Thanksgiving

I'm so psyched for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I often forget to think about the actual point of the holiday (giving thanks) because I'm busy concentrating on all that amazing food. Not this year, though. This year I'm stepping it up. I'm going to concentrate on being thankful for my body, because I think it's a healthy thing to do. C'mon - give thanks with me!

Let's show our bodies how thankful we are for them. They may not be perfect in every way, but they're keeping us alive, right? They help us to run and think and eat cupcakes. They help us to go shopping and party all night. And regardless of imperfections, they somehow manage to make that perfect dress look might hot. So how do we show our thanks to our bodies? By making them even more healthy and beautiful, of course! Let's get started! Here are some ways to thank your body:

♥ Olive oil is amazing. Rubbing it on your face (or the rest of your body, for that matter), letting it sit for a moment, and then washing it off makes for amazing results. I have started to treat my face regularly with olive oil, and it has made my skin clear, soft, and glowy. Also, it somehow caused my pores to shrink! It's a little counter-intuitive to rub oil on your skin, especially if your skin is already oily, but I'm telling you- it works! If you could use some exfoliation, mix a bit of sugar into the oil before you use it.

♥ Take flax seed oil pills 2-3 times a day. You can pick them up at health food stores or supermarkets like Whole Foods, and believe me, your body will consider itself thanked. The Omega-3 contained in the pills is amazingly good for you. Also, the pills do wonders for dry winter skin. Last winter, my eyes and skin were tight and itchy. I asked my (hollistic) doctor about it, and he suggested that I take flax seed oil pills. Within three days, my skin and eyes were back to normal.

♥ Glamour.com is running some great health and beauty programs. There is a 30-Day Makeover program full of healthy tips for learning to "look and feel great in just one month." There's also Body by Glamour, which generates customized workouts and eating plans. I haven't tested it, but it might be worth a try.

♥ Recognize your favorite features and learn to dress them.

♥ Lip exercises for firmer, plumper lips? Hmm....

♥ Learn about the vitamins your skin craves.

♥ Meditate.

♥ Give yourself a manicure.

♥ Learn and practice EFT.

♥ Learn how to accept your "flaws."

Of course all this is too much to do all at once, and of course exercise and good eating habits are the best way to boost your health/beauty. But bring on Thanksgiving - I'm ready to give thanks!

Also, remember: "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful" - Sophia Loren

Health by Chocolate

Okay, I know this post isn't clearly fashion-related, but think of it this way...a healthy body always makes clothes look better.

Did you know that there is chocolate specifically designed for better health? I know it sounds too good to be true, at least for avid chocolate-lovers like myself, but it is true! Health by Chocolate is the name of this delectable treat, and I am in love. The three types of chocolate bar are: Woman's Wonder Bar (with chaste tree berry, flax, soy, and rose oil to take sweet revenge on the symptoms of PMS and menopause), Instant Bliss Beauty Bar (with antioxidants for beautiful skin), and Beautiful Bones Bar (with calcium and vitamins D and K to support healthy bones.) I have tried the Beautiful Bones Bar, and it was rich, orange-flavored chocolate. Yumm.

Here are a few FAQ's I took from the HBC website:

I always thought chocolate was bad for me. Are you saying that I could actually get health benefits from eating chocolate?Yes! Chocolate contains polyphenols. Polyphenols are bioflavonoids that are some of the most powerful antioxidants in the world. The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a measurement for antioxidant activity in food. Of all the healthy fruits and vegetables the USDA has tested, the highest ORAC values were found in prunes (not exactly everyone's favorite snack). But chocolate's ORAC value is more than two times higher! (5,770 ORAC per 100gr. for prunes versus a whopping 13,120 ORAC per 100 grams for chocolate.) Dark chocolate has the same amount of flavonoids as red wine and four times the polyphenols of green tea.

What happens if I go on a health by chocolate binge and eat more than one bar?You’ll be in a very good mood. Chocolate contains a chemical called phenylethylamine, which is the same brain chemical released when we experience the euphoric feeling of being in love.

Will eating health by chocolate make me fat?Chocolate doesn’t make you fat. overeating does. Drinking sugar-laden soft drinks and eating animal fat can contribute to obesity. But you might find that health by chocolate helps you maintain a healthy weight. Why? Because it quenches your desire for sweets. Dark chocolate is loaded with minerals and antioxidants and has just enough healthy fat and sugar to make it a delicious snack. Enjoyed in moderation, up to 2oz per day of chocolate can be part of a healthy diet. So, when you satisfy your cravings with health by chocolate, you may actually wind up eating less and thus maintaining a healthier weight.

Isn't chocolate bad for my heart?Contrary to popular myth, chocolate is good for your heart! Cocoa butter is a heart-healthy fat that does not raise cholesterol levels. In addition, it contains oleic acid, an unsaturated fat that actually raises the good HDL levels of fat in the blood. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that eating cocoa can reduce the blood’s platelet activity. This means eating health by chocolate might actually "thin the blood"like aspirin does. The antioxidants in cocoa can also help improve immune function and reduce the inflammation of blood vessels.

But aren't all fats unhealthy?On the contrary, cocoa butter contains a rich assortment of healthy fats: 35%--Stearic Acid (which does not raise cholesterol levels) 35%--Oleic Acid (which may actually raise the levels of good HDL fats in the blood) 25%--Palmitic Acid 3%--Linoleic Acid. A fat-free diet leaves us hungry and with dry skin. Healthy fat is crucial to the feeling of satiety, to healthy skin and to the proper functioning of all our body's cells.

I have also learned that chocolate (all chocolate, not just HBC) releases sugar slowly. So that's good.

Happy chocolate eating! To order or find more information, go to http://www.healthbychocolate.com/index.htm.