The Family Mealtime Illusion and Honey Lemon Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

So I talked about emotional eating in a somewhat-recent past post.  There's another component to emotional eating that just dawned on me after that Ive been exploring and want to talk about here.

It's the cultural ideas planted in our heads about food.  I, like a lot of people I'm sure, was raised with family meal time every night.  Mom had dinner done at a certain time, and we all sat down at the dinner table as a family and ate.  It's supposed to be family bonding time, and I've even read studies that show that kids who are raised with family meal time actually do better in school and stay out of trouble in their teenage years.  Why?  Because that's the one time in the day the family gets to sit down together as a whole and talk to each other.  Make the kids feel important, make them feel like mom and dad are interested in them and want to know how their day went and anything like that.  It makes sense!  And I and my siblings all stayed out of trouble, so maybe there's something to that...  So ever since Harlee started eating meals I felt eager to establish a specific dinner time that we all sat down together and form the habit of discussing our day and making everyone feel important and loved.

And I was met with great frustration.  If Justin wasn't working late or on night shift, he'd be out mowing, or working on something outside and not ready to drop everything and come in yet.  And I'd get aggravated because it's family time!  You can't shirk family time!  Come on!  And if he did come in to eat, he'd rush through it so he could get back out to finish what he was doing.  I know my mom has experienced this aggravation too, as I've seen it, and I think there are probably quite a few families that deal with the same thing.  Or if it's not that exact same scenario, I know there are quite a few families that do feel bad about their lifestyles being too busy to even allow for a family meal time to happen at all.

I was about to give up on family meal time but it made me sad to think about having to do that.  That's supposed to be family time.  What's going to happen when the kids are in school and they don't have this consistent routine of family time to come back to?

I quit dwelling on it for awhile.  But it nagged me in the back of my mind.  

Meanwhile, I read an article about Intermittent Fasting.  I had heard of it, and I heard great things about it too, but never really gave it much thought until I read that article.  Wow!  It basically says it's like hitting the reset button for your body because it allows the chance for your cells to pull nutrients from your body rather than your food, and it causes your cells to be able to discard all the old junk that doesn't work anymore and rebuild itself.  This could potentially rid your body of the start of illnesses and diseases!  There's more to it than that - I encourage you to read that article, it's good!  I'm currently working on my own article about it, so stay tuned.  So anyway I decided I'd give it a try.  I forgot to bring my lunch with me to work one day, and it was a day Harlee had karate in the evening, so I figured it was a good time to try it.  I ate breakfast that morning, and wouldn't eat again until the next morning.  Of course I felt hungry.  At times I almost felt dizzy.  But it wasn't debilitating.  And actually, that evening Justin and I hoed the garden together while Harlee helped pull weeds and I exerted a lot of energy, but I didn't feel like I was going to pass out.  I slept AMAZING that night.  I got the best sleep I'd gotten in a long time!  And I woke up feeling great too - I was in a good mood and I didn't feel like I was starving.  I made a bacon and veggie omelet as my break-fast meal and it tasted amazing, and I went back to eating normal the rest of the day.  I drank a TON of water while I fasted - I couldn't seem to get enough!

Then I had a client who asked me how the fasting went, and I told my story and we got to talking about food.  This client sees food as fuel, they eat to keep their bodies going, and they only eat real food, not processed junk.  I asked about their family mealtime and the answer was that they didn't really have a regular family mealtime.  Sometimes they'd sit down together, but they'd all eat different (healthy) things, sometimes they'd eat separately whenever they were hungry.  Yet from what I know of their family, it doesn't seem like it's causing the kids to suffer...

I thought about my family.  How nice it was to not have to think about dinner that night I was fasting.  And I realized, didn't we have quality family time in the garden that night? All working together to weed it?  That was nice, and it was family bonding time that didn't revolve around food.  Maybe it's best if family time didn't revolve around food... Maybe that's the key to helping my kids form healthy eating habits.  To eat when they're hungry, not necessarily at a designated time.

But what about cooking? Cooking meals that look and taste good but are also healthy and nutritious is fun for me - it's a form of art, a creative outlet.  Would this mean having to give that up?

Well, that issue resolved itself too.  My dad came over to help Justin put up railing on our retaining wall and they were busy working on it from morning and into the afternoon.  Justin and I had plans that evening, so if we were going to have a family meal, it would have to be lunch.  This time, however, I didn't worry about a family meal.  I had the chance to cook and try a new recipe, plus I was feeling hungry, so I set to it and made an amazing pasta dish with zucchini noodles I had in the fridge.  I served up a plate, sat outside with some lemonade, cut up some chicken for Elliot and sat him next to me, and we watched my dad and Justin work.  I thoroughly enjoyed that lunch - the recipe turned out amazing, and I didn't have to feel aggravated that we didn't get to sit down as a family, knowing it's just food, and we can have family time in plenty of other ways.

It was a very freeing experience.  And since then, I havent worried about sitting down to eat as a family.  We have family time in the garden, or in the car on the way to karate (which, by the way, I pack a lunchbox for Halree so we don't wind up at a drive-through), or reading stories before bed.  It doesn't have to revolve around food!

And let me tell you, that's helped even more with breaking my emotional eating problem.  Food is fuel and medicine.  Not a social crutch or an emotional stimulant or something to fill a void in your heart or something to do when you're bored.  Find ways to replace food in those situations.  There are plenty of options! 

So, now that I've shared that story, let me share that amazing recipe I just talked about.  It was SO good. It's based on this honey lemon chicken recipe I found on Pinterest, but with my own twist.  I served it up with some peach mango lemonade.  Holy cow it was good.  So here's my recipe!

Honey Lemon Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

Sauce

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
leaves from 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme (I used a variety called lemon thyme that I have growing on my porch)

Chicken and Shrimp

1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
Juice from one lemon
Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
12oz peeled cooked shrimp
3 small-medium zucchinis, spiralized

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl or measuring cup and set aside.

In a large skillet, add the olive oil, chicken, lemon juice, and black pepper and cook over medium-high heat until chicken is almost cooked through (but not totally).
Turn heat to medium-low, add the shrimp, and slowly add the sauce.  Stir to combine, and let it bubble at a low boil until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
At this point I transferred everything to a large pot and added the noodles and stirred over medium-low heat until combined and the noodles were just soft enough to my liking (be careful not to over-cook or they'll turn to mush!)

Serve and top with a little lemon zest, freshly cracked black pepper, and enjoy!

This was crazy good.  I enjoyed it with some peach mango lemonade, which is super easy to make.

Fruit Lemonade

I cheat and use the powdered lemonade. Do not use sugar-free, that stuff is poison.  Use real sugar.  I measure out enough for a gallon.  But you can make real lemonade, I've done that before too when I have the time to spare.
Then I take half of a 12oz bag of frozen fruit (I've used raspberries, blueberries, mixed berries, and this time I used a peach mango medley), put it in a cup with hot water, and blend it with my immersion blender (or you can use a regular blender), and pour it into the pitcher with the lemonade powder.  Fill it the rest of the way to make a gallon, stir to combine, and enjoy!

This is SO easy and SO good, and such a simple way to add a little extra nutrition to your lemonade!

Love Thy Neighbor

So many people are not following the Bible's words, and it's so sad.

I mean, the main one that's in the forefront right now is Leviticus 20:13, "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them."

But now gay marriage is accepted in our country.  Just terrible, isn't it?

And what about Levitucus 25:44, "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves."

But slavery was abolished quite some time ago, and now even the Confederate flag is no longer acceptable in most places!  What is wrong with people?

Or Deuteronomy 22:9, " Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled."

See??  This non-GMO movement has some good ground to stand on, it's in the Bible not to cross-pollinate!

How about Leviticus 11:12, "Everything in the waters that has not fins and scales is detestable to you."

Wait... I do like shrimp... a lot of people like shrimp... and clams and oysters and mussels and scallops and...

Or Deuteronomy 22:5, "A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this."

Dangit, I don't like wearing dresses... Well, formal events, parties, and nice social outings are okay and it's fun to get dressed up, but otherwise, not so much.  Skirts especially, I hate wearing skirts... I prefer pants and shorts... But these are men's clothes!  Crap.

On the topic of clothes, Deuteronomy 22:11 says "Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together."  Guess I need to throw out these cotton/polyester blend shorts I'm wearing... And nearly everything else in my closet.

And maybe we should give the polygamists a break?  Deuteronomy 21:15-17,  "If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, / when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. /  He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.

If Justin ever decides to take on his second wife and have kids, at least we know how the inheritance is divided.

Alright, that's enough for now.  But I could go on.

Most of you know I'm not religious.  This is partially why.  The Bible has thousands of verses in it, and only a select few are focused on.  It seems like religious authorities, or just religious followers in general, will pick which verses to zero in on to defend their personal beliefs.  But what about all the other crazy verses and teachings in it?

I look at the Bible as a set of guidelines, but otherwise stories.  It was written thousands of years ago by MEN.  Human beings - who make mistakes, misinterpret things, and have human flaws like greed, jealousy, vengeance, malice, etc.  As a good friend of mine said, "God did not write the Bible.  Men wrote the Bible.  I could have written the Bible."

But, there are a lot of good things in it that should, in my opinion, be followed, like:

John 8:7, "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

If you have a problem with gay marriage (which is the topic at hand in our country), it's not your place to judge or condemn gays.  Besides, you probably eat shellfish.

Matthew 22:39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Ya know, I don't get homosexuality.  I really don't.  I've always liked men, I've always been attracted to men, I can appreciate attractiveness in women but I've never wanted to pursue a relationship with one.  Does that mean I hate homosexuality?  Or dislike anyone who is?  No.  I don't really like animals.  I don't have a desire to have pets at my house.  Does that make me dislike people who do keep pets at their house?  Or better yet, if you're an animal lover, do you dislike me because I'm not?  Stop judging people.  People having relationships with other people and showing mutual love and care and affection for each other, regardless of sexual orientation, are not hurting anyone, and are no more "sinners" than the rest of us out here eating shellfish.
 
One more before I sign off:

Matthew 9:17, "Neither do [men] put new wine into old wine-skins: else the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins perish: but they put new wine into fresh wine-skins, and both are preserved."

Change is okay.  Change is good.  The new wine, or ways of the world, as times change, are not going to work with old wine-skins, aka old mindsets.  We need a fresh mindset, a fresh outlook, so we can move forward into bigger and better.

Just sayin'.

Remember That Post About Essential Oils I Had to Take Down?

I guess I left you guys hanging, didn't I?  I had to take down my post about essential oil safety and the fact that I switched companies because I got in trouble for writing it.  I think I said I'd repost it *soon*, but obviously that never happened, as that was months ago.

Well, a lot has happened and a lot has changed since that last post.  I did switch essential oils companies.  And then I switched again.  I haven't posted this story yet mostly because I didn't want to offend the people I left in the company I had switched to.  But I have to speak my mind and get my voice heard.  I feel this information is important and needs to be circulated, and I can't hide it from you in fear of possibly upsetting some people.

I wasn't going to name any names, but since I am no longer affiliated with anyone, I guess I can't get in trouble for naming names.  So as most of you know, I started out with Young Living Essential Oils.  I was told they were 100% safe.  I was told to ONLY use Young Living because they're the ONLY true Therapeutic Grade essential oils.  And that means they're 100% pure, undiluted, unadulterated, additive-free, and therefore safe to put anywhere and everywhere on anyone anytime - even internally.  Drink up!  There were very few cautions and limitations, and since they're 100% natural, YL followers and customers are led to believe they're 100% safe.


Before I get too much farther, here's a really good article about what essential oils actually are, how and why they work, and why there needs to be more awareness on safety:  http://essentialoilblogging.com/2014/01/14/can-essential-oils-be-ingested/

If you don't want to read the whole article, here's what I found to be the important stuff:

Essential oils are composed of dozens of naturally-occurring chemical constituents. Each oil has a unique mix of constituents, although some constituents occur in many essential oils. Linalool, for example, is one of the major constituents of lavender oil and coriander oil, but it is a minor constituent of about 200 other essential oils.

Essential oils have one, two or occasionally three major constituents (about 20-90% of the oil), a few minor constituents (1-19%,) and many, many trace constituents (less than 1%). Sometimes minor or trace constituents still can have a significant effect on the body but most of the effects of an essential oil are attributed to its major constituents. These effects are now being revealed by published scientific research. Some plants of the same species can have major differences in constituents. These are called ‘chemotypes’ and are named after the largest constituent in the plant. Rosemary oil, for example, may be a pinene chemotype, a cineole chemotype, or a camphor chemotype. The majority of commercially available essential oils don’t have these variations however, most of the effects of an essential oil are attributed to its major constituents. ...

... There are some constituents in essential oils that can be toxic, irritating and sensitizing if the essential oil is used in large enough doses. Just because an essential oil is 100% pure and natural, does not mean that it cannot harm you. Harm from an essential oil is not always due to impurities or adulterations; more often it’s simply about the constituents it contains. This is not about purity; it’s about safety.

Another concern is the possible interaction between certain essential oils and certain medications (drug interactions). ... One of the known interactions is between essential oils containing methyl salicylate (Wintergreen & Sweet Birch) and blood-thinning medications. This combination can cause the blood to thin too much, leading to internal bleeding and bruising. This is one of the concerns [had] when recommending the ingestion of essential oils.

Hopefully this explains some of the importance of understanding essential oil safety.

Well, I'm pretty ashamed of myself for falling into the YL marketing hype head-first without doing any research.  I ALWAYS research before jumping into something.  Why was this any different?  Probably because their marketing scheme is pretty powerful.  In fact, I guarantee you that if you're with YL right now, you're probably getting upset, and you may close this blog and never read any further or ever open it again.  If you even made it this far at all.  That's fine.  I just hope you don't get hurt from misuse and blind faith.

I was sucked in.  And that scares me because I'm not one to get sucked into things that quickly.  I have to make sure it makes sense and all the angles line up first.  But, you live and you learn.  I had my incidents with them that finally led me to learn that it's not safe to use them anywhere and everywhere, and I wrote this post about essential oil safety to warn others from making the same mistakes.  I had learned about goDesana essential oils and was happy with their company because they promoted safe use.  They don't want people to use them internally because it's not safe and the oils are so concentrated that they can cause toxicity in the liver and other organs.  GoDesana's oils were just as pure as the others, only they don't try to coin their own terms like Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade or Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil (which the FDA doesn't even regulate, those are actually terms made up by their respective companies and they don't mean anything - "therapeutic grade" isn't a real term).  They're just USDA Organic or wild-harvested, plain and simple.  I was happy, they seemed to work great, signing up was free, so I went ahead and joined.

I wrote a post about having switched companies and why, and within an hour or so of posting it I got a call from Young Living headquarters in Utah.  Yeah.  I didn't answer (I don't answer unknown numbers, especially out of state), and they left a message saying they needed to discuss my recent post and that they'd follow this message up with an email.  I waited for the email, and sure enough they were upset with me for "defaming" the Young Living name and for violating their non-competition policy (you can't be part of YL and another company at the same time - they're pretty hard core about their loyalty).  For the record, I don't think I "defamed" them - I actually said I feel they have good products, and I'll still say that, despite all that happened.  What I said was that I was disappointed in their lack of safety information, and had they been more clear and made sure their representatives had all the correct information, I could have avoided a lot of illness in my family.  What's wrong with that?  Anyway, their email said I needed to take down my blog post within a certain amount of time or they would take legal action.  So of course I went ahead and took the post down.  I did email them back and apologized, saying I was only trying to help prevent others from getting hurt due to lack of safety information, and that maybe they should be a little more clear about safety on their website and in their seminars.  The only response I got was "they'd look into it".  Yeah.  Anyway, I didn't leave goDesana, so they terminated my account with YL, and I am no longer affiliated with them.  I would have shut my account down anyway on my own but oh well.  I now have no qualms about telling you exactly what happened and naming names and all that jazz.  You can draw your own conclusions from all that.  (And if you want some more information, check out the links at the bottom of this post.)

So I was now only a GD customer and representative.  I will say, the whole time something didn't feel quite right, but I joined anyway since it was free to create an account (you have to spend $150 to join YL and get their starter kit).  I'd give it a try and see what came of it.

Well, I got caught up in spending the required BV in products every month to stay on the rewards program, and I was encouraged to build my downline so I could make commissions.  I wanted to take it slow, though.  But it was getting expensive, and taking it slow meant not making any money, only spending it.  And that's the second thing I'm ashamed of.  Getting caught in the money.  Luckily it wasn't so bad that I was trying to force these products on people, and I don't think I really did that while I was with YL (I hope not anyway).  I just believed in the product and wanted to be able to purchase them at "wholesale" and offer them to my clients at my office.  But I did get caught up in the excitement that I could possibly build a secondary income off of this.

Meanwhile, I got to talking to a friend of mine who doesn't want to deal with the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) essential oil companies and buys her essential oils from a direct company.  She's used them for years with great results, and sees no difference in quality between them and the leading MLM companies.  Fortunately I was open-minded to the possibilities at this point, after my incident with YL.

The company she told me about is Plant Therapy.

I looked into them and first of all was BLOWN. AWAY. by the price difference.  Now, if I were still with YL, I would have scoffed at the prices and said, "Oh, they're certainly not pure with prices like that, the true therapeutic grade oils are more expensive - you get what you pay for!" And I would have stopped looking.

No, they're that inexpensive because they're not a multi-level marketing company.  They don't have commissions to pay out.  And they don't have anyone in their upline to send on a free cruise or win a free iPad.  When a company doesn't have to mess with that, they can shave quite a bit off the cost for consumers.  I can't believe I was blind to that before.

Do you realize that "wholesale" in a MLM company is actually still a 300-500% markup from the actual "wholesale" the company pays for?  I was throwing my money away while I was with MLM companies.  Well, no, I take that back.  Someone got to go on a free cruise.  I hope you enjoyed your cruise, whoever you are.

Anyway.  Aside from the price difference, it seemed like Plant Therapy had a pure, high quality oil, they consult with Robert Tisserand who has spent the majority of his life working to advance aromatherapy and using essential oils the best and safest ways possible and is highly respected in the aromatherapy world, they are very clear about the oils' origins and extraction methods, they have easy-to-understand information regarding safety, they have fantastic customer service with aromatherapists on call to answer your questions (aromatherapists who were actually trained by broad-spectrum aromatherapy schooling, not just trained by their company, like I know YL does), all the while not being a MLM company so you don't have to "sign up" and hand over your first born every month to remain a member.

This whole non-MLM thing was really resonating with me.  I mentioned before that something still didn't sit quite right with me when I joined goDesana - I believe that's it.  I didn't like spending my own money, or charging the public money, that only goes toward paying the commissions to the people in an upline.

So I talked to my friend some more about that whole topic, and she made some VERY good points that, honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't thought of myself.  First off, let me be clear: I am not opposed to MLM - I have lots of Thirty-One products and love them, I use Pampered Chef and love them, I bought Lia Sophia jewelry before their company closed up and still wear and enjoy their products, I can't get enough Norwex - and I don't mind spending the money to get a good item and know that I'm helping someone make a go of a "small business" opportunity.  Plus, I'll admit, I kinda like going to the parties (getting out of the house, seeing friends, eating food, drinking wine, who doesn't like that?).  However.  Those are all personal and home-use items.  The essential oils?  Those are healthcare.  They help ward off illnesses.  They help us recover from illnesses.  They boost the immune system, strengthen our emotional health, enhance the brain's function, disinfect wounds, heal burns, the list goes on and on.  And if not used properly, they can be very dangerous.  And yet here we have MLM companies selling them.  And the whole point of an MLM company is to sell sell sell to reach a broader spectrum of people, build downlines, and make more money.  I was irritated with YL for becoming too consumed by marketing and not the healthcare that the oils are - so, why should goDesana be any different?  I'm not saying it is (this is where I was afraid I'd offend someone - so I will say that honestly at this point in time I don't feel they are just out to get your money, however, it is a very young company), but that's what MLM is.  And that's the funny feeling I was getting.  And the point my friend made was: aren't these MLM essential oil companies doing the exact same thing the pharmaceutical industry is doing?  Pushing and selling healthcare products on the public to make more money?

And I knew at that moment my questions were answered.  That's why I felt funny about all those companies.  And contrarily what ignited my excitement about Plant Therapy.  But let me reiterate: at this point in time, goDesana is a great company!  And I was under some people who genuinely care about your health and safety about using the oils, and I don't believe making money off of them is their primary concern.  I can't speak for everyone in the company, but I feel confident that's the case for at least them.

So I had ordered some oils from Plant Therapy (and did not have to hand over my first born to do it), and they've been great!  Their Thieves equivalent "Germ Fighter" knocked out a fever blister right off the bat, lavender has soothed allergies, eucalyptus relieved sinus pressure, and tea tree oil has effectively cleaned wounds.  I was really pleased to see "Kid Safe" marked on some of the bottles, indicating that, when diluted, they're okay to use on kids.  Some oils are NOT okay to use on kids - please be aware of that!!  Don't put your child at risk simply because a representative from the oil company you are using said it's okay!  Anyway.  I was happy with my oils, happy with what I read about them, happy with the testimonials from my friend, and I got in touch with the company to get permission to sell them at my office.  They asked for a copy of my business license and that was that!  I now have Plant Therapy essential oils on my shelf at my office, and I feel great about it.  Their prices are VERY affordable (the Germ Fighter I mentioned is $7 for a 10mL bottle - Thieves is $35 "wholesale" for 15mL and has the exact same ingredients), and you get them for the same price at my office as you would if you ordered online.  And shipping is always free!  So I'm perfectly happy to supply you with good quality essential oils, or you're more than welcome to buy them from the website - nobody's getting any kickbacks, and nobody's going on a cruise.

Meanwhile, I'm sure I'll try out other oils - I'm not going to ONLY use Plant Therapy now.  I'm not going to allow myself to be that close-minded ever again.  But I'm happy with their oils and their team and their prices, so that's what I'm offering on my shelves.

And that's my story.  I'm glad I got away from the MLM thing before it sucked me in again.  I feel cleaner, lighter, and just overall better about this decision - I am able to use a good quality essential oil from a good quality company who isn't trying to focus on building teams and monopolizing the industry, and now I'm able to offer those same oils to my clients for amazingly affordable prices so that I can do what's most important to me - guide them on their natural healthcare journey safely and effectively.


Oh yeah, here's that link I mentioned earlier, if you can stomach it... it's pretty disturbing:  http://www.kidnurse.org/why-the-founder-of-one-of-the-largest-essential-oil-companies-should-go-back-to-jail/

Emotional Eating

Hello strangers!  I think about my blog quite often... and I've just accepted the fact that there aren't enough hours in the day to get around to it.  But that's okay because it's SUMMER!  My favorite season!  It's the opposite of COLD (I strongly dislike the cold), and there's so much to DO! But I can talk about that later.  If I have time...

I actually have something specific to talk about today.  Food.  Okay, I know I always talk about food, but I want to talk about the emotional component of food this time.  Actually there are a lot of components.  And I'm certainly not a psychologist, but I've experienced emotional eating first-hand.  I'm still guilty of it!  I think we all are, right?  It's when we eat to fill our hearts, not our stomachs.  Or when we eat because we're bored and it's a habit.  Or because we're addicted to something (usually sugar) and it tastes soooo gooood that we can't just stop at one.

Harlee loves Big Hero 6, so I felt this shot worked well for this post!

Food is fuel, and food is medicine.  I've discussed this before, and finally more and more people are becoming aware of how important a healthy diet is to true wellness.  But so many people use food as a crutch or a comfort measure, and that's where it gets a bit unhealthy.  Comfort food is different for everyone - it can be a warm, buttery bread roll, a slice of pizza, a fast food cheeseburger, a piece of cake, or, if you're like me, a chocolate candy bar.  For a lot of people, it takes a lot of work to consciously avoid these comfort foods.  If we're unhappy or stressed or even simply bored, it's even harder. And for most people, it's not a bad habit - it's an addiction.  And you need to treat it, and beat it, like an addiction.  I'll elaborate on that topic in a future post.

I was addicted to chocolate and junk food starting with Halloween last year and all the way into Easter this year. I totally fell off the Paleo wagon and could not get back on.  Junk food was engrained in my brain!  I started personal training, hoping that would motivate me to make changes, but I still could not stop thinking about chocolate.  I felt like my exercising was going to waste.  I was sabotaging my own progress.

What helped me was realizing I should stop being so hard on myself.  So instead of beating myself up for ruining my progress toward a healthy lifestyle whenever I ate too much chocolate, I'd say to myself, "That tasted good, I enjoyed it, and that was enough.  I'm done, and my clean eating starts NOW."  I'd remember I'm human, I make mistakes just like all humans, and that's okay.  Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow.  I'll learn from this, and move on.

And with that mindset it became easier and easier each day to say no.  I cut out gluten completely, which was starting to become an addiction too when we'd go out to eat.  When I cracked down on that, I was starting to feel a LOT better. I was happier, my mind was clearer, I had more energy through the day, things didn't stress me out so much, my workouts were going better, and my cravings were becoming more for healthy foods rather than junk food, and I finally got off my weight loss plateau and started losing again!

Then, after the few experiences I had with eating dairy and it flaring up my pollen allergies, which I wrote about in my last post, I cut that out too.  That's when it finally clicked for me - it's not worth it to enjoy the flavor of food only to feel like crap for days after eating it.  And that was the breakthrough I needed to stick to eating healthy on a regular basis.

Take the time to recognize your eating habits.  Are you really hungry?  Or are you just giving yourself something to do?  Or are you upset about something and since that cupcake tastes so good maybe it'll make you feel good too?  Think about the consequences.  Are you going to feel like crap for eating that?  How many calories is that?  Is it worth it?

Reread my post about Motivation if you'd like a few more tips on how to break your habits and make a healthy lifestyle change.

It took awhile, but I got there.  You can get there too.  Just start by being kind and gentle with yourself.  Allow yourself time, because you need to form new habits, and break an addiction.  It takes work, self-discipline, determination, and perseverance.  And if you have a goal, whether it be to look better or to feel better, you can get there.

Hope you're all having a great summer so far!  I'm hoping to find time to blog more - I have lots of ideas.  But in the meantime, follow me on Instagram @NaturallyJami or Like me on Facebook to see what I'm up to!

The Food Allergy / Pollen Allergy Correlation and Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

I've been sort of running an experiment on myself - I wanted to see if I noticed a difference by not eating gluten.  My first goal was weightloss - it seemed like the safest route to go to lose weight while still breastfeeding.  Yes, Paleo is also gluten free, but I'll admit, I had been struggling to stay with strict Paleo.  I figured if I can narrow down my restrictions to just one thing, maybe it wouldn't be so hard.  Well, with going gluten-free I've pretty much gone back to Paleo, so it was a win-win all around.

And I feel amazing.

I have more energy, my moods are better, I feel more patient, I feel more motivated, I feel like my mental blocks are gone and I can be more creative and just think clearer, it's easier to get up in the morning and I've been staying up at night after the boys to go bed because I'm not dead-tired and dragging by the end of the day anymore.  My workouts are going better, my strength seems to be developing quicker, I tried on a swimsuit the other day and I feel like I don't look half bad!  And my allergy symptoms haven't been nearly as severe as most years even though the pollen counts are ridiculous (there's a green film on EVERYthing outside).

Ah, allergies.  I'd have little flare-ups here and there, but nothing out of control.  I'd use a lavender and tea tree essential oil roll-on I made and it would calm things down for me.  The worst one I've had so far (before last Sunday, anyway) was after we got sushi and then frozen custard on Mother's Day.  But, for the most part I figured I had my allergies under control and gluten was the culprit for my problems.  I'm going to write a more sciency post about gluten soon, I hope.  I still have more research to do (yay!).

Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at a local church and they make this amaaaaazing homemade ice cream that you just cannot pass up.  I passed up the bread rolls with the strawberry jam, but I wasn't passing up the ice cream with fresh strawberries on top.

I think it was not even a half hour later and I felt like someone dumped a pound of sand into my eyeballs and then lit it on fire.  It's like my body's entire defense system against the pollens and allergens was completely disarmed and I was thrown out into the firing squad.  I was miserable.

And I knew it was self-inflicted.  Sure, I do believe I'm a bit gluten intolerant, seeing that I have had so many positive results from avoiding it, but it seems as though dairy is definitely an issue too.  I kind of knew that anyway - back when I was avoiding dairy for Elliot when it was giving him tummy troubles early on, I noticed a lot of positive changes in my body during that time.  But this experience made it pretty clear.  And then I realized that the last bad allergy attack I had was after getting frozen custard the weekend before.  Ugh, maybe I should watch what I consume in the dairy department - at least during allergy season, anyway!

Writing these posts usually takes a few days before actually getting them published.  So it's been a week since I started writing, and I was doing great - I spent the week recovering from the last allergy attack, but no new ones hit and my eyes felt clear and no longer irritated, nor have I been hit with any new sneezing fits.  Then I went to a graduation party and there was this gooey butter cake... need I say more?  Oh my goodness it was rich and gooey and delicious.  And shortly thereafter, my eyes were set on fire and the sneezing hit.  Ugh.  That cake was delicious, but this was not fun, nor was it a fair trade.

Let me clear something up, too.  I've told a few people about my discovery, and I've been met with confusion each time.  "You mean dairy sends you into sneezing fits?  I thought pollen usually did that..."  or "That's weird, you usually associate those allergies with pollens or cats and dogs, not food..."

No, it's not the FOOD that is responsible for my sneezing fits and itchy eyes - it is the pollens that I'm allergic to that irritate my eyes and make me sneeze.  It's the FOOD that weakens my body's defense system and makes me susceptible to the pollens.  My system can fight that off if it's not compromised, and it's compromised when I eat things like dairy and possibly gluten as well.  I'll write more specifically about that later.  But that's what's going on here.  Hope that makes sense.

So.  Unfortunately I had been craving fettuccine alfredo for the last week or so since discovering my dairy problem.  I had bought a carton of half & half and everything, figuring I'd splurge and make the real thing instead of an imitation alfredo sauce.  Nope, nixed that idea.  Into the freezer the half & half went - I may use that sometime in the winter when I don't have to pay for it by having a horrible allergy attack.  For now, it's going to have to be imitation alfredo sauce.

I have no hard feelings about that, though.  Let me tell you, this recipe turned out AMAZING.  I'm not kidding.  I was licking the plate.  It's REALLY GOOD.

Of course I made it out of the ever-versatile cauliflower!  I found the original recipe on Pinch of Yum, called Creamy Cauliflower Sauce, and it sounded pretty yummy.  I tweaked it to my needs, and yes, it turned out pretty darn yummy.  My craving for fettuccine alfredo was satisfied!  In the meantime, I'm taking butterbur supplements, breathing in steam with eucalyptus, tea tree, and lemon oil, diffusing lavender oil, drinking green tea with local honey and fresh lemon juice, and hoping and praying that once the dairy leaves my system, I'll be in the clear.  I promise I won't eat ice cream or gooey butter cake again!!  (Well, until the pollen counts are down, anyway...)

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

1 head of cauliflower (about 5-6 cups of florets)
 32oz vegetable broth or water
8 large cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

Boil the cauliflower in the water or vegetable broth in a large covered pot until tender when pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, saute the minced garlic in the butter in a skillet over low heat until soft, being careful not to brown it.
Drain the cauliflower and place the florets into a food processor or blender with the sauteed garlic and melted butter, salt, pepper, milk, parsley, oregano, and basil.  Start with 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and add more depending on how thick or thin you want your sauce.  Blend into a creamy puree and serve hot.

I spiralized some zucchini with my handy dandy vegetable spiralizer and tossed it with the sauce and some shrimp in a large pot and cooked it together until the noodles were soft enough to my liking.  And it tasted ah.maz.ing.  I'll definitely be making this again!!

Paleo Banana Muffins

I made paleo banana muffins awhile back and never saved the recipe.  Then here I was with overripe bananas and no recipe to follow to recreate the muffins I made before!  These turned out even better than those, though, so I'm not making that mistake again - I'm writing it down now before I forget!

Harlee used to eat bananas all the time.  I never had to make banana bread with overripe bananas because he'd eat them all before they ever got to that point.  I guess his taste buds changed because he's not as interested in them anymore, and since I don't care for them that much (and apparently Justin doesn't either), and the co-op basket always comes with bananas, we now have the overripe situation.

Bring on the banana bread! Paleo-style, of course.

I found the original recipe on PaleoNewbie.com and added my own twist to it.  Bananas need peanut butter, in my opinion.  And peanut butter needs chocolate.  So, without further ado, I give you:

Paleo Chocolate-Chip-Peanut-Butter-Banana-Nut Muffins  (say that three times fast...)

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup nut butter (I used peanut)

1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup (or more...) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

With a stand mixer or hand mixer, mash the banans and mix with the eggs, vanilla, butter, and peanut butter. Add the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips and nuts) and mix into a batter.  Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Line a muffin tin with baking cups and pour the batter into each one.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick insterted comes out clean.

Enjoy now, or freeze for later!

Mother's Day Weekend Wrap-Up, Motivation, Lemon Caprese Pasta Salad and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Recipes

Hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  I had the best one yet (out of all four I've celebrated so far).  It was my first one as a mom of two, and my first one as a complete family.  I kicked it off with a trip to Paducah, KY, to run the Iron Mom 1/2 Marathon Relay with a group of awesome gals, and it was a blast!  It was great to get away for an overnight trip too (and Justin did just fine with the boys on his own!).

On Sunday the four of us went out for sushi for lunch (well, Harlee and Elliot didn't have any but Justin and I indulged - we love sushi!), did a little shopping, and got frozen custard later.  Yum!  I'm pretty sure I added back all the calories and then some that I burned off on the run... but oh well.

Now I'm back to the grind.  I did a crossfit workout this morning, then I came across an awesome post by Felicia Newell, a nutrition coach I follow on Instagram and Facebook.  I wanted to share her post with you and reflect on it a bit, both for my own benefit and maybe yours, if it resonates with you.  Here's the link to her post, but I'll copy and paste it in case that link doesn't work.

One of the very first (and most difficult) steps to making a lifestyle change is finding the motivation.

Do you, like many others, struggle with self motivation? Having a hard time getting yourself to your regularly scheduled workouts? Finding more and more reasons to cheat on your healthy diet?

Guess what? You're not alone! We all struggle with motivation sometimes, but I have some tips that can help you self-motivate and reach your goals.

A healthy dose of motivation coupled with determination will get you almost anything in life. So how do you know if you’re genuinely motivated?

- Motivation will tell you to get to your workout no matter what.
- Motivation will nag you to put down the doughnut.
- Motivation makes passing on fries a reflex.
- Motivation makes a sweat drenched workout exciting.
- Motivation constantly reminds you why you do what you do.

Self-Motivating Tip #1: Find Your Motivator.

Motivation stems from having a goal. What is your goal? Why do you want to get into great shape and/or make a lifestyle change?

Once you uncover your personal motivator you’ll find that motivation flows quickly your way.

Take a minute to really uncover the reason that you want to lose the weight. Don’t say something vague like you want to 'Be thinner' or 'Look more attractive.' Dig deeper – there is a very specific motivator in your life, you simply need to uncover it.

Here are some possible motivators…
- I want to have more energy to keep up with the kids.
- I want to improve my health through weight loss to extend and improve my life.
- I want to lose 15 pounds before my vacation.
- I want to restore my confidence to wear sleeveless shirts.
- I want to regain my figure to impress and attract my significant other.

Self-Motivating Tip #2: Make It Official.

When you write something down it suddenly feels official, doesn’t it? Write down your motivator for getting into great shape, and post it where you will see it often—next to your alarm clock, on the bathroom mirror, or in your car.

Each time you see your written motivator take a moment to visualize yourself accomplishing your goal. Try to make the scene as clear in your mind as possible. This is a powerful tool for maintaining your focus and direction.

Self-Motivating Tip #3: Be Practical.

It’s game plan time. You know what you want, and now you need to map out exactly how you’ll achieve it. It is important to be practical in your planning, rather than throwing out ideas that you know you won’t stick with.

With any weight loss goal it is important to 1) maintain a healthy low-calorie diet, and 2) participate in a consistent and challenging exercise program.

Plan a routine that will fit into your schedule and you’ll be more likely to stick with it. Also choose an exercise program that you enjoy—don’t force yourself to jog everyday if you hate jogging.

Self-Motivating Tip #4: Call For Backup.

Enlist the support of your friends, family and co-workers. Tell everyone about your goal to lose weight and get fit, you’ll be surprised how supportive most people will be. By being open about your goals you’ll likely be an encouragement to others to make healthy changes in their own lives.

I really liked that post, and it got me thinking about my own motivation.  I struggle with motivation to work out on my own, to go for a run on my spare time, and to eat healthy as often as possible.  Swimsuit season is fast approaching and I've just felt kinda "eh" about it.  And I know I won't feel that way when it's time to actually go swimming, so to do something about that I need to start NOW.  Apparently I need to dig deeper than the swimsuit though.  What is my motivator?

Feeling good is a motivator.  I came to a realization in the last couple days - when I eat foods that contain a lot of gluten, I have allergy attacks out of this world.  I feel like I have glass in my eyes, my nose is constantly running, sneezing, the works.  If I watch what I eat, I can tolerate the great outdoors without much trouble.  And I've been finding that it's not worth the great taste of food with gluten in it to put up with allergy attacks like that.  Added to that, I feel better all over when I eat right.  I have more energy, I have more mental clarity, I have more balance when I eat right.  Motivation.  And that's my step #2 mentioned above - writing it down.

What is your motivation?  I don't often get comments on this blog.  Feel free to comment your motivation!  Let's work together and fulfill #4!

So how about a couple recipes?

Remember that vegetable spiralizer I mentioned in my last post?  Yeah, that thing has been getting a workout!  I made classic spaghetti (though I just took a shortcut and made meat sauce instead of meatballs) and it was like the real deal.  Honestly, now that I have this spiralizer, I doubt I'll ever mess with a spaghetti squash again.  These zucchini noodles are way closer to the real thing.  They're awesome.

Sorry about the bad lighting...

Yellow zucchini squashes turn out even closer to the look of real pasta!

Basic Spaghetti Meat Sauce

1/2 lb ground beef (or venison in our case)
~ 30oz tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp basil
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef in a skillet and drain off the grease.  Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat.  Add the beef and mix until well incorporated.

I added about two zucchinis worth of noodles to this recipe and cooked it all together until the noodles were soft enough to my liking.

And it was delicious.

So this morning I was feeling inspired and decided to pluck some of my basil growing outside and use up the last of my zucchini  noodles with some of cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge.  Allow me to share my recipe!

Lemon Caprese Pasta Salad

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese cut into 1/2" pieces
2 zucchinis, peeled and cut into noodles

Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper together (I used a glass measuring cup).  Add the basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese and stir until combined.  Let sit while cooking the zucchini noodles over medium heat in a dry skillet, about 3-5 minutes.  Don't overcook or the noodles will become mushy!  Once they get a bit of a transparent look to them take them off the heat immediately.  Let cool, drain off the water, and add in your lemon caprese mixture.  Toss until well combined and enjoy!

Cooking the noodles a bit

Lemon caprese mixture

Tossed together

Serve!  Yummy!