Just because September is coming to a close doesn’t mean I will not be posting consistently on the blog anymore. I am sure some weeks I will be inspired and energized to still post 5 days a week! My heart tells me that for October and the next few months I will probably post 2-3 times a week, but you know structure has never been my strong suit so I can’t promise any specific number.

What I can promise is, my posts will always be from the heart and if you request a topic via email/blog comment/DM/etc. I will always do my best to cover it here! And I can always promise weekly podcasts, which are by far the most consistent part of my brand I have ever had. They come out every Wednesday at 6a.m. EST no matter what… I haven’t missed a Wednesday in 2 years! And some weeks there is even a Monday bonus episode.

What I’ve Learned from the Consistency //

ANYWAY I wanted to share a few random things in this post. The first is what I’ve learned from posting every weekday this month. I relearned something I already knew, which is that writing is in my bones. It is my medicine, and it flows and flows with great ease for me. I believe that when something in our lives is that easy for us, its the universe telling us something. No resistance. It’s just there, accessible, free flowing. It means we should DO it.

To dive deeper into that… I mentioned several times this month that by 8 or 10pm some nights I would realize I hadn’t written a post for the next day yet, and then I would have to write one after my day was already technically “over” after I had totally transitioned into downtime mode. In those cases I whipped my computer out, and the words just flowed. Even with mighty brain fog, Lyme symptoms galore, and a massive surgery to recover from (that was only on Sept 7th! Wow) the words just flowed.

It was amazing to see and feel into. And every time I wrote a post, I was happy. I felt cleansed, like the writing of it was cathartic in a way. I also hope that every single one of those posts this month gave value of some sort to you guys, and in my heart I know each topic was written for a reason because the universe divinely guides those kinds of things, in my opinion.

The only not positive thing I noticed was that because of my brain fog there were certain things I didn’t have the energy to write about, however trivial or serious they may have been. Jonathan would throw out topic ideas to me and often I would say, “I want to write about that, but I want to wait until I have more energy.” So there are a lot of topics like that that will be coming your way in the next few months.

It was SO FUN to connect with you guys via email this month, especially those of you who have been getting these posts straight to your inbox every day. If you have been reading and haven’t introduced yourself yet, please do! I love to hear about you. It makes this whole blogging thing feel a lot more real & two-sided.

It also made me remember that there are a handful of you who have been reading this blog for YEARS, some since the very beginning and others very close to the beginning. Many of you I am on a texting basis with now, you send me letters in the mail and we hang in person when we are in the same city (and when I have energy, which is not a lot these days lol). Our community has grown in the coolest way, and the readers of this blog are so diverse. Mostly women but there are a handful of guys (who I love!!!!), readers from all walks of life and all over the world.

Being back on the BLOG part of the blog (how does that even make sense? You guys know what I mean, haha) reconnected me in a new way to a lot of my longtime readers. You guys are the real MVPs here, you’re the reason I am able to do this. I feel endlessly lucky and grateful for you.

OH and I have learned that consistency is key. I would still recommend to any new & up and coming blogger to post as frequently as you can, and stick to a schedule. I have developed many NEW readers this month simply because of the consistency of my posting, and that is always a fabulous way for new (and not new!!) bloggers to grow. An important thing for all of us to remember, even those of us who have been blogging for a long time.

What’s to Come //

As far as what is on the horizon… there is so much. Mainly, I am focused on healing. I am typing this from bed and I just took a long, extremely hot bath in the middle of the day. Life is requiring a ton of downtime for me right now, and I have no choice but to embrace it. Truth be told, I feel stronger today than I did when I started the September Series at the beginning of the month. I feel mentally stronger — a bit more clear on my purpose right now, and feeling a lot more supported, largely because of all of you guys.

I will continue my Lyme treatments and also really start planning our WEDDING! Tomorrow I will be announcing our wedding date & wedding hashtag on Instagram (I can’t wait to tell you guys!!!) and we officially have our location now too… the Ojai Valley Inn! I will be asking my bridesmaids to be a part of the big day real soon and slowly start diving into some details… as my best friend Alexi said last night, “We need to space it all out so you don’t get overwhelmed!! That will be KEY for you.” She knows me.

Jonathan and I are going to NYC in about a week for my birthday. I am overjoyed to be in the city and soak in time with my humans who live there. I miss them so, so dearly. We will be attending the annual GLA Lyme Gala on my actual birthday, which is such a sign, and I am so honored to be attending. We will also be checking out all the new vegan restaurants that have opened since the last time I was there!

I will be writing, a lot. Even if its not daily blog posts, I will be blogging, journaling, working on my memoir, writing poetry, and even writing fiction as often as I can. I want to say every day but we will see how that goes.

I also plan to dive deeper into my spiritual practice, as I have been a bit off of my usual routine lately post-surgery and just being so sick. A lot more meditation, visualization, kundalini, and reiki will be taking place in the coming months… and I can’t wait to see where it all takes me.

Lots of YouTube videos are coming!! Make sure to subscribe to my channel to take a look at the latest ones and see a lot more BTS vids coming soon… most likely every 2 weeks!

Lastly, time in NATURE. It’s calling me deeply. It’s true that I can barely get out of bed most days, but when I can, my body yearns to be outside. Yesterday I wanted soooo badly to go to the beach and journal and meditate, but after a handful of other things I had to do, it just wasn’t in the cards for me energy-wise. The ocean is such a healer and I will definitely be getting down there in the next couple of days.

Thank you for reading this series all month! I am not going anywhere, I don’t know why I am acting so formal about it, but truly it has been so fun to reconnect this month in blogging format. Having you reading honestly means the world. Let me know what you want to read more about and I will get to writing for the October posts! And tell me what you’re up to, too!!

Oh, and HAPPY LIBRA SEASON !!!!! My fave season for so many reasons. XO

And specifically… juicy, flavorful, nourishing, bursting full of goods, plant based TACOS.

So yesterday when I woke up after an eleven hour sleep and found myself with enough energy to make my way to the kitchen, pop some potatoes in the oven, and throw these tacos together for lunch I was THRILLED. And they were freakin delectable.

Well, to be honest it didn’t go exactly that way. I woke up, groggily took some Ibuprofen, guzzled the superfood smoothie bowl I posted on IG yesterday, texted my mom and asked her to come over (she lives upstairs now, eek!! 50% of the time at least), gathered enough energy to walk to Alfred for a decaf with her, and felt completely overjoyed to be outside and feel the real sun on my skin. After being inside for almost a full week, it felt amazing.

I almost fell asleep on the Alfred patio (lol) so we walked back, laid on the roof for a while — we have a gorgeous rooftop on our new building, it is one of my favorite things about living here — and then I decided I was going to pull it together to make these tacos.

My Siete Foods family was kind enough to send us these grain-free tortillas as a housewarming gift (not sponsored, just all the realness for one of my very fave brands) and while Jonathan has easily downed 95% of them, he was kind enough to leave a few stragglers behind in hopes that I might be hungry / awake enough for solid food sometime this week.

And when I say “solid food” I mean… I have been on so many pain pills and my abdomen has been in such a state of acute pain that all I have really been able to eat/drink are smoothies and açaí bowls. But like I said, my body was really starting to crave some serious savory goodness.

For a salt-oil-sugar-free vegan, potatoes are a literal godsend. They are satiating, nutritious, dense, easy to prepare and store, super affordable, and extremely versatile. I find myself using them in everything these days from French fries to salad toppings to baked and loaded with avocado and other veggies to the using them as the key ingredient in creamy dips to now a TACO FILLING!

This recipe is FULL OF PLANTS. Veggies, carrots, cabbage, avocado, tomato, legumes, cilantro (if you have any — I didn’t but it would make the best addition) and anything else you wanna add to your tacos to make them your own!

Ready?! Let’s dive in.

SOS-Free Vegan POTATO Tacos

Serves 2-3 people (or 1 person + lots of leftovers!)

Ingredients // 

For the Tacos:

3-4 medium sized organic Russet or Yukon potatoes (1 will be for the cheese sauce, the other 2-3 will be for taco filling)

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 large avocado

1 can salt-free Pinto beans, or black beans, or low sodium refried beans (I use these)

1 package Siete tortillas (I used the cashew flour, but any will do!) or tortilla of your choice

1/2 cup diced tomatoes (optional)

1/4 cup diced cilantro (optional)

Drizzles of turmeric & paprika (optional)

For the “Cheese”:

1 medium sized potato (boiled or steamed) **mentioned above

2 large carrots (boiled or steamed)

1/4 cup raw soaked cashews

2 tbsp nutritional yeast (I use this brand)

1/4 cup water (add more if having trouble blending)

1 tbsp tahini (optional, I add it for creaminess & taste)

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp turmeric

Method // 

+ Bake the potatoes in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until nice and soft inside. Poke holes in the potato with a fork to give it some good ventilation for better cooking!

+ While those are baking, boil a pot of water on the stovetop and add in one potato and 2 large carrots. Boil until soft, and then transfer to a high-speed blender.

+ Along with the boiled carrots and potato, add water and the rest of the “cheese” ingredients. Blend until smooth. You may need to pause a few times to make sure the larger items are being pushed down to the blade. Add more water as needed.

+ Set the cheese mixture aside, and prep the veggies and beans for the tacos. Dice the avocado, cabbage, and cilantro and open the can of beans (and drain them). Put them all in little bowls if you prefer, or if you’re just cooking for yourself you can leave them out on the cutting board like I do.

+ Once the potatoes are baked, take them out and chop them up into little wedges. Add turmeric and paprika or any spices of your choosing.

+ Finally, put the tortilla on a skillet (no grease or oil needed unless you prefer it) and let it lightly brown on both sides (about 25 seconds each side). Take it out, and layer the cheese sauce, avocado, beans, veggies of your choosing, and potatoes right on top! Fold it up or eat it nice and open-faced. Both are delicious!

+ If you are a salsa person, adding some salsa or hot sauce is another great addition. As you can see in my photos I didn’t have cilantro, cabbage, or tomatoes (I was low in the fridge, yo) so I worked with what I had. It’s a beautifully simple meal and SO tasty and nourishing.

I love the SOS-free plant-based life because I am back to eating tacos, pizza, “nachos,” all the foods I loved as a kid but totally oil-free, salt-free, and sugar-free. Oh, and plant-based. I love the way it all tastes and I have so much fun in the kitchen.

Cannot wait to hear what you guys think if you make these! Hashtag #tbbmademedoit and tag me on your instas if you try!!

PS, I truly think the cheese sauce makes it. SOOO gooey and delicious.

Thoughts?! Other SOS-free recipe requests?! Hit me!

What ever happened to the art of doing less?

Years before I got really sick I was attracted to the idea of doing less, but somehow I continued to do the opposite & really just piled my plate higher and higher. Building my brand, saying yes to every opportunity, going on every trip, doing every photo shoot, saying yes to every plan and birthday dinner and event and teacher training, doing it all.

But now that I am actually very sick, doing less is my only option. I have a hard time with it. It’s a love-hate. When I have days where I’m doing too much (because yes, those days still happen far too often) I miss my days in bed and yearn for the comfort of an open schedule, but sometimes when I’m resting and healing I get antsy and crave adventure and stimulation.

Like I said… it’s tricky!

Resting and healing from Lyme disease is one thing. It’s different for everyone, but for many people it can take YEARS. Because it is such a drawn out process, it’s considered more chronic than acute. With chronic illness you have good days and bad, so on those good days you can still go out and power through. On good days I love to hit up yoga classes, go on a hike, spend time with friends, and work on all things TBB.

And then on the down days, I rest. But resting and healing from things that do not have “up and down days” like Lyme, is where the real tests have come in for me.

What are those things, you ask? Great question.

A few months ago it was the water fast I did in Northern California, where I legitimately was unable to get out of bed for weeks on end except to walk in circles around my bed every few hours to make sure I wasn’t getting blood clots. I did the water fast for Lyme, head to toe eczema, and to shrink my fibroids ( it didn’t shrink them, sadly. )

And now, it’s recovering from fibroid surgery, otherwise known as an abdominal myomectomy — a surgery I just had this past FRIDAY. So yes… I have been down for the count in a whole new way.

I will do a full blog post ( or probably several, let’s be real ) breaking down the fibroid surgery, why I had it, my hospital stay, and my recovery — not to mention a full YouTube video because I’ve been filming the whole process — but for now I really just want to focus on this whole element of patience.

I know people reading may or may not be able to relate to fibroid surgery but we can ALL relate to this tricky thing with patience. It can be a real beast for many of us.

Many times I have had to ask myself: Why am I so scared of doing less? Why am I so afraid of pulling back, of saying no, of resting and healing, of being patient with my time, of accepting that now is not my time to say yes to everything and take every opportunity?

Logically I know the answer, that now is my time to rest. I have one body, and I need to take care of it. But I really think the fear comes from a very deep place of feeling like saying no & slowing down now will mean that every opportunity will vanish. And that’s just not true.

If I say no to something now and the opportunity doesn’t come back my way, then it simply wasn’t meant to be. I spent SO MANY YEARS saying yes to everything & getting myself really, really sick because of it. I believe that doing things that don’t match our vibrational energy completely do make us sick. Maybe that’s not what gave me Lyme disease or fibroids but it certainly wore my immune system down to the point where I was no longer able to fight these things off like someone else may have been.

So, patience. How to cultivate it in times like these?! It takes a LOT of drawing inward.

Last night I found myself in my bathroom on the phone with Jonathan ( who was still at work ) telling him I was going to take a shower and get in bed and asking if he could bring us açaí bowls for dinner. Immediately he said, “Is your mom there?” And I said, “No! I was just going to shower on my own.” But the moment the words were out of my mouth I realized… That is a terrible idea. I can barely even stand, why am I trying to take a shower and wash my hair by myself already?

That is just one instance of trying to move so much faster than I need to be. It’s like that saying getting “too big for your britches” — I am the epitome of getting too big for my britches during a healing process.

Very similar, when I stopped being vegan and began to recover from orthorexia I reintroduced non-vegan foods into my life SO FAST (#bigformybritches) and gave myself a stomach ulcer and serious hormonal imbalances. And maybe even a fibroid? That one is up in the air.

So right now I am in the process of trying to be patient. I am dying to go outside, but it is too soon to walk anywhere beyond walking around my apartment. I am dying to work on my memoir, but my brain is all fuzzy and it is hard to type because I can’t sit up yet! I am dying to go to the grocery store or even just walk to coffee… but I need to remember all of that will be there when I am ready. There is no RUSH.

Are you someone who struggles with this as well? I think it’s a perfectionist thing. I am a Reflector by Human Design, which means I am pretty lax and flowy, but that doesn’t mean I am not totally Type A.

I wanted to share because this is an important thing we can all ask ourselves. Where does the fear come from? Fear of not doing enough? I truly want to be an advocate for the SLOW life… I am trying, and I have so much to learn. To me, living slow feels beautiful. A lot of you have introduced me to “slow living” accounts on Insta that are incredibly inspiring to me. Keep them coming if you know of any!

Slow living means living for YOU, first and foremost. For your friends and family and fur babies yes, but in a way that ignites your soul. For me that means keeping my schedule really, really open and having lots of time to take it easy. Especially right now. That inner programming to push myself so hard has just gotta go.

I look forward to feeling a bit better and putting this all into practice, as life in bed is very much like living life on the sidelines. This year has given me a major taste of that. But for now at least I am very grateful for the ability to rest, and will continue to do just that as much as I can.

I will be over here resting and trying as hard as I can not to work / be on social media / be “on” at all. Taking all the good Netflix recs.

Then, inevitably on the 28-hour trek home tomorrow or in the days to follow, I will share more about all that I have learned on this solo journey with myself. I also have a nearly TWO HOUR solo podcast episode going up next Wednesday that I recorded here about my trip and I am very excited to share it. And if you’ve heard me say that I am going to be gone for *two months* and you’re thinking “wait, only three weeks have passed…” you are correct, and I am heading off to a healing center in Northern California after a few days home in LA with my loves in between. The healing journey continues!

Anyway, this topic today is very near and dear to my heart. And in some ways I have found it even harder to put into words than I did my original “Why I’m Transitioning Away from Veganism” blog post nearly four years ago. I have purposely not put it into words yet because I wanted and needed to experience this first and foremost for me… feel it out for ME, and also see and feel the lasting effects after eating this way for a while before I shared.

The topic is the NEW KIND OF PLANT-BASED  and I will explain what that means at the bottom of this post.

Let’s just start at the beginning — and I will try to make this as short & sweet as possible because the truth is, I could (and want to…) write a book about this particular subject and my relationship to it! ONE DAY. One thing at a time…!

The Story //

So, last summer. I started seeing my dear friend Lo Roxburgh for alignment and body work. In our sessions we immediately went VERY DEEP into soul-guided conversation, and the synergy between us is to this day absolutely insane. Lo picked up very quickly on the inflammation I was experiencing in my body, and I just kept telling her: “I don’t feel like myself. My body is so inflamed. I feel it every day in my gut, my skin, my ENERGY FIELD, even my organs.”

A few months into working together she asked me when the last time I felt truly myself in my body was, without the inflammation and the pain and the insomnia and the gut issues and all the rest. And I said, “Well, I guess when I was vegan. Before the eating disorder of course and just when I was eating a balanced vegan diet.” And she said, “Well… what would you think about going vegan again?”

Her words planted the seed, and as much as I wanted to try it I was SCARED. Not only scared of what labeling my diet would mean for me after the healing journey I’ve gone through, but also scared of the Internet trolls who get off on abusing people’s dietary choices (very much including my own). I have worked long and hard to transition from veganism to non-veganism in the public eye, and switching back just gave me that feeling of, “oh god, people are going to think I am such a damn hypocrite.”

Of course those fears were wedged way deep inside of me and they only came up later on as I’ve done the inner work to figure out my resistance to this way of life. Fast forward to months later, when my reiki master and also very dear friend Kelsey Patel said to me in a similar heart-to-heart conversation, “Oh wow! I am getting the intuitive hit that you need to try going vegan again. How does that feel for you?”

Between Lo and Kelsey and their open and soul-guided and non-judgmental and non-biased words, I could have cried. I actually did cry. Just having the PERMISSION from two close friends of mine who also happen to be healers who also happen to be deeply immersed in the wellness world who ALSO happen to have about 10 years of life wisdom on me really, really, really hit home for me. I have always maintained and I still do that it’s never about what someone else thinks, or what someone else tells you. But from my particular position at that place in time I really NEEDED some “permission,” if you will, to be me. To REALLY listen to my own body and go with it.

So back in November, I did it. I started eating plant-based. I felt into it intuitively and it felt incredibly right. Physically, things were REALLY not feeling okay so trust me when I say it took a lot of immensely deep work to even get in touch with my intuition on a physical level.

When Jonathan and I came to Bali in December, I dabbled in eating other things for the sake of “FOOD FREEDOM” (I put it in quotes because someone with as many gut and health issues as I have had, mental food freedom can sometimes equate making yourself very physically ill) and felt like abbbbbsolute and complete shit. So then I really dedicated myself to the plant-based lifestyle, and I haven’t turned back since.

Plant-Based in Bali //

Many of you know that in the first few days of 2018, I got hit with a sudden and MASSIVE attack of full-body hives. Up until about a week ago I was still covered in a terrible eczema rash that was diagnosed from afar as everything from a cutaneous drug rash to Lyme disease. I am still sorting out what the exact “diagnosis” is, but I am not sure I even need one because I know now that it was nearly 100% stress-related and gut-related.

So I came on this solo trip to Bali to heal. The proximity of raw vegan cafes, healing centers, yoga studios, and wellness retreats to my hotel here in Ubud is absolutely nuts. Even Los Angeles has nowhere near this amount of easy, readily available, abundant, made-with-love, and CHEAP organic plant-based cuisine… and here it’s literally on every corner.

So for the last three weeks I have dedicated myself to eating 100% plant-based, and about 80% raw. For the first week or so I was completely raw but found myself craving cooked veggies and warming meals for dinner after a period of time and I am all about listening to my body above all else.

On top of the food I’ve been eating, I have been doing a lot of yoga, walking at LEAST 10,000 steps a day (usually closer to 20,000!), resting and sleeping a ton, doing colonics, drinking juices, eating an ABUNDANCE of fruits and fermented foods, and all of those things combined have lowered my stress levels immeasurably AND cleaned up my gut a considerable amount.

Letting go of my “fruit fear” that I developed from YEARS (yet again) of listening to other people’s ideologies and opinions about bodies that are not my own, has been the most freeing thing mentally and physically I have probably done in my entire adult life when it comes to food. I mean, my body was CRYING out for the nutrients and digestion-friendly properties of fresh, organic fruits. I didn’t eat fruit for THREE YEARS. (Or let’s say barely. Maybe a handful every so often.)

I have started mostly every day here with a smoothie bowl, FULL of fresh local fruits and topped with more fruit, superfoods, and raw granolas. I am telling you, and you know this if you’ve followed me over the years, I would not have touched a bowl full of so much natural sugar with a ten foot pole even just a year ago. But suddenly, eating intuitively and treating myself to what truly sounds and feels the best for me each day…. that is what I am gravitating toward. Just like I was five years ago when I was vegan PRE-eating disorder when I ate what I wanted in abundance and with love!

I have also been eating raw DESSERTS here in great abundance. I think it’s safe to say that with the exception of a few days here and there where I just wasn’t in the mood, I have had dessert every day here & at least once a day. I am all about the chocolate, as you know. So tons of raw cacao goodness! (If you come to Ubud, you have GOT to try Ubud Raw Chocolate. It’s actually insanity how good it is and full of sooooo many antioxidants and healthy fats.)

And honestly I am just telling you this because I love healthy desserts and listening to my body on that front has been so healing. If you’re not a dessert person, keep doing you. You don’t HAVE to eat dessert to feel free and intuitive with food… in fact many people may find themselves doing the opposite when they’re being truly intuitive. That is what is beautiful, we are all so freakishly different in our ways and that is what I love. THAT is what makes us healthy.

Tonight was my final dinner in Ubud (SAD in some ways even though I am ready to get home to my J & my Hud – like you have no idea, there are not even words) & I had a “Nourish Bowl” at one of my fave cafes here Sayuri Healing Food which is full of brown rice, adzuki beans, steamed veggies, spirulina crunchies, tahini dressing and a few other things… plus a side of raw bread, raw aged nut cheeses (TO DIE FOR), and a double chocolate raw pie for dessert.

I mean, can you say YUM? And abundant? And delicious? And decadent in the best ways and not at all restrictive or limited the way I once was in my previously restrictive vegan days?

So here’s what I’m trying to say //

I still believe in no labels. I believe in eating intuitively, and doing YOU and not listening to what anyone else has to say about what will make you feel the best or this or that. I still believe that we evolve and change over time, and I would be surprised if I didn’t change my eating habits again down the line as my life and journey continues to evolve.

For my own personal body right now, eating in this anti-inflammatory high fruit and high veggie way with lots of raw foods, juices, and also cooked veggies and gluten-free grains / legumes on the occasion has me feeling better than I’ve felt in four and a half years. Maybe five.

My medium MaryAnn (the most psychic person on this planet, no joke) did a healing on me last night over the phone and she said my gut is HEALING for the first time in years. She said it is going to continue to be a process, and the healing journey I am on is extremely slow and steady and that is my work at this time to trust in going slow and the true healing that is taking place… but the words “YOUR GUT IS HEALING & YOUR BODY IS SO HAPPY ABOUT IT” basically brought me to my knees.

After the parasites, the eczema, the hives, the autoimmune, the cystic acne, the eating disorder recovery, the food allergies, the chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety all stemming from my gut… those words held more sweet music to my ears than I think I could ever express to you in this lifetime.

I feel very, very, very good right now on this plant-based and highly raw diet. I am very aware that many people reading have seen me through my eating disorder and recovery days and I also know that many of you have been through your own recovery journeys. I very much hope that seeing me go through this process and find this complete & utter joy in this lifestyle again can inspire you from afar to do the same for YOUR life. It could look entirely different to you. It could be the opposite of plant-based or vegan. All I hope for you is that it makes you feel good, and passionate, and healthy, and awake, and alive.

(Quick side note: Even though I was eating vegan in LA for three months before I came back to Bali, I was still eating a lot of inflammatory foods. Nightshades, fried cauliflower at Erewhon (such an addiction), sauces that didn’t agree with me, more grains and legumes than I have been here… so this is the first time I have felt TRULY amazing with a longterm dedication to cutting out everything I knew intuitively was not working for me.)

What now? //

I am headed to a healing center in Nor Cal when I get back to the U.S. I made a commitment to myself this year that I would deal with my health issues once and for all, and take myself on a self-loving journey to heal and feel my absolute most radiant best again. I will share more details about it as time goes on — I will be doing something rather extreme and I wouldn’t recommend it to people who aren’t in my boat of *extreme* health issues and imbalances, so I will hold off on telling you more about it until THIS post has sunken in at least, haha.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and being here for this journey through the years. I hope and know in my heart of hearts that anyone who is MEANT to be here reading this will be, and I feel that my words at this point in time will attract people who are at the stage of their journey where they can take in what I am saying and feel confident about their own life choices as well whether they’re different from mine or similar.

One thing I want to share is that while going through this entire journey publicly on social media and in the news and all the rest was the best and the worst thing for my overall wellbeing. The best because I got more support than any girl could ever dream of or imagine, and I feel deeply lucky to be able to run into SO MANY girls and guys on the streets of Ubud of all places (and of course when I am back home — but here has been pretty remarkable so far from home) who know much of my life story and have been so incredibly kind. The worst because it is definitely very hard to have your choices and your opinions ripped to shreds on a daily basis, especially from very passionate people about one thing or another.

The truth is, once you reach the place of true FREEDOM and unconditional love for yourself and your body, you will understand what its like to make choices from a place of pure heart-centered intuition. And when you’re there, my choices and everyone’s choices won’t affect you negatively. I can promise you that.

I dreamt of that place for a long time, and now that I’m there… it feels amazing. So whether you agree with or me disagree, it’s not my place to say or to even care. Because we are all dealing with something and being on the Internet has taught me I will often be the target for someone else’s insecurities. And I continue to put myself and my truth out there because A) that is what makes me happy and makes me feel fulfilled and B) I care about you guys with all my heart and it never feels right to NOT tell you things! C) I want to help people as best I can, and I know no other way to do that than to be radically open and honest.

Also, I will probably write a whole post on this but I will briefly say: opening up spiritually, psychically, and intuitively has had a LOT to do with this shift. I finally understand what people have been saying all years about how eating pure, mostly raw, foods from the earth in many ways can open up your third eye and make you feel more one with the universe. That has definitely been my experience… cleaning it all up, inside and out.

So… I am saving the point of this post for the very last paragraph. I want to represent a NEW kind of plant-based lifestyle. One where you can be VEGAN and not judge other people who are not vegan. You are allowed to be vegan and still be open to changing your diet to include non-vegan foods in the future. You are allowed to be vegan without labeling yourself and without being militant about your own choices or others’ choices. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO BE, even when it comes to being plant-based or vegan.

So right now I am trying that on. I am feelin’ like the NEW kind of plant-based is the way I want to be. I will keep you very updated on how it makes me feel, and I would be honored if you decided to join me in whichever way you’d like to! EVEN if that is by eating a totally different way. Join me in doing you, and being intuitive, and of course… incorporating plants because they’re so very good for you.

Thoughts?! Would absolutely love to hear them. And tomorrow I will be headed back stateside and I am very, very, very excited. And very ready. <3

Ever since I shared about going intuitively plant-based, I have gotten a lot of questions about how to try out this lifestyle without being too restrictive or feeling like you’re in a box.

That topic is very dear to my heart because as many of you know, I was once raw vegan and was very, very restrictive during that season of my life. Four years later, and after MANY ups and downs with my health / hormones / gut issues, I have overcome a lot and feel like a brand new person when it comes to my approach to food.

I would not have been able to ease into an intuitively plant-based lifestyle directly after my strict, orthorexic days of raw veganism and juice cleansing. I needed to let go of all of the rules to have food freedom at that time, which was great — until I got sick from what I was eating. Like, really sick. My body was not too happy to reincorporate everything under the sun at one time.

But now, I have found balance again and I am OVER THE MOON to share that balance with all of you. I still have lasting health problems that I am working to get to the bottom of, but my gut has been happy and I believe it’s largely due to the switch to intuitive plant-based eating I made a few months ago.

Over the years I have made it my mission to experiment and learn about my body, and I’ve really honed in on what food freedom means to me now vs. then.

And now that I have decided to share my new intuitive plant-based way of life on my blog and social media, I figured it was only right that I clarify a few things for those of you who are looking to try out this lifestyle too and do it in a healthy, balanced, non-restrictive way!

I have broken down my methodology with the whole intuitively plant-based thing into five steps… and I am sharing them below!

Photo creds to bae from our smoothie date this morning. Outfit is the Mudra Yoga Jumpsuit from my friend Donna’s line (local to Bali!!) Satya Yogawear. Use code BLONDE for 15% off if you order anything from her amaze site!

STEP ONE // NO RULES!

One thing about being intuitively plant-based is that it’s just that… intuitive! In my eyes, it’s very different from being strictly vegan, vegetarian or raw vegan.

As much as I truly wish in my heart and soul that I could be fully vegan for the animals and for the environment — I would be doing a disservice to my body, and ultimately to the animals and environment as well (because I would be sick and wouldn’t be any help to anyone) because I know that being fully vegan, 100% of the time, does not work for my particular body.

Instead, I can incorporate my values and my food preferences (plant-based eating) as MUCH as humanly possible while also allowing room for other foods when my body needs and craves them. For example, I have been about 95% plant-based since December, and I have also been incorporating bone broth protein powders, collagen powders, and the occasional bone broth from Erewhon or the occasional bit of fresh fish when I feel I need it.

When I was in Hawaii, I had fish a couple of times because it is so fresh and local there, and also because I knew if I didn’t it would be a huge headache and I wouldn’t have been able to eat at all (other than raw spinach if you know what I mean) at a few of our group dinners. Back in the day, I would not have budged. I would have survived on plain lettuce for days and then been WAY out of whack hormonally by the time the trip was over. That is not balanced, or intuitive, and is riddled with rules and anxiety.

Similarly, if being intuitively plant-based feels so good to you that you know in your heart and soul that you don’t want or need fish, bone broth, collagen, etc. for YOU then go with that! For the first 2.5 months of this lifestyle I didn’t have any of the above — it’s more recently that I have found myself incorporating them for health and variety.

It’s all about no rules, and what works for me is most likely going to look a bit differently for you.

STEP TWO // DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT!

If you are going intuitively plant-based because you think you should, or someone else told you to, or because I am and you feel like you usually have similar preferences to me… I would invite you to think long and hard about why YOU want to do it for YOUR personal body and needs.

If you come to the conclusion that you want to do it for your own reasons, you will enjoy the process so much more and it won’t feel restrictive or difficult to you.

I firmly believe that when we make choices based off of what we love, we are setting ourselves up for an enjoyable and abundant experience. I eased into this intuitively plant-based way of life because my mind, body, and soul was crying out for it. I wanted to try it so badly, and I knew it would be fun for me because I LOVE plant-based foods and have a long history with them (many lifetimes of history if we are getting into the spiritual side of things).

When you are in it because you love it, you also have the goal in mind of being balanced and healthy, rather than the goal of losing weight or something that might not be in alignment with the healthiest of mindsets. (Although if you do need to lose weight for medical reasons, going plant-based is not a bad idea. I am referring to people who don’t need to lose weight and want to steer clear of using the plant-based lifestyle to do so.)

STEP THREE // FIND YOUR OWN GROOVE

It might take a while to find your groove with this new lifestyle (same goes for any lifestyle change), and that is completely okay. I would encourage you not to give up before you’ve found your groove.

Part of finding what works for you means trying a bunch of different things. For a while I was on a major kitchari kick for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lately I am all about smoothies for breakfast with bone broth collagen and even smoothies for dinner, loaded with all of the greens and bananas and sweet potatoes.

I know that in a few weeks I will be onto something different. Part of living this lifestyle without getting too restrictive means letting yourself switch things up! Being plant-based doesn’t mean you have to have smoothies every day, or ever for that matter if they’re not your thing.

I find that the more new recipes I try, the more exciting this lifestyle is and the less restricted I feel. It is always a good idea to incorporate plenty of plant-based protein from legumes to nuts and seeds to plant-based protein powders — if they work for you and make you feel good.

STEP FOUR // BE OPEN TO CHANGE

When you’re doing intuitive eating of any kind…. you’ve gotta be open to the possibility of change. Or really, the constant of change. Because it’s always there.

It is so unbelievably hard for a Type A personality like myself to accept the fact that even though I am LOVING and thriving off of being plant-based right now… I know it won’t always be that way. Down the road I might be all about the protein. The ethical animal lover inside of me really doesn’t like that, but that is reality. I know I will always prioritize my health, and I acknowledge that what works right now may not work next year, or in 5 years.

When we are open to change we are allowing ourselves to TRULY be intuitive. To go with the flow. I know that I am plant-BASED which does not mean vegan. It means that most of my meals are plants, and plants will always take up the majority of my plate. Even if I have to eat meat again down the road, that will still be the case.

But this time around I am not closed off to change. I have had enough lasting health problems from my first go-round with veganism to know better for MY personal body. For the people reading who have no issues being vegan longterm, more power to you. I so, so wish my body could get on board with that, but this is my reality and I love my reality too. Wherever each of us are in this journey, it is beautiful and THAT is inspiring to me.

Grocery shopping is KEY. Be stocked up on all of the fruits and veggies so that you always have variety around! And ALWAYS ORGANIC, when you can make it happen.

STEP FIVE // ALLOW VARIETY!

This is similar to step 3, but I wanted it to have its own section too because variety is so important. Switch up your veggies and fruits, eat the rainbow, and DO NOT BE AFRAID OF FRUIT. I spent so many years fearing fruit and it was one of the most unfortunate things I ever did for my health because I missed out on so many vital vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants during that time.

I feared fruit because of the sugar content, but fruit sugar (fructose) happens to break down in our bodies very differently than other forms of sugar and laboratory-made fructose (like high-fructose corn syrup — never touch that). Now I enjoy it in abundance and have been feeling better than ever from the fiber and antioxidants. I have been more regular, which means my digestion is SO much happier than it was before… especially because I am coffee-free right now as well.

Listen to your own body and do you, but always make sure there is variety involved. One of my biggest issues the first time I was a vegan was that I ate the same thing every day… for 3 years! Not only is that not good for us physically, but it’s definitely not good for us mentally.

Switch it up, it’s fun! Try new recipes, get inspired, and make it part of your lifestyle to cook and spend time in the kitchen. Also seek out fun restaurants near you that support the lifestyle so that you don’t feel restricted to ONLY eating at home. Balance, in all ways!

Boom! There you go!

If you incorporate these 5 steps into your intuitive eating plan, you will be off to a great start. My hope is that if you try the intuitively plant-based lifestyle and fall in love with it, you will never feel restricted or bogged down by food again.

I have found that on the contrary of feeling restricted, this lifestyle has opened so many doors for me. I feel freer with food than ever, and that is largely due to the fact that I am eating foods my body LOVES and craves.

Plants feel so, so good in my particular body. Same with legumes, seeds, and the smoothies I have been loving on lately. I do eat a few gluten-free grains (rice, quinoa) but I keep them to a minimum because of my sensitive stomach and my overall grain allergy. I have found that I can tolerate them in a couple of meals per week at max.

For you, you may be able to have grains all the time… or never! It’s all about finding what works for you, which often includes getting tested by an integrative doctor to see what’s up in your personal body.

Lastly… I have also had a lot of requests for intuitively plant-based MEAL PREP which I am so on board with! I will get a post up about that ASAP!

Now, I am off to spend Passover weekend with my family… my parents are in town, you can find them on my IG stories all weekend! They are actually here until the day I leave for Bali, so I am so excited to soak in some good time with them.

So in love with all of you. Please leave any questions below, and use the hashtag #intuitivelyplantbased to share your experiences and your meal ideas with our TBB community! ALL MY LOVE.

XOXO 

Have you heard of it? It’s the latest trend.

Or at least it is in my life.

I know there can be a lot of confusion floating around out there about how to eat, what to eat, how to exercise, how often to rest, the health benefits of everything from bulletproof coffee to healthy fats to HIIT to paleo to living gluten-free — and ultimately, at the root of it all, while it is to fun to load up on knowledge & inspiration from people you admire, it all depends on YOUR body.

How you feel. What makes you feel the best. What makes you feel not good and icky and tired or what makes your tummy hurt. We are all different, and that is the beauty of living a healthy lifestyle!

My Journey in a nutshell //

I know it can be hard to figure out how to eat the best for your body. Real talk for a second here… it took me a DECADE, and I know I will continue refining and evolving my food choices with every passing year because I recognize that my lifestyle, body, activity level, and so much more changes all the time… so even for ONE person, there is no one size fits all diet.

A lot of you know that I grew up with debilitating stomach problems. The type of stomach problems that make it impossible to get out of bed and do anything when they flare up, and make it even more impossible to think about eating in a balanced, nutritious way. When I found veganism at the age of 21, I thought I had cracked the code. My stomach problems were finally at bay and I felt AWESOME!

I lost a ton of water weight and bloat, my skin was clearer than ever, and I was full of energy. But long story short (you can read the long version in my book, if you’re interested!!) — veganism triggered a whole lot of obsessive and restrictive tendencies inside of me which caused me to become addicted to juice cleanses, cut out basically all solid foods in general, and to develop a nasty eating disorder called orthorexia (with many elements of anorexia, also).

Oh, and I BLOGGED through the whole entire thing. So if you ever feel like going on a binge-read sesh on the bloggy, you can just scroll way far back and read literally every single word I wrote because I blogged every day throughout my ED and my recovery.

Anyway, that was almost three years ago. After that, I had hormone problems. Stomach problems. Horrible candida. IBS. A parasite in my stomach from reintroducing too many foods too quickly. A hiatal hernia. Stomach ulcers. Low stomach acid (almost none, actually). HIGH cortisol and estrogen and almost no progesterone. Sluggish thyroid. Cystic acne. My body didn’t know WHAT TO DO with itself.

So after that, every single way that I ate didn’t work for me. I’d try something and move onto the next thing after a few weeks because everything just seemed to make me feel worse and worse and more disconnected from my body. Heck, I even ran a marathon and my weight was at the highest it had ever been and my skin was a WRECK and a half… because I just wasn’t doing what worked for me.

The Healing Process //

You guys know about my affinity for functional medicine and my amazing doctor, Dr. Lekkos. I don’t want to repeat myself way too much because you can read here & all over the bloggy, BUT… functional medicine, Ayurveda & my full-blown Panchakarma saved my life. (So did my facialist, MOGJAN! Hit me up if you live in LA and want her info).

After I started getting my life back in balance via my supplements, Ayurvedic lifestyle, lots of yoga, lower intensity workouts, collagen peptides, Bulletproof coffee, Keto OS, and clearer & glowy skin… it was time to dive into feeling fully AWESOME again in every way.

I mean, I am passionate about wellness and feeling good above all else. So you can imagine how much it killed my soul inside when I didn’t feel good at all, and when even all of the health hacks that I wrote about weren’t working for me.

I wrote all about my wellness hacks here & they all seriously save me on the daily. I FEEL like I glow from the inside out again, and I am so unbelievably happy and proud to have found a lifestyle that works for me again.

Ultimately, beyond the wellness hacks I thought I would tell you once and for all HOW I EAT in a day (even though every day is different) because I do get asked all the time and I want to set the record straight!

Beyond the food though — I really credit functional medicine, a strong self-care practice, & yoga for the healing. It was the low intensity lifestyle my body was craving from the inside out… it needed to be nourished and taken care of, so I finally went for that. Meditation is just as healing to me as food, and moving slowly is MORE healing to me than going on pavement-pounding runs. It’s sensational, really.

What I eat in a day that makes me feel AWESOME //

* I don’t believe that any two people should eat exactly the same… so please continue listening to your body regardless of the below. I am just sharing my choices with you in hopes that some of it will stick with you, but I don’t expect all of it to!

Morning // First thing upon waking up I have a glass of warm water with lemon. It’s great for metabolism, digestion, skin and hydration. Then I mix my Keto OS with water and usually have either the Maui Punch or chocolate flavor (sometimes caffeinated, sometimes uncaffeinated) to kick my day off & get my brain function MOVIN’! Shortly after that, I make Bulletproof coffee with MCT oil & collagen peptides, and if I am going to work out in the morning I take 7-9g of BCAA’s.

*Keep in mind I have terrible IBS, so eating SOLID food first thing in the morning has never been my thing. Even when I do crave real food in the morning, I usually have a high-fat, protein-rich smoothie or a coconut yogurt because it takes several hours for my stomach to be able to metabolize and digest solid food. Also, I ascribe to the Bulletproof mentality of intermittent fasting on most days… so I try to wait 15 hours between dinner and breakfast every day because it helps digestion flow the best that way.

Late morning // I usually start getting hungry for actual food about 3 hours after my morning bulletproof + keto. If I get hungry earlier, which I sometimes do, I’ll make a chocolate protein shake with coconut milk and plant-based protein and maybe some almond butter. Then by noon-ish I am in the mood for a savory meal, so I’ll make three eggs scrambled or over-easy with a few slices of bacon or chicken sausage. I usually scramble in some spinach, scallions and maybe broccoli or cauliflower to sneak some veggie nutrients in too! Or if I am out to eat for meetings I will usually do a big salad with lots of protein, fats, and veggies!

Late afternoon // Since the above is usually a late breakfast/early lunch, I will have something late afternoon to hold me over until dinner. This could be anything from a high-fat smoothie (avocados are SO GOOD to use as a base here), a Bulletproof bar (YUM), coconut yogurt with raw chocolate (LOVE Coconut Cult & Eating Evolved), a chia pudding, avocado with sea salt and olive oil, some raw tuna, etc. I think you’re seeing a trend here of high fat or high protein with very minimal sugar. Those are my fave types of snacks that not only hold me over but give me energy.

Early evening // This is usually when I’ll have my second Keto OS. Some days I don’t have two, but often I do because I love the extra ketones in my body for brain function, metabolism, energy and so much more. I ALWAYS have a caffeine-free one at this time of day because homegirl is VERY sensitive to caffeine and it keeps me up at night if I have it too late!! If I am hungry and haven’t had a snack yet, I will sometimes turn this Keto drink into a smoothie with protein powder, nut butter, etc. SO good!!

Late evening // DINNERTIME! I am almost always an early dinner person. Ask anyone I know! I like to eat early because I really don’t like going to bed on a full stomach, and because of the nature of the way that I eat (times of day) it works for me to eat earlier usually. If I have to eat late because of an event or someone else’s schedule, I plan around it with later afternoon snacks so it’s no biggie. For dinner I really like to switch it up so it’s hard to say, but a typical meal would be salmon with veggies and sweet potato, chicken stir fry with veggies, sushi of any kind, a big salad from Sweetgreen or Simply Salad with plenty of protein and healthy fats, etc. And I usually finish off my dinner with a healthy dessert of some sort… usually more organic chocolate and nut butter!

So… that pretty much explains it! Some days are different than others, which is VERY normal. Sometimes I feel like having way more of a liquid day (usually due to stomach problems) so I will do all my morning drinks, a smoothie, bone broth, soup, etc. and then have more of a solid meal at dinner. Other days I’m ready for solid food by like 9:30am so I go for the eggs and bacon. The point is, I listen to my BODY!!!! So no two days are ever the exact same. And I totally want you to listen to your body too!

Hopefully this helps you to see that I eat lots of yummy high-fat foods, nutrient-rich animal protein, fibrous veggies, and I indulge in chocolate like all day long. I am by no means the starving vegan chick I once was. (Not that all vegans are starving. But I sure was.)

I advocate a balanced life above all else, and I hope you can see that products I LOVE like Bulletproof, collagen, Keto OS, etc. all rock my world because I come from a place of serious struggle when it comes to feeling good in my body, my stomach and so much more. I truly feel like all of the above is a GODSEND for me.

I think and KNOW that everyone deserves to feel this amazing. I think a lot of these principals will work well for a lot of people, but above all else I can’t wait for you to find what works best for you — and I can’t wait to keep connecting with you all every step of the way. <3

Also, PROBIOTICS!!!! Super necessary + amazing for all of us. I love ALIGN + also probiotics in Coconut Cult yogurt work WONDERS and taste like heaven.

XO, J

She shared this the day after our program ended, when no doubt a lot of us were feeling a little shell shocked about the fact that we had finished this insane endeavor, were moving on from a massive commitment we’d dedicated ourselves to and spent 300 hours working to complete, and many of us were sort of half glad, half freaked out that it was over.

The quote, from her FB page, reads:

“After such significant output don’t be surprised if you feel the draw to spend time resting on the couch, and maybe even a little melancholy. That it’s completely ok and ultimately balances out the high level of output required in the program [or anything in life requiring intense commitment]. It’s something that I’ve shared with my TT Students and PP Apprentices ever since. What I recognize is that as a Teacher/Mentor I move through the same process. I feel grateful for my teacher’s lesson that lets me be soft with myself and gentle as I too transition.”

You guys. OMG.

This really hits the nail on the head for me. And it’s not just about completing my 300-hour teacher training program. For me, it goes far deeper than that.

I am a notorious over-committer. That sentence in itself bugs me and makes me want to rip my hair out because I’ve no doubt written it upwards of 500+ times since starting this blog over four years ago. So some of you more longterm readers might be like, “Jordan, WE KNOW!!!”

And if you do know, that means you can most likely relate.

Sometimes it freaks me out how much “output” I have inside of me that I am constantly putting out into the world.

I can be charged with these seemingly endless bursts of energy that allow me to jump from photoshoots to writing my book to working on my blog to meetings on the opposite ends of town to hosting events to teaching yoga to being the fun auntie with my nieces to showing up in my relationship to going out with my friends on the weekends to waking up early to go on a long run to interviewing my podcast guests to talking to my mom on the phone for 3 hours to then hopping on an airplane to a different country and jetting directly to a book signing.

I don’t say all of this to sound cool and busy — I don’t think it IS cool to be too busy. It’s just a fact. I think it’s something we all do sometimes, whether we are bloggers, or moms, or CEOs, or doctors, or yoga teachers, or teacher trainees, or all of the above at the very same time.

I don’t think everyone is like this… you’ve got to be pretty “vata” to pull it off. In other words, you have to be sort of crazy.

I have been like this for as long as I can remember. I was born overextending myself. I used to get in my mom’s car after school in elementary school and beg her to let me have a friend over, and then beg my friend to spend the night, and then beg that friend to stay up all night talking to me, and do the SAME thing again the very next day.

I could never get enough!

And then in college, OH boy. I was literally never alone for more than 20 minutes at a time. I felt like if I wasn’t surrounded by people, having conversations, being everywhere that was “cool” to be, then I wasn’t living.

Then I hit a wall. I was young to be hitting this wall. I was 21 years old! I will remember the beginning of that transformation for the rest of my life.

I was studying abroad in Florence, Italy, and a few weeks into the experience I just couldn’t possibly drag myself to go to the clubs late at night with my friends. I also couldn’t force myself to be as socially out there and engaging as I usually wanted to be. I was with several of my close friends, and also made several close friends on that trip — but I stopped feeling the desire to be the girl that was EVERYWHERE with everyone.

I was happy to stay in and be QUIET. To work on a novel I was writing (didn’t finish it, but maybe one day…). To study Italian, of all things.

I just wanted to be… me. I was still going through the transition though. I started getting this deep itch to travel ALONE to a remote island somewhere to do yoga or have a spa retreat or just sit on the Arno River and meditate and speak to NO ONE. Instead, I signed myself up for a wild Halloween weekend at the Pink Palace in Greece (don’t go there) which is basically straight out of an episode of Girls Gone Wild.

You see, I resisted this newfound part of myself for a while. I didn’t know what to do with it. I thought there was something WRONG with me. When I got back to LMU after our study abroad semester ended, I was still this way! I lived in a house with six of my best friends but I just didn’t feel fulfilled in the same ways as I used to. So I signed up for my first Yogaworks teacher training. And the rest was history.

JK. It wasn’t history. It still took me a long time to fully make the transition from the WILD & FUN Jordan to the “SOMETIMES wild & fun” Jordan, and “SOMETIMES totally needs to keep to herself” Jordan.

Heck, I’m still learning! It’s a balancing act, as all things are.

Starting this blog was one of the best things I could ever do for myself on that front, because it gave me an outlet to be unapologetically me. In fact, it gave me a place to connect with people while also laying in bed and chilling out. It gave me a platform to be a voice, to use my voice, to connect and interact, and ALSO conserve my energy and my output to use for other things in life beyond social life, school and work commitments, etc.

Another thing that helped a ton was getting my CAT, Hudson, but don’t even get me started. Becoming a crazy cat mama has calmed me down in the most exponentially wonderful way I could ever even begin to explain. It makes me think that having children will do similarly wondrous things for my personality and my priorities.

Anyway, the point of this post is to remind you that it’s okay to stay home, relax, and not want to get out of bed sometimes.

It does not mean that you are depressed.

It does not mean that you are lazy or not motivated.

It does not mean that you are antisocial and should be picking yourself up and putting on a brave, energetic face just for the sake of it.

Sometimes it’s okay and it’s actually wonderful to lay in bed, play your music, and DO NOTHING! Watch a movie, cuddle with your cat, write a blog post, stare at the ceiling, take a nap, read a totally fun and non-informational book that is calling your name, anything you want.

In fact, it is my belief that if we take more time to ourselves, tap into our creativity and just let our minds relax… that is when amazing things can happen.

It’s only when we allow ourselves to take breaks that we grow to appreciate all of the amazing things around us and we recharge enough to be able to take on all of our usual, awesome commitments and activities and relationships.

I just felt the urge to write this because I am in bed right now, at 4:38pm on a Wednesday, and in about an hour I will be leaving for an award gala in Hollywood. I will have to do my hair and makeup and put on a gown… and in all reality, while that is fun, I also just want to lay in bed. All night.

And I want to serve as your reminder that that’s okay. It doesn’t mean that I hate what I do or that I won’t have fun tonight. It just means that my body is telling me it’s time to take a break, and it’s absolutely time to listen. My teacher training program just ended, I recently got back from Bora Bora (amazing!), and when I got back to LA I hit the ground running.

Breaks are okay.

They’re good.

Don’t fear the bed sessions.

Love you guys. Also, hope you enjoy today’s podcast episode with Rachel Mansfield!! She is everything. XO

The desire comes from a place of necessity at this point.

I’m sure I’m not the only 20-something who has gotten a taste of what it feels like to fall madly in love with her career, get obsessed with bringing her ideas to life, overcommit to a bajillion things, and then try (both successfully and unsuccessfully, at times) to juggle friends, family, exercise, personal life, travel, rest, work and everything else in life at the same time.

When I take a look at my work commitments alone, it’s enough to send my heart into a tailspin (anxiety talk… if you’ve ever experienced that chest clenching, stomach swirling, panicky fluttering heart feeling, you know what I’m talking about). And then there is that little thing called life outside of work that’s super important to me as well.

Here’s the dealio.

I have been knocked down by two super bad colds in the last month alone. I lead a yoga class for GirlTalk yesterday where I saw about 8-10 women that I had seen at the Collective Conference last month where I spoke on a panel about branding.

At that first conference, I was SUPER SICK and talked about it on stage. Yesterday, I was super sick and couldn’t really hear myself talk due to congestion up the wa-zoo.

Each of those women asked me yesterday, “OMG, did you never recover from your first cold?!?”

I assured them that yes, I had recovered, but this was another throat-killing, nose-stuffing, congested-as-all-hell situation that had crept up on me separately.

It probably doesn’t sound like that big of a deal — to get sick twice in one winter season. I am certainly not the only person in this position. But up until recently, I hadn’t been sick in a long time. I actually went YEARS without getting sick, especially getting sick to the point where I seriously couldn’t move from my bed (like this week).

It reminds me of my college years when I kept getting strep throat and bad colds. I had both of those more often than I was healthy! I spent almost my entire sophomore year drinking Jamba Juice’s “Cold Buster” and nursing a ridiculously sore throat. I rested a bit, but I also pushed and pushed and pushed myself to keep going, to go out, to stay up all night doing schoolwork, etc.

So, why now?!

I don’t know why I keep getting sick now, but something tells me it’s a little thing that I do called overcommitting.

Overcommitment is a real thing. I’m starting to think its sort of an epidemic… at least for millennials who have been told their whole lives to push through the challenges and work hard for what we want. That we can do anything if we put our minds to it and just keep going.

But that whole mentality is really the antithesis of the TBB-esque Jordan that I try to be.

This week, four people separately told me that they are very worried about me because of how hard I push myself when I get sick. (And worried that I keep getting sick in the first place.)

One person even said, “You know, there’s this awesome blog about FINDING BALANCE…”

Ha. Ha.

And then there’s the whole conversation I had on my podcast with Miranda, the animal communicator, in which my cat Hudson told me to SLOW THE F DOWN or else I would miss everything that was meant for me!

What Am I Going to Do About It?!

Don’t fear. I’m not complaining without a plan for a solution.

With 2017 coming up, I am going to dedicate myself to the goal of slowing doooooown once and for all.

I am even beginning to annoy myself with all of the talk about slowing down but not actually doing it.

I think one thing that will help is NOT OVERCOMMITTING, so being really, really, ridiculously clear on what I want and what my goals are for the new year.

I’m going to work on a list so I can share that with all of you, but for now my very initial thoughts are…

+ more yoga

+ less Instagram scrolling

+ more teaching

+ less traveling, unless planned way in advance

+ more nights in w/ bubble bath, candles + reading

+ less filling my calendar w/ too many plans + nights out

+ more meaningful moments w/ people I love (see, this is a big one… the meaningful part)

+ less showing up just because I “feel like I should”

+ more being PRESENT in each & every situation

+ less committing to big things without thinking 10x deeper about whether it’s a good idea for me

+ more executing the goals I really, truly want to accomplish

+ less adding new goals to my list while the other ones are in process

+ more podcasting (bc I LOVE IT and it weirdly helps me wind down and slow my roll)

+ less trying to do all of the podcast work myself (i.e. editing, equipment research, scheduling, etc.)

+ allow more HELP

+ less need for control

+ more VLOGS (that way you guys can keep me in check! And it’s fun for me!)

+ less saying “yes” to random stuff I don’t really want to do

+ more blocking out time in my calendar for ME so I don’t book right over all of that me-time I plan to have

+ less pressure on myself to have it all together and be so ON

+ more meditation, journaling, and spirituality

+ less DRIVING during rush hour (crushes my soul)

+ more self-care (spa days, massage, facial, steam, foam rolling, etc.)

+ less making choices that aren’t totally in alignment with what I want

+ more writing for the soul, not always just for work

+ less excess branding stuff that doesn’t really need to be there

+ more cooking meals at home! (and more soup, bc I am loving soup lately and it’s so nourishing)

+ less trying to do it all, all of the time.

Photo by the amaze Tamara Muth-King

THERE we have it! I have a lot to work on, and this list will expand, but I am so looking forward to truly slowing down in the new year.

This doesn’t mean being less social or being less there for the people I love. It actually means being MORE there for them by being more present and having less excess on my plate.

It also means big things for the TBB brand + blog, because I want to dedicate myself to everything about it in full without all of the EXCESS!

And teaching yoga — that’s going to be a big teacher & guide to me in the new year, which I think will be so helpful.

All in all, this is HAPPENING. I’m slowing down!!! Wish me luck. Who is joining?!

Then I sat down at my computer & opened a newsletter email from the FAB Isabel Foxen Duke — follow her if you don’t, she’s incredible — and the email was all about food freedom. The difference between having real, food freedom style self-control and forcing self-control yet feeling like a bottomless pit of hunger all the time and/or binging your face off.

And in that very moment, just 5 minutes ago, something hit me.

I feel TOTAL, complete, 100 million percent freedom from food. Most days lately, at least — and I am considering that a major win.

Let me tell you: DAMN, does it feel good.

I’ve been on the road to feeling this way for a while. Clearly you guys know I suffered from severe orthorexia, because I was very open about it (if you don’t know, you can read all about it here… Like, ALL about it). That was now 2, 3 and 4 years ago, respectively to each stage of the eating disorder.

I’ve been “recovered” for 2 years. But I have stomach problems, and food intolerances, and have had all sort of gastrointestinal, hormone, cortisol, skin, blood sugar and SIBO issues post-eating disorder that left it pretty hard to be “lax” about food.

So even in my recovery, even with all of the food freedom I allowed myself after those strict plant-based, juice cleanse obsessed years, I struggled. Heck, I even struggled on my recent family vaycay to Kauai because it’s still hard for me to be out of my routine & maintain the food freedom I have fought so hard for… with no access to a kitchen or any restaurant that I am used to.

But guess what? That’s okay.

I know what works for me, and I know what I need in order to feel good, healthy, energized, fueled, satiated, and most importantly HAPPY when it comes to food and life overall.

And after being disconnected to that for longer than I believe anyone should ever have to be disconnected from their body, it is an amazing feeling to have that freedom. That connection between my mind and body. The confidence that comes along with treating my body well, seeing the physical results, and being so damn proud of myself for making it to this point.

My healthy, happy, active, strong, free, confident bod & self that I love so much. <3

How did I get to this point?

Well gee whiz THAT will be a book in itself… but I do believe there are a few quick things I can share with you guys in this moment that will explain how I got here, and will hopefully help you too if you’re on the journey toward freedom with food, or freedom from ANY extreme diet or relationship with food. Let’s see here.

1. Paying attention to how I FEEL rather than how I look. When you listen to your body, it’s hard to go wrong. Now the working up to listening to your body and not letting all of your other thoughts and issues with food get in the way, that’s the real work. Every day ask yourself, how do I feel today? Do I need some extra energy from food to get through a tough workout? Am I legitimately hungry right now, or do I just feel deprived from all the recent deprivation I’ve inflicted on myself? Is that a real craving that I should satiate, or is that my body’s blood sugar response to the food that I ate (or didn’t eat) earlier today? Do I feel like an ultra healthy green shake for breakfast because my body WANTS it, or because that’s what I think I should be having? Those are all questions I’ve asked myself a LOT throughout my recovery… And when I am truly in tune with my body, I can answer those questions seamlessly. When I’m stuck in my head… I can convince myself that the kale salad with tempeh for every meal is DEFINITELY the way to go. The next tip will hopefully help you get out of your head, and INTO your body.
2. Be active. Challenge your body’s activity level on a daily basis. Break a sweat. Set (attainable) fitness-related goals. This, I believe, is the number one thing that has personally helped me find true recovery from my eating disordered mentality. I know that everyone’s mentality throughout recovery is different, so take this with a grain of salt. I’m an active person: 4-5 times a week I do HIIT, I train for half marathons / marathons, I do a lot of yoga, I walk everywhere I can. It’s taken me years to learn and accept that that is not a BAD thing… It is not unhealthy to care and be extremely passionate about my physical fitness. Exercise makes me feel strong — mentally and physically. It’s incredible for my anxiety, it has introduced me to some of the best people in my life, and it has been the #1 factor in my journey toward food freedom because with the fitness goals that I have, I MUST feed myself properly. I must balance my meals, eat enough carbs, eat enough protein and fat, get adequate rest, take rest days, etc. Being a very active person has been a saving grace in my life… and I find that when I am less active, I am less motivated to be kind to my body. In my own ED-trained mind, being less active becomes an excuse to eat less (sometimes far less) and get really strict with myself about meals / mealtimes. Being active is my freedom; it’s opened my eyes to a world of “eating like an athlete” to take CARE of my body and do something KIND for my body. It reminds me that my body and brain are one; we are in this as a team — in it together! I love that.That one time I ran a marathon.
   
3. Finding what works for ME when it comes to balancing control, awareness, and intuitive eating. This is a controversial topic in the recovery world. Eating intuitively versus having a labeled diet versus throwing caution to the wind and giving in to anything that FEELS like a craving. I’ve done it all. I find that what works for ME personally is reeling in the control and being very aware of what I am putting into my body. Lately I have been dabbling in the “IIFYM” (If It Fits Your Macros) lifestyle, and I swear it has been the final push to my feeling truly, abundantly comfortable with and around food. I think the lifestyle works for me because I am so active — if I wasn’t, it might feel like a chore or obsession to log my daily macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) and pay so much attention to them. Instead, it’s been so FREEING. I have been reintroducing so many new things into my diet like gluten-free bread, lots of sweet potatoes, rice cereal, quinoa, etc. I never really cut those out before, but I was just not a big carb girl. I was super into the protein life, and the veggie life of course, post-veganism. I am not attaching myself too rigidly to the “IIFYM” label — because it is NOTTT my label by any means, but it is a great baseline to make sure my protein, carbs, fat, fiber, etc. are balanced within my meals throughout the day. I have been eating MORE ever since logging my macronutrients, because I saw that I was not really getting enough calories, protein, or carbs for the amount of physical activity that I do… Which was of course leading to cravings, tiredness, and that constant wondering “I eat SO well… Why do I still feel like sh*t sometimes?”
4. Realizing that the more I allow myself to eat foods that I enjoy and WANT to have, the more normal I feel; and the less “starving” I feel. I liked being a clean eating junkie. I loved it. Obviously, it’s still a big part of my life. But you can’t always be the girl who orders veggies and lentils when you’re out to dinner. And you can’t always be the girl who had a protein shake at home before the party and doesn’t even touch the hors devours. But now with this whole “IIFYM” thing (if you don’t know what this lifestyle is, I’m happy to do a whole post on it or even a series of YouTube vids!) I am really opening up to a lot more variety. Toast with my eggs. Sweet potatoes with my toast. Chicken with my veggie omelette. Protein bars for a snack rather than for a meal. It’s so, so, so freeing. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it, and how much more down to earth (mentally) & satiated (physically) I have felt since beginning it. Really crazy, as I thought I already had that balance thing down before I began counting my macronutrients… but there is always room for improvement. (FYI — counting anything when it comes to nutrients, calories, macros, may be the exact OPPOSITE of what you need to find food freedom… but this absolutely did work for me. We are all so diff!).
5. Feeling happy, confident, sexy & incredibly happy in my own body. This can be a hard thing to do post-eating disorder, especially if you weren’t eating a lot and got compliments all the time for “being so thin.” Well, guys, let me tell you: after the rollercoaster of eating whatever I wanted post-eating disorder, being sort of restrictive again and again afterward, and finally finding a balance in between… you CAN find a happy medium where you feel amazing in  your body, HEALTHY in your body, without feeling deprived and also without feeling like a bloated whale. For me, this is where exercise, healthy choices, passion for wellness, counting macros, and eating for how I FEEL comes into play. You’re allowed to want to love the reflection in the mirror. Every SINGLE person in this world deserves that. And I can honestly say that when I look in the mirror, I love, love, love the person staring back at me. The body, the strength, the confidence, but most of all… The look in my eyes, that says, “Yeah, I’ve been through a lot. I’ve learned a lot. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m happy now, and I’ve got this. Not every day is perfect, and that’s the beauty of it. I trust myself, no matter the decisions I make, and I am awesome.”

Seriously. I speak to myself with that much sweetness & lovingness. THAT is the difference. I trust myself, I am so happy & never again will I get stuck in the cycle of getting down on myself for a “bad” food decision or the extra few pounds that will inevitably come and go for the rest of my lifetime.

Another thing that’s helped me with that? Seeing that some of my favorite people to be around, admire & follow; some of the most captivating, sexy, INCREDIBLE individuals that I know — do not have traditionally “perfect” bodies. In fact, they have many flaws. And in my eyes, they’re beautiful. I’d choose being around them over people with said perfect bodies any day — because what this whole LIFE thing is about, is personality. Kindness. Loveliness. Oh, and I know people with perfect bodies who are awesome too — and they too have had their roads & journeys to find their inner confidence. They don’t see themselves as perfect. Not many people do, but we all should.

One of my favorite YouTube channels to watch lately is Brittany Dawn Fitness. She has inspired me to try the “IIFYM” lifestyle and take it seriously instead of writing it off as some gimmicky fad like so many of the labeled diets are out there. The awesome thing about IIFYM is that it’s also known as FLEXIBLE DIETING… An incredible tool and resource for people post-eating disorder.

Also, as I mentioned, Isabel Foxen Duke is an incredible food freedom warrior & resource. You’ll love her stuff if you haven’t checked it out.

AND my dear friend & soul sister Emily Nolan also inspired me, with this incredible blog post about her wakeup call to find the balance between embracing body positivity & truly being, feeling, and radiating the healthiest version of herself. Ultimately, accepting that she would like to be healthier so she can enjoy her LIFE to the fullest, while also loving herself & being kind to her body through the entire process.

As you can see, I’m inspired by women from fitness competitors to ex-fitness competitors to dear friends seeking balance to people who have never set foot inside of a gym. I am attracted to passion, realness, personality, confidence, acceptance, and the road that it takes to get there. I am attracted to people who have been through something… Who don’t throw in the towel when life gets complicated AF.

You’ve got this. We’ve all got this. You deserve food freedom, and you deserve to look in the mirror and be madly in love with everything about the person staring back at you.

What do you think, loves? Happy to write more about this if it resonated with you… I hadn’t written about recovery or food freedom in a while, but MAN did I feel inspired to today! <3 XO 

The reason it’s taken me several months to sit down and write this post is because I wanted to try my new routine out for long enough before I declared any changes or gave you any super concrete details… Health is such an ever-evolving process, and even though I work with a lot of rockstar health professionals, I can only speak from MY experience and I never want to give you info that isn’t 110% thought out and from the heart.

(A.k.a: I’m never going to be one of those Internet people that claims to know everything about everything. I can be interested and share my experience, but I need my experiences to fully happen before I can fully share!! Ya feel me?)

So — here it goes…

My Health Journey & My Take on Functional Medicine

Let’s begin where it all started — about a year ago, I was pretty unhappy with my health. I had “broken vegan” nearly a year prior, and was eating all sorts of foods I hadn’t touched in years. Red meat, sugar, poultry, eggs, you name it. I was still health conscious and very careful about organic/local/healthy compared to the average person, but for me I had strayed a little far from what I know I need to do/eat in order to feel my best.

I didn’t FEEL like myself. My stomach hurt terribly, I was bloated, I had gained some weight, my skin was a wreck, and no matter what I tried, I felt like my hormones or SOMETHING inside of me were preventing me from getting back to the balanced, happy, content state that I so craved and had found in the past with ease.

30 Days of “Clean”

I tried a 30-day “Clean” cleanse by Dr. Alejandro Junger, and after 30 days of two smoothies a day and a salad with lean meat and veggies… Literally not one thing about me had changed. My bloating, my weight, my skin, my general feeling of non-lightness and not-my-usual energy… It was all the same, and I wasn’t feelin’ too hot.

The moment my holistic nutritionist, Kelly Leveque, heard that nothing had changed whatsoever after I did the Clean cleanse, she told me I needed to see someone to figure out what might be wrong. My body just wasn’t functioning properly. So she referred me to her functional medicine doctor, Dr. Lekkos.

Trying Functional Medicine

At the time I remember feeling hopeful-ish but also kind of at a loss. I had seen tons of doctors by that point… gastroenterologists, acupuncturists, general physicians, nutritionists, colonic hydrotherapists, Eastern healers, on and on — no one had been able to solve my issues and I really wasn’t sure that anyone would be able to at that point.

This is also after YEARS / a lifetime’s worth of stomach issues, food allergies/intolerances, and general discomfort that had forever gone undiagnosed. I wasn’t too hopeful that anyone would have the magic answers for me.

Then in came Dr. Lekkos — after my first meeting with him I could tell that he was going to go above and beyond to try to help me. Our first consultation was nearly 3 hours long, and I wound up not only telling him about my current health issues and my life history of food issues, but also about the anxieties in my life that were driving me nuts and causing the problems to be even worse.

He listened and assured me that he could help, and after he explained everything he was going to do, even I was hopeful that we would find something. He ordered extensive rounds of blood work, a cortisol saliva test, a stool test to look into gut bacteria, and a SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) test to cover all of the bases.

Functional medicine is a totally different approach than anything else I’d ever tried. It’s an individualized, “inside out” approach that focuses on the PERSON rather than the symptom. Dr. Lekkos’s goal is to balance the complex interplay of our bodies’ internal physiology.  It’s about the longterm, not the short term.

I LIKE IT.

Taking the Tests (Or not…) LOL.

In typical Jordan fashion it took me WAY too long to get the tests done… I’m talking 6 months long, but in my defense it’s also during the time that my book came out.

Plus, I think a part of me was still holding onto a shred of hope that I could solve my problems on my own or that they would just disappear. That didn’t happen… but it was a nice thought for a while there, hehe.

Right after I ran the LA Marathon I knew it was time to finish the last of the tests and find out what was going on with me. I still felt so off, and while I didn’t feel quite as foggy and gross as I did initially (due to a few diet changes), I still knew I needed guidance and some serious answers. So I sucked it up, finished the tests, sent them in, and waited (sort of patiently, but not really) for the results to come in.

Then I started getting super excited about what the results might hold… And before I knew it, it felt like I was preparing for something far more exciting than a doctors’ visit. I knew I was about to get answers about my health and my body that I had been trying to get to the bottom of for 15+ years.

Getting My Results!

When I went in for my results, Dr. Lekkos couldn’t have been nicer about how long it took me to get the tests done. We joked about it, and then we dove into the mountain of paperwork that held my answers. I knew it was all important, but I also knew that some parts were going to be super pertinent to changes I needed to make, and others would be a litttttle over my head. I’m telling you — the blood work was super extensive, in a good way.

The MAIN things I found:

There were a couple of massive things I learned from my test results. One of those was that I had a PARASITE in my stomach, and who knows how long it had been there. It was likely causing/worsening a lot of the issues I was having, including the bloating, pain, indigestion, acid reflux, food intolerances, etc.

So I immediately got on an antibiotic for that, and just recently completed another round! Knowing that I am parasite-free is such a huge relief, especially knowing that I would have never even known about the issue without the tests that we ran. I probably developed it from food or water contamination… Which freaks me out, considering I still don’t know where I got it or how long it was inside of me. Eek.

A few other big things I found out were that my hormones were indeed out of whack. My estrogen was high, my progesterone was low, pregnenolone was low, and my cortisol (stress hormone) was off-the-charts high in the mornings and then dipped down in the early afternoon.

Talk about all over the place!

So he started me on a bunch of natural supplements to remedy the hormone imbalances, and I have been feeling a lot more leveled out lately. I also stopped drinking coffee, which I think has helped massively as well!! Going coffee-free keeps me more grounded and even-keeled throughout the day… it’s been a real game changer.

Another big finding was the food stuff. I didn’t have nearly as many allergies or intolerances as I’d thought… But the ones I did have were the ones I had known all along but had never had the REAL answers to. Now I know for sure that I am intolerant to gluten and dairy (of course — they both make me crazy nauseous/bloated), and there were also some surprising ones in there like eggs, mushrooms, cranberries and chicken.

Cutting eggs out of my life has helped a ton, and now weirdly I can’t even look at them without feeling weird (lol) — but knowing that my body was having a bad reaction to them is the knowledge I needed in order to take control and take care of myself properly.

That’s the thing. Knowledge about our bodies is power, and without that knowledge we are kind of helpless. We have to take the initiative to get the help we need — whatever that might look like — and once we do, we are much better off and equipped with the tools to be KIND to our bodies and help ourselves achieve balance again.

My main priority in life is to feel healthy, balanced and whole in my body… Because when I feel that way, I am able to be fully present, enjoy life to the fullest, be the most passionate about my work and relationships, be active with ease, and so much more.

It’s so WORTH IT and so important.

SEE A FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE DOCTOR!

If you live in the LA area and struggle with stomach, hormone, or general issues I would highly recommend seeing Dr. Lekkos in Santa Monica. He is a LIFESAVER, and I have referred so many people that I care about to him because he truly works in an innovative and incredible way… He is the first doctor who has ever TRUSTED that I feel as crappy as I do, and has ordered the tests and done the work to bring me the answers that I’ve needed.

The big update now, is that I feel great. 

I feel BALANCED and whole, and closest to that wonderful balanced state that I have desired and missed for so long when I didn’t feel well. I want that for ALL of you, and for me I know it will require continuing to be diligent and stay on top of it.

I also work closely with an Ayurvedic practitioner to help keep my stress levels down and make sure I am in a balanced dosha state with food + lifestyle, and I see a therapist regularly to also keep my anxiety down — it takes a village, I’m telling you, but it is so worth it.

So worth it.

YOU are worth it.

I hope this helped you if you have ever experience any of the issues I have… Especially post-eating disorder I know it can be so hard finding balance again, and I am always here if you have any questions. Love you guys, and cheers to #BALANCE and health and happiness.

MUAH!

P.S. I am happy to write a post about the exact supplements I’ve been taking and the roles that they each play if anyone would be interested. Let me know below if so, and I will work on that! XO 

Bone broth. 

Yep, bone broth. For thousands of years, traditional cultures all over the world have emphasized using entire animals in their cooking – which includes the bones. Bone broth is great for people with stomach problems because it improves digestion. That’s how it entered into my life… As a natural remedy for my digestion issues! 

It is often used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat tummy probs, because it is SUPER healing for the gut an due to its amino acid and gelatin content, it enhances the absorption of nutrients from other foods.

Bone broth can be made from poultry, beef, bison, lamb, and fish… AND there is even a way to make a vegan one, as demonstrated by Brothee‘s vegan mushroom flavor that I am obsessed with. (More on that at the bottom.)

Basically, because there are so, so, so many health benefits, I’m going to hit you with a list of some of my very favorite reasons why bone broth is the awesomest.

Why Bone Broth is AWESOME / Some of the many, many health benefits:

• Reduces inflammation in the bod (thanks to the gelatin in the broth absorbing water and helping to keep fluid in the digestive tract)
• Boosts immune system, because most of our immune system exists in the gut — and bone broth works wonders to improve gut health!
• Regulates blood sugar — this is a big one for me because anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder knows that getting your stabilized blood sugar back on track is a JOURNEY, man. I love that the nutrients in bone broth naturally regulate blood sugar and help us stay in an effortless state of balance.
• Enhances muscle repair and muscle growth. I know I’m not the only workout fiend around here! I have been drinking this before my workouts (even drank it right before the Hollywood 10k at 6am the other week, much to Alexi and my sister’s dismay! LOL) and have had really no muscle pain or soreness lately.
• Has a calming effect on the nervous system: Glycine (in the gelatin part of the broth) has been found to help with sleep because it can decrease anxiety and promote mental calmness because it is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. BIG TIME awesomeness for an insomniac like me!
• DETOXES the bod: Our liver’s ability to detox depends on how much glycine is available and bone broth/gelatin has a ton of glycine.
• Increases strength of bones, because it’s high in calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous.
• Strengthens our hair and nails, thanks to the high amount of protein in collagen, which is also found in bone broth!
• Improves allergies and food intolerances because it lines your gut with good stuff and helps get rid of waste and build up in the gut. (And also helps to get rid of leaky gut!)
• Improves memory because it’s full of good fats and protein.

How to Make Your Own Bone Broth (If You Wanna Go That Route):

Put bones from chicken, beef, or fish in a crockpot and add veggies, herbs, and spices; cook on low for 24-72 hours. 

Make sure that the meat that you’re buying is high quality & organic from grass fed cattle, wild caught fish, or pastured poultry. 

The reason you cook it for so long is because the long cooking time removes as many nutrients as possible from the bones, so the nutrients will be in your broth and you can get the fab benefits!

You can use bone broth as a base for soups and sauces, use it to cook vegetables, or drink it by itself as a warm drink. I love to heat mine up and drink it in a mug with Brothee’s HARISSA GHEE and/or their PESTO GHEE. I am so freaking obsessed with ghee it’s not even funny. 

I also like to add roasted veggies to mine like broccoli, carrots & snap peas! Sometimes I add tofu or a bit of shredded chicken and avocado if I’m going for a more filling meal like lunch or dinner.

Where to find the best bone broth, if you don’t go the “make it yourself” route:

I would never judge if you don’t want to make bone broth yourself. In all honesty, I don’t make mine myself. I am an on-the-go kind of gal, and when I find someone who does things the way I like them done (i.e. organic, natural, local, delicious, good vibe company, good people), then I like to support them and have them do what they do BETTER than me so I can enjoy it!

My favorite, favorite, favorite company that I have come across is called Brothee, and they are local to LA so I discovered them at the Brentwood farmer’s market! And I also have to mention that this is not a sponsored post, this is just realness. I am in love with what they do, I drink their broths on the daily, and I want to share their awesomeness with you.

They are committed to running an environmentally conscious company, and they strongly believe in respecting all animal and plant life. They only purchase their ingredients from ethical farms, and they source local whenever possible. They ALSO don’t endorse any particular diet or lifestyle as better or more healthy than another, but instead celebrate conscious, balanced living.

UMMMM, does that sound like my philosophy or what?!

So supportive of what these guys are doing! You can order their products for pickup at farmer’s markets,  and if you’re not LA local… Then you might need to make a trip out here to try this stuff! It’s phenomenal.

TBB’s Favorite?!?!

My favorite switches every day. Sometimes I like to go for the chicken broth because I love the taste and I think it’s a little lighter than a beef broth, but on other days the heartiness of the beef broth is exactly what I need. I also love Brothee’s vegan mushroom broth — it still has the great, powerful flavors of the other bone broths and it’s 100% veggie-based, which sometimes is exactly what I need!

Other places to find bone broth in LA, just in case… Erewhon, Bel Campo, local farmer’s markets (it’s popping up everywhere now! LOVE), Earth Bar, & I’m sure plenty of other places that I haven’t seen yet!

But yes, Brothee = my fav. The most flavorful and delicious by far in my opinion.

What do you think?! Have you tried bone broth yet? Willing to give it a try? Some people are super anti- and I get it, it’s weird to drink something that comes from BONES! But when you don’t think about it that way and you enjoy it for it’s medicinal purposes and its yummy flavor… Then you are golden. <3 

XO