About Me | - Part 2

Today’s post is going to be a little bit random and a little bit focused. So basically, all over the place….what’s new?! I have a few announcements, a few things I want to comment on, and last but not least a showcase of some products I’ve gotten to try over the past week!

First things first…some exciting news!

I talked about it, I dreamt about it, I thought of ways to make it happen and it actually is. July 17th….my sister and I are going to see Justin Timberlake on his summer tour! I am beyond excited.

Also, today is the release of the election results for student government at my school! I am running for re-election as a senator and I can’t wait to see if I’ll be able to serve again next year!

Some people might not that be interested in student government, or think what we do it stupid and meaningless (as many have not hesitated to say on social media), but it’s something I really care about. Plus we make a TON of decisions that really do affect the entire student body. But whatever happens, happens. I’ll still be more than happy to help out around campus even if I don’t have the title of senator.

From that fun news to a more important announcement…

As I mentioned on WIAW, this weeks Lend a {Healthy} Hand round up will be dedicated to everyone involved in the Boston bombings! I want to make a big statement with everyone’s good deeds so please consider doing something to honor everyone affected! All you have to do is share something you’ve done for someone else this week. I’ve received hardly any submissions for this week’s round up and I would really appreciate your participation…especially in light of recent events.

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Changing the subject completely….please tell me someone besides me has noticed some pretty weird blogger trends lately? I focused heavily on one a few weeks back (the whole Intuitive Eating trend), but today I just wanted to comment on two things that have kind of confused me lately. We all need to rant a little bit on occasion.

Weird food hash tags?

Yolk porn? Nut butter porn? Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag of EVERYTHING on your plate! First of all…calling food porn is just sort of strange to me. Not that I am a prude or anything like that…but does anyone else find this weird that people oooh and aaaah over a close up picture of some runny yolk? And since when did eating the yolk of an egg become some monumental, newsworthy event! It’s just FOOD! I think this is another example how people put a leeeetle to much thought and focus on food. It shouldn’t be such a distraction (obsession?). And I don’t know, equating food with porn? Not something I’d want to be putting out on the web.

[haha, can't wait to see all the weird search terms I get for people finding my blog after using the 'p' word so much!]

Needing explain rest days?

[but you shouldn't be]

Another thing that I feel has been sensationalized among bloggers. Like if you unexpectedly take a rest day (which is a NORMAL, HEALTHY thing to do…I do it weekly) or it pops up in your weekly workout round up, people feel the need to justify and explain every minute detail, bodily feeling, and thought that went into making the decision to just not exercise. As if people will judge them for taking a rest day, think they’re lazy, or just to simply to cover up an exercise obsession by emphasizing “HEY! SEE! I TAKE REST DAYS!”.

I think when we overemphasize things like eating a yolk or taking a rest day, we move these things farther away from being considered normal in our minds and make it harder for people that actually may be struggling with these things to consider them okay to do! It almost builds them up to be something more than they actually are, which may in turn make it harder in someones mind to actually do them. It’s like announcing something like these two examples hypes them up and makes people question their own actions. At least, that’s what I’ve observed.

Just my two cents.

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And now a few fun products I’ve been lucky enough to try recently.

Chestnut Growers Inc.

Chestnut Growers Inc sent me some chestnut flour and chestnut chips to try out! Both of which I had never heard of before despite being a MAJOR chestnut lover! In fact, they are one of my all time favorite nuts…now if only there was chestnut butter.

Both products are made solely from chestnuts but are just processed in different ways.

The chestnut flour reminded me of the consistency of coconut flour with the lightness of peanut flour. Because of that I decided to try it in a way I’ve used peanut flour in the past…mixed with almond milk to form a kind of paste. I mixed it up and was surprised at how much liquid it took to make it smooth! Very absorbent. As for the taste, EXACTLY like a fresh chestnut…very sweet and smooth like the flesh of chestnut. There was also a slight grittiness to the texture which I thought was delicious! I want to try and bake with this somehow!

The chestnut chips are oven dried and can be rehydrated to normal chestnut consistency. But after trying them right out of the bag, I determined that I preferred them crunchy! They were very crisp and thin and perfect for topping things like yogurt and oatmeal. Paired great with cinnamon too! Gotta love that natural sweetness.

Someone requested I show some of the ways I use the products I sample so here ya go:

Loved the chestnut chips as an oatmeal topper and as I mentioned above I mixed the chestnut flour into a paste! Delicious on fruit!

[they kind of blend in, but they were sweet and crunchy!]

Thanks Chestnut Growers Inc!

Raw Organic Whey

Raw Organic Whey sent me some of their…well, RAW ORGANIC WHEY to try out.

What first caught my attention about this whey is that it is whey protein CONCENTRATE rather than isolate….which is a lot better for protein absorption by the body! A plus in my book. Here are some other awesome attributes of this whey:

Only 1 Ingredient: 100% Pure organic whey from the milk of grass-fed cows
No added sweeteners, preservatives or fillers
Soy Free (no soy lecithin)
Sourced 100% from small US farms
rBGH/rBST hormone free
Processed at low temperatures WITHOUT acid treatment

Pretty great in terms of nutrition! And the taste was pleasant as well. Slightly sweet like whey usually is. And I found that the texture seemed more fine than whey isolate. It made for mixing into things a lot easier and it wasn’t as clumping when I put it on top of almond milk fruit bowls! Lots of satiety from the high protein content too.

Thanks Raw Organic Whey!

Renew Life Probiotics and Organic Fiber Bars

Renew Life sent me some of their Daily Care Probiotics as well as some Organic Fiber bars to sample!

I used to be on probiotics daily when I was diagnosed with acid reflux as a kid. They helped me get off of my prescription medication completely and now I am able to take them as needed if I eat a heavy meal or something that I know may upset my stomach. I was excited to try a new brand to see if they would help me in the same way my usual brand does.

These high potency probiotics contain 10 different strains of healthy bacteria…plus no weird additional fillers or ingredients! I like that.

Not only did they work to help ease my occasional stomach woes, but I am pretty sure I felt their effects quicker than my usual brand. Probably because of the higher potency! These can be taken everyday though, not only as needed, because of how healthy and good they are for your digestive system.

You can find Ultimate Flora probiotics at Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, Kroger, Whole Foods, Rite Aid, and Vitamin Shoppe incase you were wondering! Check out this video if you want more info as well!

On to the bars…

The fiber bars were apple flavored and reminded me of a chewier, less nut filled larabar.

Plus they were bigger! They also pack a ton of fiber (56% of your daily needs!) as their name would suggest. And it’s all from natural sources like oats, acacia, and flax! If you like the taste of dried apple, cinnamon, and walnuts…you would definitely like these. I think they would be great for people who struggle to get adequate fiber in because these provide a lot in a very concentrated form. Or for people like me who like minimally processed, unsweetened, fruit and nut bars!

Thanks Renew Life!

I’ll leave you with this sentiment that’s been circulating the web…

I think it fits nicely with my blogs message and with all the current chaos in American society (Boston, poison laced letters to the government, the explosion in West, Texas) it’s a reminder that we should appreciate our current situation and continue to live for others each day.

Keep on living, friends.

Kaila

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Todays’s Healthy Help: Made a proposal to get some donations for my school.

Never too early to start Lending a {Healthy} Hand for this weeks round-up! Tell me what you’ve done to help someone else lately!

As I mentioned last week and this weekend, April 14th was my third blogging anniversary (birthday?…I’ve called it both!).

I planned on writing a celebratory post with links back to some of my favorite features over the last 3 years, big life events that I’ve covered, and memorable moments from my blogging career…but something made me stop before throwing myself into a project like that.

Personally, I’ve done posts like that before. I’ve gone through my archives to find things that I think exemplify my blog and my writing, linked backed, and shown old pictures. As much as I like doing that, I think it’s a bit boring. If you all really wanted to read old posts and go through a post linking to said old posts, you’d go do it on your own (not trying to be pushy…just saying that you read what you’re interested in)! That’s what the archives are for and that’s what my favorites tab is for!

Much like people who do weekly round ups of their posts from the week, I think these types of posts are a little self indulgent and a little redundant. I know, for me, I tend to just skim through posts that feature links to things I’ve already read.

But even more important than the redundancy of ‘looking back posts’ (because frankly that’s what having a blog is all about for me…having a record of things that have happened in my life), is that fact that I’ve embraced looking ahead. As I’ve discussed in some earlier posts this year, the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 was a time of great change in my life…change for the better. And frankly I’d like to keep on that path of improvement and optimism. For me this means not dwelling on the past (but of course not forgetting about it), and embracing what’s coming next.

We cannot forget our past by any means and I am not saying that reflecting on things that have happened does not have its worth, but for where I am right now, I’d rather focus on what’s in store for my blog, rather than what’s happened with it so far. Frankly, it’s gone through too many transitions and changes to even note….and I think right now it’s the best form of itself it’s ever been. And even if that’s not true for everyone, you’ve got to embrace where you are in the present.

So instead of sharing a long lists of posts about awards I’ve won, my favorite product reviews, or recipes that got the most page views…I want to share a few insights on where I hope the blog goals in future (the next three years perhaps?)…

-continue to be a daily outlet for my creativity, self expression, and reflection

-serve as a record of life events (like an online scrapbook) so I can remember my thoughts and feelings on certain things I’ve experienced

-a vehicle for communication with like minded people who share the same values and passions as me

-a place for discussion and learning about other perspectives, opinions, and thoughts that I may not have considered before

-continue to spread my Lend a {Healthy} Hand movement and expand it to help as many people as possible through random acts of kindness

I’m sure I’ll be adding to this list, physically and mentally, as time goes on, but I think it’s suitable for now.

I do want to thank all of you immensely who visit my blog, read, comment, and reach out to me. I’ve learned so much from you all…both about myself and about the rest of the world. So thank you for your support. I am curious if I have any readers that have been with me from the beginning Feel free to share if you have! That’d be pretty cool….and potentially pretty embarrassing considering some of my early posts