"She's got Man-Arms!"

There's such a negative view on women having "buff" arms.

In fact, I was looking at a "Oxygen" (women's fitness) Magazine and my co-worker blurted out, 

My Co-Worker: "That's gross."  I look over to see what she's talking about.

My Co-worker: "Look at her arms.  She's got Man-Arms."

I look at the picture of the woman flexing in the picture. I shrug my shoulders and say:

Me: "Well, she's flexing.  She doesn't walk around like that all day...flexing."

I don't know why but I got annoyed by her comment.  Given, yes she had bigger/muscly arms than most women would have.  But I looked at the fitness model in a different way.  I looked up to her because I think of all the training she has gone through to look like that.  It takes a lot of time and GREAT dedication.  I think that it's fine however a woman wants to look, as long as THEY"RE HAPPY!

I think society has this "Typical" idea of what every woman should look like.  

And sad to say, WOMEN are the ones that support it most.

There is not a moment that goes by that women out there are trying to change something about themselves.  And I'm not saying I've never been a victim in this false idolatry.  

I wish I could easily escape it.  It's all around us.

Tina Fey said it best:

“Every girl is expected to have caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama and doll tits. This is why everyone is struggling.”

I've looked at my own arms and flexed, and I kind of scare myself sometimes.  I've got MUSCLES now.  Aren't I supposed to have delicate skinny arms???

Then I realize all the hard work and dedication that I've put in to getting those arms! And you know what?? 

There's no way I would take back my workouts.

Because of my workouts, I FEEL empowered as a woman! 

And my workouts make me feel great!

So yes, I don't judge women that may be more muscly then their own kind may be acceptable by but as long as their happy, BE HAPPY FOR THEM!

Planning to Be Healthy

One of the hardest components in being healthy is to plan for it.  BUT if you get your head in the game and get excited about it and get great ideas of HOW to plan to be healthy then it is 100% doable.  

And Trrrrust me, this is a work-in-progress for me!

So here are areas that I find helpful to plan ahead:

1. Breakfast meal

I eat breakfast EVERYDAY!!! It's my most favorite meal of the day.  I give myself 15 minutes to prepare/eat my breakfast.  In fact I would like to plan more time for my breakfast because 10 of those minutes turns into cooking/ taking my supplements/ putting my lunch together (cause I was lazy the night before).  Anyway Breakfast is so important!  Most mornings I have egg & spinach omelet cooked in coconut oil with steamed sweet potato--or if I don't have any sweet potatoes, I have a banana with natural peanut butter.  I have eggs quite a bit.  If I'm more hungry that morning I make oatmeal with--natural peanut butter, honey, almond milk, shredded unsweetened coconut and sliced almonds.  Most commonly that is my oatmeal recipe--it's SO delicious!  Other times I may add cacao powder to make it taste like a dessert!

2.  Packed lunch for work the next day

This probably the most annoying one because I have to make it the night before and sometimes that includes extra cooking because there may not be any dang leftovers in the house.  So I usually make a Spinach Salad with whatever Veggies I have in the house (cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, cilantro), Nuts (sliced almonds, walnuts), Fruit (dried cranberries, chopped apples), Meat (chicken, ham, pork, eggs), and almost always AVOCADOS! ---because I love them so much!

3.  Post-workout snack

For me, I just need to actually HAVE healthy foods in my house to have a healthy post-workout snack.  For example, if I always have berries or a banana, almond milk, nut butter (important for Protein)---THEN I always have a healthy smoothie as an option.  Other possible smoothie ingredients I use: protein powder, handful of spinach, shredded unsweetened coconut,  sliced almonds, cacao powder.  BUT the basics are all you need for a healthy post-workout snack.

4.  Dinner

I plan at least 2-3 meals per week (we have leftovers or salads/sandwiches on other days).  I plan on meals that are healthy  but foods that Blake will enjoy as well.  I also focus on at least 1 vegetarian meal per week for dinner.

5.  Good-for-me snacks when I'm feeling snacky

It's so easy to grab the chip bag.  I like to have a bag of small pre-cut carrots, nuts, apples, peanut butter & dark chocolate when I'm feeling snacky.  And it does the trick every time.  What I use to do was grab some chips, then a cookie, then some ice-cream--because I felt like I was filling this craving that never got filled because I was choosing foods that were making we want more processed foods.

6.  What foods I plan to buy at the grocery store

I make a list of what I need and mostly I stay on the outskirts of the grocery store, where the produce is located.

7.  What exercise I will do that day

Am I feeling tired--Do I need something less strenuous?

Am I feeling energetic--I want something more challenging.

8.  How much water I am drinking (more like monitor)

I've heard so often that you need to drink 8 oz of water 8 times a day = 64 oz!

BUUUT actually it's not based on a number.  It's based on the color of your urine.

It needs to look like a pale lemonade to know that you're drinking enough water.

If it's at all orangey---chug that water!

9.  How many hours of sleep I plan on getting

This is the ABSOLUTE most important factor of all of these.  I've noticed that if I don't get enough sleep, everything else goes down hill.  I'm too tired to make breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I'm too tired to go to the grocery store to restock my fruits/vegetables/protein etc.  I'm too tired to exercise.  Above all, not enough sleep = cranky mood + crazy cravings!  Anyway, not getting enough sleep is a set up for disaster for me.  So I make sure I go to bed early and read before I go to sleep to get a good, deep sleep. 

"End-Date" Diets

Avoid any diet with an "end-date."  Instead of Dieting, adapt life-long changes!

I've tried out a new podcast called Balanced Bites.  It's a podcast strictly about Paleo.  

As I've said before, I'm not strictly paleo.  I mainly just  LOVE their idea of eating raw and natural foods.  So I wanted to learn more of their "take" on food.

The first podcast I listened to had to do with their "21-day Detox."

I was curious what steps they take to "get rid of" sugar in their diet.

But, the more I listened to it, the more I realized this is insane.

In terms of Carbs/Sugars, they can only eat certain fruits, 

no sugar substitutes (stevia, xylitol etc.) no gum, not even mint, no protein powders!

Also, I thought okay what is the point of this detox for 21 days.

What does it help? Does it really truly detox your body?

Doesn't your body need some sort of carbohydrates?

The more I listened to the podcast, the more I realized how stupid the idea is.

Plus, it didn't help that their attitudes were high-and-mighty about how "EASY" this detox is and people just need to do it and get over their complaining of no-sugar intake.  

One Listener, in particular, asked if their was a substitute for sugar to put in his coffee...

Their answer was "Man-Up and get over it."

Ummm...First of all it is DANG hard to go without no sugar at all in your diet! 

It sounds like a set-up for FAILURE to me!

So what happens on the 22nd day?

How do you go from NO sugar to eating normal again?

The hostess of the show even admitted to binging in sugar after her 21-day detox.

I already know that without trying, I would want to binge too!

In fact, I have binged when I would strongly restrict my sugar intake!

I literally GO CRAZY! It started with pizza, then a bowl of ice-cream, then those chocolates I was avoiding, then those peanut M&M's I've been eyeing, Ahhh and CHIPS! 

It was a nightmare! It never worked! Does this sound familiar to you?

My body needed carbs/sugars! I was just going about it all the wrong way.

Another reason why I wouldn't take part in this "21-day detox" is because I workout!

My body NEEDS Carbs after a workout, as long as I balance it out with some protein and healthy fats.

Sugar is necessary!

What isn't necessary, is the processed sugars.

That is where you need to keep it to a limit.

But there are so many types of non-processed sugars that you can still 

get your treat AND still feel good afterwards as well.

To add some sweetness, I personally love

L.R. Rice Raw & Unfiltered Honey

Stevia

Nectar Agave Syrup

I think after hearing this ridiculous "detox", I realized even MORE,

Diets that have an "end-date" shouldn't be bothered with!

In fact, I'm tired of the "detox" label.  I think it's a bunch of Boloney!   I think that adopting an everyday habit that is doable that helps your body function at a better level is better than ANY Diet ever invented.

Diets or healthy eating or whatever you want to call it should be a life-long goal.

Hence, you should make goals that are attainable, not insane like no sugar or no fats.

I've made goals before and realized, you know what?...This is not for me and I know it will NOT work for me.  

And that's all there is to it.  Everybody is different.

Do what is attainable to YOUR body!

Something that may be easy for me may not be easy for another.

Just listen to your body, Maybe even keep a journal and note how 

your body reacts (whether positive or negative) to certain foods so that you 

can make necessary changes.

So be SURE to watch out for those RED FLAGS 

when you're about to start a diet with an "end-date."

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!