fitness – Page 3 – Reclaiming My Health

Things I’m Letting Go Of

“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”

— Brené Brown

2023 was quite the year of change for me, not because I wasn’t good enough as I was, but because it was needed to thrive. Fate has a way of getting our attention sometimes and you just know it’s go time. My health was at what I’d describe as my lowest place and it was starting to manifest itself in scary ways. I felt like I was struggling to think clearly and the lack of sleep for months was starting to put my body in a dangerous health space. Having the option to retire, but not feeling it was the right time to do it, fate gave me the clear signal it was time. My husband became ill suddenly in late November 2022 and required surgery. With a 90% blockage in what is called the “widow maker” artery in his heart, I realized just how close we came to losing it all. These life events really make you stop in your tracks.

Realizing just how lucky we were to have gotten through this, I knew it was time to make some changes to my lifestyle choices. My husband was in far better health than I was, or so we thought, so I worried about what was happening inside my body. Following full medical checkups, I began again the journey to reclaim my health. Where in the past, it may have been easy to become derailed, this time I knew the actual stakes involved in making these necessary changes.

2024 will be the continuation of this journey as I continue to focus on learning and growing my knowledge base to improve my choices. I am continuing my focus on self growth and plan to take a deeper dive into my yoga practice starting this month. I am taking a yoga teacher training course to deepen my understanding of Hatha yoga. Self reflection will remain the cornerstone of my work when it comes to life choices and health. With that in mind as I begin 2024, I am reflecting on things I will be letting go and things I will grow.

Things I Will Be Letting Go Of

Making assumptions - I have no way of knowing another’s motives, so I will not engage in trying to.
Negative self talk – I am breaking up with my inner critic.
Overthinking – I can’t analyze everything
Saying no too quickly
Alchohol – I never knew just how much it ages me
Doing too much – Overdoing just exhausts me and I don’t have to do it all
Fear of failure – I don’t have to be perfect all the time to succeed, especially as I try new things

Things I Will Grow

Relationships – Continue making new friends and deepen the relationships I have
Self Love – Continuing to be kinder to myself through self reflection and meditation walks
Saying Yes – Stepping outside the comfort zone and trying new things. Adding to the bucket list.
Boundaries – Being more conscious of creating healthy boundaries as I engage in my relationships.
Healthy Lifestyle – What can I learn and do to continue on this journey?

These are my thoughts as of today, January 2, 2024. I am sure there are more items I need to reflect on and will grow or revise this list as I go through the year. What can you let go of this year, what can you keep and grow? I’d love to hear about your journey, so feel free to reach out through email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog or comments below. May you have a healthy and happy year of growth in 2024.

I Am Enough

“You are enough, just as you are. Each emotion you feel, everything in your life, everything you do or do not do… where you are and who you are right now is enough. It is perfect. You are perfect enough.” – Melanie Jade.

“The single most revolutionary thing you can do is recognize that you are enough.” – Carlos Andres Gomez.

This time of year always seems to put so much pressure on us all. Coming out of the holidays, where perhaps we ate and drank more than usual, we can be upset with ourselves for our lack of ability to control ourselves. Couple this with being inundated with commercials and advertisements for the new year and all its promise to change our ways and start anew. Deeply rooted in these promises are the premise that we are imperfect and in need of changing. The new year, new you machine has long been a multimillion dollar business that preys on our deepest insecurities.

Gym memberships, diet pills, meal plans and quick fixes are so successful because we all want to believe that we can change ourselves into a better version. Sadly, come February we likely will confirm what we knew all along, we are incapable of reaching perfection. The gym trips will stop, the diet pills will go in the trash and we will settle in to the acceptance of yet another year of failed promises.

This year, I’d love to see us say no to this idea that we are not perfect. A few years back, my daughter gave me a coin and affirmation to remind me that I Am Enough. I have read it and reread it and really tried to internalize the message. I think I have finally reached a new year in which I am not striving to change myself. Amen!

The best advice I can give is that acceptance of yourself, AS YOU ARE, can and will lead you to a healthier space. There is nothing we need to change, fix or get rid of. Wherever we are in our journey is enough. Remember, I am not on a diet, nor looking to lose weight to be thinner, prettier or happier. I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle to be healthier and hopefully a longer and fuller life.

Reminding ourselves daily that we are enough as we are is important work. The feelings of inadequacy are often deeply rooted in our being and our inner critic has been empowered for years. Taking back our power is the work to engage in during this new year. Reminding yourself daily, especially when self doubt creeps back in is your action plan. Every time you look in the mirror remind yourself that you are enough just as you are. Every time you feel the inner critic rear their ugly voice, remind yourself that you are enough. Put a sign on your mirror, your closet, inside your front door and your refrigerator! Say it, breathe it, chant it and most importantly live it. Find others who will support you on this mission, for free. You are worthy and so am I.

I truly believe in the power of positivity, though I cannot promise it to be the easiest road. It is not a quick fix, but it can be life changing. Let’s make a promise to ourselves this year to stay strong in our belief that we are enough, just as we are right now. We have nothing to change or fix. We are enough just as we are.

Have a healthy and happy New Year. I look forward to sharing your health journey in the coming months.

Keep it Simple

The food we eat,
The air we breathe,
The stress we feel,
Causes us to age faster.

The common denominator in these three items listed above is me. I am blessed to be in control of the food I eat. I have limited control over the air I breathe, but I can ensure I get outside in nature everyday, rather than sitting indoors. Lastly, I can control my stress and how much I allow it to take over. I know life is not always easy, having experienced the ups and downs of it, but I know now that the choices I make are what gives me control over my health.

This is a picture of me at my unhealthiest, as a result of poor food choices, lack of movement and an incredible amount of stress. I was literally stressed out of my mind, unable to sleep and experiencing brain fog.

This is a picture of me two months into my journey to reclaim my health. I had been making better food choices and walking for two months time. I remember I felt somewhat better, but still felt stressed, struggled with sleep and some brain fog. I felt like someone who was detoxing and wasn’t sure I could succeed.

This is a picture of me eight months into my journey. I have been consistently making better food choices and moving every day – walking, doing yoga and playing pickleball. I am sleeping better and not experiencing any brain fog.

The book Primetime Health, discusses the importance many of us place on planning for our future. Dr. Sears asks, How many of you have invested in retirement savings plans and IRAs? Like me, I’m betting many of us have planned in some way for our future finances. He then asks, how many of us have planned for our future health? Do you have an IRHA? Do you know what an IRHA is?

An IRHA, is an Individual Retirement Health Account. It is a plan for our longevity and wellness. I can tell you I never thought about making deposits into an IRHA account. I lived my life as I pleased and addressed any issue as it arose. The shift here is to live more proactively, ensuring that issues are less likely to arise. This shift brings us back to the food we eat, the air we breathe and the stress we feel. If we eat less processed foods, move daily and reduce stress, we can see success on our journey. That doesn’t come in a bottle, it comes from our choices and determination to make deposits into our health accounts.

What I have been doing is hard work for sure, but it doesn’t feel hard. I have kept things very simple. I love to cook and we eat most meals at home, though we do eat out at least once a week. I keep my meals simple, protein, complex carbs and vegetables. I move everyday and enjoy what I do. As I said last week, walking daily is my meditation time. It really helps me clear my mind and process any feelings that come up. Yoga is so good for the mind and body and I take classes three times a week. Pickleball feels like playing outside when you were a young child. We laugh, we play hard and we have so much fun. Enjoying the exercise you do is important to make it happen. Find something you love!

When I first heard about the IRHA account, I began to worry. I knew I made so many bad choices through the years. I also knew it is never too late to start again, one day at a time. My days are not perfect, but my choices are far better. Knowing that I am the one who controls my outcomes gives me pause to make better choices. There are many days I feel like just staying home and not doing anything, especially now that it’s colder. I push through that and remember I must make my daily deposit into my wellness account. There is absolutely nothing more important than that.

Please share what you are doing on your health journey. I’d love to deposit those ideas into my IRHA account. Comment below, send me an email or comment on my Instagram page. Together we are stronger.

There’s No There There

Thinking about this past year, I like to think about how far I’ve come. I’d like to say I have achieved my goal and host a celebration of some sort. But, sadly I’ve been down this road before. I’ve achieved a goal weight or fitness goal, only to regain the weight and lose the fitness strength. It’s not because I am a failure, slacker or loser, though that is how I used to think prior to giving up. Honestly, I bet this has happened to many of us. How many times have you lost and gained the same 20 pounds? I’ve finally realized that creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle is the actual work I need to focus on. Do you know how long it took me to understand this concept? My whole life.

Like me, I bet many of you have focused on losing weight for a specific reason. For example, an upcoming special event is always on the list of reasons. A few years ago, I waited to shop for a dress to wear to my son’s wedding. I was waiting to lose weight before ordering it. I almost waited too long and truly cut it close on getting a dress in time. I never did lose the weight either.

Another time, I worked out for several years to achieve the goal of finishing a full marathon. It took me three years to meet this goal, but over the course of three years of training, I had sustained several serious injuries leaving me wondering why it ever was so important to me to meet this goal. I finished the NYC Marathon, met my goal and then had to give up long distance running as a result of the damage I did to my hips and ankle.

In both of those examples, what was lost on me was that I was focusing on the end result, not the process. What I really wanted, was to be physically fit and healthy. What I focused on was losing weight and finishing a marathon. What I accomplished was losing weight, which I gained back; and finishing a marathon. Both of those were truly wonderful accomplishments, but neither did anything to help me create the sustainable, healthy lifestyle I was seeking.

I thought that by engaging in those two goals, I would become healthy. What I realize now is that living a healthy lifestyle is a process and that meeting one goal along the way doesn’t mean I’ve arrived at my destination. In fact, I’ve learned there really is no there, there. The destination is not something I can reach and be finished with the journey. Rather, I have to commit to creating and maintaining this healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. It doesn’t just stay in place on it’s own, it takes commitment and work, but it also doesn’t have to be so hard.

These revelations did not come easy and quite honestly can be intimidating. I have tried every diet plan you can think of, had success and then went right back to my “old ways”. In all honesty, I love pizza. As I’m typing this, I am thinking about how hard I tried in the past not to have pizza because it wasn’t “good for me”. Does that sound sustainable? Not in any lifetime, is never eating pizza again sustainable for me.

While reading Prime-Time Health by William Sears, MD, I came across an acronym that has helped me rethink how to achieve a healthy lifestyle, which has been my actual goal all along. He uses the acronym LEAN to outline the four pillars of health.

Lifestyle – How we live
Exercise – How we move
Attitude – How we think
Nutrition – How we eat

I have found that this simple tool has led to my understanding that I did not have a strong system in place to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Rather, I was specifically focusing on what I ate, what I could do for exercise and what I looked like. I gave very little attention to my lifestyle choices, or my thoughts about myself. When I was meal planning, I focused on the what of eating. What could I eat that wasn’t full of carbs, fat, calories, etc; not, how I could eat to feel better. When I focused on exercise, I focused on what I could do to burn the most calories; not, how can I move throughout my day. This led to me forcing myself to push through routines, even when I was hurting, which ultimately led to stress fractures.

Attitude is the area I am specifically focused on right now. I take time each day to notice, note and move on. If I notice my weight is up, I take some time to think about the possible reasons why and reflect on any changes I might need to make. I come from a place of learning and inquiry. I no longer beat myself up, get down on myself about it, or worse give up. I choose to write positive affirmations about myself every day in my journal. I also have one word that reminds me of my why, my purpose for doing any of this work. I write this one word in my journal every day as well. I have found that just adding these two things to my morning routine have helped me stay grounded in the process of creating a healthier lifestyle and not getting stuck on just trying to lose weight.

I know that sounds so simple, but I realized that I am the one who has made this all so hard, by focusing on the wrong things. I plan to use the L.E.A.N. pillars to keep myself focused on what matters most – healthy living. How about you? How are you doing with your journey? Please continue to reach out, as I enjoy reading your stories.

Stress

This picture of me was taken just before I decided to retire from my much loved position as Principal of an Elementary School in New York City. It fully illustrates the impact of living under constant, high level stress on my body. Though I loved my position; my community and children, it did not love my body, especially during and after the COVID pandemic. My life was turned upside down during that time, with the loss of my mother, as well as the huge toll of working 24 hours a day to keep my school afloat despite loss of staff, family members, inconsistent messaging, funding and lack of clear guidance from the NYC DOE.

The impact on my physical body is clear to see, as I present as obese, haggard looking and quite honestly old beyond my years. The emotional toll is not as easily visible to the eye, but believe me it was there. By this point in time, it was getting harder and harder for me to find the will to engage in any social functions. Invitations to meet for dinner with friends caused anxiety and led to endless cancellations on my part. I was not able to sleep well and found myself lying awake each night filled with anxiety over all the things I needed to get done. It wasn’t uncommon to get a text, or social media post, from me at 1 AM during those times as I was wide awake.

This photo of me was taken this weekend, 8 months post retirement. These past 8 months have allowed me space and time to heal, both emotionally and physically. I wish I could say the healing was easy, but it wasn’t. During this time, I supported my husband’s healing from medical issues and cared my for aging dad in our home. But, despite those stresses, I still carved out space to focus on my own healing journey.

The impact of stress on our health cannot be underestimated. I hope my photographs serve as a reminder to us all that long term stress can destroy your health. Examining causes of stress and making changes to reduce it must be our driving force in our health journeys. For too long I acknowledged that I was under unrelenting stress, but yet did nothing about it. Rather, I used it as my excuse for being so unhealthy, as if it was expected. Finding the strength to make changes was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, yet I am so grateful I made the move as I am worth it. Living to see my grandson grow and thrive was worth it.

A dear friend said to me when I was struggling, “Laura, if you die tomorrow, there will be an ass in your chair before you’re even buried. We are all replaceable. Your family, however, will be forever changed. Your work family will move on and adjust pretty quickly to your absence. Your family will not.” That conversation really stuck with me and was what gave me the courage to step away.

Focusing first on my nutrition, helped by having to cook healthy for my two men, was pivotal. I worked with a nutritionist for the first few months to really look at what I was eating and gained knowledge of the impact of my choices on my healing. Slowing adding and increasing movement each day and tracking the impact on my body was next. Finally, returning to a yoga studio to connect with other yogis and more importantly, to myself.

I wish I could say I’m completely cured, but that would diminish the actual process of this journey. It’s a process, not a cure. I am most definitely feeling healthy again. I have a vibrant social life and have met and connected to so many great people in our new community. I have found a sport I love to play and engage in – pickleball. I have lost weight and gained better emotional health. My sleep is improving, but still not where it needs to be. I am sleeping well and getting quality REM, but still need to examine my Restoration sleep, which is still impacted by my restlessness during the night. Improved for sure, but not where I want it to be.

My next steps on my journey begin next week. I have been accepted to and registered for a Master Health Coach certification course with Dr. Spears. My specific focus will be on Adults and Aging. I cannot wait to learn more about the role nutrition plays on the body as we age as I continue on my road to Reclaiming My Health. This blog may undergo some updates during the year long coursework, as I look forward to sharing my learning with you all.

Please share your experiences with stress and nutrition. I’d love to hear what you have done to reclaim your health.

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.

Stuffed Eggplant & Meatballs

When I was younger, I worked at Morgan Stanley in midtown Manhattan. I had just graduated high school and had been working there part time my last year in school. I was offered and decided to take the job, as they had a program that would pay for me to get my undergraduate degree. I remember telling my parents that I’d be moving out at the end of the month. Both were shocked, as I was only 18 years old and had just graduated high school. I remember my mom freaking out that I was leaving the house at such a young age. I remember my aunt asking me how I could possibly do this to my parents. Truly, my only initial supporter in this move was my grandmother. She reminded me how proud she was of me that I was so independent. She reminded me that being a strong, independent woman who could take care of herself was a good thing. I wonder now if she saw some of herself in me. I wonder now if she wished her life had turned out differently, as she had married at the age of 16 and had two children by the age of 18. Maybe she wished she’d been just that much more independent in her time.

During my years at Morgan Stanley, I reconnected with running. I had a group of friends at work that liked to run after work in Central Park. When we signed up for some races, I knew I’d have to be more consistent with my training. I grew up across from a beautiful park in Middle Village, NY – Juniper Valley Park. When I was running at Juniper Park, I much preferred running on the track. It was soft and flat and I had no trouble guessing how far I’d run. Remember, those were the days before technology kept track of your distance. Since there was really no place to run, that I felt comfortable running alone, near my new apartment I drove back to Juniper Park to run.

Every year on Memorial Day there was a fun run in our neighborhood. My dad and I would run this race together, though he was always much faster than me. He still tells the story of how some friends of mine came upon him out on the course and asked if I had left him behind. Nope, he had left me behind likely in the first mile. I’m now the age he was then and gone are the days of running together. Memories of those runs linger with me still. Each Memorial Day as I stand at the starting line, I feel his presence and chuckle at his much told story of being that much faster than me.

Four years ago, we started a Biggest Loser competition at my school and I decided to start running again. When I saw a Memorial Day fun run in the neighborhood, I signed up immediately. I posted on my school’s communication board that I was running the race and hoped someone would join me. A few teachers did sign up and we had a great day. We still run this race together each year to kick off the running season. Through the years people have come and gone, but there’s still a core group of us that show up each year. The course is flat and fast, but we don’t really care. We just really go to honor those who have given their lives to ensure our safety. We run to spend time together as a team. We run to kick off the summer season with a great after race party.

12208835_10207592212461274_5189638293515527703_n

13321930_1625238941069228_8012277294065960063_n

Today, as we prepare for the holiday, it rained all day. I went early this morning to a yoga class to begin my day. Then I went to the market to pick up some fresh vegetables for meals this week. They had some beautiful eggplants out, so I picked one up to cook today. My husband really wanted Sunday sauce, but I really wanted to keep it light if possible. I decided to cut back on the cheese and avoid breading, or frying the eggplant. I only used two slices of mozzarella in the entire recipe. I decided to skip the eggplant parmesan and make stuffed eggplant instead. This would enable my husband to have sauce and meatballs and me to avoid the extras I didn’t want. It was a delicious and filling meal. We split one half of the eggplant and have another left over for another meal during the week. We chose not to have any pasta and plated the eggplant with a nice arugula salad. The recipe for my sauce can be found here – Sunday Gravy

Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients:

Chopped sirloin (1/2 pound – use the other 1/2 for meatballs)
small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
olive oil
1 medium eggplant
Tomato sauce (Sunday Sauce, or marinara)
1/4 c breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 c parmesan cheese
Mozzarella (2 slices)

Directions:

Cut the top off the eggplant and then slice in half lengthwise.
Scoop out the eggplant leaving enough meat to hold the shape when baked.
Cut up the inside of the eggplant you scooped out into small pieces.
Boil the cut up eggplant meat in water for 10 minutes.
Brown the onion in olive oil in skillet. (4 minutes)
Add the garlic and saute. (1-2 minutes)
Add chopmeat to the pan and brown until cooked through.
Add the drained, cooked eggplant meat
Add scoop of Sunday sauce, or marinara sauce and stir.
Remove from heat.
Add 1/4 c breadcrumbs and one egg and stir to combine all
Scoop meat mixture into the insides of the two eggplant halves
Cook on baking sheet for 50 minutes at 350 degrees

We ate our meal without pasta, but you can certainly serve this over rice or pasta. We had a meatball on the side and some arugula salad and topped all with some parmesan cheese. This picture is one half of the eggplant, which you can see is large enough for two.

Turkey London Broil

This weekend was opening day for my running group. Our first meeting of the season and our first run together in my favorite place – Central Park. I have such a long history of going to Central Park and whenever I return after an absence, it feels as if I’ve come home. I wandered those rocks, tunnels and paths as a child and teenager. I spent countless days discussing life on those rocks, as we sunned ourselves and laughed the day away. When I was 13, my friends Stacey, Michele and I used to ride the train from school to the park and hang out. We spent so many days just wandering around and I remember how grown up I felt to be there. We spent a lot of time at the zoo and just enjoying being in the city. There’s really not a better park in New York City that I know of and none that holds so many of my memories. Forty years later, as I run past those rocks, I find myself glancing up hoping to catch a glimpse of my younger self as we were back then. Oh, if only for a day…

StaceyCentralPark — Will look for photos from our middle school Central Park days. This is Stacey, front and center, circa 1979 in Central Park.

This weekend, my running group met at the YMCA on 63rd Street and proceeded to walk over to the park together. We did our loop of the park and then returned to the YMCA for a breakfast meeting with Olympian, Jeff Galloway. This run was my first run since that fateful injury in late October, just two short weeks before the NYC marathon. I must admit I was slightly nervous, but knew I had worked hard on my functional strength over the long winter. I’m not at my running weight yet, but my legs are strong and ready to begin again. Thankfully, the first run is just one quick loop around the park. Anyone who actually enjoys running knows what I mean when I say how good it felt to be able to run again. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I had my friend Helen by my side. My husband and dog were hanging out in the park, waiting for me at the finish. Life doesn’t get any better than that.

This is the group entering the park at Columbus Circle. You can’t see me, but I see Helen’s blue shirt. We are in the middle front, behind the woman in the pink jacket.

Today, I am happy to say my glutes felt like they were used on the run. I woke with slight muscle soreness and was so excited that it wasn’t in my quads, or feet, where it normally lands. The training is working and I will continue to strengthen my core and glutes. This morning, I went for a 90 minute yoga class which ended up being a beautiful mix of flow and stretch, ending in a wonderful restorative resting pose. It was exactly what my body and mind needed. When I got home, my husband showed me a beautiful Turkey London Broil he had purchased. I’ll admit I wasn’t as excited as he was, but quickly set out to prepare for our Sunday meal.

As I stared at the beautiful turkey meat, I dreamed of making a rolled and stuffed turkey meal. Oh how great would mushroom bread stuffing be on this cloudy day. I also thought about making a lovely mushroom pan gravy to eat over the meat. Then, I remembered that I’ve got a goal ahead of me and my husband really wanted it grilled. I mixed up a quick marinade and put the turkey in to sit for about 3-4 hours, turning once midway through. I then spent the day relaxing, what a difference from the endless meal prepping I used to do on Sunday’s. I love cooking, but not cooking all my meals for the week opens up the day to do anything I wish. Plant based meals are generally super easy to prepare and can be cooked in 30 minutes. This allows me time to make a quick, fresh and delicious meal when I get home from work.

Ironically, my husband has lost a ton of weight eating what I’m eating. He didn’t even need to lose any weight, as he was already at a very healthy weight. Isn’t it the way? Of course he would lose more weight than me and fast too. He’s so excited about it too and keeps telling me how good he feels. Me, I’ve lost 10 pounds so far and have more to go to get back to a comfortable running weight. The next phase of my online course will reintroduce foods that were eliminated to see how my body responds to them. This will be done slowly, over the course of the next 3 weeks. I’m truly not craving anything and eating intuitively has allowed me to eat what I need. I haven’t been stress eating and mostly eat my meals and no snacks. It’s been a great learning experience and I’ve decided to continue with the plant based meals, as I feel they are fueling me better and I just plain feel better. I’m going to cycle through the online course again as it was a lot to process the first time through.

Turkey London Broil & Chopped Salad

Marinade Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp ginger
1 Tbsp organic raw honey
1 scallion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Marinade Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk together to combine.
Place Turkey London Broil into the marinade and turn over to coat both sides.
Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for 3-4 hours, turning once.

Turkey Cooking Directions:

Take turkey out of marinade and discard the marinade.
Salt turkey on both sides lightly
Place on hot grill and cook about 8 minutes on each side. (I use a T-fal grill so no need to turn. This grill has a sensor and tells you when the food is ready. It comes completely apart when cooled and goes right in the dishwasher. I’ve had it for years now and it was the best investment ever!)
Let turkey rest for about 5 minutes before carving.
Slice to desired thickness.

Leftovers can be used in salads or sandwiches all week. It was a delicious, light meal which we plated with a hearty chopped kale, broccoli slaw salad.

This is the grill I use. Click on the picture to see further information.

Highlight Reels

When you are recovering, or rebuilding your strength following an injury social media can be tough to view. Each day my feed is full of photographs from my running friends who are sharing their successes. Most weekdays I wake to photographs of beautiful scenery from their runs. Weekends are full of race medals, smiling faces and finish line celebrations. Sure, I am happy for all my running friends who are continuing their journey. Sure, I celebrate all their accomplishments, support and congratulate them – and I mean it. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not hard for me and that I don’t feel like time is passing me by. I miss my runs, I miss my races and I miss my running friends.

Recently, I went on Twitter and noticed a photo of a group having a meet up run. I must admit I felt left out to not have even known about it. It’s not that they didn’t tell me they were meeting, it’s that I wasn’t able to be there to run. This run happens every year, I just wasn’t watching the run group calendar of events as I am currently on break. I had that FOMO moment and really started feeling sorry for myself. I got that nagging, whiny feeling of – “Why me?” “Why is everyone else able to run without any injury and I get injured when I think about running.” Then I reminded myself, that these photographs come from the “highlight reel” of their lives. Every runner struggles with injury, aches and pain because running is hard work. For every smiling photograph on social media, there are many other not so pretty moments on the journey.

This time of year can be especially hard on many people and social media can heighten these feelings. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it may be a good time to take a break from it. Get involved in something else to occupy the time you normally spend on social media. I have been walking instead and to stay motivated I joined a Fitbit Challenge called the Workweek Hustle. My work friend has been pushing me to walk more each day by upping her steps in this friendly competition. The walking has helped me to clear my mind and spend less time on the computer. That’s a win win for me on this recovery journey. I hope you consider doing the same.

Last year around this time I wrote a blog about similar feelings that you may find interesting.

Me, Myself and I

Knowing you are not alone in the struggle can often lift you up. Drop me a line and let me know how you’re doing. Your notes of encouragement lift me up and often put a smile on my face. Thanks to all who take time to comment each week, I greatly appreciate your thoughts.

There’s Always Tomorrow

There’s always tomorrow
For dreams to come true
Believe in your dreams, come what may.
There’s always tomorrow
With so much to do
And so little time in a day.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….for gaining weight. I’m not kidding, there are so many temptations all around me since Thanksgiving. Everywhere I look there’s a holiday cocktail or snack and it’s oh so hard to not get caught up in it all. Add in to this mix my inability to run, or do most workouts and I’m on sure fire path toward watching the scale creep up again. It happens so very rapidly too, just a few weeks and I can find myself 10+ pounds heavier and my pants are already feeling tight!

Last Sunday, I began light walking and planned to walk a little each day this week. While I got 6-7K steps at work each day, I never actually went for a walk. Each morning, I’d tell myself that I would walk at lunch – never happened; or go down and do light yoga before work – never happened; or worse yet..I’ll just do it tomorrow which also never happened. I am on that cycle of “tomorrow”, but unfortunately tomorrow never happens.

In a world that preaches – “There’s always tomorrow” when we fail to do what we set out to do, I’ve tried to live with a different philosophy. Pablo Picasso once said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” I realize that’s a bit strong for the diet context, but it’s the best way to live life overall. Why put off until tomorrow what one can do today? Also, very good advice. We are never guaranteed tomorrow, so living life with the idea that we should do all we can today in this moment can serve us well when trying to meet our health goals.

Here’s a few things that have helped me in the past to get back on track, as sadly this isn’t my first time struggling. I hope you find one that helps you and I hope writing them down gives me a push out of my comfortable bed this morning.

1. Treat workouts like appointments – You would never stay in bed if you had a work meeting, so treat your workouts like that. I work out in the morning, or it just doesn’t happen. I know this and yet I tell myself I’ll walk at lunch. That is just not going to happen, my job doesn’t allow it. I need to schedule my workouts on a calendar with a set time and stick to it. I’ve been a bit too lax since the injury, enjoying the extra time in bed to sip coffee and relax. My body needed that break, but it’s time to get back on a schedule. Doing less has also made me lazier. Today, I will pull out my calendar and plan my workout week.

2. Set an alarm or reminder – It’s super easy to fall down that black hole in the morning. You know the one I mean. You are sipping coffee and open the computer to check email quickly. Next thing you know it’s an hour later and you’ve missed your workout. I’m going to set a reminder on my phone to buzz when it’s time for my scheduled workout meeting in the basement. This will break my trance created by all the Facebook and Twitter feeds that pull me in and don’t let go.

3. Create routine – In keeping with my scheduling of workouts, I need routine. My childhood revolved around strict routines, my parents may have been a bit excessive about it, so I tend to crave them. The calendar will help, but putting specific routines on set days truly keeps me going. It gives me something to look forward to and helps when I don’t love a workout to know it’s only one of the days in my week.

4. Keep it light – When motivation wanes it’s often a sign that you need to lighten things up a bit. I know I need to recapture some of the fun of working out. This is actually a perfect time to do this, as I’m not training for anything specific right now. My short term goal is to get moving and have some fun. I’m planning to look for some new trails to walk on, or try some new workout routines on Beach Body On Demand that I’ve not tried yet.

5. Stay in the present moment – I have to live more like my dog Sonny – in the present moment. It’s so easy for me to become overwhelmed by one bad choice (alright, seriously there’s been more than one). I just have to keep going and move on because when I beat myself up for one mistake, it just gives me excuses for the next one.

6. Get connected – Keeping my mental state in a healthy zone is critical for my success. I am an emotional eater and it’s super easy at this time of year to go down that rabbit hole. I miss my family being as it once was during the holidays. I miss my mom and dad being with me at my tables. Every song or scent evokes memories and they can become overwhelming. I’ve got to keep pushing myself to go out and get connected with others. Walking alone is great, but it’s so much more fun to walk with a friend, or my husband. I can’t run with my running group right now, but there are other injured runners who would likely meet me to walk. Find someone to connect with during this holiday season and see if it helps you get back in a healthier mindset.

That’s the plan for the week. I’m going to do my Sunday cooking today so I have healthier food for the week. I also plan to get some food for my work refrigerator and I bought a small Nutribullet machine for my office. I’m hoping if I’m craving something sweet a nice shake might provide some satisfaction instead of the chocolate or cookies. If not, at least I know I’m getting some extra vegetables and fruit into my diet.

How are you doing this holiday season with your eating and workout plans? If you find yourself struggling, try one of these ideas and drop me a line to let me know if it helped. You are not alone on this journey! There are many of us walking this walk and together we will get it done.

Great read to help change your mindset:

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)

Inside the pages of this book are four life lessons that we all can draw upon in our daily lives. Now especially, with our world in constant turmoil, with tensions running so high, I find myself relying on it heavily. The four agreements are –

Speak with Integrity – Your word is everything! Say only what you mean and avoid negative self talk and gossip. Use your words to speak the truth and of love.
Don’t Take Anything Personally -Remember always that nothing others say or do is because of you, it is really a projection of their own reality. Be immune to the opinions and actions of others and you will avoid much suffering.
Don’t Make Assumptions – Do your research before you make an assumption about someone or something. When in doubt save your energy and don’t worry about it. Ask and be direct rather than fretting and worrying about things. Be sure.
Always Do Your Best – Under any and all circumstances do your best each and every day. Yes, your best will vary depending on the situation, but do the best you can at all times and you will never be full of self regret.

I use them in my daily life and often at work. They really are about making a mindset shift and approaching life from a position of self love and positivity.

Things I Will Be Letting Go Of

Things I Will Grow

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

There’s always tomorrow For dreams to come true Believe in your dreams, come what may. There’s always tomorrow With so much to do And so little time in a day.

Share this:

There’s always tomorrow
For dreams to come true
Believe in your dreams, come what may.
There’s always tomorrow
With so much to do
And so little time in a day.