Walking the Walk (Or Amen. I made it to June.)

Sarcasm alert.

I love it when I’m given the opportunity to walk the walk.

I mean, here I am, always preaching about the importance of taking care of yourself-putting your personal health at the forefront of your life, and all that jazz.  Blog post after blog post, I tell all who dare to read, that good health depends not only upon eating healthy foods and exercising in moderation, but managing life stresses as well.

For the most part, I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good at dealing with stress. I mean, I’m almost 48. If I haven’t learned anything up until this point, well…

Clearly, I believe there is a correlation between eating nutritious foods and health.

I understand that moderate exercise is a great stress reliever (although at times, I struggle with the exercising in moderation thing).

I pray. And a lot of times, this helps me let go of the things I can’t control (and yes, I DO realize that pretty much covers everything). I realize it’s better to let God do his thing. He seems to have a better idea of what I actually need and what’s best for me.

So yes. I get it.

I know that stress is a part of life. That’s normal. That’s living. 

But I have to tell you, I am going to be more than just a little bit happy to turn the calendar to June. Because May has been a tad bit stressful.

May is a crazy time of year for teachers: EP’s (Effectiveness Plans), SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives), PPG’s (Professional Practice Goal’s), Badger Testing (Wisconsin’s version of the latest standardized test), report cards, book clubs, poetry anthologies. 

It’s also a crazy time of year for moms with college age children: my oldest graduated, we moved both girls back to Wisconsin from New York, my son qualified for NCAA nationals (held in New York)…

My niece got married in Georgia the weekend after we got home from New York (which also happened to be the same weekend of NCAA’s).

The whole fam damily…

My beautiful children, who I guess aren’t really children anymore…(sniff, sniff…)

My honey and me…

My son moved all of his stuff back from St. Paul…(This is in addition to all of the girls’ bins that are still lying around the house and garage…yep…not easy for someone who thrives on organization and neatness…I’m holding it together surprisingly well.)

Plus, we inherited a dog. I’ve never had a dog before! A rather sad story… Quinn was my son’s girlfriend’s family’s dog. Both of her parents passed away recently…so we took Quinn!

Yep…just a little bit of stress in my life. But I must say, for the most part, I handled it quite well. (We’ll forget about the day I had a melt down…saved it for my honey…what a guy. Have I mentioned that I’m a very lucky woman?)

At any rate, these Vega One shakes have come in handy this month. Anytime I feel like I’m not eating as well as I should be, I make one of these delicious shakes! I’ve never been a big believer of supplements, but when Robyn Coale of The Real Life RD recommends something, I listen!

French vanilla is my fave!!

Normally an ingredient list this long would concern me, but this is all good stuff!

I simply throw some almond milk in a blender cup, and add the Vega One, and give it a whirl in the blender.

Then I add some frozen kale…

and frozen bananas!

Blend some more, and suddenly breakfast is served! Or lunch. Or even supper.

Vega One Shake ala Karen

serves one

1/2 -3/4 c. nut milk

1 scoop Vegan One

one handful frozen kale

1 -2 frozen bananas

Blend milk and Vega One. Add kale and bananas. Blend until smooth. Add more milk if a thinner shake is desired. Add more bananas if a thicker shake is desired.