#healthyliving – Emy Minzel

Habit Tracking Helps!

July 7, 2019July 6, 2019 emyminzel

Tracking my habits and keeping a food log has really helped me to see exactly where I need healthy improvement. It’s helping me so much that I’d like to share it with you! I have created a simple grading system that lets me see how I’ve done during the day and for the week. This trick helps to hold me personally responsible for my grade and the outcome.

After a short time of skipping some parts of my self-care schedule, I see it’s time to get back to making healthy changes in my dieting and fitness routine. Taking this healthcare hiatus has served the purpose of a potent reminder that I feel much better when I am consistantly taking care of myself! I found that I do have healthy habits, and I eat wholesome food for the most part. Yet without more scrutiny and habit tracking, I was not meeting my goals.

Writing down what I eat every day and counting calories help me to be more accountable, especially when I see it down on paper. Keeping a food log helps me plan healthier dinners and stops me from snacking when I’ve reached my calorie limit. It also helps prove that If I am a solid C student, I see that I get C results! Viewing my first week’s grades makes me want to improve my habits to get my desired results.

I won’t go on and on about how to eat or what to do with your fitness routine. Those things are all personalized and really none of my business! I am going to share a picture of the Habit Tracker I use, and if you are interested, I would happily send you an email with the excel file attatchment. My Habit Tracker is not fancy, it’s simple and does the job. I hope you find it helpful too!

Here is my personal email for you to send your request for my spreadsheet, making it easy to copy, paste, and customize.

Send request to: EmyMinzel.AdventureSister@gmail.com

After using my habit tracker for a few days, I felt that I needed to add some things and change some of them too. I’ve shared my Habit Tracker with Adventure Sister Stacy, who added more relaxation and meditation habits, while I added more activity requirements. You know what you need to improve, so do it up!

Are there any healthy tips, tricks, or advice you’d like to share that may help our Adventure Sisters community? Supporting and learning from each other helps us nurture the world around us and ourselves. We all have wisdom that will help someone, so don’t be afraid to share yours!

Sending you love, blessing, health, and happiness!

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

EmyMinzel.AdventureSister@gmail.com

https://emyminzel.com

@EmyMinzel

www.AdventurewithEmyandStacy.com

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Five tips and tricks!

January 14, 2019 emyminzel

To help keep healthy living resolutions –

Lots of us chose to re-evaluate our health routine at the beginning of a New Year. It’s always a great idea to shake things up with our habits and menu! I have been doing my best to cut out unhealthy eating habits and substituting them with better nutritional alternatives. I figured I’d share some of the tips I have been using, as a reminder, that it doesn’t take a whole lot of work to trade this for that!

Meatless Monday – There are great ways to get protein in your diet without meat. Some examples I love are beans, peas, eggs, and cottage cheese. Try making vegetarian fried rice or eggs for dinner. It’s an opportunity to get creative. I chose to make several meals a week meatless; it’s as easy as peanut butter and jelly. (Another tip: I make peanut butter mixed with maple syrup as substitute for jam/jelly with it’s refined sugar.)

Five servings of veggies and fruit per day – Adding color to meals with fruit and veggies helps us get the nutrients our bodies need, so our cravings for junk food are less intense. Nutritionist say to stay away from starchy potatoes and pick vegetables with lots of colors. I love to make baked beets, carrots, and sweet potato mixture as a tasty colorful vitamin packed side dish.

Cook at home – It’s easier to make healthy meals when you are in your own kitchen. Plus, it gives us a chance to get better nutrition into our menu. I like to make soup and add lots of veggies, herbs and sometimes I use beans instead of meat. There are lots of ‘Hot Dishes’ and stir fry recipes that are quick, easy and a healthy way to get your veggies in.

Swap Snacks – Skip the Chips and grab a bag of trail mix. I’ve been cutting way back on processed sugar. So instead of a chocolate bar, I have been snacking on dates! They are delightfully sweet! You can also eat more apples! They have a satisfyingly sweet crunch to help with cravings and are full of fiber that keeps us feeling full!

Add exercise – I’ve got a Fit Bit and have been doing my best to get my steps in. When I have a hard time doing it, I just run up and down the steps a few times a day or make another lap or two around the grocery store. Did you know doing jumping jacks count too? You don’t need a fit bit of course, but even deciding to take the stairs more often and park farther away when you go out, is a good step towards progress.

One more easy (but important) to remember tip is to keep yourself accountable before you put food in your mouth. Ask yourself “Is this good for my body?” It sounds simple enough, but I found that when I ask myself this, I usually make the healthier decision!

I’ve been doing other things to up my diet game. I have quit drinking soda, coffee creamer and alcohol, they are full of empty calories, chemicals and have no real nutritional value. I have also been making sure that I drink more water every day. Substituting tea and natural juices also seem to work to curb any cravings that may strike.

Although I may have my moments of weakness and chocolate may be one of them…. I know that it is okay. I just keep getting back on the horse. I am doing my best to make better choices for my health and every little step forward counts!

I hope those of you who made New Year healthy living resolutions are doing well with them too! You can do this! I believe in you!

I’d love to hear what tips and tricks work for you! Please feel free to share!

With love,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@EmyMinzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Don’t eat poop!

December 6, 2018 emyminzel

My beloved and best friend Gus likes to eat poop. Every winter my Bulldog looks forward to fresh turdcicles from the backyard. It is disgusting! We make light of the situation by joking that he goes to the backyard to get $hitfaced and comes in smelling like a sewer. So, every time I let him out to go potty, I look him square in the eye and say “Gus, don’t eat poop. Look at me buddy. I mean it. Don’t do it.”

You may wonder why I am telling you this icky yet funny story. It is because I find it not so different then what humans do to themselves. We drink alcohol, diet pop, eat fast food, some smoke cigarettes, and other habits that are full of nothing good for you at all! Then especially during the holidays and we top it off with cookies, bars or sugary deliciousness that goes straight to our waistlines.

Now I am aware that not everyone eats like this all the time. But we do have our moments, habits and weaknesses that remind me of my dog Gus. He knows he is not supposed to eat poop, he will even sneak around the side of the house or go where he doesn’t think I can see him. However, when he comes in the house the secret cannot be masked.

Just like when humans eat or drink too much crap, we know we should not! The weight, and health issues it causes us cannot be hidden for long! You may not know this about me but the originating event that got me into politics was food! About ten years ago I was getting sick and could not figure out why. The doctors could not figure out the reasoning behind my debilitating tummy troubles, inflammation, skin rashes, and breakouts. I was frustrated but refused to take “I don’t know.” For an answer.

So, I started doing my own research, several articles and books I read said to focus on digestive health. I watched an abundance of documentaries that exposed how our food is grown and processed. Learning how governmental regulations were written by and for large corporations that did not care about your health, they cared only about making money. Light bulbs were going off in my head left and right! I had more knowledge now I needed to do something about it! (Besides complain!)

I started by eliminating foods from my diet in hopes of healing myself. I had no idea just how horribly bad the processed and fast foods were for my body! I learned so much that I did not know before and slowly stopped eating processed foods. I cooked more whole foods and removed wheat and dairy from my diet. It took many years and a lot of intentional healing of my digestive system before I felt better and get back my energy. Oh man, the tiredness and lack of energy were the worst! I kept me from enjoying life and kept me homebound when I could have been out having fun.

The point is, I discovered when I ate like poop, I felt like poop! Crops grown with insecticides that are meant to explode insect’s stomachs are in processed foods that humans eat. It does not wash off, and it doesn’t go away just because they put cheese on it! The modernized monoculture food system has been modified for convenience and cost not for health. The taxpayers are basically subsidizing processed foods like Doritos, sugary cereals, and ice cream instead of whole foods that are healthy.

Corn, wheat, soy, and dairy are the ‘big agriculture’ crops that tax dollars subsidize. We now have so much of it, we need to do something with it! Have you ever read the back of a tuna can?! There is now Soy in a can of tuna…. Why is there soy in our tuna? We must buy a $4.00 can of tuna if we do not want to eat the processed tuna with soy in it for a lot less money. Not to mention the pesticides liberally used on the grain crops that feed our families.

I believe the more information we have, the better choices you make. Which is why I wanted to remind you and myself, that even though processed and fast food is easy and quick it is not good for you! It is a habit that is easy to get into and it really is easy to be broken. I am proof!

I have fallen off the healthy train many times, and I can always tell when it is time to get back on. When you know better you do better. When you eat better, you feel better! A new healthier, happier body, mind and spirit is waiting… My body tells me when it’s time to get back on track and I bet yours does too. Here is the friendly and caring advice I give my best friend Gus this winter. Don’t eat poop!

Here is a list of documentaries you may find as interesting as I did! Most of them you can find on Netflix.

*Fed UP *Food Inc. *What the health *Food Matters *Cowspiracy * Supersize Me *Fat, Sick and nearly Dead *Food Choices * Sustainable *Forks over Knives *In defense of food.