I make this simple, inexpensive drink at home on a regular basis. It takes minutes, and costs pennies!

1 tablespoon freshly ground flax seeds (grind in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder)

6 ounces water

2 ounces apple or pineapple juice

Simply mix all together with a whisk or in a blender and drink quickly. Because the fiber expands in your intestines, it acts as an internal brush, cleaning out any stuck matter.

Check out my killer favorite salad – fit for a king or queen (or a construction worker!):

4 cups arugula and mixed greens

1 shredded carrot

1/2 cup hummus whisked with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for a dressing-like affect

1/3 cup chopped mixed olives (the good kind, not the ones from a can)

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

chopped red bell pepper (organic of course)

I went to a doctor who wanted to prescribe an anti-depressant. I wondered – is my body lacking Prozac? Or is something else going on here?

I made an appointment with a more holistic doctor who used nutrition as part of his overall methodology. The first thing he asked about was my diet. No doctor had asked me what I ate in relation to how I was feeling. And so I decided to be honest:
Breakfast: cereal with milk, coffee with milk and sugar
Lunch: fast food, soda, french fries, potato chips, fruit
Snacks: candy, soda
Dinner: pasta, pizza, take-out, soda, alcohol a few nights a week
This doctor pointed out that I wasn’t eating any fresh food, and that I was literally eating myself into depression, weight gain and fatigue.

Once I discovered that what I was eating was creating my depression, exhaustion and mood swings, it didn’t take long before I was back to feeling like myself again. I was so inspired by the changes in my mood, that I decided to change my career so I could help other women to improve their lives without resorting to drugs, surgery or expensive therapies. Food addicts, chocoholics, caffeine addicts, and just plain self-described “moody girls” all flocked to my practice – I guess you attract what you know.

A common theme among my clients is they feel compulsively drawn to certain foods again and again. Daily battles unfold where office workers struggle to stay away from the mid-morning double latte, the afternoon chocolate fix, the after-hours grilled cheese sandwich. Working moms find themselves sneaking snacks like chocolate chips, soda or French fries throughout the day – foods they wouldn’t want their kids to eat.

Often these same foods that we crave every day have a deeper hold on our brain chemistry than we realize. Food sensitivities can cause a craving-withdrawal cycle that not only affects your mood, but your waistline. Common foods such as dairy, coffee, chocolate, wheat, corn or eggs may actually be triggering an undiagnosed food allergy, which often leads to addiction to these foods, causing long-term mood disorders.

The human brain will often produce opioids when you eat one of these trigger foods. These same opioids reduce your perception and reaction to pain. If you are allergic to wheat and diary, eating a grilled cheese sandwich is like taking a tiny hit of a narcotic. Years of constant consumption of these trigger foods lead to addiction. If your body starts to feel withdrawal symptoms because you haven’t eaten wheat or dairy in several hours, it will start to crave those same foods – your body needs its fix!

This allergy-addiction cycle can lead to irritability, migraines, depression, fatigue, constant digestion problems, arthritis and weight gain. Over the last 8 years I have worked with thousands of women to improve their mood and health by making simple dietary changes. Using a food-mood journal, getting rid of the junk, and analyzing cravings, I have successful assisted countless women to identify and eliminate the underlying causes of their food cravings and mood issues.

These days my food cravings are much easier to handle. They still show up during times of stress or when I’m tired, but I quickly realize my body needs rest, leafy greens, water or exercise instead of chocolate or coffee. I still indulge in delicious treats sometimes, but my cravings for trigger foods don’t have control over me – I understand where they’re coming from and how to make them dissolve. It has been an empowering process to learn what my body really needs and how to take care of these imbalances without relying on foods that will only hurt me over time.

To take control of your food induced mood disorders, lose weight and create amazing energy, join my 4 Week Power Detox Tele-Course, starting April 26th:

http://www.nutritionforempoweredwomen.com/services/reboot/

My clients are busy women – they work hard, run their own businesses, take care of their family, travel, cook, clean, go to school, volunteer, write, create, take on huge amounts of responsibility and rarely have quiet time for themselves. They are stressed to the max!

The frustrating thing is that many women still find time to exercise on a regular basis and even revamp their diets so that they’re eating better than ever before – and they STILL can’t lose weight.

Here’s the thing: it’s not the amount of exercise (or maybe it IS), or the diet that’s the main problem.

It’s the amount of stress women feel on a daily basis that keeps the weight on.

The amount of constant, low-level stress humans experience on a daily basis is unnatural and new. By “new” I mean recent in human history. Never before have we been bombarded with stimuli like texts, voice mail, cell phones, emails, streaming video, 24-hour news channels, reality television, radio, schedules, alarm clocks, deadlines, and advertising. Up until a few generations ago, we didn’t even have electric lights! We got up with the sun and went to bed with the sun. Ponder that for a moment.

When I work with busy, stressed-out women who constantly focus on how they can’t lose weight, I often put them on a media diet:
- turn off the tv after 6pm
- no tv in the bedroom EVER
- go computer free on the weekends

Besides lowering the amount of tiny stressors like texts and email alerts, learning how to incorporate daily, even hourly, stress relievers will help the body and mind calm down and stop producing the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. These two lovelies set the body up to hold on to fat in anticipation of fight or flight – which was useful when we were living in mud huts and gathering our food in the wild.

My favorite ways to relax during the day are:
- look up a relaxtion meditation video on Youtube
- drink a glass of water every hour
- walk around outside for 5 minutes every 2-3 hours
- stretch in the sunlight or while looking out a window every 2-3 hours
- ride my bike while doing my errands (yes, my 3 year old comes too: I have a bike trailer that can fit one kid and 3-4 bags of groceries)

Bi-weekly or monthly stress reduction techniques include:
- massage
- food rub and pedicure
- sitting in the steam room at my YMCA

Take time out for relaxation on a regular basis for easier weight management. In coming newsletters and blog posts, I’ll be writing more about adrenal fatigue, stress and ways to relax into weight loss.

Are you ready for total body transformation and weight loss?

Join me for my upcoming 4 Week Detox Tele-Course starting April 26th!

Here’s to your health!

Alexandra

Daikon radishes have been used in traditional Japanese and Macrobiotic cooking to heal the body and to help it discharge fat, excess fluids and old animal foods lingering in the intestines. This “really big radish” has huge amounts of digestive enzymes which help the body easily deal with fats and proteins. Also used as a diuretic and decongestant, daikon can help ease the work of the kidneys by discharging more water and fluid retention.

Japanese researchers have found that daikon radish eaten with smoked or grilled animal protein increases the elimination of cancer-causing compounds. But why eat those carcinogenic foods in the first place?

So how can you use this powerful, peppery radish to help cleanse your body? Here are a few simple ideas:

• Grate 2 tablespoons of daikon daily and eat with a few drops of naturally brewed soy sauce (shoyu, tamari or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos) to help the body discharge old animal protein and fats.
• Make a simple broth to eliminate excess diary products: Heat 1 cup water, 1/2 cup diced daikon, 1 inch piece of kombu sea vegetable. Simmer for 15 minutes, drink warm.
• Reduce fever or “food hangover” symptoms with a tea made from 1/4 cup sliced daikon, 2 shittake mushrooms and 1 inch piece of kombu sea vegetable.

Eating out at a Japanese or Korean spot? Ask for a side of daikon along with your meal for extra detox points!

One client, I’ll call her MJ, decided to finally take the family dog on their day-long road trip south to visit the in-laws for Christmas this year. In the past, she had been asked by her husband’s family to leave her pet with friends or in a kennel. This year was different: she asked to bring the dog and keep him in the garage. Little did she know that bringing her favorite pet would dramatically improve her health over the holidays.

Rather than playing into the yearly repeated drama of emotional eating over Christmas (her in-laws are stress inducing to say the least!), MJ used her dog as an excuse to exit the house often for long, relaxing walks. Leaving behind the emotional turmoil, MJ not only got more exercise this Christmas, she didn’t feel the need to push down her sorrows and anger with food and alcohol. Instead of sticking around for the constant family upsets, MJ just removed herself from other people’s dramas and focused on what she loved – sharing quiet walks with her kids, husband and dog.

Thanks Spot!

This is just one of the many free, healthful methods you can use and integrate in your future holiday and travel plans to avoid the common pitfalls of “vacation eating” and emotional bingeing.

(Finally willing to get a pet? Be sure to rescue a friend rather than buying one from a pet farm! Rescue a dog here: http://www.petfinder.com/index.html )

Be well,

Alexandra

For most of us, a full-on liquid-only fast isn’t an easy task. I know that my life with a 3 year old, my own business and a strong inclination to have a social life doesn’t work well on a liquid only diet.

You can still enjoy the benefits of the Master Cleanse ingredients this winter and see positive changes from consuming a warming tea made from lemon juice, maple or agave syrup and cayenne pepper. Here’s what these ingredients can do for you :

Cayenne: enhances blood circulation and increases body temperature, which is perfect for this chilly cold weather. The capsaicin found in chili peppers helps bronchial problems and has antioxidant properties. Used to balance cold, dry, damp conditions, so it’s perfect for colds, fevers and asthma.

Lemon: Dries damp conditions, resolves stagnation and aids digestion, improving liver function. Great for colds, flu and coughs, as well as sore throats, assists with weight loss and treats high blood pressure.

DIRECTIONS:

Boil one cup of water

Squeeze half an organic lemon into the water

Stir in a pinch of cayenne powder and

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup or agave syrup

Enjoy! The perfect drink for anyone trying to quit sodas~

Be well,

Alex

Understanding the full impact of added sugars on your body is necessary to changing and improving your body and energy. Because sugary foods often crowd-out nutritious foods, diets high in sugar contribute to osteoporosis, cancer, weight-gain, and heart disease. 

The USDA advises people who eat a 2,000-calorie healthful diet to try to limit themselves to about 10 teaspoons of added sugars per day. If you’ve ever seen Super Size Me, you know the average American does not eat a healthful diet, but consumes at least 20 teaspoons of added sugars per day.

To help illustrate this information, I found these pictures floating around the internet – I don’t know who to credit for them, but the person responsible deserves the Nobel prize for Reality! 

* EACH SUGAR CUBE = 1 TEASPOON OF SUGAR