Tag Archives: smoothies

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

 

2 Smoothie Recipes from The Swirlies

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What an extremely hectic April and May we had!!! Too much to write about so I’ll just cut to the chase.

We ended our indoor powwow season last weekend with Haskell’s Commencement Powwow. Two weekends in a row of working powwows (for me), and 2 weekends in a row of my kids dancing. I got a rude awakening once again at how difficult it is to maintain healthy eating habits during powwow season. Fry bread everywhere you turn, fatty/starchy soups, candy, Gatorade and soda/pop…..*sigh*  And I didn’t have time to prepare and bring healthy snacks like my own fruit, veggies, cheese sticks, turkey, boiled eggs, etc. Making time to prepare before every powwow will be my priority this year.

So, in an effort to get back on track, the Swirlies (my 2 daughters) decided to have smoothies for breakfast this week. They both have their own recipes, and both are delicious! And very simple to make.

I keep forgetting how small their tummies are, so I made too much the first day. By this morning I had the ingredients down to where they fit into a regular size coffee cup (8 oz, or 1 measuring cup), which is the perfect amount for them. Myself, I can always knock out at least 12-16 ounces of one of my smoothies.

Shelby’s Smoothie – Strawberry Pineapple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh strawberries and pineapple combined
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt (I buy the Dannon Lite & Fit vanilla because it has much less added sugar than other non-fat vanilla brands)
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Fits in the coffee cup.

Sara’s Smoothie – Pineapple Apple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh pineapple and apple combined (I leave the skin on)
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth

I was amazed at how sweet the Pineapple Apple smoothie was. Almost tasted like a treat!

I am going to try to talk the girls into having a “Smoothie Party” for their combined birthday parties. Let them and their friends have fun creating and get many different fruits (and veggies) in their systems!

No picture this blog entry, but will try to summon up my amateur photography skills on the next one. 🙂

Breakfast Smoothie Made with Kefir

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Kefir, fruit and spinach smoothie

I think my best smoothie concoctions are created when I just use whatever I have on-hand.

I came down with strep throat in March and was prescribed a 10-day antibiotic. I haven’t taken a 10-day round of antibiotics in decades. The only times I have needed an antibiotic were for sinus infections and I usually get a Z-pack. Right after I finished my prescription I experienced terrible stomach upset to the point where I had no appetite. I didn’t feel like eating and when I did I couldn’t eat more than a couple of bites at time. This went on for 4 days before I started looking up information on the side effects of antibiotics and gut health.

I guessed that the 10 days of amoxicillin might have caused an imbalance of the good bacteria in my gut. So off to the store I went and found a probiotic supplement. Later when I was grocery shopping I saw a bottles of kefir. Kefir is like drinkable yogurt and contains the active yogurt cultures that help maintain gut health. I have avoided buying it in the past because most of the kefir I’ve come across contains a high amount of sugar (except for the plain variety). This brand was low-fat, fruit flavored and sweetened with Stevia. I bought a bottle and tried it out immediately. I really liked the taste and texture. It must be good because my little 8-year foodie daughter loves it.

I drank a cup of the kefir every morning for a week. It helped settle my stomach and gave me a little energy (I was feeling run-down from not eating enough). Within that week my stomach finally returned to normal but I still wanted to keep kefir on hand.

Before my trip to the grocery store last week, I was rummaging around my refrigerator and freezer looking to use up food remnants for breakfast. The remains I found were some of this kefir, 1 cup of frozen cherries, half a carton of blueberries, and one big handful of spinach. I blended them all together, added a little water to make it less thick, and put a few drops of liquid stevia in so that Joe B would drink it.

This is one of the best smoothies I’ve ever come up with. I’ve made it 3 times for our breakfast since then. The exact ingredients and the amounts I used are below.

Lifeway Kefir

Kefir, Fruit and Spinach Smoothie:

Makes 2 servings

1 Cup Kefir – low-fat, fruit flavored (sweetened with Stevia)
1 heaping Cup frozen sweet cherries
1/2 Cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1-2 Cups Spinach (I just use a big handful)
1/2 C water
Drops of liquid Stevia to taste

The combination of the kefir and frozen fruit gives it a really nice cold texture, similar to a milkshake but it’s tart, not overly sweet. And the best thing is that you get a serving of dairy and fruit, and half a serving of veggies, not to mention some gut healthy probiotics, all in one shot. Let me know if you try it and if you liked it. 🙂

Need your daily fruits and veggies? Make smoothies!!

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We are doing our Nutrition unit in my diabetes class and we discussed the number of fruit and vegetable servings that people need each day (5-7). A smoothie can be a really good meal/snack and a very efficient way to get your fruits and veggies in. I prefer making a smoothie to “juicing” because when you juice fruits and veggies it just extracts the liquid and the fructose, leaving you with a simple carbohydrate (read “sugar”). The pulp is left in the bottom tray of the juice machine and discarded, but that’s the important part….the pulp contains the fiber of the fruits and veggies. Whole fruits and veggies have a high water content, fructose, nutrients, and FIBER which is important to heart health, colon health, and keeping your digestive system running like a well-oiled machine. Your body has to work harder to break down whole fruits and veggies due to the fiber so it slows down the blood sugar spike that can occur when you drink fruit juice alone. Smoothies are the way to go. Although the blender breaks down some of the food for you, smoothies are still a healthier alternative to any kind of juice.

I have four “go-to” smoothie recipes. My kids like some of them, Joe B likes all of them, except for the new one I came up with this morning because he hasn’t tried it yet. One of them I got online and the others are variations of recipes I’ve seen on-line. Easy to make and I love the fact that I can get a couple of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed in one shot.

Green Monster Smoothie (courtesy of “Fit Mama” and motivational speaker Erin Brown): 1 Cup of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk for myself, 1% organic milk for the Swirlies), 1 banana, 2 Cups of Spinach. Optional: I will add half a scoop of organic whey vanilla flavored protein powder to give it smoother, more creamy texture. Feel free to add a little bit of maple syrup or stevia if it’s not sweet enough (although the bananas add plenty of sweetness). Make sure the put the spinach on the bottom of the blender and the rest of the ingredients on top so it doesn’t fly up and stick to the lid. And add some ice, it will feel like a milkshake. Shelby’s favorite smoothie to date. Makes 1 large serving or 2 Swirlie sized servings. http://www.fitmamatraining.com

Green Kale/Cucumber/Apple/Pineapple Smoothie (2 Servings): 2 Cups Kale (or spinach), 1 cup peeled diced cucumber (i use seedless cucumbers), 1 diced apple (leave the peel on, use any apple of choice), 1 C diced pineapple, 1 C water, 1 C ice, 1-2 packets of Stevia. Optional: 2 tsp. Omega-3-oil supplement. Put the leafy greens at the bottom of the blender and layer the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Joe B’s favorite smoothie. Even some of my students have tried this and like it, bright green color and all. 🙂 I didn’t see a recipe for this, I just used what I thought sounded good.

Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (serves 1):  1 C unsweetened Almond Milk, 2 Tbs natural peanut butter, 1 scoop organic chocolate whey protein powder (make sure there are no more than 2 g of carbs per serving), handful of ice. I take this smoothie on the road with us to powwows and this is mine and Joe B’s breakfast in the morning. I bring my Magic Bullet and my protein powder. I usually find the milk and PB when I get there, or I bring it in a cooler. Good power protein breakfast and this also makes a good workout recovery drink.

Cherry Almond Smoothie (serves 1): Just tried this out this morning. Modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest. 1 C frozen cherries, 1 handful of spinach, 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 C greek yogurt (I use regular, full-fat greek yogurt), I threw in some sliced almonds and a little dab of maple syrup. It was delicious! The recipe I saw on Sweet Peas and Saffron’s website (www.sweatpeasandsaffron) called for almond extract instead of the sliced almonds (I didn’t have any extract) and omitted the spinach. I added so I could get the leafy greens. And it called for 1/2 tsp of honey but I just added a very small drizzle of maple syrup, I knew the cherries would make it very sweet.

I’m sure I’ll add more blog entries like this when I try different smoothie combinations. Drinking fruit and veggie smoothies consistently does wonders for your energy, your mood, your skin, etc. You will be surprised how your body responds to really nutritious foods on the regular.