Got Energy?

Do you need more energy? Like our cat, do you feel like you want to take naps during the day? Do you need a caffeine fix in the morning or afternoon just to make it through the day? Do you feel like you can't exercise because of a lack of energy? Let's look at a very short list of why there could be a deficit and go over a very basic plan to increase your energy...

1. Lack of sleep

2. Poor eating plan

3. Lack of exercise

These three are the most common reasons the average person has a lack of energy. Let's briefly look at each and explore possible remedies.

1. A lack of sleep is usually remedied by getting on a regular sleep schedule, eliminating caffeine in the afternoon and evening, and increasing your energy expenditure during the day. Here are some other common and uncommon helps from www.iloveindia.com

- Following the same routine every night

- Apply hot packs to the spine and have a hot footbath before going to bed.  (ooh, that sounds good!)

- Take a ripe banana and mash it. Add roasted cumin seeds to it and mix properly. Consume this mashed mix before going to sleep. (a healthy substitute for the midnight snacker)

- Increase in the consumption of vitamin B foods such as whole grains and nuts. (Which leads to our next culprit of energy...)

2. A poor eating plan can certainly deprive your body of nutrients that supply constant energy throughout the day. We need to eat properly balanced calories. What do I mean by that? We want nutrient dense food, not empty calories. Afternoon snacks are the biggest culprit. What constitutes empty calories that perhaps we think give us energy to keep us going the rest of the day but actually zap us? 

caffeinated soft drinks (diet or not)

candy bars/pastries

granola bars with sugar/corn syrup (supposed to be healthy, right?)

energy drinks such as Monster, Red Bull (look here for adverse affects)

specialty coffee drinks/black teas (I know these are delicious, but have you actually looked at the calories and sugar levels these contain? (Look at carbs with zero fiber) Look up your favorite drink here)

regular coffee? Adrenal fatigue can be caused by too much caffeine.

little 5 hour bottles of caffeine (must we go there?)

chips, pretzels, chocolate, vending machine goodies

All of these are empty calories that will give you a short term boost that leave you holding the bag on energy for the rest of the day.

What snacks are good for afternoon?

Veggies or Fruit with a protein to balance blood sugar levels

Carrots, celery sticks, and apples along with nuts (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, or peanut butter or almond butter) The fruit helps alleviate the sweet tooth some of us get in the PM and the crunch psychologically wakes us up.

Good energy bars (fruit-sweetened)

Yogurt Smoothie (with protein or veggie powder balancing sugar levels)

Hummus and organic chips (Archer Farms organic corn chip, Garden of Eatin)

Trail Mix (basically dried fruits and nuts, or combo of nuts, no fruit) (no MM's please)

Veggies with yogurt dip


These are just to name a few. Experiment to see what you like best. Actually, sometimes it's a matter of what you can tolerate best in the beginning of your healthy eating plan. We can be honest, right? It's hard to compare a Dark Cherry Mocha Coffee Latte with a celery stick, apple and almonds... I completely understand. But remember, it's all a matter of habit and what you get used to. Examine and Exchange those unhealthy empty calories that take your money and leave you with nothing, lack of energy most of all, feeling bad and guilty the rest of the day. Fight Back! You're worth it!

3. Lack of exercise is our third reason the average person has no energy. You're probably saying, "What do you mean? I have no energy...How am I supposed to exercise if I don't have energy to begin with??"  It's a vicious cycle, isn't it?  That's exactly what I'm saying...Begin to exercise and you will get more energy. At this point, it's mind over matter.

-Choose a time when you can consistently exercise. Morning, Afternoon, or Evening? Whatever time you choose, guard it. You don't really want to exercise late evening because that could interfere with your sleep. But if you work outside the home, exercise when you get home then fix a quick healthy dinner by using a crockpot, 15-30 minute meals, or leftovers. Planning is Key both in exercise and cooking healthy.

-Choose your exercise. You can walk, swim or go to a gym but I am on a kick right now of Jillian Michael's exercise DVDs. Why? Because (1) they are effective (2) anyone can do them (remember Biggest Loser Winner?) and (3) she motivates many people in a no-nonsense, "just do it" approach without making you feel like you can't. I would recommend these for anyone. Are they easy? NO WAY! But can you work up to it? MOST CERTAINLY! She combines weights (hand weights), with cardio, and stomach exercises (abs). The 30 Day Shred DVD is inexpensive, so are the weights. No excuse, right? Wait, there's more...it only takes 20 minutes. Yep, that's it. Am I getting any compensation for this. NO, I just want to help those who need it.

We live in busy times but you choose what you want to do with the time you have. If you eat the foods close to the original way God made them (not processed) and give your body the exercise and sleep it needs... You will live a happier, more productive and satisfying life. Is that all there is? No, obviously not, but that's a good start over what you can control.

I saw this on DiseaseProof.com today and thought it appropriate.

“Successful people aren’t born that way.  They become successful by establishing the habit of doing things unsuccessful people don’t like to do.  The successful people don’t always like these things themselves; they just get on and do them.”  - author unknown

I think that sums it up...What changes will you make today?


This is linked to:
Tasty Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays

Basic #3 - Grains Galore (San Francisco Quinoa)

The grains I'm exploring here are, overall, ones we eat as main or side dishes but they can also be ground for breads or muffins. But I'd rather cover those specific grinding grains separately so we'll talk about those later.


Okay, the nitty gritty of it all...Here are three lists that give you the most nutrient dense grains and pseudograins (seeds though commonly referred to as grains). I'll cover seeds and nuts separately also but these psuedograins are usually used as "cook and eat" grains.

Superfoods Rx by Dr. Steven Pratt


Oats, wheat germ, and ground flaxseed are his top Superfoods, followed by brown rice, barley, wheat, millet, bulgar wheat, amaranth, quinoa, triticale, kamut, yellow corn, wild rice, spelt, couscous


Eat for Health by Dr. Joel Fuhrman


barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, quinoa, wild rice


Thrive by Brendan Brazier


Pseudograins (all are gluten free, easily digestible, alkaline-forming)


amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, wild rice


Grains


brown rice, millet, teff, spelt (contains gluten but in considerably smaller quantities than whole wheat)

I really like this book, THRIVE. It contains gluten free, dairy free, and soy free ingredients and recipes. He is a vegan Ironman competitor (not Strongman but the guys who bike, swim and run.) It is all about high energy, high nutrient foods. Be forewarned this is probably not for the healthy food beginner. It does contain some unusual ingredients but all can be found at the health food store and some can cost a pretty penny. 

There are so many grains to choose from and so many nutrients in each to fill those nutrient voids in our bodies that it would be wise to try one new grain every week or two. You'll have your favorites but continue introducing and experimenting with each.  Remember "examine and exchange" the grains you use now for healthier choices.

What is the biggest complaint about changing to whole grains? The time it takes to cook them. And I understand completely, after all, my premise here is to work in 15 minute increments. For those grains that cook a while, you just need to plan accordingly but that's what I like about quinoa, cooks in 20 minutes and is a great substitute for white rice dishes.


What is so special about quinoa (keen' wa)? Here is a great video that will tell you everything I wanted to write. If you don't have time to watch it, the thing you need to know for sure is...please RINSE YOUR QUINOA. Here's a picture of a sieve to use for rinsing the toxin off your seeds. (Yes, toxin, but more than likely it's been pre-rinsed before you bought it but I rinse to make sure it's all off anyway.)

This recipe is adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme's book, Seasoned America. Well, really the only thing close is the spice mix but it was the inspiration of this quinoa dish, and the first time we liked quinoa. 



San Francisco Quinoa


Seasoning Mix
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley (opt)
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. grd. ginger
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

(I know this is a lot of spice but once you buy it, you have it, even the inexpensive brands will do.)


Cook over medium heat
2 tbs. oil (olive or grapeseed)
1 onion (3/4 c. chopped) 
1-2 stalks celery (1/2 c. chopped)
1 - 2 large cloves chopped garlic


Combine
onion mixture
seasoning mix
2 c. rinsed quinoa 
(I used the ivory but the red quinoa, pictured in the grains above top right, is great also!)


For fastest cooking, while onion sautes, heat 3 1/2 c. water, veggie broth, or chicken broth til boiling and then add to quinoa above.


Bring to another boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. You'll know when it's done when you see cute little spirals all over the quinoa.


Serve with warmed peas and sliced tomatoes for a light meal or add cooked chicken or ground turkey also for a hearty one dish entree.


Grains are used best nutritionally when soaked, sprouted or cooked in water.



The internet is covered with cooking times and recipes for all the grains above. Most people are used to the flavor, or lack thereof, of white rice as their main grain. With all these healthier grains there is a new "flavor" with each. Be patient and explore new recipes with spices, herbs, veggies, and broths to give delicious, some would call tolerable, flavor to each grain you introduce to your family.


What is going to be your first new grain to try this week?

This post is linked to:

Foodie Fridays
Food on Fridays
Friday Food
Friday Favorite

Recipes - Separating the Good from the Not so Good

I was wanting to say Recipes - Separating the Good from the Bad, but when I thought of all my "bad" recipes and the memories of birthday parties, get togethers, or special meals, I couldn't call them bad. They are just ones that we want to eat on occasion rather than daily, weekly, or some even monthly. Why? Because while they are good for great meals, they are not good for the health of our bodies long term. 

There's a common adage these days that says, "Eat 90% healthy and 10% not-so-healthy". Well, I thought we had always done that but then when I kept a food log, I realized we had too many "exceptions" and took way more than 10% of our meal plan. I also notice it while I'm outside and I walk by the recycling bin and see all the food boxes leftover. If you don't want to keep a food log and do recycle, then you can get a pretty good idea what you're eating just from your recycle bin. I know, the neighbors, I'm sure, have seen me snooping curiously in our bins and trash can, assessing how we are doing. :)

So what change did I make to our meal plan to help? I separated my recipes. I got the original idea from Alton Brown. He makes a copy of the recipe from the book, that way he can make notes and changes, and then puts it in a page protector to keep it nice while he's cooking with it.

I went a step farther and separated my healthy "good for me" recipes from the ones not so healthy. It's a real help when making a meal plan to just use those recipes that are already healthy or can be made healthier by the "examine and exchange" method. But the problem was that they were all crammed in the notebook without rhyme or reason. I took this opportunity to not procrastinate any longer and put the copies in page protectors (that weren't already in one) and then separated them with dividers by category.

Three things I learned:

1. I have WAY more recipes than what I thought (With it more organized, I'll have more variety in meals)
2. Make sure you have enough page protectors
3. Never do this on an empty stomach (Boy, it makes you hungry!)

As you can see I have plenty of healthy recipes left still to put in the binder. I wish I had more page protectors to finish but, again, I procrastinated...

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." -Don Marquis-

What can you do to realign your eating strategy? Perhaps a separate notebook just for healthy recipes would help. Why not take 15 minutes and start today?

This is linked to:
Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays at New Nostalgia

Planning Ahead - The Key to Healthy Eating

I want to preface this by letting you know I am having technical difficulties with my blog and my wonderful patient husband is working long and hard on it. Apparently, Blogger didn't tell me I wasn't supposed to cut and paste from Microsoft Word...

Back to Planning Ahead:

Isn't it funny how our emotions rule what we eat sometimes, I mean, most of the time? There have been many times when I've asked, "What do you feel like eating?" or "What do I feel like eating?" That is a giant indicator that I haven't planned ahead. It's easy to fall into the trap of emotional eating.

Planning ahead is probably THE secret to healthy eating. If you plan ahead you'll have a menu to take with you to the store. If you plan the next day's meals the night before, then you can get a jumpstart on the day. If you have a plan then more than likely you will follow it. Otherwise, you're left looking in the frig while wondering what you'll eat and how fast you can get it ready, maybe even stopping by take out.

There are 3 antecedents that lead to unplanned Unstructured Eating:  Habit, Boredom, and Stress. A plan will keep all three at bay when those times come. If you want to learn more about eating habits, follow the link at Peak Performance Radio and look for Dr. Gerard Musante and his book The Structure House Weight Loss Plan to listen to a program about our relationship to food.


The Lord has created good food to satisfy our bodies; give it what it needs to function and heal itself. The more man does to it, the further it gets from the original plan. All it takes is 15 minutes to get some key healthy meals added to what you normally eat.


Or if you have your meal plan all ready, examine and exchange what you can to make it healthier. For an overview...


Examine                   Exchange

White Rice                Brown Rice or Quinoa
Bread                       Whole Grain Bread (5g fiber)
White Pasta              Whole Wheat Pasta
Regular Eggs             Omega-3 Eggs
White Flour               Whole Grain Flour
White Sugar              Honey or Agave Nectar
Regular Milk              Organic Milk or Almond Milk


Even vegetables like peas, corn and carrots (favorites of children) could be substituted with broccoli and cauliflower in small increments. One dinner of meat could be substituted with beans as a main dish. For beginning transitions, don't shock your family with change all at once. It usual doesn't go over well. Make slow transitions; you've eaten a certain way for years, a few more months in transition will not hurt.


Add a healthier dish as a side at first, then make it more of the main dish over time. Vegetable choices can be slowly built up where they can be as large (hopefully) as the main dish. You can have 2 - 3 side dishes of veggies and one meat or main dish. There's only so much room on your plate; side dishes can fill most of it.


The general rule in food is "white is only good for laundry". There are exceptions like cauliflower and bananas but for the most part, the more color the better it is. You want your plate as naturally colorful as possible.


So take 15 minutes, plan ahead and make those healthy substitutes, your bodies will thank you for it.

Roasted Tomato Salsa & Spicy Chipotle Salmon Spread

We ate our Superbowl meal last night!! It was awesome. I started out trying my new recipes I had planned, but then it led to, “Mmmmm, can you make more?” So I did, and we sat and ate like there was no tomorrow. (Forgetting all scriptures that talk about gluttony and justifying it because it was “healthy”) Anyone else been there? 

The samplers on the menu were Roasted Tomato Salsa (the easiest salsa ever) and Chipotle Salmon Spread with organic chips (Garden of Eatin’). Both these recipes were adapted from Tyler Florence’s cookbook, Tyler’s Ultimate. I like this particular cookbook of his because it has simple recipes that I can adjust easily to our healthy way of eating. Remember our “examine and exchange” method/mindset? Go here to get a refresher. 

Tyler’s Ultimate Roasted Cherry Tomato Salsa

2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (I used grape)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

Juice of 1 lime (I increased the amount for flavor)

1 fresh green chile, thinly sliced (I used 2 jalapenos, quartered and sliced)

This is so easy and ready in less than 15 minutes. Turn your broiler on high and place the 2 pints tomatoes on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Tyler said broil 3-5 minutes, mine was 7-8 minutes, so keep checking every couple of minutes until all tomatoes have burst. Dump tomatoes and juices in a bowl. Add lime juice, chile, cilantro and about 4 tablespoons olive oil. You’ll probably need to add more salt so taste and adjust. 

Combine. Serve at room temperature.

When I first made it, the three of us liked it and were eating it happily. Then when my husband came home, he wasn’t enamored with it, and suggested more jalapeno. I am a scaredy cat when it comes to hot stuff but I have to say, he was right! It was so much better with more spice (2 jalapenos), not enough to burn your lips off, but enough to spice your throat. So adjust your jalapeno accordingly, or use hotter peppers, but go for more heat than less. 

Like I said, this is the easiest salsa ever; you don’t even have to cut up the tomatoes. Get yourself some organic chips (or baked chips like Tostitos, if necessary) and enjoy! 

The other recipe was from Tyler’s The Ultimate Spicy Crab Salad. Obviously, he uses crab which I always exchange for canned salmon. I know, not as decadent, but a much healthier choice. Tomorrow I’ll have a link to explain Why Canned Salmon? 

Tyler calls for Sambal hot chile paste which I did not have nor could find locally. So instead I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. It was outstanding! It gave the usual salmon flavor a new twist that was good enough for company, thus Superbowl. I would say good enough for people who aren’t even salmon lovers . The adobo sauce does have a miniscule amount of sugar, less than 1 gram, but that is worth the trade-off for the flavor it gives. (I would not make the trade if it were high fructose corn syrup though.) For more on chipotle, click here.

Spicy Chipotle Salmon Spread

15 oz. canned salmon (drained, broken to smaller pieces)

¼ cup mayonnaise 

1-2 chipotle peppers with some sauce (finely mashed)

1-2 tbls. chopped cilantro

Juice of ½ lime

Freshly ground pepper (no salt, already in salmon)

Combine the mayo and chipotle first. Gently combine the rest. This takes less than 5 minutes and you have a snack which is full of omega-3’s in a good lean protein. You can even make your own mayo to provide you with better oil and no preservatives. 

Last night we had this with the organic corn chips, but for Sunday I am making whole wheat crackers found at Finding Joy in My Kitchen and for my daughter, a gluten-free variety.

Along with these dishes we had potato salad (recipe another day), roasted cauliflower and whole carrots, cooked like this. We picked up whole thin organic carrots with their tops attached at the health food store. (Confession: I bought these simply because they were so cute.) I would gladly buy them again though because in 15 minutes we had delectably tender whole carrots that we just picked up and ate with our hands. (Remember we were practicing for Superbowl.) The tops I cut off before roasting and am using in other herb dishes, like our eggs this morning. 

So all in all, we had a feast that took cleaning up afterward longer than actually making it. Oh yeah, strawberries for dessert. Wow, we really did pig out…

What are your healthy plans for Superbowl?

Edited: I have a great article from my husband on the nutritional benefits of salmon here.

Cherished Chai Tea Latte

During these cold months, it’s easy to turn to Hot Chocolate as a beverage to warm your body. We did, and while it was a nice treat, we like a beverage that we can have more often. By using a mindset, as much as a method, called “examine and exchange”, we consciously make better choices for what we put in our body.

First, we examine what ingredients could use a nutrient boost. We don’t need to have the mindset to eliminate ingredients, just exchange them. Sometimes when we grow up in a “meat and potatoes” or prepackaged food environment, it’s easy to look at healthful eating as eliminating all the “good stuff”. We don’t have to do that; it’s all in exchanging for a better, more nutritious, good tasting option.

The worst choice for warm drinks is going for one of the packaged hot chocolate mixes. So those definitely need to be exchanged with something homemade. The ingredients to the Hot Chocolate we make occasionally are: unsweetened cocoa, sugar, milk and vanilla extract. A minimal change that we’ve made is to use organic sugar and organic milk. So for an occasional treat this is a good start. While I don’t have a problem with cocoa, some have problems concerning their skin breaking out. The concerns with white sugar are evident and the limiting of dairy in one’s diet is becoming a growing concern due to the acidic nature that dairy produces in the body.

Now that we’ve examined our ingredients, what can we exchange? One alternative is to make a Hot Carob drink. It uses carob and raw honey in exchange for the cocoa and sugar. We also like to exchange Almond milk (brand: Almond Breeze) for the milk. While some like to exchange milk for soy milk, we personally do not. (More about that later)

One of my favorite exchanges though, is a Chai Tea Latte. Most of the time when you get a chai tea latte at the coffee shops, it’s from a mix filled with sugar, oils and chemicals. You can easily make this at home with healthful ingredients and a more full-bodied “mouth feel” than tea alone. This recipe was adapted from our good friend, Jessica. Originally, the recipe called for individual spices with black tea bags but, I really like all the flavors that an actual chai tea bag offers and it uses less ingredients, which is a time saver.


[Photo]

Chai Tea Latte

4 chai tea bags (Celestial Seasonings preferred)
2 cups water
Boil the water and let tea bags steep for 5 min.

Add
2 cups milk or almond milk (to lower dairy intake)
Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally

When heated, add
2-3 tbs. raw honey (according to taste)

In less than 15 minutes, you have a spicy, creamy, sweet drink that will warm your body while still nourishing it. This makes 3-4 servings. If it’s just for you, you can refrigerate what’s left and heat again later, or refrigerate half and freeze half in ice cubes to make a chai tea latte frappuccino for tomorrow. Sometimes I even double the recipe to do this.

You can use all the different chai tea flavors that they offer now to bring variety to your beverages, hot or cold. (Know that the black tea will be stronger than the green or white tea varieties.) Feel free to share them with a friend.

Who could you think of now that could use warm company as well as a warm drink?

This post is linked to:

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Blessed with Grace