When it comes to thanksgiving – and really all holidays – it’s important to remember that they’re really about honoring a great moment in history that has helped shape the world we live in today, and being grateful.

So holidays should be a time to give thanks for the great things we have in our life today, most of all the freedom we've been given. And then about using this freedom to make the best choices for ourselves.

Hopefully this means making the choice to be healthy, and to do right by your body. Choosing to give your bodies the love, care and nourishment it needs to stay fit and free of disease.

And look, I'm a huge foodie and LOVE good food. But it's important to shift our mindset away from seeing holidays as all-about-food, and instead being extra mindful, giving thanks for the food we have and not taking it for granted. And remembering that this food is meant to nourish us – not to fill our sugary cravings. 

I know it’s easier said than done, so I wanted to share 10 simple things that you can try this holiday season, that will help you stay focused, happy and healthy during the holidays (starting today!):

I used to work in finance, and my body is still recovering from the daily stress I put it through during my many years working in the industry.

After I left the business, I embarked on a healthier lifestyle and started doing the right things to bring my body back into balance. Even though I’ve fixed most of my health issues and significantly decreased the stress in my life, my hormones are still not where they should be and I'm experiencing lingering adrenal fatigue — a series of symptoms, such as fatigue and trouble sleeping, that can result when the adrenal glands aren't working properly.

It’s scary to think that even though I’ve been doing all these wonderful things for my body, it can take our systems a long time to properly recover from adrenal fatigue. Learning to minimize and cope with stress is crucial to ensure we keep a healthy adrenal system — the cornerstone for hormonal balance and optimal overall health.

Whether or not you perceive yourself to be a stressed person, I strongly suggest you try applying a few of these stress-reduction tips on a daily basis. Sometimes our stress isn't visible (even to ourselves!), but it can cause our bodies a lot of lingering harm.

Here are 17 tools I apply in my daily routine to stay happy, healthy, balanced, and stress-free:

As you know, I am a HUGE advocate of learning to eat better foods, and I love it when I continue to learn the amazing benefits of cleaning up one's diet.  It's amazing how life-changing it is, in so many ways.  

Today I wanted to share some tips that I learned from one of my IIN teachers whose book I just read, focused on the power of supercharging your brain for better health.

Did you know that your brain uses 20-30% of the calories you consume?  So, if you want your brain to be smarter and happier, it’s absolutely key to get your nutrition right.  You can exercise all you want, even take the right supplements, but if you are eating highly processed foods filled with sugar, bad fats, excessive sodium, harmful chemicals and preservatives, then there is no way that your brain will be working at its peak.

And if our brain isn't properly nourished, this will affect our overall health, energy levels, mental clarity, focus, our emotions and even our hormones and sex life.

To get you started, I'm going to share 10 key nutrition tips that you should apply regularly in order to optimize the health of your brain:

I've come to realize that we all (especially women, of course) spend so much time researching the newest beauty products to make us feel and look younger and more beautiful.  It's crazy how much money we spend on body and face creams, serums, makeup, and other other cosmetic treatments.  Even men have started to invest in face creams and such.  But what we often forget is that beautiful skin and hair really comes from within. 

Let's talk about what really leads to increased aging of our bodies and skin (apart from too much sun!).

Do you remember those pre-teenage years when we had so much energy, and didn't have to worry about our weight, much less the wrinkles on our skin?  So what changed?  

As we get older, we accumulate harmful toxins in our bodies from all the exposure to preservatives, additives, medications, pollution, and more, creating waste in our bodies.  This waste slows down the systems in our body, making it harder for us to maintain our weight or have the same energy, even if we’re eating the same way.  And unfortunately, expensive supplements and anti-ageing creams aren't able to fight the accumulated waste inside!

Changing what we eat and reducing the toxic burden in/on our bodies will change everything, inside and out.

So where do we start?

I admit that I’m a bit addicted to my exercise classes at Exhale – they’re just so effective, they’re not too hard on my body, and I love my teachers which keep me motivated throughout class.  I know that many of you are like me, and enjoy group fitness classes with a good, challenging teacher and a fun vibe.  Then there are those of you – men in particular – who prefer a combination of jogging, sports, and a quick stop at the gym to lift some weights.  Regardless, I find that we all struggle a bit when it comes to finding a routine to do on our own (without a class teacher or personal trainer) that really gives us a killer, full-body workout.

For me, the hardest part is when I'm traveling.  I'll usually go for short jogs outside, and sometimes step into the gym to do a few ab crunches, push-ups, then call it a day.  But I get frustrated because I’ve wasted over an hour, yet I feel that I’m not getting an amazing full-body workout like I do with my classes back home.  I lack the motivation when I’m on my own, and I’m just not sure what exercises to do that can get me a good workout in a decent amount of time.

So that’s when I called for the help of Miami’s hottest trainer (and my fabulous barre teacher), Julie Wiesman, to give me an effective (yet fairly simple) routine that can blast fat and tone the entire body, in just half an hour.

Here are 6 simple (yet challenging!) exercises that you can do from any basic gym or even at home – all you need is a mat, a pair of dumbbells, and a chair/stool.  The combination of these moves will tone your entire front body, back body and of course your obliques or side body, and will get you looking fabulous in no time (just look at her body!). 

Last month I attended an amazing 4 day conference at the Chopra Center that was focused on the power of meditation and Ayurveda in healing the mind, body and spirit.  It was definitely an enlightening experience, and reminded me how important it is to build a meditation practice, ideally every day.

So let’s start with – what is meditation all about?

Let me share what I've learned, and my interpretation.

Meditation is about tuning in to ourselves, and just being present in the moment.  Sitting in silence, letting go of our worries about what happened yesterday and what we need to do today, and just being aware of how we feel in the moment.  Meditation helps bring us to that peaceful place within ourselves.  If you think about it, throughout most of our day, we are just focused on all the chaos of our lives - the deadlines, the commitments, the never ending to-do list, the stress,...- so taking some time each day to forget the chaos and find a bit of peace is HUGE.

The way I see it, meditation brings us closer to our inner true self, so that we become more in tune with our bodies; it helps us listen to our bodies’ subtle messages.  It makes us more present, so that we pay more attention to how we feel at every moment.  We become more aware of everything going on around us and within us. 

Why does this matter?  There are TONS of reasons, but I’ll give you THREE.

Nowadays (especially in the US) there are a huge amount of labels being placed on the food (and non-food) items in the supermarkets.  And it’s becoming quite confusing for everyone!  

Have you found yourself buying organic produce and organic animal products, without fully understanding what it means?  And do you feel better about buying chocolate bars and packaged oatmeal labeled “non-GMO” though you’re not really sure why? 

There is a lot behind the different labels that should be better explained.  In particular, there’s a lot of confusion and debate around what non-GMO and organic labels really mean, and what we should be buying.