21 Day Chinese Medicine Cleanse

As we approach Thanksgiving this Thursday, we are reminded to pause and give thanks for all the good things in our lives.  Many of us do not have situations anywhere near as dire as the pilgrims who all but died out in the harsh winters of the northeast, or with limited resources or skills.  Living in one of those 13 original colonies (Maryland), in a nice single family home, with my expensive hypoallergenic Siberian cat curled under my legs, my blankets piled up and central heating keeping me nice and protected from the rainy cold weather outside, and having so many material things and family all in tact with enough to sustain them, it’s hard to even fathom what the pilgrims, or even the Native Americans, went through almost 400 years ago.

One thing that they left us was the tradition of Thanksgiving.  Over the years we have developed a modified version of this original celebration, and then individual families created their own rituals within the holiday.  In my family, when my grandmother was the matriarch, we all congregated in her home in Dover, Delaware, with its yellow shag carpeting, mahogany and cherry colored furniture, and the framed picture of Jesus, whom she loved so dearly.  We all held hands while a special grace was said, and particular to Thanksgiving, each of us had to say one thing that we were thankful for, out loud, for all to hear.  I remember being nervous as I had to think of something when it was my turn.  Being a child, and particularly a first born, I felt like my answer had to be “a good one” that was acceptable to all the adults, unselfish sounding, and ultimately true to how I felt.

Once my grandmother developed dementia and passed on, the parts of the family split off and no longer celebrated Thanksgiving together, and with it initially went the ritual of saying one thing we were grateful for.  One time in the last 8 years (we now alternate Thanksgiving every year so that my parents host for all 6 kids and their families every other year and we all spend the opposite year with our inlaws’ families), I remember my father suggested we say one thing we are thankful for, and for that Thanksgiving the tradition was revived, soon to be forgotten yet again amidst drama and general chaos of getting together 18-20 people.  My father recently sent an email about re-establishing the street football games we used to play at Thanksgiving outside my grandmother’s house, and along with it, I am going to suggest that we definitively re-establish her tradition of saying what we are grateful for.  I’ll enjoy watching my nieces and nephews squirm a little bit as it comes around to being their turn, hoping that when they get to be my age, if not before, that they’ll look at every day as Thanksgiving, like I do (minus all the binging on food!).

See Thanksgiving is just a day that has been put aside to remind us to pause and be grateful for what we have, even if it is little or less than what we think we need.  We are reminded to stop and be thankful to be alive, and if we are lucky, we get to spend the holiday with people we care about.  Think about this…not everyone gets to spend Thanksgiving with their families.  Even people with money and homes and everything else are not always invited to spend time with their children, or their families live too far away.  Many elderly or sick spend the holiday alone.  Even if you are alone on Thanksgiving, there is still much to be grateful for; but let’s admit it: if you’re reading this blog on a computer, chances are that you are spending the holiday with family or friends, and you live a fairly comfortable life or existence.  While some people choose to fight, 99% against 1% (and I’m not saying I agree or disagree with that), let’s all pause and remember that even being a part of the 99%, within that 99% if we have a roof over our heads and food on our plates, we have so much more than many.  Let’s remember that even with struggle or difficulties that there is always hope and possibility.  When times are tough, that’s when we need to pull out the attitude of gratitude and do so daily to remind ourselves that in actuality, it’s not all that bad.  Things can always be worse, and there is always a lesson in the experience.

If you find yourself down in the dumps or not so happy about things in your life, it can be really beneficial to have a journal in which you write every day something (or a whole list of things) that you are grateful for.  Even if you’re feeling great about your life, this can be an amazing and life changing practice.  One day you could write “I am grateful for my friends,” and another could be “I am grateful that it is sunny outside today and so I could go to the park.”  When things seem tough, entries might read more like “I am grateful I woke up this morning” or “I am grateful I know how to write,”  but there is always something to be grateful for.  Writing it down makes it tangible, real, and like a commitment to a feeling.  It’s one thing to think it (which can be challenging enough), and yet another step to put it to paper.  So I’m ready to do a daily journal…are you?  Join me in embracing an attitude of gratitude and being real and honest with yourself.  Make Thanksgiving every day and grab life by the horns, rather than taking it for granted.  Who’s with me?!?!

Be bold,

Jen

The cooler weather is here to stay on the East Coast, and today has been particularly chilly and windy.  The sky is that gray that only happens in the fall, and the wind is shaking many of those last leaves off of the trees.  It’s this time of year that I crave soups.  A nice, warm, bowl of soup can comfort you without the bloating and discomfort that your regular “comfort foods” would provide (think macaroni and cheese, casseroles, or whatever your vice is).

Lately I’ve been on a mission to use everything in my pantry and freezer.  I’ve gotten so much joy out of doing this, and I’ll write a blog or an article about that at a later point, but an excellent use of these items is in making soup.  Every well stocked pantry/fridge/freezer should have the following items: onions, garlic, carrots (baby are fine), celery, tomato paste or sauce, frozen veggies, potatoes, dried grains/legumes like lentils or quinoa, stocks (veggie, chicken, and/or beef), and various meats if you eat them.  With these items alone, you can make a wide variety of soups using a basic recipe and experimenting from there.

Two soups I made this week were Curried Butternut Squash Soup and what I’ll call Lentil and Sausage Soup.  While sausage isn’t a lowfat meat, I had two links left in the freezer, so it was a way to use them up and when dispersed throughout a huge pot of soup, one bowl contained very little of the meat, so it didn’t end up being so bad, and it was a way to get me to eat more lentils, which admittedly I’m not so great about eating.

I’ll start with the Lentil and Sausage Soup, since it starts like many basic soups do, so it helps to illustrate how you can make a soup using whatever you have on hand.  Everything in the recipe was purely things I already had, so feel free to change things around and create your own soup!

Sausage and Lentil Soup

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow onion

6-8 organic baby carrots

2 organic celery stalks

2 large garlic cloves

2 medium sized sausages, removed from casing

1 can tomato sauce

1 box (32 oz) beef stock

1 1/2 cups organic red lentils

1/3 bag fresh organic baby spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Mirepoix: The Starter

An easy way to start soups is with mirepoix, also known as “the Holy trinity” (no sacreligiousness intended; merely reporting what others have called it).  This is onion, carrot, and celery.  Used often in Cajun/Creole and Italian cooking, it adds a savory and sweet (from the carrots) base.  For this soup, I finely diced 1/2 yellow onion, 6-8 organic baby carrots, and 2 organic celery stalks.  Throw in a couple finely diced garlic cloves, some salt and pepper, and you’ve got a great start to a tasty soup!  Cook until the onion is slightly transparent and the carrots and celery are slightly softened.  No need to get too crazy with it since everything will cook another half an hour in the liquid anyway.

If you’re cooking meat into your soup, this is a good time to add it in.  This can be sausage as it was in my case (removed from the casing), ground meat, diced chicken breast, meatballs, beef tips, or whatever you have on hand.  If you are vegetarian or vegan, you can add TVP or fake meats if you like, or leave them out.

Next you have to decide if you want to add a tomato flavor.  This is very common in Italian soups, and it can add depth to many soups.  Often a tablespoon or so of tomato paste provides an intense tomato flavor without adding a lot of liquid.  I had a can of tomato sauce, so I used that and it worked just fine.

Chop up any other veggies you want to use, like potatoes (they thicken soups due to their starch content), sweet potatoes, peppers, root veggies, or anything else you have.  Throw those in and then add liquid.  You’ll generally need at least 1 32 oz box of stock.  I used potatoes and beef stock.  You can always add water instead but unless you have a lot of veggies this can water a soup down and provide little flavor unless it’s cooked a very long time.  I’m honestly too lazy to cook soups that take more than 30 mins most of the time…so unless I have a Sunday with nothing to do, I’m not going to mess with the equivalent of making my own stock.

Next you can add any grains, legumes, or pasta (preferably gluten free).  If you’re doing a pasta, wait until there are only 8-10 min left of cooking before adding it or else it will be mush and terrible.  Check cooking times for legumes and grains and add at the appropriate cooking times.

I cook on a low boil/simmer for 30 min total or until the potatoes are fork tender.  I added some fresh spinach at the last minute, letting the leaves wilt.

Ready to take things up a notch and cook a more challenging soup (but still super easy)?  I’m including my recipe for Curried Butternut Squash too; it’s warming, sweet, and hearty.  The secret ingredient is Granny Smith apples!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

3 granny smith apples, thinly sliced

2 lbs diced butternut squash

1 tbsp Indian curry

1 tsp cumin

1 box (32 oz) veggie stock

2 cups water

salt to taste, pepper optional

Dice the onion and add to the pot with olive oil and add salt to sweat the onions.  Cook until translucent.  Add the apples, butternut squash, and spices.  Stir and then add stock and water.  Cook for 30 min at a low boil or simmer, and then remove from heat.  Take a hand blender and then blend until smooth.  If you don’t have a hand blender, then you can blend the soup in batches in a regular blender.  Don’t add too much if the liquid is still hot or else it will expand and explode…not a good look to have curry all over your kitchen!

Get out there and get experimenting with soups, and let me know what creations you come up with!

Jen

My name is Jen Yocum, I’m 33 years old, and I’m addicted to creating expectations for myself and others.  This morning I found myself in a nostalgic and saddened state on a crisp fall morning where the light has that silvery quality that only happens this time of the year.  In Chinese Medicine, of which I am a practitioner via acupuncture and nutritional counseling, the fall is a time of letting go.  I find myself not wanting to let go, however.  In fact, thanks to my fear of failure, and ultimately my fear of being judged and thought less than due to my expectations for myself, I am fighting against letting go with everything I’ve got.  But what do you do when you feel like the “thing” you have to let go of is your destiny, your passion, your goal in life?

Here’s the thing: letting go of your expectations of yourself and others does not mean letting go of the dream or the goal you have.  To illustrate my point, I’ll tell you my intricate expectations for myself.  I left my position at a prestigious university at the end of July with 2 months’ salary saved up, having run numbers and made a plan for how many patients I would need to see per week, or how many cleanses I would have to sell, and while I was scared, I figured the time was right for me to jump ship and just go for it.  Long story short, while I’ve done a lot of advertising, a lot of self-exploration and meditation, and a lot of getting myself in great shape, I awoke on this morning knowing that in 3 weeks the money will be gone, and I am not yet at those magical numbers that I predicted.

Rather than wallow in self-pity all day (not really my style), or spend all day psychotically looking through job listings (more my style), to me it is a reminder that in all things, I must “let go, and let God” (or Universe if you prefer).  This is ultimately the most terrifying thing we ever have to do in our lives; trust that everything happens for a reason, and that it all must happen on the divine’s or a universal timeline, and not our own.  We somehow feel we have the right to control our destiny, when really it’s kind of crazy to think we have any control at all.

I recently listened to Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address, since that went viral following his death, and in it he spoke of “connecting the dots,” where the dots represented choices or learnings, which when connected in hindsight create an end product or lead you to your goal, dream, or purpose.  He mentioned how you cannot connect the dots by looking into the future, rather you can connect them only by looking at the past.  He was speaking to trusting your gut instinct, and choosing things based on what excites you…then trusting that all the dots will connect into something substantial in the future.  In other words, everything happens for a reason, all we have to do is trust that the reason will become clear in the future.

I think of how it took Steve 10 years to create the first Apple computer.  Was it ridiculous for me to expect that in 3 months I’d be able to manifest everything that I wanted for myself?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will I be ok if it takes me another 10 years to manifest the life I dream for myself and my family?  Could I be so selfish and ridiculous to say no?  When you are pursuing what you really love, is there a timeline that is too long for that to manifest, or anything that you wouldn’t do (within moral guidelines) to make it happen?

Am I a failure if in 3 weeks’ time, I have not manifested the goals I set for myself?  No.  Do I need to let go of my restrictive expectations for myself?  Yes.  I can still have goals and create timelines, and at the end of the day, if I can say that I’ve done my best, then I can never be a failure.  I can honestly say that in the last 2.5 months that I don’t think there is much else that I could have done to make the outcome any different than it has been.  I did my best.  I will continue to do my best.  I will act from my heart and my intuition.  I will create the dots and trust that they will connect in the timeline that the universe has in place for it.  I will dream big, and trust even bigger.

Creating expectations only leads to disappointment.  Accepting life, as is, in this moment, right now, is the only thing that we can do.  We can still have goals, and we must actively work toward these goals by making choices and being unattached to the outcome.  We must make the best choices that we can at the time that they are given to us, and accept the result.

My name is Jen Yocum, I am 33 years old, and I am letting go of the idea that I can force the universe to do something on my timeline.  I am not letting go of my dreams, nor my goals.  I will use the strengths and abilities and intellect that I have been given to keep fighting.  I will never give up.

I’m not talking about your diet here, but rather, when do you know you’re on the correct path in your life, or as we acupuncturists call it, “walking your tao?”  Maybe you’ve never even thought about whether or not you are doing what you were put on this planet to do.  Does your life bring you meaning?  Are you excited about what you do every day?  Are there dreams put on hold for “one day” or “if only I had [fill in the blank...usually "more time" or "more money"]/didn’t have [fill in the blank..."kids" or "mortgage payments" or "responsibilities to..."]?

Today I ask you to really consider what it is that brings you excitement and joy.  If it is not what you are currently doing, then what would allow you to pursue that dream more fully?  What is standing in your way?  What could you do to be able to pursue your dreams sooner?  Often, there is a lot of fear surrounding making a big change.  Maybe you’ve always wanted to leave your corporate career to pursue massage therapy.  Perhaps you’ve always wanted to live in Bali.  Maybe a life on the stage performing on Broadway or singing music to big crowds is your dream.  You think, “I’m too old to pursue a singing career,” or “I can’t move anywhere, the kids are still in school,” or “I’d be broke if I left my job.”  These are all self-sabotaging thoughts, and all made from a place of fear.

I’ll tell you something that might upset you.  The main thing holding you back from pursuing your dream is YOU.  Are you ok if you never actualize your dreams before you die?  If not, continue reading.

You want to know how to make your dreams become reality?  Sure, there is something to be said for the Law of Attraction/The Secret type thinking, and I think that’s a part of it, AND the other part is straight up hard work and planning.  Being relentless and knowing that you are worth it, and not stopping until you’ve done your absolute best.  Crap…hard work?  Yeah.  Look, you can sit around and wish all you want, and maybe the Universe or God will plop it in your lap, but most likely not.  Someone once told me that God opens the doors, and you have to choose to walk through them, and I like that idea.  The wish can be the door opening, however you have to do the work to get through that door, and know which one is the one you want to go through.

So to illustrate all this, I’ll use myself as an example.  Years ago I had this dream of writing a book about eating mindfully and such.  I decided that I didn’t have time to write it and similar things were out there.  It went on the backburner of “someday.”  It wasn’t until this past February/March when I had the idea of turning that book into a cleanse (and eventually I plan on turning it into a book), and honestly, I kid you not…everything just flowed out of me.  I don’t even know how the manuals got written…they just poured out from God/The Universe through me and onto my computer.  Everything was effortless because I was in the flow of the universe and I was listening.  I knew it was what I was put on this planet to transmit to others.  Did I immediately want to drop my scientist job and just pursue that, plus my acupuncture that I’d been doing on the side for the few months before that?  Sure…but I knew I had to put the work in before I could leave.  We have to be realistic but also work towards our goals.  So I did everything on the side, and eventually due to our tax return, I realized I had 2 months’ salary in savings, and so I ran all the numbers.  I found that I could leave my job as a scientist and make that leap.  So I did.  I still don’t quite know how it will end up, but I leapt and to me, I know I did everything I could to make it work.  Every day I am advertising or making connections or writing or treating patients or teaching yoga classes and busting my butt to live the dream.  As I focus and decide on what I want from the Universe or God, I am able to make my requests or wishes, and when all is in the flow, these things are delivered.  What does not serve me is cast aside or is sent aside.

There is not a time to just sit around and wait for your dreams to manifest.  You have to plan and figure out a way to make it happen.  If it requires money, then start putting aside money every week or two weeks or month into savings, and start doing small things to actualize your dream on the side.  Let’s say it’s singing, since we used that as an example earlier.  Start practicing, or put up a craigslist ad to find a band (or see if someone is already looking for a singer!), and then once you’ve gelled with your group or if you’re doing solo work and you feel like you’ve got a few good songs, then book an open mic night, or other gigs.  Start smaller and expand until you feel comfortable enough to aim bigger.  That way you’re already doing what you love on the side, and you’re saving up for when you can make the leap to maybe record a demo, hire a producer, or go on tour.

So be relentless pursuing your dreams.  Otherwise you can’t say you tried your best and then you may regret not doing more to make them happen.  Even if you go out there and you don’t “make it,” then you can at least say you gave it all you had.  That, my friends, is already winning and being the best you can be.  So dream big and make it happen…

A big dreamer,

Jen

beautiful 100% organic concord grapes from a farm in NY

Have you ever wondered why grape flavored sodas, jellies, and candies taste the way they do?  If you’re like me and you never grew up ever being exposed to concord grapes, it’s a totally rational thought.  I mean, grape flavored things taste nothing like white/green grapes, nor red, nor black.  I used to figure it was some sort of cheap concocted thing from a lab.  That is, until I met the concord grape.  I had never seen them until I went to a farmer’s market in Baltimore a couple years ago, but I quickly became fascinated with this weird grape.

Why weird?  Well, if you have to ask, then you have never tried a concord grape.  They do have that INTENSE grape flavor, just like drinking a grape soda…but when you get past the flavorful skin, there is a “jelly ball” as I like to call it, waiting inside, with the consistency of a soft gummy bear or a tapioca ball one might find in those bubble teas.  Of course there are also a couple hard seeds in the middle of that jelly ball too.  But it is for all these reasons that I love concord grapes.  I admit, I have a thing for weird fruits and veggies.  I go to the store seeking out these new items and think of it as an adventure.  The concord grape is the one item my husband and I still talk about and look forward to trying each fall as it pops up.  Therefore, you can imagine my delight when I found some in my organic grocery store this morning!

The reason I bring all of this up is that when you do a cleanse like mine, or you just do your best to avoid things like soda, it helps if you have something healthier to replace it.  Enter the concord grape.  An amazing whole food, with an incredible dark color showing us it’s chock full of anti-oxidants and other great nutrients…and did I mention the flavor is intense?  Um, yeah.  I can’t even eat more than 20 of them at a time or so because it’s so intense.  Plus you kind of have to work at it to eat them…so a low calorie way to force yourself to slow down while eating!

If you come across these beauties, grab them.  It might run around $4.99 a box like mine did, but they last quite a while and they’re worth the adventure!  Stay curious when it comes to your food…a recent study showed that people who are curious live longer…so combine that with the rainbow of healthy foods and you’re sure to live SUPER long and have some fun along the way!

Curious like a cat,

Jen

I don’t believe that you should consistently starve yourself if you’re eating well.  Eat when you’re hungry (unless it’s really late at night, in which case unless you can’t sleep, it’s better to tough it out).  Still, when you switch to eating mainly whole foods (with a few gluten free substitutes thrown in there), some people can find it tough to come up with really satisfying dishes.

Where I get creative is the kitchen, so I’m here to give you some ideas to make meals for the hungry girl or guy in your life (especially if it’s you).  All of the recipes listed here are my personal creations (complete with pics!).  Let’s start with this beauty pictured above.  It’s the vegan gluten free burrito.  Now on my cleanse you don’t have to keep it vegan, but let’s face it, I’m too lazy to cook some chicken in the middle of the day most of the time, so vegan makes it super simple.  Your burrito can have anything in it, but here is the recipe for the particular one pictured here:

Awesome Vegan Gluten Free Burrito
Serves 1 hungry person or 2 people

1 brown rice tortilla (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
sprinkling of cheddar daiya or other rice/nut cheese of choice
1/2 cup black/purple/forbidden rice (can substitute other rice of choice, but purple is even healthier than brown!)
1/4 organic green pepper
1 organic avocado
~ 6 organic grape tomatoes
cilantro to taste (I grabbed a small handful from my plant and then chopped)
~10 chives
dashes of hot sauce to taste (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
vegan sour cream (optional)

Cook the purple rice or heat instant purple rice and hold to the side.  Chop the cilantro and chives and put aside.  Half the avocado and remove the pit.  Slice longways, making long slivers.  Scoop out with a spoon and put to the side.  Half the grape tomatoes and put to the side.  Using a ceramic grill pan or skillet (that way you do not have to use oil, and you don’t get the toxins of teflon coating), on a medium-high heat, put the rice tortilla in the skillet.  Once one side gets warm, turn it over and place a sprinkling of “cheese”.  Once the cheese is almost melted (watch out, the tortilla can get really crunchy if left on too long), remove the tortilla from the pan, put the purple rice on top of it, then the dashes of hot sauce, cilantro and chives, the green pepper, tomatoes, and avocado.  You can top with a couple dabs of vegan sour cream (optional) and a couple more dashes of hot sauce.  You can even add a squeeze or two of lime if you like!  Fold the sides together, creating the burrito, cut in half and enjoy!  If you want to split it with a friend or special someone, you can serve with a side salad made of greens with black beans and corn, and a dressing made of lime, honey (technically not vegan but part of our cleanse), olive oil, salt and pepper.

Today I made a burrito with sushi rice that I had in the fridge, soy chorizo, lentils, cilantro, avocado, soy cheese, pickled jalapenos, lime juice, and hot sauce.  I’m not a huge fan of soy cheese or soy sour cream to be honest, but I had some soy cheese so I used it. Get creative and you can even use some regular cheese if you want to have your dairy for the week.

Along the same line, street tacos are really satisfying as well, and it’s the same idea, you just use corn tortillas which are small, and you have 2-3 depending on how hungry you are.

Ok, what if you hate Mexican food? There are plenty of other options.  Here are some more of my most filling creations:

Potato, Carrot, and Leek Soup

This one is super easy and great for the fall especially, though I also make it year round when the mood strikes.  All you have to do is take a box of vegetable broth, add 3-4 decent sized red potatoes (or whatever potatoes you have), 1 large leek (or a couple small ones), and a couple carrots; chop everything into chunks, add it to the vegetable broth along with a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary, and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are soft.  then blend it with a hand blender or a regular blender.  Note: if using a regular blender, do not fill it too full because hot liquids expand and believe me you do not want to sear your skin with hot soup!!  You can finish it off with some extravagance if you want, by dolloping some sour cream and adding chopped fresh chives.  Yum!

Next we have a dish that I invented using a new sauce/spice combo that I’ve fallen in love with.  It’s called harissa, and it’s a North African sauce that’s mainly olive oil, some spicy peppers, sundried tomatoes and some other goodness.

This is Eggplant, Shiitake mushrooms, and Kale with Harissa…though I honestly combine harissa with other things as well.  My favorite is definitely eggplant and greens though.  All you do is chop up everything, and then add a few spoonfuls of harissa.  It can’t be easier!  Cook until the veggies are tender.  If you don’t like spicy food you might not like this…though I’d consider it mildly spicy.

Speaking of spicy, why not make some chili?  It’s super easy and very satisfying.  Here is mine, adapted from other recipes I found (mainly one from Paula Deen).

It’s literally as simple as opening cans and adding them.  First start with some ground beef or turkey if you like (though I often don’t bother).  Cook until browned.  I add one chopped orange pepper and one chopped yellow pepper, but you can use any color bell pepper you like.  Saute a few mins.  Then add 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers, 1 can of kidney beans, 1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans), 1 can of black beans, and either chili spice if you can find it (I never can), or a mixture of cayenne (watch out, a little goes a long way), cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  I kind of eyeball it, but there are places you can find recipes for chili spices online if you don’t feel comfortable with that.  Then you cook it and let all the lovely flavors combine for 30 min or so.  It makes a lot of chili as you can see…but even a guy will love how filling this is.

How about sushi?  If you’re like me you are a little intimidated by making raw fish sushi at home.  I leave that to the professionals.  But I do make avocado sushi, and because avocado has all that filling fat, it is great for days when you are hungry.

You may want to check out a tutorial online for how to make sushi, but in general you just need to cook some sushi rice, adding a little rice wine vinegar, then you add that to your plastic wrap covered bamboo sushi mat, spreading it out into a rectangle.  Add a nori sheet, then sliced avocado, then roll tightly and then you can add some sesame seeds if you like.  Sushi is fun. 

What about salad?  Well, there are few healthy salads out there that are truly filling.  That is why one day I created this:

It’s kind of a hybrid between a salad and a burrito filling, but it was super tasty.  All it is is some rice on the bottom, a couple handfuls of salad lettuce, some cooked red and green bell peppers (maybe I threw in some fajita spices, I can’t remember), and a grilled chicken breast.  Because the warm veggies and chicken helped to slightly wilt the lettuce, and plus there were juices from those ingredients, it didn’t even need dressing!  I was stuffed after this one!

Last but not least is one of my standbys: stir fry.  It’s very easy when you get the hang of it, and it definitely satisfies.

What you see here is a tofu stir fry with haricot verts and carrots…but you can make stir fry out of anything.  Here are the basics: start with a minced clove of garlic and some minced/microplaned ginger in some safflower or canola oil (you want an oil that doesn’t have a flavor).  Then add your meat or harder veggies like carrots or bell peppers, and eventually the softer or quicker cooking items like tofu or green beans.  Then add whatever flavors you like, such as tamari, gluten free teriyaki, gluten free hoisin sauce, or hot sauce.  I usually mix all sorts of stuff together.  It’s really a great dish that you can make when you need to get rid of a whole bunch of random items.  Your imagination is the only limit.  You can serve it over rice or with rice noodles.  If you use the noodles, you may want to add some extra sauce to cook them in as well!

So there you have it.  My super seven dishes for days when you or your loved ones are feeling super hungry.  These are all staples in my house, so try them out at your next meal and maybe they’ll become staples in yours too!

This past weekend I got to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams: to learn archery.  Fortunately I happened to marry someone who learned archery at a young age, and he also happened to have his own compound bow, that at a youth size was just the right size for me.  While I have an awesome bruise on my left forearm now, due to not using an arm guard, I also have the sheer joy of knowing that I finally got to shoot some arrows…and I’m going to keep at it!  Archery requires some great arm strength, focus, and the ability to relax and pay attention to your breathing.  I realized quickly that it in many ways is just like yoga, and while I’m still a beginner, I was able to bring that yogic mentality to my archery, and I even shot a great grouping of 3 into the target!

Keeping up with my trying new fitness arenas, I went to a spinning class this morning.  I have been avoiding spinning classes since I learned of their existence in the late 90s.  Why?  Well, because pedaling while standing up did not sound fun, and I’ve always thought it would be ridiculously hard.  Is my butt sore, even though I wore padded biking shorts?  Yes.  But guess what?  It wasn’t that bad…nowhere as bad as what I had conjured up in my mind.  I think I’ll go back for more in the near future…after my butt stops hurting.

Adding something new to your fitness routine can be just the prescription you need to boost your satisfaction, and keep you interested.  Sure, you can go to the gym and do the treadmill every day, and I’m sure you’ll get in okay shape, but after a while, you will plateau.  Not to mention that it’s really boring.  Even if you love the treadmill, or you own one so you feel like you have to use it, there are ways you can use that piece of equipment that are different than your standard get on and run or walk.  For example, if you generally just run a mile or few, try high intensity interval training (HIIT).  It can help you boost your overall speed, and it pushes you into that heart pumping level that challenges your muscles.  You can even do HIIT on the bike, elliptical machine, or arm bike.  Here is a great article about HIIT:

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/december-2008/fit-body/hiit-it.php

Let’s say your gym has group fitness classes, or you’ve always wanted to try a particular class that your local YMCA/YWCA or Parks and Recreation offers.  It might be kickboxing, yoga, tai chi, water aerobics, Zumba, strength training, pilates…there are so many to choose from!  Whatever you are drawn to, go for it!!  If you have a hard time getting yourself to go, then see if a friend will go with you.  I’ll admit it, I actually advertised on craigslist a few years ago to find a workout buddy who already went to my gym.  I found one and we became friends and helped to motivate each other (for a while anyway…).  What you want in a workout buddy is someone who will push you.  You don’t want someone who will cancel the last minute, or be easily swayed if you say you’re not sure you want to go to that pilates class after all.  If you’re motivated enough to go alone, that’s even better!

So check out some local classes.  Do you want to learn to salsa dance, shake your booty to Latin grooves, or do you just miss your old soccer team from when you were a kid?  There are tons of opportunities.  Check the internet, your local Parks and Recreation, or look for social leagues if you like group sports like flag football or soccer.  Just don’t partake in too much beer after the game…

Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll try out that hip hop dance or Latin dance class that still scares me right now…fear turns to courage once we confront it!! And if I can do Zumba, I think I can do anything!  Keep on dancing, grooving, cycling, shooting, kicking, punching, crunching, relaxing, stretching, and whatever else floats your boat.  Variety truly is the spice of life!

I believe that everything happens for a reason.  Sometimes in our lives we are forced by forces outside ourselves to have “down time.”  This may come in the form of a lay-off, an injury, or a cold.  When we push too hard, we tap ourselves out energy-wise and there must always be balance…so if we don’t stop and take the rest we need, our bodies will stop us, or another power will.

Right now I am dealing with the “annoyance” of a cold.  I have had a pretty challenging year, filled with more injuries and events in the first half of the year than I’ve had in the dozen years or so before it.  I know that if I don’t take care of myself, then I’m more prone to injury.  I’ve learned that the hard way this year.  So when I got this cold as my parting gift from Hopkins, I couldn’t help but be a little upset for a brief moment.  That moment was admittedly brief though, because I knew that I’d pushed myself very hard the two weeks prior and I’d also been eating terribly.  Part of eating was celebratory as friends took me out for drinks or lunches to celebrate my last week at Hopkins.  Part of the eating was comfort eating since I had given myself another injury a week ago, almost cutting my thumb off.  Part of it was just “giving up” for that period of time.  If you combine that with non-stop sick people all around you for a week straight, well, you guessed it…you end up with a cold.

So there is no one to blame but myself for the fact that I ran myself down, and that I ate terribly, and let my immune system drop down to the point where I made myself susceptible.  But all that being said, it is still a forced way to have down time.  The body is wise.  So here I am, on a lovely Sunday morning, and having to fight all the desires I had to get up and go to the farmer’s market, or go to the grocery store, or what have you.  I have to respect the exhaustion I feel and the yuckiness, because if I don’t then I’ll be sick even longer.

If you find yourself forced to have some down time, then take that time to consider how you may best restore yourself.  Have you been pushing yourself too hard?  Do you need a massage or to do some yoga or tai chi to help rejuvenate your body and soul?  Have you been missing out on spending quality time with your friends or family?  Do you maybe just need to spend time reading to your kids or cuddling with your spouse?  Have you not let anyone take care of you and now that you are sick or injured, you must learn this lesson of accepting help?

Believe me, there is always a lesson.  So what is your lesson this time?  Learning your body’s limits?  Learning what it is you need to thrive?  For me, it’s just another reminder of what happens when I don’t eat well and don’t give myself enough rest.  It’s a lifelong learning and battle to come to that middle ground.  I’ll get there.  I might get sick a couple more times along the way, but it will be pretty sweet when I get there.

Admittedly, as an acupuncturist, I’m just as “bad” as Dr. Oz when it comes to talking about poop.  As healthcare practitioners, it is par for the course, and moreover, it’s essential to learn about your bowels so that we can see what kind of state your body is in.  So get the squirminess out of the way, cause I’m going to give you the real poop on poop.

First, take my “Poop Quiz”:

1) The consistency of my poop is:

A) hard

B) softer

C) well-formed (neither hard nor soft, no real residue left when wiping)

D) mainly diarrhea

2) The smell of my poop is:

A) terrible, like death

B) I can’t smell much

C) roses

3) I poop:

A) once a day

B) once every 2-3 days

C) once every 4-5 days

D) 2-3 times a day

E) more than 3 times a day

4) The color of my poop is:

A) light brown to yellow-ish

B) medium brown

C) dark brown

D) green

E) red or black

Now that you have your answers, let’s talk about what is normal, what is not, and how to get to normal if you’re not there.  While sources may say that a wide range of bowel symptoms are normal, such as going multiple times a day to out to once every 3 days…that’s not really reflective of the ideal scenario.  So what is the ideal scenario? You should be having a bowel movement after every meal, so 3 times a day.  It should be well-formed, and not cause a mess when you’re wiping.  There shouldn’t be much smell at all.  It should be medium brown in color, or green if you eat a lot of greens/roughage. 

Wow, that’s definitely not me, you might be saying.  Most of us, myself included, are not ideal poopers.  Let’s talk about the different categories of non-normal: constipation, soft stools, and more serious problems. 

Constipation

If you are someone who has 1-2 bowel movements a day then I am not concerned.  If you’re going every other day or even less frequently, then there is room for improvement, and you are technically constipated.  So what?  Well, when the bowels move too slowly through the GI tract, then there is more time for toxins to be leached into your bloodstream…and none of us want that!  Not to mention all the discomfort that can come from constipation, due to hardened stools.  In its most extreme form, stools can become hard like clay and difficult to pass, tearing the bowels and creating hemrrhoids as well.  When the bowels are torn then again more toxins are leaked directly into the bloodstream and can poison you.  That’s never a good thing.  Constipated bowels are usually darker brown and can even look like little pellets or like pellets smashed together in the severe form.

Soft Stools

 If you spend a lot of time wiping, and your stools look a little softer and on the lighter brown to more yellowish color scale, chances are you have softer bowels.  Soft stools are kind of like a minor version of diarrhea (or that stuff inbetween, yuck!).  Soft stools are most often related to diet, but we’ll talk more about that in a bit.

Bowel Issues

Everything including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Disease (IBD), chronic diarrhea, Crohn’s Disease, Colitis, black or tarry stools, and blood in the stools is a bowel issue (at least partly).  While this blog is too short to get into every single condition, if you have black or red stools, or you have diarrhea consistently, you should seek medical attention.  If you have black or tarry stools, seek medical attention immediately.  This can be an indication of a life threatening condition.

How to get to the perfect poop

The good news is, in most cases, you can treat your bowel issues with dietary modifications and exercise.  In Chinese Medicine, if your stools are soft or loose, then it is due to a weakened spleen.  If they are harder and you are constipated, then it is due to stagnation in the liver.  Both of these things are addressed via The 21 Day Chinese Medicine Cleanse.  I recommend the foods that will build up your spleen and get that liver moving. 

Does this all sound crazy?  Well, let’s put it in easier terms.  There are certain foods that bring balance to your entire system (not just your bowels).  When you introduce something that is naturally inflammatory to your system, like wheat or dairy, then your whole system gets affected.  In this case, your bowels go nuts and next thing you know, you’re spewing like a geyser.  When you don’t exercise, drink enough water, or eat enough veggies, then you’re blocked up and you’re in for a future of cramps, gas, and not fun times on the toilet.

Here are some quick tips to get those bowels in better shape:

1) Get moving!  Go on 5-10 min walks at least 3 times a day, or one longer walk.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Park your car farther away when you go to the store.  These things add up and get those bowels regulated!

2) Drink half your body weight in ounces of water a day.  If you weigh 150, that means you will need to drink 75 oz, which is a little over 2 liters a day.  Get a pretty water bottle (or an attractive dude like one for you guys) to help motivate you.  Water works wonders for the bowels.

3) Drop any psychological reasons you have for not pooping.  I’m a girl, I get it, we “never” poop.  I was trained that way, and many of us were.  What do I have to show for it?  A diverticula in my colon, internal hemrrhoids, and previously IBS…this was all at the age of 30 or so.  These are old people issues.  Don’t hold it in people.  It is not a good path.  Sorry to get graphic and a little too personal with you there, but I’m passionate about this point since I have suffered and no one else needs to.  When you’ve gotta go, then go.  Find that private one stall toilet, or do what you’ve gotta do…

4) Limit your intake of wheat, dairy, alcohol, and sugar.  Of course The 21 Day Chinese Medicine Cleanse is a great way to do this in a supported manner, but even just limiting it on your own can be massively helpful.

I can say that after overhauling my diet a couple years ago and having support with acupuncture that my days of GI issues are all but behind me.  I know what my triggers are, and if I consume them, then I know I am in for some not so fun times.  Being empowered and feeling good is totally worth it.  Join me!