32 Years Young and Hopefully Growing Younger

Last weekend I celebrated my 32nd birthday, my actual birthday was march 1st but my aunt, Monica, organized one for me and my cousin, Dora. Should I just warn you that I was spoiled rotten? Well, there, you have been warned...I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

A choconana-appricot cake I made for Dora, YUMMY

Aunty Monica, our gracious hostess

Dora and aunty Monica

The buffet table

Ms. Sharon Arrey and I

Me in my little black dress I got from Dora

Ice cream cake

Me and baby Ricky( in the background)

The other birthday girl, Dora

My  6 month old Chubb-chub and I

Ricky and aunty Flo

Ricky and aunty Flo

My Nina, me, Tresor and Dora

Cutting the cake

Okay, so you see it was a big deal. Had so much fun. I can't thank aunty Monica, Dora, Adel and David enough. I did try a little bit of  almost everything. I was very conscious of what went into my mouth though. I had more vegetables than anyone else I think. It was well worth it as it acted as a great laxative for me the next day (sorry, but just had to add that). When I got up the morning after and felt flu-ish, I knew exactly why: it was the ice cream cake! My body knows exactly what it wants; dairy and I don't get along too well. So for the next three days I did a little cleanse, carrot juice fast, and I was back to myself again.

The reason I brought that up is to point out that if you treat your body well, it will actually 'talk' back to you and let you know if it agrees with the things you eat or not. I absolutely love the FYR lifestyle and I hope you decide to join the ride. Several people are taking the FYR 90-Day Superstar Challenge and I can't wait to start getting the success stories. In April, I have a handful of people starting as well, so if you have been waiting here's your chance. Summer is still several months away for all those who want to join the swimsuit challenge.

In the coming weeks FYR will be announcing its first Male Spokesperson. I hope you follow us (click on 'follow') to stay updated. On our next post we'll be talking about sources of Iron and eating red meat won't be one of them. 

I will leave you with a great little recipe to help boost your immune system and help fight against cancer. The secret is an ingredient called lycopene found in tomatoes which helps to prevent blood lymphocytes from  damage. I love tomatoes, especially raw, you can eat it in your salads or juice them, you can also add it to your smoothies. Fresh organic tomatoes are ideal. So if you're one of those people who won't try anything new, just think of the benefits of this great drink. I hope that's enough for you to try it...love yourself a little differently, it might as well begin with a glass of tomato juice.

Tomato Juice

Ingredients:

2 big ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 tsp cayenne pepper ( I love cayenne, the more the better)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp agave nectar (optional)

Method:

Juice the celery and tomato in a juicer. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. YUMMY-DELICIOUSO-Tritious :)

EAT AND DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH, YOU"LL THANK ME LATER!

The Great American Seduction

We live in a country where food seduction is in competition with marriage. Over 51% of marriages end up in divorce and over 50% of America’s food is highly processed. So which one is stimulating our pleasure centers in the brain more? I think we all know the answer. I was watching a certain commercial yesterday where a company was advertising their ‘Good Mood Food’ and I leaned forward to see what would give such a happy smile on someone’s face and it was interesting to see that it was a sandwich packed with some kind of animal flesh, cheese, and extra grease. I thought oh boy, is there anyone out there who really believes this? It was being advertised as a serving for one person whereas three people could actually eat that and be full.

With so many different ingredients being packed into food to make it addictive, is it any wonder why we can’t seem to stop eating? The reasons why these additives have been added are numerous, some of which are to add flavor and color to a food item that has been totally depleted and robbed of its nutrients.

I can safely say I have been addicted and have fallen for the sweet seduction of such foods twice in my life. The first time it was condensed milk and crackers. I used to rush to the store to buy a big container of condensed milk and crackers and would finish it in less than an hour. I used to feel so sick after that but do you think that stopped me? Another time I got fixated on captain crunch cereal, a box a day was my addiction. It sickens me to remember how horrible I felt afterwards but somehow I could not stop until I decided to ask myself one day why I still felt so ‘Horrible’ inside if all these foods were supposed to make me happy. I was putting myself on a periodic sugar high; I would be happy while eating the food and then sad a few hours later. Thank goodness I got the courage to stop misusing and abusing my body.

Here are a few ways to stop unhealthy food addiction:

 Do a periodic fast or detox: (I recommend the FYR 21-day detox found in the eBook on sale on this site). Somehow after a detox your body starts to crave only good and healthy foods, almost as if it knows what it wants and is begging you to stay the course. The moment you stray and start eating unhealthy again imagine that yucky feeling is your body asking you “Why? why are you doing this to me? Don’t I take good care of you? why don’t you take better care of me?”

My 7 year old took this picture of me this morning. I like to exercise when my 6 month old and my husband are still sleeping but Ms. Nina always seems to catch me just right when I'm about to begin. She likes to work out with me. If not, I usually have the whole house to myself. I call it 'Mommy's quiet/power' hour.

Exercise: I love exercising; it is a healthy addiction because it releases the real ‘Feel good’ hormones and keeps you on your toes all day. When you exercise you are more conscious of what you put in your mouth.

Eat your fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds and nuts: Go back to the basics. These foods would keep your blood sugars from spiking all over the place and keep you from being moody throughout the day. You don’t want to drive anyone crazy, would you? J would you?

Sleep: I don’t think I will ever have a television in my room and definitely not in my children’s room either. It is safer for me to keep it in the living room. A restful sleep is a powerful addiction breaker.

Start your day with a great breakfast, fruits are ideal and in any form: I love green smoothies. It is so much fun and definitely a great-mood-drink.

Have a support system: If you don’t have people who support what you’re doing it can be very challenging. Make your decision and go for it, don’t let anyone talk you out of it. It may come from a sincere place but at the end of the day it is you alone who knows how you feel inside and your health is in no one’s hands but your own.

Drink lots of water: I always start my morning with a big glass of water. Sometimes when you think you are hungry, all you may need is a glass of water to quench your thirst or dehydration. Drink up!

When I juice carrots I love to do my carrot soups then and since I am a lazy cook, raw food usually suits me well especially with something like the carrot soup where you just pour-all-in-and-blend. If you want to warm it after that it's all up to you but here are the simple ingredients:

My Liquid Gold

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh carrot juice

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 soy or almond milk

2 Tbsp agave

Juice of 1/2 a lemon or 1 lime

2 Tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup almond mill or ground cashews (to thicken it up)

salt and pepper to taste

A dash of curry

Blend all together and serve. YUMMY-GOLDILICIOUS.

Drink and eat to your health, you'll thank me later!

FEAST FOR YOUR EYES Session 1

Some days all you think of is food, hopefully good food right? here are a few to feast your eyes on :)

SIMPLY CARROT JUICE

ORANGE-MANDARIN BROCCOLI SAUCE ON WHOLE WHEAT PASTA

SIMPLY BROCCOLI-GREEN ROCKS!

COCONUT-MASALA SAUCE WITH SPINACH PASTA AND VEGAN SAUSAGE

COCONUT-CURRY SAUCE WITH VEGGIES & TEMPEH ON A BED OF QUINOA

'I DREAM IN CHOCOLATE' CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

'MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL' SMOOTHIE

ALMOND CHOCOLATE CUPSENSATION

'RED GODDESS' SIMPLY TOMATO JUICE

'BERRY BERRY HAPPY' SMOOTHIE

'BERRY BERRY HAPPY' SMOOTHIE

COCONUT-OATMEAL DELIGHT DRESSED IN CHO-CO-LATTE

SPINACH MEDLEY

PITA PIZZA

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE

DATE NIGHT APPETIZER: BAKED TOFU DRIZZLED WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE SAUCE

SIMPLY SALAD

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

HUNGRY YET? YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THESE RECIPES IN BOTH eBOOKS FOR SALE ON THIS SITE....Drink and eat to your health, you'll thank me later!

WHITE CHOCOLATE APPLE DESSERT WITH COCONUT SHAVINGS

POTATO SALAD WITH AN FYR TWIST

CHOCOLATE HALVA

SIMPLY TILAPIA

FYR™ Swimsuit Reveal is ON!

Are you ready for the Forever Young Revolution™ to be the solution in your resolution this year?
It is often easier to show love to others than to ourselves, so this year I’m challenging you to spread that love to you, too. For me, it is getting a gorgeous swimsuit(s). All my life,  I have always avoided wearing swimsuits, mostly because I was shy and partly because I was insecure about how I would look in them. So here I am, 32 years old, two children later and I can't wait to buy and wear my very first swimsuit...  What about you?  Have you lived your life shying away from them, too?  

I already have my eye on quite a few red-hot-on-fire designs. But, I’d rather not be doing this alone, so I am sending this message to all who want to join me on this exciting ride.  It’s the FYR™ Swimsuit Reveal. All you have to do is ‘follow’ my blog, get your copies of the FYR™ eBooks and join The Revolution. I’m betting you’ll love yourself a little differently if you do.  Everyone who hops aboard must send me an email telling me about themselves and why they want to join in the fun. You must also include a current photo, and then, another photo of the new you, so that on July15, 2011 the reveals can take place:  

All of us will reveal ourselves in our bathing suits. The excitement doesn’t stop there, for twelve lucky people will get the chance to be featured in the very first FYR™ Calendar. All profits, of which, will go to support a worthy charity. How about it? Love yourself a little differently and help feed the hungry? I can’t wait to stand by all you healthy bathing beauties at the event. To purchase your copies of the FYR™ eBooks just look to the right side of this blog and click 'Add to cart' and your e-books can be downloaded in seconds.
May I solicit your help in choosing the best swimsuit for me? Anyway, as you all know I just had my second child 6 months ago, and here's how I look now after the FYR™ program:

V is for VICTORY!

okay here are a few of some of the swimsuits I've been checking out, I will number them so anyone who'd like to leave a comment can tell me which is their favorite. If I could buy them all I would :)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

I like them all, but I have to choose at least three or four Hmmmmmm, the search is on. Join me, it's not too late to get to your goal before or by summertime.

Remember to drink and eat to your health, you'll thank me later!

2 STEPS TO A HEALTHIER YOU

Why is it so hard for us to adopt a healthy way of living? why is it hard for someone to buy a book on healthy living but very easy for that same person to spend a whole lot of money on a plate of unhealthy food at a restaurant? or at a clothing store? Bad habits are hard to break. There is no other way for one to start eating healthy than to make a decision to start doing so. We usually wait till it's very late; a death in the family, a scary diagnosis etc. You can start eating healthier today, all that is stopping you is an EXCUSE. We spend so much money to dress the outside of our bodies yet very little attention on 'dressing' the inside. 

I love seeing all the celebrities who are RAW fooders or Vegan or both. My favorite of late is Demi Moore, okay she may be married to someone way younger than she is but one can hardly tell the difference. She is almost 50, yet she can compete with any 20 year old! She actually has grown younger over the years and I know why? you guessed right, it is all about what she eats. 

Growing younger gracefully

Another favorite of mine is Prince: Does he look like a man a day over 50? I love Prince, and totally in love with his music. He is a genius and yes, it's about all he eats. He grows younger everyday and even has a song about being vegan, quite interesting I must say :)

Beautiful Prince

The list continues with Sting, Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman, Uma Thurman, Lisa Bonet, David bowie, Tobey Maguire aka Spiderman, Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Jason Mraz, Lea Michelle of Glee(the TV series), Erykah Badu, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanel of Bones (the TV series), Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Andre 300 (of the group Outcast), Richard Gere (no wonder he is looking so young and handsome still), Kim Basinger (is it any wonder?), and the list goes on and on.


Okay, so you don't want to or have to be 100% RAW or Vegan, but how about adding more fruits and veggies into your diet everyday? That's a start, right? Yesterday I got so many beautiful compliments on a photo of me I put up on my facebook page:

Here's what someone sent me in a private message: "You look absolutely ADORABLE in your profile pic! My, my, my. You look like you are your own child! haha. You look no older than 13 in this picture. I'm not kidding or flattering! I'm being really honest."


of course I was totally flattered! Made me realize that what I am doing is good. I remember looking way older than my 31 years when I used to  eat an unhealthy diet. Thanks 'Anonymous' for that lovely compliment. Here are my two ways to starting a healthy lifestyle:


CLEANSING: I could write a book about this topic, oh wait! I already did! The FYR Lifestyle e-book is available for you to buy at the top right hand side of this site. Anyone who has ever done any kind of cleanse will tell you how much more wonderful they felt and looked after the cleanse. Our bodies are like a drainage pipe, they get backed up and we must constantly clean it up so it can function properly. Buy your copy of the FYR lifestyle ebook and the 90-day companion ebook and download in minutes. 


DISTILLED WATER: We bathe ourselves everyday so we don't smell, what about bathing your inner self, your body and your cells? We are made up of over 70% of water and our cells need to be clean in order to be healthy, so drink up!


Love yourself a little differently this year, don't wait till it's too late!


Remember to eat and drink to your health, you'll thank me later!


B

INTRODUCING THE OFFICIAL FACE OF FYR™

It just makes sense that the youngest member of FYR™, my partner and long time FYR™ enthusiast, Nina Lakota, should be the official face of FYR™, not because she is my daughter but because she personifies everything FYR™ stands for, youth, health and sheer joy. She even puts me to shame when I start to 'fall off the wagon' on my FYR™ journey:

"Oh, Mama, you know you're not supposed to eat that!", 

"That's just unhealthy!" 

"You can do it Mama, you promised yourself you would exercise today, come on, don't let yourself down." 

"I can't wait to do raw food again, and all those raw desserts, yum!" 

"Your form is off Mama, you're not doing it like the girl on the workout tape, squat lower..." 

"Mummy, I don't want eggs or meat, I want a salad, something fresh and healthy..." she goes on and on and on. Not that we don't splurge occasionally, we do, but when I'm on one of my quarterly detox periods, and I have to stick to the plan, she watches me with eagle eyes "I just want you to be successful at what you do," is what she tells me.

So I asked her a few days ago if she would like to be the Official face of FYR™ and she said yes, that is, after she asked "Will I get paid to do that?" LOL well, yes Ms. Nina, of course, and you can add that to your resume or portfolio too. Little Ms. Entrepreneur!

This got me thinking that we need more young and beautiful faces for this campaign. So FYR™ is conducting a search for 'little' faces to add to our site and eBooks, we need many more FYR Kids™.

Nina came up with some great recipes for her own FYR™ kids dessert Book, yes, this one will be in Print not just an eBook, and we are throwing a 'Mommy & Me for FYR™'  and/or 'Daddy & Me for FYR™' challenge to every parent. The idea is to come up with a simple dessert (ingredients have to match those on the FYR™ approved list, so you have to purchase the FYR™ Lifestyle eBook, The 90-Day Companion may also give you some great ideas). The best recipes (creativity and presentation) will be featured in the FYR™ Kids Dessert book, along with bios and photos. Also, Mom/Dad and child must be spotted with any of the FYR™ gears in their entry photo (mug, apron, t-shirt etc) you can get these from the FYR™ Shop at http://www.cafepress.com/foreveryoungrevolution

I am excited to see new FYR kids™ faces. This challenge runs till June 1st and winners will be announced June 15th (along with the winners of the 90-day challenge) and will be notified when the Book is published. Remember to drink and eat to your health, you'll thank me later!

B

Is it possible that our bodies could have a memory of their own?

4 Months after my 2nd child can you spy my 4.5 packs? :-O

4 Months after 2nd child

The human body is simply AMAZING, is it any doubt that even through years of constantly abusing it, it can still forgive us once we start treating it with care? Imagine how much harder it would be for us to lose weight or be healthy again if we had unforgiving bodies. Maybe we should all learn a thing or two from our bodies, I know I have.


Do you know that our bodies have memory cells? I know this for sure because twice after having both my babies, it 'remembered' what I used to be like before I packed on the pregnancy weight. I have always loved working out and I know with the law of reciprocity, my workouts have loved me back :-). With my second pregnancy I put on more weight than the first and still unbelievably returned to my pre-pregnancy weight faster (mind you, I'm still breastfeeding, so I still eat well enough to produce milk for my baby).  Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that if you 'remember' your body, your body will 'remember' you. I consciously made an effort to be in good shape before both my children, but with the second child I was even more dedicated, if you can remember my 60-day raw food journey from last year (I 'remembered' my body) and my body 'remembered' me as soon as I started eating healthier (FYR™ Approved foods) and working out. Could it be as simple as that? You bet! It definitely got me thinking for sure. And if you didn't 'remember' your body before, it still will love you once you start to 'love' it, cool huh? Anyway, I am super excited to share with you the upcoming FYR™ eBooks. This new year, I got so many emails from so many people asking me how to get back in shape. And so I decided to put everything into a series of eBooks that you can soon purchase. Here are the first few titles soon to be released:
1) The Forever Young Revolution™--"I just love myself a little differently." (Basically tells you about the  FYR™ lifestyle, provides you with a shopping list of FYR™ approved foods, and a detailed 21-day detox menu and recipes for every meal of every of the 21 days, plus a whole lot more you wouldn't want to miss)
2) FYR™ 90-Day Superstar Challenge Companion-- 90 motivational Quotes, 30 Juice and Smoothie recipes and 10 Great Reasons Why You Should Take the Challenge (This is your conscience and me as your coach in words, a detailed breakdown of every day for 90 days of your challenge, great motivational quotes from a few of the greats and yours truly and a bonus star-studded FYR™ Superstar menu for the star in you. Recommended in conjunction with the first eBook above)
3) FYR™ Deserts--Melt away the pounds with every sweet and delicious bite (Just like its title states, you will eat as much deserts as you want and still watch the number on the scale descend. This is the one time when you can eat your cake and have it too!)
I encourage everyone of you to join me in making this year, 2011, the most fabulous one yet. Join the Challenge and see what stuff you're made of. Let's DO IT!!!

The Youngest FYR™ Revolutionist, my daughter, Nina.

I will continue to keep you updated. I must go now but I'll be back soon...
Remember to eat and drink to your health, you'll thank me later!


B