Bonnie Roill is a “Lifestyle Architect.” Her boutique private practice, B3 Nutrition, specializes in helping women develop their customized blueprint for eating, moving, and daily habits that create a “livable and health-generating lifestyle.” Bonnie’s background includes a practicing Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for over 35 years along with accreditation as a Hormone Support Coach, a certified Health & Wellness Coach and Personal Trainer. Her mission is to teach women how they can impact their health destiny through their food, focus, and feet. Her vision is a world where women have the resources to control their health destiny no matter their age or where they live on the planet.
Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss:
- The number one thing people don’t understand is how to fuel their body properly. You have to fuel your body to have energy. If you don’t, you will have an insulin rollercoaster which gives you a drop and results in cravings. People need to eat in the morning to start the engine then properly fuel throughout the day.
- The lunchtime let down will definitely affect how you feel later in the day. Your bio-individuality (your unique situation and genetics) does play a factor, so sometimes you may still feel sluggish no matter how healthy you eat. However, you shouldn’t feel like you need a nap every afternoon. Your circadian clock can work against you. Natural sunlight helps serotonin which is a natural pick-me-up.
- What should you eat and drink? The best food is fiber containing carbs such as root vegetables like carrots and beets. Fiber slows down digestion which helps regulate your blood sugar. And don’t forget your protein for energy and a small amount healthy fat (ex: avocado). We also need water, lots of water! Often hunger is mistaken as thirst. A cold glass of water can energize you and also increase your metabolism.
- Does dog walking count as exercising? One problem is that you don’t get your heart rate up to the level you need, but the fact that you’re getting out and about is very helpful. You can easily be meeting the minimal requirement for exercise. But if you are trying to lose weight you will probably need an extra boost of exercise to go along with the walking. Resistance training is a great way to amp up exercise for weight loss.
- Women often don’t realize their obstacles that are often anchored in our habits. Medical history, eating habits, medications and thought processes are all the root of figuring out what is stopping you from feeling your best and bringing your best to your business.
Show Highlights:
- How hormones and age can affect women’s daily performance and business [2:30]
- The importance of and how to alter your circadian rhythm [6:45]
- How much water you need and the benefits you get from it [10:30]
- The benefits and drawbacks of claiming dog walking as exercise [16:00]
- Exactly what is B3 Nutrition? [19:40]
- How self-care makes you strong for your business as well as the people in your life [22:00]
Tweetables:
[Tweet ““I don’t think people should feel like they got hit in the face with a frying pan.” “]
[Tweet ““Insulin’s nickname is fat storage hormone.” “]
[Tweet ““Genes load the gun and the environment pulls the trigger.” “]
[Tweet ““Genes load the gun and the environment pulls the trigger.” “]
Links:
Find out more about Bonnie Roill and the B3 Nutrition by visiting:
Downloadable Offer:
Sign up for the session at www.B3Nutrition.com under the header Free Consultation. It takes about 30 minutes. Share my free breakthrough session “Eat Clean(er)*Feel Great* Look Awesome, including my Hormone Profile Self-Assessment checklist.
Also, sign up for FREE 5 Strategies for Success Slimming.
Join me for my Free 7 Day Healthy Habits for Happy Hormones challenge at www.B3Nutrition.com and select the header “Healthy Habits Challenge.”
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Transcript:
Bella:
This is episode 84 of Bella in Your Business. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready, Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump. Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Basta with Jump Consulting, and today we’re here to talk about you. And by you, I mean your health, your nutrition, and how that affects you in business. Many of you might have been following along and known that I went on my own personal health journey last year and I saw the crazy effect that it had. So when I had the opportunity to meet Bonnie Roill, I wanted to bring her to you to help energize and invigorate you as well. Bonnie is a lifestyle architect. She has so many specializations that it would take the whole show to tell you. So I’m just going to say this. She’s a registered—oh my gosh, I’m so excited, Bonnie—you’re a registered dietitian and nutritionist for over 35 years. So this girl knows what she’s talking about. She’s a certified health and wellness coach, an accredited hormone support coach, and a personal trainer. Her mission is to teach women how they can impact their health destiny through food, focus, and feet. When I met her, she told me that she loves working with women between 45 and 65. And I was like, girl, you are my girl. You need to be on my podcast. So Bonnie, without further ado, welcome to the show.
Bonnie:
Thank you, Bella. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Bella:
Thank you so much for being here. Tell me a little bit about who you are and what you’re doing today to help people.
Bonnie:
Well, about 10 years ago, I decided to leave the hospital environment where I had been working for 25-plus years and decided to go into private practice to work exclusively with women because women’s nutritional issues are very unique and they change through their life cycle, which makes them very exciting. That’s because of the different types of hormones that we have. So everything from starting from puberty to childbirth, post-birth, perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. Those needs are changing, which allows me to have a lot of fun with my clients because every time they come to me there’s a little bit of tweaking we can do and we all can do tweaking and benefit from it.
So I’ve been doing this private practice for 10 years and I work virtually out of my home, so that makes it convenient. I have people call me in their car during lunchtime. I’ve had people call me in their boardrooms and then the worst is that people call me through drive-through. But yeah, it really makes it convenient, and my specialty really is working with hormones—not just looking at the food portion of it, but really seeing the impact of hormonal changes a woman is having on her weight, on her energy levels, on her ability to sleep well, and even build muscle.
Bella:
Incredible. It’s amazing how much all of this affects us, and we just kind of think, “I’m just stressed out,” or we probably attribute it to a lot of things that it’s actually not. Tell us, how do our food choices affect our daily performance in our business? Because most of us are pet sitters and dog walkers and running around all day. How can our simple food choices really affect us?
Bonnie:
I would say, Bella, the number one thing that I see from people is that they don’t understand the importance of fueling their body properly—not only type of food, but also the quantity, quality, and timing. The importance of realizing that when you don’t fuel your body, you don’t have energy. That’s a simple fact. Part of that has to do with that lovely hormone called insulin. What happens is if we are not fueling our body well, we’re going to have what we call insulin roller coasters. Now, if we get up in the morning and all we do is grab a little nutrition bar, sure, we’re going to have a boost of blood glucose in our body—a little bit’s going to go to our brain, a lot to our muscles. So within an hour or two, we’re likely going to start to feel that drop, like a roller coaster down, and we’re going to be craving something else to eat, right? And that’s what happens, especially if you have something like just coffee in the morning. Even if you get a latte, it’s going to actually affect another hormone called cortisol, which is actually going to be even a double whammy because not only is it going to make your insulin go on that roller coaster, it helps to deposit fat in your belly. So we don’t want cortisol pouring out. So number one thing is people do need to eat when they wake up in the morning. You’ve got to start the engine. So number one thing is breakfast.
Bella:
So let me ask you, is cortisol also that stress hormone too?
Bonnie:
Yeah, it is. Actually cortisol is typically called the stress hormone.
Bella:
So that makes sense when I was living in NICU with my daughter for six months and I was surviving off of caffeine and sugar and stress. That’s why I gained so much weight because it really did go to my stomach. What you’re saying, I can visualize because it happened to me.
Bonnie:
And I see this all the time with women that are their own business owners because they’ll often say to me, “But Bonnie, I don’t eat much,” and it’s not that you need to eat quantities of food. It’s because of the way the body metabolizes that food and the connection with both hormones, cortisol and insulin, that causes that weight gain around the waist. We have about six times more cortisol receptors in our abdominal region than anywhere else in our body. And that’s why it goes there. It loves that area.
Bella:
Well, isn’t that like a sick joke from God then? Because when we’re done having babies, it’s not tough enough. And then if we get stressed out, it’s going to go to our stomach. I mean, I’m sure I’m simplifying it there, but come on.
Bonnie:
Yeah, I agree with you. I often say to people that especially when we hit like 55, nature can be very cruel because at that time we might have a little bit more money, a little bit more time, we want to go out and have a good time, but our body doesn’t allow it to happen.
Bella:
So then I think a lot of us own it. I used to call this “riding the wave.” I wouldn’t make any kind of appointments in the afternoon because I would crash. I would be useless from three to five. The way I described it, Bonnie, is that someone hit my face with a frying pan. And I just thought, oh well, my rhythm is I have a lot of energy in the morning and not in the afternoon. And that’s how it is. Bonnie, is that how our life is supposed to be?
Bonnie:
Yes and no. I don’t think people should feel like they’ve been hit with a frying pan or actually have to take a nap in the middle of the day on a regular basis. But we do have a circadian rhythm. We have a circadian clock. That clock wakes us up in the morning. Unfortunately, we have an opposite system working against it that wants us to go to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. Since the circadian clock has been running for so many hours, it’s a little bit pooped out itself. So there’s a couple ways you can get around that. One, avoid what I call the lunchtime letdown. What you eat at lunch will totally affect how you’ll feel two or three hours out. Next, find out if—even if you eat healthy—you still get that letdown because that’s just your bio-individuality.
There are a couple of strategies. We know that sunlight increases your neurotransmitter serotonin, which makes you feel alive and happy. If you’re a dog walker, that’s great—you can get outside. That’s your office space. When we get back to what you’re eating for lunch, you want to make sure that you’re eating things that are a combination of fiber-containing carbs, protein, and a bit of fat. Fiber slows down digestion and prevents blood sugar spikes. You also need protein to feel satiated, and a little bit of fat helps with digestion and fullness.
Bella:
Would avocado be a good resource for that?
Bonnie:
Yes. Often I’ll tell clients to add half an avocado next to their greens. It’s a great way to get healthy fat and it helps you feel full longer. Ideally, we should go about four to five hours between meals. Constant nibbling produces insulin—and insulin’s nickname is the “fat storage hormone.” So we’re better off sticking with three meals and one or two small snacks a day.
Bella:
I love it. And as you’re talking, I’m thinking about mason jars. Like, throw it together in a jar, keep it in the car, and have it ready to grab. If I don’t have something to grab, I make the wrong choices.
Bonnie:
Now you’re talking about meal planning and prepping. And yes, sometimes people carve out an hour on the weekend to prepare. But there are also non-perishable snacks you can keep in your car—jerky, paleo bars, etc. For women, it’s also okay to include carbs because they help make serotonin. So you could have a few whole wheat crackers or a piece of fruit. If you have a cooler in your car, Greek yogurt is almost the perfect food—carbs, protein, and fat.
Bella:
Speaking of running around in the car, tell me about water. How much should we drink a day?
Bonnie:
A refreshing glass of cold water—about two cups—can actually boost your metabolism by 30% and decrease appetite. Studies show women can lose about five pounds more a year just by drinking around four cups of cold water a day. It’s not a magic bullet, but every little bit helps. We also often confuse thirst with hunger. I always tell people, drink water first, then see if you’re really hungry. Hydration also combats fatigue.
If you get bored with water, spruce it up—add cucumber, berries, or use infusion bottles. Herbal teas count, too. And fruit adds water to your diet. Forget the “eight glasses a day” rule—it has no scientific basis. Instead, if you’re not using the bathroom at least five times a day, you’re not drinking enough. And yes, check the color—if it’s closer to apple juice than lemonade, you’re dehydrated.
Bella:
Last year, our target was half our body weight in ounces, and I actually felt so much better.
Bonnie:
That’s a good starting point. Some might need more or less depending on activity, location, and food intake.
Bella:
We are definitely getting down and dirty lifestyle here because this is important. But Bonnie, we need to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, I want to ask you—are we walking enough, or does dog walking count?
Bonnie:
Sure.
Bella:
So is it enough for us just to be walking all these dogs?
Bonnie:
First off, I think it’s wonderful that people have an excuse to get out and walk. That’s great. The problem is, if your dogs meander, you’re probably not getting your heart rate up enough. But don’t disregard it. Studies show even regular walking reduces heart disease, osteoporosis risk, and depression. Add it all up—you’re probably meeting the guideline of 30 minutes five times a week. But if weight loss is your goal, you’ll need brisk walking or resistance training.
Bella:
Tell me more about resistance training.
Bonnie:
You don’t need a gym. You can do squats while brushing your teeth, use ankle weights, soup cans, or five- to ten-pound dumbbells. Even sitting on a Swiss ball works your core. It doesn’t have to be an hour—small consistent movements count.
Bella:
I love that. Girl, these days, even YouTube has everything. Tell me about B3 Nutrition.
Bonnie:
B3 Nutrition is based on the idea that we are in control of our health destiny. Genes only account for 10–20% of disease. Our habits make the difference. “Genes load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.” It’s about layering small habits—like doing squats while brushing your teeth, or drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning—to create sustainable routines.
When I work with women, I look not just at nutrition and medical history but also what stops them from making better choices. By the end, they often realize they’re much stronger and more confident. Self-care builds confidence, and that trickles into business success.
Bella:
Exactly why I wanted you on the show! Do you have an example of someone you’ve helped?
Bonnie:
Yes, I have a 52-year-old client who came overweight and pre-diabetic. Her doctor put her on Metformin. She crashed at the gym twice from low blood sugar. So we worked on teaching her how to fuel her body. Her inflammation markers were high, so we added omega-3s, more greens, and cut coffee. It’s been hard—she’s a director of over 100 people and writing her PhD—but by starting with small changes, she built consistency. She’s lost weight, inches, and says she finally realizes self-care isn’t selfish.
Bella:
Amen. That’s so powerful.
Bonnie:
Exactly. You have to nurture yourself first before you can give to others.
Bella:
That’s what this episode is all about. Bonnie, tell everyone where they can find you.
Bonnie:
You can visit my website, b3nutrition.com. There’s a free 30-minute “Feel Great, Look Awesome” consultation where we talk about first steps. I also have a free report, Five Smart Strategies for Losing Weight, which includes food, mindset, and habits.
Bella:
It was such a blessing to meet you, Bonnie. Thank you for being on the show.
You guys, like and subscribe to the podcast. If you loved this episode, write a comment and I’ll share it with Bonnie. And always remember to keep jumping.