Pregnancy and postpartum can take its toll on your body and your overall health. It’s so important for your recovery to be doing things to serve and love on your body. It is easy to get sucked into the cycle of overwhelm - you are caring for a new baby, navigating breastfeeding, creating a new schedule, redefining your identity...the list goes on and on!
Here are some ways to reframe your mindset during those challenging times of overwhelm:
🧘♀️Breathe and close your eyes
Taking just a few moments to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths can be mood changing! When I do this I engage my pelvic floor muscles and remember what it's like to feel that calmness, to sometimes be in a tranquil pool of blue/green water and to hear the sound of waves. It truly helps me relax, ground and come back to what a blessed existence I have.
🕺 Move/Shake
Moving your body is key for so many reasons. A way of movement that I’ve been focusing on (along with my usual) is somatic movement. One way to describe this is movement in which you focus on the internal experience and feeling of the movement instead of what it looks like from the outside.
🍪 Choose a healthy feel good snack or stuff your face🤣
Just kidding, don’t just stuff your face. Emotional eating can be very common for many reasons, but regardless it is not the best coping mechanism!
Slowing down, even if it is just for a minute or two can be the difference needed to reset, regulate your mood and get your day back on track.
What do you do when you’re having one of those days?
This recipe is a spin off the classic chicken noodle soup that we all love during the winter months! It’s packed with seasonal vegetables, and it can all be made in one pot, reducing the amount of washing up afterwards #winwin!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- ¾ cup kale, roughly chopped
- 1 drop Thyme+ essential oil
- 1 drop Basil+ essential oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup coconut cream
- 2 cups of gluten free gnocchi (whole foods and trader joes both have this!)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and mushrooms for a few minutes until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Pour in the stock and cream. Stir well.
- Add the Thyme+ and Basil+ essential oil.
- Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Whilst the soup is simmering, cook the gnocchi in a separate pot of salted water until they float.
- Drain and add the gnocchi to the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add the kale and simmer for another 5 minutes until kale has softened.
- Serve and enjoy!
- This recipe serves 6, so remember to adjust per number of guests invited. It’s not a problem if you make too much—enjoy the leftovers for lunch the following day!
Recipe credit: https://www.youngliving.com/blog/eu/en/autumn-dinner-party/
It’s the holiday season, which means that there are parties, family get togethers and more! These festivities often include lots of treats, both drinks and food. Candy is often a given for these celebrations, which can be a challenge if you are on a journey to a better you. Keep reading for some ways to celebrate the childhood nostalgia with some better for you options.
Halloween used to be a day (okay let’s be real, a night) filled with costumes that covered as little of my body as possible, sometimes in the snow (wtf were we thinking?!❄️) with lots of drinks🍸.
I definitely have some crazy stories from ‘the olden days’ but alas these days are different for many reasons, especially since I’ve been on my healing journey.
So for Halloween the last few years I’ve run a race (easy cat ears for the win here!) or gone out more low key in different costumes, but this year with a munchkin I’m doing a Halloween themed workout with other moms (lookout for baby yoda costume pics) and had to make the difficult choice to not run my race this year (that’s a post for a different day).
I share all this because candy, whether it was way back when or nowadays, has been a part of the event.
So what to do when you don’t want to eat utter garbage, but also want to relive some of those childhood memories with pillowcases of joy?
A few healthier brands are:
🍭 Unreal
🍬 Dandies
✨ Lakanto
It’s not that these don’t have sugar in them or anything, but it’s a far better choice than some of the other ones out there for sure!
Have you tried any of these? What is your favorite holiday candy?
The holidays are a busy time - running in so many different directions, from family party to party, celebrating the season with the ones you love. This is your sign to prepare to take on healthier habits for the holidays
Look, I’ve been there (frankly still am there sometimes) where your circumstances are driving you to stress eat. Whether that’s family asking you crazy questions or long travels that you really didn’t want to do in the first place or maybe it’s actually fun things like that journey to see family you haven’t seen in awhile and are excited to see!
Whatever it is, one of the ways you can keep your mind and body in better shape is by making healthier food choices.
A lot of my clients and people I know are overwhelmed by the holiday onslaught of sugar laden foods or endless holiday parties where the eggnog is flowing (or maybe you’re more of a mulled wine person) and aren’t quite sure how to handle it all.
One of the best ways I’ve found throughout the years is to plan. Plan what you’re going to eat or drink and attach a why to it.
What do I mean by that?
When you attach a meaningful why to your eating plan that can be a game changer. It allows you to dive in with determination to make those healthier choices a bit easier.
My why is my brain.
Without healthier food choices my brain just doesn't like me. When consuming a lot of sugar, alcohol and processed foods I end up with a severe case of brain fog which can lead me further down the autoimmune path, which I choose not to do.
What I eat directly impacts my ability to process information, sleep, make choices and feel joy.
Those are some big impacts!
Throughout the years people I've worked with have come to realize (especially after a particularly rough holiday season) that taking a more planned approach to what they eat (and let's be real, many other things) can be really helpful when it comes to thriving and not feeling just plain gross come January.
This year (2023) I put together a fall meal plan challenge where folks got access to a two week meal plan and group support to implement it! I'll be doing these throughout the year so keep an eye out for the next one!
As we're heading into the season of holiday parties and family gatherings I love finding delicious recipes that I can take! This is a yummy dish to take for people to munch on before the main dish, but quite honestly it's good for any occasion! The sauce with this is a nice touch too.
This recipe feeds at least 16 people!
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Total Time
45 minutes
Ingredients
For the Fritters
- 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (for cooking the fritters)
- 2 medium organic zucchinis, grated (approx. 3 cups)
- 1 medium organic sweet potato, peeled and grated (approx. 1½ cups)
- 1 small organic red onion finely chopped
- 3 organic spring onions, finely chopped (reserve 1 for serving)
- 1 organic garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 egg from the farmers market or organic free range, beaten or 1 chia egg (see chia info)
- 2 tbsp gluten-free flour
- 2 tbsp arrowroot
- 1 tsp sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- 2 drops black pepper essential oil (to taste)
- 4 drops lemon essential oil (to taste)
For the Lemon Herb Sauce
- ¾ cup vegan or homemade mayonnaise, non-dairy unsweetened coconut yogurt or non-dairy sour cream
- ½ cup finely chopped herbs (choose from basil, parsley, coriander, dill and/or mint)
- 1 spring onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (to taste)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey (optional, to taste)
- 4 drops lemon oil (to taste)
- 1 drop black pepper oil (to taste)
- ½ tsp sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- pinch of turmeric powder (optional, to taste)
Instructions
To make the Lemon Herb Sauce:
- Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until combined.
- Taste the sauce and add more sea salt, pepper, lemon oil and/or maple syrup to your taste.
- Chill until ready to serve.
To make the fritters:
- In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together by hand except the cooking oil. Take a little of the fritter batter in the palm of your hand and press together to see if you are happy with the consistency.
- Heat a large stainless steal or cast iron frying pan on medium-high heat and add approx. 1 tbsp of the cooking oil and let it heat for approx. 15 – 20 seconds.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping spoonful of the fritter mixture and place it in the pan and gently press down to form a patty and repeat. Add more oil for each new batch you cook and watch the temperature as you may need to reduce it a little.
- Cook for approx. 2 – 3 minutes until golden and then gently turn them over using a spatula and continue cooking 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown. You may need to reduce the heat a little and be careful not to burn.
- Place the cooked fritters on a wire rack, a plate or baking tray lined with paper towels to remove any excess oil and gently cover with baking paper to keep warm while you cook the rest of the fritters.
- Serve the fritters on a platter or individual plates topped with a little Lemon Herb Sauce and serve the rest of the sauce in a little bowl on the table. You can sprinkle the fritters with chopped herbs and spring onions before serving for presentation.
