The Healthiest Almond Butter

Education, Lifestyle · May 8, 2018

So many people are making the switch from peanut butter to almond butter now that they are on a health journey. It is quickly becoming a popular alternative to the traditional peanut butter, and for good reason!

Peanut Butter vs Almond Butter Nutrition

While the caloric intake on both are about the same, almond butter has slightly more fiber, vitamins, and minerals per serving. Almond butter also has slightly less saturated fats if you’re someone looking to eat it in moderation.

Peanut Butter vs Almond Butter Sugar Content

Naturally, almond butter has less sugar than peanut butter, but this can vary by brand once you get into the stuff on the shelves. Both can be sweetened with added sugar to make the sugar content go up. So when looking, always look for the amount of sugar in total so you know just how much sugar you will be consuming per serving.

I also always check on the type of sugar. Natural sweeteners are always a better choice than artificial sugar and can help you pick between brands.

Peanut Butter vs Almond Butter Ingredients

While almond butter is making its mark by hitting the shelves in the “health food isles” peanut butter has been a staple on the grocery store shelves for decades.

I have included two of the most popular brands of Peanut Butter you’ll find at the grocery store that people reach for and you’ll see the ingredient deck is downright scary.

Skippy Peanut Butter Ingredients:

Peter Pan Peanut Butter Ingredients:

My first instinct is to look the ingredient deck so that I understand what is in the product I am buying, or I could end up eating soy protein (no!) or several types of corn syrups in a single product.

That’s why when I started seeing almond butter pop up, it was relieving to see that almost all of the brands focused on very few, whole, natural ingredients.

So now on to my Top 3 Almond Butter Picks.

#1 Almond Butter: Claire’s Goodness

Claire’s Goodness is my top pick for a few reasons:

• Texture
• Spreadability
• Taste
• Ingredients
• Sprouted
• Organic

The texture, for those who like crunchy and smooth, is right in the middle. It’s also a thick pourable almond butter so rationing it across apples or other foods is easy and no spreading is needed.

The taste is out of this world. I have a hard time describing it beyond “savory vanilla cake batter.” However, it is not too sweet. Instead it is very savory with a dessert after taste.

The ingredients are amazing as well: organic sprouted almonds, organic stevia, sea salt.

The stevia helps take down the sugar effect and leaves no after taste.

Sprouted! Yes, sprouted almonds. If you want to know all of the amazing health benefits of sprouting foods your can check out the more in the sprouted foods blog. This is one of the very few almond butters that actually sprouts the nuts first and that’s a big health yes for me!

And last but not least, this almond butter is organic. I feel that with the amount of spraying of chemicals that happens to crops, it’s nice to see the organic stamp on this knowing you won’t be eating all of those chemicals. You can’t wash chemicals off almond butter!

#2 Almond Butter: Justin’s

Justin’s almond butter is the runner up as the next best almond butter.

The texture is smooth/crunchy as these are ground pretty well, just not all the way. The texture is also a little firmer than the Claire’s Almond Butter. It’s squeezable over foods but wouldn’t pour out over it, so you’ll need to spread it with a knife or spoon.

Their ingredients are great: just roasted almonds and palm oil. While roasting can take away from some of the health benefits, the fact that there are just two natural ingredients is really great.

However, if you are coming from the traditional peanut butter lovers train, I wouldn’t start with their original version. This has no added sugar (great for people looking to cut down) and the taste can be surprising for someone looking for a sweet snack. This one is all savory.

While this is not sprouted or organic, it is still a great, less sugar option and still very healthy.

#3 Almond Butter: Barney Butter

Barney’s Butter is my third choice overall as they have a few more ingredients and a little more sugar than the rest.

The ingredients are blanched roasted almonds, organic & fair trade cane sugar, palm fruit oil, and sea salt. Again, I prefer sprouted nuts but the fact that they have chosen an organic and fair trade cane sugar over any other type of sugar is exciting to me.

This is available in either crunchy or smooth. And the smooth is SMOOOOOTH. That means that if you are a smooth only peanut butter lover, this transition will be the easiest for you for a few reasons.

First, this is truly a smooth texture that you are more likely to be used to if you are coming from traditional peanut butter. It’s also sweet and compares to the sweetness that you find traditional peanut butter and you might be expecting. While not quite as sweet, it still has that “I’m dessert” feel to it.

I feel that this is the easiest for those who find they “don’t like almond butter” to adjust to and enjoy. Then, once you incorporate that into your diet, the next step would be to step it up with some sprouted nut butter.

What’s the best almond butter?

For me, it’s Claire’s Goodness because of the texture, taste, and ingredients, as well as the fact that it is sprouted. While there are other awesome and delicious choices, this one stands out to me. For the veteran health nut who wants no added sugar: Justin’s. For the first timer who likes PB: Barney Butter. For the perfect balance of health and delicious dessert: Claire’s Goodness.

Pick which ones works the best for you and delve into delicious almond butter. Tell me below: what’s your favorite almond butter brand?

Best Greens Superfoods Detox Drinks – Full Review (updated 2018)

Education, Lifestyle · May 3, 2018

Greens supplements are popping up all over the place so I wanted to look into just how popular they really are, if you even need them, and which ones I found to be the best. I also list the 3 worst greens supplements for me because I don’t want you to make the same mistakes and waste your money!

Why Supplement with Greens

Getting enough greens and superfoods is hard and you could spend all day trying to get in a variety of both and have no room left to eat anything else.

Even if you focus on just eating veggies all day, chances are with the nutritional decline of food in the past few decades, you might still come up short on hitting all of your nutritional needs. Foods are not as nutritionally dense as they used to be, and you would need to eat more of the same foods to get the same amount of nutrition as a few decades ago.

Superfoods and greens supplements are packed with so many vitamins and minerals all in one place, that it would be crazy not to take them to help you get what you need more easily!

What’s in Greens Superfoods

What is in your superfoods supplement varies from brand to brand. Some only include popular superfoods and leafy vegetables while others offer a variety of plants.

Some popular ingredients in green supplements include:

• Greens – wheatgrass, spirulina, chlorella, kelp
• Superfood roots – Turmeric, ginger, beetroot
• Herbs – mint, lemon grass, ashwagandha
• Fruits – açaí berries, cherries, blueberries, pineapple, monk fruit, lemon, coconut
• Veggies – broccoli, arugula, bok choy, collard greens, kale
• Enzymes or probiotics

Can Green Superfood Supplements help with Detoxing?

Veggies and superfoods assist your body in its natural detoxing process through nutritional support so your body can do what it needs to do. They also assist with providing antioxidants that latch on to harmful substances in our bodies and flush them out so they cannot build up and cause disease further down the road. In both cases greens superfoods assist your body in its natural detoxing process.

If your body is not getting the proper nutrition it needs every day, with the right vitamins and minerals, then it’s not going to be running at optimum levels. This  means your body’s functions are not at their peak and can begin to decline, and you sacrifice essential functions like being able to effectively detox. That’s where superfoods and greens supplements can assist in the detoxing process.

Now that you know what greens superfoods can do for you, let’s take a look at which ones you might want to consider adding to your day.

How do Green Superfood Supplements Taste?

Typically, greens don’t taste that great.

Once I began tasting greens supplements, the only thing crazy to me was that people actually could stomach the taste enough to take them daily.

So I started testing quite a few because I needed to find one that I liked.

So the best part? I’ve done all the spit takes for you. And I’ve narrowed it down to my top 3. I tested close to 10 different brands, but only 3 came close to being manageable with taste and only one of them actually being so damn delicious I couldn’t believe I wasted so long choking down gross ones.

Top 3 Green

Superfoods:

My Top 3 Greens Superfoods Picks

Pick Number 1 : Detox Organics

Description- Chocolate superfoods with digestive support.

Pros – This mixes well in water and tastes like chocolate with just a slight greens taste at the end. But, if mixed it with almond milk, the greens taste is gone and tastes just like chocolate milk. So that’s how I take it. I drink it every day in a superfoods smoothie or just mixed with ice cold almond milk. And it’s delicious. Plus, if you are a chocolate-aholic like me, you’ll find this satisfies your chocolate cravings too.

Cons – When it first came on the market it kept selling out, so it was hard to come by. They now always have it in stock on the website and on Amazon so there is no more wait to get the product. While this is one of the pricier products, the bundle deals are amazing and the auto-ship (subscribe and save option) pricing drops it down the one of the cheapest when you order it this way.

Pick Number 2 : Athletic Greens

Description- Greens superfood product with a fruity/vanilla taste

Pros – This has a very mild greens taste and one of the only ones that wasn’t heavily flavored that I found I could drink. I can put it in a smoothie and cover the taste for the most part. So, if you are a regular smoothie drinker, this might be a good one for you. This taste is on the fruity/vanilla side.

Cons – This was the most expensive greens supplement I tried. It was about the same serving size as all the others I tried, but at about $30 more per package. I think that you can get the same greens/superfoods/detoxing value from one that is a little less pricey.

Pick Number 3 : Greens Capsules

Description- These are capsuled greens powders. Usually spirulina and chlorella are the main ingredients in these.

Pros – No taste! There is no green taste when you take these, but don’t go sniffing them. They do have a very green odor. Good thing thing you can get them down without tasting the greens and gagging. I used these for a very long time before finding Detox Organics and being able to add my greens to a shake.

Cons – The greens in these capsules is very limited. They are also large pills and you have to take a few to get the amount that is going to be effective, and you must buy the greens you want separately. So, I bought Spirulina and Chlorella. If you want turmeric, beetroot, and those other superfoods the big superfoods tubs offer, then you’ll end up taking a lot of pills. For me these worked because I was specifically looking for only two greens.

My Top 3 Worst Greens Supplement Picks

These picks are based on taste and mouthfeel as I know they all provide great nutrition. But if I can’t get them down, it does me no good!

Pick Number 1: Organifi

This one got my thumbs-down rating because of two reasons. I didn’t find that it mixed well with water, no matter how hard I tried. It still felt gritty when I drank it. The other issue is that I feel they try too hard with the minty taste to cover up the greens, and that flavor combination was just too much for me. I would try to cover it in a smoothie, but the minty taste really puts off anything I would mix it with.

Pick Number 2: Amazing Grass

This is another one that did not mix as well as I wanted. I do not enjoy drinking gritty water. The taste of the regular one is very earthy. Possibly the earthiest tasting greens supplement I tried. It also could not be covered in a smoothie so it was a no go for me.

Pick Number 3: It Works!

This one has the taste nailed…until the end. While this has great flavor (I went with the berry), I found that the after taste of the sweeteners they used were overpowering. It sat in my mouth even after trying to wash it out with water. This was discouraging. I ended up throwing it out because no one I tried to give it to would drink it because of the after taste. I’m not sure if they’ve changed their formula since then, as I tried it over a year ago, but people have said it tastes better now. So maybe it’s something I will explore again in the future.

Easy ways to take your green superfoods everyday

I am all about adding in better foods and supplements to my diet, but if you don’t take them, they won’t do you any good. Here are a few ways that I take my green superfoods everyday.

1. Detox Organics mixed with ice cold unsweetened almond or cashew milk. You can also try the unsweetened vanilla flavor, and this had become my favorite.
2. Mixed in with my morning superfoods smoothie. I add Detox Organics to my drink which also acts like a meal replacement. It’s boosted with more calories to keep you full and protein that keeps you feeling full for longer.
3. Baked into cookies. Now this one isn’t for everyday. But when I get a cookie craving, I love to make them at home from scratch. I bake my Grainless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies and I use Detox Organics to replace the massive amount of Cocoa that the recipe asks for. I know I’m adding in a variety of nutrition which makes me feel great. And they taste amazing.

My Night Time Routine: Acne Face Care Update

Education, Lifestyle · April 25, 2018

Stress relief is important to your health. In fact I find that after a long day, I look forward more to my wind-down nightly routine than I do to my bed.

I either take a shower and throw salts and oils in the bottom so they steam up, or I run a back quick.

I start with some silky natural soaps. I love these because they turn into these pretty open flowers in the water. That metal holder is for a book and I just love to read or listen to podcasts in the tub.

Also while the bath is running I take the time to put in my essential oils. My top picts are from Rocky Mountain Oils:

1. Lavendar

2. Grapefruit

3. Chamomile

And finally a few extras like bath bombs and bath salts that I like to mix and match. Again we are looking for ones that use natural essential oils. I used epson salts with these essential oils. Epson salts are good for helping sore and tired muscles. After a long day on your feet (or your butt) or even working out, the salts really help with soreness.

All in all if you don’t have the 30 minutes to take a bath you can still take a relaxing shower by plugging the bottom and adding oils and salts as they will steam up and surround you as you shower.

I have tried a lot of things. Most of them sad fails when it comes to acne. For two reasons.

1. Acne in my life comes from hormones, food, and stress. So combating it from the outside is only 1/2 of the battle.
2. Most products promise a lot, and deliver a little. I’ve even had acne products make it worse due to the ingredients and quality of the product.

So when I hear about juice beauty I decided I wanted to try it. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Juice Beauty and I purchased these on my own after friends recommended looking into it, a sales associate explained it, and I did a little research myself.

I liked the fact that it was all natural and free of a lot of the worry some ingredients in most face cleaners, serums and moisturizers. I’ll link a list of ingredients I try to avoid here for makeup and here for body products. I wrote this blog if you’re interested in the chemicals we use that might be harming you, head over there and take a look.

***Review***

This Juice Beauty sampler pack was the perfect size for trying a whole line of products and how they work together.

My favorite product is the Moisturizer. It made my skin so soft and it smelled nice, and over all, I felt like I saw so much change in the dry patches on my face. I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with combination skin. It also didn’t aggravate my oily skin.

The face wash was also a good product, except one thing: the smell. I found that the smell threw me off a lot when I first used it. I just didn’t like the way my face smelled after using it if I didn’t put on the moisturizer right after. My fiance even asked why my face smelled like pee once! Other than that the cleanser worked really well, didn’t strip all the oils off my face and it still felt clean. I also like that it lathered up a little.

The serum was another odd smelling product and I am still unsure of how much it works. I think using to much of it can have the opposite effect and dry out the skin too much, so I have cut back on the amount I put on and am waiting to see how that helps.

**update: after using less, only on the very spots that needed it, this product worked better and I would recommend it if you find spot treatments too harsh on your face.**

The face peel was great and I’ve used it in the bathtub while soaking as a great face mask. I love the way my skin feels after and this little tube lasted forever so I’ll probably get this again even though I don’t think it’s necessary to get the results from the kit.

The last product I reviewed was the little face pads. (Not included in the kit but I got them anyways because I love face wipes.) These were the ones I had the highest hopes on and found that I liked the least. I still have over half of the tub of them. They are very dry, have very little product on them and are hard to apply to your face because the tiny pad is so flimsy you basically have to just press it all over your entire face to get it on there. I won’t be buying this one again.

Overall the sample kit proved to be worth the money. I love the way it made my skin feel. I think paired with diet changes this is a great kit for acne prone skin. It requires regular use and not over doing the products. I think you could see great results with just the face wash, moisturizer, and the serum. The face mask is a great bonus and for those of you who love masks, this is a no brainer.

Last Updated: 04/28/18 – I am still using Juice Beauty cleansing Products and have paired it with the Clarisonic Mia Fit face cleansing brush.

If you want a deeper clean I suggest you try this brush. My cousin got me hooked and I love it. In the morning I use either the Boots Organic facial cleaning lotion or my Clarins gentle cleanser.

Also, I find it difficult to wash my face deeply with my nose ring in and this brush cleans around it perfectly without having to take it out.

Note: This blog may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure to learn more.

7 Ways to Stay Heathy at a Desk Job

Education, Lifestyle · February 20, 2018

So many people ask how to stay active if you have a desk job. I have the same problem since I’m desk bound all day. I have so many tips below for staying active at work. But first I want to address that sometimes, due to work demand that keeps me tied to typing all day, it’s just not enough so I looked for a exercise option in my seat. I’m doing a review of the desk cycle because it’s an amazing way to keep active if you are every feeling chained to the desk all day.

I started searching on Amazon because I really wanted to see the reviews and how they worked in an office setting. There were a few things I was looking for specifically.

What to look for in a desk exercise bike:

1. A Quiet Cycle – I didn’t want a loud churning sound coming from my desk out of respect for my coworkers who would have to hear it. I also didn’t want to be distracting and have people wondering what the heck I was doing all the time.
2. Non-slip – After ready some reviews I saw that you can anchor some cycles to your chair or desk but I didn’t find that to be very convenient due to the fact that I would have to untether it each time I wanted to use it. That wouldn’t make getting in and out of my chair that convenient. I wanted a cycle that was heavy enough that it wouldn’t travel across the floor when I was using it.
3. Angled for comfort – I have long legs and didn’t want to worry about hitting my knees on my desk or having to push my chair our further (inconvenient for typing) to make sure it did make my knees uncomfortable.

After doing a ton of review reading I chose the DeskCycle Desk Exercise Bike Pedal Exerciser. Don’t let the name throw you off! It fit all my criteria and more.

Best Features of the DeskCycle Desk Exercise Bike:

1. Low and angled perfect – This bike is the lowest of the ones I’ve found at only 10” tall and it fit perfectly under the desk without my knees hitting the top. Also because the height is perfect, it also works in front of a chair or couch without you knees up your nose.
2. Heavy – This unit is quite anchored when using it because it’s weighted well and doesn’t move around. This might not be an issue when your sitting at a desk against a wall, but if you have a desk that faces out into a room, then this is an awesome feature with no anchor needed. I also found this amazing for in front of the couch because it’s a lot harder to find an anchor there and it works well while watching TV or movies too.
3. Quiet – This is so quiet I think with normal office noise levels no one would know you are using it.
4. Clear Display – This wasn’t something I even thought about when first looking, but once it was on it, it became a great motivator on getting more time on the bike in. You can keep track of how much your doing each day which makes setting goals for activity easier.
5. Resistance Levels – This was another thing I didn’t think about initially but this model comes with 8 resistance levels and can really keep things challenging for you.

Overall I would give this a 5 out of 5 review. This is just so convenient for those who are tied to a corded phone or typing all day. I know that it can be hard to move around at a desk job.

Here are some other tips I use to keep active at my desk.

1. Set a timer – Use your fitness watch to remind yourself to move. Most models have a buzzer that tells you to move each hour.
2. Use calls to walk – If you have a wireless headset and a little space to walk around, take calls where you don’t need your desk to get a few steps in.
3. Stand – If you don’t have the space to walk around on calls you can just stand and take the call. It will change your blood flow and will still be better than sitting.
4. Use 10 minutes of your lunch – Use your lunch and breaks to take a brisk walk. If you don’t have access or the weather for an outside walk, take the stairs up and down for 10 minutes instead. It’s not as scenic but it will keep the blood flowing!
5. Park further away/take the stairs – This has been said over and over but every step helps each day.
6. Desk cycle – These are convenient ways to get the blood pumping and you can do it right at your desk.
7. Use bands – These simple exercise bands can be looped around ankles, knees or thighs or just your arms right at your desk. You can use small movements for a few minutes at a time to get blood flowing and your heart pumping if you have to stay seated.

I hope you found all of this useful. I keep track of my steps each day and just these few tips help get in significantly more. Remember, it might not be much but every step counts! Plus, if you have something else besides a Desk Cycle that helps you at the office, please leave it in the comments below and let us know what helps you stay active in your chair!

Sorry, But You Don’t Need a “New You”

Education, Lifestyle · January 2, 2018

First, Happy New Year!

I wanted to let you enjoy the first day of the year and ask you, how many times did you see “become a new you” in advertisements. I have counted so many I lost track. They actually started these ads a few days back. But it’s all the same. Promising you that you can leave your old self in the last year and if you use their service, you can become someone new, someone, you’ve always wanted to be.

Sounds so appealing. Leave it all behind. Use a service. Because who you want. The problem I have is that you don’t need a new you. Let me explain.

These ads build on the premise that what you have now is not good enough. And that’s where I have a problem. You have a working, living and functioning body. That is enough. You might not be treating it the best, and it might not be in tip-top shape, but that’s no reason to wish for a trade in and a brand new one.

Anything uncared for will eventually break down

Even the most resilient automobiles if fed the wrong fluids, not enough gas, and abused break down. It’s not the car, it’s the care.

The same thing goes for your body. Your body is a response to what you do to it.  If it’s running rough, it’s time to look at how you are caring for it. It’s not that you need a “new you” and anything is wrong with the “old you.” Embrace that you have this fantastic vehicle for life and understand that with better care comes better results.

What’s a good new years resolution for health?

I want you to mentally throw out the idea that what you’re working with is not enough. Start asking, what have I done to maintain this beautiful body? What am I building it out of every day? Fast food or whole foods? Energy or negativity? Despair or optimism? Everything we do matters.

So this year instead of resolving to be a new, different person, resolve to take better care of the person you already are.

Here are some things I love to hear people resolve to take care of in their lives:

• Hydrate with at least 1 gallon of water a day
• Eat 1 cup of veggies at every meal
• Carve out 10 minutes of quiet time each day
• Create a bedtime routine to get at least 7 hours of sleep
• Start the day by saying 3 positive things about yourself in the mirror
• Have technology free time with friends and family each day
• Spend 1-hour learning and practicing [insert new hobby] each week
• Cut credit card debt by 10% each month
• Write a letter to grandma each month

I love these types of resolutions because of trying to run away from yourself, you’re coming towards yourself with positive and attainable goals that care for your true well being.

The mental energy you approach change with matters

The state of mind you try to change yourself it makes a large difference in actually being able to accomplish it. Hating yourself, wishing to be someone different, and negative emotions like that fuel negative energy in our bodies and lead us further away from where we want to be.

Creating goals based and care and love of the you that you currently have creates positive energy for you to work on.

What do you feel about how you approach resolutions and change? I’d love to hear your thoughts.