Harvest of Heaven Snacks Review & Giveaway (4/4) – Closed, Winner #107

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Harvest of Heaven Dried Fruit & Veggie Snacks

If you want to snack, have a healthy snack. Naturally, you’ll pay more for a quality snack, i.e., organic, without preservatives, artificial colors, and free of harmful stuff.

The end result is two-fold.

First, you’ll greatly enjoy your snackity food!

Second, your body will definitely be grateful for your thoughtfulness.

I am always on the look out for healthy and delicious snacks. Food, like life, should bear a lot of variety. Would you agree?

The folks from Breezy Spring sent me to try and snack on their deliciously tasting, and sounding, dried pieces of fruit and veggies.

Harvest of Haven – that’s the name of their brand of snacks – sent me to seventh heaven when I was munching on shiitake mushrooms, taro, pumpkin, crispy slices of apple, banana, and pineapple. These dried fruit and vegetable snacks really taste good. Plus, they made me full after grabbing couple of pieces of this and that variety of fruit and veggies.

Why I liked Harvest of Heaven:

• No preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors
• Non GMO
• No MSG
• Gluten Free
• Wheat Free
• Dietary Fiber of natural occurring is preserved
• Low Carbohydrate
• Sea Salt is added for taste
• Cold pressed Canola oil for texture

These snacks could be picked up at Publix stores, Albertsons, Chamberlin’s, Whole Food Market stores, Akin’s Natural Foods, and at Amazon.com. Plus at many small private retailers of healthy foods.

Would you like a basket full of these snacks? Then, head straight to the ball game!

The Winner shall receive the following Harvest of Heaven Fruit & Veggie Snacks:

• Pure Apple
• Pure Banana
• Pure Pineapple
• Pure Green Bean
• Pure Sweet Potato
• Pure Taro
• Pure Shiitake
• Pure Carrot
• Mixes Fruits
• Mixed Veggies

To Celebrate your potential win, here are the steps for you to take (yes, even this exercise requires steps!) Do as many as you wish. But please do the Mandatory step before you proceed to any optional ones. OK?! One, Two, Three – ENJOY!

MANDATORY ENTRY:
You must do this first or all other entries will be deleted!
1. Head to Breezy Spring web and tell me what product you'd like to try AND Subscribe to CelebrateWomanToday via email & confirm your subscription (News Alert box in the Left Top Corner). Comment on both in one comment box (1 entry)

EXTRA ENTRIES – Please leave your email address under each entry, if your profile does not have any!

2. Become friends via Google Friends Connect (it's at the very bottom of the page) (2 separate entries)

3. Vote for me on We're On the Fence just by clicking on the button that is at Top Left Navigation, do it daily (1 entry)

4. Follow ME (DiscoverSelf) on Twitter, leave your Twitter User Name (1 entry)

5. Tweet and Leave a link to that tweet. You can tweet as many times a day as you wish (1 entry for each tweet)
Here’s the language for your tweet: #Win Harvest of Heaven Snacks Galore @DiscoverSelf  ~ http://bit.ly/hiPJn3 #sahm #women #health #giveaways

6. Like CelebrateWomanToday on Facebook, leave your Facebook User Name (2 entries)

7. Like this giveaway on Facebook by clicking on the “Like” button on the orange toolbar you see at the bottom of your screen (2 entries)

8. Blog about this giveaway, leave a direct link to this giveaway in your 1st of 5 entries (5 separate entries: please mark each entry #1, #2, #3, etc.)

9. Add CelebrateWomanToday to your blogroll (using my URL), with a link back to me (1 entry)

10. Follow CelebrateWomanToday on Networked Blogs, leave me your User Name (2 separate entries)

11. Enter any other giveaways on this blog and get 2 points for each giveaway entered (2 separate entries for each giveaway entered)

12. Comment on any other non-giveaway article on this blog and get one entry for each comment (1 entry for each comment)

13. Write your comment on Alexa about Celebrate Woman Today and get 3 entries for each comment (3 separate entries for each comment)

Giveaway will end on April 4, 2011 at 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST). Open to USA only. Confirmed Winners (by Random.ogr) will be contacted by email and posted on CelebrateWomanToday. Winners have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Good Luck to All of You!

Celebrate Possibilities Today!


Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and/or use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I received samples of Harvest of Heaven dried fruit and veggies from Breezy Spring to fascilitate this review and giveaway.I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Three Kinds of Peas And One Slim You

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January is my month of great new salad recipes that I do not make on the regular basis. I wanted to widen the variety of salads I usually make for my whole family. All of these salads boast great ingredients and a health boosting alternative to other processed foods.

Without further ado, here's another pearl in my collection.

Three Pea Salad on Spring Mix Greens

Ingredients:

3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame
8 oz snap peas, trimmed
4 cups spring mix of salad greens
1/2 cup radish, thinly sliced for garnish
2 Tb spoons white wine vinegar (Here's a link why you need vinegar in your daily life!)
1 Tb spoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tb spoons of real sour cream (it has only milk, cream and enzymes in it!)
1 tea spoon agave nectar (low glycemic, appropriate for diabetics)
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Salad Dressing: In a separate bowl, mix together white wine vinegar, olive oil, sour cream, agave, and tarragon.
3. Add peas, edamame to the boiling pot of water. Cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in sugar snap peas. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Or until tender-crisp. Do not over boil!
4. Drain the peas, pour cold water on top of them to stop cooking inside these veggies.
5. In a serving bowl with spring mix add the peas and radishes.
6 Drizzle with the dressing from Step 2.

Celebrate Your Green Day Menu Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Publish Post

Healthy Weight – More Active Years to Your Life

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Just a reminder during this holiday season to focus on your personal needs. It does not mean you need to be the center of the Universe from the egotistical point of view. Please, no.

What it truly means that you need to keep balances and peace inside of you to make this life and people around you joyful and happy.

Those of us who put their emphasis on a healthy weight, great fresh food choices win big: Today and Tomorrow.

One of the recent studies confirmed that being overweight reduces the life span and poses a huge risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Without being too instructive, I would like you to continue, day after day, to inspire yourself, your buddy, your family by being the best you are. By infusing your daily life with new energy from great foods, active physical activities, good humor, sharing your time with each other.

Celebrate Your Self Today!

FuzziBunz Mom Cooks Red Beans and Rice

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Yes, Tereson Dupuy, the Creator of Number 1 cloth pocket diapers cooks for her kids. She shares this yummy recipe her children love.

Tereson, "My children love beans! Red beans, black beans, white beans. Here's one of their favorite recipes."

Red Beans and Rice Recipe by FuzziBunz Tereson Dupuy

You'll need:
1 lb red kidney beans
1 package turkey sausage or tasso (use vegetarian versions)
1 onion
3 celery stalks
1 bellpepper
salt, pepper to taste
brown rice

Preparation
Soak beans overnight.
Brown sausage or other meat or meat substitutes and seasonings.
Put in a crockpot in the morning and cook on low for 10 hours or high for 7 hours.
Once cooked mash some of the beans to make a creamy consistency.
Serve over brown rice.

More on Tereson Dupuy, The FuzziBunz Creator

From Clear Idea To A Fuzzi Business... How Could This Young Mother Dare To Do This?
What Kind of Diaper is The Best for Your Baby? How Do You Know?

PS: If you have any questions to Susan, please leave them in the comments below. She will definitely read and answer them.
PPS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only review products I believe in. I am not compensated for my opinions. 

Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Cool Cuke and Honeydew Fizz – Refreshing Drink Recipe

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Get Jiggy With the Juice

 (by Mareya Ibrahim, Eat Cleaner Creator)

Growing up in a warm country, a prerequisite for a blistering hot day – about 10 months out of the year – was to pay a visit to the juice bar around the corner from our flat.

The proprietor would stack the counters up with colorful pyramids of oranges, beets, mangoes, guavas and pomegranates, depending on what was in season.  Vases filled with rods of sugar cane and long carrots anchored the artful arrangements to create an edible landscape.

Once the juicers started to whir, the sweet scent of freshness would dance through the steamy streets, luring customers in like a pied piper.  He’d create his own signature fruit and veggie ‘cocktails’, mixing beet with orange, carrot and mango, a soulful blend of sweet and savory.  At a time when soda made it to our side of the globe, juicing was just pure refreshment. 

Now we know that fresh juice provides us with invaluable nutrition in a glass.  Yet, most of the juice you purchase at the store has been heat pasteurized, which destroys bacteria along with many of the beneficial nutrients.

If you make it at home, you’ll not only preserve a bevy of vitamins and minerals, essential fatty acids and good carbohydrates, you’ll also ensure its safety of the fruit and vegetables when you buy and wash them yourself.

Added bonus…you get the best of the fruit, including fiber and concentrated nutrients, while reaping the benefits of quick-release energy in a flash – a great pick-me-up before and after your yoga workout. 

*****

Cool Cuke and Honeydew Fizz Recipe

Tip: Use Eat Cleaner wash or wipes for all veggies and fruit in this recipe to enhance safety and flavor.

Why You Should Indulge: Cucumber is a good source of folic acid, potassium, vitamins A and C and is a natural anti-inflammatory, maintaining overall health and wellness.  Honeydew melons are also chock full of vitamin C and are naturally low in calories.  Combined with sparkling water to give it a fun fizz, Cukes and Honeydews are the perfect mates.

Makes approx. 16 ounces
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cups cubed honeydew melon
1 cup sparkling water
1 Fresh lime

In a blender, pulse cucumber and honeydew until smooth.  Add sparkling water and blend thoroughly.  Pour over ice or chill and finish with a squeeze of lime.

*****

More on Mareya's Success Story
California Mother Puts End to Contaminated Food Eating
How To Eat Produce Treated With Pesticides... And Be Healthy
California Woman From Egypt Saves You Big Buck on Produce, Poultry, and Fish

PS: If you know of a woman-entrepreneur with healthy product(s) she created and developed, please let me know, so we could spread a word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Edible Art Supplies... Part II

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(Please DO NOT eat them on purpose. But Clementine products are 100% non-toxic, just in case your kids accidentally swallow them.)

So, where did Diana end up with her idea of creating edible non-toxic art supplies? Immersed in  her kitchen testing, and testing, and testing. Endlessly.

CelebrateWoman (CW) Is there anything that was a surprise to you that you did not expect on your way creating Clementine Art?
Diana Mercer (Diana) I had no idea how challenging it would be to make an all-natural art product. Finding stable, workable alternatives to synthetic dyes, preservatives, and other chemical additives has pushed me to put on my chemist’s hat – not one I usually wear.

Even now, the challenge has the incredibly well-trained scientists we are working with scrambling as well. It is so important for a natural product to work as well, or better than the conventional alternative. We’ve finally gotten there, but it has not been easy. And there are more products to make!

CW. How do you see your creation – Clementine Art – will affect your life in the future?
Diana. My hope is that Clementine will provide me with a platform to do what I love; encourage children to grow and learn through art. I can’t imagine anything better than that.

CW.  What is the #1 Thing you would like your customers to know about Clementine Art product?
Diana. Clementine is different because we hold ourselves to a higher standard; Natural AND non-toxic. Honesty, disclosure and transparency is very important to us, so we list all of our ingredients are right on the box.

•••••

The more we talked, the more fascinated I was with accomplishments of this definitely unordinary woman. There was no ending to my curiosities about this phenomenon, Diana Mercer. How does she juggle all her priorities and still be success?

Why is she and her Clementine Art are so popular throughout the hemispheres?

Why everybody needs and ought to become part of the Clementine Art movement?

CW. If we talked to All of your family and friends – imagine them in one room at the same time – what would you tell them about what you do? – What would they tell Me about your involvement with your company?
Diana. I would paraphrase Sir Ken Robinson, a British scholar and activist for arts education by reminding all of my family and friends that our world is complex. The challenges we face; disease, famine, Global Warming, war, and poverty are just a few of the issues on our global plate. These issues can’t solve themselves and will require a great deal of ingenuity and creativity to tackle.

Currently, our students are being trained in the art of ‘one right answer’ in educational climates that don’t have the time, room, or resources to teach creativity. Creativity needs to be taught with the same urgency that reading, writing and math is taught in schools. Our future depends on it.

They would tell you that I am a passionate, talkative, and enthusiastic supporter of arts education for children.

CW. What keeps you going day after day?
Diana. I love my job and my life. It’s not hard to keep going when that’s the case. I work with fun people, and have inspiring friends. When I get discouraged, my yoga and meditation practice helps a lot.

CW. How do you celebrate: your achievements; mistakes and miscalculations; and even failures?
Diana. Oh gosh. I wish I were better at taking the time to celebrate the small triumphs along the way. We often get caught up in what’s next around here, so there’s not much time to pat ourselves on the back.

That said, I would like to spend more time soaking in the fullness of what we have accomplished. Learning to celebrate my failures is the hardest one of all.

As a recovering perfectionist, it does not come easy for me. I do try to laugh at my mistakes. What else can you do?

CW. After a long day, when you close your eyes and reflect on the day, just before you go to sleep, what goes through your heart and mind?
Diana. I have a ritual for that. Each night I reflect on all the things I am grateful for. On a hard day, it might just be my comfy bed and my cat, but most days, I am bursting with gratitude for all that I have; many, many blessings.

•••••

Thank you, Diana, for this exquisite time learning about you and your dedication to bring the best of health and creativity into the lives or our children.

It is truly extraordinary to be able to eat our art supplies (if that happens ever) and continue to feel great and healthy. (Make sure these supplies are of the Clementine origin!)

This is how Diana started her business
Diana's Culmination as a Creator

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Draw Your Picture, Eat Your Art Supplies, Feel Great!

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(Please DO NOT eat any art supplies on purpose. But if you licked or even swallowed these – no worries – they are 100% non-toxic, natural ingredients. So, happy crafting!)

Did you know that you actually can eat your art supplies and ... still feel great? Before, it would be a joke for me. Now, however, my two-year-old plays only with such creative tools.

A few years ago at one of the shows for healthy products, I was passing by one booth that was so barraged by attendees that I could hardly peak into the heart of the space to see what this ado was about.

Everybody who was crawling out of the crowd was showcasing a free gift – something of color and of weird shape. I didn’t know what it was, and my curiosity couldn’t get my physical body through the crowd, believe it or not. I just continued to the next booth.

A couple years passed by. Another show. Another huge crowd like never before. Decidedly, I squeezed through it. I couldn’t believe my eyes: Those weird-shaped colorful whimsical creations were staring into my face. One time more.

And this pleasant, soft-spoken woman with a huge infectious smile was quickly showing how to use all that she had at her fingertips.

That was my first contact with Diana Mercer of Clementine Art.

Meeting such women like Diana who actually create products, always makes my mind go crazy with questions.

What is Clementine Art?

What made Diana create Clementine Art?

She answers answers exquisitely eloquently to these probing questions.

Q. What got you started on the path of developing Clementine Art products?
A. I have always been interested in children and art. As everyone knows, art can be messy. One day at Clementine, my children’s art studio in Boulder, a mother and I looked over to see a toddler with a paint brush in her mouth like a lollipop. Aghast, we mopped her up, but the parent’s worried look, and question “Is this ok?” got me thinking.

The status quo for safety in children’s art supplies has always been limited to ‘non-toxic’. I had grave doubts that the non-toxic standard was high enough for children. Why didn’t I know what was in the product?

Why wasn’t there a choice for children made from simple, wholesome and clean ingredients that are better for children, and better for the earth?

Q. What was your life before you started this company ... and after ...?
A. For the past 20 years, I have been in the field of education. After receiving my Master’s in Education from CU Boulder in the early 90’s, I began a rich career in the classroom at a small, progressive school that placed a high value on the arts.

I spent the next 10 years up to my ears in professional development experiences; training with some of the nation’s best educators, and studying child development. In 2001, I moved to Aspen to serve as the Director of Education at the Aspen Historical Society.

While Aspen was a hoot, I missed Boulder and moved back to Boulder in 2003 to open Clementine Studio, a creative art space for children. At Clementine Studio, I provided open-ended arts workshops, camps and classes to the Boulder community for 5 years until it was acquired in 2008 by a local, arts education non-profit.

The idea behind my new business, Clementine Art, was to bring the open-ended, high quality and creative art experience from the studio into people’s homes.

As Diana was sharing her hero quest for the best green and edible product on Earth, I was admiring her determination to fuze safety and creativity into children’s lives.

A. Currently, I am finding my way in a new career that has me stretching, jumping, and learning every day. I am surrounded by very clever mentors who are patient with my retail inexperience, and luckily, I work hard and learn fast.

I’ve been writing about the importance of creativity for children, and demonstrating the benefits of Clementine products at events all over the country. I’ve also been making paint in my KitchenAid, researched natural colors, and learned more about p.H. than the average gal. I’ve also had to learn to Twitter.

Q. Who are those remarkable people that influenced your creative, professional, and personal life that lead you to starting and sustaining this company?
A. The educator with the most influence on my teaching philosophy has been Bev Bos. I call her the ‘Queen of Process Art’, but she is so much more. Bev is a child development guru who runs the most inspiring school in Sacramento, CA. She has written two books on child development called Don’t Move the Muffin Tins and Together We’re Better.

Bev will go to any length to make certain her students have what they need including;  trucking in snow from Northern California for her children to experience, filling her play yard with Evergreen trees in pots so her children can play in a ‘forest’, and filling the inside of her school with a deep, pile of sand that her children climbed on, in and around for a month.

She invents wacky paintbrushes, colored water contraptions, and sound experiments that engage her young learners fully and with all their senses and enthusiasm and she has been a deeply inspiring model to hundreds of thousands of preschool teachers across the country.

Todd Woloson, who is the founder of Izze beverage company and a veteran in the natural products industry, is an original founder of Clementine Art and has been instrumental in bringing the vision for Clementine to life. 

Q. Has your involvement with Clementine Art products and company changed your self-image, and your relationships with family, friends, romantic involvement?
A. I think my sheer excitement about the possibilities for Clementine is somewhat catching, and all of my friends and family, certainly, are rooting for me and helping to spread the word.

As for my self-image, I have moments of feeling humbled and terribly naive, and other moments when I am able to embrace my unique expertise and find a place for it in this quickly growing company. It depends on the day.

Q. If you had to do it all over again, would you? And why?
A. Absolutely. It’s exciting, it’s challenging, it’s totally unique, and I have an opportunity to influence the creative lives of large numbers of children in a manner that I haven’t before. I am excited to make a difference.

 •••••

With this humble, yet determined outlook into her life, Diana strikes me as a person with persistent drive to find a solution to whatever a situation calls for. Rare and valuable find.

As I was throwing more questions at her, Diana only seemed to get more excited about sharing more of her and her hero quest into edible art supplies. This is not the end of it. This is just the beginning of conquering the world with edible, colorful, whimsical art pieces.

Curious where Diana ended up? Look no further. It’s right here.

Diana's Culmination as a Creator
Discover Great Kid's Craft Recipe from Clementine Art

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Healthy Choices in Children's Craft ("Edible" if swallowed accidentally by your children)

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Wanna Get Groovy? Get Involved with Clementine Art Movement!

Incorporating craft projects and free thinking spirit into a child's play is of utmost importance that a child caretaker could do. Why? Simply put, a child is given opportunities to unravel all the genius of their existence and experience happiness and joy in the moment. Isn’t that the ultimate goal of a loving parent?

Providing healthy choices for a child’s soul to express themselves as a child celebrates creative times – that's what Diana Mercer with her Clementine Art movement does so perfectly.

Here’s just one of many fun projects that can make your child, and you, reflect who they really are.

Collect:
• Salad Spinner (often available at yard sales for pennies)
• Squeeze bottles (Reuse your agave, mustard or honey bottles)
• Paint (try Clementine all-natural paint)
• Heavyweight paper or card stock squares

Put the paper in the salad spinner and drip, drop and squeeze paint on top. You may want to limit your colors to 2 or 3 for a more interesting result, but don't take my word for it. Try it yourself.

After the paint is to your liking, put the cover on the salad spinner and spin away! Be sure the spinner has come to a full stop before you open it to prevent pinched fingers.

 What do you do with all that collections of spin art? Turn them into framed art, greeting cards, family album decoration pieces. Or just simply collect in you child’s treasure box of saved masterpieces.

Imagine your child’s eyes shine and sparkle as they share their genius of their soul with you. And the rest of the world. Doesn’t it sound and look like fun?

Celebrate Clementine Art Today. With Your Child.

This is how Diana started her business
Read Diana's Hero Quest
Diana's Culmination as a Creator

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

What Your Mouth Is Hungry For, Is Not What Your Body Is Craving

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Nutrition is something your body understands. It doesn’t need a college degree, or even a high school diploma to figure out what it requires to be healthy. And it tells you in not-so-subtle terms how well you are meeting those nutritional needs. Your body talks.

When you understand the nutritional feedback language of your body, you can take actions that can save you grief – even save your life.

See that spare tire spreading around your middle? Your body is talking. No energy when you wake up in the morning? That’s clear communication.

See that uneven, splotchy surface to your skin? More talking going on.

Of course you know your body talks. We all do.

What is going on when your excess weight is talking but you ignore it and choose to eat something you know you shouldn’t? Remember that heavy meal last night, and how tired you were getting out of bed this morning? Your body says they are connected… why aren’t you listening? 

Have you told your body to shut up, and bribed it with laxatives, antiacids, or maybe Prevacid or Tagament?

How do you get to the point that you quit listening to your body? Or try to talk it out of its strong opinions with drug store remedies? Or Weight Watchers?

Your body deserves a lot more respect than that. It deserves to be listened to. Doesn’t it?

But unlike a chatty spouse, you can’t just chalk up your body-talk to a difference of opinion. Your body is going to keep doing – saying – what it needs to, to express its strong opinions. Like a loving partner, your body is hoping that one day you will listen, and change what you have been ignoring.

Why don’t you listen to your body?

Why don’t you comply with your body’s requests to change what you eat, how you exercise, and your need for proper sleep and less stress?

Only a few real answers to that question. Either you don’t believe what your body is telling you, or you don’t care. Or perhaps you don’t believe you can make changes that will make a difference. Which is it for you?

It really just gets down to your sense of self, your feelings of self worth. And, in this case, that is rooted in your sense of connectedness to your body. Many people tell me they see themselves as one thing, and their body as another. They feel disconnected from their body.

Others tell me they are tired of arguing with their body – it never seems to do what they want it to do. So, on most days they just give up, and ignore it. 

A beautiful relationship develops by listening

What about the healthy people that I know? Each loves their body, and wouldn’t think of not listening to it. Each respects the beautiful simplicity of what their body is telling them all day long. And in listening, they have come to a peace, a beautiful relationship with their body. They are so close to their body, they think of themselves as one with it – true soul-mates experiencing all that life has to offer. A life they share as one.  

If your body is telling you, with its excess weight, incessant tiredness, its skin problems, and general sluggishness, that you need to change something, and it has been telling you that for a very long time, then stop. Ask yourself if you count.

Are you worth being a good listener?

Are you worth being a vibrant person in this world? Because, if you are not worth it, then maybe you have been doing the right thing in ignoring your body’s needs. Keep going your separate ways. Of course that will lead to a divorce one day, a sad and unhappy separation is in your future. It will be costly, and come sooner rather than later.

But if you are worth it, if you truly feel you want to live a vibrant, happy life, then take some time and begin listening to your body. It has a lot to tell you, and believe me, if you listen, and respond, your body will begin leading you back to the joyous health you have been missing.

Remember, you don’t need a college degree, high school diploma, or even a marriage counsellor to learn to listen to and understand your body’s language.

The first step to begin that amazing listening journey is your next bite. Consider that what your mouth is hungry for – is it really what your body is craving? If you will listen to that key difference, you are on the path to a harmonious life together – you and your body can become one.

Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you need?

Celebrate Woman Today

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Recipe for Fish Salad to Be On Track With You Weight Loss Plan

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Here’s one of the healthy choices for you that incorporates the principals from the previous post about exercise, and healthy food choices after it (to lower your insulin resistance and lose or maintain weight). This salad does meat those requirements, and it is very filling.

Variety Fish Salad

(Easy delicious recipes for healthy meals. Every day)

Ingredients
1 orange
1 lb fish fillet (go for the cold water and Atlantic salmon, rather than farm fish)
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
8 cups of spinach or green/red salad leaves
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 can (16 oz) white or black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. From the orange, grate some peel to measure 2 teaspoons; set aside. Peel and section orange; reserve. Arrange fish (salmon) in 8-inch baking dish.
2. Combine Balsamic Vinegar with orange peel in small bowl. Evenly brush fish (salmon) with 4 tablespoons dressing mixture. Bake 12 minutes or until salmon flakes with fork.
3. Arrange spinach (green salad leaves), tomatoes, and onion on serving platter. Top with orange and beans, then arrange fish (salmon) and pine nuts.
4. Drizzle with remaining Balsamic Vinegar.

To Your Health!

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Full Meal and... Weight Loss? You Bet!

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Enhance Insulin Sensitivity With Exercise and Food After Your Workout
(A great tip to your weight loss plan)

It’s well known that factors such as insulin resistance (when the body has difficulty to take up sugar from the blood stream into its tissues) lead to weight gain. If you would like to lose weight – lower your insulin resistance (in other words, enhance your insulin sensitivity). How?

There is a lot of research that shows that exercise is one of the major factors to lower your insulin resistance. First step to all working and stay at home moms, do something to squeeze intense aerobic activity into your day. Regularly (fyi: 30-40 minutes on most days of the week.)

But there’s another interesting and a very key component you need to be aware of. It is the kind of food you eat After your exercise.1 Make a mental note of the following two factors in addition to exercise that will make a huge difference in achieving your weight loss goals.

1. Eat Low Carbohydrate content after your exercise (Low Glycemic food is the key!)
2. Eat enough calories to match what you just expended during your exercise (those calories that come from your healthy food choices)

Whatever your weight loss plan is, you need to do the above two items Together to get the results, that lead to increased insulin sensitivity and make you lose weight eventually.

PS: For those who don’t have that list of Low Glycemic (GI) foods, just email me. I plan to give a short list of the low GI foods a bit later.

References:
1. Newsom, Sean A., et. al. Energy deficit after exercise augments lipid mobilization but does not contribute to the exercise-induced increase in insulin sensitivity (published in the online edition of the journal for the American Physiological Society)

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.