Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Night of Wellness


FEELING  OVERWELMED

Wednesday night I had the absolute pleasure of going to a Ladies Only function to hear about Whole Foods, Cultured Foods and Natural Cleaners.  Holy COW!  

FIRST, Let me just start by saying....I AM OVERWHELMED!  

SECOND, I have been brainwashed my WHOLE LIFE!

I already knew most about eating clean but when you throw in making cultured foods and making your own natural cleaners.... *sigh*
There's just so much more I need to do to invite NATURAL EVERYTHING into MY HOME!

I know it may sound silly and granolla-E
But I do believe in make a safe home for your family.

More and more each day, items you buy at the store are being more and more processed which means it's becoming more and more dangerous to have in your home.

And yes, I am overwhelmed but I'm excited about the journey!

Because I don't want chemicals to mess with my hormones.
I don't want to make my anxiety worse.
I want to live a happy and healthy life.

And I need to look beyond just the foods that I'm eating.


NATURAL CLEANERS


Going in, I really had no knowledge of natural cleaners.
I see it all the time on pinterest but pay no attention to actually DOING IT!

The speaker gave us a copy of her natural cleaners that she has tried and used and LOVES!

So I'm really excited about her recipes.  She has recipes for All-purpose cleaner TO Toilet bowl cleaner, TO Laundry Soap TO Natural Deodorant!

HELLO!  Deodorant?  I know.
But she convinced me.

And it's WAY cheaper than buying those DOVE deodorants.
Plus, you can buy essential oils to make it any beautiful scent you want.

In fact she went to a conference in Salt Lake City called DoTerra where all they talk about is essential oils and how they can help your wellbeing!  I'm super fascinated!

Anywho!

She acclaims that her naturally made laundry soap has made her clothes brighter and gets the craziest stains out of her children's clothes!  

I like her approach to trying it out and seeing if she likes it.
Which is all that should be asked of ANY of us!

Why NOT try it out and see if it's better.  If not, Then to hell all of those Holistic Peeps.
But I'm hopeful for these changes and I think it will improve my wellbeing and the wellbeing of those little ones that I hope to produce some day :)


MAKING CULTERED FOODS, AKA Preserving Foods the Natural Way


Now real quick, I mentioned cultured foods.

Culturing foods is like creating Kimchi--Korean fermented Cabbage.
It's allowing Lactofermentation to take place to "preserve" food the natural way rather than the processed way!

How cool is that!  This is actually old news.  People have been doing this for 100's of years.
But then big companies took over and canned and processed everything for us.

So instead of opening a bottle of processed ketchup.  You can open a jar of lactofermented ketchup and it keeps for a long time...the NATURAL WAY.  Also, the lactofermentation provides Pro-biotics to help clean out your digestive system which helps give you more energy.

One interesting fact she mentioned was that Ketchup use to be the most healthy condiment for you because it was made from fresh plump tomatoes.  Now, they've added Fructose Corn Syrup and is overly processed.

So imagine, you could eat all the ketchup you want without even minding the negative health benefits that we have to deal with today.



The Politics of Food

The more I'm learning about food, the more I'm realizing the politics of food and how "BIG COMAPNIES" are taking over the world and brainwashing us into thinking their products are safe when really they're not!








WHAT I'M GOING TO DO

*BIG BREATH* 

So I want you to know, I'm not overwhelmed because I feel like I'm stressed, I'm overwhelmed because I'm SUPER excited to try EVERYTHING that I've learned.  I love trying new things that can benefit a better wellbeing.  Who wouldn't be excited about that?!?

Okay, so really I think I'm going to focus on changing to natural products little by little and see how it goes.  I gotta say I am DANG excited about trying that deodorant...haha I don't know why!

Pecan Crusted Chicken and Brussel Sprouts

I love it when a healthy meal doesn't taste healthy but DELICIOUS!

So I was experimenting the other night with what I had in the kitchen and came up with THIS!

I was very, VERY unsure of the chicken but it was DANG good!

My concoction is kinda wierd but surprisingly it worked Haha!

I just slathered the chicken in mustard, rolled in pecan pieces, 
squirt some maple syrup on top and baked in the oven 400 for 20-25 minutes!

I steamed the sweet potatoes.  The brussel sprouts: drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper, baked in 400 degree oven for 35 minutes.  They taste like either potato chips or popcorn. I can't decide.
If you don't like Brussel Sprouts. YOU will LOVE them after you try this method! 

Anyway, they're delicious! It's Blake's favorite way to eat brussel sprouts which I definitely CONCUR!

I LOVE it when my husband enjoys my experimental cooking!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A Week of My Workouts

I thought I might share with you what a typical workout week may look like for me.I try to alternate between Cardio & Strength (Weights).

That has worked out the best for me.  That way I don't overwork my muscles if I'm lifting.  Insanity is mainly cardio.  It's my go-to-workout for purely cardio and no lifting.

Bob Harper has some really great workout DVD's that use a lot of weights!  I only use 5 lb. and 8 lb. dumbbells.  I am contemplating on getting one 10 lb. weight for exercises that require one dumbbell so I can improve my strength.  So we will see about that.

I don't normally workout on Sundays but I was really looking forward to a yoga session.  I truly enjoy yoga and therefore doesn't feel like a workout for me but rather I'm stretching my limbs from preventing soreness from the workouts earlier that week.  So the Yoga was a bonus workout for me, Purely enjoyment!

Overall, I think the key to workouts is to change it up.  The reason I have so many workout DVD's is because I get bored and I want to try new methods and workout different areas of my body.  But I have always been good about cycling through ALL of my DVD's so I can still get good use out of them.  The beginning of each day I focus on what workout I will be doing after work.  I get excited because I have so many CHOICES.  Being able to choose your workout rather than FORCING yourself to workout is key for me!  I look forward to my workout every day.  Because I CHOOSE what I want to accomplish that day!

Last Week's Workouts:

Monday: Insanity Max Interval Plyo (1 hour)
Tuesday: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, Level 4 and Level 3 (50ish minutes)
Wednesday: Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance (40 minutes)
Thursday: Bob Harper's Pure Burn Super Strength (1 hour)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Bob Harper's Body Rev Cardio Conditioning (1 hour, I was only able to squeeze in 40 min)
Sunday: Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior (1 hour)

RED= Mostly Strength workout
BLUE= Purely Cardio





I had to be lame and take pics in the bathroom.  My photographer was at work at the moment! Haha so enjoy my lame picture-taking skills.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Supplements To Help Mood

You can find the first three (Omega-3, Vitex and Magnesium) at any health food store.
I found Meta-ignite at a local GNC store.

As you know, one of my new favorite Podcasts to listen to is Dishing Up Nutrition. One of their podcasts talked about which supplements can boost your mood.  

I never thought of turning to supplements to help me out in that area.
So immediately I was fascinated.  I deal with anxiety and depression.
It's not always present.  And I never know when it's going to come.  As no one does.

I find that either my anxiety or depression occurs most often when I'm not getting enough sleep.  I also know that it can also be food related.  Which I've tried to eliminate as much as I can with clean eating.
I've also wondered if it's the birth control that I'm on as well.  I have no idea what it's doing to my hormones.  

So in order to help me out in this area, I thought I might follow some of their supplement suggestions.

Here are the supplements that are suggested to boost/calm your mood:

1.  Magnesium- "the relaxation mineral"-Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff -- whether it is a body part or an even a mood -- is a sign of magnesium deficiency, such as inflammation, constipation,  PMS, anxiety, Insomnia, muscle cramps, chronic fatigue, headaches etc.  
Interesting Fact: intense cravings for chocolate is a sign for Magnesium deficiency.

2.  Vitex- remedy for range of female conditions- balances out hormones, helps with acne, PMS 

3.  Omega-3 Fish Oil- supports proper brain function and healthy mood- It also contributes to better focus, memory, and encourages communication between cells. 

4.  GenetixHD Meta-Ignite- strictly for energy-can take up to 3 pills.  I only take 1 per day mainly on work days to help me wake up for the day.  This is not the most natural supplement, but it was the closest to natural energy pill that was suggested to me.  I don't drink caffeine so first time I took it I felt a little jittery before lunch because my body needed some fuel.  That only happened the first couple of days.  Since then I haven't had any side effects or problems.  Especially since I'm only taking 1 per day,  right in the morning.

I have found a huge improvement with all of these supplements that I do currently take.  Especially with Meta-ignite energy pill.  That has saved my life.  I'm a very light sleeper and therefore I don't always get the best sleep.  So it gives me a nice BOOST to get me out of my sleepy/bad mood funk!

How much SLEEP I get effects everything for me.  It effects my cravings and especially my mood.  When you're sleepy, your brain is low on glucose, hence the reason why you have crazy cravings is when you're lacking sleep and stressed out.  

So lately when I'm craving sugar, really my body is just telling me I need more sleep. Sleep produces more glucose for the brain. Fascinating huh?  I thought there was something wrong with me when I craved sweets every night.  But really I just needed some Z's.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

I Highly Recommend...

I'm posting this picture because this has been my motivation lately for my workouts, 
And it couldn't be more true! It really helps me to push myself!


So remember back when I use to post about exercise AND baking/cooking on my blog?? 

Now I have a separate blog dedicated to fitness, wellness, eating healthy,
maybe a couple Ramblings here and there AND etc!

I can motivate you...YOU can motivate me.
Kapeesh?!....Kapeesh!

I've been really craving to talk about exercise/fitness/wellness lately!
I think it's just with the New Year and New Years Resolutions and such.


I want to talk about: 
1.  DVD's I want to recommend, because I have HUGE collection and it's only growing!
2.  Post, pre-workout snacks that help me stay full
3.  Recommended protein powders
4.  Recommended supplements for healthy skin 
5.  Recommended supplements for Optimal Energy
6.  Low-down on how to avoid (at least give you better chances!) the nasty FLU this season
7.  My favorite AB workouts that have helped me maintain a lean stomach.

Anyway....those are just some of my thoughts!


This will help me get it out of my system.  Because when I learn something really fascinating, 
I just want to shout it to the world!  A lot of my conversations with friends, 
family and co-workers tend to start out with...DID YOU KNOW THAT??

And WELL, it's because I'm a fitness/health/wellness GURU!

I think it's good to know about what's out there that makes you happy, healthy and STRONG!
And I like to be at my best, and that starts with how I treat my body, and what I put into my body.

So that's why I love it so much.

So this post is about what I would highly recommend in Workout DVD's.


I use to pay $20 some dollars a month to go to a gym.  The first workout DVD I ever bought was Jillian Michael's Trouble Zones! I haven't gone back to the gym since AND my body has transformed since leaving the boring treadmill and Gym which I don't miss because they smell and they always have people prancing around showing off...UGH!

So here's my list:

My Top 3 DVD's that have put me in the BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE:

1.  ALL Insanity DVDs
Cardio & Plyometrics, no weights, just yo' BODY!

Cardio & Weights

Weights, Cardio, Abs


MY Top 3 DVD's,  little less intense but still a GREAT workout:
Weights & Abs

Very similar to Ripped in 30, but only 3 workouts
Weights, Cardio, Abs

Weights, Cardio, Abs


My Top 3 Dvd's for my Active Recovery Days:



And I can't help but mention these workout DVD's, just cuz they're Awesome!
Weights, Yoga, Abs

Weights, lil' Cardio and Abs

No Weights


So there's my list.  Again all of these are highly recommended and will kick your butt!
But ultimately feel GREAT afterwards!

I like to cycle through all of these DVD's

In a later post I'll lay out for you what a typical workout week may 
look like for me which really has helped me get the BEST results!


I can't wait to post more in the Future!