Beach Time! Time for vacation!

I see other people's blogs and I keep thinking 'I could do that!' but I just keep on not doing it. I've found that it's hard for me to do things. haha

I took a month of work to come down to Cape San Blas Florida for a month to spend with my mom and other friends and family down south. It's been really wonderful to take the time off work and relax and just spend relaxing time with family.

 

I've been going a little crazy with the pictures but that's what you're supposed to do on vacation right?
I haven't had a REAL vacation since high school... well, I guess I did get some vacations in college too.. but it was harder with having a job and all that stuff. So I've been saving my hours and I took a whole month! It's been so incredibly wonderful. I'll post more soon. I've seen some really fun animal life here that I'd love to share. The internet here isn't always working so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures. These were the ones I've managed to pull off facebook.

I've been doing more than relaxing however. I've been working out! Yes sir Yes ma'am! I've been doing Shaun T's Focus T25 workout. I'd been debating whether or not to get it just because of the price but I decided to just go for it. And I'm glad I did. I love it! For only 25 minutes you get a great workout. I can't find any excuse not to work out for 25 minutes a day and I feel like I still get my butt kicked so I don't feel like I wasted my time. I did Insanity and TapOut and I've done a few of Shaun's Assylum workouts that my friend has. Insanity is my favorite besides T25. It's just SO long!

My problem has been that I work out and eat really well for awhile but then I start slacking and for some reason I just give up and go back to eating poorly again. Every time I feel like this time I'm gonna do better but it never sticks. I hope that this time it does. I hope that with T25 I can stick it out and keep going til I get back this annoying phase I'm in and over the hump.

There are a lot of things I want to share on here. I'm still learning a lot about healthy eating and living and what our bodies need and crave in order to thrive. It's something I'm working on organizing. I have a lot of things floating around in my head but I seem to have a problem putting them down on paper or onto a computer screen.

Here's a lovely kale smoothie pic on the balcony at the beach :)

EAT MORE KALE!

cheers!

Beating the Winterland Blues

I was perusing through my Natural Health Magazine that I get for free somehow because of my wonderful (sometimes) brother who is always getting stuff for free... and came across an interesting little article called "win over winter" and they had some little tips for keeping the wintertime blues at bay. The article said they were tips from Scandinavian culture. Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D. ways that "prevention is better than any cure", and I SO agree! Eating a healthy diet full of nutrients is better than popping a vitamin pill.

1. Go for a morning walk - I know it's cold, but even a few minutes of AM mild aerobic activity and sunlight can brighten your mood for the whole day and keep you healthy and full of Vitamin D3.
I have read that if there is any pill that you should take, Vitamin D3 is one of them. Vitamin D3 is not the same vitamin D that you get out of milk or in a Calcium pill. It's what you get from sunlight. I've read that Doctors say 1000 iu's is a safe dosage for everyone, but some people need more; you doctor can tell you if you need more.
click to read more on algaecal.com: a whole food source powered by marine algae.

click here to take you to Amazon.com to buy Vitamin D3

2. "During the winter, Swedish cafes set out colorful blankets and pillows to help customers feel at home." (Natural Health mag). It is a coping technique for wintertime called mysig; which basically means cozy. 

Here are some pictures that look mysig to me..

 I would love to cuddle up in this chair with a nice book and a cup o joe.

15house cozy chair

To have your own mysig cafe you could set up your living room with a bunch of colorful pillows and candles. Invite some friends over for a mysig date. Play games or watch movies and wrap up in cozy colorful blankets.

   ....

Here's an interesting video on a Swedish Light Cafe...

click to go to Amazon.com

3. Be a waterbaby - get a quick blast of hot to cold. Like we used to do as kids, get in the hot tub and then jump out and roll around in the snow and jump back in. I guess there was something to all that, we just didn't know! You can get the same thing by alternating hot and cold water in your shower. (Be careful if you're pregnant or have a heart condition!)

4. Use Candles. They create a warm and welcoming environment. Some Sweeds even eat breakfast by candlelight. Sounds welcoming.

..

and of course...

Eat More Kale! - this didn't come from this particular article about winter blues... I just think it's great advice.

Kale Madness

Kale is a baddass vegetable! It is known as the Queen of Greens & the "healthiest vegetable on the planet". According to webmd: "One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus."

My Mother introduced me to Kale Smoothies

• several leaves of fresh kale
• 1 1/2 banana (frozen works really well because it's like banana ice)
• 1 1/2 cup apple juice or more
• cloves and allspice for an extra kick of flavor

They really just taste like banana and don't have a very strong kale taste. Banana covers up everything. You could even add an apple in there if you liked. This is a fabulous breakfast smoothie. Just what you need for that extra kick of energy in the AM.

Here's a guy that makes tshirts about kale - EatMoreKale.com. He prints his shirts one at a time so you know it's been individually made.

KALE CHIPS

tear/chop up your kale 

put it in a big bowl and toss with olive oil, paprika, garlic salt, 

add chili powder if you like it spicy

I like to also toss up some minced garlic as well

lay it out flat on a pan and toast it on 350 for 10 minutes

You can leave them in a little longer if you like them extra crispy.

Just take one out and test it.

I like to sprinkle mine with lemon or lime juice. It just adds an extra somethin'-somethin'.

You could even sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on there if you wanted. I'll bet that would be fabulous.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post. It's been fun!

Remember...

EAT MORE KALE!

A Healthy Post

The first wealth is health.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Smart guy that Ralph. I seem to quote him a lot.

I'm perusing through my latest Natural Health magazine and you know what I like to do when I read interesting stuff. I get on blogspot and talk about it.

I didn't drink enough water yesterday. In fact, I didn't drink ANY water yesterday. Shame shame on me. I drank part of a fountain soda, ate crap and also had a caramel latte with soy... at least I had soy. Oh, and a beer. By 8:00 I had a headache. I'm actually surprised I didn't have one earlier but the coffee probably helped with that. .. When I was in college I did a 'research' project on drinking water. It wasn't the most scientific study ever done by a student but it was interesting. It was about how you feel when you drink water, and if you tried to drink more water throughout the day did you end up wanting more and feeling better about yourself for the accomplishement. I believe that this is true. I can't remember when my findings were though. I know that when I drink water I don't get headaches and I also feel better. That's reason enough for me.

Here's an interesting product, since we're talking about water... Vapur foldable reusable water bottles. How friggin' cool is that!? Only $10 a pop. Fold them up in your purse after drinking all your water. Easy to carry around. However, don't fill it with bottled water. Bottled water is usually just tap water and can still be distributed even if it doesn't even meet the municipal tapwater standards!!! and only 1 in 5 plastic water bottles are recycled.

Moving on...

The Natural Health magazine sometimes prints little facts here and there throughout... I'm not sure sometimes where they get their information for some of their little blurbs but here's an interesting one... physical and social warmth are interchangeable to some degree... so you could take a bath or drink a hot drink or sip soup to dispel feelings of isolation and exclusion. Interesting!

Winter is close at hand and you know that that means... vitamin D deficiency! So pop those D3 pills and eat your shitake mushrooms. And read about the 10 foods highest in Vitamin D!

Ok I'm gonna be annoying and talk about vegetarians and cancer. I know, I know. There is a lot of controversy about cancer; a lot of studies that people say don't prove anything. Regardless, I believe that eating less meat, more veggies and getting more exercise will decrease our risk of developing cancer. Sure, healthy people get cancer too... that's not the point. I don't understand why people put so much effort into disagreeing and disproving studies when you could just try to be more healthy. Where's the harm in that?

And no, drinking a V8 Fusion does NOT count as eating your veggies. Do you know how much sugar is in that? Just eat some darn broccoli for goodness sakes!

"A cheerful heart is good medicine." Proverbs 17:22

Well people, I hope I wasn't too incredibly annoying with my health post. I can do better and so can you. Let's make this world a healthier place. And feed your kids some spinach for dinner.

sharing some funnies

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.  

~Jean Houston~

I would like to share some funny websites that I love. According to this website, laughter is good for you. It releases the same endorphins that are released during exercise and sex. These endorphins can temporarily relieve pain and give you an overall sense of well-being. I can vouch for the exercise part of that. And how many times have you laughed and then though how much life sucked afterwards?

someEcards - this website is a free e-card site where you can create your own e-cards or use cards previously created by other users. It's a lot of fun to make your own because you can customize them to people if you want. If you think you make a particularly great one you can submit it for other people to vote on. Here's one that I recently made after all the scandals with the high-power men cheating with their maids. Their created cards particularly play to my dry and sometimes wordy sense of humor. <3 Check it out.

deargirlsaboveme.com - this one was forwarded to me by a friend and I loved it instantaneously! These two dumb girls moved in above this guy's apartment and he can hear everything they say so he started "writing letters to them" with quotes from the things they say. It is absolutely hilarious. You can't make this stuff up.

CatalogLiving - I can't tell you how much I love this site. A+++ . It's created by this woman Molly Erdman who posts pictures from catalogs and creates captions based upon her fictional characters Gary and Elaine. You know how sometimes pictures in catalogs are completely ridiculous? This pokes fun at the decorating that goes into these often silly poses. It's quite funny. I don't know, maybe it's my twisted sense of humor but looking through these I often find myself laughing out loud. I hope you do too.

CuteOverload - This site isn't so much funny as it is adorable. If you're every feeling down go to this website and look at some cute puppies, kitties and hamsters and you'll instantly feel a little better about life.

Bo Burnham - Warning!!! Explicit Content! (not the website, but his music is quite explicit & offensive). It's often very uncomfortable to listen to, which I personally love, but it's not for everyone. He's this skinny, white nerdy boy who raps. He's very clever which is what I love most about it. If you'd like to check out some of his less explicit stuff here's a good one; 3.14 apple pie. And a few more that aren't QUITE as explicit (HighSchool Party, Rehab for Fictional Characters, The Perfect Woman, Love Is... ) If you don't like 3.14 apple pie you won't like any of his stuff. Just warning ya!

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.  

~e.e. cummings~

And if you want to keep looking and see some more funnies here's a list of the top 15 funniest websites according to some people.

Healthnut - getting there

So I'm kindof a health nut. I haven't always followed it properly like I know I should. But I know what I should be doing and when I try I do a pretty good job. Lately I've noticed a lot of non-healthy behaviors. Specifically at my job. People are fed hamburger helper and when they are fed something healthy they turn up their nose at it in favor of a PB&J on white bread. ugh. I'm confused. Has it always been like this?

I seem to remember the "hot lunches" at school being pretty grotesque. I always brought a lunch from home. Sure, sometimes I wanted to eat the mac&cheese or the gooey pizza but it was more of a pride thing with me. "Look at me, I don't wear Nikes or eat Hot Lunch"! Now though, I do think it's something to be proud of. I see people downing multiple Mountain Dews in one afternoon on a daily basis and it's rather sad when you really think about it. We're so overworked that we think we need this stuff. When in reality all it takes is a bit of healthy eating and exercise on a regular basis to get your body back to a baseline where you can function properly without all that crap in your system. But it's hard work to start it, it really is. That's why it's good to have people around you who support your choices and make good choices themselves.

If you want to start, start small. Cut out the sodas every day. Maybe have one every other day until you're down to once a week or so. Soda's aren't the devil, but they can be if you drink them every day.

* Drink WATER! Your body needs it and will thank you for it. Start in the morning

* Eat wheat bread instead of white. Check the ingredients. If it says "enriched whole wheat flour" DON'T buy it. Not if it says enriched. Only get "whole wheat flour" or a variation of that. Enriched basically means dyed white flour.

* Eat breakfast. Even if it's just a banana.

* Try replacing the sugar in your coffee with honey. Try it, you might like it.

* Go for a walk, then increase it bit by bit. Start jogging or biking, take a class.... Anything to get your body moving. It will increase endorphins which will make you happier and in turn make you more productive. It gets oxygen to your brain and clears your head; always a good thing, especially these days.

* Eat less meat. I'm not saying cut it out completely, but just try to make a few meals each week that don't include meat. And eat more fish if you're gonna eat a meat.

Those are my basic starters. Just work on those things for a month and see how you feel about yourself.
After that keep going with bigger changes. Try going a whole week without meat, start expandinng your vegetable vocabulary, try some new grains (I love buckwheat and oats cooked together for breakfast & japanese soba noodles). Start exercising more and try doing something different, set a goal. Try black tea for breakfast with honey and cream instead of coffee for 2 days out of the week... Just keep going. Pretty soon you won't miss those things that you thought you needed every day.

Believe me, it is doable. Baby steps. And don't beat yourself up.

If there was one thing I would say to do first is exercise. Just going for a walk clears your head and gets you thinking. So grab a friend and take a stroll. You'll be surprised how much better you feel just after doing that.

Good luck!