So, upon request, she has shared her recipe with me, and now with all of you!

Ingredients:

Pulse the lentils in a food processor, add the rest of the ingredients. Serve in gluten free or corn tortillas, with chopped lettuce, tomato, avocado and any other toppings of your choice!

Normally I’d have some food before a strength workout with Jess, for some reason on Monday all I had was a rice cake with almond butter, a few hours earlier. BIG mistake! By the time we got through the first set I was feeling dizzy and really low on energy. As Jess would describe it: I was hitting a wall. We were unable to complete the third set of the last strength exercise and ended about 15 minutes early. I needed food ASAP.

During my session on Monday we went over my goals, and Jess let me know that I had to be consistent with the 6 days a week workout in order to see the results I want. I just need to maintain a balance with my work schedule, so Jess suggested at the beginning of every week I pick which day I want off and stick to my workouts on the other days. I have to text her after each workout to be accountable. I’m continuing to stay focused and learning to create balance.

So I want to elaborate on it, so that everyone really understands what this means. Whether you know it or not, there is a constant communication between your wellness and your brain. Your body is always telling you what it needs – either by hunger pangs, headaches, bounding energy, complete exhaustion, hive breakouts, or maybe even just some change in its typical routine that throws you off a little bit. Maybe your head is feeling foggier than usual, or your skin is drier than usual. It’s important to check in with yourself regularly and ask yourself how your wellness, as a complete package, is doing. Are you doing enough – are you maybe even doing too much?

borrowed from bengreenfieldfitness.com

I was speaking to another health expert friend of mine this morning, and we were discussing how some days, the body just refuses to go. Occasionally, even those of us who work in this field of physical activity, simply have to put the brakes on and be a little lazy. Everything in the universe exists in balance, and if you pay attention, your body will warn you when you are tipping the scale (figuratively) one way or the other.

Sometimes when I’m being too healthy for too many days (yes, I’m serious), by body wants to mess it up a little. And certainly, if it’s gone the other way, the body says “get extra sleep and eat more spinach!”

Now, my cheeky 87 year-old client replied with “ice cream” when I told him to listen to his body – but hey, occasionally that might be just the answer! Maybe it’s high time for a little indulgence.
The trick is to check in with how you’re feeling about your life and your current routine and its ratios of good vs. bad, healthy vs. too-indulgent or energetic vs. lazy. You should be feeling energetic most of the time, and if you’re not, it’s time to take a look at sleep patterns, nutrition and your amount of physical activity.

The message here is to open up the communication. No, you don’t have to actually ask yourself questions out loud, but throughout your week, check in and see how you’re feeling on a wellness front. It’s never too late to address obstacles and/or change gears when necessary.

As they say, check in or check out! If you don’t want to waste a ton of time feeling sub-par, start checking in and making small changes as you go. As I’ve said many times, even the smallest progressions are still progress. The big picture is made up of a million little accomplishments and efforts, so keep adding to the mosaic of your greater wellness.

Less than 2 months until our wedding! I had gone for a dress fitting 2 months ago when the lady told me that the next time I went in would be the last time before she takes it in. She said I could not lose any more weight after that fitting, since she can only take the dress in once. This fitting was scheduled for next week, however I knew I’d end up losing more so I changed it for the end of May. The challenge after that fitting will be to maintain my weight and not lose more than 5 lbs. The last thing I want is my dress feeling loose on me. So Jess has helped me to come up with a workout and diet plan to help maintain my weight. I’m confident that it will look great!

This past week I have been focusing on finding healthy recipes that are quick and easy. I’ve been having a hard time balancing my schedule with cooking healthy recipes. I often find that I run out of time. So my go-to recipes are usually salads or egg white omelettes. Recently, I found organic veggie burgers that both my fiancé and I really like. They were fast to make, and all natural! Another easy recipe I’ve been making lately is salmon with steamed vegetables like green beans and broccoli. With the recent health challenge that I’ve entered at work, my colleagues and I have decided to exchange recipes, so I’m hoping that this will help add variety to the things I make now.

I was taking a friend to Fresh the other night and Jess suggested I try their Ace of Kales Salad. It was d-lish! It was full of vegetables and tempeh bacon — so filling! My friend who came with me is a huge meat lover and was shocked that I suggested Fresh for dinner. I’m glad he was open to trying it, because he couldn’t believe his black bean burrito didn’t have meat in it! I love this place!

I work at Sick Kids and for the month of May our hospital is participating in an Inter-Hospital Health Challenge. Did I sign up? You bet I did! Along with my other Child Life Specialist colleagues, we have created two teams and are determined to win! Every day we log in and track the amount of minutes we’ve been active, the number of veggies and fruits we’ve eaten, and the amounts of water we’ve consumed. What I found interesting was that we’re also tracking the amount of minutes we spend de-stressing. Jess always reminds me to balance everything and to remember to find time to relax. This has been a challenge for me. With my work schedule and planning for the wedding, I’m having a hard time doing this. So, since entering this challenge, I am challenging myself to do something every day, even if it is 10 minutes to focus on myself and relax my mind.

Wednesday I went for a jog along the lakeshore and decided to take a 10 minute break on the bench and enjoy the weather in silence. It was perfect and exactly what I needed!

After having missed a few days of working out my body felt like it was going through a withdrawal. I wanted to hit the gym right away. Monday night’s workout hit the spot and now I’m back into it!

I’ve continued my search for great vegan and vegetarian places, this past week I managed to check out a place called Vegetarian Haven, it was delicious! They have a variety of choices that would meet everyone’s taste. They have many gluten free and dairy free options – they even have tofu ice cream!!

To some people, certain foods will increase inflammation (dairy, gluten), and to some people, simply eating too much in one sitting repeatedly leads to chronic issues of inflammation. Inflammation itself leads to MORE inflammation and can potentially lead to serious illness such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease and alzheimers (to name a few).

So, without writing an encyclopedia on the matter which is entirely possible, please do bear these things in mind and consider that it is important to discover what foods and habits your body may be reacting negatively to, first. Fixing things at the source is the first step. After that, bear in mind that the following foods can help to reduce inflammation’s self-perpetuating effects – although, you really do need to find out what works best for YOU.

Foods that help with problems of inflammation

Green Tea
Berries (all)
Salmon – wild fatty fish
Ginger
Turmeric
Garlic
Red Cabbage
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale
Brussel Sprouts
Organic, grass-fed meats
Kelp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sweet Potato

Foods that worsen inflammation

There are the obvious assailants such as processed foods, sugar and trans fats – and then, bear in mind these others.

Soy / corn-fed meats
Processed Meat
Dairy
Alcohol
Refined Grains
Food additives
White potatoes
Peppers
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Gluten
Shellfish

Articles that I adored reading while writing this post (and that you should check out as well):

The Big Carrot: Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Medical News Today: Inflammation
Mark’s Daily Apple: Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Chicago Now: Best and Worst Foods for Inflammation

When choosing berries, choose organic to reduce toxicity.