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December 5, 2024

Post-Thanksgiving Mini Reset

Thanksgiving may have left you feeling a little too much like the stuffed turkey centerpiece. If you’re ready to shake off the sluggishness before m

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Christmas, Food, Fun, Health
November 28, 2024

Savor, Stroll, and Stay Thankful

Thanksgiving. A time to enjoy the company of loved ones, share stories, and of course, indulge in delicious food. Here’s a tip to help you savor

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Family, Food, Fun, Health
November 19, 2024

Gobble Up These Thanksgiving Preparation Tips

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, gathering, and indulging in an amazing feast. However, hosting can sometimes feel more like a marathon than a ce

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Food
November 14, 2024

Mediterranean Feel-Good Soups for Fall

As we transition from fall into the holidays, staying mindful of our health goals can help us enjoy the season without feeling run down or overwhelmed

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Food, Health
November 7, 2024

Healthy Eating FAQs and Answers

Before I get into this week’s topic, I must first retract a statement that I made last week about Mr. Non-Compliant. I stand corrected, as he did NO

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Food, Health
October 31, 2024

Mr. Non-Compliant’s Birthday Fest

This week Mr. Non-Compliant (aka my dear hubby) celebrated a birthday. He flaunted his morning non-compliance by leaving the EMPTY cinnamon roll box o

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Family, Food, Fun, Health
October 24, 2024

Not a Vegetable Fan? Read This

It’s not just kids that wrinkle their nose at a plate of green stuff. Lots of fully-grown adults feel the same—inclined to hide their Brussels spr

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Food, Health
October 17, 2024

How Safe is Your Cinnamon?

I’m a huge cinnamon fan. I shake it in my coffee, smoothies, muffins, stewed apples, and of course, pumpkin pie. Years ago I mixed it with a little

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Food, Health
October 10, 2024

10 Simple Tips to Ease into Fall

Fall is officially here. I know this not only from the calendar and fewer hours of daylight, but by the temperature of my house when I wake up in the

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Food, Health
October 10, 2024

Cumin, Coriander, Fennel (CCF) Tea

To make a cup of CCF tea (Cumin, Coriander, and Fennel tea) using seeds, follow this simple recipe: Ingredients: 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

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Everything Else, Recipes

Remarkable Romaine and Feeling Zen

March 11, 2021
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Food, Fun, Health, Personal Development

It is week #36 for baby and he is the size of a head of remarkable romaine lettuce. Yes, if I haven’t mentioned it before, my friend will soon be the mom of a BOY!

Some may think that romaine is as low in nutrients as basic iceberg lettuce– which is not that exciting to the health-conscious world.

Not so.

Romaine is a good source of vitamins A and C. When it comes to greens, the darker green, the more nutrients, so it does lag behind some other leafy counterparts.

Famous for its crunch, some of the best salads are those that combine the dark green goodness of spinach or kale with romaine. They all get along famously in the bowl.   

Top benefits of romaine include:

*Immunity booster

*Helps heart health

*Helps prevent bone loss

*Promotes healthy eyesight

*Helps heal skin and prevent premature aging

*Helps maintain a healthy pregnancy (due to folate)

*May aid with weight loss

*Helps with digestion and intestinal health (high fiber, mineral and water content)

Obviously, this is another great vegetable to add to your vegetable crisper and to your diet. The most nutrient dense parts are the green leaves. The stalks add the crunch.   

Besides eating romaine in a salad, the enormous leaves make a great sandwich wrap for those who prefer to eat less bread. They add a nutritious crunch to a regular sandwich too.

Add to your smoothie (you won’t taste it) or try grilling or roasting it for a unique flavor.

When choosing your romaine, look for leaves that are sturdy and not brown or yellow. Organic is preferable when available, since it’s easy for the leaves to absorb chemicals and pesticides.

Romaine will keep 5-7 days in your fridge.

How are you today? Really.

Yes, REALLY. How well (or not) are you doing life these days?

There’s a Deep Health Questionnaire that goes surprisingly—deep. When we’re looking to lose weight, have more energy, and enjoy life, there’s much more that determines the outcome than just the food.

Please don’t misunderstand. Food is foundational. And then there’s more… 

A few questions from the questionnaire:

  1. How has your general mood and outlook been lately? Answers can be anywhere on a scale from 1 (utterly miserable) to 10 (hooray for EVERYTHING!)
  2. How supported do you feel right now by the people around you? Scale from 1 (utterly alone) to 10 (Go Team!)
  3. How calm and focused are you today? Scale from 1 (Freaking out and frazzled) to 10 (Zen Master) 

Perhaps, depending on how you answered the sample questions, you may do well to carve out 10 or 15 minutes of quiet solitude each day. Many people are bombarded with noise and never allow time to consider what is happening in their lives.

All of this affects your weight, health, and ability to fight off illness.

If you’d like to take the complete Deep Health Questionnaire and see where you might like to make some improvements, let me know.

Now is a great time to begin.

Much love,
Carol

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live life deliberately.”–Henry David Thoreau

Honeydew Happiness and More Tips on Sleep

March 4, 2021
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Food, Health

This week baby is the size of a honeydew melon. I think of honeydew as cantaloupe’s cousin. It has a similar shape, only a bit bigger, which explains why it’s the fruit for week #35 and not #34.

Honeydew’s sweet flesh is typically light green, while its skin has a white-yellow tone.

To find a sweet one, shake it. If you hear and feel the seeds inside jiggling around, you’ve got a winner. The rind should be smooth and waxy and bright, creamy yellow in color. It should also smell like fragrant flowers. Find the blossom end, which is opposite the end where it was attached to the vine. Give it a press with your thumb and it should feel slightly springy, with a little give.

Your melon will not ripen once it’s cut from the vine, so what you bring home is as good as it gets. 

Before cutting it, wash the rind well. Refrigerate.

Honeydew is full of nutrients and is a healthy addition to your diet.

Benefits of Eating Honeydew

*May help reduce blood pressure because it is low in sodium and high in potassium.

*It helps bone health due to folate, vitamin K, and magnesium.

*Fiber in the fruit may help control blood sugar levels over time and aid in digestive health.

*Electrolytes in the melon help hydrate better than water alone.

*Vitamin C content helps support immune function.

*Honeydew melon contains lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants that are known to support healthy eyes and vision.

This fruit is easy to add to your diet. It’s great alone or added to many different dishes, including salad, salsa, smoothies, soup or dessert.

It may be tricky to find a ripe one out of season. Hang in there, summer’s coming.

It’s National Sleep Awareness Month

This month, most of the country moves the clocks forward for Daylight Saving Time. March 14th is the date for us to spring ahead and lose that sacred hour of sleep.

That single hour really does make a difference, and many people feel out of whack for a couple weeks.

Not only can that lost hour make you feel groggy and irritable, studies have found that both heart attacks and fatal car accidents increase after the spring shift to Daylight Saving Time.

Here are 4 tips to help make the time change a bit easier on you. 

  1. Start preparing a few days early. About a week before “springing forward,” start going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier than your usual bedtime. Your body needs that bit of extra time to make up for the lost hour.
  2. Stick to your schedule. Be consistent with eating, social, bed and exercise times during the transition to Daylight Saving Time. Exposing yourself to the bright light in the morning will also help you adjust.
  3. Don’t take long naps. Shutting your eyes mid-day is tempting, especially if you’re feeling sluggish. A long daytime nap could make it harder to get a full night’s sleep. If you must take a nap in order to get through your day, take it early and for no longer than 20 minutes.
  4. Avoid coffee and alcohol. Avoid coffee and caffeinated beverages four to six hours before bedtime. Alcohol also prohibits you from getting quality sleep, so avoid it late at night.

Remember last week’s tip to put that phone away 30 minutes before bedtime. Practice slowing down so that your body can relax.

Much love,
Carol

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” —John Steinbeck

Choosing Cantaloupe and a Tip for Better Sleep

February 25, 2021
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Food, Health

Week #34 for baby. These weeks are flying for me. Seems like I just finish writing about one fruit, and it’s time for another. Bet my friend doesn’t think so. I think she’s had enough of this pregnancy stuff. Have I mentioned that this is her first?

It is the week of the cantaloupe. When I hear the word “cantaloupe,” I think of the fruit cups I get when I choose fruit instead of potatoes for breakfast. There are usually a few red grapes and some chunks of honeydew added in. These are pretty durable fruits that are probably easier to have on hand instead of berries.

Cantaloupe is loaded with beta-carotene—as much as carrots. Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A in the body. It can also act as a powerful antioxidant to help fight free radicals that attack cells in your body. 

Cantaloupe provides vitamin C, folate, water (it’s almost 90% water), fiber, potassium, and small amounts of many other nutrients. It’s low in calories (60 calories/cup) and offers some sweetness to your diet.

It’s a wonderful addition to any fruit salad and delicious all on its own—if you have a ripe one. I like it with my breakfast.

You could add a few chunks to your smoothie.

How to Choose Your Cantaloupe

These are sweeter and often more economical in the summer, although you can find them year-round.

To choose a ripe melon, look for one that is creamy, light-yellow orange with little to no green. It should be symmetrical and feel heavy—a sign that it will be juicy from lots of water. Ripe cantaloupe smells sweet.

It’s best to eat it within 3 days of purchasing for the freshest taste. Store cut cantaloupe in the fridge.

A Tip to Help You Get More Sleep

Seems that quite a few folks (besides my pregnant friend) have trouble falling asleep. A small study found that people who put their phone away 30 minutes before bedtime got a better night’s sleep.

Participants fell asleep 12 minutes faster and slept 18 minutes longer after four weeks compared to those who weren’t asked to restrict their phone use. Bonus: the quality of their sleep improved significantly too.

It makes sense, since your exposure to blue light is diminished. You also avoid any disturbing news, emails, videos, and social media posts that could get you riled up.

Remaining calm before bed is more conducive to a restful night’s sleep. 

It’s worth a try. Keep in mind that getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night improves your health and promotes weight loss/maintenance.

A good night’s sleep will help your attitude too.

Feeling stuck with sleep, weight loss, your exercise routine (or lack of), and not sure where to begin? Let’s talk.

You’ll leave our conversation with clarity, renewed energy, and a plan to get back on track.

Sweet dreams,
Carol

“Instead of working toward retirement, work toward your ideal lifestyle. There is usually a path to get there in a few years instead of a few decades.”—James Clear

One of the Healthiest Fruits on the Planet

February 18, 2021
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Food, Health, Hope, Personal Development

We are on week #33, counting down with my expectant friend. As some of you know from experience, she is getting pretty uncomfortable.

My prayer for her, and her dear hubby, is a restful night’s sleep BEFORE the little one arrives.

We’ll keep this quiet—but once baby is here, getting sleep is a bit challenging. Shhhh….

I’m pretty excited about this week’s baby size fruit: the pineapple. 

The pineapple is indeed a fruit. A tropical one. No goofy reclassification like we had with the eggplant, which I thought to be a vegetable and is really a fruit.

Pineapple makes the list of “20 healthiest fruits on the planet.” And it is very delicious, in my opinion.

Pineapple is rich in vitamin C and manganese. It also contains a mixture of enzymes that help reduce inflammation and digest proteins. Its antioxidant properties help reduce the risk of chronic disease.

All of these benefits promote a healthy immune system which equates to a healthier you. And it’s WAY tastier that cauliflower—again, my opinion.

Ways to incorporate pineapple into your diet

  • Keep frozen on hand to add to smoothies
  • Add to a mixed fruit salad
  • Top your homemade pizza
  • Make a salad with roasted chicken, pineapple, blueberries (another top 20 fruit), and almonds. Serve on a bed of greens.
  • Top your burger with a pineapple ring for a Hawaiian flair
  • Goes great with cottage cheese (this makes a nice breakfast when you’re tired of the usual foods)
  • Eat it all by itself

How to choose a tasty pineapple

  1. Look for a bit of yellow, which should be present at the eyes at the base of the fruit, but a green tint elsewhere is fine. The leaves should be a vibrant shade of green.
  2. Squeeze it. The body of the pineapple should not be soft. It should be firm and give slightly with pressure.
  3. Sniff near the stem. It should smell sweet. No scent means it’s not ripe. If it smells like vinegar or alcohol, put it down. It’s past its prime and you don’t want anything to do with it.
  4. The heavier, the better. As with melons, there’s more water so it’s juicy.
  5. I also read that if you store it upside down before you cut it, the sweet juice from the bottom which was connected to the plant, circulates throughout the pineapple. 

I sometimes let it sit on my counter for a few too many days and it goes bad. Putting it in the fridge if I’m not quite ready to cut it helps keep it from spoiling.

If you have trouble cutting a pineapple, check out one of the videos on YouTube. It’s much easier than trying to explain it. Cutting a fresh pineapple is not hard once you know how to go about it.

It is definitely worth the effort.

Welcome to the 40 days of Lent

We are now marking the time until Easter. Lent is a great time to reflect and perhaps make some changes. It’s an opportunity for personal spiritual growth.

In the midst of winter, with snow piled so high that I have to shovel a path for my little Sophie dog, the Lenten season brings hope.

About the time we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we also see the beauty of spring in bloom.

My friend will be a new mom.

How will you spend these 40 days?

Much love,
Carol

“Do not be afraid to dream. Perhaps your fear is of failure. There is no shame in trying to attempt mighty things and failing. The shame is in failing to attempt those things.”—Matthew Kelly

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