I haven't discovered these healthy products until I careered being healthy, which officially started just last year.  In fact, I have been juicing for four months now and it feels awesome to have supplied my body with the proper nutrients it needs. Aside from my juicing recipes taken every morning, I have additional supplements too to get me more healthy and energized. I thought these products are hard to find because I cannot locate them locally.  Until a friend of mine told me that there is a store selling imported healthy products, named Healthy Options,  located at SM.

I wasn't aware that the table salt we used to use is refined and processed which isn't good for our body. While the sea salt (picture below) is purely taken from the ocean and it's rich in trace minerals which are essential for our health.

Price: P171.00

Never had I heard about flax seeds and lentils before but during our 14th-Day Lifestyle Medicine Seminar, they are a good substitute for protein. Since I no longer eat pork, chicken, and beef, I already included them in my diet.

Price: 214

Price: 270

Lastly is the Aloe Vera juice. Based on my research online, aloe vera juice is a good remedy for acid reflux. I usually dilute it with juices and drink every morning.

Price: 570

I must admit that to be healthy is a little expensive. But if there's only one option left in my life, and that is to be healthy, then I would embrace it. Ultimately, I will be the one who can benefit from it.

It's no secret that I suffered from acid reflux for months now, which is one of the reasons why I lose 6 kilograms in three months. My weight has decreased significantly because I forbade myself from eating foods that could trigger acid reflux (which I just learned on the internet). Some of them are sugary, fatty, spicy and most of all acidic foods.  I felt like I was deprived of eating the foods I love, example coffee. Until it came to the point that I just resorted to lugaw (porridge) all day on some days when the alkaline diet (mostly fruits and vegetables ) is not always available on our table.

For over one month, I've been on a semi-alkaline diet but still, my acid reflux didn't go away. It's very uncomfortable and worrisome.  I got skin allergies each time I ate chicken meat, fish, and eggs. I even tried various synthetic medicines and herbals available in the garden but they didn't work either. I was so desperate then to find natural remedies how to cure my acid reflux. Until last month, our neighbor, an SDA invited me to attend their 14-Day Lifestyle Medicine Seminar held at their church. I learned that our body turns into acidic because of wrong foods combination. I also learned that there are certain bacteria in pork that will not die no matter how you cook them at high temperature. Ever since I attended the seminar, I promise my self to start being a vegetarian. And my transition to being a vegetarian was easier because I am used to eating fruits and vegetables even before I learned the seminar.

It really takes a lot of efforts when you become a vegetarian. We have to go to the market early to buy our supplies. We mainly went to Bankerohan because the fruits and vegetables there are super cheap.

Our fridge was filled with fruits and vegetables which my husband bought from Bkerohan or Toril

We first soaked the fruits and vegetables in activated charcoal to get rid of pesticides.

Proper Foods Combination I learned from the seminar

Schedule to follow if you want an optimum healthy lifestyle

I have been faithful to 6am schedule which is drinking fresh juices. But for the breakfast, I just did the fruits and unpolished rice alternately because I am working online. Fruits are easily digested in the stomach so I easily get hungry. It's really hard to function when our stomach is hungry. I really tried to stick to fruits for breakfast and I hope I can do it one of these days. Self-disciple is really needed.

apple, cucumber, and singkamas combination

Pineapple and Papaya

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

watermelon

beets, celery, carrots, kalamansi, apple

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

cucumber, celery, tumeric, and kalamansi/lemon

coconut water and guyabano smoothie

coconut water and malunggay smoothie

one of my breakfasts: papaya, melon, banana, and raw nuts

another fruits combo: jackfruit, banana, raw nuts

For my lunch, I am usually eating unpolished rice with vegetables as viand. I am sometimes eating raw vegetable salads which are highly recommended because of the natural enzymes present on the raw.

cucumber, lettuce, carrots, and potato

lettuce, carrots, cucumber, boiled camote and flax seeds for lunch

For the rest, I followed the schedules faithfully except the dinner. As I have said, I need a spank on the butt to instill self-discipline (hehe).



It's been one month now since I became a vegetarian. I feel stronger and healthier. Though my acid reflux did not go away 100% but I felt I had a lot of good improvement in my health. By the power of God's grace, I claim his healing.

My acid reflux started in the early week of August when I had my Implanon removed and I partly suspected that implanon was one of the contributing factors. If you haven’t read my previous post about implanon, please check it out here!

Even though I have already managed some of the implanon after-effects, my acid reflux symptoms still recur. I already spent a lot of money clinic hopping, looking for a complete healing. Worse is, after consulting with three doctors and taking the synthetic meds they prescribed, they didn’t make my reflux go away. I even tried Healing Galing, but their program didn’t work either.

That’s why I searched on the internet what other natural remedies I could take without relying on the synthetic medicines, knowing these can cause side effects to our body. I learned that treating acid reflux requires diet and lifestyle change.

That's why, over 3 weeks ago, when our neighbor, a Seventh Day Adventist, invited me for the Lifestyle Medicine seminar, I didn’t hesitate to attend despite our spiritual beliefs. As a matter of fact, I admired how their church encouraged their people to be vegetarian. They followed the Biblical teaching found in Genesis 1:29 where God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. In other words, we are encouraged to eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds only.

Fruits we juiced during our 3-day detoxification program

It was reiterated in our seminar that a Healthy Lifestyle is equal to Longer Life while Godly Lifestyle is Equal to Eternal Life. The slogan of the seminar hits me like a ton of bricks. The main reason why I got sick because my lifestyle is no longer aligned with what it should be. Even though I started to be healthy 2 years ago, but I still allowed stress to swallow and overwhelm my life. My life has not been balanced physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually.

The seminar lasted for two weeks which started last October 4, 2017. Since I didn’t have a yaya yet by the time the seminar started, my mother and I took turns in attending the seminar. So I didn’t have a complete attendance (hehe). In spite of that, I learned a lot from the seminars. We were fed with tons of information not only how to be physically healthy, but also how to be spiritually rich. The seminar always started with a prayer and we sang our theme song “God Will Make a Way”.  Each time I sang, I felt the God’s presence. It surely lightens my feeling and at the same time stress-relieving.

The speakers of the seminar were Geronimo Jose, chruch pastor,  and Sir Bong.  Both are well-versed on the topics being discussed. Pastor was in-charged mainly on the Healthy Lifestyle and its corresponding biblical teachings, while sir Bong tackled about the benefits of fruits and vegetables. He also demonstrated how to juice different fruits and vegetables, explained the proper foods combinations and lastly led our 3-day detoxification program right after the 14-day seminar.
For two days, we just drank different juices which was given every hour. We didn't eat anything except the juices. I got a little headache because my body was adjusting to the new diet as I was used to eat carbohydrates-rich foods.

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We also had sunlight exposure along with the outdoor exercise. Healing oneself needs to be holistic. I learned that clean water, fresh air, sunlight, rest, exercise, healthy diet (fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds), and faith in God are the elements for healing.
After 3 days, we were given a leaflet for our Daily Lifestyle guide. I am so pleased that I was able to practice the diet tips for three weeks now and it really feels so good.






That is so far I learned from our seminar three weeks ago.

If there's one thing I've  always wanted to be doing every day,  it is cooking a variety and hearty meal for my family. But here's the problem. I can't do it as I've always been swamped with babysitting and working online. So my mother is usually in-charge on preparing our meals throughout the week. However, I always observe that she prepares the same dishes over and over. For example, this week, from Monday - Wednesday,  our breakfast was straight fried eggs. A kind of boring to the appetite, right?

So Our Solution? Meal Planner!

It's actually been a thought to create a weekly meal planner, however,  Ronan and I always forget to do it. But over the weekend, we finally found time to sit down and brainstorm what kind of meals we are going to prepare each day. And here's what we agreed upon.

Meal Planner Version 1

Creating a meal planner is not difficult to do.  First, we listed down all kinds of foods we've been eating ever since we became married (of course, with the absence of pork since we are not eating pork na). Then, I organized our gathered menus using a meal planner template and created two versions so we can use either of them alternately.

Weekly Meal Planner Version 2

Though there's no 100% assurance that I can follow these menus faithfully and cook all of them myself as you know I am always tied with many things, but I will make sure to post these on our kitchen's wall so my mother will not have difficulty figuring out what kind of dish to prepare next meal.

I am thrilled to use this budget-friendly, healthy, and hearty meal planner starting next week. Fingers' crossed (hehe).