Happy Labor Day!

An appropriate birthday gift from my Mom!

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

 

 

The summer has flown by, but there are still many warm and wonderful days left to enjoy. I love August. Maybe because I was born in August, married in August, and while it is still a summer month, we begin to feel that hint of Autumn which is just around he corner. Shorter days, cooler nights, fireflies (or lightening bugs depending on where you live!!) and the warm summer weather, make it  the perfect month in my opinion. Yet we know another great season, Autumn, is just around the corner.

 

 

I hope your summer was wonderful, and if you are using the start of fall as a time to get healthy for whatever reason, I hope you find a plan you can live with for the rest of your life. It has to be a lifestyle change, plain and simple. You have to be able to do it forever. You may slip and fall, you may lose your way, but you have to have something that you believe in to fall back on. If you don't you will never change permanently, only temporary. If you fail to plan, then you should plan to fail.

 

As many of you know I started my journey to health with the original Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise. This taught me to count my sugar, limit carbs, avoid processed foods, artificial sweeteners and junk foods. It's a great place to start and I have many fellow bloggers that lost weight and have kept it off following this plan. My friend Rosalie has a great blog that gives you all the information you need to know as well as great motivation and recipes. Check it out. http://purplerosy.blogspot.com. 

If you don't know where to start, and you want to get healthy and also lose weight, the Belly Fat Cure is a great book. You will see and be shocked at the amount of sugar, natural and processed, you are eating in the foods that you thought were healthy for you. You will understand how many carbs you should have in a day and why too much insulin is such a bad thing for our bodies. Even as a nurse, I was shocked at what learned

 

I have taken it a step further and now I follow a wheat free and grain free way of eating. I bought and read the Wheat Belly and Grain Brain books and my husband and I have made a life change. Now this didn't happen over night. I bought Wheat Belly a year or so ago. I was following a wheat free way of eating about 80% of the time. But as the author Dr. Davis states, 'if you follow it 80% of the time, you will only get 20% of the results.'

 

So January 1, 2014, my husband and I decided to give Wheat up for good. We have never felt better. In fact just yesterday, he said 'you've saved my life but getting me to follow this way of eating.' Dramatic statement? Yes. But he has had dramatic results. His  chronic acid reflux is gone, his chronic joint pain is gone, his chronic foot tendonitis is gone.  We both have experienced positive health results. My thyroid medication has decreased, my knee pain is greatly diminished, my perimenapausal hot flashes and  mood swings are decreased, and my skin looks so much better. I can really see the difference and others have commented on it as well. And there are many other positive changes, some subtle, but changes for the better any way you look at it.

 

Many people may be skeptical, but I say, what have you got to lose? Try it for a few weeks. See for yourself. It's really not that hard at all once you get the hang of it. I read many, many posts and testimonies on facebook groups and blogs, and the dramatic positive health changes people are reporting cannot be casually dismissed. If you suffer from any debilitating health problem, (migraines, joint pain, asthma, GERD, cardiac or respiratory issues) I really think you should open your mind to the possibility that you could be helped by following a wheat free way of eating. What if this one simple change could have a huge impact on your health? People are quick to take a pill to correct something, but changing ones diet seems impossible for many. It's really not that hard.

 

Next time I post, I'll give you some tips to get started. You can also go to Dr. Davis blog, http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/. It's easy to get started even if you don't want to buy the book.

 

Enjoy the last days of summer!

 

Thought for the day: If you do what you've always done...you'll get what you've always gotten!



Summer days.....drifting away.....

Well here we are in the waning days of summer. I can't believe it's the middle of August already. I hope you found some time to refresh, recharge, and rejuvenate this summer. If not, there are still a few weeks left, so make time for yourself. Grab that book you've been wanting to read and hit the lounge chair by the pool, lake, beach or backyard deck. Pencil it in your schedule and make it a priority. Grab a cold beverage to sip while you are at it.

Water is one of the best beverages for your health. One of the challenges I have is getting enough of it. Did you ever notice that people always say they drink a lot of water. But how much do they really consume in a day? It's probably not enough.

Water is filling, hydrating, and needed for all the metabolic functions to work properly in the body. I'm not going to get too scientific here, and you will always find reports, studies, & opinions that contradict the amounts of water needed daily. Let me just tell you that I follow a lot of Facebook groups and blogs, and a common comment I hear, especially among those trying to lose weight, is that the weight loss is accelerated during the weeks where they really made a conscious effort to consume at least 8 - 10 glasses a day.

To encourage myself to drink water through out the day, I have tried many tricks. My latest one is filling a beautiful dispenser with a whole pitcher of filtered Brita water. I add some fresh cut lemons, mint, or sliced cucumbers. You can make it the way you want. Some frozen or fresh berries will give you a hint of flavor. The goal is to drink it, and it just seems more palatable and fun when you jazz it up.

So grab a cold glass of water and take some time to enjoy these last lazy, hazy days of summer.

They will be gone before you know it!

Thought for the day: Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~Sam Keen

What's for breakfast.... Blueberry Almond Flaxseed Pancakes

Many times I get asked what you can eat for breakfast if you are eating wheat and grain free. Just because you don't use white flour doesn't mean you have to give up pancakes. In fact, there are so many great pancake recipes floating around out there which are made with almond flour and various other ingredients. It just might be hard to come up with your favorite one.

I have been making these as my go to pancake. I make up a huge batch, and freeze in packages. I keep a package in the fridge for the week. It's easy to grab one and heat in the microwave. See my tips at the bottom, as well as some great variations. Don't be afraid to experiment and change things up a bit. I don't think you can mess these up!

Blueberry Almond Flaxseed Pancakes

• 1 cup golden flaxseed meal
• 1 cup almond flour almond flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 tbs of melted coconut oil, olive oil or butter
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, regular or vanilla
• 3 tbs Swerve
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together and combine with dry. Mix until blended.

Drop approx 1/2 cup until well oiled griddle. Dip your hand in water to flatten out. Flip after a few minutes.

My Tips:

• I buy golden flaxseed meal. It's finer and tastes better. 
• Honeyville almond flour is the best for baking. It's fine texture makes baked goods better. You can find it here. I have also found it at Costco at a low price. It really makes a difference in texture.
• Trader Joes sells bags of organic frozen blueberries. It's also easy to freeze your own in ziploc bags during the summer, and then you'll have them all winter long.
• For more even distribution of blueberries, add them to the pancakes on the griddle
• These pancakes have a heavier texture. Don't make them too big or they will be hard to flip. After flipping, press down on them to help cook evenly.
• You can add some walnuts, a few tbs of pure pumpkin puree or some sour cream for variations.
• I don't use Splenda, Nutrasweet or Sweet n Low. They are harmful and full of chemicals. I use products that have sugar alcohols in them. Natures Hollow has great sugar free syrups. I buy from Netrition.Lots of great products and one low  flat rate shipping price.

  

  These are the products I use.

  
  

  

  Dipping hand in water before pressing down, keeps the pancake from sticking when pressing down.

  

  Adding the blueberries after you drop the pancakes onto the griddle, allows for even distribution.

  
  

  

  Delicious topped with butter and Sugar free syrup.
  
  
  
  
  
  Thought for the day: 

Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake. Julia Child

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