Heading into this spring of 2020, there is a lot going on in the world that may cause a bit of concern as to how to protect your health.

As a mom of four boys and a nutritional therapist, health educator I've spent the past several weeks beefing up our normal health regime. I am taking personal responsibility to do everything I can to make sure my body is healthy. It's no one else's job other than my own.

Now more than ever is a great time to create a lifestyle that deeply supports your health. In this post I am going to share some of my top insights so you can be proactive instead of reactive.  No fear, just facts so you can make responsible calm decisions to support your health.

Personally, I have a long term health history of respiratory/sinus health issues, as well as am a recovered asthmatic and recovering from long term mold exposure. I still can struggle with being able to breathe at full capacity. So, in light  of the spring allergy season and the corona virus, both...

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

I am betting as a woman you've likely struggled with an internal battle where you've felt 'stuck'. You have felt that you aren't where you'd like to be in your life journey (according to you). Maybe you're currently stuck doing soul sucking work in a body plagued with burn out (which comes with a myriad of annoying symptoms), totally unable to perform your job effectively.  In addition to being able to be a fully supportive friend, partner or parent. Maybe you even wish you could quit your job, because it doesn't feed your soul and instead you'd rather just focus on what does make you feel inspired.

*Note: Listen to the full episode on the podcast here.

{You can also find my podcast: A Joy To Be Me on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Stitcher and Spotify }

You may even have figured out what your soul passion is, and when you allow...

Have you ever felt like your physical, mental, emotional health was so out of control that you tried obsessively control it with food?

Do you constantly think about your food so much, you worry about everything you put in your mouth and wonder if your body will react ?

Do you feel like there aren't any safe foods your body can tolerate right now?

Do you restrict to the point of complete misery and still aren't getting better, which then leads into episodes of binge eating to comfort the physical, mental, emotional pain you are in?

The Bigger Problems That Ensue When You're In Burnout & 'Food Obsessed'

You begin to feel insane and your thoughts drive you so crazy . This food obsession literally sucks all the joy out of eating and creeps into your entire life. You may get moody at meal times, and not really be satisfied with what you are eating. Then you entertain thoughts of secretly binging but become depressed because you know that could derail your health for days. So you...

7 years ago I was gearing up to take my final exams to become certified as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. I was both nervous and excited.

Listen to the podcast version of this post- Episode #47 : Find A Joy To Be Me on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or Spotify 

Nervous about the exam itself, but more so about how on earth I would pave a path to turn my training and certification into an actual money-making career. Excited to leap and see what was possible, excited to do what my soul had called me into.

Let me hit the rewind button for a minute…

Just 3 years prior, (2009) I was getting my resolve to leave my ex for good, and I did. I had become emotionally beaten down, physically drained to my core and somehow had to get up every day to lovingly take care of my 4 boys. My ever declining health made it incredibly hard to figure out how to leave and how I would care for myself and my kids.

I honestly didn't know how bad it was until a month and a half after he was...

Over the years of my work as a Nutritional Therapist, I’ve had many clients come to their sessions telling me that they kind of ‘fell off the wagon’ with their healthy eating. Or I've had people tell me before doing my detox, that they were fearful they wouldn't be able to stay the course without 'falling off the wagon'.

It might be the #1 shame and fear most people have when it comes to establishing good habits around eating well for their health.

First off, I want to expel the myth of the wagon. It doesn’t exist.

There is no wagon, there is only choice and a path. Your path is your journey and it's up to you to choose the trajectory of that path. How bad to you want where that path is leading you to is the real question. If you falter, will you choose to get back up and keep going?

What people are usually referring to is that that feel they won’t perfectly sustain whatever dietary framework they’ve been recommended OR they chose for themselves....

Alright ladies... listen up, detoxification is a critical part of YOU being able to stay healthy, have good moods and energy. Unfortunately we live in a world bombarded by toxins at every turn, this is why we all could use some daily detoxification strategies. That's what I'm here to share with you today. You really can't heal your body and increase your energy if you are not detoxing well. In order to succeed with overall health  your lymph and liver need our daily attention.

Let's get educated, shall we?

The amounts of chemicals we are exposed to are unprecedented in history. The average American consumes 10 pounds of chemical food additives each year. Add to that the chemical burden caused by food sprayed with pesticides and from air and water pollution, you can see that our chemical burden is considerable.

Your body has systems designed to eliminate waste and to detoxify poisons. Your liver chemically converts toxins to be easily eliminated by your kidneys. Detoxification is...

Every season I do a focused time of 'detox' because of my past experience with overcoming decades of chronic fatigue, allergies, sinus infections, extreme bloating and gas pain, eczema and asthma.

For years I treated each symptom separately with pills, supplements, naps, heating pads -- anything that worked at the time. Then I went through a traumatic divorce. The verdict from my first HTMA: I was in total burnout. My doctor couldn’t help me recover all she ever offered me were more medications. This was when I realized there had to be a better way.

So the journey began. I detoxed my life. It wasn’t overnight and it took a lot of trial and error. The real change began when I started to understand that food did more than impact my weight; it was also a trigger for many of my aliments, cravings, moods and emotional eating.

By doing my spring detox, which is based on what I learned from many experts in the fields of health and nutrition, I have been able to use food to help...

As you may already know I'm a big fan of self-care. Taking the best care of yourself in all ways, mentally emotionally, physically, spiritually is the best gift you can give yourself.

Self-care means no more putting yourself as an afterthought ladies. Self-care requires a true deep commitment to yourself and your growth.

Spring is a beautiful season and time of year to bring forth new growth. It's a higher energy time of year, a time of renewal.

Every year in the spring I notice a desire to 'detox'. I start to clear out things in my life that are no longer serving me. One big way is through taking much better care of my physical body so I can feel lighter and freer. I tend to want to choose more fresh foods, in season veggies and drink more herbal teas.

It's a great time of year to re-calibrate.

To let go of all the things that are in the way of allowing you to burst forth fully with the energy of spring. This is why I love devoting some time to detox every spring and let go of...

Over the years I've worked with a lot of women to help unravel their health concerns. One of the biggest things I've noticed is that it's really hard for women to put themselves and their health first. And I'm on a mission to shift that paradigm.

I am incredibly grateful for the amazing women I get to work with and support. Today I'm sharing Julie Thorn's story of how she learned to love herself AND overcame some major health issues over the course of our time working together.

Julies's Biggest Challenge

I could say I was eating like crap, not getting proper sleep, no time to myself, recurring yeast infections and rosacea. While all of those things were true, I would say one of my biggest challenges was my emotional state (stress, worry, you name it). It is linked to all of the above, one thing leads to another.

In the past two years, I have been through quite a bit emotionally. I was an emotional wreck inside, but I kept on smiling. I have always kept everything bottled up inside me which is not good. I have always been a people pleaser and felt like I was not worthy. I put everybody else first including people who do not have the right to be first in my life. After going through what I thought was ultimately going to...