Countertime beauty regimen!

THE NEW COUNTERTIME REGIMEN SET IS HERE!!!

I recently shared why safer skincare is important to me and why I love Beautycounter and have enjoyed many of their skincare products the past few years…I you’d like to see that post click here.

Beautycounter's new innovative anti-aging line that is a safe alternative to retinol has quickly become a best seller and I have been looking forward to tryin it since I think cancer treatments have taken a toll on my skin (hello aging!)!

 Countertime was 3 years in the making and was developed to visibly reverse the signs of aging and deliver high performance results thanks to the innovative Retinatural Complex ( a safer alternative to retinol!!)

The Countertime Regimen Set is a 10 week supply of five products from the Countertime Collection. This set has been getting rave reviews including hoping with even skin tone, hydration and glowing skin!

Check out some of the Five Star Reviews it already has!!

✭✭✭✭✭ Amazing, immediate result
Wow there are no words to describe the fast results of my improved skin. It was visible after only 3 uses of the Countertime regimen. Cannot say enough good things!!! – Jenni L.

✭✭✭✭✭ One week!
In just one week, my skin is firmer, smoother and brighter! I can’t wait to see what it looks like in a month! - Margaret P.

✭✭✭✭✭ Best skin care line ever!
I have never seen results like I have with this line. I have noticeably brighter, hydrated, glowing, skin. I have seen diminished fine lines and wrinkles in just 7 days. My husband has even noticed! Truly amazing! - Ashley R.

The Countertime Regimen includes five products to be used concurrently. The products included are sized to last approximately ten weeks. Here's what you will get:

Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil: Cleansing, reimagined. Inspired by Asian beauty rituals and informed by Japanese technology, this luxurious, lightweight cleansing oil gently yet effectively removes makeup and other impurities without stripping essential lipids from the skin. Rich in vitamin E, fatty acids, and our plant-derived Retinatural Complex, the formula reinforces the skin’s fragile moisture barrier for a soothed, nourished complexion. The smell of this is so light and beautiful! It leaves your skin so hydrated unlike many cleansers that can leave you tight and dry!!

Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence: Vital nutrients energize the skin. Lightweight but deeply nourishing, this milky moisturizing essence lends vital nutrients to the skin’s moisture barrier—instantly boosting hydration and radiance. Formulated with our Retinatural Complex, mineral-rich sea water, and a fermented blend of sugars, it renews and balances the skin and preps it for the treatment steps that follow.

Tripeptide Radiance Serum: True radiance, revealed. This transformative rejuvenating treatment visibly increases skin firmness and elasticity, while reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Formulated with a powerful blend of peptides, amino acids, and our Retinatural Complex, it helps enhance the skin’s moisture barrier function to optimize hydration for a radiant complexion.

Anti-oxidant Soft Cream: Protective, skin-plumping moisture. Formulated with our plant-derived Retinatural Complex and nasturtium flower extract, this velvety, revitalizing cream works to visibly plump and firm the skin while boosting hydration. Skin is left healthy and glowing. This can be used as a day cream or a lighter night cream depending on your skin's needs.

Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream: Powerful, regenerative hydration. Supremely rich and deeply hydrating, this cream supports elasticity and visibly firms while smoothing skin texture to minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles. With continued use, wake up to more radiant, youthful-looking skin. This can be used as a heavier day cream and night cream for very dry skin. It is so thick and hydrating!

Regimen Price: $267 US / $357 CAD (Value: $297 US / $399 CAD) I think a few items and maybe all will last longer than 10 weeks!! 

The Regimen does NOT include an eye cream. ( But the Countertime Collection DOES).

Ultra Renewal Eye Cream: Your brightest eyes, reawakened. This high-performance eye cream revitalizes the eye area for a youthful, brighter appearance. With a targeted combination of our plant-derived Retinatural Complex and Persian silk tree extract, it reduces under-eye shadows and crow’s feet for a smooth, firmed look. LOVE this stuff!!

Countertime Collection: includes all six full size products at a 10% discount. The difference between the Regimen and the Collection is that the Collection includes the Eye Cream and the Soft Cream and Supreme Cream are 50ml jars versus 30ml found in the Regimen. The Cleaning Oil, Essence and Serum are the same size in both. I highly recommend the regimen or the collection! Each product has the Retinatural Complex, but also has a hero ingredient of it's own.

Collection Price: $382 US / $512 CAD (Value: $424 US / $571 CAD)

Please keep in mind that there is a 60 day return policy for a full refund, so there's no risk in trying these AMAZING products! I am certain you will love them!! Scroll down to see how you can get even more gifts and discounts!

THE TRUTH ABOUT RETINOL

IS IT SAFE? A lot of beauty brands tout retinol as a safer skin-care ingredient. But Beautycounter is more strict (in fact, Retinol is on our Never List). For us, it’s not worth taking a risk on retinol. Studies show that retinoic acid can have harmful side effects, including being a skin irritant and making the skin sensitive to the sun’s damaging rays. In fact, both the EU and Canada have restricted the use of retinol—the EU cites a “precautionary principle,” which means that if an ingredient has shown evidence of danger to human health or the environment, it takes preventative action (and so should you).

That’s why BC created this plant derived Retinatural Complex, a safer alternative—and the powerhouse ingredient—in our Countertime Collection.

PLANT-DERIVED RETINATURAL COMPLEX:

BAKUCHIOL - Traditionally used in Chinese and Ayurvedic skin-care remedies, Bakuchiol delivers many of retinol’s skin benefits—without irritation.

SWISS ALPINE ROSE - Grown at the highest altitudes of the Alps, this flower is known for its ability to protect itself against environmental stressors like dehydration and helps boost skin’s antioxidant defense.

“Beautycounter’s plant-derived Retinatural Complex, featuring bakuchiol and Swiss Alpine rose, delivers retinol-like results without retinol’s safety concerns. Why? Because beauty should be good for you.” - Gamze Sauzeat, Lead Chemist

HOW RETINATURAL COMPLEX WORKS

It Promotes Healthy Barrier Function. Our skin’s moisture barrier prevents excess water loss and helps protect skin from the environment—and as we age, it becomes depleted. Retinatural Complex helps improve barrier function to maintain the skin’s natural hydration levels (and keep that plumpness going strong).

It Visibly Plumps And Firms Skin. Collagen is the skin’s most vital protein and the cushion that keeps it supple, taut, and wrinkle-free. It’s found in the middle layer of the skin, and its production begins to slow by the time we reach 30. Luckily, it’s possible to visibly improve skin firmness and plumpness. Enter Retinatural Complex.

It Improves Resilience. With age, the skin’s ability to protect itself from oxidative stress is compromised, which damages cells, speeds up the appearance of aging, and leaves skin looking dull and sallow. The targeted ingredients in our Retinatural complex help protect skin and improve radiance.

COUNTERTIME IN THE PRESS

Fast Company: Your antiaging regimen might be toxic. This brand found a safe alternative

WWD: "Better with Age" - Beautycounter to Debut Anti-aging Skincare Line, Countertime. Our new Countertime collection was just featured in Women’s Wear Daily!!!!

The Zoe Report: Beautycounter's New Countertime Line Features The Retinol Alternative You're Starting To See Everywhere

NOT A BAND OF BEAUTY MEMBER YET?

Join today for $29 for the entire year, no auto-renewal or strings attached. It's just our way of saying thank you to our most loyal clients! 

If you plan to spend $100 or more today, this is a must! You will receive a FREE Charcoal Cleansing Bar ($26 value and great for your the teens and men in your life), 10% back in product credit and FREE shipping!! Purchase the Countertime Regimen today and receive $26.70 back in credit to put towards the eye cream!!

Choosing safer doesn’t mean rubbing mud on your face or suffering with sub par skincare! Please let me know if you have any questions.

To your health!

Supplements I used during chemo

Hello friends!

Many of you have been interested in my use of an integrative approach to treatment during my 3 months of chemotherapy. I chose to follow the conventional method for 3 main reasons:

1. I wanted to stay home close to my family alternative care centers are based throughout the country and the world but would require me to live there for periods of time)

2. My specific cancer has an extremely high success rate when treated with chemo. This is not the case for all cancers. Even my holistic minded, naturopathic and functional medicine friends pointed me in this direction for this case.

3. I had already done SO much with supplementation and lifestyle, my goal was to eliminate the burden of the tumor in my body so that I could continue with my healthy lifestyle allowing it to remain in remission.

That being said, I took a very integrative approach to treatment and we spent over $20K out of pocket to incorporate things like a detox specialist (using after treatment) an emotional code therapist (to dig deeper to any emotional blocks or issues I needed to release that may be hindering my healing, hiring an integrative oncologist/naturopath to guide me through supplementation to counteract any side effects from the chemo and protect my body through the process keeping it as strong as possible, and Vitamin C IVs on the off weeks to help me recover, but also to act as an assist to the chemo itself.

That’s a pretty hefty price tag but one we were willing to pay. Choosing conventional treatment was something Patrick and I both had peace about, but living with long term side effects like heart damage, lung problems, or peripheral neuropathy was NOT something I wanted to deal with later. In my view, choosing to pay quite a bit up front to support my body through this journey is in replacement of paying for long term medical care the rest of my life.

One of the most effective and affordable portions of my investment were the supplements and many have asked what used! I wanted to share them below but first I must say that I don’t recommend just reading a book and incorporating supplements, or guessing at what your body needs. I know quite a bit about supplementation and my body but I hired a specialist to guide me through the process and the tweaks and adjustment she helped me make were invaluable the past 3 months. If you would like to hire the same woman I used you can visit her website at www.drheatherpaulson.com

So let’s get to it! Below are al the supplements I was taking by the end of my treatment and that I will remain taking for the next few months.

Most were recommended by my naturopath, some were from personal preference, some were added as we went along and some I was horrible at taking.

1. Acetyl L Carnitine - For protecting my heart, lungs, kidneys and possibly helping fatigue

2. L- glutamine - to maintain muscle mass, heal my gut and epithelial lining, prevent mouth sores, and protect against neuropathy

3. Vitamin E - immune system support

4. Vitamin D - immune system support

5. CoQ10 - protect the heart and mitochondrial support

6. Beef liver - provides B vitamins, Fit A, selenium, and I always feel better on it. In fact, I didn’t take this the first part of my treatments and I’m fairly certain my hair stopped falling out in conjunction with when I brought it back in to my daily regimen

7. Marrow plus - added in once my WBC began dropping after treatments.

8. Amy Myers Multivitamin - this was just a multi I really love and was already taking - I ran out and didn’t refill it towards the end just because I was taking so many other things

9. Vitamin C - immune system support

10. Complete B-Complex - B vitamins are very helpful with energy and preventing neuropathy. Always look for a high quality b complex that uses folate or L methyfolate and not folic acid

11. Alphs Lipoic Acid - protects against neuropathy

12. B-6 (pyridoxal 5 phosphate) - assist with nausea

13. Biocidin - this is an herbal antibiotic and I didn’t take this at first, but after getting an infection, spending an night in the hospital, and having to be on a ROUGH and strong antibiotic for 10 days, I immediately added this back in when that was over and never had any more problems. It’s the safest, most gentle and still most effecti antibiotic alternative I know of.

14. Fish oil - for inflammation and cell health. I was horrible at takin this but intend to be much more religious about it during recovery

15. Curcumin - anti-inflammatory - again I was horrible with taking this just on top of everything else!

And there you have it! This ended up being a VERY large handful of supplements at breakfast with a few second doses later in the day when I could remember and or make my self do it. It was quite a bit. But I will say, I think it helped me tremendously :)

Want more encouragement, tips, and information on integrative care? Join my free community

Healthy Through Hodgkins!

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

We hear this phrase often, but do we really believe it? Over the past 7 months, it would be easy for me to become depressed, discouraged, angry, frustrated and so much more. I mean, who dedicates their life to getting healthy and helping others stay healthy and then gets cancer? Doesn’t seem fair does it…

But because of my faith, I knew from the start that:

1. There was a plan

2. Whether I enjoyed the process or not, there was a purpose and

3. I would come out strong in the end andlearn some yet unknown lessons that needed to be learned

And sure enough, here I am, at the end of this journey (and the beginning of a new one) having fulfilled each of those things.

Plan

Not surprisingly, from day 1, I saw that God had been planning this journey for several years.

• I discovered my tumor had been there for 2 years

• I discovered later that cancer develops (like autoimmune diseases, another form of immune system dysregulation) over 7-10 years

• I knew that had I not gotten sick in 2015, I wouldn’t have become an FDN

• Had I not become and FDN, I wouldn’t have gotten to deep into healing, and already put in several years of work

• Had I not put in the work, this journey may have been much more difficult for me

• Had I not become an FDN and really invested in myself and my business I wouldn’t have gone to Mindshare (a networking summit with some of the top functional medicine docs around the country)

• Had I not gone to Mindshare, I wouldn’t have had access to any of the experts I used to guide me through this process (detox expert, emotional healing expert, integrative naturopath specializing in cancer)

• Had I not had access to these people I may have experiences loads more symptoms and not recovered as quickly in between treatments. I am walking away with no long term effects on my heart, lungs, or nerves and during the process I never experienced severe constipation, or pain of any kind. The most regular symptoms for me were fatigue, nausea and some acid reflux/discomfort from the epithelial lining being so raw from this process. I didn’t even lose all my hair ( I really think it stopped when I started taking beef liver again!) I had some many people praying for me across the country - I know that God protected me in many ways throughout this process.

  So…..You see…..from the beginning I knew there was a plan. God knew that this was part of my journey and he set me up to navigate it as successfully as I possibly could. He blinded my eyes to the tumor ( which I could see in pictures stating 2 years prior) until it was the right time and I knew the right people.

But for whatever reason….this was still something He wanted me to experience.

Purpose

I knew there was some purpose to this. Maybe it was to solidify my stance that there is benefit to both conventional and natural medicines….maybe it was to strengthen my faith….maybe it was to help me empathize with clients and understand the body better….

Whatever the reason, I knew there was a purpose. And while I have learned MANY lessons, and had many A HA! moments, I may learn the ultimate purpose much later….or never at all….

Discovery

The first 3 months were the hardest. My body was shocked with this new treatment, I didn’t know what to expect, and anytime my white blood cells tanked it scared me. Everything was so new. The second treatment was the hardest as I ended up with an infection and an overnight hospital stay. This effectively eliminated my recovery period between treatments and so I wasn’t as strong going into the 3rd. But then around this time, I decided I really needed to continue living my life. I couldn’t just STOP living and so as I felt well, I did things that made me happy like singing and being around people again.

And throughout this last half of treatment I had revelation upon revelation about the kind of person I want to be, the kind of life I want to live, how I want to relate to other people and even how I want to run my business.

This isn’t to diminish the pain, fear, and uncertainty of this process. It’s not fun, and treatment weekends are the worst. Over the next 3 days I’ll spend most of my time in bed, popping nausea pills, sleeping, and forcing myself to drink water that to me tastes disgusting just to avoid dehydration which makes EVERYTHING worse.

But I simply don’t know how I would have navigated this without my faith. Without knowing that God had a plan, I wouldn’t have been looking for it. Without assuming there was a purpose, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my mentality positive and hopeful. Without knowing that there were lessons to be learned, I wouldn’t have be open to receiving all the downloads I was being divinely sent.

This was something I was meant to go through. I’m thankful that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I praise God for knowing what I needed, and I can’t wait to implement my new life goals. Some of the best things in life come from the most painful experiences. I hope I never have to go through this again, but the battle was worth the win.

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.

10 ways to combat nausea during chemotherapy

Hey Hey Diva friends!!

Between chemo, antibiotics, and changes in my diet this process has been a nightmare for someone always focused on gut health and supporting my microbiome!!!

BUT I chose this path and know that it’s only temporary. I also know that I have all the tools to build my gut back up once I get through this….so meanwhile, I’m left with managing symptoms and by far, the biggest struggle for me has been nausea. Between myself, my doctor and my naturopath, I’ve discovered some tips that may help YOU or someone you love when experiencing this. Feel free to share it with a friend!

Something to understand about nausea is that everyone’s body, treatment and personal experience is different and some nausea is stronger than others. You may or may not actually feel like throwing up, you might just feel “off”. So this list ranges from homeopathic to prescription remedies, and from things to smell to things to ingest. Where I would normally advocate getting to the root cause of nausea so you don’t have to live on a prescription, when undergoing chemotherapy the treatment itself may BE the cause, and it’s certainly not something to mess around with.

In Chinese medicine they talk about yin and yang, hot and cold and that’s another great way of thinking about this as well. Some days you may have excess heat and so a “cold” remedy like peppermint may help but other days you may have excess cold and a “hot” remedy like ginger may sound better to you.

Listen to your body and when reading this list, some things may sound more appealing than others. Go with your gut!

1. Ginger Zevia. This is basically chemical and sugar free ginger ale! When you’re drinking something to combat nausea you want to make sure you’re not also drinking a bajillion calories, or other harmful chemicals that stress your body. This is a great option for mild to medium level nausea, but I would be careful if you have a lot of digestive complaints, acid reflux, or stomach pains as well because carbonation can be irritating in those cases. You can usually find this at your local grocery store and if they don’t carry it your local heath foods store.

2. Ginger Tea. This would be a warm, non-carbonated way to get some tummy settling ginger and an easy way to get some beneficial honey in as well! To me, warm drinks did NOT sound appealing, but if it sounds good to you this is a great option.

3. Peppermint Tea. Peppermint, along with ginger, has been used for centuries to combat nausea! Lesser known than ginger it can be just as effective.

4. Peppermint essential oil. I personally really liked this option. You can take a whiff of the bottle and keep it with you, use a diffuser in your room, or carry a hand diffuser with you like this one.

5. Peppermint gum or hard candies.

6. Preggie Pops. I haven’t personally tried these, but I heard that they are really helpful. My naturopath explained that nausea induced by chemotherapy hits the same parts of our brain as pregnancy nausea. These pops include helpful essential oils and if you are also experiencing funny tastes in your mouth from the treatment this may be a helpful option to distract your brain.

7. Gluten Free toast. I can never recommend regular bread ( do you even know me?!) but sometimes toast really does seem to help. I personally like the brand Eban’s Bakehouse and would add some grass-fed butter and honey on top! I liked using this honey for the added benefits of the bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly!

8. Prescription nausea meds. To me, these are something to use as needed. By that I mean, I am more likely to use these the first 48 hours after chemo and when nausea is persistent or stronger. These come with their own side effects like constipation, headaches or fatigue, so I like to minimize my usage and incorporate as many other options as I can when they work.

9. Medical cannabis. No, I am not advocating that you go buy a joint off the street. It's critical to do this legally and keep your doctor informed! Some people find that this is by far the most effective nausea remedy they can use. I did find that it helps, but I also don’t love it. There are ways to vape it or get a tincture and since vaping really feels like smoking and well…YUCK, I prefer to use the tincture. Vaping can hit your system a bit faster, but the tincture works pretty quickly as well and has the added benefit of being able to titrate up 1 drop at a time until you find what dose works well for you.

10. Increase your protein. I know it can be hard the days immediately surrounding treatment because if you’re anything like me, my diet is anything but normal during that time (hello homemade jello, dairy free ice cream pops and gluten free toast 10x a day!). But as soon as you are able to get back to “regular” foods and meals, try to increase your protein. If eating a steak doesn’t sound good to you, simply adding a scoop of protein to your daily protein shake can be helpful too.

Overall, listen to your body!! It knows what it needs and does a pretty good job of communicating. So if you are craving a certain kind of food, go with it! At least during the really tough days. You can use the rest of the days to fill your meals up with nourishing fruits, veggies and gut healing foods!

I hope this was helpful - do you know someone struggling with their chemo treatment?

Feel free to share this post! Know of additional remedies? Please drop them below!

3 lessons cancer has taught me

Hey Hey Diva friends, it’s another beautiful day….

So much has been going on since my diagnosis Feb 8th and while I’m not done with my treatments yet, I’ve already learned so many things about myself, my life, my purpose, appreciation for what I have and more! So today I thought I would share a few of these thoughts with you.

1) Appreciate all you have

As soon as anything is taken from you you appreciate it more. Kids know this right? They don’t necessarily want to play with the toy, but they don’t want anyone ELSE playing with it either!

I have an AMAZING life. We have plenty of money, a nice house, a beautiful family, the sweetest dog, careers that we believe in, great and reliable cars, and super amazing friends and family. Sounds like the dream right?

But just like everyone else, before cancer I picked myself apart. I was definitely HAPPY and quite appreciative of my life, but for me specifically my insecurity and stress points were my body and my work. I loved my work, but I also put a ton of pressure on myself. I loved my body but…..did I really? I was CONSTANTLY tearing it apart and wanting to be stronger, thinner, prettier…..perfect.

And then cancer came a long. And she took my control. She took my strength. She took my hair. She took my comfort.

After the diagnosis I knew what was coming and the months leading up to treatment there were many times I stood in front of the mirror as I got ready in the morning and simply appreciated what I knew would be taken away.

Suddenly, my hair was GORGEOUS on it’s worst day - my body was perfect just the way it was. I was appreciative for everything I could do….and I learned that we shouldn't wait until something dramatic and scary happens in our lives to really truly appreciate everything we have. And here’s the real kicker, it’s not just about appreciating everything we have but being CONTENT with it.

I was alway happy, positive, and thankful….but was a I content?

2) Let people help you

This one can be harder for some than others, but I think it’s hard for everyone at some level. We all want to be independent. Asking for help is never easy, and saying “yes” when you think you don’t need the help can be difficult.

“Hey Kylene, I’d like to support you - can I bring you lunch on Tuesday?” Part of me wants to say “no need, I can handle it but thanks!” because I don’t want to have anyone go out of their way to sere me.

But the other part of me realizes that not only would that be helpful and take something off my plate, but people WANT to contribute. They WANT to participate and help in any way they can. I would only offer to someone what I hoped they would accept.

Sometimes that means someone mails you a card or a gift. Sometimes that means people pray. Sometimes people make you food or buy some and drop it off…..

If someone has indicated that they want to support you in whatever way is comfortable for them just say yes.

I have been surrounded by kindness the past few months and it’s really made me think….would I do this for someone else? Would I go out of my way to help them somehow??? Which brings me to my next lesson…

3) Be that person

When I was going through my divorce, I learned very quickly how NOT to behave to anyone going through divorce. I was judged, mistreated and abandoned by many. I saw exactly what NOT to do and learned how to love others better by NOT being loved myself.

Through this cancer journey I’ve seen the opposite - people coming out of the woodwork to pray for and support me. People that don’t even know me have me on prayer lists and send me things like project chemo crochet blankets. People that don’t. even. know. me.

So I want to BE THAT PERSON. You know, the person that was the surprise. The person that goes out of my way to think of and pray for others. The person that hears of a need and tries to assist. The person that always encourages help out.

My divorce really shaped me in a positive way and I’ve held onto those changes in my mindset since. I know that this cancer journey will be another major shift in my worldview and thinking and I can’t wait to get to the other side :)

22 ways you can support a cancer patient today

Hey hey Diva friends!!

Today I’m sharing 20 ways you can support a cancer patient today! I have been SOOOOOOO surrounded by love and support and kindness the past few months and some of the things people have done have really surprised me and been totally awesome! I wanted to share in case you know of anyone that could benefit too!

1. Send a cancer empathy card. For the friend who enjoys laughter, sarcasm, and reality

2. Set up a meal train. Be sure to ask them what dates would be most helpful and what foods they don’t like or have sensitivities to. You can use a service like takethemameal.com to make it easy to share it with friends, family and church groups that might be willing to fill it up!

3. Pray for them

4. Send them a Whole Foods gift card!

5. Send them an encouraging note. I just received a package from my sister and brother in law’s church with 10 cards - 1 to open for 10 days - each with encouraging notes!

6. Gift them a hand held oil diffuser for hospital visits or at home nausea

7. Mix an anti-nausea oils or an oil blend to sniff at the hospital or use at home

8. Send a project chemo blanket from www.projectchemocrochet.com

9. Send some fresh flowers or succulents to brighten their home

10. Text them ,“How are you feeling today?”

11. Gift them a notebook with encouraging comments and verses like this one to write down their experiences and keep track of doctors, visits and symptoms.

12. Mail them a book you think they may enjoy

13. Recommend some great Netflix shows/movies

14. Let them know you’re there if they need anything

15. Leave an encouraging voicemail or text

16. Send them a Visa or grocery gift card

17. Ask if they would like to go on walks with you

18. Ask about their treatment schedule and be proactive about scheduling activities or get togethers on days they think they will feel their best so they have things to look forward to

19. Sit with them during their chemo infusions

20. Pre-pay for a massage or meal delivery (if they would like that).

21. Send them an encouraging bookmark

22. Create a gift basket of fun things appropriate to their experience, likes, and needs!

And there you have it! 22 ways you can support a cancer patient today. Every single one of these (except for Netflix - I was all over that myself haha) were kind things that people did for me! I was blown away how much people cared, and how every single thing on this list meant a great deal whether it was a free gift or a costly one, and whether it was from someone I knew or a total stranger.

Have you been through chemotherapy or know someone who has? What other ideas could you add to this list? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

Asking "why me?" and experiencing unconditional love...

2 days ago, I went to the ER. I had been in bed almost the entire afternoon and while experiencing severe abdominal pains I had thrown up. After that the pain became more manageable….if I laid in bed and didn’t really move :)

My husband, who as usual, was being saintly and had gone to help a nearby city with tornado relief work, came home late afternoon, took my temperature and called the on call oncologist after the temp read 101.5. The doc said to take me to the ER and that started our super fun 20 hours in the hospital.

You can see a short summary of what went down while we were there here:

Throughout this cancer journey I’ve had a lot of wonderings. Just like anyone might, I’ve wondered why (or how) this could possibly be happening to me. I completely changed my nutrition in 2012 - I completely changed my whole lifestyle to focus on health and wellness after 2016. I worked on healing my gut and balancing my hormones (really effectively) since 2017….. I saw drastic improvements in many facets of my life and I’ve helped dozens of clients heal their bodies as well…..and then I got diagnosed with cancer. What the heck?

Firstly, I’m not going to answer that question, because I can’t. Secondly, after a lot of thought (and finding pictures from 2 years ago of my single tumor that has never spread) I didn’t feel like all the work I’d put in was useless. I know that I did what I could when I could with what I knew at the time and that it surely strengthened my body.

Even so…some people WAY less healthy go through chemo and still work full time, function as parents and live seemingly normal lives while others (like me) get knocked out, sleep a lot, and get side effects or complications….

With my history and dedication to health building and disease prevention for the past 3-5 years, I was convinced I would be the patient with no complications and the fewest side effects….I was going to breeze through this cancer thing with 6 treatment in 3 months and then say goodbye to it forever!

But then my port suture wanted to get infected and I had to go on an antibiotic….then this past weekend happened and I had to be admitted to the hospital…..

And all these questions of:

“Why can’t my body handle this? I went in so strong!”

“This is really taking a toll on me, did I make the right decision choosing conventional medicine for this treatment?”

“I have to be on another antibiotic, what will people think about that when I usually avoid them like the plague? How do I feel about it?”

…come in.

In addition to the complications, there is the regular and expected trauma of my hair falling out more and more every day… so what was once a semi- passable GI-JANE look is now an uneven, scraggle of fuzz that is embarrassing to leave uncovered. #hellobaseballcaps

“Why me? Why this reaction? Why now?”

I have no idea. But I don’t dwell too much on those questions. Because the answer doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter WHY God chose me, it just matters that He did. It doesn’t matter that I don’t understand it right now, it just matters that I will. It doesn’t matter that I’m not sure what I’m learning, it just matters that I will learn from this.

Last night, after spending the previous evening in hospital beds and being woken up every hour almost on the dot for blood draws, shots, IVs etc….Patrick and I were exhausted. Happily at home, in our own beds, and after several hours of napping for each of us, we spontaneously started cuddling and kissing and it felt super magical and connected….until I remembered what I was going through, what was happening to my body, and what I currently look like. I started crying and tear up even as I write this. Because I realized that Patrick was loving me and behaving towards me as if nothing had changed. As if I was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him and that it made no difference if I have hair or not. It was so overwhelming to be so vulnerable in that moment and just accept that he really does love me no matter what.

A lot of people talk more about their faith than I do. A lot of people pray more, do devotions more frequently or use spiritual language more. So a lot of times I feel “less spiritual than” when I don’t sprinkle God into every video or post I make ….but all I can tell you is this. My faith is a deep and intricate part of my very being and whenever I share it I want it to be completely sincere. Whether I pray about every decision prior to making it or not, I make the decisions I do based on what I believe. My Christian belief system completely affects the glasses I see the world through and how I react to situations mentally and emotionally every single day. It affects how I treat people, how I verbally respond when I’m frustrated about something, and how I think about these “why me’s”.

I don’t often get that “warm fuzzy” feeling or any sort of spiritual “woosh” when I pray or go to church. And here’s the thing. The way Patrick loves me, as overwhelming as it felt last night, is how God loves me (and you) every single day. He doesn’t care if you’re overweight, bald, sick, impatient, or flat out ugly inside or out. He loves you unconditionally and honestly, he doesn’t expect a single thing back from you except a desire to be in a relationship with Him.

While I was crying last night and Patrick was holding me tightly in his arms, I said “I feel like you love me so much and I don’t do enough for you in return.” And he just replied “You make me happy and that’s enough.”

WOAH. Can’t get more Jesus-y than that. All God wants from us is to be in a relationship with Him. That makes Him happy and that’s enough.

Now the real question isn’t why me, or why now….it’s….WOW. Can I accept this? I don’t FEEL worthy….but he says I am. So I can wallow in this sense of self doubt and worthlessness….or I can simply accept the love I’m given. No strings attached.

Skipping the menopause shot

Hi friends!

Today I made a really hard decision. So hard in fact, I had a solid hour of crying back and forth while I was trying to make the choice.

What was such a big deal? Well, I was trying to decide if I wanted to get the hormone shot that puts me into menopause during chemotherapy. Ultimately, I chose not to and here’s why:

There are 2 main reasons to get the shot in the first place. 1) To potentially have a positive impact on your blood count by not having your cycle during chemotherapy and 2) to maybe offer some protection to your ovaries by shutting them down and therefore assuming they won’t suck up as much chemotherapy thereby protecting their functioning in the future.

That being said, I kept feeling this nagging “no” when I thought about getting the shot.

First, after my horrible experience with egg retrieval, I really wanted to give my body a break. The idea of getting another shot that messes with my hormones in a dramatic way did not resonate well with me.

Secondly, I still haven’t had my period since the fertility stuff. I was pumped full of so many hormones, that my uterine lining got really thick. I know my body, and I know my hormonal history. Before doing anything else manipulative to my hormones, I REALLY really want to shed that lining. The problem is, there is a window of time they really want to give the shot to you before chemo….my window is closing and I haven’t started my period yet.

Thirdly, ABVD doesn’t appear to be super damaging to your ovaries. Different chemotherapies have a lesser or stronger probability of damaging them and it doesn’t sound like ABVD is high risk in that area. Additionally, even if my ovaries ARE damaged I just harvest 21 mature eggs which is an insane amount of options should I choose to use the route later.

Fourthly, the Zoladex shot take a few weeks to sink in ( thus the reason they want that window) but chemotherapy will essentially put me into menopause anyway. After a few cycles the likelihood that I will skip my periods is high and I would rather just let my body do it’s thing and support it the best I can.

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And finally, some doctors recommend you wait 6 months after chemotherapy to have babies and some recommend up to FIVE YEARS. When I read that today I realized the likelihood of me wanting to actually get pregnant after this is low and I feel like I’ve really wasted pain and money going through this process. For those of you who are reading this thinking “oh you are so young, you have plenty of time!” technically, that is true. But my hubby is 15 years older than me and it’s a real consideration when I continue delaying the process by potentially YEARS.

I don’t know how I will feel when I’m done with all of this. Maybe I will be relieved that I have some fall back options and be happy that I went through the egg retrieval process. Maybe I will decide to finish the IVF process and have kids after all. Or maybe I will just be so thankful to be healthy again, and feel like I really want to give my body a break, enjoy my life with my family and get back to work…

All I know is this. I felt something in my gut telling me NO so strongly that I called to cancel today. I felt much better afterwards and that’s definitely something I need to hold on to throughout this process- my voice and intuition!

What about you? Have you or a friend chosen to do fertility treatments or lupron/zoladex shots before chemotherapy? Or did you choose to skip it altogether? What was your experience?

My [REAL] experience with fertility preservation

Hi all! It’s been a hot minute sine I’ve blogged but I realized recently that with all the changes in my life the past few months and all the physical ups and downs where I may or may not regularly feel capable of doing live videos, I felt like I needed to make a blogging comeback :)

Sharing my journey with you on social media is something I have chosen for several reasons. First and foremost, I sincerely hope that sharing my experience helps someone else that may be going through something similar in the future but also, it’s somewhat cathartic for me to document my journey and receive support from my awesome online community! So thank you!!!

Many of you already know that in February 2019 I was diagnosed with Stage 1A nodular sclerosis Hodgkins lymphoma. that means I have 1 small tumor in my neck. To hear more about my treatment choices and mental preparation you can listen to my recent podcast episode below

Why Fertility Preservation?

Since ABVD (the type of chemotherapy offered for Hodgkins patients) can damage not only your heart and your lugs, but also your ovaries, young women run the risk of going through treatment and coming out infertile. The risk is mild, especially since I am receiving only 1/2 the national standard of treatment since my cancer has NOT spread and I have no symptoms ( thank you Jesus!). But still, at my age, if I damaged my ovaries I wouldn’t have that much time to do anything about it.

When Patrick and I got together I was pretty firm on the , “I’ve never wanted to birth children, so I hope you’re ok with that” front. But after 7 years of soulmate-ness :D and 6 years of marriage, I was softening to the idea of having a mini us. In fact, we were beginning to discuss the reality of even “giving it a go” this year. Just before I got diagnosed….

So when we found out that treatment could ruin our chances, I chose to get fertility preservation treatment which is basically the first half of IVF where we stimulate my ovaries and then harvest and freeze my eggs for what I call my future maybe babies.

What was the process like?

Expensive, painful, and….dare I say it….not worth it? ouch. I know that a lot of women out there live and breathe for the possibility of having children, but I haven’t and honestly, had I known what all this would feel like BEFORE I signed up, I don’t know if I would have followed through. However, everyone’s body is different and many women have had better experiences that I….So what’s it like?

Week 1 and Week 2

The first 2 weeks were easy. In fact, as I took my estrogen tablets (not recommended outside of this supervised and intentional process btw) I felt pretty good! If you have followed my story, I generally have hormones on the low end of the range, so increasing my estrogen felt pretty good to me. The only side effect I experienced was mild nausea that usually went away with a piece of gluten free toast.

Week 3

Week 3 began the hormone shots - I used Gonal-F and Menopur which are luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone. Basically, the goal is to get your follicles as big as possible so that during the retrieval process you have harvested MATURE eggs that can then be used later. They will save all the eggs because they hope that as technology improves they may be able to mature the rest of the eggs some day as well.

ANYWAY!! normally, your body matures about ONE follicle and releases ONE egg/month during ovulation….my body was maturing 24 follicles, the largest of which were about .75-.8 inches!!!

As you can imagine, that meant that the ovaries began swelling. Even so, I wasn’t terribly uncomfortable during this phase. Every evening Patrick would give me two shots in my belly and sometimes they hurt and sometimes they didn’t, but it was never horrible and always went away fairly quickly.

During this week you also being the every other day blood draw and ultrasounds to monitor your your follicle growth and estrogen levels so they can adjust your doses as necessary.

Week 4

The beginning of this week or potentially the end of week 3 you start adjusting your shots. You begin taking a third shot that keeps your body from ovulating because HELLO, after 3 weeks of growing these follicles and thousands of dollars later, the last thing you want is to release all these suckers before harvest day!

Your ultrasounds and blood monitoring continue until they determine which day (out of a 3 day range) your harvest will be. Then, 36 hours prior to your surgery time, you take a “trigger” shot. My harvest time was 7:30am on a Friday morning so my trigger shot was 7:30pm Wednesday. The day in between, no shots!

Retrieval Day

Finally, it was retrieval day. I didn’t know what to expect and was a bit nervous. I had an oops the morning of surgery which almost threw the whole thing off. I drank water!!! I had only written down no FOOD from midnight on, but apparently it was no food OR water….this is because you can spit it up a bit when you are put under for the procedure…which, apparently I did a little. But since everything is time sensitive and I agreed to the risks we proceeded.

When I woke up, I was NOT happy. I was in so much PAIN!!!! Normally, you wake up from something like this you are all loopy, and happily hopped up on some legit pain meds….but no, I was hurting the moment I came to consciousness.

On the plus side, we retrieved 23 eggs, which as I’ve done my research, seems to be a HIGH amount. I’m sort of getting the impression that since I went through this process as a preservation thing and not since I was infertile to begin with, that I had a stronger “output” and my body participated more easily….

Unfortunately, I think because the output was so high, the pain was also….I mean think about this…I had 23-24 eggs growing and the smallest of the follicles may be around .5 inches… in ovaries that are NORMALLY the size of your thumb…..thats a lot of stretching! Then to have a hollow needle shoved up your hooha to retrieve them all….well, inflammation followed.

The recovery

Friday (April 12th) I was in excrutiating pain. The pain was transferring beyond my ovaries and into other parts of my body (called referred pain) like my back and I was convinced I was having kidney problems haha. Patrick ran to get the legit pain prescription and the first half of the day we were a bit behind the curve. I tried to take 2 and wait the full 4 hours, but then I ended up throwing up and in excruciating pain again before the next round sunk in and I fell back asleep. After that, I took smaller doses ( 1 tab instead of 2) but more frequently so that the pain medication stayed in my system. Once we figured that system out, I felt ok after about 2:30pm and the rest of the day was spent sleeping and watching Netflix.

I was told to expect a little bit of pain - like period pain the day of, and basically over the next 3 days start going back to normal. I think I had a stronger reaction than normal because day 1 was completely and utter misery. Day 2 and 3 were better only in the sense that the excruciating pain was gone and I didn’t have to live in bed.

Days 2-3 (Sat/Sun) there was extreme bloating all throughout my abdomen making it difficult to eat regular food ( am I hungry? and I not hungry? the pressure was messing everything up). In addition to the pressure and swelling in my abdomen, I had pain and aches all throughout my lower abdomen as well. Imagine wearing a belt of pain filled with rocks that shift around…that’s sort of what it felt like. Walking was doable, but also difficult. Getting up in to bed or folding forward in any way was uncomfortable. Going to the bathroom was a whole other story….squeezing your abdomen to urinate becomes an unpleasant experience and you will most likely become constipated because of all the hormones and pain medication so there’s an additional source of pressure and discomfort in the very area you don’t want it!

I would HIGHLY recommend getting ahead on water and a natural laxative like Senokot the day BEFORE surgery so you don’t get behind because those little things make a HUGE difference during recovery. Day 3 I even did a water enema in addition to the Senokot I had been using because I really needed that to be taken care of!!! Do this with caution however because you may still be highly inflamed and so monitor the amount of water you use….basically….don’t push it. Just use enough to get things flushed out and then maybe do it once or twice depending on how you are feeling.

Occasionally it’s also difficult to breath from all the swelling and pressure in your abdominal area so adjusting to take deep breathes and trying not to breath too far down into your diaphragm where all the inflammation is at, is a real consideration for a few days.

Day 4 - FINALLY I hit a turning points! I’m experience less bloating and the scale began to go down. I didn’t mention it earlier, but during the tail end of the hormone treatments and on through the egg retrieval process the scale began to creep up. It hit a high point a few days after the retrieval because of inflammation and water retention but for me, on day 4, it began to go back down…. yay! I’m hoping that means that the bloating, inflammation and the sale will continue to go down from here on out!

Today there is still bloating and a fanny pack of discomfort, but much more manageable than any of the days prior! I’m also back to eating normally since the past few days it was most gluten free bread or crackers bone broth, chocolate pudding etc… Yesterday (Sunday) we celebrated Keegans birthday and the birthday lunch was the most normal food/meal I had eaten all at once since the surgery.

Results

As I mentioned, they successfully retrieved 23 eggs but i’m unsure how many were mature. I believe that if I need to pursue the second half of this process in the future the worst is definitely behind me. Is it worth it? OY. Like I said, I don’t know. There’s nothing I can do about it now, but I certainly didn’t expect to be an invalid for 3-4 days post retrieval and experience the level of discomfort I have. Personally, it’s a little frustrating because I know that chemo will be it’s own process and may bring with it a whole new set of pain and side effects…so had I know this would be so painful - would I have chosen it? Not sure. But I did, and now we have a safety net which is a good thing.

I wanted to share this because when I was researching what to expect there aren't a lot of stories sharing the after care experience being as intense as it was for me. Perhaps I’m a special flower that just really experienced the max levels of pain and thats unusual, but if it’s NOT, and you choose to go this route, I want you to be fully prepared mentally!!! Because if this IS your dream, it’s only a few days and you can definitely do it :)

Top tips

I always like to share anything I can through my experiences to help you avoid mistakes I make and and/or use tools that I used that did help!! Here are some tips if YOU are considering going through this process.

1) Definitely eat a healthy diet, there was one week where I really craved more carbs and sugar but other than that I stuck to my usual nutrition! Focus on veggies water, and healthy fats to support your fertility process!

2) Are you on the fence about fertility treatment? there are lots of other things too try first including changing your diet and lifestyle! In fact, several of my personal clients have “accidentally” become pregnant after working together when previously it had been more difficult. Personally, had cancer not forced my hand, I wouldn’t have chosen this for myself. I spent several years working on my hormones and balancing them naturally! I even eliminated my PMS completely and regulated my cycled to 28 days! There are lots and lots and lots of books and resources out there so I would’t recommend IVF as your FIRST step…but sometimes it’s a necessary step so don’t let yourself feel guilty if it IS something you need to go through either!

3) Vitamins. Things like curcumin, fish oil, multi vitamin and protbiotics are beneficial almost always, but certainly when you are trying to keep your inflammation low and your digestion regular!! I was really happy that I didn’t experience a lot of discomfort BEFORE the procedure. They kept indicating that I would, but I didn’t!

4) Definitely over hydrate as soon as you begin to take the medicines. When I started taking the shots I didn’t realize you could get dehydrated and I got behind at first. Staying up on your water intake REALLY helps - be proactive!!!

5) Be aware of the constipation reality. It’s not helpful and it’s not fun. Consider starting the day before retrieval with a natural laxative and get as much water in you as possible prior to the surgery cut off/ fasting time!!

6) Regardless of how natural or healthy you are, do NOT shy away from the real pain meds if you need them. They exist for times like this and will help you get through the first 24-48 hours!!!!

7) Remember- you CAN do this, Your body is designed to do amazing things, and it will recover and heal, and you can always assist it in detoxing this process as well. Remember to build up a really great support team behind you - that makes the BIGGEST difference!!!

8) Speaking of support teams - get a family member or friend to make dinner the night of the surgery. You may be drinking liquids and downing bone broth, but it’s extra helpful for your family to have some extra food that you don’t have to stress about!!!

9) And finally, when you ARE taking lots of NSAIDS or pain RXs, consider taking some supplements to protect your tummy and gut lining, I, again, got a little behind on this day 1 and could start to tell that my tummy wasn’t happy about it. Since then I’ve been careful abbot taking GI Response which is a poster supplement you blend with water that contains L Glutamin which repairs your epithelial cells, and skipper elm, marshmallow root etc that help soothe and heal as well.

Have you been through IVF???

What was YOUR experience??? Share below!

Massaged Kale with Fennel Salad

This salad is delightfully nourishing and gives you all the benefits of kale, without the digestive distress. When you massage kale you break down some of the tough fibers in the cell wall that make raw kale hard to digest. 

If you normally have trouble digesting kale the solution is to either steam your kale or massage it. This recipe is one of my clients favorites! You still get all the amazing benefits of raw kale: the enzymes, magnesium, vitamin C and more. 

Massaging nourishing oil and lemon juice into the kale also help make the nutrients more bioavailable and easier to assimilate. Plus, it tastes delicious and can be paired with grilled chicken or fish for a classic healthy meal. 

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, chopped

• 1 large lemon, juiced

• 1 large garlic clove, minced

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 cup shredded carrots

• 1 cup chopped celery

• ½ cup thinly sliced fennel (optional if you don’t like the taste of licorice)

• ¼ cup pine nuts
  
  

Directions

1. Add kale to a large mixing bowl along with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Using clean, bare hands, massage the kale until it is wilted (about 2 to 3 minutes).

2. Once the kale is ready, top your salad with carrots, celery, fennel, and pine nuts. No extra dressing is needed.

If kale is something that’s hard to digest for you, there might be a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. If you want to be able to eat whatever you want and have no digestive issues, you need to check out my gut health program. These principles have truly transformed my life as well as countless others. 

Check out my new 6 week program Stop Dieting and Live Your L.I.F.E - Discover your #YOUtrition launching February 11! Or join me for one of my upcoming webinars where you will learn more about your #YOUtrition and have the chance to ask me any questions!!

My experience with Emotional Code Therapy

Hey Hey Diva friends!

As I get deeper into the world of holistic health and functional medicine, energy work has been coming up more and more. At first I think "uh oh, take this woo woo with a grain of salt!" and it's true, you do need to be careful who you work with, and know what your personal and spiritual beliefs are and if they align with the practitioner you choose to see....

In my case, I'm a Christian and wholeheartedly believe in the spiritual realm which means there is a good side and a bad side to that. In working with someone on anything spiritual or energy related I would want to make sure I felt comfortable with the process and their point of view.

As skeptical as I have been in the past I am opening up to the possibility that emotional and energy work may be just as important as physical care in our future healthcare model. Consider this: You can find yourself in a traumatic situation and physically heal but if you have not emotionally recovered that event will follow you the rest of your life and may prevent you from healing physically 100%.

There is a spiritual aspect to healing that we don't fully understand and may never comprehend completely. Intuitively we do know that there are ties and cords, thoughts and feelings that come from or connect us to others that contribute to our physical health and if we are not vigilant in this area we may find that bitterness, depression and anxiety have a much stronger chance of taking hold when negative things happen.

A few months ago my friend introduced me to Lisa McCoskey who I interviewed on my podcast about her book The Living Well Code. Lisa happens to also be an emotional code practitioner and  when my curiosity was peaked she gifted me a session with her daughter.

I had no idea what emotional code therapy WAS and when my initial session was over the phone I was thinking "is this girl psychic? this is weird....do i believe this? how is she doing this....this is so accurate!"....

Turns out, she was using muscle testing after "connecting to my energy" so she could walk through the session remotely. 

I know I know...it sounds nuts but let me explain. Muscle testing, or kinesiology, is based on the belief that your subconscious knows the answers to questions and cannot lie. You can experiment with this theory at home by having a friend hold out their arm in front of you. Then ask them to say their actual name out loud. Once they have done that, press down gently on their arm and feel the resistance. Because they just spoke truth it should be pretty firm. Now repeat this a second time but have them identify themselves with another name "My name is...snoopy". Press down on their arm and you may notice that it falls down or is much weaker because their body did not resonate with that as the truth. Lies and deception actually make us physically weak..... Don't believe me? Try this with someone but DON'T TELL THEM what you expect to happen.

Again - totally skeptical here so I tried this at home and it's CRAZY how accurate this can be. Now, I'm not saying this is scientifically studied, and I'm not saying that there is no room for errors or manipulation here - BUT I am saying that there is much to the spiritual and energetic world that God created that we as conscious and limited humans may never fully understand and just because we don't understand it or because we think it's weird, doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist.

My actual experience:

The first session, like I said, was on the phone. In this session she identified 21 emotions in my heart wall that needed to be released. What was extraordinary about this, besides how many of them truly hit home, was that some were inherited. That's right...some of the emotions that I didn't really recognize as my own she was able to identify as inherited emotions/struggles.

Side note - doesn't the bible back that up? "...The sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations..." (Ex 34:7, Deut 24:16, Num 14:18 etc...). We are now discovering in SCIENCE how this is genetically true as well - genetic changes happening generations prior due to emotions and experiences are transferring down to children and grandchildren…so why not emotions?

The emotions identified were things like: unworthy, overwhelm, grief...etc..

Lack of control was one I could certainly relate to BUT was identified as an inherited emotion from an alcoholic grandparent. The whole process was fascinating. At the end of the session we RELEASED those emotions.

Now - because I'm a Christian and my practitioner was as well, I viewed the closing part as a prayer for release. I know that not everyone that goes through this process believes what I do and it may still be effective, but for me that makes sense. When you're able to identify these struggles you can end with a prayer for God to release them.

My second session was in person and even more crazy! The second session was really cool because I could physically see the muscle testing and understand more of the process. Definitely make it less woo woo when you see it happening right in front of you!

In the second session, we identified negative cords that needed to be broken. I.E. Negative emotions going from one person to another (in either direction). Which DUH makes sense....have you ever felt a weird connection to an old friend, an ex, or someone in your life and you don't know why?  Have you ever suddenly thought about them a lot with no explanation? It's almost like you have an imprint on them and over time if that becomes negative that cord needs to be broken.

What was SUPER interesting was while we were going through THIS process a name came up that we needed to address later. Once we came back to that name she told me "That girl is a saboteur in your life". Yeah. that made sense.  A saboteur is someone sending negative thoughts, wishes or energy your way and I could totally see that happening in this case. So we then started the process of identifying other saboteurs so we could break those connection as well.

You guys - this was a weird process and I had TWELVE people in my life that I needed to identify and break those connections with. Oddly enough every single one of them made sense to me - people that had been mean to me, people that were really snooty and looked down on me, people that are just really bitter unkind people....

I know, I know....it's getting weird. But here's the takeaway.....emotional code therapy is so gentle, if it works for you you'll save thousands of dollars on traditional talk therapy AND skip all the emotional pain you have to go through dredging those feelings up from your past. ECT can identify issues and help you let them go without any long, tearful sessions.

Think it's totally crazy? Maybe it is - the mind is a powerful thing so does it really matter if it works or if you only BELIEVE it works if the result is the same? Emotional healing is emotional healing and this is just another tool that may be more effective, gentle, and helpful for those who need it. 

Want to try it? Schedule a session here.

What about you? Have you tried ECT? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences below!

You may also like these blog posts:

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Hormone Supporting Coleslaw

say whaaaaaaaaat?!

Hey Hey Diva friends!! What the heck is hormone supporting coleslaw? Am I joking?! No my friends I am NOT and you should get EXCITED because this is one super healthy, super delicious, and (yay!) super EASY recipe....

Let's touch on the benefits of each ingredient first.

*This post contains affiliate links from Amazon*

Cabbage. Estrogen dominance is a very common hormonal imbalance in women. Processed foods that mimic estrogen, chemical exposure and poor detox ability can all contribute to estrogen dominance. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable and cruciferous veggies have phytochemicals called insoles which help you metabolize your estrogen down the healthiest pathway possible. (more on that when my next podcast drops on July 16!) In addition. green veggies in general are great for supporting your liver and digestion both of which are super important in regulating your hormone balance! 

Coconut Mayo. This is your source of healthy fats. Healthy fats are CRUCIAL for balanced hormones. A low fat, low carb diet is often a precursor for hormone imbalances. Coconut oil provides nutrients needed for hormone production AND it can assist in calming inflammation.

Raisins. Mostly in here for flavor, raisins are a dense source of carbohydrates which (as stated above) are necessary in whole foods form and in healthy proportions to maintain hormone balance. Turns out, they are also a great source of magnesium, iron and boron which studies have shown boost your absorption of magnesium AND beneficially impact your use of estrogen.

Bacon - YES BACON. This is in here because well....it tastes darn good :)

Easy Peasy Coleslaw

Ingredients:

• Cabbage
• Applegate Sunday Bacon
• Organic Raisins
• Chosen Foods Coconut Mayo (or any other clean, healthy fat based mayo like avocado or olive oil)

Directions: 

1. Cut about half the cabbage into shredded pieces
2. Cook the bacon until crisp
3. Mix 2 large spoonfuls of mayo into the cabbage ( I actually melted mine down first to thoroughly coat the cabbage)
4. Crumble the bacon onto the cabbage mix
5. Add approximately 1/2 cup raisins or until it looks visually decent :)
6. Mix well and keep refrigerated!

Sugar Free (almost) Strawberry Parfait

Hey Hey there Diva Friends! 

I recently made this strawberry parfait and not only was it a HIT, it was sugar free! Well....sorta :) There was ZERO refined sugar but a little bit of maple syrup and honey sprinkled throughout. For most that are not on a strict elimination diet this would make a really great treat and get this....it's healthy enough for breakfast if you would really want to do that :P

When I was thinking about what I wanted to make I googled (of course) 4th of July paleo desserts and lots of fun red white and blue treats come up - most of them using strawberries and blueberries for that patriotic look. Lots of parfait options came up which inspired me to make me own....

Enjoy!

Strawberry Tapioca Parfait

Ingredients:

• Against All Grain Shortbread Cookies
• 3 Pints fresh organic strawberries halved
• Honey
• Let's Do Organic Tapioca
• Full Fat Coconut Milk

Directions:

I made the shortbread, tapioca, and strawberry filling the day prior so they could cool completely. Then I assembled everything just before we ate them. I made 8 large parfaits and doubled the tapioca recipe but had leftovers. You may need to adjust amounts based on parfait serving sizes and number of people.

1. Make the shortbread cookies ahead of time. Making them pretty isn't a priority unless you care how the decorate topper ones look. About half of them will be crumbles up so I made 24 balls, flattened them out and baked according to the directions.
2. For the strawberry sauce I took 2 pints and cut them in half. Then I placed them in a saucepan over low-med heat with a few drizzles of honey and let them cook (stirring occasionally) until the broke down into a lumpy jam. You could continue to cook if you wanted a smoother sauce but I liked the lumps. Let cool in the refrigerator.
3. Make the tapioca according to the box except sub out the sugar for honey and let cool completely. 

To assemble:

1. Start with an ice scream scooper of tapioca pudding. Then scoop the strawberry sauce on top making a layer thick enough to see and differentiate on the side. 
2. Loosely chop about 8-12 of the shortbread cookies and layer them on top of the strawberry filling.
3. Spoon a little more tapioca on the cookie sprinkles and then garnish with a few slices of fresh strawberries and 1 full shortbread cookie.

*Kylene is an Amazon affiliate and the links provided are amazon affiliate links.

Our Perfect Burger

Hey Hey Diva friends! 

I hope you had a wonderful 4th! Need some inspiration for dinners the rest of the week? Look no further...I know that this recipe becomes a staple for you as it has for us. This is our FAVORITE burger recipe and when I'm in a hurry or haven't planned dinner ahead of time we simply thaw some beef and throw this sucker together!

What you need:

• 1lb grass-fed beef
• Cumin
• Red onion
• 1 4oz can diced green chilis
• salt
• garlic
• Heirloom Tomato
• Bubbies Pickles
• Bubbies Sauerkraut

To make:

1. Chop approximately half small red onion (you need about 1/4 cup chopped. Save the rest to top the burgers )
2. Mix the beef, red onion and diced chilis (do not drain the can) together. 
3. Spice according to taste - I probably add about 1TBS of cumin and a large dash of salt and garlic.
4. Thoroughly mix the beef mixture in a bowl with your hands and squeeze tightly into 4 patties
5. Cook on a skillet over medium heat approximately 6-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 165F in the middle. 
6. Top with fresh tomato, onion, pickles and sauerkraut.

Watermelon Juice

Hey Hey Diva friends!!!

The 4th is TOMORROW and I'm sure you are heading to a BBQ or inviting friends over to celebrate while YOU grill out....either way, I wanted to share one of THE most insole yet delightful recipes I've recently stumbled upon....that is...WATERMELON JUICE!

Why make the juice instead of eating the fruit? I actually think it helps the watermelon taste sweeter. Think about it- when you cut the watermelon up, all the juice drains to the bottom of the bowl...when you make watermelon juice, you drink EVERYTHING and it tastes incredibly delicious!

Here's what you need:

• 1 very red, very ripe watermelon
• Blender
• Yup - that's it!!

1. Cut your watermelon into small enough chunks to fit comfortably in the blender 
2. Blend
3. Chill

If you really want to be fancy, garnish with some mint or berries or even top with some homemade whipped cream. When you stumble upon a truly ripe watermelon this incredibly basic recipe is truly a delight!

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!!!

 

 

Successful Traveling Part 2- Driving

Hey Hey Diva friends! Welcome to part 2 of my travel series - giving you all the tips you need to stick to your goals when traveling! If you missed part 1 check it out here.

Today it's all about DRIVING! Driving is awesome because it gives you the chance to take MORE of your own foods that you really love without stressing about having to find them at a local grocery store when you get there.

I recommend stocking up on your favorite snack bars and pre-making a few staples like breakfast muffins or homemade trail mix. Once you arrive you can always stock up on fruits, veggies, and extras!

Check out the list below for some ideas:

• Breakfast muffins like these! Easy to make and easy to travel...
• Rise bars
• Raw Revolution Bars
• Thunderbird Bars
• Fruit
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Trail Mix
• Nut Butters (try these single serve easy to carry packs!)
• Simple Mills crackers  (Bring one of their box mixes along if you have the time or ability on your travels to make some pizza crust or desserts!)
• Plantain chips
• Chikpeatos  (roasted chick peas)
• Paleo granola (make ahead or bought)  
• Shakeology ( I drink it every day and its so easy to travel with!)

A little bit of planning, a little bit of packing and you're good to go! Next up....what to stock your hotel room with!

What are your favorite travel snacks? Share below!

Successful Traveling Part 1 - The Airport

Hey Hey Diva friends! So I always get a lot of questions about traveling. From navigating the airport, to being in a new place, to working around the feelings of relatives who made food....I'm going to answer all of your questions in a short blog series all about travel and food!

I recently took a short trip to Michigan and I would say this is the most difficult trip in terms of food that I've had in quite a while! BUT I'm also here to tell you - if I can do it YOU CAN TOO.

Me with a RISE bar - my new and current obsession...

So let's lay the foundation for the whole series: 

Priority #1 YOU MUST KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES. Because let's face it. If we don't have them, we will break them....because they don't exist. It's the same as stealing when you have no moral absolutes. Who's to say it's wrong?

What are your non negotiables? Do you have any? If not - set them. NOW. I

ll give you mine. My #1 non-negotiable is that I will not eat anything with wheat or gluten in it knowingly. This is for several reasons. a) I know enough about how it affects your body now to know it's not good whether you have coeliac, a sensitivity, or no observable reactions to eating it. It still causes inflammation and gut damage. So it's not for me! b) I've had a documented HIGH sensitivity to it. Again. Not worth it.

What will I negotiate on? Dairy and sugar. These are 2 things I normally don't have in my home but when in a pinch I'm not as concerned about them sneaking into my snack bars or restaurant orders. You might have a severe dairy reaction however, which would make that a non-negotiable for you. Gas? Skin rashes? It might be better to skip it....

Ok. Now that you've laid the foundation this allows you to easily make choices and know what you're willing  to say yes or no to on your trip. So let's get right down to it and talk about airport foods.

Airport snacks

This one can be tricky as it varies from airport to airport due to size and city! There are however, a few staples that most airports provide. Keep in mind, these are not necessarily foods I recommend make up a majority of your diet - this is surviving on your negotiables in sticky situations.

1.  Nuts (just avoid the mixes with chocolate and sugar added)
2. Chips (when possible choose a better brand like Terra or Jackson's Honest)
3. Yogurt or parfait ( go for greek, high protein and low sugar options)
4. Fruit. Most airports have stands with apples and bananas 
5. Snack bars. Cliff bars, kind bars, Lara bars and That's It bars are usually available. Just make sure to read all the labels s you don't get some of your non-negotiables in there accidentally. No one wants a gassy neighbor on the airplane. 

In flight food

Depending on your flight, if it's really long, at the right time of day, or first class you might have the option to get an in meal flight. They usually have a gluten free option that includes a salad and protein. Skip the yucky dressings and extras. Top your salad with some nuts and skip the alcoholic beverage options. Go with water or black coffee if it's before noon. Oh - and skip that warm cookie they serve up at the end :P

If you aren't on a flight that serves a meal no worries! Sometimes they offer snacks like popcorn, chips or nuts. If they don't, that's ok too because you planned ahead and packed some snacks in your carry on! 

Carryon Snacks

These are good for in airport, on your vacation or on the plane....anytime!

1. Fruit ( grapes, apples, oranges and bananas travel well. Just be careful of the last two if you have blood sugar issues). 
2. Nuts
3. Shakeology ( I bring mine every trip along with a shaker bottle so I can get some cold water and drink it up whenever I'm hungry!
4. Lara bars
5. Thunderbird bars
6. Jerky (read the labels to avoid lots of sugar and/or wheat which is usually in soy sauce)
7. Simple Mills crackers
8. Mediterra Bars (a really nice and delicious way to actually get some greens while traveling)
9. Rise Bar (whey or vegan protein available) a great tasting protein bar with only 3-4 ingredients that you can pronounce.
10. Water  - had to throw this in there. DRINK ALL THE WATER when you travel it's SO important to stay hydrated. Ever notice you get constipated when flying? It's super easy to get dehydrated when traveling. My tips to stay hydrated: 

• Drink water before you fly
• Drink a bottle during flight
• Drink a bottle during your layover
• Drink a bottle on your second flight 
• Grab another bottle when you land.

Airport Meals

Ok, so you have a super long layover and you are SO TIRED of SNACKS. Ugh I know, I get it. So here are some options:

1. Bunless Burger
2. Nachos with corn chips
3. Smoothie from Jamba Juice or whatever smoothie bar they have at that airport
4. Meat and Rice ( just avoid soy sauce and asian meats dipped in sauces you don't know about)
5. Omelet
6. Steak and veggie side
7. Sushi
8. Salad ( either from one of those kiosks or a restaurant)

Yup! All of those are options at an airport!! Will it be as good as home? No way. But stick to those non-negotiables, drink your water, and your tum tum will thank you when you finally get home :)

What are YOUR travel tips (or questions!) Post them below!

Next up....how to navigate family when traveling (or they're visiting)

Pulling back the layers of gut health

Hey hey Diva friends! 

Today I am PUMPED to share some updates with you! Many of you have followed me through my FDN journey with my certification and part of that process was becoming a client myself so I could experience the process and hello....work on my own gut issues!

I recently shared my Journey with H. Pylori and how my testing revealed that i hadn't eradicated it the first time so I needed to go for a second round. While my husband had knocked his out in one fell swoop ( with a shorter protocol while also being less compliant) my gut (as usual) was proving difficult. 

I am happy to announce that since I received my last test in April I am H Pylori free! That was step #1 and NOW, I'm finally getting to the ROOT of my digestive struggles.

Your gut is a really intricate web of little bug good and bad. Normally they live in synergy and the good bacteria keeps the opportunistic bacteria in check. Your stomach acid also plays a major roll in not only breaking down your food, but also keeping nasty pathogens at bay.

When there becomes an imbalance whether from stress, poor diet, antibiotic use, or other (check off all of the above and MORE in my history), this ecosystem of opportunistic bacteria begins to thrive where yeast, fungi, parasites, bacteria, and inflammation all creates the perfect environment for the other to thrive and more of ten than not, when one is found awry, others are to follow....

This is what I discovered in my most recent test. Now that I had been on a protocol for a period of time I was finally able to see what was ACTUALLY underneath. Literally. Pathogens like to create and live in something called a biofilm that protect them. Sort of like a spiderweb of protection for them against your mucosal lining. GROSS!

Anyway, when you go on any sort of pathogen protocol a large part of the process is breaking that home up WHILE targeting the bacteria AND restoring your good bacteria through food and probiotics and gut healing supplements.

But I digress.....now that my insides are exposed so to speak, I could see what was really happening....Below are some snapshots of my test results:

WHEW! Ok let's break this down.

1) I have to major parasites: cryptosporidium and cyclosporine. These nasty bugs are what's called intracellular parasites where they have a life cycle of 7 days and weave in and out of your cells causing damage galore.

2) I have an amoeba called endolimax nana - also not great 

3) Some bacteria dysbiosis (imbalance between the good and bad)

4) Notice in the Phyla Microbiota the ratio is HIGH. The section explains the ratio between gram negative and gram positive bacteria. You'd like it to be under 1. High ratios like mine are typically found in obese subjects or people who have difficulty posting weight which could potentially explain the difficulty I've been having over the past year in losing weight regardless of how clean my diet is.

5) My beta glucaronidase level is high. This is a marker for detoxification and while I could use a supplement to work on that, the supplement can also lower your estrogen. Since I have historically had low hormones and have been working on increasing them this is a marker I will watch as it hopefully goes down through the process.

6) My SigA is very low. This is your first line of defense in your mucosal lining. It's an immune system marker and mine is low ( but not as low as I've seen!). For reference, below 500 is considered a suppressed immune system response. This is something I will work on through my protocol.

7) A random yeast overgrowth - small, but you don't want that to get out of control!

8) Finally, I'd like to draw your attention to the zonulin marker. I love this marker because zonulin essentially tests you if you have a leaky gut or not. Zonulin's roll in the body is to open the tight junctions between the cells in your epithelial cell wall that lines your gut. This can be cause be eating foods like gluten that have been shown to stimulate zonlulin and cause leaky gut, or zonulin can be increased due to infections because it's other roll is shuttling out the bad stuff.

So in my case, we think the zonulin is so high because of the parasites wreaking havoc. The zonulin is trying to help me by flushing out the toxins as fast as it can.

WOAH BOY!!!! That's a lot to work on. But also very encouraging because several things that have  been happening in my body this past year have been SO frustrating when I feel like I'm doing everything RIGHT! This is why it's so important to TEST DON'T GUESS!!!!

I'm on a 60 day parasite protocol followed by a 60 day bacteria protocol ( remember these guys really like to feed off each other!) The protocol will address the parasites, boost my immune system, focus on healing my gut lining, and knock out the extra yeast and bacteria.

In a way, these results make me THANKFUL. I was really getting frustrated with my inability to lose weight, my perfect (literally) diet and my lack of digestion perfection....while SO MUCH has improved for me (energy, sleep, mood, PMS, etc....) I obviously still lave some digging to do.

Many of you may wonder why I don't run to take an antibiotic with results like this! I completely understand that questions and trust me, I've considered the easier, less expensive, and shorter route that that provides. Unfortunately, antibiotics are a large part of why my gut looks like this in the first place. When you use them they not only kill the bad but the good bacteria as well and it's when those good bacteria get low that the opportunistic bacteria latch on. While we can restore health and boost your microbiome we don't know yet if you can ever fully restore your microbiome to it's full glory - meaning - you never ever want to full kill of an entire strain in your body because you don't really know if you can ever get it back!!!

I would also be concerned about taking an antibiotic at this time due to the high level of zonulin which can indicate some inflammation. I don't want to put any fuel on the fire right now so I'm choosing my slow, steady, herbal route complete with nutrition and patience :) 

I hope this blog is helpful! It's funny as a practitioner sharing when you have your own struggles. Part of me wants to act like I have it all together for you but in reality who does that serve? The whole reason I became an FDN is because I was seeking to find the cause of all my health concerns including fatigue, bloating and non-existent hormones! Now I'm finally getting the the root of it all and how crappy would it be not to share the process?

I'll keep ya posted :) Let me know if you have any questions below!