Tag Archives: healthy eating

My Fun Friday Lunch

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Understanding and addressing my emotional eating has been such a great way to take care of myself. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. And as a result, cooking and eating low-carb, high-fat meals has just been feeling very natural lately. I don’t want to say I’m all in with keto just yet because 1) I don’t want to put pressure on myself, 2) it’s going so good I don’t want to jinx it! lol. But I can feel my energy getting more consistent throughout the day, and my brain fog is starting to lift once again. Not struggling with cravings due to emotional eating has made a huge difference.

So here is a fun lunch I packed today on a whim, using whatever was in my refrigerator. I’ve been doing good getting my green veggies in this week so I wanted something different for my Friday lunch.

Inspired by the charcuterie board trend. Summer sausage, sliced Colby Jack cheese, celery, a boiled egg, almonds, blackberries and blueberries.

I seriously cannot wait for lunchtime. Lol.

Happy Friday!

Sharing a Comfort Food Recipe

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I’m feeling a little under the weather today. Tough week with a draining travel schedule, plus the winter weather this weekend in APRIL, has me feeling like I either have a cold or some serious allergy stuff going on. Trying this recipe today because I’m feeling like I want some comfort food. Planning on spending the rest of the day resting and watching some movies, and napping. 😊 I am listening to my body and it’s saying “Rest woman!!” Stuff will get done when I’m feeling better.

Vegan Chai Breakfast Quinoa

I had planned to write a new blog post today but this will have to suffice. I found this website and recipe on Pinterest. The ingredients list made me want to try it. Plus I’m a sucker for any type of quinoa porridge.

It’s Friday….

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I’ve discovered that I’m not a good “meal prepper”. Lol. I tend to pack my lunch geared toward whatever mood I’m in, and what I have in my house. I also tend to repeat stuff if I really enjoy it. Thus, 2 days in a row of 2% plain Greek yogurt. Switched it up slightly, added pecans instead of almonds and walnuts, and threw some raspberries and blackberries in because I felt like I wanted some more pretty colors. Lol. I’m not feeling the celery today though…I felt like treating myself a little. So I added some natural almond butter topped with some Enjoy Life mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and unsweetened shredded coconut. I have some Glutino gluten free pretzel twists. Not because I’m trying to eliminate gluten, I just happened to have some at a work meeting and I really liked the texture. Lol. Seriously! And my kombucha.

I want to add that I don’t usually make it a point to buy gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free stuff. I discovered the Enjoy Life chocolate chips because my daughter had a friend who was gluten and dairy free, and I wanted to fix snacks that she could eat when she came over. They were on-sale last week at the grocery store so I grabbed them. I have a budget that I do my best to stick to. If I buy a fancy organic whatever, it’s either because I find it on sale, or I buy it on Wednesday’s when HyVee has 10% off prices in the Health Market, or I decide I can afford the splurge. 😊

I think I may have enough lunch pictures to do the blog post on lunch ideas that I’ve been plotting.

#healthylunch

#healthyhabits

#healthymom

#packedlunch

Trying My Hand At Homemade Bone Broth

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Trying my hand at making homemade bone broth. I bought 3 lbs of local beef bones yesterday at Steve’s Meat Market in DeSoto, KS. So there’s the 3 lbs of bones, onion, carrots, celery, red and green bell pepper, pink Himalayan salt and black peppercorns, sitting in a large stock pot. I let the bones soak for 30 minutes in water and 2 Tbs of organic apple cider vinegar (the kind that includes the “mother”) first. Now it’s heating up and it has to simmer for at least 24 hours. I’ve been reading about the benefits of bone broth: gut healing properties, help with inflammation, relief for the symptoms of arthritis, joint and muscle repair. It’s an excellent source of calcium and magnesium for people who don’t have access to dairy products. So THAT’S how we got our calcium back in the day!! Back when we as Native people were the healthiest people on the planet. 😊

I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Gut Health and Healing From A Cellular Level

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Some of the lifestyle changes I’m in the process making are about my health, and not necessarily about losing weight. I want my body to heal and to become strong from the inside out. I want to heal at a cellular level, if that helps explain my mindset. My desire to make positive change feels that deep. I’m making changes for healing my body, my mind and my spirit.

I’m not about making huge sweeping changes and being obsessive about cutting out types of foods. Except for artificial sweetener. That’s gone for good. I am absolutely loving being without artificial sweeteners. It’s 3 weeks now since I gave it up. I continue to not have sugar cravings. When I do eat something sweet, it’s a deliberate decision. Not one based on stress or other emotions. I am finding though that I am indulging in sweets very little. It’s really nice not to feel like I’m fighting cravings all the time. That was getting so frustrating. It was like a weight hanging around my neck that I couldn’t shake. That weight is gone and so is any guilt about indulging occasionally. The cravings being gone gives me some space in my head to think about whether I really want something, and also has helped my creativity in coming up with sweet treats made from real food when I want to indulge.

I’ve also been asking questions via FB messenger of a former coworker, a dietician, about artificial sweeteners. She told me how some artificial sweeteners can change the Ph in your gut, and may kill gut bacteria. Losing gut bacteria may lead to some gut permeability and then inflammation. In my case, inflammation leads to increased hip pain, but I also learned that it’s a big risk factor for heart disease and chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, and possibly lupus and RA.

So then I had to look up “gut permeability” and found out it’s called “leaky gut syndrome”. I’d heard of it before but had no clue what it was. What I read wasn’t fun. But it made sense to me. That’s a whole ‘nother blog post because it’s very science-y. But it made me realize how quitting artificial sweeteners is the beginning of the healing process for my gut.

I remain surprised and grateful for the huge difference I’ve felt in my hip pain since giving up artificial sweetener. And if it’s related to healing my gut, then I want more of that. I’ve began drinking kombucha since last fall, and this weekend I’m going to give bone broth a whirl. Plain Greek yogurt is always in my fridge, as well as fruits, veggies, and healthy fats like avocados and nuts.

Friends and family, you have no idea how thankful I feel to finally start feeling better. I have a spring in my step for the first time in a long time. My mood has improved. And I appreciate the taste of food so much more than before. The changes feel good. And there are more changes we’ve been making that I will write about soon. Drop a comment below if you have had similar experiences. I would love to hear your stories.

Homemade Chai Tea Latte

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I’m still hanging tough with the no artificial sweetener, and I am still free of the strong sugar cravings I once had (M&M cookies from HyVee and Snickers candy bars were my go-to faves). I used to get a strong sugar craving mid-afternoon and I usually satisfied that craving with some kind of sugar-laden coffee from any number of the coffee shops here in my town. I have not had a sugar craving, but the weather got cold here 2 days ago and I wanted a hot, creamy, comforting drink. I didn’t want hot green or mint tea, and I didn’t want black coffee. I wanted something that reminded me of cuddling up on the couch with a fluffy blanket or my star quilt, and one of my big puppies. I didn’t necessarily want sugar, but rather some comforting beverage in a pretty mug.

Soooooo….I love Pinterest for times like this. I got to searching and browsing, and I came across this recipe from a young blogger’s site called “The Foodie Teen”. I’m not only amazed at her recipes, but her photography is just beautiful. And she started her blog when she was 14 I believe….I’m still reading her site and I highly recommend it for the photography alone. Lol.

http://thefoodieteen.com/almond-milk-chai-latte/

Here is how I prepared her recipe for an Almond Milk Latte. I always have Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk on-hand. I haven’t used regular dairy milk for a long time, although I don’t claim to be dairy free. I still eat cheese and Greek yogurt. I always read the labels of any milk substitute I buy and make sure it doesn’t include carrageenan, a thickener made from red seaweed extract, as I learned it promotes inflammation. If you want a thicker, creamier milk-substitute, I would use unsweetened cashew milk. I used that for awhile until I remembered my nephew has a tree nut allergy (hazelnuts, walnuts & cashews) so I keep it out of my house now.

I tried out the Zen Chai Tea bags, the caffeinated version. They are very flavorful! This turned out so sweet, and creamy, with just the right amount of sweetness….it hit the spot.

Almond Milk Chai Tea Latte* (from The Foodie Teen)

*I modified the amounts in some of the ingredients.

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 chai tea bags

1 Tbs organic maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves and nutmeg

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it’s just starting to simmer and steam. Remove from heat and add the 2 chai tea bags. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags (I use a tool to squeeze the tea bags to get all the spicy goodness out of them) and add the rest of the ingredients. I used a wire whisk to blend them in. Reheat the pan if necessary over low heat.

Use the maple syrup cautiously….I tend to think the sweetener is overdone in foods or beverages I buy. That’s what I like about making things at home when I can. It’s less convenient, but I can control and decide how much sweetener and spices according to my taste. I used 1 Tbs and added another small splash to my Latte.

I put my tea in a blender to make it froth up. What I really want is a small gadget that mitozan (my niece) HolyElk found to make milk foamy like in a coffee shop. I think I need to reconsider getting an immersion blender…..

This made my house smell soooo good. I haven’t had a craving for a warm, comforting drink since I made this. It’s good to know my cravings are still under control and that I have this wonderful beverage to satisfy it, if necessary. Enjoy!

Giving Up Artificial Sweeteners

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I’m not a photographer, but I wanted to add a visual to my post. Lol.

So….this academic year has a been tough on the immune system. It’s my 1st year working full-time in a middle school and I’ve been a magnet for viruses. My colleagues told me to give myself a year or so to build my immunity up and I won’t get sick as often. One of my friends led me to doing a little research on “gut health” where I learned that 70-80% of our immune tissue is located in our digestive system. Kombucha suddenly became my BFF.

My husband got really sick at the beginning of February. He was sick with an upper respiratory virus for 3 weeks. It was a scary time for him, as this was the sickest he has ever been in his lifetime. He has been a decades-long diet pop drinker, and has always used “the pink packets” of artificial sweetener in iced tea. While he was sick he really looked at all aspects of his health and decided to make some significant changes. The first on the list: over a week ago decided to give up all artificial sweeteners. No diet soda, no yellow, pink or blue packets in his tea or on his fruit. He started drinking water regularly and brews his own iced tea at home. He adds lemon juice and a little bit of real sugar for sweetener, no more than 1.5 tsp of “sugar in the raw” in a 32 oz container.

This was a significant change for my husband. It would be for anyone who has an ingrained health habit. I have that habit as well. I was a huge proponent of diet soda as a healthy replacement for sugar-sweetened beverages. I still believe that it’s a good transitional product for people trying to quit a fully-leaded soda habit. But I did some research on what artificial sweetener does to a body and it made me reconsider my own use of the little packets.

Here is a link to a good article that hits the major highlights of what benefits your body will experience from quitting artificial sweeteners. Please read, it’s rather eye-opening.

https://www.prevention.com/food/quitting-artificial-sweeteners

I quit artificial sweeteners a week ago, a few days after my husband. Here are a few things I’ve noticed:

  1. My taste buds woke up – I can taste the natural sweetness in foods, and all food seems to have more flavor
  2. I don’t have energy swings – I don’t have a mid-afternoon sweet coffee craving, and the snacks I keep in my office for my students no longer tempt me.
  3. I am perfectly satisfied drinking sparkling water with a hint of fruit flavor – I love the carbonation and it helps give my mood a lift for some reason.
  4. My skin looks better. I have more color in my face than I did a few weeks ago
  5. The darndest thing ever – my bad hip doesn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it did a couple weeks ago. I also have more range of motion in my weight training workouts.
  6. I’m not as hungry as I was before. I don’t feel the need to snack or doing my stress eating habit of making homemade popcorn at sitting on the couch after work.
  7. My husband reports that he is sleeping better than he has in years.

This is just after one week. I’m looking forward to seeing what other positive things I notice about my body and my health. I’m very grateful to my husband for leading the way with this change.

Restaurants, Cookies and Ticks – Day 3

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Eating out is a wonderful excuse for me to throw myself off the wellness wagon. The rationale is always “well, I don’t eat out much so I’m going to just order what I really want.” Today that didn’t happen (yay!). I met my sister, 2 of my sister-in-laws and husband-in-law, for lunch and I made a very healthy choice (tri-athlete omelet from First Watch). It does help greatly to go out to eat with like-minded, health-conscious people. (Tip: always order first…and order healthy. The person who orders first sets the tone for the whole group’s food choices). If no one is ordering junk then you don’t feel like you’re missing out. 

Day 3 brought better time management and food prep. When I got home from work I got my daughters and our dog Mickey out for a nice long walk. I worried it was going to rain and we had an orchestra concert to go to this evening. I’m glad I got our exercise in and we ended up walking over 3 miles. Mickey sure loves our walks and we had a pretty view today. What I didn’t love was pulling a tick off his neck this evening. Yuck. My poor Mickey. I checked him all over for ticks and he looked kinda sad at the thought of having more on him. Lol. Now I’m going to go to bed wondering if I have any on me….

Then the orchestra concert was the last one of the school year and we were asked to bring cookies for a reception following the concert. Hy-Vee has thee best chocolate chip cookies and M&M cookies. I ate one M&M cookie and thought I was good. Then my husband very thoughtfully brought me a cup of coffee and another cookie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually eating one cookie sets me off and I’ll eat 4 or 5. Not today, you tempting cookies…not today. I was good at 2 and logged them (the bar code to give nutrition info WORKED on the box!). 

I had enough leftover chicken to make another delicious spinach, fruit and chicken salad. So even though I went over my carb count, I ate several servings of fruit and veggies and I stayed within my calorie goal for the day. #winning 

I’m calling today a success because it was fraught with peril. Lol. Seriously…there were so many points during the day where I would have willingly thrown myself off the wagon. But I didn’t. I think that having it on my mind that I’m going to report on my day here in this blog helps as well. Accountability. Better find you some. It helps. 

#NoExcuses 

No More Excuses

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I’ll be honest. I am an awesome, one of the best really, “excuse-makers”.

I can find a reason (read: excuse) for anything. I believe I honed this skill in my early college years where I earned a plethora of “W” (withdraw) and “I” (Incomplete) grades that still show on all my transcripts. I’ve used this skill to account for slacking on schoolwork, graduate papers, studying, housework, balancing my checkbook, sewing, beading, doctor’s visits (such as my annual mammogram), eating healthy, and working out. I’ve gotten by because I can usually pull something together at the last minute. I know my life is much simpler when I force myself out of my excuse-making tendencies, but that doesn’t keep me from making excuses consistently in order to enable my mindset. 🙂

This is a wellness blog. Yet my blogging is sporadic because I’ve come up with some of the best excuses for either not blogging consistently, or not practicing wellness habits consistently. Some of them were very valid at the time….I’ve had good honest reasons why I’ve fallen off the wellness wagon time and time again. But once those reasons or issues have been addressed and I still am not back on the wagon again…then they become an excuse.

So…in an effort to be brutally honest with myself….here are my best “reasons” for the past few years for not feeling like I was capable of practicing healthy habits. 2012 I remember as my last best year for wellness….I was running 5K races consistently and I felt great about myself. So let’s start there.

  1. Hip Osteoarthritis – this was a biggie. The OA diagnosis and the inevitable total hip replacement was huge. Mentally and emotionally it was tough…having to face the prospect on never shawl dancing again or running again. Then the actual hip pain made it hard to workout, and even harder to want to work out.
  2. Depression – this stemmed from the OA diagnosis, the unknown of total hip replacement surgery, not finding a good coping mechanism besides running, surgery recovery, marital issues, a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and job dissatisfaction. I often felt alone and lonely in my depression, which made motivation scarce and just about non-existent.
  3. Career Change – I wanted to get out of community health administration, and out of the 100 mile round-trip daily commute, and go back into clinical social work at a local agency. I needed to job search, study for my licensure exam, and get out of my comfort zone to follow my passion. That was all extremely stressful and daunting and I didn’t know if I could do it.

Those are the major ones. Every single one of them I allowed to take precious time away from me and what I wanted to do take care of me and my family. I was able to find a million excuses for not treating my body and my spirit well out of all of those 3 big categories. All 3 categories all fed off each other as well and just made things seem bigger and bigger and bigger, until I was overwhelmed on the regular.

So here is where I’m at now and where the excuses end.

  1. Hip OA – I’ve had one hip replaced and know exactly what to expect with my 2nd surgery. My recover was, upon reflection, fairly easy due to my age and my physical strength prior to surgery. My right hip has no more pain and normal range of motion. I got clearance to begin training to shawl dance last June, and I actually danced in a fancy shawl special at KU powwow last month. My left hip is still bad but I know with weight loss and supplements, and possibly a cortisone shot, I can put off surgery for another year or so. My arches hurt from the excess weight, but I have good shoes with arch supports for work and working out.
  2. Depression – I’ve been managing the symptoms with anti-depressant meds. I feel much more positive and self-sufficient than last year at this time. I am getting ready to start tapering off my meds now that things that overwhelmed me have settled down. We got a dog and he is the best thing for mental health. He is awesome and brings so much joy to us. My marriage is much better due to praying together daily. I am finding walking very enjoyable, especially with my big puppy. My sleep has improved and I don’t feel the food cravings often associated with a depressed mood. I went on a social media fast and that was an eye-opener…how the negativity on social media can permeate your brain and your mood. My now-elevated mood helps me feel motivated. I downloaded “The Secret Daily Teachings” app on my phone and it always has good positive words that I read every morning.
  3. Career Change – I successfully passed my master social worker licensure exam. I found an awesome job as a therapist at a local community mental health center. I work in a middle school so I work school hours. My job is 3.5 miles from my home. I love this work…the kids are awesome and so are the staff here. I worked through any internal difficulties I was having at my old job and I was able to leave on good terms….which felt amazing.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my husband and kids gave me gifts all designed to get me healthy and strong again….new runners, new running tops, phone armband. I can’t use time as an excuse because I am home shortly after my kids get home. So I have time to cook earlier, time to get housework done, and time to walk or do something with my kids. I truly have no more excuses. I’m sure I can find some, since I’ve gotten so good at it over the years. I need to use my powers for good and not idleness. Lol. I should turn it around and make excuses TO BE HEALTHY for once.


So TODAY is the day of “No More Excuses”. It’s Day 1. I got my baseline info for Day 1 in the form of weighing myself and taking a picture. 🙂 I overslept this morning and ALMOST caved and said “Day 1 can start tomorrow.” Hahahaha. But I didn’t. That’s a good sign. See, I could have easily used that as an excuse to delay Day 1 but I did not.

I made myself take a few minutes for breakfast instead of running out the door since I was running late. My vanilla strawberry smoothie with cashew milk, vanilla Weight Watchers smoothie mix and 1 cup of fresh strawberries was only 1 carbohydrate serving.  My plan today is either to walk Mickey or ride the new bike my dad got me for my birthday (lack of a bike was a prior excuse to not exercise when my joints were hurting). I have a place to workout at the Sports Pavilion if the weather is bad. They have a nice indoor track and good cardio equipment.

I need to make myself accountable, so I will do my best to jot something here each day. I want to document this new journey. This is more for me than for you, but if you get something positive out of it as well, then that’s a bonus.

Here we go. Day 1. I’ll write later how it goes. #Letsdoodis

 

8-Week Wellness Challenge

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First of all, I want to say right off the bat that I have succeeded at losing 17 lbs since my highest weight post-total hip replacement surgery!! That means I lost the 15 lbs I gained post-surgery, plus an additional 2 lbs. I have 5 more lbs to go to hit my 1st major goal. My youngest told me today, “Mom, you’re getting skinny.” Lol. Even though “skinny” isn’t my goal, regaining my health is, it was still nice to hear that someone noticed some progress.

My eating and workouts kind of went up and down over the summer, as those who powwow understand the disruption of routines, driving for hours, dancing all weekend, not always having access to the healthiest of foods, packing a cooler, etc. The healthy habits could have been better, they could have been much worse. I concentrated this summer on not beating myself up over slip-ups and just trying to get back on as soon as I can.

My sister got me in the habit of walking for 45 minutes every morning at work. When she isn’t at work, she texts me to ask me if I went out for my walk yet. Lol. That got me going on the consistent activity. But today I want to write about a wellness challenge that has really motivated me.

Tracy is a woman I went to graduate school with and we both earned our MSWs at the same time. Our kids go to the same school, have played on the same teams, and she is friends with one of my nieces. She encouraged me after learning about my hip osteoarthritis back in 2012 to take her cycling class (which, by the way, was a killer workout) to give my joints a break from running, and she has conquered her own health challenges and surgeries. She is inspiring.

My sister-in-law invited me to participate in an 8-week wellness challenge that Tracy was organizing. She had participated the 1st time Tracy did the challenge and encouraged me and my sister to join. The details of the challenge and the structure really intrigued me, which are explained below.

For 8-weeks, each person can earn a point per day in the following areas: 1) Journaling/tracking food intake and following a safe, healthy and nutritious eating plan of our choice, 2) drinking half your body weight in ounces of water, 3) exercising (and she leaves it to us to determine what we think is a workout, there is no minimum number of minutes required to earn this point) – and with exercise one can only earn a maximum of 5 points per week to encourage rest days, 4) getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night. We all took a picture of our scale with our starting weight and sent it to Tracy, and at the end of the 8 weeks we will take a picture of our scale with our ending weight. We can earn 1 point for each percentage of total body weight we lose. For example, if someone starts out weighing 200 lbs, they would earn 1 point for every 2 lbs they lost by the end of the challenge. We have sheets were we can record our points daily. One can earn a maximum of 26 points each week, and then additional points at the end with our final weigh-in. The people who did this challenge the first time don’t mess around. The previous winner didn’t miss ANY of their weekly points and lost weight. There is a $25 buy-in which is given to the winners at the end of 8 weeks. And she set up a FaceBook page for the members of the challenge so we always get little reminders, or encouragement, or ideas for meals and snacks.

I am used to keeping a food journal, and when properly motivated I can exercise 5 days per week. I was really intrigued with the sleep requirement. My sleep routine has been non-existent for almost a year and I’ve never given it much deliberate thought. I go to bed early when I am exhausted or I push myself and don’t get rest. There is no consistency.

We just finished up Week 2 of the challenge. I think I’ve missed only 1 sleep point each week so far when my schedule was a little off on that day. I have been tracking my food faithfully and paying attention to my calorie goals. I even track my “free days” or free meals. There is nothing like seeing that you ate a DQ Blizzard, or 4 slices of pizza from Rudy’s to make you more conscious of your food choices. I make my water intake daily. I’ve earned 5 exercise points per week. I started using MapMyWalk and synched it to my MyFitnessPal so it automatically posts my workouts and calorie expenditure to my food log. Although I began the challenge intending to do the Metabolism Miracle, my actual eating has turned into more of a carb counting routine. I keep my breakfasts and lunches to anywhere between 5-15 grams of carbs or less, I eat many vegetables, take my vitamins, and if I feel like eating some popcorn or a small handful of chips, or 2 soft tortillas in the evenings, I do it. I usually keep dinners to 2 carb servings or less. And guess what…..my weight seems to be just dropping off!! I believe it’s because the structure of this challenge encourages several healthy habits, not just food and exercise. I think it’s the sleep requirement that’s made the difference with me as well as being mindful of my carb intake and not restricting myself as much as before. My energy is evening out more each day…I don’t have as many dips and my energy lasts longer. And I feel smaller already.

So if you haven’t guessed it at this point, Tracy is amazing!!! This was so needed at this point and time and I’m having fun AND improving my health. Thank you again for organizing this!!