It seems like the moment that Christmas is over, the conversations automatically shift to New Year’s plans and (of course) New Year’s Resolutions. Every year, I try to start my New Year’s “Resolutions” early so that by the time the New Year rolls around, I am already in the habit and not burning out by March.

I thought I had my 2015 goals set until one tiny conversation with my hubby last week. Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE sweets. I have to make truly conscious efforts to avoid + crowd out the sugar in my life. I can easily pass on potato chips and fries, but ice cream and cake is another story. With the holidays last week and family in town, there were plenty of sweets around the house – a birthday cake for Mr. C who just turned 1, cookies that were given as gifts, and fudge on its way to be delivered to neighbors. Needless to say over the course of a few days, I was doing a little bit more than sampling…

My hubby who has the willpower of Superman, said “Why don’t you just NOT eat it?”

As if it’s so easy…

We all have our struggles and in order to experience success, we need to find a way to manage them. For me, sugar is a weak point. One of the ways that I manage it, is by NOT bringing it into the house. Of course, there are special occasions when we have a sweet or two in the house, but for the most part, you wont find it in my cabinets. There are occasions where we will have dessert at a celebration meal or if I am REALLY craving something, I’ll purchase a single serving size. When it’s gone – it’s gone.

Why is it so easy for some of us and so difficult for others?

So, I found yet another way to help me manage it – I found a partner and yes, it’s my hubs.

Like me with sweets, he occasionally smokes cigars. It’s usually on the golf course or a get together with friends. It has been a point of contention for a few years because I just don’t understand how someone could enjoy cigars – probably much like he can’t understand “Why don’t you just NOT eat it?” when it comes to me and sugar.

That being said, we joined forces and decided that for the next year, he will help me help myself by not eating sweets and he is not going to touch a cigar. Talk about a win win!

Oh, it makes me nervous, the potential to fail is so great. I know that both challenges will only make 2015 better + healthier, but I still find myself thinking about what if I slip up. That’s why I NEED your help on this one too!

We should all be able to give up sweets for a year. Just to be clear…these are processed sweets that are clearly not healthy (i.e. cookies, cake, ice cream, brownies – gosh that’s hard to say). Fruits are allowed and as I am writing this, I am already thinking about some delicious Maverick Pears that I had a few months back that were BETTER than ice cream (thanks Mom!).

I officially Quit Sugar!

What are you going to do to make your 2015 even better than your 2014?  How are you going to do it and what support system do you have in place?  Let us know in the comments

Live your WHOLE life!

Meg + Shannon

 

 

 

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! We often need reminders of this! I made the mistake of going to Costco today to pick up a few things (mixed nuts, sparkling water, and purified water) and was slammed with a holiday hurricane of stressed out shoppers charging through the aisles and grabbing samples by the handfuls! There was no joy and the samplers were far from jolly. It just felt like rush, rush rush! As I left the store I managed to get out of the packed parking lot dodging cars vying for my spot and got into bumper to bumper traffic. By the time I got home, I just wanted to relax! What is it about the holidays that makes everyone so crazy?

The atmosphere at the store was hectic, and the samples were overly complicated, standardly boring pre-frozen pastry type appetizers. I felt bloated just looking at them! I was in charge of bringing an app to our family Christmas, but wanted to do something fresh + simple that would be tasty and also leave everyone light on their feet. Plus, it had to fit in with my party-dish rules:

1)   Affordable– So you can spend the savings on a kick-ass grab bag gift

2)   Healthy– to balance out all the 7 layer cheese dips and sugar coated sugar cookies

3)   Simple– these aren’t the Top Chef finals

4)   Festive– ‘Tis the season!

I started googling holiday-themed dishes and was disappointed with the results: overly-rich or food-dye sugary options. Dr. Mark Hyman wrote a great article about how to get through the holidays without feeling sick and gaining weight while eating at restaurants. There was a ton of great advice in there and it inspired me to create my new favorite holiday recipe!

Reminding me of my mom’s holiday cranberry wreath, hung over our fireplace each year, the “Caprese Christmas Wreath” is simple with just 3 ingredients, costs less than $10 and takes about 10 minutes to assemble- start to finish. Plus its really cute and was the first to go at my last party!

Ingredients

10.5 oz cherry tomatoes

2 oz. organic fresh basil leaves, stems removed

8 oz. fresh mozzarella pearls packed in water, drained

assorted toothpicks

(optional) Balsamic vinegar for dip

 

Directions:

1)   Using a strainer, thoroughly rinse the fresh basil leaves under warm running water and pat dry with paper towels. Repeat with cherry tomatoes.

2)   Arrange the basil leaves, stem facing in, around the edges of a plate. The plate size will determine how large your “wreath” will be.

3)   Grab those toothpicks! Spear 1 mozzarella pearl, next add a basil leaf (torn or folded in half), followed by a cherry tomato. Make sure the toothpick does not poke the cherry tomato through and come out the other end. Repeat.

 4)   Using the Caprese toothpicks, start assembling a ring on top of the basil you laid out on the plate (exposed toothpick side facing inward). Once you’ve created a circle, start the next ring, just inside of the first one. (Our plate allowed for 2 rings, before all the exposed toothpick parts were touching in the center).

5)   Tear any leftover basil into pieces and use to cover the exposed toothpicks in the center of the wreath. Top the torn basil pieces with additional mozzarella pearls.

6)   Finito!

Place additional toothpicks next to your Caprese Christmas Wreath for guests to use. This appetizer is great on its own, or complimented with balsamic vinegar as a dip option.

 

We wish you a HAPPY + HEALTHY Holiday season!

Live your WHOLE life,

Shannon + Meg

 

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Which veggies do you think are the healthiest? We’ve received this question so often and as we begin to spread our holiday cheer through our hugs + tummies, we wanted to clear up some confusion and not only give you the information to prepare a delicious meal, but also give your guests as many nutrients as possible!

It may seem like the obvious choice is FRESH vegetables, but this actually depends on several factors, including how the veggies are grown and how long it takes to get the veggies from the ground to your table.

FRESH

THEE best choice is organic, pesticide-free, freshly picked vegetables. This is exactly the way that nature intended you to enjoy this gift, however, depending on where you live, the winter weather may have limited your ability to get locally grown vegetables. Do the best that you can and once the weather starts to warm up, head back to your local farmer’s markets to shop for in-season veggies or consider growing your own in a garden.   Also, buy what you need as close as possible to the time that you plan to eat them. Our Whole Food Love programs encourage you to plan a 30-minute grocery trip once per week (+ a quickie trip depending on your meal prep schedule.)

Only stock up if it’s going to encourage you to eat MORE veggies!

FROZEN

Frozen organic vegetables are an excellent alternative to fresh veggies both during the colder months when your veggie of choice may be out of season as well as during those times when you just need to stock up and know that fresh veggies won’t last.

An additional benefit of frozen veggies is that they are usually “flash” frozen shortly after being harvested and at the peak of freshness. Frozen organic vegetables can actually be MORE nutritious than fresh veggies if the fresh veggies have taken extended periods of time to be transported from farm to grocery store.

CANNED

Canned veggies are by far, the least nutritious method. Despite being canned shortly after being harvested, canned veggies lose up to 90% of their original nutritional value. Further, canned veggies have loads of sodium and many cans are lined with plastic that contains BPA.

 PREPARATION

A final component of veggie nutritional value is how it’s prepared. All veggies will lose most of their nutrients and flavors if they are boiled in water for extended periods of time. Lightly steam to preserve as many vitamins as possibly. Enjoy!

I’m back in Chicago for a week and was greeted by the familiar December weather- cold and windy (although not as extreme as in years past)! My first night back I already noticed my skin drying out, a combination of being on a plane and the windy weather. My go-to beauty fix for dry skin doesn’t come from a department store or even a drug store…It’s actually from the grocery store…and costs less than $1.

My favorite esthetician told me about this super simple facial mask that works wonders on dry skin. She explained that avocados are “Mother Nature’s skin moisturizer.” Here’s a recipe for a DIY Avocado Glow Facial Mask that will leave your skin feeling miles away from the winter weather!

All you need is:

1 ripe organic avocado

1 Tbsp. organic honey

You should be able to find both of these ingredients at your local grocery store. Now why would you want to smear green avocado goop all over your face? Because avocados are considered a “beauty food” for good reasons- they have:

–       Phytonutrients, that are great for skin when applied topically

–      Oil that is similar to our skin’s natural oils and keeps us glowing

–       Vitamins A, D, and E, all of which help maintain healthy skin

–       Healthy essential fatty acids that help prevent premature wrinkling

–       Oils that work internally towards the surface of the skin, soothing deep muscle inflammation

Here’s how to get your glow!

Step 1:           Remove makeup and wash your face with warm water and soap or your favorite cleanser.

Step 2:           Peel and pit your avocado. In a small bowl mash the fruit with a fork until smooth. Add in the honey and mix together until it forms a paste.

Step 3:           Using clean fingers, apply mixture to your skin, being careful to avoid the eye area. Leave on for 20 minutes.  CAUTION: you may resemble something closer to a disney creature than your beautiful self!

Step 4:           When the time is up, wash the mask off using lukewarm water.

Step 5:           Pat your face dry and notice your newly soft and nourished skin!

Healthy “food inspired” beauty products are all the rage right now. You can find cucumber eye cream, apricot scrub, blueberry overnight repair, and moisturizing avocado facial masks. You can actually increase the powerful benefits by using the food in its whole form (and its usually way cheaper). Our DIY Avocado Glow Facial Mask will improve skin tone, plump up wrinkles and remove excess oil.

We hope you enjoyed this WHOLE FOOD skin remedy! Let us know what you think in the comments below.

 

Live your WHOLE life,

Shannon + Meg

How many of us struggle with overwhelm? I struggle with overwhelm on a daily basis and I have to commit a portion of myself to managing it every single day. There are so many things that I WANT to accomplish and so many things that I NEED to get done.

The month of December always adds an additional layer of places to go, people to see, gifts to buy, and friends to call. Based on the wisdom of Tim Ferris, I have been working on few ways to reduce overwhelm + I started implementing them right away!

1.) REDUCE DECISIONS THAT HAVE TO BE MADE

We make thousands of decisions on a daily basis.   These decisions consume an incredible amount of brain power, but the truth is, that there are very few decisions that actually MATTER. By 10:00AM the brain is already exhausted and we’ve accomplished deciding to wear our hair in a pony-tail vs. down.

Remove all decisions that really aren’t important. Consider picking out tomorrow’s outfit tonight. Even if you work from home, select an outfit so that you don’t have to make this decision in the morning. Reserve your brain power for choices that matter more!

Steve Jobs took this to the extreme, by essentially have his uniform of jeans + black mock neck turtleneck. This man knew a thing or two about reserving that brain power!

2.) IDENTIFY 2 CRITICAL TASKS THAT MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED

So much overwhelm is related to all the “to do’s” on our list. When we are unfocused and distracted, it is incredibly easy to “find” other tasks that “must” be completed. In actuality, we know that we are looking for an escape from a task that is less appealing, more difficult, or more time consuming to complete.

Rather that focus on how to grow your “to-do” list, focus on just 2 critical (i.e. tasks that actually matter!) tasks that must be completed by the end of the day. Having two tasks is completely manageable. You’ll actually complete something and you’ll find that a lot of those other tasks on your to do list will simply fall away. They weren’t relevant in the first place and they are stripping you of so much brain energy!

These are my 2 go-to steps for managing overwhelm. Don’t complicate it, just do it!

Live your WHOLE life,

Meg + Shannon