When I was diagnosed with skin cancer, the first feeling I had was fear.  Fear that I would die.  Fear of not knowing when, or how often the cancer would reappear.  Fear of not being able to be outdoors and do the things that I love the most.  Fear that I would forever have to bath in the disgusting smell of sunscreen for the rest of my life.

When I found out I had Hashimotos (an autoimmune thyroid disorder) fear again was the first thing that came to mind.  Fear of what I had done to my body. Fear of being a fraud as a functional health practitioner. I should have known better.  Fear of the long journey I had ahead to get my health back.  

Fear can be paralyzing.

Fear paralyzed me at first.  I beat myself up for weeks, letting my inner critic get the best of me.  I had my own little pity party and no one was invited but me.  Once I released the fear of my situations, I was able to push forward and heal.

Obviously I didn’t die from cancer if I’m writing this email.  I’ve been cancer-free for over 10 years now.  

And I was in remission with Hashimotos just 6 months after being diagnosed.

Both of my health scares have led me to be an even more successful functional health practitioner, AND live a more fulfilling life!

I spend days basking in the sun, traveling and for the most part, living my best life without a care in the world. 

When we face fear, we let go of old stories that have been holding us back. 

I had to let go of the stories I told myself about my health in order to move forward.  I had to face the fear of changing my lifestyle in order to truly discover my ideal health and weight.   

If I don’t have a drink at dinner what will my friends think?

I don’t want to cause a scene if I don’t have the wine and cheese.

I don’t want to be “that” person at the table asking for a gluten-free menu.

I don’t want to test my hormones because I’m afraid of changes I might have to make.

What if I’ve screwed up my chances to get pregnant.

If I don’t do it myself, it won’t get done. 

These are real fears that either myself, or my clients, have faced.  Any of them sound familiar?

Fear can control our thoughts and ability to heal.  

Fear can keep you stuck in an unhealthy state of mind and/or being.  Finding a way to release fear is the first step in taking back your health and your power.

In this week’s video and blog, I want to help you release fear so you can live your best life and feel like yourself again or for the very first time.

To be fearless in your health is to believe that no matter what comes your way you will find a way to thrive.

To be fearless in your mind is to be brave and bold in your thoughts and actions.

Fear has a positive intention for all of us.  It keeps us safe and brings our attention to where it is needed most.  It’s an instinct we’ve used since the beginning of time for survival, but in our modern day world instead of leaning into it for the valuable clues it holds, we feel ashamed and hide. 

Learning how to harness your fear, to make it work for you instead of against you, is one of the ways you can overcome any health challenge you might be facing and live a more fulfilling life.

Fear can control your thoughts and your ability to heal.  

It’s a low vibrational feeling or energy that has been shown to strongly correlate with autoimmune conditions, parasites, bacteria and yeast overgrowth and other chronic conditions. 

Aside from bringing your mood down, negative thoughts can also trigger the release of toxic bio-chemicals in the body disrupting its natural state of balance. 

Changing your routine or way of being to support your health can seem scary because the unknown is scary for your programmed brain.  The most primal part of our brain will have us repeat the same things over and over again because the outcomes are predictable, even if the actions aren’t best for us.  

This is the same phenomenon that occurs when people rebound back to bad relationships or habits, it’s not healthy but the primitive part of your brain knows it’s survivable making it seem easier to repeat a routine even if it’s no longer serving you. 

When you face the fear, you let go of the old stories that have been holding you back from being your best self, and you naturally improve your health.

So how do you release fear and live life to the fullest?

When you feel tightness, a stressful wave or heaviness, give yourself 3 minutes to identify the underlying concern and clear it out using these 3 steps:

• What is my fear in this situation?
• What is my truth?
• Act on that truth.

This shifts your course and allows you to create a new path leaving the old, outdated routines and fear behind. 

Healthy is a way of being, not just doing. 

You can “do” all of the healthy things…

Eat healthy
Exercise regularly
Get good sleep
Take supplements
Meditate, deep breath, etc. 

But if you’re letting fear run your life, you’ll always feel like you are swimming against the current trying to get results and as if nothing is working. 

I have also found that running the right lab tests to find the missing pieces of your health puzzle and getting objective data to give you direction in regards to diet, rest, exercise, supplementation and toxin removal to be hugely helpful in releasing fear about the unknown so you can confidently move forward.

This has proven to be true in overcoming my own health issues.  When diagnosed with skin cancer and Hashimotos, I immediately dove into doing functional lab testing to uncover all of my healing opportunities and to create a personalized health-building program.

When I share test results with clients, they commonly say receiving their test results was like Christmas, a gift of clues that gives them clarity by showing them all of the possibilities they have to heal and feel like their best self too.

Releasing fear is one of the energetic keys to thriving with any health, weight or energy issue. 

What fear(s) are you ready to release today?  

Let me know below for some accountability to live your best life!

Can you believe the end of the year is almost here? Sometimes life feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace and other days it feels like it’s moving at warp speed.

Either way, if you’re bloated and low on energy, every day is a struggle.

It’s a struggle to look in the mirror and feel good about yourself, to be present with loved ones, to be as productive in life as you want to be, and even to experience joy and happiness.

I’ve been there and many of my clients have too.  It’s not fun. So to help you stop the struggle, I’m sharing 3 ways you can instantly reduce bloating and boost energy.

Despite what is going on the world around us, and what feels outside of our control, the one thing we do have control over is our health.  When you tune out what is going on around you and tune into your body, the possibilities of feeling like your best self and having your best health are endless.

There once was a time when I was out of tune with my body too; seeking answers externally and spinning my wheels when my body was holding them all along.

Healthy is a way of being, not just doing.

You see, I was doing a lot of “healthy things”, but I wasn’t exactly embracing healthy as a way of being.  I was running my body into the ground daily and barely keeping it afloat with my so-called healthy eating and exercise habits.

For example, I was racing through meals and inhaling my food in a hurry to get to the next thing on my to-do list.  More often than not, I would chug down a breakfast smoothie on the way to the office, work while eating lunch, and rush home to eat dinner only to shovel it down so I could do all of my before bed routine things.

This is how most of us live life, always on the go suffering through bloating, low energy and a variety of other nagging health issues.

When we move through life like this, it drastically diminishes our ability to digest food properly leading to unnecessary bloating, poor nutrient absorption and a lack of energy (not to mention food cravings that also get triggered!).

Your body can only heal and digest properly in a relaxed state.

Therefore, one of the keys to getting rid of bloating for good and boosting your energy is learning to slow down around meal time, give your body space to digest, rest and repair.

In this week’s video and blog, I share 3 ways you can slow down around meal time to support digestion, instantly reduce bloating and boost energy.

Seeing who could finish their dinner the fastest was a game we played at the dinner table when I was a kid, and on top of that if you cleared your plate you got dessert.  My parents had the best intentions in the world, filling our plates with whole foods but eating fast and expecting dessert afterwards were some old habits I had to learn how to break in order to have my ideal health and weight.

Our modern fast-paced world doesn’t exactly encourage a relaxed eating state either.  Meetings often take priority over lunch periods, we sit in front of the TV or scroll our favorite social media feed catching up on the day’s happenings while we eat.

All of which triggers the sympathetic nervous system, also known as your fight or flight response. Originally this brilliant response evolved as a means of survival, if you ran into a lion while hunting, your fight or flight response would kick in so you could hightail it out of there by sending all of your blood flow and resources outwards for quick moving and quick thinking, and by deprioritizing actions such as digestion to conserve resources for your escape. 

However, these days your body doesn’t’ know the difference between a lion and the day-to-day stressors you encounter such as working through a lunch break and rushing through meals so you can move onto the next thing.  It responds the same, diminishing digestion in hopes of survival but leaving you feeling bloated, nutrient deficient and tired. 

The good news is, there are a few simple things you can do that don’t take much time or effort, to instantly flip the switch in your brain and body to get you out of the flight or fight response and into the parasympathetic rest and digest mode.

In a parasympathetic state, your body sends blood flow and resources inwards to nourish internal organs, effectively digest food and heal all of which reduces bloating and boosts energy!

Here are 3 ways you can slow down around meal time to support digestion, instantly reduce bloating and boost energy: 

#1- Before eating; inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, exhale for 7 and repeat 5-10 times.  
When you adopt the deep rhythmic breathing pattern of a relaxed person, your body automatically flips the switch from being stressed to in a place of rest and digest.  

This is a great tool you can also use during other times of the day to get into a relaxed state more frequently to allow more healing to happen.

#2 – Chew every bite 20 times or more.
Digestion actually begins in the mouth.  Your saliva contains digestive enzymes to help breakdown food before it hits your stomach so taking action to adequately chew your food reduces digestive stress that can lead to bloating and increases absorption of nutrients to boost your energy and healing all around. 

#3 – Put your utensils down between bites.
This is a societal thing.  Next time you’re around others eating observe how everyone is shoveling their next bite in their mouth before they are even done chewing the one they are working on!  

Setting your fork, spoon or other utensil you might be using down in between bites slows down the sense of urgency you might have to get through a meal, and it also reinforces the act of chewing each bite thoroughly for all of the benefits previously mentioned to reduce bloating and boost energy.

Putting these 3 tips into play will also help you be more present and in tune with your body when it comes to food.  You may also find that it’s easier to notice when you’re full to avoid overeating, how certain foods don’t work well for your body or that you’re able to go longer periods of time between meals without snacking because you actually digested the food you ate.

You can’t out-supplement, out-diet, or out-exercise a too-busy lifestyle or overworked body. 

It’s time to embrace healthy as a way of being, and not just doing by tuning everything else out and tuning into your body.

If you’d like to dive deeper into what is causing your bloating and low energy by getting your hands on the right lab tests and resources to find the missing pieces of your health puzzle, click here to schedule an Ideal Health and Weight Discovery Session with me.

I was reminded the other day how common breast cancer can be when a good friend of mine shared about her mom being diagnosed that week.

Luckily they caught it in an early stage so the prognosis looks promising.

However, just because breast cancer is common doesn’t mean it’s normal or that you or your loved ones are destined to be subjected to it. Cancer is fueled by inflammation and lifestyle factors so there’s a huge opportunity to prevent it and even reverse it if one has it.

So in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’m bringing back this blog to share 5 ways to prevent breast cancer with you so you and your loved ones can be in control of your health and destiny.

***

According to Breastcancer.org, they estimate in 2019 alone 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer are expected in U.S. women, and about 2,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men.

So as I said last week, early detection of breast cancer significantly increases your chances of survival.

BUT reducing your risk factors for cancers significantly decreases your chances of getting cancer ever!

High risk factors for breast and other types of cancer can include:

• Family history/genetics
• High sugar/carbohydrate diet
• Use of plastic food and water containers
• Excess estrogen circulating in the body
• A sluggish liver and poor detoxification system
• High oxidative stress (cellular/DNA damage)
• Repeated exposures to hormone altering toxins and radiation

Contrary to popular belief, your genetics dictate ONLY 20% of your health outcomes, and your lifestyle drives the other 80%.

This is great news!

It means you have more control than you probably thought you did over whether you get cancer, autoimmune conditions and chronic or terminal illnesses.

Inflammation is what drives all dysfunction and disease in the body, so when you control inflammation it’s like containing wildfire.  The more you contain it, the less devastation it can create.

In this week’s video and blog, I want to give you 5 things you can do to reduce inflammation and your risk not just for breast cancer, but for all types of cancer and chronic diseases!

To start, let’s recap on what some of the most common high risk factors for breast and other types of cancer, terminal illnesses and chronic diseases are.  They can include:

• Family history/genetics
• High sugar/carbohydrate diet
• Use of plastic food and water containers
• Excess estrogen circulating in the body
• A sluggish liver and poor detoxification system
• High oxidative stress (cellular/DNA damage)
• Repeated exposures to hormone altering toxins and radiation

You can’t change your genetics but you can change how they impact your health by adopting healthy behaviors that keep them from fostering disease states.

Remember, your genetics dictate ONLY 20% of your health outcomes, and your lifestyle drives the other 80%.

So here are 5 things you can do to reduce inflammation so you can keep your genes happy and healthy, and to prevent cancer or other chronic diseases…

#1 – Eat Anti-Inflammatory & Pro-Antioxidant
You put food in your body every day that can either fuel the inflammatory fire or help to put it out.  To drastically reduce inflammation every time you eat, avoid the top inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol.  And then look to replace them with antioxidant-rich foods to reduce oxidative stress (aka cellular and DNA damage) such as goji berries, organic dark chocolate, artichokes, cilantro, elderberries, and wild-caught salmon.

#2 – Rest & Recover From 10-4
From 10pm to 4am is when your body performs critical repair of all of your cells, flushing of toxins and restoration of all systems.  It’s like taking your body in for a tune up every night! However, if you’re not sleeping during this timeframe your body can’t perform these duties which can lead to hormone imbalances, toxic back-ups and a multitude of other issues that can trigger inflammation leading to disease.  Aim to be asleep by 10pm at least 5 nights per week.

#3- Move & Release
Moving your body daily helps you to maintain a healthy weight, your strength and cardiovascular health AND to release toxins.  The lymphatic system is the body’s natural sewage system to eliminate toxins and excess estrogen that can drive cancer and disease, but the problem is that it doesn’t move itself.  When you move, the lymphatic system moves too. The more you move the more inflammation and cancer causing toxins can be released!

#4 – Stop & Shift
Did you know that stress can cause inflammation and genetic alterations too?  Stress is inevitable but having a daily de-stress routine in place is a proactive way to prevent it from accumulating and contributing to chronic inflammation that can lead to disease.  See where you can fit in as little as 5 minutes of deep breathing or meditation in your day. And at a minimum when you feel stressed – stop and shift your mindset by inhaling for 5 seconds, holding your breath for 5 seconds and exhaling for 7.  Repeat this 5-10 times to instantly get out of stress mode!

#5 – Tackle The Toxins
Prioritize minimizing your exposures to inflammatory and cancer-causing toxins by focusing on the things you put in and on your body that have the largest impact on your health.  You can do this by eating organic food as much as possible, drinking and cooking with only filtered water and swapping out your personal care products such as lotions, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner for less toxic and more environmental-friendly brands.

By taking action in these 5 areas not only will you drastically reduce your risk for cancer and other chronic diseases, but I can almost guarantee you’ll instantly notice an improvement in your energy, weight and overall sense of well-being.

***

Let’s make a pact to make cancer prevention something we’re aware of all year long, not just during the month of October!

And if you missed it, in last week’s blog I also shared two cutting-edge tools men and women can use to self screen for breast cancer and its high risk factors. You can check out that blog here.

I’m curious, what does eating healthy mean to you?

When I graduated from college after studying fitness, nutrition, and health for 4 years, I thought eating healthy meant you should…

• Create a calorie deficit by eating less and moving more
• Have a snack or meal every 2 hours
• Always eat 3 solid meals per day
• Eat low fat, lean meats, veggies, fruits, dairy, starches, and whole grains according to the food guide pyramid now known as the “plate”

So I did exactly what I was taught and I felt like crap instead of feeling great and having my ideal health and weight.

It turns out, there’s a LOT more to eating healthy than what we were taught in school or what you might have read on your own about diets and nutrition.

In fact, some so-called healthy foods aren’t healthy for you.  

It took me years to figure out what foods were healthy for my body. When I finally figured it out, it made getting the results I desired so much easier!  So I want to help you cut to the chase and get to the bottom of what foods are healthy for you so you can feel like your best self too instead of wasting time trying to figure it out.

I see so many clients and people feeling frustrated about food and eating healthy.  They’ve tried just about everything with little to no results.  They’ll literally say…

I’m eating healthy but I’m not getting any results!

Do you find yourself feeling frustrated like this too?

In theory, they are “eating healthy.”  They are often eating a Paleo, Whole30, Keto, or a generally well-rounded and clean diet.  In some cases, they are eating mostly organic foods, good sources of meats, and even avoiding some of the well-known inflammatory foods.  

But they still aren’t getting results.  They still struggle with digestive upset, weight, anxiety, hormone imbalances, or other nagging health issues.

All because eating healthy isn’t always healthy for YOU.

In this week’s video and blog, I’ll reveal why some of the healthy foods you’re eating might not be healthy for you, and give you tips to figure out what is healthy for YOU.

There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.

Eating right for your body will incorporate healthy foods but not all healthy foods are right for your body.

Most diet approaches tend to focus on food elimination, which is good considering that often times it means eliminating the top inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, alcohol, and even other grains or foods containing lectins.

However, most dietary approaches fail to consider two key components to eating healthy for your body:

1. Macronutrient (protein, carb, and fat) balance
2. Specific food sensitivities

Eating the right balance of proteins, carbs and fats gives your body the right ratios of fuel so it can function at its potential.  Understanding and eating according to your macronutrient needs can instantly:

• Reduce digestive stress
• Increase energy
• Fight off food cravings

But you can still run into issues when eating the right balance of macronutrients if you’re eating foods that you’re sensitive to. 

Food sensitivities aren’t always obvious.  They don’t always show up as digestive upset which is why you might think you don’t have any.  Other common food sensitivity symptoms can include:

• Anxiety
• Skin breakouts
• Low energy or fatigue
• Poor sleep
• Weight gain or resistant weight loss

Food sensitivities or poor macronutrient balance could certainly be secretly sabotaging your healthy eating efforts and results!

As I’ve shared before, take a banana for example.  Around the world, most would agree it’s a healthy food but if you have a sensitivity to bananas OR they contain too many carbs and sugars for what your body can tolerate in one sitting, then they aren’t a healthy food for you. 

When you eat something like a banana that has these negative effects on you, it spikes blood sugar and inflammation, reduces nutrient absorption, disrupts hormone balance, messes with your sleep and energy, and leaves you craving more food to get another energy bump.

When my husband found out he was sensitive to beef he lost 5 pounds within a week of removing it from his diet. 

Beyond these two key components, there could be even more to consider such as high oxalates and FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols)

Oxalates are a naturally occurring element in foods and in the body, but an abundance of oxalates lead to kidney stones, chronic joint pain, mineral deficiencies, and more.  Oxalates can especially become problematic when Candida or yeast overgrowth is going on the body.

Some of the foods highest in oxalates include:

• Dark chocolate
• Nuts
• Berries
• Citrus fruits
• Beets
• Sweet potatoes
• Zucchini and other summer squashes
• Dark leafy greens such as spinach and certain kinds of kale

Just about every one of them is considered a healthy food!

And FODMAP foods can be problematic with an overly inflamed or leaky digestive system making it hard to breakdown these foods leading to fermentation and bacteria overgrowth in the gut.

Some of the highest FODMAP foods are:

• Garlic
• Onion
• Fruits
• Grains
• Certain nuts and legumes

See how you could be eating so-called healthy foods that aren’t actually healthy for YOU?

The best healthy eating plan takes YOUR body and specific needs into consideration and combines the elements related to macronutrient balance, food sensitivities, and other physiological factors.

When working with clients to figure out what foods are right for their body, we always do a series of functional lab tests to uncover all of the pieces to their health puzzle and then use that data to guide recommendations for how to eat healthy for their body.

The series of tests will often include a:

• Food sensitivity test to pinpoint specific foods they are reactive to
• Metabolic typing test to assess ideal macronutrient balance
• Stool sample test to evaluate digestive and intestinal health

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to eating healthy for YOUR body.

If you want to explore what foods are right for your body, click here to get my Food & Body Language Log to start dialing in your macronutrient balance. 

And if you want to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources to explore it even deeper, click here to schedule an Ideal Health and Weight Discovery Session with me.

It’s officially Fall here in the northern hemisphere and that means flu and virus season is upon us.

Not only are we facing the typical flu and virus season this year, but the pandemic never ended over the summer as some predicted the warm weather would help to do. 

However, have no fear because I’ve got some solid tips to help you fight viruses naturally.

There are actually a lot of simple things you can do daily beyond hand-washing or mask-wearing to boost your immune system and prevent a virus from taking you hostage.

And the single most important thing you can do to fight off viruses naturally is…

BALANCE BLOOD SUGAR!

As more research is emerging about the recent pandemic, sugar is being identified as one of the primary risk factors for contracting the virus and the severity of symptoms. 

In fact, a recent study “suggests that prolonged uncontrolled hyperglycemia, and not just a history of diabetes mellitus, may be important in the pathogenesis of the disease.”

Hyperglycemia is when an excessive amount of glucose aka sugar is circulating around in the bloodstream. High blood sugar levels can increase the number of sugar-coated, ACE2 receptors, a virus’s favorite entry point.  Not only are the number of receptors higher with more circulating sugar, but they also have more sugars attached to them making it easier for the virus to infect cells. 

When blood sugar values are lower, there are fewer ACE2 receptors and sugars on each one; thus, reducing the amount of viruses getting into cells. 

Essentially high blood sugar levels provide easy transportation for viruses to attach to and enter cells for infection. 

PLUS, elevated blood sugar levels:

• Fuel inflammation weakening the immune system’s ability to respond adequately
• Disrupt your cortisol rhythm and restful sleep cycles that protect against viruses
• Leave you craving more sugar and stuck on a blood sugar roller coaster

Any apparently healthy person can have high levels of blood sugar.  I see this all the time in health-minded clients I work with, even the ones who are “eating healthy” and exercising regularly.

How could this be?

Foods that impact blood sugar go beyond the well-known added white sugar used in baking cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats. Eating too many carbs, even the so-called healthy ones, for what your body can tolerate can also lead to blood sugar imbalances.

In this week’s video and blog,

I’ve got some solid tips to help you balance blood sugar and fight viruses naturally. 

There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.  Eating right for your body will include healthy foods but not every healthy food is right for your body. 

Take a banana for example, around the world most would agree it’s a healthy food but if you have an allergy or sensitivity to bananas OR they contain too many carbs and sugars for what your body can tolerate, then they aren’t a healthy food for you. 

When you eat something like said-banana that has these negative effects on you, it spikes your blood sugar and inflammation making you susceptible to potential viruses, and leaves you craving more sugar to get another energy bump – the vicious cycle continues!

It’s possible to encounter these issues even if you’re eating a Paleo, Whole30, Autoimmune Paleo or another type of healthy diet. These diets deal more with food elimination than they do macronutrient (carb, protein, and fat) or blood sugar balance. 

When you eat the wrong ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for your body, it can lead to blood sugar imbalances making you feel:

• Tired, anxious, irritable, or needing to nap
• Snacky, bloated, heavy, or craving for sweets
• Brain foggy, wired but tired or physically full and still hungry
• Worn down and vulnerable to viruses!

When you’re eating the right ratio of protein, carbs, and fats per meal you will:

• Be able to go 3-5 hours or more without feeling hungry or needing to snack
• Have energy for hours and feel recharged
• Think clearly, feel uplifted and be more positive
• Easily regulate blood sugar levels keeping them low

Figuring out your food ratios to balance your blood sugar, boost immunity and energy is actually pretty simple.  All you need to do is:

1. Tune into your body 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating
2. Notice how it’s responding to what you ate
3. Adjust your food ratios until you get the perfect response!

To help you figure out what ratios are right for your body to balance blood sugar, click here to get my Food & Body Language Log.

Adding 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to your meals by drizzling it over veggies, meat or salad is an easy way to increase your intake of healthy fats to balance your blood sugar, keep you satiated for longer and fend off cravings. 

Next, let’s address sleep as another natural and incredibly impactful tool to help you fight off viruses.

We must learn to value sleep as much as we do diet and exercise.

When you get optimal and restful sleep, the body is able to restore and repair itself, your hormones can rebalance and nutrients can be absorbed and converted into useful tools.

When sleep is inconsistent, disrupted, or short in duration, your body is not able to fully recover.  Your circadian rhythm and cortisol balance becomes dysfunctional and a domino effect occurs in the body.  Cortisol regulates how your body uses insulin and the availability of glucose (sugar) in the body for energy.

Staying up late at night or not getting a good night’s sleep disrupts your cortisol balance and energy leaving you searching for energy via food, queueing the food, and sugar cravings!

To balance your energy, blood sugar, avoid cravings, and promote weight loss it’s ideal to be asleep by 10 pm most nights of the week (5 out of 7).  

When you do get sick, don’t you always feel better faster when you sleep it off

This is because your body can only heal in a relaxed state, so if and when you are fighting something off, sleep is critical to your recovery.  Sleep is when human growth hormone is released to repair and replenish cells and when the body performs other important functions to boost your immunity.

If we all committed to eating the right foods for our body to prevent blood sugar issues and getting great sleep this cold and flu season, I bet we could put this pandemic behind us faster. 

Are you up for the challenge?

Leave a comment below and let me know what steps, no matter how small, you can take to regulate your blood sugar and improve sleep to fight viruses naturally 🙂

It was around this time last year that I embarked on my first 72-hour fasting adventure that boosted my health and wellbeing in so many ways!

And this week I started my sixth 72-hour fast because I love the way it makes me feel and the incredible impacts it’s had on my overall health. 

As I reflect on the past year and what fasting has done for me, all that I learned during that initial 3-day fast still holds true and the lessons aren’t exactly what you might think they would be.

Check out this week’s #throwbackthursday video and blog for tips on how to assess if fasting is right for you, how to prepare your body for longer fasts and what lessons you can learn from it too!

***

Fasting has been getting a lot of press lately with the rise in popularity of the Keto diet which has shed light on the benefits of intermittent and prolonged fasting regiments.

In general, fasting can have a wide range of health benefits such as:

• Balancing blood sugar
• Promoting weight loss
• Reducing inflammation
• Regulating hormones that signal for hunger
• Healing the intestinal lining (leaky gut)
• And decomposing damaged cells and generating new ones (this is absolutely fascinating biology, geek out more on it here)

Fasting has been used for ages in eastern medicine philosophies to help reverse or prevent health conditions such as cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

If we think about fasting from a primal or ancestral standpoint, it has been around basically since the beginning of mankind.  As hunter-gatherers, our primitive ancestors frequently went without food for periods of time in between successful hunting trips and during times of famine when food sources were low or hard to come by.  They didn’t have the luxuries of fast food drive-thrus on almost every corner or food at their fingertips like we do today.

WARNING:

Fasting is NOT right for everyone.  Before attempting to fast, you should consult with your health professional about known, or unknown, health conditions that might be contraindicated.

Fasting may not be right for you if:

• Have existing hormone imbalances (thyroid, estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, etc.)
• Currently suffer with sleep issues
• Have underlying vitamin and mineral deficiencies
• Your liver is already sluggish or overloaded
• Have heavy metals or other toxins built up in your body
• Avoid salt or don’t eat enough of it

However, even with some of these contraindications, you can still give fasting a try IF you do the right lab testing to understand what is going on in your body and then take action to best support it while fasting.

I decided to do a 72-hour fast as a way to heal my gut.

Fasting is one of the most effective ways to reset your gut health, to heal leaky gut and improve digestion.  When given a break from digesting, the cells of your gut regenerate and produce a whole new lining within 3 days!

I’ve made a LOT of progress in the gut healing department over the years but I’d never tried fasting before in order to fully restore my gut.

I made the decision to try it ONLY after I confirmed my body was in a healthy place to thrive while fasting.  I knew my body could finally handle a 72-hour fast when:

I was able to go prolonged periods of time without food while maintaining a high level of energy, indicating my body was “fat-adapted” (able to tap into fat stores for fuel easily).

My thyroid and other hormone tests consistently came back in optimal functional ranges.

I was consistently sleeping well through the night, had drastically reduced other variables of stress in my life and had a solid self-care regiment in place.

I felt 100% like myself on the regular – energetic, at home in my body and strong inside and out.

The physical results of my fast were amazing.  I felt lighter, leaner and cleaner on the inside.

But what was most surprising was what I learned about my body and myself over the course of the 72-hours…

In this week’s video and blog, I’ll share exactly what 72-hours of fasting taught me and the insights you can gain about your health from my experience too.

If you’ve ever struggled with your weight, energy or any kind of health issues like me, then you know what it feels like to lose faith and trust in your body; and even if you come back from it, fear about losing it all again can still be constantly running in the background of your mind.

Aside from the physical benefits I got from fasting, it also helped me develop a healthier mindset, a relationship with my body and to finally get over the fear of losing it all again.

Here’s the priceless wisdom I gained from my experience with fasting…

Trust
Before starting the 72-hour fast, I asked my body to trust me.  To trust that I wouldn’t push my limits and deplete myself like I had done in the past, and that I would abort the mission if my health or wellbeing suffered at any point in time.

I had to trust that my body was capable and healthy enough to handle a fast going into it.  And coming out of it, I have more trust in my body than I’ve had in my entire life. We are truly best friends once again.

Resiliency
With a history of autoimmune disease (Hashimotos), a sluggish thyroid, other hormone imbalances and issues related to toxic mold, I’ve always questioned whether my body would fully bounce back to where it used to be; if I would ever get my physical strength back, be able to eat certain foods again without issues, have unlimited energy and be my 137 pound confident inside and out self again.

Well, I did.

Being able to do a 72-hour fast showed me just how resilient my body is because I couldn’t have done it without feeling all of these things!  I proved by body is resilient enough to come back from whatever crisis I might face with my health or in life.

Faith
Faith is waking up still believing something will happen even if it didn’t the day before. Holding onto faith throughout my health journey hasn’t always been easy.  You don’t always know how or when the results will come, but believing in the possibility and having faith is what matters. It’s what keeps you going.

Giving up crossed my mind countless times, but that would have meant having to settle for something less than what I deserved or desired so I held onto faith.

And as a result of having faith, here I am.  In the best shape and health of my life, having completed a 72-hour fast as a result of being in such good health and using it as a tool to take my health to the next level.

So here’s what I hope you gain from my experience too…

• Understanding that health is as much of a mindset as it physical #healthisamindset
• Your body is capable or more than you could ever imagine so hold the space for that
• Believe in the impossible and have patience because there is a solution for you too

With the right lab tests and resources it is possible to find the missing pieces of your health puzzle, to actually fix what is wrong and finally get back to feeling like yourself again (or for the very first time)!

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