Hi friends! How are you today!? I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We certainly did! Lots of good food, good family, laughter and love was shared!

A huge crowd to say the least! 

With lots of delicious food – pleasing all crowds from g-free’ers to vegans to meat eaters and more!

The handsome hubby

Sisters

My plate that consisted of roasted Brussels sprouts, homemade cranberry sauce, rosemary white beans, homemade apple sauce, collard greens, butternut squash, my mom’s famous green beans, mashed potatoes made with Greek yogurt topped with vegan gravy, vegan sweet potato casserole, and g-free vegan dressing in the middle! A foodies delight!

I was only able to help my mom with a little bit because of not feeling well earlier in the week and then we were gone for most of the day but a few things that I did contribute to…

Peppermint Bark

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Vegan Pumpkin Pie (This was a huge hit! I will definitely share the recipe soon for those of you that want to make a healthier dessert for your Christmas parties quickly approaching!) Flavor was the only thing this pie wasn’t lacking! I wish I would have taken a few more actually pretty looking pictures but it was gone too quickly!

Anyway, with Thanksgiving behind us, in honor of Black Friday, I want to share something special with you all! Whether you had a healthy Thanksgiving or one that you want to quickly forget but your clothes just won’t let you, getting back on track is the best thing you can do with Christmas and holiday parties quickly approaching.

Today, I am offering “The Gypsy Dietitian’s Five Day Real Foods Detox” for half price – running from now through the end of Cyber Monday for those of you looking for a no starvation method to get back on track! 

Just a few of the delicious meals!

I created this plan with those who love to eat (like me!) in mind! This is a five day, whole foods program that uses real food to help detoxify your body leaving you feeling healthier, less bloated and lighter on your toes!

From now until Monday, to help you kick start your healthy eating program, I will be offering my 31 page e-book for half of it’s original price (now only $9.99)! I spent months and months working on this program and have heard nothing but great feedback from those who have completed it.

After completing the detox, one reader said:

I just wanted to reach out and tell you I successfully completed your 5 day detox last week and loved it. I was eager yet nervous to begin because I went in afraid of being able to stick it out. I am proud to say I made it through the entire plan without faltering at all. I went in hoping to feel better about what I was eating and jumpstart shedding a few lbs and got out of it something way more beneficial. I learned that eating clean is not only do-able but its enjoyable. I honestly loved every meal and opened my eyes up to things I had always assumed I didn’t like. It was so eye opening to enjoy eating without added salt, sugar, cheese etc. A self proclaimed cereal addict, I even started this morning with the raw oats, fruit and almond milk (post detox!). Turns out I love it just as much as cereal and it makes for a great alternative. Thank you so much for putting the time into the plan and sharing it. Hopefully I can continue to incorporate the tasty goodness of clean eating into my day to day routine.

The plan includes 5 days worth of breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner recipes, as well as an organized and easy to follow grocery list too! All you have to do is follow the plan and the rest is done for you!

Get your 5 Day Real Foods Detox here: 

All you have to do is press ‘ADD TO CART’ above, make your purchase and then an email is sent to you with a link to download the program directly to your computer! No waiting!

Happy shopping friends!

How was your Thanksgiving!? 

Good health!

The post Black Friday The Gypsy Dietitian Style! appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

I am going to interrupt the regular Tip of the Week Tuesday posts for something that I am VERY excited to share with you.

After a weekend of fun, yet excess and junk on the food front, my body wants nothing more than a clean, healthy week. I am a preacher of “it’s a lifestyle and not a diet,” however, sometimes, negative behaviors can sneak up on us. A few bites of this, a few sips of that and you leave a weekend of incredible fun behind you but also a body that is begging for better treatment. I’m okay with this because I know I will always return to my healthy roots.

Many of you know that for the past few months I have been working on a “Five Day Real Food Detox.” I started working on this plan months ago because of the many questions I received from many of you regarding detoxes. As a dietitian, it is my responsibility to always bring you sound nutrition advice, so when you have asked me about these things, I always provided research based answers.

To summarize the answer to the many questions that I have received, the human body is remarkable. Your body is detoxing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through sweat and elimination. But the body is also constantly begging to be taken care of. Over time, excess processed food, refined sugar, alcohol, caffeine, environmental toxins, etc. can really wreck havoc on our overworked bodies. On the other hand, a healthy diet can aid in this process by supporting the liver, kidney and digestive system to effectively remove these toxins. A few months ago, I wrote about the detoxification process as well as a few foods that aid in the detoxification process here.

I designed a “Five Day Real Food Detox” as an answer to your questions. No powders, pills, unappetizing drinks,  fasting, juicing, or colonics, just real detox supporting foods. While other starvation detoxes are nutritionally inadequate, this detox continues to provide the body with nutrients, fiber, and adequate hydration to aid in the detoxification process.

I (with the help of my incredible mom and a panel of taste testers) tried, tested and tweaked every recipe in the plan, ensuring that good taste was as present as the healthy food.

The plan includes five days worth of breakfasts, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert options, as well as the recipes and organized grocery list. It also includes sound nutrition information regarding the detox, tips to help you succeed and foods to include/avoid throughout the five days. This plan takes the question out of properly fueling your body and answers all of your detoxing questions. Although it is only a five day plan, I have designed it to help spark your inner drive to move forward with a healthy lifestyle following the plan.

Having gone through the plan myself, I am able to answer any questions that may arise as well as provide encouragement and motivation throughout the five days. I hope you will join me on this journey, as we live and maintain a healthy life together!

Just like with the meal plans, you can purchase your copy of “The Gypsy Dietitian’s Five Day Real Food Detox” right from your computer as a PDF document, printing the pages you need by adding it right to your cart here…

Please let me know if you have any questions at all! I look forward to embarking on this journey with you!

Have you ever done or contemplated a detox? Or do you know anyone that would benefit from this? Please share it with them too!

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Good health!

The post Five Day Real Food Detox appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

Good morning! Monday again? The weekends sure do fly by! If you are a mom, I sure hope you had an awesome Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend the day with my mom, but according to my mom, “any day with my kids makes me happy, not just Mother’s Day.” Hopefully, she wasn’t just telling me that to make me feel better about not being with her yesterday.

Any who, the one thing I hope to always bring you through this blog is the feeling that you learned something new each time that you visit. I hope that every time you stop by you take away something that a.) you can apply in you life, b.) that you can share with someone else that may need it or c.) you just find it interesting and enjoy reading along. And today my friends, the same goes.

Last week, I talked a little bit about natural ways to detox, using foods to help the body. To go along with that topic, today I want to introduce you to another natural remedy to help detox the body. Yes, “food” is involved, however, this time your not going to be eating a thing.

According to many experts, our oral health is actually a picture of our overall health. Our mouths are one of the first lines of defense when it comes to fending off harmful bacteria. By not only brushing but also flossing our teeth, we can prevent harmful bacteria from developing and growing inside our mouths and entering our bodies via the bloodstream. Did you know that poor oral health has been linked to cardiovascular disease,  premature birth and low-birth weight pregnancies, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s among many other complications? Makes that toothbrush a little more precious, doesn’t it?

Other research has also linked diet and oral health, which you might have already realized. Healthy diet = healthy mouth. Poor diet = poor oral health. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, by decreasing the amount of sugary beverages, sticky foods, candies and starchy snacks (like cookies and cakes) and increasing fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources and whole-grains we can help promote our oral health. In combination with these good nutrition choices, another way to do so is through oil pulling.

Rewind. Oil what?

Oil pulling. An old Ayurvedic treatment used for many different remedies. Ayurvedic Medicine is an ancient Indian holistic healthcare system in which a balance between the mind, body, and spirit is strived for. My kind of medicine. Oil pulling is a very simple and harmless technique that has been used for over 5,000 years to help whiten the teeth, brighten the gums and freshen breath. It is also claimed to trap and remove toxins from with in the teeth and gums thus preventing them from entering the bloodstream.

So, how do you do it?

After waking, first thing in the morning, I rinse my mouth out with water and then place about 1/2 a tablespoon of coconut oil in my mouth (either still hard – remember, coconut oil melts at about 75 degrees, a few seconds after entering your mouth or if you don’t like the texture of the hard oil you can always zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to liquify it). Then, I swish it around in my mouth just like I would mouth wash, through my teeth and around my gums, for fifteen to twenty minutes (this may seem like a long time but multitasking while doing so makes the time fly by – make breakfast, hop in the shower or put on your makeup). After the time has passed spit (never swallow, remember the point is to remove toxins) it in the toilet (never in the sink, remember oil and the drains don’t mix well) and rinse your mouth out again and then brush your pearly whites.

And voila! Oil pulling.

I’ve also read that other kinds of high-quality oil work well too: olive oil, grapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, etc. so certainly use what you have on hand if you want to give it a try!

I’ve been doing this for about a week now, but according to the “Ayurveda oil pulling experts” this takes about a month or so to see any benefits, however some research out of India suggests that benefits can be seen as early as after two weeks of oil pulling.

While there is very little scientific research behind the Ayurveda concept of oil pulling, there is also very little risk involved. I am going to give it a try and will report back with my findings! Let me know if you do the same!

Good health!

The post Natural Detox II: Oil Pulling appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.

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With summer right around the corner, the word “detox” seems to come up quite often in conversation. We tend to want to spring clean our bodies as we would spring clean our homes this during time of year.

“I need to do a detox.”

“What are your thoughts on this detox?”

“I lost 10 pounds on that detox.”

Generally, most people have an opinion when it comes to detoxing. Some people like them because they “restart their thought process when it comes to food” or a detox helps “rid their bodies of the harsh chemicals, toxins and waste” that enter our systems everyday and other people think even the thought of a detox is completely crazy. Actually in most healthy people, our liver and kidneys detox our bodies all day long, regardless of you declaring “I’m doing a detox right now.” (Also, please remember that everyone and every body is different. Always work closely with your health care provider whenever undergoing a detox.)

Whatever your thought process, did you know there are less extreme ways to naturally help your body “detox?” No detox pills, powders or drinks involved and no starvation either.

Foods To Help Your Body Detox, Naturally 

1. Start your day with a glass of warm lemon water (before you put anything else in your body). This combination not only acts as a diuretic (stimulates urination) and thus the removal of unwanted toxins, but it also stimulates the liver to produce enzymes that aid in digestion and the removal of these same harmful toxins.
2. Cruciferous vegetables. Crucif-what? You ask. Think broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, and kale. These vegetables all contain sulphoraphane, a naturally occurring sulfur-containing compound, that activates detoxification enzymes produced by the liver.
3. Purple/blue fruits and vegetables like berries, grapes, beets, red onions, and cranberries. Each of these contain anthocyanidins which can help protect the body from harmful chemicals. I’ll share a tasty way to give beets a try next week – for all of you “beet haters.”
4. Dandelion greens or tea. Dandelion helps stimulate the liver as well as acts as a natural diuretic.
5. Fiber from all fruits and vegetables. Fiber can help trap and remove toxins found within our bodies.

Have you ever given any of these old natural remedies a try? If so, I’d love to hear!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I’m on the road with the hub for a few days. We’re off to Whole Foods for some delicious lunch! Can’t wait!

Good health!

The post Foods To Help Detox Your Body, Naturally appeared first on The Gypsy Dietitian.