Let's Talk Vitamins

Hi Loves!!

Today I wanted to chat a little about vitamins and minerals and why our bodies need them!

Now, as I have said before I am not a huge on supplements and really, just pills in general.

I strongly believe in getting ALL nutrients through plant-based WHOLE foods if at all possible BUT I will say that I take a few vitamins/minerals that my body might not get a full dose off!

I will start with what I take on a daily basis just to give you all an idea.

You do not HAVE to take these.
Everyone finds what works best for them and
their health and these are just what work for me!

1. Multivitamin
2. Iron
3. Magnesium

Alright, so a multivitamin - I take HSN (Hair, Skin, Nails) because it gives you your daily dose of vitamins/minerals and as a vegan I lack in the vitamin B12 department.

I live by these vitamins for the simple fact that I have noticed a drastic difference in the condition of my hair, skin, nails and overall health.

2. Iron - Alright, this is not something that everyone has to take.
I have to take iron because I have anemia.
It is an iron deficiency and it's just something I have always had.

It isn't the best but it isn't the worse.

3. Magnesium - I have actually talked about this mineral a little bit in one of my previous posts.
I'll put the link here if you want to read on it!

Okay. Now that you know what vitamins/minerals I swear by, I am going to be talking about the 11 essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need.

11 Essential Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamin A - (which is also found in carrots.)
keeps our eyes healthy and is good for general growth and development.

Vitamin C - (who else loves oranges!?)
it's an antioxidant that is also good for our skins elasticity and strengthening our blood vessels.

Vitamin D - (SUNSHINE, eggs, mushrooms, oh my!)
we all know that vitamin d is goof for our bones!

B Vitamins - (bananas, beans, potatoes)
helps our immune function, the way we produce energy and again, IRON absorption.

Vitamin K - (EAT YO GREENS!)

is a fat-soluble vitamin that is most well known
for the important role it plays in blood clotting

Vitamin E - (almonds, tomatoes, nuts)
protects our bodies from free radicals and helps with our blood circulation.

Folic Acid - (citrus fruits, dark greens, beets)

helps prevent birth defects and protects cell renewal.

Calcium - (grains, dark leafy greens, tofu)

Obviously, you can also get calcium from dairy too BUT, we're all different.

Iron - (soybeans, dark leafy greens, lentils)

good for muscle building and maintaining healthy blood.

Zinc - (wait for it.... DARK CHOCOLATE, and cashews, seafood)

Amazing for growth, fertility and immunity.

Chromium - (whole grains, herbs, veggies)

chromium is good for our glucose function.
It gives our bodies energy when needed.

There you have it!
It's actually pretty simple to get our daily dose
of these vitamins and minerals by watching what we're feeding our bodies!
We only get one body in this lifetime...

You wouldn't buy yourself a brand new Ferrari
and then never clean it, never get maintenance on it,

and fill it up with unleaded gas, would you?

Exactly.

Light + Love,

Courtney ♥

Kombucha 101

kom·bu·cha

  kômˈbo͞oCHə/

noun

               a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a culture of yeast and bacteria.

Being a Holistic Wellness Coach, I try to find all natural products for pretty much everything I use for my family and myself on a daily basis. I picked up some Kombucha from Whole Foods last night because I have read and heard SO may amazing things about this stuff. Now, this isn't something I just saw a picture of and told myself I was going to go out and by it, NO. I have done MY own researching on this product for a while now, thus is why I have been dying to get my hands on it! The benefits are incredible. Like, curing cancer?! What!? Why isn't everyone looking into this more?

Since I am BIG on list making and tip creating I thought I would share 3 of the many benefits I found really make a difference is our over-all well being.

3 Benefits of Kombucha

1.        Detoxification - produces healthy livers and aides cancer prevention. One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body. It is rich in enzymes and bacterial acids our bodies produce and/or use to detox your system. Therefore, reducing our pancreatic load and easing the burden on the liver. Kombucha is very high in Glucaric acid, and in recent studies it has been shown that glucaric acid helps prevent cancer. Crazy isn't it?!

2.         Helps aid in digestion - Kombucha is naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria and yeast, which actually makes it a probiotic beverage. This has a TON of benefits such as improved digestion, mental clarity, mood stability, e.t.c.

    It's also known for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of depression, fibromyalgia, and anxiety.

3.        Reducing joint pain - Kombucha contains glucosamines, which is a strong preventive and treatment all forms of arthritis. Hyaluronic acid enables connective tissue to bind moisture thousands of times its weight and maintains tissue structure, moisture, lubrication and flexibility and lessens free radical damage, while associated collagen retards and reduces wrinkles.

Want to purchase Kombucha?

My bottle is from Whole Foods. (cost: $4.99)

If you have a Whole Foods,
Trader Joes, or any natural/organic health food stores in your area,
it is HIGHLY recommended that you purchase from there.

I hope you babes have a fantastic Tuesday!

Light + Love,

Courtney ♥

Bury That Worry

Happy Fri-yay and Day 3 of "Glow In 2015'

 If you are new here and haven't read days 1 & 2, you can go back and get caught up! Today I want to talk about worrying what others think about you. This is common for the human species but as common as it may be, it is still completely unhealthy. Worry can cause serious health problems and not only that, it takes our focus away from the people and the things that make us happy.

I'm going to lay out some ways we can focus less on what others may be saying or thinking about us and focus more on how we can tune those negative things out and say 'BYE FELICIA' before the new year.

For me, an important part of new year's resolutions is to let go of the past. Let go of everyone and everything that no longer serves you or has a purpose in your life. This includes those people who may have not been the nicest to you. These people can be family, friends, ex friends, colleagues, even people you don't even personally know. The key here is to stop focusing all of your energy on worrying about what is being said and focus that energy on bettering yourself. See, what most people do not realize is this. When you let someone get you upset, mad, or unhappy, you are giving this person (or thing) complete power over you. We have to understand that in order to have complete mind/body/soul balance we have to be completely aware of our feelings. If you are in a situation that is unsettling then you need to take a step back and ask yourself how you feel. If you are feeling bad then take a few deep breaths, ask yourself if whatever it is - is worth it and if it's not you HAVE to brush it off and move on.

I want everyone to remember this. If you have to read this over and over again until it really 'clicks' and your mind goes 'Ok, I'm taking the reigns and I'm not letting anyone or anything have control over my feelings!'

"Fear of social judgment also makes people think small. Accomplishing anything big is going to annoy some people, who will try to deter you. To really have an impact, you can’t let them get in your way. EVER!"

When you stop trying to impress others, you can express yourself in a more open and genuine way. You will be able to fully connect with people more openly and on a personal level. The less time and energy you spend on caring what sally said to sue and what sue said to peter, that's more energy you are saving on making your life more about what makes you happy!

Just a few tips to consider:

A. Bring awareness to how your decisions are currently affected by what others will think of you.

B. Do not be swayed into social pressure! EVER! I'm sure we all know that feeling of doing something we really don't want to and guess what? We regret it later. Not a good way to feel. Try keeping yourself unaffected by criticism and stop taking things so personal. We can become biased toward sensitivity to rejection and insults. When we let criticism and embarrassment affect our behavior, we are giving our power to others!

C. Don’t look to others for guidance on how to behave. You must always be yourself. No matter what! Don’t wait for permission from others.

D. Last but not least: DO NOT BE NEEDY for attention! You don’t have a reason to try to impress people. Remember we are doing this to better ourselves and our lives, not for others entertainment! That's the quickest way to criticism city!

Basically, it's as simple as this. Always be authentic with who you are. Courage up and allow people to see the real you. Be willing to be judged and sometimes even encourage it. It’s good for developing thick skin. Especially for those whose work may be social media based! As you become and express your true self, others will think great things about you, and the few that don’t, well that doesn't really matter. Rather than not caring at all what others think of you, you can start just by caring less. It gets easier with time. So, be open to what they think and feel, and consider their opinions, BUT take it with a grain of salt and decide for yourself how to act. Only care what the important people in your life think, but also, only those whose opinions you value. Strangers should not and DO NOT get a vote in how you live your life. Don't be that person.

Light + Love,

Courtney ♥

Sticking With Your Goals

Welcome to Day 2 of my 'Glow In 2015' series! Today I am going to be talking about effective ways to stick to your goals. We know that writing down our goals is the easy part but sometimes life gets in the way of us actually accomplishing our goals. It is SO important that when we are planning anything - we are also doing something to hold ourselves accountable! I am going to be sharing a few tips on ways to help you stay on track, motivated and inspired to push yourself every single day!

Tip 1: Identity check: I know you're probably thinking 'WHAT!?' but yes, the key here is to change things up from your normal routine and in order to build lasting habits you must first step back and look at your behavior now. What do you see when you look in the mirror? If you have any self doubt I want you to erase every bit of it right now! Start telling yourself wonderful things. Tell yourself about the person you want to be and the trick is, be genuine. Be real. Tell yourself who you are now and then follow by telling yourself who you want to be, the type of person you want to be.

Tip 2: Change your current beliefs: It's pretty simple actually. This goes along with step 1. Only you can decide what type of person we want to be and only you can prove to yourself with everyday little steps in the right direction. Everything you thought you couldn't do, you better start believing you can - because YOU CAN. Realize that you won't change over night but if you take it slowly and start creating those healthy habits and you start changing up the way you see yourself and possibilities, you will without a doubt flourish!

Tip 3: Be consistent: Whatever your goals may be, you must always be CONSISTENT!
If you aren't working towards your goals then you're taking one step back. I'm not saying that you have to spend your entire day consumed in work but what I am saying is just doing one small thing a day that is working toward a goal is all you need. So for example: Say someones goal is to create a beautiful painting. Well, in order to do so you have to have the materials, you have to have an idea of what your painting will look like and you have to decide on how much time a day you need to work on your painting to have it completed by the date you set. Makes sense right? CONSISTENCY IS A MUST!

Tip 4: Surround yourself with success: The company we keep can have a huge impact on how we feel and how we spend our time. If you want to accomplish something, surround yourself with people who are working toward same or similar goals. Use their achievements as your motivation, and let the positive vibes sink in. But be careful not to start comparing yourself to others lives and success. Remember that everyone is on a different journey and timing is different for everyone!

Tip 5: Relax: Yes, it sounds counter intuitive but I say this because it's probably the most important step. Above all you must know when you need to take a step back and re-evaluate what you are doing and why you started. Don't get yourself all worked up and stressed out because something you did, didn't quite go as planned. Remember that things happen and that's life. Take a deep breath and realize that if a day didn't go as you hoped, there is always tomorrow.

I hope that you all find these tips helpful and I hope you start to apply them to your every day life!

Light + Love,

Courtney ♥

Glow in 2015 Series: Part I

Can anyone else believe that it's almost time to close the last chapter in our book of 2014? There is no better time than the now to start writing/planning out your next steps, new goals, hopes, wishes, dreams - and there is no better time than right now to start acting on those things! I want to talk a little bit about the Law of Attraction and why it is so important for us all to understand that we all have the POWER to change our lives!

'Glow in 2015' is a series I will be doing each day until the end of 2014. I want to help every single one of you realize that you can have the life you want. You can have the health you want. You can have the finances you want. You can have that dream job you've been dying for. See the pattern there? YOU CAN. 

I want to start by explaining to those of you who aren't familiar with what the Law of Attraction is.
The law of attraction is the attractive, magnetic power of the Universe that draws similar energies together. It manifests through the power of creation, everywhere and in multiple ways. Even the law of gravity is part of the law of attraction. This law attracts thoughts, ideas, people, situations and circumstances. The law of attraction manifests through your thoughts, by drawing to you thoughts and ideas of a similar kind, people who think like you, and also corresponding situations and circumstances. It is the law and power that brings together people of similar interests, who unite into various groups, such as political groups, cliques in high school, church groups, sororities, etc.

Understand that this is something that has been around for centuries and centuries. The smartest, most successful people we have known throughout history have all used this secret to manifest their deepest desire. Now, if you are sitting there reading this and your thoughts are something like 'this is a load of crap' or 'is she serious, there is no way.' In that moment you are creating your future. You might not realize it now but trust me when I say that YOUR THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS and YOUR THOUGHTS CREATE YOUR FUTURE. Period.

It's all about how you process your thoughts. In Rhonda Byrne's book The Secret (if you have not read, I HIGHLY recommend) she mentions that there are three steps to receiving this abundant amounts of happiness in our lives and since then I have religiously lived through these steps, because, they SERIOUSLY work. I know if this can work for little ol' me then it can for YOU too!

1. ASK: You must set a clear intention on what it is your heart truly desires and write these things down. It is important that you have your heart/mind/soul in the same place. Make clear lists. (better health, get married, go back to school, etc.)

2. Believe: You must have the mindset that whatever it is you want, you already have.
Use your visualization to manifest your desire! You have to learn how to generate the same feelings you would have if you had already achieved your goals.

3. Receive: It is important that you become an active player in reaching your goals.
The universe receives your frequency and is working on manifesting those things for you but realize that you and the universe are a team.
When opportunity comes your way you must not hesitate!

Follow these steps every.single.day for 30 days. I promise that you will notice a drastic change in your life. In your mood. In YOURSELF. Also, remember that in order to achieve anything in this life you must learn to be grateful for all things.
GRADITUDE takes you much further than you know.



Light + Love,

Courtney. ♥

Fall In Love With Barre ♥

Recently I have been searching for new and different fitness regimens to give my body a little wake-up call. For the past few months I have been strictly focused on cardio and lifting and although my body has seen amazing results and drastic changes, I needed results in others areas... such as flexibility and strength. Well, leave it to the stunning Liza (The Skinny Breezy) to never fail when it comes to her sharing her favorite workouts! 

I actually came across barre3 as I was browsing (stalking ♥) Liza's Instagram and I immediately hopped onto the website to see what it was all about. I cannot lie when I say that it didn't take long for me to be completely hooked! I purchased my membership and immediately started a workout! I have been doing barre3 for about three days now and I am already notices the changes in my body. I feel leaner, stronger and a lot more flexible than I did a week ago.

So, I know that some of you are probably thinking 'what the heck is barre3?'

Well, with barre you learn to balance, strengthen, and lengthen the body with moves inspired by ballet, yoga, and pilates! It's super fun but definitely a challenge! Since it is so different than my usual workouts I have noticed the tiny muscles that sometimes cardio and lifting can't quite target: have been SORE beyond belief... but I know with time I will improve and those sore muscles will subside. Remember: PROGRESS not perfection.
With that being said, I highly recommend barre3 to everyone who wants to try something outside of their comfort zone!

Now to the REALLY good part. Barre3 is offering a 15 day trial on their website!
If you are interested in trying out barre3 before you make a decision to join,
then I will leave the link below!

Try Barre3

I hope you babes have a fabulous Tuesday! ♥