The holiday season can be joyful—and chaotic. In this episode, Emily and AJ share practical, realistic strategies to help you stay healthy, energized, and mentally grounded during the holidays without guilt or extremes. Drawing from their experience as nurse practitioners, fitness coaches, and parents, they focus on mindset, flexibility, and consistency over perfection.

Listeners will learn how to set realistic health "minimums," approach holiday meals without shame, stay active with simple movement, and protect sleep and boundaries. The episode closes with a grounded post-holiday plan to help you return to your routine feeling strong instead of depleted.

The holidays don't have to derail your health.

In this episode, Emily and AJ—nurse practitioners, fitness coaches, and parents—share realistic, guilt-free strategies to help you stay healthy, energized, and mentally grounded during the busy holiday season.

They talk about shifting your mindset away from perfection, setting simple health minimums, enjoying holiday meals without extremes, staying active with flexible movement, protecting sleep, and setting boundaries to avoid burnout. You'll also learn why the term "cheat meal" can be harmful and how to jump back into your routine after the holidays without punishment.

• Why mindset matters more than perfection during the holidays

• How to set realistic health minimums instead of all-or-nothing goals

• Smart strategies to enjoy holiday meals without overeating or guilt

• Why the term "cheat meal" can be harmful—and what to use instead

• Simple ways to stay active, even with a busy holiday schedule

• How setting boundaries protects your health, energy, and relationships

• The importance of jumping back into routine after the holidays

A grounded, practical conversation to help you enjoy the season—and still feel good doing it.

In this episode, nurse practitioners and fitness coaches Emily and AJ break down the truth about intermittent fasting (IF). While IF can work for some, they explain why it's often unrealistic for most people—especially active individuals—and lacks meaningful long-term benefits. Citing a meta-analysis of nine trials with 540 participants, they highlight that IF shows no long-term improvements in weight loss, blood pressure, or fasting glucose compared to regular calorie control. Emily and AJ emphasize the importance of glucose stability, cortisol management, and consistent, well-timed meals for sustainable fat loss, energy, and overall health.

"There is some truth to calories in and to calories out, but there's so much more nuance there and variability in person to person and your goals. I feel like that's a really hard blanket statement to make, which I unfortunately think is the way intermittent fasting is often approached. It's like this, oh, this is great. This is a wonderful fix. Just do this, but, and I'm sure there's some people out there that it works for, and they make it work because that works for their activities, their lifestyle, but when you look at actual data for the general public, it's just not realistic." - AJ

• Intermittent Fasting Basics: What IF is, how different fasting windows work, and why it's challenging for the general population.

• What the Research Says: Meta-analysis findings showing no long-term advantage of IF over traditional caloric restriction.

• Fueling for Active Lifestyles: Why IF makes it harder to meet energy needs, support recovery, and maintain muscle mass.

• Glucose & Cortisol: How fasting affects blood sugar stability, increases cortisol, and impacts fat loss.

• Sustainable Nutrition: The benefits of consistent meal timing, moderate snacking, and individualized nutrition plans.

• Practical Takeaways: Choose what's sustainable, focus on long-term habits, and prioritize fueling your lifestyle—not following rigid rules.

Reference:

• Effectiveness of intermittent fasting for weight loss in individuals with obesity

• The Response of the Hormone Cortisol

• The effect of prolonged intermittent fasting on autophagy, inflammasome and senescence genes expressions

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

In this episode, nurse practitioners and fitness coaches Emily and AJ unpack the realities behind "clean eating." They explain why strict whole-foods-only diets are rarely sustainable and often create guilt and unhealthy food rules. Instead, they promote a balanced, flexible approach—prioritizing mostly whole foods while allowing convenient, better-quality processed options. Through personal stories and practical strategies, Emily and AJ highlight the importance of reading labels, avoiding unnecessary additives, modeling healthy habits for kids, and creating a long-term nutrition plan that supports real life, not perfection.

"You need to create something that is sustainable long term. And if your life does not allow for you to, quite literally, cook every meal and have control over those things, there's always going to be scenarios in life, whether it's like traveling with friends, life is not fully within our control. Nothing in life is fully within our control." - Emily

• Clean Eating Myths: Why 100% clean eating is unrealistic for busy lifestyles.

• Balanced Nutrition: Focus on mostly whole foods while choosing smarter processed options.

• Label Literacy: How to read ingredients and avoid unnecessary additives.

• Practical Strategies: Simple habits like adding fruits/veggies each meal and using crock pots or meal prep.

• Food Without Guilt: Removing "good vs. bad" labels and embracing flexibility.

• Family & Food Culture: Modeling healthy habits and involving kids in cooking without restriction.

• Sustainable Habits: Building long-term nutrition practices that fit real life, travel, and busy schedules.

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/

In their debut episode, nurse practitioners and fitness coaches Emily and AJ break down one of the most misunderstood topics in health and fitness: carbohydrates. They challenge the low-carb and keto hype, explain how carbs actually support metabolism, brain function, muscle growth, and hormones—and share how to use carbs strategically for better energy and performance.

"Carbohydrates can be used to your advantage so much more than they actually are… One of my favorite post-workout meals is fruit. You get natural sugars, vitamins, minerals, fiber—and it's such a good carbohydrate source to refuel after a solid workout." — Emily

• Carbs fuel metabolism, energy production, and brain function.

• True ketosis requires near zero carbs, which is unrealistic for most people.

• Carbs regulate hormones like leptin, which controls appetite and fat storage.

• Glycemic index basics: lower GI = slower glucose release; higher GI = fast-acting fuel.

• All carbs break down into glucose, the body's primary energy source.

• Low-carb culture has led to confusion—cutting carbs isn't the magic trick for fat loss.

• Carb deprivation can cause fatigue, brain fog, cravings, and even flu-like symptoms.

• Staying under 25g of carbs/day is extremely hard to maintain long-term.

• Many "keto" products are heavily marketed but not truly keto-compliant.

• Initial weight loss on low-carb diets is mostly water and sodium, not fat.

• Long-term low-carb dieting can disrupt insulin response and make fat loss harder.

• Carbs influence hormone signals that control hunger and metabolism.

• They ferment in the gut and produce short-chain fatty acids, which support gut health and glucose regulation.

• Extreme carb restriction can disrupt these processes.

• Post-workout: High-GI carbs (like fruit) help replenish glycogen quickly.

• Pre-workout: Lower-GI carbs provide steady, sustained energy.

• Timing carbs around workouts improves performance, recovery, and muscle growth.

• Every meal should ideally include carbs + protein + healthy fats.

• Fats help slow digestion for steady energy.

• Balanced eating prevents cravings, energy crashes, and yo-yo dieting cycles.

• Add fruit or other fast-digesting carbs after workouts.

• Use lower-GI carbs before intense training for steady fuel.

• Choose a carb balance that fits your lifestyle—not extreme rules.

• Small, consistent habits create sustainable long-term results.

Resources:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12297025/#Sec19

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/