It’s the start of a new year and with that, new diets and new products are flooding the Internet, promising radical improvements to your health. Many of those recommendations are not ones that we would recommend for you. However, we don't want to just tell you things to avoid since there are so many things we DO recommend. Here is a list of just some of the things that our dietitian staff love in 2020 -- most are things we use in our own lives. This list is coming to you divided among the pillars of our own signature wellness program, Freedom Wellness – all these products are things that help you balance Lifestyle, Exercise, Awareness and Nutrition.

LIFESTYLE

Products that promote balance to your lifestyle pertain to things like sleep hygiene, stress management, work-life balance, organization and medical prevention.

MZOO Sleep Mask. Get your melatonin levels going up faster by making it nice and dark with this super comfy sleep mask. This is the mask that I use for myself. It is so comfortable, and it allows you to blink and move your eyes inside the mask.

Yankee Candle: Lemond Lavender This is the candle that Lauren Martin likes to use when showering. She turns on a little Norah Jones, and turns the lights off. Instant ambiance and cool mood mode initiated.

Mario Badescu Spritz Mist and Glow Facial Spray Collection Trio, Lavender, Cucumber, Rose. Need a spa refresher any time of day? Get this trio that Meredith Hedberg recommends. She loves to spray it onto her face after showering, washing her face or just a midday spray.

EXERCISE/JOYFUL MOVEMENT

Stop doing exercises that you hate and make 2020 that year that you explore new, active interests. Active people live longer only if it’s being active doing things you enjoy. Working out while feeling miserable only increases cortisol levels. Hopefully these ideas help change up the ordinary and move toward something new and fun.

All Trails Mobile App. My husband, Jeff, and I love being outdoors. We are mountain people at our core, so we often go on mountain adventures when we travel. Our next mountain adventure iwill be in the Swiss Alps in July with good friends. But you don't have to travel out of the coutnry to use this great app. In fact, you will find trails all around where you are right now when you open its location finder. When we travel to any town, we use it to get outside and explore. The free features are what most people only need, but if you go All Trails PRO you get things like offline navigation, no adds and things like
creating and sharing custom maps. Try the free version first!

The AllTrails Mobile App is your 2020 outdoor companion.

Mighty Paw Hands Free Dog Leash. This leash was a game changer for me as a runner with a dog. I cannot stand having anything in my hands when I run, and my sweet rescue, Kahlu, loves to run! This leash attaches to Kahlu's harness and the leash hooks around my waist.

Summit Gyms (North Texas only). You may not be a gym rat, but what about some indoor rock climbing? Some of our dietitians, Elizabeth Marshall and Meredith Hedberg, both enjoy the challenge of climbing to the top and ringing those bells. My niece, Sydney, has been doing rock climbing competitions as early as 5 years old. Since we don't have mountains, Texas finds a way to create them indoors!

YMCA membership. Eileen Thomas loves her yoga classes as her local YMCA. Everything the YMCA does revolves around youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. That is why they are much more than a standard workout facility. It truly is a place for families to go and grow in total wellness.

Camp Gladiator. For the hard core fitness enthusiasts, challenge yourself with a Camp Gladiator outdoor boot camp class. Haley Pfannstiel loves her CG squad that keeps her pushing further than she would on her own. Each class is lead by a certified trainer. Catch one of the 4000+ classes nationwide!

AWARENESS

Awareness is the knowing and pursuit of your inner needs. That could be spiritual, emotional or physical. This is a piece of the wellness puzzle that is so important yet so overlooked among medical professionals. Not here at Lemond Nutrition!

Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. When it comes to life motivation, it surrounds my Christian faith. Whether you are a Christian or of other faith, I would strongly suggest that you find what it is that drives the core of who you are and why you think you are on this earth. Rick Warren's book walks a person through the process of figuring out their God-given purpose in life. Your wellness motivations should personify your purpose for living.

The Confident Woman: Start Today Living Boldly and Without Fear by Joyce Meyer. Another Christian-based book, Lauren Martin loves this Joyce Meyer book that peels back the obstacles that many women face when it comes to living a life of confidence. Confidence is not found in your physical beauty or worldly accomplishments. It is also not found in getting those that have hurt you back. Unwind the things that are keeping you from living life fully with the help of Joyce Meyer.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. Haley Pfannstiel is like millions of others out there that love the words and guidance of Brene Brown. This book really helps people embrace who they really are instead of a version of ourselves that we will never be. Self-acceptance is a critical piece to truly appreciating all aspects of life experiences.

Take a journey of self-acceptance with Brene' Brown.

Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Diet culture teaches us to ignore or deny our hunger in order to change our bodies to a specific shape. The core problem to this is that eating is a very basic part of being a living, human being. Once your body feels like it's starving, it jumps into all kinds of alternate modes in order to survive. That is one of many reasons why diets are doomed to fail. Enter the intuitive eating world where we get back to trusting our bodies. Get off the chronic dieter bandwagon and grab a copy of this book. Better yet, sign up for one of our classes that goes through all the principles with a group navigating this empowering way of eating together.

Love Food Podcast by Julie Duffy Dillon. Navigate the "unlearning" of the diet culture mentality by tuning into Julie's podcasts. Elizabeth Marshall loves the various topics about food and eating in a modern culture that help us navigate in a positive way.

Recovery Record Mobile App. Know anyone with an eating disorder? This is a mobile app that help with recovery where people can record their intake, thoughts and feelings. It's best used in conjunction with a treatment team that includes a dietitian, therapist and medical doctor. This app is full of meditations, rewards and affirmations to keep you moving forward in your recovery.

Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristen Neff. Why are we so hard on ourselves? It's such a problem -- and this problem really is at the heart of why we feel so unsatisfied with ourselves and our accomplishments. What if we started treating ourselves like the most important person in our lives? Hmm..what a concept. Dr. Neff walks us through how we would do that. This workbook has been a life changer for so many of our clients, and so many people around the world.

NUTRITION

Food is life. You would expect us as dietitians to recommend whole foods with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and legumes as a plant forward approach. It's true! However, we encourage an intake of all kinds of foods. Here are some of the gadgets that help you enjoy foods of all food groups and colors.

Avocado Slicer. Avocados add such a punch of flavor to wraps, salads, soups and really - anything. But anyone apprehensive at the thought of cutting up an avocado? Well, this handy little tool makes it so incredibly simple to manage your avocado. Melissa Mendez loves using this for her super fast and easy vegan meals.

ShopWell Mobile App. We love the ShopWell mobile app, especially for our families with food allergies, digestive disorders like celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome. ShopWell allows people to set up a profile that eliminates specific ingredients from product searches. Enter in the ingredients you don't want (i.e., gluten) and then do searches on brands of breads, crackers and other food items to see what products come up without the ingredient. You'll also get a health rating (the higher, the better) and can look at the ingredient list from the comfort of your own home. There are so many other things you can do with ShopWell to make your food search so much easier when grocery shopping.

Instant Pot. The Instant Pot was super trendy a couple years ago, but we think the versatility is timeless. Combine several appliances into one and you have the Instant Pot. Soups, rice, yogurt, meat and desserts are all so much easier with the Instant Pot. Check out our moistest turkey breast recipe you've ever tasted using the high pressure and slow release technology to lock in the moisture.

Lekue Citrus Sprayer Set. This was a Christmas gift given to me by my niece, and it's one of my new favorite gadgets in my kitchen. All you do is twist the corkscrew spray piece into a lemon or lime to produce a nice mist for any recipe. Store the fruit on the plate piece to keep it fresh in the refrigerator for the next use.

The Lekue Citrus Sprayer is so simple yet so perfect.

Coravin Model Two Premium Wine Preservation System. For those that drink wine, this is a perfect way to stay within the moderate intake of alcohol (up to one glass for women and up to 2 glass of wine for men -- per day) without ruining the rest of the bottle. Now, this is an investment. But it's so easy to use! This system allows you to remove wine with no removal of the cork. You can take one glass of wine out of your special wine without placing a timer on the rest of the wine. It's brilliant.

Enjoy Life Protein Bites. For those with multiple food allergies, this snack is safe an nutritious. McKenzie Ramirez loves the crunch and sweet chocolate flavor that this snack provides in the middle of a busy day.

True Made Foods Condiments. This company touts lower sugar marinades, sauces and ketchup - but we love the addition of pureed fruits and veggies in place of the sugar to provide a zest of flavor for your favorite dishes.

Ellie Krieger cookbooks. One of the most well known dietitians, Ellie Krieger, is best known for her Food Network show "Healthy Appetite," she has written many cookbooks that speak our language -- where cooking, fast preparation, flavor and healthfulness meet. We adore her newest Whole in One cookbook, but Simple cookbook is our second favorite.

Yummly Mobile App. Eileen Thomas got me using the Yummly meal planning app, and it's gotten me switching up my regular rotations for family dinners at the Lemond house. Get inspired with recipes, food articles and even plan out your meals right off the app. Short on time? No problem. Buy your groceries off the app and have them delivered.

Born to Eat: Whole, Healthy Foods From Baby’s First Bite by Wendy Jo Peterson and Leslie Schilling. Emily Dudensing loves the Born to Eat book for new parents. Written by two dietitians, Born to Eat really starts the intuitive eating (and feeding) concept as early as possible. Trust the dance of feeding your baby -- and trusting your child to know when they are hungry. A trusting mom raises confident eaters.

Rachel Paul's Food (for Low FODMAP). Keri Stoner-Davis loves to tell her clients about this super complete resource for those with irritable bowel syndrome and/or stomach bloating after eating. Enter a low FODMAP diet, which really helps titrate specific naturally occuring carbohydrates in your diet to help manage gas, bloating and other symptoms caused by an imbalance in enzymes to digets these foods. Dr. Rachel's website includes food products, a complete low FODMAP guide as well as lots of recipes and guidance.

More Recommendations

Our dietitians are always on the lookout for things that help us live better lives. Tune into our Instagram and Facebook accounts for our kitchen gadgets and other items we plan to share throughout the year. If you want a more custom recommendation, consider meeting with one of our dietitians at any of our three physical locations or schedule a virtual session. Your visit might be covered under your insurance plan. Call us at 877-422-8070.

Disclaimer: None of these product recommendations were sponsored. We simply recommend what we love!