So Many Celebrations! So Many Good Things!

(September 24, 2009)  Since I last wrote to you, I’ve been meditating and connecting to good energy. I feel light. I feel good. In fact, I feel pretty amazing!

I came back last Monday from a 10-day stay in Montreal where I had so much to celebrate. I had my BFF Sophie’s 40th awesome birthday party, my nephew Michael’s Bar Mitzvah and I celebrated Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) with my husband’s family. In between those events, I met a lot of my friends, shared nice meals and plenty of good wine.

You might wonder how I can keep up with healthy and balanced eating in the midst of so many celebrations. The truth is that I don’t always keep up and I am not always perfect. During times of celebrations or during a vacation, I usually keep the habit of eating a green salad before my meals and I am also usually pretty good about chewing my food properly (they are well-integrated practices by now) but I also eat more desserts and my meals are not always perfectly combined.

However, there is one thing that I make sure to keep up with during festivities: I surround myself with good energy whatever my food choices.

What I’ve learned through my practice is that healthy food with a lot of rigidity and guilt is not better than less-than-perfect food with a lot of fun and joy. I’m not saying that eating processed or sugary food all the time is OK as long as you do it in a state of joy. Eventually, it would have a negative impact on you. I’m just saying that it is OK to break the routine from time to time if it’s done in good spirit.

After a while, it’s time to get back on track.

There are two things that I make sure to get back to as soon as I am back from a vacation or a long weekend of celebrations: 1) My yoga practice; and 2) My green juice. They have this incredible power to put me back on track with happy, healthy living.

Do you have practices that put you back on track when you fall off the wagon? If not, think about something that could connect you right back to your healthy routine. 

I wish you lots of Fun and Joy!
Until next time,

Cathy

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Get Free Tips, Articles, Recipes and Resources to Improve Your Health, Raise Your Energy and Be More Beautiful (Both Inside and Out) at CathysHealthTips.com.

What’s going on with me? Breakdown and all!

(September 10, 2009)  While writing these words, I’ll be honest, I am not feeling my best. In the last week, at different times, I suffered from allergies, headaches and digestive problems.

What’s going on with me?!!

On a physical level, I ate too much cooked and dense foods while vacationing with my husband at the Sivananda Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas during the last week of August. Too much rice! Too many beans and lentils! Then, we returned home and celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with an amazing meal, great champagne and wine. A true indulgence!

But you know what? I believe that my physical challenges are a reflection of my emotional and mental state of mind. As you might already know, I’ve been longing to start a family, to get pregnant, for a long time. I sometimes overly indulge in the moment so I don’t think about what’s missing in my life.

Since our anniversary, I’m back to my routine. I went back to drinking my daily green juice, eating fruit and salads and well-combined meals.

My diet is much lighter and all the buried emotions (and food accumulation) are coming to the surface resulting in a kind of breakdown this morning. I got up early to go to my yoga class, walked to the studio but I couldn’t get upstairs for the class so I left and came back home. I could feel my heart so full with emotions. My husband hung up the phone right away to see what was wrong. His tenderness and gentleness opened my heart and a flow of tears came out. I cried a lot. It felt good and sad at the same time. Then, I went to get ‘Huevos Rancheros’ at the corner restaurant. I realized then that I wanted to stop feeling for a bit, which is not necessarily the answer.

Have there been times when you have felt low and turned to food, alcohol or other unhealthy behaviors to ease your mind or heart?

My experience reminded me of the importance of being in the moment, to face the truth and let go.

I have a lot of hope with regard to starting a family but I also have worries and fear (what if it doesn't work?). In order to process them, I first need to acknowledge and accept them.

The thing is: If I got pregnant 6 years ago, I wouldn’t have learned and grown the way I did and my marriage wouldn’t be as strong a partnership it is now. There’s a reason for everything. I believe in divine order.

I am pretty sure that you and I have engaged in emotional eating at difficult times in our lives. That is no sin. The important thing is not to indulge after indulging! You know what I mean: After we eat or drink badly, or stop exercising, we feel bad about ourselves, which only encourages us to continue this unhealthy activity. I encourage you (and me!) to forgive ourselves for these slips, and get back on track.

I wish you lots of Fun and Joy!
Until next time,

Cathy

P.S. Follow me on Twitter!



Get Free Tips, Articles, Recipes and Resources to Improve Your Health, Raise Your Energy and Be More Beautiful (Both Inside and Out) at CathysHealthTips.com.

Corn Recipes

It’s still corn season! Here are two amazingly delicious and cleansing recipes with fresh, organic and raw corn.

Sweet Corn Chowder
Makes 4 servings

(From Ani Phyo’s book: Ani's raw food kitchen)

This recipe doesn’t respect the principles of food combining because it mixes corn (starch) and nuts (protein). However, it is so good that I still wanted to share it with you. I love to make it for my husband. He always asks for a second and third bowl! A great soup to serve to your guests!

For the chowder base:
3 ears sweet corn
¾ cup walnut
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups water

For the chowder topping:
1 cup kernels, set aside from above
1 avocado, diced
1/3 bunch cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Set aside 1 cup of corn kernels to use as chowder topping. Blend remaining corn, walnuts, oil, garlic, salt, and water until smooth. To serve, pour chowder base into four bowls. Top each bowl with some topping.

Note: You can cut the amount of oil in two and replace it by water.

Corn Salad
Makes 3 to 4 servings

(From Matt Amsden’s book: RAWvolution)

For the salad:
3 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (approximately 4 ears)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped scallions
1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed

For the dressing:
½ cup Thai coconut water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon curry powder
¼ cup pine nuts (I personally skip the nuts in order to respect the principles of food combining)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the salad ingredients and toss to mix thoroughly. In a high-speed blender, combine all of the dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour over the salad, toss well to mix the dressing with the corn, and serve.

About corn: After corn season, you can buy frozen corn. Fresh or frozen, I make sure to buy organic corn because I don’t want to eat GMO (genetically modified organisms) corn. We still don’t know the long -term effects of GMO corn on human but we are now aware of the detrimental impact it has on rats. Scary!

Get Free Tips, Articles, Recipes and Resources to Improve Your Health, Raise Your Energy and Be More Beautiful (Both Inside and Out) at CathysHealthTips.com.

Always Hungry? Your Body Might Be Hungry for Sunlight!

Hungry?  Again?! Know that food is not the only element to plays a role in your nutrition.  Sunlight, fresh air and pure water are also prime elements for optimum energy, vitality and beauty.  They play a vital role in nourishing your body.

Today, I will focus on the critical importance of sunshine and natural lights.

Sunbathing As A Health Ritual Throughout History

Ancient civilizations knew the power of the sun in strengthening the muscles and the nerves of the body.  Their cities were equipped with sun gardens for the purpose of sunbathing.  The Romans instructed their gladiators to get regular sunbaths as part of their training.  Other civilizations brought their sick to the sunny side of the mountain to get better sun exposure. 

Before the triumph of Christianity, sun worshiping came very close to becoming the universal religion.  At that time, Christians viewed sunbathing as a pagan ritual and condemned it, practically ending the healthy practice of sunbathing.  During that same period, only Jewish and Arabians physicians would recommend sunbath to their sick patients.

Today, sun exposure is still recommended by health practitioners trained in Natural Hygiene for both the sick and the healthy.

Natural Light As A Nutrient For Your Body

The sun has a positive impact on the whole nutritive process and is vital for many biological functions. 

Specifically, it supports the absorption of phosphorus and calcium, important minerals for the health of your bones.

It also activates the production of Vitamin D, which will boost your immune system, fight colds and the flu, and could prevent your risk of cancer, diabetes, depression and osteoporosis.  Recent study on vitamin D suggested a role in brain detoxification, removing mercury safely from your body.

A sufficient amount of sun exposure increases the quality of your blood and improves your circulation.  As a result, the blood’s power to repair and build tissues is intensified.  The energy of sunlight, entering through your eyes, directly arouses them as well as the blood and indirectly all other body functions.  The blood, which gets the oxygen and nutrients to your body’s organs, is impacted by the amount of sun exposure that you get.  Sufficient sun exposure supports efficient digestion and assimilation.  My question to you is: Are you hungry for food or for sunlight?

Finally, sunlight improves glandular activities, which aides in case of ovulatary irregularity, pubertal difficulty, acne and impotency.

Cathy’s Action Health Tips:

1) Plan 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure (without sunscreen) on a regular basis (every day is ideal).  If possible, at least 40 percent of your skin should be exposed.  Your eyes, being the major entry points, shouldn’t be covered with sunglasses during that time.

2) Excessive sunshine is not the goal. Getting sunburned and over-heating your body will result in stress to your entire system causing toxicity.  If you are in the sun for a long time, use large hats, beach umbrellas, non-toxic sunscreens and seek the shade.  It is important to understand that you benefit from sunlight not the sun heat. 

3) Choose sun-rich foods.  Every time that you choose fresh fruits and vegetables, foods that are full of light and come directly from the sun, you take one more step toward light, beauty, energy and vitality.

4) Click here for some tasty sun-rich recipes.

I Would Love to Hear From You!

How do YOU incorporate sunbathing into your life?  Is it working for you?  I am sincerely interested in knowing what is or isn’t working for you and would love to hear from you.  Send me an email to let me know.

To Your Long, Healthy, and Passionate Life !

Cathy

Get Free Tips, Articles, Recipes and Resources to Improve Your Health, Raise Your Energy and Be More Beautiful (Both Inside and Out) at CathysHealthTips.com.