Sweet Tooth

I have been eating my face off lately. I really want to blame it on the fact that I’m stressed to the max & I’m currently nursing a toe injury but, sadly, I have to place the blame where it belongs – on me. Most of my cravings are chocolate, but my pizza consumption this week has been ridiculous. It’s so shameful that I’m not even going to tell you how many slices. =(

While sitting at my desk this morning & feeling frustrated with yet another craving, I decided to Google where those cravings come from. This is the information that I found.

Care2.com says:

“Who hasn’t experienced the overwhelming desire to eat something specific, whether it be chocolate, potato chips, a burger, or some other food? We’ve all experienced cravings, but we should be careful about the way in which we satisfy them. By understanding what your body is actually deficient in you can get to the root cause of the cravings, and eventually kick them all together.

There are numerous possible meanings of cravings, depending on the type of craving and your eating habits. Before you satisfy cravings, drink a glass of water. Quite often we misinterpret our body’s signal for thirst as a signal of hunger. By drinking a glass of water first, you may be giving your body exactly what it wants and alleviate the craving. Some experts estimate that up to 80% of the population is chronically dehydrated, so start with water before you try to decipher your cravings.

Chocolate:

If you crave chocolate, it doesn’t mean your body has a chocolate deficiency, although I think most people would prefer that. Chocolate is high in magnesium. Cravings for it often indicate that your body is deficient in magnesium, which is a common deficiency. If you’re going to eat chocolate, choose organic cocoa and mix it into a healthy smoothie, or eat a small amount of dark chocolate. Because that is unlikely enough to deal with a magnesium deficiency, it’s also important to eat other foods high in magnesium, such as nuts, seeds, fish, and leafy greens.

Sweets:

If you crave sweets you may be experiencing blood sugar fluctuations. When your blood sugar drops, your body may be trying to get you to give it more fuel to keep your blood sugar levels stable. If this is a chronic occurrence you may have hypoglycemia, which simply means low blood sugar. Whether your sugar cravings are sporadic or chronic, it is important to choose the right type of food to bring your body back into balance. Giving in to cookies, cakes, candies, or other refined sweets will only make the problem worse and cause a blood sugar roller coaster that leads to more cravings. Instead, choose a piece of fruit when you’re craving sweets. In the interim, add more high-fiber foods like beans and legumes, and complex carbohydrates like whole grains to give you the fuel you need without the blood sugar spikes. If you’re really struggling with sugar cravings, you may also wish to supplement with the mineral chromium since it helps to regulate blood sugar levels and ward off cravings.

Salty Foods:

Cravings for salty foods like popcorn or chips often indicate stress hormone fluctuations in the body. Getting on top of the stress in your life is step one. The adrenal glands help your body cope with stress and, in our fast-paced, hectic lives, tend to become worn out, especially from stress-hormone production. Try meditation, breathing exercises, or other stress management techniques. Research at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City showed that people who take a break to breathe deeply or meditate before reaching for salty snacks reduced their stress hormones by 25% and cut the bingeing in half.

If your adrenal glands are worn out, you can also support them with a high-quality B-complex vitamin, with extra pantothenic acid (that’s vitamin B-5) and vitamin C. Eating more leafy greens helps to supply your body with minerals that support the adrenal glands, especially potassium.

Cheese:

Cravings for cheese or pizza often indicate a fatty acid deficiency, which is common in most people. Eat foods such as raw walnuts, wild salmon, flax oil; add ground flaxseeds to your diet. Supplement with a high-quality supplement that includes the beneficial fats, especially Omega 3s. It should contain both EPA and DHA. Two to three servings of fish such as wild salmon or a small handful of raw walnuts or 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds in a smoothie will often cut out cheese cravings altogether.

Red Meat:

Not surprisingly, cravings for red meat usually indicate an iron deficiency. Often people crave burgers or steaks. Women of menstruation age are especially vulnerable to iron deficiencies. Eat more iron-rich beans and legumes, unsulphured prunes, figs, and other dried fruits. If you eat meat you can also choose lean, organic red meat like beef or bison as a source of iron. Just remember to keep meat consumption to within 15% of your total daily diet. Vitamin C helps with the absorption of iron, so take vitamin C alongside your iron-rich foods. Alternatively, eat citrus, red peppers, tomatoes, or berries which are high in vitamin C with your iron-rich foods.

Snacky:

If you often feel snacky, sometimes for sweets, sometimes for salty foods, it can mean you’re not eating a well-balanced diet and may be missing a variety of nutrients. Reaching for junk foods or heavy foods at the onset of cravings will only satisfy them temporarily. Making dietary changes that address deficiencies or imbalances can help eliminate them altogether.”

I’ll be putting this to the test when I have another one of my many cravings – curious to see if it would really work. 

Music Keeps Us Sane

I don’t know about you but music is a big part of my life. Not in a sense where I play it or sing for people (trust me, you don’t want me to), but in a sense that I always have it on - when I’m driving Fiona, in my office at work, woding at the box, taking a shower, getting ready in the morning, cleaning my apartment, etc. Music has always been a big mood changer for me. When I’m feeling stressed & working on a deadline, I change my playlist to something more easy listening – I can’t concentrate if I have Nicki Minaj in my ear. If you follow me on any of the social media websites, you’ve noticed that I share links to songs that make my #favorites list. Yes, One Direction has made that list many times – I am not ashamed!

Here’s my top 5:

Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do

 Maroon 5 - Sugar

The Weeknd - Earned It

Nick Jonas - Numb

Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin'

Weighing In

As promised, I’m posting to give my two cents about a few of the recipes that I’ve tried, so far, on the “Clean Eating Challenge". My first review is the:

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries, frozen

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 cup almond milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon honey

Let me just say that this one is my favorite. I’ve never actually made it for breakfast, like the website tells you - I’ve only ever made it for dinner, but who cares. I didn’t think this would be as filling as it is & I found myself trying to finish the entire thing, but don’t worry I always do; I don’t want to waste it – it’s that good. I’ve tweaked the ingredients & have finally found my perfect at-home smoothie recipe:

~I’ve subbed frozen strawberries instead of blueberries. Have you ever looked to see how much a bag of frozen blueberries cost?? Let me tell you that it’s ridiculously overpriced. I was in total shock & refused to buy it. Instead, I’m going to buy the fresh blueberries & freeze them on my own – money saver.

~I subtracted the teaspoon of vanilla after my second smoothie. I didn’t think it was necessary.

~I add a handful of ice cubes to give it a thicker/icy consistency.

~I add a scoop of my chocolate protein powder. You know, just to keep it interesting.

However you decide to make your smoothie, just know that they are delicious & at no time have I ever regretted making one. I actually prefer the one I make at home to the one I used to get at Robeks.

My second review is on the:

 Ingredients:

3 large romaine leaves, washed and dried
3 Turkey Meatballs
1/4 avocado, thinly sliced
1 large beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dijon mustard

This recipe was fairly easy. I used my meatball recipe that I have at home, just subbed ground turkey for hamburger meat. That recipe is:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)

1 egg

-Step 1: Heat oven to 400°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil; spray with cooking spray.

-Step 2: In large bowl, mix all ingredients. Shape mixture into 20 to 24 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs. Place 1 inch apart in pan.

-Step 3: Bake uncovered 18 to 22 minutes or until no longer pink in center.

As with the last one, I tweaked the ingredients on this recipe as well:

~Instead of collard leaves I used a head of iceberg lettuce & made my own lettuce cups.

~I added red onion slices to my thinly sliced beefsteak tomato.

~I cut out the dijon mustard as I’m not a fan of condiments. With the buttery taste of the avocado, I didn’t think it was needed.

These were a big hit with my co-workers when I brought my leftovers for lunch the next day. Actually assembling something for lunch always gets attention in my office because normally everyone eats something that you pull the top off of & cook/reheat in the microwave. Frozen meals are pretty popular, but I hate eating those so everyone always wants to know what I’m having for lunch. By the way, I’d totally make these again.

My third review is the Carrot Sticks with Hummus for a snack.

I won’t add a section for ingredients because these are already extremely easy, hence the 2 ingredients. My favorite hummus is the roasted red pepper by Sabra. I’ve heard there are other great ones out there, but I just can’t get past that one. I love it. If I’m being honest, that’s the one thing in my lunch that I get excited to eat every day. Yes I know, I’m a weirdo.

I plan on making a few of the other recipes so be sure to check back & see if it’s something that you’d also like to try. For those of you that emailed letting me know that you were going to start the Clean Eating Challenge, send me a status update & let me know how things are going & which recipes are your favorite. =)

Change

I’ve never been a person that likes change. I’m a routine kind of girl - something that I can count on when nothing else seems to be going right. Other things may be crazy but my normal day to day routine is the thing that keeps me sane. When that starts to fall apart things can get overwhelming for me. When I was younger I didn’t handle change well. I’d like to say that I’m better handling it now, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m still a work in progress.

In the past year I’ve made a lot of changes, some minor & some major – life changing to be accurate. I suppose you could say that I reached a point where I felt change was necessary & no matter how scary I thought or knew those changes were going to be, I felt they needed to be made. That it would be the best thing in the long run.

9 out of 10 days I don’t regret the decisions I’ve made, but every once in a while I get one of those days that makes me over think (women are notorious for that, right?). That one day that makes me question, what if I hadn’t made those changes? Would things in my life be better? Would they be worse? These questions really only last a little while & then I’m back to reality, but it still makes me have that “what if” feeling.

Losing a loved one is definitely the most catastrophic change that there is. I know it was for me. It breaks you in a way that you never imagined. It changes you. Not only does it make you second guess, but it also puts in perspective that life is short & that you should be genuinely happy with where you are & what you’re doing.

Lately I’ve been feeling like my routine has fallen off its steady track & has left me grasping to get it back. I haven’t been able to put my finger on the reason why, but I’m hoping it’ll be back to normal sooner rather than later. Everyone has good & bad days – that’s a given. It’s how you navigate through them that make the difference. One day at a time, one obstacle at a time.