Intuition and the Customization of Natural Health Care

A few weeks ago I got together with some girlfriends for lunch at one of their houses. She'd made a delicious bean and kale soup with a full pound of onions and remarked to us, "I just crave onions like crazy lately — ever since I had the baby."

"Did you know onions are super cleansing?" I asked.

"Oh!" she said. "That makes so much sense!"

Our other friend then told us how she'd read in the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck about a study done with orphans in the 1920s and '30s where Dr. Clara Davis provided 33 different 100% whole foods (no recipes, just raw veggies or fruits, cooked meats or grains, etc, for the purposes of the experiment) and let every child choose what to eat with absolutely no prompting.

Planck describes not only how healthy the children became, faring well on diets that often seemed completely imbalanced (like the boy who ate two pounds of oranges a day for a while), but how the children even cured themselves of ill health by what they chose: "A nine-month-old boy with rickets drank cod liver oil until his rickets was cured, then ignored it."

According to an article, "Clara M. Davis and the Wisdom of Letting Children Choose Their Own Diets," in the Canadian Medical Association Journal,

Davis devised the experiment to let children do for themselves because she suspected that children's bodies instinctively “knew best” what the individual child should eat. Her intellectual model, a view that would later be called “the wisdom of the body,” likened a child's instinctive appetite to the way various autonomic body systems effortlessly adjust themselves to compensate for external challenges — think of sweating on a hot day, and breathing faster when you start to run.

(The "trick," as Davis and Planck and others point out, is that they must be whole foods. Sugar, MSG, alcohol, and other processed foods confuse the body's wisdom.)

Another important point from Davis's enormous experiment is the customization aspect. None of the children ate the same things as the other children or stuck to the same foods over long periods. Like the boy with rickets, they seemed to eat according to what their body needed at the time.

I bring all this up because I think we've come to distrust ourselves when it comes to eating healthy. For example, many people force themselves to eat a green salad every day whether or not they are completely sick of green salads — because they have been told or somehow have come to believe that it's what they should do.

I argue that if — most importantly — your diet is free of sugar, RTNCs and processed foods, then you need to listen to what your body craves and doesn't. If you want onions in everything for a while, eat onions! It could be that your body has a particular use for them right now and needs to get a lot until the purpose has been resolved.

And I think that the same wisdom applies beyond foods, as well.

For two months now, I've been putting clove oil on the bottoms of my feet every night. For the past few weeks, I've also added grapefruit oil to my stomach. I've tried to pay attention to my body's reactions as I've done this. At first on the clove oil I had some major symptoms of detoxing that weren't so pleasant, but any time I thought about quitting, my gut reaction was no. I continue to listen for that gut reaction, ready to stop when my body is done with clove, but so far it would seem that I still need it.

As further evidence, I still love the smell. Going to sleep each night with the scents of clove and citrus is absolutely heavenly to me! And I believe our bodies react to taste and smell according to our needs (again, with the caveat that we absolutely cannot trust sugar and processed food cravings!).

What fascinates me even further is when intuition goes beyond tastes and smells. Steph and I compare experiences all the time where we've just had a certain recurring thought — intuition — about trying a certain herb or supplement or oil we weren't even familiar with yet, and then once our intuition pushed us to learn about that type of natural medicine it turned out to be a perfect match for some ailment we were facing.

For me, the most recent example has been black walnut hull. It was among the supplements recommended to me after a massage therapist muscle tested me for yeast and parasites over a year ago, but at the time I had no clue how to even avoid sugar, let alone accept the relevance of muscle testing or the efficacy of herbs. But that one item from his list stuck in my head. I continued to wonder about it, wondering if maybe there was truth to muscle testing, wondering if it did indeed mean my body wanted black walnut hull. I tried four or five other yeast treatments in the mean time, too distrustful of black walnut hull because some people said it was too strong to take while breastfeeding.

Since I'm 5'7" and weigh only 100 pounds, though, I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe I need something that strong to counteract the imbalances of my body.

As I've prayed for inspiration lately (for me, this is a key element in deciphering intuition and how to customize my health care), I felt like I shouldn't do any yeast treatments at first while on the clove. I continued to wait for the feeling that it was time to add herb capsules to the clove regimen, and finally one day two weeks ago I woke up ready to make the capsules again. As I pulled the usual powdered ingredients from my herb cabinet (pau d'arco, oregano, olive leaf, myrrh, chaparral), the black walnut hull powder caught my eye.

Yes, my gut said. Let's add that.

Being a cautious person, though, I decided to at least Google it before swallowing. I really had no clue what black walnut hull is even for.

The frustrating and wonderful thing about herbs is that they never do just one thing. They are complex natural antidotes for all kinds of ills. Each website that I visited listed numerous benefits from black walnut hull, and each list was slightly different while also warning that black walnut hull hasn't been well studied scientifically, so we are still relying on the tradition of it.

While I am a fan of science and love to know the ins and outs of how everything works, my gut feeling still felt good as I read. If I had felt uneasy about the lack of scientific info, I would have accepted that as a sign I wasn't ready for this herb.

On the third site I visited, I found this among the list of black walnut hull's benefits:

WEIGHT GAIN

I got a little teary-eyed and said a silent thank you to God for the intuition that had been coaxing me to try it. And when I filled my capsules with powder, I added the black walnut hull to the mix.

(Coincidentally, I also learned that black walnut hull pairs really well with clove oil. Interesting, isn't it?)

How long will it take to work? I don't know. So far the scale isn't showing a difference. But it's not like a doctor's prescription. Our bodies tell us what we need or don't need now, but they don't provide time frames. Sometimes it could be months or years. We have to listen to our instincts to know when it's enough.

My same friend with the onion cravings was into green smoothies back in the fall, as I was, and once the weather got cold, both of us simply stopped wanting them. That's how you know.

Lately I crave citrus like crazy. My favorite fresh-squeezed juice recipe right now is one orange, one pink grapefruit, and a handful of cranberries. It's way too tart for everyone else in my family, but I love it. For whatever reason, I think my body needs the tartness of the grapefruit and cranberries right now. When I stop wanting it, I'll make some other kind of juice.

And this is what makes natural health so fantastic. It's not about depriving yourself or rigidly adhering to one particular diet. As the CMAJ article notes,

It is actually beyond easy to imagine how Davis's orphans could have eaten themselves sick with healthy foods. Had one or more chosen only meat, fish and eggs, within short order they would likely have come down with scurvy. Had another been a fanatical vegan and eaten only fruits and vegetables, there is a good likelihood that he or she would have experienced a vitamin B₁₂ deficiency and megaloblastic anemia.

But none of them did choose to be that rigid. While their day-to-day diets might have seemed imbalanced, they evened out over the long-run. All the orphans had fantastic health on the choose-your-own-whole-foods diet.

As Davis's orphan study proves and our own experience can confirm, if we listen to our intuition and customize our own health plans according to what our bodies need, good health is the assured result.

Take Prevention Seriously

Tonight as my husband was (is still...) sitting in the ER a father walked in with his daughter pretty limp in his arms. She was "hacking up a lung" (Justin's words) and hadn't been responding to her breathing treatments. 

Please don't let this be you carrying in your poor worn down child, scared at your wits end. Learn about doTERRA essential oils and how they can improve your health and lessen those terrifying moments in your lives. 

Sadie hasn't had ANY asthma attacks in months thanks to our Breathe essential oil blend and it saved me from terrifying trips to the ER more than once before that. She started having attacks in March and was having them at least once per month (viral induced Asthma the doctor told us - you know that phrase "it's a virus, we can't do anything"?). 

These oils don't just treat symptoms, they provide the nutrients for your body to heal itself. Please take prevention seriously and learn about how these oils can save your from that unnecessary heartache.

Tonight my heart aches for a suffering and scared daughter and for her parents has well.  Heavenly Father has provided the tools by which we can improve our health, let's use them and help to bring healing, hope, and happiness to the world.

Another AWESOME gadget!

I have to add this onto Nikki's list:


The Misto Olive Oil Sprayer.  I LOVE it!  Only about $10 and it saves you on olive oil usage because of the fact that it sprays, so you save from pouring to much in order to grease things and from all of the oil that paper towels soak up.

PLUS this is an easy way to keep your bulk container put away.  I also reuse one of my smaller EVOO bottles for measuring purposes.  LOVE THIS!

2011 - "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God"

Nothing has stood out to me more over the past year than what I have learn about individual worth.

I've spent all year learning about health, diet, oils, etc.  But this is the biggest lesson I could learn, and it really took learning about those things to start to understand.

I'm not much of a people person.  I've been blessed with the same friends that I've had since childhood and have added a few stragglers along the way.  But in general, I don't much like people, I am not very sensitive, I almost NEVER remember intricate details of peoples lives OR to ask them about them when I do.  Like I said, I have been seriously BLESSED with these friends that I do have.

Aside from that, people just generally annoy me.  I can't handle many of the abundant lacking and shortfalls of mankind.  I get easily annoyed by people... at least I used to.  Until I learned.

It started by learning about myself.  I learned that I could change things in my life - that I was strong enough to throw out the bad and bring in the good.  And that when I fall back into my old ways I can recommit and get back on the right path.  And now that I believe that about myself and understand that it is OK to screw up I can jump back onto my new path much more quickly.

I learned that all of our struggles DO bring us closer to God, but that doesn't mean that we have to suffer through them eternally.  We can change our lot in life.  We CAN.  No one is destined to be unhealthy, poor, unhappy... we can all CHOOSE to change that.  And when we finally choose, for righteous reasons, we will have all the help that we could ask for.

I learned that Heavenly Father is concerned about what I am concerned about, as small as it may seem.  When I went to my first doTERRA class, he pointed me towards an oil that would completely change my anxiety levels!  I could stop an anxiety attack within minutes, if I CHOSE to use my oils.  That is not a coincidence to me.  I had fewer and fewer anxiety attacks as the year wore on.  Until I came to a point where I didn't need my Orange Crack consistently anymore.  I was worth that.  My small concerns were worth that.

It was empowering to know that I could use this gift and heal myself!  It was my choice, my actions that would do this.  I learned that Heavenly Father wanted that for me.  I learned that I could cure my children! That when Sadie was diagnosed with Asthma and the doctor gave her drugs that made her worse - that I could listen to the Spirit and KNOW how to heal my children.  That I had done so before and KNEW that Sadie only needed the oils.  We put Breathe in her nebulizer after an ongoing asthma attack (spread out over 4 days! - thank you drugs) and she was fine in 15 minutes.  It's empowering!

It's a connection between God and mankind.  Listening to the Spirit empowers.  I never feel as though I did anything all by myself, but I do feel good, empowered, wonderful about being able to listen to the Spirit, to HEAR the Spirit, to UNDERSTAND the Spirit and know what needs doing and then accomplish it.  It's a partnership.

Once I began to understand my own self worth and what I am truly capable of with the help of the Lord, I began to see it in other people.  You CAN do this.  You CAN be healed.  You just have to choose.

I began my journey feeling annoyed with people.  I was annoyed that they didn't understand the power of the oils and that they would just brush them off.  I knew they were miraculous - having suffered from severe anxiety my whole life.  I was annoyed that they wouldn't use them consistently.  I was annoyed that they wouldn't use them at all.

But as I've continued on, I have learned patience.  I have seen the patience the Lord has had in me and seen the changes that have come about in my life and have learned to be a little more patient with the world, a little more understanding.  And now my heart breaks MORE for people that are sick or that have sick children, but in a different way than it ached before.  Now I ache, because they don't have the knowledge that I do.  I ache because they don't have to feel the way they do, that their symptoms can be made lighter, that their loved ones can live longer.

And so now I don't feel angry or annoyed or impatient (most of the time).  Instead I feel love for them, the sadness that comes with knowing they could have better and the joy that comes when they have the good experiences as well.

I learned to serve, in my own way (which is MOST often sharing oils), and have learned to love.

Sometimes I think we look at the world and don't understand that there is more to service than pulling weeds, there is more to love than getting along with people, there is more to self worth than accepting that we have faults and that others do too.  We can serve in MANY different ways, we can LOVE by sharing the burdens of others and helping to lift them and really FEEL less burdened by the faults and weaknesses of mankind, we can understand our individual worth by looking for the ways in which Heavenly Father shows his love for us.  And once we see it in ourselves we will begin to see it in others.

My journey is far from over - as far as I am concerned I started on the bottom of the loving people totem pole - but I am getting there.  I am LOVING it.  Even the hard times mean more to me now.

But I am sooooo grateful that I have a loving Heavenly Father who brought into my life a company full of people that serve, that love, that inspire, and that heal bodies, minds, and souls.  I am grateful for the little glimpses I get into the intricacies of creation through every experience that I have on this journey to health.  Things I can't explain, things that can't be seen, that scientists overlook.  And I am excited to continue on and I can't wait to see what I learn in 2012.

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." - Doctrine and Covenants 18:10

Real Food = More Dishes & Kitchen Gadgets

I like to think poor Hubby is getting used to the amount of dishes now, as I am. We've been "real foodies" for a year now, and the piles in the sink have become normal. It's just the way it goes when you're making everything from scratch!

What I have definitely learned in the last year is that kitchen gadgets — even ones we got ten years ago for our wedding and had never used — have suddenly become life savers. I am all about efficiency, and when I find something that simplifies food prep without compromising nutrition and saves on dishes used? I am a happy cook.

My latest discovery is this awesome smart stick blender thing.

The stick blender we got for our wedding was a cheap white plastic thing that broke after five uses (though it took eight years to use it five times; I cooked much differently then). So this fall and winter, as Hubby and I love our pureed soups — butternut squash soup, ginger carrot soup — I've been cooking the veggies and then dumping them in batches into my glass blender, making large messes in the process. In fact, the blender has gotten so much use, such as for pureeing pumpkin for our pancake obsession, that I've been worried I would kill it.

So when I saw this stainless steel stick blender on sale at Costco for $20, I squealed with joy. And it's been fantastic. It not only makes the pureed soups a breeze and zero mess, but I love that it comes apart so that the top section with the motor and the power cord never have to go into the sink. Genius! And last night when I pureed pumpkin, I just put the cooked pumpkin chunks straight into the jar I planned to store them in and inserted the stick blender. Then I rinsed the stick blender, dried it, and put it away, rather than having all the pieces of the glass blender to deal with. I love this thing!

(Bonus: it also attaches to a whisk to power stir my pancake batter. When you're dealing with soaked batter, it's awfully nice to have a power tool to help mix in the eggs.)

The purpose of this post isn't to endorse Cuisinart or any particular product, though. It's just to show that — because real food can be so overwhelming in the prep-work department — I think it's smart to gather gadgets that can save your sanity.

I've rearranged my kitchen cupboards more times in the last year than the previous nine. I've become much more judicious, moving the most useful gadgets into the handiest places and giving away the ones that just take up space, like my old rice cooker (since it's just as easy, IMHO, to cook rice in a pot).

Hubby asked if I even need the glass blender anymore now, and if he's right then that'll free more cupboard space for something else!

What else do I have in my kitchen cupboards that I use all the time? What would be my top five can't-do-without gadgets/appliances for real food?

Just kidding. No way I can narrow it to five. How about ten?

1. 3-quart stainless steel pot. Because Teflon and other non-stick pots leech carcinogens into the food, stainless steel is my pot of preference. The 3-quart size works well for my family of five without being too big if I'm heating something just for myself.
2. Cast iron cookware. My 10-inch skillet sees the most use, but I also love my 14-ounce melting pot (for butter, etc) and my two 9x5 loaf pans that I use weekly for bread. Cast iron cooks so evenly and is so easy to use and clean. Extra bonus: it can last for generations!
   
3. Chef's knife, bread knife, and cutting board. If I could only have two knives, it would be these. I'm using these so often that I can't even wait for the chef's knife to go through the dishwasher, so I always try to rinse it immediately and put it away.
   
4. Toaster oven. When you're avoiding a microwave, this thing is indispensable for reheating leftovers, and leftovers are indispensable for saving my sanity so that I'm not cooking three times a day.
5. Crock pot and/or stainless steel stock pot. So essential when you're cooking a whole chicken and making a gallon of broth! (No way it would fit in my 3-quart pot.)
   
6. Stand mixer. We make a lot of bread when we're making food from scratch, and having a mixer saves me time and energy.
7. Grain mill and oat roller. These attach to my stand mixer so that they're powered, though I also have a hand crank for them. I love having fresh flour and freshly rolled oats, especially because I can store huge buckets of wheat kernels and oat groats to always have on hand and to save money buying in bulk.
8. Pizza stone. Now that I shun take-out pizza (MSG) and make my own, this stone is one of those wedding gifts that is suddenly getting weekly use after nine years of none.
9. Blender. As I mentioned, it's now a toss-up between the glass pitcher and the stick blender, but I definitely need one or the other.
10. Juicer. Not essential, since we can do without juice, but pasteurization kills all the enzymes and many vitamins in store-bought juice, so I'm using the juicer more and more for fresh oj, etc.

(Honorable mention: Air popper for popcorn!! We burned quite a bit of popcorn on the stove before we invested $10 in that handy appliance.)

I'm sure other "real foodies" would have a slightly different list, and of course my list is still evolving as I replace old things like my aluminum bakeware with more conscientious choices, but I hope this list might be helpful for those who are trying to prioritize what they need for real food.

Happy cooking!

A Healthy New Years

I was so excited for us to actually celebrate New Years this year.  Honestly, we never have.  This was an exciting change.  I was literally in the kitchen for about 7 hours (and still didn't accomplish as much as I had wanted, oh well - that's what happens when you come up with a plan that morning).

Sadie and her pizza.

Caleb w hot chocolate.

For New Years the adults had steaks, cheesy potatoes, and some yummy homemade soaked (of course!) bread.  The kids had sourdough pizzas!  Yumm!  We loved it.

I even made real foods Hot Chocolate from the GNOWFLGINS blog.

Caleb running from the sparkler.

Sophie LOVING the flames.

Around 8pm we took the kids out to light off sparklers.  Yay!  The toddlers freaked out a bit, but the baby was LOVING THEM.  It was a little bit terrifying.

We sent the kids off to bed and then Jen, Justin, and I sat down and watched some HP 7 - Parts 1 and 2.  

I had so much fun and I can't wait for this years well prepared New Years celebration. :)

My Chemistry Made Me Do It - Laura Jacobs

This is an AWESOME webinar that EVERYONE needs to watch (not the video of the week FYI). This webinar is about an hour and a half I believe, so schedule the time and watch it. It will change your life. I'll post my review of it this week. :) ENJOY FRIENDS! (And Happy Birthday to MUAH!)

My Chemistry Made Me Do It - Laura Jacobs

PS - I wish I could post the VIDEO, but I can only figure out how to link it.  Go there and ENJOY!

Modern Medicine and Old Oils

Photo taken by James Davis

People sometimes question us over our use of natural oils and herbal remedies instead of medication. They baulk at our resistance to antibiotics and immunizations. Somehow they feel we are becoming crazy health nuts with a lost sense of reality. Maybe...but let me explain a little about how we see the world.

First off, know that we do believe modern medicine does a lot. We just don't want to be constant pill poppers and quick fixers. The body is a miracle of perfect design. Each piece of the body has processes and defenses that can ward off and repair most damage all on their own - given the proper building blocks and a little time. Healthy living, eating and sometimes some herbs or oils provide those blocks.

Our bodies are designed to work with nature, not against it. The chemical processes of the various cells of the body are matched up perfectly with the nutrients provided by nature itself - in fact, many times one fruit or vegetable (grown naturally) contains help for a large number of those systems. Chemical substitutes only treat one or two issues and often have side-effects from their composition.

We feel that for years our country has been calling the wrong experts to solve their problems. For example, is the current obesity epidemic the result of not seeing the right doctor or the natural affect of improper diets and lack of exercise? Somehow, with the advent of a few scientific discoveries our nation has taken on the idea that everything wrong with the body and mind is just a man-made, medicinal treatment away from being cured - typically with the promise that you can keep living the way you want! Not surprisingly, while pharmaceutical use has gone up, general health is declining.

So, naturally, we'd rather see natural doctors and midwives for dealing with issues. True, if the life of a loved one or friend is on the line (talking time is of the essence here) we would go seek emergency help like anyone else in America. But don't confuse common doctor visits with emergencies. Our children's trips to the doctor are focused on checkups. They are being evaluated for weight gain and growth and overall health. A true natural doctor can see the signs the body gives and note if there are big issues. He can then refer to a specialist if there is a problem - just like a family practitioner would do.

Also, we recognize that there are under qualified naturopaths just as there are quack doctors. Having a license (even from an accredited medical school) doesn't automatically make a person a good practitioner. That was the point of one of Nikki's previous posts - to go shop around and find one you agree with. I wouldn't take a MD or a ND just for his license any more than I'd trust a politician for his promises. You have to research and explore and see who they really are like almost anything else in this life.

Each of us has received regular doctor and dental visits. Many in our families have had surgeries and ER visits, asthma treatments and much more. We are not abandoning medicine entirely. We are simply choosing to stop abusing the system and our bodies. We are searching for how to get our bodies in harmony with nature, not in sync with chemical engineering. We understand that doesn't make sense to some people, but we've spent our lives growing up in this country where we can see the dangerous and growing prescription abuse problem - and I'm not referring to overdosing - and the toll it is taking on people we know and meet.

We love life and want to live it instead of just surviving it. We invite everyone to look into their lives and see if they can't benefit from a few changes to the "modern" lifestyle. Living naturally isn't rejecting all medicine - it is recognizing its place in our lives. It is striving to find real solutions to our problems whether they are natural or not - placing preference on the natural side as often as possible.

NEW VIDEOS!

Our videos are finally here!  We'll try to keep them at 1-3 minutes and just go over very specific things each time.  Today's video - CLEANING w ESSENTIAL OILS!  Enjoy.

New videos will be posted in the top right hand corner of the page and hopefully we will get a video tab up soon.

In other news check out how much our health/diet has changed!  This corner fills me with joy and reminds me constantly that we are on the right track. :)

"Slim & Sassy" for the New Year

One of the most popular New Year's resolutions is to lose weight. It is also possibly the one most often broken. Many people find themselves unable to shed and keep off those unwanted pounds. Even with diet, exercise and weight-loss supplements there are many who remain unresolved in this resolution.

What makes a difference is fighting the right cause of the weight. For some people it's not sitting on the couch all day. For others, it's giving up a certain dish or treat. For most people, it is a combination of things ranging from metabolism to mood and more in combination with work out routines. So weight loss requires a little assistance.

Enter Slim & Sassy, doTERRA's "metabolic blend." Combining grapefruit, lemon, peppermint, ginger and cinnamon oils into one bottle, this mix is ready to fight for your health. Putting eight drops in sixteen ounces of water and drinking throughout the day can help you meet your weight loss goals. Here's a look into the individual ingredients and the blend as a whole.

Grapefruit:

It's designed with your stomach in mind. Helping to stabilize the digestive process, it makes it so your body isn't breaking down food at a snail's pace anymore. That means food is used - not stored as pesky fat for later. Grapefruit may also help to calm overactive metabolism. As an added bonus, as a citrus oil, it also elevates mood.

Lemon:

What doesn't Lemon do? This oil is commonly used for cleaning surfaces and freshening rooms, but did you know it also helps to clean and freshen your digestive tract? It is an anti-petroleum oil and will flush unwanted items out of your system. Like Grapefruit, since Lemon is a citrus oil, it will help to uplift your spirits.

Peppermint:

One of the most versatile oils in the company, Peppermint is great for helping the body. From headaches to fevers and pesky internal bugs, this oil does it all. On top of that, it is a great oil for using with digestive problems. It is anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic and an all around great soother of tummy issues.

Ginger:

Nausea anyone? This is the best oil for it (unless you aren't a fan of the ginger smell and then Peppermint is your best bet) and comes with other benefits besides. It helps with constipation and digestion in general as well as appetite. Gets the body moving to help clean you from the inside out.

Cinnamon:

A virus killer. A mood lifter. A body cleanser. This oil is the perfect finishing touch to the group. It comes ready to enhance your weight loss with a punch.

Combining the oils in Slim & Sassy with good eating and exercise will help you find the right weight for your body. The blend targets not only your physical body systems (which are certainly important), but also your emotions which are often more the culprit. By not only regulating the metabolism, but keeping emotions more in balance, the tendency to eat away sorrows or give into cravings is severely diminished. It allows you the control you need to change bad habits and get in shape. Plus, the oils help to flush out toxins and other junk left in your body from lifestyles past.

There is also a doTERRA Trim Shake to complement the oil. From the doTERRA website:

"Slim & Sassy® TrimShake™ is a convenient and delicious shake mix providing the essential nutrients of a healthy meal with only 125 calories per serving. Used as a meal replacement for one or more meals each day, TrimShake can help you lose unwanted fat stores through calorie restriction and regular exercise. TrimShake also includes a patented weight-loss ingredient Essentra®Trim that has been demonstrated to help with managing the stress hormone cortisol associated with fat storage. TrimShake blends well with water or milk for a low-calorie, low-glycemic, high-fiber satisfying meal alternative with 16 grams of protein per serving."

On top of all this, THIS is the time to do it! Each year there is the Slim & Sassy Lifestyle Change Competition for doTERRA. It is a weight loss challenge where current IPC's (independent product consultants) can use the blend and the shakes to drop pounds and potentially win it big (including a trip to Salt Lake City for a spa, hotel and photo shoot moment with $1000 to boot!). Visit this link - http://iamslimandsassy.com/ - for more details (and to register) or email us at jsdraper2011@gmail.com and we'll help you along. If you still need to sign up to be an IPC just use the link at the bottom of this page (black "doTERRA" banner).

Bring on the New Year and the New You with doTERRA's Slim & Sassy!