For the past 10 days I’ve gone to the gym everyday.

Going to the gym everyday, and going to classes that challenge me everyday is part of a 21-day challenge I created a few months back in the moment when I heard me putting myself second to my business, my clients and business development.

I didn’t believe I could maintain a rigorous fitness schedule while building a business.

When I heard myself say to someone, “My business comes first,” I felt a tear fill my eye.

This gaping disconnect between what I believe so fervently, that health and vitality are a holistic endeavor, that we create our best selves when we are aligned in all areas of life … and how I was living, I knew I had to recommit to my daily rituals.

I chose what Charles Duhigg describes in The Power of Habit, as a keystone habit to revitalize my daily rituals. A keystone habit is that small, seemingly benign habit, yet creates the foundation for all other habits to flourish. I chose journaling as my keystone habit, three, free-writing pages every morning for 21-days because journaling always had a way of bringing me back to me.

I began to feel so much clarity and peace of mind, creativity and groundedness from simply journaling every morning that I decided to challenge myself for 21-days with my meditation practice too, which also had become hit or miss.

Since meditation is, well, so meditative, this might sound crazy, but I began to feel on fire! Excitement and adrenaline were running through my veins … for no apparent reason!

Duhigg, says, “Habits are so powerful. They create neurological cravings.”

Indeed. I was literally getting high by simply renewing my daily commitments to me, which ironically felt really hard to do initially!

This is when my idea to create “The 21-Day Project” crystallized.

My renewed commitment to me and my daily habits hit me like a ton of bricks, like this IS the created life! This IS how I create my life by my design, by one, what-I-really-want habit at a time! I declared somewhere amidst my journaling and meditation practice that I would create a new healthy habit every 21-days for one year and added fitness as my new, next challenge.

Amidst all this, I began to think newly about my once rock-solid, and now recommitted daily rituals, and reflected on a quote by George Bernard Shaw I’ve had hanging in my home for years,

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

Creating yourself? Hmm.

In the spirit of taking control over the skills I can develop, I’m out to create the whole shape of my life, by my design, with my year-long 21-Day Project. 

What started as a challenge to get back to the gym has turned into a fun game of ‘anything’s possible,’ and I believe you too can do anything for 21 days!

The sky’s the limit, really.

Leave a comment below with your commitment for the next 21 days  — and let’s hold each other accountable!

I promise you this,  you’ll be so surprised and delighted by how quickly you create momentum!

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Deliciously Detoxifying Pesto

This pesto is so good, and so good for you … and a More Than A Detox favorite! The pumpkin seeds add a mildly cheesy flavor and the cilantro, while brightening it up, removes heavy metals = stellar bonus!

Eat with fresh veggie sticks, on top of thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes, tossed with zucchini noodles, or one of my favorites, on top of thinly sliced heirloom sweet potato chips (raw sweet potatoes sliced on a mandolin).

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 2 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
• 1 clove fresh garlic
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• drizzle, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (optional)
• sea salt, to taste

To make:

Soak sundried tomatoes in lemon juice for 10-15 minutes. Combine the basil, cilantro, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic and pumpkin seeds in a food processor; pulse and process the mixture until it is finely chopped. Add avocado and process until well combined. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil in a steady drizzle to achieve desired consistency. Process until it becomes a smooth, light paste.

Season with sea salt. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour for flavors to combine. If storing overnight, cover with a thin layer of lemon juice to prevent oxidation and maintain the bright green color.

Buono Appetito! I know you will love this. Everyone does.

Let me know how you like it in the comments section below!

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Have you ever experienced a moment when you knew with all your heart that something bigger than you was guiding you?

Like that moment you looked into your newborn child’s eyes for the first time and felt your heart well up with a feeling of love you never knew before. Or like that moment you felt like Heaven was touching Earth in the sun streaming through the clouds. Or like the crocus breaking through the warming, but still cold earth.

Somewhere in between the acute anxiety that unpinned my every waking moment back in my hairdresser days, and racing home after work to get to the bathroom as-soon-as-possible because of the digestive problems that constrained my life; somewhere in between bearing the heartbreak of feeling throbbing cysts on my face as a young woman while trying to pretend it didn’t bother me, somewhere in between my late-night, comatose-like, sugar binge-eating and trying to make my life look all polished and perfect …

Spirit whispered to me. 

Surrender. Trust. There’s so much more beyond these moments.

For no good reason and no understanding of what could be possible beyond the circumstances of my life because my body was so sick, but only the pull of my faith in what I heard, I knew something more awaited me.

I knew.

I knew that a much bigger and brighter me, beyond the symptoms of a sick body flickered within.

I knew I could access this Force within me if I listened deeply. 

So I surrendered. I trusted.

And on my journey from illness to wellness, I learned that Spirit not only wants me to tell you about what I learned about healing the body, but expects me to tell you about,

• The force of Mother Nature and all she provides, and because we’ve veered so far away from her since the advent of modern society, pharmaceutical drugs and Fast-Food nation, we’re collectively getting sicker everyday with epidemic rates of chronic disease.
• How lost we’ve gotten in the world of accomplishment and doing, that we’ve forgotten who we are and the power that sources us and lives in us, that if we remembered this, we’d never eat degraded food-like substances.
• About how important it is that we reconnect with ourselves, to reconnect with our basic commonsense and goodness about nourishing our bodies in the ways that we can feel Spirit move through us.
• How chronic symptoms and chronic illness are not normal, though you think so because so many in your family suffer from the same condition.
• How healing your digestive system will change your whole life in ways you can’t imagine, because its like a blind-spot blocking your view.
• How food-like, processed substances that you think are fueling you, are actually breaking your body down and causing you to feel apathetic and resigned, with a sense of self that is so far less than who you were born to be.
• How fun life can be, when eating healthy, healing foods and removing toxic waste matter and obstruction from your body.

I was directed to share with you all that I’ve learned about healing your body, so you too can experience and express your best self and Highest Purpose.

It’s my Sacred duty. It’s why I am here. I must share.

“To those whom much is given, much is expected.” ~Anonymous

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If you're ready to explore healing and digestive health, I created a bundle of 3 Guides to help you get started healing your body, to look and feel your very best again!

I walked in 8 minutes late.

Arriving on time is a program rule.

I knew. I agreed to be on time.

I had set myself up for success — but along the way I realized I had made another choice.

For the forty-minute ride, I left 2 hours ahead, because my plan included a quick stop at Whole Foods to get some healthy food for the day.

I needed 15 minutes of my rhythm of life, amidst the three, intense, back-to-back 13-hour days of the seminar I was attending.

Oddly, my primary navigation app went down.

No worries. Turn on another.

Again, something went awry.

There I was. Lost. Two navigation systems down. No Whole Foods in sight, with another 13-hour day ahead of me … and I still wanted the healthy snacks I wanted.

There was no time to stop anywhere. Zero.

In fact, I was quickly running out of time.

But as I turned the corner, there was a Harvest COOP.

I knew I didn’t have enough time, but I chose to stop any way.

In that moment I thought how fortunate.

I felt completely justified.

But after talking to someone I knew at the seminar, and even though I was convinced that my late arrival was out of my control, it occurred to me that in the moment I chose to stop at Harvest COOP, my choice to arrive on time changed too.

As I learned eight years ago in the very seminar I was reviewing this past weekend, I always get to choose.

I get to choose promptness because I get to choose promptness, or I get to choose tardiness because I get to choose tardiness.

But often reasons, excuses and justifications turn the mighty moment of choice into a watered-down, qualified, victim-laden decision.

Choosing powerfully is the moment we move beyond reasons, excuses, justifications and story and declare with our word the life we want to live and who we want to be.

What do you choose?

If you choose eating healthy foods, you choose eating healthy foods.

If you choose eating pizza, you choose eating pizza.

Neither is wrong. They both are only a choice.

But own your choice and know that with every one you make, you create the life you are living and the results you are producing.

Are you struggling with choosing powerfully for you and your health? We should talk. Email me at carol@carol-egan.com

Did you ever hear of a teenager loving Scrubbing Bubbles™? Crazy right? But my son would go head to head with me like the very best door-to-door salesman to ever pass my doorstep, to convince me that these magical little bubbles could clean the bathroom so much better than a cleaning rag, scouring powder and a little elbow grease.

For Chris, Scrubbing Bubbles™ were the next best thing to sliced bread, because he could finish his chore in lickety-split time, and fulfill on his commitment to contributing to our home’s responsibilities … with little to no effort, an appeal for most on-the-go teenagers.

But underneath my struggle with him about this seemingly trivial matter was my insistence of, “How can you ever achieve greatness inside ‘it’s good enough?’”

We lose something, I would explain, in this ‘good enough’ equation.

• We lose all that could be possible by trying our best.
• We lose out on experiencing the juice that comes from completing a job well done.
• We lose out on the victory feeling we gain only when we move beyond the resistance of ‘it’s not that important.’
• We lose out on experiencing the sweet juice that flows from doing good work. The menial, day in, day out tasks that ask us to commit to something more than superficial and fleeting wins.

Somewhere within, I knew I was playing the ‘good enough’ card regarding my work.

In February of 2015, I declared that I would bring my message of healing to ‘the stage.’ I knew then, as I know now, that speakers choose ‘the stage’ to expand the reach of their message, so I created a picture for my Vision Board of me standing on a stage. One month later I joined Toastmasters.

Every morning for the past year, I’ve looked at the picture of me standing on a stage on my Vision Board to visualize, to actualize my goal. Every two weeks for the past year, I’ve met with ‘my’ local TM group, to expose my vulnerability and fear of public speaking, to look at and shake up the ways I don’t feel confident speaking in front of people, to practice, learn, train and develop myself beyond the small egoic voice that wanted to hold me back.

In spite of all my efforts and all the strides I’ve made, I woke up this past Monday morning riddled with fear and doubt. I was slated to speak about healthy habits to a group of 75 people the next day, but fear had grabbed hold and had me believing I didn’t have what it takes to speak in front of a group that large.

I’ve studied, practiced and taught how to create a healthy lifestyle with healthy habits and a healthy mindset for years.

I know what it takes to heal a body and to live healthfully. I’ve walked, talked and lived this ‘game’ for more than half my lifetime. I also know what to do when fear and panic take over.

I know because I’ve stayed the course. I’ve done the work. No quick spit-shine or Scrubbing Bubbles™, but lots of elbow grease.

So I got into action in the ways that I know makes a difference, and  the alchemy of all my steadfast work in studying optimal health, healthy lifestyle habits, public speaking and shifting the mindset to create lasting results, which was ironically exactly what I was speaking on the next day, began to transmute my fears and doubts into “I’ve got this,” confidence.

I woke up Tuesday morning ready for the event.

Focused.

Centered.

In my zone.

But the ‘sweet juice’ of my efforts showed up Wednesday morning. I woke up with a feeling of expansiveness in my body that I’d not felt quite the same way before.

I stretched myself.

I grew myself by moving beyond the doubt and fear that had held me back from serving a larger audience.

I could literally feel ‘it.’

It is, as Darren Hardy says, “Small smart choices + consistency + time = radical difference.”

It is, as I taught my son many years back, in the seemingly menial, day in, day out tasks that ask us to commit to something more than ‘good enough’ that we get to step beyond the world of mediocrity and into the juice of our greatness.

You eat clean, but you can’t lose those last 10 pounds.

Let me explain why you’re having so much trouble and why celebrity-endorsed weight loss programs will fail you in losing weight and getting healthy over the long haul.

This article was published at Huffington Post here

Check out all the free resources Carol offers here and get weekly health tips and actionable ideas here

I recently met two really cool people, Varuna and Dhrumil.

Varuna is a young, hip college-aged woman from Thailand. She goes to school in NYC where she studies jewelry design. But I ran in to her in Providence while she was there to take an ESL test required for the Masters program she’s applying to in California. Through broken-English, Varuna said she misses her family but left everything that was familiar to her, to pursue her dream of becoming a master jewelry designer.

Dhrumil is a sharp, young professional man from India. Dhrumil explained how he lives in Washington, DC two weeks a month and travels to the town I live in, in Connecticut, the other two weeks of the month to be with his wife and new baby. Dhrumil’s wife is up for a promotion in a career she loves in Connecticut, so they made the decision to live apart two weeks every month so she could advance in her career. Though it was very hard for he and his wife to live apart for two weeks, that he especially missed his new baby, Dhrumil said they were very clear in the decision they made, to support each other’s goals.

I was so inspired when Varuna and Dhrumil each shared their stories with me. Actually, I felt more than just inspired, I felt connected … and fired-up!

Varuna’s and Dhrumils’ stories make me feel connected and fired-up because I know what its like to make a choice that others don’t understand.

Like when I started seeing a Naturopathic doctor to help me get answers to my health problems.

Like when I quit my job to go back to school full-time at Mount Holyoke College.

Like when I left a secure career track to build a business I know matters.

In all three cases, my family didn’t understand my decisions, my friends questioned my reasoning, so neither knew how to encourage or support me, but I still pursued what I felt best for me, like Varuna, Dhrumil and Dhrumil’s wife.

I learned that, “I’ve got to do, what I’ve got to do,” no matter if others understand, or not.

Their stories came back to me when Monica, a participant in my 10 Years Younger in 6 Weeks Program, said to me, “Carol, my friends and family don’t approve of the way I am eating. They call me a hippie and bohemian, but I’ve never felt better.”

My response came loaded with memory, experience and inspiration from my life, and from many like Varuna and Dhrumil. I confidently said, “Don’t worry, Monica, they’ll come around. They love you, but you’ve got to do what is best for you. You’ve got to choose healthy for you.”

Many years back when at Disney World in Florida with my son, I bought a framed picture-quote that ‘talked to me’ over the years like a drum beating silently in the background, “Choice, not chance, determines destiny.”

No matter if it’s leaving our home for a foreign land, defying social definitions of what others deem acceptable, or simply choosing healthy foods that make us look and feel amazing, yet challenge our families’ traditions, we must choose what calls to us.

What are you doing that you know is right for you, but isn’t understood by others? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments below.

I vividly remember one of the times when I swore off sugar once and for all, when I went looking for my equally sugar-addicted coworker. The drill went like this, I’d whisper “they like you,” about the pastry chefs we worked with, “pleeeze get us a treat, they’ll give you anything you want,” full well knowing I’d long out-used my ‘just this once’ ‘pretty please’ reasoning with them.

We’d turn the corner greedily swallowing what ever sweet-fix we could get, giggle, lick our sugary fingers and swear off sugar yet again.

Maybe like me, you too experience some of the common signs of sugar addiction:

• You crave sweets
• You eat even when you’re not hungry
• Your tired from overeating
• You use every and any other form of ‘healthy’ sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth
• You’ve tried to control or quit eating sugar, but you just can’t

I felt liberated in a sense, when I saw the lecture that Robert Lustig posted on YouTube entitled, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” in 2009, which now has over 6 million views. In this lecture, Lustig refers to sugar as a ‘toxin’ and poison 13 times.

I watched in horror thinking, no kidding!

And then in my research to better understand this thing that felt like a straight-up addiction, I learned that students at a nearby liberal arts college found that eating Oreos activated more neurons in the brain’s “pleasure center” than exposure to drugs of abuse.

The student’s research found that high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do, which explains why I couldn’t resist sugary foods.

Actually, the average American today eats 150-170 pounds of sugar a year. If you do the math, this means ‘you’ are eating 1/4 – 1/2 pound of sugar a day!

I found a study that says rats — a whopping 94 percent — preferred sugar or saccharin, rather than cocaine!

Sugar is problem for more than just me, but you still might be saying, so what? So what if I love a lot of sugar?

Sugar directly impacts the health of your gut. Dr. David Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain, and Brain Maker, says “sugar has a direct effect on the gut microbiome,” and the gut-brain connection.

Your gut microbiome has more than 100 trillion bacteria living within the gut wall. Sugar causes an imbalance between the good bacteria in your body, and the bad bacteria, candida albicans. Candida albicans thrives on sugar. Sugar feeds the yeast so it can continue to grow.

An unhealthy balance of bacteria in your body, brought on by a high-sugar diet can actually affect DNA expression and lead to increased inflammation, a key factor in issues like poor digestion, coronary artery disease, elevated blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer and even everyday memory and focus!

Sugar increase the uric acid levels in your body. High uric acid levels put you at risk for heart and kidney disease and an overly acidic body, which leads to poor digestion, weak bones and mineral deficiency. Sugar puts undue strain on your liver, leading to potential liver damage. Sugar causes metabolic dysfunction, including weight gain, abdominal bloating, imbalanced blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and high blood pressure. Sugar prematurely ages.

Craig Thompson, president of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the leading cancer research centers, said in the April 2011 issue of New Yorker Magazine, “I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can, because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.”

I offer you 10 things that I know will help you curb and eliminate your sugar cravings:

1. Eliminate processed and packaged snack foods. These foods contain high amounts of sugar.
2. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. Caffeine causes metabolic fluctuations, including dehydration and blood sugar swings, which can lead to sugar cravings.
3. Avoid artificial sweeteners and foods with added sugar. Use a natural sweetener like stevia instead.
4. Move your body. Physical activity helps balance blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and reduces tension.
5. Drink water. Sometimes sweet cravings, and cravings in general, are more a sign of dehydration. Before eating a sugary food, have a glass of water, it may be all you really need.
6. Get more sleep. If you are chronically tired, your body will crave sugar for the instant energy it provides.
7. Eat vegetables and the less sweet fruit, like berries, green apples, grapefruits, lemons and limes. Their natural, healthy sugar will satisfy you.
8. Include with spices. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom will naturally sweeten your foods and reduce your cravings.
9. Reduce the amount of animal food you eat. According to yin-yang principles of eating, like Macrobiotics and Traditional Chinese Medicine, eating too much animal food, which are yang, can lead to cravings for sweets, which are yin.
10. There are many ways to add sweetness to your life, beyond just food. Look for non-food ways to sweeten your life, like in your relationships and your career. Cravings often carry a psychological or emotional component. By identifying the psychological causes for your cravings, you better understand how to choose healthier choices.

One last thought. Many will tell you it’s OK to eat sugar in moderation. Depending on the severity of your sugar cravings, it’s actually better to avoid sugar completely for a healing interim. Since research shows that sugar is more addictive than drugs of abuse, it’s better to eliminate it completely, until you feel you’ve got your cravings under control. And who knows, you may feel so great from this abstinence period, that you may choose to forgo this highly questionable substance.

Has sugar caused you problems?

You know I gave up sugar for a healing interim to get to the other side of my sugar addiction. I’m curious, do you think sugar could be holding you back from achieving your healthy breakthrough?

Which of the ideas above gave you an aha moment?

I look forward to reading your stories and thoughts in the comments below.

Ready to start eliminating sugar from your diet with a healthy start to your day? Get my 9 nutrient-dense smoothies guide to kickstart your healthy goals!

When you think of spring, you likely think about setting the clock forward, spring cleaning, yard work, daffodils and longer days. You likely open your windows to let the sweet smell of clean, fresh air in the house, and dive into the tasks that were waiting for warmer weather to return.

What you might not think about though is, spring is also the season of internal rejuvenation and cleansing.

After a long winter, your body is ready to release accumulated waste and it stimulates the liver to cleanse the blood, tissues and internal organs of harmful toxins.

There’s only one problem…

Harmful toxins abound, in the air you breathe, the food you eat, the water you drink and … even the thoughts you think! Consequently, your body might find it very difficult to rejuvenate and cleanse you from the effects the modern lifestyle and the backed-up of toxins.

Accumulated, backed-up toxins can show up as chronic fatigue, excess weight, poor digestion and constipation.

These symptoms directly impact your ability to think clearly and creatively, focus and work productively, and more.

As Dr. Mark Hyman points out, “Pretty much everyone carries a huge load of petrochemical and industrial toxins. They come from plastics, pesticides, flame retardants, you name it. Then there are heavy metals and allergens from food or the environment, and internal toxins like bacteria, fungus, and yeast. Most people need to detoxify to get these things out of their systems in order to feel healthier.”

Hello Spring Detox!

This is why you hear more about detoxing these days, especially in spring, because you literally support your body in doing what it does — eliminating harmful toxins from the cells, tissues and organs in your body, but might be constrained by the impact of your fast-paced, fast-food lifestyle.

I offer you the top 3 reasons your body craves a detox this spring:

1. Seasonal Support

Since spring is the season of detoxification, you support your body in cleansing itself by helping your body manage the task of releasing backed-up and problematic toxins. If your body is overburdened by toxins, which in today’s world is more likely than not, your liver gets stressed and you experience symptoms like allergies and headaches, foggy thinking and fatigue, anxiety and even more chronic problems.

2. Release Excess Weight

If you are like near everyone, you eat your fair share of processed, sugary foods. Unfortunately, both trigger addiction and overeating, spike insulin and cause inflammation, which pretty much guarantees not only carrying excess weight, but losing weight too.

3. Control Food Cravings

During a whole foods detox, you take out sugar and gluten, which are both known to be biologically addictive. The science behind it is clear and conclusive, says Dr. Mark Hyman. In “Salt, Sugar and Fat,” author Michael Moss shares how more than 300 food industry insiders talked freely with him about the ways companies hire “craving experts” to create the “bliss point” of junk food to create “heavy users” and increase their “stomach share.”

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Are you ready to assist your body in releasing built up toxins this season? Click here to join me for More Than a Detox: Spring! We get started on March 31.

Watercress has a sharp, peppery bite that the Chinese regard for it’s detoxifying qualities. Radish has a spicy, crisp bite and are regarded for their powerful detoxifying benefits for the liver and gallbladder. Parsley supports kidney function, which promotes healthy liver function. And since Spring is the season of rejuvenation and cleansing, Perfectly Spring Salad from my More Than a Detox, Spring program is a super choice to include in your weekly meal planning to support your body’s healing processes. The pear adds a ‘sweet’ compliment to the sharp flavors of the watercress and radish. Dress the salad with the tomato vinaigrette and enjoy this delicious, healing seasonal favorite!

SALAD

• 2 cups mixed greens
• 1/2 bunch watercress
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 red pear, diced
• 2 to 3 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 handful parsley, chopped

TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

• 1 large Roma tomato
• 1 to 2 sundried tomatoes
• 1 scallion
• 1 handful fresh basil, parsley and cilantro minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon
• Sea salt to taste Black pepper to taste

Vinaigrette: Add your fresh tomato, sundried tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, scallion, basil, parsley, cilantro, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Blend until well incorporated. Set to the side to allow the flavors to marinate for at least 10 minutes (30 minutes even better).

Wash mixed greens and add them to a bowl. Wash watercress and remove thick tough ends, and add  to salad bowl. Add radishes, pear, cucumber, and parsley. Mix and top with tomato vinaigrette.

Buono Appetito … and Happy Spring!