My Kroma Wellness 5-Day Reset Experience with Lisa Odenweller
By Josie NeJame
“I decided to take health into my own hands.”
As spring breathes new life into Central Florida, I found myself yearning for a fresh start—a rejuvenation to embrace the vibrant days ahead. Enter the Kroma 5-Day Reset, a transformative experience crafted by founder and owner Lisa Odenweller, the driving force behind Kroma Wellness. This isn’t just a cleanse; it’s a journey into renewed vitality, an exploration of the power of superfoods, and a celebration of health without compromise. So, I embarked on 5 days of bliss and intention setting with girlfriends, indulging in all things self-care: walking in nature, massage, meditation, journaling, and connecting with those who bring me joy.
In the whirlwind of our daily lives, our bodies endure stress, environmental toxins, and the demands of modern living. Lisa Odenweller advocates for the practice of an annual reset as a strategic pause—a moment to realign and rejuvenate. A yearly reset allows the body to shed accumulated toxins, kick-start new, healthy habits, and provide a foundation for sustained well-being throughout the year.
I have to say that I loved how easy it was to incorporate all this organic goodness filled with vitamins & minerals, antioxidants, collagen, probiotics, superfoods, mushrooms, and adaptogens into my everyday life. I gave up coffee for the week, but I didn’t miss it. I replaced it with Kroma’s matcha blended with ginger, maca, turmeric, and blended mushrooms (chaga, cordyceps, maitake, antrodia, king trumpet). It has the tiniest amount of caffeine boost without the coffee side effects. The caffeine in matcha is absorbed and released slowly in the body over a period of several hours, so you get a steadier, more balanced boost. Plus, matcha naturally contains L-Theanine, an amino acid that helps calm the mind and boost the mood.
The days would include a supergreen and a hydration elixir, super porridge, broths to take alone or add to your nutritious meal, and protein shakes. For someone like me who likes to snack (omg cookie butter) and drink teas and lattes, they provided that too. I would then end my evenings with their calming and restore magnesium made with 3 types of magnesium and blended prebiotic.
I aimed to do something that would kick some of my old eating habits out and get me ready, excited about mood, energy, immunity, and hormone balance. It did all of that and gave me a clearer mind and a deeper rest. I also reconnected to what foods made my body feel its best.
Here’s a recent chat I had with Kroma Wellness founder Lisa Odenweller
What got you started into health and wellness?
I think I was born into ‘health and wellness’ – I grew up in a healthy family where we never had junk food, my parents exercised every day and my grandfather was doing 1000 pushups and situps a day until he was 90. So eating healthy foods and exercise was always important to me and something integrated into my life at a very early age. As I approached 40 and had 3 kids, I started experiencing brain fog, hair loss, weight gain, inflammation in my joints, exhaustion, poor digestion and had no sex drive. When I went to my gynecologist for my annual, she said “Oh honey, welcome to getting older.” Not only was that an unacceptable answer but that was a moment of truth for me and I decided to take health into my own hands. At the same time, my daughter was 12 (she is now 26) and had been on ADHD medication for 3 years – something I never felt right about except when we met with 5 doctors, they all said there was no other option than medication. By this time I had enrolled at nutrition school through Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and I was learning about the power of using food to heal. With this new knowledge, I started implementing simple changes in my diet and immediately started feeling better. Things as simple as removing gluten, milk, processed foods, sugar, non-organic fruits and vegetables and eating clean, organic protein and vegetables. I also began incorporating superfoods like maca, spirulina, adaptogenic mushrooms, chia, flax, hemp seeds, green juices and more. Mind you, this was in 2011, long before gluten free and superfoods were a thing. As I started feeling better and my hormones started balancing naturally, I was relieved that I felt better but angry at my doctor that at no point did she ever mention that changing my diet might help me feel better. At the same time, I incorporated these changes into my entire family’s diet and immediately my husband felt better, my boys were less hyper and even more incredible was that within 2 weeks of removing gluten and sugar from my daughter’s diet, she no longer needed ADHD medication. Once again, while I was thrilled to have my daughter off medication, I was livid with the medical system in that none of the 5 doctors ever suggested that food might be causing inflammation in my daughter’s brain, thus inducing symptoms of ADHD. It was at that moment I decided I had to share this information with the world and my entry into a wellness career began. Within 2 years of starting on this mission to help people understand the power of food as medicine, I opened the first superfood cafe in the country in Del Mar called Beaming which became the most successful concept in the country at the time and 5 years later I had grown it to 10 locations throughout Southern California. While Beaming was amazing, working with perishable foods was challenging and I wanted to reach more people everywhere. I ended up selling Beaming in 1017 and went on to create Kroma Wellness which I launched in July 2021.
I love that you started making Kroma products in your kitchen. Can you explain the process and what is involved in creating these delicious snacks, and sachets of goodness?
When I first discovered superfoods back in 2011, I became obsessed as I was experiencing first-hand how powerful and effective they are. Because I had been working with superfoods for so long and I am a self-proclaimed foodie, I geek out on experimenting and putting interesting combinations together that marry function and flavor. Not an easy task when many of these mighty superfoods and adaptogens like ashwagandha, mushrooms (Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga, etc.) and spirulina taste really awful. The other challenge is that not all superfoods are created equal, so finding and sourcing the highest quality ingredients from around the world and testing was all consuming. From testing 100+ organic ceremonial grade matchas to finding the best ginger and turmeric to a maca that has 10x the potency of normal maca, to finding an organic maple sugar from a small farm in Vermont, to discovering a new non-lectin plant protein in Ecuador called Chocho, every ingredient matters. It took my daughter and I (we work together and have since she was 13) nearly 3 years of “mad-scientisting” to come up with the 15 products we launched with, along with beta testing our 5 Day Reset. To me, healthy has to taste amazing which is why I don’t compromise on any detail.
You can tell that there is a deep passion behind this. It’s all in your details. Is your passion still the same or are you finding a new passion these days?
I love what I do and feel grateful every day that I get to work with and learn from amazing people, am surrounded by so much support from our investors, customers and community and that we are changing lives. In saying this, running a company is not for the faint of heart – no matter how passionate you are. It takes tremendous resilience and a commitment to making time for the things that I love and make me feel good – dance, exercise, hiking, biking, tennis, skiing, being with friends, travel, learning, reading, playing, discovering amazing restaurants, etc.
I believe that food is medicine just like you. There is so much power in taking control of your health. What do you think is the first step for anyone struggling to make healthy eating choices?
I think you have to start with making YOU a priority – because no one else is going to. I also believe we often make it harder than it is, whether it is just committing to taking a walk and moving your body every day or removing gluten, sugar, processed foods and incorporating more organic vegetables and clean protein. Every new good habit leads to another and it doesn’t all have to happen at once. As a Mom who raised 3 kids on her own with no help (and very little money) while building 2 companies over the past 14 years, I know first-hand how hard it is to make time for you and to make your health a priority. I also know my health (and happiness) is the most precious asset I have – if I don’t feel good and don’t take care of myself, I cannot show up for others. Which is why I created Kroma – to simplify your life by taking the fuss and complexity out of making healthy choices by offering delicious healthy foods, beverages, snacks and supplements that require little to no prep and can go anywhere with you. Whether you incorporate products like ours from Kroma or you love making healthy food at home and have time to do it, or you have access to other healthy options, the critical part is committing to making your health a priority. It is also important to realize that it isn’t about perfection and only you know when you feel your best. Find a balance that works for you and listen to your body. It is always talking to you!
There’s a 2020 report by the Global Wellness Institute that says, women make 83% of health and wellness purchases, indicating a significant investment in this industry. Kroma is backed by some very prominent investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Schumer and Jessica Seinfeld. I read somewhere that 90% of your investors were women. How can encouraging more women to invest in health and Wellness benefit everyone?
Encouraging more women to invest in health and wellness can benefit everyone by amplifying their concerns and voices in an industry that historically overlooked their needs. Until the 1990s, women weren’t even included in clinical studies, which still blows my mind! However, with women now making 83% of health and wellness purchases, their investment in this industry signifies a significant shift towards addressing their unique concerns and preferences. This is HUGE. With funding from over 100 female investors, and being a female-led company, I am proud that Kroma embodies the importance of women’s perspectives in shaping the future of health and wellness. By encouraging more women to invest in health and wellness, we can ensure that diverse perspectives and innovative ideas are brought to the forefront. Ultimately, when women have a seat at the table and actively contribute to decision-making processes, everyone benefits!
I’m excited to know what the next steps are with Kroma Wellness. What can you share?
Lots of exciting things are happening! We have been busy in the kitchen the last few years and for the first time since our launch over two and a half years ago, we are introducing 6 new products this spring!
I can’t share all the juicy details but I will give you a little sneak peak at a few of our new products that will be launching throughout April and May. The first includes the first ever Gluten-Free Bone Broth Ramen in a cup. Think – the nostalgia of Cup-of -Noodle soup and Top Ramen but now healthy with 15g of protein, bone broth, collagen, coconut cream, turmeric, adaptogenic mushrooms and veggies. It is honestly out of this world and I can not wait to share it with everyone! We are also launching our new Super Granola which, I feel quite confident, may be the best granola you’ve ever tasted! Not that the world needed another granola, but I think you will agree that it needed this one! AND, after spending three years perfecting our recipes, we will be relaunching our Plant-Based Protein powders, now with 20g of plant protein and all our favorite superfoods and adaptogens. As with all of our products, we searched the world for the highest quality ingredients to create the most delicious, healthy, no fuss foods on the market.
And lastly, as always if I love something, I’m recommending it. Is there a special code that you can offer readers of Orlando Style magazine?
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