We’re on the road this month (San Diego–>Phoenix (where we are now)–>L.A.–>Santa Barbara–>Portland–>San Francisco–>San Diego), which means I’ll likely have spotty Internet access. Plus, with an itinerary like that, I think life calls for lots of time outside living, and less time inside staring at a screen. Which is all by way of saying that posts will be spotty, but I’ll try to hop on to share photos and reflections on a semi-regular basis. I have tons of ideas and inspiration to share, and you know I have trouble keeping all that goodness to myself.

I’ve been thinking back on 2010, and what an absolutely amazing year it’s been. There have been some hard times and serious frustrations, but all in all, I have to say it’s been my most blessed so far. On facebook, I posted my top five moments of 2010, and things I’m looking forward to in 2011, and I thought I’d share them again here with the hopes that you’ll share yours in the comments.

Top 5 moments of 2010

World's best kiddos

*welcoming Ronan Axel to the world
*marrying the most awesome guy I know
*finishing paying off my debt
*discovering Catan
*deciding to give the whole entrepreneur thing a shot

Looking forward to in 2011
*record usage of my passport
*finding a place we want to call home
*making my yoga practice a priority
*spending more time with family
*being surprised

We spent New Year’s Eve visiting with Mike’s grandma, a woman I love dearly, before coming home to great conversation and just a little champagne with her brother. Today (Sunday) we went to visit her again (I brought my green smoothie whipped up in my brand new Tribest blender–thanks, Hubs!), then came home for some quiet time before I unfurled my mat for my first yoga of the year. While I might not greet every day in 2011 with green smoothies and yoga, I have to admit, it feels like a positively blissful way to have begun the year.

How will you bring a little more bliss into your life in 2011?

One head of lettuce, one blender. Delish. (I did add other ingredients later.)

When Jen and I were brainstorming possible topics for this week’s T2C* post, we both seemed pretty jazzed by the idea of chowing down on eight servings of fruits and vegetables each day and documenting the process. After all, we’re health nuts who love our veggies—how hard could it be?

Umm, it’s hard. In fact, we didn’t do it. There were one or two days when I hit all eight (or at least got close–and I did snap a couple pictures to share withyou), but for the most part I fell short of my goal.  So this isn’t a pat-ourselves-on-the-back ego-stroking post, it’s a This a What We Learned post. On that note:

The base of my favorite vegan taco filling: red onion, red and yellow bell pepper, and a whole lotta mushrooms

1. Planning helps, but it isn’t foolproof. I love going out to eat. Food might as well be one of my love languages, so when a friend suggests brunch or my husband wants to take me on a date, you know I’m going to say yes. During this challenge, I took extra care to review menus and make sure they had veggie-ful gluten-free options so I could have my greens and eat them too. The problem? Sometimes you don’t realize until you arrive that the shiitake mushroom rolls have soy sauce (wheat) or the that the restaurant for some frustrating reason adds wheat to their spinach risotto. I can’t compromise on the gluten, which meant my options suddenly shrank to those containing very few greens. In the future: Make sure to eat more greens during the day if I’m going out to dinner; have a giant salad for dinner if I meet friends for brunch. And make an extra effort to chug a smoothie on restaurant days
   

   One of my classic spinach/enzyme powder/hemp milk/fruit smoothies...before blending (duh)

2. Green smoothies are the key. Ok, ok, I knew this already, but it really hit home during this week. On the days that started with green smoothies I almost always hit my goal. It helps when you get five servings by the time you finish breakfast. The thing is, it’s winter. And I don’t really want to start every morning with a giant icy drink. In the future: Find more breakfast choices that are nice and warm while packing a nutritional punch
   

   A favorite snack: hummus & carrot sticks, followed by two clementines

3. Check your hunger level. Part of my difficulty was that this past week, I had an uncharacteristically small appetite. I feel like most days I’m eating non-stop, and yet, during this challenge, I rarely even wanted a snack. What gives? For starters, when my snack options were carrot sticks, clementines, and apples—all of which I love, by the way—I was (surprise, surprise) less inclined to chow down. While I didn’t eat as many plant-based snacks as I’d expected, I did get a better sense of how much I would eat for boredom or to satisfy a craving rather than because I was really hungry. In the future: Try to stay tuned in to my true hunger level.

How’d the Holistic Health Junkie do? Well…

The plan seemed simple enough because, in my mind, I was eating lots of them already.  I signed on and got excited.  Then reality kicked in.

The challenge was to start within a few days of our discussion and I was not prepared.  Sometimes I have to psych myself up to make the walk to Whole Foods and walk back with the weight of my nutritious goods…only to find I have enough for two days’ worth of meals.  The excitement of the challenge was, sadly, no match for my lethargy and newfound interest in being more frugal with my dineros.  I had been working late nights as it was and never quite felt like going to the store thereafter…and walking home in the cold.  Ok, enough moping.  Wah.

A pretty bomb meal (though it had butter & cheese--sorry Jen!) if I may say so myself: sweet potato mash with sage; quinoa with sauteed mushrooms; braised baby artichokes

I started a few days late with about 5 days to eat a fine array of the earth’s bounty.  First, I ate what was left in my fridge…some fresh orange juice and corn with amaranth in the morning and a pear for a snack.  Throughout the week I bought a banana for my smoothie, looked for any veggies in the cafeteria (green beans/zucchini/onion and rice for lunch), made yum-yum noises to fresh Whole Foods hummus with carrots and cucumber, and enjoyed edamame at a restaurant for dinner (I added some tator tots to the mix…the only other vegan thing there).

I had intentions to juice the heck out of my lettuce, celery, cucumber and apple, but I busted my hand and couldn’t use it for two days…and hence, didn’t use my juicer either.  Note: Juicing is a GREAT way to maximize on your veggie intake.  You can cover, at the very least, 4-5 servings…easy peasy.

Another classic spinach+ smoothie

I confessed to Olivia yesterday that I had come nowhere near my quota.  Maybe it was my crazier-than-usual workweek.  Whatever the reason, I decided to blog about the experience anyway…even if I came up short.  I was definitely more conscious this week about eating vegetables and I snagged them at every opportunity.  Carpe vegetabilis!

On weeks where the stars magically align and I’m at my healthiest, I cook several times a week and have healthy snacks on hand.  This is what my week would have looked like in that case:

Mushroom Miso Soup (the one veg-heavy dish the restaurant didn't junk up with soy sauce!)

• Pasta Fagioli and Minestrone Soups
• Braised Carrot and Potato Soup
• Miso soup with lots of vegetables (on some days, I get 4-5 veggies in at breakfast!  These are “I Feel Great” days!!)
• Fruit Smoothies (in moderation to avoid too much fruit sugar)
• Green Juices (hello, gorgeous!)
• Beans and Rice with Salsa (plus corn, onions, and zucchini)
• Marinated veggies on a salad (to put the sexy back in salads)
• Hummus and veggies (this never gets old)
• Add kalamata olive tapenade to the hummus and veg and you will have an orgasm (that is, if you like kalamata olive tapenade).

*FYI, T2C is our co-blogging venture in which we each document our experience with an agreed-upon health-centered topic.

Given our less than stellar report card after this attempt, we’re going to give it another go in January. Want to join us? What are your favorite ways to make sure your day is chock full of fruits and veggies?

As you probably guessed from the inactivity on here, life has been crazy busy these last few months. The vast majority of it has been wonderful–hello celebrating the marriages of two other couples I love, attending a family reunion, marrying my best friend, and taking an amazing honeymoon!–but there has been very little room for a routine. And I have a tough time staying on top of my health if I don’t have a routine. Especially if I’m constantly in transit, living out of suitcases. (I still haven’t unpacked from Korea, and I flew back August 30th.) Even though I’ve written about how to stay healthy while traveling, I’ve slacked on the yoga, the sleep, the green smoothies packed with enzymes that are my saving grace.

But this week, life is slowing waaay down. I’m spending tonight (Saturday) through Wednesday morning at my parents’ house, just Mama and me, and health is coming front and center. I hope to catch up on sleep, maybe catch up on my email (maybe not), get back on my yoga mat, and subsist mostly on green smoothies. I fantasize about doing a green smoothie feast, sucking down nothing but that healthy goodness for the next 72 hours, but I also know I need to listen to my body and be open to eating other (organic, whole foods) if I’m really craving them.

I’m particularly excited about sharing green smoothies and yoga with my Mom. She’s been a champion of the holistic way of life since we were little, taking us to homeopathic doctors and keeping fruit snacks out of our cupboards. A few years ago, she gave everyone from my siblings and me to my best friend and my cousins a copy of 500 Healthiest Foods, and she’s just started reading The China Study. We’re both constantly trying to figure out how to feel vibrant, and I think these next three days together will be a great step forward.

That picture up top is of me with my wonderful parents at my rehearsal dinner. As delicious as that glass (and maybe a few others) of Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc tasted, it’s time to trade it in for something featuring a lot more greens.

What about you? Do you want to join a 3-day green smoothie challenge to cleanse your system before the holiday parties really get out of control? Maybe you’ll just want to commit to a smoothie a morning, or maybe you’ll want to go all out and have nothing but green gold for the next three days. No matter what, I’m sure you–and I–will feel better for it.

I spend a lot of time thinking about motivation. If I’m not trying to come up with a way to bribe myself into healthy habits, I’m looking for a magic spell that will cause all my students to do their homework—on time and with enthusiasm. Needless to say, this not an easy feat. Last week, I implemented a new “leveling  up” system with my students, and was trying to think of how I could use points to motivate myself. I started talking about this with friends Paloma and Amanda on Sunday night, and they offered a brilliant solution: disincentives.

Last year, Paloma heard a story heard on NPR (which I couldn’t find, but this WSJ piece approximates the idea) about two professors who made a weight loss bet. The idea is that negative incentives work so much better than positive ones because the former actually changes your life, while the latter doesn’t. Along with a friend, the ladies tested the program by setting month-long goals and picking penalties. (Theirs included a conspicuous and tacky henna tattoo or wearing “whore makeup” for a week. To work.) The result? It worked.

Given this rave review, I’m getting on board. For the next month, the three of us are working to meet a new round of goals. Because I’ll be crazy busy in the States visiting friends and family, I wanted my goals to help keep me on track with my success from the Spent program, but to be realistic, too. I decided on a minimum of 15 minutes of yoga, five days a week, and a green smoothie three days a week. These goals are meant to be a gentle push, with the understanding that I can ramp it up when I’m back in Korea with time to kill.

In case you haven’t figured it out from the blog title, Sarah Palin is my disincentive. More specifically, if I don’t meet all my goals, I have to write a $100 check to her campaign fund. I can think of few things I would less like to give my money to. As if that isn’t bad enough, it would also grant Michael a lifetime of mocking rights. Lemme tell you—so far, this is working like a charm. It’s day three, and I’m 3 for 3 on smoothies, and am doing my second yoga session as soon as I post this. To make myself extra accountable, I’ll also post the weekly spreadsheet detailing my progress.

So how about you? Do you think this disincentive idea would work for you? Feel free to post your goals and disincentives in the comments!

But for the last week, I just haven’t wanted them. Maybe it’s the cold, maybe it was PMS, maybe it was wanting to rebel a little bit against this program, and maybe I was just plain sick of them.

So I took some time off. I put flax seeds and maca into my oatmeal instead of a smoothie. I ate more salads instead of blending them. Green smoothies had always been something I enjoyed, so I didn’t want to lose that by forcing myself to have them.

Then, this morning, I woke up after an amazing night’s sleep, and all I could think about was my smoothie. I had some romaine that was on its last legs and needed to be eaten, so I tossed it (about a cup and a half) into the VitaMix. I decided to get adventurous and open that bag of durian that’s been in our freezer. I snipped off the top and literally recoiled at the smell. Maybe another day… I went with the tried and true banana (1 frozen in chunks) and strawberry (about 10 frozen) combo. (That picture is an old one from a mango/blueberry/strawberry/kale smoothie.) Add my magic enzyme powder, Macro Greens, maca powder, flax seeds, flax seed oil, glucosamine and chondroitin, and bee pollen, then cover it all with fresh cashew milk, and I was ready to roll. (If you want to order any of these (or other) products from iHerb.com, aka my favorite online supplier, especially for international orders, you can use coupon code XIM000 for $5 off your first order if you’re a new customer.)

I know the smoothie is probably the least attractive part of that picture, but I promise it was delicious. I actually made so much I had three cups this size, but I admit I have been making them a little thinner lately. I find it’s an easy way to increase my water intake, and I wind up drinking them much more quickly, even though there’s greater volume.

This experience was a nice reminder that while it’s good to push yourself forward toward health, sometimes we need to step back and take a breather, even from something we know is good for us. Now I feel I’ve reconnected with an old friend, and my smoothie feels like a privilege, not a chore.

What healthy habits have you had to take a break from? What’s your favorite smoothie recipe? Do you add super foods?

While I’m not one to get excited about celebrities — it’s just not something on my “I care about that” radar — I realized that is completely different when it comes to health celebrities.  So when I saw that I had a comment from one of my all time favorite, realistic, gorgeous, and fun health gurus (for lack of a better word), I nearly jumped out of my chair. Thank you, Kristen Suzanne, for checking out my blog!

Now that that little geek out is over, I’d like to direct you over to my very first guest post, ever. My amazing friend Jen, back in Pennsylvania, has an informative, down-to-earth blog tracking her own health journey and findings. She invited me to do a guest post, so I wrote about my love affair with my VitaMix blender and green smoothies. It’s long, but I tried to break it up with pictures. (Including one with my brand spanking new haircut. Which I realized I share with Suri Cruise. But hey, at least it’s not green anymore!) Scroll down below my post for a very lovely and warm introduction from Jen.

The last piece of exciting news is that I have *drum roll please* energy! On Saturday night we had some friends over to watch TED Talks, have a few drinks, and see what sort of discussion followed. We listened to Larry Lessig, Amy Tan, Isabel Allende, and Ken Robinson. Each was interesting and engaging, but Isabel Allende and Ken Robinson gave me the chills.  Unfortunately, we stayed up way too late, and I drank way too much, which meant Sunday was a wash. But when I woke up yesterday (Monday), I was amazed. I didn’t have trouble getting out of bed. All I wanted was a green smoothie, and my energy lasted all day. Today, same thing. Woke up feeling awake, made my honey some hot choco, and…didn’t have to resist making some for myself. I just didn’t want it. WOW.

I think a few things are at work here.

For starters, I finally found an endocrinologist who would increase my synthroid from 88mcg to 100mcg. And to think — I only had to travel 8,000 miles to do it! I’ve only been on this dosage for about 5 days, but this is the first time I actually feel a difference from taking my synthroid. In ten years. Could you imagine taking a little pill every day for ten years, and feeling no difference from before you took it? It’s frustrating, to say the least. I have blood tests scheduled for January to check my thyroid levels, and I hope they’ll be within range so I can continue at this higher dosage.

The other big change is that I’ve been super consistent with my green smoothies for two weeks. I’ve found a combination of ingredients that seems to really work for me, targeting my three major areas of poor health: digestion, energy, and seasonal depression. The addition of kale seems to have made all the difference. My green powders are great, but the real greens, that’s where the vitality lives. The best “side effect” of these green smoothies, coupled with a decision to forgo wine during the week (baby steps, people) has pretty much zapped my sugar cravings. Let me repeat: Zapped My Sugar Cravings. If you’ve met me, you’ve probably seen me inhale sugar and refined carbs like it’s my job. And now, for now, I don’t even want them. Hallelujah!

I really feel that I’m on the road to a vibrant life. Work is about to get crazy again next week, which is part of the reason I’ve spent these last few weeks focusing on restoring my system. At least I’m entering the 70 hour work weeks with a functioning, energized system. There’s no reason I can’t sip on green smoothies during class all day, so I think I have a real chance to stay healthy through these next two months.

My next goals are to resume meditation and yoga practices. I’m not sure what those will look like for me yet, so I’d love to hear what works for you. I know I need to start small and let the results fuel the next stages. Ideas?

I’m focusing on my health as a way to enjoy the holidays because, quite frankly, it’s tough to be excited about much of anything when you feel lousy. Better physical health is conducive to better mental health, and vice versa.

The winter blues hit me hard this year, complete with days of not getting out of bed until the afternoon and huge crying jags. Fortunately, I could recognize what was happening and have a great support system. In addition to MB’s magic hugs and amazing patience and love, I humbled myself and reached out to one of my dearest friends, whom I affectionately call Bug. She peppered me with uplifting emails and little reminders of things that can help pull one out of the doldrums.

I also went hunting for naturopathic remedies. Sunlight and fresh air are amazing cure-alls, but I knew there had to be more. Kris Carr came to the rescue again with this post by Barbara Mendez on her CrazySexyLife blog. It was nice to see I was already doing a lot of the right things, but it gave me some new pointers, too. So I’ve started adding a big drizzle of flax seed oil to my smoothies, am currently working to give up sugar, and have been more protective of my sleep.

The great news is that so far, things seem to be helping. Days seem easier, and I’ve been laughing more. I’ve also been more accepting of myself. I had been pushing myself to do thing that I “should” want to do (like going out late partying on Tuesday. Ugh.) and instead honoring the homebody bit of my soul. I got some craft supplies and wrapped Christmas presents while watching mysteries. I’m spending less time in front of screens and more time with books. Giving up sugar (read: wine) is the real challenge right now, but I’m working on it. Of course, I will be indulging in glogg soon (which you can read all about in part iii), but it’ll be worth it.

If you’re curious about what goes into my daily green smoothie, check back soon. I’ll be writing a guest post for my brilliant friend/fellow health junkie, Jen, on her funny and informative blog, Holistic Health Junkie. I have all the pictures taken for my VitaMix love post, but have to bang out the text to go with it. I’ll be sure to post a link when it goes up.

Oh! And yoga! I joined a gym to go to their yoga classes, but that’s not happening. I am starting to do just a bit of yoga on my own at home though, which feels great.