The Sexy September Challenge

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Karen Morse

Happy Friday! I have missed a couple of weeks of posting due to moving house & not having internet access for several days. Incidentally, I also did not have a television for close to two weeks and it was brutal!

I’m back, and I’m excited to share with you that the lovely Kristi Fauth (aka Robobarbie) has invited our community to join her in a Sexy September Challenge!!

Looking to get stronger?

Lose a dress size?

Both?? Well, this is the challenge for you!

Starting tomorrow, September 1st — simply visit the Wellness Science Facebook page & post, read, comment on the following:

Exercising daily and posting our efforts
Eliminating alcohol from our diets!!
Sharing how many inches and/or pounds lost by end of September

It’s great motivation to work on your health & fitness goals with a team. There are no rules other than to do your best. If you skip a day, no big deal!! Just jump back in the next day to get a healthy dose of motivation from the rest of the challengers!

Who’s in??

Meatless Monday Featured Recipe – Snap Pea Salad

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Karen Morse

Hey guys!

It has been a hectic last week or so! I have been in the midst of moving house and had no internet access for about a week. Talk about a challenge!

Though I wasn’t able to bring you an original recipe from Wellness Science this week, I did want to share what I think looks like a delicious recipe idea for Meatless Monday. This recipe is from the Meatless Monday website and was contributed by Amy of The Crunchy Carrot. Looks yummy!

Serves 4

For the salad:

5 ounces jicama
5 ounces summer squash, preferably zephyr squash
3 radishes
1/2 lime
salt, to taste
6 baby carrots, peeled and cut into slices
2 peaches, cut into small cubes
1 pound snap peas
1-2 teaspoons dill
1 tablespoon cilantro
sesame seeds, to taste

For the ginger lime dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 lime, juiced and half zested
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1 squirt hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

To make the salad:

Using a mandolin or vegetable peeler, slice the jicama and squash into very thin ribbons. Stack the ribbons of each vegetable on top of one another and cut with a knife to create matchsticks. Cut the radish into matchsticks using a knife.

Place the jicama, squash and radish matchsticks together in a large sized bowl. Squirt with the half lime and season with salt to taste. Add the sliced baby carrots, peaches, snap peas, dill and cilantro. Toss to ensure all ingredients are evenly distributed.

To make the lime ginger dressing:

Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, ginger and hot sauce together in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To complete the Snap Pea Salad:

Toss the salad with half the lime ginger dressing and toss to ensure the salad is evenly coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Divide into 4 portions, add more dressing if desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!

A Sure Way to Stress Less? Aim for Happiness

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Karen Morse

Studies show that on average, Americans spend 75-80 percent of their waking time complaining. When you complain, your body interprets that as a stressful situation & releases adrenaline.

Dr. Frederic Luskin, a consultant in Health Promotion at Stanford University, says “Stress is a perception that I do not have what I need to satisfactorily handle my life,” “Stress is wanting what you do not have, and happiness is wanting what you already have.”

Seems simple enough, right?

As I shared in my previous post, Should I Stay or Should I Go?, today’s emotional stressors trigger the same “fight or flight” response that our long ago ancestors used to feel when running away from wild animals that wanted to make them dinner!

When that happens, stress hormones are released causing your heart to beat faster and your blood pressure to rise (among other harmful things).

We need to learn to slow down a little, practice mindfulness, and taking note of what causes us to feel stressed out.

One way to stress less is to make happiness a goal. Cultivating happiness means nurturing personal relationships, practicing gratitude, helping others, and shooting for your dreams.

Meatless Monday Featured Recipe: Creamy Tagliatelle of Root Vegetables

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Karen Morse

Happy Monday everyone!

The Meatless Monday Featured Recipe for August 6, 2012 is Creamy Tagliatelle of Root Vegetables. This recipe comes to you courtesy of:

Vegetarian Cooking: A Common Sense Guide

There are some amazing recipes in this cookbook – mains, sides, and some awesome looking desserts. It was given to me as a gift, but it can be purchased on Amazon.com if you just click on the picture of the cookbook above. I consider it an awesome resource for vegetarian cooking!

The tagliatelle looks delicious!

Here’s what you need to make 4 servings. Enjoy!!

4 large carrots, peeled
2 large parsnips, peeled
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chives, finely diced
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrots and parsnips into long thin strips, until you reach the hard core. Blanch the carrot and parsnip strips in the boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, then refresh in a bowl of iced water.
Pour the heavy cream into a saucepan. Add the garlic & stir over medium heat until the cream has reduced to about 3 1/2 ounces. Stir in half of the parmesan cheese & half of the chives, then season well with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.
Drain the vegetable strips thoroughly, then add to the cream mixture & stir gently over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until warmed through.
Serve garnished with the remaining parmesan and chives.

Other Meatless Monday recipes you might like:

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Risotto

Easy Fish Tacos (for the pescetarians)

Easy Peasy Roasted Vegetables (everyone loves these)

Do You Have a Plan?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Karen Morse

Having a plan never failed me in the workplace, but sometimes it is hard to translate this to my personal life.

But I do believe this is the bottom line, folks… a goal without a plan is just a wish!

After a year of searching for a new home, we finally found “the one.” I can’t WAIT ’til Moving Day!

My personal goal this week is to pack all my winter clothes, books, and china/glassware from the kitchen. Ok…I don’t know anyone who likes packing. I was actually excited about it, but I’m having a hard time being objective in the “keep this, toss that” conversation with myself – so it is taking WAY longer than I had hoped.

And my helpers? Well…cute.. but not so helpful…

Time to take a page from my own book (literally!) and be a Smart Girl!

Smart Girls set SMART goals! SMART goals is an acronym which stands for Specific-Measurable-Attainable- Realistic-Timely. This was first introduced to me in a corporate environment, and I didn’t learn what I could have from the process because I was using it to set and meet someone else’s goals.

For personal goal setting, I have found a whole new appreciation for it!

S – Specific (Do you use words like “who,” “what,” “when,” “why,” , etc.?)

M – Measurable (Do you answer questions like “how often,” or “how many?”)

A – Attainable (Clearly describe the result you want to achieve)

R – Relevant (Is this goal realistic for YOU?)

T – Timely (Is this something you should be pursuing now, or would it be more appropriate a year from now?)

A task like packing up a WHOLE house is incredibly daunting, so I’m finding this incredibly helpful in breaking up the job into manageable chunks.

A much more manageable approach that is measurable, realistic, and attainable! Surely I can do this by the end of the day?

Do you use SMART goal setting in your personal life? I’d love to hear about how it has worked for you. Leave me a comment below this post!

P.S. Are you getting my FREE Wellness Newsletter that comes out every Tuesday? If not, sign up to receive it here!