Blog: Here I Go Again!

Well, here it is. The truth. The cold, hard, fatty truth.

I've been pigging out. I can't figure out why I'm eating all the carbs and sugars that enter my sphere of awareness, but I do know chocolate has something to do with it. That's it, I'll blame the chocolate. Forget about this strange addictive behavior I've been exhibiting.

Oddly, since I got the most awesome Dansko shoes, even my hip feels better. I haven't told my surgeon yet, but I think I can put off that hip replacement until I'm actually old. I've been taking the stairs at the hospital where I do my internship - even up to the fourth floor. Those of you who know hospitals know that means a double flight for every floor.

I'd probably be getting closer to my weight loss goal if I weren't eating all the things.

So. I decided to go back to the site that helped me track calories the last time I did this thing. There are a few decent sites that track calories. The first time I lost about fifty pounds just by counting calories, I used CalorieCounter. When I was doing those awful/awesome boot camp exercises with Andrea & David Gough at DNA Mind-Body & Nutrition and Herbalife, I switched to MyFitnessPal. 

I decided to stay with MyFitnessPal, while tracking my steps and calories burned by walking through a little phone app called Google Fit. I don't think the two are compatible, but I know how to take the information from one and enter it into the other. Who knows, I might burn extra calories just doing that by hand!

So here I am. Telling all the people on the internets (well, at least the handful who might read this) that I have been failing, but I intend to win. I intend to get back on track and reach my goal. That might mean some new recipes!

Certainly, it might mean a few photos and new thoughts on this journey.

Funny, it seems like we not only change direction in our life's journey, but we also travel many journeys side by side. My health journey and my spiritual journey are definitely connected. I wonder if it's the same with the career journey, and the trajectory of my whole life.

One thing I've discovered is that it's better to acknowledge where I am chronologically along the way. I'm no longer the 20-something who religiously did aerobics with Jane Fonda, ran 3 miles a day, or road my bicycle 5 miles a day. I'm an "older adult." My needs are different today than they were then. I found a page on a government website that spells out the caloric needs of older adults. 

I don't need 1200 calories per day...I need 1600! This is more doable. I put my goal in as 1500. I think this knowledge will help me on my journey.

I know it's a holistic thing. Body, Mind, and Spirit. 

You can follow my weight loss successes - and failures as I go. Just look for the MyFitnessPal badge on the right side of the page. When I last posted to MyFitnessPal, I had lost 38 pounds.

So...here I go again!

P.S. I forgot to tell you the GOOD news! Yesterday, I was able to begin my yoga practice again! I got through a full Sun Salutation without any wrist pain. That and 50 crunches both yesterday and today are my start back into the world of exercise and mindfulness around my physical being. More to come!

Blog: Almost Static

So, I lost weight and maintained that loss for awhile, what with the yummy smoothies, healthier eating, and regular exercise. It was great and I was feeling fabulous.

It isn't that I'm not feeling fabulous now; but it's a just little iffy.

Schedules got a little messed up, I lost yoga and hula-hoop time. I let the diet slip. I reignited an addiction to sugar. Chocolate. Diet soda.

And, I developed carpal-tunnel problems. A billion years of secretarial work have finally caught up with me. I can't do a proper Sun-Salutation anymore because I can't bear the weight on my wrist.

Of course, all along, I've had some other issues. I don't know, have I complained to you about my fibromyalgia lately?

It's not the fibro that's a problem so much as the spondylolesthesis in my L-1 and the arthritic degeneration in my right hip.

The exercise - especially yoga - and weight loss were calculated to make it easier to live with these problems. Combined with some medication, it's been pretty good.

Pretty good, but not great.

I haven't been able to hike for years. I'm jealous of all those 65 - 85 year olds I know who make hiking the Superstition Mountains look like strolling down the lane.

It's all catching up with me. This Spoonie life. This aging process.

I began to gain back some of the weight. 

I'm going to have to have surgery on my hip. A new hip, in fact. Just like an old lady, right?

I've begun forcing myself to take the stairs when I'm on shift at the hospital where I'm doing my chaplaincy internship. I'm equally forcing myself to recognize when enough is enough and the elevator is a better choice.

I'm starting to figure out which yoga poses I am able to do and to find times to sneak them in between my over-scheduled times.

I got one of those padded mouse pads and a wrist rest at work and have been trying to wear a wrist brace when I drive to nip that carpal tunnel in the bud. 

I'm off the candy and diet soda now, and am reintroducing good, green food into my diet. Not that I stopped eating good, green food. I just ate a whole lot of other stuff for awhile there, too.

I'm back to salads and smoothies.

Someday, I'll be back to real exercise, too.

After the new hip.

In the meantime, I am almost static.

But not completely.

I will never allow myself to reach the weight I was at my heaviest. My most unhealthy.

I may not be a rolling stone, but neither will I be gathering any moss.

Unless it tastes good in a salad.

Recipe: Quinoa-Kasha Pilaf

I created this protein-dense Vegan dish when it was time to chop down all the lettuces and greens in the garden before they went to seed. It is delicious as a main dish with muffins or crackers or as a side dish. It's very, very filling.


Suzy’s Quinoa-Kasha Pilaf

1 ½ cup quinoa
1 cup kasha
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup mushrooms
1 tomato, chopped
2 qts vegetable broth
4 cups mixed salad greens (spinach, chard, various lettuces of your choice), chopped
1 tbl olive oil
1 t turmeric
¼ t ginger
½ t ground sage
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in large pot or skillet over medium heat
Stir in onion and garlic, sauté until slightly browned
Add mushrooms, sauté about 1 minute
Mix in quinoa
Pour in broth and stir in turmeric, ginger and sage
Cover, turn down heat and simmer 10 minutes
Stir in kasha, turn up heat and bring almost to a boil
Turn down heat, simmer 8 minutes, stirring occasionally
Mix in tomato
Simmer 2 -3 minutes
Mix in greens
Simmer until salad greens are soft, stirring occasionally
Add salt & pepper if desired

Serve as a side dish or as a main dish with crackers or muffins
Serves 4 – 8 depending upon use
Tastes great as a leftover!