Nixing my Sugar Habit

This lady – Emily, here! –  is kicking her sugar habit to the curb for more reasons than just a whittled waistline — in fact, I don’t even think my size will change much. Thankfully my goals are founded in more than just “If I don’t do this, I don’t think I’ll ever feel better”. Sugar can be a serious life impediment and is scientifically proven to be just as addictive as cocaine. Crazy chick said what!? Yesssssss. It’s not something to be taken lightly.

Now, I love sugar. In all forms. Give it to me in frosting, in fruit, rimming a margarita, in candy, chocolate, you name it, sugar and I are in a deeply committed relationship. But I’ve gotta let sugar go, because it’s not me, it’s him, and I’m tired of the roller coaster. I’m nervous about it, yes, but I’m sparked by a need for change. And I’m excited to share that change with all of you over the next several weeks.

It’s slowly been taking over my life in all of the ways that matter. It’s making me overly emotional with highs and lows, making me hold onto water, destroying my teeth, affecting my taste buds, and making my brain kick into high gear and then crash hard and fast. Does any of that resonate with you? Well stick around, because below you’ll read all about an upcoming free teleseminar I’ve got coming your way next month.

On September 9th, I decided that for 21 days I was going to kick my sugar habit.

Why 21 days?
They say 21 days makes a habit. I don’t know who “they” are or why it’s 21 days, but it works. When you do something habitually, 21 days in a row, the body latches pretty tightly in all of it’s scientific ways and helps the choice become more ingrained in your mind and routine. I also chose 21 days so that way the last day fell on the last of the month, and October would be a healthy, rejuvenated, and fresh start.

So you don’t ever want to eat sugar again?
Not true at all. I love sugars in all forms, it’s the reason why I’ll still be eating some kinds (see below). Also, Halloween is my faaaavorite holiday, and in honor of my 21st birthday and my favorite holiday falling side by side, I’m making classic Halloween candies with a personal twist for the month of October (sharing them with all of you, of course) and ringing in the new year of me with classic cocktails turned on their heads — oh yeah, we’re going there. Get ready.

My goal is not to give up sugar completely. It’s to learn how to have the right sugars, in the right amounts, for my individual body without going crazy.

So what ‘sugars’ did you give up? They aren’t all the same, you know.
Yep! You’re right! They aren’t all the same, but unfortunately they all have the same affect on my body. I’ve given up all sugars except fruit sugars, because our bodies can digest fruit sugars more efficiently with the added fiber content, and I also need fruit to survive on campus. So yes, sigh, that means honey and maple syrup, too. But that’s okay, I’m armed with the facts, the knowledge to carry it off, and the determination to turn my health around again.

So that leads me to …

| Sugar Blues |
a live (free) teleseminar with Emily Friend,
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach!

When?

October 13th, 2015 at 6:00pm EST

How do I reserve a space?

Slow your roll, beautiful. Registration starts the 25th! Limited space available, too, so make room for it in your calendar and sign up as soon as the doors open.

+What do you think? Want to kick your sugar habit?


Catch me on periscope with live broadcasting around 5:30 pm tonight! I’m talking about 50/10, one of my favorite productivity tips — which you can read more about here.


+ want to join me on this sugar free challenge,
but not quite sure how? Reach out, and contact me! Xx.

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|| Health & Wellness Thursdays || Dates, Remedies, & Hormones

|| Some Healthy Links to Keep Us Going ||

Don't Worry. Be Happy & Healthy & Healing. It's Possible for All.


Three Cheers for Date Recipes

"Dates are filled with tons of healthy vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Not only that, they’re loaded with fiber, allowing your body to make full use of their goodness as they are easily digested." -- recipes through link above


Flu and cold season is upon us, but don't worry, here's a handy dandy guide/remedy!

"The bottom line is, if you eat right, and have been eating right for some time, cold and flus shouldn’t even affect you. No single herb or natural remedy compares to a diet with a low toxic load and daily salads with 14 different vegetables, turmeric, garlic, etc."

1238x576xhormone-1238x576-pagespeed-ic-gvist4y5rx.jpg

A quick background on how hormones truly affect us

"Hormones are liquid chemical messengers that regulate many activities of the body. They signal biological processes from metabolism, growth, and maturation to sexuality and reproduction (and everything in between)."

Was any of this information surprising or new? Do you love dates as much as I do? Have you gotten sick thus far this season? After reading the article, are you ready to work on your hormonal balance?

Stay Happy & Healthy

xx

[images linked with word]

Halloween Recipe || Caramel ||10.30.14

Halloween is upon us! In fact it’s tomorrow!!! Do you love Halloween as much as I do? Because my room is decorated with fake leaves, window stickies, and pumpkin paintings. I have been reading some great blog posts written by ladies who painted their pumpkins white to line their entryways and others who spread out huge cobwebs throughout their houses. In honor of our Health and Wellness Thursdays, here’s what I’m contributing to the best day of the year… Introducing a beautifying and delicious, blended to perfection caramel! And since I couldn’t decide just which one to make, I decided to make three and let you know how they all worked out! The recipes below are vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and definitely so delicious your spoon will be diving back in for more.

Enjoy some of this deliciousness with apples (my personal favorite), on top of oatmeal, inside homemade peanut butter cups, or straight from the spoon. Imagine this stirred into a container of peanut butter … drool.

|| CARAMEL ||

date based, with oil or without, maybe some almond butter – all good

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first recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup organic coconut oil
  • 1/6 cup + 1 tbsp almond butter
  • 2 dates
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Dash of salt (to taste)

Recipe ||

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender (I used my magic bullet – not the best, but hey, dorm room) and blend until all ingredients are incorporated, the texture is a light golden brown, and the consistency is smooth – easy peasy

Notes ||

Experimenting with this recipe was so fun, because the flavors individually are so far from the taste of caramel – but when combined I must kiss my fingers and say mmmmagnificent. At first I could still taste almond butter in one bite, maple syrup in the other, maybe a little date, but after letting the flavors sit and mingle, the flavor was more caramel than I ever imagined -- not exact but pretty darn close. Plus, it looks like caramel and has that gorgeous drippy texture that I was looking for in my little experiment. The original recipe uses vanilla, and I bet that would have added another dynamic, but I didn’t have some quality vanilla extract on me and since we were keeping this raw, I didn’t want any of that alcohol aftertaste. This one is great with apples. I had to restrain myself. Majorly restrain. I also made my almond butter in my Magic Bullet before I made this, so it was a little drier than the usual store-bought brands and that might have contributed to the original overwhelming almond butter taste.

tested and adapted from Nutrition Stripped


second recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ¼ cup soaked dates
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • ½ tablespoon almond butter (can be omitted)
  • cinnamon
  • a dash of sea salt
  • water as needed

Recipe ||

  1. Send all of the ingredients to a high speed blender, like above, and let it do it’s thing --

Notes ||

Dates naturally taste very carameley – it’s awesome for quick snacks with a little chocolate chips and almond butter inside, but that's beside the point . This recipe had a very nice light flavor, an airy texture, and didn’t sit heavy in my stomach. It also didn’t taste rich and decadent which is what I was going for, but it would be awesome in a peanut butter cup inspired recipe with tahini and this caramel wrapped with raw chocolate. Yum. The almond butter wasn’t in the original recipe but just added a nice depth of flavor I couldn’t pass up.

 

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 

 


third recipe //

Ingredients ||

  • ½ cup of dates
  • ½ banana (or 2 tbsp coconut oil if not staying oil free)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • dash of sea salt

Recipe ||

  1. Yep! You guessed right – throw them all in the blender and wait for smooth perfection --

Notes ||

This recipe looked the most like caramel, but unfortunately tasted too much like banana (duh em, there’s a banana in there). Nevertheless, I think this would be amazing swirled into a banana bread recipe or cookie rather than dipped with apples or eaten by itself.

tested and adapted from This Rawsome Vegan Life 


 

Overall, I love the first one for eating on its own and the other two for swirling into some delicious recipes. I really encourage you to tweak all the recipes, throw them all together if you want, and let me know what you think! I was playing with these during a really upsetting weekend, so it was a great relief. Just go in there with no expectations and let me know what magic you whip up?

 

[photos by emily friend]