Tortillas in Mexico

Is it just me or does it seem that this time of year the kids are all about receiving, how much they will receive and when? 

They don't even seem to consider the giving portion of this wonderful holiday season.

I remember one year in Mexico, before we came to the US, my brother and I not getting any gifts because our parents just couldn't afford it. Needless to say I was very disappointed.

I also vividly remember hearing a knock on the door that same day and my mom handing me a bag of tortillas for beggars who had come to our door.

I can still remember how sorry I felt for them but also how good it felt knowing that they would have something to eat. ----

Sometimes I wonder if maybe it was my parent's way of showing us that it wasn't all about the getting and how good it felt to give.

I learned a great lesson that day that stuck with me until today, and so I want to teach my daughter that same kindness of giving.

Don't get me wrong I still like (sometimes even love) my things but it seems to me that it has been a while since I really had that feeling of warmth in giving, like that day in Mexico so many years ago.

Funny enough, I now sound like an old lady but how about this year we start new traditions. 

Let's start showing our kids that giving back feels so much better than getting that plastic toy that will end up who knows where. ( I speak mainly for myself. No judgments here)

As I was browsing online I found a great article with a few ways to help our kids help other kids, and it has some really great ideas.

Kids Helping Kids: 25 Ways to Give Back This Holiday Season

As for us, this year our family won't be in the US for Christmas, so our plan is to give back generously to those precious kids living on the streets of Bolivia. I want to show Sadie that giving is a much more powerful,wonderful and long lasting feeling than that of receiving.

Wishing you all my best this Holiday Season,

Nancy

Forgiveness and Eating for Pleasure

Today I am going to talk about a subject that is near and dear to my heart because it's something I have struggled with most of my life.

I am talking about emotional eating. Most of us have done it at one point in our lives or another.  I always felt that somehow after I ate, I would feel better, but was it really about the food I thought I needed?

Allow me to ask you this: Have you ever downed an entire package of chips, crackers, or cookies? Ate pizza or cake until you felt sick? Drank more coffee or wine than your body wanted?

Do you remember how you were feeling at the time?

I ask because sometimes we overeat to help distract us from that deep emotional pain or discomfort.

So for a moment think about it—have you noticed that sometimes when you overeat you’re not really hungry at all? Maybe you were lonely, angry, sad, resentful or totally frustrated.

Maybe you felt something else you couldn't quite put a feeling too.

So what hurt is it that YOU are holding on to? 

It's time to get in touch with your power of forgiveness....

Imagine confronting your uncomfortable feelings instead of eating because of all the emotion? 

The most divinely perfect way to do that is forgiveness.

4 Steps to Your Peace  of mind and weight loss

If you’ve been suffering because of past hurts, I ask that you first try forgiving whoever or whatever it is by trying just one of these 4 simple yet powerful steps. 

You may find that not only your soul begins it's healing process but that food will be something you actually enjoy and don't need as often for comfort.

• Talk to sympathetic friends and family about your desire to forgive. Talking with others is tremendously comforting and you may find they are supportive in what you want to do. 

• Write a letter to the person you’d like to forgive. You can decide whether or not you send it later, but by  putting it on paper, it makes it real and affirms how you feel and why. 

• Don’t forget to forgive yourself. Sometimes we can be harshest with ourselves. We do so much better when we feel better, so don't shame or put blame on yourself. Take the situation for what it is...you can only change now!

• Understand that you are responsible for your own attitude. Don’t let holding a grudge keep you from feeling free, open, and powerful in your own life.

Remember when you forgive, you release yourself from a painful burden. Forgiveness doesn't mean that what happened was OK, or that if someone hurt you, they are welcome back into your precious life.  It just means that you made peace with the pain and are ready to let it go and move on to a new way of living. 

It also means that your relationship with eating just became less complicated.

Wishing you Good Health and Happiness Always, Nancy XO

Sadie's 5 and were going to Bolivia

It seems like a lifetime ago that my sweet newly wed husband and I sold everything we had, grabbed our backpacks and traveled the the world for a year. 

After a year we became really home sick and so we decided to head back for a a while, and continue traveling later. We didn't realize how much later.

Our 2006 adventure in Bolivia Pics

When we arrived home, after a bit of culture shock, we quickly got back into the swing of things and found ourselves comfortable and glad to be home. At which point we decided to buy a house, settle down and start a family.

That was 8 was years ago, we now have a house, a dog, a 5 year old, and are very ready to travel again, this time with our sweet Sassy Sadie.

Why Bolivia? Life in Sucre, Bolivia is so simple, stress free, and very family oriented. At 2 in the afternoon all businesses close, people go home, spend time with their family for three hours and business opens back up from 5 to 7.

I am so excited and really looking forward to introducing Sadie to a new whole new culture and a new way of living for two weeks over Christmas.

Until then there is alot to do but it's definitely something that we are looking forward to.

Have you been on a great adventure? I would love to hear about it: 

Email me here

Until next time..

Good Health and Happiness to you,

Nancy

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you -- beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.”

― Edward Abbey

I turned 40 and it is fabulous

Yesterday I turned 40!

Looking back at 20, I thought when this day came, I would feel really old, but I really don't. I still feel like me. I do see a few more wrinkles that tell stories of my adventures and the only thing I am feeling is the excitment for the next year of adventures coming my way. 

How can I be excited about being 40, you ask?

Well I look at things a little differently than others.

You see at 16, I lost my precious mama to cancer, and after that, the way I saw things changed.  After some struggles and challenges, I began to see each day that I am alive, as a blessing. I see each moment as a chance to love the people in my life up, and to do something I love by making a difference in the lives of others.

So today I would like to share 10 things I have learned by 40:

1. View everything and everyone you meet with gratitude.

2.  No matter how challenging the situation, ask yourself what am I learning from this and what can I do differently? 

3. Schedule "YOU" time at least once a week and do something you love. It will make you a better person, woman and mother.(that goes for you men too:)

4. Dress up and go out on a date with your partner or friends, once a week. It will cultivate your precious relationships.

5.  Schedule it and keep promises you make to yourself. Don't put it off.

6. Surround yourself with people that will lift you up, not drag you down.

7. Burn, play and experiment with your food & offer thanks before and after meals.

8. Write a letter & mail it to your best friend and let them know how much you appreciate them and your friendship.

9. Smile at the store clerk and ask them how their day is going. The stories are amazing.

10. LISTEN: Be fully present, focusing your awareness on understanding, hearing without filters or judgment. You will be surprised at how people open up their heart and soul to you.

All of these things are a work in progress in my life and I will continue to try to perfect them. There is so much I have learned and still so much I have yet to learn.

So what are you life experiences? What is something you have learned in your life so far?

I would love to hear your life lessons.

Send me an email at nalbrightinfo@gmail.com

Until next time...

Wishing you Good Health and Happness, Nancy

Want more life suggestions of how you can better your life? Click here

Our little organic farm begins

The growing season is upon us and I am so excited to be growing our own food for the second year in a row. It all started with my husband and I wanting to know where our food came from. Although we often bought organic veggies from the store and locally, we always wondered what type of soil they used, did it have pesticides, and what kind of growing conditions & energy the vegetables were grown in.

After much planning and knowing nothing about gardening, we read some books, made a garden patch in our front yard and planted some seeds.

With alot of care and love, the outcome was amazing and we had food through the fall. Although some of the things we planted did not grow, we we blessed enough to be able to share some of it with family and friends. Here is some of the things we grew and had for lunches and dinners:

Green,Yellow Red Tomatoes Kale

Chard

Broccoli

Radishes

Beans

Strawberries

Carrots

Beets

Green onions

Chamomile and other herbs

Now it's that time again and my amazing husband has made seed boxes from wood and wine corks. They work fabulously and the planting has begun.

We still don't know alot about gardening but every year we learn a little bit more by experience and also by some reading.

So now it's your turn. Whether you think you know nothing about gardening or that you don't have a green thumb, toss those ideas out the window, buy some seeds, plant your favorite veggies, and give them lots of love, regular watering.

You may be surprised to find that you do have a green thumb after all!

What's your favorite fruit or veggie to plant? Send me a note at nalbrightinfo@gmail.com

Until next time..

GOod Health, Hugs & Smiles, 

Nancy♥

www.nancyalbright.com

Even though our family is all about healthy eating, it doesn't mean we don't go thru times where we learn about what our bodies need and don't need.

This was one of those times, so allow me to share it with you.

Sadie was so tired all the time in spite of all the organic meat, vegetables, fruits and unprocessed foods we were eating. She was on a dose of daily super vitamins and I thought I was giving her everything she needed to thrive as a little 4 year old girl.

She was getting 11-12 hours a sleep every night but in the morning she would wake up so tired. To add to the mix, a red rash surfaced on her face and I had no idea why. I had tried everything from taking out certain foods, to trying creams, and something was just not right!

What was I missing?

After much looking into and alot of thought, I decided to take her to a naturopath to get some allergy testing done. Everything I have been learning in nutriton school pointed to testing as the first step in taking the guessing out of allergies and what was going on.

So we went for testing and after the first set of blood test results were in, we went back to the naturopath for another visit "gulp and double gulp".

What would she say, would it be serious and could it be treated?

You can imagine how I was feeling as a mother, and so many things were going through my mind. 

The naturopath looked at me and said, I am sorry to tell you that Sadie is anemic, has a gluten allergy and also has a low thyroid.

Whaat? Why & how?? The guilt set in, how could I not know this? ? I knew she ate enough iron but maybe somehow her body wasn't absorbing it?

The naturopath prescribed a double dose of Iron for her, said she could no longer have gluten and that when those two things were resolved, the low thyroid should go away.

I was now on a mission, I did alot of research and here is what I found:

Iron: Because my sweet girl could no longer have gluten I had to be very careful about everything that went into her mouth.  I found a gluten and yeast free Iron made of fruits, vegetables and herbs by Flora called FloraVital Iron & Herbs. It is rich in B & C vitamins as well and non-constipating.  Click Here

For those who don't eat alot of meat and want to eat more plant based foods rich in iron, I found a great website that lists all the iron rich foods and more

 Click Here

Vitamin C and B: If you don't have enough C and B vitamins in your body, it doesn't matter how much iron you take, your body will not absorb it. We don't  take alot of C vitamins, so here it was I bought: A Truly Natural Vitamin C, Powder by Healthforce which is not synthetic and which the body can absorb Click Here  

Gluten Free: Sadie's world  has now change and every little thing we eat has to be read thoroughly. I say we because I too am recovering from anemia, I am also allergic to Gluten and to top it all off, I have dairy & egg allergies. So I am aware of everything I put in my mouth, what's in it and what it will do to me if I eat it.

Now I need to be completely present and aware of Sadie's diet.

So being the mother that I am, I did alot of research and have been cooking all types of delicious gluten free foods for Sadie and I. It's actually not that bad, and we even found a little store by our house that is all Gluten Free.

I am happy to say that, that was a few weeks ago and Sadie and I are on our way back to great health. With the iron rich foods and supplements we have been taking, we have energy again, think more clearly and we are in a good place.

So my advice to you is, if you or your little one are suffering from chronic symptoms, are unusually tierd, or you think something is just not right, question everything, don't just take it for what it is, do research, do testing, do whatever you can to get them and you back to great health again. 

Smiles, Hugs & Health, Nancy & Sadie too

Some Gluten Links I found Helpful♥

Gluten Intolerance Group www.gluten.net

Gluten Free Easily www.glutenfreeeasily.com

The Gluten Free Nutrition Guide  www.glutenfreedietitian.com

Gluten Free Kids http://www.celiaccentral.org/kids/recipes/

Whole Life Nutrition

http://www.nourishingmeals.com/p/going-gluten-free.html

Raising Glten Free Kids:

 http://www.sheletthemeatcake.com/2010/07/raising-gluten-free-kids/

The "V" Word for a month

Yesterday I celebrated a month of being vegan, and can I just say "wow" what a great adventure.

So allow me to back track a little.  As I am going to school to be a holisitc Health Coach, we are exploring bio-individuality* & over 100 different dietery therioes that go from Atkins to the Zone Diet.  One of those diets we explored was  a Vegan diet,

It was something that sounded appealing to me,  so I thought, why not try it. How hard could it be and  what better way to learn, than to explore & experiment with my own body. Maybe it was for me?? So I went for it, and for a month, I are nothing but vegtables,fruits, nuts, beans, legumes  & grains. YUM! Ina nutshell here is how it went.

 What I liked about it:

• It helped me get out of my boring usual recepie comfort zone. I tried new recepies, and explored with a huge variety of vegtables, nuts, beans & grains.
• It made me feel better, stronger  and cleared up the rash on my face, that had been there for 6 months.
• It helped me learn how to get more veggies into my 4 year old daughter & husbands  diet.  My daughter wasn't too excicted at first but now she eats, celery, almond butter &  mixed spinach salad.
• I felt more energy when I did my workouts
• My digestive system worked even more regularly. 

​

​What I didn't like so much:

• ​I gained a little weight because I ate more fruit, grains & nuts
• I  had more sugar cravings in the evenings because I lacked dense protien in my body, which I feel also contributed to weight gain.

​

What I learned from it all was that it's exciting & fun to try new things, to really explore and get into it. There is an entire world full of amazing vegtables,nuts, beans & grains that I had no idea were out there. I  learned  that it is possible to be strong & feel great without eating meat or animal products. I also learned that for now, being a Vegan is not for me, because my body requires certain things that being on a vegan diet does not provide. And I am okay with that.

What I plan to do now is incorporate small amounts of lean organic meats like fish, chicken and pork into my diet once a week, limit nuts, fruits & grains to smaller portions and enoy a mountain of fresh organic vegetables .

So there it is, my amazing adventure as a Vegan for a month!

I enjoyed every minute.

Now it's onto my next adventure, training for a 100 mile Bike Ride in May. I will let you know how that goes. Until next time!

Thank you for reading

Health, Happiness & Smiles, Nancy 

​

*bio-individuality  means there’s no one-size-fits-all diet – each person is a unique individual with highly individualized nutritional requirements. Personal differences in anatomy, metabolism, body composition and cell structure all influence your overall health and the foods that make you feel your best. That’s why no single way of eating works for everyone. The food that is perfect for your unique body, age, and lifestyle may make another person gain weight and feel lethargic.

Want to know more? Click the link below

http://www.integrativenutrition.com/glossary/bioindividuality