I am always recommending that people consume 2 bunches of leafy greens (about 2 lbs.) a day and the most common responses I receive are, “Why are greens so important?”Followed by, “How do I prepare them?” I decided to prepare a list of ideas and recipes for you to get you started. Once you get the hang of it I am sure you’ll be creating awesome recipes yourself.
If you don’t know the importance of eating greens I recommend the book Green for Life . I just watched Greens Can Save Your Life and it has so much valuable information. It’s incredibly important to vary your greens. Here is a list of common leafy greens that you can use in the following recipes. The cool thing about adding two bunches of leafy greens to your diet is that it gradually squeezes out the “junk” that we shouldn’t be eating. Instead of just eliminating foods and wondering what to eat I like to start by ADDING to your current diet and then after fitting in your quota of greens see how much room is left for the other “stuff”.
Prepare Zucchini Hummus ( minus lemon, cumin, paprika & added red bell pepper, & cayenne pepper ) and massage it into a green of your choice. I like spinach myself.
Isn’t funny how quickly things can change when you shift your perspective from “I am not good enough so I MUST lose weight” to “I love myself so much that I want to treat my body with love and respect”? It’s an empowering shift moving from a state of forcing your body to be a particular way to allowing your best body to come forth.
I remember losing 10 pounds EFFORTLESSLY in 2007. I didn’t stick to any strict menu or have a set workout routine. I just focused on feeling good. I found that I was preoccupied with living and not the number on my scale. I did make it a point to sweat everyday, but that was as simple as cranking up the music and dancing while mopping my floors. Besides that my focus was just to stay happy. It wasn’t long and everyone asked me how I went from 118 to 108. I felt sort of guilty because I didn’t make that my primary focus. I didn’t even try, it was just a by product of feeling good. I have decided to go back to that method after realizing that the egocentric way I have been TRYING this year so far hasn’t given me the results I wanted. I remember that quote “Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.”
I needed to shift into the heart. I have started looking at myself in a loving way. I have been focusing on what I do have and what I am thankful for. I am also paying more attention to what my body is able to do rather than how it looks.
Here are a few things I have been feeling lately:
I am so happy that my body is free of pain.
I am so thankful my body has healed from several injuries.
I am thankful this body has given birth to two amazing children.
I am thankful for my energy, youth, and vitality.
I am grateful that I can pick up sports with ease and participate in all sorts of recreational activities.
I am thankful for my feminine curves.
I am thankful I have found raw foods.
I am thankful I love being healthy.
I am thankful I love yoga and all forms of exercise.
I love my body and look forward to showing it how much I love it through giving it a little daily love and attention. Here is a great quote from my favorite yoga instructor, Bryan Kest “The integrity of the web is dependant on the resiliency of every strand”.
Remember to take time to honor your body in more ways than the ones that affect you aesthetically.
I have a long way to go before I have a fully running edible landscape. However, I am thankful for what I have so far. I am not an expert at gardening, but I am learning as I go. A great book that is helping me is called Desert Gardening since I live off the coast and closer towards Palm Springs. It seems that July & August just scorches my entire garden and Jan gets frost. So, it seems in Southern California I have a few short seasons to work with although I can grow year round. I have so much to learn.
I need to be diligent with watering since missing one day can wipe out all my hard work (which has happened a few times). I did get straw to mulch and that seems to be helping. However, it blows all over the place (as seen in the video). I still have more beds to mulch now that the plants are larger.
Here is a list of what I have so far:
Trees fig (Black Mission), plum (Santa Rosa)
Bushes 2 blueberry varieties (O’neil & Misty)
Vine grape (red flame) and kiwi (about dead by the sun)
Berries blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, strawberries (again near scorched)
Herbs oregano, basil, chamomile, aloe
All raised beds have wire to keep underground gophers from getting into the goods. My dog, Hailee has been keeping all the birds from landing and mice, possums and gophers from having a party in my yard. The compost seems to draw in the critters. Which is why it is in a trash can with holes so I can put potting soil over the clippings and put a lid on it.
Annuals corn- sweet, white, & bi color Anaheimchili’s tomato (a few varieties) watermelon cantaloupe pumpkin spaghetti squash zucchini patty pan cucumber- 2 varieties tomatillo
To do finish nylon netting for vertical growing front yard flowerbed along the wall needs to be re planted (most everything there is a volunteer and I didn’t have the heart to rip them out.) install an irrigation system finish the side area of the front yard next to the small raised beds. BTW, I double dug under all those and amended soil about 1 foot down. I don’t have wire to block gophers though. I hope it isn’t a problem in the future, but from what everyone tells me it will be an issue.
After it cools a bit I hope to plant trees in September like citrus and stone fruit. As well as putting all the plants that are still on pots in the ground. I need to be careful since the soil I have is clay and very tough to work with. I know it will be a while before I have awesome soil.
I have so many ideas and visions of things I’d like to make happen. One of the things that helps me tremendously is having a role model to follow as a guide to get me started.
One of my goals is to create an edible landscape. I want to grow foods that can’t be found in the mainstream markets. I want to grow gourmet foods that are fresh picked and organic. Not only is the food highly nutritious and beaming with enzymes, but it’s pretty fun to watch your little “babies” grow.
I always knew I wanted to grow a few fruit trees and have a little veggie garden, but in 2007 I decided I wanted to grow an edible landscape. I was turned on to two people who have given me lots of inspiration.
The first is the Dervae Family who are here in So Cal. I have actually had the pleasure of seeing their home, meeting them and learning from them. Their home is similar to mine. I have a small lot that I am working with so I find them a great role model for me to use as a source of inspiration in creating my edible landscape. They have a great website called “Path to Freedom” with daily journal entries of life in their world. I love it! I also love their social networking site of Freedom Gardeners!
Check out this quick clip on what they have going on!
Another huge source of inspiration was the book Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy. She took the basic landscaping tools and created homes that had just as much beauty in the design, but with edibles. The book is pretty old, but she is actually coming out with a newer version in Spring of 2010! I can’t wait to check it out. I am a sucker for books! Here is her latest project:
This is a typical So Cal home that shows me how I can get high density fruit trees planted in my small yard! I have no experience in espaliering, but it looks pretty simple.
So, I have been weeding, composting, building raised beds, vertical frames, digging up part of my front yard and mulching seedlings. Trust me, you don’t want to see my manicure or my farmers tan! I realize it is a lot of work and it takes lots of time. Soil is the biggie and I have bulldozed clay soil. It’s like concrete. I am working with raised beds until I can improve the soil. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and like it’s going to take a lifetime to get things into place, but I keep hearing that song in my head…you know….. this one…”inch by inch, row by row….” Bring on The Muppet Days! 🙂
Ok, it’s kinda cheesy, but I swear, that song sticks in my head when I am overwhelmed and I know…little by little…I’ll get there! 😉 Soon I’ll be posting photos and videos of what I have been working on. 🙂
If you have a garden I wanna know about it. Post your links below or in the comments!
My Fitness Goals To have a lean long body that looks hot in a bikini, also to have the athletic ability to surf, dance, and snowboard. I do not want to compromise athletics for aesthetics.
My Current Stats Age: 32 Height: 5’5.25″ Weight: 126.8 lbs. Body Fat: 22.8% ( 29 lbs of fat)* BMI: 21 Measurements: Bust: 35″, Waist: 27″, Navel: 29.50″, Hips: 37.75″, Thigh: 22.50″, Upper Arm: 11.25″, Calf: 13.50″
Ideal Body Composition Weight: 113 Body fat: 16% ** BMI: 18.7 Measurements: Bust: 34″, Waist: 25″, Hips: 35″
The Difference Weight: 14 lbs. Body fat: 6.8% BMI: 2.3 Measurements: Bust: 1″, Waist: 2″, Hips 2.75″
Because I am female I have higher estrogen and lower testosterone. This means it takes women longer to gain a pound of muscle than it does for men. On average, it takes men 2 weeks to gain a pound of muscle and for women it takes about 4 weeks. Lean muscle raises the metobolic rate. 1 lb. of muscle burns 35-75 calories a day. Therefore, if I gained 8 lbs. of muscle, I would be burning 280-600 more calories a day, which would allow me to get more nutrient into my body.
Workout Plan 3-4 hours of dance class a week (latin & hip hop) for fun cardio. 1-2 times a week swimming to build upper body strength for paddling when I surf 3 hours of yoga for strength and range of motion. 3: 30 minute strength training sessions (Day 1: core, Day 2: lower body, Day 3: upper body)
During strength training I am to maintain a target heart rate range of 136-146, with ideal at 141 (according to my age). 80% of my strength training should be with free weights because they recruit more muscle fibers than machines. 20% should be on machines so I can keep proper form and my heart rate up between exercises. The machines would be a bit of a support and provide a bit of rest from the free weight exercises.
Stay posted for my fitness analysis video on cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility. This should be fun and quite possibly embarrassing. 🙂
* Figuring my pounds of fat by multiplying my weight (127) by my body fat% ( 22.8) and dividing that number by 100. This gave me a reading of 29 (technically 28.9) pounds of fat are on my body.
** Dr. Douglas Graham recommends for women about 13-19% body fat.
If you are running through life feeling overwhelmed and not really making the impact you know you want, or wishing you felt alive and filled with passion then you are going to LOVE me!
