Dabney's 2023 vacation travel tips

Are you stressing about your upcoming summer vacation? I know the feeling. You are so excited to spend quality time with your family and make precious memories, but your brain is also racing with a million thoughts. 

• "Do I need to buy a swimsuit for my daughter?" 

• "Will those hiking boots from last year still fit?" 

• "Do I have enough time to unpack when we get home? 

Being prepared for a vacation doesn’t end with what’s inside your suitcase. What’s inside your body can take your trip from “oh, no” to “let’s go!” As a Family Nurse Practitioner and type 1 diabetic, I know taking care of yourself away from home can be challenging. I recommend having a plan in place to help keep you feeling your best. Here is a list to help you prepare before, during and after your next vacation.  

Before 

IV Therapy. I highly recommend an immune boost before you take to the skies. The Immune Boost Drip IV helps kick any colds that might be festering before they begin. It’s also a great way to calm allergies. IV Therapy is your answer to improve performance and recovery, rehydrate, or simply restore depleted vitamins.  

During  

Magnesium. The benefits of magnesium are plentiful, but you will especially appreciate the extra energy and better sleep it can deliver during your travels. 

Hydration. Travel can take a toll on your hydration levels. Support your system with LMNT to replenish those vitamins and electrolytes. Restore + Revive sells several delicious flavors in a variety pack ($20) or as individual sticks ($2).

Soaps and washes. Just because it must pass TSA regulations doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your health. Fill up any silicone travel size containers with your favorite Oway hair products and Aleavia Body Wash to avoid using products with harmful ingredients (which are often stocked in hotel bathrooms!) Stock up on Branch Basics Travel Kit complete with mini-all-purpose, mini–foaming wash and mini concentrate for refilling. Great for washing hands, clothes and more on the go.

I also recommend incorporating ways to move your body, such as walks or other outdoor family activities (my family loves pickleball) as well as packing your own stainless steel water bottle. Another pro travel tip that will help you stick to clean eating is research restaurant menus before you go out to eat.  

After 

After your trip, the fatigue is guaranteed to set in. Don’t worry. Here are some pointers to help you battle the post-vacation woes.  

Detox with Sauna. They say sweat cures all, and there’s a reason for that. Sweat is the body’s natural way to detoxify and stay healthy. Infrared Saunas offer this healing process in a therapeutic and enjoyable way that is not unbearably hot. 

Cold Plunge. Benefits of cold immersion have been shown to include pain relief, improved mood and increased energy … to name a few. Just what the doctor ordered.  

Foot Soak. Relax the mind and body while purifying through the soles of your feet. The detox foot soak cleansing method works by submerging feet in a specified combination of warm, high-quality water + Himalayan salts + negative ions to gently draw out the positively charged toxins in the body through the bottom of your feet. Detox foot soak therapy supports the purging of heavy metals and detoxification of the liver and kidneys, as well as many other health benefits.

Dermashape. Great way to detox, reset, and decrease any inflammation caused from travel. This treatment uses a holistic approach to stimulate and improve lymphatic drainage to drain excess fluid and toxins from the body.

In addition, sleep and hydration are two of the most important things we can do to maintain our health and wellbeing. Prioritize these two things when you get back and you will be back into your regular routine in no time.  

Restore + Revive is open Monday – Wednesday: 9am-5pm; Thursday: 9am-7pm; and Friday & Saturday: 9am-2pm. To book any of these services, visit www.restoreandrevivefw.com/book-now or call 817-720-6220.  

Services Mentioned in Post Available at R+R

• IV Therapy + Vitamin Shots - Prices range from $146 - $420 

• Infrared Sauna - $39

• Detox Foot Soak - $66

• Cold Plunge - $25

• Dermashape - $175

Discounted packages are also available for each service mentioned above!

Products Mentioned in Post Available at R+R

• Seeking Health Optimal Magnesium - $18

• LMNT Electrolyte Drink Mix - Variety Pack/ $20 Individual Sticks/ $2

• OWAY Hair Care - Prices range from $34-$36

• Aleavia Body Wash - $20

• Branch Basics Travel Kit - $20

6 Reasons YOU Should Join The R+R Farm Co-Op

First things first: What is a Co-Op?

Quite simply, a Farming Cooperative (Co-Op for short) is a system where like-minded, hard-working farmers can pool the fruits of their labor to offer a larger variety to consumers. In doing so, they also split expenses such as supplies, materials and production costs while simultaneously side-stepping supermarket red tape and lag times in order to offer you the freshest foods possible… straight from the farm to your table.

This centuries-old concept caught our attention when we met Robert D. Copeland (aka Bob) last summer while planning for our Fall Market. Bob owns and operates Sunflower Farms, a local farm offering delicious grass-fed, pasture-raised beef and organically grown produce to The R+R Farm Co-Op. His passion for (and knowledge of!) cooperative farming and regenerative agriculture had us smitten from the get-go.

Back up – regenerative what?

Keeping simplicity top of mind, regenerative agriculture can be defined as the farming practices that nurture the land and animals to allow nature to work as intended. 

Digging a little deeper (and at the risk of sounding like Negative Nancy), one learns the methods of regenerative farming are counter-culture to the conventional food system’s goal of pumping the life out of the land, stuffing livestock into abysmal living conditions (feedlots and feedbarns), and feeding the livestock GMO grains they are not designed to eat – all in the name of the bottom line. The harm-reduction approach of regenerative farming nurtures the farmland by introducing such practices as adding organic top soil, avoiding chemically-laden pesticides, avoiding tilling, and by implementing fermentation, inoculation, intercropping, crop rotation and composting (to name a few).

According to Bob of Sunflower Farms, "Regenerative agriculture also involves grazing cattle, sheep, goats on pastures of grasses and moving them around from small pasture to small pasture regularly as they graze the grasses about halfway down to the ground. As they graze and move around in the small pastures, they leave behind a well-fertilized and plowed soil. The herds rotate from one pasture to the next on a weekly or more frequent basis depending on herd-size until you're back at the starting point where the grass has had time to regrow."

This more patient, counter-culture approach requires a community aspect in order to thrive, thus the appeal of a farming cooperative.

Now that you’re up to speed and have two new vocabulary words under your belt, let’s dig into why you should join The R+R Farm Co-Op!

Reason #1: The produce and meats are more nutrient-dense.

Pasture-raised meat and regenerative farming practices offer produce and meats packed with more nutrients and antioxidants proven to increase heart health, aid in disease prevention, build and maintain muscle mass, improve exercise, and more.

Larry Goodson, Farmer + Owner of First Earth Farm provides organically grown produce to The R+R Farm Co-Op.

How? You ask.

Remember what we learned about regenerative farming? These methods support the soil and strive to leave the land better than it's ever been. Think of it this way: What does your food eat? If your veggies are consuming high-quality organic nutrients from a solid soil, and if the animals are grazing organic grass grown on said soil - we’d venture to say their diet is pretty top-notch. Ipso facto… yours will be too!

Phys.org reports on the results of a study conducted in January 2022 over 10 farms across the US comparing regenerative soil to conventional soil stating, “The food grown under regenerative practices contained, on average, more magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc; more vitamins, including B1, B12, C, E and K; and more phytochemicals, compounds not typically tracked for food but that have been shown to reduce inflammation and boost human health. Crops grown in the regenerative farms were also lower in elements broadly detrimental to human health, including sodium, cadmium and nickel, compared with their conventionally grown neighbors.”

Further, pasture-raised meats - especially beef - are full of Omega-3 fatty acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). Both Omega-3s and CLA greatly enhance your nutritional intake, and as it turns out, both are sorely lacking in grain-fed meats. 

There’s something to be said about slow and steady. It really does win the race, especially when it comes to nutrition. 

Reason #2: Our farming practices are better for the animals.

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words, and this one is no exception. Factory Farms, mostly owned by multinational corporations, throughout the country shove chickens, cows, pigs, goats and more into concrete blocks to sit in their own feces where they are pumped with goodness knows what to fatten them up… all in the name of making a buck.

The regenerative farming practices incorporated into The R+R Farm Co-Op treat the animals with the dignity and respect they deserve by giving them room to roam as they were created to do. Many of the animals even become pets and are befriended by the farmers! As we believe you’ll soon agree, happier, stress-free animals produce tastier food.

Reason #3: Our farming practices are better for the environment too.

Regenerative farming practices incorporated into our Co-Op are better for the environment by limiting chemical run-off. When you don’t spray the produce with pesticides and other harmful chemicals, there’s no residue seeping into the soil, into the food, and into your body. Period. This also means it’s not floating into the air we breathe! As mentioned above, the care taken to bring the soil to its optimal state with the goal of leaving it better than it was found benefits the environment for generations to come.

Reason #4: You’re directly supporting the local economy by supporting local farmers.

You may be wondering why we need a farming cooperative when we've got supermarkets packed with produce and meat on every major corner, but did you know USDA stats show that farmers who sell through conventional grocery stores only receive 14% of the profit from their hard work? 14%!

“Sure, the local supermarket has tomatoes in February, but they’re not coming from anywhere within 5000 miles of where you’re sitting. People want what they want, but they don’t understand what it takes to get it,” laments Bob.

By equipping local farmers to bring their in-season bounty to your table via the Co-Op, you’re not only doing your part to improve the broken food system, you’re putting money right back into the local economy.

Reason #5: You’re supporting sustainable farming practices.

The focus on sustainability to accompany regenerative farming ensures the land is never worked beyond what it can healthfully produce. This gentler practice allows for generations to come to reap the benefits of the rich farmland… just as God intended! We are instructed to be stewards and shepherds of the land and animals we get to enjoy.

As poignantly stated by Annemarie Sullivan, owner of Sullifarm + Kitchen providing all pasture-raised pork to the Co-Op, “Remember, every time you eat a meal, you are either enforcing a positive or negative effect. Not just to your body, but to our animals, our communities, our future generations, our air, water, and soil.”

By joining The R+R Farm Co-Op, you can rest assured that while you might not be the one digging in the dirt, you’re enforcing the positive effect of the most sustainable farming practices in the industry.

Reason #6: Organically grown produce and pasture-raised meats & eggs are best.

In a world of marketing mumbo jumbo with virtually no regulation on what the creative team at AB&C Marketing Company throws on the package of hot dogs to make them sound like they’re straight from heaven, even the savviest of shoppers can be misguided. Further, the red-tape and expensive hoop jumping required to obtain a USDA Organic stamp would make your head spin.

Organically grown produce and pasture-raised meats are the terms colloquially used by regenerative farmers to describe the most nutrient-dense food for your health as well as the most humane and nurturing practices for the animals and for the land.

Bob sums it all up perfectly saying, “Come for the nutrition and flavor. Stay for the Farm Share increase!”

Ready to join The R+R Farm Co-Op? Let’s do it!

How It Works:

Step 1: An annual Co-Op Membership of $89 must be secured to join and order from the Co-Op (spots are limited - so don't delay). Memberships go toward supporting the farmer’s supplies, inclement weather issues, production as well as the operational costs to run The Co-Op. Note: Your Co-Op Membership does not include the cost of food you choose to order. Secure your Membership here.

Step 2: After a Membership is purchased, customers can shop produce, meats, eggs, and more provided by our local farmers during shopping windows open every other Friday thru Monday. Check out this calendar for ordering and pick-up dates.

Step 3: Customers will then pick up their conveniently bundled goods the Thursday following the order window at R+R 11am-5pm. Ordering opens March 21st-28th & first pickup is March 31st.

The following amazing farmers will be providing directly to your table:

Sunflower Farms provides all of the delicious pasture-raised, grass-fed beef.

Little Foot Farm provides free-range, organic, pasture-raised eggs to the Co-Op.

Sullifarm + Kitchen provides all of the pasture-raised pork products.

Hollow Trace Market Farm provides all of the organically grown produce, specialty herbs and canned goods sold.

Armagh Creamery provides all of the dairy products.

Icon Bread provides all of the sourdough bread to The R+R Farm Co-Op.

Prairie Oasis Farm provides the pasture-raised chicken and lamb to the R+R Farm Co-Op.

Head to therrfarmcoop.com to learn more about the Co-Op, our amazing farmers, available products and to join the Co-Op! Stay tuned for more from The R+R Farm Co-Op including recipes and pro-tips from our knowledgeable farmers.

Top 5 ProLon Pro-Tips

Maybe you’ve heard Gwyneth talk about ProLon or maybe you’ve simply heard some buzz about intermittent fasting. Regardless of where ProLon lands on your relevance meter, it might just be the magic bullet you’re looking for to jumpstart healthy habits, maximize cell turnover, decrease inflammation, kick sugar cravings, and increase energy... all while diminishing belly fat and “de-puffing” for the coming warmer months.

What is ProLon?

According to ProLon, "this fast-mimicking meal plan is unlike any other program. The tasty, specially designed food gives you essential nutrition but doesn’t activate your body’s food sensing system. In other words, you get to eat, but your body 'thinks' it’s on a 5-day fast."

Ipso facto, ProLon is a “fast with food.” -- ahem, vegetarian, gluten- and lactose-free food that is.

The fine print: At R+R we never encourage starving yourself or quick-fix fad diets. ProLon is developed and based on over 20 years of scientific research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the USC Longevity Institute, and please visit their website for a plethora of helpful information before beginning your fast.  

Why am I doing this? 

Candidly, as I write this, it’s the end of snowmageddon here in Fort Worth, and I am a stress eater. 

We are leaving in 1 week to ski, and my ski pants were growing tight on day 5 of playing in the snow, so I better get it figured out. 

All that to say, de-bloating is certainly a desired outcome of doing ProLon, but I really and truly just want to feel better. 

My skin is pretty red and inflamed, and my sleep is decent at best. 

I know channelling stress in healthier ways than eating carbs and drinking margs (I rhymed) will do more than just improve my waistline. It will improve my life!

So. That’s why I’m here. Doing the ProLon fast for the 3rd time. 

After the 1st time, I said I’m never doing that again. 

After the 2nd time, I said I’m really never doing that again. 

And alas, here I am, never say never, and any other cliches you can throw my way. THAT SAID, because I’m basically a professional ProLon-er, I’ve got a lot of pro-tips in here for you to make this baby a success.

DAY ONE

Today is v easy. 

I was full from a huge dinner last night, so I didn’t eat the L-Bar until almost 11am (Dabney would definitely tsk, tsk me for waiting that long after waking to eat, but I digress). 

We had a neighborhood bday party from 2pm - 4pm today with a damn beignet truck, so I knew I needed to eat before attending lest throwing this $200 fasting kit down the drain. SO, I had the tomato bisque soup at about 1:30pm to, you know, tide me over. 

At the end of the party, my 5.5 year old son got a splinter in his foot, so if you heard the screaming and crying and wailing at the ends of the earth, that’s what happened. It was stressful and also hard not to laugh in his face and say IT’S A SPLINTER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Anywho. 

I had the other L bar after these theatrics at around 4pm, and I am still full as I write this. It’s 6pm. 

I plan to have the minestrone soup in the next 30 minutes with the kale crackers and olives, saving the chocolate crisp bar for dessert. Pro-tip: Put that baby in the freezer. 

I don’t think the rest of tonight will be hard, but I’ll report back if it is. I’m especially interested in seeing if I sleep better and can wake up a little earlier. 

Stay tuned!

DAY TWO

I didn’t sleep great, and I’ll be honest (sorry if this is TMI), but my gas has been pretty gnarly. Could be the peas and legumes from the delicious (not) minestrone soup from last night? 

Anywho, today includes the glycerin drink. I’m about to throw out some major pro-tips, so take heed. 

1st Pro-tip: Pour your glycerine drink as instructed, fill with cold filtered water, then place both Hibiscus tea bags in it, and put it in the fridge to let them do a cool steep for at least 20 mins. This will change your life. If they sold this tea separately, I would buy it in hoards. Also, you don’t have to drink any of the tea just for the record. You are also allowed 1 cup of black coffee. Praise.

2nd Pro-tip: In the morning, go through your box for that day and freeze or refrigerate anything that will taste better as such. I forgot to put my olives in the fridge yesterday, and it was a bummer. But today, you better believe I put those olives in the fridge and the choco-crisp in the freezer for my after-dinner morsel. 

3rd Pro-tip: You do not have to eat the food items in the order that’s recommended, but you do have to eat all of the day’s allotted food items on that particular day - ie no switch-a-roos with other boxes, mmkay?

With this in mind, I try to make the food last throughout the day. I honestly feel like I would CRUSH Survivor because I am so very good at making these boxes last. There I said it.

For breakfast, I had ½ of the L-bar with a cup of coffee around 9:30am when I felt my tummy get hungry. I’m saving that other half for late afternoon when I know my energy tends to dip, and I get stressed and/or cranky. 

10:30am I had the other ½ of the L-bar when a stressful work email hit my desk. Se la vie. 

My fuse is super short today, not gonna lie. 

Had the mushroom soup for lunch. It was terrible. 

Had my olives at 3:30pm. Can you tell I’m cranky as hell? 

Went on a very light walk with the family around 5pm, and I was pretty low energy.

Had some more olives at 6pm while my minestrone/quinoa soup took 11,000 years to cook over the stove. 

Ate my frozen chocolate crisp at 7pm. Went to bed after binging a couple episodes of Broadchurch. 

Sleep was pretty awful again, but my gas was better! So that’s a win for my husband. 

DAY 3

Super moody already this morning. Maybe because I know Day 3 is the worst day typically? Beware the beast, y’all. 

Ate ½ my L bar at 9:30am with a cup of coffee. They say you can have 1 cup of coffee a day, but I’m pushing it today. I’m already at 2. Come at me ProLon Police, I dare you. I’ll cut you and laugh about it with this mood I’m sporting.

2 hours later, and I’m suddenly feeling a lot less hangry. Praise be.

Stay with me though, because I’ve got more pro-tips for making it through Day 3…

The crackers. These might be my favorite thing on the whole cleanse. Why can’t we buy these at the store? I don’t understand?

Here’s the deal though - you gotta make these babies last alldamnday, and there are only 5 in a pack. In ProLon Life according to me, you’re allowed 1 with your soup at lunch, 2 in the afternoon, and 2 with your dinner. Do you know why? Because there ain’t no coco-crisp today, NOR are there any olives. 

Final pro-tip for Day 3: Freeze the second ½ of your L-bar to have after dinner. You’re welcome. 

This evening while the soup was boiling and I made Defined Dish’s chicken nuggets for my family because I am the best mom ever, I wanted to throw in the towel. Remembering I have 2 more full days of this sounds soooo very hard. 

DAY 4

Slept really, really well last night. I felt pretty good this morning, and I wasn’t starving when I woke up, and it’s a dang good thing because I forgot my L-bar when I went to a local coffee shop for a meeting and to work.

Rather than packing up and turning around when I realized my misstep, I decided to stay put because TIME IS MONEY Y’ALL, and I ain’t gotta lot of it to spare. 

This means I got home around 11:30am to have soup/lunch and I also had ½ of the elusive L Bar. Pop quiz: Where did I put  the other half? The freezer! A+ for you for paying attention. 

Got that baby out at 2:15pm. Lifesaving. 

I had *both* packs of olives to tide me over through a 5pm pee-wee baseball practice, and I finished the night with a veggie/minestrone soup + frozen coco-crisp for dessert.

Somewhere halfway through this day, the resistance to eating a v small box of food a day turns into surrender, and you know you’re over the hump. One more day!

DAY 5

See notes on Day 3 for how to divy this day up, but it’s honestly a huge day of relief with a side of impatience. 

My hardest part of this day was going to bed on a hungry stomach. I was sleep-talking myself into going and raiding the fridge at midnight. 

In sum, this is really hard, but it’s worth it. I think I’ll do it again, but not for another year or so. I’ve definitely de-bloated, I have more energy, and it has definitely helped curb my sugar cravings. While I thought I’d wake up ravenous on Day 6, I was totally content with a small bowl of Culina Yogurt, Paleo Granola, and some blueberries. 

I am going to have a cocktail tonight though. That’s prob not recommended. 

ProLon Hot Takes

• So their website has a pretty good FAQ section, but I’m going to try to address some of my biggest ones. 

• ICYMI, you do not have to eat the foods in any particular order or at any particular time on a given day. You DO have to eat all of them, nothing more, nothing less. You DO have to eat only the contents in the box for that day. 

• Working out on ProLon: I walked on day 1 and did a light pilates class on day 5. That’s it. Definitely don’t overdo it.

• You DO NOT have to drink the teas. You DO need to only drink 1 cup of coffee, lots of filtered water, and the glycerine drink. 

• The glycerine drink is only offered on days 2-5.

• The mushroom soup is horrid. The kale crackers are delicious. Everything else is fine. 

• You’ll want to give up at 3-6pm everyday. Don’t.

• You’ll talk yourself into the following: 3 days is enough, 4 is enough, can I just have this handful of unshelled, salted pistachios speaking to me from the pantry?... Don’t listen.

• Every morning you’ll wake up with new resolve!

• With each day you’ll have more energy and your thoughts will be clearer (well, after day 2/3 at least)

• Final AND MOST IMPORTANT pro-tip: START ON A SUNDAY. This means you’re finished when you wake up Friday morning!

As hard as this fast can be, once you get to Day 4, you’re coasting downhill. Call 817-720-6220 or swing by R+R to grab yours today. You will not regret it! The benefits truly do outweigh the pain points, and before you know it, you’ll be clearer headed, full of energy, lighter on your feet (and in your waistline). 

ProLon is $199 and is available at Restore + Revive Wellness Center or via Fullscript.