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Replace your coffee habit with a matcha latte habit!

Replace your coffee habit with a matcha latte habit

I have a new appreciation for food stylists. I tried to make this iced matcha latte look super enticing but failed!

Why drink matcha? Because matcha lattes taste great, become an anticipated treat every morning and afternoon, and they’re really good for you. Matcha has one of the highest amount of antioxidants, which fight cancer, of any known food or beverage on the planet. More than broccoli and blueberries!

At the opening of the bestseller, “The Power of Habit,” author Charles Duhigg tells the story of a young woman, Lisa Allen, who was obese, a smoker, drinker, in debt and had never held the same job for more than a year. But guess what? On a trip to see the Egyptian pyramids (alone, because her marriage engagement got called off), she hit rock bottom. And amazingly, she vowed to become a runner. Exercise is a “keystone habit”–it led to a domino effect: she lost 60 pounds, stopped smoking, got a good job that she stayed in, paid off her debt, bought a house and started a Master’s program!

The point of my telling you that story is this: If you want to replace a bad habit with a healthier habit, the new habit has to offer a reward that is gratifying enough to make it stick. Arguably, drinking coffee is a bad habit, depending on what information you read. (For one thing, it makes your body acidic; one reason this is bad is because cancer thrives in an acidic environment.) To replace coffee with matcha, you will likely need more of a reward than just the knowledge that you’re doing something that is good for your health. Matcha also offers caffeine, which is part of what will make it rewarding and addictive to most newcomers, but it also tastes good. To me, the way that it tastes best is as an iced latte. Here’s how to make it:

1. Put 1 teaspoon of matcha tea powder into a chic short glass, a non-tacky mug or beautiful tea bowl. (Start with a half if you’re not used to consuming caffeine!)

2. Add a 1/4 cup of really hot water (not boiling).

3. Use a bamboo whisk to stir the tea. Let it sit for 5-7 minutes (so that the catechins, which provide the anti-cancer benefits, are released).

4. Add unsweetened vanilla almond milk or soy milk (when combined with soy, matcha tea has even greater anti-cancer properties; I use a combination of soy and almond milk) and ice. If you have to, add a teaspoon of acacia honey, which has a lower glycemic index than regular honey or sugar.

Matcha tea isn’t cheap, but it probably costs less than what you spend per month at Starbucks (“Fourbucks”). Here’s where I buy it:

https://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.php/products_id/634

Link to “The Power of Habit”:

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/1400069289

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“Falling out of Love with Twitter” by Maude Apatow

What is the definition of addiction—when you feel compelled to continue doing something that no longer brings you pleasure? Something like that. Anyway, I’m addicted to being online, and this post from 14-year-old Maude Apatow’s blog, knittinggoose.com, is a good description of the “fun” and misery of being addicted to Twitter in particular:

“I used to write more, before I got addicted to technology. I was going through my old journals from elementary school, pre-cell phone, and saw that I wrote so many short stories and poems. The excuse I tell myself is that I don’t have time, but that isn’t true. I do have time, but I am wasting it reading tweets and looking at Willow Smith’s Instagram. The amount of time that I spend on my phone scares me. The amount of time I see other people on their phones makes me realize that what I’m doing isn’t important and I shouldn’t be wasting my time. Getting invested in other people’s relationships just makes you feel bad about yourself and maybe feeling bad feels good sometimes.

I read into technology too much and it makes me sad. I take every “like” and “follow” personally. I take everything personally in real life as well, so maybe it isn’t different. Constantly having something to do like check Twitter, Facebook and Instagram makes me feel like I don’t have time to do other things like write or read. I feel like my brain is getting smaller and I can’t think of any new ideas to write about. Sometimes when I start thinking about things that make me upset or I feel like I am thinking too much, I go on my phone to shut my brain down. I have been thinking about checking my phone the entire time I have been writing this.

I put so much pressure on myself to make sure my writing is good (whatever that means) that I stopped. I gave up and got involved in social networking. All I think about when I don’t have my phone is checking it. When I don’t have it, I don’t feel safe. (I secretly think one of the many reasons I didn’t like summer camp was missing my phone and feeling disconnected.)

Why do I tweet? I like Twitter because reading about what other people are doing makes you forget about what you have to do. I like Twitter because it makes me laugh. I like Twitter because it informs me when something important has happened. I like Twitter because it makes me feel closer to celebrities that I know I will never be close to. I like Twitter because reading about crazy things other people do makes me feel normal. I like Twitter because people are so nice to me and it makes me feel happy.

I hate Twitter because it consumes me and I never stop thinking about it. I hate Twitter because it fills my brain with sad news and events. I hate Twitter because people are so mean to me for no reason and I don’t understand why. I hate Twitter because it exposes me to disgusting people who bully others. I hate Twitter because when I get mean messages, I like to look for mean messages about other people I like, because it makes me feel better, like I’m not the only one. I hate Twitter because it makes me jealous. I hate Twitter because it makes me feel bad about myself. I hate Twitter because it makes me feel good about myself.

I bet I will tweet this article.”

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The Power of Vulnerability

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This TEDx talk from Houston researcher/storyteller Brene (like the name “Renee” but with a B in front) is one of my favorites so far. At first, I thought it dealt with something I’m particularly grappling with right now—feeling vulnerable—but one of the points Brown makes is that everyone is grappling with this, all of the time. Apparently, being alive means being vulnerable. Um, how can we avoid this?? We can’t, says Brown. Nevertheless, she is a charming woman and her insights are fantastic. What’s weird is that it’s stuff you already know, on a gut level at least, but it’s presented in such an impactful way, it helps you get clear on what the challenge is (i.e., not numbing yourself to being vulnerable but instead embracing it).

I love that people like Brene Brown are out there in the world. I love that the TEDx talks bring people like her to me and to everyone. I wish I could just sit here all day, watching these talks. But after a point, I would just be numbing myself from the vulnerability I feel when I am instead working, creating something, right? Right.

If you’ve already dived into some task or endeavor today that makes you feel vulnerable, and you’re feeling those feelings without trying to numb yourself, I salute you.

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How to close the gap, from IRA GLASS

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“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

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“The future of journalism”: TAVI GEVINSON

Gevinson became an Internet sensation when she started blogging about fashion at 11 years old. By 15, her interests had branched out and she founded an online site called Rookie Magazine, for teenage girls. The last two years, she has appeared on Forbes “30 Under 30” list. But having enjoyed wild career success since middle school hasn’t corrupted her—in the above clip, she’s interesting and likeable. And in the 7-minute TEDx talk, below, she covers complex things in a simple, charming way:

http://www.ted.com/talks/tavi_gevinson_a_teen_just_trying_to_figure_it_out.html

http://rookiemag.com

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Our Private Lives

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Monday through Friday, I sit on my bed, with my computer on a woven tray over my lap, and work. Our bedroom window looks out onto our backyard, and I often see birds landing on a tall bush that’s right next to the window. Recently I saw a squirrel on the ground, who had evidently just buried an acorn or something, because he was tamping down dirt with his little hands/paws. We locked eyes for a moment. I think he debated digging up the acorn and moving it.

I have to let my dogs out our back door several times a day. It always seems like a chore. But the times when I choose to sit down outside and wait for them are better than when I stand in the house, waiting at the door, cajoling them to hurry up. When I sit outside and wait, I’m not waiting, I’m ‘enjoying.’ One of the first things I do is look up at the tops of the trees in our backyard, to see the wind stirring their leaves and listen to the sound it makes. I like that the tops of the trees are removed from the concerns of earth, that they’re just up there, in their own environment—the sky—and have no knowledge of or care for what is happening down here. There are a ton of birds, flitting among the branches of a big, bottlebrush tree on the left side of our yard, and their tweeting is ludicrously loud. They sound nuts. Happy and busy. I love that they also don’t care what is happening with humans. They’re just chirping away, finding stuff for nests, flying here and there, going about their lives completely indifferent to us.

I always resist sitting outside with the dogs but when I do, I’m always glad I did. This is probably pointless to talk about, because it has to just be experienced firsthand, but nature is restorative. So, why do I fight it? Why don’t I just step outside our back door more often?

Probably because it’s not “productive.” But recently, it occurred to me that I should probably spend as much time as possible doing things that are not productive, that are not a stepping stone to anything, that offer no financial gain: Sitting in nature admiring the sights and sounds, petting our dogs, making art that won’t necessarily be sold to anyone, talking to friends, putting on a good song and dancing with a niece/nephew/friend’s child.

I guess these kinds of activities constitute tending our private garden. And I guess it’ll always be tempting to believe that time spent doing more ‘productive things,’ like, say, tending one’s public image, will bring more happiness.

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Reflect on the real substance of life with MICHAEL ARNDT, screenwriter of “Little Miss Sunshine”

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“All of us lead two lives—our public lives, which are visible to others, and our private lives, which are not. Richard (in the movie) is obsessed with the values of public life—status, rank, ‘success’. His view of the world, divided into Winners and Losers, judges everyone—including himself accordingly. These values have become seemingly inescapable in our media-saturated culture—from American Idol, to professional sports, to the weekend box office reports. Everything, it seems, has become a contest.

The problem with this worldview is that it neglects and devalues the realm of the private—family, friendship, romance, childhood, pleasure, imagination, and the concerns of the spirit. Our private lives—invisible to the outside world—tend to be far richer and more gratifying than the rewards of public life. We would do well, as poets and philosophers have long advised, to turn away from the bustle of the world and cultivate the gardens of our souls.

And yet—as I learned in July 2001 (when waiting for people’s reaction to the script)—it is extremely difficult to set aside the judgments of the world and march to your own drummer. To “do what you love and fuck the rest”, as Dwayne (in the movie) says. That is a hard path, and not often one that leads to happiness or fulfillment. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.

What I would recommend—and this is the central hope of the movie—is that we make an effort to judge our lives and the lives of others according to our own criteria, distinct from the facile and shallow judgments of the marketplace.

James Joyce once said we should treat both success and failure as the imposters they are. I would humbly concur—the real substance of life is elsewhere.”