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Weeks four, five and six of this pregnancy have been by far the most difficult. Upon finding out I was pregnant again, I didn’t immediately freak out. I kept a level head for a few days at least. That was until I started spotting. WEEK FOUR Week four was pretty uneventful. I was still wrapping my mind around the fact that I was pregnant. It still hadn’t really sunk in. Symptoms None yet. Weight Gain None Mood It was weird. It was almost like not being pregnant because I still couldn’t believe I really was. WEEK FIVE The Drama One night in my fifth week, Scott and I finished having dinner. I felt great and was positive about the pregnancy. Until I felt something, ran to the bathroom and wiped to find pink. I lost it. I thought of what happened last time and being told to wait around for…

Looking for the best serum for eye wrinkles, uneven skin, or an effective acne scars serum? This DIY Glow Serum with healing essential oils is all-natural and will work miracles for your skin! Want to get rid of your acne scars, eye wrinkles, and uneven skin tone? I have a serum for you! Growing up, I was that kid with horrible acne. Like, embarrassing, painful, terrible-looking acne. I’ve written about it extensively, and you can read more about it here if you’d like. But suffice to say – I had acne so severe that it left me with a face full of scars. I was once told the only way to get rid of them was to surgically peel my top several layers of skin off. Obviously, that wasn’t happening. I figured I would just have to live with my acne scarring. However several years ago, I was introduced to…

I’m pregnant, so I’m avoiding mosquitoes. Zika is a real fear! This is why I created an Ancestral Organics Bug Spray.  You can buy it here or use the DIY Essential Oil Bug Spray below to make your own! I use it every time I leave the house and love the smell. I also love that’s it’s non-toxic and seriously effective. Majority of the advice for people, pregnant or otherwise, is to use a strong mosquito repellent that contains DEET. DEET is a chemical insect repellant with limited data to support its toxicity, though that data does exist (albeit, usually in small subjects and test studies). In a report I found for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, doctors found that, “In humans, reported symptoms of overexposure include seizures, coma, hypotension, bradycardia, confusion, acute psychosis, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, skin irritation, and urticaria or contact rash. The role of…

I am so nervous-excited to tell you guys this. So many of you have been on this journey with me, from preconception and preparing my body for a healthy pregnancy, to one of the darkest times in my life – when I miscarried, and I’m so thankful (okay, full disclosure – crying now) that you all will be on this new journey with me. That’s right – I have a (gluten-free) bun in the oven. ANCESTRAL NUTRITION IS KNOCKED UP. My husband and I are so thrilled, especially now that we’re out of the first trimester. I’ll be entering my 15th week of pregnancy this Thursday. And holy hell has this been emotional. Not in an “Oh I’m so hormonal” kind of way. But I’m not going to sugarcoat it because so many of my sisters (especially those that have also miscarried) deserve to know the truth. Getting pregnant again…

I know that people love to hate on simple solutions like this and detox in general. But there’s actually legitimate evidence backing up the benefits of lemons and lemon water. I’ve been drinking lemon water first thing in the morning for years. This is for two reasons: the first being that I don’t enjoy drinking plain water first thing in the morning; I want something refreshing! The second is that it’s incredibly good for you. There are numerous benefits to starting your day with lemon water, before eating or consuming anything else. Let’s get into ’em! LEMON WATER IS DETOXIFYING. Lemon encourages the liver to produce enzymes as well as bile, which will, in turn, promote digestion and more effectively remove toxins from your system. It is a diuretic, meaning it promotes urination – which is another way the body flushes toxins. LEMON WATER MAY REDUCE DIET RELATED OBESITY AND…

People ask me this (in one form or another) all the time. What’s your food philosophy? What did our ancestors eat? What IS ancestral eating? How do we eat like our ancestors? They were hunter-gatherers. FIRST, LET’S CLEAR UP WHAT ANCESTRAL EATING IS NOT. The motivation behind eating ancestrally isn’t to mimic exactly what our ancestors ate. It’s to eat what they would’ve had reasonable access to. It’s about avoiding modern, processed, industrialized food. Eating ancestrally is more about what you don’t eat than what you do; let me explain. Ancestral eating is not a strict set of rules that need to be adhered to. It is not one size “diet” fits all. It is not necessarily black and white – eat this and avoid that. Ancestral eating varies. Some followers of an ancestral diet eat corn, rice and/or dairy – foods that were not widely available prior to ten thousand…

It’s not hard to keep these foods on hand. Majority of them live in the freezer, like beef, raspberries and frozen veggies. Others keep well, like coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. The others, like avocados and leafy greens, are on my grocery list each week. Keeping these foods on hand is great because you will always have a healthy meal to cook. Whether that’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack or a smoothie. You will never be able to say “I have nothing to eat!” if you have these foods in your house. There are endless combinations to be made with these. Some of my favorites are: stir-fry ground beef with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and greens scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado guacamole salmon with broccoli and mashed potatoes a fiber-rich smoothie (so much fiber in avocados and raspberries!) hard boiled eggs (my favorite snack) soup – tomato soup, veggie…

I was just creating my meal plan for next week (if you don’t do this, you should, here’s how) and realized I forgot to add smoothies to my list for last week. Which means I haven’t had any smoothies this week, which also means I didn’t as easily or readily get my daily nutrients in. Simply put, this is why I love smoothies. They pack a ton of nutrients into an easy to consume package. To be clear, I do not use them as a meal replacement. I have smoothies right along with my regular meals, and usually, consume one as a snack between lunch and dinner. Or if I’m being honest, sometimes for breakfast when I’m running really behind (it happens). I’ve been consuming a lot of smoothies lately because I just haven’t been into salads – which I normally love during the summer. But in DC, it’s been…