Recipe: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas

My friend Kate shared her fabulous Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas recipe and it tasted so good I wanted to share it with all of you. It's packed full of smoky flavor and I love the contrast of the sweetness from the potatoes and creaminess from the beans. Mmmm! It's also packed with natural sources of fiber and plant-based antioxidants. Pair it with some roasted veggies for a delicious winter meal. Plus it makes great leftovers. Enjoy!

Enchilada Filling

#endED Chat Re-Cap with Rosie Molinary: Living with Intentional Wellness

Thank you to all that joined #EndED this Wednesday. We had a very inspiring, powerful conversation with writer Rosie Molinary, about kicking off our year in a way that deliberately embraces intentional wellness. If you missed the chat, you can catch some of the highlights below!

Q1. Are there rituals/exercises you start the year with in order to inspire you to joyfully, deliberately live well?

• @rosiemolinary this year, I had a vision board party with friends and it was really fun & allowed us to learn about each other
• RT @rosiemolinary: Here is a link to a post where I shared this years vision boards (1 personal &1 professional)http://t.co/7dllAGVy 
• @krjourno I chose to not make resolutions this year (that I wont keep!!) and focus instead on taking action towards being better!
• @marcird I did start a new ritual this year though. I tried to think of something I'm grateful for before dinner. Calming ritual

Q2. What is your vision for yourself this year?

• @jessicaclaytonm Cultivating a healthy body and mind as well as self-compassion.
• @marcird  Balance is always something I'm striving for too. It's a constant moving target. :)
• @rosiemolinary I wish to be wholehearted + deliberately healthy.
• @MarciRD  My vision (& hope) is to keep an open mind- open to new possibilities, points of view, opportunities for growth, friendships, etc
• @jekjessTo live in balance - eating, exercise, work, social... so far so good! #endED

Q3. What do you already want to celebrate about the way you are intentionally embracing wellness this year? 

• @MarciRD I have always been fortunate to have in extremely strong and supportive network of positive people around me
• @GirlEat I am blessed to have chosen a life partner that celebrates true beauty.
• @jessicaclaytonm I am focusing on balancing my social life, academic life, and "me time".
• @jekjess Been really mindful of my physical and emotional needs. Mindfulness has been hard for me but I've really been succeeding recently. 
• @MarciRD I make time for laughter. Laughing is one of my FAVORITE past times and makes me feel so so good. I try to do it daily. :)

Q4. Wellbeing encompasses physical, emotional, mental + spiritual health. How are you caring for yourself in these areas?

• @jekjess Physical - balancing exercise and rest days, nutritious foods and less nutritious foods 
• @MiltonStokes imagine picking up and then letting go of THE it standing in the way 
• @jekjess emotional - Making sure that my relationships with others are healthy, making sure that I have time for self-care
• @krjourno: One word - yoga!! 
• @NeedStrength A4 mental: Going back to counseling Physical: T'ai Chi and Self Defense classes
• @jekjess mental - working HARD in therapy! spiritual - exploring different approaches to my religion, and seeking guidance.

Q5. What ways do you still need support for your journey this year?

• @jessicaclaytonm I need to kick the lingering parts of my ED to the curb. I already trust my treatment team, but I need to learn to trust my body.
• @MiltonStokes  gotta remember to plan what I need
• @NeedStrength After I graduate from college I will no longer have my counseling center and I will need support in the transition
• @jekjess 5. I need emotional support, true friendships, and the occasional reality check when I get anxious! 

Q6. What wisdom can you share with all of us about embracing wellness and ending eatingdisorders? 

• @MarciRD  Support, support, support, support, support.
• @ElizabethEats  I'm all about eliminating guilt and sending your body lots of love on the path to wellness
• @rosiemolinary I like to remind myself that choice- choosing behaviors to best respond to what my body needs and most responds to- is medicine. 
• @MarciRD:  in order to recover and in order to find true wellness we have to ditch perfectionism.
• @jekjess: Your mind and your body can be your greatest allies. Treat them well. Be grateful. And dont be afraid to ask for help. 
• @GirlEat: Ive learned that when I love my body (trust, love, nutrition), it loves me back (health, happiness, strength).
• @NeedStrength Being kind to yourself and consciously caring for your mind and body go a long way
• RT @jessicaclaytonm: Listen to your heart and your support system, not the media.
• 
  

Save the date for February 22^nd! We'll be celebrating Eating Disorder Awareness Week with National Eating Disorder Association @NEDAStaff 

#endED Chat with Rosie Molinary- Embracing Intentional Wellness

 Help us ring in a body positive 2012 by participating in our #EndED twitter chat on Wednesday, January 25th. I'm honored that writer Rosie Molinary will be there to talk about kicking off our year in a way that deliberately embraces intentional wellness. If you're new to Twitter, here's a primer on how to participate. It's simple, go to www.tweetchat.com and enter the keyword "#endED" and it will appear as if you're in a chat room. Watch the tweets stream live and join in on the conversation. Be sure to follow @MarciRD and @RosieMolinary.

Here are the questions we'll be chatting about Wednesday evening, 8:30 EST

1. Are there rituals/exercises you start the year with in order to inspire you to joyfully, deliberately live well?

2. What is your vision for yourself this year?

3. What do you already want to celebrate about the way you are intentionally embracing wellness this year?

4. Wellbeing encompasses physical, emotional, mental + spiritual health. How are you caring for yourself in these areas?

5. What ways do you still need support for your journey this year?

6. What wisdom can you share with all of us about embracing wellness and ending ED?

Understanding Body Image: Part 2

 This post is part 2 of what will likely be a 5 part series on understanding bod image. My first post in the series can be found here. To reiterate, body image is actually really complex. The series is aimed to help you understand more completely what the phrase "body image" actually means in order to help you better understand your own concept of your body and the way you relate to it.

As I mentioned in my first post, body image issues are influenced and made made manifest in four areas: perception, cognition, affect, and behavior. Today we are going to explore what is meant by perception.

Perception can simply be defined as sensations or mental images of physical appearance and body size. Typically, people with poor body image have some common features related to perception that aggrevate body image issues:

1. Weak central coherence. This means you have a bias for "details of discontent" and tend to miss out on the big picture.

2. Focusing on the negative. When looking in the mirror, research shows individuals with EDs look at parts they dislike. In contrast, non-ED individuals with high body satisfaction look at parts they like.

3. Mental images may not be current, but rather based on stored memories.

Therapeutic Exercises

The cool thing is that over time perceptions can change. A couple of therapeutic exercises that help to shift perception include:

1. When you are looking in the mirror, try to pay attention to where your focus lands and how long it stays there. Can you look at your body as a whole or do you get overwhelmed by specific body parts?

2. Make a list of positive or even neutral body parts. Draw a body figure and color the parts you feel positive or neutral about.

3. Looking at photographs at previous weights/sizes compared to mentality at time of photos.

I hope this post on perception is useful. What shapes and informs your perceptual experience of your body image? 

Stay tuned for part 3, coming up!

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Product No Case: 100 calorie packs by Nabisco

 I periodically review products that I personally think are pretty crappy. Products that tout themselves as health food or diet food but don't do much more than set you up for overeating while providing no nutritional value. Do not get me wrong. I am totally a proponent of incorporating food into your diet that is simply for fun. I am the last to turn down dessert. But I can't stand all of the products that advertise as healthy options but leave you feeling unsatisfied and undernourished.

And this month's product no-case has been around a long time. In fact, I can't believe I haven't blogged about them yet! Yes, the dreaded 100 calorie pack by Nabisco. Here are a few reasons why I don't like them.

#1: They taste gross. If you like them and find them satisfying then go for it. But if you find yourself reaching for one bag...and then another....and then another, it's an indication that they aren't satisfying. You may want to consider another snack option.

#2: The 100 calorie frenzy. There is nothing magical about the number 100. It is a marketing gimmick. If you are using the 100 calorie packages as a snack, 100 calories of refined flour will hold you over for approximately 10 seconds. If you are looking for a snack that actually keeps you full and satisfied (rather than hungry and irritated) you'll need some protein and fat to add in the mix. For example: pretzels with PB, pita chips with hummus, you get the idea.

#3: For most people, it doesn't really teach portion control even though that's exactly what it's marketed for. I explain this in #s 1 and 2. But the bottom line is, if you are truly hungry for a snack, you will likely need more than one of those packs to do the job. If you reach for a 100 cal pack to "be good" then find yourself wanting more it becomes demoralizing and frustrating. 

So what do you think about the 100 calorie snack packs? Like them? Hate them? I want to hear about it!

Recipe: Stuffed Dates

One of my all time favorite restaurants, Upstairs on the Square, serves these incredible stuffed dates. They come out warm from the oven and taste absolutely heavenly. I LOVE dates. The sweet, chewy gooeyness is to die for if you ask me. I know they aren't super popular in the U.S. but give them a try! Since I can't march on over to Upstairs on the Square every time I'm having a stuffed date craving, I decided to make my own batch. And let me say, I impressed myself! They make a great party appetizer or fun/unique snack to shake things up a bit. The savory creamy cheese is a delightful match for the chewy sweetness of the date. Plus it's a nice balance of carbs (for energy) and fat/protein for satisfaction and staying power.

The recipe below is a blending of a couple of recipes I found online. If you Google "stuffed dates" you'll see there's a ton of options. So get creative!

Ingredients

24 (or so) Medjool Dates- you can get these at most grocery stores, slice in half and remove the pit

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees before you are serving. You'll want to heat just before serving them up. But they also keep well in the fridge. They can be eaten at any temperature, I just love them warm.

1. Slice the dates, but keep the halves intact on one side. You want to remove the pit but don't want two separate halves.

2. Mix the remaining ingredients until silky smooth.

3. Line the dates in a baking dish and fill with a couple tsps of the cheese mixture.

4. Heat in oven at 400 degrees for 2 min.

5. Eat up!

Do you have any unique and yummy snack ideas? Share with us!

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