Sharing my experience with Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis and my results.

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope you’re enjoying the day so far. Today is admin stuff, plus a home strength training workout and breakfast for dinner tonight.

For today’s post, I wanted to share my experience with HTMA as one of the testing tools I’ve been using. I shared more about my food sensivity test here, and will do another post on my Candida, Metabolic, and Vitamins test. It’s been really incredible to get insights about imbalances, especially with the eye and autoimmune stuff I’ve experienced in the past year.

At first glance, HTMA seems like a *simple* test, but there’s so much that goes into it, and SO much that it can tell you. It’s a snapshot of how your body is responding to stress. When we’re stressed, we burn through our minerals more quickly, which can leave us depleted and exhausted. This can also be a very helpful postpartum tool, as babies use nutrients from the mom. The minerals work in pairs, so it’s important to examine the relationships between the minerals, and try to find balance. There will never be a *perfect* HTMA test result; it’s more about seeing improvements in your body over time.

Embarking on a journey to understand your body’s unique needs and intricacies is a powerful step towards holistic well-being. Today I’m going to share what this test entails, its benefits, the process, and my personal experience.

Note: This information is based on personal experience and education. Consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice. This test does not dianose, prevent, treat, or cure illness or disease. It’s simply an informational tool for your unique body. 

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Test review

What is HTMA and What Can It Tell You?

HTMA is a diagnostic tool that analyzes mineral content in your hair tissue. As our hair reflects the mineral composition of our body, this non-invasive test offers a window into the past 90 days of mineral imbalances, heavy metal exposure, and potential nutritional deficiencies. It goes beyond surface-level symptoms, and can help uncover root causes of various health issues. Minerals are essential for our entire body and are the “spark plugs.”

Pros and Benefits:

HTMA provides a holistic perspective on your mineral status, aiding in the identification of imbalances that may contribute to health challenges. It can also give insight into your nervous system, adrenal function, thyroid function, and absorption.

Early Detection: Detecting mineral imbalances early allows for proactive adjustments to prevent potential health issues

Tailored Nutrition: With insights from HTMA, personalized nutrition plans can be crafted to address spe

Sharing a quick and delicious recipe for a healthy salad dressing: honey balsamic!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you’re enjoying the day so far and that you had a great weekend! We had an amazing dinner at our friends’ house and spent the rest of the weekend doing chores and relaxing. I took a three-hour nap on Saturday which was everyyyytthing. After a couple of weeks of travel and the Pilot’s work weekend, it was our first *normal* weekend at home in a month, so it was very appreciated.

Today, I wanted to share my go-to salad dressing with ya. I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging this long and haven’t dedicated an entire post to this dressing. This is my go-to. I use it for dinner parties, make it in advance to enjoy throughout the week, and it’s always so easy and delicious. I don’t typically love the dressings that come with salad kits, so this is what I’ll often use to replace it. I like the taste and ingredients so much more!

If you don’t already make your own salad dressing, definitely give this one a try. You’ll see how simple and delightful it can be 🙂 Let me know if you decide to add it to your rotation!

Honey Balsamic Dressing Recipe

Crafting your dressing ensures transparency about the ingredients, helping you make informed choices about what you consume. The Honey Balsamic Dressing is a prime example of a flavorful yet health-conscious option. With just a handful of pantry staples, you can whip up a dressing that’s sweet, tangy, and incredibly versatile.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 minced garlic clove

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Step 1: The Foundation

Begin by combining the balsamic vinegar with extra virgin olive oil in a bowl. This dynamic duo forms the foundation of your dressing, delivering a perfect balance of acidity and richness.

Step 2: Add the sweetness

Introduce 2 tablespoons of honey into the mix, providing a natural sweetness that harmonizes with the balsamic’s acidity. Adjust the quantity based on your desired level of sweetness.

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was the week? I hope you had a great one! We’re still going strong with 21 days of Healthy Habits, I’m finishing up the EquiLife detox, and am looking forward to starting the CBO protocol. (At least looking forward to finishing it?) What are you up to this weekend? P has a birthday party and horse lessons, Liv has dance, and we have a New Years’ dinner party with friends.

This past weekend, we met up with some friends at Great Wolf Lodge. It’s one of our favorite weekend getaways, buuuuut I think we booked it a little too close to our Disney trip. It was still a lot of fun, but I could tell the kids were tired. I tried to unplug and took zero pictures, but I did get one of the yoga studio. I try to take a class at Just Be yoga whenever I’m in Scottsdale. It’s a beautiful space and the classes are amazing – super hot with a mix of flows and stationary poses.

This is random, but I’ve been having a little bit of a struggle on Maisey’s walks lately, and maybe some of my fellow desert dwellers can help. The coyotes are OUT right now. We see at least one every day! Usually it’s at sunset, so I’ve been trying to walk her during midday, but we hear them howling every day and night, and the Pilot and the girls saw one on Wednesday. Any tips?? I definitely want to walk Maisey while the weather is nice, but I don’t want to have a run-in with a coyote….

Maybe I need to drive her to a more populated walking path instead of walking around the neighborhood. Here’s hoping for a coyote-free weekend ahead.

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 below.

Friday Faves 1.19

Read, watch, listen:

Listening to this on Audible and it’s breaking my heart slowly. So many of us grew up with Friends, and when Matthew Perry passed away, it hit me hard. It felt like an uncle or a close friend had died. It’s surreal to hear this in his own voice, and no spoilers, but while I knew that he struggled, I had no idea of the intensity.

 This is me.

How to slow down and take care of yourself.

Read more

Sharing my fitness and wellness predictions for the new year. 

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful day so far. I’m here cranking through work stuff and have a new podcast episode live for you! Today, I’m chatting about my fitness and wellness trends for 2024. I always love to hear about what you think will be popular in the new year, and what is “out,” so please share your thoughts below.

(More dog yoga in 2024 please)

my 2024 fitness and wellness predictions

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 currently work in the health or fitness industry; many IHPs don’t begin on this path. They’re friends who are passionate to learn more about health and wellness, and want to share this information with those they love. You can do this as a passion, or start an entirely new career.

You can use my referral link here and the code FITNESSISTA for up to $250 off the Integrative Health Practitioner program. I highly recommend it! You can check out my review IHP Level 1 here and my review of Level 2 here.

I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. Link to check it out here. You can also use my discoun

Sharing the results of my IgG food sensitivity test, as well as pros and cons of this testing method. 

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope that you’re having a great one! Today, I’m working on podcast stuff (new episode tomorrow) and meeting up with a friend for lunch.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a bit more about my personal health journey and one of the steps in the process: food sensitivity testing. When I first enrolled in the IHP program (you can check out my review of level 1 here and level 2 here), I knew that I’d love to be able to help friends and clients in an entirely different, more personalized way. I had no idea how much this information would help me on a personal level, too.

Through my knowledge in IHP and testing abilities, I’ve been able to discover some root causes and I’m working on rebalancing my body through removing the toxicities and restoring deficiencies.

At-home IgG Food Sensitivity Test Review (and my results)

The nutshell version:

– Last spring, I had horrible pink eye which became a trigger for constant eye issues – watering, super red, itchy, mucus-y eyes. I couldn’t wear contacts for almost three months. I’ve tried pretty much the entire pharmacy eye section :/

– I saw many eye doctors who were unable to help me (they just wanted to throw the kitchen sink of eyedrops and prescriptions at me, and nothing helped) – I finally found a dry eye specialist who was able to give me an action plan and my eyes improved tremendously

– I did blood work with my PCP to check basic markers and inflammation, and two markers for Lupus came back positive, which explained the joint pain I had in my hands and the strange rashes I’ve had over the years. Whenever I’ve been under periods of extreme or prolonger stress, I’d get a rash, and my hands would often ache at night, which I had attributed to typing so much.

– I instantly went into test and learn mode, doing an HTMA test, Candida Metabolic and Vi