♥ You know last week was a no lose week for me. So I’m eating more oatmeal (& focusing on eating these foods), as well as ramping up my cardio workouts with a weighted jump rope. Mercy, that thing is gonna kill me! It’s been awhile (like 2 years) since I’ve jump roped (or is it jumped rope?) & I forgot how intense it is. It’s also great because it requires you to work on coordination (which, mines quite rusty) as well as rhythm.
I also forgot about how lovely frozen red grapes are as a treat. I bought some at Costco, washed them, & then put them in a gallon Ziploc bag in the freezer. Any time I’m craving a little nibble of something sweet–in goes a grape. When I’m losing weight, I don’t actually eat grapes very often–they’re too easy to overeat (for me), but when you freeze them, they take longer to eat, & just a few go a long way in satisfying a sweet craving. Hopefully these little tweaks will result in a net loss this week! I’ll let you know on Friday.
♥ When you have a baby, everyday is like Christmas. You wake up to this bundle of cuddly sweetness who smiles & coos at you, pretty much thinks you’re the most amazing thing in the world, all because you’re looking at him. My friend from the college days, Deja, writes a moving piece about how our kids make us feel beautiful & famous by association. Love it.
♥ Funny, funny, funny. I especially like the bit about the tigers & guns.
♥ Ditto, what she said—I don’t care what you call me.
♥ Last week we had some great discussions. Especially on this post. Sara left a great comment about true recovery from disordered eating.
She writes:
“When you have an eating disorder, or even just disordered eating, you feel that you only have two options: (1) to continue with the bad cycle you are in and obsess forever, or (2) let go of all of that and be overweight forever. Even if you have given up on the behaviors, as long as you feel deep down that those are your only two options, you are not fully recovered.
The roots of your eating disorder are still there and if you do attempt to lose weight without changing that belief, you are at risk for relapsing because you need to change your beliefs first. Seeing those things as your only options means that you see yourself unhappy, in some way, with who you are no matter what.
You need to know in your heart of hearts that you have infinite worth, that you are lovable no matter what, and you need to love yourself as you are right now. Working from a place of self-love, you might decide to make healthier choices, and you will feel good about it, but it will no longer be motivated by shame. I struggled with body image and an eating disorder for years. Then when I decided to get help and stop my behaviors, I gained weight. Inside I kind of said, “I knew it. I knew I would gain weight.”
But I just wanted to be happy, so I kept working on changing my beliefs about myself. And then a surprising thing happened, I wasn’t even trying to, but I lost weight. 50 pounds. (I don’t own a scale, but know this from regular checkups.) Yes, my eating and exercise habits changed, but only because it felt so good. I already liked myself, so this was just a surprising bonus to all the hard work I did on the inside.
So, I whole heartedly agree, yes you can lose weight without resorting to eating disorder behaviors, but it all depends on your heart. If you are in some way trying to fix yourself and feel shame or worthlessness, you are already in trouble. But if you love yourself, truly, then of course you want to take care of yourself, and whatever that looks like on the outside won’t matter. Here, the options are endless.”
♥ Have you heard of the newest foodie craze–artisinal toast? This American Life explains the story behind it (interesting, moving, & more evidence to suggest why we need each other). Listen to it, or read about it here.
♥ adorable bunny cups free printable for the kid’s easter party — would be the perfect container to hold grapes, nuts, raisins
♥ New series! I’m super excited to start a new series about vegetarian/plant-based parents. So if you’re a mom (or dad) & you feed your family a plant-based/vegetarian/vegan diet (you don’t have to be strict vegan or vegetarian, just mostly or all plant-based), I want to hear from you (non-bloggers & bloggers alike!). If you’re interested in being featured on the blog as a part of the series, don’t be shy, send me an email, with “NEW SERIES” as the subject line & I’ll get back to you (it may take up to a week to respond, so no worries if you don’t hear back from me right away).
Essentially I’ll ask you a few questions & have you share a recipe, photos of you &/or your kids, or whatever it is you’d like to share so we can get a glimpse into how other plant-based parents are doing it.
to pin:
all recipes vegan + gluten-free
sesame kale salad w/ roasted almonds
green orange juice
(super easy!)
chickpea salad w/ sunshine dressing
greek pasta w/ roasted chickpeas
eggplant wrapped avocado stuffed dates
mint chocolate chip dessert bars
lemon poppyseed loaf
(reminiscent of Starbucks version)
Happy Monday.
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