how to love your body with Meagan Fitzgerald

When body image kept coming up in my private practice this spring, I knew I wanted to bring in an expert and there’s no better person than life coach and fitness instructor Meagan Fitzgerald. Let me tell you, Meagan is fun, she keeps things real, and there’s no BS as we cover all things body.

We chat what our body stories are, shifting out of body struggle, and what Meagan calls the 5 pound swing. She explains what food and body drama are, accepting body change, and the connection between a mom’s relationship to her body the impact it has on her daughter. Today’s episode will give you many mindset tools to relate to your body more positively.

Connect with Meagan:

The SET

Resting Bliss Face

Meagan’s IG & TikTok

Modern Mentor Year in Review

As we head into 2016, I wanted to share my most popular videos over the year. It’s like a big #MeToo or knowing that you’re not the only one going through what you’re going through. Check out what topics were important to girls in 2015!

How to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djDYKUu84Bc

A couple of weekends ago, I worked on an exciting project with my students (which I cannot wait to share with you soon). During it, I asked each girl what her favorite topic that we’ve covered during our Mentoring Sessions was. EVERY girl said the advice they got about sleeping better was really helpful, so I decided to share it here on the blog today!

Everything You Need to Know Before Going to Prom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhZt9yrVfp0

The whole prom process was stressful for me. Between asking someone to the dance (I went to an all girls high school), finding a dress that I actually felt good in, and praying that I was invited to an after-party, I didn’t really have that much fun because of all the pressure I put on myself. This is all the best Modern Mentor advice for a having authentic fun at prom!

How to Get a Boyfriend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UdAhdcysk

When my student asked me to help her get a boyfriend I knew exactly what I wanted to tell her. As a professional big sister I get relationship questions all the time. In a world of Snapchat, texts, and dating apps, finding someone that’s a good fit can be confusing. If you’ve ever wondered what you need to do to get a boyfriend this blog is for you!

How to Handle Other People’s Bad Attitudes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdIGPmgGUCY

It stinks when you’re excited about something and the people around you aren’t. Maybe you really like soccer practice but everyone else complains about the coach. Maybe you’re really excited about a class, but everyone is down on it. You can’t change other people, but you can help to make the situation better. Click the video to hear what to do when the people around you have a bad attitude.

How to Create Happy Body Habits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsP2JR6Uig

Sometimes it’s hard to like the way you look. When we think or do negative things to our bodies, it can become a habit without us even knowing it. In today’s video, I’m giving step by step advice for creating happy body habits. You were given your body so that you could share your gifts, not get upset when it doesn’t look the way you want. Check out this video to learn how to make liking yourself a habit!

How to Actually Talk to Your Parents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1BpC5OS8OM

Going to your parents for advice can sometimes be hard, but I know from experience that if you open up to them they can actually be a big help. Plus, they really want to hear from you! Today, I’m sharing helpful tips for talking to your parents or anyone you’re thinking of going to for advice.

What to do when your Best Friend Moves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP5gFadVyyU

My best friend moved from NYC to Los Angeles at the end of June. This became a total #MeToo Moment when in a Mentoring Session one of my students told me her best friend was moving too. While it can be sad you won’t see your BFF as often, there are a lot of things to look forward to when a friend moves.

What to do when Mom stops you from doing something fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnNqk6DF9zg

So the title of this one is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s one of the main questions I get. Sometimes our parents can feel like a roadblock to our fun, but what if there was another way to look at it? Check it out!!

What to do when you feel like you don’t have a Best Friend (and Everyone else does)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNEXC1BMbUc

Today’s topic is super important before heading back to school. My students and I have been chatting and one of the biggest worries is friendship. Sometimes we haven’t seen our school friends in awhile and wonder if we’re going to get back into the flow of things. Still the fear I hear about the most is not having a best friend when everyone else does. In today’s video, I’m giving advice about comparing our friendships to others and what to remember on your first day of school!

What Happens When you Put Away your Phone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFO-xlkRSag

A couple weeks ago, my student, Caroline, and I did a phone challenge. I read an article about someone who never looked at his phone when he was around other people so I wanted to try it. Let me tell you… it. was. hard. Check out today’s video where we chat about how it went and what we learned!

How to Create Happy Body Habits

Many of my students have come to me with summer body stress and I’ve been mentoring girls towards creating HAPPY habits. Happiness is a choice and defaulting to self-love and acceptance takes practice, especially when it comes to loving what you look like. You were given your body to share your gifts; not as a vehicle to beat yourself up. Whether you’re aware of it or not, we’ve all created body habits that we do without even being mindful if they’re helping us or holding us back. In order to feel positive about your looks, you’ve got to look at the patterns you’ve formed that’s why we’re focusing on creating happy habits. Click here for more.

3 Ingredient Guacamole

I love guac. Seriously, it’s so good… and it’s good for you. In honor of the unofficial start to summer, I wanted to share my easy 3 ingredient guacamole recipe. Read closely because I share my secret step that makes it that much better.

Ingredients

2 avocados

3/4 cup of white onion chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

In a bowl, add salt to the onions.

This is my secret step: Mash salt into onions until well incorporated. So good!

Cut your avocado in half carefully removing the pit then score it by making vertical and horizontal lines so it forms little cubes. Scoop out and into bowl.

Mix it all up and serve!!

What to do when you Hate the Number on the Scale

I don’t know one person who hasn’t at one point or another been hard on themselves about their weight. A few weeks ago girls asked me about this in mentoring and the next night my friends brought it up at dinner. It’s a universal “Me too,” experience. We humans have attached a lot of meaning to what we see on the scale, which is a waste of energy. Your weight is not an accurate measurement of who you are as a person. Real happiness comes from the inside out; not what you see on a scale. Check out the video for some body love advice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA_0Lqlml0Q

How to get in the Habit of Liking your Body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsP2JR6Uig

Snow Day Healthy Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

Back to school after the holiday break is always rough, but winter classes mean the possibility of snow days. For me, snow days are always about baking (or making pancakes) or both and I wanted to share a healthier version of doughnuts. These are made like muffins, but roll them in cinnamon sugar and yum… doughnuts!

Donut Ingredients

Makes 24 mini donuts holes

1 ½ cups almond flour

pinch of salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 TBS coconut oil

2 TBS honey

2 large eggs

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 mashed banana

(I threw a handful of dark chocolate chips in my second batch because I had some to use!)

Mini muffin tin

Cinnamon Sugar (I used coconut sugar) for rolling

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine almond flour, salt baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice then add the coconut oil, honey, eggs, pumpkin and banana until smooth.

Grease the mini-muffin pan (I used a tiny bit of coconut oil) and spoon in batter.

Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Let cool, scoop out, then roll in cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!

Three Ingredient Healthy Cookies

My best friend Christine visited me this weekend and we decided to make 3 ingredient cookies. I love Instagram because I get so much inspiration there. When @lolacooks posted this recipe, I knew I had to check it out. These cookies are SUPER easy, delicious, AND healthy. What more could you ask for?

Ingredients

1 1/2 Bananas
3/4 cup oats
Chocolate (I used organic dark)

Directions

In a bowl mash banana and add in the oats. Stir until it forms a batter.

Fold in chocolate. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

ENJOY!

How to Handle Body Insecurities

I’ve been getting questions about body image lately and let me start by saying this: everyone encounters issues with how they look at one time or another. I struggled with it big time in high school especially as a dancer so I can confidently say that the tools I give you today are what I use to overcome feeling insecure about my body. Ever wonder why we even have body insecurities in the first place? In this video I share why we beat ourselves up over our looks and what we can do about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV_J286ynkg&feature=youtu.be