Thinking and Eating

I do both of these things quite often.

Quite often, I find that the first (thinking) gets a little too muddled in the second (eating) at certain times. 

As an individual that tends to get emotional (excited, anxious, stressed, frustrated, morose) when it comes to thinking about any one thing for long periods of time, having myself mulling over something as simple-yet-complicated-and-important as eating always leads to a bit of a mental mess.

This post is not the first time that I have entertained these thoughts, but every so often it feels like I make a shift in my thinking, and things make a little more sense, feel a little more right, and get a little less frustrating; in the last week, I had a shift of this sort. Just a small one - but enough to decide to write about it! As I repeated my belief to someone that they should probably have some protein following their vigorous workout, and as I myself was mixing up a protein-y beverage to consume, I was met with a simple enough response: "I'm not hungry right now."

Hm. That's interesting, because my body craves food immediately after I exercise vigorously on most occasions - and I find that many people I encounter share similar sentiments. While I still believe that protein (amongst other nutrients) following vigorous exercise is important for re-building torn muscles and providing your body with a great deal of goodness, an oft-repeated message seemed to ring more true than usual: Not every body is the same.
Not every body feels the way mine does after I work out, or has the same cravings, or enjoys the same food, or is structurally the same as mine, or is going to build muscle or gain/lose weight the same way that mine does.

It seems so obvious, and I have shared these thoughts with others in the past - you can't expect the same results you see in someone else if you do exactly what they do, because you and that person are not the same! I get very caught up in thinking about how much I've exercised and what I'm eating and how I'm feeling and often realize (too late) that I've been subconsciously relating my own journey to someone else's (exercise regimen, dietary choices, muscle bulkiness, etc.).

My process of really thinking about what I ate began when I became a vegetarian, and then four months later began to exercise regularly (and vigorously) and improve my overall diet and think about what I need for a balanced lifestyle. Unfortunately, in my healthy decision making, I developed a tendency to decide a little too carefully about the aspects of my life that were improving my health, such as exercise and my eating choices. What I mean by this "overly-careful decision making" is that I would sometimes feel I hadn't "earned" certain treats if I hadn't worked hard enough that day (in my own eyes) or that I would become reluctant to enjoy snacks that looked as though their calorie count was "unreasonable" (I never counted calories, mind you, but sometimes one snack's worth of calories seems a little crazy, y'know?).

While I've not entirely escaped those ways of thinking, I have started to recognize that I don't need to be self-conscious if I want to have a snack but someone else doesn't want to have a snack at the same time - I am not glutinous for eating when someone else is not. Nor am I out of shape or unconditioned if my body is responding to exercise and food in a different way than someone else who is doing something similar to me - or even something entirely different. I cannot allow myself to think that a snack will automatically turn into unhealthily stored fat if I eat it without exercising extra to "earn it." It is not fair to me, when I work hard to be good to my body and my health and my well-being, to criticize myself for doing things that fall outside of the realm of "healthy lifestyle" once in a blue moon - or even more often than that. 

None of what I do for myself is going to be worth it if I cannot be happy along the way. Happy with me, and for me, and for others who are on their own journey that is different that mine. I deserve to be happy, and to share in my love for eating and exercising and achieving peace of mind with those that I care about - and those that I have not even met yet.

I would not say that I have ever been truly unhappy, but there have been dark patches in my healthy journey that left me with certain unhealthy mindsets that I have worked on and made brighter opportunities for learning and improving myself.

My goals have become healthier ones, and are less shaped by thinking that I have anyone to be accountable to other than myself. I cannot say that I do not think of others as I work to better myself, but I am becoming better at thinking of myself first.



This has been a somewhat long and potentially ramble-y post, but it felt like something I wanted to share and put into words I can look at in order to establish them more clearly in my mind! Thanks for taking any amount of time to read any number of the words here, and perhaps some of them will help you with your own "shift" in your thinking along your own journey.

HoCho Fest Day 8: The Evita

Ah, the beautiful day arrived when it came time to go to Bella Gelatería! This was probably my favourite stop from last year's hot chocolate festival, and this year it seems they somehow stepped up their game.. In a couple of ways.

gBAR flavoured with salted caramel - Argentina style. 
Served with Erin Ireland's "To Die For" Banana Bread. 

(~$8.50)

The "gBAR" mentioned in the description is the frozen gelato bar; this is where the specific flavours of each of the 6 available hot chocolate festival items come from. The beverage comes as a more-or-less basic hot chocolate of varying darkness with soy and almond milk options available, and the gBAR is then stirred into the hot chocolate. My company and I each chose a different beverage flavour - Mine, the Evita; hers, Monkey's Uncle; his, the London Foggy.

The gBAR reminded me of a Fudgsicle in its texture - perfectly frozen and creamy and biteable without hurting the teeth! It was smooth with caramelly flavour, and it melted easily into the hot chocolate as I began to stir.

As for the almond milk hot chocolate on its own, it was not particularly smooth. This was not bad, though, as it was "rough" with almond, nutty flavour and dark chocolate. After I mixed in the gBAR, it seemed there was too much hot chocolate for the flavour to be strongly mixed - and part of my bar fell into the bottom! I figured this may serve me well later, but in the mean time I could not continue stirring it with my tiny gBAR stick. There was a subtle caramel flavour at this point, however.

3/4 of the way through the beverage, the lost and unstirrable chunk of gelato could be swirled into the hot chocolate with a couple swooshes of the cup. The caramel now became evident and cancelled the rough dark chocolate texture and the drink became smooth and creamy.

The hot chocolate was delectable, and my company seems to have similar sentiments - we were VERY satisfied when leaving! Partially due to satiation as well, I would recommend going without being too full beforehand (but have something nutritious to absorb the chocolate blow!).

There seemed to be a majority vote to return for gelato (a particularly strong vote from M to return for lavender gelato), so I imagine those photos will crop up one day. We ended our day with sushi and then headed back for football to make use of the deliciousness (it worked, we won).

For more information about the "To Die For" Banana Braed, check this link.

HoCho Fest Day 5: Put De Lime In De Coconut

After a hot chocolate hiatus involving career path searching, banana bread, and anxiety over what I am going to do with myself next year, I returned to my delicious trek today with a trip to Chocolate Arts.

It was tucked away on West 3rd in a location I would not have expected to find a chocolate artistry shop! However, I was pleasantly surprised when I entered and was greeted by a wave of chocolate aroma.

Then the decision: A Snowball's Chance in Hell or Put De Lime In De Coconut? One had ice cream, one had coconut milk blended with another milk of your choice... I went with the latter as I am always interested in trying new dairy-free creations. (Luckily my company chose the former option so I could sample both.)

Single origin Mexican chocolate with Mexican chili poured over house made chocolate ice cream. 
Accompanied by a flourless chocolate cookie.

Single origin Venezuela chocolate with organic coconut and kalamansi lime.
Accompanied by a toasted coconut shortbread. 

($6.25)

You read that first one correctly - there was chili in the hot chocolate that was poured over the ice cream. That sent a spicy flavour kicker right to the back of my throat when I tried a little sip of it!

As for my choice, it was laid out most elegantly with the kalamansi lime-vanilla mixture in a shot glass on the side, waiting to be added to the coconut-soy milk chocolate blend served in glass. The flavour of the hot chocolate (sans lime-vanilla) was surprisingly light - I had expected it to be thick from the coconut milk. The glass was rimmed with sugar and it dissolved ever so slightly as the drink passed over it - then I added the lime and my company added his chili to his ice cream.

The lime was quite tart - and I added more than I probably would have otherwise because I forgot to take a picture when I added the first touch (and neglected to sample the balance at that point). The vanilla with the lime helped bring some balance to its power, but the drink went from light and gently chocolaty to exotic and flavour-crazy very quickly! It was more than I would have liked on the lime side, but I enjoyed the interesting blend nonetheless - helped along by the sugar on the glass and the coconut shavings on the shot glass which I sprinkled into my drink. If you like citrusy lime flavours and the taste of coconut, this is a good one for you! The coconut shortbread on the side was delectable. I would return here for samples of all of their chocolate and the homemade cookies and other goodies behind the counter.

Until tomorrow,

"What is intuitive eating?"

This is an interview with my friend's mom (who is a registered dietician from Edmonton, AB) - here, she speaks on something that I have been actively trying to incorporate into my life for the last couple of years. I think it is important to listen to your body! Sometimes guidelines need to be set in more extreme circumstances where one's life is in jeopardy, but on average, I think that "eating intuitively" can be beneficial in the long-term for anyone and everyone.