I believe that I am capable of achieving anything and everything.

I call these "Chocolate Coconut Drops" These little guys are the perfect treat for yourself or for anyone who is a dark chocolate lover that is seeking an alternative to store bought chocolate bars and candy. I love making these and bringing them out for friends to try. The best thing about them is since they are made with coconut oil they are full of yummy healthy fats that literally melt in your mouth like a chocolatey truffle. The good thing is they are easy, fast, and have very few ingredients! 🔶Ingredients🔶 🔹1/4 cup coconut oil 🔹1/2 cup cacao powder 🔹2 tbs of syrup or honey 🔹dash of cinnamon, vanilla and salt Just heat everything in a sauce pan on low heat, poor it into an ice cube tray or candy mold, and place to chill in the fridge or freezer. Once you pop them out of the mold you can top them with whipped coconut cream or your favourite nut to add some crunch. Simple recipe, but one of the best I've come up with! Hope you enjoy!

   I love feeling good about myself by eating well and making good decisions everyday.    I always give myself the choice, tune in to my body and mind to find out what they really need. If I ever have a dilemma I take a deep breath, sit quietly, and ask myself "would______ benefit me and my soul today?"   I wake up in the morning with goals, and go to bed happy knowing everyday I'm working hard to achieve them.

I absolutely love coming home from a hard day of school/ work and making myself a big bowl of zucchini pasta! It brings my energy up after a long day, plus it's actually a surprisingly tasty alternative to grain/gluten-based pasta. The trick to making it flavourful is all in the sauce! There are many ways to make a whole-food vegetable pasta sauce, without any fillers or preservatives. how I made mine tonight was super easy and could fool anyone into thinking that raw spirilized zucchini is a good substitute for pasta. Even kids would probably love the fun green skin on their noodles, healthy can be experimental and fun! I've learned not to limit myself to the same foods everyday, all day. That way if I keep challenging myself with new nutritious sauces or food inventions I will never get bored of eating healthy; which means less chances for straying to an unhealthy substitute (ie. a canned pasta sauce full of sugar, preservatives, canola oil, processed fats, or cream) I'll be posting more pasta recipes as I make them, but tonight I'll share with you my "Tomato Basil Garlic Marinara" 🔶Marinara: 🔹6 Romano tomatoes 🔹handful of fresh basil 🔹2tbs apple cider vinegar 🔹1 red bell pepper 🔹1 avocado 🔹1 slice of onion 🔹1 clove of garlic 🔹1-2 tsp Italian seasoning 🔹1-2tbls olive oil/ or MCT oil 🔹pinch of salt, pepper, and dill Once you have all the ingredients it's easy to make. Simply put everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. 🔶Noodles 🔹1-3 zucchini depending on the size ( I used 3 small ones) 🔹handful of cherry tomatoes 🔹handful of basil 🔹chopped steamed squash If you don't have a spirializer you can slice the zucchini into strips, or grate them on a cheese grater to make the noodles, but I suggest investing in a spirilizer, it's an essential tool in my kitchen. Chop up the tomato and basil and toss them in the noodles with the cooked cubed squash. Mix in the sauce, serve, and enjoy! This may seem like a lot of ingredients, but i had most of them in my cupboards already, so if you don't have some of the ingredients don't worry and just substitute for something else :D or add whatever you want! That's the fun of this dish! It never really turns out the same way twice! :) Happy Monday night everyone! Tomorrow I'll be posting a new dessert recipe for everyone to enjoy!

ahhhh isnt the view amazing??? I feel like im at the center of everything! Plus I'm living with an awesome roommate. She will probably be my guinea pig for all the new recipes that I will be sharing with you :D If anyone wants to come cook/bake with us here in Vancouver, come on over! aha

Sauerkraut and Squash

   Huuffffff so I finally am moved into my new apartment. There are boxes everywhere, garbage bags filled with clothes, and endless things to put away. But it feels like such a fresh start. I'm ready for a change in Career, Education, and personal nutrition.    I feel my body always telling me "go work out! go for a run! do some yoga!" but my brain says "no be lazy, sit and watch tv." Anyone else get like that?? I usually let my brain win, but after moving boxes/cleaning/lifting crap I feel amazing.... my body is like a dog staring at its owner wagging its tail, waiting to go for a walk. I just have to get my ass in gear and do more things like that! On another note, today in Physiology my prof was explaining how terrible sugar is (no matter if the source is from fruit or processed table sugar) and how it causes oxidization, inflamation, aging, Poly-cystic ovary syndrome, fatty liver, diabetes...etc So bascially eating any type of sugary food in moderation is key to being healthy. I'm still going to enjoy my fruit, especially berries because they are so high in viamins, anti-oxidants, and are so great for hydrating your body. but its going to make me think twice about eating 6 bananas in a row coughcoughthathappenedyesterday kale stew it is!   Anyways tonight after school I enjoyed a giant bowl of steamed Kobucha squash, bell peppers, a bunch of other veggies and sauerkraut. The perfect meal! Next time I'll take pictures. I'll have to make a post about all the amazing healthy qualities raw sauerkraut has, because its awesomely beneficial to your gut bacteria, stomach, and works wonders for healing inflammation in the intestines. Squash is the perfect carb to make you feel full and satiated with all the wonderful nutrients of beta-carotene  which helps keep your eyes healthy! Just what I need for the strain my eyes are going to go through this weekend as I cram my face with info for the midterm. ughhhhh wish me luck! I'm thinking of posting a daily meal/food journal too...  with pics of what I eat during the day. I'm wondering would anyone be interested?

Who says you can’t make baking fun when it’s gluten, sugar, and dairy free? It’s even paleo friendly! :D I made this cake for my family one night (my mom recently went paleo) it was gone the next day. They even had a piece for breakfast!

I made my own flour just by putting almonds in a food processor and pulverizing them Into a powder.

Dark chocolate is super easy to make too! Just melt coconut oil and mix in cacao or cocoa powder! And Tada! Dark chocolate! You can mix in some honey to make it sweet, but I love the bitter taste without sweeteners.

If anyone actually wants the recipe for this, let me know and I’ll post it! Or let me know what sinful sweets and desserts you would love to try :)

Eat Cherries for a Better Sleep!

     Cherries are an amazingly tasty and tart little stone fruit. They remind me of picnics in the summer on the beach. It's one of my favorite fruits, not only for its delicious sweet taste but for its amazing antioxidants, vitmain, and mineral content.   Like most fruit these little guys are high in vitamin C, which can fight off colds, inflammation, and fight respiratory infections and even reduce allergies.   Cherries get their vibrant red colour from powerful cancer fighting antioxidants called anthocyanins. The same antioxidant found in red wine. It's another great anti-inflammatory.   They also contain beta-carotene, which improves your eyesight! But a new study on cherries has given me another reason to keep a steady supply in my house. They improve your sleep! Researchers conducted a 5 month study on the effects of cherry juice and sleep. It was found that cherries contain a significant amount of Melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone created in the pineal gland to aid in sleep and put your body at a resting state. It also helps fight cancer, inflammation, depression, GI problems, slow aging, and combat insomnia. This sleep aid is rarely found in food, and even rarer to find in a source that can be easily absorbed through the blood brain barrier. Cherries are the exception! They are the only food to have melatonin in such an absorb-able abundance. So the next time you find yourself up at 3am wishing you were sleeping, try out this experiment on yourself and see if it works for you. :D I know I will!

I'll be needing some sleep after this physiology exam that I've been studying endlessly for. ugghhh back to the books I go! Happy Monday night everyone:D

Metabolism

   Happy Sunday Evening! Ive been reading my physiology text-book all day while watching the last bit of the Olympics and I thought I would take a break and a breather from learning about muscle tissue and watching athletes.   Something interesting I've learned through my comparative diets class at IHN is that not everyone metabolizes every food the same. Different people run better on carbohydrates, fats, or proteins depending on how easily your body can oxidize and burn the the energy. This is why that skinny friend of yours can eat such crappy meals, while you are watching your calories like a hawk. It doesn't mean that they are healthy though; just that their body is more efficient at using the energy they are consuming. Basically our body runs off of ATP created in our mitochondria. Glucose/sugar (or carbs) are easily converted into energy. Every cell can do it. However, fat needs to be turned into ketones with the help of a special enzyme before it can be converted into glucose, and then energy. It's an extra step that takes more effort and can be taxing on the liver. Based on your metabolic profile of the Oxidative System (the rate at which food is converted into energy in the cells) your body could efficiently burn carbs better then fats (slow oxidizers) or fats better than carbs (fast oxidizers). Slow Oxidizer (carb type) -does not process fats and proteins for energy very efficiently -rely on carbohydrate rich foods -high tolerance for sweets -problems with weight management -relatively weak appetites -can end up with intestinal issues if too much fat is in their daily diet Fast Oxidizers (protein/fat type) -frequently hungry, crave fatty salty foods -fail on low calorie diets -easily able to process fat and protein for energy -maintain decent body weight but store carbohydrates as fat and do poorly on high carb diets. and then of course there is the Mixed Oxidizer who can eat a balance of both and eat foods from both categories. This could all be based around your genetics as well. Some culture thrive on high carb, low fat/protein diets (India and China) While others thrive on high protein/fat diets (Inuit/ first nations)

Its all about what you find works best for you. Listen to your body and it will tell you what it needs.

Feeling the start of those winter blues?? Or craving something sweet but dont want the regret? Try this awesome recipe for a home-made autumn spiced coconut truffle! Trust me these little balls of goodness will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside, and give your body tons of energy to keep you going through those chilly days. Better yet they are easy to make, gluten-free, vegan friendly, with no added sweeteners or sugar. You're welcome tummy ;D Ingredients: 1 cup Almonds 1/2-3/4 cup Dates 1/2 cup shredded carrot 1/2 shredded coconut 1tsp vanilla 2tsp lemon juice 1tsp cinnamon 1/2tsp ginger and nutmeg 1/4 tsp high quality salt Directions: pretty easy! stick it in a food processor and let that baby do its thing. Pulverize the crap out of it until it forms a dough/sticky gooey delicious mass. Roll them into balls and stick them in the fridge or freezer to set. Serve these bad boys with your favorite tea or coffee (or just eat 5 at once like I do) and enjoy satisfying your taste buds on those crisp chilly nights.

Hello Everyone! Happy weekend! This is my first tumblr blog based around health, fitness, and nutrition. I'm not really sure how to start it, but I thought a snapshop into my life would be a good way to introduce myself. So, here we go! Lets embark on a healthy plan for life together. Anyone with me on this?  I will be posting everything I can about food, nutrition, health, and fitness! So please come back and say hello sometime!