Sitting quietly to meditate is not something that comes naturally to me. When I first decided to try it, during a personal crisis that was causing me untold pain, I was skeptical that meditation could make a dent in my suffering. The whole idea of quieting my mind and concentrating on … nothing? How is […]
It can’t be that simple, can it? Whatever we’re struggling with: our on-again-off-again workout habit, a soul-crushing job, a stagnant relationship … we’re really, genuinely suffering, right? We find ourselves stuck and imagine innumerable reasons why we can’t possibly get unstuck. But I believe that deep down, we already know the truth of our situation. […]
Besides being one of my fave colors, lilacs are one of my favorite flowers. They’re beautiful and so fragrant, and this time of year they’re hanging heavy all over my hometown of Spokane, Washington. (Graduated from Mead HS in ’80. Go Panthers!) Each year on the first Sunday in May, Spokane is home to the […]
I’m waking up this morning in The Windy City, where their spring weather can be pushing 80° one day and snowing the next. Literally! I grew up in the Midwest, born in Iowa City, Iowa, then moved to East Lansing, Michigan – and in my 20s lived here in Chi-town for a couple of years […]
Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Whether spring inspires you to get outside and soak up some sunshine or de-clutter your closets, there is no better feeling than opening up our metaphorical dirty windows and letting in the fresh air of renewal. I adore – maybe even crave – heat, so the promise of warmer weather makes […]
All week I’ve been doing a series of videos, one corresponding with each meal / snack that I eat throughout the day. People ask me all the time, “What do you eat???” so I thought it might be fun to walk through them, one at a time. If you haven’t heard, Facebook now allows us […]
A random question posed to me on social media recently (and my answer) prompted me to launch a weekly Q&A blog. It won’t surprise you to learn that I get asked many of the same questions over and over again, so I thought why not answer them in a more public forum??? And so the […]
I get that some people are cynical about Valentine’s Day. Silly cards, inane axioms on conversation hearts, and the pressure to publicly declare sentimentality that many of us prefer to keep private can lead to the Valentine’s Day equivalent of a “Bah humbug!” for some people. Can I just say, I am not one of them. […]
What do you do when the people you count on the most for support are actually trying to undermine your success? This happens more often that we’d like to admit. To give them the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume that these folks are unaware of the destructive nature of their behavior, possibly because they’re […]
There’s a theory among leadership guru types that if you wear the cloak of success (empowered body language, confidence, a can-do, optimistic mindset) you can sort of “fake it till you make it.” I’ll confess, I never really put much stock in this concept until recently. In the last two months I have taken on […]
Drumroll please….. TA DA!!! My friends, I’d like to introduce you to the Naked Broad View podcast! Naked Broad View is a new podcast I’ve been working on with my friend Jill Fagan. In this podcast, Jill and I will be talking about body image issues, relationships, feminism, food, and much more! As you’ll hear, […]
A couple of my closest friends started Whole30 this week. I just ran into another friend who told me she ordered the 21-Day Fix system to lose weight. And every seat’s taken in my favorite spinning class. Seems everybody’s renewed a commitment to healthy living recently! In many ways it doesn’t even matter what program […]
Happy New Year! I hope you rang in 2016 with all the excitement and fanfare you could muster (even if that meant being in bed by 10:30, like me). As great as 2015 was for my family and me (a published book, a family move), 2016 is full of potential and promises to be even […]
I love trying new restaurants. And who doesn’t? New flavor combinations, maybe something spicy or exotic. And I’m definitely going to be checking out the dessert menu after our meal. Even better, I don’t have to do the dishes! But chasing novelty in our food choices can undermine our healthy living goals. In fact, scientists […]
We’re up to our eyeballs in food traditions this time of year. Just today a “Christmas Kringle” arrived on my doorstep, a much-anticipated annual gift from a longtime family friend. A Kringle is a Danish pastry filled with a variety of delectable goodies, from apple-cinnamon to salted caramel cheesecake. This exclusive holiday edition is cranberry-nut. […]
Between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and even Giving Tuesday, it can seem at times like Christmas has been reduced to a financial transaction. Our hearts are in the right place – we want to get a good deal so we can buy even more gifts for our family and friends, or give […]
No, I’m not going to harp at you about how many calories are on your Thanksgiving plate. (Even though …) Nor am I going to give you a hard time about that piece of pie. (Except that …) …cause you already know all of that and well, Thanksgiving only comes once a year. You’ll get […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about intensity lately: the intensity we bring to our workouts, the intensity that guides our food choices, the intensity with which we live our lives. The reason I’ve been thinking about intensity so much is because I’m currently reading Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man […]
I may not technically still be a “big girl,” but frankly I’m pretty muscular so I’m definitely on the bigger side of average. In our skinny-obsessed world, bigger isn’t necessarily considered better, even when bigger suits our body-type. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a “big girl” lately. In this […]
Yes, I know it’s October 31st, not December 31st. Don’t worry, I don’t have my calendar on the wrong page. It just that, a couple of years ago I started celebrating my “new year” on my birthday rather than in January. Since my birthday was last week I invested some time deciding what my goals […]
I have a love/hate relationship with my to-do list. On one hand, making that list each morning helps me feel focused and organized. My work is purposeful and prioritized, so I feel accomplished at the end of the day. On the other hand, I have occasional days when my inner 4-year-old rears her obstinate head, […]
October’s a HUGE birthday month in the McKenna household. Of the six of us, three of us have birthdays in October. Rob’s is the 1st, mine’s at the end of the month (Ask me how many Halloween-themed birthday parties I had as a kid. Yeah, a lot.) and Connor’s is this coming week. And this […]
I hadn’t been feeling well for days. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off. I had some heartburn and lethargy, but I’m a pretty busy girl, so I mentally pushed it aside and pressed on. Yeah … turns out, sometimes the universe bashes you over the head to get your attention. Wednesday […]
With darkness settling in earlier and earlier these days I’m tempted sometimes to just crawl under the covers and wait it out till spring. Well, that’s not gonna pay the bills, so I’ve gotta come up with a new plan. Time for some cozy time by the fire. Yes, it’s only 7:30pm and I’m already […]
There’s something that takes me back to childhood when I crack open a new book. The sound the spine makes when it’s opened for the first time. Skimming through the pages as I take in the typeface, photos and read about the author. And the smell! Oh, how I love the smell of a new […]
I gotta come clean: I’ve been in a cooking rut for a while now. Oh sure, I cook pretty healthy meals and snacks for my family and myself, but my repertoire of recipes has started to seem ho hum lately. Typically we start eating heavier dishes in the colder months – often with more calories. […]
A couple of weeks ago – without warning and with no explanation – the yoga studio where I’d been practicing for nearly five years shut its doors. My yogi friends and I were stunned. We met for coffee in the aftermath, to discuss our plan for finding a new yoga “home.” We’re hot yoga devotees, […]
Despite our best efforts, colds and fevers find their way to our doorsteps. Whether you pick up a bug that’s going around the office or your child brings it home from school, these seasonal transitions seem to be the time when we’re most vulnerable to these pesky germs. My three best tips for keeping the […]
Many of you know, I spent a lot of years – 17 in fact – in the role of political spouse. Rob and I are both so grateful for the people we met and the experiences we had along the way. (If you haven’t been to the Ellensburg Rodeo, put it on your bucket list. […]
You can almost feel it in the air, can’t you? Summer is winding down. At our house, we’ve already done the back-to-school shopping to restock supplies and buy new shoes for my son’s feet that seem to grow overnight. This weekend we’re on our last family excursion of the summer, enjoying nature’s beauty at lovely […]
When you hear “let’s get it on!” (if you’re of a certain age, anyway) you probably hear the sultry Marvin Gaye song playing in your head. Apparently I’m of a certain age, because that’s exactly what I hear. As I sit at my desk, stewing in my uncertainty, it takes on a different meaning. The […]
Even though I crave the heat (hello, hot yoga!), more than a few days of 90o+ temperatures and I’m looking for a little relief. We’re in the middle of a heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, and unless you live in the southern hemisphere, you’re probably experiencing the same.These dog days of summer can leave […]
It’s finally, finally, finally here! The house that we’ve been building for – has it really been almost two years??? – is finally done and we’ve moved in! Or at least, we’re moving in. The moving vans came and went yesterday, but the process of unpacking and settling in to our new home will take […]
I just boarded a plane, headed to Maui for a week of summer sun, hanging by the pool and catching up on my sleep. By some weird fluke we’re seated in first class, and to my surprise they greeted us not just with coffee, but with mimosas. Goodness, who knew that’s what was happening on […]
“Go ahead, take the summer off!” Don’t you wish somebody would say that to you??? Like maybe your boss? No such luck, I’m afraid. And I couldn’t in good conscience advise you to take the summer off from healthy eating and exercise. After all, we’re coming up on the halfway mark for the “100 days […]
You’re probably familiar with high intensity interval training (abbreviated HIIT). It’s a way to build conditioning by interspersing high intensity cardio into a low to moderate-intensity workout. Typically these short bursts of intense cardio are done for 30-60 seconds between lower-intensity “recovery periods,” done for 2-3 minutes. The point of HIIT is to build endurance […]
Who knows what triggers it – too much to do at work, the end of the school year (let’s be honest, it can be hard on us parents), a looming milestone birthday. Whatever the source of the angst, sometimes we find ourselves settling in to a malaise. Maybe nothing in particular is wrong, things just […]
The other day a friend posted the gorgeous photos you see above on Facebook, along with an excited announcement that she was harvesting the first of her garden for dinner that night. Already in early June she’s got young lettuces, peas, and broccoli ready to pick, and the strawberries and zucchini won’t be far behind. […]
Have you been following the “100 days of awesome!” all week? The final part of “100 days of awesome” is a commitment to spending those 100 days eating more greens. And stop right there for a sec, because I know what you’re thinking: “Ugh, not another salad! I get so sick of rabbit food. It makes […]
100 days…six key components…are you ready to count down to awesome?!? The ubiquitous “30-day challenge” is everywhere – at the gym, the yoga studio, and even my favorite juice bar. And depending on what it is, 30 days can be a good way to build new habits. But we’re right on the cusp of summer […]
…and in it you’re wearing a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor. If you haven’t entered my giveaway to WIN a FREE heart rate monitor then today’s your lucky day! This is the same monitor that I wear for all of my workouts, and it’s the greatest thing since … well, I don’t eat sliced bread, […]
So, what does get your heart racing? Watching a scary movie? Getting whipped around on a roller coaster? Maybe the adrenalin rush of driving fast does it (though most certainly not on I-405, which almost always moves at a snail’s pace). In this case though, I’m talking about exercise. If you’re trying to lose weight, […]
If you’re a mom … or if you have a mom … or if you’ve ever screamed “MOM!” when you couldn’t find your soccer cleats, then you know how important moms are and how much they deserve to be celebrated this Mother’s Day weekend. Last weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with my […]
My mom showed up at the crack of dawn at my house this morning to head to our hometown for the annual Bloomsday run. If you’re not familiar with it, Bloomsday is a 12K (approximately 7.5 miles) run through the streets of Spokane, Washington. That’s a picture of mom and me at the race expo […]
Earth Day was this week so I decided to “go green” and recycle a bunch of old posts on the website. Hahaha! I’m joking. (Sort of.) I did go back into the archives to find a great video I did a while ago on my favorite calorie tracking app. If you’ve never used one, take […]
A new Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in my hometown this week. By the look of the line there isn’t another one between here and the moon. Last Saturday my 15-year-old son asked me to take him there to meet up with some friends for lunch; we couldn’t get within three blocks of it due of traffic […]
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…” Quoting Shakespeare always makes me feel smart. In this case, my motive is a little less noble than Mark Antony’s was in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I’m hoping that you’ll lend me your ears long enough to listen to some of my new podcasts that came out this week! […]
Ready to do some spring cleaning??? Me too! I recently overhauled my website with a fresher look and a new, broader scope of issues to reflect the many facets of healthy living. I hope you’ve had a chance to look at it! Closer to home, I’ve been ruthlessly cleaning out closets and filling boxes to […]
Shhhhhh, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, but you can’t tell! I’m delivering this fruit bouquet to my tech guys who just accomplished a complete overhaul of my website. Have you had a chance to look at it yet??? It just gorgeous! The design itself is the work of Melissa Hansen who […]
Everybody’s an expert in something. As for me, I’m an expert on Starbucks … on waiting until the last minute to do stuff … and I’m an expert on second-guessing myself. So maybe I’m not an expert in everything, but I like to think that I’m pretty good at finding just the right expert when […]
