Celiac Disease: The 411 on Getting Tested, Gluten Intolerances, & Gluten Free Recipes

9 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

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As many of you know, I follow a (mostly) gluten free diet because I tend to be sensitive to wheat and gluten-containing products. By mostly, I mean that I eat gluten free 90% of the time, but do allow myself Ezekiel bread as the gluten in this bread is easier to digest, as well as the occasional cheat (i.e. a Christmas cookie or freshly baked North End Italian bread while waiting for dinner).

Since I’ve cut gluten out for the most part for almost three years now, I’ve noticed many positive changes, number one being that my digestion has improved tremendously. In college, I used to have terrible stomach pains, constant bloat, and unexplained inability to lose weight no matter what my lifestyle/diet/exercise regime. Now, I can happily say the bloat is pretty much gone, and I feel OK eating just a little piece of bread or a brownie here and there because I don’t go overboard re: stomach issues.

But now I’m left with a pretty BIG problem. I had gone to the doctors this week to get tested for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that is caused by the intake of gluten … Read More!

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Healthy Relationships ChitChat: Have You Checked in With Yourself Lately?

2 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

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The other day, my blogger friend & relationship expert Jen was interviewed on CTV News, where she said some things that really stood out for me. She was stressing that the New Year is a time for fresh beginnings a.k.a checking in with yourself whether you are in or out of a relationship.

Checking in? Now what exactly does that mean, you ask?

Single ladies may ask, “Am I happy where I am?” “Am I focusing on myself?” “Am I being open minded?” “Am I enjoying what I am doing at work/play/home?”

And those that are in a relationship may wonder, “Have things gone stale?” “What can work better?” “Are we affectionate enough?” “Does he/she make me feel good about myself and/or bring out the best in me?”

These are the kinds of questions that you may ask yourself to figure out if you are being the best you, no matter what your relationship status. 

Jen’s most valuable lesson was reminding us to live our best selves. Never let go of that passion. If you like to paint, heck buy an easel and paint away! Don’t worry about being judged by others if you want to … Read More!

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Superfood Lookout: The Endless Health Benefits of Chia Seeds

7 Comments / Health & Wellness /

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Lately chia seeds (not to be confused with the chia pet) have been getting extra attention in health magazines, news articles, and the wondrous world of the internet. But this ultra superfood actually traces back thousands of years ago to the ancient Aztec and Mayan Civilization.

So what is this so called chia seed, you ask? Meaning “strength” in Mayan, this seed definitely fits its profile. Loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, protein and dietary fiber, its no wonder this superfood has gained such popularity.

Here’s a breakdown of the many health benefits* & perks of the chia seed:

*the health benefits were derived from this article on Natural News, general knowledge from endless internet research and my personal experience

  • Loaded with essential fatty acids, which help support our organs and keep us healthy
  • Contains a high amount of omega-3s (which are difficult to get in your average American diet unless you’re pounding fish every day) for aiding digestion and keeping our hair, skin and nails beautiful, and also omega-6 fatty acids (which helps tremendously with inflammation). A power duo if I do say so myself! [If you’d like to read more about the
… Read More!

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An Update on This Healthy Chick: Part Two

15 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

[the boy & I on Christmas]

So as I was looking over former posts the other day, I realized I haven’t really given an update on my life (you know, the important stuff) in quite some time now (since JUNE!?!) Of course you hear about my new juicer, love for Core Fusion, must-see movies and all of my crazy adventures in the kitchen, but that’s not really all that’s going on behind the scene.

In fact, there are probably many things about me that my readers are unaware of, like the fact that I’m color blind with shades of brown, green and red (and my boyfriend was afraid to buy me roses because he thought I’d think they were poop brown), or that I work at Exhale Spa, or that I’m 24 years old and finally in my first relationship, and a great relationship at that.

I’m highly emotional and sensitive, HATE olives and am obsessed with peanut butter, cheese, and tequila.

OK, those aren’t really the important things of life, but as you can see there’s much more to me than what meets the eye (or my blog).

Like the fact that I’m going to be … Read More!

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Friday Favorites & Holy Headaches

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

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How can you not love these adorable, little jars?

While I’ve been loving how juicing has been making me feel inside and out, I’m really not loving the headaches that I’ve been getting. I’m pretty sure it’s due to the fact that I’ve been cutting back on coffee lately, or not even drinking it at all some days. After a bright green, clean, delicious juice it just seems strange to jump to a black coffee. Those flavors don’t really mesh too well, ya know?

Plus the juicing has so many wonderful nutrients and essential vitamins in it, and the coffee not to much. I strongly approve of drinking a cup or two of coffee a day for yourself and for the health benefits (hey, my great-grandma lived to be 99 drinking coffee daily) but I’ll have to find a way to balance my coffee addiction with my juicing obsession.

Anyway, it’s Friday so you’ve got it, it’s time for Friday Favorites. I’ve been slacking lately on this weekly post, but I really want to strive to bring it back.

Here goes:

Hurraw!: My boyfriend bought me a three-pack of this all-natural, vegan lip balm for Christmas and … Read More!

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Film Review: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

6 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

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You know how I told you all how I got a juicer for Christmas? Well as pain-in-the-butt as it is to clean, I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.

Inspired by my recent love for juicing, The Boy suggested we watch the Joe Cross documentary “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” that he had seen a few months back.  Since I don’t have a Netflix account, we simply found the film on Hulu, and hooked a computer up to our flat screen TV. A-hah, an at-home movie theatre in seconds!

I’m usually a fan of documentaries and real-life, practical advice so I was pretty sure I’d enjoy the film. However, this film blew my expectations out of the ball park.

I won’t give the film away completely for those of you who want to watch it as well (you really should), but it pretty much follows the main character Joe Cross through 60 days straight of juicing. No pizza, no salads, just pure juice.

Joe originally decides to go on a juice cleanse because he was 100 pounds overweight, and sick of being prescribed pill after pill from doctors to “cure” his “incurable” autoimmune disease.

Along … Read More!

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So I got a Juicer for Christmas: Experiment # 1

6 Comments / Health & Wellness /

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So I got a juicer for Christmas. It was hands down one of my favorite gifts, as I’ve been on a healthy, organic kick lately and really wanted to start experimenting with juicing. Oh, and it wasn’t just any juicer. It was indeed the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro Juice Extractor, in other words my equivalent of Ralphie’s Red Ryder BB-gun in a Christmas story.

My parents also gave me the book “The Big Book of Juicing: More Than 400 Natural Blends for Health and Vitality Every Day,” which I haven’t been able to stop reading. The recipes are amazing, and the book is filled with beautiful pictures of the juices and smoothies you can make.

It also includes a fabulous index, nutrient chart, and entire section for treating different common ailments. For instance, did you know fruit and vegetables juices with bananas, berries, carrots, pears, molasses, and yogurt can help treat fatigue? Or that berries, broccoli, citrus fruits, kale, kiwi, watercress, and wheatgerm can aid memory problems?

Anyway, The Boy and I decided to start with a basic juice: The “Apple Basic” with simply carrots and apple.

Once we passed the test, we then … Read More!

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A Workout Challenge for….YOURSELF

4 Comments / Health & Wellness /

[my sister and I after half marathon #2, both wearing our medals proudly!]

I’ve never really been a competitive person. During high school I stuck to rec basketball, as the competitiveness of being on the team freshman year kinda sorta freaked me out. I swam on my pool club’s summer swim team for several years, although I was always more interested in breaking my own record than showing someone up. This past April, I ran my first half marathon to see if I could do it (and cross it off my bucket list), and then another one in October to keep the momentum going and break my Personal Record (which I did…by a whopping 5 minutes).

I’ve never been the girl to make a pact with my friends to see who could lose the most weight, and ulta-competitive contests aren’t really my cup of tea.   As you can see, personal challenges is where it’s at for me. That’s why I decided to create my own workout challenge for the week before Christmas. I had been slacking majorly on my workouts lately, and thought this would be a great way to get back into it and jumpstart my metabolism for the … Read More!

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Natural Ways to Mend The Common Cold

5 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Can you believe tomorrow is officially the first day of winter? Time really flies by, huh? Unfortunately along with Saint Nick, mistletoe and eggnog lattes often comes the common cold. While we all try to stay the healthiest we can this time of season, it’s pretty much inevitable the cold bug will get you. With tight quarters during public commute, weather changes, and sick coworkers, it’s pretty tough to stay away no matter how hard we fight back!

Unfortunately, with the flu (which I’m pretty sure I had symptoms of) there is little you can do. But luckily the common cold (mainly runny nose, sneezing and congestion) can easily be cured with natural remedies.

I came across this article on Natural News.com, featuring natural remedies that help with the common cold. While some of their tips are things we hear all the time (drink more liquids, sip on hot tea), some of their advice is quite innovative and unique (at least to me).

Here are some of the most unusual remedies they shared:

  • Olive leaf capsules: They suggest you take these capsules as soon as you feel symptoms coming on, and that more often than not your cold
… Read More!

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Nutritious Organic Winter Vegetable Soup With Swiss Chard

6 Comments / Food & Recipes /

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Remember how last week I mentioned making homemade soup from the produce box we got via Boston Organics? Well, that we did. (I apologize this post is a week later. My nasty cold got the best of me) Anyway, the soup was exactly what we were looking for: light (but filling), nutritious and loaded with organic, all-natural ingredients.

Looking to make a cozy soup for a bitter, winter’s eve? Want to impress your significant other with something healthy and wholesome? Look no further.

What Ya Need:

*Makes large pot of soup (serves 8 to 10)

  • 2 containers organic, low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 c. water
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 medium or 4 small organic potatoes, diced
  • about 1 bunch organic swiss chard, chopped
  • 3 whole organic carrots, sliced (we like to slice ’em long and thin)
  • 2 c. lentils (optional)
  • whatever other veggies you have in the house (sweet potatoes, celery and parsnips all work well)
  • about 2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Sauté the onion and the garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat in a large soup pot … Read More!

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