Calming Everyday Foods

Everyday Foods to Help Us De-Stress

 ~Energizing Snack~

When life gets stressful, there are many things we can do to help relieve the stress. We all know the most common ones. But, did you know there are foods that also help us to de-stress? Here are four foods I never thought of as stress relievers.

Cauliflower is a great and little known stress reliever. You should steam half a cup of cauliflower and mash it as you would potatoes. Add some olive oil and spices and serve it as a guilt-free side dish to basically any entrée!

Here's how I like mine: steamed about 5-10 minutes 

and served as a side with my entrée.

Cottage Cheese is a commonly used food, but did you know you can use it to de-stress? You can mix 4 ounces of cottage cheese with berries or pineapples for a satisfying meal or snack. Many of us eat it this way all the time. Did you know it is a great stress reliever?

Chicken is one of my all time favorite foods. I eat it often, and I didn’t know it could be used to de-stress. You should grill it, slice it and add it to salad for a healthy meal. We also eat this combination a lot around here, not realizing it is a food that is good for relieving stress. As with most proteins, 4 ounces per meal should do the trick.

Chicken & Baby Carrote: One of our winter favorites.

Carrots are great raw with hummus (I prefer mine with Ranch Salad Dressing). Carrots can also be steamed, sautéed, roasted and glazed. Just 4 ounces should do the trick to use as a stress reliever.

There you have it, some common everyday foods that we eat all the time that also serve as great stress relievers.

What are your thoughts on using foods to de-stress? Did you already know this? Do you know other foods that will help us to de-stress?

What Am I Doing Here, Why Am I Still Alive?

Have You Ever Asked Yourself That Question?

 My daughter, Jordyn.

Right now, I’m so tickled I’m about to pop-wide-open! I’m grinning from ear-to-ear, laughing out LOUD…all by myself over here in my little corner of Houston. Would you like to know why? Oh good, I was hoping you’d say yes.

My daughter, Jace’s mommy, Jordyn, has written and published a book. Not just any old book, mind you. She’s written a spine-tingling, mesmerizing, page-turner BOOK!

Don’t let me start blabbering like a nincompoop, let me just get to the good part.

Jordyn’s Book

Seize Your Purpose NOW! By Jordyn Lorenz 

Jordyn Lorenz’s Seize Your Purpose NOW! grabbed my attention like a magnet and pulled me in faster than greased lightning! Her words in the opening paragraph, “There HAS to be MORE to life”, struck me like a magic arrow. I am hooked, spellbound, and anxious to find out what Jordyn has to say. 

I can’t stop, I have to know more. Page after page, I continue to read as Jordyn describes our life struggles in plain language that everyday people can understand. She shares her challenges and how she resolved them.

She ends each chapter with recommendations and strategies to help us navigate and solve our own unique problems and/or improve our circumstances.

Thanks to Jordyn Lorenz’s, Seize Your Purpose NOW! I can begin my own Journey to my Purpose. I will begin by identifying what is keeping me down and make a list of these challenges. I learned that my next step is to accept it and get on with life.

Jordyn has written this must-read step-by-step guide for those of us who want to or need to move forward. I recommend it for anyone ready to take the next step and make positive changes in your life.

There you have it, my testimonial for my daughter, Jordyn’s, book.

What are your thoughts on finding your purpose in life? Have you found yours? What was your childhood dream? Are you living it NOW? Tell us in the comments section, we’d love to hear all about it.

You can Purchase Jordyn’s BOOK HERE.

Join Jordyn to get inspired to live out your dreams HERE.

Music: My Muse

Have you ever had a song or a tune stuck in your head that won’t go away? I woke up this morning to the sad news that Aretha Franklin had passed earlier.

From that moment on Aretha’s songs and music were stuck in my head and they wouldn’t go away. Every step I took, every move I made, Aretha’s music was there. “Respect” skipped merrily through parks and playgrounds of my cluttered brain. “I Say A Little Prayer” danced happily on top of my overcrowded to-do-lists… in my head.

Most of the time, I can only stop the music stuck in my head by playing the tune over and over until I’ve overdosed on it. Today CNN performed the repetition so I didn’t need to go digging for my music.

Do you know Aretha Franklin? Do you like her music? I do. I love, love, love me some Aretha Franklin music.

What I love most is Aretha’s rendition of a song. It mesmerizes me. It holds me captive, unable to break away. The melodious rise and fall of her voice is spellbinding! Her clear throaty sound reaches way deep down inside my soul. I’m a willing prisoner to the heavenly sound of her words and music.

"Yea, oh yea - only Aretha . . ."

The journey she takes with her voice from low to high octave ending with that final burst of sweet-sounding deliciousness ... brings shivers of utter and complete joy to these untrained but adoring ears of mine.

Her voice, her words, her delivery, and her music are a recipe for sensual musical bliss. The melody and timing has my body moving along to the beat rhythmically. I’m swaying back and forth and side to side. I’m totally hooked!

I close my eyes and my mind wanders back-in-the-day. I’m immediately transported to a time and place when all was right with the world.

From song to song, beginning to end, is a soul soothing lullaby. It’s a perfect combination of vocal excellence and music long forgotten. It’s Classic!

What else can I say?

Aretha Franklin’s music is pure raw sensuous ecstasy.

Image Source

Energizing Foods

A Healthy Well-Rounded Lunch w/ Whole Wheat Roll

Are you feeling sluggish? Or do you just feel downright tired, overstressed, overwhelmed, plain old exhausted? If you do feel that way, you already know where I'm going with this. 

In case you are wondering why I ask these questions, the answer is simple. A few weeks ago I began feeling extremely tired and exhausted. It was over and above my usual “dead-tired” feeling. I was exhausted to the point I felt as if I would pass out sometimes.

It did not take long to realize what was wrong. I had “been-there-done-that” before, back in 2011. I was doing too much, not truly relaxing as I should. I was not sleeping well, and I definitely was not eating the way I should. Truth be told, I was not taking good care of myself.

I did not want to end up sick the way I was in 2011. Therefore, I quickly got myself together and set goals for doing better at taking care of ME. First, I eliminated everything from my to-do list that was not imminently important. I also made a point of relaxing to refresh throughout my day, then dropping everything and going to bed at a decent hour.

I made a concentrated effort to eat healthier. That started with not skipping meals. It also meant eating well rounded meals instead of my usual intermittent nibbling throughout the day. I built-in healthy energizing snacks instead of chips and junk food for in-between meals.

A healthy energizing snack w/ orange juice

My first task was to research Foods That Give You Energy. Then I compiled a short list of those energizing foods. So let me get right to the list for those who need to scan quickly and move on.

Here is my List of Foods & Beverages That Energize, in no particular order.

-Water

-Coffee

-Tea
-AppleJuice
-Orange Juice
-Greek Yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese

-Dark Chocolate
–Popcorn

-Nuts: cashews, almonds, walnuts

-Coconut: coconut water, fresh or dried coconut
-Whole Grains: oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread
-Fresh Fruits: apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas
-Citrus Fruits: oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits

-Lean Meat:  chicken, turkey, pork, beef

-Shrimp
-Canned Tuna (white or light) 

-Fatty Fish: smoked salmon, albacore tuna, mackerel
-Chicken Noodle Soup 

-Eggs

-Leafy Green Vegetables: kale, spinach, romaine lettuce
–Beans and Peas

-Sweet Potatoes
– Avocados

There are many more foods and beverages that give us energy. This partial list contains only those items I have tried first hand and know that they work.

Let’s wrap it all up. If you are feeling overly tired, sluggish, overstressed, overwhelmed, and totally exhausted, start with these tips. Change your lifestyle, your diet and your eating habits. Use this list of energizing foods to change your life. You will feel a lot better within a few days.

This process worked wonders for me and I am extremely I am happy to have some energy again. Give it a try, you might like it. You’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

Happy Re-Energizing to you! 

Recover Your Health with Clean Eating