5 Tips for Steady Energy, like a French Lady (Part 2)
Recipe: My *signature* Dark Chocolate Crumble
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Last week we dove deep into why we might be getting low energy, or chills, in sunny energizing July!
But actually, it’s so much more than just chills. Unsteady body temperature — too warm or too cold — can go hand in hand with your daily energy reserve.
This week we’re focused on warming and stimulating our energy furnace and blood circulation to keep things steadier. Less of drastic hots and colds, to help us feel alive and fresh. Feel amazing in our own body.
Imagine the calm of a massage table: soft music, warm oil, skilled hands coaxing circulation and soothing your nerves. What if we could invite that feeling into our everyday—not with a price tag, but with intention?
Doing More Isn’t a Fix, It’s a Response
If your body feels too cold, unusually hot, or just can’t find that pep, the answer isn’t always more supplements, more cardio, or more of anything, really. Sometimes, it’s lighter, less or just listening. Take time for your mind, heart and body.
You may simply need to take a walk instead of a run, and perhaps two instead of one. As someone who’s often glued to my desk, I’ve found if I’m sitting for hours at a time, I get quite chilled. I have less motivation and less energy to move my body. I get stuck. But as soon as I get out for a gentle walk (or sometimes a run), my blood circulation is better for hours, and I feel more alive.
Or if it’s possible, you may need to say no to the back-to-back meetings and spread them out. Add a warming soup or cooked vegetables to your lunch, even in July.
Or wrap your hands around something warm, and pause.
Here in France, I’ve noticed women don’t typically override these signals. Instead they respond to them. A chill or a hot flash isn’t something to power through, it’s a cue. They reach for a beautiful scarf and some healing whole foods, not a stimulant and a supplement. They stir a pot, not a spreadsheet. It’s not performative, it’s intuitive, like so much of how the French live.
I’ve started using my Oura ring to support that intuition, not just to track sleep or ovulation, but to notice shifts in my temperature. When my body temp drops, I try to see if I can rise to meet myself with more care. The French would call it savoir vivre, a kind of lived wisdom that doesn’t ignore the body’s quietest requests.
How the French Keep Energy Steady (Without Doing More)
You don’t have to live on the beaches of France to feel warmer in your own skin.
But you may have to unlearn some things. Like the idea that feeling cold is just poor circulation or that fatigue requires pushing harder or drinking more coffee—or that wellness has to come with numbers, trackers, or clean-eating rules. (These things can be quite helpful, but only in certain situations. They can help you learn more about your body, but don’t allow them to cause stress.)
Living in France has taught me that warmth is a way of being with your body. It’s a slow trust that you earn with yourself.
Here are five ways to stoke your inner furnace:
1. The Ritual: Build Heat with Hands, Oil, and Intention
A friend of mine shared a 3-minute ritual she learned from a French herbalist.
It looks like this:
Take a warm shower or bath
After drying off rub some coconut or calendula oil into your hands and feet
Press your palms against your low belly, give it a loving massage
Close your eyes and imagine a little coal glowing behind your navel
Breathe there for three rounds of breath imagining the heat increasing with each inhalation and the warmth spreading throughout your body with each exhalation
Adorn yourself with some soft and cozy clothing.
My grandmother always tells me that the warmest she’s ever been is when she puts a cashmere sweater straight on her skin—no bra or undershirt. And she’s in the fields of Vermont, where it gets icy cold! Give it a try. :)
2. The Food: The Ingredients of Inner Warmth
There’s also the matter of what’s on your plate. Not just how you eat, but what you eat. Certain nutrients literally build heat in the body—something French women seem to understand without having to Google it. You won’t catch them sipping iced green juice in January or skipping fats to “be good.” They eat for pleasure, yes—but also for warmth, steadiness, and resilience.
Freshly cut tomatoes in the summer with slices of cheese and loads of herbs with olive oil. Eating with the season.
Here’s what I’ve noticed helps stoke the inner fire:
Good fats
Olive oil, yogurt, cheese, avocado, quality butter…these aren’t indulgences here, they’re essentials. Healthy fats fuel your metabolism, support hormone production, and keep your blood sugar stable (and your mood softer). They help build the kind of heat that lasts. We dive deep into how to enjoy healthy fats everyday at a balanced level, to keep blood sugar stead, in The Blood Sugar Method.
Protein, but make it warm
Eggs, lentils, whole roasted chicken, sardines, cured salted jamon (like prosciutto), slow-cooked meats. Whole food protein is thermogenic—it literally produces more heat during digestion. It also supports thyroid function and helps your body repair and regulate, especially when stress or hormone shifts have taken a toll.
Rooted carbs
Sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, squash, whole grains like millet, farro, amaranth, and quinoa, and wild rice. Especially in the second half of your cycle or when temps drop. These slow carbs help calm the nervous system, fuel warmth without spikes (depending on your glucose tolerance), and offer a soft landing for your metabolism.
Spices that circulate
Cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, fennel, cardamom, cumin. The French may not be into adaptogens, but they season with quiet brilliance. These colorful aromatic spices and herbs warm from the inside, support digestion, and gently increase circulation—just what you need when your hands feel like ice. Warming drinks with these spices can do wonders!
The minerals you might be missing
Sea salt, iodine (hello, sardines), selenium, magnesium (dark chocolate!). These minerals are essential for thyroid health and temperature regulation, yet easy to overlook when you’re under stress or eating lightly. A sprinkle of sea salt, a handful of pumpkin seeds, a square of dark chocolate, it all adds up.
You won’t find French women here tracking macros on their phones. You’ll see them drizzle, stir, simmer. They eat slowly, season generously, and listen closely to what their bodies are asking for. It’s not prescriptive. It’s personal, it’s energizing and it’s warm.
3. The Data: Read Your Temp Differently
If you wear an Oura ring, don’t just track for fertility or sleep. Track for nourishment.
When my body temp dips and stays low (especially in the luteal phase), I take it as a cue to:
Add slow/soft foods (squash, seasonal cooked vegetables, sweet potato)
Ease off caffeine, try herbal teas
Go on gentle strolls, smell the flowers, take in the views. Move often, but not as hard and fast as I can. Let my body speak its mind.
I see this cycle as a way to support, not just control my body temperature (and my mood and sleep). And French women? They’ve been listening to their rhythm longer than any app.
4. The Permission: What Warmth Looks Like (When It’s Not Food)
Sometimes you’ve already eaten. You’ve already stretched. And you’re still cold.
This isn’t failure. It’s an invitation.
Here are three warmth-enchancers I use regularly:
5 minutes of deep breathing, thinking about happy thoughts
Rereading a novel I’ve already memorized (hint: Outlander!)
Sitting outside with the sun on my face, doing nothing
Because warmth isn’t always about action. It’s about receiving.
5. The Final French Lesson: L’art de se Réchauffer (the art of warming up)
In the wellness world, we often chase energy. But what if you don’t need more energy?
What if you just need more internal warmth, and more tuning in? We get to choose warmth, gentleness and gratitude over hustle. Ritual over routine. Trust over tracking. Your body thank you in the quietest, coziest ways.
In France, people don’t typically track macros. They track how they feel. If they’re cold, they consume something warm. If they’re tired, they rest. If they’re hot, they bask in the ocean, or sip room temp water in a shady cafe — to keep things steady, not extreme.
It’s not laziness. It’s self-trust. Inspired by my French friends, here are some ideas of what I eat on days when my internal fire needs a little help:
Breakfast
Pear hazelnut cobbler for breakfast: Stewed apples or pears with ginger, coconut oil, and cinnamon or cardamom
Jasmine tea, sometimes with a splash of almond milk
A nutty seedy granola sweetened with honey, cooked in my homemade almond milk, blended with JOI, water, a pinch of sea salt and a date
Lunch
Lentil and carrot soup (or whatever is in season) with ginger, garlic, turmeric and herbs
Sunnyside up eggs with cooked seasonal vegetables, some quinoa and a homemade green sauce that we batch-cooked the weekend prior
See this parsley pesto
See this green spinach sauce
See this creamy green pepper cilantro sauce
Olive oil–dressed greens topped with some crumbled cheese, warmed gently in a pan
Plain greek yogurt for dessert, perhaps with some chopped seasonal fruit or a dash of honey and a pinch of sea salt (very French!).
Snack - when needed
A warm cup of homemade bone broth
Toasted walnuts or pumpkin seeds with a piece of raw cheese
A couple berries or an apple with a drizzle of nut butter or tahini
A square of 85% dark chocolate, if needed
Dinner
Shakshuka with piment d’Espelette or cayenne and fresh herbs on top (see this recipe & cooking video)
Soft mashed sweet potato with fennel, feta cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds and high-quality olive oil
Farro cooked with chopped celery, garlic and fresh herbs
Chamomile or lemon verbena tea and early sleep
My Signature Dark Chocolate Crumble
I can’t believe I have not yet shared this recipe with you!!!!!!! It’s my absolute *favorite*. Today is your lucky day!
Today’s version of this simple, nourishing dessert was inspired by our cozy August morning spent with overripe pears found on the $1 rack—transformed into magic. But don’t be fooled—this is no one-time experiment. This has been my go-to dessert for over a decade, born from a need for a healthier, more nourishing alternative when catering for professional athletes.
It’s now a signature recipe that I’ve served at events I’ve catered, taught in team-building cooking classes, and made for countless friends who now ask for it. The magic is in the topping, the dark chocolate, and the exact bake time and temp—it’s perfection every time. Made with almond flour, honey, dark chocolate, and coconut, this gluten-free crumble is satisfying and naturally sweetened. In today’s recipe we use pears, but this dish is easily adaptable to whatever fruit is in season: strawberries and blueberries in the summer, peaches and nectarines during peak stone fruit season, and apples and pears in the winter. It’s a year-round classic.
Why it’s great for hormone health:
✓ Pears are full of fiber to support digestion and estrogen detox
✓ Almond flour and coconut oil provide healthy fats that stabilize blood sugar and mood
✓ Dark chocolate offers magnesium for stress and muscle support
✓ Honey offers antioxidants and healthy gut microbes, and adds a naturally soothing sweetness
Dessert | Brunch Treat
Servings: 4–6
Total Time: 35 min | Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min
Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free | Vegetarian | Refined Sugar-Free | Blood Sugar Friendly (with modifications)
INGREDIENTS
For the crumble:
1 ½ cups almond flour
¼ cup honey
½ cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp fine sea salt (divided)
2 oz dark chocolate (70–90%), chopped or shaved
¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional – only if you like coconut)
*Memorize the above to make it over and over again!
For the fruit base:
3 ripe pears, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp coconut sugar (optional – I often skip it)
½ tsp fine sea salt
Optional:
Ice cream of choice (for serving)
Note: In the fall, you can add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. In the summer, swap pears with chopped strawberries & blueberries or peaches & nectarines. In the winter, apples or a mix of apples and pears are perfect.
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
In a medium bowl, toss chopped pears with (optional) coconut sugar and ½ tsp sea salt.
In a large bowl, combine almond flour, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and remaining ½ tsp salt. Mix with clean hands until a crumbly dough forms.
Pour the fruit mixture into a small casserole dish and spread evenly.
Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the fruit.
Top with the crumble mixture.
Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the crumble is golden.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle (optional) coconut on top, and return to bake for an additional 3 minutes, until lightly toasted.
Serve warm with your favorite ice cream or yogurt, if desired.
For shopping list, equipment list & to print the recipe:
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The information, including but not limited to, recipes, menus, newsletters, tips, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website, resources and newsletters are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care or nutritional regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Fun story - I bought some beautiful papers that had several designs of pears on them. I hosted a craft day to share the papers with my friends. My plan was to make a pear crisp for us to enjoy while we worked. Your post came out that same day with a delicious recipe !!! Thank you for being there in so many ways. Sending a giant hug across the miles.
Love this