I used to be addicted to soda pop. As early as junior high, I saved my babysitting money to buy Diet Orange Sunkist. Fast-forward, this habit continued well into adulthood. At my former job, I ran into meetings double fisted with two Diet Dr. Peppers. I thought I needed the caffeine to replenish my energy and the sweet taste to satisfy my cravings. However, once I dived into researching all the detriments of a diet filled with chemicals in packaged foods and drinks, I quit soda immediately. I still missed the taste, though, so looked for alternatives. I tried to rationalize why buying fun, fizzy and hip drinks were right for me. Though when it came down to it, spring water provided the highest number of benefits including detoxification, hydration and skin beautification without any of the toxic “natural flavors.” So, to make it taste good, I started infusing different fruits and vegetables with my water. I love it so much that I recommended it as a substitute for sugary drinks when I appeared on The Dr. Oz Show.
Infused Water: Recipes & Tools
A DIY Herb Garden Encourages Kids to Eat Veggies
In many areas of life, I believe we will all look and feel better if we eat more veggies…especially for our kids. While growing tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and carrots truly drives home the message to eat more vegetables…we always start out small and take baby steps. So, to celebrate spring and Earth Day we set out to create our own easy indoor herb garden. I’m lucky to have a creative friend that loves to rally around wellness activities. Together with her kids and my son, we made shopping and planting our own herb garden a fun, family activity.
Wellness Work Series: 6 Ways to Be Active When Busy
For over 17-years of my corporate career, I was far from active. I joked around that I became a workaholic early on in my career because I procrastinated working out. My day looked something like this:
5:00 a.m. Alarm buzzed and I snoozed for another hour convincing myself I would workout over lunch.
Non-Toxic Cleaning Products: What’s in My Cabinet
If I could have one wish, outside of winning the lottery and maintaining good health for my family, I would ask a genie in a bottle to grant me a cleaning lady daily. I feel calmer when my house is organized, free of dust bunnies and relatively clean. Since I haven’t seen the big check yet, I’m still looking for ways to keep my house presentable. Now that I embrace a clean lifestyle, it’s not just about eating wholesome foods, keeping active and wearing mineral makeup, it’s also about using non-toxic cleaning products within the home. Many conventional cleaning products have chemicals and other ingredients that are potentially harmful for our health.
25 Tips for a Healthy Mind & Body
I used to be that person who started her diet or training “tomorrow.” But in recent years, the power of Nike’s famous slogan, “Just Do It” has resonated. An over-thinker to the core, I learned to stop analyzing and just put one foot in front of the other toward a small healthy goal. I remember days with only few hours of sleep, rushing to drop the baby at daycare then off to hours worth of boardroom meetings. My mind was so active with the stress of getting through the day, I always thought I was too busy to take care of myself.
Wellness Work Series: Clean Eating at Work
I remember pulling overnighters in high school, wired with energy after drinking an entire two-liter bottle of Diet Mountain Dew. Study sessions both in high school and college entailed a cornucopia of sweets from gummy cola bottles to bags of sugary Dubble Bubble gum. Once I joined the workforce, these studying conditions transitioned into bad workplace habits. I walked into conference rooms double-fisted with my Diet Dr. Peppers. I often lost track of time due to a ferocious back-to-back meeting schedule. Naturally, I then ran to the vending machine to grab two bags of the least fattening carb-y snack. I assumed the mid-day anxiousness was from stress, not my overly caffeinated state and lack of nutrients. But what was a busy girl to do? I didn’t really think my “sorta bad habits” were harming me. Plus, I had conference calls to make, presentations to create and deadlines that I couldn’t shake. This pattern went on for many years. Now, I’ve tweaked my habits. The intensity of owning my own business, managing my cancer and balancing life rivals the stress (albeit differently, but still stress) from my corporate days, so I share my thoughts on how to eat clean at work.