Yoga's hard?... What?!

     One of my best friend's, Sharnee (<-- Supposed to be an accent on the second "e"..), has been trying to get me to go do yoga with her for some time now; but I never get the time to go though. It's near Ann Arbor, MI, and I'm at least a good 45 minutes away; it's winter, and I don't want to risk my life; and it's on Sunday, which I have to get up early on Monday. This past weekend, Monday ended up being Martin Luther King day, so now was my chance!
     I get up at 7, meet Shar at 8:45, an we're off. I had a yoga mat, but I didn't have a towel, so she let me use her coral colored one.. I'm the luckiest guy, I know.. I sign in, and we sit down our mats and start stretching, or whatever routine anyone else has. I forgot to mention that this kind of yoga is called "Hot Yoga" and for good reason. they heat the room from 95-105 degrees.. and that's in winter, I can't imagine summer. Shar says it can be up to 120 degrees in summer.
     The instructor, Kellie, comes in and dims the lights, starts this calm music, and we start. By the way, this instructor has the best attitude about her, she's incredible. the first 10 minutes I'm starting to sweat. keep in mind, I never sweat during my workouts, my body recovers too quickly. Also, I've never done yoga before, so this was an intense start you could say.. I try and follow the poses of everyone else, and it's difficult because I've never done it before, but I get the hang of it a little. There are some people (like, my ridiculous friend) that look like they've been contortionists in their past life. I'm pretty sure I stooped what I was doing and just watched some people for a second. I'm over here struggling to just keep balance, and they're over there putting their heads behind their legs. Like. What.
     30 minutes in, my mat is not a mat anymore. It is now a 6 x 2 foot blue rag of sweat. I would step down, and the sweat would rise up from the mat. I would try and do a simple Warrior I pose, and even that was almost impossible because of my slip 'n' slide I was now fumbling on. I was sweating that bad. #thestrugglewasreal
     Then I hit a point where my muscles were shaking, my legs were barely holding me up, and I was fatigued beyond anything I could remember. The heat was finally hitting me to it's full extent. My head was a waterfall of sweat that was flowing into the ocean that was my body. It would get into my eyes and it would burn, so I had to keep pausing and wiping my eyes, to no avail.
     Now it was a hour in, and I wasn't worn out anymore - I was way past that. I felt like my body was slipping away from me; I was starting to get the funny feeling now - Passing out was beginning to be inevitable. Finally, Kellie says, "one more round", and I got the strength to hold on. My breathing was heavy and drawn out. At last, I could settle down and rest.
     The class was an hour and fifteen minutes long. 5 more and I would have passed out, I'm almost sure of it. We went into the beloved child's pose, and came back to our heart space. All of the people say some words in a different language, and then we all did the "stereotypical" ooohhhmmmmmm, and finish.
     All throughout the class, Kellie always kept people positive, and she spoke with a calm voice. She would come by and help people if they needed it, and if they were doing well, she let them know. She has a powerful personality, but not in the way people rule others, but in the way people stand by each other. She will pick you up if you fall, and she will give you that extra strength to hold on. The world needs more people like her, it surely would be a better place & a happier place. Even after the class was over, she came to me and told me I did very well for my first time, and offered me extra advice. She wasn't condescending or even sugar coating that I did bad - she was sincere about everything she said.

     I will most definitely do this again, once I get the time of course. Afterwards, we both went into Ann Arbor and got Gelato. It was magical, because we both have gone to Italy in the past year, and it tasted accurately to Italia. We both had a great time that day, and I can't wait to experience it all over again!

It's always good to try something new, even if it's your first and last time. Maybe it will better your health and understanding of the world, or give you a new perspective of the world around you. Always keep an open mind with what you do, and the reward will be always be happier in the end.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

Knowledge Is The Root, Happiness Is The Fruit

     I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days now, I've been getting ready to go back to school, and working on my own Nutrition research. In honor of Academia and of the universities we all go to, I'm going to post about how incredible attaining knowledge is. The saying goes, 'Knowledge is Power'; and that couldn't be any closer to the truth. Think about it, how we're able to do anything that we can is because we know how to. If you want to get out of bed, walk around, or exercise, is all because you know how to do it. So many people nowadays take knowledge for granted! I mean, how ignorant can people be? You literally do anything you want if you know how to. But that's why our world is a mystery, now isn't it? Because we don't know everything, and it's human nature to find out everything we don't know, which results in a lifetime of mystery and exhaustion for attaining that knowledge.
     It's all the same with Nutrition. Nutrition has been important to people for thousands of years; because our body is only as good as what we put into it. Lately, however, laziness and self-loathing and greed has got in the way of all that. Which has resulted in epidemics and unhappiness. Everything we need is already on the planet on which we live, there's no need to 'make' anything new to help us have proper nutrition. We have 'superfoods', whole grains, water, fresh vegetables & fruits, lentils, nuts, & of course oxygen. We have everything already to live a happy, and healthy life. Best of all, it's one where we don't worry about health problems.
     The world is full of all the knowledge you need to ever do anything you want; especially, with the internet. We can read information on virtually anything we want, from anywhere in the world, in any language. That is so incredible. Everybody takes this all for granted, and doesn't put it to use! It makes me so freaking angry! This literally has virtually unlimited potential. Billions and billions, of pages, of information at our disposal - and most of it's even free. No matter what diet you wanted to look up, you could do it in seconds, and have full-scale review on it from a thousand different people. Or if you made up your own, and wanted to share it with others, you could make your own blog, of any sort, and share it with millions instantly - like I'm doing now.
     My favorite metaphor I came up with, is to think of knowledge being the root, and happiness ending up being your fruit. knowledge is the seed you plant, happiness is the fruit you pick.

I will be done ranting there, and in conclusion, I will share with you some of my recipes for smoothies and food.

4-Berry Smoothie

~ half the seeds of 1 Pomegranate

~ 2/3 of light vanilla yogurt (32oz)

~ Guessable sugar (3-5 Tbsp)

~ Cup of Milk (Guessable)

~ .83 lbs of Berry Explosion bag

Pumpkin Shake

~ 2 scoops vanilla icecream

~ 3 scoops Pumpkin Icecream

~ teaspoon of cinnamon

~ 1/2 tsp of nutmeg

~ cup of milk

~ 5 icecubes

Topped with:

~ 2 big & 1 small mint leaves

~ sprinkled cinnamon

Mediterranean Stir-Fry

~ Green bell peppers

~ Yellow bell peppers

~ Orange bell peppers

~ 1 sq Italian seasoning butter

~ Garlic Salt

~ Flax seed powder sprinkled

~ Tbsp Honey

~ Chicken Cubes

~ Green Onion scallions

~ 1 carrot

~ Potatoes

~ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

~ Tomatoes diced, add at end

Chicken & Baked Potato

~ 1 Chicken breast

Sauteed:

~ Green onion scallion

~ Snap peas

~ Green bell pepper

~ Extra virgin olive oil

~ Garlic salt

Potato wrapped in tin foil

Halved-open

~ Butter

~ Garlic Salt

~ Basil leaves or Parsley

Sprinkled with one lemon slice

All of these pictures correspond to each recipe. As you can see my two friends I made the stirfry for, really enjoyed it!

Remember, Knowledge is the seed you plant, happiness is the fruit you pick. Go out,and reap what you sow. Knowledge is absolutely everywhere, and not a bit of it will hurt you. Be educated in what you love and about the people around you, and you will be forever grateful for it.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

Mission: Recovery

  As I'm in the middle of recovering from the fun and eventful night last night, I will first say HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!! How exciting! Every New Year is like a fresh start, each time. You have yet another chance to do better things than the year before. Rather it be doing charity work, dressing more sophisticated, focusing on academics harder, or more importantly, eating healthier. This is a fresh and clean slate to be a better you! This, of course, is where 'New Year's Resolutions' come in; and the hardest part is sticking to them, but you can do it if you put your mind to it! Don't give up because you slip up once, just get right back on track! I have faith in all of you!
     Now since it's a little after 3:30pm, I got up an hour ago, and I feel beyond exhausted; like, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.. I decided to make something about recovering from these wild nights you may have in the future. You know, so you don't have to feel like death the morning after. Sound helpful? Okay, lets go.

     I'll give you a little background about me first. I'm 20 years old, my birthday is August 31st, and up until the July right before my birthday, I never drank at all (besides our family traditions, twice a year of a shot). I saw what alcohol did to people, the decisions they made, and the bad situations (usually) that they would get themselves in; so, I said I don't want to do that. I still hung out with people that drank, and went to parties still, I just didn't drink myself. Once more, I'm in a fraternity too, so that made people even more baffled. Nevertheless, I stood my ground, and said no to people that offered me any - and they respected that. 

Now, from June 18th - July 15th, I studied abroad in Italy. It was a beyond amazing time! I could go on and on about it! But more crucially to this, I went on a Tuscany Wine Tour. We went to various wineries in Tuscany, tasted different cheeses, meats, and, yup you guessed it, wine. You see, in Italia, drinking isn't like it is here. It's much more calm, people can control themselves, and more importantly, they don't drink just because. They're drinking with their culture - it represents family time, exchanging stories, and social gathering. This opened up my eyes to the whole concept, and has hanged my ways about drinking thus.

NOW FOR THE RECOVERY

• Through my first times of drinking, I've found that I know when to stop, and I can control my alcohol intake. I've also found that my Nutrition instincts kick in very quickly when I get near my point - A.K.A PSR (Point of Safe Return). When that point gets near, I start drinking lots of water. The morning after, I wake up fine, no headaches, no tiredness (from the alcohol) - it's amazing! I predict that drinking water before going to bed circulates the fluids in your body, so the junk isn't just sitting still overnight. The water starts refreshing your body through the night, so you wake up much better than you would otherwise.
• From this point on, you're going to want to AVOID  junk foods at all costs. You don't want to add to your already existing aches and problems. Eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables - the nutrients in them will do wonders, and you'll start feeling better exponentially. There are antioxidants (yup, those again) that will take care of all the toxins you've absorbed, along with the protein that will help your body recover as well. Stay AWAY  from the processed foods - pizza, chips, etc. Again, adding to the problem
• Lets say you get absolutely plastered, like many Americans did last night, and you're dying this morning. If you didn't drink water the night before, start being responsible now, and drink some before you consume anything else; it will flush out what's been sitting in your body.
• Something you can keep in mind while drinking, is to keep an eye on how much you drink in an hour. Typically, a shot or one beer per hour is ideal. However, I know much better than this, and I'm well aware that people won't abide by this rule perfectly; I'm not naive nor foolish. I'm just saying to realize how much you're drinking, and realize to slow down if you need to. That's part of self-control, and being mature about what you're partaking in.
• Something that you can do to make your body feel better is taking a hot bath. Baths are probably the 8th wonder of the world. They are so good for everything! They relax your muscles, calm your mind, and helps you focus, among other things. You can add essential oils or herbs to your bath to have even more enriching effects.
• I've talked about Vitamin Waters before for colds.. well, I don't know this from experience, but more than one person has told me that they also work for hangovers. I hear the same two (XXX and Recovery) work the best.
• A smart choice also might be to just lay low for the day, and not do anything too strenuous. Your body is working on processing the alcohol and any other toxins you consumed, don't make it's job even harder. Extra work isn't going to be extra help.
• Drinking tea is going to give your body various nutrients that will help you recover that much faster. It has antioxidants, calming effects, and it's warm as well.

  I hope these quick tips helped you guys. Follow them, and your recovery will be that much faster. I'm currently fighting myself to not go to the gym today, since it was closed yesterday. It's going to be tough. I hope you all had a great ending to your year & an amazing to start to your new one - I wish you all the best in your New Year!

 

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

Labels, Labels, Labels

     One of the most common aspects you hear about being health conscious, is reading the labels on what you're eating. And if you're the casual American, you'll think "Egh, I don't really want to" or "I don't care to" or you plain just don't do it because it's a chore to you, or your lack of interest on the subject. Everybody knows this feeling I'm talking about; it's not one I can explain in words well. Labels though, why are people telling you all the time to read them all? Well, for one, it's on your food, the stuff you eat and consume. I mean, that's a pretty good reason right? Well, that's a very baseline reason - the common sense reason, if you will. There are more serious reasons that you should be aware of; like the one's that they would rather you not to know. Do I have your attention yet?

     Companies are forced by the FDA to provide labels about what's in their products. For example, when you eat cereal, you can look on the side of the box and look at the ingredients of the cereal. These ingredients are put in descending order of how much of that ingredient is in that product. If it's the first ingredient, then it's the most abundant ingredient and vice versa for the last ingredient. A lot of times, when people try and be 'health conscious', they'll look at the ingredients and won't be able to pronounce or know what a lot of them are; so they drop the subject and continue consuming it. That's where a lot of people go wrong! Don't people realize, that if you can't pronounce or are knowledgeable about what they're reading, it should send up red flags?! Or at least make you research what that item is. This should concern people to a high degree. Some people figure it's above what they should know, so they don't worry about it. That's not true, you should always know what you're consuming, or at least have an idea.

     These foreign items you can't read are more than likely Genetically Modified or commonly known as GMO's. The original, natural food has been tampered with in some way; maybe added to, taken from, or has chemicals in it. One of the most common chemicals now, that's in absolutely everything is MSG, or Monosodium Glutamate. Another is Aspartame, that's in my mother's beloved Diet Pop. Chemicals like these are extremely hazardous and toxic to your body, and should be cautioned. Personally, they should be banned. They have no benefits to them, and do nothing but harm your body in a multitude of ways (In which I will cover in their own posts).

     Companies definitely have "tricks of the Trade" however, and they can make their food seem harmless. One of these is the distribution of sugar between the ingredients. Sugar has a million different names, and tons of different compositions. A few are Sucrose (Table Sugar), Fructose (Fruit/Honey), and Dextrose (Corn Sugar/Grape Sugar). Some ingredients are High Fructose Corn Syrup, Brown Sugar, Corn Syrup, Refined Cane Sugar, Saccharine, Aspartame, to name just a few. Companies will add ingredients that have all have sugar in them; so "Sugar" isn't the first one on the ingredient label. A lot of times, they will put exotic or 'healthy' extracts, so they can put it on the face label and make their product seem beneficial to you. The truth is these are at the end of the list, meaning they have little to none of the ingredient. You're not going to benefit even a little bit from such a minuscule amount. For examples, Tocopherols, or Vitamin E, which is known to be powerful antioxidant is added to a lot of things. The front of the box will say "With Powerful antioxidants!" and people will flock to it, not knowing it's just a ploy. These 'better foods' are like a padding for the real hurt that's included in your morning breakfast. Companies will also 'hide' the bad ingredients, most of the time because people are uneducated about what they are. Nobody's going to see "Monosodium Glutamate" and think "Holy crap! I'm not going to eat this!!", they're going to say it's another chemical put in, and think nothing of it.

     A lot of chemicals put into food are preservatives, dyes, and hormones that are lethally toxic to your health. If people left the food alone, and in it's natural form, we wouldn't have to do anything to it, and we would get all the nutrients we need. On top of that, we wouldn't have all the horrible side-effects, health problems, and epidemics that exist now. Plus once more, eating right actually cures a lot of things. Why don't we do this? Because companies like Monsanto want to keep producing the addictive products that people consume daily, and making that cha-ching. People like them are taking the 'American Dream' and abusing it to the point where it shoves people in the ground. They are the makers of the dreaded "Aspartame" that's in Diet Pops and other items as a synthetic sweetener. All of these different chemicals and synthetic materials are incredibly toxic and cause such serious effects on your body. I could go on for years about how bad these chemicals and fake nutrients are! It really grinds my health nut gears.

   
     In future posts, I will explain these different chemicals, items on the labels like, Trans fats and Monounsaturated fats for example. I don't want to cram everything into one post, that's pointless, and my followers (if I have any) won't get anything from it.

     Read the labels that's on the food you consume, be educated about what you're reading,  and be aware of what is really going on in the world. Not everyone is out to do good, for everyone's benefit. Greed is a powerful force, and one that is hard to overcome. Don't be fooled by another's greed, spoil their mission, and make decisions for your own behalf. Don't be a sheep that follows the wolves, be a wolf that follows it's instincts.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

Plants Eating... Plants?

     I'm sure that everyone is tiresome of my life events, so I'm going to post something actually useful. I am a person that loves Nutrition, Biology, & Chemistry. Naturally, you would presume that I would demonstrate that in my life in some way. I have pets, a fish tank, made a Nutrition Organization, and I also love to raise plants; of all types. I love to grow anything that provides benefit; fruits, vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants. It's awesome to see plants germinate, grow, and the yielding of maturation. It's such a great feeling when you raise something and it provides something free, that you don't have to buy. It kind of sounds silly, but puts such a smile on my face.
     With that being said, I hate to waste food. When I cook eggs, I keep the eggshells; when I eat bananas, I keep the peels; when I eat bell peppers, I keep the stems and cores. I chop everything up, and put them all in the soil. However, recently, I had a lot of vegetables & other things in the fridge, and we also had a terrible ice storm that took out our power for three days. You all can imagine that everything in it went bad or at least was not good enough to eat. I took all this stuff tonight, and put it in my Ninja Blender (which is absolutely amazing, by the way!!) and basically made a 'Super Food' type paste for my plants. Think about it for a second.. there are still nutrients in all of these vegetables, the food just doesn't taste good enough for you to eat. Most people would just throw it away, but it can be put to such good use for your other plants! Why not provide your plants with a grand amount of nutrients?? It's basically liquid compost. not only do I want myself, and others to have great nutrition, I also want the live organisms I take care of to live perfect nutrition too.
     This was the first time I've ever made a paste before, but it worked out very well and I was very satisfied with it! With everything I put it in it, I ended up making about 64 ounces, or about 8 glasses. I poured it around the soil of all my plants and stirred it in.

How to compile easy food scraps:

• Keep banana peels
• Keep Peppers cores and stems
• Keep eggshells
• Keep older food
• Keep basic table scraps (Nothing mixed in)

How to store:

• Keep them in a plastic bag
• Put them all in one place
• Make sure it's covered because fruit flies will gather
• Outside if you'd like

.

     All organisms should get the best nutrition, no matter where they lie on the totem pole in life; and nothing that can be consumed or used should be wasted. I will always do everything I can to accomplish these two things, and empower & educate others to do the same.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

The Christmas Day Adventure

     Today is CHRISTMAS. Woop Woop! Who doesn't love Christmas?! It's one of the greatest holidays of the year! People exchange gifts, make lots of food, and hang out with their family. People get new things, and are excited about extra money maybe. You exchange stories with your family, and have lots of laughs. It's definitely a great day all the way around!
     Every year, we usually have it at my house, however, this year it was at my grandparents house. Mind you, my grandparents house is two hours away in Harrison. THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. NO wifi, middle of nowhere, NO tv; it's a horrid place. My cousin, Brent suggested that we drive together, and I was like, okay that's acceptable. We started by driving through a snow storm. Mind you, I hate driving in the winter at any time, because I had two close calls last year. Honestly, I'm very surprised I'm still alive to this day. I boldly accepted the challenge, and started driving. Of course, a blizzard started as soon as we started out. We were talking along the way, so it made it a little bit better. We eventually got there, after sitting for two hours and being nervous. The rest of my family got there, and we started conversating; the obnoxious laughing started; the inappropriate stories and comments; you know, the usual family time. We then proceeded to give out gifts. We hand out gifts for particular people, then we play the game where we pick a number, pick a gift from the pile. We used to play where you can steal another person's gift, but that got too cut-throat in mi familia, so now we voluntarily trade if we want to.
     I ended up getting a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card. Most of the gifts were gift cards or money, because we don't want anyone to be unsatisfied. Side note, my cousin also brought his puppy, and it's the coolest dog ever. Anyways, next was dinner. There was all the usuals, ham, potatoes, etc. It's great, and a home-cooked meal. Gotta love it. This kind of sounds like a repeat from my last post, but come on... it's Christmas day! We sat down, and exchanged stories and comments once more, and finally, I set the tone, and started to get up to leave. You see, how our family works, is when one person sets the tone to leave, the rest follow. We say our goodbyes, and now we're on the road againnn. The way back was a lot easier. At first we hit another storm, but after we got passed it, the roads were clear. We talked a lot more on the way back, and it was great actually. I finally dropped him off, and said my goodbyes to my uncles and cousins, and drive home. I am so incredibly tired from the whole day and from driving a 4 hour roundtrip. It was nice to see family though, and to spend time with them.

     I know this one isn't long, or maybe it's even bland, but I had to write about Christmas day, on Christmas day. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas day, and spent time with family, and that their Christmas was everything they wanted it to be.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian

The Christmas Spirit

     Tonight is Christmas Eve; and this is the time of year that everyone experiences the time of joy, the hustle & bustle of last-minute Christmas shopping, and the Christmas Spirit. This is the time of year that family time is front page news, and to the forefront of everyone's priorities. Gathering around the table, your whole family, and a warm, home-cooked meal. The landscape is shimmering with beauty from the snow falling upon the trees, and the bitter cold eats away our bodily warmth - A gift, but a curse Winter is. Christmas cheer is in the air from all the attitudes of giving to others, giving people the feeling of satisfaction of their souls. Christmas music is on in every department store, and Christmas movies are on every channel. Who doesn't love "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", or my personal favorite song, "Carol of the Bells"? A lot of people love Christmas because of the spirit it brings, the attitude that falls upon the crowd, and for everything it represents. Many people love to give, like myself, to other people because they love to see the smile on their face or the happiness it brings them.
     Tonight, my mother, sister & her boyfriend went to my mother's boyfriend's house to spend Christmas Eve. Her boyfriend's two kids (daughter and son) were also there. It was a first meet for most of us, but it ended being quite a fun time. We sat around talking to each other at first, breaking the ice a little bit; which for me is not hard. I don't mind talking to anyone, even if I had just met them; I actually enjoy it. We joked around, talked about random things, a little about life - it was grand really. My mom and her boyfriend had been working with the dinner for a while now. Then finally, dinner had been served. It was excellent, and it came with my favorite thing - mashed potatoes. I absolutely love them! We also had Hawaiin rolls, the Honey Spiral Ham, cream corn, and greenbean casserole. For dessert, we had my favorite, and one of my mom's specialty, Oreo Cheesecake Pie. It was all delicious. On top of everything, I was drinking Pink Moscato. I love that Moscato. However, the brand of this wine was Barefoot, which isn't the highest quality, but cheap. It tasted like sparkling juice. It wasn't bad tasting, it just didn't feel like wine. I had quite a few glasses.
     After dinner, we played a game relative to Apples to Apples, but this game is called Cards Against Humanity. It's basically the rated R version of Apples to Apples. It can be a very offensive, dirty, and hilarious game. It's not for the easily offended,but it's my kind of game. It's up to my level, and can keep up to my face. We all had a very hysterical time; laughing so hard, we'll get abs the next morning; poking jokes at each other; and going with the adventure of the night. Everything was such a fun time, with fun people, and with family. After we finally called it for the game, we opened presents. Everyone got at least, if not two. My mother is a very generous soul, as she bought most of the presents handed out. I received a new scarf and dress shirt. I actually have my scarf on, while writing this.
     Now, about 6 years ago now, I made a tradition for our family, an Irish tradition. Your family gathers around the table and you fill up a shot glass, usually with Captain Morgan for us. Then I say 3 words in Gaelic, the Irish language - Love, Friendship, & Loyalty. They are the meanings of the Irish Claddagh ring. The three Gaelic words are Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas. Not everyone did the shot, but it still was achieved. After that, our night was ending fairly quickly, wrapping up on a good note. We said our goodbyes, and everyone ended up having a fantastic time. 
     As you become an adult, Christmas gets less & less magical it seems. Adult life takes over; commitments, meetings, jobs, and obligations. It just comes with the territory I suppose, no matter how sad it may seem. However, this night made some of the magic come back, with the family time & the time of giving. Some of the cheer has returned, and my Christmas spirit is flourishing back as well. I'm glad that I got to see my family so happy tonight, and full of laughter. It was a great night, and I'm sure many more are to come.

     Spend all the time you can with your family, because you don't know what might happen next. Give to everyone you can, because you don't know who might need it. Most of all, love the people close to you, because you will see all the happiness that embraces them.

Sincerely,

A Dreaming Dietitian