I made an awesome smoothie this morning and I just wanted to share the recipe with everyone!
Combine in blender:
1/2 cup of nonfat or lowfat plain yogurt
1/3 to 1/2 cup vanilla coconut milk
1 banana, broken apart or sliced
1 tomato, sliced in 1/8's
6-8 frozen strawberries
Handful frozen berries
1 tsp chia seeds
1 spoonful honey (optional)
Blend to your preference and pour yourself the yummiest, berriest smoothie in all the land!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
My Latest Escapade
It's been a long time my old friend...
I wanted to take some time to write about a big change in my life. For years now, I have been very conscious of fitness and health. However, while I have been health conscious, I have not fully committed to being truly healthy. I have made excuses, tried to cancel out bad health deeds with good ones, and yet have still been baffled as to why I am not completely happy with my weight, my appearance, and more importantly the way I feel. Doing an hour of cardio every day does not give you license to wreak havoc on your body in all sorts of ways, which I knew, but about which I was somehow in deep denial.
A few weeks ago I decided that I would stop drinking on weeknights. Fine, no problem, a baby step I could handle. It wasn't like I was getting tipsy every night, but a glass of wine after dinner was something I always looked forward to, so I replaced it with a cup of tea and all was well. Just from that step alone, and pushing myself a little harder at the gym, I lost 3 pounds in one week. Wonderful. However, I have a bad habit of wanting to celebrate my small victories, and before I knew it those three pounds had crept back on. Whatever, Valentine's Day was partly to blame, I told myself, I'll lose that weight again. This is just one small glimpse into my health and fitness life, a constant cycle of losing and gaining, gaining back a little more every time. I was suddenly very aware of all of this, and I knew something had to change.
I went ahead and did something I had been meaning to do for a long time but never seemed to get around to doing, I watched Forks Over Knives, a documentary based upon the work of two researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, plus various other doctors and average joes giving testimonials. They all spoke about the benefit of a plant-based diet, and the harm caused to our bodies by consuming animal products. There were testimonials from people who had actually turned around cancer and heart disease just from switching to a plant-based diet. I was hooked. I watched a few more documentaries, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Hungry for Change, and Vegucated. I won't go into detail about the rest, but Vegucated and Forks Over Knives were probably the best in my opinion. I plan on watching more, and reading more. In any case, last Sunday I went to the grocery store and I filled that cart up with the good stuff. All kinds of veggies and fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy grains.
I won't bore you with the specifics of my menu for the week, but it consisted generally of smoothies, veggie stir-fries and scrambles, salads, and fruits, veggies, and nuts as snacks. Lots of water too. I have also not eaten any meat since Monday, and I no longer intend to do so. I can get my protein and omega 3's elsewhere and I would much rather do it that way. I love animals too much. Anyone who knows me knows that it can completely turn my mood around to even so much as look at a picture of an animal, and after seeing a few things in those documentaries that I will not share here, I just can't eat them anymore. I had a moment when I was watching one of those documentaries, and some of the unmentionable footage was being shown, and I was just overcome with sadness. I looked down at my dog Helen, who looked back up at me with her sweet, concerned, brown doggy eyes, and I just knew. Never again. I've tried this a couple times before without success, so I know a lot of people won't take me seriously for awhile, and that's fine, but I know I'm done. And I will tell you, I feel amazing. Well, today I don't feel particularly amazing because I decided last night I would "cheat" and had a whole bunch of just about the only food I could consume at Texas Roadhouse - fried pickles. You can't really go straight to eating fried food after a week of consuming mainly plants and expect to feel great. Lesson humbly learned.
So I'm a vegetarian now - what's next? Will I start to constantly reek of patchouli? Quit my job to work at a farmer's market? Grow out my leg and armpit hair? Who knows what will happen. I'd like to go full vegan eventually, that will be more of a challenge. For now I'll be focusing on trying to find local, truly free range eggs, local cheese when I want it, and more healthy versions of everyday products like flour. I want to start juicing too. As of today I am getting rid of Myfitnesspal and just focusing on eating healthy and targeting the right nutrient groups, you can't go wrong there.
To sum up, in general I feel awesome after this week. I have more energy, I am excited to start the day when I wake up, I look forward to eating instead of associating it with guilt, and as an added bonus I have lost 5 pounds. This time it's staying off, and will soon be joined by more weight I don't need. I don't have a specific number in mind, I'm just going to focus on healthy eating and getting a good amount of exercise and the rest will take care of itself. I feel this was the best gift I could give myself as I head into the second half of my twenties - a healthier and more sustainable way of life.
I welcome discussion, I know not everyone is convinced of the things I have become convinced of, but I do expect people to respect my choice, as I will respect and reserve judgment of your health choices as well.
Stay well everyone! I hope you all have a marvelous weekend.
Mandy
I wanted to take some time to write about a big change in my life. For years now, I have been very conscious of fitness and health. However, while I have been health conscious, I have not fully committed to being truly healthy. I have made excuses, tried to cancel out bad health deeds with good ones, and yet have still been baffled as to why I am not completely happy with my weight, my appearance, and more importantly the way I feel. Doing an hour of cardio every day does not give you license to wreak havoc on your body in all sorts of ways, which I knew, but about which I was somehow in deep denial.
A few weeks ago I decided that I would stop drinking on weeknights. Fine, no problem, a baby step I could handle. It wasn't like I was getting tipsy every night, but a glass of wine after dinner was something I always looked forward to, so I replaced it with a cup of tea and all was well. Just from that step alone, and pushing myself a little harder at the gym, I lost 3 pounds in one week. Wonderful. However, I have a bad habit of wanting to celebrate my small victories, and before I knew it those three pounds had crept back on. Whatever, Valentine's Day was partly to blame, I told myself, I'll lose that weight again. This is just one small glimpse into my health and fitness life, a constant cycle of losing and gaining, gaining back a little more every time. I was suddenly very aware of all of this, and I knew something had to change.
I went ahead and did something I had been meaning to do for a long time but never seemed to get around to doing, I watched Forks Over Knives, a documentary based upon the work of two researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, plus various other doctors and average joes giving testimonials. They all spoke about the benefit of a plant-based diet, and the harm caused to our bodies by consuming animal products. There were testimonials from people who had actually turned around cancer and heart disease just from switching to a plant-based diet. I was hooked. I watched a few more documentaries, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Hungry for Change, and Vegucated. I won't go into detail about the rest, but Vegucated and Forks Over Knives were probably the best in my opinion. I plan on watching more, and reading more. In any case, last Sunday I went to the grocery store and I filled that cart up with the good stuff. All kinds of veggies and fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy grains.
I won't bore you with the specifics of my menu for the week, but it consisted generally of smoothies, veggie stir-fries and scrambles, salads, and fruits, veggies, and nuts as snacks. Lots of water too. I have also not eaten any meat since Monday, and I no longer intend to do so. I can get my protein and omega 3's elsewhere and I would much rather do it that way. I love animals too much. Anyone who knows me knows that it can completely turn my mood around to even so much as look at a picture of an animal, and after seeing a few things in those documentaries that I will not share here, I just can't eat them anymore. I had a moment when I was watching one of those documentaries, and some of the unmentionable footage was being shown, and I was just overcome with sadness. I looked down at my dog Helen, who looked back up at me with her sweet, concerned, brown doggy eyes, and I just knew. Never again. I've tried this a couple times before without success, so I know a lot of people won't take me seriously for awhile, and that's fine, but I know I'm done. And I will tell you, I feel amazing. Well, today I don't feel particularly amazing because I decided last night I would "cheat" and had a whole bunch of just about the only food I could consume at Texas Roadhouse - fried pickles. You can't really go straight to eating fried food after a week of consuming mainly plants and expect to feel great. Lesson humbly learned.
So I'm a vegetarian now - what's next? Will I start to constantly reek of patchouli? Quit my job to work at a farmer's market? Grow out my leg and armpit hair? Who knows what will happen. I'd like to go full vegan eventually, that will be more of a challenge. For now I'll be focusing on trying to find local, truly free range eggs, local cheese when I want it, and more healthy versions of everyday products like flour. I want to start juicing too. As of today I am getting rid of Myfitnesspal and just focusing on eating healthy and targeting the right nutrient groups, you can't go wrong there.
To sum up, in general I feel awesome after this week. I have more energy, I am excited to start the day when I wake up, I look forward to eating instead of associating it with guilt, and as an added bonus I have lost 5 pounds. This time it's staying off, and will soon be joined by more weight I don't need. I don't have a specific number in mind, I'm just going to focus on healthy eating and getting a good amount of exercise and the rest will take care of itself. I feel this was the best gift I could give myself as I head into the second half of my twenties - a healthier and more sustainable way of life.
I welcome discussion, I know not everyone is convinced of the things I have become convinced of, but I do expect people to respect my choice, as I will respect and reserve judgment of your health choices as well.
Stay well everyone! I hope you all have a marvelous weekend.
Mandy
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