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Helping You Overcome, Thrive and Flourish!

My Honest Weight Loss Journey

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I have had a bit of a rough road the past 7 years; getting pregnant 8 times and having 6 miscarriages and two full births — my now 4 and 7 year old kids — my body has been hormonally challenged, to say the least. In 2012 after my second miscarriage I really started to get my body healthy with Young Living’s Slique Challenge and focused exercise with Chalene Extreme videos. I think now is a great time to share my honest weight loss journey. 

Here are my results from then.

Ironically I got pregnant with my daughter after that. Sarah was born in April of 2013 and in the Fall of 2013 God called us to move to Florida. My body wasn’t super healthy when we got there I suffered from Adrenal Fatigue and more weight gain. I had another miscarriage in early 2014 and then a late 20 week miscarriage in December of 2014. It was a difficult year, but I was blessed to have amazing family and friends around me. I was about 50 lbs overweight after all of that.

Getting Back On Track 

In the Fall of 2015 I decided to start back on getting healthy and strong and I hired a Nutrition and Exercise Coach Susan Steele from www.susansnutrition.com. It was very powerful for me and the Personal Training was incredible. I released almost 25 of the 50 extra lbs in about 11 months. Here is some pictures from that transformation:

Then God instructed us to make some serious changes in our life and we literally picked up and moved across the US to California for a fabulous job offer my husband got. We knew only 2 people there, had no family and no help. It was way harder than I had anticipated. But I think that doing the HARD THINGS does make your life so much richer. It’s been 7 months since we moved and I now have more than 2 friends now, we have some help and life is good. But how is my health and my weight loss going?

Staying On Top of My Self-Care

With this move I found myself emotionally eating and a bit depressed. Before I knew it I gained 10lbs and then more. I realized I needed to stop the madness and get control again. Prior to starting to get on track I also noticed some signs of aging in my skin and other things.

As a Natural Health Doc I know that staying youthful has a lot to do with what you eat and your liver. Supporting the liver can make positive changes in your skin, face, energy, weight and so much more. That’s right around when I started Liver Cleansing again. 

In March I decided to join the Slique in 60 Weight loss challenge. It was great in the beginning I was excited and stuck to the program. I lost 9 lbs in less than 3 weeks. I was doing great. And then I didn’t get a period for 10 weeks, my endocrine system and hormones were readjusting after a miscarriage I had in February. About half of my 60 day challenge was CHALLENGING! In the end I had released about 7-8 lbs and several inches around my waist and hips. I was disappointed at first but realized, WAIT I need to celebrate that success and change my thinking. It’s when we give up in our mind that our body will follow. So I am not going to give up on being healthy and fit. I am going to continue to support my body’s detox and endocrine systems. I am going to continue to exercise and eat the best I can. I am going to balance my hormones and stay on top of my Self Care.

I need to celebrate that success and change my thinking. It’s when we give up in our mind that our body will follow.

8 CAUSES OF WEIGHT FAILURE

How about you? Do you struggle to lose weight even when you think you are doing everything right? Do you exercise but just don’t seem like you can release the weight? Here is a 5 minute training I did on 8 CAUSES OF WEIGHT FAILURE.

You might find something in there that helps you too.

Remember I am for your Total Wellness Success;

Mary Starr Carter


Your partner on this Weight Loss Journey

5 Simple Steps For $200-$500 Monthly Grocery Savings

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Eating, we all have to do it — Whether you live alone or have a large family to feed eating has to be done. Finance and business expert Dani Johnson says the majority of excess spending from your budget comes from eating. Shopping for groceries, eating out, quick trips to the coffee shop, and extra convenience store trips are robbing you and your family. But in your busy life how do you STOP excess spending on food without making yourself crazy? In this article I am going to share simple steps to stress less about food and have $200-$500 monthly grocery savings.

What Causes Excess Spending On Food 

Over the past 7 years I have been working diligently to get a system in place that has helped me lose weight, save hundreds of dollars a month and keep my family healthier and happier. If you want that too keep reading.

I don’t know about you but in my house stress comes from poor planning. If I don’t have a task list for my jobs (homeschooling or home-business) or a list of what I am feeding myself and my family that week I get stressed out and anxious. And that’s when I end up making the quick and poor choice of eating fast food or stopping by a restaurant — spending more than I normally do on weekly groceries. Often, I’ll feel guilty after and usually my son and I get congested and icky-feeling.

And you know how it is, if you don’t have a plan, you will likely not eat on time — and you’ll find yourself and your family turning into the grouchy anxious hangry bunch — scientifically speaking your stress hormone levels literally go up. All 4 of us are affected by what we eat or the timing of food in some way. We have 2 who think, act and feel way better MSG, dairy, gluten & sugar-free and 2 whose personalities change if they don’t eat regularly.

What you eat each week can literally affect everyone in your home.

Food is First my friend Dr Jihan Thomas says. She has been helping people get and stay WELL for almost 20 years too plus being a mommy of 3. So, again Food FIRST. Let’s dive into the SIMPLE SYSTEM to have success with your food this week.

The Simple Food System – 5 Simple Steps For $200-$500 Monthly Grocery Savings

1) PRIORITIZE: Look at your calendar and find what is a priority for you this week. Write that out and work from there.

Here are some questions to ask:

  1. What is important to you and the family this week?
  2. Are you focusing on losing weight, reducing or eliminating sugar, gluten or dairy from your diets, or increasing your protein intake because you have been lifting weights in the gym?
  3. Or are you part of our WAR ON DEBT Program and Getting your Grocery Budget down to $25 a person per week?
  4. Are you traveling this week? 

Example calendar activities: Teaching classes Monday and Thursday nights 6-9pm. Kids game Tuesday night. Husband has kids Monday and Thursday nights. Hubby is trying to lose 15 lbs this summer and I am with him.

Example priorities this week: Healthy meals. Prepped meals for Monday and Thursday. Packed lunch type dinners for Tuesday night.

2) LOOK: Now look in your cupboards, your freezer, your fridge and see what you already have. Write some of the items down that need to be used or could make some kind of meal. If you eat all your food each week like we try to do you may just make a mental note of any leftover items. Look in the circular of your preferred grocery store and circle really good deals on things you use frequently and are almost out of or things that on sale and may be good for meals.

3) MEAL PLAN: Planning your meals involves two steps:

  1. Collect & save recipes your family loves and those you want to try.
  2. Pick your weekly meals from this collection of meals.

For example: I created a folder of my favorite meals to cook and what my family likes and a few that I want to try. I like Fit Couple Cooks on YouTube for new recipes; I have made some of their recipes and they are really good and healthy.

Every week I go to that folder look inside and think about what we had the previous week, what my family likes and the priorities we have for the week. I will write down 4-6 dinner meals depending on the week. We eat out one meal a week.

4) MENU PLAN: This will help you plan your dinners, lunches and leftover days. If you are single or have just 2 of you in the house and you have busier evenings you may want to consider bulk cooking so you have meals for 3-4 days out of the week prepared ahead of time.

I start with the dinners planning the crockpot, instant pot or leftover meals for the days I work and my husband takes care of the kids.  

Lunches: In our house lunches are leftovers, soups, salads, one sided toasted cheese, egg salad, almond butter PBJ’s, a Sweet potato or even apple and almond butter. We will have carrots, cucumbers, gluten free chips as a side or snack but I don’t like the kids to have sandwiches everyday. I think it makes them more congested even gluten free and carbaholics.

Breakfast: In our family we have a staple of about 3 things for breakfast:

  1. Eggs in some way or with something.
  2. Oatmeal
  3. Gluten Free Pancakes or Muffin-like cake

We don’t buy cereal because it’s not a good way to start your day and it’s costly. (But that is my opinion)

Here is a picture of my Meal plan for the week on my Dry Erase Board.

5) GROCERY LIST: The final step is to create your grocery store list of items you are buying. This saves you time and SOOO MUCH MONEY. Really, I am not joking going with a list and knowing what you want to cook makes grocery shopping so easy. My other trick is to shop in the early morning before my husband goes to work. Shopping without kids is faster.

Food Success Meal Planning System Results

At first the 5 steps may seem like a lot of work, but it is SO worth it!! Let me share with you a recent example of how I went from $32.63 a day on groceries to $13.26 just by using the Food Success Meal Planning System. Check out the picture below!

The first receipt is without doing the Food Success Meal Planning System and grocery shopping without a list. I spent $81.58 and it fed us for 2.5 days, which is an average of $32.63 per day. It was Father’s day and I thought I would save money by not eating out but I was tired and distracted and ended up buying a $17 cheesecake. Yes, I love my husband, but I know I could have found a healthier cake he loves for less had I planned ahead. I also spent $10.24 on pre-made meatloaf that was overpriced — I could have made it way cheaper and quickly. If I wasn’t in a hurry to throw it in the Instant Pot I could have purchased an unmarinated roast for $5-8 dollars cheaper.

The second receipt (on the right) was from using the Food Success Meal Planning System: $132.63 fed family for more than 10 days, that’s $13.26 per day. 

 

 

 

 

Easy Simple Step to Save Money on Groceries

So there you have it, simple & easy YOU CAN DO THIS! Plan on setting aside 1 hr of time every week to do your steps when you first get started but once you get real good you can do it in 20-30 minutes.

I can grocery shop in as little as 25 minutes early in the morning but I kind of like taking my time alone so I give myself 50 minutes.

My ultimate goal would be to have meals, menus, and grocery lists for 6 different weeks so I can just pull out a plan already done for me. Add or Cross off anything I don’t need on the grocery list and get my shopping done.

I hope this helps you!

God Bless your Meal Planning, Money Savings, Weight losing Success;

Mary Starr Carter
The Total Wellness Doc and Mom

Are you GOOD but want to be GREAT?

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I put myself in a bootcamp starting back in April and I just completed it. It was a Bootcamp for moms like me. I have had some huge epiphanies this year in a lot of areas in my life, health, parenting, relationships, marriage, and of course my two jobs. This Bootcamp helped me to see I have been treating some “Jobs” in my life more like hobbies giving them attention when I feel like it versus showing up and doing the work day in and day out. This bootcamp along with some other training helped me realize that in most areas of my life I am doing okay to fair. What you might be thinking, but Dr Mary you are successful?! True I have had success and achieve new levels in certain areas of my life but…

The Problem with Success is a Little Bit…

What do I mean by that? See the problem with losing weight, increasing your income, having good kids, having a good marriage is you can fall into complacency that

  • “Hey, I am doing good”
  • “My marriage is better than most people”
  • ” My income is great”

And with complacency you don’t work on being better because you think this is “good enough”.

Or you fall into a trap I heard termed “EGYPT” … If you are familiar with the Bible and the Israelite’s journey. During a famine Joseph saved his Father and brothers families and brought them (Goshen a property of Egypt). The land was rich farm land and perfect for their cattle and sheep. The Isrealites grew exponentially over the few hundred years but what was once their saving grace, their land of plenty became their enslavement. Literally they became the Egyptian slaves.. YIKES….

Complacency vs. Greatness

Think about it. Are you getting so comfortable or complacent in some area of your life you’ve gotten stuck? When it comes to health, marriage, your career or business, have you started to say things like…

  • “I don’t need to eat good because I am skinny”
  • “I workout I can drink and eat what I want”
  • “I am young still”
    “My parents lived to their 90’s”
  • ” We’ve been married so many years we are just fine”
  • “I don’t need to put effort into looking my best”
  • “My spouse will never cheat on me”
  • “They will never fire me they need me”
  • “This money is coming in every month I can spend it how I want now.”
  • ” I am at a level of success in my home business I get paid monthly now I don’t need to work anymore”

These attitudes keep us in average to good relationships, marriages, bodies, jobs, careers, businesses but we never get to our full potential because we stop learning, growing and working towards being our best. I think this happens because where we came from was so bad, poverty, struggle, being single, debt, brokenness that when our lives get good we just stay there, a few steps away from greatness.

With complacency you don’t work on being better because you think this is “good enough”.

The Key To Greatness: Awareness

I am encouraging you today to get out of Complacency. I AM CALLING YOU to WAKE UP to your EGYPT. This week take a good look at areas of your life that you might think are GOOD now but could be BETTER. Look at things in your life that were once a blessing but maybe now are binding you with stress, financial burdens, unfulfillment, or worry — become aware of them.

Seriously take the time to ponder this stuff.

Start a journal and write down areas of your life that you want to go from GOOD to GREAT… or maybe you are still in the FAIR or POOR group and you just want Good. Then I encourage you to join me on my Journey from Good to Great. It is so much more fun if we can do things together.

[Our] attitudes keep us in average to good relationships, marriages, bodies, jobs, careers, and businesses.

Tools to Live A Great Life

This summer you are welcome to join me and hundreds of others in learning the tools to live a great life. I’m leading several activities aimed to support you on your path to greatness in your whole life and in your finances. Below are further details about them.

Total Wellness Wednesdays

Wellness is about your whole life. I hope you will join me. We meet once a week on Facebook Live on Wednesdays usually around 9pm EST, 8pm CST, 7pm MST, 6pm PCT on Facebook Live for classes and encouragement https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/

Did you miss some of my last classes? Here are the Topics and Links:

Emotional Wellness with Essential Oils (Part 1 & 2)

  1. https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/videos/1464183166975911/
  2. https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/videos/1464168386977389/

Bringing your Essential Oils into your Quiet time with God

  1. https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/videos/1471459739581587/

Make Your Finances Great Again

We are also Hosting a WAR on Debt Class for those who want to be ROCK STARS with their Finances. Whether you are drowning in Debt or have no debt you can get a lot our of our class.

Join the class by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/groups/411633012529029/ and Join the Group.

We are running this program in June and July.

More details in the group!

I will be at the Young Living Convention (21,000 people from all over the world who want to learn what is new in the Health and Wellness Field) this week and will post videos and pictures of all the good stuff over on my Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/ and on Instagram @drmarystarr

Don’t miss a thing! Make sure to stop by on my Facebook Page and under “Following”, check SEE FIRST. This will ensure that you see all the goodies in your Newsfeed.

If you are going to be at Convention come try to find me say hello and let’s take a picture together.

I appreciate you;

Mary Starr Carter
The Total Wellness Doc and Mom

How to Eliminate Headaches and Sinus Pressure

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Have you ever pushed yourself hard and ended up getting sick, a sinus infection, cold or headaches?

We all have seasons when we have to run hard but when you don’t feel well it is awful.  For 2 decades of my life I struggled with my health particularly with allergies, sinus infections, and headaches.

My Early Sinus Challenges

I was the toddler with the ear infections and tonsils out by the time I was 4 years old.  As a kid I remember being on the nowDISCONTINUED Seldane allergy medicine and having Sinus infections and being on Amoxicillin every other month.  It wasn’t fun.  It was so often we would just keep leftover antibiotics in the medicine cabinet and take it when I had sinus challenges.  Little did we know that we were making the problem worse not using antibiotics correctly.

Sinus Over The Counter Meds and Their Effects

Later in college I would have sinus pressure and headaches almost daily.  I would take Sudafed daily for the problem at first then Irealized it helped give me energy so I just took it daily.  UNTIL that ONE DAY….. when I took it and my heart started pounding out of my chest.  I thought I was going to die.  And after a little investigation I learned that this Over the Counter Medicine did have some fatal side effects.  YIKES.  This was the beginning of my journey to natural medicine.

Simple Tips For Sinus Health

Using these simple tips I give you in this video has helped me eliminate allergies, sinus infections, and sinus pressure.   Now I occasionally get some little allergy attack or pressure headache but it usually is because I haven’t been following these tips.   My own kids 4 and 7 years old have never had to have antibiotics or allergy medicines.  I know these tips work.  USE THEM. They will help you.

Stay Healthy; Boost Your Immune System

Lastly I will encourage you to stay healthy avoid sickness we must, must, must boost our immune system.  That means we are feeding our bodies well and using nutritional products that help us stay well.

Two of my favorite Nutritionals are:

NingXia Red

I recommend taking 2 – 4 oz a day of NingXia Red for adults and 1/2 – 2oz for kids, it helps our family stay well!

Thieves Vitality oil

Thieves Essential oil in a capsule or in water also helps us stay well. It’s a hot oil with cinnamon in it, so putting it in honey helps.

Let me know if these tips help your family too!

Love,

Mary Starr Carter

The Total Wellness Doc and Mom

Enjoy Precious Time with Loved Ones

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How are you? Did you have a good week and weekend? I have ever been enjoying precious time with my mom. She is here for a 2 week trip to help me with the kids and many other things while I travel for business.

It’s been a great week and we even got massages in the other day.  I had my therapist use Blue Cypress oil in my massage and it was such a deep relaxation. This precious oil comes from Australia and its history of coming to the market is unique, sad and victorious. I promise to share more soon. I am so proud to be partnering with such amazing pioneers and world changers.

But a part of my heart has sad for some families and friends. One of my good friends is going through cancer treatments, another team member just lost her sister, and an acquaintance Homeschooling mom suddenly lost her 8 year old daughter this past week.  Can you imagine? It’s something we never think will happen to us, death of a child, loved one, cancer. Most of us spend our days thinking we have years to live with our loved ones, but what if you don’t?

This week I want to encourage you to look at where you are spending your time. Are you making time for loved ones?  Take a hard look. What is important? Sarah’s soccer game or taking the day to go visit a loved one.  Is attending another weekend meeting as important as going to see your mom for the day?

I spent a decade of my life living like my school or business was the most important thing in my life. I put everything below my business  including my marriage, family and friends. I regret the years I lost and see now how much time I wasted. You can have both I promise. I am learning how to have a great marriage, time with family, friends and run a business.

If you want to join me on this journey stay tuned to these blogs and follow me on Facebook and Instagram at https://www.facebook.com/TheTotalWellnessDocandMom/ or https://www.instagram.com/drmarystarr/

There’s still time to enter the Mother’s Day Giveaway, if you haven’t done so yet, there’s still time to let a mom you know know she’s appreciated.

Love,

Mary Starr Carter

Cleansing the Liver and Gallbladder

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This past weekend I completed my 1st round of Liver Gallballder cleansing and passed more than 200 gallstones.


This is not my stones… but it’s the closest picture of my results I could find. (picture from Natural Cure Alternatives) I didn’t feel like dealing with poop this time. Although my kids did get a good visual science lesson Monday… “Gallstones are Poop Stones from eating bad food” my son says.

Now this is about the 7th time I have done this cleanse over the past 3 years. Each time is unique and different and I will share why in a second. Here is a picture of the biggest stone I got out after my 2nd cleanse… Crazy right that this was inside me. That is a quarter next to it. This stone was much harder than the normal cholesterol pea size puddy like stones. Most of the stones are puddy like and made of cholestrol. But this guy had to been in my body a while.

Now the first thing you are probably thinking is isn’t that dangerous. Well remember I am not having a gallbladder issue nor have any gallbladder dysfunction or disease so this is simply support my organs and systems. And I suggest if you are thinking about doing something like this that you do more than pull a recipe off of a website , but do your research and the first place you can start is with this book:


The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-Natural, At-Home Flush to Purify and Rejuvenate Your Body by Andreas Moritz

If you read this book thoroughly you will be able to do the cleanse, safely, effectively, and with the least side effects. Yes there can be some side effects if you don’t follow directions. Like feeling like poop during or on cleanse day.

FACTS TO GET BEFORE GETTING STARTED:

YOU MUST CLEAN THE COLON FIRST: The Colon is the Hub of Health if it is not moving properly and cleaned out enough then the toxins and gallstones can’t be eliminated properly. All of us should be constantly working on taking care of our colon but the book tells you how to prepare for the cleanse. Think “smooth move:” This is also a big mistake others make when just doing a Liver Cleanse with apple juice and olive oil off the internet.

The Liver is producing stones. Don’t think just because you don’t have a gall bladder that you are off the hook. If you haven’t changed your eating and eat junk food even some of the time, animal meat regularly, and or caffeine my guess is you got these guys too. See the Gall bladder stores biles and stones but many small stones are in the Liver.

Picture from Just Life Shop

The process must be REPEATED : We would all like to think that there is a miracle LIVER COLON or whatever CLEANSE… But the facts are that most cleansing should be a regular practice and like layers of a onion each time you do a cleanse you will get deeper. The Liver cleanse as described in Moritz book should be done consistently until you no longer get any stones out. And then regular maintenance cleanses. I sadly have not been consistent enough to get to the end of my gallstones. Consistent meaning done every 4-6 weeks.

Tips To Successfully Do The Liver Cleanse

Here are a few tips have have helped myself, my husband and close friends do this successfully:

#1 Prep your food.

Meal plan and prepare your food for the week of clean eating and afterwards. I admit I have never followed the food guidelines to the letter. Meaning I eat some meat and probably a little bit of sugar during the week of clean eating. But I do make sure to get this MIRACLE SOUP in, check out the RECIPE HERE. Having soups and fresh foods available makes a difference in how good you will feel leading up and afterwards.

#2 DRINK YOU WATER

Drinking good clean water throughout your clean week and afterwards is key. I really like drinking Hydrogized water from my Young Living Hydrogizer. This cleanse was the best physically meaning I wasn’t tired or feeling fatigued the day of the cleanse and I really think it is because I was so hydrated with the alkaline water from Hydrogizer. I did at least 5 glasses the afternoon before my cleanse.

#3 Use big straws

Using big straws has helped me a ton get the salt water down. And you do need to use salt water with this cleanse. I put it toward the back of my throat and it bypasses some of my taste buds. It’s still not super pleasant but doable. I will also put a drip of Lemon oil or Peppermint on my tongue afterwards to mask the taste.

#4 Plan for Rest

Pick when you can take it easy the following day. Meaning prepare the family meals ahead of time, get someone to watch the kids or at least plan for a day of movies and down time. You will need to be near a bathroom for much of the day and some of the afternoon the day after. Get your Diffuser with your favorite relaxing Essential oils set up, Water if you need some. Pillows and blankets. I will do my night of the cleanse on the couch, then I don’t bother anyone if I have to get up.

So here is what doing this Cleanse will look like for a week…

6 Days of Clean Eating

Read the book for more on what clean eating is exactly, drink Apple Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar daily as directed in the book. I suggest using the Apple Cider Vinegar in warm water it works great, won’t put a bunch of sugar in your system and is less expensive. All we use is Apple Cider Vinegar now.

Cleanse colon as directed or with other colon cleanse teas beginning of 6 days and I will do again on Day 5 or 6. Be sure you are adding back in electrolytes and minerals like MINERAL ESSENCE and NingXia Red as to not be depleted before the cleanse.

DAY OF CLEANSE: Eat light. I eat oatmeal in the morning. and Basmati Rice or Miracle Soup or both around 1230 or 1pm. Stop eating at 1:30pm

Before 1:30pm I will make sure I get all my Apple Cider Vinegar in for that day. I also will make sure I get my NingXia and Mineral Essence in.

6pm Salt Water Flush ( I may or may not start pooping after this).

8pm Salt Water Flush (Usually after this one I start pooping, a few times I have had to do an enema but because I didn’t do the Cleansing like I was suppose to)

9:45 pm Prep my Grapefruit juice and Olive oil Drink. Set my alarm for 6am

10pm Drink it and LAY DOWN immediately with head elevated in a reclined position where my head is higher than my stomach. Lay there until I fall asleep and don’t get up until alarm, until I have to go the bathroom, or drink some water.

6am Drink Salt Water – Sometimes I will get stones out after this.

8 am Drink last Salt Water: I do get stones out after this one. I will release stones and liquid waterish stools until noon or even into the afternoon. I have even passed stones the following day. But the urge to poop every 15-30 minutes goes away around 11 ‘ish or noon for me.

To learn more about cleansing watch this Live Video I did:

You can read about the rest of the cleanse in The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-Natural, At-Home Flush to Purify and Rejuvenate Your Body by Andreas Moritz

If you are serious about getting your energy back, libido, clear skin, endurance, happy joints, and improved health. Then your next step is to get the book, read the book, and set your date for your first cleanse.

I love you, believe in you, and really it isn’t as bad as people make it sound. And really if you refuse or can not do it there are alternatives to this $10 cleanse. You can get quality products for about $600-1000 that will support the liver and gallbladder and help fight against negative effects of harmful toxins.

If you are interest let me know via email at info[at]starrhealth.com

For your Total Wellness;

Mary Starr Carter