Lose 10 lbs in two days?

     

          Wait what?  10lbs and two days, that is not possible or healthy.  When the new year rolls around there are so many more new diet trends and so many people setting out to try them.  It is the end of January, this is where most people (if they made it this far that is) end up quitting or getting discouraged with the new "fad diet".   This cycle of new found motivation and a new "diet" always ends in heart break and self loathing.  This is not good for ones mental, physical or emotional health.  We all struggle with motivation but the heart break and self loathing should not be in our struggles on the journey to health.  Health and happiness go hand in hand so it makes no sense for heart break and self loathing to be in that path.
          I will admit I once fell into this trap of "New Year Resolutions" and the awful after effect.  This was the norm for me year after year.  I am so glad that I have finally removed my self from this cycle.  Now my rolling in of the New Year consists of good intentions I set my self that I actually follow through with and have nothing to do with "dieting".  Also now my life style has changed and dieting is no longer something I try or fail at.  I am no longer "dieting", I have a new way of life.  My "New Year Intentions" have nothing to do with weight loss or dieting and I love it.  They now consist of things like; go budgie jumping, finish reading a book, start a new book, more me time, or starting a new crochet project/finish one.  These are the things that lead us to focus more on loving our selves and life not hatred.
          I am loving the new lease on life and finding what works for me to make me the healthiest happiest I can be.  I have new found love for all different types of whole foods and loving getting creative in the kitchen with all of them.  I did this slowly it did not happen over night of course.  We must change things little by little to create a long lasting healthy habit.  I am here to tell you , you are not alone and there are people to help you in your journey.  You can start by just following the blog or my Facebook and if you want more lets get connected and join forces to bring out your healthy happy self!  Here is to a New Year filled with self love and natural health!

Time to wake up!

The alarm goes off, and its time to start your day.  Do you hit snooze up until the last minute you can to have just enough time to get out the door on time?  Well I am here to tell you that you should wake up and be awesome!  Give your self enough time when you wake up till the time you need to leave so that you have time for "me time".  Your morning routine is so important, it can give you a jump on your day so that you are ready for anything!  My morning routine looks a little something like this:  Alarm goes off, I give love to my dogs, I take my vitamins while reading and saying my affirmation cards then I head down stairs to continue the rest.  I do my back and neck stretches, do my oil pulling, drink my greens, protein shake and my fish oil then I do some meditation.  From there I usually head out for the gym or to yoga.  Now I am ready for anything!  Where as if I just give my self enough time to throw on some clothes and run out my day is usually filled with chaos and fatigue.  Now I am not saying that everyday I have time to do this, I know everyone has crazy busy lives and things come up.  I do however make it a point to have this happen at least 4-5 times a week.  We must truly give time for us.  You give so many people your time; your job, family, friends, kids, husband/wife, pets, chores and the list goes on.  We need to slow down and make sure we are giving ourselves time as well because you must be at the top of your to do list!  If you are not well taken care of then you are no good to anyone else.  Lets see if you can find some ways to wake up and prepare your self for the day so that you are ready for anything!  Leave some comments below and tell me your morning routine for being Awesome!

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

 

  1 c almond milk (any choice of milk/non-dairy milk)

  1/4 tsp vanilla extract

*1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

  2 TBSP pumpkin puree

  1-2 TBSP raw honey (sweeten to your liking)

*8 oz coffee

Combine on the stove top. Whisk together until well combined and hot.

Fall is my favorite time of the year for many reasons, and pumpkin spice latte is one of them!  Here is a healthy version of one , or if your like me its the only kind around.  Living here in South Korea this latte is non existent so in order to get ones fix I had to get creative.

*Homemade pumpkin pie spice                                            
 2TBSP cinnamon

 1TBSP ground ginger

 1/2TBSP allspice

 1/2TBSP ground gloves

 1/2TBSP ground nutmeg

 *8 oz of your favorite coffee, either regular or instant mixed with 8oz of water.  You could even do this with your favorite tea, I would pick a black tea something non flavored or chia spice flavored tea would work well also.

Monsters of the Mind

Has this ever happened; you are preparing for something important such as a meeting at work, on the way to an outing where you will be meeting new people or just headed to a normal day with friends but you seem to be running a little late and anxiety floods over you.  You start worrying about all the things that possibly could go wrong or what your friends will think.  Nothing has happened yet but in your mind they have.  You are flooded with stress, but from what?  The mind is very powerful, as you imagine all the possibilities they seem to feel real to you and cause real problems.  The stress causes anxiety and your mood to decline.  So now your day that hasn't really even started yet takes a turn for the worst.  This is all too common especially for women.  We tend to worry to much about the monsters that aren't real.  Nothing is there open the closet, turn on the light and look under the bed. The monsters are in your mind.  These monsters not only are causing you stress, anxiety and mood swings they are hindering your progress of your journey to health, wellness and happiness.  When our body is under stress it triggers the cortisol in your body which is the fat producing hormone.  When we have anxiety and mood swings we tend to not eat very healthy we reach for "comfort" foods.  They are called "comfort" foods for a reason, they boost your mood for a short period of time but then once you are done eating and the food is gone your mood declines again.   Next time you start to feel this coming on remember the last time it happened and how the end result was nothing like you imagined.  The monsters were no where to be found.  Take a moment and do some deep breathing, and smile because you are amazing and you can do this.  We all need to learn to embrace our imperfections, let go of perfectionism it is a dead end.  If you strive for perfection you will never have anything to work for or learn from.  We are imperfectly perfect and thats all there is to it!  Go forth and be the best at being YOU!