The Bendable, Twistable, Flexible Necklace

The Bendy Necklaces are Fun, Fun Fun! The reason why they're such a big hit is because you can create so many new looks with just one necklace.

You can wear it as a necklace or a bracelet!

At newyorkaccents.com we're having Fun with Fashion and we hope that you are too! Try the Bendy Necklace for both casual and special occasions.



You're the Ultimate Designer with the Bendy Necklace!

The size featured here is 8mm width which is the widest version that we feature.

Current colors in stock are Gold and Red Bronze.

Go ahead! Have more fun with fashion.

Visit our Bendy Necklace page at: http://store.newyorkaccents.com/spsnanec06-2.html


-Have Fun with Fashion and a Healthy Life!

Underweight? Here's 3 Foods to Help Add Healthy Weight

Hi on this super, sunny Sunday! I'd like to share with you the top three foods that have helped me to gain weight.

I call these foods my friends because within a year and four months, I've been able to gain healthy weight. Now, fall and winter has been enjoyable! I haven't had cold hands since I've started incorporating these foods within the GAPS diet. These foods are all natural and traditional. When combined within a whole foods diet, these foods remind me of life's simplicities.



If you are looking to gain healthy weight then try adding these foods into your diet. The idea is that they help to heal and seal the gut which helps to repair your immune and digestive systems thus enabling you to put on healthy weight.

1) Sauerkraut or any variety of homemade fermented foods

2) Lard: buy from your butcher or from the farmer's market and render yourself or buy already rendered lard or any other pure animal fat (no additives or preservatives).

3) Marrow bones: Make bone broths which are very healing and nourishing. Use the broth to make all types of soups and stews.

Take a Break from Grains---It just might help you to gain weight

I think that one of the most beneficial things that one can do to gain healthy weight is to eliminate grains from one's diet while incorporating the above foods within a whole foods diet. Once you've reached a level of health that you approve of, add grains if wanted but properly prepared grains by soaking and fermenting.

I've mentioned grains because they contain phytic acid which inhibits mineral and nutritient absorption. So, while we're enjoying a tasty chicken sandwich on a delicious bun or wholesome bread, how much of what we are eating is actually being absorbed? In my case, I believe that over consumption of wheat and lack of animal fats and fermented foods contributed to my being under weight.

I have not had any type of grains within one year and four months. The last time that I had grains, I got a severe reaction. I believe that it was my ultimate overdose of grain consumption from childhood to that very day that had built up. One day after eating a rich dark whole wheat bread toasted, I got a stye in my right eye and my mood immediately changed to grumpy, annoyed and upset. Once my boyfriend and I figured out that these symptoms were from the wheat bread, we stopped eating wheat. We started the GAPS Intro Diet where no grains are allowed. The stye took about three months to go away and has not returned.

You may or may not have a problem digesting grains but one thing is for sure, properly preparing grains will give you more of a nutritional benefit as soaking and fermenting them helps to reduce phytic acid. Throughout my lifetime, I had been consuming grains heavily and I've also been under weight.

If you must eat grains, authors Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD highlight the process of properly prepared grains in their article, Be Kind to Your Grains...And Your Grains Will Be Kind To You.

"So the well-meaning advice of many nutritionists, to consume whole grains as our ancestors did and not refined flours and polished rice, can be misleading and harmful in its consequences; for while our ancestors ate whole grains, they did not consume them as presented in our modern cookbooks in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas, bran preparations and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors, and virtually all pre-industrialized peoples, soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles."

Enjoy your whole foods diet and your weight gaining journey. And by the way, I'd just like to mention that eating healthy fats for over a year has not made me fat. I'd also like to add that my cholesterol level is average. Go figure!

Resources:

GAPS Diet:
http://gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html

Try soaking and fermenting your grains:
http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/be-kind-to-your-grains

A beautiful intro about the author's memories of growing up on homemade stock: http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/articles/joys_of_stock.shtml


-Have Fun with Fashion and A Healthy Life!

The Crazy Pages - NYC: Fresh Face

Ready for a music video break? Take a colorful sing-a-long journey and put on your Fresh Face.


Music by one of NYC's all-time favorite bands, The Crazy Pages.


-Have Fun with Fashion and a Healthy Life!

It's Breaskfast Time!---Cooked Pears

Good Morning! What's for breakfast?

On this cold Sunday morning we're having cooked pears! ...Y-U-M-M-Y! But wait!!! What about loosing enzymes by cooking the fruit. Well, if you're incorporating homemade fermented foods into your diet then you are getting plenty of enzymes and probiotics from your variety of homemade fermented foods which are by the way a raw food.

The process of fermenting helps to break down the proteins, carbohydrates and fats so that the food becomes more digestible while providing more nutrients than some non fermented raw fruits and vegetables. Fermenting also produces beneficial bacteria which is needed to balance the gut flora which is necessary for a healthy immune and digestive system.

Cooking the fruit helps to break down the proteins so that it becomes more digestible. Susan Weed, herbalist and expert on women's health wrote a very interesting article on Nourished Magazine's website. The article is titled "Optimum Nutrition Cooked or Raw". She pointed out that the enzymes in vegetables and fruit are only available if the fruit or vegetable is fully ripened. I highly doubt that the organic pears at my local grocery store are fully ripened. They are not local which means that they are shipped from God knows where and are most likely picked before ripened.

Susan further explains:

"Cooked plants are far more nourishing than raw plants, whether we look at vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains or pulses (beans). Cooking not only breaks the cell wall, liberating minerals to our bodies, it actually enhances and activates many vitamins."

Cooked pears is very delicious and easy to make. So let's have cooked pears for breakfast!

Here's the recipe:

* Chop fruit into bite size pieces.
* Add fruit to pot. Fill the pot with water, cover the pot.
* Turn up high to a boil then reduce heat.
* Cook for about 20 minutes or so until the fruit is soft to your liking.
* Top with a good animal fat of your choice for even more help with digestion. I chose leaf lard.
* You can also top with cinnamon if you'd like!
...and definitely have a nice serving of the broth. There's plenty of nutrients in the broth and Oh My Goodness it is so very tasty!

Enjoy Your Cooked Pears for Breakfast!


Resources:
http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/optimum-nutrition-cooked-or-raw

http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/veg3.php

http://www.sacfoodcoop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=438%3Aprobiotics-a-fermented-foods&catid=59%3Aconsumer-guides&lang=us&Itemid=65


Have Fun with Fashion and a Healthy Life!

Gotta Love It! Vitamin D3's Benefits

Thanks for bearing with me through the periods of no posting as I've been super busy at my full-time job, doing my best to incorporate the strategies in one of my earlier posts Water, Beauty and Rest.

This new post is actually inspired by a comment that I left on Au Naturel's blog about the benefits of Vitamin D3 for EVERYONE. I commented on it from my own cultural's perspective but the sun gives life for ALL!

"As an African American, I never thought that vitamin D3 ---the sun was necessary that was until for the first time in my life last year, I had my D3 level checked. It was so low! I mean in the danger zone. Since then, I've been supplementing with 10,000 IU & higher and I've raised it to a normal level.

I think, how did I go through my whole life without this being checked? The only reason why I had it checked last year was not because of my doctor's suggestion but because my boyfriend said that it was important to check.

I believe D3 has helped to build my immune system along with my other daily healthy routines. I was the only one in my office this flu season who did not catch a cold or flu. There's definitely a need to spread the word about the benefits of D3 so thanks Au Naturel Health & Beauty for this post!

And for the African American community who do not live year round in the sun, I suggest that you get your D3 level checked. Having brown skin does not mean that we do not need the benefits of the sun. We need much more than we think...and taking a good D3 supplement is an easy way to achieve this. ...There's ton's of info about African American's low level intake of Vitamin D online."

I think the problem within my cultural community stems from the need to dispel old myths and lack of information shared about the benefits of the sun for overall health. I've been using the Carlson brand 10,000 IU's which is derived from cod liver oil. There is also vitamin D3 derived from lanolin (sheep wool oil). How are you getting your D3? The natural sun is the absolute best way and if that's not available then supplementation is key.


Have Fun with Fashion and a Healthy Life!