It's not that Sahar Aker wasn't a healthy eater. The blogger and journalist behind FatFighterTV was already practicing the nutrition and wellness tips she was giving out on the air and on her blog. Sahar felt it was time to take her commitment to watching calories and fat grams and eating lots of whole grains up a notch.

So how did Sahar -- and how can you -- go from healthy eating to clean eating? And why in the world would you even try? Sahar explains and gives tips if you're interested in cleaning up what's in your pantry, on your plate, and in your body.


Could you become a clean eater like Sahar?

How have you ramped your healthy eating lately?

Yvonne Condes wanted three definitive things for her life that came down to one valid question: What's life without a cupcake?

She wanted to feel better in her body after some uncomfortable baby weight gain. She wanted to help her husband who has Celiac disease to be able to really enjoy a gluten-restricted diet. And she dreamed of being a humor writer.

While the goals might appear to be very different, Yvonne found a thread to connect them all -- putting her focus on health to work. Literally.

To take care of herself, she started running. Because she loves to bake, she wanted to whip up goodies with her kids that her husband could also enjoy, which led to developing recipes for healthier, gluten-free treats. To take care of other people with gluten restrictions, she started selling her cupcakes and cookies at farmers markets, in stores, and online. Finally, to tend her desire to write, she started up a blog that tracks her life as a mom and entrepreneur. With that,Yvonne's

It was one of those at-the-altar realizations that no bride, bouquet in hand and groom at her side, wants to have. But there Ilina Ewen was, moments away from her "I do" with the "I don't!" screaming silently in her head.

With her family and his family and good intentions and the best hopes, she followed through with the vows and went ahead with a marriage that she didn't believe she should be in. Although her husband and her parents had the appearances of being proper, respectful people, they proved her right with racist, unkind remarks. Ilina wanted out.

And she got out, sacrificing possessions and money for a quick exit from the marriage she says should never have been. The courage to leave at all costs changed Ilina and led her to an unexpected man, a family, and a home she hadn't even dreamed of the first time around.

Ilina explains how her reinvention began, a bride at the altar years ago, how she's ramped her own life since then, and her tips for other women facing a crisis

When Julie Pron found out she was pregnant with a third child, she was surprised. She wrote about the experience on her blog Just Precious to help herself embrace the baby she didn't expect so soon. The calm and acceptance she felt was overturned soon after when Julie says she was suddenly welcomed into an exclusive club of women who have miscarried.

The support Julie she found there was critical, not only in mourning the loss of the pregnancy that didn't fit in with her normal "planner" personality.Interacting with other women who understood what she was going through also helped her to move on from miscarriage.

Julie says her priorities and mindset shifted, helping her to see more clearly what her responsibilities as a mother and wife are, to pursue new professional opportunities, and for one wonderful gift born out of the shock, grief, and loss.







Have you experienced the important but unfair club that is what Julie calls "the miscarriage club"?

How has your perspective shifted

When Brett Blumenthal walked through her dorm one evening during her freshman year at college, she landed in a crowd of men who were rating the women who came into the lounge. The numbers she saw stirred up emotion that ranged from anger to inadequacy, and also started her on what has since been both a personal and professional reinvention.

Digging deep, Brett chose to use the experience to help herself eat better, exercise more, and feel better in her body. Not only did she physically change, her mindset shifted as well.

Brett explains how one disheartening night in the dorm set her on a journey that has led to creating a website, writing a book, and feeling confident no matter where she walks today.


How did you feel about your body in your late teens or college years? How do you feel about it today?

Did you experience any of your own lightbulb moments in a dorm room or classroom or your first apartment that led you to reinvent your own eating or exercise plan?






The You. Reinvented.

Getting healthy can feel like a monumental task, whether your goal is to lose five little pounds or overhaul your eating completely.

Shannon Hoehnen is the blogger behind The Daily Balance and a regular contributor to Shine whose own health reinvention shows that it's possible to break down those big goals into smaller, more manageable, and even delicious tasks. By reworking favorite recipes, continuing to enjoy desserts, and scouting out menus before eating at restaurants, Shannon has deleted many of calories and fat grams from her own diet while still finding ways to have fun cooking, cherish chocolate, and eat varied foods.

She's culled many recipes and tips in her own kitchen and now offers them up to readers who are interested in living a more healthful life. Take a peek at some of Shannon's favorite ways to choose healthier foods and how she's incorporated them into her own daily life.



Would you try any of Shannon's tips for eating healthier when you're craving sweets or want

We've all been there, sitting on the couch, watching some woman who seems lost in her own clutter or weight or outdated wardrobe or financial despair or unraveling marriage as she is swooped up and seemingly saved in a miraculous 48-minute show. Her life is turned around by a team of experts, a debit card with thousands of dollars earmarked for organizational baskets or non-mom jeans, and a tough-talker with a heart like Tim Gunn or maybe even Oprah herself.

I'm sure we've all, at one point or another during the many shows we've seen with this kind of makeover plot, that a camera crew and famed trainers and make-up artists would take our own lives and make them sparkle and shine with only a few commercial breaks in between the before and after transformational fabulousness.

No matter how hard we wish for Stacy and Clinton to show up, real life just does not work like that. Of course.

When the TV's clicked off, we have to sit down and figure out how to make a budget work, how to