Monday, August 3, 2015

side tracked

Yeah, I'm still here! Sortof... Since getting married.... no, wait, I can't even say that... I stopped blogging on here long before I got married. Well, not TOO long before. I was blogging about Doug after all. Well, we ended up getting married! (for the maybe one person who didn't know that)... here are two of my favorite pictures from the wedding.. (Doug's sister did the pictures by the way)


Not that this has ANYTHING to do with Health Nuggets... Ok maybe it does, a little. By the way, since I posted about juicing I've lost 30 pounds. I've gone back and forth between 140 and 148 for several months. And I keep wavering. I could use a little motivation. I'm still a beachbody coach, but that group takes so much time and energy that I just don't have right now. I'm trying to get settled into my job and focus on my faith and family... Not necessarily in that order. I think we all know which one should be first...


So lately, I've been listening to a lot of sermons on AudioVerse... It's such an amazing site... You can find sermons on pretty much ANY topic. It's an amazing resource. Anyways, I heard one about health today, and it recommended doing a health class once a month for one night... basically a "Supper Club". And I was thinking that I could really do that! Now that I feel like Doug and I are finally getting settled.. I'm getting used to my job (which is pretty great. I like working days)... we're getting our "house" put together and soon Doug will be here full time. (he's currently going back and forth from here to Helena to work. It's complicated. So my health and weightloss has been on the back-burner... But I'm feeling like starting back into it again. After all, it is so important.

So here's a little health inspiration for all of us.


or an alcohol bottle... or in the pasta aisle... *sigh*

Help me get un-side tracked! Let's help inspire each other!




Monday, August 18, 2014

Juice for Life! -competition update

#rebootwithjoe #juiceforlife

So far, since Doug and I started the competition on July 31st (2014) I've lost 13 pounds!
  • July 31- August 9th: cut calorie intake to 1,200 - limited sugars, caffeine, fake foods. Doing T25 and Piyo daily.
  • August 10th-14th: Days 1-5 of my Reboot with Joe - eating veggies and juicing twice a day; about the same calorie intake. Still doing Piyo.
  • August 14th-TODAY; Just Juice! Today is my 4th day of just drinking juice (but juice I mean fruits and veggies juiced in a juicer). I've got 6 more days to go after today. I'm still doing Piyo and light exercise because exercise is important. But it's also important not to overwork my body and crash my immune system. 
Due to my week of preparation I have not really had any headaches. I've had a few minor ones but drinking water fixed them right up! I haven't even been hungry except when I was supposed to be. It's nice to actually feel what hungry feels like.

Today I'm going to do some more research on juicing and find out how to transition off of just juice. I imagine I can just go backwards. Keep juicing but slowly add cooked veggies and stuff back in.

How do I feel? I feel GREAT! :-) I have more energy than I did when I was eating junk. Sure, I miss eating and I want to eat the fun food that everyone else is eating, but I'm holding strong. Here are just some examples of staying steadfast ...
Green Glory at Buffalo Wild Wings
Green Lemonade at Naps Grill
Both places were really awesome about letting me just drink my juice. I had a nice conversation with our waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings. She's actually done the juicing thing before but said she couldn't get past the taste of kale. I don't really mind kale at all, as you probably already know about me!

?Are you interested in doing a juicing program?

Go to Joe's Reboot with Joe website and read about it. There's a checklist of how to begin on there too. 
You don't have to do 15 days; there are 3 day, 5 day and 10 day programs too!
BE PREPARED! Don't start off with juice. Take a week to cut back your calorie intake, cut out sugars, fake foods and caffeine. You'll be glad you did. You'll lose weight & you'll do better once you start the juice fast.
Use a calorie tracker like myfitnesspal to help  you stay focused.
Get connected with people, get support from friends, connect with Joe's online community and communities on facebook.
Good luck if you start! I'd be happy to help if you have any questions! Find me on Facebook and message me!

!HAPPY JUICING!

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And how is Doug doing? Great! We had a long flight this past weekend. Helena to Laurel and back. His instructor said he's not too far from soloing! After that he'll start doing some flights on his own. He has two flights scheduled this week. He's been studying the books hard too. So proud of him!
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Edith and Baldie area from the plane




Friday, August 8, 2014

Competition Update: Reboot with Joe!

I have decided to do a Reboot Juice Cleanse! It's 15 days total. 5 days of eating and juicing and 10 days of pure juicing. I will start on Sunday August 10th and finish on Sunday August 24th. It's gonna be a long long time! But I'm excited and ready for a challenge.

I've been using the myfitnesspal app to track my calories and it's working! I've lost 6 pounds since I started tracking! I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it. Once I start the Reboot I will no longer be able to eat anything extra though, which will be tough... but you can drink all the juice you want if you're feeling hungry.

What is a Reboot you may ask...

Well, awhile back I watched the documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". I've seen several health documentaries (like Forks Over Knives)... but this one was a personal journey and I found it very inspiring. Joe (with supervision from his doctor) drank only vegetable/fruit juice (not from a bottle at the store, but juiced with a juicer, fresh produce) for 60 days!!! 

Juicing is a pretty cool thing and there are a lot of benefits to juicing.

A Reboot is a scheduled plan of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and also juicing. There are 4 different plans to choose from. 

Joe has a lot more videos on his site

I'm super excited about doing this. I think it's a healthy option and it will help me get rid of bad habits. 

Wish me luck and I will update as I can!

I can use all the support I can get!

PS... Doug went on another flight yesterday! He said it went really well. He could be soloing soon! I'm so proud of him! 



Saturday, August 2, 2014

Competition Day 3 - Flight and a Chia Power Health Nugget!


Day 2 & 3 of my competition and it's off to a great start! I did T25 Cardio and Piyo Sweat for a total of an hour and 5 minutes yesterday. Today I did T25 Total Body Circuit.... It's not gonna be that easy on my heavy work days but that's the challenge isn't it? Whew!!! 

I've started using the free myfitnesspal app to aid in keeping track of my eating... I've done it before and it really works, but keeping track of everything you eat is so annoying and tedious! But oh well. It works so I'm gonna do it... at least for now. (if you don't have a smart phone you can do it online too)....

Today Doug has decided to up the ante and take me for a flight...

 





Well since I have the time, and since this inevitably happens whenever I'm on a health kick, I shall share with you some knowledge... the power of the chia seed...


http://www.nuts.com/cookingbaking/chia-seeds/premium.html - follow link to buy chia

This is what Chia looks like. Tiny tiny little seeds but so gorgeous when you look at them up close.
When you let chia seeds sit in a liquid, they excrete this gel that forms around them, making them excellent for healthy puddings. 

Here are some of the excellent qualities of chia...
Omega 3 (they contain more than salmon)
Protein
Fiber
Antioxidants
Calcium 

Some people claim that eating chia seeds will help you lose weight because you will feel full (because of the expanding nature of this little seed)... however there hasn't been any real proof that eating them makes you feel more full. 

But you should still eat it!!!

Omega 3 fatty acids are EXCELLENT for your brain! Unlike flax seeds, chia seeds can be absorbed by the body. They also slow down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrates into simple sugars.. this means that they help control blood sugar.

here's what they look like after they've been soaking in water.

Here are some chia puddings that I made myself... it's easy!
Choose milk or your favorite non-dairy milk and add a bit of honey (or sugar) and 1-2 tablespoons of chia seed... stir well and then let it sit for a few hours... keep stirring cuz they'll stick together... (you can also add a small dash of vanilla). In the picture on the right I added some raspberry jam for yummy flavor. YUMMY!







Thursday, July 31, 2014

a little healthy competition

Alright folks... it's almost been a YEAR since I started my healthfood blog and what have I done with it? Nothing. That's right. Typical slacker-Ciara is at it again. But today is a different day. Today is the beginning of a CHALLENGE!

My boyfriend Doug and I are challenging each other to see who can reach their goal first.

Let's meet the contestants...

____________________________________________________________

Doug 

Goal: to get his pilot's license. 
___________________________________________________________

Ciara

Goal: to lose 50 pounds.

                        ____________________________________________________________

We are both looking at approximately a 6 month time period but we will adjust if for some reason we need to do so. 

We do not, however, have a prize in mind for the winner. So if you think of a great idea please leave me a comment!

A little more about myself and my goal... I've been a part of TeamBeachBody for about a year now, but I have recently gotten a new coach Alyssa, who I started following on Instagram awhile back. I noticed that she did a lot of the beachbody workouts I was trying (T25 for instance) and I enjoyed her posts about fitness... just recently she became my new coach officially. I'm now a part of her team and there's a great support group on facebook. 

I'm hoping that by documenting mine and Doug's progress I will remain motivated and hopefully I can help others stay motivated as well. This is also another form of accountability. I am now accountable to my boyfriend and my team community. So I've decided to post my before pictures and stats. The quality isn't the best (i'm kindof a stickler about photo quality) but I can't find my regular camera cord and it's more important that I get these pictures up and not worry so much about the quality.

Wish me luck! GO TEAM BOOM!

5' 0" - 170 lbs
hips: 42.5
waist: 41.5
thighs: 24
calves: 15
arms: 13
boobs: 44



LET THE GAMES BEGIN!





Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Quinoa Patties

Quinoa Patties, Spinach & Salad
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. - Genesis 1:29



These passed the test! Simple ingredients, not many spices, but the quinoa is very flavorful in the best way. yum yum!

If you're a meat eater these would make great crab cakes. Or you could add fish (salmon perhaps?) That was suggested by family members who tried it :)

The patties take awhile to cook so be patient with them. Start them early and keep them warm if you're planning on serving them all at the same time. I wilted the spinach and served the patties on top. The salad pictured is iceberg lettuce and nappa cabbage, with snacking cucumbers and tomatoes. Nappa cabbage is very yummy; goes well in salad. It doesn't have a flavor that's too strong.

To cook them just mix all the ingredients together and plop the patties onto a sprayed nonstick pan and let them cook. I got the recipe from my little T25 recipe book that came with my workouts.

Sidenote - - - if you want to buy it shoot me a comment and I'll get you my BeachBody coach's name so she can get credits. She'd love me forever. And yes, I plan on posting about T25 and exercise in a future post. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Super easy recipe. And quinoa is not hard to find. It's usually in the health food section. Bob's Red Mill brand sells it.  But if you have a health food store nearby you can find it there too.





HOORAY for Quinoa!
Personally, I love quinoa. Some people don't feel the same. But I think it's fantastic, and apparently other people do too; The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has officially declared that the year 2013 be recognized as "The International Year of the Quinoa."  - taken from The World's Healthiest Foods website

Did you know?! That quinoa is not actually a grain. It's actually "a member of the same food family that contains spinach, Swiss chard, and beets."

Quinoa apparently does not oxidize as quickly as people might expect; it is higher in heart healthy fats but these fats are not broken down when the grain is cooked. It is also high in fiber.

Unlike most grains, quinoa is able to serve as a complete source of protein because it has two important amino acids which other grains do not. It also seems to help as an inflammatory; at least in animal studies. It would seem that the anti-inflammatory properties are more present when the grain is not soaked before cooking.

 It has more calcium than milk! Just more proof that you don't NEED to drink milk. And neither do your kids.

Ciara's Health Snippet of the day!
If you know me very well at all you may know that I love a good quote. Here's one by Ellen G. White who had much to say about our physical and spiritual health. 

“Never cheat the stomach out of that which health demands, and never abuse it by placing upon it a load which it should not bear. Cultivate self-control. Restrain appetite; keep it under the control of reason.”Counsels on Health, p. 156.

1 Corinthians 9:27 - But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Eating healthy and disciplining ourselves does not always come naturally. Especially when we are bombarded on all sides by the product-pushing media and fast food on every corner. It's NOT easy! I've been there. Sometimes we feel like it requires so much will power! But there is more to it than will power. Highly flavored and fatty foods actually act as drugs with addictive properties. "It changes our mood and it impacts on the chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain in a similar way to alcohol, nicotine and cocaine..." Children especially "develop very strong learned preferences - junk food can become a psychological addiction". (Toxic Childhood by Sue Palmer)

So we really are fighting a battle here. But Galatians 5:16 says "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh". If we ask God to help us grow and learn how to walk by the Spirit, He will follow through with His promise that we will not gratify the desires of flesh.


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Quinoa Patties
Ingredients:

3/4 cup Cooked Quinoa
1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
4 tsp. flaxseed (or chia seeds)
salt; to taste and pepper
1 large egg

Mix ingredients all together. Cook patties on a sprayed nonstick pan for about 2 minutes. (they take awhile to cook. I let mine cook longer to brown them well).

Serve on wilted or raw spinach.




Thank you to World's Healthiest Foods for all my great quinoa information!

They also have a great list of healthy recipes - click here!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Veggie Spring Rolls

Veggie Spring Rolls, yes please! ... and a snippet about fats...


The beauty of spring rolls is that you can change them up and make them different every time. All you have to do is change the insides and the dipping sauce. You can even make them with meat or eggs if you like. It really doesn't matter what you put inside. Just pick what kinds of veggies you like, chop them up, add a little seasonings and put them in the wrappers. 

These are actually quite fun to make and not as hard as they look. The hardest part is the hardest part of making a salad; chopping all the vegetables. After you've mixed everything together you just eat them raw with a dipping sauce of your choosing.

They pair nicely with wild rice or even a salad. I didn't really eat anything else with them as they were enough for me.

You can make them with or without the noodles that most recipes call for. I like the noodles. There are many different kinds you can choose.
Rice Noodles
Asian Vermicelli noodles
Glass Noodles
Soba noodles (made from buckwheat)
You could probably even make them with regular pasta noodles or quinoa noodles.


About rice wraps & filling them:
Here's the thing about rice wraps. It takes a few tries to get it right. Here's the trick; have a hand towel ready, soak one wrap at a time for shorter than the package says. Usually about 5-10 seconds is long enough but you can play with it. 

Soak it in warm water; the texture will slowly disappear, take it out and lay it on your hand towel; pat dry. Lay it on a plate and fill the wrap on one side with about 1 tablespoon of filling and the same amount of noodles. Be careful not to let it stick to itself.

Fold one side of the wrap over the fillings and then take the other two sides, fold them in, and then finish rolling the wrap to completion. The rice wrap will stick to itself and close.

Here's a nice tutorial on how to roll wraps. Their pictures are also much nicer than mine :)


Ciara's Health Snippet of the day!        THE BRAIN & FAT
Here's an interesting fact about trans-fats. God designed our bodies to need fats. In fact, the brain is a fatty organ; it's almost two-thirds fat! Which means that it requires fats in order to function properly. People call it lubrication. The brain must be properly lubricated in order to function properly. Just like a car or any piece of machinery, it needs a certain type of oil. Also just like a machine, if you give it the wrong type of oil it can gum up the system. 

The brain requires essential fatty acids. The human body cannot produce these fatty acids and therefore we must eat them. To me this says that God wants us to eat! He wants us to enjoy foods and even to enjoy certain fats. Here's the interesting part, he created these special fats that we need in vegetable form! Usually when we think of fats we think of animals, cake and oil... but the most important fats come from vegetables. 

Omega 3 is a big deal to the brain. Walnuts have plenty of omega 3, as do chia seeds and hemp hearts. That's why I sprinkled chia seeds in my spring roll filling mixture *winky face* !

So what's this talk about the trans-fats then?

Trans fats are man-made fats. They are the hydrogenated oils. The fats that are found in your twinkies and little debbies and all sorts of other packaged products that you would never even know where there unless you read the packaging. 

So why are they bad? Because they actually INHIBIT brain function. Healthy fats lubricate the brain and help it run properly. They help you concentrate and think. Potato chips actually stop your brain from working the way it should. 

This is an even bigger deal for kids because omega 3 deficiency is linked to distractibility and learning difficulties.

I know this snippet has gone on a long time and I didn't mean for it to, but I just get so excited about sharing this stuff that I can't stop! I just have one more thing to add... omega 6. In the past, back before all this processed boxed food was available people ate a balance of omega 6 and omega 3. This is a healthy balance. Omega 6 fats generally come from animals and dairy products. However nowadays people eat way more omega 6 fats than they do the 3s. Because of this our systems have malfunctioned and we are getting sicker faster and more dramatically. 

Go veggie. At least do your best to eat less meat. The more you try the easier it gets. I haven't even given up meat completely. But I don't eat it often. And make SURE you eat some walnuts regularly. And look into chia seeds and hemp hearts and other forms of that all important OMEGA 3!!!    










I googled veggie spring rolls and found this website; Two Peas and their Pod. They have a nice typical spring roll recipe. They also have a nice recipe for peanut sauce that they claim is delicious. I didn't try it but I'm sure it's wonderful. It doesn't look too hard either. You can choose to make your own or you can buy some pre-made sauces in the oriental section or anywhere else. As you can see from the picture we chose an Indian curry sauce which was very good. And this particular brand was very healthy; with no additives or extra garbage that so often comes in pre-made canned items.


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Veggie Spring Rolls
Things you'll need for this insides:

1/2 sweet potato or 2 carrots; sliced into matchsticks or grated
cilantro or basil - add as much as you prefer (chopped up)
Spinach or romain lettuce about 1.5 cups - chopped
1 green or red pepper - sliced into matchsticks 
1 cucumber - sliced

Rice wraps of some kind 
Asian rice vermicelli noodles - or any type of noodley item. 

Cook the noodles separately. 
Add the mixed veggie insides together 
Soak the ride wraps per box instructions (see above for details)
Wrap everything up in the wrap and set aside (also see above for details)

Serve with a dip. Enjoy!

Go ahead. Eat another one. They're healthy & guilt free!