Healthy Chicks

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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. 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!

[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!

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

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I’ve unfortunately been greeted with a terrible cold, and slept until 11:30 a.m. today! I guess that’s my body’s way of telling me it needs its rest. Anyway, as I sniffled my way out of bed, I was delighted to see a package waiting for me at the door. Our first Boston Organics box had arrived, and I couldn’t be more happy to dig in.

My sister and I had originally decided to sign up for Boston Organics because it can be difficult to go grocery shopping for healthy food on a budget when living in the North End, not to mention without a car. We’re also big fans of buying organic when we can, especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. It’s shocking to find out how many chemicals, pesticides, and hormones are added to the foods we eat every day, and the scary thing is it can be hard to tell. Of course not everyone has the money and time to buy organic 100% of the time, but it’s important to at least be aware of these “Dirty Dozen” fruits and veggies you should always buy organic.

Anyway, we decided to give Boston … Read More!

This morning I was beyond delighted to wake up to an email from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution team, informing me that Healthy Chicks has been chosen as one of their blogs of the month. Not only do I get to be featured on their website for the month of December, but I get to “wear” this Food Revolution badge on my blog loud and proud.

I’d be lying to say I’m not absolutely ecstatic to be chosen as a featured blogger, as it is a huge honor. But it means more to me than a “title.” I’m a huge supporter of the Food Revolution and all Jamie has done to get the world eating healthier, and start promoting a more respectable food industry. His mission in teaching people how to spend more time in the kitchen (and less time at the drive-through), cleaning up school lunches, and helping people fuel the bodies and soul with proper nutrients is absolutely phenomenal.

I believe Jamie is creating a real revolution, something that can ultimately change hundreds, thousands, even millions of lives and that all starts with just ONE person spreading the word. To be honest, that’s why I’m currently enrolled at … Read More!

Who inspires you?

Being a blogger and freelance writer, I am also (no surprise here) obsessed with reading other people’s blogs, magazine articles and inspirational essays. Often, I am drawn to other women who I can relate to and cooking-related blogs, because they make me feel inspired, motivated and connected.

This week, I’ve read a number of amazing pieces from a variety of bloggers whom I follow, and felt that I just had to share their stories with you. It’s only fair, after all. Take a look at these powerful women around the web who’ve got me bookmarking their posts left and right.

“Love, Loss and Spaghetti” by Bianca, Confessions of a Chocoholic: I always love the way Bianca writes, making you feel as if you are right there with her, whether she’s traveling Italy, trying one of Boston’s best restaurants, or biting into a decadent gourmet cheese. This powerful piece of love, food, and loss in particular made me feel like I was right there with her, as I could empathize with what she went through.

“Photo Inspiration: 10 Years of yo-yo dieting” by Elina, Healthy & Sane: Elina is one of the most honest bloggers I … Read More!

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Wow! You can now get 20 of these puppies for just $4.99. Does that mean you are going to give in?

Yesterday evening while watching television, I saw an advertisement on TV for McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets. The 20 piece is now “on sale” at a special $4.99. That’s a penny under $5.00 for 840 calories, 49 grams of fat and 125 mg of cholesterol. For all of those taking advantage of this deal…congrats? But are you really doing yourself or your children a favor by clogging them up with saturated fat, sodium and an overdose of calories?

The sad thing is that many families are taking advantage of these Fast Food “deals” just like this one. You can now get a box or two of Mac ‘n’ Cheese for 50 cents, a bag of chips for a buck, and a foot-long grinder for $5, most with a free sugar-laden soda. Schools serve loads of instant potatoes, pizza, and fried chicken in the cafeteria and call that “lunch.” Oh, and some are even going as far as saying pizza counts as two servings of the required vegetables, and if you don’t believe me start watching Jamie Oliver’s Food … Read More!