ForGIVEness...

When did I become so bitter that I abandoned a friendship because I disagreed with my friend's choice?
I proclaim I am the living embodiment of positivity and optimism, but how life teaches you spiritual growth is a daily lesson
I ran into my friend today and the person holds no grudge or animosity towards me
It was always me holding a grudge within myself… with myself on how I handle the situation
What a REALIZATION…
What a CATHARTIC moment…
I felt relieved and FREE…because my friend forGIVEd me and freed me from my own thoughts
I was HEALED
Now begins the journey of ForGIVEness with myself and with my FRIEN

May you begin your own journey of self forgiveness…

With Love

Minou

Natural Healthy New Start for 2014...

A lot of people are wondering whether they should juice, or blend. My answer is both! Here’s why:

Juicing

When you juice, the pulp is separated from whole fruit or vegetable. So it gives you all of the nutrients of the fruits and vegetables, but without the fiber. This makes it easier for the nutrients to get into your blood stream and throughout your body. It nourishes, strengthens, cleanses and purifies the blood and lymph system. A famous nutritionist, Dr. Schulze, even says its like a blood transfusion! Since there is no fiber, the juice is easily and quickly digested. Also, juicing is an efficient way to get a large amount of fruits in vegetables. Like my beet juice for instance. I juice 1 beet, 3 stalks of celery, 3 carrots, 1 apple, and some ginger. I would never be able to actually eat all of that at once!!! Or even want to. So instead, juicing provides an easy way for me to do so. 

The only thing with juicing is that you have to make sure you don’t blend too many fruits without enough vegetables. This can cause sugar spikes due to the high concentration of fruits (healthy, natural sugars can still be bad if its too much–dizziness, energy loss, etc). So also juice your fruits with veggies!

Blending

So I know what you’re thinking, isn’t fiber good for you? Yes! Very! And you need it. So that is why you should blend as well. You get all that good fiber in the green smoothies! Blending uses the entire fruit as opposed to just the water. This makes smoothies a good meal replacement. Many times I’ll only have smoothies for breakfast. The fiber helps to slowly digest the nutrients into your blood stream. This then prepares your body to eat heavy meals later on in the day. They are also very filling!

Also the fiber prevents those sugar rushes that can happen with juicing!

Benefits of Both

• Removes toxins 
• Provides clearer, glowing skin
• Strengthens and helps grow hair
• Gives more energy and better mood
• Helps with allergies
• Helps lose weight

Overall, I am definitely going to do both. Ideally, I want to make my smoothies in the morning as my breakfast, and juices with my lunch! (If I have time for making both each day). Remember juicers are more like a supplement, not a meal.

I hope this helps and encourages you to start juicing! You’ll see a huge difference in how you feel and look!

With Love,

Minou

Natural Healthy New Start for 2014...

So I’ve shared with you my new natural hair & health journey for this year…Let's continue the conversation and sharing experiences…

Let's begin with topic of a healthy diet because it dictates the appearance of your hair and skin! If the inside of your body is healthy, then the outside will be as well! When you put junk food, sweets, soda, and other processed foods into your body, then your digestive system has to work super hard to get rid of it because our bodies were not made to digest it. Since it has to work so hard, it wastes tons of energy and then it doesn’t have any energy left to cater to your beauty needs such as your hair and skin. Then, your body tries to store it in forms of fat, and tries to get rid of the toxins in the form of acne and other ways. It also doesn’t have any energy to take care of your hair and make it long, thick, and healthy. Makes too much sense right!? When I discovered this–it changed my wholeee view on eating! It really made me think twice everytime I went to reach for that sugary donut or cheesy pizza. Food is soo powerful! It can either be healing and super beneficial, or it can literally be deadly. So I decided to take control of my health and turn it around! Now, I admit I had been on that path before when I lived in New York, I felt light, energized, happy, and it showed! Having moved to PAP, Haiti I did stall the first two years and now this was not an easy transition at all. And I must emphasize–a transition,meaning this didn’t happen overnight. It took time. I started changing my eating habits about a year ago, and I am still changing them. That is why it is a journey!

Below are a few of the small steps I made to change my health:

1. I came upon this path by simply cutting out soda and switching to juice! Juice in cartons are still bad for you–so I mean literally natural juices that are homemade which is bountiful in Haiti! However switching to juice helped me to eventually switch to strictly drinking water, and tons of it. The average person should drink at least half of your body weight in ounces. So since I weigh 120 pounds, I need to drink at least 60 ounces of water each day. Just by doing this you will see a hugeee difference in your hair and skin! It will help your hair to grow and it’ll make your skin glowy and clearer.
2. Stopped eating fast food. This is a big one. Fast food is not even real food. It is processed so much that our bodies don’t even realize it and they can barely digest it. In Haiti, the equivalent to American fast food is FRITAY! Its like poison to your body. So, try to at least eat it less, and if possible to stop completely. I haven’t had fast food in about 3 years now. I don’t even like it anymore! (Except McDonalds french fries-I stumbled on my path a month ago. Hoy!) Lol I’m not going to lie I enjoyed every last bite of it–but I regretted it later when I had a stomach ache and I was exhausted after. Sticking with whole, healthy foods is so much better and you really FEEL the difference!
3. I started drinking. This was by far the most influential change for me. I was deprived of vegetables and I didn’t even realize it. The smoothie helped me get a weeks worth of vegetables in one serving! My skin started to glow and I had so much more energy. It also made me crave more healthy foods.
4. I stopped eating pork and beef. This wasn’t too hard–except for missing bacon & griot. Ahhhh I love bacon, lol. But thank God for turkey bacon which I like even more now. Pork and beef in general are the worst tons of meet.They have loads of fat and they clog your arteries. So now I stick to turkey and chicken (for those who are not allergic to seafood like me, recommend fish). Also if you want to lose weight, cutting out pork and beef will definitely help you to do so. I wasn’t trying to but I still lost a lot from this change in my diet.
5. Ate less fried and processed foods. I really try to cut down these. Pretty much everyone knows that they are terrible for you–yet we love them, I know. But you should try to bake or grill instead of frying, and choose whole, fresh foods instead of processed ones.

So those are most of the changes I’ve made, and every day is an opportunity to make healthier decisions. Now does this all mean I never cheat or pig out sometimes? As I said, definitely not especially a foodie and winey (wine lover) like me! But if you cheat once in awhile that doesn’t mean you’re not healthy. Its about balance. 90% of the groceries I buy are vegetables and grains from the farmers market. My groceries never include dairy (unless its goat cheese which is a lot better for you), meat (only chicken) or processed foods. So most of the time I am making healthy decisions, and that is what matters the most–what you are doing MOST of the time. It is about a LIFESTYLE change and not just dieting! You can start your journey today by taking baby steps that can cause big changes and be on your way to being healthy inside and out!

With Love,

Minou

Natural Healthy New Start for 2014...

This new year, I made a promise to myself to follow my intuitions and go back to my core values. That being said, it was time to go back to my good old healthy self from head to toe… I decided to start eating healthy again gravitate back to all my organic favorite recipes and ingredients…And also grow my hair back natural, NO perm NO processing…So off we go!

To begin with one of the healthy habits I always wanted to inherit was juicing…making and drinking natural, organic smoothies with all the vitamins I felt was missing in my diet…I am beginning to absolutely loveeee my green smoothie! I can’t go a day without it! It is full of vitamins and minerals including fiber, amino acids, iron, and so much more. 

Living both in New York and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in both countries most American’s and Haitian's don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, so this smoothie makes sure you get your daily dosage! This smoothie has made my skin clearer and glowy, my hair longer and healthier, and it has given me more energy! I am still a coffee drinker (bad to some, I know) but I am not nearly as dependent on it as I used to be because of this smoothie! I’ve replaced coffee with smoothies and most importantly with MEL'ANGE NATURAL HERBAL TEAS (https://www.facebook.com/melangearome01) a real game changer for me and now I only drink coffee once in awhile. Also! The green smoothie has encouraged me to change other areas of my diet and jumpstart my health journey. Your body craves what you put in–so if you eat healthy foods, you’ll desire it.

Ingredients:

• 3  Stalks Celery
• 2  Bananas
• 1 Apple
• 1 Pear
• 1 Big Handful of Spinach
• 1 Squeezed Lemon
• 1/2 Avocado
• 1 1/2 Cups Coconut Water
• 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds (optional, not available in PAP)
• 1 Tbsp  Trader Joe’s Organice Hemp Protien Powder (optional, not available in PAP)

Step 1:

Finely chop the celery as small as you can. The smaller the better the texture, especially if your blender isn’t very strong.

Step 2:

Combine chopped celery, spinach, squeezed lemon, chia seeds, and coconut water and blend low to high for 2 minutes.

Blending from low to high and blending the vegetables first is very important because it makes it very smooth.

Step 3:

Peel, core and chop the apple and pear. They are softer so they don’t have to be chopped as small.

Step 4: 

Combine the apple, pear, avocado, bananas, and if your prefer–hemp protein powder and blend from low to high for another 2 mins.

Hemp protein powder has a strong taste and takes away the fruitiness of your smoothie. Its still yummy, but it just depends on your preference. However, hemp protein powder is a super healthy, vegetarian form of protein. One serving contains 9 grams! It is the most digestible protein–even more easily digestible than whey protein! It also is a great source of iron, fiber, and essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6.

So there you have it! My Journey to Natural Healthy New Start begins. I hope you try it and love it as much as I do!

With Love,

Minou