juice, juice, juice...

 

Everyone, please meet Old Faithful.

Old Faithful, please meet everyone.

Old Faithful is the juicer that has been in my family for... hmmm... 15-20 years. Old Faithful almost retired a few weeks ago, but after come coaxing, he's back in full gear.

I have a special place in my heart for Old Faithful, and our relationship has been rekindled recently as I have become a green monster!!

Folks, I am obsessed with green juices. I crave them, I dream about them, I love, love, love them. 

Seems crazy, yes? Probably... but my cells thrive on the quick jolt of pure happy, healthy enzymatic energy.

Some of my juices this week. 

Here's why juicing is super duper important:

• Almost instantly, juicing provides your body with a jolt of optimal fuel to nourish your cells and restore your immune system.
• This powerful fuel is made of of loads of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, protein, and oxygen. 
• Green juices balance your pH and make your skin glow.
• Unlike eating veggies (also very important!), green juices are absorbed very quickly and easily by the body. Smoothies and full veggies takes more energy to digest.

For more details, check out the lovely and amazing Sammiches.

Here's how to build a great green juice: remember the 3 to 1 rule (3 veggies to 1 fruit)

• Start with a base: either a few stalks of celery or half a cucumber (please peel if it's not organic)- counts as 1 veggie
• Two large handfuls (or more) of greens: kale, spinach, swiss chard - counts as 2 veggies.
• Add one fruit: an apple, a pear, half of a peeled grapefruit.
• Feeling fancy: add some ginger, a squirt of lemon or lime, or some garlic.
• Want a super duper detox: add some parsley or cilantro, a beet or two, some cabbage or fennel.

Oh yes! And make sure to drink your green juices on an empty stomach. Drinking during eating slows down digestion.

That's all for this lovely spring Saturday!

Happy tumbling & stumbling!

mxo

shake your tush!

"Of diet, meditation, and exercise, which do you think is the most important for a vibrant God pod glow? 

Whichever one you're not doing. Zoinks!"  the lovely Kris Carr

Zoinks indeed! That's all. :)

Happy fitness Friday... the 13th!

 

Happy tumbling & stumbling!

mxo

healthy on the cheap: yoga!

Happy Thursday, lovelies!

I just came back with a date with one of my very favourite people, Vrinda from Buddha Body Yoga (a.k.a. Mama V). I am spinning with new ideas and plans... but more about that at a later time.

Today is Thrifty Thursday. Now, I realize that being healthy can add up... financially, that is. Between juicers, supplements, yoga classes, and all of the other lotions and potions, it can all leave your wallet.. well, thin. But I want to share that while health can seem luxurious, it certainly doesn't have to be. You can do healthy on the cheap!

Today's edition: yoga on the cheap!

Here are some ideas for practicing yoga in a community setting, while giving your pocketbook a bit of a rest.

Kula Yoga:

I recently stumbled upon Kula Yoga in the Annex and I absolutely adore it. They have a great deal for first-time students: $40 for a month of unlimited yoga! But, what's even better is that they have a large selection of $8 classes!! And they are offered at times that are accessible for those of us stuck in cubicles between 9-5pm. AND they often have free classes for students at exam time!! I highly recommend this studio.

Introductory Specials:

Most yoga studios in the city offer an introductory special of some sort for new students. Kula's is $40 for the first month. 889 Yonge (and Thompson) also offers the same great deal ($40 for 30 days), so do the various Moksha studios. With the plethora of yoga studios in Toronto, you could keep trying these introductory specials for many, many months!

Passport to Prana:

Now this might be one of the absolute best yoga deals around. $30 for one year of unlimited classes at various studios throughout the city. The catch, if you can even call it that, is that you can only use it if you are a new student at the studio and you can only use the card once per studio. But, with over 70 participating studios, it will take you awhile to run out. 

Community Centres, Libraries, Churches, etc:

Check your local library, church, community centre, etc for deals. Some are amazing! I was first introduced to yoga in a church basement. It was pay-what-you-can and it was amazing. 

What's your favourite way to do yoga on the cheap?

Happy t&s,

mxo

Crazy Sexy Week

I disappeared again - sorry about that!

Here's what happened in the last week, in rough chronological order:

1. I had a physical and emotional breakdown over Easter.
2. I got so frustrated with my dismal state that I decided to take my health and happiness into my own hands. 
3. I started a mostly raw, very green cleanse (inspired by one of my role models, Kris Carr).
4. I had a follow-up session with Joy McCarthy (read about my first session here).

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = the perfect reset at the perfect time, and the start of a new direction.

What I have known intuitively for awhile, and what Joy confirmed today, is that I need to focus less on dietary restrictions and labels (raw foodist, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc), and instead focus more on my emotional health, especially when it comes to food. 

So many of us desperately cling to diet after diet, food trend after food trend, and we do "all of the right things", but we continue to suffer. What we often ignore is all of the other toxic aspects of our lives: jobs we might hate, bad relationships, maxed out schedules, etc. 

Here's what I've realized recently: health and happiness are holistic. We each have a perfect blend of where we need to be mentally, physically and spiritually to be happy and healthy. But you can't be happy or healthy if one of these elements is drastically off balance. You can take all of right supplements and eat all of the right superfoods, but if you're not addressing the other elephants in the room, you're not going to get very far.

I believe the key pillars to health are:

1. Nutrition - are you eating foods that truly nourish your body and enrich your soul? how is your relationship with food?
2. Exercise - are you moving your tush every day? are you pushing yourself too hard?
3. Stress - what are you doing to curb stress in your life?
4. Sleep - are you sleeping a solid 7-8 uninterrupted hours each night?
5. Job - do you like what you do? are you stressed about your finances?
6. Relationships - do each of your relationships support you? are there toxic relationships you can let go of?

While each needs to be addressed, it can be overwhelming to tackle everything at once! In the spirit of breaking things down into manageable pieces, start with the one pillar you know is the most off balance.  Personally, I'm going to attempt to tackle my guilt-ridden, misguided relationship with food.

So here's what I propose (for me): I'm throwing out all rules, labels, and 30-day challenges that I've set for myself (because they didn't come from healthy places). Instead, I will listen to my body, provide it with the nourishment it most desires, and I will try to enjoy every single morsel. Generally, I'm going to start being good to myself holistically.... oh yes, and I'll share my journey with you!  

The road may be bumpy but I'm not afraid of a little hard work! 

What do you most need to do right now, what one step can you take to steer you towards your most perfectly happy and healthy self?

Happy tumbling & stumbling!

xo

P.S. Phew! What a long post! Oops... :)

divide and conquer

It's Wednesday... I think.

I have spent the last two and a half days hiding in the woods.

This was my view at breakfast yesterday whilst I ate my massive salad and rested my sore legs after our treacherous uphill run (my friend totally kicked my rump!):


It was nice to unplug.


Aside from eating massive salads, running, and Golden Girls marathons (you read that correctly), I also did quite a bit of reading. One of the best tidbits I stumbled across was the idea of divide and conquer.


In her book Your Best Body Now, Tosca Reno writes:

I break down each seemingly unsurpassable challenge
into little, manageable pieces that I can wrap my mind - and my solutions! - around.
It's so much easier to tackle a huge issue when you divide and conquer.

So simple, and yet so powerful.


For example,

• If you need to lose 100 pounds, don't get overwhelmed thinking about the entire 100lbs. Instead, think about the 3lbs you plan to lose this week.

• If you need to quit smoking, concentrate on not smoking this hour, this day, or this week.

• If you want to become more active, don't worry about all of the gym time you need to put in this month. Instead, just take the stairs every chance you get today.

The power of this is twofold:

1. Small tasks are far more manageable.

2. If you fall off the wagon, it's a lot easier to get back up again. Rather than feeling like you failed at the entire goal, you simply dust yourself off and attempt the next small step.

So, on this lovely spring Wednesday, think of a goal you'd really, really love to achieve. Now break it down into itty bitty pieces.... and tackle the first piece now.


Wake up with a plan for the day, and focus just on today...

I'll share a few of mine soon. :)

Happy t&s,
mxo

april of meatless mondays and tuesday and...

It's April. Yay!

Fun fact: I love spring because it is synonymous with cleaning, cleansing, detoxing, lightening, rebirth, etc... I love all of these things!

Fun fact: The past weekend of absolute gluttony (and often quite meat-heavy gluttony) has left me longing for a cleaner, lighter, completely plant-based diet.

Combine the fun facts above and you get this: a month of meatless Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (otherwise known as a meatless month)!!
Now, last time I was a vegetarian, I wasn't particularly wise about it. I have always consumed lots of veggies, but my protein intake was replaced by copious amounts of carbs. Not ideal. A plant-based diet can be extremely healthy if you do your homework (I love homework!)... and this homework is non-negotiable. You need to plan your meals to ensure that you are getting all of the right nutrients. Hopefully, through doing my own homework, I can help.


For today's Meatless Monday, I am sharing one of my favourite and easiest veggie recipes: hummus!

Hummus is a nutritional power house. The chickpeas are a great source of protein, complex carbs and fiber. The healthy oils in the tahini and the oil you blend with will make your hair shiny and your skin glow. Tahini is also loaded with iron and calcium. Hummus is a vegan superfood.


Hummus Recipe:

• 1 can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or any other healthy oil like flax, walnut, hemp seed, etc)
• 1 tbsp tahini
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1-2 crushed garlic cloves (more if you like it garlicky)
• 2 tsp cumin (optional, as I often forget this step)
• Pinch of salt and dash of pepper.

Combine in a food processor or blender, and whirl into healthy deliciousness. Enjoy with veggie sticks, crackers or pita bread, or just with a spoon (my favourite method).


You can then make a moat for some extra oil with lemon juice and/ or sprinkle some paprika and parsley on top. How pretty!

This hummus tastes great on its own and it also works amazingly as a base for any sassy additions you can dream up (perhaps some maple and chipotle or some beets or peas for colour, or how about some curry for international flare).

Happy Monday of tumbling & stumbling! :)
xo

sunday sabbath redo...

It will be Sunday when you read this (or possibly later) but, through the magic of delayed posts, I am writing this on Saturday.

Why? I'd like to redo last week's somewhat failed Sunday Sabbath. It wasn't a completely failure, but maybe a C... or a C minus.

I did manage to significantly curb my media intake... but when Sunday evening rolled around, I was in comfy pants watching movies on my laptop while checking Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. Alt tab, alt tab.

However, one of the things I stumbled upon in my alt-tabbing, is that there is an entire community dedicated to this Sunday media-Sabbath idea!

• There's the Sabbath Manifesto
• And theUndoList which provides tips for your weekly 24-hour break from technology
• And there's even a National Day of Unplugging (though apparently we missed it)

This is great! Tips! Communities! Yay!


So my strategy for tomorrow/ today/ the next technology Sabbath is simple: rather than concentrating so much on what I have to avoid, I'm going to focus on filling my day with fun non-tech things to do!


Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• go to a yoga class
• how about a walk in the park or through your favourite neighbourhood?
• or a date with a friend?
• call your mom/ dad/ someone you should probably call more often
• go to the gym
• play an April Fools prank on someone
• iron your clothes for the week (okay, i'm running out of ideas...)

You get the point. :)
Happy tumbling & stumbling!
mxo