All You 'Gotta' Do Is Walk

I finally put on my new running shoes that I purchased last summer. LOL!

Walking...does a body good.
Body movement is a key component to a Healthy Living Lifestyle.  It is just as important as eating a healthy meal filled with fruits and vegetables.

If you do not currently exercise and are just starting an exercise routine, walking is a great way to get your body moving.  For starters, you don't have to pay for a gym membership. Walking in your neighborhood is FREE of charge. You are also not bound by gym hours. You have the flexibility to walk whenever it is convenient for you. If you own a treadmill at home, it is even more convenient, because you don't have to worry about the weather.

Of course the most important benefit about walking is that it gives you an overall body workout. It is less strenuous on the body so you are prone to less injuries.  You can always increase your walking exercises by adding weights to your wrists and ankles.

So, what is needed to begin a Walking Exercise Program?
Not very much is needed really.  All that is needed is comfortable clothing and a good pair of walking/running shoes.

What type of exercises are you doing to get your body moving?

Healthy Celebration

Dessert Platter

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate Love & Happiness.
In our culture, most people like to celebrate by sharing a meal of delicious foods topped off with yummy desserts.  If you are watching your weight or just eating healthier in general, you can still enjoy delicious foods.  Here's what I chose to eat for my Valentine's Day dinner. It was healthy and quite delicious.

Dinner

For dinner, I served grilled salmon, spinach stir-fry and freshly sliced cherry tomatoes. I love tomatoes!
The spinach stir-fry and salmon were both prepared using olive oil and the tomatoes were simply sprinkled with sea salt.

Dessert (pictured above) was a raw dessert platter that included fresh whole strawberries. The strawberries were so sweet...they were perfect. So, what are those heart-shaped thingies? LOL!  They are delicious little morsels of raw goodness. I call them Brazil Nut Dateys (cookies). No sugar is added to these little bad boys making them a very healthy treat. They are made using raw organic Brazil nuts, coconut flakes, barhi dates, and a pinch of sea salt.  I added organic cacao powder  to some of the mixture to create a chocolate flavor.  After all, what is Valentine's Day without chocolate, right?  These little dateys were shaped into mini hearts using a heart-shaped mold, which created the perfect bite-size portion, in honor of Valentine's Day. No guilt there! :-)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day whether you are single or in a relationship. I really enjoyed my evening.

What did your Valentine's Day dinner consist of?

Guess what I did yesterday?!?!

Now Walk It Out!!!

I went WALKING!!!!

I know it is not that big of a deal to you, but it is to me.  I'm so excited!
I had been saying for months that I was gonna start walking again to get in some much needed exercise, but I never did do it. I had gotten pretty good at walking one time before, but I just stopped...for no good reason.  My legs were beginning to tone up and look sexy, too. LOL!  Now I have to start over, but at least I have enough time to bring back my sexy before the summer, right? :-)

So since I'm taking one day at a time, I decided that yesterday (Monday) was the day to get to it.  It felt really cool and breezy out for most of the day.  The weather was a little overcast, but I didn't let that stop me. It felt amazing! I walked 1 mile in about 30 minutes.

Will I walk tomorrow? I'm not sure, but I will take it one day at a time.
If I don't walk tomorrow, then there is always the next day.

Anyone want to join me?
I need walking buddies.  You can join me physically, but you don't have to.
You can join me by walking wherever you are. Just start walking!
If you are at work, you can take a brisk walk on your lunch break.  If you are at home, you can walk whenever it is convenient for you.  The best time for me to walk is in the morning.  Once I start my day, it is very hard for me to get out there.

So, if you decide to walk it out, let me know.  Leave a comment in the comment section.
We can exchange emails or something and motivate each other.
I look forward to walking with you! :-)

One Day At A Time

Hello Everyone!

It seems like the month of January just flew by. Wheeee! :)
It's now February and for a lot of people that means that those New Year's resolutions you made have been put to the wayside and all but forgotten. However, it's not to late to re-adjust your plans.
So what if you didn't stick with going to the gym 3 times a week?
So what if you didn't stick to your meal plan of only eating healthy foods?
So what???

Well, here's what! It's time to re-adjust and make more realistic goals. It may help if you set your goals not for the entire year, but for 3 months or maybe even 1 month...even 1 week.  I always tell my clients to take one day at a time, especially when it comes to eating healthy.
So whatever resolutions you made or goals you set for yourself, you can still achieve them without putting too much pressure on yourself. Just take one day at a time.

Two of the goals I set for myself was to get more exercise and to eat healthier.
I'm doing okay with the eating healthier part, but with the exercise...not so much. :(
It's okay though. I still have that new pair of running shoes that I purchased last year and never wore. LOL!  So what am I going to do? I'm going to take one day at a time and just do it. All I have to do is WALK! My plans for this week is to walk at least 3 days. I know I can do it. I've done it before and with the weather being so pleasant here lately, I really don't have any excuses.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

So what are some of the goals/resolutions you made that you sort of let fall by the wayside?
Are you planning to re-focus and get started on them again?
Remember, you can always start over!

Enjoy Your Monday, Everyone!!!

My Chocolate Fix!

Hello Sweet Peaches!
It's been a while since I last blogged.
Here's what's been going on in my world...

Lots of lemons for the Master Cleanse

After the New Year rolled around, I decided to cleanse my body by doing the Master Cleanse.
I started my cleanse on January 3rd.
I did the Master Cleanse for 10 days and then I juiced for 4 days. On day 15, I added fresh fruit & vegetables to my juicing days.  So my entire cleanse lasted 20 days. I lost 10 pounds.
Since the cleanse ended, I decided not to eat poultry (chicken or turkey) for...I don't know...I don't miss those things so I may not ever eat them again.  Who knows! I'm taking my healthy living journey one day at a time.  I gave up pork and beef over a year ago and I don't miss those meats at all, so for me I don't think I'll miss the poultry much at all.  Lately I've been eating a lot of salads and whole fruits. I've also been making a lot of smoothies and juicing a lot.  As for juicing, my niece and nephew gave me a juicer about 3 years ago for Christmas. I used it a few times when I first got it, then I put it away. LoL!  I figured since I did the MC, I would end it with fresh juices and I've been using it almost daily every since.  I'm so glad I didn't get rid of my juicer and I'm so thankful for the goodness that it is providing my body.  I feel so good when I drink fresh green juices.  I've made juices with green leafies(collards, kale, green leaf lettuce, etc.), vegetables & fruit and I've also made juices with just green leafies and fruits.  I found that my favorite combination is a simple juice made with just 1 type of green leafy and 1 type of fruit.  The best 2 combos so far have been collards & pineapple and also kale & mineola oranges.  So simple, yet so good and nutritious.

Spinach & Salmon Stir-fry

So, what  other things have I been eating since January 22?
As far a cooked foods go, I've been eating a lot of stir-fries: salmon & spinach stir-fry and stir-fry collard greens. The recipes are in my booklet.  I've also just had plain grilled salmon with a side of cooked veggies. Yes, I've been eating a LOT of salmon lately! 
As I type this, I'm realizing I haven't eaten out but once since the beginning of January...and I don't miss it at all.  Even when I did eat out, I ordered fish & veggies and I remember thinking that I would have enjoyed it more, had I cooked my own meal at home. I'm getting better at this healthy eating thing that's for sure. :)

Wow! I just made an amazing chocolate shake. It is so delicious, I just had to share. I'm drinking it as I type this blog. Yum!!!
Just the chocolate fix I needed!
Recipe: Choco-Brazil Nut Shake
1-1/2 cups water
2 frozen bananas
1 tspn cacao powder
4 bahri dates
a handful of Brazil nuts
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour in your favorite glass and drink up! Delicious!
Notes: if you don't have frozen bananas, use 1 cup of water and a half cup of ice.
Also, you may want to start out with 2 dates and add more until you get to your desired sweetness.
That's it!

Feel free to leave a comment or ask questions by leaving a comment. I'd be more than happy to hear from you!

Goal Completed

Mostly Raw (Front Cover)

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick note to say that I completed one of the top items on my To Do List. Yay!!!

It is my first booklet on Raw Foods and Healthy Eating, entitled Mostly Raw.  I personally know how hard it is to transition over to a mostly raw diet, so I created the book to help others who are striving to improve their eating habits and make a Healthy Lifestyle change.
The booklet has been sent to the printer and I should be receiving my copies no later than the first part of next week.

My new website, EatRawYummies.com will be up and running soon. Copies of the booklet may be purchased on the website or at a local health store called Coffee Tea & A Healthy Me, which is located in Avondale Estates.
Join me in 2012 as I up my level of Health & Fitness. I would love to coach you through to success. More info to come about my New Year's Coaching Special and how you can receive a free copy of the booklet.


Have you completed any major goals this year? Please share your good news with our readers if you did.  We want to be excited and celebrate it with you.  
(Leave a comment in the comment section.)

Mostly Raw (Back Cover)

Hello Everyone!

I've been very busy working on my future plans.  I made one major accomplishment and that was completing my booklet, Mostly Raw. :)  I titled it Mostly Raw because my goal is to reach those people that want to become healthier, but end up feeling lost in the process. Mostly Raw is a beginners guide to creating a healthy balanced diet using raw & cooked foods.

Delicious Blooms

In my last post, I spoke about discovering what makes me happy.  While I loved making edible arrangements using fresh fruit, cookies, candies and snacks, my passion is all about HEALTH.  So I will be switching things up a bit. I've decided not to offer Candy, Cookie & Snack Bouquets when I re-open my business. However, I will continue to create fresh fruit bouquets and all of the chocolate dipped fruit items as I did before. 
I need to stay focused and true to my passion.  Of course it is okay to eat these things on occasion, but it will be much easier on me if I don't have them around me all day. Know what I mean? :) I just want to help others (and myself) to get and stay healthy by making small changes to our eating habits and by offering candy, cookies and snacks, I won't be able to do that.  As I stated in my last post, it is not about depriving yourself of your favorite foods. It's about making more healthier choices.

The year 2012 is only 1 month away!  During this month (December) a lot of people begin to think about changes they plan to make in the upcoming year. People make New Year's Resolutions and set goals to make a better life for themselves.  My goal for next year is to continue to get healthy and to stay that way. I want that for myself as well as for others.  Life is better, you look better, you feel better, you get more things accomplished and you are happier when you are healthy and feeling your best. You become more confident and more outgoing when you are loving the skin you are in. So let's all make plans to become a Healthier You in 2012.

Question of the day:
Are you making plans to  "Become a Better You" in the year of 2012? If so, what are some of your goals/dreams?