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Eating Doesn’t Have to Be So Complicated: 20 Things NOT Necessary to Being Healthy.
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably read a condensed version of this 20 Things NOT Necessary to Being Healthy post in my feed this past week. The response from you all, was absolutely incredible, so many “amens” and “preaches”, loads of “thank you I’ve been feeling this way too” and “I really needed to hear that”. I received countless private messages and emails and so many of you shared my sentiments with your own community – first of all THANK YOU! I am happy to know that my thoughts resonated and also that I am not alone. It’s so easy to get caught up in it all. I also felt, given the response, this rant deserved a post of it’s own, so it would have the opportunity to live on more permanently and hopefully inspire even more folks, to feel free of this thought process and empowered to shift the focus.
I’ve recently been coming to the realization that the world of health and wellness, at certain times, can feel a bit like a “cool kids club”. With our social feeds abundantly filled with “wellness expert”s touting everything from a detox tea that is the answer to your weight loss woes, to diets that will evidently cure all or oils, powders and mushrooms that will make you better, smarter, prettier, more energized and ageless. It’s hitting a tipping point and it’s all so wildly confusing and overwhelming.
Beyond that, having the opportunity every week here in my own community to feed the most humble of meals to the underserved, to those without homes and those without the means, many times, to get themselves a meal of any kind – my focus has really shifted to making health as accessible and inclusive as possible.
Here’s a Reminder / Insider Pro-tip for You –
NOT a SINGLE ONE of these Things are NECESSARY to Living Well and Being Healthy: -
How I Stay Vital with Vital Proteins
As we head into 2018, I know for so many, setting heath and wellness goals for the start of a New Year is of utmost priority. I often get asked questions about my favorite supplements to recommend, why I take collagen daily and what it does, etc. etc. So today, I am sharing some of my favorite products from Vital Proteins that help me #STAYVITAL and play very important roles in my own health and wellness, along with the health of many of my clients.
With so much of the focus surrounding wellness often being centered on What to Remove from the Diet, I really do love the idea of instead shifting our perspective to What Can I Add? While I always suggest getting your nutrients from whole food sources, at times we simply just cannot consume enough to reach the necessary level with select nutrients. Mindfully including properly-sourced supplemental sources of important and essential nutrients to boost our healthy diets and ensure our bodies are getting what we need, is something I believe can play a very significant role in our continued healing journey, along with maintaining our vitality for many years to come.
Beth’s Top 5 Vital Products from Vital Proteins:
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Boosted Chocolate Tahini Fudge {Gluten-free, Paleo}
Well, I might just have to quit after this. This Boosted Chocolate Tahini Fudge features two of my favorite things together in a marriage so perfect I am not sure any treat can ever compare. At least for this girl. As if it couldn’t get better, this treat features the bonus healing powers of one of my favorite daily supplements.
This fudge is dreamy. It’s rich and decadent, it’s unique and “mmmmm”-inducing. Here’s the thing though, if you don’t like tahini, it may not be for you (though you could likely swap in some almond butter or sunflower seed butter). But if you are a lover of all things tahini, you’re in luck. MAJOR luck. The tahini flavor shines bright and in it’s prominence it’s complimented so perfectly by the decadent, rich super dark chocolate. Don’t skimp here, quality is of key. Better yet, use homemade dark chocolate if you’ve got some. You guys already know how I feel about dark chocolate, a square or two a day of this magical superfood and that’s about all this lady needs to be satisfied. It doesn’t take much. Curious on why dark chocolate is a great option for a daily treat? Read more about the many benefits of dark chocolate.
But here’s the best part, this is so much more than your usual treat, in true Tasty Yummies style, I boosted this fudge to bring an added layer of healing benefits. Vital Proteins’ Vanilla and Coconut Water Collagen Peptides is one of the latest and greatest from my pals over at Vital Proteins. You guys have already heard me sing the praises of collagen peptides as part of a healing diet and lifestyle. But since I have started incorporating Vital Proteins in my life, daily, they have continued to expand their product and introduce more and more incredible collagen based products. The new Vanilla and Coconut Water Collagen Peptides is no exception, this has been a wonderful addition to smoothies, as well as baked goods and now this amazing boosted fudge.
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Grain-free Boosted Brownies {Paleo-Friendly}
There are many remedies, supplements, foods and other varying antidotes and therapies over the years of my healing journey that I have experimented with and included in my protocols. As with all things, I am always tweaking and tinkering with my daily routines, based on new discoveries, what my body needs at the time and where I am at in my healing journey. Often I take supplements temporarily for acute symptoms or issues, some supplements I have experimented with and can’t see any remarkable response and of course, like anyone else, there are others that my body has responded negatively to. This is the nature of examining your own health and always exploring new methods of support. Over the years, I have a few protocols and supplements that I have implemented at a time when I needed them and they have actually stuck around for the long haul. They become part of my daily routine. Among them are cod liver oil, turmeric, beef liver capsules, and of course, my daily collagen peptides. Of these, my daily ritual-based supplements, I would say the collagen is one that I noticed the greatest outward benefits from, the quickest and I see major, noticeable differences when I forget to take it. The health of my hair, skin and nails are the most notable.
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Boosted Horchata
With today being Cinco de Mayo, I was feeling inspired to create just one more Mexican-inspired recipe. But as usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and I had to put a little nutritional spin on this one, too. Classic Mexican horchata is obviously crazy delicious on it’s own, there is no denying that, but often it’s loaded with tons of refined sugar and traditionally it’s made with run of the mill rice and almonds – so, there really isn’t much nutrition happening here. What else could I do except boost it?
This recipe takes a little time to prepare and you may need to do a little searching to find the right ingredients, but none of it’s difficult and I can tell you, it’s more than worth it. The end product is delightful. Full of creamy, rich, sweet and spicy flavor and depending on how you boost it, tons of health-containing goodness, too.
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Get a More Restful Night’s Sleep with Bedtime Yoga and a Boosted Sleepy Time Tea
Get a More Restful Night’s Sleep with Bedtime Yoga and a Boosted Sleepy Time Tea
My yoga practice, while ever evolving, has played a role in my health and healing for about 10 years now. The beauty of the practice, whether it’s a powerful 90 minute vinyasa flow or a 30 minute restorative session of just a few long-holding poses – yoga has the power to refresh, to heal and to replenish the body.
I have shifted from the more powerful, long, morning vinyasa practices of my past to instead beginning my days with strength training sessions at the gym in the morning, with light yoga asana weaved throughout and these days I try to always finish my day with a little restorative yoga before bed. I have a new found appreciation for yoga’s power to ease me into a restful and quality sleep, through deep breathing and the physical release of tension.
No matter what poses you include and no matter the reason you were brought to your mat in the first place, yoga always places an emphasis on the combination and synchronization of breath and movement. This combination activates your parasympathetic nervous system which helps to alleviate stress and calm the body, together these can make a regular bedtime yoga practice a very effective sleep remedy.
Sleep is such an important and often neglected part of our lives, but this is when our body repairs on a cellular level, it digests and detoxifies, removing toxins, so it’s vital that we be getting 6-8 hours every single night. Maybe you can’t shut your brain off or maybe you toss and turn all night struggling to get comfortable. Whatever the reason, there are studies galore that prove the increased health risks associated with sleeplessness.
Give yourself 10 minutes before bedtime to include this simple sequence of gentle poses paired with this boosted sleepy time tea featuring Vital Proteins‘ Collagen, to let go of your day and prepare for a lovely night’s rest. You can even get yourself set up right on the bed, so you can stretch it out and roll right under the covers for your savasana.
Before your start your bedtime yoga ritual…
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Grain-free No Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars
As I go deeper into learning about nutrition and food, while in school to become a Nutritional Therapist, at times feeding my husband reminds me a lot of what my friends who are mothers, go through with their children. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is no man-child, he can take care of himself, he’ll cook when I am not around, he eats his veggies and he can grill like it’s no one’s business – clearly my hubby is > a toddler. But, the man loves his sweets. If he had it his way he would eat a doughnut or a slice of cake for breakfast every single day, he will however on the average day simply settle for toast with jelly or a bowl of cereal. Of course, no matter what is selected this would all be accompanied by the largest cup of coffee. Ever. Sigh.
Recently I have been working with him not to change his diet in some drastic way, I don’t need him resenting me and my schooling, but more to understand how starting his day in this manner definitely contributes to, if not exclusively causes, those mid-day crashes he was constantly struggling with and not only that, how it also leads to additional cravings and the need and urge for more sugar and carbs to be satiated. The vicious, never-ending, sugar-burning cycle.
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The Benefits of Collagen
By now you have probably heard from myself and other bloggers about collagen and gelatin and of course, the fanfare around bone broth, etc. Some of you may already know the many benefits of collagen, but even I didn’t know it’s full potential until earlier this year. Collagen is vital for our body and is the basic building block of skin, hair, nails, bones and joints and it plays a very important role in gut healing protocols.
Our ancestors utilized sustainable whole animal nutrition, which provided an abundant amount of collagen. Over the past century however, modern food processing has removed this natural and healthy protein from our diets.
This superfood supplement has provided much healing for me over this last year as it has become part of my daily gut healing protocol, so I am excited to share with you some of the research surrounding it. Beyond finding healing for my gut, the marked benefits in my skin, hair and nails have been the wonderful icing on the cake!
What is Collagen?
Collagen is an important structural protein that makes up one third of the protein in the body and up to 70% of the protein that makes up skin. Collagen is the basic matrix of the connective tissues, skin, cartilage and bone where it comes together to form scaffolding to provide strength and structure.
As a protein, collagen contains significant amounts of amino acids proline and glycine, which are harder to find in other protein sources and serve as a protector of your gut.
The Benefits of Collagen
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Grain-free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
I’ve got a lot for you today. I have the first-ever pancakes on Tasty Yummies, a few life lessons, a #virtualpumpkinparty and one of my favorite healing superfoods! Here we go….
Have you ever had a day, or a stretch of days where you are overloaded with life lessons, messages and moments that stop you dead in your tracks, to smack you upside the head with a little nugget of goodness, before sending you on your way, again?
I have had a lot of those lately. Little lessons and hidden reminders, that bubble up to the surface within the most mundane of moments and oftentimes coming out in the midst of the most frustrating challenges. It could be that I have been attempting to be more aware in the present in the moment, being open to what’s around me, rather than living in my head and getting caught up in letting my mind wander (which is something I often do). Whatever the cause, these little reminders have been exactly what I need, lately, exactly when I needed them.
These beautiful and delicious, Grain-free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, they were the culmination of so many reminders for me this past week. The first attempt at making these, I found myself swearing and angry. I had wanted to make waffles but they just weren’t working out, so I attempted to just make pancakes instead, as long as I had the batter. Pancakes weren’t what I had wanted and it wasn’t part of the plan – so, at first I really let it bother me. After a few deep breaths and in realizing that I had inadvertently created really delicious pancakes, I found myself really grateful for the mistake. On the second creation, I was super happy with how the pancakes came out again, but in editing the photos I realized that I should have chosen a smaller plate, the pancakes were getting lost in a sea of pattern from the large plate. I nearly scrapped the entire recipe and I found myself in tears, at my computer! In hindsight and in writing this out, I realize just how silly and insignificant this all seems and how ridiculous I may sound, but, as usual I am finding, in the simplest of moments, the biggest lessons are learned, so I wanted to share some of these sweet lessons that were brought to me this week.
1) Be OK with the Imperfections in Life.
I have to admit something to those that may not know me personally, I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times. Part of why you have never seen a pancake recipe here on Tasty Yummies, is my need for certain things to be perfect (in my own mind, that is). I worried that my pancakes wouldn’t be perfectly round and that people wouldn’t make them if they weren’t big and fluffy. I feared if I didn’t have the perfect shot of the perfect stack of pancakes, the syrup ever so delicately dripping over the edge, they would be a failure. So, although I make pancakes at home all the time, I had opted, in over 5 years of sharing recipes here on TY, to not share any of my pancake recipes, for not wanting to have to photograph them, worried that they would be wonky and imperfect.
As I was asking my food blogger friends for tips on making perfectly round, pristine pancakes, I was reminded by my dear friend Sherrie, to just ’embrace the imperfections!’ I recalled in her beautiful reminder, that I myself am drawn to the social media feeds and the blogs where life isn’t illustrated as “perfect”. To me, the authenticity of the creator shines through in the imperfections and those are most often where I find myself relating and connecting with someone vs. the perfection so often carefully crafted and curated for viewing in the public light.
I decided that like me, no one else reading this blog is “perfect”. You probably have lumpy, not-so-round, imperfectly perfect pancakes all the time at your house. I’d be willing to bet, however, even in their imperfections, like my homemade pancakes, that yours still taste incredible, and everyone that you serve them to are happy to eat them, just the same.
2) Less Really Can Be More.
It doesn’t always have to be about the big stuff in life. Bigger and more, they aren’t always better. Take these tiny, cute little pancakes – they may be dwarfed by the pretty patterned plate, they may be smaller than a traditional pancake, but these orange-hued, subtley-spiced, seasonal pancakes, they pack a punch, both in flavor and nutrition.
The Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, like these pancakes, it too packs a punch. With just one ingredient, in my mind, it beats out all other “superfood protein blends” you’ll find at most stores, often loaded with synthetic ingredients, unnatural “flavors” and colors and who knows what else. Collagen Peptides are not only a great source of clean protein and essential amino acids, they are also great for your skin, hair, nails, immune system, digestion and since I have added to my daily diet, they have played an integral role in healing my gut and my overall health, this year. This powerful, healing superfood doesn’t need anything added to it to boost it, it is tasteless and can be added to smoothies, baked goods, or simply to a glass of water.
3) It is Not Happiness That Makes Us Grateful. It is Gratefulness That Makes Us Happy.
Finding gratitude in the challenging moments of life, this can be hard at times. Next time you are in the midst of a challenge, stop to recognize that every moment is a given moment and that moment in itself, is a gift. We can’t buy moments, no one gives them to us, they are there for us and within each and every moment we have an opportunity to be grateful.
In the car three days ago, in a moment of stressful errand-running after the failed waffle debacle, I flipped the radio to local NPR affiliate and I caught the end of the TED Radio Hour, this past week’s theme was “Simply Happy”. I heard the end of this beautiful speech from David Steindl-Rast, that I have heard so many times before and the feelings of gratitude for the timing of this story, immediately flooded over me. Suddenly where I was struggling with feelings of failure and feeling stressed about the imperfections, my focus shifted to being so grateful and so happy that I get to do what I love every day, even in the moments of stress and challenge. When I left the house I was agitated and frustrated and by the time I returned home, my face was filled with a smile and my heart nearly exploding out of my chest.
