Tag Archives: Wellness

Stress and Anxiety Reducing Color Therapy (Coloring Isn’t Just for Kids)

Coloring for Adults to reduce stress or anxiety and increase a sense of well being? That’s what this book I found at a local book store recently claims. Currently, Color Therapy books are outselling cookbooks in France. See this article in the Huffington Post. The beautiful hardcover and intricate pictures piqued my interest. Stress reduction is one of the areas I work on with my clients. Coloring therapy books are currently outselling cookbooks in France. With stress on the rise, it is becoming more and more difficult to unwind, focus and decompress. I picked up a copy and couldn’t wait to get started and give it a try!

Stress Reducing Color Therapy (Coloring Isn’t Just for Kids)

Doodling is allowed, you can choose your own medium (pencils, gels, pens), there are no rules. This book is broken down into color categories, blues, oranges, purples, reds, greens……. each color evoking different feelings and memories for the individual using the book.

Color Therapy Book for Adults to Relieve Stress

What I found:

I have been using this book for a month now, and my concentration has increased, and I feel calm, peaceful and focused after a coloring session. Right now I am working on a two page spread of Koi Fish. I have taken it to the beach in the evening. Feelings of wellbeing washed over me like the sound of waves in the background as I let my artistic inclinations run free. Sitting outdoors with my husband chatting casually with each other, I picked up the hardcover, sturdy book, and actually found I heard more of what was said in the conversation and my mind did not wander (aren’t we all guilty of this sometimes?). I have also been using it when I need to unwind or am in go, go, go mode, and it has helped my mind slow down and think more clearly.

Color Therapy for Adults

In conclusion, I love this trend! I am going to include it in the free giveaways I give my clients.

If you would like to try color therapy, you can find this popular new trend at a local bookstore or online. Here is the book I have been using, but there are plenty to choose from!

Sandra Shields, Certified Health Coach

sandrashieldshealthcoach.com

Farm Market Haul (Are You Going to Eat All That!?)

Farm Market Bounty

Yep, we will eat it all! It is rare that we throw anything out.

The farm market, when it is at the peak of Summer, makes me feel like a little kid in a candy shop! There is much more bounty to come, however the lettuces, snap peas, strawberries, kale and spinach are at their peak. I am in Northern Michigan for the month of July and will be back home in Maryland next month.

This is what I brought home recently to last us four days. This doesn’t include the starchy vegetables that we eat as well, just what looked good at the Farmer’s Market. Our style of eating is to fill 2/3 of our plate with vegetables, including a serving or two of starchy vegetables and lots of non-starchy vegetables. We almost always have a leafy green salad on the table.

The salad greens will be used in green smoothies and salads. I like to quickly cook spinach with pine nuts and garlic olive oil. I used the snap peas in a Cashew Chicken recipe from Russ Crandall’s new cookbook, Paleo Takeout…..so delicious…..I recommend the book!

Paleo Takeout Cashew Chicken

What is your favorite vegetables? Are you trying new ones as well as your favorites? What do you like to go to the farm market to buy? I like to stroll through and find the produce that looks the freshest and most nutrient dense. It is exciting to find something new also, like the baby curly bibb lettues on the bottom right. They were so tender and pretty.

Farm Market Haul (Are You Going To Eat All of That!?)

The Farm Market here is twice a week on Saturday and Wednesday mornings. What is your Farm Market like, and what are you eating this Summer?

Eat Your Nutrients!

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie (Kale Made Me Do It!)

Nutrition Stripped T-Shirt worn by Sandra Shields, HealthCoach sameatshernurients.com

Green Smoothies are nutrition powerhouses and a great way to ensure you are getting lots of very important nutrients, fiber, phytonutrients, calcium, and cancer preventative greens, vegetables and fruit in large varieties. They help your hair and nails grow faster….this is due to the nutrient absorption. Blending a smoothie is like predigesting your food, so your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to access the benefits. The energy they give you (which isn’t a sugar boost energy you get from too many carbohydrates) is sustainable for hours. They are a great addition to your diet, and you can reap many benefits from them. Drinking green smoothies makes it easy to get in your daily servings of vegetables. I know a lot of people do not eat enough vegetables, and this is an easy way to ensure you do!

If you have never had a green smoothie, you may have to start out a little sweeter when you begin. After your taste buds adjust, and you start feeling like you can conquer anything because you feel so fantastic, you will learn to love the green taste along with the fruit flavor and know you are feeding your body something oh so good for it! I actually love the taste of green smoothies without a lot of fruit now. When this happens, you get to join the seasoned green smoothie club. 🙂

I like to rotate the greens I use in my smoothies to get as much variety as possible. Different greens taste better with certain fruit and vegetables. Experiment and see what works well for you.

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie

There are a few things to consider before you start drinking green smoothies regularly. If you are susceptible to kidney stones, you will want to avoid too many high oxalate foods if your doctor has put you on a low-oxalate diet. These would be foods such as spinach, kale, nuts and kiwi. Here is a list of low oxalate choices for your smoothies.

Choose lower sugar fruit, such as berries if you are monitoring your blood sugar levels, and consult with your doctor if you are on any medication like blood thinners or thyroid medication before drinking daily green smoothies to rule out any food you should avoid adding. Food is medicine.

The smoothie recipe I am sharing with you today uses kale. It is on the sweeter side of a green smoothie due to the addition of kiwi (Excellent source of Vitamin C), Watermelon (lycopene which has sun protective properties and is hydrating) and banana. The raw cocao contains antioxidants and is a source of energy, and chamomile is a mild diuretic (helps reduce water retention).

Kale has a stronger flavor than colorful lettuces and spinach which are mild and good starter choices. Kale is an excellent source of calcium, iron, beta-carotene and vitamin K.

Try a green smoothie challenge…….30 days, one a day, preferably in the morning to start your day, but anytime is okay.

Then let me know how it has made a difference in your life! If you already are drinking green smoothies, I would love to hear your story!

Kale Kiwi Smoothie

Kale Kiwi Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Kiwi, peeled

1 Cup Cubed Watermelon

2 Cups Kale Leaves, Stems Stripped

½ Ripe Banana

1 Teaspoon Raw Cacao Powder

1 ½ Cups Chamomile Tea Chilled

1 Cup Ice Cubes

1 Tablespoon Tahini or Sunbutter

Blend in a high speed blender until smooth. Drink slowly making chewing motions to help the digestion begin in your mouth.

Enjoy how good it feels to know you have just given your body a loving dose of nutrition!

Have a beautiful day!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

Peach and Berry Summer Fruit Salad

Hello Lovely People!!! One of the things so fantastic about this Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad is, it is just naturally gorgeous! You don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, it is no cook, and it is nutrient rich. The nutrients, polyphenols and variety of natural from nature color pigments in the fruit feeds your skin, which is out in the sun more in the Summertime.

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

I know you all want your skin to glow! Am I right? Glowing skin just screams “healthy”. It is far lovelier than any makeup, although I like and use makeup.

Peach and Berry Summer Fruit Salad

I’ll admit I am really careful about balancing my nutrition. I have worked hard on my gut health over the last three years so I can really absorb the nutrients I eat. I have learned to listen to my body and be intuitive about what it may need. The needs of our bodies changes based on many factors including the time of year, our age, exposure to toxins, activity levels, stress, sleep, illness, and our environment.

Food is your most basic form of self care. One thing I rarely compromise on with myself is, I don’t eat junk. If I am having a treat, the food is real food ingredients. If you adopt this way of eating, if you aren’t already, you will get feedback as your body changes. We really are what we eat. People will comment on how obvious it is that you take care of yourself, and ask you your secret.

Next week I will share a new chocolate chip cookie recipe with you made from real food. All the recipes you will find on my blog are real food recipes. So check out the recipe index.

Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

5 Organic Juicy Ripe Peaches (pitted, peeled and sliced)

6 oz. of Organic Blackberries

2 Cups Organic Strawberries (halved)

1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Organic Lime (Zest and Juice)

2 Tablespoons Dry White Wine (Optional, I used Sauvignon Blanc)

2 Teaspoons of Good Quality Honey

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions: Whisk together the Lime Juice, Honey, Lime Zest, Vanilla and White Wine if using. Pour over the bowl of prepared fruit and gently fold. Refrigerate 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Right before serving, sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Serve chilled and enjoy! Have a fabulous weekend!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Perfect Shouldn’t Be The Enemy of Good

Just Picked Organic Strawberries

Perfect Shouldn’t Be The Enemy of Good.
Let’s take these strawberries as an example. They are small, local, and full of flavor berries picked fresh and ripe from the vine. They haven’t traveled miles to get to you before you eat them. Some might consider them perfection and some might not. Maybe they are too small or not pretty enough. They have some blemishes. They also are full of flavor and vitamins and taste really, really strawberry-ish. I actually prefer them, but I still eat organic berries that have traveled when these are not available. Which kind do you prefer? Whichever kind you prefer, would you refuse to eat a strawberry unless you could get strawberries during strawberry season? How about vegetables? Would you never eat vegetables unless they were perfect from your own garden? That would deprive you of all the necessary, glorious benefits of vegetables for months. You may like to eat local and seasonal, and that’s ok. It’s great!
What’s my point? Do we choose perfection in our lives, and if something can’t be perfect, do we toss the idea, action, or life choice to the side and forget it? If so, are you missing out and holding yourself to such a high standard that you aren’t progressing in your life as you would like?
Maybe it is beginning something you have wanted to do, and you put it off, and put if off, because the time isn’t perfect, or something needs to happen before it is the perfect time.
If you decide to step out and do it anyway, whether it is starting to eat better, an exercise program, a job change or new career, cutting out the processed food, losing weight, working on a health concern, learning to cook healthier, asking for help, healing a relationship, taking time for spirituality, slowing down, speeding up, whatever is something in your life that you would like to address….Do it now! Don’t wait for everything to be perfect. One baby step at a time is sometimes all it takes to start propelling you forward in the direction you want to go. Step out in faith without fear and begin! Good is well, good! It is excellent, fantastic, positive, superb and marvelous! So go ahead. Get started! It doesn’t have to be perfect.
To work with me, contact me at sandrashieldshealthcoach.com
Or email me at: sandrashieldshealthcoach@gmail.com for more information

Are You Making Your Past Health Choices Your Destiny?

There is a quote from Nutritional Biochemist, Author & Speaker Dr. Libby Weaver, “Are we living too short and dying too long?”

Your genes and past health choices do not have to be your destiny. You can make a decision that you are going to get healthier, have more energy, and take better care of yourself starting today.

The human body is fascinating and amazing. It wants to repair itself! That is why the food you eat is so important. Does your body have to spend time figuring out what it is you are fueling it with (junk and processed food), or are you giving it real food fuel to let it spend it’s time using the nutrients to repair areas that need attention? Isn’t it a miracle that your body is like a very complex computer? It knows when to breath. Your heart beats and pumps blood through your system without you telling it to. If you are cut or injured it works immediately on beginning the process of repair. The top layer of our skin regenerates once a month. Every three months our blood supply is completely replaced.

Where are you on your health journey? What steps can you take today?

Wishing you a long, healthy life!

Sandra Shields, Certified Health Coach
Visit sandrashieldshealthcoach.com for more information about working with me.

Are You Getting Enough Primary Food?

Have you heard of Primary Food and Secondary Food? I am going to challenge you today to work on getting your Primary Food in balance! Below you can take a quiz to see how you are doing in the twelve Primary Food areas.

Taking small steps to work on areas in your life where your Primary Food needs improvement makes a big difference over time. A challenge for you over the next several days is to make sure you get outside daily and do something that involves moving your body! This can be anything outdoors that you enjoy! Gardening, Sports, Fishing, Jump Roping, Hula Hooping, Walking, Playing, Exercising, Looking at the Sky, Going Barefoot in the Grass, and more. Pick something you Love! You will be getting Vitamin D from the sun, fresher air (since indoor air can be the most polluted air we breathe), physical activity, and joy from getting in touch with nature.

As a Health Coach, I help my clients improve upon not only optimizing their nutrition (Secondary Food), but Primary Food as well in order to have a balanced and healthy life.

If your Primary Foods are out of balance, it can be difficult to be completely healthy even though you may be eating an optimal diet full of vegetables, fruit, healthy carbohydrates, good fats, protein, fiber, and drinking plenty of water.

This week make a point of being outdoors more, at least 30 minutes a day. Just going outside covers at least three of the Primary Food Categories (Health, Physical Activity and Joy). More can be added while outdoors, the choice is yours, for instance if you are spending time outside with another person you could be working on Social Life or Relationships.

The Main Primary Food Categories are:
1. Health
2. Physical Activity
3. Home Cooking
4. Home Environment
5. Relationships
6. Social Life
7. Joy
8. Spirituality
9. Creativity
10. Finances
11. Career
12. Education

Secondary Food is the Food we eat. Check out previous posts for nutrition tips.

So, take a Primary Food Quiz. On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate each of your Primary Foods? (Ten being the best and lower numbers areas you would like to improve upon.)

What steps could you take to work on your Primary Food? Share with me an area you would like to improve and an area that you feel you are doing very well in below.

Enjoy your day!

Sandra Shields, Health Coach
I Work With People All Over the Country by Telephone

sandrashieldshealthcoach.com

sandrashieldshealthcoach@gmail.com

Grain Free Cherry Berry Granola Bars

Granola Bars have been a long time favorite around our house, and today I have a grain free version for you! My girls have given me the thumbs up on them.

There is so much to love about granola bars. They stay fresh for several days, so you can make a big batch and wrap them individually for a quick snack, breakfast or a grab and go when you are heading out! Because, hey, the weather is getting so nice, who wants to spend a lot of time in the kitchen on a bright sunny day, or you have ball practice, a yoga class or workout to get to at the gym, or it is your day to……?

I really like the tahini in the recipe. I have noticed since consuming more nut and seed butters in the last six months, my hair is growing thicker and faster, and who doesn’t want that? Read this for information on 10 Superfoods to Prevent Hair Loss.

I added optional chocolate chips in the recipe. Note: If you use chocolate, they are not SCD approved. I have recently tried a mini dark chocolate chip that is sweetened with Stevia by Lily’s or use your favorite dark chocolate.

Grain Free Cherry Berry Granola Bars

Ingredients:

1 Cup Raw Pecans

1 Cup Raw Walnuts

1/2 Cup Dried Dates, pitted & coarsely chopped

1/2 Cup Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Superfine Almond Flour

2/3 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Tahini

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries (no sugar added)

1/2 Cup Dried Blueberries (no sugar added)

1/2 Cup Mini Dark Chocolate Chips (optional, omit for SCD)

2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

(see In My Pantry here for product brands I use)

Directions: Preheat your oven 350º degrees. Line a square 8″ x 8″ baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Using a Food Processor with a blade attachment, add the pecans, walnuts, coconut flour, almond flour, chopped dates and salt. Pulse in the processor until you have coarse pieces of nuts. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave (takes about 20 seconds), and add the melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla and tahini to the food processor and pulse until evenly combined but the mixture still contains chunks. Add the dried berries and chocolate chips if using.

Granola Bar Mix

Pulse until evenly distributed. Transfer the dough to your parchment lined pan, and using a piece of plastic wrap to prevent it sticking to your hands, press the dough evenly into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven.

Remove from the oven and cool completely. After the bars have cooled, lift them easily from the pan using the edges of the parchment.

With a sharp knife on a cutting board. Cut the bars into 15 rectangles.

Enjoy!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Busting A Sugar Craving!

Busting Cravings. Get to the Root Cause.

Today let’s talk about Cravings! Do You Have Cravings? Are they strong cravings or just mild? How would you rate the level of your cravings, and what are they?

Your body is so amazing! It knows when to go to sleep, when to wake up, and when to blink. It maintains a temperature of 98.6 degrees, repairs itself when injured, and knows the miracle of creating another human being. Your heart beats without you telling it to. Your lungs breathe for you. The body is a super computer, and it never makes mistakes. When you are experiencing cravings, take a look at the foods, deficits, and behaviors in your life that are the underlying causes of your cravings.

For instance a craving for chocolate can be your body telling you it is deficient in Magnesium. A small square or two a day may help satisfy this craving by restoring your magnesium levels, and then you won’t be tempted to eat a whole bar at a time, because you have corrected the underlying cause of the craving.

Have you slept well the night before? Lack of sleep can cause us to eat more and have cravings as well.

Many people view cravings as weakness, but really they are important messages meant to assist you in maintaining balance. When you experience a craving, deconstruct it. Ask yourself, what does my body want and why? Keep in mind if it is sugar and sweets you are craving constantly, it could be a sugar addiction. We also have cravings when we are trying to replace something in our emotional lives, and certain foods can mean comfort to us like a favorite food from childhood.

Think about what you are craving this week. Keep a journal for the week and write down all your cravings. I find the notebook on my phone to be handy for this. Can you satisfy your cravings by having just a little of the food you are craving, or replacing it with another activity, a healthier food choice if you are craving an indulgence, a warm hug, time spent outdoors, de-stressing with a favorite pass time, or exercise?

I am always here to listen. You are a superstar!

Eat Your Nutrients!