• Review: Plexus Reset

    To my knowledge, this product is Plexus’ first venture into a cleanse-type program. The reason that’s important to highlight is that when something is new, there are kinks to work out in terms of the product itself and the way it is discussed. With that said… This is not a fast. You can find many different definitions for fasting, but perhaps the most widely accepted understanding is – a period of time where you do not eat or drink, with the exception of water. On the other hand, a cleanse is a process by which you intentionally restrict your intake to only include nutritional items that help your body thrive.…

  • Here’s to health! (And trying something new!)

    Over the past few weeks, I have discovered an interest in learning about how we feed our bodies – specifically, about how what we eat (or don’t eat) has short- and long-term effects on how we feel and how well our body can fight off illness and disease. Cleansing, fasting, detoxing…let’s be honest, none of it sounds as good as a Chick-Fil-A deluxe sandwich with a cookies and cream milkshake, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. In the past, I have tried living that low-carb life but found that long-term restrictive diets do not work for me, because I am not trying to lose significant weight and…

  • Temecula: Red Wine and 100 Degree Heat

    Note: This article was published in the January edition of Visalia Lifestyle magazine – check it out! With the holiday season in the rear view mirror, it is time to find something to look forward to for the new year. If you are among those still working remotely, like me, the living room has become your new office and the line between week and weekend has been a bit blurry, to say the least. Without an “end of the week” marker, time seems to be going both painfully slow and alarmingly fast! Although many of California’s most popular destinations have been temporarily closed to visitors, looking forward to their reopening and…

  • Talk Money To Me

    Today, I am breaking a cardinal rule of good manners and talking about money at the dinner table. Or whatever table you are at right now. Point is, we don’t spend enough time having real conversations about money. In the past, I have been afraid that by sharing what I make and what I spend, I am making myself vulnerable to a lot of comparison that might not feel very good. But in an effort to face that fear, break the mold, and use a lot of cliches in one sentence – I am going to share some taboo information with you today. Before we get to that, let’s talk…

  • My Tips for Sustainable Weight-Management

    I hope I am not the first one to give you this bad news, but as it turns out, there are no shortcuts to sustainable weight-management and health. Now before you come at me with every “drop a dress size in thirty days” trick you have, there are a few important distinctions to my statement: sustainability, weight-management rather than weight-loss, and pairing weight-management with health. First, to be sustainable, the change you make has to be something that you are willing to commit to for at least the foreseeable future, if not forever. This likely rules out long-term fasting, extremely restrictive eating, and possibly even permanently cutting your favorite (unhealthy)…

  • 2020 Resolution: Read More Books!

    For 2020, I set for myself a (very) reasonable reading goal – one book per month or twelve books in one year. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I have set this goal for myself a few times before…and have failed miserably, but this year is a different story (pun intended). It is only March and I have already met my goal – twelve books! If you are struggling to make reading a habit, my biggest tip for success is…read two books at a time! Reading two books at the same time once sounded impossible to me, until I thought of it like Netflix or Hulu. I am rarely…

  • A Tale of Four Cities

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – in other words…it was the end of 2017. Since then, I have lived in four of the largest cities in the United States. Aside from wanting to share a life update with extended family and friends, I wanted to write down a few thoughts in hopes that they may inspire someone else to make a move…or two moves…or four! New York City In the summer of 2015, an East Village apartment with three roommates found on CraigsList was calling my name and I answered! I received a lot of advice as a new city dweller, but my…