Nirvani's Chia Seed Protein Green Shake

Nirvani's Chia Seed Protein Green Shake

Ingredients:

1 cup                Plain Coconut Milk
1/2 cup             Plain Yogurt
1 scoop             Whey Protein
1 cup                 Whole Oatmeal
3/4 cup              Frozen Blueberries
1 cup                 Organic Baby Spinach
1/2                     Organic Banana
1 Tbsp               Chia Seeds
1 Tbsp               Raw Organic Honey
                         Crushed ice

Blend all ingredients in blender. 2 Servings. Freeze remaining shake.

Approx. 325 calories per serving. Approx. 17g of protein per serving.

Sidenote: If you wish to cut down on calories, use skim milk and low cal yogurt.

Motivation

“People always ask me
"Son what does it take
To reach out and touch your dreams?"
To them I always say

Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
Is it a fire that burns you up inside?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You've got to lay it all out on the line”

~Tim McGraw

Crock Pot Vegetarian Potato Soup

Crock Pot Vegetarian Potato Soup

Ingredients: 

6 medium potatoes, chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 dashes salt
4 dashes pepper
4 tbsp. Light Smart Balance
1 qt. Light soy milk
2 cloves garlic

Cut up potatoes (with skins), onion and celery. Put all ingredients into crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Serves 6

This soup is delish! 

Approx: 350 calories per serving

Weekly Challenge for Creating Good Habits

      Most of us are creatures of habit, unfortunately habits that stick the most are ones that do not necessarily benefit us healthwise. I have found that making small doable goals to create positive change are bound to stick rather than grandiose goals that last a week or two and then peter out.

For this weeks challenge I would like you to create a morning ritual. The reason I use the word ritual, is because it connotes something that is sacred or reverent. What you do everyday for your well being is of utmost importance. Exercising, cleaning, walking, driving...all of these activities should be approached with a mindful attitude. It helps us to become more aware of our daily actions, such as how much food we are stuffing our faces with:)

       So, create a morning ritual that can be done every morning without fail. Mine is to make my bed first, get ready to work out, and then I do 15 minutes of Kundalini Spinal Warmups (mentioned in an earlier post) I have been doing this now for well over a month and it is finally beginning to stick, although I am ever vigilant in my efforts. It can be something as simple as reading a quote from the Bible or Bhagavad Gita or a positive mantra. Whatever you choose to do, do it WITHOUT fail. Remember we are on a journey of self-transformation, we start by taking one step at a time, preferably baby steps!

Love&Light,

Nirvani

Weightloss vs. Hateloss

I was thinking about a blog post I read on a weightloss forum a few days ago...the young woman was talking about loving being fat and that she had no desire to be thinner, but did want to be healthy. She received both encouragement and negative response. I've been thinking about this for the last few days and how I feel about it and thought I would share my thoughts on being fat.

I can't say I am happy to be fat, as having excess body weight has added a slew of health issues for me. Such as high blood pressure, tiredness, pain on my joints and back, a thyroid issue, more fibromyalgia flare-ups...and these are to name just a few.

I've asked myself if I would be happier in a thinner body. From the health perspective probably yes, but it really is a matter of how you define happiness. Personally I think of happiness as a fleeting thing and no matter who fat or skinny I am I can never be happy all the time. There is always going to be times of sadness and discouragement in life. So if I base how I feel about myself on what the scale says it will always come up short.

I am not here to get skinny. I am here to transform my life. It does not matter how much weight I lose, if I am not happy with who I am on the inside I will never be quite satisfied with the outside. Unhappiness will follow me in a skinny body as well as a fat one. So I have decided to not be concerned with weightloss, or at least not gauge my success by how many pounds I lose each week, because frankly there are going to be times when no matter what I do the scale will not budge.

What I am concerned with is what am I doing to love myself more. I see eating healthy and exercising as a way of showing love to myself. You see, I can love myself no matter what size I am. I set goals not only for weighloss, but also for hateloss. That means letting go of all the crap in life that keeps me in a state of emotional unhappiness. Letting go of guilt, shame and self-loathing. Now don't get me wrong, it is much harder to loss self-hate than it is to lose weight. That is why you see so many unhappy thin people as well as fat.

My goals are based on what they can do for me not just in body, but in mind and spirit as well. Am I spending enough time alone by myself? Am I spending enough time with others? Am I spending enough time in Nature? Am I filling my days with uplifting and inspiring words and images? What am I filling my mind with, garbage and negativity (that includes what I tell myself on a daily basis) or am I filling my mind with things that will enhance my thoughts? Good books, music, art, culture...these are all things that add value to my life..am I serving others regularly? Am I taking time to pamper myself? Am I replacing negative self-analysis with positive mantras. Am I overindulging in things that can be harmful to me in mind, body and spirit. Hateloss as well as weightloss takes vigilance. We have to work at it every day, but we must always remember to be gentle with ourselves. Being gentle is part of loving ourselves. When I am gentle with me, I can allow myself to make mistakes and not just throw in the towel each time I do. Accepting that I will make mistakes makes not giving up much easier....this transformation is not a race...it is a journey...a long one at that. The key is finding happiness and joy in all the little successes along the way and forgetting about the end result. Losing weight is just a nice little perk. But losing self-hate is priceless.



Love&Light,

Nirvani

Happy Mother's Day!

   I am thoroughly enjoying my Mother's Day. Aside from my dear husband having to work, my children prepared a lovely breakfast for me, with lots of great perks...flowers, chocolate of course, a cute stuffed animal, silly cards and I should have expected the perpetual gag gifts I receive every year. I just have to share!

Yum! Poop and toilet bowl coffee...

My goofball children in cognito...

    I am very proud of myself today, almost lunchtime and I have not had one piece of chocolate yet! The best gift I could have received today is the one I gave myself. A 50-minute Goddess Belly Dance workout! I am going on Day 16 of my Goddess Workouts and am feeling fabulous! 

     I hope all of you beautiful Goddesses out there are pampering yourselves today. If you look at 

fitness and eating healthy as a gift to yourself it puts a whole new perspective on working out:)

Love&Light

Nirvani

Weekly Challenge for Creating Good Habits

 
    Change is never simple, especially when we have created habits over time that have become like barriers that take every bit of will power we have to break them down. When we think about them overall they seem insurmountable. The secret of success with creating change, in my opinion, is baby steps...nothing worthwhile was ever built overnight. I'm going to suggest one challenge every week that will help break down some of these barriers. These are things that have or are currently working for me in overcoming unproductive habits. I don't want to say bad habits, because frankly I believe everything in our lives, whether good or bad are there for the benefit of our overall spiritual growth.
      For this weeks Challenge: Get up every morning and the first thing you do is make your bed. If you do nothing else productive, make your bed, every single morning. Make it a habit! There is something very depressing about walking into a bedroom with an unmade bed. When my bed is made I always feel a bit uplifted when I walk in my bedroom. It makes me feel more positive. This may seem like a silly challenge to some, but I say try it for a week and see if it does not make a difference.
     
Love&Light
Nirvani

Let's Squat!

Good Morning Goddesses,

    I am on Week 2 of the Goddess Belly Dance workout and it is going incredibly well. I have more energy and feel great, aside from the regular muscle pain. I have decided to take on a 28 Day Squat Challenge....Today was Day 1...I will be checking in here regularly with my progress. I also did my weekly weigh-in and I am down another pound! I am upping the anti to two pounds a week, so it is time to really get on it. I track all my progress at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and http://www.sparkpeople.com/, so if you would like to friend me on either site under Nirvani Teasley I would love some company. We can motivate and inspire each other! It seems as if everyone is on a fitness and health kick at my house right now...what a way to get ready for summer! Below is the Squat Challenge. I have decided to half the squats as my knees are having some pain. Feel free to jump in and take the challenge...You won't regret it!