Today on this episode of “Interesting….this is not how I expected my twenties to be” I’m just going to list off all of my deepest insecurities and then we can all discuss and over analyze together. JK that would be awful and who would read that ever – I keep those conversations where they belong, deep in my brain only to come out about 6 seconds before I’m about to fall asleep.
ANYWAY.
Anyone else feeling like quite a lot of the humans around them seemingly have the whole thing figured out and are just climbing the ladder of success and you’re still out in the field blowing on dandelion fluffs hoping all your wishes come true? Because that’s pretty much where I feel like I am. That’s not to say I’ve had zero success in life, I’ve had plenty! I moved across the country starting a shiny new life, which I’m hella proud of. I have a crazy strong and bliss filled relationship that most recently was upgraded to marriage and my goodness to say I hit the jackpot would honestly be an understatement – but that’s also my HOPELESS romantic heart talking. I have a crazy awesome family who raised me to be the relentlessly sarcastic question asker I am today. The area I’m struggling with most is the whole career thing…
I keep thinking I’m going to have an epiphany where I all of a sudden out of thin air know exactly what career I’m supposed to have and the path I need to take to get there. And then I remember I don’t live in a romantic comedy and move on with my life which has been, as of late, a large experiment where I’m the primary subject. You see here’s the thing that has made the career track a little more difficult for me – I’m on the pursuit of passion. I want what I do to matter, to make a difference even if just to a few people, I want to love what I’m doing (whatever it is). I love the idea of working with people that believe they can change the world, people who are fierce on their journey even if it looks different than mine, people that want to question everything like me and don’t accept mediocrity. I don’t just want passion in me I want to drown in the passion of others and be in the presence of brilliant minds, people who are smarter than me and that challenge me to be better. I know – tall order (and not the “tall” at Starbucks which is clearly the smallest drink available – I mean I guess if we’re talking in Starbucks measurements this would in fact be classified as a Venti order). I have high standards both for myself and for where I spend my day – I know how valuable my time and life is and if I’m going to spend the majority of every day there I want it to be worth that! I mean doesn’t everyone though?
Please hold while I keep on truckin’ down the road to self-realization (that’s what someone deep would say right?)
What on earth is happening fellow Noooobs! Goodness it has been a day or two hasn’t it! I have to say nothing has made me happier than going back through and reading this blog after so long away… it feels like coming back to my roots. I love all of the discussion that was sparked with some posts and just the pure passion I can see from myself in the words.
I moved on from this blog looking for something – and I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I’ve been searching for. Through this crazy journey I’ve learned some stuff, I’ve struggled, I’ve found true happiness as well as true defeat. I figured while I’m working through this existential “purpose of life” stuff why not bring it back to where I started and maybe (hopefully) pull an Oprah and figure my whole life out.
When I finished up school to be a Nutritionist I was firey with such passion and drive – I did literally anything and everything to follow my dream. That passion and determination brought me all the way to the West Coast (like some cheesy 90’s song). When you move across the country it does two things: It sparks your dreams and desire for adventure while simultaneously draining your bank account. When we got here I got offered a safe, comfortable and stable (are those not the three most cringe-worthy words….) job. It wasn’t a job I was passionate about or had love for or wanted to invest my life to but it provided us with stability to grow our life out here.
I knew that I was on borrowed time trying to fit myself like a square peg in a round hole – doing the whole business casual, office dwelling, email forwarding, desk sitting thing. I just don’t think I knew just how draining that can be for your spirit, self-worth, goals and dreams – until a few nights ago. We were up watching “Naked and Afraid” one Friday night (I hope all of you have seen this wicked show and if you haven’t…go. now. and then come back to me.) and I started having these heart palpitations. Initially I was like “wow my empathy levels are through the roof I’m actually feeling stressed out for these crazy wilderness humans”! and then… I realized that my heart was pounding in my ears because I was going through stress cycles. I was starting to get internally panicked about having to go to work the next day and then being washed over with relief that it was Friday and I wouldn’t have to go back for two days. UM PARDON ME?! That is not life that is called torture.
I have this profound feeling of “lost”. Not necessarily lost in the world – I have an extremely happy, healthy and fulfilling personal life that brings so much light to my life it’s outrageous. Think beams of sunlight crushing you in happiness – that’s what my life is like….outside of work. But my question is why can’t that feeling exist both in your personal space and professional space? I feel like I’m constantly trying to fit into something and I really am not clear on what that is. I have worked to create a Nutritional “practice” while mirroring my work off of others that have carved their own path in the industry. But what good does that do? I’m not them, they don’t have my voice or my feelings or my exceptionally high sarcasm levels…Why am I trying so hard to be them and be in their space. I want to create my own space!!
I never was a person that ever fit…anywhere. And goodness before we start throwing on some Death Cab and having a good old high school Emo cry sesh lets pump the brakes here Hollie. I have just always been a person that pushed myself, my boundaries, my interests… I want a lot from myself and for myself and it’s about damn time I got back on that train.
We’ll call this part 1 of my journey through a mid-twenties life crisis (or some other melodramatic thing to call it)
Hey fellow noobs! Well, it’s official I’m moving up in the world and have started my own practice :)!
It’s under the domain name: http://www.simplicityholistic.com
I hope you’ll come by so I can personally help you on your way to happy healthy wellness!! 🙂
It would appear that as of lately the “trend” if it can be called that is eating healthy. But what is “healthy” anymore? Does it even still have a meaning?
In all honesty I’m fairly new to the health and wellness industry, however now that I’m seeing it from the perspective of a professional in the field… it’s a whole different ball game. Everyone and their dog and sister and mom and brother’s uncle have an opinion… about EVERYTHING. There’s so many different diets and fads and ways of eating out there now it’ll make your head spin off it’s axel, but the fundamental issue that I see personally is that everyone’s just doing what someone else is doing and aren’t considering what is best for them personally! One person believes that the best way to eat is gluten free, while another strongly believes everyone should be vegan and then there’s another who think that the only possible way to be healthy is to eat paleo like our ancestors did. Are any of these perspectives 100% right? Probably not.
I went gluten free after I researched the symptoms of gluten sensitivity and came to the conclusion that it would better MY PERSONAL health to remove it from my diet, and it worked, so yes removing wheat products from my diet was a “healthy” decision for me personally. Is it for everyone? Maybe not.
As a holistic nutritionist, my perspective comes from a place of balance. Yes I believe eating quality, wholesome, natural and nourishing food is massively beneficial to everyone (duh), however I am also under the impression that with that comes flexibility and balance. I’m a firm believer in the 80/20 rule. I believe that as long as we’re eating well 80 percent of the time, then the other 20 percent allows for this flexibility and balance. Nobody should have to feel guilty for going out and indulging with friends because they think that they’re going to get judged for what they’re eating or develop anxiety because they’re “cheating” on their diet (current pet peeve).
It’s become very common since I became a nutritionist that people feel the need to justify their eating habits to me whenever I’m around them…. I don’t care. I don’t mean that in a harsh or rude way I just mean that what you do with your body and what YOU choose to nourish yourself with…is none of my business. I don’t live in your body everyday so as far as I’m concerned I really have no say in the matter. If you approach me and would like my assistance to show you how you can make your diet/lifestyle more balanced and incorporate my holistic perspective into your life, I’m more than happy to share my opinion with you then… but other then that… do what you want! I’m not here to judge I’m here to help.
“Healthy” is a wishy washy term that has (in my opinion) been dragged through the wringer to the point that it has a very vague meaning at this point and it will have a different one for every single person!
To me, healthy is happiness and balance and inner peace. What does it mean to you?
Hope everyone in Canada Land had a SPLENDID thanksgiving and you all ate your faces off to the point of food coma… that’s the point of Thanksgiving right? …. if not i’m totally doing it wrong.
I recently had a conversation with a friend about what I do as a holistic nutritionist and while we were having the discussion it came about that most people don’t believe they have time to eat healthy/don’t consider it a priority and more of a nuisance than anything. Whaaaat?! I say.
Then I thought about it more and realized that eating unhealthy and becoming a victim to the “convenience cycle” is SO so common. Convenience has become the only word that matters anymore in terms of food.. “oh it sounds good but it probably takes way too long to make and there’s no way I have time to do that”. It doesn’t help that now there are commercials that actually promote the concept that cooking for your family is a hassle and it’s way easier to just order take-out online or cook something out of a box, surely loaded with sodium and preservatives that are easily avoided by taking 5 extra minutes. Don’t get me wrong I totally understand the fact that people are busy.
For example: A day in the life of Hollie: I work my regular 2 jobs 40-45 hours each week, while on top of that doing all the nutrition planning for both my family and clients. (I get that sometimes you’re stretched thin.)
I’ve learned over the course of time that it’s crucial to maximize the time you DO have as opposed to using that time to talk about how you have no time. (we’ve all done it let’s be honest)
It’s all about routine and schedule and planning. I understand this doesn’t happen overnight it takes time to develop these things… but make small changes towards it! Set your alarm 20 minutes earlier or limit yourself to 6 snooze button smacks instead of 8. The most dramatic changes come from small, permanent ones as opposed to outlandish ones that you’ll never stick with for longer than a few days. Spend those few extra minutes you have in the morning to prep dinner for the evening, pack a lunch… whatever you need to do to make your day a little bit easier! Even just a few minutes to sit and drink a cup of tea and breathe for a second to yourself…may make the hugest difference towards alleviating the pressure of a busy day.
Holding yourself accountable to your goals is key too! Have a friend that you text in the morning to confirm you’re awake (the fear of disappointing/letting other people down is a very powerful motivator – more powerful (i found) than the “I really should have gotten up this morning and gotten things done… now I actually have no time and actually have nothing done..” thought process that is pretty well inevitable the more times you hit the snooze button) (COMMENCE STRESS CYCLE)
We could all use a little….a.k.a a LOT less stress. So take a few for yourself and chill out, you have time for it, cooking isn’t inconvenient it’s investing time into your body where you live 100% OF THE TIME, it’s worth it.
Oh hey neglected followers (if you’re still out there)…. Feel like I have some exceptionally great amount of explaining to do as to why I have been M.I.A. for oh so long.
So here’s the thing, around the time that I decided to drop of the face of the earth (figuratively not literally for all those with a giant imagination) … (also side note in case you weren’t aware it is actually physically impossible to fall off the earth, making this a very stupid phrase) ANYWAYS, around that time I was going into all the final stuff so that I could actually OFFICIALLY be a Holistic Nutritionist, with this came 14 painfully long case studies, a board exam, an oral exam and in between that working and sometimes sleeping, mostly not. At that point I felt mostly like this:
This basically resulted in me making the conclusion that I would not in any way be giving logical, well rounded advice related to nutrition in any way. I also at that point decided I needed a little more direction in terms of this WILDLY successful blog and how I wanted to proceed, because not sure about the people who actually did follow but it was getting a little repetitive… (MEAL PREP MONDAY… over and over and over and over…) Don’t get me wrong I love me some meal prep monday… it’s literally the best organizational tool I’ve ever actually used faithfully long-term… but I wanted to provide more than JUST that.
So, I’ve decided that I’m just going to document… what I want, when I want. I’ll throw in some meal prep mondays of course because they’re super popular on the old pinterest machine.
My focuses are going to be, as usual how to incorporate being gluten free into your life, some ridonculously delicious recipes and just more of what I eat on a regular basis, tips, how to eat properly on a budget and just some random cool information I think everyone would benefit from!… and hey maybe just a little more about my actual real life?
…. But we’re going to roll with it!
Happy Tuesday Friends, hope you stick around for this guaranteed weird adventure.
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”
HELLO FRIENDS! Hope everyone’s weekend was superb and your monday was just excellent! 🙂
Today I decided to do a nice little ASIAN INVASION in my kitchen. (For everyone who was particularly curious about my utilization of random capital letter words it’s because I want to really emphasize that part and when I read it in my head it sounds like yelling…. so just a nice little FYI about my brain…)
… that got off topic quick, I think it was record breaking time.
ANYWAYS! As previously stated I made a legitimately spectacular asian “fried” rice that is TO DIE FOR. Mostly because it makes the house smell like I live somewhere super exotic where they eat fragrant food like that all the time and ultimately just ends up with me being VERY jealous. I enjoy doing rices and quinoa’s and stuff like at the beginning of the week because they’re so easy and quick to just throw in a container for lunches. Although I probably don’t recommend throwing rice… unless at an occasion that promotes rice throwing (I think there are probably a lot… that seems like a pretty common activity)… or unless you plan on vacuuming for the next month or so. Your call.
The best part is you can have anything with it! Leftover chicken? Turkey? Fish? ANYTHING GOES HERE. It’s BRILLIANT. (if i do say so myself…)
Everyone hold onto your hats because it’s about to get pretty darn delicious up in here.
Ginger Sesame “Fried” Rice
Ingredients!
1 cup brown rice (cooked according to package)
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 knob of ginger (approx 1 tablespoon), minced
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1 Red pepper, chopped
1.5 Cups Edamame beans, steamed & shelled
1/2 Cup frozen corn, steamed (I threw it in at the same time as the edamame and it worked out fine)
2 Eggs, beaten
1.5 Tablespoons gluten free soy sauce (I tend to limit this generally… use less or not at all if you want)
Couple tablespoons of fresh green onion
Directions!
Cook rice according to package
Heat 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil over medium heat, add ginger, garlic and sesame seeds and sautee until fragrant (1-2 minutes)
Add the rice, edamame beans, red pepper and corn
Make a well in the centre and add the egg, cook until just scrambled and then combine with the rice “concoction”
Finish er’ off with the soy sauce and top with green onion and the rest of the sesame oil!
BOOM! Prepare to have the most wonderful smelling house ever.
Hope everyone likes this recipe, I’m basically in love with it… but I would actually like feedback on my stuff! See if people actually make the recipes and like them/changes or alterations that maybe made them more awesome than I made them (doubtful…) 😉 / experiences or questions you have for me I am all ears! … okay not ALL ears.. that would be too much ears.
“The food you eat can either be the safest & most powerful medicine, or the slowest form of poison”
-Ann Wigmore
Okay, so unless you live under a rock you may have noticed that the buzzword of the moment is GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM (GMO) and it just so happened that all of this coincided with my course “eco-nutrition” in school, which has focuses on the food industry and touches on things like GMO.
This is meant to be strictly from a nutritional standpoint and attempting to give an easier explanation for what is going on… and a little bit of a personal rant.
A significant amount of the food industry has unfortunately become so sketchy most of it happens behind closed doors and is hushed so the public will never hear about it…. Not sure about you but to me that sounds way more like a mafia than an industry that should be concerning themselves with informing the public and looking out for our best interests (JUST SAYING).
Now, first things first… let’s explain what exactly a genetically modified food is.
(As usual I’m a visual learner and LOVE a good flow chart and am all about informative videos… so let’s kick things off with a few)
click the image to get a more zoomed in version…unless you have superhuman eyesight in which case.. congratulations.
The definition as per the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage in 2001 is “The manipulation of an organism’s genetic make-up in order to create or enhance desirable characteristics from the same or another species”. Essentially this means that scientists can pick and choose genes from different plants and animals and use them to render them resistant to bugs, weather… the zombie apocalypse… pretty much everything they want it to do they can. Now to the regular person this sounds pretty swell! Don’t we want plants and crops that are nice and sturdy so that they withstand weather and whatever else? … Well.
Problem A) by genetically altering this plant it’s taking it away from its natural function. Plants and animals aren’t supposed! To be resistant to everything, it’s just the way the world works & contrary to popular belief these days… that matters.
Problem B) genetic modification started behind closed doors and was performed very secretively in laboratories… and the kicker is they were done WITHOUT HUMAN TESTING. When these modifications were made there was no attention paid to how the alterations would impact the humans that would be consuming the food or whether we would even be able to process them at all. Essentially it became a giant experiment and all of us were the lab rats. Some of the combinations will literally boggle your mind (i.e. (from the documentary “Genetic Roulette”) They combined spider genes with goat genes… so that they could milk a goat and get the spider web protein so they could make better bullet proof vests. YOU LITERALLY CAN’T MAKE THIS UP IT’S SO INSANE). It’s a 100% genetic free for all and it’s like a contest to see who can come up with the strangest combinations it’s ridiculous.
SIDE NOTE: Genetic modification should not be confused with natural plant breeding… as in combining a plant gene with another plant gene… (ENTER: GRAPPLE…grape/apple). This is actually a safe practice and has been done since forever.
Problem C) the most major concern to companies producing this “food” that is supposed to nourish humans and make us healthier… is not the food’s nutritional content at all. In fact how the food tastes and whether it’s nutritious isn’t even on the RADAR of the food industry. The only thing that matters is yield (how much they can produce) and profit.
Now, with every controversy there are of course the people who decide to fight the opposite way and say there’s actually no problem with GMO and it’s in fact a good thing but has simply been put in the wrong hands and is being used incorrectly. This (in my opinion) is totally wrong and consistent with the holistic approach that I try to support and exemplify, the world functions best with balance and harmony and maintaining a natural environment as best we can… so genetically altering the fundamental components of something whether that is an animal or a plant is totally unnatural. Just because it CAN be done with science… doesn’t mean it SHOULD be done.
A phenomenal report regarding all of the gmo myths and facts!:
(It is over 100 pages so it’s not a sit and read in 5 minutes but I STRONGLY encourage everyone to read it) It’s time we take matters into our own hands… if the people who claim to be looking out for our best health interests aren’t doing their jobs then let’s do ours. We deserve REAL WHOLESOME FOOD… not food-like products. Be an informed buyer, purchase locally and support your local farmers and community, understand what is happening to your food and make your own decision!
This is MY PERSONAL opinion on this subject… I’m not here to force an opinion upon you; it’s up to you to inform yourself!
Some EXCELLENT resources
-Documentaries:
Food Inc.
Food Matters
Genetic Roulette (specifically about GMO food)
-Iphone App (may be on androids too not 100% sure): Buycott – you can scan items in the grocery store and it will tell you where that product is made (by what company) and whether or not that company supports GMO use or not. BE INFORMED.
-Book: The End Of Food: How the food industry is destroying our food supply – and what you can do about it (Thomas F. Pawlick)
These are just a few… there are TONS of resources out there. It is our right to know what is going into and being done with the food we’re feeding ourselves and our families. GET IN THE KNOW!
Happy Monday everyone!! 🙂 Hope that your weekend was excellent and you had plenty of rest and relaxation!! 🙂
… As you can tell by the picture posted above… I’ve entered a period of spaghetti craving. It’s one of those things that is a staple in my home and once I went gluten free I simply had to sit and watch my entire family enjoy spaghetti while I pouted. NO MORE I SAY. This week (again… I’ll give credit to my newly gluten free mom on this one) we made brown rice spaghetti with a killer sauce. Yes, I agree with you – person shaking your head at the screen saying “Hollie… this is not the healthiest option for me to be having everyday this week” I’m aware. HOWEVER…. I think everyone’s allowed to have indulgences every once in a while! Spaghetti just happens to be mine. 🙂
With that being said… let’s get on to this gluten free spaghetti recipe that will BLOW YOUR SOCKS FROM HERE TO KINGDOM COME. (that’s reaaaaaaallly far for those of you that don’t know where that is… in fact I’m pretty unsure of the address too actually…)
GLUTEN FREE SPAGHETTI!
-Cook brown rice spaghetti according to package!
(easy enough first step?)
Side note: you could totally use spaghetti squash instead of a pasta too!! Makes it a lot lighter and much more manageable to eat for the whole week!! 🙂 – Also it’s the MOST fun vegetable ever created…so there’s that…
1 lb. ground beef (organic if possible 🙂 )
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium to small sized onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced carrot
3-15 oz. diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon basil
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon brown sugar (Optional)
2 small bay leaves or 1 large
salt & pepper, to taste
Directions
-Brown the ground beef in a skillet until evenly cooked
-Remove meat, drain skillet and add onions, garlic and carrots and sautee in olive oil until tender
-Re-add the meat with cans of tomatos, tomato paste, water and spices
-Reduce temperature to medium and cook covered for 1-4 hours stirring occasionally
WOAH… I know you looked at the 1-4 hours and went uhhhh ya no chance.. Honestly you don’t HAVE to let it cook that long… but as much time as you have to spare… trust me the longer it simmers the better it tastes. All the flavours just party in the pan and it just turns into such a rich deep tomato sauce… pretty delicious. Now I want spaghetti all over again.
WELL LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, this is my meal prep monday for the week! 🙂 Hope everyone has a splendid week and I’ll be back next monday to GRACE YOU WITH MY ELECTRONIC PRESENCE again 🙂
Welcome welcome to terrific tuesday. This is what happens when Meal Prep Monday and Work It Wednesday join forces to bring you the most exceptional amount of fun it will blow your brains.
As stated in yesterday’s post… I totally spaced and forgot that every grocery store on planet earth as we know it would be closed on monday for the holiday… SO I decided to share what I made for this week with all of you today AS WELL as tell you all about the horribly wonderful Arms workout I have to share with everyone 🙂 (Just as a side note – I really dislike arms workouts. Anything really that incorporates my wimpy upper body I dislike because of my irrational competitiveness with myself) HOWEVER that said… Upper body strength is just as important as lower body so I motor through it and just want to share it so everyone else with wimpy upper bodies can suffer with me 🙂 SHARE THE MISERY & GET STRONGER 🙂
Back to Meal Prep Monday – I forgot it was a holiday so I’m doing it on tuesday instead edition !!!
This week the city has decided to convert into an oven and I’m very much getting tired of the bipolar weather. But since I didn’t want anything super heavy this week I decided to do an AMAZING chicken salad lettuce wrap and (full credit to my converted gluten free mom for this one) a vegetable pesto chicken pasta 🙂
UNREAL chicken salad lettuce wrap
–2 Organic Chicken Breast Cutlets (I just cooked mine in a skillet with a bit of olive oil-put some s&p and dried parsley on them)
–1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
-1 Celery Stalk chopped
-2 Tablespoons red onion diced
–1/3 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt (none of that reduced fat nonsense)
–1/3 Cup Sour Cream
(This is the part of the recipe where I can’t handle the amount of time to measure out every spice…so I perform the very scientific art of guesstimation)
-Add a sprinkle/dash/any other inconspicuous measurement name you can think of
-Celery Salt
-Onion Powder
-Garlic Powder
–Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
–Cumin
-Tarragon
-Dried Parsley
Add a couple spoonfuls into some romaine lettuce and top with a little tomato, salt and pepper 🙂
Pesto Chicken Pasta with cherry tomatoes
-Vegetable Pasta (could use brown rice too) cooked according to package
–3 Chicken Breasts (Cooked in a skillet or in the oven or grilled…think that’s all the options covered)
–Handful of Cherry Tomatoes Sliced in half
(FOR THE PESTO)
–2 Cups Fresh Basil
–1/2 Cup Fresh Parmesan Reggiano Cheese
–1/2 Cup Olive Oil
-1/3 Cup Pine Nuts
–3 Medium Cloves of Garlic, minced
(Add the basil and pine nuts & pulse in a food processor, slowly add in olive oil until it’s the consistency you want, add in the cheese and pulse until combined)
Add the cooked & sliced chicken to a pan with cherry tomatoes and cooked pasta, stir in the pesto until it coats everything nicely 🙂 It’s a SUPER light pasta and perfect for summer 🙂
NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (Insert royal introduction music played by those giant trumpets)
ARMS DAY WORKOUT
For the workout we did 3 sets, 8-10 reps each
We started with this thing Derek (previously stated trainer boyfriend) calls 21’s – Bicep curls with the straight bar bell – 7 reps bottom half, 7 reps top half, 7 reps full range
-Close Grip Bench Press
–Preacher Curls
–Dumbbell Skull crushers (doesn’t that sound fun….)
The Nourishing Noobs 