Happy Wednesday! I have been enjoying soaking in the sunshine each morning.
If I could live somewhere where it was sunny every day I’m pretty sure I would do it. You can’t beat daily sunshine early in the morning in my opinion! I am already mourning the fact that we are past the summer solstice. WHY must it get darker and darker in the morning from now on???
Lettuce get to some delicious eats from the past few weeks!
If you have been trying to diet for any length of time or experience any degree of disordered eating, you likely have a number of food rules that you follow, whether you are conscious of them or not. Creating food rules is an anxiety and fear-driven way to try and “manage” one’s eating. If you follow your food rules (however arbitrary they may be), you are doing “well'” with your eating and your anxiety is minimal. If you break any of the food rules, you “messed up,” ate “badly,” “cheated,” and/or experience guilt and anxiety.
Examples of food rules include the following:
Of course, it is helpful to have some structure to our eating. I generally eat at similar times each day and have other intuitive, broad patterns to my eating. I would consider this normal, and also helpful so that we are not constantly “starting from scratch” completely wondering how and what and when we are going to eat each day. In addition, some people follow certain “rules” for medical/health reasons that are not rooted in fear or anxiety – for example, a type 1 diabetic counting her carbs, or someone mindfully avoiding less sugar right before bed because she knows she is prone to not being able to sleep otherwise.
Happy Wednesday! How is your week going? I have been enjoying the sunshine, longer days, and getting outside early in the morning! 
Also, how is it already almost 4th of July weekend? The start of summer seems to be flying! We are headed to my grandparents’ for the weekend and will be enjoying the time on the water and time with family. And of course some delicious food! (Cherry pie and vanilla ice cream, anyone??)
Onto this week’s inspiration for some tasty eats!
This creamy, delectable chocolate strawberry smoothie will be sure to satisfy your tastebuds! Sweetened with dates and a touch of dark chocolate, this smoothie is a tasty and nutritious option for anytime of day!
A few weeks ago when I got my wisdom teeth out I knew I needed to add some some excitement to my smoothie game in order to not bore my tastebuds to death for a few days. When I was getting tired of the same old couple of smoothies, this heavenly chocolate strawberry smoothie was born. Who knew such goodness could come out of seemingly senseless but necessary wisdom teeth removal??? Praise to the unique situation of my oral surgery and power of my Vitamix for bringing this smoothie to life.
I most prefer to enjoy this smoothie at breakfast, but anytime of day will do! Is there ever an incorrect time to enjoy the excellent combination of chocolate and strawberry?
Hello everyone!
We recently went to northern Michigan for a wedding weekend which was a lot of fun! The weather and sunshine were amazing!
How has your summer been going?? (Any time post-Memorial Day is summer in my opinion!). I hope you have been able to get outside!
Also, in case you missed it, my services are now uploaded to my work with me page!
Onto the delicious eats!
Let’s go on a mini tour of Trader Joe’s together, shall we?? I have been an avid shopper at TJ’s for the last 10+ years – while they don’t have everything that I’m looking for (therefore I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Costco and sometimes other places as well), they do have certain products that I absolutely love and would be sad to live without! I thought I would share ten of my favorite Trader Joe’s products – keep in mind that while the post says “top 10,” there are really too many favorites to choose from!! Hopefully you will find a new favorite food item to enjoy from this list!
I was recently introduced to this amazing toscano cheese which quickly became a new favorite. I recommend pairing it with some fig and olive crisps or your other favorite TJ’s cracker of choice!
Hello everyone! How has your week been going?? We went camping in Mackinaw City over the weekend which was fun minus the black flies that were swarming all over near the water (apparently they arrived early this year a couple of days before we got there, causing us to miss out on our waterfront campsite! :/). We went hiking and enjoyed the views near the bridge. It was also a bit cold and felt more like fall!
We have all likely noticed from experience that when something we want or need is in short supply, or even perceived to be in short supply, we can become anxious or obsessive in our thinking about the thing that is limited (or perceived to be limited). This can apply to many areas of our lives, whether it is money, time, relationships, food, clothing, or other material items.
I know for me, I find myself struggling with this a lot in the area of time. I tend to too often live in this perpetual “emergency, fight-or-flight state” of feeling like I don’t have enough time, even though there is generally plenty of time to do the things that I want or at least need to do. When I feel like time is in short supply I end up feeling anxious and obsessive about time. This leads to unpleasant side effects like jam-packing my days, running through the day at too fast a pace, and a lack of margin, rest, and presence. When I was studying for my RD exam, I perceived and experienced such scarcity of time (whether that was self-induced or not is another question…) that even when I had a bit of time to rest on the weekends it was hard for me to fully rest and relax because I was anxiously and obsessively worrying about the lack of adequate time to rest!
This type of thinking is what can be thought of as a scarcity mindset. A scarcity mindset is when you are experiencing or perceiving a lack of something, leading to obsessive thinking about the thing that is limited (in actuality or in your perception). While time is one of the biggest ways I experience this now, I certainly used to experience this a lot with FOOD and still can from time to time (albeit in more normal and at times, unavoidable ways).
Happy Tuesday! It has been so nice finally having some sun this week after several weeks of cold, rainy, and cloudy weather – such a terrible start to spring! Although now it is supposed to get up into the 80s (at least in Michigan) this week which is a bit hot for May in my opinion!! Can we not just have a few weeks of 60s and low 70s?? But as long as it stays sunny that is most important weather-wise in my opinion! I have enjoyed getting outside in the morning and hopefully catching the sunrise while I am out running or walking. I am also enjoying having some more time for cooking and baking now that I am done with my internship and exam! Here are some tasty eats from the past couple weeks!
Very delicious key lime cheesecake that I made for Mother’s Day! I have never been the biggest fan of key lime pie, but key lime cheesecake was a whole other level!
So…I finished my dietetic internship and passed my RD exam! I’M SO HAPPY TO BE DONE STUDYING FOR MY TEST. And to finally be an RD!
I haven’t been posting on the blog for the past couple of months because life got so busy towards the end of my internship and with studying that I had to let some things go. I am excited to be back to posting regularly!
What’s next?? You may have noticed that there is now a “work with me” tab at the top of the blog, as I am going to be working on opening my private practice! Coming soon…
Libby Stenzel Nutrition will be focused primarily on helping others heal from eating disorders and disordered eating. I will see clients virtually at least to start (this will also always be an option), so location need not be a barrier! Be on the lookout for details regarding my services in the coming months.
In addition to working on the blog and business, I will be back working at Juicy Kitchen. Come see us for a delicious breakfast or lunch if you are in the Ann Arbor area!
That is all for now – looking forward to connecting more in the coming months!
