I have been writing this article in my mind for over 5 years When I first became a mom in 2017, life changed a lot (an understatement!). After many years of mostly knowing what I was doing or being able to figure things out, I suddenly had a newborn baby and it was like the old me died or disappeared and my old life was just a dream. All the rules changed, all experience/knowledge/control was lost, and I felt like I was just bad at everything I was doing (personal hygiene, eating, sleeping, breastfeeding, planning my day, chores, etc). It was really easy to get to the end of a day and feel li ..read more

Do you love chocolate? I sure do! And my daughter does too! One of the stories we read over and over and over (and over!) again includes the characters having chocolate milkshakes. So, recently she asked me to make her a chocolate milkshake. Being the resourceful (aka lazy) mom that I am, I modified the recipe for my Minty Green Smoothie to make a healthier chocolate milkshake. As you can see, she enjoyed it and little brother in the background is eager to be old enough to drink one too… Chocolate (Veggie) Milkshake Ingredients: 1 ripe or overripe banana 1 part frozen broccoli 1 part frozen ..read more

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! One of the ways I’m (trying) to ward off COVID-related malaise/depression/fatigue is by celebrating minor holidays. I got this idea from one of my favourite authors Gretchen Rubin and her article Celebrate Leap Day, or Any Other Minor Holiday. The first thing that came to mind when I thought about how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day was… The McDonald’s Shamrock Shake! Or, rather, how could I make a healthier but still delicious version of that famous mint milkshake? My version has lots of veggies and healthy fats! I don’t expect it will pose much competition to McDonal ..read more

Wow, I can’t believe it has already been two months since Jasper arrived on October 8th! I’ve been meaning to write about his birth and an update on our family for awhile, but caring for a newborn plus a three year old during a pandemic is not easy! Jasper was born at 39 weeks via scheduled caesarean. I was lucky to work with the same two midwives who delivered my daughter Alexandra and my pregnancy was fairly uneventful and remarkably similar to my previous pregnancy. I was originally planning/hoping for an unmedicated home birth but Jasper had other plans! He was positioned transverse (mean ..read more

This article focuses on the Rebel tendency and is the fifth and final article in a series of articles all about the Four Tendencies and how you can understand yourself better to make it easier to do what you want. If you haven’t read the first article yet, check out The Four Tendencies article now. What are the Four Tendencies? The Four Tendencies framework is a simple and elegant way to categorize how we respond to both internal and external expectations. The Four Tendencies categorizes people with regards to how they respond to EXPECTATIONS, that’s it. A narrow aspect of our ..read more

This article focuses on the Upholder tendency and is the fourth in a series of articles all about the Four Tendencies and how you can put better systems in place to change your habits. If you haven’t read the first article yet, check out The Four Tendencies article now. What are the Four Tendencies? The Four Tendencies framework is a simple and elegant way to categorize how we respond to both internal and external expectations. The Four Tendencies categorizes people with regards to how they respond to EXPECTATIONS, that’s it. A narrow aspect of our whole person, but very might ..read more

This article focuses on the Questioner tendency and is the third in a series of articles all about the Four Tendencies and how you can harness this self-knowledge to achieve your goals. If you haven’t read the first article yet, check out The Four Tendencies article now. What are the Four Tendencies? The Four Tendencies framework is a simple and elegant way to categorize how we respond to both internal and external expectations. The Four Tendencies categorizes people with regards to how they respond to EXPECTATIONS, that’s it. A narrow aspect of our whole person, but very migh ..read more

Novel Coronavirus: Read this First If you have travelled to Wuhan China (or another affected area) in the last two weeks, or have been in contact with someone who has: Call your local health authorities.  In Ontario, call Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000.  DO NOT go to your naturopathic doctor, medical doctor, walk-in clinic, or hospital as you risk transmitting the virus to others. Need personalized advice? Below I am providing a summary of easy, cheap, and effective steps you can take to prevent and treat viral infections.  However, it is always best to get personalized advi ..read more

This article focuses on the Obliger tendency and is the second in a series of articles all about the Four Tendencies and how you can accept (even embrace!) yourself to accomplish your goals. If you haven’t read the first article yet, check out The Four Tendencies article now. What are the Four Tendencies? The Four Tendencies framework is a simple and elegant way to categorize how we respond to both internal and external expectations. The Four Tendencies categorizes people with regards to how they respond to EXPECTATIONS, that’s it. A narrow aspect of our whole person, but very ..read more

How to Master Behaviour Change What behaviours would definitely improve your life? If you are a regular reader, if you are my patient, or if you have done my Whole Body Detox program then you will already know that I’m a huge fan of the author Gretchen Rubin. In my article Master Your Habits, Achieve Your Dreams I share my four favourite strategies from Better Than Before (an amazing book on how to change your habits to live a happier life). In that book she introduces her Four Tendencies framework and has since written another book entirely on that topic called (not surprisingly) T ..read more