The next GLOW guided detox starts soon! You can find more details on the detox here. This detox program includes access to a private Facebook group where I will be posting daily encouragement, recipes, advice and more. This is also a forum for Glow detoxer’s to share and connect about their detox experiences. Total cost for the program is $25 (the cost of the e-book).

To join the guided detox, purchase the GLOW healthy detox e-book here.

The e-book includes:

• Structured daily meal plan & schedule
• Calendar with daily detox tasks
• Recipes
• Strategies to ease into the detox effectively
• Self care tips

After purchasing the e-book, request access to the Glow detox facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/314645392237352/

The next GLOW guided detox starts Saturday, June 23rd! See details on how to join here.

This is not a convenient week for me to detox, can I do it another time? 
Yes, you can purchase the GLOW healthy detox e-book and do the detox self-paced. The bonus of doing it during the given week is that you can join the Facebook group and get daily encouragement and tips from me.

I tried to join the GLOW detox Facebook group, but was denied. Why?
The GLOW detox group is a private Facebook group for people that have purchased the GLOW healthy detox e-book, an investment of $25. I need to make a living and $25 is more than reasonable as you get lifetime access to the detox FB group. You can purchase the GLOW detox ebook here then request to join the Facebook group again. Most likely the next time I do the detox in September the price will be increasing.

What kitchen equipment will I need?
You will definitely want to have a blender, ideally a high speed blender. A juicer would be great to have, but not required. In fact, most people that have completed the detox haven’t owned a juicer. If you looking to purchase a blender, I would recommend a Vitamix.

So, how will I make juice if I don’t have a juicer?
There are a few things you can do. One is you can blender the items from the juice recipe with some water. You can also substitute a smoothie instead of having a juice. Or, you could purchase cold-pressed juices. Cold-pressed juices can be purchased at most grocery stores in the continental US pretty easily these days. Costco even sells cold-pressed green juice.

This is a lot less food then I usually eat, will I be tired?
Honestly, you may feel tired for the first few days. The calorie intake is lower, your body is starting to detox, and you may be used to drinking caffeine. Usually by the 4th or 5th day you will actually feel more energetic then ever.

Wait, did you say no coffee?!
Yes. I addressed this in a prior blog post last week.

Will I lose weight?
Probably. But as with all diets if you go back to eating the way you did before the detox, you will gain it back.

Can I do the detox for longer than 7 days?
For more people that will be ok, I’ve done it as long as 10 days.

Should I be using organic produce?
Ideally. But, if organic produce is not financially possible or not available where you live, do the best you can. I would recommend investing in organic for items that are on the Dirty Dozen list.

Any questions I didn’t answer here? Contact me!

Have more questions? Send them my way!

Or, how to quit drinking coffee without making yourself miserable!

I have actually quit drinking coffee a few times, and this method is the one where I didn’t feel completely miserable. In the past, I would decide I was going to quit drinking coffee, and immediately go cold turkey. That resulted in either failure – I felt so crappy I just gave in and drank a cup – or complete misery for about 3 days. Think fatigue, brain fog, headaches.

What I highly recommend is weaning yourself off very slowly using the 33% per week method. Let’s say you drink 3 cups of coffee a day. On week one you go down to 2 cups. Week 2, 1 cup. Then from one cup, the next week you would drink 2/3 a cup of coffee, then 1/3 a cup the next week, then you quit completely. This process is very slow, but is a lot gentler on your body. I just quit this way and I maybe noticed I felt a little tired the first week. Easy enough, right?

As you wean off coffee, there are a few other tips that will make you feel comfortable:

• Replace your morning cup of coffee with a large glass of hot or lukewarm lemon water.
• Incorporate some maca root powder – which will give you energy naturally – into a smoothie or try this maca latte
• Consider taking Ashwagandha – an adaptogen. Adaptogens help your body respond to stress and “normalizes” your bodies processes (if you’re tired, they will provide energy, if you are anxious, they are calming). I take it as a supplement daily.
• Get as much sleep as possible – you might notice you are sleeping more – this is normal.
• Make hydration a priority. Drink a lot of water, infused water, herbal teas and coconut water.
• If you do feel headachy, applying peppermint essential oil to your temples can help.
• Add some Magnesium to your routine in the form of an Epsom salt bath, or using a Magnesium oil spray.

Ok, hopefully you will find this helpful in your journey to be caffeine free. Good luck!

I recently quit drinking coffee. I’ve always loved the taste and smell of coffee, along with the energy boost it gave me in the morning. It was my favorite morning ritual. I got a lot of joy out of making and drinking a single pour cup of dark roast, organic coffee topped off with my homemade vanilla cashew creamer each day.

So why did I give it up if I love it so much? Here are some things I started to notice… I was wanting to take a nap every afternoon. I had problems getting up and out of bed in the morning. I would feel intestinal pain either right after I drank my daily cup, or sometimes later in the evening. My PMS symptoms and menstrual cramps were getting worse. I had bad breath after my morning cup. And most of all, I hated how addicted I was to having my morning cup of coffee. Until I had my “hit” of coffee I would be tired and have serious brain fog.

Did quitting coffee solve these issues? Surprisingly, yes, and pretty quickly at that.

When people ask my about drinking coffee / caffeine it’s complicated because 1) we all metabolise caffeine differently; and 2), there are a few health benefits to drinking coffee.

Let’s talk benefits of drinking coffee first, coffee & caffeine:

• • Has been shown to stimulate alertness and improve mental performance.
  • Can improve your sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability.
  • Allows athletes to exercise for longer duration without hitting exhaustion. Caffeine decreases the use of glycogen stores during workouts up to 50 percent – allowing for longer workouts.
  • Contains minerals and antioxidants which help prevent diabetes. It has been theorized that is may be because caffeine stimulates muscles to burn fat and sugar more efficiently.
  • Is high in antioxidants. Antioxidants in caffeine help to stabilize free radicals and stop them from doing damage.
  • Keeps dopamine molecules active, preventing diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
  • Can be therapeutic for people with asthma.

Ok, you knew this was coming, let’s list out some of the negative elements of coffee & caffeine:

• Can raise blood pressure for many hour, which can result in an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Consumption in the early morning affects the body until bedtime, amplifying stress levels throughout the day. Caffeine increases stress hormones and elevates one’s perception of stress.
• Can cause increased contractions of stomach muscles – possibly causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, and increased bowel movements.
• Inhibits the absorption of some nutrients and causes the urinary excretion of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and trace minerals.
• Can create female health problems – Fibrocystic breast disease, PMS, osteoporosis, infertility problems, miscarriage, low birth weight and menopausal problems such as hot flashes are all exacerbated by caffeine consumption.
• Speeds up the aging process in the body. Caffeine tolerance may decrease with age. Production of DHEA, melatonin and other vital hormones decline with age. Caffeine helps to speed up this process. Caffeine also dehydrates the body, contributes to aging of the skin and kidneys, inhibits DNA repair and slows the ability of the liver to detoxify foreign toxins.
• Can affect adrenal fatigue. Caffeine is a stimulant which binds to adenosine receptors in the brain. This leads to a range of complex reactions which causes an increase of stimulation at the adrenal glands. This can increase vulnerability to a variety of health disorders related to inflammation and fatigue.

Ok, so what’s the verdict? Honestly it really depends on how your body handles caffeine – and all of our bodies are different. If you are a woman, you will want to proceed with caution when it comes to coffee. There is a growing body of thought that coffee affects women a lot more negatively than men – and a lot of the research that came up with those awesome benefits of coffee was studied with men. There is a great blog post explaining this on one of my favorite women’s health websites, floliving.

After reading this, are you considering giving up your daily cup? If so, I’ll be posting tomorrow about my strategies to quit drinking coffee. Until tomorrow!

Are you wanting to do a detox or cleanse, but not sure where to start?  Starting Saturday, June 23, I’ll be guiding you on a 7 day plant-based whole foods detox.

Your body naturally detoxes on a regular basis through the liver, skin, bowels and lungs. But, our bodies may be overwhelmed by the amount of toxins we are exposed to in our modern lifestyle. Doing a detox or cleanse protocol cleanses the blood of toxins and eliminates toxins in a safe way. A good detox protocol flushes impurities from our bodies, boosts our bodily functions, clarifies the mind and frees up energy.

We’ll be giving our digestive system and our bodies a rest for seven days. Foods that are hard on the digestive system will be eliminated from our diets for 7 days. Juices, smoothies and plant-powered meals & snacks will be added into our diets for added nutrients and cleansing properties.

Having a juicer is helpful, a blender is necessary.

This detox program includes access to a private Facebook group where I will be posting daily encouragement, recipes, advice and more. This is also a forum for Glow detoxer’s to share and connect about their detox experiences. Total cost for the program is $25 (the cost of the e-book).

To join the guided detox, purchase the GLOW healthy detox e-book here.

The e-book includes:

• Structured daily meal plan & schedule
• Calendar with daily detox tasks
• Recipes
• Strategies to ease into the detox effectively
• Self care tips

After purchasing the e-book, request access to the Glow detox facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/314645392237352/

The next 7 day detox starts on Saturday, June 23rd – are you ready?