Hey friends!
I’m back in New York City after being in San Diego for 3+ weeks. It was so awesome to be in the warmer weather and to go running wearing shorts. (!!!) I was definitely questioning my sanity getting on a flight back to NYC. But there was something that made the transition back to the colder weather much more bearable…finding my friend Robyn’s new cookbook at my doorstep when I got home!!!
Go With Your Gut: The Insider’s Guide to Banishing The Bloat With 75 Digestion-Friendly Recipes.
I missed Robyn’s book launch while I was in California, but I’m so happy to be sharing it with you now. I’ve had a chance to really flip through the book and check out her recipes (not that I needed to, honestly, she’s a healthy wizard in the kitchen and I trust her wholeheartedly) and…well, the book is AWESOME.
Robyn has been my go-to friend for healthy cooking advice for years, ever since we both graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
She’s always giving me the best little tidbits about healthy cooking and eating, and I often hear her voice in my head saying, “Jenny, nuts are not popcorn!!” when I find myself eating a handful of nuts straight from the bag. Haha!! She’s also my spirit animal in some ways (like when she brings green juices to Phish concerts).
You should see the two of us when we go to a health food store together. It’s quite the extravaganza.
Robyn’s book Go With Your Gut contains incredible recipes that will help you figure out your perfect way of eating that doesn’t involve restriction — it only contains health-enhancing, gut-friendly, and really fun advice. She will help you get in touch with what your body is truly asking for, and will teach you about the connection between your gut and the rest of your life. She’s smart, witty and best of all, she knows how to have a good time. :)
There’s a reason they call your gut “your second brain” — it affects everything!
Some of the recipes from Go With Your Gut that I’m pumped to try:
- Restaurant-style garlickly greens (YES!)
- Flavored waters
- Homemade saurkraut
- Gut-friendly gummies (WHAT!)
- Bone broth
- Curry & turmeric roasted squash
The photos in the book are gorgeous and Robyn gives lots of great lifestyle tips as well, sprinkled throughout the book.
I am loving this book so much, in fact…that we’ve decided to host a little book giveaway here on Healthy Crush! It’s a glorious day.
One lucky winner will get a copy of Robyn’s book — Go With Your Gut: The Insider’s Guide to Banishing The Bloat With 75 Digestion-Friendly Recipes.
In addition, the book winner will get a copy of my e-book, the Rapid Reset 1-Day Cleanse!! It’s the perfect reset for your energy and mood and will help you feel better FAST. It includes all my best tricks from years of experimentation.
Um, I’m excited.
HOW TO ENTER:
Robyn’s book is all about your gut, which is the home of your intuition.
Her dedication in the book says…
“This book is dedicated to you and your intuition, that sparkle in all of us. May you be guided by your inner resource, that purest place of you, and watch your whole life expand.”
I want to hear about a time in your life when you went with your gut, or listened to your intuition about something, even if it went against what seemed “logical” or “reasonable.”
I LOVE hearing about this kind of stuff, so chime in (in the comments section on this blog) by Wednesday, 2/24, I’ll pick my favorite answer from the comments. The winner will be informed on Thursday, 2/25.
Yeah!!!!
I’ll start with a couple of mine to get things rolling. These are 2 times in my life that really stand out to me.
Go With Your Gut Story #1:
A few years ago, I had a book deal. A publisher had reached out to me and asked me to write about a specific topic. It was a subject I definitely “could” write about, and it was a nice little chunk of money, so I agreed to do it. It seemed like the logical thing to do and a “good opportunity.” The problem was, I just wasn’t that excited about it. I was finding it extremely challenging and energy-draining to churn out each chapter – not because the work was that hard — but because my heart wasn’t invested in it. I felt resentful at myself for saying yes to the book with every single word I wrote. Every time the publisher reached out to me for more chapters I felt sick. NOT a good place to create from! My gut was screaming – this project isn’t right for you. I spoke to 2 of my friends about it, one being David Wolfe, who I thought would be thrilled I was writing it (it was a book about a superfood), but both of my friends could see the way my eyes were dull when I talked about it, and how I was struggling to defend the reasons I said yes to the project. They said to me, “the money will never be enough.” It was true. I didn’t care about the book. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in my career but I ended up canceling the book deal. As a result, I felt so much lighter, so much more like me, and I created so much more space for things to come into my existence that are in perfect alignment with who I really am. Plus, someone else got to have the opportunity to write that book and it turned out great for her!! I haven’t regretted the decision for a millisecond.
Go With Your Gut Story #2:
Not too long before Gut Story #1, I had gotten my lease renewal in the mail from my landlord, for the beautiful apartment in Brooklyn I had lived in for a few years. The apartment was amazing and in an incredible neighborhood. Plus, where else would I go? I had no alternate plan. As I put my pen to the paper to sign the lease renewal, I physically felt ill. My hand wouldn’t even move towards the signature line. My gut was telling me I couldn’t sign it. (There was more to the story of course — but I’ll be brief here). I went to a yoga class to give myself a little more time to think about it. The yoga mat directly in front of me in class said (no joke!) “be true to yourself and you will always be rewarded.” I stared at that message and cried throughout the class and knew I couldn’t sign the lease. The decision left me with a million questions about my life and what I’d do next, but it felt right. Shortly after, my sister called me from LA saying she just had a room open up in her apartment, for the exact month I would be moving out of mine! I moved out there, and the experience blasted my life wide open. During that time, I met some of my best friends who I can’t imagine not having in my life. From there, I was guided, step by step, into the next beautiful phase.
Interestingly enough I was going through my Saturn Return during both of these stories. If you don’t know what I mean by that, don’t worry, just ignore me and enter the giveaway!!!!
TO RECAP / GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
- Leave a comment on this blog post by 2/24 (midnight EST) about a time you went with your gut and followed your intuition, despite what seemed logical or reasonable. (It can be just a sentence or two).
- I’ll pick my favorite, and the winner will be informed by email on 2/25.
- You’ll win a copy of Robyn’s Go With Your Gut book, AND my Rapid Reset Guide!!!
- Robyn’s book will be mailed to your physical address, and my Rapid Reset guide will be emailed to you.
If you can’t wait for the giveaway to end, and just wanna purchase Robyn’s book now, or buy one for a friend…
Grab a copy of Go With Your Gut!!
Grab a copy of my Rapid Reset Cleanse (20% off with code: feelgood)
Cheers to going with your gut, I can’t wait to hear your stories!!! Woohoo!!!
UPDATE!!! The winner has been chosen and notified by email. Congratulations, Kate! I was so inspired by your story of deciding to move to Colombia to teach English, and embarking on a path of healing your hormonal imbalances without prescription drugs. Talk about life-changing gut decisions! I hope you enjoy the books!! xx
Love,
Jenny
Clarissa says
I am super thrilled there is a new book on this because for years I was plagued with gut problems and thus is such an important timely topic fur the times we live in, a lot because if all the Gmo foods people are eating and stress and just bad diets. Can’t wait to pick up a copy and share with others that could use the suggestions and information. Thanks Jenny! ???❤️
jenny sansouci says
Hey Clarissa! I totally agree, super important topic. I hope you love the book!!
gy says
Hi there, I love this : be true to yourself and you will always be rewarded. That sounds so promissing & rewarding. Super. Makes me believe there will be a real remedy in these books. I so appreciate that. Thanks, gy
jenny sansouci says
Appreciate you reading the blog!! xx
Nicole says
A few years ago I was meditating and felt a little girl come sit on my lap. In the meditation, I knew it was my daughter and I could even smell her little hair. The whole experience felt so real. When I finished meditating, I started journaling and the words just poured out. I was writing to her and telling her that I was getting ready for her. It was such a powerful intuitive experience! Now I’m expecting my first child (a little girl!) next month. I can’t wait to meet this little girl in person that I’ve been dreaming about for years. Thank you, gut and intuition, for the preview and guidance!
jenny sansouci says
Nicole what a beautiful story. Congratulations on the baby girl of your dreams who is coming to meet you soon. So incredible! xoxo
Sarah Taylor says
I love this whole concept of healing your gut and loving your body. And I love everything you stand for ? A time in my life when I went with my gut was last summer. I had been working for my dad practically my whole life, but something inside of me kept telling me to walk away. To use the passion I have for health and nutrition in more empowering ways. My body had been telling me it was time to move on for months, and after a few conversations with my father, I finally took two weeks off to make my final decision. It was during those two weeks that I had to feel the fear and do it anyways. I really had to let go of not only my security in a job but my dependence on my father. I finally said goodbye and walked away to pursue my dreams. It wasn’t easy, and some days I questioned my decision but I know I did the right thing. I’m still on a journey of discovering myself and my career but I believe the universe has bigger plans for my life. ?
jenny sansouci says
Hi Sarah! Thanks so much for reading and I’m so glad you love the topic. Thank you for sharing your courage and your story – I know following your gut will open you up to so many brilliant possibilities. Good luck and keep dreaming those big dreams. :) <3
Ashley Castle says
A few years ago, I was on the brink of ending a 3+ year long relationship. I was about to turn 31, and fear kept telling me things like: “if you end this, you’ll be starting from scratch– in your thirties.” “Will you ever find another man who you have as much chemistry with or who you find so attractive?” and “Isn’t this version of “good” good enough?” But I knew, the relationship wasn’t right foundation-ally, and I had a hope that more could exist. More depth, more understanding, a higher level of being with another human being. I knew I had to trust my gut on this one, as confusing and painful of letting go of that relationship was at the time.
It was the best decision. I would have never found all that I’ve found in life– both within myself, from the few years that followed of being single and traveling the globe– as well as the man and partner who I am now with– had I not listened to my inner compass.
jenny sansouci says
Love you, Ashley. Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been honored to know you through some of this journey and can say that following your gut has given you such a gorgeous sparkle in your eye. You’re an inspiration to me in so many ways. xo
Chelsea Jolene says
I LOVE this question!! This is a great way to run a content! I have SO many good stories of where I listened to my intuition. The BIGGEST story was when I decided to move to Chicago. After college, I wasn’t sure what my next step was and my boyfriend lived in Chicago. We had only been dating for a few months and moving over 600 miles away from home for a guy I barely knew was a bit scary. But something inside me told me that was the right path for me even though I was so scared out of my mind. I followed my gut and I am SO happy that I did. Later that year – I followed my gut again to enroll in IIN. I had wanted to for YEARS but the investment was too big for me to even fathom. My bf supported me to take the leap because I wanted it SO bad. My parents did not support me at all and they were very worried about me spending so much money. I jumped in any way! I am SO glad I followed my gut in both of these instances because if I hadn’t had moved I might never have enrolled in IIN and I might not be where I am today if I didn’t listen to my gut and take the path that I was meant to be on! <3
jenny sansouci says
Hey Chelsea!!! Ah, thank you so much for sharing this – I love it!! Especially because it’s a story about following your gut for love and for your passions. Amazing and I’m proud of you! IIN was a total gut-following decision for me too and I ended up making back my tuition within a couple of months of graduating. SO worth the investment. Thanks for chiming in and sharing this inspiration! :) xo
Katy Dale says
Hi Jenny! What an awesome giveaway you are doing! I met my husband in January 2012 unexpectedly while working at a remote location for my job the day my plane was scheduled to leave home. We sustained a long distance relationship (9 hours apart) for most of that year. By November he had proposed and I said yes! One of us was going to have to make the sacrifice to move, and although I had just purchased a house and had a great job, after much deliberation and prayers, my gut simply told me I needed to take the plunge, quit my job, sell my house and move west. I had no blood relatives or a job to ease my transition, but that didn’t matter! A great spouse and his family was all the surety I needed. Now, 4 years later, we live in his small hometown and started our own vineyard/winery together! It’s been a long journey and we have so far yet to go, but thanks to trusting my gut, I have gained so much happiness quitting my desk job and moving my body with the seasons of Mother Nature. Feel free to read more about our journey at our WordPress website, Dale Hollow Winery. Blessings to you girl!
jenny sansouci says
Hey Katy! What an AWESOME story! I love that you guys started a vineyard together- that’s really cool. So glad following your gut has made such an incredible impact on your life! xoxo
Therese T. says
Ah Go with Your Gut is so on my wishlist, yet I have been hesitant to buy it as I worry about our budget with the medical fees my son and I accrue going to the doctor (he is in preschool and seems to catch a ton of stuff). And there has to be a different solution–plus I feel all the stuff we get may be connected to gut health, somehow.
I went with my gut when I dated my now-husband: we were on a blind date and my parents wanted me to “find” a doctor or lawyer, but my gut feel was for this guy. Had to fight for him, too. 8 years and a kid later and we’re still together. We have our ups and downs, but we are still each other’s biggest supporters.
jenny sansouci says
Hi Therese, thank you!! Being each other’s biggest supporters is so important and valuable. And you’re right, most “stuff” is definitely connected to gut health! Especially love gut stories related to relationships. Thanks for reading and sharing. :)
Tali says
I actually have a story about how I DIDN’T trust my gut…and the repurcussions that brings! A bit of a twist. About 5 years ago, I was praying to meet ‘the right guy for me’. I was upset at being single for so long, and had been hurt when I had busted the last guy I had went out with with another woman. I had made the decision after that to really be myself with men, and “go with my gut”. I was in spin class at the gym, and started to get the ‘eerie’ intuition feeling….that gut feeling when something that is for you is close…then low and behold I started to notice a guy in there (that had been there for a whole year!!) that I’d never noticed before. Small smiles were shared before a conversation took place…and little syncronicities took place and the Universe kept bringing us together…random bump ins in unexpected places etc! The intuitive pangs were strong. Being someone who was fed up with men (me), and who always seemed to do the wrong thing, I decided to “not listen to my gut” for a change and to see what would happen. I was bitchy and mean and…I felt the pain of the redirect, felt ABSOLUTELY lousy, and had to do a tonne of spiritual growth work to heal from something that seemed so small. The moral of this story is for anyone who may be wondering the same…what it would feel like to do the incorrect / not-so-good thing. It felt awful, and i now recommend going with your gut and learning through pleasure (not pain) vs the pain of the re-direct and the spiritual growth work you have to do to turn things around. It perhaps seems small but, I also got quite sick afterwards and there is a little more to the story I’m not sharing on here!!! Go with your gut people…and always do the right thing even if you feel like it’s boring…show up for your spiritual assignments bcos when you “go with your gut” that’s ultimately what it is. God bless illogical reasoning. Thank you Jenny xoxo
jenny sansouci says
Oh my gosh! Tali, thanks for sharing. Did you end up with the guy!?! I’m on the edge of my seat over here!!! I love “show up for your spiritual appointments.” Incredible. “God bless illogical reasoning” – wow. Thanks for sharing. <3 xx
Tali says
No…we didn’t end up together but it was a massive turning point in my life in terms of spiritual awakenings and growth xox
Tali says
“do the RIGHT thing” correction.
Niki says
I gave birth to my third child in November of 2005. It was an easy pregnancy as well as the birth & delivery – however, the mo the thereafter were a very trying time. He wouldn’t latch on to my nreast properly & always fussed when eating. The nurses & doctors kept telling me all the things I was doing wrong to cause the problems. In the back of my mind I knew what it was but I wasn’t confident in myself despite already having had two other children – they were after all professionals, right?! Finally after a sleepless night of both me & my son crying for hours, I prepared him a bottle of lactose-free formula. He gobbled that bottle up & was the happiest most content baby ever! I just wished I had listened to my gut sooner?
jenny sansouci says
Wow! The power of intuition. Happy to hear your baby is feeding joyfully now. :) Thanks for sharing!
Yoojin says
Last year, I changed career paths.
It started out as me with joining a phd graduate program that was in a field that i was super interested in and even got accepted to. i was behind in some academic credentials that required me to take extra classes compared to my other classmates. on top of that, i worked in a research lab that was just a terrible environment. my stubborn personality just told myself “keep working harder. if i keep trying and working harder, it’ll get better.”
The thing is, I started deteriorating, mentally AND physically. I lost 15 pounds from stress and even experienced my first real panic attack. that was the scariest day of my life, and if got me rethinking- I couldn’t do this anymore.
You could say I “went with my gut” here. I decided to leave the program. This was huge for me, because I went home for Christmas break and didn’t return the next semester. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life- I considered culinary school, nutrition school, stay home and work, even though what I really wanted to do was study science and get back in a research lab.
I took a leap of faith and applied for another program at my university even after the application deadline had passed. I went with my gut and told my story to the program director, and he said he’d consider my application. A few months later, I got the letter of acceptance!
Now, I’m 10 lbs heavier (slowly gained within 8 months!) and am SO happy in the new lab I work in. And, the graduate program I am now a part of is great. Sure, I had to start over as a 1st year PhD student, but It’s totally worth it :)
jenny sansouci says
Yoojin – wow!!! That is so awesome. I’m glad you’re happy in the new lab. Sometimes we need to get to the point where we are physically feeling the effects of our choices before we’re ready to make a change. So happy you did. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work. :)
Emily says
My best / scariest gut instinct was deciding to quit my corporate accounting job and start my own wellness biz!! I had been super unhappy in my job and kept dreaming of leaving, but didn’t have the guts (!!) to do it. I was attending one of the IIN conferences when suddenly it was as if every cell in my body was screaming — you need to leave this year! And right then and there I decided that I would. I went home, wrote my resignation letter, and met with my supervisor the next week. Since then it’s been a wild and crazy journey in the entrepreneurial world, but I couldn’t be happier. Also during my Saturn Return ;)
jenny sansouci says
YES! Love this! Thanks for sharing Emily :) And so glad to hear you’re rocking it! Being an entrepreneur is a super crazy rollercoaster but so worth it!
xoxo
Nancy says
Great story! Listening to your gut can be a life altering event. Personally, I need to work on that : ).
jenny sansouci says
Thanks for reading, Nancy! :)
Kate says
What a great topic!! I decided to go with my gut last year, and I’ve just started experiencing the benefits. I’d spent years in a stressful job that I didn’t enjoy, denying that my relationship wasn’t working, and trying to find alternative cures for a medical condition that leaves me with a hormonal imbalance. I left my job and went on a 3-month solo trip to decompress, get some space in my relationship, and choose a next step. While I was gone, my insurance lapsed and I ran out of my prescription, which left me with huge mood swings, anxiety, and depression. I was in a panic to start a new job and quickly got a job offer that I had been excited about. But then I just froze. I tried to talk it over with a couple of friends, but heard myself joking that I should just turn it down and move to Colombia to learn Spanish and teach English. To make a long story short, I’m writing this from Colombia, where I just finished my first month of teaching English. It’s still scary to think about how much less I earn and where I’ll go from here, but I look forward to each new day. I’ve dedicated this year to balancing my hormones (without prescriptions!) and focusing on my health and happiness, and every day I’m reassured that I am in the right place. Leaving my life behind was scarier than I thought, but I’m glad I did it!
jenny sansouci says
WOW!!!! This is amazing. I love that you went with your gut to move to Colombia and I bet you’re making a huge difference in people’s lives there. Thank you so much for sharing and wishing you all the best on your quest to balance your hormones (check out my friend Nicole Jardim at nicolejardim.com – she’s got tons of great hormonal health info there!) xx
Kat says
My story is about loooove… I met a really sweet guy online while I was doing an internship in NYC. Dating in the city was not such a fun task and I met all kinds of interesting characters.
But it is true that once you meet the one (even if he doesn’t look like the way you expected the one to look like) you just know. I was living in Europe (I’m originally from there) and took my chances and moved to the US to be with him. 12 years later, here we are, still together on this journey. Followed my gut feeling about him that said he is a good-hearted, loyal, trustworthy person I can rely on no matter what. And he really is!
jenny sansouci says
Beautiful, Kat! Good-hearted, loyal and trustworthy are some important and wonderful traits in a partner. And totally worth moving across the world to take a chance on someone like that. Thanks for sharing. <3