To date, I’ve tried at least 6 diets and failed at them all. Sound familiar?

Motivation can be your driving force for only so long, but if the foods you’re eating aren’t fueling your body in the right way, you will fail. It becomes a chore and you quit.

I used to count calories using a phone app and I remember being so proud of myself for keeping my numbers down. At the time, I did little to no exercise so my calorie allotment was under 1000 per day.

Truth is, the app only put value on calories as if they were all the same. If I had a banana, it told me my sugar intake was too high. So I limited fruits. Salad dressings came with too many calories so I omitted salads altogether because who wants a dry salad? I didn’t know what to eat. I had the drive and motivation, but I was lacking the knowledge.

I had tiny portion sizes of processed foods — like the 100 calorie snack packs, breads, fat free dairy and coffee. I was always tired, miserable and the weight I lost was slow and insignificant progress.

That’s just one diet that let me down. I tried Paleo, Pescatarian, Atkins, Specific Carbohydrate Diet — all meat heavy. Weight Watchers and vegan — which put focus on what to omit rather than what to include.

My husband and I had pretty severe IBS and other health issues we were convinced could be remedied with our diets. The mistake we were making was believing the misconception that meat, dairy, all cooked and processed foods were doing us good. The difficulty digesting all those foods led to indigestion, heart burn, stomach ache…sounds like the jingle to Pepto Bismol! We didn’t want that to be our norm.

If a solution existed, we were determined to find it!

We had to change our mindset about what real food is. Fruits and vegetables are real food. They have the power to cleanse and heal the body, reverse damage, and fully satisfy our hunger.

To use the analogy of a car, food is like fuel. If you put the wrong thing in your gas tank it will damage the car. Same with our bodies. Years of accumulated bad choices add up to devastating surprises now and in the future.

Today my husband and I look and feel younger. We lost weight and kept it off. We have energy and stamina, mental clarity, and no more IBS. No more health problems. And we did it by eating delicious, uncomplicated food.

If you haven’t already, make sure to get my free e-book by subscribing. It has information to help you with supplements and food ideas. I wish you success in your health journey.

Here’s one of my fave tossed salads I make when I need a really filling meal.

Garden Salad



1 Romaine heart, chopped

few leaves butter lettuce, chopped

1/4 green apple, sliced

1/2 cup heirloom tomato, chopped

1/4 cup sliced red onion

1/2 small avocado, sliced

1/2 c carrot & daikon radish, cut in to matchsticks

Lemon Tahini Dressing



1/4 c tahini

2 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

2 Tbs maple syrup, or agave

2 Tbs lemon juice

1/3 – 1/2 cup water (to thin)

Mix salad ingredients in a large bowl. Blend the dressing ingredients separately. Toss and serve.

Enjoy!