Magic Healing Bowl

Not again.

Each semester right around exam time, I come down with a nasty cold. It never fails! I often get asked why I catch so many colds when I seem to be a pretty healthy person. I guess my only answer for this is stress. I typically find myself sick right around stressful periods in my life; exams, holidays, vacations, new situations, etc. Whatever the reason, I always need a cure. This time I came up with…

The Magic Healing Bowl

 

 

The Magic Healing Bowl is probably the easiest thing to make. Who wants to cook when they’re sick anyway? All you have to do is first, cut up every veggie you can find.

 

For this bowl I used: Broccoli, carrots, peas, red onion, banana peppers, tomato, and cucumber.

 

Then, add the juice of one whole lime! (if you can handle it!)

Last, add a little balsamic vinegar and mix it all together.

Now you got yourself a MAGIC HEALING BOWL, nom.

 

Wish me luck on exams !

Give Me Fuel

Give me fire

Today’s topic? FUEL.

Fueling your body for ultimate strength and power whether it be in the gym, at work, at practice, or how to simply feel your best with proper nutrition.

Note: This is MY advice. What works for my body may not work with your body. I try to keep my reasearch creditable and reliable to work with most people.

So the day after Easter I did something I don’t usually do; I weighed myself.  

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Honestly I was just curious to see how much I weigh because the last time I weighed myself was probably late 2010.

The numbers? Yeah, I’ve gained almost 10 pounds when I thought I lost some. What is up with that? I almost wanted to weigh myself later on in the week just to see if this was correct but, I didn’t. Bad weekend perhaps? Building more muscle? One reason I was curious was because I’ve been drinking A LOT of green smoothies. Not only are these super healthy, I can honestly say that my tummy looked flatter after that week of drinking them just about everyday! Again, which is why I don’t weigh myself…  how I feel vs. scale numbers. And if I did gain 10 pounds of pure fat? That’s ok too. I know I’ve been eating dessert more than one should in a day, that’s my own fault. Honestly, I don’t really see where that 10 pounds went anyway, plus, I’ve been feel pretty darn good so I’m not worried about it.

Warm weather is finally here and I am SO ready to get my fitness on!

 

With that said, I want to let my readers in on how I fuel my body before the gym, after workouts, and just throughout the day.

Before

Depending on how early I workout, I usually try to have eaten and fully digested before the exercise. Example: eat around 7:30, gym no earlier than 8:15. If I feel like I have time to eat a big breakfast this early I most certainly will.

Favorite pre-workout breakfasts choices are oats, non-sugar loaded cereals, and tofu scrambles.

Not good choices for me before workouts are bagels and “cream cheese”, cereal, just juice, just fruit, fruit smoothies, toast, muffins, and other dessert-like breakfast items. The reason I listed smoothies as a bad choice is best they leave me with too much liquid in my belly. Not good for running.

After

Good examples of my post-workout meals are protein and fruit smoothies, green smoothies, natural snack bars, peanut butter on anything.

Not so good examples of post-workout meals would be anything sugar loaded. You just worked hard! Give your body what it needs. Another bad choice in my opinion is nothing at all. Again, give your body what it means! I try to focus on eating lean protein after workouts to rebuild my strength, especially after weight training or running!

Everyday

If you eat crap all day, you’re going to feel like just that. I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy feeling like crap whether I’m at the gym, school, work, or just hanging out. It’s not fun! On a good day, I typically eat 3 good meals with 2-3 good-sized snacks. Now, my days not always the same schedule so this gets a little tricky, here’s where my good friend planning comes in handy.

For example, MONDAYS

I wake up at 5:45, eat a small snack before the gym. Usually an apple with PB or raw nuts.

I get home from Zumba/coffee around 9:00, I’m pretty hungry now so I’ll eat a nice bowl of oatmeal or maybe a protein smoothie for a second breakfast. I usually make this meal high in protein.

Then, I shower, do homework, blog, prep food, whatever until a little after noon then eat a good lunch that focuses on good carbs and vegetables.

Classes from 1:00-5:00, if I’m not going home right afterwards, I’ll pack a dinner. Usually I go gome and eat a dinner that focuses on veggies and protein.

I’d like to say I don’t eat 7:00 but, I usually do snack on not so processed snacks like pretzels, chips and salsa/bean dip, hummus, gram crackers or fruit. I usually eat dessert too that always homemade. 🙂

Not EVERY Monday is like this but, you get the idea.

Other healthy on-the-go tips to always stay properly fueled:

+When I am at school I always keep healthy snacks on hand such as date bars, bananas, apples, and granola.

+On day trips, or other long trips a small cooler packed with healthy snacks is also a good idea.

+Apples, oranges, and bananas travel well.

+If you didn’t pack food, stopping at a grocery store is usually a better choice than fast food.

+If you stop at a grocery store, you can always pick up fresh fruit (a lot cheaper than that .89 cent banana at the gas station) and nuts.

+Always carry a water bottle!

What are your favorite foods to fuel your body?

Healthy Eating Help

Hi guys,

Kind of a short (yet very important) post today…

(Source)

My best friend wants to experiment with healthy eating and might possibly take a “vegan for a week” challenge.

Sometimes when she asks me questions I think of my fellow bloggins because a lot of the time, I feel like it would be helpful for her to gain knowledge from you guys too, not just me. Everyone has their own opinions about healthy eating and losing weight, I would really appreciate it if you were all so kind to help my friend out and answer some of her health related questions!

1. What made you want to eat healthier or become vegan?
2. What are some ways of getting in the habit of eating healthier?
3. What kinds of foods do you like eating the best that’s still healthy?
4. What are some easy and helpful workouts I can do at home? 

Basically, I would like everyone to comment below and tell us WHY you eat the way you do. Does eating healthy make you feel so good you would never want to go back? Do you just really enjoy eating whole foods for the fresh flavor? Do you eat healthy for the good looks?

Athletes: You had to start somewhere! How did you start getting in shape? Were you always involved in sports? Any major success stories?

Thanks bloggins!

 Keep the advice coming!

Healthy is here to STAY.

First: My posts are still being posted on different days that I actually post them on. My last post was only pushed back by a day so it’s not completely lost. Is anyone else having this problem?

Second: Let’s forget my Sugar-Free challenge. Overall, I would say I’m a pretty healthy eater. However, I do agree that I have been eating too much sugar lately and it has been effecting me. I have actually been baking with white sugar… GASP! That stuff is no good. Why have I been doing this? Lately I have been obsessed with making vegan desserts taste “good” (you know, like, “normal” as some people would say because they think vegan/healthy food is gross…) so I been putting in white flour, white sugar, and all the members of that nasty un-nutritional family. But you know what? I love healthy food! Why waste my time proving to people who vegan food taste “good” when healthy vegan food just as good and doesn’t leave you with nasty sugar hangovers? Am I right??? So yes, I will be going back to my normal baking style (mostly whole wheat or gluten-free flours with natural sweeteners like agave and stevia) but I will occasionally enjoy my coconut yogurt with a little added sugar, that’s okay. I don’t want to get sugar-free obsessed right now but I do plan on a challenge in the near future! Plus, I have a lot of food that needs to be eaten up this week! 😛

Third: Holy cow. I just found a new obsession.

Speaking of wheat flour and stevia….

Kat’s Chocolate Chip Pumpkin cookies

These cookies are awesome Kat! They are so soft, almost like a muffin. They actually remind me of those Pumpkin Pancakes I was obsessed with this last fall. And guess what? I ate one with my breakfast. IN YO FACE WHITE SUGA! (White sugar in the AM gives me long-lasting head aches…)

Fourth: I forgot how much I LOVE carrot apple juice. Ohhh my. Can I have this everyday?

& My first Zumba Training session is today, I’m super excited. Remember how I told you that I was taking over one class? Well, I lied. IT’S TWO CLASSES. 🙂

I hope everybody has a great weekend!