The Health and Life Mixing Bowl

Nutrition with a Twist: Bread, Quinoa and Cranberries

Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better. Read more about these posts here.

What do cranberries and quinoa have in common?  They both taste great in bread!  Quinoa, is a wonderful crunchy grain that actually is a relative of the green leafy vegetable.  Cranberries, which are at their peak right now, have been linked to preventing cancer, promoting gastrointestinal and oral health, and lowering cholesterol.  Here is a dairy and gluten-free recipe for Cranberry Banana Quinoa Bread from Whole Foods.  Enjoy!

 

3/4 cup quinoa flakes 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour 1/3 cup potato starch 1/3 cup tapioca flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 1 1/4 cups ripe mashed banana pulp (about 3 bananas) 2 large eggs 1/3 cup non-hydrogenated, non-dairy margarine, melted, cooled 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice Ingredient Option: substitute canola oil for the margarine. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with a small amount of margarine. Combine the quinoa flakes, bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum in a large bowl. Mix together with a whisk and set aside. Whisk the mashed bananas, eggs and margarine together in a bowl. Add the sugar, cranberries and lemon juice; mix until blended. Gently stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until lightly browned, about 40 minutes. Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan, about 1 hour. Turn the bread out onto a cutting board and, using a serrated bread knife slice the bread into 3/4-inch thick pieces. Arrange on a platter and serve. Per Serving (97g-wt.): 280 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 5g protein, 44g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 20g sugar), 45mg cholesterol, 260mg sodium

Staking a Claim to the Future: Lessons from our Next Generation

"If you don't take control of your life, don't complain when others do."  -Bethe Mende Conny

A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of introducing coaching to a group of students at Thomas Edison High School of Technology.  The students I spoke with were enrolled in the Medical Careers course, an academically challenging, one-year program that combines science with technology. The learning environment includes a classroom, a computer research lab, and a clinical laboratory with patient care equipment, EKG monitors, electronic vital signs equipment, specialized training mannequins and advanced emergency medical equipment.   The program prepares students to succeed in challenging medical professions and to make informed career decisions.

The group of students was impressive.  They were bright, insightful and forward-thinking.  They asked excellent questions.  They were very passionate about contributing to the future of health care.  To my utter delight, I was greeted by an effusion of interest around coaching and a lot of curiosity about ways to communicate better with patients.   I was definitely in my element!  What really inspired me about this group was the name tag each student proudly flaunted on their desk.  Included with their names were their future titles of Nurse, Doctor, Pharmacist, Pediatrician, Neurosurgeon, and Dentist.  By using these name tags, these students, intentionally, and deliberately, staked their claim to the future.  For them, being in class that day was just preparation for what was to come.

Their focus makes us question whether or not we have really and truly staked our claim to our future. Are we very clear about where we are going?   When we fail to choose a vision for our lives, every moment of every day chooses for us. 

What is it you really want?  What is most important to you?  What is one step you can take today to fully step into the life you want?       

The Sting of Defeat: Whoops!

Okay, okay.  In my last post I meant to say "touchdown" instead of field goal.  I know some of you sports fans are laughing at me!  :)  Gave me a good laugh too!

The Sting of Defeat

Campbell, originally uploaded by littlerottenrobin.

"...But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for.”

Paulo Coelho

It has taken me three days to pull myself out of a deep depressive state to write this post. I am a Redskins fan (no hate mail please) and this past Sunday stung bad.

Long story short: Forth quarter. Redskins 17, Giants 24. Fifty seconds left in the game. Redskin's ball. Forth and goal (3 yards from a touchdown).   They play their hearts out. They lose. 

Defeat and loss are a part of life.  How will the Redskins respond?  Our response is what matters the most. 

Player of the Week: Jason Campbell for his fearless, risky, and bold performance. You played your heart out, Jason! You make a life coach proud. Keep fighting for what you stand for.

Believe That You Can

Each Monday The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will start off the week with an inspirational "click".  Found something you would like to share?  Email me!

There is nothing more inspiring than watching a marathon.  A few years ago I attended the Marine Corps Marathon to cheer on two of my co-workers.  My co-workers weren't particularly athletic.  They were just ordinary people who did nothing more than set a goal of running 26.2 miles.  Running beside them were people who represented a mixed bag of varying body types, age groups and genders.  Watching twenty-year old athletes cross the finish line with sixty-year old grandmothers was so inspiring.  Each person had one thing fueling their engine:  They believed that they could.  May we all be inspired by the thousands of people who said "I can" and will be running the Marine Corps and New York marathons during the next few months.  Make it a great week!

Nutrition with a Twist: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Butternut Squash soup, originally uploaded by DIgital DI.

Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better. Read more about these posts here.

Autumn isn't autumn without butternut squash. Known as one of the healthiest foods in the world, butternut squash is loaded with Vitamin A, C, E, potassium and manganese. Here is a great butternut squash and apple soup recipe from Epicurious (apples add depth to this yummy soup). Happy Autumn!

Going Gray: The Power to Choose

young woman with gray hair, originally uploaded by ed's point of view.

The Health and Life Mixing Bowl celebrated its first birthday last month.  Thank you to all who read this blog regularly!  In celebration of this milestone, I will be featuring popular posts from the past year.  Enjoy!

Whether or not women should go gray is a hot issue these days. Time magazine has a great article that compares the gray hair wars with the "stay at home with the kids" vs. "go to work" debate. The article shows two pictures of Condaleeza Rice, one with gray hair, one with black hair.  I'll let you be the judge. Included are remarks from the hair dye king, Clairol, who states that their role is to help women create an authentic connection between how she feels internally versus how she looks externally. Hmmm....So they get to decide what your hair color says about how you feel?  The article's most controversial quote came from Rose Weitz, author of Rapunzel's Daughters: "What Woman's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives".  She quotes, "Even if, in the abstract, we think we look all right with gray hair, we nonetheless feel as if we are losing our 'real selves' if we no longer have our 'real hair color' - the color we had when we were young and looked our best." Feeling as if we are losing our 'real selves'? As if hair dye is real?  If anything is real it's the stigma attached to going gray.  It took me forever to find a picture of a healthy, attractive woman with gray hair.  Type in "gray hair women" in a photo search engine and you'll come up with tons of frail and sickly looking women sitting in wheelchairs and nursing homes.  Where are the vivacious gray-haired mamas?  I know you are out there!  After searching a bit I finally found the picture above.  This woman went gray when she was 13 and decided to leave her hair natural.  I think she is beautiful.

I am 42 years old with a few gray hairs on my temple and I proudly sport them like a badge of honor. I earned every one of these strands. They tell the story of where I have been and where I am going. I also have a few wrinkles coming in (as my nine year old daughter innocently likes to point out). As I see these signs of aging, I get a little uneasy, but I can't help but to be in awe of how God has blessed my 42 years.  I am incredibly grateful!  Aging is a natural process--something we shouldn't be ashamed of.  To see aging as something that isn't fashionable is beyond my comprehension.  If you ask me, a woman with gray hair who is healthy and takes great care of herself can be just as beautiful, vivacious and sexy as a 20 year old. So for all you beautiful gray-headed women, who have made the courageous choice to stand up for your authenticity, I say, YOU GO GIRL!!

1/09/08 update:  check out the blog Going Gray

We're Hosting the 16th Health and Fit Family Carnival!

The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will proudly be hosting the next Healthy and Fit Family Blog Carnival to be posted on October 2nd.  You can submit your posts here.  Hope to have you join us!

Still I Rise

Each Monday The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will start off the week with an inspirational "click".  Found something you would like to share?  Email me!

Maybe it's you or someone else who needs to hear and feel these words.  May you be encouraged.  Make it a great week!

Outsmarting the Status Quo: Strategy #5 - Create a Physical Source of Energy

Energy - the fundamental entity of nature that is transferred between parts of a system in the production of physical change within the system and usually regarded as the capacity for doing work.    - Webster's Dictionary

From becoming an effective leader and running your own business to spending more time with your family and pursuing personal interests, energy is the fundamental currency for performing your best.  As stated in the book The Power of Full Engagement, without the right quantity, quality, focus and force of energy, we are compromised in any activity we undertake.   

Imagine you are an expensive luxury car that needs a little gas.  If you had a choice between a cheap grade of fuel and first class premium gasoline, which would you choose?  Now think of your life in the same light.  What constitutes a substantial and sustainable form of energy?   The desire to live passionately, healthy perspectives about failure, new and rigorous undertakings and the elimination of life clutter (all previously discussed strategies for outsmarting the status quo) make wonderful options, yet there is another energy source that rarely makes the front page in the world of human performance-our physical energy.  To the contrary, the practice of depleting physical energy to increase energy output is ubiquitous.  In a frenzy to keep up with life, we rob our bodies of sleep, we skip our regular workouts and we fuel ourselves with fast food, but therein lay the irony.  Creating physical energy allows our bodies to do more with less effort.

What if you could go all day without relying on caffeine, sugar or artificial stimulants? What if everything you did, from getting the kids ready for school and grocery shopping to attending all day meetings and making presentations, required less physical effort?  Creating, storing and managing physical energy is the key to living a full, active and productive life.  Here are few tips for building up a physical energy reserve:

Eat Smart.  The food we eat has a huge impact on how we perform.  The right combination of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is essential for energy output, as is eating breakfast regularly, eating frequently during the day (mini-meals containing 250-300 calories) and getting enough fluids. Thought: Work with a certified and licensed nutritionist to determine how well you eat and where you can improve.  It is really worth the investment.

Get a Move On.  Moving more to increase energy might seem a bit counterintuitive, but a new study conducted by the University of Georgia found overwhelming evidence that regular exercise plays a significant role in increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.  Exercise also increases energy-promoting and mood-enhancing neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. Bonus! In addition, just being ten pounds overweight can make the body work harder than it has to.  Moving more means burning more calories thus eliminating excess weight.  Thought: Hire a certified personal trainer to get you started on a fitness program.  If you are on a budget, hire a trainer for a few jump-start sessions.  Another great investment!

Get your Zzzz's.  Cheating the body of sleep to get more done is a huge temptation. I am guilty of this occasionally.  But according to the The National Foundation for Sleep, there are plenty of reasons to think twice about burning the midnight oil.  Sleep is a time for restorative healing.  Even 1-2 hours of lost sleep can impair functioning the next day, not to mention interfering with reaction time (not good for driving), decreasing focus and attention and decreasing the ability to perform a variety of mental tasks.  Make those Zzzz's mandatory!  Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

Relax.  Unmanaged stress does more to rob us of energy than anything else.  Stress generates negative emotions, disrupts sleep, fosters poor eating habits and interferes with exercise routines.  In addition, stress hormones can wreak havoc on our cardiovascular and immune systems.  The results can be disastrous for outsmarting the status quo.  Learning proper ways to respond to stress is an essential life skill.  Yoga, deep breathing and meditation are all great options and should be incorporated into a daily routine.

Practice Prevention.   Fact:  The majority of illnesses in the United States are preventable.  Preventable!  Not only can illness zap your physical energy, it can destroy your livelihood.  No excuses here!  Women- click here.  Men- click here. Get yourself on a regular preventive health screening schedule today!

As a life coach, certified personal trainer and health education specialist, I often speak with clients about their desire to become healthier.   Often their intentions stem from a one-dimensional view of health.  Without a doubt, looking better ranks first among the motivators, but being healthy has so many other benefits, among them being the exponential increase in energy.   Looking through the lens of life enhancement, these healthy changes make sense.  More importantly, we can't outsmart the status quo without the help of our physical bodies. 

"He who has health, has hope; He who has hope, has everything."  - Arabian Proverb

See you next week for strategy #6, my final post for this series.   

disclaimer

Health Disclaimer

Any health related information on The Health and Life Mixing Bowl is designed for educational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice. The information provided on this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. It is not a substitute for professional care.   If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, or you desire to make any changes to improve your health, you should consult your health care provider.

Color Your World

Each Monday The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will start off the week with an inspirational "click".  Found something you would like to share?  E-mail me!

I think I might have this guy beat in the dancing arena, but in terms of traveling and seeing the world, he wins hands down!  Most of us can't put our lives on hold and travel the world, but taking mini-vacations has great mental benefits.  Shifting your surroundings is a great cure for mental stuckness, which is one of reasons we feel better after taking a vacation.  But it's Monday, and it's the first Monday after Labor Day.  I'll be careful not to use the word "vacation" again.  Until your next vacation, click above and be inspired by Matt.  Make it a great week!

Blog Carnivals Rock!

The Health and Life Mixing Bowl proudly links back to these fantastic sites and blog carnivals:

Baby Lune

Go Workout Mom

Down with the Kids

Creating Abundant Lifestyles

Reach for Magnificence

The Abundance Highway

Doing it Differently

Sports Girls Play

MiddleAge Shed

Please take a moment and visit some of these great blogs!  Enjoy the weekend!

Nutrition with a Twist: Go for the Grill!

Have the basic rules for eating healthier got you stuck in a rut? Each week, The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will serve up some good stuff to expand your nutritional options and perhaps ignite a genuine interest in eating better.  Read more about these posts here.

Before you put the grill in the garage (at least that's what I'll be doing in a few weeks) click here for few a creative ways to grill up some healthy meals.   Enjoy!

Outsmarting the Status Quo: Strategy #4-Getting Comfortable with Failure

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." - Robert Kennedy A novice talk show host gets his big break exclusive interview with one of the legends of rock and roll.  He takes a risk, jumps, and flops. We label him a failure. Where did this nonsense come from?  Failing, and learning from failure, is a great way to outsmart the status quo! Don't get me wrong, failing isn't fun, but learning from it and evolving with it is worth its weight in gold. Here's why: You'll take bigger risks. Bigger risks equals a bigger life.  That's the bottom-line! You'll be simply human.  We all know people who want to appear to have it all together. Well guess what?  Keeping up the pretense of being perfect is hard work!  Why not spend some of that energy becoming better at who you already are?  From this place, the status quo doesn't stand a chance! You'll become really comfortable with yourself. You'll begin to enjoy the negative and positive sides of being human. Instead of being self-critical, you'll become more curious. You'll evolve! You can't outsmart the status quo without evolving! Your potential for greatness will get clearer and clearer.   The hedgehog concept from the book Good to Great comes to mind. You'll have a deeper understanding of what you can be the best at.  You'll notice your strengths, you'll notice your weaknesses, and you'll use both in service of making a bigger impact. You'll make noticeable shifts in your being.  One of my former clients, despite her best efforts, failed at diet after diet.  Her chronic dieting was getting the best of her and she needed a shift quickly.  She decided to hire a life coach and was referred to me by a friend. During our work together she realized that shifting her being (her perspective around food), rather than shifting her doing (following a diet), was what created real change.  This shift made all the difference for her! You'll want to soak more and more out of future flops. In other words, each failure will increase in value as you begin to learn more and more each time. You'll care less and less about what other people think. And what a beautiful thing this is! Once you begin to accept your failures, the perception of others will lose its power.  Many times the status quo is defended by "what other people might say". I can't image where I would be without failing a few times.  Okay....it's actually been more than a few times!  But each one of my failures, big and small, has made me bolder, wiser and stronger. Collectively, my failures have created a container from which I continue to take risks, a huge value for me. So, go ahead. Do the thing that might result in a big fat flop! It will only mean you are living a full, rich and robust life. See you next week for strategy #5!

Remembering 9/11

010912-N-3235P-003, originally uploaded by holtocw.

My father is buried at Arlington National Cemetery just yards away from the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial.  Surrounding the memorial are 50 gravesites of those who lost their lives in the Pentagon attack.  During a recent visit to my father's grave, I saw a women bending down and crying at a graveside.  I walked over to her. We embraced.  She had lost her husband on 9/11.  She asked me if I had lost my Dad suddenly.   I answered no.   I will never forget her pain.  9/11 became very real for me that day.   Over the next week, please join me in praying for her and all the other family members who lost loved ones on that very tragic day.

What Will Be on Your Dinner Plate Tonight?

From freshly picked vegetables and tropical fruit to sugar-laden cereal and deep dish pizza, click here to see how 15 families around the world eat.  You will see families stricken by poverty and others enjoying a life of opulence.  Notice where the healthier choices are.   The poorer eat from the land while the well-off opt for convenience meals.  Hmmm....more options but poorer nutritional choices.  Interesting.

What choices can you make to improve your diet?

Do What You Love

Each Monday The Health and Life Mixing Bowl will start off the week with an inspirational "click".  Found something you would like to share?  Email me!

"Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."  - Confucius

This inspirational click is for my client R.M.  Pray hard!  A great motivator to find or switch to a vocation you love.  Visit this related post.  Make it a great week!