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Losing to Win

Thursday Review: Good Earth Sweet & Spicy Herbal Tea

Years ago, my pilates instructor recommended this tea to me and I fell in love with it instantly.  I recently rediscovered it and have been craving it daily.  I tend to stay away from caffeine after lunch during the week so I love that they also offer a caffeine free herbal blend.

Ingredients:  Red Rooibos, Chicory Root, Natural Flavors, Rosehips, Cinnamon, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Papaya, Chamomile, Panax Ginseng, Anise Seed, Dandelion Root, Ginger Root, Orange Oil, Orange Peel.

With quite a varied and interesting list of ingredients, this tea could certainly go either way.  Either blend spectacularly or taste like the equivalent of a train wreck in a mug.  Luckily for you and me, it works deliciously!

Aroma:  The tea steeps quickly and even though they advise 3-4 minutes, within a minute you can really smell the tea.  I usually brew it for 2-3 minutes and the flavors are all really present.  The longer you steep, the spicier and sweeter the tea becomes.

Before you even take a sip, the aromas draw you in.  Intensely cinnamon with a hint of mint underneath, I anticipate my first sip every time I brew this! 

Taste: As promised at first sniff, the scent of the cinnamon represents a huge flavor boost to the tea.  The spiciness of the cinnamon blends with a subtle peppermint and anise flavor, with the ginger and papaya peeking through.  The tea is fairly sweet, as the name implies.   You may wonder if there has been a sweetener added, but the tea is as is.  Delicious, sweet and spicy.

Recommendation: Perfect for cinnamon lovers!  Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Sicky sick

After battling a cold for the last week, I'm finally feeling better and actually faced the treadmill for a run today.  I was feeling anxious as the last time I tried to run, my legs felt like tree trunks and I could barely run for a minute.

But I had a FANTASTIC workout today.  I felt good, I felt strong, my breathing was even and my body felt happy to be working hard.  Just what I had hoped for!

At the time of that less-than-stellar workout last week, I didn't realize what was going on.  But the heavy legs and the desire to slow down made me feel insecure.  I felt "fat" and I felt "lazy".  Of course as I looked deeper and tried to see the positives,  it was just that my body was fighting something off and I was getting sick.  But I struggled to stay positive and keep telling myself that the tired heaviness was not about my fitness level or my weight loss success, but it was solely my body telling me to slow down and get some rest.

So often in the past I've heard the saying that your body is a machine.  Give it the chance to work for you and it won't let you down.  More than ever I believe this and live this now.  It's amazing the things I can accomplish when I simply ask my body to do something and believe that it can.  Sure, sometimes I have to work up to a certain thing.  But it's there to work hard and to feel good.  And I'm grateful for that.

Big day

Today I:

 - Made it to the orange level on Nike+


- Hit my 10% weight loss (from my original and highest weight ever)

- Realized it's been almost 6 weeks since I've binged

- Wore a size 12 pair of pants

Not bad for a cold day in February!