What to Cook When You’re Sick of Cooking

Thanksgiving was last week and I think many may be suffering from “kitchen fatigue.” Whether it’s the limitless sides and casseroles and baking, or unending prep and clean up, I know there are many of you out there who just don’t want to think about food after a holiday.

So let’s get back to basics. Let’s keep it simple! Step inside my kitchen for a second, and I will share my favorite ways for simplifying cooking in a way that packs in the nutrients.

The first thing I do after a time of celebrating or a big holiday is consider how I can up my veggie load again. Veggies make me feel good and my brain clear, and even though I turned just about every vegetable I know of into some kind of casserole for Thanksgiving dinner, I missed the simplicity of roasting them or throwing them into a quick salad.

This is where my favorite tried and true principle of “cook once, eat a few times” comes in.

Continue reading “What to Cook When You’re Sick of Cooking” →

Refocus 2020: Don’t Wait for the New Year to Feel Good About Your Body

My friend Heather Creekmore (Compared to Who) and I teamed up in January to bring a different kind of detox for the new year. We wanted to bring women a mindset detox, heart detox, and a spiritual reset about health and body image. It was a success!

We start our final round on November 30. In this 14 day e-course, you will receive daily videos from me and Heather, written inspirational posts, and tips for whole body health. I include a FREE recipe download for all participants, and Heather provides her ebook “Mountain Top Experience: Personal Body Image Retreat.”

The cost of the group is only $28. This includes two full weeks of daily content, an additional month of access (in case you get behind or want to watch the videos again!), interactions with me & Heather through the week, and a live Q&A call on Zoom where you can get your questions answered! Other online coaching courses may cost about the same –but you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a course like this that will give you direct access to the facilitators through Facebook conversations every day!

Here’s what a few past participants have said:

“Listening to the heartfelt, prayerful, and knowledgeable videos by Erin and Heather was like having good friends giving me a heart-to-heart. I looked forward to every single video and post, and gained a renewed and healthier perspective on food and body image. Thank you so much!”

“This was a GREAT value for my money. I couldn’t believe how available Heather and Erin were to answer my questions and dialogue about tough issues. I’m sad it’s over!”

“I loved this group so much. . .Every single post was so well planned. I liked that both Heather and Erin would reply to people’s comments. I learned tons from the posts and the videos but I also learned from the comment section.”

How Environmental Toxins Mess With Our Health

Mystery symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, and frequent headaches? Unable to lose weight no matter what you try? Skin issues? Bathroom problems? You might be struggling from toxic overload!

Diana Edwards is the founder and CEO of Optimally You and co-owner of Revolution Health and Wellness and Against the Grain Podcast with her husband, Dr. Chad Edwards. She is an expert on environmental toxins and their impact on our health.

In this episode, we learn about all the sneaky toxins we encounter day to day that impact our mental functioning, hormones, and so much more!

Key Topics:

Diana’s health journey, how every traditional treatment failed her until she learned how to treat the root
Common household/environmental toxins and their effect
How these toxins overload our body
The danger of commonly used cleaning supplies
Simple ways we can reduce our toxic load in cost effective ways
How to support detoxification pathways, especially if you have the MTHFR gene mutation
Why some people have a harder time detoxing than others
How you know if you are struggling with toxicity

To learn more about Diana, head to her website here.

This episode is sponsored by Forager Project, a company with 100% organic plant-based products like kefir, milk, yogurt, and sour cream. To learn more about Forager, head to: http://www.foragerproject.com/vote

How to End Comparison and Release the Burden to Be Better

So often in the world of wellness, we find ourselves getting caught up in chasing optimal health yet finding out that there’s always a better goal, diet, plan, solution, etc.

Heather Creekmore is a body image expert, speaker, and the author of Compared to Who along with the newly published The Burden of Better.

In this episode we discuss her newest book, the inspiration behind it, and WHY we need to stop comparing and set aside the heavy burden of better. Download the episode here or listen wherever you get podcasts!

But that’s not all! Heather and I are excited to share that we are partnering together one last time in 2020 to bring you our 14 day ecourse, Re-Focus 2020! In this course, we tackle the topics of body image, wellness, spiritual health, nutrition, and so much more!

To learn more about Re-Focus 2020, and to sign up, click here.

Feast 2 Fast: A Groundbreaking Nutrition Program Teaching YOU Metabolic Flexibility

Get ready! I have a BRAND NEW nutritional program starting August 17 called Feast 2 Fast. It was developed by Chelsea Blackbird (aka “The Christian Nutritionist”). You may remember Chelsea from a past podcast episode called “Busting Common Health and Diet Myths.”

This program helps people reach metabolic flexibility while also gaining freedom and flexibility in food choices. It truly is a place where “real food meets real life.”

You know me. You know I don’t promote diet plans. But I do promote supporting health – body, mind, and spirit. This group tackles all three! Registration for this 4 week program starts on August 3. You can learn more and sign up by clicking here.

If you love food, hate diets, and want to learn how to support your health goals in a balanced way, this program is for you. This program aims to develop metabolic flexibility and overall health while also supporting mental health and your relationship with food through daily encouragement.

The program includes:

An online participant portal to access all content
Over 100 recipes that are easy and delicious
A supportive community on Facebook
Access to ME an my support and encouragement whenever you need it
Short instructional videos on optimizing nutrition for OPTIMAL health
Daily spiritual encouragement and reminders to nourish your soul

The cost of the program is $179, and I assure you, it is WELL worth it. This program checks all the boxes I look for when I want to really get to the root of food and mood!

Targeted nutritional support can be a catalyst for whole body health. Through this program, you will learn how to become empowered with your nutritional choices and how to individualize your nutrition for your lifestyle and your health goals.

Oh – and did I mention the side effects of better sleep, clear skin, decreased cravings, and super-charging your body into fat-burning mode?

I can’t wait to get started with you on this journey! We are going to learn so much together. Sign up here.

Habits of Healthy Moms – Interview with Dr. Orlena Kerek

Dr. Orlena Kerek is a pediatrician turned weight loss coach and mom of 4. In this packed episode, she shares how she wants to make nutrition easy and fun for both moms and kids.

She gives practical tips to create healthy, sustainable habits. She shares her 4 keys for health and how she incorporates those things for her clients.

Learn more about Dr. Orlena and access her free gifts at www.drorlena.com and listen to her podcast Fit and Fabulous over 40! Continue reading “Habits of Healthy Moms – Interview with Dr. Orlena Kerek” →

Re-Focus 2020 – It’s Back!

Can you believe it’s almost March? This new year isn’t so new anymore. Maybe you’ve already forgotten your word of the year, or broken your resolution. Or… maybe you’re still figuring out if you should have a word or resolution!

In January, my friend, body image expert and author of Compared to Who, Heather Creekmore, joined me to coach 50 women in an online group called Re-Focus 2020. This group was a huge success. We both believe strongly that being caught up in body perfection is enslaving. We created the group because we want to help women change their views of themselves and find purpose outside of the scale, pants size, or mirror. We want women to see that there are ways to nourish yourself that have nothing to do with a restrictive diet plan.

Here’s what a few participants had to say about their experience in January:
Continue reading “Re-Focus 2020 – It’s Back!” →

A Taste of Grace – Interview with Melissa d’Arabian

I was thrilled to get the opportunity to sit down and talk to Melissa d’Arabian, Food Network host and author of the bestselling Ten Dollar Dinners, about her newest book Tasting Grace.

In her book, Melissa describes 16 invitations that transform the way we view food and our relationship with food.

I don’t know about you, but I have felt burdened by all the food rules lately. Everyone has an opinion on what is “good” or “bad” food. This book was a breath of fresh air in shaping my perspective on food as a gift and a joy.

In my interview with Melissa, she talks about why she chose to write this book, the intentional process she went through in forming it, and she shares some of her views that helped shaped the invitations in this book.

If you are feeling caught up and confused in the “eat this, not that” culture we live in, this book and episode of the podcast offers a fresh and balanced perspective. Food can unite us, and we can utilize what we’ve been given to be filled with more gratitude – and grace.

If you love this interview, I can’t recommend the book enough. It is a love letter to food and the Giver of good things. For more information on Melissa, check out her website here.

Be sure to subscribe to the Sparking Wholeness podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts! To access my show page, click the tree to the right!

Healthy For the Holidays

Here I go, adding to the noise in cyber space to try to tell you what it means to be healthy during the holidays.

But seriously – this is an important time of year to take care of ourselves – body, mind, and soul.

Rule number one: Take care of your stress load. This is a great time of year to exercise your “no muscle.” Don’t try to do it all. Stress weakens the immune system, shuts down proper digestion, and wreaks havoc on our health.

Start a gratitude journal. Get outside and move your body. Play with your kids. Breathe. Eat your colors. Minimize your screen usage (and social media). Do the things you WANT to do, not the things you feel you HAVE to do. This is supposed to be a season of joy, not a season of obligation.

In the latest episode of Sparking Wholeness, I chat with my friend and fellow health coach, Melissa McGaughey. We discuss our top tips for staying healthy during the hectic holiday season. Click here to find it on iTunes, or here to find it on my show page.

The Truth About FAT

Fat is getting a lot of attention these days. Which is pretty awesome, because does anyone remember Susan Powter and the days of “fat makes you fat?”

Those days are over.

In fact, we now know that our brains MUST have fat. Personally, I think it’s pretty interesting that we have experienced a rise in mental illness and other chronic illnesses following the “fear of fat” campaigns. Could there be a connection? Maybe.

But not all fats are created equally.

Processed, trans fats – the hydrogentated oils we find in all our Doritos and Twinkies and good old standard American packaged food – is extremely damaging to our mental health. These fats increase inflammation and modern day research on mental illness tells us that an increase of inflammatory cytokines in our bloodstream could very well be at the root of mental illness.

To keep inflammation levels in check, we MUST have a healthy balance of fat in our bodies. We NEED fat for vitamin absorption, brain health (our brains are made of fat), heart health, metabolic support, and to keep our hormones functioning as they’re supposed to.

bowl being poured with yellow liquid — Olive oil contains oleocanthal, which has been proven to decrease inflammation similarly to ibuprofen!

Where to Find Healthy Fats

Avocados, olives, and coconuts are great sources of healthy fat, along with animal sources like ghee, grass fed butter, wild salmon, grass fed beef and omega-3 rich organic eggs (always, always eat the yolks).
Whole nuts and seeds, and their butters like almond butter or tahini
Look for the highest-quality organic oils when shopping. Stay away from genetically modified vegetable oils like corn, canola, safflower, and soybean.
Words to look for: organic, first-pressed, cold-pressed, extra-virgin, and unrefined. Avoid expeller-pressed, refined, and solvent extracted.

How to Use Healthy Fats:

For cooking at high temperatures (stir frying and baking), try butter, ghee (clarified butter), or coconut oil
When sautéing foods, try organic extra virgin olive oil.
Oils like flaxseed, sesame, toasted sesame, walnut, and pumpkin seed are best used unheated in sauces or dressings.

I try to get a healthy fat in at every meal. It keeps me full and my brain clear. I start my day with fatty coffee – French pressed coffee, MCT oil, coconut milk or grass fed butter and sometimes I add in some collagen protein. I blend it altogether and it’s like my own homemade latte. I try not to use bottled salad dressings, and instead make my own. And my pantry is ALWAYS stocked with various raw nuts to snack on or to add to meals.