Vivacious Variety: Vegetables and More Vegetables

Here is a delicious and substantial salad you can have as a side dish to supplement meals, or as a snack when those late night munchies hit. Vegetables balance meals to the alkaline side and contribute vitamins, minerals, fiber. You will find you can use this basic recipe with all sorts of variations.

1 large or 2 small zucchini
1 red bell pepper
4 medium or 2 large kale leaves
1 green onion
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
juice of 1/2 lime
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Chop the vegetables in to large pieces (Chopping for a food processor should take only a moment - you just want to get the pieces to a manageable size. For example, cut the zucchini into 4 pieces, the bell pepper into 4-6 pieces.)
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse about 10 times - or until the veggies are of a uniform size.  I prefer chunky chunks, though some folks like closer to salsa sized bits.

Variation suggestions: Use snap peas, snow peas, green beans, celery, save your broccoli stems - peel them and add to the melange. Add parsley, watercress, or cilantro. Use fresh herbs: thyme, basil, dill or oregano.

Having a simple basic recipe that you can change up to keep variety in your meals helps stay healthy and stimulated.

Habit Forming - Forming Habits

image by Ron Leishman: http://www.toonclipart.com/

I have always found replacing “bad” habits to be much more feasible than quitting anything. Quitting just leaves a void. Want, need, longing, fury, agitation, frustration - just to name a few - were my new companions in the void. Why not just find something I enjoy to replace the thing I enjoyed but found to be detrimental in some way.  It isn’t so much a question of will power as of energy.  Energy constantly transforms, but it doesn’t go away.  A habit is a pattern of energy.  It is constructive to work with it, creating change and transformation.

During the holidays I found myself inundated with ambivalence about all the sweets and treats I was confronted with constantly at that time of year. What should I do? I was tortured by the ice cream, chocolates, and egg nog. They made me suffer! - I want! I shouldn’t! I mustn’t! I want I want!

Ice cream was always one of my greatest addictions. Great in quality and size and challenge. Recently I have found a substitution which I find full-filling and delightful, leaving me without cravings. I make a shake. Not a milk shake! Young coconut banana shake. Delectable.

1 young coconut - water and meat
1 banana
6 pieces of ice
Blend all ingredients in a blender or vitamix

For instructions on how to open a young coconut, you can search youtube.com or google.com. If you are a beginner, just be very careful!
The consistency of the shake will vary depending on the youth of the coconut - but I find all variations to be yummy.

Good luck and please post questions!

Holiday Weight Loss - Timing is Everything.

Overindulged during holiday festivities? You probably find yourself in front of the mirror, wishing those extra pounds away, planning frequent trips to the gym. While working out is an important component to shedding pounds, there are some simple habits that can increase results exponentially.

The greatest mistake people make when they want to lose weight (and lose it NOW!) is to try to skimp on sustenance in the morning. The most common pattern is to skimp on or skip breakfast, to drink coffee (but a cup of coffee for breakfast actually worsens the weight issues!) or some other beverage in its place, and to eat a very light lunch. By late afternoon one finds oneself thinking: well I am starving but at least I am on my way to losing that weight. By dinner time, one is crazy with hunger. Dinner ends up being the main meal of the day. As the days go by, dinner ends up becoming more substantial as the suffering of daytime abstinence takes its toll.

Here is why this pattern of eating/dieting doesn’t work for weight loss: What this pattern does is to lower the metabolism, causing fewer and fewer calories to have more and more effect (that means pounds). When you skip breakfast you start a process in the brain in which it believes the body is starving. The more you deny yourself, the greater this belief. Thus the mind tries to compensate by engendering a greater desire to eat - to the extent where one is likely to lose control - to “pig out.”

The lowered metabolism that causes weight loss to slow or stop is a response to a denial of food. There is an important timing for calorie intake. Certain kinds of fats are needed by the body, and it will try to get them. You need to put the right calories and the right fats into your body at the right times. Whether you are losing a few holiday pounds or shedding years of fat, this is the key to establishing a way of eating that will keep you at an optimum weight.

I remember reading about a scientific study when I was about 14 years old. This information stayed with me and has helped me maintain a nice weight my whole life.

The study went like this: Three groups of people had only one 1500 calorie meal per day. The first group had their one meal at breakfast time. The second group had their one meal at lunch time. The third group had theirs at dinner time. The first group lost weight. The second group either lost weight or maintained their weight. The third group gained weight. It wasn’t really about what they were eating.

As an acrobat, I have always had to keep an eye on my weight. If ever I started noticing that I was gaining a bit, I would skip dinner after eating a satisfying breakfast and lunch for just one night; then I would eat light dinners after that until my weight was back where I wanted it. This way of eating kept my metabolism healthy, so it didn’t slow down. Read more info about the importance of breakfast.

I’m not saying that it isn’t important to eat healthy foods! I am saying that it is important not to panic about your weight and do harm to your body when you tackle the weight issue. Don’t get overwhelmed ever! Start with timing issues, then work into improving the quality of your diet. See my page on Food Combining for some good tips to get started.

Besides timing, a big issue for losing weight is nutrition: the more nutrition your food has, the less hungry you will be. Eat a lot more vegetables (not potatoes) with your meals. You will eat fewer calories because you are giving your body more of a variety of the nutrients it needs. See my article on kale salad and yummie veggies.

Check out my last article on Cleansing in the Morning for a great way to start the day, too.