Category Archives: Healthy Eating

Health eating ideas/recipes

Throwing caution to the wind…

Healthy Eating, Physical Health

It’s Monday morning – Monday is my stay-at-home day.  I love that I can address the day in a very leisurely fashion, no need to hurry anywhere.  This morning I indulged in a breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats and bacon…and, that is the inspiration for this post.

I have paid pretty close attention to my diet and exercise programs throughout my life.  My quest has been to live healthily so as to feel good all the time.  That’s not to say I haven’t fallen off the wagon several times a month (sometimes, several times a week).  I have read enough articles, books and doctors’ manuals  however, to know what activities constitute a healthy lifestyle.

A breakfast of Mini-Wheats and bacon is not part of a healthy lifestyle!

cereal

I know that eating cereal is like consuming several teaspoons of sugar.  Add in the fact that I was eating a sugared cereal, and my eating error is magnified many times over.   The fact the cereal was whole grain added a trifle bit of wholeness to the mess, but not much.  And, I think we all know that bacon has no redeeming health benefits.  My thought process this morning was it would add protein to the mix.  Yeah, right, but mostly just a lot of fat.

But, WOW, did I enjoy eating this junk this morning!

Which brings me to my new strategy about life that I wanted to share with you.

Now that I am in what I call the last third of my life, I have decided to indulge in a few actions that up till now I considered bad choices for helping me to be healthy.  My thought process – whether an intelligent one or not (RC thinks I am crazy!)  – is yes, I would like to live to a ripe old age (as long as my body and mind hold out); but, when it is time for me to go I don’t want the process to take months because my body won’t give up.  So, to help prevent that from happening, I have decided to indulge in the following not-so-healthy activities as frequently as I want:

  • eating cereal for breakfast; and when it is oatmeal adding brown sugar and half and half rather than milk
  • visiting the Dairy Queen or Culvers for an ice cream treat
  • eating bacon
  • exercising only 3 times a week instead of 5
  • not working out with weights (I know, I will have no body strength and my balance will be off so I’ll likely fall and break my hip – but, so be it)
  • drinking a “real” Coke once in awhile
  • eating the croutons on a salad, and using full-fat dressing

All of these activities make me happy – that is the trade-off for the negative effects they may have on my body.  Actually, when I think about it, I have done all of the above and more on occasion, throughout my life – now, I am just choosing not to feel guilty or worry about my mistakes.

I realize this new strategy somewhat contradicts what I touted in one of my early posts regarding taking care of my body…see Taking Care of My Vessel.  I still believe in the points I made there; I’m just loosening up my stance a bit.

For those of you that are still youngsters (in my eyes under 60) disregard this proposed strategy – you should still be exercising and watching what you eat – making wise choices.  You need energy and a healthy body to raise your families and further your careers.

So, for today anyway, this is my new approach to life.  What is marvelous is I can change my mind and behave however I want on any given day.  Retirement and old age is wonderful…I can pretty much do what I want provided it doesn’t harm anyone else.

Anyone want to join me in indulging in some not-so-healthy vices once in awhile?  I’d love to hear what some of your ideas for questionable activities might be (or, maybe you’d like to side with RC and tell me I’m crazy) – feel free to leave comments below.

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As seen on TV…

Healthy Eating, Shopping

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA We are the proud new owners of the NutriBullet…as seen on TV.  Making this purchase was my husband’s idea, and he is certain he is instantly healthier now that we have this cute little blender-like machine.  The accompanying user guide touts getting the most out of life we need to get the most out of our food, and includes “life nutrient extraction recipes”. The manual goes on to say the NutriBullet breaks fruits and veggies down to their most digestible form which releases nutrients that otherwise are locked inside un-chewed bits of food…hmm, that’s a shame!  Using the NutriBullet ensures our bodies are absorbing all of the disease fighting compounds the fruits and veggies offer.  Wow!  Are you sold on your need for this wonderful invention yet?? (Perhaps I could make some money here marketing this machine.)

Actually, we are both having fun using the Bullet – though I felt my old blender was working fairly well at making my smoothies also.  I’m waiting for the novelty to wear off for my husband, then finding the NutriBullet sitting idle except for my use.  For the time being, however, we’re enjoying smoothies made with kale or spinach, fruit, protein powder, and chia seeds or flaxseed meal.  It’s an easy way to get protein and Omega 3’s among other benefits.  I do feel like I’m being very healthy when I drink one of these concoctions.

I’m a huge proponent of getting ample amounts of protein (12-18 grams) with every meal, and eating 5-6 servings of veggies and/or fruit each day.  (Some nutritionists suggest you eat 9 servings of fruits/vegetables a day;  I sometimes struggle to get 5.)  And, I am a 3-meal a day person with a couple of snacks in between (hopefully healthy, but not always).  I began focusing on including protein and the veggies/fruit in my diet after reading The Mood Cure by Julia Ross, M.A.  My take-away from that book is I can control my mood (read that be happier without anti-depressant drugs) by eating a diet rich in protein, healthy fat and vegetables.  The NutriBullet will help me with getting the veggies and protein into my diet if for no other reason than after reading the literature for the machine, I am pumped up and inspired to continue on this path.  It’s pretty easy to throw healthy things in the machine, whir away for 15 seconds and voila, get a healthy beverage that tastes good.  (I still think a blender can work as well.) Trust me, you don’t even know the dark leafy greens are in the drink, the sweetness of the fruit trumps the veggies.  That’s not to say I am not a little put off by the color of the smoothie; it’s a bit odd…a weird greenish-brown shade!

I also add plain Greek yogurt to most of my smoothies to get more protein, pro-biotics, and it helps thicken the smoothie.  By the way, using frozen fruit makes the smoothie nice and cold which I think makes it more like something fun to drink (imagine something with ice cream, perhaps?).  You can also add ice to get that cold beverage effect.  Using a banana as part of the fruit also helps thicken the drink; and I happen to enjoy the banana flavor.

I will caution that a smoothie can be calorie-laden.  When I get done adding ingredients I’m guessing I have 250-300 calories in my smoothie; but, I use it as my breakfast meal, usually along with a whole-wheat English muffin.  I warned my husband he had better not think of using the Bullet to make snacks unless he wanted to increase his calorie intake for the day.  So, he replaces his noon meal with a smoothie from the Bullet two or three times a week, thereby not adding any calories to his day.

My favorite smoothie…

  • a handful of spinach leaves or 3 or 4 kale leaves
  • about 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
  • 3 or 4 frozen whole strawberries
  • a half of a banana
  • 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons plain whey protein powder (I don’t like the flavored powders)
  • 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
  • about a 1/2 cup water, milk, or coconut milk, etc.

A side note, hubby thought it would be fun to make an ice cream malt for our grandsons in the Bullet.  He did so, the boys took a few sips, got side-tracked and didn’t finish their servings.  Hubby put them in the freezer and the two of us ate them as a frozen treat a day later – YUM!

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A single postscript:  I don’t always pull off eating 5 or 6 servings of fruits & veggies or getting enough protein in a day.  Tuesday night, for example, I had a root beer float for dinner…another yum!!