Get The Glow!

How do you keep the weight off? How do you get your hair to shine? How do you keep such glowing skin? How do you have so much energy? My answers to these questions are wise food choices and good skin care.

In the photo above, I was standing near the loading dock of my warehouse early in the morning on the way to run errands. I always have some raw almonds in my bag if I am not home by lunchtime because it is way too easy to make poor food choices when you get too hungry. Lunch or early dinner can be a challenge if you are left to whatever you can get while working or on the road. It can be challenging to locate a healthy lunch in some areas, such as airports. I never even consider fast food places, so I take fruit, nuts, and water when I will be on the road for more than three hours.

The breakfast power porridge above (recipe here) with fresh fruit keeps me going until late in the afternoon. It is very nutritious, so I don’t start feeling hungry again for several hours. When I am traveling, I stick to something similar when we eat out for breakfast. (Oatmeal and fresh fruit.)

This week I created a similar go-to meal base for late in the day healthy dishes. The magic combination includes grains, beans, seeds, and fresh vegetables. My best weapon against unplanned eating is to have healthy alternatives available. I never even buy junk food such as cookies and chips.

The dish pictured above includes barley (cooked like rice but much more healthy), aduki beans, bok choy, broccoli, and chopped fennel bulb. I also added raw walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, spices, herbs, and aged balsamic vinegar. The secret to eating well is to eat a combination of foods. Ancient unprocessed grains, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, or vegetables give our bodies the nutrition to keep going without feeling hungry again in a couple of hours. Processed convenience foods don’t have much nutrition so that you will feel hungry again quickly. If you have been eating processed foods for most of your life, it will take a while for your body to learn to do its job again. Be prepared for some gas and maybe some bloating those first few days when you start to eat this way. Your body will adjust.

Later in the year, I will use seasonal root vegetables, cabbage, kale, or collard greens and always organic if available. This is especially good when you add sauteed onion, mushrooms, and garlic. You can use any fresh vegetables you like, but adding them to the cooked grains, seeds, nuts, beans, and spices will be much more satisfying and will keep you from being hungry again in two hours. I cook a pot of ancient grains and beans on Sunday or Monday and use them in various dishes all week. One cup each of beans and grains cooks up enough for about four meals. I use a bowl about the size of my outstretched hand to determine personal serving sizes. I do not go back for seconds. I clean the kitchen and put away everything after eating. The kitchen is closed! I do not go back to graze or snack, but I drink filtered water all day long.

Now let’s talk about skincare! Yes, this is me in my pajamas with “mud” on my face first thing in the morning. About two times a week before my shower, I apply this excellent balancing mask (here) to my face and let it dry. Oh, how I wish this product had been on the market when I was a teenager! I have experienced breakouts a couple of times a month since puberty. If I feel one of those deep eruptions coming, I add a dot of this mask on the painful spot, let it dry, wash it off, and the pending pimple will be gone the next day.

I have been using Beautycounter products for about a month now. My skin looks and feels better than it has in many years. You will find this product and all the other safe products they offer on my website here.