Running – Page 2 – Reclaiming My Health

Vision Board

One of the tools I’ve used as an educator is the vision board as it helps people visualize what they are trying to achieve in a very concrete manner. I have found that putting things down on paper can really help us contextualize the why of our wellness journey. Using pictures to name our why helps give our goals meaning beyond just weight loss.

Dr. William Sears in his book, Prime Time Health, talks about making health your hobby. One way to get started with this type of mindset is to really uncover why it matters to us. Why are we spending so much time, money and effort trying to get healthy? This moves us away from one dimensional goal setting such as, I want to lose weight, which I talked about in my last blog. Rather it moves us toward a systems approach to wellness, I want to be healthy so I can enjoy playing with my children (or grandchildren) again. Using a vision board can really help us uncover and envision what our healthy life would look like. Keeping this in mind, I’d like to share an activity you can engage in to help you focus on living a healthier lifestyle. I completed this activity and found it helpful.

Begin looking through photographs found online, in magazines, newspapers or on old calendars. I found most of mine online in images. Find several photographs that you feel best represent what you’d like to be doing in your free time, ex., hiking, swimming, sailing; if you were able. It can be something you used to do when younger, or something you wish you could do if you were healthier. Paste the photographs into a word document, or a physical wellness journal. I went with the journal as I like to have a tangible book that I collect my thoughts in. You can also make a collage and paste them onto poster paper. Write down why you selected these photographs and what they represent to you. What theme emerges when looking at your photographs? Ex., I’d like to be moving and traveling. I’d like to run a marathon in all 50 states in the USA. I’d like to play outside with my children and grandchildren.

This activity, as simple as it is, really helps you understand why you want to achieve wellness. It gives purpose to your why and focuses you on what you will need to do now to be able to achieve your future life. You come to realize the importance of pouring into yourself now in order to obtain these future goals. It’s like talking to your future self and making a promise to do the work now so they can enjoy life better then, or making health your hobby.

The next part is to think of three things you can do now to help you get to the place where you will be able to do what is in your pictures. For me, I selected a photographs of prime time adults engaged in playing sports, with a specific focus on pickleball and hiking. One theme that emerged for me was that I want to be continue to be athletic and physically fit well into my 80s and beyond. To continue to be able to walk, run, hike and engage in sports. These activities bring me laughter, socialization and joy. They feed my competitive drive and are great for my overall mental wellness.

Many of you who know me, know I have not been good at taking care of my body. As a long distance runner, I ran well beyond my physical capabilities up until my 60th birthday. I sustained multiple stress fractures and torn tendons, and did not think to the future as I continued to push through each of these injuries, despite weight gain and loss of conditioning. Perhaps if I had engaged in a visioning activity such as this, I would have come to realize the importance of investing in my health and taking better care of my body for the future. Further, to see that if I continued on the path I was on, I may not be able to walk without pain in the future. When I partook in this activity, I expressed just that. I wrote, I know now that in order to be able to run and play sports long term, I have to take better care of my body. Three things I can do now are, eat healthier foods that nourish my body, return to Hatha yoga to stretch and maintain flexibility and learn to better listen to my body and rest when needed.

The themes that emerged for me after reflecting are that wellness and self care are an investment in myself for the future. Living in the moment and focusing on weight loss has never helped me think long term. While it helped me in the moment, it never was sustainable for me. Investing in my health for my future focuses me on sustainability and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I definitely do not want to be unable to walk outside every day. I definitely do want to play with my grandson and not be tired all the time. When I have weak moments, having this vision board can help reenergize and focus me on why I am doing this work. I hope you try the activity. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, or comments. I’d love to hear what emerged for you and what your future self will be doing. Post your comments here or email me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog .

Systems Approach to Wellness

Most of you know I come from an education background. As a former Elementary School Principal, I spent a considerable amount of time learning about and creating conditions in which children could thrive. My focus was rooted in practices that were effective in building individual insight and well-being, while extending them to include the strengthening of interpersonal relationships. This helped deepen our collective understanding of how the whole system contributes to our outcomes. In simplistic terms, it helps those in the system realize THEY are the system, not some unseen entity.

In thinking about my wellness journey, I’ve sought to incorporate these principles into my approach. This has offered me a more holistic view of my health and forced me to move away from the narrow focus on one goal, ex., weight loss. The possible dangers of focusing on a narrow goal like weight loss, is that once you achieve it you think you are done. I met my goal, so now I can go on and live my life. Further, it will can feel impossible to achieve, or unreachable. This approach can potentially lack plans for lasting change and can be why so many of us end up back at the starting line time and again.

In the above example of a one dimensional goal, the diet industry can be seen as the “system”. The diet industry is a multimillion dollar industry that benefits from our failure as it keeps us engaged and coming back for more. Using a systemic approach, you can realize YOU are the system. You are seeking lasting change and looking for ways to engage in the industry in a healthier manner. Perhaps, you will engage in ways that can build your insight and well-being and strengthen our interpersonal relationships. Sharing the journey and then contributing to the system itself as we create healthier options for all.

One of the ways I have broadened my approach to wellness has been the focus on my lifestyle, not weight loss. If I continued to focus on weight loss, I would make choices that addressed that aspect only, like buying into yet another plan. I would seek quick fixes and the endless stream of ads I see on social media would draw me in every time. Been there, done that!

Focusing on lifestyle has led me down different paths, which I believe have led to healthier attitudes and expectations. For example, I have taken classes on healthy cooking with Chef Cynthia Louise and Divya Alter. These have led me to expanding my cooking repertoire, while increasing the number of healthier meals I consume. I have tried foods I never thought I would like and those who know me know I was a very picky eater. I no longer am asking for someone to “just tell me what to eat and I’ll do it.”

Recently, I have started a year long course with the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute. The coursework is crafted from a systems approach and seeks to build wellness knowledge in individuals, leading to possible change in wellness options for others. I have learned so much in just three short weeks and am excited to expand my understanding of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. I plan to share this knowledge with my family and anyone who wants to engage, including through this blog.

As I said last week, I’ve been focusing a lot of energy on my attitude. One of the recent changes I’ve made, that is truly helping, is celebrating milestones along the way. My road was long and I had a lot to overcome and work on. As I’ve said, it felt overwhelming and possibly unreachable. It took a lot to start again as the target felt so very far away. As I write this blog, I have 20 pounds to lose to reach my target weight and be at a healthy BMI. Funny how that seems so doable now, eight months into this journey.

I have celebrated losing 40 pounds and a 35 point decrease in my LDL cholesterol. I have celebrated getting more deep and REM sleep and a decrease in anxiety attacks when sleeping. This weekend, I celebrated winning a bronze medal at my second pickleball tournament. The first tournament, I made it to the bronze medal round and lost. This time, we took the bronze medal!

In the past, I’d be happy about all of the above, but always say things like, I still have a long way to go. Or, yes I lost some weight, but I’m still heavy and have a long way to go. I never truly celebrated these small steps along the way. I have learned that attitude matters and keeps you motivated. It is important to take the time to feel and celebrate your successes.

What milestones have you set and how have you celebrated yourself along the way? Feel free to share in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Baby Steps

Last week, I shared how stress had created havoc in my life and on my health. Many of you resonated with my story and struggle and I appreciated the messages you sent. Thank you for connecting to my story and taking time to share yours.

This week, I thought I’d share a bit about the early days of retirement and finding the will to try again. Retiring in and of itself didn’t solve all my problems. I wish it was that simple, don’t you? Walking away from the major source of my stress was surely a big help, but not the complete answer. What that did for me was provide me with the space and time to care for myself, however, those of you who are on this journey know that space and time alone will not get it done. We have to dig deep within ourselves and actually do something. We actually have to prioritize ourselves, which for many doesn’t feel natural, especially after putting ourselves last for so long.

When I arrived at my new home post retirement, I had the desire to get on track again. I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I took a walk with my dog most days and spent time online looking for motivation and answers. Pretty shortly, I had some hip pain from the walking and was cutting back on that. I decided to lose some weight before continuing with exercise, but that just led to more sitting and reading. Not a good plan!

I decided to invest in working with a nutrition coach and began doing research on one in my area. As a new retiree, I was concerned about the money, but this was my first opportunity to put myself first. I went in for a complete physical with the doctor and was shocked at my blood work. My cholesterol was super high, especially my LDL. I’ve never really had cholesterol issues before so did not agree to medication as my solution. I asked for six months to lose weight and see if the numbers moved and the doctor agreed.

The nutrition coach I hired lived in my area and had worked with some friends who had good results. They said she focused on food choices, including shopping with you and teaching you how to read and understand food labels. We started working together in February and I made it clear that food had to be easy to manage or I wouldn’t stick with it. Based on my history, if I had to spend hours prepping food for the week, or cooking meals each night it wouldn’t happen. It was just not conducive to my lifestyle. I do not want to be spending my days cooking for hours. I want simple, clean eating that doesn’t involve tons of spices I’ll use once and never use again.

We started with small changes, working first on breakfast, a meal I generally skipped. We talked about protein and the importance of it at each meal. I was very easily able to do what was asked of me and no, it didn’t involve merely drinking shakes, though that was an option. I quickly learned that my biggest issue was two fold, I was not eating enough food each day, nor protein. Skipping breakfast also did not set me up for the day and my body would then begin craving foods starting with lunch. I understood why every day at work, I was looking to order “brunch” with colleagues which consisted of bagels, coffee, etc.

During these first few months, I focused on attainable for me 30 minute workouts which included walking and body weight exercises such as wall squats and wall push ups. I worked out every day, alternating walks and body movements each day for 30 minutes. I lost some weight and inches, slowly. I was very consistent with my eating and workouts. I continued to have some hip pain, so I changed the walking to Peleton bike classes and had relief.

By May, I had lost 15 pounds and felt ready to make more changes. I started playing pickleball and loved the social interactions and competitive nature of the games. I decided at this point to work with a functional health coach in my community. We looked again at my food choices and I started logging in the My Fitness Pal app to explore the breakdown of my nutrients across the day and week. We reworked my exercise routines to focus more on flexibility and stretching, to help me on the pickleball courts. I incorporated swimming laps and yoga classes into my weekly routines and lightened the weights I was lifting at the gym.

By September, I was up to a 35 pound weight loss in total and closing in on my goal weight. I’m still not there, but it now feels so doable. Believe me, the struggle has been real. There are days my body hurts and days I feel less motivated, especially now that the days are getting colder. I’m still taking it one step at a time and find that breaking it down into manageable chunks has been helpful. I didn’t gain the weight in one month, so expecting to lose it quick was not realistic and actually put too much pressure on me.

Next week, I’d like to discuss the personal mindset work I needed to do during these past months. I’ve learned that wellness requires 4 pillars, known as L.E.A.N. I will break that down for you and hope you’ll have a more complete picture of my reclaiming of health. Please continue to share your journey, I learn from each of you as well.

Stuck/Unstuck

Getting stuck and subsequently unstuck is a normal part of any health journey. Most times we feel like we are in the never ending cycles of ups and downs. How we respond to these times is the hard work. What we do to get unstuck matters. Do we dig in and go deeper, get reflective and try to figure it out? Or, do we give up and just give in to the same old mindsets?

I’ve noticed on this journey, especially this time around, that my body follows a typical pattern of losses and gains. I’ve not noticed this on past journeys because whenever I was stuck, or gained, I would give up and just return to old habits and behaviors. Why you ask, because it’s just easier to quit than do the reflective work required to figure it out.

These past few weeks, I’ve been stuck at a weight and just seem to go up a pound and down a pound endlessly. What that means is I loose the excitement of seeing the scale going down slowly over time. That is usually the give up point. The mind saying, guess this is all you’ll loose and this is the new weight. But, this time I’ve really tracked and been reflective to try to identify why I’m stuck. I’ve noticed that my body throughout this cycle has had these stuck points. The weight will go up and down a few pounds, but never down below the stuck point. I think I’ve figured out two possibilities as to why.

It seems my body gets stuck every few months or so for a few weeks. My daily routines and exercise are the same patterns, so it’s not that. I believe it’s actually these two things:

Body adjustment – I think my body catches up and perhaps needs a moment to reset to the new weight. I actually think this is a good thing, because I have not had any issues with loose or saggy skin. I think the body is readjusting to its new normal and perhaps needs a moment to adjust. I don’t have any science to back that up, but those are my thoughts.
Alcohol – I actually don’t drink anymore, but if I have a cocktail I notice my sleep patterns are very disrupted. I have long been a poor sleeper, but never thought much about the affect of alcohol on my weight loss, or sleep. Since I’m tracking the quality of my sleep now, I clearly see the impact of even just one class of wine, or one drink. My restorative sleep is the one most impacted by it. I believe this has been the main cause of my stuck periods. It seems every few months there is a period of life events that involve a cocktail.

In order to get unstuck, I really have to be conscious of these two possible causes. Awareness is the first step, followed by making changes to see the impact, if any. Body adjustment, I believe is just a healthy way of the body reacting to new weights and routines. I don’t have anything to do here except give myself time. Alcohol can easily be removed since I’m not too big of a drinker. For example, last night we went out to dinner. I didn’t order a cocktail and instead had sparkling water with lemon. My sleep tracker showed more normal sleep patterns last night and this morning the scale was up just a pound, likely due to the salt content found in most restaurant foods. I’m not too worried about that, but am excited to see what tomorrow will bring. Normally, eating out and drinking can cause at least a three day stagnation. I’ll be excited if I see myself back to base weight tomorrow.

I will continue to monitor this over the next month and see if the scale begins to move again. What have you done when you’ve been in these patterns of being stuck? Please drop me a message to share!

Finding Myself

It has been quite a while since I wrote anything. Quite a while since I felt good about myself. Life really took me on quite the downward ride following COVID lockdowns. I remember leaving work the day before we shut down, feeling nervous but like I was just going to have a long week off. Never did I imagine that three years later we’d still be dealing with the aftermath of all that transpired.

Within two weeks of the shut down, I began to realize the seriousness of this life event. My mother was trapped in a care center and the news coming out was terrible. She began to run a fever and there was nothing we could do to help her. She was in Queens, the epicenter of this pandemic and passed away within a week. My school was shuttered and I was working 24/7 trying to hold it up with no direction other than being told, we are flying the plane while building it.

Mom passed away, alone. Typing that still makes me angry and sad. We had no real funeral or gathering to celebrate her life. I never had the opportunity to say goodbye, or grieve as work just continued to evolve and the need for my presence was intense. People who worked for me were getting sick, losing husbands and parents. Families were losing parents and sadly one lost their child. The emotional toll of all this was truly indescribable.

Days, weeks, months passed, but the stress levels never really diminished. My colleagues and I were trying to support each other, but in all honesty, the asks were unrealistic and perhaps inhumane.

This September 2022, I returned to work hopeful that we were finally ready for recovery. I hired a new Assistant Principal and was very excited for the work ahead. Unfortunately, life had other plans for me. In November, my husband was told he needed heart surgery, a difficult pill for a healthy man to accept. By the end of November, I knew it was time for me to retire and for us to move to our newly purchased home in Sussex County, Delaware. My husband had been in and out of hospitals for all of November and December. He was not doing well at all and the stress of that, coupled with work, left me realizing I needed to step down. It was the hardest decision I have had to make, but I knew it was right for my family and for my school.

When I retired, I was stressed to my limits, grossly overweight and at my unhealthiest. Unchecked stress, complete lack of exercise and horrible eating habits had pushed me to the brink. I was the unhealthiest I had every been in my life and felt there was no way back. Honestly, where would I even start?

I drove away from my life in New York City on January 27, 2023, with my 91 year old father in tow. I arrived in Sussex County, Delaware hopeful that I made the right decision and determined to start again, to reclaim my health.

I am so fortunate to live in a community that offers a health club and active lifestyle. No, it is not a 55 and over community, but the amenitities offered here helped motivate me to get started. I am writing this post 8 months into my retirement. I am 33 pounds lighter, 30 points lower on my LDL cholesterol levels and emotionally healing. I have worked with a nutritionist and personal trainer to unpack where I was and what I needed to do. I have pushed through days where I didn’t want to get out of bed. I wish I could say it has been easy, but it hasn’t. The scale moves every so slightly each week, but I celebrate each ounce as a victory. I have not taken any drugs as part of my weight loss journey. I have done the hard work of healing internally and externally and it has begun to pay off.

If I had to sum up my experience, I’d say moving away from the stress of my life and job was a huge help. The distance has helped me start over completely. My personal trainer has helped me plan and understand that most of my issues I saw as obstacles were internal, not external. I had a terrible mindset about myself and needed to reevaluate who I was and who I believed I deserved to be. Reconnecting to yoga was a huge emotional and physical healer for me, as I had been completely unable to practice following COVID. My mind would just not cooperate. My New York trainer, Larissa Schiano, tried hard to help me so many times, but I just couldn’t find that spark. I appreciate that she never gave up! Finally, finding a new sport, pickleball, to play and compete in brought me so much joy that I’d been missing since giving up running.

I am eating healthy, walking and working out daily and just honestly feeling so grateful to be healthy again. I am far from done with this journey, but am on solid ground for the first time in a long time. My message in all this for you is don’t ever give up. I gave up and resigned myself that I would be heavy and unhealthy for the rest of my life. I thought I was too far gone and couldn’t recover. But, it is absolutely never too late. Find your spark and let it guide you one day at a time.

September 2022 August 2023

Life Reimagined

It’s hard to believe it has been over a year since I’ve sat down to write anything. When I look back at the year itself, I’m in awe at all that we’ve endured. Never in my life did I think I’d be living and leading in a global pandemic. There truly is no course that would have prepared me for this.

My last post was May 2020 and at that time I was deeply grieving the loss of my beautiful mother. She succumbed to COVID in early April at the height of COVID-19 outbreaks. After that, I feel like I was swallowed up into a black hole. Life continued, at a ridiculous pace, in my position as a Principal of an Elementary School. Every day felt like a month, every challenge felt tough, every event unchartered territory with no guidelines or support to be had. Yet, I am one of the fortunate ones as I work in a community that banded together and stood strong. I never would begin to tell anyone how to move through something like this and that may be one of the reasons why I stopped writing.

I decided this summer to begin to process what I’ve experienced this past year and a half, which is something I’ve avoided. To disconnect with any expectations and take the summer to relax, recharge and begin again. I decided to not let the lessons of this pandemic be lost on me. To do that would feel like I’d not been changed by it. I am not the same person who existed on March 12, 2019. I’d like to think I am stronger, wiser and better, but those would be lofty goals. What I am is more aware of the fragility of life, both in length of time and on this planet.

Like many people, during COVID lockdowns, I found myself making poor eating choice healthy and not engaging in exercise. Seriously, it was hard enough to get through the emotional exhaustion of most days without it, so why bother. I didn’t miss any time at work, even during the loss of my mother, as being absent just didn’t seem to be an option. I worked through all holidays and the summer that followed, as did most of my colleagues. We were able to bank the vacation time for use at a later date, which in hindsight was a blessing. This June 2021, I decided that taking time off was essential to my emotional well being.

I spent the summer engaging in deep personal reflection around the events of the past year and their impact on me. I returned to the gym in late June and found that the lack of exercise had taken a huge toll on my health. I was determined, but way out of shape. I dabbled in healthier eating, but still was not motivated to cook, despite building a state of the art kitchen in our renovated home. I lost 20 pounds and am proud of that, but know that I haven’t given it my best effort.

I have wanted to go fully plant based for a long while, but just couldn’t seem to take the plunge. I increased the amount of plant based meals I was eating, but without cooking, I grew tired of endless salad offerings. Rather than give up, I began to drill down. What could I do to make this more doable and motivate myself to cook again.

I found a wonderful woman, Chef Cynthia Louise, who has many cooking and plant based offerings. I had not heard of her, but seemed pulled toward her food offerings. They were realistic – not a ton of ingredients; holistic – organic, plant based foods; easy – not too long from prep to table; and delicious. I joined her 14 day plant based challenge, which comes with shopping lists and recipes. I’ve made two days worth as of this writing and none have taken more than 30 minutes to prepare. All have been delicious, like really delicious. I just made a salad dressing for a salad that truly left me wanting to eat more salad.

I have cooked the past two days and actually enjoyed it. My kitchen has been done since February and I have only cooked one meal a week at best – Sunday sauce. I’m super excited to feel like cooking again and hope this continues now that I am returning to work tomorrow. The ease of these recipes makes me feel like it will. The early morning offerings at the gym make me feel like that is doable as well. Stay tuned for my weekly blog to return.

To learn more about Chef Cynthia Louise visit her website at

http://www.chefcynthialouise.com

I get no compensation for my recommendation to her website, just the knowledge that you are possibly going to engage in a healthier journey. If you do, let me know as I’d love to hear about it.

Compromises

Revisiting this recipe today as we watch football. This is a very easy and delicious Sunday sauce. Hope you enjoy!

Reclaiming My Health

Sunday dinner is taking a different twist today. We have been eating a lot of comfort meals lately and many have been meat based. Today, we are enjoying one of our favorite meatless Sunday sauce recipes. My husband brought home a nice large eggplant today with hopes I’d make eggplant parmesan again. Since we just had that last week, I decided to turn this beautiful eggplant into a meatless meatball for our sauce. We’ve had this meal before and it is a nice change of pace from the traditional meatball, and surprisingly quite tasty.

My brother and my niece are both vegetarians. George grew up on the same meals as I did and has commented on my recent blog posts. I knew he wouldn’t be eating them though and began to wonder how to offer meatless versions of these family traditions. I will be experimenting with that concept over the…

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Change is Good for the Soul

I’ve been running since I was a young girl, that’s all I really did. I did track team for some time in junior high school, but didn’t wish to continue in high school. I was never a fast runner, slow and steady was always more my speed. I liked the longer distances, where I could just settle in and enjoy the solitude out on the road. I was devastated and completely stressed, when I thought I’d never be able to run again. I definitely went through a very hard time emotionally and soothed myself with way too much food and wine.

Crawling out from the mess I made has been particularly hard this time. I’m not getting any younger and the older I get, the harder it is to rectify months of poor eating choices. Gone are the days where I could just burn it all off in a month. It seems these days, no matter how hard I work or clean I eat, the pounds stay put. But, if nothing else, I am a very determined woman. I will get myself back to a comfortable running weight no matter how long it takes.

Long time readers, know that I am not a huge fan of change when it comes to exercise and nutrition. I like things to stay the way they are and love to get into a routine. My military/police dad really did drill routine and structure into my brothers and I, especially around our meals. To change my workout routine and my nutrition at the same time is a huge undertaking for me, but at this point what have I got to lose – except a few inches and pounds.

Instead of running and risking yet another injury, I decided to give Crossfit a try. I started going at the end of June and have been going at least 4 times a week. This month, I’ve tried to up it to 5 times and if I can’t make it to the gym, I do the WOD at home. Remember, we have a full gym set up in our basement, so with my husband spotting me I can do the work – no excuses. It’s hard, but oh so motivating to do these workouts each day. They are always different and you never know what you will get, other than drenched in sweat and spent. They really break up the monotony of doing the same workout over and over again – think running. The most interesting thing that happened is the more I go, the less I miss those grueling long runs. I’m truly not at a long run weight right now anyway, so I’ve just been sticking to 3 and 4 mile runs when I can fit them in.

As for my nutrition, I just couldn’t get that darn scale to move no matter what I did. I know from reading The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain that there are many foods that are thought to be healthy, that may not be healthy for my body. These past two weeks, I’ve really dialed it in and cleaned up what I was eating and guess what that scale budged. More importantly, I feel better and actually stopped craving that glass of wine at night. Foods that I never really wanted to eat are becoming more appealing to me. Yes, I have been doing a lot of cooking, but I’ve kept the recipes simpler. Best of all, I think I will be able to maintain these types of meals when I return to my full work schedule.

Today, it is pouring rain outside. After I came home from the gym, I decided to make three meals to have some pickings for the week. I roasted some sweet potatoes with onions and garlic to be used as a nice base for poached eggs during the week. I also have the crock pot going (which I haven’t used in forever) to cook some nice boneless chicken thighs with homemade BBQ sauce. Finally, I’m roasting a tray of vegetables. These vegetables include butternut squash, sweet potatoes and spinach with cauliflower cream sauce (dairy free). It smells incredible in my house right now and I’m looking forward to dinner later.

Sometimes, change is good for the soul. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I feel rejuvenated and ready to keep pushing through this rough patch. Each day I feel that much stronger mentally and physically. If you are stuck in a rut, like I was, try something new. You don’t have to try it all at once like I did, but believe me you will find that spark again. Here is the recipe for the roasted vegetables I made today in case you want to give them a try.

Squash Gratin

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cups fresh spinach
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large shallots, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

For the sauce:

1/2 head of caulifower, cut into florets
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
To make the cream sauce, place a couple inches of water in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, place steamer insert and then cauliflower florets into the pot and cover. Steam for 12-14 minutes, until completely tender.
Drain and return cauliflower to the pot. Add the almond milk, stock, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to the pot.
Use an immersion blender or food processor to combine the ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of water to a boil. Add the butternut squash and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft .
Stir in the spinach to wilt. Season with salt and pepper.

To Assemble:

To assemble, grease a large baking dish with coconut oil spray.
Spoon a thin layer of the cream sauce over the bottom of the pan.
Arrange a layer of half of the butternut squash.
Top with half of the spinach mixture, and then all of the sliced sweet potato.
Drizzle with the cream sauce.
Add the remaining half of the spinach, followed by the rest of the butternut squash.
Drizzle the rest of the cream sauce over the top.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Bake for 50-60 minutes until browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

*Recipe courtesy of PaleoGrubs.com

Check out The Plant Paradox to rethink some of what you thought you knew about healthy eating. I find it very interesting and does make sense with the struggles I’ve gone through.

The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain

Change Your Eating, Change Your Life!

Last week, I talked about how I needed to reevaluate my current nutritional intake and begin to make further changes to improve my health. I am off for two weeks, so I have more time to read, learn and come up with a new plan of action. My current goals are to: 1) Improve my health; 2) Improve my sleep; 3) Feel stronger; 4) Lose weight. I have to accept that though I love to cook, my work schedule makes it hard to do much during the week. I also admitted to myself that I do not wish to spend my entire Sunday, especially in nicer weather, cooking for the week and/or meal prepping. I am looking to simplify my life, but make healthier choices by avoiding quick fixes.

I spent my first week off, reading and creating my plan of action for the remainder of the summer. I will try out this routine while my work schedule is not a full one and hope that I can create some solid habits for when the school-year begins. I mentioned last week, that I really liked a few of the recipes on the Paleogrub website. They seemed to meet my criteria of healthy, simple and delicious. Further, they do not require massive amounts of obscure ingredients. In fact, I had many of the staples already on hand. I decided to purchase the Paleogrub Cookbook and their ten week meal plan. The meal plan is simple to follow and tells you exactly what you need to prepare all meals. It gives you a specific plan for each day that includes recipes and directions for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Paleogrub Cookbook is digital and once downloaded includes a search feature that is very helpful. You can follow it exactly as written, or as in my case select the meals that you like.

I know that it is not realistic for me to think I will cook every single meal included in the daily plan. Some days, I just want a smoothie for breakfast and that’s fine. Also, what they say serves two people really serves my husband and I with enough leftover for lunch the next day, which is perfect for my work week. Depending on how much you actually eat, I think you may not need all the lunches listed. What I did this first week was preview the week and make a plan for what I wanted to cook. I selected three dinners and one breakfast. Knowing I will have leftover for lunch, I only selected one lunch this week simply because the photograph looked so appealing. The plan also conveniently creates a shopping list for you, but I found that it included items for the entire plan as written for the week. Since I am customizing, based on our personal likes and needs, I did have to modify the shopping list. This was easy enough to do though, I simply emailed the list to myself and did an edit.

I do not make any money recommending this plan to you, I merely wanted to share that I thought it was good. The meals are laid out separately by week and I downloaded them to my computer and now have them to return to. I have noticed the scale moving down this week, which makes me happy. I don’t feel hungry, or deprived and I feel like I look forward to both cooking and eating my meals. Here are two recipes that I enjoyed eating this week.

Roasted Carrot & Avocado Salad

For roasted carrots
- 1 pound carrots (assorted colors or just orange ones) peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 garlic, minced
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
Rest of ingredients
- 2 small avocados, pitted and sliced or cut into chunks
- 3 cups arugula or salad greens mix
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ lime, juiced
- salt, black pepper to taste

I followed this lunch recipe pretty much as written, with only two changes. Instead of arugula, I used spinach and chopped romaine. Additionally, I only used one avocado as I felt that was enough for us. The salad had a bit of a kick as written, so either I added too much red pepper or it needs a bit less. My husband loved the kick, so it was fine, but next time I will use a bit less red pepper. I measured by eye, so it could be that I added too much. Always adjust to your personal taste preferences.

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Peel the carrots and cut them into ½ inch pieces.
In a bowl mix the ground cumin, red pepper flakes, garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 ½ tablespoon of olive oil. Add the carrots and toss to combine.
Spread the carrots into a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 25 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, place the avocado, arugula or salad greens and warm carrots.
Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lime juice and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Divide the salad between serving plates and serve.

This recipe made enough for two to eat salad with ample leftover for next day’s lunch.

Thai Pork Burgers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. minced pork
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green onions, finely chopped 2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp honey

I followed the recipe pretty much as written, with just one change. I was not able to find fish sauce and googled what a substitute could be. I used coconut aminos in place of the fish sauce, but you can use soy sauce as well if you don’t have that on hand.

Directions:

Heat the grill to medium heat.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well.
Using your hand, form 6-8 small patties.
Grill for 4-5 minutes on each side. Serve hot.

I got four nice size patties out of a one pound package or organic ground pork. This dinner recipe was enough for two with leftovers for lunch the next day. The patties had a very nice taste. We topped ours with a spoon of homemade paleo mayonnaise with a pinch of onion powder, garlic and cayenne pepper.

If you try either of these recipes, please let me know how you enjoyed them. If you have a recipe to share, please leave me a message below.

To check out Paleogrubs recipes and meal plan, please visit their site at – Paleogrubs

Eating vs. Exercise

I’m off the next two weeks and already realize on day two that if I had more time, I’d likely be in better health. This morning, I got up and went to my usual 5:00 AM class at the gym. I figured it would be better to do this run based workout session during vampire hours than in the hot sun. I was the last to finish the six rounds, which consisted of running, jumprope and hang power cleans, but I did them all. I’ve been working hard at the gym trying to get myself on track again, yet each morning when I step on the scale the numbers are within the same range. Thankfully, I use the scale daily to ensure I’m not creeping up; but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed I’m not trending down rapidly for all the work I’m doing.

I’ve written and reflected on this before, but it’s definitely time to go there again. While I am seeing some gains in my running pace and measurements, I am not seeing huge gains on the scale. If I am honest with myself, I need to look to my nutrition because I know that you can’t out exercise a bad diet. In fact, research shows that about 70% of weight loss actually comes from your dietary choices and only 30% from exercise. I actually believe that for me exercise matters more than 30%, but there is no denying the impact eating clean has on my weight. Here is a video that demonstrates this 70/30 theory, but I definitely don’t agree with his statement that “cardio is a joke”. Cardio to me is an essential component in a balanced workout routine. – Eating vs Exercise

My food choices really haven’t been too bad, so it’s not totally that, but it is summer and we have been on vacation so there definitely are extra calories being taken in through my beverage choices. Sorry, but who doesn’t love a nice cold glass of sangria, beer or vodka on a nice hot day. I’ve also had a hard time maintaining a schedule since we got back from the beach and have hardly been cooking. I’m not saying we are eating out every day, I wish that were the case, but my intake hasn’t been the most balanced and I’ve not said no to fresh ice cream when offered.

I know what to do and funny, now that I’m off already have the motivation to cook – maybe I need to retire to get healthy. I love to cook, I just lack motivation when I’m at work all day and I’m tired of spending my entire Sunday in the house meal prepping. There has to be a better way. I’ve been researching meal planning options for meals that take 30 minutes or less to cook. I found many on the Paleo Grubs site and planned my week with easy, healthy meals – Keep it simple silly is my new mantra.

Today after my workout, I knew I needed a nice healthy breakfast so I came home and cooked a recipe I love. It’s super easy and super delicious and really hit the spot. Here’s the link to this delicious breakfast, which I would never have time to make on a work day. It could be a wonderful weekend treat after a tough workout for you though, so I hope you give it a try.

Sweet Potato Hash & Eggs

I generally follow the recipe as written, but I used white, sweet potatoes just because if it’s orange I think it tastes different. I know it doesn’t, but since they were available I used the white ones. Carmelizing the onions is a MUST as it truly enhances the flavor so much and I added a bit of red pepper to the process. I used hot turkey sausage and boy did they add a nice kick to this mix. I definitely did not eat all that food, I shared with my husband, the recipe is for two (2).

I’ve written on this topic before as my life seems to keep cycling through the same mess. If you have time, please read – You Can’t Out Exercise a Bad Diet

I’d love to hear how it’s going for you this summer. Drop me a line below and please, if you have any quick, easy meals, include a recipe.

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