tim Mossholder

New Year’s Resolutions for People With Real Jobs

  – and sustain it.  If resolutions are not sustainable, then what IS sustainable? Changing your daily HABITS is a sustainable way to make lifelong differences. That is because you…

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Read more about the article Guilt-Free Winter Comfort Foods
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Guilt-Free Winter Comfort Foods

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  • Post category:DietsTools
  • Reading time:10 mins read

It’s cold outside. It’s snowing. You are so ready to sit under your Ugg throw and snug with a book or a binge watch. 

Maybe you already got your workout in, and it’s time to relax. But what you nosh on during that sesh can totally erase whatever calories you burned during spinning. 

But that does not mean you have to miss out on what you love to eat when the weather is so chilly. I have found a way to enjoy my favorite comfort foods without guilt, and I am sharing a list of the usual suspects with you, and my recommended substitution.

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Read more about the article Do you want to be sad, or skinny?
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Do you want to be sad, or skinny?

 Would you rather be sad, or skinny? Would you rather be fat and happy, or thin and sad? These are questions that magazines are actually asking mostly women about the fact that treating depression and anxiety would some forms of medication could potentially cause weight gain

The articles featured in Vice and Self magazine echo a deeper sense of self- conflict about mental health – at what cost do we pursue our well-being and happiness? For some this can mean taking prescribed medication, which can lead to intended and unintended consequence. And one of the biggest ones whispered about in anonymous forums is this: weight gain.

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Read more about the article How to attend conferences without blowing your fitness goals 
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How to attend conferences without blowing your fitness goals 

If you are in a professional services field, you know that conferences are like our Superbowl. It’s the ultimate opportunity for companies to showcase their talent, swag, and brand power. 

It’s also the ultimate opportunity to pack on the pounds. A lack of choice for food options, many of which are not healthy. Wining and dining. Little sleep from compressed schedules for presentations and time zone differences. 

Slowly, you make decisions that you would never make if you were at your own home base. Like, maybe that stale mini cheese Danish IS a good idea. 

If I know one thing from being a professional in this workforce for many years, pre and post-pandemic, I know how to navigate this minefield. And I am here to tell you all the best tricks and tips so you can come and go like the fit boss that you are. 

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Read more about the article How to ghost sugar overload this Halloween (updated)
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How to ghost sugar overload this Halloween (updated)

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  • Post category:DietsTools
  • Reading time:11 mins read

It’s Halloween already, and we are officially sanctioned to go back to trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. The drugstores and grocery stores are teeming with bags of fun-size candy bars and candy corn pumpkins. Offices and schools have candy bowls and homemade cookies EVERYWHERE. You may be going to one or a few Halloween parties this weekend. This is NOT the time to white knuckle. There is a better answer.

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Read more about the article DAOFitLife Hot List: Summer Smoothies to Glow Up Before Fall
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DAOFitLife Hot List: Summer Smoothies to Glow Up Before Fall

Smoothies, if done right, can be an excellent way to start the day or get through an afternoon slump. In fact, sometimes I have a smoothie as my lunch so I do not feel weighed down. Here are my top recipes with superfood ingredients that will energize you and slim you down.

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