This is the time in the month where you may start to notice that you suddenly feel less inspired to vision and create with your mind, and more turned on by the idea of clearing space and working with your hands.
We are entering the waning moon cyle. Your energies will naturally begin to recede during this time as your consciousness begins to move inward (your ‘moontime’ is coming).
Now is the time to start making preparations for conscious ‘moontime‘ (menstruation). Not only does the waning moon help you ‘go with the flow’, but attending consciously to your self care in this time will make space for your other ‘flow’ (menstruation) to become a time of relaxation and restoration (rather than a time of pain and tension).
Now is a perfect time of the month to reflect:
Are you living in line with your values?
What needs transformation in your life?
What structures or support systems must be put in place so that you can live a life of your conscious choosing?
More importantly, what obstacles do you need to overcome or eliminate in order to make room for a way of life that works better for you?
Get out that dusty journal or enter deep conversation with loved ones to assimilate and absorb that which you encountered, struggled with and learned in the previous weeks.
Release and let go of that which is no longer needed (ie: clear clutter in your home).
Take care of your unfinished business, so that you can create a clear slate for yourself moving forward (including unfinished business with people).
Complete your unfinished projects so that you can move forward into new realms of creativity and make space for the visioning time of the new moon that is on its way.
How will you need to rework your plans for this week so that you stay in the flow?
If you notice that you are ‘pushing the river’ on something, or that you keep coming up against obstacles, stop trying to force it.
STOP NOW.
Get clear on what the obstacles are and systematically remove them one step at a time. Acting on that will get you back in the flow. The energies at this time of the month support self reflection and movement toward more space.
While your mind might want you to ‘keep pushing’, in the end you’ll get more accomplished if you are simply willing to put down the things that just aren’t coming together for you easily right now.
If you continue to ‘push’ things, they might still get done, but they will take you much longer than they should……and you’ll still be left with the clearing you need to do on all levels (putting you ‘behind’ in the bigger picture-exactly the opposite of why we ‘push’ in the first place).
Surrender.
If you flow in cycle with the moon’s energies….everything you need and desire will begin to fall into place. Trust it.
Want to be reminded as we transition in and out of each of the moon’s cycles?
Sign up for my newsletter (top right hand corner, towards the top of the page) so that I can send you a weekly notification by e-mail in service to helping you manage your energy and get in tune with your natural rhythms!
Do you think that sugar isn’t an issue for you just because you don’t have a ‘sweet tooth’?
If you can easily say ‘no’ to cake, cookies, chocolate bars and the like, you might be under the assumption that you couldn’t possibly be addicted to sugar.
BUT, if you can’t say ‘no’ to any or all of the following (or if you can’t imagine enjoying life without them) then I hate to break you the news, you ARE a sugar addict.
Bread
Juice
Crackers
Wine/Alcohol
Chips
Cereal
Processed foods
Ketchup etc.
While the aforementioned foods may not actually be ‘white sugar’ they either contain it or are metabolized just like it (hence why you can’t imagine enjoying food without them).
The benefits of getting off sugar go far beyond balancing your blood sugar and the good bacteria in your gut.
You get to heal the insulin resistance you didn’t know you had – and the subsequent digestive distress and hormonal havoc that come with it – so that you can stop losing your mind (and your hair!).
You can finally be free of your weight woes, get your glow back and feel ‘foxy’ instead of frumpy!
You can stop ‘drying out’, puffing up and aging fast.
But how you say?! How can I possibly give up these foods and still enjoy life?
I bet you’ve tried to get off it before, but it calls you back.
That’s because we are physiologically programmed to want sugar….the problem is, we’ve never before in history had access to concentrated sources of sugar the way we do now.
You haven’t evolved quick enough to be able to handle so much sugar, although if you are of European descent, you might be able to get away with it for longer than those of us who have a family background that is African American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander American.
But even if you can get away with it for longer, who would want to with all the side affects? Like….
lowered immunity
weight gain
nutrition deficiency (when you fill yourself up with sugar, you are displacing the nutrients your body needs)
cardiovascular disease
fatty liver
metabolic syndrome
digestive distress
hormonal havoc
your hair falling out
aging fast
chronic ear aches
yeast infections
fungal infections
Really, this is the short list of health issues that overconsumption of sugar contributes to.
But we already know that sugar is not good for us.
We just can’t stop ourselves because of the instant pleasure gratification and subsequent crashes that keep us wanting more.
So how is what I am sharing with you going to even help in the face of that!?
The truth is, you CAN get off the sugar addiction cycle without giving up your favourite foods, simply by pressing reset on what your body craves through simple dietary shifts that will help you stop craving ‘the crap’ (without willpower).
Here’s how you can reduce your sugar intake by leaps and bounds (without having to use willpower or deprivation):
Step 1: Swap your artificial sweeteners with the natural non-toxic ones.
Step 2: Upgrade the quality of the sugar in your kitchen from white sugar to the best natural sugars available (and no agave syrup is not in that category).
Step 3: Transform your baking into nutrient dense delights (instead of eating nutrient and energy depleting ones) using 3 simple ingredient upgrades.
Step 4: Learn to adopt simple Chinese medicine principles and watch your cravings disappear.
Step 5: Eat the right fats- the ones that will actually satiate you (so that you forget about sugar).
Step 6: Discover your unique craving complex (what’s really driving those cravings and how to meet your nutritional deficiencies).
Step 7: Infuse your body with deep nutrition (give yourself a nutrient infusion, body reset and rejuvenation of your taste buds) so that you can experience what it is like to be fully nourished into freedom from sugar cravings and enjoy the natural flavour of real food. *When you eat sugar, table salt and processed food, your taste buds become so numbed out, that real nutritious food tastes boring and bland – but I promise you don’t have to give up the sweet, creamy rich comfort foods you love!
If your sugar addiction is mild or you don’t have insulin resistance, the aforementioned steps will probably alone get you to a place where you can eat sugar in moderation, with out feeling the need to binge on it.
However, if you have any hypoglycemia, hormone havoc, digestive distress, candida or any of the other symptoms I mentioned earlier, then you’ll want to get in on the complimentary ‘Sweet Life without Sugar’ call!
Or if you can’t wait and need to deal with this now before the holidays sweep you up in a sugar craze, then you’ll want to grab the Delish Diet Starter Kit, where I will walk you step-by-step through what you need to do, so that you actually do it (just knowing it, isn’t doing it!).
This is about sustainable changes.
I could rile you all up to get off sugar tomorrow, but then you’d be back on it next week.
That’s why the Delish Diet program is actually less about detoxing from sugar and more about what to eat exactly to allow your sugar cravings to drop away – while feeling more satiated and satisfied by what you eat than you have ever felt before – guilt free!
Best of all, while you are making the transition to sugar free, I have a ton of sweet recipes for you, so that you can still have your cake and eat it too!
We won’t simply be using willpower or psychology to change your behavior, but you are actually going to transform your physiology – so that you naturally desire more satiating foods that have staying power.
We’ll use nourishment to get you there, not deprivation or willpower!
People who crave sugar in any or all of its many of guises have a physiological craving.
But you can get off the track and best of all, it is not even hard if you know how to do it right!
If you are ready to learn how to detox the hidden sources of sugar in your life, decode your cravings and add more nourishment to your life, then you are invited to come long with me and step into a craving-free version of yourself.
Imagine being able to get through the holidays without a sugar hang over? It is easy when you’ve got the tools.
Have you ever bought one of those health food store detox kits?
If you know me well, you know that for many years I worked in the health food store industry. You might be surprised to learn that in all that time, I never once went on a ‘cleanse in a box’.
One thing that I know about detox (with a lot of experience customizing my own food based cleanses) is that you can add as many herbs and supplements as you want to a cleansing regime, but if you don’t make specific fundamental shifts in your diet and lifestyle at the same time, any benefits you get from the program will be short lived at best.
I am serious. You are wasting your money.
The thing is, you can spend your money on a short lived product or invest in a life changing experience.
It’s true. When you expect results in a bottle you end up spending money (yip, you can put that in the expenses category), whereas when you invest in a sustainable lifestyle and paradigm shifting experience, the return on your investment is priceless.
Anyone who is serious about getting off sugar, junk food, cleansing or healing their body is much better off investing in a health program (or healing retreat) where you can get the support, feedback and accountability of a group or mentor.
Most of us know what to do to help ourselves, but the fact is we just don’t do it. The best laid intentions and plans soon crumble when essential pieces are missing from the equation.
Plus, getting ‘unstuck’ in the places that we are stuck, often requires good coaching and a multifaceted approach that includes other aspects of our lives (beyond the kitchen) that need to be addressed, before we can shift and transform our way of being with food.
There are also the simple sustainable changes that we often overlook. If we saw them, it would take ‘hard’ out of the picture for us (an objective coach is essential in helping us uncover the things that we don’t know, we don’t know).
And there are certain structures and systems that we must put in place and become immersed in, for lasting transformation (yes, there are systematic and structured ways of getting organized around food that make eating healthy effortless)!
One thing that is typical of people who overcome their ‘processed food addictions’ (bet you can’t think of one person addicted to raw broccoli!) and heal from disease is that they often have a paradigm shift in the process that elevates and evolves literally every aspect of their lives.
Now you can’t get that from a pill or in a box, but you sure can from real caring people who can hold your hand and show you the way- but only if you are ready for the journey of course- what you put in, you get out.
So if you were thinking of just doing one of those cleansing kits, do you REALLY want to ‘just pop pills’ or do you want to make craving junk and sugar a thing of the past, so that you can take it or leave it (no issue)?
If you are like most people, you`ve probably sworn off bread or sugar at least once in your lifetime. The trouble is though, that at the best of times willpower often cowers in the face of a true physiological or bacterial craving.
The truth is, if you can`t stop yourself from bingeing on bread or overdoing sugar, it is not your fault.
Here is why:
1) From a physiological perspective – if you have blatant or subtle nutrient deficiencies, your body is driving you to consume sugar and refined carbs to feel good (although only momentarily). Unfortunately, sugar itself keeps you both on a roller coaster and a hamster wheel! The dips and spikes of sugar ensure that you crave just one thing- more sugar!! And as far as the hamster wheel is concerned, sugar isn`t an empty calorie, it actually puts us in a nutrient defecit, thus perpetuating mineral deficiency and subsequent cravings!
2) From a bacterial perspective – if you have sugar cravings, there is a very high chance that you also have a bacterial imbalance in your gut…sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria (the bad guys)! These bacteria beasties actually send chemical messages to your brain that will cause you to crave sugar and refined carbohydrates!
So as you can see, people crave sugar, because how could they not? – in the age of nutrient deficient food!
While there are many ways to nourish ourselves to make cravings a thing of the past, I bet you would love to know about the single most potent food to permantly eliminate sugar cravings altogether, am I right?
How about discovering one food that can address both the body`s physiological craving for food AND the bacterial one?
The food most ideally suited to stop your sugar and refined carb cravings is cultured foods!!
Culturing a food, means that you are infusing it with beneficial probiotic bacteria (you know, that good stuff inherently found in yogurt!).
So just how DO cultured foods address the root causes of sugar and refined carb cravings?
1) Culturing your food increases the nutritional value of that food. For example, sauerkraut has 100 times the Vitamin C as its unfermented counterpart, cabbage. Eating some probiotic condiments with each meal also promotes better digestion and the assimilation of nutrients. That in itself is a 3 in 1 benefit of cultured foods in terms of meeting nutrient deficiencies!
2) Cultured food also feeds beneficial bacteria in your gut, therefore helping to crowd out the more harmful or pathogenic flora. In addition, cultured foods do not JUST add good probiotic bacteria to your gut, but they also provide lactic acid which is not only food for the GOOD bacteria, but it makes your digestive tract inhospitable to pathogenic bacteria! That is a 4 in 1 benefit!
and if that is not remarkable enough…..
1) Ancient chinese medicine has taken note that the unique flavour of cultured foods actually has a balancing effect that neutralizes or cancels out our cravings for sugar!
2) Finally, one Ka-RAZY Kool effect of eating fermented foods with your meals is that if you give into a sugar craving and immediately eat a cultured food, the beneficial bacteria will start eating up the sugar you just consumed, therefore minimizing the amount that you end up digesting and assimilating!
Now if my math is correct, that is at least 9 reasons why cultured foods alone, can curb your sugar cravings!
So if cravings, are driving you crazy, and you want to immediately take action – you can purchase the following fermented foods and bubbly beverages at your local health food store:
1) Bubbies Pickles
2) Sauerkraut
3) Kombucha
Just make sure they say ‘raw’ or unpasteurized, because otherwise they will be devoid of probiotics from the heat.
However, if you have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to take more than adding a few Tbsp of sauerkraut to your meals, then you need to get on this complimentary training.
I will show you exactly how to live the sweet life, without giving up the sweet, rich, creamy foods you love!
Click here to get access to the ‘Sweet Life Without Sugar’ complimentary training!
The secret to crispy thin crackers is using a pizza stone so that you can roll out your batter in as many directions as you need, to get it thin enough. Next, you turn the oven off and leave the crackers in for another 10 minutes. Pizza stones are $10-20 and worth every penny if you want to make crackers at home (which you will want to because the majority of crackers on the market use refined sugar, refined oil, table salt and often modified milk ingredients).
Cheesy Almond Crackers
(makes 60-80 crackers)
What you will need:
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2- 1 tsp unrefined salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp ground flax
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup ghee/butter/coconut oil
Optional: pressed garlic
How to do it:
Step 1: Mix ground flax with 3/4 cup water and let stand.
Step 2: Mix almond flour, unrefined salt and baking soda.
Step 3: Mix butter (you may have to melt it) in with the flax/water mix and then stir into the dry ingredients.
Step 4: Form the batter into a ball and then split in half.
Step 5: Put parchment paper on a pizza stone (or cookie sheet) and press out half of the batter into a circle as evenly and thin as you can with your hands.
Step 6: Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to make it thinner and smoother.
Step 7: Cut into squares or triangles with a knife or pizza slicer.
Step 8: Prick each cracker with 3 pricks and sprinkle with salt.
Step 9: Bake @ 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.
Step 10: Turn the oven off and leave the crackers in for another 10 minutes.
If you you liked my seed crackers, you will love these!
These lovely egg free, grain free cookies are better than the grain versions any day. Get ready to die and go to heaven.
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes 30 good sized cookies)
What you will need:
3 cups almond flour
1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder
1/2 tsp unrefined salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, ghee or coconut oil (ghee version in the photos)
1/2 cup honey
1tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks
How to do it:
Step 1: Combine almond flour, cocoa powder, unrefined salt and baking soda in a bowl.
Step 2: Melt butter and honey with vanilla on the stovetop until nice soft stir ‘able’ consistency.
Step 3: Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Step 4: Generously grease a cookie sheet.
Step 5: Roll batter into balls.
Step 6: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20 min. Let cool for 25minutes (at least if you want them to stick together). They taste way better at 25 minutes than at 10, seriously….wait and then serve!
This yummy alternative to boxed cereal makes a delicious breakfast or layer to a yogurt parfait. Tastes great with Manitoba Harvest hemp milk.
Seed Cereal (adapted from Cranberry Maple Granola from the cookbook Raw Food, Real World)
What you will need:
1 apple cored and chopped
1 cup dates
½ cup water
½ cup of unrefined liquid sweetener
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp orange zest
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup flax/chia seeds
Coconut oil or butter
How to do it:
Step 1: Soak all the seeds 2 hours or longer
Step 2: Soak Cranberries.
Step 3: Coarsely chop all the seeds (except the chia/flax seeds) with a few quick pulses in the food processor and the transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in flax/chia seeds.
Step 4: Place apples, dates, water, maple syrup, lemon juice, orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in the food processor. Stir into the seed mix.
Step 5: Mix in the cranberries.
Step 6: Spread onto 2 large cookie sheets oiled with generous amounts of coconut oil or butter. Dehydrate in the oven at the lowest temperature until crunchy (about 6-8 hours).
Not being much of a crafty mom, I am always on the look out for something crafty-functional that serves both as play and as something useful again later.
This New Year’s morning, Jasmine and I went out for a girl date and I while we were enjoying our hot chocolate & coffee, I started thinking ahead to what we could do at home to continue our date just a little bit longer.
With Shoppers Drug Mart being the only place open on New Year’s day, it occurred to me that we could prepare some aromatherapy Epsom salts baths by simply stirring in essential oils then storing them in glass canning jars.
This fast, easy craft is sure to tantalize the senses of both moms and kids!
Read on to learn how and why to make your own both nourishing and detoxifying bath salts at home.
Why do it:
1) It is a simple, fast, rewarding, sensory and health enriching activity that your kids will love!
2) It will nourish the whole family (many of us are actually deficient in magnesium, plus magnesium helps us absorb calcium). Magnesium is also way better absorbed through the skin, than through digestion.
3) It is a gentle detoxifier that is safe for the whole family.
4) Reduces inflammation and muscle pain.
5) Helps relieve stress by nourishing the adrenals, as well as sedating and toning the nervous system.
6) It makes bath time luxurious and fun!
7) According to the Epsom Salt Industry Council, it has all the same benefits associated with magnesium supplementation (improves the body’s ability to use insulin, increases heart and circulatory health, reduces irregular heartbeats, prevents hardening of the arteries, reduces blood clots and lowers blood pressure, prevents migraines, improves mood, concentration and digestion all the while helping you sleep better).
8) Sulphate triggers the pancreas to release digestive enzymes, helps form proteins in joints, brain tissue and mucin proteins (the cells that secrete mucous along the digestive tract).
.How to make it:
Step 1: Put 2 cups of magnesium sulphate in a bowl.
Step 4: Put in a half quart canning jar and store in an easily accessible place in the bathroom.
How to use it:
Dissolve 2 cups epsom salts in a bath (only 1 cup or less for children) that is as hot as you can tolerate. Soak for a minimum of 12 minutes.
Do this up to 3 times per week to replenish magnesium or to detoxify.
Since magnesium is so well absorbed through the skin, please do not exceed this amount excess magnesium can be fatal.
Do not let children drink the bathwater as magnesium sulphate is a laxative when taken internally.
Alternatives:
If you prefer not to use the synthesized form of magnesium, you can use the magnesium derived from the sea although it is more costly and less accessible.
This shortbread is made the classic old world way, just like grandma used to make but with grain free flair!
Sensational Shortbread (Makes 8 pie shaped pieces or 15 med cookies)
What you will need:
1/2 cup butter room temp
1/4 cup unrefined sugar or honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp unrefined salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 cups almond flour (more or less depending on the almond flour you are using, but it should be workable without sticking too much to your fingers! 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill almond flour and honey are used in the version shown in the photo.)
How to do it:
Step 1: “Cream” the room temperature butter with a wooden spoon until creamy.
Step 2: Mix in spreadable honey (just warm it on low if you only have the solid kind on hand).
Step 3: Stir in vanilla extract, baking soda and salt with a fork.
Step 4: Mix in the almond flour until consistency is even.
Step 5: Generously oil a cookie sheet.
Step 6: Roll into cookies and then press down with a fork (or see alternate steps below for the traditional version).
Step 7: Bake at 325 degrees F for 16 minutes (depending on the thickness).
Step 8: Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Traditional Version:
Step 6: Form the dough into a ball.
Step 7: Get out your cookie sheet and line with parchment paper (or just generously grease).
Step 8: Press dough ball out with your fingers onto your cookie sheet into a circle (the thinner the better for a traditional crumby texture or thicker for a more wet texture). Smooth out the top with your palms and “prick” lines in with a fork (like a pizza) to slice along later.
Step 9: Bake at 325 degrees F for 16 minutes (depending on the thickness).
Step 10: Take out of the oven and let cool completely for cutting and best texture (otherwise it will crumble if you try to do it sooner).
If you’ve ever tried or thought you would like to try a grain free diet or GAPS with your school aged child, you might be at a loss for what to send for lunch.
I’ve been working on these for awhile since finding it quite a challenge to send grain free lunches in a hurry that the kids will love and that feel and taste like a “normal“ lunch.These muffin sandwiches are my solution and they are totally kid approved!
Fill them with a tuna or chicken salad, almond butter and honey or any other sandwich combo that goes over well in your home. Even if your family is not grain free these are a great way to add some variety to school lunches!
Coconut Sandwich Muffins
(makes 12 med muffins)
6 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Blend in a blender until smooth. Pour or scoop batter into generously greased muffin trays.
Bake at 400 F for 20 min. Let cool before serving.
This is the time in the month where you may start to notice that you suddenly feel less inspired to vision and create with your mind, and more turned on by the idea of clearing space and working with your hands.
If you are like most people, you`ve probably sworn off bread or sugar at least once in your lifetime. The trouble is though, that at the best of times willpower often cowers in the face of a true physiological or bacterial craving.
