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Green Smoothie Recipe

July 11, 2009
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Making the smoothie for the cast on set at a movie trailer. :)

Hey Guys,

So I got tons of requests for the recipe I made this morning on Good Morning America. Here it goes!

1 ½ cups of water
1 head romaine
4 stalks celery
1/3 bunch cilantro
1/3 bunch parsley
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 apples
2 pears
1 banana*

•    Blend until smooth**, starting with the greens and moving into the fruits. This makes 4 full cups of the Green Smoothie (which tastes best when served very cold), so is enough for two people for 2 days, or for one person for 3 days. Try to drink at least 16-24 ounces a day, if not more! Stir before you drink!

•    Feel free to mix your greens and fruits, as greens and fruits food combine well together (except for melons). Be sure to balance the light and darker greens, so for instance, if you want to add some kale, be sure to balance with the lighter green of celery. Bill the anchor today, mentioned he didn’t like cilantro. No problem! Just leave it out and use another green instead, or up the quantities of the other greens.

•    * If you are diabetic and prefer to cut out all high glycemic fruit, you can omit the banana.  Otherwise, I suggest keeping it in, as it adds a nice consistency and taste.

•    ** It is important to blend until all “chunks” are removed from the mixture. There are a lot of nutrients encased into the cell walls of the green plants, and these need to be ruptured so full nutrition is available upon consumption without much digestive work. If you don’t have a great blender, you may have to blend longer and the smoothie will get warm. In that case, be sure to make it the night before, so it will be nice and cool by breakfast time!

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I’m so happy all my new friends found my blog through GMA! Please keep coming to visit, and please explore other parts of the blog, and please pass along to your friends! :) I usually post 2-3 times a week with new recipes, food tips for wellness, etc. And please visit my OTHER SITE, which is for Envision Beauty, my skincare company, which I run besides being a nutritionist and yoga instructor. SKIN is our largest organ, and 70% of what we put on our skin ends up absorbed into our bloodstream…and therefore our liver! So I’ve designed our paraben-free, mineral-oil free all in one moisturizer, The Solution, to be all the nutrition your skin needs to stay healthy, firm, and youthful. You have to do both: eat right and use the right products! The Solution is used by such celebs as Kristen Bell, Sophia Bush, Anjelica Huston, Jane Alexander, Patrick Swayze, etc. etc. and on the sets of movies like Iron Man 2 and Transformers 2. Check out our amazing super moisturizer The Solution HERE.

Stay tuned for our new (joined) website launching in about a month or so.

Take care and great health!!

All my very best, Kimberly

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I love desert! So check out some of my healthy, yummy deserts. I guarantee you'll love the Raw Cacao Truffles!!

Posted in Diet/Health, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments »

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Trendy Hollywood 21-day Cleanses….and How to REALLY Cleanse

July 10, 2009
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Slow and steady changes always win in cleansing and detoxing!

Hello love, So first I took a pause and talked about Amma and love- which are related to detoxing too! Anger, hatred, being overstressed contribute to an acidic body and toxicity just as processed, overly acidic foods do. We can’t separate the mind and the body. But now we’re back on the food discussion train:

So the producers of Good Morning America specifically asked me to talk about two popular cleanses, as examples of the “cleanse” and “detox” craze that seems to be sweeping across America. If you are awake tomorrow around 9 am, please be sure to catch my segment on GMA! Also, today this ARTICLE came out in the Daily News, which I contributed to…on the very same topic! Hmmm, it seems that something is definitely afoot! Well, it’s very interesting because even several years ago, you would not hear these now commonplace terms:

“I’m trying a detox.”
“I’m doing this cleanse.”
“I’m on a detox diet.”

And what is even more interesting is that with the parallel rise of the these terms, there is a marked reduction in the afore uber popular term, “I’m on a diet.”(Which sadly, was really often some form of starvation or a crash diet). Hmmmm…. When we say the word “diet” do we increasingly feel we are trapped into implying that we are heavy, there is a problem with our bodies, or we have some kind of eating disorder?
So…..what of the word that is thrown around “cleanse.” Ahh, it’s the very connotation to the word sounds so light, clean, healthy, and well green. But the problem, more often than not, is that all these various detox and cleanse regimens, for a prescribed amount of time, are really and truly just another sort of DIET.

For one thing, the words “detox” and “cleanse” should not be preceded by articles: we don’t do “a cleanse;” we cleanse. We don’t perform “a detox”; we detoxify. When people talk about “a detox” or “a cleanse,” they’re most likely referring to a program that transpires over the course of days or a few weeks. In my post 4th of July blog (2 blogs down), I touch on this idea a bit- that despite the Hollywood allure of an instant fix, incorporating long-term, gradual improvements is the real way to make any sort of real, long-term progress.

It’s this idea of an instant quick fix that really bothers me. Real cleansing—that is, really ridding the body of many years’ worth of accumulated toxins—is a process that should be undertaken carefully, consciously, and gradually. It’s ongoing, as we are also constantly accumulating new toxins even from the metabolic waste of very healthy, raw food. So real cleansing involves gradual dietary change and long-term dedication. It means the slow and steady incorporation of alkaline foods into the body and the encouraging of healthy digestion and elimination to release old waste. Anything less—especially sudden extremes—is most likely a diet in disguise.
Plans and “detoxes” also tend to suggest that if you eat a certain way for a few days or weeks, you’ll suddenly be  instantly clean. If only it were so easy! Detoxification isn’t a quickie process; it’s a journey that can, and should, take a long time. Any effort to speed the process overnight is bound to fail.

So let’s look at these two cleanses I will touch upon on Good Morning America:

The Master Cleanse: In summary, confined to drinking a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup for a number of days.

The Quantum Wellness Cleanse: For 21 days, cutting out the “Big 5,” caffeine, gluten, sugar, animal products and sugar.

So here’s the problem with these two cleanses (and the myriad of other ones floating around out there right now): in a nutshell, too much too quick. To go from the way the average person is eating now to a liquid fast, or cutting out all 5 of those major categories in one fell swoop can be disasterous! I have personally witnessed people getting very, very ill from doing too much immediately. The shock to the body could initially shake up toxins (though to get to the really old, deeper stuff we need to get the body into a more alkaline diet run the risk of drudging up too many toxins too quickly, of shocking your system with the sudden absence of food, or your known food and of reabsorbing toxins that have been awakened in the process.

But the real deal, major problem, is that these trendy fasts and cleanses do nothing to teach the real life skills of detoxification: learning how to eat healing foods each and every day—and stick with it! Unfortunately, many people who go from unhealthy diets to short-term fasts end up going right back to old habits when they finish. How many people do you know, honestly, that did the Master Cleanse, then shifted into a new, much healthier way of eating as a result afterwards? I’m guessing NADA. That’s why it is much more important to learn something we can do every single day, and move us into shifting into progressing towards better dietary lifestyle choices—for the LONG term.

The goal shouldn’t be a “total transformation in 21 days”, but rather a lifetime of improvement. The steps shouldn’t be radical regimes or painful restriction, but rather manageable steps towards overall improvement. (Sigh) Yet as Americans we always seem to be looking for a quick fix. Instead, GET THEE TO THY BLENDER.

True detoxification—the kind that nourishes and heals—is a process that demands patience, a well-informed perspective, and—most of all—an immense respect for one’s body. This kind of detoxification can’t be had in quickie cleanses or spicy lemonade. It’s not that simple, and it’s not that shallow. But it does exist, and can make huge benefits to your health, your energy…oh and yes, also your physique. :)

In love and health,
Kimberly    IMG_1819

Posted in Detox, Diet/Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

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Amma: Pure Love

July 8, 2009

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So what is a hug really? Well I think it can take many different forms. First, there is the stiff, mandatory kind of hug you would awkwardly give a co-worker (that you don’t really like) when you have to present a birthday present, maybe on behalf of the company department. Then there is a delicate hug, say of your spouse’s grandmother, where you don’t want to crush her, and sort of do the “patting the back” routine… And there are the sweeter than sweet, priceless hugs of a dear, dear friend, a loving mother, and a lover. Well I experienced a whole other kind of hug altogether yesterday, by the incredibly beautiful soul Amma, right here in New York City at the Manhattan Center.

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Who is Amma? She is an Indian woman referred to as the “Hugging Saint!” That’s right, she goes around hugging people- referred to as darshan, to anyone that comes before her. :) Her teachings are universal to all, and she says that her religion is Love. She does not ask anyone to believe in God or to change their faith, but only to inquire into their own real nature, and believe in themselves.

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So I got to the center around 9 am, and as a first-timer, had the honor to be placed 10 feet or so, at Amma’s feet while I waited my turn (we were given tags with letters). For the next few hours, I was completely transfixed on her beautiful face- there was so much light and really….just pure love. There is no other way to say it! I watched her hug person after person, people of all religions and ethnicities, completely encapsulating them in her bosom, then rocking them back and forth in again…pure love. I watched grown men, children, and everyone in between transform in her arms. Many would collapse and begin to sob, as if just experiencing Amma’s simple act of pure, unconditional love was all they needed to open up some dark corner of their heart, or show them what real love was and let down their guard to the truth of their spirit. It was so beautiful and touching that I was crying myself!

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After 3 ½ hours, it was my turn. As I humbly approached Amma on my knees, she just swooped me up and I was embraced in an all-encompassing wave of love, her sweet rose smell, and her whispering in my ear of Indian mantras. It was timeless. Then as she finished and I was shuffled to the side, I felt an incredible warmth in my heart. Yes, it was pure love!

So whether you view Amma as a saint, a guru, or simply an incredibly compassionate humanitarian, she is a living example that this one simple act of love can transform someone deeply, and permanently. And she is tireless in spreading her love: In the past 28 years, she has physically hugged more than 28 million people from all parts of the world. In India, her home country, she has been known to individually embrace over 20,000 people in one day, sitting sometimes for over 22 hours without a moment’s break.

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It is this very pure love itself which fuels the incredible success of Amma’s charitable work, which is staggering. It is her love that motivates thousands that she embraces to wake up into action, service. Her organization raised $46 million in tsunami relief funding, feeds over 2 million people a year in India, provides free housing, health services, and lifetime stipends for the poor, has established 53 schools for needy children and those with speech and hearing defects, programs to end suicide, free meditation classes for prisoners, setting up orphanages and hospices…the list is endless. And (very close to my heart), she established the Green Friends program in 2001 to help protect our environment, with initiatives like planting 100,000 trees a year and providing sustainability education. In 2005, Amma’s organization, the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, was given special consultative status by the United Nations.

Yes! This is one person! In the words of one of my all-time major heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall, who presented Amma with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence said, ”She stands here in front of us. God’s love in a human body.”

Since yesterday, I have had Amma constantly on my mind. It is as if since we touched hearts, we are ever- connected. I think one amma-the-hugging-saintof her brilliant silent statements, as she proceeds to hug people week after week and year after year, is that the simple act of pure love…and giving a hug!, can be so powerful that we don’t even realize sometimes how we can help lift someone up, reinspire someone to pursue their dreams or help others, or believe again in love and the inextricable human connection.

Sometimes we might feel self conscious about hugging, even touching people. I am used to touching people all day long as a yoga instructor, but I realize that this is so not the case with many of us. When we hug we can really embrace and pass love, and a silent wish for the other persons’ well being and peace. Amma’s philosophy of living a life of non-duality, of seeing ourselves more and more in others, would definitely transform the whole world into a more loving place if everyone adopted it.

Amma is a beautiful example to all of us!! So let’s… smile at a stranger, consciously send love whenever we do hug someone, and remember that truly….we are all connected.

With warmth and Love, Kimberly

PS- I’m going on Good Morning America Saturday morning to talk about more cleaning stuff! So tune in around 9 am if you are around, otherwise check back here for more cleaning and detox talk soon.

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In Amma's home country and one of my favorite countries: India. Here I am somewhere near the Pakistan border in Rajasthan.

Posted in Health, Random Musings, Yoga | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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The Post-4th of July Cleanse

July 5, 2009
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Ah, July 4th weekend! Beach, sun, fun, and um...lots of bloat!! Don't worry we are going to work on that though! By the way does anyone know the name of this interesting looking Asian fruit??

Hello love,

How was your holiday! I hope it was relaxing and wonderful, and that you had a great time recharging. Well perhaps you did not eat um…optimally, shall we say? Which is totally okay when you are on a break! It happens to all of us, and the key is just to get back on track. Perhaps you are feeling a bit heavy from a barbeque (or two!), some poor food combining (watermelon after cooked food!!! Eek), a little too many alcoholic beverages and not consuming toooo many foods that are the color green??? :)

So many of you have written me that you want to start to cleanse “after the 4th of July.” Well I get it: The holiday was a time for letting loose and hanging out with your fam and friends. But holy smokes, summer is really here and yes, you will have to contend with wearing a bathing suit and less clothing in general in the coming months (admittedly the more surface reasons to cleanse, but yes we all care about those as well!). Also, yes, now is a great time to cleanse in the warmer months as there is so much great produce available, and we can spend more time outside walking, meditating, reflecting and hopefully getting closer back to our real, balanced inner self. Sounds great right!!! Well, step by step.

The first thing to discuss, as I sort of alluded to in the Hitting the Wall blog a few blogs ago is that it is possible to hit walls of detoxing as we are going through, and now one point I must bring up is do NOT do something drastic!! You might “overcleanse” too fast meaning you will wake up too many toxins at once and totally overwhelm our detoxing, eliminative organs. This could prove problematic as you will inevitably feel crappy and could have too many breakouts and headaches, and you will further put your body out of balance. There is too much for the body to extract at once, so you are just recirculating the poisons without really pulling them out, which we need to accomplish in the true definition of cleansing. You could end up waking up way too much, too fast, so much that the poisons get reabsorbed into the body and the blood and tissue. Remember that cleansing is a gradual, long-term process and starting some new shifts after a holiday is a great motivation. But nothing crazy! So in other words, what I’m trying to say is make good progressive changes, don’t rush to do something drastic like try to be a 100% raw foodist or ….start the dreaded Master Cleanse (of which I am SO not a fan, and think is a short-term gimmicky, quick-fix, does no good in the long run, way to reabsorb and self-poison drink of BULL- shiggity!! Excuse me but I had to say it. :) ).

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Here is a closer view of it! :) I first ate this in Thailand and you can randomly find it in some Asian markets here! Any guesses? Hmmmmmm?

So let’s make some great changes for the week ahead (and some of them you may decide to keep after this, which would be great!). Most people will have consumed a hefty scale of acidic food and beverage items this weekend (meat, alcohol, coffee, chips, pasta salad, etc. etc. ). So let’s try to restore balance by bringing in more alkalinity now. An acidic body is a heavy body, starting in the bowel and making us heavier than our ideal weight. An acidic body has less energy, less than glowing skin, and a preponderance to getting anxiety attacks and getting stressed out more easily.

So here are some great goals for you this week, say until next Sunday, July 12th. You can do it!

-    Completely abstain from alcohol.

-    Start your day with your hot water and lemon (read my post, “Good Morning, How is Your Colon Today?) to stoke the digestive fires.

- Don’t let coffee be the first thing to hit the body. If you can skip the coffee this week that would be great- or at most one if you feel that you need to be weaned off slowly!

-    After this and before your Green Smoothie take a high quality probiotic supplement.

-    Be sure to make eat the Green Smoothie every day as your first meal of the day (you can 2 days’ worth at a time to save time). THIS IS ONE OF THE KEYS!!

-    For lunch have a big salad and be sure to squeeze plenty of lemon on it. No creamy dressings. You can throw some balsamic or apple cider vinegar on there, and a small amount of olive oil. You can put on any veggies you like and a whole avocado for good, long-burning fuel. Don’t eat any bread products, pasta or crackers at lunch.

-    Drink Detox Tea in the middle of the afternoon as a “snack” when you get hungry. It is freshly sliced ginger and lemon, and if you like it a bit sweet Stevia or a little raw agave is okay to add. This will give the digestion a nice boost again.

- If you need other snacks before dinner, you can have some raw veggies, the other half of your salad lunch if you only ate half of it (a smart move sometimes!), or a low glycemic fruit like some berries. Or more filling, yummy, chilled Green Smoothie!!

-    Completely abstain from red meat.

- Completely abstain from any packaged food bars, protein bars or anything containing soy protein isolates.

-    Completely abstain from any cooked oils (even olive oil!). That means if you want to eat some cooked veggies for dinner, etc. you can get steamed veggies, and if you order fish or something like that get it steamed too. Trust me, if you want to cleanse efficiently, the cooked oils will really delay the process!!

-    Dinner will be started by a green salad, again with lots of lemon and raw apple cider vinegar or balsamic, and a tad of olive oil. After then make sensible choices and no red meat. But if you’ve eaten well up until now, you can have more leeway here.

- Desert should be a piece of an at least 72% cacao dark chocolate bar, or one of my deserts. But only like 3 truffles, not  12 of them!! :)

This is a great plan to start the ongoing cleansing process. Remember, we don’t do “A cleanse”. We cleanse!! Cleansing is work and we need to get back on track sensibly while not shocking the system at the same time. You are going to be be right on track for feeling and looking fabulous. Yay! :)

I hope you do well with this and make good choices!
Let me know how you do and feel.

Lots of love,
Kimberly

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Posted in Detox, Diet/Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

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My First Acupuncture Experience!

July 1, 2009
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So there are meridians in our face that are connected to our stomach line of energy, I learned today!

So I’ve always wanted to do acupuncture- but never actually have. There is nothing in particular that I have a big issue with, I just wanted to enhance overall energy/chi/prana and blood flow. Since I’m a Level 2 Reiki practitioner and a yoga instructor, I’m definitely into energy flow and healing, so you would think I would have tried acupuncture out by now… …but I guess the universe brings everything into your life when it is supposed to!

So I know this amazing acupuncturist Yvonne (who also happens to be my good friend and one of my yoga students!) and given all the changes of summer energy in the air :)   I thought now would be the perfect time to get a session.

Well I have one word to describe my acupuncture experience: EUPHORIC. Yvonne is such a deep and gentle healer, that I wasn’t that very nervous about the needles (and needles admittedly are so not my favorite thing). So first we chatted about my health history and what I’d like to work on- I don’t have any major health issues, so I mentioned in general detoxing, liver stuff, and increasing digestion of course!! She checked my tongue, took different pulses around my wrist, and discovered that she wanted to increase the push of my “liver energies” and my stomach fire- so those were the meridian energy lines we were going to focus on.

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Ok I know this picture is very similar to the first one! Ha! Yvonne took a few very interesting ones of my stomach and leg needles- and she also burns these herbs on certain points by the way to increase circulation- but my camera was accidentally on video so these are the only stills I was able to get. Well just imagine the needles all over the place!!

So I kept my eyes closed at first and just focused on my breath, since I didn’t want to watch the needles go in…at first. :) Well as the first needle entered somewhere in my left foot, I felt a WAVE of energy lap up and down the left side of my body. A few more were inserted on my left side, and I started to feel very light- like I was floating!! Yvonne’s voice faded away a bit, and I kept babbling on how great I felt. This may sound like a weird analogy, but the mental picture that came to mind was taking a sheet in both hands outside in a field and letting it flutter in the wind. Like ripples of energy rolling through the sheet. Interesting! Truly, I felt blissful and nourished by good energy.

She inserted a bunch of needles all around on my front side, and finally I decided to peak. I peered over at my right shoulder to see a stainless steel needle propped up, like a proud little Lilliputian flag, sturdy and happy looking about two inches high. Hmmm….not so scary after all! So, as my curiosity mounted, I was finally able to take a look around, and saw the needles all through my legs, middle section, and arms…and yes, could peer down and see some on my face! But I felt so great that I didn’t care that it was mildly creepy. :)

She also did my back and neck. By the end, Yvonne said the pulse pattern was stronger and better! (Sorry Yvonne I’m probably not wording this the best!) Everyone’s experience is different with acupuncture- but I can honestly say that I felt a ton of movement in energy, and I felt sooooo wonderful, a natural kind of laughing gas feeling, but waaaaaay better! I have no doubt that there are great benefits to the systems of the body by this wonderful form of healing.

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Here is Yvonne! I just adore her- what a blessing to be fortunate enough to have her available as a healer. :)

So if you have an inkling to try it out- looking to give some system in your body a boost, have any kind of body pain, etc., then I would highly recommend going to see the beautiful energy, unbelievably humble, talented healer of Yvonne. She is in the East Village of NYC. For more info on Yvonne check out her website! www.yvonnemizuta.com.

Well the holiday weekend is fast approaching!!! Yay.
I hope you have a wonderful, amazing, relaxing time, and I will talk to you soon.
Lots of love,
Kimberly

Posted in Detox, Health | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

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Hitting Detox Walls and Overcoming Them

June 29, 2009
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Here I am this past weekend eating... I mean, picking strawberries! :)

Hello Guys!

 How was your weekend? I had a great weekend myself! It was sunny and beautiful all weekend, and I was up in Connecticut. I got to pick strawberries at this wonderful organic farm, went on two long hikes, and even made it to Compo Beach in Westport for a refreshing swim. I’m so happy that the sun came back out over here on the East Coast! I’m really happy I was fortunate enough to escape this weekend. Are you doing something special for 4th of July weekend- which is already next (!) weekend!

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So when I was laying on the beach and watching the ocean this weekend, this particular topic came to mind. Some of you have written to me about it, and I have experienced it myself. When I began a mostly raw diet, the first month, maybe two months I felt awesome! I got very lean, my energy was high, and I was so excited about my newfound diet. Then…I started getting more sluggish. My skin broke out a bit, and I started craving old foods again!! Sounds familiar?? Well this is what is REALLY going on:

When you shift into eating more vegetarian, vegan, or an even more dramatic change…raw (!) your body automatically goes into ongoing detox mode. This is because previously we were constantly eating foods that were full of toxic matter (pesticides, dairy, gluten, flour, processed sugar, toxic food combinations, acidic animal products, often full of steroids and hormones, etc.), that it really was too much for our bodies to handle on its own. So what happens? It ends up being stored. Yes, accumulating in our bowels and in our cell tissue!! It doesn’t matter if you go to the bathroom 3 times a day! Trust me, waste and toxins, which are baking in the body at our temperature of 98 degrees, become lodged in our bodies, and over time lead to diseases and other signs of NOT optimal health- low energy, difficulty in losing weight, etc. Our bodies become more and more acidic over time with these levels of toxins.

 P1011458So when you stop eating so much toxic food, or toxic food combinations, your body can take a rest from having piles and piles of “new” toxins to deal with, and starts detoxing the surface stuff. Plus you’re eating tons of alkaline foods. That’s in the first month or two! That’s when you feel like a million bucks, and your feel that you’ve finally figured out the best food plan for you amongst the mind-boggling phethora of food diets and confusing information!

But alas…after that you start feeling not well. You go to your standard doctor who will tell you that you are low in protein, a vital nutrient or mineral like iron and calcium, that its not really healthy to be vegetarian, and you better start eating animal products again! So then you scratch your head  and think, “I guess vegetarianism and eating this way isn’t sustainable??” But this is not really the truth.

What is happening, is that as we shift into these new ways of eating, our bodies start to detox on a deeper, organ, tissue and cellular level. As we dislodge new toxins because our new, much cleaner eating habits, we “wake” up those toxins and they start to recirculate in the blood and body. Before, they were just lodged in there- weighing us down in many ways, but not making us sick…yet. The amount of impaction and waste that is in the colon (5-6 feet long) is indeed unfathomable to most people- it can be pounds and pounds, and can even permeate through the colon walls and into the tissue over time.

So when we hit this WALL after we know we’ve been eating great, clean, detoxing food we must realize that with our enzyme-rich diets we are starting to dislodge toxins from the colon wall. As they hit the bloodstream, we feel those symptoms again- headaches, skin break outs, weakness, irritation, moodiness, etc. etc.- and the toxins must be eliminated from the body so they don’t become reabsorbed back into the boodstream.

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Some other friends came over to say hello!

Once we get through these walls of intense detoxification, we can continue on our highway to superior health! So how to get the toxins out? Well the most effective and best (in my opinion) way is to get some gravity colonics. Over 45 minutes, 25 gallons of water power washes out your colon, as opposed to 1 to 2 quarts, which is an enema. There can be moments of pressure, as old stuff is released, but you feel amazing when it is done! Also, be sure you are getting fiber in the diet- that is why the Green Smoothie is SO important, as it has a huge amount of fiber that acts like an internal broom and helps sweep toxins out. If you feel major detox symptoms you can add ground flax seeds. Also, chia seeds (see my blog on that), can also help as they expand and can help sweep debris out. Be sure you are having your lemon water in the morning so you are sure to have as complete an elimination as possible (see my blog “How is Your Colon This Morning?). Drink plenty of water to help yourself flush out!

I am trying a slightly different method of a gravity colonic here in NYC tomorrow, and I am thrilled!!  (It might sound weird to be excited about a colonic, but after you’ve had a few and see how effective they are, you’ll feel differently!) I’ve shifted my diet since it started getting warmer (even more smoothies, less solid food, different vegetables and fruits), a few weeks ago, and noticed a few little symptoms myself- some back acne, a few little headaches, etc. So I know I am detoxing! Remember everyone hits walls and has difficult detox periods- so we just have to acknowledge them, and then get past them. 

Have a great start to the week!

Love, Kimberly 

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Posted in Detox, Diet/Health | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments »

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The Green Baby Movement

June 25, 2009

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Hello my Loves,

Have you ever met someone who is so full of light and love that it just strikes you like lightening that this person is very special? And they stick in your head? And you just want to do everything you can to help them in whatever they are up to?

Well I have met one such person: Mary Boehmer. She is a beautiful young woman who is now my friend and is extremely motivated to bring light and health into the world. She started this amazing organization called BeamGreen.com, which is all about creating healthy babies and health in the world for the next generation! Below is my interview with her:

Kimberly: So, Mary what is BeamGreen.com all about?.

Beam Green - Bio PicMary: BeamGreen.com eco-educational community dedicated to The Green Baby Movement! Beam Green is a Green Social Club for women – a forum created for the sharing of Green knowledge and wisdom in order to guide parents and children towards superior health and wellness.

Beam Green’s mission is to be a positive eco-educational community for families that will assist in the creation of children who are strong, vibrant, and healthy that they contribute to the world in countless ways.

Kimberly: I know that you don’t have kids yet yourself and are not pregnant (right! :) ), so how did the inspiration come for working with pregnant women??

Mary: I speny most of my childhood and College years overwhelmed by “death”. After losing my 42 year old Dad when I was 12 in 1996, and my 17 year old brother when I was 20 in 2004, and having my mom diagnosed in 2005 with two benign brain tumors and helping her undergo two craniotomies- I CAME TO TRULY APPRECIATE THE NOTION OF A HEALTHY HUMAN BODY free of disease! :) I wanted to contribute to the prevention of disease/death and contribute to the opposite side of the coin … LIFE! There is nothing better then healthy, happy children and families!

Kimberly: Wow! Amazing that you turned tragedy into so much love!! (Her story does bring a tear to my eye whenever I hear it.) Tell us a little bit about the importance in detoxifying in preparing for pregnancy?

Mary: A healthy child starts before conception. The healthier the parents re at the time of conception, the stronger genetic foundation of the child. Beam Green suggests that couples prepare at least six months to a year prior to conception by cleansing and building their bodies using certain guidelines that will be shared during The Green Social Club each month. Prevention is a critical component! Cleansing and re-building the body may also have a favorable effect on fertility challenges once any underlying medical problems can be ruled out.

Note by Kimberly: This is not to make anyone feel bad that perhaps didn’t detox at all before conceiving! We can onlypregnancy-baby-massage-how-to do our best with our given information at the time. So if you already have children Mary’s forum can be more about having them lead more detoxed childhoods or getting more info now!

Kimberly: And what are some easy ways that women thinking about getting pregnant can start to detoxify?

Mary: My Top 3: What is Simple is True! (and often makes the greatest impact!)
1) Each 5-9 servings of GREEN vegetables a day. (Do not eat pass 7pm
at night! This will help you to get the best and most healing sleep!)
2) Exfoliate in the shower!
3) Rebound! Rebound! Rebound!

Kimberly: Oooph, eating past 7 is hard for me a lot, but I’m trying! (LOL). So, what’s on the agenda for BeamGreen this year?

Mary: BeamGreen.com will continue to hold its monthly Green Social Club meetings at Tavern on the Green once a month with guest speakers from across the country who are experts on Going Green! Women nationwide and international (we have 15 different countries who watch the archived uploads and live webcasts) can watch the Green Social Club Meetings by going to www.beamgreen.com and clicking on the button at the top of the homepage that says “Green Social Club” Monthly meetings!

Kimberly: Anything else??

Mary: YES :) The ultimate mission of BeamGreen.com and The Green Social Club is to have fun and take small steps everyday, in our own individual lives, to MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

When you almost have your entire family die (me) you realize that other people’s families are actually your own as well
— that all are equal — if I am a single twenty-something year old girl who has embraced this — then anyone can embrace the notion that we are all detoxing and preparing for the next best thing …. Our next best version of ourselves and our next best version for generations to come.

Just amazing!!

Well have a great day and happy Friday tomorrow!

Love, Kimberly

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Yay!!! USPS Priority Shipping for Canada is FINALLY Up

June 23, 2009

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Hello all and especially Dear Canadians,

Envision Bottle

The product (literally!) of my blood, sweat and tears...and sleepless nights: The Solution

It has been quite a struggle to get things done quickly in the last few weeks, but the USPS shipping is finally up!! We are no longer slaves to UPS any longer! :)   If it was up to me it would have been fixed like 3 weeks ago. But there are SO many other people involved! Our fulfillment center, our web design firm and the actual programmers..blah blah. So yes! Patience Is what the universe is wanting me to work on right now.

It seems to be my big lesson of the year not to be attached to the timelines that I create, but focus on the action steps that work towards the goals that I am going for. And at the same time be respectful that the universe has its own plan, and usually for much bigger things and part of a bigger plan that is far beyond my limited understanding. That’s all we can control really: the actions we take and our intentions, not the outcomes. So I’m sticking to that idea as strongly as gluten sticks to your digestive tract to get me through!! :) In the midst of packaging delays, editing delays with my yoga video, delays all around me, at LEAST my Canadian shipping issue is fixed, so maybe it is a step towards moving forward on all fronts?? I hope?! So yes, patience is my big lesson right now.

I hope you are having a joyous week! If you live in NY and you’ve gotten all this rain also, yay for the sun that just came out! I’m actually sitting outside in a park writing this to you now (and SO great there is Internet in all the NYC parks).

And thanks again to all you wonderful, loyal Canadians that have been so patient with us.

Lots of love,

Kimberly

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Summer Solstice Goals

June 21, 2009

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So today is a very auspicious, important day of this year. Not only is it Father’s Day (and yay for all our fathers as well as the fatherly aspect of Divine Love!), it is the Summer Solstice, which marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

The solstices mark important times in the year- turning points, phases, energy shifts. I remember being really amazed when I was hiking the Incan trail in Peru a few years ago, and exploring other Peruvian ruins, and discovering that many of their structures were created around stonery that would light up perfectly on the highly worshipped summer and winter solstice days. In fact, their calendars were built around the solstices. So they have indeed been considered very significant time periods by many cultures and throughout the world’s history. I had a very contemplative weekend—just spent time with family members, moved things around in my apartment, did a lot of mediation (but very light asanas). Since this is also marking about halfway through the year, it was a time that I took a really hard look at my goals.

So I think this is a great time to really examine our habits and figure out a few doable goals to stick with this summer! Again, unlike New Year’s, which is a completely manmade holiday based on our Western calendar, the solstices mark actual new energy beginnings, as we begin to shift into a different phase within the sun and nature and our natural environment. So I believe is an even more powerful time to create new “resolutions” or goals or whatever you want. And constantly being conscious of our own habits and creating goals to improve ourselves is the way to sustained long-term improvement- it creates steps that enable us to do so.

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And maybe you are in the right mindset for a change? Are you feeling ready to do some kind of detox, cleanse and re-energize yourself for summer? Maybe get out of a little rut or just elevate your energy, skin, balance your weight??
As it applies to food, here are a few suggested Goals You might adopt right now, without having to find the “perfect staring time”!

-     Having one coffee or less per day
-    Eat a huge salad for lunch at least 3 times a week and/or making your own lunch (so you can use sprouted bread and the best ingredients if you are going to make a sandwich)
-    Give up Diet Coke once and for all (and switch to lemon water)
-    Have the Green Smoothie at least 3 times per week
-    Visit a local farmer’s market at least once a week to stock up on organic, local greens
-    Stop microwaving any food- or buying microwaved meals
-    Replace packaged protein bars with fresh fruit or some raw nuts

So go for it!! Pick 1-3 Summer Stolstice Goals and start incorporating them this week. Pick doable ones that you know that can accomplish, but still make them challenging, and know that each one is moving you towards your newest, most beautiful and energized self!!! It always helps to write your goals down to make you more serious about htem, so they aren’t just floating around as a possibility. Make them real! And look at them when you need reinforcement or in moments of weakness. And I like to write down why I’ve taken on that particular goal anyway. For instance, “I am giving up Diet Coke, because I want to have more energy and I want more glowing skin.” The universe and nature will be particularly supportive of you right now. ☺ As will I!

I’m excited for you to get excited about your new goals. :)
All my very best,
Kimberly

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Look!! Doesn't this wonderful looking tree I happened upon in LA last week look so happy?? Like he is just waving and welcoming us to summer?? :)

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Recipe: Fat-Burning Key Lime Pie Bars

June 18, 2009
One glorious hour next to the ocean before heading for the plane!

One glorious hour next to the ocean before heading for the plane!

Hey Guys,

How are you??
So I realized that I forgot to post my recipe in the last blog! So check it out, below. I did include it in our newsletter, where I sometimes put recipes that I don’t post here. So if you want to join it (and I hope you do!), please be sure to email me at Kimberly@envision-beauty.com, and I’ll pass it on to join the list!

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I just got back to New York late last night, and hit the ground running today!! In a very good way. :)   Some exciting meetings, and I got to teach my first yoga class in a week today. I really miss teaching and my students when I am away, so it was nice to teach a nice big class today.

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Backbends are probably my favorite yoga poses. I love to shine the heart energy open!! :) If you don’t have any kind of regular backbending practice you can start with some gentle ones, even holding on to the sides of your chair (if it isn’t a rolly chair!) and leaning back at work sometimes! Don’t worry if you aren’t too flexible, your spine can open up over time. Keep your shoulders relaxed and don’t hunch them up. Feel and imagine the light of energy expanding from your heart and throat chakras!

It is always interesting for me to be constantly traveling between New York and LA. In LA, I find that you have to spend a lot of time in cars driving around! I was  on some really cool movie sets  with my smoothies and had some great dinners. And of course having the ocean so close is so energizing and revitalizing, and great to connect back to our divine nature connection. These photos were taken in one last yoga hurray about one hour before I had to leave for the airport ☺ Today back in New York, I welcomed the flurry of running after cabs to rush into meetings in conference rooms and creative brainstorming sessions in coffee shops, and welcomed back the rush of high energy in the compressed space of Manhattan. So I really love and am grateful to be able to experience these very different environments.

I hope you are having a great week! How is your diet doing, as we adapt into summer? In the next few weeks I’ll be talking a lot more about summer food and diet choices.
Take care. :)
Lots of love,
Kimberly

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Fat-Burning Key Lime Pie Bars

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The whole family will love this recipe! They are a great substitute for all the summer ice cream and other deserts- as the lime is summer-y tasting, and they are creamy, rather than icy.

This desert is going to help you burn fat this summer. They contain coconut oil, which is an unprocessed, cholesterol-free oil that contains Lauric Acid. Overall, coconut oil stimulates the thyroid, increases your metabolism and helps you burn stored body fat!
Secondly, like lemon, lime has over 200 enzymes and helps restore liver tissue. The liver is our main fat-burning organ, so with this recipe we are also giving it a boost.

This recipe is low-glycemic, so will NOT spike your blood sugar the way refined sugar will. This is great for us adults that don’t want to gain weight, but it is ALSO great for kids-so they don’t get those crazy sugar rushes that other recipes give them!

Recipe:
1 cup organic lime juice
½ cup unrefined coconut oil
½ cup raw agave nectar
½ tsp. Celtic sea salt
4 cups cashews
½ – ¾ cup water

Combine all ingredients in a blender except for the water, and blend on high. Add the water last and as needed to keep the blending going and make the mixture smooth.

Freeze at least 4 hours, or overnight. Cut into bars and serve! Makes about 15 full-portion sized bars. Can store in the freezer and keep for a few weeks.

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