The Change

Greetings loved ones,

Happy Friday... hope it's been swell for everyone.

Mine started off with this early morning breakfast of champions before nutrition class:

green juice, raspberries and a LARABAR

Although I didn't need it in retrospect, I had my weekly ritual Starbucks...

The scaled back grande version, sans pumpkin spice. Pure coffee + soy milk baby.

If things keep on keepin' on the way they have been in terms of my energy level, I may be able to skip this completely next Friday :)

Today in class we talked about FATS- the different kinds (saturated, mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated and trans) and how they effect the body.

Honestly y'all, I have never found chemistry so interesting. I'm starting to scare myself, in fact!

Things to share from today's lesson:

• Women under 50 need 1,000-1,200 mg of calcium per day.

to put it into perspective:
-8oz. glass of milk = 300 mg of calcium
-3/4 of a cup of yogurt = 300 mg of calcium
-2 oz. of swiss cheese = 530 mg of calcium

Which means... If you do dairy, drink up or cheezify yourself (just watch the fat content).

If you don't, take a calcium supplement!!

• While it is federal law to list trans fat on the nutrition label, some food companies get away with making their serving sizes SO miniscule, they eek out of the requirement. Check to see if "hydrogenated oil" is listed on the ingredients- that's a surefire sign. (And for God's sake, stay away from margarine in a tub! It's NOT butter for a reason!)

• You have two types of cholesterol in your body- good (HDL) and bad (LDL). You obviously want your good cholesterol number high and your bad cholesterol number low. If these are out of whack, you're at greater risk for all sorts of problems- namely heart disease and stroke.

-Ways to reduce your bad cholesterol?

1. Cut out all trans fats, reduce saturated fats to a minimum and eat more mono and poly-unsaturated fats (examples: flaxseed, fish oil, canola oil, walnuts)

2. EXERCISE

-The ONLY way to up your good cholesterol?

1. Research says: EXERCISE

After class, I stopped by the Whole Foods in Pasadena with the sole intention of getting some wild caught salmon for dinner, but ended up geeking out in the grocery store for 20 minutes (!!!), and that was after forcing myself to leave.

I have never been in a Whole Foods so big...

The selection was phenomenal, which is why I stuck around for so long.

They had so many new LARABAR flavors, so I stocked up:

And also got some of these lovelies:

(note the mess in the background- greeeeat)

When I got home from my mini shopping spree, I was craving carbs like a mad woman so I whipped up a little parfait with yogurt, grape nuts, flax seed, strawberries and bananas:

It hit the SPOT.

Since today was my day off, I reveled in some major couch potato activity, read some great blogs, finally getting off my butt to do something [semi] productive:

...Little steps to makin' our house a home.

In betwixt the nothingness, I made this random lunch:

-2 egg whites topped with nutritional yeast (for added protein)

-half an avocado

-spinach with a little feta and balsamic vinaigrette

-a dollop of sriracha (never ketchup- i'm not a fan of ketchup, unless I'm drunk and there are fries in front of me- not happening anytime soon)

-a whole wheat bagel thin with goat cheese spread

Hodgepodge, yet delicious...

Here I am settling into a beautiful Friday evening, windows open, cool breeze floating in.

I'll finally be putting my mango mix to good use- salmon dish TONIGHT!

Before I say goodbye, I'd like to let you guys know something about the past week...

I've noticed 2 distinct things since I started really eating clean and incorporating exercise into my routine:

1. I'm way more positive, without even trying. If I find myself in a stressful situation or bad mood, it lasts me all of a couple of minutes and I'm over it. By just breathing through it (thank you, yoga) and remembering how big and beautiful the world is, I forget about the problem and focus on the greatness at hand (because it's always there).
2. My energy is out of control. Two weeks ago, I was so lethargic in the mornings. Even after I had my coffee, I still lacked the motivation to clean the house or even go grocery shopping. Ever since I went through "the change" (as I will now lovingly call it), I can't be STOPPED! Even though I only got 4 hours of sleep between work last night and class this morning, I still haven't felt the urge for a nap or a decline in energy all day.

Both these things hit me today and I thought I'd share. I'm super excited to continue on with this journey... So far, so GREAT!

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how the mango salmon goes. Wish me luck and...

Enjoy your Friday night!

Get crunk for me ;)

Love,

Maddie