So I was on the phone to one of my close girlfriends when one of those conversations started to unfold. You know, the ones where you feel like you are both at exactly the same place in your lives. When you really have nothing to complain about, you are surrounded by amazing people, you get to enjoy the best company there is and most importantly, you have food on the table and a roof over your head, yet things still seem incomplete and somewhat disconnected. I realized I need to be honest, honest with myself, honest with my readers, honest with my family and honest with my friends. I’ve delved into my personal life once or twice in my blog posts but I mostly stick to posting blogs on straight up facts about Nutrition and Fitness, maybe this is why I find myself posting less and less often.
It’s time to get real. The truth is I LOVE FOOD, which is why I blog mostly about food and exercise but there’s so much more that occurs in our day to day lives that needs an outlet, a forum to talk about the things that are beautiful, tragic and just plain ugly. This is why I’m shifting gears. I’m still gonna load my blog up with tonnes of information about healthy foods, news articles and fitness tips but I’ll be sliding in personal life stories of myself and my friends in our day to day life, experiences with love, sex and relationships. This is gonna mean more video blogs and hopefully get to know you guys on a personal level and allow you to do the same. So here it is, all laid out on the table. Let’s talk about all the things that make life awesome! Food, Music and Sex! or I like to call it…
Love, Rock and Sushi Rolls.
The Way I see it,
Margaret
Yay it’s almost summer! Maybe if I keep saying that then it will actually show up! But you can have your own summer smoothie party from the privacy of your heated home! Check out my Ultimate Summer Fresh Green Smoothie but
BEWARE: It’s so good that you’ll want to add some rum and turn it into a mojito, I have no control over that!
So here goes:
In a high speed blender mix
1 avocado (peeled and seed removed)
1/2 an english cucumber
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh spinach
juice of 1 lime or 1 tbsp lime juice
Mix on high for 90 seconds. The cucumber should contribute enough water so you shouldn’t need to add any but keep about 1/2 cup water on hand just in case!
This is the basic ingrediesnt structure that has 275 calories but feel free to add protein powder to make it a complete meal, a green apple to add some tang or some kiwi to sweeten it up!
Most of the calories camr from the avocado so try 1 banana and 1 kiwi instead of the avocado for a lower calorie version but remember! Avocado fat is great for your skin and hormones, it contains tyrosine that supports thyroid function!
Add some matcha green tea powder for an extra energy boost and some coconut flakes on top to garnish!
Bring on the Summer!!!
Enjoy,
Margaret
Attention: You can always woo me with bacon roses.
Thanks, Bess!
Bacon Roses? What!
(Source: yourhealthista)
I know we are presently consumed by a culture that is caffeine addicted and obsessed! But, if your anything like me, you can’t handle the stuff.
Here’s the problem, I love green tea but I need to choose decaffeinated because I can’t have the caffeine. But am I losing any nutritional value during the decaffeination process? Let’s check out the facts!
Coffee beans and tea leaves have to go through the same caffination procedures, but there are so many out there. So what is the difference between CO2, Swiss Water or conventional methods?
Conventional Decaffeination: This is usually the process that is used when there is no processed labeled on the packaging. The beans or tea leaves are usually soaked in a chemical solution of dichloromethane (used in welding and adhesives) or ethyl acetate (glues and nail polish removers). The solution is soaked for about 10 hours until the government standard of 97% of the caffeine is extracted. These chemical solvents don’t just take the caffeine with them, they also extract many flavours and aromas that make coffee and tea unique. This is where many companies will add synthetic flavours to simulate the original flavour.
Swiss Water Process: The beans are soaked in water for a few hours before this process begins. There is a solution of GCE (green coffee bean extract), which is an extract already found in the bean that is added to the water. Using osmotic pressure, the caffeine is drawn out into a carbon filter and this process continues until 99.9% of the caffeine is removed. This video paints a nice picture! The only thing to be concerned about is that over saturation of this GCE extract has actually been shown to decrease blood pressure and circulation. All of the other components of the tea/coffee stay intact.
CO2 Decaffeination: The caffeine is stripped from the bean or leaf using carbon dioxide that compressed to a near liquid state. After about 10 hours in this compression chamber, the pressure is relieved and the CO2 is evaporated, taking the caffeine with it. The CO2 is then filtered through a carbon filter to remove the caffeine molecules for use of the CO2 on the next batch. The beans/leaves are boiled at the beginning of this process which may leach out valuable nutrients. However, this method creates the least amount of waste and does not physically damage the plant or alter the taste.
Decaf Plants: There has recently been discoveries of coffee plants that contain no caffeine. Investigations and experiments are now being conducted on the genetic differences and how they can create a “knockout” plant. This is the process where they stop the DNA replication of the part of the gene that codes for caffeine.
It is up for debate as to whether any of these practices can be considered “natural”, but at least you can educate yourself before you hit the shelves.
There are other forms of decaffination out there, but these are the most commonly used today!
Also, the polyphenols are the component of the plant that you really want to hold on to and there has been no evidence suggesting that polyphenols are reduced through any non-chemical decaffeination process.
REMEMBER!
Caffeine has a half life of about 5 hours depending on your metabolism. This means that when you have a coffee at 3:00pm that contains 200mg of caffeine, at 8:00pm you will still have 100mg flowing through your system, and at 1:00am you will have 50mg! Green tea doesn’t have as much caffeine (about 40-50mg/cup) but be careful how late you take it!
I’m off to enjoy a decaf green tea!
The way I see it :)
Margaret
While I’m at it, thought I’d post an older video on oils, check it out! Ummmm……… maybe I should go blonde again :/
haha!
Margaret
Hello all!
Check out my latest video blog on the Reebok EZ Tone Sneakers and if they’re really worth all the hype!
I liked them! They’re definately not the be all and end all of weight loss but they’re great for anyone who has had an anke injury to strengthen the supporting muscles and they give a little bounce in your step!
The way I see it :)
Margaret
So I get these nasty colds at the change of seasons so I wrote this article for all those who get the same! Follow these steps for a cold free spring! YAY!
Margaret :)
Check out Michael Pollan’s talk on TED, he discusses another perspective. The perspective of plants, very interesting and amaing speaker!
