You all just cracked PeaceBang up with your rants about misused or overused expressions in the previous post here on BTFM. Thank you for entertaining me, darlings! I have needed some good belly laughs!
I’m in one of those periods of time where I look up and say, “Oh hello, self! How are you? My, we certainly have been on the run lately, haven’t we? And we’ve been living from the neck up, doing lots of thinking and praying and dreaming and visioning and talking but treating the rest of our bodies as a mere vehicle to tote the head around!” My left shoulder is so stiff I can barely use it any more, and I’m sure I’ve packed on yet another few pounds of buttah as I turned to food in the past months to comfort, entertain and delight my senses. Food is SO GOOD. I love food! And as I know that it does ZERO good to treat food as the enemy in this quest for health and balance, I’m not going to “go there” (Did anyone identify that expression as one that is overused and obnoxious? Oh, let’s DO!).
One thing I have tried to do every day is to make a nutritious smoothie in the morning. I put supplements galore in there, plus no-sugar almond milk, flax seeds and some sort of berry. Whey protein, greens red antioxidant stuff… and now I am going to add kale and herbs and lemon, and mix it up a bit. I figure this: if I can get a blast of green, living stuff into my bod first thing in the day, it won’t be so horrible if I have herbal popcorn for dinner. It’s just where I’m at right now. Reasonable expectations.
Just as, if I cannot seem to force myself to work out, I can do stretches. Short walks with the dog. Try to be compassionate and understanding of this creature as we near the end of a very demanding year in parish ministry. One of my parishioners always asks me, “What are you doing for fun these days?” I visited her yesterday and she asked me that question and I said, “Ummmmm….” That’s when I knew that I really had to get out on that date to the piano bar last night and sing and try to have a good time. It is going to take some effort and sunshine for me to return to my usual bright spirits but we know that weeping may endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Also a nice, nutritious smoothie.
No advice, please. I would love to hear your own reflections on your well-being and on your favorite nutritious meals.
I’m for smoothies, too, though mine aren’t as elaborate/healthy as yours. Frozen berries (whatever is in the freezer), nf milk, nf yogurt, protein powder from Trader Joe’s, and half a banana. It never seems to fail that if I have a smoothie for breakfast, I don’t get hungry for lunch as early, and I end up losing a little weight that day. (Yes, I weigh myself every morning. It’s crazy-making.)
Uf. Yes. I am a new convert to smoothie-holism; mine usually involves a handful of spinach or kale, a banana, a few strawberries, some milk and/or yogurt, and maybe some honey and flax seeds. Simple, and I like the fact that it’s not super-sweet.
I was hungry this evening and decided my comfort food indulgence would be to nuke a bag of edamame from trader joe’s and EAT THE WHOLE THING.
I get a lot of my smoothie recipes from this book. I especially love to make them with young thai coconuts (I get them at Whole Foods). It’s a wonderful way to get lots of nutritious greens and other good things into your bod on a daily basis. I usually drink the fruity ones after workouts, when the body can best utilize the natural sugars. http://www.amazon.com/Green-Smoothie-Revolution-Radical-Towards/dp/1556438125/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336100915&sr=8-1
I need to rush out the door in the a.m. I’m barely doing morning prayer as it is and feel lucky to have matching shoes on my feet most mornings. But I like cooking in the evening: a piece of fish, some kind of grain (quinoa, kashi, or brown rice), some kind of dark green veg (brussel sprouts, spinach, etc. – dandelions are now in season!) and something with color (beets, carrots, or sweet potato)– all cooked up in one pan. Sprinkle a little parm. cheese instead of salt or add a spoonful of chutney. That’s dinner. Is good! But I don’t get enough exercise.
On my days off, I make big pots of protein-rich, mostly vegan (though I am not) meals, and put them into portion-sized Tupperware, so I can just grab one along with a piece of fruit and a cookie and have a healthy lunch. I make red beans and rice, rice and lentils with lots of caramelized onions, chickpea curry, peanut noodles, etc. They are very filling, then for dinner I can do something light and quick like eggs and spinach or veggie burgers and kale. If it weren’t for all the junk food and starch I consume at the office or at potlucks, I’d be really healthy! Can we address the covered dish issue?
Beagle kisses are essential to good health and well being.
Lately I have been enjoying 5-grain cereal with vanilla soymilk, cinnamon and some protein powder for breakfast. I make it at home and eat it at my desk first thing. I haven’t been making dinner much, but the other day I managed to make spinach lasagna in the slow cooker. It was great to walk in the door and have lasagna waiting.
I love a good smoothie after a run (yogurt, banana, frozen berries, and some sort of 100% juice–sometimes flax seed,but haven’t tried other supplements. . . i’d be interested in what others use), and I always feel virtuous when I make a huge veggie stir fry with lots of bok choy!
Nutritious meals ….not so much. I won’t even speak about it, since I’ve had 3 multi-day trips in the past 6 weeks and I feel like I am barely “righting the ship” again. But for my own well-being, I am taking extra pains to giggle more with my darling baby (to whom I do manage to get healthy food) and love on my beagles, one of whom is certifiably nuts.
Babies and beagles, that’s where I’m at. (You’ll get to meet the baby next month!)
[Oh good! But of course you know I’m desperate for the BEAGLE! – PB]
Good phrase ‘living from the neck up’. I was guilty of that for years… I’m better these days, but still prone to abuse my body by long hours hunched over a competer screen (often a laptop on my diningroom table with a dining chair – NOT ergonomic!). Stretches rock… I need to get back into at least a weekly yoga class…
Chocolate, coffee, tea and Tums. And more chocolate. But I’m a full-time professor and a phd candidate. And aware that this sort of sustanence is for short-term maintanence, not long-term health.
Favorite easy smoothie:
1 cup frozen berries
1 cup frozen chopped greens (either spinach or blue kale)
1 pear cut into large-ish pieces
a good bit of lemon juice
ground flax (1 T) or chia (1 tsp)
So wish I could bring baby + beagle. We may have to plan a beagle meet-up some other time!!