Best of Pinterest: Spring Recipes

It's (un)officially summer in San Diego! As a so-cal girl through and through, I'm loving the warm weather, the long days, and the spring & summer produce in our CSA. Asparagus, artichokes, avocados, blood oranges, blueberries, fennel, peaches, strawberries. Honestly, it doesn't get much better.

I've been inspired to make Spring recipes that I've been pinning all year, and these are first up on my list. What are your favorite spring & summer recipes?

Sources & Recipes: 1,  2,  3,  4,  5, 6, 7, 8

Get Moving

We’ve all been there: the rut. The point when you’ve gotten out of the exercise routine and starting back up seems impossible. I mean, its Newton’s law. It takes more energy to put something in motion than to keep it in motion. We’re going heads up with physics, people.

But its possible to get out of it and actually enjoy working out. I promise, because I’ve been there. Here’s how to get to that place:

1. Start somewhere.

It doesn’t matter where. Just do something. Put Beyonce on youtube and dance around your house. Jog one block around your neighborhood. Okay, maybe two. Let your dog pull you along on a hike (pictured, above). Your body will complain at first, but the biggest hurdle is just getting going.

2. Next time, do a little more.

One Beyonce song and then one RiRi. Four blocks around the neighborhood. Hike a decent hill. Push yourself past the point where it starts to hurt, and you’ll be amazed at how fast you progress.

3. Find something you enjoy.

This was game changing for me. I can’t deal with the gym. I just can’t. I spent years trying to guilt myself into going. When the self-guilt-trip worked, I’d just cruise on the elliptical and do a couple sit ups and hate it the entire time. It wasn’t until I discovered yoga and pilates that I actually looked forward to working out.

4. Find deals & try new things.

I’ll admit – I got a little addicted for a while. I bought pilates groupons, yoga groupons, boot camp groupons, dance class groupons… You name it. Most studios also have an introductory deal, so you can keep things cheap for a while if you studio hop. I've learned the hard way, though, that the key is making it sustainable is choosing studios / gyms that are close by and that have convenient class times.

5. Go with friends.

For built-in accountability & to make it something you look forward to. There have been many mornings when I’ve wanted to bail on a workout, but I know I’d be letting my friend down if I did. So I wake up instead of throwing my alarm out the window. 

6. Focus on the positive.

I truly believe that viewing exercise as a punishment or a chore does not work. Reframe how you think about it. Change "I have to work out because I ate so much pizza last night" into "I have the opportunity to work out today." Its amazing that you get to invest in your fitness and your health. Focus on your new confidence, your improvements, your new guns, or how great you feel after working out. It’s much more effective.

7. Set a goal.

I find that I sometimes need something to look forward to for motivation when #1-6 aren’t enough. Maybe it’s an upcoming vacation or friend’s wedding, signing up for a 5K, or a numerical goal like an 8 minute mile. Honestly, is that fast? I don’t run, but it seems fast to me.

I tend to be an all-or-nothing person.  So when I stop working out, whether it’s from getting sick or traveling or a brutal month at work, it’s really hard to get back in and these tricks always help me jump start the routine again. If you find something sustainable, set challenging but realistic goals, and start to feel the positive benefits, I know you can do it too.

You Are More Beautiful Than You Think

You may have seen the Dove Real Beauty Sketches circulating on facebook and twitter this week. Granted, I'll keep buying my soap from LUSH (its made more naturally and sourced ethically), but this campaign struck a chord with me and with so many others.

It's brilliant because Dove flips marketing on its head. Instead of telling us that we are not enough, that we need their product to feel somehow more complete, they show us that we each have a natural beauty and intrinsic worth. It exposes that we are often our own worst critics, and suggests we should extend the same truth and grace to ourselves that we extend to others.

For me, this video was so compelling because it goes beyond beauty. I think it struck a chord with so many women because we are not only hypercritical of our outward appearance, which we relate to our worth all too much, but also of larger issues of our value.

Maybe I shouldn't speak for all women, but speaking for myself, this message rings so true. I've been realizing recently that I hold myself to an impossible standard in my work and personal life. There are times I feel like I'm succeeding, but most of the time, I can't meet my self-imposed standards. Between career, marriage, friendships, a hyperactive puppy, trying to invest in my health through exercise and eating well, and blogging, it often feels like something is dropping. And with that comes a lot of negative self talk. I'm a failure. I'm a bad wife. A horrible friend. I hate my lack of self control. I wish I could change my body type. and on and on. I tell myself things I would never project onto other people. Wherever this comes from, it is not rooted in truth.

Its a process, but I'm working on re-writing my internal narrative, trying to see myself as others see me, and meditating on gratefulness instead of fixating on imperfections.

And this is a good place to start. Imperfections are what make life interesting, and you are more than you think you are. I am more than I give myself credit for.

Keep Voting

Image Source

Prop 37 didn’t pass last week, but I’m still convinced there is a growing food movement in the US. Just in the last few months, New York passed a soda ban, schools have started to ban Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and the Yes on Prop 37 Movement started a national dialogue over genetically modified food.

Its disappointing, but not surprising, that the Prop was crushed by the herd of Goliaths in Big Food and Big Ag. Companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Kraft and Coca Cola poured in $46 million dollars to oppose the bill and dominated the airwaves. Of course they didn’t want it to pass. God forbid consumers know how their food is made, because it may hurt business. I mean, isn’t the fact that they don’t want us to know concerning? 

I’m done ranting. Cross my heart. I don’t want to dwell on the why, although that’s important. There are much better articles written on that (like this one) that you should read if you are interested.

I want to talk about how we can move forward. Elections are important, but we should never forget that we vote every day by how we live and what choices we make. Companies change when consumers do. Here are some of my suggestions for continuing to vote yes on the Food Movement:

1. Vote with your $ & your choices

Choose local over industrial, and organic over conventional when you can. Sign up for a co-op or a CSA, shop at farmer’s markets, start an urban garden. Search for ones near you at localharvest.org. Seriously, get a CSA. It’s the best. And no, they’re not paying me to say that.

At the supermarket, you can avoid GMOs and processed foods by following Michael Pollan’s rules (and my interpretation of them):

-       Shop the edges of the supermarket (where the whole foods live).

-       Don’t buy food that your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize (put down the go-gurt).

-       Don’t eat anything with more than 5 ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce (I’m looking at you, xantham gum).

-       Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot (gross).

And remember, the “all natural” label has nothing to do with being natural. #clevermarketing

2. Ask what’s in your food
I may or may not be that person. You know the person. The one from Portlandia that asks a list of questions and goes to visit the farm before ordering the chicken. If you haven’t seen it, drop everything and watch it now. I'm not joking.

But honestly, the more we ask our farmers, our grocery stores, and our restaurants where their food comes from and what’s in it, the more accountability there is. Win-win.

3. Use your voice

I’m talking to myself here, because I'm disappointed I didn't do more for Prop 37 other than write a blog post and a couple tweets. Get civicly involved on this issue. The amazing thing about our country is that our senators and representatives actually have to listen to us. Call them, set up a meeting with them, attend a town hall meeting. I’ve done it for other issues, and its not that scary, I promise. If you’re nice and not hostile like most people they speak with, you’d be surprised at how easy it is. 

You can also support an organization, get involved in educating others about food, post some signs in your yard. Slowfoodusa.org is a great place to start.

Whatever you do, stay tuned. The Food Movement entered politics, not without struggle, and is growing up. I can’t wait to watch and be a part of what’s next.