How I Went From “If I Get Around To It” to “Just Do It!!!!”

I was born and raised a couch potato.  Growing up, while my family enjoyed the outdoors and nature, it was all from a spectator point of view, never an active one. 

And really that is quite understandable!  With a congenital muscle weakness which targets the arms and legs running rampant throughout most branches of my family tree, making it difficult to walk stairs and even hills, going out for touch football or a game of frisbee was never going to be my family’s recreational activity of choice. 

Now that I am in my 40s, I clearly understand why my grandfather moved his family from the hilly, stair-filled, icy and sometimes treacherous (for us) north to the much easier to navigate warm flatlands of South Florida!

But I am striving to push forward and get through some of those challenges! 

In the last seven months I have made health changes to my life that I never imagined, the biggest one being becoming a vegetarian!  I still am shocked that I was able to do that…somehow a simple mind shift stuck with me and I have no desire for meat or junk food anymore. 

Part of this mind shift I know is due to the cocoon of healthy living I have been able to surround myself in.   Between the blogs I hang out on, the real-life people I am associating with, the organic produce I order, and the changes I have made in our household, it has become so much a part of my every day life that many times I forget everybody doesn’t have this healthy lifestyle…until I go out in to the real world that is!

A few weeks ago I had a blogger meetup with four other healthy living bloggers who live here in South Florida.  Out of the five of us there, I was the oldest, heaviest, and clearly the most out of shape.  I have made incredible changes in my diet, but sitting with these girls it sure didn’t look like it!While everybody there made healthy eating a priority, two of the girls, Amanda and Melissa, are avid runners and they had some running tales to share with us.   Honestly, listening to them I really WANTED to be a runner too!  But there I was…not doing anything at all!

When I got home I went to explore some of their blogs a bit…I had never been to Amanda’s blog before, and for some reason, reading her story about how she got started running really motivated me and something clicked inside my head…albeit something really small, but at least it was a something, right? 

I wanted to love moving my body as much as she enjoyed moving hers!

During the same week I followed my usual internet routine of reading the health blogs to keep my motivated, and as usual I went to one of my favorite’s Oh She Glows, along with Amanda’s blog, Run To The Finish. 

While reading about Angela’s day at OSG, she spoke about what a busy day she was having…12 or so hours of baking, paperwork, and more…AND all of a sudden I saw how even in the midst of all that she had to do, SHE STILL MADE SURE SHE MADE TIME FOR A SERIOUS WORKOUT!

I couldn’t believe it…for me being busy was a sure excuse to not have to work out!  And here she was still making sure she got to it with an absolutely full day of being on her feet either ahead of her or behind her!

And as I thought about it I realized that all of the healthy bloggers out there who really were fit and thin did the same thing.

And the big ole’ lightbulb in my head turn to a brilliant, glaring, shine in your eyes so bright that you can’t ignore it kind of on. 

EXERCISE WAS A PRIORITY IN THEIR LIVES!

And all of a sudden I got it!  To somebody like me and most people I know, exercise is something you fit in if you have the time.  IF YOU HAVE THE TIME.  And guess what…most of the time with going here, going there, doing this and that…you (I) DON’T HAVE THE TIME…so it just gets dropped of the list.

But it became so beautifully clear to me at that moment that all of these gorgeous, young, healthy ladies I have been motivated by view physical activity as one of those things in your day that falls into the “MUST DO” category with those things you have to do during that that are not optional!

You know, you MUST shower, MUST get dressed, MUST eat, MUST get the kids to school on time, MUST get your work done, MUST pick the kids up from school, MUST breathe…and you MUST give your body some physical activity…..get the picture?

I sure did!  You may think I am a big dummy…but really, I had never looked at physical activity in that light before. 

And the other lightbulb that came on was how even these ladies had their moments when the did not want to get up and run or workout…but they still did, because it is important to their overall wellbeing!  It was a MUST Do! 

So since that giant lightbulb started glaring at me I have been making sure I am making it a priority, and for me, with my muscle condition, really it is a priority…one of quality of life in my future as a matter of fact.

I have set my goals and for the first time in I don’t know how many years I have been following through and ENJOYING it too!  ME!  Enjoying exercise!

My goals had to start with what I am able to do…I will never be a marathon runner, I am not sure it is possible, but I can walk (and I am grateful for that), and I do know I can strengthen my legs somewhat, hopefully slowing down the progression and severity of the disease.

So for the past few weeks I make sure I walk 4-5/7 days.  I am walking a minimum of 2 miles each day with an overall goal to walk 300 miles this year.   I have also set a goal to at least be able to jog a mile.  YES!  A whole mile!!  Of course as it stands at this moment, that one mile for me might as well be 26.2! 

On April 29 I will be walking the Mercedes Benz Corporate 5K!  Maybe not a big deal for you marathoners…but it is for me and I am really excited about that!  One day I hope I can run one…but for now I am thrilled that I can walk one…and keep it in an hour too!

I have already seen progress in my speed and endurance.   In two weeks I have gone from a 22 minute mile and shaky legs after the first mile (hoping I won’t fall down out there in the park!) to a 19 minute mile today…and I pushed through to 3.5 miles.  AND…for the first time on my walk today (hee hee) I wasn’t the slowest one out there!  Yep..there was one lady I could keep ahead of!  HEY…that is progress for somebody that has always been a turtle!!!!

Already I see that I will need to be adding some kind of stretching routine and strength training routine to the walking, not that easy when most routines have floor exercises and as of yet I am still not able to get up from the floor by myself.

But I am learning about that…how to proceed and I know I will succeed in there too!

I am not sure of all the how’s, what’s, and why’s of all of the changes, understandings, and motivations I have been lucky enough to experience lately…but as a thank you to Angela, Amanda, Melissa, Karilynn, and some of the other bloggers who, even they have no clue, have played a major role in motivating me, I hope over the next year to be able to pay it forward by showing what I can do and motivating some other couch potatoes to get off of the couch and move!

Really…if I can do it, anybody can!!!

A Few Good Meals

I am way too tired to write…how about pictures instead…

My faaaavvvee breakfast!  Oatmeal made with almond milk and water, cooked with bananas, topped with cacao nibs, razzies, hiding strawberries, and a spoonful of almond butter.  My faaaaavvveee!!!For FabPreteen, whose tastes are evolving (finally!!!), yogurt mix…peach yogurt topped with razzies, strawberries, bananas, and a sprinkle of granola.  She loves this stuff..one day I will wean her off the yogurt with fruit…but for now I am happy she is eating this!Sweet organic grapefruit shared with FabPreteen. Organic tangerine…midday snack!

Dinner…chickpea/broccoli/potato coconut curry over quinoa and topped with raw cashews and raisins… OMG this was incredibly good!Breakfast this morning…FabPreteen and I had coupons for free oatmeal at Starbucks for…it came with cute little packets of dried fruit (currants, mixed raisins, cranberries) and mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, and pecans)

And a cute little packet of brown sugar which I resisted at first (I never use it on my oats at home!) but at 50 calories I  succumbed..put all the packets in my oats..and felt so guilty!On a regular day I wouldn’t pay for Starbucks oatmeal when I could make it at home for pennies….and healthier…but it was good!  And probably better than stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts.Finally dinner tonight…shock shock shock…made by FabHubs!  Yes…HE COOKED THAT STUFF!  (He has resisted cooking dinner since we went organic/vegetarian..well I went vegetarian, he is resisting that too.   He always tells me, “I don’t know how to cook that stuff!”)

Roasted acorn squash, collard greens sauteed with garlic and onion, topped with parmesan cheese, and sauteed leeks.

Another shock…the collards, squash, and leeks are from previous weeks….and are the very last of older veggies. 

For the first time in I don’t know how long, I ONLY HAVE ORGANIC PRODUCE FROM THIS WEEK’S BOX IN MY HOUSE! 

I really can’t believe it!

And on that note…I am going to bed!!!!!

Eating Well

By Monday morning my fruit bowl was pathetic!  After making lunches for the kids, only one lonely little apple remained.   I think this is the first time this has happened since I joined the organic produce club!

But thankfully it was Monday…and soon this arrived…..

Not quite in that form, but after everything was sorted out, this is a portion of my share!

This week for my fresh organic eating and cooking pleasure I have:

• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 head broccolini
• 1 container of rainbow heirloom cherry tomatoes…YUM!
• 1 bag onions (I needed these!)
• 2 bulbs garlic (I needed these two!)
• 4 Haas avocados
• beets
• 2  cucumbers
• 1 beautiful head of green leaf lettuce (not my fave but I love salad)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• pink lady apples
• blueberries (gone already by this posting!)
• 4 mangos
• Ridiculously ginormous bananas
• Tangerines
• Grapefruit
• Jazz apples…these are almost as good as the honeycrisp!
• Raspberries
• Strawberries

I also sprung $5 more this week for two extra bunches of kale…I have been craving a massaged kale salad!

Look  at these tomatoes!   Aren’t they pretty?  They are almost gone too!Good razzies too!And afterwards my fruit bowl (and kids) were full  and happy again.Look at the size of this banana!  Normally I put a whole one in a double batch of green monsters for myself  and FabTeen…or I put half in my monster and half in my oatmeal…but this was the size of TWO bananas! 

I ended up splitting one between two batches of oats and a double batch of green monsters!

This is my full-size milk container!

By lunchtime on Monday, in between taking care of produce, people  coming to pick up, and trying to work, I was starving!  Sometimes I don’t get time for breakfast or lunch on those days and every time I sit down for lunch the doorbell rings!

I threw together in a hurry some of the fresh mozzarella balls I got on Sunday’s Costco run, organic baby spinach (Costco again, not the produce box), and half of the last large tomato from last week.  I sprinkled some S&P and balsamic on top. I had Girl Scouts Monday night and I have been grumbling A LOT about being the only one to take care of the produce…so I was pleased to come home to the produce finally being put away in the fridge in the green bags. 

FabHubs had also made salad…using ingredients we got in the box that day…a huge step in the right direction for him.  Thus far he has been resistant to actually making anything using the produce (maybe cooking with it means accepting it?  I don’t know) but Monday he did!  This coupled with his meatless weekend makes for some major breakthroughs!

Anyway, no pictures, but I had an opened can of kidney beans in the fridge from my Friday night salad that I mentioned to him needed using and asked him to make some rice and we would have the kidney beans  over rice with some sour cream and cheddar.

He got creative (points for him!) and mixed the kidneys with some garlic and black beans.  The sour cream was bad…but the cheese was fine so the beans and rice, along with the salad, made for a great (pictureless) dinner.

Wrapping up Tuesday…I was in a seriously falafel mood!  I think it is because I absolutely LOVE tahini sauce and could spread it on everything instead of mustard/mayo/ketchup (which I don’t eat much of anyway) and even dressing.

Lunch was a Sunshine burger which I have been so eager to try!  I have wanted some burgers that are soy-free…I definitely need soy alternatives in the house.

Stacked with lettuce, tomatoes, cuke slices, and tahini on an Arnold Sandwich Thin…this did not disappoint!!!

Alongside I had a Jazz apple  and a carrot.

Dinner was on my own…boys were at Boy Scouts  and I had opted to stay home and FabPreteen  had eaten at her dad’s…so I broke open the falafel balls I had bought on Sunday from Costco  (told you I  was hungry for falafel!

I put it in a Flatout wrap along with some lettuce  and cuke slices…and then after the picture I smothered  it in tahini!  YUM

    I made a salad on the side…which I dressed with the rest of the tahini.

This was so good…I may have to have this again for lunch today!

Better Late Than Never

I guess!

I had promised a couple of people  a recap of my yummy zucchini burgers the other day and have yet to get it up…so here it goes.

When I got home from the campout we were seriously low on food in the fridge but we had a few holdovers from weeks (yes, with an S) past that really really really needed to be used, red cabbage being a priority, a cauliflower also from weeks past, and the zukes next! 

Carrots were still fresh…I never get enough in my box and have to supplement for juicing with Costco huge organic bags of carrots, but sadly we were out of onions and garlic…and I had to resort to jarred.

First I dragged out my old KitchenAid monster and popped in the shredder attachment.  This sat dormant for a long time but lately has been getting a lot of use…and  today it was in for a power workout!

I had lots of shredding to do!!!

First came the zucchini since I wanted to set it aside to drain.

I shredded three zukes and placed them in a colander over a bowl.  These guys are FILLED with water and drain a lot!  I set that aside while I went to work on the cabbage.I chopped and pushed the red cabbage through the hopper.  I won’t like…this was a royal PITA!  And I got grumpy!  I also grabbed four carrots and shredded them into the mix.

I was surprised how well it stayed in the fridge.  I only had to peel off a few of the outer leaves that had turned black and yucky…the insides were brightly colored, crunchy, and still sweet!

To make the dressing, I heated some water and added some white vinegar, Sugar In The Raw,  and salt (too much salt).  A simple old recipe I had found.

Looks good?  Well it wasn’t!!!  FabHubs and the kids were able to eat it…but beyond this sample I couldn’t choke it down.  I wanted to rinse it off and start over…but FabHubs said he would eat it. 

I was really disappointed!

It was sooooo salty!  Next time I would cut waaaaayyy down on the water and salt and increase the vinegar!

After an intermediary Costco run I was able  to continue with the zucchini burgers.  I was out of Parmesan cheese and just can’t have these without it!

I  bought a giant $16 wedge and while the grater was still set up, I grated half of that into a container so we have it ready for use over the next couple of weeks.

Then I took handfuls of the zucchini out of the colander and  squeezed them as dry as I could get them, putting them into a different bowl.To the dry zucchini I added two eggs, a bunch of shredded Parmesan  cheese (maybe  a cup?), salt  and pepper, and a bunch of Panko (no measuring…I eyeballed and poured). Mixed it all up and then lit it sit a few minutes…then I formed burgers and pan fried them in a little olive oil.  They were a little too moist…I hadn’t squeezed out well enough I guess, or maybe  I should not have added the second  egg…I had a little trouble flipping them and ended up pouring a little more oil in to help it brown better (I had been stingy with the oil first go ‘round).  That seemed to do the trick. 

Finally, to round out the meal, was the cauliflower.  I chopped these up into little florets.  While I was chopping, I also heated a pan with some EVOO in it and sauteed some chopped (jarred…I prefer fresh) garlic.  I added the cauliflower to the garlic and sauteed until everything was browned.  I had some fresh parsley from the previous box as well…so  I chopped some of that and added it at the end, along with a very generous dusting of more Parmesan!    Final dinner:

Zucchini burgers on Arnold Sandwich Thins, topped with tomatoes, spinach, and fresh homemade tahini sauce (I put FabTeen to work on that one!) Alongside some browned cauliflower with parsley, cheese, and garlic…. And some too salty but looks pretty cabbage slaw!Other than the slaw this was really really good…but I have to say I was exhausted…and GRUMPY after camping, shopping, chopping, shredding, and cooking all day!

Surprises!

This weekend I had a Girl Scout campout, one where they were providing all of the food and I was not allowed to bring anything at all.  Not allowed as in strictly forbidden and clearly outlined.

They did have a vegetarian option available, which both FabPreteen and I opted for…but to be honest, I was expecting at best a meatless version of the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). 

I then became a smuggler…couldn’t help it!  In my car I had a cooler stuffed with “just in case” fare.  Frozen aseptic packs of rice milk, coconut water, organic apples, individual packets of almond butter, and Larabars! 

Hey..I am a Girl Scout and I was prepared!   Especially if I needed a chocolate fix!  Newman’s Own organic chocolate was BOGO at Whole Foods this week and FabHubs each picked one out!  I was not going to sit out and not eat the whole weekend!

Well I wish I had remembered (DUH!) to take photos of the food before I ate…somehow the lightbulb always came on after the plate was empty!

Friday night we were responsible for our own dinner so in a huge hurry to make sure I got to the campout before the gates closed I rummaged through the fridge and threw together this:

This would be a huge salad with lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms and maybe other veggies I had in the fridge that I can’t remember now.  

On top I tossed in some leftover leek lemon rice, heated up, and then a generous sprinkling of feta crumbles.  Then on a whim I opened a can of kidney beans and tossed a bunch on top.   I poured on some balsamic, slapped a lid on top of the container and threw it in the car to be eaten later…and I have to say this was one of my best concoctions!  I loved it!

I was good for the rest of the evening!  Okay…I did have a small scoop of ice cream at the ice cream social.

The next morning I walked into the dining hall to find a glorious  array of fresh cut fruits and veggies…apples, bananas, oranges, grapes…it was gorgeous!  and I was so pleased I forgot to snap a picture!  Alongside this was turkey sausage (I passed), scrambled eggs (I took), bagels, cream cheese, and coffee!

Nor did I remember to take photos of lunch, dinner, or breakfast the next day….all equally as delicious with healthy vegetarian options always available.  I was seriously and joyously surprised!

The only sneaking I did of my smuggled goods turned out to be a Larabar instead of a ‘smore at the campfire (‘smores just do not appeal to me anymore!) and I kept going back and forth to the car to fill my cup with coconut water rather than drink the lemonade or fruit punch provided.  Honestly I felt like a high school kid sneaking out to the car to spike my punch!

SURPRISE #2 came from FabHubs and the rest of the boys whom I had left home.  The conversation went something like this:

ME:  So, how much meat did you boys eat while I was gone?

FABHUBS (proudly):  NONE!!!!

ME:  NO!  You are kidding!!!!

FABHUBS:  Believe me we thought about taking advantage…but didn’t!

ME: Can you scrape me off the floor now? 

I was totally shocked…we still have chicken, Bubba Burgers, lamb, and other various meat products I have stuffed into the recesses of the freezer that I thought for sure would be eaten while I was gone! 

And secretly I was thinking some room would be freed up in that freezer for more veggies!  Not that I am disappointed at all…I guess all their grumbling has a touch of showmanship to it but they are getting the message and going along with it after all!

On the other hand…while they may not have eaten meat, they also didn’t go to town on the veggies I had left for them either.  I am not sure they even ate any!

So when I got home I had to get to work on using a bunch up to make room for the new veggies coming in today.

First on the menu was some juicing.  Carrots, ginger, beets, parsley, apples…and I decided to try some red cabbage I had that needed to go!

This month in Prevention Magazine I read an article that said you should strive to eat a Rainbow of Health every day……and this we definitely did today.

This juice was definitely a rainbow.

First of all, the colors were so brilliant…even FabHubs grabbed the camera to take a picture of the purple cabbage juice.

Isn’t that color beautiful????? 

Fun Fact About Me….PURPLE is my absolute favorite color…and not pastelly type purples…but this deep brilliant purple!  My camp chair is purple…my purse is purple (HeeHee)…even my pens are purple.  I LOVE PURPLE!!!!

And the remaining parts of the ROY G. BIV equation…all out of order:

Green Parsley

Ruby Red Beets; Orange Carrots; Cream Colored Ginger; and Pink Lady Apples!

The result….pink, healthy, and delicious!!!!

This post is getting looonnnngggg…and the computer is acting very slow…..so I will have to blog my continued colorful dinner in another post!!!!!