What Food Can Bring You Bliss and You Don't Even Have To Eat It

It's been awhile since you have heard from me, I know this, but I have been doing exciting things, and let me tell you if it weren't for health coaching I would never have been able to do any of it.

I tell all my clients that balance is VERY important, and I say it in terms of food. There is the food that we eat that is very necessary, this would be your fruit, veggies, meat, and whole grains. But, there is also a whole other type of food, this is the food that nourishes you in a different way. These "foods" are your career, spirituality, your relationships, and physical exercise. All these things can be nourishing or they can cause harm to your body.

As I was telling all my clients this, I thought to myself, I probably should take my own advice! Many of you know that I also paint. And not as a hobby but that is actually what my bachelor's degree is in. So I thought maybe I should be feeding myself my most powerful food, because painting makes me truly happy and I think I am a better person all around when I am practicing my art.

So that is what I have been up to. I have been painting my heart out and I truly love it. I am showing at a gallery locally in Jenkintown called The Art of It located on York Road. I am having great success there and I am to begin working on a large commission piece very soon. They have a very active calendar full of events and if you are in the area I encourage you to stop in. More information can be found at www.theartof.it

I also have launched a new website for my art that is currently offering a promotion for you to own a piece of my work at a price that is not going to last that long. I have been offering this deal for 1 week and already I only have 8 spots remaining. So, if you want in please hurry over, check it out, and sign up if it fits you. You can find this at: www.carapaints.com. Also if you know anyone else that might be interested send them on over too.

So I encourage you to feed yourself good food, whether it your favorite fruit or your favorite place to hike, both are equally important!

Don't forget to stop by my art site and see what I have been up to!!!
www.carapaints.com

Hungry?...Can't Put Your Finger On It?

This weekend I just let go... and the world did not collapse.  I did have stuff that I wanted to get done but nothing involved driving more than a few minutes.  That made this weekend relaxing, and that was nice.

It gave me a lot of time to just sit in my art studio and think.  I have been spending a lot of time trying to get back into painting.  I chatted with a friend and really realized I need to practice what I preach.  I talk a lot about the "food" that you do not eat that feeds us a well as nutritious food.  I know my food is painting and yet I have been depriving myself of it for a long time.

Why do we do this? Why don't we take care of ourselves, how do we miss our basic needs.

Creativity, spirituality, physical exercise are all forms of nourshiment for our bodies.  Without a healthy balance you might feel out of sorts, not your normal self, stressed, depressed, or really hungry for something you cant put your finger on.

What are you not "feeding" yourself?

- Make a list of reasons you give not to "feed" yourself.
- Next to each item make note of who is in control of each reason.
- Take some time and write a plan for taking back control... get creative and take the first step!

Ready...set...GO!

Body Hobby : Men's Day

The trend is changing and more men are starting to pay attention to natural health.  Before men who ate salad and tofu were thought to have lost some aspect of masculine strength, while men who ate hamburgers and pizza were some how superior in their rugged manliness.... Not true.  Mens bodies are just as sensitive to toxins as women's body when it comes to unhealthy ways.  Your prostate is just as vulnerable to toxins as our breasts!!!  Avoiding BPA plastics, sodium nitrate in lunch meats, and supplementing with green tea, zinc and lycopene (tomato sauce) can do you good too.

 Studies have shown that men who tend to lean toward a healthier diet have higher sperm counts, more mobility, a stronger libido and better performance than their chicken wing soda guzzling friends!

Few men who adopt a healthier diet ever turn to sex-enhancing medications like Viagra, because they don't need it.  It is the men who stand by their barbecued ribs, pizza, fried food and processed junk that end up at the fertility clinics or having prostate surgery down the line.  Processed food is a one way ticket to nutritional castration!

Thank goodness their are men out there that are opening their eyes to the gift of a healthy diet and learning about proper nutrition and how it can benefit them in their own lives.  These men, instead of taking cheap bodybuilding "man" supplements are opting for more quality, immune and brain boosting supplements.  They are also steering away from over-processed name brand foods and looking at more raw, organic and local produce options.   

So what are these men in the know taking, here is a few things:

Fish Oil - brain, heart, immune function and metabolism 

Hemp seed and quinoa - complete proteins from plants 

Super fruits: acai, blueberries, raspberries, noni, mangosteen, goji berries - brain, heart, skin, eyes and cellular DNA

Microalgae: blue green algae, chlorella and spirulina - cleansing, liver, protection of digestive cancers i.e. colon 

Trace Minerals: zinc, magnesium, calcium - heart, stress, repair and recover, immune

Controlled sunlight exposure: vitamin D - gums, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, heart, obesity, cancer prevention 

So men, start paying attention to what you eat, but that is not all you can do there is more.  A healthy dose of exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, and getting enough sleep to recover from the stress at work and exercise is just as important.  If you can start to make positive changes in these areas you will be on your way to healthier, more peaceful life in no time.

 

Mommy, why did you cut your hair? The REAL reason.

For 30 years of my life I had long hair.  It wasn't always curly, when I was young it had a little less than a wave.  As I go older the curls got curlier and now as I get even older they are fading.

I hate to say it but my hair has shaped my existence in this world. NOT by my choice.  The "good hair / bad hair"  system was applied to me regularly, with people always judging me by my hair.  Many times I was judged because of the state of my hair, and as a young child there is nothing you can do about it.  Young children chose to bully me because they wanted my hair or were not satisfied by the way my mother chose to care for it.  What a pity story, right?  Well, yes and no.  It was many of those stories that shaped me into the person I am today, but is it what I am hearing now that still tugs at my heart.

One morning my daughter wakes up and tells me she has dreamed of long hair.  My heart sank.  This is not the type of hair she has.  Since she was able to first tell me, she has coveted my long hair, mostly when I straightened it but sometimes when it was curly.  She has repeated over and over again, how she loves other children's long straight hair.  I have impressed on her that her hair is awesome, beautiful, full of energy, but will never be like the hair that she points out.  I press that I love her hair, and others tell her the same.  Yet, she still has some obsession to the long straight hair of most of the disney characters and her Barbies, and her most of her other dolls, which have hair of yarn.  (Although, someone recently gave us a Barbie with and afro!)

So off to the salon I went.  My favorite hair dresser Chrissy chopped it all off for me.  This is how much I want my daughter to know that hair is not the only thing that makes you beautiful and awesome... which I think I am!

Leave me comments. Please. I love them. Give me some suggestions. Ask me questions. Tell me you were here. Tell me what you want to hear about.

Take the good with the bad and...

This weekend was such a whirlwind, I feel like I blinked and it was over.  It seems time speeds up as you grow-up/ get older, and that is exactly why I put up this picture.  I can guarantee that in your little  part of the world that just doing something everyday that makes you smile, will improve the quality of your life, and possibly the lives of others around you.  

Today:  It is getting very hot up here in Philly!  I had a lot of office work to do today, but I might cash it all in and take the kids to the pool and then off to MMA lessons.  No telling what this heat might make me do.

This is all...

I am thinking about this weekend.  This is an amazing talk that can explain a very specific place for many people. I love it. Watch it and tell me what you think below in the comments.  Please, please, please.

      

Today: We are celebrating the hubby.  Why? Because he is that special!

Body Hobby Update

I lost another half of an inch, which is plain miracle being that I went on a vacation for a week.

The vacay eating was  painful.  Anytime I leave my creature comforts, digestion becomes a problem.  This time around I relied heavily on digestive enzymes, probiotics, kombucha, and a rockin' whole food supplement to keep me on track.  Yet, and still I ran into trouble, and it goes by the name of Skyline Chili.

You see, I have a sensitivity to the nightshade vegetable family.  "What's that?" Well, it's basically any vegetable that grows at night, i.e. tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes....  Some bother me worse than others, but my worst offender is peppers, hence the problem with Cincinnati's most favorite chili spot.

The good news is I survived due to my vigilance with my supplements. The bad is that it still bothered me, but I got over it a lot faster than normal thanks to those supplements.  So, when traveling I definitely recommend: a digestive enzyme, a probiotic, Kombucha, and a good multi- supplement.

One more thing. Leave me comments. Please. I love them. Give me some suggestions. Ask me questions. Tell me you were here. Tell me what you want to hear about. Sign the guest book. Okay, okay - I don't have a guest book - but leave me a comment.