Divine HealthIn pursuit of healthy living.

I bet you’ve said those words to yourself at least once in your lifetime. Or maybe something like “I’m really ugly” or “I feel frumpy today”. I think most women are familiar with these self defeating phrases we constantly repeat in our heads. Why are we so hard on ourselves? Is it because we are constantly bombarded with images of models and actresses that are a size zero at most?  I have to give props to companies like Dove for trying to change that. But I really think the change should begin at home. We have to start getting real with ourselves and put some belief in the power of positive thinking. I’m sure you have all heard of “The Secret” and while I agree with its ideals I’m not saying that’s what you need to do. You know, think you will lose weight and suddenly you will. No, I don’t think that will work. What I mean is you have to stop the negative thoughts and replace them with more loving thoughts. We work hard and do our best to take care of our families, friends, homes and before we know it we don’t have any time for ourselves. This is the reality for most women today. Here’s the good news though, you deserve a pat on the back! Maybe you don’t have time to chop veggies for a healthy lunch but I bet that’s because you are taking care of a child, making a difference in the world or otherwise doing more than should have ever been expected of you. Give yourself a break. Maybe you aren’t a size 0 or even a size 10 for that matter but you are still a good person. Let’s make a pact and agree to drop all of the fad diets? No, actually, let’s drop ALL diets! Okay? Instead, let’s focus on healthy living and doing good things for our bodies. Maybe it will work better to start small. It can be as simple as replacing that afternoon soda with a green tea. The tea has antioxidants and other nutrients that are good for you but still enough caffeine to give you a little boost. I’m sure you know that soda actually depletes nutrients in your body. If you want to include your family maybe you can start with dinner. Replace white pasta, bread, rice, etc. with whole wheat or multi grain. It might taste a little funny at first but trust me; eventually you will love it and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. Let’s stop worrying about how much we weigh and focus on our accomplishments. If you replace a few bad foods with healthy nutritious foods give yourself a high five! Celebrate the small successes, forget the setbacks and keep moving forward. Negative energy feeds bad moods, stress and a life that is less than you deserve.

I’m going focus this blog on healthy living. I plan on posting about food, work, relationships, exercise and lots of other topics that will help us live healthier lives together.

Please share how you talk yourself out of negative thoughts in the comments.

My favorite vegan cookbook author and blogger, Happy Herbivore promotes cooking without salt or fat. When I was on the 30 day whole food challenge we had a few chats about using water to sauté ingredients. I thought she was crazy and couldn’t believe it would actually work, let alone taste good. I was delighted to find out she was right! There’s a reason she’s the cookbook author, not me. If you ever want to chat with her just like her facebook fan page or follow her on twitter, she’ll post when she is going into the chat room. It’s always a lot of fun!

Here is my favorite recipe sautéing with water. I’m not big on measuring so all quantities may be adjusted and it will turn out great, I promise!

Triple bean and lentil chili

2 medium tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce plus 1 can or about 2 cups water

1 can each kidney, pinto and great northern white beans

1/3 cup each red and green lentils

1/3 cup each red, green and yellow bell peppers, chopped

½ cup white or yellow onion, chopped

1 jalapeno

5 garlic cloves

Chili powder, cayenne, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put enough water in a large sauté or frying pan to cover about ¼” and bring it up to a simmer. Add the bell peppers, onion and jalapeno, sauté for about 5 minutes or until almost tender. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute more. Add all of the ingredients to a crock pot or slow cooker and cook on low for about 8 hours or high for 4 hours. You can add chopped green onion to the top if desired.  

This chili isn’t as heavy as a meat based chili and would actually be good in summer or winter.

Have you ever sautéed in water? Are you as skeptical as I was? Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer was an informative book. Rather than review it I am going to give you excerpts and one quote from the book that I found to be very powerful.

“I’m not radical. In almost every way, I’m a middle-of-the-road person. I don’t have any piercings. No weird haircut. I don’t do drugs. Politically, I’m liberal on some issues and conservative on others. But see, factory farming is a middle-of-the-road issue – something most reasonable people would agree on if they had access to the truth.” … “If I misuse a corporation’s logo, I could potentially be put in jail; if a corporation abuses a billion birds, the law will protect not the birds, but the corporation’s right to do what it wants. That is what it looks like when you deny animals rights. It’s crazy that the idea of animal rights seems crazy to anyone. We live in a world in which it’s conventional to treat an animal like a hunk of wood and extreme to treat an animal like an animal.” Animal activist “C” in her own words.

From 1935 to 1995, the average weight of “broilers” increased by 65%, while their time-to-market dropped 60% and their feed requirements dropped 57%. To gain a sense of the radicalness of this change, imagine human children growing to be three hundred pounds in ten years, while eating only granola bars and Flintstones vitamins. These birds genetics have been altered in a way that has removed their ability to pro-create and they would be so ill that they need a constant flow of antibiotics to stay alive. Not a single turkey you can buy in a supermarket could walk normally, much less jump or fly. They can’t even have sex. Not the antibiotic free, or organic, or free-range, or anything. They all have the same foolish genetics, and their bodies won’t allow for it anymore. What the industry figured out – and this was a real revolution – is that you don’t need healthy animals to make a profit. Sick animals are more profitable. The animals have paid the price for our desire to have everything available at all times for very little money. If consumers don’t want to pay the farmer to do it right, they shouldn’t eat meat. It’s possible you can’t afford to care, but it’s certain you can’t afford not to care.

Pathogen-infested, feces-splattered chicken can technically be fresh, cage-free, and free-range, and sold in the supermarket legally (the feces does not have to rinsed off first). You’ve seen those commercials with the silly chickens that are plumped with “salt water” right? Well, the truth of the matter is that current laws allow companies chicken to include up to 11% of water soaked up during processing. The problem is the water itself. You see, those who know what’s in that water call it “fecal soup”. That means your chicken is 11% fecal soup.

According to a story published in Consumer Reports, 83% of all chicken meat (including organic and antibiotic-free brands) is infected with either campylobacter or salmonella at the time of purchase. Not too surprising when you consider 11% of the chicken was soaked in feces infected water.

The Union of Concerned Scientists calculated that 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics are given to chickens, pigs and other farmed animals every year. That only accounts for medicine given before they get sick.

If you are intrigued, disgusted, interested or otherwise just want to learn more pick up a copy of the book. I found it to be very informative. If you’ve already read the book please let me know what you thought in the comments.

I’ve wanted to do a sprint triathlon for a few years. I finally signed up for one about three months ago and began training. I did a trial swim in they bay a few weeks before the race and realized that my swimming wasn’t up to par for the sprint. I downgraded to the super sprint but I was still nervous! I knew I could do the bike and run pretty easily, I was actually ready for the sprint distances. The swim scared me though. I didn’t want to be kicked and hit while trying to breathe and not drink too much nasty bay water. I would say on a scale of 1-10 my confidence was at about 2 going into the swim. Here’s my recap of the race day.
5:20AM ½ cup coffee down and a quick freshening up have made the nerves kick in.
5:30AM Get into the pre-loaded car thankful that Erik is driving. I started feeling nauseous half way there.
5:45AM Arrive. More nervous than I’ve ever been in my whole life! Cheerleading competitions and power lifting meets were minor compared to this.
6:00AM Start setting up my tiny transition area next to my bike. Scope out what everyone else is doing. Feeling good and starting to relax a bit.
6:15AM Walk around with Erik to check out the race “track”.
6:55AM Standing in line to use the porta potty (ew). My plan was to get into my wetsuit after a quick potty break and then watch the first few waves start.
7:00AM Erik calls me from near the transition area to tell me it is closing and they won’t let anyone back in. WHAT? I thought they said it would close to people without a bib number, not completely close. Uh oh!
7:03AM The security guy won’t let me in but he can’t tell me when he would be able to either. I realize it won’t re-open again because it is now “live” with people making transitions. I notice a guy with a bike walking up…security gets distracted and we both rush through!
7:10AM Wetsuit on! Phew! Grabbed everything I needed for the swim and left the area without getting in anyone’s way. Started warming up but still freezing cold. Lesson: wear socks to the dock and leave them with Erik right before the swim. Ahhh-ha!
7:55AM T minus 10 minutes! I gave Erik a big hug and kiss and went down to the water line.
8:00AM In the water, mostly dog paddling trying to get warm. Convincing myself I can do this and shocked that it’s finally about to begin.
8:05AM GO!!!! My competitive spirit kicked in and I was trying not to let anyone pass me. I started off in the middle of the pack but ended up towards the back. I continually repeated “you can do this” in my head.

I'm somewhere in the middle of the pack.

8:15AM I made it! Walking up the boat ramp and spotting Erik was one of the most memorable moments of my life. I almost cried! I was really proud of myself for finishing the swim in one piece.

Swim. Check.

8:20 to about 9:15 I biked and ran without any problems. I think being on a man’s mountain bike probably made me a little slower. I also think I could have pushed myself harder on the run but overall it went well. Erik was standing near my transition area both times and it felt really wonderful to have his support the whole time. I’m a lucky woman.

Enjoying the bike ride!

9:15AM With the finish line in sight I ran faster than I ever have in my entire life! What an incredible feeling to say I am a triathlete!

Laser focused on that finish line!

After crossing I gave Erik a big hug and the tears started flowing! I’ve never felt that accomplished. I’m not one to easily admit that I’ve done something good, met a goal or made a big accomplishment but this was different. The fact that I have never had a swim lesson, running coach or bike lesson and did this all on my own made me feel pretty darn proud!
I went in with the goal of simply finishing but when I heard I was 11th out of 14 in my age group I was disappointed. But now I have motivation to push harder in training and crush it next time!
I challenge you, my dear blog readers, to go out of your comfort zone and do something you have always wanted to do!

Home made whole peanut butter!

Peanut Butter from Helena P on Vimeo.

Did you know that it is really easy to make your own dairy free milk? Check out my first video blog to see how!

Almond Milk from Helena P on Vimeo.

I used a vita-mix but any high power blender should work. I got a coupon today for a reconditioned vita-mix. If you are interested please let me know in the comments and I will send it to you. Also, note that you can strain the milk through a cheese cloth or coffee filter. The leftover almond mushy goodness can be added to a smoothie or baked goods. Waste not my friends!Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Happy Herbivore

Here’s the lowdown in case you don’t want to read Happy Herbivore’s blog. Starting on May 1^st I will not eat any processed food. If it has more than 1 ingredient it’s probably not going in my body. No added fat, salt or sugars either. I started eliminating processed food a long time ago but boy am I shocked to learn how many things I still cook with and consume that are processed. I think I will learn a lot about food which has been my favorite subject lately so that’s great. The challenge allows for meat and dairy but I won’t be eating any meat (I doubt I’ll ever eat meat again). As of now, eggs and cheese are the only dairy I eat so if don’t miss them too much then maybe I won’t be eating dairy anymore either. We’ll see.

The good news is that I have a vita-mix I can make peanut butter and almond milk in, both using only the raw nuts. As well as lots of other great whole foods that can be mixed up in wonderful ways in that incredible machine.

I am participating in my first sprint triathlon next weekend (5/2/2010) so I may have to cheat a little. My body might not like to be tested with a new diet while pushing it in other physical ways at the same time.

When I think about this challenge I wonder how I’ll deal with eating out and working events. Will I be able to find something to eat? Will I be tempted to cheat in those situations? It will take a lot of discipline but I know I can do this. I am most curious to find out how different I will feel. I wonder if I will loose weight? I will probably do a blog post or two along the way and I will definitely give you a review when it is over. In the mean time, I would love to hear from you. If you have ever done a challenge like this please share your secrets to success.

Cheers to better health!

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Why Earthlust? Because they are great and you can win one! Please check out Cook. Vegan. Lover. for more information!

Happy Friday!

I recently had the honor of doing a guest post for Vegan Beauty Review. You can read it here.

A big heartfelt thanks to Sunny for allowing me to take part in her blog!

Cheers!

Helena

Take a peek at these beautiful photos….

What do you think they have in common? They are all beautifully photographed and look good enough to eat right off your screen, right? They are all recipes made from scratch and photographed by a vegan! Yep, they are all vegan! Check out Vegan Yum Yum for more beautiful photography and yummy recipes! I’ll be cooking up some recipes out of her cookbook soon and I’ll blog the ones I fall in love with, which I am certain will happen.

*In case it isn’t obvious all of the photos above are by Vegan Yum Yum! Now go check out her blog already!