Guess what?I’M ON HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Oh my gosh what a long friggen day it’s been. I kept myself UBER busy all day so I didn’t notice the time and managed to answer all of my emails, follow up with some things that don’t need to be followed up on until the new year, and just really tie up any loose ends I had out there and it was GREAT! Although even though after I left work at 5:05pm I still had emails coming in… it’s never ending really. Because my day was so busy I actually didn’t get to fit in a workout, I didn’t have a single break all day and actually ate my lunch in two parts about 1.5 hours apart and I’m actually fairly hungry right now because of it. I should probably eat soon.Oh my gosh I’m on vacation and it feels fantastic…. I can’t even describe this to you!Do you all have anything planned for the weekend? Are you traveling home for the holidays or hanging out until it gets closer to the big day? Tomorrow I’m planning on getting my butt to another hot yoga class downtown at one of our GoodLife locations. I think that the hot yoga at GoodLife is a bit hotter than the hot yoga I went to this week at the Chopra Yoga Center. The last time I did hot yoga at GoodLife I remember sweating out of places I didn’t know could sweat, my shins, in between my fingers and toes, the tops of my feet, it’s pretty crazy. So I’m going to go to do a little detox on my skin (my skin is acne prone and sweating really helps it out!) and start my holidays off on the right foot. Then I plan on spending at least three hours studying my holistic nutrition course! I’ve been really trying to spend more time on it lately and I don’t know if I’m doing much better but I’m getting close to taking my first test so that’s really exciting and I really want to get this course done by the end of my holidays! Wish me luck!Sunday is the day we’re taking the 2 hour drive to Wingham to see my family until Boxing Day, so we’ll probably just get up, get ready (hopefully I’ll be mostly packed by tomorrow night) pack up the last things that we’ll need and we’ll get on the road! I’m really excited to see my baby, my kitty Louie. I got him when I was living alone in London before C and I started dating. I got him when he was 6 weeks old from a family friend in Wingham who’s cat had a litter of kittens that they didn’t want to keep. This is how big he was when I first got him…
…. How could I not bring this little guy home??? I picked him out instantly, he was the only gray cat in the litter and he was soooo cuddly when I picked him up, he still is to this day. You can see his collar is too big for him in that picture… I had to make him wear it because it had a bell on it and it’s the only way I’d be able to hear where he was in my apartment, although every time I’d come home from work he’d have it off and unbuckled somehow (SO odd). This is how big he grew up to be…
…. But he’s still SO adorable and so cuddly and I love him. He’s about 3ish years old now and I love coming home to see him! My dad seems to get annoyed with him and my mom says she does but I secretly think she really loves him because every time I come home he’s all cuddled up on her lap and is just loving on her. Louie is also best friends with my parent’s 100lbs chocolate lab dog Jake. It’s an odd friendship but apparently I’m never allowed to have Louie back because breaking up the animals would be heartless…. So my family is going to keep him forever and ever!
Louie and Jake, napping together on the couch.
I haven’t talked about food in a while, or rather a specific food to teach you many great things about. I was sitting on the couch watching Ellen and really wasn’t planning on blogging tonight but I thought about what I had made for food this week and what I’m really loving but maybe other people aren’t because they don’t know the benefits! The first thing that came to my mind was brussels sprouts J. It’s no secret that I’m a lover of brussels sprouts, I boil them, I make brussels sprout chips, I cut them up and put them in stir fries, they’re really just good in most things! A lot of people hate brussels sprouts because they taste like cabbage, but I also happen to enjoy cabbage so maybe that’s why I like Brussels sprouts. So why should you start eating brussels sprouts?- They can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you steam them when cooking. The fiber in Brussels sprouts do a great job of binding with bile acids in the digestive tract when they’ve been steamed, which makes it easier to excrete and lower cholesterol.
- A recent study has shown that Brussels sprouts helps improve the stability of DNA inside our white blood cells after daily consumption of about 1.25 cups.
- 1 cup of raw Brussels sprouts contains 194% vitamin K, 124% vitamin C, 15% manganese, 13% folate, 13% fiber, 13% vitamin A, 10% potassium, and 10% vitamin B6 of our percentage of daily value.
Brussels sprouts are a large source of glucosinolates which are a huge part of the enzyme systems in our cells which are required for detoxification of cancer causing substances from the body. Brussels sprouts are rich in sulfur and the body’s detox system needs ample supplies of sulfur to work effectively. Our body’s detox system needs strong antioxidant support and Brussels sprouts are able to provide that support due to the high source of vitamin C, beta-carotene, manganese and vitamin E.- Antioxidant Support
Brussels sprouts are an important source of vitamin antioxidants which include vitamins A, C, E. Manganese is also a powerful antioxidant found in Brussels sprouts.- Anti-Inflammatory Support
Brussels sprouts can help us avoid chronic, excessive inflammation through a variety of ways. Vitamin K is important found in Brussels sprouts and is a direct regulator of inflammatory responses and we need enough of this vitamin to avoid excess inflammation. The omega-3 fatty acids in Brussels sprouts also help with anti-inflammation because omega-3 fatty acids are the building blocks for one of the body’s most effective families of anti-inflammatory message molecules.- There is also potentially promising research to examine the benefits of Brussels sprouts in treatments of Chron’s Disease, IBS, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes and ulcerative colitis. (source)SEEEE – they’re good for you! I’m off now though, I’m going to go whip up some Brussels sprouts now (hehe, just kidding) and sip some vino with my lovey! Anderson Cooper of course! JLet me know your plans for this weekend – I’m anxious to hear all of your exciting plans!Stay healthy,
xoxo
