dani

I’ve done several reviews on my website for various companies, whether they’re MLM, protein products, meal replacements, whatever. You can find those reviews here (they include Isagenix, Plexus, Herbalife, Juice Plus, Advocare, Arbonne and a few others). Here is my unbiased review of It Works. A few days ago on my Facebook page I did a poll on which company I should review next. Lucky (actually, unlucky) for It Works, they were the overwhelming vote. I do these reviews because people deserve to know what’s in these products. Most people aren’t able to look at an ingredient label and know whether or not the massive amount of ingredients are safe, healthy or toxic. That’s where I come in. I don’t do these reviews because I’m paid to do them (I get accused of this a lot – who would even pay me? I work for myself!). I don’t do them…

This past December, I remember thinking how proud of myself I was for overcoming my anxiety. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had an anxiety attack. Any form of anxiousness that popped into my life was manageable, normal and extremely easy to cope with. I had dealt with anxiety since childhood, but it finally seemed like I beat it. And then I got sick. At the end of December, I got a really bad cold accompanied by some pretty intense gut issues. I’ve had a cold and I’ve had a bug before, but never together. I took my natural remedies, stopped eating so much gluten and sugar (it was the holidays after all) and rode it out. Then out of nowhere, an anxiety attack hit me like a ton of bricks over New Years weekend. My husband and I were on a little getaway and we went to this…

I’ve written extensively about my battle with anxiety on this site. If you’d like to read my various articles on the topic, you can do so here. To sum it up, I had a traumatic childhood, a crazy parent, was homeless by 19, had really terrible relationships, then somehow got it together, married my husband and now I’m crazy happy. But the reality is that despite the fact that my life is infinitely better than it was, better than I ever could’ve imagined it or even expected for myself, I still battle with anxiety. It’s a struggle I’ve improved greatly, but have yet to 100% overcome. So here are some things I do every day to keep my anxiety at bay. They make a huge difference and really help me, so hopefully, you can use some of these as tools to help you too. Please note that I am not…

For one of Scott’s Christmas gifts, I got us a weekend away in Easton, MD for New Years Eve weekend. It’s a cute little Chesapeake Bay town with lots of seafood, antiques and quaint everything. Our hotel was gorgeous. (I promise, Side Dish goodness is a part of this!) And they had an awesome restaurant with a heated outdoor patio. Which was great because I got to drink champagne outside in December without freezing to death. We walked around, hung out and checked out some great restaurants. One of which was Mason’s, a local farm to table restaurant with an emphasis on local seafood as well. I got a white fish (forget which kind exactly) on top of the creamy artichoke, leek, and tomato side dish that was amazing. I’ve been fantasizing about it inappropriately for almost a month now like a weirdo. So I recreated it for you guys.…

I usually start each morning with the healthiest shot ever, which is made with apple cider vinegar and other incredibly healthy ingredients. A lot of people have a hard time ingesting ACV because let’s face it – that’s some sour sh*t. But when mixed with ingredients like lemon, raw honey, and wrinkle + cellulite reducing collagen, it’s actually pretty dang good. It’s incredibly easy to make a batch of this every Sunday and take a shot of it once a day throughout the week. And I highly recommend giving it a try, because apple cider vinegar is incredibly healthy. Before delving into the benefits of apple cider vinegar, I’d like to emphasize that I only use Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar. Bragg’s ACV is “with the mother” which is the dark, cloudy substance you may see floating around in the bottle. Its presence indicates that the best part of that apple…

A few months ago, I had a miscarriage. It was particularly shocking and even a bit debilitating, because even though I now know they’re more common than any of us want to talk about, I had prepared for conception for a year prior to getting pregnant. I took the prenatals, I took the fish oil, I ate a nutrient dense diet. Sometimes, miscarriages just happen. No matter what you do right and no matter how much you’ve prepared your body for pregnancy. Following the miscarriage, I knew I really wanted to step up my nutrition game. I always eat well, but I wanted to add something into my diet that really increased my daily nutrient intake. This smoothie packs a ton nutrients into one easy drink. Maca boosts fertility, balances hormones and strengthens egg health. Kefir is rich in beneficial probiotics. Egg yolks are high in omega-3s and vitamins A, E, D,…

Before beginning this article, I’d like to let everyone know that I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t know if what is happening with Chipotle is sabotage or random chance, but I’d like to explore both possibilities. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised when I heard there was an E. Coli outbreak at Chipotle. By the time it reached my region (the Mid-Atlantic), I felt that something was off, that it wasn’t just a coincidental outbreak. So I went out and had Chipotle for lunch. I had a suspicion that this outbreak wasn’t an unfortunate occurrence, and after diving into some research and information, I have to admit that I’m questioning the entire situation. Cue Beastie Boys. You know you love this song. Listen, I’m not one for conspiracy theories. I don’t think the government is planning to enslave us all. We did land on the moon, as…