(Just a heads up, this post is 2842 words long.)

Healthy living is a journey.  (Shocking, I know.)

Your Plan
photo credit: The Internet

This image is such a great reminder that progress toward any goal or habit change you’re working on is not going to be linear.  You’re not a failure when you hit some bumps along the way and are not getting it exactly right.  Ups and downs are totally normal and to be expected, we just have to keep on keepin’ on.

The books and websites I’ve rambled on about lately, (see reading list at the end of this post) from Paleo to cholesterol to brain health, have all been pointing to the same general idea –> following a low carbohydrate diet.

I’m just “a random lady on the internet” (i.e., not a doctor or health professional) so please remember this post is not intended to be used as medical advice.  But if you were my friend and wanted to know more about why I’m loving a low carb diet, this post is full of the stuff I would tell you!

Grain Brain

November 12th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (7 Comments)

I just finished the book Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter, a neurologist and Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.

Grain Brain by Dr. David PerlmutterAn alternate title for this book could have been “How to Lose Your Taste For Sugar and Bread”.  When you understand what goes on in your body when these foods are a regular part of your diet, suddenly that muffin or bagel for breakfast doesn’t look so tasty anymore.  It’s sort of like going to a dinner party and drooling over the cheesecake they’ve got on display that will be served for dessert, but then someone whispers in your ear that the chef mixed a laxative into the batter because she’s ticked off at the host.  Amazingly, you now have no urge to eat any cheesecake, no willpower needed.

40 Days of Yoga, Teacher Training and Noticing Jealousy

October 25th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (Comments Off on 40 Days of Yoga, Teacher Training and Noticing Jealousy)

Today marks 28 days into my personal 40 Days of Yoga challenge and things are going well. Most days I try to get anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes of practice in at home, either as self guided practice (that means making it up as I go) or a class from yogadownload.com.  I’ve been getting to the studio once or twice a week for a 75 minute class, and then other days, like last Friday, it was a couple downward dogs and forward bends in my pajamas right before bed because the entire day slipped away before I had a chance to roll out my mat.

Make Your Own Kimchi

October 17th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (11 Comments)

We discovered kimchi about 3 years ago, thanks in part to The 4 Hour Body (a gimmicky book but some aspects were informative and entertaining nonetheless.)  Kimchi is an Asian dish – it’s a spicy, sour fermented cabbage. Fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, real pickles (and kimchi!) are an important part of your diet (have I convinced you read Deep Nutrition yet?  Come on people!)

With that, store bought kimchi (or kim chee) seems to fall under one of two categories:

Category 1: Not that good.

Category 2: Not that cheap.

Cholesterol Clarity

October 15th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (1 Comments)

Cholesterol Clarity was written by Jimmy Moore of Livin’ La Vida Low Carb (nice!) and was co-authored by Dr. Eric Westman, MD at Duke University, as well as a long list of contributing experts.

Cholesterol Clarity by Jimmy Moore

Let me start by saying that I don’t have concerns about my cholesterol, but I have a couple of family members who do and are on statin medications to bring their cholesterol levels down.  One of those family members would be my loving father who I cherish and adore.  He and I talk about nutrition a lot and I’m very grateful that he’s open minded and is willing to listen to his Bossy Pants Nutrition Nut daughter who will happily rattle on and on about what I’m currently reading, how I’m eating and what I think he should be eating too.

Do The Best You Can Until You Know Better Then When You Know Better Do Better Maya Angelo

Years ago I thought the answer to the question How are we supposed to eat for longevity and optimal health? meant following a vegetarian diet.  Obviously there are many varying views and opinions about this subject, but as my understanding of nutrition deepened, I started to believe that high quality animal products played an important role in the human diet.  Chicken patties and fish sticks?  No.  Pasture raised animals and wild caught seafood?  Yes.

Summer Vacation Reads

July 27th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (3 Comments)

We spent the first couple weeks of July away from home.  I’d like to say we were on vacation, but I think “family trip” is more accurate.  There is just not a ton of relaxing going on when there is a toddler under foot.

Still, in preparation for our time away, I snagged a couple new publications from the library before we left – two books to read for the sake of reading.  I’m very often reading books about health, fitness, nutrition or food, sometimes a girl just needs to read a STORY for crying out loud!  Even if I couldn’t go “on vacation” in every sense of the word, at the very least I could let my brain take a trip.  (Not an acid trip, just so we’re clear.)

If you’re interested in juicing but don’t know where to start – this post is for you.  This is a collection of the first questions that often come up when someone is looking to get started juicing, with all the answers wrapped into one post.

What Kind of Juicer Should I Get?

Breville Juicer

There are basically two different styles of juicers out there: a Centrifugal Juicer (pictured above) or a Cold Press (Masticating) Juicer.

The two pros and cons that are most often compared between these two types of juicers are price and nutrition.

You’ve probably heard about “The Fat Burning Zone” when it comes to exercise and cardio – I think it was the elliptical machine equipped with a heart rate monitor on the handle bars at my university fitness center that clued me in to this concept a dozen or so years ago.

Keep your heart rate between here and here and you’ll burn more fat!

Really? Sounds good to me!  I’m ready to start burning fat! I’m ready to start burning so much fat that we set this place on fire!