Easy Ways to Get Your 5-A-Day part 1.

So I've got to be honest. I had the idea for this post like over a year ago. A YEAR!! But I never got motivated enough to take the pictures or write the blogpost. I haven't been active on the blog lately. The perfectionism in me just wants the blog to look perfect, for everything I say to be super funny and entertaining, and for my information to be helpful. And let's be real, my pictures are still lacking, and entertainment writing isn't my strong suit. But I've decided that those things don't really matter. I can't get better at food blogging if I don't blog, right? 

So here I am, starting a two part blog series on easy ways to get your 5-a-day. Eating veggies is something that I absolutely love and actually crave. I'm not lying. So incorporating them into my diet isn't that difficult. However, I realize this isn't the case for everyone.

The recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption for adults is 1.5-2 cups of fruit and 2.5-3 cups of vegetables each day (hence the "5 a day" slogan). These recommendations are based off of research that shows a reduction in the risk of certain diseases (think cancer, heart disease, etc) in relation to fruit and vegetable consumption. And although juice cleanses/smoothies are super popular right now and an easy way of reaching that goal, I'm not really a big fan of them. I would much rather you eat your fruits and vegetables. You're gonna get more full and stay satisfied far longer (hello fiber!!) while keeping your sanity. I mean, come on, who wants to drink carrot and kale juice every day?? Please. No. I want to put a disclaimer, I don't think you need to be rigid about these recommendations. I promote intuitive eating, so some days vegetables or fruits just aren't going to sound as appetizing and your consumption will be less. But other days, you'll really crave them and your body will be asking you for them, so you will have a lot more. Intuitive eating has been shown to increase diet diversity, and therefore nutrient intake. 

I think the reason most people don't like making/eating vegetables is because they simply don't know how to fix them to make them taste good. Soooo....I give yooooo...simple recipes to help you get your five a day in! 

First, oven roasted broccoli. I make this ALL the time. It takes like 5 minutes to prepare and 15-20 min to roast. And it's delicious.

Just turn the oven on to 400. While it is preheating, rinse two large heads of broccoli with water. Cut the heads of broccoli from the stem and then pull them apart to make smaller florets. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, minced garlic, kosher salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven 15-20 minutes. I like mine a little charred....And really this works for any root/cruciferous vegetables. I love a mixture of brussels, broccoli, red onion, cubed sweet potatoes, and parsnips. 

The next vegetable I present to you is garlic green beans. They're a go-to when I want to add a veggie to a meal. And they are far superior to the typical lettuce and ranch side salad people always make. Gag...(sorry that I'm so dramatic. If you like the ranch and lettuce combo, go you.)

Bring a pot of water to boil. As you are waiting for the water to boil, snap the ends off 1 lb of green beans and then snap into bite sized pieces. Once water is boiling, add your green beans and bring back to a boil for 10-15 minutes or until soft and to your liking. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a small skillet and add 3/4 Tbsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 2 Tbsp of chopped walnuts or pine nuts. Sautee until garlic starts to brown. Once the green beans are cooked, drain and then top with the garlic, olive oil, nut mixture. 

The next "recipe" is something I've been eating a lot lately. With summer produce being super cheap, I've been loading up on fruits. My body has been saying "give me all the fresh berries as possible!" So I've been eating yogurt with strawberries and blueberries very frequently. Like I've mentioned before, I'm a fan of crunchy with my soft textures. So I came up with this little mixture to add to my yogurt and it is SO SO good.

Mash about 1/2-1 tbsp ripe banana (think of 1 Tbsp on a stick of butter) with 1 tsp peanut butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Add 2 Tbsp plain bran flakes and 2 Tbsp honey bunches of oats (or special K) and mash all together. Top your yogurt and fruit bowl with this mixture and devour!!! 

So there you have it! Three easy peasy recipes to increase your fruit and vegetable intake. Stay tuned for a few more super simple vegetable and fruit recipes. In the meantime, what are YOUR favorite ways to get your 5-a-day in?

What Is Intuitive Eating?

I mentioned in my last post that I have been learning about and incorporating the principles of intuitive eating into my own life. I also mentioned how much freedom I have found in my own life regarding food and exercise with this new mindset shift. I wanted to share with you all about this approach in the hopes that you find some freedom yourself! Expect more posts to come on this subject.

Intuitive eating is a term used by many different people with varying definitions, but the intuitive eating approach I am talking about is a defined approach with specific principles and research backing it up. The major leaders of this framework are the authors of "Intuitive Eating": Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole.

The basic premise is that we are all created with a certain set-point weight range. Our bodies are incredible at maintaining homeostasis within a narrow range that is healthy for us. For example, our body maintains a very specific pH range and has compensatory processes that occur (increasing or decreasing breath rate, releasing bicarbonate from the kidneys, etc.) if it falls above or below the normal/healthy range. Similarly, our body maintains a set range of body temperatures. When your body temperature increases, you sweat to cool down. When your body temperature gets too low, you shiver to generate heat and your blood vessels constrict to prevent heat loss at the surface of the skin. In the same way, our body has a set range that it wants to maintain our weight at. 

Some people have a higher set point and others have a lower set point. But regardless, this set weight range is healthy for THEM. We can see that the body wants to maintain this weight range, because when we lose weight or gain weight, our body begins to enact biological processes to bring us back to our healthy weight. To give an example, when we gain weight above our set-point, our fat cells produce leptin, a hormone that decreases hunger and increases our metabolism. If we are in-tune with our hunger and fullness signals (a principle of Intuitive Eating), then we eat less and our weight naturally decreases. If we lose weight below our set-point, our leptin levels decrease, increasing our hunger and decreasing our metabolism. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard for people to lose weight and keep it off (they are fighting physiology!). 

So to summarize the foundation of intuitive eating--we have a natural weight that our body wants to be at and will maintain on its own, if we will listen to it. One of the major premises of Intuitive Eating is rejecting the dieting/restricting mentality and instead learning to listen to our bodies and to feed them when they're hungry and to stop when they're full. Instead of letting outside factors (diets, food rules, etc.) determine our food intake and exercise patterns, we allow our bodies to tell us what, when, and how much to eat. Sounds like a crazy concept, but it's something our bodies were designed to do! We have simply just shut it down for so long. My newborn nephew (the CUTEST baby in the entire world!!) knows when he is hungry and stops on his own when he is full. We need to learn to get back to this. 

With intuitive eating, no foods are off-limits. You choose foods that will satisfy your hunger and your taste buds. And while you eat, you focus on being present to taste your food and enjoy the experience. When you purposefully choose your meals based off of the food being low-calorie/low-carb/low-fat (or whatever food rules you follow) instead of satiety and taste preference, you miss out on being truly satisfied, leaving you feeling hungry/deprived and thinking about your next meal or snack and eventually overeating later on. 

I haven't quite gotten into all of intuitive eating, but there are misconceptions about the principles of Intuitive Eating and fear about this approach due to those misconceptions. So here is what Intuitive Eating is NOT:

• A diet or means of lose weight. Weight loss may be the result of learning to listen to body cues, but it is NOT the focus of intuitive eating--overall health is.
• An excuse to exclusively eat junk food and sit on the couch 24/7. Intuitive eating is about listening to the body, respecting it, and taking care of it through gentle nutrition and joyful movement. 
• An excuse to eat an entire box of donuts in one sitting every day. Unconditional permission to eat is part of intuitive eating. But this permission goes in hand with attunement to the body--eating an entire box of donuts would take you past your fullness cues as well as make you feel very sick. Additionally, once food is no longer off limits, the desire to binge goes away because you know you can come back to it at any time.
• One size fits all. Every body is different, and therefore, each person's journey looks different. Your nutrient and movement needs look different from mine. 
• Permission to use food as a coping mechanism. Intuitive eating encourages learning to identify what you REALLY need and then meeting that need with what will actually satisfy it. If your body truly needs food, then it is perfectly fine to feed it. However, if what you really need is a nap or a bubble bath or a short walk, meet your need with one of those options instead of food. 

This post could be a novel (I know, it's already pretty long), but I will stop here. Like what you see so far? Would you like to make peace with food and your body? Stay tuned for my next post about Intuitive Eating where I explain the ten principles involved in becoming an intuitive eater. Let me know what your thoughts/questions are!!

Trek Bars--Homemade Granola Bars

These bars. Oh. My. Word. 

So I made an incredible discovery about the location of my new office. I happen to be caddy-corner from Great Harvest Bread Company. If you've never been, you're missing out. It's the cutest little bakery and sandwich shop. Everyday they make different options of fresh bread and goodies and then have a few everyday staples. The best part about this little gem is that they give you FREE samples every time you come in. Puhlease and thank you.  When I go, I try a slice or two of bread. Oh, and they top it with cinnamon butter. Enough said....

I wanted to show my friend the shop and when we visited they happened to have their Trek Bars to sample. I gave it a shot, and oh my word, it was SO delicious! Since I liked it so much, I decided to find a copycat recipe for these bars. I did, and then tweaked it slightly to my own liking. These bars are chewy and dense, sweet and salty, and crunchy all at the same time! I absolutely love the millet (aka, bird seed) because it adds a nice crunch. If you don't have any, I highly recommend you go out and get some for these bars. 

So some of you may read this recipe and think, "Oh my gosh, there's no way I can make those bars and eat them. They have way too many calories, fat, and sugar." I used to think the same way. But ever since I started learning about mindfulness and then intuitive eating, that has changed. I am going to post a blog about intuitive eating very soon because it's completely changing the way I view food and my body and it's been awesome. The thing about eating these bars are that, yes, I'm sure they have a lot of energy (calories, fat, etc) in them, but I'm not worried because they are incredibly filling. Instead of snacking on a bowl of popcorn, and then something else, and then something else; I have one of these bars and I'm satisfied for a really long time. 

And not only and I'm physically satisfied, I'm emotionally satisfied too because the bar tastes good and I'm able to enjoy it. When we restrict, we set ourselves up for eating more later on. Sooo, all of that to say, you should/must make these bars soon!

If you don't care for apricots or craisins, sub in raisins or some other dried fruit. If you're not a fan of walnuts or sunflower seeds, go with almonds. Substitute the mix-ins for things you like. The only non-negotiable is the millet :-). If you don't have any unflavored whey protein powder, I'm sure they will turn out just fine. They'll just be a little more chewy (which isn't a bad thing if you ask me!)