By Charlotte Meier

Your home may seem nice, neat, and clean, but under a microscope, your home could very well be making you sick. It is very important to comb through your house and check the potential problem areas. Even if the main areas in your space are spotless, you might be missing a serious health concern.

We share some of the main problem areas that could be affecting your well-being below.

The Bathroom

Your bathroom can be a major problem area for several reasons. It is more humid than the other rooms in your home, leaving it more susceptible to mold and mildew. Furthermore, your towels may not be drying as quickly as they need to be, your shower curtain likely isn’t being washed frequently enough, and your bathmat is likely full of mold and bacteria. Bathmats are a hotspot for germs as they get soaked and then remain damp for the majority of each day. Between the water and heat, bathmats are ideal bacteria breeding grounds.

It is important that you air out your...

Feeling like your digestion is making too much noise? Gurgle. Gurgle.

The last few months I have been working a lot and often that leads to a stressed me. This means my digestion & energy can get wonky. I know what you might be thinking - that I’m a health coach, and I have this all figured out - but I am human too. In my practice, I teach people how to listen to their body and what to do when they feel wonky too.

For me, I get dry skin, start to have belly bloat & lower energy. So many of my clients say they have belly bloat even when they do not eat, something that is actually not uncommon for people with digestive issues.

Stress inflames the intestinal lining and disrupts the good balance of bacteria in the gut.

This is what happened to me. It was time to restore and rebuild on the quick.

Feel like you are passing gas too much?

Feel exhausted for no reason?

Time to rebuild and restore your gut health with this smoothie.

Every time I am feeling off, I keep it simple:...

Detox is vital in this toxic world. For  years as a health coach I focused on digestion & blood sugar balancing because I do believe that good digestion leads to a healthy life and balanced blood sugars is the foundation of good health. But then one day the light went off in my head. I realized that to have good digestion, you must be detoxing properly.

You see, detox is a natural step toward a better digestion. Good digestion leads to less inflammation, and less inflammation leads to less disease in this world. Let me say it again, decrease the inflammation and prevent disease.

Hippocrates said it best: “All disease begins in the gut.”

If this is true and disease begins in the gut, aka your digestive system, then having a healthy and strong digestion is key.

But let me share a secret with you - when the body is toxic, your digestive system is weak.

So even if you eat “clean” and only buy organic and hormone-free foods, you are still breathing...

I am in love with the castor oil pack. Have you even heard of it?  Some of you may have and for some this may be the first time.   A few years ago I was introduced to castor oil packs. I immediately wanted to learn more.

I began researching about the benefits of the castor pack for eliminating toxins. I was simply hooked. I love these ancient techniques that can still be used to support the body today. They are super easy, and you can put them together on the cheap.

While a lymphatic massage or a trip to the sauna might be nice, they can also be costly. I’m telling you - all you really need is to buy castor oil and get an old t-shirt or towel.

Let's talk simple benefits first. The castor oil pack can flush your lymphatic system {your sewage system}. The lymphatic system must get flushed daily to reduce digestive issues, edema, inflammation, the common cold, weight gain and allergies. This detox tool has been used for centuries.

This amazing detox tool can support...

I spent 12 years living in the United States with 6 of those in Texas.  I had some really amazing Mexican food while I lived there and it is still one of my favorites.  At one point I had a small Taqueria just a couple blocks from my house.  The food was amazing and unpolished.  Everything was made from scratch and I felt like I had been invited into someone's home for an amazing homemade dinner.  This was pure comfort food for me.  The warmth and bold flavors of Mexico are still comforting flavors for me.   

There is a way to enjoy these flavors without eating inflammatory and high glycemic foods such as gluten and corn that is found in flour and corn tortillas.

So today I am sharing a version of a Taco Salad that is free of common allergens and is low glycemic so there is no hit on your blood sugars.

On this gorgeous fall day, I am wanting comfort food and thought that you might be feeling the same way. 

Nourishing Everyday Taco Salad...

I often get asked what I think about juicing so I thought I would lay it out today. Blood sugar balancing is key for many  health conditions.  In fact, it's the base of what I do for most clients.

Whether you are a type 2 diabetic or have the some of following symptoms:

• turn into Danny Devito because you get hangry if a meal is postponed or missed.  You get headaches and/or shaky if a meal is missed
• you crave sweets and/or carry extra weight at your middle

Complete the Questionnaire below and see if you have imbalanced blood sugars.

Benefits of Juicing

• add a ton of extra nutrients 
• it takes only a few minutes a day to get the equivalent of a couple of pounds of veggies
• nutrients are absorbed immediately and easily as there is no fiber slowing things down
• an excellent part of cleansing
• we live in a toxic world and your liver can only handle so much
• it's very healthy to give your digestive tract a rest occasionally and juicing does that

How to...

 This is such a simple quick activity that you can add to YOUR every day.  A simple thing that you can work on Nourishing Your Everyday to boost energy, lose belly fat and lower your blood sugars.  The challenge can be remembering to do these.  When I worked in a cubicle I got caught a few times doing squats in a dress.  The look on people's faces when they came around the corner and found me doing squats was pretty comical but made me a bit self-conscious.  So I tied my burst exercises to going to the bathroom.  Every time I had to go to the bathroom I would drink  a full glass of water and then I would do squats in the bathroom. So if you decide to do squats in the bathroom I won't be the only one.  LOL

What is burst training & why should you care?

Burst training or burst exercises are very short and intense bouts of exercise.  Any exercise that is done at near-maximum effort for 30-60 seconds counts as short burst training.

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Feeling like your digestion is making too much noise? Gurgle. Gurgle.

The last few months I have been working a lot and often that leads to a stressed me. This means my digestion can get out of wack. I know what you might be thinking but Shonda don't you eat "perfectly" all the time and have all your health issues under control?  Not always.  I am human which means I screw up, don't handle my stress always in the best way, and still am working on balancing "stuff" in my own body. In my practice, I teach people how to listen to their body and what to do when they feel out of sorts too.

For me, my energy starts waning and my sleep gets worse and I may even get back to having some brain fog. Stress actually turns off your digestion.  So many of my clients say they have belly bloat even when they do not eat, something that is actually not uncommon for people with digestive issues.

Stress inflames the intestinal lining and disrupts the good balance of bacteria in the gut....

Do you feel like this when you have a craving?  I know I have in the past.  Scrambling late at night rifling through every cupboard 10 times looking for chocolate or whatever else I may have been craving.  I have even been known to throw the evil food in the garbage to stop myself from eating it and then later rifling through the garbage to find it.  

These are not bright shiny moments for me but they are my reality and I know I'm not alone. I know that many can relate.  In fact, if you have or have had some not so stellar moments around food I can relate as I have probably done it or at least thought of doing it.  Food is supposed to nourish us, be enjoyable and create community.  It's not supposed to be surrounded by guilt, shame, and horribly debilitating physical symptoms.  One of the things that can help with this is understanding that sometimes these behaviours are created by physical things that are going on.  So let's look...

I am sitting in my kitchen as I write this with my nose dripping and a sore throat.  Yes, I get sick too sometimes.  I certainly don't get sick as often as I used to but it does happen. 

Here I am blowing my nose.  Ugh!!!

Today I wanted to share openly about being human.

I have always been concerned that people would put me on a pedestal.  It's a long fall when someone is perceived as perfect.  I am far from perfect.  And, although there is a joke in our family about being "perfect", no one is perfect.  This is simply not possible being human.  I know that I can't live under that pressure. I don't want to.  I want to feel good that I am doing the best that I can but take away the pressure of being perfect.  

I pursued this career to help people not because I'm perfect at it but because I know it works.  I am very passionate about educating people so they feel empowered to make changes that positively affect their...