Pheromones, hormones & cookies

I felt uncomfortable…yep, one of those days where nothing seems to look or fit right. I couldn’t help tug at my jeans thinking, have I gained weight? Later, asking the barista to make my latte with almond milk, I noticed a girl patiently waiting beside me and I found myself comparing and remembering when mine used to sit that high. Feeling less than great, I met up with my usual bunch just to hear the same moans and groans…

[Record scratches]

Pheromones.  Thanks ladies, I don’t have time to be hormonal right now.
 
Which made me wonder, if hormones have an effect on the views about our own body image, what can we do?

Now this isn’t to say that hormones are to blame for everything, but we definitely have a ton of them. They affect our sleep, monthly cycles and our moods, which can reflect how we feel about ourselves. So why haven’t we been given the tools to understand them better and how to get them under control, so that we can have one more ally in our quest to obtain a positive body image?

Which is why I’m excited for my upcoming initiative, Remodel Sexy: The body image initiative that goes beyond skin deep. I’m bringing in some top notch, blow your panties off with inspiration experts from yoga to food and from relationship experts to hormone balancing (names and details to be announced over the next month). Because it’s more than just posting pretty ad campaigns about how we’re all different…we already know that.

Not to mention, you’ll also get my first recipe book that will help you remodel your own sexy by reconnecting with yourself through the food you eat. And instead of grabbing a bag of cookies and eating three rows, I made a much healthier version and made these:

Almond coco-cacao chip cookies

Dry ingredients
1 ½ cup almond meal
¼ cup Mum’s Original coconut covered cacao nibs
1/8 baking soda
¼ tsp cinnamon
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Couple pinches of sea salt
Wet ingredients
5 tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 tbsp. almond butter
3 tbsp. raw, unpasteurized honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry and wet separately and then combine together. Add little dollops to a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes or until cookies are set and slightly toasted.  These will need to set before handling since they’ll appear to be quite soft to the touch when you take them out.

These cookies take under ½ hour to make and that includes baking time. I love the smell of them in my home, how that makes me feel and I love the fact that I don’t feel guilty or bad about myself for eating them. These bad boys are gluten-free, grain-free and dairy-free. And while that sounds too healthy, trust me when I tell you that they’re incredible.

So today why not reward yourself versus punish yourself?

Stay tuned, because over the next couple of weeks I’ll be launching more details to my body image initiative, Remodel Sexy. To stay in the loop and win some big prizes, sign up to my newsletter, The Red Couch Confessions and don’t miss out…