“Calories in, calories out” has translated into a 95% dieting failure rate. This overly simplistic equation assumes your body is a machine. And the only “input” it registers is a calorie. In reality, your body is an intelligent ecosystem, responding and recalibrating to environmental “inputs” ...
Ali's Think Pieces
Is worrying about your weight self-involved?
I work with clients who send me articles about quinoa alternatives because of the social and economic challenges created by quinoa’s current popularity. They work to even the gap for women and minorities in the tech sector. They’re relentlessly dedicated to changing education. They’re aware and ...
jonesen for a meal plan or reboot?
“I’m thinking if we just work on a meal plan, I can snap back to my healthy eating,” a client I’ll call Lisa emailed to me. We were in the middle of our work together. I call this the muddle. It’s a guaranteed pit stop on the way to transformational change: it’s time for new and unfamiliar ...
Overeating when feeling self-conscious and invisible (part 2)
I was nervous to send last week’s post. But the reaction was incredible! Tons of emails of people who could "soooo relate." Some of you sharing it made you cry. Thank you. For showing me I’m not alone. And my big fear, about exposing my “unpopularity”, that it might make others question me, ...
I can eat white potatoes?
It always feels like Christmas when I encourage clients to go for the full-fat Greek yogurt or to mash up an avocado into guacamole as a healthy snack. And explain why yes, honey is fine. “But those foods are so rich,” they often say, reminding me how many deep emotional grooves need to be worked ...
Maybe the most important summer detox you can do.
Thank you all so much for the outpouring of admiration for my Grandma and sharing how touched you were by my celebration and tribute to her. I cried reading each of your emails. I showed my Mom the beautiful replies and she cried too. Each response was like an essential oil drop on our wounded ...
A very personal update
Ten days ago, my Grandma passed away. At 97, she was more progressive than most people I know today. And physically healthier than many, working as a nurse's aide until she was 80, lifting and caring for people 20 years younger than her. My Grandma was a pioneer. Especially in nutrition. Sometime ...
Panicked over your spring wardrobe fitting?
My previous struggle with food was enmeshed in my weight. I couldn’t figure it out because inside I was very confident in my professional abilities and success. I also knew I was a good daughter, friend and partner. As winter turned to spring, the panic over if I’d fit into the previous spring ...
Have you heard of the natural sweetener Lucuma?
A couple months ago, Amie Valpone made me aware of the natural sweetener, lucuma. Known as the “Gold of the Incas”, lucuma powder comes from the lucuma fruit. It’s dried at low temperatures and then turned into a powder. It has a maple like taste. Although if you mix it in your favorite nut ...
Carbs aren’t your problem. They are the solution.
As I started to accept the reality that quick fixes like detoxes, cleanses and diets don't work, I would still find myself picking up the magazine with “The New 5-Day Fix You’ve (Miraculously) Never Heard of That Will Get You In Shape by Summer!" Intellectually I knew these claims were bogus (it ...