Detox Week Tip

I was at work this past week and a patient's family member had brought in doughnuts and coffee to thank the staff, just as BRIK had started. I mean, literally, BRIK started hours before. We had orientation on Saturday and I worked Sunday night. I was really good though, and stayed away from eating any doughnuts and drinking any coffee as one of my absolute NO's is caffeine for this BRIK.

It was a mistake to take a photo of said doughnuts and coffee. It was on my brain ALL night long. And I work 12 hour shifts! Do me a favor: DO NOT do what I just did.

Reverse psychology works on a lot of people but if you're trying NOT to eat something and you tell yourself "NO - NEVER!" I feel like it makes me want that item more! Dangle this dangerous "dare" in front of me, and I don't know if I'm going to succeed, or setting myself up for failure. 

Nothing is ever 100%. I mean, by telling myself that I cannot have caffeine for the whole BRIK, I pretty much have coffee on my brain all the time. I'm not fond of doughnuts at all, but by putting it on the "NO list", I wanted that doughnut more! Don't put hard limits to your nutrition. It can only set you up for failure UNLESS you are VERY VERY DISCIPLINED (::cough:: Caren!)

So do me a favor and for Detox week, try LESSENING those dirty habits instead of banning them altogether. It might just be me, but I feel like diving into cutting everything out can be overwhelming and can set you up to fail pretty quickly. Ease yourself into this warm bath by choosing healthier food to crowd out the junk food. Slow and steady wins the race! Or in my case, not diving into a box of doughnuts when no one else is looking!

PAPAYA smoothy!!

PAPAYA smoothy!! 

1. When buying papayas choose fruit that

• is at least partly yellow
• gives slightly when pressed
• has smooth skin
• bruises free

2. When making smoothies

• remove skin
• remove seeds from middle
• I like to cut mine up in little pieces then put in the freezer for later use

Papaya Smoothie Recipe

• 1 to 2 cups of your liquid ( organic soy milk, organic almond milk, organic rice milk or organic low fat milk )
• 1/2 cup of your cream ( Organic natural yogurt )
• 2 to 3 cups of frozen fruit. (can be papaya)
• Cruhed ice – if not using frozen fruit

Other add-on fruits which go well with papaya for mixed smoothies are:

• kiwi
• pineapple
• mango

Vegetarian Paella with Red Peppers & Chickpeas

Serves 4



1 cup short-grain brown rice (See Recipe Note)
Hefty pinch saffron (about 8 strands)
6 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
3/4 cup crushed tomatoes, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon hot paprika
1 cup green beans, trimmed and halved
3 artichoke hearts, sliced (fresh, frozen, or canned)
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Salt and pepper

Bring 3 cups of water and a hefty pinch of salt to a boil, add the rice, and cook for about about 20 minutes, or until the rice begins to soften. Drain and set aside. (Par-boiling the brown rice speeds up the overall cooking time.)

Combine saffron threads and 3 tablespoons of warm water in a small bowl and set aside. Bring the broth to a simmer, then reduce the heat and keep at a low simmer until needed.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet, and sauté the onions until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic slices and peppers. Cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Mix in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, hot paprika, saffron threads (along with the water), and season generously with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Let it cook for a few minutes.

Make sure to have your vegetable broth simmering nearby. Fold in the green beans, artichoke slices, and chickpeas. Then stir in the par-boiled, drained rice. Ladle the simmering broth over the rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has evaporated. A few minutes before the rice is fully cooked, scatter the peas over top. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.

Recipe Notes
Paella with Traditional White Rice: If you'd prefer, use a traditional short-grain white rice for this dish, like Bomba or Valencia. If using white rice, there's no need to par-boil and you only need 3 cups of broth.

New Years Resolution

My New Year's Resolution is to stop eating crap and get healthier. My fitness goals are to show up to TRX more, get TRX certified eventually, and stop eating junk I don't need. I have the workout portion down. I can show up, I have no problems motivating myself to workout - I love to workout! I love Kaia! I need to love to eat better. Fuel my body with nutritious foods that are healthy and good for my body. Love my body by fueling it better. I have such a hard time with nutrition so that's what I want to focus in on for 2016. Maybe by the end of next year, I can see some abs? Not seeing my abs isn't the end of the world, because I know I'm pretty healthy. But seeing abdominal muscles does not come from working out; it comes from eating healthy.

I will definitely need my hubby's help on this one. If he's on board, we can stop eating out as much, eat more prepared meals and more greens. This will be the year that I buckle down in the kitchen. The kitchen will NOT defeat me this year!

Be adventurous - try new things: Rooibos Tea anyone?

I meant to write about this awhile back since this happened a while ago, but here it is:

I was being adventurous one morning and I ordered something I had never tried before. This could go either way, I could totally hate it, or I could totally love it. Luckily for me, I enjoyed trying rooibos tea (pronounced: roy-boss). So I read up on what I was drinking.

It is also known as red tea, or red bush tea. It is in fact, more an herb than a tea. It's the national drink of South Africa. It comes from the branches and twigs of a tree called Aspalathus linearis.


Pros:

- naturally CAFFEINE FREE!! score for me!
- low in tannins so it helps with insomnia
- high in antioxidants (37 natural kinds)
- has calcium, manganese, and flouride for stronger bones and teeth
- has flavonoids which act as bronchodilator, and anti-spasmodic (helps people breathe better)
- has vitamins and minerals including

• vitamin C

• zinc 

• copper 

• manganese 

• magnesium 

• potassium 

- has alpha-hydroxy acid which helps with skin and nail renewal
- can be applied directly to skin to help with eczema, sunburns, acne, etc.
- can be given to babies with colic, sleeping problems, or stomach cramps
- has been used to help suppress HIV virus
- has polyphenols which has been shown to be

• anti-cancer 
• anti-mutagenic 
• anti-inflammatory 
• anti-viral 

- it tastes pretty good




Cons:
- low level of tannin which slows iron absorption - if you're anemic watch out!
- can demonstrate estrogenic activities which if you have hormone sensitive cancer like breast cancer -check with the doctor before taking

Nutrition goal: Take the white stuff out

Think about it: what are foods that are white? 

- white rice

- cream cheese

- cheese

- flour

- sugar 

Of course, there are exceptions (egg whites are super healthy and nutrient packed). But this list is a really good start. To start working out, and working on that six pack abs, one must stay away from these white foods. Replace white rice with quinoa, or brown rice. Replace dairy with more leafy greens. Flour can sound healthy on the package label, but what "enriched white flour" really means is that the company, stripped the flour of nutrients, then added unnatural nutrients of its own, which is still not as healthy as whole wheat flour (or if the company just left the flour alone in the first place).

And of course, sugar. Our goal is to eat less than 10 grams of it, or none at all. That's pretty hard unless you have the time to cook everything yourself or have a personal chef. But just be cognizant when you read labels. A lot of things that seem healthy, have a lot of sugar in them: flavored yogurt (also white), canned spaghetti sauces, BBQ sauces, instant oatmeal, bottled teas, Gatorade, vitamin drinks, canned or packaged fruits, and the list goes on and on!

Read up on specific brands 

http://www.m.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/sugar-shockers-foods-surprisingly-high-in-sugar

http://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/high-sugar-foods-youre-probably-eating-every-day/

So main point here: read your labels and try to stay away from white foods.