Clean Eating

On my journey to taking care of myself, I dedicated a large portion of my time to reading more about how to live a healthy lifestyle.  This led me to understand more than I ever have about food.  I started learning about how terrible processed foods are for your body, and I have actually realized how horrible they make me feel.  Also, my lack of exercise had been contributing to some intense mood swings and a general feeling of being "down".  So... here are the things that I have learned and that I am trying to following and incorporate into my eating habits:

·         Eat 5-6 small meals every day (breakfast is the most important)

·         Eat every 3 hours

·         Always combine a lean protein with a complex carb at each meal

·         Drink. More. Water.

·         Plan & prep your meals; not planning = failed meals

·         Always avoid over-processed, refined foods

·         Avoid sugar-saturated juice, alcohol, and especially sodas

·         Depend on more fresh fruits and veggies for your nutrition:)

·         Portion control!

You obviously can’t eat 6 meals a day unless they are “smaller” than the huge, standard American three meals a day looks like. SO. This means smaller, more controlled meals every 3 hours that include a lean protein with a complex carb.

Lean Protein? –http://www.livestrong.com/article/276808-examples-of-lean-protein-foods/

Complex Carb? –http://www.livestrong.com/article/27398-list-complex-carbohydrates-foods/

Plan & Prep

Plan your meals for the week.  This helps when you have JUST gone grocery shopping and can prepare (prep) for the week.  Always, always wash and cut all your fruits and veggies right when you get home from grocery shopping and bake anything you need to (like amazing, healthy sweet (or purple) potatoes that should be a huge staple in your diet).  This helps you to not have to prepare each small meal during a busy work week.

Portion Control

5-6 small meals a day.  YES, eat more often! This is basically how our bodies ‘should’ be telling us how to eat... but society and a huge lack of portion control has made us all unaware of how terrible we are treating our bodies!  Here is the correct portion sizes you should be eating at each meal:

Yea… society def. isn’t following this… but should be!

Healthy Staples

Always try to get your food closest to it’s natural state as possible.  This means less processing and less loss of nutrients. Try to avoid white flours, sugars, etc.

• honey (my #1 go-to sweetener)
• agave nectar (found near peanut butter or in baking aisle)
• 100% pure maple syrup (not “pancake syrup”)
• truvia/stevia packets (natural sweeteners found in baking aisle)
• stevia drops (found in health food stores)
• brown rice
• quinoa
• chia seeds
• flax
• oats (quick or old fashioned)
• coconut oil (instead of butter or canola/vegetable/olive oils)
• almond milk
• bananas
• greek yogurt
• egg whites (usually use a whole egg and then extra egg whites to bump up protein in recipes)

Helpful Sites

http://www.picklee.com/2012/08/01/recipe-substitutions/

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/our-free-meal-plans/

http://www.heandsheeatclean.com/2012/07/weekly-food-prep.html

http://www.heandsheeatclean.com/p/the-lifestyle.html

Examples of food prep

• hard boiled eggs
• sautéed zucchini and squash (I add tons of herbs to mine)
• steamed broccoli/grilled asparagus (or any veggies)
• baked sweet potatoes (super good for you!)
• a crock pot recipe/casserole recipe that will last you a while 
• whole coconut for the antioxidant water and grated flesh for recipes
• chicken breasts (plain or in a recipe)
• greek yogurt and frozen fruit in baggies for quick smoothies (add in fresh baby spinach leaves, honey, ground flax seeds/chia seeds, and almond milk)
• brown rice/quinoa/whole grain pasta
• baked spaghetti squash, ground turkey, and red sauce (for a super healthy spaghetti meal)
• cut up all of your fruits and veggies to snack on throughout the week

Me and my husband usually prep every two weeks (since we are on a budget and just have to make it last a while right now) and make a trip to the grocery store in between for fresh produce.

Typical day of eating in my life

Breakfast- Oats with whole milk, honey, 1/2 banana, chia seeds, and flax; OJ; coffee with homemade creamer

Mid-morning snack- greek yogurt, mandarin orange, green tea

Lunch- lean protein and complex carb. For example-- sweet potato, chicken, and zucchini. Or maybe just PB&J and hard boiled egg... and water every day at lunch.

Afternoon snack- whole wheat muffin and a banana

Post-workout—protein shake and maybe another muffin (sometimes I usually just eat dinner if we are going directly home from gym)

Dinner- Turkey meatloaf, asparagus, zucchini, and milk.

Dessert- greek yogurt, cottage cheese, almond/peanut butter, & granola on top (maybe.. I usually don’t want a meal after dinner unless we had a really tiring gym day) **note—do not eat this if you are not working out regularly.  This is high calorie and high fat, which I need because I sometimes have trouble eating enough throughout the day.

And that’s my day! I don’t eat perfectly each day and I know my downfall is not planning/prepping enough so I am working on that! I know planning a week’s worth of meals seems like a lot but if you just have a couple hours one day a week or so to do it, it’ll save time in the long run. But if not... just try planning one or two days at a time!

This way of eating has definitely made a difference in my energy and how I feel in general. A book that has helped me tremendously is The Eating Clean Diet (it says diet and fat loss, but it has good tips in general for just a healthy lifestyle): http://www.amazon.com/The-Eat-Clean-Diet-Recharged-Lasting/dp/1552100677/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360605805&sr=8-1&keywords=eat+clean

Also-- I can’t stress enough how imperative exercise is. Exercise strengthens your immune system and positively effects your emotional responses to everyday life.  Strength training is specifically important because it boosts your metabolism and continues to burn energy while you are resting (while your body is repairing itself, building muscle).  Don’t leave this part of healthy living out of your lifestyle!

I hope this information helps! For more recipes and tips, visit my Meal Plan board on Pinterest for inspiration: http://pinterest.com/stephotis/food-tips-meal-plans/
My Instagram feed also has a lot of my recipes I've personally made too: http://instagram.com/stephanieotis/

Take Captive Every Thought

 

Thoughts.  They can encourage us or tear us down.  They give life and death to our situations.  Thoughts are the fuel to the actions we make and can direct our lives in either a positive or negative way. 

Thought, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary: the action or process of thinking... a serious consideration... reasoning POWER... a developed INTENTION or PLAN... the intellectual product or the organized VIEWS and PRINCIPLES of a period, place, group, or individual.  Seems to me that thoughts are pretty important in our lives and weigh heavily on our actions.

Numerous studies have shown that thoughts have a direct impact on our attitude, understanding, and our dealings with other people.  This is why it is so important to make sure we are aware of our thoughts and what we let run through our minds.  It’s the very reason that Paul heads to the church of Corinth to demolish LIES and false things that they might be led to believe.  Paul tells us to imprison our thoughts and to make them obedient to Christ, the light and TRUTH of the world.  So you choose—whether to believe lies or to believe the truth that sets us free.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. –2 Corinthians 10:5

To “take captive” implies that we make our thoughts prisoners.  They are not free to just roam our minds uncontrolled.  They are kept within the bounds of the truth of Christ... they need to be controlled and directed by His truth.

I found an awesome little list based off of Philippians 4:8 that can help us do so. It has helped me a lot recently to re-align my thoughts with God’s Word and to regain the peace and confidence that I need to make it through the day.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. –Philippians 4:8

1.       What is true? (What is true about you and your situation?)

2.       What is noble? (How can you handle this situation in a noble way?)

3.       What is right? (Is there a righteous response to this fear?)

4.       What is pure? (How can you respond in a way to keep your heart devoted to God?)

5.       What is lovely? (How can this fear be worked for good?)

6.       What is admirable? (Who has overcome a similar fear: how did they do it?)

7.       What is excellent and praiseworthy? (How can you respond in a way that keeps you from sin and brings praise and glory to God?)

“God often uses pain as a means of drawing our attention off ourselves and on to Him. It is a beautiful process for us to see this pain as a means of helping us refocus our attention on our Savior, who is our provider and source of strength... this is all a part of the sanctifying process. Jesus promises the peace that surpasses all understanding. This does not mean a perfect, pain-free [life], but rather the calmness to embrace God as your strength.” -Passionate Homemaking

And you know what God promises to those who fix their thoughts on Him? Perfect peace. That is what I want for me and for you; peace is what I yearn for.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. --Isaiah 26:3

Cloudy Days

Today started out like my work days usually do—woke up way too late, threw my hair up in a bun, off to work in the dark. I am not a morning person whatsoever, yet this morning in particular I felt more energized than usual. Going to the gym and eating clean has helped me feel so good. I originally was going to write a blog post on the fact that I feel so much better, my moods have improved, etc... and then something happened.  Not sure what time it was, but my day just went all downhill.  I don’t know why I felt down or sad or annoyed, but I just did.  I just wanted to go home and sleep the day away.  This is not normal for me, at least not lately.  It’s so discouraging to feel this way, especially when I have been feeling so good lately.

I guess it’s just one of those days—one where it feels like everything is just hitting you in the face and no one else in the world understands. One of those days where it seems like a dark cloud is surrounding you and won’t leave you alone.  Maybe it’s just my attitude, or maybe it’s just the fact that I feel like my life isn’t really moving into a new direction as fast as I had hoped it would.

Maybe God is trying to teach me something in my pain and in my waiting. I hope so.  I know He has bigger plans for my life than I have for myself.  I know that what I am going through right now is only preparing me for something in my life that I cannot yet see.

Life sometimes can be hard; it can be full of disappointments and days that never end; full of heartache and frustrations.  This is when I just have to trust and know that the God of the universe has everything under control even when I feel like giving up on everything and everyone.

I just keep holding onto this truth: God will never leave me nor forsake me.  This is the truth that I am grasping onto in the midst of my circumstances.  This is the hope that I need during a day like today where I feel like I have nothing else to hold on to.