I am more than halfway through my own personal meditation challenge, and let me tell you, I feel AMAZINGGG. I feel more centered, positive overall, upbeat, less anxious, less stressed, and less reactive.

Over time, I have felt called to deepen my practice and learn new forms of meditation. Curiosity followed by incredible results has led me to new classes, teachers, yin yoga practice, kundalini yoga, and several different styles of meditation. As a very reactive person naturally, learning these ancient healing techniques has not only been incredibly rewarding but life-changing. One method that I have found especially helpful during meditation (If my mind starts to wander) or as a coping tool for stress and anxiety on its own is The Box Breathing Technique.

 It is pretty simple and incredibly effective at calming the nervous system. Incorporating this technique has been a valuable tool in my self-care & meditation practice.

Here is how it works:   

BOX BREATHING TECHNIQUE

Step 1: Breathe in for four counts. 

Step 2: Hold for four counts.

Step 3: Exhale through the mouth for four counts. 

Step 4: Hold the breath for four counts. 

•Repeat the Steps for 5-10 rounds when feeling stressed or anxious OR use during meditation if you notice your mind wandering. 

Namaste! 

Happy Monday Glow Getters!

Over the past few weeks, I have gotten several messages regarding my juicing stories on Instagram. With the high level of interest, I thought I would write a post with some basic information on what I have learned along my juicing journey. In this post, you will find exclusive recipes, tips to stay consistent with juicing, the juicer I currently use, how to juice if you don’t own a juicer, and my preferred store to buy cost effeciant ingredients.

Why do I love to juice? It makes me feel AMAZING both inside and out. Juicing boosts my mood, makes my skin radiant, and gives me energy. I am a creature of habit so when I find something that makes me feel incredible, It is likely that I will incorporate it into my everyday regime. Most mornings,(not all) I begin my day with green juice. Certain days this will be enough to hold me over until my 11:00 a.m. lunch, and other days I will eat a full breakfast about an hour or so after drinking my juice. I find that the days I consume it, I feel mentally clearer, have more energy, and my skin looks extra bright & glowy. 

*What Brand/Model Juicer I Use:

I am currently using the Breville Juice Fountain Plus. $159.99. I absolutely love it. It is easy to assemble, quick to clean (Dishwasher safe) and overall a great quality machine for the price.

There are several options on the market starting at or below $100.00 ranging all the way to thousands of dollars. When I began juicing I purchased a $40.00 Hamilton Beach Juicer and loved it. It wasn’t fancy but it worked well and was a great beginner’s machine. They discontinued the model I had, but I found another similar called The Hamilton Beach HealthStart Juicer for $42.99 on Amazon that I will link at the end of this post for anyone interested. If you are new to juicing, I would recommend either The Hamilton Beach mentioned or the Breville. 

*What If I Don’t Own A Juicer? 

No Juicer? No problem. You will need a blender and a cheesecloth. You can easily find a cheesecloth on amazon, target, or in most grocery stores. I will link one from amazon below this post for your convenience.  

How To Make Juice With A Blender: 

Glowing Green Juice Recipe: (Serves 2)- Makes about 20 Oz. Total.

*1 Bunch celery (Roughly chopped)

*2 Apples (Cored & Chopped)

*2-inch piece of Ginger Root(Peeled) 

*1 Lemon cut in half and squeezed

*2 C cold water

* Blender, cheesecloth, and large bowl. 

1.)In a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients (except lemon) until smooth. 

2.) Over a large bowl, pour blended mixture into the cheesecloth and use your hands to squeeze the juice out. Once all of the juice is extracted from the cheesecloth, add juice from the lemon to the rest of the blend. Stir. Transfer to a drinking glass and enjoy! (If you are making the juice for a later date, store in a sealed mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.)

 This is a basic recipe that I used before I bought my first juicer. Nowadays, I prefer using my Breville juicer, but if you don’t own one this recipe works nicely. Try different combinations or Incorporate different fruits/veggies to your liking! You can always add more water if needed. 

Tips For Staying Consistent With Juicing:

I would be lying If I said I juiced every single day… I wish I did, but I have a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old so mornings can be busy and unpredictable in our home. There are days when I simply don’t have the time or I want something more satiating like a bowl of creamy steel-cut oats, a yogurt parfait, or organic eggs. (Speaking of oatmeal this just gave me an idea for a future post featuring my steel-cut oats recipe with cinnamon and coconut sugar… It is DIVINE.) 

Tip # 1.) Pre-Chop your juicing ingredients the night before and store them in a bowl in the fridge. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or tinfoil. This little hack has saved me so many times when I didn’t feel like chopping or prepping day of. All you have to do is add your already chopped ingredients into the juicer in the morning! No excuses.

Tip # 2.) Make 2-3 days of juice at a time. 

This has also helped me stay consistent. If I am being honest, I truly loathe the clean-up process of juicing so if I already have my juicer out and running, I might as well get a couple of days’ worth while I am at it! I have found that fresh juice always tastes better. I will usually fight through the demise of clean-up and opt to make it day of because of the taste. However, if I know I have a busy week, I will make it in bulk knowing that I won’t be able to make it for that specific day.

Tip #3.) Buy Ingredients In Bulk To Save Money.

I almost always buy my juicing ingredients at Costco. It is the best bang for your buck and all of their ingredients come in bulk quantities which is the perfect combination when buying juicing ingredients. 

Next up, are my 3 Favored Juice Recipes. I am continuously playing around in my kitchen testing different ingredient combinations. Below are recipes that I love and come back to repeatedly.

My 3 Favorite Juice Recipes:

1.) Shes Got It Glowing On Green Juice: 

               (Serves: 1)

*1 C Spinach

*1 Bunch Of Celery

*2 Apples (Cored & Chopped) 

*2 Inch Piece Ginger Root

*1 Lemon (Squeezed And Added To Container After Juicing Above Ingredients)

*Add ingredients above to juicer, one at a time, and juice! (Excluding the lemon.- Add the squeezed lemon juice at the end and stir.)

2.) Good Morning, Sunshine Juice:

                       (Serves:1) 

*2-3 Large carrots

*1 Large apple (cored & roughly chopped)

*1-inch piece of ginger root peeled

*1 Lemon (squeezed)

*Add ingredients above to juicer and juice! (Excluding the lemon.- Add the squeezed lemon juice at the end and stir.)

3.) Healthy & Hydrated Healing Juice

                    (Serves:1) 

*1-2 Large cucumbers

*1 Bunch celery

*1 Lemon (squeezed)

*Add ingredients above to juicer and juice! (Excluding the lemon.- Add the squeezed lemon juice at the end and stir.)

Happy juicing! 

XOXO 

-Kate 

Hello, 2022 and fellow glow getters!

There is something about the start of a new year that energizes and excites me. It is a chance for new opportunities, experiences, people, life lessons, and personal growth. 

Speaking of personal growth, one of my favorite things is finding new practices I truly enjoy that I feel inspired to perform every day. Whether it be a new form of meditation, breathing technique, or workout, I love incorporating habits that make me feel good and finding tools to help me out when I am not feeling my best. There are moments when I will have a reoccurrence of past thought patterns but I am able to catch these negative thoughts and redirect them thanks to the tools I continuously and regularly use.

 One of the reasons for starting The Healthy Glow Getter in 2019 was to share things that have had a positive impact on my life. When I am passionate about something I want to yell it from the rooftops and share it with the world in hopes of inspiring or helping someone. I have been this way for as long as I can remember. My husband always tells me my child-like excitement for the things that I am passionate about in life is one of his favorite attributes of mine. If I believe in something I will give it my all. My posts are based on experiences and lessons that have helped or changed my life in some positive way. 

I am eager to share a new daily practice of mine that has been incredibly powerful for me. It has been so helpful for me that I had to make it my first post of 2022 and share it with you here.

My technique can be summed up into two parts:

The first part of my new habit, hand to heart, I discovered listening to a podcast with one of my favorite authors and speakers EVER, Mel Robbins. She is a true inspiration and badass mother and businesswoman. In the podcast, she was talking about her book The High Five Habit. To briefly sum it up, it is about how she changed her life and boosted her self-esteem by high fiving herself in the mirror every morning. She also talks about how in moments of upset, stress, or anxiety, she will put her hand to heart and take deep inhale and exhale breaths. I am familiar with several different breathing techniques but was intrigued by physically putting my hand to heart while practicing them. 

The 2nd part of my new habit is reciting affirmations while holding my hand to my heart. There is something about the combination of doing both together that feels very soothing. If you follow me on Instagram you know how much I love using affirmations. They changed my life profoundly years ago. The book, You Can Heal Your Life By Louise Hay (A book about affirmations) was the first personal growth book that I had ever read, and ever since then, I have never been the same. I decided to combine these two practices together to make my own little ritual. The results were so amazing I have continued to do this daily, several times throughout my day.

So how do you practice this technique that I came up with? Read below to find out! 

Hand To Heart + Affirmations Technique:

*Every morning after waking, immediately put your hand to heart. Take a slow, deep breath in, followed by a slow breath out. Repeat an affirmation that is relevant to you in that moment. Sometimes I will use the same affirmation for a week or longer if I am working through something specific, otherwise, I will find one that appeals to me on that particular occasion. I will do this particular technique 2-5 times daily. It is especially helpful in moments of stress or anxiety. You can use whenever you want as many times as you want. That is it! I hope you enjoy this little treasure of a practice as much as I do. 

Sending love and positive vibes in 2022.

Namaste,

– Kate

Collagen lemonade is one of my favorite beverages at the moment. I know I know it’s not summer, it’s almost Christmas… But, who doesn’t love an ice-cold lemonade any time of the year?!

So, before we dive in, I want to list a couple of benefits to taking collagen regularly…

Benefits Of Collagen:

*Collagen supplements have been shown to improve skin hydration and elasticity. They may also help lessen the appearance of wrinkles. 

*Has been known to help relieve joint pain 

*May help heal leaky gut syndrome 

*Taking collagen is known to increase the strength of your nails. It may also stimulate hair and nails to grow faster and or longer. 

*Studies have shown collagen could help improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety.

A little background on why I decided to start taking collagen…

Back in 2019 when we were living in Chicago, my functional medicine doctor recommended I start taking collagen daily to help heal my gut. My body felt completely out of whack after having my oldest daughter. We started the healing process beginning with the gut.(Collagen is known to help with the healing of intestinal permeability-aka leaky gut.)There is an entire blog post I could dedicate to this subject but I will stick to the topic of collagen for this one. My doctor suggested making gelatin gummies and adding plain water to collagen peptides. I tried both options but wasn’t thrilled with the taste of the final product. I looked into premade collagen products like gummies, capsules, and drinks and found one beverage item that I enjoyed. It was a premade strawberry Lemonade Collagen Water by Vital Proteins. (The same company that I buy my collagen peptide powder from.) While I liked the taste of the water there were a couple of concerns...1 being the cost. The prepared collagen water was around $ 3.50 a bottle per 12 oz. serving Yikes! Not to mention the amount of plastic consumed if I drank these regularly. I tried their powdered version of the lemonade as well but wasn’t impressed by the consistency or flavor.

So, to make a long story short, I decided to come up with my version and was thrilled by the results. 

*Ideally to make the perfect batch of lemonade, freshly squeezed lemon juice is preferable. However, that also can be time-consuming and get expensive to do daily. So, as life has gotten busier, I have tried to find the most convenient, cost-efficient, healthy drink possible. That’s when I came across True Lemon Flavored Powder. Think crystal light but no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and non-gmo. It also tastes like you squeezed a fresh lemon in your water. I started experimenting by adding stevia, blending frozen berries to make flavored lemonade, and adding to just plain old water. It was delicious, quick, cleanish ingredients, and the perfect solution for this busy mama. So whether you want to spice up the flavor of plain ol’ water or are looking to make some healthy, fun, beverages on the fly, this simple recipe is for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I have experimented making several variations of this lemonade. i.e. adding frozen raspberries, and strawberries and blended..Both of which are a perfectly refreshing beverage in the summer months.

Side note: True Life Lemon makes several different flavors and versions of its powders. Some have sugar and some do not. Make sure that you are buying the NON-SUGAR versions and adding sweeteners yourself or none at all if preferred. Alternative sweeteners that I enjoy on occasion are Maple Syrup, Honey, and Liquid Stevia. 

Collagen Lemonade Water

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Serving Size: 1 (32 Oz.)

Ingredients: 

*32 Oz. Mason jar.

*2 Packets of True Lemon Powder (Unsweetened version) Or 1/2 C freshly squeezed lemon juice.

*1 Serving of Vital Proteins Unflavored Collagen Peptides.

*32 Oz. Filtered water

*3-4 Drops Liquid Stevia Or 1 Tbs Honey (For sweetening) 

* Handful Ice Cubes

*Add Lemon packets, collagen peptides, water, and stevia to the mason jar. Screw the lid onto the jar and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Add ice cubes and voila! 

“Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things. It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down.” –Meik Wiking, The Little Book Of Hygge: Danish Secrets To Happy Living. 

Did you know that according to statistics, the Danish are the happiest group of people in the world? But how and why you may ask… Well, many believe it to be because of a 5 letter word called; Hygge. (pronounced Hoo-ga) While Hygge didn’t originate in the Danish language, It was the Danes who fell in love with the concept and essentially spread the word beginning in the early 1800s and never looked back…

What is Hygge? Hygge can be described as, a sense of warmth, togetherness, and wellbeing. To give you a more formal definition of the word, The Oxford Dictionary describes Hygge as follows: A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or wellbeing. While there is no exact definition of Hygge it is most easily described as a cozy feeling while enjoying the simple things in life. Practicing Hygge is essentially living in a way that makes you feel safe, comforted, happy. It is the small habits or rituals that bring great joy and contentment to our lives.

While Hygge was pretty much instituted in Denmark, you DO NOT have to be from here to practice it! Many people embrace this way of living all over the world who have absolutely no ties to the Danish culture. 

Before we get into it I wanted to give you a little background on myself and my ties to Hygge/Denmark. For those who don’t know, I am 50 percent Danish. My mom was born and raised in Denmark and came to the US in her early twenties. Although her immediate family still resides there, She loved the states so much that she stayed. There are many traditions that our family would practice growing up. (Especially around the holidays) Some are traditional and others are specific to the Danish culture. Ex. My mom used to make these little shrimp sandwiches that I loved as well as another danish dish called risengrod (it is essentially rice pudding topped with cinnamon and sugar) My mouth is watering just thinking about it…Growing up we used to celebrate our Danish Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would open our gifts from my grandparents in Denmark that evening and celebrate. We would also make paper snowflakes with my mom around the holiday time. It was one of my favorite traditions/activities as a young girl. Now, with a family of my own, I have chosen to take some of them and implement them into my family. While these traditions aren’t what this blog post is about, I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge all of the special moments that give me that “cozy” feeling which is what so many of the Danish traditions embrace. 

Below I describe my version of Hygge and how I practice it in my life. I talk about the things that make me feel relaxed, cozy, safe and comforted…I hope that maybe this post will inspire you to come up with your own special ritual of Hygge!

Setting The Mood

*Lighting candles.

 I love to burn several candles at a time. Whether it be during dinner or around the house during the day. It adds such a feeling of relaxation and warmth. Fun fact: It is said that Danes are Europes biggest consumers of candles burning through 13 pounds (per person) per year of candles! I think I now know where my love for candles comes from….

*Dimming down the lights at night or turning them off altogether and using low-lit lamps.

There is nothing I dislike more than a bright white light. Bright overhead lights are a no-no when it comes to Hygge. I have switched a lot of our lamps in the house to a low-light amber bulb. It gives off the coziest vibes. When we lived in our apartment with 0 light dimmers these were amazing. I buy General Electric VintaAline Spiral Amber LED Light Bulb White 60W. $8.49 From Target. I know that there is a time and a place for bright lights, but when I am in relaxation mode which is usually at night, this is the type of vibe I am going for. 

*String lights.

Ahh, string lights. One of my favorite things ever to set the mood…and I’m not talking about in the bedroom! I love using these cute little lights in different spaces of our home throughout the year. (Not just Christmas time.) They add such a comfy embrace during a movie night or on a rainy day. 

*Light a fire. 

Oh, how I missed having a fireplace when we were living in our apartment…In our previous home, we used our fireplace for over half of the year. What is more intimate than a warm fire on a cold winter’s night? 

Things That Bring Extra Comfort & Coziness

*Snuggling up in bed with my favorite book.

*Watching a great tv series with my husband.

*A paper and pen. I love writing down my goals for the future, meaningful quotes, and creating handwritten lists/ meal plans. There is something about a handwritten note that is so much more powerful.

*A big, cozy, furry blanket is a must! We have a big faux fur blanket that my mom got us for Christmas one year from ANTHROPOLOGY that we love. It is big enough for our whole family to snuggle up in and is a staple for a movie night.

*Big comfy socks or slippers to wear around the house.

* An oversized soft sweater. This is one of my favorite winter staple wardrobe pieces, whether it be an open-faced longer sweater or a big chunky wool sweater. 

*A favorite piece of furniture in your home…Whether it be a big chair or a cozy corner on your couch. When we were living in New York we had a large chair nestled into one of the corners near a window overlooking Battery Park. I loved to read a book there or just cuddle up with a cup of hot tea. 

 Food & Drink That Warm My Heart

“Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people eat together.” -Guy Fieri

Preparing a home-cooked meal for family and friends is hands down one of my favorite ways to incorporate more hygge into my life. I love to cook. Especially for the people that I love. Knowing that I am nourishing their bodies with love and healthy food brings me so much joy. Lately, I have been preparing soups and stews in my instant pot or slow cooker. Soup tops the list of my favorite comfort foods. I could eat it year-round and am one of those people who can eat hot soup in the summer on a 90-degree day…

One of my favorite nightly traditions, an hour or so after dinner is to make a hot cup of a hot tea or mushroom hot chocolate. It helps me relax and unwind and is much healthier than the old glass of wine at night habit. I do enjoy an occasional glass of wine but don’t like making it a nightly occurrence. 

So, in conclusion, while these may not be the exact definitions of Hygge, They are my interpretations and how I implement it into my life. If you take away one thing from this post, let it be, to make sure that you are regularly incorporating little habits or rituals into your life that make YOU feel good, safe, and comforted.

“Strive to make everyday the best day of your life, because there is no good reason not too.”-Hal Elrod

Today I was in the mood for a quick and healthy Meal for lunch. One of my favorite childhood lunches was egg salad sandwiches. This version is packed with protein from the egg and contains phytonutrients from the broccoli sprouts and baby kale. ( no mayonnaise needed! ) I used one egg, but feel free to use two if you want. This will definitely be making it into my regular lunch/ breakfast rotation!

Toast With Greens And Hard Boiled Egg

• GF Toast
•Grass Fed Butter
• Baby Kale
•Broccoli Sprouts
• 1 Hard Boiled Egg
• Salt & Pepper