It's not possible to celebrate Autumn without our favorite round gourds. Their reputation in the functional food category is as good as it gets. When we're talking holiday treats pumpkin takes the cake, or shall I say the pie. So before I get into all the deliciousness of this super squash may I speak for a moment as your musing nutritionist? You'll appreciate your pumpkin all the more, promise.

We are always battling the elements, trying to keep our Mother Earth clean and pure, free of radicals and unsavory demons. We do our best to avoid disease-causing villains, and part of protecting our body means mindful eating. If we are conquering balancing our nutrition, we will never be in jeopardy of leaving ourselves at risk of taking on excess toxins.

So try to wrap your mind around this: We don't live in a plastic bubble, we breathe air, swim in bodies of water, make contact with other living souls, exposing us to potential sickness. What's our solution, to germs and poison? We clean, and obsess over what we are touching and who is breathing on us, so we wear surgical masks out in public places with lots of strangers. Or we spray room deodorizer where someone has sneezed. Sometimes we slather on the hand sanitizer to ward off the juju, and then we grab a burger from a fast food restaurant not even batting an eye. Whoa, back up, you did what?? Could you think about it for just a second? What the heck? Your putting garbage in your body, inside, like where our heart beats, lungs breathe, and where cells live to grow and regenerate. So why are you wiping down the shopping cart before you buy some processed foods? It's mind-blowing, and I needed to put it in perspective for you so we can get down to business. Happy business, because I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, it's the holidays after all. I'm a tell-it-like-it-is girl. I like sugar, but I won't sugar-coat, so if you want to live in denial pretending that you care about your body because you cleanse the outside than your residing in the land of the lost.

It's a bit of supply and demand. Our body demands to be loved and worshiped as it carries us throughout our day, through the good, the bad, the uncomfortable, and we, in turn, supply it with the kindness it deserves. So how do we avoid trips to the doctor? We eat more functional foods, rich in antioxidants that will give us a fighting chance to combat oxidative stress. So yes, an apple a day may keep the doctor away, and a pumpkin a day could put him out of business. Squash are one of the most efficient free radical killers and Fall just happens to be their time to shine! The skin, seeds, and flesh all have generous amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and yes, they are fun to carve and celebrate Halloween.

Pumpkin Stats:

-One cup of pumpkin supplies you with over 100% of DV vitamin A, giving your vision, skin, and antioxidant dose a more than decent leg up.

-Low cal. Nutrient dense loaded with fiber. Don't you dare skip the pumpkin pie, you'd be a fool!

- Pumpkin seeds provide you with mega amounts of protein. Also, fun calming effects eating these seeds because they contain tryptophan

-Antioxidants! Molecules that help fight the damaging oxidation of our cells. Eat more fruits and veggies!

-Reduces your LDL (this is the bad cholesterol friends, keep eating squash). Promotes a healthy heart.

-Fantastic after a hard workout to help re-balance and replenish potassium lost during your sweat fest.

Speaking of recovery, try out one of my signature smoothies on the BLOG (BY) here where I contribute to their Move and debuting October 23rd. in the Taste section. It's also posted on The Food Athlete Let's Cook Together page along with this fun DIY'd Pumpkin Body Scrub that truly makes this fruit a functional food for the inside and out. Check out both recipes here.

Squash Soup

How about a warm bowl of soup on a chilly day in Autumn? The unique celebration of each season with food and holidays makes me happy all over. With Fall comes an array of vegetables that look beautiful displayed around your home and can be transformed into culinary feasts.

This soup is one I've been making for years. It's unbelievably simple to make. And if you throw in additional veggies or pour over wild rice and add some protein you cold have a pretty hearty meal. I also switch it up and try new spices and variations to keep my taste buds happy.

For the soup:

2 C. Chopped Pumpkin or any squash with orange flesh. Butternut, Acorn, Kabocha.

Veggie Broth (Low Sodium, or homemade)

Nutmeg

Grape Seed Oil (drizzle over squash to bake, not much maybe2 Tsp)

3 Tsp. Diced Shallots

Fresh Sage

Salt and Pepper to taste

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Fried Sage (garnish, and it's delicious)

In a 350 Oven Bake squash in a cooking dish, with the shallots, pepper and a few sprigs of sage. Sage is powerful, so you may want to start small if you haven't worked with this before. Best to go conservative and then add as you desire.

So that's easy, right? Bake until fork tender and put in a blender. Nutri Bullet works for me. Add Veggie Broth as needed to get the consistency you want. I've also tried this with coconut milk; it gives it more sweetness and apparently richer in texture. Depends on what you're in the mood for. Add salt as you like. Top with pumpkin seeds, fried sage and a sprinkle of nutmeg! Perfect in a mug sitting by the fire. So good for you too, perhaps the new chicken soup? We'll see.

Between this post and the one over at my friend's at Beyond Yoga, I think you should be well equipped to go pumpkin hunting. Fall is just starting to get cozy; there's a chill in the air that makes me want to throw on a warm sweater, curl up with my puppy and make comforting food. The most incredible news that I can tell you is that comfort meals can be healthy. And healthy nutrition can one thousand percent be tasty!! So, no excuses, now that you have all the basics the why's you need to get some of this outstanding superfood why are you waiting? Have some pumpkin fun! Carve 'em up, get your hands dirty, toast the seeds, sprinkle them with coconut sugar and cinnamon, get creative. Live your life! I'm going to be sharing some of my favorite sweet and savory recipes in the upcoming weeks. Soups, baked yummy's, maybe even a Halloween treat, or trick? Happy Autumn Food Athletes, see you at the Pumpkin Patch!

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Love Your Body,

xo Jessi (your Food Athlete) xo

Chillaxing happy style in my Beyond Yoga wear. Check out some of my Move posts on Beyond Yoga Blog  here. Also starting October 24th my first post for their Taste section when I'm talking all about pumpkin! — Chillaxing happy style in my Beyond Yoga wear. Check out some of my Move posts on Beyond Yoga Blog here. Also starting October 24th my first post for their Taste section when I'm talking all about pumpkin!

Happy Day Athletes! Are we feeling groovy today?

So by a show of hands, who out there loves being in a good mood? Great, that's what I thought. We all want it, and in The Food Athlete spirit of keeping it real, we can't always get what we want. But, we can get damn close. We are the creators of our actions as well as our intentions, so you can you commit to this journey of life by purposefully setting goals to be happy. Not saying it's going to be easy and believe me when I say I have my off days too, I'm certainly not perfect. The difference between a client and me is that I've mastered (to a degree) how to turn negative behaviors into positives. The process of eating to feel better will probably become increasingly more challenging before it gets easier, but EXCELLENT NEWS, there are rewards. When you elevate from a bad mood to a good mood it not just changes the way you feel but also how others perceive you. A happy person is a looks confident to the world. Positivity is contagious plus it breeds productivity. It seems so simple; it's the perfect formula, how come we all don't practice it, eating to feel better leads to so much bigger things.

How, Jessi, how? Alright friends, I can hear you. I get it; you want to know how to get to feeling happy about your body, excited about the foods we put in our system, enjoy the taste of our carefully thought out meals. What's the secret you ask? It's by practicing patience, forgiveness, and discipline. I'm reading a fabulous book, and the author talks about how we can heal our body. It starts within and our perception "....have faith in the way I treat my body..." Believe it, and you shall see it. There is a direct correlation between what we eat, how we move and how that makes us feel. So you see, we can make it our mission to surround ourselves with positivity, and it happens not just inside but also the outside. We can control maintaining our joy by doing specific actions. Choosing the company we keep, make like-minded friends who are in support of your health as well as their own. There's a saying in AA "you don't hang around a barber shop unless you want a haircut." Right? It's funny and at the same time, it might make you stop and think about why you might put yourself in a precarious situation. Find what gives you joy, remember as a kid what made you laugh, name one thing you have done past or present that after it happened you were smiling. How bad do you want this pleasurable mood? How long do you want the effects to last, do you want more than just a moment? So how can you make happy sustainable? I circle back to practice. 1.Repetition creates habits so, say you want to be a more nutritious eater, seek guidance, ask for support, sometimes it takes a village. 2.Do a job that is gratifying. I don't understand when I hear people say they hate their job, yet they stay and are miserable. Last I heard it's a free country so unless you like being in a state of discomfort nine to five get up and do something about it. 3.Find purpose in every day you are alive and do that by giving back. When something amazing happens to you, and you get a gift of feeling good, turn around and give to someone who needs some good. A simple smile can turn someone's bad day into sensational. 4.Remind yourself not WHY you woke up this morning, but tell yourself, you GET to wake up this morning and then do something miraculous. Know this we are put on this Earth for a very short time and a reason.

Let's talk more about creating your happy by specific choices we make. A.Like what we eat; perhaps choose grilled not fried. B. What we allow our eyes to view; turn off the T.V. and open a book. C.How we honor our body; take a walk in nature versus lying on the couch all day. D.Mindful exercises, think positive thoughts; meditating instead of always complaining about how you got cut in front of in the supermarket line. When unfortunate circumstances in the world filter in negativity to our happy place can we just think about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, warm woolen mittens, fuzzy puppies, rainbows, and unicorns, to make all the wrong quickly go away? We, humans, are pleasure seekers. Sometimes at any cost. I've been on the not so bright end of the rainbow chasing a feel-good time, risking my health just to get that high-on-life. The brain isn't that hard to fool, playing repetitive tricks on the mind is how you form an addiction. Part of my strategy when I work with clients is to help them discover how their emotions play a role in the food choices they make. What patterns and behaviors are you repeating and again that has morphed into a habit that now you have become emotionally connected? What we tell ourselves along with the action performed are powerful, so powerful we have made our bodies addicted, yearning for unhealthy substances. Even though our rational thoughts say Nah, have the veggies, not the cake, our addictive thoughts convince us differently. What are you willing to do for your pursuit of happiness? Can you go there? My question to you is this, what's stopping you from getting your happy on?

"Why does our brain prefer opium to broccoli?" It's not a mystery why we like unhealthy vs. healthy, because these are clear facts, and studies, journaled medical science. It's pretty simple, our brain would like a short cut to the feelings of happiness (because we do, all of us, want to be happy, not sad) and the quicker we can get the results the faster we get to reap the benefits of the experience. So, of course, a scoop of ice cream with all it's serotonin granules will have us giggling with our friends faster than a spear of asparagus. Science provides us a ton of information, I like to say and believe that knowledge is power, so let's put some of this data to use. Have you ever just imagined your dessert after dinner? Getting giddy at the thought of the "forbidden" food. It triggers a quake of excitement throughout your body. It's even before the first bite that the signals are informing our brain of the possibilities feeling joy from a delicious food. The messages are sometimes overwhelming even undeniable. It isn't until you've cleaned your plate and your stomach becomes filled that the regret begins to take over. There usually isn't anything we can do by then, the damage was done, but that isn't enough, we want to beat ourselves up a little more. So we go right to the nasty self-chatter, and we punch away.

Can we manifest joy made from pure, organic ingredients? Yep, sure can! I learned to do it, and I was in an incredibly dark place for over a decade. So the steps I talk about to get to being happy are some of the same steps I took and still take. Things like exercise, connection with family and friends, writing, hugging my fur-babies, watching the sunrise, meditation and delicious, nutritious, wonderful delectable food. I had temptations from sources that didn't believe in the magic of self-made enjoyment, but I choose to take the challenge delivered to me, and I continue my practice of faith. No matter how cruel the world can be, I will be able to handle it without synthetic stress relievers.

How does chemical play a role in mood enhancement? In food and our body they exist. That's why I lay it on so thick about dedicating your food ritual to whole healthy substances. Did you know that most of the chemical serotonin produced in your body, in fact, lives in your gastrointestinal tract? Doesn't it make sense that inside with all the cells and nerves the mechanics in your stomach are working to help you digest food will also control your emotions? " Serotonin regulates mood, sleep, and appetite. Reducing the amount of stress you take on will alter not only how you see your body mentally, physically when we run our bodies down we run the risk of develop diseases. Clearly, we have lots of power to elevate our mood with natural foods and engaging in productive activities, not just physical but loving generous acts of kindness.

So, If you knew that cashews were a natural anxiety tamer would you eat a handful a day?

Get happy by increasing your activity:

Move more. Serotonin productivity will multiply just by getting your blood pumping. Fact: people who exercise on a regular basis have less risk of depression.

Elevate your mood by food you choose:

1) Omegas like fish, eggs, nuts.

2) Spirulina: love this stuff (and all sea vegetables) I put a couple of teaspoons in my smoothie, and you don't even taste it. These blue-green algae contain tryptophan, and this is an amino that helps create the serotonin.

3) Walnuts: Many kinds of nuts contribute to happy feelings, check out my post last week about beauty and food here, I talked a bit about the calming effects when you indulge in these nuts, so when anxiety hits, and you want to reverse the panic try walnuts pumpkin seeds and cashews too.

4) Remember that saying "happy as a clam" well then, Clams: contain the vital vitamins B12 that our brains need to make serotonin.

The air you breathe:

I'm a huge fan of aromatherapy. I have a couple of diffusers, one for the living room one for the bedroom. I mix oils together to create scents that remind me of happy places I've been. Eucalyptus, oregano, basil, peppermint, frankincense. Although some boast of promoting specific emotions I have found that it doesn't matter what it says it's going to improve, it's all about how YOU feel once you get the first whiff.

As a chef I have an extremely positive reaction the moment I start to grill onions, this particular food takes me back to when I was a kid, cooking with my mom, and the beginning of holiday dinners. It's a feeling of safety and comfort that puts me at ease every time.

DIY TIP: Make your "cooks" kitchen scents by wrapping up some rosemary or cinnamon sticks in a low-heated oven and bake, even if you're not preparing food the house will begin to fill with the beautiful rustic fragrance.

So athletes, how do you all feel now? If you feel inspired, hopeful, and optimistic that you are the master of your happy destiny then my work here today is done. Do you feel confident that you can get out and present yourself to the world with a smile and an intention to feel amazing? Love it! Well. I have to admit I feel pretty happy myself. I get a surge of energy after I share some of my insights with you all.

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts so please reach out and let me know how you find you're happy.

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Love Your Body,

xx Jessi (your Food Athlete) xx