VB6 and Me

Went to the library and checked out a stack of Mark Bittman cookbooks. One of my favorite activities is looking for new recipes to try. I remember being a girl and seeing my mother "read" cookbooks and thinking that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!!! My oh my! How the tables have turned! Now I "read" cookbooks like crazy cakes!! I discovered one of Mark's latest books VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6pm. I'm not vegan although I was a vegetarian for many years before I had children. Now I guess I'm what you call a flexitarian. I eat meat some nights, veggie some nights but over all I just try to make healthy food choices. However, (full confession- wait for it) I've noticed that this winter in dealing with the stresses of life, I have been overindulging in sweets and carbs. That is the catch 22 with enjoying reading new recipes, then you want to cook and eat the results!! I've decided I need to get out of my winter rut and try something new. VB6 is exactly what I need and it makes sense(unless your vegan and then going full on vegan makes more sense). I don't like to deprive myself. I like to eat whatever I want and for the most part tend to stick with healthy choices because I feel better when I do. I am not a believer in diets, I've always thought that working towards a healthy overall lifestyle is a much more sustainable option. That is why I like this book. Being really mindful about your choices all throughout the day (focusing on veggies, fruits, nuts) leaves a little room at the end of the day to maybe indulge in that piece of cake with the kiddos. The book provides meal plans and recipes which are very helpful. If your diet needs a little overhaul, if you need to get out of your winter rut then this is a great place to start. I'm starting today by having oatmeal with bananas and almond milk. I will probably have a spinach smoothie for a mid morning snack and big salad for lunch. Not sure about dinner yet. I will let you know in a few days how its been going. I'm off to get my VB6 started!!

Be Well Friends

No Mud, No Lotus

"You cannot grow lotus flowers on marble. You have to grow them on mud. Without mud you cannot have a lotus flower. Without suffering, you have no ways in order to learn how to be understanding and compassionate. That's why my definition of the Kingdom of God is not a place where suffering is not, where there is no suffering..."
Thich Nhat Hahn
Zen Buddhist Monk


Life is messy and dirty and unfair. Sometimes life can just plain old stink! But when you feel yourself getting stuck in that dirty, stinky stuff of life remember the lotus blossom. It can't possibly grow without that mud. The thicker and deeper the mud the more beautiful the lotus blossoms. We are exactly like the lotus. The more dirt and muck and yucky stuff that life is throwing at us, that is when we can really root down into the mud and know that our own blossoming is about to occur. We can use every moment as a teachable moment. What can I learn about myself from this experience? What can I learn about compassion? For our own health and wellness it's important  not to let that mud pull us down. Let the mud hold you up, support you and allow you to become who you are truly meant to be.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful.

May your heart and mind be open.

May you grow and blossom. 

Be Well Friends

Self-Care/Self-Compassion Sunday

Today has been a day where I needed to focus on moi!! I've had a lovely afternoon of using self-care and self-compassion. What is self-compassion?(Hope you clicked on the link Kristin Neff is amazing.) Well, we know that when we have compassion for others we are using our strengths of kindness, empathy and deep listening. We are not feeling sorry for them, but we are right where they are, in the moment with them. We are a witness to whatever their thoughts, feelings or experiences are. Somehow we seem to be pretty good at doing that for others and then sometimes lousy at doing it for ourselves. Think about how hard we are on ourselves, how we beat ourselves up. We would never do that to a friend, so why do it to ourselves? Can you turn that compassion towards yourself? How can you turn it towards yourself? Here is where self-care comes in. What are some things you can do to take care of yourself. Not your house or your partner or children, but just yourself. Here are a few of the things I've done today.

• Went for a walk
• Took a bubble bath with really nice aromatherapy bubbles
• Read a delightfully lovely mystery (The dad did it! Don't tell anyone!)
• Took a nap in the sunniest spot in my house

I'm also about to head out to a movie with a girlfriend. I've been working party hard lately as we all are. It was important for me to stop and spend the day doing whatever it was that I wanted to do. Today worked out because my kiddos are with their dad. However there have been times where I've paid the teenager down the street to come over just so I could go sit and flip through magazines at Barnes and Nobles for a few hours. Whatever makes you feel good. If you need some suggestions, friends at The Self-Compassion Project have been compiling a great list of things to do to be kind to yourself. I hope you will follow their tremendous blog. What are you going to do to take care of you today????

Be Well Friends

Food Glorious Food

Remember last post when I said we were preparing for 5 snowflakes? Boy was I wrong!!!! We have real snow. Many inches and probably going to get more.

One of my favorite things to do is to not only cook, but look up new recipes. I'm constantly checking out cookbooks from the library and looking for recipes on the internet. I love to try new recipes. Today would be a perfect day to just stay in the kitchen and cook but, due to the bad weather I'm staying with family right now. Just in case my kiddos and I  ran out of power, they invited me to their place where they have a generator and grill. As I'm sitting watching the news(yep, there's snow) I'm wishing I could be up chopping and prepping for a delicious soup or stew. Since I can't do that, I thought it would be a great time to share some of my favorite food blogs!!

• Food Heaven Made Easy This is a great blog designed by a dietician and a nutritionist. Together they are a dynamic duo. Along with their blog they offer a cooking and nutrition web series as well. I'm planning on making their Baked Eggs in an Avocado as a post Valentine's Day breakfast!! I would love to hang out in the kitchen with these fab ladies as they create their amazing plant-based recipes!! Invite me over for dinner please!!!

• Choosing Raw Gena shares what she has learned about eating raw and leading a vegan lifestyle. I am not a raw foodie but I think finding different ways to eat raw (other than salad) is a great way to add to your own nutritional well being. Sometimes people are afraid of trying raw or vegan recipes. It can be intimidating to read a recipe with strange sounding ingredients or expensive kitchen tools. This blog has a  lot of delicious recipes to enjoy and you can pick the ones that work best for what's already in your pantry. I recommend the Raw Brussel Sprout Salad.

• Simply Green Smoothies Love, love, love these girls!! I started their Green Smoothie Challenge on January 1st and it has changed my life. Ok, I know everybody says stuff like that but discovering the benefits of having 1-2 green smoothies a day has really been a great change for me. I have more energy and focus, I stay full longer, and they are easy to make so I can always have one waiting for me in the fridge. I don't really eat snacks. When I eat I like to eat a meal, which means between meals I can get hungry and grumpy. Having a smoothie around 3pm has really made a difference in getting through the last bit of the afternoon. I've also found that I can have one for breakfast along with a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and I'm great until lunch! I know that most smoothie fanatics recommend getting a Vitamix (which I would get if I could afford it) but I use a Ninja blender and it works just fine. 

• Lick the Bowl Good Moderation is the key to a healthy life. I've always felt (well, I learned from Micheal Pollan) that if you are willing to make what it is you want to eat than go ahead! It's much better to make your own cake with good quality ingredients than to buy one from a chain grocery store. Cakes are Monica's life and life is delicious. I have baked a few of her yummy treats. I've never made one that I didn't like. So far the Snickerdoodle Cake is my favorite!!!

Hope you enjoy a sampling of a few of my favorite food blogs. I will continue adding to the list.

Be Well Friends

Get Out Your Glue Sticks!!!

Ahh friends, where I live we are about to see some snow. When I say snow I really mean about 5 snowflakes but those 5 snowflakes will shut everything down. Seeing as how I'lll have some extra time on my hands, it's the perfect time to make a vision board!!! I'm embarking on a new journey(I can't say much about it just yet). I am really excited and scared to death all at the same time. I decided to take a break from all the heavy thinking and processing to create a vision board. What's a vision board, you ask? Well it's a creative way to visualize and bring to fruition a goal that you have. Basically, it's making a collage, just like we did as kids only this time more focused.

My first step was to not only think about my goal but the deeper reasons behind my goal. For instance if your goal is to meditate every day, think about the real reasons behind that goal. Finding peace and relaxation, stress management etc. Then when you begin searching through old magazines, look for pictures, words and  images that fit your idea of what you really want. Once you've got your goal and your magazines, start cutting!  Don't think about it too hard, just cut!!! The next step will be to glue all of your pictures and phrases onto a piece of poster board. You can decide how large or small to make it.  I looked on Pinterest at other people's vision boards. Some were small 8X10 others took up an entire wall. The final step will be to hang it somewhere where you will see it everyday and can remember your end goal. When life gets tricky, as it always does you can look at your board and remember what's most important.

I hope you will join me as we continue to deal with this yucky winter weather. Have some hot chocolate, grab your magazines and glue sticks. Get cozy, get creative!!!!

Be Well Friends

Book Review: Start Where You Are

Full disclosure, I'm a Pema Chodron groupie!! I swear if I met her on the street I would lose my mind. I love her. I want her to adopt me and I would be so happy just to sit at her feet and listen to her all day.
Anywho, last year I was going through a really tough time. I discovered this book and for about 4 months carried it with me everywhere. My copy is tattered and has chocolate stains all over it but when life gets tough I pick it up and remember what's most important.

 Start Where You Are is a wonderful book on how to cultivate compassion for yourself and make each and every life situation we enter into a learning opportunity. This book teaches the Lojong (mind training) slogans from the Buddhist tradition, however they're truly lessons anyone can appreciate. There are 59 Lojong slogans or teaching and the book goes over each one. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Be grateful to everyone- We can learn from anyone and every situation. I've encountered some nasty people this year. Even though those situations have been difficult I've been able to be grateful for each one because they've taught me something about myself and made me stronger. 
• Don't expect applause- I really like this one. I think we get into conflicts with our partners, colleagues, friends because we have a set expectation in our minds of how things should go and when it doesn't happen our way we get upset. Is it really the other person's fault? Probably not. Don't expect applause, just be . Open your heart, open the door to opportunity  and expect the unexpected. 
• When the world is filled with evil,/Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi(enlightenment)- Think all  the messy, unwanted circumstances of life as ways to wake up! What can you learn? How can it make you better, stronger, faster? Well, maybe not faster but you get the point!!

Start Where You Are  is an amazing thought provoking book. Read it slowly as if you were sipping a fine wine. Savor every thought and read it with an open mind and an open heart. See where it takes you!!

Be Well Friends

How Important Is This Change To You?

Change is so hard. As I get closer to my goal of working as a Wellness Coach, I think a lot about the journey I will be traveling on with my clients. Change can be exciting, but more often than not it's pretty scary. In my Wellcoaches training we have talked a lot about helping the client remember their past successes. I like to call them wins! Whether it was that time in college when you were able to stick to a workout routine or right before your wedding when you were successful with losing weight. When was a time you were successful in meeting your goal? Change is so hard for me. I am a creature of routine and habit. I  sit in the same chair to eat dinner every night and however I drive from point A to B the first time will be the route I take every time. I'm facing some big changes right now. I am so excited about the possibilities but also scared to death. But, I try to  take my own coaching suggestions and I look back at a past win. A time when I made a big change. Yes it was scary and yes it was hard but I came out on the other side.

I'm calling today Wisdom Wednesday. If you are on the road to a change of some sort, be inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. No matter what you're facing, no matter how daunting, just take that first step. You just might discover that all along you've had wings and could fly!!!!

Be Well Friends

Welcome to My Journey

Hello friends. It's always a little strange to introduce yourself for the first time. But here goes. I love writing, I love blogging and I love wellness. I thought I would use this platform to document my journey to find peace and fulfillment. My life has gone through some dramatic changes in the last few years. I was married and a stay at home mom. Now, I'm divorced and back in the world of full time employment. It has been a lot to juggle to say the least. I am working towards becoming a certified Wellness Coach. I'm currently receiving training through the Wellcoaches school which has been awesome. I love the coursework and I'm learning so much. I'm also working towards my 200 and eventual 500 hour yoga certification. There is so much that I want to do and learn. I have such a spirit of gratitude for where I am in my life. I have learned so much and come so far. Just a few years ago I truly didn't even think I could take care of myself. Now here I am taking care of myself and my two kiddos (and doing a pretty kick-ass job if you ask). Anyway, that's all for now. Stay tuned and thanks for joining me on my journey to Wellville!!

Be Well