The path to a long and happy life, is highly dependent on the kind of lifestyle choices people make each day. As a globally recognized wellness expert, Nina Cherie Franklin highlights “small change” approaches to healthy living.

Avoid Holiday Weight Gain By Stressing Less

Weight gain is quite common during the holiday season. While it's often linked to overeating, overdrinking, or otherwise overindulging, these aren't always the culprits. In fact, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors (more sitting and…

The Truth About Abdominal Workouts

A lot of exercise and weight loss enthusiasts are downright obsessed with abdominal (ab) workouts. Interestingly, over the years, I've found that a large chunk of these folks are quite misinformed about abdominal muscles. And, equally misinformed…

Five Tips to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

With all the freshly baked cookies, cakes and pies, eggnog, apple cider, and other delectable foods and drinks surrounding you during the holiday season it's probably not the best time to start a structured weight loss regimen. But, there's…

Six Leafy Greens That Taste Better Than Romaine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have once again warned Americans to stay away from romaine lettuce due to its potential contamination with E. coli. This time around the warning…

Easy Ways to Make Healthier Holiday Sides

We all know that food is a focal point of holiday celebrations. And, high-calorie, carb-rich side dishes are without doubt main staples in virtually every household. But, if you're watching your weight, trying to cut back on sugar, or even just…

Simple Habits That Ward Off Type 2 Diabetes

Over 450 million people worldwide have diabetes, a number that's projected to double within the next three decades. Remarkably, 90-95% of people with diabetes have the form known as type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes, a largely preventable…

Are You Drinking Smoothies or Sugar Bombs?

A while back I met with a longtime client who was extremely excited about her new hobby, making "healthy" smoothies. For the sake of privacy, I'll call her Karen. Over the course of my consulting with Karen, she'd successfully…

10 Tips for Keeping You and Your Family Healthy During the Holidays

The start of November marks the beginning of the holiday season. And, I'm sure you already know that holidays and social eating go hand in hand. Problem is, with all the rich foods and sweet indulgences that surround families during holiday…

Breast Cancer in Women: Healthy Lifestyle Strategies for Prevention and Survival

Women often ask me what kinds of foods they should eat or what types of exercises they should do to prevent breast cancer. Not at all surprising, as breast cancer is the most feared cancer among women. Indeed, 1 in 8 will be diagnosed in her…

How Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Saved ME From Domestic Abuse

Quite a number of years back, one of my Facebook followers asked me to discuss some ways in which exercise, good nutrition and other healthy lifestyle behaviors could potentially play a role in inspiring people to leave domestic violence situations.…

Are Cheat Days Good or Bad for Your Diet?

Time and time again I've seen fitness gurus and weight loss enthusiasts proudly posting images depicting tons of unhealthy foods on various social media platforms during their so-called "cheat days". You too may have ascribed to occasional cheat…

Red Meat: Friend or Foe to Your Health?

Red meat has hit the headlines once again with controversial new guidelines suggesting there's no longer a need to cut back on it. Needless to say, this has caused a massive uproar among leading health and nutrition scientists and experts, and,…

How Stress Almost Wrecked My Life

You can eat kale and quinoa every day, and even have the perfect workout routine, but if you're constantly under stress and doing little to manage it, you're still putting your health at risk. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. In 2013,…

12 Foods that Speed Up Recovery After Surgery

Successful recovery from any surgery is highly contingent on the body's ability to control inflammation. This is a normal response and is essentially the body's chief defense mechanism. Symptoms can vary from mild to severe and generally include…

BMI Isn’t the Best Measure of Obesity or Health: So Why Are We Still Using It?

Wonder why you're getting on the scale at every single doctor's office visit? Whether for a routine medical exam or a general sick visit, your body weight is almost always one of the first things measured. This measurement is sure to be followed…

How Performing Too Many Sit-Ups and Leg Raises Can Be Bad For You

Many people spend large chunks of their valuable workout time repeatedly performing trunk-flexing exercises like sit ups and leg raises in an effort to develop sexy, flat abdominal muscles. Generally speaking, these are the superficial muscles…

Three Simple Hacks for a Healthier Labor Day Weekend

It's Labor Day weekend—The official last holiday weekend of the summer season! For many, it'll also be among the last of epic barbecue and grilling marathon days this year. Believe it or not, I generally suggest giving yourself permission…

The Freshmen 15: Simple Ways to Avoid Gaining Weight

With every passing year, a new pool of incoming college freshmen are faced with the sudden risk of double-digit weight gain commonly known as the "freshmen 15". While some folks call it fiction, the fact of the matter is that many students do…

Are You Overestimating Your Daily Calorie Burn Rates?

Those of you who regularly follow my blog, know that I often post images of my daily calorie burn rates as tracked by the activity app of my Apple Watch. But, what you may not know is that I actually have a love-hate relationship with activity…

A Nutrient-Packed Chopped Salad with Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing

If you know me personally or even follow me on social media, by now you surely know that I'm an absolute sucker for salads—And, I'm not talking about those old bland, boring blends of lettuce and all-purpose garden vegetables with heaping…