A Peek Inside My Thrive Market Box: Gluten Free Pantry Staples, Snacks & Natural Beauty Essentials

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Ever since having a baby about two months ago, online grocery shopping has become my new best friend — especially when I’m strapped for time. After all, you never know how long of a window you are going to get before the next poop explosion or crying fit.

The first time I took baby girl to Trader Joe’s, I was in and out of there in record time of about 15 minutes, and religiously stuck to my grocery list. Heck, I even skipped the free sample!

That’s why I love Thrive Market, an online marketplace offering wholesale prices on quality products you can trust. From healthy snacks to natural skincare, Thrive’s my go-to for online shopping.

And I can order all my favorites — one handed, with the push of a finger, while nursing — without even leaving my home. Talk about feeling like a Mom Boss!

Here’s a peek instead my Thrive Market cart, including my favorite gluten-free pantry staples, healthy snacks and beauty essentials. Get 25% off your first Thrive order here!

Pantry Staples

  • Coconut Secret Organic Coconut Aminos – delicious gluten-free, soy-free alternative for sauces, “soy sauce” and salad dressings!
  • Fourth & Heart Grass Fed
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Cooking in the Bean: Just Add Cooking Review

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I have a confession: While I do love eating healthy meals + cooking, sometimes I just don’t feel like putting in the work. Ever since I started working a full-time job, I’ve found it a bit trickier to do as much home cooking as I used to do.

To be honest, sometimes when I come home from a long day, all I want to do is put up my feet, plop on the couch, grab a cup of tea (or a glass of vino) and order takeout sushi. I’m a real girl, after all.

That’s why when I heard about Boston start-up Just Add Cooking (JAC), which delivers pre-portioned meals to your door all ready to go, I was intruiged.

The Scoop

Just Add Cooking is exactly what it sounds like: a meal delivery service that takes the stress out of cooking. Instead of worrying about the stress of prepping and grocery shopping, you can really focus on the fun part, that is cooking.

You get to hand-pick which recipes you + your fam will love, and then the friendly folks from JAC deliver a box of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients directly to your door each week, chock-full of … Read More!

Healthy Habits: Why Eating More Can Actually Help You Reach Your Weight Loss Goals

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[smile! no you don’t have to give up your fave foods to lose weight!]

Usually one of the first steps people take when trying to lose weight and create healthy changes is eliminate “bad” foods or eat less. Cut out chocolate. Eat less meat. Give up soda for good. Skip lunch.

Heck, during my years of dieting (when I was eating diet, low calorie crap mind you) a nutritionist actually told me to eat less calories. “Calories in, calories out!” she cheerfully shouted, something I will never, ever forget. In reality, if she actually looked at what I was eating, simply “Eat more real food” would have done the trick.

It saddens me to see so many young women going on super-restrictive diets in order to get that dream body and feel better about themselves. I’m telling you right now: deprivation & cutting back is not the answer.

For one, I don’t believe in “bad” foods. Food is food & it doesn’t have a feeling attached to it – it either nourishes your body or doesn’t but that doesn’t make it “bad.” Secondly, when we deprive ourselves we typically want more of said food in which we either ignore … Read More!

Now Announcing The 21-Day “Little Black Dress” Summer Shape-Up with Healthy Chicks!

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Flashback Friday: On Emotional Eating, Cravings & Everything In Between

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Time for another week of Flashback Friday, where I dig deep into my past life as a chronic, unhappy dieter to shed some light on what I’ve learned since then. This week I tackle emotional eating, cravings and everything in between. Are you ready?

I have a confession: Back when I was in college & hardcore dieting, my #1 vice was peanut butter. Fat-Free Skippy Peanut Butter to be exact. While everything else (like bread, real cheese, Mexican food, margaritas, pasta, certain meats, real sugar, full-fat anything) was off limits and “bad”, I still allowed myself to eat peanut butter. Fat-free peanut butter.

I’d eat it straight out of the jar with a big metal spoon, mindlessly scooping away until before I knew it half the jar would be gone. It made me feel really good — it was my “drug” of choice. I went through a jar of peanut butter a week (give or take).

While Skippy & I had a love affair throughout college, I labeled most food as “bad,” avoiding them like the plague. My “good” list was definitely lacking, and contained things like fat-free dressing, lean chicken, carb-free, low-cal “noodles,” fake cheese, rice cakes, … Read More!

Off to NYC & Healthy Chicks in the Community: A Dancing, Chocolate-Loving Full Time Worker Bee

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Good morning ladies! And ’tis a goooood morning indeed. The sun is shining bright in Boston right now, and The Boy & I just got back from a quickie, sweaty run together to take advantage. I even whipped out the shorts for the first time this year! Oh yes, it’s simply THAT nice out.

I’m super excited because I leave for my NYC trip this afternoon! I’m going to be attending Holistic MBA Live, a rockin’ business conference for wellness professionals put on by the lovely Stacey and Carey of  Holistic MBA. As I’ve been striving to grow & spice up my business lately, this conference could not have come at a better time. I have so many exciting things in the works!

Even better, while in NYC, I get to spend four whole days (well, nights) with my best friends from college. As you can tell, I’m high on life right now! Best friends + networking + business coaching = my cup of tea.

Anyway, today’s Thursday so let’s get to this week’s feature for Healthy Chicks in the Community. I am happy to introduce you to a lovely lady who I had the pleasure of meeting … Read More!

“Get Happy & Healthy” Wellness Challenge Day 1: On Being Mindful

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Good afternoon, ladies! Today I wanted to touch base on a topic that’s often not discussed in the health & wellness community: mindfulness. For those of you who are participating in my 7-Day “Get Happy & Healthy” Wellness Challenge, you should have already seen in your inbox that today’s challenge has to do with eating mindfully.

What the heck does mindfulness have to do with healthy living, you ask? Well it’s a whole lot more than one may think! It’s also a topic that I hold very close to my heart, as it’s one of the major steps that helped me get over diet-obsessed living once and for all.

You see, in college I ate (and lived, for that matter) completely mindlessly. I scarfed down food as quickly as I could so I wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt, and I rushed through all my meals like it was one big race. I was an emotional eater and an impulse eater at that, eating what would make me “feel better” (or so I thought) and then dealing with the guilt of the aftermath.

This then lead to extreme restriction, dieting and poor body image which, if you … Read More!

I’ve Been There: A Flashback On Why I Quit Dieting & Started Living Once and For All

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[May ’09 – counting calories & deprivation]    [Summer ’12 – living my life – happy & carefree!]

note: I was not my heaviest here but still unhappy

One of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in holistic health counseling is because I’ve been there.

There as in a place where I tried everything (I mean everything!) to make my body change when it wouldn’t budge. There as in frantically adding up my calories for the day during Psychology class, while pretending to take notes. There as in canceling Mexican night with my girlfriends because I feared a margarita and quesadilla would make me fatter. There as in feeling like a little kid on Christmas every time the scale went down a pound, while feeling like I wanted to crawl in a hole and die every time it went up .2 pounds.

There as in hooking up with boys to make me feel better about myself and my body, and feeling I wasn’t skinny enough, pretty enough or good enough. There as in calling a pile of rice cakes with fat-free peanut butter “dinner.” There as in having a mental breakdown every time I ate something “bad”  … Read More!