I Continue to try to stay focused on eating properly because I know that nutrition is the most important factor to being healthy. I am always on the look out for new recipes that I can modify to make them easy. I came across a recipe in a magazine called Naturally… Eggplant Cauliflower Flat Bread. I am not a huge fan of eggplant and I really didn’t want to go to the trouble of cooking eggplant, but I pulled the portion of the recipe on cauliflower flat bread and made it… easy and delicious!
(Picture from Total Women’s Cycling🙂
Changing it up makes for better overall health. For me, I need to do a variety of things to stay engaged in exercising. The same thing day-in and day-out makes me easily bored and stagnates my progress. Outside of running and Crossfit, I like biking. I enjoy both road biking and mountain biking, but a year and a half ago my mom was hit by a car on her road bike and I became a little fearful. A lady was texting on her phone and hit her from behind completely oblivious until it was too late. Mom suffered some injuries, but in time she overcame. It could have been much worse; God’s protection was definitely involved. At that point, I switched over completely to mountain biking putting the road bike to rest. After a long battle, I realized I missed it. I took my road bike in for a tune up this week and yesterday I hit the road again. Whether you are contemplating the road bike or you drive a car read this post to be aware of bikers that are on the road! Please.
Working this week to stay on track…. eating, exercising… was difficult with my hectic schedule and life. This week was hard, no doubt. I planned food and scheduled workouts, but things didn’t go as planned. The weather was a major factor this week with lots of rain so running was minimal. Running is the mental release so mental exhaustion crept in ever so slowly as the week progressed. I did manage to get in a few WODs this week, but the weather had me down and not eager to go. I am sore from the WODs I did with weights this week and my times on some of the benchmarks were way off. This was not encouraging and that had me down in the dumps too. As I spoke with several of my class members after class, I reminded them and myself that the enemy is us.
The most valuable lesson I have learned in my journey to a healthier life is that nutrition trumps exercise. Somewhere through all the running, biking and Crossfit I ate more as I felt I had earned it. I found more reasons to have a cheat meal or day and ended up with an additional thirteen pounds back on over a year’s time. That was through training for a marathon and lifting some of my heaviest weights. Not what I had bargained for at all. Add to that, I was over 46 and the pounds haven’t been so easy to shed. What’s going on? Hormonal changes happened said the doctor… metabolism slows down, body doesn’t produce stuff like it use to and all of sudden weight becomes a major issue… more so for women than men. That stinks! Continue reading
I have always loved peanut butter. Growing up as a kid I lived off peanut butter and grape jelly along with mac-n-cheese. I wasn’t a picky eater. I ate everything, but if I had a choice these were the two things I would most likely pick. Later in life, I made the switch to almond butter trying to re-establish my way of eating to less processed foods with chemicals so I learned to let peanut butter go, somewhat (I still have my moments). I mostly use organic, raw, unsalted almond butter in all the things I cook or eat. BUT… I came across this one day shopping on-line for some specific things I eat that I can’t pick up at the local grocery store… Sprouted Pumpkin Seed Butter… organic, raw and stone ground so I ordered it. Why? because it says pumpkin on the jar and if it has anything to do with pumpkins I must have it! It had a cute elephant on the jar too ( I am a Alabama Football fan so that was another critical reason for trying this particular brand:). Continue reading
September is the month that starts making me gear up for the fall. By September I am ready for a change in weather and a change in food. Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year anyway. I love the weather and the foods of the season that come along with it… apples, pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash, turnips, collards and so many more. I am not much of a cook, but I like things that are quick to make and eat and I love soups and stews, making these so I can eat on them through the week. My life is busy so no time for making gourmet meals for me. Simple is what I like and few ingredients. No hassle kind of cooking. This morning brought our first cool temperatures in Georgia so I was ready as I had hit the grocery store for apples, pumpkin, butternut squash and a few side items to get foods for the weekend. Continue reading
I find that I regularly listen to or read other blogs, articles and even scientific journals to gain more information on how to continue to make improvements in my physical condition and in the process get the body I have often wanted. Overall I am in pretty good shape, fit, but I would really like to get to a point that I can transform my body once and for all and be satisfied. I am ready to be transformed and take it to the next level. Continue reading
This is how I started my day… run with a view. I headed back down to the trail at Camp Thunder, our local Boy Scout Facility, this morning. I posted several weeks back about running with the guys Cross Country Team and I had to go back…. the girls insisted that they run the mountain. So, I stood true to my word and met them in a little town just outside the mountain… Concord Georgia. I learned a few lessons this morning about hanging out with teenagers. You would think after three sons, five grand kids and thousands of high school students over the years I would already know these things:
At forty-six, it seems I am starting over and really trying to discover who I am, what things are really important to me and where do I go from here. It’s like being at a crossroads with no road map and wondering, “How do I get to where I am going and where exactly am I going at this point in my life?” Running is a place I come to and in this place I find the mental solitude to press on and move forward in the circumstances of life.
Growing up in a small town where there isn’t much of anything, but trouble, I floundered about finding trouble on more than one occasion. Life’s harsh and cruel lessons disciplining me not so mercifully. Continue reading
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