Starling Nutrition

The follicular phase is perceived as the most masculine phase of the menstrual cycle

Patriarchal society leads us to believe this GO phase should be our consistent operating capacity and we are often rewarded and validated for our productivity 🏆

Because of this narrative, something else that might come up in the is to feel impatient with those around you who aren’t moving at the same speed or achieving at the same level 🙄

Your other special and unique phases may pale in comparison or feel indulgent when you slow down to rest 🐌 - leading us to believe that this energy-on-the rise is our return to “normal”

What’s normal is that there are times in the month when our hormones require us to slow down and we must listen👂🏼and normalize this 🪷

A great way to stay balanced through the follicular phase is to use your energy not only for productivity but also for PLAY! 🤸🏼‍♀️

What are some ways that you can invite more play in?!

My $99 Initial Nutrition Promo will be honoured for all appointments booked *by* Mar 31 🥕

This means that you can book into April and May, as long as you complete the booking this week :)

If you aren’t looking for personalized nutrition support at this time, but know somebody who could benefit, please share!

OR give the gift of wellness to a loved one! Gift certificates for my services are available, just reach out! 🎁

**I provide in-clinic and virtual sessions**

Things that I am able to support with…

🔎 Investigating the root cause of symptoms and conditions

🦄 Creating a personalized nutrition plan - which is tailored to YOU and your health history, taste preferences and lifestyle

💩 Comprehensive stool testing - to assess gut health, immune and digestive function

🌼 Dried urine testing - to assess hormone function and imbalances

🥑 Personalized meal plans + recipe support - take the guesswork out of cooking

🧶 Gut health/Digestive support - bloating, indigestion, reflux, IBS, SIBO, Crohn’s, Colitis, low/high stomach acid

🛼 Navigating food sensitivities + dietary protocols, helping you understand HOW to eat in the best way for YOU

🎢 hormonal support - preparing for your period, menstrual cycle awareness + healing, perimenopause, menopause + beyond!

🐣 Conception + transition support - fertility, priming your body for baby, pregnancy, postpartum, miscarriage

🚂 Adrenal support - fatigue, stress, burnout

💜 Holding space for you to feel heard and seen, listening with compassion and without judgement

Teas are an incredibly simple and inexpensive way to regularly add some hormone-loving nutrients into your routine 🍵

Here are some of my favourite teas for the :

For pain + bloating:
🌼 Ginger
🌼 Fennel
🌼 Peppermint

Nutritive:
🌼 Nettle
🌼 Raspberry leaf

⭐️BONUS⭐️
We are in nettle season on the island, so head to your local farmers market to pick up a fresh batch this weekend 🌱

Do you ever feel like you’re riding the hor(ror)monal rollercoaster? 🎢

It can be AWFUL!

But what if you knew how the rollercoaster was made? If you knew a little more about what to expect and a guarantee that you would be safe?

That ride could go from nauseating/terrifying/disorienting/______ ➡️ to a whole lot of fun
- like when you finally release the death grip from the bar and throw your hands up in the air 🤗🥳

That’s what creating a is all about and it starts with understanding each unique phase of the menstrual cycle so that all of the beautiful rhythms become predictable to you and you can anticipate what’s coming next to plan your life - Yes, I literally mean your LIFE (self-care, socializing, relationships, work, fitness, s*x, communications, creativity, etc, etc)

Menstruates, welcome to your superpowers 🏆

Add these star ingredients to your grocery list in the week leading up to your bleed and include them in your meal planning to keep at bay 🛑

***Screenshot for the next time cramps are on the scene

The food we eat gets transmuted into micronutrients and stored in our organs and glands - many of which live within the endocrine (hormone) system.

These micronutrients are the gas to get our motor started! 🛵

Unfortunately, due to industrial agriculture, the minerals in our soils have been depleted, leading to foods with reduced nutrient density.

This is why it is SO important to
and when you can and/or 🥕🍅🥬

If you suspect you may be low in the micronutrient department, chat with your healthcare provider about the following:
🔬Micronutrient and functional testing
🌮Personalized dietary recommendations
💊Supplementation

What’s your favourite micronutrient?!

***I’m taking ALLLL the 😍magnesium😍 with me to the desert island***

What do you think I’m talking about here?
- Ovarian health?
- Uterine health?
- Menstrual Cycle Health?
- Gut health?
- Bowel movements?
- My cool-dude button fly?

If you guessed all of the above, you get a ⭐️GOLD STAR⭐️!

🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸
BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED
🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸

Yes, even the button fly - we have all had to loosen a button or two at certain times of the month, after certain meals, for reasons totally unknown to us 🤰🏼🤷🏼‍♀️

If your hormones need some love, it is paramount to investigate and support the microbiome (gut)

We will be speaking to this beautiful connective web more specifically in our Hormones 101 series kicking off in TWO DAYS and I will be covering the gut-hormone connection in future posts - so stay tuned!

👖Let me help you keep your freakin’ buttons buttoned!
***but also, wear comfy bottoms that make you feel good in your body and when you need to 😎
📸 .photo

Neuroendocrinologist Catherine Woolley @ Northwest University discovered that female-born brains change structure by up to 25% over the menstrual cycle 🧠🌟✨

Whoa! What does that mean!? 🤯
➡️ It means that different regions of the brain are MORE or LESS stimulated at different times throughout the cycle

Ok, so what does THAT mean? 🤔
➡️ It means that menstruators shouldn’t be biohacking their life in the same way each day - we need to follow our cyclic rhythms and shift (dietary, movement, energetic, work, social) strategies as we move into each unique phase of the menstrual cycle.

We all have the best of intentions but if we don’t know how to move and groove with our cycle, those daily tools you THINK are benefiting you (5am power start, intermittent fasting, HIIT every day, restricting foods, etc.) can actually end up HURTING YOU in the form of: adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalance, thyroid dysfunction, weight gain, mood swings, brain fog, burnout, etc etc etc….

To learn how to create your own , join us for 4 fun nights of learning, starting THIS TIME NEXT WEEK ‼️

🌀Save your seat using link in bio🌀

Yes, you read that right❗️

Vital signs are measurements that indicate how well your body’s essential functions are working - they help tell the story of your overall health status.

There are 4 vital signs that are universally accepted:
🩺 Body temperature
🩺 Blood pressure
🩺 Respiratory rate
🩺 Heart rate
Introducing your 5th vital sign:
⭐️YOUR PERIOD ⭐️

If hormones could speak, you’d hear from them on your period. Though this is just one phase of your cycle, it’s the phase with the best direct hotline to your hormonal messages. Your period is loud, proud, and impossible to ignore!

Pain, PMS (+ more) are the lights on your dashboard, telling you your hormones are out of balance, and need more support. This information is critical, because your period is just the messenger . What you need to uncover is the root cause of the hormonal imbalance.

Your hormones are constantly interacting with the rest of your body, and don’t just fall out of balance on their own.
The real value in embracing your period as a vital sign lies in uncovering the reason why your hormones are working AGAINST you, rather than FOR you. Hormonal issues tend to snowball when ignored, so your period is a tool you can use to advocate for your health, and address your root cause before things escalate. And while checking your other vital signs usually ends with a medical bill, your period comes free of charge 🌟

We outsource so much of our health instead of turning inwards and listening to the information our bodies hold within and so willingly share. Check your own vital sign this month. What is it trying to tell you?

To learn more about your 5th vital sign and what it’s telling you, join us Mar 10 for Hormones 101: The Menstrual Cycle! (link in bio)

My practice has a new *physical* home!!! 🥳

I am absolutely elated to share that I am joining Wellness Clinic in my hometown of Victoria, BC on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen People 💜

This time next week I will be inviting clients to sink into the cozy chair pictured above, conducting in-person nutrition visits for the first time in ❕TWO YEARS❕
**I also conduct visits virtually by video or phone :)

To celebrate this new and exciting chapter for my business, I am offering ALL initial nutrition consultations for the month of March for $99 - this is a $76 savings! 🥳

What happens in an initial visit?
We spend 75 mins together, reviewing your health history, goals and obstacles and you will receive personalized nutrition and lifestyle protocol - which will include a step-by-step action plan, recipes/meal plan, supplement recommendations and advanced lab testing as needed.

I LOVE what I do and would be honoured to support you or someone in your life on their journey to vibrant health ✨!

Use link in bio for promo booking :)

Starling Nutrition updated their info in the about section.

Starling Nutrition updated their address.

Starling Nutrition updated their website address.

HEY MENSTRUATORS 📣

Does any of the following resonate?
🙀You dread your period every month + feel like it’s a life sentence
🙀You have missed out on things or called in sick to work due to period pain
🙀You were put on the pill to manage pain/acne/irregular cycles
🙀You’re afraid of getting pregnant every day of the month because you have no idea how fertility works
🙀You’re afraid of not being able to get pregnant when you’re ready to
🙀You feel anxious/depressed at certain times of the month with no idea why
🙀You have no idea if/when your period will even show up
🙀You feel like you have no control around food leading to viscous cycles of binging and restricting
🙀You think negatively about your body
Or maybe you’ve always wanted to learn more about your hormones but feel totally overwhelmed with no idea where to start?!

WE GET IT! ❤️
No-one taught .rochelleharder, .ca and I the basics either which is why we are SO EXCITED to empower and support you with this 4-part educational series!! You deserve access to this information - YOUR (literal) information.

Come hang out with us to learn:
⭐️How to identify hormonal imbalances + their causes 
⭐️The tests you have access to to understand your own baseline
⭐️Menstruation on and off hormonal birth control + other options available
⭐️PMS - what the heck is normal and what's not
⭐️Decoding your flow - menstrual blood and cervical mucus
⭐️Ways to nourish yourself through each phase of your cycle 
⭐️How to shift your exercise routine through your cycle for optimal energy and gains
⭐️Which supplements to use and why
⭐️Body literacy - how to read your monthly report card for personal empowerment and vitality 
⭐️How to create your own cycle strategy to tap into your PERIOD POWER
+ SO MUCH MORE!

⬅️OUT with the taboo, patriarchal, over-complicated hush-hush stuff
➡️IN with 4 FUN evenings spent learning all about the GIFTS you’ve been born with :)

Let us teach you how to use your menstrual cycle to your ⚡️ADVANTAGE⚡️

In order to harness your , you must first understand it so save your spot with the link in my bio + share with all the other menstruators in your life!

Simple winter veggie soup ❄️
- aka a seasonal hug for your insides!

Ingredients 🍠
- bone broth (my fave is )
- onions + garlic (sautéed)
- sweet potato (roasted)
- Carrots (roasted)
- Turnips (roasted)
- Peanut butter (swirled in)
- Ginger (grated)

Toppers 🌱
- cilantro
- olive oil
- chili flakes
- flaked sea salt
- salsa rustica 😍

More ✨ (because who doesn’t love sprinkles)
- h**p hearts
- pumpkin seeds
- nutritional yeast
- seaweed flakes
- collagen powder

Vegan/Vegetarian?
Bone broth —> veggie broth

Avoiding FODMAPs?
Garlic —> garlic-infused oil
Onions —> green tops of leeks
PB —> sunflower seed butter

Want to invite s back onto your plate? Let’s chat!

Sunrise swim captured on film



📷: .neill

My copilots have multiplied 🥰

CONCLUSION 🌷

To wrap up this I leave you with one of my favourite reminders:

“Perfection is the enemy of good”

don’t try to do it all
don’t try to win
just put one foot in front of the other
do your best, whatever that looks like to you 💜



I love to hear about your experiences! Share with me and with others, to encourage them to weave more wellness in 🕸✨

This is my favourite tree 💚

I hug it every time I pass by on my walks with Louie 🐾 which is almost daily

No matter what temperature it is outside, this great big beautiful tree is always SO warm. It radiates so much energy (and magic✨)

Get out there and hug a tree today! Forget what other people might think and do something wonderful for yourself and your elders 🌳🌲🌴

It’s a delight for the soul and at the very least, a great conversation starter (+ likely inspo) for passerby’s!

CHECK IN 🔦

There are plenty of reasons to be feeling out of sorts these days, and liver burden may be a contributing factor

Have you been finding yourself on the defense more than usual?

Taking things more personally?

Feeling prickly and exasperated?

Puffing your chest and believing you know better than those around you?

Adding more and more onto your plate as you question the competency of others?

These can be signs that your liver is overloaded and needs some extra love!

Show it some TLC with the gentle tips I have shared and pay attention to the shifts as they come ✨

10. MENTAL/EMOTIONAL 🎭

Emotional cleansing is equally as important to everything that’s been mentioned

Emotional Cleansing Ideas:

📓 Morning pages/journaling - let it all out onto the page

🪔 Smudging your space - sage, palo santo, incense, essential oils

🤸🏼‍♀️ Moving meditation - walking, hiking, yoga

🌲 Forest bathing - Shinrin Yoku

🌬 Breathwork - Khapal Bhati

🐢 Permission to slow down - remember the tortoise?

💖 Solo dates - make this a weekly non-negotiable during your cleanse period and beyond!

9 LIFESTYLE 🚲

Lifestyle Cleansing Ideas:

💦 Sweat: sauna, regular movement practice

❄️ Hydrotherapy: cold shower blasts, river and ocean dips

🛁 Epsom salt baths

🦔 Dry/body brushing

🥥 Oil pulling

👅 Tongue scraping

🙌🏼 Body tapping

🧵 Review and refresh your closet and home, mend what needs mending and donate what no longer serves you

8. REST 💤

Rest = Restoration 🌀

During periods of cleansing, we require more Zz’s as the majority of detoxification occurs whilst we sleep

Sleep is not only vital for mental and physical recovery but for memory, mood and learning 🧠✨

💫Pay attention to your dreams💫

TIPS:
🕯 reduce light exposure by turning off lights in rooms you are not using and dimming the lights and/or using candles in the rooms you are from dinner to bedtime

👓 wear blue-light blocking lenses once the sun goes down 

💻 turn screens off 1-2hrs before bedtime (get siri to remind you)

BE the rainbow you want to see in the world 🌈

7. SUPPLEMENTATION 💊

Spring cleansing invites us to get back to the basics and a great way to do so is simplifying your supplement regime; placing more focus on antioxidant-rich foods and liver loving herbs 🌿

SUPPLEMENTS are not SUBSTITUTIONS - they are intended to enhance an already existing foundation. That foundation is what matters most 🙏🏼

It is also important to note that all of the goodness within our supplements still requires energy from our organs to take effect, so paring down from time to time will allow you to see how your body is functioning on it’s own and actually increase the efficacy of your supplements once you layer them back in ✨

This will also help to shine a light on which potions, powders and pills are really making the most difference for you as it is impossible to be certain when you’re taking the whole grab bag at once! 💊⚗️🏺🧪🌪

Liver Loving Foods:
⭐️Cruciferous Veg (broccoli, kale, brussels, arugula, etc)
⭐️Grapefruit
⭐️Blueberries (all berries! But especially __)
⭐️Beets
⭐️Turmeric

Liver Loving Herbs:  
⭐️Milk thistle
⭐️Dandelion
⭐️Nettle
⭐️Burdock
⭐️Oregon Grape

Consider taking a break from (or reducing) gluten and dairy to reduce

🌾 🥛 🧀 🧈🍦
🥐 🥯🍞🥖🍝

The last thing you want to do is cut a hole in your diet ✂️🕳 so ensure you replace anything you remove

Here are some of my favourite swaps:

GLUTEN

🍞 Bread —> definitely opt for bread from a GF bakery vs what you’ll find in store, the taste/texture profile will be much more similar to what you’re used to and usually means less fillers and questionable ingredients

Local faves:



🍝 Pasta —> pack some extra protein points by choosing a chickpea or lentil based noodle

🥞 Flour —> I am no expert in this department (I’m more of a free-styler than a recipe follower which makes me a terrrrrrible baker) but there are loads of incredible resources online! Check out:





Barley —> buckwheat or quinoa

Oats (naturally GF but often cross-contaminated) —> GF oats

🚨 beware: just because it says GF on the label does NOT mean it’s healthy - opt for whole foods over processed

DAIRY

🧈 Butter —> Coconut oil or
vegan butter

🥛 Milk —>
naked organic GF oat milk (4 ingredients only 😍)

🍦 Ice Cream —>

+ DF/GF 🍕experts


🧀 Cheese
Nutritional Yeast



💛 Love note // The stress associated with restriction can be more detrimental to your health than if you were to just enjoy the food (unless of course you have an allergy) so make sure to give yourself some breathing room and if one of these foods makes it’s way onto your plate during your cleanse period, don’t sweat it! Savour every bite of it, drink some extra water that day and pivot at your next meal!

Increase protein + fibre to support healing, digestion and elimination 💩

Strive for a minimum of 20g of protein per meal and include fibre-rich vegetables and soluble fibres like chia and flaxseed to liquid meals ⭐️

Smoothies are a great cleanse choice!

Check out OG smoothie queen 👑 for her tips and loads of tasty recipes!