I love this time of the year for one thing and one thing only: Squashes!!

Now let me prep you first by saying, “I have zero recipes!” But my girl Joanna from Fitness and Spice has plenty so go check her site out. In the mean time, I just want to take 2 min. to talk about how divine these veggies are when they are used as a starch and how underrated they are in your diet.

First, I am really referring to winter squashes (acorn, butternut, pumpkin and spaghetti) not summer (zucchini, summer, pattypan) squashes. Being of many colors and depending on the variety, they are chock full of vitamins and rich in fiber and oh so yummy! Butternut squash is my favorite and it blows the roof off of Vitamin A content and beta-carotene content. It is smooth on the palette and divine when roasted. But the most important of all is it provides a nice energy boost (ST) without the worry of holding excess water.

So what does this mean? Two days out or maybe even 3 days out from an event, switch your oatmeal, bread, rice and etc. for a nice squash. You’ll still be getting all of the carbohydrate you need, but you will be avoiding all the water gain that comes from the traditional starch servings.

Think about the fun you can have with these guys. Roasted butternut squash, baked acorn squash, spaghetti squash and etc. all sound outrageously yummy and are very easy to prepare! Each one also contains much less starch in one cup than what sweet potato has in a ½ cup. All of this yummyness without the subcutaneous water retention or any unsightly bloat…NICE!

So go buy a gourd and then head on over to Joanna’s site so you know how to cook these marvels! YUM!:o)

Since I am so hell bent on a beautiful body and face, I think it is worth me defining what I mean by this.  Unfortunately, our culture/country is obsessed with our outward appearance in a very negative manner.  Being thin seems to be worshipped as well as being young.  Both of these traits garner much attention in the media so they create a sort of undercurrent of pressure for the average woman.  We tend to worry about how we look in a certain outfit, whether we can compete with those “20 somethings” or if we are still acceptable in some men’s eyes.  This is not what I mean by being beautiful. 

One of the most attractive things to me is a woman is “good” with who she is, how she looks and how she presents herself.  She may be 20 pounds more than the ideal but she dresses like a fashionista so you would never know.  She could be 60 years old, but her skin makes her look 52.  She might be 45 but her attitude is that of a 30 year old.  Beauty defined by the dictionary:  The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality.  Beauty defined by me:  taking excellent care of one’s health via food, exercise and supplementation; presenting the best package that you have been given sole rights to by nature.  You cannot get any better than this. 

I want to make it very clear that vanity is not where I am going with any of this.  You do not have to spend hours in front of the mirror or spends thousands on a wardrobe.  You could be a jock in heels with not a care in the world about how you dress but your skin is amazing and your teeth are healthy.  Or you could be a book worm that wears glasses and is addicted to sweat pants but your nails are healthy and your estrogen levels are where they should be.  All of this to me is beauty. 

Being thin does not mean you are beautiful—in fact, it’s quite the contrary.  Most thin people (as a result of perpetual dieting) are very unhealthy.  Being high maintenance with hair appointments and body treatments does not mean you are beautiful—usually it means you need to get over yourself. J  I could go on and on but I think you get my point.  Beauty means that your body is functioning at its fullest potential because you gave it everything you had in terms of outside resources and it is reaping the benefits from that pampering.

Next time you notice how soft your skin is, how regular your cycle is, how even your moods are, how strong your nails seem, how great your memory is at that time, how normal your blood pressure and cholesterol is, how strong your sex drive is and how agile you are at your age, and all of these things got that way because your diet is healthy and you exercise, I want you to think to yourself:  dang, I’m beautiful!