My Love Affair With...

COCONUT JUICE.

How many times have I walked down the drink aisle without noticing that nectar of the gods on the top shelf? It's like I'm suddenly Belle and it's Beast and there's something there that wasn't there before. I'm in wuv!

Seriously, have you ever tried coconut juice? It's the most refreshing, exotic thing I can drink at 1pm on a weekday in my basement office. I drink it, and I'm suddenly on a tropical island slathered in tanning oil. In this fantasy I'm also fit and tan, but that's a different post.

Yes, Food, Inc. This juice is from Thailand or some other place I've never been to. Technically that's a lot of gas calories. But you know what? This Coke-loving lunatic finally switched to something healthier and natural, and that is something worth noting. Maybe one day I'll live on a commune and grow all my own food and stop wearing deodorant like the dreadlock-headed gentleman in line before me at Provo Art and Frame. But today is not that day. So I'm celebrating my minuscule health victory with what else but... a coconut juice.

How To Fight A Cold Like The Avengers

...from all sides.

Guys. I haven't been sick in months. It was getting to the point where I felt like I had won the lottery, and then I think that jinxed my body into getting sick. 

If you know me at all, the fact that I wasn't sick for months and months at a time is basically a Christmas Miracle. Growing up, I missed a lot of school for basically every kind of sickness you could think of. I was just that kid. My first year of teaching, I brought home bugs from all over the state. Since I have been trying to eat healthier and take care of my body, and am in my second year of teaching, I rarely get sick...until this week. 

I have found a lot of natural at-home remedies to fight the common cold that have really sped up my recovery. Some of you might have learned this 20 years ago, but I'm pretty new to the home-remedy game. My idea of speeding up the recovery process consisted of a lot of medicine and even more sleep. So if you already know this, keep on scrolling. Hopefully this will help someone.

Here is a list of 7 weird things I have done at least daily since I started feeling sick:

1. DETOX BATH: Then sit in the shower with the hottest water possible for 10 minutes after that.

2. MAGIC SOCKS: Right after the bath, wet a pair of cotton socks in cool water, then wring out until they're just damp (not soaking). Put them on your feel, then put a pair of dry wool socks over them. Go lay in bed. Apparently the combination revs up your immune system. 

3. GREEN SMOOTHIE: I already had green smoothie freezer packs on hand and have been drinking them for breakfast. Just mix up a bunch of fruits in a blender with spinach, water and ice. No milk.

4. SLEEPING POSITION: I usually sleep on my stomach, but sleeping on your back with a thick pillow when you're sick helps keep your head clear of mucus. This lowers the number of times you have to wake up in the night to blow your nose. 

5. HEALTH SHOTS: Try to get as many nutrients into your body as you can. I started doing shots of v8 juice mixed with Bolthouse Farms green smoothie chased with a drink of water. The shot glass makes it fun and bearable, the green smoothie has a lot of good nutrients and covers up the yucky v8 taste, and the v8 packs in more veggies. 

6. WATER: You know this one. But seriously...drink soooooo much water. Drink it until you feel like your stomach might explode. Have a glass of water by your bed, and keep filling it up when it gets empty. Carry that glass of water around like you're in the Sahara Desert. That cup is now your best friend until you get better. 

7. MONSTER TEA: I drink this gross concoction because it really has helped me feel better, but it's disgusting. Just suck it up. It'll help. 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup water

a few dashes of ginger 

Heat it up and down it as fast as you can. Don't focus too much on the taste, and keep a glass of water nearby to get the taste out of your mouth when you're done. 

Doing these 7 things plus the normal fixes like medicine and rest will help you recover faster. Hope you feel better! 

Detox Bath

Last week I was feeling weird. Nothing seemed to be going right, even though everything was fine (y'heard?) My body and mind weren't feeling up to par, so I decided to try having a detox bath to clear myself of some toxins. Was this bath fix mostly emotional? Probably. Did it work? Yeah.

Every time I need a detox bath, I don't want to sludge out to the store to buy necessary ingredients, so I usually end up mixing 12 recipes + weird things I have in my cupboard to make my own personal heaven (i.e. a locked bathroom door, a warm bath, and some quiet time).

Here's what the recipe usually looks like:

1 cup hydrogen peroxide

1 / 2 cup baking soda

Other ingredients I would include if I had them:

a few drops of essential oil (make sure it's skin friendly, not just aromatherapeutic)

1 / 4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup epsom salts (they are NOT the same as table salt...thanks Google haha)

9 easy steps to an awesome detox bath:

1. Lock yourself in the bathroom with all your ingredients.

2. Make the bath water as hot as you can + add ingredients.

3. Turn on some Kenny G and light some weird candles.

4. Turn off the Kenny G. He stresses me out.

5. Drink a glass of water before getting in the bath. Hydration.

6. Sit in the bath for 30 minutes, with as much of your body covered as possible.

7. Rinse in a lukewarm shower.

8. Get out slowly because you're gonna feel weirdsies.

9. Drink a ton of water and go to bed.

You might feel weird the night you take the bath, but you'll feel great the next day.

2013 Bucket List: Green Smoothie Freezer Bags

This post is a part of the 2013 Bucket List series, in which I tell the whole world my goals so I have to complete them. You can read the original post here. Here is an update on one of my 2013 goals:

Try out meal-planning

Update: 

I've heard so much about the benefits green smoothies that I wanted to try them myself. I've seen so many recipes, but I was lazy, so I just threw bags together of things I had at home. The basic recipe is fruit + spinach. I made four bags in advance so I wouldn't have to find the ingredients in the morning. Each morning I just threw the contents of the bag into the blender and blended until smooth. 

I have to admit that this didn't work quite like I planned it. I put way too many things in the bag, so the smoothies were huge. I also didn't test out the recipe to see if I'd like the taste...turned out I didn't. I couldn't get past how much spinach I put inside. 

But hey, at least I tried. 

I did feel really great the days I downed the whole drink, though. Instead of sugary cereal that leaves me wanting more food in an hour, I felt more full and energized. It also felt great to get a lot of healthiness out of the way in the beginning of the day so I could splurge on yummier food for lunch or dinner. 

When I do this again, I'll definitely try out recipes until I find one I like enough to duplicate multiple times. And I'll stick to the portions that are tried and true. 

Do you guys do green smoothies in the morning? What's your favorite recipe? I need help! 

2013 Bucket List: Mexican Chicken + Rice

This post is a part of the 2013 Bucket List series, in which I tell the whole world my goals so I have to complete them. You can read the original post here. Here is an update on one of my 2013 goals:

Try out monthly meal-planning

Cooking is hard. I love the result but never think to plan any meals. I have encountered a bunch of meal-planning pins on Pinterest, so I'm going to try them out and document the journey.

Update: 

I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it for Sunday dinner to put over rice. It literally couldn't be easier to make, and it's so good I'm making it again. 

The finished meal is rice with Mexican Chicken on top, with shredded cheese and sour cream. 

Mexican Chicken:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can yellow corn

1 container of salsa

3-4 frozen chicken breasts

6 cups cooked rice (add 1/2 tbsp oil and dash of salt when cooking)

1 cup shredded cheese

1 small container sour cream

Stick the first 6 ingredients in your crock pot. I like to cook it for 8 hours to let the ingredients simmer, but you can choose whatever setting you like. 

30 minutes before the crock pot is set to finish cooking, boil water on a pot and cook the rice with the oil and a dash of salt. This makes some tasty rice! 

Dish rice + chicken in a bowl and garnish with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. 

Super easy. Can you tell that I am drawn to the easy recipes? I like to make this recipe and divvy it out in tupperware, then freeze them for lunches. I just stick a frozen tupperware in my lunch bag and let it thaw until lunch. It takes about 5 minutes to heat back up in the microwave, but it's better than school lunch! 

Once these goals are completed, I'll probably add a few more goals to the list. If you would like to join me in the 2013 Bucket List Challenge, please put a link of this post in your blog, then comment on it so I know you're in!

Confession: I'm Scared of My Gym

Guys. Do you have a workout that makes you feel like a champion? I'm talking about the kind of workout that you've done so much you could probably host a perky YouTube video and get like....100 likes. 

Wanna know what mine is?

The elliptical.

I. have. that. shiz. down.

When I walk into the gym, I swagger up to that beast and stare it down like there's no tomorrow. I hop on, tune into some Kardashians if I'm lucky to find them, and rock it out like nobody's business. For like an hour. When I step off, I feel awesome. And then I walk on out of there and ignore the rest of the machines like I'm 13 and I have crushes on all of them.

When it comes to doing other stuff at the gym, I feel like that kid in kickball who always gets picked last. I'm always worried I'll look dumb using the other machines, so I don't even try.

I realize to get in shape you need to work your muscles on other things besides an elliptical. My brain gets it.

But it's not all my fault. The gym I frequent seems to be disproportionately populated by men whose spirit animals are 'roided out bulldogs, and orange women who strip to their neon skivvies during a 5-minute mile. They don't even stop their treadmills. They do that douchebag step-to-the-side move. and proceed to strip. 

Every ten minutes they all seem to meet at the water fountain and flirt.

This is what I'm dealing with here. It's too much pressure.

So in the spirit of "doing what you've never done to achieve what you've never achieved" (ie. an alright body), I've turned to internet workouts to get my body moving.

Workouts I can do in my living room while my husband watches a movie in our bedroom. Workouts that can let me feel like an idiot in the privacy of my own home. Workouts that will help me tone and stretch and huff and puff on my own time in weird weird clothing. 

The goal? To graduate from one-trick-pony elliptical status to champion I'm-not-embarrassed-to-work-out-at-my-own-gym status. 

I'm slowly finding new workouts that make me feel like an elephant doing ballet. But it's better than nothing.

We'll see what happens.

For tonight, voila.

2013 Bucket List: Homemade Chicken Soup

This post is a part of the 2013 Bucket List series, in which I tell the whole world my goals so I have to complete them. You can read the original post here. Here is an update on one of my 2013 goals:

Try out monthly meal-planning

Cooking is hard. I love the result but never think to plan any meals. I have encountered a bunch of meal-planning pins on Pinterest, so I'm going to try them out and document the journey.

Update: 

I was originally planning on doing freezer meals, but I decided to build up my bank of tried and true recipes before I get all crazy on freezer meals. I'll be posting one recipe at a time to make them easier to find.

Homemade Chicken Soup

7 cups water

1 leftover rotisserie chicken

1 cup chopped carrots

1 bunch celery

1/2 cup cilantro

2-3 cups uncooked bowtie pasta

salt (to taste)

lemon pepper (to taste)

Boil water in the largest pot you can find to fit your chicken. Stick the chicken in and let it simmer until the water is yellow and delicious looking. 

Chop carrots, celery + cilantro and put in a separate pot. Cover with 2 cans of chicken broth and cook on medium. 

Remove chicken from pot and tear off any leftover meat. Put the meat back in the pot, and throw the chicken away.

Pour vegetables + broth into the chicken stock and add pasta. Cook on low until pasta is al dente. Add salt + lemon pepper to taste. 

This soup was so easy to make, and great if you have rotisserie leftovers. And it's about 1,000 times better than canned chicken noodle soup. 

Once these goals are completed, I'll probably add a few more goals to the list. If you would like to join me in the 2013 Bucket List Challenge, please put a link of this post in your blog, then comment on the same post so I know you're in! 

2013 Bucket List: NEW GOAL!

This post is a part of the 2013 Bucket List series, in which I tell the whole world my goals so I have to complete them. You can read the original post here. Here is an update on one of my 2013 goals:

I feel like I'm far enough in my current goals that I can add another one to the list.

I have been feeling very sluggish lately. Plus, my clothes are starting to fit weird. Time to get back on the fitness wagon. I have started to cook healthier meals, but I need to do the physical activity, too. To motivate myself, I have created a goal that will make me visually represent how often I work out (or do activity at work that could replace working out).

I will be posting a monthly workout recap calendar to share my goals and progress. Hopefully, I will reach my goals each month and reward myself with something awesome. (Maybe you guys can help me figure out a good reward).

Here's an example of what the calendar will look like.

Once these goals are completed, I'll probably add a few more goals to the list. If you would like to join me in the 2013 Bucket List Challenge, please put a link of this post in your blog, then comment on it so I know you're in!

Winter Workout: 5 Ways To Get Moving Indoors

I don't know about you, but I am having the hardest time getting motivated to workout this winter. Last winter, I had a lot of free time and was excited to look smokin' hot for Matt when he returned from his mission. This year I'm pretty sure I have found every excuse in the book to not weather the frozen tundra and get my butt to the gym. 

I figured if I can't muster up the energy to get to the gym, I'm gonna have to start working out in my apartment. So here are some videos/tips to help you me get moving. I tried out (most of) them and I already feel more energized, happier, and excited to be healthy.

1 // JOG.FM 2 // The World's Fastest Workout  3 // The Five Minute Workout 4 // The Earn Your Shower Workout* 5 // 25 At Home Exercises

*50 jumping jacks

5 pushups

20 crunches

20 mountain climbers

30 second plank