Fresh cranberries are available for only a short season each year, so I say put the traditional canned, or overly processed cranberry sauce aside this year and try my Fresh Cranberry & Fruit Relish for your holiday festivities.

Every ingredient is fresh, healthy and distinct to the season, with their bright, tart and sweet flavors blending in perfect balance.  Since this recipe is not cooked, I recommend you make it the day before, so all the flavors marinated and meld together.

Ingredients: 

• 1 bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
• 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and deseeded
• 1 large orange, peeled and deseeded 
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice (only to achieve desired texture)
• Stevia to taste
• Pinch of Sea Salt
• Reserve a few whole cranberries and thin orange skin curls for garnish

Optional:

• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Pulse each ingredient separately in a food processor. Add to bowl on the side. When done pulsing, add orange juice (to achieve desired texture), stevia and sea salt. Pulse fresh ginger if desired, and add with cinnamon. Mix to thoroughly combine.  

Garnish with whole cranberries and/or orange skin curls.*

* To Make the Orange Curls: Make a slice through one side of the peel and the pulp, all the way up to the rind on the other side. Cut the pulp off of the peel so that you have one long thin strip of peel. Twist the peel into a curly-q shape. The peel will naturally hold its shape.

Buono Apetito! 

After you make this recipe, I’d love to hear how you and your family liked it in the comments below! Happy Holidays!

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love to spin healthy recipes from classic, , unhealthy favorites! With the holidays’s approaching, I couldn’t resist creating an uber healthy and delicious spin on “Green Bean Casserole.”

Whole foods. Nothing processed. Vegan. Paleo. Nut-free. Clean. Fresh and delicious. This is a total crowd-pleaser!

Indeed, everyone around your holiday table this year will be saying, “OMG, WHO made the Green Bean Casserole this year? This recipe is to-die-for!”

Healthy Green Bean Casserole is super delicious, super healthy and with every flavor that you’re used to tasting in this classic holiday dish, sans the processed, nutrient-devoid and inflammatory ingredients of the of days gone by recipe!

Ingredients: 

• 1 – 1/2 pounds green beans, clipped and cleaned
• 1 pound parsnips, diced
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Vidalia onion, sliced thin
• 1 1/2 small onion, diced and sautéed
• 1 clove garlic, minced and sautéed
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• Water
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Crispy Caramelized Onions:

• 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
• Sauté slowly over medium low heat until caramelized and crispy, a tablespoon of coconut oil, sliced Vidalia onion, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Set aside.

Sautéed Onion & Garlic:

• 1/2 small onion
• garlic
• Saute until clear and translucent over medium-low heat

Mushrooms:

• Saute until tender, mushrooms, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Set Aside.

Parsnips:

• Steam al dente — firm but slightly tender

Green Beans:

• Steam lightly to a firm texture

Sauce:

In a Vitamix or high-speed blender, puree parsnips, 1/4 of sautéed mushrooms, sautéed 1/2 small onion and garlic, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Add water slowly to achieve a smooth, creamy texture.

Combine & Cook: 

In a large bowl, toss green beans, remaining mushrooms and sauce until well combined. Pour into a glass baking dish and bake at 375° until browning and bubbly. Top with caramelized onions and serve!

Buono Appetito!

The other day, Courtney, my client, said, “Carol, you should make a list of your favorite healthy on-the-go treats, or things you eat in a pinch. Sometimes, when I’m on the run, I don’t know what to get.”

This list of my top six favorite healthy on-the-go snacks was created for Courtney and you! I hope these ideas help you choose your healthiest choices when you’re on the run, but want keep it all clean!

Please note, my first recommendation is and always will be water-rich, fresh, raw, organic fruits and vegetables! Always. And in the spirit of ‘treat,’ try biting into an organic red pepper with a side of olives, or split an avocado and fill it with fermented sauerkraut, or a container of Mini-Kiwis or figs! Each offers a different flavor and texture to satisfy your craving. And I totally get that there might be days that you just want something more indulgent, while keeping it healthy!

Here are 6 of my go-to’s, when I want something more than just salad and green juice:

 

Kite Hill Almond Milk Yogurt might be one of the best processed healthy foods ever made! Master vegan-chef Tal Ronnen, founder of Kite Hill, offers the freshest tasting almond milk yogurt I’ve ever had. It’s smooth, creamy, slightly tart and serves up 11g of almond protein, live active cultures and ZERO added sugar in every cup (you know I LOVE this!).

When I’m in the need of a sweet and satiating fix, I grab a container of Kite Hill plain, unsweetened yogurt, and pair it with a container of organic berries… It’s a perfect and lightly sweet treat!  (Do note, Kite Hill offers many amazing dairy-free products!) 

 

Health-Ade Kombucha = Healthy Soda, though it’s NOTHING like soda at all!

Kombucha is an effervescent, fermented tea that offers many health benefits — it supports healthy gut flora and improves digestion, it destroys bad bacteria and provides B Vitamins.

Though, I’ve been a loyal devotee to another brand of kombucha for years, Health-Ade Kombucha came to market and quickly replaced my other favorite.

Health-Ade Kombucha is the only commercial kombucha fermented 100% in glass to prevent plastic and metal leaching. It’s hand-crafted in super-small 2.5 gallon batches for premium quality, and it’s the BEST TASTING and HIGHEST QUALITY kombucha you can buy! 

 

But on this particular day, for gosh-knows what reason, you say “I. MUST. HAVE. CHIPS!” NO fear. I’ve got you covered. Salty. Crunchy. And still FAR more healthy than “chips,”… Hello Sprouted Watermelon Seeds!

Easy to pack in your car, handbag or briefcase, Watermelon seeds offer a whopping TEN grams of protein in a ONE ounce serving, plus they’re high in Magnesium and Zinc! (Do note, Go Raw offers many amazing products!) 

 

 

Some days I want something meaty, so I’ll buy a package of Monterey Grilled Artichokes. I LOVE them! They are grown on a small farm in California, with a proprietary process that retains the health benefits of fresh artichokes that far exceeds any canned or jarred product!

They come in 4 flavors, Natural, Herb, Grilled and Buffalo, but my favorite is the Grilled. That I don’t eat meat any longer, these artichokes satisfy my need for something a little more dense and ‘meaty.’ I eat them alone, with a green juice, or with a salad, but one thing is sure, once you open them, you’ll want to eat them all. They are that good!

 

 

BudhiBars are wheat free, certified kosher, baked fresh without preservatives and kept frozen until they ship! The Almond Dark, the only one I buy (on rare occasion) is certified vegan, dairy free, low in sugar, high in fiber and a mixture of Swiss Cacao and Vegan Callebaut Chocolate! One bar (of this flavor — they have others) is ONLY 4 grams of sugar, which makes this an appealing choice, when nothing less than chocolate will do!

 

 

In the spirit of “saving the best for last,” New York Natural Cheese Kale Krackers are as good as any raw cracker I’ve ever made, which of course would be the only reason I would buy them — in a pinch, when I don’t have time to make them myself! They are the only cracker with kale as the main ingredient, with other ingredients like golden flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, and a perfect touch of seasoning! They maintain the life-force energy of the ingredients because they’re dehydrated, so they’re a great option on the day you want something a little more satiating with your salad… or just as a snack with your kombucha!

If you try any of my on-the-go favorites, or you have one you’d love to recommend to me, tell me in the comments below! I’d love to here from you!

Want even more delicious substitution suggestions? Click below to download my FREE “Close Enough Seconds” guide to provide you with additional ideas for your toughest cravings!

Download Your Free Substitutions Guide!

I worked two years for free.

My business was failing.

Then I drove 20 hours a day for Uber.

And slept in my car.

I had two degrees from two prestigious schools, three certifications from highly-accredited programs, and a lifetime seeped in studying health, healing and human potential.

I thought about the corporate route.

Instead, I chose work that I know makes a difference, 20-hour days, and the entrepreneurial life.

I had to give up my home, move in with my Mom and miss out on every social event for 3 years.

It didn’t matter.

Health matters.

I put myself behind the wheel.

Three years later, clients started lining up.

The hardest part is Faith.

And tenacity.

My first client knew I could make a difference for her.

She said that my “glowing skin” and “upbeat energy” reflected how she wanted to look and feel.

I did everything I could to show her she made the right decision.

That she too could look and feel her best.

Since then, I’ve served 100s of clients.

They’ve established my reputation.

Auto-immune disease in remission.

Ulcerative colitis in healing.

Insulin reduced by 70%.

Weight down 50 pounds.

I’m no longer a one-woman business, but a team who helps me serve my clients.

It takes time.

This year, I added more clients than the first three combined.

We all start somewhere.

And I never started at the finish line.

I failed more times than I succeeded in growing my business.

The only way I’ve grown is by solving one problem at a time.

I succeed because I fail.

The night sky is filled with millions of stars.

Every snowflake looks different from another.

The sun rises in the east every morning.

Life is but an endless series of experiences, with many extraordinary, seemingly disconnected, little details.

And the sum is breathtaking.

Your Turn

Would you work for free?

Would you leave a steady income and take any work to bring your dream to life?

Do you succeed now, because you failed?

Or, do you still fail, to succeed?

Post your comments below. I’d love to hear your story.

What are your health goals? Do you want to simply lose weight to slip into that favorite little black dress, or do you want to look and feel gorgeous and confident, emotionally balanced, mentally clear and in control of healthy habits everyday?

Do you want to simply burn excess fat so you look leaner, or do you want to turn back the hands of time in ways that the notch in your belt, the texture of your skin, the clarity of your mind and the contours of your muscles bespeak the seemingly elusive Fountain of Youth’s secrets?

Along the historical path to optimizing health and vitality, counting calories was introduced as “the” method to look and feel your best, even more than vital nutrition.

If you follow this protocol, yes, oh yes, you will lose weight, simply because the counting-calorie philosophy recommends you reduce the amount of food you eat everyday.

But the downside is, calorie-reduction programs across-the-board allow you to eat whatever you want, as long as you stay within the caloric-range recommended for your weight… even if it is not necessarily a healthy choice. This is a huge appeal for many.

You can eat chocolate cake. You can eat pizza. You can eat doughnuts, as long you don’t exceed your caloric-intake for the day.

Now add in the fitness-trainers who tell you you can eat whatever you want, if you “burn more calories” in their classes, and you’re going to end up at the bottom of the rabbit-hole in unhealthy-land chasing calories, while consuming foods that keep you in a state of cravings, imbalance and poor health.

The most important thing that the calorie-restriction diet companies, like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and Nutri-Systems is missing is, calories have NOTHING to do with the state of your health.

Think about it, HOW can nutrient-devoid foods that the body can’t eliminate, like chocolate cake, pizza and doughnuts, promote the vitality and energy you need to look and feel your best when your body is incapable of healthfully eliminating them, and all the problems that causes?

Counting calories is a joke, if your goal is more than just weight loss, if your goal is to look and feel radiant, inside and out! 

Want to slip into that little black dress, buy a new wardrobe full of clothes you love, or simply look and feel as gloriously healthy as you are successful?

Stop counting calories. Stop listening to those who tell you to count calories as a viable approach to looking and feeling your best, and start counting the ways you bring oxygen into your body.

Start by eating foods high in oxygen.

Oxygen is the primary nutrition you need, it’s your lifeline.

Foods highest in oxygen were just picked, so they carry the highest amount of “life force energy,” because they were just picked.

Plus, foods like raw fruits and vegetables are low in calories, so there’s the release-excess-weight appeal, and they’ll deliver the maximum levels of oxygen and electricity your body needs for more energy, more vitality, more mental strength and clarity, more focus and feelings of creativity, more glowing skin… and less stress, less accumulated waste and less chronic symptoms.

Do you know that diseases like cancer, autoimmunity and heart-disease thrive in a low-oxygenated environment?

Yes, a body deprived of oxygen becomes dirty, obstructed and toxic. And the crux of this matter, that is politely not talked about nearly enough is, yeast, mold, fungus and bacteria thrive and grow on the stagnant waste, inside the body. Hello common, acute and chronic symptoms.

So how on earth can a calorie-reduction program, that includes, chocolate cake, pizza and doughnuts, all that process like sugar in the body, choices that offer zero nutritional value, not be considered a joke?

Sugar causes imbalance in the body, which leads to chronic disease, because it feeds the growth of unfriendly pathogen (on stagnant waste matter in the body), which is hardly the foundation for optimal health and vitality.

Stop counting calories. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot. Instead, count all the ways you can bring oxygen into your body, to look and feel every bit as healthy as you are successful!

Your Turn

Have you tried calorie-reduction programs? Had success, but fell back off?

Does removing foods like chocolate cake, pizza and doughnuts make sense to you?

Post your take on this blog in the comments below. I’d love to hear your take on this post.

Do you struggle with staying in the get-healthy game? Download Eliminate Excuses today. It will help. It’s an awesome mini-program that will help you deal with the endless reasons and excuses that typically get in the way!

Do you strive to cultivate a work culture that is happy and productive, focused and results-driven? Do you strive to both challenge and nurture your team? Do you, with your team, set out to solve some of the world’s biggest problems?

One of the things I consistently hear from leaders is they feel burned-out and unsure of how to balance what matters most, with everything else in their life.

Tom said to me, “I’d love to be more spiritual. I used to be, but I’m not anymore. I don’t know why. I think work took over my life”

Susan said, “I’ve accomplished everything I set out to achieve in my life. I’ve got a beautiful home. A wonderful family. A very full life, but I don’t know who I am anymore. I got lost along the way.”

One of the things I consistently say is, “You can’t successfully do anything over the long-haul, if you do not successfully take care of you.”

You can hire the very best consultants to help you learn how to be the best leader. You can learn cutting-edge business strategies to learn how to bring out the best in yourself and your team. But to consistently cultivate a high-performing work culture, make no mistake, it all begins with you.

Everything in your life circles back to how you care for you.

You know how the saying goes, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” 

Your health and your energy impact everything, your attitude, your outlook on life, your focus, your productivity, your ability to be a high-performer… your happiness.

Without acknowledging and attending to this, everything else is like icing on a mud pie — it’s like chasing a tail that you can never quite reach.

When you go out to dinner, never underestimate the power of consistent healthy food choices.

When you plan your week ahead, never underestimate the importance of scheduling in exercise.

When you’re co-workers invite you out to Happy Hour, and the night gets late and the festivities grow strong, never underestimate the value of saying no, leaving early to get to bed early, choosing healthy lifestyle habits across the board, to choose you, and what matters most to you.

You are the most important lynchpin to your team’s success. It all comes back to you. Not in a burdensome way, but in your health and wellbeing matters kind of way.

If you are responsible for leading your team to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, you’d be sorely remiss if you stepped over the ways your heath and wellbeing impact the results you all achieve. Statistics say it’s high-time you attend to your health and wellbeing.

Take your first step: Download Five-To-Thrive: 5 Daily Habits Top-Achievers Use to Increase Energy by 30% to learn the primary reasons why you’re experiencing low energy and falling behind.

Golden Milk is a creamy, hot drink that is soothing and oh-so healing.

I’m hot on Golden Milk lately. Why? Because I recently started indulging a lot in Matcha green tea lattes, and while they’re delicious, Matcha is caffeinated. Caffeine is false fire, not real fire. And I’m about building real energy, real fire in the body, not false energy. False energy bottoms out. Real energy builds and grows. 

Plus, caffeine overloads your kidneys and liver, acidifies your body and ages your tissues, think premature aging inside and out!

But… like you, I want to enjoy yummy, warm drinks too, but I want them to be healthy and nourishing, not depleting or hard on my adrenals (or yours!).

Hello Golden Milk.

Every ingredient in Golden Milk is oh-so healing, and comes together oh-so deliciously. Turmeric, a root native to Indian cuisine,  is touted as being even more effective than some pharmaceutical mediations for inflammation and depression. Ginger, an anti-inflammatory too, helps with digestion, absorption and is anti-bacterial!

Add a few more ingredients, like black pepper, to enhance the benefits of curcumin, the healing compound in turmeric, a little cinnamon and stevia to sweeten it, and voila, you’ve got a delicious healing drink without any side-effects.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 1 inch fresh turmeric
• Pinch of black pepper
• Pinch or two of cinnamon
• Stevia to taste

Put all the ingredients in a high speed blender and puree. Strain and heat on your stove, until hot and foamy. Sprinkle with a little added cinnamon and enjoy!

Yes, you can find recipes that use powdered ingredients. Not me. I include fresh, live ingredients, to get the fresh, live benefits of these healing ingredients when they are in their whole-food state. Nothing processed can ever provide you with the same electricity that a fresh, live ingredients provide.

And since you’re after energy, try the recipe my way. You will love it!  Let me know how you like it in the comments section below.

BONUS: But you say, I like the energy I get from coffee. I say add Maca to build real energy by nourishing your endocrine system, rather than depleting it. Maca is an adaptogenic root from Peru, which will help balance your hormones and build your energy naturally!

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ~ Mother Teresa 

Imagine you buy four new tires for your car, but you hit a pothole in the road and get a blow-out on one. Can your car run smoothly with one flat tire?

Or, what if you put oil in your gas tank, or gas in your oil tank, will the car break down?

You might want to blame the tire, the car, the pothole, the city or your local government officials for not paving the potholes. But no matter who or what is to blame, irregardless of the reason, you’ve got a flat-tire that you need to repair.

The modern lifestyle has not been kind to the human body, and consequently, the human experience. Statistics of chronic disease today tell us so. But have you ever wondered how chronic disease affects us mentally and emotionally?

For many years, reports emerge telling us that mental illness is on the rise. The U.S. census says that in 2017, 8 million Americans suffer from serious psychological distress (SPD) — a term used to describe feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and restlessness that are hazardous enough to impair physical well being.

It’s fitting to wonder why so many people are suffering from serious psychological distress?

My research over the past 30 years shows that many of us are born with a bacterial imbalance in our body, the bacterial balance that keeps us physically, mentally and emotionally in check. Stable. Balanced.

If digestive health is out of balance, the balance of friendly bacteria and rogue bacteria are off, which impacts our overall wellbeing, including our mental and emotional wellbeing. The body is one unit. No system is a stand-alone unaffected by the other. Each system in the human body works synergistically with the other. If the digestive system is off, every other system is affected.

In my attempt to make sense of the tragedies from Columbine, Co, to Newtown, CT to now Las Vegas, NV, I’ve asked myself each time, would a physically, mentally and emotionally healthy person ever commit such a horrific act?

My response is the same every time, “of course not.”

But because I am a “lowest-common-denominator” kind of person, like, when I look for answers to big problems, like the rise of violence, injustice and hate in our country, I continue to break the question down for the lowest-common-denominator answer.

And every time, every single time, my response is the same common-denominator response: Where do I bring violence, injustice and hate into the world with my thoughts, words and actions? When do I act in ways less than who I am committed to being, because I didn’t good care of me? Violence is violence, yes?

I take my cue from Michael Jackson and begin with me. From this context I find my personal power and the action steps I can take that matter,

I’m starting with the woman in the mirror
I’m asking her to change her ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change…

From the context of wondering why violence, mass-shootings, injustice and hate are on the rise today, are the answers only stricter gun laws and overhauling the mental health care system? Or do we need to do the deeper work of looking at the ways we participate in perpetuating violence, injustice and hate, with our own thoughts, words and actions?

I don’t think there are any easy answers, in the face of the horrifying live-footage we’ve all seen in the news this week from Las Vegas, in the face of the deadliest mass-shooting in modern U.S. history.

But I think it’s fair to say that our country and communities are desperate for even the most simple expressions of kindness, if only a patient pause. I think it’s fair to say, that those who are different from us sorely need us to honor and love them for who they are, not who we think they should be. I think it’s fair to say that our families need our love more than ever, in spite of the gaping differences we might feel at times.

We need self-love… and sacred relationship with self too, to counter the rise of despair and sadness the U.S. census reports. How can we possibly hope to be a force for good in the world, if we carry self-loathing and violence in our hearts in an unhealthy body, instead of self-love and love for others in a healthy body?

The Buddha said,

Searching all directions
with one’s awareness,
one finds no one dearer
than oneself.
In the same way, others
are dear to themselves.
So one would not hurt others
if one loves oneself.

Again, there are no easy answers at times like this, but when I find myself judging any situation, tragedy or person, I always come back to me and ask lowest-common-denominator questions like, can I be kinder? Do I hurt others with harsh words, brash behavior, impatience or gossip? Is there another perspective? Can I be more loving? Can I be more generous? Can I take better care of me, so I can better take care of ‘you?’

I pray for all the families who lost loved ones in Las Vegas.

I pray for we who are charged with ending all the ways we contribute to judgement, hatred and malevolence in the world.

I pray that we learn better how to honor ourselves, our physical bodies, our emotional selves and our spiritual yearnings, so every choice we make flows from a clear and healthy body.

I pray that we learn better how to help each other care for each other.

I pray that we each seek ways to heal the our aching world.

I don’t think we can ever fully understand what happened in Las Vegas this past Sunday, October 1, 2017.

And while there are no easy answers, we can cast stones of patience, kindness and understanding.

If I do my part, by taking really good care of me (rather than looking everywhere outside myself for reasons, justifications and excuses why things are as they are), and you do your part, by taking really good care of you (fix the tire), we can join Mother Teresa and the efforts she began in sending ripples of change out into the world with every small act she extended. Surely that can make a difference. Yes?

Six months ago Margaret Ryan joined me for Your Best Health Project as a private client. And even early on, she told me that she wanted to write a blog about my program, how it had changed her life, and what it was like to work with me. I knew we had found a serious stride, but I also knew we had so much more time to create together…

When her “testimony” about our work together arrived my heart felt so full. I was so moved by the time and heart Margaret invested in to writing this letter.

Oh yes, I felt the connection we made, and pretty much near immediately. It happens with all my clients. It happens because I believe in them and all that I know is possible when we live inside a healthy body.

But the following acknowledgment feels super special — Margaret took a lot of time and care to describe what it was like for her to work with me, and what became possible beyond simply ‘eating healthy.’

Margaret wrote:

I’m writing in a notebook that says, “Be Brave with Your Life” on the front. I feel like I’ve been brave with my life.  

I’ve had a lifelong battle with food and health. Late in 2016 I went to a Tony Robbins event, an event that gives you tools to help you make changes in your life so you can function at your personal best. Tony recommends hiring a coach to help you move through the areas of life that have caused long term struggle. For me, I knew this area was my health.

I had been following Carol’s blog for the better part of a year. I always learned from her and appreciated her holistic approach to health. In her blog, she told me to drop sugar and the “F” bomb — two things I intuitively knew would improve my life if I left them behind. She was straight-forward and no nonsense, I knew that would be a good fit for me. I had considered other programs but none seemed as well rounded, health-centered and personal as Carol’s.  

Let me be clear, I am driven and successful. I run my own business, own my own home and parent without a partner. I’ve successfully worked through and surmounted the obstacles life brought my way. But for some reason I didn’t consistently prioritize my health long enough to make more than small changes.  

I told myself aging and genetics were my problem, and resigned to wearing clothes that I didn’t love, but felt made me look better. I avoided the camera. I avoided events and invitations. I felt like no matter how much success I earned, my struggle with food diminished my wins. I didn’t feel like I was my best me, and it weakened my confidence and my sense of self. I ended up avoiding social gatherings. Avoidance felt way easier than trying to pretend I looked pretty when I didn’t feel it…

I began to realize I had become a master doer, but no longer felt comfortable relaxing. Every success I gained depended on me working near 24/7. I felt like I always needed to be productive at work and at home.  But herein lies the problem, the more I worked, the more comfortable I became with working, which made it more uncomfortable with relaxing, which led to a life of unhealthy habits. I grabbed food on the go, I didn’t exercise regularly. I rarely had a good nights sleep and self-care was limited at best. My life had become very one-dimensional. My nose was always to the grindstone.  

At 52 years old, I knew I didn’t want to wait for a diagnosis to force me to create healthy changes. I knew I wanted to stop thinking and worrying about my weight. Plus, with all the inspiration from Tony Robbins event, I reached out to Carol to discuss the details of her 1:1 coaching program.  

Initially, the obstacles to working with Carol were money and time. Did I REALLY need to spend money to work with a coach and did I REALLY need to do it for six months? Surely, three months would be enough time to whip me into shape, right?

I called a friend to discuss the pros and cons of hiring a personal coach.  My friend asked, “What would you do if one of your kids had this problem and wanted to work with a health coach?” Enough said. Based on my love and “anything for my kids,” and my respect for Carol’s work, for the first time in 24 years of parenting I treated myself like I would treat my children and signed up for the Carol’s program.

I started the program in January and committed myself to rigidly following the plan. Carol recommends that you begin with the elimination diet. I did exactly what she recommended. I wasn’t sure what would happen following her protocol, but I had a bit of a doomsday feeling and thought I would suffer from cravings terribly. I thought I would need a lot of support.

I couldn’t imagine what I would eat if I eliminated what was literally my personal food pyramid at the time.  

Eating had become, like many other areas of my life, an area that I gave myself no love or care.  At the end of a long day, I would tell myself, the least I deserved was to eat or drink what I wanted.  And that was true, it was the very least I could do for myself.  This led to slow and steady weight gain, an increase in health issues and resignation that this is what happens with aging. Yes, I had grown more comfortable caring for others than caring for myself.

Carol offers a lot of support, but fears of being her worst nightmare and neediness for a lot of hand holding concerned me. But that was not the case. I did go through an adjustment period, but it was not as nearly as hard as I expected. I had occasional cravings, coffee in the morning, wine at night, but she offers alternatives, so the adjustment and the cravings felt very manageable.

Carol’s program is significantly more self-care focused than food-focused. Once I eliminated the “inflammatory” foods she recommended taking out, it felt simple, so I could then get creative. I tried new foods, new recipes and new ways to prepare my meals.

I began to take time to grocery shop, prepare and invest in healthy take-out. I began to consistently take better care of myself. I never would deny my children healthy care, yet I had fallen into the trap of regularly denying it to myself.

Carol’s 1:1 program consists of weekly calls or video chats and starts with clean eating, but moves to eating to heal. Each week Carol would offer up her recommendations, and I would commit to, or not, what my actions would be for the week ahead. The food plan is simple and Carol offers many delicious recipes and alternative food options to some of our standard fare. The program entails nutrition, yes, but self-care and mindset strategies too, so by the end I had a well-stocked personal care tool box.  

I found myself looking forward to my Friday morning call each week. Carol is a wealth of information. In our conversations she offered me insights, strategies and “tools” to deal with whatever was needed to get me closer to my goals. Carol asks probing questions and helped me breakup life-long patterns and ways of thinking about things, to empower me to stick with all that I learned after my program ended.

I thought cravings would be my biggest struggle, but for the most part, I adapted easily to my new diet. My biggest trigger was centered around taking time to care for me. I realized that my lack of reverence and appreciation for myself and my body was the root cause of my weight and health issues. Food, self-discipline, self-control and adherence to eating clean were never the answer. Who knew?

Once I took inflammatory foods out of my diet, added more fresh vegetables and fruits in, and learned to think differently about all that I was doing, while learning to take better care of me, discipline with my food choices was no longer necessary.

I learned, and it’s true, that once cravings are gone, I went from blaming myself for a lack of discipline, to forgiving myself for ever thinking I could control the craving beast. During my time in the Carol-program, I immersed myself in reading about health and watching health related documentaries to support my experience. I learned that ultimately we are responsible for the state of our health.    

Ready to hear my results?

The first thing I heard was, “You look healthier and younger,” and I still hear it frequently! I lost 35 pounds in the first four months. Weight loss has since then slowed, but I continue to steadily lose weight.

My big win from the program is that I have stayed true to all that I learned. I regularly go out with friends and socialize. I enjoy a little treat here and there when I want them, but I immediately go back to my clean eating style.  

It feels so good to feel so good. It feels good to not be obsessing about food and weight. It feels good to feel clear mentally. Carol often talked about mental fog, but I never thought I had a problem. If my thinking wasn’t clear, I blamed it on aging too. However, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in my mental clarity and memory from the program. Brain fog was NOT aging, it was from the food I was eating.

It bears repeating, it feels so good to feel so good, to choose clothes I love and to move comfortably and think clearly. I will never stray from my new healthy lifestyle. I feel so much more relaxed. I feel peaceful and much more confident. I used to feel harried. My life felt chaotic, but that doesn’t happen when you are taking care of yourself. From my efforts with Carol, I feel radiant again. I feel like I’ve improved all areas of my life.

The investment of time and money were nominal for the substantial personal and professional gains I made. 

The secret sauce of Carol’s program is her coaching and the accountability she offers. Carol is an experienced coach. She has an array of coaching strategies she uses to help you move forward each week. It wasn’t effortless on my part, it took commitment and dedication, but Carol holds a high bar. She wants the best for herself and she wants the best for her clients — me in this case.

I believe Carol’s coaching-style is perfect for professional, driven go-getters who aspire to achieve their best. She coached to the results I wanted. She was the catalyst that helped change my life in ways I had not been able to change it. She was exactly what I needed.  

I plan to live my life following all that I learned in this program. I will retain Carol for intermittent support throughout the year, for continued learning and higher levels of healthy living. I offered to write a review of my experience on the Carol program and have offered to do a follow-up report next year.

If you are driven to be your best and do your best like me, I unequivocally recommend you also be brave with your life and hire Carol. You will never regret that decision. 

After reading this letter from Margaret, imagine for a moment what she and I shared in together every week. We became sisters, as I guided her to what I like to say she already knew, but simply got lost below the world of doing… What in life can exceed such an experience? 

If you were going to distill down into one sentence who you are, what would you say?

Me? I’ve always said, “I want to be the best version of me possible.”

Average never resonated.

Good enough felt mediocre.

Excellence? Excellence felt right.

Yes, illness brought me to my pursuit of excellence, but excellence took me over.

Why would you or I want average, when excellence is possible?

Why would you or I want good enough, when excellence is within our reach?

Which is why I ‘fell for’ consultant, writer, columnist, Tom Peters, in his wildly popular books, “In Search of Excellence,” and “The Little BIG Things – 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE.”

Both books are written for business leaders.

Both books speak to all of us.

Peters offers simple, but powerful messages.

Direct. Simple. No-nonsense.

Perfectly my style. The kind of messaging I get high on.

I think you’ll LOVE both books if you’re a no-nonsense, practical, pragmatic type too!

Peters shows how attention to small details creates a ripple effect in life (and business) (and health, I say).

That the solution to the big problems we face everyday is simple, go back to the basics — that the small stuff really matters.

That striving for excellence should be our way of life.

I agree. You?

The pursuit of excellence has the potential to change our health and our lives.

If you were committed to excellence in all you do, what would be different? Specifically, what would be different with your health and wellbeing? How would that difference impact how you move in the world, your career, your relationships?

I offer you here #8 of Peter’s 163 ways to pursue excellence as my rally cry for pursuing excellence:

Excellence Is …

Excellence is the best defense.

Excellence is the best offense.

Excellence is the answer in good times.

Excellence is the answer in tough times.

(Excellence is the answer in tough times.)

Excellence is about the big things.

Excellence is about the little things.

Excellence is a relationship.

Excellence is a philosophy.

Excellence is an aspiration.

Excellence is immoderate.

Excellence is a pragmatic standard.

Excellence is execution.

Excellence is selfish.

Excellence is selfless.

Excellence is what keeps you awake.

Excellence is what lets you sleep well.

Excellence is a moving target.

Excellence is that which … knows no bounds.

EXCELLENCE. Always.

If not EXCELLENCE, what?

If not EXCELLENCE now, when?

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