Healthy Girl's Kitchen

A Death and A Rebirth: Goodbye Old Blog, Hello to Two New Exciting Endevours!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 05:03:00 +0000

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

John D. Rockefeller

For those of you who have your own blogs, you know how your blog is like your baby, right? And that every one of the comments you get to your blog posts is like a precious gift that you savor each time you receive?

Well, this baby, this version of the blog that is Healthy Girl's Kitchen has grown very, very old and tired. It's been time for me to put her to rest, but for the last few years I wasn't ready to let go of the things that I need to let go of in order to move forward. I didn't want to lose all of your precious comments that have I have been collecting for over seven years now!

But the time has come. It has been clear that the blogging platform that I started with, Blogger, hasn't matured to keep up with my needs. And the comment moderation system, Intense Debate, that I innocently plugged into this blog a few years after I started isn't serving us very well recently.

So I'm ready to say goodbye to something good for the chance of something truly great.

Here's a teeny, tiny sneak peak of the changes.

In the next week or so, you are going to see a massive change at Healthy Girl's Kitchen. She is going to grow from a Blogger blog into a Wordpress website with a blog. She is going to become far, far more beautiful. We are going to be able to connect and communicate with one another in far easier and faster ways.

The years of comments are a great loss for me personally. I have to allow myself to mourn this loss in whatever ways come up. I'm angry about this and sad. But I accept that my somewhat intense feelings of loss are a sign that I am engaged fully with life, and I embrace them. And leaving comments in the new website will be a whole heck of a lot easier!

I hope that you will love the changes as much as I do.

And now for more really great news.

Fear, Courage and Possibly the The Coolest News, Like, Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 12:37:00 +0000

Greetings friends!

I know that many of you are probably very curious about whether or not Bright Line Eating might be a fit for you at this point, but you are hesitant to make such a big change in your life, such a big financial commitment, or you are just plain terrified of giving up sugar, giving up flour, giving up eating in between meals or weighing your portions. And that's totally okay!

I was scared sh!#less for 2 years before I dove in and decided to experiment with it!

That's why I'm so freaking excited to tell you about what's coming up in BLE. If you haven't heard yet, Susan Peirce Thomson (I finally got the spelling of her name right!) has written a book and it's being published really soon.

In honor of the publishing of the book, BLE is having a 14 day Bright Line Eating Challenge.

Big deal, right?

It's like everyone and their sister has a cleanse, a 30-day Challenge, a 7-day Challenge, a Reboot, blah, blah, blah.

That's not the cool part.

Read more »

A Simple, Tasty BLE Dinner Idea: Mexican Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:04:00 +0000

I sort of can't believe I'm doing this but I'm blogging a recipe again! I haven't blogged about a recipe since October 2015. Eeek.

Where this is headed, I have no idea, but the more I fall in love with Bright Line Eating, the more inspired I am to document my favorite meals and recipes so that I can have a record of them for my own use.

If you're not a Bright Line Eater, no worries, these recipes are all whole food, plant based and you can leave out the salt or any other ingredient I might use now that you're not using.

Part of my hesitation to blog about recipes these days is the sheer volume of time involved in taking good pictures of food. It's a complete labor of love, and I just don't have it in me right now. So if you are okay with good enough images (okay, sometimes really marginal, like this one) but really great recipe ideas, I'm happy to post recipes again.

I tend to eat a lot of repeat meals these days, but the meals that I do eat taste incredible to me. Last night I was inspired to put together something that I hadn't made in quite a long time and make it BLE compliant-a Mexican salad.

A Food Addict's Thoughts on Stuttering

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 20:49:00 +0000

"It's not the challenge that defines us, but what we do with that challenge that defines who we are."

Moe Mernick

Moe Mernick

Today I had the honor and the privilege of hearing an amazing live lecture from author and speaker Moe Mernick.

Moe wrote a book called The Gift of Stuttering and he came to my Sunday School class (yes, the parents go to Sunday School!) to share his personal journey and lessons that he's learned from the challenges that he's been dealt.

There were some nuggets that Moe shared with us about what's he's learned from his struggle with stuttering that I just had to share with you.

His story of pain, suffering and anguish is also beautiful, uplifting and truly inspiring. I left with the biggest smile on my face!

I'm So Pissed Off

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 21:26:00 +0000

This is Professor Susan David.

We're definitely going to want to keep her on our radar.

Well, I'm not pissed off right now, but I was a few hours ago.

You see, today is my son's 9th birthday and I got up the gumption to order my very most favorite Not My Food from the local NMFery to pass out to his third grade class. I picked it up, made a special stop at the party goods store for fun boy-colored napkins, and brought said food to the classroom at the exact time that my son's teacher told me to be at his class.

Only I missed a bunch of text messages and phone calls from his teacher as I was busy doing the things I do all day and then racing around picking up the birthday treats. So when I got to the classroom, I had no idea that the class wouldn't be back for almost one hour.

I sat in the hall, waiting and waiting, figuring that the class was going to show up at any moment.

When forty five minutes went by and I started to get concerned that the $50 I had just spent on treats and napkins was going to go to waste, I got really pissed.

That's when I should have done what I've been trained to do: assume the best.

Read more »

Solid Strategies for Resisting NMF During Celebrations and Events

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 20:58:00 +0000

Tomorrow is my son and youngest child's 9th birthday. I'm so happy that he's maturing and getting older. I've never been one to prefer babies over big kids.

But with his birthday comes so pretty big food challenges for me. There's going to be the Not My Food (NMF) celebration at home, the NMF leftovers in our house from that, and then the NMF celebration at school.

Given my intention to strengthen my resistance muscle in 2017 (and onward), I wanted to share with you my strategies for getting through something that in the past might have had a solid chance of derailing my healthy eating plan.

In no particular order, here are my strategies. I hope that you will consider trying at least one of them on for size when you've got a challenging food situation. As with all advice, take what works for you and ditch the rest! Don't get caught up in the ideas that seem awful to you. We're all different!

Read more »

Knowing (and Getting) the Level of Support and Accountability that is Right for You

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 12:12:00 +0000

It's recently come to my attention that when it comes to forming new habits, your personality type has a lot to do with what methods are going to work for you and what methods are going to hinder your growth.

Gretchen Rubin, in her book Better than Before, brilliantly identified four types of people:

The Upholder
The Questioner
The Obliger
The Rebel

Read more »

If You Read One Book this Year, Make it Thin from Within by Dr. Joseph Luciani

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 21:22:00 +0000

You may have caught on by now that I read a lot of books about weight loss, plant based eating, habit change, etc.

I can honestly say that all books have a least one nugget of information that really helps to inform my journey moving forward. But there is one book recently that I have to insist you check out if you are struggling with your eating plan, and it is Thin from Within by Dr. Joseph Luciani.

Read more »

There is Real Power in Words

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 22:28:00 +0000

There's something that I've been thinking about over the past few months, and it keeps coming up in conversation and in weird ways in my life.

It's about the power of words, and how we manifest the things in our life with the words we use or the thoughts we think.

I can't think of any more powerful example of this phenomenon than in the following two sentences:

"If it's in your house, it's in your mouth."

vs.

"That's not my food."
Read more »

Something Very Special is Coming to the Cleve!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 15:48:00 +0000

Remember I said a few blog posts ago that I am resigning from the debating society on plant based diets? Well, I'm very serious about that.

I'm going to gladly promote whatever the heck idea any one has that simply gets folks to EAT MORE PLANTS.

And the folks at the National Health Association are seriously dedicated to helping people find their way to plants.

What is Your 2017 Word of the Year?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 15:31:00 +0000

I heard an interesting idea a few weeks ago in one of my Bright Line Eating Facebook groups, around New Year's Eve time.

It goes something like this: Instead of making New Year's resolutions, try having a "word of the year."

I really liked this idea, because last year there were two words that held great significance for me.

Read more »

My Top Three Books on Thoughts and Food

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 18:46:00 +0000

I interrupt this blog to mention the following:

I just rocked out a Facebook Live presentation in the private Facebook group for The Engine 2 Seven-day Rescue Challenge.

Ask to join the Facebook group if you are not a member already. It's an incredible coming together of much of the plant based community with recordings of all the inspirational live presentations by so many familiar faces and lots of new ones too! You can check out almost 60 minutes with me on "Mindset Mastery" where I go over all of the mental tools and techniques that have got me to where I'm at.

There were three books that I had mentioned in my live Facebook chat that were instrumental in journey, and those books are:
Read more »

My Apologies, in Advance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 12:51:00 +0000

Daaamn it's cold outside! Like wear your knit hats cold outside!

Good morning lovelies! I need to get another thing off of my chest. It's nothing earth shattering, but . . .

Read more »

Reader Advice Day: What To Do if You Want to Control Portions?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Jan 2017 22:45:00 +0000

Greetings friends!

My blog post from a few months ago on guilt and shame around food choices set off quite a slew of questions. At the time I wrote that post, I was feeling a bit gun shy to go into full detail on where I was at with my plant based diet, for fear of the plant based mafia coming after me.

But there clearly is another part of me that wants open communication on the issues that so many of us are dealing with. At least this way, there is some hope of moving us toward a fuller perspective on the wide variety of experiences people have on a plant based diet.

And there is hope! Don't ever give up. The fact that you are here, still reading and still engaged in "the game," no matter how many trials and errors you have faced, is an absolute testament to the fact that YOU ARE A FIGHTER. A SURVIVOR. A NEVER-GIVE-UPPER. A SELF-CARE WARRIOR!

A few months ago, I received this e-mail from one such warrior.

"THANK YOU!!!

I have been a loyal follower of your blog for years. I have been plant based for about 4.5 years and have not lost any weight. (I am about 30 pounds overweight and I hate it). I have tried everything. I was UWL for awhile (while you were there) and it was nice and all, but I would eat like it was going out of style. All day all night just eat eat eat. It’s potatoes so its ok! I will admit I used mustard and other condiments that had salt so I wasn’t 100% but still. So I quit UWL and am now a bit lost trying to find my way.

Read more »

I Am Officially Resigning from the Debating Society on Plant Based Diets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 00:40:00 +0000

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my post from a few days ago about my experiment with Bright Line Eating (BLE). Announcing publicly that I moved in a new direction (which is still plant based), and feeling the painful and deeply confusing backlash of that, has me thinking:

I am officially resigning from the debating society.

I just don't care anymore what diet we are on, as long as we feel good (about ourselves and our choices) and we are happy.

So from now on, I'm going to try my darndest to remain plant based diet neutral.

New year, new me, okay?

Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 17:33:00 +0000

Many, many years ago I "did" Weight Watchers (WW) for the last time.

I think that was about 8 years ago, but it's hard to keep it all straight. I remember hitting what I thought was my goal weight. I swore the WW program and everything about it off forever. Then I immediately starting to slowly gain weight on my new found passion-a healthy plant based diet (which I thought was the answer to all of my weight woes).

It took me some time, and I gained back all of the 50 pounds that I had lost on my final round on Weight Watchers.

If you are new here, I'll repeat that. I gained 50 pounds on a very healthy plant based diet.

Eventually I made some big changes to my plant based diet. I began to follow the advice of Chef AJ and her Ultimate Weight Loss Program (UWL). I have her, those principles of calorie density, and that amazing community to thank for my releasing 30 of those pounds again and achieving what for me is a decently healthy weight.

I imagined that I would release the rest of those 50 pounds, the remaining 20, on UWL. But that didn't happen. I plateaued for over a year.

It wasn't the fault of UWL. I want to be clear about that. UWL works if you can work it. I just had a little trouble.

I think I missed a little salt in some of my food and certainly a little healthy fat, like nuts, seeds and avocado, in my diet. It wasn't anything really earth shattering. In addition, I had my doubts about whether or not I was really able to lose any more weight by eating rice, quinoa and potatoes ad libitum if I couldn't at the same time be "perfect" with my salt and plant based fats.

For these and many other very personal reasons, it was time for me to move on and try something new. I certainly wasn't waiving my white flag yet!

Today I want to tell you where I've been these past three months. It's finally time for me to just come out and say it.
Read more »

Cleveland Area Screening of Food Choices Documentary and Expert's Panel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 22:25:00 +0000

Just a head's up that PlantBasedCLE is hosting a screening of the new Food Choices documentary on Sunday, November 13th at 4 pm at the Scott Auditorium at MetroHealth Medical Center, 2500 Metrohealth Dr, Cleveland, OH 44109.

Join award-winning filmmaker Michal Siewierski as he goes on a three-year journey to expose the truth about our food choices. This ground-breaking documentary explores the impact that food choices have on people’s health, the health of our planet and on the lives of other living species. And also discusses several misconceptions about food and diet, offering a unique new perspective on these issues. Featuring interviews with 28 world-renowned experts, including Dr. T Colin Campbell, Joe Cross, Dr. John McDougall, Capitan Paul Watson, Dr. Pam Popper, Dr. Michael Greger, Rich Roll, Dr. Richard Oppenlander, Dr. Toni Bark and several others. This film will certainly change the way you look at the food on your plate.

The screening of Food Choices will be followed by a live panel discussion/Q&A session with the following experts:
Read more »

Reader Advice Day: Question about Food Choice Guilt, Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 17:03:00 +0000

Hey guys, it's been a long time since my last post. I hope that you are all doing really, really well with your food and your life in general. If you are struggling, I'm happy to provide you with all of the support that I can. E-mail any questions to be featured here on the blog to healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com.

Just a short update on my situation before I move on to the reader question today. I don't know if you will be surprised or not, but I have moved on from a UWL/Starchivore diet and I am experimenting with other WFPB dietary patterns. I don't want to go into all of the details right here, right now, but I will tell you that I felt like I needed a change both physically and emotionally and that I am very, very happy with where I am right now.

I have learned A TON more incredible stuff about food addiction and how to live my best life and I am feeling phenomenal. One of my favorite lessons that I picked up lately is that just because something is good for you for a while doesn't mean that it is going to work for you forever, as difficult as change may be. Some things are for a lifetime, but some things are simply for a season. And that's OKAY. It's okay to recognize that you are stuck somewhere that you no longer belong and that you need and want to move on. So with that, I will tell you that the UWL/Starchivore diet was great for me while it lasted, but that it was best for me to move on. I'm as committed as I ever have been to maintaining being sugar and flour free and also to a whole food, plant based diet. Those things quite possibly might last for my lifetime, but I certainly can't predict the future with 100% certainty anymore.

And now onto today's important question.

Read more »

Reader Advice Day: Question About Fullness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 19:03:00 +0000

Last week I received the following e-mail. Since the topic of this correspondence has been brought to my attention many times in the past few years, I really wanted to discuss it here with you and of course, ask for everyone's input!

Here is the question:

"Good afternoon, Wendy! I hope this finds you peaceful and well. Thank you for the honesty and candor of your blog. I really appreciate it.

When you have a moment, I do have a question for you. How does a person manage on this type of diet when one feels like an empty, bottomless pit even after eating volumes of food? Lol! Like, this morning I ate easily two pounds of vegetables (a mix of spinach, green beans, and butternut squash) steamed with a little salt and nutritional yeast on it. I threw a half-cup of garbanzo beans on top of that and then ate an apple, too. I was still hungry so I ate a rice cake, too. I'm not joking when I say that my plate of breakfast weighed at least a couple of pounds. Now, I just ate my lunch---- a large amount of brown rice with green beans and a mix of eggplant and roasted peppers on top with a large sweet potato and two smaller white potatoes. Put a small amount of soy sauce and salt on this. Again, my lunch was heavy--- you could use my lunch box as an arm weight and get a workout! Lol. The crazy thing is, as I sit here writing this, I still feel so so damned hungry. I mean, what the hell? Lol. I wonder if it could be caused by caffeine--- I'm embarrassed to write how much tea and coffee I drink in a day (lol). Maybe that's it? And I know that salt isn't necessarily a good thing but I just can't seem to kick it.

Read more »

Do You Have a Favorite Podcast?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 17:59:00 +0000

Lately I have been really into two things:

1. The soundtrack to Hamilton.

I am embarrassingly late to this party, but I just have to admit it publicly and move on. I am obsessed. Crazy, madly in love with the music and the lyrics of this musical. I finally broke down and bought the CDs when I listed to an interview with the composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, on an episode of Michael Ian Black's podcast "How to Be Amazing" and I haven't been the same since.

2. Podcasts.

Read more »

Should You Call Yourself a Food Addict?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 19:03:00 +0000

If you've been around these parts for a while, you are probably familiar with the term "food addict."

For a pretty long while I've been very comfortable using that term to describe myself, or more accurately, using the term "processed food addict."

But I've witnessed many people in the community who are very bothered by these terms. At first, I kind of blew off their opinions, but recently I've had a chance to really think about their reservations.

I started to toy with the idea of dropping the label for myself, based on some reading that I've been doing (Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth) and working with the concept of The Law of Attraction (inspired by our work in the HGK private book club with the book The 30-Day Sobriety Solution by Dave Andrews and Jack Canfield).

I'm not saying that I have the answers, I'm just saying that I think this is a conversation I need to be engaged in.

The Trap of Plant-based Diet Perfection: a Follow Up Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 17:00:00 +0000

It's only been 24 hours since I posted my thoughts on the perfectionism trap, but I had an experience that I just needed to share with you.

I love myself.

Perhaps the three hardest words any human can ever say to themselves.

Cringe worthy even.

Read more »

The Trap of Plant-based Diet Perfection

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 18:30:00 +0000

It feels really good to be writing again. Elizabeth Gilbert is so dead on when she says that as long as you show up, the magic happens.

Today I'd like to share with you an e-mail I received from a reader who is working very hard to stick to a "clean" version of a plant-based diet. Is there a better word for this other than "clean?" I hate to imply that other plant based diets are dirty, because they are certainly not. Maybe I should just stick with "SOS free?"

In this particular reader's case, I believe her intention is to eat a plant-based diet free of sugar, flour, oil and salt. This type of diet is not necessary for many folks, but for those of us who tend toward overeating, even on healthy foods, it does have the possibility of relieving that urge to overeat because food is no longer hyper-palatable.

Here's what she wrote:

"Hi Wendy,

I'm having a problem. I feel that as I focus more intently on changing my habits and attitudes and actions and thought processes - I am having very extreme reactions when I veer off path. A typical pattern is that I'm organized, motivated, feeling 'in control' when I'm eating properly. Tend to do this 8-10 days at a time, then go 'off track.' Eat sugar, have ice cream or make banana bread for friends, end up eating some, then I'm off track for a few days before I mentally get myself back on track. This has happened several times recently.

With this current episode I feel myself falling into an extreme self-loathing. Like the harder I try to change the more I hate myself when I fail. It's pretty bad. I have had times of being depressed in the past but since I started exercising regularly and especially trying to improve my eating habits, I've been very stable until now. It's a little disturbing.

Read more »

You Are a Soul. You Have a Body.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 17:25:00 +0000

"You are a soul. You have a body."

I had heard this ancient expression many years ago and I never forgot it. Those eight words that together make one of the most gorgeous sentiments I have ever come across (thank you Nili Cousins, as you were the one who vocalized it when I finally heard it).

If only it was so easy to honor myself with the remembrance of it every day. To live as if I was a soul and to treat that soul the way a mother would treat their new born baby, more precious than anything she had ever been entrusted with in her life.

But instead I often beat myself up, especially when it comes to the lumps and bumps that I don't yet love on my body.
Read more »

Dress Me Up, Dress Me Down. Oil Free Plant Based Salad Dressings from A-Z.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 00:04:00 +0000

After reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and obsessing over it's wisdom, I have set an intention to write/blog/photograph/create/connect for one hour per day.

There are so many fascinating ideas about creativity in this work, and one that struck me as particularly meaningful today was this,"What you produce is not necessarily always sacred. What IS sacred is the time that you spend working on the project, and what that time does to expand your imagination, and what that expanded imagination does to transform your life." Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

I have no idea where this is all going to lead, nor do I really care at this moment. I am simply enjoying the feeling of putting my ideas into physical form.

Today I received an e-mail from Lisa, who wrote, "Hello, I am new to your blog and really like it. I had a question though. I noticed on your salad recipes you never have the dressing instructions Are they store bought? I wanted to make your strawberry salad and it didn’t include directions for the vinaigrette. Thanks, Lisa"

Well, Miss Lisa (do you mind if I call you "Miss Lisa?" We don't know each other but that's a term of endearment that I use with my friends and I have a feeling that after this, we'll be friends) I'm not quite sure which strawberry salad you are referring to, as I seem to recall publishing a dressing recipe with all of my salads. Regardless, I'm going to take this opportunity to talk with everyone about salad dressings, because it's always a HOT topic in the whole food, plant based circles.

You said you are new to this blog, but are you also new to this way of eating? If you are, I just want to give you a little bit of where I've been and where I'm going so that my final answer will make sense to you.