Merry Monday

Don't make me hit you with my candy cane!!!!

Merry M-O-N-D-A-Y?????  

Okay, before you toss your coffee cup at the screen, think about it.  Today you hold INCREDIBLE POWER in your hands!  You can CHOOSE to be a grinchy, grumpy Monday maniac, grousing around and bringing yourself and the rest of the world down with you.  

Or… you can choose to live in “opposite world” and put your own "stuff" aside and look at the needs of others today.  

What can you do to bring a smile to someone else?  How can you make merry as a gift?  Can you get a cup of coffee for somebody?  Pay the bill for the person behind you at the fast food place (c’mon, you know you still go there once in a blue moon even though you’re eating healthy most of the time).  How about just holding the door for someone else at the store?  Biting your tongue and adding another level of grace to your presence when the other person who is driving you crazy deserves to be given a good what-for?

Maybe surprise the kids or a friend or the hubs or a family member with a surprise trip for a cup of cocoa?  

It doesn’t have to be anything big.  Stopping what you’re doing to give the person in front of you 100% of your attention – eye contact and all!  A phone call to say you’re thinking about someone, or a quick email or note.  Maybe it’s just something as inexpensive (and priceless) as giving a complete stranger your smile. 

Think about it.  Pray about it.  Then be the gift to someone today. A side benefit will be how good you will feel today - and that's a great way to stay healthy during the holidays.

Because you are priceless and your smile may be the most incredible present someone gets today. 

Blessings,

Coach Linda

Mom's Birthday Monday

Today I want to pay tribute to the most amazing woman I know – my Mom. It’s her birthday today, and I would like this opportunity to sing out her praises.

She is a VERY active member of Curves gym, and has well over 1,000 visits in the last few years. All you have to do is ask her to show you her guns, and that sleeve is up and bicep curled!

She has a heart “as big as the all outdoors” (as my Grandmom used to say). She is loving and giving, and is a tigress when it comes to her family. She is our matriarch.

Her faith in God never fails, and she is a prayer warrior.

Her life hasn’t been easy, but you’d never know it from her cheerful disposition. Mom’s sense of humor is funny, zany, warped and wonderful – I call her my “Crazy Old Broad”. She plays practical jokes on me, and sometimes we get to laughing so hard I cry.

She’s wise, and always ready to listen and not judge – I know her love is steadfast, even when I’ve messed up oh-so-many times in my life. She’s got the best Mom-hugs in the world! She is my biggest cheerleader and always supports me, even if she doesn’t always agree or understand.

She’s also an incredible Grandmother, and her nickname is “Gooma” – so of course we call her “The Goom”, The Goomeister”, “Goominator”, and I call her Momma Pajama or MPJ for short.

She’s the only person I’ve ever heard of who actually ran away and joined the circus! (Oh am I gonna pay for letting that out!) Yep... yep... My Mother IS the ORIGINAL wild woman!

I have the honor/blessing/privilege of having her with me since her home burned down about a year and a half ago. She walked away with nothing but quite literally the shirt off her back, and yet she has always looked at the bright side and counted her blessings. Mom doesn’t hold “things” tightly – her family and friends are her greatest treasures.

But let me tell you, Mom is our family’s greatest treasure. She is gutsy, courageous and strong, and is always there when we need her. She is my hero, my inspiration, and my love and respect for this woman knows no bounds. Truly, the words haven’t been invented yet to describe her.

So happy birthday, my bestest friend and Crazy Old Broad Mom. You are the absolute best Mom E-V-E-R, and I love you and thank God every single day that He blessed me with you. Here’s to another year of love, laughter, good health, blessings and all the happiness your beloved heart can hold.

Psalm 31:28-29 – “Her children arise and call her blessed; many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

Motivated Monday

I just came back from an amazing weekend of being trained on the Pilates Reformer. I currently am a certified Pilates mat instructor, and because I’m so passionate about Pilates (because it transformed my body), I wanted to go further and get my certification on the Pilates Reformer.

I had the privilege of being trained by Frankie Puglisi, owner and Educational Director of The Pilates Institute of America. She was such a warm, fun-loving personality – and she specializes in offering the best in Pilates teacher training. If it has anything to do with Pilates, she knows about it! I encourage you to visit her site to learn more about Pilates by clicking HERE.

The others students ranged from beginners to seasoned master instructors who were refreshing their skills, and the energy in that room helped inspire me to be the best I could be, both as a health professional and on a personal level as well. I can’t wait until the end of April to attend Pilates Reformer II.

It’s been over five years since I made the decision to begin my journey of better health, losing 50 pounds, and pursuing my passion of helping other women be their best in every area of life. If you had told me then where I would be today, I don’t know that I would have been able to envision that. But it just takes the first step. So please, start today. Work your baby step muscle and get out there to begin your own journey to the life and dreams you have in your heart, soul and spirit.

You’ll never know what’s around the corner until you take the first step!

Blessings,
Linda

Mood-Food Monday

Ah… Monday – the least favorite day of the week for many wild women. Yet another weekend has flown by, and now we are faced with … go ahead and groan while you say it…. “M…o…n…d…a…y…” You can feel yourself sinking into one of those “Monday moods” like a pit of quicksand. Here’s your lifeline, ladies – mood-boosting foods! In an article on mood-boosting foods (click HERE to read), Leah Zerbe from Rodale Press shares with us a variety of foods that contain all kinds of happy little goodies that change our brain to assist us in having better moods.

Mussels
Mussels are loaded with some of the highest naturally occurring levels of brain-protecting vitamin B12 on the planet. That makes the mollusk an important food source, considering that a significant portion of the U.S. population is B12 deficient. So what's the nutrient's mood-saving trick? Maintaining a healthy level preserves the myelin sheath that insulates your brain cells, helping your brain stay sharp as you grow older. Mussels also contain trace nutrients that are important to balancing your mood, including zinc, iodine, and selenium, things vital to keeping your thyroid, your body's master mood regulator, on track. An added benefit? Mussels are a healthy choice for you and the environment, which isn't always the case when it comes to fish. Just be sure to look for farmed—not wild—mussels raised in the United States.

Swiss Chard
This leafy green is packed with magnesium, a nutrient essential for the biochemical reactions in the brain that boost your energy levels. According to Dr. Ramsey, some of the first studies on magnesium involved its effect on depression. That could come in handy today, since the majority of Americans simply don't get enough magnesium in their diet. Green-thumb tip: Swiss chard is easy to grow in a home garden. If you plant it, harvest just a few outer leaves—not everything all at once—and the plant will continue producing all season long.

Blue Potatoes
Blue potatoes aren't a common supermarket find, but they're popping up as a unique offering at farmer's markets all over the country. The color in blue potatoes is courtesy of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that provide neuro-protective benefits such as bolstering short-term memory and reducing mood-killing inflammation.

Be sure to eat their skins, too. The potatoes' skins are loaded with iodine, a diet-derived nutrient essential for life, and one that helps regulate the thyroid, what Dr. Ramsey calls one of our "master mood regulators." And always choose organic potatoes. Nonorganic spuds usually fall victim to multiple toxic chemical sprays that are absorbed into the vegetables' flesh.

Grass-Fed Lamb
Animals raised on grass pastures boast much higher levels of healthy conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA. This happy fat beats back stress hormones protecting brain cells and erases dangerous inflammation-promoting belly fat, Dr. Ramsey explains. Grass-fed lamb is also packed with mood-promoting heme iron, the type that your body most readily absorbs. Iron is vital for a stable mood—its highest concentrations in the brain are located in areas related to mood and memory.

Dark Chocolate
Ever wonder why chocolate makes you feel so good? Sure, it tastes good, but it also provides an instant boost in concentration and mood and even improves blood flow to the brain, helping you feel more vibrant and energized. Skip the sugary milk chocolate blends and go directly for the darkest organic (highest percentage of cocoa) chocolate you can. A recent study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that just a few ounces of dark chocolate a day results in better mood. (We love organic, fair trade Theo chocolate.)

Greek Yogurt
This dairy pick is packed with more calcium than you'll find in milk or regular yogurt, and it can make you happy, too. Proper calcium levels give the "Go" command, alerting your body to release feel-good neurotransmitters. "Disturbances in calcium levels can produce anxiety, depression, irritability, impaired memory, and slow thinking," says Dr. Ramsey in The Happiness Diet. Plus, the probiotics help aid in digestion and can even ward off colds. If you find yourself nervous or agitated for an unexplained reason, try reaching for an organic Greek yogurt from cows raised on grass pastures. Pastured dairy is higher in healthy fats, and, like grass-fed lamb, often contain higher levels of CLA, the healthy fat that reduces the effects of stress on the brain.

Asparagus
This vegetable is one of the top plant-based sources of tryptophan, which serves as a basis for the creation of serotonin, one of the brain's primary mood-regulating neurotransmitters. High levels of folate also add to asparagus's happiness-promoting profile; research has shown that up to 50 percent of people with depression suffer from low folate levels. Like tryptophan, it's a necessary factor for creating neurotransmitters. It's also good to add to the menu if you plan on drinking. The enzymes in asparagus are highly effective in breaking down alcohol in your system, preventing a hangover—and that can make anyone happy.

Honey
Eating sugar unleashes harmful free radicals linked to disease—even cancer—inside of your body. Honey—although sweet like sugar—is packed with beneficial compounds such as quercetin and kaempferol that actually help clean up the free radicals and reduce inflammation. "Honey helps reduce inflammation, which is very important to maintaining a healthy brain," Dr. Ramsey explains. "Some depression actually stems from chronic, low-grade inflammation."

Cherry Tomatoes
All tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, a fat-soluble phytonutrient that helps protect vital brain fat, and a nutrient that actually stops the buildup of pro-inflammatory compounds linked to depression. Because lycopene lives in tomato skins, the best way to get it is through cherry tomatoes, whose smaller surface area means you'll eat more skin than if you eat a full-size tomato, explains Dr. Ramsey. To maximize the amount of lycopene your body absorbs, drizzle some olive oil over the tomatoes, and enjoy! Just be sure to always choose organic. Trials at University of California–Davis have found that organic tomatoes have higher lycopene levels.

Pastured Eggs
Dr. Ramsey calls eggs the perfect food. They're loaded with mood-promoting omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, B vitamins, and iodide, and they'll keep you full and energized. The problem is that these days, buying the best egg has become complicated, even for the savviest label sleuth. Egg carton claims promise all sorts of nutrients and living conditions for the laying hens, but many claims aren't even regulated. The best egg for your brain is the kind your great-grandmother probably enjoyed: hens raised on pasture, where they can exercise and eat a diet of grass and bugs, supplemented with organic grains. Look for pastured eggs from local farmers you trust, and rely less on grocery store eggs advertised as "omega-3 enriched" or "free-range," both claims that aren't regulated.

Lemon Macaroons
Sugar is a known mood annihilator, but that doesn't mean you have to completely give up on desserts. The authors of The Happiness Diet devised a citrus-rich macaroon recipe chock-full of brain-healthy coconut, a health food boasting medium-chain fats that fuel better moods. And the lemon provides not just a burst of flavor, but also brain-protecting flavonoids. Give their recipe for Mood-Boosting Lemon Macaroon:
Coconut fat got a bad rap, but that reputation is undeserved. Coconut's medium-chain fats enhance your body's fat-burning capacity and production of ketones, the only other fuel your brain can burn besides glucose. Lemon zest powers these with liminoids aplenty, plus citrus flavonoids that protect the brain.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
3 cups shredded coconut
2 tablespoons lemon zest

Make it: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Vigorously whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix in the shredded coconut and lemon zest. Mold about a tablespoon of the mixture into small balls and place on a butter-greased baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden on top.

Makes about 30 cookies, serves 15

So what foods help you have a better mood? Share them in your comments!

Blessings,
Linda

Monday Motivation

How was your weekend? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Are you doing the hustle-bustle dance of shopping? Spending happy times with family and friends? Overwhelmed? Fighting the blues? Maybe a bit of everything? It’s not uncommon to have our feelings/emotions ride the holiday roller-coaster, especially if we are eating more sugar and junk than we’re used to eating. It is amazing to me how much food can affect our emotions. Now I’m not talking about eating carbs as comfort food. I’m talking about the physical changes that sugar can produce in our system to frazzle us more than when the one light burns out on the tree and the whole thing goes dark!

According the Franklin Institute, glucose is the form of sugar that travels in your bloodstream for your brain power, and is the only fuel normally used by brain cells. Too much sugar or refined carbs at one time can deprive your brain of glucose and compromising your brain’s power to concentrate, remember and learn. Too much sugar gives you a spike, but then drops and you can feel spaced-out, weak, confused and nervous.
Irritability can result when high glucose levels go uncontrolled. In adults with diabetes, the constant battle with high blood sugar can lead to feelings of anger and frustration, according to Mayo Clinic diabetes educators Nancy Klobassa and Peggy Moreland

The best way to avoid the sugar crazies is to monitor how much sugar you eat – just be mindful and intentional of what you’re eating. Remember, a craving will normally pass within 15 minutes, so walk away from those sugar-infested brownies that are caroling your name (“Fa-la-la-la-la…scoff me down now!”). Remember how crummy you feel when you have a good case of the sugar blues, or how bloated you feel when you’ve eaten more sugar than is healthy for you – is it really worth it?

You can have your cake and eat it, too – in moderation. Exercise caution, and have fun baking those cookies with the kids or some friends – just be sure not to eat the batch once they’re out of the oven!!

Blessings,
Linda

Sources:
http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/332947-what-are-the-effects-of-a-high-glucose-level-on-ones-emotions/#ixzz1gMKuHVqa

Messy Monday

I don’t know about you, but my internal clutter is reflected in my external life. I tend to get a bit messy or lax when I’m juggling too much and racing around. I don’t put things away as well as I normally do, and it just makes life that more difficult for me. The shoes get tossed in the closet, the mail on the desk, and the messier it gets, the more frustrated and internally messy and unorganized I feel. You know those shows on TV where they go in and try to help hoarders clean up their lives? Well, while my house/car/desk aren’t like that, sometimes I feel as if my mind is – little pathways to the main events, with stacks of thoughts piled sky high on either side.

Today let’s work on exercising our unclutter muscles. Take one or two 15-minute blocks of time and declutter your desk, kitchen, office, bedroom – wherever it’s looming at you the hardest – and declutter. Then… get a pad and paper and write down/declutter your brain with things that you need to do. At least that way you’ll have it written down – oh yes, and make sure it’s all written in one notebook, or phone – NOT on sticky notes or a bit of paper here or there!!

Start the week off right, because it’s only going to get more hectic with each passing day for awhile. Breath, declutter and feel internally and externally lighter.

Blessings,
Linda

(illustration by Paul Foreman)

Multi-tasking Moratorium Monday

Whew… it’s Monday, and we’re one holiday down. How are you today? Happy? Exhausted? Glad to get back to the office and have the kids back in school? Already looking forward to getting family/friends together for the next holiday bash? And so begins the Christmas countdown… and your next endless list of things to do, get, prepare, etc.

There’s been a LOT of hype for years now about multi-tasking. You know, put on your makeup and drink your coffee and talk on the phone (using a speaker, of course) and listen to your audio book all while you’re commuting! Let me tell you, I am an expert at putting on mascara/blush/lipstick without even looking in the mirror. Eyeliner… hmmm… not so much. I see it at the gym: on the treadmill, reading, earphone in one ear listening to music while clandestinely chatting away on their cell phone, since you’re not supposed to use a cell phone on the gym floor). I see it at the office: speakerphone on (but muted) attending a conference call meeting, two screens up with different projects while the desk is covered in paperwork, while talking to someone else in the office. We all do it at home: meal cooking, helping one child with homework, while tracking another as they try to share the dog’s food, while the laundry is going, and the phone is ringing… Wait, I’m exhausted just reading this. And even when we’re not physically multi-tasking, we’re mentally multi-tasking, switching topics at a nanosecond – the noise in our heads invades each thought until we’re unable to focus on any one thing.

Today, let’s begin exercising our FOCUS muscles and put a moratorium on multitasking. A recent study showed that multi-tasking isn’t a good thing, and that switching mindsets creates exhaustion and mediocrity or even failure at the multiple tasks you’re trying to complete. (See the three links below for the articles and the study itself).

For today, instead of trying to do ten things at once, first write out a list of all the tasks you wish to accomplish today (just today). Then begin – but give everything you’ve got to the task at hand – focus only on that task until it is complete. Once done, go on to the next task on your list, and repeat. When you are speaking to someone today, whether by phone or in person, be fully present and give them 100% of you. Instead of thinking of all you need to do, when you walk to your car or take a walk or wait in a grocery line or doctor’s office, be totally in that moment. Notice the colors, the sounds, the smells, the textures. Give yourself over to that particular point in your life, because it will never be there again.

I’m going to be doing this with you, because I’m a multi-tasking freak myself. The other night I was on the phone with a friend, laptop beside me, TV on, and painting my toenails. Trust me, I barely remember half of my friend’s conversation, little of the TV show, and my little piggies look like a “Jungle Red” slaughterhouse!! Did I do all these things at once? Sure! Did I do ANY of them well? Nope.

I suspect that if we develop our ability to be less multi-tasked and more “I’m in the here and now giving this task/person my full attention” tasked, not only will we become more productive, but perhaps even a little more at peace, enjoying each moment a little more. Would LOVE to hear your comments and results!

Blessings,
Linda

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/13/multitasking-is-bad-for-you_n_925958.html
http://www.fyiliving.com/research/jg-kvm-multi-tasking-exhausts-you-quicker/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1147689

'Mergency Monday

Really? Seriously? A blizzard on October 30th? Whatever happened to global warming? While I’m all about cool weather, I’m certainly not ready to give up my beloved autumn yet!!! I was training someone at the gym Saturday morning and looked up at one of the skylights, thinking “Boy, they have got to clean these things – you can’t even see out of them for the dirt!” Then it hit me – that ain’t dirt, honey, that’s SNOW!!!! Even in my safe little Subaru, I found myself fish-tailing and skidding on the slushy, icy roads which hadn’t yet been plowed. Always an adventure!

Because it hit so quickly and caused so many trees to lose limbs because of the weight of the snow on the leaf-laden branches, many people here in the Northeast have lost power. I’m blessed to not have been counted in that group, but it certainly made me think about getting caught in this kind of emergency. So today, I think we all need to exercise our preparedness muscles. Below I’ve listed links to three areas with information on preparing for a winter storm for your home and car, and a supply list for your homes.

Home: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/beforestorm/preparehome.asp
Car: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/beforestorm/preparecar.asp
Supplies: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/beforestorm/supplylists.asp

These are all from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, where you can also download free checklists, as well as “Extreme Cold”, a prevention guide to promote your personal health and safety. Additionally, if you surf around this website you can find emergency preparedness information for specific hazards other than winter weather (chemical emergencies, outbreaks, natural disasters, etc.). I highly recommend you carve out a few minutes this week to read it over. Being prepared could literally save your life.

I wish you all warmer weather this week, beautiful and vibrant fall colors again, and let’s hold off on the snow for awhile, shall we? Can it just snow on all the ski slopes, and then guarantee a White Christmas by snowing lightly on Christmas Eve?????

Blessings,

Linda

Mindful Monday

In the craziness of life, it’s very easy to get caught up in the “dailies” and have very little time for ourselves. When that miracle moment happens and a few spare minutes appear (and disappear) as fast as the dew on the morning grass, we either collapse in front of the TV, or get caught up doing chores, tasks, and other things because we feel guilty if we’re not constantly busy. It’s hard to justify any time spent on self.

To that end, our minds can easily be satisfied with grabbing the quick magazine article, a talk show radio clip, a blog blurb (yes, even this one), or falling into a coma and just sitting staring off into the distance, wondering whatever happened to your brain! Critical thinking, truly deep thinking, is left for the think-tank brain-bank few in the back halls of some dusty library. I know, you may be thinking, “Critical thinking??? Are you kidding?? I can barely think about what’s happening in an hour, let alone strain my brain on anything else!”

When was the last time you read a classic novel (Danielle Steel doesn’t count), or poetry, or picked up a book on something you really wanted to study? I admit it, I often have to keep a dictionary near me when I really want to dig into something that makes me think hard and long, and I can only do a few pages at a time. Are you feeding your brain fast food junk reading, instead of giving it a regular healthy dose of super-brain food? Your brain will get flabby and tired!

Consider flexing your brain and finding a serious, take-one-delicious-morsel-bite of each word book. If you are an e-reader fan, there are all kinds of classics that are FREE for the asking. Upload one of those, and read a page when you’re in line, or at the doctor’s office, or waiting in the car for your kids… it’s only a page here and there, but before you know it, you will have feasted and your brain will be sharper, brighter and satisfied. Believe me, you’ll hunger for more. There’s something wonderful about snuggling down on an autumn evening in a comfy chair or sofa corner with a good book. Bon appetite!

Blessings,
Linda

Money & Minestrone Monday

Here’s to a new week, happy readers! Hope you had a great weekend. Let’s start the week off right by discussing saving money and eating well!

Back on September 26th, in my blog called "Map Your Month Monday", we talked about setting goals, and one of those goals was to try and save $100 during October. Well, that would mean saving about $3.22 a day, and if you have been keeping up with that goal, today you should have the tidy little sum of $54.74 set aside for a rainy day! Not bad! And if you haven’t been doing that yet, you can start today. If you can put away $3.57 between now and October 31st, that will be $50 more than you had today. Not bad, considering Christmas is only 68 days away, and how great would it be to have some set-aside funds to pay for those gifts instead of going into debt by charging your holidays? If you could put aside $5/day between now and December 3rd (the first Saturday in December), you will have almost $250 to use for holiday gift-giving. Who knew?

Also, wouldn’t it be nice to save some time and money in the kitchen? Here’s a great recipe I found on the Prevention Magazine website that costs about $2 per serving. Not only that, but you make it in a slow cooker (so you can have it cooking while you’re out running errands or at the office), and the third hat trick winner of this recipe is that you can freeze it and make a put-aside meal for later. There is a wonderful site called “Organized Christmas” (which I highly recommend, just click on those words to go there), and one of the things they suggest is to start putting aside meals in the freezer so that during the crazy days of December, you will have a load of inexpensive, ready-made homemade meals to serve your family, so you will have less time scrambling for meals, and more time to just relax and enjoy your holidays.

Wild women, it’s time to exercise your planning muscles today – go forth and get cookin’ and savin’!!!

Blessings,
Linda

P.S. Please be sure to share this blog site along to your friends!!!

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Classic Minestrone Soup

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 8 hrs 0 mins
Total Time: 8 hrs 20 mins
Serves: 10
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Come home to this hearty Italian Minestrone soup simmering in your crock pot. This well-rounded meal is low on calories and fat. Canned beans and frozen spinach add convenience, along with fiber and protein. Sub in whole wheat pasta to add even more fiber.
Ingredients
2 cans (14.5 oz each) low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15.5 oz) cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 pkg (12 oz) rotini pasta
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes
6 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Directions
1. Place broth, beans, tomatoes, carrots, scallions, and Italian seasoning in 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Stir to combine. 2. Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. 3. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Add pasta and spinach to cooker and stir to combine. 4. Cover. Cook 15 to 20 more minutes, or until heated through.


Nutritional Facts per serving

CALORIES 257.1 CAL
FAT 1.4 G
SATURATED FAT 0.3 G
SODIUM 369.5 MG
CARBOHYDRATES 48.1 G
TOTAL SUGARS 7.1 G
DIETARY FIBER 8.3 G
PROTEIN 12.3 G

Monday Mourning

Admit it, girlfriends, weekends tend to be the time when it’s easiest for us to choose less optimal healthy foods for our bodies. So many celebrations happen during the Friday-Saturday-Sunday timeframe: weddings, family get-togethers, happy hours, to say nothing of tailgating parties, Sunday football feed-fests, hot cocoa on the soccer sidelines, and all kinds of good things. Yes, good things, because you know I don’t believe it limiting your food choices -- it’s more portion control and fitting those choices into your daily calorie allowance. The trouble is, we do tend to overdo it a bit on the weekends, and then we’re faced with the dreaded Monday morning weigh-in, where we’ve discovered we’ve put on 2-3 pounds in the same amount of days! The phrase “beached whale” comes to our minds (because we are always so unduly hard on ourselves) and we feel bloated, sluggish and defeated. While it's certainly not the end of the world, it often is discouraging and tempts us to say, “Oh well, I blew it over the weekend, I guess I just will wait to get back on track for November. Oops – there we go down that slippery slope, kicked it the butt by Monday Mourning!!. Hang on, you have positive options!!

For those of us (me included) who are in Monday Mourning, instead of giving up, get back on track by eating especially “clean” on Monday. Stick with primarily fruits, veggies, and water, and let your body clean out all the junk from the weekend. For breakfast, have a big fruit salad (diabetics, watch those sugars), or maybe just some plain oatmeal with some blueberries and strawberries. At lunchtime, have a bahonkin' salad with kidney beans or chick peas for protein. At dinner, steam up a ton of veggies and serve over brown rice (1/2 cup brown rice is one portion, by the way). Most veggies are practically free food, so you can fill up. For mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks, bring raw veggies and graze away, maybe have a banana mid-morning with a few walnuts or almonds, and mid-afternoon have an apple with a tablespoon of organic peanut butter on it. Keep it light, keep it clean, and watch your portions. And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate with water!

While I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, I do tend to keep my diet fairly light. I don’t often eat red meat, and the bulk of my meat tends to be chicken or fish. However, this weekend I made a huge amount of meat sauce to go with my baked ziti dinner, and wound up eating the meat sauce/ziti yesterday as well as leftovers. You know the old phrase, “Don’t let it go to waste”? Well, remember, eating those leftovers can make it go to WAIST – YOURS! This morning I was up two pounds from Saturday. It happens. Don’t let it define your day or week. Just take positive, healthy steps to get back on track. Dig into that delish salad for lunch – join me, won’t you?

Exercise your body cleanse/back on track choices!


Blessings,

Linda

Moody Monday

Once upon a time, when I was younger, there was a song by the Carpenters entitled “Rainy Days and Mondays (Always Get Me Down).” Oh, good grief, it’s not THAT long ago, just Google it! Sigh... Anyway, that was a double-header mood-monster – it’s Monday, and it’s rainy, so I’m going to feel blue, yucky, down, “down in the dumps” (as Grandmom used to say), got the blue meanies, whatever you call it, you know the feeling. Actually, I have to admit I love gray chilly days. I know, I should have been born in Seattle… but I digress…

The point I’m getting to is this – we choose what we do with our emotions. Now I’m not saying you always have to be cheery and put on your little fake happy mask. Not at all!!! Your emotions and feelings are YOUR emotions and feelings. Sometimes out of nowhere, you can have a wave of sadness and depression wash over you and totally blindside you. It’s hard to explain, you’re not even sure why, but it’s there as much as the nose on your face, and real, and it can actually be physically painful. And I’m not talking about necessary grieving over traumatic experiences, or depression brought on by bipolar disorder or any other medical condition, or PMS. I am the first one to say, if you are struggling, seek out professional help. If you can’t shake depression after several weeks, please – talk to someone and get assistance. I’ve been there and done that, and got the tee-shirt that says “I got help and I feel better!”

What I’m talking about is when we get up in the morning, and have something go wrong (like oversleeping, or getting cut off in traffic, or it’s raining out, or it’s Monday), and say to ourselves, “Well, that just ruined my whole day!” Did it? Did it really? Are you willing to give that much power to someone else, or to the weather? Okay, you had a momentary setback. Someone really ticked you off. Something crummy happened. Yes, it stinks. But… will you choose to allow that moment to victimize you all day long and ruin 8-16 hours of your life? Will you live that moment in your head over and over and over, like a stuck DVD? Or will you choose to override it, and move on? Will you move forward and choose to anticipate better things for yourself, and live your life in the moment?

Think about it. Meditate and pray over it. Journal it. Go sit in your car and primal scream until the windows fog up. That’s okay, it’s productive! Get up and walk, exercise, call a friend, do something for someone else. Breathe deep and release it. Then grab your life and your joy and move on, girl, because there is so much good ahead. Don’t’ live life in the rear view mirror. And if it is a rainy Monday, go out and lift your face into the rain like a wild woman, and splash in the puddles!

Blessings,

Linda