Dinner Out: Why is it always so difficult?

Now, I'm not talking about the actual company last night, that was great! Fun conversation, great friends and super comfortable setting, it doesn't get much better. But what I am talking about, is the menu! It's a struggle to make eating healthy easy, so here are my thoughts:
I ask about the salmon first off (usually a good choice on the menu right), waitress says oh the local fish market, well folks, I live in South Carolina and we do not have local salmon. So, she comes back from the back and says farm raised. Well, not eating that and here's why. Then I look at the salads and think about the pesticides, but I finally cave in. Salad and crab cakes, with some french fries on the side. Yep, busted, I have a super weakness for french fries. Not the skinny ones from McDonalds but the big fat ones restaurants make. Only now I know that potatoes have one of the highest pesticide rates but, alas, there are some things in life one can not spend all their time worrying over!

Cooking for One

Cooking for one just plain stinks! The food prep part can be ok, especially when paired with a nice glass of red wine, but it's really the cleaning up after part that gets me every time. That's when you realize that you are really alone. My husband is back now and thank goodness because, I never realized how much effort it takes to cook meat. Vegetarianism here I come!
So, in an effort to minimize my time spent alone in the kitchen, but not sacrifice nutrition at the same time, I've come up with a one dish wonder that will last all week! I call it, the ultimate vegan bowl.
Start with a base of quinoa (I use 1 cup)
Add black beans, chick peas and any other beans you have handy (In an effort to avoid cans I cook a giant pot of dried beans, then freeze them in can size containers for future use.)
Saute mushrooms, onions, garlic, kale, swiss chard, zucchini, or any other veggie that you like. Spice it up with a little balsamic, soy and olive oil.
Lastly, add in fresh carrots, avocado or any other raw veggie that sounds appealing. This time I left the asparagus raw and it was great!
Presto! A giant bowl of healthy goodness that last all week. Eat it cold for one meal and hot for another.
For more easy veggie recipe ideas click here.

Sit ups = Back pain

I'm convinced or rather the research has convinced me, that sit ups are the one of the worst things you can do for your spine. It's repetitive forward bending, and it squishes the disc out the back and stretches out the posterior longitudinal ligaments, bad. But what will it take to convince society, research is obviously not enough? What will it take to convince trainers? Because as long as they are continuing to encourage their clients to do forward bending abdominal exercises the cycle will continue.

Train safe: Quick guide to correct core training. 

Safe Core Training Exercise

So, that's my mission, to get the world to stop doing sit ups! Then maybe I will get one less patients suffering from back pain.

23.5 hours

Finding balance in being healthy and having fun is my primary goal. Understanding that something is better than nothing. If you do not have time for a full workout, just going for a walk can do great things for your health!

Dr. Mike Evans put together an awesome presentation called 23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?. It's genius! A simple, easy to follow, fun presentation on why exercising for 30min everyday is something we have to do. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out now.

Garden Discovery

In my new quest to being healthy, I've learned things that I wish I hadn't learned and others that make me glad I did. I get a little more behind the idea of buy local and buy organic, for reasons I will touch on at some point. These reasons drove me to wanting a garden, well, my love of the outdoors also drove me to wanting a garden. So, the adventure begins...
Confession: I have a seed buying addiction. I love to buy seeds, all those different varieties just shout out plant me and I can't help myself. This morning I purchased sunberry seeds, which I will attempt to plant in containers on the patio. (Not much space left in the garden.) Evidently sunberries are a variety created by Luther Burbank in the 1900's, but some people think they are just a variety of the huckleberry. These plants are poisonous when eaten raw, so let's hope I can tell the difference.
Here is my attempt at gardening last year. We are in the process of doubling the garden size so stay tuned for the results...

Yoga?

Hi world! Over Christmas this year a family member suggested that in order get people to my website, I needed to be more personal. Well, I'm the type person to never mix business with pleasure.... so here goes nothing. A blog about my personal discovery of health and life's little frustrations along the way. As a business owner of a wellness company, you would think being healthy would not be that hard. But what is healthy anyway? Do I have to be a super yoga vegan that only wears really tight workout clothes? I sure hope not because I hate yoga, oh don't get me wrong, I like the "idea" of yoga but I just get bored, can't stick with it and I'm never as flexible as half the people in the class which frustrates me. Plus, I'd rather put on some crazy music like Linkin Park or Offspring and not some soothing version of a forest spring. So, no, I don't think I'm going to end up being a super vegan yoga person that goes around exuding calm spirits all the time, no... I doubt that.

My Yoga