Eat for the SEASON not the DAY

Is WINTER faking you out? This morning I was driving my son to school on the icy roads and he said:

"Sheesh, really Boulder? "

These crazy weather patterns we experience here in Boulder are a little hard on the system and hard to predict at this time of year.

One day it is springy and warm and I feel my spring fever bubbling up, and the next we are shoveling 2 feet of snow off of our driveway and I am back in hibernation mode.

Even though my son was born and raised here in Colorado, it still boggles his mind to witness the Colorado weather patterns.  

It is a confusing time of year for the body and immune system and so many people have been struggling with cold and flu this year.

There is a saying in Chinese Medicine that says:

"Dress for the season, not the day."

I have adopted this moto and added my own little spin:

"Eat for the season, not the day."

It is still winter for most of us, and although I am excited about the upcoming spring season and enjoying the occasional warmer day, it is still helpful to stay warm and well nourished for the remaining days of winter.

February and March are often the months with the most irratic weather.  Our bodies are going through a lot to keep ourselves strong and healthy.

We have to be sure to stay AHEAD of the weather.

How you may ask?

When we stay in the season with our eating, our self care, body care, we will naturally be more attuned to the season, and strengthen our immune systems for this final push of winter.

Want a few immune boosting tips?

Keep reading...

Just tired of Winter?  

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Winter Immunity Insights

1.  Stay warm.

Keep your kidneys and bladder warm (and the rest of your body as well).  You can use warming foods, teas, topical essential oils, sesame oil, and warm clothing to insulate and nourish the your core.  Scarves are a nice addition to protect the windgate – the space at the back of your neck – where pathogens can enter.

Even if the weather is warmer than an average winter day, which often happens in my home state COLORADO, be sure to “DRESS FOR THE SEASON, NOT THE DAY”.   Stay insulated to keep the immunity strong.

2.  Oil of Oregano

Are you fighting the common winter cold, or flu this winter?  Oil of Oregano is one of my favorite treatments for both immune boosting and anti-bacterial and anti-viral support.

Did you know just a few drops of Oregano Oil in the diffuser or vaporizer can give you some relief?

Even better – add a few drops to your cooking and enjoy the delicious flavor and immune boosting qualities with your dinner.

Because this potent oil is so strong, make sure you dilute it substantially or take it in a protective capsule.  With my big pot of homemade chicken soup I only use 2 drops…3 is too many, and too strong.  (See recipe below)

(avoid if you are pregnant, or breastfeeding or an infant)

3.  Ritual Baths

There are many many benefits to baths at this time of year.  Aside from the warming and relaxing qualities there are also deeper support from certain types of baths.  You can always resort to the simple Epson salts bath if you like, but here I am going to provide you with some specific and unique baths to use to synch up with winter – mind, body and soul.

• Add a teaspoon of coconut oil for a warm and insulating
• Add some chunks of fresh ginger.  Ginger is a natural immune booster and when you soak in a ginger tea bath you absorb the ginger and allow the body to purify and release the pathogens.  Stay warm and get right in bed after.
• Feeling a little down in the cold days of winter?  Sweeten up your mood with a "sweet like honey" bath.  Add a cup of raw honey to your bath and watch your seasonal funk slip away.  Honey baths remind us of the sweetness of life.

Get Your Spring Fever ON

As we emerge from the winter months, we wake up to the early morning sunlight returning and the smell of blooming flowers poking their heads through to warming earth.

Given the energetics of spring we often feel the urge to cleanse our lives, our bodies, and our beings for a clearer and energized new season of living life to the fullest.

As you read through the following tips, take a moment to ponder what needs cleansing in your life.  What do you seek to shed this spring to “lighten” up and access the inner freedom we all yearn for?

So often when we think of cleansing, we see visions of ancient yogi’s fasting, or modern health food junkies checking out the newest cleansing trends.

Don't fret, this year let's clean out and cleanse what is not serving us in our lives.  Let us use the energy of the season of spring to enhance the journey to more radiance and vitality from the inside out.

Your Spring Sparkle comes from a combination of so many components, some of which include of your inner health, your thoughts, how you move your body each day, and your sacred space or home.

1.  Body Bliss

Can you access the bliss your physical body is designed to feel?  When you wake up each day are you ready to conquer your life with energy and vitality?  If you feel like many people do these days, a little tired, a little sluggish try these health secrets to enhance your energy.

Eat with the season – As the leafy greens spring up, and the dandelions fill your yard, try finding some ways to cleanse your diet with some of natures spring gifts.

In the spring we are designed to eat lighter, darker and leafier greens, and oh those dandelions do wonders for cleansing the liver. (be sure they are pesticide free before you eat, or buy at your local health food store)

Juice – Juicing daily blesses the body with a huge amount of extra nutrients that are easily absorbed.  As you pulverize and strain those veggies in the juicer, you do a huge favor to your digestion. You pour liquid nutrients into your system for a fountain of amazing energy and purification.

Reset your energy with a Whole Food lifestyle – This spring try to eat only WHOLE FOODS for one whole week.  Whole food eating means eating food found in its whole form.  Avoid processed foods, refined carbohydrates and foods that have an ingredient list.

2.  Flip your Script

If you are someone who hears your own self-critic loud and clear all day long, full of shame, blame and self sabotage…it is time to “clean” up your self-talk.  Flipping your script means giving your that common mental script an overhaul.  What are the most common thoughts that bring you down?  Are they about your body, your past decisions, your bad habits?

Whenever you hear the negative thoughts try to take note, then flip them around in to a positive affirmation as often as you can to practice unconditional happiness and self-love.

3.  Move it and Shake it

One of most effective ways to your energize your life is through daily movement.  How is your MOJO?  Practices such as YOGA, BRISK WALKING/HIKING and DANCE can move energy in big ways.  Get yourself out of inertia this spring and MOVE IT SHAKE IT GROOVE IT.  Enliven your spirit and up your MOJO with some juicy movement of your own.

Take walk in the beautiful spring air,  inspire yourself with your favorite yoga teacher or make yourself a new playlist to inspire your daily run. Learn to feel good in your body through movement you love.

4.  Clear out your Space

Spring-cleaning is not a made up phenomenon.  We naturally cleanse during the spring season because it feels so therapeutic to climb out of the winter hibernation into a fresh and clear environment.

Getting rid of the old and making room for the new is an important energizer for your space and your experience this spring.

But in addition to aesthetics, there are proven health reasons for steam-cleaning carpets, airing out curtains and the like noting that the benefits include preventing the spread of germs and keeping allergy symptoms at bay.

Clearing out clutter also helps make your environment a happier as well as a healthier place.  For a little spring cleaning joy, add some essential oils to your eco-friendly cleaning supplies.  Try rearranging and reorganize your sacred space.

You are off to a great start for some revitalization and renewal this year.  Spring is always an exciting time to start anew, plant our seeds of intention and watch, tend, and nurture them as the season unfolds.  Let’s make it a beauty!  Happy Spring.

It is the time for revitalization and renewal.  Spring is always an exciting time to start anew, plant our seeds of intention and watch, tend, and nurture them as the season unfolds.  Let’s make it a beauty.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Winter Myths Exposed

  How are you feeling??  As we make the official descent into the darkest nights for the next couple weeks, we are also wrought with holiday shopping, family in town, colder weather, and even what some consider the toughest time of year on the immune system.  

I thought it would be a good time to EXPOSE some winter MYTHS for you so you can enhance your darkest days with wisdom and wellness.    Do we REALLY need to worry about our WINTER WELL BEING?  Or our we designed perfectly to match up with the season and its energetics?

Here are some of the TOP winter wellness MYTHS to explore, and then move into the season with GUSTO feeling better than ever.

Myth #1:  Can you catch a cold by getting cold?

FALSE ~ A famous Chinese Medicine saying, "Dress for the season, not the day.", has always been my rule of thumb.  Traditional Chinese Medicine has been around for a long time and it definitely provides some brilliant wisdom.  

Being in the elements poses no problems directly to our health, in fact it is invigorating and energizing to be outside even during the winter.  The only concern is if we are exposed to cold and wind, especially in a few target areas, we are weakened to on coming pathogens.

The wind gate it is often used to talk about the entire back of the neck and upper back. Accord­ing to TCM, exter­nal pathogens enter the body through the wind gate. In other words, we are most sus­cep­ti­ble to envi­ron­men­tal forces such as wind when our necks are exposed to the elements.

Inva­sion by wind can lead to those all-too-familiar cold and flu symp­toms — chills, fever, body aches, runny nose, con­ges­tion, and cough. This vul­ner­a­bil­ity is increased if we also go out­side with damp hair or do other things to impair our immune sys­tem responses (poor diet, inad­e­quate rest, lack of exer­cise, drink too much alco­hol, etc…).

**Cover the back of your neck, find some cozy scarfs to accent your outfits and stay protected!


Myth #2:  How is your mood?  Are folks sinking into the deep dark depression of winter more than ever?

TRUE ~ It is true that people have a harder time with depression in the colder and darker days, but it doesn't have to be the case for you!  WIth just some simple tweeks  you can improve your mood during the winter months!  

The holiday blues or SAD (seasonal affective disorder)?  Does this sound like you?  Try some light therapy, a heavy does of vitamin D, and if it gets unbearable, amino acids such as tryptophan, tyrosine and glutamine to the rescue to boost up your brain chemistry.

Be sure you eat a protein rich diet to build your seratonin, and get enough rest to rebuild and regenerate your energy.  

Find some magic in the darker nights by lighting a fire, slow cooking your dinner, cozying up with your favorite book and tapping into your creative side with your favorite art project.

Myth #3:  Does grandma's chicken soup and homemade ginger tea really do the trick??

TRUE ~ The old wives tales usually have a good story behind them.  This is one of those.  Warm soups and liquids have a direct impact on your immune system by creating a bringing the white blood cells (aggregation) together to fight off infection and help you feel better faster.

These warm fluids can soothe a sore throat, nourish a cold or flu, and warm you up from the inside out!!

Need a recipe?  Click here for the best 24 hour ginger chicken soup this winter...

Myth #4:  Do you really need more sleep during the winter?

TRUE ~ Tired?  The bears like to hibernate at this time of year, and so should you!  You may still have to live out your daily obligations, but it is natural to curl up and snuggle up earlier than in the long summer days.  It is organic during winter to rest more and rejuvenate your life force so you are ready for a zestful spring and summer season.  

Weather or not you NEED more hours of sleep is questionable, but most of us enjoy earlier quiet winter nights and more down time to connect inward.

Myth #5:  Do we have to gain those extra few pounds in the winter?

TRUE ~ It is true that this is a common phenomenon.  We may not get outside as much, or move our bodies as often.  We tend to whole up at home more with food a plenty especially over the holidays.  Is that what you want for yourself?

TRUE.... but not necessary.  Following your hunger cues attentively, doing a New Years cleanse, and being sure to move your body regularly will prevent those winter pounds from creeping on.  

It takes a plan, some good routines, and personal commitment to health and radiance!  You CAN do it.

Launch your Localicious Summer + Colorado Localicious Summer Guide

....and Learn 3 secrets that will change your relationship to food for good!

I know many of you have heard the term "localicious" before, the term referring to eating local + delicious.  Some of you may have even explored eating local, buying organic and upgrading your diet to a more healthful, and nutrient dense style.  What you may NOT have heard is how eating local can change your relationship to food and your body.

Here are a few specialized BOULDER NUTRITION secrets that will transform how you THINK about your food from here forward.

These 3 small do-able TWEAKS will transform your summer.

Start now...  REClAIM your health once and for all.

PLUS, click here and --> download your free LOCALICIOUS guide today and you will be ready to ROCK your summer ASAP!

1.  The Secret is in the SOURCE

Have you ever tried a recipe passed down from your mother's Italian grandmother, or made yourself a garden salad that you and your children planted seeds for on mothers day?  Better yet, have you ever watched your child pick carrots from the local community garden and then smack their lips and open their hearts in joy?  There is something very magical that happens when we connect with our food, the places it grows, and the love that goes into it.

There is no mistaking that a current lack of connection is a primary root cause to our countries health and obesity issues.  When we buy the majority of our food in vacuum sealed bags, large wholesale quantities, or eat fast food on the run - we lose the connection.

The food-heart connection is one secret that permeates many layers into your relationship with food.  This connection literally can shift OVER EATING, BINGING, and EMOTIONAL EATING patterns.  Eating local is a wonderful place to start.  When you sit down to a meal full of a heart connection to your plate, a totally different savoring occurs.  Just like the age old Italian grandmother's recipe, eating local allows us to treasure, enjoy and feel the love being passed down from our forks to our fondness.

2.  LOVE your Farmer, LOVE your self

The organic farmers of today remind me of good kings (or queens).  They rule the land with care, they nourish the people of the kingdom (community) and they ensure good health for all. Good kings ward off the evil villains (a.k.a. Monsanto) while protecting the lineage and age old traditions for generations to come.  Sound familiar?

Loving your farmer provides a vital link between eaters and the importance of protecting our precious farmland.  Loving your farmer directly translates into self love with every bite of fresh local food that nourishes you directly down to a cellular level.  Famers love support from the local community and YOU feel supported by your own health choices.

3.  Eating for a GREATER CAUSE

Just like anything we do, when we do it in service, it juices us up and raises our vibration.  Running a race for a cause, buying concert tickets to raise money for a global mission, or eating to support the health of our communities raises the COLLECTIVE vibration.  When every bite has meaning and passion, we then have more pleasure and gusto with our food.  Truthfully, it is more ETHICAL to eat locally.  In addition to being fresher and riper, the food hasn’t cost an ecological fortune in fossil fuels coming across the continent.  We are making an impact with our food choice for a happier planet.  Eating for a greater cause changes the dynamic between you and your plate.

YOU can do this!  The Free Download-localicious summer guide will help you to navigate your recipe book, cruise your kitchen, the local section of the grocery store and local farmers' markets with confidence.  Make this summer a localicious movement that changes your health and relationship to every bite.