Category Archives: Promo

Dr. Mercola Complete Probiotics Review: Happy Gut, Healthy Body

I used to think gut health simply meant not feeling bloated and gassy. But, over the years, I’ve learned a healthy gut plays a vital role in the health of our whole body, including our mind.

Maintaining a healthy diet comprised of whole, minimally processed food is the biggest factor to ensuring a happy and healthy gut microbiome. By feeding yourself, and therefore the symbiotic bacteria/organisms inside your body, with nutritious foods, you’re helping to reinforce yourself with a healthy body.

A common example of the microbiota living inside us are gut bacteria that thrive on probiotics. For me, I make a point to eat various cultured and fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. But, if you tend to be constantly stressed, travel a lot, or exercise, having a good probiotic supplement is essential to help support your immune system.

Even someone who considers their diet to be very healthy, like me, can benefit from supplementing with a high quality probiotic. I’ve been taking Complete Probiotics by Dr. Mercola for almost two weeks and already notice an improvement.

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When it comes to taking anything in pill form, I am extremely cautious. Many manufactures have other ingredients like magnesium stearate or artificial colors just to make the capsule look “cool”, but Complete Probiotics has none of that. Click here for a PDF of their complete product label.

After about 2 days, I felt a little better inside and things just moved better, to put it nicely. Not that I had a lot of trouble before, but with my constant need to exercise daily and finding anything to stress over for no reason, a little help was welcome. As a lover and daily consumer of plain Greek yogurt, I always figured I’m getting plenty of beneficial probiotics, but never thought of the effect high heat pasteurization has on reducing the beneficial bacterial.

Most commercial yogurts are not a good source of probiotics. Heat pasteurization significantly reduces most of the “good” bacteria benefits.

Guess that’s one reason I still felt bloated so often. Thanks to Complete Probiotics, I’m feeling better mentally and physically by just taking two capsules first thing in the morning.

Even better, since they do not need refrigeration, they are perfect for travel, when we need them most. I will never advocate a supplement in place of a diet with real, wholesome food, but with the difference I’ve felt after taking Dr. Mercola’s Complete Probiotics, I think they’re worth looking into. Check out their site for extensive information on what makes Complete Probiotics stand out from the rest, and to order your own.

Here’s a snippet for the summary of advantages as listed on Dr. Mercola’s page.

Dr. Mercola, probiotics, gut health

If you find that you’re constantly stressed, exercise vigorously, travel a lot, or just feel rundown, a good probiotic might help you improve. Again, no supplement will ever make up for a poor diet, so I’d always say look to make changes there if needed.

Since I’ve felt the good results from taking Complete Probitics, I’ve become interested in all of the products Dr. Mercola has to offer including things for pets, kids, fitness, household use, and more.

Check out their site and let me know what supplement or other product you’d like to try most.

*The product/s mentioned above have been given to me to review, and without any form of compensation. The opinions in this article are solely my own, and have not been influenced by Mercola.com and/or other parties. I understand that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not evaluated any of the statements mentioned above. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health condition. Pregnant women, nursing moms, and people who are taking medications or have a medical condition should consult their physician before using this product.

My Happy Pillow: A Fun Way for Kids to Show Emotions

A toddler’s emotions are about as stable as nitroglycerin in a monster truck rally. I’m assuming we all have our days, but for kids, it’s just routine. Lucky us, huh? If only we could get in our kid’s mind to know how they’re feeling when they can’t or won’t say it themselves.

Enter My Happy Pillow! They are a small, family-owned business making fun and adorable animal pillows with dual expressions. One side has the animals in their happy state, and the other has them mad/sad/bored/scared depending on which animal you have.

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The pillows allow kids (and adults) to express their feelings without saying a word. Your kids can show their feelings by revealing a certain side of the pillow and then we know if it’s playtime or bedtime/cheer up time/hold close time/keep your distance time!

What makes My Happy Pillow extra special is that these pillows were created by a precious 6 year old girl who wanted a way to express her feelings. It’s like getting inside information for what kids want from a kid! This was something I had to try with Avery, and was ecstatic when they agreed to send me one of their pillows for review. I even had a kind note from Wendy upon opening the package.

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And then a not-so-kind Sunny the Bear showed his face….

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I quickly flipped him over so we all could be happy though!

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Phew! The stitching and fabric is all high quality and soft to touch. Both extremely important for a pillow and for kids who like to “test” the durability of their toys.

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If you were wondering, Sunny passed the test. In order to show her acceptance, she brought him to her favorite chair for a big a hug…

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….and even let him sit there! Obviously, this made him happy.

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Avery still hasn’t caught on to using pillows when sleeping in her crib. Despite our efforts at putting him in there at night, he always ends up on the floor along with anything else we put in there. But when on her blanket pallet, she enjoys cuddling close to her bear pillow.

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And, after taking too many pictures and testing her patience, I’d say she learned how to express her feelings without saying a word.

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Loud and clear!

Since a lot of my time is spent in the kitchen dealing with food prep, Avery found a wonderful way to keep me company and stay comfortable on the hard floor. Pillows are great for more than just your head!

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Of course, as I posted on Instagram, Sunny makes a perfect pillow too.

As you can see, we’re enjoying our fun and emotional pillow over here, and I’d say it’s worth picking up one (or several) for your family too. I think we all need a wordless way to show our feelings, so why not make it fun with a pillow?

My Happy Pillow currently has Sunny the Bear and Zee the Monkey for purchase, but have a panda, dog, lion, and giraffe you can pre-order now. Check them out here. For a better look, here’s the graphic from their About Us page with all of the animals and story of how they got started.

My Happy Pillow

I have a feeling your kids will love these pillows just like Avery since one of their kind created them. It’s genius! We all like the pillow and Avery has it with her every day now. I can’t find anything bad to say except that I really wish they would come out with a turtle pillow.

So, Isabella, if you’re reading this, please please PLEASE make a turtle pillow! I’ll be your first customer!

Make sure to keep up to date with My Happy Pillow and like them on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram.

Which pillow do you think your kids could use the most?

What about you?

Any other animals you’d like to see created by My Happy Pillow?

Zevia Tonic Water Review & Giveaway (Now Non-GMO + Color-Free!)

Disclosure: Zevia provided free product for me to review. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.

Zevia zero calorie soda giveaway

Zevia is no stranger in our house. I’ve published several posts on this healthy soda explaining why it means so much to me and even held a giveaway before. Oh yeah, and I’ll never forget the first time Avery took her first sips of the Smarter Soda. It take long until she was reaching for more!

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Being free of artificial preservatives and sweeteners, naturally sweetened with stevia, and tasting delicious is what made us instant fans years ago. But now Zevia has stepped up their entire line of healthy beverages to be Non-GMO Project Verified and free of any added color. This means no more caramel color in any flavor, so they’ll be clean and clear, just like their list of ingredients.

It takes a lot of work to go through the process of becoming Non-GMO Project Verified, and Zevia did it for us, the health-conscious consumer. Thank you, Zevia!

When I heard of their newest addition, Tonic Water, I had to try it for myself. Lucky for me, they agreed to send some to try and review. Okay, and I’m sure a little cheesy-grinned persuasion from Avery helped too.

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Upon its arrival, I was ready for my first taste. After checking out the cool white cans, that is.

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Well, then we had to take a picture of her caterpillar next to the can…

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Annnnnddd, THEN I opened it up to try. By itself, it tastes slightly bitter with a dry hint of citrus and a clean mouth feeling. Nothing to write home about, but who writes home about soda anyway? Just call to tell them how awesome Zevia is, no time to write!

Since tonic water is not meant to drink alone (it’s a mixer), I used the rest of the open can to make a little mocktail for Avery and myself.

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Obviously, Zevia + Zevia = delicious awesomeness, so I made a 50/50 mix of Zevia Strawberry and Tonic Water after a hot walk under the Texas sun. The result did not disappoint, we both loved it and the drink was gone in no time.

After another day in the heat (I think it’ll be like this for a while), I got creative and pureed watermelon and added a little Zevia Tonic Water for a little refreshing fizz.

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And we have another winner!

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Yes, there were seconds……then thirds. Then I had to change her diaper from all of the liquid intake. Gotta keep’em hydrated in the heat!! But after the diaper change, someone apparently was not done….

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Oh yeah, and of course their tonic water is perfect to enjoy our adult beverages without weighing us down from sugary, high calorie mixers. Vodka Tonic, anyone?

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These two over ice after getting the kiddo to sleep is a nice way to wind down a crazy day with a toddler, a long day at work, or just to relax.

With plenty of summer left, I plan on finding other fun, refreshing, and most importantly, healthy ways to use Zevia’s Tonic Water as well as all of their now color-free and Non-GMO flavors. Check out the list of recipes for their Tonic Water on Zevia’s site for some creative ideas perfect for both kids and adults.

Oh, and maybe it would help if you were to win a 6 pack of Zevia to get things started, huh? Well, lucky you, I have just the thing; a chance for 3 readers, that’s you, to enter for a chance to win a voucher to pick up a six-pack of any Zevia flavor you want!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest ends Saturday, July 4th at midnight. Good luck and be sure to spread the Zevia Love on Twitter by sharing your photos and including the hashtag #TheNewSweet!