Courtney Pool

"Fasting and natural diet, though essentially unknown as a therapy, should be the first treatment when someone discovers that he or she has a medical problem.

It should not be applied only to the most advanced cases, as is present practice.

There are hundreds of journal articles in the medical literature documenting the value of fasting in improving the function of the entire body, including the brain.

The time may come when not offering this substantially more effective nutritional approach will be considered malpractice."

- Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

Email from a client I worked with a while ago on healing overeating 💙

Staying cool in this heatwave (will be 99 today) with a strawberry vanilla smoothie! 🍌🍓🧊

Why do I get hungry quickly on a plant-based diet? Why don’t I stay full for long after I eat?

These are common questions and challenge people have when they move into a healthy plant-based diet.

There are a number of things to consider here. Plant-based foods generally are lower calorie, and so you have to eat much more of them in order to be satisfied.

Even for those for whom weight loss is a main goal, often we need to actually eat more in order to eat less. When I say eat more, not eat more calories, but eat more volume!

For example, a big bowl of pasta or meat is going to be significantly denser than a big bowl of plants.

Here are some tips to try:

1) Eat more. While you don’t want to be uncomfortably stuffed at the end of your meal, when your meal is made up primarily of produce, legumes and healthy fats, it will digest quickly, so it’s ok to eat until you’re quite full.

2) Make sure your diet has enough protein sources in it. Every meal should include some protein, whether from beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, chia seeds, protein powder or some other source.

3) Eat fat. While the percentage of fat within your diet may need to be watched depending on your goals, healthy fats will deliver calories as well as fiber. Focus on avocados, olives, coconut, seeds, and nuts. Limit oil in your diet, however.

4) For some people, eating more times every day is helpful to make sure they get enough food in throughout the day. While snacking is not ideal, some people do well with more meals throughout the day.

5) Drink water! We frequently mistakenly think we are hungry when we are actually thirsty. It should be noted that hydration should come from plain water and not caffeinated beverages, and ideally should be had between meals so as not to dilute digestive power while eating.

6) Get used to a different kind of fullness. Sometimes when we say we are still hungry on a plant-based diet, what we mean is we don’t feel the same kind of fullness that animal products and heavier, unhealthful products give us. This is a truth: no amount of plant food will actually sit in your stomach with the same heaviness as animal products or heavy foods. This is something we have to get used to as a changing sensation and adjust to emotionally. When we are full of plants, our stomach can be filled and it can be calorically adequate, but still not feel like the same sensation of heavy fullness. We can then mistakenly think we are still hungry when in fact we aren’t hungry from a caloric perspective.

I offer 1-1 coaching in plant-based and vegan nutrition. Contact me at
https://www.CourtneyPool.com/

"Switching to an organic plant-based diet allows cells to work optimally to re-establish efficient internal messaging and manufacturing processes, allowing the mitochondria to create energy without having to fight off a plethora of free radicals and inflammation, and reducing some of the impediments to proper DNA functioning."

- Woodson Merrell, M.D.

Message from a client I did a Juice Feasting Preparation consult for! 🍏🥬🥒

I offer a service where we have a pre-cleanse call and then you can do your cleanse on your own with the info and individualizations I made for you.

Message me to learn more!

I found this in a journal of mine from when I was 14 years old.

It is incredible how entrenched body image and appearance obsessions can become at such a young age. I have journaling showing I was fixated on my appearance even younger than 14.

I grew up with two parents who were all about looks, and it was all that mattered about me. While media influenced me too, I had daily bombardment of damaging belief systems from my parents.

To this day I am still unraveling it as it is such a deep emotional injury for me.

How young do you recall being aware of your physical appearance and having any level of anxiety or shame about it?

You aren’t permanently broken.

You aren’t permanently susceptible to food addictions.

You aren’t resigned to manage overeating for the rest of your life.

You can heal to the point you don’t ever worry about “relapse” and you never do.

You can get to a place you don’t binge and it doesn’t even take effort not to. You just don’t feel like it anymore.

You can become a person with food you may have only dared to dream about: someone who just doesn’t struggle and doesn’t even think about it.

You can lose unhealthy weight permanently, and you can keep it off without effort.

Please do not listen to anyone who says you cannot really heal it. While they may not perceive that it is possible at this time, it doesn’t mean they’re correct about it.

The truth is, magical transformations with our desires and behaviors with food are indeed possible.

The thing that most people miss is that to have these magical transformations, deep, emotionally based soul-work must occur.

Healing food addiction is all about healing the soul and connecting to ourselves emotionally.

It’s the last thing many of us want to do, but it is the powerful key to everything we’ve ever wanted.

It is not an overnight process, but have faith that no state overeating and no state in our soul has to be permanent.

Email from a former client — you can message me if you’re interested in coaching in binge eating, I would love to help! 🌸

Juice Cleanse Tip:

If you're making juice for later, fill your freshly-made juice to the top of a glass container, as glass keeps it fresh longer than other materials.

By filling all the way to the top, you reduce the amount of air that can oxidize the juice.

Seal the top well and put it in the fridge: juice will last longest this way!

What is the best time of day to drink green juice? Here are 3 strategies:

When Should You Drink Green Juice? — Courtney Pool: Transforming your relationship with food What is the best time of day to drink green juice? In this blog I answer this question and provide three options for good times during the day to drink veggie juice.

“One of the things that has helped me a lot was the fact that I could vent, I could express very personal things. Your personal experience was tremendously helpful and thank you so much for sharing the most effective tips with me!

One of the main reasons why I wanted to be coached by you was because you I find you so genuine. You are smart, articulate and have that natural ability to understand what people are going through”

— Kat, Sydney, Australia, 43-day Juice Feast

https://www.courtneypool.com/success-stories

Is meditation a helpful tool in healing overeating, or not?

I meditated for years in an attempt to change my relationship to food and lose weight, and in that process learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work.

I explain why I don't meditate anymore and what approaches worked far better for me for healing overeating than meditation.

https://youtu.be/0K1-7IVYZeg?si=aLTVqkV6pvgq1tI0

Meditation and Healing Overeating Is meditation a helpful tool in healing overeating, or not? This is a question I receive often from clients. I meditated for years in an attempt to change my...

Shame about healthy eating when you’re overweight:

When we have extra weight or compulsively eat, there can be a lot of shame when we share with other people that we want to eat healthy, or commit to eating vegan.

We may feel like people are looking at us thinking,

“Well, clearly your healthy eating isn’t working — look at you.”

We feel they’ll look down on us, ridicule us or feel our desires are invalid.

I can personally relate to this. When I went vegan and started wanting to eat healthfully, I was still a binge eater and I was overweight. And after I went vegan, I was still a binge eater and I was still overweight for a time.

When people would find out I had an interest in healthy eating, sometimes I would get underhanded comments like,

“Oh wow, I always thought vegans were really skinny.”

Or I could see them looking me up and down and immediately dismissing whatever I was saying about nutrition, because of how I looked.

For many of my clients, this shame causes them to compromise their eating when they are with friends and family.

We want to avoid how we feel about these projections from other people. And if we’re wishy-washy or downplay our interest in eating healthfully, then we hope we might not get these projections.

Some people feel they can’t publicly voice their interest in healthy eating or eating vegan until they lose weight. They feel once they lose weight and are a “good example” of nutrition, then it will be valid to share their interest and it will be ok to stick to their guns.

Instead, I always urge people to commit anyway, and then just let themselves go through the emotions about these projections from others.

You may feel angry that people are treating you this way, you may feel the hot rush of shame, you may feel nauseating fear, you may need to have some good cries about how bad it all feels.

But no matter what you look like, and even if you still compulsively eat, you are allowed to have your aspirations with nutrition. You’re allowed to be public with it, and you do not deserve judgment.

Let yourself feel how you feel about the projections that may come from others: your anger, fear, shame, or hurt about it.

“I’ve had eating issues since childhood. Courtney has helped me get on the path to a healthy relationship with food.

Her insights have been essential to my journey. I’ve been very comforted to know that I have a great person by my side.”

— Kristi, Seoul, South Korea, completed 50 days of Juice Feasting

https://www.courtneypool.com/success-stories

I have no "off-limits" foods that I stay away from to avoid overeating.

I’ve been vegan for 18 years now, and some perceive that as having off-limits foods, but I'm vegan for moral and ethical reasons, not because I'm afraid I will overeat if I'm not vegan. The motivation is totally different.

I also don't drink any alcohol. Alcohol was never a thing for me anyway; I've probably had less than ten alcoholic drinks in my whole life. Food was my addiction.

So I also don't drink any alcohol, but again, that's not because I'm afraid I'll have too much if I start. It's because I believe any amount of alcohol is poison, I don't like the way it feels, I don't like the taste, and there's no sense in having another thing in my life that numbs emotion.

My point is, there can be foods and drinks you don't ever have and never plan to, and that's not inherently a bad thing.

Within a vegan diet, I have NO foods that are off limits. Not sugar, not chocolate, not fried food, not flour, processed food etc. Now, I don't eat those things often because I don't feel great if I have them often, and I know the body is not designed to process lots of them, but they're not off-limits from a psychological standpoint.

My mindset is that if I wanted to have them on any day, I could have them on any day. This removes them from being on a pedestal because I view them as available at any time.

And when I do have them, it doesn't set off a binge or an overeating spiral. I never feel like if I start, it will be hard to stop.

Often, even in well-known food addiction programs, you'll see the recommendation or requirement to eliminate certain foods because it is believed they're too addictive. It will even be called "abstinence" from those foods.

This is all a big distraction from the fact that we can heal the underlying reasons as to why we want to be excessive with certain foods and drinks, and when we do, we will not go off the deep end if we have some.

In that place, while you still might make choices based on ethics or on your internal health, you won't make choices based on being afraid of yourself and afraid of certain foods.

"You are lovable. Can you show me any baby in any nursery who isn't priceless? No. There's no such thing as a worthless newborn.

And the essential value that was born into brand-new-baby you can never be extinguished.

This means that even if you think you're being absolutely honest, believing yourself to be anything other than astonishing, incomparable, and infinitely precious makes you a habitual liar."

-Martha Beck

“I Juice Feasted for two months under the guidance of Courtney Pool. I could never have done such a long juice feast without coaching.

I had done several 2 to 3 day Juice Feasts in the past. I loved the way my body felt during the Juice Feasts: light, energetic, and joyful. But I could not go beyond several days on my own.

Talking to Courtney on a regular and frequent basis made all the difference. Instead of relying on my willpower to go on juicing every morning for several more days and being alone in periods of doubt, I would just enjoy the day ahead of me, not thinking too much of the rest.

The coaching with Courtney has been so rich. Courtney adapted to my needs and interests, and would also detect important subjects for us to address out of the little details of what I was saying. Courtney has helped me gain clarity and and let go of the fear, without having to force things or grind my teeth.

I loved the coaching ‘moments’ with Courtney: everything in my world would suddenly feel lighter, we would laugh, I would feel great afterwards.

The fact that we laughed so much is really striking given the enormous transformations I have been through with Courtney’s guidance–one would think the changes were so heavy that they would be lived through with a very serious face!

In regards to my relationship to food, I have discovered how to eat with awareness, pleasure and nourishment, which has replaced the diet and compulsive eating cycles.

Courtney’s guidance has been a real blessing, as she is so knowledgeable with the subject of compulsive eating and dieting, and has such a non-stressful approach. Her way of dealing with that matter was very new for me and was enlightening.

During and after a Juice Feast, people tell you that you shine and that you are beautiful. I got in touch with my sense of femininity. It has been so wonderful to be coached by Courtney: she is so knowledgeable, wise, sweet and… fun!”

— Clemence, Paris, France – completed 61 days of Juice Feasting

https://www.courtneypool.com/success-stories

Why You Should Skip the Nut Milk in Your Juice Cleanse

by David Rainoshek, M.A., creator of Juice Feasting

"I have tried this. I had my Juice Feasting clients try this years ago. H**p mlk. Almond milk. Sesame milk. Brazil nut milk. H**p-almond-sesame-brazil nut milk with coconut water.

We all got mucus reactions almost every time. And many of us wanted to jump off the cleanse and go back to eating with the fatty experience of the nut and seed milks during a Juice Feast. Some people experienced stomach discomfort.

In other words, the results were lackluster to poor. Juice delivery cleanse businesses have put nut and seed milks on their menus for three reasons:

1. To entice you… hey, there’s milk on the program!

2. It’s cheaper to make than fresh juice

3. They don’t know much about cleansing

It may be good for business, but it is not good for what you want to achieve on a good cleanse. I love a good nut or seed Milk, but they are not in the best interest for people needing to heal during a cleanse.

They are also taking up valuable space on your juicing menu – space that should be held by a beautiful, alkaline green vegetable juice.

Nut milk is GREAT, but years and years of experience has shown that on a Juice Feast (or any juice cleanse) nut and seed milks create mucus and are acid-forming in the body beyond what is desirable.

You want a significant cleansing physiology, and nut and seed milks on a cleanse work against that cleansing physiology."

🌹

"After great thought, I have decided that 21 days of green juice, with the support of a juice coach like Courtney, is just what I need to get clear, lose weight, find inner peace, have sustained energy, and replace negative food patterns with a whole new way of plant-based eating.

I am ready to have a new outlook on life and the way I eat and to feel better than I have in a very long time. The first step of a long journey is a deep cleanse with green juice. A flush that will purify my organs, brighten up my eyes, and heal my entire body with extraordinary, unmatched nutrition. I am so ready for this and I cant wait to see where this journey takes me!"

Read about how Brandi''s cleanse went!

Guest Post: Brandi’s 21-day Juice Feast — Courtney Pool: Transforming your relationship with food My name is Brandi, I’m almost 38 years old and I live in Hawaii! I’ve been thinking about doing some sort of cleanse for about the last 9 months, but really since my son was born in 2008! Only just now am I finally ready to commit to the process. After great thought, I have decided that 21 days ...

In seeking the truth about the deeper reasons you overeat, you are not hurting your parents.

In striving to heal your heart, you are not betraying your parents.

To heal food addiction, you must examine your childhood and look for things you didn’t notice before.

It is not possible to deeply and permanently heal without doing this step.

Exploration does not make you selfish, disloyal, ungrateful, or harsh.

These are common family-based and society-imposed beliefs that we have though, so it is understandable we feel worried about it.

Because we have been brainwashed by our own families and society, we feel like we are being a bad daughter or son by looking into things, and especially if we accurately name how things were.

But there is nothing to feel guilty about.

If you do NOT examine your childhood and your relationship with your parents so you can heal yourself, then you are in fact betraying yourself.

Trying to protect them or staying loyal to them will likely mean not being loyal to yourself.

Your own happiness and healing must be more important than any guilt or obligation you come across in the process.

You are not hurting anyone by seeking the root causes for your overeating.

Did you know? Walnuts are often called the “dirtiest nut”. This is the water after soaking organic (yes, even organic) walnuts overnight!

I find soaking them like this makes walnuts taste less bitter and more sweet and pleasant. Soaking any nuts also makes them more digestible!

“Your life does matter. It always matters whether you reach out in friendship or lash out in anger.

It always matters whether you live with compassion and awareness or whether you succumb to distractions and trivia.

It always matters how you treat other people, how you treat animals, and how you treat yourself.

It always matters what you do. It always matters what you say.

And it always matters what you eat.”

-John Robbins, from the book The Food Revolution

"Fasting is an excellent method for cleansing your entire system.

The fasting process begins after day two or three when the body goes into autolysis, the process whereby the body is digesting its own dead and dying cells.

In the body’s wisdom, it selectively decomposes those cells and tissues that are in excess, diseased, damaged, aged, or dead.

This allows for an improved ratio of healthy cells in the body. This is a time of increased off-loading of toxins."

-Gabriel Cousens, M.D.

Post-yoga cherry smoothie with vanilla protein powder!

Green juice can have a very strong flavor! Here are 5 tips to make your green juice taste less like your lawn and more like an epic elixir of emerald magic.

https://youtu.be/GJXBCzo2R74?si=G-4rOswxiJ2GhKVk

How To Make Green Juice Taste Better Green juice can have a very strong flavor! Here are 5 tips to make your green juice taste less like your lawn and more like an epic elixir of emerald magic.D...

“Courtney has helped me a great deal! Most importantly, she helped me turn a daunting topic – emotional eating – into a more simple concept.

I feel it is now something that seems achievable for me to overcome. That alone is huge for me.”

— Stacy, San Diego, CA

https://www.courtneypool.com/success-stories

Made myself some fresh orange juice this morning and then blended in 2 teaspoons of spirulina! 💚

Did you know? Not all spirulina tastes the same! In fact, I only like the taste of a couple brands. This isn’t sponsored or affiliated, but this is one of my faves Nutrex-Hawaii

When you want to compulsively eat, you can ask yourself,

“What feelings am I trying to suppress right now?”

Here are some other questions you can ask yourself when you want to eat compulsively:

What am I feeling emotionally right now?

Am I trying to get a feeling from this food/drink?

Am I trying to suppress a feeling with this food/drink?

How have I been feeling about events of the past week? Month? Year?

Can I use this opportunity right now to delve into issues I've been avoiding my whole life, and chip away at that issue, today, right now?

What questions prove helpful for you when you're examining your compulsive eating?

These would be great questions to journal about as well.