What are your holiday triggers? 

Do you salivate at the sight of peppermint bark?

Or wear your extra stretchy yoga pants when you know mashed potatoes is being served? 

During the holidays, it’s important to take note of your triggers and understand when you feel tempted to overdo it with food. Ignoring the triggers will lead to weight gain & gut rot.

Here are some examples:

• Attending a cocktail party or a wedding
• Corporate cafeteria leftovers (you know, the area people bring all the items they don’t want at home.) 
• When you’re watching TV
• Desserts delivered to the house for the holidays
• Bringing treats to your kid’s school
• Preparing food for a party you’re throwing
• Family or corporate holiday parties
• Cocktail parties with drinks and tons of hor deserves

Holiday Hot Tip: PLAN AHEAD

Make SURE TO PLAN before you attend a gathering or party. 

Find out what will be served: If possible, ask the host what kinds of foods and drinks will be served so you’ll know ahead of tim...

The holiday season can literally take the spirits right out of you. Between the end of the year career chaos, secret Santa gifts, holiday recitals and parties, you can be left wearing Santa's pants and feeling drained. 

Avoid the holiday beat down with this Holiday Survival Checklist.

 Gathering Survival Tips

1.  Plan Ahead

• Know what is being served
• Offer to bring a healthy option
• Pack a healthy snack
• Don’t show up hungry 

2.  Hydrate

• Drink water daily. Each morning drink 12 oz. of water before coffee. Sip on warm water throughout the day 

3.  Say No

• Practice the 80/20 Rule 

4.  Taste

• Check in with yourself. Would self-care be more appropriate than food?
• Ask for healthy options
• Slow down & enjoy each bite
• Savor the moment – It’s about the conversations 

5.  De-Bloat & Re-Set

• Drink elixir - AM
• Drink chlorophyll drink - Evening
• Move body - Daily 

Motto: “I deserve to enjoy celebrating in the company of my friends and family”

Healthy Habits For th...

Feeling “puffy” from the Fall treats?

Seasonal detoxes can be a great transition from the previous season's toxic build up. 

Fall detoxes can help flush out toxins which lead to the belly bulge, headaches, and weakened immune system. The fall season is a great time to boost the immune system and ditch the stubborn weight. It’s also great for slowing down, turning inwards, and letting go of foods, thoughts, emotions, and people that don’t serve you. Actually, the falling leaves are symbolic of us shedding negative memories, thoughts, and patterns.

Here’s a simple Fall Salad detox recipe you can add to your meal plan for the next few months:

KALE SALAD WITH ROASTED BEETS AND APPLE

Serves 2

• 2 medium beets
• 1 bunch kale, chopped
• 1 avocado
• 2 green apples, cored and chopped
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds

PREHEAT OVEN. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

ROAST BEETS. Trim the ends of the beets and scrub them clean. Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil and place in a baking ...

Here’s the real deal: There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for wellness, but there are things you can do to support your own unique blueprint and it starts in the gut.

Inflammation and irritation are the two main contributing factors to your muffin top, belly blah, and “Holiday Fatigue Syndrome.”

By addressing certain factors through a systematic, no fluff, simple-to-follow approach, you can begin to restore balance, proper gut function, and open up your detoxification system which allows for long lasting weight loss.

The 4-Week Gut Revival Holiday Edition is not specific to any single condition but rather - it supports the pillars of gut health.

After completing this program, you may experience relief from symptoms, weight loss, and more balanced digestion.

With this program you get:

•  4 Weeks of Suggested Meals and a Shopping List
•  30-Day Gut Health Calendar
•  A Food Mood Diary
•  Educational Guide
•  Handout / Worksheets / Quiz
•  Recipes

PLUS: Holiday Survival Tips...

If you find yourself stuck in the holiday gut rut year over year, a little weight gain and an extra pair of stretchy pants in your Amazon cart, I encourage you to educate yourself on gut health.

Your gut bugs may be the one thing causing you to eat the stale Halloween candy or liking the social media ad for a sweatshirt which reads, “Thou Shall Not Try Me.” 

When there is an imbalance in your gut health (dysbiosis) it can cause an influx of toxins. These toxins can block hunger hormone receptors modifying your eating behaviors causing you to eat Aunt Mel’s fruit cake. The hunger hormones which regulate satiety are activated by binding to bacteria. So the feelings of hunger are coordinated with the diversity of your microbiota. (1)  

Symptoms from gut dysbiosis or toxic bacteria show up as “common” life nags.

Side effects of poor gut health include:

•  Fatigue
•  Weight gain
•  Gastrointestinal issues (IBS, IBD, Constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, etc.)
•  Food Intolerances and...

The holiday cocktail season can literally take the “Spirits” right out of you. If you’re not in the mood to be hungover and lay around feeling guilty about being unproductive, here's my must try Golden Milk Tonic.

This mocktail cocktail has amazing benefits for the immune system and it is loaded with antioxidants which keeps your face glowing with holiday cheer and lowers the risk of being infected and quarantined.

Plus it’s tasty!

Here’s the recipe straight from my upcoming Gut Revival Holiday Edition Program:

Golden Milk

Serves 2

This recipe has 2 simple steps: make the turmeric paste (which can be stored in your refrigerator for several days), then prepare the milk.

Turmeric Paste

½ cup water

¼ cup turmeric powder

To make the paste, add the water and turmeric to a small pot over medium heat.  Gently stir the water and turmeric into a paste of medium consistency. If the paste becomes too dry, add a little water. Cook the paste for about 7 to 10 minutes. It should be a sligh...

Three simple smart moves to avoid the Halloween bloat->

• Buy Halloween candy the day of at 50% off 
• Buy Halloween candy which makes you gag like Wax Lips or Good & Plenty (hint: parents don’t want their kids acting like Chucky from Child's Play anyway)
• Join my new program Gut Revival Holiday Edition

In a study funded by Yale University and the National Institutes of Health, it was found that high consumption of simple sugars could be affecting the composition of the gut microbiome. Sugar is also known to feed toxic gut bacteria and candida. When you create an environment of opportunistic bacteria you’re prone to symptoms associated with gut dysbiosis -> weight management issues, fatigue, digestive symptoms, headaches, skin issues, and more! 

Instead of stocking up on Halloween candy starting Oct. 1, try these Fall Superfood swaps so that you can avoid the Holiday weight gain.

Use Pumpkin in Cake Mixes

Pumpkin puree turns cake or cupcakes into just 2 ingredients. Pumpkin can r...

I often hear. “I buy healthy food, it just gets shoved in the back of the fridge and by the time I remember it's there, it’s time to throw it out.”

Sound like you?

That’s why I love batch cooking. When you learn to batch cook you’ll be able to buy a few ingredients and spread them across multiple meals with little waste. 

One of my favorite gut healthy ingredients in parsley. Parsley has evidence to help with digestive problems, including irritable bowel syndrome. (1) Curly parsley also stays fresh in the fridge for days!

Here’s one of my favorite side dish recipes which has 7+ variations.

Quinoa Tabouli

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Yield: serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• sea salt, optional
• sliced or chopped cucumber
• minced red onion
• chopped fresh scallion
• chopped fresh mint

Dressing:

• juice of several lemons
• Bragg's extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt

Directions:

1. Bring rinsed and drained quinoa to a boil with water and salt.
...

Gut health or detoxing doesn’t have to be hard, it can be as simple as 1 ingredient.

I first heard of mono eating from Fully Raw Kristina. She healed her hospital stricken body by consuming only fresh peaches for a week. Check her out here-> Top 3 Reasons to Eat 1 Fully Raw Mono-Meal a day.

Way back when our ancestors were running barefoot in search of food they didn’t have the convenience of making one of my #bigasssalads with 7 ingredients. Instead they ate from the ripest raspberry bush or the one animal they hunted. 

A mono meal is a snazzy way of saying, stuff yourself up on a meal that consists of ONE item. For example, cutting a watermelon in half, grabbing a spoon, and consuming it out of the core like it was a bowl. Eating four bananas or a big bowl of mashed sweet potatoes. 

The benefits of mono meals are to ease your digestive workload. If your gut is in overdrive from being over stressed by your lifestyle or is suffering from gut dysbiosis, you may need to give your gut...

Nutrition bars, energy bars, meal replacement bars...whatever your use, I usually have 1-3 bars shoved in my purse or corporate bag. On the go bars help curb my hunger pains when I’m running meeting to meeting or carting kids around like their personal Uber driver. 

The older my kids get, the more time they spend on the go themselves. My oldest spends 15 hours in the gym a week. At 12 years old, “little kiddie” snacks don’t do his body good. In order for him to perform optimally his body requires nutrient dense foods.  

On the go protein tends to be the hardest for our family to consume. For starters my son and I are lactose intolerant so that rules out a few decent options like yogurt, cottage cheese, or string cheese. Most protein bars also contain milk and are loaded with an abundance of unnecessary ingredients like hidden sugar, additives, chemicals, whey or soy. It’s also a challenge finding a protein bar my son will actually eat due to taste and texture. 

I went on a hunt and ...