Made it to Rapid City, SD

Hello from the road! I’m back traveling with Blake and this time, I get to bring Layla along. She’s such a good little traveler! She did not make one peep on either of our flights and she sat in her bag during our layover in Denver, Colorado.

Rewind back to Friday, when I was rushing around the house, trying to get everything packed for our trip. Packing when you don’t know exactly where you’ll be going or for how long you’ll be gone is not too easy. I was also trying to fit all of my belongings into one bag and not have it be over the 50 lb. limit. Once I got to my sister’s house and realized my bag was probably over 50 lbs. I started taking out unnecessary items, just to be safe. I’m happy to report that I ended up with a 46.5 lb. bag.

I knew that I would have a lack of healthy foods while on the road, so I made every effort to eat healthy and stay hydrated before I left. On Friday, the ToneItUp girls posted a great recipe on their Facebook and blog with chia seeds, water, a little agave and a squeeze of lime. It was the perfect drink to help me stay hydrated and refreshed before hitting the road.

Once I arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota on Saturday, I was exhausted from not being able to sleep the night before, waking up at 4:15 am and traveling all morning. I took a much needed shower and laid down in the hotel room for a few hours before Blake got back from work. Sunday morning, we were up at 5:45 am and on the road by 6:45. We have about a half hour drive to the State Park airport where the helicopter is sheltered overnight. From there, we drive about 45 minutes to where the fuel stop is located next to a lake. I actually drive near the National monument, Mount Rushmore. I’ve been trying to stop there on our way home at night, but it’s been too dark by the time we’re done. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a photo with Blake and Layla in front of the monument before we leave.

When I’m driving the fuel truck for Blake’s company, half of my day is spend driving to the different fueling locations, getting coffee and food for the workers and making sure that they have all the supplies that they need throughout the day. The other half of the time I can rest in the truck, go for walks or read my Kindle. Yesterday afternoon, Layla and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a stroll down the runway. There were no other airplanes or helicopters, so we were safe to walk right down the middle of it.

Now that I think of it, Layla has walked down many different runways during our adventures to different airports with Blake. We walked the Chena Marina runway in Fairbanks, Alaska a lot this past fall.

The runway was right next to a lake.

When we got back to the fuel truck after our walk, there were about four antelope hanging out outside of the airport. I probably could have gotten closer because they seemed so tame, but I wasn’t going to take a chance. Their coloring blended into the grass really well.

Here’s a photo of Blake landing the helicopter with some of the state biologists on board. The propellors don’t really look like that; it’s just the way that they look when you take a photo of them. The biologists work in four hour shifts. He’ll fly two of them for four hours in the morning and then two new ones will fly with him for four hours during the afternoon. They are surveying the deer population in a part of the Blake Hills right now. I know why they call them the “Black Hills.” When I was flying into Rapid City in the airplane, the hills literally looked black from the sky. When you’re driving through them, you realize that the densely grown dark green trees make them appear black from the sky.

Well, it’s been another long day over here. I’m going to finish getting ready for dinner and go have some Thai food tonight. Dinner time is my main chance to get all my veggies and lean proteins in, so I always try to order an entree that features those two main ingredients. Last night I had a petite sirloin steak and steamed vegetables. I’m thinking a shrimp and veggie stir-fry sounds good for tonight.

Have a great day and I’ll check back in with you as soon as I can.

Take care,

Kilee

Chocolate Nut Butter Crunch Bars

Happy Friday! I am rushing around the house getting ready to take off again. I’ll be flying out of Portland early tomorrow morning and will hopefully be back with Blake by tomorrow evening. My fingers are crossed that it actually works out this time!

In preparation for my trip, I wanted to make some new snacks to take with. Because I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for, I tried to use up any perishable items that we had in the fridge and pantry. I was inspired to make a treat based of my childhood favorite, scotch-a-roo bars. I don’t even know if that’s the proper name? They are basically a peanut butter rice crispy treat with a chocolate butterscotch topping. My version omits the corn syrup, chocolate and butterscotch chips and replaces them with cocoa butter, raw cacoa powder, stevia and butterscotch extract. I should also add that this recipe makes a small serving size, so you can make up a batch and not have a huge tray sitting around on the counter.

Chocolate Nut Butter Crunch Bars

Makes 4 squares

3/4 cup gluten-free Rice Crispies cereal

2 Tablespoons nut butter (I used sunflower butter)

2 Tablespoons cocoa butter

1 Tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil

1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder

3 packets of stevia

1/4 teaspoon butterscotch extract

tiny pinch of salt

Heat the cocoa butter in a double boiler or in the microwave until melted. Stir in the nut butter until it is well combined. Then, stir in the coconut oil, cacao powder, stevia and butterscotch extract. Add the Rice Crispies and salt. Press into a small glass dish and place in the refrigerator. After about an hour remove the dish and slice into small squares.

I also made some homemade snack bars that Blake can take in the helicopter when he’s flying all day. One is cranberry goji berry, another is coconut macaroon and the last is chocolate cherry. I think that my homemade bars are better than any store bought brands, but let’s be honest – most of the time I just stock up on bars at Trader Joe’s.

My goal for today and tomorrow is to stay calm, relaxed and worry-free. Yesterday’s “Melt the Stress Away” post was a good reminder for me. I forgot to post a photo of my new favorite product: CALM. It’s a powdered magnesium that when mixed with water creates a bubbly concoction that is supposed to help you feel calm and sleepy. I like to take it about an hour before bedtime. You can serve it hot or cold and it comes in different flavors. I bought the Raspberry-Lemon and like the taste of it.

Am I the only person who didn’t realize the Trader Joe’s Black Bean and Veggie Enchiladas are actually Amy’s Brand of the same variety? I always waited for Amy’s frozen entrees to go on sale before buying them. Now, I don’t have to because Trader Joe’s sells them for $1.99. Thank you Mr. Joe! I had an enchilada with crumbled goat cheese over some romaine lettuce that somehow didn’t wilt in our fridge over the past week.

Look how cute my cupcake liners look stored in this Mason jar. I’d love to get a big glass jar to store my cupcake liners in. I’ll have to wait on that for now.

Blake and I don’t have cable, so I watched a ton of TV at his mom’s house (like all day last Saturaday!) Here are some of my thoughts on TV shows and current entertainment news:

“The Bachelor” stresses me out. Seriously! I always feel like I’m a girl on the show and he isn’t giving me enough attention. I actually had a hard time sleeping after watching a ridiculous episode.

It’s really sad that Whitney Houston passed away. I wasn’t too surprised when I heard the news, but it’s still very heartbreaking.

“Revenge” is one of the best ABC shows to come along in awhile.

“The Housewives of Beverly Hills” sometimes look pretty and sometimes look abnormal. I think all the “work” they’ve had done looks weird, but their hair, makeup and clothes look really good!

“Law & Order SVU” is still one of my favorite shows.

I was very surprised to find out that I love Coco (and Ice-T.) They are so cute together. I feel like my personality is very similar to Coco’s.

Watching television for a day straight is a nice luxury, but I think I’d rather read books and magazines with my free time. Oh, and commercials are really, really bad nowadays.

Wow! I feel so up-with-the-times now that I’ve had cable for the past week.

OK, I’m going to get a weights and cardio workout in, take Layla for a walk, load up my car and hit the road. Have a great day!!!

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Melt the Stress Away

Hi! Sorry that I didn’t check in with you yesterday. I was driving back home to Redmond because I needed to pick up some items before taking off to visit Blake in South Dakota. I have to admit that lately I’ve been feeling a little stressed about this trip. Over the years I have gotten so much better about relaxing and going with the flow, but the anxiety still creeps up now and again.

When I drove two and a half hours to Portland last Thursday, I honestly thought that I would be flying out to see Blake by the end of the weekend. I had made Layla her vet appointment and packed my bags for the trip. Well, it ended up that I needed to drive back to Redmond to pick up my passport, an extra suitcase of gear and some of Blake’s belongings. I’m here at home and it feels really nice to be back. It’s so nice and comforting that I’m starting to think about staying home and enjoying my nice, quiet little life that I have over here. However, I really, really want to see Blake. I think I’ll end up flying out this Friday, but I know not to hold my breath!

I stumbled across this video that I had filmed when I was in Nevada a few weeks ago. I thought that it was appropriate to share with you (and myself) today to remind us that we can become less stressed and more easy going with a little work on our part. Let me know if you have any suggestions for handling stress with ease.

To decompress and relax last night, I did a new Tone It Up workout. It’s the new Valentine’s Day one. I like how I can follow along with Karena and Katrina throughout the entire workout.

Then I took a bath and did some laundry. Notice the calm and serene candles that I lit!

My dinner was a random pizza made from items in the fridge: gluten-free brown rice tortilla, pizza sauce, Daya chese, 1 egg, scallion, minced garlic, shredded lettuce and Siratcha sauce. It tasted amazing after a long drive home.

I went to bed early because the night before, I was up past midnight! I had a really fun time going out for dinner and a movie with my friends and sister. I highly recommend “The Vow” to all of my girlie friends. It was a really good Valentine’s Day. I’m happy to report that everyone loved the gluten-free red velvet cupcakes that I made. Layla was my valentine and she was a really good one. She gave me lots of kisses, appreciated the Valentine’s treats I gave her and kept me company all day long.

I’m off to do my weights workout, write out a few new client nutrition plans and pack another suitcase for my (hopeful) trip to South Dakota. Have a great day!

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Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Love Day! Today is a day to celebrate all the love in your life, not just a romantic partner. I’m celebrating with my valentine, Layla.

It’s pretty dreary out here in Portland today. This weather is a reminder of why Blake and I moved out to Central Oregon this fall. It hardly ever rains out there.

I’m typing this at the coffee shop near Blake’s mom’s house. I tried a rice milk latte this morning and loved it. It went perfectly with my new protein bar find. It’s by NuGo. I like a few of their bars, and appreciate the nutrition stats of this new one, but it just didn’t do it for me. Pros: 15 grams of protein, only 2 grams of sugar, 9 grams of fiber and I liked the bittersweet chocolate flavor. Cons: Kinda lacked in the overall “wow” factor.

I know that I said I probably wouldn’t bake anything for Valentine’s Day. Typing that statement made me kinda sad. I always bake for Valentine’s Day. To turn my frown upside down, I went to the store and got ingredients to make gluten-free red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Ahh-mazing! What wasn’t amazing was that I ate some of the batter (naughty, naughty Kilee.) Then, for the rest of the night I couldn’t figure out why my stomach hurt so much. My new goal is to be able to bake without picking at the raw batter. This morning, my stomach is still a little “off” from the batter.

I brought some of my cupcakes to my friends, Courtney and McKenzie. And, McKenzie had made us chocolate and Funfetti fudge. Thanks Kenze! I’m going to try some once my stomach is feeling better. We got together at a Thai restaurant in North Portland last night. It was so good to catch up with my friends and spend quality time together. Tonight, I’m getting together with more of my good friends for dinner and a movie. It’s going to be such a fun night – I already know!

Today, whether you have a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband, a wife or are single, be sure to share the love. This holiday is not reserved for couples in a relationship. We all have someone that we love in our lives and people who love us. Your goal for today is to share your warm love with as many people as you can. Call your grandparents, give your dog or cat a massage, go out for drinks (a glass of healthy red wine is recommended ladies) with your friends or send an e-card to your parents. Whatever you choose to do, please remember that you are amazing regardless of your relationship status! We all need to share as much love and light up as many hearts as we can today.

On another note, please don’t eat yourself into a sugar coma. This stuff will kill you. Seriously! A little is fine, but do not interpret this holiday to be a sugar-fest-free-for-all! I suggest one peice of dark chocolate or splitting dessert with your dinner date or having a few conversation hearts. Step away from the office treat table. Put that second heart-shaped donut down. You will be thanking me tomorrow.

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Don’t forget that today’s the last day to take advantage of my Valentine’s Day Special. Email me at kilee (at) kileejohnson.com to reserve your spot.

Have a very, very special day today. Love yourself first and allow others into your heart.

Love,

Kilee

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Sunday Favorites

Hi! I’m in Portland right now. It’s actually nice enough to sit outside as I type this at Starbucks.

I wanted to share a few of my new favorites with you. I’m warning you that they have two things in common: almonds and sugar. Since it’s Sunday and my favorite day of the week to treat myself to something special, I thought I’d share with you two “new-to-me gluten-free and dairy-free” treats.

Almond Dream Ice Cream

This tastes better than I imagined it would. Since almond milk is my go-to non-dairy milk and I saw this new ice cream on sale at Fred Meyers, I picked up a pint of the vanilla flavor. It’s delicious! It tastes sweet, rich and almost like regular ice cream. I highly suggest picking up a pint if you see one at the store.

Amaretti Italian Crunchy Almond Cookies

I saw these in the gluten-free bakery section at Whole Foods. They kinda reminded me of almond biscotti. Oh, how I miss my biscotti! I have to say that these cookies made out of almond paste, sugar and egg whites are like little, crunchy bites of heaven. Expect a recipe from me once I’m back in the kitchen!

As for my plans, I don’t have any definite travel dates set yet. It sounds like I’ll be gone a little longer than last time, so I’m glad that Layla will be with us. I’m all packed up and ready to take off when I get the call from Blake. He said it’s super cold where we’re heading, so I picked up a few more wool socks and and undershirts for the trip.

I’ll leave you with a new cooking video that I filmed. One of my goals is to start making more YouTube cooking videos. This was my first attempt. I know rice is easy to cook and that’s why I chose to do a video on black rice. Apparently black rice is being toted as a new “antioxidant” super-food. I’ve always liked ordering it at Thai restaurants because it’s fun to have different colored rice!

FitSugar posted this about black rice:

“Black rice, like brown rice, retains the bran cover that is removed to make white rice. That means the grain is packed with nutritional benefits, including being rich in iron and fiber. Want to know more about this “forbidden” rice, including how it stacks up against brown rice and other cancer-fighting foods? Read more after the break.

Like many other dark red, purple, or blue foods, black rice contains great levels of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which in addition to being a stand up cancer-fighter also plays a role in preventing heart disease and improving memory.

A study earlier this year found that a spoonful of black rice bran contains more anthorcyanin than blueberries but less sugar. In fact, this noir-colored food has a higher concentration of anthocyanins than any other food! In addition, the anthocyanin’s water-solubility means that antioxidants can reach more places in the body than the oil-soluble antioxidants in other foods like brown rice.” – FitSugar

I have a few spots left this month for the Valentine’s Day Special Coaching with Kilee. Feel free to email me to set up your sessions.

I’m meeting my parents for dinner tonight. Have a great night!

Evening Chat Session

Oops! I thought I had this post set to publish last night. Obviously, it didn’t get posted. We’ll just make it a Friday evening chat session :)

Hi! I thought that I’d start something new around here. I try to check in with everyone  in the morning, but realized that it might be fun to have evening chat sessions from my couch. I filmed this video last night. Let me know what you think!

Here’s my dinner perfection from last night:

Tortilla Pizza

Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Tortilla

Trader Joe’s Pizza sauce

Daya mozzerella cheese

Sliced portabello mushroom

Sliced spinach

clove of garlic, minced

Pecricano Ramona cheese

Preheat oven to 450ºf. Bake for 10 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil.

I was in heaven! I usually try to have a lean protein and veggie for dinner most nights, but a pizza was needed last night.

I also wanted to share a photo of my favorite candle with you guys. My mom makes homemade soy wax candles with vintage glasses. I love this one that I keep next to my kitchen sink. The great thing about these candles, is that they are refillable. How green!

Good night! I’ll see you tomorrow. I *might* just be leaving on a trip in the next few days. I’ll keep you posted.

- Kilee

***Don’t forget to sign up for my Valentine’s Day Coaching Special! Email me kilee (at) kileejohnson.com for setting up your sessions***

New Makeup

Good morning! Don’t you just love being a girl? Okay, I know. Sometimes I would trade places with a guy for a day or two because their lives seem much less complicated than ours. However, we girls have something that (most) guys don’t have – makeup! I love makeup. I used to study InStyle magazine for hours upon hours and try to do my makeup like the models and celebrities in the magazine. Today I wanted to step out of the health & wellness category and focus on something fun – my new makeup.

I had to buy a few new items over the past week because my makeup bag is still in Nevada with Blake. I didn’t have my luggage when I flew home and sadly all of my everyday makeup, toiletries and jewelry are in my suitcase. No big deal, because I did some “on sale” shopping in the makeup departments at Fred Meyers and Target. I used to buy all my makeup at Nordstrom. That was when I was a teenager and didn’t have any bills! Maybeline and Covergirl are almost just as good as my beloved Stila and Laura Mercier. So, without further ado, here’s my new stash of makeup:

And since I’m sharing some of our favorite new things today, I’ll leave you with my new favorite song:

Have a great day and check back later this evening because I’m going to be doing something new around here… evening chat sessions. Now, if I could just figure out how to do a livestream video on the blog!

Have a great day,

Kilee

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Grain-Free Pumpkin Brownies

Well hello! Are you excited about this grain-free dessert that I promised you. I almost wish I hadn’t  made a full batch of these brownies because every time I went into the kitchen yesterday, I had to sample a bite or two. I have been baking gluten-free desserts for four years now, but haven’t experimented much with grain-free baking. After seeing all of the delicious grain-free recipes over on Detoxinista’s and iheartwellness’ blogs, I was inspired to get started.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Brownies

Makes 16 brownies

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 eggs

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 Tablespoon vanilla

10 drops liquid vanilla stevia

1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet, milk or white chocolate chips (optional)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºf.

Place all of the wet ingredients in a blender and blend on medium speed. Once the wet ingredients are completely blended, add all of the dry ingredients besides the chocolate chips and walnuts. Blend on low speed until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and incorporate them into the batter with a spatula.

Spray an 8″x 8″ or 9″x 9″ metal baking pan with non-stick cooking spray (make sure it does not contain flour.) Pour and spread your batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean. Once the brownies are baked, allow them to cool for about two hours before slicing and removing them from the pan. I found them a little hard to get out of the pan I used, but I think if you slice them with a sharp knife and then use a spatula to remove them from the pan, they should stay together better than mine did.

Do not try to bake them in a special triangle pan like I did, because they will be a royal pain to get out!

I was curious to see the nutrition stats on this new brownie recipe, so I calculated it out online:

Not too bad for a brownie, right? However, don’t get carried away “testing” these brownies, because half the tray will be gone by the time you know it!

Look at the beautiful sunrise I woke up to this morning:

It snowed a little bit here last night. I was really surprised to see snow when I took Layla potty outside last night. That little sleepyhead is snoring on the couch as I type this. She usually likes to sleep until around 9 or 10 and then get up to start her day. Haha!

I’m going to go doing my treadmill workout at the gym, run some errands in town that I forgot to do yesterday (sometimes I get flustered and sidetracked when I’m running errands only to end  back up at the house with only half of my items completed!) and work on some client nutrition plans at Starbucks.

Have a great day today!!!

Much love,

Kilee

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Valentine’s Day Special

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the sweet comments and emails that I received over the past two days. I’m honored to share my story with you and hope that I can help as many women as possible overcome personal struggles. We all deserve to be happy & healthy.

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to celebrate the LOVE around here by offering a Valentine’s Day Special:

See what other women have been sharing about my coaching and nutrition programs:

We can set up your session through Skype, FaceTime or over the phone, whichever you prefer. In addition to our time spent chatting, you’ll receive personalized food and recipe recommendations along with personal growth exercises to practice on your own. I’m here to help you overcome any obstacles that you are currently facing in regards to your health and well being.

Please email me (kilee@kileejohnson.com) to set up your Valentine’s Day Coaching Special by February 14th.

I’ll be back in a little later this morning with a new grain-free dessert recipe. I got all creative in the kitchen yesterday :)

Have a great day today,

Kilee

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My Story…Continued

Now that I’ve spilled all my bad habits, struggles and woes, I want to share with you how I overcame these adversities. It took time, patience, forgiveness, dedication and support. I took small steps and little by little I started to feel, look and act like the Kilee you know today. Here is an abbreviated version of how I stepped into my healthy, happy self:

Started to Do Things I’m Good At

I have always had a passion for cooking and started to research recipes online and create delectable dinners for Blake and I each night. I would look at all types of recipes, go to the store after work to buy the necessary ingredients and race home to make our elaborate dinner night after night. I don’t remember having too many left-overs because we would almost always eat up whatever I cooked and I wanted to try a new recipe the next night. I was so happy cooking in the kitchen!

At work, I utilized my graphic design skills and started to develop magazine AD campaigns for the company. I remember feeling so proud of my work and knowing that my skills were helping the company attract new customers. I started seeing myself as a valuable employee and possessing skills that not a lot of people had. This boosted my self esteem and gave me a greater sense of purpose.

Signed Up to Work With a Personal Trainer

I truly believe that my self confidence took a turn for the better when I started to work out with the lovely, Suzie Conney of Suzie Trains Maui. I have always loved to work out, but found myself skipping workouts or not knowing what to do to shed fat and build lean muscle.  Suzie did more than just show me what exercises to do at the gym. She introduced me to stand up paddle boarding (which is one of my favorite activities ever,) she helped me see myself as a capable, strong woman and she encouraged me to do the things I love. I am forever grateful for her kind heart and inspiring presence.

Began Listening to Personal Development Audio Books

I love to read and have many, many health and nutrition books. However, there is such convenience that comes with audio books. You can listen to them in the car, while you work out or in bed at night. I credit Blake to introducing me to the amazing works of Anthony Robins, Brian Tracy and Napoleon Hill. I started to see the connection between what you think and what happens in your life. I also started reading books by powerful female authors including Louise Hay, Debbie Ford and Gabrielle Bernstien. Reading about how these authors had overcome challenges and created their best life inspired me to start creating mine.

Learned New Coping Skills

Something that I didn’t realize was that I had never developed healthy coping skills. I had such a sheltered childhood that I rarely had anything to get upset about. I remember a few occasions where I did something wrong and ended up sobbing uncontrollably. Fast forward to being 22 years old and feeling really upset and unsure about your life. I didn’t know how to cope with issues that would come up or feelings that I had. I instantly wanted sugar to numb whatever pain I was feeling. What helped me adopt new coping skills was first recognizing that I was feeling upset. Telling myself that I could choose to accept that these emotions were coming up and then try to work through them.

It was not easy. I still sometimes have a tendency to want a cookie when uneasy feelings start to emerge. But, I’ve now mastered new coping skills to work through these fears. I also like to get out of my fearful mindset by calling a friend on the phone, taking a bath, reminding myself of all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for or taking out my journal and writing about any feelings or thoughts that come up. Also, becoming more forgiving of myself and others has been very helpful. As I started to accept my faults and not hold others to such high standards, I started to be okay with things not being “perfect.”

Telling Myself That I Am Amazing

As corny as this statement sounds, it has done wonders for my self esteem and poor body image. When I first heard about positive affirmations, I thought that they sounded ridiculous and self-absorbed. I decided to try them anyway. I would tell myself, “I am beautiful inside and out. I am so talented. I am happy and healthy, etc.” At first, I thought I sounded silly and didn’t think much about them. Then over time, I started to believe these statements that I was telling myself. One of the best, easiest, and cheapest ways to start feeling better about yourself is to tell yourself three positive affirmations while standing in front of the mirror each morning. You are amazing! Now, go tell that to yourself.

Quit Eating Gluten

This was the single best decision that I have made for my health. I know that not everyone has a difficult time digesting gluten, but I had multiple ailments that were healed by removing gluten from my diet. Daily stomach aches that started around 10 every morning, a bloated stomach that resembled being 4-5 months along, anxiety and overwhelming feelings that something was wrong with me, mental fog, acne, embarrassing gas and about 10-15 unhealthy pounds of fat.

The first day that I stopped eating gluten was the first day in ages that I didn’t get a stomach ache! A few weeks later I realized my stomach wasn’t bloated and I wasn’t gassy like I used to be. A few more weeks went by and my anxiety and fearful thoughts stopped. A few months later I realized I had lost 10 pounds without dieting. After six months had passed, I was amazed at how “clear” my thoughts were. This was so such a weird feeling to experience. It literally felt like my thoughts were behind a fog that had slowly lifted. By this point, I knew there was no way that I could go back to eating gluten. It just didn’t agree with my body chemistry.

Getting Out of the House to Go Have Fun

It seems so simple, but when you feel so low and bad about yourself, pulling yourself together to get out of the house can be such a challenge. I was always able to get up and go to work throughout the week, I’m thankful for that. But, on my days off, I could not bring myself to get dressed and go out to enjoy myself. I felt like I didn’t “deserve” to have fun and go do new fun things. I was able to work through this by reminding myself that we all deserve to have fun and enjoy ourselves on our days off. I’d make plans to go for a walk with a friend or rent a board and go paddle boarding. I knew that I would have fun and feel better about myself if I got outside and did something. By reminding myself of how good I would feel later on if I just got out and did something, I was motivated to slip on my flip flops and head out the door.

As you can see, it was not one thing that helped me overcome my issues. I had to start being kind to myself, learn to love myself the way I was and continue to work on overcoming my struggles. It didn’t happen overnight, but day by day, I started to feel healthier and happier. I think when I realized that I was in control of my thoughts and could create my best life, I stepped up to the plate and started to make positive changes in my life. I know that if you are struggling with any of the issues that I had, you too can overcome them. I have faith that you have the power to work through any negative traits starting today. You can choose to overcome them.

One of the best ways to start working through an issue is to first admit to yourself that you have one. You’re not a bad or damaged person. You’re real. We all have negative issues that weight us down. Then reach out and learn how you can work through it. Buy a book, talk to a mentor or someone who has overcome what you’re going through, hire a counselor or coach. Whatever you do, don’t sit around and wallow in your own self pity!

I feel a lot better and more open with you now that I’ve shared how I was able to overcome these negative issues and live my best healthy, happy life. My life purpose is to help other women create their own happy, healthy life and I feel lucky to get to share my life and the lessons I learn with you through this blog.

Layla says, "Hi!" She's happy to be back home.

Have a great day and feel free to comment below or email me with any personal issues that you are in the process of working through. I’m here to help you lead your healthy, happy life!

Much love,

Kilee

Don’t forget to comment on *this* post if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook to be entered in the GIVEAWAY!

My Story: Part 1

Hi! Happy Monday. Did you go to a Super Bowl party? Did you get outside and go for a walk? Did you prepare your healthy meals for the week? Whatever you did, I hope you had an enjoyable day. I was chatting with the lovely Kris at iheartwellness and we were talking about how I could share my gifts and talents with even more people than I currently do. I know in my heart that I am here on this earth to help other women feel their best and to help others overcome challenges that I have struggled with in the past.

In order to better help you and other women, I think it’s best if I go back and share my personal story. It’s something that I have put off for quite a while because it’s frightening to me to share the low points of my 26 years on this planet. But, if I can help other women see that I’ve been there and have overcome these obstacles and now lead an amazing, healthy, happy life, it’s worth it. This isn’t a weight-loss story or a tale of how I overcame substance abuse. It’s my story of how I took control of my health and happiness naturally. I’m going to spread this out over two posts because I have so much to share and don’t want to overwhelm you.

I loved arts and crafts projects

I got started baking at a young age

Childhood

I was always a very creative and outgoing child. I loved to be in front of the camera, had a lot of friends and was always busy with my arts and craft projects. My life was idealistic and I was lucky to have such a great family and support system. Something changed when I was in the 5th grade; my best friend had recently moved to a new school and the friends that I had school started to distance themselves from me and made fun of me. I didn’t understand why they suddenly didn’t like me and I started to feel alienated at school.

The following year, my family moved to a new town and I attended a new middle school. I felt like I was being “passed” around the playground by different cliques of students and didn’t really connect with any of my new classmates. I focused on my studies and was always in the accelerated learning classes. My 7th grade year, I was in a math class with all 8th-graders, the class above mine. I started to make a few new friends and felt like I connected with them a little better than with my fellow classmates. In my final year of middle school, the class above mine was already at the high school and I remember making a few new friends within my class, but never feeling like I really “fit in” with everyone.

High School

Running cross country and track became my main focus outside of my classes at the high school. I loved running and dedicated myself to being disciplined when it came to training for races. I made friends right away with two girls on the cross country team, twin sisters. They were in the class above mine and we have been close friends ever since. I was even a bridesmaid in Laura’s wedding this past summer. Back to high school! The first three years went pretty smoothly. I excelled in school and always received “A’s” in my classes. My perfectionism was in full swing all throughout high school. I thought I had to be “perfect” at everything or people would not approve of me. I would get so stressed if I got a poor grade on an assignment, if I didn’t meet my goal time in a race or if my hair didn’t look good that day. I honestly thought that if I could be just like Martha Stewart, my life would be perfect! I now see the irony in this thought.

I had my two friends, Lindsey & Laura, and we did everything together. I still didn’t feel that close or comfortable with most of the other students, but it didn’t really bother me too much.

Sophomore year of high school, I had the BIGGEST crush on Blake, but never got up the nerve to talk to him. He now says that he had no idea I even liked him. Junior year, we somehow got hooked up to go to a formal dance together and I knew that this was my chance to test the waters to see if he liked me. We started hanging out and within a month or two, we were dating. Sometimes, I wish we started dating when we were older because he remembers all these embarrassing things that I said and did back in high school!

Fast forward to Senior year. I turned into a little stress ball! Lindsey and Laura moved to California for college, Blake moved two hours away to live with him mom and I felt like no one liked me. I now see this feeling as a theme that started back in 5th grade and continued up until a few years ago, but I’m over that now. All of a sudden I felt depressed. I started crying all. the. time. I felt sick to my stomach for weeks at a time. I had anxiety about how well I would do in my races, if I would get good enough grades to be awarded college scholarships and if Blake was dating other girls at his new school. I missed Blake, Lindsey and Laura so much and I honestly felt like no one else liked me.

I ended up not doing track my senior year because I felt so miserable and didn’t want to added pressure of competing in track meets. I graduated as one of our classes valedictorians and remember feeling embarrassed to speak in front of all my classmates. However, I was so thankful to be headed off to college and leaving my small, hometown behind.

My “Core” friends: Courtney & McKenzie

College

I told myself before I took off for college that I was going to a) make lots of new friends and b) be more easy going than I had been throughout high school. It’s amazing what what you can achieve when you make yourself believe things because I made some amazing friends my first day there and felt a little more relaxed about things than I had in high school.

My new friends, challenging classes and fun social life made college a lot more enjoyable than high school. Though, one thing was missing from new life: Blake. Seriously! I think I had to tell every guy that I dated in college about him and I ended up visiting him a few times throughout college. Finally, right before my senior year of college, we got back together and I traveled to Maui any chance I got to visit him. This is also when my anxiety hit an all-time high. I was so convinced that I had to look like a super-model for Blake to want to keep me as his girl friend. (Long story, but I got over it.) I also started to stay in a lot more instead of going out to parties with my friends. I felt like I didn’t “deserve” to go out and have fun because I didn’t look good enough or feel good enough about myself. (Again, I got over this.) The year drug on as I cried and cried, resorted to anti-anxiety pills and started to see a student counselor to help me work through some of my issues. I’m also lucky because Blake was so supportive of my craziness throughout the whole year.

On one of my many hikes on Maui

Layla got all wet from going in the water during this hike.

Post-College

I made it through my senior year of college (I’m seeing a theme with these rough senior years in school) and moved to Maui as soon as I graduated. I thought that my life would be perfect now that I was living with Blake in a tropical paradise. I got a rude awakening! Yes, I was so happy to be with Blake and the sun and beaches were amazing, but I started to experience some major issues within my life:

PMDD

I finally started putting 2 & 2 together. I was an emotional wreck the week before my period. I would spend my days off in bed crying all day. This leads to a very puffy face and unproductive day! I felt like I didn’t deserve to go to the beach or go shopping in the cute shops. I don’t know where those feelings were coming from. My mind would race about all the things that were “wrong” with me. Some mornings, I felt so bad about myself that Blake would sit down and try to “coach” me through these feelings. Let’s just say that the week before my period was especially dreaded each month.

Poor Body Image

I’m like every other girl out there. We look at the celebrities and models in the magazines and wish that our body looked more like theirs. I was working out less and less and my stomach was becoming more and more bloated from the foods that I was eating. I was so embarrassed of how I looked and didn’t want to be seen in my day to day attire let alone a swimsuit. I’d sometimes cry before we went kite boarding and make Blake promise that I looked good enough to go to the beach with him.

Bingeing and Purging

I had bouts of time where I would feel so overwhelmed with my negative emotions and feelings that I would crave the comfort of sugary foods. I remember eating a bowl of ice cream or a plate of cookies and then feeling so bad about myself that I would make myself throw up. I later learned that I was lacking healthy coping skills and this practice was my way of trying to make myself feel better. Luckily, my experience with bingeing and purging was off-and-on and there were oftentimes months between my episodes. I have felt so embarrassed by this piece of my past, that I almost chose not to share it. However, I know that there are other women out there who are going through the same struggles that I have gone through and I want to help them see that they can overcome anything!

Low Self Confidence

There were times when I lived on Maui that felt like I was just following in the shadows of Blake. He had a successful helicopter tour company, he was a pilot, he knew a lot of people around the island, he was my boss at work and he had a whole life set up for himself before I moved there. I gave up on my passions in life and this lead to me forgetting my strengths and what I’m good at. I lost a piece of myself by choosing not to follow my own dreams, stay creative and pursue my own passions. I started to feel worse and worse about myself.

Negative Mindset & Complaining

This lack of confidence, poor body image and overall negativity on my part manifested itself into me becoming a huge complainer. I was always able to stay positive and kind at work and in public, but behind closed doors, I was a complaining machine. I complained to Blake about everything. “All we do is stuff for you and your business. I look fat. I don’t want to go here or there. I just want you to come home and spend time with me.” This behavior went on for a good year or two, I’m very embarrassed to report. Looking back, I now understand that it was all because I wasn’t happy with myself and my choices and I was taking it out on poor Blake.

Gluten-Intolerance

I had always had an upset stomach. Like literally, every single day my stomach would hurt. I also had a bloated stomach that got progressively larger as the day went on. I had really bad, embarrassing gas. My anxiety was starting to flare up. I had this weird mental fog (that I didn’t even realize until I cut the gluten out and my mind became so much clearer.) I was crying all the time. My facial acne was getting worse each month. Let’s just say that I was not cute or fun to be around. I was eating what I thought were healthy foods: whole grain cereals, turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta dinners. I had heard about gluten-intolerance from a friend and even tried a gluten-free diet back in college. What I didn’t know at that time, was that gluten is a tricky little bugger that is in tons of unsuspecting foods. My health and well-being was getting progressively worse as I continued to consume gluten in my diet.

Lack of Life Passion

I have always known that I was meant to accomplish great feats. I’m a hard worker and will bust my butt to get the job done. What was going on back then was that I wasn’t pursuing any of my passions. I wasn’t making homemade cards or creating new workouts. I didn’t know that I could inspire and help other women to feel their best and live their healthy, happy life. I was literally just plugging along, working for Blake’s company and not making an effort to do the things that bring me joy.

Are you depressed yet? Seriously, reading the struggles that I’ve gone through and remembering how I felt during those times is painful. I promise that I have a happy ending to my story. It’s coming up in tomorrow’s post. As embarrassing as it is for me to share my weakest moments, I know that I am able to help other women overcome these painful issues and live a life full of health, self-confidence, positivity and happiness.

I’ll be back tomorrow with all the information about how I overcame each and every one of these issues. Do you ever feel better when you tell others about your past or what you’ve overcome?  I’m hoping I feel better once I hit “Publish!”

Don’t forget to comment on *this* post if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook to be entered in the giveaway!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Protein Shake & Gluten-Free Cookie Review

Hi! How is everyone’s weekend going? Mine has been wonderful. I got a lot done around the house and blog yesterday. I added a new “Newsletter Sign-Up” over to the right in the side bar. You can also sign-up to receive my weekly newsletter *here*. It will be filled with gluten-free recipes, healthy lifestyle tips and ways to feel your best. Be sure to sign up and I’ll keep you up to date with my weekly tips and recipes.

Today is a treat type of day. It’s Sunday, the day that I’m most likely to bake some gluten-free cookies or make an elaborate dinner. However, today’s recipe and cookie review require almost no time in the kitchen. That’s right! You don’t have to bake your own gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. You can just pop into your local Trader Joe’s for a batch of their New Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies or you can blend up your own chocolate chip protein shake at home in your blender.

Chocolate Chip Protein Shake

Serves 1 girl (or guy) who’s craving a chocolate chip cookie, but needs to drink a protein shake

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (whey or brown rice)

1 heaping tablespoon oats (rolled or quick-cook)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon butter extract

1/2 – 1 frozen banana cut into chunks

3-4 ice cubes

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

pinch of sea salt

pinch of baking soda (optional, but it creates more of a cookie dough flavor)

1 tablespoon milk, semi or dark chocolate chips

Place all of the ingredients besides that chocolate chips in the blender and blend on high for one minute. Once the shake is well blended, add the chocolate chips and blend for about 15-20 seconds on medium speed. Enjoy your shake!

Product Review: Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to start out this review by sharing that the cashier at Trader Joe’s informed me that these cookies are better than the regular flour chocolate chip cookies they sell. This made me happy to hear. I was also happy to read on the nutrition label that there are no weird ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate chips, rice flour, butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, xantham gum & water. Those are the exact ingredients that I use in my chocolate chip cookie recipe! Now I can have the convenience of a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie without having to go in the kitchen and bake up a batch myself.

Because these have regular sugar and chocolate chips, I consider these more of a special treat than an everyday type of snack. The calorie content is pretty low: 70 calories per cookie. Seeing that I eat at least a cookie’s worth of batter plus a few baked cookies when I bake them, the 70 calories for one cookie is a bargain compared to the amount of calories consumed when baking cookies.

The cookies taste amazing! They are crispy and have the perfect amount of sweetness, saltiness and crunch. I usually prefer soft and cake-like cookies, but these are right up there with the Nestle Tollhouse gluten-free version I bake at home. The only downside to these cookies is that they are addicting (is that a downside?) and you might be inclined to go back for seconds or thirds. One thing that I like about the packaging is that there are two plastic trays with seven cookies each sealed in plastic wrap. This means that if you open one bag, the other bag of cookies stays sealed and fresh.

I highly recommend these gluten-free cookies from Trader Joes to anyone – gluten-free or not.

Has anyone tried these cookies? What do you think?

Don’t forget that I’m hosting a giveaway contest once my Facebook & Twitter accounts hit 100 followers each. If you follow me on either social media sites, leave a comment *here* and you’ll be entered to win a batch of gluten-free cookies, NuNaturals Stevia & Artisana Nut Butter, plus an assortment of my favorite gluten-free protein bars.

Have fun today whether you’re watching the Super Bowl or just hanging out!

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Gluten-Free Superfood No-Bake Cookies + Giveaway Announcement

Welcome to Superbowl Weekend! Since I am not one bit interested in the Superbowl, I will be doing what a lot girls like to do when football games are on TV – reading magazines! I have never been a big sports fan and eating a bunch of chips and dip does not set well with my stomach anyway. So, I’ll be laying low, indulging in some girlie magazines and maybe cooking something in the kitchen. Speaking of cooking, I finally went to the grocery store today and stocked up on some much needed fresh produce. I feel like the only vegetables I ate over the past two weeks were either iceberg lettuce or steamed vegetables with dinner. I’m envisioning lots of green smoothies and salads in my future :)

I was excited to get back in the kitchen and whip up a healthy treat to share with you. Has anyone tried those Brookside dark chocolate pomegranate candies that they sell at Costco? I think I’ve seen them at Trader Joe’s too? Anyways, I wanted to combine them with some gluten-free Rice Crispies that I picked up at the store today. Here is your super-easy, quick gluten-free treat recipe:

Gluten-Free Superfood No-Bake Cookies

Makes 8 cookies

1 cup gluten-free Rice Crispies cereal

2 Tablespoons chopped dried cherries

2 Tablespoons sliced almonds

2 Tablespoons brown rice syrup

1 Tablespoon honey (or brown rice syrup. I just like the flavor and the health benefits of honey)

1/4 cup almond butter (or your favorite nut butter)

2 Tablespoons organic brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 Brookside dark chocolate pomegranate or acai candies or Trader Joe’s Superfruit candies

Pinch of sea salt

In a medium size bowl, mix the Rice Crispies, dried cherries and sliced almonds.

I am the only one who thought Rice Crispies were already gluten-free? I guess there is malt extract in the regular variety? These new ones are made with brown rice too!

In a small saucepan or microwave-safe dish, combine the brown rice syrup, honey and almond butter. Heat over medium heat until it starts to bubble or microwave on high for roughly 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and salt and stir until smooth. Pour the mixture over the contents of the bowl and use a spatula or your hands to combine. Roll into 8 small balls and set on a piece of parchment paper. Push a chocolate covered candy into the center of each cookie. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, but they might harden over time.

Okay, well I’m off to take Layla for her walk and get together with one of my friends here in Redmond. Have a great day and let me know if you try the new cookie recipe. It’s super easy and takes maybe 5-10 minutes!

*** Giveaway Alert ***

As you may know, I have Facebook and Twitter accounts set up for the blog. Once each account hits 100 followers, I will draw a number and send a gluten-free gift pack to the winner. It will include a batch of gluten-free cookies, NuNaturals Stevia, Artisiana nut butter and an assortment of my favorite gluten-free protein bars. I’ll even throw Layla in there too! Haha – that would never happen!!! All you have to do is *like* my Facebook and/or Twitter accounts and leave a comment below stating that you did so. Feel free to leave two comments if you follow both accounts. I’ll announce the winner here on the blog, Twitter and Facebook once the drawing takes place. Any questions, just ask!

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11 Questions Post

Happy Friday! Today we are going to do something a little different than usual. The lovely Kris at iheartwellness tagged me to play a little game that’s been floating around the blogsphere lately. Since I had a lot of free time on my recent trip, I sat down in the truck one day and had some fun answering these questions and thinking up some new ones.

11 Random Facts About Moi

1 .   I  love my morning cup of coffee with stevia and non-dairy creamer. I’ve tried to ditch the  creamer for years, but it’s just not as enjoyable!

2 .   I   have my ears pierced twice, but only wear earrings in my bottom holes..

3 .   I   always knock on wood when I say something that I don’t want to happen.

4 .   My boyfriend, Blake, is my high school sweetheart.

5 .   I would rather wear cute workout clothes than any other type of clothing.

6 .   I get extremely cranky if I go too long without food.

7 .   I am a crazy dog mom who worries about her little girl all the time.

8 .   My two favorite types of radio stations are country and 80′s soft rock.

9 .    I get really excited to go out to dinner at a good restaurant.

1 0 .   I believe that everyone would benefit from taking a daily probiotic, multivitamin and E-mergency.

1 1 .   I have never been outside of the USA & Canada, but dream of traveling the globe.

H e r e   a r e   K r i s ‘   q u e s t i o n s   a n d   a n s w e r s :

1 .   W h a t   i s   o n e   t h i n g   t h a t   y o u   a b s o l u t e l y   l o v e   a b o u t   y o u r s e l f ?

I love my commitment to treat others the way that I would like to be treated. It’s such a simple, beneficial way to live your life.

2 .   W h a t   i s   a   p a s s i o n   o f   y o u r s   t h a t   y o u   w a n t   t o   s h a r e   w i t h   t h e   w o r l d ?

A passion of mine that I want to share with the world is my love of cooking and using healthy ingredients that help us feel and look our best.

3 .   W h a t   i s   y o u r   f a v o r i t e   s n a c k   f o o d   o f   a l l   t i m e ?

That is a tough one! For healthy snacks, I love Fuji apples and for less healthy snacks, I really like kettle corn. The freshly popped type that you can get at street fairs is my favorite.

4 .   W h a t   i s   y o u r   f a v o r i t e   v a c a t i o n   s p o t ?

Even though we lived on Maui for a few years, it is still one of my favorite vacations spots because the island has a special feeling that is indescribable. I even posted some of my Maui restaurant recommendations here.

5 .   D o   y o u   p r e f e r   a n   e v e n i n g   i n   o r   a   n i g h t   o u t   o n   t h e   t o w n ?

Definitely a night in with Blake, but an occasional night out on the town is fun too.

6 .   H o w   m a n y   h o u r s   d o   y o u   s l e e p   a   n i g h t ?

7-8 usually, but 8-9 is even better!

7 .   W h a t   d o   y o u   d o   f o r   a   l i v i n g ?

I am a nutritional consultant and gluten-free cookbook author. I help women learn how to make food choices that benefit  their health and  well-being. We work together to make healthy lifestyle choices  and realistic meal plans.

8 .   H o w   l o n g   h a v e   y o u   b l o g g e d   a n d   w h y   d i d   y o u   s t a r t ?

I started blogging in 2010 and took a few months off during  the 2010-2011 fall and winter. I started a blog because I wanted to connect with other like-minded people and share my gluten-free recipes with others.

9 .   W h a t   i s   y o u r   f a v o r i t e   s i t e   t o   v i s i t   d a i l y ?

I love looking at foodgawker.com because the photographs are beautiful and the food always inspires  me to get in the kitchen.

1 0 .   W h a t   i s   y o u r   g u i l t y   l i t t l e   p l e a s u r e ?

Well,  I don’t feel that guilty about my little pleasures as long as I don’t overindulge.  I eat self-serve frozen yogurt about once a week and I love Sour Patch Kids candies. I have found an amazing, healthy replacement   for SPK candy – golden berries. They are these little sweet and sour dried berries, similar to raisins. Yum! I love them and they supply a good amount of vitamin A.

1 1 .   O n e   w o r d   t h a t   p e o p l e   w o u l d   u s e   t o   d e s c r i b e   y o u ?

Kind. I hope to be remembered as a kind-hearted human being.

Okay bloggers, I’m challenging you to these 11  questions. Please tell us 11 random facts about yourself, answer the following questions, tag 11 new bloggers and come up with 11 new questions for them.

McKenzie @ Life on Glory Acres

Drew@ Imbibing in the Bay

Hayley @ Things That Make Hayley Happy

Suzie @ SuzieTrainsMaui

Gina @ Fitnessista

Heather @ Heather Eats Almond Butter

Naomi @ One Fit Foodie

Angela @ Hol:Fit

Lisa @ With Style & Grace

Jill @ Hey That Tastes Good

Allie @ Sorry, I Can’t Eat That

11 New Questions:

1. What is the first thing that you do when you wake up in the morning?

2. What is the scariest thing that you have ever done?

3. What do you want to accomplish in 2012?

4. If you could trade a day in the life with anyone, who would that be?

5. What makes you really, really excited?

6. What is your favorite dessert?

7. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?

8. What is the nicest thing that someone has done for you?

9. When do you feel your most relaxed?

10. What is a habit of yours that you would like to discontinue?

11. How would you like to be remembered once you leave this earth?

Wow! That was a lot of Q & A! I’m going to be updating my Facebook & Twitter accounts today. Be sure to *follow* me to stay up with the latest news. Sometimes it’s easier to post something on Facebook or Twitter than to write a whole new blogpost. Stay tuned for more fun recipes and updates!

Take care,

Kilee

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Healthy Foods to Eat On The Road

Hi! I’m so happy to be back home in Redmond. I picked up Layla from the doggie hotel. We were going to spend the night at my sister’s house in Portland, but I kept missing the exit I wanted to take and ended up south of Wilsonville. By that time, I called my dad and had him check the roads to drive home through Salem and they were fine. Wahoo – I drove home last night and I’m glad I did because poor Layla was sick half the night :(

She’s feeling better today. We already went for our walk and she’s slept the rest of the day away. I wanted to share two new videos that I filmed while on my trip. Are you sick of my videos yet? They are about how to eat some-what healthy while your only food options are from truck stops and mini-marts. Again, these are not foods that I necessarily eat every day, but when you are very limited while on the road, these are some healthier options.

What are your favorite go-to foods when you need to pick something up at a truck stop or mini-mart?

Have a great day,

Kilee

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Pics From the Road

Good morning! I am so happy to tell you that I will be flying back to Portland today. It has been an unexpectedly long trip out here to Nevada and I want to thank you for hanging in there with me throughout this journey. I was really excited to call the doggie hotel and tell them that I would be picking up Layla tonight. I hear that she has a new boyfriend – a papillon named, Maximilian. My sister is picking me up from the airport and then it’s straight to pick up Layla.

I took a bunch of photos and videos out here on the road. Even though I was in Reno, Elko and Eureka, Nevada, the landscape pretty much looked the same outside of the cities.

One thing that was new to me was “basque” style dining. It’s where they bring a ton of different side dishes to the table and serve them family style. Then everyone orders a main entree and leaves the restaurant stuffed to the brim with all types of foods. I usually just ordered the side dishes and a baked potato or had a few bites of Blake’s steak because all the side dishes were a meal in and of themselves. There is a specific type of salad dressing that all the restaurants use called “basque” dressing. It’s a white mayonnaise/vinegar/garlic/hard boiled egg based dressing that is addicting. I’m going to try to recreate it at home. The dinners always started with a big pot of soup and bread, then salad, then green beans, potatoes, beans, and spaghetti plus whatever entree you order. The two restaurants that I ate at in Elko were The Star Hotel and Toki Ona. They were both delicious!
I did a lot of driving in areas with hardly any radio. This gave me plenty of time to think about things and reflect on the multiple lessons that I learned throughout this trip. I would say the most beneficial life lesson that I learned and practiced on this trip was “attitude is everything.” It is safe to say that almost everything that could go wrong, went wrong on the job that Blake is on right now. I wasn’t even supposed to be with him at the job site, but it ended up that way. Instead of complaining and being in a bad mood the whole time, I practiced staying calm, nice and upbeat. It really helped keep up the moral of our group and I believe that little things went smoother because of our positive attitude.

For example, we checked into one of our hotels to find out that the heater in our room wasn’t working. We kindly asked the hotel manager to look at it and he brought us a portable heater plus extra blankets for the bed. When we got back to the room the next night, the heater was fixed plus we still had the portable heater for extra warmth.

Another example is when I was without my luggage and my cell phone battery was dying. Two different people that I was around offered to let me use their chargers to recharge my phone. I made a lot of new friends on this trip by staying in a good mood and being friendly to everyone around me. However, I did still have a few breaking points, but I learned from those too.

Something that I reminded myself throughout the trip was that the universe does not hand you more than you can handle. There were times when I was scared driving in four wheel drive, swerving down a muddy road, but I reminded myself that all would be okay and I would be safe. There were also times when I had to have one of the guys hop in and drive too, but I am now confident in my off-road driving and backing up a trailer skills.

I’m not going to go into all the details of what went wrong, but let’s just say that my patience was tested and I was outside of my comfort zone for a good part of the past week. I’m so thankful that I got to spend this time on the road and job site with Blake and I have an even greater appreciation of what he does for his job. The only thing that could have made this trip complete would have been if little miss Layla was out there with us. I’ll bring her out on my next trip!

I also want to share two of the videos that I filmed recently. I’m getting a lot more used to filming videos now. I’ll be back with some healthy eating videos that I made over the past few days. Take care and I’ll be posting from home next time I see you!

Much love,
Kilee

January Cleanse/Weight-Loss Week 5

I am sorry for this post being held up a day or two. I flew to visit Blake in Reno last Friday expecting to visit for a night or two. However, because of some maintenance issues with the helicopter and a lack of a fuel truck driver, I ended up driving the fuel truck to Elko, NV and then to Eureka, NV. We have had very limited cell phone and Wi-fi over the past few days. I love being out on the road with Blake and now have a better understanding of what his days are like when he’s out here working. I can sum it up in three words: long, strenuous and exhausting. He’s up by 5 am each morning and gets done working around 7 pm each night. They only days that he gets off are if there is a “weather day” which means that he can’t fly in the weather conditions.
If Layla was out on the road with us, I would stay for a month or more. However, she is back home in a doggie hotel and I need to make it back home to her. Me getting a flight home right now has become an issue because they’re are no commercial flights out of Eureka and I have to wait until this job is completed (3-5 days) before I can get to a town that has a flight back to Portland.

So, this unexpected trip with limited clothing, lack of fresh, healthy foods and unpredictability of length has made me once again practice my patience and “go with the flow” attitude.
So, we end our month of cleansing with the last few days focusing on transitioning back to a more “everyday” diet. No foods are off limits, but choose wisely about which foods you would like to add back into your diet. I strongly suggest continuing to abstain from refined sugar, trans fats and large amounts of caffeine. With each food that you reintroduce, pay close attention to how your body and mind feels after eating it. If you can, try to only reintroduce one type of food every 3-4 days to fully be able to pinpoint any foods that may not react well with your body.

You may pick and chose any meals that you enjoyed during the cleanse (maybe the green smoothies or large salads for lunch) that you may wish to continue as part of your daily diet. Do not feel pressured to continue as strict of a diet, but remember not to switch gears in the opposite direction and eat a ton of unhealthy foods all at once.

You may want to choose one day of the week where you choose to eat a menu close to one of the cleanse meal plans from the previous weeks or you may want to do another 1-week cleanse some time in the next few months. Please remember to keep a balanced approach and do not risk your health or well-being to participate in an extreme “cleanse” that you know will leave you feeling beat instead of energized.

For those who participated (even for a week or two,) did you feel an improvement in your energy or mood? Did you end up a little lighter than you were on December 31st? Please let me know your personal experience with the cleanse and if you wish that it had been different in any way.
I need to go get ready for dinner and hit the hay before another early wake up call in the morning. I’ll let you know once I’m back home in Oregon. At this rate, it might not be until next week! Take care and be proud of any healthy nutrition or lifestyle choices that you have made this past month!

I filmed a few videos while I was on the road:

Lessons from Reno

Hi! I hope that you’re having a great day so far. I wanted to fill you in on some lessons that I learned while visiting Blake in Reno. I tend to do a lot of personal growth and lesson learning when out on the road with Blake. You might remember lessons I shared this past summer and fall while visiting Blake in Alaska. There is something about being out of my comfort zone and having to deal with the unpredictability that comes with his job and being on the road that makes for challenges and learning lessons. I am a strong believer that going through tough situations and challenges helps you to grow as a person and better prepare you for your journey in life.

Sometimes I feel embarrassed to share my stories of when I haven’t acted my best or struggles that I’ve gone through, but I remind myself that I’m here to help others work through these same challenges. I want to inspire you to get back up and keep living your best life. We all hit speed bumps on our roads of personal growth. No one is perfect and the best we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to do better next time.

So, what little lessons did I learn while in Reno?

1. Always, always, always read the label or ask for the ingredients of what you are going to eat.

I was excited to try out some new bars that I had packed for my trip. I thought that I checked the ingredients of these “new-to-me” Cliff MoJo bars. Apparently I was more focused on the macronutrients (they are pretty close to Luna Bars) than examining every ingredient because I ended up eating half of a trail mix bar before I realized that it had pretzel sticks in it. Red-flag gluten alert!!! I was mad at myself because it was a silly mistake to make and I was frightened because I never know if an accidental gluten ingestion will result in any unwanted side effects. Luckily, I was not punished with a gruesome stomachache, but did suffer a possible side effect that I’ll explain in lesson #3.

2. Exercise, even when you are away from home.

I exercise 5-6 days a week. Not because I’m training for a big race or because I need to look amazing for an upcoming photo shoot, (although, I wouldn’t be opposed to those reasons in the future) but because I depend on my workouts to help keep my anxiety and PMS levels down. I’ll write a post in the future about natural ways I have been able to personally reduce my anxiety, but I want to focus on the benefits of working up a sweat when away from home and out of your daily routine.

My sister got my the Insanity DVD’s for Christmas and I started doing them a few weeks ago. I have stuck with the recommended training schedule and have noticed that I feel better when consistantly preforming these high-intensity cardio workouts. I packed my DVD’s and workout clothes for the trip with every intention of preforming the daily workouts. Um… I didn’t really feel like working up a sweat the first few days that I was here. I told myself that I was “on vacation” and that “I deserved a break from my workouts.” I wish that I had just powered through the workouts because I ended up feeling crappy until Monday, when I made myself put in a DVD and do a workout. Ahh, that burst of endorphins was exactly what my body and mind needed. After realizing how important these 30-40 minutes sweat sessions are for my sanity (even though they’re called “Insanity” haha!) I made the choice to continue my regular workout routine.

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3. Stop, breath and focus on a solution.

I had a mini-meltdown in Whole Foods Sunday night. I want to say that it was induced by accidentally eating gluten that afternoon, but I’m not sure if there was a link or not. Here is what happened: we’re reading books and magazines at Barnes and Noble and realize that it’s getting late and we should try to pick up some dinner before heading back to the casino. (We were trying to save money on food after our expensive, amazing dinner at Charlie Palmer.) We hopped in the car and drove around looking for a place to get dinner. I spotted a Whole Foods and decided that hot bar would make a perfect, healthy dinner. We got inside at 8:55 to find the hot bar food was already taken down and a voice over the loud speaker said that they would be closing in five minutes. This is when the anxiety took over and my bad behavior started. It seems so silly now, but at the time I was actually in panic mode.

I complained to Blake that we wasted too much time at the book store, that they didn’t have any food that I wanted to eat and that I was too stressed to find anything to eat in the next five minutes. I could see the tension and anger building in him and decided that we were already at Whole Foods, I should just make do with the salad bar and pick up a rice paper roll since I was craving one. We bought our dinner and some vitamins that Blake needed and headed to the truck. And, the mini-meltdown continued. Blake told me that it took every last bit of his patience not to explode at me in the store, that I was acting like a child and that I could not let little stressors affect me the way that I let them. I started crying like a toddler, was ashamed that I had just acted like one and agreed that I let my anxiety get the best of me during those stressful (?!) five minutes in the store.

What I should have done was stopped my racing mind, taken a deep breath and decided if it was worth the stress of having to find something for dinner in under five minutes or if we should just leave and find another place to eat. Instead, I let my fear and anxiety come over me and acted like a toddler who wasn’t getting her way. Wow, that is embarrassing to admit! I learned a lot from that moment and got what I deserved once we were back at the hotel. My salad tasted gross and my rice paper roll was stale and unappetizing.

So, there you have some of my lessons that I learned while in Reno. I won’t even get started writing about how I have had to ditch my “everything has to go according to planned” attitude for a “go with the flow” one. That’s a whole other post in and of itself! I hope that by me sharing the lessons that I learn, you are able to learn through my mistakes and experiences and hopefully avoid them. I’ll keep sharing them with you because I’m sure there will be more that I’ll learn in the next few month and beyond. Have a great day,

Kilee

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Viva La Reno

View from our room at the casino

Hi! How is your Wednesday going? Mine is wonderful out here in Reno, Nevada. I flew out Friday evening and my sister was nice enough to watch Layla for the weekend. Now Layla’s at the doggie hotel and I hope she’s on her best behavior! I’m not sure when I’m flying home yet, but possibly tomorrow or Friday. It all depends on when the helicopter maintenance is completed.

I’m really fortunate to be able to visit Blake while he’s out on the road. He travels a lot for his job as a helicopter pilot and is sometimes gone for months at a time. It just so happened that he would be in Reno staying at a casino for a few nights while his helicopter was down for a routine maintenance check. We have taken full advantage of his break here in Reno and turned it into a mini-vacay. But it’s not all fun and games; I have had to help out around the hanger and endure many hours of “guy places” including Cabela’s and a sheep hunting convention. It’s worth it to spend time with Blake. We make a really good team-at home and on the road!

Getting the heli all cleaned up and ready to be worked on by the mechanics

Hanger where the heli is being worked on

There were over 120 booths at this "Sheep Show"

I was really, really excited about all the sheep. Can't you tell?

Whoever said that Reno is like a mini Vegas is right. And like Vegas, Reno has some really good restaurants. Blake and I have always enjoyed eating at nice restaurants. We started going to more “adult-like” restaurants back in high school and college and have enjoyed many memorable meals together. Our dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak House a few nights back has to be one of the top ten meals that we’ve experienced together. If you’ve ever been to Ruth Chris Steak House, it’s like that, but even a little nicer! We ordered a bottle of red wine and started with the seafood platter which included oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, crab legs and calamari salad. It came with five different sauces.

Look how happy Blake is with all that seafood!

Blake ordered a steak for dinner. He let me try some and it was one of the best tasting steaks I’ve ever had. I ordered sautéed mushrooms and grilled vegetables. I shouldn’t have even ordered the veggies because I was already stuffed from the seafood platter, but you know how some waitresses guilt-trip you into ordering more food than you planned to? Yeah, this one made me feel like I was an obnoxious woman who can barely finish a side salad. So, we boxed up our leftovers and skipped dessert. We didn’t even need to order dessert because they brought us a mini platter with candied walnuts, coconut macaroons, chocolate truffles and biscotti. Whew, I was stuffed by the time we left the restaurant.

But, we quickly found a way to work off our dinner — line dancing! The casino had a live country band and a dance floor for line dancing. We were so impressed with the couples out on the dance floor that we vowed to take lessons and go line dancing once we’re back home. I am so excited! Blake already has the cowboy boots and plaid shirts, but we need to pick him up a cowboy hat and I need some cowgirl boots and a cute plaid shirt to wear. I’d really prefer one with ruffles on!

I even tried a few dances out on the dance floor. It was not pretty!

Since we’re staying at a casino and I have never gambled before, we took a few one’s that Blake had in his pocket and hit the casino floor. He gravitated towards slot machines with ‘Wolf” in the title, while I thought the “Sex & the City” machines were more fun. We weren’t too lucky on in terms of gambling.

But, we did end up down in the children’s arcade and I (after too many played token to count) ended up winning a *Bonus* on one of the games. I’m embarrassed to say that I may have gotten a little too excited about all the tickets I won!

Who needs to gamble in a casino when there's an arcade to play in?

I’m going to go do some more loads of laundry. I want to get Blake all caught up before he flies out to Elko, NV. Have a great day and I’ll talk to you later,

Kilee

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Blueberry Crisp Protein Smoothie

Hi from Reno, Nevada! I’m typing this post as we lay in bed with news about the presidential candidates on the television. I am not political at all, but am making an effort to learn about the current candidates and their views. I’ve been taking a few photos with my iPhone since I flew in here and will post some of the fun ones once I’m home in a few days. For now, I’ll leave you with a delicious post-workout smoothie that I made a few days ago.

Blueberry Crisp Protein Smoothie

Serves 1 post-workout woman (or man)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries (try to find organic ones if possible)

1/2 frozen banana, broken into pieces

2 ice cubes

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

1 Tablespoon oats (rolled or quick cook)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

pinch of stevia

1 cup non-dairy milk (I used a unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

Place all of the ingredients in the blender and blend for about a minute. Enjoy!

I’ve been having fun making all different types of dessert smoothies lately. I might not be baking much, but I’m sure enjoying my “dessert flavored” protein smoothies.

Have a great day,

Kilee

January Cleanse/Weight-Loss Week 4

Can you believe that we’re already 3/4 of the way through January? This month is flying by! Speaking of flying, I will be flying out to visit Blake in Reno, NV today. His helicopter is down for maintenance right now, so I get to go enjoy some time with him in “little Las Vegas.” My sister agreed to watch Layla for the weekend, so we will be doggie-free. I can’t wait to see what Reno is like. I guess we’re staying at a casino that has an “all-you-can-eat” sushi bar. Can you trust a sushi restaurant that’s not on the coast? We’ll see!

Did anyone try the Cleanse-Friendly Cookies I posted this week? I may have had one (or two) each day since I made them.

How are you feeling? Have you continued to eat vegan or have you reintroduced animal proteins back into your diet? Take some time to think about how you have felt over the past week and adjust your diet as needed. Some people feel great as vegetarians, some people prefer to eat fish while others thrive as full-fledge omnivores. Play around with your animal protein intake until it feels right for you.

This week, you have the option of adding dairy back into your diet. I recommend starting with a goat or sheep cheese or yogurt. Some people, like myself, have an easier time digesting pure sheep or goat’s milk products than cow dairy. If your stomach feels good enough with these two and you want to try adding cow’s dairy back into your diet, go ahead. Pay close attention to how you feel in the hours after you eat your dairy. Is your stomach cramping? Do you feel gassy? If you feel fine, you can choose to continue to eat dairy products. If you feel somewhat sick from it, keep it out of your diet.

Week 4 Daily Meal Guide:

Upon Rising: 16 ounces of water with 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Breakfast: Green Smoothie (see recipe)

Snack: LARABAR (store-bought of homemade) or 4-6 ounces plain greek yogurt with some fruit or gluten-free granola

Lunch: Salad (see recipes for weeks 2 & 3)

Snack: 1-2 cups fresh vegetables and 3 ounces deli meat or ¼ cup hummus or dip

Dinner: Any of the recipes from weeks 1-3 or try one of the linked recipes below.

Post-Dinner: Cup of herbal tea

Week 3 Dinner Recipe Ideas

Quinoa with Poached Egg, Spinach and Cucumber

Lentils and Brown Rice

Grilled Chicken Ratatouille

Mushroom Shichimi Rice Bowl

Detox Lasagna

Grilled Salmon with Apricot-Mustard Glaze

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Lifestyle Tip of the Week:

Taking some time to do something special for yourself is very important. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in taking care of others and not focusing on your own needs. You are not a selfish person for choosing to do something that you enjoy each day. It has been proven that it is beneficial to you and you health to treat yourself to something you enjoy daily.

It could be reading your favorite book, taking a walk to the park, getting a manicure, turning off your cell phone in the evening, taking a bubble bath, buying a scarf in your favorite color, looking at puppies at the pet store or pound or giving yourself a face mask. Whatever you like to do… do it! Unless it’s shoving handfuls of potato chips and chocolates into your mouth. We’re on a cleanse, remember!

This week, please remind yourself to treat yourself to something special each day. I promise that it will have a positive impact on your life.

I hope that you are feeling amazing! I’m off to finish my packing and hit the road. See you from Reno!

xoxo,

Kilee

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Using Stevia to Replace Sugar

Hello friends! I hope that you are having a beautiful day wherever you are! I woke up to a little snow on the ground. It has been melting all morning and turning into rain. Oh well, the snow was fun while it lasted!

A few months ago, I received a package filled with goodies from the wonderful folks at NuNaturals. I love that NuNaturals is a local company here in Oregon and they strive to produce the best tasting stevia on the market. Today I wanted to share with you my suggestions for using stevia to replace refined sugar and chemically produced sugar substitutes.

I started using stevia back in my college days when I read about the benefits of using it as opposed to the Splenda packets I was pouring into my coffee and oatmeal. I bought a bottle of liquid stevia at the health food store and tried it out – yuck! The aftertaste was worse than Sweet-n-Low or Equal! I took stevia off my shopping list until someone suggested that I give another brand a try. This time I bought SweetLeaf brand Vanilla Stevia Extract and was pleasantly surprized how good it tasted in my morning coffee. I still used Splenda here and there, but got used to using stevia in my coffee.

I don’t feel like writing about all the possible health complications of overusing refined sugar and chemically engineered sugar substitutes, but if you need a refresher course, you can find more info here and here.

I admit that I still use a little organic cane sugar or regular powdered sugar (nothing tastes as good as C&H brand powdered sugar!) in some of my baked goods, but I’m always finding natural ways to reduce my sugar intake. Stevia to the rescue! Processed stevia is derived from the stevia plant. It was actually banned from US shelves as a sweetener (but allowed in dietary supplements) until December of 2008. Now, there is an abundance of stevia brands and products in health food stores and even mainstream grocery stores as well. Let’s get to the ways to add stevia to your diet!

How to Replace Sugar and Sugar Substitutes with Stevia:

1.  Use it to sweeten your coffee, tea or sparkling water. I love the liquid vanilla stevia for my morning coffee or one of the quick dissolve tablets for my evening tea. I sometimes like to add a few drops of the regular stevia to my citrus sparkling water to make it taste more like 7-Up.

2.  Sprinkle it on your morning oatmeal or cereal. If you love a bowl of comforting, sweet oatmeal or cereal in the morning, sprinkle a packet of stevia on top. I grew up sprinkling Sweet-n-Low on my breakfast cereal (my mom didn’t buy any sugared cereals) so I used to them tasting a little sweeter.

3.  Substitute part or all of the sugar in your baking recipes with More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend. Baking with stevia can be tricky because it’s about 200 times sweeter than that same amount of regular sugar. More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend to the rescue! It can be used as a 1:1 replacement for sugar in your baked goods. Because it has about 4 grams or fiber per tablespoon and this can cause a bit of gas for the normal stomach, I tend to replace half of the recipe’s sugar with stevia and use organic cane sugar, sucanat or palm sugar for the other half.

4.  Make low-sugar almond milk hot cocoa. I love to steam a mug of vanilla almond milk in the evening and then add the Cocoa Bean Extract liquid stevia. It cures my sweet tooth and doesn’t leave me buzzing around with a sugar high before bed.

Tell me, what are your favorite ways to use stevia? I know there are a ton of great suggestions out there. I have to say that the increase of stevia products on the market has significantly lowered my use of refined sugar and Splenda-like sweeteners.

I was practicing my YouTube skills the other night and filmed Layla before dinner time. She does these fake sneezes when she wants something. She knows that 6pm is her dinner time and starts this little act around 5 each night. She’s been acting like quite the YouTube celebrity since I posted this video of her:

Have great day!

Kilee

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Cleanse-Friendly Cookies

Hi! How is week 3 of the cleanse going for you? I hope that you are feeling energized and healthy. Today I wanted to share a new cleanse-friendly cookie recipe with you. I know that there are times when you just need a cookie or two. I came up with this recipe to satisfy your (and my) sweet tooth while still cutting out refined sugar, gluten and dairy products. The banana and maple syrup sweeten the cookies while the protein powder helps to keep your blood sugar levels from spiking. The only questionable ingredient in this recipe is the chocolate chips. Feel free to chop up an unsweetened chocolate baking bar or try out some of the “healthy” chocolate chips on the market by:

Enjoy Life Foods mini chocolate chips – dairy, gluten, nut & soy free

Dagoba Chocodrops – Fair trade organic chocolate

Chocolate Dream chocolate chips – dairy & gluten free

Some purists might argue that there is no room for a little chocolate on a cleanse. I disagree. This is a month long program and there is a tiny bit of room for a chocolate chip or too. Just keep your hand out of the bag while you’re adding the chocolate chips into the batter.

Cleanse-Friendly Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

Makes 12-16 cookies

1/2 cup gluten-free flour (I used Pamela’s brand)

1/2 cup vanilla brown rice protein powder (I used Sun Warrior brand)

1/2 cup gluten-free oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup creamy almond butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375ºF. In a large mixing bowl stir the ground flaxseed, mashed banana, almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla together until completely mixed. In a medium mixing bowl stir the flour, protein powder, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Gently add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and add the chocolate chips. Stir until just combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment paper lined baking sheets. Push down with a spatula to lightly flatten each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire baking rack.

Enjoy with glass of unsweetened almond or coconut milk. I will make these cookies even when I’m not on a cleanse!

Take care,

Kilee

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January Cleanse/Weight Loss Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of the January Cleanse/Weight Loss program. You have done an amazing job so far! How are you feeling coming off of your first two weeks? I bet a little more refreshed, energized and lighter. It’s really important pay attention to how your body and emotions feel and try to see if there are any patterns between what you eat and how you feel.

We will be easing up on some of the dietary restrictions this week. You completed your most rigorous week of cleansing last week. It is very important not to break a cleanse with heavy, processed foods. Our bodies grew accustomed to the light, vegan fare and it would be too much a shock to our system to dive back into chips and cookies.

This week is about continuing the high-vegetable intake and starting to reintroduce meats, fish and poultry into your diet, if you choose. If you felt great and more energetic than usual not eating animal products, you can choose to continue your vegetarian diet. However, there are some people and blood types that do better when consuming meat, fish and/or poultry. Pay attention to what feels right for your body.

A note about alcohol: although alcohol is considered a toxin and does not promote cleansing, I understand that you might have social obligations this week where alcohol will be served. If you choose to indulge in an alcoholic beverage, please restrict it to one glass of red wine. The antioxidants from the grapes and natural sugars make this your best choice as far as drinks are concerned. An even better, non-alcohol choice would be a sparkling water with a twist of lime. Remember, one glass of wine per week – max!

Week 3 Daily Meal Guide:

Upon Rising: 16 ounces of water with 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Breakfast: Green Smoothie (see recipes)

Snack: 1/4 cup homemade  trail mix (use a mixture of non-sugar added dried fruits and nuts)

Lunch: Salad (see recipes below)

Snack: 1-2 cups fresh vegetables and ¼ cup hummus or dip (see recipes below)

Dinner: 4 ounces lean meat, fish or poultry

1 cup of steamed or sautéed vegetables

Side salad with ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and 1-2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice

Post-Dinner: Cup of herbal tea

Lunch Salad Recipe Ideas:

Honey Balsamic Bean Salad

Edamame and Rice Salad

Tarragon Chicken Salad

Shrimp Cobb Salad - substitute the blue cheese dressing with a lemon vinaigrette

Thai Steak Lettuce Wraps

or create your own salad (with no dairy or gluten) or use any of last weeks salad recipes.

Dip Recipe Ideas:

Black Bean Dip

Vegan Spinach Dip

Vegan Onion Dip

Dinner should be simple, just grill or bake your protein, sauté some vegetables in a touch of oil (I like extra virgin coconut oil) and toss a simple salad of greens with olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar. If you are choosing to continue without animal protein, feel free to substitute tofu, tempeh, beans or quinoa.

I’ll be back in a few days to share a little cleanse-friendly cookie recipe with you. It’s a great way to treat your sweet tooth during the cleanse.

Take care and remember to email or comment with any questions!

Kilee

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Surviving PMS Symptoms

Hi! How is your second week of the cleanse going if you are participating in the January Cleanse/Weight-loss program? I hope that you are enjoying the recipes that I posted last weekend or making up some new ones of your own. You are over half way through week 2 and are doing an amazing job so far. Remember to take it easy on yourself, rest a little more if needed and stay well hydrated.

Today I wanted to share some foods that are beneficial for reducing PMS symptoms. Remember to talk with your health care provider if you need any help managing your PMS; these are only nutrient and food suggestions.

I actually experience really bad PMS every month. Some months go better than others. Before I took gluten out of my diet, it was to the point where they diagnosed my symptoms as PMDD. Luckily, after removing the gluten, my symptoms went back to the “normal” PMS ones. Over the years I have seen a definite link between my lifestyle and the severity of my PMS symptoms. These food suggestions have helped me, but everyone is different. Please be gentle and kind to yourself and don’t get upset if these suggestions don’t work for you. Do some research and talk to a health care provider about other options for yourself.

I started to type out exactly what foods to increase and decrease and then came across this great article featuring the work of Joy Bauer, the a lead nutritionist featured in many magazines and talk shows. Here are her suggestions of what to eat and not to eat to avoid PMS:

Many women with PMS define their monthly nutrition needs in terms of their cravings for anything salty or chocolate. Although indulging in chocolate-dipped pretzels might seem like a fantasy come true, they won’t improve your mood or reduce the bloat. There are many better options…

First, try to limit your intake of salt, alcohol and caffeine:

• Salt and salty foods. PMS causes bloating and water retention. Salt can cause bloating and water retention. Ergo, salt can make those problems of PMS worse.
• Alcohol. Premenstrually, alcohol can cause increased breast tenderness. Also, alcohol can lowerblood sugar, which may make typical PMS mood symptoms worse. If you cannot totally avoid alcohol premenstrually, at least try not to drink to excess.
• Caffeine. Some research suggests that the effects of caffeine are magnified premenstrually, leading to greater breast tenderness, more nervousness and potentially more irritability. If these side effects sound familiar, make an effort to limit the amount of caffeinated coffee and tea you drink one week prior to menstruation.

On the other hand, go out of your way to include foods rich in calcium, magnesium, manganese and vitamin B6. And be sure to enjoy a daily cup of chamomile tea. Here’s the scoop:

Calcium
Compared with women who don’t have premenstrual symptoms, researchers have found some women with PMS have lower blood levels of calcium around their time of ovulation. And when PMS sufferers take 1000 to 1200 milligrams of calcium supplements daily, their mood and bloating improve after just a few months. I consider calcium-rich foods an absolute must for women with PMS.

Best foods for calcium: Low-fat and nonfat dairy foods, including yogurt (low-fat/nonfat), milk (skim, 1% reduced fat milk), cheese (nonfat/low-fat), and low-fat ice cream; broccoli and kale; and other calcium-fortified foods.

Magnesium
Just as was found with calcium, some women with PMS seem to have lower blood levels of magnesium compared with women who did not have PMS symptoms. Women with PMS who ate ample magnesium-rich foods had better mood and less water retention than women who did not get enough magnesium. It is thought that magnesium might help regulate the activity of serotonin, the so-called feel-good neurotransmitter.

Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is one of the necessary ingredients required by the body to manufacture dopamine, one of the mood neurotransmitters. Research into the effects of vitamin B6 on PMS have been mixed — some show that taking supplements reduces irritability, depression, and breast tenderness, while others don’t find any effect at all. Although the research on supplements is a bit confusing, I highly recommend eating vitamin B6-rich foods because they seem to have helped many of my clients with PMS.

Best foods for vitamin B6: Fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, chick-peas, wild salmon, lean beef, pork tenderloin, chicken breast, white potatoes (w/skin), oatmeal, banana, pistachio nuts and lentils.

Manganese
Manganese is found in minute quantities in foods, but that’s OK because we don’t need a lot to stay healthy. If you eat a relatively balanced diet, you’re probably getting enough manganese. But blood levels of manganese vary throughout the menstrual cycle, so it is not surprising that this mineral might be involved in PMS. A handful of studies have suggested that manganese, in combination with calcium, may reduce the irritability, depression and tension associated with PMS. Therefore, I encourage you to go out of your way to incorporate manganese-rich foods, specifically around the time of your PMS.

Best foods for manganese: Pineapple, wheat germ, spinach, collard greens, pecans, lima beans, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, oats and raspberries.

Drink chamomile tea.
Premenstrually, chamomile tea may be particularly helpful because it contains properties that relieve muscle spasms, and may therefore help reduce the severity of menstrual cramps. In addition, chamomile seems to reduce tension that may lead to anxiety and irritability.

Joy Bauer is the author of the No.1 New York Times best-seller, Joy Bauer’s Food Cures. For more information on healthy eating, visit Joy Bauer’s Web site at www.joybauernutrition.com

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I hope that you can incorporate these foods into your diet and hopefully avoid some unwanted PMS symptoms.

Have a great day and I’ll be back tomorrow or Saturday to post Week 3′s outline.

Much love,

Kilee

Orange Mango Green Smoothie

Hi! I just wanted to quickly share my new favorite post-workout green smoothie recipe with you.

Orange Mango Green Smoothie

Serves 1

1/2 scoop Sun Warrior Warrior Protein Powder

1/4 cup orange juice

1 large handful of spinach

1/2 a lemon or lime, peeled or unpeeled

1/2 green apple, diced

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks (I buy these at Trader Joe’s)

2-4 ice cubes

1/4 cup (give or take) filtered water

Place all of your ingredients in the blender in the order shown and blend on high for about a minute.

Week 2 Recipe Ideas

Welcome to week 2′s recipe ideas. There are no “set” recipes for this cleanse, but rather guidelines and suggestions.

Breakfast: Green Smoothie – feel free to use this recipe as a template or try one of Victoria Boutenko’s green smoothies posted here.

Morning Snack: Try making your own fruit and nut bars or purchase non-peanut/non-chocolate Larabars.

Lunch: Large Salad.  Include lots of fresh veggies and beans, rice or quinoa. Some recipe ideas include:

Cheesy Kale Salad

Carrot Poppyseed Salad

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad – leave out the feta

Coconut Rice and Black Bean Salad

Esalen Kale Salad

Spinach Salad with Apples, Currants & Walnuts

Sweet Potato, Celery and Apple Salad

Brown Rice Salad

Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl

Detox Salad

Afternoon Snack: 1-2 cups fresh vegetables and ¼ cup hummus or store-bought

My super-simple hummus recipe:

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Filtered water

In a blender or food processor combine garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, salt and olive oil. Blend on low speed, gradually adding filtered water, until desired consistency is achieved.

Dinner: Vegan Soup or pick up a fresh vegetarian soup at the store. I like to make a large batch of soup in the crock pot on Sunday and then maybe another soup on Thursday. Here are some soup recipe ideas:

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Detox Soup

Kale & Roasted Vegetable Soup

Quick & Easy Detox Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup

Slow Cooker Soup Recipes – ignore any animal proteins. I think there’s only a few.

Spiced Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

Un-Chicken Soup

Vegan Lentil & Cabbage Soup

Post-Dinner: Cup of herbal tea

If you have any recipe suggestions or questions, feel free to leave them below. Happy cooking!

January Cleanse/Weight Loss Week 2:

Hooray! We’ve made it through our first week of the cleanse! You have successfully:

• Started your day with a cleansing drink of water and fresh lemon juice
• Eliminated alcohol from your diet
• Gradually reduced your caffeine intake to zero
• Taken out refined sugars and HFCS
• Taken out trans fat
• Taken out gluten
• Taken out dairy
• Taken out GMO soy
• Taken out GMO corn
• Taken out peanuts
• Cut your animal protein intake in half
• Given yourself extra time to sleep, relax and reflect

Congratulations on everything that you have accomplished over the past week! This is a huge step towards nourishing your body with whole foods and giving it time to rejuvenate. As we head into this week’s vegan, gluten-free cleanse, there are a few pointers to keep in mind:

1. Exercise – This is not the time to begin or even continue an intense exercise regime. Your body will be lacking the energy that it needs to preform high-intensity cardio or weight-training. Please stick to walking, light cardio (like swimming, biking or the elliptical machine) and stretching or yoga. It’s beneficial to get outside and move your body in the fresh air, just not to the point where you’re gasping for air!
2. Continue to drink your morning water with lemon juice. This is helping refresh and cleanse your insides.
3. Allow yourself to rest more frequently if needed. You will probably feel more tired than usual. This is normal. Go with the flow and let your self take a nap and/or hit the hay earlier than normal.
4. Drink plenty or water and herbal tea throughout the day. This will keep you hydrated and less hungry.
5. LISTEN to your body. If you feel absolutely miserable and cannot even make it into work or school, reevaluate your cleanse. This is not meant to be an over-the-top, all green juice cleanse. It is designed to allow you to go about your normal routine and be able to preform your day to day responsibilities. If you need to add some animal protein back or other food back into your diet, feel free to. Make sure that it’s organic and start out with a small amount. Sometimes all you need is 2-4 ounces a day to start feeling more like yourself.
6. If you have ANY questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment below. I am here to support you and help make this a positive experience for you.

Week 2

This week is the most hard-core cleanse week of the month. We will be eating vegan (which means no animal or dairy products) and will continue to abstain from caffeine, alcohol, gluten, refined sugar, trans fats, peanuts, non-GMO corn and soy and processed foods. Don’t worry, you will still be eating great-tasting food! Your options are only as limited as you make them out to be. I could feast for weeks or months on fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and healthy fats. You have plenty of delicious recipes and meal options to choose from.

Our goal this week is to give your body and digestive tract a break. Day in and day out, we subject ourselves to hard-to-digest foods. You could have a food sensitivity that you didn’t know about or your digestion could be compromised due to a lack of enzyme rich fresh vegetables. Whatever the case may be for you, put your normal habits aside and get ready for a week of clean eating.

There are detox symptoms that you may encounter during the first few days of this week. These are very normal and can happen to anyone embarking on a cleanse. You may experience headaches, tiredness, lack of motivation, hungriness or an overall “blah” feeling. It get betters! I promise that these feelings will pass and you will feel your most energetic and light after the next seven days.

Besides eating specific types of foods, here are some other ways to help detoxify your body:

(source)

Sauna and Steam Rooms

Our skin is exposed to hundreds of chemicals during the course of our life, and is affected by them. From innocent bath products such as shampoos, shower gels, lotions and soaps to deodorants. Household cleaning solvents, detergent residues on clothes and chemicals from the bath or shower water also affect the skin.

Regular use of the sauna gradually restores the skin’s elimination ability. Sweating removes toxic chemicals and metals faster than other detox method. It is a good habit that pays many health dividends.

The sauna’s benefits are numerous. Not least because it is so relaxing and leaves your body soothed and your mind serene. It’s main advantage lies in the fact that it promotes sweating, helping the body to rid itself of toxins. It is also believed that exposure of the skin to heat stimulates the production of white blood cells and strengthens the immune system. (source)

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Baking Soda Baths

Detoxification of your body through bathing is an ancient remedy that anyone can perform in the comfort of their own home. Your skin is known as the third kidney, and toxins are excreted through sweating. A detox bath will assist your body in eliminating toxins, as well as absorbing the minerals and nutrients that are in the water.

1. Prepare your bath on a day that you have at least 40 minutes available, as the first 20 minutes are said to help your body remove the toxins, while the second 20 minutes are for absorbing the minerals in the water.

2. Fill your tub with comfortably hot water, using a chlorine filter if possible.

3. Add 2 cups or more (up to 16 lbs) of Epsom Salts, aka magnesium sulphate. This can be purchased in 3 lb bags or 1 lb cartons at discount stores in the garden center, or in the pharmaceutical area, or ordered from garden centers in 50 lb bags. It’s very inexpensive.

4. Add 1 to 2 cups or more of Baking Soda, aka sodium bicarbonate. This is said to help eliminate the chlorine in the water, as well as soften the water, and help the body to absorb the magnesium. Large bags can usually be found in the swimming pool chemical area, or the boxes from the bakery aisle will work fine.

5. Know that Epsom Salts and Baking Soda bath is a detox bath in, and of itself, other items can be added for further effects. Ground ginger, or fresh ginger tea both work quite well. The ginger is heating to the body and may cause your skin to turn slightly red for a few minutes, so be careful with the amount you add. Depending on the capacity of your tub, and your sensitivity, anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/3 cup can be added. Most people sweat profusely with the addition of the ginger, and if you wrap your body in a blanket immediately after getting out of the tub, you can continue to detoxify through perspiration for another couple of hours. This is especially beneficial if you are trying to rid the body of a bug of some sort, like the flu, or a cold.

6. Add aromatherapy oils; this is optional, but there are many oils that will help the bath to be a pleasant and relaxing experience, such as lavendar, or ylang ylang, or those that will assist in the detoxification process such as tea tree or eucalyptus. Around 20 drops is sufficient.

7. Swish all of the ingredients into the tub, and soak for as long as you can, preferably 20 minutes. You should start sweating within the first few minutes, and the longer the better, up to 20 minutes. If you feel too hot, start adding cold water into the tub until you cool off. Sit in the cool water another 20 minutes, if you can. When you get out of the tub, move slowly and carefully, as your body has been working hard and you may get lightheaded or feel weak and drained. (source)

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Dry Brush

The skin is the largest elimination organ, it is known to be responsible for 10 to 15% of total body elimination, and is sometimes referred to as the third kidney.Dry skin brushing is a swift and powerful way to enhance the detoxification process . It’s easy, pleasant and yields tremendous benefits!

Not only does it improve the appearance of your skin by eliminating dead cells and helping new skin to regenerate, it also stimulates blood circulation, the lymphatic system, and greatly enhances toxin elimination.
In addition, the massaging effect of the bristles is known to be highly beneficial for eliminating cellulite.
Brushing the skin gently stimulates the lymphatic system and is considered to be one of the best natural lymphatic cleansers available.

The lymphatic system is composed of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, and organs. Part of the body’s defense system, the lymph nodes remove microorganisms and other foreign substances. They act as a filtration system that keeps particulate matter, such as bacteria, from entering the bloodstream.

Stimulating the lymphatic system through skin brushing will activate all of the above functions as well as encourage blood circulation and cell regeneration. Both actions promote detoxification, weight loss and cellulite reduction, as well as improve body tone and skin radiance. (source)

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Lymphatic Massage

The lymphatic system is composed of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, and organs. Part of the body’s defense system, the lymph nodes remove microorganisms and other foreign substances. They act as a filtration system that keeps particulate matter, such as bacteria, from entering the bloodstream.

Stimulating the lymphatic system through manual lymphatic drainage will activate all of the above functions as well as encourage fluid circulation and cell regeneration. Both actions promote detoxification, facilitate healing and support the immune system.

“The lymphatic system has a vital role in the body by regulating the immune system, which protects the body against infection. It transports nutrients to cells and eliminates metabolic wastes, toxins and excess fluids from the body. Manual lymphatic drainage is also a very effective way of detoxing the body plus stimulating vital immune defenses. This is a powerful, deep cleansing treatment.” Explains David Goddard, ND

Manual Lymphatic Drainage benefits are numerous and include:

• Clearing areas of congestion such as swollen ankles, puffy eyes and swollen legs
• Promotion of scar tissue healing, torn ligaments and sprains.
• Post-operative healing
• Swelling relief following plastic surgery
• Treatment of lymphedema and other conditions arising from venous insufficiency
• Improving chronic conditions such as sinusitis, arthritis, acne and other skin conditions
• Deep relaxation

(source)

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Forgiveness

Contrary to popular ideology, forgiveness is not something to be reserved for those who have earned or deserve it. Nor is forgiving about forgetting someone’s tendency to hurt you, or giving them permission to mistreat to you again.

Forgiveness isn’t even for those who wronged you. It’s actually for you. When you release your grip on the painful past, you free up your energies for joy and new focuses. You have no control on how your “perpetrators” conduct themselves moving forward, but you can choose how you want your life to go.

If you want to stay healthy, do yourself a favor and cut the cord of resentment and anger. It doesn’t improve what happened, and it just keeps you stuck in the past. Clear out that toxic energy and lighten up your load. (source)

Now, onto this week’s meal plan. I have designed a guide for your to use for your daily meals. I know that some people work and some people stay at home each day. I know that some people love to cook and some people would rather just pick something up at the store to eat. Use this menu plan as your guide and choose the food options that work best for you and your lifestyle. We are trying to make this cleanse as effortless as possible.

Week 2 Daily Meal Guide:

Upon Rising: 16 ounces of water with 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Breakfast: Green Smoothie feel free to use this recipe as a template to make your own based off your favorite greens, vegetables and fruits

Snack: Fruit & Nut Bar or a LARABAR (non-chocolate or peanut flavored kind)

Lunch: Salad Lots of fresh veggies and beans, rice or quinoa

Snack: 1-2 cups fresh vegetables and ¼ cup hummus or store-bought

Dinner: Vegan Soup or pick up a fresh vegetarian soup at the store

Post-Dinner: Cup of herbal tea

* I do not recommend canned soups due to the preservatives. If you have a natural grocery store like, Whole Foods, near by, you can buy one of their vegetarian soups at the hot soup bar. Just make sure that it does not contain gluten or dairy.

Reminder: use this week to be extra gentle to yourself. Do not put any expectations upon yourself. Go with the flow of things. Don’t get upset with yourself if you slip up or something doesn’t turn out how you wanted it to. It’s important to be especially kind to yourself this week. Put some fresh flower by your kitchen sink, light a candle next to your bathtub, read your favorite book before bed, schedule a massage for yourself or ask your significant other to give you one, remind yourself of things that you’re good at, use your “good” lotion after the shower (the one that smells delicious) and remind yourself that you are doing an excellent job of taking care of your health.

If you need extra sleep this week, please go ahead and sleep. Sleep allows your body to detoxify and regain energy. I suggest going to be an hour earlier than normal and taking naps if your schedule allows.

I will be posting recipes that will work for week 2 of our cleanse tomorrow. I’m feeling a bit under the weather tonight and want to feel more refreshed before putting the recipe post together.

Have a great night and I’ll see you back here tomorrow with recipe ideas for the coming week.

Happy cleansing,

Kilee

Week 1 Mid-Week Check-In

Good morning! How is everyone doing with the January Cleanse/Weight-Loss program so far? Have you been drinking your water with lemon first thing in the morning? Did you ditch HFCS, refined sugar, trans fat, gluten and dairy? How is it going so far? Honestly, I don’t miss the first four, but giving up my beloved soft-serve frozen yogurt may just push me over the edge. My sister took me to go get some on Monday and that 16 ounce bowl of original tart with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, mochi and hot fudge sauce made my day! Thank you Karlee – you know the real way to my heart!

Back to our cleanse. I designed this month-long cleanse to be gentle and to hopefully not get in the way of your day-to-day life. This first week is a chance for you to slowly transition to a cleaner, less-processed way of eating. You may eat your regular fare with the gradual exclusion of the foods listed throughout the week. Here are some linked recipes that would work well for meals for the rest of Week 1:

Scrambled Eggs with Watercress

Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

Steamed Salmon with Herbs and Lemon

I also wanted to link to some more information on the benefits of adopting a whole foods diet:

The Whole-Foods Diet article on medicinenet.com

Benefits of Eating the Worlds Healthiest Foods article on whfoods.com

Plant Based Diet Benefits article on suffolktimes.com

I hope that your week is going smoothly and you’re taking the time to go to bed earlier than normal, and preforming each day’s recommended journal or meditation exercise. I’ll be back on Friday with Week 2′s outline.

Have a great day,

Kilee

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Smoothie

Happy New Year’s Eve! What are your plans for tonight? I can’t believe it, but we are actually going out down town Portland tonight. I’m more of a stay-at-home and make a bunch of good food on New Year’s Eve type of girl. However, Blake doesn’t get to see his friends from high school very much and a bunch of them are getting together in Portland tonight. It will be fun to go out and we’re going to go watch a girl from our high school’s band preform down town. I already picked out my sequin minidress to wear. I call it my “New Year’s” dress because it’s the only night of the year that I’d actually wear it.

I wanted to share my new favorite breakfast smoothie recipe with you. I swear it tastes exactly like a oatmeal raisin cookie is a smoothie form!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Smoothie

Serves 1

1 scoop vanilla protein powder of choice

1 frozen banana

few dashes of cinnamon

2 Tablespoons oats (quick cook or whole, it doesn’t matter)

1 Tablespoon raisins

1/2 – 1 Tablespoon nut butter (I used Artisiana Cashew Butter)

4 drops vanilla stevia (I used NuNaturals brand)

1-2 ice cubes

6-8 ounces unsweetened vanilla almond milk

drop or two of butter extract (optional)

Place all of the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend for about a minute.

I really liked Mastin’s post today on thedailylove.com. As much as I think it’s important to plan ahead and envision an amazing year full of goals and achievements, I think it’s equally important to reflect back on how much you’ve grown and learned this past year. Please take a moment to read his post and think about how far you’ve come this year.

I recognize that this year I have become little more understanding and forgiving of myself and others. I began to accept my weaknesses. I have shifted from a more fearful mindset into a more loving way of looking at my life. I have learned to have faith and trust that everything WILL work out the way that it’s supposed to, even if it seems scary. I am grateful for my health, my relationships with others and my opportunity to connect with others in person and through this blog.

This blog has been a space for me to preform some personal growth and hopefully offer inspiration and support to others trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. There is no ONE perfect way to live a healthy, balanced life, but rather a journey of learning what works and doesn’t work for each one of us. I’m thankful that I have had the opportunity to write out my thoughts, goals and passions here on this blog. I’m thankful to each reader who has taken the time to read what I write or to try out one of my recipes.

I believe that 2012 will be a year of huge personal and societal growth. Let’s reflect back on 2011 and think about how to make 2012 an even better, more exciting year filled with love.

Have fun tonight and please remember to be safe. Do not get behind the wheel if you have been drinking or get in a vehicle with a driver who has been drinking. Let’s celebrate responsibly.

If you are joining me in the January Cleanse/Weight Loss program, don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s guidelines here.

Cheers to a New Year,

Kilee

January Cleanse/Weight Loss Week 1:

Welcome to the first week of Whole Nutrition’s January Cleanse/Weight Loss program. I am so proud of you for taking your health into your own hands for this new year. For the next 31 days we will be gently cleansing our body through whole foods and lifestyle choices. I have designed the program to begin with a week full of “baby steps” to ease into a weeklong gluten-free, vegan cleanse. Weeks 3 & 4 we will reintroduce animal protein and dairy back into our diets if desired and week 5 will allow you to reintroduce any other foods that you normally enjoy. It’s important to take note of how your body and mind feels throughout the cleanse and once you add specific food groups back into your daily meals.

Plan Guidelines

Our goal is to eat whole, natural foods to efficiently fuel our bodies and allow our bodies to cleanse out toxins and impurities By gradually starting this cleanse, you will ease into a healthier, more energetic you. You will complete this simple, non-drastic cleanse over the next four and a half weeks. Each of the weeks has different guidelines and goals:

• Week 1 – gradually eliminate certain foods from your diet to prepare your body for the cleanse
• Week 2 – vegan cleanse week. This is the most restrictive of all the weeks.
• Week 3 – reintroduce animal proteins into your diet if desired.
• Week 4 – reintroduce dairy products into your diet if desired.
• Week 5 – transition back to healthy, well-rounded diet that suits your lifestyle.

I have included menu plans, links to recipes and healthy lifestyle tips to make this your cleanse as simple as possible. Please email me with any questions: wholenutritionpdx@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to answer them.

Week 1

This is your elimination week. It’s food choices are not as strict as the following weeks. Our goal for this week is to prep our bodies for the cleanse that follows. Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Each day this week we will be removing a specific food from our diet until instructed to reintroduce it.

This cleanse is a time to abstain from alcohol. If you absolutely must indulge in a glass of red wine, you will be allowed one glass during the third, fourth and fifth weeks of the cleanse. Alcohol is considered a toxin because it taxes the adrenal glands, negatively impacts liver detoxification and creates free radicals that can damage cells. We want to detoxify our bodies, not add more toxins into the mix!

We will start each morning with a 16 ounce cup of room-temperature or warm filtered water with two tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice. This practice is a great way to awaken your digestive system, detoxify the liver and intestines and alkalize your body. Continue this practice throughout the entire month if not indefinitely.

If you drink coffee or caffeine, you will be gradually reducing your intake this week. I know from experience that it is painful to quit caffeine cold turkey. Take this week to gradually decrease your caffeine intake. For example, if you usually have two cups of coffee each morning, have 14 ounces on Monday, 12 ounces on Tuesday, 10 ounces on Wednesday, etc. until you are down to none.

If you eat meats, poultry and fish, we will be abstaining from these foods on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Please take the time to read through this week’s daily guides and take the time to plan out meals according to each day’s recommendations. This week is a chance for you to take “baby-steps” towards the cleanse. It is not an excuse to pig out and indulge in rich, “bad-for-your-health” foods. Our goal is to prepare our body for next weeks gluten-free, vegan cleanse. Try to include plenty of green vegetables, fruits and unprocessed foods. Experiment with a new recipe or try a new-to-you food.

Sunday, January 1st: Today’s goal is to eliminate HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and Refined Sugar from your food intake. These ingredients eaten in excess have been shown to create an acidic environment in your body, negatively affect blood sugar levels and promote the overgrowth of candida. They are empty calories and do not supply your body with any healthy nutrients. Besides avoiding the obvious candy, baked goods and ice cream, you also need to check the labels of dry cereal, dressings and sauces, jelly or jam, canned soups and any type of processed food. Another tip is that sugar can be listed under another name. Food manufacturers know that more and more people are avoiding HFCS and refined sugar and therefore try to use alternate names for these ingredients when used. You also need to scan labels for the following names:

• Sucrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• Dextrose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Cane juice
• Invert sugar
• Corn syrup

Now that you have excluded HFCS and refined sugar from your diet, here are some healthier alternatives to use instead:

• Stevia – powdered or liquid. I prefer NuNaturals or Trader Joe’s brand stevia packets.
• Honey – try to find local, raw honey. It has antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties and can help reduce seasonal allergies.
• Maple syrup – only the real stuff! Pancake syrup contains HFCS.
• Agave – a liquid sweetener that is has a lower glycemic index than sugar and should be used in moderation. Some people argue that it contains too much fructose, but I feel that it’s safe used in small amounts.
• Xylitol – Xylitol is a naturally occurring carbohydrate found in fibrous vegetables and fruits. It can be used as a sugar substitute when baking.
• Please, DO NOT use conventional sugar substitutes such as Splenda®, Sweet-n-Low® or Equal®. These chemical sweeteners have been shown to do more harm to our bodies than good. I do not recommend using them in any situation.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea instead of dessert. Go to bed a half hour earlier than normal and read a book until your fall asleep. Notice if you sleep more soundly than normal.

Monday, January 2nd: Today’s goal is to eliminate trans fat (or trans fatty acids) from your diet. Trans fat is a type of fat that is chemically manufactured and not found in nature. It is made my food manufacturers when they turn liquid fats into solid form. It is added to processed foods to increase their shelf-life. It has been shown to clog arteries and raise “bad” LDL cholesterol. Luckily, food manufacturers are required by law to list the amount of transfat on nutrition labels. Transfat has even been banned from some fast-food and dining restaurants.

Today, look for trans fat listed on the label of any processed food that you eat. You do not need to worry about whole, natural foods because they do not contain any trans fats. Some surprising foods to contain trans fats (not all brands do, so check the label before buying):

• Cold breakfast cereals
• Granola bars
• Crackers
• Packaged Weight-Loss foods
• Packaged cookies
• Microwave popcorn

We should not eliminate all fat from our diet. Our body needs healthy fats to stay function properly. Sources of healthy fats to include in our diet include:

• Extra-virigin olive oil
• Raw nuts and seeds
• Avocado
• Extra-virgin coconut oil
• Flaxseed oil
• Nutbutters (almond, walnut, pecan, etc.)

Try to keep your intake of pure, healthy fats to around 2 tablespoons of oils and nutbutters or about an ounce of avocado and nuts. Roughly 200 calories per day – give or take.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before going to bed a half hour earlier than normal. Take out your journal or a notebook and write down three things that you are thankful for in your life. They could be centered around family and friends, health, stability, etc. After writing down what you are thankful for, concentrate on the joy that they bring to your life as you fall asleep.

Tuesday, January 3rd: Today’s goal is to take all forms of gluten out of your diet. Gluten is a common allergin found in wheat, barley, spelt, rye and some processed oats. Gluten-sensitivity affects far more people than currently diagnosed. By removing gluten from your diet, you are avoiding a possible culprit to your stomach pain, bloated stomach, anxiety, skin conditions or a number of other possible issues. Gluten can be very tricky to detect because it is found in so many processed foods that you would never think of containing gluten. The easiest way to see if a food is okay to eat is if the label clearly states “gluten-free.” If it does not, you need to scan the list of ingredients for wheat, soy sauce, rye, barley, malt barley extract, spelt or oats. Sometimes a package will clearly state “contains wheat,” but you have to check every ingredient even if that is not listed.

Here is a list of common ingredients contain gluten on celiac.com.

Great alternatives to these foods include:

• Most whole, unprocessed foods: vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, fish, brown rice
• Gluten-free bread, wraps, waffles, cereals, crackers and muffins
• Gluten-free flour blends for baking and cooking

Remember that today is a meat/poultry/fish free day. Try incorporating beans, legumes, tofu, quinoa or other vegetarian protein sources into today’s meals.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before going to bed a half hour earlier than normal. Before falling asleep, write out a list of the things that you have to get done tomorrow. Relax and know that you will be able to get them accomplished tomorrow. Your job tonight is to fall asleep without worrying about what tomorrow will bring. Fall asleep peacefully and awake refreshed in the morning.

Wednesday, January 4th: Today’s goal is to remove dairy from your diet. Many people are lactose or dairy-intolerant and don’t know it. Signs of dairy-intolerance include bloated stomach, gas, upset stomach, achy joints and acne. Cow’s dairy seems to be the worst offense. Some people can eat sheep or goat’s dairy without the problems normally caused by cow dairy.

Today, remove all dairy from your diet. This includes: milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, creamer and dairy ingredients found in processed foods.

Alternatives include: coconut, almond, rice and soy milk and their cheeses, yogurt and creamers.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before going to bed a half hour earlier than normal. Practice a simple meditation as you fall asleep. Close you eyes and relax your body. Start by imagining stress leaving the top of your head, then your forehead, then your eye… Continue pushing the stress out from every part of your body down to your toes. Lay there and try to just be. Allow yourself to be totally relaxed without thinking or worrying about anything. If a thought enters your mind, allow it to drift away. Continue this practice until you dose off to sleep.

Thursday, January 5th: Today’s goal is to remove soy from your diet. Soy is a much more common allergen and sensitivity than is commonly recognized. A lot of soy that is used in processed goods is genetically modified. This means that it’s genetic structure has been chemically altered to be able to continue to grow when sprayed with pesticides. This unnatural food is the culprit for many unwanted symptoms including stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, headaches, fatigue and wheezing and other asthma symptoms.

Today, remove all processed soy products from your diet. You can continue to eat edame (whole soy beans) and foods that are specifically labeled “GMO-free.”

Remember that today is a meat/poultry/fish free day. Try incorporating beans, legumes, quinoa or other vegetarian protein sources into today’s meals.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before and draw yourself a bath. Light a candle and take a book or magazine in there with you. Just be careful not to get it wet! Remember to plan your evening so you can still go to bed a half hour earlier than normal.

Friday, January 6th: Today’s goal is to remove corn from your diet. Sensitivity to corn is not commonly recognized. Because corn is a cheap crop to grow and a major source of income for many American farmers, it is used in a variety of processed foods. Similarly to soy, most of the corn that is used in processed goods is genetically modified. Some people may not be able to tolerate the genetically modified version of corn.

Today, remove all processed corn products from your diet. You can continue to eat corn and foods made with corn only if they are specifically labeled “GMO-free.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before and take out your journal or notebook. Make a list of people who always lift your spirits. Write down what characteristics you admire in these individuals and make a promise that you will call them and set up a time to meet with at least one of them over the next week.

Saturday, January 7th: Today’s goal is to remove peanuts from your diet. Peanuts are a commonly known allergy, but a lesser known sensitivity. Peanuts are susceptible to molds and fungal invasions. Of particular concern is aflatoxin, a poison produced by a fungus called Aspergillus flavus. You can read more about the nutrition and concerns about peanuts here on whfoods.com website.

Today, remove all processed peanut products from your diet. This includes whole peanuts, peanut butter, granola and protein bars and some Asian sauces. Replace peanuts with almonds, cashews, brazil nuts or your other favorite type of nut.

In the evening, have a cup of herbal tea before and take out your journal or notebook. Tomorrow is the beginning of your seven day vegan cleanse. Write down what your intentions for the next week are. Do you want to lose weight, clear your skin, have more energy or feel less bloated? Whatever you are hoping to gain from doing this cleanse, write it down and look at your list each night for the next week.

Main Pointers for Week 1:

1. Start each morning with a 16 ounce glass of filtered water and 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
2. No alcoholic beverages.
3. Gradually reduce your caffeine intake so that you are taking no caffeine by Week 2.
4. No meats, poultry or fish on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
5. Avoid the foods above on the day they are listed until instructed to reintroduce them back into your diet.
6. Enjoy a cup of herbal tea before going to bed each night.
7. Follow the nightly journal or meditation exercises. This is a chance to cleanse your body, mind and spirit to be refreshed for the new year ahead of us.

I will be posting helpful website and recipe links throughout the cleanse. I also encourage you to purchase a book on cleansing or detoxification. There are many hokey and over-the-top cleanse and detox books out there, so skim through it first and make sure that you are comfortable with the author’s suggestions before you purchase it. Also, I warn you against researching cleansing and detoxification methods on the internet because anyone can post anything online. Take any information that you gather online with a grain of salt because it may or may not be accurate. With that being said, here are three books that I own and recommend to others who want to learn more about safe and natural cleansing and detoxification:

Natalia Rose’s “Detox for Women” is a great place to start reading about how your daily food choices can improve your health. I do not follow all of her guidelines because they do not work well with my body, but she offers a balanced diet for those wishing to continue a gentle, detoxifying diet post-clease. Her other books include raw and vegan recipes and lifestyle tips.

Dr. Alejandro Junger’s “Clean” was the first book that I read about cleansing with whole, natural foods. Dr. Junger includes a lot of scientific and medical research when explaining the benefits of cleansing. This was beneficial because a lot of cleanse and detox information is put out by people without a medical background and can seem unscientific. Dr. Junger backs up all of his suggestions with research and case studies. He includes a 30-day regime in his book. I was going to try it out, but decided against it because two out of the three daily meals had to be in liquid form and I could not see myself having a smoothie for breakfast and a blended soup for dinner for a month straight. However, if I had a medical condition that could be improved by his suggestions, I would be willing to try it over taking prescription drugs.

Adina Niemerow “Super Cleanse” is a fun book filled with different cleanses to try out. She Niemerow is a personal chef leads group cleanses in California. Her book includes ten different types of cleanses ranging from beginner to veteran. She has cleanses meant to help get you out of your winter rut or help to beautify your skin and even includes a one-day cleanse. I have tried some of her recipes and they are tasty enough to eat even when your not cleansing.

Remember, this week is about preparing our body and mind for next weeks gluten-free, vegan cleanse. Try to focus on adding lots of unprocessed, whole foods into your diet as you take out the foods listed above. Please email me with any questions or feel free to comment below. Let’s get excited to feel our best as we transition into a new year!

Much love and support,

Kilee

*** Please consult with your doctor or health care professional before beginning any new diet or exercise plan. The information that I have provided is optional and you can alter anything to fit your dietary and lifestyle needs. Please do not eat any foods that are allergens for you or interact with any medications that you may be on. Remember to be safe and listen to your bodies needs. ***

Happy Week Between Christmas & New Year’s Eve

Hi! I’m sorry that I was MIA for the past week. I rushed out of Redmond to pick up Blake from PDX last Tuesday and left my laptop at home. I was using my iPhone for internet until it informed me that I had used up 75% of the internet service for the month and I didn’t want to go over my allotted amount. After visiting Blake’s family in Portland and both of our families at the coast, we are back in Redmond and are relaxing for the next few days.

I really like the week between Christmas and New Years. For some reason, it’s the only time of the year that I actually feel comfortable relaxing. It seems like everyone else has the same mindset; like we’re all just chillin’ until January 1st and then we’ll tackle our big goals and endeavors. I am trying extra hard to savor this time that Blake and I have together because he was away for work for the past month and he will probably be leaving for another job here shortly.

We spent some of our car ride yesterday talking about our goals for this coming year. I believe that it’s especially important to talk about your long-term goals with your significant other if you are in a committed relationship. This will help the two of you understand what’s important to and what motivates one another.

I realized that in order to accomplish our individual goals, we need to be on the same page as a couple and know how to support one another individually. For example, if you want to open your own coffee shop in town and your parter wants the two of you to travel the globe for six months this year, you may need to reevaluate your goals. It would be very difficult to manage the opening of your shop from halfway around the globe. A possible solution might be to travel for a month or two and then begin the process of opening your coffee shop. Whatever the two of you want to do, talk about your goals and then figure out how to support one another to make them a reality.

I’m going to spend the next few days reflecting on 2011: what my goals were, what did I accomplish, what did I not accomplish, what’s important to me, what do I want to do in 2012, what do I not want to do in 2012. These are all things we can ask ourselves to help make our 2012 goals.

If you want, take these next few days to evaluate your life and priorities and plan out an action plan that can bring your 2012 goals to life. You could even make a new vision board.

I’m putting the finishing touches on the January Cleanse/Weight Loss Plan. I’ll post the plan for Week 1 on Friday. Get excited to eat clean, feel refreshed and energized to start accomplishing your 2012 goals!

Much love and support,

Kilee

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January 2012 Cleanse/Weight Loss

It’s that time of the year again. We’ve indulged a bit too much in the holiday treats and we’re too busy to fit our daily workouts in. Don’t fear, because starting January 1st, 2012  I will be hosting a month-long, gentle cleanse that is meant to rid your body of excess fat and toxins. It is not a strict diet. It is not a juice fast. It is not a “cheat once a week” plan. This 31-day program is designed to help you take baby-steps towards a week-long gluten-free, vegan cleanse and then reintroduce healthy animal proteins and dairy back into your diet over the next few weeks. I’ll be including helpful detoxification tips and lifestyle suggestions along with recipe and meal ideas.

January 2012 Cleanse/Weight Loss Program Outline:

Week 1: Start cutting out refined sugar, trans-fats, alcohol and common food sensitivities. Start weaning yourself off of caffeine.

Week 2: 7-day gluten-free, vegan cleanse.

Week 3: Continue gluten-free diet. Add animal proteins back into your diet, if you wish.

Week 4: Continue gluten-free diet with animal protein and add dairy back into your diet, if you wish.

Week 5: This is your week to add back any foods that you normally eat into your diet, if you wish.

The cleanse starts on Sunday, January 1st. I will be posting the weeks guidelines each Saturday morning so you have time to prepare your meals for the week. I am not planning out every meal for you, but rather writing out a meal guide and linking to recipes that would work well for each week. Let’s get excited and make this our best start to the new year!

Let all your Facebook & Twitter friends know about the cleanse. We can all support one other throughout next month’s cleanse. The more friends and family that we have participating in the cleanse, the more likely we are to stick with the full-month’s plan.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

Workout Lesson Learned

Happy Friday! Anyone have any fun plans for the last full weekend before Christmas? I know what I will not be doing – shopping. I really dislike the crowds. I’m finishing up my Christmas shopping in my workout clothes in front of the computer. I try to make most of my Christmas gifts each year, but my crafty gifts don’t fit all the people on my list (like my Dad.)

Today I wanted to share a little bit about a recent experience I had regarding my workout routine. Because I’m still on my YouTube video kick, I sat down before this mornings workout to share a recent lesson I learned:

And, since I am continuing the theme of listing to my body and doing what it wants, I listened to my craving for funfetti cake (no, I’m not going to have the actual cake because of the gluten) and made myself a Funfetti Protein Shake to enjoy after my workout.

Funfetti Protein Shake

Serves 1 sweaty girl

1 frozen banana cut into 4-5 peices

2-3 ice cubes

3/4 – 1 cup non dairy milk (I used a mix of unsweetened almond & coconut milk)

1 scoop protein powder of chioce (I used vanilla whey)

tiny bit of almond extract

tiny bit of butter extract

pinch of salt

4-5 drops of stevia

1 teaspoon rainbow sprinkles

Place all of the ingredients in the blender except the sprinkles. Blend until well combined. Once it’s completely blended, add the sprinkles for fun and pour into a big glass. Enjoy!

I hope that this video resonated with you if you are in a position where you’re not enjoying your workouts. My challenge for you is to switch up your routine and start doing workouts that are fun for you!

Have a great day and please share if you’ve had a similar experience in the comments below.

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Peppermint Bark

Hi! After seeing Katie’s recipe for peppermint bark this morning, I ran to my kitchen to make my own. I made a few changes to her recipe and came up with this:

Peppermint Bark

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

1/2 cup coconut butter (I used Artisiana brand)

1/4 cup cacao butter chips (I used Mountain Rose Herbs)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil (I used Artisiana brand)

2 Tablespoons agave

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Toppings: I used crushed mint M&M’s and sprinkles

Line a baking dish with tin foil (any size will do.) In a double broiler or microwave safe bowl, gently heat the coconut butter, cacao butter and coconut oil until melted. Stir in the agave and peppermint extract. Spread the mixture in your baking dish with a spatula. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Place in the freezer and allow to harden for approximately two hours. Break into smaller pieces and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

These are perfect to share with family and friends. They don’t even have to know that they’re healthy! They taste good enough to be consitered “normal” holiday treats.

I’m off to work on some projects. Have a great day,

Kilee

Quick Check-In

Hi! I wanted to try out a video post for you today. These are kinda embarrassing to post, but I’m trying them out :)

Don’t forget to “like” Whole Nutrition on Facebook & “follow” me on twitter!

Green Smoothie Recipe

Hi! How is your weekend going so far? Mine has been wonderful. I had a friend over for dinner last night and we had lots of fun catching up. This morning has been nice and relaxing so far. Layla’s asleep on the couch and I have been playing Celine Dion’s Christmas album and sitting by the tree.

Today I wanted to share with you my guidelines for making a green smoothie. There are endless variations of how to make a green smoothie. I started making these green drinks a few years back after seeing them on blogs. I was reintroduced to them by Robyn Openshaw (the Green Smoothie Girl) at one of her workshops and when I read Kimberly Snyder’s book, The Beauty Detox Solution. Each of these women have a plethera of green smoothie information and recipes.

Onto my green smoothies. The basis of green smoothies is that you take a bunch of leafy greens, vegetables, a little fruit, some ice and water and blend it all together. You can mix and match difference vegetables and fruits depending on your taste buds and what you have on hand. There is no “one” recipe. Each day’s smoothie will and should be a little different. Yesterday I used spinach, cucumber, cilantro, lime and apple and today I used spinach, kale, cilantro, grapefruit, lime and banana. It’s important to vary and rotate the types of greens, vegetable and fruits that you use so your body has a chance to absorb different nutrients each day. If you continue to eat the exact same type of food day in and day out, your body is more likely to develop a sensitivity to it over time. Remember to use a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and to try out new combinations daily.

It is advised to drink at least one green smoothie a day. I go through periods of time where I have a large green smoothie each day, and they I’ll go a few weeks without having one. This past week I started to crave my green smoothies again, so they are back into my daily routine. One big thing that I notice when I drink them regularly, is that my skin looks more vibrant and has less acne. I also feel like I have more energy and my digestion feels better. Wait, why did I stop drinking these? Anyway, please play around with different recipes and find a green smoothie that rocks your world. You can start off with more fruit and taper down on the fruit as your taste buds adapt to the bitter greens.

This is just a guideline. I never use a “set” recipe and will often test the smoothie and then add more of whatever ingredient it may need.

Green Smoothie Recipe

Serves 1

2 handfuls spinach – or leafy green of choice

1-2 kale leaves

1/2 lime (peeled or with peel) – or lemon

1/4 cup cilantro – or fresh herb of choice

1/2 a peeled grapefruit – of 1/2 cup fruit of choice

1/4 frozen banana – this helps with the creaminess and sweetness

handful of ice

4-6 oz filtered water

few drops of stevia – if you need it sweeter

sprinkle of cinnamon (helps to slow the absorption of sugar)

Place all of your ingredients besides the ice in a blender. Blend until the vegetables and fruit are “juice-like.” Add the ice and any additional ingredients and blend.

While drinking the smoothie, try to let each sip sit in your mouth and “chew” it a bit.

“Chewing actually starts the digestive process using enzymes in the mouth.  Chewing also triggers the stomach to recognize that food is coming and to start preparing the acids and enzymes it needs for digestion. Breaking the veggies down also allows for the release of many of the phytonutrients and antioxidants they contain without the digestive system having to work so hard.  With these nutrients more easily available, the body can start its rebuilding and repair projects quicker and easier.” — from “Green Smoothies: Pros & Cons.

What are your favorite green smoothie combinations? I love green apple, lime, cucumber and basil. I’m going to go take Layla for her walk and have a relaxing afternoon.

Have a great day!

Kilee

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Funfetti Protein Mug Cake

Things just got a little more exciting around here! I’m not sure about you, but gluten-free, low-sugar, high-protein microwaved mug cakes get me pretty excited. Lately, I have been lifting heavier weights and trying to build lean muscles. This means upping my protein intake and decreasing my sugary, gluten-free baked goods. Well, I was getting bored. I can only go so many days without “treating” myself, so I made up a new recipe to share with you. Of course, I really had your best interest in mind while creating this little gem. I wasn’t dying to make something healthy that tasted like a funfetti cupcake or anything like that. Haha! You know me too well ;)

If you only want to eat a 100-calorie treat, just make the cake and forgo the frosting. If you need a serious sweet-tooth kicking dessert, I highly recommend the frosting. Just be careful, if you frost the cake before it cools, you are going to have melted frosting. Without further ado, here’s the recipe that made my night:

Funfetti Protein Mug Cake

Based off of this recipe on Run. Eat. Repeat.

Serves 1

1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior brown rice protein powder

2 Tablespoons egg whites

2 Tablespoons pumpkin

1 Tablespoon unsweetened almond milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 packet stevia

dash of salt, baking powder, baking soda

1 teaspoon sprinkles

Spray the inside of a mug with non-stick cooking spray. Mix all of your ingredients in the mug with a fork until well combined. Microwave on high for 1:30-2:00 minutes or until fully cooked. Run a knife around the edge of the mug and invert onto a plate or paper towel. Allow to cool. Frost with protein frosting, if desired.

Frosting:

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon cashew butter (optional)

2-3 teaspoons vanilla Sun Warrior brown rice protein powder

dash of salt

In a separate bowl, combine the frosting ingredients until they resemble frosting. Once the cake has cooled, top with the frosting. This makes the perfect high-protein, low-sugar treat!

Let me know if you try it. I am trying to resist the urge to make one right this very second. Have a great day!

Much love,

Kilee

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It’s Been a Very Christmas-y Weekend

Hi! How has your weekend been? Mine has been fabulous! I had lots of fun with my parents and their dog, Madee. Layla was in heaven having company all weekend. The best part of the weekend was decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Celine Dion’s Christmas album (which is my favorite Christmas album.)

It feels so nice and Christmas-y around our house now. We don’t have a lot of decorations, but managed to set up a little display in the living room.

My parents are homebodies like me, so we mostly just stuck around the house and went for long walks. There is a family of five deer that I always see on my walks. They aren’t even scared when Layla and I walk by.

Layla and Madee were pooped by the end of the weekend. Here they are laying on the couch together this morning.

It was really nice to have my parents around and to show them our new neighborhood.

This afternoon I worked on some Christmas presents (I almost always try to make something homemade) and made a batch of pumpkin soup to have on hand for lunch over the next week. Have you seen those dry soup mixes at World Market? My friend Kristyl made the pumpkin soup for our office last year and I loved it, so I picked up the mix yesterday. I followed the recipe on the back of the mix and substituted reduced-fat coconut milk for the heavy cream and added some cooked ground turkey to boost the protein. When the soup was done, I ladeled individual servings into bowls and put them in the fridge so they’d be ready to eat this week.

One of the easiest ways to eat healthy all week long is to cook and prepare most of your food on Sundays and have it ready to grab for the busy workweek. For lunches this week, I’ll heat up a bowl of soup and add a small salad to go with it. I try to keep lots of quick breakfast foods on hand: bananas, blueberries, oatmeal, protein powder, greek yogurt, ground flaxseed, eggs, frozen gluten-free waffles, etc. This way, I can whip up whatever I feel like in the morning and start my day off with a healthy meal. Left-overs make great lunches, so try to double your recipe when preparing dinner. Then, box up the extra serving of food in a portable container and your lunch for tomorrow is done! Dinners in our house are either planned in advance or thrown together with whatever food needs to be used up. Some of my best stir-fry creations have come from using random left-over meats and veggies.

You don’t have to plan out every one of your meals each Sunday, but use this time to shop for groceries, get an idea of what meals you need to prep for that week and make sure that your kitchen is stocked with healthy foods to keep you from calling the pizza man or going through the drive-thru.

I’m meeting a friend from high school for dinner tonight. I’m excited to try out one of the restaurants here in town. I heard that it’s supposed to be really good. Have a good night and remember to stock up your kitchen with some healthy foods for the week ahead.

Take care,

Kilee

Under 100-calorie Chocolate Bites

Happy Friday! I’m really excited because my parents are coming to visit. They are bringing us a Christmas tree. My grandpa always helps our local Kiwanas sell Christmas trees each year and they are going to pick one of them up on their way over this afternoon. I’ve been cleaning up and getting our Christmas decorations ready. We don’t have very many, but I know once the tree gets here it will look very Christmas-y and beautiful!

I made myself an iced americano yesterday at 2 pm. Not a smart move. That caffeine kept me up until 1:30 last night! Even though I missed out on 2+ hours of sleep, I did get to watch three episodes of Season Six Grey’s Anatomy. Layla is still recovering from our late night:

So, I haven’t started any holiday baking and don’t have any sweets around the house after I ate half a dozen gluten-free chocolate chip cookies last week – whoops! So, I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate bites to keep in the freezer. Do you store your chocolate in the freezer? My friend used to do this in college and the idea has stuck with me ever since. I think that freezing it lets you savor it longer, since it’s harder to eat. Because I am the type of girl who doesn’t think twice about eating a whole bar of chocolate (a few months ago, I was going to have one square of a Trader Joe’s salted carmel bar of chocolate. Two minutes later the wrapper was in the trash!) I like to make individually wrapped chocolates to reduce the portion size.

The ingredients are all-natural and healthy. You can add chopped nuts or dried fruit if your heart desires. I like to stick to pure chocolate with a sprinkle of sea salt. If you don’t have the mini cupcake liners, you can always pour the chocolate into a freezable container and break it into smaller pieces.

Under 100-calorie Chocolate Bites

Makes 20 bites

Adapted from Chocolate Nakayummies from Whole Living Magazine

1/4 cup extra-virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup cacao butter drops (I get mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)

1/4 cup raw honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup raw cacao powder (from Mountain Rose Herbs)

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Line a mini-muffin pan with 20 liners. In a double boiler or in a microwave safe glass bowl, gently heat the coconut oil and cacao butter until it has melted. Add the honey and stir until combined. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and cacao powder. Stir with a whisk until the cacao powder has dissolved and the honey is thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the cupcake liners. Sprinkle each chocolate with a tiny bit of coarse sea salt. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour, until the chocolates are hard. Store them in a freezer-safe container in the freezer.

These make the perfect “I need chocolate or I am going to die” treats. Let me know if you try them out. I have another recipe idea for a chocolate treat with coconut butter. I’ll have to wait until this stash gets low and I’ll post the recipe when I make it.

Have a great weekend! I’ll post pics of the tree once it’s all decorated. Decorating Christmas trees and sugar cookies tends to bring out a “Not-nice-Martha-Stewart-like” side of me. My parents already said that they’d stay out of my way while I’m decorating, so I think I’ll be able to maintain my kind demeanor. Haha!

What I’ve Been Up To

Hi! I hope that you are getting excited for the holiday season. Things are going well on the “Healthy Holiday Diet Plan.” I’ve gotten a few emails from some of us who are doing it and everyone seems to be feeling great on the program. It makes me happy to hear that the plan has been easy to stick to and people are feeling energetic and “full” from the meals. Keep up the good work girls!

Since moving to Bend I have changed my workouts and nutrition entirely. Thanks to the help of Cathy Savage Fitness, I have upped my workout intensity and strength training and started to include a lot more protein into my daily eating plan. Here are the changes that I’ve made:

Weight Training 4 days a week – 3 days focusing on specific areas of the body and 1 day total-body workout

Cardio – 2 HIIT for 30 minutes and 3 days 30-40 minutes steady state

Walking – this has stayed the same. Layla gets a 30 min walk each day. We have switched from first thing in the morning to before dinner time. She prefers to sleep next to the fire while I have my coffee each morning.

This is her favorite spot in the house

Diet: This has made all the difference in my energy, mood and muscle mass! I now realize that even though I was eating healthy foods, I was not eating them at the correct time or in the proper amounts to fuel my workouts. What has helped for me is eating small meals 5-6 times a day centered around protein. I love my super salads and green smoothies, but they do not contain enough protein alone for building the lean muscle that I desired.

Some of my favorite photos from the past few days include:

Blake's sister's Thanksgiving menu. Dinner was amazing!

Layla slept the whole way home from Thanksgiving weekend

Getting all the ornaments ready for our Christmas tree

I love the weather over here!

My seriously sweaty TIU Tone-N-Pump workout

I have to admit that it was kinda hard to get back into the swing of working out and eating healthy after Thanksgiving weekend, but now that I’m back into my normal routine, it feels fabulous! Remember that each day we wake up, we have a brand new start to live the life we’ve always wanted. It’s all a matter of what you choose to do today. Let’s get out there and start making our dreams become a reality!

Love you all,

Kilee

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Apple Pie Protein Smoothie

Hi! Happy “Thanksgiving Eve!” What are your plans for the big day tomorrow? We are going to drive back to Portland and celebrate with Blake’s family. Today I baked a gluten-free, pumpkin apple pie streusel cake to bring. It was a mixture of three different recipes and I had to try a bite of it to make sure that it tasted good enough to bring to share with everyone. It passed the test :)

Lately I haven’t been able to get apple pie filling out of my mind. After discovering my love for this tasty, cinnamon and sugar treat at our local frozen yogurt shop, I have been craving it like mad. I limit myself to one frozen yogurt outing a week, so I got creative and whipped up this smoothie-in-a-bowl after my workout the other morning. It doesn’t look as pretty as a homemade pie or even pie filling with frozen yogurt on top, but it hits the spot!

Apple Pie Protein Smoothie

1  Honey Crisp apple, chopped (I also tried Granny Smith, but it didn’t taste as good)

1/2 frozen banana, broken into pieces

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1/2 – 3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used a mixture of almond milk & coconut milk)

1/2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

1/2 Tablespoon cashew butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

handful of ice

1/4 cup cereal of choice (Enjoy Life’s Perky’s Crunchy Flax is my fave)

Place all of the ingredients besides the cereal in the blender and blend on high for 30-60 seconds. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle cereal on top. Dig in with a spoon and enjoy!

I’m off to watch a new show that we discovered on iTunes: Discovery Channel’s “Curiosity.” We’re starting with the first episode, “Did God Create the Universe?” I felt like my IQ was going to drop to an insanely low number if I watched another Jersey Shore episode!

I was going to do a post on “how to make Thanksgiving healthier,” but thought about it and remembered that it’s only one out of the nearly 1,095 meals that you eat each year. When you put Thanksgiving dinner into that perspective, it’s really not a big deal. I’d rather focus my energy on creating healthy recipes for the remaining 1,094 meals of my year. Enjoy yourself, appreciate your company and go for a walk. Don’t stress about what you eat, because goes against what this holiday is really about.

Have a great night and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

*** Don’t forget – Friday is the last day to order the 2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan. This guide has EVERYTHING you need to survive the holidays without gaining a pound, or hopefully even lose a few! Email me at wholenutritionpdx (at) gmail.com for details. The guides are being sent out on Saturday.***

Do you want to lose weight and look great by New Year’s?

Let me start by saying that if you are reading this, we must kindred spirits. You are clearly the person searching, as I once was, for a way to lose weight, enjoy your favorite foods and stay healthy throughout the holiday season.  If you are stressing about all those wonderful holiday meals tempting you to gain weight this season, STOP!  There is a way to enjoy the best holiday foods with your family and friends while losing weight and improving your health.  That is…. If you know the secret….

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You might ask, “how do I know the secret?” Well, I have always been the girl who loves food, especially holiday foods. Like anyone else, I don’t like the idea of putting on extra weight because I’m enjoying my favorite holiday foods. I have truly been in your shoes before and have attempted every technique under the sun to maintain my weight over the holidays.  There are all sorts of diet plans, so called “meal replacements” and ways to ruin your holiday meals that wind up doing just the opposite of what they advertise.  I have tried all of these gimmicky diet plans, even a few that I am embarrassed to admit. I left no stone unturned. After searching out and exhausting every technique I could find for years, I always ended up in worse shape by the New Year… until now.

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I have discovered the secret.  I now know the way to make it through the five weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years by not only maintaining my weight, but to kick off the year slimmer than before with a glowing, healthy look. This simple secret allows you to enjoy REAL foods with the people you love. No meal replacements, no cutting out entire food groups, no giving up social settings all season long. I guarantee you will spend less time stressing and actually enjoy losing weight this year.

The secret is simple and very powerful. The secret is….. To have a plan.  A step-by step guide to take you from Thanksgiving to New Year’s with every single meal and snack already planned out, just for you. The Healthy Holiday Diet Plan is your secret to losing weight without stress and restrictive eating.

This plan is literally a diet road map to getting through the holidays while looking and feeling your best. As a certified nutritional consultant and a fellow food lover, I guarantee this plan is tailored for you to not only by lose weight, but by doing it in a healthy and enjoyable way.

This plan includes:

• Weekly shopping lists
• Day by day instructions and meal plans
• Quick, easy and healthy recipes
• Adjustable food substitutions to meet your individual needs
• Sweet treats that will satisfy your cravings without damaging your diet
• Guide to “healthifying” your favorite family holiday recipes
• ***BONUS – Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipes to share with friends and family***

If you are ready to begin shedding weight and enjoying your holidays at the same time, please email me at wholenutritionpdx (at) gmail.com for your copy of the simple and very powerful Healthy Holiday Diet Plan. Here’s to your healthiest, stress-free holiday season and your hottest New Year’s body!

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Best wishes,

Kilee

Chocolate Coconut Cherry Protein Smoothie

Hi! Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday so far. I have been a home body all weekend. I love staying inside with the fire on and playing Pandora while I cook. Yesterday I took advantage of my new phone’s video recorder and made a little video for you.

Here’s the smoothie recipe that I used:

Chocolate Coconut Cherry Protein Smoothie

Serves 1 post-workout athlete

1 scoop of your favorite protein powder

1 Tbls raw cacao powder

1/2 cup frozen cherries

1/2 of a frozen banana

1 cup vanilla coconut milk

A handful of ice

Stevia (or your favorite sweetener) to taste

Blend until well combined. You may need to add more coconut milk or ice depending on what smoothie consistency you like.

Today I’m going to make a pumpkin chocolate chip protein pancake for breakfast, clean up the house, put the finishing touches on the “2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan” and hopefully go get some frozen yogurt with Blake and Layla. We try to save her a bite if one of us gets vanilla flavored yogurt. We’ll see if I can refrain myself from eating every last drop of Blake’s and my fro-yo tonight! Last week, the shop that we went to had warm apple-pie filling to use as a topping. I was in heaven!

What are your favorite frozen yogurt toppings? I love fresh strawberries, blueberries, coconut and hot fudge sauce. Have a relaxing Sunday!

***Don’t forget to email me if you want to sign up for the “2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan.” It includes EVERYTHING you need to maintain or even lose weight between Thanksgiving and New Years. Shopping lists, portion sizes, recipes and more! Email wholenutritionpdx (at) gmail.com for instructions on how to purchase the diet plan***

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2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan

I’m so excited to unvail something that I have spent the past few weeks working on: 2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan. I know how hard it can be to eat healthy and keep your weight in check during this time of the year. That is why I created this 5-week program for you. It leads you step by step, day by day from the week after Thanksgiving all the way up until New Year’s Eve. Don’t stress about not being about to fit into your fabulous New Year’s dress. I promise that this guide will help you to look and feel your best all season long.

The 2011 Healthy Holidays Diet Plan includes:

• 5 weeks worth of detailed meal plans (breakfast, lunch, dinner and two daily snacks)
• 5 shopping lists to help you know exactly what to buy on your weekly grocery shopping trip
• Easy and quick recipes that save you time in the kitchen
• Substitutions guide for making changes to the plan if necessary
• Sweet treats that will satisfy your cravings without damaging your diet
• ***BONUS – Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipes to share at parties***

With all of the extra holiday prepping, socializing and shopping that happens throughout December, most of us don’t have the time or energy to prepare healthy meals for ourselves. This guide solves that problem and helps you to look your best throughout the entire holiday season.

By following the 2011 Healthy Holiday Diet Plan you will:

• Eat smalls meals throughout the entire day, so your stomach will always be satisfied
• Not cut out any major food groups – lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats are all included
• Get to indulge with weekly “treat meals” so you won’t feel deprived of your favorite foods
• Have enough energy to exercise, work and finish your holiday to-do list
• Have the will-power to not eat every holiday treat that is set in front of you. (There’s room for a few, just not every single one)

The 2011 Healthy Holiday Diet Plan details:

Cost: Regularly $30 or the reduced price of $20 if you “like” Whole Nutrition on Facebook

Includes: PDF guide of the Healthy Holiday Diet Plan

Over 30 pages of daily meal plans, weekly shopping lists, recipes, substitution guide and reduced-guilt holiday dessert recipes.

How to purchase the plan: Email me at wholenutritionpdx (at) gmail.com by Friday, November 25th. I will email you instructions and the guide will be sent to your email once payment is received. The first day of the diet plan is Monday, November 28th.

If you have any questions about the 2011 Healthy Holiday Diet Plan, please feel free to comment below or send me an email. I plan on following the plan throughout the holiday season. It’s amazing what five weeks of healthy eating will do to your body and spirit. With this plan, you’ll go into the new year feeling your best and looking amazing!

I’m so excited to get started on the plan! It will feel so good to have all my healthy meals prepped and ready to go by Monday the 28th, that I will enjoy a gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner without the slightest bit of guilt. Life’s about moderation and the 2011 Healthy Eating Diet Plan exemplifies that. Make this holiday season your best one yet!

What I woke up to this morning. I love the snow!

All Moved In

Hi! Sorry that I haven’t posted in over a week. I have spent the majority of the past week unpacking and trying to overcome a little cold. My sister came to visit us and helped me organize my closet and bathroom. She was blessed with all of the organizing genetics between the two of us. I’m working on it though! I spent almost a whole day unpacking and organizing the kitchen so that it would be just right. An unorganized kitchen takes some of the fun out of cooking and baking.

I got one of the new iPhone’s for my birthday, so someone has been playing around with Instagram a little too much. Here are some of my favorite things from this past week:

Our first homemade dinner in our new house.

Layla all comfy cozy on the couch.

My sister, Blake and I went out for coffee Sunday morning at Sister's Coffee Company. Americano and espresso beans for the house.

I asked Blake what he wanted for his birthday dessert. He wanted chocolate chip cookies. No surprise there!

Driving into town to run some errands. Layla had to help drive - like always!

My at-home gym. "Newlyweds" is on the TV and I am so happy with this little set-up.

Zevia Root Beef Float that satisfied my sweet tooth.

I’ll try to take some photos of the beautiful scenery to share. It looks a lot different from where I grew up on the Oregon coast or even the Portland area. It’s more “high dessert” like over here. There isn’t as much greenery as the western part of the state, but it rains a lot less. I love it over here and already feel so at home.

Since I had a lot of free time while up in Alaska this past month, I thought about how I should structure this blog. When I started blogging (about two years ago) I just wanted to share my recipes, fitness and health ideas. Blogging eventually lead me back to school to study nutrition. I became so busy between work and studying, that I chose to take some time away from the blog. When I started blogging again, I felt an obligation to write a new post each day. Sometimes, this isn’t possible and I start to feel bad because I want to provide you with fresh, daily content.

When I gave myself permission to take a step back and not worry about posting new content, I felt a bit of relief. I also started to wonder if it was worth continuing the blog? When you write a blog and post your photos online, you are putting yourself out there. You are giving others a chance to judge or mock you. You are sharing parts of yourself or life that you could chose to hide away and protect from other people’s view. Parts of who you are become exposed for anyone to view. But, on the flip side, you can learn and share helpful information that could be useful to others. You might inspire someone to try something new or possibly bring a little joy and positivity to someone else’s day. If you stay true to who you are and post about what you love, I believe that the good will outweigh any possible negativity.

Since I have decided to continue blogging and sharing parts of my life with you, I am struggling with exactly what parts to share. I tend to be inspired and excited by many different things:

• Cooking and baking
• Exercise
• Healthy lifestyle choices
• Positive personal development
• Spirituality
• Graphic design and crafts
• and so much more!

It’s hard to decide exactly what to focus on writing about, when I have so many interests. Should I focus on one genre or should I write about whatever comes to mind that day?

If you enjoy reading my blog and want to see more than just random, rambling posts like todays, please let me know what you enjoy reading about the most. I know that this is my blog and I can write about anything I want, but it’s helpful to know what you want to read about. Please leave a comment below of what you would like to see more of on the blog. Thank you!

I’m off to finish a very special project that I have been working on. I’ll be back tomorrow to share it with you. Hint: it involves the holidays and will help keep you away from the loads of cookies and candies that magically appear this time of the year.

Much love,

Kilee

Checking In

Hi friends! I just wanted to do a quick check-in with you today. Blake and I are trying to figure out when we’ll be heading back to Oregon. We’re thinking Wednesday or Thursday? It all depends on how many more jobs he has up here and Alaska Airlines flight schedule. The flights with the lowest airline miles have ridiculous times. The one’s that we are looking at include overnight layovers in Seattle. We’d either have to sleep at the airport (hard to do with Layla) or rent a hotel room for a few hours. We’ll see how it all works out. I’ve learned not to worry or stress about these things because they’ll work out eventually.

I have been freezing my buns off up here! The other night on our way home from dinner, a thermostat read 5 degrees. I haven’t seen it above 20 degrees for the past week or so. Layla and I have been going for walks whenever it’s not snowing. I don’t think that I’ll take her for longer than 20 minutes anymore because her little paws were so cold after our long walk around the lake today. I bundled her up in a blankie afterwards and she’s sleeping peacefully now.

Sorry that I don’t have more exciting news or any health advice today. I’m just focusing on getting us ready to go: doing laundry, packing, cleaning the cabin, getting tickets booked, etc.

I’ll be back in a few days with a post about what I’ve learned during my stay up in Alaska.

Love,

Kilee

Fitness Friday: Body Weight Strength Exercises

Hi! Happy Friday! I’m itching to hit the gym and lift some weights when I get home. It’s been over a month since I’ve lifted weights and I miss that feeling of pumping iron. I enlisted the help of my friend, Gina “The Working Girl Trainer”, for advice on body weight exercises that I can do while on the road. Here are some of her suggestions for exercises to incorporate into your routine when you’re away from the gym. *Remember to always check with you doctor before starting a new exercise routine and if it hurts, don’t do it*

Body Weight Exercises to Try

• Mountain climbers
• Jump Squats
• Burpees
• Plyo Lunges
• Push Ups
• Jumping Jacks
• Speed skater jumps

Do you have any favorite exercises that you do when you’re away from the gym? I like to tack on a “5 minute Ab” routine at the end of my workouts. My friend and group exercise class instructor, McKenzie, introduced me to this concept back in college. I position myself next to a clock and do a different ab exercise each minute for five minutes total. Example: 1 minute crunches, 1 minute bicycles, 1 minute extended leg lifts, 1 minute V-sit crunch & 1 minute plank.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is nice enough for Blake’s helicopter flight back to Fairbanks today. He’s been in King Salmon and Cold Bay for the past week. It’s been snowing a lot here lately. The lake is completely frozen over and covered with snow. Here are some pics of Layla from our walk yesterday.

Lake is covered with snow

Those are only paw prints on the lake. I haven't seen any foot prints, so I'm not going to be the first to test it out!

Look at that cute little face dusted with snow!

She NEVER wants to come inside after our walks or playing in the snow. I practically have to drag her inside!

I’m off to do a HIT workout and take Layla for her walk.

Have a great day!

Kilee

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What I’m Looking Forward To…

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time up here in Alaska. I’m very thankful for this opportunity to spend time with Blake, explore this beautiful state and relax in such a peaceful setting.

I got to visit Chena Hot Springs

Fly to Lake Iliamna

Fly back to Fairbanks

and spend a lot of time here at Chena Marina.

We have about a week left up here and even though I’ll miss Alaska, I’m excited for Blake’s and my new adventure. We’re moving from the Portland, Oregon area over to central Oregon. We rented a cozy house in a very peaceful setting. I’m envisioning many nights at home by the fire curled up on the couch with Blake and Layla.

I tent to get excited about things pretty easily. I didn’t realize this trait until Blake told me that it was one of the things that he liked best about me. Here are some of the things that I’m excited about when we get back to Oregon:

Gluten-free baking. I have been experiencing gluten-free baking withdrawals up here! I made a few regular baked goods for Blake and his co-workers, but haven’t spent the extra money to buy the healthy, gluten-free baking ingredients that I use back at home. I can’t wait to bake some pumpkin muffins and ginger molasses cookies when we move into our new place!

Smoothies!!! There haven’t been blenders in any of the places that we’ve stayed. I didn’t realize how much I was addicted to my blender until I didn’t have access to one. I even tried mashing up a banana to add to my protein shake. Didn’t really cut it!

Free weights and working out in a gym. My workouts have been kinda fun lately: running around the lake, rubber bands for stregnth and indoor body-weight circuits. But, I’m itching to get in the gym and lift some real weights.

Friends and family coming to visit. I was extremely apprehensive about moving to central Oregon because I know what it’s like to live far away from family and friends. One of the main reasons why we moved back from Maui was because I missed everyone so much. My hope is that our friends and family will come stay with us often. I can cook some new dinner recipes for them and we can go explore all of the fun things that there are to do around Bend.

Meet new friends. I love making new friends and recognize how important is is to have quality “girl-time” in my weekly schedule. My goal is to find some active girlfriends who can share with me their favorite things to do and places to go. Hopefully they’ll be willing to be taste-testers for my gluten-free recipes because I won’t have my sister around for that anymore :(

Exploring the outdoors. Blake and I love to be outdoors and going new places. I especially like hiking, trail running and stand-up paddleboarding. There are tons of trails over in Central Oregon and plenty of beautiful scenery to enjoy. We might even try rock climbing once the weather gets nicer this Spring.

Have you been over near Bend, Oregon? Do you have any specific things you think I should try out once we move over there? Are there any new, fun things that you’d like to try out where you live?

I’m off to take Layla for her walk and finish some emails. Have a great day today!

Much love,

Kilee

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Tasty Tuesday: Single Serving Pumpkin Pudding

Hi! How are you doing this morning? I’m happy and healthy up here in Fairbanks. I managed to run around the lake without falling on the ice yesterday. Layla ran with me the whole way. She loves going on runs, but only if I stop a million times for her to sniff random leaves.

I ventured out to Freddies last night because the roads were safe enough for me to drive on and I had a craving for something sweet. I purposefully did not buy any candy corn or sweets when I stocked up on groceries last time. My justification for indulging last night’s craving was that you needed a new low-calorie dessert recipe here on the blog. I stuck with the pumpkin theme that pops up everywhere this time of the year. Here is your single-serving (so you don’t over-indulge) pumpkin pudding.

Single Serving Pumpkin Pudding

serves 1 sweet tooth

1/4 cup vanilla goat yogurt (or whatever type of yogurt you prefer)

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 Tablespoon instant vanilla pudding mix (you can use the FF/SF, but it won’t taste as good)

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 Tablespoons Truwhip + more for garnish

Mix the yogurt, pumpkin and instant pudding together with a fork in a small dish or mug. Stir in the pumpkin pie spice. Gently fold in the Truwhip and add a drop on top for garnish. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon and you have a 130 calorie treat for the night!

I couldn’t help but share this pic of Layla in her jammies. It’s too cold to leave her in the car for long, so I put these on before we left for the store.

Have a great day!

Kilee

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Tips for Combatting Sugar Addiction

Hi! Happy Saturday! Are you doing anything fun this weekend? I am laying low and planning what to bring to our new rental and what to leave in storage. I’m excited to get moved in and check everything out.

We were up by 6:15 this morning because Blake had to catch a flight to Anchorage and then fly with some co-workers over to King Salmon. He’ll be gone for a few days, so that means Layla and I have to keep ourselves entertained. After eating breakfast and pinning on my new Pinterest account, we went for our mid-morning walk. It was especially beautiful out today. I’ll share some photos from our walk around the lake:

The lake is totally frozen over now

Layla can walk on it, but I didn't want to fall through the ice!

"Mom, seriously. Enough with the photos!"

I love this cute cabin on the lake!

One of the signs that we pass on our walks.

Last pic of Layla. I can't help it - she's so darn cute!!!

Today I wanted to offer some tips on overcoming sugar addiction. As I continually transition to a healthier diet, there is one craving that sets in day after day: sugar! I love my sugar. Luckily, I have found that maple syrup and agave nectar settle much better with my system than refined sugar. However, I still would like to consume less sugar on a day to day basis. Last night, I was grocery shopping and had a major craving for candy corn. Even though I really, really wanted to some, I knew that I have absolutely no portion control when it comes to those corn syrup-sweetened candies. I had a flashback to Halloween 2008, when accidentally ate a whole bag in one sitting and then felt completely nauseous the rest of the night. So, I didn’t buy any candy corn last night. Accidental over-indulgence avoided!

Later on, I was flipping through some of my IIN (Institute of Integrative Nutrition) handouts and saw this one on sugar cravings. With Halloween and the holiday season right around the corner, I thought that we could all use a refresher course on how to work through our cravings for sugar.

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10 Steps for Dealing with Sugar Addiction

1. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. The ups and downs of caffeine include dehydration and blood sugar swings, causing sugar cravings to be more frequent.
2. Drink water. Sometimes sweet cravings are a sign of dehydration. Before you go for the sugar, have a glass of water and then wait a few minutes to see what happens. Caution: soft drinks are now America’s number one source of added sugar.
3. Eat sweet vegetables and fruit. They are sweet, healthy and delicious. The more you eat, the less you’ll crave sugar.
4. Use gentle sweets. Avoid chemicalized, artificial sweeteners and foods with added sugar. Use gentle sweeteners like maple syrup, brown rice syrup, dried fruit, stevia, barley malt and agave nectar.
5. Get physically active. Start with simple activities, like walking or yoga. Start with 10 minutes a day and gradually increase. It will help balance your blood sugar levels, boost your energy, and reduce tension without medicating yourself with sugar!
6. Get more sleep, rest and relaxation. When you are tired or stressed, your body will crave energy—in the form of sugar. These cravings are often a result of being sleep-deprived, going to bed late or waking up early, sometimes for months and years on end.
7. Evaluate the amount of animal food you eat. Eating too much can lead to cravings for sweets. So can eating too little! A good health coach will help you sort this out. Experiment. Respect your body’s individuality.
8. Eliminate fat-free or low-fat packaged snack-foods. These foods contain high quantities of sugar to compensate for lack of flavor and fat, which will send you on the roller-coaster ride of sugar highs and lows.
9. Experiment with spices. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom will naturally sweeten your foods and reduce cravings.
10. Slow down and find sweetness in non-food ways! You body does not biologically need sugar, but it does long for hugs, time with friends, outside time, workouts, massages, etc. When life becomes sweet enough itself, no additives are needed!From Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar Out of Any Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman.

Do you have any tips that work for you on avoiding sugar? Just writing this post made me want something sweet. I put tip #3 into action and snacked on an organic green apple instead. It was delicious and satisfied my sugar craving. Mission accomplished!

Have a great weekend and I’ll talk to you later,

Kilee

Found this print on Etsy: here.

Fit Friday

Happy Friday! I hope your last day of the work week is going smoothly. I just finished my mug of hot cocoa. I like to heat up 8 ounces of unsweetened almond milk with 2 teaspoons of powdered cocoa and a packet of stevia. It is super cold up here right now. Last night, when we passed on of the thermostats in town, it read 20 degrees!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I wouldn’t have internet access for a few days. Well, I was very clever, and figured out the password for the internet access here in the cabin. Can you imagine being without internet access for an extended period of time? Neither can I – haha!

The water on the lake is starting to freeze over. Yesterday, Layla saw the ducks walking on the icy lake and she tried to walk out onto the lake, but the ice along the edge was so thin that she went right through it and into the water. Don’t worry, her front paws were the only part of her to get wet. It was funny to watch her reaction!

My “winter weather workouts” have dwindled since I slipped and fell on my hip a few days back. I now have a bruise the size of a cantaloupe on my hip and it hurts to do much besides walking. I did a rubber bands arm circuit today and am going to take Layla on a long walk around the lake. When it comes to exercising, I definitely go through phases.  During the summer months, I enjoy a more intense routine of 5-6 workouts a week. During the fall and spring, I usually follow a 4-5 day schedule. And, during the middle of the winter, it dwindles down to 3-4 days a week. My goal this winter is to do 5 workouts a week with a mix of weights, cardio and yoga. I’ll need a little extra motivation when the days get shorter and colder, but I feel so much better when I stick to a more consistent workout schedule.

I’m pretty excited because the new rental that Blake and I will be living in has it’s own gym and free yoga classes. We’re moving over to the Central Oregon area and there are no 24-Hour Fitnesses over there. (We buy the 2-year memberships though Costco and still have a year’s worth left to use.)

Preview photo of where we'll be moving too

My favorite types of workouts are strength training circuits, running outside and taking group classes. I’m also looking forward to trying new outdoor winter activities like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. We’ll also be closer to the mountian for skiing and snowboarding.

What are some of your favorite ways to get a workout? Would you rather be inside or outdoors?

I’m off to see if it’s warm enough for our daily walk around the lake. Have a fabulous Friday!!!

*Video Bonus* Here’s a 5-Minute Ab workout that I did after my arm circuit today:

INSANE Abs in 5 Minutes by Davey Wavey (source)

Ab Workout

Photos from Fairbanks

Hi! How is your day going so far? Everything is good up here in Alaska. Blake has a job based out of Fairbanks today and then he’s heading back to Dillingham for a few days. It’s been snowing and the roads have been really icy lately. I’m way too scared to drive when the roads are like this, so when he gets done flying tonight, we’re going to go to Fred Meyers and stock up on food and magazines so I don’t have to leave the cabin over the next few days.

Layla’s and my morning walks have gotten shorter and shorter. We are both too cold to go out in the below-freezing temperatures. She refused to even get out of bed for the first hour this morning. I hope that it’s warmer and not too rainy when we get back to Oregon.

Because of the snow and ice, Blake had to prepare his helicopter for this morning’s job last night. This meant that he had to melt the ice off of the blades and body of the helicopter. We heated up tap water and poured it over the blades. Then he took towels to dry the blades off and remove as much ice as possible from the rest of the helicopter.

Layla took this time as an opportunity to play in the snow with her pilot jacket on. We got the jacket for her when she was a lot smaller and now it has a bit of a “sausage” effect on her. She absolutely loves it up here!

When Blake leaves tonight or tomorrow, I won’t have any internet access and doubt that I’ll be driving to the internet cafe because of the icy roads. I’ll try to do a post as soon as I can, but if you don’t hear from me, don’t worry! I’m off to do a rubber band workout and work on some paperwork. I hope that you have a great day today!

Much love,

Kilee

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Fitness Friday

Good morning! How are you doing on this beautiful Friday? It’s been very cold up here in Fairbanks. It actually started snowing yesterday. Poor Blake had forgotten his gloves and hat back in the other helicopter and said that his fingers started showing signs of frostbite! Luckily, we found some gloves and hats back in the cabin last night.

Today I wanted to share a do-anywhere workout that I did the other day. I clipped it out of one of my Women’s Health magazines. It works all different parts of your body and had my heart rate up after completing one cycle.

Tone Up Anytime, Anywhere Workout from Women’s Health Magazine

Start with move 1 and do as many reps as you can in 60 seconds. Then do move 2 (the second part of the superset)—again, as many reps as you can do in 60 seconds. Move on to move 3 and continue this pattern until you’ve finished all eight moves. That’s one circuit. Rest for a minute or two (or challenge yourself by taking a shorter break), then repeat for a total of two or three circuits.

Move 1: Forward Lunge

Move 2: Squat Jump

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, toes forward; lightly touch your fingers behind your ears and extend your elbows to the sides. Bend your knees, then explosively jump as high as you can. Land softly on the balls of your feet and immediately lower into your next squat.

I’m off to take Layla for a walk, work on some business building materials, work out and go grocery shopping for dinner ingredients. What should I make tonight? I’m leaning towards salmon. If you’re going to buy salmon anywhere, Alaska is the place for it!

Have a great day,

Kilee

“Tasty” Tuesday

Good morning! How is your week going so far? Mine has been nice and relaxing. Layla and I went for our walk, I worked on my lap top most of the day, did my workout and cooked dinner. My time spent up here in Alaska has been the perfect opportunity to work on my personal growth and focus on how I can create my best life. Helping others learn to feel good about themselves and inspiring them to live their best life are two aspects of my consulting business that I make me proud of the work that I do.

From now on, Tuesday’s posts will feature all sorts of info related to healthy foods, recipes and nutrition. Since I’ve been having a serious baking withdrawal l want to share my super-healthy, gluten-free, no-sugar-added cookies that I made a few weeks back.

Quinoa Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes

1 scoop Sun Warrior vanilla brown rice protein powder

1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 packets of stevia (I use Trader Joe’s brand)

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup cage-free egg whites

1 Tablespoon almond butter (I used raw, unsalted creamy)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 square of Baker’s chocolate ( I used the semi-sweet, but use whatever kind you prefer)

2 Tablespoons dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites, almond butter and vanilla. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir the quinoa flakes, protein powder, ground flax seed, cinnamon, stevia and sea salt until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until the liquid is absorbed. The dough will be slightly crumbly. Chop the chocolate square and dried cranberries. Add them to the cookie dough. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 6 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before eating.

* I calculated the calorie count for these cookies and it came to roughly 50 cal/cookie!*

I’m warning you though; if you are craving a Nestle Tollhouse cookie, these are not going to satisfy your craving. However, if you are following a reduced calorie diet and need a sweet, healthy treat, these should fill the void.

My mom’s friend shared an innovative recipe blog with me that has me drooling at my computer screen. Check out http://gojee.com. They have a cool feature where you type an ingredient that you have on hand and they’ll show you multiple recipes that call for that ingredient. I haven’t tried any of their recipes yet, but they all look amazing!

Let me know if you try out these low-calorie cookies or visit the gojee.com website. Have a great day!

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“Goal Setting” Monday

Good morning! I hope that you are having a great day so far. It has been absolutely beautiful up here in Alaska the past few days. I want to create a more structured approach to how I post here on the blog and this morning’s post is my first “Goal Setting” Monday post.

As you may have already noticed, I’m a big supporter of setting goals for yourself. There is a strong link between following through with your intentions and being confident in yourself. Think about how you felt when you gave up on something you were working on. Negative self-talk probably started to play in your head and you might have felt like a failure. Now consider how you felt when you kept a promise that you made to yourself and achieved a goal that you set. Did you feel happy and proud of your dedication and hard work?

Goals need to be meaningful and authentic to your true self or else you won’t be as motivated to achieve them. Does your true self really want to own a Corvette, or do you simply think that other people will like you better if you drive one? In order for you to really get excited about and dedicate yourself to your goals, they need to come from your heart – your authentic self.

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Today’s exercise is about focusing on what you really want in life. Take out your journal or notebook and write down 5-10 things that you want to accomplish within your lifetime. They can be as simple as owning a dog to as extravagant as sailing around the world in a sailboat. Whatever you heart desires, write it down. The trick is to let your authentic self tell you what it wants to accomplish, not what you think “sounds good” to others.

I took some time last night after dinner to write out ten things that I wanted to do in my lifetime. Here are three examples from my list:

1. Travel to Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and Asia.

2. Help other women improve their self-confidence and live their best life.

3. Stand-up paddleboard on a regular basis.

These are all things that excite and inspire me. The next step is to write out a mini-action plan for each of your goals. Some goals can be accomplished within a few months, while others might not be doable until years from now. The key is to write down how and when you will start working towards your goals.

My example:

1. Travel to Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and Asia.

Blake and I have already decided that our first international trip together will be to Australia and New Zealand. We have watched many documentaries featuring these countries and researched attractions that we’d like to visit.

My first step is to research how much a trip to Australia and New Zealand will cost. I’ll look at different airfare providers, find out if a cruise ship or rental car would be the best way to see all of the sights that we want to see, ask my cousin and his girl friend (who will be living near Perth for the next year) when is the best time to visit them, create an estimated vacation budget for a 2-week stay with airfare for Blake and I and finally, figure out where Layla would stay while we’re gone.

Next, Blake and I need to sit down and go over the financial aspect. Do we already have enough saved up for the trip? If not, how much money will we need to put aside each month to cover our expenses for the trip?

Finally, when we have made all of our decisions and saved up enough money for the trip, it will be time to book our flight and make travel arrangements.

Whew! That was a lot of planning, but it will all be worth it when we’re in the Outback on an Australian safari.

2. Help other women improve their self-confidence and live their best life.

This is something that I can do here on the blog by sharing ways that I’ve improved my self-confidence and created my best life. I can encourage others to find what makes them happy and feel good about them self.

I can also volunteer with adolescents and encourage them to discover their passion at a young age and commit to doing it. I can volunteer my time to help women who have experienced abuse and help them rebuild their self-confidence and start living their best life.

I can work with women who feel hopeless about where their life is headed and show them that they have the power to create their own destiny.

What I now see, is that there are numerous ways that I can help other women improve their self-confidence and live their best life.

3. Stand-Up Paddleboard on a regular basis.

I started stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) about a month or two before we moved from Maui. Since then, I’ve been dying to go more often. We live in Portland, OR and I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t gone SUP anywhere around here.

My options are to:

Wait until next summer and go somewhere around Portland or drive to Hood River for an afternoon.

I could move to Bend, where SUP is very popular, and go all summer long.

I could move back to Maui and go SUP year-round.

I could move to Southern California or Mexico and go SUP year-round.

I should point out that I’m a sun & bikini type of SUP-boarder. Sorry, but if I have to put on a wetsuit, it’s not as much fun!

I hope that you found my examples helpful and inspiring. It’s important not to get so focused on completing your goals that you miss out on all the other fun things in life. We need to strive to keep a balance between what we want to accomplish and being open to the other amazing adventures that the Universe has in store for us.

Now it’s your turn! Take out your journal or notebook and ask yourself what you really want to do during your precious time here on earth.

Happy Monday everyone!

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Be sure to tune into Oprah’s Life Class on OWN tonight and check out the live webcast with Mastin Kipp (founder of onedailylove.com) afterwards on oprah.com at 6pm Pacific, 8pm Central & 9pm Eastern.

Weekend Re-Cap

Hi! How has your weekend been? Mine has been great. Since you last saw me, Blake and I flew the helicopter to Dillingham.

We were treated to salmon, salad, wild rice and asparagus the night that we flew in.

I stayed there for two nights and hung out with Blake and three biologists when they weren’t out in the field working.
During the day I cleaned the cabin, did laundry, went for a run, grocery shopped at the two grocery stores (you know you’ve been in rural Alaska too long when you’re impressed that a town has TWO grocery stores!) made dinner and cupcakes.

The Scottish biologist called them “fairy cakes.” Isn’t that a cute name for them?
To give you an idea of how expensive groceries are here, let me list the some of the items that we picked up in Dillingham:

Silk Almond Milk: $9.99
16 oz. tub of salsa: $4.99
Honey Chex Mix: $7.99
Box of Funfetti Cake Mix: $4.49
Fuji Apples: $2.99/lbs

Coming from Oregon, these prices were outrageous!
I flew out of Dillingham and into Anchorage Friday morning on Pen Air. The plane was so loud that they gave out complimentary ear plugs! I have never experienced such a loud commercial plane before. Once I landed in Anchorage, I enjoyed having cell phone and wi-fi service until my next flight to Fairbanks.
When I flew into Fairbanks, I picked up Layla from the kennel, bought some groceries and had a nice, relaxing Friday night. Layla has been catching up on some much-needed sleep!

Saturday morning, I took Layla for a walk around the lake, enjoyed my extra-strong cup of coffee and did an outdoor workout.

Since I don’t have access to a gym or free weights (and Blake has his rubber bands with him) I had to get creative with my workout. I found these old rubber tires next to the lake and incorporated them into my workout. Here’s what I did:

30 minute run with Layla – This wasn’t too strenuous since she stops to sniff something every minute or two!

Body weight circuit (3 sets x 12 reps per exercise)

• Squat with alternating leg lifts
• Push-ups while gripping tire
• Standing alternating leg lift oblique crunches
• Triceps dips while holding onto tire
• Standing glute kick-backs
• TIU tummy tucks while gripping tire

Working out is a little more fun when you have such beautiful scenery to look at!

I have been having tons of relax time with while Blake finished up his job in Dillingham. This has been the perfect time to read some inspiring books on my Kindle, write in my journal (this is a new practice for me,) spend time with Layla and plan some new blog posts. It’s going to be a great week here on the blog!

I’ll be back tomorrow with some tips that I’ve learned about goal-setting. Have a great Sunday!!!

Something To Do: Sign-up for Oprah’s Lifeclass on OWN’s website. On of my favorites, Mastin Kipp of thedailylove.com will be online Monday 10/10 at 6pm Pacific for a webcast discussion on Ego.

Today’s Assignment: Do What You Love

Hi! I’m excited to debut my new video post. I’ve never recorded myself for the blog before, so please excuse any lack of video quality. I promise that I’ll work to improve future videos.

Your assignment today is to take some time to think about what you love doing. It could be as simple as walking down to the coffee shop on Sunday mornings and enjoying your americano while reading the newspaper or as elaborate as planning a five course dinner party for a dozen of your closest friends. Write down a list of activities that bring you joy and happiness in your journal or notebook. The next part of your assignment is to schedule some time to do one of these activities within the next seven days. Open up your planner and write down when you are going to devote some time to doing what you love.

Here is my list that I wrote out today:

For my assignment, I plan to read magazines by buying two new magazines when I go to the grocery store in Fairbanks. If I can find a Barnes and Noble, I’ll sit and read tons of magazines and maybe choose just one to purchase.

It’s that simple! You deserve to take some time devoted to doing whatever makes you happy. Please let me know what you plan on doing and when you’re going to do it.

Take care,

Kilee

Cilantro Lime Chicken Wrap

Hi! I’m sharing a recipe that I frequently make for lunch or a filling afternoon snack. It’s naturally gluten-free and tastes refreshing thanks to the lime juice.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Wrap

2 whole collard green leaves with the tough part of the stems removed

3 1/2 ounces grilled chicken breast (I like to season mine with Caribbean Mrs. Dash seasoning)

1/4 cup shredded carrots

6 grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/4 avocado, sliced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 fresh lime wedges

pinch of sea salt, optional

Divide all of your wrap fillings between the two collard green leaves. Squeeze the limes over the fillings. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Wrap up like a burrito and dig in!

This is a quick and simple recipe once you have prepped all of your ingredients. You can even double the recipe when prepping your ingredients and leave them in the refrigerator for a super-quick lunch the following day.

What are some of your favorite lunchtime wrap combinations? I love turkey breast with chevre & cranberry sauce as well as hummus with shredded carrots and Sriracha sauce.

Have a great day!

Lake Iliamna: Lesson on Judgement

Hello friends!

I have been reluctant to post anything lately because all of the photos that I took on our four-hour helicopter flight from Fairbanks to Lake Iliamna are on Blake’s super-fancy camera and I can’t get them to upload to my laptop. As soon as I do, I’ll post some of the breathtaking photos from our flight.

We have been staying at a lodge on Lake Iliamna for the past five nights. Because we didn’t know what our accommodations would be like or how Layla would do for that long of a helicopter flight, we booked her a stay at a kennel in Fairbanks.

Our little trouble-maker is right where she belongs - behind bars!

They even have a “Muttesorie” school for her to go to during the day. We called and checked on her and they said that she was having a blast playing with the other dogs and behaving like a good girl. I’m not sure if I believe them about her good behavior, but feel relieved about her excellent report.

Today I wanted to talk about a lesson that I learned during our first few days here.

We were picked up at the airport by one of Blake’s co-workers and driven to the “lodge” where we’d be staying. I was expecting a resort-like place with a lobby, restaurant and lounge and hot tub because that is the only type of “lodge” that I have been to. However, we pulled up to a large, house-looking building that had antlers hanging from the front. As we walked through the narrow hallway and to our room, I quickly decided that I was not going to like it here because A) it had not been remodeled for at least 25 years, B) it lacked a fancy restaurant and spa and C) it felt like the set of a horror film.

Me, being a brat because I was freezing cold and judgmental.

I whispered my disappointment in our accommodations to Blake who told me to relax and appreciate this new experience. As we headed upstairs and sat down for our late dinner of salad, sauteed vegetables, sausage and pasta, I became anxious because I assumed there would be little to no gluten-free food choices. I explained to the lodge owner that I wasn’t trying to be impolite by not eating the pasta, but that I was gluten-intolerant. He asked me to explain what that meant and would try to accommodate my dietary restriction.

The "game room"

He then proudly showed us the “game room” that displayed at least 20 different types of mounted animals from a famous hunter’s personal collection. By that time, I was grossed out by the dead animals, old decor and amount of sausage that I had just consumed. I decided that I was going to have to suffer through a week with slow Internet, being by myself in a creepy place and being isolated from any modern-day town. (The village is about a mile away and consists of a trading post.)

Blake’s food and lodging is covered by the company he works for, but he is paying $150/day to cover my food and lodging. I told him that he was being “ripped-off” for paying that much given the condition of this place and the few gluten-free food choices that I had. His response was that he “wasn’t paying for some grand hotel for me, he was paying for me to be with him.” Hmm… I hadn’t thought about it that way. I was too busy complaining about everything that wasn’t “perfect” that I forgot to be grateful for the fact that we were together and Blake was willing to shell out some serious cash for me to be able to stay with him. Right then, I started to become embarrassed of my childish behavior.

The next day, I went for a long walk around the lake and spent some time reading books and magazines. I started to feel relaxed and comfortable.  The lodge owner was kind enough to make me a chicken and vegetable soup from scratch along with a salad as my lunchtime meal. He asked what kinds of gluten-free foods that he could prepare for me. He then built me a fire in the “game room” and encouraged me to watch the T.V. and relax by the fire.

While on my run that evening, I was blown away by how judgemental I had been. Within 30 seconds of arriving at the lodge, I decided that I didn’t like it and thought that it was creepy. I’m embarrassed by my snap judgements. The lesson that I learned that day is, You don’t have to actually like something, but do not be so quick to place judgement on it. I don’t particularly enjoy where we are staying, but I should not have judged it the way that I did on our first night here.

Posing along the river in my new pink Carhartt jacket

Me falling down the super-steep trail that led to the river below.

I have so much to be grateful for at this moment; Blake and I get to spend time together while he’s not working, I have all day to do what I want to do, I’m healthy and able to go for runs and do outdoor workouts, I have plenty of clothes to keep me warm, Layla is being well taken care of, etc.

Readers, please learn from my mistake. Do not be so quick to judge someone, something, someplace. It’s alright if you eventually decide that you don’t care for it, but give it a chance.

I forgot to mention that there was a mouse in our room too! Of course, Blake was not phased by this, but I was horrified. The lodge owner offered for us to move rooms and that he would catch the mouse. Blake refused and eventually him and the lodge owner chased the mouse into another room and set out a trap for him.

It turns out that the left-over food that we had thrown in our trash was too appealing to the little mouse. So basically, Blake and I created our own problem, then freaked out over it and then it was solved. So many life lessons being learned on this trip!

Have a great day and I hope that you enjoy some of the photos that I’m sharing with you from our adventures up here!

Chena Hot Springs

Hello from Alaska! After a whirlwind experience of packing up our townhouse, moving our belongings into storage with the help of family, running last minute errands and flying from PDX to Fairbanks, Alaska with Layla in tow, I am finally with Blake!

If anyone has gone months without seeing their significant other, you know how at peace you feel when the two of you are reunited. Blake was so excited to have both of “his girls” with him again and I was relieved that we actually survived the drive from Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs. Apparently, there are plenty of moose encounters on the highways up here.

The night that I flew into town, Blake was finishing up a job near Chena Hot Springs was staying at Chena Hot Springs Resort. We were lucky enough to stay an extra night at the resort and have a whole day of rest and relaxation before heading back to Fairbanks. Layla loved running up and down the runway:

My favorite part of our stay was wading around in the natural hot springs. The last night that we were there, Blake and I shared a delicious steamed clam and crab dinner and then took a dip in the hot springs. They were the perfect temperature and it was neat how you could feel the hotter parts of the mineral water where they emerged from the ground.

This photograph was taken during the day. It's really pretty and lit up with colored lights in the evening.

We didn’t get a chance to tour their world-famous ice museum. We had to depart before their first tour was taking place.

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Blake had his heart set on enjoying one of their appletinis that are served in martini glasses carved out of ice!

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So far I haven’t had too hard of a time finding gluten-free dining options. As long as I’m able to explain to waiters that I have a gluten-intolerance and need my food to be free from flour and soy sauce, I’m good to go. I also packed a ton of gluten-free protein bars, apples and bananas, so I can always eat those if we’re somewhere without gluten-free options.

I’m going to be traveling around for the next month. Some areas have Internet while others do not. I’ll be posting whenever I have service. So long for now,

Kilee

Alaska Adventure

Good morning everyone! I have been wanting to share this exciting news with you for a while now, but thought that it would be best to wait until it was 100% for sure happening. I am leaving on Monday to go travel and work with Blake in Alaska for about a month. As you may have noticed, Blake has been gone since May. He is a helicopter pilot and works up in Alaska during the summer time. He was supposed to be home by the end of September, but got scheduled to work through the end of October. We had already given our 30-day notice to move out of the townhouse that we rent and didn’t want for me to have to find a new place to rent and move all of our stuff into a new rental. So, we decided to make October into an “Alaskan Adventure.”

Look who I have waiting for me up in Fairbanks!

I gave my 2-week notice at the health center where I work, packed up our belongings and am moving them into storage tomorrow. This coming Monday, Layla and I are flying up to Fairbanks to be with Blake. I’m super excited about this coming month. Blake’s job allows him to work all over the state of Alaska. He has a few different jobs booked in beautiful locations and I fell very blessed to get to experience a slice of Alaska. Where will we go once we’re back in the lower 48? I don’t know yet! I believe that it will all work out the way that it’s meant to. Therefore, I’m not worried about it.

What does this mean for the blog? It means that I will probably be posting more :) It also means that my content will likely be focused around photos from where we are traveling and lessons that I learn along the way. I have already learned so much over the past year and can’t wait to see what’s in store for me learn next!

I’m creating a 21-day challenge for us to do together. More details will be posted in the coming week. Don’t forget to “like” Whole Nutrition on Facebook and “follow” us on Twitter.

Baked Gluten-Free Falafel Wrap

Hi! I hope that you are having a lovely day so far :) I was able to sneak in a long walk with Layla this morning and one of my favorite workout DVDs, Tone It Up’s Tone & Sculpt. I blended up a cherry lime whey protein smoothie afterwards. It was super refreshing!

I wanted to share one of my favorite lunch recipes with you today. I like to bake a batch of the falafels on Sunday and use them throughout the week.

Baked Gluten-Free Falafel Wrap

Baked Falafels

Life Lessons from Stand Up Paddleboarding

Hi! I hope that you are having a fabulous day so far! I wanted to share some inspiring lessons that I’ve learned from stand up paddleboarding (SUP) over the past few years.

Suzie was recently featured in the July issue of Self magazine.

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I was introduced to SUP by the lovely, Suzie Coney, of Suzie Trains Maui. She was my trainer when I lived on Maui and she taught free women’s SUP workshops on the weekends. All that you had to do was bring your board and paddle and she would instruct us on proper warm-up exercises and SUP techniques. I gained some major confidence and camaraderie with the other women out there on the water. I want to thank Suzie for introducing me to such an exciting and invigorating sport!

Life Lessons I’ve learned from Stand Up Paddleboarding

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1. If you fall off your board, get back on

This is true at every point in your life. We are constantly “falling off our board,” whether it’s not getting the job we applied for, being dumped by our significant other or eating a bag of Oreos after we swore off of junk food. What’s important is that we pick ourselves up and get back on our “board.”

When I first started SUP, I was in the water half of the time that I was out there. Instead of calling it quits and swimming back to shore, I pulled myself out of the water and back onto my board. I continued to work on my balance and learn the best ways to maneuver my board in the choppy waters. The last time that I went SUP on my trip to Maui, I went out for about 30 minutes without falling once!

I know that we all have times when we’re feeling down or have gotten off track. My best advice is to stick with our goal, get back up, and keep working towards it. Our hard work will pay off!

2. Keep your eyes ahead, not beneath you

This one is especially important, both when your on the water and in life, when your striving towards large goals. I realized that when I looked at the ocean beneath my board, I was more likely to be wobbly and lose my balance than when I focused on a point in the distance. I liken this to staying focused on your overall life goals instead of worrying about the issues that arise on a daily basis. There will always be little problems that come up along the way, but if we work through them, everything will all work out.

Next time you find yourself panicked about a current “crisis” remind yourself that “this too shall pass” and that you will eventually achieve your goal.

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3. Go with the flow

This is one that I am constantly working on! When you are out in the choppy ocean waters, your board is continually bobbing up and down with the waves of the ocean. If your legs are locked straight, you are more likely to get tossed off your board. However, if you slightly bend your legs and allow the board to rock beneath you with ease, you are less likely lose your balance.

In life, it is easy to get caught up in the day to day drama, but if you roll with the punches and don’t worry too much about the little things, it will all work out.

There you go. These are my life lessons learned through my experience with stand up paddleboarding. Readers, I have 2 challenges for you: apply one of these lessons to your week this week and if you have the opportunity to try SUP, do it!

Have a great day today!

Much love,

Kilee

Gluten-Free Pasta Primavera

Hi! I’m excited to share a new recipe with you. My dear friend, McKenzie (who also eats gluten-free) came over for dinner, wine and girl talk the other night. I wanted to treat her to a decadent gluten-free meal. I had been dying to try some of the gluten-free Pappardelles pasta that my co-worker had given me for my birthday. This dish is perfect when you’re craving pasta and want a delicious, but not overly-rich creamy pasta. I used lots of fresh vegetables, but feel free to substitute them for vegetables that you have on hand or even toss in some grilled chicken slices or sauteed shrimp. We started out with some honey mustard spinach salad that McKenzie had brought over.

Gluten-Free Pasta Primavera

Serves 4

1 lb. Pappardelle’s Della Terra Trumpet Trio Pasta (or another gluten-free pasta)

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3-4 cups fresh vegetables cut into 1″ pieces (I used onion, bella mushrooms, broccoli, grape tomatoes & asparagus)

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon organic salted butter

5 oz. log of herbed chèvre

1 cup shredded Pecorino Romano

Sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss your vegetables with the olive oil, seasoning and garlic. Line a baking pan with foil and spread your vegetables in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring the vegetables once. Once the vegetables are done, set them aside.

While your vegetables are cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain your pasta. Melt the butter in the pasta pot. Add the chèvre and Pecorino Romano. Stir the sauce until the cheeses have melted. Add the pasta and vegetables to the pot. Stir until combined. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve with additional Pecorino Romano. Enjoy with a glass of wine (if you are 21 or older) and the company of good friends and family.

I’m off to bed for the night. Let me know if you try out this pasta dish. I promise that it won’t disappoint!

Back From Paradise

Aloha! I’m back from the islands. My sister and I stayed with our friend who lives in Paia for 4 nights this past weekend. We had so much fun hanging out and catching up with our friends back on Maui. Highlights of our trip included:

• Beach days: Sugar Cove, Shark Pit and Kamole 1

• Pregnancy Yoga Class
• Dinner at Milagros 

• Gelato from One Gelato (Lilikoi & Coconut taste amazing together)
• Having Lilikoi for breakfast every morning
• Listening to my “Everything is Energy” podcasts on my morning walks
• Warm weather (75-85 the whole time we were there)
• My new floppy beach hat 

• Nightly barbecues

• Last morning latte at Cafe Des Amis

It was a super fun! I feel very fortunate to have spent time with my friends and relax on the island for awhile. I’ll be back with some lessons and a new recipe. Take care,

Kilee

Maui Bound

Hi everyone! I just wanted to write a quick post to say that I’m leaving to visit my friend on Maui until Monday. I’m not bringing my laptop with me (gasp!) and will try to check me email while I’m there. Have a great rest of the week and I’ll be back blogging on Tuesday or Wednesday. Take care & keep up your healthy habbits! Love,

Kilee

*** Follow me on Twitter here and/or Facebook here for updates!***

My favorite beach near Paia

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How to Start Your Day “Right”

Good morning everyone! Are you enjoying your long weekend? I sure am. Yesterday was a very good “Kilee” day. I took Layla on her morning walk, had my carrot cake protein pancake and coffee while working on the computer.

Check out that cute mug. I got it for Blake because it reminded me of Alaska and Layla. (Sometimes she resembles a bear!)

Then I went to Costco to pick up my toiletries. I find that Costco has the best deal on all of my “necessities” – Cetaphil, Secret Clinical Strength (this is seriously the only deoderant that works for me. I’ve tried all the “natural ones” and they just don’t cut it) Venus disposable razors and pretty pink lip gloss. The only downside to shopping at Costco – opening up their ridiculous cardboard and plastic packaging. I even bought a set of heavy duty scissors yesterday because we didn’t have any at the house.

After my little venture to Costco, I went on an amazing run at a park near our home.

Once I was home, I inhaled an extra large chicken and romaine salad, then picked up the house and finally busted out this Tone It Up workout.

I am rather cheap when it comes to buying most everyday items. I have learned that you should not buy the least expensive exercise ball because it will end up deflating easily and the foot pump that comes with it barely pumps any air when used. With that being said, when this one goes ka-put, I will be buying one that costs more than $9.99!

I went tanning to make up for my lack of being in the sun all day and headed over to my sister’s “PJ” themed birthday party. I even packed my “lean & green” quinoa burger and steamed spinach so I could have it for dinner while at the party. Very exciting, I know :)

While on my run yesterday, I listened to a Everything is Energy podcast with Joan Borysenko. She spoke of the importance of starting our day in the best mindset possible. In order to shift our energy into a positive place, recommends doing something that inspires and invigorates us first thing each morning. What works for one person might not inspire another person, so be authentic to your true self.

Examples of uplifting activities include:

• Taking a walk
• Listening to your favorite music
• Writing in your journal
• Doing a meditation
• Going for a run or bike ride
• Working on a craft project

The key is to start your day doing something you love and create positive energy. I can tell a big difference on the days that I go for a walk with Layla first thing in the morning versus when I have to rush and forgo our morning exercise.

Be sure to sign up for Tone It Up’s Fall Fitness Challenge! I’m going to be participating and strongly encourage you to join in on the fun! You can sign up here.

Whole Nutrition September Special

With the kids going back to school and our Summer fun coming to an end, I am pleased to be offering a special for Whole Nutrition’s diet and lifestyle programs. We all know how much easier it is to stick to a healthy lifestyle with the support of our friends and family. I can offer you as much motivational support as I can. However, creating a healthier lifestyle with the help of a friend or family member is going to give you an extra boost which will help you achieve all of your nutrition and fitness goals.

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For the month of September, Whole Nutrition is running a 2-for-1 special. If you and a friend or family member sign up for a 3-month, 6-month or “Go Gluten-Free” program, you will each receive a personalized program for 1/2 the price! I want for you to have the most support and motivation surrounding you as possible and the best way that I can offer that is to let you and a companion work on your programs simultaneously at a lower cost.

If you are interested in signing up for any of Whole Nutrition’s programs, please email me at kilee@kileejohnson.com. I can go over the program details and answer any questions that you may have. Even if you, personally, are not ready to start on a nutritional program, please pass along this offer to any of your friends or family members who may be interested. The 2-for-1 special will end September 30, 2011. If you wish to take advantage of this offer, you must sign up by September 30th.

Get out there and enjoy this beautiful weather while you can! I suggest a trail run, day at the lake or taking your dog for a long walk. Offer to bring a fresh green salad or healthy fresh fruit dessert to any Labor Day parties that you may be going to.

Take care,

Kilee

“Left-Over Quinoa Salad” Burgers

Hi! How is everyone doing? It’s almost our holiday weekend! I wanted to share my new recipe that I made the other night when I was trying to use up the last of my quinoa salad. I love being resourceful in the kitchen and using whatever is in the fridge instead of heading to the grocery store. I took out some ground organic beef and lamb that I had in the freezer from this dinner and pureed the quinoa salad before mixing them together.

“Left-Over Quinoa Salad” Burgers

Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free

Loosely based off the Garden Beef Burgers in the Better Homes and Garden Cook Book

Makes 4-6 burgers

1 cup quinoa salad (I used this one, but any quinoa/bean/veggie one should work)

1/2 lb. organic ground beef

1/2 lb. ground lamb

1 organic egg or 3 Tablespoons egg whites

1 Tablespoon catsup + more for cooking

1 teaspoon worchestire sauce

1 teaspoon dried onion

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat your broiler. Position your oven rack so that the burgers will be about 3-4″ from the broiler. Puree the quiona salad in a food processor, blender or magic bullet. Add the egg, catsup, worchestire sauce, dried onion, garlic salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined. In a medium size bowl, mash the ground beef and lamb with a spoon or your hands until fully mixed. Add the quinoa salad mixture to the meat. Mix until well combined.

Spray a roasting rack with cooking spray. (I don’t have a roasting rack, but I placed a cookie rack on top of a baking pan.) Divide your hamburger mixture into 4-6 sections. Using your hands, shape each section into a 1/2″ thick patty. Place on the roasting pan. Broil for 8 minutes. Flip the burgers. Brush with a little catsup. Back an additional 4-6 minutes. Serve on lettuce or with gluten-free buns. I enjoyed mine with a large serving of green beans and extra catsup.

I must be on a burger kick lately because tonight, when I went out to dinner with my cousin and my friend (and his girlfriend) I ordered another burger, sans-bun.

We ate at Noble Rot, which is a rooftop restaurant and wine bar that has their own rooftop garden. It was a spectacular dinner with good food and good friends. There was even a firework show while we were eating our dessert – flowerless chocolate tarte!

Now that I spent the past week celebrating my birthday and eating a little more indulgently than usual, I need to get my rear in gear because I leave for Maui in 1 week! My sister and I are staying with one of my friends that I met when Blake and I lived there. I’m excited because she’s pregnant with a little baby girl and I get to go to one of her ultrasound appointments while I’m there!

My game-plan for the week:

Sticking with my “O-blood type” style of eating

Working out with my favorite “Tone It Up” workouts

A few more HIT cardio sessions

Substituting chocolate and sweets with tea (this one is the hardest for me)

It will all be worth it when I’m in the sun, a week from now. Do you have any fitness goals right now? Mine is to continue my same level of exercise and healthy eating that I have enjoyed this Summer throughout the Fall and Winter. I don’t know about you, but when January hits, my workout motivation drops pretty low. Add my gluten-free sweet tooth to the mix and I have a lot of work to do come Spring Break time – haha!

Summer Squash Quinoa Salad

Hi! Did you miss me? Sorry about the week-long absence. I have been busy having fun in the beautiful sunshine that Oregon’s been having lately. I even took a long 4-day weekend off from work to celebrate my birthday weekend! Here’s a re-cap:

Layla and I all dressed up to go out for dinner:

My dinner & dessert from Manzana Grill in Lake Oswego:

A beautiful and thoughtful gift basket from my friend, McKenzie:

My sister and I driving to hang out with some family friends at their house in Black Butte:

The forest fire that was happening while we ate dinner in Black Butte:

My lamb burger (minus the bun) with green salad. I snuck some of my sister’s fries without remembering that they were beer battered. Luckily I didn’t get sick from the possible gluten!

Now onto more important things, like what I whipped up for dinner this evening. I had three crookneck squashes grown by the doctor’s wife to use up. I decided that a quinoa salad that incorporated squash would make a delightful new dish. I poked around my fridge and threw in some random ingredients and called it a meal. While cooking my dinner tonight, I concluded that I am an intuitive cook. After reading my friend, Kris’ post about listening to your “gut” or intuition, I thought about the importance of trusting your own intuition. I hardly ever follow a recipe or even execute a meal the way that I intend to. Instead, I go with the flow and listen to my intuition while I am preparing my meals. I’m glad that I do, because tonight’s meal turned out delicious!

Summer Squash Quinoa Salad

Serves 4

2-3 crookneck squash, sliced into 1/4″ slices

2 teaspoons dried herb mixture (I used Mountain Rose Thai Herb blend but you could use Italian or Greek too)

1 cup broccoli, roasted or steamed

1 cup uncooked quinoa

4 cups chicken ore vegetable broth

5 oz. chevre cheese, crumbled

2 Tablespoons Wickle’s Wicked Pepper Rings and Chilies (or any sweet sliced pepper rings)

1 lemon, juiced

2 Tablespoons olive oil + more for grilling the squash

1-2 Tablespoons Bragg’s Aminos or sea salt to taste

Toss the squash in a little olive oil and the dried spices. Heat a skillet to medium heat. In single-layer batches, grill the squash for roughly 1-2 minutes per side. Place the cooked squash on a cutting board until all of the squash is prepared. Slice into 1″ pieces. Transfer squash to a large bowl.

Soak the quinoa in warm water for approximately 10 minutes. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Drain the quinoa and add to the boiling broth. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover for 12-15 minutes, until the quinoa is fully cooked. Drain any remaining liquids and allow the quinoa to cool. Once cool, add the quinoa and broccoli to the squash in the bowl.

Chop the sweet peppers and chillies. Add them to the bowl along with the crumbled chevre. Pour the lemon juice, olive oil and Bragg’s aminos over the mixture and lightly toss. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. This salad will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to five days. Serve cold and enjoy!

I’m going to go watch Most Eligible Dallas on Bravo. Anyone else loving that new reality show? Have a great night!

Blood-Type Diet

Hey guys! How is your weekend going? Mine has been wonderful! I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with some of my closest friends and family. My friend, Laura (remember her beautiful bridal shower) got married. I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids. But, I was so excited for all of the festivities, that I forgot my camera! Oh well, I’m sure that there will be plenty of photos from the wedding that will be passed around. My mom snapped this one of me while I was walking through the buffet:

I’m very thankful that I got to spend so much time with my good friends this past summer. The wedding was like an A-list celebrity wedding. Laura & her family planned and designed the entire event down the the smallest of details. If the wedding is featured on any of the bridal blogs, I’ll be sure to post a link!

Today I wanted to feature one of my favorite styles of eating: Eat Right for Your Blood Type. I loosely followed this diet around the same time that I found out that I was gluten-intolerant. I felt really good while I was focusing my meals around the foods that are most beneficial for my O-blood type. Recently, I was reminded about this style of eating and am choosing to integrate it back into my diet. This means, I’ll be focusing on lots of vegetables, lean animal proteins, olive oil & fruit. I’ll be avoiding all of the natural “offenders” that I usually do: trans-fats, refined sugar, gluten, cow dairy, processed foods, genetically modified foods, etc. I’ll also be avoiding most grains, beans, dairy and citrus fruits.

The theory behind the diet is that certain foods are beneficial or harmful to our bodies based upon our individual blood-types (O, A, B & AB.) The lectins in certain foods can negatively interact with the cells in your body depending on your blood type.

(source)

Here are brief descriptions of the four blood types from WebMD:

If you’re blood type O (“for old,” as in humanity’s oldest blood line) your digestive tract retains the memory of ancient times, says D’Adamo, so you’re metabolism will benefit from lean meats, poultry, and fish. You’re advised to restrict grains, breads, and legumes, and to enjoy vigorous exercise.

Type A (“for agrarian”) flourishes on vegetarian diets, “the inheritance of their more settled and less warlike farmer ancestors,” says D’Adamo. The type A diet contains soy proteins, grains, and organic vegetables and encourages gentle exercise.

The nomadic blood type B has a tolerant digestive system and can enjoy low-fat dairy, meat, and produce but, among other things, should avoid wheat, corn, and lentils, D’Adamo says. If you’re type B, it’s recommended you exercise moderately.

The “modern” blood type AB has a sensitive digestive tract and should avoid chicken, beef, and pork but enjoy seafood, tofu, dairy, and most produce. The fitness regimen for ABs is calming exercises.

You can learn more about Dr. D’Adamo’s Eat Right for Your Blood Type and his most recent dietary recommendations tailored around even more specifics than blood type alone on his website: http://www.dadamo.com/

Other “Eat Right For Your Blood Type” resources:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/eat-right-for-your-type

http://www.koraorganics.com/blog/category/live-in-my-skin/nutrition/other/eating-for-your-blood-type/

http://www.drlam.com/blood_type_diet/

Readers: What’s your blood type? Have you ever tried the “Eat Right for Your Blood Type” diet?

Alaska Pics

Hi! I hope that your week is going well so far. We made it through Monday already! I was very refreshed when I headed back to work today. All that Alaskan air and quality time with Blake must have allowed me to recharge my batteries. I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos with you from my week up in Northern Alaska.

It was almost always cloudy. I liked being able to watch Blake work while I was there.

Captain Kilee

The scenery mostly looked like this - lots of rolling rills covered with mossy tundra.

I was all bundled up most of the time. I wish I had remembered my ear/headband because my ears were so cold!

Nearby beach town called Shishmaref. It was literally build on the sand!

These little boys were so excited to see us landing. They came running up to the helicopter.

We saw some moose and caribou from the helicopter. I didn't get many good photos though.

I love my pilot!

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I did A LOT of baking while I was up there. I think the crew was sad when I left.

I had such a great week and had lots of time to relax, read and reflect. It was wonderful!!!

Books I read while I was up there:

The New Feminine Brain by Mona Lisa Schultz, MD

This book gave a very thorough and scientific explanation of how female brains function differently than our male counterparts. It even gives reasons why women are more susceptible to depression and anxiety. I really liked how the author reminded me to listen to and honor my intuition on a daily basis. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to study the female brain, emotions and depression/anxiety disorders.

US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships that Matter Most by Lisa Oz

I wanted to read this book after listening to a podcast with Lisa Oz (wife of the Dr. Oz.) She shares advice, exercises and personal anecdotes from her life to inspire us readers to create better relationships on our own lives. I wholeheartedly agree with her when she writes about how creating positive relationships with others comes from having a healthy relationship with ourselves, which comes from having a meaningful relationship with a higher power. I’m inspired to try some of her techniques and be more conscious of how I interact with others, myself and the divine.

Things I baked while I was up there:

Trail Mix Cookies

Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Vanilla Cupcakes

Strawberry Crisp

Homemade Vanilla Ice cream

Banana Bread

Gluten-Free Blueberry Scones

and maybe more … but I forgot already!

What I learned/was reminded of while I was up there:

I love cooking and baking for others with all my heart

Wherever Blake and I are feels like home; because we’re together

I can survive in the Alaskan wilderness (if you count tents with stoves, electricity & running water)

It’s good for me to relax a little more than I do on a day-to-day basis

I do best following my O-Blood type diet (more about this in a later post)

Every single person is brought in and out of your life at a certain time for a special reason. Pay attention and learn from each individual that you meet.

Almost nothing goes 100% as planned. You have to roll with it and enjoy what life throws at you!

Well, that’s a re-cap of my fun vacation up to visit Blake. We talked about all three of us (Layla, Blake & I) moving up to Alaska for a Summer season. Do you think we could survive a whole Summer living together in a tent?!?

Life Lesson: It will all work out

I’m sitting in the Nome, Alaska airport right now, waiting for my flight back home. The past 36 hours were a bit stressful because we weren’t sure if I was going to be able to catch my original flight back home. The camp where I was staying was completely fogged in and the cargo plane that I was supposed to take out of camp, decided that it wasn’t safe to fly due to the weather conditions. Normally, I would have been elated to have more time to spend with Blake, but Layla was waiting for me to pick her up from the doggie hotel and I was scheduled to work Saturday and Sunday. I got all worked up about how I had these responsibilities and felt helpless being stuck in the middle of nowhere without cell phone service.

I wasn't going anywhere in this fog!

Luckily, Blake is my calm companion and reassured me that Layla would be fine spending another night at the doggie hotel, someone would be able to cover my shift and I would be able to get my flight changed. Guess what, all of these things took ending up working out. I used the emergency land line to make my calls, let my family know that I wouldn’t be flying back on time & was able to get Alaska Airlines to waive their “change-ticket” fee. I had got myself all worked up because I was afraid and anxious that things weren’t working out how I had planned.

This seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life. I am a planner. I like to know what is going to happen, when it will happen and avoid any problems that may take place. Guess what? The universe has more power than us “planners.” I felt so helpless being stuck at camp because there was nothing that I could do about the foggy, windy, rainy weather. All that I could do was try to keep a positive outlook and hope that I would be able to make it home safely.

Looking back at how I handled the situation, I wish that I had remained more calm and trusted that I would make it out of camp when the timing was right. I wish that I wouldn’t have acted upset towards Blake and instead been sweet and endearing during our extra time together. What I can do now is reflect on how I handled the situation and better prepare myself for the next time that things don’t go as planned.

What did I do with my extra 24 hours at camp? Since I missed dinner while making all of my phone calls, I went to the kitchen and cooked up some home made broccoli and potato soup. Few things calm my nerves as much as chopping vegetables and preparing a soup from scratch. My soup turned out delicious and I curled up on the cot with Blake and watched “The King’s Speech.” Did anyone else find it kind of boring? We turned it off half-way through. I slept in this morning, went for a run, took a shower and packed up my bags. I also spent a lot of time envisioning myself making it out of camp safely and flying back home.

Blake inspecting the plane before I was supposed to take off

The cargo plane was supposed to make it into camp today, but once again was unable to due to weather. Blake and I had to make the decision of whether or not I should fly back to Nome in a small 2-person Cessna plane with one of the camp owners. We both thought that it was risky, but also didn’t know when the cargo plane would actually make it into camp. After hours of watching the weather and debating if it was worth it, we secured my seat with Alaska Air and took the scariest flight of my life.

Now, I am not a bad flier. I have (up until now) never been scared to go in an airplane or helicopter. By the looks of the foggy weather and the tiny airplane, I was more scared for that half hour flight than almost anything in my life. I trusted that the pilot wouldn’t fly if he didn’t have full faith that we would land safely, but this little voice in my head kept telling me that it was too risky. On the flip side, I wanted to get back home so I could pick up Layla and make it to work on Sunday. I climbed into that little plane and envisioned us safely landing in Nome.

Do see what the fuel gage said!?!

While flying, I decided that I should probably learn how to land planes and get some lessons from Blake on how to land helicopters so in the face of an emergency, I’d know what to do. We made it to Nome, safe and sound. I was relieved and felt that this experience was a lesson that the universe was offering for me to learn and grow from.

Lessons that I learned over the past 36 hours:

1. Just because you plan something, doesn’t mean that it will actually happen
2. How you react to a situation creates your experience, not the actual situation itself
3. Things that feel like a big deal to you in the present moment, will end up working themselves out and most likely forgotten in the future

I try to learn from my mistakes and experiences so that I don’t repeat them in the future. I’m only human and therefore, will never be perfect. This trip was exhilarating, rejuvenating and taught me a few life lessons. Maybe I’ll go back to Alaska next summer? Only time can tell.

Readers: What is a life-lesson that you’ve recently learned?

Wilderness Workouts

Hi everyone! Sorry about the lack of posts this week. I was very busy while on vacation up here in Alaska. Between my morning workouts, helping the camp cook, baking treats for the crew, helping Blake with stuff and working on my own projects, I kept a full schedule. Today is my last day here. It’s really foggy and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make it out of camp and back to Nome to catch my flight tonight. My fingers are crossed that the weather clears.

Yeah, I'm not going anywhere in this weather!

Today I thought that it would be fun to talk a little bit about how I stayed active while up here in Northern Alaska. It was very chilly most of the time. Think: layers of clothes and outdoor gear with gloves and Ugg boots each day. I wish that I remembered my Under Armour ear/headband to keep my ears warm, but I didn’t realize that it would be so cold!

Most mornings, I grabbed my cup of coffee and set out on a walk around the camp. I didn’t venture out of camp because the terrain is so uneven and knowing me, I would have twisted an ankle. Plus, there is some wildlife out here and I didn’t want to cross paths with any unfriendly creatures.

Every other day, I went for a 30 minute run up and down the runway. Again, this was the best place to run because the ground was the most even. I would then do some lunges, squats, pushups and crunches or use Blake’s exercise bands.

One day, I was inspired to do some yoga in the tent. It ended up being quite the hot & sweaty session because our tent had the heater on.

My "make shift" yoga mat - fuel spill mats

Yoga download from Self.com

Another day, Blake and I hiked down to the creek. When we got about 10 minutes outside of camp, he informed me that he had forgot his protection gun and hoped we didn’t run into any bears. Thanks for scaring me! I was a bit on edge during that hike.

As you can see, I did some fun outdoor (and indoor) workouts. I loved listening to podcasts that I had downloaded onto my ipod. Most of them were focused on energy healing, female intuition and positive thinking. It was so inspirational to be listening to the podcasts, working out and viewing the breathtaking landscape. This will be a trip that I will never forget!

I’ll be back tomorrow with lots of photos from this past week. The internet speed up here is about as fast as was in the 1990′s and goes down when the weather’s bad. Have a great day and hopefully, the next time I talk with you, I’ll be back in the lower 48!

Happy Camper

Aloha, er I mean, “aang” as the native Alaskans say. I made it through my four flights yesterday. PDX→Anchorage→Kotzebue→Nome→Camp. When we flew into the camp, it was like nothing that I have ever seen before. There is no sign of civilization for miles upon miles. The camp consists of 20 large steel and canvas tents, dirt runway and two outhouses. I had a hard time accepting the fact that I will be using one of these for a whole week, but seeing Blake for the first time in three months makes is all worth it!

Flying into Nome