fruits and vegetables

Nearing the end

I’m nearing the end of the spring semester! I love looking back through my old posts and seeing the random pictures and things I had to say around the end of each semester. This post is no different. Humor me, my brain is tired.

lola

I’ve been giving Lola fruits and vegetables as snacks lately and she loves them. Like mother, like daughter.

felix

So, Felix has this habit of climbing on everything. Which reminds me of when Lily (my family’s other cat) was a kitten. I looked through some of my old posts and found these gems…

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Oh Lily!

Also, when I typed in “cat climbing” into my blog’s search box, it came up with this post, which included a picture of Jimmy climbing a tree. Haha. I had to share.

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Because I haven’t shared enough pictures of my pets, here’s another.

lilyandfelix

Well, this post hasn’t included food yet. It’s time.

wrap

My mom took me out to lunch on Friday (thanks mom!), and I ordered a delicious veggie wrap, along with an iced latte.

Then I drank my mom’s coffee. Then I bought a coffee. Then I had too much energy and cleaned the whole house. I think it was my mom’s master plan. She got me caffeinated because she knew I would clean.

This post is random enough, so I’m going to stop now. I have two recipes to share soon! One is for sweet cornbread (aka my favorite food, next to peanut butter) and the other is for a slow cooker chicken soup. Yum.

What are you up to this weekend? 

Eating seasonally + winter weight gain

What is eating seasonally? I would say that eating seasonally is eating what nature provides naturally each season and trying to buy locally. 

Buying locally grown fruits and vegetables is a great idea, but it’s even better if the foods are in season in your area. When you buy foods that are locally in season, your money typically goes directly to the farmer, you get rid of environmental damage (from shipping foods around the world), and you get to enjoy fresh non-processed fruits and vegetables.

Better yet, the food you buy will taste amazing because it is grown in season!

Here is a great website that you can go to and choose your state and the current month– it will tell you what vegetables are in season right now and local farmer’s markets that you can buy them at!

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My theory on winter weight gain

I have been thinking lately about how most people tend to gain weight in the winter and crave “comfort foods” that are starchy and have fats in them. I think it’s important that we listen to our bodies and honor our cravings in a proper way. I crave things like starchy soups, bread with peanut butter, eggs, and hearty meats in the winter.

My theory is that if I’m craving specific food groups like fats and carbohydrates in the winter, my body is probably telling me to eat these foods so that I can gain a few pounds of “padding” to protect me from the cold weather. 

As I have grown up the past few years I noticed that I have gained weight in the winter, but it is a welcome gain because I am able to play outside in the snow and not be shivering 24/7. Adding a little bit of extra body fat can be good-in my opinion.

When spring and summer come along, I am naturally more active because the weather is nice. I walk my dog more, I’m not sitting at a desk all day in school, and the weather is usually great for running + I have more daylight. As spring turns into summer, I notice that I naturally “shed” the winter weight (about 5 – 7 pounds) that protected me from extreme cold just a few months ago.

I guess I’m not getting at a specific point, I’m just sharing my thoughts 🙂

What do you think? Do you eat seasonally and/or do you gain weight in the winter?