When I first became a health coach I realized how uncomfortable I felt with the term “weight loss”. To me, the word “loss” feels like something difficult, sad, and unfortunate. Normally we don’t like to lose things!

My mentor, Mark Sisson, states in a fabulous Outdoor article, “Body composition is 80 percent the result of your diet." 

A few years ago, I remember listening to a friend talk about starting a sugar cleanse and thinking, “Oh, I could never do that!”

At the time, I didn’t give myself the space to ponder:

“What if I could do a sugar cleanse?”

“What if a cleanse helped end my sugar addiction?”

We are right around the corner from the equinox. Alaska is in full fall mode: golden leaves, vibrant blue skies, jeweled berries, and whimsical red mushrooms. I am so in love with the glorious energy of this season! 

This was not always the case. Fall used to mean the beginning of an epic battle with three months worth of holiday temptations: Halloween candy, Thanksgiving pies and Christmas cookies

Years ago, when I desired radiant health and a beautiful body, I started a "future self" practice. 

I imagined and scripted my future radiant self and as I did so I opened my mind and each cell in my body to absorb and experience exactly what life as that future Katie would feel like. 

As a teacher, I have repeatedly witnessed the power of a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset in the classroom.

Students who have developed a growth mindset come to class curious, open, and excited to learn. They understand that trying, making "mistakes", regrouping, and trying again is a part of the learning process.

This week I would like to share my experience with the ketogenic diet. I am sharing because keto is all the rage today, and in some ways, rightfully so. It can be a very powerful nutrition plan for treating epilepsy, Alzheimer's, some forms of cancer, and for losing weight. 

The past two weeks I have talked about sugar and alcohol, and how they often serve as obstacles to achieving radiant health. I think it's safe to say that most people know that sugar and alcohol can be toxic to the body and mind. We understand they are not great for us, so perhaps we make an effort to limit our consumption of these substances when we want to improve our health. 

If you read last week's post, you might recall that I believe sugar is the most common obstacle preventing people from achieving optimal health. I thought about another prevalent obstacle as I viewed a youngster on the Malecón sporting an "Espresso then Prosecco" t-shirt: alcohol. 

Today I feel compelled to share my thoughts on sugar, after having several conversations about the topic with clients, friends, classmates and complete strangers. I knew it was time to address sugar addiction again on my blog because so many people, just in the past week, have told me it's impossible to give up sugar!