Hello 2012

Hello world of healthy thinkers... after some hiatus, we are back to write about healthy living for the new year. Right now it's sprinkling snow outside. It's been 40 and sunny around here lately, great weather for dog walking and wandering around campus. But now it's looking like January again, and with that comes consequences... for example, when it snows, after it's been raining and freezing, ice patches lay hidden in dangerous places. Winter walking sometimes has to slow down and shorten up when the ice and snow cause trouble. So then one wonders, "how might I revise my daily schedule to include other sorts of exercise and activity?" Of course there are always yoga classes when one is able to conveniently fit them into a regular weekly schedule, as well as trips to the gym (or did my membership run out already, since I haven't been there in a while and can't exactly remember?), and maybe even creating a new swimming schedule. Of course there are always options for vacuuming and doing laundry; or one might consider exercising on the yoga mat in the living room. The point is that there are options. And the mandate is to simply take some time to focus oneself, work on creating a new schedule for winter, and decide to stick to it even when the weeks get cold and time management becomes difficult.

My goal for this weekend: make a new plan for next week that may (sorry dog) shorten the outside dog walking, and focus more on various indoor activities. And then, come Monday, begin to implement, in a reasonable fashion.

What is your exercise and activity schedule going to look like this winter?

Your imagination is a powerful and creative tool for life transformation

"Imagination—our ability to create images not available to the sensory system—is arguably our greatest faculty for evolving human consciousness. In order to transform ourselves and our world, we need to be able to leap out of the familiar and into the unknown. The first step in doing this is to imagine a future different from the past, a self-sense different from the one we have now. Of course, we are shaped by our memories, our karma, and the patterns woven into our neurons and cells. Undeniably, we're also influenced by culture and physical circumstances. Some of these factors are hard to change. But the imagination can help us begin to replace our internal patterns, especially the ones that keep us limited and stuck. If we can reimagine our sense of who we are, we can change our experience of life. Yoga is all about what happens when we recognize this truth. If you can imagine yourself, say, free of suffering, you've taken the first step toward that freedom"

check out the whole article:


It's All in Your Mind

Eating Well!

I stopped dieting and I lost 2 lbs... I wasn't really dieting, but following weight watchers and tracking my food and adding up points every day was feeling like a diet. I decided to take week 7 off. Over 6 weeks I lost 9 lbs. and I thought that was really good! So I said, I don't care if I don't lose anything this week, I'm going to take a vacation from tracking food points, and instead focus on eating well and exercising, and see what happens. I lost 2 more lbs... I did make an effort to add 10 points to my usual, average exercise weekly points, and since I was already in the food habit of watching point-values via types of food and portion sizes, it all seems to have come together. This is a feel-good moment, for sure.

I am however, also kindly reminded by weight watchers, that losing more than a lb/week can be unhealthy and have other consequences. They tell  me to make sure not to lose too quickly. This seems crazy because for a year I have been battling to maintain my weight instead of continuing to gain more. But this also means that I am, after 7 weeks, into something new and my body has decided to go along willingly. I realize that it does take time to discipline yourself as well as work consistently to alter eating and exercise habits, and for your body to adjust. I mean I have generally, for years now, always eaten healthy. And I usually get regular exercise. But what I've learned is that these were never as consistent as I thought; I was in the end eating too much and often over-snacking, or eating the wrong things too often (more often than I realized). Also it is true that aging requires fewer calories, and adjusting to that in itself is a major challenge. And exercise should be consistent, consistently; it's not just for weight loss, but for whole and long life wellness.

I've also discovered even more great recipes, and a lot of easy ones filled with veggies and good stuff! Once or twice a week I try to cook a real dinner, and also have healthy leftovers and other easy-prep stuff (soup and salad are standards) so I don't have to really cook every night. This is a luxury I realize since I don't have kids or other people to cook for every night. But I do also like to make large batches of things that I can freeze or have fresh leftovers available... In any case, here are two awesome recipes I found, both of which can be eaten alone or in combination with other stuff like sweet potatoes, chicken (or chicken sausage, which I had with the stuffed mushrooms and it was so excellent), salad, cucumbers in yogurt, asparagus... you get the idea.

Tempeh Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

	5 item(s) bell pepper(s), (preferably red and/or yellow) (medium)
	3/4 cup(s) quick cooking brown rice, uncooked
	2 tsp olive oil
	8 oz tempeh, diced
	1 cup(s) onion(s), diced
	1 cup(s) zucchini, diced
	15 oz canned tomato sauce
	2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
	2 tsp minced garlic
	1 tsp italian seasoning
	1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off tops from 4 peppers. Remove seeds and set hollow peppers and tops aside. Dice remaining bell pepper; set aside.
  
• Bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes until tender.
  
• While rice cooks, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add tempeh and sauté over medium-high heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
  
• Add remaining teaspoon oil to skillet. Add diced bell pepper and onion; sauté until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and sauté until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cooked rice, tempeh, tomato sauce, cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning and pepper. (Note: Look for tempeh in the refrigerated section of your grocery store near other soy products.)
  
• Fill peppers with tempeh mixture and cover with pepper tops. Place in a shallow baking dish and bake until peppers are tender, about 30 minutes. Yields 1 stuffed pepper per serving. (Note: Store stuffed peppers for up to 3 days in the fridge.) 

creole-style stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

*I used mini portobello mushrooms, regular portobellos would be yummy too, and easier than filling a bunch of small mushrooms...

	1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
	1 pound(s) button mushrooms, about 24 large mushrooms
	1 tsp olive oil
	1/4 cup(s) onion(s), chopped
	1/4 cup(s) sweet red pepper(s), chopped
	10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
	2 1/2 slice(s) whole-wheat bread, chopped into bread crumbs
	1 tsp Creole seasoning, or Cajun seasoning
	1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a jelly roll pan with cooking spray.
  
• Remove mushroom stems from caps and finely chop stems; reserve caps and set aside.
  
• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sauté mushroom stems, onion, pepper and spinach until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining ingredients until well-combined.
  
• Stuff each mushroom cap with 2 tablespoons of filling mixture. Place mushrooms, stuffed sides up, on jellyroll pan. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes; serve warm. Yields 2 mushrooms per serving. (Note: The mushrooms can be stuffed in advance, covered, refrigerated and then baked later in the day to save on last minute preparation time.)

portion size

Here's a simple article about how portion size has been distorted over the years in the American diet: How Portion Size Adds Up

...if you feel like you don't know how much is too much, or it seems like you don't overeat even if you do, this may help. Our internal scales have been affected by the cultural supersizing effect so that when we make or are served a normal portion of something, it seems like it's not enough. Or when we're served multiple portions-worth of food, we eat more because it's right there in front of us...

It can be especially challenging to fight against a century of cultural diet manipulation... so if you feel sometimes like you're crazy, fighting an un-winnable battle, don't give up. You're not crazy, the battle is not really a fight but a commitment to a better personal future. And if you think you're going to starve if you have to live by "normal" portion sizes, just know that you're not... it takes some working into, takes some patience to let your body adjust down into more healthy parameters, but in the end, as the cliche goes, it will be worth it, and you are worth it.

Chocolate Walnut Cake

I haven't yet tried this cake, but it looks intriguing! No flour and lots of eggs... I'm gonna make it this weekend and see what happens!   Servings:  16 Preparation Time:  15 min Cooking Time:  75 min Level of Difficulty:  Moderate   This rich, flourless chocolate cake is perfect for Easter or Passover. Vary the flavor by using different nuts or adding a little cinnamon.* Ingredients   9 large egg(s), separated    1 cup(s) sugar, divided    5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted    1 cup(s) walnut halves, processed to a powder (see note**)    Instructions Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar until they are light yellow and form ribbons or ripples. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour in warm (but not hot) chocolate and half of processed nuts; mix until incorporated and set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Reduce mixer speed to medium and incorporate remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Increase mixer speed to high and beat until egg whites hold their shape but are not too stiff or dry. Incorporate a heaping cup of egg whites into chocolate mixture with a spatula; then carefully fold chocolate mixture and remaining processed nuts into remaining egg whites. Spoon batter into an ungreased two-piece 10-inch angel food cake pan with feet; carefully smooth top into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 75 minutes. Remove cake from oven and turn pan upside-down on its feet to cool — the cake will not fall out (if you do not have a footed pan, simply invert the pan over the top of a wine bottle). When cake is completely cool to the touch, loosen edges with a sharp knife and remove cake from pan. Cut into 16 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.

gaining health (and some weight loss)

The recent yoga journal article on health and weight was really helpful to me for continuing to think about long-term health as a process and  life-long endeavor to eat well, to get good exercise, to plan activity dates with friends and be healthy together. Into the 6th week of weight watchers, I've struggled with the anxiety over losing and not losing enough lbs every week. The past few weeks I have cut back on food intake, and just generally changed my eating habits. I've also tried to include just a little more exercise every week, working it in more subtly and consistently to my regular-life schedule. But when I get to the scale on Thursdays, there isn't as huge a payoff as I want there to be. And then I have to give myself "the talk" about life, and health, and practice.

In yoga the teachers often say, "this is yoga practice, not yoga perfect." I love that. And in fact, I feel like the more I do yoga, the harder it becomes. It's not hard in a way that makes me feel like I can't do it, but just the opposite: the more challenging it is, the more I'm encouraged to push myself and keep practicing. I definitely feel that I've improved as a yoga practitioner; I have more strength, and some days better balance, and I can do a lot more core strengthening things (crunches and etc!) before it hurts bad. But I also feel like continuing to practice is exactly that: staying in the space of the present, enjoying the process and letting go of the anxiety of goals or analyzing or judging myself for what I'm not doing and what I don't look like.

This has been the most helpful in order to keep tracking points and really spending time with my eating and exercising practices. Eating less and feeling satisfied, making better choices that benefit this body, exercising more in ways that feel good and energizing...these are what yoga-inspired weight watchers is helping me to learn.

Lately, one of my yoga instructors has been saying, "what you focus on, you create." I have learned this the hard way in my personal relationships, and this has affected my physical and emotional life. But now that I have more insight, and better practices from moment to moment, I only feel positive about continuing to learn and "improve" myself, from the inside out.

yoga and weight (loss) and health

A really excellent article about the health benefits of yoga, including (and besides) weight loss:

Why Yoga Works