The holiday season is upon us and, as the nights grow longer, we are growing closer to the festivities of the season. We want you to have the healthiest and happiest holiday ever. Remember, this is a time to celebrate, relax and enjoy the blessings of life.

Don't let yourself get wrapped up in the stress of the season and thrown off course. Eat well, rest well and take excellent care of yourself while you celebrate. There are many ways to enjoy the holidays without sacrificing health or sanity. In this issue we've included some delicious holiday cookie recipes and some great healthy gift ideas.

And if you do get off track (or just want to start out the New Year with healthy inspiration) we'll be offering our infamous Holiday Recovery Group Detox again in January.

Have a healthy, happy holiday! Cindy and Jo

In this Edition

1. Giving the Gift of Health
2. Enjoying the Holiday Season
3. Holiday Cookies
4. 2011 Holiday Recovery
5. Detox Stories

Giving the Gift of Health

However you celebrate this season, part of the celebration will likely be sharing meaningful gifts with your loved ones. It can be challenging to find the perfect gift for each of your family members. Of course, we want to choose gifts that our loved ones will appreciate and benefit from, but in the face of mass media marketing we often wind up giving and receiving more "stuff" that we don't really need.

This year, give the gift of health!

If we had only one wish for the people we truly love it would be for good health. And yet we tend to give each other gifts and create scenarios that degrade our health (especially at the holidays). Modern people are rich in so many ways. We have so much "stuff", plenty of food, and lots of resources at our disposal. The one area in which we are desperately poor is health.

This holiday season you can make a choice to spread good health with the gifts you give and the food you prepare. Through the choices you make around gift giving this year, you could make a world of difference in the lives of the people you love while supporting healthful businesses and lessening your impact on the planet.

Some ideas to get you started

Spreading the Whole Body Detox Diet love is a great place to start! If you have benefited from the practical information, loving support and creative resources that we share then your loved ones will, as well.

• Our 7 Day Guided Detox is an excellent and affordable gift that can be used any time of the year. For only $27 you could give someone the opportunity to release harmful toxins and transform their health.
• Another great way to help out someone you love is to buy them a spot in our upcoming Holiday Recovery Group Detox. Get yourself a spot too and do the detox together. What better way to connect with your loved ones than to support each other in good health?
• And, of course, if you just want to give someone fantastically yummy ideas for preparing healthy food, there's always our cookbook, 52 Delicious Detox Recipes.

• Sprouting Basket
• Tea Basket
• Superfoods Basket
• Sushi Basket
• Natural Bath Basket

• Pumpkin Spice Truffles
• Cool Peppermint Bar
• Almond Fig Spice Bar
• CinnaPecan Truffles
• Aphrodisia Hot Chocolate Elixir Mix

• A comprehensive, hands on, Herbal Medicine Making Kit that walks you through the process of making your own herbal tinctures, salves, teas and syrups.
• An awesome board game for the kids in your life. Wildcraft! is a cooperative board game designed to teach players about healing herbs. The beautiful artwork and innovative flow of the game make this a pleasure for both children and adults. Our kids and their friends LOVE to play this game!

We hope you're able to find the perfect health inspiring gifts for the people you love.

Have a Healthy Happy Holiday and a Fantastic New Year!

Special Detox Tip: Enjoying the Holiday Season

The holiday season has become a source of stress for many people in our culture. The pressure to buy loads of presents, make loads of food and go to loads of holiday gatherings can be taxing on people struggling to keep up with family life, work obligations and tight budgets. But this is not what it's really all about.

The winter holidays are actually about going inward...getting quiet, embracing the dark and celebrating the light that emerges from within.

This holiday season take a stand for your personal health and encourage your loved ones to do the same by honoring the true spirit of the season. This doesn't mean you can't have fun, celebrate, share delicious food and exchange presents. You can do all those things AND enjoy them if you do them out of a place of choice.

Take a moment right now and write down your 5 most favorite things about the winter holidays. Then write down the 5 things that stress you out the most. Look at your list and decide which of the items on your stress list you can let go of and which of your favorite things you can put more energy toward.

This is your life...you are meant to enjoy it ;)

Feature Recipe: Holiday Cookies

Fortunately you don't have to. We have some absolutely delicious alternatives to the classics that are completely free from sugar, gluten and dairy!

Our newly developed recipe for Rollout Cookies is an amazing alternative to the traditional sugar cookie. You can color them with natural colors, roll them out and cut them into festive shapes.

You can even follow our directions for making multi-colored Solstice Spirals, Chocolate Spirals and Candy Cane Cookies.

Or, if you're craving a heartier cookie with some nice holiday spice try our Pumpkin Cranberry Holiday Cookies.

Make all of these and put them together in little gift baskets for your friends, family, and/or co-workers. Be sure to print out and include the recipe with the gift so your loved ones can enjoy these delicious healthy cookies again and again!

Also, remember to use our other deliciously healthy recipes when planning your holiday menu.

Announcing the 2011 Holiday Recovery!

Make 2011 the best year of your life by getting it off to a great start!

Register today to commit to kicking off the New Year in good health.

"Thank you for your incredible support, Jo. It takes a special person for me to feel comfortable sharing the things I've shared with you. Without exaggerating, I feel today may have changed my life." Kelly, Philadelphia, PA

"Thanks again, I do appreciate that you are helping me make these decisions and implement them :-) It's amazing how much more gets done with a Jo in the picture!" Ashlynn d’Harcourt, Austin, TX

For more information about Jo's unique Holistic Health Counseling programs visit her at RadiantBalance.com

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."

~Edward Everett Hale

Detox Stories

"My husband and I planned meals, shopped and encouraged one another throughout our first detox experience during the Holiday Recovery Group Detox. We had fun trying new foods and new recipes, and we've decided to make all of the ones we tried staples of our ongoing diet. During the detox, we both experienced detox symptoms, but by the time we hit day 5....we were feeling powerful!! New and clean are words that accurately describe how we felt. The effort that went into planning and executing the detox was well worth it. We've proven to ourselves that good, whole food tastes great and makes us feel great."

~ Tamara, New Jersey

"I am so excited and happy to have found this website, I've been back and forth trying to find a complete yet simple page with real and accessible info about organic food, guidelines, detox etc. Your website has all these and much more. I have made it one of my favorite sites. I admire you both and congratulate you for this great contribution."

~ Lizzette

"I just completed my week and I feel really good. It felt good to completely eliminate all meat, dairy, wheat and refined sugar. I already have a plan to repeat this with two friends over the summer. Thank you, I learned so much."

~ Pharr, Massachusetts

"Creating my own detox plan using your start up kit and recipes helped me kick start my weightloss. During the initial detox I lost 20 pounds! It just slid off...it felt like I wasn’t even trying!! I learned some great new habits during the detox that I kept up with and the weight continued to come off. Now, three months later, I'm 30 pounds lighter, full of energy and feeling so much better. The best part is that it feels like my body is finally clearing out the extra weight and that I'll definitely be able to keep it off."

~ Amanda, Colorado

If you're ready to experience the benefits of the Whole Body Detox Diet, get started today (or right after the holidays) using our 7 Day Detox Diet Plan. This self guided program will walk you through the process of cleaning up and clearing out your body so you can feel and look your best!