Choosing Health: The Joy of Energy

I want to be healthy so that I have energy.  I want to feel good. I used to crash diet, and starve myself, run marathons and tri-atholons….never with the idea of getting healthy. It was always with a goal of having the perfect body. It was like chasing the wind.   My mother-in-law used to tell me: it’s not what you are eating, it’s what’s eating you.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness….  -Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

There are always so many new resolutions in January to get healthy or get in shape. I stopped those long, long ago.  A heard a guy on the radio yesterday say he’d been in the gym for 10 days straight, and had even forgotten to take the price tags off his gym clothes.  That sounds familiar.  I used to start out with good intentions, but the problem was I jumped in all crazy.  I finally figured out that I needed to just make small changes here and there…otherwise I’d burn out, and quickly.

Me On Exercise: I try to hike as often as possible…with my husband, as a family, or with a friend. It makes the time pass quickly and I tend to push myself a little more. My goal is 4 days a week and it usually ends up being about 2. Sometimes 1.  A quick walk around the block is perfect sometimes.  Mr. LBB and I both have the 7 minute app. I try to do that at least once a week. One workout fit into 7 minutes. Boo loves it.

Me On Eating: We try to prepare dinner and eat together as a family every night. Not only is it quality time together but we are more aware of what we eat. The preparation changes our orientation to our food. We eat as much raw, living food as possible.  As we make small gradual improvements, they stick. I love visiting the farmers market and trying new vegetables from Trader Joe’s and Clark’s.  I try to stick to the simplest of preparation so that we avoid MSG, preservatives, and sodium.  Food I used to crave seems intolerable now. Boo lights candles at dinner…it’s a celebration of gratitude.  I think the food you eat, and how it’s prepared, should be filled with joy.

Love yourself and love your body by choosing health this year over dieting.

There is joy in energy, and energy in joy.

As a family we’ve started to incorporate little things over the last 12 months to make them habits. And it has to be natural and easy, otherwise we will drift off the path. We tried juicing but it just took too much time. It doesn’t mean we failed, we just shifted our focus to work for us.  Now we use make smoothies with a hand blender. We all have our different preferences too…this one’s mine:

I switch up ingredients but this is my basic recipe:

Bee Pollen: Energizes, aids digestion, helps build red blood cells….it’s the most complete known food source. If you buy local bee pollen it can help with allergies.
Chia Seeds: Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which are the primary building block of cells. Great for heart health and full of antioxidants.
Aloe Water: Contains more than 200 active amino acids, vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes and minerals. Helps digestion.
Coconut Milk: Dairy free. Great source of calcium, vitamin D, B12 and A.
Banana: High in potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining cardiovascular health.
Stevia: The Japanese have been using stevia for decades in the treatment of type 2 diabetics. But do your research.
Spinach: Vitamin K and potassium.

Sometimes I add plain yogurt for the cultures, calcium and protien. Get creative with your mixture so you like the taste.

We switched from using a blender to using an immersion blender:

It’s easy to make several recipes of smoothies all at once because you can isolate them to cups:

Things I love:

1. Survival in the 21st Century: Planetary Healers Manual. My friend Megan gave me this book as a gift. It was written by the founder of the Hippocrates Health Institute. It’s the one true guide to nutrition, health and healing. It can be a little out there in places, but there is so much information on raw foods, enzymes, eating for cancer, fasting, pollution etc it outweighs it. It’s the “living food bible”….

Much of our uncontrolled appetite is the result of toxemia or anxiety.
The best substitute for overeating is making one’s life a joyful adventure.
Enjoy the present you. You can recreate yourself daily.
The you of today is creating the you of tomorrow.
If daily, you feed your mind with optimism, constructive thoughts, and only useful, loving information, it will speed you to health and God consciousness,
To lessen anxiety temporarily, choose a challenging activity.

2. The Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender. You can mix right in your cup, rinse it off, and it fits in a drawer.

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