Two super easy, super healthy recipes!

Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope you are enjoying a restful and relaxing weekend. You deserve it! Today I wanted to share with you two super yummy, super easy recipes I've enjoyed lately. Before I do though, make sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates/ fun wellness stuff! @JMartinez621 and https://www.facebook.com/BeWellLoveJulie  .

Ok, now for the deliciousness! This first recipe was inspired by a Tara Stiles Video (aka  it is basically the same, but I didn't have actual curry sauce- which actually probably makes this version lighter) So, credit to her! Yes, she is my new favorite person. I just read Yoga Cures on my kindle, and it was amazing. Simple, eye opening, life changing. I'll have to do another book list soon!

Curried Rice and Lentils with Veggies ! 

You'll need: 

- A lentils and rice mixture, or any grain of your choice. I did a medley of brown rice, wild rice, and lentils from whole foods

- Vegetable broth

- Earth Balance, olive oil, or a non-stick cooking spray

-Orange Bell Pepper 

-Red Onion

-Celery

-Greens of your choice 

-Any other veggies you desire/ would like to substitute with 

- Curry Powder

- Chilli Powder

- Ground Tumeric 

-Salt and Pepper

As usual, my recipes are more like guidelines. I'm not a professional chef, and everyone's appliances and tastes are different. Alter this as necessary to make it work for you, choosing the correct amount of ingredients for your portion size!

1. Prepare grains per package instructions. I like to use vegetable broth instead of water to give it more flavor. Make a big batch and save leftovers for later in the week! I use a half cup as one serving 

2. Heat a large pan on medium high heat, add a tablespoon or so of Earth Balance (or other choice). Just enough to add some flavor without adding mega calories. 

3. Chop onions and add them to the pan.

4. Do the same with the peppers and celery. 

5. Let these sauté a while until they are nice and soft.

 6. Once the veggies are at their desired texture, turn down the heat a little bit and add grains. 

7. Add a pinch of curry powder, chilli powder, and ground tumeric. Add any more depending on your tastes. 

8. Add the greens, sauté until everything is nice and warm. 

9. Salt and pepper/ season more to taste

10. Enjoy this nutritious and flavorful meal! 

Lemon Pepper Zucchini with Quinoa and Marinara Sauce 

This one is something I just whipped up on my own with random pre-made things I had in my fridge. I love making lemon pepper zucchini and having it ready to throw into any recipe. Also, having a good quality marinara sauce is a wonderful way to easily add flavor to any meal. I like Whole Foods 365 and search for types with no crazy ingredients. I apologize for the messy plating! It didn't occur to me that I should blog about this when I took the picture!

What you'll need: 

- Quinoa

-Vegetable Broth

-Zucchini

-Fresh Garlic

-Greens of Choice

-Marinara Sauce

-Olive Oil

-Lemon Pepper Seasoning

-Italian Seasoning

-Fresh Lemon Juice

-Salt and Pepper 

1. Prepare quinoa per instructions with vegetable broth. 

2. Chop up a few gloves of garlic, depending on portion size

3. In large pan, heat a small amount of olive oil (again, just enough for flavor) and garlic. Use a medium heat so things don't burn! 

4. Meanwhile, chop up zucchini and add to the pan 

5. Sauté zucchini on medium high heat, adding lemon pepper and italian seasoning as desired per your taste. 

6. Squeeze in a little bit of juice from a lemon and continue to sauté zucchini until it reaches desired texture. 

7. Salt and Pepper to taste.

8. Reduce heat and portion out the amount you would like to save as left overs. 

9. To the amount remaining in pan, add quinoa, greens, and marinara sauce. 

10. Stir until everything is warm and delicious

11. Enjoy! 

I also make this by throwing all the left over components into a bowl and microwaving! Do whatever works for you that day =) 

I hope you enjoy these quick and easy recipes! They are simple, and full of whole, nutritious, satisfying ingredients. Why bother with anything else? As I'm sure you can tell, there is an easy formula behind these two recipes. Grain, veggie, greens, seasoning. What other combos can you come up with? Experiment with your favorite flavors! Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean? The possibilities are endless. I'll continue to post anything I find extra easy and delicious! 

Be Well.

Love, Julie

How I've maintained my happy weight by letting go of "intense exercise"

This gets long, and very personal, but if it helps anyone going through something similar, it’s worth sharing!

As I have mentioned before, this is a blog chronicling my wellness journey. It’s a never-ending process of self-growth and knowledge. Sometimes it may mean contradicting things that I have written in the past, and I may change my mind about what I write today in the future. Especially with exercise routines, it’s all about what works best for you day to day.

A few weeks ago or so, I wrote about how I survived my summer desk job. By survive, I meant barely. For some reason, sitting for that long stressed me out so much that my entire body spun out of control. It was as if every normal function simply stopped working. One day I found myself staring at the ATM, unable to remember my pin. I was bloated, uncomfortable in my body, and my heart literally felt like it was pumping out of my chest all the time. Looking back on it, I don’t think it was quite the sitting that was the issue, but the stress that I was subjecting myself to by being so concerned by that, and from having to fit so many things in during the summer.

I tried to combat my inactivity with intense workouts whenever I could, hoping to make up the difference. The thing with intense, aggressive workouts is that it increases your stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Living in such stressful conditions all of the time, whether it is mental stress from day to day life or stress from intense workouts, can result in a chronic overload of cortisol and depletion of adrenaline. Depletion of adrenaline often results in extreme fatigue. Chronic cortisol overload can result in fatigue, the accumulation of fat (especially belly fat), muscle loss, and more. Tons of intense exercise also increases your appetite, which, when combined with stress, can result in cumpulsive eating which outweighs one’s workout.

Anyway, it became clear this was happening to me. I was pushing and pushing, and seemed to be going backwards. Not to mention I felt like I was on the verge of a mental breakdown one to many times. It was then that I looked at those around me, like my Mom, who didn’t work out nearly as much as me, and looked great, just by keeping a clean diet and only eating when she was hungry. I on the other hand, felt totally outside of my body, and sometimes would eat when I really just didn’t need to, knowing that I was uncomfortably full, but needing something to calm me down.

I had read an article by Tara Stiles many times before called “Why exercise and burning calories won’t help you lose weight” (link below). It was all about what I was going through, talking about how living so aggressively makes us eat aggressively and just wrecks havoc on our bodies. She argues that moving in a way that makes us feel good, reducing stress, will help us reconnect with our bodies and eat properly. Nutrition is the key to maintaining our happy weight. Now, like I said, I had been aware of this article for months, going back to it, and not really believing it. “She’s so tiny, she just must not eat” is what I thought. Truth is she eats just what her body needs, and her hormones are in balance, so she is not swollen and fatigued. This is just like what I saw in my Mom and others, who did not force themselves around so often. They just lived naturally and ate intuitively.

A few weeks ago, I reached a point where I just couldn’t take anymore. My body literally screamed for a break. And so, I finally took Tara’s advice and stopped the intense workouts. I focused on yoga, walking, and meditation, and tried to keep my heart rate normal at all times. Within a few days I started to heal. My heart rate calmed down and the swelling all over my body went away. I learned how to recognize when I was truly hungry and when I was full. About a week and a half later, I was back to my happy weight where I felt comfortable, by doing much less exercise than I was doing before. Today, 3 weeks later, I have maintained my healthy state by moving with ease. In fact, business clothes I bought while I was at my peak stress level were too big when I got here! Yoga is still a workout, building killer strength, flexibility, balance, and more. It is simply one that reduces stress instead of causing stress (for me at least). It makes me feel graceful and confident. Being in such a tough grad program, it has helped me stay calm, happy, and balanced. I used to not want to do my hard workouts, but this is something I truly enjoy. Along with honoring my body with a whole food, plant based diet, it has healed me in the most amazing way.

Do your workouts bring you joy and peace? Are they helping you create healthy habits in the rest of your life? Or, are they stressing you out, and causing unease? Everyone is different. Everyone has his or her own “soul mate workout”. Have you found yours? Experiment. Listen to your body, and nourish yourself with your favorite exercise and the proper amount of unprocessed, nutritious foods. Let me know what happens!

Here is Tara's article which much of this story is based off of. She has an amazing blog and collection of yoga videos to help you get started! http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5128/Why-Exercise-and-Burning-Calories-Wont-Help-You-Lose-Weight.html 

Be Well.

Love, Julie