Health knowledge made personal
|
Institute for Integrative Nutrition program you get to have a year long relationship with your very own Holistic Health Coach and mine is awesome! Her name is Ali, and she is extremely supportive and knowledgeable and gave me some great advice today. Thank you Ali!
I also wanted to share that if any of you are interested in enrolling in the program, I just found out that I can offer 1 friend a L.O.V.E scholarship that would entitle you to $1,000 dollars off your tuition. This is huge and I would love to share this with someone. The offer is good from February 1st -February 3rd ( a short window, I know). I obviously love the program and am happy to answer any questions that you may have about the program. Just shoot me an email and I will get back to you asap! Anyhow, besides meeting with my Holistic Health Coach, I also learned about the Ayurvedic and Macrobiotic diets. I am familiar with both but really enjoyed a more in-depth look into both philosophies. I learned about the Ayurvedic diet when I went through my Yoga Teacher Training program a few year back. Ayurveda Ayurveda , meaning “the science of life”, originated in India as a holistic approach to create balance within the mind and the body by aligning oneself with nature. The idea is to cleanse the body of substances that cause illness through proper diet and lifestyle. The belief is that disease results from an imbalance of the doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha. Doshas are life energies made up of the five elements of nature (ether, fire, air, water, and earth) and pertain to an individual’s physical characteristics and personality traits. Most people exhibit a combination of doshas, but there is always one that is more dominant. Characteristics of each dosha: Vata: (controls muscle and joint movement, breathing, heartbeat, and the nervous system) Ether and air Dry or rough skin Intolerance to cold Fatigue Anxious and restless Underweight, thin Pitta: (controls digestion, metabolism, intelligence, and skin color) Fire and water Competitive, controlling Visual problems Excessive body heat Irritable Stomach aches, and inflammatory skin conditions Kapha: (controls immune system and physical structure of the body) Earth and water Oily skin Slow digestion Allergies, asthma Tendency toward depression Short attention span Needy Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of nutrition in maintaining good health and preventing and treating disease. Ayurvedic treatment usually includes a combination of yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, mantras, cleanses, and rubbing the skin with herbal oil. Based on an individual’s dosha type, herbal remedies are also available to help supplement nutritional needs. They should be taken under the guidance of a health care practitioner source- IIN. I plan on doing a little more research about this diet because it makes a lot of sense to me. I also would love to teach yoga again. I miss that part of my life and have made a conscious decision to make that happen this year. But as of now, I am still on the 80/20 diet, which means eating healthy 80% of the time and allowing for a treat 20% of the time. Today is a classic example of this diet in action! My favorite meal of all time is a fully loaded Chopped Spinach Salad served with a baked Sweet Potato. 
This meal is super satisfying and super filling! 
Fully Loaded Spinach Salad
2 cups fresh spinach 1 cup broccoli slaw 1/2 cup mushrooms 1/4 cup yellow bell pepper 1/4 cup carrots 1/4 cup artichoke hearts 1/2 cup cucumbers 3 slices avocado Place in a medium sized bowl and use the to chop all the ingredients into bite-size pieces. Dress with 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil, whisked together. Toss and serve. Delish. The salad was so filling that I only ate half of the sweet potato. I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes and love the fact that I don't need to add anything to the potato. I just bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes and then it is ready to eat in all of its glorious orange beauty. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be one of nature's unsurpassed sources of beta-carotene. Several recent studies have shown the superior ability of sweet potatoes to raise our blood levels of vitamin A. Okay, so the above portion of this blog is the 80% healthy part now we are going to move into the 20% not so healthy part:) I have decided that some desserts just need to be made with full-on sugar and butter and are meant to be eaten in moderation. I know that sometimes when I make "light" desserts I tend to eat a bit more because they are in fact a bit healthier or lighter. But when I make something that is not healthy and deem it as such, I eat much less of it and in turn eat better the rest of the day due to the fact that I did enjoy that scrumptious treat. Does that make sense? 
The Best Cocoa Brownies recipe adapted from Alton Brown 4 large eggs 1 cup evaporated cane sugar, sifted 1 cup brown sugar, sifted 8 ounces melted butter 11/4 cups cocoa, sifted 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sifted 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar and fresh raspberries. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine. Pour the batter into an 8-inch square pan that has been fitted with parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick insert. 
If you are going to indulge in a brownie this would be the one to do it with. Wow. I did have to have a very teeny, tiny sliver of these brownies and they are AMAZING. Super dense and fudge and extremely chocolately. It would be remiss of me to send these out in the world without trying them first..... right? Me oh my. That is my two cents for the day. Have a great rest of your evening~ |
Write a comment:
|
Good Afternoon and Happy Tuesday!