Snack Attack

I've been feeling pretty scattered with everything lately.... and especially my eating habits. I did a juice cleanse a few weeks ago and felt pretty good afterwards. But what always happens when I'm busy is I end up eating whatever and/or eating out a lot more. And once again I'm starting to feel it... and see it... on my ass.

Ughhhh. So I've decided that I'm going to stock up on healthy snacks so I don't end up overeating or eating random junk for the foreseeable future. Yesterday I was starving and ate a GIANT veggie burrito for lunch... and then was so full I ended up taking a nap for a few hours. Last night I was a little hungry after the gym, but all I had was chocolate (it was really good dark chocolate at least) and my roommates pretzels (sorry Kelly!). I found out if you alternate eating pieces of chocolate and pretzels it tastes like chocolate covered pretzels. If you ever need to improvise... just sayin'.

So, today I'm going to the store and getting lots of healthy things I can snack on. I need to get back on track. More juicing to come too! Gotta get back to my daily juicing.

Who wants to do a juice cleanse with me???

How many meals should we be eating a day?

I get asked this question from time to time so I thought I would explain my views on how messed up America's eating habits are.

When I was a kid, we ate 3 meals. Breakfast, lunch, and an early dinner (by 6 pm). If we were hungry at 8pm we had a choice of fruit or to wait until breakfast. Somehow since then it has become fashionable to eat 6 smaller meals a day. Where this came from I am not really sure, but it is definitely an American-made concept.

I have tried this at least a few times and have stopped almost immediately because I felt like the only thing I was doing was eating- all day long! It was like I spent so much time managing when I was going to eat that it was annoying and I felt like I couldn't get anything else done because I was always eating.

Since attending nutrition school, I have come to think that not only is eating 6 times a day a little ridiculous, it is completely unnecessary, and actually detrimental to losing weight (which is the argument that trainers use when they tell you to eat smaller meals more frequently).

In a nutshell, your body will not burn fat if it is constantly getting fed. Fat is stored to be used as energy, but it only burns it if there is no food in sight. So if you can train your body to go longer between meals you actually have a shot at burning your fat stores for energy.

This brings up another aspect of eating 6 meals a day: night eating. Inevitably if you are eating 6 meals a day, you are more than likely eating later than you normally would to get that last meal in. Night eating is the worst thing you can do if you are trying to lose weight. It's ideal to go to bed on an empty stomach (slightly hungry but not starving) because then your body burns it's fat stores all night long. Everyone is different, but the ideal time for me to stop eating is 6pm, and I usually eat a large lunch and smaller dinner. When I do not eat a large lunch I go into the late afternoon starving, ravenous, and capable of eating everything. This is what I have been working on...eating my big meal during the day.

I have been chipping away at this over the past few months, and have seen tremendous results (along with all the juice I drink). I gave up the idea that I need to kill myself at the gym everyday and little by little have changed my eating habits. I have seen more weight loss from changing my eating habits than I ever did from spending hours at the gym. Now, a few times a week I go for a six mile walk (more like stroll most days) and an occasional run if I do not have the time to walk.

Changing one's eating habits is tough stuff, especially if you are addicted to sugar, caffeine, etc., but I promise if you just start where you are and make little baby steps you can see lasting weight loss without killing yourself at the gym.

And the most important thing to remember is: IF YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY DON'T EAT! (regardless of what you think you have to do...you don't have to do anything...you are an adult...eat ONLY when you are hungry!)

For all you POPCORN lovers out there

this was me last night

So lately I've been bothered by the fact that I cannot find any microwave popcorn at my grocery store that isn't filled with tons of chemical ingredients and fake butter flavors. I found it one time, but that was it. It disappeared.

Growing up we had an air popper which, if you are not familiar with what it is, you put corn kernels in it and they are popped with hot air. I bought one a while back, but after using it a couple of times it broke and I never got around to ordering another one. Then I tried to do it old-fashioned-style on the stove. AWEFUL results! Just plain gross (I at it anyway).

Then last night I was craving something salty but had NOTHING in my kitchen because if I keep salty crunchy things in the house I eat them regardless of whether I am craving them or not. For some reason, the popped in my head that I could just microwave the corn kernels like I would a bag of microwave popcorn.

The angels must have parted the heavens or something. Why did it take me 29 3/4 years to figure this out!?!?! DUH! You just put the kernels in a bowl, cover it with a kitchen hand towel, and microwave it for the same amount of time you would a bag of microwave popcorn. Voila! Fresh popcorn! And this way you can use real butter (it makes everything better) and sea salt. Plus (BONUS) bags of plain corn kernels are soooo cheap! All you need is 1/2 a cup of kernels and it make a big bowl full of popcorn.

I feel like the SMARTEST person in the world!!

I miss cooking

oh mussels... how I miss you!

I recently realized that with all of this juicing and eating as much raw food as I can, that I haven't been cooking or even preparing anything worth blogging about. As much as I love juicing... I'm over it! I know I said I was going to try to juice majority of my diet for 30 days, but I'm done. Like 1 or 2 max per day. I need to eat real food. I don't know how people do this longer for a week. Maybe that's why all of these juice cleansing companies are popping up. Well, I'm in if for the long haul so I'm going to just drink juice in the a.m.

On the "cooking" front, I came across a wonderful gal, Blythe Metz, and her online raw cooking show, Blythe Raw Live, a while back, but I hadn't really taken the time until the past week to actually watch her show from beginning to end, 10 in a row to be exact. I had contacted her to get her permission to put some of her shows on our Raw Generation website because she talks all about why it's so great to include as much raw in your diet as you can, and BONUS! raw food recipes that are simple and fast.

I was bummed for a while because when it comes to raw food "cooking" I draw a blank. Put a pot on the stove, show me where the pantry is, and I can create anything. So, I am going to use her shows to inspire a new side of my cooking abilities. AND! My dad bought a dehydrator so I'm going to be testing out a bunch of raw snacks for myself.

I'll keep you posted! 


And P.S. don't burn yourself out with a juice cleanse. It's much better to be consistent and drink one everyday than to go APE S-H-I-T for a week. It's all about slowly adding healthy things in to improve your lifestyle.

MINT: The finale

MINT BURGERS!!! I forget who told me about this recently, but it stuck with me. I had some ground beef from the farm, I was craving meat, and voila!

All you do is mix an egg with the ground beef, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, chop some Vidalia onions and mint and form into patties.

So fresh!!!! And you really taste the mint. It's a nice cooling compliment to the beef. I served it with avocado and black beans. I feel like when you eat burgers with buns it's too much. First the bread is usually garbage- read the label next time. High fructose corn syrup, white flour, and hydrogenated oils are common. This is a nice healthy option.

This is the last mint recipe for the foreseeable future. I think :)

MINT: Part 1

Let me start by saying that I'm not sure where this need for mint-in-everything-that-I-eat is coming from. It may be that I just figured out that I really like it, or it may be that my body needs it and is telling me by making me want to put it in everything.

And the best part is.... it can literally be put in everything!

And it grows like a weed so running out is not a problem if you plant a pot of it. Mint is one of the few things that you actually should put in a pot because it keeps it contained and from taking over your garden.

Health & Nutrition Benefits of Eating Mint 

• Dried mint leaves, boiled in water, form a strong concoction that helps in soothing the digestive tract and easing the severity of stomachaches.
• Drinking herbal mint tea reduces irritated bowel syndromes and cleanses the stomach.
• Mint is a strong diuretic and therefore, helps in eliminating toxins from the body.
• When included in the diet on a regular basis, mint reduces the growth of bacteria and fungus in the body.
• The anti-fungal properties associated with mint help in curing asthma and other allergic conditions.
• Crushed mint leaves helps in whitening teeth.
• Mint helps in getting rid of headaches and migraines.
• Inhaling mint gives relief from congestion problems, like sinus infections and common cold.
• Inhaling essential oil of mint provides a sense of calm and thus, helps one relax the mind.
• Menthol present in mint makes it an important component of many medicines and drugs.
• Mint has antipruritic or anti-itch properties. When added with camphor, it helps to cure insect stings and bites.
• Various researches indicate mint as having anti-cancer properties. The phytonutrient, called perillyl alcohol, in mint is believed to prevent colon, skin and lung cancer. (Source)

What are your feelings about mint? 

Insane Cravings

If only Gaga was around this week with that crazy meat dress of hers. I could have eaten the entire thing. Out of no where I got these intense cravings for meat. I haven't really eaten much of it (including eggs) in the past month and all of a sudden I was like "EGGS, BACON, HAMBURGERS, STEAK!"

So I've been eating eggs just about every day, and I ate Italian sausage the other night, and I made crazy awesome burgers last night (which I will be elaborating on in another post).

I'm feeling pretty good otherwise. I'm still drinking dark green leafy vegetable juice just about every day, and started making smoothies again. I think I'm about to begin my lady episode soon, which might explain the cravings for meat. I say I think because for the past 15 years I have not been successful at tracking it. I figure I've gotten along this far without knowing when it would hit.

I used to crave salty carbs all day, everyday. Specifically potato chips. Since I started with the dark green leafy vegetable juice they have pretty much gone away. I have read that when you crave salty carbs it's because you have a mineral deficiency. Guess what is LOADED with minerals? Dark green leafy vegetables. Who'da thunk it?

What do you guys crave? Salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy?