That Damn Splenda vs Sweetener Issue...

After reading the numerous and... let's just say "low vibrational" responses to recent Facebook posts about the dangers of Splenda (and other artificial sweeteners can be included in here too)  I'm going to chime in with my few cents, and hopefully simplify this argument :

1. Did it come from a plant-based source? - If ANY food I eat, was manufactured, discovered, or mass-produced in a lab, then God help me. Are bodies are living, breathing organisms... So how (come on folks, let's use plain un-common sense here) could artificial foodstuff EVER truly sustain the body? And I mean, ever?!!! Living organisms have to support living organism. That's a basic grade twelve biology lesson there. 

2. Just be cause they can sell it, doesn't make it safe - Labs can buy formaldehyde, TNT, and just about every other toxic chemical (btw, most of those things can be found in common, everyday household items too, so don't get it twisted). Did you know that the average Canadian has consumed more than 100 toxic chemicals before they've had their first morning coffee? Remember, the job of the company selling these products isn't to keep you safe, its to keep you wanting and buying more of their products... And they most certainly are addictive.

3. Go back to basics - Really and truly, when in doubt, go back to nature's finest. Honey, brown sugar, molasses are great options for sweetener. And in most cases, you'll find that sugar cravings actually means your body wants something else! You can use this link as a resource to see what your body may really be craving. 

I've heard people saying everything will kill you, why not just eat whatever you want... Those responses more than likely are coming from people who have no idea what it means to live pain-free, with ease, and loving their life and everything in it (that's just my guess). I've also seen people writing that these original articles were written by people who wanted to sell their "natural junk" that didn't work. 

No way, Jose. There are people who have devoted their lives to making sure that all people make educated and healthy decisions period. So we provide people with options, and our version of truth, so ALL PEOPLE can choose what makes common sense. We don't want to preach; just using our science, knowledge and wisdom so that truth doesn't get twisted :). 

Please post your comments/questions/responses. Would love to hear from you! 

Mental Illness Isn't Rare... So Why Don't We Talk About It?

I'm writing this post because I know that Bell did a campaign last year talking about mental illness and depression... Then it seemed that as soon as the month was over, 

WHOOSH! MENTAL ILLNESS DISAPPEARED! 

Well, at least that's what it felt like to read most online sites. No one seems to want to talk about it anymore... Because it isn't "sexy". 

I'm hoping to shed light on what mental illness, or rather what I'd like to call mental wellness looks like in the everyday life.

Its when you know you have that "crazy" aunt or uncle that everyone says is "touched"... But you know that person as the fun aunt or uncle who speaks his/her mind and always brings joy to the house.

Its when all of a sudden, your sister or cousin goes through that bout of depression, and couldn't get up out of bed for three months on end, and had to take sick leave. And this was all "blamed" on a break-up or some other major traumatic event in one's life.

Or, in my example, it was me, not realizing that I was going through a "spell" (aka a crazy depressed period), until I looked back on my life at that time. I realized that none of the pictures I took showed me smiling, I'd aged by at least 20 years in only 1 year, and gained enough weight to make me resemble what I can only imagine would be myself in an alternate universe! 

Because I grew up in a family where mental illness was quite common, I knew that I had to really make sure my lifestyle allowed for me to always have my wits about me, and have a heightened level of awareness. 

Might you be lacking mental wellness? Keep in mind that it can be something as simple as depression or seasonal affective disorder. If you have read this and want to get well, here are a few simple things you can do : 

• DO NOT SUFFER IN SILENCE - Please reach out to someone you love and trust, who you can be real, open and honest with, and ask them to help you through what you're going through. I know if I had done so, it wouldn't have taken me so long to come back to life.

• Eat Healthy - Sometimes that sluggish feeling, or not feeling so well about ourselves is actually caused by chemical and neurological imbalances! All those toxins floating around in our body keeps our mental faculties from working properly. Eating balanced, healthy meals (you can always sign up to my free program to find great resources!) helps keep you positive, mentally well and stable, and doing whats best for you and those around you

• Find an expert and ask questions - Whether its someone trusted in your network that has helped other recover, or whether you get a referral from someone like me, never be afraid to ask questions. Fear of asking questions keeps people sick and suffering, and in pain. Folks like us who are all about helping people heal will always do our very best to make sure you get the help you need. 

I'm hoping that the more of my own personal stories about these "tough" subjects, the more others come out and speak about it. I have no more shame about this in my life. There also is no more lingering pain. I've forgiven myself for "falling into despair". Now this is my chance to help others, so that they know they are definitely not alone. 

What else can I give so I can help you heal from your pain? I'm all ears :).

To Vegan or Not to Vegan? - Let's Dispell Some Veg Myths

After being vegetarian for over 7 years, vegan for a year, then raw vegan for a year, before getting extremely sick and nearly destroying my own immune system, I get such a huge amount of questions about that lifestyle, that I thought I'd post a short few set of myths that I end up repeating on a weekly basis :

1. VEGAN DIETS MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT - Its usually not the fact that a diet is meat-free that makes you lose weight; its the fact that usually when you go vegan, you focus on eating more natural foods that come from the ground, instead of a box filled with chemicals and crap.

The honest truth is that in my lifetime, I've met more than a fair share of overweight and extremely unhealthy vegans and vegetarians, because they still continued to eat foods that were from a box, highly processed, that just didn't have meat. Not a great way to support body health.

2. EVERYONE CAN GO VEGAN HEALTHILY - Trust me folks, as much as I'd love to believe this one were true (as a big advocate for cruelty-free products), this one totally depends on each individual's body type, blood type and what works for them.

My nine year almost meat-free diet actually tore my immune system down so much, that I contracted viral meningitis. Unless I re-incorporated meat into my diet, I may not have recovered my health to such a strong level where I haven't even gotten so much as a full-blown cold since (over 2 years later).

Also, my body was trying to tell me over those nine years that I needed meat because I was consistently jittery, was battling multiple candida issues the whole time, and really had some severe hormonal imbalances. Folks, I learned the hard way what my body needs; please do not do the same.

3. NON VEGANS DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE PLANET - One of my biggest pet peeves honestly about becoming an omnivore again after being vegan for so long, is having some vegan eaters tell me I'm a part of destroying the planet. OH REALLY?

Considering
a) I might most seriously still be debilitated if I didn't start eating meat again, and may not healthily be here to tell my tale,

b) I buy mostly organic where I can, use the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle, with emphasis on the first two) every day,

c) Use awareness in nearly all of my buying choices, where I choose local, lightly used, and upcycled wherever I can, and last but not least

d) Have finally started to make a true impact in my love for all things green by relating it to people with their health,

my comment back is, I'd rather eat my meat (thank you very much), continue to have my positive impact on this planet as a whole, and teach thousands of others (which I do every day) how their small choices cumulatively as individuals have a bigger impact than one person going hog-wild.

I thought it would be useful to not only vent, but also help countless others in this vegan/omnivore debate... Now that I've been on both sides of this fence, I really get how futile the argument sometimes is. It's more important that people know what real food looks like period, as right now most people believe that fast food is really food. We've got a much bigger issue to tackle than we initially may have thought.

For more food and health-related insights, you can subscribe to my newsletter HERE. 

Be Your Own Boss with Gloria Roheim

Tash Jefferies from Wedge15 on Vimeo.

Gloria Roheim and I of Wedge15 talking about the ups and downs and real-deal of being an entrepreneur in this day and age.

Numbers Are Lives...

I had a conversation with my tribe of thought leaders and mastermind powerhouses (simply put - my soul fams) and we had a conversation about where business currently is, and where it has the potential to move towards.

This topic got started because we found out that a pretty big corporation (names of I'm sure about 1,000 could fit in here) just layed off thousands of employees, while the head honcho of the organization realized a massive financial gain.

I realized that in the world we live in, executive teams everywhere are having this discussion around "if we just trim this budget, and this team..." not realizing that those budgets and teams they are cutting translate into real people with real lives.

What will it take for us all to say NO to this kind of corporate activity?! And when will we all gain the courage to stand up for ourselves? Something has become broken in this world we live in, and we need folks to come along and heal it - whatever that "it" is.

I'm hoping that whether you are someone who has just suffered from a layoff, or one who has survived with your job spared, that you will read this and know that there are a group of us up-and-coming leaders who are here to help...

My heart goes out to those of you for who this a reality for. Please feel free to contact me if you need a listening ear and a warm heart :).

Humpty Dumpty doesn't need to be put back together again - we need a whole new good egg! :) That egg comes in form of something... ANYTHING that allows people to not just enjoy the fruits of their labour, but also the experience of the labour itself! Who said we need to only enjoy our life on the evenings and weekends? What if we could enjoy the experience of working, every day, for all of our working hours?

If you're reading this, I'm throwing out the idea of creating a working group... Where we do more than discuss solutions - we create them! Please also reach out if this interests you, and you would like to be in on these discussions and solutions.

What To Do When You Have A Crap Day

For some reason, when I have a s&!tty day, I presume that a superhero will come out from my closet and sweep me off my feet...

AS IF!

lol. For real, this week was filled with stuckness for me. And it was because I allowed myself to fall prey to something that we all experience in rare moments:

BEING HUMAN!

Yes, that is what we are folks. We will never be perfect, nor should we strive to be. And after weeks of trying to perfect my programs, doing tons and tons of videos that just don't seem to be good enough, today I had my wake up call, that all that matters is to get out there and do it! We can always go back and improve.

So here are the things that I used to get myself un-stuck, and allowed me to write this post, send my first newsletter in about a month, and get off my butt!

• Get over yourself - Yes, this is a hard one to do, because it's so easy to beat yourself up and tell you how wrong you are to not have completed everything on your to-do list. FORGIVE yourself, then move on to the big goals that you have in mind, that help others! Make your life all about helping others and that will kick-start you to get moving.


• Think about your wins - We all too quickly achieve goals, then don't take time to acknowledge our own accomplishments! I sat back and realized that maybe the reason why I feel overwhelmed is because I got that TV show I have been asking for, am getting the five-figure gigs I've been working so hard for, and have been landing sponsorship deals that I previously was only dreaming of. No wonder I've got to get a move-on my info-products! Reflecting gave me a new look at what I'm working on, and help me put pep back in my step :).


• Let go - Whatever happened last week, two days ago, or even yesterday is the past already! I do this really awesome exercise - when I'm in the shower, I visualize letting all my failures, challenges and issues of the previous day go down the drain along with the water. Try it and see if it works for you too!


• Gratitude - Each day, I awake to letters from clients, friends and loved ones letting me know that the work that I do is not in vain. This gives me more motivation to get out there and to not let challenges get me stuck!

The bigger your goals get, the more you want to achieve, the more obligations and work will fall on your plate. Please remember that you are human, not super-human, and its ok to feel overwhelmed every once in a while.

Then go out there and help the planet! We need you :).

Sending you Love and Light. xoxoxo!

Have you ever felt different?

I woke up yesterday, feeling like something shifted in my life. Although I looked the same, talked the same, I was certain that I was not the same.

Why?

Although I've always known who Napoleon Hill was, and have been told to read Think and Grow Rich, I discovered through my friends Bas and Beau his most powerful work "Outwitting The Devil" and "Law of Success".

I realized that my life is FOR something. Something so large, and powerful, and filled with light, that my commitment to it has shifted into that large thing.

I also realized that every single person on this planet has the potential to be a light unto the world... Most people have no idea they wield the power to bring about a world where we see happiness and healing instead of darkness and hurting.

Bear with me, I know this piece seems different than my others, but it is really not. I am a leader of people. I have a strong voice. I am a healer of those who are hurting. I now know it as sure as I'm breathing. I need you all to know this, and those of you who are willing to be courageous along with me, I'd like you to ask questions of me that will help you unlock your own personal light as well.

My life is to be of service to all of humanity. What is your life for?