Certain people, it seems, are blessed with an ease of living. Life is gentle on them, and they are gentle towards life. The ability to go with the flow, to take things in stride, and to accept life as it is, is ingrained in some, but for others it is something that must be cultivated. Everyone is different, but when we transfer our resistance to acceptance, and turn fear into faith, we have an opportunity to recalibrate the direction of our existence.
The way is through simplicity.
By simplifying, we minimize our need to control and place great faith in the universal power that holds planets and stars in place, and supports all life on earth. Of course, this isn’t the easiest thing to do, but we can beginn to cultivate simplicity through our everyday actions and beliefs.
1. Practice forgiveness
Forgiveness is the ability to let go of emotions that do not serve us to make space for thoughts and experiences that do. When we hold on to negative emotions about the past we prevent exceptional things from happening in the present. Commit to letting go of hurtful things in the past. It takes time, but once you free yourself from the grip of the past you will be able to flourish in the present.
2. Simplify your foods
Reading nutrition labels, counting calories, and trying to interpret ingredient lists takes away from the true purpose of eating. Food is there to nourish our bodies, minds and souls. We receive the properties of that which we put in our bodies. Thus, when we eat food that is alive and thriving, our entire being thrives. Make the majority of what you eat come straight from the ground. It’s as simple as that. A plant based diet means eating things that will nurture your body and your life, and nourishing your being with the vibrance of the earth.
3. Let go of that which does not serve you
Bad TV. Gossip magazines. People who make you doubt yourself. Food that makes you feel guilty. All of these things create negative energy in your life and complicate your existence. Everything you do, read, see and interact with should have an essence of love. That is not to say that difficult circumstances should be avoided, or that life should be peachy at all times, but anything you choose to make part of your life should serve your higher purpose of peace and wellbeing.
4. Give what you wish to receive
That which you do not give you will not receive. Where are you holding back in life? What are you wanting that’s not coming to you? Try showing it to everyone, to loved ones, friends, grocery store attendants and the postman. Once you share the love and generosity you desire, without exception it will come flooding into your life.
It’s a journey to practice these principles at all times, but by holding them in our mind’s eye we can work towards a more peaceful, meaningful and happier existence.
This is one of my favorite smoothies to have in the mornings or as a post-workout snack. It’s full of protein and super energizing. Try some or all of the superfood additions, they’ll take this smoothie to a whole new level and will provide you with tons of macro and micro nutrients necessary for your radiant body and mind.
Big handful Kale (I like dino/black kale)
8 oz Rice milk (or any low sugar non-dairy milk that you enjoy)
6 pineapple squares (I like to get pre-cut from Whole Foods)
1 banana
1 tbsp. nut butter (I love raw almond butter)
½ C. ice
Optional Superfood Additions
For protein: 1 tbsp hemp seeds
For omegas and metabolism health: 1 tbsp coconut oil
We live in a time of constant business. We rush from the coffee shop to work to yoga to happy hour to committee meetings on a daily basis, and repeat five to seven days a week. Living such intense lives requires that we fuel ourselves with only the best so that we can balance and maintain our demanding routines. Certain brands who’ve recognized this have developed products aimed to fulfill the needs of our society. These products will fill your tummy but don’t typically nourish your mind and body, and tend to be full of sugars and unhealthy additives. Here are some tips on preparing healthy options in the fastest and most efficient way possible, so that you won’t have to sacrifice when it comes to taking care of yourself along with your busy schedule.
1. Start your day off strong
Because you’ve been fasting for the last 5-8 hours, mornings are a great opportunity to nourish yourself with clean, whole foods. Fruit and nuts for breakfast are an excellent source of protein, fiber, and vitamins, and help to jumpstart your metabolism. Before you go to bed put a couple of peaches, some cherries, chopped pineapple or whatever you enjoy in a Tupperware, with a bag of mixed nuts and cranberries in your work bag. These are also great post-workout snacks and healthy afternoon treats. Being so easily transportable they’re great to keep on you at all times.
2. Stock your kitchen the right way
Keep whole grains like rice, quinoa and farro in the house that you can easily use as a base to build up with vegetables and lean protein. Keep a bag or two of frozen mixed veggies in the fridge for those nights when you just don’t have any fresh ones on hand. Use condiments that you enjoy. Whether it’s a ginger soy sauce or a great pesto you found at the farmer’s market, the right condiment can totally transform an otherwise dull meal. Know what you like and keep it on hand. Buy pre-cut (not canned) fruits at the grocery store like cantaloupe and mango so that you don’t have to fuss with cutting them yourself, and so they’re always available to snack on.
3. Cook once and eat twice
Make a point to cook at least a couple of meals at home a week, and make extra so that you can pack it up in a Tupperware the next day and take with you for lunch. If you have even more, you can change it a bit the following night and have a quick dinner that’s easy to heat up.
4. Shop for firm, crunchy vegetables
Buying veggies like peppers, carrots, onions, celery and cucumber is amazing because you can chop them all up right when you get home from the grocery and they’ll keep really nicely. When it’s time to prepare a meal you can just throw them in a pan and sauté them, mix them together in a salad, or have with hummus or any other dip. Find ones you enjoy and keep on hand for snacking or meals.
Being prepared is half the battle when it comes to eating well and nourishing your body. By making it a point to shop mindfully and think ahead when it comes to eating and snacking throughout your week you’ll have more energy, stop eating junk that leads to weight gain and other health issues, and will help you develop healthy and lasting habits.
Often times when I tell people I do nutritional consulting they launch into their wonderful plans for healthy living, but how they’ve never actually been able to make any of them happen. This issue is all too common. We all know what we need to do to be healthy – drink water, eat more greens, go to bed at a reasonable hour – but actually doing it can be so difficult! The problem is that so many of us feel that we have to wait until the right moment to get into a healthy routine. Unfortunately, when the time comes around to actually make those healthy changes we overload ourselves with way too many tasks, which sets us up for failure. We’ve got the right intentions, but no structure to support the actual achievement of those goals. The trick is focusing on one goal at a time so that eventually – typically after 30 days of consistency – the ‘healthy action’ stops feeling foreign and becomes routine. Here are some tips to turn those nice ideas into concrete healthy habits.
1. Pick one thing at a time
Choose one thing you want to change and start today. It’s much easier to implement a habit when you’re not trying to juggle multiple new things at once. Choose what you’d like to change, and plan to start today.
2. Remember your motivation
Whether it’s losing weight, sleeping better, having more energy, or improving your relationships, what motivates us is key to change. To keep in touch with your motivation, post reminders in your personal space, make a Pintrest board, or simply write down an affirmation each morning to help you stay focused.
3. Find some accountability
Giving up on something feels so much worse when you have to tell someone about it. Share your goal with a friend, partner or parent, and have them check in with you about it every so often. Knowing that someone else is (gently) keeping tabs on you gives you a much higher likelihood that you will stick to your plan. Hey, you might even inspire them to make changes of their own!
4. Get a buddy
Be the friend who inspires, and extend your good intentions out to others. Getting someone else on board creates a fun challenge for both of you. See who can cut out dairy for the longest. Start going to spin class instead of happy hour. Get up at 7 AM on a Saturday to hike Temescal. Having a partner can make it a lot more fun and can get you to go way beyond your initial expectations of yourself.
5. Do things incrementally
Unless you have the most extreme will power on the planet, trying to cut out sugar, gluten, and dairy all at the same time will be the biggest mishap of your life. Pick one thing you want to address and give yourself limits. If you’re trying to do less meat, try meatless Mondays. Then extend it to Tuesdays and so forth. If you want to cut down on sugar, commit to not eating refined sugar until 2 PM every day. Creating structure will help you know that you still have those indulgences to look forward to, but will prevent you from eating them as much as you would otherwise.
Once you tap into your capacity for healthy change, there’s no stopping you. Commit to one thing today, use these tools, and you’ll see positive shifts in all areas of your life.
It would seem that many of us are becoming old and tired very quickly. I’ve begun to notice that most people, when asked how they’re doing, respond with a sigh, ‘I’m ok, pretty tired.’ This normally begins in the early twenties and carries on into adulthood – unless we do something about it.
Most of us were born into perfect, healthy bodies. It is what we do to them over time that causes us to be tired, weak, and exhausted. Restless nights, cranky mornings, and afternoon crashes tend to be results of our own doing.
Here are some small changes you can make to brighten your days and get your energy flowing once again.
1. Start your day of with hot water and lemon, and three minutes of meditation
When you wake up in the mornings you’ve been fasting for the last five to eight hours. This is the perfect opportunity for a mini-cleanse to flush toxins from your body and hydrate your system.
Lemons are high in vitamin C which helps boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals associated with aging and disease, wrinkles and acne. Drinking hot water with lemon hydrates the lymph system responsible for secreting necessary hormones that regulate energy levels, hunger, metabolism, sleep and much more. It’s easy to do and will brighten up your body immediately!
I know, I know, meditation is for people who eat raw food and play hacky sack, BUT, many studies show that even a few minutes of meditation can generate happiness, improve concentration, maintain optimum blood pressure and benefits many other functions of the body. Starting in the morning, take three minutes to sit and calm the mind. For some simple tips on meditation: http://ow.ly/hEq8y. Beginning your day with meditation will activate your brain and flush obtrusive thoughts that obstruct clear thinking.
2. Confine snacking to nuts, fruit and other whole foods; AVOID refined sugars and carbohydrates
When you eat refined carbs and sugars your body works overtime trying to process the food you’ve just eaten. The body digests and converts food into sugar, and the more refined the food is the faster the conversion. The pancreas then begins to rapidly pump insulin to move sugar into the cells and store them as fat. This process is what creates the sugar highs and sugar crashes that most of us feel throughout the day when snacking on overly processed, overly refined products.
Not only do refined sugars and carbohydrates widen your waistline, they harm your brain by reducing production of chemicals that aid our memory, keep us alert, fight depression and anxiety, and improve our sleep. By switching your snacks to whole foods; walnuts, cranberries, grapes, hummus, and carrots provide an enormous benefit. Whole foods with a low glycemic load slow the conversion process, and the food is used as fuel instead of acting as an enemy.
Do yourself a favor and have small, tasty snacks with you at all times – at work, after the gym, out and about running errands. Changing your snacking style will absolutely increase your energy and reduce the unnecessary consumption of extra sugar helping prevent weight gain, bad moods, and poor concentration.
3. Cut down on meat
People tend to think that meat is a complete meal. While meat does contain a lot of protein, it lacks many essential vitamins and fats at the same time putting a huge strain on your digestive system.
Human being have long digestive tracts, as do all herbivores. Meat takes a very long time to pass through our systems. Converting meat takes a huge toll on our systems. Digestion is the most energy intensive process in our bodies, so eating meat once or twice or even three times a day takes a huge amount of energy that could be used elsewhere.
I understand that meat is a big part of a lot of peoples’ diets, so I suggest gently reducing your intake. Begin by eliminating meat on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If that feels good, take it out of another day, and so on.
Although meat does provide us with a good amount of protein, we tend to overestimate how much protein we really need. If you are eating a well-rounded plant based diet (this doesn’t necessarily mean vegetarian, just that your meals begin with plants) including hemp seeds, nuts, legumes, lentils, mushrooms and green veggies, you’ll surely get plenty of protein. Since plant foods are so quickly and easily digested, you’ll have significantly more energy.They also provide you with vitamin D, magnesium, iron, antioxidants, vitamin C and tons of other nutrients that are great for your energy, skin, hormones, mental clarity, metabolism and more.
4. Make sure every meal includes a protein, fat and a carb
A lot of times when we end a meal we don’t feel satisfied, so our focus turns to finishing with something sweet or just continually eating throughout the day. This feeling of dissatisfaction is largely due to not eating a complete meal. Doing your best to eat a carb, a protein and a fat at each meal will help ensure that you feel satisfied and energized afterwards, and won’t crave food until your actually hungry again.
When many of us hear the word ‘fat’ we get concerned about weight gain, but healthy fats are extremely important for heart health, brain function, metabolism, healthy skin, and the absorption of important vitamins like A, C, K, and D.
Trans fats or hydrogenated oils MUST be avoided. This fat is used to extend the shelf life of processed foods foods. is one molecule away from being plastic. It harms your body the moment you ingest it. It thickens your blood and scars your arteries. Be sure to read labels and avoid hydrogenated oils and trans fats at all costs!
Protein can be derived from seeds, nuts, legumes, and green veggies. Fats from animals tensd to be high in saturated fat so good options are fish, nuts, coconut oil, avocadoes, and olive oil. Quinoa, rice, buckwheat, barley, or oatmeal are excellent examples of low-glycemic carbohydrates.
Examples (P = protein, F = fat, C = carb):
Breakfast – Two eggs (p), an avocado (p & f) and a slice of rye or whole wheat bread (c)
Lunch – Green bean salad (c) with goat cheese crumbles (f & p), pine nuts (f) and a palm-size piece of chicken breast (p),
Dinner – Sautéed zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, and kale (p) with olive oil (f) and rice (c)
5. Know your sensitivities and allergies
A lot of people know that they have sensitivities to dairy and gluten, but continue to consume them. I understand that it can be tough to get off things that are staples of our diets, but continually eating foods that don’t agree with us sap our energy as our bodies work overtime trying to break down and digest the foods that they don’t have the enzymes to aid digestion of that particular food.
To become more aware of your sensitivities, pay attention to any foods that gives you a headache, stomachache, acid or indigestion. If you can’t cut them out altogether, do it slowly and mindfully, If you’re allergic to dairy, replace your cow milk with almond, rice, hemp, coconut, or soy milk (be careful with soy however as that can actually be very hard on the stomach). If gluten bothers you make your cereal with nuts and seeds in the mornings, switch to rice pasta (I love Tinkyada), and try a gluten free tortilla for a wrap at lunchtime.
Try some of the suggestions above to realize your full potential. You’ll have so much more energy and mental clarity to wake up early, get your work done efficiently, play with your kids, go out with friends, try new exercise programs, and have an all around better quality of life.
Olivia Janisch 
