Dessert for Breakfast

Good morning! I had a delicious smoothie this a.m. that was so good I had to share it. It tasted decadent and sinful, but was a nutritious jump start to the day.



Chocolate-Raspberry-Soy Smoothie
Place several cups of organic fresh or frozen raspberries in a blender (if using fresh, also toss in a handful of ice cubes - I prefer frozen). Add a small organic banana (I also freeze mine) and just enough chocolate soy milk to reach your desired consistency.



Cheers!

A morning glass of "ahhhhhh"

If you're cleansing after the holidays or have a juicer, try this nutrient-packed veggie juice recipe that I found in Whole Living Magazine adapted from the book Clean: The Revolutionary Program To Restore the Body's Natural Ability To Heal Itself. It's tasty and will

Carrot, Beet, Cabbage, and Watercress Juice
This deep red juice is packed with vitamins and nutrients. Drink it for breakfast and wash it down with a cup of herbal tea or hot water with lemon. These ingredients make two servings; share with a friend or halve the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium carrots
• 1/4 white cabbage
• 1 small beet
• 1 cup watercress salad

Directions: press all ingredients through a juice extractor. Stir, and drink immediately.

Yoga Day USA

(source)

Mark your calendars!

Yoga Day USA is a national celebration of Yoga that happens Saturday, January 23rd. "Yogis, novices, couch potatoes and triathletes, young, old and everyone in between join together to stretch the mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga" (website). In the spirit of karma yoga, all Yoga day USA classes and workshops are free - or nearly free. For more on how you can find an event in your community, visit yogadayusa.com.

Wise Words

Just as a seed contains all it needs to sprout, so are you already equiped to thrive.

Clean up your act

I don’t know about you, but my produce intake seriously slips during the holidays. With sugar and salt filled treats lurking at every corner, it’s tough this time of year to dodge the platters of decorated cookies at home and the baskets of homemade treats at your office. And then there’s the countless holiday celebrations we attend this time of year….each one filled with tempting hors d'oeuvre and drinks galore. With all of this in front of us, even the healthiest eater can inadvertently get out of whack this time of year.

After an indulgent spell of rich foods, late nights, and a few more cocktails than usual, there comes a time when we need to detox, destress amd regaom your well being.

So if the holiday fun and folic has left you in need of a serious do over, consider following these steps to detox and get your body back to feeling energized and strong:

• Before cleansing: 3 days before you start detoxing, focus on eating whole grains, veggies, fruit, fish and lean poultry. Avoid sugar, dairy and fried foods.
• Drink more H₂0: carry around a water bottle and set a personal goal to drink a set amount (for example, 3 Kleen Kanteen’s while at work). Also try drinking green tea over coffee and black tea as a way to ease up on your caffeine intake.
• 4-day detox: during these 4 days stick to liquid meals (fresh green juices, fruit smoothies, and broth based soups) for BREAKFAST AND DINNER. Have a solid and mostly plant-based meal at lunch.
• For lunch: have to plant-based meal mid-day. A combination of vegetables, fruits and whole grains is essential for maintaining your weight and overall health. Whole grains will keep your blood sugar stable ad richness from plant-based fats like avocado and olive oil will keep you satiated.
• Snack ideas: munch on raw veggies, fresh berries, raw almonds and walnuts along with herbal tea. Keep drinking lots of water (if you get bored of plain water, flavor it with mint, cucumber or lemon).
• For optimal cleansing: leave 12 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day. Drink hot lemon water in the morning and before bed.
• Exercise: devote at least 30 minutes daily to exercise (yoga, cardiorespiratory conditioning, or strength training). Establish a routine now that you’ll be able to stick with once you’re through with your detox.
• Snooze: get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Your body needs sufficient rest for optimal muscle recovery, in order to “clean house” and repair your cells, and to transfer information into your long-term memory.

Remember: avoid saturated fats (found in processed foods or full fat-dairy, refined sugars, dairy, butter, eggs, alcohol, caffeine, and mayonnaise.

You can detox and clean house easily and effectively while you continue to eat clean, as long as you cut out the foods and other substances that interfere with the elimination process. I personally find it easiest to eat a mid day meal and stick to soups and juices morning and night.


I hope you find this post useful to kick off your January on a healthy note. Consider this year the opportunity of a lifetime. Start fresh by cleaning, removing, restoring and rejuvenating.

Bye bye dry skin & winter itch!

Unless you live in a subtropical environment, when this time of year rolls around you probably battle some degree of dry skin. Air humidity is down during the winter months and most of us are living in artificial indoor heat that's harsh on our skin.

To avoid itchy, cracked or dry skin follow these tips this winter:

1. Get enough good fats in your diet. During the winter months it's crucial to make sure you're consuming a high quality animal-based omega-3 fat. When you take a high quality fish or krill oil, you'll hydrate and nourish your skin from the inside out. According to Health Magazine, "all women need to consume at least 500 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids daily to protect their heart." Here are 3 brands to check out:

• Best for vegans: Minami Nutrition Vegan DHA ($40 for 60 pills)
• Best-tasting: Chews Better ($12 for 12 packs)
• Best on budget: Nature Made Double Strength Fish Oil ($10 for 100 pills)

2. This one may ruffle some feathers but I recommended you don't OVER wash your hands with harsh soaps. I realize that many people are hypersensitive to germs right now (ahem, H1n1) and therefore feel they must wash their hands constantly. As a teacher, I can relate as I sometimes need to wash my hands 15+ times a day. Of course it goes without saying that you should wash your hands to prevent the transfer of bacteria, viruses and microbes...especially whenever you prepare food, use the restroom, blow your nose, touch animals or handle garbage, to name a just a few. But the danger in OVER washing your hands is that there is an increased tendency to develop cracks and even bleeding. Once these cracks develop, there's a decrease in the barrier of your skin which is your primary protection to the outside environment. When these openings and cracks exist, you basically create an entry point for germs to enter your bloodstream and cause infection.

3. Pay close attention to your personal skin care products. What many people fail to realize is that whatever you apply to your skin has a high likelihood of actually bypassing your skin and going straight into your bloodstream. If you're not willing to eat the ingredients in your skin care product, I'd be really carefully about applying it to your skin at all. A few dangerous chemicals you want to avoid and make sure they're NOT in your current personal skincare products include:

• Sodium laurel sulfate: SLS is commonly used as an engine degreaser and is something people use to clean their garage floors. This is certainly not an ingredient you want to apply to your skin.
• Parabens: parabens are petroleum derivatives that can literally serve as an estrogen mimic. Extra estrogen is a risk factor for increasing cancer, especially breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men.
• BHT: Butylated hydroxytoluene is an organic fat-soluble food compound. Research has shown that BHT can produce hyperactivity in children. It has also ben linked to increased cancer risk.

Carefully examine your skin care products because there are many other chemicals you want to avoid. Some of these nasty ingredients include:

• Mineral oil
• Paraffin
• Petrolatum
• Phenol carbolic acid
• Propylene glycol
• Acrylamide
• Toluene
• Dioxan

When choosing a skin care product, try to select a brand that is only made up of high quality natural ingredients loaded with antioxidents that will nourish your skin and your whole body. Many people, even those who carefully select raw and organic foods, still choose to use skin care products that can do serious damage to their skin. Be a wise consumer!

4. Hydrate your entire system with lots of water and green tea. During the winter we have a tendency to drink less fluids due to the cooler temperatures. Hydrating the body from the inside plumps lines and wrinkles on the outside according to Elizabeth Hale, M.D., clinical associate professor of dermatology at the NYU School of Medicine.

5. Eat plenty of fresh raw organic fruits and vegetables. Uncooked fruits and veggies are loaded with skin-protective antioxidants in addition to water, which keeps your skin glowing and hydrated from the inside out.

6. Wear gloves when you go outside. This one sounds like a no brainer, but I constantly see people walking around the city with nakey hands. Gloves help protect your hands from the winter's blistery cold winds, so get a good pair of mittens for the season.

7. Moisturize daily with an organic moisturizer, like coconut oil or body butter. This is especially important after you get out of a warm bath or shower as your body will absorb the moisturizer better.

8. Exercise! Our skin detoxifies impurities from our system through perspiration. Get a good sweat going every day, even if it's for 15 minutes.

9. Avoid chlorine and taking hot showers or baths. Hot water and chlorine damage your skin. The hotter the water, the more potential the damage because the rate of chemical reactions increases with temperature. Chlorine can cause oxidative damage, as well. Try to limit your showers to one per day and be in and out in under 5 minutes.