10 Days Healthy Eating Challenge

In this post I want to share my videos of 10 Days Healthy Eating Challenge.
My goal is to eat more fruit and veggies and I tried some new recipes to see if my family would like it.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10 

Thanks for reading and watching.

How I get rid of back pain naturally

I was struggling with back pain for years.
Every time I would do gardening or running or too many activities my back would hurt a lot. Even on most regular days I would wake up in pain. I thought my mattress was bad or I slept in the wrong position.

When the pain got worst, I would use heat pads or take pain medicine.

I kept going to chiropractor office, especially after my intense gardening sessions. It would help but still I was constantly in some kind of back pain.

I always was leading healthy life style, eating healthy and lots of fruits and vegetables. But about two months ago I decided to stop eating meat, even if I never was a big meat eater and I only ate chicken. Also I stopped drinking milk. I never drank much milk before, mostly just added it to my morning coffee. I made these changes to my diet mostly because I kept reading articles about how animal protein make you age faster. Back in 2014 I posted a video here about a woman who is in her 70s, but still looks like she is in her 40s.


Little did I know that a month later I realized that I am totally free of back pain. Every morning I wake up and move free of pain. Last time when I went to my chiropractor office and shared this news with him, he said I must be inactive. But I did lots of gardening and cleaning and even moved some landscape rocks and I still was fine. I was shocked. On top of this I can run longer and have no aches next day.

I keep reading articles online about animal protein and I guess this was a cause of my pain - Animal protein caused some toxins build up in my muscles and this was the reason of my pain.

And about milk drinking... Since I stopped buying milk for my household I had to convince my daughter that it's not good for her too. So I found a short video, which did the trick for her.

I posted this video here.

Healthy Gums and Teeth

This month my mom went to the dentist office because she thought one of her crowns was getting loose. It turned out it was not actually her crown but entire tooth got loose.
So her dentist sent her to periodontist.

We went to periodontist and he performed deep cleaning and some antibiotic treatment on my mom's tooth and said that for now they will just watch and see if it gets better. Since I was there I scheduled my appointment as well because I have receding gums.

On my appointment  periodontist told me that I actually need gum craft on 4 of my teeth. This procedure sounds too painful to me and so I want to try use natural ways to improve gum health and hopefully slow down or maybe reverse the process.

While waiting on periodontist appointment for my mom I did research on natural ways to treat periodontal problems.

So here are steps we are taking in order to keep gums and teeth healthy:

1. Vitamins and Supplements

This article from Institute for Optional Nutrition discusses how nutritional factors affect teeth and gum health. I learned that actually using certain vitamins can help gum health as well.

So  I ordered and added these Vitamins and supplements to my daily routine:
Vitamin C (2-4g)
Vitamin A (100,000 i.u.)
Vitamin E (200-400 i.u.)
VItamin D
Calcium
Coenzyme Q10 (50-150mg)
Bioflavonoids (500 mg - 1g)
Selenium (200 mcg)
Folic Acid ( 2 mg)
Zink (15-30mg)

2. Sea salt mixed with warm water. I use it as often as I can.
Read here about sea salt for your teeth.

3. Coconut oil pulling. I wrote about oil pulling here and now I make sure I swish my teeth every day for 20 minutes.

4. Natural toothpaste and mouthwash. I switched to all natural toothpaste and mouthwash. We also use baking soda and xylitol for teeth cleaning. 
Here you can read more about benefits of brushing your teeth with xylitol.
You have to be careful though when you use herbal toothpaste or mouthwash. I believe one herb was actually irritating my gums. 

P.S. if you use invisalign make sure your retainer doesn't touch your gums. 

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts.

                          Here is beautiful smile for you! :)

December Health Progress

Last month I decided to post a monthly update on our health progress, which includes interesting books I read and some new things we did or try.

You can read about our Health progress in November here

In December I read book about Health:

The Immune System Recovery Plan by Susan Blum, MD

This is a must read book if you have any autoimmune disorders, such as MS, lupus, celiac disease, crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Thyroid problems, etc.
This book gives you interesting information about how exposure to chemicals, heavy metals and certain diet choices can trigger your autoimmune symptoms. By removing these triggers you actually can stop suffering from your symptoms.
"Dr. Blum masterfully presents the latest scientific information and gives patients practical, natural, and safe ways to help the immune system heal" - Joel M. Evans, M.D.

While reading this book I learned that when we are shopping for Vitamin E, there are two different forms - synthetic form, which usually listed as dl-alpha-tocopherol and is not good, and a good-quality vitamin E, which contains d-alpha, or mixed tocopherols. 

Also I plan to add Selenium as our daily supplement. Selenium is a mineral which is important for our immune system and most of people are usually low on this mineral.

Health Updates this month:

1. I drink green smoothie every morning for my breakfast. I finally came up with my own combination which contains:

 2-3 leaves of kyle, one banana, lemon juice, coconut milk and water. I add pineapples pieces or cranberries when we have some. 

2. I added Vitamin E to our daily supplements.

3. I received my first order from Vitacost. If you follow this link, you supposed to get $10 of your $30 order. I ordered Buckwheat honey, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Noni Juice and pure Eucalyptus oil.

4. We finally completed our first parasite cleansing/detoxing this month. 

Here is a great article, which will convince you that everyone has parasites and you probably need to do this cleansing. I did my own research and found very gentle herb pills on Amazon, which my kids, my mom and I took for 10 days. My 18 y.o. daughter was very unhappy in the beginning, because she didn't want to take any "unknown herb pills" but at the end even she said her stomach feels much better now. My 13 y.o. son just believed me that after kissing dogs and cats, fishing, swimming and exploring woods, he needs some parasite cleansing. Overall I am very happy with this experience and plan to do it every 6 months. I noticed that my level of energy increased, I wake up much easier every morning and I am less irritable after I completed this cleansing.

5. I discovered that Marshall's/TJ Maxx has a nice section with organic food as well as soaps and creams. 

Thanks for reading and stay healthy and happy!

November Health Progress

I post about my passive income progress every month and I decided to start posting about my way to health progress as well.

So how was our healthy November?

In November I read books about Health:

Kevin Trudeau "Natural Cures "They" don't want you to know about" by Kevin Trudeau.

It was an eye opening book about pharmaceutical and food industries in the USA.
Well, I thought I knew a lot but I guess I did not. 
Thanks to this book I became even more careful about my food shopping and I am still in process of researching more different ways to improve my family health.

"Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why" By Jonny Bowden

This book describes different natural treatments and healing methods.

After reading this book I totally realized that we were missing Magnesium as a supplement. So I added it to our daily vitamins and supplements.

According to this book Magnesium supposed to relax muscles, especially if you have cramps from exercises, help for a better sleep, better bones, reduce stress and help with overall better cardiovascular health.

Blogs about health I discovered this month:

http://www.organicolivia.com/

I enjoy reading this blog where Olivia shares her journey to healing, energy and great health.

http://therawfoodfamily.com/

This blog is about life of a family with 5 kids. They describe their journey through their travel as well as healthy eating.

I follow this page on facebook and they are posting new interesting information about health every day.

Health Updates this month:

1.

We are back to drinking Noni juice. We used to drink noni juice couple of years ago when my mom subscribed to some multi level noni selling. Back then I read a lot about noni and I liked it a lot, but when we used it through this company, it was expensive and we have to keep ordering more and more. Then I tried some noni in capsules. 

This month I found really inexpensive noni juice first on amazon, but then I discovered another website Vitacost, which sells noni and not only noni but bunch of other vitamins/supplements/herbs, etc. If you follow this link , you supposed to get $10 of your $30 order. 

These are three great books I read about noni before I agreed to drink it... :)

2. I switched to organic meat and actually start reducing our meat consumption even more. 
We do not eat much meat anyway for years. My daughter and I do not eat red meat, we eat mostly chicken and fish but my son likes steak. Last week when he asked me to buy him steak at Kroger, it took us a while to find organic grass fed beef. He cooked it at home and he said he does not like it... :) I said, well, we will try different type but it has to be organic and grass fed, sorry I can't poison you! I lectured his dad about choosing grass fed organic meat next time he will go shopping. My main line was, you don't want to poison your child, right?

3. I try to use microwave less. It's challenging, especially when I need to reheat some leftovers but I use a stove instead.

5 Reasons To Throw Out Your Microwave Oven NOW !!

4. I start using more raw veggies. 
I pre wash celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, carrots and packed in an easy to reach containers. So during week I just arrange it nicely on a plate as a snack.

5. Every time I make smoothy I add one or two leaves of kale and beet top. If I add just one or two kids don't complain. It was a failure at first but then I read somewhere that I just have to use blender a little longer in order make leaves into a very smooth smoothy... :)
I wrote about smoothy here before. 


6. I drink a glass of water every morning when I wake up for a while, but now I try to remember to add lemon.

7. We go to gym every other day but after reading how chlorine is so toxic, I stopped using hot tub and wet sauna and only use dry sauna.

8. I bought more healthy snacks at Whole Food store such as different seeds and dried fruits. 

9. I don't buy all fruits/veggies/berries organic but I soak them in water with vinegar. It supposed to remove bacteria and pesticides.

Thanks for reading and have a happy and healthy month!

Healthy Lifestyle = More Money Part II

Healthy Lifestyle = More Money Part II

You can read Part I, which was about healthy food choices.

Today let's talk about some good habits and other random stuff which can make you happy.

My University professor used to tell us that it takes a month to create a habit. It means, you have to stick to something for a month and then it becomes a habit.

Healthy Lifestyle = More Money. Part I

Healthy Lifestyle = More Money. Part I.

I strongly believe that choosing a healthy lifestyle will not only make you feel healthy and happier but also will save you some money. And who knows? It might even help you to earn more money.

Let's start with healthy food choices.

Shopping for Groceries and Sales
Walk along the walls of the grocery store and mostly skip the middle section.
When you are at the grocery store before you even start shopping scan store flier for sales. If you see really good sale on chicken or fish and you have some extra money - stock up and freeze. Cook your meals according to weekly sales. Find fast and easy recipes online. Improvise - skip or substitute some ingredients.

Coconut Oil - for better teeth and healing cavities - Part two

About a week ago I discovered that Coconut Oil can heal cavities or at least make your teeth better.

Here you can read my part one about swishing coconut oil.

After trying it for a week I made my adjustments to the routine:

Swim Suit Season is here! Do you wish you had a better body?

Swim Suit Season is here! Do you wish you had a better body?

Swim suit season is here again and you really wish you had a better body… So you looked in the mirror and honestly admitted that you have extra weight. Don’t get discouraged, it’s time to start right now this moment. It’s not as hard as you think, if you are consistent and follow some simple guidelines.

There are four main reasons for being overweight.

1.       Not enough physical activity

2.       An unhealthy diet

3.       Stress and lack of sleep

4.       Health problems

Let’s look at each reason and see how you can “become a better you”

Oda to my gym!

I used to say, "oh I don't need a gym membership. I walk my dog every day, do lots of gardening, my tennis lesson and all other stuff"... I was wrong.

I signed up in November and totally fell in love with gym.  I swim and go to yoga classes, run on treadmill, use weight machines, dry and wet sauna and jacuzzi... and all of these just for $30 per month! I even had a free hour of personal training this month.

After 5 months I feel so much better. I do not yell at kids as much as I used to. I feel less stressed and calmer. My entire body feels so much stronger. And every time I start feeling stressed I always have my special escape... to the gym...

Beet roots, sweet potato - healthy and easy way to cook

So healthy, easy and taste good!

 I discovered that the easiest way to cook beet roots and sweet potato is to bake them.

 Just wash each root, wrap in a foil and bake until it ready at 375 F.
 I usually just check it with a fork. Add salt, pepper, butter or cheese on your sweet potato.

 You can chop beet roots on small pieces and add garlic and oil. Or just cut and dip in ranch.

Healing Cavities? I have to try this!

Healing Cavities??? without dentist????

Its so interesting! I just read this blog

trinaholden.com/healing-cavities-a-true-weve-done-it-story

trinaholden.com/oil-pulling-frequently-asked-questions

It looks like if you swish coconut oil in your mouth for 15-20 minutes every day instead of using toothpaste and tooth brush your can heal cavities...

Aloe Vera Plant Usage Research

Ok, I have lots of Aloe Vera plants in my garden.

 I know Aloe can be great for your skin - gel from the aloe plant will help with cuts, burns, acne, moisturize and heal skin. I should use it more for skin. 

Healthy Breakfast for Teen - Smoothie

My kids love smoothies. Recently I start making smoothie every morning for breakfast. It takes me just a minute or two to put everything into blender.

You can't make kids to eat so much fruits, even if they like them, especially in the morning.

 Like an example. My kids never like to eat melons, but melons are high in essential vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C, A, Potassium and Lycopene plus they are always on sale at the grocery store. Guess who is putting melons into smoothies every morning now? :)
 I usually clean melon, cut on 6-8 big pieces and keep in a big zip lock bag in the fridge.

 So my morning smoothie contains any fruit or berries we have on hands. But most consistent ingredients are bananas and frozen berries.

Healthy Food for today - Chicken Bone Broth and Couscous

Today I cooked Chicken Bone Broth, I learned about couple of months ago.

Making your own broth is very simple and cost effective.

 I usually just use bones from chicken and cook it in my slow cooker almost for entire day.
I add carrots, onions and onions shells, celery. Broth is ready when bones are soft.