Category: nutrition

Changeology Step 3 Perspire Update

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It’s been 8 weeks since I hired the health coach.

In the 8 weeks or 56 days I’ve scrambled eggs and veggies for breakfast.

For only 4 days I had to buy an egg wrap at a coffee shop.

So I’ve completed Step 3 Perspire of the Changeology 5-Step method for realizing goals and resolutions.

Step 4 is Persevere and Step 5 is Persist.

I’ve recommended the Changeology book often because it’s a scientifically proven method for achieving goals and resolutions.

Step 3 Perspire takes 30 to 60 days to execute. The 5-Step method is a 90-day action plan.

So I have completed the action plan.

My story is living proof that the Changeology book is effective.

Greenmarket season has arrived in New York City.

In coming Fitness Friday blog entries I will be giving recipes.

Plus talking about healthful snacks you can take on the go.

There are better options than the standard high sugar natural flavor-laden protein bars.

I’ll talk about these portable options next.

Getting Support for Your Goals

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The one small act of scrambling eggs and veggies for breakfast has whirled into action other goals in a snowball roll.

The health coach services end in two weeks. This 2-month health coach service was well worth the money.

This is why I tell readers to get the support you need to plan and prepare for the new goals you want to take on.

One of my ideas is to go back to school for a writing degree.

It can be scary to make changes even though the changes might be positive.

That’s why I say: create a support team of individuals you can talk with.

Lastly: to remember that with health you have everything you need.

What I write I would like to educate, empower, and entertain readers.

To give followers the idea that it’s not as hard as you think to make changes.

I’ve been scrambling culinary sunshine for 6 weeks so far.

I say Go for It: risk change.

You don’t know until you try what’s possible.

Egged On

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Succeeding at one fitness goal empowers you to make other changes.

I’ve been scrambling eggs for breakfast for 4 week in a row so far.

For two days this week wasn’t possible.

Remembering that setbacks are to be expected you can cut yourself a break when you fall down every so often in doing what you’re trying to do.

I egged myself on (pun intended) to embark on setting another goal.

I find that trying to achieving one goal at a time is the method for not giving up.

Having too many goals  you expect to get at the same time will backfire.

My goal is to use the Changeology book to execute the 90-day plan of having eggs for breakfast and salads for lunch.

I’ll end here by telling readers that the Changeology book website is flawed. I’d like to use their contact form to tell them to post a list of FAQs with answers for every reader.

In fact the team at the website will not respond to you individually even though they say they will.

I’ve had a number of questions: is it okay if it takes longer than 90 days to achieve your goal? If it takes longer does this mean your goal won’t stick for the long-term?

What if you want to change an aspect of your original goal so that it’s easier to achieve it?

These questions have not been answered.

In the next Fitness Fridays blog entry I will talk more about getting support–from an actual expert like a health coach, and from friends and family,  and peers and others.

It might cost a bundle to hire a health coach yet doing this can be a great use of any extra money you have.

Your health coach can empower to make these changes.

I found out that the simple act of changing what I ate for breakfast activated my desire to make other changes.

It starts by reaching out for support. And this doesn’t have to cost a dime all the time.

Checking a book out of the library on the topic or talking with a person who’s been down this road before: it’s all good–and it’s free.

Eggs for Breakfast

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In the May issue of Elle magazine Dua Lipa was interviewed.

She’s the Albanian singer-songwriter who won a Grammy award for Best New Artist.

Dua is Albanian for love. The music star revealed she eats eggs as snacks all the time. She cooked and fed her interviewer eggs.

My health coach vetted that having 2 eggs ( or 3 if you’re hungrier) for breakfast is okay.

So far I’ve scrambled eggs and veggies for 3 weeks.

That’s 21 days of the 90-day action plan in Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.

Reading the Dua Lipa interview was so uplifting and inspiring.

The singer-songwriter seems real. Grounded. Like she’s grateful for her good fortune.

Just to know that there’s a famous singer-songwriter having eggs everyday can show us that Snap and Crackle Have Popped and outlived their usefulness.

I say: step away from the cereal box aisle. Your body will thank you.

 

 

Blueberry Shake Recipe

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My health coach gave me this blueberry shake recipe:

1 scoop of Pea Protein**

1 handful frozen blueberries (can be organic frozen ones)

1 handful frozen spinach  (can buy pre-washed and put in reusable zipper bag in the freezer to have on hand)***

1 cup water

1 Tbs almond butter

a pinch of cinnamon

1/2 banana (optional)

Blend in a blender.

** I use Truvani–it has only five ingredients no stevia and no natural flavors

*** Scroll below totes for reusable zipper bags sold on Container Store website

Hiring a Health Coach

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A Health Coach has to get certified. Duke University has a program.

Some nutritionists like Stefanie Sacks charge close to a thousand dollars for their services.

My health coach cost $395 for one one-hour intake plus two follow-up sessions.

You talk via telephone.

It’s been close to two weeks since I changed my breakfast food.

Scrambling culinary sunshine in the form of 2 or 3 eggs with colorful diced pepper and sliced mushroom (all organic, by the way) has brightened my mood.

Seeing the fiesta of color on my plate in the morning cheers me.

I say: nix having white food and beige food. It has little nutritional value. And it can depress you looking at it.

The change was immediate as soon as I started having eggs and veggies for breakfast.

It takes longer to cook, eat, and clean up. I’m going to cut up the peppers on Sunday night and store them with the mushrooms in a tiffin.

You can buy a 3-tray tiffin on Amazon. If I remember it cost about $35 to buy two of the tiffins. I’m going to buy another one soon to use.

The health coach vetted that it’s okay to have 2 eggs every day for breakfast. 3 if you’re hungrier.

This sure beats boxed cereal. It beats having the granola.

Next Friday I’ll share the shake recipe the health coach gave me.

 

Fitness Fridays

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I’ve decided to plan and schedule my blog entries here.

Fitness Fridays will be the theme of the nutrition blog topics.

I’ll post on Fridays blog entries about fitness and nutrition.

The fact is:

Infirmity is not inevitable in old age.

Lifestyle habits are a significant factor in whether you remain healthy or progressively decline into ill health.

A while back in the blog I wrote about the book How to Be Well. After going on the book author’s website, I submitted a form to talk with a health coach.

For a customary fee you can get individual advice. An action plan is created for you to follow. Two weeks later there’s a follow-up talk to see how it’s going.

The fee is actually cheaper than other nutritionists charge. A 6-session package costs more. I opted for the 3-session package.

Folks: carbohydrates are my enemy. After talking with the health coach, I threw out all the grains and granola packages in my kitchen.

My plan involves scrambling eggs with veggies to have with avocado for breakfast. It’s entirely possible that having granola for breakfast had been one of the culprits in my mid-life fatigue.

You can go on the Dr. Frank Lipman (the author)’s website to research the options for talking with a health coach.

I have no guilt in having gotten rid of the grains. Bye-bye.

In one week, I will report back on how it’s been going.

The Wheel of Wellness

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Years ago I was the board member of a non-profit. I was given a handout on The Wheel of Wellness.

Always I will focus in here on fitness and nutrition and careers and other things linked to having a full and robust life.

For the coming weeks I want to shift gears and talk about the Wheel of Wellness and my own Wheel of Fitness.

The Wheel of Wellness is comprised of occupational, social, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, spiritual, and intellectual slices going around.

The goal is for everyone to have optimal health, happiness, and recovery. What I call having a full and robust life doing what you love.

Each aspect of wellness acts in harmony with each other. I call this devotion to healing from illness living life Left of the Dial after the title of my memoir.

The VU meter of a disc jockey’s mixing board measures the intensity of the sound of a record. When the needle veers into the red on the right there’s an imbalance. Adjusting the meter so the needle is on the left balances out the intensity of the sound.

That’s the roundabout way to talk about Living in Health Happiness Harmony, what I’ve used as the subtitle of my Left of the Dial blog.

I will list the key factors of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness in the coming blog entry.

Going forward I will circle around the Wheel of Wellness starting with the Occupational.

In the future I will return to topics like nutrition and fitness more strictly. For today I feel I’ve detailed these topics as best I can right now.

Carrot Soup Recipe

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carrot soup

This is a photo of the carrot soup I made from scratch using a food52 recipe.

The recipe is rather long so I’ll give a link to it at the bottom of this blog entry.

The egg muffins I believe I posted the recipe for in my Recipes category in the cloud.

Here it is again:

Beat three eggs fluffy.

Add mix-ins: sliced mushrooms, diced red pepper, diced onions, cut tiny broccoli florets, or whatever you’d like.

Pour egg mixture into muffin tin baking pan. You’ll get about 2 to 3 egg muffins.

Heat at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or possibly only 10 minutes depending on your oven.

Voila: a breakfast food on its own or part of a hearty winter lunch or dinner with the addition of a soup

The carrot soup took me 35 minutes total to create.

Here’s the carrot soup recipe.

 

 

 

Changeology: Perspire Step: Update

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My New Year’s resolution I’ve recorded in here a few blog entries ago.

I’m using the 5-step Changeology method for achieving goals and resolutions.

So far I’ve advanced to Step 3: Perspsire.

This is where you’re engaged in the new healthy behavior that replaces the old habit.

How have I fared in executing the sub-goals?

For 3 out of the 4 weeks I lifted weights at the gym 2x/per week. One week I exercised at the gym only once that week.

The goal I had of bringing salad food and fruit to my job to eat healthier has been achieved every week so far.

I’ve eaten salads 3x/per week like I had expected to. My goal is to have fruit for a snack in the afternoon going forward to complement the goal of eating salads.

I can make no excuse for not having gone to the gym 2x/every single week.

I offer only this explanation: my mother is old and needs my help at times. Faced with this reality I will have to help her out when I’m able to.

Months ago in this blog I gave Tips for Caregivers.

Then I talked about how no one at any mental health organization is addressing the reality that adult children are becoming caregivers for our parents.

You’re supposed to deal with managing your own life at the same time you’re caring for an elderly parent who might be in ill health.

Nobody cares about this because they’re advocating for young adults and parroting baseless anti-stigma rhetoric.

Instead of actually taking action on equally pressing concerns: the needs of older Americans living in recovery who are becoming caregivers.

There. That’s it straight up. I’ve spoken this truth. When there’s no one else to act as a caregiver it falls on you to do double duty.

Alas my goal of using the treadmill 1x/per week hasn’t happened either.

I would like to start executing this sub-goal next week.

In the coming blog entries I’ll talk more about the Changeology method.

The point is that by executing the 5 steps in the order you’re supposed to do them you have a better chance of achieving your goals and resolutions.

Step 3 of Perspire lasts 30 to 60 days.

Like I said slow and steady wins the race.

In the next blog entry I’ll detail 3 Tactics for Achieving Resolutions that I think can make the difference between success and failure.