Navita’s Naturals

With my planned vacation to the Cayman Islands!!! drawing near (I’m leaving on a jet plane Friday AM) my to-do list seems to get longer and longer each day. I’m not complaining though because I’m super excited, in case you couldn’t tell. I haven’t decided if I’m going to blog while away. On one hand I would like to be totally disconnected for a few days, but on the other I want to bring my laptop and share my experience with you guys. I’m not certain there will be wireless where I am staying, so I guess that will be a big factor. Plus, I could always do a re-cap post when I get back. So we shall see. If I’m not here for a few days, don’t fret, I will return – hopefully with a nice tan!

So when not daydreaming of white sandy beaches I did actually get some work done today.

Flash back to before work though. Olive and I were early birds this morning. We woke up around 6:15 and went for a long walk (about 3 miles). I think that is the longest walk she has ever been on. She did great, but was totally pooped afterwards. I was starving and sweaty. After showering I whipped up a cold smoothie. I’m all out of almond milk (or any other milk for that matter) so I just used 1 cup of water. It turned out rather liquified, but still had a ample amount of flavor and it made more. I got 1 pint glass and 1/2 out of this concoction:

The liquified purple smoothie.

1 cup water
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1 banana
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 pieces of ice
Amazing Grass Chocolate GREEN SuperFood

I also packed a little raw mix for a snack once at work. Navitas Naturals goji berries and raw almonds and cashews.

I love these goji berries- they’re the perfect addition to any nut mixture, alone, or in salad (see my dinner)!

Speaking of salad, I had an awesome one for lunch. I used the left over oven “fried” tofu from Ellwood’s that I had bought for my soba noodle fiasco. Thank heavens, this lunch turned out much better than that little mishap. I used baby romaine, tomato, 1/4 of an avocado, the tofu, and Annie’s Honey Mustard dressing. Quite the salad.

I am offically in love with Ellwood’s tofu. I have to figure out the recipe. I’ve said I was going to figure it out before and didn’t but this time, I ‘m determined.

I brought back some snacks to work with me for the afternoon. One snack was the remaining couple bites of a small container of Oikos plain yogurt that I didn’t finish last night with some fresh black berries.

The other snack was 3 carrots. I ate those AND a mini bag of popcorn. I was a regular snack machine this afternoon, per the usual. I’m always so snacky at work in the afternoon. And I feel a lot of it is just from boredom, rather than actual hunger.

Anyone else with a desk job feel this way? Do you all have any good tips you would like to share for beating afternoon boredom snacking?

After snacking the afternoon away, I wanted something fresh and light for dinner. I made another huge salad, only I didn’t have any tofu left. :/ But I did add some goji berries. The berries were such a nice addition to the salad, I love the texture they added, and of course the flava flav.

So since I’m going to be living in a bathing suit for a few days come Friday I started thinking of ways to make sure I’m looking my best. No I didn’t head straight to the gym and do 5 hours of abs. It’s a little too late for that, but I decided to make sure I’m doing everything in my power to avoid any bloating.

If anyone else is interested, these are the tips I would recommend to beat the bloat:

Drink lots of water
Avoid salty foods (including pre-packed sodium laden ones)
Avoid sugary white flour carbs
Eat plenty of fresh veggies, fruits and fiber
Avoid chewing gum (especially those with artificial sweeteners) -I find that SF gum makes me really bloated
Avoid carbonated drinks – I rarely drink soda, but I do like my carbonated water which isn’t good when trying to stop bloating
Avoid gassy foods (beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.)
Avoid alcohol, especially beer
Drink hot herbal teas- my favorite tummy soothers include ginger, peppermint, and Yogi Detox teas
Keep moving – walking, exercising, cleaning, shopping

Hopefully I’ll stick to my guns and have a flat tummy come time to suit up.

If you have any bloat free tips to add, please feel free to do so below!!

{ 13 comments }

I think I got my sour fix for the day. These tangy little gems are called Golden Inca berries.

From the look of them you might expect something sweet like raisins, dates, or dried plums. Well, they are a bit sweet, but more so sour. The skin of the Inca berry is thick and the inside texture is familiar, as they have little seeds inside similar to a dried fig. The flavor is similar, but a little more intense, than that of a tart dried cranberry with no added sweetener. Although I don’t particularly love sour foods, these aren’t too sour and they do have a hint of sweetness. Plus you can’t beat the nutritional benefits.

From Peru these berries are sun-dried, vegan and raw. They are nothing short of a super fruit and a good source of bioflavinoids, which possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral properties. They are also high in phosphorus and vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B6, and B12. And for a fruit, they are a good source of protein and rich in Pectin. Lastly, they are reputed to be one of the few known plant-based sources of B12. This is important if you are vegan because B12 is almost exclusively found in animal products.

I have Isaac’s mom to thank for these little gems. She orders them, along with Gogi Berries, Maca Powder, Cacao Powder, Cacao nibs and other goodies from Elements for Life. She introduced me to all these things sometime last year, but I never ordered any of my own- just tried hers. Thanks Ellen!

Lately I’ve been in quite the snacky mood. I had some of the Inca berries as a snack before leaving for work yesterday morning and then made a snack mix to bring back to work after lunch. This combo of kashi go lean, raw almonds, and salted pepita seeds was perfect- both sweet and salty!

I used to be head over heals in love with all things trail mix (which is where the name of this blog stems from). But lately they haven’t really been exciting me too much, I’ve even stopped buying my staple- Simply the Best Trail Mix from Trader Joe’s. Hard to believe.

A little more seed action happened this AM when I topped the typical bowl of chia seed oatmeal/oat bran with better n pb and pepitas.

Isaac’s away and I’m eating all his pepita seeds…. that’s what he gets for not reading the blog!

Still loving my chia seed oatmeal. Not only is it delicious, but it packs some serious staying power. Love that.

Work went smoothly and then I headed home for lunch. More salad, how surprising, are you all bored with me yet? This one had spring mix , tomatoes, broccoli, corn off the cob, avocados, yellow bell pepper, tofurkey pieces, and Sabra sun-dried tomato hummus for dressing.

As a lunch dessert I quickly whipped up a frozen banana and fresh blackberries in a kitchen gadget, that I use as a food processor, but in reality I’m pretty sure is a chopper. So, it wasn’t quite banana soft serve- let’s just call it a sorbet for lack of a better term. No matter what it’s called, it was delish and that’s all that matters in my book.

A PACKAGE arrived on my doorstep as I heading back to work and of course I couldn’t resist opening it. When I found out it was from Nativas Natural’s I couldn’t resist trying something that was inside.

Just when I said I was sort of over trail mix, Trail Power comes in my life! This mix had golden berries, mulberries, gogi berries, raw cashews, and cacao nibs. Ah-mazing to the 10th degree. I’m pretty much in love! I can confidently say that this rivals some of the all time best trail mixes out there. Also, I had never had mulberries before and I have to say they were my favorite. I need a whole bag of these on their own!

Do you spy the inca berry in the mix? It’s going incognito, under it’s other name (the golden berry)!

Needless to say I am totally pumped to try the other Navita’s products I received and I’ll be sure to do a proper post on them soon.

Last by not least. I wanna do some house keeping. I’ve been trying to decide where to go with my blog. I’ve been blogging now for over a year and I’m having so much fun with it! I really want to do some updating to my blog and bring it to another level, but I just don’t have the time right now while taking classes and working. Hopefully in the next couple months Eating Bird Food will undergo some changes!! I’m excited for what that might bring.

But it’s not only about me, it’s about YOU (my readers) as well, so I want to know what you all think. One thing I know is that I want this blog to more interactive, so tell me what you like, what you don’t like, what you would like to see more of.. whatever, just bring it to the table.

p.s Thanks for reading. I love you guys!!