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{Guest Post} The Importance of Self-Care

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Hi Cooks, Vegans, and Lovers! I’m Stacy and I blog about healthy homemade vegetarian food. Lindsay actually won my blog’s first giveaway, so imagine my surprise when we connected as classmates at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition! Through my coaching practice I help busy people overcome overwhelm and paralyzing perfectionism to take back control of their health and lives.

Lindsay has been insanely busy, so I was thrilled when she asked me to contribute a guest post. She needs time to address all aspects of her life (that’s why we’re holistic health coaches!).

That is why I want to talk about self-care. Self-care gets a bad rap as being selfish, indulgent, luxurious, and unnecessary. Not true.

If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will. And if you’re not showing up for yourself, you can’t show up for others.

This lesson can be hard to learn. I am a lifelong perfectionist who believed the mantra, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” And I tried. The results were a crabby, critical, over-caffeinated, insomniac, and unhappy person.

No matter how much easier I made other peoples’ lives, all they did was cause more problems for me to solve. They were looking out for themselves, and I wasn’t looking out for myself – my fault, not theirs. I was worn down, resentful, and couldn’t do my job as well as I wanted. I was trying so hard to be perfect that I actually made more mistakes. Enter self-care.

What exactly is self-care? Self-care is any activity that recharges and nourishes you: exercise, meditation, massage, girls’ night, a book, or a bubble bath. You might have a whole weekend away, or just 5 minutes of peace and quiet. There is no right or wrong way to fit in self-care. You have to start where you are.

Feeling stressed? Think there’s no way you could possibly have enough time and energy to do this? Let’s start small.

Are you sitting down? Posture check! You should feel as if the top of your head is suspended from the ceiling by a string. Plant your feet on the ground. Feel where your body contacts your chair. Inhale deeply through your nose – your shoulders shouldn’t move, but your belly should expand. Hold the breath for 3-5 seconds and exhale fully through your mouth. Inhale again through your nose, hold it, and exhale through your mouth. One more time.

Ask yourself what you need with curiosity, not judgment. Quiet time alone, or in nature? Physical touch? Music, laughter, a cup of tea? How can you nourish that aspect of yourself? Give yourself permission to fulfill your own needs, and banish the expectation that anyone else will do it for you.

If what you really need is a bubble bath but you “don’t have time” because (for example) you have to make dinner for your partner, you resent your partner for not taking care of you AND preventing you from taking care of yourself. Ask your partner to contribute to the meal, or to pick up pizza so that you can at least take a hot shower with an aromatic body scrub for 10 minutes after work. Then you can really enjoy that time with your partner more, without resentment.

Now that you’ve chosen a method of self-care, here comes the hard part: put it in your schedule. Write it down. Make an appointment with yourself. And then show up for it. Start with 5 to 15 minutes and see how you feel.

How are you going to start nourishing yourself?

{Guest Post} Recipe: Kale & Sweet Potato Brown Rice Bowls

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Hi, I’m Brittany from over at Eating Bird Food where I blog about eating healthy and staying fit while still having fun and not feeling deprived. I’m honored to be guest posting for Lindsay today as I’ve been a fan of Cook Vegan Lover for quite some time. Although Lindsay and I haven’t met (yet!), we’ve had fun connecting over the fact that we both attended IIN and are health coaches.Today I want to share with you all one of my favorite recipes, which just so happens to be vegan and super tasty!
Kale and Sweet Potato Brown Rice Bowls
Serves 3 to 4, Print Recipe

Besides waiting for the rice and potatoes to cook, these bowls are super easy to toss together and taste amazing. Even your non-vegan friends will be amazed at how delicious and filling this meal is.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked long grain brown rice
  • 1 bunch of fresh kale, cleaned and de-stemmed
  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas,  or 1 15 oz. can
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
  • sea salt
  • creamy peanut sauce, recipe below

Preparation:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400°, chop sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch chunks, sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 30 minutes.
  2. While sweet potatoes are baking, cook brown rice according to the instructions on the package.
  3. Blanch kale in boiling water for 3 minutes, remove kale from water with a slotted spoon and place kale in an ice water bath so it stops cooking. Drain and squeeze the water out, chopped and set the kale aside.
  4. Prepare creamy sauce (recipe below)
  5. When the rice and sweet potatoes are done you can start compiling your bowls. Each bowl should contain 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup blanched kale, 1/4 cup chickpeas, 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato chunks.
  6. Drizzle each bowl with some of the creamy peanut sauce and enjoy!

Creamy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped
  • 1/8 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/8 cup tamari, shoyu or soy sauce
  • 1/8 cup brown rice syrup
  • a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • water, to thin

Preparation:

  1. Simply put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend. Then add as much water as necessary to make the consistency that you like. It makes quite a bit so store any leftovers in the fridge for later. (It tastes good on everything!)

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my blog. I’m always posting new and delicious recipes. 🙂

{Recipe} Guest Post: Brownie Muffins

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I’m so excited to be doing a guest post for Lindsay. Her and I have a lot in common, besides the fact we both love healthy delicious food, we both work as health coaches. Although I’ve been working as a health coach for awhile, I’m just getting into it full time because I just quit my teaching job! Now I have lots of time to spend working with my clients AND cooking & baking in the kitchen. Since I know you all love delicious vegan recipes, I figured why not share one of my favorite recipes….brownie muffins!

These brownie muffins are made with spelt flour, which has higher protein and is easier on your stomach to digest. Make them just like this, or swap out a flour you have in your cabinet, like whole wheat or unbleached white flour and that’ll work just fine too.
Brownie Muffins
Yield: 14 muffin tops or 16 regular sized muffins
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups spelt flour
  • 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or white sugar will do too)
  • 1/4 cup agave nectar
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin (or unsweetened applesauce)
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/4 cup ground flax
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup dark or semi sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 2 small bowls, add the ground flax to one and the chia seeds to the other. Add 1/2 cup water to each cup and mix well. Set aside. Add spelt flour, turbinado sugar and cocoa to a large mixing bowl and mix. Then add wet ingredients: agave nectar, pumpkin, vanilla extract and almond milk. Mix again.
Make sure that your ground flax & chia egg have “set” (it will be a gel like consistency) and then add both bowls to batter and stir. Take 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and melt it either on a double boiler, or in the microwave at 50% of power for 45 seconds. Mix into batter when melted. Add baking soda and baking powder and mix to combine. Lastly, add remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners. Spoon batter into muffin pan and sprinkle tops of muffin with a bit of turbinado sugar. Bake for 22-25 minutes and enjoy!
You’ve got yourself a healthy breakfast or dessert! You can have your muffin without the guilt! I hope you come over to my blog to visit!
Thanks Lindsay for letting me guest post! 
—
Nicole Culver, M.A.

Health Counselor

Fitness Friday- Guest Post: 10 Lessons From My First Half

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Hello Cook. Vegan. Lover. readers! I’m Allie from Healthy Balance, Healthy Life. I write about all facets of wellness (physical, mental, etc.) and how they manifest in my daily life. I am honored to write the following guest post for Fitness Friday and I’d love for you to stop by Healthy Balance, Healthy Life and say hi if you enjoy it!

  1. Scope out the course before and/or during training/ signing up (if possible). 
    • Know what you’ve gotten yourself into! The Mad Marathon had lots of hills and inclines that I didn’t expect. The race still went well but I would have done much better had I trained on similar inclines! If the site of your race isn’t close enough to you to physically explore it yourself, do some research about the race and ask the race directors or people who have done the race in the past to describe the terrain to you. The Mad Marathon website said something about “rolling hills” which sounded pretty gentle to me – I should have asked for clarification!
  2. Listen to your body.
    • If you need to walk then walk! Or you can “do the granny” as my friend Marlaina and I say which looks like running at a walking pace. You’re pretty much bopping up and down. It’s helpful to do this instead of walk because sometimes when you start walking, you lose your energy and momentum! Similarly, if you feel any pain that isn’t normal during training or during the race, take it from Kristina and stop! You could seriously and permanently injure yourself – one race is not worth that!
  3. Know your foot type/running gait and wear a shoe that supports and protects you from injury. 
    • I went to get fitted at Fleet Feet due to severe leg pain the week before the half and found I have a low arch and that I overpronate when I run. I found that I was hurting myself by overpronating and needed a shoe with more arch support. Running in supportive shoes made a huge difference in terms of protecting my body and running more easily. 
  4. It’s okay to get new shoes shortly before the race if you need them.
    • Yes, the majority of runners say that race day should be as similar to training as possible – eat the same food before, hydrate the same way, and wear the same gear. I was nervous to wear new shoes but it was the best decision I made. I think there is a very good chance I would have hurt myself running the half in my old shoes.
  5. Follow your training plan and you’ll be fine!
    • I was a little leery of the fact that the Hal Higdon training plan doesn’t have you train the entire distance before you run the half. I wanted to know for sure that I could do it before going out and doing it! To me it seemed like training for 75% of a test and expecting to get an A on test day. Now that I’ve run the half, though, I understand why the plan is set up like that. It works with your body to prepare you for the race and reserve your energy stores. You “taper” the last week (decrease in mileage and exercise frequency) so your body is ready by race day. Had I done the entire 13.1 miles during training, my body would have been less able to complete it during the race than it was. As Hal says, “adrenaline gets you through the last three miles”. He’s right!
  6. It’s okay to be flexible with your training plan. 
    • As long as you stay close to what is advised, you’ll be fine. If you’re too busy to do strength training one day or you’re too tired to complete the last mile of a run, you don’t have to push yourself! It’s probably better to listen to your body and not let training take over your schedule too much, anyway. You want training to be as fun as possible—there were many a day I considered walking downtown and dancing or walking to class and back “cross training” (See Exhibit A above: I walked downtown and then gave my liver a work out.). Don’t let training overwhelm you. If it takes over your life you may start to resent it.
  7. Experiment with hydration, pre and post run food, gear, and music during training so you have an idea of what works best for you. 
  8. Have fun! 
  9. Have a race day plan…and back up plans.
    • I ran the half with four other people and we all planned to stay close to each other. We also realized, however, that there were good chances we’d get separated throughout the 13 + miles so we planned a meeting place in case we lost each other on the course. 
    • It’s also a good idea to check the race map out for hydration stations before you set out on race day so you know how often you’ll be able to refuel. If there aren’t enough stations (the Mad Half was so good and had stations every single mile!) then you can bring a Camelbak or something similar.
  10. Do what works best for you.
    • The above is what I have found works best for me but everybody is different. You know the needs and wants of your body better than any training plan or running expert. Use the advice of others as a guide but let the innate intelligence of your body lead the way. 

Guest Appearance

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Hope you all are enjoying the new July Newsletter that went out this morning! If you didn’t receive it and would like to check out the sidebar where it says “Subscribe To My Newsletter” and submit your preferred email.

Also today I have a great guest post about Healthy Traveling up on Eating Bird Food so go check it out.

Guest Post: VeganLisa’s Sweet Lemon Fig Poppyseed Bars

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In just a couple of weeks we will be welcoming summer. It is a short-lived season in Toronto, so I do all that I can to savour every second. Over the next three months, I have local farmers markets to visit, picnics to plan, and patios to patron.

With the change of seasons most people find their appetites turn away from the hearty, warming meals of winter to lighter, fresher fare. I consume a high-raw, vegan diet throughout the year but the bounty of local produce during the summer makes eating raw easy and incredibly delicious. Nothing saves a sweltering afternoon like a big juicy slice of watermelon. Salads, smoothies, and fruit slushies, sure say summer to me.

When the sun is shining I want nothing more than to be outdoors. Eating raw foods, means there is no need to heat up your house by turning on the oven. Putting together a salad, or blending up a smoothie takes a couple of minutes, leaving you more time to spend strolling through the city. Plus, raw foods are easier for our bodies to digest and provide plenty of energy to fuel a fantastic summer full of dancing at outdoor festivals, bike riding by the water and swimming at sunset.

Here’s a great recipe for an energy-packed snack bar to keep you full and satisfied as you tackle your 2011 Summer to-do list.

Sweet Lemon Fig Poppyseed Bars

  • 1 cup of rolled oats (the old fashioned not the instant kind)*
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted (approximately 10)
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 dried Turkish figs
  • 1 TBSP poppyseeds

In a food processor, pulse the oats, cashews and salt until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Press into a parchment-lined 8X8 pan. Cut into 12 bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Thank you to Lindsay for inviting me to share a recipe with all of you. I hope your summers are full of fun and fantastic food. Well, if you’re a regular reader of Lindsay’s blog I have not doubt you’re already eating very well! If you’d like more raw food inspiration I’d love for you to stop by my blog veganculinarycrusade.com.

xo VeganLisa

*It can be hard to find raw rolled oats. They are usually steamed during processing. If you’d prefer to consume only raw ingredients replace the oats with 3/4 cup of almonds.

Guest Post: Becoming A Runner- Megan’s Story

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Hi Bloggies! The next few days I am working 12 hour days (or more) so since I am going to be crazy busy so I have asked Megan to do a guest post about her journey to becoming a runner.  I hope you enjoy her inspirational story of how she came to run her first half marathon.  She is amazing such an inspiration especially to me because I am preparing to run my first 5k, 5miler, 10k and 1/2 MARATHON (eek) over the next 6 months.

____________________________________________

Hi everyone! My name is Megan. You may remember me from this guest post about what it’s like to live in Germany as a vegan. Now I’m back in the US and blogging about my life as a vegan, dog mom, and runner in Upper Michigan.

Not long ago, that third descriptor – runner – wouldn’t have been included. I did gymnastics in high school and ran sprints on the track team for two years, but at my best I couldn’t run more than 3 miles. Some of the people I looked up to/envied the most in high school were long distance runners, but that sport just “wasn’t for me.”

Throughout college and graduate school I was a casual exerciser, going to the gym a couple times a week (in the best of times) to use the elliptical, lift, or do Pilates.

In September of 2009, after quitting graduate school and spending a summer working and studying in Sweden, I moved to Germany to teach English for a year. It was a life-changing step, but nothing compared to what happened after: I became vegan. I’m still not sure where the conviction came from, but the idea had been simmering in my brain for awhile. Finally, it boiled over and I went vegan overnight in October 2009.

After that, everything changed. I felt like each day had a bit more of a purpose and challenge to it. I began to eat differently, cook and bake more, and to come out of a slump caused by an unhappy two years at grad school and a summer of eating delicious but often unhealthy food in Sweden. I didn’t realize until much later, but I had gained some weight and was just feeling weird in my body. Now, as a vegan, I was thinking much more about what went into my body and what I did for my health. I joined a Pilates studio and started taking class 2x a week.

The fall gave way to winter.  I began to make new friends and form a life in Germany, but with life comes struggle. Shortly before Christmas I began a short-lived relationship with one of my new vegan friends, who also happened to be a marathoner. The few weeks the affair lasted were intense and tumultuous and ended abruptly right after my first Christmas every away from my family. I was sad, angry, hurt, and lonely. I was also on break from school until mid-January and had way too much time to feel bad for myself.

Then, one of my new Twitter friends Lindsay (yes, this Lindsay!) retweeted a link to Tia’s post about completing the C25k running plan. I read Tia’s words about her silent struggle to complete the program. I was so inspired and, even though it was bitter cold outside, suddenly needed to go run. Right away.

And that was it! The program was so simple to follow and had such a firm goal that I never stopped. From January to April (I had some breaks for illness and travel) I ran in all sorts of weather, often the only person on the street. I began to feel so much better physically and mentally, and I started to lose some weight I didn’t know I’d gained, likely a result of the running combined with my new diet. I even brought my shoes on a backpacking trip to Portugal ran through the town of Sintra. Who was I?

On April 25, 2010, the last day of my C25k training, I ran the 24th annual Hildesheimer Wedekind-Lauf 5k in Hildesheim, Germany. I could NOT believe it! I was so proud and so thankful that I had felt driven to train, even if I was inspired by pain and sadness.

After the race, I continued to run a few times a week, loosely following the One Hour Runner plan. I moved back to the US in July 2010 and kept going, but in August I began working toward teacher certification at the local university and my Masters thesis was due in October. I stopped running almost completely and before long it was snowy and icy and I didn’t have a park across the street to run in.

I missed it, though, and I also knew how well I had responded to having the goal of the 5k during the C25k program. On New Years Day 2011, after nervously considering the idea in the back of my mind for a week or two, I took the leap and registered for the Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon.

Yep.  A half marathon. I was so scared but C25k had proved to me that slow, steady, dedicated training can prepare you for things you never thought possible.

I joined my university’s gym and began following an adaptation of Hal Higdon’s novice plan. If I hadn’t registered I never would have trained! Without having $60 invested plus the verbal commitment (to my parents, boyfriend, etc), it would have been so easy to bail. There were many dark and nasty winter days when thinking about going to the gym felt painful. But I stuck with it for 14 weeks, gradually increasing my mileage closer and closer to 13.1.

No part of it was easy, but the rewards were great. Each week brought a new personal distance record. I was accomplishing something and I could see and feel it. As May 15 grew closer, I knew I would be able to finish the half marathon. I had put in the sweat!

On April 23, I ran a local 10-miler (in the SNOW!) as a training run and after that it seemed like just the blink of an eye before mid-May.

The morning of my race (full recap on my blog), I knew I was prepared but it felt like a dream. I had read so many half marathon recaps that I couldn’t believe it was me who was going to run. I was not a runner!

But, in that moment, and the 2 hours and 25 minutes that followed, and all moments since January 2010 and all the ones since, I was and am a runner. If you run, you are a runner. I will be a runner forever and I have the C25k and the support of my Tweeps to thank for it. If you think you could never do it, you can. All it takes is one step, and then another and another – with plenty of walk breaks.