Planted and Blooming

My brother Matt and I at the Saddle of Timpanogos Peak

 August was an incredible month!  I'm sorry for my lack of posting but we had some great things planned as a family.  I'm anxious to start posting some great recipes again...

This month we had the opportunity to go with our two oldest girls to Moab.  Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds an annual Girls Camp where all the girls, 12-18 in our ward (a specific area in our neighborhood) go for a 4 day camping trip.  This year we visited Moab, UT.  It is one of my new favorite places!  The red rock and amazing cliffs, are beyond beautiful!  We were able to visit Corona Arch as well as Delicate Arch (the arch featured on Utah's license plates).  We also were able to take a 6 hour river run down the Colorado River.  It was so much fun for Dan and I to spend some time with our girls.

Before this trip we contemplated how we would make it work eating a plant based diet.  We decided to pre make some granola bars (posting soon) and some granola for quick breakfasts.  We also brought along our own cooler with washed lettuce and apples/oranges.  We packed almonds and raisins as well as canned beans.  We brought bread and Adams Peanut Butter and honey for sandwiches.  Each day we would eat whatever fruits or veggies our ward provided.  We ate sandwiches for lunch and would excuse ourselves to eat a quick salad for dinner and then join our group.  I will say that Dan and I focus on eating a plant based diet, but sometimes it isn't always available to us!  We are not Vegan.  We love foods that are plant based, but we can't maintain the title of Vegan (eating NO meat or dairy at all).  Sometimes eating a little meat or dairy is unavoidable.  We found this to be true as some of our lettuce went bad the last day and ate what meals were provided the last day we were at camp.  Many people ask questions and I'm sure think we are completely weird and/or snobby about food, but that is NOT our intention.  We truly are finding an incredible treasure in eating this way and choose to maintain it.  We do not in any way judge or put down the way other choose to eat, because I truly believe there are many ways to maintain good health.  This is just the way we've chosen to eat and have found great happiness in doing so.

 Dan, Me, Hailey at Delicate Arch (above)

 Me at Corona Arch.

 Our Young Women's Group at Delicate Arch

 Hailey and I right before our river run.

Just recently we visited my Sister-In-Laws family cabin.   Every year my parents and 3 brothers and their families go on a camping trip.  This year we were excited and grateful to be able to go to the cabin where there is running water, flushable toilets and comfy beds!  It was so much fun!  I was able to go hiking up the back side of Timpanogos Mountain with my 3 brothers and my nephew.  It is a hike I truly LOVE!  It is about 14 miles round trip and extremely tough!  My 3 brothers are all in amazing shape, 2 of them eat plant based like me, making for fun conversation and lots of yummy dishes while at the cabin!  I always struggle to keep up with them and their endless energy.  I am so grateful that they include me in their hiking, as I hate hiking by myself.  It was a beautiful hike!!!  I have posted a few pictures of that hike.  As mentioned most of my family has switched over to eating plant based.  We had so much fun juicing and enjoying food while we were together!  My Mom made an amazing Vanilla Bean Frosting (found in the Forks Over Knives Cookbook) that we put on my Banana Bread.  We ate fresh salsa on crackers with cucumbers.  We had Carob Truffles, Tahini Casserole (made by my brother Matt), Veggie Lasagna, Taco's, Potato Curry and Naan.  We ate granola, and Oatmeal, fruit and spinach shakes for breakfast, huge salads with leftovers for lunches.  We had fresh peaches and yes, we even ate some junk food :)  It was so much fun spending time with my family!!!

I write this long post with the focus on one thing.  I have NEVER felt better!  I have NO struggles with eating food.  I don't feel guilty when I eat too much.  I don't feel guilty eating a little junk.  I feel relaxed and happy listening to my body.  I know when to stop eating because of how I feel.  I feel energized and so very happy!  I have never felt this way before.  I am so grateful to have found something that works for me.

About one week ago, my husband begged and pleaded for me to weigh myself.  I haven't weighed myself since February.  My focus has not been my weight but my health.  I want to listen to what my body tells me and my weight doesn't matter.  If you look at my very first post, you will notice that I make no reference to how much weight I've lost because I had no idea...until last week.  I gave in to peer pressure and got on the scale.  The number shocked me!  Was is really that easy to get there?  For years I have dieted and worked out hard to reach THE number on that scale only to have it vanish as I gave into cravings and battled my food addictions.  It is so HARD to lose weight until I decided to go plant based.  People often comment to me that I have amazing willpower.  This has NOTHING to do with willpower, for me.  Giving up meat and dairy (besides maybe cheese, ha ha!) was not hard to do.  I remember my cravings, I have the memory of them but I don't feel them like I did before I changed to a plant based way of life.  I am so excited about the number on that scale.  I don't think I'll weigh again, because I truly enjoyed not being shackled to that number.  For me, focusing on healing my body and mind is more vital than then number on that scale.  I feel amazing and hope that I can inspire others to research for themselves how to heal, lose weight, and have more energy by eating plants!  Thanks for reading!!

Now...back to posting!

 Sunrise on the Timp.

The view from the top of Timpanogos