Hiii! Happy hump day! Wednesday, guys!
Which means we’re another day closer to the Suicide Squad release. Yes! This weekend also happens to be my 32nd birthday- how’d that happen?
To ensure another 32+ years of health for all of us, I wanted to share some quick tips on how to promptly improve our diets. This is a visual I put together for a lunch and learn talk with my Aunt’s company. I’ll let it speak for itself.
When I was in graduate school, my dad took me to see Alanis Morissette at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati on a cool, summer night. When we walked in, a bit late, the opening act was already on stage.
One guy, one guitar, and a haunting voice- I fell in love with Alexi Murdoch’s music that night. My favorite song, All My Days, always gets me in the mood to write- it is so peaceful and pensive. I even ran my first marathon listening to the album Time Without Consequence over and over.
I loved Alanis’ new album debuted at that concert, too. Flavors of Entanglement boasted quite a few heart-wrenching songs related to her then-recent breakup with Ryan Reynolds. There was one song, however, that was a noted juxtaposition with the other broken-hearted tracks. I thought Citizen of the Planet had a powerful message:
I come alive and I get giddy- I am taken and globally naturalized
I am a citizen of the planet
From simple roots through high vision
Her phrase- Citizen of the planet- stuck with me. We think of ourselves as citizens of our cities, our states, our countries…but often we lose sight of being, first and foremost, citizens of Earth. Native American culture stressed appreciation for nature and the world that supports our every breath. In our modern society, however, we have often lost this clarity. It’s so easy to be absorbed by technology and ease of access. Continue reading Citizens of the Planet
Two things are on my mind after this weekend- babies and muffins.
Such a girly combo, right?
Dr. P and I finally had the chance to hop the 2 hours south to meet our best friends’ 1-month old baby, J. J is adooorrable! We are heels above head, totally in love. And our friends are doing an amazing job with parenting.
But Mama K is having to be careful with her noshing due to J having some potential food sensitivities. With breast feeding, moms have to sometimes modify what they eat to make sure it isn’t hurting the baybays. Mama K is avoiding eggs, dairy, and soy currently- which is difficult considering she is a vegetarian already.
Continue reading Vegan + gluten free banana peanut butter muffins
I’ve been keepin ‘ a little Five Star notebook to document my workouts and weight amounts since I was a teenager.
I like to see my progress. For example, I used 15 lb dumbbells for chest press in high school, 25 lbs in college, and now I rep 30s or 35s.
Documenting helps keep me honest, too- like, whoah! I haven’t been to the gym in weeks! Or, I haven’t lifted my back since April!
Confession: secretly hate lifting my back. Goo.
Sometimes, however, as notebooks are want to do, the little guys wander off. So I buy another, start it over. Maybe get one with more flowers on the front or a pithy saying, like “Love is all around”. Continue reading Awesome workout to kill your booty
I was super happy last Sunday night.
I felt like a Top Chef. Or at least one of those totally put together women. We know the ones- they host lavish dinner parties where guests whisper, “She is the best cook ever” while passing around homemade macaroons.
Yes, that sounds delightful. I’m not quite there yet- but dreaming is positive, yes?
As part of this continued desire to morph into Julia Child, I asked Dr. P to start rating my recipes. I wanted to gauge his preferences and my progress as I experimented with culinary creativity. It’s also a rad tool to have- a list of recipes our man loves for when we need extra spousal points.
Thus, the Dr. P Scale was born.
It’s a Likert scale from 1 to 10 . A score of 1 is basically inedible while a 10 is the most delicious thing on this sweet, sweet planet. Continue reading Most (positively) delicious veggie lasagna
Oh, those little extras.
Life is full of them- extra 30 minutes our boss kept us after work, extra load of laundry we need to do, extra bill we forgot to pay…
Our lives fill up quickly with events and things and people namely to, well, stress us out. We work, we run around, we rarely rest (and that goes for those of us that DON’T even have kids yet!). Being “too busy” is one of the most common reasons my patients report for eating poorly.
This ongoing life stress and habitual ill-attention to our diet quality may actually be decreasing our lives by shortening our telomeres. Our what?! you ask. No, it’s not a new cell phone app! Guys!
Telomeres are found on the ends of our DNA chromosomes, and longer telomere length is associated with longer life . Shorter telomeres mean our cells die faster- hence, the aging process. The longer we live, the more of our cells die, and our lifestyle affects this rate.
Stress, obesity, a pro-inflammatory diet, and smoking have been found to speed up telomere shortening- in essence, the aging process- as well as increase our risk of chronic disease. But lifestyle changes can increase our telomere length– even if we haven’t been super kind to our bodies thus far.
Continue reading How to make green juice when you don’t have a juicer
Every once in a while, we need to give our gut a rest.
I realize this is the 2nd smoothie posting in a row- but I can’t help it, guys! Dr. P and I have dinner+ the theatre tonight in the Capital Hill neighborhood, and I know we might indulge in some excess calories (OMG so excited for date night!).
So I decided to do some morning yoga, sip on some green ginger tea- excellent digestion support- during work, hit the gym during my lunch break for some HIIT, and then have a meal replacement smoothie to provide my hard-working digestive system with some much earned R & R.
After all, where would we be without out guts? This quote from the literary genius Francois Rabelais says it all: “From the gut comes the strut, and where hunger reigns, strength abstains.”
Right on!
So what makes a smoothie a meal replacement? Continue reading Carob + Mango Meal Replacement Shake
Guys, guys! I heart breakfast.
I have a big appetite, and the first thing I think of in the morning is how cute my husband is and if he made coffee yet. Because if not, that is the first thing I’ll do for sure. But then- what to eat?!
Lots of us say we “aren’t breakfast people”. This is so silly! It’s like saying, “I don’t like to have energy in the morning, and I love to be starving by the time lunchtime finally comes”. Continue reading Superfruit Breakfast Smoothie
Collectively, we’re an unhealthy bunch.
Our children? Vastly chubbier. Our blood pressure and cholesterol? Far higher. And our heart disease and cancer rates? Staggering as compared to 50 years ago. In the 1960s, only about 10% of us were obese. Today almost 40% of us are.
I read an article today that also noted suicide and depression are at a 30-year high.
We are obese and sad! And it’s heart breaking!
What are we doing wrong? And better yet- why aren’t we changing?
Over years of counseling clients, I’ve asked myself this question countless times. Why isn’t my patient reaching the goals we set? And how can I help?
I just finished reading a book on trauma and children- it was a book Dr. P ordered and was written by a child psychiatrist. We are all familiar with what a habit is, but this author was elegant and engaging in his description of the brain and its neurological pathways as they relate to habitual behavior.
Basically, when we do something a number of times, we literally carve a path in our brain matter. Much like a path in the woods heavily trodden, this neurological marking makes it more likely we will follow this same behavior without much thought in the future. Continue reading On where to start to lose weight and be healthier
Sometimes we get a bit overwhelmed, a tad too hectic, a smidgen couldn’t-go-to-the-grocery.
It happens. And when it does, the first things to slide down that hill into the abyss are our nutrition and exercise.
Last week was busy. I hate to admit it, but I ate lunch out a couple days due to poor planning and had happy hour with Dr. P that included some high calorie (and super delicious) sushi. But for good reason…
We’ve been searching for a house for the better part of a year. We started to think maybe we’d have to settle for a less desirable combo of qualities, like appliances from the early 80s or only one bathroom with multi-colored neon tiles.
As a born and bred Ohio girl, the Washington DC price:accommodation ratio seemed cray cray.
But then, after belly dancing class, I checked my phone and found a text from Dr. P. There was a link to a house the just came on the market.
“We should put an offer on this. Today!” it read. I opened the link and flipped through the pictures, scanning for our minimum dream checklist.
Room for dining room table? Check.
Two bathrooms? Check.
Open floor plan and extra space in the basement? Double check.
Added bonus: It was in the best possible location for us!
A hop, skip, and a week later. This.
We got the house! We’re so happy!
But with the competitive nature of the DC housing market- there were 7 other offers on our house after only 3 days on the market- before we found out we got it, I had been losing sleep and feeling zonked all week. The result?
Frozen pizza for dinner, baby.
I think to be our healthiest selves, we should try to avoid frozen pizzas most of the time. They are heavy on processed flour, high saturated fat cheeses, and loaded with sodium.
Continue reading How to make a frozen pizza healthier + good news
