Mind, Body & Spirit revisited

I know I haven't posted in awhile.

Apologies.

 

I AM still working on my Mind, Body & Spirit,

but mostly I've just been working TOO much

and not exercising enough.

My extravagent lifestyle (and my 401K) needs to be fed as well.

 

For fun I go on day hikes with my gal pals.

I AM writing sporadically.

And I am still Juicing.

I'm certain my insides are reaping the benefits.

To reinforce my healthy efforts I watched

 Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2.

For me it didn't pack the punch of the first documentary,

but worth watching.

Meat Your Maker

I love meat.

Sort of.

I have a love/hate relationship with meat.

Back in the day, that day being my high school days, I was a vegetarian for a time and a long distance runner. Quasi health nut.

I dislike the look of raw meat, which makes shopping for it difficult.

Anyhow, I knew watching Cowspiracy on Netflix would put me off eating meat.

So I put off watching it for quite some time.

That's how I roll. The documentary is eye opening, to say the least. And I am going to say the least, lest I meet (or meat) an untimely and accidental/or non-accidental death.

Watch it.

Judge for yourself.

I still eat meat - in moderation.

My first choice is usually to go meatless.

 



New Outrage/Different Day

GMO OMG

You should watch this documentary on Netflix if you get the chance. A whimsical look at a serious subject.

 

A trip to the grocery store is becoming like a life and death test I don't have time to study for.

I thought making a list and clipping coupons took a chunk of my pre-shopping day, now I hunt for organic fare I can't afford and scan the ingredients for words that have five or more syllables and were not in a dictionary fifty years ago because they didn't exist. Now I have to worry about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) that are not even disclosed on the products we eat.

 

I don't always pass on an item because of the toxins on the label, but I should be given the choice. Personally I think GMOs should be banned (they are in some countries).

So very few things in life are under our control. Shouldn't what we put into our body be the one decision we make for ourselves?

Food, Inc.

What am I watching on Netflix?

 Food, Inc.

This documentary has been on my To Watch List for quite some time, but I knew I wouldn't be able to eat beef, pork or poultry with a clear conscience after viewing it.

Today is a NO MEAT day for me, so I picked today to be brave and watch this documentary. What I didn't know was that fruits and vegetables are also in question.

Here is what I know, food that is bad for us is cheap. If it's healthy, the average person can't afford it. But can we afford not to eat healthy?
Cows are designed to eat grass, not corn. We were not engineered to eat high fructose corn syrup.

Watch Food, Inc.

I dare you.

 

BROOKLYN

I love historical movies. Maybe I love history. If you asked me to list my top ten "loves", I doubt I'd say history, but my love of a simpler time is there just beneath the surface. I don't go see X-men or super heros or Star Trek movies, but I do venture to the theater for a trip back in time (even if I don't go any further back than the 1950s). 

Sometimes I'm disappointed by my movie outings. My high expectations ruin the experience. Not this time. I loved Brooklyn. It made me laugh and cry. My only complaint would be that perhaps it was too goody goody. Everyone was likeable. There was no bad guy. No one was forced into prostitution (The Imigrant) or swindled or coerced into marrying someone they didn't love. Maybe that's what I also found so refreshing. This was not your cookie cutter movie. Just a girl making the best of a bad situation, turning her lemons into lemonaid with hard work and tough decisions.

And I'm going to put a good movie in the "spirit" column in my efforts to work on my Mind, Body & Spirit. There is something so tranquil about sitting in a dark theater with a handful of strangers.

Food Matters

What am I watching today?

Food Matters. (Netflix)

Do you like scary movies?

Do you enjoy a good old fashioned mystery rooted in a dark conspiracy theory?

No? What?

Okay, do you like the Terminator movie franchise?

No?

Then get off my blog you heathen. 

Back to our regularly scheduled blog.

*

"Come with me if you want to live." (Terminator)

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I wish I'd watched this documentary 30 years ago, which would have been impossible because it wasn't made yet.

Okay, so I wish I'd seen it in 2008 when it was made.

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What did I learn (or reinforce what I already knew)?

Vitamins = good

Processed foods = bad

Water = good

Chemicals = bad

Organic = good (and expensive)

Bad health is big business.

You are what you eat.

*

Watch it.

Please.

Be Careful What You Put In Your Mouth

Let me tell you what I've learned about eating right.

A) It's not easy.

B) I'm not very good at it.

C) I've still got a lot to learn.

Here's how I do it (but sometimes I don't do it - no one's perfect).

 

 

1) Eat fresh fruit and veggies (duh). Sometimes I do this in my juicer and drink them.

 

2) Read labels. Less is more, if you get my drift. If something has a loooooong list of ingrediants and some of those ingrediants you can't pronounce, don't eat it. I'm not advocating eating chips, but if you've got to have a chip, some chips have less chemicals and such that other chips...read the label.

 

 

3) I add good for me stuff to other stuff. Homemade granola to my yogurt, fruit and nuts to my salads, etc...

 

 

4) If it's cheap, it's probably not good for you. But just because it's expensive doesn't guarentee that it is good for you.

 

5) Chances are just because something says fat free, sugar free, low fat, diet, etc....doesn't make it good for you. It might make it even worse.

 

6) I try to eat something good for me before eating something potentially naughty (like carrots before cake, so maybe I will eat less cake - there are just some days that will be cake days, like at work for a retirement party or your grandmother's 100th birthday party).

 

 

7) Be prepared. I cut up celery or carrot sticks and put them in the fridge so I can just grab and go. I have a snack drawer at work with raw almonds or pretzels or popcorn. That way you'll be less likely to accept a candy bar from a friend or buy a donut on the way to work.

 

 

Lazy Girl's Guide to Fitness

WTF?

 

 

It's the screen of my favorite stationary bicycle.

Yes, it's true. I joined a gym.

Why?

Because my exercise of choice is walking, and the weather report tells me to hunker down and watch TV under a blanket. Besides, all the cool kids are doing it. And my doctor (who might be a quack) told me to walk farther and faster (yeah, that stung). Most of all I've made this public declaration to work on my Mind, Body & Spirit.

So I joined the YMCA. I was a member about 20+ years ago. I think I was lazy back then too, because I always thought I should be thinner than I was.

My routine - although I'm no fan of routines - is walking, riding a staionary bike, more walking, stationary rowing, walk some more, and a few nights a week I swim. All in all I exercise for an hour to an hour and a half about 5 days a week. I'm slowly increasing my speed, resistence, and distance (I've been known to overdo and get injured or sick, and then quit).

How long has this been going on?

About a month.

Have I lost any weight?

Not really.

Am I healthier for it?

Jeez, I hope so.

 

 

I will keep you posted.

Granola!

 

In my attempt to eat healthier, avoid preservatives and chemicals, I've been making my own granola.

I loosely follow a recipe I found on the internet, but I seem to have an aversion to measuring. Or following simple instructions.

 

In a bowl I mix rolled oats, raw almond slivers, chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans or similar), raisins, cranberries, dates, dried apricots, honey, coconut, and coconut oil.

I toast it all in the oven on a cookie sheet at a low temperature (stirring occasionally) until golden brown.

 

 

I mix the granola into my Greek yogurt and eat it for breakfast.

I store it in the refrigerator.

But basically you can add, omit or substitute other ingrediants (golden raisins, banana chips, various dried fruits).

Say Hello To My Little Friend

Well, I did it. I bought a juicer. And I'm loving it.

If you are at all interested, it's a Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro, or something like that. I bought it at my local Fred Meyer...on sale...with a coupon.

Just saying.

What have I been tossing in my juicer, you might ask.

Let me tell you.

 

 

I bought apples (apparently they really do keep the doctor away), pears, lemons, and strawberries as my base or rather as the stuff that tastes good. I use a combo of 2-3 of the yummy, and then toss in 2-3 of the following: kale, spinach, cilantro (parsley is good for you too), carrots, tomatos, celery, cucumber. 

 

I usually do my own thing and experiment, but I found this juicing website that has recipes (if you're in to that sort of thing) to address your specific juicing needs whether it be weight loss, cancer prevention or allergies. It talks about the why and how of juicing. 

Happy juicing!

In Your Face!

What I'm going to do with this banana peel might shock you. 

 

 

 

First of all, I didn't waste the banana inside the peel.

I ate half the banana and put the other half in my morning smoothie (but then accidentally left the smoothie at home and had to dump it later after it sat on the kitchen counter all day).

Okay, so I did waste half the banana.

In my defense, Facebook made me do this.

I rubbed the inside of the peel on my (clean) face. I waited 10 minutes (some sources say to leave it on 30 minutes or all night), and then washed it off.

Why?

Supposedly, it's a wrinkle reduced, skin brightener, acne fighter, moisturizer.

A banana peel is like a super hero.

Did it work?

The girls at work said yes, but perhaps they were humoring me.

Hungry For Change

Change is scary. I know. But I'm going to give it a shot, working on my mind, body & spirit. You can come along for the ride. Here's where I'm starting. With my body. I urge you to check out the movie Hungry For Change. You can catch it on Netflix. I've watched it twice. I'll certainly watch it again and again and again until it sinks in.

 

My mind and spirit will be the real challenges, me being a neurotic agnostic and all. I'm going to have to fill up my spirit with music, laughter, friendship and nature. I'm not sure what we can do about my mind. I'll need to be creative there too.