Mint & Eggplant
Penne with Eggplant, Tomatoes and Mozzarella was the dish for tonight. Limit the mozzarella to lessen the calories and buy whole grain pasta for higher nutrient value (check the ingredients, don't rely on the package advertising).
Mint was the herb in this dish that caught my attention. Its easy to grow on your own and adds a very fresh taste to the dish. Mint can help with stomach aches and chest pain. It has also been used to whiten teeth and is found in everything from tea to shampoo.
This dish was very tasty, juicy from the tomatoes, flavorful from the red pepper & garlic! There are lot's of colors and that's what I look for in my food, it makes it taste better, look better and I just know its full of vitamins and minerals!
Plant mint near a door to drive ants away or take it camping to repel mosquitos. This plant has many uses, from culinary to practical!!!
Magazines & Movies
Two places of inspiration merge into 1 wonderful project that I want to share with you!
This magazine subscription was a very thoughtful gift from a client. In October, they created not only a 5-day meal plan for each week, but a shopping list to match it. And each week is planned so that the ingredients which are most perishable are used earlier in the week. It wasn't tough getting Dave to agree to this new way of grocery shopping for the month.
After scanning the meals, I decided they seemed healthy & interesting enough to give it a try. After having seen Julie & Julia, about Julia Child and an aspiring and admiring young woman who cooked her way through Julia's cookbook, I felt inspired. Its not 500 + recipes, but just 20 :)
As I am learning these recipes, I am encountering new spices and ingredients already that I have used before, but did not know much about. So, for each meal I will choose one to highlight, just for fun!
This is a great way to force yourself to try some new meals. And the first weeks shopping totaled at $75 for enough food to make 5 dinners, 4 servings each, which is plenty for 2 people plus left-overs!
Each meal will link to the Living Simple Website, if you want to cook it yourself!
Meal 1 was Roasted Tilapia, Potatoes and Lemons
Thyme is an ingredient in this recipe that gave my kitchen a wonderful smell. I found some interesting information about this from Wikipedia. Not only did the Egyptians believe it to bring courage to warriors, but they placed it under their pillows at night to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. Thyme used at funerals was said to ensure the passing into the next life.
For cooking, it is a flavorful herb and blends well with other spices. Thymol, which makes up almost half of this plant is used in Listerine, can help with fungus and can ease bronchitis or a sore throat.
Energy Suckers & Brain Drainers!
You often hear me mention the brain in regards to mental health, personal growth and when it comes to activating your muscles. With all the hard work you are doing, be sure the simple tasks you perform every day are not holding you back! I don't think its worth being paranoid over every little task and every object in your home. Its easy enough to put your alarm clock with the LED lights on the other side of the room and to turn off the cell phone or put it in airplane mode during your sleep.
Having a balance and enjoying life is just as important. However, a picture says a thousand words and when I saw these 4 photos, it said it all. Sure, it may be fake - but what good would that do to the person who wrote this article anyhow? We all know food tastes better when its cooked on the stove (assuming your pots and pans aren't radiating chemicals from the non-stick coating - we will save that for another day).
Stop grabbing that Starbucks twice a day and start paying attention to the energy suckers and brain drainers in your life!!!
Click Here and learn about your microwave!
Thanks Fit With Jenny for the link!
Protein Planning for Women
My sister inspired me to do some protein planning for the ladies! This is based off a 120 lb female requiring 43 grams and is not taking into account fat, cholestrol, salt, or individual factors, so keep that in mind!!! This is not a prescription, but a place to begin creating your own plan.
With a little extra effort, you can tweak these numbers, add other foods, etc. Let me know if you have questions! Happy Planning!
Protein Sources
Egg: 4.7g
Almonds: 6g/24
Walnuts: 4g/14 halves (more fat - unsat)
Black Beans: 15 g/1 cup
Salmon: 20g
Tuna: 25g
Chicken: 46g
COMPLETE PROTEIN (if not eating animal proteins)
grains + legumes
nuts/seeds + legumes
corn + legumes
grains + nuts
43g/day for 120 lb female
Options for full day of protein:
1) 2 eggs, 1 serving of walnuts with oatmeal, 2 servings of beans with corn
2)Fish, 1 serving of almonds with whole grain pasta, 1.5 servings of black beans with corn
3)Chicken
Walk and then Crawl???
What if your legs didn’t work one morning after putting in a few extra hours at work the day before? Can you imagine if your body didn't allow you step out of bed in the morning because you over-did it the day before? Our body will do what ever we ask of it, with 600 muscles it can find a way, it can recruit a team to come to work, even if its not the most efficient. The mind seems to have an overwhelming power in this decision making process.
I am happy to say I made it out on the water again last weekend with great success! My mind brought me out there and I am happy to say, my body cooperated very nicely! I was nervous about getting back up on the board, but with some extra caution and support from my friends, everything worked out great! Its hard to try something new and when it doesn't work out how you expected it can be tough to get back out there any try again. I think I get so much satisfaction out of this new hobby because of all the work I have done on my body over the past few years. For a long time I restricted the amount of stress I would put into my body physically, in order to allow it to heal. I over-did it for a long time, teaching group fitness classes and pushing myself way too hard. I am sure this new sport would have been another that left me with lots of body aches and pains afterwards because of all the compensating that was going on in my muscular system prior to the healing journey I took.
I suppose with perfect mechanics the body was built to survive a lifetime of physical stress, but for some reason it is willing to sacrifice its longevity of joint integrity for short term achievements. This is very congruent to the way we function in this society. Short term accomplishments, feelings and pleasures always seem to appeal more than the work that goes into long term changes and growth. Especially if you are dealing with pre-exsisting problems such as a knee injury, an overweight body or high cholesterol. Not only do we need to move forward and make changes, but we have to account for what we have already harmed in the careless part of the process.
See if you can identify an aspect of your life that you have over-stressed and work on bringing that portion back to a neutral and safe state. And then from there work towards progressing it the proper way towards a goal. Anything is possible when its done with progression. A baby rolls over before crawling and crawls before walking, so why do we run and surf before we know how to properly use our bodies? Does the mind just get ahead of itself?
I am connected to WHO???
The power behind your social networks is larger than you imagine. Not Facebook, I mean your friend's cousin's father or your mother's boyfriend's uncle. You don't want to be affected by them? According to this brillant research study, you just might be!!! And them by you!
You have heard of the 6 degrees of separation? Within 3 degrees could be your reason for gaining weight, for picking up a new slang term or trying a fabulous restaurant! Someone to blame? or are you to blame? And on a more positive note, perhaps you are the one to be thanked, for making a positive change in someone else!
When I watched the YouTube videos posted on this website it opened my eyes to the power of influence that exsists within our communities. What a DIFFERENCE we can make on others by setting a good example! Take a moment to visit the site, scroll to the bottom and watch the 2 videos, let the experts dazzle you!
One other favorite video that really sums up the power of our environments is the piano stairs, click here to watch and see just how much power there is around us. Work on your mind, but also demand an environment of people and settings that serve you. And always seek out to serve others!!!
Are your belieifs Limited?
We all want to be positive and some of us make a noted effort at achieving these happy thoughts. Why do we still struggle so much? Dr. Adrianne Ahern, PhD discusses the neurologly that is preventing us from moving forward! She tells of an incredible story about a Tiger named Mohini who you must read about in her opening chapters. On every page of her book, she provides activites to guide you through the re-wiring of your own brain! You CAN heal yourself!
You all know how much I believe in ACTION! Her book does just that, it provides action-oriented steps to match the discussion every time. Her audio CD comes with the book as well! Be ready to make some changes, because if you are willing to spend as much time on your own brain as you do taking a shower each day, then the results will amaze you. Feel better, attract other happy people into your life and enjoy the world more!
You are the only one who can achieve the results, you have to put the time in....so.....are you up for the challenge? Why are we willing to invest our time into SO MANY meaningless activites, but not in our own health and happiness? We seek out quick fixes, it is like visitng the mall and buying a bunch of junk on sale, instead of a few items we will LOVE! Give yourself a chance this summer and read Back in Charge!!!
Dr. Ahern has a private practice in San Diego, but she also does phone consultations, she works with insurance and I would highly reccommend her to anyone who is ready! Click Here to visit her site.
What do you think of when you hear the word MEDICINE?
I went to my sisters Sociology of Health & Illness class at DePaul University on Monday as a guest. The discussion that these students were having was of great interest to me.
Some notes from my page:
- $1 of Direct to Consumer (DTC) advertising translates to $4.20 for pharmaceutical companies
- Doctors who are looking for $$$ vs. Doctors who have passion to heal others
- Consumers seem to create the demand for these "quick fixes"
- Is the newest disease coming out going to be something like, "Slow Walking" & then a drug for that?
- Does our medicine make us evolved and give us an edge? Does it make us innovative?
- Are we eliminating diversity? By submitting to a "standard" to be the ideal human being? With the perfect genetics?
- We seem to have little patience for the aging process and a small capacity to embrace it.
These are just a few of my notes from the class, items that stood out in my mind. Perhaps some thing syou can ponder or discuss with your loved ones as you make decisions for your own "health". With all of the confusion and controversy I think it is important to re-emphasize the importance of having control over our own health and using the doctor as our guide or as our partner in this journey we call life.
Please send me your comments or feedback and thoughts, I am curious to know what you think!!!