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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

An Intimate Relationship with Cancer

Are you prepared for cancer?  I wasn’t, neither was my husband or our kids.  Like the emergency evacuation plan in case of a house fire, preparation for cancer was not on my to-do list.  Why would cancer come knocking on my family’s door?  We ate healthy food, I managed an organic food coop, I studied nutrition, I cooked from scratch, my kids played soccer, my husband liked to work in the yard, we donated to charity. 
How did we become a target?
When a diagnosis of cancer is spoken, the world immediately slows down to the thickness of molasses and the mind desperately begins searching its memory banks looking for a connection, looking for an anchor, a file to make sense of what it has just heard.  I distinctly remember the moment, the doctor and the room became fuzzy and I retreated into my mind retracing every step and every decision that could have led us here.  

The mind wants to know why?  The mind wants an answer and there is no answer.  There is only the molasses that threatens to swallow you whole.
Everything that was our life no longer existed.   The door to our happiness with friends and family, dinner parties, soccer games, family outings, movie nights, birthday parties, and Saturday breakfasts were now a thing of the past.   The little things that make a family hum along were left behind as we were rudely shoved into a medical system we didn’t understand.   A week later, I dropped my husband, Mike, off at the cancer treatment center for his first infusion of chemo.  
 
And then cried in anguish for the loss of our life,for the terror in our daughters’ faces, for the overwhelming feeling of helplessness, for the possibility of losing the man I loved.        For all the time I had spent studying nutrition, for all the dinners I had made from scratch, for all the food wisdom I had acquired, I felt at a complete loss to help Mike.  In the evenings while he fitfully slept from the exhaustion of chemo, I poured over the internet looking for answers.  Well-meaning friends sent emails and made phone calls with cures – drink juiced asparagus, take him to Mexico, give him coffee enemas, try this machine that oxygenates the blood.    

I was desperate, grasping for solutions, feeling like I was in last place in a marathon event that would never end. 
Finally I stopped the frantic internet searching and settled into the only thing I was sure of – organic whole foods.  It was all I could do, it was what I knew.  So I cooked and Mike ate.  And within eight months his cancer was nowhere to be found.  

And again I cried, but this time from a deep exhaustion that flowed like the river Nile, a continous flow of release from the months of living on the edge of a cliff.
Was it just the organic whole foods?  I don’t believe so, but I do know it was a very important piece that allowed his body to overcome death.
Unfortunately I am now prepared for cancer; I can check that off the to-do list though I still do not have an emergency evacuation plan in case of fire.

"A Keeper's Promise" painting by Autumn Skye Morrison

Monday, May 5, 2014

Creating without Money - the Feminine Truth

We're all searching. Searching for the one thing that will bring us our riches, the one thing that will be our destiny.  The one thing that will finally be worth all the hard work, the trials and tribulations, that we can send out into the world and finally say we've made it.

I'm forever in that search, continually striving to find my golden ticket, my nugget of pure genius, my contribution.  It's painful and frustrating.  For years I've been searching and each time I think I've found it, the shiny excitement soon begins to fade and I'm back where I started - searching.

Food is the only continual theme, the connecting thread that yanks me back time and time again.  Back and forth I go - between entrepreneurial ventures and steady day jobs.  My intense desire to do something worthwhile bounces me back and forth between the two, never finding my true happiness.  The number of busineseess I've had?  The number of "jobs" I've had?  I lost count a long time ago.  But what I've never lost is the circular journey of always coming back to the question, "What do I want to do?"

I've consulted all the greats in the world of therapy, coaching, business.  I've tracked my astrological charts and progressed Moons.  I've read my weekly numerology, printing it out and pasting it in my journal full of my most lowest of lows and moments I'm convinced are the most epic I've ever encountered.  They all say the same thing - "What do you love?"  Um, food.  "What would make you leap out of bed each morning?" Um, going shopping with an unlimited budget.  "What do you always do that you can't stop yourself from doing?" Um, cook and eat and dive deeply into my own self to learn who I am.

"What would you create even if you knew you wouldn't get paid one penny for it?" That question posed to me by my bestie gal stopped me dead in my tracks.  What would that be?  I drew a total blank.  I don't know, everything I've ever created has come from my masculine.  A masculine determined to prove that I am good enough, that I can take care of myself, that I can be independent and that I can create my own wealth.  Was any of it from my feminine?  The center and source of true creation?  Did my masculine ever stop to ask her what she wanted?

Washing the dishes this warm spring day, I began to look over everything I've ever created and I asked myself, "Would you create that even if you were never going to be paid for it?"  Every answer was no.  Would I create meal plans if I never got paid?  No.  Would I create private food coaching packages if I never got paid?  No.  Would I teach cooking classes if I never got paid?  No.  Would I create tele-seminars on food and nutrition if I never got paid?  No.  Would I create kitchen transition guides if I never got paid?  No.  On and on I went dropping deeper into my feminine until I said to her, "What would you do?"  Without a moment's hesitation, before the masculine could jump in, she whispered sweetly but fiercely, "I . . . would write."

Friday, February 3, 2012

Airing My Dirty Laundry

I am a lover of all things esoteric:  astrology, numerology, tarot, shamanism, angels and so forth.  I have a 1st day of the month ritual in which I print out the shaman report for the month at Power Path Seminars & School of Shamanism.  I love being prepared for what the month will bring and working with the energies to make my life better, not to mention the control freak part of me enjoys a forecast now and then!

January's report showed the month to be all about destabilization, disruption and basically everything falling apart so that we, meaning the collective whole, could respond in a new way thus allowing a shift in our consciousness and behaviours.  And boy did January serve me a wallop of disruptions!

Mike has had the same schedule at work for 21 years (such a Capricorn thing): days off ~ Thurs. Fri. Sat.  All of a sudden his schedule was changed to: days off ~ Sun. Tues. Wed.  WTH?  Neither one of us has gotten used to this new schedule and it has certainly thrown this routine lovin' girl for a loop!  Disruption #1

Then one fine morning, Alicia opened the front door to let the cat out and lo' and behold taped to the door were foreclosure papers announcing the auction of our house on the 30th of this month.  WTH?  We have a realtor, we put the house up for sale last October!  Disruption #2

Then one fine afternoon, Mike checked the mailbox and a lovely letter from the courthouse had arrived announcing Alicia's summons to appear before the judge for breaking California state law regarding her provisional drivers license.   Okay we knew this might be coming, darling teenager did get a ticket, but OMG!!!  Disruption #3

Friday of the MLK holiday weekend another lovely letter arrived in the mailbox, this time from the county water district.  A bill for $8139 to replace the fire hydrant my darling teenager wiped out with her grandma's car.  Oh joy!  Disruption #4

Luckily, I had read the shaman report and knew that all this was happening to help me respond in a new way.  You see I am anxious, worry wart, freak-out, panic, insomniac, how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-fix-this? kind of person.  I do believe this is part of the reason why I have had so many digestive issues, I hold my anxiety in my gut!  But this time, I knew I had to let that go, I had to STOP this destructive pattern of panic and anxiety and learn to LET GO AND LET GOD.

My ability to trust the process of life, trust God, trust my guides and angels, trust the laws of the universe has been challenging.  I've wanted for so many years to trust in a higher power, I believe in a higher power, but I've never been able to let go of control. So I knew this was my opportunity.  So with affirmations in hand, morning meditations and EFT tapping, I did my absolute very best to let God take care of these disruptions, because truly they were greater than me.

And so the judge only gave Alicia a fine, whew!  Allstate paid the fire hydrant bill, whew!  Robert our account manager has sent a "Stop Foreclosure" request to the bank, though I have not heard a confirmation on this so I'm still sitting in that place of letting it go and trusting.  And I'm releasing my anxiety about Mike's schedule.  Everything happens for a reason, yes?

So why am I airing my "dirty" laundry to you?  Well because it is life, and life happens and none of it really matters in the grand scheme of things, what mattered was MY REACTION, and what a gift to get the opportunity to learn to trust the source of all life and begin the process of releasing the unhealthy anxiety that has gripped me for so long.  I do hope your January disruptions brought you a gift also.  Can't wait to see what February brings!!!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss and Vicoden

Last Friday I left for a mini-vacation to the Placer/Nevada County area of California.  I packed my laptop with the intention of finding a little cafe or coffee house that offered wifi so as to get my newsletter out on time.  I did not have the intention of getting in a car accident, but the winding slick roads of highway 49 and the pouring rain had other intentions for me.  So instead of sitting in that cafe connected to local internet writing to you about pomegranates, I spent that time lying in bed, eating Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss and popping Ibuprofen.

What?  You say you've never heard of Coconut Bliss?  Oh my, let me tell you about this delectable treat.  Several years ago, I managed an organic food coop here in my little town.  And one fine day I ran across this  frozen dessert while perusing the latest catalog for my coop.  I absolutely had to order a case and lo and behold the answer to my search for a delicious non-dairy ice cream was soon sitting on a pallet in my garage.  I was absolutely tickled pink to find an ice cream that was so simple in its ingredients:  organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, organic fair trade cocoa, and organic vanilla extract.  I'm quite sure the angels were singing Hallelujah, because I certainly was!

After the organic coop shut down, I was left bereft without my Coconut Bliss.  I had to search far and wide, drive mile after mile and walk uphill both ways in the snow to find a store that sold my favorite treat.  It didn't take long for Luna & Larry, the founders of Coconut Bliss to penetrate the market and soon my local Raley's was stocking the freezer aisle with pint after pint of coconut love.

To this day my Coconut Bliss is always there to get me through the most harrowing of life's circumstances.  The abrasion across my chest from the seatbelt is still raw and a little sore, but healing nicely.  I can now take a deep breath without feeling pain in my chest, but laughing still hurts and sneezing is excruciating!  The truck unfortunately was not as lucky as I and I don't think Coconut Bliss will fix the radiator and the fender and the hood and the grill and the passenger door that are pretty well smashed from slamming into the moutain, but I am pretty sure the ER doctor wrote me a prescription for Coconut Bliss, or maybe that was Vicoden.






Wishing You Dark Chocolate Love,

Kristi

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Teleclass:  When Sugar Doesn't LOVE You Back 
~ 4 Steps for Breaking the Addiction

I know you love sugar and I know it's not loving you back.  You think it's loving you back.  Each time you eat it (whether in the form of cakes, cookies, donuts, bread, pasta, pastries, frappucinos) it gives you a high that lifts your mood, enlivens your spirit and in that moment all is right with the world. 
But loving sugar comes at a high price.
  • fatigue
  • depression
  • mood swings
  • weight gain
  • bloating
  • sallow skin
  • brittle hair and nails
  • poor eyesight
  •  and the ultimate betrayal ~ diabetes
Join me Tuesday October 18, 2011  6:00-7:00 PST for a teleclass that will forever change the way you view sugar.
During this call you will:
  • Learn the 20 reasons why sugar damages your health
  • Why sugar is just as addicting as street drugs
  •  4 tips to begin getting control over sugar in your diet
 Click HERE to learn more about this teleclass and to register!
$27

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Birthday Offer Still Available! 
I'm still offering my special birthday offer of saving you $100 on my private program
Do You:
  • Want to get off the processed foods that are making you tired, cranky and fat?
  • Want to learn how to cook easy yummy meals from scratch?
  • Want to know the delicious and nutritious foods  that will set you free from addictions, cravings and misery?
  • Want to feel confident in your own kitchen?
  • Want to lose weight and ditch the diets forever?
  • Want to have a wildly magical love affair with yourself and with food?
My 4 month private coaching program is normally $587, but for the month of October that price will only be $487!  There are only a few spots left, so email me right away at kristi@kitchenwithcoaching.com with the message Birthday Present in the subject line letting me know your READY to have a healthy love affair with yourself and with food!  I will send you a PayPal invoice and once you pay your invoice, your IN!  

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I Think Johnny Depp Likes Avocado Chocolate Pudding Too

Last Sunday I was feeling tired and lazy.  Luckily so were my girls and even more luckily (if that is even correct grammar) my oldest now has a drivers  license.  So off to the video rental store I sent her for Chocolat You know what movie I'm talking about:  Vianne the chocolate seductress and Roux the river rat who certainly does not look like a river rat.

Knowing full well I would not be able to watch this movie without a yearning for some chocolate myself, I set about to make Avocado Chocolate Pudding, the perfect treat for a Johnny Depp movie.  Oh, did I mention he is the river rat?  Now any river rat I know would enjoy this delectable treat and I might even be able to impress Vianne. 


 


Avocado Chocolate Pudding
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup coconut water
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • dash of Sea Salt

Directions
  1. In a food processor or blender, puree all ingredients until smooth and creamy.
  2. Enjoy immediately or place in refrigerator to chill.
 
 

  
This delectable HEALTHY treat tastes great with some fresh raspberries and even better with your favorite river rat!

And speaking of river rats, my
Love What You See in the Mirror program is open for registration!  You will definitely NOT feel like a river rat in my amazing transformational & empowering program!  You might just find your inner Vianne! 


 


Blessings of Chocolate,
Kristi

And P.S. If you want to spice things up ~ add a dash of cayenne!

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Love What You See in the Mirror Isn't it time to feel vibrant, energetic and alive, instead of depressed, lethargic and deprived?

This program is only available for 8 fabulous women who:

  • want MORE out of life
  • are dying to LOVE themselves and the food they eat
  • want to feel FANTASTIC
  • are sacrificing their DESIRES to others
  • want to look AMAZING
  • are stuck and wanting to break FREE
  • want deep and lasting CHANGE

"She's got it going on, but especially in the way of presence and solutions. She loves what she does and I can tell she cares SO much about me and my success. I've been contemplating how to access the world's largest, loudest megaphone so I can tell everyone HOW AMAZING working with her is! But since I haven't found it yet, this will have to do. Here's hoping you take advantage of the rare & privileged opportunity to work with such an outstanding mentor, coach and woman!" 
~ Terra Rose Ganem, Austin TX

 Now is the time to write your own recipe of your perfection and LOVE what you see in the mirror! 

Click HERE for all the info you need to know!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Kristi Hyllen, CNC CHHC AADP is a recovering sugar addict who loves to share her passion for eating good food without the pain of dieting.  As a health coach she has helped women get back into their skinny jeans, eat chocolate without guilt and love what they see in the mirror.  Learn more about scheduling a one-on-one private empowerment session HERE.  You can read more about Kristi and the work she does by visiting http://www.kitchenwitchcoaching.com/
 

Monday, September 12, 2011

I Think Johnny Depp Likes Gazpacho

Tomatoes ~ juicy red plump right-off-the-vine tomatoes are most definitely the emblem for end of summer harvest.  The smell and tantalizing taste of a fresh garden tomato is no where near to be found in the typical grocery store.  The garden tomato is Queen and has no rivals.  It is during this time of year I gloriously revel in the tomato abundance, but often find myself trying to quickly use them before their luscious ripeness turns to moldy mush.

One of my favorite ways to use up that harvest is to make a batch of gazpacho.  It's so easy and so yummy (yummy like Johnny Depp yummy, I'm serious!).  It tastes great for a refreshing lunch in the heat of the lingering day or a quick dinner when waiting for the chicken to defrost is just not going to happen (kinda like the waiting for Johnny Depp to leave his French girlfriend is just not going to happen.)


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Gazpacho

Prep Time:15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes plus chilling
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
  • 4 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
  • 1 medium cucumber, peeled
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for serving
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • Pepper
  • Manchego or parmesan cheese, shaved or grated (optional)

Directions
  1. In a food processor or blender, puree tomato until almost smooth.  Add cucumber, pepper, garlic, vinegar and oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pulse until almost smooth, leave a little chunky for texture.
  2. Chill soup in refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.  Adjust seasoning; thin with water if necessary.  Serve soup drizzled with more olive oil and topped with cheese.
 
 

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Enjoy the gazpacho and since this recipe is so quick you'll have plenty of time to watch a Johnny Depp movie, I recommend, well actually I recommend them all!

And speaking of Johnny Depp, my
Love What You See in the Mirror program is open for registration!  Just like you've had a crush on Johnny since 21 Jumpstreet, you'll develop a crush for this amazing transformational & empowering program!  
 

With Gazpacho in your bowl and Johnny in your heart,
Kristi

And P.S. If you want to spice things up ~ add a jalapeno!  A REAL jalapeno!  Get your mind out of the gutter!




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Love What You See in the Mirror Isn't it time to feel vibrant, energetic and alive, instead of depressed, lethargic and deprived?

This program is only available for 8 fabulous women who:

  • want MORE out of life
  • are dying to LOVE themselves and the food they eat
  • want to feel FANTASTIC
  • are sacrificing their DESIRES to others
  • want to look AMAZING
  • are stuck and wanting to break FREE
  • want deep and lasting CHANGE
"I've known Kristi for two months and she is a life-changing kind of woman. There aren't many things that I can stay committed to, simply because I "get bored" but every two weeks, I so look forward to my calls with Kristi. In fact, I'm usually early to them! She is creative, energetic and most of all...PRESENT! "
~ Terra Rose Ganem, Austin TX

 Now is the time to write your own recipe of your perfection and LOVE what you see in the mirror! 

Click HERE for all the info you need to know!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Kristi Hyllen, CNC CHHC AADP is a recovering sugar addict who loves to share her passion for eating good food without the pain of dieting.  As a health coach she has helped women get back into their skinny jeans, eat chocolate without guilt and love what they see in the mirror.  Learn more about scheduling a one-on-one private empowerment session HERE.  You can read more about Kristi and the work she does by visiting http://www.kitchenwitchcoaching.com/
 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Shopping the Farmers Market Like a Diva

I recently took a trip to Lodi to visit the thriving Farmers Market that has spread itself down School Street and become quite the Thursday night event for the locals.  Block after block of pop-up tents covering tables overflowing with tomates, zucchini, basil, flowers, bell peppers, peaches, onions.  The smells of smoked sausage wafting through the air from local food vendors tempting my belly and making my mouth water.  Local crafters catching my eye with twinkling homemade jewels and trinkets.  The sound of guitars strumming and drumsticks drumming over clinking glasses and happy laughter emanating from the  beer garden.

Navigating the Lodi Farmers Market takes skill and finesse.  Come with rolling cart and re-usable bags.  Come with cold hard cash and a grocery list.  Come with time on your hand and inpiration in your mind.  This is no evening to rush.  It is an evening to savor, enjoy the throngs of people, walk slowly, feel the energy in the air, and get your shop on.  It is an experience ~ one that will bring you back again and again.  Especially when you arrive home and pour out your treasures onto the kitchen table and feel amazed by how much food you recieved for a mere $40!
  


And speaking of feeling amazed, my Love What You See in the Mirror program is open for registration!  And just like the farmers market, you'll be amazed at the treasures you will recieve in this life-changing, self-loving program! 
 
So I'll be at the Lodi Farmers Market again this coming Thursday night, won't you join me?

With Love and Lots of Veggies,

Kristi



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 Love What You See in the Mirror Isn't it time you enjoyed every morsel you eat instead of feeling guilty? 

This program is only available for 8 fabulous women who:

  • want MORE out of life
  • are dying to LOVE themselves and the food they eat
  • want to feel FANTASTIC
  • are sacrificing their DESIRES to others
  • want to look AMAZING
  • are stuck and wanting to break FREE
  • want deep and lasting CHANGE
"Kristi is a wise and witty, down-to-earth, warm and compassionate, "real" person!  She stuck with me through some really rough times, always gently encouraging, but holding me accountable as well, and always leaving me feeling good about myself and my capabilities."

~ Jennifer Schildknecht, Danielsville GA


 Now is the time to write your own recipe of your perfection and LOVE what you see in the mirror! 

Click HERE for all the info you need to know!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kristi Hyllen, CNC CHHC AADP is a recovering sugar addict who loves to share her passion for eating good food without the pain of dieting.  As a health coach she has helped women get back into their skinny jeans, eat chocolate without guilt and love what they see in the mirror.  Learn more about scheduling a one-on-one private empowerment session HERE.  You can read more about Kristi and the work she does by visiting http://www.kitchenwitchcoaching.com/