Your Body Isn’t A Mannequin

February 9, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I have spent a lot of my life not liking the way I look. Many of my younger years were full of low self-esteem and poor body image. Like many girls, and boys for that matter, I felt that I didn’t measure up to the standard of beauty.

As I’ve gotten older I have gotten better but I still have my days/weeks where I feel like I don’t look like I want. My stomach is too flabby, my thighs have seemingly gotten bigger overnight, and my arms aren’t as strong as last week. What I see in the mirror doesn’t match up to the image in my head. I’ve had one of those weeks this past week and I’ve learned something.

My body does change from day to day and week to week.

My body is not going to stay exactly the same every minute of every day.

My body isn’t meant to be like a robot or mannequin and never change.

And this is ok.

There are so many factors that go into how our bodies look from day to day. What we eat or drink, what workout we have done, what the weather is like, what clothes we wear. With so many variables there is no way that we can keep our bodies exactly the same.

For someone who has struggled with body image issues, this can be a tough lesson to deal with. I sometimes get into the horrible habit of looking at pictures of models/athletes and longing to have their perfect bodies. What I often forget is that the image I look at is just picture of one point in time. That is how they looked at that minute, it isn’t how they look every single day. I shouldn’t compare myself to those moments in time, especially since they have been styled and edited to look perfect at those particular moments in time.

Don’t get frustrated if it seems like your body isn’t consistent with what you think it should look like.

Are you eating real and whole foods that give you energy and nourish you?

Are you moving your body in some way each day?

Are you working to improve other areas of your life not just your body?

Then you should be proud of your body for allowing you to do all those things.

I’ll leave you with this thought. A few months back I was at my parents house for some family event I was in the kitchen with my mom, dad, and husband. Somehow we got onto the topic of body image and I said that girls sometimes just have “bad-body days”, days where we just aren’t happy with what we see. My mom nodded in agreement, but my dad and Adam kind of just looked at me confused. I asked my dad, “Don’t you ever have a day where you look in the mirror and you don’t like your body?” He answered with, “Sure, but I don’t let it control my day. I just move on and work to improve it.” I asked Adam the same thing and he agreed with my dad.

I had never realized it could be as simple as that. Yes, there is a big difference between men and women when it comes to body image but I think we can all benefit from adopting my dad’s mindset.

Don’t let your body control your day. Work to improve it and move on.

Chai Green Tea Granola

February 6, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I love cereal. When I was younger, it was breakfast every single morning. I loved the crunch of the cereal mixed with icy cold milk. If I was hungry for a snack I would have some cereal. If I was feeling lazy, cereal became an easy lunch or dinner. Saturday mornings were full of cartoons and sugary cereal. And despite the fact that my mom made the rule of only one bowl of “junk” cereal on Saturday’s, my sister and I definitely had more than one. Sorry mom.

Once I started eating better, I dropped boxed cereal. Most cereal is full of sugar and other not so pleasant ingredients, even the so-called “healthy” ones. There are a few good cereals out there, but they are few and far between as well as very expensive. I decided that I could make my own cereal for half the cost and less ingredients.

Mission accomplished. I love this cereal and it hits the spot when I am craving the crunchy goodness of cereal and milk. It is also a great topping for oatmeal or just grab a handful as a snack! It isn’t overly sweet, but the chai seasonings make this granola full of flavor. You probably have most of these ingredients on hand, so make some delicious granola!

Chai Green Tea Granola

2 cups thick rolled oats (gluten free if necessary)
1/4 cup buckwheat groats
1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (you can use raw, I just happened to have roasted on hand)
2 tbsp hemp seeds
3 chai green tea bags
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup maple syrup (you can also use honey)
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1. Preheat oven to 250. In a large bowl mix all of the dry ingredients, not including the tea and cinnamon.

2. In a smaller bowl mix together all the wet ingredients. Cut open the tea bags and add into the wet mix. Add in the cinnamon and whisk everything together until completely combined.

3. Pour the wet mix over the dry mix and stir everything to coat it well. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Spread the granola out on the baking sheet in a single layer.

4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out the granola and stir. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. If the granola is still a little wet, bake for another 5 minutes.

5. Take out of the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack to dry. Once fully cooled place in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

There you go! Granola that isn’t full of a ton of sugar or unpronounceable ingredients or a small fortune. I like to eat this with almond milk as well as sprinkled on top of cooked steel cut oats. It doesn’t last long around here, so make sure that you have plenty to go around!

Keep It Simple Series: Healthy Flavor

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Week 4! I’m actually starting to like doing these videos. At first I was nervous because I had never done anything like this before and if you know me I am not an in-front-of-the-camera kind of gal. But I am starting to get into a groove and enjoying the whole process of making these videos for you guys.

How about you? Do you like the videos? Are there any topics that you would like me to cover? Let me know in the comments so that I can make this blog work for you!

If you listen carefully you can hear Olaf (my kitten) meowing at me and knocking things over. He likes to have my attention every single moment of the day so he gets confused when I’m talking to the camera and not to him. He’s just a peach that way….

Keep It Simple Series: Healthy Workday Tips

January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 / ktbuchs87

The majority of us spend most of our day at work. Many people have a hard time keeping up their healthy habits while they’re at work, but it isn’t as hard as you think!

Today’s video has a few tips to keep your workday as healthy as possible!

Here are a few more “deskercises” and stretches that you can do at work throughout the day to keep you moving.

Do You Like You?

January 26, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I was listening to the radio the other day and Colbie Caillat’s song Try came on. If you haven’t heard it yet give it a listen:

I’ve heard this song before and I really love the whole message of the song. This time as I was listening though, one line really struck me.

Do you like you?

It’s a really simple question. Although it is a simple question, I don’t think many of us spend that much time thinking about it. We often get caught up in worrying about what everyone else thinks about us that we never stop to see if we like ourselves.

It’s kind of backwards though, shouldn’t we worry more about what we think about ourselves more than what people we don’t know think? Shouldn’t we be working to constantly improve for ourselves and not the random stranger we pass on the street? I know we’re always told to not try and impress others, but do we really take that advice to heart?

I know for me that sometimes I can get so caught up in trying to please others. I want people to like me and think that I’m a good person, it’s natural to want to be liked. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of what I think about me. I’ve been with me for 27 years and hopefully I will be spending many more years with me. I want to make sure that I am the best me possible for me not just others.

And I’m not just talking about how I look. Yes, I think that it is important to eat well and move more but it isn’t everything. If someone judges you by your looks then to be honest you don’t really need to keep those people in your life. You should want to be healthier for you because it makes you feel better, because it will add years to your life, because it is what YOU want to do. Not what others say you should do.

Instead of doing things to make other people like you, try doing things that make you like you. At the end of the day if you ask yourself do you like you, you can say yes.