Mariana's BLOG page with her best health tips & recipes
Balance with Mariana's blog page, The Balance Journal, provides unique and useful tips on healthy living and holistic nutrition, delving into topics of digestive health, hormonal balance, weight loss, making healthier choices, improving body image and more!
Mariana also emphasizes eating healthier (yet delicious), more balanced, plant-based meals, and provides easy and delicious recipes.
Many people are curious about going 100% vegan and wonder if it’s for them, so this blog is primarily for you. I clarify many positives and negatives of a plant-based vegan diet, some options/alternatives, and tips to maximize the benefits of your diet.
I explore these topics plus share 6 TIPS on how to maximize benefits of your diet.
Read MorePregnancy is such a unique and special time in a woman’s life, that really requires love and attention. We are creating life after all! Everything we DO, everything we EAT, and even what we THINK affects the health of our baby. So making natural, healthy choices everyday to maximize our health, our happiness, and that of our baby, is SO important.
So today I share 8 of my best tips for a healthy, happy pregnancy and baby.
Read MoreTo increase your chances of an amazing, healthy pregnancy, birth and baby, you want to focus on eating a real whole-foods diet as much as possible, avoiding processed junk foods, eating a variety of colors, and including these 12 pregnancy “superfoods” as much as possible (in addition to your prenatal vitamin and any other supplements/medicines that your doctor or midwife prescribed).
Check out my blog for 12 super foods you should be eating regularly as part of your Pregnancy Diet, for a healthy mom and baby.
Read MoreNowadays, we are all experiencing some degree of oxidative stress in our bodies, which is keeping us from attaining our health goals. It can negatively impact our fertility, our ability to reach our ideal weight, our ageing process…. and more.
So what causes oxidative stress, and how can we decrease it?
In this blog, I lay out the key contributors to oxidative stress and 8 tips to reduce it in your day to day life.
Read MoreSustaining balanced blood sugar levels (aka blood glucose levels) and minimizing swings in blood sugar is absolutely paramount to weight loss, and moreover, to a healthy lifestyle and avoiding disease.
The good news is that there is so much we can do through small DIET and LIFESTYLE changes to support our blood sugar levels and simultaneously boost our overall health.
Today in my bog I share 11 tips to keep stable, healthy glucose levels (which simultaneously support healthy weight loss).
Read MoreAs a huge lover of coconut (including coconut milk, coconut yogurt, coconut water, coconut oil, pure coconut meat, coconut flour and more!) today I’m sharing some BENEFITS OF COCONUTS and a few of my favorite super healthy and delicious detox-friendly COCONUT-BASED RECIPES.
Read MoreButternut Squash is one of my favorite fall / winter vegetables (which I honestly eat year round) because it's not only sweet and delicious, it's extremely healthy - packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, and very versatile. I eat it mashed (and add to smoothies and desserts), spiralized, baked/roasted and blended into soups. I share some of my top recipes below.
Read MoreWeight loss is – like most things – a completely personal journey. Every body is different. Our digestions are different, our metabolisms are different, our lifestyles are different…so what works for me, may not work for you. That being said, there are some health principles that help the majority of people with weight loss, and it’s just about customizing it for your unique, beautiful body.
In my experience, these 8 health principles can help boost your weight loss. Check them out below - and observe what you’re already doing, what you could be doing a bit better, what you maybe haven’t tried…. And just remember, if you’ve been trying to lose weight for a while and it hasn’t worked, then the only way it’s going to work is TRYING SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING DIFFERENT. So be open-minded and explore new things. And let me know how it goes!
Read MoreHypothyroidism is so huge nowadays that I feel approximately one out of every 5 clients I see has some degree of hypothyroidism. Crazy. Which is why I wanted to write a quick blog on the topic.
Like most things, diet and lifestyle play a big role in your thyroid function. Eating the wrong foods, chronic stress and poor sleep can interfere with your hormones and even contribute to autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s.
I share 6 KEY things you can do right away that can help support your body to normalize your thyroid hormones.
Read MoreOne of my main goals in life is to show you and everyone that HEALTHY EATING CAN BE (AND SHOULD BE) DELICIOUS). So i’m making it a goal to share more of my awesome, nutritious and super yummy (yet easy) recipes for you to enjoy.
Today I’m sharing my Meatballs and Veggie Noodles recipe - which is allowed on most detoxes (like my signature 10 day detox) and is both PALEO and KETO “approved”. (I always share this recipe in my Summer & Fall 10 day detox and my clients LOVE it, and for my Winter version where we omit nightshades, I offer it with a vegan cashew cream instead of tomato sauce).
Read MoreIf you’re suffering from low-thyroid (and the commonly related symptoms including slow metabolism and low energy), you’re not alone. It’s more common than you may think, especially with women.
Whether or not you’re already taking medication, your diet plays a large role in your thyroid function and it’s important to use your meals to help you in your healing process.
START BY TAKING BABY STEPS. Start by incorporating these 5 superfoods into your everyday diet to help you in your journey to balancing your thyroid hormones and therefore improving your overall health.
Read MoreAre leftovers healthy? While reheating food is not ideal, I believe in finding those “healthy hacks” that can make a healthy lifestyle and diet more accessible for you. For me, the principle of “cooking once and eating twice” has been a huge help for making daily healthy eating stress-free in my home. So it’s a principle that I personally apply and recommend. Let’s make healthy eating easier on ourselves and enjoyable!
Read MoreBy popular demand, and as a follow-up to my Beginners Smoothie Guide, today I'm sharing my go-to favorite green smoothie recipe that I make for myself almost every morning.
All my green smoothies are PACKED with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, fiber, vegan protein and deliciousness. They make a filling and delicious breakfast that will keep your blood sugar stable, rev up your metabolism, and serve as a great tool for weight loss.
Read more for my delicious EVERYDAY GREEN CHIA SMOOTHIE BOWL recipe (+ 2 more of my favorite smoothie bowl recipes).
Read MoreBy now you probably know of my obsession with: smoothie bowls, sweet potato, dark chocolate/cacao and superfoods in general. So it’s probably no surprise that this recipe, which combines all of the above, is one of my favorites (that I make at least once a week).
See my delicious, vegan, protein and superfood-packed CACAO SMOOTHIE BOWL recipe below.
Read MoreA macro bowl (aka buddha bowl) is my daily go-to dinner, which I make using leftovers (or things I “batch cooked” earlier including grains/beans/veggies), some fresh greens, seeds and/or avocado, a healthy sauce, and I’m good to go.
I love these bowls because they are BALANCED, EASY TO MAKE, ADJUSTABLE/VARIABLE, FILLING and usually, totally Instagram worthy.
While there are tons of variations, I wanted to offer an easy GUIDE to help you make your own macro bowl for a quick, easy, healthy meal. Plus, I’ll share one of my favorite go-to recipes.
Read MoreDuring the holiday season, we get jammed with (usually fun) events, but that also means less time for relaxing, for exercise, for healthy cooking, and always implies lots of food (usually not so healthy) and booze (for most of us).
So what can we do to maintain a balance, to avoid gaining weight and feeling heavy, and to keep up our wellness game?
Read MoreIf you haven’t tried golden milk yet, you’re missing out! It’s a creamy, hot, milky (yet dairy-free) drink that’s delicious and PACKED with nutrients. It’s like a “warm liquid sunshine in a cup.”
READ MORE for my super easy, delicious and nutritious recipe - which adds some superfoods to help boost digestion, balance hormones and relieve stress.
Read MoreI’m a big fan of hummus for many reasons including it’s:
creamy delicious taste
ability to pair well with many foods & versatile nature
amazing nutritional benefits - especially it’s GUT friendly properties (I’ll go through these below)
And today I wanted to share a new, easy and super healthy version of my homemade hummus that I tried this week and am loving - and is perfect for your next family Holiday dinner/event .
Read MoreIt amazes me how many people - even those that live a healthy lifestyle - still drink Gatorade (and similar electrolyte drinks) despite all the chemicals and sugar they contain. So it dawned on me that most people don’t realize the amount of sugar and chemicals in these drinks, and the fact that it may be doing your body more harm than good.
So what is a better alternative? Read more for an easy homemade “electrolyte water essence” recipe that will quench your thirst and prevent dehydration (which is cheaper, way healthier and just as effective).
Read MoreDid you know that antidepressants are some of the most prescribed medications in the world (and the most popular psychiatric medication)?
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Because I am convinced that in many cases (that are not SO severe), there are many “natural” holistic tools that one can apply to feel better and avoid taking anti-depression meds - and these tools help treat the root cause, and come with no side effects!
Additionally, in the cases where medication is absolutely necessary, there are many lifestyle and diet factors that can support your depression treatment to make the results more effective (and hopefully help you become less reliant on the meds).
READ MORE FOR 5 NUTRITION TIPS TO HELP YOU BEAT THE BLUES AND SUPPORT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a doctor, and depression can certainly be a serious medical condition that requires medical attention. So if you suffer from depression, please call your doctor for a diagnosis and a treatment plan that works for you.
Read MoreBalance With Mariana is a holistic Health Coaching practice that works with individuals looking to lose weight, overcome their food addictions and improve their digestive issues, by teaching them new healthy lifestyle habits that help them reach their specific personal goals. Clients of Balance With Mariana develop not only a better relationship with food, but also an overall more balanced and happy life.
Balance With Mariana | , Miami, FL
