Our Health Is A Gift

As we approach Thanksgiving week, let us all be reminded that our health and wellness is a gift not to be taken for granted. Our job at Wholicious Living is to motivate people to eat as healthy as possible, to be active and work our bodies to keep them in shape and even push ourselves to go beyond what we thought was possible. That is called putting in the work and doing what we need to do to earn our health. But can health really be earned?

At any given moment, this precious thing we call life could be taken from us. Our health is the same way. As much as I talk about prevention, sometimes we just don’t have everything within our control. We can take the reigns as much as possible by doing what’s necessary to keep our bodies healthy, but sometimes bad things just happen. We get blindsided by some unforeseen incident like finding out we have a rare form of cancer or a heart defect etc. We pray every day that something like this never happens to any of us.

This is why we feel very fortunate that we are in love with healthy eating and running and lifting weights. We love being outdoors and camping under the stars and backpacking as deep into the wilderness as possible. We’re very thankful that our legs and lungs can take us as far as they do, able to explore new places. We’ve put in millions of miles over the years and hope to do it until we die. It brings us much joy to sweat, to push ourselves to become better, faster and stronger. Not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

But at the same time, we don’t take any of it for granted. Not a single moment, not a single step. We know that within a split second something could happen and it all could be taken away. One of us could get injured or a life threatening illness could strike. Worse yet, something could happen to one of our family members or friends.

Hopefully, Wholicious Living can be a source to help YOU do the same for your mind, body and soul. To give you enouragment and motivation to make the right choices not only for yourself, but for those around you. We want to be advocates for your health, which is why we support a whole food plant based diet. We want you to be able to do what you love until you die, while maintaining a high quality of life. Quantity doesn’t matter. Quality does. We want you to be able to live in the present moment and be there for your kids, your spouse, your friends alive, able and fully aware and capable. We want to help you help others make the same healthier choices so they too can THRIVE.

So let us continue to encourage you to take care of your body because your body, your health, your life is a gift. Some people aren’t so fortunate to wake up and decide they want oatmeal instead of eggs and bacon because they’re too sick to make their own food. They can’t just put on a pair of running shoes and go. They can’t get out of their wheelchair or hospital bed or make their leg grow back or make the cancer just go away. We owe it not only to ourselves but to those around us to make the healthiest choices possible simply because we can.

Let us all celebrate Thanksgiving with a humble heart, full of gratitude for the gift of health. Because health is a gift and a very precious one at that.

Here’s to eating Wholiciously!

Lindsey and Damian

5-Spice “Fried” Rice with Sweet Potatoes

I’ve been talking a lot about the benefits of soy products lately. Everyone, especially women should be getting at least one serving a day. If you’ve missed out, please follow me on https://www.instagram.com/wholiciousliving/ and https://www.facebook.com/wholiciousliving/ to get all the latest health and nutrition information.

This is a never fail, throw any type of veggies in and it will still turn out great recipe. It works best with cold, leftover cooked rice. Recipe adapted from Thug Kitchen Cookbook.

1 medium sweet potato, diced
2 t sesame oilIMG_0126
2 T water, plus more if needed
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen sweet yellow corn
1/4 t Chinese 5-spice powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T tamari or soy sauce (reduced sodium)
1 T roasted red chili paste
4 c cooked short or long-grain brown rice
1 c bitter greens chopped (optional)
1/2 c sliced green onions
1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, diced into 1/2 in chunks (optional, but give it a try. It’s good. We promise. Can also sub in edamame).

Directions:

1. Fill the bottom of a steamer with about 2 inches of water and heat up the water.

2. While waiting for the water to boil, dice the sweet potato and add to steamer. Let steam about 7-8 minutes or until sweet potato is tender.

3. Heat 1 tsp of oil and some water in a large skillet or wok over medium heat.

4. Add yellow onion and carrot and continue to stir fry for another 3 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add more water if necessary so contents don’t burn.

5.  Add the 5-spice powder and garlic to the skillet and stir fry for 1-2 more minutes. Turn heat to low and add the frozen peas and corn. Let all ingredients keep simmering.

6. Remove sweet potato from steamer and add to skillet of other veggies.

7.  Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar and Roasted Sweet Chili Paste in a small bowl. ( We like the flavor of this so we actually doubled the amount to mix in )

8. Dice tofu into 1/2 in squares and spoon about 1/3 of the sauce over the top to marinate.

9. Add the cooked rice to skillet and stir fry until warm, approximately 5 minutes.

10. Add the sauce mix and the marinated tofu, and mix well but don’t over stir or the tofu will crumble. (It’s ok if this happens as it’ll still taste the same but won’t look as pretty)

11. Stir fry for another 1-3 minutes.

12. Fold in bitter greens and green onions

Enjoy! We always go back for seconds on this one!

Wholicious Living provides individualized nutrition coaching designed specifically for you and your goals. Whether you want to lose weight, have more energy, recover better from workouts or just be able to live life doing what you love, we give you the tools you need to succeed for the long term. We help you forge a lifestyle with dietary habits that are sustainable and realistic but also simple and easy to follow. Sign up today for a one, three or six month plan and reach your goals.

Here’s to Nutritious and Delicious Eating,

Lindsey Hintz