Healthy Habits #4 AND Enjoying Exersice #3

Since I am planning a major event in California in October, my time has been drawn away from writing. Hopefully I will get back to more frequent posts soon.

I have watched "Fed Up" three times this week. I still shake my head in disbelief and learn something from it each time. If you haven't seen it, it is a must see. Have you ever noticed that the FDA, who controls putting labels on food, has deliberately chosen to leave off the percentage of daily recommenced sugar intake? The government & other groups say to those of us over weight that we need more discipline and we need to exercise, while they continue to lie to the American people about what they are putting in our foods.

By the time you have had a bowl of most cereals, glass of juice, and a piece of fruit for breakfast, you have already surpassed your daily recommend percentage of sugar. The food industry surrounds us with unhealthy processed foods at the check out stands, in our school, and places of work and then tells us it is our own fault for gaining weight. The line of 'calorie in = calorie out' isn't so equal. The people who made this documentary are selling nothing and gain nothing, so why would they lie? The challenge?
For 10 days:
1.  don't eat any unnatural sugar (fruits & vegies are fine)
2. Don't eat any processed foods, you know things in a box, fast food, etc
3. COOK! Actually cook fresh foods.

Personally, I am trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, sodium nitrate, and anything I can't say on a label! Interesting fact, my weight gain corresponds with the years they started changing foods and adding crap, and entering the work world where cooking became a chore instead of a time to spend with family cooking.

Now on to the fun part of my week! I bought an elliptical and have actually used it 4 times in a week! I also talked my daughter into doing the 'Obsticles of Obesity' 5K. On this one we had to do the course in a blow up suit so the thinner people in the crowd could see how had some things were to do. This was my 6th 5K this summer and I have two more I want to do! It has been a lot of fun doing these crazy 5Ks. I am not a runner, so this has been great. Find something you enjoy doing and go do it!

Fun Food #5

Beating Mindless Eating

I found this report absolutely fascinating and true. So how do we stop this overeating spiral that we are all caught in?

For me the best thing is not to have food in the house that I don't want to eat. I also try asking myself "Why am I really eating this?"  The answer is usually, "because it is there."  Every time I walk by the candy dish with M&M's leftover from a baby shower, I grab a handful for no reason. I go to the kitchen because I am hungry, find nothing worth eating, and then grab something that is all carbs.

This process is really a total relearning of how we were raised eating and it is hard!

Healthy Habits #3 - Life, Love, and Laughter

Yesterday had some bitter sweet moments. I was at Costco and did some people watching as I shopped. It must have been 'date' time because there were a lot of couples walking around and several families. It touched my heart to see these sweet couples taking care of each others needs. It was also sad to know I didn't have that in my life. Then I saw a spouse tell their partner to go get something. When they came back with the wrong thing a little anger came through. I observed another person shake their head and give their spouse a disgusting look over something. It was sad.

Then I turned my attention to some families. An adorable family was picking up dog food and the dad was having the five year old 'help' him put it in the cart. We all know how much help a five year old would be at that. Another family was deciding together which cheese to buy. Then there was the parent who got mad at their child for taking an extra sample. They picked them up and threw them in the cart and started yelling at them.

My point is we have all had moments like these parents. Sometimes we respond the right way and sometimes we respond the wrong way. Whenever  I responded to my children or spouse the wrong way, I usually felt bad afterwards but I wasn't always sure what to do to change what happened. I have worked years on teaching myself to smile, worry more about the child then the situation, and to try and release the tension with kind words or laughter. It isn't easy and it doesn't always work out that way, but I try. My kids can tell you that if you just make me laugh, I cannot discipline or get angry!

Now that my children are grown and married, I am trying to do the same with my grandchildren and I hope that my example rubs off on everyone around me. The sad part is now that my spouse is deceased, it saddens me to see how spouses sometimes treat each other. If I could go back in time, I would put his needs before mine more often, I would listen better, be slower to judge or get angry, and find more ways to spend quality time with him so he knew he was needed.

Life is to short. Be careful  with your words because the tongue can be as sharp as a knife. Don't leave 'I love you' unsaid, your kids not hugged, or your spouse not kissed. If you are raising your voice because you are angry, you are not raising it for the right reason. Raise your voice in praise and love. When they are still in your life it is hard to sometimes understand this, but when they are suddenly gone, you will.

To stay young and healthier longer, I suggest laughter, love, and happiness.

Fun Food #4

Food is so much more fun to write about! Since I started this blog, I have made better food choices and still gained weight. No fair! Part of this has to do with the doctor adding 3 new medications to my routine.  I don't like meds and am really bad at remembering to take them. My LDL is way too high along with my triglycerides. Knowing my dad passed away from a massive heart attack at the age of 63 isn't comforting.

But I am on the right track and learning a ton from my nutrition classes. I am loving all the fruit this summer and still learning how to make great health food. One of my favorite treats now is kale chips. By eating kale chips and juicing fruit, I am doing pretty darn good.

I don't have a lot of self control so for me it is best not to have food in the house that is not healthy. We had a lot of great fruit and salads for the 4th of July.

I love this vegie dish that Rachel taught me. It is healthy and delicious! You can find the recipe on my Pinterest or at http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/summer-vegetable-tian/

Healthy Habits #2

Today at my church a great lesson was taught based on a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled "Grateful in Any Circumstance." It is a favorite of mine. He talks about knowing how to comfort and support people in their trials. He teaches that if we choose to develop a spirit of gratitude, it will bring us true joy and great happiness. Many times we wonder what we have to be grateful for when our world is falling apart.

I felt that way 6 years ago when my husband took his life. Where do you find the good and happiness in a situation like that? This week was the 6 year anniversary of that loss and I felt more sadness this year than in some of the past years. Sadness that a man with so much to offer couldn't see the good he was providing the people around him. For the most part, I have done very well after such a devastating loss. Many people have wonder how I have bounced back and how I have done so well, so I am going to let you in on a few of my successes with this tragedy.

First, it was not my fault and there was nothing I could do to stop what happened or change it. So I chose not to take the blame for his decision. No going to the 'what ifs' or 'if I'd only."
Second, I focused on the good he did in this world and the stories other shared about how he helped them.
Third, I wrote. I wrote my feelings of sadness, happiness, trials, pain, joy, and loss. As I wrote, I tried to find humor and peace in the crazy things life was throwing at me.
Fourth, and this one took awhile longer, I realized the good I could do because he left me well taken care of.
Fifth, and most important, I made the decision to be happy. Happy with what I had in the past and with what I still had.

Was life easy, no. Was I always happy, no. But it was my choice and I believe it was what carried me through to a healthy state of mind so quickly. I never needed counseling, but I did need my friends and their support and understanding.

So what is the point of writing this entry? Hopefully to help other see that life is tough and we have many things thrown our way to knock us off track, but most of us hold the key to being happy. Our health depends on it. With a smile and a happy heart, I believe we can help our bodies stay healthy too.

Food Fun #3 - Urban Farm & Feed

In my quest to eat more healthy, I joined a farm share. How it works is I paid for farm fresh food from May to October. Every week I have a pick up with a variety of farm fresh foods. Urban Farm & Feed is a family farm that does not spray their food and they raise happy chickens! Each week I receive a dozen eggs and several veggies with a newsletter with recipes.

Several times I have received food that I have no idea what it is! I just post pictures of the veggies on Facebook and my knowledgeable friends clue me in as to what I have.  For several weeks I have received peas (in the pod) kale, radishes, turnips, lettuce, Arugula, and a variety of herbs and edible flowers.

I have made cards with pictures so I can learn to identify them each week and I add some recipes to
the cards. Still not sure what to do with collards or chard, but we have had some fun with learning new recipes. Tonight my son-in-law decided to make kale chips!

Recipe:
Wash, dry and clip the steams of the kale. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the kale leafs out on a pan and drizzle oil on the leafs, add a little sea salt, and bake for 10-15 minutes. It is that easy and taste like sheets of dried seaweed. I liked it!

While he was making that I tried my hand at Roasted Baby Turnips, a recipe that was on our Urban Farm & Feed news letter called "Farmshare Weekly."

Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 1 tablespoon of vinegar with 1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard (I just used my dried powered mustard), one minced scallion, 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, and 1/4 cup of olive oil (I used my coconut oil.)  Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper. 

Heat a rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Cut 12-24 baby turnips (2 pounds), stems trimmed to 2 inches; quarter them if they are large. In a bowl, toss the turnips with the 1/4 cup of oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the turnips on the preheated baking sheet and roast for about 18 minutes, until tender. Transfer the turnips to a platter and let cool. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and serve.

I have made these twice now and really like them. The kids came over for dinner Sunday and my daughter likes spinach leafs over lettuce leafs. We just happened to have some strawberries and blue berries on hand so she made a spinach salad with just the leafs, strawberries, and blueberries. We had some raspberry vinaigrette dressing on hand but I think she ate it plain!

It sure is nice to have the fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer time.

Food Fun #2

So today was a big day for our family. My youngest daughter and her husband had a gender reveal party letting us know what their twins would be. The hardest part was I had to make the cakes, so I knew before anyone else. That is a lot of pressure! Even getting dressed was hard because I was worried if I wore anything pink or blue someone would read into the clothing choice ;) so I wore black. Safest color choice I had. It was a lot of fun with family and friends.

As American's, anytime we gather it gives us the opportunity to eat. Usually we make bad food choices at gatherings and eat lots of chips, pop, munchies, etc. It makes it hard to make good food choices when there are more unhealthy foods surrounding you. This is one area I have been working hard on. We have a lot of family dinners. Some of the foods we have used instead of the standards for these gatherings are mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes, more salads, healthy multi-grain chips instead of regular, and instead of candy I try to serve more snap peas, peppers, fruits, etc.  Of course there is on occasion the soda pop or cake. But what I am discovering is there are a lot of healthy, tasty, and filling choices out there.

Today at the party we served strawberry/grape kabobs, and raspberry/blueberry kabobs, and hoagie sandwiches on wheat rolls. That is a huge improvement from the past. I try to have a lot more fruits and veggie choices.It is a start at eating healthier and serving healthier food to my family. I really loved the raspberries, for me that is saying a ton. Just in case you missed it along the way, I have never been a fruit eater!

But the best thing about today was finding out that I will be adding another grandson and my first granddaughter to the family! So yep, I ate some cake. The answer is moderation and control. A piece of cake is not going to ruin your eating habits. A piece of cake daily or even weekly might. So don't deprive yourself, just choice wisely and be happy about your choice. Regretting you ate something general makes you feel worse and doesn't help our self-esteem. So load up on the fruits and veggies and take your cake too, just make it a smaller piece!

 Baby Gender Reveal  
video of the revealing

Food Fun #1

My goal with this site is to do three posts a week. On Tuesdays I will try to write something motivational, Thursdays it will be about the food and recipes, and on Saturday/Sunday it should be about exercise. Since I have not started that yet and I am lacking in posts about food, I thought I would write something now.

I grew up in the Oakland, California area. Totally a city girl. I remember in grade school we had an assembly where they brought in a cow so we could see where milk really came from! We did have gardens from time to time, but my mom was a meat and potatoes type of cook. Never had a casserole at home.

Most of my cooking skills I gained in college or after I was married. I married into a farming family. They grew a lot of  potatoes on their 100 acre farm but also had a beautiful little garden. I learned a little and even grew corn and zucchini a few times.

I love vegetables, but never cared for the texture of fruit, so my diet has never been the best. So I am making changes, slowly, but they are happening. To take care of the lack of fruit in my diet, I started juicing off and on about a year ago. I love the flavors of fruit, just not the texture. I try to get up and juice one apple, one pear, one orange, pineapple and carrots in the morning. When I am adventurous I throw in a little kale. I really love this combination and crave the fruit when I go with out it. It is a great way to get my daily allowance of fruit in one drink.

This year, I decided to try my hand at growing some fresh herbs and vegetables. I put in a very small garden that seems to be doing well.  Last night I made lasagna and used all fresh cut herbs in it. WOW, what a difference from the store seasoning packages and it is a lot healthier too. I also enjoy sauteing onions in coconut butter and then adding mushrooms. Makes a great side dish if you like mushrooms!

Recipe for the week:

(Recipe from Urban Farm & Feed in Murray, Utah)

Sauteed Red Russian Kale with Paprika
2 Cups (packed) kale ( center ribs and stems removed, leaves course chopped)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil (divided)
1/4 Cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp Paprika
Generous pinch of dried Red Pepper

Cook kale in large pot of boiling salted water until wilted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to colander; drain. Heat 1/2 of the olive oil in a heave skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon paprika and crushed red pepper; sprinkle with salt (I use sea salt)  Add kale and saute until heated through, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and more paprika, if desired. Transfer to serving bowl; drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp of oil and serve.

I actually liked this. It reminded me of a Korean spinach dish I make. Now you know what you can do with kale!

Enjoying Exercise #2 - The Dirty Dash!

 

The hardest of the 5K's I have planned for this summer is the Dirty Dash. It is a mud run with obstacles. It pushed me to the max when I did it two years ago, but I am a glutton for punishment and love to do things with my family.

 So even though I am out of shape and with no real preparation, we headed off to the 5K.This was difficult and I really did push myself, but I did it! I went through mud up to my waist, climbed over a cargo net, and stepped in a hole and face planted in the dirty water. But I did it!

I am thankful for a family that supports me and helps me when things are difficult. I am glad I physically can push myself. My bursitis did not act up at all. I did wear the wrong shoes. Pebbles made their way into my shoes and tore up the skin on top of my toes.  

We took our time and made it a positive experience for our team. It was my daughter-in-laws first 5K.   It was the hardest 5K for my daughter. Luckily we had Eric to pull us up, push us over, and cheer us on. When I climbed the rope wall, I realized I could get to the top but not make it over. My body just couldn't do it. I climbed down the way I went up and walked around it. Did I fail at it? No. I did my best and saw my limits.

In the end, we were all winners. Messy winners but winners none the less.

So the lesson here? Push yourself. Try new things even if they are hard. And be easy on yourself if you can't do everything.

The best part of this 5K?  Being with family and the showers!

Enjoying Exercise #1 - First 5K of the Summer Done!

I can walk but I can't run. Jogging is even pushing it for me. It doesn't help when you're top heavy and try to jog either, if you get the picture. So to have fun with exercising and get my family involved, I started doing 5K Walks.

My daughter, six year old grandson, and I just finished the Electro Dash. It is a fun night run with lots of lights and music. We were a bit out of shape for the first one this season, but we did it! It took my daughter and grandson about an hour and 15 minutes. I did it in about 55 minutes. We were thankful that her husband came alone for the ride and to cheer us on. When we got to the half-way point, they were out of water. So we texted my son-in-law to meet us with water bottles. He was a life savor!

We had a good time with all our glow sticks and the positive atmosphere around us. Walking is one of the best exercises you can do. It only takes 1/2 hour 3-4 times a week. Start slow but walk!

Now it is time to get ready for our next 5K The Dirty Dash. This one is going to wipe me out.

Healthy Habits #1 - Happiness Is A Choice

I have always believed that happiness is a choice. It bothers me when people say, "I will be happy when...." You can fill in the black with: when I get a job, when I get married, when I loose weight, etc. Life is tough, but most of us can choose to be happy while going though the tough times.

I get it, there are people that suffer from depression that cannot make that choice all the time. My late husband couldn't choose to be happy and after battling extremely bad clinical depression for 27 years, he took his life. One of my daughters will always deal with clinical depression and there are some days the demons of that brain disease, steal her happiness from her. But do not have depression.

I suffer from being overweight, chronic pain, bursitis, a lack of nutritious eating, and just bad habits! So I am taking control of my life. This blog will be about my journey to lose weight so the pain will stop. It will be about finding recipes that help you eat healthy and foods that taste great while promoting good eating habits, as well as exercising and a happy attitude. Basically as a school teacher, I know when you learn a concept, you will retain it better if you teach it to someone else. So this is my way of sharing what I learn and teaching it so I can grasp it even better.

Welcome to my journey!


Areas of concern: Large flabby upper arms, flexibility, large thighs, fat rolls around the middle!
Weight: 222 (can't believe I am actually posting that) was at 210 before I moved to a different state.
Eating: Don't get enough fruits or veggies, I eat mostly starches.
Exercise: try to walk a few days a week, I like to do 5K walks every summer
Mood:  HAPPY and loving life!