11 Steps for an Empowered Life

I’m sharing 11 recommendations to be healthier, more present, more conscious, and live life to your fullest (inspired by a podcast 10 Steps for a Powerful Birth - from Taking Back Birth). These are principles that I’ve gradually introduced into my life since I started my health coaching journey, which I feel have helped me so much, so I wanted to share them with you today.

Here are 11 inspiring steps for living a healthy, balanced and empowered life.

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6 Healthy, Delicious, Vegan, Low-Carb Zucchini Recipes

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables as its delicious and has tons of health benefits as it’s low-carb yet packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and even antioxidants.

I also love it because it’s so versatile (and a great way to make your favorite recipes more low-carb / low-glycemic)! I use it in my smoothie bowls almost daily, love it roasted in the oven, sauteed, thinly baked (or air-fried) as “chips”, use it instead of lasagna noodles for a gluten-free lasagna, as part of a dip, a soup, and of course, it’s amazing spiralized as a pasta substitute.

Today I’m sharing 6 of my favorite zucchini recipes - that are vegan, gluten-free and low carb, plus flavorful and easy to make!

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10 Plant-Based Proteins for Optimal Health

There are tons of awesome plant-based (aka vegan) sources of protein, rich in nutrients and fiber (and easier to digest than animal proteins) that are important to be including in our diet. Even if you’re not vegan, it’s important to mix up your protein sources and eat some of these healthy, vegan proteins - for optimal gut health (and overall health).

Plant-based proteins have a myriad of benefits, and I highly suggest that everyone start to include a few plant-based meals a week (ex. try doing “Meatless Mondays”), focusing on having BALANCED, nutritious meals with at least one source of protein at each meal.

I share 10 of my favorite plant-based sources of protein in this blog (and tips on how to incorporate them into your diet).

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Plant Based (Vegan) Diet – Benefits, Potential Drawbacks and 6 Tips

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.

What is a vegan diet and what are the huge benefits?

What are the drawbacks?

Can you get many of the benefits of a vegan diet without being 100% vegan?

I explore these topics plus share 6 TIPS on how to maximize benefits of your diet.

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My Favorite Non-Toxic Hair Products for Gorgeous Hair

Today I’m sharing some of my best tips to take care of your hair health and my favorite nontoxic hair products.

First, remember beauty comes from the inside out. I recommend to start by improving your nutrition and lifestyle to heal your gut, manage your stress and balance your hormones. This is will have a huge positive impact on your beauty, including your hair.

While everyone is different, for beautiful hair in general I suggest loading up on whole-unprocessed foods, primarily plant-based with plenty plant-based proteins and unprocessed healthy fats. That’s my number one recommendation. Read more for my hair health nutrition tips HERE.

On top of that, we want to give LOVE to our hair, and for that, it’s essential to make the switch to non-toxic products. Below I share some of the best nontoxic hair products that I recommend

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8 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy (including prenatal recommendations)

Pregnancy 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.

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Pregnancy Diet: 12 foods for a healthy mom and healthy baby

To 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.

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One Type of Stress We're all Facing – and 8 tips to decrease it

Nowadays, 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.

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7 Day Barre Challenge (Arms + Upper Body Focused)

To help you keep your body active and toned during the Easter holidays (and afterwards), I have created this 7-day guide with a mini challenge (2-3 minutes) for you to do every day of the week. They are easy exercises that you can do from anywhere, so there is no excuse!

Since this March in Balance Studio we are focusing on the arms, we will do exercises mainly for ARMS and upper body, but always combining with some legs, and of course, a lot of CORE.

Check out our guide for your challenge exercises, and go to Balance Studio IG @balancestudiomga for mini videos of each exercise (we’ll be posting each day an IG story, then saving them in highlights reto7diasbarre).

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Favorite Healthy Snack / Dessert Recipe - Mariana's Energy Balls

Today I’m sharing one of my all-time favorite recipes (in both English and Spanish) - my super healthy, fiber-packed, gut-friendly Energy Balls. The recipe is super easy and I proved different options (including my favorite Chocolate energy ball version)! You can make them in 15 minutes, store them for weeks in the freezer, and you have the perfect healthy snack or dessert on hand - which is balanced, with healthy fats and plant-based protein that won’t spike your blood sugar.

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11 Tips for Balancing Blood Sugar

Sustaining 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).

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The Key to a Delicious Healthy Salad (+ 3 recipes)

Salads are amazing for our health, but salads can lack appeal and get boring. Or worse, they can be unhealthy if you’re not careful! The key lies in using a delicious, healthy, HOMEMADE salad dressing! So I'm sharing 3 of my favorite go-to salad dressings (dairy free, gluten free, preservative free, refined sugar free, and made only with good quality ingredients) that can make any salad delicious, satisfying and healthy.

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A Different Kind of New Year's Resolutions: My 10 Intentions for 2021

After a 2020 filled with much needed reflection, I decided to make my year-end intentions for the upcoming year different than previous years... Less restrictive, more loving and accepting (yet still motivating!). I share my 10 goals for 2021 - focused on more body-love and deeper connection.

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COCONUT – why I love it (+ 3 recipes)

As 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.

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Let's Unite in Gratitude and Health this 2020 Thanksgiving Holiday

This year has been a rollercoaster for ALL of us; for each one of us in it's own way. More than ever, we are joined together (globally) in this feeling. Which is why we need to celebrate Thanksgiving with extra purpose, extra meaning, extra love, extra appreciation, extra HEALTH and extra UNITY.

Let’s make this 2020 Thanksgiving holiday extra healthy, fun and unique. Here are some tips and recipes to help you out!

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5 Easy & Healthy Butternut Squash Recipes

Butternut 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.

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8 Effective Weight-Loss Principes to try this year

Weight 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!

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Healthy Halloween tips

Happy Halloween!! It’s Halloween and we’re surrounded by a ton of SUGAR temptation! And it's totally ok, it's important to have fun and enjoy this funky spooky holiday... but make this year a HEALTHIER one - for both you and your family. And it all starts with more awareness.

So today I'm sharing some info to help make us more aware and provide a few healthier options (and super yummy chocolate recipes!)

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6 Tips for Improving Hypothyroid using Holistic Nutrition

Hypothyroidism 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.

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