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Green Smoothie for migraines

green smoothie migraine1 Green Smoothie for migraines 

One way I like to keep my family healthy is to feed them nourishing wholesome foods. It’s difficult to get my boys to eat veggies daily this is when I try to make a fresh fruit and vegetable smoothie.  It’s so easy to add a handful of kale here or handful of cumber there! Luckily I have a Blentec blender to make that possible. Years ago  my husband and I owned a few smoothie stores and before we sold our last store, we kept one of the back up blendtec commercial blender’s. The blender is over 10 years old, works great and still blending!

This is a green smoothie I made this week when my son got his migraines. I love refering to Juicing for Health.com for recipe ideas. She has a page dedicated to fruits and vegetable to help with migraine relief, click here to check it out!

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My little rant about my son’s migraine: This week my son got his migraines. His migraine cycle is off by one month, caught us off guard. Last weekend, he was complaining about feeling achy and nausous. He said his head felt heavy, but wasn’t sure if a migraine was coming because it felt different. Plus, in the past his migraine attack always occured in the middle of the night, with sharp sudden pain to his temples and eyes, followed by severe vommiting. My poor son would get so sick and dehydrated that his first two days are just plain miserable. His migraines are debilitating, he is out for about seven days. His neurologist says there are many forms of migraines, his falls under cyclical migraines because he gets them once every three months, always in the middle of the month and middle of the night – kinda like a woman’s menstrual cycle.  Strange as that may sound, we’ve looked into many things including the cycle of the moon, atmospheric pressure and of course diet. Anyhow, luckily for my son, he only experiences migraines about four times a year, not weekly or monthly like some other migraine suffers. 

This time around his migraine attack was not as debilitating, still bad enough to stay home but NO vommiting!!!  This is huge progress because he would get so sick on his first day from vommiting that he would be severely dehydrated. Believe me over the last 11 years we’ve tried every from massage, chiropractic care, all different types of diet (elimination diet, candida diet, gluten free diet, etc.), heavy duty pharmeceutical drugs, and even herbal rememdies. Migraines are a mystery, everyone has different triggers and different ways of coping with them. What works for one person may not work for another, it’s just trial and error. But it sucks big time to see a child (especially your own child) suffer. I just feel so bad not only for my son, but for other migraine suffers because it is difficult to live a normal life when you have a migraine attack. Everything is literally put on hold! We’ve learned as a family how to cope with it. My son gets down and depressed at times because he misses alot of school, activities and once he had migraine attack on his 10th birthday and needed to reschedule his party! I tell my son not to let that bring him down because on the bright side when the migraine attack is over, he is healthy and strong. He gets to be that bright young vibrant handsome boy!

Do you suffer from migraines? If so, what works for you?

what are your favorite green smoothies?

 

 

Dark chocolate covered frozen berries

 

chocolate covered frozen berries1 Dark chocolate covered frozen berries

I’ve been on a dark chocolate kick lately! There are some heart health benefits to eating dark chocolate (not milk chocolate or white chocolate).  Dark chocolate contains cocoa solids called flavonoids. Epicatechin is particularly the active compounds from the flavonoid family. Cacao beans are a source of this  powerful antioxidant. 

Here is an article from WebMD  that talks about a study of 21 adults divided into two groups. One group ate 1.6 ounce bar of Dove Dark Chocolate bar everyday for two weeks. The other group ate 1.6 ounce bar of dark chocolate but the flavonoids were taken out! The end result, those who got the full-flavonoid chocolate showed a significant difference on how well their blood vessels dilated and relaxed, which is great news because it indicates they have healthy blood vessel function. The researchers from this study credited  epicatechin, from the cacao bean, flowing through the arteries to help keep blood vessels healthy. 

cocoaLindt Dark chocolate covered frozen berries

You can find a variety of dark chocolate stocked up in my freezer. I have a few brands that I stock up on, such as Lindt Excellence chocolates, Ghirardelli chocolates and IsaDelights Plus chocolates. I usually just buy what’s on sale or splurge on a specialty chocolate, just depends on my mood.

I only buy dark chocolate that is 70% or higher in cacao. The dark chocolate that is 90% cacao is my favorite. I like to pair it with walnuts or almonds for a quick snack!

 

I also like Ghirardelli brand chocolates – perfect for making brownies or other baked goods.

 cacaoghirardelli Dark chocolate covered frozen berries

 I recently discovered Isagenix chocolates, called IsaDelight Plus. The IsaDelights are infused with green tea and other wonderful ingredients.They  are sold in a box of 30 individually packed chocolate squares. isadelightplus Dark chocolate covered frozen berries

 There are other brands that I like to buy.  You can find a variety of chocolate brands at this site, click here.  

Okay, so back to my dark chocolate snack obsession. Today I made chocolate covered frozen berries for my afternoons snack and I’m totally in love with this heart healthy snack! 

Ingredients:
one dark chocolate square ( I used IsaDelight Plus)
1/4 cup of Costco frozen triple berry blend
 
Method:
I took one IsaDelight chocolate square ( you can use any brand of chocolate) and melt in a microwave safe bowl for about 45 seconds. I took about 1/3 cup of frozen mixed berries and added it to the melted chocolate. I mixed it up until all the chocolate covered the frozen berries. You kind of have to do this part quickly because the frozen berries will harden the melted chocolate. You can eat them right away or put them back into the freezer and eat for later.

 
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What I Ate Wednesday!

wiaw0424 What I Ate Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! You know what that means, Im linking up over at Peas and Crayons for  What I ate Wednesday! Thanks Jen for hosting!

This is a sample of what I ate today. Nothing exciting, actually kinda boring!  I normally like to eat real wholesome foods but I bought a few Isagenix products for those days when I’m busy or didn’t get a chance to prep my food.  Today I really just wanted to sleep all day and do nothing since it was cold and damp kind of day! Spring will you ever come to Michigan?

5:00am Cleanse for Life tea before I trained my 5:30am clients. Luckily I get to work from home icon smile What I Ate Wednesday!

6:30am Breakfast : I had 2 mini broccoli quiche (#2) with 1/3 cup of rolled oats with cinnamon and one small apple. Get kids ready for school and get ready for a long day!

9:30 am snack: IsaLean Fiber snack (#6) -  1 bar. Trained clients from 10am to 12:30pm .

12:30pm Lunch:  IsaLean vanilla shake with salad (#1). Errands, computer work with online clients, did a quick 30 minute upper body workout at home gym, and picked up my son from school.

3:30 snack: Chocolate covered frozen berries  (#4) in IsoDelight Plus chocolate (#5). Help kids with homework, housework, other fun housewife stuff!

6:30pm: Crock pot rosemary infused chicken (#3) with red skinned potatoes (will post recipe soon) and steamed broccoli (not pictured).

8:30pm - 30 minutes of StairMaster while quizzing my first grader on his spelling words and quizzed him in addition and subtraction. Luckily I have a StairMaster in my bedroom so I can multi-task!

9:30pm 1 cup of hot Cleanse for Life tea in bed catching up on some of my favorite shows.

Bed around 10:30pm.

What did you eat today?

Do you use meal replacement shakes or bars?

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday!

 wiaw What I Ate Wednesday!t’s

It’s been awhile since I did a WIAW (what I ate Wednesday) post. Below is a glimpse of my day. I didn’t get a chance to picture all my meals, but at least it gives you an idea of what a typical day looks like.

Breakfast, 5am:  I ate an apple with one tablespoon of almond butter on a slice of Ezekial bread before training my clients at 5:30am. About an hour an a half later, I went for a 40 minute early morning walk with my son before school. When I got home, I did a quick TRX/Bosu ab workout (omg, my abs and upper body are sore!) before I taking my boys to school.

 lisatrx What I Ate Wednesday!

Mid morning snack 8am:  I had an IsoLean vanilla shake made with water after my workout. hour later, I went for a 60 minute walk/jog with my client in the neighborhood.

Lunch 11am: I had leftover grilled chicken with some romaine lettuce, feta cheese, bell pepers, cucumbers drizzled with balsamic dressing. I had a 1/3 cup hummus with carrots and celery (not pictured). I was a bit hungry 20 minutes later so I had bout 20 almonds on the side. Then, I washed it down with a tall glass of water.

Mid afternoon snack 2:30pm: IsaLean Shake made with water and on the side I had four simple strawberry melba toast crackers

Dinner 5:30pm: Grilled salmon (not pictured), 1/2 cup grilled sweet potatoes, steamed green beans, and big bed of  salad greens topped with dropped cucumbers and red onions.

Late Snack 8pm: 1/3 cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup frozen berries sprinkled with 1/4 packet truvia. 

Thanks Jen from Peas and Crayons for hosting WIAW!
WIAWbutton What I Ate Wednesday!
 

 

 

 

 

Simple Strawberry Melba Toast Snack

simple strawberry toast Simple Strawberry Melba Toast Snack

I’m in desperate need of grocery shopping! My boys usually like to have a pb&j on whole grain bread as an afternoon snack. When I went into the fridge to grab the Costco organic strawberry jelly all that was left was one tablespoon jelly! Nearly not enough to make three pb&j’s for three hungry boys.

After some searching in the pantry, I came across an unopened box of Melba toast crackers. I found a few wedges of laughing cow cheese in the fridge and somehow pulled off a decent after school snack. I topped it off with some fresh strawberries. Perfect quick snack for all. 

Simple Strawberry Melba Toast Snack
Servings: 1/ Serving size: 4 crackers with topping
Weight Watcher Points Plus: 3
Calories: 112 / Fat: 3 g/ Protein: 4 g/ Carbs: 18 g/ Fiber: 1.5
 
Ingredients:
1 laughing cow wedge
1 tsp of organic strawberry jelly
4 melba toast crackers
1 large strawberry
 
Directions:
1. Evenly divide enough of the laughing cow cheese into four equal parts so you can smear on 4 Melba toast crackers.
2. Add a small amount of organic jelly ontop of the cheese, about 1/4 tsp of jelly, top with a thinly sliced strawberry. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

pixel Simple Strawberry Melba Toast Snack