Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein No Bake Energy Balls

Tags

Cooking, Food, Health

How’s that for a title that is bigger than the food itself? About two weeks ago I posted my first energy ball recipe (a Peanut Butter Cup recipe– it’s delicious!), and this is just a fun variation of that one. Again, no need to exactly measure out these quantities- I just eye ball them (but I’ll give you a rough estimate for each of the amounts).

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry oatmeal
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey (plus about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/5-2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1/4-1/3 cup chocolate protein powder

I tossed everything into the bowl all at once and mixed it thoroughly together, and then put the bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. When I took it out, I just rolled the dough into individual balls.

Delicious looking, right? For all of you flower folks out there- that’s a verbena in the pot behind the ball.

It’s SO easy, and really only requires 1 bowl and 1 spoon to be washed at the end. You can’t get better than that, can you? I’ve already come up with another 4-5 different flavors of these balls to make, and can’t wait to try them out. I’ll be sharing them all with you as I make them!

So seriously- make these as soon as you possible can! They’re worth it! For more recipes, click here.

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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POTS and Vision {How I Make Tiny Adjustments to Live With POTS}

Tags

Health, POTS

I was talking to my parents a few weeks ago about how most everyone in my life has no idea about all the tiny things I have to do each day to manage my POTS symptoms. To be honest, I haven’t even shared much with them. However, I was talking about the issue with my vision in regards to POTS, and they were really surprised I do this one thing every day to help deal with my symptoms. I thought I’d share here too:

As I’ve said before, with POTS I get really dizzy upon standing up, sometimes almost to the point of passing out (when I first got diagnosed, before I was on my beta-blocker, I actually did pass out a few times). With dizziness and passing out comes loss of vision. I’m sure many of you reading this who don’t have POTS have experienced some loss of vision (or at least seeing black dots) when you stand up. This is a similar experience to POTS, except with POTS it can be much worse. There are times where my world is completely black for 15-20 seconds or more, and at first this was really scary and overwhelming for me to deal with.

When I stand up, sometimes I’m completely fine, but other times I lose complete vision. At this point I have two choices- stand in one place until my vision comes back, or continue to walk forward and wait for it to come back that way. When I stand up in my office with clients, I can’t very well stand in one place, so the walking to the door option is what I take. So this is how I’ve learned to manage it- before I stand up, I look at my surroundings. If it’s in my living room or office, I know how many steps I need to take to get different places. I look for things I might have put on the ground (shoes, books, etc…) so I can avoid them.

When I stand up and my vision goes, I can continue to walk forward despite the fact that all I can see is black. I don’t think my clients have ever noticed that at times I can’t see them start to leave my office. Usually by the time I get to the door and start to open it my vision is back, and I smile as they are on their way. As I said, this certainly doesn’t happen every time I stand up, but does definitely happen from time to time.

That’s the thing when it comes to any long term diagnosis or illness- it’s about normalizing what is going on within us and then learning to manage it as best as we can. This is something I’ve done so much that I don’t even think about it much anymore, which is nice. But when we have to do these little things to manage our illnesses, it takes energy. If you’re a friend or family member with someone with an illness, have a little extra patience with them. It’s likely that they are constantly using energy to manage themselves in small ways so they can remain functional and live a full life!

I wanted to share this for a few reasons- First of all, no one told me that this brief vision loss was part of POTS, and it freaked me out at first. I hope that this might serve to encourage some of you who have POTS. Secondly, this is meant to give a little insight to family and friends about what your loved one deals with on a regular basis (in multiple ways- it may not even include vision loss).

For other posts in my POTS series, click here.

* I am not a doctor, and these posts should not be taken as expert medical advice. I’m simply someone who has lived many years with POTS and has found resources around the internet that help to explain this syndrome. I’m just sharing my personal story. Please contact a doctor if you have questions about POTS or think you might have it. 

Training Changes I’m Making

Tags

Exercise, Health, Training

There are a few changes in training that I’ve made since late 2013/early 2014 that I think are making a huge difference in my training and races. Because they’ve become a big part of my training, I thought I’d write about them:

• Regularly taking fish oil. I take a fish oil capsule (I’m not sure I could stomach it in liquid form) 3-4 times a week in the morning.
• Magnesium supplement. I take this probably two mornings a week just to bump up my magnesium intake just a bit. You want to be careful about this and talk to your doctor first, as too much magnesium can cause kidney problems.
• Specific calf stretches. I thought that this was playing into my cramping issues on longer training runs and in races, so I specifically did a few stretches for my calf muscles every single day (probably 5-7 minutes worth). I can tell a difference even when I walk around because of this.
• Salt packets before the race and in the middle of training runs. Salt is the name of my game! I took a salt packet before any longer training runs and in the middle of each training run. On race day I took a salt packet before and had six margarita flavored shot bloks during the race (this flavor has extra sodium!). This also leads to more drinking, which is excellent for hydration (and just to clarify- more drinking means water or gatorade 😀 )
• Wrapping my ankle with an ace bandage after each long run and after barre workouts. I did this some in the fall, but I was really dedicated to this during this past training cycle. I definitely didn’t want that tendinitis to flare back up again.

Other things I stayed committed to that I started doing last year:

• Ice baths and regular icing each week
• Foam rolling and using the stick
• Stretching after every single workout
• Planks and weight lifting- we need strong muscles all over to run well!
• Compression during and after long runs

And of course, these are helpful too- How I Stay Proactive in Trying To Avoid Injuries

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s something different that you’re doing in training right now?

Want to connect further?

• Find me on twitter @kalolainastar
• Follow me on ‘Bloglovin

Disclaimer: As always, I am simply sharing what I am personally doing in my training. This post shouldn’t be taken as professional advice. Talk to your doctor and/or a trainer before starting any exercise program, or if you are struggling with injury.

 

Setting Yourself Up For Success

Tags

Behavior Change, Health, Mental Health

With behavior change, there are plenty of “action steps” to take before actually changing your behavior. The first step in this process is to track your behavior and get to know it (because you can’t really change what you don’t know!). Once you get to know your behavior better, you know how to better set yourself up for success.

Here’s an example: When I first started working out, I realized that if I sat down on my couch after work, it was all over for me, and I was almost 100% going to not work out. Because I tracked my behavior and realized what was going on as I wasn’t working out, I was able to create effective steps to help set myself up for success. Here are some of the different options I came up with: I would change into my workout clothes before I even left the office (getting into workout clothes is half the battle!), I would bring workout clothes to work and workout either at my work gym or go on a walk or run in the neighborhoods around work, or I would lay out workout clothes on my couch so I’d have to pick them up before sitting on the couch (win- they were already in my hand then!).

How we plan to set ourselves up for success can be hugely important in attaining the goals that we want.

Here’s another example: My dad has said over and over again that he doesn’t register thirst until he’s already pretty dehydrated (like headache-y dehydrated), but he felt stuck because he wouldn’t remember. Well, I’m a fan of not being a victim to the circumstances we find ourselves in, and I like proactive steps. So, I set a reoccurring alarm in his phone for 2 pm every day that told him to go drink water. Every day it went over, and he told me by about a month or two in he started to feel thirsty on his own right around 1 or 1:30 just because his body had been trained to want water at this time. Cool, huh? What an easy way to deal with the issue of not remembering to drink some water!

I set myself up for success by stocking my snack drawer at work with good foods, by trying to be proactive in dealing with injuries, by practicing gratitude, and by changing my language to healthier phrases and words. I do meal prep on sundays so that I have meals ready to go after I work out! Pre-cut veggies are there for easy, go to snacks.

As you work on behavior changes, I challenge you think about what you need to do to set yourself up for the best chances of success! What can you do to try to take away or decrease the excuses or plan ahead in being proactive? What mental health choices do you need to make to help impact you in other areas of health?

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have any little tools or tricks for setting yourself up for success in terms of health behaviors? What’s a time you’ve been successful at setting yourself up for success in the past? 

Staying Healthy On Vacation

Tags

Health, Travel

‘Tis the season for spring break trips, and quickly leading up to all sorts of summer vacations! Staying healthy while on vacation is something that can weigh heavily on peoples’ minds, so I thought I’d write a quick post sharing a few of the tips I use to stay healthy:

1. Walk around to people watch and explore! When I’m at the beach in Marco Island, I end up walking around 4 miles a day. I could just sit on the beach, but I get a little bit of exercise AND get to see all sorts of odd people on the beach! It’s so fun! Walking is also a great way to explore a new city!
2. Pack some healthy snacks. When I travel, I tend to bring a number of healthy snacks with me to carry in a back pack so I’m not stuck in a pinch and hungry. Of course I’ll eat local desserts, but I try to balance it with some healthy things too! Protein bars, nuts, and dried fruit are staples that I bring with me while traveling.
3. Bring a resistance band or workout DVD to use in the hotel/condo/house that you’re at! A resistance band takes almost no space but you can use it to get a little workout in if needed. DVDs are also great, or you can find workout clips on youtube!
4. Bring something fun to read! Vacation can be a great time to catch up on that book you’ve wanted to read but haven’t had time for! I tend to stock pile magazines for the 2-3 months before a beach vacation so I’ll have lots of fun reading material for the plane and the hours of sunshine!
5. Don’t be afraid to mix up your normal routine! Again, when I’m in Florida, it’s just too hot to do much in the way of running (for me at least!). To get in a few “running” workouts, I do pool running 1-2 times a week! It’s a great cardio workout, and you can do it while still spending time with friends or family in the pool! I also love hiking (if I’m somewhere where that can be done), or kayaking in Florida. Don’t be afraid to mix up your normal routine and plan and try something fun and different!
6. Stay hydrated. It’s really easy while on vacation (and out of our normal routines) to forget to drink as much as we need to. This can lead to feeling groggy, tired, and head-achy, which is exactly what we don’t want to happen on vacation! Set alarms throughout the day if you need to to remind yourself to get enough to drink!
7. JUST RELAX and be flexible! Understand that one week isn’t going to “ruin” anything, so be careful to not catastrophize. If you gain a pound or two because you really want to enjoy local pastries (that was me in Spain last year!)- oh well, the world isn’t going to end! If all you do on vacation is walk from place to place and you can’t get in any other workouts for the week- well, that’s ok, just start up again when you get home! Stressing about not being “healthy” will only lead to a bigger lack of health. Sometimes having fun, enjoying the moment, and not stressing about it is what’s the most healthy in the moment! Vacations ideally are more relaxing and stress free, so don’t stress yourself out by all the “shoulds” you give yourself.

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one way you try to stay healthy while on vacation? 

Thriving In The Winter {and steps to stay healthy}

Tags

Health, Mental Health, Winter

Whew- this weather is pretty nasty right now. I’m about two cold days away from looking for flights to the closest warm place I can find 🙂 Seriously though, winter presents its own set of safety hazards, physically and emotionally. Here are some of my tips for staying healthy and safe with the potential situations that may arise with the crazy winter weather and storms we’re having:

1. Keep stocked up on foods that are edible if the power goes out for a few days. At least some foods could be stored outside in the power to the refrigerator or freezer went out, but that doesn’t help with cooking. Fruits, protein bars, cans of food, bread, peanut butter, etc.. are great for a few days if needed.
2. Keep stocked up on batteries and candles in case you’re left powerless for a day or two! Anytime my lights start flickering a bit due to wind or a storm I light a candle so I could see other things if needed.
3. DO NOT leave the house without enough clothing where you would be safe and comfortable if you had to sit on the side of the road for a few hours. When I go to work, I wear wool socks, boots, and sweatpants, and bring my nice shoes and dress pants or skirt into my office to change. Being outside without a hat might lead to incredibly bad frostbite that you’ll have to deal with for life. Be smart, and bring appropriate items with you. *****Another piece of important information: If you live far enough away from work that the snow could potentially keep you from getting home, make sure to keep 1-2 days worth of your medication in your purse or work bag. That way, if you are stranded somewhere, you won’t be in a potentially dangerous or uncomfortable situation.
4. To go along with the third point: make up a car kit. This would include things like those hand warmers you can buy and use in a pinch, hat, gloves, scarf, flashlight, blanket, some snack foods, and a shovel. This way you’re set incase you breakdown on the side of the road.
5. If you’re using a space heater, make sure and double check that it’s off before going to bed or leaving your place. It’s easy to forget about, and could start your place on fire if you leave it going.
6. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing, and I expect to see an increase of it in my office over the next month. Check out my tips for dealing with seasonal affective disorder.
7. Be smart about working out. Moving is good, but not when it puts you in an unsafe situation. There’s no need to HAVE to get a workout in, leading you to falling and breaking something on the ice. Find some at home workouts to do if you really need to move.
8. If the power goes out or it’s especially cold out, make sure to open up the cupboards in the kitchen and bathrooms to ensure that your pipes don’t freeze. The last thing you want to be dealing with on top of nasty weather is having burst pipes. Yikes.
9. Stay hydrated! In the winter it’s easy to forget to drink (unlike the summer when we’re desperate for something to cool off with!). If you need to, set an alarm on your phone every few hours to remind yourselves to drink. Again, you don’t want to be dehydrated if you get stuck out for longer than you were planning to.
10. Try to stay mentally on top of your thoughts and thought patterns.  Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in patterns of black and white thinking or catastrophizing because we are so unhappy by the weather around us (or feeling like we can’t do what we want because we’re stuck at home). Try to work on healthy thought patterns using the thought record or the REBT self help form.

Those are a few of the tips that I have for staying safe and healthy throughout the winter. Obviously these aren’t the only things I do to stay healthy, but are things I think are important.

Now it’s your turn to share! What are your best winter survival tips? 

From Crisis To A Reminder

Tags

Biking, Health, Mental Health, Self Care

I had a good reminder about exercise on Monday. I had dealt with a 3 hour crisis at work, followed by a few more hours of work without a break. I was so completely focused on handling the situation that at 4:30 pm I realized that I hadn’t had anything to drink since 9:30 that morning- yikes! I had been planning on biking when I got home from work (using my new bike trainer!), but after the crisis I was pretty wiped out.

That’s the thing with adrenaline inducing events. It allows you to focus in the moment, but leaves you pretty drained and tired afterwards. I had about an hour of thinking that I wasn’t going to bike because what I really wanted to do was sit on my couch and eat a warm bowl of soup (I did that later on in the evening anyways).

Instead, when I got home, I made a decision based on what I cognitively knew was healthy, not based on what I really felt that I wanted in the moment. After 40 minutes of spinning my extra energy out, I felt much better. I was able to relax the rest of the evening and I slept pretty well. I don’t think I’d have been nearly relaxed without spinning it out.

It was a good reminder to me how much our mental and physical health is connected. There are plenty of things in our life that happen that make us want to sit instead of exercise at the end of the day. While sometimes that definitely is the right call, for me the decision to bike even though I didn’t feel like it at the moment was the best decision that I could’ve made.

Taking care of ourselves mentally means taking care of ourselves physically. I biked, took a shower, ate a warm bowl of soup, and watched a few episodes of NCIS… because really, what goes better with a mental health crisis than some murder? I mean- fake, scripted murder. Not real life.

Motto of the story- go ride a bike, or run, or do pilates, or swim- just move, even when you don’t necessarily feel like it. It’ll be good for you physically AND mentally.

Cultivating Gratitude {The Gratitude Journal}

Tags

Health, Thankful, Wellness

Thanksgiving is over, and now is the time that we tend to start getting overwhelmed with all of the stress and excitement of the Christmas season. After focusing on what we’re thankful for, it tends to get pushed aside as we tackle the shopping, to do lists, and parties. Not this year! This year I’m choosing to continue this practice of gratitude.

source

I’m choosing to incorporate gratitude daily into my life. The fact is that, no matter what unfortunate and painful events we have going on in life, there are SO many things to be thankful for in our life as well. Gratitude isn’t meant to negate the bad things that are going on (it’s important that we own our entire range of emotions and experiences in order to be a happy person and we don’t need to be fake about our reality), but gratitude balances our negative experiences. Gratitude allows us to recognize the blessings and the little things in our life, even though we have pain and struggles as well. It’s about keeping the good and the bad balanced so we stay healthy.

In that vain, I’m planning to start a gratitude journal. It’s something I’ve recommended to clients, and for those who have done it, it has been very helpful. Gratitude is like a muscle that we have to work out over and over so it becomes stronger. I’ve been focusing on building the muscle throughout the year, and have loved the results so far.

Once you’ve picked out a notebook or a journal specifically for gratitude, pick a number for the things you will list each day (i.e. “I will write 3 things I’m thankful for every day). Try not to repeat items.

Start with the things that are simple. “I’m thankful for fresh water, food, the grocery store, heat,etc…” Think about the things that you enjoy doing, and what you’re thankful for within those things “I’m thankful for feet to carry me through the miles that I run, I’m thankful for my bike pump that allows my tires to be filled, etc…”. Think about the people, situations, and experiences in life, and write about those as well.

The more we build up the muscle of gratitude and allows ourselves to sit in the experience of gratitude each day, the stronger we get and the easier it is to tap into those things we are thankful for throughout the day. You’ll be doing something that is healthy for yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

So who is with me? Are you ready to commit to a regular practice of cultivating gratitude in your life? 

 

How I Started Working Out with POTS

Tags

Exercise, Health, POTS, Running

This is another post in my series on Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.

Working out with POTS is interesting, and is completely different than exercising without it. Exercise is a critical component of the treatment of POTS, but while we’re asked to exercise, it’s pretty much the last thing that our bodies actually want to do. People with POTS are often labeled as “exercise intolerant”, as it’s difficult for the body to handle the stress that occurs when the body exercises. Exercise is helpful as it strengthens the leg muscles, a crucial aspect of treating pots. However, exercise also exacerbates symptoms afterwards, at least for a day or two.

So, you can see the problem. With POTS, it’s the best thing for you and the thing that is the most difficult to do. I wrote an entire post on “how POTS changed my exercise“, and that will give you some information about what changed for me. Picture someone with a resting heart rate of 120, dizzy regularly throughout the day, loses vision almost every time she stands up being told she needs to start working out. Crazy, right?

Starting to work out was a LONG and SLOW process for me, and one that I would never embark without talking to a physician. Here are some of the steps that I took in working out with pots:

1. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. Never start an exercise regimen without talking to your doctor first if you have POTS. With POTS there are so many variables that we have to do with, and it’s important to have a doctor be a part of your journey.
2. I got on a Beta Blocker. With my resting heart rate at 120, I could hardly start to move much without getting dizzy, with my heart pounding, and being very short of breath. Getting on a beta blocker allowed my resting heart rate to go down to about 80 beats a minute, which gave me a wider gap in which to workout in. However, a beta blocker also means that it’s not safe for me to run much faster than a 10:00 minute mile, so it comes with some constraints.
3. Start to walk… slowly. Over the course of about 4 months I started to walk more frequently and with more intensity. I picked up my pace through more days until I was walking around 20 miles a week (and felt good through most of them). This took some patience, lots of hours with friends laughing and talking, and a nutrition plan.
4. With POTS you need more salt and water than the average person, and it took a bit of time for me to figure out how that looked for me personally. I realized what I needed to do not only the day that I worked out, but also the day before I worked out.
5. I went on my first run, and collapsed in a yard close to passing out at mile 0.75. You can read all about that run here. It would’ve been really easy to quit here, but I was determined.
6. I came up with a new running plan, and started to do a “run/walk” pattern, slowly increasing my amount of run time and decreasing the amount of walk time. I started running for abut 20 seconds at a time, and then increased to 30-40 seconds, and kept increasing from there. You can read all about that progress here.
7. I found ways to cross train that would strengthen other leg muscles. Biking, swimming, and pilates were all part of this strategy.
8. There are things that I avoid. Running in the heat almost never turns out well, and if I do it, I very much limit my time/miles. Also- STAY AWAY FROM HOT YOGA. Or, as my doctor said “RUN AS FAR AWAY FROM HOT YOGA AS YOU CAN. IT’S TOO DANGEROUS FOR YOU.” Since heat further exacerbates symptoms of POTS, hot yoga can become too dangerous far too quickly for someone with POTS. If you do yoga, stick to normal temperatures.
9. I came up with a permanent walk run strategy by using the Galloway Method. Because I consistently walk for 1 minute after running for 3 minutes, I had a chance to regularly bring my heart rate down. This become highly important as I started racing, particularly during my half marathons.
10. BE PATIENT! Some days POTS symptoms are overwhelming, some days they are more manageable. Some days might be ideal schedule or weather wise to work out, but your body might just not be ale to do it that day; that’s ok- be patient. Build your strength slowly, and don’t try to push too hard or too fast. Building up a good base without POTS can be tough, but building it up with POTS takes far more work. Be patient with yourself.

Like I said above, this is just what I did. Everyone’s journey to working out while managing POTS looks different. The best you can do is avoid comparison, be patient with yourself, and move slowly as you start gradually exercising. Be smart, be wise, and enjoy what you can do!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this post shouldn’t be taken as advice on what you should do. I am simply sharing what I personally did as I started to work out after my POTS diagnosis. Always consult a doctor before beginning a workout regime. 

Giving Myself A Gift

Tags

Health, Wellness

My co-workers and I have recently been talking about taking the time each day to give ourselves a gift. These aren’t big gifts, but they’re little things that we can do for ourselves as we give so much of ourselves to others through our job.

In the last 5 days I’ve been in 5 different states. I’ve spent somewhere around 16 hours driving, flew 3 of the last 5 days, went to my brother’s pilot graduation, and gave a talk yesterday. It’s been a crazy last 5 days, and I’ve gotten very little sleep. I’ve been busy, and work the next 3 days is going to be long and busy as I try to squeeze in a few extra clients.

SO, because of that, I’m giving myself a gift. I’m going to give myself the gift of time. I’m bowing out of something that I had planned to do tonight through work, and that was going to take up my entire evening (until around 11 pm). I feel bad because it’s something I was looking forward to. However, I NEED the time, so I’m giving it to myself.

Tonight, I’m going to unpack, cook some real food, and go to bed at a reasonable time. I can’t wait.

As we give to others, we also need to give back to ourselves.

What little gift can you give yourself today?