Home Blog Page 2

Am I Really Hungry?

We have been thrust into the middle of something that we haven’t seen since 1919. 

As a society, we are for the first time in history, our history anyway, changing the way we live our lives each and every day.  Some of us are housebound, either not allowed to leave, or are just following our newly formed guidelines of not supposed to leave our homes.

Some of us are seeking help from our governments for financial help because our livelihoods have evaporated, we are taking care of a loved one who is very sick with something that the world is so afraid of, or we are working in an environment where life is just as it was and life is just moving along.  In whichever situation you find yourself in, life as we knew it may never be the same.

What a crazy time to be alive.  How are you adjusting to this crazy time?  

Are you overwhelmed?  Are you angry?  Are you bored?  Are you working more than ever? Are you lonely?  Are you in a constant state of stress?

All of these things are perfectly normal feelings now and no matter what, but its what you do with these feelings that will define how well you come out of this time.

If you are like me, all of these feelings normally send me directly to the pantry or fridge. 

I am a stress eater.  I also eat when I am bored.  It is something I have struggled with my whole life.  But under these circumstances, I feel like I could be practically living in my kitchen.  Especially with having nowhere to go each day, I have no reason to wear anything more than stretchy pants and therefore have no idea how fat I am becoming.

Not entirely true.  I haven’t worked outside of the house for years.  So the temptation to eat all day is something that I have wrestled with for years.  The idea of stress eating haunts me every day, but I work really hard not to give in to it.  And it really is work somedays.

I can’t just give in to the cravings so I have come up with a few strategies to help me combat my urge to eat.

  • What time is it?  Is it really mealtime?
  • Have I had enough water?  When was the last time I drank?
  • Set a timer and wait 15 min.  If I am still actually hungry then it’s time to eat.
  • Go for a walk. Around the yard, down the hall a few times, anything.
  • Stop and think about how I am actually feeling

Making sure that I don’t ever get so hungry that I could out-eat a bear is also a crucial way to keep my eating on point.

Remember, we are all in this together and together we will come out stronger and healthier instead of 15lbs heavier.

Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.

Mitch Hedberg

What Does Healthy Eating Look Like?

Do you know what healthy eating looks like?  Everyone knows that we should eat healthily. Generally, we all know that a diet of chips, pop, pizza, burgers, beer is not considered healthy. And if you were to ask most people they would say that to eat healthily you eat salads, tuna, chicken breast and it all tastes awful. But what does it actually look like?

Does eating healthily really mean that you feel deprived all the time?  Does it mean that once a week you get to eat a huge reward meal? Does it mean that you weigh and measure everything you eat? Does it mean that you never eat what you really like and only eat to feed yourself and never enjoy food again?

Well, the truth is that it depends.  Yup, that answer sucks but for the most part, that is the truth.

It is true because we are all different.  In my house, when we had all of our kids still living at home, I used to say ‘name one dish that we all like and that is what I will make for dinner.’  because we could never come up with that one thing, we were never all satisfied at the same time. Our bodies are made up the same way our tastes are, all different.  

Several years ago when Doug and I first buckled down to lose weight, it seemed to melt off of him.  We ate the same meals, his measured to him and mine measured to me and for me the scale hardly budged.  So even in our house eating the right way didn’t work the way the “insta-experts” will tell you.

Now, there are some simple guidelines for eating healthy.  But again, it depends on how you eat on a regular basis. If you are not either overweight or underweight, that may just be how your body processes the food you eat, but you could still be nutrient deficient.  I know all sorts of people that look healthy but they eat really poorly and therefore are not really healthy. Just because your weight is in a healthy range, it doesn’t mean you eat healthily. The opposite is also true.  I know all sorts of people that eat really well and yet are carrying more weight than they should.  

But what does aa healthy diet look like to most people?

According to The Canada Food Guide

There are some simple guidelines to help you see what a healthy diet should look like.  

This is not necessarily the diet you would use to lose weight, this is the government’s idea of what it takes to make our bodies get the most balanced nutrition to make our us function properly.  There is a big difference in eating for a purpose like losing weight or gaining weight and eating to mak tour body function at its best. Remember, to have your best immunity, best brain function, stress relief ability, you need to fuel your body with the best things possible.

So;

  • Eat more fruits and veggies, you probably don’t eat enough
  • Eat smaller portions of starchy foods
  • Eat less processed foods
  • Eat slower

The easiest diet is, you know, eat vegetables, eat fresh food. Just a really sensible healthy diet like you read about all the time.

Drew Carey

My Motivation Ebbs and Flows

I haven’t written in months and the longer it has gone, the harder it has been to get motivated to get into the swing of things.  Sound familiar?
Well, I guess it is some form of human nature because most of us seem to fall into this trap.  


Motivation seems to ebb and flow.  But the longer we stay away from our “to-do task” the harder it is to get back at it.


I am no different and even though I seem to have a lot on my plate, so do most people, no excuse.  
We have had some pretty significant changes in our world.   Which is to be expected, let’s face it, if things didn’t change, life would be so totally dull and boring.  Now, some of the things that we all must face suck. We all have some pretty tough stuff to deal with, but that is life.  We get through the tough stuff, then the fun stuff pops up and we forget about the ugly parts of life.
That is what I have done.  I sat to write today. I had no idea what I was going to write about because it has been so long.  One of the problems with not writing in a while is that I forget what I have just written about.

  • What was on my brainstorming page? 
  • What research do I have saved?
  • Then can I actually have words that have meaning come out of my fingers onto the keyboard?
  • The real meaning will be up to you.  You are still the reason that I write, so if I am giving you value, please let me know.


But the motivation for me seems to be like waves.  When it is going it goes well. When it is rolling it is hard to keep up, things just keep rolling.  But when you are waiting for a good wave to ride into shore on, you can wait for a long time. The longer you wait, you lose the reason why you are out there.  Sometimes you can see the shore but can’t get there. Sometimes you get on the wave and get slammed into the sand. Motivation is just too sensitive to rely on as the only thing that gets you going.  Sometimes you just do it and paddle in on your own.
For me, getting to the gym isn’t as much of a problem as eating is.  I like the feeling I get when my workout is done. Not just because I suffered through it, but because my skin feels good.  My mind is quite often clear, my lungs have opened and released so much tension and I feel accomplished. Then, the struggle starts, food.  What to eat, when, how much, is that enough, too much? Should I weigh this, measure it? Should I eat the same thing all the time? What is the nutritional content of my food? UGH!

BREATHE

I know that sometimes telling someone to relax is like telling air to get back into a balloon, not going to happen.
On the other hand, doing nothing isn’t going to get anything done.  Choosing to do nothing is still choosing, it’s just not a great option when you have a goal in mind.
So, my commitment to you is that I am committed to writing regularly.  Just like hitting the gym, I will hit the keyboard and continue to give you the inspiration you need to help you reach your goals.

Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.

Les Brown

My First Garden

I have an organic garden.


This is the first ‘real’ organic garden I have ever planted.  


I have grown almost everything in my garden from seed.
I am totally overwhelmed with my garden and I am completely shocked at how happy this garden makes me feel.

My dad always had a garden.  His dad always had a garden. I tried to garden when the kids were little, but I never seemed to find the time to give to it, so I failed easily because the idea was always bigger than my effort to maintain it.

But, this year, I decided it was my turn to try for real this time.  Kind of like each attempt at losing my jelly roll around my tummy.  

I did some research.  Made sure I checked the calendar for when to plant.  Did my garden have enough sun? It was really fun to do all the prep.  Then one day went to the local nursery and loaded up on seed packs.

In early spring, I planted.  Lucky for me, I have a greenhouse.  I have never had one before, so even that was new.

I watered, waited, watered, waited.  Then, went into the yard and started to prepare the space we were going to use as a garden.  A lot of digging, weeding, more digging, and then a truck of new soil. That was the biggest expense.

I had entered into this little adventure with the idea that it was an inexpensive hobby and if nothing actually was edible, the adventure was going to be worth it.  The only real cost being sweat equity and that soil.

As the weeks went along, little sprouts came and then the day to put them all outside in our garden.  So exciting. And nervewracking. There was also an unknown variable. We had deer that came through our yard quite regularly, so I was a little concerned that all I was growing was a salad bar for them.  By the way, the deer have not touched it at all. I believe it is where it is in the yard and the fact that there is a lot of other food for them on the other side of the yard.

The spring turned to summer and we began to see our efforts paying off.  First, was the kale to look like kale, then spinach, and lettuce. Soon we saw little zucchini flowers and pumpkin blossoms.  The beets started to grow and before long our garden looked like a garden.

This has been so much fun for me.  Here we are in mid-summer and we are picking every day, for our shakes, kale, and spinach.  We have been feeding our friends, family and our kids' lettuce, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, spinach, kale and soon we will be handing out tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and watermelons.  

Some of the things we planted didn’t go quite as planned but with everything else growing so well, it doesn’t even matter.  We have learned so much about watering, bugs, mildew, weeds, and things that I had no idea I wanted to know.

And by the way, while our garden is growing like crazy, I have been planted herbs in the greenhouse and they are also my little miracle babies.  The greenhouse smells so good.

I have bees in there, birds in and out, butterflies fluttering around and none of them seem bothered by me being in there.  We had a problem with aphids and so we bought ladybugs to get rid of them. Yes, ladybugs. No pesticides, who knew?

Why am I gushing about this?  It is new to me. I had no idea I would love it so much.  I have talked about trying new things before Working out for the First Time and Try Something New, this isn’t normally what someone thinks of when thinking of ways to stay active and get healthy, but it totally is.  I am always wandering into the garden. I am always doing a little weeding. There are feeding and watering. All things that keep me just a little more active than watching the gardening channel, than driving to the store.

If you get the opportunity, try a little growing.  Even in the window. Even some herbs. Anything that keeps you distracted from becoming a mushroom yourself and gives you something just a little bit healthier.  And the best part is that the flavors of the things that come out fo your garden will absolutely amaze you.

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all, it teaches entire trust. -Gertrude Jekyll