Health & Wellness

The Morning Refresher: Carrot, Apple, Ginger Juice

3 Comments / Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness /

{as you can see, I couldn’t resist drinking some before the picture}

In the Mix:

  • 4 small to medium carrots, organic if possible
  • 1 small apple, organic (I used Granny Smith because that’s what I had on hand, but any juicy apple works)
  • handful of mixed greens (I used a blend of arugula, spinach, and romaine)
  • one inch cut of fresh ginger
  • juice of 1/2 small lemon

Use your juicer to blend the carrots, apple, greens and ginger. Add lemon juice at the end for an extra zing!

My Top Four Benefits of This Juice: Anti-aging from the beta-carotene in carrots (which works as a powerful antioxidant), skin-clearing (from vitamin A and liver detoxification properties of carrots), Cholesterol Control (the pectin in apples can lower LDL, your “bad cholesterol”), de-bloating (from the ginger and lemon, especially in the a.m)… Read More!

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Workout Woes: 3 Feel Good Moves When You Just Aren’t Feeling It

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

We all know exercise is beneficial not only for our body (who doesn’t love a little extra glute-toning), but for our mental health as well. Many women track hours at the gym, have a strict running routine, or even take several group fitness classes (such as core fusion) in one day. But what’s a girl to do when she’s simply not feeling it? Do we really need to be so strict on ourselves?

Let’s face it, we are only human. While many of us strive to be superwoman at times, even the fitness fanatics among us have their “off” days. And guess what? That’s totally OK and get this…normal.

I know what it’s like to feel guilt for skipping a workout. Heck, I even skipped my 6:15 a.m. Core Fusion Cardio class this morning because the gloomy weather was a huge turnoff, and well, my need for a good night’s sleep was much more important to me. I had a busy week, I was tired and I needed some good old-fashioned beauty rest. Old me would have beat myself up over this for days, but new me simply let’s it go. Now I don’t skip my workouts every … Read More!

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A Three Course Italian Feast: How to Cook Your Way to a Man’s Heart

5 Comments / Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

If food really is the way to a man’s heart, I knew I had better be making my man the meal of all meal’s this past weekend. The Boy recently had a loss in his family, and rather than buying him an Edible Arrangement or a prewritten Hallmark card, I decided to get my little butt in the kitchen. I know just how much fresh garlic & seasonings, red wine and a home-cooked meal made with TLC  can really mean (far more than any cliche gift in my book), and well that’s what I wanted to do.

So I thought, and I thought and I thought and I thought.

What would be extra special? What would really show how much I care?

And alas, the idea was born. It started out with a CD my sister had given me a while back filled with authentic Italian dinner music. Italian theme it was!

And then came the menu that I designed, printed out and placed aside the table settings with the card I had written him. Ristorante Di Amore or shall I say, “Restaurant of Love.” Here’s a mini preview below:

Primi (First Course): Field green salad with assorted vegetables; … Read More!

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Friday Favorites: Kombucha, Sweat & Love Letters

6 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Happy Friday loves! Hope your weekend is off to a good start so far. Today I took myself on an amazing date to Whole Foods, where I stayed for a good portion of the afternoon. I had a lot of work to get done today, and most of it I could do without the internet, so I decided to unplug from my Mac for a solid 4+ hours. However, I did bring an old-fashioned notebook and my IIN iPod in order to catch up on my latest lectures for nutrition school.

I loved everything I learned about today, from the pros, cons, and logistics of soy products to lessons of healthy eating from cultures years ago, like eating REAL, RAW butter and cheese and consuming all natural meat and fish products (fat and all) for nutrient optimization.

It definitely helped that I was listening to my lectures while eating a delicious, wholesome meal from the Whole Foods’ salad bar. My plate included lentils, spicy chickpeas, raw pumpkin seeds, salmon salad, roasted mushrooms, quinoa and feta among some other samplers. I absolutely love the different variations you can make at Whole Foods, and if I could I would go there … Read More!

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Boston Blogger Meetup at Sonsie & Quick ‘n’ Easy Caprese

17 Comments / Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Last night, I attended my very first Boston Bloggers Meet + Greet, which took place at the ever so chic Sonsie on Newbury. I have been to other local blogger events in the past, but never one hosted by Boston Bloggers, so I was excited to try something new. On that note, I had also never been to Sonsie before but have always heard great things about this little hot spot.

I must say, the event was unlike any blogger event I’d ever gone to before. First and foremost, it was PACKED, which while intimidating at first glance, was a good way to push myself out of my comfort zone.  In addition, there were more than 60 bloggers there, all with different backgrounds and passions which was a breath of fresh air compared to some events I’d been to in the past with ALL healthy living bloggers, or ALL fashion bloggers.

The best part was that one of my best friends, who’s also a blogger and lives in the North End, Megan (Balanced in Boston) came with her boyfriend Ross (Ross Donovan Photography) for their very first blogger event! I was so happy to see … Read More!

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My Super-sized Vision Board: Relationship, Career, Personal & Financial Success

19 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Remember when I told you guys I made a vision board with The Boy last month? Well, I decided to revamp it completely! You see, my first vision board was on a scrap piece of white-lined paper and it didn’t give me enough room to really express every little thing I want in life. Plus, with all the focus lately on my new health counseling business Zesty Living, I’ve been thinking a lot about goals and what I want for myself.

That’s when the vision board construction went down. For the past few days, I’ve been tearing witty words, motivating pictures, and inspirational phrases out of magazines, as well as surfing the web for ideas.

Voilà! This is the result:

I decided to break it down into sections: career, relationship, and personal well-being.

Career/Financial:

  • Create and sell some sort of wellness product, be it inspirational greeting cards, all-natural body scrubs or innovative spice blends!
  • Be financially stable, with a comfortable salary that I can support myself with & not have to cringe every time I “treat” myself to something nice
  • Have a successful, positive, buzzing health counseling business a la Zesty Living with 1-on-1 coaching, group workshops, and (HOPERFULLY)
… Read More!

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Organic Broccoli Feta Salad & Recipes Galore

7 Comments / Food & Recipes, Health & Wellness /

I am a huge fan of experimenting with new recipes, and I’ll try anything at least once. I remember when I was a young girl, I would love joining my grandmother in the kitchen, carefully watching her every move. I was fascinated (and still am fascinated) by how quick she was with her hands, and by the incredible meals she’d create solely with fresh, simple ingredients.

I also remember what a picky little girl I once was! As my grandma would hand me a “taste test” of whatever she was cooking, be it glazed carrots, celery soup, or venison, I’d always shout out with a disgusted face, “But I don’t like that!” Her go-to response: “How do you know if you don’t like it if you don’t try it?” So I’d try it, and at least I’d learn if the taste suited me or not. And 99% of the time, guess what? I liked it.

That’s when I started to expand my taste buds, and experiment with food. My childhood years helped me overcome my fears of the “unknown” and programmed me to try everything…at least once. It transformed me into the woman I am today, and for … Read More!

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My Top 3 Get Healthy Tips & Introduction to Zesty Living

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

Good afternoon ladies! I hope you’re all having a bright, sunshiney week so far. As for me, I’m dedicating this week solely to my health, that is taking care of myself inside and out not only foodwise, but also physically, mentally and spiritually.

Trust me, I understand how chaotic life can get at times with work, friends, relationships, children and other plans, making it seem nearly impossible to make time for yourself.

Unfortunately, during these crazy times, we tend to put our health on the back burner (re: skipping meals, nighttime bingeing, letting stress get the best of you, flaking out on yoga class because you “don’t have time”). You get the picture. What we don’t realize is that by doing this, we’re ultimately hurting ourselves in the long run.

Well, we want our health to move from the back burner to the front burner; yup right in front where everyone can see it. You see, no matter how crazy/impossible/frustrating/stressful our lives can get, we at the very least owe it to ourselves to take care of our health. And I promise it’s not impossible to do!

Here are my Top 3 Get Healthy Tips, and none of … Read More!

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Create Your Vision Board & 2012 Aspirations

4 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

[source]

The other day, I was sitting in a gourmet coffee shop with the boy sipping a hazelnut cream feeling awfully zen.

As we sat on the couch sipping our javas, I leaned over to him and said softly, “Let’s make vision boards!”

“Vision what?” he said.

“VISION BOARDS…you know like draw what we want to achieve in life within the next few years. Then we think it and believe it and it’ll most likely happen.”

“Nah, not now. I can’t draw,” he said with a smirk.

“C’monnnnn…you can draw stick figures! I did one a few years ago and everything I jotted down came true. So we’re doing it whether you like it or not. I’ll go first!”

I got him on that one and vision boards we made.

My “5 year plan” included being happy, healthy and in love (with The Boy if all goes as planned!), being published in a well-known health magazine, leading a women’s health seminar in front a group of people, traveling ( a lot) and being in a comfortable financial situation where I’m proud of my success.

The Boy’s included things like growing a garden, owning his first home, continuing … Read More!

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

9 Comments / Health & Wellness, Lifestyle /

[source]

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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