Now that I'm a mommy and wifey, I don't just have to think of my own nutrition and health. I have to consider my children and husbands well-being as well. 

My son, Kai, is a little over 2 years old. His first solid food was butternut squash pureed, followed by a puree of green vegetables. He didn't have any sugar until a few months ago when he went to a birthday party, and to be honest, he didn't even care for it much. I was terrified once he had the processed kind of sugar he'd never want to go back to his clean ways of eating. Au Contraire.

His palate is so sophisticated now. He can eat anything no matter where we go. He loves spicy foods- he's happy and at home in any Indian restaurant and equally safe at sushi or any other ethnic cuisine. We've traveled to Paris, Costa Rica, Tel Aviv & South America and he's happy no matter where we go and what we feed him. This takes a little more effort on my part, to pave the way to healthy foods being part of his normal routine.

Phases and Bumps along the way

Sometimes he's not in the mood for a certain type of food. He'll push things he's loved for months away or throw it on the floor for our dog to eat. My trick is to lay out ONLY fruits and vegetables to start with-- a huge variety-- some cooked, some raw. Some warm, some cold. All different colors and flavors to entice his little appetite. He LOVES organic frozen veggies, which makes it super easy for me. He especially likes peas & lima beans, eating them one by one. I don't usually add any butter or salt to the veggies because he eats them without. So what's the point? He takes "butter" (Smart Balance) on his gluten-free waffles in the morning as a treat and loves it, but doesn't expect it yet. He's never touched syrup and there's really no reason to introduce it.

The best time to give him the foods he's not in the mood for is when he's super hungry after playing outside. Sometimes I just need to give him a "gateway" food to get him started. When he was super little just a few little Organic Puffs would do the trick. Now I'll give him half a piece of an organic cookie or the green flavored Pirate's Booty (our version of junk food) and after a few of these snack items he moves right into veggie land. Works pretty much every time.

Other days he just doesn't feel like sitting in his high chair and eating. On those days I let him run around and snack as he pleases. He'll graze on the veggies and fruit I put on a plate on the coffee table and run around and grab what he wants when he chooses to.  Many parents are really militant about kids sitting in their chairs and eating, and I understand their feelings. I get that sentiment, that it's more "proper" to eat meals sitting in their high chair. With my lifestyle (always on the go) and my manner (I'm not a very "proper" person myself) I allow him to guide the way, as the most important thing to me is Kai getting the nutrients he needs to GROW "properly", while being a formal "correct" child falls a bit lower on the priority list. Every child is different. Some kids really need that type of structure to stay well behaved. Kai is (luckily) really flexible and adaptable with my crazy on the go lifestyle.

Green Dream and Philosophie superfood blends save the day

When all else fails, I can make a Green Dream smoothie and at least feel good about Kai getting all the nutrients and greens he needs for the day. In one smoothie I can be sure he's getting good fats, vegan sources of protein, no weird fillers and nothing processed. This makes things a lot easier and makes me feel secure in what he eats for the rest of the day. Lately one of the only ways I can consistently get green veggies into his body is through smoothies. And that's fine with me! Sometimes in the morning I'll add Cacao Magic powder to his oatmeal or even a dash of Green Dream. Other times I'll sneak it into an "ice cream" where I blend frozen bananas, spinach and green dream or cacao blend. These tricks ensure the love of my life is getting everything he needs nutritionally. Not to mention the hubby benefits from these tricks as well! If you're interested in buying Green Dream, Cacao Magic or Berry Bliss blends, email me: sophie@thephilosophie.com and mention this post for a mommy discount!

I'm not sure where the "green" phobia in kids begin, but I can't help but think it's from parents trying to drive the foods down their kids throats. Kai loves Green foods and actually gravitates towards these foods vs running away from them. I think this practice starts early, but that you can retrain your kids brains by sneaking greens into a smoothie or into an ice cream... so they don't feel they are missing anything. I mean let's revisit Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess! In the end, he lovessss the Green Eggs... it just took TRYING them!

In Gratitude and Elmo obsessions,

Sophie

PS. SPEAKING of Green Eggs... an easy way to make your own Green Eggs is to blend the eggs and fresh spinach in the blender until smooth. Then cook as you normally would! Kai loves them, your kids will too!

Now that I'm a mommy and wifey, I don't just have to think of my own nutrition and health. I have to consider my children and husbands well-being as well.

My son, Kai, is a little over 2 years old. His first solid food was butternut squash pureed, followed by a puree of green vegetables. He didn't have any sugar until a few months ago when he went to a birthday party, and to be honest, he didn't even care for it much. I was terrified once he had the processed kind of sugar he'd never want to go back to his clean ways of eating. Au Contraire.

His palate is so sophisticated now. He can eat anything no matter where we go. He loves spicy foods- he's happy and at home in any Indian restaurant and equally safe at sushi or any other ethnic cuisine. We've traveled to Paris, Costa Rica, Tel Aviv & South America and he's happy no matter where we go and what we feed him. This takes a little more effort on my part, to pave the way to healthy foods being part of his normal routine.

Phases and Bumps along the way

Sometimes he's not in the mood for a certain type of food. He'll push things he's loved for months away or throw it on the floor for our dog to eat. My trick is to lay out ONLY fruits and vegetables to start with-- a huge variety-- some cooked, some raw. Some warm, some cold. All different colors and flavors to entice his little appetite. He LOVES organic frozen veggies, which makes it super easy for me. He especially likes peas & lima beans, eating them one by one. I don't usually add any butter or salt to the veggies because he eats them without. So what's the point? He takes "butter" (Smart Balance) on his gluten-free waffles in the morning as a treat and loves it, but doesn't expect it yet. He's never touched syrup and there's really no reason to introduce it.

The best time to give him the foods he's not in the mood for is when he's super hungry after playing outside. Sometimes I just need to give him a "gateway" food to get him started. When he was super little just a few little Organic Puffs would do the trick. Now I'll give him half a piece of an organic cookie or the green flavored Pirate's Booty (our version of junk food) and after a few of these snack items he moves right into veggie land. Works pretty much every time.

Other days he just doesn't feel like sitting in his high chair and eating. On those days I let him run around and snack as he pleases. He'll graze on the veggies and fruit I put on a plate on the coffee table and run around and grab what he wants when he chooses to.  Many parents are really militant about kids sitting in their chairs and eating, and I understand their feelings. I get that sentiment, that it's more "proper" to eat meals sitting in their high chair. With my lifestyle (always on the go) and my manner (I'm not a very "proper" person myself) I allow him to guide the way, as the most important thing to me is Kai getting the nutrients he needs to GROW "properly", while being a formal "correct" child falls a bit lower on the priority list. Every child is different. Some kids really need that type of structure to stay well behaved. Kai is (luckily) really flexible and adaptable with my crazy on the go lifestyle.

Green Dream and Philosophie superfood blends save the day

When all else fails, I can make a Green Dream smoothie and at least feel good about Kai getting all the nutrients and greens he needs for the day. In one smoothie I can be sure he's getting good fats, vegan sources of protein, no weird fillers and nothing processed. This makes things a lot easier and makes me feel secure in what he eats for the rest of the day. Lately one of the only ways I can consistently get green veggies into his body is through smoothies. And that's fine with me! Sometimes in the morning I'll add Cacao Magic powder to his oatmeal or even a dash of Green Dream. Other times I'll sneak it into an "ice cream" where I blend frozen bananas, spinach and green dream or cacao blend. These tricks ensure the love of my life is getting everything he needs nutritionally. Not to mention the hubby benefits from these tricks as well! If you're interested in buying Green Dream, Cacao Magic or Berry Bliss blends, email me: sophie@thephilosophie.com and mention this post for a mommy discount!

I'm not sure where the "green" phobia in kids begin, but I can't help but think it's from parents trying to drive the foods down their kids throats. Kai loves Green foods and actually gravitates towards these foods vs running away from them. I think this practice starts early, but that you can retrain your kids brains by sneaking greens into a smoothie or into an ice cream... so they don't feel they are missing anything. I mean let's revisit Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess! In the end, he lovessss the Green Eggs... it just took TRYING them!

In Gratitude and Elmo obsessions,

Sophie

PS. SPEAKING of Green Eggs... an easy way to make your own Green Eggs is to blend the eggs and fresh spinach in the blender until smooth. Then cook as you normally would! Kai loves them, your kids will too!

What are superfoods?

Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that may provide health benefits as a result. For example, blueberries are often considered a superfood (or superfruit) because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants,, vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber. You don't need specific foods for specific ailments. A healthy diet incorporating a variety of the following superfoods will help you maintain your weight, fight disease, and live longer. One thing they all have in common: Every superfood is going to be a 'real' (unprocessed) food, you don't find fortified potato chips in the superfood category.

How can I use and incorporate superfoods in my daily life?

• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Dark Chocolate (RAW chocolate is best!)
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon
• Soy
• Spinach
• kale
• Tea (green especially)
• Tomatoes
• hemp seeds
• Walnuts
• almonds
• chia seeds
• Yogurt

if you click on the words above I offer other posts I've written with more info about the wonderful superfoods and also a few recipes to use them in!

 All of my superfood blends have all the best superfoods in one place. No need to purchase them all separately, just buy one bag instead of 8! 

Cacao Magic superfood blend has raw Cacao powder, raw cacao nibs, tocos (vit E for hair, skin, nails) chia seeds (good fats to burn bad fat), maca (balances mood), reishi (chinese immunity herb), cordyceps (chinese herb for weightloss) and chaga (energizing herb with no caffeine). 

The Green Dream superfoods have chia seeds, maca, mesquite (high in iron), tocos, spirulina, hemp powder and fresh vanilla bean. 

Our Berry Bliss superfood blend has camu camu (top antioxidant food in the world), pomegranate, acai (combats stress), goji (prevents heart disease) organic whey protein (recovery & rejuvenation-very clean protein source) tocos (improves digestion, glowing skin & strong nails from Vitamin E) camu camu (immunity) and mangosteen (antibiotic & anti-fungal). 

the Yummiest Superfood Yet ... Dark Chocolate

Research has shown that dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants and can lower blood pressure. It's recommended that you look for chocolate with 60% or higher cocoa content; the darker, the better! In addition, the darker it is, the lower the fat and sugar content. Now that's my kind of health food!

here are two recipes using dark chocolate/cacao (chocolate in it's most raw form):

1. Peppermint Patty Recipe

2. Delicious Chocolate Cake

and Here's an awesome breakfast I've been making lately--super filling and superfood rich!

Superfood Oats

• 1 C Steelcut oats (follow instructions on the box)
• 2 T Cacao Magic blend
• 1 T goji berries (see pic below)
• 1/2 Organic Canned Pumpkin
• 1 t coconut oil (i like Garden of Life brand)
• 2 T almond butter (i get Trader Joes brand, raw & creamy)
• 1 T Agave or Raw Honey (i buy from our local farmers market) or Stevia if watching sugar
• Cinnamon to taste
• fresh berries for topping (like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)

1. follow instructions on box for cooking steelcut oats. (can also use quinoa or instant low-sugar oats)

2. The last minute or so, add the pumpkin, almond butter, goji berries and cinnamon. Stir all ingredients until mixed.

3. Remove oats from heat. Mix the coconut oil, cacao powder and agave/honey/sweetener in the bowl you'll be using and mix well with a spoon until it forms a chocolate sauce. Pour oats in bowl. Add fresh berries. Enjoy!

*double/triple the amount so you can save in containers for easy power-breakfasts in the next few days!

To lose weight in a healthy manner and keep it off for life, you need to work hard and work smart. I want to share Livestrong.com's advice for weightloss. Four lifestyle modifications are useful -- the meal replacement strategy, meal timing, aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. Your weight loss program will not work over the long term if it is a one-shot project. It must be a permanent lifestyle change.

The Weight Loss Equation

There is no magic to weight loss, asserts Vanderbilt University. Weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you take in by eating. Your body burns calories in three ways -- by exercise, by heat generation and by performing basic metabolic functions, such as breathing. You can directly control how much you eat and how much you exercise. You can indirectly control how many calories your body uses to perform basic metabolic functions by building muscle mass.

The Meal Replacement Strategy

Pay attention to the content of the food you eat more so than the volume of food that you eat, advises Penn State Strength Fitness. This is because nutritious food usually contains fewer calories per unit of volume than unhealthy food, because a nutritious diet will ensure that the weight you lose is fat instead of muscle, and because a low-volume diet will leave you constantly hungry. Focus on gradually replacing entire categories of food with more nutritious categories. Replace sweets with fruits, for example, red meat with chicken, and french fries with rice. A great TOOL for managing your food/caloric intake is myplate on the Livestrong website.

Weight Training

Weight training is anaerobic, because it relies on short, intense bursts of energy that do not consistently raise your heart rate into the aerobics zone. Weight training can support a weight loss program by permanently raising your resting metabolic rate, according to the Valley Medical Center of Renton, Wash. A high resting metabolic rate causes your body to burn more calories 24 hours a day, simply to keep you alive. Furthermore, since many of the calories you consume will be used to repair muscle tissue that you break down during a weight training workout, fewer calories are available to be stored as fat. If you control your calorie intake and eat nutritiously, any weight gain caused by new muscle mass will be more than outweighed by the fat that you will lose. 

Meal Timing

Eating six small meals a day instead of three supports a weight training program by supplying your body with just the right amount of nutrients when it needs them, according to the American Dietetic Association. Eat slowly, so that your brain will tell your stomach it's not hungry anymore in time for you to stop eating. Eat a low-fat meal high in protein immediately after a weight-training workout.

Aerobics

Aerobic exercise helps you lose weight because you increase your calorie expenditure while you exercise. Select an enjoyable activity (walking, jogging, biking, yoga, dancing, swimming) that raises your heart rate to between 60 and 80 percent of its maximum, advises the Cleveland Clinic, and perform it for 30 to 60 minutes per workout, three to seven days a week. To find your approximate maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220.

To lose weight in a healthy manner and keep it off for life, you need to work hard and work smart. I want to share Livestrong.com's advice for weightloss. Four lifestyle modifications are useful -- the meal replacement strategy, meal timing, aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. Your weight loss program will not work over the long term if it is a one-shot project. It must be a permanent lifestyle change.

The Weight Loss Equation

There is no magic to weight loss, asserts Vanderbilt University. Weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you take in by eating. Your body burns calories in three ways -- by exercise, by heat generation and by performing basic metabolic functions, such as breathing. You can directly control how much you eat and how much you exercise. You can indirectly control how many calories your body uses to perform basic metabolic functions by building muscle mass.

The Meal Replacement Strategy

Pay attention to the content of the food you eat more so than the volume of food that you eat, advises Penn State Strength Fitness. This is because nutritious food usually contains fewer calories per unit of volume than unhealthy food, because a nutritious diet will ensure that the weight you lose is fat instead of muscle, and because a low-volume diet will leave you constantly hungry. Focus on gradually replacing entire categories of food with more nutritious categories. Replace sweets with fruits, for example, red meat with chicken, and french fries with rice. A great TOOL for managing your food/caloric intake is myplate on the Livestrong website.

Weight Training

Weight training is anaerobic, because it relies on short, intense bursts of energy that do not consistently raise your heart rate into the aerobics zone. Weight training can support a weight loss program by permanently raising your resting metabolic rate, according to the Valley Medical Center of Renton, Wash. A high resting metabolic rate causes your body to burn more calories 24 hours a day, simply to keep you alive. Furthermore, since many of the calories you consume will be used to repair muscle tissue that you break down during a weight training workout, fewer calories are available to be stored as fat. If you control your calorie intake and eat nutritiously, any weight gain caused by new muscle mass will be more than outweighed by the fat that you will lose.

Meal Timing

Eating six small meals a day instead of three supports a weight training program by supplying your body with just the right amount of nutrients when it needs them, according to the American Dietetic Association. Eat slowly, so that your brain will tell your stomach it's not hungry anymore in time for you to stop eating. Eat a low-fat meal high in protein immediately after a weight-training workout.

Aerobics

Aerobic exercise helps you lose weight because you increase your calorie expenditure while you exercise. Select an enjoyable activity (walking, jogging, biking, yoga, dancing, swimming) that raises your heart rate to between 60 and 80 percent of its maximum, advises the Cleveland Clinic, and perform it for 30 to 60 minutes per workout, three to seven days a week. To find your approximate maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220.

Now that I've "come out" to the world about being pregnant it's time to share all the knowledge I've been acquiring throughout the past 2 1/2 months!  (Facebook & technology has changed the world in so many ways!! so easy, with just a click, my world knew!)

In my opinion, Iron is absolutely the MOST important supplement/nutrient to get into your body when you're pregnant.

This metal carries oxygen from the lungs to every cell in the body. Its other big role is to make blood. Blood volume increases by 50% during pregnancy. Blood feeds the placenta and uterine lining. Without large members of oxygen-rich red blood cells, your baby won't grow.

For a straight hit of iron, eating red meat or liver is a sure bet. Clams, chicken liver, duck and oysters are excellent sources. (if you're vegan or vegetarian, look below for an awesome option) Fish, poultry, spinach, dried apricots and unsulphered or black-strap molasses are decent sources. Grains and dairy foods are not.

It's also wise to eat iron-friendly foods, including fresh produce for folate and vitamin C, banans for B5 and any meat, milk or eggs for B12.

I highly recommended Floradix, a liquid supplement with organic iron in an absorbable form (ferrous gluconate) instead of inorganic iron, which can cause constipation. I take this almost every day. I love the way it tastes and I instantly have more energy after consuming it. I don't eat red meat and haven't for almost 10 years, so it's vital to get it from a supplement source. I've taken it for years, (I'm slightly anemic) usually every day when I'm on my period and here and there when I'm not.

Another option is taking ground liver capsules. If you're not anemic, don't take iron. The body doesn't excrete iron easily, and too much can be toxic.