Wellness Weekend: People, Pets, and Pho

Apr 22nd, 2012

I was going to write a post about my fabulous dinner and then realized I had a bigger story to tell–my wellness weekend of people, pets, and Pho.  Wellness is so much more than diet, exercise, and stress management.  Wellness includes all things that nourish your body, mind and soul.    Here are a few highlights of what nourished me this weekend.

Friday afternoon I got a chance to hang out with my godchildren Addie and Sylvia.  First we watched the demolition for their school charity event and then set out to play.  What a treat it is to watch children play and to play with them.  They realized that the slide their dad rigged for them would go so much faster if they sat on a cushion and slid down together.

Friday evening I attended a wonderful concert  featuring my friend Cindy Novelo & Tricia Spencer and Darrell Lea & Megan Hurt at the Lied Center in Lawrence, KS.  Amazing local musicians.

Saturday, I met my friend Brenda in Kansas City for outings to the anitique mall, Trader Joe’s, Stein Mart, the Blue Moose for lunch, and back to Brenda’s for a great conversation about life.  Also had a great phone conversation with my friend Lena.   I couldn’t make the gathering of my family in Chelsea, Michigan,  but I got to talk with my dad, sister, brother, and sister-in-law.

Sunday  morning  I slept in, had a Chihuahua playdate with my friend Nora’s and her new Chihuahua, Rosie, and Sophie, my rescue Chihuahua, and of course Toby but he’s a little harder for them to play with  (8 vs 70 pounds).

After a long walk along the levee with Toby and Sophie….and a little shuffling of papers, I made the very best Pho.  Here’s what went into it:

Pho (Vietnamese Soup)

• Box of Organic Pho broth
• Carrots
• Green onions
• Zucchini
• Bean sprouts
• Rice noodles
• Cilantro
• Fresh basil
• Hoisen sauce
• Hot pepper flakes
• 1/2 fresh lime squeezed in at the last minute

What did you do this weekend?  Was it nourishing?

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Stir Fried Veggies and Quinoa in a Peanut Sauce

Mar 27th, 2012

I made the most fantastic stir fry with quinoa.  I wanted something different from what I’ve been eating and my business coach and social media strategist, Lena West, suggested something with a peanut sauce. 

I did a quick search and found a fantastic  recipe.  I made a few minor adjustments (used green curry instead of red curry, didn’t measure the peanut butter, and  added cayenne pepper).   I could eat that stuff by the spoonful!  Try the recipe here from SheSimmers.com.

Here are the veggies I included:

• asparagus
• carrot
• green onion
• celery
• spinach
• green beans

 You could add meat, chicken, shrimp, or tofu.  You cook quinoa much like you cook rice (1.5 to 2 cups water to 1 cup whole grain quinoa) and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

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Whole House Detox: Garden Update

Mar 27th, 2012

Finally got the raised bed garden ready to plant and extended the garden into the yard.  Great exercise.  This is what Randi Hacker calls  the Earth Gym – great exercise right there in my yard.

I’ve got the bug to plant things I can eat–healthy eating here I come.  Any sunny spot is fair game!

So far I’ve planted bug repellant plants  (marigolds and cilantro), French lavender, three kinds of lettuce, and strawberries.  Tomorrow I’ll plant blueberry bushes, asparagus, and purple onions.  I have a bunch of seed packets so will need to figure out when to plant them.  This is all one big experiment.

Are you putting in a vegetable garden?  Feel free to tellme everything you know about it.  I can use the help.  Leave your comments at the comment link below.

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Whole House Detox: Building a Spring Garden

Mar 22nd, 2012

What does a garden have to do with a Whole House Detox?  Good question.  Let me make something up….  Ah, yes, a garden is part of the yard and the yard needs to be spiffed up along with the house.  A garden is also a part of detoxing my diet so I don’t have to eat vegetables sprayed with chemicals.

After cleaning up the back porch I decided to work on paperwork so I can get my taxes prepared.   I was working away and then spring happened!  Our weather is unusually warm so it’s time to get the garden ready.  One of my lovely subscribers informed me that our city is giving away compost tomorrow so I quickly had to shift gears to get a raised bed up and ready to accept the new soil.  The first garden handiman fell through so I went to Home Depot, selected the lumber and other needed materials and drove home wondering….now what?

I called my regular handiman with my fingers crossed that he could help at the last minute.  He sent over a couple of guys that had the raised bed in place in about an hour.  How’s that for right timing?  Everything is coming together so well.

And tomorrow Nora (my yard helper) and I are going to drive the borrowed truck to pick up compost and mix it into the soil.  As you can see from the stones, bricks, and weeds, there will be some work to do to get everything in place.

Then because the yard is an important part of the detox project, we’ll weed and whack and wake up the yard after its winter slumber.  The paperwork will have to wait….but it can’t wait too long because I need to have everything to the tax woman by April 2.

It takes a village to take care of a home.  And thankfully I have that village in place.  Over the years I have developed great relationships with people who help me live in this wonderful little bungalow–a handiman, weeder, plumber, painter, and electrician.  People are the best!  I don’t know what I’d do without people.

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I’m shocked!

Feb 12th, 2012

I don’t know where that voice came from, but it clearly said “I’m going to eat!”  It was Day 5 of the 7-day cleanse, and I was headed to a party.   I wasn’t feeling hungry and I wasn’t feeling particularly deprived or desparate.  I was getting plenty of nutrition from the broth and green juices.  I think I got bored.  When I heard that voice I didn’t know if it was my head or my body speaking to me but I listened, I acted, and I survived.

I don’t know what there is about a long cleanse – but I tend to peter out faster than some.  I don’t feel too guilty about it so that’s a good sign, I think.  Maybe my body has a set point for how many days I can successfully cleanse?  Dunno.

The most interesting piece is how I will move forward from here.  I’ve made a list of eating rules.  Here are several items I’m planning to include or minimize in my daily healthy eating plan:

1. tons of vegetables and fruits
2. green juice
3. raw foods
4. organic, free-range, hormone-free, cage-free
5. minimize processed foods
6. green superfoods
7. food-based supplements
8. minimize sugar and white flour
9. minimize coffee and alcohol

This will definitely take planning and determination.  I’ll shoot for 100% but follow the 80/20 rule.  Eat at least 80% whole foods.

If you quit a nutritional cleanse before it was officially over, how would you feel about it?

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Why on earth are you doing this?

Feb 9th, 2012

Day 11 – Nutritional Cleanse

I received query from a  subscriber today:   Why do you put yourself through all this misery?  

Actually, I’m not miserable.  I’m just riding the wave of this cleanse and learning a lot about my body, my eating habits, and my coping mechanisms.  It’s a body, mind, spirit journey and it’s going well, right on schedule.  There are ups and downs but that’s part of change and growth.

Why do we do anything that’s difficult?  Why do we go to college, birth and raise a family, get married, get divorced, move to another country, get certified, live in a yurt, go to Haiti to help earthquake victims?  We do the difficult things because they help us grow.  They give us meaning.  Difficult experiences help us be better servants.

This nutritional cleanse hasn’t been easy, but it hasn’t been hard either.  It’s easy enough that I continue to stick with it day after day.  And it’s hard enough that it provides me with opportunities to really pay attention to my body–are you tired, are you hungry, are you feeling a lightness of being, are you thirsty, are you desiring food because of your stomach or your head?  I’m learning a lot about myself and it’s all good. 

As I reported earlier, many of the benefits I expect to reap include the following:

• awareness of how I use food to manage my moods
• better balance and function of my body organs
• awareness of how my body feels when I eat (or don’t eat) certain foods
• more energy, less congestion
• healthier cells
• fewer toxins as they’re sluffed off during this clean food regimine
• weight loss
• clearer eyes
• healthier, smoother skin
• new food routines as I reset my daily food choices and put healthier ones in place
• smarter as I learn new things (I’m sprouting seeds now!)

That’s just a partial list.  I’ve always been a bit permissive with myself and lazy, so this process is strengthening my discipline muscles.  And finally, as a wellness practitioner, I want to walk the talk and be the best role model I can be.  That’s why I air my dirty laundry and let people know I’m not perfect.  I’m on the same journey everyone else is on.  I just may have more wellness tools to work with.  And my goal is to use as many of them as I can every day.

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When’s It Over?

Feb 7th, 2012

Day 2 of the Cleanse… but day 9 of the bigger nutritional cleanse program. 

OK so I’m getting a little….cranky?  Bored? Non-plussed?  Today (day 2 of 7) I started counting on my fingers when I’d be finished with this portion of the cleanse – the part of the cleanse where we just drink fluids (vegetable broth, hot lemon water, green juice and take supplements).  Mid-day Thursday is really hump day so I have 1.5 days left to the midway point.  Are we there yet?!  When are we going to get there, huh, huh!?

I know my body is getting a good clean out and rest, but my head is bored.    I’m on to me and how I frequently walk into the kitchen for a little entertainment.  When I’m not doing that today, there doesn’t seem to be much of interest to do. 

I have one foot in both world–the world of eating and the world of cleansing.  It hasn’t been long enough to “forget” the world of eating, and it hasn’t happened yet that I have the dazzling energy of the cleanse.

I know many people around the planet get to eat even less than I do on this cleanse, so that puts a new spin on this emotional state.  So I’ll go to bed and see what tomorrow brings.

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It’s Working

Feb 6th, 2012

Day 1 of nutritional cleanse (cleanse phase)

I’m finished with the 7 days of pre-cleanse (I actually did only 3 days it).  Now I’m on Day 1 of the cleanse which includes vegetable broth, green juice, a spicy lemonade, herbal tea, and green supplements.  I’m pretty proud of myself for doing so well.  The broth was delicious and satisfying.  Cravings weren’t too bad–even though I went to two grocery stores and saw food everywhere I looked.  I walked right past all the free samples.  So virtuous!

Here’s what’s at the heart of my discipline….

My purpose is motivating me.  My theme for this year is Younger Next Year meaning that by this time next year I will look and feel younger because of all the lifestyle changes I’m making this year.   I’m shaking up my life – including how I eat.  This cleanse is part of that shakeup and it’s working.  I’m getting really clear about how I use food to manage my moods and to punctuate the day with pleasure.   

My cells are thanking me as they’re bathed in pure nutrition–they’re getting younger.  I don’t have any detox symptoms yet and hopefully won’t.  That’s why we all did the pre-cleanse – to make the cleanse easier.

If you think I’m nuts and want to know why I’m doing this, here’s a post written by one of the women guiding us in this nutritional cleanse.  She’s an M.D.

I’m definitely living more mindfully on this cleanse.  When I’m not numbing and pacifying myself with food and drink, I see that there’s a big world out there to observe and it’s lookin’ good!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  it’s a journey.

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Spotlight on Bad Habits

Feb 4th, 2012

Day 6 – Nutritional Cleanse (pre-cleanse phase)

One thing about shaking up my eating habits and sticking to a list of rules is that there’s a bright spotlight shining on my less-than-healthy eating habits like night eating.  The longer I stay up, the hungrier I get.   I think this is true for a lot of us.  You?

And if I turn on the TV to watch a DVD, I get especially hungry.   I’m like a trained rat!

This morning as I lazed in bed thinking about getting up, I thought “gee, coffee would give me something to get up for. ”  But I’m not drinking coffee now, so does that mean there’s nothing to get up for?  That’s what it feels like, even if it isn’t true. 

Funny that when I’m focusing on cleaning up my diet my focus turns from what I can eat and drink to what I can’t eat and drink–until I catch myself and recommit to cleaning up my eating habits.

That spotlight’s getting awfully bright.  Now it’s shining on my habit of being too lazy to make a salad or prepare dinner.  If I open the refrigerator and don’t see a  #1 (think fun, tasty meal),  or something else that’s easy to pull together, I’m tempted to run for takeout.  This habit harkens back to childhood because my mother rarely cooked and my dad was on the road.  For the most part it was “fend for yourself” at our house.  Childhood habits are hard to break, but they are breakable.  And that’s part of my goal with this cleanse–to reset my eating habits. 

Today is an all fruits and veggies day.  And if you read my post from yesterday, you know how I feel about vegetables.  I had hot spicy “lemonade” for breakfast and a hearty soup for brunch.  It was satisfying but then I prowled the kitchen for something “fun.”  Dinner was a great salad, but then I was on the prowl again.  Soon I’ll watch be watching a movie, so watch out! 

There’s an endless series of triggers to eat when I’m not hungry.  Mind you I’m not triggered to eat carrots and celery or even an apple or a pear.  I want rich, salty, sweet, smooth and crunchy–now the spotlight is on our junk food snack addiction in this culture–a food culture I’m working to break free from, hence this nutritional cleanse.  I do not want to be a slave to unhealthy food cravings.  So I’m hanging in there, reframing, consoling, and comforting myself with a hot cup of tea, a good movie, and soon a warm bed.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

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I Hate Vegetables

Feb 3rd, 2012

Day 5 – Nutritional Cleanse (pre-cleanse phase)

Have you ever noticed that vegetable lovers always call them veggies and vegetable haters always call them vegetables?  I usually call them vegetables, occasionally veggies.  So you see my challenge–I’m on the fence about veggie-tables.  I know I should love them, but I don’t.  I still eat them because I know they’re very good for me.  I also eat them because I’m a wellness practitioner and it just wouldn’t look good not to eat them

I’ve spent a couple of decades learning to make vegetables taste better–healthy sauces, stir fries, and flavorful brothy soups.  I own several high-flavor cookbooks and tend to favor ethnic cuisines that are heavy on the spices. 

For lunch I had a fantastic salad with balsamic vinaigrette–the dressing made it.  For dinner I had a cauliflower, kale, potato soup that was also fantastic (seasoned with Indian spices).  The sauteed green beans and garlic tasted good too–no fancy spices.  I don’t know what I’m whining about.  Everything tasted fantastic.  Maybe I don’t really hate veggies   Maybe I just think I do.

Is anybody else conflicted about vegetables?

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