Balance Is Beauty

Hi!

I don’t know about you – but I am SO happy it’s Friday! The weather has turned awful cold her in Toronto, which makes it very hard to get out of bed in the mornings My family has booked a trip to Florida at the end of April – let the countdown begin! Where my Florida bloggers at – I think a meet up is definitely in the cards

I have found a new obsession that I just need to tell you all about, maybe you’ve already tried it, if you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Artisana (one of the best companies out there, in my opinion!), makes this amazing raw coconut butter – not to be confused with coconut oil. It is made out of whole coconut meat and then ground into a creamy butter – and I LOVE that it’s raw! I’ve been spreading it on my raw bread, my raw desserts – basically everything and anything, I love it! As I mentioned before, I do eat honey (raw, unpasteurized), which I know a lot of vegans are uncomfortable with, I mix a little bit of honey with a little bit of coconut butter and honestly I melt – it is sooooo good, I can’t get enough of this stuff! So, if you like coconut, and you haven’t tried this – I definitely recommend it!

New obsession #2 to tell you about. I have a new breakfast soup/smoothie that I just can’t get enough of.

I like to call this soup because it is so thick and creamy that I have to eat it with a spoon. 1 scoop protein powder, 1/2 banana, 1/2 c almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1tsp spirulina, 1/8tsp guar gum, 1/8 tsp xanthan gum, a scoop of avocado, approx 2 cups of spinach, 1 tsp agave (or stevia) and a handful of ice cubes. Throw it all in the blender (it might need a little help, it gets pretty thick) and enjoy! I top mine with some soaked and dehydrated buckwheat and unsweetened coconut – delish and has definite staying power! (My tummy is growling right now – I think I need to go whip some up asap!)

Navitas Naturals was kind enough to send me some of their products to sample.

I haven’t had the chance to sample them yet, but I promise reviews to come as I try them each out!

Well friends, my workday is about to begin, I guess the sooner it begins, the sooner the weekend will be upon us I don’t have anything too exciting planned for the weekend? Anyone doing anything fun??

I have to show you, where the puppers has decided to call bed:

Hubby left his empty gym bag by the stairs the other day, and look who jumped in! I should put this away, but he loves it so much, I’ve yet to put it away  

Have a Great Weekend Friends!

xoxo

Krissy

YES! It’s ME! I’m actually still here, alive and well I took a little hiatus from the Blog – to be completely honest with you, I just went through a time where I didn’t feel like I had much to contribute.  I have spent the last couple of days really thinking about my Blog and the direction I would like it to go in. I thought about why I started it and what I hope I and others would get out of it.  What I concluded is that I started it to be an outlet for me to share all of the things that I am passionate about, I started it to hopefully inspire others to adopt a healthier lifestyle and realize that healthy can be fun and taste great too! I started it to become apart of a wonderful community of like-minded beautiful women who inspire me on a daily basis. After thinking about it, I realized that I have been much too hard on myself. I felt like I shouldn’t put up a post unless it had wonderful pictures of new and exciting foods I was eating, or shouldn’t put up a post unless I had great new recipe that was a must try! But then, when I really thought about it, I realized that some of the blogs I love most, are the ones where the blogger just pops in on a daily basis to say hi and recap what they have been up to that day. Part of what I love so much about blogging is the community and although we may not see each other face to face, the friendships that we make are invaluable and are friendships that I cherish so much. I love seeing what all of you are up too, so then I thought, maybe, just maybe, others would like to see what I am up to too! With that being said, I of course will continue to mainly write about health related stuff – but I will also continue to include little snippets of my day to day personal life

With my schooling, nearing completion (yeah!), I would also be more than happy to include more information on holistic health.  I would love for you guys to send me in any questions you may have regarding your health – especially those of you who would like another avenue to the more traditional medical model.  If there are any symptoms or specific conditions/illnesses that you would like some recommendations to healing I would be more than happy to discuss them on the blog (of course I would keep identities confidential).  Of course, I am not a Medical Doctor, so any recommendations I make are strictly from my own personal experience as both a Registered Nurse and Holistic Nutritionist STUDENT (can’t wait until I can drop the student title).

In the next day or so I am going to put up a post of all of the supplements and superfoods I am currently taking – so you can see some of the products I like best and the benefits of them as well. There are so many different supplements and superfoods out there sometimes it’s difficult to navigate your way through them – so I hope I can shed some light on that!

Again – please let me know if there is anything you would like to see on the Blog – I want you guys to enjoy this Blog as much as I enjoy writing it I feel so honoured that you choose read, so I am always open to any suggestions on how I can make it better!

Sorry for the word heavy post, but it was something I needed to get out (plus my camera is being ridiculous and won’t turn on right now – what the heck is that all about??).

On a totally unrelated topic, I promised Hubby I would include him more in my posts, so the big event going on in his life recently is that he said goodbye to his 2006 Acura TL, as his lease was up.

For anyone who knows my Hubby, they know just how important his car is to him, this beauty has accompanied him on many a journeys(the evidence was the $$$ we had to pay because his mileage was WAY over the maximum).  Now is he impatiently patiently waiting for his new car to be delivered. Watching him talk about it, is like watching a little kid on Christmas – he is SO excited! I’ll fill you in, once it’s delivered!

Do you have a dream car? If so what is it?! I have to admit I am probably driving my dream car right now! I love my convertible beetle – although it may not be the most practical car in the world, it’s so much fun to drive!

Hi Loves!

I can’t believe it has been so long since I last posted! I hope everyone is doing well – we are enjoying some warmer temperatures here in Toronto (and by warmer I mean +1 – +3 degrees Celsius!), which is a nice change for January, I just hope we don’t pay for it later

I spent much of Saturday with one of my BFF’s – yup I have a very special relationship with my Dehydrator! I am really focusing on raw foods this week and I know that when I am prepared with lots of wonderful raw goodies it is much easier and a lot less stressful.

I decided to try a new recipe Kristen Suzanne recently posted on her blog, soft and savoury hemp onion bread.

Sorry for the poor picture quality – the second picture is a better representation of how the bread turned out.  I am TOTALLY obsessed with this bread – I could honestly eat it all day, everyday However, I will warn you, if you don’t like onion or don’t like onion breath – this may not be the recipe for you! It is soft and chewy (I think due to the chia seeds) and SO satisfying. It’s actually really pretty looking as well – trust me the pictures don’t do it justice (I need to brush up on my photog skills!)

I also threw together a quick batch of my own raw bread

It turned out really yummy too! I love having this stuff on hand it’s always a great addition to any raw meal and is really, really satisfying!

I was feeling rather experimental in the kitchen this weekend, so I decided to try my first attempt at raw carrot cupcakes/muffins – I think they turned out more like muffins then cupcakes.

 I made bigger ones – which filled about half off the muffin liners, and then I made little baby ones.

 I took a heaping teaspoon of batter and filled little mini muffin liners – they turned out so cute

For my first go at raw muffins – I was pretty impressed with myself – I found them to be really tasty and have been snacking on them all week! I think next time I would only make the larger size, the little ones are really cute, but really aren’t substantial enough to satisfy.  I would like to tweak the recipe a little before posting it but the main ingredients are pecans, flaxseed, dates, shredded carrots, raisins, shredded coconut and spices. 

I have also been experimenting with some raw soups this week and was really happy with the two that I tried. First I decided to try Gena’s Raw Tortilla Soup.

I loved the spice to this soup and decided to add even more spice with a few dashes of hot sauce. The addition of the sliced avocado was also amazing – this was such a satisfying raw meal, I will definitely be making it again.

The second soup I decided to try was Natalia Rose’s Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl!

The flavour was definitely there in this soup, I loved it. I’m not sure if I added too much carrot juice or not enough sweet potato but the soup was a little on the thin side – I think I would have enjoyed it a bit thicker. Next time I make it, I think I’ll add a little less carrot juice for thicker soup! Overall, I was really impressed with both recipes and will definitely be making both again. I am a big fan of soups in the winter time so I love that I am still able to eat them while maintaining a high raw diet!

Some other foods I have been enjoying this week . . .

Lots of yummy salads . . .

Lots of Green Smoothies. I have really been focusing on packing my smoothies with lots of calorie dense ingredients. 1 scoop protein powder, 1/2 c almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1tsp spirulina, 1tbsp EFA oil (blend of many different oils), 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 – 1 banana. I am trying to get lots of good, healthy fats into my diet and throwing them into a smoothie is a great way to get them in

I’m feeling really great this week and am really enjoying lots of wonderful, nutritious foods. I love knowing that the foods I am eating are not only nourishing my soul (because they taste SO good) but also nourishing my body

I hope everyone is enjoying their week, if anyone is interested is incorporating more raw foods into their diet please feel free to send me an email, I’d be happy to help give you some suggestions on how to get started

xoxo

Krissy

Hi Friends!

As my title suggests – today has been one of those snacky kind of days! I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before – but I mainly work from a home office. This can definitely be a major bonus of my job, but also comes with some negatives. One being that the fridge is always just steps away from me Some days, like today, snacking gets the best of me

I started my morning, a bit earlier than normal, with a glorious bowl of quinoa oats (I finally replenished my supply).

1/3 C quinoa flakes, 1/2 c water + 1/2 c almond milk, 1/2 banana, cinnamon, 1 tbsp almond butter.

If you follow me on twitter, you know that yesterday I was trying out a new raw recipe from a rawmazing site, which I often get inspiration from. I have been looking for a raw energy bar – and I finally found just was I was looking for, raw cacao goji energy bars.

These were SUPER easy to make and turned out wonderfully! The recipe calls for a raw chocolate sauce to cover the bars, however, I didn’t have all the ingredients so I left them plain. The chocolate sauce is definitely the finishing touch that these bars are missing – instead I improvised and just smeared some Peanut Butter on mine – definitely a great alternative to the chocolate sauce!

I snacked on one of my raw bars mid-morning and then continued my snacking feast with a new product I am a tad bit obsessed with:

Dipped in another new obsession:

The pretzels are SOOO good, so crunchy and so satisfying – the serving size is actually perfectly satisfying especially if you pair it with a serving of hummus. I recently tried this new flavour of hummus – I guess it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that I adore the Mediterranean flavour – I did marry a Greek There are actually chunks of black olives in the hummus – SOOOO good!!!  

The said snackage didn’t stop me from throwing together a quick, yet scrumptious lunch:

Veggie Burger on 100 cal Multi Grain One Bun (another new fav – I’ll show you a pic on my next post), topped with avocado + hummus + hot sauce + spinach and a side of baby carrots. This is only half, I did consume both halves

Snackage continued late afternoon with a handful more pretzels dipped in some PB (good combination) and a couple of dates! (I told you this girl was SNACKY today!). At this point I figured an elliptical + treadmill sesh was definitely in order. I sweated it out for about an hour while being entertained by my girl Tyra!

After my workout I knew I needed to get some protein into me, as my food choices today were kind of lacking in the protein department. I whipped up a quick green smoothie and down the hatch it went!

1 scoop Sun Warrior Protein Powder, 1/2c water + 1/2 cup milk, 1/2c strawberries, 1/4c blueberries, 1 tbsp Flax Oil, 1 tsp spirulina, 2-3c spinach. I was definitely lacking in the raw veggie department – so this was just what my body needed!

Dinner followed shortly after, and was on the little side because I had my green smoothie so close to dinner:

Celery, Cabbage, Apple, tiny bit of cauliflower + carrot, 1/8th of an avocado topped with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1tsp flax oil, 1 tsp raw honey.

Finally I finished the day off with . . .

Green & Black Dark Chocolate – my favourite chocolate EVER! 

There you have it folks, a total day in the life of ME! I don’t normally post everything that I eat, but I thought it would be fun to capture it from time to time! What do you guys think? If you have any suggestions or thoughts let me know – I’d love to hear

Time for me to go study for a final exam I have to write tomorrow! O.K.—first I’m going to watch the Biggest Loser . . . THEN I’ll study

xoxo

Krissy

Question: Where my SNACKERS at??? What are your favourite snack foods and do you engage in daily snacks, like me?!

Hi Friends!

First things first – I cannot thank all of you enough for your sweet, wonderful and thoughtful comments on my last post. To be honest, I debated sooo much on whether or not to hit publish on the post as it was such a personal issue. It has been a part of my life that I have not discussed openly with many people, so posting my inner most thoughts and feelings for potentially the world to see definitely made me more than a bit anxious The reason I decided to go ahead with it was the thought of possibly helping or inspiring someone else to begin their journey of healing. In the past I have been so ashamed and embarrassed about my struggles surrounding my eating disorder and I think it is SO important for girls/women to drop the shame as this truly is one of the first steps in recovery. In order to start the healing journey you first need to be able to admit that you are struggling and drop any shame associated with it. I know for myself, it took a very long time for me to admit that I had a problem. I was definitely in denial, because my weight never dropped dangerously low,I continued to tell myself I was doing just fine, even though my body was telling me something very different. I truly believe that in order to start the recovery process you need to be honest with yourself – I know I used to come up with a million and one excuses to justify all of the unhealthy behaviours I was engaging in, I wasn’t being honest with myself. As soon as I started being honest and a bit vulnerable with myself, the healing process started. As I said in my previous post, it is an ongoing journey I learn something new everyday, some days are easy, some days are challenging but instead of submitting to negative thoughts on those challenging days, I now look to all of the things that inspire me and make me grateful to be alive – and ALL OF YOU are a big part of that So Thank You!

Moving on . . . I have a new food love in my life that has been making repeat appearances on my dinner table. I refer to it as the “steamed salad”. I take some form of green leafy vegetable (kale, spinach, swiss chard – or a combination) and whatever veggies I have in the fridge and steam them up. I have been topping the steamed salad with avocado and a veggie burger patty with a dash of Braggs and hot sauce. Let me tell you – this is H.E.A.V.E.N. in a bowl!!!

You all know how much I love my raw veggies – but with this C-O-L-D Canadian winter all I have been craving is warm, comforting veggies – and this is definitely hitting the spot! I usually include 1/2 a sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini and have a piece of toast on the side! Yum Yum – try this!

Another friend has been making repeat appearances this week – OAT BRAN! I have been making quiona flakes instead of oat bran, because I am trying to stay away from gluten – but I ran out and really felt like oats one morning. Boy did I forget how good oat bran is – the texture is a bit different than the quinoa flakes – and I adore it I even had savoury oats for dinner one night!

With none other than steamed veggies (shocking right??!!). I LOVED having oats for dinner, it was SO satisfying. For the most part though, I have been having my oats in the morning:

I know I can be such a repetitive bore – but I can’t help it – when I find something I love, it’s all I crave – and I just gotta roll with it – you can be certain I’ll find something new to obsess about soon

I’ve been grazing on lots of snack plates:

And of course, downing my daily Green Monsters:

As you can see, my belly has been very happy

I hope everyone had a Wonderful Weekend – I don’t know about you, but I’m wishing the weekend would last just a little bit longer, I’m not ready for Monday morning just yet!

xoxo

Krissy

Question: Do any of you get food obsessions like me? I wanna hear about some of your funny cravings!

“Lost touch with my soul, I had no where to turn, I had no where to go ~ Lost sight of my dream, thought it would be the end of me ~ I thought I’d never it make it through, I had no hope to hold onto ~ I thought I would break, I didn’t know my own strength ~ I crashed down and I tumbled but I did not crumble ~ I got through all the pain ~ I didn’t know my own strength~ survived my darkest hour, my faith kept me alive, I picked myself back up, hold my head up high~ I was not built to break ~ I didn’t know my own strength . . .

Found hope in my heart ~ I found the light to life, my way out of the dark ~ Found all that I need here inside of me ~ I thought I’d never find my way, I thought I’d never lift that weight ~ I thought I would break ~ I didn’t know my own strength”

(Source)

Up until now, I have not spent a lot of time discussing my struggles with my Eating Disorder/Disordered Eating. My main goal in starting this blog was to help inspire others facing similar struggles to know that recovery is possible. Not only possible, but more rewarding than you could imagine.

Having said that, I am not going to sit here and say that any of this is easy, or that it is not going to take time. I am not going to say that there aren’t going to be days where you want to bury your head in the sand and return to the comfortable arms of your Eating Disorder. I’m not even going to say that there aren’t days where I still struggle to be the loudest voice over my eating disorder. But I am going to say that health, happiness, life is not only possible but something that you deserve, for yourself.

The song lyrics above, are one way that help me get through the difficult times. There are days (today being one of them), that I listened to those lyrics over and over and over again. I have never had a song, touch me as much as this song has. The words speak to me so deeply. In the depths of my eating disorder ~I lost touch with my soul, I had no where to turn, I had no where to go ~ I lost sight of my dream, thought it would be the end of me~ I thought I’d never make it through, I had no hope to hold onto~ Even just typing those lyrics gets me so emotional because when you are so overpowered by an eating disorder you lose focus on every other aspect of your life. Hopes, dreams, goals you had for yourself seem so out of reach. The joy and happiness that you use to get out of life is replaced by anxiety, fears and self loathing.

As the song continues ~I crashed down, I tumbled, but I did not crumble ~ I got through all the pain ~ I didn’t know my own strength ~ survived my darkest hour, my faith kept me alive ~ I picked myself back up, hold my head up high ~ I was not built to break ~ I didn’t know my own strength~ Chills go up my spine as I read these lyrics. In life we will all have tumbles, for some it will be alcohol, for others drugs, some it may be a bad temper, and for others it will be an eating disorder (of course there are a million other examples). The point is, that although we may have tumbled, we have not crumbled. We are still here and we deserve to be here as happy, healthy, joyful people. We are the only ones that can make the decision to pick ourselves back up, we can call upon our faith, our loved ones, to help us, but in the end we need to want recovery and health for ourselves.  We need to know that we deserve happiness, health, joy, and love in our lives.

Finally ~ Found hope in my heart ~ I found the light to life my way out of the dark ~ found all that I need here inside of me ~ I though I’d never find my way, I thought I’d never lift that weight ~ I thought I would break ~ I didn’t know my own strength~ These words speak for themselves, every time I read them, they hit such a chord with me. Our friends, family, loved ones, all want recovery for us, want health and happiness for us. Of course support from family and friends is beyond necessary and so important through the recovery process, so please do not misunderstand what I am about to say. When you look inside yourself, open yourself up, maybe become a little vulnerable to your feelings – you will be amazed at what you find. You have the strength inside of you, and You have had it the whole time. You will find that light inside of you and find the way out of the dark.  We are all beautiful and unique in our own way and once we are able to look inside and accept ourselves for who we are, we will begin to realize just how strong and capable we truly are as women.

My goal is not to “cure” you of your Eating Disorder/Disordered Eating, but instead provide you with some strategies that have helped me along the way. In my opinion and for myself, recovery is an ongoing element of my life. Each and every day I need to focus on my inner strength. Some days pose more challenging than others, but now that I have found my own strength I am better able to handle these challenges.

Of course, I am not a Medical Doctor, so if you are struggling with an Eating Disorder please consult with your Doctor. I would be happy to help you in any way that I can, so please feel free to email me at balanceisbeauty@rogers.com with any specific questions you may have.

Well friends . . . this was definitely a lot heavier than my normal posts – I hope you enjoyed it and got something out of it, if I helped even one of you, my goal will have been accomplished

Have a wonderful Wednesday, and because I have ZERO pictures in this post so far, I will leave with a picture of my fur baby, who helps me in my recovery every day by bringing so much joy to my life

He has been sleeping under the Christmas tree on the fake snow since we have had it up! hehe

xoxo

Krissy

Better late than never right??!! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and are all as excited about 2010 as I am!

When I reflect back on 2009 I definitely see it as a year of personal growth and learning. This was the year I decided to follow my dreams and my heart and go back to school (yet again) to study to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. With each passing class, I know I have found my passion and am looking forward to see what the future has to offer in respect to my new career. I am so pleased that I am able to share this journey with all of you. 2009 was also the year that I was introduced to the wonderful world of blogging. Eventually I decided to stop being an outsider looking in and actually start my own blog and become part of this wonderful community. Although I have only been blogging for a short time – I have already met so many wonderful, beautiful women who share the same passions as I do. I know many of these friendships will continue to flourish and I look forward to making many more! Thank you to all of my readers and all of my friends I appreciate each and every one of you

After reflecting on 2009, I thought it was only appropriate to create some goals for 2010. I have enjoyed reading everyone’s goals and think it is wonderful to have some concrete goals to strive for during 2010. It’s scary how quickly the year can fly by, so I think it’s essential to continue to revisit your goals to make sure you are staying on track!

1) Focus on Positive Thoughts – work on turning all negative thoughts/statements into positive ones. This is something I continue to struggle with – I am my harshest critic and am often much harder on myself than I should be. I often find negative thoughts entering my mind and I am going to work very hard this year to turn all of my negative thoughts into positives. I know this will make a huge impact on my day-to-day life and I am going to start journaling all of my positive statements for lots of inspiration

2) Decrease Cardio exercise and increase Strength Training and Yoga Practice. Exercise is not something that I have touched too much on so far on my blog. To sum it up – I am a “cardio-holic”. I LOVE it – given the option I would probably engage in some form of cardio all day long I love the feeling it gives me (endorphins!) and I feel so accomplished when I am done.  Having said that, there can be too much of a good thing – I know my body is starting to get used to all of the cardio training so switching it up and adding different forms of exercise are definitely necessary to start to see some results again. My goal is to practice Yoga at least 3x per week and I have just started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (I know, I know, I am SOO late jumping on this wagon – again, better late than never ), and plan to do it 5 days per week. I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

3) Become a more organized person. For anyone that knows me well (particularly my husband), organization is not one of my star qualities. This is particularly disheartening for my hubby, because he is a very organized, neat and tidy, OCD, type A personality. Although I have made minimal a few gains in the past 2 years we have been married – there is definitely A LOT room for improvement. Short term goals are to: 1) Organize my office and tidy up all my loose papers, 2) Organize my pantry, and 3) Organize my closets/drawers.  Hubby will be SO proud of me for this goal

4) Improve my blog and increase readership. My number one goal for starting this blog was to hopefully help others on their journey towards health. This year I would like to focus on more meaningful posts that can assist others in accomplishing their health goals and hopefully be a support during the process.

5) Work towards staring my own business/practice. My dream/vision/goal for embarking on education again was to start my own business – there is a lot of work to be done before this can happen and 2010 is the year where it all will start I am looking forward to all that is to come in terms of my career and know that positive thinking/framing and hard work will get me to where I dream to be!

Hubs and I have a few goals together as well. I know that 2010 has a lot to offer if I am willing to put in the hard work and dedication. Although it sounds cliché, I truly believe that 2010 is my year

I look forward to spending 2010 getting to know each and every one of you a little bit better. Like I said before, I appreciate you all and feel truly blessed that you even care about what I have to say

To end off (sorry for the word heavy post!!), I took a few pictures from New Years Eve, if you remember Hubs and I hosted a party this year. There was probably about 30 people and it turned out wonderfully (and I DID NOT wake up with a hangover). There was wayyyy to much food and drink, and I DIDN”T capture any of it (I know it’s a TOTAL SIN!). I did however, take some before pictures of both the house and myself, so just imagine, the dining table full to the brim with every kind of appetizer you can imagine

There is never a shortage of alcohol when hubby is throwing a party – yes those pumps are full of alcohol – and NO I did not partake in those festivities I stuck to the traditional New Years drink of Champagne

Last but not least, I thought I’d show you the dress I was talking about the other day that I purchased from BCBG, one of my fav stores! I thought it was perfect for a New Years celebration!

Since I’m pretty short, 5’’3.5 (YES the .5 counts!), I tend to find it difficult to find dresses that look good without heels (since we were having a house party I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear shoes!), because this dress was tighter at the bottom I could adjust the length of it which was great! I think I’ll get lots of wear of this, I think it would look great with a long jean and high heel as well!

So there you have it my beautiful friends, I’ve said goodbye to 2009 and say BRING IT ON 2010 – I’m ready for it I’m so excited for what the year has to offer and look forward to spending it with all of you and seeing what exciting things the year has for you as well!

Again – Happy New Year and All the Best to You and Your Families!

xoxo

Krissy