Who knew cows trotted!? Watch this and you will be happy.
After you watch that, make this and eat it! Focaccia with cauliflower and sage
Some Reading For You
17 MayMy mom, sister, brother-in-law, and adorable nephew have been in town all week, so I have been busy. Here is some light reading to hold you over, and I’ll be back next week.
Yikes!!! Foreign Food Inspections Decline as Illness from Imported Goods Rise
Interesting. The Scientific 7-Minute Workout
Scary. Study Finds an Increase in Arsenic Levels in Chicken
Disturbing. Federal government is letting us eat metal shards, pink slime
Yummmm!! Focaccia with Tomatoes and Rosemary
My Fat Is In The Way!!
14 MayI really love to do yoga. I like to go to classes and do it at home with a video because it feels good. It makes me feel peaceful and long and limber. Sometimes, when I am in class I have these moments where I realize my fat gut is really in the way. Sometimes I am doing a twist, catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and start singing “fat man in a little coat” in my head. I think it’s pretty funny actually that my fat is in the way when doing yoga. The classes I go to are very serious. Everyone is quiet and focused, and I am always the fool in the back trying not to laugh when I flip my dog and then can’t get back over in the starting position. Or when I am in the downward dog and I can see myself from behind in the mirror, and my giant ass is in the air wide as can be. I thought about including a photo for you, but that is too much even for me. I feel like I am living proof that yoga does not make you thin, it just makes you bendy. 
Juice Cleanse Day 2
6 May
As I said in my earlier post, I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. All the juices go in the same order as yesterday, so my first one was the Pure & Simple. I will say that juice one and two tasted different today than yesterday. They tasted sweeter and less like one particular vegetable and more like a balanced blend.
I had a very mild headache by 9:30, but I upped my water intake and that seemed to help. I also ate half a small avocado after my second juice. The instruction sheet said a small amount of celery, cucumber, or avocado was okay. I was trying to hold out, but I really just needed to chew something. Also, the urge to barf was back so I thought maybe something solid would be good. It didn’t really seem to matter. I have had a headache and the urge to barf most of the day. I guess I am just a toxic mess and the symptoms mean that I really needed to purge my system. I will say that I had a lot more energy today than I have most days, so that was nice and surprising.
I talked to a friend who juices all the time and is vegan, so I thought she might have some insight. She told me the symptoms I was experiencing were pretty normal and had I gone another day I probably would have been fine. She also said the symptoms are different for everyone so I should state that in my blog, as not to scare anyone away. She said to do my last juice as usual and then to eat some raw veggies, not a lot, but about a handful. She said tomorrow have some warm water with lemon when I get up and some raw nuts about 45 minutes later. She said to make sure I eat small amounts with most of what I am eating being veggies. The info that came with the cleanse gave similar instructions for the day after, so we will see how tomorrow goes.
Overall, I thought this juicing experience was really good. Even though I felt pretty bad day one and had some lingering issues on day 2, I would totally do it again. But, I would definitely prepare myself a little better the next time. I would absolutely go with Skinny Limits again, because the juice was actually good and delivery to my door was great. I would also get the pack without the beet juice.
Has anyone else done a juice diet before? Did you love it or hate it?
Juice Cleanse Day 1
6 MayI have always wanted to be a person who juices, but that really seems like a lot of work to me. I wish there was a company that would do the work for me and just send me the juice. Well, it turns out there are companies that do this. Who knew!?!
Skinny Limits is a company based in Austin, Texas who does raw juice and will ship it to you. I discovered Skinny Limits through another blog that I really love, The Blissful Chef, which you should totally check out. Skinny Limits has one, three, six, or nine day juicing option. There are also several different combinations of juice. I received the three day variety pack cleanse with the intention of doing it for two days and having my husband do it for one day. I knew I could not make it three days so my husband was up for the challenge. My juice arrived with very good and detailed instructions and additional information. I was also impressed that I could call or email the shop if I had any questions.
So yesterday was day one of the juicing adventure. I tweeted and posted on Instagram over the course of the day. So here is what happened on day 1.
9:15 – Started with a cup of hot water per the instructions.
9:20 – Juice #1 “Pure & Simple” contains: apple, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, lemon, parsley. It tasted like sweet celery, which sounds not great, but it was pretty good. I am not a huge fan of celery but there was enough underlying flavor that it was doable. My husband said it was fine.
12:15 – Juice #2 “Balance” contains: apple, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, lemon, parsley, ginger. This one had a similar taste to the first one, but had more of a cucumber taste, which was not great for me because I really don’t like cucumbers. But it was still very drinkable. I did not feel hungry by this point, and was surprised by that.
2:45 – Juice #3 “Green Firefly” contains: pineapple, apple, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, lemon, parsley. This one was pretty good with a fruitier flavor. By this time I had a pretty solid headache going, which the information sheet said is a fairly normal side effect.
5:30 – Juice #4 “Scorpion Lemonade” contains: lemon, agave nectar, cayenne pepper, filtered water. This was tart and sweet and had a tiny bit of heat in the back of your throat. It was tasty and very refreshing. My husband was not a fan.
8:00 – Juice #5 “Lotus” contains: beet, carrot, spinach, apple, lemon, ginger. This one was terrible for me. It tasted like dirt and I could only get through half of it and I was really choking it down. My husband said it had an earthy taste but he thought it was fine. I was also on the verge of puking at this point so the dirt flavor was not helping.
10:00 – Juice #6 “Crescent Moon Cashew Milk” contains: raw cashews, vanilla bean, agave nectar, ground cinnamon, coconut oil, Himalayan sea salt, filtered water. By this time the urge to barf was gone and this was the perfect way to end the day. It was smooth and sweet and tasted really great.
I went to bed last night feeling sort of terrible. I am not sure if that says something about the state of my health or what but I was really surprised how crappy I felt. My husband felt just fine, a little hungry, but fine otherwise. I was surprised that I was not hungry all day, but I felt tired and had a head ache most of the day. I was really happy to go to bed.
When I woke up this morning I felt pretty good. I was headache free and I felt awake and ready to go. Last night I was not sure I could do it again today, but I felt pretty good this morning so I am in it and committed to making it through the day.
I’ll let you know tonight how it goes. In the meantime check out The Blissful Chef and Skinny Limits.
An Evening With Michael Pollan
5 May
On Thursday I went to hear Michael Pollan speak about his new book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, I have an admiration and respect for Michael Pollan that I can barely put into words. His books have changed my view of food and agriculture, and really changed my life. Michael Pollan is smart, articulate, funny, and passionate. His writing and message really are amazing so if you have not read any of this books, or have only read one or two, read them all! You will love it. In the meantime, Click here to read a bit about the book and Michael Pollan, and I recommend you watch all the videos associated. It’s really great stuff.
His message for the evening was you are what you cook. He talked a lot about how little people cook these days and how the family dinner is becoming a thing of the past. He described the family dinner as, “the nursery of democracy”, where kids learn to share, be polite, etc. He described an evening microwaving frozen dinners for his wife, son, and himself where between the heating and re-heating it was impossible to all eat together. Mr. Pollan was a really great speaker and the evening was more than I hoped it would be. It was a full circle moment, and I just loved every minute of it.
From my evening with Michael Pollan
Happiness
4 May
I was having a discussion yesterday about happiness and whether you can just decide to be happy, or if there are things in life that have to happen to make you happy. I argued that sometimes it really is as simple as deciding to be happy. I gave the caveat that there will always be circumstances that come up and make you sad or depressed, and simply making the decision to be happy might not be enough. But it can be a place to start. (This thought process does not include things like depression. That can require medication and/or therapy and is quite serious) The other person in the conversation completely disagreed with me. They thought that they were okay with their life, but if they made more money and could stop living paycheck to paycheck, then they would be truly happy. They basically dared me to show them how they could be happy in their life at this very moment.
I explained that I could not show them how they could be happy. They have everything they need in life and then some. They have more than most and besides a giant pot of gold, I was not sure what else they could want. I also pointed out that happiness is something you have to find for yourself and it isn’t hiding in the back of your closet or under your bed. Happiness is very individual is will look different for everyone. I told them about the My Happiness Project that I did all of last year and all the things I discovered about myself and about how I really was focusing in the wrong places and making a subconscious choice to not be happy. It’s not like I was unhappy before I did the Happiness Project, I just believed the same thing my friend believed, that if I had more I would be happier and feel like I could say out loud that I was happy. I believe the reality tends to be a line from the late and great Notorious B.I.G., “Mo Money, Mo Problems”. I have friends who make six figures and appear to have everything, but they are not happy. Some of them aren’t even sure why they are not happy.
One of the biggest things I learned over last years Happiness Project journey, is that part of being happy was my mindset and my choice to be happy. The world is full of terrible things and terrible people, but my reaction to those things is the only part I can control, and that is where the decision to be happy or miserable or angry comes into play. Also, I was not doing things that I enjoyed for myself. I really like to read and I was not doing enough of that because I felt like it’s so solitary. So my son and I sit in the living room together and read, and then talk about what we are each reading. We are together, but still doing something that we both love to do. I really feel the most like myself when I meditate every day and I am internally and externally more balanced and happy. I can feel the difference when I am doing things that give me joy and happiness. I am not happy all day everyday, but I am overall a much happier person.
If you want to read about my journey last year, search for “My Happiness Project” in the search bar at the top of the page; all the posts should pull up. You can also see my monthly resolutions under the My Happiness Project tab above. I also have some happiness things in the works that you will be able to participate in to find your happiness. More details to come, but it should be exciting!!
What do you think? Can you decide to be happy and make it a reality?
Sometimes You Just Have To Use The F Word
30 AprThis blog used to be listed on a website as one of the top blogs in my area. When I was notified the blog would be listed there I was ecstatic. I felt like I had really achieved something and couldn’t wait to see my blog next to others that inspire me. Not long ago someone from that website contacted me to ask if I would consider not using profanity in my blog, and informed me that if I would not stop saying things like fuck, shit, dick, and whore, they would have to remove me from the site. You should know those words where not actually used in the email, but when pressed to give me an example they replied with, “you obviously know what profanity is, so I don’t feel the need to explain it to you”. Well excuse me. Maybe I don’t view those words as profanity and maybe I think those words are just fine. Maybe we are all grownups and everyone should calm down. I thought about the request for about three minutes and decided that I like my blog just the way it is and sometimes fuck is the only word that really gets the point across. I replied to the request to stop using profanity with these words: “Fuck no! But thanks for the offer”.
I was removed from the site within an hour.
Time For A Challenge
29 AprAfter all my carrying on from last week I have decided it might be time to get off my ass and take on a challenge. I have been watching a lot of the bloggers who are doing the squat challenge, and I don’t think I am ready for that. I would like to do it, I just think I am not physically able to do it and not lose the use of my lower half. I am thinking I will take that on in the month of July, so stay tuned for that. I decided to do Couch to 5K and try to be a runner. I generally feel that running is something that should only be done if you are being chanced by a murderer, but people seem to love it and I want to love it. Besides, it’s finally spring and I am having a very deep and dark aversion to the gym these days. Running is something that can be done outside, at my own pace, and in my own element so what the hell!?!
I have to say that I have really been inspired to get active by a few of my friends and co-workers. One of them did couch to 5K and ran her first race a few weeks ago. She has lost a bunch of weight and looks amazing. Another has taken on a personal trainer and is kicking ass every week. She is probably half the person she used to be and she feels great. Another decided to start with Weight Watchers and add exercise later, which is a wise plan. She is looking and feeling better every day and that is exactly what I am looking for. I want to feel better and look better, so running it is. Yikes.
Thanks Nike! You always know the right words.
Hard Decisions & Painful Conversations
22 AprI am struggling. Not with food or diet or health, but with the knowledge that my baby is going to leave me soon. He is 15 and finishing up his freshman year of high school, and I know the time is fleeting. I have been trying to ignore it and pretend like it’s not happening, but it has been slowly and steadily creeping to the forefront of my mind. How did we get here? He was a baby last week and now he is this six-foot tall, scruffy faced man-child. He has ambitions and goals that involve college and leaping from the nest so I know the day will come when I leave him at a dorm or apartment and return to my home without him.
As his mother, I want all of these things for him. I want him to go to college and experience life. I want him to achieve everything he wants and follow his dreams. I have raised a wonderful kid who is kind and thoughtful, considerate and determined, curious and strong. I have no doubt that he will be fully equipped and capable of making it in college and the world after high school. I am however, uncertain how I will make it.
I started back up in my Ph.D program in January, trying to push down all these feelings of what I will be missing in these last years of his high school life. If I keep plowing ahead like nothing is going to change then maybe nothing will change. I made it a quarter and I could not bring myself to register for spring session. I had to have a serious and painful conversation with myself, followed by some hard decisions. I could either ignore that I will be missing out on a lot of things these last three years of high school and keep going, or I could put what I want on hold and enjoy my son. I have been unwilling to articulate it fully to anyone because I know I will be a broken pile of weepy mess if I really talk about it. My advisor would not stop emailing me and calling about getting registered for the next quarter so I finally broke down and put it into words.
“I just wanted to drop a note quick to thank you for your time. I have been in college as long as my son has been alive and as he heads toward the close of his freshman year of high school, I really feel the time slipping away. I entered the program trying to push that back and not let it affect my decision and my focus on my goal, but it did not work. He is my only child and he will move on to his own adult life soon; the blink of an eye really. I have missed a lot of things and we have both made a lot of sacrifices for me to get the education I have and to be able to support the two of us as long as I have. There is no way I can continue in the program and not come out of it with more regrets than achievements. I know that I can finish the program and I know that I will have my Ph.D at some point, but I will never get back these last fleeting years with my son. As much as I want to do this for myself, I want to spend these high school years enjoying him more.”
I hit send and cried for about twenty minutes. The part I did not include in the email is, what will happen to me when he’s gone? Every decision I have made in the last sixteen years is based on what is best for my son. My life has revolved around him and his needs and I have been the single mother doing the right thing to support her child my whole adult life. I am afraid I don’t know how to be anything else. I am afraid I won’t be able to thrive without him. I am afraid he will move away and Christmas will be our only visit. I am afraid the next three years is all I have left. I am afraid.
I realize these thoughts might be a little dramatic, but they are the things I think none the less. I will be forty when my son graduates from high school and that’s a lot of life left to live. I have three years to figure out who I am without him, and it scares the hell out of me that I won’t find the answer. When they are in the terrible two’s all you can think is that one day they will leave and your house will be quiet again. But no one tells you that day will come in the blink of an eye and you would give anything to have those days back.
Well, I have gone through an entire box of tissue writing this so I think that’s about enough. How did my parents do it twice and make it seem like they were totally fine?
