“Your body is a temple.”

I have obviously heard this adage 800,000 times in my life, especially being a fitness writer. But for whatever reason, it hadn’t truly sunk in until my psychiatrist said it to me.

Working in the fitness and health industry, eating healthy is just par for the course. It’s a given. You eat healthy to keep appearances, you eat healthy because you’re supposed to. You eat healthy because it’s trendy and cool, you eat healthy because it’s a status symbol, you eat healthy because it’s just part of being a “healthy” person, you eat healthy because it helps you lose weight or maintain it or look as sexy as possible.

In the past three years, my psychiatrist has never brought up my diet — until just the other day. We typically stick to psychotherapy; every once in a while we discuss the pros and cons of certain medications and treatments, and he encourages me to focus on yoga and exercises that zero in on that breath-to-movement connection (he really, REALLY wants me to try Tai Chi). But he had never asked me about what I eat.

For the most part, my diet is pretty healthy, but recently — for reasons I haven’t even personally delved into myself just yet — I’ve been sort of “over it” with my diet, and have regressed to a hybrid of my usual healthy staples, plus a lot of indulgent food. I got into a “f*ck it” mindset and have been eating whatever I want, whenever I want, with no regimen whatsoever.

The timing of my doctors advice (including — verbatim — “don’t take a dump in the temple”) combined with how powerfully the words resonated with me had turned over a new leaf. Nay, a new branch. NAY! A new TREE. I was feeling remarkably inspired, and ready to make a solid change for my brain. My food was to be my new brain-healing medication, and eating a sacred ritual to fuel my corporeal temple.

A day later, I had my first Sakara Life package on my doorstep, with nine meals, tinctures, teas, and beauty chocolates. Upon opening this precious treasure trove of nutritive goodies, I also uncovered that Sakara sends a piece of palo santo to their newbies for a cleansing ritual, to prove they’re not f*cking around. This is a holy cleanse, and you need to smudge all the bad vibes out of your house/life with this blessed, blazing wood.

My body was ready.

I’ll be 100% candid: some food was initially outside of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed all of it. My favorites? the BREAKFAST. A decadent chai tea flavored cashew cream pudding topped with a spiced buckwheat granola and fresh raspberries was my first taste of Sakara life, and I was hooked.

But then things got even better. I tried the roasted cinnamon peaches in the roasted peach chana masala and wept tears of joy as flavors burst and danced happy dances in my mouth. A warming, rich, decadent meal that felt like eating a 5-star restaurant meal in my living room. I was nervous about the red beet burger, because TBH, I f*cking hate beets — but I devoured the whole thing. I was SCRAPING the plate for scraps (I’m fine, I swear). You made me a you made me a believer, Sakara.

In that same vein, I also unfortunately loathe carrots (I’m cursed, I swear. Even my DOG eats carrots), but the carrot coconut butter for the yoga bunny breakfast also won me over. A plan that got me not only to eat carrots and beets, but to ENJOY them? TAKE MY MONEY.

The best part of the Sakara week wasn’t actually about any meal in particular (though I was blown away by the quality and taste — much like the In-N-Out slogan), but rather how I felt on the plan. I was energized yet calm, relaxed, peaceful, happy, and just felt good. Yes, I love banana milkshakes from the diner on the pier, but they just don’t leave me with the same kind of feeling of mental wellbeing. Perhaps that’s what my psychiatrist meant about taking a dump in the temple. Don’t get me wrong — I’ll continue to eat all the foods, but my best mental health results (food-wise) came from this meal plan here.

Some details:

• It’s all plant-based, superfood-rich, organic, ready-to-eat, no-cooking-necessary.
• It will need to be refrigerated! It comes in a cold-packed box with compostable cushioning etc.
• You can choose from 3-day and 5-day programs with breakfast/lunch/dinner, or just opt for one meal a day (like just breakfast either three or five days a week).
• Your kit will come with palo santo, beauty water (rose water extract that is AMAZING), detox water (some chlorophyll drops for your PM agua), and their incredible rooibos tea (one of my fav parts of their program).
• There are suggestions on what to eat outside the meals if you’re still hungry and aiming to adhere strictly to their plan.
• You can cancel your subscription in advance if you only want to do one week of the plan.

My only hangup? The price. Literally that’s the only negative thing I have to say about the plan. I have to be forthright: this sh*t is crazy expensive. If I could afford to eat this food every week, I seriously would, but unfortunately my cool startup ideas haven’t cashed out and I have zero bitcoin to rely on. FORTUNATELY  I do happen to have a discount code readily available: get 15% off your Sakara Life meals with the code REF_DA (use this link here). So that’ll help you try it out yourself for a lot less dinero. Sorry in advance if you become as hooked as I am!

Bottom line? It’s *freaking delicious*, mega healthy, and 1000% worth trying out (if not full-blown subscribing weekly). You don’t have to cook, you have pre-planned fabulous meals ready to go, and you’re gonna get a phenomenal brain boost — and maybe even work toward reaching your physical goals, too.

Questions? LMK!

xx,
Dominique