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Learning to Embrace the Process

Have you ever found yourself disappointed with a perfectly productive week simply because you didn’t cross off every item on your never-ending to-do list? Or maybe you lost 6 pounds as a result of completing the Whole30, only to be disappointed because you had a goal of losing 10.  Or perhaps you abandoned your gym routine because you committed to getting in 5 weekly sweat sessions but you only found yourself showing up 3 times a week. Maybe your scenario is slightly different, but I think we have all been in a similar situation. 

Have you ever wondered why we are disappointed? After all, we were productive, we did lose weight, and we were showing up to the gym.  I mean, aren’t these all really great things? Of course they are! So, what is the deal?

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Should I Really Eat More Fat?

Fat has gotten a bad rap for so many years but we are starting to finally hear in the media about why fat might not be so bad after all. We are in firm belief here at Live Simple Eat Well that adopting a whole food, nutrient dense diet and getting far away from the standard American diet is how we can achieve optimal health. Fat has never been bad, and never will be, but what we as a society have done to it, like highly processing and creating fats that were never made to enter the human body, is why they can be “bad.” If we are to adopt a whole food, nutrient dense diet full of fats the way nature intended we will begin to see the amazing benefits that fat has to offer us! If you are in to the science of how the body operates this article has plenty of great information for you, skip ahead to “key points” if you want to read past all of the sciency stuff.

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Holiday Mindset: How to Get Out of Your Head and be Present With the People and Food You Love Most

The holidays can be hard. The stress of family gatherings, impressing people with the food we make and the gifts we bring, jumping from one party to the next, over exercising to counteract our indulgences or not exercising at all because the stress is too exhausting. But what if I told you that there are simple things we can practice to try and counteract the stress of things during the holidays that we can’t control. 

Both my husband and I come from divorced families, so for the past four years we have walked into the holidays expecting laughter and enjoying good food, but walked away so exhausted because of the stress of trying to please everyone we love and not taking care of our bodies in the process. While trying to people please, I used to always over think my meal choice and how much I could exercise to finally enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie that I love or some extra cranberry sauce. Some of you might be thinking, “girl you’re crazy, I definitely let myself indulge during the holidays with no remorse,” if that is you, rock on and keep it up, but I know that many of you can relate with me here.

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Tricks for Surviving this Holiday Season

 

With the Holiday season upon us we are entering one of the most wonderful times of the year (they wrote a song about it for a reason).  Between the get-togethers with family and friends, pumpkin spice everything, Christmas music, time off from work, and watching Christmas Vacation on repeat, there is certainly something to be said for these two special months of the year.  However, with the all the good things to look forward to, the Holiday season inevitability brings up some feelings of anxiety around staying on track with your health goals during this extended time of celebration.  If this resonates with you, don’t worry, you certainly aren’t alone.   To help keep those anxious feelings at bay, here are a few tricks to help you stay on track during this Holiday season.

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Cinnamon Ginger Energy Balls

Happy Tuesday, friends! This week’s recipe is for those of you looking for something that is sweet, easy and guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.  It is about time I put these out there for everyone to enjoy because they have gotten rave reviews time and time again.  I am usually not a big fan of “healthy sweets” but these energy balls are GREAT if you are weaning off the processed sweets and need a little treat  to keep you from diving headfirst into the carton of ice cream.  Or, if you get the occasional sweet tooth that you want to satisfy without all the added junk in your typical store-bought granola bar.  Either way, I hope you enjoy!

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The Best Ways to Naturally Boost Your Vitamin D

I am a sun worshiper, always have been, likely always will be.  Summer is certainly my favorite season and I’ll be the first to admit that I love a good beach day.  A little bit of sunshine, a little bit of water, maybe even a an alcoholic beverage or two. I’ll call that a pretty darn good day.  An added benefit, and maybe the reason so many people love being out in the sun, is that it is a great way to get your daily dose of Vitamin D.  That’s right, I’m saying that loving the sun may be an innate instinct that allows us to keep our Vitamin D levels up.  Just a thought.

So, let’s talk a little about Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is one of the four fat-soluble vitamins, along with vitamins A, E and K.  It is an essential nutrient in the body and plays many important roles within the body.  Some of the benefits of Vitamin D are listed below.

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Are You Making This Very Common Eating Mistake?

It is very common in today’s culture to have our breakfast in the car while we’re driving, have lunch at our desks while we’re still working, and have a quick dinner standing over the kitchen counter, hardly pausing before rushing off to our next commitment.

 

The trouble with eating while we’re rushing, working, driving, or even feeling anxious or upset lies in our central nervous system. Within our autonomic nervous system (the part that runs on automatic and regulates such things as heartbeat, digestion, and pupil dilation), there are two branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic.

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My 10 Favorite Guilt-Free Snacks

Anyone who has ever cleaned up their diet knows that finding snack alternatives can be a challenge.   ESPECIALLY in the beginning.  I get the “What can I snack on?” question a lot when clients are ready to ditch the sugar and processed food but also want to be prepared for when hunger hits.  Although snack cravings tend to decrease dramatically once blood sugar is regulated, this can take some time.  In case you find yourself struggling to find snack options, I thought I would share my top 10 clean snack foods.  Added bonus, these are super quick and only require a few ingredients.

1. Hard Boiled Eggs with Primal Kitchen Chipotle Mayo

Whip up a batch of eggs on Sunday afternoon and slather a nice spoonful of PK mayo over a couple for some added healthy fat.

2. Dill Pickles

It doesn’t get much easier than this. There is something so satisfying about the salty crunch of a dill pickle (or two).

3. Sriracha Chicken EPIC Bars

I like to have a healthy paleo-friendly protein bar stuffed away in my purse or laptop bag and these seem to hit the spot.

4. Guacamole with Sliced Radish

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Creamy Homemade Cashew Milk

Hello, lovely people! Happy Tuesday.  This week’s recipe is for all you lovers of nut milk who don’t care for the added ingredients often present in the store-bought options.  This cashew milk is super simple and does not require straining like homemade almond milk would (major score!).  Not to mention it is super creamy and delicious!

Not only do cashews have a lower fat content than many other nuts, they pack their nutritional punch by providing 98% of your recommended daily intake of copper in only a ¼ cup serving.  Copper is an essential component of many different enzymes and helps with the utilization of iron, elimination of free radicals, development of bone and connective tissue and the production of the skin and hair pigment called melanin.  They are also a good source of phosphorous, magnesium, manganese and zinc.

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