A Few of Our Favorite Things

So, we haven't been too good at keeping up with our blogging, but with the summer coming on we are going to try to be better at imparting our advice, for whatever that is worth! :) 

In today and tomorrow's blogs we want to share a few of each of our favorite things.  As much as we love each other, and do so much together, we do, in fact, have our own tastes and preferences when it comes to food and some activities.  So, here are a few of Ronna's favorite things! (Tomorrow will feature a few of Eristeo's favorite things...so visit again then!)

A few of Ronna's Favorite things...

1. Natural peanut butter-All I can say is YUM!!!! I began using this when I was cutting out carbs and increasing protein while on the maintenance phase of HCG, and never stopped!  It is almost addictive, so I have to be careful, but it does so much for me.  If I am craving sweets, a tablespoon of this, at 100 calories, will curb that sweet craving, and it is so tasty.  It provides some of the good fats your body needs, and surprisingly enough, peanuts have resveratrol, which is the natural antimicrobial agent that is found in red wine!  WARNING: You MUST be careful not to eat too much.  No more than one or two tablespoons per day is recommended. I usually eat mine in the morning on a Western Bagel english muffin or a BagelThins with a small amount of local honey. 

2.  Barlean's The Essential Woman-So...unfortunately, no matter how healthy you eat, and how active you are, getting older has aspects that SUCK!  Part of that for women is hormone imbalance.  I was having some pretty serious effects from this lovely part of peri-menopause, when a wonderful friend of mine recommended Barlean's The Essential Woman supplements.  I will try anything natural, so I had my, oh so patient, husband get me some on his way home that day.  I took 3 pills each day for a couple of weeks and suddenly realized that the mood swings, sadness, etc., had subsided.  It was an incredible feeling!  I HIGHLY recommend these to any peri-menopausal/menopausal woman who is struggling with hormone imbalance.  They are terrific!  I now order them from soap.com, which has them much cheaper than health food stores.  The link to find out more about these supplements is http://www.soap.com/p/barleans-essential-woman-softgels-72021

3. Protein smoothie-Over the years, our smoothie recipe has evolved.  I have learned that I have to be careful how much I put in the blender, because the calories can really add up.  If you make your smoothie using these ingredients, just be careful not to use too much of any of them.  You can also use a calorie counter website or app to figure the calories for you. 
The ingredients I use for my smoothies are as follows:
     -Frozen fruit-We either use a variety of frozen fruit that we have made, or frozen Dole Tropical Mix that we get from Sam's, frozen bananas(we freeze our fresh ones once they have gotten too "spotty" for us), and Frozen blueberries, that we also get from Sam's.
     -Unsweetened Almond Milk-At 35 calories a cup and 50% more calcium than cow's milk, I use 8 ounces of this every time. 
     -Kefir-What in the heck is this, you ask?  Well, I had NO idea either until my teaching partner last year turned me on to it.  Kefir, has been used for hundreds of years. It is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your “inner ecosystem.” More nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins. In a nut shell, it is a pro biotic to help your intestines, and is more effective then yogurts.  I purchase mine at Sprouts.  I use just about 1/4 cup, since it is higher in calories. 
     -Ground Flax Seed Meal-This healthy add in to my smoothie has several health benefits.  It is full of Omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce inflammation as well as reduce the risk of heart disease.  They also help lower blood pressure.  I use 1 tablespoon in each smoothie.
      -Whey Protein Isolate-We buy our protein from the bulk bins at Sprouts, but you can find it almost anywhere now.  For each 2.5 tablespoons, it has 35 calories and 9 grams of protein.
***For a little added flavor, I usually add a small amount of a small Crystal Light packet of various flavors.

As always, if you have any comments, suggestions, or questions on anything we write about, please feel free to contact us.  We love talking about healthy living and love to help anyone in their journey.