Live Healthy

I found a brilliant article in the Huffington Post written by Mark Hyman called The Last Diet You Will Ever Need. Read it! If you don't have time, here's a compilation of some astounding statements from it: 

a French fry has more than 20 ingredients and almost all of them are not potato

the average teenager consume 34 teaspoons of sugar a day

modern cookies last on the shelf for years

 industrial processing. addictive, fattening, metabolism-jamming chemicals. metabolism is blocked and weight gain and Type 2 diabetes ensue

choose real, whole, fresh, live foods.

effortless weight loss, reversal of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, clearing of brain fog, lifting of depression and fatigue and even better skin, hair and nails.

In short, the article discusses the fact that no one can be healthy or lose weight if their diet consists mainly of processed, chemically altered foods. There's no need for diet and weight loss programs if you stick to natural foods that we were intended to eat...foods that aren't full of MSG and other chemicals that our bodies reject. 


I think Mark Hyman hit it read on the head. I have tried a million and one diets and nothing ever works (unless it's temporary.) In the past six months, I have really cleaned up my diet... and it all revolves around natural foods. I have lost weight, kept it off, and I feel much more energetic and healthy. :)


For those of you who are intrigued and want to read all of the horrifying and enlightening facts in the article, Click here!
 

 

LIVE HEALTHY! <3 

 

Hyman, Mark. "The Last Diet You Will Ever Need." Huffington Post 3 June 2012. Web. 7 June 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/food-industry_b_1559920.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false>. 

Birthday Boy

This little guy turned 1 year old today. 

The tiny puppy is all grown up! And in only one and half short weeks, my mom will have to turn him in to Paws with a Cause to complete his training at "college".  It was a sad experience when my mom turned in her first Paws dog, Fisher, but this is a much bigger deal for me. Fisher was a great dog, but I didn't know him as well. I lived on my own, and only saw Fisher during visits home.

Hogan is a different story. He's a part of my household... a crazy, psychotic, and annoying part of my household. He thinks he's a lap dog. He pushes Riley around. He barks and barks and barks when he wants to play. Just yesterday my mom spent a half an hour taping together an instruction sheet that he ripped apart.

But he never fails to come running for an "ice cookie" every time he hears anyone get a glass out of the cupboard. He chases his tail round and round and never seems to get sick of it. He brings your shoe to you and looks at you with adorable guilty eyes because he knows he shouldn't have it. He nudges your arm and puts his paw on you when you're reading because he simply wants to be close to you. He lays his head in your lap and cuddles up close whenever you're watching T.V.

He's the most crazy, energetic, loving, and adorable dog I've ever met and I'm going to miss him so much.

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”
― John Grogan, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog 

**Photo credit and puppy-raiser credit to my mom, Kristy Roeser

I'm back (again.)

I'm back by popular demand!

I haven't written a post since Christmas break. Despicable. After having the flu and being busy at work, I kind of let this hobby slip away. But all I needed was a little inspiration from my own blog to get me started again. After two requests to keep writing, I visited my little corner of the web and realized how much I missed it.

I clearly need to update the Christmas theme I have going on here... but in the mean time I'm here to tell you that I'm back and you can expect more posts to come :)

Good Grief.

So... I got a new car a few months ago, and I've been trying to sell my Jetta ever since. The car ran perfectly when I had it...I loved it. But suddenly, all of these problems started coming up. Typical. I have put SO MUCH money into it in the past few months...new starter, spark plugs, coils, rims, etc...  and my selling price keeps going down and down and down. I'm starting to think it's costing me way more trouble than it's worth...especially after what happened today...

I had two people coming to look at it today at 10 and 11. At 9, I went to put some gas in it and get a car wash. Two men greeted me and wanted to inspect my windshield, look at my tires, blah blah blah. I wasn't in the mood to buy anything. While I was in the car wash, I noticed that my heat wasn't on. Then, as I was under the dryers, the battery light started flashing. OH. GREAT. IT'S. DEAD. I was so worried! I kept thinking that if my car is dead, it won't move...so the car behind me will smash into it! Luckily, it rolled a little and got out of the way. I tried starting it again and again, but it was dead. Completely. I reached into my pocket to grab my phone and realized I had left it at home. The one time I actually need it for something important, I don't have it.

I grabbed my purse, locked the doors and speed-walked back over to the guys who tried to lure me into spending even more money on my car. "Do one of you have a phone I could borrow? My car died and I left my phone at home." I called my dad, and one of the guys offered to look at my car. Then, he jumped it for me. I called my dad back and told him he didn't need to come. Thanks car wash guy!

I pulled out of the driveway and into the turn lane, waiting to get in the right lane to be on my merry way. But then...it died again. At this point I was still rolling, and hoping to be able to roll across the street and onto a side street...but of course, there was no break in the traffic. So I was stuck in the middle of Plainfield. I grabbed my purse and locked the doors again and ran across the street and into a tanning salon. I asked to use the phone, and then I told the girl behind the counter how frustrated I was. I was especially frustrated because I had to call both of my prospective buyers and tell them that the car was dead! Her cheery response was... "Do you want to tan while you wait?" ... ... ... really??? I decided to go stand near the street instead of wait in the salon.

A nice woman pulled up and asked "Is that your car in the middle of the street?" Why yes, yes it is. "Do you need some help? Why don't you go wait inside where it's warm?" With the annoying tanning girl? No thanks. "How long have you been out here? You'll get sick in this cold!" Appreciating her kindness and concern, I replied with, "Yes, that's my car. I'm fine waiting out here, and my dad will be here soon." My dad showed up seconds later. "See...he's right here. Thanks for stopping, though."

After deciding not to hook up the tow strap for fear of an oncoming car rear-ending mine and crushing my dad, and after I insisted we did not push it across two lanes of busy traffic, we jumped the car again. It started and ran just long enough to get it into a nearby parking lot, where it was picked up by a tow truck just a few minutes ago.

After those shenanigans, I needed some retail therapy...so I bought this Charlie Brown tree.
What a morning. Good grief.

Not-so-crafty Cookies

*It's the most bu-u-u-sy time of the year*
I am very much looking forward to my eleven day break from work!

The weekend was a nice little preview of what's to come. I got to see Brad, went out with friends, went to a work Christmas party, attended the candlelight Christmas service at church, decorated the tree, and spent a whole day baking cookies and wrapping presents.

It's funny though...I imagined the outcome of the cookie baking day to be platters of delicious and beautifully decorated cookies like I see on other blogs. Well...they sure are delicious, but faaaar from beautiful (as far as cookies go...) I don't think I'll ever be crafty. But that's ok! It was lots of fun making them with my mom and sister :)

Baked Chocolate Doughnuts

I crave sweets sometimes all of the time...hence the reason for my beat the treats post.Tonight, I had a tough decision to make....  mint, dark, or caramel Ghiradelli chocolate. But then, I had a brilliant idea! Why not roll up my sleeves and bake something instead? I visited (never home)maker's blog because I think her recipes always sound interesting and healthy, and I wanted to make something that I wouldn't feel that guilty eating.


I found a recipe for baked chocolate doughnuts. They are healthy(er) than regular doughnuts, and are very rich, moist, and delicious. The frosting is very sweet, but the actual doughnut is not, which gives it a nice balance and doesn't make your stomach feel like it's going to rot. I made mine as cupcakes because I don't have mini bunt cake pans.


Doughnut Recipe: 

• 1 cup rolled oats, processed into flour 
• 1/4 cup pecans (processed with oats) (Note: I used extra oats instead because I didn't have any pecans.)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup almond milk (Note: I used half percent milk because sadly I think I am allergic to almond milk) 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Ener-G egg replacer (plus required water) for one egg (or egg/other substitute) (Note: I used one regular egg)

Preheat to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Put in greased mini bunt pans (5) or separate into greased muffin tins. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Frosting Recipe: 

• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 to 2 tablespoons almond milk

Mix all ingredients together with a fork. 

To see (never home)maker's full recipe, blog, and photos of what the doughnut version looks like, click here. 

~ ENJOY ~

Secret Santa

About a month ago, I signed up to be part of the secret santa gift exchange on Reddit. For those of you who don't know, Reddit is an online community devoted to social news. Users can submit content in many different categories, choose what information they want to read about, participate in discussion, build a profile, etc. Brad loves this website and visits it daily. He participated in a Halloween gift exchange and encouraged me to sign up for the Christmas one. It's a HUGE exchange...like 80,000 people or something like that. I had a very hard time choosing a gift for my recipient, but I ended up buying an anime book because that's what he's interested in. I paired it with some chocolate and a nice card.

A week ago I got a message saying that my present was shipped to me! I spent the following few days wondering what it could be. I had to fill out an interest form when I signed up, but I was kind of vague. I listed: travel, photography, Italy, chocolate, the color purple, coffee, and dogs. I wondered how someone who has never met me and knows virtually nothing about me could pick out a gift for me...but my gift arrived on Friday and I LOVED it.

Taped to the front of the box was a card that not only wished me a happy holiday, but told me all about the sender, who's name is Jamie. When I opened the box, I was so surprised...she got me something relating to  each of my interests on the list: a dog calendar, a book about Italy, purple gloves, purple duct tape, two boxes of chocolate, a package of Stabucks coffee, a picture frame, and to top it all off...a picture that her daughter painted!

It just really touched me that someone would put so much time and thought into a present for someone that they don't even know. True holiday spirit :)  Thanks Jamie!