Cravings. Sweet-Salty-Spicy-Creamy. Sound Familiar?

I apologize for the lack of post. I have been so busy with school, teaching yoga, and organizing my Japan community challenge that I have put blogging on the back burner. But that is not the only thing I have let my guard down on, my diet has been suffering too.

I am a busy person, I like work. When I am not busy I tend to be lazy so keeping myself productive is a must! But these past few weeks have caught up with me and I have been asking myself

 "Why am I eating THIS?!"

This weekend my body was fed up, done, not going any further without the nutrients it needed and it let me know this by craving certain foods. Friday I went straight to Smoothie King (my FAVorite place to be!) and ordered the the most amazing smoothie on this earth. In fact, it is more like a milk shake, with 45 grams of protein, chocolate, and butter pecan ice cream. Amazing to say the least. My gaze then rested on the "Pepper and Salt" chips. Looking at Graham I said, "I'm getting those" he gave me an unpleasant look and said, "No you're not".

I got them (period).

Six months ago I would of felt like the weakest person on this earth. "I gave into my cravings AGAIN! What a vicious cycle I cannot get out of!" But now, after learning so much from school I reflected back on my actions and what my body was craving to learn what it was really wanting.

So I turned to the chapter I had recently studied, CRAVINGS.

Our body really knows what it wants and it will go to great measures to get it.

 I won't get to deep into the subject but want to cover some of the basic.

SWEET CRAVINGS

We mainly crave sweet because as a society are addicted to processed foods. At first I disagreed. I don't eat processed foods. After my denial faded, I realized how much I rely on foods that are processed.

 How can you work to remove these from your diet? I try to make my meals the night before.

SALT CRAVINGS

The number one reason we crave salty things are because we are not getting enough minerals in our diet. This hit home with me this weekend when I shoved salt and pepper chips down my throat. Mainly vegan, I have not been giving my body the minerals it needed. Note to self!

SPICY CRAVINGS

If someone is eating the standard American diet (processed foods high in chemicals and artificial sweeteners) and has little to no whole foods (a lot of fat) there blood tends to thicken and slow. Therefore the body will crave spicy food to help prevent this (pizza, Mexican food, etc)

CREAMY CRAVINGS
We crave creamy things like peanut butter or a ridiculous ice cream smoothie in my case when we are highly stressed in our lives. Most of the time we just need a hug, or someone in our life to tell us how much they appreciate and love us. Take a break! Second note to self.

Which one of these craving do you have in your life? What steps can you take to slowly ease these out of your life?

The next time you have a craving, BE THANKFUL for it! Stop. Listen. Think. And feed your body what it needs, not necessarily what it wants!

Here is a great recipe to leave you grounded and craving free! Its crunchy, salty, cooling, and filling!

STIR FRY

Ingredients

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup red bell peppers

1/2 cup broccoli

1/2 cup cauliflower

Brown Rice (cook according to box)

Peanut Sauce

3 tbsp organic Peanut butter

2-4 tbsp Almond  Milk

1 tsp Paprika

2 tbsp shelled hemp seeds

1.) Cook carrots and red bell peppers in 1 tbsp of olive oil for 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

2.) Then add in the other vegetables and cook 2-4 minutes.

3.) In the meantime, make your peanut sauce. I used peanut sauce because it is creamy and delicious!

I added in some paprika to add in some spice and shelled hemp seeds to get my protein and essential amino acids!

4.) Add in cooked rice and add desired soy sauce. Mix in with the veggies!

Serve with peanut sauce!

This dish was the perfect mix to satisfy all of my cravings! It has vegetables in it that kept me grounded but also gave my palette a spicy kick with the soy sauce and paprika! The creamy texture of the sauce left me more that satisfied!

Tomorrow I start the Elimination Diet!

Stay tuned for my day to day updates :)