Latest books + what I’m reading now – The Fitnessista

Hi friends! How’s the week going? I hope you’re enjoying the morning so far. It’s cold again (wah) so I’m hiding indoors and have the day cleared to work on content for our upcoming 6-week group coaching. I’d love to hear what you’re up to!

For today’s post, I’m sharing a recap of the books I’ve read lately, what I’m reading now, and my latest goal.

This book took me forever to read – I’ve basically crashed into bed each night lately- but it was incredible. I ordered it through Book of the Month (<— still loving my subscription) and is based on a true story. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, I highly recommend it.

This book explores the prevalence of insulin sensitivity and how metabolic dysfunction is linked to many common illnesses and health concerns. The author does an incredible job explaining the role of insulin in our body and how various lifestyles and eating patterns can contribute to insulin sensitivity, and also what you can do about it. He gives lots of lifestyle tips, nutrition ideas, and empowers readers to make positive decisions for their metabolic health. 10/10 would recommend.

This is part of our mom-daughter book club. Liv recently finished this book and passed it onto me. I just finished it, and now we’re going to watch the movie together. I LOVE this idea because it gives us the opportunity to connect over amazing books and would say that it motivates her to read, but this kid loves to read and blasts through chapter books. She’s really been interested in history (she read pretty much all of the Who Was series last year) and is almost done reading The Diary of Anne Frank.

I love that this book has such a strong focus on empathy and care for those who may have unique circumstances. It also reiterates an important lesson that even though we may look different on the outside, we’re all the same on the inside, and the fact that kindness can go a long way. 10/10 would recommend.

Here’s what I’ve added to my bookshelf lately + why I might not hit my reading goal this year

Last year, I set a goal to read three books per month. I hit the goal and genuinely enjoyed making reading a priority and focus again.

This year, I can already tell I might not be able to hit this reading goal because I have quite a few other things in the pipeline. We’re expanding our nutrition coaching with the help of Mia, I’m still working on Fit Team, the podcast, Beautycounter, content for the blog, and studying for a new cert. 🙂

I’m really excited to share that I’m working on my Integrative Health Practitioner certification through Dr. Stephen Cabral. I’ve looked at this certification a few times over the past couple of years and was beyond thrilled when he offered the opportunity for me to take these courses. I’m currently in Level 1, going through his DESTRESS protocol (it’s covered in his book but obviously the course dives into each module in great detail) and in Level 2, I’ll be learning how to read various labs, from blood work, hormone tests, mineral tests, GI mapping, etc.

A few incredible 1:1 clients wanted to explore hormone testing (and when clients hit a plateau despite doing all the things, that’s usually a sign that something else may be going on), and I wanted to bring someone on board who had experience with these tests and it was in her scope of practice to suggest, run and analyze this type of testing. This was a huge reason why I asked Mia to work with me this year. I’ve wanted to learn how to do this myself (with the appropriate credentials) and I’m so excited to be diving into this world.

I know this will help me help our clients in a new way and next level, and I’ve learned SO MUCH already.

To be honest, I’ve been trying to figure out the next step in my life and certifications for quite a while. I considered going back to school to become a physical therapist, and a tiny voice has been telling me to look into Naturopathic medicine. (I was looking at the school in Tempe before the world shut down.)

I feel like the Integrative Health Practitioner certification is the perfect next step in my knowledge and training, and it encompasses so many of elements of living a healthy lifestyle. It’s already giving me lots of inspiration for blog content and ways to help my clients, so it’s good stuff all around. 🙂