Belle is up for adoption. She’s super cute but has been giving me a run for my money lately. We had a stand-off over the iPad yesterday and I ended up having to take it away right at the critical moment.

I was trying to meet a deadline in the office before picking up Chloe from ballet and it would have been amazing to have 30 minutes peace and quiet.

Instead, I tried to write a proposal while guessing at hangman and answering one hundred and one questions about my day. I love this about Belle — she has always been genuinely interested in how my day has gone and what I did, but oh my god, the timing!

Anyway, during that frantic half-hour she also drew a picture and left it on my desk. I only looked at it this morning. She’d drawn a picture with “you win mummy” written across the middle. This afternoon when I picked her up, I asked her what she meant — I thought she meant our little iPad war. You know what she said though? “Mummy! I meant you win my love!” Aaaaahhh, kill me now. Cancel the adoption. She can stay after all.

Parenting is the biggest roller coaster ride I have ever experienced. There are these crazy highs when you can’t believe your luck. You have these incredible tiny humans in your lives and you made them!

Then sometimes they’re little terrorists and you have to lock yourself in the bathroom and pretend you’re constipated just to get a break. It’s simultaneously the best and worst thing I ever did.

Don’t take me literally when it comes to the worst, I don’t really mean it. In between the throw up and the whining there are moments of everyday magic that carry you through. One of my clients once said: “I’m hanging on by a thread, but it’s a golden thread!” I’ve thought about that a lot since then.

The tricky thing with stressful days (whether it’s kids or work or relationships throwing you off balance), is that we often compensate with crappy food, using it as a quick pick-me-up. The problem with comfort eating is that even though it might make our short-term feel a bit better, it makes our long-term worse. And when your short-term fix sabotages your long-term goals, that’s a shame.

The simple (but not necessarily easy) solution is to find healthy pick-me-ups that you enjoy just as much as the junk. Replace something that works against you with something that works for you instead. Look for the everyday magic in something that’s healthy but knocks your socks off too!

At a recent Chef Shop cooking class, I shared this recipe for a peach and white tea morning detox smoothie. It’s light on the banana (high sugar) and heavy on the peach (low sugar).

I use grass-fed collagen for added age-defying protein (we sell it at Inside Out Wellness Centre), but you could use a dose of vanilla plant-based protein instead. I like Plant Fusion, Health Warrior and Vega, if you decide to go the protein powder route.

This recipe has lemon, ginger and cayenne pepper for an unusual detox twist and I’ve replaced the milk with chilled herbal tea. It will make your smoothie lighter and thinner, but I love them this way.

Herbal smoothies are really refreshing and more therapeutic too. If you buy a smoothie and it’s really thick, then it’s probably really heavy on the banana, so ask them to take it easy. OK – here’s the recipe – give it a try and have a great weekend!

Peach and White Tea Morning Detox Smoothie

Ingredients are per person

½ cup frozen banana

1 cup frozen peaches

Juice of ¼ lemon (not the peel)

1cm ginger, peeled

Dash cayenne pepper

1 tbsp grass-fed collagen (or scoop protein powder)

Chilled white tea (as much as you like)

Blend to whatever consistency you like.

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the managing director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified nutritional therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a Registered Dietitian. For details, please go to natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda