My little *baby* is 7 years old and I can hardly believe it.

Somehow, she went from this gummy thing, with the brightest, happiest smile:

Sharing my thoughts on the Dr. Stephen Cabral 7-day detox, and sharing the recipes I enjoyed while I was on this Functional Medicine detox. If you’d like to try it out for yourself, you can use my code FITNESSISTA20 for 20% off. 

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How are you? I hope you’re having a lovely day so far. We had a great weekend. I got a ton of work stuff done, we went to the pumpkin patch, and celebrated the Pilot’s bday a day early. His real birthday is today and I’m looking forward to more celebrations this evening with my favorite guy. I also wrapped up the 7-day Dr. Cabral detox with our community last night and feel SO good! I’m excited to share more details about my experience in this post with ya.

In this post, I also wanted to share some of the recipes and meals I enjoyed for my friends out there who are considering doing this functional medicine detox at their own time. It can be helpful to have meal ideas for days 3-7. This post is a beefy one because there’s so much I wanted to include. Grab a mug of coffee or tea and I’d love to chat with ya and share my experience.

Here we go!

Dr. Cabral 7-day detox review + recipes

What is the detox and how does it work?

– It’s a liver-based detox to help reset your body, provide a break from digesting heavy foods, and potentially help your body eliminate toxins that we accumulate from our environment. It includes functional medicine ingredients and Ayurvedic herbs to support phase 1 and 2 liver detoxification.

– It’s nutrition-focused. It includes the POWERHOUSE Daily Nutritional Support powder (which I’ve had in my smoothies for the past couple of months and notice a difference in how I feel when I drink this smoothie), and meal guidelines for the remaining meals. The goal is to NOT have your body depleted of nutrients during the process.

– It can potentially help with weight loss (although that’s not a focus for me), along with anti-aging, and total body wellness. 

– It’s only 7 days! When I first started working with a naturopath (back in the old days! It was like 2010), he had me do a month-long detox that was similar in format (but did not include the Ayurvedic supplements). It’s so much easier to do for 7 days, and I feel like my results were even better from the extra nutritional support. (The first two days are supplements, fruit, and smoothies only, and on day 3, you add in nutrient-dense meals using their meal guideline/template.)

Hi hi! Happy Friday! How are ya? What’s going on this weekend? I feel like it’s our weekend of calm before the celebration avalanche begins. We have the PIlot’s birthday Monday, P’s birthday Wednesday, her party Friday, Trunk or Treat Saturday, a Halloween party on Sunday, and Monday is Halloween. We also have a promotion for the Pilot the following weekend, so I’m excited to just buckle up and enjoy the season because from now on, it’s wild around here, and I’m.ready.for.it. This weekend we’ll probably just hang out, visit a pumpkin patch, and celebrate the Pilot’s bday with the fam. I’d love to hear what you have going on and what your kids or pets are going to be for Halloween!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section.

Friday Faves

Random/life:

Seeing Six again. Friends, it’s UP THERE with my favorite musicals of all time. I saw it with Madre last week and was blown away, so we took Nani and Liv with us on Sunday night to see it again. (Heads up that some of the content is a bit more adult, so use your discretion. There’s only one song that I’m iffy about for the kids; the adult humor in the other songs just fly over their heads.)

The touring cast was insane… easily the best live vocal performances I’ve seen in a very long time. (Amina Faye was Jane Seymour. Give your ears a treat with her version of “Heart of Stone.”) Definitely check it out if a touring cast is coming near you!

Detox update. I’m officially on Day 5 of the functional medicine detox. It’s been quite a journey, and I’ve loved doing this with a community. (If you decide to do this on your own time, you can use FITNESSISTA20 for 20% off.) Day 1, I felt amazing and super energized. Day 2, I hit a little afternoon slump, and by Day 3, I felt like I was cruising along. The channa masala I made for lunch tasted like a dream. I feel like inflammation in my face is way down, and it’s been a much-needed little reset. I’ll share more details next week, plus all of the recipes I’ve been making! If you have any questions I can answer in my post, please let me know.

These journals for the girls! Julie from Read more

Searching for spa cuisine recipes? These fresh recipes, loaded with colorful veggies and lean protein, are busting with flavor and nutrition to help you feel good and glowy sans an expensive trip to the spa. 

Hi friends! I hope you’re enjoying the week so far. Today is day 3 of the Dr. Cabral detox (use FITNESSISTA20 if you want to do this at your own time!), and I’m feeling amazing. It was just the little boost and reset I’ve been craving, and I’ve slept so well the past two nights.

For today’s post, I wanted to talk a bit about spa cuisine, since I’m focusing on extra flavorful and fresh eats the next week. Spa cuisine is typically made up of fresh, local, seasonal, or organic ingredients that are presented in a simple yet colorful way. They tend to focus on quality rather than quantity, and are not only nutrient-dense but are packed with flavors. You’ll often see lots of fresh produce, herbs, and citrus in spa meals. Today, I’m sharing a roundup of spa cuisine recipes that you can easily recreate anytime.

Many of these recipes are also gluten-free and dairy-free. 

10 Spa Cuisine Recipes

1. Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken via Pinch of Yum

Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken! Loaded with chickpeas, spinach, pomegranates, Cara Cara oranges, avocado, shallots, herbs, dressing, and lemon chicken.

2. Thai Cauliflower Rice Salad With Peanut Butter Sauce via The Awesome Green

An exotic and colorful combination, which replaces the rice with the nutrient-loaded cauliflower. The secret of this dish is a delicious ginger-peanut butter sauce.

3. Healthy Chicken Quinoa Beet Bowls with Herb Gremolata via Aberdeen’s Kitchen

Healthy chicken quinoa beet bowls with herb gremolata – Clean eating, healthy living, and a tasty recipe all in one bowl! Tons of protein, nutrients, and even some vitamin C to keep you going, topped with a fresh herb gremolata.

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Re-sharing this post because it’s a yearly staple for us and I know so many of you love them, too!! These flourless pumpkin chocolate chip bars are SO good and I usually have all of the ingredients for this healthy fall dessert on hand and ready to go.

Let the avalanche of all things pumpkin begin.

I feel like this year, a lot of people are playing it cool when it comes to pumpkin. You know, trying not to act *too* excited about its arrival. (Also it could totally be the fact that many of us are still experiencing true summer weather.) And then, there are people like me who have already enjoyed a PSL (or a few….), and upon seeing the shelf of pumpkin-filled cans at Trader Joe’s, I did the slow-mo run to them, arms wide open, and a creepy smile on my face.

I just can’t help myself.

While the Pilot doesn’t go crazy for pumpkin at all, I gave birth to two pumpkin-obsessed little friends, who share my enthusiasm for this festive gourd.

Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

This afternoon, I decided to embark on my first pumpkin baking adventure of the season, with chocolate chip pumpkin bars. It was a twist on my beloved flourless blueberry breakfast bake (recipe is in the book!), and uses creamy almond butter and egg as the base. The result: a dense, buttery, perfectly spiced, and sweet healthy pumpkin dessert or snack. It’s also amazing in the morning with some butter and a side of scrambled eggs.

Here’s this healthy pumpkin recipe if you’d like to give it a try!

and a video!