A Dear John to Gym :(

Dear Gym, In the last two years we have tried to make it work. We have shared laughter, tears, and lots of sweat. A lot! I know you have given your best, although in the last year you too seem to be stretched at the seams. Remember my four thirty in the morning visit because you were suppose to be available twenty four hours? You didn't even open your doors. Remember how you disappeared from sight? I sadly read your good-bye letter on the door, but offering your other locations to me. We had a good thing going. I could visit the library as a little treat next door and then over to you to stretch and sweat. Your other locations didn't really get me motivated as they were out of my way. I tried to rearrange my life to make us work, but it just isn't coming together. I know gym that you are a good gym but not the match for me. I will cherish our times together and if it is a consolation. You are the longest and most attended health fitness club relationship I have ever attained. Please know I did enjoy our zumba classes and will remember our jokes about me and my flexibility and coordination in the privacy of the women's gym. I loved how together we chose which elliptical would be best, no squeaks, sturdy handles for my book, and usually on the end to avoid avid talkative athletes who were enjoying the burn:) See I don't leave you with a bitter heart. I know it is due to my inconsistency that we couldn't really connect and melt this weight. There isn't another place yet, but you should know I am hopeful and on the prowl. So Dear Gym, it truly is not you, but me! Maybe someday in the future you and I will be a better match, but until then. Please feel free to advertise and grow your membership and know that I am forever grateful for the commitment, the effort, and the foundation we together built. No matter what else I go to accomplish in my fitness journey, none of it would exist without the building blocks of you. So Dear Gym don't take this as a kiss off or as a final good-bye, but just a simple thank and maybe someday soon we will meet again. Good luck dear gym, good luck! It is hard to say good-bye to anyone or anything. But sometimes that is the best act we can commit while exploring our journey. To Finally Understand Life by Living on my own HealthFULL journey I realize relationships and goals change and therefore must be reevaluated. The gym I belong to has gone under several trasformations. I do like the place but different perks and conditions have not made it condusive to my life at this time. I am beginning to seek out what will motivate me to stay physically active. I have some ideas and will be sharing them soon. But I encourage anyone else on their HealthFULL Journey if it is time to say good-bye to a strain in your life, it may be hard at first to acknowledge the time has come to say good-bye but it will become a blessing if you truly let it go. Become the person you were meant to be, not the person you COULD be, if only. . . 'Til we meet again. . .

Green with Envy

Have you heard, we are all supposed to eat more greens? Does that news make your mouth feel covered with a yucky film? Did you wrinkle your nose? Are your thoughts racing around whining, but we don't like to eat our greens? If any of these reactions sound familiar don't fret! I have some easy solutions for you.

We all know green leafy vegetables are healthy and good for us. Maybe it is this knowledge that makes us cringe, healthy never tastes good. But let me tell you a secret. . . are you leaning in? Are you ready to hear this? Healthy food can be tasty...shhhh!!!! I am being completely honest!

My two biggest complaints about the greens in leafy variety never tasted good and how do I prepare them? Let's tackle the prep because this is where you are going to make them tasty. Most greens can be added to a salad. Which is probably the healthiest way you can eat them ensuring there maximum vitamins are retained. I also find these somewhat bitter. But you can add a sweet component to your salad, because I sure do have a sweet tooth. I love fruit for this and keep it simple, apples chopped, berries halved or whole, or the good ol' raisins. Mix with a friendlier lettuce when adding dark greens at first to customize your taste buds because that is usually the unfriendliness. Sadly greens are strangers to too many of us. Become acquaintances , sneak them in a salad or possibly top a burger, but after awhile you'll become good ol' pals and they might even become the entree or at least the major side. Also not all greens are equally nutritionally nor flavor wise. So if you don't like one move on to the next. I am going to share our last two introductions. Beet greens which is pictured above in both pictures and Collard greens. I feel so southern, now that we have boiled our first on our own collard greens:)

Beet greens might be my favorite green and the recipe we made was so simple and so tasty. We just wilted them. The picture on the top left is that we ate them with country fried tofu (which sounds a little crazy but honest to goodness tasted like chicken) and brown rice. The top right picture is to show how pretty they get up close with this simple prep. If you look closely you can see how the red of the beets sweats through the leaves, pretty and tasty!!! We added a little olive oil (LITTLE). Keep your pan hot and just drizzle enough to thinly coat the bottom to avoid burning. Most leafy vegetables especially after rinse carry enough moisture to help them cook. This side takes no more than five minutes including the rinse. So again, heat your pan, add a little olive oil and then pour in your greens (a bunch or so). Stir them around as they begin to wilt. Add a pinch each (think no more than 1 tsp) of salt and sugar. Stir together a little longer and voila! You are done. The sugar and the salt highlights the flavor of the beet greens, so a little truly goes a long way.

The other green we have added to our repertoire is the southern collard green. Now I am no nutrition expert and will say I believe that boiling your greens, you are for the most part bleeding out the healthy nutrients unless you also consume the broth. But also in my opinion is that it is better to eat greens that may not be maximizing their nutrition value then just avoiding them all together. Moving on to how we prepared our collard greens. The secret is boiling your water with flavors. We included hot sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and a little bit of bacon. We simmered our water for roughly fifteen minutes, (I imagine a little longer would help increase the flavor) and then added the collard greens. We boiled them for forty minutes. They were authentic and delicious with our oven roasted chicken and red fried rice (including tomatos, red pepper, and red onion.) Also the plate looks so pretty with all the natural colors of the food.

Don't be green with envy at how we incorporated greens into our meals, pick up your own and figure out what easy prep would work best for you and your family. I am a challenged cook and promise you that adding vegetables to your meals is not nearly as hard as we want to make it sometimes. It is fun to taste food prepared for the first time by yourself. I find there to be a sense of accomplishment and a surprise. Did this turn out? Will I like it? Will we attempt this again, maybe fixed differently? The possibilities are endless. May you find veggies that will make your friends, family, neighbors, green with envy at how tasty and easy they were to fix. May your HealthFULL Journey help you to Fully Understand Life by Living and trying new flavors! 'Til we meet again. . .

Bunny-hop

Do you remember that popular wedding dance? Kick out kick out hop forward, hop BACKWARD, hop hop hop! To do the big hops forward we have to hop back. I don't like the rewind button. I would mind a do over or re-set every now and then but the rewind means we have to relive past mistakes. I hate being wrong. Like really HATE being wrong. I understand no one is perfect but what is done is done and it is hard...maybe not hard but uncomfortable. I hate that feeling. I hate watching awkward scenes in movies, I like to skip over awkward sentences, and I don't enjoy awkward scenes in real life because I don't like to be uncomfortable and certainly never want to be responsible for some else's discomfort. But I think that is a part of life. We need to feel the rough patches to adjust accordingly. I am working hard to look back to the moments in life that made me who I am today, physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. This means I am going to have to pull out the time line I started. It means as I muddle through homework once again (still so foreign) I should remember where I was ten years ago attempting some of these subjects. I have started reading through a book entitled Body Clutter by the Flylady and the Dinner Diva (their names escape me right this second) to help unpack some of these emotional pounds. Some of their chapters I have to stop because they are just a little to close to my own truth. I think that is part of this process that challenges me. I am a creative person and enjoy a good story. I am realizing that about myself I recreated certain memories or events to a storifed version and have to almost relive it to allow myself to regain the truth and reveal the true emotions that I packed up neatly in my re-created story. I am sorry to tell you but I think we all are guilty of this every now and then. We paint ourselves the victim or embellish our hero moments. We prefer to omit the details that make us look imperfect and add a few details to make the story more interesting. Sometimes we do this trick so cleverly we even disguise the truth to ourselves and I think somewhere within these stories of mine lies some understanding to at least a few of these extra pounds I carry. So the bunny-hop I dance. I kick out to the right and the left I hop forward but now I must hop back. Forward is so exciting in the possibilities of the unknown and the adventures to be had. But the hop backwards is disheartening, it is not forward. It is where we have been. In these hops we left some hurts behind. We shrug off frustrations back there. But it is in these steps backward we gain the momentum to move such a distance forward. So I tentatively jump back because I believe I am truly ready to hop three forward. I'll revisit what I can find and see what I can hopefully uncover. I hope in your HealthFULL Journey all your hops are beneficial and exciting. I hope none leave you disheartened and that you reveal the fun and truth hiding in your own steps. Now get hopping! 'Til we meet again. . .

Continuing with the Wii

Isn't exercise fun? Well in the virtual world it is super fun. And the Wii Fit takes things pretty serious. I enjoy the yoga section and it gives you a choice would you like a female or a male trainer. I chose a female and she began changing her hairstyle. The first time this happened I was like that must have been my imagination but oh no she has done it several times in our 55 days together, because the Wii Fit lets me know the facts always. But what was super interesting/funny the other morning the male trainer asked if we could switch things up and have him step in as my trainer. I had to close my eyes and rub out the sleep to make sure I wasn't still sleeping. Nope , indeed my regular trainer couldn't make it. My hubby and I have joked quite about this. Was she sick? Was it too early? Maybe she had class. It was just odd, in a funny kind of way. I am slowly improving my balance. And isn't fun to see improvement? I know it is a game, but I still get super psyched when I beat my old scores:) And the plank exercise is no laughing matter. That exercise kicks my tush, or more appropriately my abs every time. It says that I am ready to compete against the "virtual" trainer on who can hold their plank the longest and I am without a doubt it will be the computer trainer who will win. I haven't got the guts (or maybe still too much gut:) yet to try...But someday :) The Wii Fit keeps me accountable to the most important person, myself. It lets me know when I last stepped on and how much I have worked out these 55 days. If I am progressing toward my goal or stopping short. It forces me to focus on movements I haven't attempted in years, Hula hoop seriously? I couldn't even do that as a kid. But I am still trying to swivel my hips with the rest of them. I unlocked the advance bike route....man oh man...I couldn't find the last flag to save my life. At one point it even offered to save my spot so that I could take a break and come back to finish the ride. Really, was this game taunting me, I found the last flag to stop the never-ending bike trip. And My legs were SORE!!! But in that good way of being stretched to their limit (and never beyond!). Also the runs are kind of fun with the obnoxious little cat, together we've climbed bridges, roofs, sand, hills, and paths galore. The other day Cor was on his lunch and greeted our puppy knowing exactly what I was doing. That made me feel good that he was aware of my effort. Not so I could get my gold star (though I do appreciate my blue star marking my Wii Fit progress), but that he knows I am doing it because I am actually doing it and sticking to something. It helps that it changes up to my choosing and kind of suprises me as well. Also, it gives me something to enjoy while doing the work and then stories to laugh with my family. A virtual trainer unable to make the workout is super funny:) I mean the backstory one can create and elaborate makes things hilarious. I am excited to feel like I have found my niche for the time being. Progress is happening and that is always motivation. This HealthFULL Journey is helping me to drop bad habits, broaden my horizons, and to look forward to the next adventure. May your HealthFULL Journey open your eyes and heart to new experiences that bless you daily. 'Til we meet again. . .

Bloody Fantastic!!!

Blood Orange meet my friends,

Friends meet Blood Orange.

Have you ever tasted a blood orange? Have you tasted an orange? For the most part, they are the same flavor. But if I am going to share this experience I have to tell you I was freaked out about trying this fruit. The picture you see is the actual blood orange I tasted, modeled next to the spinach salad we tossed it with (including yummy grape tomatos and blueberries). This picture doesn't do the peel justice. It looks like an orange with a spidery pinkish red that "bleeds" through the coloring. Although the outside coloring is noticeable it isn't really off-putting. But once you start peeling it away. Wowsers, freak-out city. There is just something that made my skin crawl when peeling away the peel and discovering an almost black fruit. It smelled very much like an everyday typical orange. But the color of the fruit made me think of decay, moldy, and definitely had to be rotten or at least bitter. I was getting the heebie jeebies and stalling the taste test. My hubby who is supporting me this entire HealthFULL Journey and participant in most activities, especially the new fruit, veggie, or grain of the week was standing there smirking. I offered him his piece and took my section. We both made a grimacing face and tried to wait out the other person. We agreed to both try on the count of three as not to sway the other. So, 1....2....3 and down the hatch. And the verdict was....it tastes like orange. The ending note was a tish more sour than an orange closer to a grapefruit or even that tart finish of a raspberry.

I do think the color is fun. It really did test my preconceived perception. We are conditioned to think food of this color is past its prime and it truly made me nervous to bite into this deep dark purple. If you want to spice up the color in your meal with the deep darkness factor this is easy to incorporate. My hubby and I included this with our spinach salad and it blended perfectly.

And of course there is some great nutritional value packed in this citrus powerhouse. Of course this is an excellent source of Vitamin C (Cold be gone!!!). The Blood Orange (I believe this type specifically is the Moro, but I am only guessing) is a great source of other nutrients. According to thedailyplate.com the blood orange also serves up a good amount of our daily fiber requirements, Folate (If there are any pregnant ladies with a hankering for citrus this is a good choice!), thiamin (Vitamin B1) and potassium. Some other small values are listed as well.

So get out there shop, garden, or trade with your neighbors to expand your tasting horizons. For we are embarking on a new season and it is a perfect time to tantalize and challenge your tastebuds. This activity of embracing new veggies, fruits, and grains is my favorite while traveling my HealthFULL Journey. Fully Understanding Life by Living for me means to embrace the adventure, to challenge my preconceptions, to laugh and enjoy the ride. I hope you all are finding newness in your routine to keep things exciting and challenging. May you too experience your own HealthFULL Journey. 'Til we meet again. . .