Recipe Of The Day ... Carrot Ginger Soup With Chicken

I'm not sure why the pic won't face the right way...Damn blogspot~!~

This is an easy recipe that tastes great and is really good for you.

INGREDIENTS:
10 large carrots cut into thirds
6 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
1 2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and chopped
1 14oz can coconut milk
enough water to cover everything
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in a crock pot or in a pot on the stove .. make sure there is enough liquid to just cover everything.
Cook until the carrots are soft then turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.
Pour it all into a blender and process it until smooth..don't fill your blender cup more than 3/4 full or it will spill out and burn you!

At this point it's ready to eat...
This is a good soup base , but a bit bland. Add whatever you want.. chicken, beef, turkey more spices etc
I added shredded chicken from a rotissere chicken I bought at the grocery, some fresh chives from the garden, a splash of apple cider vinegar and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

I figure I got at least 2 servings of veggies from a small bowl, but you could get alot more if you add more veggies to the base .

Enjoy!!

Back Again

It's been about 4 months since my last post.  I can't believe it's been so long....

The last few months have been a little crazy, but I am getting back to normal.

Ten weeks ago I was in the hospital with a bad case of pneumonia.  Doctors told me I was going to die.....  bunch of quacks...what do they know!
Obviously I am very much alive and I have to admit I am thriving.
My weight dropped by almost 50 pounds during my illness, but after 2 months on the moms house diet I am back to 185 and needing a diet to get back into shape.

Thanks to my illness I was forced to move back home with my mom to recover and rebuild my life.  The doctors told me I would not be able to work for at least 3 months, but I was ready after just a few weeks.


I always say that life will give you what you ask for so be careful how you word it.  I had wanted to move back to Texas for a long time and I wanted to have a garden so I could grow most of my own food.  I did not expect it to happen because I almost died..... but I am alive and able to enjoy it...that's what really matters.

I have turned a good portion on my moms backyard into a garden and I am loving the feeling it gives me to watch my food grow day to day.  I could do without the 110 degree temperatures...  I have quite a few things growing in the garden...watermelon, catalope, honeydew, salad greens, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, sunflowers, crenshaw melons, brussel sprouts, radishes, pumpkins, eggplant, and squash...so far.
I have been working on doubling the size of the garden with the lasagna gardening method  (not as cool as it sounds)... Hopefully the heat will break soon and we will get some rain.  My fall garden should be even bigger.  It's great that we can grow for about 9 months out of the year here.

I will have to share more photos of the gardens as they progress.

I have also started eating better and exercising more.  For several months I have been eating everything in sight and lounging on the sofa more than I care to admit.  Now that I am working again my clients have been asking what I eat and how much I workout to stay in shape..  To maintain my current round shape I eat as much crap as I can and sit or lay around for hours on end.  That's not so much fun anymore so starting tomorrow I will be eating a healthy diet and exercising daily...and sharing it all with you...whoever you are.  In the coming weeks I will also be filming new youtube fitness videos to share.

Weight Loss Made Easy?

Weight loss is easy...right?
All you have to do is eat less and move more.
How much easier can it be?!?!?

Well, unfortunatley  it's not quite that simple.  Life gets in the way.  We can't exercise as much as we would like, we eat things we know we should not, we don't get enough sleep... I could list excuses all day long.
The truth is weight loss happens when we decide we are dedicated to making it happen and we make time to do all of the right things.  It's not really that hard when we commit to doing it.

I can't tell you how many clients I have had who have come to me to lose weight and see no weight loss after months of working out.  Sure they get stronger and more confident, but their weight stays the same or changes very little.  They are the ones who refuse to make any changes in the way they eat.  They are the ones who expect to lose a ton of weight just by adding a few hours a week of exercise.  The reality is, if you are eating crap and working out to balance it out you are going to have to spend a few hours a day exercising to make up for your bad dietary habits.

If you really want to lose weight you are going to have to commit to long term changes in your diet to see a real difference.  Eat more fruits and vegetable (preferably in their natural raw state), lower the amount of fat you consume and eliminate or drastically cut back on junk food.  See it's easy!

There is no magic bullet, so stop looking.
Eat right, get enough rest, exercise regularly and the weight will come off!

Eating After Dark

I hear alot of people lately talking about how they stop eating at a certain time of day to be "healthier" and I wonder where they are getting this information.  I know Oprah talked about that a few years ago, but I believe she stopped eating 2 hours before bed time...whenever that was.  This makes sense to me because it will help you sleep better, but I don't think it has alot to do with health unless you are eating nothing but junk after dark.
 
I was at a friends house for dinner the other night and one of the people at the table was not eating.  Someone pointed out that he did not eat after 8pm and everyone at the table (except me) starting going on and on about how healthy that was.  Apparently I was the only one at the table who noticed he was pounding away the rum and cokes.  I counted four drinks in the first hour he was there alone.  I am the first to admit I am no expert, but I am pretty sure eating a balanced meal would have been much healthier than drinking a bottle of coke and a bottle of rum.

The lesson here is use a little common sense when it comes to your health.  Eat when you are hungry, eat healthy clean foods and don't fool yourself into thinking things like alcohol are healthy even in moderation.  I'm not saying you have to stop drinking ( you should, but I won't get into that now), I am saying if you are going to do it at least have the self respect to acknowledge that you are doing harm to your body and definately don't try to tell me you are being healthy by getting wasted and not eating because if you do I will be forced to out you to the world ... at least the section of the world that reads this blog...

Clean Eating Challenge

So I have been noticing a few of my friends on facebook posting about how they are doing the clean eating challenge and eating clean for the month of January.  That sounds great and I am happy they are making an effort to eat better, BUT..they are still eating crap!  One of my friends has been posting pics of her dinner every night and I am shocked that she actually thinks she is eating well.  Every night it is some mixture of dairy, some overly processed soy product like bacon bits, an overly processed "low fat" bread product and some assorted greens.

Last time I checked any sort of processed food was still junk.  Just because it says organic or low fat does not mean its healthy.  If you want to eat clean then go for organic whole foods like fruits and vegetables.  You can eat all you want and it's healthy.

Today I had 6 grapefruits, 5 bananas, a cup of fresh cherries, 8 oranges, 10 dates, 2 apples, a bell pepper and some pineapple.  I can't imagine being any cleaner than that!

I can't wait to see what kind of changes in health and weight my clean eating friends are going to have after 30 days.  I have lost 30 pounds in the last 60 days eating mainly fruit... I have had a few cheat days.. and I feel great.  I wonder if any of the clean eaters will have those kinds of results.