Mango.

I just really like that word. Mango. A few years ago I traveled in Vanuatu for six weeks and one of the places we stayed at had a huge mango tree in the front yard. It was incredible to go and find a ripe fruit at any time of the day, pull out the knife and eat it. Ah - simplicity. We ate an enormous amount of amazing fruits during those weeks - coconut, papaya, mangoes, bananas, pine apple... good times.

This Saturday morning is gonna be good. I am getting ready to go to the gym - gonna get my work out on! Then off to the newly-opened-for-the-season farmers market before I head back to the gym for my spinning class.

Juicing fresh vegetables sure makes vegetables go allot faster then if I was to eat them all. This morning all I could find was carrots, a pear and a mango. So I juiced the carrots and the pear. Then I blended it in my high speed vitamix with the mango. A little bit of fiber, a lot of sugar (! pre work out meal) and at-least it was all natural foods.
Changing up my diet (when I say diet this does not mean micro dieting. It just means that I am referring to what I am eating) this week has been incredible. 4 cups of fresh vegetable juice until mid-afternoon. Then a normal lunch, and a lighter dinner later on. I am full of energy =)
 

Have a beautiful Saturday Loves

- Kathrine -

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Fresh fruit and vegetable juicing

On this half sunny, half cloudy morning I took our new moped out for a little drive. 7AM is still very peaceful as far as traffic goes, with my newly learned skills in driving the moped that is perfect for me. 

Lately I have not been wanting to eat vegetables. It comes in waves, sometimes all I want to eat is a different kind of salad for all my meals. Then there are times when all the greens I get is in stir fried foods. Waking up in the morning tired, is a sign to me that I need to pat attention more to what I eat and make sure I get allot of high quality whole foods rich in nutrients.
As I was cruising around the neighborhood this morning, I wondered if I could do the far drive to the one grocery store in town that makes fresh green juice. I considered the roads, the busyness and my skill level and quickly decided that it was not a good idea.

It dawned on me that I have a juicer in my garage, it was given to me a year ago by some sweet friends of ours and I have not even used it. You see, the last juicer I had was a crazy little machine I got at a thrift store for $6. It juiced my vegetables well, but it was super loud and it took at least 20 minutes to clean up! Joy filled my heart when I discovered that it was broken and I could throw it away =)

Anyway, I got home, parked the moped and found my "new" juicer. I used all kinds of vegetables - carrots, apples, lemons, golden beets, spinach and cucumbers and got 2 cups of really refreshing and tasty juice.

"The juice of fresh fruits and vegetables is the richest available food source of vitamins, minerals and enzymes." -From the book Juicing for life.

I am excited for my next cup of juice!

-Kathrine-

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Morning snack

One healthy powerhouse of a fruit is grapefruit. Reading up on the benefits here, makes me confident in choosing this as a snack throughout my days.

This one in particular was sweet, juicy and not too sour. For me this is one of those fruits I can get enough off =) Some years back I tried eating at least 2 a day, and it left me with a sour mouth and a serious "hatred" towards the fruit. Now I just have it every once in a while and it`s enjoyable ;)

-Kathrine-

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Super-food Week

Happy Monday everyone =)

It`s always nice to start a new week, especially if last week was challenging.
My focus this week is on eating plenty of incredibly nutritious foods that will strengthen my immune system and boost my overall health. I will be posting my meal plans for some of the days and add the recipes along with it.

Super food are foods high in nutritional value and low in calories. They are superior sources of anti-oxidants and essential nutrients that our bodies cannot produce on it`s own. It`s food with allot of color, it usually tastes awesome in it`s natural state and can be found in nature.
These foods have high concentration of easy digestible nutrients, vitamins and compounds to burn fat, protect and heal our bodies. The green leafy vegetables are especially rich in chlorophyll, which our cells thrives on.
This can be foods like, but not limited too: goji and acai berries, cacao, vegetables, fruits, seeds (chia, flax, hemp etc) and nuts.


Here is my super food meal plan for today:

Breakfast - Papaya Salad (ripe papaya, blueberries and blackberries)

Lunch - Baked beets and Quinoa salad (gold beets, cooked quinoa and minced baby broccoli)

Snack - Coconut water, bee pollen and homemade chocolate fudge,

Dinner - Belgian Endive salad (endive, arugula, avocado) with apricot garlic crumbs (dried apricots, almonds and 1-2 cloves of garlic in a food processor)

Vitamins - pro-biotic, multi vitamin (B12, B6, C, folat etc) and flax oil.

I will post pictures after every meal. I really love capturing amazing foods on photos ;)
Have a wonderful day -Kathrine-

Resources: Eating for Beauty

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I heart oranges

Early morning.. sunrise.. nothing is better in the AM then to start it off just right. With a big glass of cold water and slices of fresh cut oranges.

 

Oranges are a citrus fruit which can boast of high nutritious value. We know they are full of Vitamin C - one orange gives us 116.2% of the daily dose.  Also, one orange supply 12.5% of the dietary fiber intake. Read more about the benefits of eating oranges here.

They are one of the most popular fruit in the whole world, and can easily be found most anywhere all year long. I get mine (3 boxes = on full trunk load) from my in law`s back yard. They are beautifully in season right now.

 

Kisses

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Bright and Sunny

My perfect mid morning pre work out meal today was a Black eyed and blueberry Smoothie from Jamba Juice. I also got this tumbler, and I`m just stoked about it because now I can make my own smoothie and bring it around in this cup. A smoothie is perfect for hot days like typical summer days here in Redding. It`s mid January, and it`s over 70 F/20C - makes me happy! =)

 Then after training some clients, it was my turn to work out. I focused on upper body but alternated with speedy jump roping. Here was my final exercise of the day, last chance to get it all out.

 This work out engages arms and shoulders, at the same time it`s working core a whole bunch.

So far I can count 10 different food items that I have eaten today... How about you?

Happy Weekend!

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Super Green Smoothie

 This is a raw, gluten/dairy/sugar free smoothie that goes under the list of Super Healthy meals. It only takes a few minutes to make this smoothie, and don`t be surprised if your kids like it too. Together with getting enough sleep, exercising and drinking water - eating enough food full of nutrition, plays a huge part in us staying healthy. 

 Here are the ingredients that makes for 2 servings:

• 1 bunch of Cilantro
• 1 Avocado
• 1 big Orange
• 1 Lime
• 3 Dates
• A handful of Spinach
• 2-3 Cups of Ice cubes
• 1-2 Cups of Water
• Throw it all in a blender, a Vitamix will give a great result..

The avocado gives the smoothie a nice consistency, at the same time as it provides lots of the GOOD mono-saturated fat. The spinach is known for its remarkable ability to restore energy and increase vitality It`s an important food for promoting healthy eyesight and is full of anticancer agents. The lime and orange provide great amounts of Vitamin C, which for one thing; fights infection in your body, but also protects your bones, teeth and gums.
The cilantro (coriander) is a healing spice often referred to as an anti diabetic plant. It is also known to improve digestion of fat.

Whenever I have left over, I keep it for the next day in a glass jar...

Kisses

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AM beauty

I was up bright and early today. Hopped in my work out clothes, grabbed a bucket of water and ran out in the cold. Every morning my car has ice on the windows, so a quick solution is to pour water on the car.

I instructed a Spinning class at 6AM... Jamba juice is luckily on my way home from the gym so I stopped there and got a yummi fresh squeezed orange juice. I liked their new logo.. and I added my own twist on it:

 I haven't had a cold or a flu since June. Working out and making sure I get vitamins seems to be working. Yey for coldbusters =)

 Many of you are working early morning too. Or, you get up early to finish homework, or to make lunch for the Husband. Finding the beauty in the AM hours can be hard, especially when we are tired. I treated myself to a Jamba Juice, enjoyed the frost on the ground, the extreme fog down at Park Marina and the sunrise as I drove home. These things made my AM beautiful.

What is beautiful to you today?

Kisses

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Something Different

After having been tired for almost a week, with no seeming reason, I decided to take action. Tiredness kills motivation, joy and effectivity. I typically get tired if I have had foods like dairy, glucose syrup, salt ect. My case is a sensitive one. So if You are tired, there's probably some completely different reasons then mine.  Some people enjoy coffee and use that as wake up medicine. I like coffee, the smell of a coffee bean, the richness.. but my body cant stand it. It gives me a headache and messes up my stomach. Not exactly the solution for me. But some sort of change was necessary, I needed something different in order to get my vitamins and body back into balance. 

Do you ever just find yourself craving something, but your not exactly sure what it is? Yeah, that was me. Off to the grocery store I went  -

   

Theses are some of the things I came home with that day... pears, rutabagas, papaya juice, cuties (mandarins),  and lemons. 

I also went for a brisk 1 mile walk down by the river, in the bright sun. Don`t think I had seen the sun for a month or so. It was incredible soaking it up and getting my vitamin D in.

For 2 days now I`ve been drinking fresh lemon juice in sparkling water a couple of times a day, and I feel so much better already. Lemons are amazingly high in Vitamin C, and the benefits are simply outstanding.

Jethro Kloss reported this about eating lemons in his book Back to Eden: 

“The medicinal value of the lemon is as follows: It is an antiseptic, or is an agent that prevents sepsis [the presence of pathogenic bacteria] or putrefaction [decomposition of tissue]. It is also anti-scorbutic, a term meaning a remedy which will prevent disease and assist in cleansing the system of impurities.”

I could probably have devoted one whole blog alone to lemons. But Ill leave it with this. It works wonder in our bodies. Oftentimes it`s not about going on a strict diet or doing some other extreme thing to help get our bodies back on track. All it takes might be a simple adding of a little yellow fruit.

Kisses

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Fit for the season and beyond

December is ahead of us all, and I do not know this for a fact - but I suspect this to be the month we gain the most weight? I think holiday season can be extremely sneaky and a trap for many health wise. Personally I absolutely love baking Christmas cookies, dinner parties, desserts of all sorts... but here are some of the things I will do to stay healthy and kind to my body for the season;

• Keep working out - The day I don't go and work out, will be an exception. NOT the other way around. If traveling - I bring my running shoes. And make sure you dress up well going to the gym and coming home, cause it can be freezing out there.

• Take Vitamins - Iron, vitamin C/B12/other B's/D. I like to get a big cup of fresh pressed orange juice or better yet - raw juiced vegetables. I also take Floravital - a gluten free formula of herb ekstrakts, Raw vitamin Code prenatal and bee pollen

 

• Homemade - Prepare meals from scratch. It can be healthier and better tasting then frozen, modified and messed up food. Pick vegetables and fruit that are in season. Right now typically bananas, asparagus, raspberries, cabbage, celery, cucumber and oranges etc.

 Enjoy - the options. Breakfast with the extended family during holiday season does not have to consist of bacon, potatoes and eggs. And for those of us that have sensitivities to food - it does not have to be sad either. In my family there is always fresh fruit and berries around. My sweet grandma Jan and her man loves eating breakfast at this one coffeehouse where they used to get bagels, but she cannot have gluten and such food anymore. So now she brings everything she needs for a yummi breakfast - blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, apples and some yogurt and makes it happen right there. Absolutely love it.

This morning I made a fresh fruit salad with raw raspberry sauce on top

For one person you need;

1 (ripe) pear

1 (ripe) banana

1 crispy apple

a handfull of cut up almonds

1 tbs maple syrup (optional)

Raw Raspberry sauce;

1 cup frozen raspberries

2 tbs maple syrup/agave nectar

1/2 cup of water

Mix in a blender

 -KISSES -

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