Great books

I celebrated my birthday about a week ago, and my dad got me a gift card from Chapters, therefore I went a few days after, and got the below books

 I heard about Oh she glows cookbook from my friend's blog and knew I had to have it. I tried one recipe yesterday, which was the brownie, and they are so good!  She also told me I have to make the glo bars, which I plan on trying that very soon. I have browsed through the cookbook and I know there's many more recipes I will try out.

As for the Slimming book my Julie Daniluk, I have her first book, which has really great recipes, and she also had a show on TV for a while, but I can't seem to find it anymore, but really great recipes and can't wait to try them out.

I wasn't planning on buying the honest life, but while I was in line, it caught my eye because I really do love Jessica Alba, she's a great actress, and I know she has a line of healthy products, so while I waited in line I browsed through the book quickly, it has information about nutrition, including a few recipes, it also has information on products, and since it was on sale for $7.99 I thought it's a great deal so I bought it. Looking forward to reading through it.

I've been doing some spring cleaning, and some organizing. Making me feel a lot better to have less clutter and an even cleaner home. I haven't been as experimental in the kitchen, but starting to get back into that, especially since I have new books. I will post a new recipe soon.

Taking care of ourselves

I haven't done any posts in a while because my family has not had such a good past 9 months. Which brings me to talk about how important it is to take good care of ourselves and to take some time to do that. Since my mom passed away at the end of June, we have had 4 more deaths in the family, all my mom's side. It's time like these that it's even more important to take care of ourselves so we can be there for each other, and so we stay healthy and strong.

For me, it's been really hard, but I am taking action on my own health. How I will get through this is by eating healthy, exercising, and to also go through the emotions. For those that are going through a hard time, and even those that aren't, we all need time to take care of ourselves. Even if it means spending a few short minutes.

Some great ideas which work for me, is reading, going for a hike, going out for a run, taking a warm bath, and one that you might find odd is going to Chapters. I love to read and love books, and when I go to Chapters I always feel so happy and relaxed. Other things that might also help is meditating, doing yoga, even just stepping outside or stopping for a minute to take 3 deep breaths (breath in for 4 counts and out for 8 counts). Something else that also gets my mind off of things and makes me happy is being in the kitchen cooking/baking something healthy. Whatever it is that helps you relax and feel happy, then please take time to do that, if not every day, do it as often as you can.

I know how hard it is to find time for yourself, and we do live in a fast paced world, but you are very important. Think of what you love doing and make sure you take some time for that. Every little bit does count and your body will thank you. Especially if you can treat yourself to a massage, pedicure/manicure... =)

What do you love doing to relax and have fun?

Endometriosis Awareness Month

I recently got an email reminding me that March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, therefore today I'm wearing my bracelet that they sent me when I made a donation. It's important to spread the word about Endometriosis as it effects the lives of more then 89 million women and girls worldwide.

I recently went for an ultrasound and although it's not to bad right now, my endometriosis is spreading again. I have some along the right side of my colon, and some surrounding my ovary. I do get some pain, but still very manageable right now.

If you think your all alone in this fight, your wrong, there are many groups out there, online or in person, and it really helps to talk to others that are going through the same thing. Wear a yellow ribbon if you can, and please spread the word!

Eggs

My hubby found this really interesting link about eggs. They talk about how there isn't much of a difference between brown and white eggs, and I never really thought much about the color of the eggs, but it was a very good read. One thing I do go for is organic free-range eggs.

Eggs supply all essential amino acids (a source of complete protein), and provide several vitamins and minerals, including retinol (vitamin A), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B6 and B12, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium.

The reason why I chose organic free-range eggs, is because I love that the chickens get to eat what they are meant to eat, which is being outside and picking their food from the ground, rather then being in tight indoor conditions and fed some sort of corn feed. Like us, chickens need room, fresh air, sunlight, and healthy food.

I'm also a none believer that eggs pose a risk to cholesterol. I think we should all eat the whole egg, they are good for us and a great source of protein.

What are your thoughts on eggs?

This is my race pace Run

I'm officially registered for the This is my race pace Run with 2 other friends. We are registered to run 10 km, and we are all out of shape, so it will give us a push to train a bit before March 19th, and we will motivate each other to finish, and receive our medal in the mail. It's a great website, called FUNd Run 4 Bling, and the funds go to great charities.

I haven't been doing much running for a while, just some here and there, but this winter has been horrible, weather wise. Lots and lots of snow and very, very cold weather! So not to motivated to run outside. Last week wasn't to bad, so I did go out twice, ran 2 km on Tuesday and Thursday I ran 3 km. I feel really out of shape but I'll keep at it and hopefully I'm in not to bad shape for this run. I'm pretty excited, we still have to pick our spot to run, which I'm hoping will be along the Rideau Canal. I have skated on the Canal, but never ran along the bike trail that follows the Canal. Once we do the run, I'll be sure to share a picture or two and how well we did.

               Here's a picture of me last year in February, ran 10 km for the Winterman Run

 

               It was really cold that day! My time was 1 hour, 3 minutes and 49 seconds!

Do you love to run? Or want to start?

Weekend in the kitchen

I know it's been a while since my last post, been pretty busy, but this weekend I took the time to cook up some things in the kitchen. The first thing I made was guacamole, I use the Epicure spice, and instead of using sour cream, I use Greek yogurt, with some lime juice and avocado. Then I ended up making a macaroni salad. I went down to Sudbury last Sunday, and my cousin and I were talking about how hard it is to come up with different ideas to bring for lunch at work. She mentioned macaroni salad, so decided to make it. I made it with brown rice pasta, but another good option is whole wheat pasta. Here's my recipe that I put together yesterday:

Macaroni Salad

1 bag (about 2 cups) of brown rice pasta (macaroni), cooked, and let it cool

3 eggs, boiled, then chopped

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 large carrot, grated

4 green onions, chopped

4 radishes, halved, then sliced

1 tbsp of fresh parsley, minced

1 tsp paprika

A touch of salt, and lots of pepper

1tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Mayonnaise

Cook your pasta first, and let it cool, as well as your eggs. Boil your eggs, which if you want perfectly boiled eggs, the trick is to put the eggs in a pot, and add water till it covers the eggs, put on the stove, covered, and put it on high, once the water boils, turn off the heat only, and don't do anything else, then put a timer of 10 minutes, once the time is up, your eggs are ready. Put under cold water to cool it down, remove the shell, and then quarter the eggs and dice them up. Chop up all your veggies, you can add more or different vegetables if you want, then add to a bowl, along with your eggs and pasta.  Add your spices, then add the Dijon, apple cider vinegar. The mayo, I just add a bit at a time until the salad is well blended. Refrigerate once it's all mixed, and let it cool at least an hour before serving.

This morning, I ended up making some apple pancakes for breakfast. My mom got the perfect recipe for pancakes, we would make some once in a while on weekends, we would usually add apples or freshly picked blueberries. I'll share the recipe in another post. I also made some healthy banana muffins, how is it healthy? Well I used spelt flour, coconut flour and oil, maple syrup and almond milk, chia seeds, along with vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, a touch of salt, and also added walnuts.

I haven't tried a muffin yet, but they smelled so good! Did you have time to cook/bake this weekend? If so, what did you make?

Endometriosis

I found out I had Endometriosis in 1999 and never heard of it before, but now I know so many women who do have it. You can have no symptoms at all, to very mild, all the way to very severe. I was somewhere in the fairly high category. On an almost daily basis I had pain mostly on my right side, sometimes left, and when it came time to my periods, my cramps were so intense, it would just drain so much energy out of me. My periods would last 7 days, and over time it became 2 weeks.  I was constantly tired, which was because I was anemic (low iron), plus my body was constantly fighting off endometriosis. My iron was down to 2, when a women should be at 50 or higher. So explained why I could sleep 10 hours and still be really tired.

Now, I'm doing a lot better. I did go for a hysterectomy when I was 30 years old. It's a hard decision to make, I mean your losing a lot of female parts, but it was the best decision for me. The day I went in for surgery was scary, but all went well. After surgery, my doctor came to see me, and he told me that my endometriosis (endo) was really bad. The bottom of my lungs were covered in endometrial tissue, and he went and removed my appendix, because it was also completely covered, which also caused my appendix to be deformed, so took that out, and he said my fallopian tubes and ovaries were covered as well, so he removed everything except one of my ovaries, so that I don't have to worry about hormone pills. He did remove the worse one, and removed as much endometrial tissue from the other, but he couldn't get it all. I do still suffer from endo, but so much less than before.

If you are suffering with endo, I do recommend this book:  Endometriosis: A Key to healing through nutrition by Michael Vernon. It's a really great read on knowing more what endo is, and how you can diminish your pain. Through my journey, before surgery, I ended up going to see a naturopath, and she helped me find out what foods triggered my pain, and most women have the same triggers. For me it was meat (except sea food), dairy, and wheat. So with taking those out of my diet, I no longer suffered on an almost daily basis. Another suggestion is to find an endo group. It really helps to talk to others, as well as share information on what can help diminish pain, and increase energy.

Endo is a very hard thing to live with, but you are not alone, and there are ways in helping with the pain, you just have to find what's right for you. There are so many medications, and more natural ways to help. I have tried some medications, and some I refused to even try, but I'm glad to be on a healthier journey, because medications are more of a band aid, then a cure.

I have read and learned so much about endo through the years, and I will be sharing more information in other posts. Till then if you do have endo, and would like to talk, I'm here, and I will help in any way that I can.