Tag Archives: healthy living

Chard Leads To Brownie

This week Stephanie Eusebi had a great idea on her blog, Stephanie Eusebi Nutrition and Wellness: Swiss Chard Wraps. ( Click here to see her recipe and step by step instructions.) I love tortillas, but I haven’t been buying them a lot lately for one reason: a medium sized tortilla can be 120 calories. That’s the equivalent of a brownie and I’d much rather have the brownie. That’s why I’m going to try Stefanie’s chard substitution. I can eat my meal AND eat a brownie after dinner and I’ll still come out even calorie-wise, better off nutrient-wise, and way better off chocolate-wise. (Should I skip the brownie? Of course! But this is a long term healthy lifestyle, not a crash diet…there will be days I need that brownie.)

For those of you not familiar with chard, it’s a big, slightly bitter leaf. Mmmm, sounds appetizing, right? Here’s a picture of it growing in my garden. Pretty, isn’t it? I started thinking beyond wraps to other tortilla dishes I could substitute chard in: burritos, tacos, and enchiladas. Ole! Seriously, if you have taco seasoning in your filling, will you even taste the difference? Taco seasoning is potent packet powder. Will you care if you can taste the difference if you get to eat a brownie guilt free afterwards?

It’s a small change, but it can make a big difference in your diet, your health, and your brownie intake. I think we have a winner!

“Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” Proverbs 11:28

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: SOUP: Water and Vegetables. Tags: Diet, God, healthy living, maintaining a healthy weight, Vegetable, Weight loss. 3 Comments

Mar. ’14

MAGIC BEANS! For Weight Loss

Tired of snacks that don’t satisfy? Tired of spending a fortune on diet foods that don’t taste good and don’t fill you up? Try MAGIC BEANS!
MAGIC BEANS! come to you in a nifty paper packet. Simply add soil, water, and ultraviolet light to your MAGIC BEANS! and PRESTO! You’ll be snacking on MAGIC BEANS! in no time!
In a store you’d pay four dollars per pound, BUT you can grow a bushel of your own MAGIC BEANS! for less than two dollars!
Email me now and I’ll send you your very own MAGIC BEANS! for only $19.95. But wait! There’s more! If you keep reading, you’ll realize I’m full of crap!
MAGIC BEANS! are: ta ta ta taaaaa….green beans! Even if you’ve never gardened before in your life, I want you to give growing your own green beans a try this summer. Here’s why:
1. They taste better freshly picked.
2. They are SO cheap when you grow your own.
3. Beans store nitrogen in their roots as they grow; this means that they can grow in relatively awful soil. Most other veggies need good soil, but beans are hard core.
No kidding, when my husband and I bought our house ten years ago, we bought a tree and a shovel and went outside to plant it. Our soil was so hard that we had to buy a pickax to dig the hole. But the very next year we started a garden and our beans grew well.
Why am I blogging about this now? Because in a couple of weeks the weather will be gorgeous and you will have plenty of pent up energy and inspiration to do projects like prepping a small patch of dirt for your bean plants. Don’t worry, this is not turning into a gardening blog, but if you’ve never grown your own vegetables, give it a try. You’ll love them even more when you taste them home grown!
“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.” Genesis 2:8

Image of the woman loving her Magic Beans is from http://blog.shelbysystems.com/2011/07/what-reaction-are-you-looking-for/

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: SOUP: Water and Vegetables. Tags: Diet, food, Fruit and Vegetable, garden, God, healthy living, humor, maintaining a healthy weight, organic, SOUP: Water and Vegetables, Vegetable, Weight loss. Leave a comment

Feb. ’14

March Ab-ness

Despite the snow outside my window, swimsuit season is upon us. The pool toys, tankinis, and deck chairs are out in stores and, if you wait until June to buy your swimsuit, you’ll be picking through the clearance racks next to the Back To School displays.
In honor of swimsuit season, I am challenging myself to do 3100 crunches in 31 days. Yes, dear blog readers, the month of March will be a true test of my determination, discipline, and dread of being half naked in public in a few short months.
Some of you may be thinking “100 crunches a day isn’t that many, Katie”. True, but it’s a heck of a lot more than the zero I do now!
And why the public nature of the challenge? Because I’ve been thinking I should do this since the start of last swimsuit season and my mantra of “I’ll start tomorrow” doesn’t seem to be working.
In 31 days, I will tell you the effect that 3100 crunches has had on my abs. Hopefully those results will include my ab muscles being visible from the surface and not only by using an MRI machine.

Want to see a before picture? Glutton for punishment, aren’t you? I was kidding. This will have to do: It’s a bowl full of jelly; just imagine a belly button in the middle.

I’m not expecting a miracle (Rock hard, get it?), just a bowl with less jelly.
Want to join me? Measure your waist – that’s the line around your middle at the level of your belly button, not where your jeans rest on your hips – and let’s do this! Who’s in?

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27

Crunch image from http://sassyfitgirl.com/crunches

Balls from http://woodlandspoolbuilder.com/?p=242

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: SEX: Sleep and Exercise. Tags: crunches, God, healthy living, humor, maintaining a healthy weight, Physical exercise, Stomach, swimsuit season, Weight loss. 8 Comments

Feb. ’14

Diet Dictionary: Delusions of Grandeur

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: Cartoons. Tags: exercise ideas, healthy living, humor, Physical exercise, Weight loss. Leave a comment

Feb. ’14

What kind of water is best for weight loss?

The wet kind!

Most things you consume in a liquid state will keep you hydrated; some just have extra benefits or extra pitfalls that come with them. For example, juice has all of the vitamins and sugar found in fruit, but none of the fiber and mandatory chewing that slows down calorie consumption.

So here’s a quick 4 question quiz to see if you know how to keep your body hydrated and on the track to good health! I’ve included a few hints to help you along the way.

1. What percent of your body is water?
a. 30% like a gila monster after a day in the desert sun.
b. 60% One man actually lost 25 pounds of water weight in 48 hours to “prove” that scales are useless. That’s approaching gila monster humidity and he was promptly rushed off to get an IV drip.
c. 90% like a jellyfish.

2. How many ounces (total) of water should you drink each day?
a. 8 ounces – your blindingly bright yellow or orange colored pee should tell you that this is not the correct answer. Bad blog reader, bad! Most water bottles aren’t even that small.
b. 8 8 ounce glasses – correct, but don’t be lazy, do the math.
c. 64 ounces. Correct! (8oz x 8 glasses = 64) That’s 8 cups of water, or 4 pints, or 2 quarts or one half gallon, or three hours sipping at a water fountain. (I’m glad fountains exist, but when you’re thirsty, they’re maddeningly slow to drink from. Some sort of wall hose would be preferable.)

3. Which of the following beverages count towards your 64 ounces?
a. Coffee and tea. It’s water with natural brown food coloring. Don’t believe me? Check out this myth-busting research.
b. Juice and lemonade. It’s still mostly water, just watch the sugar intake. Sip and savor, but save the chugging for water.
c. Soda. Nope, not even close. It’s liquid, but your body has to use all the water it contains to flush out all of the chemicals it also contains, so you end up not hydrated.

4. Which of the following are benefits of drinking enough water?
a. Flushing out toxins. This is obviously good, right? No commentary needed? Why am I still typing?
b. Energized muscles. Not feeling up for a little exercise? Drink some water; dehydration causes muscle fatigue.
c. Hydrated skin that looks good. Eat your heart out, Maybelline! Moisturizers create a barrier that helps keep moisture in your skin, but if the moisture isn’t coming from the inside out, that barrier is ineffective.

Two footnotes:
1. If you need an answer key, leave a comment and I’ll contact you; I have some magic beans I’d like to sell you.
2. Gila monsters have more like 70% water in their bodies, not 30%, but they LOOK so darn dry! And in the dry months they survive by not urinating for months. Gross, but so very cool too. The point is, you are not a gila monster. Raise your glass and drink up! A toast to your health!

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Images are from:

http://www.volusia.org/services/public-works/water-resources-and-utilities/

https://beccasbyline.wordpress.com/2011/09/

http://diabetesdailypost.com/learn-why-you-need-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-per-day/

http://savenaturesavehuman.blogspot.com/2012/05/gila-monster.html

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/coffee-and-hormones

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: SOUP: Water and Vegetables. Tags: Diet, Drink Water, God, Health, healthy living, humor, low calorie diet, maintaining a healthy weight, Water, Weight loss. 3 Comments

Jan. ’14

2 Comments

Jan. ’14

Yoda’s Yoga

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

Oh, if only I had a little green linguistically challenged trainer who could hang on my back, spouting guru encouragement and inspiring me by lifting spaceships out of ponds. Instead, I have four little beige people I must dress and cobble and herd out the door like protesting cats. I feel like Luke when he sizes up that spaceship: I don’t think I’m strong enough. And why am I herding booger spurting beige cats wearing Spiderman masks into the spaceship stuck in a pond? To exercise. Be it rounding the block or driving to the YMCA, I am determined to burn a few hundred calories.

But I must be my own Yoda. “Use the Force, Katie.”

It’s great advice, actually: Do or do not, there is no try. Don’t think about it, just do it. When I think about going to the Y, I often talk myself out of it. I’ll go later. I’ll do some crunches while I watch TV tonight, I promise. It might rain. It’s raining. It did rain. Ooo, my weekly StumbleUpon email just arrived. I should probably clean instead. Pitiful.

There was one day just before Christmas when I finally tired of the filth that was my house (why clean in December when you can shop for presents?) and I cleaned for 3½ hours straight. That was a good workout. “The Force is strong in this one.” Unfortunately, that kind of cleaning bug only hits me on a solstice.

So I try not to think about it. Just do it. (Yes, Nike, I will accept sneakers as payment.) There is always something else I could do with that time, but nothing else I should do. And all of the stuff that needs to get done still gets done because exercise increases my energy. It’s kind of magical. Like Yoda.

“He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31

He is the REAL Force.

Images are from:

http://www.starwarsreport.com/tag/yoda/

http://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/2012/10/classic-image-wisdom-never-dies.html

http://imsdemons.pvp101.net/2013/12/guide-herding-cats-or-brief-guide-to.html

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: SEX: Sleep and Exercise. Tags: God, Health, healthy living, humor, maintaining a healthy weight, Physical exercise, Weight loss. 2 Comments

Jan. ’14

10 Amazing Ways To Stop Overeating

This is a great video by Quirkology about ways to “trick” yourself into eating less. It’s also a great excuse to go buy little red plates and decorative mirrors for your kitchen! It’s science, Honey, I have to go shopping.

Just click on the link below.

10 Amazing Ways To Stop Overeating

Posted by Katie Robles. Categories: Interesting Tidbits, TWO FISTED EATING: Portion Control and Enjoyment. Tags: Diet, Eating, healthy living, maintaining a healthy weight, portion control, Weight loss. Leave a comment

Jan. ’14

My Yellow Brick Resolution

Our society has things backwards. The day that we’re expected to begin a self-improving, habit-breaking, life transforming New Year’s Resolution is the day after we stay up way too late and arrives at the end of one of the busiest and most calorie rich seasons of the year. If you searched the calendar for the one day that we are the most physically, emotionally, and motivationally drained, it would be New Year’s Day. It’s like asking me to start a low carb diet the day I tour a bakery. Not going to happen!

If one week into the New Year you’ve already lost your way, I invite you to travel with me down the Healthy Body Yellow Brick Road. We’re going to begin our year the same way we began with this blog: with SEX every day. If God has blessed you with enough mc² to take this suggestion literally, go for it! For the rest of us, remember that SEX reminds us to get plenty of Sleep and EXercise. (To read the first post of this blog and learn how to use your spouse to get yourself to bed on time, click HERE.)

This week we’re going to focus on sleep.

Ready, Dorothy? Let’s collect our traveling companions and get back to Kansas!

Hey Scarecrow! Did you know that sleep cleans your brain? When you sleep, your brain cells contract, leaving extra space between them. Spinocerebral fluid then flows around the cells, flushing away the proteins that build up there when you’re awake. Protein build up has been linked to alzheimers and dementia. When you get enough sleep (7-8 hours per night), your brain gets detoxed. I got so little sleep in college, I think I built protein palaces. http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/october2013/10282013clear.htm Another new study just announced that missed sleep results in an increase in certain chemicals in the brain – the same type of chemical increases that occur after a head injury. http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=10&from=en-us_msnhpvidmod#/video/7d94de3e-03fa-4090-aa8a-331b3c311c1e

“If I only had a heart” and if I only slept enough to keep it strong! Tin Man, a new study came out this past summer which links sleep and heart health. There are four factors that significantly affect one’s risk for cardiovascular disease: smoking, diet, exercise, and alcohol. New research has added a fifth: sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, it adversely affects your heart just as much as smoking does. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2353692/Lack-sleep-increases-risk-heart-disease-SMOKING.html

Lion, your courage to face the day and change your bad habits into good ones is also linked to sleep. Mood is affected by sleep. If you or someone you know has worked night shift, you don’t need science to tell you that lack of sleep makes a person more irritable, less patient, and well, not someone you want to be caged up with. Some studies have linked sleep deprivation with depression and other studies show that lack of sleep causes your amygdala (the part of the brain associated with negative emotions) to act up more and be less connected to the part of your brain that regulates emotion (and keeps the crazies in check). http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/between-you-and-me/201308/all-night-the-effects-sleep-loss-mood

Last, but not least, we can’t forget the Good Witch Leptin and the Wicked Witch Ghrelin. Well rested bodies produce lots of the hormone leptin which tells your body to stop eating. Sleep starved bodies produce more ghrelin hormones which tell your body to eat more. So in this metaphor, the Munchkins actually work for Wicked Witch Ghrelin. (Dunkin Donut holes, get it?) Come on, Lollipop Guild, you’re not helping us get to Kansas. http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain

Join me in celebrating the New Year by resolving to get more sleep: rest for our brain, our heart, and our mood. On our Yellow Brick Road, the best thing Dorothy can do is lie down in the field of poppies and take a nap.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. Psalm 23:2,3a