Michelle Breau, Virtual Holistic Nutritionist
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Michelle Breau, Virtual Holistic Nutritionist
eat well, live well, be well.
 
 

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I remember it so vividly. The moment the phone rang. I picked it up, only to hear what I would consider any mother’s worst nightmare. “Hi. Michelle? I just want you to know that I called an ambulance. He’s unconscious.” I spent the next 12 hours going in ambulance after ambulance as my one and only baby boy had not one, but FOUR seizures, all while my husband was quite literally deployed on the other side of the planet (My phone was our only connection to him as you can see!) and our families were a few thousand kilometers away. Eventually we ended up at the nearby Children’s Hospital in quarantine for 3 days only to discover that the entire thing was caused by a terrible bout of Influenza A. We are so thankful it wasn’t all caused by something worse, and while there is certainly much more to the story, for now I’ll simply say this: Our TOP PRIORITY with this change of seasons is to support our Nate’s immune system (And of course ours too!), because with the approach of cold weather comes lots of potential bugs and infections that we’d love to prevent catching if at all possible! Want to know how we plan to love on our immune systems this time of year? In my most recent blog post (Check the link in my bio), I’m sharing the top 5 super simple strategies we plan to implement. (And PSST: I mention 2 GIVEAWAYS too, which will be happening THIS WEEK on both my Facebook page and my Instagram. Keep an eye out for these freebies comin’ at ya!) 👉 PS This photo melts my heart, but I'm so happy I have it as a reminder of the strength and resilience of children. Are they not the most incredible teachers? 💜
And that's a wrap! The Casa Breau 2018 garden is officially tilled and ready for winter. ☺️ I have always been a huge fan of veggie gardening, but this year it was ESPECIALLY important for me to be consistent with my garden for a number of reasons: . 1️⃣ GROUNDING. Through my healing journey, one of the simplest ways to bring the power back into my own hands is by putting my feet on the ground. A good dose of negative ions from Mama Nature herself with my feet planted... It changes everything! Don't believe me? Try it for yourself and see if you notice a shift in your energy! . 2️⃣ Vitamin D! The good old ☀️sunshine vitamin is never far from my garden, and time spent plucking weeds, planting and watering directly benefits my immune system by loading me up on this crucial vitamin. . 3️⃣ Microbes: 🐛 Did you know that a tablespoon of dirt contains more microscopic critters than there are humans on the planet? Insane! There really is some truth to the phrase, "Let them eat dirt," because those diverse little fellas are like nature's probiotic. And YEP - Gardening totally impacts your microbiome. Why do you think they say that statistically speaking, gardeners live longer? 😉 . 4️⃣ VEGGIES! I mean of COURSE I do it so I can walk into my back yard, grab myself an organic head of lettuce or some broccoli or tomatoes, bring them inside and prepare a meal with them! Doesn't get much more fresh than that! 🥦 . 5️⃣ Nate: 👦 Nothing feels quite as blissful as watching Nate proudly pick tomatoes and beans from the garden that he helped to water and grow! These are truly life lessons I hope he carries with him always. 💜 . 6️⃣ LESSONS: Each year, my garden teaches me something new. Patience is a big one, as we watch everything grow with anticipation. I also had a groundhog "situation" for a solid week this year, followed by an infestation of caterpillars that LOVE cruciferous veggies! To be honest, I love all of the uncertainties that come with gardening and all of the new insights it brings to life, change and growth. Yep, even the groundhog was a fun one to figure out! 🐀 . Now.....Only 8 months to go until our next planting season! 😅 Did you have a garden this year? If s
What Nate ate: Carrots fresh out of the dirt while also holding a handful of earthworms. 🙊🥕 🐛 Probiotics, right? . Mama's: Have you ever just sat back and admired your littles while they explored the world around them? Seeing this boy digging in my garden and munching fresh carrots has to be one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen! 💜 Happy Saturday, all! 🍂
First day of FALL and a frickin' TORNADO touched down 90 minutes from my place yesterday. Crazy! 🌪️ I've got ONE HECK of a story for you today 👉 When Ryan and I moved into our house just over 5 years ago, a microburst touched down in our town AS we were moving boxes in! We had a lot of struggles in finding the right house (The first house failed the inspection BIG TIME with over $20k in necessary repairs, and the second house ended up having a major survey issue where our entire garage and driveway was actually on the neighbours land!), so when we finally found our HOME we were anxious to get in! We knew bad weather was coming so we had the truck packed and ready to go, but the lawyer called to let us know they had made a mistake on the paperwork and needed to re-print it all. 😳 This meant we'd receive our keys an hour later than planned, JUST as the storm was expected to start. As soon as we left the driveway of our old home with both vehicles packed, we WATCHED as the sky went completely black! The rain was so intense that it disintegrated all of our boxes and we ended up making a pit stop to the house before we got the keys to throw everything in the shed! Sopping wet clothes on the floor of a creepy-crawly filled shed. Gross! And we maybe got 5 boxes in before we realized this was much more than a rainstorm! 🙊 When the storm subsided, we went outside only to see trees down everywhere! I said, "Thank goodness nothing happened to us or the house!" and 2 seconds later a neighbour knocked on the door to let us know a tree from our yard was HANGING OVER his garage, ready to fall! 😱 Thankfully someone came and helped us cut it down, but YEP! With the tornado hitting yesterday not far from us, it brought back ALL of the memories of that totally crazy day! With a cold front coming after yesterday's storm, Nate and I will be finishing up the garden for the year as I sip this galaxy-inspired anti-inflammatory drink, made with @chasorganics turmeric, ginger, true cinnamon and premium coconut milk, @vitalproteins grass-fed gelatin and a little drizzle of @beekeepers_naturals raw clover honey! Hope you all have the best first day of fall! 🍁
If I could sum up everything that I learned in my time studying holistic nutrition with only one sentence, I'd say this: 🏭 "There are too many people counting calories, and not enough people counting chemicals." 🌳 The good news is, I am starting to see a shift here! This is such an exciting time of change in the nutrition industry. 🙌 Thanks to the speed at which information passes via social media these days, more and more people are understanding and agreeing with the importance of investing in organic, wild-caught, and grass-fed foods. Let me share a few simple truths that I have come to understand: 1️⃣ "All-natural" means nothing on a food label. 2️⃣ Green or blue labels, brown paper packaging "Sensible solutions," light, low-fat, and sugar-free: All of these words, signs and symbols often mean that more chemicals have been added to compensate. 3️⃣ Gluten-free does not always = healthy. 4️⃣ Location in a store doesn't make something healthy. For example, if something is in the "health foods" aisle, this doesn't necessarily make it healthy. 5️⃣ The easiest way to navigate through the confusion is to simply eat MORE foods that come in their whole state, meaning they don't need an ingredients label (Think fruits, veggies, legumes, meats, nuts, seeds.) while eating LESS foods that come in a package. I promise that eating in a way that nourishes your body does NOT have to be complicated. As a matter of fact, it can be quite simple once you realize this truth! It's got nothing to do with perfection, either. Simply choose whole foods MORE and packaged foods LESS. 🙌 What are your thoughts? Do you feel that investing in organic foods is important?
When asked whether I think growing my own food is worth the investment of time/energy/money, my answer will always be the same. #YepYeaYes
Do you ever feel like the nutrition world can be SUPER complicated to navigate? 🤔 Even as a practitioner I can feel completely overwhelmed by all of the fads sometimes! For example: Some folks will tell you that the only path to thriving health is via raw foods, but the truth is that especially in my own practice where I focus so heavily on digestive health, that isn't always the case. As a matter of fact, for some of my clients that advice could even be damaging! Some folks (ESPECIALLY those with digestive issues) tend to feel best with foods that are stewed, steamed, roasted or at the very least - warmed. It can be soothing for the gut and according to Chinese Medicine can even help to stimulate one's digestive fire and stomach acid production. So if everything you’re seeing is telling you that you MUST assume the same position on health as everyone else, ignore that advice and TRUST your gut (pun intended!). And of course, if you really do need some help in navigating what might work best for YOU and your unique health situation, click the link in my bio and book a FREE 15 minute discovery call and find out if working with a holistic nutritionist could benefit you. 🍲🥗
Everyone's talking about how glyphosate (a class 2A carcinogen and patented antibiotic) is rampant in our food supply, and I'm over here like, "Errrrrr....What about our lady bits? 🤔" . Heres a fun fact: Conventional cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops with Round-up, of which glyphosate is the active ingredient. So what's a girl to do when she realizes that we put said cotton ON or IN one of the most porous and delicate areas of our body for a week out of each month for DECADES of our lives? Write a blog post, of course! Check out my #linkinbio to read what is likely one of the most important posts I've ever written, called, "SUIT UP LADIES; It's time for your monthly dose of antibiotics." This is one you'll want to share with your friends, your friends with daughters, and your sisters. 💜 Much love!
And that's a wrap! 🎉 Thanks to #Noelville and #Sudbury for the amazing hospitality as we hosted kickoff dinner #2 for the 21 Day Healthy Habits Challenge! This mama managed to survive her very first TWO nights away from Nate ever, and my time with the lovely women partaking in this program totally made up for that! 💜 Here are a few photos from my time away: Cherished time with yoga teacher friends I haven't seen at the same time in 4 years (nearly to the day!), plus time at my friend Mommajo's extra dreamy home. There's also a photo of some damage that was already done to my rental car when I picked it up, yet they're filing a damage report on me anyway (Dang! 😭) It was an old clunker with what I believe was a need for a wheel bearing as well. 😯 But I digress! I also had to grab a snapshot of this sign on my way home that I always drive by when I come home from Sudbury and say, "I'll do it next time." Ah, I love it! McIsaac is my maiden name! The final photo is a touch blurry but it was of a field filled with a few hundred massive cranes I spotted on the drive home. What a sight! Hope you had an amazing Tuesday, friends!
NATURE KNOWS ✨
Y’know when you take that first bite of arugula and it makes you scrunch your nose a bit? 😣 According to Chinese medicine, that’s actually a GOOD sign! It signifies a stimulation of the body’s digestive fire, and an increased production of bile flow and enzyme production, all of which help to break down and process your meal. Bitter foods like arugula are also supportive of the body’s natural detoxification pathways, meaning they help the liver to perform its 500+ functions in the body! 🌱WOW!🌱 Yep, all of that is happening just from munching on this deliciously bitter little green! 🍃 What are your favourite bitter foods?
Drooling over this REAL FOOD BROWNIE BATTER 🤤 Last week I shared my favourite recipe for sweet potato brownies, made with whole food ingredients like raw cacao, oats and fresh, roasted sweet potato from the market! They're both dairy and gluten-free, with minimal added sugar (the sweet potatoes provide the perfect flavour and texture) and not a single weird additive in sight! 🍫 Did you give them a try yet? Check the link in my bio for the full recipe. Enjoy, loves!