The 80% you are in charge of

Did you know that 20% of your skin's health is due to topical solutions and that 80% of what your skin looks like is a result of what you eat, how you sleep, the stress you are under, and how much you exercise?  Even as amazing as Blackett Body Basics products are, we can only do so much.  So, this is the deal, for our amazing products to do their magic, you have to do yours!  Your assignment this month is to eat at least 2 different colored fruits and veggies with every meal.  And if you can get in some sleep and a little bit of exercise, yay you!  Let's get to work!

My sage advice

I get asked for advice a lot.  Being that I am a spin instructor, a skin care creator, and a teacher, people have this idea that I know what I am talking about.  And when it comes to those subjects, I do.  I take my jobs very seriously and even though I may come across as precocious, I do study and research and care deeply.  But I am about to give advice on surviving the holidays.  So being that I am a mere human, no better than you, please don't take it too seriously.  However, I have talked a few people, "off the ledge" this week so I am going to pull out my Oprah hat and pretend that I am in the know on how to have a serene holiday season.

1.  You don't have to give everyone a present.  I know what it is to have a rough year and want to say thank you to everyone and anyone who has been kind to you.  Don't!  They helped you because they love you and you would do the same for them.  If you don't have the money, or the time, or the energy, don't give even a little gift.  A card with heartfelt words will mean so much more. If it is crazy this time of year, send out New Year's cards instead.  I get mad when one of my dear friends gives me a gift when I know she is struggling.  Just come over for a cup of coffee....or wine.....or vodka.....(still can't do tequila after cinco de mayo).... and laugh with me.  That is what I want.  Also, every teacher or adult that has touched your child's life does not need a gift.  Except if that person is me of course!  I am only joking here.  As a teacher, I appreciate the gifts but I also loved the hand drawn notes and cards from the student.  If you must, pick the main teachers and call it good.  I hook up the receptionist at my daughters' school at another time, just because she is awesome and she still spoils my babies.  Get off the gift ledge.  This year I gave small, thoughtful hand made by me or someone else gifts to my closest friends and family.  I feel so much better and feel that Christmas has been brought down to a reasonable level.

2.  You don't have to go to every single party.  It is a crazy time of year and people know there is a good chance that you won't make it.  Go to the parties that are really important to you and skip the rest to get rest.  It is okay....unless it is my party of course.  Again, I jest.  I narrowed my party going down to two parties before Christmas this year. And because I am not exhausted I enjoyed one very much.  I will let you know how my mother's party went next week.

3. Try to keep the sugar to a minimum. I know that this is a crazy suggestion being that it is the holidays and all, but sugar kills your immune system and wreaks havoc on your skin.  After a week of eating chocolate and Almond Roca I feel a cold coming on and my skin looks dull and nasty!  I cannot have that!  There is no chocolate in my house right now.  And I really want some, but it isn't here and I am too lazy to find some.  It is a win for me!

4.  Don't have Christmas at your house.   And if you do, assign everyone a dish or drink.  People like to have direction and love to bring something to a dinner.  Let them.  You do the main dish and clean your house and call it good.

5.  Have your meltdown.  Call a friend and go ahead and have that melt down.  Then have a couple glasses of wine and read the 25 funniest autocorrects of 2012.  It is a little raunchy so don't read it if you don't appreciate raunchy humor. http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-25-funniest-autocorrects-of-2012  Laugh until you cry then repeat steps 1-4

I certainly don't pretend to know all the ways to live a simple and calm life.  But people do ask how I do all that I do.  I prioritize and I do only what I have to do.  I have to be a good friend and mother.  I don't have to be the greatest gift giver, partier, or sane person. If I get that in, however, it will have been a great holiday season!

Cashew "Mayo" and Dana Torres

I am almost 42.  And while I have noticed that it takes my body longer to recover from abuses, say a hard workout or a long night, I still feel pretty darn good.  I have no injuries and I still kick some arse.  We don't need to speak of the time this summer when I went running with a 25 year old man and suggested we do hill sprints and when I ran my little heart out to the top and almost threw up, he looked at me and said, "I thought we were doing sprints?"
If I shove that memory into the deep, dark crevices of my mind, along with all the other denials, I can still feel I kick some major arse. That is why, for the moment, I am obsessed with Dana Torres and Jennifer Lopez.  They are both older than me.  Ha!  And they are amazing.  I really am cheering for JLo and her man.  If they make it a ten year run, I am calling it a victory! And Dana Torres was 41 when she broke the US record for 100 meter and 50 meter freestyle at the 2008 Olympics.  Her secret weapon, interval training on a spin bike.  Holler!  For those of you who don't know, I teach Spin classes on the side for kicks and giggles.  Which brings me to the point of this post.  My Allstar peeps have been asking for my cashew "mayo" recipe.  I usually just throw things in a blender, but I know most need a little thing called measurements, so I measured it for you.  Here it is.

Cashew "Mayo"

Throw the following ingredients in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Store in fridge in air tight container.  I would throw it away after two weeks, but there probably won't be any left.

1 cup cashew pieces
1/2 cup strong chai tea (I steeped 1/2 cup water with 2 bags of chai tea)
3/4 cup unsweetened milk substitute.  I used plain almond milk, but have used hazelnut milk and coconut milk as well.
1/2 tablespoon Berbere seasoning (This is an Indian seasoning and will make it a little spicy.  Cut back if you don't like spice.  Subsitute cumin or garham masala if you would like.)
1/2 tsp salt
lime juice from 1/2 lime
3 leaves basil
1 clove garlic

This is great on my favorite sandwich.  I spread it on Dave's Killer Bread and make a sandwich of avocados, tomatoes, slivered almonds, alfalfa sprouts, and cucumbers.  Que rico!
Or.....you can add some oil and balsamic vinegar to make a yummy creamy dressing.

Another smoothie recipe! Pineapple monster.

It is decidedly true that the best way to nourish your skin is to give it the nutrients it needs.  It is your largest organ after all.  I have somehow given up coffee in the morning.  I am 4 months clean....on my honor....okay, okay...I have a latte now and then.  My new habit it a big fruit and vegetable smoothie.  It is a shot in the arm of good for you stuff!  I make an entire blender batch and I am lucky if I get a cup.  My children slurp it down. The above picture shows how much was left for me today. If I have some leftover, I just put it in the fridge for later. Here is my new go to smoothie!

1 can organic chopped pineapple with juice
1 mango
2 oranges peeled
1/4 cup or so of wheatgrass
5 leaves or so of mint
handful of spinach or 2 leaves collard greens, or kale
1/2 lime squeezed
1 banana
2 kiwi quartered, peels on
1/4 cucumber
water or ice

First blend your greens with water really well.  Then slowly add the rest of the ingredients a few at a time.  Add more water if you would like a thinner consistency.

It takes as much time to make this smoothie as it does to go to the coffee shop and wait for someone else to make your coffee or smoothie.

One step at a time

This last weekend I went to a wedding out of town so I stayed at a little bed and breakfast, the Aloha Beach Side Bed and Breakfast.  It was right on the water and was absolutely beautiful.  With this gorgeous,peaceful place to rest came a six course breakfast made by our lovely hostess who has been trained at the Corden Bleu.  Usually, for health reasons, I am a vegan....except on Sundays and special occasions. This happened to be a Sunday and special occasion!  So we dug into eggs Benedict.  I was in heaven.  I slept in, had no children with me, and had great company.  It was a very pleasant way to pass the morning.
Our hostess sat and chit chatted with us for two hours.  She was a very sweet, educated, passionate, and interesting woman.  She also owned a farm and told us about her adventures growing chickens, trying to make money from the farm, and composting.  She has visited organic farmers all over the country and knows her stuff.  When she found I was vegan, her first response was, "I don't know how you do it! I don't have the willpower."  I was laughing.  I was thinking about how I don't know how she does it with the farm and picks up composting from schools and organizations all over.  I compost and garden, but only do what is needed.  I don't spray and do all that, but I wouldn't say I was ecological about it.  I definitely don't grow my own food.  Unless, a few sad tomatoes count.
Then we started talking about how I gradually came to the decision to be vegan.  And it was a gradual process.  The start of thinking about what I put in and on my body all began with my largest living organ, my skin.  When I told her my journey to take my health, eating, life, and of course skin care back to the basics, she said she could understand how I got there and how the choices I make now aren't really rough on me.  Her journey was also a gradual one.  It just looks on the outside that it is crazy!
Wherever you are in your health, your life, your eating, or your fitness, the people you want to be most like didn't get there over night.  To most, it was a gradual, one step at a time, one realization at a time journey that they are likely not finished traveling.  Make a small change.  Maybe start with your skin care.  That would certainly make me happy!
If you are ever in Gig Harbor, you really should stay here.  And tell her that I sent you and that I have been thinking about her farm and have lots of plans and ideas!
http://www.alohabeachsidebb.com/

The magic of "Green Sludge"

I have been on a bit of a health kick lately.  I would prefer to call it a gradual shift in my thinking about food, but most people think I am on a health kick.  It has been gradual, however.  My first step was to get processed foods out of my house.  Then I started to make many of my own staples such as bread and yogurt.  Next, I began buying everything organic.  I also experimented with almond flour and limiting gluten and corn in my diet.  I attempted and still attempt every day to make produce the center of my diet. The new thing is juicing, but so many valuable nutrients are lost when juicing such as fiber and protein.  I decided I would simply get a nice blender and blend all my produce and make my own "juice".  My kids call it the green sludge.  And finally, I cut out all animal based products.
Okay, not all of the time, but most of the time, I eat only plant based foods.  I love fancy cheeses and the taco truck.  I couldn't see cutting out what I enjoy so much for the rest of my life.  So I don't.  I am not "vegan" for political reasons.  I do it for me and my family.  And I feel AWESOME!  And it is so easy to me.  I love cooking again and creating yummy treats.  My cheese eating, milk drinking, egg devouring children don't mind and have been totally fine with it.  Finding protein has not been hard for me and I eat pretty much whenever I want.  I don't miss meat or cheese at all.  Holler.
The biggest difference I see in myself, besides losing a little bit of weight (on accident), is my skin looks really nice.  When I used to break out during certain times of the month, I don't anymore.  I use Blackett Body Basics skin care, eat lots of fruits and vegies, drink lots of water, and exercise regularly.  My tummy rarely bothers me anymore.  It takes a little bit more planning to eat on the go, but it is worth it to me.
Here are some more tips on beautiful looking skin.  It is so much more than fancy skin care.  And much of it is in your control.
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/tips-for-gorgeous-skin?page=3

If you would like a sample of the BBB Face care system, let me know.

"Green Sludge" recipe

Half a bunch of dino kale, sliced
half a cucumber cut into 3 or 4 pieces
3 small carrots chopped into 3 or 4 pieces
one apple quartered, core and all
one pear quartered, core and all
one avocado
one kiwi, quartered, skin and all
one mango, diced, no skin
juice of two limes
spoonful of minced ginger
1 tsp cardimon powder
coconut milk, almond milk or rice milk, or juice (enough to facilitate the blending process)
Any fruits or vegies that you think will taste good in it. ...peaches, pineapple, berries.

Place all ingredients in blender, kale at the bottom and blend until it is smooth.
It should be really thick.  I pour it in a big pitcher and it takes me two or three days to go through it all.  I usually buy a variety of Evolution Juices (they are local and cold pressed) and mix it with the green sludge to make it a different mixture every time.  I have a 20 once mixing container and I use that to mix it and drink it and drink two or three servings a day.

For beautiful skin take juicing to a "whole nother level"

So I was on my juice craze last week.  And I still am, but I started thinking, I don't need to lose 100 pounds and there is so much awesome stuff in the entire fruit or vegetable that is wasted to juicing.  What if I made a vegetable/fruit smoothie?  I just recently bought the second best blender on the market.  http://www.consumersearch.com/blenders/kitchenaid-ksb560  I couldn't afford a Vitamix.  So I opted for the second best.  And let me tell you, this blender is awesome!  I took my juicing to a "whole nother level".  (This is a reference to a Mad TV sketch I love)
In my quest to get my diet 95% plant based and fairly low fat, I am in the mind set that juicing is a fantastic way to get a huge amount of produce in your body fairly quickly and easily.  I put my blender to the test.  I went to my favorite local market and bought something in every color and produce group. I was so excited.  My BFF, Angela, was excited too and came down to test the final product. (We are old and get excited about strange things, I know!)  I put  apples, pears, mango, kale, spinach, avocado, and carrots with some Evolution juice in the blender and liquefied that mofo in minutes.  It was thick and green.  Oh!  And I squeezed some lemon and grapefruit into it too.  It was a lot! I thought I might get sick of it before it was all gone.  But I have mixed it up a bit.  I mix it with something different every time I get some.  Sometimes I mix it with almond milk.  More protein! I say more protein because fruits and vegetables have a surprising amount of protein in them.  I may add some coconut milk or some Evolution berry mix.  Whatever hits me at the moment.  And I walk around with my bottle and drink 2-3 a day.  By the end of the day, I really don't want to eat because I am so full.
I just want to get more produce in my and my children's bodies. My skin will reflect my efforts and I am, at heart, a vain person.  I thought the kids were gonna hate it. One of my middle school students asked me what the green gunk was and I let her try it.  She said, "Yo, Miss Laura, that is the bomb!"  So I let her have the rest.  She made me promise that I would bring her more tomorrow.  I don't mind being a juice pusher.