BzHealthyMama

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Green smoothie

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Green smoothie recipe :

1/2 cup of fresh pineapples

2-3 strips of celery

3-4 leaves of romaine

1 cup of Spinach

A little lemon juice

1-2 cups of water

Blend and enjoy the yumminess

The original recipe was created or made by Rawvana and I added my twist :) You can add any greens you like such as cucumbers, parsley, cilantro, kale etc... If you don't like pineapples, you can replace it with an apple. You can also add fresh ginger. Change it to whatever suits you.

Dark leafy greens are alkaline, carry many minerals and vitamins, blood purifiers, oxygen filled, and detoxifiers. Try to drink one green smoothie or juice a day and see if you notice a difference.

On the weekend, I learned a lesson about resisting going with the flow.

Resistance . It keeps us from going with the flow, it makes us more irritated , and prone to anger. It disables our natural state of being which is joy.
Resistance . It disrupts our well being and peace of mind , it cripples us. We can't let go and move on.
Going with the flow and being flexible with any situation that comes our way is hard work but is gives up peace of mind , joy and ease.

Finding your own balance when it comes to being healthier!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

How to lose weight ? Simple ways to get healthier and lose the weight you don't desire

Sunday, August 31, 2014

To text or to call?? The million dollar question.... My frustration explained !!!

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

You might wonder the reason I am writing about social media! It has nothing to do with health? Health is not just the food we eat! Health entitles a healthy mind, a healthy way of living, healthy relationships and SOCIALIZATION with others. The way social media is used nowadays is NOT healthy in my opinion.

Have you ever thought to yourself " I can't wear that dress anymore because I already have pics on facebook wearing it?" or " I gotta to that place because they took their kids there." " I thought she is getting a divorce , why is she posting loving pictures of her and her husband?"
Sometimes I see myself taking pictures just to post on facebook rather than enjoying the view. I also catch myself thinking about what my status will be today! I keep checking and refreshing my instagram posts to see if I got new likes. Then I look at others' accounts and be like " how come they have more followers?" How the heck did she get 1.1 million followers or over a 100 thousand followers? I also noticed that people just get obsesessed with others' lives, pictures, etc... by reading their comments " you are so perfect, you are so beautiful, please follow me etc...."
Whatsapp and texting: I call my friends, they don't answer but then they text me or wanna chat on facebook messenger!! As a busy working mom, I am driving half of the time whether to or from work, to or from picking the kids up, to or from home, to or from music practice etc... you get the point? I can't text or chat, I can have a real conversation that will take less time than the text !!
Have you noticed cramps in your neck, shoulders and your arms??? Well, we are holding our phones pretty much 24/7, texting with both thumbs or in my case I am putting my daughter to sleep , trying to post or chat with one hand and rubbing her back with the other; so after she falls asleep my whole right side is numb !!
I realized how much I depended on my phone for directions when my phone died as we were in San Diego with our cousin from Chicago. First, I couldn't find the way but somehow figured it out; meanwhile I felt free and enjoyed the view of the new streets I have never seen before. Then, instead of snapping tons of pictures of the kids in order to post ( while thinking of the caption...you know you do it :P ) , I enjoyed them playing and having fun... I also played and had fun with them. In addition, I started noticing the many moms sitting checking their phones while their kids played. So I remembered myself doing that: While at the park, kids are playing and I am constantly on my phone.

Seeing others do it made me realize how much I don't want to do it coz it looks disturbing. These are my kids, I should pay attention to them playing and laughing not other people !!
When I started texting my friends less and calling more, I noticed how less people answer the phone and don't keep in touch with you simply because your texts are short ...well I am trying not to get in a car accident.

Maybe they don't care enough to take the time to call you and have an oral conversation.

Sorry Einstein, the day has come !!!

I am not writing this post to offend or judge anyone , I am frustrated because I care !!! If you are my friend and you found what I wrote offensive and judgmental , please call me and let me know LOL

Facebook, Instagram, twitter, smart phones should be called UNsocial media.
I am a speech and language pathologist ( M.S-CCC, SLP) I work on pragmatics which includes socialization with some students so I know about this topic a little I can say ;)
Chatting and texting is NOT a two way communiction even though it appears this way coz the other person is responding!!! The other person may forget to respond or may not want to , so we are left with a one way communication. TALKING to YOURSELF !

Another point about chatting is :as human beings we read into everything, even the punctuation marks. We also make a big deal out of it " MMM she put a period , does that mean she does not want to talk anymore, what did he mean by this sentence? is she trying to be a bitch ? or is he tyring bla bla " Sometimes, we end friendships and relationships due to a misinterpretation of a text or an email" A friend told me " texting is easier." I don't see it easy, I see it as you are not as important to me to bother calling you and hearing your voice for few minutes. I used to view it this way ( easy), to the point my sister and I got mom an iphone and taught her to text. Texting can be important! My husband and I text , I text with my sister and mom but I still talk to them on the phone. We have a family group on whatsaapp ( mom, dad, my sister, and myself) , we share pictures and thoughts coz we can't all have a phone conversation at once. You know what , if we try hard enough and don't make excuses maybe we can;) My point is : we don't rely on that way of communcation, we still call or facetime ! My brother is in Texas; he loves to see the kids and we love to see him too.
I am not saying let's stop texting and emailing....let's just do it less.
I am not saying don't check facebook, let's just do it less.
I am not saying don't tweet, let's just do it less.
Try to use the phone like it was originally created for : talking to people using your voice. I am not perfect but I am realizing my faults and working on them. Let's use technology with moderation and not let it take over our lives. Let's teach our children to look up while walking not down on the phone or ipad .

Here are some tips that helped me and I sure hope they help you:

Call people and leave them voicemails....If they don't end up calling me back after many attempts then to me they don't view me as a priority so I won't view them as such.
Specify a time you want to check your phone for FB, IG, etc... I don't want to get up and check my phone first thing in the morning so my times are 8:00 AM, noon, 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM. There are exceptions and I am not rigid; I am saying when I decreased the number of times I allowed myself to check social media ( or unsocial media LOL) I noticed that I automatically check it less.
Specify a time when you want all electronics OFF and display it. YES! Write it down and hang it on the wall. Your kids' friends will see it too LOL We don't use electronics after 4:00 PM unless ipad is being used by my son for homework. He has to do 20 minutes of Math daily on the ipad.
TURN IT OFF at night. If it's off, I am less likely to turn it on to check it. It's off. For example , it's 8:47 AM now and my phone has been dead...I didn't even charge it yet. Try it, you will feel free.
Forget it. Make the point of forgetting it in the house or in the car for just few hours and see how much your life changes!!!

Thank you so much for reading my post and please feel free to comment and let us know of some tips that worked for you to decrease technology and increase human interaction.

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

How to get your children to eat more fruits and veggies!

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

As I was drinking my green smoothie during therapy , one of my students said "ewww, what is that?"

bzhealthymama on Instagram

Then I realized, nowadays kids reach out for fish crackers, candy, chocolate bars, sugary cereals etc...( the real "ewww") before fruits or vegetables. I know some people who go on the whole day heck few days without fruits or vegetables....yup that was me few years ago. Then I would complain " why am I so constipated?"
Think about it, why would a 4 year old go for kale if he has candy on a daily basis?? Kale tastes horrible to them and they don't know that it is packed with vitamins and minerals. All they know is kale looks green and disgusting in comparison to the colorful lollipops packed with sugar, chemicals, dyes to name the few.
Since I started this healthy journey and educated myself, I became more open to fruits and veggies especially the vegetables. My taste buds have changed and I enjoy eating and drinking greens. Then I started looking at my own children and how much fruits and vegetables they don't eat. My oldest is way more open to anything, he enjoys food ; however, my daughter is very picky.... At this moment, my son eat a variety of fruits and vegetables , a salad with dinner. In addition, my daughter eats more fruits and a salad with dinner. She also eats cucumbers!!! "Hooray" ( this is what she says LOL) So here are the few tips that worked with my kids, hopefully they will work with yours ( I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment or two ;) )

Lead by example: I didn't force my kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. I started eating and drinking more fruits and vegetables. Then they were curious to try, sometimes they would like it and at times not. My daughter saw me eat a huge salad for dinner daily for at least a year before she tried the lettuce but you know what now she eats a small salad every evening. Keep the dressing simple: our dressing is lemon juice, some sea salt, and grape seed oil.
Make smoothies: Make smoothies for you and your kids. Drink with them and you will be surprised , they will drink theirs and yours ;) Make the smoothies sweet and add the greens. Bananas and dates are so sweet, add some spinach or celery and blend; they won't even taste the difference. We are a picky family , if we can handle green veggies in the smoothies, I think any person can :) P.S: Pineapples are strong too so if you add a variety of greens with pineapples , u will only taste the latter and barely the greens.
Throw away the junk: if they don't have it available , they won't reach for it.... if they can't see it for a while they won't miss it anymore. When they do ask for junk, educate and explain to them ( even If they are little, they will understand) why it's not allowed in your household.
Keep your house abundant with all kinds of fruits and vegetables: after they get used not seeing the junk and consistently seeing the beautiful colors of fruits and vegetables they will start asking for them.
Pack them fruits and/or veggies for school: they may throw it away or give it to someone but if they see how consistent you are they will eat it...they are hungry and they don't have a choice ! They are not going to like cucumbers or radishes at first, but be patient, and consistent their taste buds will change. Some kids may take longer than others but they will get there if you hang in there and do not give in. Example: one morning, it took my daughter crying for at least an hour ( I need to explain a little as some may think I am too "extreme"- the crying was on and off and it was the whiny crying not the running out of breath I am in danger crying...the seeking attention cry which can be tuned out and tolerable LOL), throwing a tantrum for another 30 minutes( also on and off, I really didn't time it here guys ) before she gave in and ate the fruits I gave her for breakfast. The bottom line is I was consistent and she saw that! Am I a cruel mom? Maybe some people view it this way; however, I think cruel moms are the ones letting their children eat junk and not forcing some discipline and increasing fruits and veggies in the house.

Eating her veggies ~@bzhealthymama on Instagram

I am sure there are many articles talking about this subject and there are many more tips but the ones I mentioned are the ones that worked with my kids and my family. I hope they will work for yours....try them out, you have nothing to lose :) Please comment if you have any tips that worked in your household !

I would like to thank all who follow and believe in my blog :) Please subscribe to my mailing list and invite your friends and family.
Please feel free to share my blog with your friends and family. I would also love to hear from you , so please write me comments as I learn from each one of you :)

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sunscreen: Is it an enemy or a friend ?

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to share with your friends and family. In this post, I will talk about my opinion about sunscreens and will recommend a homemade product that will replace the sunscreen you have which is most likely filled with harsh chemicals. There will also be a giveaway ;) so please read until the end :)
More and more people are afraid of the sun and bathe themselves and their kids with sunscreen to protect their skin from cancer. However, cancer is on the rising so I don't think the sunscreen is helping !!!
More and more people are vitamin D deficient....just ask your friends and family and I can assure you a lot will have a deficiency.
We get our Vitamin D from the sun but when we lather our skin with sunscreen , we are not giving the sun a chance hence the deficiency, the depression , mood swings, irritability and anxiety. So get out in the sun and get your vitamin D from the source not from supplements.

There are plenty of articles out there stating the harsh chemicals in the sunscreen so I ask you: Which one is more harmful? The sunscreen? or the sun?
In my opinion, and according to plenty of research and articles written about the subject the sunscreen is more harmful to the skin than the sun.
As you all know me by now, I like to link articles to my blog because I do not claim to be an expert on anything. I research, use common sense and like to break it down in simpler terms to the people who follow me ( Thank you for the follow and support....there is a free giveaway, keep on reading LOL).
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2014/teensunscreen/pdf/EWG_teensunscreen_guide_2014.pdf
According to this guide choose sunscreen that has an SPF of 50 or below and avoid the following: fragrance, oxybenzone and vitamin A.
There are articles stating the benefits of sunscreens and others stating the harm of sunscreens. However, try to consider the motto I have been living by since I began my journey to healthy living:
"if you can't read it , don't eat it or put it on your skin."
The following are few tips to help you decide what to do when it comes to sunscreen and sun:

Get out in the sun more. If you are at work all day, eat your lunch outside or take a quick walk during your break.
If you are going to be in the sun for a little bit and you are fully clothed , there is no need for sunscreen.
If you are going to be in the sun before 2:00 PM and for a period of time longer than 2 hours use a homemade sunscreen.
If you are going to be in the sun after 4:00 PM there is no need for sunscreen, the sun is not harmful.
Visit EWG and type in the name of your sunscreen , they will tell you how hazardous it is in case you bought a big case of sunscreens from Costco and you don't want to throw it away.
Make your own sunscreen or support small businesses on Etsy and buy homemade sunscreen if you don't have time to make your own. I have tried the sunscreen from Mama Dre's and it does work. My kids were in the sun all day and they didn't get burnt. https://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaDres?ref=search_shop_redirect

Homemade sunscreens are the best in my opinion, however, you have to be aware that they do melt easily so you can just stick them in the cooler if you are on the beach or at the pool or your fridge when you come back home. They are more oily so my advice to this is let your skin absorb it for few minutes before you get in the water.
Here are the ingredients in Mama Dre's sunscreen stick : coconut oil, beeswax, Shea butter, hemp oil, vitamin e, zinc oxide and vanilla.
What is Zinc Oxide you say ? Well here it is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_oxide.
Zinc Oxide was used as a salve for eyes and open wounds in the Indian medicine, it was also used by others such as the Greeks, the Romans, etc.... So in my dictionary, this is safer than most of the ingredients available in the commercial sunscreens.

NOW HERE IS THE GIVEAWAY

In order to continue to support small businesses I would like to send 10 of my followers homemade sunscreen sticks from Mama Dre's. Here are the rules in order to be entered in the giveaway:

Like Healthy Mamas, Healthy Babies on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HealthyMamasHealthyBabies?ref=hl
Like Mama Dre's on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mamadreslove?fref=ts
Follow bzheathymama on Instagram http://instagram.com/bzhealthymama, repost a picture and comment with #bzhealthymamagiveaway
Share this post on any social network and tag #bzhealthymama
Comment on this post with your ideas, suggestions, thoughts etc....good or bad I love the criticism and the challenge but keep it respectful . Agree or disagree with the idea and content not the person :)

The winners will be selected on August 27, 2014 and will be sent an email. Thank you so much for participating :)

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

ORGANIC VS CONVENTIONAL? TIPS THAT MAY HELP YOU CHOOSE

Long time ago, fruits and vegetables were referred to by their names rather than organic or non organic because humans practiced traditional farming or forest gardening.
Then the pesticides and harmful fertilizers were introduced and of course we got greedy and we didn't care about our well being and began mass production and mass harming of fruits and vegetables.
Therefore, we have to differentiate between fruits and veggies grown the "old fashion" way and the ones sprayed with tons of chemicals nowadays.
The ones treated with chemicals and harmful substances look pretty and they have a nice color but their taste is horrible.... you don't believe me?? Please try it for yourself!
Try an organic strawberry and a non organic one .... Taste the difference? They look, smell and taste different.
According to this article : http://livefreelivenatural.com/scientists-reviewed-343-studies-see-organic-food-better-heres-found/
Organic produce contain more antioxidants and more nutrients per serving hence the body needs less servings per meal. This piece of information argues the fact that organic produce is more expensive than conventional. In addition, conventional fruits and vegetables contain pesticides residue that is harmful to the body...so in my opinion, always choose organic.

However, some people may not be able to afford it so here are few tips:

Visit your farmers market, check with them if they grow their produce organically and buy from them....their fruits and vegetables cost less.
Grow your own. Even if you don't have time you can grow the herbs such as mint, oregano, thyme in pots. I am growing my green onions from the white bulb in a mug in my kitchen.
When you are at the grocery store, make sure to check the "clearance" section usually where they put the items that are about to expire. You may be able to find some ripe organic bananas or sweet bell peppers etc....
Go to Costco or Sam's club if you are a member. Costco has a lot of organic produce such as strawberries, apples, spinach, spring mix, carrots etc.... Sam's club has less of a selection but they do carry sometimes organic blueberries, raspberries, etc...
Pick the organic fruits and vegetables that are in season in your area and indulge... For example: oranges are in season during the fall and winter so eat more oranges then; watermelons are in season during the summer so eat accordingly. Back in the day, people ate what was growing on trees, so what was in season.
Reduce buying junk such as sugary cereal, soda, cookies, candies etc... so you are able to afford to buy most of your produce organic. A 24 pack of Pepsi or coca-cola is 9.99 in the US in most stores, for 9.99 you can buy a stalk of organic celery, a large bag of organic potatoes, and 2-3 heads of romaine lettuce.
Finally, refer to the dirty dozen plus and clean 15 list by EWG. https://donate.ewg.org/images/2014_Shopper_Guide_to_Pesticides_in_Produce.pdf

The dirty dozen are the fruits and vegetables that have the most pesticide residue and should always be bought organic are:

Apples
Strawberries
Potatoes
Celery
Tomatoes
Snap Peas
Spinach
Cucumbers
Sweet bell peppers
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Hot peppers
Kale
Collards

I would like to thank all who follow and believe in my blog :) Please subscribe to my mailing list and invite your friends and family.
Please feel free to share my blog with your friends and family. I would also love to hear from you , so please write me comments as I learn from each one of you :)

Follow me on Instagram http://instagram.com/bzhealthymama and tmblr: bzhealthymama; Facebook: Healthy Mamas, Healthy Babies https://www.facebook.com/HealthyMamasHealthyBabies?ref=hl