Continuing the Quest for Good Health

I am continuing to try to be healthy and loose weight.  I feel like I am slowly regaining my body back to myself and I am starting to feel better about moving about and doing things.  I have heard a lot about different things to try to help people be healthy.  I actually enjoy researching and sorting out the information on all the different methods and products out there.  For me, health is the most important and I realize that health is not exactly equated to being skinny.  In fact, recent research has also revealed that people who are active and healthy with just a little more fat on them, tend to live longer than their lower body fat comparable.   I am not willing to sacrifice years of my life or the quality of my life just to be skinny. Green smoothies and juicing are one of the newest trends in health right now.  I have not had a blender, so I did a lot of research in both juicing and blenders.  There were a lot of pros and cons to both and I think in an ideal world, a person would do both juicing and blending, but, not me right now.  I eventually chose to buy the yellow Kitchen Aid blender I had my eyes on before.  (I have the matching mixer in my wedding registry!)  It came in the mail last Friday and I stocked up on groceries based on some 5 star recommendations I found on allrecipes. I chose the blender over a juicer for two main reasons: 1- blending uses the entire fruit or vegetable while juicing does not and 2- ease of cleaning.  The blender is SO easy to clean, it is fantastic.  You just rinse with water.  If soap is required, add water and soap, turn on blender for a few seconds, and rinse.  So easy.

So, as for the smoothies I have been making, I have tried to balance between green, fruit, yogurt, and peanut butter based smoothies.  I am beginning a weight training regimen and I'm supposed to get 100 grams of protein a day, so it is important to incorporate protein into my smoothies when possible. I have to admit, I was really nervous for my first green smoothie.  I wanted to like it, but, who would like ground up spinach, kale, or Swiss chard in their drink?  I thought I would trust the 4-5 star recipes first and found that so far they have all been great!  The fruit hides the greens flavor really well.  If you tasted the spinach, or greens, in your smoothie before you should try some of the recipes I have.  They are on my pinterest page. http://pinterest.com/menkeer/smoothies-i-like/  Also, make sure they are fresh.

As for health concerns, I did find one article cautioning against green smoothies.  This one talked about high levels of oxalates in greens and that too many greens can lead to oxalate stones in the body.  You can read this article at:

 http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-green-smoothies-can-devastate-your-health/ 

but unless you are downing 20 shakes a day, I don't think the average person should be concerned.  I don't use a ton of greens in my shakes.  It is very comparable to what I would eat in a salad or less.  I also try to have only one type of each shake a day if I am having more than one.  What I do like about the shakes from a health stand point is how it helps you eat a wide variety of fruits and veggies that I probably wouldn't eat too often together.  I eat a lot of fruits and veggies already, but this just tops it off.  I haven't read actual research, but I understand that the blending process can actually help you digest more of the vitamins and minerals from the plants better as well since you are breaking them up in the blender first.

Here's a picture of one of my green concoctions.  I think this was the cinnamon apple one.  Let me know if you want to try smoothies too and can't get my Pinterest recipe links! (Notice the soap in the blender - easy clean up and fun to watch!)

San Diego and Birthday

This year Anthony and I were able to make it down to San Diego for a weekend!  We wanted to stay longer, but bought the tickets when they were cheaper in late winter when we didn't know Anthony's summer school/work schedule yet.  It worked out though and we still had a nice weekend.

Day 1:  On Friday we flew down to L.A. and rented a car.  By the time we got on the road we were in Friday rush hour, so it took three hours to get to San Diego.  We had a little time before Anthony's brother got off work, so we went for a short walk on Mission Beach before heading to Miramar to pick up Nick.  Then we headed up into the hills above San Diego to Nick's ranch.

Day 2:  On Saturday Nick showed us around the hills and ranch.  For the afternoon we headed down to the San Diego Zoo.  We were able to get around and see most of the animals.  In the evening we found a beach to watch the sunset, but it was already pretty well down when we go there.  It was still nice though because I love beaches anytime!

Day 3:  Sunday was my birthday and we spent the day at Mission Beach.  We walked the beach, went on the pier where we saw people fishing and surfing, went to an on the beach restaurant/bar, and had some time to play in the ocean.  Then we headed back to LA since we had an early morning flight home.  It just so happened the Melinda planned a Disneyland trip that overlapped with our trip so I was able to meet up with Mom, Melinda, and Katey in Downtown Disneyland.  It was a fun way to end the day.  I can't remember how long ago it was that Melinda and I were together around our birthdays.  The only downside was being at Disneyland and not staying!

Day 4:  We were at our hotel with the SUPER nice bed for less than 6 hours because of our early morning flight.  The only problem is that we ended up with a 6 hour delay!!!!  We could have slept in.  It was not fun and this photo represents what everyone waiting for our plane looked like 5 hours into the wait.  I took it without Anthony knowing so it is a true representation!

When we got back from our trip Anthony "went to get eggs" and came back with a birthday card, flowers, and fresh fruit.  A good end to a good birthday weekend!