Anyone that knows me knows I love two things above most everything else: pickles and plants. Since I “magically” got two banana pepper plants this year (thanks for the mis-labelling, Lowes!) and have an excess of them, I decided I’m going back to pickling peppers for some awesome Italian salads this fall. Super easy, super quick, and keeps them from going to waste.
Recipe for 1 jar of pepper pickles:
10 banana peppers (Note: I added some leftover cherry peppers I had in the fridge)
2 large garlic cloves
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar of choice
2 TBSP salt
2 handful of fresh dill, torn
Boil the water and vinegar. Slice peppers and place in jar. Once liquid boils, toss in minced garlic and salt. Cool 5 minutes and pour over peppers. Add seasonings and stir, then allow to cool on counter. Once cool, screw lid on tightly and put in the refrigerator. Boom. Done.
Feel free to mix it up when it comes to the vinegar type and seasonings. I’ve added everything from red pepper flakes for spicy to Mirin and rice wine vinegar for an Asian twist! This also works well with cucumbers, green beans, asparagus, etc.
Here we go again! #whole30 #januarywhole30 #whole30journey #health #wellness #fitness #paleo #lifestylereboot #fitfam https://www.instagram.com/p/BsFDk66lSyE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=11l7hwgd9tzpy
As with many things in life, balance is just as important when it comes to fitness routines.
While the norm may be that we don’t exercise enough, there is mounting evidence that too much exercise can be just as problematic and undo any benefits of exercising in the first place. For instance, running at high speeds three or more days per week for durations of at least four hours, you have the same risk of dying as someone who never exercises.
If you exercise excessively, you set yourself up for significant harm: - Strain in your ligaments, tendons, joints, and bones resulting in injuries.
- Loss of lean muscle mass over time, especially in those that neglect nutrition in favor of exercise.
- Weakened heart due to over exertion that could lead to heart failure. - Weakened immune system due to exhaustion, which in turn could lead to more frequent infections and illnesses.
- Women who exercise excessively are at risk for a condition called amenorrhea, which is the cessation of menstruation. If left untreated, amenorrhea can lead to loss of bone density.
- Interruption of sleep cycle due to adrenaline constantly pumping through your system, making it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep.
- Higher risk of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, or orthorexia, which alter your ability to consume sufficient nutrients.
- Development of mental conditions that make you more irritable, moody, depressed, or prone to low self-esteem.
Knowing the effects of too much exercise on your body both mentally and physically can help keep you in a positive state of mind when it comes to planning and implementing your fitness regimen. Setting realistic goals about why you want to exercise can also be beneficial.
Make yourself physically active for the right reasons, such as improving your overall health. Don’t make exercise the only means to slimming down your body or increasing your muscle size. Once you set your goals, you can assess the best strategy for implementing your fitness routine.
For most of us, a half an hour of exercise each day is more than enough to allow you to reap the benefits, keep you in good health, and prevent sicknesses such as high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity, to name a few. If you start to feel tired or overworked with your exercise schedule, don’t push yourself. If you feel too much strain in your muscles, stop. If you become weak or lightheaded, stop.
The saying “no pain, no gain” should not be applied to exercise. Ignoring the signs your body is sending can be detrimental, so slow down when you need to. Allowing your body to have some rest and recovery time is just as important as the act of exercising itself.
Back to Basics: Natural Movement as a Part of a Healthy Lifestyle
If you’re interested in living a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle, it’s likely that you already see the benefits of developing your strength and how regular exercise can enrich your life. However, it’s also likely that you haven’t put any thought into developing your strength and fortifying your training by introducing a variety of practical, natural movement patterns into your exercise regimen.
In its purest form, natural movement is about getting in touch with and utilizing your body’s organic movements. In other words, natural movement workouts help us re-learn and refine the movements our bodies are essentially designed to perform, such as lifting, running, walking, carrying, climbing, balancing, and the list goes on. The comforts and conveniences of modern living have made many of these movements unimportant or even obsolete. Today’s workout routines and athletics are very specialized and exaggerate the development of a few specific abilities that represent only a small fraction of our broad range of natural abilities. The widespread occurrence of injuries due to either under use from no movement or overuse due to repeating the same specialized movements are predictable when looked at from this perspective.
A regular practice of natural movements can bring your strength and overall health to another level, and chances are, you’re already incorporating some natural movement in your regular training. Multi-dimensional movements are becoming more widely used for training purposes as of late, so it’s likely you’re already familiar with movements such as a Turkish Get Up.
However, people of every fitness level should be incorporating a few simple natural movements into their routines, like these four basics: Crawling is a whole body movement that requires coordination. Movement on all fours has many practical applications, such as getting under low objects like tables, avoiding danger if you need to duck and get out low and quick, or maintaining balance by lowering your center of gravity on an unstable surface.
Balancing is another rarely practiced skill that is very practical. Balancing is all about being in control of your body position and not falling. You’re balancing when you’re just standing, when you’re lying down, and especially when you’re walking on a ledge or stairs.
Rolling is not only fun and playful; it has a practical application as well. It can be used to lessen impact when jumping or falling, and requires coordination that helps deter you from getting dizzy when balancing on anything high or narrow.
Incorporating an element of play into your life is also important. If you aren’t enjoying yourself and having fun, you won’t continue training with natural movement. Go outside and play tag with your kids or friends. Play helps reduce stress, encourages movement, and in turn helps keep you feeling refreshed.
Make sure to do what you enjoy when it comes to your fitness routine, and keep it varied between your typical regimen and natural movements to build strength and ensure you don’t get bored or stagnant in your workouts.
There’s something so peaceful about those twilight hours right before the sun makes its entrance or exit for the day. Instead of wasting those magical moments sleeping in or lost in reality tv, I try to make more of an effort to enjoy life and connect with the world and with myself. Coffee and catching up with the news in the morning always gets me ready to start my day, especially if I’ve gotten my blood pumping with a quick wake-up workout and my coffee ritual. I tend to be more alert and aware of my surroundings throughout the day if I stick to a morning routine.
Equally important is a nightly routine to wind down for the day. It’s harder in the summer months because of the extra hours of daylight, but I try to fit in a walk after dinner, do whatever needs done around the house, work on a creative project, and then have the tv off around 8pm. I like to turn on some nighttime essential oils in the bedroom, read, drink chamomile tea, or take a warm bath until I feel myself relaxing enough to get tired. Then it’s teeth, skin, check the doors, turn out the lights, and into bed to talk with C and maybe watch an old Johnny Carson before sleep. When my anxiety acts up, these routines become paramount to keeping a steady mental state – especially taking advantage of workout/walk endorphins.
2. Step Goal and/or workout
Workouts are important, but even more essential is getting in some easy, natural movement throughout the day. For those of us that are tied to a desk for hours, it’s essential to get up and move often, whether to take a lap around the floor before using the restroom or filling up water, or taking advantage of a standing desk to get the blood flow moving again. Ergonomic experts suggest, at the very least, standing up and stretching at least once an hour to avoid fatigue and stiff muscles.
Whether your exercise before, during, or after work, a quick workout can also help alleviate some of the tension and stress that can build up over the course of the day. Yoga in the morning, a quick jog at lunch, or weight lifting or taking a walk after leaving the office are just a few ideas of how to keep both your mind and body active.
3. Get outside
Getting some natural light and air can help immensely to get rid of those ho-hum hum-drums that come with a stagnant office space. Grab a friend and do lunch outside, or take a walk to the window and do a round of square breathing to refocus and energize. One of my favorite things to do is to take a walk around my neighborhood at night with C, look at the old houses, and talk about our day and upcoming plans or projects
4. More produce, less junk
It’s a well-known fact that processed foods are high in gross things and low in nutrients, and engineered to make us over-consume. By eating more plant-based, natural foods, we put fewer chemicals and artificial ingredients into our bodies, making it easier to digest and utilize food energy to function. Whether fresh, frozen, or dried, adding more fruits and vegetables to your meals will provide more nutrients, variety, and color to your dishes. Toss frozen fruit into your smoothies, veggies into your soups and sauces, or scramble some greens into your eggs in the morning to pump up your produce intake.
5. Reduce chemicals and waste
Cutting back or eliminating the chemicals used to clean your home can have a beneficial effect on your immune system, resulting in fewer illnesses, allergies, and chronic conditions. Conventional products are often chemical-laden, expensive, and can be toxic to both your family and the environment. By choosing “green,” natural products, you can improve your health and help to prevent future illnesses as well as decreasing the amount of money you spend on household products, since natural cleaning products last longer and cost less over time.
6. Declutter
Ridding your life of clutter can help you feel more focused, relaxed, and productive. We’re constantly bombarded with advertisements and media telling us that more stuff equals more happiness, success, or health, but in reality, clutter reflects a chaotic and messy mind and can seriously impact our feelings of achievement and self-worth. Minimizing clutter in your home or at your desk can help rid you of the feeling that your work is never done and allows your brain a getaway to concentrate and focus on the task at hand rather than all of the things you need to get done.
7. Live in the moment
Plans tend to fall through – friends get ill, stores are closed, traffic is bad, whatever. It’s just a part of life, and getting upset or aggravated because you had your heart set on a certain plan doesn’t do anyone any good. When you allow yourself to be present in the here and now, you gain a new perspective on live consisting of positivity, appreciation, and admiration. Not focusing on what needs to get done and how you’ll achieve it allows you to be more open-minded and able to handle change without worry. Life is short and we don’t know how many moments we’ll get to live, so making the most of each one is important.
With the constant advent of new technologies, the amount of jobs that require sitting at a computer for eight or more hours per day is increasing exponentially. While it may seem that sitting all day would make life easier, the human body was designed for movement and sitting for long periods of time can have adverse effects on our flexibility and mobility. Months of working at a desk can cause joint pain and muscle stiffness that makes it more difficult to move and will begin to alter your posture. As a result, many office workers deal with not only the obvious neck and back pain, but also insomnia and poor circulation.
The majority of office employees claim to feel stress at their job and feel they need help with stress management to prevent their jobs from impacting their health or personal relationships. While yoga can’t completely eliminate stress, it is the perfect way to combat the pressures on your body from sitting all day, as well as giving you the tools for dealing with the stresses associated with your job. Yoga has been shown to reduce stress and tension while improving the ability to focus and concentrate during the day. It also helps tone muscles and aids posture and flexibility. Many companies have begun to encourage their employees to practice yoga as more of the benefits have become widely known.
Here are five ways yoga can benefit those of us with desk jobs:
1. Consistent yoga practice has been shown to reduce stress and tension. Regular participants in yoga practice claim to feel more relaxed and balanced after each session, and notice long-term health benefits after several weeks of continued practice.
2. The enhanced self-awareness of regular yoga practice enables you to focus more effectively, and thus improves concentration at work. Attention to your breathing and spatial awareness of your body helps you clear out mental clutter and makes you feel more alert.
3. While working up a sweat during normal workouts helps to detoxify the body to some extent, the majority of toxins in our bodies come from the food we eat, absorbed through digestion. The stretching, twisting, and compression that are part of yoga posing help to stimulate circulation and regulate digestion. Further, as you become more in tune with your body through yoga practice, you naturally adopt a more mindful approach to eating and make healthier food selections.
4. Yoga helps to trigger feelings of happiness and well-being, which gives you a more positive overall outlook. More and more, we hear about the benefits of the mind-body connection achieved during yoga. This connection is touted as one of the best and most natural ways to elevate mood and deal with stress, allowing us to alter the way we see and interact with the world.
5. Unlike some other forms of stress relief or even fitness activities, yoga is accessible to everyone. It can be adapted to benefit body types of all shapes and sizes, or for various ailments associated with illness or aging. It’s easily accessible through a variety of videos online or local classes, and all you need to get started are a mat and comfortable clothes.
A is for Apple. Or Antioxidants. Or Accountability. Or Alpaca.
Or, if you’re like me and countless others in the world, A is for Anxiety.
So many things can trigger anxiety that make absolutely no sense to anyone else but you. The door doesn’t open easily, or there’s an important meeting today you have to do a ton of prep for, or a plant is still in shock a week after transplanting it. Sometimes just getting out of bed or leaving the house is the most monumental task that we face in weeks or even months.
It's an uphill battle that I’ve “officially” been combating for 9 years. But what is it? And how can we minimize the effects of anxiety and other similar afflictions? Let me Bill Nye you for a sec:
To explain it in its most simple form, anxiety disorders are a fear or worry that doesn’t go away and can get worse over time. It influences daily interactions to the extent that simple activities can cause stress or trauma.
One of the most effective ways to combat anxiety and depression is to focus on food and feelings, and take steps to ensure a positive mental state. Over the past few years, I’ve learned some dos and don’ts when it comes to mixing food with things that tend to trigger my anxiety:
As much as I LOVE coffee, it can often worsen anxious feelings. By its very nature, coffee is a stimulant that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. Not to mention how it messes with sleep, which is essential for brain health. Instead of loading up on cup after cup of that morning Joe, try turning to tea for that cozy morning routine. Green tea or herbal teas like chamomile, lemon ginger, peppermint, etc. can be a great, calming substitute if you’re craving a warming drink.
Another suggestion for calming those nerves is to pump up the tryptophan. Ever wonder why the whole family takes a snooze after that giant Thanksgiving turkey. That’s tryptophan. Well, sort of. Tryptophan is also an amino acid that helps regulate mood and sleep, which is what knocks you out during your Thanksgiving food coma.
Salmon and other Omega-3 rich foods can also be very effective when it comes to reducing anxiety. These fatty foods help support cognitive development and reduce inflammation, reducing the adrenaline and cortisol levels that make us anxious.
One of the best nutrients for combating anxiety is Vitamin C – found in citrus fruits and blueberries, especially. Vitamin C helps reduce blood pressure and cortisol in your system, which again, helps keep stress at bay.
But overall, the best food I’ve found for reducing anxiety is dark, leafy greens. Not only does a big salad or veggie stir fry make me feel healthy because of the inherent “healthy” vibe, but greens are packed with magnesium, which helps reduce inflammation, increase energy levels, and regulate adrenaline – all of which boosts happy hormones and brings anxiety to a minimum.
Bottom line: Good nutrition not only plays a role in physical health, but in mental well-being as well.
Living a healthy lifestyle isn’t necessarily expensive, but it can be tricky if you’re strapped for cash regularly or simply on a tight budget around the holidays. Having to tighten your wallet doesn’t mean you need to throw your healthy habits out the window, though. Here are some tips and tricks to save money and save your health.
1. Planning your meals before heading to the grocery store is essential to saving money. Scan your weekly ads and coupons to see where you get the best value, and plan your meals around what is in season and on sale. After you have your meals planned out, check your cupboards and fridge to see what you already have on hand before making your list. Only purchase what you are certain you are going to use, so that you don’t end up throwing away a lot of what you buy, and be sure to stick to your list so you don’t buy unnecessary items.
2. Cooking at home is always much cheaper than eating out, so making it a habit can save some serious dough. Typically, you can feed a family of four for the same price as buying a meal for one or two people at a restaurant. Cooking for yourself also has the added benefit of controlling exactly what ingredients go into your food, which is especially helpful when trying to eat clean, unprocessed foods or avoid certain ingredients.
3. Preparing large portions of food can save you both money and time, as leftovers can be used for lunches, as ingredients in other recipes, or frozen in smaller portions to be eaten later on. Stews, stir-fries, salads, and burritos are all great to use up leftovers or any other ingredients you have on hand that you need to use up before expiration dates.
4. Going to the grocery store when you’re hungry can cause you to stray from your grocery list or buy items just because they sound good at the moment. Hunger often causes us to want foods that aren’t necessarily good for us or for our budget, so snacking on fruit or a handful of nuts before going to the store can help you curb cravings and stick to your grocery list.
5. Whole, unprocessed foods can be much cheaper than their processed alternatives. For example, buying a block of cheese is more cost effective than buying the pre-shredded kind, and it yields more servings per package. Buying larger quantities of foods you eat often can also yield more savings as you’re buying one large package rather than multiple small ones.
6. Eliminating junk food from your diet is both budget- and figure-friendly. Soda, crackers, cookies, and prepackaged meals offer very little nutrition, are packed with unhealthy ingredients, and are usually very expensive. Skipping the processed and unhealthy foods allow you to spend your budget on higher quality, more healthful foods.
All in all, you don’t have to break the bank to eat well and incorporate whole foods in to your healthy lifestyle. By simply being mindful of what foods we’re purchasing and planning ahead, we can avoid costly wasting of food and even more costly medical complications that come with poor health.
Let’s be real. We all live in a world that can be incredibly chaotic and stressful, making it difficult to find tranquility and balance in our daily lives. One of the best options to deal with the hustle and bustle of the outside world is to create a peaceful haven within your home – a space of comfort to realign your mindset after a long day.
One of the easiest ways to achieve a relaxing home atmosphere is to choose colors and décor that you enjoy and make you feel at ease. When you allow your space to reflect your personality, it helps you feel like you belong in the space and that it’s your “personal sanctuary.” While natural, earth-toned colors seem more “Zen-like,” it’s important to tune into your own feelings and comforts and create a safe space that’s neither too bleak nor too bold for your needs.
Another way to bring tranquility into your home is to add earthy elements to your space, like Himalayan salt lamps or living green plants (I’ve done both of these and hooolllyyy cow does it make a difference!) By incorporating natural elements, you allow yourself to embrace the world around you and fulfill an intrinsic human need.
Himalayan salt lamps are basically just large pieces of salt from this region that contain a small bulb inside and give off a warm, alluring glow much like a campfire. Many claim that they emit negative ions (like thunderstorms, sunlight, waterfalls, or ocean waves) that can be incredibly soothing. These ions are said to increase oxygen to the brain, which results in higher alertness and more positive mental energy.
Plants also increase the oxygen flow into our bodies and provide a soothing effect with their cool, green texture. However, it’s important to avoid plants with overpowering scents or plants that require excessive maintenance, so you don’t disrupt your senses or routine and cause excess stress.
Lighting can also play a pivotal role in how you interpret your emotions, so it’s essential to mimic natural lighting as much as possible. Eminating sunlight and natural airflow during the daytime can eliminate feelings of toxicity and stagnancy, while soft evening light can help you avoid sleeplessness (often associated with the blue light of modern devices and emotional imbalance of bright, overhead lights of office jobs.)
The MOST important step to creating your perfect home haven is to regularly take a few moments to appreciate what it is that makes you feel at peace, and continue taking steps to spread that feeling throughout your space. It’s way too easy to become overwhelmed in the face of all the tasks and huge to-do lists we see everyday, but taking even a few minutes to tidy up the kitchen or fold the laundry can make a world of difference in relaxing your mind and body and helping you to face the new day with enthusiasm.
Have you ever wondered why there is an extra shoelace hole at the top of your shoe? Many running and hiking shoes have the extra hole and most people don’t ever use it. Instead, they skip threading the lace through the last top hole and tie them as usual. After watching this video you will n
#MINDBLOWN Wellll that’s going to come in handy like....everyday. You’re welcome.
Another glorious lunch salad. #TraderJoes power greens, shredded chicken, pepitas, and @marzetti Simply Dressed lite veggie ranch. #healthyeats #fitfam #fitnessfood
Happy happy salad! Arugula, plum tomatoes, pepitas, Parmesan, and @marzetti simply dressed lite red wine Italian dressing. Doin that work thing then hitting up #Zumba on the way home! 👯😎 #fitfam #fitnessfood #healthyeats #eatclean #getfit #fitness #saladlove
