Nourishing Wisdom Cont’d

A few blog posts ago I was mentioning a book I had started reading called Nourishing Wisdom. “The Good, the “Bad”, and The Ugly (If you click on the highlighted part I link back to that last post in case you missed it) It is a fantastic book that has hit on quite a few points that have struck major cords with me. I wanted to follow up on them before I strayed too far from it!

There were 2 other points that I left out of that last post because I thought they deserved a blog post on their very own!! Powerful stuff I tell you.

Here they are:

1) Working a boring job you might find yourself hungrier then usual; food serves either to calm us down or activate our interest when we feel unfulfilled.

2) There are 5 Key Factors that play a roll in our food desires and changes: Lifestyle, Environment, Season, Age, and Health.

I completely relate to these two on a very deep level. Why? Because I’ve lived them both!! I was in a job about 3 years ago now where I was severely unhappy. I had big plans to stick with it long enough to save some money and then move forward. Then I got fired. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as this job was so unbelievably toxic. But never the less, while at the job, I began gaining a lot of weight. I was mindlessly eating just to fill this major void and mask my unhappiness. Then about a year and a half later, I was at a different point in my life where I was unemployed and also extremely unhappy because of being unemployed and broke (go figure) and therefore basically eating whatever I could find just to fill the void which then leads to being more unhappy. It’s a vicious cycle. In any case, I gained back even more weight after losing quite a bit.

When you’re unhappy you inevitably gravitate towards sweet or salty processed foods because we view them as comfort foods. These then spin the chemicals in our heads which make us feel happy, momentarily, so we want more. Then we fall out of our healthy regimes like working out, going out with friends, being outside. So our lifestyles then change. Not to mention as we get older our metabolisms slow down. I’ve lived every single “key factor” that is mentioned. So now what does one do?? We set intentions for ourselves, we re-organize, set goals, call a friend and tell them what you’re goals are to hold you accountable. You make a Game Plan!! Setting yourself up for success rather then failure sets the ball rolling. Yes, you very well will slip up and falter a few times. What matters is this, that you get up and TRY! Keep going forward, because ultimately after a few tries you WILL succeed!!! Make a chart for yourself like we had in pre-school, for every time you make it to the gym or eat clean all day you get a star. When you get a whole consecutive week filled you go reward yourself with a manicure or movie with a friend!

That’s all I got for today 🙂

So go get ’em my lovely followers! Make a list, make a game plan and by all means share them with me!! 🙂 I’d love to hear from you!

Things I’m Digging Right Now

So it’s Monday… Yup, the beginning of  a new work week, so I thought I’d kick it off with a list of Things I’m Digging right now.  I may bring this back every so often as I discover new things, or re-discover oldies but goodies!  🙂

1. Frankie!! This is my current Theme Song (I tend to attach theme songs to whatever is currently going on in my life, and this one is, as always, dead on!)

2. Rich Roll! This man is a beast! And my current role model.  He is a plant based ultra athlete.  He has a book which I just read on vacation and I highly suggest you go get it and read it yourself!  It’s super inspiring and a great fast read 🙂

3. Raw Brownies!  As I have been transitioning back into full veganism and converting over to a completely whole foods based diet (aka no more protein bars and processed foods!) I’m playing around again with making raw foods.  I strayed from this for a while during my temporary housing situations over the past year.  But I’m back!  I found a great recipe over at My New Roots it’s pretty amazing!  Just be sure to not over process, I made that mistake and the oils from the walnuts come FLOODING out.   If the mixture is blended for too long, this apparently happens.  Oops! Rookie mistake

4. Sun Warrior Protein powder.  I add this to my daily smoothie for an extra protein kick!  It’s a clean, raw, sprouted whole grain protein.  Which means it breaks down very easily in your body and it’s hypo-allergenic. It’s also got all essential and non essential amino acids!  There are no added chemicals, it’s simple, and tastes delicious!

5.  Etsy Home and Living section.  Oh.My.GOD!!!! Having just moved into my new apartment, I’m obsessed with all the ideas they have!!! I am such a nester, and love setting up my personal living space to be completely and totally reflective of myself and my personality.   Currently I am aiming to set my place up in a very simplistic and zen style.  I have a studio, so maximizing my space and not having it appear cluttered is really important.  If the space appears to look overwhelmed, then that will transition to my mood.  So therefore having a clean and tranquil environment is crucial!  I suggest you check it out too, so many beautiful vintage and zen ideas!

Oh and in addition to that… one word. Terrariums.  Obsessed!

So that is all for today!  What are you currently into these days?