Commitment: Habits in the Making

 I started reading an E-book I got for free "... then just stay fat."
(That got my attention!) The author, Shannon Sorrels, has a different style of writing about weight loss, calories, health, and sticking with a program—she entertains and motivates. She's heard all kinds of excuses for not getting-with-it including:

My tree fell over.

My fridge died; I had to eat it all.

I had to go out to dinner a lot this week.

They made me a cake.

My metabolism thinks I'm starving.

The soft serve ice cream with Oreo toppings was for calcium. 

You get it . . . "OK then, just stay fat."

OK, I can relate to these. Shannon tells it like it is and I have no more excuses! Either I do or I don't!

Commitment: Habits in the Making

Improved Habits: 
Exercise  6 times/week.
Drinking my greens everyday.
Losing pounds (as opposed to gaining)

Last week I concentrated on my posture and I did some Yoga (along with exercise). 
I focused more on what I was eating and if I really wanted to eat it—before I ate it. 
I continued with an anti-inflammation diet concentrating on raw foods plus eating wheat-free. I still had cravings and I didn't do as good as I could have . . . not habits yet.

Week 3

Move
Continue to concentrate on posture and doing yoga for physical stress relief. Also, make sure to play my favorite music and dance when I feel like dancing! 

Munch
Continue with the wheat-free choices. It's hard because my husband and son aren't on the same restrictions I am. My husband does most of the shopping (a great bargain shopper which I appreciate) and comes home with breads and crackers and things that I really want but shouldn't have! My friend Lynn, a Hallelujah Health Minister, told me that if she had to look at all those no-nos in her kitchen she'd have a hard time too. So, I have to convince hubby—duh, like he doesn't already know. 

I tried a German sunflower seed bread that took a little getting used to, and a pecan bread I bought that I don't really like. I'm sure these are not low calorie but I thought to find a bread substitute I can eat and enjoy. I do like sprouted grain tortillas. I know there are gluten free recipes but I don't want a potato flour replacement.  I'll keep looking and experimenting. If you have a good recipe you like, please share!

Eating Raw : 
I eat a lot of green salads and have been juicing more, enjoying green smoothies, and I made zucchini pasta last night with a new sunflower seed dressing that was not so tasty. Sometimes that happens when you experiment. But here's a fabulous zucchini spaghetti recipe! I've made friends with pomegranates over the last several months and if you missed my previous post about my experience go here: Pink PomeGranny Juice.

"A glass of pomegranate juice packs in more antioxidants 

than almost an entire day of healthy eating."

Motivation

Have you heard of Mind Mapping? When I went to Vicki Arnold's blog and saw her mind map I decided to do one for myself. This is based on my desire for healthy habit changes for 2013. The center is the red heart: Improved Health, and it has three divisions—Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual. From there it branches out and touches on many areas of my life that are important to acknowledge and commit to. If you are a visual kind of person this is a great way to make a plan and aid you on your healthy journey. I liked how they all interconnected.

Mindset
Many of you have picked one word to represent what you want to accomplish in 2013. I have chosen—REJOICE!  That's my main focus for a year. If you'd like to take a deeper look at why I chose Rejoice for my word please visit Living & Learning @ Home. 

I will say this: you know how you feel when your favorite song is played and you dance with no inhibitions? Or . . .  those sensations that grip you when you're doing something you absolutely love? That's how I want to rejoice about living—as close to all the time as I can—even through the adversity of illness and getting healthier. 

I'm not sure how this relates to the topic of commitment. Except, that I commit to rejoicing more! Isn't it all good? All that we are learning and doing and feeling and sharing? I am happy just to be me right now (with all my snags and snarls)—however far along on the healthy pendulum I am at—and I have much to rejoice about today! That's what I'm focusing on along with my healthy habits journey.

I'd love to hear about your healthy commitments. 

Linking up with Teachers of Good Things 

Let's get juiced!

Blending, Juicing, & Loving It—

Getting started, from Mimi Kirk's raw food recipe book: Live Raw

(Chapter Five)

Power Greens drink 
(The blueberries were an extra, not an ingredient)

I've been making fruit and green smoothies for several years now, plus juicing here and there—with a few recipes that are very similar to Mimi's in her book. But I tend to make the same few recipes over and over again, so I was happy to experiment this past week with some interesting ideas, different fruits and veggies, and power-plus nutrients from Live Raw. Today I'll share three drinks that I will add to my list of make-again-juices and -smoothies. But first I want to mention something about why I am doing this. 

What motivates me? 

Certainly, it takes some doing to prepare healthy foods. I'm already in the kitchen a lot anyway. In fact, I don't juice as often as I think I should for that very reason—I'm a little lazy sometimes. I like instant! I like fast food! I want to tantalize my taste buds now! 

Well, see? I need motivation to move in a different direction if I want to see a change. And believe me, I need a change. That's why I'm always reading a book or two that is inspiring to my health, both physically and spiritually.

I want to stop the disease processes that are happening in my body from making me feel old. Yes, I am half-past the day I go poof and meet my Maker, to be sure, but I don't like the condition I am in today, or what apparently has already transpired in past years. 

My eating and health practices for most of my life were not the best. In the last ten years great improvements were made, which came from new found knowledge, but there were a few early years when peanut butter, hamburgers and boxed macaroni and cheese were my staples along with sodas and an occasional candy bar. I recently talked to a young woman in college who said she lives on string cheese and Mountain Dew! I'm not familiar with string cheese, but that's scary!

So each year I did something different to improve eating habits and ultimately our health and here I am today. Doing better, but you can't overnight what took many years to acquire in the first place.

So on with some new healthy drinks.

Here was something out of the ordinary . . . The Power Greens drink recipe used 1/2 of a fennel bulb.

I didn't even know what fennel looked like. I had to ask for it at the health food store.

1/2 fennel bulb used in recipe 

I thought perhaps the fennel bulb would have a strong taste and overpower the juice, but I didn't find that to be the case. Yes, the drink tasted green, but I liked it and had no problem drinking it. I added a bit of stevia to sweeten just a bit too. (I still need to find out what to do with the upper herb part of the fennel, the part that reminds me of dill.)

What are the benefits of fennel?  

Here's some of what I found on the web . . .

Fennel contains vitamin C, fiber, manganese, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamin B3. The vitamin C from the bulb of the plant is antibacterial and beneficial to the immune system. The high fiber content reduces cholesterol levels. Fennel can eliminate toxins and potential cancerous substances from the intestines. The high potassium content will help lower high blood pressure. 

So in adding this to your green juice, you are upping some important nutrients to support a healthier and happier body.

The juicing process

I share my green drinks with hubby.

This What a Pear smoothie recipe was my favorite! I love ripe pears which are the basis of this smooth delightful drink. It also has celery which I have never put in a blender before—I've always juiced it. Celery is great to reduce high blood pressure, so it's important for me. BTW, you have to use a high-powered blender for these smoothie recipes. I love my Vita-Mix and I highly suggest you invest in one if you don't already have one!

 What a Pear ingredients ready to blend

This drink includes ginger, a typical ingredient I use when juicing. Ginger, a potent spice, has been used as a natural medicine for centuries. It has strong anti-inflammatory properties, and improves digestive health. A 2004 article in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (researchers from  Johns Hopkins) showed that a ginger extract has the potential to slow the progression of brain cell loss in Alzheimer’s disease (related to its anti-inflammatory nature). Good stuff for folks with nausea, arthritis, or migraines.

What a Pear Smoothie . . . delicious!

Trip to the Moon called for water from a Thai baby coconut. OK, so lazy me bought canned coconut water from the health food store.

Trip to the Moon ingredients before blending

It's widely known about the benefits of coconut oil, but what about the coconut's water?  

Coconut water is the new sports drink!   

Here is a list of the benefits of coconut water :

• It's full of electrolytes! It contains calcium, magnesium and potassium, and is low in sodium.
• It's low in calories and fat, and contains no cholesterol. 
• It detoxifies. Research finds that it can improve immunity, and increase your metabolism. 
• Helps clear your complexion.
• Helps cleanse and improve intestinal and digestive systems.
• Helps lower blood sugar level (great for diabetics).
• Helps balance PH level.
• Helps balance thyroid.
• Fights infections.
• Improves blood circulation.
• Is an aid to lose weight naturally.
• Replaces fluids lost. (Hydrates and nourishes.)

 Trip to the Moon Smoothie . . .  loved it!

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way."

- Napoleon Hill