Just Makes Sense

I’ve been listening to Susan Powter online since she recently started her new radio in Taos, New Mexico. What a dynamic, fascinating person...she continues to transform. (One thing hasn't changed, though...she’s still - thank goodness - radical.) Now, instead of selling her workout programs and famous, philosophical books, she’s making art and giving fitness away. For real. If you order something gorgeous from her Etsy site, she will send you DVDs as well.

What a novel concept. She is giving away valuable information. Instead of selling it, she is sharing it. Wow. That is how much she believes in her message.

She’s over the top, yes. Fired up? Yes. Intense? Yes. But if you listen to her and hear what she has to say, whatever level of it you wish to accept or apply to your own life, it’s kind of amazing.

A few things that have really resonated with me and I cannot ignore. The most significant?
There isn’t an obesity gene. We’re spending millions of dollars as a country looking for the obesity gene and trying to explain why people are getting fatter and fatter. But in most cases, it’s not genetic. It’s all about what we’re putting into our bodies. We need, instead, to buy whole, quality food – less processed, fewer chemicals – and start moving around more. That simple.

You know how John and Yoko said, “War is over – if you want it”? Well…same, simple concept: “You don’t have to be unhealthy – if you’ll quit poisoning your body.” DUH, people! How could we be so naive?!

And other things have occurred to me – OF COURSE the exercise people and the heart people and the disease people are all telling us outrageous things like, you have to have an hour or more of intense cardio and strength training every single day in order to maintain. To maintain your current weight. Not to lose weight. If you wanna do that, you have to do MORE. I don't know about you, but I'm not even a Mom and I don't know how I'd find an hour or more every day to exercise.

Oh, but I believe that statement is true…with a caveat: IF you are going to eat the typical, American, processed-food diet. Yes. If you are going to eat fast food, packaged food, additives and synthetically forced produce, your body is probably going to require a lot of intense work to process and digest it.

Susan gently points out certain spokespeople for diet programs who fail, not as a criticism, but as a wake up call to stop wasting money on "programs" that are temporary and change our lifestyles instead. When I think about it, it’s not that Kirstie Alley is a failure. It’s that she stopped the program she was on. I fully believe that the Jennifer Hudsons, Valerie Bertinellis and Marie Osmonds of the world who got thin on a food program are still thin because they are still on the payroll and still eating the prescribed food. I have a beautiful friend here at work who is at a fine, healthy weight and fitness level, but periodically goes back on her diet program, and pays a financial penalty for being "over her goal weight"…financially penalized and goes back to saying things like, “I did bad this week,” if she hits a plateau. (She is not "doing bad." She is not bad. We really have to stop beating ourselves up.)

Of course each time these folks stop eating this prescribed, pre-packaged food, they gain weight. They gain because they’re continuing to eat the typical, American, processed-food diet, without watching their portions and you can’t eat very much of that kind of food without getting bigger. Those programs are still a modified version of the very lifestyle from which we should apparently go running away from into the darkness, screaming in horror while escaping.

My friend J has been teaching her adorable children about label reading for some time. They know the more ingredients in something, the worse it is for you. What an incredibly important lesson to teach a child. You should see them counting the number of items on their food packages when we have lunch together…they’re so far ahead of the curve already. J has taken the time to research ingredients (now that is parenting) and found that some of the things in our food are also poisonous or have completely non-nutritive purposes and we both wonder why, oh why, is that ingredient in there? Huh.

Last night, I made calzones, mostly from scratch. I used unbleached, organic flour, yeast, a bit of organic sugar and salt for the thin, simple crust. I cheated and used a little high-quality jarred sauce (no artificial stuff! I didn’t have any of our homemade sauce on hand), and sautéed some portabellas in a touch of olive oil and balsamic. I hand-grated just a little imported Parmesan and sliced six, small medallions of fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind without preservatives, in whey). Guess what? It’s insane but when you use fresh cheese, you don’t need as much. Of course not…fresh has flavor! I folded the calzones over, crimped the edges with a fork and baked them until they were golden brown.

I made a huge salad with organic lettuce, peppers, cucumbers and carrots. (I also added green olives, but they weren’t organic.) And while the produce wasn’t bulging with the size and color of the non-organic produce, I noticed that when I cut the pepper open, it smelled like a pepper. When I peeled the cucumber and had a bite of it, it tasted like Spring.

I have been feeding Steinvic and I the genetically modified, chemical crap for too long. (I'm sorry, Steinvic.)

Despite the length of this post, I’m not a fanatic. Really. But the light switch has come on and I don’t think I can go back. This simple message makes sense and has reached my chemically burdened brain: Any place I reasonably can, I’m upgrading our food.

The funniest thing? When we finished our meal, we were satisfied, but we didn’t feel “stuffed” or bloated. I think when your body doesn’t have to wade through all the chemicals to begin using the food you give it, it’s satisfied faster and you eat less. Just a thought…

Because the Elephant Made Her Smile

Unexpectedly, you might see something, somewhere that gets your attention.

This something makes you say, "Oooh...I have no reason to have this thing, but I like this thing and it makes me feel happy looking at it."

It has no true practical purpose, but it makes you smile. And that...that can be more valuable than anything practical, can't it?

A colleague saw a stuffed elephant on an antique show and said it made her think of me and some of the felt creatures I sometimes make. She found a similar one online (scroll down to "Little Elephant") to what she'd seen on the program and sent me the link, saying she grinned everytime she thought of it.

So of course, I had to make my own version. In this photo, the maroon one is tuskless, but I added tusks last night and now it is sitting at her desk with my co-worker. The grey one belongs to Steinvic, because it was my first attempt and that makes it the most special one...

Such a small, felty little creature actually made a grown woman skip across the department to give me a hug.

And that is worth all the tiny hand stitches in the World...

Best Intentions

I totally believed I'd post here this past weekend, and I didn't. I did sleep in a little bit each day, and I did wake and clean and organize some cabinets. I did sew and cook and dust. I spent time with Steinvic.

But I didn't post here.

There are some things that are going on that I would like to write about. But there are some things that are too difficult to write about.

My poetry guru would tell me to write about it even if I was too close to it. Even if I didn't let another soul read it now.

But I can't.

Steinvic and I are fine. Closer than ever. But someone we love deeply is in real trouble and our family is trying to get a grasp on it.

It doesn't seem right to write about it now. And yet, I can hardly think of anything else.

So...just for tonight, take some time to actually count your blessings. Hug everyone you love extra close. Thank G*d for your sanity, your health and a solid roof over your head. We are so lucky...

Blog Express

I've been away too long, I know. So, let me make it up to you with an all-encompassing, express version of a T&T post:

• It is snowing like a mutha here. Steinvic is outside right now, shoveling. Bless him! (Yes, I offered to help...) I got out of work a tiny bit early today and Steinvic worked from home, so I got in and started cooking a big pot of potato soup right away. He'd gone out lunch to get a pizza (for lunch plus leftover's sake) and to restock our bar, so we're ready for the SIX DEGREE weather we're due for over the next few days...


• I'm crafty in addition to the soup-making. I'm making a pouch for our secretary at work and plan to stop off for a few $1 scratchoffs to slip into it on my way in to work. You know, because battling the freezing cold and snow won't be enough to do on my way in! But I know it will make her day and someone needs to do something nice for the person who answers 9578373897538 phone calls for us each day. I also made her a Valentine's tree to put on her desk.


• I have been embarking on a whole foods revolution and enjoying Susan Powter's online radio shows this week. Tune in if you want to be inspired and learn about how to live healthily. She is a trail blazer for sure...she's been doing it forever but it's time for a revival...


• We miss Arizona. We miss our family and friends and the blue skies and non-coat-weather. We love so much about Ohio, but there is something about the simplicity and low-key vibe there.

And that, my friends, is a wrap. More tomorrow and this weekend, for sure, because we will be INSIDE staying warm! Definitely time for updates...

Home Again

We are back in town, babies...honeymoon supposedly over, winter upon us, Ohio time and jet lag a reality. I have to work in the morning, but Steinvic wisely took tomorrow off. After all, it is always the day after the day after our return home that kicks our hineys with the time change...

We had a great time and it is hard to believe that it's over... The family time is always the best part. We had a rocking party with the aunts, uncles and cousins the night before we left and that made the flight back a little rough. But all worth it...we will all remember the photos, the drinks and good conversation.

Tomorrow is a new day. Tonight is tortellini, homemade sauce, laundry and getting organized. And thinking about our good fortune. We have plenty to be thankful for...

Honeymooning

Well, hello there! I am fine... Thanks for asking. Right now, I am curled up in bed, trying to decide if I have stayed inside these blankets long enough and if it is time to start my day. That's the thing about vacation - knowing just the right balance of doing fun things and truly resting, since rest seldom happens at home.
We traveled all day Friday, getting to our Ohio airport around 1 p.m. and finally arriving in Phoenix close to midnight. We woke early on Saturday to pack the car for a gorgeous drive to Vegas. We did not push ourselves like we normally would and were instead happy to stay on "our end" of the Strip. Steinvic and I gambled a little, won a little, shopped a little and had several fabulous meals thanks to our generous hosts (Aunt & Uncle) who have enough comps to entertain a small village! We shared an apartment-sized suite with them (not kidding... It had three bathrooms!) and got to dine at the hotel's exclusive steakhouse. What does a pescaterian eat at a steakhouse, you ask? Lovely crabcakes and a tableside-made Caeser salad. Yum!
We drove back to Phoenix Monday and just relaxed yesterday, doing a little grocery shopping and laundry, and enjoying a stop at a favorite pub for a drink and a sandwich...
Guess I will get up and start our day...even being lazy, you can't beat these Arizona skies...especially with snow on the ground back home!

We Are Sick, We Are Sick, We Are Sick, Sick, Sick...

Happy New Year! We didn't decide to begin 2011 with mega-colds, but that is exactly what has happened, despite the hand washing, sanitizing, disinfectant spraying and even a night in separate beds - I really didn't want Steinvic to get this!!


So now the goal becomes getting well before we leave for Phoenix. I'm definitely on the mend - still snorting around a little, but my energy level is way better and I'm not taking any cold medicine except Zicam now. But poor Steinvic is in the "zapped" stage of this funk and so he is still sleeping right now...or should I say, finally sleeping.


We did go out briefly last night, mostly because we'd vowed to bring the recipient of the spinach dip a serving of kraut and potatoes so he'd have luck this year, and because another friend who we haven't seen in months was going to be at our local. Plus, we were getting stir crazy from being home and just wanted to get cleaned up and feel some fresh air in our lungs.

Early on, the conversation turned to Smashburgers. Have you had one? Apparently, they are fantastic. Suddenly, Steinvic perked up and said that a hamburger sounded awesome. That isn't what we'd planned on for dinner, but as soon as I saw that he was actually interested in food, I volunteered to run and get him one, and then take us home. I picked up one for another friend of ours, too. The little restaurant was hopping...it smelled like the hamburgers my Dad would make in the skillet for us when I was a kid. All the food I saw come out of the kitchen while I waited for their carry out order looked delicious. If they'd had any vegetarian sandwich options on the menu, I'd have ordered something for myself, too! Ten minutes, $15 (not too shabby, actually, for two 1/3 lb. burgers, an order of fries and an order of haystack onions) and two carefully divided and labeled to go bags later, I was on my way back to our local to pick up my poor Steinvic and get him home. He said the burger was excellent and I hadn't really seen him eat very much since he got this cold, and he cleaned his plate, so there is your Smashburger testimonial from Steinvic!

I'm in the process of washing everything in the house and also restoring it to a pre-Christmas state. I like coming home from vacation to a well-organized house where all we have to do is take our suitcases down to our utility room and unload them into the washing mashine. So, it's a busy time but I sure don't mind...I'm feeling better now and so I've got the energy. And I can't wait to get to Phoenix to see our family and have a whole week with Steinvic. This will be the first time we've seen everyone from out there since we got married - they just couldn't make that extra trip to Ohio so late in the year and we totally understood that...not a cheap trip!

But I sure have had some crazy dreams. One productive one, though...last night, Steinvic couldn't get comfortable so we went to the basement (it's finished, lovely and his recliner is down there, and also the futon was still made up as a bed from when the kids were here...I told you, I've been working on it!) because he'd have options of where to sleep, and I could be close by in case he needed something (yep, he is really THAT sick). I saw that Young Man's Girlfriend left a necklace on the coffee table and it must have triggered something in my brain, because I had dreams about jewelry I used to own all night and when I woke up this morning, knew just where the box I packed them in was hiding the guest room. I'd completely forgotten about it. It's not valuable...just costume jewelry from when I used to work in a clothing store. I went right to the box and found some really cool things that I know I will wear again and some that I will probably give to Girlfriend and to a nice lady at work who makes her own jewelry and would enjoy taking some of the items apart and turning them into something else.


Here is one of the finds from this morning's treasure recovery:



...and yeah, that would be one of the things I'm keeping for me and plan to wear right away! Isn't it neat?

Now I'm off to put more laundry in and make something hot to drink...OH! If you find yourself sick, buy some Zicam. IT WORKS!!