Every month I send out our 5 favorite things for the season I’m in to my newsletter community and I figured – HEY, why not elaborate in a blog post! So here I am 🙂 I’ll be sharing the top things I’m loving and the why behind them. This way you can get to know the things I do with some reasoning behind them. If it’s a physical product, you’ll get to know more about the brand/product and why I decided to bring it into my home. If you’re not on our newsletter, it’s gold but I don’t spam ya!

This month I am pretty pregnant and am getting ready to welcome a new baby next month! So it’s all about nourishment in these final days of pregnancy and that doesn’t mean just what I eat. This means movement, hair nourishment and general nourishment in all aspects of life.

1 – No poo method of hair cleansing

The first thing I’m excited to share about is the no-poo method I have been doing. This is a method of hair cleansing without all the junk (even organic shampoo and conditioner has junk 99% of the time!). I also learned that most people aren’t doing no-poo correctly which is why they have such poor results like a “wrecked scalp” or “trashed hair”. The baking soda, clay only and other missing links to most google searches for no-poo leave or scalps in worse condition than they were when we began!

Fortunately, I connected with a fellow wellness educator – Arielle – and started learning about no-poo (the proper way). We have been doing it for about 2 months now and LOVE it. My hair has been in no-poo for years now because I never wash it 😂 but my husband is in the transition phase aka overproduction of oil as you bring your scalp back to a place of balance since it’s had to overproduce oil for so long due to the products you’re using. The lovely thing about her no-poo training (code SIMPL10) is that it troubleshoots this with you. Her tip: stick with it! Just when you want to give up, don’t.

No-poo can take time for your hair to adjust but that’s part of the process. She gives you the tools to rinse adequately, help dry up some unneeded oil and keep the process moving along smoothly. I wash my hair once a month (maybe) anyways so there was no transition for me this time around. When I first started this part of my holistic journey almost 10 years ago, that’s a different story. I went from showering 2x a day with herbal essence and Pantene to using a plant that grew outside my bathroom shower in Kauai. That was a fun experience!

2 – Vitamin K2 aka factor X

We hear all the things about magnesium and vitamin C but a nutrient that is seldom spoken about is vitamin K. What a shame cause it’s a huge factor in a balanced endocrine system, thyroid and adrenal health. Vitamin K is synergistic to vitamin D and while everyone and there dog is supplementing D (I don’t recommend – the why is in the supplements I don’t recommend module of my course) very few are prioritizing vitamin K. Factor X is vitamin K and that’s based on the studies of Dr. Weston A Price. He spent so much of his life studying the behaviors, jaw structures, nutritional patterns and other lifestyle habits of primitive people groups before westernization touched them (so cool!) and saw the crucial role vitamin K played in their health.

Specifically in pregnancy and pregnancy prep, this vital nutrient was a non-negotiable for these people groups. They would reserve the most K dense foods for those prepping for pregnancy or those who were pregnant. THEN, postpartum and the growing children. They knew that adequate amounts of this nutrient – early on – were crucial for optimal development and wellness. Of course they were all in different parts of the world and got the vitamin K from different sources. They also were eating from really really nutrient rich soils UNLIKE us. Our soils are depleted and it can be difficult – unless you have a plan and are intentional – to get in enough vitamin K through your diet.

This is where supplementing with high quality bio-energetic supplements can be supportive. If you’ve been around for any period of time, you know I’m a food before supplements kinda gal. First, we get our vitamin K from animal foods like goose liver, beef liver, egg yolk, fermented cheese like parmigiana reggiano, raw mllic, beef and chicken. Quality matters here of course. Some vitamin K researchers (vitamin k research is in super infancy) recommend getting 100-200 ug daily while there isn’t even a current RDA from other government agencies. It works synergistically with vitamin A and vitamin D so these are also essential for your health. We prioritize those foods and sunlight in our diet as well.

When we supplement, we use this brand (code SIMPL10). The reason we love Lifeblud is mostly because of their intentionality with sourcing and the understanding of bioenergetics. This simply means the fact that we humans are dependent on the energy that comes from the earth, food, relationships, etc. we engage with daily. Lifebluds products are inspired by the life work of researchers like Dr. Raymond Peat, Albert Szent-Gyorgi, Otto Warburg, Gerald Pollock, Gilbert Ling. This quote from Adams site says it all.

Bioenergetics provide a holistic view of the body in the sense that it follows the concept that all physical dysfunction can be corrected through reparation of the energy production. This is because the entire system, at every location, organ, and tissue in the body requires energy to perform its functions. 

Adam, Lifeblud Founder

3 – The beloved glass tea kettle for our 5 favorite things

I made a reel on IG and everyone was obsessed with the tea kettle. Perhaps more than the tea 😛 But it’s cute, I’ll give it to ya. I decided to share it on my favorite things because I use it 2+ times a day to support my daily tea ritual. It’s free from any chemicals and you can set it right on the stove top which is nice. I just add my herbs right into it, top it with filtered water and let it infuse. A lot of times I get the pot ready before bed so I can just turn on the burner or set it on the wood stove first thing in the morning! I couldn’t leave this one out of my 5 favorite things!

This ritual has changed the game for me when it comes to minerals from non-supplement forms. I have been hitting my potassium needs DAILY since starting this. I get about 3000 of the 5000 mg of potassium I am aiming for just from this beautiful steaming pot of herbs. It’s affordable and a great addition to your kitchen gadgets. Although, you don’t need anything fancy (even as unfancy as this) to achieve your health goals. if you only have a mug and a pot, heat your water, add your herbs to a loose leaf tea holder and get sipping. There’s no excuse!

4 – Mobility, Fascia and Movement Training

This one really gets me fired up (in a good way) because it’s has changed my life in this pregnancy. I used to have chronic back pain from rheumatoid arthritis but that’s a different story. But with that came some structural issues in my body that have come SO far as I’ve learned to nourish but there are sometimes when they flare like when my pelvic region and everything is rapidly changing because I’m.. well.. growing a human!

My husband and I have been fascinated and invested in movement since we were kids. But nothing ever really made sense like what we are focusing on now. This beautiful nutritious movement <– what we call it. You can feel it bring life and vibrancy through the body. It nourishes, truly. Hence the name.

There will be times when my nerve is being pinched by my shifting pelvis and I literally cannot move. I can’t walk, change position or anything. It got really bad after my little guy to attacked by the rooster and my stress was at an all time high. My husband started his training and was like babe, try this. I was skeptical because how could it help buttttt it did. And like instantly.

He had me implement a few of the intentional movements he has been researching and within seconds, the pain is entirely gone. The pinch is gone. I’m not just able to move – like hobble around after – but I’m talking pure optimal and functional movement within seconds of implementing what he taught me.

Needless to say, I’m a super fan of what he’s doing now and we turned it into an offering for you! Our launch webinars are over so those aren’t available to you but you CAN enroll in our 6-week group coaching mobility program. Our first session starts march 4th so hop in now! Here are all the details about it.

5 – Magnesium

Of course I’ll talk about magnesium in a pregnancy things I’m loving post because how could I not? It’s essential for over 3000+ different enzymatic processes in the body and that’s not including the pregnancy specific ones. From leg cramps to restless legs to round ligament pain to all the other “normal” ailments that accompany pregnancy (not normal by the way) magnesium plays a huge role in the mitigation of these things. It’s not normal to experience restless legs, diarrhea, constipation, intense pains and other life altering ailments when you’re pregnant. It’s just not.

The magnesium I focus on starts with food. We get as much from food as possible but the sad reality is that our soils are depleted and are no longer what they used to be. If you’re shopping at big box stores or other large chains for your produce and animal products, those are also deficient in magnesium. Why? What’s not in the soil is not in your food! It’s a different story when we source from farmers who are dedicated to remineralizing and regenerating their soils! Then, we get to consume foods that are rich in the vitamins and minerals that we need to thrive.

In addition to our very intentional diet – I’m talking SUPER intentional – I do supplement. I take around 400-800 mg daily depending on the season I am in. I take lifeblud, the this brand (code SIMPL10) same as the K above. Everyone’s needs are different and many people will notice no difference when taking mag or they’ll notice no shift in their mag blood levels. This is likely caused by low potassium levels.

See you next month for our February 5 favorite things!