When Carrie told us about Bob’s steel cut oats for breakfast, I went out and bought a package. I love oatmeal, I think of it as the ultimate comfort food. And yet in my case it may be a shadow comfort. I wanted to feel virtuous that I was putting good food into my body. And yet, despite the fact that I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have noticed that when I start my day with comfort food breakfast (bagels, muffins and croissants all fit the category for me) I tend to keep eating in unhealthy ways through out the day.

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If eating high quality food with few pesticides and chemicals is important to you, it may be easier than you’d think to save money on your grocery bill. The organic section of your grocery store isn’t the only place to purchase healthy whole foods; in fact, it may be the most expensive option!

If you’re searching for organic or hormone-free meats, free range eggs, or low to no pesticide produce, you already know how expensive such items can be at traditional grocery stores. It can be a bit intimidating to watch your bill go higher and higher each month, and it may be tempting to switch back to traditionally farmed items. Before you do so, however, consider taking advantage of what your local community has to offer.

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Search the Web for “detox” and you will come across a mind-boggling number of plans urging you to “drop pounds” with their lickety-split dietary rules.

But that’s not what a detox is intended to do – at least, that’s not why ancient alternative health healers came up with the flush-your-system plans.

“Fasting and cleansing to purify the body and mind were first embraced thousands of years ago as a pathway to connect with the divine and achieve higher levels of awareness and clarity,” Adina Niemerow writes in her book, Super Cleanse. “It’s more relevant than ever today.”

But “today” many people fail to interpret the spiritual elements of detoxing and instead focus on the weight loss aspects, choosing plans that can actually make them sick or have harmful effects on their health.

That’s why you need to lean on a detox plan that helps to cleanse your body and restore your health. A good detox can eliminate migraines, restore kidney function, get you a rosy-cheeked glow, increase energy and help you sleep like a baby – just to name a few.

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What if food was just food? That is, what if you put food back in its place? In this world, with so much emphasis and information constantly thrown at us about which foods are better, better, best it becomes easy to get caught up in all of it. The book, In Defense Of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan, touches on the subject of food getting picked apart as we try to take out all the bad and add in all the good. Food begins to get overly complicated and something valuable gets lost in the process.

Tried Every Diet?

However, I want to take the defense of food in another direction. One that might speak more fully to those who have tried every diet and created a negative relationship with food that preoccupies too much of your precious time and regularly steals away your sense of wellbeing. What if food was just food? What if food, in and of itself, could not take away nor create your wellbeing and peace?

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As the holiday season approaches, a lot of us will find our already hectic, day-to-day routines getting even more jam-packed with things to do. Whether it’s entertaining, gift buying, or just making the rounds visiting family and friends during the festive season, the added activity can often leave us wondering where all the ‘tidings of comfort and joy’ have gone.

If you find yourself in the midst of a holiday headache, or turning into a stressed out Santa, why not try a little aromatherapy instead of reaching for an over the counter pain killer? There are many different ways to make use of essential oils, especially for holiday stress relief.

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