Skinny=Happy?

The idea for today's post is one that I've often pondered and thought about, either from having conversations with friends, hearing stories on the news, or ultimately, experiencing myself.

Skinny=Happy

How many of us have looked in the mirror, scrutinizing our appearance and thought- If I was a little bit skinnier I'd be happy, healthy and confident- a new person!'
As though this idea that changing your body size will change your entire being.

There's a few questions that need to be answered first.
What is the 'perfect skinny' that will make you happy?
Will you stop once you reach your goal?
And how far are willing to go to reach it?

 (Has anyone seen this movie? Did you notice how thin this girl was?)

What are you going to do?

Are you going to go on a juice fast? A no carb/ no fat/ no sugar diet, or a diet of no food at all? Are you going to give up your favourite foods?
Are you going to give up on eating out with friends because you can't control the eating situations you will be in? Are you going to get anxious about eating something that's 'off-limits' in your eyes. Are you going to be jealous of those around you who are eating the things you want and seem fine about it? How far will you go?
First of all, I'd say that these are the sorts of things that we associate with and that make us happy:

• family
• friends
• adventures
• laughter
• hobbies/interests
• excitement and being amazed 
• the list goes on and on

However the types of words that appeared in my above (very questioning!) paragraph were:

• A repetition of the word- no
• give up
• control
• Anxious
• off-limits
• Jealousy 
• the list goes on and on...

 Those lists are practically polar opposites.. and yet we still associate this ridiculous need for skinniness as our journey to happiness!

 I guess what I'm trying to say here is that 99.99% of the time, becoming skinnier, when you genuinely don't need to, will not magically sort out all of life's issues and make everything perfect.

Instead? Why not enjoy the wonderfully blessed life you have?
Enjoy every opportunity thrown your way.
Spend time with your family, friends- loved ones
Enjoy time out with friends and a big piece of cheesy pizza that gets ear to ear grins from everyone.
Exercise to feel good, because you enjoy it.
Eat a salad because you genuinely want to eat a salad:

 post

Eat a burger because you genuinely want to eat a burger:

post

 Because really, these are the things that will make you happy.

If you still don't believe me, ask yourself this; Once you have reached your goal dress size and have reached 'true happiness' what happens when the inevitable happens- you gain weight? Does the world shatter, your life crumble and is your happiness ripped from your grasp?

Something to think about. This is just me Thinking Out Loud.
Thanks Spoons for the link-up :)




 Have a great day everyone! Don't be afraid to share whatever is in your noggin with the world! :D

WIAW #16- Food makes me smile:)

Hello, hello, here we are again with a look into What I Ate Wednesday, glimpsing into the spoiled life that is my stomach!
Linking up with the wonderful Peas and Crayons!
Let's get to it, shall we?


A full 24 hours of eats:
Breakfast:

A big mug of fudgey chocolatey steel cut oats with chunks of cocnut butter mixed in and a side of mango froyo!
My steel cut oats were 1/3 cup steel cut oats + 1 big tablespoon of raw cacao +1 chopped banana+ 1 1/4 cups of oat milk+ a dash of cinnamon
All placed in a saucepan over medium heat and simmered for 15-20 mins and then left to sit for another 10-15 mins to cool and thicken (this is when you stir in a bit of coconut butter (mines solid from the temps being so cold in Aus))

Soooo chocolatey and good!
Lunch:

 A sourdough/ rye panini type sandwich.
Filled with hommus, spinach, mashed sweet potato, mashed lentils mixed with salsa, grilled capsicum and grilled eggplant, nice and toasted in a sandwich press:

Snack:

A cut up peach, some blueberries and soy milk :)
Dinner:
STUFFED SWEET POTATO!

Hmmm, I wonder what colour it will be...

PURPLE! :)
Stuffed with a veggie burger, salsa and a side of barley, sauteed mushrooms, olives, pumpkin, parsnip, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, hommus and nutritional yeast:

Good stuff.

And... back to breakfast!
Some frozen banana whazzed up with greek yoghurt:

Topped off with some raw muesli mixed with oat milk and cashew butter (1 tablespoon cashew butter+1/3 cup oat milk) that was first heated in the microwave for 30 seconds and then rubbed into muesli:

I also added some wholegrain cheerios and fresh blueberries :D

I don't know why, but I've suddenly taken to raw granola more-so than my cooked versions- like in this post. For some awesome cooked granolas check out here and here.

And there you go- 24 hours of food that's passed my lips and made me smile!
Your challenge for this week: create as many yummy dishes as possible this week, that leave you with a sheepish grin plastered on your face after the first bite!
Have a great Wednesday and don't forget to see what everyone else is nom-ing!

Another dough boy!

Hey guys! You may have noticed that ever since this post I have been a bit obsessed with smoothies lately! I first got the idea of the dough boy smoothie from Kath Eats. Check out her recipe page for heaps of flavour variations!
For today's dough boy, I decided to make a berry version!
Ingredients:
1 chopped frozen banana
1 big handful of mixed frozen berries
1 serving over night oats (see recipe below)
1/2 cup milk (I used oat milk)
optional- some greek yoghurt
Step 1.
Make overnight oats:

 I simply place 1/3-1/2 cup muesli in a bowl with 3/4 cup milk (oat milk) with a sprinkle of chia seeds. Give it a stir and leave it in the fridge overnight- simple pimple.
Step 2.
Place all the ingredients in a blender and whaz until smooth:

Yes this recipe was 2 steps and really simple- just the way I like it- especially on busy school mornings and after a sweaty workout :)

It's perfectly sweet (if a little too much for my tastes) and is super filling and yummy- also a well-balanced meal in smoothie form. Feel free to add spinach/ kale etc. for another nutrient boost!
I also happened to have a pinkish dinner too...

Yes, that is probably the biggest toasted wrap I've ever seen too!
Filled with mashed root veggies, brocolli, brussels sprouts, lentils, kale and chili tofu:

Lastly, did anyone know it was national hot dog day on Saturday? Well, as a die hard foodie myself... I forgot. So I made up for it 364 days early:

Very similar to this one.
Have a great day everyone! :D

Staying full?

It's a dilemma I hear a lot of my friends/ family/ people on tv. complain about. Often.
How they seem to eat and eat and never be full or need to eat again half an hour later. Initially I was confused. I'd never experienced that before. So I went all scientist on the world and sneakily observed what the others around me were eating to see what was different between me and them.
I came to some conclusions.

1. I do eat a lot.
However that is because I only eat three main meals and one small snack- this is what my body loves and what works best for me (for me)
This lead me to thinking again- how come I can stay satisfied for longer if I don't snack a lot.

2. I have a big breakfast full of fibre, protein and generally some form of fruit
Exhibit A: (today's breakfast)

These oat bar things were pretty much my cookies, rolled into two big bars.

The yoghurt on the side was greek yoghurt (full of protein to keep me full)+chopped strawberries+ blueberries+ 1/4 banana (the rest of the banana was in the bars)

One bar was made with melted coconut butter, the other cashew butter (good fats to keep me full)

Both filled with natural raw muesli (fibre to keep me full)

And eaten in the yummiest possible way... to keep me full?

Breakfast usually keeps me satisfied until lunch (around 12:30 ish)
Why does this keep me fuller for longer compared to others?

A typical breakfast of others- either toast with some sort of spread or sugary cereal with some milk:
As you can see, there's not much protein and also the sugary cereal will give you a quick burst of energy, although in about 45 mins you will be hungry for more.

3. My lunches are full of veggies (like tons of veggies- I love them so much) some protein and carbohydrates
Saturday's lunch:

Nachos! Made with organic mixed veggie tortilla chips, steamed celeriac and pumpkin, mixed four beans+tomatoes+quorn mince sauteed up with some taco seasoning, topped off with vegan cheese and some guacamole!
Nacho recipe found here.
Why this keeps me fuller for longer compared to others?
Well..
A typical lunch of others- A vegemite/ jam/ cheese+lettuce sandwich on white bread: As you can see, there are next to know filling veggies, protein, or wholegrain carbohydrates mentioned to keep you fuller than about an hour.

4. Snacks:
Instead of reaching for a cookie/ cake/ chips I either go with some fruit and soy milk (vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein) or simply some proetin powder mixed with soy milk (like I did yesterday)

My go-to protein shaker- a jar!
Full of protein and calcium and yumminess- I'm full, full, full!

5. Dinner: Again my dinners are full of veggies some form of carbohydrate and protein- leaving me full without the need for a sweet treat afterwards.

Stir fry!
With brown rice, broccoli, capsicum, carrot, corn, peas, grated brussels sprouts, lentils and torn up egg.

In conclusion (I feel like I'm doing a scientific write up) here are my tips to be healthy, stay full and enjoy your day without the constant rumble of the tummy:
1. Always have breakfast and make sure it's full of protein, wholegrains, fruit etc.
2. Whether your a small meals often, or big meals three times a day, make sure those meals feature plenty of veggies, a good source of carbohydrates and some protein.
3. If you're hungry- you're hungry- listen to your body, respect it and reach for something that will nourish it.
 4. Most of all- balance. Make sure your plate of food is balanced and your happiness is balanced- there's no point forcing yourself to sit down and eat a bowl of brussels sprouts if you despise them- find the foods that nourish your body and that you love as well!

Setting your day up for greatness

Happy Saturday beautiful people! can you tell I'm in a good mood? Wanna know why? I started my day the way my body loves!
Before I get into this post any more- remember that this is what my body loves, not everyone's, so don't force yourself to do any of these things if you don't enjoy them!
As I need to leave for school everyday at 8:00am, I don't have much time to do... much ;)
Although I do naturally wake up at around 5:45-6:00am (I never trust alarms and they scare the heeby-jeebies out of me anyway!) So, it's pitch black and I'm wide awake! What to do.. what to do.. full of energy, ready to go, scared of the dark.. wait. what? Haha only a little bit- enough so that I don't want to go out running in the dark.
Instead I jump out of bed, drink some water, have a teeny weeny snack:

2 brazil nuts and 2 dried apricots

Slip into my pink running shirt and shorts :) and go for a run on this bad boy:

I usually run for about 30 mins, at a speed of 10.5 (does that mean 10.5km/h... I have no idea) after which I am sweating like a pig. No joke. It's so bad I won't even show you a pic.
I then run (still got adrenaline pumping through me ) upstairs to take a quick shower/ wash hair/ whatever else I need to do. Where I race back down to make brekky.
The key to fabulous day is actually eating brekky, you rev up your metabolism, boost your concentration and can control your hunger.
The real key to a fabulous day is creating an absolutely delicious breakfast and eating it too:

This may be my best smoothie bowl yet!
Instead of oven baking my granola, I simply left it raw (my version of raw cookie dough) it was simply muesli mixed with microwaved oat milk mixed with cashew butter (about1/4 cup oat milk+ 1 large tablespoon cashew butter, rubbed into 1/2 cup muesli)

Hiding under that was a simple green smoothie:
1 frozen banana, 1 handful frozen mango chunks, 2 large handfuls spinach, 1 teaspoon chia seeds, 1/3 cup oat milk... whaz:

Smoothie bowls need extra thick smoothies:

And.. eat!

After eating a absolutely delish brekky, I'm off to school where I'm feeling pumped and ready to go- this is seriously the best start to my day!
Of course you have to finish the day of well too!

This was last nights dinner of roasted pumpkin, parsnip, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, beetroot and chestnuts, with a sool up (rolled in rainbow chard) with a mixture of garlic tofu, hommus and salsa. (it was a bit too salty on it's own for my taste, but eaten with the roast veggies, it was perfect)

How do you guys ensure your day will bve as good as possible?
Are you a morning or afternoon/ night exerciser?
What's your favourite smoothie bowl recipe?

Have a great weekend everybody! :D

Vegans eat lettuce.

Hidy-ho friends!
Today I wanted to take a break from the food (well... not really) and talk about the one thing that bugs me (apart from the 1000005557768689 other things that bug me ) but the one thing that tends to bug me the most:)

So over the years I have been on school camps. Surprise surprise. Last year however was the first time I went on a plane somewhere and the first time I was on a camp where I was practically vegan (vegetarian, wheat, sugar and dairy free- easier to say vegan)

The first day was fine, I had packed all of my meals and was set. The next day.. not so much.
For lunch that day I was given a cheese sandwich on white bread with a jelly cup. Hmmm.

I'm not even kidding, it was pretty much this!
I brought it up with my form teacher, who gave me his apple and ate my sandwich for me (it was like a lunch swapsies.. but with your teacher?)
That night my friend came up to me and said she over heard a different teacher on the phone to the food providers about me.. this is what she said- no joke:
'Her allergy sheat said vegan... not dairy free.'

Yeh. Really.
Well, at least it was getting sorted... or so I thought!
The next day, I opened my specially labelled bag to find a big bowl of... lettuce.
I was fuming. This is one of the things that gets me when I tell people what I do and don't eat. They always respond with: 'So, what do you, like.. eat?'
Unfortunately the food providers weren't around to ask me that question (where I would have responded with my carefully and intelligently prepared speech on the enormity of foods out there) so I was given lettuce.

I find it so infuriating that we still live in a world that believes all vegetarian/ vegans can eat are vegetables. You'd think in this day and age with the almost alarming number of products at the super market, someone would have heard about other foods.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you would know just how much I love food, just how big my appetite is and the range of foods I consume on a daily basis.
Hello:

 The days wore on slowly like this until I could physically feeling myself getting ill. This then lead to a major melt down, a tearful phone call to mum- begging her to take me home (I hadn't been sleeping either- I mean with a stomach full empty on lettuce how would that even be possible). Of course the school really wanted me to stay on and experience the rest of the trip, so I did as there weren't many days left. I munched through my endless salads and occasional plates of white rice (my tummy was not happy) and was extremely glad to go home.

Why write this post now? It was last year after all.
Well, I was talking to one of my friends (whom I had become closer with this year) and she went through the exact same thing- to the point where she begged them to let her go home. I don't know about you, but this is not how I want to remember my school trips and it would make a world of difference if extra care, time and planning went in for those of us who needed it for our diets. I put a lot of time and effort into my diet to make sure I get the nutrients I need (while also keeping it delicious) and it would make these camps so much more enjoyable if the providers could to.
It's funny though, because sometimes (like at weddings or dinners) the vegetarian option looks and tastes the best! I just wish it could be like that all the time!

So that's my opinion and feel free to comment if you agree/disagree/ have any thoughts on this topic.
Just thinking out loud over here- thanks Spoons for letting me do so :)
 
See you guys next time! :D