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Saturday Snippets

In today’s installment of Saturday Snippets, I’m gonna just talk about numbers for a bit.

Ironic considering I don’t find numbers particularly interesting or remotely fun…. sorry you little math nerds out there who love them. 😉

However, numbers do interest me when it comes to weights and seeing how much I’m capable of lifting, how fast I can ride, or row a mile and tidbits like that.

This weeks rounds at PT had my therapist commenting that the “165 lb. single leg presses were looking easy” for me.

Welllll…I’d never describe it like THAT….but I haven’t exactly mentioned to him I feel like I could probably handle more (I suspect that is coming)

You see, those things matter. It indicates where my strength is at and I will have a knowledge of where I’ve progressed from.

When numbers shouldn’t matter

I’ve been stalking….er…I mean…observing… this cultic diet group from afar. They place a whole lotta emphasis on their products helping people miraculously lose all kinds of weight and inches in only….8 days.

Yep you read right. There are tons of glowing life stories of consumers being transformed in these 8 days.

Almost makes me question my old school approach of healthy eating and purposeful exercise…not.

Of course they neglect to tell you that you largely do a starvation diet but hey! Food is overrated.

Of other short term glowing reviews there’s a huge focus on getting into significantly smaller sizes in a short time.

Here’s where I’m going

Wearing smaller clothes and losing weight is certainly not bad. Losing excess fat is good for the body and your overall health.

But who says it has to be attempted in a ridiculously short term manner? Why is the focus on those numbers instead of focusing on a slow sustainable loss of 1-2 lbs a week?

The reality is, even if you do lose a “big” amount in the first week it’s mostly water weight as you have greatly reduced carbs which hold water. Heck! With this plan you’ve pretty much reduced all food!

Successful long term weight loss isn’t a speed process, sorry, it’s just not.

And it doesn’t need to be.

Numbers that matter

Instead of focusing on perhaps, unrealistic or unsustainable numbers consider things like this on your fitness journey:

How many steps did you get in your day? Did you get more than the previous day?

Can you walk/run farther than previous weeks?

How many stairs can you climb?

Is your weekly weight loss a steady 1-2 lbs?

What about your body measurements? Often we will see those numbers change even if the scale doesn’t.

What about your blood pressure or lab results numbers? These are internal indicators of your health.

Lifting weights? Can you do more reps or have you increased weight you are using? Celebrate the strength of your body!

There are so many numbers that reflect our health and fitness, beyond the scale.

Attempting to do things “fast” doesn’t earn you extra rewards and if anything, potentially sets you back. You don’t become over weight “fast”, why is there a thought weight loss occurs that way?

Slow and steady weight loss, combined with consistent exercise will lead to long term success you can be proud of.

Monday Musings

So who stole the weekend already? Sunday night has shown up with the stealth of a cat ready to take down the dinner mouse.

I’m pondering the wisdom of coffee but it seems like a warm, delicious hug after a busy day and I’m close to losing the battle on making it.

Ah yes, I think that’s exactly what’s needed while I let my random Musings outta my head.

Let the monkeys loose

I wondered again today, how I can possibly squeeze more out of myself. Besides the usual life stuff, taking care of myself,family, housekeeping and all that, there’s my little vintage business that is growing.

I’m all happy over that but gosh…I need more time for projects. Besides pieces I do for my shop, I’ve been blessed with repeat customers and custom orders.

Ya know, in the beginning, that terrified me a wee bit. It’s one thing to dive into one of my needy, fixer upper pieces and a whole lot different working on a piece my client tells me has been in her family for over 100 years 😱

I got over it.

I will admit there’s a huge amount of vulnerability putting my work out there.

No one is tougher on me than me.

It all vanishes as soon as my customer sees their refinished piece and is thrilled over it.

I just wrapped up this little curio cabinet for a customer this weekend.. check out its before condition….

And now with it’s cool new look. I’m obsessed with these colors..

I’m pondering what piece I have that I can use this look on.

Maybe this little vintage table/magazine rack? I had a customer bring it to me….she was like…here I want you to have it. It was in an old rent house we’re cleaning out and I know you love stuff like this.. I happily took it..dust, cobwebs and all 🤣

Not to mention hubby and I went out hunting items this weekend and got some cool pieces for the shop. With the approaching holiday season I want it packed out.

Snake oil and magic potions

Ok if you’ve been with me for awhile you know one of my favorite soap box topics is the modern day snake oil of the diet/health industry.

It definitely makes for plentiful writing topics.

Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel.

I’ve been researching/watching/ learning about one company that seems to have quite a cultic following.

I have more than one problem with this (company that shall remain nameless…for now at least)

For instance, nothing is discussed online. Not the name of company or what they are about…other than miraculous weight loss concoctions. However yours truly picked enough keywords from comments to figure it out. 😛

You do have to wait to receive a message from someone about it after you ask then I guess you get the secret info

Well. Ok.

I get it. The idea is so people like me don’t show up and ruin their party calling out the nonsense and drivel.

Doing things like informing them of the junk that’s in those fat burning, toxin cleansing, appetite suppressing, fat blocking miracle supplements they are shoving down their throat.

I think one of the biggest things that got me was a comment from a supporter of this and she said.. I quote…

“Diet and exercise backfire”.

Help. Me.

What kind of thinking IS this???

Yes, a restrictive, depriving diet won’t last.

Learning to have a healthy daily balanced diet will last.

Combining it with purposeful exercise will go a long way to keeping you fit and healthy.

Of course that doesn’t sound as dramatic and exciting as the miracle potions Karen is trying to sell me on.

But more disturbingly kids, smart people really buy into all this.

In the past I’ve been a Guinea pig with various things so I could write on them from an informed way.

Everything from foods, to diets ( hello whole 30 and Paleo) to exercise trends (crossfit showed me how capable I am to lift heavy stuff) to more harmless things like athletic wear and shoes.

I love doing it because I can write from a really informed place.

I…briefly…contemplated being a lab rat for a short time.

However…one…I’m not up for paying the equivalent of a car payment for a month of fat burning supplies…( yes for real) and I don’t mean a cheap car payment….

Two….I don’t dig starving and being hungry for the sake of losing weight…especially since I know you don’t have to for success.

Oh and three…I really don’t wanna put all the crap in my body.

So I will continue my fact gathering and may present a post on this…this company…. who shall be nameless cause I’m not giving them advertising time 🤣

Oh a final tidbit…their revenue was listed at 103 million dollars.

In fitness news

I’m doing some time in physical therapy. Mostly we’re working out hips and legs and an IT band that is really giving me fits…horrible fits some days.

Last week they wanted to do some assessments on my strength. They put me on a machine and calculated how much weight I should do with one leg.

165 lbs. For a single leg press.

I was told to just start and do as many as I could. I got to 20, felt like I could do a few more but decided to finish strong and leave it there.

After doing it on the other side I got a brief rest and then had to knock out 2 more sets of 10.

My PT guy comes back and was like…wow you’re pretty strong.. yay for the old lady hahaha

I will admit…it felt pretty cool. It’s one thing to know I’m strong and another to be put through a test and knock it out of the park.

The goal is to get me loose so I can be 100% on the road again doing what I love.

Time will tell I suppose.

I’d still rather play hard, hitting hard goals an challenging myself than watching life from the sidelines. I understand doing that might involve injuries.. it’s a part of the game.

Fall is coming… I think

We’ve had a cool morning or two and its hard not to think of those comfort foods that always seem so enjoyable once the weather changes.

I whipped up a chicken casserole that’s a family favorite this week. Find it below😊

https://pin.it/u3xbwglckelsht

And what about an easy chicken and dumpling recipe? you’re welcome

https://pin.it/ghvsdrla27p2we

I’ve got lots of amazing recipes saved on Pinterest, be sure to check them out!

Your turn. How’s the week been kids? What’s on your plate for this Monday?

Why Diets Fail You

Before we get to the weird sweet potato photo…….

Often one of the hardest parts of writing a post for my blog is nailing a title. The idea for the post can come effortlessly and then the only thing remaining is a clever, witty, thought provoking title to draw in you, my 4.5 readers.

And that I can often spend more time pondering than you know….

Therefore, when I have ideas come to me that present me with the title first, I’m thrilled. I then quickly save it into my working folder as an idea to bounce on.

This is one that’s been patiently waiting in that folder. I figured I’d drag it out, dust it off and do something with it 😜

For the love of diets

If you’ve hung around me for awhile, you know I’m kinda “anti diet”. This is not to be confused with “anti weight loss”.

Why anti diet?

They just don’t work.

Oh now wait. I can hear you ready to tell me about Karen at work and how her keto plan has the weight falling off her.

Or maybe it’s someone else working Paleo or any one of the other current trendy things to follow.

There are lots of “vehicles” to get us started on weight loss. The more troubling issue is, which vehicle can get us to our destination and still be usable for us when weight goals have been attained? Which one can we follow for the rest of our life?

Calorie Deficit

I’ll say it again for the kids on the back row. There is no magical, miracle wonder diet that makes you lose weight. There are lots of programs to help you lose your money but you don’t need to spend a bunch of money to lose weight.

It’s simply science.

Expend more calories than you take in through exercise and what you eat, i.e. create a deficit, and you will lose weight.

You could do it with Oreos and milk but I don’t recommend it.

Sustainability

Diets don’t work long term because the large majority just aren’t sustainable. And by that I mean it’s not a plan you can or will do the rest of your life.

I cannot tell you the times I’ve heard someone reference looking forward to a “cheat day”. This means falling off plan to eat the things they have been withholding from themselves. It’s a grasp to feel “normal” and enjoy things that have been on a forbidden list. If you’re on a plan and you spend to much time looking forward to having restricted foods, you may need to rethink it.

For me, that’s not how I wanna live, and really, most people don’t.

It’s why they toss the towel on a plan that withholds enjoyable things.

Deprivation

When people think of diets, no wonder feelings of deprivation come to mind.

Eating less food, not having favorite foods or treats, not getting to have birthday cake, being hungry, eating boring flavorless foods….the list could go on.

No one, not a single one of us, wants to feel deprived which is another reason diets fail.

Lack of balance

Many popular diets totally cut or eliminate food groups. Where there are some people who need to for food allergies or health reasons, the majority of us don’t need to remove healthy and nutritious foods from our daily diets. However, demonizing food groups has become cool in some circles.

Demonizing food isn’t cool.

We love routine

Maybe you have certain things you like to grab for breakfast or you do your coffee in a special way. You have foods you enjoy. It’s all like….comfy…right? None of us want to give up our familiar routines. Diets really upset that apple cart.

Diets offer a quick fix…sorta

Let’s face it. How many times have you started a structured diet and were already longing to get back to normal life? You bite the bullet thinking you can get 6-8 weeks done. You jump into it, get excited over your big “loss” of water weight the first week and prepare for week 2. You’re all on fire and are excited for the weight you’re going to lose.

And then just like that…you’re done. Maybe a week to 10 days into it, you’ll take your few pounds you lost and call it a day. This wasn’t as fun as you thought it would be.

Sadly you’ll gain that weight back with a few more pounds too.

Now about the weird sweet potato pic…

I had gotten in from a sesh of physical therapy and dove into dinner prep. One of my favorite ways to eat sweet potatoes is to cube them, add some onion and a bit of olive oil and roast till they are soft with crispy edges.

Heaven.

Anyway, I had started writing this post earlier in the day and had the ideas bouncing around when once again I was reminded of this simple truth.

Diets will almost always fail.

However if we make our daily nutrition about eating real foods, preferably single ingredients or close to it, we will not only be satisfied but will provide our bodies with optimal nutrition. Eating real food is satisfying. Eating real food allows for special occasions and treats and removes feelings of deprivation.

By the way…. I did write a post called “The Single Ingredient Diet” a few months back be sure to check it out…

When we focus on each day, making healthy food choices, eating in balanced ways and allowing for treats, we don’t need to diet.

Learning to create a small calorie deficit in our day will lead to slow and steady weight loss.

Living this lifestyle is not only balanced, sane, and allows you to build your own routine, it is also long term sustainable which will lead you to lifetime success.

Tell me. Have you had success with a particular diet? Or do you find yourself back where you started when you get off it? Have you figured out now how to make it your lifestyle and not diet?

The Joy Of Eating

I did it again to myself. No one to blame but me.

It was a morning I was running at 90 doing a million things before I left the house for the day. Now it was lunch, I was hungry and I pulled out my less than stellar salad I’d hurriedly tossed together.

Hungry, with food that would feed my hunger, but not necessarily bring me joy.

Ugh.

My favorite goof up was tossing salad in my container one night thinking I’d add protein to it in the morning along with a few more veggies.

Imagine my delight when lunch came and I had forgotten to add that and all I had was mostly dark leafy greens.

Go me.

It’s ok to feel good about eating

When I’m hungry, I shamelessly love my food. When my stomach is growling and let’s me know it’s time to eat I want to enjoy my meal.

In the diet obsessive,weight loss focused world we live in there is often an unspoken idea that really, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t enjoy eating, you should obsess or feel guilt, you should eat food that is unexciting because ya know, gotta lose weight.

You should feel deprived and a bit miserable in the process.

Listen, whether you’re working on weight loss or not, you should feel good about eating. Hopefully, you’re making good food choices, but even if you aren’t at that meal I hope there aren’t feelings of guilt that go down with it.

Unfortunately many of us may have grown up with negative behaviors with food, not been shown good eating habits, or used food as a coping mechanism/drug as we grew up.

Working to develop good eating habits, even if it’s slowly, will help you learn to feel good about it.

So about that “joy” of eating

Back to my opening lines. I don’t have much joy when I’ve been haphazard or lazy about putting my food together. When my lunch is ok and basically takes up stomach space, it doesn’t give me joy.

It makes me annoyed I didn’t take the time to put together food I would appreciate more.

We should enjoy our food, we should have food that not only offers our bodies the nutrients it needs for good health, but it should be satisfying to our souls.

Think of things like Thanksgiving or if you were fortunate, amazing Sunday dinners your grandmother whipped up.

Those are often times we may think of that are joyful eating.

True, not every day is like that. Reality might be a sandwich on the run between meetings or whatever we can grab in a busy day.

Joyful eating

I’m surrounded by a lot of men in my family. Men have this tendency to wolf food down. They love teasing me about my “little bites” and being the last one left eating.

I simply inform them I like tasting and savoring my food. 😉

I like taking my time and not rushing.. nothing wrong with that is there?

Some tips for joyful eating

* Be mindful. Really, be in the moment of what you’re eating. Lose the phone, don’t stare at the TV and really focus on enjoying your food.

* Be aware of textures and flavors, appreciate how it all tastes and smells.

* Take your time. Honestly you may have to practice slowing down if you’re used to eating fast. You’ll have a better appreciation if you do.

* Savor the meal and learn to savor the relationships with those you have around the table. Over good food I’ve learned much about my family.

*Prepare foods you really love. Double win if you prepare foods others love as much.

* Leave any guilt you have at the door. Food and guilt have no place together.

* Look for new recipes that give you joy in cooking for you and your family meals.

Tell me…how do you view eating? Is it a joyful thing or one that is mindlessly accomplished ?

Monday Musings

So as I’m lounging on my sofa tonight drinking copious amounts of coffee I keep thinking it’s already Sunday night, yet it’s not.

Yay…one more weekend day.

It IS entirely probable my brain is fried from a busy day of hosting my 3 year old granddaughters birthday party with a house full of loud, active and busy kids hyped up on youthful energy and a dash of sugar.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s it.

The birthday party was a success and my granddaughter embraced the day with complete wild abandon.

I would not have expected any less from her.

I joke she’s my spirit animal but really I aspire to live each day with the constant joy and enthusiasm she has for all situations.

Ah…but back to the weekend

That means time to work on more of my vintage and antique projects. I need more time! 😫

I’ve picked up some uber cool pieces the past couple weeks. Between doing pieces for my shop ( things are moving out fairly quick there..not a bad problem) I’ve picked up quite a few custom orders as well as repeat customers so I guess you can say I always have a project going on.

Not a bad problem to have.

Ok …I know you wanna see some of the goodies… 😁

What about this turn of the century serpentine dresser?

It gets its name from the style of drawers..

The lady advertised *it needs work”. Thankfully, I have mad repair skills.

Oh…did I mention this beauty was 5.00?

Yes you’re reading right. It’s gonna cost a ton of labor but the end result will be awesome.

***listen to that confidence***

What about this old radio cabinet?

Yeah check out the original label in it…

I have a customer who quickly claimed it. She will put a stereo in where old one was…she wants it for her boys who collect records. I’m sanding and staining it for her.

And then I finished off this custom order. I got this old vanity and bench last summer. I showed it to a customer and she wanted it for a desk. The bench stayed with me for another project

Oh….here’s the after pic….

Sweet, clean and ready for a new adventure.

In more reflective thoughts….

I’ve got two things dancing in my head.

1. When did the world become so full of self entitled people?

AND

2. Do young people really have such a poor working knowledge of basic daily math?

Ok..my first thought.

This has been in my head awhile from various experiences.

Working at my sons shop ( ah.. dealing with the public) I’m often shocked at customers who think they don’t have to pay for a service or think they shouldn’t have to pay what has been charged or he should do work for free,the list goes on…. there are times I’m left speechless.

Hmm… or more like attempting to hold my tongue. 🙄

However I had a personal experience this weekend when a customer went to my shop to buy a piece of furniture. I wasn’t working on this day ( we’re a co-op and as vendors work a few days a month) she had previously messaged me about price and I told her what it was. Yet when she got to shop, she angled at getting a lower price. Her husband even suggested to checker they should get it for even less. Then went on to act shocked/annoyed they had to pay tax.

Like…dude. This isn’t a yard sale and do you even live in this country? This is a store…you pay tax. This is life.

Death and taxes… it’s a given.

Self entitlement. It’s an ugly thing in our society.

My second point.

I had two similar experiences this week. I had stopped at a new coffee shop to you know, share the wealth and to try their coffee.

After getting past the shock of my small cold brew being 4.33 I handed her my money.

10.33

You get it, right?

Now let me say I’m not the world’s best math whiz. I don’t know who ever thought that putting the alphabet in math problems was a good thing and I literally passed high school algebra by the skin of my teeth.

But daily working math? I’ve got that. I can count change back and run mental numbers in my head. I can figure percentages and do estimates etc

You know….Basic life math that we all need.

It appears a lot of young people can’t do that.

The young girl took my money and proceeded to hand me change as if I hadn’t given her the change with my bill. I told her ijust needed 6.00 back.

She then fished more change out and handed me that along with my change and I said I don’t need change, just 6.00.

She laughed nervously and said “ohhhh I get it”

I’m pretty sure she didn’t get it.

Then on another day in a drive thru. My order was 2.52.

I tripped the poor guy up handing him 10.52.

I waited…and waited…wondering if I was gonna get my change back. Finally he slowly handed my money out the window.

6.00.

I said “Hey sweetie I’m supposed to get 8.00 back” to which he asked for my receipt?

Then he carefully handed 2.00 more out the window. I imagined him standing there trying to figure out what fresh hell I was putting him through as he attempted to decipher how much money to give me back.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Is the younger generation so dependent on machines to think that they can’t operate with basic, easy skills?

Remember counting in ones,fives, tens, etc in elementary school? Isn’t that the basic idea in counting money?

What happened here?

When I mentioned it to my son ( who is a part of this generation) his response… they’re all dumb. 😱

That may be a bit harsh, but it’s a disturbing reality in our society.

Maybe we should bring back home economics and basic life skills classes? 🤔

Ok I’ll hop off my soap box now and on to complete randomness you could do without

Do you know Amazon has something called “chip fingers”?

For real.

And yeah, I didn’t know what they were either, but thanks to my little band of misfit friends I got educated.

Evidently they are like little socks for your finger tips so while you’re noshing on Cheetos or Doritos you don’t get those nuclear orange finger tips…I hope you aren’t eating those…. but if you do they are evidently helpful for keeping your fingers clean from eating anything messy.

Ah…how did we ever get along before?? I’ll attach the link so you know I’m not tricking you 😉

Maybe you should buy a set and impress your friends.

Speaking of orange

Ii see all the fall stuff showing up in the stores, but honestly with Texas still rocking July like temps, it does not put me on the fall mood…at all.

Ii did recently give in and buy an adorable sweater with the anticipation that some day I may get to wear it…

I may have bought a thing or two else along with it…..

Seriously though, I’m ready for some of those perfect fall days.

Has fall showed up where you live?

In conclusion…..

My athletic shenanigans. This sums up exactly how I feel…….

I’ve been off running for months. Long story short, an x ray date with my sports doctor, me thinking I’ve done something that’s gonna need surgery and he presents me with “you have arthritis ” was not what I was prepared to hear.

I’ve been doing some PT work to stretch and work muscles that have gotten tight with a greatly reduced physical work load. Gonna see how some of this helps and just go from there. I’ll tell you this…I’m not gonna just take this and go lay down somewhere nor do I plan on giving up.

There will be an upcoming post on my PT adventures…so stay tuned for that 😜

Meanwhile, I’m increasing my strength training days. I even upped my dead lifts last week to 185, so there’s that. Rowing is a good substitute for running so I will continue my rowing skills and of course, cycling. That should keep me busy, right?

Your turn….what’s going on in your world? Has fall showed up yet? What athletic activities keep you busy?

The Cost Of Healthy Eating

Occasionally I can keep things to myself, but not often.

Sometimes I just have a really hard time seeing nonsense and not calling it out… especially when it involves food and nutrition.

This is made harder by the fact there are sheer volumes of nonsense involving food and nutrition in the world today.

It hurts my head.

So in today’s episode of “Are you kidding me” I want to explore this thought about a food post I’ve seen multiple times circulating Facebook. I’ve seen it in other forms, this just happens to be the current edition of it.

Ah yes. The old “they make it so hard to eat healthy because it’s expensive ” line.

Let’s not miss they are comparing a cheap carton of fries available at any fast food place to a prepped carton of fruit in grocery store. ( insert eye roll here)

I’m just gonna cut to the chase on this topic.

What you eat is your responsibility.

Really.

I’m not sure why this is often hard to grasp and far to overlooked. Every single day I’m responsible for what goes into my mouth and the foods I feed my body.

Whether it’s optimally nutritional or not, no one is stuffing food in my face but me.

I call the shots.

Why then is this food post shared around like there are victims who have to eat junk food…or let’s just say…not optimally nutritional food?

You..me…we make a choice to what we choose to eat.

We are individually responsible for our food choices. It can’t be blamed on anyone but us.

So yeah, the first step to being real with this is taking ownership of your eating and the foods you eat as well as what you buy at the store or when you eat out.

With that being said….

Let’s get to the intent of this food post.

That it’s cheaper to eat non- nutritional food over healthy food.

Like anything in this world, there are a variety of price points on lots of things, food iincluded.

I may not often buy meat out of the fancy meat counter, but it doesn’t mean I can’t buy good meat in the other areas of the meat dept. I buy lean meats that are on sale and chicken which is always reasonably priced.

I have a budget to operate in, as do most of us. You can still operate in your budget and make good food choices.

Since they use the idea of fries for 1.00 ( obviously at a fast food restaurant) and the fruit is obviously the prepped and packed kind ( you ALWAYS pay more for that service!) at a grocery store I don’t find that much of a fair comparison.

Here’s what I will compare. Our local Wendys restaurant is a fast food place but they also offer lots of healthy options.

They have value menus with those 1.00 fries for sure, but they also offer 1.00 salads too.

I love their “real” salads on the menu though. They are often a tasty mix of veggies and fruit with nice serving of protein added with grilled chicken. I skip the creamy calorie laden dressings and opt for their light choices. Water is always my standard drink.

I can’t help but note….the salads are similar in price to a burger/fry/soda combo.

So what’s the difference?

The choice I make.

I love fries. They are like…pure deliciousness.

I also understand they aren’t an optimal food choice which is why I limit them to maybe…twice a month as a treat…

I fully understand though if I walk into that fast food business and decide to order a meal with fries then I am doing it because I choose to, not because it’s a good financial move.

We need to stop using that as a reason for poor food choices.

We are individually responsible for how we choose to fed our bodies.

What about the grocery store?

Pretty much a similar strategy applies.

Really, you don’t need cokes, cookies, and cheese puffs filling up your basket.

Is that stuff cheap? Yep.

But so are canned fruits, beans, tomatoes and other veggies. Add to that lowfat yogurts, cottage cheese and lowfat puddings

Eggs are an amazing and versatile food that are economical and can be used so many ways, for meals and snacks.

Buy real cheese in brick form and cut into cubes. Opt for healthier whole grain crackers and breads. Whole grain pastas and noodles are also other healthy low cost meal choices.

I noted the store brand “wheat bread” was 2.00 but for 89 cents more I got a more nutritional bread made with several grains.

What about fresh produce?

As the photo shows in my post, they’ve used a container of prepped fruit. I see this often in the store and it can be handy. However, you do pay for that convenience….quite a bit. Therefore, I really don’t see this as a fair assessment in this food post to eating healthy not being cost effective.

I do buy some prepped items. One of those is broccoli. I buy the huge bag but it’s convenient for me to use in salads, as a snack, or to throw in a pan and roast. I don’t mind paying a bit more for the convenience.

Mostly though I buy fruits and veggies I prep myself. You can buy many of those already prepped but since we are talking about eating healthy and affordable I’ll suggest prepping your own.

And shop seasonal foods! Last year the blackberry crop was amazing and almost every other week the large cartons were like …1.48…

I seriously ate my body weight in them!

Shopping seasonal on fruits and veggies is an economical way to eat healthy.

One thing our store has started doing is bagging produce that needs to move and marking it 50% off.

Let me tell you… I troll that dept heavy now looking for those tags! I’ve also experimented with new foods because they were on sale.

You may check to see if your store offers those mark downs.

Frozen foods

I understand sometimes the fresh stuff can go bad on you. It won’t if you plan meals with it 😉

Anyway, frozen offers healthy foods, and they won’t spoil.

Corn, broccoli, mixed veggies, snap peas, black eyed peas, stir fry mix, edamame and fruits are all good frozen choices. ( I personally do not care for the green beans or cauliflower as I think they are bland and the beans are usually tough) if you can’t get fresh green beans ( the best) canned are a tastier choice.

The bottom line

I buy a variety of foods for my family. Treats are an enjoyable part of life but I also shop to buy nutritionally healthy foods too.

Buying a bag of apples or oranges is usually wthin the price range of a package of Nutter Butter cookies or Oreos.

Do both have an appropriate place? Yes.

Is one more important to a healthy lifestyle than the other? Absolutely.

Can we then suggest eating healthy is more costly than eating food that offers less nutritional benefits?

No. And why?

Because it comes back to what I started with. We are responsible for what we buy and eat. We are responsible for the food choices we make, good or not so good.

There are many, many healthy and affordable food options. We are not victims who have to eat junk food because it’s more “affordable”.

That’s the lie I’m sick of seeing circulated.

Healthy eating is quite affordable, however, you must be willing to eat that way and choose the healthier options that are available.

Tell me, do you think eating healthy is more eexpensive than eating non healthy foods? What are some of your favorite cost effective healthy foods/meals?

Monday Musings

Welcome to another edition of Monday Musings, and not just another Monday but Labor Day here in the states. Labor day holiday weekend is the symbolic final salute to summer before heading into fall.

Unless you’re in south Texas then its just more summer till like…January.

I’m ready to send summer on outta here as it’s been crazy hot, with nothing more exciting than work and more work.

A change of season might offer up something a little more interesting.

Ah, Fall. It’s hard not to anticipate those cooler mornings, milder days, and favorite fall weather meals.

Speaking of fall… Starbucks needs to seriously cool their heels on the pumpkin spice thing.

They released it in August this year.

August.

I hate to say this but while I’m sweating just breathing I’m not wanting to cozy up to a warm beverage more suited to over sized cozy sweaters and boots.

They need to stop being so greedy and wait for their season to actually arrive.

Anyone with me on that?

And no, I don’t actually drink mentioned beverage as I find it to sweet.

I could be lured into temptation with a pumpkin spice scone though 😉

What beverage am I currently loving ?

The new nitro cold brew. I was informed I couldn’t get one larger than a grande due to the caffeine in it 😱

What is nitro cold brew you may wonder? It’s a cold brew coffee charged with nitrogen to give it a rich creamy head, similar to nitro draft beer like Guinness.

Whatever.

It’s chilled, rich and even black like I prefer, its smooth and almost creamy.

I pace myself though cause tasty or not, they are a little pricey.

Meh. So they butchered my name. I’ll still come when they call.

Speaking of work….

I’ve mentioned before I have a little vintage business with a large part of that flipping old, usually beat up, or discarded antique and vintage furniture. Not only am I doing pieces for my shop, I’ve been doing custom orders too. I did a rocking chair this week for a customer. It was her great grandparents and 100 years old!

I was privileged to work on this family heirloom.

This is what it looked like when I got it…

And then after…. Customer requested paint and finish and I was thrilled with how it came out…

I felt a connection with this piece and had to remind myself I had to give it back 🤣

I also got this cute antique half table this week.

It looked like this….

But then I did a little magic on it and now…

It looks sweet right?

Ok one more.

I scored this antique armoire today. It was a definite fixer upper. It had so many new things added to it…and things broken and needing to be put back together. At least she had all the parts.

This is what it looked like coming home…sad and needy…

I desperately wanted to jump into it but was committed to finishing a piece I was working on….so hubby jumped into it and…..

A couple hours later……

Doors glued together and put back on, mirror door rebuilt and mirror installed, and all of the added shelving removed inside.

The only thing long gone was the original back. We pulled off the cheap flimsy board on back ( which had lots of holes cut into it) and will replace with something a bit nicer.

I estimate this piece roughly turn of the century. I was happy it still had all of its castors (wheels)

Now it’s ready for me to do some magic on it. It just makes me happy seeing it more like it should be, closer to its original look.

In the world of health and wellness

Once again I noticed on a “health” product that it proclaimed to suppress your appetite.

Which kinda had me scratching my head. I never get that.

Can I make a wild statement here?

Your body gets hungry for a reason. Those hunger pangs are natural given signals to feed your body.

Food is fuel.

To ignore those signals or to attempt to suppress them is disordered thinking at best.

A healthy approach is to honor your body, it needs fuel. Eat an appropriate amount to satisfy your hunger with healthy foods and move on.

To ignore or attempt to suppress it will keep keep your mind on food and may lead to binge eating later.

Speaking of food

As I mentioned earlier, fall is coming and it’s hard not to think of tasty fall treats. I love baking so recently I went to my dessert file on Pinterest to see what treats might be a good experimental fall recipe.

So many choices! With pumpkin everything aways getting noticed I thought I’d dive into something apple oriented.

https://pin.it/6owwg6gciv3fv5

It had rave reviews….give it a try 😁 do you have any fall desserts that are a favorite?

Tell me …are you ready to wrap up summer? Do you enjoy changing seasons? What is your current ( new) favorite beverage?

Saturday Snippets

Happy Saturday boys and girls!

Today’s post is short and sweet. This past week I hit on two pretty relevant topics that impact a whole lotta people.

Did you get to read them?

The first is called Diet Disasters.

Diet Disasters

I touched on just a couple examples of extreme diets that people resort to in an attempt to lose weight.

Most diets attempted are failed with the person eager to get back to their normal way of living. Nothing extreme or depriving ever works long term.

I constantly preach an old school approach, but only because it’s true and works.

Consistency, with small daily, healthy changes lead to a permanent lifestyle change that is long term sustainable!

The other topic I hit was our relationship with food, The Emotional Impact Of Food

The Emotional Impact Of Food

This generated some interesting dialogue and I appreciate the feedback.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have a relationship with food

Good or bad.

I took a hard look at how we can use it to support everything from our hunger to deeper unaddressed emotional needs and other issues. Understanding why we use food to medicate us is the biggest, most important first step to achieving permanent weight loss.

Tell me, are there other topics on food/nutrition/healthy eating/weight loss you’d like to see here?

The Emotional Impact Of Food

Breaking up in a toxic relationship can sometimes be hard can’t it? Leaving behind someone that has left us feeling good, stroked our emotions and feelings, been there for us in tough times, yet somehow has not always been the best thing for us.

Why do we struggle to leave when we know, really, it’s best for us?

Yet we continue on day after day allowing ourselves to be dragged through it because its comfortable, familiar, and makes us feel good. Sometimes really good.

Now, imagine if you will, that’s our relationship with food.

Of course we can’t totally break it off, but we may need to set some clear and healthy boundaries with it.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have some type of relationship with food in our lives.

Of course those relationships and how they look largely depend on alot of things.

How we were raised.

I’d say that is most likely one of the biggest factors. How was food treated in your home while you were growing up?

Was it healthy and nutritious? Were you taught balance and good eating habits?

Were there the usual times of holidays and celebrations where it was expected you’d eat another piece of pie? ( cause hey Thanksgiving!) And that’s allowable 😄

Or was it the complete opposite with eating in excess and indulgence the norm? Eating way past the point of your hunger being satisfied until you were “stuffed “?

Perhaps it was somewhere in between.

Where ever you land, don’t underestimate how that has shaped your behavior with food today.

We’ve trained ourselves.

Like anything in our lives, we train ourselves in routines of habit.

Times we get up or go to bed. How we brush our teeth, prepare for our day, how we organize things…..it’s all set habits and routines we’ve formed.

Our eating and food choices are no different…..good or bad.

You’ve trained yourself to get snacks at the convenience store or trained yourself to load your shopping cart with fruits and veggies. Or you make a stop for morning coffee with or without a donut.

Perhaps it’s the drive thru coming home from work for a “snack” before dinner.

Whatever it is, you may have built habits with food to help you cope with emotional issues.

To do things differently will mean an intentional, purposeful, act to rebuild new positive and healthy habits.

Awareness leads to success

It hit me like a ton of bricks a few years back on this journey I’m on.

I had grown up in and with a household of emotional eaters.

Food was used for everything.

Happy? Sad? Celebrating? Angry? The weather changed? Boredom? Loneliness?

Comfort food wasn’t just a vague description….it was used to feed emotions.

Becoming aware of that made me even more mindful of my eating habits. Although not to the extreme of many family members, I had my own Achilles too.

If I found myself roaming looking for something I’d first think ” am I hungry?”

If that was a solid no, I removed myself and tried to assess what the reality was that I did need.

As I got further down the road of understanding myself, and being more mindful, food had a lot less pull to do it.

To this day, I still need to be mindful. Ingrained habits can take a long, long time to retrain, but it can be done.

You simply have to be real with yourself about those weak areas and then be willing to discipline yourself in new ways.

Oh. And don’t quit just because you don’t “get it right” immediately. Small daily steps lead to big victories

The mental shift

My brother and I were talking recently about similar things. He has been on his own journey. He’s lost a ton of weight and been faithful to strength training and learning to embrace cardio a bit more 😁

I’m super proud of his efforts. But it hasn’t been without his own struggles along the way too. His weakness for sweets, eaten often in secret, was a huge thing to work at overcoming.

He has had to take huge steps in the mental awareness area to continue being successful.

We talked about people who had lots of weight to lose ( like 100s of lbs) and the modern day quick fixes of surgeries and extreme diets….and how the majority failed and only regained the weight lost.

Why?

There was never a change in their mental behavior. There was never a shift in their relationship and behavior with food.

Whatever underlying problems drove them to eat and use food as an emotional coping tool were still there.

Without that being changed, you will continue in all the negative behaviors and patterns that led to becoming over weight.

The same is true for all of us. We have to know, recognize and understand why we do what we do with food.

Eating to ease the things inside of us is a negative way to deal with life, yet for many it becomes a coping mechanism for deeper issues.

If you struggle, here are things to consider.

Know your triggers. What causes you to reach for food? Keeping a notebook might be helpful to look back at to help you see patterns of behavior.

Are there times of day you feel weaker or less likely to make better choices?

What are your personal family dynamics with food? Healthy or not so healthy?

Do you mindlessly eat? Do you eat food without being present and enjoying it? Or do you just go through the motions?

Are you always thinking of food? Really, we shouldn’t be. If you eat adequate food ( enough to satisfy your appetite without over eating) and it’s nutritionally dense healthy food you won’t be hungry. Putting food in a proper position in your mind is important to success too.

Be patient and kind to yourself on the journey! Know you won’t change over night but be willing to keep moving forward and not give up.

These are just a few suggestions, you may think of others.

For any diet or weight loss program to be succesful, leading to a permanent lifestyle change your mind must be on board to a healthier you. You must deal with and let go of negative behaviors and build in new positive ones.

If your mind is not changed, you will keep repeating the cycle over and over again.

Would you agree or disagree our minds play the most important part of weight loss?

Diet Disasters

One thing that’s for certain under the sun besides taxes and death, is the fact people will always be on some kind of diet.

The diet industry takes in billions of dollars a year from people desperate and willing to try the next thing.

Unfortunately, the majority of those diets are going nowhere fast leaving their fallen victims clutching their celery sticks.

Seriously though I’ve seen the usual ones roll through this week….everything from speed supplements to starvation diets.

Can I just mention again, you really don’t have to go to extremes, be miserable, suffer, starve, and deprive yourself to lose weight and develop of change of lifestyle.

Yet some persist with this idea.

Case #1

I guess for some reason ( maybe cause I write about it ) social media thinks I want to see all kinds of over hyped diet and nutrition “supplements” in my newsfeed.

Besides being annoying, they sometimes amaze me too ( and by amaze I mean at the outright craziness of what they sell) Mostly though, my heart hurts for those who will pay cash grasping at straws in an effort to ditch weight quickly.

With just a little research I learned some of the biggest complaints with this product was high blood pressure, nervousness, racing heart and other cardiac issues.

The FDA made them remove a “questionable” ingredient and it was supposedly replaced with something “safer”.

Hmmm. Ok.

The product is mostly ingredients that act like speed in your body ( is this what they mean by ” speeding up your metabolism ??) and it also suppresses your appetite.

So you’re a nervous, jittery ball of energy running on minimal food, always thinking about when you can eat again.

Hmmmm. Sounds fun to me.

Weird newsflash but….having an appetite, our bodies telling us they are hungry, is a normal, natural thing.

Feed it.

Feed it real food, enough of it, to actually satisfy your hunger.

Our physical needs are often treated like something freakish and weird instead of normal.

Love your body, feed it nutritionally good food. When you do that, and eat enough to satisfy your hunger, you’ll be amazed at how good you feel.

Case #2

I had heard about this diet before when a friend on social media started talking about their “diet” and that they were only eating 500 calories a day.

Mainly I perked up thinking “whoa a gerbil can’t live on 500 calories a day…like….how ya gettin’ outta bed??”

This diet is extreme and he was lured into a sense of…security? Cause it was under his doctor’s care.

Wait a second.

Wait.

What the hell kinda doctor prescribes, supports, encourages, someone to be on a diet where their daily caloric intake is 500 calories and whatever random supplements?

My mind can’t get there.

I don’t care if a person has alot of weight to lose, that to me, is pure craziness.

Crazy and totally not safe.

I didn’t know to laugh or cry when I started reading up on it and exercise isn’t recommended.

Ha…really? Probably because you have to reserve your very minimal energy to keep breathing.

Ever heard of something called your BMR? ( basal metabolic rate)

I’ll tell you. It’s related to the way your body uses energy. For all of us it’s different.

Men and women in general will be different measures. Your BMR is the number of calories your body needs to have just to maintain keeping you alive.

Ya know….breathing, beating heart, to name a few.

For men its roughly 1,662 calories, and for women it’s 1,493.

This is just the basics.

It doesn’t take in you working a full day, your extra activities, as well as purposeful exercise. All of those factors change your caloric needs.

See how it can go bad fast existing on such minimal calories? And yes, you are just existing because you will be dragging without a fuel supply. No energy and mentally foggy.

Not only that, rapid weight loss will consume muscle as well as fat, further affecting your metabolism. And who wants to lose muscle mass??

Recently, I was made aware of another person doing this. Without great detail I’ll just say they dealt with lots of negative effects, and suffered physical consequences like constant hunger, agitation, dehydration, passing out, and another unexpected doctor visit.

And one more point ( I could make a lot more 🤣)

But this is a fact true to any diet, or stomach surgery, or really anything extreme.

If you don’t understand “why” you do what you do with food, if you don’t develop good “healthy behaviors” with food, if you don’t learn different strategies in the “how and why ” of your eating, you will be right back where you started.

Every single time.

Losing the weight may be fairly easy, however the mental shift takes much more time, discipline, and self awareness.

This is where so many people fail to follow through and really work on which is why there is a larger number of diet/ weight loss failures than successes.

In another post for another day, we’re gonna talk more about mental changes and self awareness to food and weight loss.

Again, I preach often, there is no “quick” way, nor should there be. Great weight gain doesnt happen in 7 days, great weight loss won’t either.

Daily, slow and steady, making good healthy choices always wins the race.

Tell me…have you ever tried any type if extreme diet? How did that turn out?