Walks in the Woods

Every evening after work I shut my computer off, put my phone away, and head out to the woods to take walks alone.


Well...not always alone. A bunch of horses and a donkey keep me company.

You cannot put a price on the health benefits of being outside in the all natural world. Away from the artificial glow of laptops and smart phones. Away from the materialistic, high-light reel of social media.
Physical health, mental health...nature can cure all.
It's energizing.

My favorite part of long walks in the woods is the mental health benefit.
Not only does it keep my legs fit but it keeps my mind clear & calm.
Being out in the stillness all alone gives you no choice but to talk to yourself.
Whether it's in your head, out loud, it doesn't matter.

If there's anything I learned in therapy, it's that your relationship with yourself is one of the greatest relationships you'll experience in this life. Nurture it. Be kind to yourself.

Don't listen to music. Listen to nothing but the wind, the birds, and your mind.
And if you bring your phone, make sure it's on airplane mode.
Disconnect.

As you can tell mental health is very important to me -- these neurological diseases are no joke.
And the fact that over 50% of American adults suffer from some sort of mental health issue... it really needs to be talked about. I'm glad it's slowly coming out as a not-so-private subject.

I come from a family with a long line of poor mental health history and I plan on sharing a post soon on how I'm fighting that issue and breaking the cycle.
Stay tuned!

And cheers to a mentally-healthy week.
:)



__________________________________

My mom is coming into town tomorrow and I am so excited to pick her up at the airport!!
We'll be heading down to Charleston again for a little mother/daughter getaway.
Can't wait to share that trip! She's just as wild as me so who knows what we'll get into down there.


And since it's Cinco De Mayo I can't leave without sharing an avocado based treat!
My go-to lunch every.single.day.

Avocado toast!
Have you heard of it? I hear it's pretty trendy lately ;)

All you do is mash half an avocado then scoop it onto a slice of toast.
I usually add lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper for taste
Keeps you full for hours!


Alright my friends, I'm off to the forest.
Adios!

Earth Day 2015

I think one of the best things I've ever done for my mental health was learn to truly appreciate nature.
To get back to what makes me genuinely happy.
To see every cloud, every blade of grass, with eyes of wonderment and pure fascination.
To have the utmost respect for every living creature on this planet.

When I was a kid growing up in Southern Indiana my life was the outdoors.
Some of my most fondest memories are running through cornfields with cousins, building forts with my big brother, and climbing trees by myself.

Like most people do, as I grew into my teenage years life became all about socialization, fitting in, and surviving school. I totally lost touch with what's real in life.

But as college started to come to a close I began reconnecting to my old ways; spending all of my free time outdoors. During the short New England summers there wasn't a weekend I wasn't out fishing in the kayak.

Flash forward to today, 26 and learnin' new tricks, I spend my evenings outside at our local greenway
every. single. day.
Just walking. Alone. Stopping to admire everything like it's new to me. Just like when I was a child.
I'm meditating and reviving my spirit without even trying.

Compared to my teenage years / early 20's, I'm a lot more calm. I handle intense situations a lot better. I can lasso my over thinking mind and tame my anxiety. Bad news rolls off my back.

What I'm trying to get at here is that nature is reviving. This planet provides us with everything we need to live a happy, healthy life. A pet peeve of mine is when people label me a 'hippy, hipster, crunchy, wacko' you name it. I'm not any of those things.

I'm a human.

Happy Earth day friends. 

Remember: the best things in life aren't things.

Coconut Coffee

What better time to share a recipe for a delicious, healthy cup of coffee than on a rainy Tuesday morning.

For a couple of months now Mitch has been making us Bulletproof Coffee
It's simply a mixture of coffee and unsalted grassfed butter.
We add our own twist to it and throw in a slab of coconut oil for both flavor and nutrients.

Word on the street is it speeds up your metabolism and greatly improves cognitive function!
Mitch has actually lost over 10lbs since he started drinking it :)

In case you're new to the health food game, let's start with the basics.

What is grassfed butter? How is it different than regular butter?
Simply put, grassfed butter is butter made out of cream that comes from cows who eat nothing but organic grass. Very simple, right? So what's the big deal?

Mass produced butter is made out of cream that comes from cow's who have an all grain/corn diet.
Cows aren't made to eat that stuff! Just try to picture it. A cow roaming through a cornfield, chowing down on the corn stalks. Uhhh, no.

Google 'Cow eating' and there will be nothing but photos like this:

Source: Google images

And this is how cow's eat corn:

Source: Google images

So which cow do you want to eat butter from?

Ok, got a little off topic. But it's very important to know and a key component to making this coffee healthy.

So let's get to it!
Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil  preferably unrefined (Means it's straight out of the coconut, untouched by machines)
• 2 Tablespoons Ground Organic Coffee 
• 2 Tablespoons Grassfed Butter 
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water

 Tools:

• French Press 
• Blender
  
  
  This recipe will yield one mason jar full of coffee.
  
  
  

  Step 1:  Pour 2 tablespoons of organic coffee grounds into the French Press.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Step 2: Add 2 1/2 cups of boiling water. We use a tea kettle

  
  

  

  
  

  Step 3:  Let the coffee brew for 4-5 minutes. While it's brewing, begin making the coconut oil/butter mixture. Add roughly 2 tablespoons of butter and 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil to your blender.
  Do not blend yet!
  *If you want to taste the coconut, add 2 tablespoons. If you don't, add only 1.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Step 4:  Pour the brewed coffee into the coconut oil/butter mixture.

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Step 5: Blend the coffee/butter/coconut oil mixture for 1 minute

  
  

  
  

  
  

   

  
  

  
  

  
  Step 6: Pour, Serve, and enjoy your enhanced cognitive abilities :)

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  If you're used to drinking sweet coffee, this taste will definitely have to be acquired.
  It isn't sweet but it's very creamy. Which kind of compensates for the lack of sugar.
  As for the coconut, it's so subtle that you hardly know it's in there. If you want more of that coconut taste simply add another spoonful of coconut oil!
  
  
  

  I know this process might seem a little daunting if you're used to pressing a button and having your coffee made for you by a machine every morning.
  But I promise, it's worth the investment in your health.
  It becomes routine after a few tries!
  Plus it helps your body burn fat all day.
  Win-Win.
  
  
  Wishing you a happy, healthy week ahead!
  We have friends from New Hampshire coming down tomorrow and I'm so excited!
  A couple days off work AND a trip to Charleston?
  Yes.