Life Boost with Amelia

Episode 25: Finding Joy In The Little Things: CGMs, CSAs, Yoga, and Impromptu Date Nights

April 19, 2022 Amelia Knight Pinkston Season 1 Episode 25
Life Boost with Amelia
Episode 25: Finding Joy In The Little Things: CGMs, CSAs, Yoga, and Impromptu Date Nights
Show Notes Transcript

I was feeling hyper this morning, so I share some of the little things that have been bringing me joy lately. I talk about the continuous glucose monitoring, CSAs and how to start getting excited about veggies, unintimidating ways to get into yoga, and impromptu date nights.

To find if there's a CSA near you visit www.localharvest.org.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn

Learn more about how I can help you here! Make sure to join the free One Life Boost Challenge and to get my Life Boost Troubleshoot guide!
I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Music: “Play Thing” by Ketsa
From Free Music Archive


Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Hey life booster. This is Dr. Amelia health coach and veterinarian here to help you ditch yo-yo dieting and people pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within. Right. I wanted to say good morning, cause I always forget that you're not listening to this. In real time. But I just needed to hop on this podcast because I am in a very good mood and I'm feeling hyper. I was going to hop onto Instagram stories because that's where I chat a lot. So if you're not on Instagram or if you're not following me, um, come follow me because I like to chat there about random things. All this. But I realized that I have too many things to say, so hello podcasts, thank goodness for this. So one of the reasons that I am excited is because it is Saturday morning and I have a fun day ahead and there are just some things that I'm doing right now that make me pretty. So also one reason that I might be in a really good mood is that I had a bad dream. Last night, I was wrongly accused of some crime. I don't know what it was. And I was sentenced to a life in prison and I was devastated. You know, I have some plans for my life that don't involve being in prison. So I. Yeah, I was mourning the life that I was dreaming of. Um, kind of deep, I guess. I don't know what the meaning of that is. Other than we were watching the show bull last night, where people are it's about, I think they call it trial science, maybe. Um, Which I think is like, sort of made up, but like sort of a thing anyways. it was about, trials and stuff. So I think that that's why I had it on my mind, but if you want a good perspective and to be in a good mood, then think that you're going to go to prison for life and then wake up and realize that that's not true. And then you'll probably be in a pretty. Perspective. The other reasons that I am in a good mood, I have my continuous glucose monitor my freestyle Libris that? I started. Yesterday. And if you don't know what that is, it is a cool little sensor that just attaches right to your arm. It's not painful at all. And all you do is hold your phone up, close to it. And it tells you what your blood sugar is, and it tracks your blood sugar throughout the entire day so that you can learn exactly what your body is doing and how it responds to different foods. That's such a powerful tool because two people can respond very differently to something like a sweet potato. So sometimes there can be really nourishing carbs that. Don't work for your body at this point in time, for example, beans and lagoons can be so great for gut health and they're thought to be kind of carby, but they also have so much fiber and protein, and that can be hugely helpful for satiety and stable blood sugar. But for people with insulin resistance or just, if you are a little bit more sensitive, possibly if you have high stress, not having a lot of sleep, like all those factors really influenced your blood sugar. And so it could be that those do cause a big spike and that's really valuable for you to know. The really cool thing is you're able to see how, like taking a walk after a meal could influence your blood sugar. You know, if you have dinner and go for a walk versus you have dinner and sit at the couch, you're likely to have a much lower blood sugar spike. When you go for a walk afterwards or even kind of the order that you are eating. Foods or the way that you're building your meals, all of that influences the way that you respond to certain things. And it's very hard to know unless you are. The numbers and learning. So I love that tool. And right now I'm doing it because it is great just for me to have that information for myself. And then it's also something that I'm going to be sharing some information and showing some examples so that others can learn as well. This podcast episode, isn't supposed to be about that. I'll probably talk another time about it in more detail, but. It is Saturday. And the other thing that I am really excited for is that I just filled out my CSA application and I am going to sign up today and it starts in April. So I don't, I'm not sure if it starts this week, but any week now it's going to start. And it's one of the things that just bring up. Brings me so much joy for a number of reasons. So if you aren't familiar with a CSA that stands for customer supported agriculture, it's a program that I believe in so much. Again, if you haven't heard my money mindset. Podcast episode. I encourage you to listen to that. So you can have a little bit of an idea of how my money mindset has morphed and how I really believe in using my money to support things that I believe in, and that are consistent with my goals and beliefs and the things that I want to support and love. At the same time, I do like to be smart with my money. And this is a perfect blend of both of those things. So a customer supported agriculture is basically a program where you become a shareholder for a farm and you support a farmer at the beginning of the season and in return every single week or whatever the agreement is, you get a share of the crops that they produced that week now by investing at the beginning of the season, you are. Um, agreeing to kind of support them throughout the season, regardless of what happens. So that means that you are sharing in the risk of farming. If there is insect damage or crop failure or a drought, then there's a potential that there isn't going to be a great crop yield and you are joining in that. However, there's also the potential that it could be a really incredible crop year. And the amount that you pay generally is a very reasonable. So I'll tell you with the one that I am doing, um, it's organic, which I absolutely love. They have a huge variety of different. Plants that they grow. So mainly vegetables, like definitely getting over 30, so, so great for plant diversity. As you know, I, the recommendation is to have more than 30 plants per week, different ones in order to really be supporting a great. Diversity of good gut microbes that you want. And they definitely have that. So there, they also do have some fruit and then also like whole wheat flour and corn meal and grits. So really cool. And every week it's you get what is in season. And so you're getting local, organic. Completely fresh vegetables straight from the farmer every single week. That is awesome because the thing is it's just mind blowing. When you go to the grocery store, the vegetables and fruit that you get, maybe dreamily old. So like an apple could be. Several months old and may have just been kept in this like storage unit. And so when that happens, it's not going to have the same level of nutrients that it may have if it was just purchased it. And then, you know, if you picked it off the tree, So that is something to keep in mind. I locally eating local is great for so many reasons. So it's more fresh, again, the environmental impact of not having to store it and ship it is really valuable. And you're likely getting a really higher nutrient content. Speaking of nutrients. And the amount, a lot of the times I find that people are surprised that frozen vegetables are a healthy option. I think. You know, there's a thought that, when you think of frozen foods, that doesn't necessarily mean good quality. However, if you're getting a frozen, organic broccoli or even frozen fish, that can be a really awesome option because it's typically. Flash frozen, like right after picking. So a lot of the times that ends up being more fresh than those fresh fish or fresh produce that you're getting at the grocery store. That's something to keep in mind because frozen vegetables can be such a great hack for throwing together really quick, easy meals. And sometimes people think that that's maybe not as ideal or not as healthy, but it's absolutely an awesome option. So keep that in mind. Another interesting thing, as far as podcasts, I guess, is going to be a little bit all over the place. The way that you prepare vegetables can influence like the amount of nutrients that your body absorbs. So sometimes chopping helps to release that, in some cases, so with. I think it's both onions and garlic, if you chop it. And then if you wait about five minutes, I want to say, before eating it or preparing it, that helps to release more. This is just on the fly. So I don't remember if it's like the enzymes are or exactly what is released, but you get, more nutrients just by pausing and chopping and waiting just a little bit. I believe that happens with broccoli too. So vegetables are so cool. Get excited about them, please. I just want you to be as enthusiastic about vegetables as I am, because it's just a really exciting world. It's a delicious world. They make you feel so good. And they're just so many ways to prepare it. So start, start dating vegetables. Okay. So you get can get to know them and soon you will fall in love with. So, yes, I am feeling so excited about my CSA. One of the things I love the most is getting to support my local farmers. And a cool thing is when I go to pick up the vegetables, I get to talk to them. I get to find out how their week was. It was like on the farm and they are such an amazing resource for ideas on how to prepare the different vegetables and fruit. And it just makes me feel a little bit more part of my community. I love supporting them and it ends up being a great deal. I think I started talking about this and whoa got sidetracked because vegetables just make me so, so excited. Um, but price wise. For this one, I can either do a half share or, or, um, 14 weeks or 28 weeks. And I obviously want 28 weeks because I want this for as long as possible. And. I am doing a half share because it's just Matt Nye. So, um, but you can do a full share, which would be for like a full family. Um, and so for 28 weeks for the entire thing, it is$875. And the way it works for me is I am agreeing now that I will pay that regardless of what the season is like, but I pay it. Uh, 25% increments. And so it ends up being about$31 per week. And I can tell you right now, the amount of vegetables and produce that I got last time that I did, this was insane. It was, there were so many vegetables. It's an incredible deal, especially for fresh local, organic. Produce. That's amazing. And so that's something that I love that there's this option. That is completely affordable so that so many people can get so many nutrients and veggies in a very affordable Y no, I can tell you definitely like in comparison to the M what that would cost with doing like misfit, which I use, um, it's a much, much better. If you are in the Charlotte area, the CSA that I use is Coldwater Creek farms. They are wonderful, wonderful people. Love them. And so if this sounds interesting to you, you can search to see if there are CSCs in your area. There's a website called local harvest.org, and you're able to put in your address and you can see what's available in your area. So I highly recommend that. It's just a really cool thing and it's making me so excited. The other thing that makes me excited is I just have a fun weekend. I am making sure not to do any work. I guess you could call podcasts. Work, but I love it. It brings me joy. So it's selfish that I'm doing this because I am just in a hyper chatty mood. And so I wanted to share things that I'm loving. I should share that with you. I also found out that, so I'll be sorry. For the CSA at my local farmer's market, I found out that they are doing outdoor yoga before the market, like holy cow, if you just want to have the, all the things that I love have outdoor yoga before a farmer's market, Miami and holy cow, I used to love that is one of the ways that I got into yoga. So first I started just following YouTube videos and the safety and comfort of my own home, where nobody could judge my yoga skills. And then in Charlotte, there were so many breweries that were offering outdoor. You. Or you'll get in the brewery. And so that was what I started to do because that felt so much more locate and safe than going into a yoga studio, which was really intimidating. And it was very inexpensive. A lot of the times it was like$5 and you could do yoga and then get a beer. And at that point I would, I drank more, a lot more frequently than I do now. That's a topic for another day. So. I used to do that outdoor yoga all the time. And there's just something about just being around other people in a community, being outside, stretching, doing yoga. That just feels really awesome. If you are interested in getting into yoga, but you're intimidated to go into yoga studio. I highly recommend checking out if there are. Breweries or, or farmer's markets or anywhere where there's outdoor yoga for just a cool way to, to get started in a very non-judgemental way. I will tell you that yoga studios are one of the most welcoming places and. Please don't ever feel intimidated. The whole concept behind yoga is just showing up on your mat and seeing what your body feels like. It needs that day. So it is so not about perfection. If you just want to be on the mat in child's pose the whole time. You do you there, you don't have to do what the instructor is saying. The whole point of yoga is to just listen to your body. So know that even if you are intimidated to go into a yoga studio, um, it's a very welcoming place regardless of your level and what you feel like you can do. So that has me very excited there. I'm not 100% positive that I'm going to do the yoga class this morning, because number one, it is supposed to rain this morning, which isn't super conducive. I think it's the rain is going to hold off until after the other thing that makes me a little wishy-washy is it's going to be about 50 degrees and. I'm all about being outside and active, but yoga isn't, you know, the most, like I don't get very sweaty when I do it. And so 50 feet, 50 degrees is a little bit of a cutoff in terms of how much joy will get, and it's going to be about 70 degrees later. So I potentially could do yoga on my own outside later today. So to be determined, I have like an hour and a half to decide. We'll see what. Um, and then I am going to get together with a friend for coffee, and I'm just really excited to have a low key day. Last night, this week has just been a busy week for both Matt and I and randomly around like four o'clock. I sent a text because he wasn't home. That time just being like, do you want to just go out on a date? Like maybe we should go out and get some beer. get, um, go out to a cute local place that we like for dinner and he was all in. So that was fun. We picked up Woodford from daycare. Um, he just loves daycare so much and it makes me so happy to see that Woodward is my dog. You don't listen. We have two dogs, Jamison, who is a sweet pit bull. He is 11 and then Woodford, who is a one-year-old Frenchie. And, um, they cohabitate, but it's not the completely loving relationship that we hoped for. So Woodford gets to go socialize and play because he is. The extroverted member of the family. Um, and then Jamison gets to just have a quiet day with us and it's just the perfect, um, perfect option because Jamison doesn't ever like to leave his home bubble. So we re we respect that he has separation anxiety, so Forman. So a lot that we do to help with that. But, yeah, so we picked up Woodford. He loves to go anywhere. And then we were hoping to go to a brewery where typically I get kombucha or something like that these days, their outdoor seating was closed. So then we went to a cute little, little dinner place and. Got beer and kombucha there and a very delicious salad. And then we went for a little walk after around a local park, which was just so lovely. So. I hope that whatever day it is that you're listening to this, that you are feeling excited about some little things in life. Definitely check out local harvest.org and see if there is a cool CSA near you. This is the time of year to really be embracing that local delicious, fresh seasonal produce. Get excited about veggies. See if there's a cool place to do some yoga. If you're interested in continuous glucose monitors, you just let me know. And if you enjoy my podcast, please share this with someone that you love so that we can continue to encourage kindness both towards yourself. Others cheers to your inevitable health, happiness and success.