Friday, September 4, 2009

First Week Back to Work - A Test of Eating Clean

Today is the last day of a full week back to work and it's been a bit of a challenge. I am at a new school and this one has a big main office that ALWAYS seems to have food for snacking. Food that doesn't, in any way, qualify as "clean." There is also a full kitchen right outside my office where there is always coffee in the pot, sugar on the counter...and no agave or sweetener or anything remotely resembling an alternative form of sweetness for my favourite beverage. So...I've been drinking coffee with a little milk and no sweetener and, surprisingly, I'm getting used to it. Coffee is one of the foods that we should restrict on when eating clean, but with all that candy, chocolate, and Tim Bits, I can control myself so much.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Clean eating for two weeks

It has about two weeks since I started Rena Tosca's Eat Clean Diet and I've lost 3.4 pounds. It's been pretty easy. I feel full, I don't have to over think what I'm eating, but I am more away of what to stay away from than I ever was before. Next steps is to incorporate the supplements. I've purchased the supplements, but haven't set up a system to facilitate taking them. And I also have to re-integrate exercise. This has been really hard, mostly because I was doing so well with my exercise routine before my dad's surgery in February. It all seemed to go off the rails around April when he had the heart attack and contracted C-difficile.

Well, I have to focus on the good parts...my kids are adopting eating clean, mostly 'cause it seems cool to say they don't eat processed foods. It's like they're young hippies, or whatever the 2009 equivalent is of that. I also subscribed to the Clean Eating magazine, which is just fantastic. So, I will keep on groovin' with clean eating and work on the next steps without beating myself up for the things I haven't done.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Eating Clean

I haven't been writing for a long time as I've been extremely busy taking care of my dad and trying to get his home ready for rental. My father seems to be getting better and I say this with some trepidation because I don't want to "jinx" him. It's very likely that he will go into a long-term care facility and I will have to supplement his pension in order to ensure a spot for him in one of the facilities I think are best for our circumstances.

Meanwhile, the battle of the menopausal budge continues! A few months ago I purchased Tosca Reno's book, The Eat-Clean Diet, and flipped through it and tried to follow it halfheartedly. I also purchased her cookbook and workout book thinking it would help me "do it right." Not so easy!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Interesting Horoscope

The following is my horoscope for Saturday, July 25...after my post of Wednesday it was an interesting horoscope to read and understand, through everything, there is a bigger reason that will somehow leave me wiser.

Taurus (April 21 — May 20)
Life has not been easy lately. Well, when has life ever been easy? Challenges don't just follow you around. They track you down even when you change your address. But in the process, you will be wiser and more philosophical.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wishcasting Wednesday...

When I first read Jamie’s prompt for Wishcasting Wednesday, “What do you wish to tell the world?” I thought I’d just write what I was feeling.

I wanted to tell the world that everything is hard. That life is a challenge. That there are tests and trials we are put through without a clear reason for them. Life is something that happens to us, that we have no control, and that, no matter how hard you try, bad things will happen. I wanted to tell the world that you can achieve every goal you set, but only after a struggle.

That is what I wanted to write. Then I thought for a minute, maybe this post would be too much of a downer, so I clicked on Mr. Linky to read what other blogger’s had posted. Each one wrote of hope, abundance, opportunity, creativity, and other very positive messages. I didn’t think it appropriate to post what I was feeling…these feelings of sadness and grief.

I’ve been thinking about this all day. Thinking about the depression that I believe has set in again. Thinking about the trials I’m going through and the feelings of hopelessness I have. I shared this morning’s experience with my daughter during our nightly visit with my father, in the hospital. I told her I felt bad posting what I was feeling and she encouraged I post anyway. She said, if it’s how you’re feeling, then why would it be bad? So, here we are, at 7:30 in the evening, and I’m responding to Jamie’s prompt from the depths of my soul.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Wishcasting Wednesday

Last Wednesday we celebrated the opening of Jamie's new webspace and wishcasted success for our creative leader. This week, we turn to back to ourselves with the wishcast prompt...

What do you wish to invite in?

I wish to invite into my soul...
happiness and joy to every new day of my life,
peace to sooth and calm myself,
fearlessness to try new things,
and
God to help me face the challenges of life with strength and dignity.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Learning to post videos

This morning I started just reading the blogs that I follow and I realized how much I enjoy when bloggers post video. I've tried posting before (not really...'cause I lost patience) and wasn't successful, so I decided today was the day. I've just spent some time reading Blogger Help and am going to upload some video.

Next problem...what video should I upload? Well, that's a no-brainer...belly dancing video of course, more specifically, tribal dance video. The first video is inspiring to me particularly because the dancers have bodies similar to my own -- with a nice big belly!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwkVudtRzQ
Well...apparently the embed function is disabled on this video...so I'm posting the link...hopefully, it will work.

Upward and onward...lets try my next favourite one of the day.



And SUCCESS!!!

This last video is an old interview with Carolena Nerricio, the Director of Fat Chance Belly Dance (http://www.fcbd.com/) in California, who is credited with developing Tribal Style Belly Dance.



OK...one last, last video...this is a story of Jamila Salimpour, the women credited with bringing belly dancing into the classroom...and developing the language used to teach belly dancing. Thank you Jamila.