Still walking

At least that sounds healthier than the last post title. I'm walking (a fair amount) to continue to undo the disaster that was the holidays. And have renewed my focus on eating healthy. Hubby had oral surgery mid-January, so I've had a few weeks during which I could make foods I like that he doesn't like, since what he can eat is limited. For the most part, that translates to healthier food. Things like pizza, hamburgers, nachos -- well, he likes those too, so I haven't been eating them in front of him. I'm adding in the healthier aspects of Mexican and Italian, though, as I have to have *something* to eat. And have been making lots of soup. For me, not him. Most soups he doesn't like. We've had a lot of rain this month, so I've been fine with lots of soup. Broccoli cheddar, tomato, split pea (we shared that one), chili (shared that, too). On my way to beef barley as soon as I have carrot and celery in the house at the same time. Maybe tomorrow. :-) Happy thought. So I didn't post about walking. Food is more fun to write about!

Munch, crunch

Yep, still here, still eating. :-) In fact, I've got a couple of new recipe ideas to share, once I find them. The question of today, though, is: crunch without calories? Celery. Nope, not ready to go there. We'll see how hungry (desperate) I get before dinner. I'm back to trying to count weight watcher points or government food group servings or whatever works to undo the disaster that was September and October. How do you recover from less-than-healthy vacations (or months, as the case may be)?

Checking in

We all need to do that occasionally, check in with whatever accountability system we have in place to help us meet our health goals, in healthy eating and/or fitness. Sometimes life gets too busy and we don't check in for awhile. If coming and going counts as exercise, I should be in great shape! It's been a revolving door since I last posted: a trip to the beach, a trip to see family, a writing conference, get togethers with friends... All those happy occasions involved food, too. :-) Good food. Exercise, too, although not as much of that as I'd like. My new challenge this week is to increase resistance on the elliptical to change up my exercise program. I'm liking it. :-) What types of challenges do you set for yourself when you need to get back on track?

Still eating!

You can rest assured that even if I'm not posting here, I'm still eating. :-) And, through it all, trying to eat healthy. August has been a month of coming and going around here. I think I already posted about the challenges of trying to eat healthy and maintain some exercise while at a conference. Last week I visited my parents. I chose to put my time into visiting instead of following all of my exercise routine. We did walk the dog, and took a walk in the park (on one of the cooler days), and went swimming (only once). But we made choices to spread out the treats and at the end of the week, I was able to maintain. Next challenge: the beach. Hubby has all sorts of ideas for messing with my healthy (and inexpensive) menu ideas. At least we'll have numerous walks on the beach (and sand counts as resistance, right?) to compensate! What are your tips for navigating summer challenges?

Veggies everywhere

The last two days I've been stir frying lots of vegetables - just a little oil, lots of water. Almost steaming them, using the cast iron skillet, but it seems to work well. Last night half the plate was this pile of veggies and the other half the plate was fried rice, with more veggies. Both sides had a bit of bbq pork chunked up in it. Today I'll switch to lots of fruit: grapes and strawberries. :-)
I've been trying to think of a way to organize/display the salad recipes I've been collecting so I can remember to try them and then keep them in the rotation. Any suggestions?

Summer days

Summer brings vacations, breaks in normal routines, and other excuses to take time away from the computer and blogging. I've discovered, though, that summer does not necessarily equal breaks from healthy routines. On vacation in July, at a conference last week, and in the other things I've been doing, I find I'm still mindful of eating healthy and maintaining exercise routines as best I can. At this year's writing conference, I was able to walk more consistently - and more - than ever before. They served us salads two meals a day, which I made a focus of the meal, and then made the large portions of meat and carbs a lower focus. (except dessert -- still working on that one!) We celebrated birthdays the last two weekends, complete with cake and ice cream, as the three children we have between us were all born in August. After a day of celebrating with kids, though, the following day I tried to get right back to healthy eating. More trades today: a salad for lunch because I'm going out with friends this afternoon.
I've also been collecting new salad recipes to share, although I haven't managed to try any of them yet! I did try something new a day or so ago, though. I had leftover alfredo sauce. I wanted a lighter lunch, not the pasta, so put the sauce over a big bowl of stir fry veggies. Very tasty! My goal for this week: to highlight fruit and vegetables more in my meals. So far, success :-)

The good and the bad

Sugar is not always a good thing. Exercise is almost always a good thing. This week I'm counting on the good outweighing the not so good. We're out of lettuce, so today's lunch "salad" will be whatever veggies we have in the refrigerator chopped and tossed together, raw. I think it will work fine! And it might be time to try that peach yogurt -- or maybe I'll make it pomegranate. Planning delicious healthy summer meals is one way to help meet my goals.