Breast Cancer Awareness for Young Women

Yesterday I attended Pretty City shopping event. The first booth on my way in was Bright Pink. If you're not familiar with them, Bright Pink is a non-profit organization focused on prevention and early detection of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in young women with high-risk. But as I talked to the very nice girl, I regret that I don't remember her name, I realized that it's much more than that. Bright Pink is a support system and a community of beautiful young females who happen to be in high risk for breast or ovarian cancer. It empowers women to be proactive and be aware of their bodies. It educates them about the risk and informs them how to get help and screening.

Being at very high-risk of breast cancer myself, this organization really caught my interest. Many young women don't get advised to get screening at young age, many start in their late 30's or 40's. However, my mother was 40 when she got hers, and my sister was even younger at 35. I've already had a benign tumor removed and two biopsies. I make it a priority to get checked every 6 months.

Don't wait until it is too late. Women have a "..1 in 8 lifetime risk of developing breast cancer".
If cancer seems to run in your family, you might have the mutated gene, so be sure to request a genetic test from your doctor to know your risk.

Lastly, take care of your health with nutritious diet and exercise daily. You can lower your risk for cancer by eating right and being active. Get plenty of green veggies and fruits. Drink plenty of water. And always make time to relax and de-stress, as well as 8 hours of sleep.

Be Proactive about your health. For more information, make sure to check out www.bebrightpink.org.

pics by Bright Pink

Pilates in the Park

Yesterday I did Pilates for a good cause. SHAPE magazine organized  Pilates for Pink to benefit the breast cancer research fund. The entire day was filled with yoga and pilate classes. By the time I signed up, most classes were already full. I got a spot in Synergy class.

The weather was beautiful and sunny that day, so I decided to walk there. After a 20 minute brisk walk, I arrived about 20 min early and took my time scoping out the event, which was filled with sponsors and delicious Emerald chocolate covered almonds.

The class was taught by a very fun and flamboyant guy who can twist ans shout in all kinds of positions. The poses were relatively easy and the class seemed short, but the ambiance and fun energy made it all worth it. I left the class feeling refreshed and energized for the day.

Afterwards, I checked out the Aosis Shoes booth to find out what sneakers are better for my running style. It turns out, my feet flare out slightly and I tend to put weight on the inside of my feet more. Maybe if I had the right sneakers, I would run more often. Next, I signed up for a mini massage from one of the trainers at Equinox. It was just what I needed; even though it was only for 5 minutes, it still relieved my aches and pains.

I hope more magazines and other organizations follow SHAPE and offer fun fitness events for a good cause. I enjoyed myself and hope to attend it again next year. Maybe you'll join me?

Produce Exchange

I got a great tip today from Vital Juice.

A relatively new site Veggie Trader lets you turn in your abundant produce, let's say you have too much mint growing – like my bf does, for someone else's produce. It is like a food swap. You can swap your locally grown produce for your neighbor's, that way you don't end up eating the same thing every night.

Don't see anything you like? No problem. You can trade in for cold hard cash. Don't have a garden? No worries. Browse local produce by entering your zip code. It's that easy. Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself.

Also, make sure you visit  Vital Juice for more  great tips on living healthy and happy.

Kom-bu-cha

Sound familiar?

If you haven't already caught on to the new trend wave of Kombucha, what are you waiting for? This isn't another fad diet trend, this is an ancient folklore concoction with tons of benefits.

Kombucha originated around 220 B.C. – this recipe is older than Jesus.

Basically, Kombucha it is cultured beneficial yeast and bacteria floating atop of tea and sugar. Now before you get all weirded out, remember that Beer is made of yeast too; unlike beer, Kombucha doesn't cloud your judgment and give you a beer belly.

The fermented mixture is high in B-vitamins as well as an assortment of pro-biotics – essential for raw foodists and vegans.

The benefits of Kombucha include the detoxifying the liver and gall bladder, aiding the digestive system, increasing the metabolism, cleansing the blood, raising energy levels and focus, and enhancing the immune system.


Cheers!

Healthy Bites

Even with the economy down the hole, like most people, I refuse to let go of my weekly dinners out with my boyfriend.

I love how I don't have to worry about grocery shopping, preparing, and then cleaning up afterwards. I like the feeling of being pampered and attended to by the servers. I love that I can actually have time to enjoy my company. What I don't love is how annoying and time consuming it is to find a healthy restaurant with vegetarian, or raw, meals.

It's not that bad in the city, since I'm very familiar with the area and it's healthy choices. But what about if I have to travel somewhere? Where would I find a vegetarian restaurant in the middle of nowhere? Lucky me, I found Good Food Near You. This nifty site tracks you down (when you provide the zipcode of your location) then tracks down the most nutritious "good food near you". You can even customize your selections by lowest calories, lowest fat, distance, and more. Each pick comes a recommended menu dish along with its nutritional facts. The database boasts nutrition information for more than 220,000 U.S. restaurant locations.

Check out Good Food Near You for yourself. And next time you find yourself in an unknown territory, you won't have any excuses not to eat healthy.

Yummy Lips

Just discovered Hemp Organic Lipsticks by eco-consious company called Colorganics. The lipsticks are made of 95% certified organic ingredients, organic beeswax combined with carnauba & candelilla plant, and uses no petro-derived FD&C dyes. They deliver "natural pigments in a traditional lipstick shape, yet maintains it’s organic integrity". The company also carries lip tints, lip liners, glosses, and barlms in many different shades to match your skin tone and preferences.

Hemp products, and organic natural cosmetics, are safer for your skin and your health. Many of the mainstream cosmetics contain harmful chemicals and toxins that penetrate through the skin and get into our bloodstream. Thanks to Colorganics, you don't have to sacrifice health for beauty.

Be beautiful and healthy.