Food Balance Your Body Type Archives - Page 29 of 32

Inflammatory Eczema Allergy Foods

Inflammatory eczema allergy foods is something I became deeply aware of when I experienced adult eczema in a nightmarish way during the world pandemic.

Backing up some, I was familiar with the common allergy foods as I planned parties and food menus working with thousands of groups with food allergies and gluten sensitivities.

But heightening my own sensitivities to food allergies showing up as adult eczema for the first time took the cake. It was a 3 month saga I’d love to forget.

Gluten didn’t help as a common offender in food and white flours so I’ll mention more on that below.

White flour is a common inflammatory eczema allergy food source. — White flour is a common source of gluten food allergies and inflammation.

…Another food category was sweets!

That’s probably no surprise as too much sugar can make your skin crawl and no research has sanely suggested that sugar is good for you (other than your taste buds 😋).

But that’s hard news to swallow when you’re a sweet tooth (and a Vata body like me).

…And if sugar-tipped over the edge, then eczema can be the outcome where rashes mysteriously appear around the body.

They stay until the body is calm. It’s not like a mosquito bite where the poison and bite effects fade after a few days.

But I’m happy to say that even though I love baking (and do it weekly), I’ve learned how to bake healthy and keep eczema at bay. And yes the bakes are delicious (otherwise why bother?).

Firstly, I’m a foodie…

And when I started in catering management for upscale hotel chains, there were only vegetarian food categories other than the menu everyone else ate from.

Then common requests grew like “hold the onions” and “hold the garlic.”

At some point, I saw peanut and nut allergies crop up.

When I dug deeper into creating menus for food allergy group requests, we found that guests who had some peanut allergies could sometimes eat tree nuts like pine nuts.

With awareness, we never had a problem with food allergy association groups.

Shellfish can be another tricky area, but gratefully I didn’t work much with those foods.

An affected person who has even a trace of the shellfish can experience a life threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis shock.

We always had Benadryl in the First Aid kit nearby for general allergy reactions.

And by the time I was planning party events for busy American restaurants serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine, food awareness had grown even further.

Celiac Disease grew. It’s an allergy disease that can cause severe allergic reactions because gluten triggers the immune system.

And I can attest that gluten in moderation is better even for eczema skin allergy symptoms.

Your body gives different health conditions signs as warning. But a warning is a warning.

It can’t give a sour face. ☹️ Only you and I can do that. But it can give a health condition as a sign.

And the source can be the same ingredient culprits.

And so as we evolved in the world, allergies and preferences became the general norm.

Restaurant servers greeted you at your table asking, “does anyone have any allergies?”

A century ago that would’ve never been asked as you ate what you could and anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods didn’t exist.

Anti-Inflammatory Eczema Allergy Foods

In my trial-and-error food tasting experiences, I learned eczema was dramatically reduced with low daily refined sugar intake and cutting out most processed flours.

Those foods created inflammation that showed up as skin inflammation.

So learning healthy food substitution to sugar and flour was the healthier way.

And there is plenty of healthy alternatives in our abundant earth and sourcing grocery stores.

Anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods include vegetables, whole fruits, lean healthy proteins, healthy fats and whole grains.

All grains are not created equal. How they are prepared and the details of their ingredient profiles change the effect.

A frequently asked question is: what foods are high in gluten?

The answer: whole grains are healthy. They’re also guilty.

Wheat, barley, and rye are the sources.

Being smart about healthier low-glycemic index starchy carbs and nutrient-dense foods pays off.

Also corn, oats, and quinoa (pseudo-grain) meals are good ideas since they are gluten-free so they bypass some decision fatigue.

Corn is the largest agricultural crop produced in the United States.

So there are still many options for gluten allergies.

Oh, and we also should consider…

Our different bodies where we react differently.

…What spikes the blood sugar of one person is different for another.

Getting to know your body with individual foods and enjoying in moderation is a good idea for all, and each of us living in our bodies.

Plus, lowering processed gluten foods for everyone is a good idea in general, considering all the environmental factors and chemicals (plastics, pesticides, and phthalates) we have no control over in the current state of food manufacturing processes.

For foods, adding more organic plant-based 🌱 in nature when possible, and not plant-based in factories 🏭 helps your entire body system run better.

Every little bit of our effort counts…

Adding more healthy variety, and nutrient-dense plant-forward foods is a double win scoring points for our bodies and our earth. 🎉

It can be as easy as exchanging pasta made from flour once in a while for spaghetti squash. See easy spaghetti squash recipe below. 🍴🍝

A spaghetti squash dish is a good gluten-allergy substitute. — Spaghetti squash looks like spaghetti but doesn’t have gluten.

Focusing on anti-inflammatory foods and including Mediterranean Diet foods that overlap in your meals, helps.

According to the American Heart Association, The Mediterranean Diet is known to be the healthiest diet overall for preventative cardiovascular health and brain health today.

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/mediterranean-diet

Overlapping with anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods, focusing on healthy foods is as important as minimizing the bad food buckets, such as:

Processed, white sugar foods

Fried foods and unhealthy fats (such as high processed meats)

Eliminating these excesses from your diet can help reduce and potentially prevent life-shortening diseases and precursor chronic body inflammations from occurring.

These are lifestyle choices we get to make.

Replacing emptier calorie and excessively sweet snacks to healthier whole fruit and nut snacks, high quality dairy, and lean proteins help curb hunger in between meals.

Some foods may be classified as healthy, but are still just as bad. I used to fill up on nutritional bars as filler snacks… but the problem is often they’re loaded with sugar.

I realized I would have been better off with a Snickers.

So I quit the bars habit along with sodas for breakfast.

…Maybe you can relate with your food habits?

I replaced sodas for black coffee and unsweetened teas that are more enjoyable as a caffeine morning practice.

I now do and recommend a cold brew coffee method if you have a sensitive stomach or acid causes issues. ☕️

Changing your habits like a regular sweet one for a plant-based breakfast is doable. I’m living proof. 😊

And I take a page from my catering days where Crudite was a platter offered at almost every event.

That’s basically raw veggies like cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus.

Those are good sources of fiber that your body needs to better absorb foods.

We often forget about the fiber as we’ve been primed to think of the macros (protein, carbs, and fat).

So fiber is my prime start of the day… and maybe yours (now)?

The Inflammation Free Diet for Food Allergies

The book I had been using as a guidebook for preparing meals, The Inflammation-Free Diet, re-entered my memory after my pandemic eczema inflammation episode.

I realized that there was a connection bridged between spiking sugar inflammation and foods and that made me even more on purpose for consuming anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods.

In making healthy food choices, moderation and choosing to balance good back-to-earth foods seems to be the better ageless answer to healthily feed our bodies.

Getting anti-inflammatory food ideas for meals waved in front of us doesn’t hurt either! 😉

Using your natural Ayurvedic healthy body to sway to your advantage helps too.

You could discover your body likes more astringent or bitter foods.

This is common in Kapha body types so lean in on this healthy advantage.

And you can find food like garlic or onions aren’t favorable to your body. But that doesn’t mean you have an allergy.

It could just mean eat less.

Managing Eczema Food Allergy Inflammation

If you experience chronic body or skin inflammations in your life, find out what food allergens could be a trigger for your body. Food triggers change as you age.

Try adding more anti-inflammatory eczema allergy foods like vegetables, fruits, and low-glycemic index grains, and see if those make a difference.

Many people are allergic to nightshade foods because of alkaloids in plants.

As a kid, I would get an allergic reaction when I ate eggplants. A rash would move up my back quickly.

But as life moved, this was no longer an allergy trigger.

So don’t assume what was a food allergy trigger before is still your predicament.

Test in small quantities.

Because we want to keep a variety of healthy foods and food categories in our diet as diversity helps the gut and body.

Plus, foods are enjoyable so we don’t want to rob ourselves.

To better manage food allergies, you can read food label ingredients and gain knowledge and awareness.

Another thing you can do is order a medical food allergy-specific prick test at an allergist’s office.

Also do a self-diagnose check-in on your stress in life.

Stress can come from past, present, or future-related thoughts and situations. Past trauma that you may know about, and future uncertainty can confusingly show up in an inflammation body life.

The symptoms on and in your body tell a story in the mind-body connection.

To help restore balance no matter what the source cause, you can take the 2-minute body balance quiz.

And, enjoy this gluten-free spaghetti squash recipe. One medium-size quash will yield about as much as a pasta box you would buy at the store.

It’s a smart and healthy plant-based way to stretch a grocery dollar.

Spaghetti Squash (Gluten-Free)

I discovered spaghetti squash as a meal when vegetarians were the main special food needs categories for groups I planned catered meals for. Food allergies didn't exist in the zeitgeist back then.

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

Bread knife or safer sawing knife.
Spoon

Ingredients

spaghetti squash gourd
extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Score the gourd lengthwise. do not try to cut the hard gourd raw
Bake your spaghetti squash for about 20 minutes at 350°F or so. Then softened, you can cut where you scored. Tip: for the ends (like on pumpkins, take the firmly planted inside squash knife and twist to the right at the top and then at the bottom of the squash and that should do the trick break it open fully into two halves)
Face the two halves down on a baking sheet. You can add a ‘lil EVOO if you like.
Bake for 50 minutes or until you can scoop out strands easily with a spoon. You can test with a fork if you like. About half way through, when you see browning, flip the halves so they're facing up, and add a 'lil more EVOO drizzle.
Optional: keep the healthy seeds and enjoy them as snacks! Roast them along when you're baking the squash.

Heart and Soul Centering To Live Your Best Life Now!

Heart and soul is a part of our bodies that we can’t see, but we can feel daily. Pizza is heart and soul food (recipe below for making a heart shaped pizza 🧡).

This sky painting over the water is heart and soul spirit in one. A daily heart and soul-centering check-in can change your life! You could be an old soul or have an old soul like some of us who remember young life before the internet.

…I remember when I first started out working and ambitiously I thought I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. It didn’t take many years before I shifted my priority to wanting better work-life balance.

And with those intentions, I career pivoted that gave me that outcome. But had I not picked my head up to see what my heart and soul was telling me (and now I know my spirit was helping me), I would’ve missed the message about finding time to work on me. Personal growth was something I had to go outside of work to find in volunteering and discovering myself.

It’s never too early to start checking in. Maybe now is a good time to set this priority in your life as you had to rethink parts of your life in 2020, along with everyone else (so you’re in good company!).

There were many external changes made affecting your life, that you had no control over, and may help you later on in ways you may not see how yet at this moment.

So for now, you can just keep going, growing, and focusing on creating the best that your life offers in abundant possibilities that you put intention to until the next step. There’s always a next step when the timing is right.

It’s better to think this optimistic way and joyfully pivot into your forming newer overall life, including work, relationships, passion, and purpose, so you can enjoy the process with greater ease (and not create unnecessary dis-ease or woes-me feelings).

That doesn’t mean you don’t have varying feelings with so many gray areas and small decisions you need to make, but that you’re finding your happier way now in the process (and possibly then seeing through a different lens than the one you may have been previously looking from).

I provide a lasting impactful way to do a heart and soul check-in, further below. ⬇️

Encouragement: Our Society, You, and Your Gained Ideas

In America, convenience is at our fingertips, and many of us started last year to positively lean into our interests, curiosities, and skills development.

You may have learned how to grocery shop differently, cook meals, bake your own bread, and learn new digital skills as a way to communicate with the rest of our virtual world and the local community.

You picked up other life skills that everyone needs so you could stay relevant.

You may have even discovered or rediscovered a few passions and hobbies, and read more books than you sought out originally to do. Those were some of the common gains for many of us.

All was not lost in our home life, and more has been gained (and is being gained) in our overall lives if we choose to focus on the higher lens way of living.

It’s helpful for you to reflect and personally remind yourself of the progress over perfection you’ve made, so you can stay feeling uplifted in your spirit. It’s too easy to get sourly influenced in our culture.

You can be less on guard, open up to your authentic self and reap the benefits in a new era where we’re all finding our way in many ways.

Over the past year especially, you may have changed some lifestyle habits or behaviors that you like, that work better, and that you decide to keep forever.

And you may have gained clarity about what you want in the next chapter of your life. Even though you wouldn’t have done this if you weren’t challenged to do so. But you can use your situation to your good advantage!

You may even have found the better way, and experienced that good changes in your life can show up as a combination of thinking, doing, and feeling what is right for you. You get internal clues and they can help you find your second or next act.

If you took or take your connect-the-dot lessons one step further, you can reflect on how you felt about what you first thought about specific ideas. You can then take another brave leap of action so you can try and replicate best practices and discover even more new ways, as our world is evolving. This creates innovation and gives you a better way of doing things.

For example, you’re inspired to try a new recipe and that seemed to work out and made you happy, so the next time you tweak the recipe and create something new and different that you enjoy. This works the same with a new workout, new route, or a new passion project you’re developing. Variety and innovation keep you making progress!

And that’s how personal growth attitudes and creative progress are fed and can seep into every fiber of your life if you’re open to new ways and ideas.

New ideas can take time to form in the process and as you start dabbling with curiosity, you can become less intimidated to make mistakes. That’s how you grow and learn.

In this forming introspective way of life, you can also dig deeper into yourself to find what gives you more meaning and joy than what you previously found made you happy, as you become more of who you are and will become.

You can also reach higher levels of contentment and then feel fewer emotional ups and downs.

Many positive changes can be happening all at once in this complex life, with yourself and your life.

You may have even re-thought your life’s retirement plans and this year’s optimistic and realistic plans. And you’ve probably learned to be more grounded in reality and to get back to simple basics, focusing on what actually is happening to you and around you.

As a global society, we’re still not able to freely travel and create safe, live events. From these changes, new ways have been born and are birthing, such as the newer apps where you’re entering live global event conversations safely and without travel hassles.

You could use the saved travel time and energy to work on your life, to double down on a new purposeful trajectory, or seek a new mission in your life.

Just one idea can change your life and if you have an extra few minutes, that could be the difference-maker in your life.

So where would you spend those extra minutes? Here’s what I do and what I suggest.

Prioritize a Daily Heart and Soul Check-in

Especially as we’re all distracted, prioritizing a heart and soul check-in can be the best way to (re)focus on your life.

Below you can be reminded or learn to take a specific step for long-term impact and to find your daily heart and soul-filled joy, peace, and balance. Continue reading “Heart and Soul Centering To Live Your Best Life Now!”

Creamy Orange Smoothie Plus 5 Healthy Creative Drinks

Creamy orange smoothie is the description of one popsicle I grew up with (and probably you did too with the ice cream man you could hear inching toward the neighborhood. Those were fun times).

And for beverages, the orangy flavors are one calming drink idea because of the orange factor…

Oranges calm our parasympathetic nerves that directly impact if we feel anxious or not. It’s also one healthy way to celebrate that we have decadent beverage variety choices when we get a ‘lil creative.

This can give you a new reason to be happy today. 😊

A creamy orange smoothie like this will help your calming morning.

Your body, balance, and sensitivity to tastes and smells change all the time. What’s good for you in this season may change in the next or even tomorrow.

You can come up with your own creative smoothie ideas like I did below, and stumbled on the creamy orange smoothie. That keeps life interesting!

As a natural Ayurvedic Vata, I was born with a sweet tooth, so if I think a dessert is too sweet, then believe me… it has waaay too much sugar, so that’s why I came up with less sweet, healthier options!

Especially in America, where foods are loaded with sugars, our healthy taste buds and sense can be off track. The average American consumes over 70 grams of sugar a day, when 25 grams of maximum recommended added or processed sugar is agreed on by both the FDA and American Heart Association.

While fruit sugar (fructose) is a better kind of sugar, it’s still sugar at the end of the day.

Going From Morning Frappucino and Coca Cola to Black Coffee, Tea, and A Creative Smoothie

In our American diets, we can go over the recommendation in just our breakfast beverage choices alone! If you like Frappuccinos like many of us do, whether your drink has added whipped cream or not, you’re looking at 50 grams of sugar or more for a 16-ounce drink.

That’s okay once in a celebratory while, but if you order a Starbucks Short size beverage (regular 8-ounce glass size drink), you’ve used up all the recommended sugar for the day… and it may not even be 10 am yet!

And actually, you can see most Americans carrying around the Tall or Grande size beverages (or larger). Our small is often a super size large in other countries.

The healthier order option with no sugar is black coffee or tea. So then, getting back to basics, the only safe beverage out there is water, as pure and healthy… but are they all?…

You can clearly taste the difference between purified waters and artesian waters like Fiji brand water.

The water variety is all sold in plastic bottles and available on grocery shelves, but the cost difference gives you an indicator of the quality difference. And you can clearly taste the difference between Evian and purified water.

In America, you can commonly buy a water bottle case (24-16 ounce bottles) of purified water for under $4.

They’re usually advertised “on-sale” and you can find them in the front of the store when you first walk in.

Higher-end, luxury water brands you can find in the water aisle selections also, but you can expect to pay closer to a dollar or more a bottle.

The good news is most tap water in America is drinkable and many households use a Brita pitcher with a filter or similar.

So as we question drinks such as basic water, we have to wonder about other consumable beverages.

Coca-Cola is known for its evolving trends as society changes and as a popular beverage consumed around the world.

There’s even a Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, GA where you can taste different versions of Coke served all around the world.

As you can imagine the American Coke version is loaded with sugar (too scary to even mention how many sugar grams per can, but you can look it up!).

In my late 20’s I used to drink sodas for breakfast when it was trendy and corporate offices stocked their refrigerators full of soda cans for employees and invited visitors to grab.

I quit the unhealthy soda habit after a few years in healthy awareness although Coke will always be beloved.

I traded caffeinated sodas for healthier morning teas, coffee, and slowly moved drifted over to water and then added back a creamsicle smoothie and other breakfast smoothies as better choices with redeeming health benefits… and hopefully this inspires you if you haven’t done the switch already!

If you want more energy and vitality, getting off sodas and high-sugar drinks is a good move. Often they have 40-70 grams of soda per can!

Water can seem boring to taste, but that’s what our bodies want and will reward you for.

You can always mix it up with carbonated water and naturally flavored waters that are enjoyable.

Despite some of our generally unhealthy cultural habits, Americans have made drinking water, chic and cool, as we carry around water bottles to our work and of course to our workouts and yoga.

It’s a comparison observation I made when I was in Rome in 2019 and saw that even though all the public water sources and fountains are deemed clean and drinkable, you won’t easily find reasonably priced water bottles around. …how funny is that?

So, we’ve gotten better at drinking water regularly and not just taking a vitamin supplement or while we work out.

We know that drinking proper water amounts prevents kidney stones, keeps our bodies functioning and our skin looking young.

So on that healthier level, we can make healthier breakfast drinks like a smoothie easily with the Magic Bullet gadget or a blender.

You can add protein powders or if you like bananas, they’re a good smoothie staple.

Bananas have a higher glycemic index that can spike inflammation, but they are rich in fiber, potassium, and B vitamins, so they’re still a good natural super food good for filling an empty or upset stomach.

These are 7 creative daily beverage ideas including the Orange Creamy one…

1.Citrus-y Banana Creative Smoothie Base

If your tastes favor a banana, you can just blend with vanilla almond milk, and that can be a lovely breakfast starter. You don’t need any other ingredient if you want to keep it vanilla (sorry, I couldn’t resist 😊).

Or… at that point, you can sip your beverage. And if you want a little more sweetness, then you could add a ‘lil pineapple juice (high in Vitamin C and bromelain). And for tartness, a ‘lil lemon or orange to your taste’s desire. You could stop here, or…

Add Dimensional Flavors to Your Breakfast Banana Creative Smoothie

If you want a ‘lil kick, add a dash of spice like cinnamon or cardamom in lieu of espresso (where a little goes a long way!). And if you still want more taste, you could add peanut butter that will change the taste of your beverage and make it creamier.

Staying with the first smoothie idea of a tropical pineapple-citrus theme, you could also do a Key Lime Smoothie:

2.Key Lime Creative Smoothie

Lime juice

Banana

Vanilla almond milk

Use unsweet almond milk and substitute a banana for banana flavor protein powder if you want a smoothie recipe with no to low sugar.

And, if you don’t like bananas (maybe thinking they’re blah) or don’t have any on hand (btw, frozen ones are good for smoothies). But if you run out, no worries, I’ve got you in mind… below are healthy dessert smoothies and tea ideas that don’t need a banana.

3. Pumpkin (Pie) Smoothie

If you love pumpkin pie, you’ll love this creative smoothie. You don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to get your pumpkin-pie on! And this smoothie is a healthy way to consume pumpkin.

Pumpkin is loaded with Vitamin K and C, protein and fiber if you need more healthy motivation. Canned pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A and iron.

You can use a can of pumpkin and a can of evaporated milk (for dense consistency used in pumpkin pie if you decide not to use a banana) or you can use a milk substitute. You get to be creative.

It’s easiest to mix dry ingredients first. I like to add cinnamon but if you prefer a little more kick then use more cloves or allspice. Here’s my healthier recipe:

1 banana (optional)

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

¼ tsp cloves, allspice, or pumpkin spice

1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz) – you can substitute for nut milk for a pumpkin-inspired smoothie (but it won’t taste like pumpkin pie)

¾ cup sugar (or substitute applesauce for less sugar – 1/2 cup applesauce or one-4 oz. applesauce plastic cup you commonly see on the grocery store shelves sold in various brands)

For an additional taste dimension, add a spoonful of your favorite peanut butter. Most smoothies taste better with peanut or almond butter.

Variety is the spice of life. You can really live it up in the morning with a decadent but healthy beverage like this before you’ve even started the day or your yoga stretch practice.

A creative smoothie idea is easy to come up with (you can’t mess up!) and can brighten up your morning and afternoon. When I first made this creamsicle creative smoothie, I love the textured beige-cream color beverage (and maybe you do too!):

4. Creamy Orange Smoothie

A creamy orange smoothie like this will help your calming morning.

This is much healthier than concentrated orange juice if you want to do a small step replacement for healthy habits. And a much healthier version than the childhood popsicles that this special Creamy Orange Smoothie comes from.

1 orange (a navel, blood, or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness). If you can, opt for organic or heirloom oranges.

Heirloom navel orange peel for ayurveda elixir drinks and creamsicle smoothie drinks is a healthy start and finish if you prefer. — Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment). This would be good for your drinks, bakes, and even Creamy Orange Smoothie.

1 tsp marmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)

Vanilla milk

Vanilla Yogurt (to thicken)

Make orange zest from one medium orange, blend with a teaspoon of marmalade, yogurt, and vanilla milk. Marmalade has sugar so that’s why keeping in moderation is a tasty-good idea for this Creamy Orange Smoothie.

This one tastes like the orange creamsicle popsicle but without so much sugar. If you want to add some protein, blend in fine almonds or add powders. And if you want to eliminate sugar, then eliminate the marmalade and cut down on the orange zest.

Enjoy your cream orange morning!

A creamsicle smoothie like this will help your calming morning.

Creamy Orange Creative Smoothie Breakfast Morning

Course beverage, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 orange (a navel or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness)
1 tsp marmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)
Vanilla milk to thickness liking
Vanilla Yogurt (to thicken)

Instructions

Blend. Zhugh glass rim with orange zest. Enjoy!

Notes

Creamsicle Creative Smoothie

1 orange (a navel or California orange will give you a balanced sweetness)

1 tsp marmalade (add bold sweetness but you don’t need much)

Vanilla milk

Vanilla Yogurt (to thicken)

Make orange zest from one medium orange, blend with a teaspoon of marmalade, yogurt, and vanilla milk.

This one tastes like an orange creamsicle popsicle if you know what those are. If you want to add some protein, blend in fine almonds or add powders. And if you want to eliminate sugar, then eliminate the marmalade and cut down on the orange zest.

Moving on to dessert tea ideas…

Dessert Teas: Earl Grey with a ‘Lil Twist

In a quest to find a good sugar cookie or biscotti-tasting tea and not finding one with any real taste (to substitute for cookies of course), I invented my own.

I find it’s easy to birth creative ideas when you can’t find what you want easily even in a society that is full of conveniences.

That’s actually how business ideas and innovation come to life. So with that in mind, I invented my Earl Grey biscotti. For this drinking tea, I use a Bigelow brand Earl Grey.

Those tea bags are in individual packaging so you can take them along with you in your daily travels.

I added an orange tea (or orange extract) and almond extract to bring some flavor and life to an otherwise bland-mild-tasting tea.

Chocolate Chai Latte

And finally, one of my all-time favorites I like to think I invented at least at my Sunday cafe is the Chocolate Chai Latte (that needs no recipe as the chocolate, chai, and milk ingredients are in the 3-word title 😉).

Notice I didn’t write “chai tea” that Americans commonly say, as that means “tea tea”in India where chai originated, so that would be repetitive and silly-sounding after you’re made aware.

And, apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks the chocolate chai latte is a tasty idea as the Starbucks (Plaid Cafe) church kiosk

I went to, added to their order board after I placed the order and they gave me a blessed smile. Chocolate chai may be the new writer’s warm drink all day as less caffeinated than coffee.

Plus chai has cloves that’s one of the most anti inflammatory food ideas out there.

And btw, is anti-bug because it shews away flies and bugs as they repel the scent.

So, a chai is tasty in and of itself and a healthier black tea. For an American Vata, adding a sweet drizzle of Hershey’s chocolate sauce will drown out the exotic spice tastes if they’re too strong.

You can please your tongue’s sweet spot. Sometimes you just have to balance your daily joy, and give into a teaspoon of sugar love!

We may be behind the 8-ball in American living when it comes to tea consumption, low sugar diets, and having a work-life balance, but we make up for our unhealthier ways with our daily variety, conveniences, and innovation.

And if you’re daring, have a chai and creamsicle smoothie to have a super special day! ✨

Plant-Based Diet to A Balanced Meal Plan

Plant-based diet doesn’t mean you have to give up non-plant based foods like meats. It simply means adding more natural plants into your diet (and less processed plants 🏭).

plate of plant based greens. — A plate of greens is good for adding more plant-based foods into your system 🌱 that are healthy and sustainable (vs. plant based) 🏭

While a full plant-based diet is not what I do, I have incorporated one plant-based meal per day that matters. I share below a meal plan that I think is a good way to maintain a consistently healthy ideal weight, year after year.

Eating healthy and balanced doesn’t just affect your physical body, it also positively impacts your brain, daily thinking mind, and mental health.

Getting proper vitamins and minerals that come from animal proteins help our brains function properly, that helps us keep our mind-body system balance.

I believe that not including fish, meats, carbs, fruits, and vegetables is missing what God gave us here on this earth. We hurt our bodies when we don’t eat enough from any of these categories, or we eat too much.

In most meals, strict vegetarians don’t receive enough vitamins and micronutrients (minerals), some that are richly found in animal protein. Fish that are also considered animal meat, contains necessary B vitamins and good omega fat sources that healthy vegetarians usually come to realize they’re missing.

If only we could take vitamin supplements as a 1:1 nutrient exchange for food, but that’s not the case and especially with diluted vitamin pills.

Here’s just a quick journey into how I evolved into my way of eating today.

Journey to My Daily Meal Plan

I’ve eaten the same general diet for over two decades now, which includes the same food categories that are on the nutritional food charts. That may sound boring, but it has worked to keep me at the same ideal healthy weight.

Growing up, the four basic food groups turned into the FDA-approved 23 servings per day pyramid food group that’s still used. In America, we don’t necessarily take FDA rules as gospel as there are always changes, but that should tell us a ‘lil something. Whether it’s 4 categories or 23 servings, we need many food vitamin sources to function daily, in a healthy way.

When I was a child, my diet contained mostly fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, whole milk, yogurt, animal proteins, and too many processed snacks. Like many American diets back then when there were less healthy options, I ate more orange salty snacks than orange fruits. Definitely as far away from a plant-based diet as one could see.

Continue reading “Plant-Based Diet to A Balanced Meal Plan”

Washington DC Metro 9-5 Corporate Work-Life Balance

Washington DC metro is area is a unique place. I know because I grew up there with the Washington Monument as a backdrop.

Photo of me with Lincoln Memorial in the distant background. — Lincoln Memorial is open year round as an open monument.

It’s a transition area where many come and go. And tons of tourists during spring and summer tourist season that starts around the Cherry Blossom festivities near the downtown DC mall that starts at the Lincoln Memorial (and Thomas Jeffereson Memorial is also close by).

I held many work career positions downtown in DC and also surrounding Alexandria, Tysons Corner, and Reston in the DC metro area known as Northern Virginia.

I grew up there as a toddler and lived there until I was an adult.

And if the DC metro area is new to you or you’re moving to the area, DC is as safe as any big city to move to and has cleaned up considerably over the years.

14th Street corridor when I was growing up was not just seedy but you avoided. It’s now a revival part of the city that’s hip to visit.

Nearby residents are moving back into the city to be closer to their work and a more exciting city lifestyle that the downtown offers. City Center and The Wharf today were not attractive areas decades ago.

Then just across the bridge by metro or car, the accessible suburban areas are filled with calm shopping and small livable communities.

That makes the DC metro area a great place to live and work! …and with all the new companies like Amazon coming to town creating buzz.

I was living a stone’s throw away from the building during the pandemic so I could see the progression.

From an inside view, I became aware of the transient-ness vibe of the metro city area early on when I kept seeing an influx of people move in and out for a government job, other career, or friends and family.

The local residents who have grown up in the area (or lived in the area for most of their lives) are mostly friendly, helpful, educated, and cultured.

You’ll find that many in the area are well-educated, have traveled overseas, and are savvy on many subjects.

Like me, some have gone to school locally. I received my first degree there and attended 3 local universities.

What to Expect At Work In The Washington DC Metro Area

If you’re a new transplant adapting to the DC metro area, work-life balance can be tricky as you find your groove.

Most people may not be as relaxed as you may be accustomed to depending on where you moved from.

And that shows in the competitive driving style. You will know if you’re in the wrong lane driving the wrong speed.

If you moved here for work, your employer will have high expectations in a competitive city and maybe higher than where you came from.

When I was growing up, the nation’s top public schools based on school grades were in the Washington DC metro area. And yes, I was in those counties.

High-standard and perfectionist ways is ingrained in the culture. If you’re an anxious person (Vatas), you can expect performance anxiety to be part of any management or higher career choice. But you can embrace your imperfection for your healthy balance.

You can expect stressful demands from employers, and coming up with tactful and smart ways to address complex decision-making areas.

Just remember, you gain experiences each time. And tomorrow is always a brand new chance for something new and changes.

I worked in corporate management jobs so I lived and breathed this for decades.

Work weeks had long hours.

So expect to embrace those ways if that’s part of the industry you’re in and want to be promoted. You always have the opportunity to step out and into other work growth areas and careers.

And in most career jobs, even if you didn’t specialize in learning how to teach or do digital marketing tasks, unless you’re a scientist or removed from working with people, expect to use those skills in general administrative and presentation skills. They will help you in the future.

Likely, your companies you work for will expect you to run Zoom and the like-meetings, train others, and use digital communication tools at the very least.

The positive is you’ll be learning a lot, building skills, and gaining experience for whatever your next steps are.

Wearing many hats that may or may not fit you at the time helps you to be adaptable and you will use that in your life, so that helps you better build resilience and perserverance.

Speeding up your learning curve can play on your overall health and emotions, but on the other side you’ll be grateful you got over the toughest parts.

Also, expect high ego bosses and pressure in the area. Understand that they may not have done shadow work for their past, so all their weaknesses show up in their high pressure cooker position that comes from the top down and being in the Washington DC metro air.

For your healthy and happy, find ways to relax, handle stress, and find work-life balance, especially if you’re planning to stay long term.

You want to stay connected to your core values and what your boundaries are. Expect that what you signed up for may not be the agenda you signed up for. But again, you’re gaining experiences and making new connections.

There are political agendas in most organizations, and especially in the ones in the Washington DC metro area even if you’re not working in the government.

And if you find yourself with anxious thoughts, anxious-irritated, tired-frustrated-overwhelmed, don’t give up. It’s in the air and others feel that way too. And you can use some workplace Ayurvedic tips that help a little to ease up your day. A little adds up in the longrun.

And another area that adds up is work day food and beverage costs.

It can get costly to go out and eat around this town. $5 coffees and $15 lunches add up daily, so having easy recipes at your fingertips to prepare at home can save you.

You can make an easy calzone that you stuff with your favorites that’s a no-mess eating, no-clean up lunch meal. Recipe is below. 🧡

….And so that you don’t wonder where all your rainy day fund went.

Like living in most cities, the Washington DC metro area has plenty of convenient delivery options and services that can help make your life easier when you need to save time and have service options.

There isn’t one good hairstylist, burger joint, or dry cleaner in town. There are many to choose from that’s a benefit of living in a big city.

Spas and gyms are a must. Don’t underestimate your home yoga practice.

Keep re-centering. It’s easy to forget your own goals and get off-balance when most jobs require more than working 9-5, or 8 hours per day. It’s easy to focus on busy culture that cities like the Washington DC metro area is centered on.

And if you work remote, balancing your life and digital life can be the positive difference for your well-being and success.

And you’re here for a reason.

One reason could be that the large DC metro area attracts many go-getters (…maybe you?) with a larger pool of jobs and work opportunities that other cities may not have as much to offer.

These are just a few industries in the area worth checking out if you’re looking for a good work-life balance:

You can find sustainable jobs that do fall in work life blend categories.

Associations – most people don’t know that the DC metro area is one of the largest association towns in the U.S. Old Town Alexandria and downtown DC houses many of the nation’s largest and well-known associations.

While the U.S. does have a reputation for a work-to-play lifestyle, many locals think to work hard now and relax at retirement age around 65.

Taking breaks and getting work freedom isn’t the path norm, but this is changing as people pivot and have second and third careers, or choose the side hustle lifestyle.

Many associations have more traditional office organization structures, and turnover is relatively lower. It’s not uncommon to see an employee at one association for most of their career even in today’s standards.

Associations can be attractive because most offer a work-life balance with a reasonable 9-5 working hours and 5 weeks of vacation starting out your first year, as an industry practice.

In many associations and non-profits, most aren’t expected to work past 5 pm.

Many other work industries expect you to burn the midnight oil as they want to get as much value out of you as they can.

Working for an association isn’t the overworked lifestyle that most people think of as the overworked American work lifestyle.

But just like choosing to work for a federal government position, you have to decide if you can handle the political side or the Board who often makes the decisions.

Overall, associations offer good health benefits and lifestyle perks, as some offer yoga and other classes during the workday and hour-long lunches which is a longer lunch in America.

Those were my experiences working for 3 different non-profits and associations.

So, any downsides to the job you have, you can make up with stress-relieving meditation or free time to clear your mind while on your break.

In general, for many industries, U.S. employees usually choose when they want to vacation giving enough vacation notice.

Compared to European countries, like say Italy where they have set vacation holidays, such as the annual Ferragosto in August that can last for over a month (and where the country and retail businesses shut down), and again in December during Advent Season.

Americans can choose time off dates with approval from employers.

Often, a worker who is raising a family chooses vacation time based on their children’s school breaks that peak in the mid-summer (July/August) and winter holiday breaks in December/January.

Technology companies – the Washington DC metro area is a high-tech area. Next to Silicon Valley out on the west coast, DC on the east coast is probably the next largest tech hub.

The technology worker lifestyle is a good one.

Starting pay for many DC metro tech job workers is higher than the highest-paid employee in some industries.

Besides being compensated well, tech employees usually have flex-time schedules (good work-life balance).

They can choose to work certain days and times in a schedule that works for them and their employer.

Unlike emergency and front-line worker jobs, there are few tech emergencies that can’t wait until the next day.

Tech workers often can do work remotely and is a common way to work.

And many have customers and team members in other time zones around the country and world, so they can adjust their schedules further based on those needs.

You can expect to do travel for work, attending meetings and conferences.

That can be a plus if you like that idea or are single, but if you have a family or pets to care for or are tired of traveling that lifestyle can be additional wear and tear.

But overall I think the tech job’s daily wear-and-tear stress is less than in other industries (at least the ones I worked in).

The good work-life balance and higher pay outweigh the traditional standard job vacation time, which can be around 2 weeks per year for the starting employee.

As with many larger U.S. employers, tech and larger companies offer perks like gym benefits and discounts to favorite stores and services.

Hospitality – there are many restaurant and hotel opportunities that are usually long hours.

But, you can find more work-life balance in niched event planning and conference centers. There are many entertainment venues and wineries in the area.

Amazon – is coming to the area. The second headquarters to Amazon was announced as the Washington DC area, and they’ve broken ground. In 2021, the new tech and business office buildings went under construction.

This is the newest, exciting business news in the area since the tech companies started cropping up post-Dot-com in the Dulles Corridor area closer to Washington Dulles Airport (that I remember well).

The DC metro system has near-future plans to build out further along where the Dulles Toll Road already exists, to expand commuting options eventually to Dulles Airport.

Federal/government – it’s obvious that many migrate from around the country to the DC area to work on The Hill. If you want to learn how lawmaking is done, DC is the city to be in.

In high school as a senior, we were required to take a Government semester class and pass to graduate that most people I know didn’t have to do. We took a photo in front of the Capitol Building.

Full of movers and shaker politicians, the Washington DC area is also a popular legal town full of attorneys.

Education – The area has plenty of higher-education opportunities. Besides working for some of the larger universities in the areas such as Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, and American University, there are many opportunities for those in the area to add certifications and higher learning specialization skills to resumes.

The Washington DC metro area is different in that getting specialized certifications or earning higher education degrees is a common norm as most do at some point on a work career route.

Those who do, usually go to school at night or on weekends. Learning in a graduate master’s program is optimized because what is learned in school is applied in their current job place and work (and not as theory).

Enjoying Life-Balance On Weekends

You’ll know it’s the weekend because the traffic pattern changes. You can drive into DC without traffic unless there’s a major game like a Nationals baseball game ⚾️ or during the Cherry Blossoms Festival. 🌸

The Washington DC metro area is so much more than the tourist attraction of Presidential monuments and history museums on the downtown mall that thousands from around the world annually come to tour and see.

washington dc metro

The area is dynamic with new indoor and outdoor museums and interesting memorials and exhibitions, so it’s interesting for locals to take day-field trips to see what’s new.

When the colorful row of DC lunch food trucks grew near downtown L’Enfant Plaza, that caught some buzz and attracted nearby museums workers and tourists.

Weekends will be significantly less busy for a commute in and around the city. On weekdays, when commuting, you should be aware of rush-hour patterns as drivers can sit in traffic for hours if there’s an accident. In the suburbs when schools are busy in session, there are noticeable traffic pattern changes, and school buses have the right of way.

Washington DC is a multi-cultural metro area and a good representation of the “melting pot” that America is known for.

There are many opportunities to learn about other countries and cultures from the opportunities to attend Embassy events and visit the various districts downtown. There are many large and small entertaining festivities and parades that happen in and around the city.

In the backdrop of the famous historic monuments, the still Potomac River makes the area less city-like and year-round livable.

The GW Parkway and W&OD are scenic paths for bicycles, runners, and pedestrians that connect DC to parts of the suburbs.

Then there are amazing wonders, one that’s well known is the Great Falls waterfalls park. And the many parks and other well-groomed Meadowlark Gardens.

The best time of the year is year-round as Washingtonians rarely see snow or hot extremes in mild temperatures. You also get to see the gradual changing of the leaves in the fall, cherry trees in the spring, and pops of bright colors from flowers in the summer against many historic architectural styles and newer buildings.

And when you’ve had enough of nature, then you can appreciate all the retail opportunities, in indoor and outdoor shopping malls.

Tysons Corner Mall is the largest mall on the east coast and now has 3 built-in metro stops in that bustling heart center of Northern Virginia where NoVa actually began.

So, DC is easily accessible. Then on top of many area malls, there are 3 mega retail outlet malls in the area in National Harbor, Leesburg, and Woodbridge that you can get to with a car.

So no matter what end of the metro area you live in, you have access to local town centers and the best lifestyle shopping from Anthropologie to Zara.

You don’t have to go far to find places to hang out or do work.

Music – You can find free outdoor concerts in Tysons and in summer months when towns have their own celebrations near and around Independence Day, not to mention the Capitol Fireworks that you can see from miles away.

You can also listen to your favorite bands and music genres in indoor and outdoor large concert halls, at Wolftrap, Capitol One Center (formerly Verizon Center), Jiffy Lube Live, and newer and smaller venues like The Anthem on the DC Waterfront or the Theater at MGM Hotel and Casino at National Harbor.

The Kennedy Center is popular for all forms of entertainment plus the theatre district in DC that is near a busy and popular area called Gallery Place in Penn Quarter (where the Caps and large concerts come to play).

Food – There are many foodie fast food places like Shake Shack and healthy options to choose from. If you want to get healthy, you can find many choices from grocery stores, delivery services, restaurants, and cafes.

You can find a Starbucks just about everywhere and in Giant or Safeway grocery stores.

You can always take an Uber that’s a popular way to get around if you don’t have a car or metro access.

Many visit nearby Whole Foods and Harris Teeter grocery stores, where during normal times and hours, they have prepared foods sections that include many cold and warm selections from crab cakes and comfort foods, to salads and everything in between.

The Washington DC metro area is home to world-famous World Kitchen chef Jose Andres who’s always in the news. He became a household name earlier on when he started his Think Food Group, a group of foodie restaurants that include the longer-standing Jaleo, Zatinya, and Oyamel restaurants in the Penn Quarter district.

Besides many upscale casual, fine dining, famous chains, and ethnic family restaurant options, there are many convenient grocery store options including food delivery services. And many farmers’ markets in various neighborhoods including a large year-round Eastern Market.

Fitness/Classes – There are also many studios to choose from, sprinkled throughout the area with specialized classes for yoga, cardio, barre, kickboxing… you name it.

You can join a city gym like a Vida, a mega gym like a Sport & Health, YMCA, or anything in between. Many are working off their Pitta edge and enjoying themselves on a court or in a studio.

You can find making outside friends in a fitness community easier in a faster-moving, transient city like the Washington DC metro area.

Stay safe, happy adventures, and ALWAYS be well!

Easy Calzone

This is a great cheese and tomato sauce calzone.

Course lunch

Cuisine Italian

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

whole wheat
kosher salt or coarse sea salt
instant yeast
water, enough to cover egg
ricotta
mozzarella
tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes
oregano, thyme, or savory spice

Instructions

Make the pizza dough. Proof for at least 1 hour.
Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll into 1/4 inch circles. Tip: to make round shape, using the cupping method I learned working as a teenage pizza maker. Cup your hand around the sides of the dough and move circularly around until you get a round shape. You may need to knead back down as you want a level piece.
Add sauce layer.
On one circle end, add cheese.
Add oregano or other spices.
Fold the circle to make a half circle or half moon.
Join the two halves, with the crimping fork method (like you would see in hand pies) or my favorite is the pinch and fold on top crimp method to give a fancy but homemade edge vibe like in the photo.