Starting the year off with a cleanse

Yep. Seems drastic, I know. But I've done cleanses before - and really loved how they make me feel. They tend to break my bad habit cycle and allow me to make some changes. I've decided that this time I'm going to try a raw food cleanse. I've done a bit of research - planning on starting the cleanse on Saturday - which means that I need to start prepping immediately, cutting down on my caffeine, sweets, and fatty foods and meat. I'll eat lightly over the next two days - eating bland foods to prepare me.

The cleanse will begin with a 24 hr fast starting after dinner Friday night. I will hopefully do the cleanse for 7-10 days, eating raw, whole fruits and vegetables. I'll post my findings over the next few days, and my luck either good or bad!

2014, another year to improve!

What would a blog changing one's life be without a new year's post?

I am of course thinking of my "resolutions", though I prefer not to call them that. I prefer to think of the beginning of  a new year as just that - a beginning, a NEW beginning. A chance to start fresh!

And for my health - that is simple. Because I'm so bad at putting myself first, and I do not take care of myself like I should.

I want to focus on:

• drinking water LOTS of water
• getting zumba back into my life
• cooking more grains and veggies for my family
• creating family time around physical activities like hiking, biking, etc. 

I want to focus this year on making choices that feed my body, just like I feed my soul, treating it like the gift it is from God.

Here's to living a good life in 2014!

Making choices~

Today's cooking included the challenge of using up some of the produce I'd amassed over the last week - either from my garden, the farmer's markets, or as gifts. For both meals, I was able to make enough of the meal a substantial vegetable dish, that I could do a vegetarian day for me, with added protein for the boys.

Lunch was fried up bluegill (thanks to my son's fishing yesterday), with a vegetable parmesan on the side using my eggplant and zucchini in tomato sauce, and pear crumble for dessert. Dinner was crock pot pork chops with roasted cabbage and potatoes.

I loved that I had a variety of vegetables to work with, and was able to create yummy dishes without recipes that the entire family enjoyed. The kicker was being able to fill up on veggies instead of meat. Makes for a happy woman.

Summer eating

Summer makes it SO easy to eat well. At least for those of us who enjoy fruits and veggies. :)  Each week, I hit at least one farmer's market, and I also have an extensive garden of my own. I find it so easy to get a huge variety of produce into each day's diet. My hope is to keep up the variety in order to ensure whole health.

This morning I had frozen strawberries and grapes for breakfast. Lunch will be minestrone LOADED with veggies (summer squash, zucchini, peas, beans) and a cucumber radish salad. Dinner will be a stir fry of zucchini, summer squash, red and green peppers, onions, garlic, and tofu.

I am also in the heart of harvesting - and preserving - our garden for the winter. This week I'll can grape juice (hoping for 7 qts) and salsa, and I'm drying plums as I type.

Hoping you all take advantage of the opportunity at this time of year to eat well. The vitamins, minerals, and fiber you'll get from all this amazing produce cannot be beat. Especially in this part of the country, upper Midwest, where our growing season is really only 3 months. Take advantage of it!

Worrying about sliding back...

Now that summer zumba has ended, it's gotten way too easy to put off formal exercise. I'm busy with canning, making jam, etc., and I've completely put exercise on the back shelf. And I am so angry with myself. But it's only been a week, and it's not too late to start - to get into a new routine - so I don't go soft.

I have great muscle tone starting from zumba, and I cannot let that go. I will keep myself in focus. I have made too many good changes - CANNOT let it go to waste!

The "best summer ever"

I tossed around many names for this post.

The girls of zumba

Zumba summer

etc.

But the bottom line is, this was the best summer ever. For me. For my health. It's the first time in YEARS (as in 20+ years) that I've really made myself a priority. I gave myself only the money to pay for the zumba classes, but the time to attend them.

I made it to 22 out of 27 summer zumba classes. And I loved every one of them. My joints are better, I've lost weight, and my cardio ability is so much better. I am stronger, leaner, and healthier. And so happy about it.

And so sad it's over.

I've loved my summer zumba sessions. We are a crazy group of ladies - not your typical zumba group I'm sure. A mix of mothers, and daughters, friends, and co-workers. In age, we range from 16-60+. From young, healthy girls to overweight women like myself trying to get healthy.

I've found my groove again. I have always loved dancing, and zumba gave me that back. I'm going to miss it terribly. But hopefully I'll use my moves as I clean house, garden, etc. Won't quite be the class, but it will be fun.

TWO HOURS OF EXERCISE?

Oh, how my life has changed.

Today I had a busy day - and on one of my walks downtown, I started to add up all the minutes of exercise, and I'm already at TWO HOURS for today, and taking a night walk with my bestie after dinner tonight!

Started the day with zumba - which means walking to and from it, as well as 45 minutes of intense cardio zumba. Then I walked to and from downtown twice, working at the store - an entire hour.

CRAZINESS

There was a time when I wouldn't afford myself two hours (and more later) of exercise "me" time in a day. Too much to do! Too many others to take care of.

Wow, am I glad I changed THAT thinking!

So I'll be over 2 1/2 hours of exercise by the end of the night. That, my friends is a good day. And the lesson to be learned - that fitting in 15 minutes here, 45 minutes there, a half hour there, it all adds up. And it's ALL good for you.

Here's to being active!