AWAKN Weekly Optimization 12/16/2019
AWAKN Weekly Optimization 12/16/2019
Here are links to research, articles and recipes we found interesting last week.

Travel & Adventure
Hut to hut trips in the Adirondaks. European-style no-tent backpacking to the woods of New York in 2020. Read more here.
Off the Grid. Awesome “off the grid” cabin for rent in the Texas Hill Country on Airbnb. Check it out.
Nutrition
Holiday Depression. Cutting back on sweets during the holidays could mitigate holiday depression. Read more here.
Type 2 Diabetes Treatment. The ketogenic diet is becoming increasingly recognized as a tool to help with type 2 diabetes treatment. Read more here.
Fitness
CrossFit Curious? Here is an interesting article about CrossFit from NBC news.
Looking for some explosive power in the New Year? Here are five exercises to help up your explosive power game.
Mental Health
Rejection & decisions. Why the fear of rejection prevents us from making wise decisions. Read more here.
Sleep
Insomnia. A new study shows that certain parts of a diet can contribute to insomnia. Read more here.
Sleep As Medicine. The more scientists learn about the slumbering brain, the more they realize how vital sleep actually is. Now some researchers hope to develop it into a form of medicine. Read more here.
Recipe of the week

Santa Sharts.
Here is an easy to make and tasty holiday treat without a ton of added sugar.
~30 minutes to prepare
Ingredients:
- 1 10oz bag of dark chocolate chips (over 70% dark recommended)
- 1 8oz bag of unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
- ~16oz of sliced almonds (finely chopped pecans or macadamia nuts are also good in this recipe)
- Sea salt (we like these ‘snowflake’ looking ones)
Steps:
- In a medium pot, bring a couple of inches of water to a boil then put it on low; set a metal mixing bowl on top (basically, make or use a double-broiler)
- Add ⅓ of the bag of chocolate chips and stir to a silky melt; keep doing this until all of the chocolate is melted
- Cycle in ⅓ of the bag of coconut flakes, then nuts, until all ingredients are finely coated in chocolate
- Plop ~1-2 tablespoons worth of the mix onto silicon cutting boards, baking mats, parchment paper on a cookie sheet, or what have you so they form little cookie-sized blobs
- Sprinkle with sea salt flakes
- Chill for ~10-15 minutes in the fridge
- Lick the spatula and spoon in the meantime
- Pop off the mats and enjoy!
Makes ~40 treats.
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#AWAKNtribe Ashli (@abmcdaniels), waking up 🙌

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