Hi friends! Happy holly jolly weekend to ya. What are you up to? We are baking cookies, cleaning, and getting the last bit of holiday to-dos completed. I’m also putting together something fun for January; I’ll have it up here on the blog next week.

We had a loss in our family this week, so Christmas is going to look a bit different from our usual routine. I’m definitely looking forward to mass with the fam, spending time together, and watching the kids open their gifts. I may share more later, but my heart is hurting right now.

Friday Faves 12.22

A roundup of the week + some faves:

A trip to the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale. This has become a yearly tradition, and it’s something we all look forward to. They turn the resort into a winter wonderland, with tons of holiday light displays, Santa, ice skating, s’more pits, and rides. The kids always have a blast. This year, we went with a group fo friends and it was even more fun!

Some pics from the trip:

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Today, I’m so excited to welcome Ali Shapiro to the podcast!

Here’s what we talk about in today’s episode:

– Her health and wellness background

– The “all or nothing” mentality

-The importance of flexibility for maintaining long-term consistency

147: Ditching the “all or nothing” mentality with Ali Shapiro

Ali is the host of the top-ranked podcast Insatiable, a holistic nutritionist, integrated health coach, and rebel with a serious cause.

She’s academically, practically, and empathetically aware of how the medical system, diet culture, and body positivity movements all have their own flavor of crazy.

Ali developed TRUCE while in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she drew from her 17+ years of working with real life clients and her own personal healing journey from emotional eating and having cancer as a teenager.

Ali’s work and clients’ unique success has been featured in well + Good, mindbodygreen, Prevention, Women’s Health and Forbes, as well as industry leading podcasts Being Boss, Tell Me Something True, and Food Heaven.

Follow Ali on Instagram and check out her website here.

More resources from this episode:

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers.

If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP. You can also use this information to heal yourself and then go one to heal others, which I think is a beautiful mission. You can absolutely join if you don’t curre

Sharing the details about the Sakara January reset and what to expect. 

Hi friends! How’s the week going for you? I’m definitely feeling the pressure of the last-minute scramble. I got a lot finished early this year, but still find myself with the tiny things left on the to-do list. I’m really trying to get through everything over the next couple of days so I can lower the stress level a bit for Christmas.

If you’re feeling like me, and already looking forward to January, I thought I’d share the details of the Sakara reset if you’d like to join in.

There are a LOT of resets/detoxes/cleanses floating around this time year, and this is one of my very favorites. I’ve had a taste of their reset programs multiple times, and am really looking forward to nourishing Sakara eats, especially after the holidays and a Disneyland trip!

I’ll be sharing more in an upcoming post with my wellness/healing plan, but here’s a bit of what I’m doing as we head into the new year:

– Sakara reset, followed by a 14-day Dr. Cabral detox to open up liver pathways, straight into the CBO protocol

– I’ll do a full post on the CBO protocol, but in a nutshell, when I started to do some digging and functional testing with my eye issues and allergies, I learned that as expected, my gut health is completely out of whack. I have major candida, yeast, and bacterial overgrowth, which could be contributing to my inflammation and allergies.

With these results, for a client, I would recommend a detox to open up liver pathways (along with pre-protocol support), into the CBO protocol. This protocol is designed to kill the *bad* bacteria in the gut, rebuild the beneficial bacteria, and heal/seal the gut wall. It’s 12 weeks, and I knew there was NO way I was going to attempt it over the holidays and the avalanche of family birthdays. I figured I’d wait until January, when I could really commit to the eating plan and healing. I’ll definitely share more about the entire process.

As far as Sakara goes, this is a treat I order for myself each month. It’s packed with nourishing, organic eats that I didn’t have to cook, and the meals are always beautiful, filling, and vibrant. Of course, they’re doing a little something special for the new year!

Sakara January Reset details

Here’s how the Sakara January reset works:

– You can choose between one of two plans: Read more

Sharing my version of the amazing Whole Foods red lentil dal soup, which is one of my very favorites. It’s gluten-free, dairy free, and a plant-based source of protein and nutrients.

Hi friends! How’s the week going so far? I’m in full elf mode over here; baking cookies, wrapping gifts, and even though I feel like I was prepared, there are a lot of last-minute errands to run. To k(partially) preserve my sanity, I’m spending some time in the sauna blanket tonight and have a yoga class booked for tomorrow.

For now, how about a cozy bowl of soup?

I have a mental list of quick grab-and-go meals that I can swoop in a pinch, are healthy, and that I really enjoy. Thankfully, Tucson has a lot of amazing healthy restaurants (and we just got a True Food!!), which makes it pretty easy. If I find myself in a bind and hangry in between picking up kids and running errands, it’s nice to know I have some faves I can easily pick up.

Whole Foods Red Lentil Dal Soup (copycat recipe)

This is one of my favorite easy healthy pickup meal options. I’ve had this lentil soup so many times this fall season already, I knew I needed to try to recreate it at home. The result is a super hearty, flavorful soup, with lots of nutrients, and is great with a large salad for lunch. It also freezes beautifully.

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give it a try!

Ingredients:

One yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Sharing an my current winter skincare routine, from luxurious moisturizers to exfoliating masks, using safer products.

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one. We were in Phoenix with some friends, and did our annual stay at the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess. We also saw Ballet Arizona’s Nutcracker and it was LOVELY. I’ll definitely share some pics from the adventures in Friday Faves! I just added the winners to this year’s Favorite Things giveaway here.

For today’s post, I’m sharing my winter skincare routine!

The colder air outside (I live in Arizona after all!) and the dry indoor heat strip my skin of its natural moisture, leaving it prone to dryness during the winter months; so, altering my skincare routine this time of year is key to maintaining a healthy, happy complexion.

The first step is a gentle cleanser wash away makeup and impurities without over-drying. Next, I incorporate my beloved vitamin C serum that’s loaded with antioxidants and a hydrating moisturizer with ingredients like hyaluronic acid and ceramides to help lock in moisture and repair the skin barrier.

Additionally, a weekly exfoliation with a mild scrub or chemical exfoliant can slough off dead skin cells, promoting a radiant glow. I rotate between my favorite masks, listed below.

Lastly, applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen, even on cloudy days, ensures protection from harmful UV rays. This is my go-to.

Here’s what my winter skincare routine looks like. It changes and evolves over time with new products I find or like, but these are a lot of my tried and true faves.

My Winter Skincare Routine

Cleanser & Serums

• Fresh Cleanser
• Read more