On the go

Detail-cleaning a car is no small job. I got to experience that this morning as I got out a bucket of soap, a rag and scrubbed my car, inside out. My attention went to the muscles in the back that got a good work out, plus, my arms where screaming for a break as I had already "killed" them in the gym earlier this morning. This turned out to be more time consuming then I had in mind - so I started thinking about cars, how necessary they are (thankful!), how cool some cars are (good job inventors!) and how "one day I`ll get a brand new car and it`s gonna be awesome" (dreamy!). I started wondering about all those shiny cars that I see so often and how people spend lots of time and money on their cars. Upkeep like oil-change, smog, registrations and insurance are just a few of the responsibilities that comes with having a car - not to mention being a responsible driver on the road. Human bodies and cars have some common grounds, both of them need some form of upkeep, fuel, attention and money put into them. Us humans can and probably will outlive a car, or even a few of them, but we cannot outlive our bodies.

One of the things I do in order to keep my body happy and healthy is that I eat regularly. I shoot for 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day, starting first thing I get up and ending a few hours before bedtime. I also consider what kind of food it is I put in my body.
As I have been getting busier with work in the last few months I have noticed that I allow myself to have excuses for poor choices. For instance, my meal preparation time has been cut and so my meals are not as planned as they used to be. I find myself skipping meals which means that my work outs wont be as hard as I would like them to be. Other effects of skipped meals can be fatigue, unstable food intake later on, unhealthy snacking (chips, candy, caffeine and sweet. AKA foods that will spike the blood sugar before it drops down way low etc).

I look at these excuses as amusing challenges in life that can have creative and practical solutions to them. Food preparation is one of these areas. One of the biggest mistakes people make with their health is to skip meals. There`s a saying that goes something like this:"failure to prepare is preparation to failure", and I know from experience that preparation can be exactly that key that was necessary to success when it comes to food and health.

So in my busyness, one practical way to success has been to pack my own On-The-Go-Oatmeal! Just as I wont let my car run out of gas on the freeway, I will not let my body run out of fuel that it needs to keep going strong:

It takes me less then a minute to put together a packet of On the go oatmeal, all I have to do is get out my ingredients (which are pre granulated - another practical way to stay prepared; turn almonds, flax seeds and oat meal into flours ahead of time), measure it up and put it in a little plastic bag (Michaels sell these). One meal is about...

 3 heaping tbs. Gluten-free Oat flour

1-2 cups boiling water

1 tbs. Flax meal

1/2 tsp. cinnamon/vanilla powder

a handful of nuts and or raisins

I also add a tablespoon of hemp protein powder =)

I keep a couple of these in my purse and pull it out whenever hunger strikes. At the gym, at church or like the other day when I was out for breakfast with a friend, and the options for a gluten free hungry person was limited... SCORE! =) 

-Kathrine-

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Water with a twist

Yes, I will talk about water again! Most of us could need to drink some more =)
I wrote a post on water a few months back, and now I think it`s time to re-visit the subject with a little twist. First, a few more facts that I found reading about water in the book Seven Pillars of Health;

Did You Know…?

·         Your body is about 50–70 percent water.

·         Your muscles are about 75 percent water.

·         Your brain cells are about 85 percent water.

·         Your blood is approximately 82 percent water.

·         Even your bones are approximately 25 percent water.

I have met only a handful of people that say they Love water. They love drinking it - the taste and everything about it. Most of us from time to time enjoy drinking water, but these people are avid water drinkers. They go out of their way to drink it every single day. One sweet friend in particular is convinced she drinks too much water! What a refreshing statement. I want to be on that side - drinking too much water, as oppose to too little.

Drinking plain water gets boring after a while for me. I need a little new-ness to it. A little piece of lime, lemon or cucumber. Maybe a few leaves of mint, parsley, basil... how about some fresh berries. Fruits like grapefruit, apples, pears are phenomenal when it comes to adding flavor. If you really want to branch out - how about adding a dash of cinnamon or ginger to your water (make sure to shake it up so it can blend in before you drink it). Test it out, see if you can up your water intake by adding a little flavor.

Some of us are used to drinking juice, coffee, tea and other kinds of beverages without even realizing that it takes the place of water. The sugar and caffeine robs our bodies of water, which we technically would have to drink extra water for later.

-Kathrine-

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