Self-Care + Lifestyle
This week, I'm shaking things up and doing something I've never done on the blog before. I'm getting personal and giving you a behind-the-scenes peek into my day-to-day life as I transition out of summer mode, into fall routine. I'm sharing...
I'm excited to be teaming up again with Sonja and Alex of A Couple Cooks. Today Sonja's asked me about life in Madrid. I share what I love about living in Madrid, how I merge the somewhat unpredictable expat lifestyle with my Whole Nourishment approach to food and life, my secret to maintaining healthy habits, and a Spain-inspired recipe, Eggplant Involtini with Spanish Mojo.
It was my birthday middle of last week, so I made this tapioca pudding for an easy midweek celebration. The great thing about this pudding is that it's a breeze to whip up on a weeknight, but it feels elegant and special with the flavors of cardamom, honey, pistachio, and rose water (optional), making it just as worthy for a dinner party.
How do you define community? I think of it as the connection we have to the people, services, customs, and neighborhoods where we live, work, and play. But to be honest, we take our communities for granted. Or at least I took mine for granted for a long time. In the past 10 years my husband and I have moved four times, spanning thousands of miles....
The first half of this Comfort Food, Redefined series was about creating inner comfort around food; upgrading the way we most intimately interact with food on a daily basis - in our body and our mind. Achieving inner comfort has the power to transform our outer world by giving us the clarity, calmness, and energy to live well and thrive. Don’t believe me?
What’s your decision-making style, come meal or snack time? Are you impulsive, spontaneous, contemplative, indecisive, or obsessive? We all fall somewhere along this spectrum. In fact, it’s been proven that our emotions, not our knowledge about food and nutrition, have the greatest impact on our behavior and choices. But I think you’ll agree with me that allowing boredom or stress to guide our food choices doesn’t usually work in our favor.
Fed for comfort is eating well so we live with comfort in our bodies. And what’s more comforting than finding the foods we love and that love us back?
But what is best for our bodies? There’s an obesity epidemic in the Western world, so some may argue we clearly don’t know what to eat. But I argue we have a “seeking” epidemic just as rampant as obesity that misplaces our energy and focus.
The New Year; it can be motivating and exciting, but if you’re like me, you might also feel anxious returning to the reality of normal routine after a period of relaxed, indulgent days. It feels like there’s no choice but to leave the comforts of the season behind in order to be productive and balanced again – as if we can’t have both at once. But this all-or-nothing mentality is not fair logic.
The holidays are such a cozy, festive, and joyful time of the year. But for many us, December is also synonymous with hurried days and increased responsibilities to host, cook, decorate, attend, chauffer, volunteer, shop, and gift. This probably means we’re overextending ourselves and finding fewer moments for proper nourishment, exercise, and quiet time to recharge. And we feel guilty.
It’s a familiar pattern. You have a string of stressful days, you begin to feel rundown, moody, or anxious, and you need comfort, fast! You turn to food that soothes in the moment but later leaves you feeling bloated, crampy, or constipated, and your anxiety returns. You might not even realize the self-justification dialogue running in the background: you deserve a reward for coping or muddling through a challenge, right?
Seeing is believing, and personal experiences are powerful. It's human nature to believe that which we can feel, see, and touch. At some point we've all been told about an amazing city, a really good book, the tolls of dog ownership or raising a child, or that difficult coworker or boss. But we cannot fully understand or believe what we are told until we have experienced it for ourselves.
In several past posts I've alluded to the virtues of slowing down. But the problem with making a general statement like this is that it doesn't get to the how. We already know we should slow down. We know we risk burnout or illness if we don't take time to rest and recharge. We also know the good we do for our body, mind, and soul when we do slow down. Yet we don't always prioritize it because knowing and doing are two completely different things.
We are heading out of town for Valentine's weekend, and I'm making a batch of these energy bars so we'll have a special treat for the road. I think Valentine's Day should be as much a reminder to treat ourselves well as it is to treat those we love well. This may sound selfish to some, but self-care is
It's a new year -- Happy 2018, you guys! There's something about starting a new year - even though, technically, I know nothing has changed between the 31st and the 1st - that makes me feel lighter, refreshed, and inspired. But in all honesty, we don't need to wait for January for a fresh start. I'm sharing a two-minute strategy I use to reset and get clear on my intentions, any day, any month. And in terms of food, this Everyday Dal is the ultimate reset, whatever the need. It's been one of my go-to recipes for years, whether I need a warm and nourishing pantry meal or a hearty breakfast (yep!).