LOVE Your Gut!

Some of you know that I have struggled with digestion issues my whole life.  Even when I was Lacto (and Lacto-ovo) Veg it was still terrible.  Since going Vegan my life has changed and I don't hate my digestion - it's now my friend!  When I see companies like Genuine Health that happen to offer vegan products I smile.  When they focus on digestion I do an extra little snoopy-dance.  Add in their product being fermented (and protein) I just might bust out the Running Man!

Last week I mentioned my first experience with their Peanut Butter Chocolate flavor of their Fermented Vegan Protein Bars and today I'm blogging about their Dark Chocolate Almond Flavor.  I enjoyed both.  I noticed they had two other flavors that I would love to try some day, too!  They are Double Chocolate Chip AND Lemon Coconut!!!!  YUMMO!  Yes, I did receive these bars FREE from Genuine Health.  But you know how I LOVE LOVE LOVE spreading the news about a new-to-me Vegan Product so I wanted to make sure I posted it and SOON since I just had it for breakfast this morning!  I was pretty hungry and you know what?  It was SO FILLING!!!  I noticed that they are available on many of the sites I visit for Vegan Products!  Check out their WHERE TO BUY Section!

Since there was some interest and feedback on my last post I have contacted the company about doing a giveaway here on my blog!  They said YES!  Keep your eyes PEELED because I hope to have this giveaway for one of their bars within the next week!

Vegan? Fermented? Proteins? Yes...Yes...and YES!

I just recently learned about this company called Genuine Health and I have to say so far I'm darn impressed!  Genuine Health sent me this Fermented Vegan Proteins+ Peanut Butter Chocolate bar for free to try and I knew after 1 bite I had to share it with the rest of you!

Here - in short - is what really sparked by interest:

12 delicious bars per box

15g of fermented protein on-the-go

No Bloating!

Promotion of overall digestive health

Priming of gut for optimum absorption

Amplification of vitamin, mineral & amino acid nutritional value

Immune system support

VEGAN

NON-GMO

Gluten-Free

Soy Free

15 grams of protein

Personally - I'm more interested in digestive health than how much protein is in something but I know there is a market for both.

This bar was darn tasty!  The first one I tried was the Peanut Butter Chocolate but I do have the Dark Chocolate Almond one to still try!  I'm looking forward to it but I'm saving it for another day!

Have you heard of this company or have you seen their products online or in stores?  Let me know where in comments!  Also let me know if this product is something you might like to try!

In the meantime if you would like to purchase these bars online click HERE!

Something else I found instantly interesting about this company was the CEO...

Stewart Brown, Genuine Health's Founder and President.

With the help of a naturopathic doctor, Stewart overcame chronic migraines and improved his overall health by changing his diet and adding all-natural supplements. Since then, he's been committed to helping others achieve optimum health.

Since daily migraines were the main reason I first went vegetarian when I was 15 I could total relate!  I can't wait to learn more about this company and try more of their vegan offerings!

Get Out There & Make It Happen!

This past week I have been pretty off.  Just not myself.  I sort of felt like I was a zombie.  Sure a lot of people around me are sick and I seem to be fighting it off so far but I wanted to step it up a notch.  I also wanted to educate myself more on the topic of Adrenal Health.  Within that spectrum I was also researching BUILDING JING.

So I will be blogging more and more about these topics as I find things of interest and start implementing them in daily life.  I've always been fond of herbs and often have in depth chats with my local Herbologist.  I want to take that to the next level and start really concentrating on it more.

A great place to start is in the kitchen.

Ironically, the more I researched JING the more I noticed a certain KEYWORD.  The word that popped up was Fibromyalgia.  Over the past year I have been trying to listen to what my surroundings have been trying to tell me.  When I listen - wonderful things happen.  This topic seems to be TALKING TO ME so I want to listen.

Adrenals, Herbalism, Kidneys, Inflammation, Fibromyalgia.  

Some of the suggestions I have read about include drinking LOTS of water, tea, and tisanes!  CHECK!  This is a HUGE part of my life already!  Mineral Rich Pink Sea Salt.  I'm not much of a salt person but when I do use salt I use Black or Pink Mineral Rich Sea Salt.  Valerian Root.  This is something I have toyed with in the past and after reading more about it I now know that I must up my intake of it!  Licorice.  This is something else I have upped already in the tea and tisanes I have been drinking but I will continue to keep this in mind.  Leafy Greens.  LOVE THEM.  But you can never get TOO MANY of them!  Caffeine Free Teas and Tisanes.  I must say I start each and every day with at least 1 black tea.  I will say that I have cut back on how many of the caffeine based ones I have each day and have upped my herbal tisanes!  

Things to stay away from?  Sugar.  I don't really eat a lot of sugar.  Unless it's in natural foods like fruit.  But they are talking about store-bought and processed foods that contain sugars.

When it comes to Adrenal Vegan Foods here are some great ones that have been suggested...

Lower Sugar Fruits, Beans, Vegetables, Sprouted Grains, Nuts, Seeds, Avocados.  

Seems easy enough and I eat all of those things already!  But something I really need to be better about is BREAKFAST.  I've blogged about this before and how I struggle.  And I keep going back to that Morning Smoothie Solution.  I just need to BUCK UP and DO IT!

So stay tuned for more of this in daily life and here on my blog.  It's my way of being accountable, I guess!

Yacon, Food Trends, and Pineapple Strawberry Popsicles Made at Home!

It's funny...when I was younger I didn't think much about learning.  As I get older I am almost obsessed with learning something NEW everyday!  That's yet another reason why I am so excited and grateful to be contributing to The Raw Food World News Site.

Recently I have been reading up on Yacon.  I've learned how it can be helpful for not only losing weight but beneficial to 'gut' health and digestion.  The latter is what I am more interested in, personally.  Digestion issues was the main reason I ended up switching from lacto-ovo veg to vegan 3 and a half years ago.  I've battled with digestion issues even as an infant.  To learn a bit of what I am been researching when it comes to Yacon be sure to check out the article called Yacon to Maintain a Healthy Weight and Gut.

I've been on a Pineapple kick ever since eating so much of it while in West Palm Beach last month.  When I got back I was still on the kick and have done a few recipes that feature the fruit including Pineapple Strawberry Popsicles.  I also found out that Pineapple is good for fighting motion and morning sickness.  NO!  I'm NOT pregnant people!  Don't even think about it!  LOL

And finally I just HAD to share with you this article I did recently on Food Trends for 2015!  Check it out and let me know which foods you think are getting all 'trendy' on us so far this year!

Food Fight Grocery, Weight Loss, What I've Been Up To Lately!

Food Fight Grocery Store

You've already seen some product reviews from me and you'll be seeing a lot more and soon because I have been on a shopping spree!  It all started with Food Fight Grocery out of Portland.  I have been wanting to buy from them for YEARS...but shipping just seemed to be more than it was worth.  BUT...since I have been about 99.9% vegan these days - it was NOW worth it!

My experience was a good one - I have to say - sure - they were out of a few things - but they contacted me via email in a timely fashioned and asked if I wanted to switch to a different flavor or otherwise.  Since I bought almost all new-to-me products I thought I would keep the order as-is and change to different flavor on the two items in question.

I received my shipment about a week later and everything was in perfect condition.  I was very happy.

Another thing NEW with me - is - since going from Lacto-Ovo-Veg for over 18 years to Near Vegan in the past 3 months I have worked out my digestion issues AND have lost at least 20 pounds already!  I'm a VERY happy camper!  

I also re-joined a small exercise and weight room locally that is MUCH cheaper than the local YMCA and other fitness club options but for what I will be using and doing it's JUST RIGHT.  Since I have been hella busy lately I have only been able to go about twice a week but that will be changing very soon!

TONIGHT - my mom, sister, and I are having our Holiday Open House for Wildtree and will be doing a Dessert Party!  It should be FUN!