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 Here are some more ideas for healthier snacks:
- unsalted nuts (buy in the bulk section of the grocery store)
- Wasa rye crisp crackers with sundried tomato hummus
- Carrot sticks, celery, cucumber, red pepper, cauliflower; with dip or hummus
- hard-boiled (organic) egg with dash of sea salt
- pre-cut cantaloupe or pineapple
- unsweetened applesauce (available in a jar or in small cups; berry and mango flavours too)
- raspberries
- panda licorice (sweetened with licorice root, not sugar)
- homemade dried fruit and nut mix (use unsweetened, unsulphered fruit and raw nuts)
- plain yogurt topped with berries (fresh or thawed from frozen)
 When my older daughter was on an anti-Candida diet several years ago to clear up some health problems, I needed to get creative to find foods she could take to school to eat and that she was willing to eat. To improve her health she was temporarily avoiding wheat, corn, dairy, ham, beef, white sugar, food colouring and other foods. The school does not allow peanuts or nuts because some kids in the school have severe allergies. One of the meals she liked (and still likes) is bean and cheese quesidillas.
Ingredients:
1 rice tortilla, thawed (either in the fridge, or on the frying pan before the oil is added)
grated cheese (soy cheese, goat cheese or other cheese)
canned Romano beans (drained and rinsed)
cilantro (optional – my daughter didn’t want it)
dash cumin (optional – my husband and I like this)
Heat frying pan on medium. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the hot pan. Add thawed rice tortilla. Spoon beans onto one side and top with grated cheese. If desired, add cumin and/or cilantro. Fold tortilla in half over beans and cheese. Squish down with potato masher or frying pan flipper. Wait until it browns, then flip over. Remove when both sides are lightly browned and crisp. Cut into three triangles and enjoy!
 It is natural to want to avoid pain. We usually do not like feeling sad, lonely, overwhelmed or anxious. It becomes a bigger problem though when we eat because we are feeling sad, even though we are not hungry. Have you ever grabbed a bag of chips, something chocolate, or a baked treat because you thought it might make you feel good? It may not even have been at a conscious level. Perhaps you were looking for the sugar rush, the taste you enjoyed last time, the carbohydrate high, or the memory of something that comforted you as a child. Unfortunately the pleasure only lasts a short time and then the feelings that you haven’t dealt with come back again. The food you ate may end up adding to your size.
Many people avoid their feelings with:
- eating
- shopping
- smoking
- drinking alcohol
- taking drugs
Healthier ways to deal with your feelings:
- noticing what you are feeling, acknowledging it and letting it go
- tapping on your upper chest with your fingers where Tarzan used to pound his chest and breathing deeply
- going for a walk
- laughing with friends or at a tv show
- using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
- talk to a friend
- write in a journal
- paint, draw, create
 On cold days I sometimes have homemade oatmeal for breakfast. If I wanted to take the time to make it in the healthiest way, I would cook slow cooking oats in a pot on the stove. Usually I want it quickly, so I pour boiling hot water over quick oats. Technically those are supposed to be cooked on the stove too, but I find they cook enough for my taste with the hot water. Here is a recipe for the oatmeal I made several times in the past couple of weeks:
1/2 cup quick oats or instant oats
1/2 cup water
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/2 pear, diced
7 almonds, chopped
dash of cinnamon
The fiber from the oatmeal and the protein from the almonds keeps me full all morning.
 In the grocery store I see specials on white flour, sugar and walnuts, just in time for baking season. Consider modifying some of your holiday recipes. What about using half whole wheat flour? I recommend Camino sugar (at Save-on and health food stores) as a substitute for white sugar. It is less refined and easier for your body to digest. Be careful with walnuts – because they are so high in Omega 3 oils they go rancid quickly. The process starts as soon as the nut is broken. Rancid nuts are toxic in your body. I suggest you buy them in the shell, somewhere they are purchased frequently (I like Grecos Mediterannean store near King George Hwy in Surrey), or try them before adding them to your baking. Store all shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer for longer life.
Would you like to lose weight and get healthier at the same time? Would you like to have more energy and better sleep? I find it easier to make healthy changes when I have someone else I can talk to who is also making the same changes. This will be a small group of women who meet each week to learn, discuss and cheer each other on. I will present what I know about losing weight in a healthy way and bring in some speakers to talk about nutrition, exercise and blocks to losing weight. I will teach the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and share some healthy recipes that my family love.
Topics: balancing your blood sugar levels, emotional eating, fitting exercise into your life, food intolerances and allergies, candida overgrowth, busy lives, listening to your body, learning to say no, importance of water, and more.
One group will meet on Tuesday nights
Time: 6:30pm-8:00pm followed by optional 1/2 hour walk
Another group will meet on Thursday afternoons
Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm followed by optional 1/2 hour walk
Cost: free!
Location: my livingroom in Cloverdale
Sign up by sending me an email to let me know you are interested: coachbrenda@reachyourpotential.ca
 Bremner's blueberry, bluepom and cherry juices On Saturday I went to the Westcoast Women’s Show in Abbotsford. Bremner’s juice was in the food aisle and we sampled a few of their juices. Yum! They use blueberries from Delta to make their blueberry juice and cranberries from Fort Langley to make their cranberry juice. I like that the fruit is local. The fellow pouring the juice said that some juice companies use juice-grade berries that are not suitable for selling (bruised, not ripe, overly-ripe), whereas Bremner’s uses the highest quality berries. He also mentioned a couple of anecdotes about people whose health conditions had improved by drinking a glass of their juice daily. The health value of whatever you drink or eat will depend on the quality of ingredients and the life energy of the food. My favourite was the blueberry pomegranate juice and my daughter’s favourite was the blackberry juice. Bremner’s juice is available at Save-On-Foods, London Drugs, Choices and IGA.
 Neck pain Somehow I injured my neck on Saturday. I woke up Sunday morning and found it extremely painful to hold up my head. Every jerk of my standard transmission car was painful. It hurt whenever I wasn’t holding my neck with my hands. I was almost tempted to ask someone to get me one of those soft neck braces that doctors used to recommend. I even tried ibuprofen to get to sleep even though I dislike pills, but it only helped a little bit. After trying EFT, BSFF and time without any relief, I started making calls to find help. On Tuesday I had a massage and my first ever chiropractor appointment. I think the magic combination was a treatment by my chiropractor James Rice followed by a treatment by my Reiki energy healer Virginia Smith and then sleeping with one of my subtle energy disks under my neck. I had substantially less pain and was able to move my neck enough to look people in the eyes. After several days and treatments I am able to move my neck (almost) normally again and I don’t have any pain, only discomfort. The best explanation for the cause of the neck injury came from my chiropractor’s receptionist – I must have hurt it when I pushed a school bus full of screaming children out of the way of danger 
Thank you also to my massage therapist Cindy at Langley’s Spa Utopia for the wonderful relaxing and pain-reducing massage.
 I went on a “date” last night with my husband. We decided to go to Milestone’s Restaurant in Langley and were pleasantly surprised to see they had a promotion on (see blog title). For $50 we shared a healthier appetizer (fresh salsa, tapenade, humous), I had a healthy salmon, rice & asparagus dinner, and we finished off by sharing an unhealthy but yummy chocolate cookie with vanilla icecream. I wish they would offer whole wheat and/or rye as options for the breads instead of only white bread and deep-fried chips. A healthy option for dessert would be nice too, but we probably would have chosen the warm cookie anyway. The atmosphere and service were just what we were looking for. Thumbs up!
 Celery with goat cheese Today I had a yummy snack: celery with goat cheese, and celery with peanut butter. I got the crunch I love and some protein to keep me full for awhile. I use organic celery because I’d rather avoid the pesticides and it tastes healthier to me.
Eating celery is helpful for hydration since it is 95% water. It is also high in Vitamin K as well as containing other vitamins and minerals. Vitamin K helps your blod clot and may help your bones get stronger.
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Here are some more ideas for healthier snacks:
