The cashews, coconut chips, and chocolate chips are sold on FreshDirect.
The mini chips list cane sugar as the first ingredient so should be eaten in moderation.
Otherwise once or twice a week it could be okay to make this trail mix to take on the go.
I’ll post a carnival of portable snacks blog entries today. The next one is a far better option than a candy bar.
The Tavva stainless steel containers are sold on Amazon.
Minus the mini chips cashews and coconut chips are fine on their own.
The NY Common Pantry sent me a tax receipt letter for $270 in donations to this nonprofit in 2020.
The meals I bought for people in need I hadn’t realized would total over $200 in 7 months.
I did this via “buying” two $5 donations when I ordered groceries via FreshDirect each week. One $5 donation provides 4 pantry meals for a person in need.
Beto O’Rourke in the article I link to at the end of this blog entry wrote with two other authors that expanding and fortifying the food stamps / SNAP benefits program is cost-effective.
Whereas forcing people to use food pantries is wasteful.
O’Rourke and the two other authors’ rationale for the beauty of the SNAP program makes perfect sense to me.
For now I’m OK with donating money for meals to NY Common Pantry.
It’s because in our right-wing political climate nothing has been “right” in terms of fostering social justice.
50 million Americans are estimated to live with food insecurity.
Since Mr. Toupee (my nickname for the former president) and his ilk were keen only to tamp down on programs that benefit citizens in economic need I think my funding of the food bank is an OK stopgap measure for now.
I had no idea that my weekly donations would add up so high so quickly.
In the time of the pandemic I’ve had a refrigerator bursting with food.
I’m able-bodied and strong enough to have carried home from a market 50-pound bags of groceries when I couldn’t get an online food delivery.
Now that LL Cool Joe (my nickname for Joe Biden) takes office I pray that real lasting effective change comes to our country.
No American should go hungry. No American should live in poverty.
The article about the rationale of expanding the SNAP benefits is here:
Happy Season. Happy New Cheer in the coming year.
In the week ahead I’m going to write blog entries about portable healthful snacks you can take with you.
I’ll refer to where you can buy the containers to use.
Hint: refrain from using plastic containers. Glass and food-grade stainless steel are better options. For the planet and for your health.
I’m excited that 2021 arrives soon. With it the opportunity to chart a new course.
Keep wearing your face covering when you go outside your house or apartment. Even when walking down the hall to the compactor chute.
The coronavirus is out to infect as many people as possible.
Should you feel unwell and not know if it’s a cold or something else: get tested for COVID-19 to rule out that you’ve been infected.
Stay 6 feet away from others even with your mask on.
In time when the spring returns we will be closer to the time when life returns to normal.
It will take time to get there. This has been an extraordinary year. Not in a good way.
We need to do more than pray for change. We must act to make the changes.
As Michael Jackson sang in “Man in the Mirror”:
To change the world you first have to change yourself.
This is something I’m committed to doing.
“Peace on Earth” rings hollow to me as a holiday sentiment.
In my own life I seek to bring peace and harmony in my interactions with others.
To serve the greater good.
Now more than ever living solely for self-gain is not the right way to live.
Let’s celebrate each other and our individuality as the clock ticks towards 12:00 on January 1, 2021.
A better day is coming for us all. I firmly believe this.
Dumbbell front squat (Holding DB at chest level; feet shoulder width; back straight; chest up) 3 sets x 12 reps x 15 lbs
Dumbbell Romanian deadlift (hamstrings) ( Slight bend in knee; hips back; back straight) 3 sets x 12 reps x 2 DB 8-10 lbs
Supported modified donkey kick (kick one side at a time; 1 second pause; squeeze glutes) 3 sets x 15 reps
Curtsy lunges (Lunge back slightly off behind working leg) 10 lunges each side x 5-8 lbs
Calf raises 3 sets x 15 reps x 5-8 lbs
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Mountain climbers (20-30 secs)
+
Standard ab V-ups (3 sets x 15 reps)
Side-to-side jumps (30 jumps)
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Alternating leg tucks (3 x 15)
My trainer at the gym wrote a new routine for me to do. This is auspicious because New York City might shut down again. The number of coronavirus infections is rising here.
You can click on my Home Gym category link to bring up the prior workout routines. There I also have blog entries that talk about how to do the routines.
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Push-ups (One set standard push-up; sets 2 & 3 modified on knees) (As many as possible)
Kettlebell underhand row (3 sets x 12-15 reps; 15 lbs)
Dumbbell curl (Standing up against door; keep elbows back) 3 sets x 12-15 reps x 10 lbs
dumbbell tricep kickbacks (Holding on to coffee table; keep elbows up; extend forearms back) 3 sets x 12 reps x 5-8 lbs
Kettlebell upright row (raise elbows above shoulders) 3 sets x 15 reps x 10-15 lbs
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Jumping jacks (30)
+
Bicycles abs (16-20)
Medicine ball slams straight (20 throws)
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Alternating leg raises (16-20)
In the last blog entry I referred to logotherapy a modality that focuses on healing through meaning.
In any internet search you’ll hit on the quote: “You’re possessed with a power bigger than the pain.”
In my life I fix 36 as the magic number. It’s the year I decided to become a mental health activist.
My goal was to turn my pain into a thing of beauty for other people. To spread the gospel that people could recover.
Healing through meaning sums up how exactly a person can recover.
Everyone deserves to live a life of meaning and purpose no matter how great their challenge is or whether their illness is chronic or not.
Amidst the struggle finding meaning in what’s going on might be hard.
Decades later I know I’m a better person today for having gone through what I did when I was younger.
How to find meaning and purpose in your life:
It comes down to engaging in rituals often termed self-care that make you feel good.
In being who you are not who others want you to be.
In looking in the mirror and shouting: “Hello, Beautiful!”
Who knows why you and I have to bear whatever burden we’re going through.
The holiday season is here. A time when a lot of us feel sad not cheerful.
What’s powering me through this time is going easier on myself. I changed the dining table decor to the winter tablescape.
In December out comes the holiday dinnerware I bought in Crate and Barrel. Hot cocoa is my go-to drink.
I’ve begun wearing eyeshadow every day. Applying moisturizer at night as well as in the morning.
Little things like these are what I call taking “bite-size chunks.”
Now is not the time to bite off more than you can chew. Not when you’re going through a hard time.
Healing through finding things that give your life meaning and purpose can make all the difference.
As hard as it can be to find the time to take care of yourself I say:
Just Do It. Set the table with the holiday dinnerware. Cook a meal for yourself on the days that you’re able.
Do what gives you joy. Always.
Whether you are experiencing a form of trauma or an ordinary struggle you can feel overwhelmed.
It can feel like you have no control over what’s happening. Only you have control over how you respond.
Getting help is the first order of the day. A true-blue friend I can always count on to give me the right advice.
Differentiating what things are your responsibility and what aren’t yours to take on is imperative.
One: just to be kind and gentle toward yourself will go a long way in helping you feel better when you’re going through a setback.
Two: it could help to break things into what I call “bite-size chunks.”
Three: That is to do only what you need to do in any given moment.
Making it as convenient as possible to have a healthy routine is the key difference in helping me feel like I’m in control.
From FreshDirect online I buy single-serving packages of Gaea olives for a snack.
Instead of having cereal for dinner when I can’t cook I heat up a can of Amy’s Organic soup like Lentil or Chunky Tomato Bisque or Split Pea.
On nights when I have no energy at all to cook I order from a restaurant that has salad and vegetables and seafood on the menu along with organic chicken.
As hard as it can be to see a way out of what’s going on this is precisely when I think that setting a realistic goal or two can help.
Key word in that sentence: realistic.
In coming blog entries I’ll talk about setting goals again.
Having a goal to set your sights on can make the struggle bearable.
As Viktor Frankel wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning:
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Frankel was the founder of logotherapy that focuses on healing through meaning.
He was a holocaust survivor.
Whatever you’re going through I’m confident that each of us can persevere and get to the other side victorious.
It’s not going to take a couple of days or weeks. It might take longer. It might take a year or longer.
Yet remembering that you have something to look forward to can keep you going.
In a coming blog entry I’d like to touch on the concept of healing through meaning as well.
I’m going to write about making changes after a setback like the COVID-19 outbreak or any other struggle.
Often we experience a setback that causes us to change our behavior or our routine.
I’ve started today to do things differently. On short notice I might have to act as the caregiver for my mother.
It’s the classic dilemma: How to care for yourself as well as you care for others?
I’d like to talk in future blog entries about how to overcome setbacks.
In the coming blog entry I’m going to talk about how to feel like you’re in control when things are collapsing in front of your eyes.
The COVID-19 outbreak is no joke. It has tested everyone’s ability to be resilient.
So what I’m writing I hope can help others as we move into 2021.
November is Native American Heritage Month.
We should remember the Indigenous forefathers of our country.
They risked their lives to continue to live here. Thousands were killed in the worst genocide in American history along the Trail of Tears.
We should honor their peaceable worship of nature and the natural world and the Spirit.
It’s why I prefer to celebrate the Giving Thanks part of Thanksgiving.
Not the shop-till-you-drop Black Friday frenzy.
I recommend keeping a grateful journal and writing in it 5 things you’re grateful for as often as possible.
I’m grateful my family is here to celebrate with me.
A Happy Season to You!
The year ends soon.
The advent of January brings out the focus on New Year’s resolutions.
You can click on my goal-setting Category to read blog entries about the Changeology book 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.
I’ve used this 90-day action plan to set and carry out numerous goals in the last 3 years.
I would like to talk about goals and resolutions in this blog again.
How sometimes you reach a point where you shout: “Enough!” or basta as Italians would say.
What I know with confidence:
A change that happens out of the blue is not always sudden or quick. Your discontent with an aspect of your life was most likely percolating in your mind.
This subconscious brewing leads to the day when the water in the coffeepot whistles because it’s reached boiling.
This is how you’ve come to do something different after months–or even years– stuck in an old familiar behavior.
The day comes where you shout: “Enough!”
The point is that any serendipitous change should not be discounted or questioned. In fact I’m not so quick to abandon one change I’ve decided to make.
Waking up one day and deciding: “Today is the day” is the beauty of self-change. It can happen at any time in a person’s life.
Having lived through the pandemic for 9 months it’s possible that you and I are giving birth now to an idea a plan a Self that has been growing inside of us.
Should you find yourself suddenly faced with the desire to make a change or two I say: go with this and go for it.
The time is now. And for goal-setting I will once again recommend Changeology: 5 Steps for Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.
2021 can only be better. I firmly believe this. Cheers.
Full and Robust Life Hacks 