Health

Health Vs. Wellness

/ ktbuchs87

These two concepts are so intertwined that it’s very easy to think that they are the same thing.  If you’re healthy you’re well and if you’re well you’re healthy.Health Vs. Wellness | Life Healthfully Lived

That can be true but it can also be a lie and so many of us are busy chasing healthy that we often forget about the wellness.  I know I did.

Healthy is eating the “cleanest” or “best” food available even if you don’t enjoy it.

Wellness is eating in a way that you can sustain and brings you joy AND good health.

Healthy is slogging through another draining workout even though you hate it because it’s what you have to do to in order to be healthy.Health Vs. Wellness | Life Healthfully Lived

Wellness is finding the movement that your body loves and makes you feel full of energy and allows you to do what you want the most.

Healthy is ignoring the voice in the back of your head that is telling you you’re miserable doing this even though it’s “what’s best for your health”.

Wellness is honoring all of your thoughts and feelings and making a change in order to not only be the healthiest you but the happiest you.Health Vs. Wellness | Life Healthfully Lived

Health is so personal and we all have different versions of it.  What looks healthy for me won’t necessarily look healthy for you.  It’s important to find your healthy though so you can also find your wellness.

And don’t forsake your wellness in a dogged pursuit of health.

Your body will let you know what works and what doesn’t, you just have to listen and make adjustments.  And it’s ok if what makes you feel your healthiest isn’t what everyone else is doing.  You aren’t a failure and you aren’t doing it wrong.  This journey is going to be life long and you’ll change and adjust and tweak as you go.  Roll with this changes and give yourself what you need in that moment and your health, and wellness will thank you for it.Health Vs. Wellness | Life Healthfully Lived

 

Things I’m Loving Lately

/ ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

I haven’t shared one of these posts with you in awhile so I thought I would let you in on what I’ve been liking in my kitchen, in my belly, and in fitness!

Yuca RootThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

For our very first Christmas, Adam got me this cookbook called Roots.  It’s all about root vegetables and I was thrilled because 1. I like food 2. I love root vegetables 3. This book had gotten amazing reviews.  I dove in and started learning more about root vegetables and where they come from and traditional ways to prepare them. It’s as much a history book as it is a cookbook.  I love that!  Well, I got to the yuca chapter and kind of skimmed over it but didn’t pay much attention.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I’m grocery shopping.  I see a yuca root at Jewel and on a whim I decide to get one.  I had no clue what to do with it but I knew I had a whole book about it at home.  I made chips with it and they were awesome and I’m obsessed.  I’ve been playing around with it so expect to see some recipes soon….

Maca PowderThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

See? I told you I’m all about the root vegetables.  Maca powder comes from the maca root which is typically grown and consumed in the Peruvian region.  It has this nice malty-caramel-y flavor and I’ve been adding it to baked goods and my smoothie bowl.  It also has a pretty impressive health profile.  I got this brand from Amazon and I’m pretty happy with it.

My Homemade Coconut MilkThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

I’m still amazed at how easy it is to make coconut milk and have been making a batch of it every week for smoothies, coffee, baking, and cooking.  It’s pretty impressive and you don’t need a fancy blender to get a good result!

ParsleyThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

I know this isn’t that exciting but for some reason lately I’ve been obsessed with parsley.  I buy at least 2 or 3 bunches and put it in everything.  I blend it into my scrambled eggs, top all my vegetables with it, gnaw it raw like a rabbit… ok I don’t do that last one but you get the idea.  I think I’m just ready for farmer’s market season and all the fresh herbs.  Once I can get my hands on some fresh basil that isn’t $2 for half an ounce, all the pesto shall be made.

All-Clad Fry PanThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

For Christmas this year, Adam got me a double-handled all-clad saute pan and then this fancy fry pan that claimed to be the non-stick of all non-sticks.  Yeah. It sucked.  I took care of it exactly how the instructions said and everything stuck to this pan.  I’m not a happy camper when half of my dinner is left in the pan.  My all-clad saute pan, on the other hand, was a dream.  So last weekend I got an all-clad fry pan and all is right with the world again.

Strength TrainingThings I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

I know I’ve talked about Fitness Blender before and told you that we’ve been doing their workout programs but I’m going to say it again.  I seriously love them and these programs.  Their strength training programs, in particular, are awesome and I’ve gotten stronger and am surprising myself with what my body can do.  That’s always a good feeling.  Plus, Kelli and Daniel are motivating, positive, and funny.  All good things when it comes to working out.

Things I'm Loving Lately | Life Healthfully Lived

I think Daniel nailed it…

 

So that’s what I’ve been enjoying lately, how about you?  Any new things that you’ve fallen in love with?  Let me know in the comments and have an awesome Monday friends!

 

Being Mindful & Taking Care Of My Body

/ ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

If you remember, at the beginning of this year I decided to take a break from running.  It was no longer bringing me joy and I was totally burned out.  It was a tough choice, but more and more I’m realizing it was the best one for me.

Just because I don’t run doesn’t mean that I have totally given up on working out.  In fact, I think my workouts, and overall health, have improved vastly by taking a step back from running.  Adam and I have been following along with Fitness Blender’s workout programs and they’re no joke!  They incorporate strength, flexibility, HIIT, yoga, pilates, kickboxing, plyometrics… anything is fair game in their workouts and it keeps my body and my mind engaged in what I’m doing.

Last Friday, as we were finishing up our workout, Kelli (one-half of the husband/wife duo behind Fitness Blender) mentioned lifting a weight that’s heavy and challenging for you.  She also said that it was totally ok to drop the weight completely and just use body weight and that it was important to listen to your body.  After hearing this Adam quipped, “Unless you’re Katie, then you just keep pushing through the pain.”  He was mostly kidding and I told him I don’t always do that but then I started thinking about my runs.Being Mindful & Taking Care Of My Body | Life Healthfully Lived

No matter what, I always pushed through my runs.  The only time that I didn’t was when I hurt my knee and physically could NOT run.  Other than that, I ran and there were definitely some times that I should have stayed home.  Pushing through those times is probably what led to me being burned out on running.  It’s probably what made my body tell me that I had to stop or something worse than a slight knee injury was coming.Being Mindful & Taking Care Of My Body | Life Healthfully Lived

I’m not saying pushing through a tough workout is a bad thing.  It’s important to go a little outside your comfort zone and push yourself in order to become stronger, faster, and better.  But it shouldn’t come at the risk of your overall health.  If your body is telling you it has to stop or it’s going to completely give out, you should listen to it.

Which is part of what I have been doing the last few months.  There are days when I am raring to go on my workout, where I feel so strong and can lift heavier than I ever have before.  Then there are days when I’m more tired and can’t go at 115% the whole time.  That’s ok.  Before I would have thought I was just being lazy.  I would have said you have to push past this and keep go, go, going.  Now I pull back and listen and realize my body knows what’s best.Being Mindful & Taking Care Of My Body | Life Healthfully Lived

It’s kind of a relief, for both my mind and my body, to know that I don’t have to go all out 100% of the time.  It’s ok to pull back a little and adjust to what you need in that moment.  Health is a series of ups and downs.  You hope and work for the best but realize there are going to be times when you have to give in and take the down.  It’s a part of life and it’s all good!Being Mindful & Taking Care Of My Body | Life Healthfully Lived

 

My Thoughts on Being a Health Hypocrite

/ ktbuchs87

So yesterday I did something I rarely if ever do.

I spoke up.

If you know me at all, I tend to be a background type person.  I don’t like confrontation and it’s really hard for me to be the center of attention.  Like impossible.  But there are times that I have some sass in me that I make known and yesterday was one of those times.

I had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things that I had forgotten.  I was in the baking aisle looking for some almond flour and two ladies walked up behind me and were looking at the oil.

My Thoughts on Being a Health Hypocrite | Life Healthfully Lived

The offending coconut oil

“Oh my gosh.  Look! Crisco is trying to get into the healthy fats game by selling “organic” coconut oil.”

“Like anyone would buy coconut oil from Crisco.  Don’t they sell vegetable shortening and all that other bad fat?”My Thoughts on Being a Health Hypocrite | Life Healthfully Lived

As I was listening to this conversation, I almost started to agree with them but then I stopped.  We all complain that we want more affordable healthy options.  We push big food companies to listen to us, to give us the good food we deserve without charging and arm and a leg.  Then when companies, like Crisco, try to give us what we’re asking for we disregard them.  Does selling organic coconut oil instantly make Crisco the best and newest healthy company?  No, but it shows they’re listening to us.  And what do you think happens if we all ignore them because they’re Crisco and “sell vegetable shortening and all that other bad fat?”  They pull that affordable organic coconut from their line and someone who maybe couldn’t afford the other brands suddenly can’t buy coconut oil anymore.My Thoughts on Being a Health Hypocrite | Life Healthfully Lived

I don’t know what made me do it, but I had to respond to this whole incident.  So I politely said excuse me and reached for the Crisco organic coconut oil between these two ladies.

“Thanks.  You know it’s really great that there are some affordable coconut oil options now.  Those little $13 jars never seem to last!”

I smiled and then just walked away.  Was it a little snarky?  Yeah, but I did my best to not make it about shaming these women because that wasn’t my goal.  We have to do a better job of working with what food industries are giving us.  It’s going to take a lot of time and it isn’t going to be perfect.  We need to work on not being snobs about our healthy products and realize if someone is choosing the Crisco coconut oil over things like vegetable oil or canola oil or corn oil then that’s a small victory.My Thoughts on Being a Health Hypocrite | Life Healthfully Lived

Please, don’t be a health hypocrite.  If you can afford to buy high-end all organic food and products, that’s great but not everyone can do that and the fact that there are more and more options for those on a budget is awesome.  Let’s support those people and those companies that are making an effort and maybe one day EVERYONE can afford the high-end all organic food we deserve.

 

Weather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables

/ ktbuchs87

From the title you can probably gather, I don’t have a recipe for you today.  That isn’t to say I don’t have recipes, oh do I have recipes, they just aren’t quite ready for you yet.

But I didn’t want to leave you with nothing this fine Friday so I thought I would highlight some of my favorite spring vegetables that are starting to make their way to the produce section.  First, can we just talk about the weather?

Good.

In the span of about oh… an hour and a half, there has been rain, snow, rain/snow (or wintry mix if you like that better) and full on sun.  Now don’t get me wrong, I understand it’s spring in Chicago so I fully expect bi-polar weather but this is getting a little ridiculous.  I would like to wear my cute spring clothes now.  I would like to put my boots away for good.  I would like to not need five different coats for the weather in ONE DAY.Weather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables | Life Healthfully Lived

I mean, come on!  I married a meteorologist!  Shouldn’t he be able to fix this stuff?  But noooooo.  He gets all technical and scientific and tells me, “That’s not how this works Katie.”  Whatever.  I think he’s just being lazy.  With all his fancy degrees he should be able to make spring weather be better.  Especially for his loving and adoring wife who cooks him delicious meals and tries to make dessert for him most nights… I’m just sayin’

Ok, weather rant over on to my favorite veggies!Weather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables | Life Healthfully Lived

I know that most produce is available year-round so we’ve kind of lost the touch for eating seasonally.  But just because something is available year-round doesn’t mean we should eat it year-round.  Fruit and vegetables just taste so much better when they’re in season and they’re also cheaper.  Cheap tasty food is always going to be better than expensive bland food in my book.

CauliflowerWeather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables | Life Healthfully Lived

If you haven’t noticed lately, I’ve been kind of having a thing with cauliflower.  I turn it into rice, stuff taquitos with it, make mac n’ cheese with it, roast it, turn it into a creamy sauce…. It’s like a magic vegetable that can be anything and do anything.  It’s in peak season now, so pick up a few heads and make whatever you want.  Seriously.

Parsnips

These are technically in season from fall to the beginning of spring but during the winter months, they can be kind of puny and woody tasting.  I like spring parsnips cause they’re sweet and they taste amazing roasted.  You can also puree them and make a delicious mash or soup.  If you like carrots you’ll probably love parsnips.

SpinachWeather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables | Life Healthfully Lived

Give me green things!!! After winter, I’m always grabbing the greenest fresh produce I can.  Spinach (the ones in bunches that are covered with dirt, not in the plastic bags) start hitting the shelves and I can’t help but always grab a bunch.  I eat them raw in salads or wilt them a bit for soup or turn them into pesto or make lasagna with them.  No matter how you prepare them, a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice go a long way.

Leeks and OnionsWeather & My Favorite Spring Vegetables | Life Healthfully Lived

While I might not take a big bite out of a raw leek or onion, they enhance pretty much the flavor of anything you make.  Leeks are great in soup or stews and onions go in everything.  The spring varieties are a little sweeter and they are great caramelized.

Asparagus

Yes, your pee might smell funny but it’s worth it when you have roasted asparagus with a lemony cream sauce and pasta.  Even just roasted asparagus on its own is delicious.  And if you’re a meat-eater, my mom wraps two or three asparagus stalks with some prosciutto and roasts it and everyone goes nuts for it.

Watercress

Ok, so I have never tried watercress (that I know of) but it is like one of the top healthiest foods out there and it starts showing up in the spring.  I haven’t seen it on the shelves just yet, but I’m going to try some when I do find it.  It’s always good to try new fruits or vegetables that way you never get bored of your food!

So those are some of my top picks for spring plus one newbie that I want to try.  What are some of your favorite spring vegetables?

I hope you have an awesome weekend and that the weather by you isn’t as crazy as it is here!