Thursday, September 18, 2014

21 Days of Raw


If you're like me, you get tired of trying to plan your meals and run out of ideas.  
Here is a wonderful eBook that can help!  



21 Days of Raw is an ebook compiled of menus from a bunch of raw chefs. Kate Magic, Kristen Suzanne, Joanna Steven, Karen Ranzi, Jennifer Cornbleet, Jennifer M.S. Robertson, Robyn Law are just a few of the names. 

21 Days of Raw Vegan Menu Planners – A Collection of Full Raw Food Menus with Recipes Designed to Give You the Glow – was created just for you, the busy bee who is juggling many responsibilities and doesn't need food to be an added source of stress!

This eBook contains 3 full weeks of delicious, nutritious menu plans with complete recipes. It was designed to give you plenty of ideas and inspiration so you never have to wander in your kitchen, opening the fridge a dozen times, waiting for a recipe to manifest itself.
To learn more about this eBook or living a high raw food life, please visit NaturallyLauren.com or Joannasteven.com






Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Hug A Tree and Be Inspired ...

Hug A Tree Personalized Note Cards available at CarriesKiddieCloset.com
Have you ever hugged a tree?  

I have ... 

When I was a child, I loved to climb trees. There were several trees at a park near my home that had a lot of branches that were very low to the ground, so I was able to climb up the branches, yet still not be too high up.  I remember sitting on a branch with my arms wrapped around it, looking around at the park and feeling so good!  This is such a nice memory from my childhood.  Every time I go out in nature I have such a wonderful feeling inside and it always makes me feel so inspired.  

Recently, an article was posted online that says tree hugging is now scientifically validated!  Science now tells us it's actually good for you to hug a tree!  Matthew Silverstone wrote a book called Blinded By Science where he claims there is scientific evidence that shows it can promote natural healing when interacting with trees and being in nature. According to the author, you don't have to hug the tree, just being in the vicinity of the tree is enough to have a beneficial effect.  I have to say that I find this to be true myself.  I am much more inspired during the warmer months when I am spending more time outside walking and in nature than I am in during winter months here in New Jersey.

When a friend of mine from NaturallyLauren.com posted a picture of herself hugging a tree with a link to the article, I decided to give it a try too!

Give it a try ... and be inspired ... I was ...


My 82 year old father decided he wanted to try it and see how it felt!
I decided to snap a video to see if he felt as inspired as I did ... 

Did he get inspired?  

Well ... here's how it went ...


Always Be Inspired, 
Carrie

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Fun Ways to Get Kids To Exercise

Design courtesy of CarriesKiddieCloset.com

It can be very difficult to get kids to exercise.  With video games and computers, kids just do not want to go outside like they used to.  The days of neighborhood games and walking everywhere we need to go are long gone.  

I wanted to find a fun way to get my son to exercise.  I have tried some things in the past like taking walks with the dog and riding bikes, but this time I wanted to come up with something different that would be lots of fun and something we can do together.

 I know how much he loves to beat me at games, so I came up with the idea of doing a kickboxing challenge where we can challenge each other to different routines and see if we could both finish it.  Well, it totally worked and he had a ball with it.  We ended up running laps in the yard and running around with the dog afterwards, and we both got a lot exercise, but we had a lot of fun too.

Some other things that we do are when it's rainy out, we do fun challenges in the house.  We do bike races on the exercise bikes or laps around the house to see who can do it faster.  We also do jumping jacks, frog jumps, running in place, anything that we can do to get the heart rate up. 

The most important thing that I have learned is it really doesn't matter what you do, as long as you make it fun.  Just throwing a ball around outside and having the kids run after it can be fun.  

What kind of fun things do you do to exercise with your kids?  

Below are a few fun videos we made of our challenge.  Do you know to know if we were able to complete the challenge?  Stop by our You Tube channel to find out and be sure to subscribe!   Also follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see our daily food logs, challenges and more!

As always,
Be Inspired, Carrie








Tuesday, September 2, 2014

My Journey to lose 100 pounds and heal from Celiac Disease and Skin Disease


My journey to lose weight has been a long one.  I have had a weight problem since I was a child and have always been a yo yo dieter.  I tried every diet there is,Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri System, Medifast, South Beach Diet, Atkins, Cabbage Soup Diet, Ice Cream Diet, Low Carb, High Carb, No Carb; I tried them all.  I would exercise for hours a day and starve myself, but once the weight came off, it came right back on.  

I was frustrated that no matter how hard I tried, I could not get it right.  I spent a great deal of time learning about myself and began to really notice how food was making me feel.  I began to realize that certain foods, especially what I considered to be healthy, were not giving me energy and were actually making me want to eat more. I had not been feeling well for so long and had been suffering from a skin disease, which was becoming worse. My migraines were also becoming worse and I spent more time having to lie down and popping Advil for the severe pain.  Just as soon as I would feel better, another migraine would start.  I was continually getting skin infections and recurrent bouts of bronchitis which would drag on for a month at a time.  Doctor after doctor could not find anything wrong with me and I was incredibly frustrated. 

So what finally worked for me?  

I had to rethink every thing I had been doing.  I remembered the saying, crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  I kept thinking about that over and over and began to realize that I had to start thinking differently if I wanted to see better results.  I began to think about my life, when my weight problems started as a child, and why I was over eating.  I looked at pictures and tried to remember what I had been feeling at different times in my life.  I think the most powerful thing I did was a meditation exercise where I pictured myself as a child and told myself all the things I wished I had heard as a child. 

Little by little I was beginning to make more and more positive changes that were beginning to show real results.  A friend suggested that I remove gluten and after that, weight began to come off.  While my stomach and skin issues were 80 percent better, I was still having some issues with them.  After researching further, I decided to remove dairy.  Finally, my stomach and skin issues went away completely.  Occasionally, I still have up's and down's with my skin, but removing gluten and dairy has been the most healing of all.  Every craving or desire to eat was completely removed once I removed gluten.  My doctor has diagnosed me with celiac because my symptoms were so severe.  I have not been able to find a diagnosis for my skin issues.  

One thing I have learned about weight loss is that when someone has not been through it, it's so difficult for them to understand just how hard it really is.  It takes time and it takes being patient with ourselves.  I am so thankful to have found a way to eat that makes me feel wonderful and full of energy.  My diet now mainly consists of fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and occasional meat, eggs, quinoa and brown rice.  I am not a doctor or a nutritionist and cannot recommend any specific diet.  This is just what I have found that makes me feel my best!  Always check with your doctor before trying any new diet plan.  

  Be sure to follow me on instagram  and my you tube channel to see what I am eating daily and how I live a healthy life!  Below is the interview my son did about how I lost weight and became gluten free ...

As always, Be Inspired ...
Carrie