Where I've Been and the Power of Gratitude

I just returned from an amazing solo trip to Laos and Cambodia (hence the reason I haven’t been posting lately). Traveling is one of my greatest passions; it truly feeds my soul.

Exploring foreign lands, especially developing countries, always gives me a wider perspective on life and deeper gratitude for all that I have, like clean water, hot showers and easy access to medical care. It also reminds me of how little one needs to be happy.

The Power of Gratitude
Like travel, the holidays also serve as a wonderful reminder to be grateful for all that’s good in our lives. However, the benefits of practicing gratitude year-round are endless from a stronger immune system, sounder sleep and reduced stress to increased energy, more rewarding relationships and greater life satisfaction.  

6 Simple Gratitude Practices
Here are six simple practices to help you cultivate a daily attitude of gratitude:

1. Keep a gratitude journal by recording five or so things big and small everyday that you’re grateful for.
   

2. Create a gratitude jar. Anytime you experience a poignant moment of gratitude, write it on a piece of paper and drop it in a jar. Once or twice a year, perhaps on your birthday and New Year’s Eve, empty the jar and review everything you wrote.
   

3. Write a gratitude letter to someone who has had a profound impact on your life expressing your appreciation for all the gifts she or he has given you.
   

4. Share the day’s grateful moments around the dinner table. Doing so will surely lead to some heart-warming, memorable conversations.
   

5. When you tuck your kiddo into bed or snuggle up with your partner at night, share three things each of you are grateful for.
   

6. Express gratitude for each part of your body as you apply lotion to it. For example, thank your legs for enabling you to exercise, your arms for carrying your child, or your hands for performing millions of miracles throughout the day from tying shoes and texting friends to scratching your dog's belly and selecting a perfectly ripe avocado.

With Deep Gratitude,
Renee

Fall Favorite: Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew

Spotting all the gorgeous piles of winter squashes and heirloom apples at the farmers’ market, I was reminded of one of my favorite fall recipes, Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew.

Infused with belly-warming curry spices and chock-full of wilted spinach and sweet chunks of butternut squash and apple, this nourishing lentil stew is incredibly fragrant and flavorful. A one-pot dish, it’s super easy to prepare and makes great leftovers.

Enjoy it solo, or with quinoa or brown rice. It’s also delicious topped with a dollop of plain yogurt. I’ve included more of my twists on the original recipe below.

Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew

Yield: 6 servings

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive or coconut oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 cup dried brown or green lentils
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups peeled butternut squash (1/2-inch cubes)* 
• 1 large unpeeled organic apple, diced
• 5 ounces baby spinach (or more)

*If pressed for time, you can use pre-cut squash.

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, and sauté onion and carrot until almost soft.
    
2. Add garlic, ginger, curry and salt, and let cook a few more minutes until fragrant.
    
3. Stir in lentils, broth and tomato paste. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
    
4. Add squash and apple, cover and simmer for another 25 minutes, or until vegetables and lentils are tender.  
    
5. Remove lid and stir in spinach until wilted.  
    
6. Add salt to taste and serve.

My Twists: 

• I add a few splashes of extra broth as it’s simmering if the moisture is getting low.  
• For a little extra kick, I use a heaping tablespoon of curry powder and add a few pinches of cinnamon and cayenne pepper. As curry powder intensity can vary greatly, proceed with caution!
• I wait until the last 10-15 minutes to add the apple otherwise it can become too mushy for my taste.  
• I use a lot more spinach and add it fresh when reheating leftovers.  

Adapted from Chloe’s Kitchen

Do You Control Your Appetite?

Naturally, after recently bragging to a gym mate about how I hadn't been sick in years, I was struck down with a nasty flu bug. My long list of symptoms included zero appetite. Not only was I not hungry, everything I ate tasted awful.

After nearly two weeks, I knew I was on the road to recovery when I woke up with a voracious appetite. It felt so good to feel hungry again. It felt exquisite to once again experience pleasure from food.

Controlling Appetite
This experience prompted me to reflect on the importance of appetite. So often, people ask me how they can control or suppress their appetite. It's common to view our appetite as the enemy, something that can't be trusted, something to fear, something that must be controlled.

When you think about it, however, your appetite is essential for life. It keeps you alive by telling you it's time to eat. Fighting it simply goes against the laws of nature.

Fighting your appetite often leads to intense cravings, overeating and binge eating. And, fighting anything puts your body in the physiologic stress response.

Yet, so many of us have been trained to believe that having an appetite is bad and that controlling it is good.

In Caroline Knapp's book, Appetites, she speaks of our culturally conditioned suspicion that "hungers themselves are somehow invalid or wrong, that indulgences must be earned and paid for, that the satisfaction of appetites often comes with a bill...appetites are at best risky, at worst impermissible...yielding to hunger may be permissible under certain conditions, but most likely it's something to be Earned or Monitored and Controlled. A controlled appetite, prerequisite for slenderness, connotes beauty, desirability, worthiness."

Your Appetite: Friend or Foe?
What's your relationship like with your appetite? Is it your friend or foe? Do you trust it, fight it, ignore it, override it? Are you grateful for it, or frustrated by it? Do you feel anxious when it calls, powerful when you restrain it, or weak when you cave into it?

Finding Your Natural Appetite
While it may take some time, it is possible to cultivate a relaxed, life-affirming relationship with your appetite. Doing so requires tuning into the wisdom of your body and trusting it to guide you--not some external forces or a belief that wanting food says anything about who you are as a person.