Health & Wellness: Set your kitchen up for success!

If you set yourself up for success, anything is possible.

-unknown

Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to be so (quite so) mindful when enjoying a nice meal?

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just fill your plate, sit down at the table, talk with your family and not count every calorie, analyze every morsel, breakdown every nutritional bit?

Truth is, we need to be mindful. (Drat!) If you don't know what is going into your body, you can't make the necessary adjustments when needed. Understanding food, and your relationship with it, requires the ability to be self-reflective, analytical and willing to educate yourself on the facts; this is incredibly important.

Truth is, to live every meal with that analytical take is... exhausting. There needs to be a balance. 

Without getting into an extensive nutritional breakdown (you can check out the blog of Registered Dietitian, Kirsten Oilund, for an in depth look into nutrition), let's talk about some things you can implement in your kitchen that will allow you to healthily eat, drink, and be merry, minus the headache-today!

Photo Credit: Hieu Lu

• CREATE a safe space! Try to avoid bringing in any of the guilty pleasures that you know are going to result in a guilty-binge. Craving something? Go out and get it. Make it a treat, something special, that just doesn't mindlessly appear out of the kitchen cupboards.
• LOSE the oversize plates! Research has shown that by dropping just 2" off the plate size can result in 22% less calories(1) It all comes down to what you are seeing on the plate...if you see a full plate, you are more likely to feel full once finishing it off. This includes bowls & mugs. 
• PROVIDE access, as often as possible! Cut up a plate or container full of veggies and have them accessible (front of the fridge, kitchen counter or at your work space) and ready to eat so that when hunger strikes, you've got it covered. 
• GET the good stuff! Keep your favorite, healthy, foods handy and accessible. Don't bother packing that fridge full of food you don't intend on (seriously) eating...what a waste! Instead, pack it with some of your favorites. As you get used to eating healthier foods you can slowly add in/experiment with fruits and veggies that aren't typically first on your mind when you think of "yummy food". 
• PORTION control it, as you cook! Hate leftovers? Then don't make more than you are going to reasonably eat. Love leftovers? Fill those containers up as you are serving up your dinner plates. This way you can ensure you have just enough for dinner, and enough for the next meal. 
• PLAN it out! Create a meal plan for a few days to a week ahead of time and shop to ensure that you have the appropriate ingredients on hand. (Make sure that when you are planning you keep it mind the longevity of your ingredients.) 
• KEEP hydrated! Make sure that you are sipping on water or tea throughout the day to maintain hydration. 
• REMOVE distractions! Sit down and savor the flavors (and enjoy your company). Research has shown that eating while distracted can lead to weight gain (2). 
• HALF your plate, that's for the veggies! When serving your dish up, try and stick to half a plate of veggies, half for "everything else" (fats, carbohydrates* & proteins). 
• I also like to think of the hand rule: a palm of protein, a fist for veggies, a cupped hand for (complex) carbs and your thumb for healthy fats. You don't have to carry extra containers as your hands go with you everywhere...use them as a tool to eyeball the appropriate amounts of food intake. Of course, remember that a handful of quinoa vs a handful of macaroni noodles, for example, is going to look differently when nutritionally broken down. This is just a helpful guideline to help manage excessive eating without getting too technical. 
• PLAY with seasoning! Flavor is key. You can take a simple 'boring' dish and create some magic with the use of herbs & spices (less salt). Play around with combinations of flavors, really savor them as you enjoy your favorite dishes. 
• STILL HUNGRY??? Eat some veggies first...slowly...give your brain time to decide how hungry it actually is. 
• CLEAN it up, clean it out! Minimalism is all about creating a space and place to do and have more of what you want in life, and less of what you don't...keep the appliances and tools that will help you eat healthy and lose the rest. Lose the duplicates. Lose the headache. Want to eat healthily? Create a healthy kitchen! You are more likely to go into your kitchen and cook if you can work, maneuver, find tools, and easily clean the space. (Having that blender that you thought you might use to make smoothies (surprise, turns out you hate the texture), but instead takes up space in the back of the cupboard, only adds guilt on your psyche and makes it difficult for you to want to pull out the food processor that you (may) use far more often!)

Your home is your safe space. Your haven. Your sanctuary. (At least it SHOULD be.)

When you walk into your kitchen right now are you overwhelmed? Inspired? Do you feel anxiety ridden? Do you feel confident? Supported? 

Your home is either set up to help or hinder the goals you have for yourself and your family...what is your kitchen doing for you right now?

Isn't it time to just enjoy a meal, without all the drama?!?

* Vegetables are carbohydrates. Because they are so good for you, and most of us don't get enough, I include them as their own entity! 

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smaller_Plate_Study

(2) http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/distracted-eating-may-add-to-weight-gain-201303296037

Minimalism: Give the gift of...guilt?!

The best gift you could ever give to someone is your time because you're giving them something that you will never get back.

-unknown

Photo Credit: http://kaboompics.com/one_foto/1710

The holidays as a minimalist for most of us, are complicated occasions.

Wrapped with the warmest of intentions, the sweetest of thoughts and the most generous of gift-giving items come feelings of guilt, anxiety and fear. 

No gift-giver (usually) ever intends it. Yet there it is, following the holidays around like a cloud.

I'd like to argue that the biggest reason for this complication is that for many of us, we fear hurting those whom we love most, so we don't reveal our truths, our needs, placing theirs before ours. 

Do I want to hurt my __________'s feelings over an item that they thoughtfully picked out and spent their hard-earned money on?

So we take it. Keep it and let the quiet resentment fester, robbing us of joy during the holidays. Or do we hide it? Out of sight out of mind. Do we re-gift it? Thrift store it? Sell it?

If only we could just be honest. 
If only we could be honest and trust that those on the receiving end can respect, as well as support our decisions. 

This year, my husband and I talked about how we were going to tackle the "conversation of gift giving". There is no easy way to do it, the last thing we would ever want to do is offend someone. In truth, I suppose you can say that we chickened out, I opted for an email/facebook post (welcome to 2016!); writing allows me the breathing room to ensure that I say what I intend to say, the best way possible.

What the reaction and follow through will be is yet to be determined, but there were some points that were important for us to address in this letter that I thought was worth sharing should you ever choose to write a letter or post of your own:

http://kaboompics.com/one_foto/1705

1) We acknowledged our generous family and friends as just that, generous and loving. We are blessed with a number of amazing people in our life and are grateful for their presence. 

2) We updated them, if they didn't already know, in our shift of lifestyle towards minimalism and our pursuit of becoming a zero waste home. 

3) We asked them to be a part of our success in this journey.

4) We offered them an "out" to start. No gifts, cards, NO GUILT. That we know that love is given and received without an exchanging of gifts. 

5) We asked them in lieu of gifts, to give us their time if possible. That the next time we see them, we see them unplugged and involved in an activity that allows for memories to be made and bonds to be forged. 

6) We suggested to them that if they would like to send us something, a letter (which can be recycled) would be appreciated, and we'd happily send one back. (I agree posting letters in the mail to be driven around the country/world is counter-intuitive as it requires a carbon footprint to do so; however, part of this process is balance, and for my family, letter writing the old-fashioned way is worth its weight.)

7) We proposed a gift option if they felt it was necessary, that we could live with. In lieu of gifts, we asked that our children be supported with their extracurricular activities which can be costly. We have the intention of emailing pictures of the children enjoying these activities to those who have monetarily supported them. 

8) We noted that half the fun is opening up presents, and offered up a fun way to open up a gift of coins wrapped in recycled boxes/items, tape, glitter and wrapping paper... (While the mangled product may not be salvageable or recyclable, it's a way to encourage non-minimalists to think about gift giving in a different way. Perhaps next year we'll be brave and ask for zero-waste options). 

9) We asked, as the adults of the home, to be left out of the occasion...as wine and beer bottles can be recycled however, we agreed that they would appreciated should the giver so choose.

10) We let them know the door was open to questions.(This was very important to us, as we are learning about this process we want to remain an open door to questions or comments, allowing us to adjust and adapt as the situation suits. We don't have all the answers, the more than we can leave our hearts and minds open, the more we are able to create an ease around our lifestyle.) 

http://kaboompics.com/one_foto/1702/christmas-gifts-on-a-black-background-4

It can be difficult, respecting someone else's decisions when they run perpendicular to our own. It can feel uncomfortable. Make us questions whether or not what we are doing is in some way, "wrong". We want to stick out, to pave our own way...we also all want to be accepted for who we are...

We can hardly ask for acceptance though when we aren't willing to be truthful to ourselves and with those around us. We can hardly ask for understanding if we don't allow them an opportunity to prove they can be so. 
We also know that at the end of the day, our own self acceptance must weigh more than that of others.  If we know who we are then there is either, acceptance by others or, our own self worth steps in to filter and protect our hearts. 

Our hope is that through respect, honesty and openness to others, in turn we might receive the same. So this year, be brave, be bold and have that conversation, write that letter or e-mail, ask for what it is that will bring you joy in this holiday season. At the end of the day, we control only our own actions and reactions...

Minimalism: Wake Up Happy.

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. 

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Do you ever open your eyes in the morning and immediately feel overwhelmed by the day?

There are a thousand things that, can, stand in the way of each of us waking up in a state of bliss. Kids, chore list, work, family or marital frustrations, politics, the news, neighbors, friends or 'frenemies' etc; (in no particular order might I add) can all add to an immediate state of unease and unrest. 

Our home, our bedroom, should be a place of complete serenity.  A place to come to at the end of the day and shed the stress, anxiety, fears and discomforts in exchange of peace, renewal, calm and the promise of another day filled with opportunity and possibility. 

There are still days for me, that I must actively work at keeping "it" out. My children still wake at impossible hours (ready and raring to go; or, on unfortunate days awake, starving and unhappy with the world), we still catch the morning news (with a wish to stay current and the promise to turn it off when it begins to grate at our nerves), my husband and I still wake feeling unsettled in ourselves which inevitably rubs off on the other, and the chores....they never end. Despite this, there have been changes in our lives that, has led to happier wakings.

Minimalism. Intentional Living. The purposeful home. Whatever label you identify with results in the same...having less stuff allows for more of what we want. 

I want to wake up happy. 

In pursuit of this desire. Our bedroom got a total overall, the most recent overhaul from two weekends ago. It is hard to believe that there was a time where our room included a huge dresser filled with items, a packed closet full of clothes, a large tote full of pictures, artwork and nick knacks, 3-4 decorative pillows etc;

  

Now I wake to this...

In our two bedroom home we have opted for the smaller of the two rooms, leaving the master bedroom for the three little ones to share. It holds a few of our favorite things, there are two pull out drawers for clothes under the bed and a small closet that houses all our clothing (including seasonal...we enjoy a full 4 seasons here!)

We kept the headboard simple. A vase from the Czech Republic, my jewelry box (birthday present from my husband), our wedding shadow box, and a single plug cord for my phone. We opted for no alarm clock as my phone performs the same function and is required when responding to calls for the fire department. 

The top two shelves, along with the bottom shelf is our entire book collection (adult books). This took many years and required a concerted effort as my husband and I love to read! (Some books did end up making their way to my husband's classroom,as his keeps were all math/science/physics related it made more sense to house them there in the end.) What remains we love, we make use of our kindle, and more importantly get our "smell and feel" of a good book from our beautiful local library when the mood and need suits. The third shelf holds my "call out" dress and pager, this way I can roll out of bed with an entire set of clothes in hand without disturbing my husband more than I need to. 

In my opinion, there are few things that make a space feel serene and welcoming better than a plant.  Working as an air purifier, adding a touch of color and keeper of some beach gems, which can be found nestled on the top of the soil, this plant is meant to be noticed. Plus, it partners well with my husband's Go board, his own beautiful handiwork (completed with guidance from my Dad). 

At the start of this process, back in 2012, I had few expectations of what was ahead of us. I did know, however, know how I wanted to feel. It took years, conversations (both with my husband and myself) to determine what it is that makes us happy, to look at the cost of what we were keeping and to lose the guilt over the "things" that were keeping us from the life we wanted to live. The process is not complete, we welcome what comes, knowing what is now possible. 

I'd like to encourage you to take a critical eye to your bedroom and ask yourself...what makes me happy? Does what I have in here, in this room, in my safe haven...does it help or hinder?




UPDATE: Nov 24, 2016
BEFORE PICTURE from October 2016