Last week I wrote about a post on how "Food Can Be Medicine." 

In it I talked about the importance of eliminating processed, unhealthy foods. And how eating real, whole, unprocessed foods can help heal our body from ailments.

But when you’ve eaten the processed stuff for years, making any kind of dietary change can be overwhelming. In fact, it can be downright scary and confusing. And its definitely easier said than done!

Believe me, I understand. Kicking my love for potato chips is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do! And disclaimer - I still sometimes struggle with it!

One way that’s helped me stop eating junky food is a concept called “Crowding Out.”

What is “Crowding Out?

"Crowding Out" is the practice of focusing on eating unprocessed, whole, foods.

Instead of thinking about the foods that you are trying to stop eating you focus on the foods that you can! Particularly on new foods that you might have never tried before! 

You know how when we’re told we can’t do something it becomes the only thing we want to do?

I don’t know about you, but when I decide to stop eating a food that I love it becomes all that I can think about. I dream about it and sometimes feel like I will die if I don’t have it! (I’m not being dramatic or anything…)

So how did I kick junk food to the curb?

By “crowding out.”

By focusing on eating whole, unprocessed foods, I was able to "crowd out" the bad stuff. Soon, there wasn’t room on my plate (or in my kitchen) for it anymore!

How I Crowded Out

The first thing I did to “crowd out” was to keep a food journal. This helped me become more aware of the foods I needed to stop eating. Doing this was helpful because it made me be more mindful into what I was eating. And why.

Next I read through my food journal and made a list of all the foods I wanted to cut out. I  put a lot of thought into what was it about those foods that made me crave it. I felt sick after eating most of the junk food I ate, so why did I keep eating it?

With potato chips, some things I noted were:

• I liked the crunch.

• I liked the habit of picking up a food and munching on it.

• I liked the salt.

So I had to find real, whole food alternatives that would still please these habits.

Here’s what I did:

To meet the need for crunch, I made homemade kale chips.

1. To do this I washed a whole head of kale and then broke up the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

2. Then I put it in a salad spinner to drain the excess water and let it dry out for a bit.

3. Next I covered a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the kale out on it.

4. I brushed the leaves with oil (coconut or hemp). 

5. Then sprinkled it with hemp seeds. This is a tip I learned from Sarah. It added an extra nutty flavor and more crunch!

6. After baking  I had a crunchy, healthy snack that satisfied the crunchies and munchies!

To please the need for mindless picking I ate blueberries! They are tiny and low in fructose that I could eat a bunch of them without overdoing it!

Another food I wanted to cut out was sugar. Before going cold turkey with the 8-week I Quit Sugar program I had already cut out chocolate and ice cream.

How?

I replaced chocolate with cacao. I made smoothies or other sweet treats like this one filled with cacao nibs and powder. 

Cacao doesn't taste as sweet as chocolate. But having something that looked like it had a mental effect that met any need I had for the real stuff.

As for ice cream, my good friend Roadbunner shared with me her tip. Instead of eating ice cream, I froze bananas and then blended them in my Vitamix!

Since bananas have a lot of sugar, I would use half a banana in my morning smoothie. (That was also filled with cacao nibs and powder!) 

I would put the other half of the peeled banana in a ziplock bag and throw it in the freezer. 

After a few days I accumulated enough bananas to blend in my Vitamix! Once blended, the frozen bananas had a consistency is like ice cream! With cacao nibs and nut toppings it felt like I was having a bowl of ice cream! 

Why Crowding Out Works

After making substitutions like I shared above, made my cravings for the junk stuff go away. In fact, now days I even prefer frozen banana “ice cream” to the real stuff! Now, real ice cream tastes too sweet me (and because dairy).

Crowding out changed my palate. 

It had a psychological effect that helped me not feel deprived. 

And I was able to open myself to new foods that are just as satisfying, gentler, kinder and healthier for my body.

Now its your turn!

Will you try to "crowding out?" How?

What is one new-to-you real, unprocessed food that you would like to try? And what junky food can that “crowd out?”

Be adventurous and creative! Make a list and start brainstorming!

Then send me your ideas - I’d love to try them out myself!

Some of today's top health epidemics are obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even allergies.

These specific diseases have been prevalent in my own family for decades. From a young age I’ve seen the terrible effects they inflict. 

Up until a few years ago I believed that the medications prescribed by the doctor were the “cure all.” I didn’t make the connection that the foods we eat impact how our bodies respond to diseases.

But after working with a functional medicine doctor and attending nutritional school, I now believe that food can be medicine.

What do people eat today?

These days the most popular foods are ones that are quick and convenient. People prefer quick and cheap meals like fast food. Or even foods from a can or box - like Lean Cuisines, Lunchables and soda . These kinds are foods are what I consider to be “processed foods.” They likely are engineered in a lab and produced in a manufacturing plant. They're made with ingredients that I’ve never heard of and can't pronounce!

I don’t know about you, but these aren’t the kinds of foods I want in my body. I'm convinced that healing is unlikely when we combine processed foods with medication. 

What to eat instead?

We have all heard that the best healthy foods to eat are whole grains, veggies, fruits and lean proteins.

But I believe that the most healthy foods we can consume are ones that are "unprocessed." 

So what are "unprocessed" foods? To me, they are whole grains, veggies, fruits, and lean proteins that are whole. They are foods that we can be grow, prepare and cook in our own homes and not in a manufacturing plant!

A Personal Case Study

Like most teenagers I had acne, but my acne was worse than most. So my mom (bless her heart) took me to a dermatologist for treatment.

I was a sophomore in high school so likely about 15 years old (a long time ago!) and had a terrible diet. I ate school snacks and lunches (hello processed foods!). Then after school I came home and ate candy, chips and drank soda - every day!

During one of my visits I remember my mother asking the doctor if I needed to change my diet. I remember him respond by saying that “food has nothing to do with complexion.” Then he prescribed antibiotics and Tetracycline. I took those meds for the rest of my teenage years and well into adulthood.

And why did I continue the medications into adulthood? Because my acne continued! 

I learned how to hide my acne under layers and layers of makeup. But it wasn’t until I made significant diet changes that my acne finally went away. When I adopted a gluten-free diet and stopped eating processed foods my complexion changed! I no longer had acne, nor greasy and oily skin!

Through research and my studies I now understand that what we eat does in fact affect our complexion! In hindsight I believe that I would have healed from acne years ago if I had changed my diet back then. I could have avoided taking medication over a prolonged period of time which I believe played a role in my IBS. Sigh, but that’s a story for another day. 

So, in summary - 

Foods that are "unprocessed" can be medicine. They can provide our bodies with the nutrients it needs to heal itself.

If you are feeling ill, take a minute to think about what and how you are eating. Instead of reaching for that bottle of Advil, are there other any quick changes that you can make? Maybe skip that can of Diet Coke and drink some water or herbal tea instead? 

If you are taking medications prescribed by a doctor, what are you eating with it? Instead of McDonalds or Taco Bell, how about a quick and easy salad, or chicken stir fry instead? I get that quick and convenient is good, but healthy and unprocessed is even better!

But also remember to practice bioindividuality. Be in tune with, and do what works best for you body.

In next week’s post I’ll share some tips on making better dietary choices and how to stick with it! 

Last week I had a friend ask me, “Do you know diets for fat people? I NEED to LOSE weight now!”

We all have felt this way at one time or another. I know I have.

And I would have helped my friend by opening a new browser window and googling “best diets to lose weight fast.” 

But now that I’ve been studying at IIN for six months, that’s all changed. This time I responded with, “Ummm, you should follow what works for you, not a specific diet.”

Huh? What do you mean?

I was referring to a concept called Bioindividualitiy.

What is Bioindividuality?

Bioindividuality, along with Primary Foods, is a core concept of IIN.

It is the belief that we should base our diets upon our individual selves, and  not on a dietary theory.

We are all unique beings. No two people are exactly the same. So why then, should we follow a dietary program created for the masses?

Men tend to eat different than women. They tend to eat more meat and hearty foods. Older people eat different than younger people. Younger people tend to gravitate toward instant food, aka fast food. We eat different during the winter, than we do the summer. The last thing I want to be eating on a hot August day is a big bowl of piping hot soup.

So shouldn’t we choose to eat in the moment that which makes sense for our bodies?

This is something that’s obvious but often overlooked.

“One Person’s Food Is Another Person’s Poison”

In IIN we often hear the phrase, “One person’s food is another person’s point.”

I love this quote because it is so true. And I am a prototypical case study of it.

I have never tried any specific diet program to lose weight. While I have had friends follow Atkins, or the South Beach Diet, it never interested me. I just tried to eat low fat food. And for a while it worked! A low-fat diet, combined with exercise helped me lose 40 lbs and drop four dress sizes!

But after a while my body started to rebel. No matter what I ate, or how hard I worked out I gained weight. Along the way I developed insomnia, and Leaky Gut Syndrome, among other things.

So someone suggested that I stop eating gluten. I had no idea what this meant so I read the Wheat Belly book. In it, I learned how gluten causes inflammation in our bodies that can affect our immune system. Since my mother has an autoimmune diseases I thought I might develop one too so I eliminated gluten. It helped some but not completely.

Then I realized that gluten-free doesn’t mean healthy. I attended a gluten-free food expo. Everything there was sugary, processed foods. 

Feeling frustrated I started seeing a functional medicine doctor. She had me do some blood work. That's how  I learned that I had sensitivities to wheat, dairy, corn and soy. So I eliminated those foods and decided to try the Paleo diet. I even took it a step further and completed a Whole 30 program! Without cheating at all! It helped a ton - but again, long-term not completely.

I was still experiencing IBS and Adrenal Fatigue symptoms. By then I also realized that grains, tomatoes and peppers trigger some IBS issues. So I added grains and nightshades to my list of eliminated foods.

Now I follow a Low FODMAP diet, which is the diet found to help people with IBS the most. Like Paleo and Whole 30, Low FODMAPS shuns processed foods. But it also restricts Fermentable Oligo-saccharides, Disaccharides, Mono-saccharides and Polyols (FODMAP) foods. Huh? What they mean is  sugars. FODMAPS are foods that the body doesn't absorb well. It ferments by the bacteria the intestines causing IBS symptoms.

So FODMAP fruits and vegetables, like mangoes, apples, nuts, etc aren’t allowed on the Low FODMAPS program.

But wait - aren't those healthy foods?

Yup - those are foods that are healthy for most people. But they cause really bad bloating, gas and cramps for me.

In other words, they are my poison!

This is why Bioindividuality is so important to me - and should be to you too! 

We have to be mindful enough to be in tune with our bodies and recognize how it reacts to the foods that we eat.

There is no right way to eat food because what is one person’s food is another person’s poison! The answer is Bioindividuality!

The next time you are looking for a diet to help you lose weight, or just to feel better, research them with an open mind. When you eat, pay attention to how your body feels, not just while you’re eating, but a few hours later.

You may even want to keep a food journal! It can help you notice trends and pinpoint what foods may be working against you rather than with you. Or perhaps notice how great you feel after eating certain foods.

Then go back to those dietary theories and pick what works for you. 

Maybe you like the principle from Paleo to cut out processed foods. But you don't like meat and want to be plant-based. So become a Paleo Vegetarian! Is that even a thing? Who knows, who cares, make it up! 

Don't be defined by a dietary theory! Do what works for you!

So what do you think of Bioindividuality? Drop me a note - I’d love to hear your thoughts!

When you hear the phrase “Primary Foods”, what comes to mind? Do you think of the main food groups like fruits, veggies, and grains, etc?

Yeah, I did too.

But instead of the food on our plates, Primary Foods refer to things like:

• Healthy relationships

• Physical activities

• Fulfilling work

• Spiritual practices

Think of a time in your life when you were happy.

Maybe it was when you were a child and school just got out for summer break! You didn’t have a care in the world!

Or perhaps it was in the early days of a budding relationship when everything was new and exciting!

Or maybe it was when you landed your dream job and was doing the kind of work you love to do!

The joy and excitement that we feel is so powerful that the food on our plates become secondary.

Too often when we try to “be healthy” we focus on working out and eating “healthy” foods. But sometimes we need to take a step back and examine where we are in our Primary Foods.

You can eat all the fruits and veggies you want, and workout every single day but hate your job. And we spend 80% of our time there! That negativity will almost always spill over to the other areas of your life.

I know because its happened to me.

My Personal Experience with Primary Foods

There was a time, not too long ago where I haaated my job. I felt micromanaged and thought my boss was overbearing. I felt disconnected from the rest of my team and resented every minute that I had to be there. Every week, started off with a strong case of the Sunday night dread. 

Yet at the same time I was just getting into long-distance running. I was reading every book and article I could on how to eat to optimize my workouts. I was at my fittest and eating my healthiest. But if you followed me on Twitter at that time, you read my daily tweets on how miserable I felt.

And you probably grew sick of reading about it and maybe even stopped following me. I would have.

My life was out of balance and I was miserable. My friends and family grew tired of hearing me complain about work all the time. They even stopped returning my calls because they just didn't want to hear it anymore. I was so worked up about it that I had insomnia every night which affected my workouts and well-being. I was a mess.

This is why, when I first read about “Primary Foods” it made so much sense. I experienced it first-hand! And I’m certain that most of you have too - you know didn’t know it.

So how do we balance our Primary Foods?

First, we have to step back and check where we are. We have to be honest with ourselves and examine our current status in each area. It may feel uncomfortable. Actually, it will. But you have to do it and when you do, you will feel better for it. Because once you have accepted where you need to improve, you can create a plan on you will find fulfillment.

You may need to end a relationship that no longer serves you. Or find a new hobby because you no longer feel joy doing your current one. Or maybe even make a complete career change, or just find a new job.

I’ve done all three. I’ve ended friendships that took more work that it should. And stopped long-distance running. Not because I don’t love it - I still do. But the toll it took on my health was too much to sustain. So at least for now, no more long-distance running for me.

And as for that job that sucked the life out of me, I first had to adjust my attitude. It wasn’t easy, but once I did, work seemed more tolerable. I was able to find a way to get along with my manager and colleagues. Once I did that, I was able to rebuild bridges. It eventually led me to my current position which I love and find so much fulfillment from.

So, to summarize…

• We nourish our lives through Primary Foods, not by the foods on our plates. 

• Primary Foods are healthy relationships, physical activities, fulfilling work, and having a spiritual practice.

• When our Primary Foods are in balance, the foods on our plate become secondary (think less emotional eating).

Over the course of the week, I’d love for you to spend a few minutes examining where you are in each Primary Food area. Are you balanced - in a positive, fulfilling way - in each area? If yes, that’s amazing! You should be proud of yourself! If not, what are some things that you can do right now to stabilize an imbalanced area.

And as always, feel free to share your ideas, or concerns and thoughts on this concept of Primary Foods! It’s one that I’ve whole-heartedly embraced and adopted as a personal core believe too. Drop me a note - I’d love to hear from you!

Hey guys! Its been awhile, hasn’t it? A little over two months to be exact.

So first off, I want to thank you who responded to my last post and completed my two question survey. I hoped for 5-10 responses and instead, got ten times that much! So thank you - you guys are awesome! It also gave me insight and validation into what I want to do beyond nutrition school.

Which brings me to my blog silence. 

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?!

I’m almost six months into nutrition school, and about half way through the program. And I've come to realize that there's more people to help beyond my family and friends. So I’ve spent the past two months planning how to launch a health coaching practice! And I’m so excited about it!

I took an awesome branding course by Jenna Soard to plan out my new space. In it I learned how to use Squarespace. Its another website platform, like Blogger and Wordpress. But its so much better, especially for non-programmers like me. I loved it so much that I migrated this site over to it!

The custom design didn’t transfer over so I had to create a new design. So if you’re reading this in Feedly, click on over to the actual site and take a look! Its 100% all done by me! It took me A LOT of time to create this. It’s not perfect, but given that I’m not a designer, I’m pretty proud of my work. I would love to hear what you think about it too!

WHAT ELSE HAVE I BEEN DOING?

I’ve also researching, business planning and creating a content strategy <<< the latter applies to you!

It is so annoying when someone you follow online starts to (over) promote themselves. I know because its annoyed me many times. Its unfair to the long-time follower/reader who doesn’t want to hear pitches. They just want to know you!

So I've decided to keep this space as is and create a brand new website for my practice. This site started as a blog where I share personal stories and experiences. And I want that to continue. 

But there were some blurred lines on how to separate the two that I've been working through. The bottom line is that this will continue to be a pitch-free personal blog. You can read more about my thoughts on this on my updated About page.

My goal here is to be consistent and share weekly content that you will find practical and useful. (I even have a coach who is holding me accountable to this!) Its my hope that you will find value in what I share and join me in my new space as well.

SO WHAT WILL I BE SHARING?

I plan to continue to share my stories in Health, Fitness and Food but in a different way. Instead of life casting, I want to share key takeaways from my experiences that may be beneficial to you. This is a big shift in the way I write so please bear with me. Also feel free to drop me a note and share with me what you would like to read more about!  I’d love to hear from you!

I have created a new category to write about “Intentional Living.” Thus far, my biggest takeaway from nutrition school so far is that health is more than food and fitness. Its about the work that we do, our relationship with others, and how we value ourselves. In nutrition school we call this “Primary Foods.” Actual food, and fitness, are second to this.

So to summarize:

• I redesigned the look and content of this website.
• I am creating a new space for my holistic health and wellness coaching practice.
• And I’d love to hear from you!

Drop me a note on your thoughts and any specific topic or issue that you’d love to read about! You can do so in the comments, or use the form on my new Contact page!

Thank you for reading. Some of you readers have stuck around for a long time and I appreciate it! And if you’re new - welcome and thanks for being here! I hope you’ll stay so we can get to know each other.  

As I mentioned in this post, I recently became student at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. My goal is to become a Certified Holistic Health Coach. Health and fitness has been a passion of mine for the past 10+ years so I can’t begin to tell you how exciting this opportunity is for me!

Right now I’m conducting some research. I want to find out what concerns and goals people have about their health, fitness and wellness.

I polled my personal contacts and now I’m reaching out to you, my blog audience. I would so appreciate it if you could please complete this TWO question survey:

Click here for survey

I realize these topics are personal, so rest assured this survey is anonymous.

As an incentive, you can choose to provide your contact information to enter a drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

If you do so, rest assured that I will be the only person to read the responses for my own personal research.

Also, feel free to send this to any of your family, friends and colleagues. The more responses I get, the better my research!

This survey will be open for TWO weeks. I will close it on Wednesday, June 3rd and hold the random drawing. The winner will be notified via email.

One last thing – if you would like to receive future updates and take part in my journey tobecome a Holistic Health Coach, sign-up here.

I will NOT spam you - I promise.

Thank you so much for your support - I appreciate it!

After transitioning to natural beauty products I continued to research other brands. I discovered Credo Beauty, or what I have come to call “the Sephora of natural beauty products.”

What Drew Me To Credo Beauty?

Credo is a start-up that sells clean and natural beauty products online (with a brick and mortar store in the works).

1. They are in the Bay Area and admittedly, I’m biased. When I buy from Bay Area companies I’m shopping local and helping out businesses in my own community

2. Their web site is educational. There's a page dedicated to “dirty ingredients” aka harmful products to be wary of. Its helped me to understand what to look for when reading product labels.

3. Their product offerings didn’t overwhelm me. As I mentioned, Sephora often overwhelms me with their breadth of options. Credo has just enough products in each category to offer variety without being too much.

Items I’ve Tried

{images via Credo Beauty}

I’ve placed a couple of orders and love every single item that I’ve tried so far:

Acure Organics Argan Oil Cleansing Wipes I use these after a mid-day workout and leaves my face feeling fresh and clean.

Acure Organics Argan Oil + Probiotics Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin Its crazy to me that I’m now buying products for sensitive skin instead of oily skin. I don’t think I have sensitive skin per say, but I wanted something gentle. And that’s what this cleanser is, though still effective.

If you recall in this post I refrained from buying any luxe Ren products because I knew there’d be more affordable skin care options. And that’s exactly what these Acure products are!

Days At Sea Dry Shampoo I’ve been wanting to try dry shampoo for a long time and finally decided to take the plunge. Its easy to apply and doesn’t make my hair look gray.

Lily Lolo Lipstick After tossing all my other cosmetics I was in dire need of lipstick. I got this brand in “Intense Crush” which I thought would be good for spring and summer. It applies well and doesn’t crack or flake.

Acure Organics Body Lotion in Lemongrass and Argan Oil I never used to use body lotion because it always felt greasy. But I am hooked to this brand. It feels clean and leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth.

Whish Shaving Cream This is perhaps my favorite product from Credo so far! The brand name is “Whish” but I call it “whip shaving cream” because that’s exactly what it feels like. Its nice and thick and I love the pomegranate scent.

I have no affiliation with Credo Beauty. This is not a sponsored post, nor am I compensated for it, but I highly recommend them.

Not only have these products been superb, but so were the tons of samples that they added to my orders. The Whish sample is what prompted me to order the full-sized version!

But what impressed me the most about Credo Beauty was the handwritten thank you notes accompanied my orders. How’s that for customer service?

When I decided to transition to natural beauty products, I went to the most logical place to try new cosmetics - Sephora!

I’m not the biggest Sephora shopper - not because I don’t like their products - but because they have SO MUCH OF IT! Whenever I stepped into a Sephora I always felt overwhelmed by all the options and would end up leaving empty-handed. But this time, I had a purpose.

I was on a mission to find makeup free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, gluten and GMOs.

I went to the Sephora website and used their online scheduling tool to book a custom makeover. Its free with a $50 purchase which I was planning on making so it was a no brainer.

When I arrived at Sephora explained to my makeup artist what my goal was for my appointment. She then went about collecting products from the store floor and returned with products from three brands.

We started with skincare. She cleaned my face with products from Ren. Ren is a luxe brand that uses plant-based, synthetic-free ingredients. Ren was completely new to me and I liked the facial products she used.

From there she prepped my face with primer. Then applied foundation and translucent powder. All three products were from Tarte. I had heard of Tarte and seen them everywhere for years. I even had a few of their lip pencils. Yet I had no idea they fell into the natural beauty products category!

My makeup artist completed my look with eye shadows, blush and lip colors from Hourglass. Hourglass is another luxe brand. One thing that I found appealing was the cool way of packaging their products. It looks so creamy and felt that way too!

With my new look complete I wanted to buy everything she used on me! But it wasn’t in my budget.

So how did I determine what products to buy?

1. While I loved Ren, I knew that there were more budget-friendly options for skin care so I passed on all Ren products.

2. Foundations and powders touch the most real estate on my face so I invested in Tarte products. I purchased the primer, amazonian clay mask foundation, the gel eyeliner and eyebrow pencil. And they were in the same price point as the old beauty products that I used to use. The eyeliner and brow pencil were add-ons. I needed refills on both so I went with both for convenience. Since I work from home I don’t wear makeup every day but these are my essential items for times that I do wear it.

3. I wasn’t going to buy any eye shadows or blush but gosh darn it, I loved the Hourglass palettes so much that I indulged. I used to hoard eye shadows but when I purged it all I realized that I didn't used most of them. I only used the same ones over and over again. So my new philosophy is to invest in the colors that I'll use and refrain from the the trendy ones. That’s how I justified my Hourglass purchases.

I’ve been using these products for the about six weeks now and love them! As I mentioned in this post, my complexion has changed and my skin isn’t oily anymore! I’ve also noted that the Tarte gel eyeliner is a lot more gentle than the one I used to use. My eyes no longer get dried out. This was an unexpected surprise! Just a little of these products go a long way!

So in summary…

1. There are mainstream natural beauty products out there!

2. They are available in different price points from luxe to more affordable.

3. They’ve been a lot gentler on my skin.

But yet, since this makeover, I’ve discovered a new retailer. One that I call “the Sephora for natural beauty products.” I've come to love a bunch of their products that I've tried so far and will share those in the next few posts in this series!

And again, the three best ways to receive my email posts are:

• By liking my Facebook page
• Following this Pinterest board
• Subscribing via email {Subscribe box found in sidebar}

Thanks for reading!

I love make-up. Every Spring and Fall I make an appointment at my favorite makeup counter to get the latest seasonal colors. As you can imagine, over the years I had built up quite a cosmetic collection.

Last Fall while at my doctor’s office, she mentioned that she was hosting a webinar on the harmful effects of cosmetics. This was a surprise. I never considered that makeup could have a harmful impact our health. This intrigued me and I recently started reading more about it.

I won’t get into the scientific talk but the articles that I read made me want to give natural and organic makeup a try.

I had no idea where to start so I asked my sister and friends who are beauty professionals. They recommended a few brands to check out which I did. I also found a few brands via Google that I hadn’t heard of.

I’ve tried some of these brands through makeovers and samples. I liked most of the products and have since transitioned my makeup to {mostly} natural beauty products.

After two months of using natural beauty products I found that I no longer have oily skin.

Since puberty I have had oily, acne-prone skin. I have the scars to prove it. For this reason I used makeup with the heaviest coverage. And always carried blotting sheets with me because I constantly had to blot the excessive oil and reapply powder. A lot of powder.

And because I was excessively oily, I never used moisturizer. Who wants to apply lotion to your face when its already greasy?

Since transitioning to natural beauty products my skin feels softer, smoother and cleaner. I now even use an oil as a moisturizer! This blows my mind!

Disclaimer: I’m fairly certain that changing the way I eat played a part in this. But I also believe that using gentle natural beauty products was key to my complexion changing.

Over the next few weeks I’m starting a new series of blog posts. Each week (likely Fridays) I’ll write a post on each of the new-to-me natural beauty products that I now use.

Its important to note that I’m not sponsored, compensated or affiliated with any of these products in any way. They’re just products that I now use and currently love and maybe you will too.

The three best ways to receive my email posts are:

• By liking my Facebook page
• Following this Pinterest board
• Subscribing via email{Subscribe box found in sidebar}

Thanks for reading!

The best way to recover from Adrenal Fatigue is rest so I've been on a self-imposed fitness “detox.”

What’s a fitness detox?

Its intentionally cutting back {by a lot} on the amount of time spent on and the intensities of my workouts.

But having a Type A, an “all-or-nothing” personality to make the transition. I went from working out all-the-time to turning back into a borderline couch potato.

There were some weeks where my only workout was my weekly private Pilates training session. And that only happened because it was already paid for. To put things into perspective, I ran a whopping total of 24.56 miles in March. Yes, in 31 days I ran less than 25 miles. Even for someone doing a fitness detox that’s pretty sad.

I struggled to find a happy medium.

So I opened my old training journals to remember what were my motivations to workout in the first place (there’s a reason to keep those!). I found that my top three motivators to get moving were:

1. Lose weight

2. Keep up with the Joneses

3. Train for a race

These days the first two aren’t motivation for me anymore.

I've learned that eating foods that work WITH my body did more for my well-being (and kept me at a happy weight) than beast mode workouts. (For the record I hate the word "best mode.")

When that happened I stopped caring about what others are doing and trying to keep up with them. Let me clarify - I care what others do but in an “I’m happy for them but I don’t need to do that myself” kind of way.

So that left training for a race.

I've come to learn that I don't always have to run half marathons or full marathons. Shorter distanced races are just as fun - and less time consuming - to train for.

So I looked up the DSE Runners race schedule and put a few on my calendar.

{For those of you not familiar with DSE Runners, it's a San Francisco running club that puts on weekly races around the Bay Area. They are low-key but well-organized races that cost $3 for members and $5 for non-members. Basically the best deal in town.}

This past Sunday I was to run the DSE Golden Gate Park 10K.

Full disclosure: Two weeks before this race was one of those “I-only-did-Pilates-and-didn’t-run-a-single-mile” weeks. But knowing that this race was coming up motivated me to complete all workouts last week. And while I had no illusions of a PR, I did intend to have fun. I mean, there really is nothing like running during a race!

On Sunday, a friend joined me to run the race. But well, things happen; i.e., logistic snafus and we didn't run the actual race. BUT, we did run the distance in Golden Gate Park and had a blast doing so. And we even stopped to cheer on those who did run the race!

So what’s the point of all this?

1. Its okay - and normal - to take a step back and do a fitness detox on occasion.

2. But that doesn’t mean you should take a complete break.

3. And its okay if its challenging to find a happy medium between doing less vs more.

4. So finding motivators is a good way to keep yourself going - whatever that motivator may be for you.

5. And if its a race, check the start time and register for it advance - don’t procrastinate and wait until race day!

What motivates you to get off the couch and workout?

Have you ever gone into an experience expecting it to be a certain way? But once you got there it turned about to be different than what you anticipated?

That’s how my first month with the Institute of Integrated Nutrition went.

I enrolled in IIN® to further my education so that in turn, I could help others.

But four weeks in and I’m realizing that its all about helping me.

Here’s why.

One of the core principles of the school is a concept called “primary foods.” But its not food.

Its these four areas:

• Physical activity
• Your work / career
• Spirituality (not necessarily religion)
• Relationships

While many people have issues with food, when they peel back the layers, the root cause of their problem is not food.

Its often an imbalance to one (or more) of the primary foods.

When our primary food are in balance, so are we. When they are not in sync, problems in other areas may arise, and many people (me included) cope with food in some way - how ever that “way” may be.

One of our first assignments was to rate ourselves in each of the primary foods. As difficult as it was to admit, I was (am) not balanced and had (have) glaring deficiencies in some areas.

So in the spirit being vulnerable I have been working on balancing the areas that are lacking. And its hard. Like really hard.

Its challenging to acknowledge my deficiencies. I've had to swallow my pride to mend relationships. And learn to forgive and let go of grudges. And look past the faults of others, accepting who they are. Yet at the same time, not compromising my own values.

While it isn't easy, I can already feel my quality of life improving.

I knew that my year with nutrition school would be interesting. I knew that my passions would ignited and my knowledge expanded.

What I didn’t know was how much personal growth I would feel just one month in!

I didn’t know how deeply I would feel what I’m learning or how much my soul would feel fed. But its a liberating process and can hardly wait to see what else is in store!

Tell me, how would you rate yourself in each primary food area?

Besides enrolling in IIN, I’m also taking a course called “A Course About Copy” which, you guessed it, is about copy writing.

I think that learning how to write compelling copy is not only valuable at work, but useful in other ways, like writing blog posts!

The primary vehicle of interaction with everyone in the course is a private Facebook group. (Private Facebook groups are a common benefit with many online courses.) This particular group called "Study Hall" is where we share our copy from the exercises. The idea is to get feedback from the other “classmates.”

Shortly after enrolling in ACAC, I tagged by Nikki Elledge Brown (the course's creator) in a post welcoming me to the group. Though she does this for every person who enrolls, when I saw myself singled out, I sort of panicked. I think I even slouched down in my chair a little!

You see, back in "real" school, I was one of those kids who sat in the back row, hoping I was never called on. The introvert in me thought it was the worst thing in the world!

And to be honest, I was already feeling intimidated by the group.

You see, 99% of the other students are entrepreneurs working on their business web sites. But that's not me. I'm not an entrepreneur, so what could I offer? Why would anyone find interest in anything I had to share?

So for a week or two I was silent. Like one of those people who never posts anything but reads everything. You know who I'm talking about. We all have *that* friend on Facebook. I read what everyone shared but there was no way I was sharing my own work. No way, Jose!

That is until I received an email with this audio message from Nikki herself!

[audio m4a="http://www.inaomi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Hiii-Naomi.m4a"][/audio] Wow! Out of the almost 300 students in ACAC she took the time to send me a personal message.

Now I maybe stating the obvious, but I am not one to be vulnerable. I couldn’t even make it through the Ted Talk by Brene Brown on vulnerability. To open myself up is just too scary. I mean, it took me a couple of years before I even allowed comments here on my blog!

But this 40-second message from Nikki was all it took for me to engage. Shortly after (I mean within minutes of) receiving that message I took a deep breath and posted the copy for my new About page.

Soon after that Likes started to appear with comments like,

• “I immediately related to this.”
• “I think its very good.”
• “Really engaging”

One woman even took the time to wordsmith the copy which made it sound even better!

Full confession: After this I was on a natural high. I felt on top of the world!

I faced my fear of criticism and let myself be vulnerable. And in return my work was praised and I felt validated.

And while I realize that things may not always turn out this way, it felt so good to have taken that chance and put myself out there. The risk was worth the reward and motivates me to face other fears and inhibitions that I have.

Now I’m paying it forward by commenting on other people’s posts and {hopefully} offering value to them the way they offered it to me. And by doing so I’m realizing that I’m not as bad of a writer as I thought I was.

And that's the impact that taking a few seconds out of your busy schedule to reach out to someone can have.

Its powerful.

Have you ever put yourself out there and have it help you for the better?

Has someone's small gesture of kindness ever have a big impact on you?

If so, I'd love to hear all about it in the comments below! Or feel free to shoot me an email telling me all about it!

P.S. When I complete A Course About Copy I'll write a full review. But spoiler - its awesome and is a worthwhile investment!

Eleven years ago I began my journey of a healthier, fitter lifestyle. I started working out with a trainer and changed my dietary habits. Before I knew it, I exceeded my own goals and expectations of what I could achieve. Not only in the amount of weight that I lost, but also in the realization that I was capable of so much more than I ever imagined.

I had no idea how life-changing this pursuit of a good health would be. It influenced every aspect of my daily life. I found confidence I never had before and expanded my social circle where I’ve made new life-long friends.

Ever since then I have had a desire to help others adopt a healthier lifestyle for themselves. This is one of the reasons I blog. But I have always wanted to do more.

Yet I wasn’t sure how. Until now.

I’ve raved about how much I enjoyed the Inner Health, Outer Shine program I participated in earlier this year. Well, through that program I learned about the Institute of Integrated Nutrition. And what I read intrigued me.

So I attended several free informational webinars that the institute offered. They piqued my interest even more.

It lit a fire in me to want to learn more. Not necessarily to make a career change (I love my job!), but to expand my knowledge of nutrition to help myself and those close to me.

I knew that this was something I wanted to do. But I didn’t feel the timing was right and I decided to hold off enrolling for another time.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

So I went for it and enrolled in the Spring session!

Coursework begins next week but I've already completed the pre-work readings and assignments.

And last week my welcome kit with my textbooks and other materials arrived and made it feel so real!

Over the course of the next year I plan to immerse myself in the curriculum and soak up everything I can. And I plan to share my learnings, thoughts and takeaways with you and hope you'll find them interesting too.

I am so ready for this and can’t wait to get started!

Running has been the focal point of this blog for the past five years. After all I did finish four marathons. And trained for nine of them. Not to mention the 20+ half marathons and a bunch of other distance races, I ran. I mean, what else did I have to talk about?

And then I developed Adrenal Fatigue. And was foolish enough to keep training (and failing) for more marathons and half-marathons. The failing part made me stop blogging on a consistent basis. Who wants to rehash what didn’t go well - over and over again.

And now I finally get that the only way to recover from Adrenal Fatigue is to rest. And resting I am doing. And becoming a pro at it - taking it to a whole new level.

I ran 26.78 miles in February (yes, the entire month) and took 17 complete rest days. That’s more than half of month of doing nothing.

And you know what? I feel good! I have energy again! I feel (mostly) recovered. Oh and while I was being inactive, I also lost nine pounds. (But that I attribute to following the Low FODMAPS program).

It’s amazing what can happen when you work WITH your body instead of against it.

With the shift in training, I’ve been thinking about where it leaves this blog. It didn’t not start out as a running blog, and in-spite of writing about running for five years, I never considered it a running blog.

If you haven’t noticed, the past few posts have been tangents about random things I hadn't written about before. I was experimenting and writing about other passions in my daily life.

But after much thought it comes down to this:

My true passions lie in three things: health, fitness and more recently wellness.

I’m still running, albeit shorter distances. And I’m still working out though not as intense as before. Fitness remains - and always will - be a part of me. So I'll continue to blog about that, running included.

But now that I have IBS and Adrenal Fatigue I’m intrigued. About how food, as well as the decisions that we make about our lifestyle, factors into the equation. And not just food, but everything from the cosmetics that we put on our face, to the chemicals that we use to clean our homes.

So moving forward, these are the kinds of topics you can expect to read about here.

And as far as consistency goes, my commitment to you is to blog at least once a week. This I promise. Three times a week would be ideal, but unrealistic for me.

So if you’ve stuck around through my random tangents and inconsistencies, I thank you. You are a gem. And I hope you’ll continue to stick around as things shift a little around here.

Question for you:

Are there specific topics related to health, fitness and wellness that would like to read about in future posts here?

I just completed my fifth week of following the Low FODMAPs program. And this will be my final post of my initial experience with it. To recap:

• In Week 1 I provided a daily account of the foods that I ate. I stuck to these meals for most of the program.
• In Week 2 I shared my introduction to Low FODMAPs and the kind of support I received.
• In Week 3 I listed five key things I learned.

I didn’t write a Week 4 recap because I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that its recommend to follow the program for 4-6 weeks. I wasn’t sure if I should begin to reintroduce the foods I had eliminated. With meticulous journaling, I knew what my trigger foods were and I was afraid to start eating them again. I was feeling good, better than I had felt in years! I no longer had IBS symptoms. I lost seven lbs of bloat - my clothes were fitting again! I was sleeping well and I felt more energized. If I knew what my trigger foods were, why reintroduce them?

I felt confused and conflicted. So I postponed writing another post about this until I met with Dr. Ponce, my functional medicine doctor.

At last weeks appointment Dr. Ponce announced that my improvement was phenomenal. She was going to transition me to a maintenance program. After being on various supplements for almost 18 months, I no longer needed them. The only things she wanted me to continue taking are probiotics and a custom herbal blend for adrenal support. I’m convinced that this progress is due to following Low FODMAPs.

When we discussed reintroduction I found that we had the same thoughts:

If I know what my trigger foods are its not necessary to reintroduce them.

She advised that for some trigger foods the issue could be brand-related. For example, almonds - we don’t know how the brand I was eating prepared the almonds. She encouraged me to be open to trying other brands and see how I react to them.

Also, if I’m at a restaurant and want a bite of something, like guacamole (which is not Low FODMAPs) I should feel like I can have a taste - like a spoonful - but not (over) indulge. Then gauge my reaction to it.

I felt much better after discussing this with her, and its how I plan to move forward.

To close out this Low FODMAPs series, I’m pleased with the habits that I’ve developed over the past five weeks.

Through this exercise I’ve opened myself up to new foods - like kale. I used to hate kale, but I’m now the person who buys 5+ bunches a week!

I’ve replaced counting calories with food journaling. Its guided me to be more intuitive with how I feel during my meals - and hours later.

And I’m becoming more creative with the meals I create. Fried plantains with cinnamon and pecans anyone?

If you’re considering following Low FODMAPs, I hope this series provides you with insight of what you can expect from it. Thanks for reading!

I’m not one to follow blog trends, but I found the “Day in the Life” posts that I read interesting. They allowed me to get to know the blogger better and I picked up a few useful tips. So I thought I’d share what a day in my life is like.

This particular day happened a week ago, Wednesday, February 5th:

7 am: Alarm goes off. I check my emails, both personal and work to see if there’s anything urgent that I need to address. There wasn’t so I peruse social media.

7:20 am: Get up, wash up.

7:40 - 8 am: Walk Coco Pop. I have to drag her out of bed because she’s such a sleepy head in the mornings. We do our usual spin around the neighborhood. Our daily routine is to say hello to the maintenance guy and all the doggies she likes to see (and some that she doesn’t).

8 am: Breakfast - for both of us.

8:30 - 9 am: Work meeting. I work from home so my meetings are via conference call.

9 - 10:30 am: Answer work emails, organize and update projects I’m managing.

{Top Left: Wake-up selfie, Top Right: On our morning walk, Bottom Left: Low FODMAP Breakfast, Bottom Right: Pilates}

10:30 - Noon: More work meetings. We have A LOT of meetings.

Noon - 12:15 pm: Walk Coco Pop. We go for a short walk around our community. Since its gated and quiet in the middle of the day I let her off-leash so she can sniff around. She loves it.

12:15 - 12:30 pm: Fix lunch, clean up breakfast dishes, etc.

12:30 - 2 pm: Eat lunch, answer emails. We also have A LOT of emails, capture meeting notes, follow-up on actions items and prep for Thursday meetings.

2 - 3 pm: Pilates session at the gym

3:15 - 3:30 pm: I make a quick stop at home after the gym to scan of work emails. There’s isn't anything urgent. So I load Coco Pop into the car and head over to the neighborhood around Jasmine’s school for our afternoon walk.

3:45 - 4:30 pm: Walk Coco Pop. We both appreciate any opportunity to walk somewhere outside of our neighborhood. It gets old.

4:30 - 5 pm: We pick up Jasmine and her friend from school and drop them off at their extra-curricular activities. Their parents commute and aren't able to pick them up in time so we do this twice a week.

5:15 - 5:45 pm: Dinner (heat up leftovers).

5:45 - 6:30 pm: Wrap-up the work day.

6:30 pm: Groom Coco Pop (teeth-brushing and brush-out).

7 - 10 pm: Core, PT exercises, stretch, shower, watch TV, work on personal projects, wrap up my personal day.

10 pm: Take Coco Pop out for her last potty, then put her in her crate for bed.

10 - 11 pm: Read - currently reading #GirlBoss

11 pm: Lights Out

Working from home gives me a lot of flexibility. I thank God every day that I don’t have to deal with a daily commute. The flexibility allows me to fit in personal chores and errands throughout the day. Some days are busier (and longer) than others. This particular one wasn’t too bad.

What’s a day like in your life?

I just completed my third week on the Low FODMAPS program.

{Week 1 Recap, Week 2 Recap}

Over the past week I kept meticulous notes in my May Design journal, not only of what I’ve eaten, but how I’ve felt. Using a tip from the Inner Health, Outer Shine program, I tracked how I’ve felt immediately after eating and then two hours later. This new exercise helped me be more in tune to have I was feeling.

Here’s five things that I discovered:

1. I can control my cravings.

I used to think I was hungry just an hour or two after a meal. And so I would start snacking.

By pausing to check-in how I felt two hours after my previous meal, I found that I was in fact NOT hungry. And I found myself extending the time to at least four hours between meals before I felt hungry again. No longer did I have in-between-meal cravings.

2. I’m often dehydrated.

When I’m working in the office I make it a point to frequent the break room to refill my water bottle. I don’t do this at home. Yet I work at home 95% of the time which means I wasn’t drinking enough water. Again, by paying attention to how I felt, I realized that I had often mistaken hunger for thirst. This week I’m setting a timer to refill my water bottle every hour.

3. I don’t need to do endless killer workouts to lose weight.

I weighed myself on January 1st and saw a number I haven’t seen in 10 years. My clothes were tight to the point where I needed to size up.

This past week I had four (unplanned) complete rest days. Meaning, after the Kaiser 5K (only 3.1 miles), I only worked out one other day this week - a Pilates session on Wednesday.

But somehow my clothes fit again, some a little loose. So I stepped on the scale and was down seven lbs since January 1st. And this is after a week of less than two hours of total exercise (and only 28 min of cardio). I KNOW that was seven lbs of bloat.

4. Balance is everything.

One of the reasons I had four unplanned rest days is that I had a couple of long work days. This is not the norm for me. I’m good at work/life balance and working from home gifts me a lot of flexibility. So when long days are necessary, I don’t mind. But I sure noticed the toll it took on my body. Sitting hunched over a laptop all day hurt my neck, shoulders and back. I had a hard time unwinding and felt the stress on my shoulders.

Yesterday (Saturday) I didn’t sit at my desk at all. My shoulder pain was gone. I slept like a baby. Coincidence? I think not.

5. I’m addicted to my phone.

This isn’t a surprise but it was eye-opening to realize how attached I was to it. As in often checking it in the middle of the night. Its such a bad habit. And has a direct impact on the quality of my sleep. Even though I always get 7-8 hours, they don’t always feel restful. The nights that I don’t touch it I wake up feeling rested and refreshed.

I’m pleased with the progress that I’ve made so far. Yet, I am still not completely healed. I still having some bloating in evenings, though it is much less than three weeks ago. Most of my other symptoms have subsided.

It's recommended to follow the Low FODMAPS program for 4-6 weeks. I have one more week to go, then will assess whether I should start reintroducing foods or continue for another two weeks.