Are You Getting Enough Iron on the Raw Vegan Diet?

by Joanna Steven

Are You Getting Enough Iron on the Raw Vegan Diet
by Joanna Steven
When I first told my doctor that I planned on getting pregnant some time this year, she immediately prescribed a multivitamin. Since I am aware of the fact that many raw women cannot stomach leafy greens and other super nutritious foods in the early months of their pregnancy, I decided to go ahead and take them. But when I noticed that each pill contained twice the daily requirement of iron, I was a little concerned.

According to the MedlinePlus Encyclopedia, iron overdoses can cause anything from dehydration to liver damage. When I told her that my hemoglobin level was already 44 (with 37 being the limit between normal levels and anemia, and 47 the limit between normal and excessive levels) without even taking a supplement, she mentioned the fact that as a vegetarian, taking iron supplements wouldn’t hurt, and that pregnant women need more iron anyway.

Still, I wasn’t convinced. If my iron level is so good without me even paying attention to it, I should be able to eat enough iron rich food to get me through my pregnancy without difficulty. I started incorporating various iron rich ingredients into my daily recipes, and realized that really, when we eat healthy, nutritious raw foods, we should get all the iron we need without taking supplements.

Most dieters are not aware of the fact that raw vegan ingredients contain more than enough iron for good health, more so than red meat and other supposedly iron rich foods.
For example, let’s look at hemp’s nutritional profile. A quarter of a cup of hemp contains 40% of our daily iron requirement. By contrast, a serving of red meat contains only about 10 to 15%. We would need to eat 10 steaks a day to get enough iron, while a little more than ½ a cup of hemp is more than enough!

Another super iron rich food is parsley. Some people like to juice it, or add it to green smoothies. I personally find it a bit strong in smoothies, and I once read that parsley juice wasn’t recommended during pregnancies (parsley as a whole food is healthful, but massive quantities such as in parsley oil or large parsley juices aren’t recommended). My favorite way of eating it is simply in tabbouleh. And since I substitute the traditional bulgur wheat with hemp, my tabbouleh really becomes an iron powerhouse!

In the nuts and seed department, pumpkin seed and unhulled sesame seeds really shine. Just an ounce of either seed provide nearly ¼ of our daily iron requirement. I love sprinkling pumpkin seeds on salad, or adding them to flax crackers. And sesame seeds can be slipped into nearly anything as they are so small, or they can be a dish’s main attraction if you use tahini (sesame butter) as part of a salad or kale chips dressing. In general, other nuts and seeds such as sunflower, cashew or flax will provide around 10% of our iron needs per ounce.

Eating an iron rich raw vegan diet is really easy, and here are a few recipes to get you started!

Protein & Iron Strawberry Banana Shake (serves 2)
This recipe provides 30% of the FDA’s protein and iron requirement, as well as more than 300% of our daily vitamin C requirement, thus enhancing our body’s ability to absorb iron. It also provides 25% of our folate requirement, an important nutrient during pregnancy.

Protein & Iron Strawberry Banana Shake (serves 2)
This recipe provides 30% of the FDA’s protein and iron requirement, as well as more than 300% of our daily vitamin C requirement, thus enhancing our body’s ability to absorb iron. It also provides 25% of our folate requirement, an important nutrient during pregnancy.

−    4 cup sliced, strawberries
−    2 large bananas, frozen
−    ¼ cup hemp seeds
−    ½ to 1 cup water
−    Agave or honey to taste, depending on the fruits’ sweetness

Directions:
Blend all the ingredients until smooth. If using fresh bananas, you can add a few ice cubes for a cool, refreshing smoothie.

Parsley & Hemp Tabbouleh
I often look at ethnic recipes for nutrition. Often, the ingredients within them have been combined, consciously or not, to ensure maximum nutrition absorption while tasting wonderful. This salad supplies more than 50% of our iron requirement for the day, as well as a generous 20 grams of protein.

Ingredients:
−    2 ounces parsley, chopped
−    1 Roma tomato, diced finely
−    1 T fresh mint, chopped
−    3 T hemp seeds
−    1 green onion, diced
−    1 T olive oil
−    1 T fresh lemon juice
−    Pinch salt

Directions:
−    Toss all ingredients together except for the tomatoes. Refrigerate until ready to use, and add the tomatoes just before serving. If the tabbouleh stays in the fridge for too long, it might start to dry out. Simply add a little more olive oil and toss one more time.

Quick & Easy Morning Cereal
This cereal is so quick and easy, and my husband likes it more than all the really complicated ones that needs lots of dehydrating and prep time. Adding nut milk make the mix even more nutritious.

Ingredients:
−    1 T pumpkin seeds, soaked
−    1 T sunflower seeds, soaked
−    1 T raisins
−    1 T dry apricots, finely diced
−    1 T prepared raw chocolate chips, chopped (or a few cacao nibs)
−    Anything you want to add! Berries, fresh fruits cut into small cubes etc. are especially good

Directions:
Toss all the ingredients together into a bowl, add some nut milk, and enjoy!

(21-Day Challenge) Day 5: Lasagna Lovin’ on a Friday Night!

I just mopped my floors. Mr. Right is on his way to pick up my new friend Andrea and they’re coming over for dinner. Andrea is an Alissa Cohen grad and has been busy all day making some amazing food for tonight. She and I met at a raw food potluck recently and I loooooove her! We’re going to start doing workshops together and tonight is our “executive business planning meeting”.

Mr. Right is a marketing G E N I U S, so we want to tell him all about our big plans to RAWK Montréal and we’re shmoozing him with a scrumptious raw food meal. But before it all happens, I just couldn’t resist checking in to see how everyone’s doing. So TELL ME, why don’t ya?! Here’s my ditty for the day:

Today was sunny and filled with promise.

I went and played in a soccer field barefoot for a while–to touch the Earth and feel grass between my toes… to look up at the sky while lying on my back and feel like I could stretch myself to eternity.

I feel good.

I feel on track and focused.

Sometimes the simple declaration that you’re going to take on a challenge with the intent to achieve a certain goal is enough. Sometimes it feels as though it’s enough to state your intention to do something and then it’s like the Powers that Be conspire in your favor.

I’ve been making a juice every day. I’ve not been saying, “I’m going to do a juice feast,” or trying to impose weird ultimatums on myself. I’ve just been making juice and drinking it. That feels good! It sure helps to keep the juicer perched on the counter at all times. I’ve developed a new mess-reduction technique and it’s working for me!

I’ve been eating well and realize all over again that the simpler the foods are, the more they appeal to me. Fancy dishes and complicated recipes are tasty and serve their purpose, but I’m quite content with an avocado or a few fresh figs or a mango just as they are. No pomp and circumstance.

How’s your challenge going?

Are you keeping points for yourself?

I’ve not been ready to take on the idea of points until now because I’ve been so focused on just getting my feet on the ground after this move, but I’ve decided that for the remainder of this challenge, which is about 15 or 16 days, I’m going to give myself points every day for:

• making a juice
• eating 100% raw
• vigorous, sweat-producing exercise for 20 minutes or more.
• staying positive and celebrating life’s unexpected surprises that come in what feels like ugly wrapping paper! “Staying in the driver’s seat” of my Life.

I can give myself 2.5 points for each one to have a nice, round 10/10. Since there are only 15 days left, I will have a top score of 150. If I am a total champion and I know it, then Mr. Right is going to take me to the Spa and I am going to go for another pedicure (no matter what my budget tells me).

If I cruise close, but no cigar, no spa and no pedicure, but I’ll buy what it takes to learn how to do a home pedicure. Or something like that. Shopping would be nice… new summer shoes, perhaps…

Anyway, I feel on target. This new apartment is marking some new beginnings and it feels good even with a few growing pains.

Here’s the interview I promised you from yesterday! Susan Shenk is the author or Live Food Factor and I highly recommend you check it out!! She’s offering a ridiculously good deal on this book, but look for yourself and see what I mean.

On this call she discusses the things she thinks are most important to succeed on the raw food diet.

• -Why people mess up trying to follow the raw food path.
• -The most important reasons for going raw.
• -What an 80-90 percent raw food diet cannot do that a 100% raw diet CAN do.
• -tricks for healthy weight loss or maintaining your weight
• -how to build healthy habits
• -how long it should take to get over “detox” once you’re all raw

and a whole lot more! It’s a quick call. Quick and action-packed. I think you’ll really like what she has to say and again… she’s got a 660 page book selling for 25 smackeroos AAAAAAAAND, she’s got like 70-plus FREE Bonus gifts and ebooks that come with it. She’s definitely a woman of extremes, but I think a lot of us can relate! Check her out and check out that comment section below to let us know how you’re doing out there!

I’m getting ready for lasagna! onion bread! yuummmmmy salad and CHEESECAKE!! Mmmmm…

I better go before company shows up and I’ve got my nose glued to my e-life. Hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Lasagna love,

Tera

Love and

21-Day Challenge: Whose life are you living, anyway?

I thought I posted this last night, but after bonking my head on the keyboard for the 20th time, I just went to bed. Anyway, here’s the message that was supposed to have been delivered at the end of a day to be reckoned with:

What a day! I’m not going to spend any time mitching and boning about it, but I will say that the above question is a very good one.

This started as being about how to get back the steering wheel on your life–no matter what happens, no matter who knocks you down. Holy Moley, Macaroni, it’s almost as if Life is doing everything she can to test out my driving skills this week!

Whose life are you living, anyway?

I cannot promise that I won’t piss off or annoy a few people in my path despite my best intentions to lead a loving, honest life. If there’s something you learn working in customer service it’s that you really can’t please everybody.

I’m inspired this afternoon after an interesting day to ask you these questions:

• Do you change yourself to have the approval of others?
• Do you speak your thoughts as you feel them–with respect, but honesty?
• Do you say what you mean and mean what you say?
• Do you seek praise or approval from others and change yourself to get it?
• Do you live your life as the passionate expression of who you are, where you are, as you are?

It’s tough sometimes not to mold ourselves to a social veneer. Fat, ugly, short or stubby we all have our way of being and living and looking. And sometimes this way of being is bound to rub someone else the wrong way. Chalk it up to karma or “vibes” if you want to. The bottom line is, you gotta be you even if being you ruffles feathers sometimes.

I won’t be able to say at the end of my days that I didn’t step on anyone’s toes, cuz hoooooly moley macaroni, I did step on toes. But I risked a lot and pushed hard to touch the most people I could with a message that I believe in. That’s what’s going to count the most for me at the end of my days.

Today is MY first day of this challenge. It’s the first day I’ve had to sit down and think about what I want out of this adventure. I’m settled into my new apartment and it feels good to be connected and to have a place to put my wandering roots for a little while.  I’m focused on the positive and excited about the adventure.

I just finished a super-inspiring interview with Susan Shenck. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, and give you access to some neat info and an amazing recipe she passed along to me.

I’m on my way to go get some groceries and here are the things I’m committing to for the duration of our lead up to Summer:

Eat raw. No finger dipping in the cooked food sauce. Just raw, raw, raw, raw. Because I want to and because I can.

Chill out on the salt (even sea salt) consumption.

Work on not eating late.

Work on not working late.

Sleep when I’m tired.

Make a juice every day.

I still have to figure out the points, but hey… even if I get a good 10 out of 21 days, that’s better than none. I’ll be back with an inspiring interview tomorrow and more thoughts to think on.

Love,

Tera

I AM Connected!

Despite all manner of obstacles, impediments and adversity I AM OFFICIALLY ONLINE!!

The odds were stacked against me. The Videotron technician came late and without a screwdriver. He couldn’t find the right “box” or “cables” to make it all happen and the details didn’t interest me, quite frankly. He was on the phone with my landlord trying to sort it all out when he came a whisper away from packing it all in.

But with a sparkle in my eye, I just looked at the quy and told him I wanted my internet connection working before 7:00pm. Then, naturally, I gave a friendly smile and asked what needed to be done next. He threw out a few four letter words in French and I think the fact that my landlord suggested I get service with their competitors sparked a rebellion within the Videotron technician and before I knew it little ol’ me was up on the roof of my apartment laying down cable.

And approximately 25 minutes ago, I got my internet up.

While this is a brilliant example of persisting in the face of adversity, I confess…

…the last two days have been pretty poopy.

The lack of sleep to pull off a move and all the nook and cranny cleaning of the apartment I left followed by the apartment I moved into means I didn’t even have the time, yet, to stop and ask what I want to challenge myself for over the next 21 days, or how I’ll reward myself.

Until now.

And you lovelies are already on Day 3. How are you doing? There sure were a lot of people stating their intention to participate in the beginning. Are you still with us?

If you’ll forgive me, this is just a quick little love note to let you know I’m settled in and getting my ducks in a row. I have a teleseminar with Dr. Ritmarie and tomorrow, after a good night’s rest, I’ll come on here and post a bit about my points, pleasures and prohbitions related to our 21-Day Challenge.

I have TWO teleseminar treats for you this week and just a few more details to organize in order to make it all happen.

I think you are the sparkliest sparkle puff in the whole wide world and I really hope you’re doing well. Let me know you’re still out there, and how things are going for you! HUUUUUGE thanks to Keely and Jimmy for keeping up the fort in my absense. You guys are cutie patooties. Thank you! Thank you!

Juicier update from me tomorrow…

Sweet dreams, Sunshine!

Tera

(21 Day Challenge) Day 2: New Beginnings

 
  The beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression more readily taken.

(21 Day Challenge) Day 1: You Will Fly!

As Tera is in the middle of her move to a new apartment … a new chapter in her life … and will be without internet connections until Wednesday,  I thought I would send you a little bit of inspiration for your first day of the 21 Day Challenge! 

I hope you fly through these next 21 days!

Kiwi Kisses!
Keely

On Your Mark, Get Ready, Get Set…

Well, I think most humans juggling what I am juggling right now would probably see their doctor and get medicated for anxiety, but I’ve always found a sweet spot living on the verge of “impossible” and “maximum potential”.

What a ride!

Tomorrow is May 30th, and I took it upon myself to create a magnificent opportunity for some of the most committed caracters around here to come together and renew their commitments to themselves, each other and a life worth living!

I think this 21-Day Challenge comes at the PERFECT time and so I decided to invite members of my cozy coaching group (here’s your official invitation, my dears ), participants of the 6-Week Detox and anyone who has the care and interest to read my daily ditty to join me in a VERY special call.

Here’s the link you’ll need. It’s happening tomorrow night and it IS our official kick off to the 21-Day Challenge. If you have questions about anything going on for you, need support, advice a kick in the butt, THIS is a great time to come in and let it all hang out. You’re going to connect with the other courageous critters around here who have their sites set on a beautiful life and we’ll motivate and inspire each other for the 21 days leading to the arrival of Summer!

Remember: If you didn’t read the official announcement for this Challenge, you might like to do that HERE. It’s important to take time to set your targets and goals. Life without goals is directionless and disorganized. What’s sailing without a destination? Set your goals for the 21 days, for the next 6 months and for the year, if you’re up to it. Chart the course for your voyage and then use those targets and goals to help you identify the things, people and situations that support you. Focus on those things and create more of them or more opportunities to be with them if it’s people. (I hope that means we’ll be seeing more of you around here. )

When you’ve identified what helps, what heals, what makes life work, then you’re even more able to eliminate the things that trip you up and get you off track. But, remember, too, that the obstacles, barriers and “enemies” to your process are there to keep things interesting! Keep that perspective and NOTHING will knock you down again.

Half the fun of living is overcoming adversity.

If you could just have what you wanted all the time, life would be a drag. You NEED your problems to keep you interested and looking for solutions. Sometimes, after Life deals out a few harsh blows, some peole lose their spirit of play and adventure. We fall victim to life rather than engaging actively in making it what we want it to be.

The whole reason for this adventure is to get YOU back to holding the steering wheel on your beautiful life. You gotta know where you’re going (or at least have a marvelously enticing idea of where that might be) and know what’s going to slow you down and try to stop you, so you can overcome it that much easier.

The sky’s the limit, and if you’re crazy enough (like me!) the sky might not even be the limit. Maybe you’ll shoot yourself and your possibilities out there in some other galaxy far away.

This is YOUR game.

This is YOUR life.

Make it a beautiful adventure and while you may lose money, friends and find yourself in all kinds of unexpected, unpleasant experiences, NEVER EVER EVER lose your spirit of play!

Here’s to you, Snuggle Puff!

Hope to catch you tomorrow night for a Kick-Butt Kick Off Call to the next 21 Days of YOUR amazing adventure.

Gushing galactic good vibrations,

Tera

It Takes 21 Days to Form a New Habit

That’s what they say, anyway.

Oh, whatdya know…

…there are just about 21 days until the first day of Summer. You up for a challenge, my dear?

A 21-Day Challenge? While I juuust finished the 90-Day “Don’t Be So Obsessed About What You Eat” Detox, I can’t resist knowing that the next 21 days leading up to summer are the perfect opportunity for another group adventure.

Life without targets, goals, and objectives is like being stuck in a descending spiral.

*bleeeech!*

Life with goals that have no obstacles or challenges wouldn’t be much fun either. Life is a game. You need adversity, opponents and obstacles to make it interesting.

So, my dear Sister, in the game of YOUR beautiful life, what are you trying to build or create? What are your goals and objectives?

I’m not just talking about food, but fortune. I don’t mean taking 3 inches off your thighs, but taking three trips around the globe. I don’t know what you’d like to align your stars to make happen in your life, but here’s my proposition, Sparklepuff!

A 21-Day Challenge To Help You Get The Steering

Wheel Back on Your LIFE!

The Objective:

1) Determine your primary targets and objectives for the next month, 6 months, year. Write them down and even better, write them HERE! Announce them to the world. At least a few of them. Where are you going? Life’s a journey, what’s your destination? (At least for the short term!)

2) Prioritize the things that empower and uplift you! The things and people and places that will make your targets and objectives happen faster and more easily. Make a list. Identify the things that BUILD AND EMPOWER YOU!

3) Remove the distractions, barriers, and obstacles in your way! These may take the form of unhealthy habits, people or patterns of communication. I’m not sure what it is. That’s for you to determine when you look at your goals and what keeps you from them.

If it takes 21 days to build a new habit, then your new habit is going to be…

Taking the Steering Wheel Back On Your Life!

And whatever else you feel you need most to put in place for yourself.

We get caught up in recipes and menu planners and bed times and juicers. We get caught up in these details, but they’re just details. What matters more than anything is that you OWN YOUR EXPERIENCE AS IT IS! Embrace where you are and if you’re not happy with it, DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT BETTER!

You’re the captain of your ship and you’ve got a crew of inspired women here to support you.

Ahoy!

Rules of the Game

Let’s start on the 1st of June and end on the first day of Summer (June 21st, 2009)! That’s also Father’s Day, by the way. Every day until then is worth 10 points.

You’ll need to determine “The Prize” by establishing a predetermined set of activities or adventures that motivate and inspire you. Based on a 210 point system have a bronze, silver, gold and platinum level prize. Write them down. You’ve got a couple days to name the stakes of your adventure.

What will motivate you? A new dress, a day at the spa, a night out with the love of your life? Maybe it’s just something as simple as a CD you’ve been wanting to buy yourself or an afternoon nap in the sun at the park.

Find what motivates and inspires YOU into action–what’s the carrot you’ll dangle in front of your own nose to motivate action and inspired change throughout this 21 days leading up to Summer!

You’ve just come through a 90-day detox! 21 is a piece of cake!

You determine your points earned every day  to a maximum of 10 and your score is simply based upon how you feel about your ability to be in the driver’s seat of your life, no matter what happens!!

Examine your:

• productivity
• efficiency
• clarity
• sleep
• energy
• overall happiness and appreciation for Life!

How quickly do you pick yourself up when life kicks you around?

How do you stay focused and on target when distraction strikes?

Do you put your needs first or squish them under the need to help or please others around you?

Do you say what you want and need to say or suppress your communication in “consideration” of others?

YOU are the judge and jury based upon how you feel.

The Point Scale:

10- YEeeeehhhhaaaw!!

You feel in charge of the experiences you create for yourself! This is the kinda of day where you literally feel the wind under your wings and giggle at just how clever you are. YOU make the rules and play them. This is the kind of day when you kick Life’s butt and she respects you for it.

1- Fizzle, Fart, Flop.

Stuff happens to you. You’re complaining, disappointed, frustrated and not living in the moment looking for the gifts your situation has to offer. You’re stuck and it sucks.

You’re the one who knows your limitations and potential better than anyone. You know what you need to do to feel rested, alert, and ON FIRE about your goals and objectives in life! What does it take for you to appreciate where you are and when you’re not where you want to be, what can you do to put yourself there?

You might not get all the sleep you want every night, and you might not eat all the right foods, but you ALWAYS have the choice to take the steering wheel on your life and make your day something worth celebrating. THAT is what counts here more than artificially imposed guidelines on sleep, food etc.

We’re here looking to expand our potential and improve our lives. Climb on board with me for this 21-day adventure and put in place a few habits and healthy ways of thinking that will get you even closer to where you’re trying to go.

If you’re up for the adventure, just slip in a comment and shout out “Aho!” and let the games begin!!

How Cool You Are Already

This isn’t about you not being “good” enough, or having to “improve” yourself. It’s about living to your maximum potential. It’s about feeling the wind beneath your wings and playing at full tilt because IT’S FUN THAT WAY!

There are no flat lines in life. We’re either expanding our understanding, awareness and potential, or we’re stuck in a downward-facing spiral. I could sell you another e-book, but it’s not information you need, it’s courage to stand up and take ACTION on what you already know that will make the biggest difference in your life!

So here is your call to action! Stand up, Sister!

You have 21 Days to Create a New Healthy Habit. You start on June 1st. (That’s Monday!)

I don’t really mind what it is. Maybe you just want to focus on making your day the best it can be for 21 days and burst into summer feeling better than ever.

Prioritize the one thing you know is holding you back more than any other.

So, let me know…

…you up for an adventure, Sunshine?

Smooches and Steering Wheels,

Tera

(90-Day Detox) Day 90: Hitting a Home Run!

I just got my spirit crushed by a customer service NIGHTMARE! I do not believe in automated telephone recorded message systems. These should be abolished! I never fit into their “options” and can’t find the escape route to a real human before I lose my marbles.

I was just trying to get my electricity bill sorted out. You’d think that would be simple enough. But now that I’m on the verge of tears having spent 40 minutes trying to penetrate the wall of telephone terror at Hydro Quebec,  I had to escape.

I had to run away somewhere that makes life feel good again. Whatdya know!

I found myself here.

The last 90 days have been interesting and action-packed. I’m sure I lost a few pounds and put on a few pounds again. I learned a few things that I’ve forgotten already and some that I’ll hold on to forever. Now that we’re here at the finish line,  I have an opportunity to say a few things–to celebrate the success and satisfaction of getting to the end of our 90-day journey and a job very well done! I have the opportunity to take a few minutes and reinforce what this program was all about in the first place and so I thought I’d do just that.

I started this detox because I wanted to get my feet back into the Divapond. I said I wanted to dust myself off and get my sparkle back. I’d spent months working on a project that was related to other people and other people’s dreams and so this 90-Day Detox was supposed to get me back on my own turf–prioritizing the things I believe in. Supporting the people who have supported me.

Remember this?

• 1. When faced with an inner battle between popularity and personal integrity, personal integrity should always win.

• 2. You can eat all the raw, healthy food you want! Avoid dairy and gluten but it STILL won’t bring you more love, peace or happiness than honest communication, compassion and a sense of your own spiritual existence.

• 4. It’s not what someone else does to you that causes you to dislike them, it’s what you do to them!

• 7. Validate the things you want to create more of. Let the cruddy stuff go.

• 13. It’s more important to be honest and ethical than it is to eat green smoothies.

• 14. Money is a totally uncreative form of exchange. Whoever thought it up really missed the boat!

• 15. I feel like a sister to women I’ve never “met” in person. I loooove you! (Yeah! You too!)

• 16. I’d rather lose money and fame than my self-determinism.

• 20. Who you ARE is more important than WHAT you do.

• 22. If your heart breaks, avoid this song like the plague!

• 25. It’s a messed up world out there. Ritalin, processed foods, retirement funds and national debts make my head spin. Depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, diabetes and those STUPID PINK RIBBONS sucking money for covert chemical warfare against women… Sometimes I hold my breath with fear about it all. But then I remember Thing I Learned #7, and I just kinda wonder if all those quotes about “Love Makes the World Go Round” and “All You Need Is Love” are true.

I love those.

They were posted on the main announcement page for the 90-Day Detox. I love it.

While a lot has happened in the last three months, I love that reflecting back on these ideas, I can see that I live them stronger now than 90 days ago. It’s been a productive time, emotionally, spiritually and otherwise!

In the last 90 days…

I changed my religion.

I changed my home.

I fell in love with Mr. Sooooo-Riiiight-For-Me!

I slowed down and found balance.

I discovered the joys of enemas, digestive enzymes and probiotics.

I met green smoothies again for the first time.

I devoted myself almost daily to a hot yoga practice for an entire MONTH!

I co-created an incredible 6-Week Detox program with Dr. Ritamarie.

I went for TWO pedicures and THREE trips to the spa! (Ooooh my!)

I became a better mother.

I became a better housecleaner which would make my mother very happy.

I stood in the integrity of the things and people I believe in more than ever and I reaped the benefits of feeling anchored in a community of fiesty, fearless women who are committed to living and loving the best way they can!

NOTE: Just notice how many of those items have to do with food.

I know this isn’t just about me… this is about YOU, too! I would love, love, looove to see YOU take inventory on your successes. I’d love to know what you learned, how you changed and what you gained from this experience.

I’m sorry that the regularity fizzled near the finish line, but I’m not going to beat myself up for 80/90 days well done.

Personal integrity isn’t necessarily doing every single thing you say you’re going to do. We would drive ourselves mad if we tried that (though I think it’s important to learn to be mindful of our commitments and work to achieve more harmony with what we say and what we do).

• Personal integrity is knowing what you know and having the courage to say it.

• It’s believing what you believe and having the courage to believe it.

• It’s taking responsibility for the problems you create and be willing to be “wrong” sometimes.

• It’s making choices for the good of others and the generations to come.

• Personal integrity requires an examination of how your actions in THIS moment change the way the world turns?  When you realize that you can make a difference, then personal integrity is having the courage to own that responsibility and do what it takes to make change happen in the world.

• Personal integrity is being straight-up about who you are, how you live and how you love the world.

I came here almost daily for the last three months, with all my frailties and vulnerabilities in tact, to share with you windows into my world. I came with overwhelm, fear, regret and disappointment. I came with bliss bubbles bursting, positivity, hope and optimism that overflowed.

And you, dear reader, when you did not sit in silent observation of my uncensored expressions, you came to share your own windows and for that I am grateful. Though there may have been things that have gone unexpressed, overall we’ve had a good time and learned a few valuable lessons along the way.

At the risk of sounding slightly parental, I just want you to know…

I’m “proud” of you!

You DID IT!!

You’re here beside me, smiling at the finish line! Whether you stopped and scraped your knees along the way, or whether you fell down and still haven’t quite managed to get up, you’re here.

THAT is something worth celebrating, because right HERE is exactly where you need to be to get to where you’re going next. And wherever that is, I hope you’ll stay connected. As for me, I’m going to embrace the un-numbered adventures of my days for a little while. I’ve got some exciting things up my sleeves, a glorious new transition taking place and sooooo much to be grateful for.

Not the least of which is you. So thanks for being here, loving me and learning to love yourself even more as we adventure in health together.

Love and gratitude, blessings and bliss bubbles for your next 90 days and beyond…

Tera

P.S.

Don’t worry, Sunshine. The fun hasn’t ended. Chances are very good it’s only just begun…

(90-Day Detox) Day 90: YOU DID IT, SPARKLEPUFF! (To be continued…)

*gulp*

It’s Day 90.

I know it’s the end of the day and I’ve been thinking aaaaall day about what to say on this, the official 90th day of our 90 day detox.

And I started a clever post full of inspiration and then fell asleep.

This morning, I’ve got kids to whip off to school, a teleseminar with Dr. Ritamarie and then it’s you and me, SparklePuff. For a 90-Day Detox Grand Finale.

Just wanted to let you know in case you were wondering if I’d bring this in for a home run.;-)

Got stuck on third base, but I’m cooooomin’ home, baby!

More soooooon!