Crazy For Kale!!

Happy Monday All!!

I’m currently in California for the month of June, to visit my family but  mainly to help care for my Grandfather, who’s suffering from throat cancer. It’s been a struggle getting him to eat healthy foods, as fruits and vegetables often fail to excite him (sigh). But I’ve decided to take on the challenge of preparing snacks and meals that make veggies more exciting!

So last week, I went for a little harvesting trip to the half-abandonend veggie garden at my dad’s house. My ambition was to find some interesting “earthmeds” to feed to Grandpa. And what did I find might you ask? Well… a whoooole lot of kale (hence the blog post devoted to the subject). Never before had I done anything with kale, let alone attempted buying it at the grocery store, so I decided to experiment a little…

One of the biggest health food crazes over the years seem to have been Kale chips. Everywhere I turn I see trendy packages of kale chips costing the consumer a fortune! I simply decided to make my own and you wouldn’t believe how simple it was!

Kale Chips:

• Wash and DRY kale
• Break/cut into chip-size pieces
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt (… and maybe even some herbs or other spices??)
• Bake for 25-30 min in 275 f oven (turning chips over midway)
• Let them cool properly before serving

As you can see in the photo, I also made a quick greek yogurt and mint dip. Simply mix:

• 1/2 Cup Greek (unsweetened) yogurt
• Handfull of fresh, chopped mint
• 1 tbs Olive oil
• Squeeze of half a lemon juice (more or less)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• (Garlic is optional if you like it)

High-Five for healthy holidays!!

 

I recently visited Holland and Amsterdam for the first time and loved it!! Not only did I enjoy the amazing architecture and charm of the city (also helps a lot that people speak perfect english!!) but it was great to realize that I was probably burning more calories than I was consuming due to ALL the bicycling I did (quite a lot of Gouda cheese consumed along with other Dutch delicacies). I was a little skeptical in the beginning, as I consider myself to be somewhat of a cursed bicyclist. By this I mean that I’ve been in numerous (minor) accidents and suffered countless injuries from bicycling just in my home VILLAGE in Sweden, a place where you technically have to be a veeeery reckless bicyclist in order to have any accident at all… So, you can imagine my feeling when I agreed to bicycle around Amsterdam for three whole days…! I felt like I was receiving my death sentence at age 25!! BUT… low and behold, all went well. Yes, very well actually! I even bicycled back to my friend’s house semi-intoxicated (ok, 5 cocktails intoxicated) one night in HIGH HEELS! Perhaps my curse disappeared with age or something, because I survived the entire trip without even a scratch. So, my point is that holidays don’t have to be purely guilt-filled. There are so many options of great destinations where you’re forced to be active without really realizing it, such as Amsterdam. There, it’s simply easier and more convenient to get around on a bike than any other mode of transportation. Not to mention the fact that you end up saving heaps of money. And speaking from personal experience, I know that even if it’s raining, bicycling is A-ok as this means every time it starts to rain you get a “free-pass” to dodge into the nearest pub or coffee shop until the rain has terminated. After all, you ARE on holiday… right?!! 

My 7-day raw food challenge

Last year I did a 1-month raw food challenge with my sister. I had wanted to try it for a very long time but never gotten around to doing it until my sister moved in with me. It was the perfect time to take on such a challenge as the two of us could support each other through the month long roller coaster ride. And boy was it a roller coaster ride… very difficult at times but also extremely rewarding, especially day 30 when I finally felt like I was getting the hang of things! I would never be able to go on a complete raw food diet (considering I love cooked food and baked goods waaay too much!), but I think it’s important to give your body a little “vacation” every now and then from all those foods that of course taste delicious but may not be so good for us. Therefore, I’ve decided to do a 7-day raw food challenge this time, starting today. My goal is to cleanse, refuel and energize my body in order to boost my health and wellbeing.

So here we go… let the raw food games begin and may the odds be ever in my favor 😉

80 years of health

Yesterday was my Swedish Grandfather’s 80th birthday, which by itself is quite the accomplishment. Turning 80 may not seem like such a big deal today as the life expectancy of people is increasing every ten years or so. However, reaching 80 and being in the physical condition of my Grandfather… now THAT is an accomplishment! I would even go so far as to claim that he is the healthiest person I know. Not in the sense that he is a gym junkie or even a die-hard dieter but in the sense that he has always lived and continues to do so, a consciously active and well-balanced lifestyle.

He sees the value in both exercise and eating well but also the benefits of rest and treating himself to “soul foods” every now and then. Also, the physical activity he does comes from a consciously chosen active lifestyle, including everything from bicycling to work; foraging for mushrooms and berries in the forrest; fishing; hunting for moose and tending to his own vegetable garden. I’m not saying that everyone should do the things my grandfather has done in order to live long and healthy lives but by making our hobbies and interests into exercise routines in disguise, I believe that we can efficiently create robust health practices and well-balanced lives in a minimally painful way. Making yourself go to the gym and run on a treadmill four days a week is hard work if you’re not a natural fan of the gym. However, if you love the woods and you take long walks in the woods four days a week, or if you love bicycling and you decide to bicycle to work every day rather than taking your car – those are the kinds of things that I believe will help us create and maintain long-lasting fitness and health routines. It’s all about creating new habits, but habits are much more easily created if they stem from things that are enjoyable to us. 

So whether it’s going to salsa clubs every weekend; taking long walks on the beach or bicycling to work, try to make your exercise routine an important, fun and essential part of your life. My own Grandfather did, and this I believe made him into the fit and healthy 80-year-old man he is today. 

The Big Breakfast Quest

Today is my last day in Lake Tahoe (with my American family) as I fly back to Sweden this afternoon to spend time with my Swedish family. As usual, I’m always excited to visit Sweden, however, the long trip over there is less exciting to me. In fact, I’m dreading it. Therefore I made sure to go out for another 30 minute run today, just so that I don’t go completely crazy when I have to sit for 12+ hours on a plane across all of America AND the Atlantic ocean before I reach my destination… yuck!

While running today, I was thinking about food and what the perfect post-workout breakfast would be. There is just something absolutely divine about coming home after a long run and having a big delicious breakfast to refuel with. A lot of things went through my head… Did I want eggs or did I want cereal? Would bacon be involved or maybe even some toast? Thinking, running, running, thinking… so many options of delicious recipes kept popping into my head. Nearly back home and a little bothered by my own indecisiveness, I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to make: Mashed avocado on toast with two perfectly poached eggs! This used to be my all-time favorite dish when I lived in Australia and went out for brunch at my local coffee shop. 

So… I came home, took a shower and started preparing my masterpiece! I used half an avocado per serving just lightly mashed with a little salt, pepper and lemon juice. I had some seedy sourdough bread in the freezer which I toasted to perfection before I dressed it with my avocado concoction and two poached eggs. As a finish, I topped it all off with a little creamy feta cheese – mmmm YUM!! 

It truly was the perfect breakfast. Now I can dream about it all flight long (when forced to eat disgusting airplane food!!) all the way to Sweden. 

A Bear Run

I’m currently in Lake Tahoe visiting with family and I cannot emphasize enough on how incredibly gorgeous this place is. No, clubbing isn’t great here and no, the shopping scene is probably also pretty pathetic but all of that is completely insignificant compared to the immaculate scenery you wake up to every single morning. 

After the 4th July weekend I woke up this morning feeling like my body was craving a little run as I had been sitting on my bootylicious for just a little too long and indulging in delights such as beer, burgers and homemade cookies (no regrets by the way!!). Anyway, I strapped on my hot pink Asics running shoes (so ugly they’re cool) and was able to head out for a solid 30 min run. At such high altitude this felt like quite an accomplishment, so hooray for that!! Huffing and puffing after my run, I finished off with 50 sit-ups and 20 push-ups on the front lawn just to make the most of my exercise. Admittedly, this is also my go-to workout when I’m feeling a little lazy and uninspired to invent something more creative (hey, we all have those days right?).

Pre-workout I was feeling super sluggish and unmotivated to do anything but post-workout I felt amazing… like I could run an entire marathon or even wrestle a giant bear!! That’s one of the reasons why I love to run. But speaking of bears…. As soon as I got back into the house, my family told me to hurry out to the patio where they were all standing. So I did and what did I see…? A GIANT BEAR! He was sniffing around for food in the same spot where I had casually been doing my little exercise routine just minutes earlier. Amused, amazed and a little startled by the sight, I was pretty relieved about not becoming Mr. Bear’s Happy Meal of the day.

 

Here’s my work-out break down:

1x 30 min run (medium pace)

50x sit-ups

20x push-ups

I also finished the day with a little paddle boarding session on the lake, as I simply couldn’t resist the glass-like water begging me to hop in! 

 

A kick-start

To tell the truth, I’ve been dragging my feet for way too long and finally decided that this blog needs to become a reality. There are countless health- and fitness focused blogs in the great big Cyber Space and they include a lot of talk about slimming down to fit into your old pants; impressing ex classmates at a high school reunion or the classic one… getting a slamming hot beach bod for the upcoming summer season. Yes, this can be motivating and YES they are (to some degree) valid reasons for getting fit, but in many cases the results will only be temporary. Why is this you may ask? Well, I believe that there are two main issues: #1 We are not doing it for ourselves but to gain approval from others, and #2 We are focused on exterior results as apposed to interior results. Go ahead, roll your eyes and say it sounds so cheesy you wanna throw up, but I’m telling you… it’s true. When we switch our focus however, and decide to get fit or eat right to stay healthy, get strong or to increase mood and energy levels, THAT is when we can get long lasting results. Also, I don’t believe that living a healthy and well-balanced life means that you’re torturing yourself with one diet after the next and punishing yourself when you’ve missed a day at the gym or had a slice of cake at your best friend’s birthday party. We only have one life people, so let’s be kind to ourselves and to our bodies while we’re alive.

With this blog I hope to motivate and inspire people (including myself!!) to create, practice and maintain a well-balanced lifestyle. This includes everything from recipes of good, nutritious food to fun exercise routines, travel ideas, inspirational quotes and much, much more! In my articles, I will emphasize on the five factors which I personally think are the key ingredients for ultimate health: MIND, BODY, NUTRITION, COMMUNITY & PURPOSE. It may sound a little bizarre out of context but just you wait and see… one day it will ALL make sense. Stay tuned for the next blog post!!

/Elina