Author: Christina Bruni

Christina Bruni is the author of the new book Working Assets: A Career Guide for Peers. She contributed a chapter "Recovery is Within Reach" to Benessere Psicologico: Contemporary Thought on Italian American Mental Health.

My Sincere Hope

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My sincere hope is that followers of this blog have not taken up smoking. I say quit now as hard as it will be before it’s too late if you’re already lighting up.

In the May 2026 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Thrive column titled In the Know the editors relay “news and notes to boost your well-being.”

Per BHG: About 12 percent of US adults smoke regularly. The kicker is according to a new study in PLOS Medicine: “People who smoke as few as two cigarettes a day can increase the risk of heart failure by 57 percent and early death by 60 percent compared to those who don’t smoke at all.”

So even just paying a dollar for a “loosie” or two instead of a pack isn’t the way to go. I really care about this issue.

If a person did just one thing to be healthy and did nothing else I would say it would have to be not taking up smoking or quitting smoking.

A person who doesn’t quit smoking early will need to use an oxygen tank morning noon and night. Quitting at 35 years old is better than quitting at 65 years old.

Though quitting at 65 years old is better than not quitting at all. Even with the likelihood of getting lung cancer if you quit too late.

My sincere hope is that followers understand I speak from the experience of having loved ones who were chimney smokers their whole lives before the quit. Five of those persons wound up in comas at the end of their lives. They died hooked up to a respirator.

Giving people knowledge like I’m doing is one thing. Motivating them to actually do what you’re asking is another thing.

The hurdle can be cleared though. Monica, one of the persons whose success was chronicled in Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions quit smoking using the 90-day action plan.

As ever I recommend reading Changeology for replacing a negative habit with a positive one.

If hard cold facts won’t convince I will make the case that a healthy person won’t want to date you if you’re huffing and puffing just to walk down five blocks let along wander in a Botanical Garden with them this spring viewing the roses.

Sorry. The truth is what it is.

And I lived having to see a loved one crippled from smoking and getting a smoker’s cough. Addicted to cigarettes they were too fixated on lighting up to recognize the agony they were putting others in while we saw the smoker get ill.

Maybe. Just thinking of how our habits effect the ones we love will be enough to get us to change. I hope so.

In life we often must do things we’d rather not do in order to take care of ourselves. You and I could learn this lesson the hard way.

In the end having compassion is called for. In life all of us will take the hardest walk to get to where we want to be.

Square Fare

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If you live in Brooklyn Long Island City or Manhattan (and Jersey City Hoboken Westchester or Long Island) you can order weekly healthy meals delivered with Square Fare. My health coach sent me a list of 5 links to meal delivery services. I chose Square Fare the first link because it was the most right-on company name.

As an author, I think what you name each character in a book should be chosen carefully. I clicked on the Square Fare link exactly because the founder came up with the right name for her company. Screwy yet true and there was no need to compare with the other links.

On the Square Fare homepage you take a health quiz. Then the woman in charge of the company emails you a list of optimal meal choices. I had specified that I want to get protein, build muscle, and counter fatigue.

There’s tax and a $10 delivery fee. The trick is to know the right days to order the food on for the particular time slot you want the food to be delivered in. After I figured this out there were no screw-ups.

The food can be kept in the refrigerator for 4 days or stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Way better meals than using Chinese takeout or dining in a chain restaurant like Outback Steakhouse. And for those of us who don’t like to dine in restaurants all the time Square Fare is a tasty healthy option for lean cuisine right at home.

It cheers me that a woman founded Square Fare.

Everything is gluten-free too and the protein smoothies are sugar-free too.

The meals are not frozen when they arrive. You heat them for 10 minutes in the oven and then they’re ready to eat.

The cost of the service is well worth it if you live in Brooklyn Long Island City or Manhattan. Also Jersey City Hoboken and Westchester and Long Island.

Just the well-chosen name Square Fare gets it right to begin with.

The website is Square Fare

Chocolate Protein Shake

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1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 Tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen ripe banana

8-12 ice cubes

1 Tbsp. peanut butter powder.

Original recipe:

Add protein powder, cocoa powder, almond milk, banana and ice to a blender. Blend until smooth.

Pour into a glass and use a spoon to stir in peanut butter powder.

My recipe: I couldn’t find peanut butter powder so used a tablespoon of natural peanut butter to blend with other ingredients. Plus halved the amount of banana.

Fit After 50

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Denise Austin could be a hard act to follow for most of us as in the above magazine she’s listed as being 68 years old. No worries though as I think the special edition is well worth the read.

I bought the winter 2026 magazine above which features core exercises. In the well of the edition is proof that my blog was right all along. See this Pro Tip on the Foods to Avoid page:

“Denise is all about moderation–she tries to eat healthy 80% of the time and allows herself a treat 20% of the time.”

This is in keeping with what I’ve written in here about my 80 Percent Rule: To eat healthily 80 percent of the time.

I’ll try the chocolate protein shake recipe featured in the magazine. There’s also a recipe for parmesan crisps which is sure to be tasty too!

The recipe featured that I already used is the cinnamon-nut cottage cheese recipe. My health coach vetted that using a few banana slices for this is OK. Not a whole banana which apparently is high in sugar.

I’ll be posting some of these recipes coming up as they’re so basic that I think it will be OK to repost them.

The spring will be here soon and hopefully milder weather. The ideal time if you ask me to take up a new habit geared to our health and wellbeing.

The Personal Plate Principles

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The Personal Plate Principles are:

Give Yourself a Lifeline

Decades ago I coined the term of giving yourself a lifeline not a restrictive impossible deadline in which to achieve a goal. As we have our whole lives ahead of us.

Try on Different Approaches

Have multiple options to choose from. A friend called this “stacking the plates.” Pick from the alternatives and assess what works and what doesn’t. The key is to figure out the best approach when the system is normal, and all fouled up.

Be Flexible and Adaptable

Your needs will change as you go along in life. What works today might not be effective tomorrow. Keep an open mind. Resenting that you’re “forced to” change will keep you stuck. Try to think in terms of having free choice. You get to Choose Your Own Health Adventure.

Take the Long View

A slip-up here and there over two weeks two months or two years is not what will end your progress. Feeling like a failure and giving up will impede you. Getting back on track is what counts. So, think in terms of the long-term.

Appreciate the Life Lesson

See if my experience can motivate you to see things differently.

Before I had a freak arm accident and was resigned to PT sessions I had taken my fitness level for granted. Then a curious thing happened when I returned to lifting weights in my home gym.

See things differently I did in that I thought an exercise routine could be a spiritual practice. Not just an exhibit of physical prowess.

To that end I started wearing a Celtic cross necklace when I exercised. Before I lifted the first dumbbell I recited a prayer: “Bless my body. Give me the energy to go about my daily routine and the health to achieve my goals.”

Plating our lives with delicious and healthy meals this way can make all the difference in how we feel and think about ourselves. This kind of cooking really is soul care. Enjoy!

Feasting on the Personal Plate

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Italians eat well to live well. Or as we say: mangia bene vivere bene.

One day as I was editing and revising the second recovery guidebook that I aim to publish the idea of filling and getting sustenance from what I call The Personal Plate hit me in an instant.

In my life I’ve found that choosing from the four “Food Groups” each day helps me live life well. Every day would ideally contain a “serving” of these foods on each of our plates.

The Food Groups are the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual balanced on each day’s Personal Plate to choose from. The mental is the helping of thoughts that you serve yourself so that you can attend to the task for that given day. The emotional part of the plate is checking in with yourself through the day to contact how you’re feeling.

The physical portion is comprised of the food and fitness you get in while going about the hours from morning to evening. The spiritual is taking time for gratitude and reflection on what’s sacred for you, I say engage in a spiritual micro-habit every day.

The four food groups would optimally work in harmony with each other. On the days when it’s hard to achieve balance it’s okay for one portion to get attention over the other.

Plating our lives with delicious and healthy meals this way can make all the difference in how we feel and think about ourselves.

Cooking is soul care. As an Italian woman, I’ve taken up using recipes that I find in cookbooks, magazines, and online blogs.

I’ll end here with a recipe that my health coach recommended that I call a Protein Shake It Up!

12-oz almond milk

1 Tbsp almond butter

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Mix in blender until smooth and creamy.

The Triangle of Recovery

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A friend posted the article I’m publishing here below on his website circa two years ago. I’m reposting it on my blog as the kickoff of my new focus on mental health not solely our physical bodies:

Five years ago after interacting with a narcissist I was struck with insight one night. That’s when the words The Triangle of Recovery burst into my head. Right then the three sides of the Triangle hit me in thirty seconds:

Fostering healthy relationships as the gateway to recovery. Giving and receiving love compassion and forgiveness as modes of healing. Honoring and accepting each person’s individuality as their superpower for living well and whole.

As regards healthy relationships:

The undeniable effect of trauma on a person, like having a mother or father who is a narcissist, was what got me to promote healthy relationships as the new focus of my Advocate work.

We can’t change other people’s behavior. We can vow to treat ourselves and everyone else the way we want to be treated. Kinder and gentler is the way to go. This is on us to do regardless of how others act.

Interestingly, near the time of my Triangle epiphany I met a kind and caring person. This reinforced that being in a healthy relationship can be curative for the individuals coming together.

As regards love compassion and forgiveness:

Without these healing modes illness worsens. Giving and receiving love compassion and forgiveness is required for us to heal from illness trauma or injustice. Oppression thrives in a loveless world.

Forgiveness exists on a continuum: It can come and go. It’s possible to have anger at what a person has done to us even though we’ve forgiven them.

Confronting them with how you feel isn’t always viable. Writing the person an unsent letter reading it aloud then ripping it up and throwing it away could help you come to terms with what happened.

As regards individuality being a superpower:

Often expressing our individuality is what other people like narcissists don’t like. What causes illness is being cut off from our true selves out in a society where we’re judged and criticized for being different. Living in a buttoned-up family can shred our self-worth when we think dress and love differently from an early age.

Illness sets in when we’re denied the right to express ourselves freely and without fear. The famous quote is: “Genetics is the gun. Environment pulls the trigger.”

Healing is possible when we commit to expressing our feelings. The act of showing up as ourselves I call “self-presentation.” Hiding who we are can cause emotional distress. The only thing hanging out in a closet should be a fabulous frock not our identity.

This is why our individuality is our superpower: Our gifts traits and strengths help us recover. Part of why I speak out is to fight stigma with velvet boxing gloves.

Using the Triangle of Recovery on our journey of healing can allow us to have a happier and healthier life. What if God or the Universe or a Higher Power is saving the best for last for us.

I hope that talking about the Triangle of Recovery sparks ideas for you about how to heal and recover.

New Focus of Blog

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As ever I will talk about physical fitness in the blog. However going forward in this winter season I’m focusing on mental health more so. For a couple of years now I’ve been thinking about the truth: a person who is not in peak health in terms of illness can have a full and robust life.

Acting as a caregiver for an old person I’ve seen firsthand what it’s like for an individual NOT to roll over and passively give up faced with physical limitations.

It’s our mental state that impacts physical disease. Emotional wellbeing really needs to be talked about in what I’ve called in Our One Big Messed Up World.

Our world is beautiful too not just messed up. What’s dis-ordered is what I read in an email newsletter: the use of conversion therapy on individuals who are not heterosexual.

Controlling and trying to repress a person’s identity causes real harm like emotional and mental distress.

Thinking of all this I was keen to take up the cause of mental health. As the stigma of being “different” hasn’t gone away it appears.

For awhile now I haven’t wanted to glorify physical bodies that are in elite shape. So, I will be taking a hard pass on writing anything that insinuates that being in ideal health is the goal.

Becoming and being whole and well while living with illness or any kind of ill-ness is possible. I will focus on this: finding wellness for ourselves while living with whatever challenges we face.

Coming up: recipes that are simple and easy and healthy and tasty to use.

Weight a Minute

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The winter issue of Women’s Health magazine features an article with information about how to approach getting the right healthcare.

Fact No. 4 of the article talks about the weight stigma that often prevents women from seeking medical help.

We’re all used to getting on the doctor’s scale pre-visit. Per the WH editors you can tell your doctor to not have the assistant weigh you at all. Or at least weigh you after the exam.

No grown girl should weigh 97 pounds in only a hospital gown when she’s going for a procedure. And even though I weighed 102 pounds recently I don’t think any adult women should weigh less than 110 pounds unless they weigh that much naturally.

And if you’re thin but flabby—what one M.D. calls TOFI (Thin Outside Fat Inside) that’s another thing entirely. Either way the obsession with the number on the scale is terrible. Who wants to be humiliated when an M.D. is fixated on that number too?

Weight sensitivity training and a HAES—Healthy at Every Size approach—should begin in medical school coursework.

Do you know what it’s like to be told you’re too thin? I have. And though I don’t weigh 200 pounds I don’t like people commenting on my weight either. Other women not men are the ones who do this.

I say: tone down the talk about weight. Use reflexive statements as in: “I weigh 155 pounds, and that’s OK.” Instead of referring to how much someone else weighs or used to weigh.

We don’t know their story. The issue I take with the WH Fact No. 4 is that they talk about what if you consider yourself a “normal weight.” I detest that they used the word normal. Even if it was in quotation marks.

The perpetual hang-up people have with being normal must end. Today I don’t weigh 102 pounds anymore and I think this is far better. I’m going to have the Caramel Apple Pie Sizzle dessert at Applebee’s when friends gather for lunch.

What heated me up–and I care even though others think I’m thin–is the Netflix series Virgin River. I watched a couple episodes then quit tuning in. The love interest characters were extremely thin. Maybe like I referred to above they were naturally a lower weight. Okay–fine.

Why can’t we see 200-pound love interests on Netflix?–or anywhere else for that matter. People who love each other love each other. And that’s a beautiful thing in our One Big Messed Up World where people tend to hate and judge in evergreen expressions of belief about the worth of you and me.

Let’s throw the critical caustic comments in the garbage can. Those of us on the receiving end of body-weight barbs shouldn’t have to develop the thick skin needed to let those digs roll off our backs. The haters should not be flaming us to begin with.

“You’d be so pretty if you lost the weight” is not a compliment. It’s like a microaggression. Everyone is pretty darn beautiful even if our pounds are the source of other people’s pain. Why do they care?

This is their problem not ours. So fire away–order the Caramel Apple Pie Sizzle and have fun with friends.