There is no reason to skip breakfast, especially when you can prepare it in just minutes! If you have a blender, it's even faster. I love to make green smoothies and sometimes I like to add protein powder!
There are lots of protein powders out there, but Sunwarrior Warrior Blend is my favorite! It's all natural and it's made from 4 ingredients: Hemp, Coconut, Cranberry and Pea. How awesome is that? It also makes everything taste amazing. The vanilla makes my green smoothies taste like a vanilla milkshake, plus I'm getting a boost of plant protein and nutrients!
I pulled my ingredients together - organic spinach and a ripe banana are the base of most of my green smoothies. To that I either add spring water or almond milk/rice milk/hemp milk depending on how creamy I want it to be. That's always a good smoothie base: banana, spinach and water/nut milk.
Then I added a scoop of Sunwarrior Warrior Blend. I have the vanilla and it ROCKS. So yummy.
Then just blend!
I love drinking my smoothies out of mason jars, but if you don't have any mason jars, just save your applesauce jars and marinara sauce jars and pickle jars, wash them, peel off the label, and voila! Smoothie jar! This one happened to be an applesauce jar previously.
It may look green and a little intimidating but you won't taste the spinach! I promise!!! This tastes just like a vanilla milkshake, and it's PACKED with vitamins!
Feel free to add your favorite frozen or fresh organic berries or a tablespoon of raw almond butter - you can play around with these ingredients and invent YOUR favorite smoothie!
Rock climbing rocks! Up until last weekend, I had only experienced rock climbing at indoor rock gyms. This past Sunday, however, I experienced this:
And I climbed this (I even made it to the top!)
They call that a chimney climb...you press your back against the rock behind you and put your feet on the rock wall in front of you and then climb up the wall. You can also drop your foot behind you against the rear wall and push yourself up that way - they call that a scissor kick. This looked so intimidating to me at first but once I got inside of it, it was so much fun...that is until I got to the top and saw a boulder jammed in there to my right, and realized I was in a scene from 27 Hours. "I have no idea how James Franco did this!" I yelled. "These hand holds are not as big as they are at the gym!" Everyone laughed. I figured if I distracted them with humor no one would pay attention to my struggling up the wall. But I reached the top and was lowered back down. Such a rush. I can't wait to get back out and do it again!
Climbing at indoor gyms definitely helps you prepare for climbing outside, but climbing outside is completely different than climbing at a rock gym. When you are outside, no one has marked the route for you...there is no colorful tape to follow...there aren't any holds to grab onto, just random ledges of granite sticking out of the rock. You have to think for yourself more because a path isn't laid out for you and you really have to trust your instincts and your climbing partner when you are that high off the ground.
Climbing inside taught me which way to shift my weight, it taught me to use my legs and not my arms as much, it helped teach me how to move on a wall. I was able to apply all of those techniques outside. But climbing the face of a giant piece of granite is definitely different. It suddenly becomes much more mentally challenging because your room for error drops considerably. Sure, you are tied into a harness and you'll be safe if you fall, but no one wants to slip off a rock. It suddenly becomes you versus the rock. Totally amazing and awesome all the way around. I think about climbers from decades ago, who did it without any fancy equipment or fancy grippy climbing shoes. I would have loved to meet them. It reminds me that if they could do it with just a rope, and mountaineering boots, then I can sure as heck do it with our modern climbing gear.
It was so much fun to get outside and challenge myself. That saying: "whether you think you can, or you think you can't...you're right" came into my mind when I was staring at one of the rocks. I think I can I think I can, I can. I can. I can do this. And I did it.
Best feeling ever. Even though my legs were completely shaking by the end :)
I see lots of rocks in my future :) PS - If you are in San Diego, and want to go climbing, check out The Southern Terrain. The guides/instructors are so knowledgeable, awesome to work with and have YEARS of experience! I definitely recommend them if you want to try it out!
Are there any sports or activities you've been wanting to try? What's stopping you?
Time for a fresh start!
Or a Diet! Or a new hobby!
Or a fresh-new-diet-hobby!
If you checked out my last post I talked about this cool new
rad thing called “A Finish List” where you just list all the stuff you are
going to finish.
That got me thinking in a different way.
Sometimes we tend to bash the prior year and try to forget
it and say THIS year is going to be the best one ever. Well, it will be, of course, because today
you and I are still alive and breathing.
So since this automatically becomes the best year ever, I’m reflecting
on 2011 and what I missed out on.
What do I need to finish that I said I would, but didn’t in
2011? When “life” got in the way? That’s another thing. Life doesn’t get in the way. It’s here.
Right now. This second. Life.
Hi, I’m Life, nice to meet you. Here we are.
Isn’t this great?
No?
Well if your hanging out with Life and it doesn’t seem so great,
then make a decision to make some changes.
Right now, each of us has the NO.
What do I mean? Your
dream…that thing you want…that job you’ve been searching for or that goal you’ve
been thinking about reaching…that person you want to become or that sport you
want to try out…
Right now, you have the NO.
You don’t have it.
So you know exactly what NOT having it is like.
The only thing you don’t know, is what having it would be
like. There’s only one way to find out.
Make a decision to make a change.
You already have the NO.
So go get the YES.
What’s the worst that could happen? You’d be back to the NO? You already know what that’s like.
Is your head spinning or are you still following?
:)
I thought about 2011.
I thought about the times I really hung out with Life and Life seemed to
get in my way: several apartment moves, job uncertainty, random benign tumors
and a major surgery, douchebags saying one thing but meaning another, flakey
people, getting randomly robbed (it turned out ok in the end), being homesick…
All those moments “got in the way” of what I “really wanted
to be doing instead”. But that’s not the
case. Those moments shape us. They helped me grow. They helped me become this person right here
who is writing this post.
I’m grateful for Life hanging out and “getting in my way”. I truly am grateful.
It changed my perspective.
It changed my priorities. It
changed how I react to Life each time it shows up.
It also changed my Finish List.
I could list 10 to 20 things on my Finish List of things I want
to accomplish this year. I know, without
a shadow of a doubt, that Life will appear again and throw me some curve balls in
2012.
But here is what made it to the top of my list:
1. Finish a crazy 5k with obstacle courses. (Signed up and
will be rocking that one in a few weeks!)
2. Finish (and place) in a Fitness Bikini competition. Now that I’m all done healing from surgery, I
can finally dive into fitness full force the way I wanted to and be the type of
role model I want to be, showing young girls and anyone for that matter, that
strong and healthy is the new sexy…and if you work hard, you can achieve it. I contacted the best trainer I’ve ever had,
Dave DePew, and am jumping back into The Grinder in SD! I. Can’t. Wait.
3. Finish a couple certifications. I’m already signed up and should be finished
by March. Keeping what they are exactly
under wraps for now, but once they are done, I’ll post them on here!
4. Finish accepting people for exactly who they are. I’ve learned that I cannot change
anyone. Not one single person. I can’t make anyone be healthy. I can’t work out for anyone. I can’t get them to see what I see when I
look at them. I can’t make someone else
realize their potential, even when it’s so easy for me to spot from three feet
away. Which brings me to my next item…
5. Finish making 2012 a DBFZ. What’s that?
DBFZ stands for Douche Bag Free Zone.
I’m currently making some awesome and permanent changes in my life. If you don’t hear from me anymore, you’re
probably one of them.
6. Finish going surfing without hearing the Jaws theme song playing in
my head. (it's not easy)
7. Finish making the people I love and adore smile. Finish telling them I love them every day or
every chance I get. Finish contributing to their lives every day in any way
that I can. This is actually the most
important one.
8. Finish being un-apologetically me. All of the time and not shrinking in the face of other's opinions about me.
I had a coffee date with my dear friend Julie the other day. I voiced my concerns about what God wants for my life. I want to make sure I'm fulfilling my purpose here. That I'm on the right path and doing what He wants me to be doing. Julie, who is a fabulous Mom of a fabulous two year old, shed some insight. She said that she's so happy to watch her son jump on his bed for ten minutes and laugh hysterically, because in that moment, that's what makes him happy. It's something that came from inside of him and it makes him happy. So it makes her happy as his parent to watch that.
I believe that God gave us the gifts and talents that we have for a reason and when we use them, or when we do something creative that makes us happy, God is just so happy, as our Father, to watch us do it. No pressure. No crazy goal to achieve. We can just paint a painting. Or go for a run if that's what makes us feel happy. We don't have to become Picasso or win at the Olympics.
We get to just be us. We get to just be happy doing what makes us happy.
Doesn't that sound so crazy!?! In a society of people chasing money or the next accomplishment, God just wants us to love one another and be happy.
There.
Now I want to throw my Finish List in trash and just go for a jog. Just kidding. I'm an overachiever...I'm working on finding a balance.
What made it to your list? What is it that you feel happy doing?
"Today is the day we all share the goals we’re committing to forFinishYear!
Why are we doing FinishYear? Because completed dreamschange the world.
What are we going to do? Tweet, Facebook post or comment on this blog every day in January with the hashtag #FinishYear to share our progress, roadblocks and encouragement.
Why are we doing it together? Because fear always tries to isolate you when you go on a new adventure, and dreaming is best played as a team sport.
When and where does it start? On Sunday, January 1, 2012 right here on this blog."
Wow. That got me pumped up.
No more New Year Resolution Lists of things you are going to "try and DO"...
Make a list of the things you are going to FINISH.
It could be anything from: 1. Finish a 5k on March 13th. 2. Finish reading 12 books - one for each month. 3. Finish the kitchen renovation by February.
Be specific.
I've written mine out twice now, and each time I write my FinishYear list, it changes and it gets more specific.
You can achieve your goals, but in order to do that, you need to know what you want and WHY you want it. Because when things get difficult, you'll need to have that motivation/reason for sticking with it. Don't worry so much about the HOW part just yet.
I will post my FinishYear list before December 31st and keep it posted on my website all year and update it as I complete each item! I think it would be great if everyone shared their FinishYear list as well. Let's work together to help each other achieve our dreams! We were not meant to go it alone through life.
Who wants to do it with me??? We can follow along on each other's blogs! If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your list in the comments section and we can support you there!
We walked around Times Square, went to Top Of The Rock (Rockefeller Center) which is 25$ a person to get up there, but totally worth it for the view. I think you can also see a similar view from the top of the Empire State Building. We stopped in at Trump Tower and grabbed some lunch at the Trump Bar and warmed up from the cold. We spent the next few hours walking around from Radio City all the way down to Park Ave and back before catching a cab over to...PURE FOOD AND WINE!
Green tea sake-tini and a gluten free organic beer
Entrees were raw veggie sushi, raw sweet corn soup, raw lasagna, raw spanakopita and raw dolmas.
Out of those the raw lasagna was the definite favorite of the night! The figs with the truffles were also delicious with really amazing flavor. The sushi was great, except I didn't notice the onions, and onions don't like me so I ended up in a lot of pain later. Whoops! Totally my fault for not noticing, but it was still good. The raw dolmas were really interesting too with some sort of cauliflower and raisin mixture in them.
The desserts were incredible - we had the original raw sundae, the raw pumpkin pie cheesecake and the raw apple spice cake. They were all so delicious it was hard to pick a favorite, but the pumpkin pie cheesecake may have gone home with the trophy if we had to choose.
We definitely ate more than any human should, but after a long day of walking in the freezing (27 degree) NYC weather, we figured it would balance itself out.
The atmosphere at Pure is so cool - they have big cushy red velvety chairs and the place was PACKED by the time we were leaving. We had an early reservation to make sure we caught our train back to Philly in time.
But not before stopping back at Rockefeller Center again to see this...
It officially feels like Christmas.
I might miss the warmth of the Cali sunshine, but they've got nothing on this tree.
I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and enjoys time with their family!
I'm home! I flew to the East Coast yesterday and am so excited to see everyone!
It was a mad packing frenzy before I left...you know how you think you have time for things and then suddenly you have zero time and just one day to get it all finished? That was my day. Luckily I have a fabulous roommate who helped me pack up all of my raw ball orders late into the evening and then she dropped them at the post office for me. I hope you love them when you receive them! Leave me a comment on here or on Etsy under "Feedback" and let me know! http://www.etsy.com/people/RawIsSexy/feedback
The packages that went out yesterday have my newest packaging! Round tins instead of rectangle:
Oooh lala!
In other news, I've got a crazy traveling weekend from Philly to DC to NYC and am so looking forward to seeing all of the Christmas sights and sounds.
I am visiting one of my favorite restaurants this weekend and cannot WAIT to post pictures for you!!! I also cannot wait to eat everything on the menu.
In recovery news, I officially past my 6 week-recovery mark yesterday. That means I can begin working out again (just swimming, biking, or walking - no running just yet) and it also means that I am finally able to get into a pair of jeans without too much discomfort. I've been living in tights and leggings for 2 months now and as much as I love tights and leggings, it starts to feel like pajamas after a while (which I just can't stand...I have this love for tailored clothes) SO I was on a mad quest to find jeans that I could wear that didn't hurt...(the zipper on a regular pair of jeans is literally directly over my incision/scar in a straight line and it's still sensitive) and I found some! I found high waist-ed jeans without a button closure at this store in San Diego called Dear Alice and I also finally found jeggings through alloy.com that have neither tab nor zipper, and don't look like old lady jeans. Super awesome. I needed them for this trip because East Coast weather is on the chilly side this time of year, and wearing tights and skirts to everything just wasn't going to cut it. It's amazing the changes you have to make after a surgery, but I am just so thankful everything went so well and that I am getting back to feeling like me again.
Really happy to be home and be able to spend time with everyone I love. Stay tuned for lots of DC-NYC-Philly photos!
This will be me shortly...minus the yellow tights!
Ahhh. What is it about the end of the year that suddenly makes everything seem insane?
The mad rush to get everything done...and I mean everything.
From projects and deadlines at work to the rushed shopping trip to the rushed grocery store visit for the frantic rush of preparing a holiday meal.
What exactly is that all about?
WHO IS THAT FOR?
We all do it year after year. Okay, maybe not everyone, but a whole lot of us. We just do it.
Do we ever stop and ask ourselves WHY we are doing it?
Who is that for? All that rushing. All that frantic rushing around.
The pressure.
The stress.
The "just trying to get through the holidays" comments.
I don't know about you, but Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights everywhere. The music. The way people seem nicer. I love celebrating Jesus. God literally gave us his son, to save us. To live the perfect sin-less life that we couldn't live...the one we were not capable of living. And then he died for us. He paid for our sins so that we can live forever with God, his father. That's something to celebrate. I honestly can't think of anything more to celebrate than that.
Except for each other.
You and me. Your family. Your friends. Your loved ones.
That's what this is all about.
Do you ever catch yourself trying to do everything on your own?
Are you wearing a big red cape with a Superman or Superwoman "S" on it?
Are you exhausted? Stressed out? Pissed off? Frustrated?
Are you just trying to "get through the holidays" so you can "start over" in 2012?
I want you to stop. Trust me, I have to say this to myself sometimes too.
Just stop.
Stop.
Someone very close to me lost a loved one recently to suicide.
I've had a difficult time writing about food since that happened. All I could think about was life and living it.
I just want to take this time to say that it is okay to ask for help.
It's okay to say, I need help.
Or..
I'm unhappy.
Or...
I'm sad and depressed.
Or...
I hate my life.
It's okay to say those things outloud to someone.
Trust me, the people who love you - they WANT you to tell them how you feel.
They can help you and if they can't for some reason, they can always find someone who can.
THERE
IS
ALWAYS
HOPE.
God created us out of love. We were created because God loves us. We are here to enjoy this life. Love one another. Treat each other as we would want to be treated. Love each other as God loves us.
We are not here to stress and worry. We are not here to put insane expectations on our lives and ourselves and then beat ourselves up when we crack under the self imposed pressure.
We are not here to make piles of money and drive expensive cars and judge each other based on material things.
Sure, having nice things is nice, and enjoyable, but that's not what life is about.
Getting 30 deals signed at work between now and January 1st isn't what life is about.
Rushing through the store and camping out in lines to get some popular toy isn't what life is about. Wouldn't it be a better idea to spend that time home with your family?
Frantically stressing in a kitchen for 9 hours to prepare some elaborate meal and then being so exhausted that you don't even enjoy eating it, and let's not even mention all the dishes...that's not what life is about either.
Life is about you and me.
It's about your family. Your friends. Your loved ones. Your neighbor who needs help carrying her grocery bags inside.
The man who needs help across the street.
Your children who want to spend Christmas day with their Mom, not missing their Mom because she's in the kitchen all day. Or missing their Dad because he's been at the store for 6 hours.
Life is about asking each other How Are You? No really, how ARE you?
What is happening in your life?
Life is about being there for each other.
If you are having a difficult time in any area of your life, find someone to talk to. A family member, a friend...anyone. Stop into your church and talk to your Pastor or Worship Leader.
Pray. Have faith. Have hope.
If you want to change something in your life, know that you CAN change it! You can make a decision at any moment to change your life. Change your circumstance.
If you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, stop and take off that dang Superman cape.
You're human.
God never asked us to wear any cape. He asked us to love one another.
Are you reaching out to others this holiday season?
Do you know what your children are fretting about?
Do you know what your sister is stressed out about? Or your cousin? Or your best friend?
Do you ask them?
It upsets me so much to know that we live in a world where someone would feel there was no option left other than to leave this world on their own accord.
It tears my heart apart to think about it.
This Holiday Season, I only want one thing from all of you. Just one thing.
Spend time with your family.
Real time.
Ask them what's on their mind lately.
Ask them how they are doing.
Show them the kind of love that you wish to be shown.
Forget about the presents, the fancy dinner, the pressure at work, the hustle and bustle.
Press the pause button on your routine...it's so easy for us to get caught up in it and forget about each other.
And...
If you are in distress, if you are hurting, if you are sad and depressed, lonely, and in a place that is dark, please reach out to someone. Talk to someone. Anyone.
If you can't find someone to talk to, or you don't feel comfortable reaching out to family, call this number:1-800-273-8255 and visit this websitehttp://contactwecare.org
Someone will answer your call and be there to talk to you.
God loves you so much that there aren't enough words to express it. It's true. If I searched a thesaurus to find the words to express God's love for you, I would come up short. Remarkably short.
So this holiday season, when we gather with family and friends, let's do it the way we were meant to do it.
Make a nice meal that is doable, stressfree, and doesn't leave you pulling your hair out in the kitchen.
Skip the long lines at the stores. Try shopping online and have some items delivered to your home. You get what you want, plus quality time with your family.
The best gift you can give to anyone is the gift of yourself.
God created you like no other.
Unique.
Perfectly imperfect...just like the rest of us.
Share YOU with the world, with your family and friends.
Slow it down.
Let's not forget why we are here. Let's not forget what this is all about.
------>LOVE<----------
xoxo
PS - this song started playing in my car driving home from work tonight and it made me cry. It was one of those release-everything-cry-in-the-car moments, but it just seemed kinda perfect.
