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!

When things aren't perfect...hacking your digestion and PMS bonus tips!

Hey Hey Diva friends!

Recently I've been sharing my free guide: 5 steps to crushing your PMS where I share my biggest lifestyle tips on how to reduce inflammation, support your hormones, and get your cycle back on track. These are simple, but big steps  and ones that may take some time to implement....

So....what happens if you're say...on vacation like I was when my last period started and things are NOT to perfect? You're drinking coffee, enjoying some sweet treats....etc....

Here are some extra bonus hacks to go along with the guide to dig a little deeper and give your body that extra support!

4 bonus tips to crush your PMS

1) Take extra nutrients.

During our vacation I KNEW I would be splurging so I planned ahead and purchased some Bulletproof Unfair Advantage

This little liquid supplement is good for your brain, cells and mitochondrial health. I took 2-3 a day while on vacation!!!

You may also want to increase your magnesium intake as stress (travel) can deplete it (most of us are already deficient!). I like Dr. Mercola L Threonate as it's one form of magnesium that has been shown to cross the blood brain barrier. Magnesium is important in over 700+ enzymatic functions in the body including recovery, muscle soreness, energy, and quality sleep!

2) Get on top of inflammation.

I knew my period was coming, even though I thought it would come once I got HOME....so I wanted to make sure I stayed on top of any inflammation that may occur from less than stellar nutrition choices that week. I made sure to take 1-2 fish oil supplements at each meal in addition to eating lots and lots of REAL fish that was easily available at the resort!

We (American's) are often too high in omega 6 fatty acids. This is often due to poor diet and exposure to processed oils like soy, peanut, and canola in our processed foods and not enough omega 3s which are anti inflammatory. One 3s are found in fish, walnuts, and seeds like chia and flax. Recommendations vary but an acceptable ratio is 4:1 omega 6 to omega 3 and most in America are more like 26:1. Ideally in a perfect world you could get 1:1.

I also took some ALEVE. Not much, but I have had SUCH pain in the past it made me nervous if I felt anything at all and I wanted to stay on top of it. NSAIDS can really wreak havoc on your stomach lining and gut in general. Often regular use of NSAIDS for pain, sinus infections etc... are a precursor for leaky gut and inflammation in the first place. So we want to avoid them as much as possible. They can however provide a valuable service on occasion when used in the appropriate way.

I do try to balance my NSAID use with a scoop of Innate - GI RESPONSE which is loaded with gut soothing and healing ingredients. This allows me to rest easy and I would recommend taking a scoop along with the NSAID.

**I would also not recommend you continue taking ALEVE every 2-3 hours or anything like that...take as minimal a dose as you can to feel comfortable and move on.

3) Digestive enzymes.

I take these anyways but if you don't you might want to on vacation. I ADD one on vacation called GlutenEase in case of cross contamination. The nice thing about this particular supplement however is that it also helps you break down casein so if I am choosing to eat extra dairy for example, I'll still take one. 

Enzymes are just an extra boost to help your break down and process your food efficiently. The LAST thing you want on vacation is to get constipated or bloated - yuck!

4) DETOX.

Let's face it - NO ONE is perfect on vacation. You may want to include some gentle detox a few times that week. Activated charcoal is a great natural binder. It swoops in and grabs things like heavy metals, toxins, and things that may cause you discomfort, bloating or gas. It binds to those buggers and sweeps them out with your poo. :) 

Let's just stop for a moment and clarify that I am NOT recommending you take these additional steps as an EXCUSE to binge and party for a week. We still ate incredibly healthy while on vacation - got lots of vitamin D, even worked out several times that week. But out of our normal routine we also included lots of treats, we relaxed, didn't stress and enjoyed our time and food.

Stress can play a MAJOR factor in how you feel, how you digest, and how your body handles your next cycle. I am happy to report than when my period came it was non-eventful. No pain, issues - just hello I'm here, have a nice day.

To ME that is progress. To ME who used to WRITH on the floor in pain, that is a miracle.  So a few dietary tweaks, a few changes here and there, thinking ahead for vacation...TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Think you can't have a perfect period? Think it's too good to be true? Download my free guide today and get started!

*Kylene is an Amazon associate and the links provided in this post are affiliate links.

Flourless Orange Chocolate Scones

Hey Hey Diva friends! It's my birthday so....YOU get a recipe :)

But FIRST!! Are you signed up for my weekly newsletter? If not, you really should be! Recipes, tips, podcast and blog round-ups, first dibs on discounts, and more! Click here to get an email from me every Thursday morning!

When I was a kid, I would start planning my birthday like 4 months in advance...yeah I know I know, overkill....I don't really know where that came from, but I SERIOUSLY love the day.

Fun fact:It's also Flag day (my Mom used to tell me that they put all the flags up for my birthday) ha!

Anywayyyy.....I remember somewhere in my teens it was Oprah's 50th birthday. She was this icon, this rockstar, this super woman who had achieved so many life goals....and I remember her saying that each decade gets better. For whatever reason, that stuck with me. I really didn't like it when people worried about aging, and would dread their birthdays like "oh no! I'm 3 years away from being 30!!" ......I wanted to adopt the Oprah attitude - it's jsut a number, and it can get BETTER with age....

So I did. And it does :) Life DOES get better with age. Here are just a few things for me that have improved each year:
My health
My strength
My attitude
My life purpose
My business....

Now, working as an FDNP it's my job to help you get to the point physically where each year gets better for YOU! To that end, I wanted to give YOU a gift on my birthday!!

In August I'll be launching #HormoneHacker - a 10 week program focused on gut health and supporting your hormones naturally. I created this program because so many of you wanted to go a step further than #GetGutsyWithMe and learn more about your cycles and how your body works AS A WOMAN. 

So before I officially launch the 10 week program (stay tuned for all the awesome details!) I wanted to drop this little gift for you. It's my free guide to hack your PMS. 5 simple but major tips to get you on your way to cramp free month!!

I'd love your feedback, so make sure you hop into my free FB group Stop Dieting and Live Your Life to stay in touch as you begin to implement it!!!

p.s. Find this tool useful? Share this blog with a friend so they can download it too!

Without further ado - my birthday scone recipe:

Flourless Orange Chocolate Scones 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup cassava flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• orange zest
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup enjoy life choc chips

Directions:

1. Mix the wet ingredients
2. Mix the dry ingredients
3. Combine
4. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. Enjoy!

Note** I've noticed that cassava flour recipes tend to be best warm out of the oven, but we reheated these scones for breakfast and they were just fine! If anyone knows how to make them slightly fluffier I'd love to hear your tips!!!

Successful Traveling Part 3 - Hotels

Hey Hey Diva friends! This is the 3rd installment of my travel series  - if you missed part 1 - airport click here. Part 2 - driving click here.

Today it's all about the hotel and/or friends house you may be staying at. For this blog we are assuming you have access to a refrigerator at your location.

Having a fridge and microwave makes the biggest difference! This way you can stock up on all the good stuff. We like to scope out a grocery store or Whole Foods nearby and pick up the following items:

• Veggies
• Hummus
• Hard boiled eggs
• Plantains
• Sweet potatoes ( you can microwave them if the room has a microwave)
• Sweet potato or root veggie chips like Jacksons Honest or Terra
• tuna/salmon packs for lunches or snacks
• Guacamole single serve packs
• Almond/coconut milk
• Green juices

You might also pick up a few things like a cold brew coffee you like, sauerkraut or a apple cider vinegar shot to stick to your gut health habits that you've incorporated at home!

Depending on where you might be staying you'll have access to a lot of great foods or none at all. Some hotels have an awesome breakfast and others make it truly difficult. If you think you'll have trouble accessing breakfast at your location make sure you think ahead and make some paleo muffins, bring some GF oatmeal (if you tolerate it), focus on fresh fruits, and green juices to get all the nutrients in each day!

If you have access to make breakfast or to purchase it, eggs, veggies, and fruit is always a great way to choose a balanced, fresh, breakfast! I will often use Shakeology as my breakfast when traveling as well - protein, probiotics and greens at least keeps me satisfied until I can find more food!

What tips or tricks do you have for travel food?

I'd love to hear them below!

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!

I suffer from adrenal fatigue....what now?

Hey Hey Diva Friends!

Hey all! Thank you so much for taking the survey recently - if you haven't had a chance yet please take 2 minutes to answer few questions below so I can provide more information and fun content that YOU want...

I was reviewing your answers and one question stuck out to me and I got really excited to answer it!
 

"I suffer from adrenal fatigue like many women.
How can gut health, diet, or exercise help?"

I LOVE THIS QUESTIONS because I too have struggled with adrenal fatigue. In fact being aware of adrenal fatigue and the importance of hormones was what prompted to seek natural healing paths and ultimately led me to FDN!

 Gut health, diet, and exercise are CRUCIAL components in the healing process so let's talk about each one...But before I jump into that, what IS adrenal fatigue? HPA axis dysfunction is the sciency-term for what we commonly call adrenal fatigue. There's a lot of huffing and puffing going on about the name of it because the more we learn about what it actually is, the more we realize it's not that your adrenals are tired but it's actually a breakdown in your stress regulation system.
 

Your hypothalamus receives signals from your environment (mental, emotional, or external) that communicate stress. Your hypothalamus then translates that information to your pituitary gland and your pituitary gland tells your adrenals what hormones to pump out. When we are in an acute stress state your adrenals are pumping out adrenaline, cortisol, and other fight or flight hormones.

Typically, this stress goes away shortly and there is a feed back loop where your adrenals communicate back to your brain effectively shutting everything back down and your body returns to homeostasis. Adrenal fatigue is when this hypothalmus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been activated so long, that the wires get crossed and the feedback loop is no longer effective. When this happens certain hormones become imbalanced and your body cannot regulate them in the appropriate ratios anymore. 

This is  when people begin to feel symptoms of fatigue, exhaustion, inability to cope with stress, blood sugar irregulation, anxiety and more.

There are many reasons that this can happen. Severe acute stress or trauma can induce adrenal fatigue, but more commonly in our society it's brought on by chronic stress. Chronic stress can be environmental (think mold or chemical overload), nutritional, mental/emotional, or physical. So let's talk about gut health, diet and exercise and they can help or hinder your healing process.

Gut Health 

Your gut is commonly called the "second brain" but some experts wish it was more accurately called the first brain. Your gut sends more signals to your brain than your brain does to your gut. That's right....your gut essentially controls your brain. All those little microbiota in there are crucial for brain health... 2 parts of the HPA axis are in....the BRAIN! 

You can get really in depth and talk about the science of how neurotransmitters and hormones are regulated in the gut, or you can go the woo-woo route and talk about how you manifest stress in the gut. It doesn't matter which angle you come from, the health of the gut is incredibly important for regulating your hormones AND your brain.

Diet

What helps your gut health the most but diet?  Anything from inflammation in the gut, to hyper permability (leaky gut), to gut dysbiosis (parasites or bacterial imbalances etc...) can be influenced in a positive or negative way from your diet.

• Foods can cause inflammation or they can calm it. 
• Foods can cause the tight junctions to open up in your gut lining or food can protect and soothe your gut lining.
• Certain foods can regulate hormones
• Food and fiber and regulate hormones, increase gut motility, and eliminate toxins (buildup of which can cause brain and hormone imbalances)

Thankfully, this is one aspect of our lives we have complete control over. When we commit to a pesticide free, chemical free, whole food approach to our diets, we lay the foundation for other changes to be more effective.

Exercise

While exercise is a helpful acute stress for healthy people, if you are in the exhaustive stage of adrenal fatigue (low cortisol, depleted hormones, tired often, inconsistent sleep and diurnal rhythms...) then exercise becomes another stressor that actually DEPLETES your body of the few resources it has left. 

When trying to heal from adrenal fatigue calming exercise like walking and yoga are the best options. As your body heals you can increase the amount of exercise but since chronic exercise and over exercise can damage the gut, that's just another reason to take it easy until you've made lots of headway in the right direction!

Takeaway:

Stress relief, the right nutrition, targeted healing for the gut, and health promoting movement are all steps you can take to reverse your adrenal fatigue, balance your hormones, calm anxiety and get back to your best life! I know because I've been there and this year, 2018, I feel better than ever! I'm not done healing and I have more to work on, but I have seen amazing sleep, more libido, and tons more energy just to name a few improvements! 

Interested in digging deep to find the root cause of your hormone imbalances? Click the link below to schedule a free call to find if working together is right for you!

Do you or have you struggled from adrenal fatigue? I'd love to hear your experience...share in the comments below!

Best Veggie EVAH!

Hey Hey Diva friends!

As I go through my Autoimmune protocol training there is a heavy focus on nutritional approach for management and healing. While it's obviously very specific for autoimmune conditions with lots of science and targeting for treating those diseases, much of the information is generally beneficial for all health too...

So of course, it reinspired me to get more nutrition and more vegetables into our daily meals. Patrick and I then found ourselves at WholeFoods a few weeks ago and I stood in the produce section looking for new vegetables to try in an effort to diversify our nutrient intake as much as possible....this led me to discover an amazing root vegetable called sunchokes.

My friends, if you've already known about these amazing roots WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! And if you don't....I'm going to share the deliciousness!

Jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke) is a root vegetable related to sunflowers. They are rich in potassium, iron, vitamin C and....flavor.

Join my FREE Facebook group - STOP DIETING AND LIVE YOUR LIFE- for more tips and fun content!  

Similar in appearance to turmeric or ginger, you might think they need to be peeled, but happily, the skin is edible. You can eat them raw or cooked!

Patrick googled how to cook them and since it was SO delicious, we haven't tried eating them any other way yet. The recipe we use is below!

Ingredients:

• As many sunchokes as your grocery has :)
• Olive Oil
• Pan that can go on the stove and in the oven

Directions:

1. Turn the oven on to 375
2. Slice the sunchokes in half
3. Fry them in olive oil for 5 minutes, sliced side down
4. Transfer them from the stove top to the oven for 42 minutes
5. Let them cool and enjoy warm and crispy!

This way of cooking them leaves you with a crispy outside and soft inside. It's similar in taste and texture to potatoes! We haven't tried salting or seasoning them but I'm sure there are many ways to enjoy these simply delicious veggies. 

Have you tried them yet? If so, what's YOUR favorite recipe?

Slices Sunchokes

A batch frying in oil and a batch ready to go in the oven! (You can use one pan if it's big enough)

Reverse engineering your health goals, and becoming your biggest advocate.

Hey Hey Diva friends!

Happy Friday! So, I know that not everyone can afford getting tons of personalized lab testing, doctors visits, supplements, or personal trainers. I do. While I do encourage you to invest in yourself as much as possible, I also encourage you to be your own advocate and do as much of the groundwork as possible YOURSELF.

You know your body the best, you know how you're feeling, and YOU can answer the following questions in order to reverse engineer your own health journey. So let's get started...

1) What am I struggling with?

Sort of obvious, you need to identify what you're struggling with. Is it weight loss resistance? Blood sugar instability? A disease? Inability to be consistent? Lack of knowledge of where to start?

Step one on any journey is to identify and define the problem. Be aware that several symptoms or underlying causes may overlap. For example, blood sugar imbalance may be due to an infection in the gut etc....Only when you know what your goal is can you move to step two.

2) What causes this?

Really dig deep. If its an emotional struggle that you identified, this part might make you feel vulnerable, defensive, scared, or angry. Why can't I maintain a habit? Why do I allow stress to derail all my efforts? Why can't I take the first step?

If those are questions you're struggling with begin to dig deeper. Is there a trauma, mental association or insecurity that you haven't yet identified? Is there simply lack of commitment - maybe you don't fully understand WHY you are making a change? 

If it's a physical condition you're working on this might require some time, effort, and research on your part! It's taken me many years and hours of personal research time to find the paths that have led me to the healthy road I'm on today. Don't skip this vital step by always trusting other people's opinions. Combine your research with your own intuition and listen to your body.

Most importantly have integrity in how you communicate with yourself. Don't make excuses to yourself and be willing to face some uncomfortable realities when you answer this question. This step will take time because you are the only one that can answer it. The good news is, if you're willing to put in the effort to answer this question you can continue on to the final step.

3) What activities, foods, supplements support this?

Regardless of whether your goal is mental, physical or emotional growth, there are always diet and lifestyle factors that can support you. The #1 thing that you have in your control EVERY day is the food you put into your mouth.

Your food not only affects your weight but it affects your moods, your energy, your ability to think clearly and work productively, and your ability to reach your goals. How awesome is that?! You have 100% control over something that can dramatically change the course of your life.

How have YOU implemented these steps in your own life? In what cases have you been your own advocate? Share the changes you've seen below!

Don't miss out on more tips, videos, an fun in the free FB group:

Stop Dieting and Live your Life! Join today!

Are you an under eater?

Hey Hey Diva friends!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3) You miss your cycle or it becomes irregular.

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

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

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

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

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

are digestion and hormone regulation!

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

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

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

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

Where the heck do I start?

Hey Hey Diva friends!

I know. It can be overwhelming. Gluten free, Keto, Low carb, High fat, low fat, macros, portion control....WHERE DO I START?!?!?! What diet is right for me?! How in the world are you supposed to know where to start when there is so much conflicting information out there?!

Well today I'm going to give you 3 mindset shifts that I hope will allow you to being trusting yourself more and listening to your body for the answers....

1) Eat Real Food

Intuitively, we know this is the right answer don't we? Like deep in our CORE we know that a weight watchers lasagna dinner isn't as good for you as a sweet potato with broccoli and beef roast.

In our heart of hearts, we know that our bodies are begging for real food and normally what hinders us from jumping on the bandwagon wholeheartedly is convenience. Right? That meal that's mailed to our door is convenience. McDonald's is convenience. Frozen diet food is convenience. But if we stop and check in with ourselves and step back for a minute....are any of those providing VALUE?

Besides convenience, are those foods worth anything? Do they help build my heart, my lungs, my brain? Do they support my hormones, my moods, my energy? Do they help me prevent cancer, alzheimers, dementia and diabetes? If the answer is no well....then we need to make some changes.

Here is the one question you need to determine if something should go into your mouth:

"Did it come from nature? Or did it come from a factory?"  

If it came from nature, or is a combination of things from nature (aka lara bars as an example - 2-6 whole food ingredients that you could technically make at home) then have at it. If it's from a factory and packed full of sugar, chemicals, preservatives or "other"...well...you know what to do ( or in this case, what NOT to do...)

2) No macro is bad

Macro is short for macronutrient. The main three nutrients that our diet is comprised of: Carbs, Fat, and Protein. Depending on which diet you've been on  in the past, (maybe all of them like me!) you've probably vilified one or all macronutrients at some point. "Don't eat carbs you'll blow up! Don't eat too much protein, don't eat fat ever!".....All of that is garbage.

Your body needs all three macros. Desperately. Let me say that another way. Your body is in dire need of carbohydrates. It's fueled on fat, and it builds and maintains muscles with protein. Don't ever fall prey to a fad that tells you any of the macros are inherently bad.

Here's the catch. You have to follow step #1 in order for step #2 to be true. If you are eating a processed standard American diet then yes - carbs are garbage.

Processed foods are the entire reason we HAVE a diet industry in the first place. With processed foods you HAVE to portion control and calorie count.

If you don't, you'll blow up like a balloon from all the sugar, hydrogenated trans fats, hybridized grains, and so forth...

When you eat real food none of that happens. So stop weighing your carbs, and counting your pistachios....carbs and fat are good for you. Did they come from nature? Or did they come from a box?

3) Think minimums not maximums 

We are SO USED to this restrictive mentality. What's mind-blowing about all of this is how much it resembles a hamster wheel! Processed foods make me crave more processed foods - they light up my brain like a motherboard stimulating appetite, addiction, and belly fat....so in order to control my weight, my appetite and my cravings I must measure, weight, and count my food... I must CONTROL and not go beyond my MAXIMUM......

BUT! When you jump OFF the hamster wheel of dieting and choose real foods that feed your brain, balance your hormones, stabilize your moods, quench your appetite send the proper hunger and full signals....you can then begin to view food as a GIFT. You can begin to view food as something that SERVES you instead of ENSLAVING YOU. You can then being thinking "How much of this does my body need? How can I get more of this into my body?"

Start thinking about #YOUTRITION not deprivation. Believe it or not, many many people I work with are under eaters. They beat themselves up because they are overweight (not understanding the hamster wheel yet) and think they must have no self control. While occasionally it might be a case of "get-off-the-couch- and-get-your-life-together", more often it's simply a case of the wrong foods wreaking havoc on your brain, your metabolism, your hunger, and your appetite. Get those foods out and watch the weight melt off, your moods balance, your energy increase, and your thinking become more clear. Essentially....a light bulb goes off and your body says, THANK YOU!

p.s. Would you like more support, tips, recipes, and monthly events? Join my FREE Facebook group: Stop Dieting and Live Your Life today!! 

I'd love to hear from YOU! When you made a switch to eating real foods what has your experience been like? Share below!

My favorite "processed" foods

Hey Hey Diva friends! Another week, another Friday!!!!

Recently I was taking to a friend of mine and one of the struggles she had was thinking of things to eat as a snack. When you're making a lifestyle change it can be totally daunting I get it! I've been there - multiple times.

I always like to keep it simple and encourage my clients to go back to the basics. Just eat real food. Did it come from a tree? Or did it come from a factory? You get the picture....

In todays world where we are constantly on the go whether it be trekking 4 kids to different activities or working in our busier than ever world, often we need something fast that we didn't have to make, that still falls within our goals and nourishes us as if we made it at home.

While this is a little more tricky, it's still doable. The TRICK is to read the label every time. If the label has a few ingredients that tell you you could make this item at home then go for it. If the label has 50 ingredients, half you don't recognize, and many -ides, -ates -oses and chemicals.....then skip it.

 My top 5 favorite "processed" foods

 

1. Simple Mills crackers. Simple Mills is an awesome brand that not only makes crackers, but they make cookie mixes, dessert mixes, pancake mixes, and even pre-baked treats as well. The reason I like them is because they try to not only keep the ingredients natural and healthy, but their goals is also to keep the ingredients minimal. That means, excluding spices, you'll normally find only 4-5 ingredient in each treat. And the ingredients are ones you don't have to worry about to boot.

My favorite flavors are Sun Dried Tomato and Natural Sea Salt.

2. Lara Bars

LaraBar brand's motto is "we believe in simplicity". Well, they also believe in flavor and each bar tastes amazing. Like I mentioned earlier, could you easily make your own Lara bar at home?! totally. I've done it, I've shared the recipe on this blog even. But when convenience without compromise is the priority, grab some Lara Bars and keep them in your purse! They now have crunchy seed bars and greens bars so you'll definitely be able to find a favorite, or two, or three :)

3. Rx Bars.

R.X Bars say it right on the label: "No B.S". You'll recognize every ingredient listed and get a nice boost of protein in each one too! I enjoy Chocolate Sea Salt and Maple Sea Salt but there are many others as well! They even have "kids" bars which are just smaller versions.

4. Shakeoogy. Truly one of the most nutrient packed snacks you can take on the go. This Shake is filled with superfoods from around the world, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and yes, some good ole protein too. I prefer the vegan version and my all-time favorite flavor is Vegan Chocolate. Legit tastes like cake - especially if you mix it with unsweetened Vanilla almond milk! Take it on the go, or add some PB or extras to beef it up as a meal!

5. Wild Rice Cakes.

They might be a little messy, but they are a great serving tray for some PB or almond butter! If you don't have an issue with rice or grains (always avoid grains with gluten, or genetically modified grains. Choose organic as much as possible) then wild rice cakes are a nice little treat. Top with PB and raisins, eat them plane, or create a savory snack with hummus and seaweed. I like the Lundberg brand!

Don't forget the fresh food snacks that are easy to take on the go as well like apples, bananas, grapes fresh off the vine, nuts, seeds or chocolate-free trail mix! 

What's your favorite on-the-go snack? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below! 

Taking the plunge and investing in yourself...

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

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

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

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

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

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

I want to improve my:

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

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

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

My journey with H Pylori

Hey Hey Diva Friends!!!!

WOW! This past month has been a roller coaster. Time is just flying by and I can't believe it's almost spring already. Wasn't yesterday NYE?? :)

Anywho - I've been very upfront and honest with you about my health journey over the past year or....so I thought! I realized recently that while I chatted with my newsletter VIPS and talk extensively with my personal clients about it I never created a post about my H Pylori experience....so here we go!

To learn about my food sensitivities testing click here

In July 2017 I got my stool test back. Good news - there was only one thing that showed up. Bad news, it was H Pylori. 

What is H Pylori?

It's a spiral shaped bacteria found in the cell lining of the stomach. You can acquire it from eating uncooked foods, drinking impure water, and saliva. Most likely if you have it your spouse does too. Your likelihood of infection is equal to a persons age whether they are symptomatic or not.

Over 50% of the population has

H. Pylori and doesn't know it!

How the heck do you have a bacteria overgrowth and not know? Well, sometimes the symptoms can go unnoticed. Or if you do notice them, you don't attribute them to the actual problem. 

For example here are some of the symptoms:

• Heartburn/acid reflux

• Upper abdominal pain

• Belching

• Gastritis

• Duodenal/Peptic ulcers

• Carcinoma

• Headaches – migraine

• Constipation

• Nausea

• Acne

• Halitosis

• Undigested food in stool

• Need for digestive enzymes

• Chronic dysfunction at T6-T7 (upper middle spine in between your shoulder

  blades.

• Aches similar to muscle soreness in upper/middle back 

Wow!! So... let's say none of those symptoms worry you a little...

H Pylori causes 90%+ of duodenal ulcers 80% of gastric ulcers and infected people have 2-6x increased risk of gastric cancer.

So, I'd say it's worth treatment right?! Well friends, if you know me, you know I'm pretty hard core. I jumped in and did the whole shebang! Unfortunately, when I retested in Feb 2018 I received this bummer news:

Oh my gosh Kylene, why are you sharing this?! You're a practitioner  - shouldn't you be sharing success stories? Well I'm sharing this because I want to be HONEST with you. Sometimes these buggers are flat out hard to kill. One of the downsides to this particular test is that it doesn't give you a measurement. I've since moved on to using  another test that does which is very helpful. This would allow me to see how much progress I made during the first round of treatment.

Why would it still be there?

So many possible answers so here are a few:

1. Recontamination through toothbrushes, kissing, sharing utensils, toothpaste etc....
2. Severity of the initial imbalance. Like I mentioned above its a bummer I couldn't see the progress level on the test, but ultimately that's information I don't need. If it shows up, there are enough present to take action.
3. I wasn't quite as strict as I could have been round #1. I still did things like drink coffee and splurge on sugar which are things that can feed or create a happy environment for the little suckers.
4. Duration of the imbalance. This may be something I've had for 2 years or it might be something I've had for 10. No way to know! 

What to do? 

Well what the heck do you do now? You already went through the protocol - do you do it again? How do you know it works?

Just like sometimes it takes a few round of antibiotics, or a few DIFFERENT antibiotics to kill a particularly difficult bacteria or viral infection, the same is true when using herbal remedies. In fact, potent herbal remedies taken over a longer period of time have been shown to be more effective than short term antibiotics for gut dysbiosis and imbalances. This can be due to the fact that antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria as well as the bad, leaving you susceptible for another negative bacterial overgrowth. Antibiotics, birth control, prescriptions and NSAIDS have all been shown to cause gut imbalance and inflammation as well so that's not a route I'm willing to go.

The second round of my protocol did change slightly. We tweaked a few things and I doubled down on details like replacing my toothbrush regularly, watching my sugar, and ditching coffee until I get the all clear. Do I think it's working? Absolutely - whenever I'm on the protocol I feel AMAZING. I basically don't get sick and if I do it's short lived and easily overcome. I have tons of energy, and well....I just generally feel better.

I'm still in the middle of round two and will move on to the upgraded testing for my follow up that will allow me to see levels should the H Pylori still be present. I wanted to share this with you because it's a TRUTH that the healthy answer isn't always easy. it just isn't.  It costs money and it takes time to do things the more natural way. But is it worth it?! 100% 

Interested in weekly updates? Sign up for my newsletter here!

Ready to start working on YOUR gut? Jump into my 8 week gut health program where I ease you in slowly with weekly challenges, tons of information, questions and answer sessions with me, recipes, detox tools, and upgraded testing (optional)! CLick "Get Gutsy With me" at the top of this page or email me at: KyleneT@thetinyfitdiva.com to get started - you only have a few days left to register!!!!!

Want to get tested yourself? Shoot me an email so we can set up our free 30 minute consultation to find out what's right for you :)

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Hey Hey Diva friends!

MARCH 2nd?! Where did February go? Well, the weather might be crazy warm for February, but it's still winter in my book and everyone needs a good Shepherd's pie in their back pocket.

Due to some food sensitivities ( chicken, cinnamon and cinnamon) I've avoided making it for awhile. But when my husband asked for it recently I decided to make it work! 

We found it thoroughly delish! p.s. I said "easy" because I even incorporate frozen veggies - woohoo!

 Ingredients:

• 1lb grass-fed beef
• 3 heads of cauliflower
• Grass-fed butter
• 1 large yellow onion
• 4 stalks celery
• Frozen peas
• Frozen lima beans
• olive oil
• garlic
• salt
• pepper
• ground cloves
• ground nutmeg
• Bone broth (turkey, beef, chicken)

Directions:

1. Cut up and steam the cauliflower until soft. Set aside.
2. Turn the one to 350 and set aside a 13.x baking dish
3. Meanwhile, heat up a large skillet and pour 1-2 TBS olive oil
4. Chop the onion and place it in the skillet. Cook until it starts to become translucent.
5. Chop 2-4 garlic cloves and celery and add to the onion mix
6. Pour 1/2  a bag of frozen peas and 1/2 a bag of frozen lima beans into the onion mix.
7. Continue stirring and mixing as all the veggies cook through. 
8. Add the spices to taste
9. Add the beef and cook it until browned through.
10. Meanwhile melt 2TBS butter in the microwave
11. Pour 1/2 cup broth into the onion mix and cook just long enough to mix and heat through.
12. Pour the beef mix into the baking dish
13. Add your cauliflower and melted butter to a food processor - blend until smooth. If you need a little more liquid, splash some extra broth into the processor and continue to blend.
14. Spread the cauliflower on top of the beef mix and place it in the oven
15. Cook for 1 hour or until the cauliflower is nicely browned.
16. Enjoy!

Guilt Free Carbs?!

Hey Hey Diva Friends!!!

I've slowed down a bit on the blog posting recently because I've been focused on my Get Gutsy group, my new podcast and everything else in my busy life!! If you love reading blog posts though drop a comment and let me know what topics you're most interested in seeing!

Let's talk about carbs for a second. If you've followed me or know my story, I'm all about NOT dieting, and NOT restricting, counting calories, or portion control! Every time I've tried that it totally fails for me long term. The only thing I've found to work (that I think is the only thing that works for EVERYONE long term) is discovering your perfect #Youtrition and through that knowledge, eating intuitively. That means, eating when you're hungry, and eating what you crave! 

So back to carbs. They are your FRIENDS. Your brain, hormones, cell structure, and energy depend on carbohydrates (and fat but that's another blog post). To clarify, I always mean real food carbohydrates. I'm not talking about white sugar, cane sugar, or bread here. I'm talking about squashes, beans, fruits, root vegetables, and if you tolerate it, quinoa and rice! If you run on bread and sugar carbs then you are setting yourself up for blood sugar rollercoasters, insulin resistance and ultimately.....disease.

I don't believe in focusing on "low carb". But when you move from the S.A.D. diet (standard American diet) to a whole foods, nutrient dense, from the earth approach to nutrition, you naturally become lower carb. It just happens. You don't have to think about it. In fact, many who eat this way need to make an effort to INCREASE their carbs.

Stefani Rupert who is the founder of paleoforwomen.com recommends that women don't drop below 100grams of carbs/day and that they shoot for MINUMUMS not maximums. In a society where we are brainwashed into thinking less is more when it comes to calories and foods this type of thinking can be shocking. But let me stop and ask you....how is your energy? How are your moods? How are your hormones? How is your sleep? How are your cravings? Those are all clues to us that we are or are not getting the right nutrition. 

For women in particular we can really use MORE carbs than less when chosen in the right context!!!

So don't be afraid my friends....this recipe is CARB LOADED and you can feel GUILT FREE while indulging :) If you must, use it as a dessert, but in reality - let's have it for breakfast :P

Carb City Snack bar

• 1 cup macadamia nuts
• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (packed)
• 1/2 cup goji berries
• 1/2 tsp (or generous pinch) of sea salt
• Blend it all up in a food processor. It will look crumbly.

1. Line a bread pan with parchment paper and pour the mix into the bread pan
2. Squish it down evenly with a spatula
3. Refridgerate
4. Cut into 8 bars
5. Enjoy!

p.s. Dates are packed with fiber, B vitamins, potassium, manganese and magnesium. Goji berries are rich in trace minerals that you need and nuts are a good source of healthy fats!

Interested in learning more about YOUR perfect #Youtrition, how to fix your gut health, ENJOY your food, and live a healthy LIFESTYLE? Join my second round of Get Gutsy March 18th!!!! Message me for details or click the link below to capture the early bird special by February 24th! 

Join my FREE Facebook group below and get daily tips, and monthly challenges as you learn how to Stop Dieting and Live Your Life!