When life throws you a curve ball you should….pull the covers over your head and hibernate. And forget to meditate, and forget to exercise and forget to take your supplements, and drink way too much wine or whiskey and eat food that’s oh so bad for you. C’mon haven’t you ever had such a crappy thing happen to you that you run for the freezer, pull out the Ben and Jerry’s and eat the whole thing? When bad things happen to us our first instinct is to throw all the good things we do for ourselves out the window and turn into bon bon eating, couch surfing slugs. Guess what? Hold on to your boot straps here, We say go for it! With a caveat of course. You get one day only! Give yourself permission to mope, hibernate, cry, stomp, eat whatever the hell you want, watch 12 hours of terrible reality tv…whatever it takes. BUT, then you get up, dust yourself off and start over. Life is rarely perfect and ever once in a while it throws major challenges at you, life altering. It is how we react to these challenges that shapes the outcome and our future (newsletter coming soon all about this). Without getting all preachy and philosophical on you, We just want to say it’s ok to grieve or be afraid or stressed about a situation but DO NOT use it to throw your health and wellness away.
When such a challenge presents itself to you, this is a great time to start the practice of meditation. Just breathing and taking a few minutes to calm yourself has remarkable effects.
At these times, it is so easy to say ” No way, I can’t exercise today, I don’t feel up to it”. Do it anyway. Do it in spite of yourself and your situation. you will feel so much better for it.
Do not forgo your sleep. And this may be the hardest thing to do. When we are in crisis mode, sleep is elusive as our minds are churning over all the what ifs of our situation. This is hard, believe us we get it, but try to remember without sleep our bodies break down a whole lot faster. So this is one of those times you will actually hear us recommend you take something. Our clinical director, who is a pharmacist, recommends melatonin, 1-3mg before bed but just for a few nights (like less than a week) Or how about an herbal remedy like Zyflamend Nighttime (yup we have it) or Ashwaghanda (got that too). Keep your bedroom a sanctuary during this time, free from too much light and distraction. Check out an older post of mine for lots of sleep details, Feng Shui Your Way to Sleep .
And let’s talk about food. Another critical thing that goes out the window when we are faced with a curveball, is we let our eating go to crap. We have this “Oh screw it” mentality and anything goes. No No No, please don’t do this to yourself. Because guess what??? Whatever the situation is, however terrible or stressful, it is temporary. It will pass. It will resolve itself one way or another, however it is meant to resolve. So during this time, try to eat your good foods and don’t be lured by the sugar, grease monster lurking in your cupboards.
To that end we are going to give you three comfort food recipes that will satisfy your need for derailment. First up, yup good old fashioned popcorn. And we promise this version is not boring.
Big Ol Bowl of Homemade Popcorn:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic corn kernels
1 tablespoon avocado oil
sea salt and pepper
Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
Preparation:
Place avocado oil in a large sauce pan with a tight fitting lid. Heat on high heat for 1-2 minutes. Place kernels in with lid on.
As kernels start to pop, shake pan to move kernels around so they don’t burn (think olden days jiffy pop) When kernels only pop 2-3 seconds apart your re done.
Let cool for a few minutes. Top with sea salt, pepper and as much everything but the bagel seasoning as you please. Have water handy! When you eat the whole bowl you will be thirsty. Popcorn is loaded with fiber so there you go!
Next up, Avocado Toast. Avocado toast is so yummy and comforting and nutritious. Great even not in the face of adversity.
Ingredients:
2 slices 12 grain bread
1/2 ripe avocado
2 teaspoons hummus of your choice ( really like garlic hummus here)
A heaping handful of arugula
And again, Everything but the bagel seasoning to taste
Preparation:
Toast bread to your liking
While toasting, slice avocado into strips
When toast done, place hummus on toast, then arugula the avocado. Top with EBTB seasoning. Perfection, yummmmm
And the final comfort food is the comfort food of all comfort foods, across the world we venture to guess It is, of course, chicken noodle soup. This recipe, shocker, will be chickenless noodle soup. If you want to add some organic, free-range chicken to yours, have at it.
Chickenless Noodle Soup- The Ultimate Comfort Food:
Ingredients:
500ml chicken broth
3-4 carrots sliced
4 celery stalks sliced
1 1/2 cups wide egg noodles or any noodle you choose
1/2 small onion chopped
1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO to saute
Preparation:
In a large dutch oven place 1 tablespoon or so of EVOO and turn heat to medium high
Add onion and saute 2-3 minutes
Add carrots and celery and saute another 3-4 minutes
Turn heat down to low and add broth. If need more liquid add water to desired consistency
Add seasonings and bay leaf and salt and pepper – cook about 15-20 minutes until veggies start to soften. Add noodles
Stir often until noodles done.
Add more of any of the ingredients as you see fit.
*To make vegan – use vegetable broth (no immunity properties here but tastes delicious and is still soothing) and noodles that are not egg.
Ok so remember, self-care does not go out the window in the face of adversity. It is probably even more important during these times to take good care of yourself. And also remember, no situation is permanent. trust in yourself and the universe that it will resolve itself exactly the way it is supposed to.
Peace, Love and Bottomless Chickenless Noodle Soup
The Puravida Baltimore Team
An awesome reading of an awesome poem by an awesome poet for some real encouragement
