Change CAN be a good thing

Hey everyone!

For those that know me well, I am not a person who likes change.  I am kind of (ok a lot) a control freak and I enjoy my comfortable and safe routines.  I am at my best when I know exactly what is going on and what to expect.  Well the other day I was out on one of my evening walks (side note: everyone should take an evening stroll.  Very relaxing and mind-clearing) and started thinking about my life.  I know, I'm very deep.  But in particular, I started thinking about the things I do now that if someone told me I would be doing 3 years ago I would of laughed right in their faces.  I was actually shocked at myself and kind of proud of the person I had become.

The first major thing that I do now that I thought I would NEVER EVER do is run.  I hated running, it was pure torture.  I dreaded the days in gym class that we had to run the mile or the 12 minute run or any form of running in general.  I looked at people in track and cross country and thought what sort of sick and twisted person would join a team that's primary focus is running? What masochist enjoys this evil form of movement?  Well as it turns out: me.  I run nearly everyday and I don't think I could go with out now that I have officially become a runner.  Running has really opened so many doors for me, but most importantly it has shown me just how strong, determined, and motivated I can be.  I can do ANYTHING if I truly put my heart and soul into it.

The second change would be my eating habits.  While I wouldn't say that I ate terribly before switching to a whole foods diet and eliminating processed food, sugar and chemicals, I didn't eat as well as I could.  I loved anything cream-based, I ate way too much pasta (SUCH an easy and cheap dinner to make in college), and indulged in small desserts.  But more than that I snacked constantly.  Some chips here, crackers there, one or two cookies.  I usually had some food nearby or in my hand on it's way to my mouth.  This has changed dramatically.  The way I ate in college, and even as short as 6 months ago, is nothing compared to the way that I eat now.  I used to think that I would never be able to live without cheese or dairy and now I find myself not even craving those things.  I barely eat any pasta and would rather have a big bowl of quinoa or brown rice or some other whole grain.  My desserts now are fresh fruit or some clean dessert that I have prepared from scratch.  And I no longer graze my days away.  And the manner in which I eat has dramatically changed as well.  I don't sit in front of the TV/computer but rather at the table.  I take my time, at least 30 minutes if not more, eating rather than shoveling it in as fast as possible.  And I make everything that I eat.  No microwaveable dinners or meals from a box/bag/pouch.  I take the time to prepare and cook every meal that both Adam and I eat.  That really adds to my enjoyment of the meal.  And all these changes to the way I eat have led to better health and a lot more satisfaction and happiness than previously.

The third change doesn't necessarily have anything to do with health, but it sort of does.  Due mostly to budget, Adam and I haven't had cable for about a year now.  My family will tell you that this is shocking as I used to be the queen of TV.  I would constantly have it on, whether I was actively watching or not.  The minute I would get home I would turn the TV on and sometimes would fall asleep to it's glow.  I easily watched 30 to 40 hours of TV a week.  While I wasn't a couch potato, there were times I could be doing something much more productive with my time.  Now that I don't have cable (we do have Netflix instant and a DVD player so I haven't totally gotten rid of the television) I find myself doing other things like going for walks or cleaning or reading or baking or any other activity that doesn't have my comatose in front of my television set.  And you know what? I love it!! Sure I do miss things like food network and I would love to be able to watch the Olympics live, but I am so much happier doing other things with my time.  And without the constant barrage of commercials for fast food restaurants or things like that, I never crave that stuff.  If you think you are brave enough I would say give no cable a try for just a week and see how much happier you are.  Plus you can save a bunch on your cable bill! Double bonus!

The last change actually just recently came about and I am surprised at how excited I am about it.  I have been given an opportunity to learn more about diet and nutrition and how it affects health and with that a possibility of a career along those lines.  It is just the beginnings and nothing is set in stone nor do I have an official title or anything, but I am so thrilled to be able to have the chance to do something that I am really passionate about.  While being a nanny is great and it helps to pay the bills, it is by no means what I want to do with the rest of my life.  This opportunity would really give me a chance to expand my knowledge on a topic I am VERY interested in and help spread what I learn with others.  That is awesome!!

In that vein, I have decided that I am going to branch off of this blog and start one of my own focusing specifically on food and nutrition.  We will still keep this blog up and running and hopefully try to make a little more out of it than what it is, but I will be dedicating a good portion of my time to the new blog.  Once I get it up and running I will link it to this one so you are able to find it.  My hope is that it will help hone my writing skills and deepen my knowledge as well as get some really important information out there to you readers.  Well, this has been quite the post, but it has been great to really look back and see how far I have come and what an incredible journey I have made.  I still have many miles to go and am excited for what the future holds! Until next time!


Katie

Reader feedback: What is one major change in your life that you never thought would happen?

But... I am a real woman...

Happy Sunday afternoon everyone!

I don't know about you, but I love Sunday's.  There is this great laid back feeling that I get on Sunday, plus it is a day that I usually get to cook and clean a ton.  Yes, I am weird and I love both cleaning and cooking.


So for today's post I am going to talk about something that is very close to my heart and something that I have personally struggled with over the years.  Self-image.  I have always had a hard time with this concept.  Starting in grade school, I constantly compared myself to other girls and I could NOT understand why they were all tiny and thin and here I was all curvy and wearing bras.  Ever since that time I have always had a poor concept of how I look.  It didn't help that I bought into what the media said I should look like and to be honest that image is pretty much unattainable for any normal human being.  And that is what I want to focus on for the rest of this post.  But shockingly I am not going to spend my time bashing popular culture for bombarding young girls with fake, photo-shopped images (even though that is EXACTLY what they do).  I want to address the other side of this battle.  The "Real Women have Curves" movement.  First, I applaud all those out there who are doing what they can to counteract the unhealthy thinspo movement.  Eating and exercise disorders are at an all time high among young girls and that is not acceptable at all.  But at the same time, I have a problem with the phrase "Real Women".  That insinuates that if you do not have curves you are somehow not a real woman.  The fact of the matter is that woman come in every shape and size.  Some are tall and skinny, some are short and curvy and then there is everything in between.  By stating that to be thought of as womanly and sexy you have to have curves sends just the same unhealthy message to girls.  Some girls will never have the voluptuous curvy figure that is posted on these "Real Women" ads and that also leads to damaged self-image and unhealthy habits.  We need to celebrate woman. Period.  However they look, in whatever way they come.  We need to promote health over any certain body type.  Not all girls will be skinny, not all girls with be curvy, not all girls will be buff and athletic, but all girls can be healthy and learn how to take care of the amazing body they have been giving.  If someone had come up to me in 5th grade and said, "The way you are now is just fine, you are so much more than a body type", a lot of things might have been different for me.  And furthermore, I wasn't done growing yet! I had no idea that the body I had then would be a million times different than the one I have now, even without eating right and exercising.  There are girls out there who have no idea that they aren't stuck with what they have at that moment.  So let's give them hope and encouragement, and the tools to have the best self-image and life possible.  Real women don't always have curves and aren't always model skinny.  But Real Women are powerful and strong and amazing and can do whatever they put their minds too.  Let's spread that message around.  And not just to women.  Anyone can benefit from hearing that they are amazing no matter what they look like.  Have a great week guys and I will talk to you soon!

Katie

Reader feedback:  What inspiring message do you think should be shouted from the rooftops?

    

Katie and I spent the last couple days catching up on some of the good food documentaries that have been released in the last couple years.  The first we watched was Food Matters.  This documentary talked about the wonderful powers of food.  It certainly illuminated some aspects of food that I had never thought about before and I would recommend anyone who is serious about their health and nutrition to check it out.  For those who want a teaser, it primarily talks about how eating healthy, whole foods can radically change the way your life works, and how modern medicine isn't broadcasting that message.

The other documentary we watched was a very uplifting film called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  This film was about a man who had a debilitating disease which he took excessive amounts of medication for that really didn't help his problem.  So he consulted a nutritionist and decided to try a 60 day juice fast to cleanse his system of everything, lose weight, and try to beat back his disease in a way that modern medicine just can't keep up with.  He also meets and convinces a man on the road to try it out to save himself from the same disease and a lifestyle of extreme obesity.  It's a great film and really shows how radically changing a diet can help people alter their lifestyle.

Both of these films really gave both Katie and myself a desire to continue eating clean as a start.  Something we learned that we weren't aware of is that processed food has approximately 10% of the nutrients as the original article.  So that cream of broccoli soup in the supermarket is missing almost all of the nutrients it would have produced had you simply eaten a head of broccoli.  It also gave us a desire to reach out to our friends and family and try to encourage them to also eat healthy for their future.  All of the drugs that needed to be consumed for the problems associated with obesity presented in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead cost around $500 a month without any insurance.  Not only is that not financially viable, but it cannot be good for your body to be warping it with all those drugs.  Considering that obesity is completely preventable (with a healthy diet) there is NO REASON to waste that kind of money.

So consider it official.  Katie and I have renewed our commitments to eat clean, but also to advocate for healthy lifestyles.  Go watch those documentaries, and think about your future.

*Both documentaries are available on Instant Netflix Streaming, as well as traditional sources.

Summer Weekends

Hello all! I hope that each and every one of you had as great a weekend as Adam and I did.  We had absolutely no obligations these past two days and it was great to just spend time together and not worry about getting one place or rushing to get something done.  It was also a great opportunity for us to get into the kitchen and make some really great summer dishes (of course all clean).  Saturday we had a little picnic and I made a chicken salad from leftover crock pot chicken.  I decided that there should be a rule that you can not make chicken salad using any chicken other than leftover chicken from some other meal because this one was that good!  That evening, Adam took over my kitchen (quite the miracle if you knew how protective I am of my kitchen...) and made a delicious gazpacho from Angela over at ohsheglows.com.  We added a side of sauteed zucchini and cantaloupe and it was a great summer dinner.  Sunday dinner was garlic tuna quinoa cakes, corn from our local farmer's market and more cantaloupe.  Yet another light and refreshing dinner.  I hope I am not making you guys too hungry, cause my stomach is starting to rumble!  It's weekends like this that prove it is possible to eat deliciously AND healthy.  Now that my recipe page is up and (sort of) running I will be able to give you guys some starting places to start making your own healthy meals.  That is one of the biggest joys and hurdles of eating clean.  You HAVE to make a commitment to prepare pretty much all of your meals.  Yes, that can be a daunting task, but it is also very rewarding.  And you don't have to be a world class chef to create meals that taste good and will fuel your body with the proper nutrition.  Believe me, I have really started to enjoy my time in the kitchen and the love and work that goes into making a great meal for me and the ones I love.  Hopefully you can get to that point too and then you will really start to reap the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.  And as always, we're happy to help and give our advice on what has worked best for us.  I hope that your week is fantastic and you get the chance to enjoy the 4th! Until next time!

Katie


Reader Feedback:  What is your biggest hurdle to making/cooking your own meals?

Turn up the heat!

Welcome to summer folks.  It. Is. Hot.

No one should really be surprised by the heat, but every year it gets hot and I get grumpy.  I can't stand sitting in at home sweating.  But, I still need to get my exercise and healthy eating in somehow, so what's a guy supposed to do?  Here are five great tips to beating the summer inferno.

1)  Get up early.  

This morning when I went out for my bike ride at 7 am, it was a comfortable 74 degrees F.  The earlier you can get out of bed for your workout, the cooler it will be out.  Trust me on this one, I study weather for a living.

2)  Hydrate.

Drink lots of WATER.  More specifically though, drink water long before you think you're going to need it.  The rule is hydrate up 12 hours before you plan to do activities outside.  It takes time for your body to process water, so if you start drinking when you're thirsty, you're already too late.  

3)  Get out of direct sunlight

It can be anywhere from 5-10 degrees cooler in the shade compared to sunny areas, so skip trying to get that perfect tan and do your stretching under a tree.

4)  Relax during the Hottest part of the day

There's no sense doing a ton of work between 1 and 5 pm, especially when temperatures are above 95 degrees.  Take it easy during these hot hours.  If you have to work outside, rely on 2 and 3 and keep your activity level to a minimum.

5)  Hang out where there is AC

Turn on the AC in your house.  If you don't have AC, go shop for groceries, go to the local library, hang out at the local YMCA, etc. for a couple of hours.  Chances are good you can find some place in your community to cool off for a few hours, and it will really help energize you.  

This list is definitely not exhaustive (even if the heat is) but following these basic steps will help you shrug off the heat.  If you have more ideas, post them in the comments!

Adam

Excuses, Excuses

I know. I promised a better blog and sadly I have not followed through.  Life has just been a little hectic on our end, we recently moved, but now things are settling back into a nice routine and I have time again to devote to making this a really enjoyable place.  I plan on finishing my story here today and in the coming weeks add some simple recipes for you to try out.  Hopefully then we will have some more traffic here and this can become one happy, healthy, little community!

On another note, I have really been getting into cooking, and baking and creating my own meals in the kitchen.  It is just a really great feeling to make something all on your own and then serve it to people you love.  I have been reading as much as I can on blogs, and in books, and cookbooks just to better my efforts in the kitchen.  I would love to somehow turn this passion into a career, maybe not necessarily as a chef per say, but I want to be able to share my joy for cooking with others.  Until I figure out how to fully act on that, Adam and my friends and family will be on the receiving end of all my delicious meals!  Well I am off to finish my story for you all! Have a great Monday and I will talk with you again soon!

Katie


Reader Feedback: What is one passion you have that you would love to turn into a career?  

Perfect season for grilling!

It was a balmy 90 degrees yesterday, so it was the perfect day for setting up the good ole charcoal grill.  Katie and I decided that we wanted to make some kebabs, so we again turned to the wonderful work at The Gracious Pantry, where we found a delightful recipe for Pineapple Pork Kebabs.  This recipe made enough for 8 skewers worth of kebabs, so probably one for a group (or for people that love leftovers for lunch!).

The second delicious round of kebabs

There really is nothing like enjoying a beer and standing in front of the grill.  Since its more or less the only cooking that Katie lets me do, it really is where I am the master of dinner, which is a fun change of pace.  These turned out awesome, as everything at The Gracious Pantry does, so go check it out!

Adam