50 Clean Eating Tips – If You Don’t Know Where to Begin

Can you imagine eliminating your morning “pretty coffee” filled with sugar and creamed toppings? What about cheese, desserts or fried everything? So many times people tell me they can’t stop their favorite foods, so they don’t even think about committing to a newish lifestyle. I get it. That was me. I obsessed over cheese plates, craved creamy frostings and longed for bulky pastas. I had been drinking tons of diet soda for almost two decades, so only remembered life being bloated. But that all changed when I started eating clean. And trust me, you can take small steps and get there, too.

Five Healthy Substitutions for the Sweet Tooth

I love to be loved. I enjoy the positive attention, outpouring of notes and thoughtful acts of kindness dedicated to me especially on my birthday. In my 20’s, I started a new tradition: I’d be calorie conscious most days of the year, but my birthday marked the one day to eat gluttonously without guilt. Now that I’m super focused on overall wellness, I’d rather not go that route, so I’ve found substitutions. Since I’m a sweet tooth, here are my five new favorite go-to-dessert-like treats. Syrups, agave, coconut sugar, honey, stevia, white flours and all the other various sugar words are still a “sometimes food,” as we say in our house.

10 Healthy Pantry Foods and a Free Checklist

Figuring out a new-normal isn’t easy. Like any new habit, it takes time and small steps to make progress in every area of life – even the pantry. After my stage IV cancer diagnosis, life never returned to the way it was…however, I figured out my new normal and have embraced it living a great quality of life. As a recovering junk-a-holic, my pantry used to be filled with meals like Chef-Boy-R-Dee ravioli, ramen noodles and high-sodium canned chili. The past six years I’ve maintained a plant-based diet focusing mainly on fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits. So, the past few weeks living in quarantine with less access to fresh foods challenged me to find new healthy pantry items that could keep me full and healthy. Here is what’s in my pantry now and read below about how you can access your own free healthy pantry checklist.

How to Add More Nutrients in Your Life

My favorite fruit and veggies as a kid were green apple Jolly Ranchers and the infamous steakhouse bloomin’ (fried) onion. As I grew older, I walked away from candy and fried foods, thinking I was eating healthy with my bag of Baked Lays and fruit infused frozen yogurts. It wasn’t until my wake up call with stage IV disease that everything in my diet changed. Truth be told, it wasn’t just my diet that shifted, it was my mindset about the food we eat and how nutrient dense food was important for my survival.

Pretty Wellness Small Steps Challenge 2020

Happy New Year. We’re excited for the third annual Pretty Wellness Small Steps Challenge. In all aspects of life, even our health, goal setting = increased success. The Pretty Wellness Small Steps Challenge 2020 outlines weekly wellness goals with supporting tasks to inspire you to make small healthy changes and New Year’s resolutions that will stick. Each Friday, starting January 3, 2020, we will announce a wellness goal to focus on for the week. Then each day, we will provide a deeper dive via Instagram on simple ways to be successful with the challenge. Come to us weekdays at 7:45 EST for live videos or check out our Instagram stories and the SmallSteps2020 highlight daily. Our goal is to share tasks and tools to make healthy living easy for the busy individual. We can’t wait for you to join in, connect and share your insight.

Healthy Holiday Gift Guide 2019

Big gifts, small gifts, and so many experiences to gift this year. The Pretty Wellness Healthy Holiday Gift Guide for 2019 is bigger than ever. Now in our 6th edition, the 2019 list continues to highlight presents that will wow the healthy living enthusiast and motivate those that want to take small steps toward better health. New this year – we’re highlighting experiential wellness ideas, so that you and your loved ones can experience self-care healthy activities together.