be KIND to your body

So I have completed week 1! It was hard, not gonna lie, but I'm glad I got through it and I really feel so much better, can't wait to see how I feel at the end of next week! So a little background info, this is a real diet (just healthy eating really) by a Dr. Anne Louise Gittleman. Here is the direct website to the plan: http://www.annlouise.com/blog/2010/03/19/shake-down-excess-weight-with-delicious-smoothies/

Basically it is two shakes a day as a meal replacement and one meal with a healthy lean meat and as many fruits and veggies from her list as possible! (She has a list of approved best-fr-dieting-fruits-and-veggies-there-are list). And 2 Nalgene's of the 100% cran juice and water a day (that 64 ounces total in one day, leave a little room at the top for about 2-4 ounces cran juice- unfortunately this will stain your Nalgene badly...I am in need of a new one!). So no bread, starches, sugar, complex carbs, things like that. It is a gluten and dairy free diet as well and I have had this lingering cough and it's pretty much gone now! She has a special protein powder that I bought that is also gluten and dairy free, yummy, and made from plant proteins (look it up!). Some things you might not expect: nuts are not on the list but doesn't specifically say "no nuts" (I'd say I'm getting enough protein though), eat as many hard boiled eggs as you want for snacks, BANANAS are NOT are the list (lots of sugar and high glycemic index), "legal cheat" is green tea or black coffee:) SO happy I could still drink coffee and I am now a "black drinker" it's official! (Really helps when it's a yummy organic kind like Walla Walla Roastery or Whole Foods Allegro brand:)) No sugar is hard, and I totally cheated last night after my looong day of school and work and ate the rest of that nummy Justin's Almond Butter I uploaded last week....oops, but at least it wasn't ice cream with chocolate sauce right???

Now for the smoothies, it's the same recipe I have been uploading minus the almond milk! 1 T flaxseed oil, cran-water, her protein powder, any frozen berries, apples, cherries, pineapple, mango, grapefruit, oranges, and 1 T Chia seeds:) (add spinach if you want can't hurt!)

The meat should be lean like chicken, any fish, turkey, or beaf. I had tuna wraps (cheated with the whole wheat wrap from Whole Foods) and put green onions, carrots, Turmeric seasoning (a really healthy spice for you and recommended by her!), and mustard in it or a little nonfat greek plain yogurt for my meal to take to school. I also had organic chicken noodle soup one night with added green onion and a little nonfat greek yogurt and Turmeric. Tonight was friday so my roommate and I went out for salads (mine was chicken, apple, grape, walnut, apple cider vinegarette, celery, and blue cheese-YUM! Okay not totallllly on the diet but really close and still very healthy and low fat.)

I snacked on hard boiled eggs, carrots, grapefruit, apples and cinnamon, and oranges this week. I bought some more different yummy fruits and veggies for this week! The key is to have healthy snacks on hand so when you're hungry you go for those, in case you don't have a Magic Bullet on hand to make an extra smoothie cause that's a legal cheat too! Unfortunately almond butter was not...dang.

In the theme of being Kind to my body this week I decided to take advantage of some classes at the gym to inspire me to workout and just for fun:) I did my normal running Sunday and then Monday did TurboKick which made my arms and shoulders incredibly sore and my legs a little sore, then did Cycling on Tuesday which made my legs really sore, so Wednesday I tried Yoga and LOVED it, Thursday long day I only fit in a 15 min ab cruncher on my Nike App, which made my abs hurt so today I did walking around Whole Foods, Fred Meyer and dancing with Preschoolers, so tomorrow I am craving Yoga again!! (Dr. Gittleman says to go easy on working out on this diet....)

I plan to read lots of fun books this weekend but today I am super excited because I finally got Cinder from the library! A brand new scifi Cinderella story, can't wait! Haha Other than that I read Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends this week- my favorite was the poem about the little boy with no concept of money! I want to use it in a classroom to explain that 1 dollar is actually worth more than 5 quarters...and so on :)

Here are some photos of my meals and snacks, black coffee, Dr. Gittleman's stuff, and my yummy snack at Whole Foods before shopping today (very bad to shop while hungry haha). I will upload a delicious meal from this diet I am making tomorrow and at the end of next week another update with a weight loss check (if I lost any haha). Happy Weekend everyone! Do something kind to yourself! I bought some yellow lilies today for our apartment:) I figure better flowers than fatty ice cream or flapjacks, or frozen yogurt, or fun dips....

Keeping up and Keeping on Track!

No not Keeping up with the Kardashians which is probably the first thing that came to mind...they eat terrible, are not very kind sometimes, don't do a lot of kinesthetics but they are gaining more kids...anyways last week with Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend vacation it was definitely cheat weak! SO this week is all about keeping up and keeping myself on track (in all aspects of life)! Did you know it is only 30 days until SPRING BREAK?! That's only a month! But true progress, perseverance and and prayer can get us through it until that glorious day when we have a FULL WEEK off. Let's make the hard work pay off and spring break count! This week I have gone back to eating healthy and my 2 Nalgene's of cran-water everyday, a workout schedule, less sweets, a new Bible study, and a couple tests and papers turned in with prep for some projects to come before spring break on the school front- phew! So here's how I'm starting to get on track this week, much more to come next week!

#1 Quinoa Shrimp Stir Fry:
I had a bag of Wild Caught frozen shrimp from Fred Meyer with about 4 servings in it. I cooked 1c of quinoa and boiled a pot of frozen edemame beans while I cut and mixed together to sauté:
green onions
yellow onion (1/2)
carrots
broccoli (frozen and steamed in microwave)
water chestnuts
slivered almonds
garlic salt
low sodium soy sauce
1 lime (juice)
shrimp

Then add the edamame and quinoa maybe a little hot sauce and enjoyed for 2 dinners and one lunch:)

#2 Coconut Almond Breeze (Whole Foods!)
I have never seen this before but it has the same amount of calories as the original (60 cal) but tastes better than the vanilla!! I put this in my smoothies this week and started by 2 Nalgenes of 100% cran juice (Fred Meyer) and water again this week:)

#3 Rosette Spinach
This was in the packaged spinach section at Whole Foods and the label plus the "sweet and nutty taste" enticed me! So I have put it in my smoothies this week and LOVE it! According to
livestrong.com it has 25 calories a serving, 2g fiber and 2 G protein a serving and also....

"The omega-3s in mache help lower triglycerides and improve HDL (good) cholesterol levels, which reduce inflammation, and help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. Folic acid is highly recommended for women of childbearing age. Folic acid is also believed to improve stress and reduce depression."

VITAMINS AND MINERALS
A 4 oz. serving contains 2.2 mg of iron, 459 mg of potassium, 38 mg of calcium and 38 mg of vitamin C
Pretty cool! I love it!

#4 The Smoothie! (I had this everyday this week) I was getting sick of the usual spinach and blueberry smoothie, in case you couldn't tell, so I bought frozen BLACKBERRIES! Sooo yummy.

#5 More of a snack but filled me up enough for lunch at school on Thursday: Chobani cherry greek nonfat yogurt, oats, and JUSTIN'S CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER. If you have never tried in, go buy it! Yummy , yummy, yummy and still good for, still good protein but feels like dessert! And I like my sweets...

#6 K's Pick, Best Book of the Week
I decided rather than uploading all of the books I read each week...it's a lot and would be annoying haha...I'll pick my favorite! This is a new book (2012) and it's a picture book not only about math but FRACTIONS! "Full House" is a story about a cute old lady who owns an inn and all the visitors she gets with fractions on each page. The Inn is the "whole" if that gives you an idea:) I love the story, the illustrations, the rhyming, and the math aspect! Talking about Common Core and integrating Language Arts....teachers go buy this! This author (Dayle Anne Dodds) also has 2 other book on math on a math marathon and another on multiplication.

Kicking off a two week "smoothie shakedown" next week stay tuned for an explanation and update next Friday! ;) Have a great week everyone! xoxox

Kale, K snacKs, Kid's booKs, Kindness

Oh my goodness I have been such a bad blogger lately! I am going to get back into the swing of things! Here are some fun. healthy snacks I have been having lately:)
#1: KALE smoothie
I use a Magic Bullet so I fill the cup up about half way with nonfat milk, then rip up some fresh Kale into small pieces and put it in, about a cup of frozen blueberries, T of flaxseed oil, and my favorite Achieve Protein powder (vanilla) and then after I blend it I add a T of chia seeds. This smoothie packs lots of fiber, protein, healthy vitamins like the Bs and A and all the yummy vitamins in my special protein powder (turmeric), natural detoxifiers (Kale), calcium, antioxidants in the blueberries, and omega-3s! yum!

#2 NEW Greek yogurt: Apple Cinnamon Flavor (look for it in the grocery store, I think it's Oikos brand)- I just mixed it with bulk pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and slivered almonds for a hearty healthy long lasting snack!

#3 Crazy Synergy Kombucha Tea:
Have you heard of this? There has been a lot of hype about it lately so I decided to try it...so good!! This is one of many flavors (Guava Goddess is my favorite so far) but there are SO many, it's 2.99 at Fred Meyer which is a little much HOWEVER cheaper than an afternoon latte...it is also slightly carbonated (DO NOT SHAKE-I made that mistake and it was like a volcano) so it curbs cravings for something carbonated too! Health benefit claims: probiotics and powerful antioxidants, Vitamin B1,2,3,6 and 12, organic acids, aminos and electrolytes. Yum!

#4: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets to the Universe..GREAT book I just read...beautifully written, could be one of my favorites. Recommended new read that has already won some awards. (youth boys, discovery, letters, love, friendship, hardship, bullying, questions about self-worth and meaning)

#5 "ish"- such an adorable children's book! Don't squish anyones ish! (self esteem, confidence, creativity)

#6 Feminist Folktales?! Haha incase anyone has ever noticed it has been pointed out to me that common folktales as we know them all include a couple themes: the man is the hero, the woman is needy, pretty, not strong, in some cases dumb, etc. The only strong women are "witches" haha why is this? Is this good to teach our little girls? I still love Cinderella but this compilation of folktales from around the world are some alternatives, these folktales are all about the smart, strong, and independent woman:) Pretty interesting! Check it out!

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone! Show EVERYONE some love tomorrow <3 They deserve it!

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4, 13 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~

Love is a LOT of things (if you haven't read 1 Corinthians 13 in a while go read it! But in the end love truly is the greatest xoxo

Hello blogging world!

I really have not purposely been ignoring the blogging world I have just been really busy! Starting a new semester is always interesting! Anyways not to worry I have some delicious stuff to upload from a Super Bowl sunday full of baking and cooking :) not so much football watching....but go Beyonce! I did watch that, gotta work on my moves haha. First things first, I read a children's book, more like young adult book, called "Hoot" ,surprise right? It was really good! A wonderful story by Carl Haisson about a "new kid" in a small town in Florida who began to fit in and find some unlike friends through compassion for owls??? Yes! I loved learning about the environment of Florida and some middle school kids who made a huge difference in their community. Currently reading more good ones I will update soon, I still appreciate suggestions:)

And now for some kookin...
#1 Lettuce Wraps-my roommate and I made these Sunday, all we needed:
frozen chicken
soy sauce
$0.50 packet of "lettuce wrap mix"
Celery
Water chestnuts
Carrots
Head of lettuce
Brown Rice
And voila! Lettuce wraps! ( We sautéd thawed diced chicken, finely chopped carrots, celery, green onions, and water chestnuts with the packet in a pan in the fridge for about 20-30 min then just cooked it all in a pan). So easy so yummy mmm P.F. Chang's but healthier and in my apartment! (sorry about the picture I was super hungry and already ate half of my wrap haha)

#2 Breakfast Bake-well I do not know exact measurements but one word, Pinterest, haha or Google search, or just make however much you want!
Dry: oats, ground flax seed, brown sugar,cinnamon,crushed walnuts
Wet: nonfat milk, vanilla, tablespoon butter, egg
Sliced banana on the bottom (3) of 9x9 pan, 1/2c blueberries, sprinkle on dry ingredients, pour on wet, sprinkle with 1/2c blueberries, and some more walnuts, bake on about 375 for about 45 min. Warm and eat for breakfast! -next time we make this I would definitely try to add more protein so it's a little more filling, maybe greek yogurt to wet ingredients or protein powder itself? Also cinnamon raisin or pecans vs walnuts or strawberries or raspberries vs blueberries would be just as good!

#3 HEALTHY FUNFETTI CUPCAKES AND FROSTING!
So easy...1 box of funfetti mix with 1c Sprite Zero(replaces egg, oil, and butter)-bake like normal in cupcake tin.
Frosting- Low-fat Cool Whip in the tub, 1 box of French Vanilla pudding packet, mix together and set in fridge to set up a little.
OH MY GOSH SO MUCH BETTER THAN NORMAL CUPCAKES AND FROSTING, and better for you at the same time?! We thought we died and went to heaven haha.

#4 Wheat Berry Chili
1.5 lb lean turkey meat cooked
1c choped celery
1/2c or a little more shredded carrot
1/2 diced potato
2c Spicy V8 veggie juice
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
#5 This Wheat Berry box with included spice packet from a farm in Waitsburg WA!!! Just boil with 1.5 c water for 3 min then add the rest of the ingredients (and whatever else you want:)) and cook on simmer for 45 min. While that was kookin I mixed together and baked some Marie Calendar's cornbread muffins. Topped the chili with nonfat sour cream, onions, and a tiny bit of shredded cheese. MMMM! Prefect for a grey cold day and for left overs for the next like 3 meals haha.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Here is a quote for your thoughts from one of my favorite books "Calm My Anxious Heart" ~ Beware of what you dwell on for that you shall surely become- Ralph Waldo Emerson (Dwell on the positive!) xoxo