Hello all! Thank you for visiting my blog. I'm excited to finally be sharing my experiences, favorite recipes and products, and personal thoughts on health! I've thought about writing a blog based on health, fitness, nutrition (and occasional fashion obsessions) for so long! So...here it is! Let me know what you think!

A little bit about me and my journey into the world of health and achieving a healthy glow and overall well-being! Here's the story of how I found the remedy to my life's ailments, and the glow that came with it!

I grew up in Northern California…the middle child of three. My parents didn’t have kids until they were older. My mom was 37 and my dad was 51 when they had me! So most of my friends’ parents were from completely different generations than mine. I’m finding now that this was a blessing for me. =)

Growing up in the golden age of fast food chains, tv dinners and prepackaged food, my family maintained a fairly healthy American way of eating, in comparison to most. Of course there was the occasional fast food drive-by, slushy surprise, and I won’t mention the extra refrigerator in the garage full of sodas and chocolate. What I'm saying is for the most part, I was served home-made meals. Breakfast would be something like oatmeal with fresh squeezed orange juice from the orange tree in our backyard, lunches were some sort of deli meat sandwich, and home cooked dinners consisted of a protein, some vegetables, and if we were lucky, mashed potatoes! Both of my parents love to cook, although my Dad enjoys making his desserts a little TOO much! (He actually called me the other day to tell me he had his chocolate chip cookie dough recipe "down to a science", he could whip up a batch in less than 5 minutes! Yep.)

So I continued to eat the way I had learned from my parents until right after I graduated college. I had just moved into my own apartment, and I was attempting to transform into a full-time, working adult. I began to notice that my skin was starting to develop terrible acne. I had never been an acne sufferer before, sure I had had my fair share of PMS pimples, but this was something else! And even worse, it was all over my back, too.

I immediately put my ridiculously-over-priced recent-grad-private-health-insurance to use and booked an appointment with a local dermatologist. She didn’t seem too concerned that my acne was going to haunt me forever and so she gave me all sorts of lotions and potions that should make these red bumps go away stat! I had a cream for the morning, another one for night time, another one that was only for my back and came with this long plastic back scratcher thing just so you could apply it on your own! I only had to be sure I wasn’t in the direct sunlight or my face would fall off! Just kidding…but I was told my skin would be sensitive to the sun, which was disappointing since I was living in Southern California at the time. Bummer. However, I was willing to sacrifice the tan for blemish-free skin.

Needless to say, after a couple months of treatment nothing worked and I found myself throwing out all of my prescriptions in a fit of rage. I performed a no-show at my next dermatologist appointment (REBEL!!!) in which I was to begin treatment for a highly toxic and scary acne treatment whose "book" of warnings and liability waivers should ward off anyone! No, I am not naming any names of this skin-clearing, liver-damaging monster! I became consumed in the world of natural remedies. I went crazy searching the internet for advice, buying "health" books and turning myself into a human test tube. I consulted with my coworkers and clients (I was working as a behavioral therapist for children with autism, and chemical-free, all-natural homes and diets are very important to these families). I started to wonder if I wasn't developing adult acne (as I had thought), but my body was trying to tell me something else.

Through my research I found MY best remedy; I gave up meat and dairy and began using natural facial cleansers, make-up, shampoos and laundry detergent. Within a few weeks my skin was a-glow! Seriously. And so began my journey into living a holistically healthy life!

I am not going to tell you that you have to become a vegetarian, clear your pantry of all hazardous ingredients and use lemon rind to clean your bathtub (even though it does a great job at clearing soap scum!). I am writing to share my experiences, my knowledge and what I have found to balance me. And I hope it encourages you to find what balances you! Find YOURremedy!

I realize now that some of my early skin issues were probably due to stress. But I know that my body thanks me for keeping it clean by rewarding me with overall good health and glowing skin! I found my solace in healing myself naturally.

My journey began over four years ago. I put my body through a lot of experimentation after my first success at self healing to find out what type of diet and lifestyle worked best for me for overall great health. I was obsessed at finding the secret to a long, healthy life. I went from omnivore to pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, then raw foodist for a year! After that I had a crappy two-and-a-half-month-long carb binge (that deserves it's own blog post!) accompanied with a 20 pound weight gain, which sucked obviously, but it led me to my love of fitness and exercising. During my random diet obsessions I experienced major digestive issues, crazy self-diagnoses, and I drove my friends and family crazy with my strict dietary restrictions (sorry!). But for the past year and a half I have found a balance that has made my life much sweeter. I'm not constantly obsessing over a diet or sneaking food thats "not allowed" or wondering if eating an entire chocolate cake will make me fat (it will). From my experiences I have found that life is about balance, and when you find your personal balance you are happy, and when you're happy...you glow!

In my current repertoire of foods I would never eat some of the things I grew up eating, but I think having natural foods as the base of my diet as a child has established my taste buds to desire whole foods today. Foods that provide my body with the nutrients it needs to function gleefully without sickness, disease, and obstruction. I find myself craving foods that nourish and fill me.

I’m excited to share my knowledge of health and healing I've discovered through my own personal research and lots of trial and error. Here is a glimpse into my world; I invite you to The Glow Remedy! Enjoy. ;)

Warmest radiance,

Elizabeth