So Don't Go to the Gym?

This post is inspired by my dear grandfather who gave me words of wisdom many years ago and my current goals that I have made and accomplished this past week. To preface what I am going to say, I need to explain that before I had this full-time job that exhausts me to extremities, I was a work-out fanatic. I spent at least two hours in the gym daily, sometimes more, and a work-out session was not a work-out unless it included cardio, thorough stretching, and weight lifting. When I was in high school, I was on two cheer squads, so I had two practices a day, including tumbling class, and at night I would go on a 45 minute run with my dog. Needless to say, I was in shape. I obviously no longer have time to do this anymore, but when I can make it to the gym, I thoroughly enjoy it. One day many years ago, my grandfather came to visit from Wyoming, which he did not do frequently. He learned that I had this obsession with being fit, and he decided to sit down and talk with me, because he had some concerns. He sat me down and said, “Why do you spend so much time exercising?” I was dumbfounded as to why he would ask such a silly question and replied, “I like to be healthy.” He then replied and said something I never expected, “Megan, there is no necessity in going to the gym to be healthy. All you need to do is keep active, keep your body and your mind busy, and health will follow you. I’ve never worked out a day in my life, and I am perfectly fit.” He told me, “Do your work around the house, get out and do things instead of sitting in front of the T.V. on your spare time, and you will be just fine.” Now of course I shrugged this off at the time, but his words never left me. Now my grandpa is a very fit man; he is well into his seventies and he runs a ranch, so of course he is fit. He spends his days wrestling cows, and running around a ranch, which does not apply to my life exactly, but his principle still was correct.

Have you ever noticed that when you sit in front of a T.V. or a computer for long periods of time, you seem to get hungry easily and snack frequently? I know I’ve noticed it. Well I eat pretty healthy, but my job has been stressing me out and driving to the gym does not seem appetizing because I am physically and mentally tired. The past few months I was battling this exhaustion by doing mindless tasks that allowed my mind to do nothing. I thought this would help my stress, but indeed it did not. I began gaining just a few pounds, which says a lot because I am a very small built woman. Since I eat healthy, I was not expecting this result, but stress has its ways of ruining things. So I was stressed about my job, and I did no chores during the week, including my progress notes for the kids I work with, so by the weekend I was even more stressed by my to do list. So a little over a week ago, I made some goals. I wanted to do more with my time, and prove to myself I had more time than I thought. I was going to reteach myself time management, which I have been lacking since I finished school in May. I woke up one morning and wrote out all of the things that I needed to get done around the house, including my shopping list for groceries that week. I then assigned each task a day that I planned to accomplish it. I then got to work right away on my first task and kept going until I completed all the tasks that day. Then I felt so good about myself, I began doing tasks made for another day. The first day, I still involved my television set. I turned it on and watched it/listened to it while I worked, but I did not feel the need to snack all day. The next day, when I went to watch T.V. or got on my computer, I actually could not do it. I was reenergized and wanted to accomplish more tasks. By the time the weekend came I had no items that needed done! I actually had a REAL weekend to relax! It was phenomenal!

Besides staying active, accomplishing all my tasks, I also set a goal to feed my mind. Since I have finished school, I have not been actively giving my mind some food by reading. I was tired of reading and wanted to give my mind a break after 17 years of straight education. Well, this backfired, and my brain began starving for healthy knowledge stimulation. So as a religious person, I picked up my scriptures and made sure I read them every day. Then I picked up Dave Ramsay’s book the Total Money Makeover and knocked that out of the park. I am now trying to finish a couple other books I have started a while back and that I have not yet completed. Now my mind is not so exhausted, because it is getting regular exercise. By keeping busy and feeding my mind, by body is more relaxed than ever! Who would have thought? I sure didn’t. Now I am not advocating never going to the gym, for I enjoy working out, and I sure don’t have a ranch to take care of so my physical activity is not nearly as high as my grandfather. However, what my grandfather was getting at is that there is more to health than getting in the gym, and that you can do other things to stay in shape than spending hours each day in the gym. So far I’m feeling great and accomplishing many great things. I am happier than I’ve been in a while and picking up hobbies that I used to love to do. For instance, I love to craft, and lately I have been making fun decorations to go around my house. If you need craft ideas or great things to do there are some great blogs out there to give you some ideas to fill your time. One of these is Doodles and Doilies. I posted the button for this blog on my home page. Go check it out!

  

Here are a few pictures of crafts I have made that I am in love with!

This is a coat/purse/unbrella holder:

Now here's my favorite, my key holder:

This is my mail holder:

and finally, I made this as a wedding present for a good friend of mine

So here’s my challenge to you: Get up, make a list, and start one item at a time. Start with little things and work up to the big. I promise by doing this your mind and body will feel invigorated!

-Megan

Money Matters

So far, I have only discussed health in terms of food choices. However, there is another subject that is just as or even more important than eating the right foods and exercising. Money and getting out of debt is an extremely important subject. Financial issues are one of the top ten reasons that marriages end up in divorce (http://www.divorceguide.com/free-divorce-advice/marriage-and-separation-advice/the-top-10-reasons-for-divorce.html). Financial problems put unnecessary strains on marriages, families, friends, and roommates, and can cause severe amounts of stress. Stress, in turn, has a large quantity of negative effects on your cognitive functions and your physical health. There is a whole area of psychology that studies these effects of stress on the human mind and body. Chronic stress has been shown to be associated with severe physical health problems. In my clinical psychology class, this subject was discussed heavily and I learned that stress leads to illness through two mechanisms. First, there are direct effects of stress on your systems which impact immune function and, second, there are also indirect effects that are caused by an increase in health risk behavior or decreased health protective behavior. For example, stress causes us to eat poorly, not exercise, smoke, drink, and use other unhealthy coping behaviors. Since money is one of the top three stressors among Americans today, Americans could improve their health and relationships dramatically if only they could get their money matters under control.

Today’s economy does not help us with our money problems, but there is a way out of these situations. As of late, I have been reading an amazing book called Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I would highly suggest that everyone get this book, read it, and apply its principles into your lives. In this book, Dave Ramsey explains how to pay off your debt systematically and how to start preparing for you future, e.g. retirement, kids college funds, and paying mortgages off early. I have listened to his radio show and every Friday, people call in and tell their success stories. You would not even believe the amount of debt that people are paying off in short amounts of time! The trick is to get your priorities under control and sit down and make a budget. If you don’t know how to prepare a budget, Dave Ramsey’s book can teach you how. This book will totally change your view of money. In order for you to gain wealth, get out of debt and staying out of debt. Can you even imagine what life would be like without making any sort of payment? Think of all the vacations you could go on if the only payments you were making, were to yourself! If you get out of debt, your stress will go down and your overall health and cognitive abilities will improve. If your affairs are in order, and build up an emergency fund like Dave Ramsey suggests, you will feel much more secure in your job, because if you happen to get laid off, you don’t have to worry about it! Why? Because you have a backup plan and six months of income that was saved in your emergency fund.

One problem with most Americans is that we feel the need to keep up with the spending of others. Why do we feel the need to do that? If we just learned to put off our spending momentarily and buy things with cash instead of on credit, we will be able to buy more in the long-term and will be stress free financially. If you do not have money for it, do not buy it. Don’t buy your groceries, your movie tickets, your clothes, etc. on credit; it is unnecessary risk. There are very few items that are unreasonable to buy with cash. These items are a home, a car, and your education. However, buying a car with cash is easier than you would think. First off, don’t buy a new car, there are plenty of used cars that only have a few thousand miles on them and will last you just as long as a brand new car. If you want to buy a house on credit, one thing that I recently learned when my husband and I purchased our home, if you do not put down 20% as a down payment, you have to pay mortgage insurance and other fees that increase your monthly payments. We were taken by surprise when our purchase was all said and done, because we had no idea what mortgage insurance was. If you must get in debt for you education, don’t go to a fancy private school unless you have a scholarship. Going to a state school or a community college gets you the same type of degree and you’ll get paid the same amount as someone who went to that private school.

 If you are interested in getting out of debt, I would seriously suggest to everyone to check out www.daveramsey.com  and www.thegreatrecovery.com  to see what this philosophy is all about. It is best to deal with these issues now, before things get worse. Remember, when the performance has come, the time to prepare is over. Don’t put off money issues until you are about to lose your home or job. Eliminate financial issues from your stressors now, and be happier and healthier later.

-Meg

Treat Yourself

Let us take a break from talk of healthful habits and try to bring some perspective into the equation. I am about being realistic, so let us get real. Why do diets fail? Well I will tell you why; they make you give up foods you love and they do not teach you anything about implementing any sort of long term eating habits. My opinion is that you should not have to give up the food you love in order to meet your goals. You may have to reduce your intake a bit, but if you have good eating habits for everything else and you are practicing good portion sizes, go head and treat yourself! That’s right, treat yourself!

There is nothing like a fresh home baked cookie. The smell as it cooks and the chewy texture right as it comes out of the oven. That is my vice, what’s yours? For some of us it might be going out to eat at their favorite restaurant. Go for it! Now I am not advocating eating cookies all day and eating out every night, but for goodness sake live a little! We work hard every day with work, school, kids, family, gym, life, etc. Food can be so therapeutic sometimes; in fact many people tend to eat their feelings. I do not suggest eating your feelings to the point of binging; however sometimes eating a little ice cream when you are upset can really make a difference. There is also nothing better than rewarding yourself for going to the gym every day than eating a couple of homemade cookies. 

Now here’s the catch. I know as a woman when I eat junk food I feel REALLY guilty afterward. In order for this to actually be a treat for ourselves, we need to stop stressing over it. Just relax and let it be. Junk food from time to time is not going to kill you. If you eat it in large amounts every day then ya, it probably will. But that is not what I am talking about here. If you try to live a healthy lifestyle by eating natural and organic foods along with less meat and more fruits and veggies then you have nothing to worry about. I treat myself quite frequently, but because I eat so healthful most of the time, I never gain a pound, and this is even without working out!

Now of course some treats are better than others are, and I do not mean taste-wise. You can choose wiser options for junk food and it can make you feel even better about treating yourself. For instance, I keep mentioning homemade cookies, emphasis on the homemade. By making your treats at home, you can control and play around with the ingredients. Try using whole-wheat flour instead of white flour. Not only are whole grains healthier for you, but they fill you up faster and therefore make you eat less. This is a great website that explains how to substitute whole-wheat flour for white flour along with some great tips: http://www.ehow.com/how_2299938_substitute-wholewheat-flour-white.html . Another substitute, if you are using chocolate, is to use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Now if you are anything like me, I would much rather have the milk chocolate; however, dark chocolate is full of anti-oxidants and tends to have less calories and less fat. If you take a gander in the cereal aisle where all the granola bars are, note the brands and the type of chocolate they put in their products. Brands like Cascadian Farms and Kashi put dark chocolate, while less healthful brands use milk chocolate. There is a reason for that; dark chocolate is better for you. Cocoa is a super food, meaning that it is full of healthy things needed in our bodies. The more cocoa content in chocolate, the healthier it is for you. Milk chocolate has less cocoa content than dark chocolate and has much less sugar, hence its other name semi-sweet chocolate. This website has a couple other healthier baking options to try out while treating yourself: http://www.ehow.com/how_2263189_healthy-baking-substitutions.html .

If you choose to go outside of your own kitchen and want to buy something at the store, try to remember back to when I wrote about looking at the ingredients in your products. Try to avoid synthetic foods and sweeteners. If you cannot make the product in your own kitchen, do not buy it. Other healthy options include getting products with no added sugar. Blue Bunny Ice Cream has mostly no sugar added ice cream. This does not mean that there is a lack of sugar in the product, it just means that the sugar is from the recipe it actually takes to make the product, or from an ingredient that naturally supplies the sugar. For example strawberry ice cream; strawberries are full of natural sugar and the ice cream is very sweet without adding a ton of extra sugar. I have had the Blue Bunny no sugar added strawberry ice cream and at first, I admit, I was skeptical, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I tasted no difference. Many jams and many other products actually make low sugar options or no sugar added. BE CAREFUL! No sugar added=/= no sugar. Products that advertise as containing no sugar use synthetic sweeteners! Do not be fooled! Also, be careful with low fat products. Sometimes they have to be processed to do so. We need fat in our diet, as fat serves an essential function in our bodies. Since we are treating ourselves, try to ignore the low fat options and try to focus on other things that are easier to control, like the types of ingredients we put in our food or are already contained in our products.

These are only a few tricks that we can all use to treat ourselves and not to feel guilty about it. If you end up just going out to eat and cannot check the ingredients, do not sweat it! This is your treat, so eat what you love. Just do not make it an every night habit. There are probably many more tricks and options that you can find from just a click away, so go do your research and have fun with your delicious creations. Go treat yourself!

Best wishes,

Megan

Au Naturale

Many times as consumers, we are unaware of the dangerous toxins and chemicals that are placed in our everyday products. Products we are often aware to have toxins in them include various cleaning products, but did you ever think that some of the most harmful chemicals are your beauty products, laundry detergent, and dryer sheets? It may be hard to believe, but it is very true.

Our skin serves a very important role. It absorbs various medicines and other chemicals and also excretes toxins that are contained in our bodies. If medication can be absorbed through our skin, so can the harmful chemicals contained in our beauty products. Think of it this way, if it is too dangerous to put in your mouth, why would you put it on your skin to be absorbed into your blood stream? It just doesn’t make sense.

So here’s common logic: Well, the FDA approved it, so it has to be ok. Not true. The FDA has approved many things that are harmful to you. Why? First of all companies are in charge of doing tests on their own products, therefore, the research the FDA approves is done by the company that has a financial gain not to report correct findings. Now I don’t mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but to me this procedure seems sketchy. In addition, the FDA allows harmful chemicals to be put in products that we use daily as long as they are in a “safe” range. Think of all the toiletry products you use daily: shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, shaving cream, lotion, after-shave, toothpaste, perfume, etc. If all of these products contain harmful chemicals in “safe” amounts, the amount of these harmful products on your skin multiplies with each product you use. Although it may be “safe” in one product, it may not be “safe” after you use it in 8+ products. For me, personally, I would rather not have the harmful chemical in my product at all.

The good news: you don’t have to buy products that are harmful to you. This includes cleaning products and beauty products. We all know how harmful bleach is, but how often do we actually use gloves to clean with. I never did growing up and neither did anyone else in my family. Why do we even use products that require the use of protective equipment? Even with the use of gloves, you are still inhaling the chemicals. So again, why do we use things harmful to us? One reason is that we don’t realize how harmful it is. Another reason is that we don’t know about any other cleaning products. Well guess what? There are plenty of brands that you can buy at your favorite box store or grocery store. I have recently begun replacing all my cleaning products and beauty products with all-natural options. 

Companies that produce these natural products include Seventh Generation, Burt’s Bees, Nature’s Gate, and so many others. Wal-Mart carries Seventh Generation cleaning products that have laundry detergent, dish soap, automatic dishwasher soap, multi-purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, and anything else you need to clean your home. I know Wal-Mart carries one or two other all-natural options for cleaning products, and you can find them in the aisle with the all-purpose cleaners.

As far as cleaning products go, Wal-Mart and target carry Burt’s Bees brand. Now I’ve used their chapstick for years and I never realized it was an all-natural product. I just used it because it worked the best. However, this company has so much more than chapstick. They have shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, acne treatments, soap, body wash, and all natural make-up. I am also pretty sure that you can find this brand at many other grocery stores.

For me, I buy all my natural products at Sprouts. Sprouts has over a dozen brands of beauty products along with many more supplements and cleaning supplies. The prices are also comparable to Wal-Mart. In fact, a Seventh Generation product that I bought was a dollar cheaper at Sprouts than at Wal-Mart.

So let’s talk anti-bacterial products. They kill 99.9% of germs! Great right? No. Antibiotics are causing bacteria to mutate and become resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, the more we use anti-bacterial products, the sooner we won’t be able to treat and kill bacteria. I understand that we are trying to protect our families by trying to kill these germs, but by doing this, we are actually hurting them in the long run. So what can we do? Seventh Generation has disinfecting wipes that also kill 99.9% of germs naturally without the use of anti-bacterial products! Seventh Generation uses botanicals to make all of their products making them non-toxic, safe, and all-natural. One thing many may not realize, is that soap in and of itself if sufficient for removing bacteria on our hands. The soap is simply too slippery for the bacteria to stick to our skin. Solution: scrub your hands for longer than a couple of seconds and use regular soap.

Here are a few items I have acquired over the past few months:

Seventh Generation laundry detergent and automatic dishwasher soap. The detergent is free & clear of all fragrances, which is great for my sensitive skin. Both products have worked great and I do not miss the toxic products.

Here I have Nature’s Gate Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner. After using these products my hair has never been healthier. Also seen is Nature’s Gate toothpaste without fluoride. Fluoride is a poison and although it strengthens your pearly whites, it is very damaging to your body. If you can’t do without fluoride, Nature’s Gate also has all natural toothpastes with fluoride in it. Next in the picture is the aforementioned Burt’s Bees chapstick. The final products shown in the picture is Lafes natural and organic deodorant stick without an antiperspirant. All of these products are fabulous and I would highly recommend them.

These two products are my most recent purchases. The large bottle is Nature’s Gate colloidal oatmeal lotion for dry, sensitive skin. It has no fragrances and truly relieves dry skin. Last but not least is my new shave cream. It is called Kiss My Face do what comes naturally and it is also fragrance free and super moisturizing.

I understand some of you may think I’m extreme, but I love my new products and they work just as well or better than the harmful products. Many of these items are pretty equally matched in price as well. My point in writing this blog is just to educate of the harmful chemicals in our everyday products. If you can only replace one item with an all-natural option, you have already greatly reduced the harmful chemicals put into your body. If that is all you can do, great! This blog was intended to help increase health one item at a time.

Hope all is well,

Megan

Portion Sizes

Portion Size

Here in America, we go big or go home. In the past twenty plus years our serving sizes have doubled or even tripled. When eating out we expect a giant plate of food or we feel cheated. At fast food locations we often “supersize” our meal or upgrade it to a larger size. The sad part of this is that most of us can actually eat all of this food in one sitting. I, myself, used to be able to eat these large portions with no problem. Obesity rates have sky rocketed in the past few years, part of it due to the use of processed foods, and the other part to the portion size problem. 

Many of you are probably saying “But if I eat any less, I’ll be hungry soon anyway”. I do not doubt that is probably true, but the reason being is that you have trained your body to want that much food. Here’s the kicker though: just because your body is used to that much food and craves that much food, doesn’t mean it NEEDS that much food. If you train your body to eat large quantities of food, you can also train your body to eat healthier portions. In no way am I saying to starve yourself. Starving your body is greatly unhealthy and can cause you to gain weight for a short while. This seems counterintuitive, but it is true. If you deprive yourself of food and then eat a small amount, your body will be desperate to hold on to that food and will most likely store it as fat. This event is often seen in recovering anorexics. When they begin to eat again, their body gains weight so quickly because it wants to hold on to the food as long as possible. This quick weight gain, unfortunately, often makes them relapse and turns into a vicious cycle.

To start training your body to eat smaller portions, begin to measure out your food. Most of the time, we are not even aware of how much we are eating; by measuring our food out, we can actually be cognizant of our food intake. Another step might be to write down what and how much you are consuming. Studies have shown that one of the key factors in successful weight loss is taking a food log. If you write down what you eat, you are more aware of what you should eat throughout the rest of the day. After you have begun measuring out your food, think about your serving sizes. Do you really need a whole cup of rice? Do you really need a full piece of chicken breast? The answer to these questions are both no.

A great website that can give you an idea of ideal portion sizes is: http://www.mealsmatter.org/articles-and-resources/healthy-living-articles/Portion-Sizes.aspx

After a while of being mindful of your food portions, it will become natural to you and you will no longer have to think about it too hard.

As mentioned earlier, if you feel that you must eat a lot in order to be satisfied completely, keep in mind that your body can be trained to eat healthier portions. As mentioned in a previous post, I love Costa Vita. I usually get their delectable salads, which come in either large or small sizes. I used to be able to eat the entire large salad by myself. This is outrageous if you are familiar with these salads, because they are gigantic and I am only 5 feet tall 107lbs. However, now that I have been mindful of my portions, I began to order the small salad, and I can’t even finish the small salad. I get too full before I can! I never thought I would see the day I couldn’t finish one of those salads, let alone a small one!

Here are some tips to train yourself to eat smaller portions:

1.       Only eat until you are satisfied/full, e.g. do not eat until you are stuffed. You know when this sensation is, so don’t feel bad if you need to take your food home in a doggy bag to eat later.

2.       Try drinking more water. Many times when we think we are hungry, our body is actually trying to tell us that it wants water. Drinking plenty of fluids (water in particular) throughout the day actually decreases your hunger. When you find you are hungry and want a snack, drink a glass of water first and wait a few minutes. If you are still hungry then eat a small snack. Operative word in previous statement being small.

3.       Try eating small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large lump meals. I eat every couple of hours but only small items like a sandwich one hour and then some fruit and a granola bar the next hour etc.

4.       Eat filling and slightly larger breakfast. Breakfast is meant to give you energy throughout your day. People who have small or no breakfast tend to be overweight. Simple solution: eat a well balanced and nutritional breakfast. A great breakfast I love to eat is some delicious blueberry organic yogurt (sometimes with some uncooked sliced almonds mixed in), two slices of toast (w/ jam or butter), an apple (or other fruit), and some sort of juice or water to drink. It is filling and covers many of the food groups.

Trust me when I say this, if I can do it, you can do it too. Remember that cutting back your servings does not mean you are withholding food. Eat, and eat plenty, but not more than your body’s needs.

-Megan

"Where's the beef?"

In the U.S. we are a carnivorous people. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really, as long as we don’t overindulge. I personally am a meat lover, however, I have discovered the benefits of cutting down on my meat intake. Not only do I cut down on my meat intake, but I choose different types of meat to put into my body. Meat can be very healthy, but the type and the amount of meat you consume may be harmful to you. Now I like the taste of red meat just like everyone else, but recently I have cut down and replaced my red meat with white meat, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband and I no longer buy ground beef instead we buy ground turkey or chicken. Ground turkey comes in many different varieties that have been so great to introduce into our diet. Jennie-O brand has Italian seasoned ground turkey that you can pick up at Wal-mart that tastes fantastic (I actually prefer it over regular sausage) and goes great with some whole wheat pasta and all natural pasta sauce. We’ve also switched to turkey/chicken breakfast sausage and even turkey bacon. To be completely honest with you, I actually prefer the turkey to pork and beef.

Some of you have probably noted that pork is not a red meat, but it is not as lean as poultry, so I usually prefer to go with the turkey or chicken instead. Almost anything that you can get in beef or pork you can get in chicken or turkey. Breakfast sausage, sausage links, bratwurst, Italian sausage (spicy or sweet), hot dogs, etc. are all included. They taste great and provide a great lean protein to your diet. Now, I am not saying cut red meat out altogether, because red meat does have its good qualities. It has many vitamins and minerals, but in large quantities, it has some serious health risks. Red meat has been linked to cardiovascular disease and obesity. There is also speculation that it increases your risk for cancer, but everything now adays is linked to cancer, so I do not know how efficacious those studies are.

So what about the Atkins diet? Will you lose weight? Most likely. Will it be healthier for you? Well that’s debatable. If you lose weight you are becoming healthier, however with long-term results, you may not be doing yourself any favors, especially if you are eating mostly red meats. If you do choose to go the Atkins diet route, consider cutting down your red meat intake and stick to white meats, particularly poultry and white fish. Fish has many health properties like Omega-3s that are very good for your heart.

Ok, so want to try an experiment? Go buy the leanest ground beef you can find, or even some pork breakfast sausage. Then buy the equivalent turkey product. One night prepare a dish using the beef or pork product and take a picture of the grease left over after you have cooked the meat. The next night make a dish but instead use the turkey product. Take a picture of the grease left over and compare. You might be surprised to see that even when they are the same leanness, e.g. 97/3 (97% fat free), there will be less grease involved with the turkey. I discovered this myself when I was cooking my turkey burgers on my George Foreman grill. I forgot to put the grease-collecting dish underneath of it, and to my surprise, I didn’t even need it! No grease was coming off my burgers. It was great!

 In regards to cutting down on your meat intake, try finding other sources of protein to replace meat in one or more of your meals. Beans and rice are a delicious and good sources of protein. I try to keep my meat intake to a small serving once a day (usually for dinner). If I had meat for lunch, then I try not have meat for dinner. When I go out to eat, I typically try to get a dish without meat, since the entrees typically have many calories in the first place. One type of food that I always try to do without meat in is Mexican food. I LOVE Mexican food. It is probably my favorite type of food. Two of my favorite places to eat are Café Rio and Costa Vita. When I get the salads at these two locations, I choose to get the vegetarian salad (whereas I used to get the roast beef). I actually don’t miss the meat at all! I thought I would, but I don’t. My biggest doubt was that I was going to be hungry afterward because the salad wouldn’t fill me up. Man was I wrong! I get so full off of the rice and beans, I never needed the meat in the first place. The other great thing about trying to lessen your meat intake is that it really saves you money. Going in the vegetarian direction while eating out cuts the price of your meal down by a dollar or more. That is perfectly fine with me!

Here’s one more plug for poultry and fish. A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. This is a bladder problem in which certain foods can irritate your bladder. When my doctor gave me a list of foods I should eat sparingly or cut out completely, guess what some of the items were? All other meats besides poultry and fish. By this time, I had already cut down to poultry options and boy was I glad that I made the switch willingly. Being told you can’t eat something is not a way to make healthy options. In fact, we as humans typically do the opposite thing we are supposed to do if we are told to do it.

So here you go. Go ahead and try it. I’ve seen great results in myself and I would venture to guess that many people would too. Like I always say, what would it hurt? If you don’t believe me, ask a nutritionist or your doctor and see if it would hurt your health. I’m guessing they would say that it was a good idea to cut back on your red meat or the amount of meat you eat. Again, I am not suggesting to eliminate red meat or meat in general out of your diet altogether. Instead, just consider how much meat you are having in one serving and what type of meat you are putting into your body.

If you want to know some great places to get different meat options, just leave me a comment and I’ll help you find a place. Hope this helps!

Megan

Grocery Shopping

I know I may be the only one out there, but I actually love grocery shopping. My love for food probably perpetuates this, and now that I live away from home and control the food in my house, I love grocery shopping even more. I have shopped at a few different places, and even have gotten advice from some close friends, so I thought I’d give a little spiel on some great places to get some organic and all natural food products.

Let us start with the two places I shop. I always shop at two locations: Sprouts and Wal-Mart. I am in LOVE with Sprouts. It is relatively cheap and the produce there is phenomenal. The Sprouts brand is not organic but is all-natural and is a brand you can trust to be all-natural. When I find that I cannot afford the organic brand, I try to get the Sprouts brand instead. The great things about Sprouts products are that not only do they have organic/all natural grocery and produce sections, but they have supplements and beauty products as well! You can get organic and all natural shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, sunscreen, toothpaste, lotions, and so much more! They also have fabulous non-toxic cleaning supplies that are safe for children (and yourself) and also safe on your wallet. The cleaning supplies at Sprouts are actually cheaper than at Wal-Mart (for the natural cleaning products)! That being said, Sprouts does tend to be more expensive than Wal-Mart, so I still get some things at Wal-Mart just to save some money. Sprouts also has an organic meat selection, which I can’t afford, so I get the Sprouts brand meat which has no preservatives or growth hormones and are only minimally processed. Also, do not think you have to go to Wal-Mart to get some old fashioned normal groceries such as our favorite cereals, because they also house some of the regular groceries as well.  

Wal-Mart does have a small organic selection. There are also some all-natural brands out there, but again you are going to have to check labels to make sure that the brand is TRULY all-natural.

A place I shopped when I was single and living away from home was Fresh and Easy. I honestly was never really impressed with the produce there, but I have friends who live by it. It is a great place to go if you are only buying groceries for yourself, but I did notice that once I threw my husband into the picture, it got a little expensive for our budget. So needless to say, I only shopped there once since my husband and I have been married. They do have a large organic and all-natural selection, so if you are living on your own, I would definitely suggest checking it out. They also have a great ready to eat meal section that has a great selection of already made homemade meals (if you are feeling lazy). I used to buy these all the time. They are especially great if you are a bachelor. I lived with two college age males when I first moved out and Fresh and Easy was the place to be for them.

I have heard that Fry’s Food and Drug has a selection of organic and all-natural grocery, but I tend to not shop there, just because when I have, I always end of spending a TON of money, and it has turned me off of shopping there. If you are an avid couponer, then Fry’s might be the best bet, because a close friend of mine uses coupons and hunts for deals and she has had a lot of success at Fry’s. I, on the other hand, just don’t have time to do that and don’t have time to go to more than two stores just for groceries, so I stick to the two that have given me the best results most of the time.

Whole Foods Market advertises that they are an all-natural and organic grocery chain. This is probably true, but the prices are outrageous, so I tend to stick to Sprouts.

-Megan

Step One

Changing your habits is hard! We have all learned this the hard way. Think back in your life and try to recall how many different weight loss diets you have placed on yourself. So how many was it? I will give you a list of the famous ones I have been on, and the ones I made up myself. I tried HCG, weight watchers, low carb diets, reduced calorie diets, and so many others. Did they work? Yes, they did. Weight Watchers was actually my most successful. I loved it while I was on it, but the big question when I was done was this: was I really healthier because of it? The answer: no, I was not. On that diet I ate so many different TV dinners trying to keep my points in order that I am sure, I ate so many preservatives that are still occupying my body. In addition, not one of those diets taught me anything about how to eat healthy and keep the weight off. Now I have never been a large girl, but I have struggled with keeping my weight where I want it to be. Even when I thought I was eating healthy, I came to find that I really was not. Let me explain how I found out I was doing everything backward.

This past summer I spent 4 weeks in Germany, 1 weekend in Austria, and one week in Switzerland. While I was in Germany and Austria, I did not have access to a refrigerator or any cooling system other than an open window. Needless to say, I ate out A LOT. I was so worried that by the end of my trip I was going to have gained all the weight I had paid my personal trainer to help me lose to get me ready for my wedding. To my surprise, when I got back home to the states and weighed myself, I actually LOST weight; almost 7 pounds. Now to be fair, I did do a ton of walking, because I traveled through cities by foot or by bus and traveled across the few countries by train. That being said, I still ate what I thought to be terribly, but when I pondered and remembered what I had learned about German culture, it all seemed to make sense. Germans are very environmentally conscious and health conscious. Their farming is usually all organic, and they are not particular fans of tons of preservatives. They go grocery shopping 2-3 times a week, because their food is so fresh it actually goes bad! Now look in your cupboard and count how many things that have been in there for over a month. What keeps that food "good" are chemicals and synthetic foods that were not meant for our body in the first place. By simply eating actual food, I lost weight. It was that easy.

I know some of you may be saying, "Well you didn't control for the exercise, so you cannot be sure that the extra walking wasn't what did it." To you all I reply with this. When I recently decided to go an all-natural and all organic route, I have not had time to go to the gym (ok that is somewhat a lie because I work at a gym, but I do not do any physical activity while I am in there). There was no sort of physical activity to interact with my current outcome. Now, when I started this, I did not anticipate doing it to lose weight. I just wanted to have a healthier lifestyle. Well, surely enough, a week and a half later of no exercise and the new healthy organic/all natural eating habit, I lost seven pounds! That's right, seven pounds with no exercise and without even putting in effort. I did not starve myself, in fact, I ate homemade cookies that my husband made, and I ate every couple of hours. I ate like a normal person and still lost weight! It was incredible!

I know that organic foods can sometimes be a bit pricey, but what I discovered from actually shopping for organic food, it is not as expensive as I thought it would be. In fact, many of the organic fruits are comparable to the non –organic fruit. For example, my very first attempt to buy organic produce, I compared the price of my favorite apple: The Pink Lady. The price for inorganic Pink Ladies was 1.29/lbs., the organic price….drum roll please….1.29/lbs.! I was shocked! Eating healthy could actually not be too much of a burden on my wallet! So here is how I got started to eating organically/naturally.

I started with the items I eat most: produce and yogurt. These I always get organic and it does not add any undue burden on my finances. Many items I continue even to this day as non-organic items, simply because I cannot afford to eat 100% organic at this point in my life. So things like milk, eggs, lunchmeats, and cheeses I get non-organic, but all natural. When shopping the all-natural route, it is important to rely not completely on the label. Just because an item advertises as all natural, does not necessarily mean that it is true. Want to know an easy way to find out whether the item is really all natural or not? Check the label! Look at the ingredients and if you cannot make the item yourself in your own kitchen with known ingredients, then do not put it in your basket. Sometimes I find that I do not know what a certain ingredient is, so I err on the side of caution and do not get it. It is true that sometimes all natural items have a more complex name that I am not familiar with, so if you want to know exactly what the label is telling you, do some research.

I hope this was helpful and can ease you into a healthier lifestyle! In future (and much shorter) posts I’ll tell more about my journey and tell you some great places that you can go shop for all natural/organic food items. Happy shopping!

Delicious Turkey Burger Recipe

While working with my special needs children, I often get to be around their house when dinner is being made. One of the moms kept making these delectable smelling /looking turkey burgers and I just HAD to have the recipe to try them out at home. Well I went home and tried it and now I eat them once or twice a week. They are super healthy and are definitely nice on your tastebuds.

Here's what you need:

• 1-1.25 lbs. of ground turkey (preferably as lean as you can get)
• Organic garlic salt (or regular salt if you don't have any organic on hand, and goodness don't go out and buy any if you already have some non-organic at hand. That would not be economical.)
• Basil
• Parsley
• White Onion (organic if you can)
• One egg (optional)
• George Foreman grill (if available)

I don't have exact measurements on these, because it is season to taste so just get enough ingredients and follow the directions below.

Take the turkey and place it in a large bowl. Dice up a few slices of onion and mix in the turkey (with your hand). Add parsley, basil, and garlic salt and mix the ingredients in (with your hand). If it appears that there is not enough seasoning, repeat adding in the seasonings until it looks and smells amazing. If you want you can add an egg to paste all the turkey together. However, I never find this necessary so I typically don't add the egg.  Pull a part a section of the mixture, roll it into a ball, and flatten the ball out to create a hamburger patty. Repeat this until all of the ground turkey is in the form of a patty. Put the patties on the grill and cook until no longer pink all the way through. Note: this is poultry so you do not want pink in the middle like you would beef. Now, ENJOY!

This turkey burger is great without any additional seasonings or even a bun! I eat it plain just the way it comes off the grill. My husband does tend to enjoy eating his turkey burger with ketchup, but we tend to not eat them with buns simply because they are self-sustaining.

To make this a complete healthy meal, cook up some brown rice or a red baked potato, and also include some raw vegetables. Vegetables are better raw, because even when lightly steamed, half of the nutrients are cooked out of them.

Hope you love this as much as I do!
-Megan

How I Changed My Life

Ok, so you know how there are those annoying people who tell you how you need to change everything about your life and you are a horrible person if you don't. Especially crazy environmentalists who will get in your face if you forget to recycle. Well those people used to irritate me, until I actually decided to try some of the things that were suggested in a documentary I watched called Foodmatters. Although I still don't like how obnoxious some fanatics can be and I don't think it is the end of the world if you eat a couple of inorganic items now and then, I have made some permanent life changes that I have really started to enjoy. So I decided to start this blog to share my experiences with you all in the hopes that some of you might find some of these changes a good idea and make a few changes yourselves.

So let me make a disclaimer. I am not a scientist. I do not have randomized clinical trials and I cannot report any P values or Cohen's d effect sizes, but what I do have is a case study of myself. Admittingly, I am not an expert in this field; I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. The things I will post here are based on books I have read and some small research I've done. I cannot say that everything I share here will give you the results I have seen, but here's the take home message: what will it hurt? I have never once heard a doctor tell someone they were eating TOO healthy or that clearing your houses of harmful toxins was a bad idea. So let me stress that I do not advocate completely changing every aspect of your life, but there are little things that we can all do every day to improve our health.

Why did I make these changes? My husband, that's right ladies you heard me correctly, my HUSBAND approached me one day and said that we needed to change our eating habits. He was right. When we first got married (only eight months ago) we decided to buy the cheapest food we could find. What we soon came to find, was that although it was good on our wallets, it wasn't particularly good on our health. After Scott (my husband) sparked my interest, I began doing some research and started making small changes into making us a healthier family before we have children.

Before we begin this journey, let me make this clear: after I did my research, I did not go throw out all of my cleaning supplies with harmful chemicals in them, and I didn't throw out all the food we had with processed  and synthetic foods in them. In these economic times that would just be ridiculous. However, once these items needed replaced, if we can afford it, I opted for the healthier, all natural option. Do you think this would be hard for you to do? So did I! But it's not! The great thing about being healthy is that it actually makes your life simpler. Isn't that exciting?! Therefore, every day (or every time I get a change) I will post a meal option or tell you about an easy change I made to make for a healthier life for my family and the environment. So, let's get started shall we?

To get started, I recommend watching the documentary Foodmatters. If you have Netflix, you can watch it online. A book I am currently finding quite interesting is The Healthy Home  by Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz. I have not read it all the way through yet, but so far it is very educational.

Until next time,
Megan