I often get questions of should I do this, or should I do that?

so here are a few basic ones I wanted to share:

Should I drink Beer or Hard Alcohol?
Here is my theory.... Yes there are positive and negatives to both but the key is moderation here, pick a drink you like, your rewards are rewards so enjoy it. If you try to make a healthy choice when obviously not making one your brain will still feel deprived and you might as well not even splurge because you will not feel satisfied. Instead pick one of your favorite drinks and be happy with just that ONE!

Should I drink diet soda or crystal light?
NEITHER! and give up that Gatorade too.... Not to sound harsh but unless you are doing a high intensity sports activity where performance is the goal, not weight loss, you don't need it. Okay, now your wondering what to drink. If you're a carbonation addict drink mineral or seltzer water, add frozen fruit for flavor or lemons and limes. If you are a sports drink type get vitamin packs like emergen-C or other store brand, not artificially sweet vitamin boosters, the key here is with real sugar. You love juice? add half water... believe me it is still sweet enough and sweeter than water right! And lastly, if you want to buy something... if you really need to spend money on healthy drinks buy Kombucha it is the most amazing drink I have ever had filled with anti-occident and probiotic deliciousness. About 75 calories for the whole bottle and only 3-6 grams sugar all natural and raw.... now I normally don't push products and will say there are a lot cheaper things out there but this one is real and great tasting... so thats that also.... there is always WATER

Should I eat a big breakfast or lots of little meals?
Eat how your body feels best. But DO NOT I repeat DO NOT SKIP MEALS! It is calories in VS calories out.... but don't forget calories under can be just as bad as calories over.
Unless you are so restrictive that you only get enough calories to stay alive, (anorexia, which is still slowly killing your body), you will do what is called binge and even if you never eat too much but eat to little and then just enough you body will take that just enough and store it as fat. This is one of the more common problems of over weight woman. Dieting too hard then splurging. It is no longer the victorian area, its okay for woman to eat and be considered a lady too.
So eat the RIGHT amount, doesn't matter when. (disclaimer.... you can eat certain things at certain times to help process nutrients better)

Do not feel like you have to never eat! I often find that when my diet and fitness are in check I feel like I am eating more often than not! and that is a good thing.

Should I ask questions or just guess what I think is right?
ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTION, If I do not know the answer I will help you find it!  Feel free to post them in comments below as well!

I hate eating breakfast! If you're like me you will completely get this and should keep reading, and if your not like me you should still keep reading so you know what you're doing is right!

I hate eating breakfast! You could give me a million excuses and I have probably used all of them: I'm not hungry, I ate a big dinner, I'm listening to my body, why have those calories, it makes me feel funny... Blah blah blah, I have heard them and used them but this is why we must stop!

I know you have heard it a million times but it is true- BREAKFAST IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Now here is where people get the whole thing wrong! You do not have to eat ALOT!

You just want start your metabolism for the day.... Heard that one too? Let me explain it to you... 

Overnight your body does three things with the food you ate that day, it uses it, believe it or not it takes calories to dream! it repairs or builds muscle that you damaged and the rest it turns into fat!


So sadly it can't just use the extra cookies you ate before bed to start your day. It also does not immediately start burning fat. I mean how convenient would it be if your body was like hey I have all this fat, I should use that....nope

See your body is smart and it knows it takes will get more energy quicker if it eats your yummy dense muscles.

But to stop muscle atrophy there is one thing that your body likes better than that yummy muscle..
Can you guess what that is?
Food and not just any food.... food that is quick to get into your blood.


This is the one time during the day that it is ideal to eat simple carbohydrates.
 Sugar can quickly be sent into your blood stream...  aka feed your body!

So eating something small like fruit and other simple not processed carbs with a light protein like eggs will give you the boost of energy that you need.

Just eating a little allows your body to wake up and start to get energy... enough so it doesn't break down your muscles and has time to start the fat burning fire inside you.

So try to make it a habit, otherwise you are damaging your metabolism and nobody wants that!

On a positive not it is the best time to eat simple carbs and I don't know about you but you don't have to as me to do that twice!

At the start of every year it is tradition to reflect on what has happened in the last year and make goals for the next. 

Lets be honest.... usually one of these goals has something to do with food!

We all have habits, guilty pleasures,  even occasional splurges that we feel we should do without.... But what if this year we focused on giving ourselves more instead of less!

Here is how I usually hear people starting the new year: In Year ____ I'm going to eat less french fries, chocolate, peanut butter, pasta, (insert your favorite guilty pleasure) and so on and so forth. 

This is what I call a restrictive plan.... which to me means- A plan that will eventually read as a punishment to my brains pleasure center.  which means- I will begin to think I am torturing myself. which means- I will want to be set free and rebel from the horrible dictator.... oh wait thats me... now I feel guilty for not obeying the wonderful ruler.... but to be honest maybe the dictator has gone a little crazy... so just one bit wont be bad.... well there goes a whole box of Oreos..... 

So, let 2015 be the year where you give yourself more instead of less!

Here is how:
Instead of training your brain to feel like it can't have something, let it have more of something good:

Example: In 2015 I will eat more naturally sweet foods, this way I can please my sweet tooth ( I think I have like 24 of those) while providing my body with beneficial nutrients. So not only will my mind be happy but my tummy on the inside and out!

This is a way that we can create new neural pathways in our brain, that will change the way we think without us having to think about it! Kinda crazy and cool at the same time right. (if you have questions about this contact me and we can talk more about it)


By giving yourself something to start off the year you will be more excited to start it as opposed to dreading the day when you STOP doing something that, lets be honest, your brain thinks is a reward....


You have to train your brain to shrink your belly!


In 2015 I will give my body what it needs!   

The truth is.... I am Guilty! I LOVE food.... Like a lot! always have. Even when I was a kid, you could sit there and see the difference between my brother and I. He did not like food, and was forced to finish his plate. Me on the other hand lets just say that was rarely a problem. And to this day it rarely is. 

So how do I deal? Well, it has taken me a LOOOONNNGGGG time and many lessons. I have been on soooo many strict diets, no diary, no cheese, no this, no that, Paleo, "Clean eating", you name it, I have probably tried it.... well except gluten free because you know what, I love bread! and that is where I drew the line. 

Okay, I have to be honest, I even tried not eating much of that at times, but you know what happened, I was miserable, and more out of shape then ever!... did I mention I was working out twice a day! CRAZY RIGHT!

So here is my confession:
I LOVE FOOD and 
I have learned that having a healthy mind is more important than a healthy diet!
I eat what I want!
I never SKIP a meal.
and I drink plenty of beer! or wine... I like that too.

You might think I am lying but I want you to listen closely so that you can understand the truth.

Ever wonder why you meet people who seem like they eat what they want and are more fit then you.... 
Immediately you start to assume or even accuse them of things... 
they must workout a ton... like all the time, they must not eat a lot when alone,  or even going as extreme as thinking they have a disorder.

what a horrible way to feel about others..... not that you don't want the best for them but come on... it can't be healthy... you are healthy and thats not you...

I know this because that was me.

But you want to know their secret.... 
and I didn't believe it for a long time... 
Their secret is MODERATION and positive mentality.


THEY DON'T STRESS.
THEY DON'T RESTRICT 
THEY DON'T PUNISH THEMSELVES
They strive to be healthy not skinny... and that is the key
(now I have to clarify there are people out there that do have health and mental issues, and should address those issues, but what I am discussing here is about inner reflection, I may discuss other eating issues at another point but not in this blog)

Once I stopped worrying about everyone else, every other diet, and every calorie, I began to listen to my body. 

Thinking of food in terms of fuel. And recognizing when I wasn't fueling my body and just eating for enjoyment.

while doing so learned about how my body uses different food types.
And to recognize when I am tasting something as opposed to consuming nutrients.
  
Now I know how to control and guid my goals. Right now I am not in the best shape I could be, but I know this because I make the choice to ignore my body sometimes and go for that extra cookie because part of my balance is letting my mind feel relaxed about what I eat when I am not training for something specific. 

Another way to think of food is... if you restrict so much that you get around junk food and you cant get enough even though you know your blood will feel like glue, your heart will race and your head will pound, you do not have a healthy mind... so even if you have the healthiest diet your mind will not be healthy and that is where we find the Yo-Yo effect of dieting. 

SO Yes I am guilty of eating un healthy, but now I don't have to worry that I will go on a rampage and murder an entire box of cookies.... I mean their have been Oreos and Chocolate bars in my house non-stop and they have not been demolished in a fit of.... "I better just eat these all now so they wont tempt me later" mental madness. 

I am guilty of finding a balanced life.

Often we think of diets a strict ridged things, that we are either on or off. It has gotten to the point where now we even hear health advice saying dieting is bad for you! Now here is where the lines get kinda blurry, yes there are some diets that are bad for you.... I mean I would not recommend the twinkies diet to anyone, but the main thing about diets that is bad is how we think of them. As of right now I am sure the majority have an all or nothing mind set when it comes to your dieting. You may think diets have restrictions, or avoidances, and maybe even time lines. I am here to tell you there is another way, a more successful way to be on a "diet".

But first I want you to think of how you want to live. 

In life in general we tend to see ourselves heading down a path, at the end of the path lets say is our dreams or our goals. To reach our goals we had down this path. Sometimes we stray, or stop and look around, but we never completely abandon our goal. Rarely do we turn and run in the opposite direction. Sure we may take a few steps back or side steps but our goals are there, sometimes they change but still none the less they are there.

Now what if your goal at the end of the path was to get fit, look great in those jeans, run a 5k without walking, what ever your goal is, eating healthy will benefit you and help you get closer to meeting it.

So now imagine you are at work and it is someones birthday "AHHH I AM ON A DIET IF I HAVE ONE PIECE OF CAKE, FORGET THAT GOAL EVER EXISTED"

Doesn't seem logical right? But this is an extreme version of what often happens to people on ridged diets, they believe it is all or nothing. 

BUT WAIT

What if we thought of it in one of these ways "Well I have been making great progress on my path to my goal lately, so if I take a pause here and enjoy myself for a moment it can't hurt, as long as I remember to get back on my way to my goal" acknowledging that I may be taking a little longer route today but I am still on my way. The road to success does not have to be a straight one.

or

You stop and think "gosh I have definitely been taking the long way lately, but I would like to reach my goal sometime, so I am going to say no today."

I know a big red light is going off in your head right now.... but what will people say! (and this is the part that really gets me)
I really wish I could tell you to say "F* um" when they diet shame you. But the truth is you can't. One easy option that when some one tries to diet shame you.  Is to say "I actually have been enjoying plenty of things in life right now, so I don't want to overindulge today, thank you anyway"  I mean you really can't argue with that. And if someone does push it further then that they are just making themselves look kinda silly.

Back to our path. 

As long as we remember we are on one, it doesn't  really matter how we get there, as long as we don't abandon it. Some roads are straight and narrow, some are wide and windy, and some are both, but as long as we don't think we are either on or off our path we will still manage to get there someday. 

So recently Kyle, My partner in crime (and just about everything else) and I have decided to get more nutrients in our diets! We started with the idea of juice because why else I have a juicer! We quickly realized though we didn't like the loss of nutrients and fiber in the process. Also, as delicious as it was, not too filling for the caloric intake! Not that I am obsessed with calories but no one wants to go over board! In short our next conclusion was let's blend it all! Kyle being the tec savvy guy that he is did some research and found out what blender would be the best bang for our buck! We decided on a Ninja! This thing is awesome, we also are playing with a new protein powder... I'll let you know what I think of that in a bit! So far the taste is great. Now the key is to figure out how to not make too much and get a balanced nutritious smoothie.... So let the blending begin!

Here are a couple key things to keep I'm mind when blending:

A palms worth of veggies goes unnoticed flavor wise so sneak them in but don't load them up.

Be careful how much fruit you add, yes you want it sweet but even natural sugars add up to unwanted amounts of carbohydrate.

Make sure the liquid aspect isn't loading you up on calories also. I recommend almond milk, or celery juice. In a pinch no added sugar fruit juices work too!

Always add ice, most of us are dehydrated anyway!

So not exactly the same magic we experienced as kids and our chia pets, but none the less just as fascinating are the numerous ways chia seeds are put into our nutritious meals today! Here are some sites I found very interesting, I hope you can enjoy them too! 

Why are they so dang good...for us 
http://www.mychiaseeds.com/Articles/Top10ChiaBenefits.html
40 ways to use chia seeds
http://www.chiaseedrecipes.com/40-ways-to-use-chia-seeds.php
I think I'll try some of these
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/quick-and-easy-chia-seed-recipes

Egg and bell pepper are all you will need

Dont have time for an omelet, take half of a bell pepper cut into a ring, so you can see through both sides, place on frying pan creak egg in middle and flip once. 

add avocado, salt, pepper, whatever other veggies you would like. Or keep it simple, think fresh and healthy =] 

Some things are just naturally healthy.

This is a dish I learned from my college roommates. It is like civche (sorry if I spelled that one wrong) but instead of shrimp it is imitation crab.

What you will need is:
1 onion
1 cucumber
1 or 2 tomatos 
3 or 4 lemons
and 1/2 pound of imitation crab meat 
Optional: salt, peper, ketchup, and your choice hot sauce
Just dice everything up and mix together, except the lemons which you juice and squeeze over the top.

I personally like it with a little salt and chalula.

It is a great fresh dish, that can be eaten on its own, or with chips, as a side, on a tostada.

enjoy!