Congratulations to Michelle E! You are the winner of the New Year’s Paperback Giveaway! Thank you for following me on Twitter, re-tweeting and leaving a comment. I will get your signed copy to you A.S.A.P.
I hope you all are starting your year off with a bang and some healthy goals for the coming months. Xoxo
It’s been an amazing year for me. The highlight of which has been the publication of my first book. I am over-the-moon happy about how it has been received by parents and caregivers. The reviews have been wonderful to read, but I’d love to be able to get my paperback into more hands.
So, I’ve decided to run a little giveaway for my readers who may not yet have had the chance to pick up a copy. Enter as many times as you wish and help me to spread the word, while grabbing a free, signed copy for yourself or a friend!
There’s been a lot of scary articles in the past few days related to the new WHO (World Health Organization) report, stating that red and processed meats cause cancer. This lead to quite a bit of panic being spread by sensationalist journalism and some quirky facebook memes. Vegetarians and vegans threw their arms up victoriously with a resounding, “I told you so!” But with so many fact-lite articles swarming around, not many readers knew what WHO’s report actually said.
I waited quietly in the background to see what the news source that I actually trust had to say. I know that 99.9% of the time the BBC offers up a well rounded fact-dense article that will cut through the fear mongering and tell me what is actually happening. Once again, the BBC came through with panic-free reporting.
Basically, WHO said that if you eat two pieces of bacon (or 50g of processed meat) every day for the rest of your life, it raises your risk of getting colorectal cancer by 18%. It does NOT have the same cancer risks as smoking a pack of cigarettes every day for the rest of your life.
My family enjoys bacon for breakfast about once every other month and bbq’d burgers and dogs at the occasional party in the summer. I’m cool with that. My youngest does have a bit of an obsession with sausage that I am trying to ween him off of, but we also eat tons of whole vegetables, fruits and grains as the majority of our diets.
If you are someone that LOVES and has to have bacon, ham and grilled meats every day, cutting back could only be helpful to you.
Here’s the link to the BBC article to read and share with friends that are screaming to the heavens in despair at the loss of their beloved salted meats. Though the title is scary, reading it will actually ease their minds.
Last weekend was a whirlwind! All of my dreaming and planning finally culminated into a fabulous party to celebrate the publication of my first book. With the help of two amazing women, I was able to create just the right atmosphere and gobs of yummy food for my guests. Yes, there were a couple of minor set backs (a collapsed tent for one) but in the end, it was perfection. My book sold well and I believe that everyone left happy.
Check out my reviews on Amazon.com and order your copy or e-book today!
Finally, the day has come that I am able to giddily announce that my book is available on Amazon.com, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited!
Guys, this is so exciting and scary for me. It’s been a dream of mine for most of my adult life to publish a book. I never thought that I could actually pull it together, but here it is.
‘Kids Won’t Eat Healthy? Quick Read This Book!’ is a super fast and funny read for parents that are so over meal time drama. It has the size and look of a children’s chapter book, but it’s packed with real life advice from one exhausted parent to another. If you are tired of the predictable dinner time fights with your sweet cherubs, order your paperback or download your e-book today!
In just a few short days my first book will be launched out in to the world! I started writing it two years ago while taking a relaxing (hiding from the kids) Saturday afternoon bath. The whole book came to me right then; title, chapters, even the cover image. It was as if I had no choice in the matter at all. The book needed me to write it. Other parents needed me to write it!
Thankfully, I have a truly supportive husband who happily took the kids out every weekend so that I could research, write and edit. Amazingly, I found one of the best illustrators in the north east who could capture exactly what my brain was demanding to be created. Miraculously, I have friends that are or have been professional editors who could clean up my alphabet soup.
Now it’s just about time for my sweet little book to be born. Stay tuned for my new book page and please join me on facebook for updates on it’s release!
There are so many new things coming this fall at Enlightened Nourishment. We can’t wait to share our new endeavors with all of you.
Why You Don’t Need to Feel Guilty for Not Restricting Your Diet
Are you frustrated with all the headlines warning you to NEVER eat certain foods if you want to have a flat tummy? There are new articles informing us daily about the dangers of eating bread, pasta, bananas and orange juice, to name just a few.
While overindulging in any of these foods is not the best way to create a lean, healthy body, avoiding them altogether may do more harm than good.
– See more at: http://fitlife.tv/why-you-dont-need-to-feel-guilty-for-not-restricting-your-diet-original/#sthash.HjIiDISg.dpuf
http://fitlife.tv/why-you-dont-need-to-feel-guilty-for-not-restricting-your-diet-original/
If you haven’t seen at least one article about the amazing results you’ll get from starting your day with warm lemon water in your Facebook news feed, you may be living under a rock. The citrusy wonder drink is the biggest thing to have hit the wellness community since quinoa.
Most articles will tell you that drinking warm lemon water will:
Yada, yada, yada…
– See more at: http://fitlife.tv/the-start-to-your-morning-routine-you-really-need_original/#sthash.xSnsJvuy.dpuf
5 Reasons Your Kids Want You To Juice http://tinyurl.com/q3j2jyg
Happy Thursday, everyone! Xoxo
Hey guys! Its been a while. I’ve been super busy with coaching, starting an online business course, being a mom to my two boys and working as a contributing writer for fitlife.tv.
I’m super excited about that last one. Writing for fitlife.tv has given me the chance to share my knowledge and experience with even more people that are trying to get healthy. fitlife.tv is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in health and fitness. Here are the articles of mine that have been published so far. I will share them here in the future, so you can stay up to date with what I’m doing.
http://tinyurl.com/lr86aew –How To Reduce Inflammation Using Foods You Already Have In Your Kitchen
http://tinyurl.com/ommlhcg –Orthorexia: The Unhealthy Obsession With Health
http://tinyurl.com/qhcrpkn –Why Chocolate Is The Perfect Self-Love Indulgence And Why You Should Enjoy It More Often
I also just finished up a Week of Chocolate on my Enlightened Nourishment facebook page. If you haven’t like my page yet, you’ll want to today.
See you soon! Xoxo
When I was in my 20’s I was deep in to the world of clean eating and needing to be as healthy as possible. I wanted to do everything right, be Super Health Girl. I soaked up the knowledge with such gusto and tried on new dietary theories to see which one would fit me best. At the time I did well as a vegetarian and felt pretty darn good. Unfortunately there are many in that world that believe that no matter what you do, you will never be really healthy unless you detoxify your body at least twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. When I lived in San Diego, colonics were the thing. Everybody was getting colonics. Some people even shot coffee up their bum to get the job done. I never jumped on the colonic train. I think my caboose thanks me. I did spend hundreds of dollars on supplements, powders, a juicer and loads of produce to cleanse myself of all the evils that were supposedly built up in my colon, liver and gallbladder. I can’t say that my organs got much cleaner since I was already eating incredibly well compared to my peers, but my wallet sure got cleaned out.
Now that I am a health coach I am again surrounded by those that feel it imperative to cleanse the body regularly in order to obtain perfect health. I am not one of those coaches. I get asked quite often if I recommend any particular cleanses to my clients, friends or family. My answer is always no. I do recommend elimination diets to pinpoint any possible food allergies, but never a cleanse.
Our bodies on their own are really quite impressive in their ability to detoxify daily. Yes, daily. Every time we sweat, breathe, urinate, defecate, cry or (if you are a woman) menstruate, we are cleansing. Therefore if we are eating well, drinking water and exercising, there is no need to cleanse. I’m fully aware that many will argue with me that this is not enough and that there are horrible toxins infesting our bodies. They will say that without detox cleanses we will get sicker and sicker. That’s fine, that’s their opinion.
Here’s my opinion. If you eat terribly all year long and then suddenly decide to do a 3 day juice cleanse, you are going to be in a world of hurt and most likely do more damage to your body than you had done in the first place. Headaches, hunger, acne and stinky breath are what you have to look forward to most of the time. Yes you might lose a few pounds of water weight (which you will gain back as soon as you start eating again) but unless you are able to continue putting fresh fruits and vegetables in to your body everyday after, you’ve accomplished very little. You gave your digestive tract and jaw a rest for three days, but you also sent your body in to starvation mode which ends up burning muscle instead of fat. Less muscle leads to less calories being burnt and metabolism being lowered. I’m guessing that’s not what you were hoping for when you signed up for that one.
If you already eat clean and exercise regularly, there’s no reason to cleanse. See above paragraph about how awesome our bodies are.
So what do I tell people that ask me about cleanses? I tell them that if you want a clean body start making positive lifestyle changes little by little, every day. Eat a lot more vegetables, more fresh or frozen fruit, real whole grains, enough protein for their body’s needs and drink lots of water. Oh yeah, sweat at least three times a week. If they insist on a liver cleanse, I tell them to drink dandelion tea or have some dandelion greens in their salad. End of story.
To sum up, I haven’t done a cleanse in roughly 10 years and I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. I rarely get sick and my most recent blood work was perfect. I help people get healthy through gradual lifestyle changes and it seems to be working pretty darn well. I’m not writing this to attack other coaches (trying not to anyway), just stating my experience and opinion.
Live well.
For the final installment in this series I am sharing the recipes I use to keep my family healthy during cold, flu and even allergy season. I try the best I can to avoid using over the counter medications if there is a natural homemade remedy that will work. Mostly though, I use preventative measures to ensure that we get sick less and therefore don’t need as many medicines or trips to the doctor.
Health Juice:
There is no actual juice in this drink but when you call something juice, my kids are sure to want it. I found this recipe on the back of the Bragg Organic Raw-Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar bottle. They call it Bragg Vinegar Health Drink. My kids ask for it every morning as soon as they get out of bed. They love the flavor and they know it keeps them healthy, so it’s a win win situation. Here’s the recipe below.
1-2 tsp of apple cider vinegar (I actually use 1 Tbsp)
1-2 tsp of local honey (again I use 1 Tbsp to keep it balanced)
8-10 oz room temperature water
Stir together until completely blended and drink once or twice a day!
Elderberry Syrup:
There are many recipes on-line for homemade elderberry syrup and I guess the best way to find the one you like is to just try a few and see which one your family likes. Unfortunately elderberries can be expensive, so make a small batch at first to see if you like it. This is my variation on one I found by Wellness Mama during my own search.
3/4 cup dried organic elderberries
3 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cloves
1 cup local honey
Bring water, elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for at least 45 minutes. The contents of the pan should have reduced by almost half. Let the mixture cool. Strain through a strainer in to a tall glass jar. Add the honey and stir until completely blended. This keeps in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
My kids take one tsp in the morning and one at night to maintain a strong immune system. My husband and I take a Tbsp each day.
Super Duper Tea:
When my oldest is sick with a cold or upset stomach he always asks for Super Duper Tea. It’s a very simple and yummy way to make anyone feel better when they are under the weather.
1-2 bags of chamomile-lavender tea
1 tsp local honey
Heat water in tea kettle til warm, not hot. Pour over tea bag/s and brew for 5 minutes. Stir in honey and enjoy.
For more information on staying healthy year round, check out my previous posts in this series. Have a wonderful and vibrant holiday season!
http://enlightenednourishment.com/2014/10/17/get-well-soon/
http://enlightenednourishment.com/2014/10/20/rock-those-antioxidants/
http://enlightenednourishment.com/2014/10/22/anti-inflammatory-foods-and-respiratory-health/
A while back I wrote a blog post about inflammation and how to control it naturally with foods and supplements. In the post I touched on the subject of respiratory health and inflammation. Instead of rehashing all of that again for this series on how to stay healthy during cold and flu season, I am providing the link to the earlier post here.
I mainly utilize the contents of my spice cabinet throughout the year to keep my family’s respiratory health in tip top shape. As I mentioned in the earlier post cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cumin and cloves are incredible for reducing inflammation in your breathing pathways. I add the spices to the foods and beverages that we consume the most to make sure we have them daily.
Now that I think of it, I wrote another post quite a while ago about the awesomeness of cinnamon and how I use it. The link to that post is here.
So far in this series we’ve covered how a healthy gut leads to a strong immune system, increasing our antioxidant intake and using anti-inflammatory foods to boost you respiratory health.
The last installment will contain recipes I use daily or seasonally to keep my family going strong. Stay tuned!
Friday I told you about boosting your immune system through strengthening your digestive tract. Today we are continuing the topic of immunity with antioxidants. What are they and why do we need them to stay healthy?
According to Wikipedia; An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When the chain reaction occurs in a cell, it can cause damage or death to the cell. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions. They do this by being oxidized themselves, so antioxidants are often reducing agents such as thiols, ascorbic acid, or polyphenols.
Simply put, antioxidants protect our cells from being destroyed by oxidation. We can’t fight off illness and disease with weak cell structures. Therefore we want to have as many foods that are high in antioxidants in our daily diet as possible to stay healthy. Below I will list the foods highest in antioxidants. The foods marked with an * are the ones I use most.
Legumes:
Small red kidney beans
Pinto beans
Nuts*
Fruits:
Elderberries*
Wild blueberries*
Cranberries*
Blueberries
Red delicious apples
Granny smith apples*
Purple, red and green grapes*
Vegetables:
Artichokes (cooked)
Kale*
Broccoli*
Red cabbage*
Red beets
Russet potatoes
Red and green bell peppers*
Herbs and Spices:
Cloves
Cinnamon*
Oregano*
Thyme
Rosemary
Saffron
Sage*
Beverages:
Black and green teas*
Coffee*
Roasted ground coco beans*
Please feel free to use this list to stock your kitchen with healthy foods that will keep you feeling zippy, when everyone else is dragging behind. Xoxo
Tis the season for mold allergies, head and chest colds and of course the dreaded influenza.
Kids are missing school or being held out of daycare. Adults are missing work and social engagements. We’re all nervous about the spread of dangerous and even deadly viruses. How can we have a better chance of avoiding sickness in the next four to six months? Mostly it’s about self care, awareness of our bodies and utilizing the ingredients that most of us already have in our cabinets and refrigerators at home. In the next few days I’m going to be highlighting some of the top ways that I successfully keep my family healthy when everyone around us is falling ill. I hope to supply you with the knowledge you’ll need to keep you and yours feeling great all year long.
Topic one: Immune Boosters
The best way to minimize your chances of getting sick is to strengthen your immune system. This might seem obvious to some, but I find myself reminding people of the need for a strong immune system almost daily. I’m going to touch on the most effective immune boosters in this post.
Good Digestion Means Good Health
It’s important to know that 80 percent of your immune system is centered in your gut. If your gut is weak, so is your barrier against sickness. In order to strengthen your digestive system, you need to do two things. First you need to pinpoint any food allergies you may have and eliminate those foods from your diet. Second you need to build or rebuild your healthy gut lining with probiotics.
Finally realizing and coming to terms with the fact that my body was rejecting gluten to the point of being sick daily if I even thought about eating it, was a huge turning point for me. It made such a dramatic difference in my ability to ward off allergies, colds and most everything else. Milk, wheat, eggs, nuts and soy are the leading culprits in food allergies and more and more people are realizing that they can’t go on eating whatever they want and still find good health. Food allergies do not effect everyone and they do not effect those who suffer from them equally. The best way to discover if you have a food allergy or not is to eliminate the major triggers from your diet for two weeks. Over the two weeks, take notice of how you are feeling. Is your digestion better? Do you have more energy and mental clarity? Has your psoriasis cleared up a bit? Has your skin cleared up? All of these things and more are signs that you are clearing your system of allergens. If you notice absolutely no change, awesome! You are clear of food allergies or at least the well known ones. If you experience a noticeable difference after two weeks, slowly add each food back into your diet one at a time and see how you feel. This process is simple and very effective. You could also find a good allergist and get tested in the office
After finding out if you have any food allergies, the next step is creating a strong intestinal lining. The best way to do this is with the use of probiotics. You don’t need to take pills for this, but it is much more convenient at the end of the day. You can also add fermented foods into your daily diet to get the same effects. Pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchi, plain yogurt, kefir and kombucha tea are some of the obvious choices in the world of fermentation. Yes, wine is also fermented. 
I personally take a high dose of probiotics in pill form daily to stay healthy. Due to the high salt content of most pickled foods and the effects of dairy on my respiratory system, pills are a much better option for me. It’s a personal choice and I’ll leave that up to you. Maybe a combination of both foods and pills will work for you.
Coming soon: Antioxidants, Anti-inflammatories and recipes
One of the aspects of my coaching that is so important for my clients’ health, is to really look at their work and whether or not it makes them truly happy. Are they just collecting a paycheck and counting the seconds til Friday at 5:00pm? Are they always wishing they could make more money, move up in the company or have a nicer boss that valued their work? Are they binge eating from the vending machine at break time and then rushing home to veg in front of the TV or computer? The majority of us could say yes to all of these questions without hesitation. In today’s economy, we take what we can get, even if we have a first rate education. There is very little job security left in America and we all just do the best we can.
Still, knowing all of this, I vowed that after my kids were in school I would go back to work doing something that made me happy and would help people. It was scary and daunting to even think about. I never graduated from college, so I knew I’d have to go back to school in order to have a real chance at doing the work I wanted to do. Before my kids, I was working in a cancer treatment center as a secretary/receptionist. I had started out as the file clerk and over the years, worked my way up to the front desk. It was rewarding in it’s own way, but mostly it was stressful and depressing. It wasn’t how I wanted to spend the rest of my working days until retirement. There are many wonderful people that make it their life’s work, but it just wasn’t for me. Having a passion for health and nutrition made it easy to know what direction to go in. It took me a while to zone in on health coaching, but once I found it, I knew it was the perfect fit. Guiding clients to better health through nutritional education is what I was put on this earth to do. I light up when I talk about it at a party and my heart speeds up when a client, friend or family member texts me with a random nutrition question. I’m just that into it! That’s why I am so glad that part of what I do is to help people find happiness in their own work.
To clarify, I do not tell all of my clients to go in on Monday and quit their job. Ever. What I do is help them to see how their relationship with their job effects their health. From how stressed out they are, how valued they feel and how it effects their eating to how many times a year they are out sick. Sometimes this leads to them seeking out new employment and sometimes it helps them to see how they can make their current work a healthier place to be. Sometimes it’s can be as simple as a shift in how they view their work and other times they need to make some major changes in their work day to feel more fulfilled.
So today I’d like my readers to ask themselves, “Do I love what I do?”.
I’ve noticed that many of the nutritional posts floating around Facebook, Twitter (and the internet in general) seem to be based on creating fear in the readers.
“5 Foods to Never Eat For a Flat Stomach”
“5 Negative High Protein Diet Effects”
“Top 10 Worst GMO Foods for Your GMO Foods List”
“4 Major Health Risks of Drinking Soda”
“Is Your Food Killing You? Super Foods to the Rescue!”
Now, are some of these worth reading? Sure. Are all of these worth reading on the same day during your lunch break? I’m going to say no.
The reason I became a health coach was to educate people about the best ways to become a healthier human being. Teaching people the best ways to boost their immune systems, adopt healthy lifestyle habits and to focus on filling their plates with pure unadulterated nutrients, has always been my mission. So I feel that bombarding my readers with negative headline after negative headline, is not the best way for me to go about getting my message to the masses. It’s like only reading the crime log or obituaries when you read you daily news. You start to feel that everyone around you is a criminal or dropping like flies. Fear and negativity breeds more fear and negativity, so that eventually you just sort of check out of the game. You throw up your hands and say, “What’s the point?! Everything is bad for me, so I might as well just be eating Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew with a Red Bull chaser!”. I have heard and read variations on this statement many times in the past few months. Sadly, it has become a common thought pattern.
I know that at some point I have been guilty of spreading some of these articles and memes on my own blog and Facebook pages, for that I am sorry. I have tried very hard to make it my goal to only write and or post positive, yet informative articles for the last few months. When I consider sharing a post, I ask myself a couple questions before I do.
-Is this sending a positive message?
-Is this going to add confusion to an already confusing topic?
-Is this really helping, or spreading fear?
-Do I agree with everything in this article, or just one point?
-Would I say this to a client or loved one?
-Will this turn someone off to the idea of getting healthy?
If I can’t give a solid yes or no answer to any of these questions, I don’t post it.
Also, it’s really, super, duper important to try my hardest to make sure that what I am posting is factual and not just opinion (unless I make it clear that it is in fact just my personal opinion). If I am passing my opinion off as fact, not so great.
My promise to you, dear readers, is to try not be one more voice contributing to the mass confusion in the world of nutrition. I also promise to keep my posts as clear and as positive as possible.
Eat fresh, frozen or preserved produce as often as possible, drink lots of water, sleep as much as you can and exercise lots! Xoxo
This afternoon I am introducing my taste buds to sweet rosebud tea. I was given a small sample of this lovely organic tea by my friend Figen at Fig Botanicals in Somerville, NJ. First of all, can I just say, WOW?! The entire first floor of my house smells like I just got a surprise delivery of fresh roses and it’s not even my birthday! Secondly, how did I wait this long to drink rosebud tea?!! I feel like a pretty, pretty princess lounging in her boudoir or a fine lady enjoying a lavish high tea with her high society chums. In reality, I’m listening to ‘Dinosaur Train’ playing in the next room while typing a blog post. Hey, at least I’ve got some awesome tea to drink! I’m actually enjoying it iced today, since it’s so warm and humid.
Not only is sweet rosebud tea sensationally aromatic, it is said to aid in mental clarity. I could sure use that right now with everything I’ve got going on in my life. Couldn’t you?
