How to Build a Satisfying Salad

 

A vegetarian salad.

As someone who craves salads in their sleep, I know that is weird and not everyone has such wonderful interactions with salads. The biggest complaint is that salads are not very filling. The other thing that I notice is that people have either an old or narrow definition of salad.  When I say old, it means that it that horrible iceberg lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes.  Salads are usually put into the box of always having to include lettuce.  Today, I will be shattering all your preconceived notions about salads, while outlining how to make a salad that is filling. Here go the steps to creating a filling salad.

• No Lettuce

Salads don’t necessarily need to include lettuce. A salad may include whole wheat couscous, quinoa, or even brown rice as base. All of those salad bases would fill you up along with having a slow metabolic burn.

• Ok, a leafy vegetable

Yes, I know, but you say lettuce based salads don’t fill you up. My suggestion is not to use iceberg lettuce. Kale, Spinach, baby Spinach, and dark green leafy red romaine are very filling lettuce. These lettuces will assist you in filling full.

• Good Veggies

These types of veggies will assist you creating a filling salad such as: avocados, cucumbers, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower.

• Salad Dressing

This is critical choice when eating a salad. The creamy salad dressings tend to put on the extra pounds, so select carefully. Oil and vinegar with spices are an easy low-calorie salad dressing.  Generally, a salad dressing that is oil based will be fewer calories.

• Protein

Many people are either omnivores or carnivores, thereby desiring some protein on their salad. One has many options if they are vegetarian seeking protein substitute, you can do soy artificial chicken strips, beans, crumpled soy, and tempeh. If you are more of a pescatarian, then a piece of baked fish such as snapper, salmon, or tuna might be your preference.

• Cheese

I love cheese and adding it to a salad. I find that it makes the salad tastier.

It is my hope that this information makes you rethink salads. They can be filling and tasty. Also my personal favorite is to make a salad with either couscous or quinoa as the base. When I use either of those, the salad really seems to fill me up. Enjoy eating your salad. Happy Fruits and Veggies Month to you!

Lisa

How to Continue Towards a Health Goal

 

Hello All,

 

I know many of you have set New Year’s resolutions related to health. This is the time of year when people hit some obstacles. I wanted to let you know that I am rooting for you. My mother would say a try beats a fail all the time. Please just take it one day at time.

 

More inspiration and posts coming.

 

Have an awesome week. Keep warm if you are on the east coast.

UrbanHealthyChick

The Best Digital Stuff of 2014

 

Hello All,

Usually, I am watching and listening a great deal of the time on social media. However, since it is the end of the year, I wanted to reflect, applaud, and say thank you to some great people working online.  Some of my favorite thought leaders in healthcare, social media/digital, and general news will be highlighted. All of these individuals have taught me a great day as well as made me think.

Part 1: News

NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour is a great weekly podcast headed by Linda Holmes. They talk about all things pop culture books, television, movies, podcasts, music, and more. This podcast has something for everyone and every type of nerd. The podcast allows me to keep up with everything that is happening in pop culture along with providing stimulating intelligent analysis of it. You can find them on Twitter @nprmonkeysee. I hope to see you guys live sometime.

This Week In Blackness is a reasonable political minded podcast that covers the topics of the day. I enjoy hearing the crew discuss the topics of the day with a funny spin to it. Regardless of Imani’s and Aaron’s love/hate for salads, I still enjoy the podcast. LOL. Imani and Aaron, you have inspired an upcoming blog post from me about how to build a salad that is filling. (Imani and Aaron, I hope to encourage you two to show a little more love to salads. Giggle.)  Elon and crew please keep up the good work! TWIB’s social justice work and focus on issues related to African American culture is needed. Additionally, please support independent media via a subscription to their podcast or use the amazon.twib.me link when shopping on Amazon.  Please catch them on social media @ANSFreeman @TWiBnation @ElonJames @AngryBlackLady.

Citizens Radio is another wonderful podcast that is funny and informative. They have cats, which are cute and the hosts are vegans.  I am striving to be a committed vegan just like the hosts of the show. Also they love coffee along with keeping the public informed about issues not covered by the mainstream media. Allison and Jaime play off each other really well. Please support their podcast and new book called #NewsFail. You can catch them at @CitizenRadio @JamieKilstein

The Bugle has two well known and funny guys hosting the podcast. John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman really bring the funny to the weekly news. Give these guys some credit for making the torture reports sound funny, while being informative. I enjoy their podcast. Also buy some of their funny merchandise to support them. You can follow them on twitter @hellobuglers

RadioTimes from Whyy and Washington Week Podcast are two great news podcasts that bring well-researched news and interesting stories to the public each week. Gwen Ifill is the moderator of Washington Week and Co-Anchor of the PBS Newshour as well as an award winning author. You can follow her at @gwenifill. RadioTimes covers regional, national, and international issues in a thought provoking way. Marty the show’s host is always willing to discuss the tough topics of the day. You can follow Marty Moss Coane at @martymosscoane.

 

Part 2: Social Media Thought Leaders

Jeff Bullas has taught me so much about social media marketing from his posts. His content is informative and spot on. Also I have learned a great deal by just observing his interactions along with the way he markets his content. Thank you Jeff for all that you do! Please check him out on twitter along with his blog. Jeff Bullas can be found @JeffBullas.

Pam Moore is fun, informative, and provides helpful insights into marketing and social media. Additionally, she provides inspirational quotes and actionable information. I loved the Christmas hat by the way, Pam, it looks great on you. Smile. You can follow her @PamMktNut

SocialPros is a podcast created by Jay Baer a very successful professional in social media and marketing. The podcast is very informative providing lots of tips, tricks, and insight, while being fun. Also I enjoy his emails from Convince and Convert which give timely and forward thinking insight for professionals working in the trenches doing social media. I think you may notice that I only read information that improves my ability to add value to my clients or my own work. Time is important and a limited resource. SocialPros and Convince and Convert are worth your time to exploring because of quality content created by Jay. Please check out his podcast SocialPros and Jay Baer on Twitter @JayBaer

Alex Harris was one of the first podcasts that I found when I was trying to learn about social media/digital marketing. His podcast Marketing Optimization covers emerging trends in digital/online marketing. He is very well read, highly experienced digital/online marketer, and seems like a good dude. His podcast is about results, covering all the current topics, forward thinking, while interviewing top professionals in online marketing. His CROMastermind seems like an opportunity worth exploring for any marketing professional. Please download his podcast Marketing Optimization and find him on Twitter @AlexDesigns

 

Part 3: Health and Wellness

Mynameisjessamyn is creating an amazing movement related to yoga on social media. She is bringing yoga to the masses in a teachable and approachable way for all body types. The Mynameisjessamyn social media platform is a great resource for where ever one may be on their yoga journey. Please check her out on tumblr and twitter @JessNotJazz. Keep creating great content to make yoga accessible to everyone!

On Tumblr there is a great blog that is called Vegan-Yums. The food on this blog looks awesome and many of the recipes are ones that the average person can reproduce at home. I don’t know if anyone can create the beautiful food captured in the blog, but I try. Smile. The tumblr blog really interacts well with its readers and provides great support to them on their healthy eating journey. It inspires me to create my own platform to support those seeking a better way to eat. Kudos to Vegan-Yums. Keep up the great work!!

Dr. Nina Cherie is an awesome healthcare professional who provides informative implementable advice to improve one’s health. She looks awesome which is equally as inspiring as the advice provided. Her advice will help you make your new year’s resolution for health a reality. Please check her out on Twitter @NinaCheriePhD and on her Google+ website. Thanks for the tips, Dr. Cherie. You look awesome!

NutritionFacts.org has a vibrant, informative, and helpful website along with social media presence. The nutritional information provided is well researched science backed insight coming from trained medical professionals.  Please support this informative website that is providing scientific information about nutrition that appears to be unbiased to the public. NutritionFacts.org produces tons of easy to view educational videos in easy to understand terms about nutrition. You can check Dr. Greger out on Twitter at @nutrition_facts.

One last thank you to everyone mentioned above as well as to the many others that are providing great content. There may be a part two to this post.  Smile.

That is who inspired and informed me in 2014. Who inspired and informed you in 2014? Who do you recommend for keeping an eye on in 2015? Let me know. Happy New Year to Everyone!

 

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A 30 Minute Workout

Hello All,

Happy Holidays to All! This time of the year can be very chaotic leaving no time to workout.

This is a no equipment needed workout that anyone can do possibly anywhere. It is my hope that this work out is helpful.  Later this week, I will have another post covering my digital thank yous to my colleagues in both health and digital/social media in 2014.

Hope this workout is helpful.

Have a great week.

Happy Monday!

Worst Side Effects of Being a Vegetarian

The side effects that I am listing are manageable, but can be problematic if not addressed. Addressing these issues does require some adjustment of one’s lifestyle.  Many people including myself have experienced these issues however they can be overcome with a little bit of work.

1. “You will be moody.”

The truth of the matter you will because the combination of salt, fat, and sugar are a drug. When you eliminate them in combination with stopping the consumption of soda this will cause a tremendous impact to you physically. Sugar along with caffeine is a drug, so many individuals experience withdraws when eliminating them.

Solution: There is no one solution to this type of problem. An approach to manage the situation is gradually eliminating the salts, fats, and sugars. My advice would be starting with minimizing the soda consumed eventually stopping swapping it for a cup of coffee or for green/black tea. This would be a gradual process over a number of weeks. During those weeks, one would also try meditation and prayer along with swapping bad soda drinking behavior with something else such as a cardio workout.  The cardio workout can provide a natural “sugar high”.“You can’t eat out. What will you eat?”

2. “You can’t eat out. What will you eat?”

My favorite statement to friends and colleagues is the following: “Every restaurant makes a great salad”. Basically, it is hard to mess up putting some vegetables on a plate. However, vegetarian food has gone main stream. Philadelphia a city once known for its cheesesteaks and obesity has a booming vegetarian restaurant scene. Additionally, if you visit a Subway or some Burger Kings they have a vegetarian patty meat substitute.

Solution: There are a couple of solutions. The tried and true salad is always a great go to. Next, sometimes it may be best to eat beforehand so that you are not stuck if the menu isn’t vegetarian friendly.  A tactic that I employ sometimes is being a flexitarian when I am out meaning that I will eat baked seafood. Lastly, it may be required to request a restaurant that you know has some vegetarian friendly items. You must do what makes you the most comfortable.

3. “You will be sick.” Or “Some foods will make you sick to your stomach.”

This is a slightly tricky one. The general idea is if you eliminate some foods from your diet, your body will create a new baseline without those foods. The human body is big chemical reaction that is trying to keep things in balance. When you make changes to your body, for example change your diet, then that the biological/ecological systems in your body change.  As a result, if you go back to eating chicken after 4 year absence, for example you could have all types of digestion problems. Additionally, the mere smell of it may make you sick. The sickness described may be indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Many people who decide to no longer be a vegetarian power through the sickness to return to a standard omnivore diet.  My advice would be to ease back into it over the course of many months, so as to cause your body the least amount of harm.

Solution: You can go all crazy and double down on meat to get back to an omnivore diet.  Another alternative would be to gradually start eating meat in small portions weekly and work back up to a daily diet of meat.  You have to do what is best for your health, patience, and schedule.

 

4. “You will feel like a Mack Truck hit you during your period. You will feel like you could sleep for 12 hours a day.”

Vegetarians need to really provide their bodies the necessary vitamins, protein sources, and supplements to fuel themselves. Women need to be particularly careful as a result of experiencing their monthly menstruation cycle.  PMS coupled with the dip in iron related to that time of the month can create quite a challenge to keep one’s energy level up. Wish I had a simple solution; however I am still researching the issue.

Solution:  The approach that I have embraced is a high potency women’s multi-vitamin, B complex ( a methy type of B) supplement, and rest as needed. After the first day, the tiredness seems to lessen with energy levels going back to normal. Check out GNC  for options as well as a vegetarian multi-vitamin called  Vitamin Code at the Vitamin Shoppe. Sadly, I am learning that all vitamins and supplements are not created equal, so be careful what you buy for the best results.

These post is not meant to scare anyone just really inform you. Also you may not experience any of the things listed. However, it is my goal to create a balanced discussion about the vegetarian lifestyle. These “Worst Side Effects” are very manageable and may not happen to you. As always,  I am rooting for you! Big Smile.

Okay readers, do you think this post was realistic or  provided any helpful information? Please let me know your thoughts.

Happy Weekend to you!

Lisa

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Feedback Time!

 

Happy Monday, All!

Hope you are well. It is beautiful fall day.

Below I have a included a poll to better understand how to serve you.

Please provide your feedback, additionally a contact form is included, if you would like to reach out to me.

 

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Thank You, Readers!

 

 

It just recently occurred to me (via WordPress) that this blog is 2 years old. If you know me in my non-digital  life, I don’t celebrate much in life. I am usually pushing to the next goal. The only reason this celebration is happening is because it is for YOU. Thank YOU for taking the time to join my journey. It is incredible to think this started from a recommendation of a friend.

PS I want to apologize because previously there has not consistently been a comment section. My apologies, this blog’s goal is to be helpful and supportive along with encouraging your feedback. Please provide your feedback and questions below.  In a few days, I will be submitting a poll to better understand, how to support and assist you.  When posts are created moving forward a comment section will be added consistently.

Thanks again for taking the journey with me over the last 2 years!

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Introducing A Struggling Vegetarian

What is up with the page title? A very good question, I was drawn to wordpress blogging because of two things. First, a great male friend of mine saw a woman on MSNBC who was famous because of her blog. He thought that my brain neurons were fully firing and that I was semi-articulate therefore should create blog. Giggle. He saw a potential in me. Thank you friend, if you are reading this. Smile.

Part two was that I am a struggling vegetarian. So what does that mean? It means that I jumped into being a vegetarian without any real knowledge or support. During my journey, I have had some successes as well as failures. Over the years of starts, stops, and failures, I have learned a great deal about doing this “right”. My biggest frustration during that period was the lack of support and resources during my transition. This frustration is the source of the creation of this blog. Half of my goal of this blog platform is to support those that struggling with the vegetarian journey.

Okay, Lisa that is great, so what does all this mean? Weekly, I will provide a blog post related to food and health to support those trying to improve their health. Naturally, my own struggles will be shared to let readers know that they are not alone. In tandem with that, my passion for supporting struggling vegetarians will be going offline very soon. Keep an eye out for information and opportunities to meet in person.

The great thing about this being a dynamic blog is that I can still discuss digital marketing and consumer tech as well as healthy eating.

Looking forward to supporting fellow struggling vegetarians or those thinking of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle!
Have a great week full of infinite possibilities! 🙂

7 Easy Healthy Eating Tips

 

 

As autumn arrives and children go back to school, it becomes harder to adhere to a healthier routine. My tips are general, but in an attempt to provide full disclosure there is a bit of focus on being vegetarian. In my travels, I run into individuals who are diabetic or choosing on their own to become vegetarian. Currently, the healthcare system is not preparing patients for living a “vegetarian lifestyle”. Notice, I said “vegetarian lifestyle” it is a way of life not a change in eating for most people. Here goes:

• Get a Food Mentor
  • A food mentor can assist you with the transition into becoming a vegetarian along with being there for you through the tough times. You will need a friend to call for support. Also they can provide guidance about food options, recipes, and restaurants that are vegetarian friendly.
  • Takeaway: Join an offline vegetarian group, online vegetarian group, or take vegetarian cooking classes to get some guidance.

 

• Plan for eating
  • Planning certain aspects of my eating is something that I struggle with personally. My mother would say that I have some nerve mentioning planning my meals! It is my hope that is she isn’t reading this because she is right. It is very helpful, if one wants to be a successful vegetarian to plan meals along with carrying healthy snacks on their person. Please don’t forget to eat the food you carry or it will go bad. I found this out the hard and smelly way. Giggle.
  • Takeaway: A tip would be to stock up on the staples that are easy to eat each week, so you set yourself up for success. For example, you can try to have the following available: nuts, fruit, pre-soak beans for cooking, and some CLIF bars.

 

• Hydration is key
  • This will assist with managing your hunger. Hydration can come in the form of having a cup of hot tea, which can assist with digestion. A person can experience some indigestion, during the transition, so keeping hydrated via ginger tea for example, is so important. Consuming water can assist with keeping you clear headed as well.
  • Takeaway: One should try to drink several glasses of liquid with some of that being ginger or chamomile tea.

 

• Exercise is helpful
  • The” vegetarian lifestyle” journey is about the mind-body connection. Exercise will help with your mood aka mind. When one eliminates sugar, salt, and fat there will be a change in one’s mood. Generally, exercising can release endorphins that can put one in a better mood.
  • Takeaway: Exercise will help with your mood. It can be as simple as cardio, yoga, walking, or Pilates. Physical activity will assist with digestion as well.

 

• Meditation/Mindfulness/Prayer is so so important
  • This relates back to the mind-body connection. You will feel various types of emotions during this period and possible feel like you are out of control. The ability to connect with your breath or a higher power can be tremendously helpful. It will assist you in keeping perspective during this time of transition in your life.
  • Takeaway: A moment of stillness will let you connect and manage your emotions. As little as 10-20 minutes of quiet deep breathing a day can help.

 

• Loving kindness is a necessity
  • Basically, go easy on yourself and take it one meal at a time. If you fall off the vegetarian wagon, then get back on the wagon the next meal. We are all human and will make mistakes, so don’t be too hard on yourself during this process. Hey, I am also rooting for you!
  • Takeaway: You may fall off the wagon and eat meat, but it is okay. Get back out there and try again!

 

• Embrace the variety of foods out there! Have fun!
  • There is so much healthy and tasty food out there! Have fun and remember being a vegetarian doesn’t mean that you are eliminating options. You are creating more options and ways that you can eat food. There are tons of recipes to make and great vegetarian restaurants out there! Go forth and eat!

An important last note, please check with your doctor before and during this process because you don’t want to do yourself harm accidently.

What is making me smile this week?

What is making me smile this week?

Hope you are taking a moment to smile this week. It is my hope this blog post will assist you in smiling. This feature was inspired by a wonderful show called the Pop Culture Happy Hour, a favorite podcast of mine from NPR. Please follow them on twitter at @nprmonkeysee.  At the end of each show, they discuss what is making them happy.  As a result, I am going to have a weekly feature in a similar vein, what is making me smile this week. The two things making me smile are pinto beans and The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Since I am a struggling vegetarian, I have explored many of the legume options available to me. My new favorite bean the pinto bean found me via a Spanish burrito at a restaurant. My eating out experience inspired me to make some quasi burritos at home, which were wonderful. I had no resulting digestive problems. As a result, this bean has taken first place in my heart and in my digestive system. It was hard fight but the pinto bean beat out the black bean for the number one spot. So here are my top 5 legumes from easiest to digest to hardest in my opinion.

1. Pinto Bean
2. Black Bean
3. Chick Peas
4. Black eyes peas
5. Cannellini Beans

The second thing making me smile is the Amazing Spiderman 2, which I found to be very enjoyable. Andrew Garfield gives a more intense, dynamic, and dark approach to Spiderman. He strikes a nice balance between being cool and dorky/nerdy. As result, I highly recommend the movie to everyone who enjoys the genre. Additionally, I am excited about the next installment of Xmen. That will keep me smiling I am sure, since I adore the depth and breadth of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Of course, there is the marketing tie that I cannot be overlooked with Spiderman, so I must address it.

 

Sony did an awesome job of teasing us with trailers for months to keep the fan base excited. Naturally, the movie studios provided the required complimentary Spiderman merchandise and video game, which appeared to get concept of swinging and web throwing correct according to experts. The movie did a great tie in with the US post office on their trucks and television commercials. Naturally, Disney will work with Sony to time the release of the DVD for Halloween to be in tandem with merchandise to support fandom as well as excited youth market. The marketing of movies and related merchandise are always interesting along with being innovative sometimes. I didn’t see the US post office tie in with Spiderman coming, however US post office is feeling a great deal of external market pressures. As a result, the Spiderman marketing buzz was helpful in increasing the post office’s brand awareness to a different segment of potential consumers.

Well on that note, I say smile a little more this week. Have a great day!

Lisa