Good morning!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments in my 10k race recap! :)
Surprisingly, my body isn’t too sore this morning. I attribute this to the ice bath (brrr!) I had shortly after getting home, oodles of chocolate (hell yea!), stretching, and of course some healthy eats.
I ended up having a great day yesterday! I think I was running on endorphins all day long (and copious amounts of green tea!). I finally got around to designing my OSG business card. My new cards will have Glo bakery on one side and OSG on the other side. I ordered them from Print 100. I have been using Print 100 for the past year and I am super happy with their service, free shipping, turnaround (2 weeks), and quality.
For dinner, I whipped up an avocado and tomato salad with mixed greens…
and my Better than Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette.
And for the main I tried my hand at making roasted apple and acorn squash soup. It sounded delicious and I had a CSA acorn squash to use up!
Mmmm!
Roasted Apple and Acorn Squash Soup
Adapted from B.C. Tree Fruits
Ingredients:
- 2 small apples, cored, cut into pieces
- 1 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- salt & pepper, to taste
- Parsley, to garnish
- Few sprigs rosemary, chopped finely
Directions: See this post for directions.
It’s squash season!! :)
Mmm squash flesh. ;)
After pureeing the rest of the ingredients, I added the chopped squash and mixed:
This soup was good, but it wasn’t my absolute favourite. If I were to make this again, I would use less apple and more garlic. The apple taste was a bit too pronounced for my liking.
I really enjoyed the chunks of squash in it though. Instead of blending the entire soup, I blended everything except the squash and then I just chopped the squash and mixed it in. It had a great, chunky texture!!
I also added a bit of rosemary and that was a nice flavour in there too.
After dinner I polished off this entire box of Vosges Naga Mango (Dried Mango + sweet curry + dark chocolate). Oh my gosh was this ever delicious! Whoever thought to pair sweet curry, mango, and chocolate together is a genius!
What Have You Learned?
Seeing as today is the first day back to school in our neck of the woods, I thought it would be a great time to reflect on what we have learned during our journey to health!
Here are some things I have learned along my journey:
- I should strive to be a Size Healthy and not a specific number
- If I honour my hunger signals and cravings, I won’t feel an urge to binge
- There is no point to compare myself with others. It is much more fun if I strive to improve based on my previous accomplishments.
- If I am not happy in my career, I will always have a big piece of my happiness missing and my heart will feel a void.
- My body is not the worthless piece of junk I thought it was, in fact, it is capable of so much more than I thought!
- Use quotes to inspire when you need motivation.
- Eating a vegan diet makes me feel at peace
- Take a chance on YOU. What have you got to lose?
- The goal weight I had set for myself previously was NOT my happy weight
- A ‘Happy Weight’ is probably not going to be the size of a magazine model for most people. Finding your happy weight may mean that you have to accept the size your body was meant to be at.
- Some days will truly suck. There is no way of avoiding this and it is totally normal. There will be days you overeat and feel crappy, fall off the exercise wagon & lose motivation, or have personal health problems to deal with. When I accepted that these experiences were part of the normal ebb and flow of life, I was able to move on quicker and not beat myself up for it.
- Sometimes chocolate is always the answer (like last night!)
- You only get one body and one life, make sure you treat it well and make it a happy one
- Recovering from years of disordered eating took much longer than I thought and is always an on-going process
- Surround yourself with POSITIVITY, good friends, and family. Read uplifting things.
- There are many potholes along the road to recovery. If you trip up, dust yourself off, put on a band-aid, and keep going FORWARD!
What have you learned along your journey to health?
I love EVERYTHING Vosges… especially the bacon chocolate. :)
Ooh I like the sound of that soup – I’ve got an acorn squash to use up :D
Oh gosh, I’ve learned so much….EAT when you’re hungry (then you won’t binge, like what you wrote)
Don’t starve yourself
Don’t worry about early exams in high school
Being vegan makes you feel fab!!
Running – the same!
Treasure every moment with my horse
Cooking is the best thing ever
Umm..and tons more! I agree with a lot of yours actually :)
Oh – and SMILE!! It makes ALL the difference, with how you feel healthwise, how you come across to other people…everything!
That soup sounds so delicious – so many great fall flavors, and a fun combination of flavors too!!
Aggghghg, I’m SO excited about squash season!!! Woo hoo!!
I’ve learned that different things work for different people! I used to love to read health magazines, but a lot of the things they suggest just don’t work for me.. and that’s ok! Also, I notice that I sometimes push my healthy habits on my boyfriend, which isn’t fair because maybe those habits don’t do anything for him. He has to find what makes his body feel good, not what makes my body feel good.
Realizing this has lifted the pressure of being labeled a “healthy person” because I just live (or try to live) the way that makes me happy :)
Great question! I’ve learned that I must accept, embrace, and love my body and self every day, no matter what size I am or what I’ve eaten. I’ve learned that I need to respect my body and listen to it, nourish it and let it rest. :-)
I love this post – so inspirational. The main thing I have learned is that to make good, healthy changes takes time and commitment, but gets easier with time as we internalize those habits :)
I love all the things you learned. I especially appreciate that you share tough days will happen and its okay. I think a lot of people think things have to be perfect for a life to be a good and joyful one. That’s not the case at all! I even wrote about that today for my 30 Days of Self Love post (http://www.faithfitnessfun.com/3944/30-days-of-self-love-perspective/ – if you want and get the chance to check it out). You are such a beautiful example and inspiration to many.
Love you, Angela!
Surround yourself with the people you love – and don’t be too serious. Seriously. Don’t be too serious. Life is too short to worry about every (cough) failed math quiz. Heh.
Oh: and pay attention. But not too much.
I’ve learned to listen to my body when it screams STOP! Pushing is a good thing, unless of course your body is injured. It’s so important to understand what your body is telling you and to respect that.
Your “soup” looks a bit like apple sauce–which I guess it is a bit like apple sauce!
That chocolate combo sounds crazy out-of -this-world good!
I am still learning, but the hardest thing for me is not to dwell on mistakes.
Definitely learned that even when you have a bad eating day, you can’t beat yourself up about it…what’s done is done and all you can do is try to make positive steps in the present and future.
Angela,
I am a long time reader, leaving my first comment today!
First of all that soup looks amazingggg! Definitely will be trying it out. I am so excited for the fall produce, as well as making a ton of tasty soups!
Second of all thank you for sharing what you have learned. You are truly inspiring.
Keep doing what you love!
What a great post! Amazing looking soup and inspiration all at once. I am learning that honesty with yourself and patience are key ingredients on the road toward health
I’ve learned that I CAN CHOOSE the thoughts I have about myself; I can choose to judge myself and beat up on myself or I can choose to love myself.
I’ve learned I’m so fortunate to have a healthy body there’s no point in treating it poorly by having binge/restrict cycles, or even spending one moment hating the body I’m in.
I’m starting to learn to accept my “size healthy”, and that the health/exercise routines that “worked” in the past may not work out with my new lifestyle (university).
Oh! Also, I don’t know if you’re interested, but my favorite way to eat butternut squash is also with apples! My mom makes it by baking the squash halves upside down in some water and then filling them with cut up apples, homemade cranberry sauce and lots of cinnamon– it’s one of my favorite things! SO yum! :)
I have learned that I have to make healthy decisions for myself. No one is going to do it for me, nor can they. Along the same lines no one is going to be me, so I might as well be all of me that I can be. Enough being lazy it’s time to live! I can do more than I realize. I don’t have to stay in a job that makes me miserable.
I also learned about this website (a couple of weeks ago) and I am seeing how impacting it has been and will be. Thank you for what you are doing!
Is the Vosges chocolate from Chicago? Where can I find some? That kind sounds right up my alley!!
yes it is! :)