Tips to Get More Sleep

Being teenager, it's really hard to catch some Zzzz's when I'm staying up late every night doing homework and waking up early every morning going to school.

I'm naturally a morning person, so the early wakeup doesn't bother me as much as some of my friends, but it's still brutal waking up at 6am 5 days a week.

And while there are some nights where I am legitimately staying up until 2am doing homework, there are some nights where I don't have any homework and just choose to stay up late on Facebook or tumblr.

Also, let's be honest: If I come home from school and know my only homework is to study for a test or read a few chapters from a book, I'll put it off until the very end of the night.

Yesterday, I had to read 3 chapters in the Scarlett Letter and I didn't start reading until 9:30pm. I'm  a moron for doing that because the reading took me an hour and a half.

So I went to bed at 11:15 when I could have been asleep by 9.

We teenagers need our sleep!
I'm 5'4'' and although my doctor and genetics tell me this is as tall as I'll ever grow, I'm determined to prove them wrong :) Sleep is the best way to grow, so if you're like me and want to gain a few centimeters, listen up!

I have a few go-to tricks that I use when I want to go to bed early.
Although sometimes it's hard to get sleepy early in the evening, sleeping is essential for our mental and physical health.
Teenagers should be getting between 9 and 10 hours of sleep every night.

Here it goes:
Tip #1: Turn off all televisions, computers, and music before you go to bed.

I know some people like to sleep with music on, but if you've been having trouble falling alseep, try keeping your room quiet. I know for myself, I can't be on my laptop on before I go to bed because  my mind is still wired when I'm trying to fall asleep. Keeping all electronics off before bed will allow your mind to settle and relax.

Tip #2: Keep your bedroom dark. 

I know if you share your bedroom this may be difficult, but try to keep your room as dark as possible when you sleep. Put shades on your windows, shut your door, and turn your clock to face the wall. (Some people may like eye masks, but I think they're uncomfortable) When there's light in your room, it tricks your brain into thinking it's morning and you'll wake up earlier and won't go into a deep enough sleep cycle. 

Tip #3: Take a warm bath or shower before bedtime.

Sometimes just the warm water can relax and calm your nerves. I find it incredibly soothing to take a warm bath before bed. It makes me so tired I practically fall asleep in the tub!

Tip #4: Stretch before bed.

Sometimes the reason teens can't fall asleep right away is because all of the stress we have! Doing some simple leg stretches (or even some yoga if you're feeling adventurous), can slow down the crazy thoughts bouncing around your brain.

Tip #5: Eat high carb snacks or drink milk before bed.

High carb snacks like pretzels, bread, some cereal, and even a little bit of fruit have been shown to help aid in a person's ability to fall asleep.

Milk is also good to drink before bed because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid proven to make people sleepy.

Tip #6: Read before bed.

One of my new school year resolutions has been to read more often. So this tip I have actually been putting to good use! Reading a book  under my night light right before bed makes falling asleep easier because my mind gets relaxed and emptied. 

So these are the 6 tips that I usually turn to when I need to fall asleep.

Sleep is important for teen health, and I know that we rarely get the recommended amount of 9 to 10 hours. On average I fall asleep at like 11 and wake up at 6. And to my surprise, my 7 hours of sleep is the most out of all of my friends'. One of my friends says she gets about 4 hours of sleep a night. I don't know how she functions and still manages to get good grades in school!

Anyone else have any other tips or stories to share?

Homemade Pesto: The Right Way

Last night my mom asked me why I like Autumn so much.

Autumn has always been my favorite season, but I never really knew why, so I said, "Happy memories, happy feelings."

And its true! Just thinking about Autumn puts the biggest smile on my face. I could list off everything that makes me happy.. and I will :)

There's: Halloween, my birthday, leaves changing colors, crisp air, wearing big sweaters, boots, Thanksgiving, baking, family events, candles, tea, snuggling, smiling... ohhh how I could make this list infinite!

But with Autumn arriving, that means summer and all of its beauty is slowly dying.

My family basil plant being one of those dying things!

To preserve all that we have left from our mini out-door garden, I took all the leaves about a week ago and I put them in a jar and put it in the freezer. They were picked at peak freshness and frozen to be used later.

That later: would be today.

I bring to you my fresh homemade pesto recipe. Done the right way! Everyone claims their recipe is better, but let's be real.

My recipe is the best.

The fresh basil, the combination of capers and sun dried tomatoes, and all the love that gets put into this recipe is what really makes it special.

I really like making my own condiments. I'm still trying to perfect my homemade peanut butter recipe, and when I get it right I'll share it with you all! But in the mean time, this pesto recipe should hold you over.

I like to eat it over some toast with eggs. Yummyyummyyummy!

Emily's Homemade Pesto, Done the Right Way!

(This is a small serving. If you have a big family or want to make a big batch, just double/triple the ingredients)

Ingredients:

1 packed cup of fresh basil

4 tsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1 sun dried tomato with 1 teaspoon of its oil

1 tsp capers

1 handful of pine nuts and walnuts

((Optional: green food coloring and salt))

This is how much garlic I used... I LOVE garlic,

but my mom hates it so I had to use it

sparingly

1. Take a skillet/frying pan and put one teaspoon of olive oil in it and heat it up
• Take your handful of walnuts and pine nuts and put them in the pan at moderately high heat. Stir them around for about 5 minutes or until golden. Don't burn them!
• When they're toasted, turn off the burner and let them cool
2. Put the basil in the food processor and just give it like 2 pulses. 
• Then place the toasted nuts in and turn the food processor on for a few seconds.
3. Add in your capers, sun dried tomato (with a teaspoon of its oil), and 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

• Pulse/turn it on until you get a slightly creamier mixture.
4. Take your garlic clove and chop it up. I only used a very small amount of garlic (my mom hates garlic!) But if your a garlic gal put in as much as you want.
5. Add in the last teaspoon of olive oil and turn on the food processor.

At this point, decide what else you need/what other flavors you want your pesto to have. I recommend some grated parmesan cheese or some garlic salt. I went au natural for my recipe, but add in whatever makes you happy.

Additional side note: If your recipe is turning out not as green as you would like, I suggest putting in 1 or 2 drops of green food coloring. If the color doesn't bother you, then keep it natural!

And there you have it: delicious homemade pesto

Put it on toast or in pasta<3

Enjoy,

Emily

Me being cozy and studious :)

Letting Go

“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free


Sometimes the hardest thing to do in life is to realize that you don't have control over certain situations.

I am a control freak...On certain things.
Food being one of them.

I control everything that goes into my body, to a point of obsession.
Ever since I stopped playing soccer a year ago, I have become sort of paranoid about what I eat, the calories I intake and the sugar, carb, and fat content of all of my food. 

After chatting with one of my best friends about my super strict diet and eating habits, she sort of made me feel like I had some sort of disorder. 
Not an eating disorder per se, more like "disordered eating".

People have told me before (including my mom) "wow you're looking really skinny these days." But I never thought anything of it. In fact, I liked it! Obviously I want people telling me I look good and thin, that's like the ultimate compliment.

But when I was talking to my friend a few days ago, she was being honest and open with me, and she told me that my eating habits are very extreme. 

It's sort of true, I never enjoy a treat every once in a while because I'm always freaked out about what it will do to my body. She also said it isn't normal how I panic out after I eat an ice cream. I always feel like I need to go do 100 situps and run 3 miles right afterwards.

Having a close friend tell me this really put things in perpective for me. I realized I'm only young once! And I can't be wasting my time away worrying about every calorie that I eat.
I've noticed my metabolism starting to slow down becuase I've been eating so little for so long. And when I do restrict myself severely, I totally binge and couple of days later and end up feeling awful.

So basically I just wanted to say: that us girls need to stop making our lives revolve around food. It took me a year to realize that I need to stop overstressing about everything I eat, and I need to just enjoy things in moderation and not worry if I go a couple hundred calories over my "limit" for the day.

My deprivation of fats and carbs from my diet has made me unhappy, cold, and frail. These are the times in our lives when we should be filling our bodies up with lots of wholesome foods. And ice cream is part of that diet too in moderation!

Basically, my words of wisdom for today are that all of us girls in society can't keep torturing ourselves by dieting. (Read my Societal Pressures rant) We should be enjoying life, not worrying about how many calories our next meal will be. I need to start letting go over the things I can't control, my body may not be the perfect model size, but it is the body I was born with so I have to embrace it. 

In honor of letting go, I had ice cream today with my friends. I didn't have it in place of lunch, I didn't skip a meal to make up for the calories of the ice cream. No, I had it as a snack. So yes, this will be adding a lot more calories into my "limit" for the day. And yes, I will be eating a normal-sized dinner. But I told myself I need to let go of all of the calorie counting and just enjoy the food. And after I ate it, I made sure I didn't  feel guilty. I didn't want that stress of feeling like I needed to go "burn it off" immediately after. I'm going to actually start enjoying food and stop worrying about the calories.

my noms for the day :) 

Love,
Emily

Societal Pressures

I really hate society and how it has warped our minds and opinions.
50 years ago, a woman with hips and breasts and a butt was considered attractive. A sex symbol.

Now all she's considered is fat.

No matter how healthy she is, how many vegetables she eats, or nutrients she absorbs, if her thighs touch or she has broad shoulders, people will judge her.

I really just hate society's views on what makes a woman beautiful.

I was just sitting with my dad on the couch, and a news woman was on the television, and he has the nerve to say, "Oh my god, look at that beast." And this isn't the first time he's done that. He criticizes every woman he sees on television.

He calls them fat, he calls them ugly, "beast", "man", "fatty", he says it all. And it makes me so upset that I just want to run out of the room and cry. (Like I'm doing right now in my bedroom).

It's people like him in society who make girls like me feel self-conscious all the time.

Does she look happy? Why do we
 constantly compare ourselves
 to people like her? Happy people are the
 most beautiful people

Even if I'm healthy, I look in the mirror a lot of days and I say to myself, I'm so fat, I need to lose weight. Why am I eating so much? Why can't I be skinner?

It makes me so unbelievable depressed and frustrated, I don't even know how to handle my emotions.

Every magazine cover, picture on tumblr, and character on television is skinny and beautiful.
Well that's just not fair! What about the other billion women in the world who are healthy and not thin as twigs?

Although I am a victim of succumbing to societal pressures--I too have gone on diets, restricted my eating, critized my body, not loved myself--I just want to say:

Society can go fuck itself. And people like my dad too..

It's a goddam struggle to  overcome judgements from other people, and it's a battle that I am dealing with every day. But I just wanted to say that every woman is beautiful. Yeah it's really cheesy, but it needs to be said.

We are all beautiful. And if you, yes you, are not a size 00 and can't fit into your jeans from 6th grade... well good! Because you're not supposed to be able to.

It's not fair that teenagers like me have to deal with all of the societal pressures to look like twigs. 

I suffer from it, I am aware. But I know that I will overcome this sick, twisted mindset of what is beautiful. 

Some people were just born to me slim and have skinny frames. Lucky them! All power to 'em. But the majority of women were not born to be really skinny and tall. So we can't be comparing ourselves to anorexic models on magazines. 

Yeah, I do it. I'll admit it! But I'm trying to stop.

And we need to stop letting jerks (like my dad) dictate the way we perceive beauty. 

We are all beautiful.

No matter what size you are, if you are eating healthy and exercising regularly then you are being healthy. 

Anyone else ever get fed up with what society thinks women should look like?

--Frustrated and Confused, Emily

New Viewers!

Hey everyone!

Thanks to a shoutout on tumblr from my-body-not-yours , I've noticed I'm getting a lot of more pageviews. Thanks everyone!

Because of this large influx of visitors, I would appreciate it if people send me messages about my blog, ie: What I should fix, what topics I should write about, any questions you have, and improvements you think I should add to the blog, etc.

I appreciate ALL of your input and feedback. It truly makes my day when someone comments or sends me an e-mail. So please do! With all of your advice I will try and make my blog even better!

Thanks!   Comment below or email me at  foodfitnut@gmail.com

-Emily

PS check back later because I'm going to write a new recipe post!

My cheesy smile :)

Enjoying life and food

Can we just talk about how much I am loving life at the moment?

Seriously. Loving. It.

There's still school and stress and bad things that happen, but I'm in the mood to just forget my worries and enjoy all of the things good in the world right now. Live in the moment.

I think it's the combination of breezy September air and also my newfound love for food.

Yummy lunch!

Wait what?
Ok so I'll admit (and I'm sure many other health/fitness bloggers will admit the same) that I have both a positive and negative relationship with food.

I enjoy filling my body up with wholesome, healthy, nutritious, and delicious foods. However, I almost always feel a pang of guilt after every time I eat a big meal. (And by big, I mean normal sized...)

For me, I'm much happier eating a meal that I know is too small for me. Anyone else feel this way?

I am satisfied knowing that eating a smaller meal means less calories for the day, and this helps me accomplish the twisted goal/competition I have with myself.
Less calories=good day ----> That basically sums up how I think. Or used to think. I'm not really sure.

But recently I have been trying to escape that terrible mindset.
I (all of us girls) need to stop always trying to be on a diet. I (we) need to just love our bodies for the way they are! I'm tired of constantly trying to figure out if I have overeaten/undereaten my calorie amount for the day, and I'm tired of always trying to recall every snack I eat during the day and doing all of the calorie math in my head!

No more. I'm fed up. (Pun intended)

All of us teenage girls need to stop caring about what others think and simply love ourselves for the way we were made. So what if my thighs touch? Constantly overanalyzing every calorie I eat is not going to solve my problem, and it's just going to make me more paranoid.

As hard of a struggle as it is, I think I have been doing well. I have been aiming to eat filling, structured meals that are nutritious, colorful, and tasty. I've noticed that I am actually ENJOYING the food I'm eating rather than counting every bite and calorie on my plate.

Avocado and tomato on raisin walnut toast
&
Avocado, zucchini, carrots on whole wheat toast

Not to say there aren't ups and downs... last night my mom and I made a vegetable roasted dish, and I had to clench my teeth when I saw her add olive oil into the dish.
I so desperately wanted to grab the bottle away from her and tell her to stop fattening me up!!!

Unflattering picture of momma cookin' in the kitch!

But I took a deep breath and said to myself (and I literally said these exact words in my head) let it go Emily, oils are good for your brain, body, and skin. It will make the meal taste better, and olive oil is healthy. 

As hard as it was to see my meal get loaded with more calories, I stopped myself from thinking negatively. Instead of thinking "omg she just added another 300 calories to the meal!" I thought "Oh yummy, olive oil is healthy!"

My breakfast! Finished up my last banana protein muffin :(
Also, yogurt with walnuts, grapes, melon, and cinnamon sugar!

By thinking of food as part of life and enjoyment, I realize that I am becoming happier overall!

How do you all feel about your relationship with food? Is it good? Bad?

I know that my relationship is slowly improving from where it used to be. I used to count every single ittybitty calorie I ate. Now, I'm trying to just eat more of the right foods in moderation.

What about you?

GI Info (Glycemic Index)

So like I said yesterday, I really dislike thinking about college preparation.
Applications, meetings, visits, essays, tests... it's all very overwhelming.

And as much bubble bath sitting or yoga meditating as I do, I can't seem to get rid of this high school stress.

Stress overload!!

I find that there are usually a lot of healthy ways to relieve my stress. Sometimes all it takes is a good talk with a friend and other times a spoonful of peanut butter will suffice.

But then there are times where my stress is like an unwanted ghost that keeps haunting me. Everywhere I turn, it's there!

It's times like these where I just have to bite the bullet and deal with my problems head first. I need to start actually being productive, actually doing my homework, and I need to actually start preparing for college application deadlines.

With motivation and confidence, I will be able to handle all of this.

And what helps me start this uphill battle of the college process?
Eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep.
When I do all of these things, I'm focused, driven, and I know what I have to do without procrastinating.

So while I haven't gotten much sleep recently (yeah, I'm going to start working on that!.. :-/   ), I have been eating clean, a major component in my struggle to maintain sanity in high school!!


And now, I want to share with you some foods I've been eating and some research I've done.

Ever heard of the "Glycemic Index"?

I always hear about it on diet commercials and infomercials. Before I knew what it was, it just seemed to me like a  hoax to get people to buy crappy diet pills that don't work. Like some sort of made up system to make people think that the ONLY way they will lose weight will be if they take a magic pill with a low Glycemic Index (GI) rating.

But it turns out Emily is wrong once again. Hey, I can't be perfect all the time, right?! But I am pretty darn close, just as my mommy :)

Haha ok so anyways.
The Glycemic Indiex is real! It is pretty much a scale from 1-100 that ranks foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels.
Usually, if a food can be digested faster into the body, it has a higher GI rating.

If the molecules of a food have tight clumps, it is harder for the body to digest and therefore digests slower. This means a food will be digesting for a longer period of time in your body, making you feel fuller longer and preventing your blood sugar from spiking.

Highly processed foods are digested faster which means they have a higher GI rating. Cornflakes for example, have a GI rating of around 81, whereas rolled oats generally have a GI rating somewhere in the 40's.

Same goes with breads. Unprocessed grains have a lower GI rating because they are not as processed, meaning their molecules are not open and easily digestible. Pumpernickel bread has a rating of 46 and white bread has a rating of 73.

The fat content is also considered in the GI rating scale. Foods with more fat will be lower in rating because it takes longer for fats to be digested, preventing blood glucose levels from spiking immediately.
However, this means that not anything with a low GI rating is healthy. Potato chips are laden with fat and so they only have a rating of 75. (Mind you that's still pretty high, but considering how unhealthy potato chips are, it's actually sort of low.)

So Emily what about fruits? They  have a ton of sugar and are easy to digest, does that mean they are bad for me?

Absolutely not! Fruits are filled with HEALTHY sugars, not high fructose corn syrup.
But have you ever noticed how: if you eat an apple for your midmorning snack, you're hungry again within the next hour?! That happens to me sometimes. That's because since the fruit is made up of mainly carbohydrates and sugars, it can be digested into your body very easily.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. People enjoy eating fruits before a long run because it digests quickly and can be used for energy pretty quickly.
However, if you are eating a fruit as snack, you don't want to be hungry an hour later!
The way to slow down the glycemic response is to mix high sugar foods (high GI foods) with foods that digest more slowly into the body.

Mix your fruits and sugary things with fats and proteins. Fats and proteins are slow to digest and when combined with the sugars, they will keep you fuller longer.

An apple with a little bit of peanut butter is way more satisfying than just a plain apple!
The mixture of fast and slow digesting foods keeps your stomach pumping and controls the speed of your digestion.

So what's so important about eating foods with a low GI? Well eating foods that have a low GI have been known to:

Control glucose levels in the body
Control cholesterol
Control appetite
Help prevent heart disease
Help prevent type 2 diabetes

So what should I be eating and how do I incorporate this newfound knowledge into my diet?

1. Eat when you feel hungry. 3-5 meals a day is what I usually do, depending on my hunger and the size of my portions.
2. Decrease unhealthy fats, and incorporate lots of mono- and unsaturated fats into your diet. They are slow to digest and will keep you feeling full. Mix these fats with high sugar foods like fruits for a delectable, filling snack or meal. 
3. Include high fiber foods and whole grains rather than processed foods and refined grains. The whole grains and natural fibers are slower to digest, giving such food a lower glycemic index and making you feel fuller longer.

Foods to eat:

Nuts

Fruits

Low fat cheeses

Low fat yogurts (I have found that Greek yogurts tend to be the highest in protein and lowest in sugar. Go for a plain yogurt that has lots of protein and little sugar)

Low fat milk

Veggies

Lentils

Quinoa

Whole grain foods (oats and bran)

Whole grain pasta (when cooked al dente, pasta has a a lower GI rating than really soft pasta because when the texture of the pasta is harder, it is slower to digest into the body)

Here are a few of my personal faves!:

PB & Apple... (Basically pb on everything... :) )

Yogurt with flaxseeds

Avocado on toast with tomatoes

Oatmeal with grapes and nuts

Here is also a chart of a bunch of foods and their ratings:

http://www.glycemicindex.ca/glycemicindexfoods.pdf 

If the link doesn't work, try just googling: Glycemic index food chart and about 7 million results will show up.

Hope I helped!

Any questions or comments?

Comment below or email me at foodfitnut@gmail.com 

Love you all,

Emily