I got it from my mama

As yesterday was Mother’s Day, I thought I would dedicate this post to my own awesome Mama. My mom is pretty much responsible for my interest in healthy eating, veganism, honoring life, and living with integrity and joy each day. In the interest of sharing, I’d like to tell you the top 7 things I’ve learned from my mom over the past 24 years.

1. Eat organic. This was probably the first thing my mom every taught me. I distinctly remember one day when I was in high school I threw a fit because no one ever wanted to come eat at our house. I said, “Mooooom, why do we always have to eat organic? Why can’t we just eat normal food for once? No one will ever eat dinner here!” Her response? You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. And organic is better for you. So there.
2. Tofu rocks! No really, I was one of those crazy tofu-eating kids. Preferably in the form of tofu loaf. My mom’s tofu loaf can rival your mom’s meatloaf. No joke. If you missed the recipe in my newsletter because you don’t subscribe to my newsletter, well then, what are you waiting for??
3. If you eat animals, thank them. We rarely ate meat in my house growing up, but we always had turkey for Thanksgiving. In addition to saying what we were thankful for in our lives, we had to be sure to include the turkey in that – “thank you, turkey, for giving us your life so that we may enjoy this holiday.”
4. Green veggies should be the staple of any meal. My mom is the type of person to eat steamed broccoli and kale for breakfast. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, it’s always time for green veggies! If you think I love green veggies, you really haven’t met my mom. The best part is she’s totally right! Green veggies should be the staple of any meal.
5. Take responsibility. This one is a big one in my mom’s life. Even if someone has done her wrong, she always looks to see where you can be responsible for causing that reaction in someone. She’s not excusing others’ bad behavior, but she’s taking ownership for her life and her reaction to things. If you were in a fight with someone and they suddenly took responsibility for everything, wouldn’t you find it hard to be mad at them still? Try it sometime - it really does work.
6. Live with integrity. If taking responsibility is big, then living with integrity is even bigger. This one used to kill me when I was growing up, because it essentially means following the rules to a T. If the sign says go 35 mph, you go 35 mph. If the law says you can’t drink until you’re 21, then you can’t drink until you’re 21. If the government says report all of your income on your taxes, then you report all of your money on your taxes. It’s like karma, except you don’t do it so that good things will happen to you. You just do it because life only works when you live it with integrity. No lying, cheating or swindling. If you do, you own up to it. I admire my mom every day for this, even when I can’t always do it myself.
7. Do what you want to do. If you think the last two items make my mom sound uptight, this one will change your mind. Integrity aside, when my mom wants to do something, she does it. If her body is craving chicken, eggs, cheese, steak, she eats it. If she wants to call a man, she calls him. If she wants to go to the movies but no one will go with her, she goes by herself. She certainly doesn’t impose unnecessary rules on her life. If that’s not a great way to live, I don’t know what is.

My mom is awesome, isn’t she? Thanks mom – I love you!

Why is your mom awesome? Brag about her in a comment, and then tell her to read it! It’s never too late for a belated Mother’s Day present.

Drink your greens!

Lately, I've been absolutely obsessed with green smoothies. What started out as a small love affair has turned into a full-blown scandal. Yes, I'm talking about my relationship with kale, spinach, chard and collard greens. Weird, right?

In all seriousness, for anyone who wants to feel more alive, experience more energy, and maybe even lose a little weight, greens are the food of the goddesses. And the best way to eat them is as they came - completely raw and in the nude (I mean the greens, not you!).

Greens have amazing benefits for our bodies. They are packed with essential vitamins and minerals - calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, and Vitamins A, C, E and K! They are also crammed full of fiber, folic acid, chlorphyll and more than a handful of other micronutrients and phtyochemicals.

Greens aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney function, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free.

All of those terms may not mean anything to you, but what I'm trying to tell you is that greens are the super heros of our salads!

Despite all of the kick-ass benefits of leafy greens, they are still the number one food missing from the American diet.

So how do you form the same love-love relationship with greens that I've come to foster? By far the easiest way is to throw them in the blender with your favorite fruits! Green smoothies will do wonders when you turn them into a simple breakfast or a quick afternoon pick-me-up. 

And I'm going to tell you a secret. Here is the easiest smoothie recipe in the world, and you can whip it together in less than 5 minutes (I'm not kidding, I just did that!).

Easiest Smoothie Recipe on the Planet

1 part water

2 parts fruit

1 part greens

1 tsp vanilla

That's it - seriously! This morning I did 1 cup of water, 1 banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries (those are my 2 parts fruit), 1 cup of spinach, and 1 tsp vanilla. Mmmmm was it tasty! Don't be intimidated by the color (mine came out brown) - it's still delicious!

What's your favorite way to eat your greens? Do you have any questions about greens? Leave me some love in the comments below and I promise I'll respond!

Spring Cleaning

Oh boy, have I been a busy bee lately! Work, health coaching, enjoying the beautiful weather - I've been doing a lot of working and a lot of playing! Because of that, I find myself on a Monday morning without anything to write about for my blog, and without a newsletter ready to send out! Yikes! So, I figured since it's Spring it's a great time to talk about detoxing. For my faithful followers, you will have already seen this info, but maybe now you're actually thinking about doing a little spring cleaning and you can apply it to your life.

Today I'm going to talk about cleansing. What exactly is a cleanse, you may ask?

Well, a lot of people get cleansing and fasting mixed up. To cleanse does not mean to fast. Cleansing means paring down your food to just simple fruits and vegetables, lots of water and perhaps whole grains. Fasting, on the other hand, means limiting most foods and drinking lots of water, fresh vegetable and fruit juices, teas and soups. Without much energy going toward digestion, more energy is available to the rest of your body and mind.  

Cleansing and fasting can sharpen your concentration, help you gain insight and promote spiritual awareness. It can also bring improved immune function and better digestion by giving your body a break from rich and complicated foods.

Cleanses can last for 3 days, 21 days, 30 days - whatever your heart desires. While you can follow whichever cleanse feels right to you, here are some of the main aspects of a good cleanse:

• WATER! During a cleanse or a fast, it is imperative to drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day (and more if you have a heavy exercise routine).
• Vegetables and fruits. The best way to eat these are in juice form. Try making a green juice in the morning with celery, cucumber, apple, carrots and a little bit of leafy greens (such as kale, chard or lettuce). If you don't have a juicer, you can always make a smoothie in your blender with the same types of veggies.
• Generally, I don't like to talk about cutting things out of your diet (I'd rather advise you to add things in!), but for a cleanse, I have to say no to the following things: processed sugar and refined carbs, meat and dairy, coffee, and alcohol.
• Whole grains and cooked beans or lentils will go great with all of those veggies you're eating! I recommend brown or wild rice, quinoa, or whole wheat cous cous.
• Don't forget about your inner-cleanse! De-gunking your heart and soul is just as important as your stomach. Resolve old relationships, throw out negative thoughts, and make room for positive energy!

The most important aspect of a cleanse is to find support - either outside or inside yourself. Don't be too harsh on yourself if you slip up a few times. It's all about the big picture. Find a few friends to do the cleanse with you. That way, you can support each other through all of the ups and downs.

Everyone's talking about cleansing these days - are you just a little bit interested? Would you like to try one out with some support from someone who knows what they're doing? I'm putting together a 4-week cleanse package to help you jump start your spring cleaning. Leave me a comment if you'd like to be part of it!

Happy Spring!

I’ve got a secret.

And it’s not just any old secret.

This is The Secret.

I’m talking about what is considered to be one of the oldest secrets in time.

I’m talking about The Law of Attraction.

Have you ever been thinking about a friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time, wishing you could reconnect with them, only to have them call you on the phone in that very instant?

Have you ever woken up in the morning and stubbed your toe on your dresser or banged your knee on your bed? Have you noticed how you decide that you’re having a bad day, and throughout the rest of the day you spill coffee on yourself, get a parking ticket, and have your partner break up with you?

These are not little coincidences. Your thoughts have more power than you know, and through them you can create and shape the world around you.

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” –Henry Ford.

Your first reaction to this may be to freak out. How do I control my thoughts? Sometimes they just shoot about in my head and I can’t do anything about them.

Don’t worry. I’m going to give you a simple step-by-step procedure for creating magic in your life. I’ve been practicing this over the past few days at work; each morning I wake up and decide how much money I’m going to make that day. I’ve accomplished my goal so far for each day that I have done this. Sure, it could be coincidence, but why would I take the chance in case it's not? It’s my life, why would I just leave it all up to fate?

So, your simple steps:

Decide what you want.

Take a few minutes each morning to decide what you want for that day. You can do this through meditation, journaling or whatever other reflective method works for you. You can make it big, but make it reasonable enough for yourself to believe it. If you don’t believe it can happen, it won’t.

Identify the emotions of having what you want.

Would making $200 in your shift make you excited? Would reconnecting with an old friend make you overjoyed? Would not hitting traffic on the way to work make you relieved?

Pick three words that connect you to that emotion.

Once you’ve identified the emotion that you would feel when you get what you want, come up with three words that correspond with that emotion. When I say that I’m going to make $200 in my shift at work, I know that I will be so excited. That excitement will make me energetic, spunky and fun because I won’t have to worry about money. So I create that my entire day will be energetic, spunky and fun. Repeat those words to yourself throughout the day as a reminder of what you will accomplish. Fully feel the emotion of having what you want as if you already have it, because you do.

Don’t worry. Just believe.

Don’t think about what you will have to do to make things happen. It may not come to you right away. You can have what you want in your head without having to know how you will get it. Just trust and feel the positive emotions. It may not happen right away. If you start to worry that it won’t come true, you’ll be sending those emotions out into the universe and the universe will respond to your worry and doubt by not giving you what you want. If you don’t think you’ll get it, you won’t.

There you have it, the simple steps to creating magic in your life. Start with something small, and then see what else you can create! I have a vision board in my room with pictures of places I want to go and things I want to have and words to remind me of the emotions that I feel in connection with going those places and having those things.  I keep reminding myself of how happy and grateful I am that I have all of these things and have gone to all of these places.

Try out these simple steps and see what you can create. What are your goals? What can you accomplish? Come back and tell me what you’ve been able to create at the end of the week!

Want to go even deeper with this? You can learn more about the magic of the universe by reading or watching The Secret.

What a one-handed gymnast taught me about excuses

This past weekend I traveled down to Richmond, VA, to watch the Cal Club Gymnastics team compete in Nationals. Whenever I watch big gymnastics meets, I’m always left feeling so inspired by the grace and skill of the competing gymnasts. At this meet in particular, I was amazed to see grad students in their mid 20s (way past the gymnast retirement age) who were still competing with their college teams. Even more, they were doing tricks that I was never even able to master at the peak of my career in my teens!

At this particular meet, there was a girl named Casey who really stood out to me. Casey was a phenomenal gymnast whose routines caught my eye from the very beginning of the day. She had stunning skills, solid routines, and a peppy attitude. When it came to her last event, floor, I realized that Casey was doing all of her tumbling on one hand. She tumbled with power across the floor – round off-back handspring-double full – and her right hand never touched the ground. I soon found out that Casey had a rod in her right hand, and instead of quitting gymnastics, she adapted her skills to be able to continue with the sport that she loved.

You can watch her amazing routine here:

After watching Casey’s routine, I began to think that if Casey can do gymnastics on one arm, then I should be able to accomplish anything in my life, too.

So this week, instead of letting the excuses rule my decisions, I’ll be living by the mantra “Oh heck, go for it anyway!”

It’s amazing, but I can’t even think of the things that I’ve wanted to do but haven’t done because of the excuses – all I can remember are the excuses that I have! I’m not good enough; I don’t have enough money; I’m too tired. Those are the phrases that I can remember most from my past few months. So whenever I hear those phrases this week, I intend to stop everything that I’m doing and write down what came before that phrase in my head. I’m expecting something like “I really want to lead a cooking class, but I’m not good enough.”  I’ll be scratching that excuse out of my journal, and focusing all my energy on the first part of the sentence. If I ever get stuck, I intend to come back and watch Casey’s floor routine. If she can do that, then what can’t I do?

What are your excuses? What are they holding you back from accomplishing? What do you plan on doing this week instead of giving in to the excuses? I’d love to hear from you!

You don't have to be a master chef to make a good meal

I’ve had some requests lately to talk about how I manage to cook so much, eat so well, and still have time for so many other things. So today’s post will be pretty straight forward…you asked for tips, I’ve got ‘em!

Believe it or not, I didn’t used to be the kitchen queen that I am today. When I went off to college, my mom actually sent me with a book of recipes for the foods I liked to eat – tofu loaf, baked potatoes, and spaghetti.  I may have opened it once. I was never interested in cooking and hadn’t learned the basics of how to make my meals work. And while I still haven’t tackled the tofu loaf (I leave that one up to my mom) I now know exactly what to do in the kitchen to save time and energy, and still come out with some great tasting food!

So here are my top 5 tips for eating healthy foods without having to become a master chef: 

Think ahead.

You may have heard this before, but it will save you a lot of time (and last minute trips to the grocery store) if you plan your big cooking meals for the week. You don’t necessarily need to plan out every single thing you’re going to eat (see step 3), but it’s good to have an idea of a few big things that you’re going to make.

For example, before I went to the store last Sunday, I knew that I really wanted to make pesto lasagna and a lentil and bean soup for dinner that week, and that I also wanted to make some tofu egg salad for my lunches. I made my list and bought all of the ingredients that I would need. I planned that I would cook them on my nights off, so that I would have plenty of time to get it done.

Cook once, eat twice. Or three or even four times!

In addition to thinking ahead, you also want to know that you don’t have to cook something new for dinner each night! When I thought about the two main meals that I wanted to make, I made them large enough so that I could eat them for the next few nights. I made that pesto lasagna last Monday night, and ate it for dinner again on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. By the time I was sick of it, it was my night off again and it was time to make my second meal for the week! It’s now Monday, and I just finished the last of my lentil and bean soup last night!

This goes for salads, too! It’s so important to get those raw veggies into your diet every day, and ideally after every meal (okay, you can skip them at breakfast). Raw veggies help the digestive process, so it’s great to eat a salad after your lunch or dinner. To make salads easy and simple, pull out the veggie drawer, pick out your lettuce and a few other veggies of different colors, chop them up, throw them in a bowl of soaking water, drain them, and you’re ready to go! My favorite combo is red tomatoes, orange carrots, yellow pepper, purple onion, and green lettuce. When you make your salad, make sure to make triple or quadruple the amount that you want to eat that night. Throw all the leftovers into some Tupperware with a few paper towels, and it will keep for days!

Be prepared.

What happens if you run out of your big meal before it’s time for the next cooking night? Well, you make sure that you always have things on hand that you can prepare in 10 minutes flat. This is where I tell you that not all frozen and canned foods are bad. I always keep a box of quinoa burgers and some gluten-free tortillas in the freezer, and some canned beans in the cupboard (my favorite brand is Eden’s Organic – the cans are BPA free, the beans are soaked and cooked in seaweed so they don’t make you toot, and there’s no salt added!). I also always have some hummus on hand.  Those four things alone can provide endless possibilities: a hummus and quinoa burger wrap, or a bean and Daiya cheese burrito. If you have the basics on hand, you can always throw together something at the last minute!

Keep it simple.

While it can be nice to make yourself an extravagant meal every now and then (hence my epic gluten-free vegan pesto lasagna), it’s also a good idea to keep it simple most of the time. Stick to recipes that have 5 ingredients or less, don’t require much chopping, and can be made with as few pots, pans, and bowls as possible.

I’m also a big fan of steering clear from the recipe books. My favorite easy meal consists of a protein (usually canned beans with some Daiya cheese), a grain like quinoa or cous cous that will cook in 15 minutes or less, and a vegetable, like steamed asparagus or broccoli, or sautéed kale or spinach. While the grain is cooking, you can open that can of beans and put it in a little pot to warm up. While that’s warming up, you can wash your broccoli and throw it in a pot to steam too. In 5 minutes, everything should be done at about the same time, and you can throw it on a plate and enjoy! 15-minute meal, achieved!

Have a pizza day!

By the time Sunday rolls around, you may be out of leftovers and too tired from planning for the next week to spend any time in the kitchen. That’s why in my house when I was growing up, Sunday nights were pizza nights! It’s perfectly okay to have a day off. Don’t feel guilty about ordering in or eating out. As long as you’re eating healthy the rest of the week (which you will be if you try out these tips), it won’t mess up your goals in the long run.

 So there you have it. I’m obviously not a master chef, and you don’t have to be either to eat healthy meals every day of the week!

How do you save time in the kitchen? Have you tried any of these tips before? Do you have a favorite easy recipe? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me some love!

When life hands you lemons...

...pack up your lemons and your juicer (and the rest of your veggies) and maybe your dog, and head to your aunt’s house in North Carolina.

At least, that’s what I did this weekend.  Since I like to be completely candid and honest with you, here’s my deal:

I got a 3-day suspension from my restaurant job for doing the crossword puzzle. Yes, perhaps I should not have been doing the crossword puzzle. In my defense, I didn’t have any tables and it was before the lunch crowd was coming in. In any case, a 3-day suspension seemed a bit harsh for a minor infraction, but all that is neither here nor there. Whatever the circumstances were, I was pretty upset about the situation.

So what did I do this weekend when I was not working? Well, I gave myself a much-needed vacation! Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I just got out of town and left all of my troubles behind.

Which is not to say that I avoided dealing with my problems. First I wrote my manager a nice little letter in my journal. I never intend to send it, but it felt really good to get all of my feelings out. After I finished that, I packed up the car and started driving.

When I have a lot to think about, a long drive can be the perfect cure. Something about the solitude and the open road gives me the chance to mull everything over, get out some tears, and see new opportunities in front of me.

While I was in Greensboro, I made sure to breathe in the fresh air, enjoy the beautiful blossoming trees, partake in some delicious homemade meals, and relish the company of family. It’s so easy to get caught up in going at the speed of light in our everyday lives that you forget how nice it is to let someone else take care of you for a few days.


I believe that everything happens for a reason. Not only did this basket of lemons give me an opportunity to get out of the city, take some deep breathes, and nourish my body, but it also got me thinking about my next plan of action. If I’m so unhappy in this job, why don’t I do something about it? I’ve been saying for practically a year now that I’m going to move back to San Francisco, and a job that makes me miserable is no reason to keep putting that off. Pretty great and empowering realization, don’t ya think? Now I’ve got a time line and some monetary goals to turn my dreams into reality.

So thank you, manager who shall not be named, for that lovely gift. I guess I don’t hate you so much after all.

Molasses needed a vacation too!

What do you do when you have a lot on your mind? What’s your favorite way to get out your emotions? Where do you like to escape to? I’d love to hear from you!

P.S. – If you want to help me get out of my job even faster, sign up to be my next client! :)

You RAWk!

If you live in the DC area, then you got to experience some beautiful sunshine this past weekend. Weather likes this puts me in such a good mood – everyone at work can certainly tell you how happy I’ve been since Friday.

The start of spring also makes my body start to crave raw food, interestingly enough. You may or may not know this, but last summer I ate raw for about 50 days, and I felt great! Eating raw during the summer time cools you down, gives you energy, and makes you feel alive! I was fully dedicated to the raw foods lifestyle, until the weather started to get cold. BAM – I started craving brown rice! After that I thought I never wanted to go back to eating raw foods again. I decided that I loved cooked foods too much.

But like I said, it’s starting to get warmer, and all of the sudden I want salad, and fresh raw veggies, and light, uncooked food! Are our bodies intelligent, or what?

So what is a raw food diet? What are the benefits of raw food? Why has my body started to crave them again now that the weather is getting warmer?

Food is considered raw when it is not heated above 118 degrees (this number is slightly up for debate – some people say you have to stay below 104 degrees). A raw foodist is someone who eats anywhere from 75-100% raw foods.

The benefits of raw foods are many, so I will summarize them here for you into my top 3 favorite reasons: 

1. Living and raw foods contain enzymes that our bodies can’t make on their own. Enzymes are essential in keeping your body functioning – they help with everything from digestion to detoxification to brain function and immune health. When you cook food above 118 degrees, those enzymes in your food are destroyed, and you have to spend more energy digesting what you just ate!
2. Raw foods help balance your pH levels. Remember in high school chemistry when you learned about acid and alkaline substances? You may have slept through that lesson, but it’s important to know now that your body has a pH level too! Your body functions best when it is slightly on the alkaline side. When you’re too acidic, you can experience symptoms like a runny nose, heartburn, inflammation, arthritis, poor circulation, chronic fatigue – even cancer! Eating raw foods will keep you on the alkaline side and help you avoid all those nasty-sounding health problems!
3. Raw foods give you energy. When your body is functioning more efficiently and digestion is easier (see point number 1), you have more energy to spend on other things! When I was on a raw food diet, I found that I needed less sleep, could exercise harder, and stay at work longer before I got tired. And who doesn’t want more energy?

But why do I want raw food more now that it’s starting to get warm? Our bodies are intelligent machines, and they are programmed to eat seasonally. Raw foods help cool down and hydrate your body, which feels great when the weather’s hot! Raw foods also help detox your body, which our bodies naturally want to do in the spring as well.

Want to know more about raw food? I’m in the process of putting together a raw food preparation and detox program, so keep an eye out for more information on that in the coming weeks!

These are my confessions

Continuing on the cravings theme from last week, I have something to share with you.

Remember how we talked about honoring your body’s cravings, even when you’re craving something bad for you? Well, I’ve been craving something, and lately I’ve been having an internal debate – “should I just eat it? No, I can’t just eat it, it’s not right.”

I’ve been craving chicken.

WHAT?! I’ve been craving CHICKEN?!

Yes, I’ve been craving chicken. For those of you that don’t know, I’m a tried and true PROUD vegan, and have been for almost 2 years. Before being vegan, I was a vegetarian for 4 years. It’s been a long time since any kind of meat has come near my plate, let alone my mouth.

So why chicken?

I’m thinking there are probably two possible explanations for this strange craving. The first is that I’m missing some of the nutrients that chicken can provide me with. The second is that for me, chicken could mean comfort and a complete meal. I used to survive on chicken. I was never a red meat kind of girl, but I loved me some chicken.

So it’s probably a combination of both. I just got my blood work done and discovered that pretty much everything is in the recommended range, which is awesome. I know I’m not suffering from some major deficiency, but maybe there’s something in the chicken that other plant-type proteins can’t offer me. It could also be partly an emotional craving. I’m around chicken all the time at work, and to be honest with you, those pear salads look much better with chicken on them than with a scoop of beans (protein option number 2). As I mentioned, I also have this intense background of eating chicken, and my body could be associating it with other comfort foods.

Am I going to eat chicken? To be honest with you, I haven’t decided yet. I don’t want to ignore my body’s cravings. I also don’t know if I could physically go through with eating a piece of meat. The idea of eating a cute little animal, even if it was pasture-raised and slaughtered humanely (don’t get my started on how “slaughtered humanely” is such an oxymoron), just doesn’t appeal to me. So I’ve got myself a little conundrum here.

If you were me, what would you do? Have you ever craved something that you thought maybe you should but you reallllllly didn’t want to? What did you do? I’d love to hear from you!

You mean I can still eat chocolate cake??

Pick up any diet book these days and it will tell you what to eat and what not to eat.  Eat a turkey burger, not a hamburger.  Drink red wine, not a vodka cranberry.  Eat fruit for dessert, not that chocolate cake.  If I subscribed to this theory, I would walk around all day thinking about what I could and couldn’t eat, feeling deprived and depressed!  What if one day I just want to eat that chocolate cake? If you approach life thinking about all of the things you can’t have, one day you’re going to snap and binge on that chocolate cake. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Is there an alternative to this way of living? Absolutely, 100% YES!

Yesterday a co-worker approached me at the end of her shift to tell me that she was craving something really bad, and she told me that she needed me to talk her out of eating it. You’re not going to believe it, but I told my coworker to just go ahead and eat that unhealthy food. One hamburger (or whatever your vice may be) is not going to kill you.

I should warn you though, there is a catch. I also told my coworker to order something healthy – like a side salad, some sautéed spinach or grilled asparagus – and to eat that first. Eat that entire bowl of veggies, and THEN start in on your “unhealthy” food. Chances are, you probably won’t be able to finish that whole hamburger after your big bowl of veggies. Approaching your cravings this way will kill two birds with one stone – you’ll get a full serving of vegetables, AND you’ll get a little taste of that food that’s nagging at the back of your mind.

Next time you want those vegan nachos or some chocolate chips (my two out of control addictions right now), eat a salad first. Then fully enjoy some (but not the entire plate) of those vegan nachos. You don’t need to feel guilty, it won’t ruin your diet, and it certainly won’t kill you. It’s great to be healthy 100% of the time, but life is boring if you don’t do a little living!

Let's Get Personal

To be honest with you, in terms of food and emotions, this past weekend was a rough one for me. It didn’t really feel like it at the time, but looking back, I can see that a lot of my food choices had to do with some underlying emotions that I was subconsciously not addressing.

Friday was the one-year anniversary of my dad’s death. It was a special day for my mom and me – we took some of his ashes up to Harper’s Ferry, WV, where he led a 100K hike for over 10 years.  We spent a lot of time as a family up there, so it was fitting to celebrate my dad’s life in nature where he had so many good experiences. My mom and I scattered his ashes into the C&O Canal, we shed some tears, and we enjoyed some delicious vegan chipotle pumpkin soup at the Canal House Café.

Do you know what else I did this weekend?  I ate.  A LOT.  Falafel, cupcakes, chili, sweet potato fries, peanut butter banana chocolate chip oatmeal, chips and salsa…the list could go on. It wasn’t until this morning that I made the connection between my incessant need to stuff myself to the brim with food and my underlying emotions about my dad’s death.  Realizing that, I don’t feel so bad about everything that I ate.

Healing is a long journey. As soon as you think you’ve made some good progress, something else comes up and there you are, down in the dumps again. In general, I feel like I’m doing really well for someone who lost her dad to cancer a year ago, and it’s mostly because I’ve learned a lot of techniques for dealing with emotional pain. Meditation, yoga, personal transformation, etc. This past week I added EFT, or meridian tapping, to my toolbox of healing, and it really helped me identify the emotions behind my over-eating. I did a little tapping this morning and realized what was going on with my eating. I immediately felt better – like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could think clearly.

EFT is super easy to put into practice. All you have to do is tap on your meridian points while repeating statements that bring up your emotions. What I love about EFT is you can say all of the things about yourself that you feel deep in your gut that you rarely take time to acknowledge. Saying these things while tapping on your meridian points allows you to really get clear about the emotions, and then reprogram yourself so that you have a new set of emotions.

Confused? Watch this quick video where Jessica Ortner, tapping goddess, teaches you the easy steps to get you tapping.


Here's a diagram of the meridian points:


I’ve started tapping every morning for 5 minutes after I meditate, and WOW is it bringing up a lot of my emotional gunk. This is definitely a tool that I’ll be bringing in to my coaching practice.

So there you have it. I recognize that I’m not perfect, that I have emotions that affect my relationship with food, and that I’m still learning and growing every day. If you recognize that too, and you're ready to deal with some of those emotions, why not give tapping a try this week.

Challenge: Following Jessica Ortner's demonstration, try tapping on something that's been bothering you lately - issues with your boss, an unresolved relationship, overwhelm about your busy schedule - whatever it is for you, tap on it for 5-10 minutes each morning. Then, come back and let me know how it goes!
Bonus: If you really want more guidance with your tapping, the 2011 Tapping World Summit is FREE and there are still 3 more days to listen to the audio classes. The first few days of the Summit really got my interested in tapping, and now I'm hooked. It's a great resource that you can add to your toolbox, too!

Sending you peace & love,
Katie

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a surprising number of complements on my complexion.  “You have great skin!”  “How come you never break out?”  “I wish my face was as clear as yours!”  I have to say these complements have done wonders for my self-esteem.

I’m not telling you this because I want to brag about my beautiful face (sarcasm), but because I want to share some secrets with you.  Here’s the first secret: I don’t have a clear face just because I didn’t get the acne gene.  In high school and college I had my fair share of mornings spent moaning at the mirror – “I swear that huge red thing was not there when I went to bed! How am I going to hide that before my date tonight?!”  Is it just me, or do those pesky things pop up (literally) when you least need them?

I know you’ve been there too.  So how did I transition from a mirror-moaner to a worshiper?  The answer lies in this week’s Secret/Not So Secret factoid.

Not so secret: Your lifestyle affects your skin.  Secret: If you’re looking for a devil to blame for your pesky pimples, I’ve got two for you - dairy and sugar.

Why Dairy?  Simply put, milk contains hormones.  Increased hormones in your body = increased oil underneath your skin. Increased oil = BREAKOUTS!  In addition, dairy products can cause inflammation in people that are lactose intolerant (and believe it or not, the majority of the U.S. actually is lactose intolerant).  Internal inflammation can lead to external inflammation in the form of zits.

But what about sugar?  Refined sugar quickly raises your blood sugar, which triggers a similar hormone response to dairy.  More inflammation, more hormones, more oil, more breakouts!  Check out this article for a more detailed explanation.

Still not convinced about the connection between dairy, sugar and acne?  Why not try an experiment?  Yup, it’s challenge time.

Challenge: For the next 7 days cut dairy and sugar out of your diet completely.  This includes all forms – cheese, milk, ice cream in the dairy category, and evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, raw sugar in the sugar category.  Why 7 days?  Because within the first 3 days, your body will probably start to detox and you may see an increase in breakouts.  Give it some time.  On the 8th day add in either dairy or sugar (but not both!). See how you feel the next morning. Got break outs brewing? On the 9th day add the other devil back in. Now are those pimples ready to pop? After this experiment, you'll know if one affects you more than the other. If both make you break out, then at least you'll have an idea of what foods to avoid before your next big date.

If you’re tired of breaking out, but all of this information sounds daunting, why not shoot me a little email and schedule a free nutrition breakthrough session with me?  We’ll go over your health concerns and goals, and together we can make an easy-to-follow plan to tackle your troubles!

Sweat, Baby, Sweat

My readers asked for it, so here it is: my secret, easy tips for finding the time to exercise on a budget.
I know you have your excuses. It's cold. My wallet is empty. I'm tired. I don't have space in my house. I'm out of shape. I've heard them all. What I'm going to tell you today will help you blow those excuses out of the water, without having to wake up at 6 am for an Army-style Boot Camp.
So here they are, my top 5 secrets for gettin' your sweat on!

• Not so secret: Start small. 5-10 minutes a day of light, intentional exercise, and you will see noticeable results in a shockingly short amount of time. Secret: You can stay small! 12-15 minutes of heart-pumping stuff is all you need! You don't need to run for 30 minutes every day, you don't need to do 1,000 push ups or a million crunches. Just get in 12-15 minutes of regular exercise each day, and you'll hold on to those results that you started to see after starting small with just 5-10 minutes!

• Not so secret: You can exercise at home. Secret: Exercising at home can be fun! If all you need is 10-15 minutes, it's easy to find something in your house that will keep you occupied for that short amount of time. If you live in a house, I know you have a set of stairs. If you live in an apartment, I know that you also have a set of stairs. Put your earphones in, and run up and down those stairs for 15 minutes. Feel the burn! You can also try to channel your inner elementary school P.E. class and do some jumping jacks. You wouldn't believe how sore your arms will be the next day. If you can't imagine doing jumping jacks for 15 straight minutes, try what I do: turn on the radio, and do one exercise for each song. Alternate with jumping jacks, stair climbing, jump roping, hula hooping, jogging the obstacle course between the rooms in your house...seriously, get creative! It's just 15 minutes, I know you can do it.

• Not so secret: You can find workout routines online. Secret: Ish Kamara, my personal trainer. He has an abundance of SERIOUS videos on his website that will really make you feel the burn. Go to the "women do it better" section and try anything that he has posted. I really like the "core ab combo" on the third page. It hurt to sneeze for 3 days. It was fabulous.

• Not so secret: It's good to go to a gym or attend a class to get motivated. Secret: You can do it for free! A lot of gyms offer free trials or classes for your first (or first few visits). Take advantage of them! Almost every Zumba class will do a free first class, and a lot of yoga studios will too. Gold's Gym also does a free week trial, and I don't know about you but I have at least 5 Gold's within a 15 mile radius of my house. I've already done free trials at 2 of them!

• Not so secret: When you exercise more, you can worry less about what you eat. Secret: If you pair a consistent, easy workout routine with healthy eating, you will see amazing results!

So there you have it, my top 5 secrets for staying in shape without making your wallet or your schedule sweat. Do you want more motivation and support? Head on over to Kris Carr's CrazySexyLife and join her Fit Club! She's leading a 3 week exercise challenge, and I know I'll be taking part.

As I mentioned in my newsletter, I'm limiting myself to 10 new clients from now till the end of February. Will you be one of the 10? As part of my program, I can help you find the motivation and keep you accountable to your exercise routine. I will also help you figure out how to complement your new routine with the right foods for optimal results. Why not show yourself some love and be one of the 10 before space runs out!

Challenge: Try out these tips, and leave me a comment in the next week to let me know how it goes. Everyone who leaves me a comment will be entered into a contest to win an at-home exercise kit to make exercising easier! You don't want to miss this, trust me! So don't forget, try out these tips, leave me a comment, and get entered to win! I'll announce the winner in next Monday's blog post!

Happy "U" Day!
Katie

Make V-Day "U"-Day

Here it comes, the holiday to end all holidays (at least for those single people out there). Maybe you've got someone special to celebrate Valentine's Day with this year. Maybe you're like me, and you pretty much boycott it each year, avoiding restaurants and hallmark like the plague until the calendar page flips to February 15th. This year, I'm being proactive and turning V-Day into U-Day. Whether you've got someone to smooch or not, why don't you celebrate U-Day with me too!

When was the last time you did something just for "U?" With life as busy as it is these days, it's hard to take time out of your day to take care of yourself. So why not take a day that's all about love and use it to love yourself?

Self-care is all about rest, reflection, relaxation, and rejuvenating your soul. When these are lacking from your life, it leads to stress, sorrow and self-deprecation! If you don't love your luscious little self, who will? Your thoughts have the power to make or break your reality. If you feel down in the dumps, chances are that's how your life will play out. If you feel nourished and taken care of, the world will continue to nourish and take care of you in surprising ways! Have you ever noticed that when something goes wrong and you start to hear that Negative Nancy voice in the back (or front) of your head, it's not long before something else goes wrong too? This week, I challenge you to try something (or all things!) from my nourishment menu and see how you feel after a week of focusing more on fabulous U!

My Nourishment Menu:
-Meditate.
-Journal.
-Take a bubble bath.
-Make a cup of tea and settle down on the couch with a good book and a fluffy blanket.
-Stretch.
-Take a power nap.
-Breathe deeply for 5 minutes.
-Cuddle with my dog.
-Shake my booty to my favorite tunes (making sure no one's watching, of course).

If you made a nourishment menu, what would be on it? Write your own, try them out, and let me know how it goes!

Happy U-Day!
Katie

Day 9 of the 21-Day Cleanse

Well, I'm officially over a week into my cleanse. Overall, it hasn't been all that hard - I already don't eat dairy, meat or coffee. What I knew would be hard from the beginning was eliminating the sugar (Hi, my name is Katie, and I'm a sugar-holic) and the gluten.

How did I beat my sugar cravings? During the first few days of the cleanse, I ate dates and raisins when I would normally eat a chocolatey sugary dessert. Three days in, my cravings really kicked in and I made some hot chocolate (with coconut milk, raw cacao and agave, so it would still be within the cleanse). It was so rich and I felt so full after dinner that I haven't felt the need to do that again! After the three day hump, the dessert thing has been pretty smooth sailing!

Gluten has been hard just because I have to think really hard about what I eat! In case you're wondering, gluten-free essentially means you don't eat any wheat products. I've been avoiding my staple sprouted grain bread, as well as whole wheat tortillas, oatmeal, cous cous, and a number of other processed foods that contain some sneaky wheat (kill two birds with one stone!). I haven't really noticed any difference in how I feel other than some potential detoxing symptoms, so I think after this cleanse I'll go back to eating gluten. I've been eating millet bread which is sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, and to me it seems healthier to eat my sprouted grain bread which doesn't have added sweetener.

The last component that has been really hard was the juice fast that I did on the 7th day. It coincided with a double shift at work, which I think actually turned out to be beneficial because I wasn't sitting at home wishing that I could be eating. I had a surprising amount of energy all day once I finally got enough juice in my system to not be hungry. I think I would even do a juice fast every Sunday brunch that I have to work, because it really helped me stay focused and energized! The downfall to my juice fast was that the next day I was ravished! To top it off, I had a session with my personal trainer. Before I went, I ate some miso soup and a banana smoothie with kale and coconut milk, which was not enough to sustain a workout. I felt really weak and it was hard to do the exercises. I ate straight through the afternoon, and then binged on hummus and almond butter when I got home from work. I feel very back on track today (check out my lunch below!), but now I know for my next cleanse that I need to ease back into solid foods before I get so starving, and I need to take it easy the day after!

Overall, so far so good :) Keep an eye out for my next cleansing post!

Peace, love and green veggies,
Katie

Glorious Greens

Hi there cleansing cuties!

Try out a few of these simple recipes to add more greens into your diet. I have to say I have a soft spot in my heart for kale chips, but sautéed greens are also high up on my list too.

Kale Chips

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 2-3 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 bunch of kale
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Remove kale from stalk, leaving the greens in large pieces.
3. Place a little olive oil in a bowl, dip your fingers and rub a very light coat of oil over the kale.
4. Place kale on baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until it starts to turn a bit brown. Keep an eye on it as it can burn quickly.
5. Turn the kale over and bake with the other side up. Remove and serve.

Notes:
* Try different kinds of kale or collard greens.
* For added flavor sprinkle with a little salt or spice, such as curry or cumin after rubbing on olive oil.


Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts and Raisins

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil, if you have it - the flavor is much better!)
1/2 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
1/2 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 bunch spinach, chopped
½ teaspoons sea salt
1/3 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Toast pine nuts on a cookie sheet in a 325-degree oven for 5 minutes. (If you're short on time, this step can be skipped)
2. Heat olive oil.
3. Add greens, sea salt and raisins. Stir and cook 5 minutes.
4. Turn off heat, add in pine nuts and transfer to serving dish.

Notes:
* Sprinkle with lemon juice before serving.


Enjoy! If you try these, leave me a comment and let me know how they turn out!

Keep an eye out for my posts over the next few weeks - I'll be talking about my 21-day cleanse!

Peace, love and veggies,
Katie