Happy Memorial Day....enjoy a yummy and healthy bbq!

Happy Memorial Day!  It has been a great weekend and we even had a little bit of sunshine.  We took advantage of that and worked out in the yard.  My husband made me another raised garden....for a total of three now.  As you can see my seedlings are still alive and well :)

And....our apple trees are blossoming out!

More importantly though...I am still on track with my anti-inflammatory eating.  I want to share with you a perfect and easy breakfast cereal that I had this morning. It is Organic Flax Plus cereal and I highly recommend it since it has anti-inflammatory Omega 3's and lots of fiber.   

For dinner I will be making Summer Salmon Barbecue.  It is super easy and full of Omega 3's and inflammation fighting ingredients.  So enjoy your Memorial Day without giving up on delicious food!  

Inflammation fighting tuna salad

I hired a personal trainer last week to finally kick start my motivation.  So far it is working very well.  I love having my own personal "Jillian" to keep me on track!  One of the things that personal trainers do is assess your diet and also your caloric intake.  I eat high calorie Omega 3 foods to keep my body free from excess inflammation and I cannot waiver on that.  Having said that, I will admit that I eat alot of food and should back off some on my portion sizes.  I decided to give up some carbs today at lunch time and have a tuna salad instead of a tuna sandwich.  It was delicious and filling and I honestly didn't even miss the bread.  The olives, tuna, avocado and olive oil are all fantastic inflammation fighters. So enjoy this meal knowing that you are doing your body a world of good!

Omega 3 Salad

4 Kalamata olives

4 large green olives

1/2 of a small avocado cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 cups of organic spring lettuce mix

1/2 can of Tuna or Salmon

1 baby dill pickle, diced

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Place the lettuce on a plate
Mix the Tuna or Salmon with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and the diced baby dill then place on top of the lettuce in a mound
Add the olives and avocado around the sides of the lettuce
Drizzle the Balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the top to season as desired.
Enjoy!

Eating for strength and healing

Q'emlin Park

A few weeks ago,  my town celebrated Arbor Day by teaching area fifth graders about Forest Ecology.  I volunteered to help and went on a couple of hour long hikes to chaperone the kids and get some exercise.  The hike was awesome, up and down very rocky terrain, hills, and trails.  The next morning I woke up marveling at the fact that last fall I could not have done that.  My body was in too much pain from RA.  I am so thankful to a God that gives us the ability to help our bodies heal and feel strong through the nourishment he has provided. 

I have been asked many times about my diet and what exactly I eat that makes such a difference in my health so I am going to share that with you over the next several days in great detail. I began this blog to share with others what proper nutrition can do to improve your quality of life. Part of that means that I need to be open and honest with you not only about my success but my failures as well. So here it goes!  Recently I have been eating alot of sugar.  When I say alot of sugar what I really mean is ALOT of sugar.  Along with those sugary foods come alot of bad fats as well.  I was beginning to feel the inflammation and slight pain in my ankles, hips, and especially feet. Thankfully, I am very aware of my body and the warning signs and changed my ways by eating healthy again and the pain and inflammation are gone. 

Whether you suffer from an auto-immune disorder, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure (the list goes on and on) an anti-inflammatory diet can make a difference in your life.  I am not promising that you will be able to get off of your medications as I did, but you will notice a great difference in how you feel.  It takes time, commitment and patience.  When I first changed my diet it took at least two months before I noticed a dramatic difference.  So be patient and enjoy the delicious food that you can eat while getting healthy and hopefully pain free.  As a reminder, the recipes on this blog are anti-inflammatory.....so enjoy!