So I have some good news and I have some bad news.
GOOD NEWS is that my second batch of books for school came in the mail today and I'm super excited!! So many neat books to add to my library once C and I move into an actual house where I can have a room full of books on book shelves and where I have my desk and my pretty trinkets and picture frames and my computer (I have big hopes of spending a lot of time in this "library/office" that doesn't exist yet).
BAD NEWS is that I'm much farther behind than I anticipated. I have 1.9 courses left to do before I hit up the ones that came in the mail today. SHIT! I guess my weekend has all of a sudden become 2 days of studying anatomy/physiology. Oh joy! Just kidding...
I realized today that I haven't had a rest day (as in ZERO exercise) since last Sunday, soooo 9 days ago. I've always been told "there's no time like the present" so today I decided to take a rest day. What the heck was I thinking? The day goes on a lot slower when you don't take a break. Good news was I had enough work to keep me occupied so I wasn't really ever bored. Bad news, I missed my workout! I enjoy that break during the day to just let my brain rest, I always come back rejuvenated and ready to take on the world. I could definitely tell an obvious difference in my attitude from when I don't work out to when I do. I guess that's why we're coming to realize that workplace wellness is SO important, and it just happens to be one of the key components of my job, so YAY to my job and how smart we are!
Me and three other ladies started our cleanse this week, and so far so good. I'm definitely noticing how hungry I am and how much faster I get hungry. Like right now I want to devour an entire pizza and I just ate lunch at 2pm and had a snack at 4. Ugh! No wonder I gained weight when I was a vegetarian. I was eating so much wheat and so much veggies to try and make up for the lack of bulk in my stomach and I just ended up packing on the pounds! I don't know if that's totally why, it might have been all the drinking and junk food (duh) but I'm sure it was a contributing factor. Anyways, I've been doing well! I've had a protein shake made from berries and coconut water and protein powder and flax seeds and hemp hearts for breakfast and have enjoyed them both. My snacks and lunches consist of raw veggies and fruit or a salad and some hard boiled eggs and chick peas. Last night I decided to make a batch of my homemade spicy hummus. Check it, it's SO good, everyone in the office today loved it!
Last night's meal!
Dinner #1 of veggie cleanse, a nice big salad!
Sarah's Spicy Hummus
Ingredients
1 can organic chick peas
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic (more or less depending on personal preference)
Your favorite hot sauce, as much or as little as you want
A few splashes of lemon juice
Directions
1. Blend it all together in a food processor or magic bullet or your version of either.
THE END!
Literally. Making hummus is one of the easiest things to do to spice up veggies and it's so much cheaper to make your own (and healthier) than to buy a package of it. I find I get WAY more out of my own recipe than I do when buying hummus. And let's face it, most of us probably have most of the ingredients in our cupboards/fridges so it shouldn't be that expensive to make. As long as all the ingredients are organic then it's a lot more healthy than store bought as well! I ate some for dinner last night with raw veggies, kale chips and two hard boiled eggs! I will probably have the same tonight because it was delish! As much as I miss eating meat, I could totally be a good vegetarian now, because I'm more knowledgable and could actually do it properly. Meh. Maybe someday :).
I haven't talked about a specific type of food and why it's good for us in a long time. I used to do it often, but for some reason I just kind of stopped! So tonight I'm going to start it up again! And because it's been about a week since I discovered my love for peppers, I thought tonight I would give them some love and tell you all why you should be eating them in your diet. I will be sticking to Red/Yellow/Orange peppers because I hear the green guys aren't sweet and I'm not about to endorse something I don't (think) I enjoy. :)
- Both sweet and hot peppers contain Vitamin C, Thiamine, Vitamin B6, Beta-Carotine and Folic Acid. They are also one of the vegetables that contains the ever so important phytochemicals which are antioxidants that help fight those cancer cells that may be lurking in your body. Red peppers contain more vitamins/minerals than green peppers, such as lycopene which is a beta-carotine that helps our produce fight against heart disease!
- Hot peppers can help boost the body's metabolism. We all know what that means right? WEIGHT LOSS! Yep! Hot peppers contain capsaicin which is what hot peppers are made from and is what helps our body burn calories!
- Are you a gardener? Hot peppers can be used as an insect repellent! Bet you didn't know that!
- Sweet peppers can help the body protect itself from sun damage and UVB rays. UVB rays are the rays that age the skin and causes burning. Sweet peppers contain capsiate which decreases UVB damage when applied topically to the skin!
- Both sweet and hot peppers have anti-inflammatory properties which have been used to help with arthritis (pain and inflammation).
(source)
After learning all of this information about peppers, I'm certain that my body was missing out on some serious love for a loooong time. So now that I've discovered I like peppers raw, and I like them stuffed, and coated in hummus, what other ways should I try peppers? I'd love any recommendations!! I'm thinking I'll probably put some in my gluten-free chicken noodle soup next week when I make it. Oooo, or maybe I should try a tomato/roasted red pepper soup!! Oh man, I'm having so much fun with peppers!! Let me know your thoughts!