Update on the Battle with Weight...

So it's been a while, but I wanted to give an update. I had to stop buying fresh produce from the market because it was draining my bank account like nothing. So now I have to make do with campus food, which I thought would be difficult, but is easier that I expected. They have little tubs of hummus, some white wheat pita pockets, and I just take greens from the salads they have and use those in place of veggies. It works well and is very delicious. The problem is breakfast... I miss my flax cereal, it was so delicious. They have disgusting cereals here, captain crunch, etc. So that's been a struggle. I've also found I've been grabbing a chocolate bar or m&ms at the checkout counter without even thinking. And now i'm beginning to crave something sweet after every meal. It's bad. I was in that habit at home, and I had finally gotten out of it. Another thing to work on, aw well.
Another discovery of mine is SUSHI!! It's freakin delicious I can't believe i've never tried it before. Of course they don't have real raw fish, but they do have little rolls with cucumber, cream cheese, avocado, crab meat, and others. It seems really healthy to me, although I did look and the calories can be quite astronomical. There is one kind that i've heard about, called the Philadelphia roll, that is smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado, which sounds heavenly, but they don't have any. *pout*.  I feel like I'm turning into one of the bimbos on The Hills or somethings gosh.
Yet another discovery, or rediscovery rather, is V8 juice. So delicious. I don't know how people can saw they don't like it, ti's salty and lemony and so good for you. Definitely a pot of gold!

So, I'm working on it. I feel like I'm obsessed with food now, and it's all I think about. Maybe it's my mind's way of distracting me from other things... But I still feel like it's unhealthy, mind wise. Food shouldn't be the first thing on peoples minds, it should be having fun, learning, skiing, parties, rock climbing, family, your future, your garden, your dog, your farm. NOT FOOD. It's so sad and pathetic and unhealthy this stupid culture of ours. Why is it so goddamned hard to live a good life in this culture??? It's not right.


-Summer

Take a Walk

In my opinion, walking is one of the best forms of exercise.
Although it doesn't get your heart rate as high as running or jogging, it still gets it up, which is all you need.  It's also not as straining on you physically and you can walk for longer amounts of time and ultimately burn more calories.
The best part is that instead of being stuck inside a stuffy gym, you are in the sunny outdoors, with birds, sunshine, fresh air, and your dog trotting along beside you if you're lucky :)

-Summer

Natural Health

I just found this amazing book: "The Essential Natural Health Bible: The Complete Home Guide to Herbs and Oils, Natural Remedies and Nutrition" by Nerys Purchon. Her main points: exercise, well-rounded diet, and a peaceful mind are all essential to a healthy, fulfilling life. My motto! I love this woman! I cannot wait until I have my  own place and job am not stuck in a crappy, gross college campus. I will have the time, space and resources to live a healthy life. I feel here, things are so set in stone, and if you don't like greasy dining hall food, then you are screwed, or out $60 bucks per week on real food. Is it strange that I can't wait to get out of college, even though I just started? Is it strange that I can't wait until I'm a late-twenties, early thirties woman living life on my own terms?
I think this is just another case of me thinking the grass is greener on the other side. There are some very wonderful opportunities here in college that I could be taking advantage of right now instead of complaining about everything else. Positive attitudes can work wonders.

-Summer

Being happy.

I found a wonderful wesite called "Zen Habits" and I really agree with all the stuff they say. One post is called "6 Practical and Powerful Ways to Overcome Depression"(link here). After I read it, I found myself thinking back to it all the time and realizing how true it is, and how these steps can, and have made my quality of life a lot better, even though I am not depressed. That's the best part; these steps are the universal way to improve quality of life in general, not just cure depression. And it really works.

I'll give you an overview:

1. Get outside
2. Aerobic Exercise
3. Omega-3 fatty acids (aka eat well)
4. Sleep
5. Socialize
6. WATCH YOUR THINKING!



This guy is a genius. Really guys, follow these steps and you will 100 times closer to The Good Life.


-Summer

LOSING WEIGHT and other dilemas

I just wanted to let you guys know how my battle with food and weight is going... I'm trying just as hard as the next person to lose some inches. Bikini season is right around the corner people.

Some cool things I've learned about losing weight:
-If you multiply your ideal weight by 10, that is the number of calories you should have per day.
-If you want to lose a pound of fat per week, reduce your usual daily caloric intake by 500
-One pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. (so if you want to lose an lb a day, aim to burn 3,500 calories a day.)
-Your daily caloric intake shouldn't go below 1200.
-To stay at their current weight, most women need around 2000 calories per day.

So, my ideal weight is 120, so I'm aiming at 1200 calories per day.
So, I've been keeping pretty close to that but boy, is it hard. Even a cup of tea with a tbsp of sugar and some milk can be 70 calories! It just really adds up - we have to pay really careful attention of what we put into our kissers.
Companies are also very tricky and say something is "low fat" of "healthy diet" something something, but if you look at the calories, they are astronomical! A nice cup of yogurt, fruit and granola can be 500 calories!! They add in sodium and extra sugar which sky rockets the calories. The trick is to find healthy food that is good for you, but also low calories. It's hard. For example, a trail mix of assorted nuts, dried fruit, and maybe some dark chocolate, all very very healthy, can be like 500 calories for a handful. See my earlier post "Food Stuffs" for foods that are nutritious yet low-calorie.

Here is what I eat on an average day. Sometimes its more, sometimes less.

Morning
1 packet Quaker Oats plain oatmeal (100 cals)
Sliced strawberries and blueberries on top (20 cals)
Cup of coffee (60 cals)


Lunch
1 hummus wrap
   includes:
         Whole wheat wrap (150 cals)
         Sliced tomato (15 cals)
         Sliced cucumber (10 cals)
         2 tbsp hummus (70 cals)
or
1 Mexican wrap:
   includes:
           Whole wheat wrap
            Salsa
            Sliced tomato
            Beans
            Avocado
            Lemon juice

Dinner
1 hummus wrap
Tea (50 cals)

Snacks
Mango (135 cals)
Apple (80 cals)



So, not too bad. It sounds like no food at all, but it really is the best way to go. The foods are really healthy and natural, so I feel energized and great throughout the day. It's filling, so I don't have (too many) cravings. But most of all, I am getting in the habit of eating well, which is a life skill and will really help me down the road as I get older. (Although right now I'm using it for the sole purpose of losing weight. Which is ok! Whatever gets me there!)


Next step: exercise...


-Summer

Food Stuffs

So after a lot of research into diets and healthy foods, this is the conclusion I've come to. Diets can work, and give quick results, but they are only temporary, and can put you through unnecessary "agony" and unhappiness. What you gotta do is change your eating lifestyle. It is a gradual process and takes motivation, but is so rewarding and give you amazing results - for the rest of your life. Simply start to eat healthy, natural, organic, FRESH foods, as unprocessed as you can find. Basically tons of fruits and veggies (remember there are endless possibilities of foods to make with just fruits and veggies) nuts, whole grains, etc. I'll give you guys a look a what I eat and maybe that'll give you some ideas:

Carrots
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Broccoli
Avocados
Spinach and dark green/red lettuce
Mangos
Purple grapes
Oranges
Apples
Strawberries
Blueberries
Hummus (I put this on everything)
Pesto
Low-fat feta cheese
Whole grain tortilla wraps
Peanut butter
Greek yogurt (Chobani is the best I've found)
Multibran cereal (I eat Nature's Path Flax Plus, add some skim milk and sliced strawberries and it's delicious.)
Trail mix - almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, and dark chocolate chips (keep a bag, handy for snacks when you're on the run, it's easy and gives you energy.)
Salmon (when I can, usually baked)
Lentil Soup
Eggs.


Most importantly, drink lots of water. It flushes out your system daily, gives your cells lots of water, and just keeps you healthy and feeling good. I keep my nalgene with me where ever I go and take swigs out of it when I'm bored or in class or wherever. You should drink 2 nalgenes a day.

Oh, and TEA!! I drink tea like crasy town, I've heard that green tea can be helpful for losing weight, but I've never been partial to it. I just like me some english breakfast, earl grey, or chamomile, with milk and a dash of sugar. I don't know if it's good for you or anything, but it calms me down and gives me some extra water!


I learned this in class, and bear with me, I'm going somewhere with this:
So the earliest humans were hunter gatherers. They travelled around seasonally, the men hunting small animals, birds, rabbits, and also some scavenging from already killed game (contrary to popular belief, we didn't hunt large game until much later, starting with the neandertals and Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens), and the women gathering edible plants, nuts and berries. They got a lot of exercise everyday and spent most of their time looking for food, yet their life was not brutish, savage and extremely rough, like many believe. Physical anthropologists can look at these early human bones and tell that out of all the human species, these guys were the healthiest. Regular exercise, and most of all natural unprocessed food directly from the earth.
Around 12,000 bce the most recent ice age ended and the grain wheat started to grow and prosper on the hills of the middle east. These hunter gatherers who lived in the area realized this grain could be domesticated and grown in plots, and they would have a reliable source of food right their outside their window. So they abandoned their traveling hunter/gatherer lifestyle and settled down, built houses, and started modern agricultural civilization.
So these physical anthropologists compared the bones of the old hunter gatherers and the bones of these new agricultural society citizens, and noticed that the agriculturals were less healthy. Why? Because they started to rely solely on wheat for their food, and started processing it and making it less and less natural with every process. Edible greens, fresh meat and other natural foods left their diet, along with the healthy lifestyle that would never again show up in human history.

So thats why we're fat!!!

So overall, it's proven that natural unprocessed are the best for humans, along with regular exercise. And there you have it, the reason for what I eat. History rules!!!!

-Summer

Beauty Products - Products That Make You Beautiful

This stuff smells great and moisturizes your face, leaving it smooth, silky and healthy. (Great for dry winter skin, like mine)

An amazing oil-free moisturizing face cream, can be used with the Burts Bees above or by itself! Amazing overall.

*Miracle liquid*
You can basically splash tea tree oil on any skin related problem and it will magically disappear. I pat it on my face at night, it gets rid of bacteria and everything bad. Leaves my skin fresh and tingly!

I basically just use this because it smells like heavenly pillows.

I use a version of this, although my cocoa butter bar is shaped into a sun! I rub it on my hands and anywhere I have dry skin. The greatest scent on the planet.

Makeup gets a bad wrap because people think girls put on makeup to cover their true selves and want to look like someone else. But in reality, when used correctly, it can be a great tool. Some people just look better with a little makeup. Like myself, for example! The trick is to use really healthy, natural, organic stuff like this, so you aren't putting toxins directly into your bloodstream.

My favorite shampoo, smells great and leaves my hear luxurious and moisturized but still with volume. Used in conjunction with...

I run this through the ends of my hair after showers. Detangles and makes my hair SO SOFT. Guys tell me it's one of the things they like best about me, my hair! So take my word for it, this stuff works.




It's funny that I preach about living the simple life then have a post like this... haha thats really the story of my life, what goes on in my head. Can't make up my mind! But maybe theres a way those two ways of life can coexist...


-Summer