Post-run Smoothie Treat

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk -- I use "Blue Diamond Almond Breeze"
• 1 scoop of Vega Protein Smoothie Mix -- I use "Choc-A-Lot" 
• 1/2 banana
• 2 Tbsp almond butter
• 1/2 one real vanilla bean
• 1 glassful of ice cubes

Instructions

• Toss in the Vitamix, blend, and drink (slowly if possible)!

Coconutty 'nana (with Pulp!)

OK, here's my new favorite afternoon smoothie recipe. I've adapted it from the "Coconutty 'Nana" recipe from the Big Book of Juices.

Tools

Cutting board, knife, juicer (I have the Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700-Watt Juice Extractor), Vitamix (or other awesome) blender.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pineapple
• 2 bananas
• 8 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk
• Ice (optional)

Process

1. Get the pineapple and bananas into a juice-able state, then toss them in the juicer.
2. Pour the fruit juice into the Vitamix, along with ALL the pulp left behind in the juicer (unless you see something obviously not appropriate, of course).
3. Add the almond milk and coconut milk to the Vitamix, blend and enjoy!

Tip: You can pour this over ice, or add ice into the Vitamix for a cooler treat.

Servings

The original recipe makes about 2 servings, but I expect that with adding all that pulp, this is more like 6-8. :-)

August Juice Cleanse Diaries

Day 1: Wednesday July 30, 2014

Day 2: Thursday July 31, 2014

Days 3 & 4: Friday August 1 & Saturday August 2, 2014

How NOT to Just Say F**k It: 5 Strategies for Getting Back on Track

Let's be real.

Those of us who have goals around health and wellness aren't perfect. (That's OK, by the way!) From time to time, we'll make decisions that are contrary to the promises we make to ourselves. Some examples of goals we might have include:

• Limiting sugar | caffeine | alcohol | chocolate intake
• Exercising | moving more
• Going to bed or getting up earlier
• Reducing time spent watching TV | playing on Facebook

You get the idea.

So what happens to the day or the week when, for example, you have more than the amount of <whatever> you said you'd have; you fail to exercise, to get to bed / wake earlier, or to limit your technology usage? I'm sure some of you can relate to the feeling of, "oh f**k it, since I did / didn't do X I might as well (either do more X or do Y too)...". It's almost like there's a rebel that comes up inside us, pointing out that we haven't been perfect so "why not just toss the whole stupid idea out the window!" It can be very tempting, especially when that part says, "you can just start over tomorrow / next week".

That voice prevents us from starting over in the present moment. In other words, right NOW.

Here are 5 strategies to help you get back on track, in the moment. Have others? Let me know!

1. Discover the teaching and use it to create a new strategy: Write down why you did / didn't do what you wanted, how it felt at the time and/or how it feels now. Coming from the perspective that you did exactly what you needed to do at the time, explore what you could learn from the experience. What might you do differently if that situation arises again? For example: "I ate the brownie because really I was dehydrated and needed more water. The next time I have a brownie craving, I'll have a glass of water first."
   
   
2. Stop making specific promises altogether: Instead, bring more mindfulness to your daily activities, pay closer attention to how you feel, and honor the higher goal of "progress"--getting a little healthier each day. Let go of "measuring" every detail and allow yourself to be more intuitive about what is good for you and what isn't. In other words, focus on the big picture rather than the details.
   
   
3. Put it in perspective: Someone passed along to me a great quote from Jillian Michaels, which was along the lines of "so you messed up and didn't stick to the plan -- so what? You didn't ruin anything. If you have one flat tire do you then slash the other three?" One or two or even five of anything doesn't mean the rest of your day or week is done for.
   
   
4. Move to a different environment: Just eat an entire bag of chips after sitting at your desk for hours? Go for a walk outside. Sometimes change happens from the inside out. Other times, it can happen from the outside in. Maybe next time you think about having chips, you'll realize you just need a break, and take the walk instead!
   
   
5. Create appointments with yourself (and set reminders): Schedule the time you'll spend online, the time you'll exercise, or even the time you'd like to go to bed. When your timer goes off, stop, and do what your reminder tells you! Have trouble stopping and taking a lunch break? Put it on your calendar with a note to yourself. Here's one of mine: "Lunch: GET UP & TAKE A BREAK!" Maybe at 9 pm, you set a reminder on your phone that says, "Charge me, shut me off and go read your book in bed!" If it's scheduled, honor your commitment as you would attending a doctor's appointment, or going to a beloved friend's wedding.

30 Days to a Happier & Healthier Me

A mocha latte

As some of you know, starting June 15th I'm facilitating a Facebook group called "30 Days to a Happier & Healthier You Practice". In it, each person decides one habit they'd like to practice encouraging, or one habit they'd like to practice softening. I'm specifically calling this a practice (rather than, for example, a "challenge") because although it may be challenging, it's not intended to be something we beat ourselves up over when we're not perfect at it. The idea is that we support each other, and just keep trying.

Of course as the facilitator of such a group, I have many ideas about what I could do for myself and post about. I have to set an example, right? So my first thought was that I could do anything EXCEPT giving up coffee (again). That would just be too challenging.

A little history of me and coffee: back in the day I was never really into it. I used to have one cup (read, 8 oz) in the morning with a powdered milk substitute. I preferred Dunkin over Starbucks. (Yes, really.) And then something happened--especially after I got a job in the city of Boston--I was surrounded with coffee shops. I got hooked on a morning Starbucks, joining in the morning ritual,  feeling all "Sex and the City". Soon I decided visiting the Boston Common Coffee Co was a better, more local alternative. I started drinking americanos and almond milk lattes. When I moved to Austin, the first thing I did was check out all of the coffee shops I could find. My favorite is Monkey Nest Coffee--where you'll often find me working.

When I'm doing a cleanse, I get off coffee pretty easily. I drink a lot of water, and don't have too many symptoms (e.g. headaches). But I miss it terribly. I miss the imagined comradery with other coffee drinkers. I miss greeting the people who make my drink, take my money, and stamp my frequent visitor card. I miss the ritual. Drinking coffee gives me pleasure; pleasure beyond what comes from the energy boost of the caffeine. (Anyone who's ever shared quarters with me knows I'm generally wide awake and perky somewhere between 5-6 am, even without it.)

So I could do anything but give up coffee as part of this practice. Right? Hmm....

Well truth be told, the group of people who have agreed to participate in this 30 day practice have inspired me. They've inspired me to set an example by being REALISTIC, to set myself up for something challenging enough to require practice but to still be ACHIEVABLE. So for the next 30 days, my practice will be to have one SMALL coffee drink no more than 3 times a week.

As part of this practice I will explore:

• what it is about drinking coffee that gives me so much pleasure? 
• how does it "fill me up" emotionally? 
• what am I afraid will happen if I don't drink it? 
• what tools can I use to get through times when I'm really craving it? 
• what needs does drinking coffee fulfill for me? 
• how can I enjoy working in a coffee shop environment without over-drinking coffee? 
• what is it I really desire?

It's my belief that we have difficulty changing habits because we focus on the "giving up" part by trying to use willpower. However, the habit represents something that's important to us, so we need to explore the deeper meaning behind the habit first. What are its benefits (even if we do label it as "unhealthy" or "bad")? How does the habit make us feel better, how does it serve us?

Only when we answer these questions will habits soften and perhaps fall away.

I'm ready to explore. I'm ready to practice. And I promise you, I will not be perfect. :-)

I hope you'll join me. See https://www.facebook.com/groups/1430137057252728/.

Juiceland Juice Cleanse: Day 3 Finally Brings Dedication?

Update: I'm doing another 3 day starting 6/26. I'm actually very excited about it. Since this cleanse I've gotten very into juices, and I've found that I missed them! I even ended up purchasing several in between. :-) So we'll see how round 2 goes!

---

OK, so on day 3 I'm acutely aware of the fact that I've "cheated" for 2 out of 3 of my juice cleanse days. But the honest the truth is, I'm OK with that. To remind us all, "cheating" entailed a handful of pistachios, some crystallized ginger, and a bag of frozen peas (defrosted and cooked, with a little salt, of course)!

Still, day 3 brought new dedication to stay just on juice and tea and water. How did it go? Well, I DEFINITELY felt the need to eat food, especially around lunchtime, which was always the time I ended up snacking on real food. I made it past that milestone, yay!

I also managed to do some Ashtanga yoga, though not the entire thing. I made it to asana #5 in the seated sequence, which isn't bad given my limited caloric intake. In fact, it felt really good. I felt like I was able to engage my lower bandhas in a way I hadn't before.

Other things I noticed today (also yesterday, though I'm not sure I mentioned them):

• My nose is occasionally runny, and I've been sneezing a bit. 
• I'm SO COLD! It's about 90 degrees here in Austin, and it feels hotter if you're in the sun or a car. Yet whenever I'm in the apartment, a store, or any place where there's any breeze or AC, I'm cold. (Great idea do to a hockey game last night, wasn't it? LOL.)
• The taking of an herbal laxative on day one has kept me loose for days 2 and 3, no more required!
• More water between juices helps with hunger (duh).
• My primary craving (every day!) was for a banana.

When I picked up my juices this morning, I wanted a pick-me-up, as I was missing my coffee and feeling sluggish. The girl at the counter was friendly, helping me decide how to make yerba matte less yucky. She was on her way to make me a lovely sounding version with pineapple and cayenne, when I changed my request to the yerba matte latte that grossed me out last week. My thought was I'd try it without the agave--no luck though, I drank 1/2 of it and was nauseous. I don't think yerba matte is for me, else the hemp milk is just too much. (I've never been a "drink milk in a significant quantity" type of person--of any milk, even the alternatives--although I use them often for smoothies and baking.)

Anyway, I ended up going to Whole Foods to have food on hand for tomorrow. It wasn't so bad, and I even found myself looking at what juices they have. I plan to do a smoothie in the morning, unless of course I'm craving the organic omega-3 eggs, the smoked salmon, the organic cauliflower, avocados, or bananas, blackberries, blueberries, apple, and pear that I bought! :-) I plan to have a salad with those ingredients for lunch, and a light halibut with bok choy for dinner.

Around 5 pm I felt really wiped, but I'd also gone to the chiropractor who put my body back in alignment after I'd done a great job knocking it out, sitting in front of my laptop with bad posture for too long, putting together my upcoming workshop content (see http://ajourneyintohealth.blogspot.com/2014/05/upcoming-workshop-announcement.html). I was so sluggish that at 6:30pm, before teaching a Hatha class, I caved and had a banana! Oh well.

I do like the idea of doing this once a month. My hypothesis is that it should be easier to break poor habits by cleansing more regularly. At least 3 days out of the month, my body would get a break from the toxins I love: coffee, chocolate, and alcohol! Speaking of which, I'm not sure when those will get re-introduced, but my guess is that a nice dark chocolate will be the first on the list--it was last time!

JuiceLand Juice Cleanse Day 2: Body Hate & Bad Hockey

Update: I'm doing another 3 day starting 6/26. I'm actually very excited about it. Since this cleanse I've gotten very into juices, and I've found that I missed them! I even ended up purchasing several in between. :-) So we'll see how round 2 goes!

---

Well with no celery and more variety of juices, there isn't much to say about Day 2.  The juices were fine; it was me who wasn't.

I cheated again with the crystallized ginger and handful of pistachios, and then had a bag of frozen peas (cooked of course). Sigh. Around lunch time I just really wanted to eat FOOD! I then ended up in a funk about how much weight I'd gained over the past few years, but decided that I was going to don a bathing suit and go to the pool to get some sun ANYWAY. That was all fine until a gang of kids came and started making comments about "the lady's bootie". Fortunately I was enthralled with Bruce H. Lipton's Biology of Belief and was able to ignore most of it before I left at my usual time.

I tried to do some exercise too--I decided to pull out my difficult Bar Method DVD because I didn't make it to a class, but then I found I really couldn't do much. I desperately need another chiropractic adjustment, so everything just feels off , and that has nothing to do with juice.

Overall I felt disappointed in myself, which led to old familiar feelings of hating my body. But as I rode to the Cedar Park Center to watch the Texas Stars get their butts whipped in game 6 of the AHL Western Conference Finals, I decided that I could spend those three hours beating myself up with automatic negative thoughts, or I could go and have fun. I decided on the latter.

It was somewhat more difficult than usual to smell things and not want all the nasty food stuffs there. One smell that stood out in particular for me was ketchup (which I never eat, weird!)

I slept mostly OK, but woke up to a nightmare about discovering that my juice was ground up body parts--likely due to a comment made yesterday by a yoga student's husband, who said that in the 60s or 70s there was a movie like that, though I can't find any reference to it.

More than yesterday, I am thinking this would be a good once-a-month "clean house" kind of thing. Although I will admit to getting excited about eating food. Honestly, what I really have been craving is a banana.

JuiceLand Juice Cleanse: The Celery Madness of Day 1

Update: I'm doing another 3 day starting 6/26. I'm actually very excited about it. Since this cleanse I've gotten very into juices, and I've found that I missed them! I even ended up purchasing several in between. :-) So we'll see how round 2 goes!

---

A few weeks ago I got a wild hair to try another juice cleanse. (In fact, I thought it might be a good idea to do a little mini-cleanse at the start of each month.) I played around on JuiceLand's web site and decided to go hard core, for the "Purify" package. Here's what happened on Day 1.

Because I was teaching Sunday morning it was best to pick up my juice Saturday night. That was totally convenient; I was excited, until I got home and realized how many of my juices were green. This turned out to be the correct instinct: I HATE celery. I don't tend to eat celery, and I should have known because I can always overtaste it in veggie stock. Of course celery was in EVERY green juice, as well as the one other juice that wasn't green (that was better). I was totally relieved it wasn't in my Green Hemp Milk, which I added on for more calories.

The other thing I learned is that I need variety. Having 2 of the same juices (2 Cold Pressed Green) two times (also 2 Cocolillys) just wasn't working for me. Fortunately, I sent email to every address they had for cleanses, and they agreed that they'd allow me to customize my order for an extra $8 (worth it!) and leave the celery out of the next day's batch. When I got to the store however, there was a mix up with the customization, and so we ended up taking some bottles out of the cooler to get the order right. (Apparently the cleanse juices aren't made at that particular site.) Whew!

I had a pounding headache pretty much all day long, but I hadn't slept well the prior two nights due to nightmares and general restlessness, so I attributed it to that. When I still had the headache after a nap though, I started wondering whether it was that + my love of coffee. (I had been better though--only drinking it before noon!)

I did cheat a little bit: I felt nauseous after drinking yet.another.green...I noticed this when flipping over onto my belly outside by the pool. I came inside and had a few pieces of crystallized ginger and a handful of pistachios because I was feeling desperate.

Another thing that I'm re-learning: I like to chew my food! It's just not as satisfying to me to be drinking everything. It must be that cephalic phase digestive response, and I'm wondering whether not deriving as much pleasure from my food offsets any nutrient absorption I'm getting from the fact that it's somewhat pre-digested for me. I ended up skimming through the online screening of "Super Juice Me"(it seemed relevant), and all I could think was "BUT I LIKE BROCCOLI!!!" (the narrator mentions that juicing has been beneficial for him because he hates vegetables like broccoli). I enjoy eating healthy fruits and vegetables--I could do it all day long!

I also found myself pretty hungry later in the evening, and wishing I hadn't used up my last lemon in my water, because I WANTED to make a Master Cleanse lemonade drink. (I had tried this cleanse--for experimental purposes of course--back in May, and lasted 8 out of the 10 days with little hunger.) I'm not sure why I could drink the same thing all day long, and not feel hungry, while on the Master Cleanse yet not feel this way drinking different flavors of vegetable and fruit juice. Hmmm....

And one really rare occurrence, before I pack this up for Day 2: I ended up sleeping through my 5am alarm this morning. I have a Zen alarm clock, one that chimes more frequently and intensely the longer you ignore it. It took me a LONG WHILE to figure out it was going off. I decided not to go to Barre class this morning, and to sleep in until 7:30. So yay, I slept well! On to Day 2.

Upcoming Workshop Announcement!

Mind-Body Nutrition for Busy People:
Explore 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Food & Your Body

When: Sunday, June 8, 2014 1-4 pm

Where: Broadstone Crossing Apartments (Common Room)
12430 Metric Blvd, Austin TX 78758

• Spend too much time & energy on what's wrong with your body?
• Tried everything when it comes to losing weight & keeping it off?
• Know what you should eat, but just can't find the time?
• Challenged by unwanted, emotionally-based eating habits?

. . .Or, just curious about what mind-body nutrition can do for you?


Join Kali Patrick as she leads you through an informative journey into 5 new, practical, & time-saving approaches to help you improve your eating habits, reduce your stress, make peace with your body, and become more of the person you were truly meant to be!

In this interactive workshop, you'll learn:

• The physiological effects of stress on metabolism & calorie burning
• How to naturally modulate your appetite through eating rhythm
• The profound impact of the cephalic phase digestive response
• Ways to overcome toxic beliefs about food & body that limit weight loss potential
• Mind-body techniques for overcoming body image challenges

You'll also receive informative handouts & recommendations for further reading.


Cost: $30 pre-registration*, $40 at the door

Call 617.699.2389 or email info (at) ajourneyintohealth (dot) com to reserve your space.
*Due to the interactive nature of the workshop, space is limited to 12 & pre-registration is recommended.


About Kali Patrick, Mind-body Wellness Consultant at A Journey Into Health:

Kali integrates eating psychology, nutrition, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda & Reiki to help busy people improve their overall health & wellness. Her prior experience working in high-tech corporations taught her not only how to facilitate informative & fun group discussions, but also helped her understand how our fast-paced, stress-based culture makes it easy to develop unwanted eating habits & difficult to make time to care for ourselves, even when we want to.

For more information about Kali, visit www.ajourneyintohealth.com.

Rice Paper Wraps Can Make Quick, Easy, & Healthy Lunches or Snacks

I've been making variations on these wraps for awhile now, and they've turned out to be very convenient for lunches and/or snacks, especially if you have to eat on the run. Here's the version I made today:

A "Wrap-Making Workstation"

Ingredients (per wrap)

• 1 Vietnamese brown rice spring roll wrapper
• 1/3 piece of Emerald Cove Organic Pacific Nori
• 1/2 piece of a whole heart of palm (from a can, sliced lengthwise into 2 narrow strips)
• 1 slice organic avocado
• 1/4 organic tomato (chopped)
• 1/4 c or less snow pea shoots (ends trimmed off)
• 1/4 c or less upland cress leaves
• 1 slice Applegate Naturals roasted turkey breast (if non-veg)

I like to cut everything up and prepare a little "workstation" so I can then just focus on making a bunch of wraps at once.

Directions

Ingredients Across Nori

• Rinse the spring roll wrapper under warm water until it's wet, and press it down on a hard surface (for the photo I used a blue cutting surface, but honestly I find it best to do on a clean piece of granite counter top!)
• Place the nori in the center so there's a strip to work with. 
• At the center of the nori, place the heart of palm strips, the avocado strips.
• In the gaps, place the chopped tomato.
• Put the snow pea shoots and upland cress leaves on top.
• If going non-veg, place the turkey breast slice on top of everything (it works nicely to hold in the other ingredients).
• Fold in the right and left sides of the wrap, squishing other ingredients slightly more into the center.
• While holding the sides as best you can, flip the end of the wrap that's closest to you up and around the other ingredients so they're secure. Then, holding in the sides and the top, roll tightly. 

Wraps on a Platter

Tip: This takes some practice. if you're having trouble, try fewer ingredients--it's easy to want to put in too much!

I generally make a bunch at once, put them on a platter, cover them with plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge. Sometimes there's a bit of condensation that shows up, but that helps keep them sticky; they dry out quickly again when you take them out. I'd recommend eating them within a few days, especially if you use avocado.

Other ingredients I've put into wraps include:

• Thinly sliced carrot or cucumber
• Different Applegate lunchmeats (like the turkey bologna) 
• Cooked shrimp (sliced-in-half lengthwise)
• Other sprouts (e.g. alfalfa) or greens (spinach, arugula, etc.)

And, if you have to eat on the go, you can generally fit 2 into a ziplock baggie. :-)

Reiki, Meditation & Yoga: Integrative Support for Mind-Body Nutrition

In this 10 minute video, I describe some ways that Reiki, meditation, and yoga can help you achieve your nutrition and weight loss goals.

Meditating Your Way to Healthy Digestion

In my previous post, I described 4 ways that yoga can support your nutrition and weight loss goals. Here, I'll offer some advice about how a mindful meal meditation might move you along in these endeavors as well.

About Meditation & Mindfulness

Meditation is essentially a practice in training one's mind, so it can be done anywhere, using anything as a point of focus. Applying meditative techniques when moving throughout one's day can be thought of as mindfulness. Since we eat at least 2-3 times a day, meal times are a natural opportunity for meditation, using food as our focus.

A Mindful Mealtime Meditation to Try

Light some candles, dim the lights, maybe put on some relaxing background music. Ensure there are no potential distractions, nothing within reach to multitask with. Then, sit down at a table in front of your plate, and take a moment to connect with your meal. Look down at your food, noticing the different colors and textures, as well as the arrangement of the food. You might like to use a simple statement, like, "I eat this food to be healthy and happy, to care for and nourish my body." This prepares your body for a relaxed eating experience.

Take only enough food as will comfortably fit on your utensil. Notice the first contact of the food with your tongue. See if you can identify the flavors: sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and so on. Notice how the food changes form as you chew it slowly. To help you focus on this, it may be helpful for you to place your utensils (or food, if it's hand-held) back down on your plate between bites. If you get distracted or find yourself hurrying, simply notice, take a deep breath and start again.

When your plate is empty, observe that. Bring your attention to your belly, and notice that you are nourished and satisfied.

Note: A nice book for bringing meditation into your daily life is Making Space by Thich Nhat Hanh, from which some of these concepts were adapted.

Why This Matters

In Inside Tract, Mullen et al. state that “mindful eating is one of the most important techniques you can use [to improve your frame of mind and prepare yourself for excellent digestion].” In Digestive Wellness, Lipski posits that "focus[ing]...awareness of the favors in each bite...can dramatically enhance [people's] total digestive function more completely than can enzymes, bitters, or other digestive supplements."

Why? Because eating mindfully and with presence not only activates the relaxation response, but also initiates the first phase in the digestive process, called the cephalic phase. Cephalic means "of the head", and it's how the brain registers that the body is about to receive a meal. It's how the brain knows to "turn on" digestion by doing things like releasing enzymes and activating stomach acids, as two examples. When we don't pay attention to our food as we eat it, we bypass this phase, meaning:

• our digestive capacity (i.e. ability to break down, process, and assimilate nutrients from the food) is hampered by 40-60%
• we are more likely to overeat because we are not aware that we are full
• our digestive system has to work harder overall, which can result in issues like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and over time, more serious ones like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Note: Why Being Mindful Matters is a nice, readable article on this topic.

4 Simple Ways Yoga Can Support Your Nutrition & Weight Loss Goals

Here are 4 ways that taking up even a basic yoga practice can support your nutrition and weight loss goals:

1. Deeper breathing. One of the fundamental concepts in any practice of yoga is its focus on coordinating breath with movement.
   
   Try this: sit or stand with your spine tall and long. Close your eyes and observe how you feel physically and mentally. When you feel ready, inhale as you reach your arms out to your sides with your palms up, through shoulder height and then up to the sky, where the palms turn to face each other. Then flip your palms out and exhale as you reverse the movement, bringing the arms and hands back down to your sides. How was it to coordinate your breath with the movement of your arms? Just notice. Repeat this a few times, seeing if you can slow the movements of your arms, thereby lengthening your breath.
   
   Why this matters: Slowing down the breath helps to calm the body, reducing the effects of chronic stress and inducing a relaxation response. When the body is in relaxation response, digestion improves, nutrients are better assimilated, and toxins are more easily released. Bringing this deep breathing off the yoga mat and into our daily lives helps us become more present to what is happening now, so we learn to pay closer attention to our food as we're eating. In other words, we become aware of the colors, textures, tastes and sensations that naturally encourage our bodies to metabolize food as part of the cephalic phase, leading to natural appetite regulation (not to mention, actual enjoyment of our food!).
   
   
2. Increased body awareness. How were you able to "notice your breath" in point one? Well, there's a part of you called the "wisdom body" or "witness consciousness" in yoga, which has the ability to observe what you're doing, thinking and feeling. In the practice of yoga postures (asanas), instructors encourage their students to "listen" to their bodies--for example, to notice areas of tightness, where there may be more space to move, how to improve their alignment by feeling the body, etc.
   
   Try this: For one day, set an alarm to alert you every 30 or 60 minutes. (Here's a chime I like, if you happen to work at a computer.) When you hear the alarm, pause what you are doing, close your eyes and pick a word to describe how you're feeling emotionally (e.g.: happy, sad, overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, etc.) Don't think too hard about it, just go with your first, best guess. Then, scan your body for sensations, starting at the crown of your head. Move your focused attention all around your face. Notice the areas around the eyes, the jaw. Feel your neck and shoulders. Scan down your arms to your wrists and hands. Observe the body all around the torso, front and back, along the spine, up and down. Connect your mind to your hips, moving your attention down your legs to your toes, first one side and then the other. Where are you tightening your muscles? Are there any places that feel "uneven" between the right and left sides? Is anything pinchy? Repeat the scan, this time making small adjustments--see if you can relax the tight areas, balance the uneven ones, or tweak your posture to feel better. When you're finished, call to mind a word describe your emotional state. Maybe it's the same one as before, or perhaps a new one. Whatever comes up is perfectly OK. Now continue with what you were doing until the next alarm, when you will repeat this process. See if you can discover places in the body you favor, or whether new areas of your body grab your attention.
   
   Why this matters: Increasing body awareness has many benefits for nutrition and weight loss. Much like the breath, our body does a lot for us without our needing to attend to it. But in today's busy world, we often "dis-embody"--meaning we tune out important signals, such as when we're hungry, when we're tired, when we're feeling full, when we're holding a shape that's causing muscular stress (e.g. sitting with poor posture), and when we're feeling upset. Dis-embodiment often lead us to overeat and binge eat, since both are "unconscious" activities that are really serving as distractions from difficult emotions and inducing relaxation (which we might find in other methods more supportive of our weight loss goals). By receiving our bodies' signals about when we're naturally hungry, we improve our eating rhythm (i.e. have more regular times of day when we nourish ourselves with food). This reduces the likelihood of us getting ravenous, eating too fast and too much. We also benefit from better regulation of blood sugar and energy throughout the day.
   
   
3. Yoga postures help improve digestion. Arranging the physical body in different shapes offers your internal organs a gentle massage, including the ones involved in digestion and metabolism regulation.
   
   Try these: Seated forward fold, wide-legged standing forward fold with twist, half lord of the fishes pose, cobra pose, bridge pose (or supported bridge). See also Best Yoga Poses for Digestion.
   
   Why it matters: Yoga postures (asanas) help improve blood and oxygen flow to the digestive organs, are stimulating to the digestive tract, and help to regulate the thyroid gland² "which is important for not only digestive function, but also the nervous system, reproductive system, respiratory system and metabolism regulation.³"Yoga has also been known to help with chronic digestive issues like constipation and diarrhea, bloating and gas⁴. A healthy, optimally working digestive tract is critical to meeting any nutritional and weight loss goals. If your system isn't working properly, your efforts will be in vain.
   
   
4. More compassion and self acceptance. Yoga isn't just about physical postures and breathing. It's "a progressive process of replacing our unconscious thought patterns and behavior with new, more beneficial patterns that are helpful towards a better life¹." Yoga provides a way for students to experiment with different class styles and instructors until we find some that suit us. It invites us into a safe space where we can explore letting go of our egos, going only as far in a posture as we can in that moment, regardless of what we may have done before or what we hoped we could do. Yoga encourages us to surrender competition with self and others, and to accept that this body is what we have to work with right now.
   
   Try this: Wearing something form fitting that allows you to really see your body, strike a simple yoga pose in front of a mirror. (Mountain pose is the easiest one to start.) With your eyes open, notice what comes up for you as you sustain the pose for a comfortable time. Are you holding your breath? What are you thinking? Are you worried about doing it perfectly? Are you involved in an internal dialog about a part of your body that you wish looked different? Are you comparing yourself to a photo of someone else in the posture? Do you want to look away? See if you can simply notice these thoughts as they pop up in your mind. Practice accepting whatever comes up for you. If it's helpful, you can imagine putting the thought into a "thought bubble" (like you see in cartoons) and allowing it to float away.
   
   Why this matters: Finding a style of yoga that you enjoy can replace the punishing exercise that you may do solely for the sake of calorie burning. (Note that over-exercise and exercise one doesn't like can contribute to the stress response, therefore defeating our best intentions at improved metabolism and weight loss.) Yoga's focus on acceptance and self-love can also help improve body image issues for those of us who struggle here. As Marc David says, "acceptance moves energy". Meaning, when we become more aware of our self-criticisms, self-judgements, and ways we habitually cause "self-induced hate stress", we can figuratively and then literally "lighten up". If you're someone who constantly beats yourself up over losing that last 5-10 pounds, or feel impatient at your progress if you have a lot of weight to lose, this refined view of the situation may be just what you need to not just let go of body weight or fat, but also toxic beliefs about yourself and the importance of these things in the grander context of your life.

Notice that I've said nothing about what food you actually eat. ;-)

New Year Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1c hemp (or almond) milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1 Tbsp ground flax seeds or 1 squirt Flax oil
• 1c kale
• 1c spinach
• 1/4c flat parsley
• 1/4c pea sprouts (optional)
• 1/4c blackberries (or raspberries)

Instructions:

• Combine ingredients in a blender, preferably in the order listed above.
• Drink up and enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Leek Soup

• Olive oil
• 1/2 butternut squash (cut lengthwise)
• 1 leek
• 3 scallions
• 2 cloves fresh garlic or 1 Tbsp chopped garlic from a jar
• The tops from one fennel bulb
• 2 c water
• Salt and peppa

To soften:

• Roast the squash in the oven until really soft. Cool until you can scoop the innards into a bowl.
• Roughly chop the garlic (if fresh), leek, the scallions, and the fennel tops. Then heat a medium-sized pan or wok over medium heat, adding a few Tbsps of olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the garlic, scallions, leek, and fennel. Sauté until they soften.

To soupify:

• Place the quash innards and the sauté mixture into a pot. Add the water, salt and pepper.
• Cook on medium-high heat for 30-45 minutes, or until everything is squishy.
• Place near soup mixture into a blender (I love my Vitamix!). Run it through until the soup reaches your desired consistency. (I did mine by moving slow through variable speeds 1-10 and then quickly back down.)
• Ladle into a bowl and ENJOY!

My 24-hour Tech Detox

On the 6th day of my Yoga Journal Fall Detox (a Saturday), the only obligation I had was to teach a 30-minute yoga class at Breathe Wellness' open house. Fortunately I realized this early in the morning (before 8 am). With other plans cancelled, I decided that starting right then, I was going to try a true technology detox--meaning the iPhone, iPad, and laptop would stay completely OFF until 8 am the following morning (which is when I'm writing this).

I journaled pretty extensively throughout the day, and thought I would share some things that happened to me in case anyone who has a gadget addiction might want to try it.

Here are some highlights from the first half of my day:

• What am I going to do? My first instinct is to make a list of all the things I could do that are "non-tech" (e.g. read a book). I realize (again) how much I fill my life with "to do" items I can cross off. I have a hard time just being.
• Does [insert thing here] "count"? No TV? Really? (I haven't honestly watched TV in months, so what do I care?) What if so-and-so needs to contact me? Will they worry? Several times I really want to check my phone, all in the name of sparing someone else.
• How will I know where to go? If I want to go for a walk, I can't look up a pretty place! What about the weather?? Oh no! Why can't I just look outside and go walk, wherever?
• OMG, the emotions -- several times when I am just still, all I want to do is cry. Then my mind starts worrying at things I am concerned about, and it's clear this is a distraction from feeling the need to cry. I talk back at myself in my journal.
• And the judgments -- "How would I ever do a 10-day silent vipassana meditation retreat? I can't sit still for longer than 3 minutes!" (I notice as I'm trying to sit down while eating my kitchari.) "Why is this little kitchen table so important to me? I should be able to let it go." Sigh.

Then 3:30 pm hits, and something clicks. I feel happy that I decided to do this. (The fact that I had a chair massage with Kristen and a polarity therapy session with Allison at the open house after teaching probably didn't hurt. During the polarity therapy session in particular, I felt my right hip and my heart ache, feel held, and open up, and Allison told me I had "beautiful energy".)

My afternoon was totally different than the morning. So much less of a struggle, and much  more intrinsic listening to my body and my inner wisdom:

• On my long drive home I make many somewhat random stops, doing little chores (but not feeling obligated to do anything). I even stop at a little bookshop, Bearly Read Books, and putter around for awhile. When I get home I slowly and mindfully make another batch of kitchari, and astound myself by my lack of restraint over a yummy papaya. 
• I feel tired, so I lay on my massage table, music playing, water fountain going, scented candle lit, bolstered and covered with blanket and eye pillow. No alarm. I stay awake but in a beautifully relaxed state. (Hours later I wonder whether the CD player "counted", but I hadn't thought of it at the time and it was such a positive experience I decide to let that slide. :-) ) More thoughts of "what counts".
• Later I do a facial mask for the heck of it. As I wipe off the white gunk with a damp washcloth, slowly, I look at myself in the mirror and finally think I'm a beautiful woman. I notice how much I've been hunching over again lately--a self-protection mechanism. I stand up straighter.
• While chopping carrots for more kitchari I realize why I can't stay focused and quiet. Childhood stuff: can't let my guard down. Something terrible could be happening when it's quiet. Ah...and then in my relationships too. Of course. I struggle a bit, wanting to eat some unapproved foods.
• I make a list of things to do tomorrow (today) after my "techdox" is over. I look at the list and don't want to come out of it. I start to think more carefully about how to do it. I also think more carefully about how to reintroduce foods and exercise, something I didn't do that first time of the YJ Detox two years ago.
• I have a fantastic restorative yoga session. I read a lot before bed, getting fully immersed in my book. 

This morning, as the time got near for me to "power up", I felt anxiousness in my body. My breathing got shallow, my chest felt tight. So folks, this is it for now. I need to ease back in.

Totally made up swordfish dish

Over the years, my relationship with cooking has progressed from:

• "I hate cooking, I'll only bake things if I can make them from mix in a box" to 
• "OK, I can follow the recipe EXACTLY and have things mostly come out" to
• "What the heck, I'll try making up some healthy stuff with whatever I happen to have on hand."

What a metamorphosis, let me tell you!
Those of you who've liked A Journey Into Health on Facebook have no doubt seen this, but for those of you who stay light on Facebook or just haven't found your way to my page there yet, I thought I'd share this one. Definitely my most creative one so far.

• Get some quality swordfish. (I put it in a 9x11 baking pan, but any baking pan would probably do.)
• Dress the fish in extra virgin olive oil (I don't measure anymore, just swish it back and forth a few times--and yes I know how uncomfortable not having a precise measure can be, so maybe 2-3 Tbsp.)
• Sprinkle some ras el hanout (or some of its component spices) over the fish and rub it in until it's coated. (I got mine at Sofra Bakery, where they sell lots of such spices.)
• Based on what I had left from my CSA share, I chopped up some tomatoes and a tomatillo, and some garlic, which I placed around the fish. (It was at this point that I felt like a real "cook", although I had honestly no clue whether it would come out good or not!)
• Then I sprinkled the whole thing with sesame seeds, salt and pepper, some parsley, and a little more olive oil (on the veggies).
• Baked at 350 degrees, until the fish split nicely with a knife. (Sorry I don't recall how long that was!)

Meanwhile, I cooked up some brown rice in veggie broth, and then plated the fish on top!

This recipe needs a name besides "totally made up swordfish dish", but it was too good not to share. I'll accept any ideas!

Yum!

Another Green Smoothie Recipe

I was recently asked by a few folks for the (latest) green smoothie recipe I'm enjoying, so I thought I'd share it more publicly. I believe this one originally came from Yoga Journal:

(Ingredients are in the best order I've found for putting them into the Vitamix.)

• 1c water
• 1 apple, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1c kale
• 1c some other leafy green, like chard, spinach, dandelion greens
• 1/4c parsley
• 1/4c frozen or fresh fruit such as blueberries, cherries, raspberries

Blend it up and drink.

Depending on what you put in, sometimes the smoothie will be greener or browner. The brown doesn't look all that great, but it usually tastes fine.

Remember to use ingredients YOU like, or else you won't like the smoothie! For example, if you hate apples, try a pear instead. If you don't like parsley, omit it and put more of some other green that's a similar texture. For example, I don't usually put celery in my smoothies, because I don't like it and it flavors the whole thing. This really is a base, and yours to play with, so don't be scared to experiment. And if you come up with some new concoction you like, please share it!

Here's a link to some other recipes I posted in the past:
http://ajourneyintohealth.blogspot.com/2012/05/green-smoothie-recipes.html

Enjoy!

Day 7 of My Spring Cleanse--the Slowest Loser

My night was filled with even more wacky dreams. But when these happen now, I remember that it's just me "detoxing". I distinctly remember having a snake chasing me, and feeling afraid. My pals over at dreammoods.com tell me that:

If you are afraid of the snake, then it signifies your fears of sex, intimacy or commitment. The snake may also refer to a person around you who is callous, ruthless, and can't be trusted. As a positive symbol, snakes represent healing, transformation, knowledge and wisdom. It is indicative of self-renewal and positive change.

Of course my acupuncturist says its the Kundalini rising.

I was worried slightly about the Ayuvedic workshop I was supposed to teach, not because of doing it but because I've heard nothing from the studio owner yet. Luckily it's not too far, so if I show up and it's off, it won't be a big deal.

Weigh in is 113.6. Great direction. Not fast enough! The cleanse stated more like 10 lbs in 7 days. That's 2.4 for me folks. And I'm not even having the fruit two nights a week as "dessert" which you can have. Though I admit to having 5 strawberries before bed last night because I was hungry. And I'm still working out.  I skipped my bath the night before because I ran out of time in the day, and I had someone coming to look at it today so hopefully I'll have a better experience when the tub actually holds water. I'm was also supposed to do a sushi dinner this night. I wasn't worried about that -- I was worried about temptation to get an alcoholic beverage!

At the gym I decided that yes, I'm doing this for at least another 7 days. Why? A bunch of reasons:

• I remember it takes my body about 3 weeks to react to things like this. So, one isn't enough time.
• I like the routine, and the food. I don't have to think about it so much, which is nice given my busy schedule.
• I am noticing some changes in my body that I'm liking, and looking good for a trip to Austin in a few weeks, where the weather will likely be lovely and I'll want to fit into more of my clothes, is something that's motivating.
• I am losing weight, and I do feel better. My skin has improved (except for matching pimples at my temples as of late--coincidence of where the toxins are trying to escape? LOL).
• Honestly, I like the excuse of "being on a cleanse" for avoiding things, even if it's just me fighting with myself. "Ooh, Starbucks." "Nope, cleanse!" "Oh right, OK!"
• Some of the rings that haven't been fitting me do now. I had started feeling puffy a few months ago, and thought it coincided with new medication I was taking, but I think now it was more the caffeine and alcohol I got myself back to drinking. This cleanse is targeted at removing toxins and inflammation, so in that sense, perhaps it's working.

I tried a different smoothie recipe in the morning, this one with silken tofu and soy milk instead of rice protein powder. I can't say I like it as much, though it was pink from all the strawberries I put in! However, it wasn't a fair comparison. I skipped the tablespoon of nut butter since I had 10 almonds before going to the gym. Figured I had been nutty enough.

At 10:30 I had decided to treat myself to a massage, from a guy my neighbor knows. I had no idea what to expect, but that hour was AMAZING and I am totally doing it again. I can't speak highly enough of Jeff Neer. 

The workshop turned out to be great. 5 people--one engineer and a medical doctor! It was interesting for me to get challenging questions and to hear what they (and the others) had to say. They told me I looked like I was "glowing" (from the cleanse). My hip felt like it stayed in place since my session with Jeff too. I really felt physically balanced. I left feeling so good emotionally too. What an amazing day!

After that I was turned onto an easy solution for my leaky tub drain. Yay! A quick run to Home Depot also allowed me to get some keys copied, which was on my list of things to do. The worker who ended up copying them for me was hysterical. He had me laughing the whole time we interacted.

Then I was off for my sushi dinner at Basho in Boston. Ooops, it was game night, but only after circling for a bit parking was located at the Landmark. I ended up splitting a Mowa Kowa unfiltered sake (hey, it's organic) and got a decent amount of food. Then I split a chocolate lava cake / ice cream. Oh well.

Oh, but then my favorite bartender made me a crazy mixed drink at home, and I downed 2 1/2 glasses. No bath, minus 1 broth, plus a ton of alcohol and a moderate amount of chocolate. But, it WAS flourless. Oh well! I guess the cleanse is officially over.

Day 6 of My Spring Cleanse - Can't Believe I've Made it This Far!

I woke up nicely at 5 am, did my routine...planned that night's yoga class, did TurboFire abs. One thing that always bothers me about ab workouts is that I can't do the roll ups. There's just something about the way I'm built (or some still, unaddressed muscle weakness) that prevents me from doing that, and it's frustrating. I need to ask my new chiropractor/massage guy about fixing that. It would be a real accomplishment. But I digress.... I also got a survey out about my web site to help me redesign it better, and posted another day of this blog. Yay for productivity! And I wasn't tired. I had a full day at work but hoped to relax and watch the Samsara movie in the evening as my reward.

My lunch didn't feel particularly fulfilling--but I think that's because I like having the protein at lunch rather than at dinner, which is what I had been doing the last few days. This day I went back to the rice/veggies-only lunch. And I had my morning broth snack with lunch because I hadn't been hungry for it earlier (and had no time to get it, to be honest).

At 2 pm I headed for a gym break and I didn't last very long--I started having hypoglycemic symptoms, no! Shaky, dizzy. I haven't felt those in a LONG time. I came back and slammed down a protein shake and seriously considered downing my dinner at 3 pm. I only got halfway through my elliptical workout I think, something like 260 calories when normally it's 400.

I did end up eating dinner early, then teaching a private yoga session that totally energized me when I was feeling kind of tired. A trip to Whole Foods for more broth and veggies afterwards. I thought to myself, "I hate the chicken, I just do". I can't eat chicken. It's SO blah to me. Forever it's been that way, no matter what I do to it. So fish it is for next week, yay! I can eat fish every day and not get tired of it. Between that and loving heat and humidity I really think I was born in the wrong climate or had some interesting previous life history.

I was wiped when I got home but started working on some stuff anyway instead of watching the movie. It was partly because I also realized I'd not have enough time before bed to fit it in. Got to bed at 10 pm but couldn't get warm, so I futzed around until I had enough layers on.