My Cancer Came back.. or did it?

WHEW! it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a new blog post! More often I’m sharing snippets of my personal life on Instagram stories, or sharing some details in a newsletter, but this recent struggle REALLY knocked me out and for those of you interested in the details, I wanted to share what’s been going on the past week…

I went in for routine scan…

On July 29th, I went in for my regular CT scan. This was a routine, 2 year cancer screening to confirm that was still in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma. This scan was a little different in that it was full body, not just head and neck, so it required both IV contrast as well as oral contrast. (yuck!) I was thankful that they were both iodine based since I knew I react fine to that. (heads up if it’s iodine contrast it just tastes like water, woohoo!)

As you can see from the picture below, the results looked GREAT! I initially had 2 swollen lymph nodes, 1 of which was deemed “active” on diagnosis in 2019. After treatment, both still stuck around, but the right “active” one was no longer active. Each scan has been needed to confirm that it’s not growing.

Every single scan I have had in 2 years showed that it has not only remained stable, it has SHRUNK.

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The results looked great!

Based on these initial readings my right lymph was measuring 1.5cm x 1.2 cm which was significantly smaller than the previous measurements of 3.7cm x 1.4cm. GREAT NEWS!!!!

Unfortunately, we noticed a discrepancy. In the summary of findings the radiologist said that one part trunk while the other grew… but wait. This didn’t match the actual measurements!!! So we decided to wait on the doctor but hope we were reading this correctly and that there was nothing to worry about.

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I met with my oncologist August 6th. We sat down, and she seemed really happy with the results. The bloodwork that had come in looked good (we were waiting on some of it still) and the scan showed improvement. All is good!

But then we brought up the discrepancy…..she said she would confirm with radiology but she was sure it was just a typo.

And then things got scary...

First, I got a follow up call that the rest of the bloodwork came in and 2 markers were significantly out of range. So we scheduled a retest to confirm a week later.

Then on Tuesday Aug 10th, I got a voicemail from the oncology staff staying, “There WAS an error with your PET. The measurement read 15 (millimeters) but it was supposed to read 50 (millimeters)”.

Just to keep things all clear with the same measurements, this went from thinking it was 1.5cm to telling me it was 5.0 cm. This is a major difference and would mean that instead of shrinking, my tumor GREW and grew significantly.

The voicemail went on to say that I needed a follow up PET to know more. When I started listening I thought, “yes of course there was an error”, and then she continued and time slowed down. My jaw dropped. She’s saying the cancer is back….

I had to go in for a PET

The difference between a CT and a PET is that when you get a PET you get injected with radioactive sugar so that if the cancer is active it gobbles up the sugar and the radioactive materials bonded with the sugar light up on the PET. So a CT will show you lumps and bumps and the PET will tell you if it’s cancerous. I was essentially going into this assuming my tumor had grown, and what other reason could there possibly be except that the cancer was back?!

The problem, is that each scan submits you to radiation, and PETs more so because of the tracer that gets injected in your body. So these scans are not taken lightly, they are meant to be spaced apart, and there are only so many you are supposed to get in a year or a lifetime. As radiation is cumulative, it puts you at risk for secondary cancers…

I went to MyChart to take a look and realized that when my oncologist reached out to radiology, they did make an addendum. The frustrating part was that the addendum was made on Monday morning and the call I received was late Tuesday - leaving me no time to take action but lots of time to fret.

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The trauma response began to hit me hard

Tuesday night was filled with many tears as I realized my cancer may be back. It was extremely traumatic as I tried to come to terms with the fact that I had just been told the week before that I was actually 2 years FREE of cancer.

I couldn’t sleep. I managed to sleep for about 2 hours, and then lay away until about 5am at which point I was able to get about 2 more hours of sleep.

Thankfully the PET was scheduled quickly and I was booked for Friday (the 13th no less!). Wednesday and Thursday were filled with research, prayers, worry, friends, hugs, more research, terribly morbid thoughts about how I wanted to approach this and what if I was dying….the PTSD with a recurrence scare is REAL!

I had a wonderful friend, who happens to be a nurse at Kettering, meet me and go in with me to my appointment (since I wasn’t allowed to bring family). SO many people were praying during the 2 hours of the PET that even though I felt really emotional driving to the appointment, I felt calm and peaceful while there.

Some other wonderful friends met me after and we grabbed some food since I had to fast all day for the appointment!

I needed to PLAN

Saturday and Sunday were also filled with research, planning, crying, list making and facing the reality that if my tumor really grew, it most likely meant the cancer was back. So before I got the official news, I wanted to have some thoughts organized so we could take action right away.

Again, I was supported through thoughts, prayers, texts, messages, well wishes and more. I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and care.

The results were IN

The weekend came and went, filled with good things like my Dads birthday dinner and a church concert. Sunday night I noticed a message from MyChart. The PET results were in. My heart sank. I was in the car with Patrick and he almost started crying before we even opened it. We were convinced it would be bad news. PET reports are a little more difficult to read than CT (at leas I think so) but one really important marker you look for is the Deauville score. 1-2 is cancer free 5 is active cancer. I saw a 2 on this report. After the week we had had I was too nervous to celebrate before hearing it directly from my oncologist.

Monday morning I received the call from a nurse, “Kylene, the PET results are in and it shows ZERO cancer. You’re good to go! We will continue with our normal monitoring but there is nothing else you need to do”

It was a MIRACLE

I barely knew what to do with myself. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

Over the past week I struggled with my faith. I said not nice things to Jesus (my chiropractor told me “He can handle it”) and indeed He can. What many of you don’t know, and what I cannot fully share with you yet, is that the past 6 months have been trauma filled for me for other reasons. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes that has been extraordinarily difficult to process and work through and I have been in therapy since Feb because of it. So when all of this came up, I deeply felt that I could not handle both things at the same time and I was saying “WHY ME” to God. “Haven’t you given me ENOUGH already?!” for much of 2021 I have been wondering - WHY ME?????

But here is the truth. God WILL give you more than you feel you can handle. He will do that a LOT. And I don’t KNOW why He chose to gift me with all of these painful painful things in my life. But He did. And through the struggles I chose to trust Him regardless of the outcome. And I may NEVER know the purpose but I once again grew through this process. It brought things to the surface that I’m passionate about, that I want to accomplish, etc….

Ultimately, I believe that sometimes these things happen in order for God to get the glory in one way or another. When I shared a brief version of these events on FB the comment section gave me chills because of how many people I saw praising God and thanking Jesus for His love and the outcome.

Concerned about the process, I reached out to my doctor to clarify what happened… she did indeed look at both scans and saw what the radiologist saw.

Was this a miraculous remission?

Was it a fluke?

Was it an error?

All I know is that it’s a MIRACLE. And I’m THANKFUL to be cancer free for 2 years and going strong.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work

within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Prepping for surgery

Hey friends! Today I’m sharing how we navigate prepping for surgery (and detoxing after!)

Last year (2019), I had 3 surgeries. 1 fertility preservation “surgery” to remove 24 eggs from my ovaries (see my horrifying experience HERE), 1 to implant my port for chemo and 1 to remove it!

Anytime you are in a hospital setting your risk of infection increases due to chemical and antibiotic resistance strains of bacteria like C diff. Anytime your skin is broken in a hospital your chance of infection increases a little and if you have a weak immune system it raises yet again.

SO! I am all about being PREPARED and being PROACTIVE. Which means that as Patrick was preparing for umbilical hernia surgery, we set a few basic things in place to support his body through the process.

Pre-surgery

Vitamin D

Low levels of Vitamin D increase your risk of developing post op infection as well as leaving you more susceptible for many other diseases. Patrick recently had some bloodwork done and I encouraged him to get his vitamin D levels checked. I’m glad we did because they were way too low! Just below the conventional bracket, and significantly below what we would prefer for optimal health. Since then we have been supplementing with vitamin D to boost his levels.

Added bonus, Patrick struggled with keeping his blood pressure in a normal range and low vitamin D levels can contribute to that so we are killing two birds with one stone.

Probiotics

Taking probiotics before surgery can improve the outcome and reduce the inflammatory response. Probiotics can also improve your recovery and support your immune system. So obviously, I provided him with a good probiotic :)

Antibacterial

And finally, I recommended a low dose broad spectrum, botanical to support beneficial bacteria, immune response, and kill pathogenic bacteria. A catch all post surgery to keep any bugs he might catch from getting out of control.

Day of surgery

The day of surgery the biggest concern was pain. I am all for modern medicine when it comes to managing pain temporarily, but along with narcotics comes some major constipation as well. So the goal was to get off the pain killers as soon as possible (ended up only being about 24 hours) and get ahead of the poo problem as much as we could.

We used high doses of magnesium (I’m loving this brand), senokot (an herbal laxative) and dried prunes in combination to help in this area. It took about 24 hours, but even prescription laxatives can take 24 hours to kick in so this worked well.

Post surgery

I remember well the discomfort that came after my fertility preservation surgery. Even though the pain diminished within a few days, the general discomfort, feeling of bloat, and sensation of walking with a bunch of rocks wrapped around your lower belly was terrible. This seems to be very similar to how Patrick is describing his recovery.

He was able to move around by himself by Friday (surgery was Thursday) and the pain significantly diminished within 2 days, but the discomfort in his belly made it feel awkward. After about 24 hours on th prescription pain meds he was able to use ibuprofen or curcumin occassionally.

I had planned a trip to Columbus to visit Restore Hyper Wellness on Monday so we could give his body and extra healing boost.

We scheduled a 1 hour hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a vitamin IV.

Vitamin IV

The IV he got was a blend of vitamin C, glutathione, toradol, and proline.

Vitamin C and glutathione are major antioxidants that your body uses for cell repair, immune system health and liver detoxification. One of the ways I like to support the body after things like anesthesia is a mild detox with things like this.

Toradol is an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen, and delivered in the bloodstream it has a strong effect. He was actually given this in the hospital before we left, and we got another dose at restore.

Finally, we added some proline which is an amino acid that helps with immune system and wound healing!

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has long been used in hospitals for wound healing in more extreme circumstances. Thankfully, it is becoming more accessible for the individual who wants to be really engaged in their health. Hyperbaric oxygen is know well for supporting wound healing but it can also be supportive for neurological healing after brain damage, injury, or even parkinsons.

Results

Happily, Patrick left restore feeling noticeable better. It certainly gave him the extra healing boost we were hoping for. It’s a bummer we don’t live closer as doing some hyperbaric a few days in a row could have really sped things up, but even so, one treatment had him walking out of the building normally. He was less stiff, the brick he described feeling in his stomach was gone, and he was no longer walking slowly.

Ongoing considerations

Patrick is going great! 5 days post surgery he is back to work after a long weekend of rest and recovery. In a few months we may test his poop just to check in on things, but as far as we know all is well! He isn’t supposed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for 2 weeks and he’s already flirting with danger by picking up the cat haha.

I hope that this post was helpful and gave you some ideas to support you through any hospital stay or surgical experience you may have in the future!

References:

Probiotics and surgery:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5590023/

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198246/

• https://forteelements.com/wp-content/themes/x-forte-elements/assets/pdf/forte-pre-and-post-op-nutrition-white-paper.pdf

Vitamin D:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5356990/

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413543/

Hyperbaric Oxygen

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3058327/

How to be successful in all aspects of life

Hi there!!!

Whether you want to be successful in business, relationship or my speciality….HEALTH, there are some common themes that you must adhere to in order to grow. So here are my top tips on

How to be successful in all aspects of life

1) Get ready to be uncomfortable.

If you are someone who finds that you constantly resist things that make you uncomfortable, then you are probably also someone that doesn’t reach the goals you want to reach. Why? Because growth means discomfort. And often. a LOT of discomfort.

If you want to get better in business, you have to work on your communication skills. Maybe you’re an introvert and have to push through some major fears.

If you want to work on your health, you have to make changes that are terribly uncomfortable. You must stop bad habits, put mental and physical effort into thinking about and preparing the foods you make. You must invest financially to get testing, hire a coach, etc…. Health is NOT COMFORTABLE (at first).

2) Get over yourself.

In order to grow we must get over ourselves. We obviously don’t know everything or we would have accomplished it all already. Be willing to learn, ask for help, hire a specialist, or start new conversations. If we walk around like we know it all, well….pride comes before a fall. And no one likes to be friends with a know it all anyway. Collaborate, listen, learn, and constantly be growing. Seek out new opportunities and continue to challenge yourself.

3) Be full of integrity.

If you were late to meetings and left projects unfinished at work, you would get fired. Yet we are willing to do this to ourselves constantly.

If you want to have a better relationship, you must keep your commitments, be full of integrity, show up, and be trustyworthy.

If you want to accomplish your biggest health goals, you must have personal integrity. Show up for yourself, Follow through on the goals you set. Get accountability. Finish what you started.

Sometimes this simply means doing what you say you will do, or acting on what you SAY is a priority to you. (actions are definitely louder than words when it comes to our health).

Other times it means hiring a coach or specialist who can listen to you, challenge you, keep you accountable, and push you when it get tough to keep you on track. Often people outside of our situation can see the big picture, identify our weaknesses, and see what needs to be done more clearly than we can! But often this takes embracing step #2 in order to be successful :)

4) Be willing to invest

EVERYTHING worth anything takes investment. The statement “you get what you pay for” really is true. Being a health coach, I see how often people want to discount their own value.

They wouldn't blink to spend the same amount of money on a child, a pet, or a charity. But when it comes to investing in their own bodies, health and future, they get really uncomfortable really fast. And I get it. It’s definitely hard.

BUT every relationship takes work, every business coach that is worth their salt costs money, and any health coach that will be able to take you from point A to point B will be an investment as well.

When I started viewing these costs as INVESTMENTS even though it brought a lump to my throat because of the commitment, I knew it was worth it. It held my feet to the fire. If I felt uncomfortable, I was more likely to put in the effort to take the steps necessary to see the growth and results I needed. And boy did I GROW.

And I see this over and over with my clients. Over the years, those who didn’t want to invest, or invested just a tiny bit of money or time didn’t end up seeing the results they wanted.

But those who were immediate action takers, jumped in with both feet, trusted me, did the work and invested to a point that made them uncomfortable, saw the biggest results and the long term WINS.

Investments aren’t just about money - they are about the emotional value you place on something. A rock might be worth nothing at all - but a rock with a famous artist rendering on it can sell for thousands of dollars.

When you’re working on your health you must value 2 things exponentially. The person you hire, and yourself. When those things align. you will see incredible results!

Change is hard. It’s scary. There are never any guarantees. But if you are ready to get uncomfortable, get over yourself, keep your commitments and be willing to invest, I bet you’ll see some dramatic changes over the next year!!!

To your health,

XOXOX

Should you be worried about the coronavirus?

WHEW! this is a story that isn’t going away, and it’s creating worry in many….

So let me get straight to the point. Should you be worried about the coronavirus?

Short answer:

• YES if you are elderly, have a low immune system, get sick easily, or live in an area where there are lots of cases.

• Not so much if you live in the US, have a good immune system and take sensible precautions.

Let’s review some information:

Regular flu impact 2019 USA:

“CDC estimates that influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season”

-CDC.gov

Coronavirus impact 2020

• “Fourteen cases have been diagnosed in the United States, and an additional 39 cases have occurred among repatriated persons from high-risk settings, for a current total of 53 cases within the United States” -CDC.gov

• 6 deaths have been reported so far in the US

• 2.3% fatality rate (mostly in immune compromised individuals like the elderly)

Look at the comparison. We aren’t freaking out about the regular flu, so why are we freaking out about this version?

Often, we focus on ALL the negatives…instead of offering free, supportive information on how people AT HOME, by themselves can boost their immune systems and take steps to completely avoid these issues.

To put this into perspective:

• “On average, someone dies of CVD every 38 seconds. ... On average, someone dies of a stroke every 3.70 minutes” - Professional.heart.org

• “In 2019, an estimated 606,880 people will die of cancer in the United States” - Seer.cancer.gov

• “According to the CDC, 79,535 deaths occur each year due to diabetes. The number of fatalities related to diabetes may be underreported” - MedicalNewsToday.com

• MERS has a 35% death rate.

Every few months, the media latches on to something NEW that is an epidemic that will surely kill us all. We cannot live our lives in fear. What we CAN do, is make sure that our nutrition is on point, our immune systems are in tact, and that we practice good hygiene.

For sure, the rapid spread of this virus is something to be monitored and aware of.

Other Thoughts:

• Coronavirus can only spread through water droplets that get into your respiratory system through your mouth or nose. If you wash hands and don’t touch your face or get sneezed on, you should be ok.

• Poor nutrition can weaken your immune system or strengthen it. Start prioritizing what you EAT as part of your prevention plan.

• When traveling, wipe down airplane seats, wear a mask (like Vogmask.com) to keep from touching your face, and wash hands with soap and water frequently.

• Anytime your immune system is compromised, you’re in danger. The deaths you ARE seeing, even over in china, are primarily showing up in the sick or elderly. If you have a kickass immune system you can get it (just like any virus) and recover, or not even notice.

Things to boost your immune system:

• Plenty of Vitamin D (naturally from the sun if you can get it, high quality supplementation if you cannot.

• Vitamin C - liposomal supplementation, or vitamin IV (I would recommend looking into an IV if you have been sick recently or will be traveling). Here is a cool article on how China is using IV vitamin C to treat and prevent the virus. Thankfully, you have access to this in the states and can voluntarily take advantage of it!

• Supplemental antivirals and antioxidants like biocidin, elderberry syrup, liposomal vitamin C, liposomal glutathione and olive leaf extract.

Things to do to just be careful:

• IF you have a weak immune system, DON’T TRAVEL. Obviously. Be smart.

If you are healthy and choose to travel:

(countries are shutting down where it’s a BIG issue so that’s already taken care of…)

• Wipe down the surfaces of your airplane seat and table with alcohol based sanitizer.

• Carry an alcohol based hand sanitizer with you (you can make one yourself LIKE THIS with essential oils and alcohol)

• Wear a mask when traveling - mostly to keep your hands away from your face. Wash it before using again.

• Wash hands regularly with soap and water. If you bite your nails or lick your fingers, STOP now.

• Take your supplements!

• Consider using portable diffusers with specific essential oils to purify the air in your home or on a plane. For example, studies have shown tea tree and eucalyptus are antiviral and can kill the flu virus. Some oils are even studied for treating respiratory disease (the coronavirus is primarily showing up as a respiratory issue)

So to keep it SUPER short and to the point, don’t freak out!!!! YES there are contagions, YES there are deaths, YES there are diseases that we can all get.

But guess what? STRESS weakens your immune system.

Be smart, and take the media freak out with a grain of salt. In 3 months they will focus on something new that’s going to kill you.

Do some other research!

• www.drheatherpaulson.

• https://holisticurgentcare.com

Check out these additional articles:

• https://myersdetox.com/coronavirus-how-worried-should-we-be/

• https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/orthomolecular-journal-vitamin-c-coronavirus

OVERALL - BE SMART.

Obviously take precautions- be careful when traveling. WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP. Maybe as a positive result from all of this someone will stop biting their nails and washing their hands more

p.s. this article is in no way intended to usurp advice from your medical practitioner and is not intended as medical advice in any way. Speak with your doctor if you have concerns about your health.

Sources:

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02786826.2012.708948

• www.cdc.gov

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994788/

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ffj.3252
  
  

Kylene, what do you eat to stay healthy and fit?

Hi friends! I get a variation of this question a lot - whether it’s specifically in regards to MY eating, or women wanting to know what healthy eating means in general for THEM….

Maybe YOU have tried 20 different diets, you’re gaining weight, your’e tired, your’e frustrated and you simply can’t seem to move the needle. (Check out my recent post on the fad of “plant based” eating HERE.

I get it! Many of my clients begin this way as well and I’ll give the same answer I give to everyone. #YOUtrition. You can learn exactly what I mean in my podcast episode HERE or my previous blogpost HERE.

While I believe in a unique approach to each individual, here are the overarching guidelines that work for EVERYONE…

Healthy Eating Guidelines That work for Everyone

1) Avoid processed foods.

This includes anything with refined sugars, corn syrup, food coloring, or unnatural ingredients. You can simply ask - was it made by God, or made by a factory? If a factory, skip it. (I do still utilize packaged foods but I choose brands that use high quality ingredients. You can ask the question when reading the ingredient label - could I make this at home if I had the time or inclination? If so it may be an ok product. If it’s packed with words you don’t recognize - skip.)

2) Go gluten free 100%.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your life history is, or what symptoms you are experiencing, for my clients and myself, this is a non-negotiable. You can learn more about WHY in this Youtube video HERE .

3) Go organic.

Unless a certain type of produce is a “safe” crop known not to be sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, or it has a thick skin that you do not eat, go 100% organic. Pesticides are linked to liver toxicity (which can lead to a whole host of disease but can also show up in weight gain and fatigue), cancer, hormone disruption and more….

You may even be doing your best to eat a “heart healthy” diet by starting the day off with a granola bar or oat based cereal like cheerios….but last year the environmental working group found that ONE serving of these cereals (and who measures just one serving?) goes above the “safe” limit of glyphosate for children. And I would argue there IS not safe exposure.

Microscopic particles have been shown to kill beneficial gut flora. Pesticides kill things. It also kills things in your GUT.

4) Dig deeper and get testing.

This includes food sensitivity testing, gut testing and possibly more. Simply addressing these sources of inflammation and lead to unexpected and EASY weight loss.

I personally live a life where probably 80% of the food I eat is purchased by me and made in my home. The other 20% is conscientiously choosing when out to eat without compromising core values (like being gluten free etc….).

Exercise doesn’t have much to do with it

You may be surprised to learn that as a former personal trainer, exercise is not a component of the plans I create for my clients. Now to be clear, I always encourage movement, walking, and if the client is healthy enough, exercise,. But I never lay out a fitness plan and in most cases I’m actually asking them to calm it down a bit to allow for healing.

And guess what - these clients STILL lose weight.

I’ve had clients drop 10 pounds without effort simply by following their food sensitivity test report.

I’ve had other clients from 10 pounds simply by going gluten free. Before they even GET a test result.

I personally choose to lift HEAVY, but I ONLY work out twice a week. I’m seeing amazing results. So while it would be tempting to double this amount, I listen to my body and even on weeks where we have tried 3 sessions, it doesn’t seem to give my body enough recovery time and I simply don’t feel as strong. This way I have lots of recovery time and I can not only CRUSH it every time, but I can regularly increase my weights.

Dig Deeper

If you do some of the basics and feel like you have “tried everything” but still can’t see results, that’s where a coach like me can come in and help you dig deeper!

Food sensitivity testing is certainly one of the most popular tests I run. However, I choose to run my business in a way where I never offer one test alone because I want my clients to leave with RESULTS. So while yes, many can simply follow a food sensitivity test and see some benefit, OFTEN where there are food sensitivities, there are also other imbalances in the gut so I like to pair it wit ha comprehensive stool test.

This allows me to see how we can REALLY make progress by healing the gut, removing stressors (stressors can be parasites, bacteria, food sensitivities etc….) and adding in needs ( things like minerals or vitamins your body needs).

Think Liver

Where there is weight gain and/or weight loss resistance, there is probably some liver stress, or what you might think of as a sluggish liver. Our bodies are bombarded by stressors daily and our liver does a phenomenal job but it needs two things:

1) A whole host of nutrients to function optimally

2) A break from toxins or else it can get bogged down

So for example, if you are eating a food daily that your body is sensitive too, and wearing perfume that is full of chemicals, experience a lot of mental emotional stress, and have some hormone imbalances, then your liver has a high work load!

Everything we are exposed to must go through the liver to be broken down and made non-toxic. This requires an enormous amount of energy and nutrition. In fact, your liver STORES extra nutrients for a rainy day. But if we aren’t eating a healthy diet, and instead we eat a nutrient POOR and inflammatory diet, in addition to living in the modern world, then we are setting our liver up for failure. Literally.

Fatty liver is something that is difficult to diagnose unless you actually get some imaging done for another reason. Bloodwork alone doesn't necessarily tell you that a fatty liver is developing.

If you experience fatigue regularly, weight loss resistance, pain in your right side, digestive issues, etc… your liver may need some support!

Are YOU ready to invest in YOUR health??

Interested in learning if working together one on one is the right fit for YOU? You can schedule a free functional health assessment call at the link below. This call allows me to understand your goals, your vision for health, what you have tried and determine if I am the right fit to help achieve those goals! If not, no worries, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction by the end of the call!

Your at home UTI emergency guide

UTI’s are THE WORST. For a long time that was the one thing I would JUMP on an antibiotic for because they cause so much pain and discomfort! In fact, over the period of about a year to a year and a half, I had three. THREE!!!!! So I was VERY relieved when, after I became an FDN and started working on my gut health, I NEVER got them again….

That is, until January 3. Happy new year to me. You’ve beaten cancer, now let’s fight a UTI.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to diagnoses treat, prevent or cure a disease. The author is not al licensed medical provider and should not be viewed as such. The advice listed on this website should not be taken for medical advice or in place of your doctors recommendations.

What IS a UTI?

A UTI is a bacterial infection. It can be located anywhere in your urinary tract system and all the way up the kidneys if it’s particularly bad. Usually if you are catching it quickly, you find it mostly in the urethra and bladder.

The most common bacteria that causes UTI’s is E coli (about 90% of cases) but could also be klebsiella or other opportunistic bacteria. This does make a difference in the approach.

Why do you get UTI’s?

Contributors may be:

• Dehydration - not drinking enough water to flush the bacteria through your kidney and bladder fast enough.

• Low beneficial bacteria or yeast. When we have a healthy balance, the good guys keep the bad guys in check.

• Over-use of antibiotics (see above reason)

• Poor hygiene

• Suppressed immune system

• Too much sugar

If you’re like me, you may find certain patterns or perhaps identify changes you made recently that can set you up for the imbalance. In this particular instance there were several changes that I think compiled….I recently switched probiotics, I dropped a supplement that fights gut pathogens extremely well, I allowed myself to get dehydrated, AND I ignored the initial warning signs.

I felt the UTI coming on, but ignored it since I hadn’t had one in so long. I should probably take things more seriously after chemo!!

Since I had SO many drugs pumped into my system in 2019, AND I had some MAJOR antibiotics thrown in on top of that due to an infection during round two, my gut bugs may not be totally restored….

What can you do about it?

You have several options. You can go conventional, non-traditional, or a blend of the two.

Conventional:

Actions: Go to the urgent care, or get an appointment with your regular doc asap.

Approach: Kill the bacteria (remembering that antibiotics don’t discriminate and will kill the good bacteria as well).

They will take a urine sample, send it off for a culture, and in the meantime provide you with an antibiotic and pain killer. In my previous experience, one of the reasons I would jump to this is because the antibiotics works very quickly for me an otherwise I would be stuck on the toilet because of the burning an discomfort.

Often, UTI’s recur leading to multiple antibiotic doses in a short time, or a long term low dose antibiotic. This may lead to other imbalances such as yeast infection, gastrointestinal symptoms, c diff and more…

Non-Traditional:

Actions: Hit a Whole Foods, health foods store, or your at home medicine cabinet.

Approach: Flush our the bacteria, hydrate, kill biofilms, increase beneficial bacteria, support immune system.

I am a believer in giving alternative therapies a strong effort when possible. Just like getting sick as a child helps the child build their immune system and create a resilience and resistance to disease, the same happens in adulthood.

Chemo is not only a major stressor on the body (obviously) but it can also create some antibiotic resistance. Hello - your body BEEFS up after getting exposed to dangerous things! So I really want to save my sensitivity for any future emergencies that may happen. In those instances I really want the antibiotics to WORK!

When you google at home UTI remedies you’ll find all sorts of recommendations like chew garlic and drink straight cranberry juice. While many suggestions are helpful and accurate, they may work for some and not others, or you may be in so much pain you don’t feel like they can be of any use whatsoever! I get it….you’ve got to weed through and find what work for you.

HOWEVER. Many natural remedies are REALLY effective. And I often believe that if you go natural, it’s best to do a combination approach or choose products that combine several ingredients so that you have the best chance of responding well.

Natural remedies and the reasoning behind them:

D-Mannose: Binds to e.coli and keeps it from adhering to the bladder wall. This helps flush it out! Works fairly quickly and if this is an e.coli UTI (90% of them are) this should work fairly effectively. Check out UT. Vibrance for a blended powder with other supportive herbs.

Uva Ursi: Several chemical compounds in this pant are shown to fight infection - best at the beginning of an infection and cannot be taken at high doses or for long periods of time. A study demonstrated it to be helpful in preventing recurring UTI’s when combined with dandelion. UT Vibrance includes D Mannose, Uva Ursi and dandelion together!

Cranberry: Controversial at best many studies think it’s better as a preventative than a treatment. The tannins are thought to be responsible for helping you fight a UTI. Capsules have a stronger concentration than juice does, so you have to drink more juice. However, you get the added benefit of hydration when choosing the juice option. If using cranberry, I would not recommend it as the only approach. Choose 100% organic and unsweetened cranberry juice and mix with pure water to dilute. *it may cause diarrhea in some.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C can make your urine acidic limiting the growth of some bacteria. It has also been suggested that Vitamin C is bacteriostatic (stops the bacteria from proliferating). If nothing else, it supports your immune system. Avoid the gastrointestinal upset with high doses of Vitamin C by choosing a liposomal version.

Biocidin: This is by far my favorite, and had I not been trying to give my body a break from this supplement it would have been my go to. This is an herbal blend which acts as an antibacterial, antibiotic, antiviral. Yes, it’s basically magic in a bottle. It kills bad bugs while sparing the good guys. It also busts biofilms. This supplement is particularly great because it would target E coli AND other bacteria covering your bases if you fall in that 10% of different bacterial infections. An acute dose would be 10 drops on the tongue, 3x/day for 10 days.

*I do feel the need to make a special note, and that is….be smart! If you feel that your infection is not improving and/or you feel pain in the your back like it’s spreading to the kidneys, go to the doctor immediately!!!! Or go to the doctor FIRST and get antibiotics as a back up so you don’t have to wait if your home remedies aren’t strong enough!

What I did:

I often take a very moderate, middle of the ground approach. I avoid medicine when I can, but appreciate it and accept it when necessary.

So I got an appointment with my doctor right away and got my backup prescriptions. Plus it was a Friday so better to be prepared over the weekend. The problem was that this pain began at 6am, and I couldn't get in until 11:55!! They would not send a prescription order to the pharmacy (new regulations I think) and I cried when I got off the phone because I had been experiencing SO much discomfort through the morning!!!

I got to work doing as much WOO as I could get my hands on in the house.

1. I took CYSTEX. Now, this is cheating a little bit because it’s technically an OTC medication for UTIs. It includes a pain killer an an antibacterial. I always recommend that if someone wants to go the natural route but is in a lot of discomfort or pain to try a few doses of this while everything else “kicks in”.

2. Dosed up on liposomal Vitamin C and biocidin. Often, a few pain killing doses of CYSTEX and a 10day round of biocidin will completely knock a UTI out. I’ve recommended that to people and they have seen great results. I’ve been almost DEPENDENT on that supplement for 3 years (every time I try to get off of it I get some kinda sick….case in point). So while I have that as a backup, I actually wanted to personally find another alternative. I was also already taking some liposomal Vitamin C, so I just kicked it up a notch.

3. Drank a TON of water with 100% cranberry juice. Yes, it is incredibly tart, but it really does seem to be useful. (In addition to helping you stay hydrated)

4. UT Vibrance. Like I said, normally I would just stick with my trusty biocidin but I wanted to try something different. So I ran to Whole Foods to get D-Mannose which tons of women swear by. Thankfully, I came across this product called UT Vibrance which includes D-Mannose, Uva Ursi, dandelion, and more…. It’s a powder that you mix in liquid 4x/day. Once I took that, my symptoms subsided an other than keeping up on my vitamin C and my cranberry hydration, I didn’t need anything else! The UT vibrance seemed to kick in very quickly and by the time I got to the doctor I was comfortable.

5. Probiotics. I had recently switched from my favorite long term probiotic Megaspore which is a spore based probiotic. But I knew that with some things going on in my gut recently that I needed another probiotic with a different blend. So I switched to Klaire labs ABX which is beneficial for balancing you out after a round of antibiotics. When the UTI started, I brought megaspore back in and did 1 tablet of each in the morning and another in the evening for a total of 4 tabs/day.

If I had to narrow it down to the bare necessities, it seemed that the combination of probiotic therapy + UT vibrance was the most effective for me. I only took the biocidin the morning it started and as able to drop it after that.

Conventional vs. Non-traditional/out of the box/alternative/holistic/whatever-you-want-to-call-them treatments.

As you can see, there is a time and place for both. I often fall somewhere in the middle, exhausting natural options before hitting medication if I need to.

The pros to medication are that it works fast and when it comes to pain killers you can get a stronger dose. The cons however are that the antibiotic might not work for your body or for that particular infection which means you may have to go through 2 or even 3 antibiotics before seeing the results you want. This can be devastating for your gut health in the long run. Even if an antibiotic does work, you can become resistant to it, and it kills the good bugs with the bad bugs….so depending on the balance that is left one it’s done, the stress you are under, how well you eat, what kind of water you drink etc….the opportunity arises for pathogenic bacteria to have a greater opportunity to overgrow taking you back to square one… One round of antibiotics can devastate some people and lead to more frustrating symptoms and long term side effects.

The pros to natural methods are:

• There are typically no negative side effects (except occasionally things like bloating or diarrhea when taking high doses)*

• You can mix and match until you figure out what works

• They normally SUPPORT your body instead of FORCING the body to do something

• They don’t damage beneficial gut bugs

The CONS however are that sometimes they are weaker, take longer to take effect, or in some cases might not be effective at all. This is why I usually take a blended approach when it comes to natural remedies instead of choosing one herb or ingredient.

*Any time you go in and shake up your microbiome things like diarrhea and bloating may occur. While slightly annoying, its not necessarily a bad thing. Diarrhea is your body getting things OUT, and as bad bugs die and the balance shifts, bloating may occur. I had both when I was at the highest dose of UT vibrance (20g of d mannose in a day). It was a small price to pay to kick the UTI and I lowered the dose as the days went on, regulating my poop and getting rid of the bloat!

What now?

I always recommend making a doctors appointment to confirm. Simply having a diagnosis can point you in the right direction. It can also provide you with emergency back ups if you DO need to use those prescriptions. If you have had UTI’s many times and are looking to support your body’s natural defenses and kick it for good, the natural approach may be more beneficial. If you are prone to UTI’s then stocking up on some of recommendations above may be helpful so you can tackle it as soon as you feel it coming on.

Always listen to your body, be smart about it, and don’t be afraid to use a combination therapy when needed! For example: should you need or choose to use the antibiotic approach, including a probiotic therapy at the same time can help mitigate the negative and long term effects. Work with a practitioner to make the best recommendations for you!

Interested in working together? My 1:1 clients get full access to me throughout our time together so if anything like this comes up, you can reach out and get support immediately!

If you are struggling with more chronic conditions like:

• Recurring UTI’s

• Recurring sinus infections

• Diarrhea/constipation

• Bloating

• Acid Reflux

• Mood swings

• PMS

• Fatigue

Then let’s talk! I work with my 1:1 clients very closely to make the best recommendations in testing and personalized protocols for their unique situation and needs. If you are serious about investing in your health and taking dramatic steps to feel your BEST, then click the link below to sign up for a free functional health assessment call where I can find out more ab out you and y our goals and struggles, share my process, and find out if working together is the right fit!

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Sources:

http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productid=107&pid=33&gid=000278

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370320/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/urinary-tract-infections

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3784967/

4 Supplements to Help Your Immune System

School has begun!

Which means fall is here and so are all.the.viruses. Whether you want to boost your own immunity, recover from a cold, or just learn for the future, below are my top supplements for supporting your immune system this fall! You may be surprised that things like echinacea and zinc don’t make the list, but those are wonderful as well - zinc is in most over the counter cold remedies and echinacea seems to be popping up in everything as well so I’m assuming you already know about them :)

Bovine Colostrum

Colostrum is amazing! You may recognize the word as the substance that mothers produce in breast milk right after giving birth. This is why breast feeding is so helpful for babies within the first few weeks because colostrum helps build their immune system providing immunoglobulins and antibodies that they need! Mother cows do this as well, and our bodies respond very well to the bovine colostrum as it is very similar to human colostrum. It assists in healing the gut, calming inflammation and supporting your immune system, just like when you were a baby!

Don’t worry, if you are dairy sensitive you can still use colostrum, most people don’t have any issues with this.

Always look for a grass-fed source.

Vitamin C

Yes, sometimes the oldies are still goodies. However, I bet you don’t know that you can megadose vitamin C to give your immune system a big boost and get faster results! Megadosing is where you take 500-1000mg of Vitamin C every 30 minutes to an hour until you hit bowel tolerance (you get vitamin C diarrhea). There is no harm in this and it won’t hurt you, although some people do experience some bloating and tummy rumbles before this happens so if you feel uncomfortable just lessen the dose or stop. Vitamin C works as an antioxidant and boosts your immune system. Megadosing would be helpful in situations like colds, sinus infections, etc….

Make sure you don’t do this with chewables or any form of vitamin C supplementation that provides sugar. Otherwise you’ll be overdosing on sugar too!

Vitamin D3

Vitamin D is incredibly important for your immune system! In fact, many people who develop chronic diseases have really low levels of Vitamin D and over 40% of Americans are deficient! While everyone is telling you to lather up with sunscreen, you’re unconsciously avoiding one of the most beneficial health exposures you can get by being outside in the sun. Vitamin D3 is best gotten from direct sunlight. Yes - you heard me - avoid wearing sunscreen and soak up that D! Did you know that your body can produce up to 80,000 IU of vitamin D in 20 minutes of sun exposure? But guess what else - there are safety mechanisms built into your biology (God’s pretty smart) that shut down vitamin D production when you’ve had enough! So don’t go getting a sunburn by any means. Be responsible in the sun and cover up, get in the shade or go back inside. But GET direct sunlight on your skin every single day. Your body absorbs and utilizes vitamin D MOST effectively this way.

Here are some fascinating podcasts on the topic of sun exposure and it’s health benefits. I literally never wear sunscreen unless I’ll be out in direct sunlight in the middle of the day for multiple hours. Otherwise, I do my bet to get as much sun exposure as I can throughout the year!

When supplementing, you CAN overdose, so I would recommend working with a professional or getting your blood checked to monitor your levels if this is a concern for you.

Dr. Mercola interviews Marc Sorenson ( May 5, 2019 episode)

Is sunscreen ok to use? - Wise Traditions episode #193

Chaga

Mushrooms are a fungus and would usually be viewed as a food, but now that they are gaining popularity in everything from tumor fighting properties to immune system regulation and brain focus they come in powders that you can take in supplemental or powder form (mix in a smoothie etc…) Chaga is one famous medicinal mushroom know specifically for supporting the immune system.

I personally love to use Foursigmatic as my mushroom provider because they are very careful about quality, they use a dual extract process so the product has the most benefits, AND they provide you withmany delicious ways to get the mushrooms into your day like my favorite lions mane and chaga coffee, hot chocolates, teas, or superfoods blends. Use code TINYFITDIVA for 10% off if you choose to try it!

I hope this has has given you some new inspiration for the fall season! What immune boosting supplements are your favorite?

p.s. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Toxin Free Skin Care and...why I care about it!

Hey hey Diva friends!!!

Over the past 7 years my health has been a series of small steps in the right direction slowly adding up over time. My first big change was my diet….after that I eventually gave up wall plug ins and most of my plastic containers. I slowly began switching my soaps and household items to become a more toxin free environment….

When I got diagnosed with Hodgkins and began reading up on it I realized that it’s particularly effected by environmental toxins (but to be honest….aren’t all cancers?? HELLO immune disruption!!)

So now more than ever it’s important to me that I make as many positive choices regarding my surroundings as possible. The way I see it, we have ultimate control over 3 things:

• What comes into our homes

• What goes into our mouths

• What goes on on our bodies

Skin care falls within that third category and I thought today I would share with you what brand I’m loving! Skin care and makeup were frontiers I held out on for awhile because let’s face it….it’s TOUGH to find a product that claims to be toxin free that 1) actually IS, and 2) still performs at a high level!!!

Why should we care about toxins and chemicals? Doesn’t the FDA keep us safe?

1. We care because what goes onto your skin gets into your blood stream within less than a minute. (Think nicotine patches, essential oils, and birth control patches as examples of how potent substances can get inside our bodies this way)…

2. No the FDA does not keep us safe. Now just to clarifiy, I firmly believe the answer to this is education and personal responsibility, not more government involvement. But to explain the problem, there are only a few chemicals deemed toxic enough by the FDA that companies are not allowed to put them into skincare products… but there are many many more that are allowed to be included that have been shown to disrupt hormones, stress the liver and act as carcingens! This is why I love third party advocates like the environmental working group to help me stay safe, and why I think its more critical than ever to be an informed consumer!

3. It’s all about toxic load. No-one can ever be perfect. If you want to live your life on the grid so to speak, it will be very difficult to eliminate every toxin ever. And that’s ok. Because our skin, liver, kidneys and lymph systems are designed to process, break down and flush toxins out!!! But it’s all about toxic load. When we live in a world surrounded by smokers, prescription pills, antibiotics, glyphosate sprayed crops, fluoride and chlorine in our water supply, hormone disrupters in our perfumes, wall plug ins and well….you get the pictureControl what we can, so that our body can do its job.

So where I suggest we put our time (besides awareness and education) is in our food supply and what items we choose to bring in our homes or put on our body (skin!)

So I’m really excited to share some of my favorite products with you!!! After using these for at least a year, I can securely tell you that I LOVE Beautycounter skincare. Specifically, I love the countermatch face milk and moisturizer!

Why do I love this particular skincare? Glad you asked!

1) Truly toxin free.

Many products on the shelf have flashy marketing, catchy words like “all natural” and pretty green and white packaging to make you think that they are really toxin free, organic, and safe for you. And I’m not going to lie, I do’t have time to look up every scientific word on the back of a bottle to see if it’s actually from a natural source or if it’s man made. It gets confusing!! So I trust EWG.org to help me check the products that I use and their safety levels. Ideally you want everything to be a 1 (least toxic) but realistically, most things between 1-3 should be ok for regular use!

The Beautycounter Countermach face milk and moisturizer both come in with a stellar rating of 1!!

2) This particular face wash and lotion is very gently and adaptive for most skin types whether you have dry skin or oily. You can read more about that here. It gently removes makeup and leaves your face feeling fresh and soft! The moisturizer smells of almond extract which I absolutely love.

Two other additions I can’t live without:

Beautycounter eye makeup remover: All I have to say is: have you tried Mary Kay eye makeup remover?? I know - it’s UH MAYZING. And I never thought I could get away from it (having tried the less that awesome over the counter brands)…until Beautycounter!

Cleansing face wipes: If you travel these are a MUST!!! I’ve tried to take the eye makeup remover with me and no matter high highly I screw the cap on, it leaks in my suitcase leaving a hard to clean up oil residue (just ask my hubby!). These cleansing cloths not only travel well, but you can really cut them into quarters if you’d like because they are so big!

And there you have it’ my daily, basic, skincare routine

Countermatch cleansing milk

Countermatch adaptive moisturizer

and either: Beautycounter eye makeup remover or Cleansing wipes

You really don’t need much more than that ( in skincare) when you’re drinking lots of water, eating healthy fats, getting sunshine and living a healthy life! Have you tried countermatch? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

p.s. no company gets everything right 100% of the time, but Beautycounter is on a mission to make their products as safe as possible. I always recommend double checking each product individually to make sure you feel comofrotable using it!

p.p.s. The links in this post are direct links to purchase through me! I use the products so much and believe in their mission, so I signed up myself! I hope you enjoy the products as much as I do.

Are vitamin IVs right for you?

Hey Hey Diva friends!

WOW what a whirlwind this past month has been. My blogging has taken a serious hit with everything else going on - if you want to make sure you don't miss anything ( blogs, youtube videos, podcast episodes and more) make sure you're subscribed to my newsletter! I roundup everything I've been working on weekly and share it with my VIPS (pssst! thats you!) :)

I just got back from the 2018 Mindshare Summit in San Diego and I am STILL running running all day every day trying to keep up with everything I learned, the changes I'm making, connecting with new friends etc.... stay tuned... some SUPER exciting things are coming down the pike- I have a feeling 2019 is going to be AMAZING!

I'm also only a few days out from heading BACK to San Diego for the 10 year anniversary FDN conference. I'm particularly excited to meet all my fellow FDNs in an environment of networking, business education and further health education. I can't wait to learn more and more!

Because I knew that this month would be so busy (hello jet lag!) I wanted to give myself a boost and try some IV nutritional therapy (or vitamin IVs). I've been aware of them for a few years and didn't think much of it outside of extreme health cases or cancer treatment.

Like many things however, vitamin IV therapy can be used in many ways for many reasons and, because I always like to try things (within reason) before recommending them to my clients I began to search out local places to get them done.

I thought this month would be perfect to help boost my energy in between business trips. I figured the additional side effects of boosting my immune system and increasing my vitamin levels would be a bonus, but it turns out the timing couldn't have been better.

Just before my first IV, I received my Spectracell micronutrient testing results back and they showed a few vitamin deficiencies including a few B vitamins and Vitamin C. 

There are many reasons for deficiencies like this, but since I'm still in the process of working on my own gut health and I just wrapped up a protocol to eliminate 3 (yes THREE) parasites, 2 of which were intracellular (meaning they wreak havoc on my cell structure) and a suppressed immune system, it made sense to me that the vitamins I am absorbing from my food  - particularly vitamin C and B vitamins used for metabolism, energy production and immune system regulation would be depleted.....

SO back to the IV therapy! The timing was perfect. I received my test results only a few days before going into my first appointment. The particular clinic I went to is run by a doctor and so the initial patient visit was able to be submitted to insurance as my annual physical ( two birds!) but the IV treatments were/will be all out of pocket.

Once I got my physical, I showed the doc my tests results and began discussing the IV therapies. Luckily for me, this doc (one of only 2 I found in the area) is pretty flexible and actually asked if I'd like the IV that day. Knowing that I was traveling soon I said heck yes! And can I schedule another one for the 10 days I'm home in between trips?! :)

Depending on who you go to, you may be able to get personalized vitamin therapy - they mix the IVs before each one so you can actually change the dosage and types of vitamins in each bag. Most of the time they will offer certain popular combinations like the Meyers Cocktail, Vitamin C, or a Glutathione boost.

For me and my test results, a Meyers Cocktail addressed almost everything I needed anyway so instead of asking them to personalize it I just asked for a Meyers IV.

Meyer Cocktail

• B complex
• B12
• Vit C
• Magnesium

My experience:

The first IV was no problem! I hate needles and always get a little uncomfortable but other than a slight ache in my forearm it was no big deal. I had been curious how I'd feel since my only IV experiences have been in emergency situations where they pump you full of pain medications and by that point you really don't care about anything because you're so loopy!

The first IV was fairly slow - it took about an hour - once the nurse noticed it was going so slow she sped it up and it seems to go much faster.

Don't expect to come out of the office feeling way different- it's not something that takes effect immediately. Rather, you will probably notice results over the next few days to a week! 

The next week I was having a great time in San Diego hob nobbing with some of the coolest people in the health industry and functional medicine fields. Being on west coast time and staying up late was EXHAUSTING and so I was super excited when I noticed one of the vendors was offering IV's right there at Mindshare! So of course, I signed up to get a boost.

Initially, I was going to get a full bag but I was running short on time so I opted for a smaller bag with just the B vitamins. This IV was super fast super easy, and super helpful midweek.

I had already scheduled a full Meyers cocktail for a few days after I got home and I figured it couldn't hurt to help me get back on track and minimize jet lag so I could be as productive as possible the 10 days in between trips. This IV didn't go off without a hitch but it wasn't too much of an issue- the nurse wasn't quite ready with everything and before she hooked up the IV I gushed blood but nothing painful or traumatic ha! 

Overall I noticed that my energy and digestion both improved over the past few weeks. This was probably particularly effective for me since like I said I was actually deficient in a few of these vitamins to begin with, but most people who struggle with digestive issues, autoimmune conditions or chronic fatigue would most likely be in a similar boat and experience similar results!

Let's talk about the pros and cons:

Cons:

• Must pay out of pocket (approximately $130-180 per treatment)
• Take 1-2 hours of your day including drive time depending on location the office and duration of IV
• Difficult if you are squeamish around needles or blood
• Not many people offer these services so shopping around is difficult and you may not LOVE your provider if you have limited options in your area

Pros:

• Bypasses your digestion (super helpful for those working on gut health -this can be a HUGE boost in terms of speeding up your healing process and helping you navigate lifestyle changes by increasing your energy levels)
• Fast results! IV's get straight into your blood stream expediting your body's ability to absorb and utilize the vitamins immediately
• Optional treatment which means YOU are in control - you can request to get this done as often as you feel is helpful
• Can potentially be personalized - unique IV mix for YOUR nutritional needs
• Can help those with fatigue, pain, malnutrition, digestion problems, those who travel regularly or have vitamin deficiencies get a leg up and begin healing more quickly.

Takeaway

Overall, I found the experience to be incredibly helpful. I realize that this is a significant investment for most, but think about this...If you are someone struggling with fatigue to the point where you are missing work.....you are so tired you can't get out of bed to get your kids on the bus....your gut is damaged to the point where you aren't absorbing the nutrients from the awesome food you are eating....or you are spending hundreds of dollars on supplements that you can't properly utilize.....spending a few hundred bucks to get your body on track is SO WORTH IT. 

Many don't realize that a something as simple as a vitamin deficiency can cause anxiety, inflammation, fatigue etc!!!!

After investing in the IVs you can maintain this level of energy and health through lifestyle, nutrition and targeted supplementation to keep you on track ( which is what I'm doing!). I'm currently supplementing with my deficient nutrients and will continue to do so for a few months before retesting to see if I'm back to normal.

Remember, supplements and protocols aren't for life. It's difficult to get what we need from our food particularly if you are really active, use a lot of energy during the day, live a stressful life, travel a lot, or struggle with chronic illness!!! 

I would highly recommend giving it a try and researching good providers in your local area.

What are your thoughts? Have you, or

would you try nutritional IV therapy??

What does working out do for you except make you stronger?

Hey Hey Diva friends!!! 

I love bringing information YOU WANT so thank you to everyone who has recently taken the survey I posted. IF you haven't yet, you can click the link below....it gives me feedback so I can bring you the best content! It also allows for you to ask me a questions and today I'm going to answer one that I received...

What does working out do for you

except make you stronger?

Great question! Do we really NEED to workout? What if we don't want to get "bulky" or have bigger muscles? Is there really a need?!

Well yes....and no....By now, I think you know my first answer is always that it depends on your body. In special circumstances (like when you're in the exhaustive phases of HPA axis dysregulation, or, adrenal fatigue) working out can act as a negative stressor to your body and should be avoided. Gentle and healing movements like walking, jumping on a trampoline and light yoga should then be the focus....

But for everyone else that is healthy and in a position to work out, what are the benefits? First of all, I'm going to answer this in the context of strength training (using weights) because I think anyone that is healthy enough to do so, SHOULD! Secondly, when I talk about strength training it applies to anyone lifting any sort of weight whether you use heavy weights with low repetition or light weights with lots of repetition....your body, your goals!

I always like to take the future view. Sure working out helps you look better NOW, but what does it do for your future? Well, it helps your bones, your heart, your muscles, and helps you avoid disease for starters!

Strength Training Helps Your Bones

While nutrition plays a huge roll in bone health (hello soda SUCKING the caffeine and minerals right outta your bones!) so does lifting weights.

In an article titled "The effects of progressive resistance training on bone density", it was shown that: "Physical activity, particularly weight-bearing exercise, is thought to provide the mechanical stimuli or "loading" important for the maintenance and improvement of bone health, whereas physical inactivity has been implicated in bone loss and its associated health costs."

Whether it be soup cans, or 30lb dumbbells it's important to lift things on a regular basis to not only maintain, but improve your bone health!!!! Wanna avoid breaking that hip when you're older? Lift some weights my friend!

Strength Training Helps Your Heart

We all know that cardio helps our....cardiovascular system DUH! But did you know that strength training, also known as cross training, helps your heart, circulation, and lymph systems too? Getting in some strength training ( even if it's only 20-30 minutes 3x a week) can still get your heart rate up at the same time that you are improving your strength. This works double time at improving your endurance!

This is why it's so important for anyone wanting to run a marathon (or just a 5k like me) to diversify their training routines and include some strength training as well. It helps balance your muscles, and improves your overall results! I'm partial to strength training because it improves my ability to run a 5k without me having to run all the time to prepare for it! The stronger I have gotten in the gym, the easier it is for me to pop out and run a 5k without "practicing".....

Strength Training Helps Your Muscles

Well, OBVIOUSLY.....but why is this important? Because the more muscle mass you have when you are younger = less muscle loss as you age. Again, if you want to get in and out of that recliner when you're 90 without it being a mechanic assist, you need more muscle mass in your younger years and you need to maintain movement and activity throughout your life. 

We have all seen 90 year olds that look 65 and 45 year olds that look 90. Only a teeny tiny percent of that is genetics. The rest is based on how you eat, how you think, and how you live your life! Move now, so you can move later.

Hello, World!

Strength Training Helps Avoid Chronic Disease

Mayo Clinic shares some benefits of strength training in managing or preventing chronic disease:

• Heart disease. Regular exercise can help improve your heart health. Recent studies have shown that interval training is often tolerated well in people with heart disease, and it can produce significant benefits.
• Diabetes. Regular exercise can help insulin more effectively lower your blood sugar level. Physical activity also can help you control your weight and boost your energy.
• Asthma. Often, exercise can help control the frequency and severity of asthma attacks.
• Back pain. Regular low-impact aerobic activities can increase strength and endurance in your back and improve muscle function. Abdominal and back muscle exercises (core-strengthening exercises) may help reduce symptoms by strengthening the muscles around your spine.
• Arthritis. Exercise can reduce pain, help maintain muscle strength in affected joints and reduce joint stiffness.

Again, nutrition plays a huge part in this .... but nutrition and movement both play equal parts because they help you feel motivated to do the other. If you just worked out, you're not gonna wanna eat that piece of cake....and if you are fueling your body with healthy fats, veggies, and real food then you will have more energy to go out and get some exercise in!

Remember, everyone is different and you don't have to be a bodybuilder to see these results! Keep your joints, muscles, heart, and bones healthy be taking walks every single day - 10,000 tips is a basic goal that everyone can commit to! Get some strength training in 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes. Your age, fitness level and goals determine how intense those sessions may or may not be. When it comes to health (not vanity) even the lightest weights can be beneficial.

What benefits have you noticed from working out?

Share below!!!

 

 

Are you an under eater?

Hey Hey Diva friends!!

I touched on this last week when I answered the questions, "Where the heck do I start?" but I wanted to dig a little deeper into this concept of under eating because it's a pretty common habit actually!

I'm going to give you some personal examples. I pick on my family because I love them and as a health coach I bug them all the time about this stuff. My Dad is a chronic under eater. He was a professional athlete in college, in amazing shape, and still is. He also began his own business, raised a family of 3 daughters and subsequently has dealt with a tremendous amount of stress in his life! He clings to his health by working out hard, but I constantly see that in order to sustain the burden of stress (mental and physical) that he endures, he needs to eat probably 2x the amount of calories he is currently taking in. As with many people, the fear is there of weight gain.

Quickly I'll give you another example (surprisingly these are both MALE examples but typically this is a common factor in FEMALES)...my husband. Now my husband doesn't do this on purpose. In fact, since I estimated his calories a few weeks ago he was shocked and has become intentional about packing MORE food for work. The problem for him is that he gets busy. He eats a great breakfast, he heads to work, he eats whatever he has packed, and then he eats whatever I make for dinner. This is probably ok if he isn't running several times a week and lifting heavy several times a week. But in THOSE cases, he needs to be more intentional about fueling his body and could stand to almost double his caloric intake.

So let's talk about the fear of weight gain. Because I totally understand that! Here's the super GOOD and also super obnoxious thing about our metabolisms. They adjust. So if you eat less, your metabolism slows down. You eat more, your metabolism speeds up. This is an interesting phenomenon that is certainly a mental game at first because when you begin to experiment with this you MIGHT GAIN WEIGHT. Typically, that is short lived and your body will find a new balance eating MORE calories than before. You WANT to be on the highest end of this as you possibly can be. Essentially, you want to get as many calories (aka NUTRIENTS) in your body each as possible to fuel your brain, hormones, energy, etc....as possible while maintaining a healthy weight.

So how do you know if you're an under eater? Here are 3 tips:

1) You are extremely active but can't lose weight. 

In my recent podcast "Workout Obsession" I shared how when I was training for the Beachbody classic I doubled my workouts AND cut my calories. Not surprisingly ( looking back) I plateaued immediately and could no longer lose weight. I should have INCREASED my calories to support the extra burden I was placing on my body, but instead I increased my exercise and decreased my fuel.

The night the show was over I had a huge steak that was probably soaked in butter and the next day after WEEKS of the scale not budging, I lost a pound. A POUND! Normally physique  competitors tell stories of gaining 5lbs overnight from all the salt and garbage foods they ate (just another reminder that REAL FOOD ACTS DIFFERENTLY IN YOUR BODY THAN PROCESSED FOODS).

If you've increased your exercise recently but haven't lost weight, your body may be begging you to support it with the proper nutrients.

2) You lowered your calories but didn't lose weight

If you have recently cut your calories and haven't seen a budge your body might be in survival mode. When your body thinks it's in danger whether from a tiger or lack of food, it produces cortisol. Too much cortisol for too long a period of time stimulates fat storage and makes it difficult to lose weight. 

This may be an indication of calorie deprivation OR nutrient deprivation. For example - are you getting enough healthy fat? Healthy carbs? Vitamins and micronutrients? Make sure you're getting ENOUGH food so that your body knows it's safe. Once it's in the safe zone the weight will being to shift again.

3) You miss your cycle or it becomes irregular.

Hormones are a delicate thing. As women, it's easy to look at guys get all shredded and think " I can do that too!" And in fact you CAN....but it might not be HEALTHY. This can become more of an issue after a certain age and/or after a prolonged period of time. Sure - you want to try competing one time? If you have no health issues, no hormone imbalances, and are young - go for it. 

But more often than not, our bodies are not MEANT to be that lean for long periods of time...or...ever really. Women in particular have more subcutaneous fat. This is by DESIGN because of our hormone cycles and our physical ability to create and carry other humans. It's for our protection! 

When a women goes through an extreme body change, diet change, or any situation where her body fat dips too LOW, she is in danger of essentially ruining her metabolism and creating a life of hormonal imbalance and struggles.

Missing a period, while we might think that sounds GREAT, is actually very dangerous. A woman's fertility ability is a good indicator of her overall health. Not to mention the delicate balance between your hormones, mood, and energy levels. Want to see a cranky woman? Find one that is carb deprived, body fat of 14% and prepping for a competition!

Fun tip: 2 of the first things to go when the body is under stress

are digestion and hormone regulation!

Here's the deal. Your body is a survival MACHINE. It's designed impeccably to keep you safe- NOT to keep you shredded. When you deal with stress whether too much physical exertion, mental strain, emotional burden, or not enough fuel from food, it will react to what it finds most important at the moment and normally that doesn't align with our physique goals. 

If your body deems itself unsafe it will take the appropriate measures. Cortisol is released, fat storage is turned on, digestion is deregulated and hormones are an afterthought....Don't brush off these signs that your body needs some love and affection. 

Make sure you're fueling your body with nutrient dense foods DAILY and let it tell you what it needs. When you and your body are in sync, the world is a happy place.

Share below! Have you discovered you're an under eater? Did something in this article ring true for you?

Taking the plunge and investing in yourself...

Hey Hey Diva friends! Another week has flown by and if you're in Ohio, what a crazy week! 60 degrees - snow - no snow.....is it spring, is it winter?! Who knows : ) 

Today I want to talk about investing in yourself. So often, for whatever reason, we find it hard to spend time, money, or energy on ourself. We come up with excuses like "I can't afford it", or, "I'm too busy"....

I'll give you the DUMBEST example ever: I have a hard time buying underwear. You heard it. Not swimsuits or lingerie, or clothes....UNDERWEAR. Something relatively vital. But I literally wear them until they have a bunch of holes or fall apart basically. How ridiculous IS that? (Don't worry, I recently rectified the situation)

But here is what I have found to be true. While it might be scary, make us nervous, stretch our budget, or be difficult sometimes, investing in ourselves is IMPORTANT. When I use the word invest it can be time, it can be energy, it can be money, or it can be all of those. Normally, things of high value involve all three (think about your kids!) 

So today I have some homework for you - choose one area of your life that you want to improve the most, take a leap, and invest in yourself today. Bite the bullet - take the plunge - change your life.

It's been shown time and time again that if you invest in something you're much more likely to get benefit from it than if it's given to you. Below is a list of ideas to get you started:

I want to improve my:

• Spiritual Life: Purchase a devotional like The Quest from Beth Moore, and get involved with a group of people you trust that are encouraging.
• Family Life: Schedule weekly family nights, invest your time in quality family dinners each night with no electronics. Purchase some games and start the conversation
• Social Life: Join a networking group, say "yes" to your next event invitation
• Health: Join my 8 week Get Gutsy program where you'll learn everything you need to get started!
• Work Life: Start reading some personal development books like "Eat That Frog" and "The Slight Edge" or hire a business coach or mentor.

Most of the things listed above involve time, energy AND money....assign value to the outcome whether it be mental, emotional, physical, or monetary payback afterwards.... then decide if that's right for you. If not, ask around and find something that is!

What have YOU invested in that really scared you but totally paid off? I'd love to hear it in the comments below!

3 health concerns most women ignore

Hey Hey Diva friends!

Quick update for you :) January is off to a rocking' start!! I launched my very first Gut Health program #GetGutsyWithMe on January 15th and I'm already getting AMAZING feedback on the program, information, and recipes! This fills my heart with joy and happiness since it's my life's mission to help people make healthy changes in a doable, pleasant, and maintainable way!!

Stay tuned - Get Gutsy will be launching 2-3 times each year and you can expect edition #2  in a few months!

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER TO STAY UP TO DATE!

I also chose to jump into the 80Day Obsession program by Autumn Calabrese! This is a beachbody program from the creator of 21 day fix. YES I'm a personal trainer, YES I could create my own workouts...YES MLMs like beachbody have a bad name (because of poor representatives I might add - not because of the products).... but I have seen GREAT success using at home programs, so have many of my clients and friends and heck...it saves me time and sanity to follow a program that's already designed! As I grow and focus on my OWN business, I enjoy popping down in my basement and not having to think about what to do next. #stressrelief If you want to join me just say the word!

I'm VERY pleased to announce that The Tiny Fit Diva podcast will be up and available to stream in February. We are currently working on a few last minute tweaks as well as preparing a few extra episodes for you to be on top of the game before we open it to the public :) GET EXCITED because Patrick and I share our best tips on this weekly show!

 I have many goals for 2018 and one habit I'm slowly beginning to implement is an organized morning. Last year I read miracle morning and I loved a lot of the ideas but didn't implement them right away. As I'm getting busier, I want to make sure my priorities don't slip, so in the evening I have been making a list of to-dos the next day and that includes the first few things I want  to get done in the morning which includes meditation, reading my Bible, and reading a personal development book! 

All in all, January is shaping up to be a pretty darn awesome month and I have more goals, dreams, and visions for the next few years that I can't wait to share with you as they come to fruition.....

Today's topic:

3 health concerns most women ignore

1) Poop. 

Man, it seems like this is all I'm talking about these days! Between Get Gutsy With Me, my podcast, personal conversations and now this blog....shew! I need t find another topic ;)

A common complaint that many of my clients have is inconsistent stools. Some may be constipated, some have diarrhea, or some fluctuate between the two. If you aren't having regular bowel movements and/or you have stomach pains that accompany inconsistent bowel movements you need to get it checked out! Consider ordering up a comprehensive stool test and/or a food sensitivities test. Often the two compliment each other well.

When you are constipated, your stool is literally putrefying in your body. Yuck! Stool is full of toxins that your body has broken down, processed, and passed through to successfully eliminate and get it out of your system. When it's held in, those toxins are getting reabsorbed which can cause an excessive toxic load on your liver, pain in your abdomen, and even issues with your mental clarity and energy, not to mention the potential damage and inflammation to your colon the longer this goes on!

If you regularly have constipation, diarrhea or a fluctuation between the two it can be an indication of food sensitivities, a bacterial imbalance or even a parasite. Ignoring these can lead to disease, chronic pain, chronic inflammation and even stomach cancer in the case of the H. Pylori an wildly common stomach bacteria. When inflammation and damage goes on too long in the body it can eventually lead to a suppressed immune system compromising your future health as well as your ability to recover.

2) Too much coffee during the day...

I almost titled this point "Fatigue" but when we rely on stimulants all day many people don't realize how tired they actually ARE. Many people will say " oh yes I feel fine, I get through my work day great!" but if you were to take away the caffeine, coffee or sugary beverages throughout the day these same people would crash and burn around 10am and have a tough time mentally and physically recovering to complete the rest of their day.

Limit yourself to 1 cup of (preferably black) coffee a day and keep that before noon. While extra caffeine throughout the day may give us the sensation that we have more energy, it's actually taxing on our body's natural energy production systems and can give us misinformation on how energized we actually are. The longer (later) caffeine is in out system the more it affects are ability to get to and stay asleep. We need to be able to rest when we are fatigued so that we can naturally reset and not rely on stimulants throughout the day.

Additionally, when you wake up your cortisol levels are at their highest for aproximately the first hour of the day. Cortisol (a steroidal hormone) gives you that energy to wake up and roll out of bed. Consider waiting to drink that cup of coffee until 1-2 hours after you wake to really maximize your body's utilization of the cortisol and the caffeine together.

3) Resistant weight loss

Many women thing "I'm just getting older", or "this is my life now" and lose hope when they struggle to lose weight in middle age ( or any age!). I'm here to tell you that weight loss IS possible and your body DOES want you to lose that stubborn belly fat. Weight loss resistance is a SYMPTOM and it's your body's way of telling you that something isn't right. Typically it's related to a stress response. 

When your body is stressed whether mentally, physically, or emotionally, it releases cortisol which increases insulin levels and therefore affects your ability to gain or lose weight efficiently. When your body is chronically stressed, in it's desire to survive it stores fat and shuts down non-essential functions such as proper digestion and fertility ability. aka - it messes with your hormones man!

Weight gain or the inability to LOSE stubborn fat is generally a signal to you that there is a hidden stressor somewhere in your life that needs to be removed. This could be anything from an emotionally stressor like a bad relationship, chronic stress like business at work or lack of proper sleep, or physical stressors like over exercising and/or food sensitivities causing inflammation and damage to your gut lining.

All 3 of these are problems that MANY women encounter and therefore many women consider them "normal". These are not normal and by no means are you meant to struggle with them for life. In fact, with some digging there may be a relatively simple answer. It may take time, and it may take work. I never said changes would be EASY, but they may be SIMPLE. 

Be your own health advocate, know your body, and don't "let it go" :)

Have you, or are you struggling with one of these? I'd love to hear from you - leave a comment below!

Taking a Mental Health Day

Hey Hey Diva friends!

I'm still reeling from all the Christmas hustle :) I am a party planner. I love the preparation side where I get to make lists, buy gifts, plan some meals, and celebrate with family. I think I often enjoy the process more than the actual event! As a result...I've been doing a lot of sleeping this week :) But for us it's not over yet! 

Keegan will be coming home New Year's Eve (he's currently visiting his bio mom in AZ) so we are having a second Christmas New Years Day which will be even bigger than the first. FUN!! :)

In the midst of all of this my husband and I realized we really needed some down time for our mental health as well as our personal relationship. I don't want you to think I'm complaining. We live a charmed life in every sense of the word! We have a great home, a great family, wonderful friends, jobs we love.....but sometimes life is life and occasionally it hits ya hard!

The past few months have just been cram packed with stress from work to family, to travel to Keegan being sick and trying to figure out what was up with him (update on that coming soon). So yesterday Patrick andI decided to take a 24 hour, last minute, mini vacation to force ourselves to relax. Literally. FORCE ourselves to relax haha. 

Sure we could have taken a "staycation" where we just stayed home all day but I knew I needed to get away from everything. If we were in the house we would have ended up cleaning, cooking, planning doing laundry....SOMETHING. So we shot down to Cincinnati and had some good food, went to a pretty cool sign museum I didn't even know was there, and enjoyed a BREAK.

(p.s. if you have a fitbit check your heart rate when you go on vacation - it always drops. Stress impacts us daily.....hourly....no by the minute!!!!)

Who wouldn't want to take a cuddle day with this smokin' hottie?!

                  American Sign Museum in Cincinnati Ohio!

It's so easy to get wrapped up in all the "stuff" in life. The hustle, the bustle, the cleaning, the cooking, the worry, the parenting, your work.....all GOOD things that can cause excess stress IF we allow them to. (I personally fall into this trap too often).

Stress is the #1 cause of disease and breakdown in your body and doing what I do as a health coach...knowing THAT stresses me out ha! So I have tried to become much more aware of relaxing intentionally. Taking time, cutting things out of my life when I'm able to that cause excess stress, allowing myself to slow down, and remembering to STOP. Be thankful. ENJOY LIFE.

So remember - if you feel like you can't breath this week, take a minute. Sit down. ACTUALLY breath. Feel your breath. Listen to your body. Let your mind calm down. 

Here are a few things you can do today if you can't hop out of the house and get away:

• Take an epsom salt bath and relax
• Sleep in
• Read a book you ENJOY
• Workout if you have the energy and burn off the stress
• Give yourself a facial
• Splurge on a massage or mani/pedi
• Watch a movie by yourself
• Meditate ( I love the apps "headstrong" and "calm")
• Really savor that morning cup of coffee. don't wolf it down but enjoy the process.
• Enjoy some high quality chocolate
• Close your eyes and list everything in your life you are thankful for that you can think of at this moment

And whenever possible - Get yourself out of that house and go on a fabulous vacation!!!

Christmas Gift Roundup!

 Hey Hey Diva Friends!

Christmas is 12 days away!!! Speaking of 12 days - It's not too late to join my 12 days of Fitmas happening in my FREE Facebook Group "Stop Dieting an Live your Life!" Complete with 12 at home workouts  you can use, print and repeat later, and 12 holiday recipes that you won't feel guilty about! 

If you are like most people then you aren't even close to having your Christmas shopping done, today I wanted to share some of my favorite things....if you have a super crunchy friend that needs a gift look no further! Or if you just want to add some really cool things to your house
 this list is for you... :)

1. Bulletproof Hot Chocolate - high quality hot chocolate you don't have to feel guilty about letting your kids enjoy! ( ok let's be honest - it's for you!)

2. Foursigmatic Coffee - have a crunchy friend that loves their coffee? Treat them to this delicious AND immune boosting coffee that includes medicinal mushrooms. Not a coffee drinker? Try the hot chocolate!

3. Squatty Potty - give this to someone you love or someone you want to make laugh...either way they will start pooping better with the squatty potty :'D

4. Lindsey Stirling Christmas CD - It's Lindsey Stirling. Nuff Said!

5. Sevensons.net - If you are conscientious about the quality of your meats then look no further than sevensons.net! Pasture raised, grass-fed meats that you can't find in the store at great prices!

6. Primal Pit Paste - maybe not the best gift for your mother in law, but perhaps a stocking stuffer for a close family member? :) Upgrade your deodorant to ditch the harmful chemicals and aluminum and enjoy higher quality baking soda, coconut oil and essential oils based pit paste!

Join my weekly newsletter to stay in the know!

7. SHEETS. Know someone who enjoys a good sleep in a comfy bed? Or maybe you know a night sweater who need wick away sheets....or maybe you know someone crunchy who would appreciate that these are bamboo - either way these sheets are soft and sure to please anyone on your list! Ettitude.com

8. Books and Cookbooks  - for anyone interested in boosting their health naturally!
Healing Mushrooms Book

The Plant Paradox

Celebrations holiday cookbook

Practical Paleo 2nd edition


9. Lip Balm - it's lip balm - everyone needs some in their stocking!

10. Had to throw this in there ;) A gift certificate to the 8 week gut health program "Get Gutsy With Me".   Perfect for anyone looking to get healthier and just doesn't know where to start. The program includes 8 weeks of information complete with 4 e-books, recipes, weekly shopping guides and the option to upgrade with personalized testing and protocols. Whether you or a friend has fatigue, hormonal imbalances, IBS, acne or just doesn't feel quite right, this program is for YOU! You will leave with tools, recipes, and most importantly knowledge about how to eat, for your body, how to boost your healthy lifestyle and information on how to dig deeper to get to the root problems so that you leave feeling healthier and happier than ever!

Click the link below to purchase or contact me at: thetinyfitdiva@gmail.com to discuss a gift certificate or for more information.

 

What's YOUR favorite gift idea?

I'd love to hear it - comment below!

Bye for now! 

#YOUtrition

Hey hey Diva friends!

I was trying to think of a fun way I could refer to my personal food philosophy and YOUtrition is what came to mind. I kinda like it, what do you think?

So what IS #YOUtriton? (that's right, I aded a hashtag....get out there and share this post - I want see #Youtrition everywhere because when you embrace it your life will CHANGE!) :P

Simply put, #YOUtrition is the nutrition that is right for YOU. It's as wonderful, unique, individualized and special as you are. Everyone's genes, life history, mental/physical/emotional stresses are different and so the right combination of foods to fuel your body is just as unique. Just because a food is healthy doesn't mean it's healthy for YOU.

#Youtrition has 2 main steps: 

1) Eliminate the garbage. This covers everyone regardless of genes, environment, lifestyle, age, gender....and is beneficial for any lifestyle.

If the "food" is processed, modified, hybridized, ditch it. If it has chemicals, sugar, or words you don't recognize on the ingredients list, pass it over. Focus on REAL, whole, unprocessed, organic-as-much-as-possible food. 

2) Once you have #1 under control, this is where it gets fun. Personalize your diet to fit YOUR body and YOUR life. For example: How do you feel on low carb? How do you feel on high carb? What about high fat or low fat? How do you feel with squashes or tomatoes? Do you feel energized and awesome or do you get gassy or tired? What about Dairy (raw, organic, pasture raised of course)...do you tolerate it or not?

Just because butternut squash is packed with nutrition and could be an amazing source of carbs for Jim down the street doesn't mean that's the right food for Sandra next door. She may experience a headache, gas or bloating. In that case, put it on the no-fly list and move on.

You have to DISENGAGE to make this fun!

Drop the mentality that because something isn't right for you the world is OVER ha! Trust me, I've been there. I got sad for a minute when I realized I couldn't have cinnamon or mint this year. HELLO holiday EVERYTHING :) But your mentality is super key in making this enjoyable. Take a "can do" attitude and make it an adventure. For everything you CAN'T eat there are tons of new foods, flavors and spices you CAN. Be open to trying new things, experimenting and expanding your palate. 

If you have trouble with your mentality - WORK ON IT. This is not something innate to people. In fact, people are naturally pessimistic, fearful and negative. Positivity, productivity, and discipline take practice and personal growth. Some awesome books you might like to check out are:

Extreme Ownership

The Mind Connection

Eat That Frog

Finding the right #YOUtrition can take some time, but it's rewarding!

Keep it simple. Master step #1 first and you may find that's the only step you need. Your weight, rosacea, mood swings, and bloating may disappear when you get ride of the junk. 

If you have other goals or specific complaints that stick around then move on to step #2! Break it down, keep lists or a journal and give each change you make at least a few days to really determine it's effectiveness if not longer.

During step #2 you might find you need some guidance of WHERE to start. I know that I was surprised to learn of "healthy" things that were not healthy for me (At least not at this time) like yellow squash, and chicken! 

The MRT Leap food sensitivities test helped me a LOT and gave me a strong foundation to build my own #Youtrition from the ground up. I've adjusted and modified since taking the test and it has helped so much. Now I'm helping my clients do the same!

Be your own health advocate and discover whats exactly right for YOUR unique body.

If you're ready to take YOUR health to the next level and you want some FREE recipes, fun, and accountability along the way, join my Facebook group "Stop Dieting and Live Your Life!" I'm running my FREE Holiday Survival Guide event now through December and you can download that here!

If you really want in-depth support, 1:1 attention and guidance on gut health, balancing your micro biome and restoring your heath from the inside out, check out my new 8 week program "Get Gutsy With Me" Launching January 15, 2018!!! You will have access to additional testing including the MRT Leap food sensitivities testing to personalize your experience! 

I'd love to hear YOUR story! Comment below with any thoughts or questions!

How to make cooking fun

Hey hey Diva friends!!!

I know how daunting it can be to change your lifestyle and try to start cooking WHILE you are still absorbing information, learning new things, and trying to figure out whats what! I wanted to provide a few tips to help you make it more fun along the way.

1) MINDSET

Mindset is key in pretty much every area of our life isn't it? With our diet and lifestyle it's SUPER easy to let our mindset get in the way. We think things like "it's too hard", "It's too expensive", "I can't cook", "I have no time" etc....

                     There is a whole book you can read about this if you're interested!

Those are all excuses and I want you to drop them at the door! Anything you WANT to do you find the time, money, resources, and ability TO do! Cooking doesn't have to be hard, expensive OR time consuming! You just need the right mindset, the right tools, and the right plan :) 

I would encourage you to shift from the difficulty mindset into the ADVENTURE mindset! Cooking is a really fun adventure! You find out new recipes you like, new flavors, new tricks, new tools, new spices etc! Plus when your body starts changing and you feel better, all of a sudden the effort is #worthit.

Along the same lines, be willing to try new things! Invest in a quality spice set that allows you to make multiple flavor combinations, follow new recipes, and not get bored. 

Want to purchase some high quality spices from a trusted source? click here!

When you hit the store, make it your goal to stay in the produce section for 95% of your shopping trip and you can't go wrong. Grab a new fruit, a new veggie and research where it comes from and how to cook it!

Hot tip: If you google Paleo__"insert vegetable or recipe here"____ you will find a clean, whole foods, healthy way to cook almost anything!

Don't know what Paleo means? Read my last blog post all about it!

2) ATMOSPHERE

Spice up more than your food! Play some music and get in the MOOD to cook :) Whether you set aside 2 hours on Sunday to meal prep for the entire week or you enjoy 30 minutes every evening after work to get things chopped and in the oven, find your perfect pandora playlist and have some fun! Currently I'm on a French Cafe music kick thanks to our recent vacation. Find what inspires you, puts you in a happy place, and get to it!

                   Hey get crazy- maybe you'll end up with some fun kitchen karaoke!

If you have someone that will cook WITH you - even better! Kids? Have them participate by measuring things out or reading you the recipe! 

3) KEEP IT SIMPLE

DON'T overcomplicate things.....again, we get stuck in this headspace that cooking has to be hard and cooking healthy must be even harder. WRONG! I am a simple kinda gal friends. I never wanted to be a "housewife" and I certainly never thought I would enjoy cooking but I do!

Check out this website for delicious recipes made with only a few ingredients...

I've really learned to love making food at home. I know what the ingredients are, I have control over the quality, AND I get to cook according to my own tastes and shake it up when I feel like it. In fact, over the past few years I've enjoyed eating away from home less and less. Honestly we almost never have the same meals 2 weeks in a row - I'm always looking for new recipes and while we have our favorites we are constantly trying new ideas.

One reason I love paleo recipes so much is because they are (most of the time) EASY! Hey - when you can have an incredible dinner by adding a spice rub to some meat, throwing it in the oven for 30 minutes while you cook some vegetables and maybe adding a tasty side or fruit? BOOM. I'm there.

Dessert? NO PROBLEM - I definitely have a sweet tooth and most paleo baking recipes go something like this: 1) mix the dry ingredients 2) mix the wet ingredients 3) throw it in the oven. In other words, paleo is basically Kylene proof. So if I can do it- you can DEFINITELY do it! 

Admittedly some baking ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour etc....) can add up so if budgeting is important you might want to limit the desserts to 1 a week or less. Easier on your budget AND waistline!

Hot tip #2: Make a batch of brownies and freeze them! Your investment will save you from those late night cookie binges and satisfy any sweet craving when it hits. 

Almond Butter brownies

Chick Pea Brownies (super inexpensive!)

Ok I've talked about how simple it is - SHOW ME THE RECIPES right? :) Resources are your friend when starting out. Having some foolproof bloggers that you know you can trust is the best! When my family started this process Elana Amsterdam saved us. She is beyond skilled in giving you the best tasting recipes with the fewest ingredients possible. Talk about simple! She also divides her website up by special dietary needs, so whether you are egg free, nut free etc....she has recipes for you clearly listed. Check out her website HERE!

Hope this has helped. Bye for now!

Relaxing on the water at Lake Austin

Hey Hey Diva friends!

Patrick and I just got home from our week long birthdaversary extravaganza :). Each year we try to take a full week to disconnect from the world, reconnect with each other, and relax in a beautiful setting. 

This year we chose the Lake Austin Spa and Resort. We aren't really the the kind of people who enjoy sitting on the beach for more than a day or so, so we choose places that allow us to be active, eat healthy, and experience new things. As a health and fitness coach it almost turns out to be a business trip for me because I'm inspired, I learn from the classes, I observe other trainers, and I come back reinvigorated to share my new knowledge with my clients.

 I wanted to share a few things that make LASR special, namely, the view, the  classes, the food and the people.

The View

The resort has been a staple in Austin for many years. Celebrities like Sandra Bullock will stop by the spa for a treatment and many guests at the hotel will tell you that they come back every year. One lady shared that this was her 32nd visit!

It's easy to see why the resort is so popular - anywhere you look is a relaxing view. Set right on the lake you can take walks, hammock, or eat your meals, all with scenic view.

Being on, or near water is itself very relaxing, and for me personally, it brought a lot of childhood memories back from when my family would visit Spring Lake, MI every summer. Even if you aren't looking at the lake, the resort has provided beauty wherever you go. I was constantly stopping to take pictures of the beautiful flowers and landscaping throughout the property.

The Classes

I know this sounds weird, but when we are looking for a vacation destination I LOVE it when they have an activities calendar!!! Lucky me, LASR has health talks, cooking classes, fitness classes, hikes, meditation classes, yoga, boating cruises, and more. Every day we would get up, review the activities schedule (about 1000x) and make sure we had signed up for the ones we really wanted to do. Most of the activities were free and a few (like skiing) you could pay extra for.

                             I hadn't skied in probably 15 years and had such a BLAST!!

Beyond the scheduled activities and classes, you could simply hop down to the dock and ask to use their hydro bikes (literally a floating water bike) a pedal paddle (stair stepper on a paddle board) or kayak! They also had a fun floating mat that was anchored just off the dock. It was green so I called it the Lily Pad. You could hop off the dock, swim over, and float your cares away :)

Speaking of activities, don't leave without getting a spa treatment! Patrick and I chose to get facials and massages at different times during the week and both were fantastic. The massage really stood out to me because Elizabeth (I'd ask for her if you go!) beat the crap out of my back! I asked for deep tissue and where many massage therapists shy away from really getting in there, she let me have it which is just what my sore muscles needed. The whole massage was amazing and she would regularly check in to make sure it was what I was looking for. Patrick said his massage was great too - "definitely a 9-10" in his words ( and to be honest, we're pretty picky about our massages).

The Food

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Let me just tell you - Stephane Beaucamp (yes he is from Paris France) is the REAL DEAL. Not only did he study from the best chefs in France, but he came over to America, started his career and found himself serving 3 oscar viewing parties for Elton John! As Stephane tells it, the LA life was stressful and exhausting so he found himself looking for a change in scenery. Lake Austin provided just that, and so he stayed. 

It was really nice to talk with him, get to know his story, and hear a little about his food philosophy. He is very health conscious and many of the options on the menu were gluten free, dairy free, or both! The resort has several gardens where they grow their own herbs, squash, etc... making the food that much more flavorful and delicious. You can even clip some herbs on your way out, in fact they encourage you to do so!

You won't be disappointed with the food and you don't have to feel guilty indulging as the portions are small, and you know the ingredients are quality! 

While we did opt for some more protein dense breakfasts like omelettes, or fruit  + eggs + bacon on some days, we also loved some of their gluten free breakfast treats like blueberry cornmeal pancakes!

I left yesterday morning with French Toast that they modified with gluten free bread for me! It was #worthit

For lunch you could hop in and put together a delicious salad from the salad bar, or you could sit down and order a plated meal. Or both! We mostly opted for the salad bar which was just right for our mid day pick me up. One day we even took a salad to go on our afternoon boat ride :)

Dinner was a regular menu + a daily specials where every evening you would have new fish, meat, or vegetarian dishes to choose from. Plus of course....dessert :)

Again - the quality of the food was spectacular and as someone who is gluten free and mostly dairy free, vacationing can be tough - This place not only provided options, but they were phenomenal options. and if something could be modified to accommodate a request - they would do it!

When you stay overnight all your meals are included, so you can order breakfast lunch and dinner freely with no extra charge (or tip!). In addition to your meals you are provided with water, tea, lemonade and coffee that are out daily for you to grab as needed. And don't forget that snack in the "living room" at 3pm (if you have time between activities or naps).

The People

I really saved the best for last. You could have the most spectacular view, the best food, and greatest activities planned but without the right people it could still be a negative experience! Thankfully LASR has hired the best. Like any establishment there are bound to be those stars that shine a little brighter and throughout the week we found a few favorites that we really connected with.

Kamryn - she was our boat dock girl! We loved her constant smile and enthusiasm for being around the water. Growing up on the lake she had lots of cool historical facts and she could tell us who owned some of the mansions we would drive by (like the Dell estates....you know like DELL computers?!).

Lauro - ok, I had a little fitness crush on Lauro. One of the fitness instructors there, he was the nicest guy but MAN did he know how to kick your butt in the workouts! We went to as many of his classes as we could during the week. Ps. I took notes so if you're one of my clients, just let me know you want to try "the Lauro" :)

Michael - he was a really interesting guy! Originally from Australia, he is ah holistic nutritionist and trainer who worked for several years at the Biggest Loser in CA before moving to Austin where he now works privately for a family in addition to training at LASR and giving health talks. He is a no BS kinda guy and he makes you push your limits while telling you its your own choice :)

Andrei was one of the welcome desk attendants and he stood out because every time you saw him he was smiling! I finally asked him where he was from (detecting a slight accent) and found out he's from Moldova.  Where the heck is that?! (I didn't know). It's smooshed in between the Ukraine and Romania. He speaks English, Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian because.....yeah :) Super positive, happy guy.

Liz and Remi ahhhh....I don't know if it is Liz' gentle spirit, Remi's dry wit, a combination of both, or just the fact that the service seemed to be best when they were working, but these to gals were our favorite hostess and server. We always smiled when they were on duty :) And yes....I was that guest that got a picture with them when we left!

                    Liz our lovely hostess and Remi our server gal

Oh and I can't forget to mention the guests themselves! The best way I can describe this experience is like adult summer camp. So whether you are more focused on relaxing and frequent the meditation and stretching classes, or you really want to be worn out so you hit all the bootcamp classes you are sure to run into the same people over and over that have similar interests. You sweat together, you relax together, you eat together. By the end of the week you are wishing it was HS so you could pass around your yearbook and have everyone sign it :)

I really hope you get to visit soon - you'll get to hula hoop, learn about acupuncture, take some cooking classes and just relax by the water. If you can't make it, I hope that this post has inspired you to search out some vacation spots that allow you to eat health and stay active so you don't have to "recover" when you come home :)

Happy Travels! By for now :)

Taking the stress out of 21 day fix meal prep...

Hi there Diva friends! I get it....BELIEVE me do I get it. When I decided to hop on board the 21 day fix meal prep train about a year ago, I sat down, looked at the requirements and immediately felt super overwhelmed. I wanted to quit before I got started! I mean, I had a great thing going, I already ate paleo, I was at a healthy weight my workouts were good....

Honestly, if I hadn't had the pressure of the upcoming Beachbody Classic physique competition I probably never would have tried! But I'm glad I did because I've taken bits and pieces of what I learned to use more regularly (aka making tons of veggies over the weekend!), it helped me understand my challengers who go through the 21 day fix program, and it's always good to challenge myself with new things.

All that being said, I'm someone who likes to be efficient, get things done quickly, and enjoy my food. I mean - I LOVE FOOD. So I wanted to share this article on how to make meal prep more enjoyable, so that hopefully you can learn to love it too!

1) Take a Deep Breath

That might sound silly, but like I said - when I started I was super overwhelmed! If you're following a plan like the 21 day fix container system, then take a deep breath and break it down into easy steps. For example, step 1 is to write down at the top of my page how many containers I can have each day. For me that is Plan C which is 1800-1999 calories (by the way I don't encourage anyone to go below that plan!) so it's 5 Green containers, 5 Red (protein), 4 yellow (carb), 3 purple (fruit) 1 orange (seeds) 1 blue (healthy fat) and 5 tsp of oil. Make a tally at the top of your page.

Then I write my meals down like this:

B:

S:

L:

S:

D:

Once I have that outline I can choose my meals and fill in the blanks. I often find it's easier to start with a recipe for dinner and then fill in the gaps afterwards. If pineapple kabobs are for dinner that is 1 red, 1/2 purple and 1/2 green, so I write that down and can fill in the rest of my day accordingly! There are TONS of recipes out there that are "fix approved" and have the container equivalents all figured out for you. But don't be shy about using your favorite recipes and doing your best to guesstimate how it would fit in!

2) Keep it simple but don't get bored

In the beginning you are so overwhelmed that it's easy to just be basic and make one protein, one carb, one veggie all in bulk for the week. I would encourage you not to do that for a few reasons, one being that your body needs more nutritional variety that that would provide, and two if your food doesn't taste good you won't stick with the plan! 

*NOTE* Shakeology counts as 1 red, and provides lots of extra nutrients to your day so it's a valuable addition to any meal plan!!!! Plus it taste like a treat, boost your energy, curbs your cravings and provides probiotics (all from whole food, natural sources!)

I would encourage you to make a variety of options for each container and then mix and match within your day! You will end up finding that combinations are really good like sweet potato with chicken and broccoli, or rice with beef and asparagus!

Even within a single container think of fun combos you can make like peppers+onions+mushrooms+spices sautéed in water. That = a green container! 

Use lots of spices, seasonings and flavorful ingredients to keep it interesting. Last night my husband and I made a whole chicken, shredded it, added some spices to the bowl so it wouldn't be plain chicken, and then used the chicken carcass to make our favorite homemade bone broth! The bone broth can be used later to cook rice and quinoa more flavorfully, and of COURSE we will drink it too!

3) Be flexible

Anytime you try something new it's really easy to get super dogmatic about it like if you go "off plan" something terrible is going to happen. I'm all about a healthy lifestyle NOT dieting, so PLEASE if you ever meal prep with something as specific as 21 day fix, give yourself some grace! You will go out to eat - make the best choices you can and eyeball it! You will make casseroles for your family that don't allow you to portion everything exactly - do your best and don't stress!!!

21 day fix meal prep and other meal planning structures, are simply here to give you a guideline. It's not a religion, and I promise nothing bad will happen to you if you estimate that cup of blueberries instead of pulling out your purple container!!!!  :)

These guidelines are here to get you on track, teach you some basics about nutrition (hello 5 servings of veggies every day!!) and introduce you to tips and  tricks that allow you to prep a lot of food over the weekend and save time during the work week!

                        My lunch from today! 1 Red + 1 Green+ 2 yellow + 1.5tsp

4) Try it and then live your life

This system is NOT forever. If you've never tried it before I would encourage you to use it for about a month! Then I want you to live your life without portion control and calorie counting and simply listen to your body! As long as you are still eating the nutritionally dense, whole, healthy, real foods, you should be fine! This isn't a diet tool that you go off of and gain 10 pounds. There should be no fear associated with dropping the program....it's simple a step to get you started. 

Once you've figured it out an gotten used to how it works, the stress is gone and you can bang out a meal plan in no time! Pull it out every once in awhile as needed to get you back on track, and then let it go. Remember, it's a TOOL. Just one of many that you have in your arsenal!

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p.s. Play some music and get your hubby or friend to cook with you! An enjoyable atmosphere can make the process way more fun and doing it with someone makes the time go faster! :)

Supplements you should consider....

Hey there Diva friends!

It's so easy when you are trying to be healthy to get overwhelmed by all the supplements available! I need this for my joint pain, this for my brain health, this one for my skin and this one for my belly!!! Trust me, I understand. As someone who is working on balancing my own hormones and recovering from years of damaged gut health from NSAID use and poor eating habits, I pop a handful of supplements every day and don't bat an eye! 

But for the average person who is just looking to improve their overall health and doesn't struggle with any chronic or serious conditions, a handful of supplements multiple times a day is not appealing....and the question may arise, "can't I just get what I need from food?"

Yes. And no. Getting nutrition from food is optimal of course and any supplements you take should be of the highest quality and derived from whole food sources whenever possible! My first response to that question however, is that 99% of the American population is not eating a diet healthy enough to come even remotely CLOSE to providing the nutrition they need. Full of homogenized, oxidized vegetable oils, starchy/processed carbs, and sugar, a typical American diet can actually cause malabsorption of the nutrients you DO try to get in. But for arguments sake let's say you've hopped onto the Whole30 or Paleo/Primal bandwagon with me and your daily fare consists of grass-fed meats, pasture raised chicken eggs, fresh veggies, organic fruits, and high quality healthy fats....even THEN it's tough to get what you need for 2 reasons:

Why Take Supplements?

1) You simply don't get enough variety. Let's face it, we are creatures of habit! Unless you are the rare healthy unicorn that tries something new every time you go to the supermarket and you also love to cook creatively (bless you - can you come to my house?!), we typically pick up the same rotation of our favorite vegetables. For example, I eat kale, brussel sprouts, carrots, onions and peppers on the regular....but I hardly ever have rutabaga, parsnips, cassava, swiss chard, or spinach! This can be compounded if you have picky family members or kiddos to consider....So even as healthy as my family tries to be - it's flat out hard to get nutritional variety  - at least on the level that you need daily.

2) We aren't just building our health, we are repairing it! Consider that even if you are the model of health in your nutrition choices now, for the first 20-30 years of your life you probably weren't. Most of us were raised (at no fault of our parents) on cereal, PB&J, commercial dairy products, and processed meats.....not to mention the fast food treat (even if it WAS only once a week!). Because of those foods (all processed!) we have given our systems a great load to bear. (For more information on how these foods have affected our overall health and our gut health specifically see my previous post HERE). 

For that reason we spend the second half of our lives reversing symptoms, building up our health, healing our guts, and strengthening our brains, organs, skin, guts, and overall wellness. Essentially...catching up! Thankfully our bodies are survival machines that do the best with the building blocks they are given....so why not give them the strongest stone possible to build a wall of health instead of foam bricks or worse...nothing at all?

 

 

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For those two main reasons I recommend that everyone take at least 3 supplements daily.

Which supplements are best?

1) Probiotics. Probiotics are KEY! Raise your hand if you have ever been on a round of antibiotics? You need a probiotic. Raise your hand if you have ever taken tylenol, ibuprofen, and NSAID of any kind? You need a probiotic. Raise your hand if you have ever experienced food poisoning, acid reflux, burping, belching, constipation? You need a probiotic. Raise your hand if you have ever taken Tums, or pepto bismol? You need a probiotic!*

* There area few instances where a probiotic could exacerbate an underlying health condition - while less common, if you bloat out after taking a probiotic or eating a fermented food like sauerkraut you may need further testing to rule out some bacterial overgrowth.

                        Have you ever thought about this before???

WHY? Because all of those things point to an imbalance in your gut microbiome. Your gut is like your second brain - lots of what happens externally or symptomatically in your body starts with your gut! (See my post on gut health here). Taking all those OTC medications can damage your gut lining and if you've ever taken an antibiotic....well....your gut microbiome is NEVER the same. Dramatic? Yes. True? Sadly. Antibiotics wipe out not ONLY the bad bacteria but also the good....and its tough for your body to recover from that. Like I said, it's a survival machine but have you ever come back from antibiotics and experienced side effects like constipation? Now you know why! If and when you need to take antibiotics it's ALWAYS beneficial to take a probiotic at the same time to replenish the good stuff! You can listen to a GREAT podcast on gut microbiome HERE.

For more info on how probiotics work and why you need them read this article here.

2) Digestive Enzymes. Along the same lines as probiotics, digestive enzymes help you have a healthy gut. Enzymes help you break down your food and digest it properly. It makes it easier on your small intestines to then absorb the nutrients properly without causing inflamation and damage to your gut as discussed in my previous blog post! The right digestive enzyme can also help you avoid acid reflux and stomach upset. This is of course assuming you aren't using an enzyme to excuse poor eating habits! 

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3) Remember how earlier we mentioned how hard it is to get all the good nutrition in that we need even when we are health nuts? Thats why I recommend everyone have a multivitamin. Preferably one derived from whole foods! A multivitamin is a great tool to cover your bases, make sure you are getting some vitamins in your system daily, even if you happen to get busy and eat the same thing every day in a row for the week ha! Who hasn't been there before?!

Where can I get these supplements?

Well, I could give you a list of highly recommended brands and individual supplements to take in pill form, OR, I could simply recommend Shakeology! Did you know that Shakeology includes probiotics, prebiotics (fiber that supports your probiotics so they can do their job), digestive enzymes AND tons of vitamins and minerals BECAUSE it's made from whole foods?! While kale may be in my diet, yacon root, bilberry juice, and moringa certainly are not! (except that they are because I drink Shakeology every day hehehe)

I'll be honest - as someone who was already on the path of eating whole, real, health conscious foods, a shake didn't appeal to me. But when I did my research I discovered that Shakeology is made from high quality whole food ingredients from around the world. The ingredients are wonderful, and the taste....well....I always say they must be hiding the fairy dust in the ingredient list because it's DELICIOUS. Chocolate vegan is my favorite!

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Many people tell me that at $130/month for Shakeology seems pricey. I would say the quality of your supplements matter. If you purchase 3 high quality supplements you are getting close to the cost of Shakeology without the additional benefits of getting a tasty snack AND dose of quality protein. Health is always an investment - you can pay now for something to improve your health, or you can pay later when you are popping the RXs and hitting the docotors office weekly.  Ask me how you can get a monthly discount on Shakeology to make it more affordable!

So to wrap up - if you're looking for better digestion, a healthier gut, and something tasty to get lots of vitamins in your day without chugging a kale smoothie....you DEFINITELY need to try Shakeology. If you have any questions, message me or comment below - but before you leave, I have to mention one more thing!

For $30 above the cost of Shakeology you can ALSO get a full year of streaming access to ALL the Beachbody at home workouts. You heard me - a full year! Click here for all the details. With ANY purchase comes access to my monthly challenges that include meal plans, encouragement, tips, live videos where you can ask me questions, and FUN!!!! We see results -are you ready to jump in yet?!

Order Shakeology ($130) HERE

Order the All Access Pack ($160) here

I love to hear from you! Comment below with questions, takeaways or topics you'd like covered in the future! :)

Bye for now! :) Here's to your health...