New 30 day challenge

I am starting a new 30 day challenge tomorrow, Sept 1st. The challenge will be The Female Body Breakthrough. I have read the book twice, and I'm now ready to start following the exercises. The book says to only work out 2 or 3 times a week. There are detailed workouts that you must follow. I am excited to start this new journey, and I will keep everyone updated!

http://www.amazon.com/Female-Body-Breakthrough-Revolutionary-Strength-Training/dp/1605296937

Hi

Hi everyone! I must apologize that I've been missing in action lately! I finally brought Tila home on Sunday, and had Monday and Tuesday off of work so I could spend time with her and get her familiar with her new home. She loves it! She's such a good puppy. Eva is getting use to her, and Pepe absolutely adores her! :) Here's some pics!

Rule # 33 Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi

Many traditional cultures swear by the health benefits of fermented foods - foods that have been transformed by live microorganisms, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, soy sauce, kimchi, and sourdough bread. These foods can be a good source of vitamin B12, an essential nutrient you can't get from plants. (B12 is produced by animal and bacteria). Many fermented foods also contain probiotics - beneficial bacteria that research suggests improve the function of the digestive and immune systems and, according to some studies, help reduce allergic reactions and inflammation.

Rule # 32 - Don't overlook the oily little fishes

Wild fish are among the healthiest things you can eat, yet many wild fish stocks are on the verge of collapse because of overfishing. Avoid big fish at the top of the marine food chain - tuna, swordfish, shark - because they're endangered, and because they often contain high levels of mercury. Fortunately, a few of the most nutritious wild fish species, including mackerel, sardines, and anchovies, are well managed, and in some cases are even abundant. Those oily little fish are particularly good choices. According to a Dutch proverb, "A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors."

Tila!

Grilled stuffed veggie burritos

Burrito with pinto beans, jalapenos, vegan cheese, sauteed zucchini and squash, with salsa = SO GOOD!!!

Sugar snap peas

I used to not like peas of any kind. Lately, a friend of mine encouraged me to try a sugar snap pea - I loved it! I now put some into my salads at work! :)

Rule # 31 - Eat wild foods when you can

Two of the most nutritious plants in the world - lamb's quarters and purslane - are weeds, and some of the healthiest traditional diets, like the Mediterranean, make frequent use of wild greens. The fields and forests are crowded with plants containing higher levels of various phytochemicals than their domesticated cousins. Why? because these plants have to defend themselves against pests and diseases without any help from us, and because historically we've tended to select and breed crop plants for sweetness; many of the defensive compounds plants produce are bitter. We also breed for shelf life, and so have unwittingly selected for plants with low levels of omega 3 fatty acids, since these fats quickly oxidize - turn rancid. Wild animals and fish too are worth adding to your diet when you have the opportunity. Wild game generally has less saturated and more healthy fats than domesticated animals, because most of these wild animals themselves eat a diverse diet of plants rather than grain.

Dinner Monday 8/22

Veggie lo mein

Tila! :) 8/21/11

Rule # 30 Eat well-grown food from healthy soil

It would have been easier to say "eat organic", and it is true that food certified organic is usually well grown in relatively healthy soil - soil nourished by organic matter rather than chemical fertilizers. (It will also contain little or no residue from synthetic pesticides or pharmaceuticals). Yet there are exceptional farmers and ranchers in America who for one reason or another are not certified organic, and the excellent food they grow should not be overlooked. (And just because a food is labeled organic does not mean it's good for you: Organic soda is still soda - a large quantity of utterly empty calories.
We now have a body of research supporting the hypothesis, first advanced by organic pioneers Sir Albert Howard and J.I. Rodale, that soils rich in organic matter produce more nutritious food: that is, food with higher levels of antioxidants, flavnoids, vitamins, and minerals. Of course, after a few days riding cross-country in a truck, the nutritional quality of any kind of produce will deteriorate, so ideally you want to eat food that is both organic and local.

Rule # 29 - Eat like an omnivore

Whether or not you eat any animal foods, it's a good idea to try to add some new species, and not just new foods, to your diet - that is, new kinds of plants, animals, and fungi. The dazzling diversity of food products on offer in the supermarket is deceptive, because so many of them are made from the same small handful of plant species, and most of those - the corn and soy and wheat - are seeds rather than leaves. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases.

Colorado Sunsets FTW!

Lunch at Wickeds

OPI Crackle Nail Polish

My new addiction! :)

Mmmm what a good splurge!

Mini indian tacos

Tila!

Rule # 28 - If you have the space, buy a freezer

When you find a good source of pastured meat, you'll want to buy it in quantity. Buying meat in bulk-a quarter of a steer, say, or a whole hog - is one way to eat well on a budget. Dedicated freezers are surprisingly inexpensive to buy and to operate, because they aren't opened nearly as often as the one in your refrigerator. A freezer will also enable you to put up food from the farmers' market, and encourage you to buy produce in bulk at the height of it's season, when it will be most abundant-and therefore cheapest. And freezing does not significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce.

Rule # 27 - Eat animals that have themselves eaten well

The diet of the animals we eat strongly influences the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food we get from them, whether it is meat or milk or eggs. This should be self-evident, yet it is a truth routinely overlooked by the industrial food chain in its quest to produce vast quantities of cheap animal protein. That quest has changed the diet of most of our food animals in ways that have often damaged their health and healthfulness. We feed animals a high energy diet of grain to make them grow quickly, even in the case of ruminants that have evolved to eat grass. But even food animals that can tolerate grain are much healthier when they have access to green plants - and so, it turns out, are their meat and eggs. The food from these animals will contain much healthier types of fat (more omega 3s, less omega 6) as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants. (For the same reason, meat from wild animals is particularly nutritious). It's worth looking for pastured animal foods in the market - and paying the premium prices they typically command if you can.

Dinner Thursday

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oven-roasted-potatoes/detail.aspx

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_asparagus_with_pine_nuts.html

Animals

Eva as a puppy!

Eva with her Momma Ellie

Awwww - Me with Eva, Ellie, and Marleigh - Eva's sister

Fur babies

The Lost Art

If you enjoy music, I encourage you to check out www.the-lost-art.com
This site has a mix of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and every DJ has a video set up, so you can see them live!

Here's a pic of one of my shirts! :)

Tuesday dinner

I have been craving a pasta bake lately, so that's what I decided to make last night. I also bought vegan cheese for the first time since quitting cheese over 2 months ago. It was good! The only brand Safeway has was Galaxy - Veggie Shreds, and I bought the Mozzarella flavor since I knew I was making a pasta bake.

http://www.galaxyfoods.com/galaxy-products/soy-cheese/veggie/

Grocery shopping

One of my favorite things to do it go grocery shopping. I usually shop at Safeway, Whole Foods or Sunflower Market. If I shop at Safeway, I always give myself a little treat and buy a small iced chai from Starbucks - so good! I love picking out recipes of what I'm going to cook in the near future, and I also try to remember to bring my coupons to save as much as possible. When I shopped Tuesday night, I saved a total of $52.02. $42.32 was just from card savings alone (if you don't have a Safeway card, you should sign up for one. They are free!) Your purchases also count towards 'Gas Rewards' so be sure to take advantage of that too! I saved $6.90 from the paper coupons, and another $2.80 in multiplied coupons. Total savings value was 21% of the total amount! Be sure to always shop smart. Hit the sales. It does really make a difference. When I go grocery shopping, as soon as I get home I take everything out of the fridge, clean and scrub the inside/outside of the fridge, then put everything away including my new purchases. Not much feels better than a clean, well stocked fridge!

Rule # 26 - Drink the spinach water

Another bit of traditional wisdom with good science behind it: The water in which vegetables are cooked is rich in vitamins and other healthful plant chemicals. Save it for soup or add it to sauces.

Daily Om

The impact you have on the world is greater than you could ever imagine, and the choices you make affect the whole.

Rule # 25 Eat your colors

The idea that a healthy plate of food will feature several different colors is a good example of an old wives' tale about food that turns out to be good science too. The colors of many vegetables reflect the different antioxidant phytochemicals they contain - anthocyanins, polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids. Many of these chemicals help protect against chronic diseases, but each in a slightly different way, so the best protection comes from a diet containing as many different phytochemicals as possible.

I miss my Amy!

Rule # 24

"Eating what stands on one leg (mushrooms and plant foods) is better than eating what stands on two legs (fowl), which is better than eating what stands on four legs (cows, pigs, and other mammals)"

This Chinese proverb offers a good summary of traditional wisdom regarding the relative healthfulness of different kinds of food, though it inexplicably leaves out the very healthful and entirely legless fish.

Weekend

Got to pick fresh veggies from my parents garden! :)

Beautiful!

Eva after chasing the bunnies all day!