Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie 2.0

May 28, 20152 Comments

I’m pretty sure I’ve created some version of this concoction before, but this is my new absolute favourite upgraded version so here it is! I made this smoothie after an intense workout, which is why I used dates. Alternatively you can use stevia to taste.

I started using collagen powder after sustaining a knee injury. It is a phenomenal protein powder, providing support for collagen loss and cartilage damage to the body. There are so many benefits that I use it every single day! It adds protein to smoothies without altering the taste.

Between the collagen and the peanut better powder, there is a lot of protein in this bad boy!

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Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie 2.0

Serves 2.

1 banana
4 ice cubes
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 medjool dates (or stevia to taste)
4 tbsp peanut butter powder or peanut butter (PB2/peanut butter slim)
2 tbsp Great Lakes Collagen powder (omit if you don’t have some…and then go buy some)
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder (dutch process – the dark kind)
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp milled flax seed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla powder (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
pinch sea salt

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

Is Your Inner Child Running Your Life?

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015Leave a comment

innerchild

Whether we realize it or not, we carry a lot of baggage from the past. The abandonment we felt as children when our parents wouldn’t play with us, the betrayal we felt when our best friend chose to sleep over at someone else’s house instead of ours, and the sadness we felt when our beloved pet suddenly died – all reside deep within our subconscious mind.

Our inner child learns that we need to perform spectacularly if we want more attention. We become perfectionists. We learn that negative attention is better than no attention at all. We lash out in anger. We internalize the external, (I guess I’m not good enough to have Daddy’s attention), take things far too personally, and begin to talk badly to ourselves.

That inner child stays with us, yearning for the love, connection, and safety that eluded it over the years. When we lash out in anger at the smallest of details, it is a red flag that we have neglected our inner being for far too long. When we berate others for their shortcomings it is simply because we can’t stand to look at our own. We deflect. It’s much easier to point out what others are doing wrong than own up to our own failures. The funny thing is, others mirror our faults back to us. Whatever bothers us about someone is something that we need to work on!

Our actions are a direct representation of the way we feel about ourselves. The way we hold ourselves in public reflects the emotional terrain of our inner world. When we feel poorly about ourselves we tend to lash out at anyone near us – especially the ones we love. They have a front row seat to our baggage show. Our flipping out has nothing to do with the empty toilet paper roll, and everything to do with our need for love, connection, and fulfillment.

Denial of our problems is not a long term solution. Problems get bigger the longer we let them fester, not smaller. The fastest, easiest, and least painless way to deal with our inner unrest is to simply listen to it and begin to take care of the inner child that is begging to be heard, that inner being – the real you – that needs love and attention. Your inner being doesn’t need love and attention from just anyone, it needs it from YOU.

Now that you’re an adult, it is your responsibility to meet your inner being’s deepest emotional needs. If you don’t take responsibility for fulfilling these needs, the unrest will only worsen until there is a complete blowout (divorce, mid-life crisis, job termination, etc.) and you have no choice but to comply.

You are the only one who can give you what you need. When you take your power back from others and realize that you are fully capable of nurturing your inner being, your whole life will change. As you start to listen to your inner being you will build awareness around what it needs to feel happy, safe, and fulfilled. Take some time to reflect on where you are and where you want to be, and when you are the most you – what makes you really light up? Get silent sit in meditation, and let the answers come.

As you begin to act on this new awareness and the information it provides, you will feel whole, complete, safe, secure, and loved all on your own. You won’t feel the need to lash out at others because you will be following your heart, giving your inner being the love and attention it so desires. You won’t need to point out what everyone else is doing wrong because you won’t even notice it. In time, rather than focusing on everything that is going wrong, you will be excited about everything that is going right!

When you provide your inner being with unconditional love, you create a space within you to freely love others, flaws and all. When you love yourself, you don’t need to take power from others, for you will have all of the power you need already within. As you sit in the seat of awareness, always listening to your inner being, you are able to thwart or deal with perceived attacks on your inner being as they arise. Though the inner work never ends, neither do the soul-fulfilling payoffs, authentically beautiful relationships, love and peace it provides your inner being.

Whenever your inner being is feeling insecure, unloved, unfulfilled, or uneasy, you can acknowledge the feeling, knowing that you are a limitless being full of love and creative power. Focus on your strengths. Focus on the solutions to the problems and the best possible outcomes. Focus on the inner being and follow your heart. It will never steer you wrong. Take a deep breath, push through your fears and remind yourself that “All is well. There is nothing to fear. I’ve got this.”

Material Objects as Life Purpose Replacements

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015Leave a comment

Symptoms of detachment from spirit can feel like anxiety, fear, sadness, discontent, failure, and discomfort, among others. This happens when we get sidetracked from our right and perfect path and take a detour through procrastination and other behaviours that don’t serve us. The discontent will simply keep growing until you answer the call to get back on track and serve your life’s purpose.

If you feel a deep longing to do something fulfilling with your life but let your fears talk you out of taking action, you can get stuck for a very long time between the fear of moving forward and the fear of staying the same. Your discomfort is caused by not keeping up with your soul’s lessons.

As you learn in this lifetime, you are constantly outgrowing your old circumstances and gearing up to change, to grow, to learn, and to master each new level you encounter. Your guides and angels leave little clues and synchronistic events along the way to make life fun and exciting, and even extremely hard if you must learn a difficult lesson. It is all for your greatest good.

Though you may not consciously know what you are longing for, taking courageous action toward what feels good each and every day can illuminate the path ahead. One day, when you look back to where your journey began, you will do so in awe of the cascade of fortunate encounters and events that guided you right to where you wanted to be!

If you know what you desire, yet aren’t taking action, the discomfort will only grow until you listen to your authentic self and start making changes in your life. No matter how hard some decisions may initially seem, the pain you will endure from not taking action will eventually become so extreme that you have to change.

The Universe will support you always.

We all have a little voice in our head that cheers us on. This inner voice tells us when something needs to change and when we need to take action. It always has our best interest at heart. We also have a little voice that tells us we are not good enough – this is the voice of fear and anxiety, and the more attention you give it, the stronger it will get. Take your power back from this voice and take action in the direction of your bliss. You are and always have been worthy.

There is a lot of fear entwined with change, but there doesn’t have to be. Fear and anxiety can’t survive the light. They will disappear the second you acknowledge your worthiness and take action toward your dreams. Use them to guide you out of your comfort zone – you really have nothing to lose but your discomfort, and you have a lifetime of happiness to gain!

It all comes down to this:

You can either listen to the unrest and question it, asking yourself what kind of life you must live in order to feed your spirit and live with passion, or you can continue to live in denial and room with anxiety, fear, and discontent. If you choose the latter, you will certainly feel the pain of disconnection and try to remedy the pain by acquiring material objects.

Material Objects as Life Purpose Replacements

Do you have a lot of stuff?
Do you have a need to shop?
Do you feel fulfilled in your life?
Are you constantly fearful and anxious?
How are your relationships?
Do you think about why you are buying something before you complete the purchase?
Do you need to buy something to be happy?
Are you feeling inspired or blocked in your life?
Do you have a lot of energy or is your body tired and stagnant?
What do your closets look like?
Is your house clean?

Are you numbing yourself by acquiring material objects? Do you try to cover up your pain, fear, and anxiety by purchasing items to gain happiness? Until you listen to your spirit and pursue your life’s purpose, the high you get from buying things will come and go hundreds of times until you wake up to the truth that nothing outside of you can make you happy. Happiness has been and will always be an inside job. Listen to your spirit.

Not only will objects not make you happy in the long run, but the more stuff you have, the more energy if takes from you. The more electronics you have, the more responsibility you have in making sure they run properly. The more cars you have, the more insurance you must buy and the more upkeep you must perform or delegate.

The more pets you have, the more you must feed them, walk them, and seek veterinary care. The more clothing you have, the more clothing you must wash/dry/fold/dry clean/repair. The more stuff you have laying around your house, the more stuff you have to dust, and the harder it is to find anything anywhere!

Material accumulation is a symptom of spiritual disconnection – a symptom of not fulfilling your life’s purpose.

When I am feeling stuck and anxious, it is almost always because I have been hanging out with my fears and not pursuing my life’s purpose. The only thing that truly makes me feel better is listening to my inner guidance and taking action on it. For instance, I may be procrastinating by cleaning the house instead of writing. This little voice in my head tells me that I need to write. About a minute after I sit down at my computer and begin to type, all fear and anxiety disappear and I feel completely connected to my spirit and my life’s purpose once again. I know I am following my life’s purpose because it makes me happy.

Maybe you have a habit of numbing out in front of the television, and while you needed to relax the first night, the second night your spirit may pipe up and start making you feel uneasy. Our spirit selves remind us that we didn’t go through the trouble of being born on Earth to sit on a couch night after night after night. If you watch television every night would put money on the table that you feel you were meant for something more, because you are.

There is nothing wrong with watching television sometimes! I know there is nothing better for my spirit some nights than to snuggle up with my husband and watch a good movie, but some nights my spirit would rather read a book, play with watercolours, spend quality time with my significant other or kids, make love, go for a walk, post an inspirational quote on instagram, or sit in the back yard and eat a popsicle!

When you are feeling fearful or anxious it is important that you question the unrest. Ask yourself what your spirit needs to thrive, and listen to the guidance, feelings, and images that come to mind. Spend some time in meditation and quietly reflect.

The next time you want to buy something, ask yourself why. This simple question can make you dig deep and figure out what you are really trying to achieve by acquiring something else.

We recently cleaned out our entire house, from the depths of the closets to the cupboards, drawers, and crawlspaces. We simply asked ourself this one question about everything: Does this give me energy or deplete it? If something didn’t feel good to, it got thrown in the donation pile and left the house a few hours later. Make sure your donation pile doesn’t stick around for months. Take it away immediately and feel the energy in your house soar!

Getting rid of the old creates space for the new without your energy getting lost. There is flow. Life. Beauty. Peace. It opens the door to possibilities you’ve never even considered. Take your power back from the material objects in your life and start visualizing a life of purpose and happiness. How can you serve? How can you bring joy to yourself and others? What do you love to do so much that you would do for free?

Feel the anxiety and fear melt away into excitement as soon as you commit to taking action in the direction of your dreams!

Fast Fat Burning Meals

May 13, 2015Leave a comment

I’m a bit late to the party but I am super excited to share this awesome video and cookbook with you! Yuri and I set out to prove that not only is it healthier to make your meals at home, but it is also faster, and WAY more delicious!

This video comes at a time when we are ready to share our Fast Fat Burning Meals cookbook and cookbook club with the world. No longer will you have to ask yourself “what should I make for dinner?” Because, the answer to your nightly dinnertime nightmare is here. The healthiest, quickest, and most delicious meals you can make for your family!

I wish I could share the burger in the video with everyone because it is melt in your mouth better than any other burger you’ve ever tasted – and it’s super easy to make! Seriously, make these burgers for dinner tonight. You will LOVE them.

So, is fast food really faster? Watch the video:

We’ve gotten some backlash for “wasting” that food, but in all honesty, McDonald’s is not food in my opinion. I would rather put it in the garbage any day than put that stuff in my body. If you are bothered by us throwing it away, you may want to ask yourself why it bothers you so much. If I had eaten it, the outcome would be the same. No one else would have gotten to eat it!

Best Burger Ever

1/3 lb ground sirloin
tomato
pickle
red onion
ketchup
mustard
greens as a base (not pictured)

To prepare the burger, simply turn on your frying pan to medium, salt and pepper both sides of your patty, and throw it in the pan! Cook just like a pancake, flipping when the burger is half way done, after just 2-3 minutes. Cook until your desired level of doneness is reached, and top that puppy with anything you wish!

Avocado/Tomato Salad

2 tomatoes
1 avocado
olive oil
lemon juice
sea salt and pepper

Place chopped tomatoes and avocado in a medium bowl, and season with olive oil, a dash of lemon juice, sea salt and pepper. Done!

Running Challenge: Enter A Race!

May 1, 2015May 1, 2015Leave a comment

Last night I finished crafting my 6 week training program for the 15km race I entered in mid-June. After I signed up, my ego was already saying, nah, it’s ok. We don’t need to change. Let’s quit. But my spirit said “YES! Something to challenge me!”

Right then I crafted a running schedule, saw myself completing it, and got really excited. Once you start to make plans for something, you’re investing yourself, and even though I wasn’t running yet, I was already taking action. Once I finished writing my schedule, my goal was as good as realized in spiritual truth. Conceive, believe, achieve.

My 6 week intensive 15km race training schedule: (adapted from a half marathon training guide so it’s a little intense)

Then when I woke up this morning my ego piped up again: “I think maybe I made a bit too strong of a commitment.” It said. “I’m doing it, ego.” My spirit replied, “It’s going to be fun.” So far my ego has accepted that we’re in it together and that it’s not going to be easy. My spirit has won for now!

I really do love running. It’s mentally and physically challenging and there’s a huge pay-off via endorphins and a slimmer body. What I don’t like is the toll it takes on my knees. Last year I injured my knee and ended up taking the winter off. So while I do love running, it’s not something that I will do every day for the rest of my life. I guess you could say I’ve been hacking running due to my knee injury.

Running Hacks

Most of the running I’ve been doing lately has been on the treadmill at an incline of 10 or more. I run/walk/run/walk for 10 minutes as a warm-up and that’s it. Running on an incline is the biggest bang for your buck. Less time, better challenge = better fitness, and less wear on the knee joints.

If you really want a good running workout then try sprinting on an incline. For example, at an incline of 10, you straddle the treadmill and turn up the pace to 10 (or wherever your sprint pace is). Run for 10 seconds, then straddle the belt and rest for 20 seconds, and repeat for 5-10 minutes. Talk about a good workout in a short amount of time!

For long-distance running, I try to set myself up for success the best I can. I am very lucky to have good trails in a forest about 15 minutes from my house. The air is cleaner, the scenery is beautiful, and running on dirt reduces the wear on my body. If I’m in the forest I always run longer than I intend because the environment feels so right.

I strap on my heart rate monitor, press play on my audiobook, and I am in total bliss. There’s the occasional root that gets the best of me, like today, when I fell hard on my butt and pulled the opposing groin muscle, but for the most part I love the challenging environment of hills, twisting trails, and troublesome roots.

If you’re looking for a challenge, sign up for a race.

A 5k race is a great place to start. Plan out a training schedule and get excited. Check off your completed runs every day and keep track of your your daily successes no matter how big or small. Celebrate that you are doing something for yourself!

Get a heart rate monitor and make it really fun! I love seeing my heart rate, calories burned, and how fast I’ve accomplished both. It makes a game out of my game!