Back Home Again

After a wonderful road trip to Florida and a great race last weekend, we are back in South Carolina and ready to move on to what we find in February. We had this puzzle at the beginning of the year not knowing who was going to go where this coming year. It is starting to come together with grandson’s acceptance to his number one choice of college to which he signed this week, officially. One family has made a decision not to move but to stay put in their current home after exploring a few options. We will not be making any big changes for now as we want to hang around in the south while grandson is at college. So now we have two family members that we are waiting to hear about. Nothing much will happen for a month or so but we are happy the puzzle pieces seem to be fixing themselves and all is as it should be.

Frustration

I am frustrated regarding diet guidelines once again. It seems every time I turn around I find something else is the diet du jour. Should you eat carbohydrates or not, should you go the paleo route or the Keto diet? It is time to fix some things that appear to be out of balance. For the last six or seven years I have followed a plan that seems to work for me quite well. I definitely got off track and have now had to have a long chat with myself. Carbohydrates are just not something that I can make work for me. Way back when I started following a plan that eliminated anything white from my food. It worked and I lost a lot of weight as well as became considerably healthier. The big gotcha was I had a heart attack in the middle of that time. It was not a major one but required a stent. No damage and I have continued on almost as before. However, in the back of my mind has always been the “what the heck” doesn’t matter what I do I am still vulnerable. Enough! I love the Blue Zones philosophy but I cannot incorporate all the carbohydrates into my life. Bread and potatoes and pasta and rice are just not good for me. However, all the healthy vegetables and berries are good and I actually need a lot of protein. So back to grass fed beef and antibiotic free and clean chicken from local farmers. I am constantly adjusting and adapting to my situation wherever I am. Well, don’t we all.

Exercise Commitment

This doesn’t seem to be a big problem for me but! Yes there is a but. I slacked off for a few months there. The two weeks up until my race I really trained hard and was very committed to what I was doing even skipping a number of other things in favor of training each and every day. What I lost was the regular daily exercise that I always did in addition to the training stuff. The dogs and I are out there every day and we are doing the regular three mile loop and then if I feel I need more, I drop them off and head off on a speed walk on my own. Without another race for awhile, keeping the motivation going can be a challenge. But wait, I have a new book, so that gets me out there because I need to know what happens next. This is my time for silly books that are not very long, from 2 1/2 hours to 4 1/2 hours but they capture my interest. I’m only allowed to listen when I am walking, yup, another rule, but it seems to work. The dogs don’t care, they can’t hear the book but they love the opportunity to investigate their neighborhood beyond the immediate block.

Animal Planet

I had fun on my walks this week because I kept running into interesting animals and birds. I always see birds on or near the ponds. Many of them are returning to make nests as spring is right around the corner. This is so true with the storks and the herons who are here in abundance. We have had a few days that were exceptionally warm so the gators were out again. I keep warning the dogs that they are not to get near the ponds. To my great surprise I ran across a river otter on the banks of one of the ponds and was very surprised to see him/her as I had never seen one before. They are really very big. I thought it was a mink until I was told that mink are very small. The deer are often found in our back yard and we saw them a number of times running through the yard across the golf course. One was a little guy who was kicking up his heels in complete joy at running.

Food For Thought

So I am bored. Bored with what I eat for breakfast every day. Seems I have been eating berries, plain Greek yogurt, and John’s wonderful granola for years and years. It’s easy and fast and takes almost no preparation. However, I am bored. Some days I literally eat left over salad with a protein of some kind like turkey or hard boiled egg for breakfast just to break the monotony. So now I am on a hunt to find some alternative breakfasts that meet my criteria of easy, accessible, fast and uncomplicated. My mornings are taken up with walking dogs and walking myself so I don’t need to add any more time onto the morning by having to cook something fancy. The old saying of “eat breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince; dinner like a pauper” makes some sense. There is some evidence this helps with keeping one healthy and not overloading the body’s digestive system in the evening. However, I simply cannot find it in me to cook up a magnificent breakfast every day so I need to find something simple but packed with good stuff.

Recipe For a Green Smoothie

Not a huge fan of smoothie’s because they are messy to clean up but thought I might try one on occasion. It is a good way to get in your greens if you don’t have time during the rest of your day so worth a try.

2 cups of leafy greens such as spinach, kale, beet greens
3 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 cup pineapple, cubed
1/2 avocado

Combine all the ingredients in your blender or Vitamix. Supposed to make three servings of 164 calories, 6g fat, 145 mg sodium, 5g fiber, 2g protein.

Canada’s food guidelines just came out and they have changed significantly. It is much more plant based and minimizes the animal protein and dairy products. It definitely promotes plant based diets. Their seven recommendations are:

1. Be mindful of your eating habits
2. Cook more often
3. Enjoy your food
4. Eat meals with others
5. Use food labels
6. Limit foods high in sodium, sugars, or saturated fat
7. Be aware of food marketing

I say, add to that, eat as much whole food as you can possible eat. Processed foods are just not good for you!!!

Fancy and Pledge The Pink

An interesting little story to go along with the picture. We had just left coffee with a cousin and I spotted this mailbox at the end of the street. I had to stop and get a picture. If you have seen the pictures from the Pledge the Pink three-day walk you will have seen lots of flamingos. We stopped and John asked the gentleman who was in the driveway walking his dog if we could take a picture. I explained why and he said that his wife was a plastic surgeon who specialized in breast reconstruction for survivors and that she wore a pink streak in her hair to support all her patients. Of course we could take a picture. I was blown away by this coincidence and I am so glad that we stopped. Since then a few others from our PTP group have found her and taken photos with her. This gal is now famous!!!!