Real Food Nutrition and Health E-course

***Taking a break from Make it Yourself Monday to get this time-sensitive info to you***

The internet is an amazing place. Where else can you give and gain experiences and wisdom so easily? One of my favorite resources for learning about eating real, nourishing food just got even better!!

Kristen Michaelis, the Food Renegade, has created an online nutrition course targeted at homeschooling families, but great for everyone! The course is structured around her companion book, Real Food Nutrition & Health, and covers the basics of "real food" at a level that is suitable for ages 12 and up. I guarantee you adults will learn a ton, too!  Here's a look at what will be covered:

• The major macro-nutrients (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates) & how your body uses them.
• The micro-nutrients like vitamins, minerals, enzymes, & their affect on health.
• The nutrient density of Real Food
• Industrial vs. Pasture-based animal husbandry
• Industrial vs. Organic agriculture
• The basics of Real Health

Kristen is an excellent blogger, a homeschooling mother, and a woman passionate about helping *you* live a healthy life! I was blessed to receive a copy of the text this course is based on and I was blown away by the depth of research she has done and by the straight-forward yet interested way the text laid out. Here's a bit of what Kristen has to say:

Nutrition fascinates me. It's a blend of biology, history, chemistry. It's the story of traditional peoples and what they ate, the story of convenience foods and food manufacturing. It's the story of modern Industrial agriculture, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic engineering, and diminishing top soil while also being the story of humane animal husbandry, biodynamic farming, and a respect for life. It's the story of modern diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet it also teaches about true health and aging with stamina.

Enrollment in the course for Fall ends in just 4 days on the 24th and classes begin on October 1st. They will run through December 10th, and new class materials will be posted each Friday. Each week's lesson contains:

• Engaging Reading Assignments
• Time-Saving Audio Files
• Informative yet Entertaining Videos
• Group Discussion Questions
• Creative and Thought-Provoking Projects

Read more about the course and consider signing up. Also, enjoy these two sneak peaks at the videos included with the course - I think you'll be pleased with just how high the quality of her materials really are.

Lesson 1:1 Food, Not Nutrients from FoodRenegade on Vimeo.

RFNH Corn Corn Everywhere Corn from FoodRenegade on Vimeo.

Naturally Knocked Up eCourse

Make it Yourself Monday will be back next week. I've been too busy to write this important post up so I'm taking my MIYM time instead.

Those of you who know me IRL (in real life) know that one of my biggest passions (I'd say in the top 3 - right up there with God and food) is family. My own family is immeasurably important of course, but I hope we can all say that. When I say family, I mean specifically the creation of families. I feel passionately, heart-stoppingly, sometimes ridiculously captivated by the events that bring people together as family.

I love engagements, I cry at every wedding, adoption stories - forgettaboutitimallmush, positive pregnancy tests make me literally jump for joy, the birth of new babies has to be the single most beautiful thing next to God's mercy that we can experience on this planet.

My soul aches for families that long for the joy of children and suffer the disappointed of being unable to conceive or the heartbreak of losing a child. I can only imagine the kind of pain these families go through. Standing alongside friends who have miscarried and dealt with infertility makes me even more passionate about the beauty and blessing of family.

The Naturally Knocked Up eCourse is a new resource for couples (and even singles!) who want to prepare themselves for bringing healthy children into the world, overcome infertility, deal with hormonal issues, or just educate themselves about the way food and our environment affects conception and pregnancy.

Donielle from Naturally Knocked Up experienced irregular cycles for years and was finally diagnosed with PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome). After lots of research and lifestyle changes, she's now a mommy of 2 and an inspiring blogger. Her always educated and encouraging posts are a wealth of information in and of themselves. This eCourse is all of her hard work in a concentrated format.

Here are a few things she has to say about the course, you can read the full description here.

"Over the last century or so, our health has radically changed. We’re suffering from chronic and degenerative diseases and becoming infertile at alarming rates. Our modern world is making us sick and most us us just don’t know what to do about it. So much of our traditional thinking of conception has changed. The world we live in is flooded with toxins from both the food we eat and the homes we live in. We no longer know what “real food” looks like. Infertility automatically means medicalizing conception.

It’s time to become empowered and reclaim your natural fertility and

have truly healthy babies.

This one-of-a-kind 12 week multi media course will be a breath of fresh air in an otherwise depressing world of unfortunate statistics. With these classes you will learn:

• How to cleanse your body of toxins
• Why common products you use may be contributing to your infertility
• What exercises can help you prepare your body for conception and pregnancy
• How to pin point ovulation
• What to eat…..and what not to eat
• Alternative treatments for infertility

But most importantly you will learn how to conceive and go on to have a healthy pregnancy and a truly healthy baby!

Not only will you receive 12 weeks of educational materials (workbook style lessons, videos, and more!) during this class, you'll have access to Donielle and your "classmates" through a members only forum that already has a growing community! The forum is a big part of the reason Donielle is offering an eCourse instead of writing a book at this time - you'll be able to go beyond even what is written because of your ability to interact.

In exchange for being an affiliate (I'll earn a commission from any purchase made through my affiliate links), I gained access to the first week of the course. I consider myself "well-researched" in this area, and I learned quite a few new things from just 1 week of materials! You will get lifetime access to these materials with your purchase so that you can take your time if this is all new to you.

Classes officially begin today but enrollment is open until this Friday, the 16th.

I hope you will take the time to read more about this eCourse and consider signing up or purchasing the course for a loved one.

I have a list of other E-courses, e-books, and great web resources for making the switch to real food here.