The best & worst girl scout cookies

So you may not really want to know the information in this blog post – sometimes ignorance is bliss! — but this post at the EatingWell blogs (which you know that I love) lets you know which girl scout cookies have the most calories, fat, sugar, and trans fat. I like this information because at least I know exactly what I am getting myself into, and I can change my behavior if I choose. Or I can eat the Samoas anyway, knowing that I need to spend some extra time on cardio and should only buy one box instead of two!

Super Foods Power Smoothie

I love this recipe for a Super Foods Power Smoothie for breakfast posted at Savory Simple. I think I’ll try it. You should too!

I Am Grateful … My Continuing List

NOTE: I am adding one new item to this list every day (so far) rather than creating a new post for each item. Check back daily if you are interested in my list!

My friends are I were out for our New Year’s Eve celebration and were discussing how important it is to be grateful. Actually, studies have shown that people who are grateful are much happier. Our discussion reminded me of my days in college when my friend Vanessa and I would send our grateful thoughts to each other via a daily email.
So I thought I would do that again, except here at my blog. And I thought I would do one per day. Maybe it will inspire you to think about what you are grateful for. Here goes:

24. I am grateful for the wireless Sony headphones that I got my husband for Christmas for the TV. Now he can watch “shoot-em-up” movies while I tap-tap-away at my computer and the baby sleeps. I can concentrate, the baby can continue sleeping, and John can hear the guns and the dialogue. Happy family.

23. I am grateful for indoor plumbing. Simple but true. Thinking back to our hurricane and early winter storm and remembering not having running water, not being able to shower or wash hands, or even flush the toilet. My parents grew up without indoor plumbing. I cannot imagine what it was like to have to get up in the middle of the night and go down the hill to the outhouse in the dark in the middle of winter! So, I am grateful for indoor plumbing!

22. I am grateful that my daughter is 15 months old today and continues to amaze me. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to see her learn and grow and become a confident little being. It is one of my favorite parts of mothering: seeing Sarah learn new things and how excited she gets when she accomplishes something new.  If we could all remember to be so excited about such “little” things in our lives!

21. I am grateful for wi-fi and a laptop. I really enjoy being able to sit wherever I like while I work at my computer and being able to move about as well.

20. I am grateful that the people that work in the childcare at the gym are actually really great!

19. I am grateful for our propane fireplace that turns on with a remote control and has a blower to help heat things up during a cold CT winter.

18. I am grateful for WordPress. I am happy that I am able to share knowledge, stories, anecdotes, and hopefully helpful information with so many people at one time. Thanks WordPress for making it simple and effective!

17. I am grateful for a boatload of resources available to new solo practice attorneys. I am not new to the law, but I am new to the practice as a solo, so lots of great resources are very important.

16. I am grateful for my mommy & me yoga class every Monday. It helps keep me healthy and somewhat relaxed (for a person who is not good at relaxing). Because the class is with the babies, I cannot totally focus on yoga and breath like my pre-baby yoga classes, but it is still a wonderful (and necessary) class that I enjoy with my fellow yogi’s and yogini’s.

15. I am grateful for my baby girl’s mostly happy personality. She is a joy every day, and almost all the time. She has her moments, like everyone, but overwhelmingly, she is happy and curious and fun!

14. I am grateful for good friends and great laughs with them.

13. I am grateful for coffee. I know I already said I was grateful for coffee a few days ago, but today it is really just being grateful for the caffeine. Two nights in a row with very little sleep and the caffeine makes me human notwithstanding the lack of sleep so that I can have a somewhat productive day.

12. I am grateful that I no longer commute into NYC every day. I enjoyed my time there today, but I am happy I am not there 5 days a week.

11. I am grateful for our little town’s walking track and park. It makes it so much easier to get outside, get some exercise, and have fun as a family!

10. I am grateful for sunny days. They are motivating!

9. I am grateful for a helpful husband.

8. I am grateful that we have the means to have healthy and delicious food in our home at all times. Not everyone is so fortunate.

7. I am grateful for coffee, particularly good coffee, though I will drink bad coffee too. I actually love coffee. I keep my daily consumption reasonable (no more than 24 ounces) so the caffeine makes my day much better.

6. I am grateful for my parents who raised me to be strong and believe in myself, that if I want to do something, then just figure out how and then do it.

5. I am grateful for a warm house on a cold night with hot water for a lovely shower.

4. I am grateful for my babysitter Ashley who is reliable, calm, sweet, and available. And she cleans house too! Most importantly, Sarah has fun with her and feels safe.

3. I am grateful for hair color; I may have a few (0r more) gray hairs, but I’ll never have to know it!

2. I am grateful that I am able to stay home with my precious baby girl. She is the most interesting person I know and I don’t want to miss any moments with her.

1. I am grateful that my husband, daughter, and I are healthy.

For what are you grateful?

Add Fiber to Help with Portion Control and Other Benefits

Fiber is found in plants. We can’t digest fiber so it doesn’t add to our calorie intake, but it contributes to our feeling of fullness so we eat less (i.e. contributes to our portion control) and less often. It is also good for our health because it can help prevent colon disorders like diverticulitis and decreases the risk of heart disease and cancer.

We need about 20-35 grams of fiber each day. Here are a few ways to increase your fiber intake:

1. Eat nuts and seeds. You can add them to a salad or side dishes.

2. Eat dried fruit. You can add it to your cereal or casseroles.

3. Add more veggies to your stir-fry. Reverse the typical ratio, so that you have 3 times as many veggies to meat.

4. Eat beans. Think soups, stews, salads, and dips.

5. Switch to brown rice instead of white rice.

6. Try quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) or barley instead of potatoes.

Source: Stop and Stop

6 Simple Strategies to Achieve and Maintain a Healthy Weight

Here are six simple strategies to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight:

1. Plan your meals in advance. Know what, when, and how much you will be eating. Then you don’t have to worry about making less-than-great decisions when you are pressed for time.

2. Cook. Find healthy recipes that are simple, with few ingredients, and that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. I like my crockpot. Fish is also quick and easy and delicious.

3. Eat slowly. Give your mind time to register your fullness. When you eat quickly, you eat more than you need to feel full.

4. Watch your portion size. For example, a portion size of meat is the size of the palm of your hand. For most men, that is 4 ounces of meat. For women, it is about 3 ounces.

5. Keep hydrated. We often confuse thirst for hunger so always drink a glass of water first if you feel hungry.

6. Get moving. Try to exercise regularly, whether that means going to the gym or going for a walk or running up and down the stairs at work. Just move!

Source: Stop and Shop

Free E-Book from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition

ALSO COMING SOON: THE TEN PRINCIPLES OF A HEATHLY DIET -  a free e-book by me!

How to Get Your Fruits & Veggies

We all know we need at least five servings of fruits and veggies every day, but we sometimes find it hard to fit those into our diets. Five servings equals about 2 1/2 cups. Here are few ideas to make sure you get yours:

1. Start with breakfast. Add fruit to your breakfast — berries on your cereal, banana with your yogurt, half a grapefruit with your toast.

2. Eat them for your snacks. Fruit and veggies provide great energy, and if you pair them with a protein, they can also provide a filling and sustaining snack. For example, apples with cheese, or celery with peanut butter, or dried cranberries with almonds. The possibilities are endless, and delicious.

3. Double up the serving size. The usual serving size of fruits and veggies is only a half cup, so double up and eat a full cup as a serving. Finally, something you cannot eat too much of, provided you don’t load them with butter or salt.

4. Use them as ingredients. Zucchini bread may not be as healthy as zucchini, but at least it has the vegetable in it! Other ideas include putting veggies in other recipes like stews, soups, and chili. You can also put fruit and veggies in a smoothie.

5. Vary them. There’s no reason to get bored with fruits and veggies since there are so many different kinds of both. Vary what you eat; try something new every week!

Source: http://kidshealth.org

Add Food To Your Diet For Better Health

Here’s a re-post of information that I shared several years ago. I like it so thought I would share it again!

I was listening to a podcast by Joel Osteen today (I love his podcasts!) and he had a great analogy. He talked about a glass of dirty water. In the glass was water and in the water were lots of little pieces of dirt and sand. If you keep putting clean water in the glass and let it run over, eventually all the dirt and sand are gone and you have a nice glass of clean water.

He was using the analogy for “detoxing the mind,” in other words, getting rid of the toxic thoughts in your mind (like, I’m not good enough, I’ll never lose weight, I’ll always be a loser, and all the horrible things that we say to ourselves). The point of his sermon was that you don’t necessarily have to work to get rid of the toxic thoughts. Rather, fill your mind with positive thoughts and they will crowd out the toxic ones.

I like the analogy for detoxing the mind, and I think it works for transforming your diet into a healthy one, too. Don’t focus on all the things that you need to take out of your diet. Instead, add healthy things. Eventually, all the healthy foods will crowd out the unhealthy foods, and you will have a healthy diet that makes you feel good. And, it won’t feel like work!

So, each week, add a new healthy food to your diet. Maybe this week it will be adding an orange to your breakfast. Maybe next week you can add a small salad to your lunch. Then a green vegetable to your dinner. Add fresh strawberries to your afternoon snack. And so on.

Give it a try!

Be Positive – no matter what!

Be Positive – no matter what!. Here’s a blog post at AMSDaily that I love. Oftentimes when I read an article, I don’t make it all the way to the end and even more often I don’t actually watch the video, but I did and I am glad that I did. It is short and great! Thanks AMSDaily!

Happiness Tool Kit

Here’s an article written by Gretchen Rubin (of The Happiness Project fame) that I recently revisited. It is entitled Emergency Tool Kit for Happiness: Take a few measures now and you’ll save yourself stress later. I like it because it is simple and helpful:

When we are stressed out, we tend to become even more stressed out. Why? Because when we are rushing around putting out fires, we don’t take the time to do the little things that can end up saving enormous amounts of time and trouble.

Here’s a list of preventive measures to save yourself stress later. These tasks don’t seem particularly important, and they’re  easy to skip when you’re rushed, but if neglected, they can snowball into major stress. Remember: A little effort now means a lot less stress later.

• Keep stamps in the house.
• Keep extra cash in the house.
• Have a good book to read.
• Bring a hat and an umbrella.
• Don’t wear tight pants or uncomfortable shoes.
• Don’t let yourself get too hungry.
• Make a list.
• Always keep your passport in the same place.
• Always put your keys away in the same place―and keep an extra set of keys.
• Keep a Band-Aid and a small bottle of pain reliever in your purse.
• Make your bed.
• Never let your car’s gas level fall into the ”empty” zone.
• Have at least one friend who lives in your neighborhood.
• Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual.
• Get up 20 minutes earlier than usual.
• Laugh at yourself.