Walking Is the New Superfood

Walking is the "superfood" of Fitness?  According to this article, walking is the "superstar" of exercise.  Keep those steps coming!

Walking Is the New Superfood >> 

Cheers for Smoothies!

Cheers to Jon who got us into drinking green smoothies, and to Dan Steele for showing us how to (easily!) grow our own immune-boosting kefir as a main ingredient. Smoothies can be breakfast, accompany lunch,  double as dessert, and are always received with enthusiasm!

Here's how we make ours most of the time:
- a cup or so of kefir or plain yogurt
- a couple frozen bananas (our local grocery sells really ripe bananas cheap. I just peel them & pop them right into a freezer bag)
- some frozen strawberry tops (whenever I slice the tops off strawberries, I pop those in the freezer, too. Those tiny green stems blend right up--oh, take the leaves off before freezing. :)
- some pineapple or orange juice
- kale (stems removed) or spinach leaves (more than you would think!)

Maybe we can get Jon to do a post about his really earthy version--he's certainly a great walking advertisement for their benefits!

Healthy Habits for Healthy Wallets

Two things have helped the Blackman family with the added expenses of organic and healthier foods:

1.) The Grocery List

2.) The Weekly Menu

It sounds simple, but it works for us! Each week as we run out (or come close to running out) of items, we write them on the grocery list on the side of the frig. Then once a week (usually Saturdays), I sit down with a cup of coffee and our cookbooks and find recipes for four or five meals and a snack or two for that week. (Diana Walsh--RVR Food Services Director--employed the weekly menu as a sanity-saver when she was a home-schooling mom of three, and I was inspired by her.)

I choose the recipes by asking:

- What ingredients are already in the house? Let's use those up! (This can be a BIG money saver.)

- Do I have a couple of slam-dunk recipes here that are familiar to cook and usually turn out well?

- Is there a night this week that I can experiment, try something new, or make someone's favorite that takes a little more time?

As I choose each recipe, I add to the grocery list any ingredient not currently in the house. Finally, I add items needed for school lunches or snacks, and make sure we have enough of our staples (eggs, almond milk, lentils, beans, rice, cheese, popcorn, coffee, etc.) Most weeks the grocery list is not very long, which always amazes me.

Here's what also amazes me--by limiting our grocery list to that week's recipes and the resupplying of staples, we:

- Keep our weekly food purchases, for the four of us, at about $125 or less. Last week it was under $50! (Note: we typically buy no meat, which also keeps costs down.)

- Have very little food waste--less overcrowding in the frig resulting in less food that goes bad before use.

- Have fewer episodes of "Oh no, what's for dinner??" as the list of that week's recipes is on hand, along with the ingredients to cook those meals.

While it's not always picture-perfect (I've not done weekly menus for these past two, Sharathon-pumped weeks!), these two things have helped keep our food budget AND stress levels under control, and have contributed to our overall health and well-being!

Spring in Your Step!

The first day of Spring brings a fresh start that we desperately need. It has been a long, long, long, long winter. I can't say for sure that it's completely over, BUT I do know that God promises that we are made new in Jesus Christ and THAT is something to be excited about no matter what the weather.

Let this first day of Spring be a renewal for all of us... renewed spirit and renewed commitment to healthy living. The weather is shifting and we can shift our mindset as well. Step outside and listen for the sounds of Spring!  -Kelly

Wow - it’s almost the end of February! Are your Fitbit step totals not where you envisioned them to be? Are you frustrated that the cold weather and snow has hampered your efforts? Find the treadmill boring? Well, here’s a great way to push those totals higher and have fun at the same time.

Mall Walking!

Malls allow you to get in a lot of steps in a climate controlled, sociable, and safe environment. (Well, for the most part safe. While doing my research on this blog, there were acts of violence at two of the malls shortly after I left, including the recent deadly shooting at the Columbia Mall. But fortunately these types of incidents are rare.)

Our goal is to average 6,027 steps a day. For research, I went to four malls near my house to determine how many steps a “lap” would be.

Marley Station Mall’s glory days are past. But with fewer patrons, walking here is a breeze. From one escalator to the other and back (what I call “one lap”), I logged 1,800 steps. In just three laps, combined with steps from and to my car, the daily goal was easily reached.

Arundel Mills is a terrific mall for walking, especially considering you walk in an oval. With one lap, you’ll easily reach over 2,000 steps. However, while including my walk from/to the parking lot and jaunts inside Bass Pro and Best Buy(I know – it’s a tough job) I recently logged 5,000 steps.

The Columbia Mall has over a million square feet of total retail floor area. From one end of the mall to the other and back, and meandering through some anchor stores, I logged 4,800 steps. That was just one lap!

The Annapolis Mall is Maryland’s largest. With its latest expansion, it now has nearly 1½ million square feet of total retail floor area. You’ll easily be able to log over 2,500 steps in one lap. I recently was able to walk over 4,000 steps by just adding a few stores, and the food court, to my one lap journey.

So during these cold, snowy winter months, when you find yourself discouraged by your step total, consider a trip to the mall. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results!

"You are the salt of the earth"...but you don't have to eat it!

For my first-ever blog entry, I’m coming from a place of having been through some recent health concerns.  And while the principles I’m going to share have application for everyone, hopefully my post will resound specifically with readers like me, who are not as healthy as they know they should be, and help them make some easy—but impactful—adjustments.

This past fall, two very good friends of mine (who happen to be a married couple) told me that their blood pressure had risen to an alarming rate, and they’d both been placed on blood pressure meds immediately.  They weren’t too upset—it ran in their family, they were each 30-40 pounds overweight, they’re inconsistent, moderate exercisers—and since they’re in their early 40’s they’d more or less been expecting the news.  Since they weren’t concerned, I wasn’t concerned—until it happened to me.  

At a yearly check-up, out of nowhere, my doctor informed me that my blood pressure had risen to the “prehypertension” category, and that I had 90 days to bring it down or we’d need to consider BP meds.  Honestly, I didn’t make much of an effort to change at first, because physically I felt fine & I wasn’t really sure what to do about it anyway.  Within a month, however, I began to notice an increase in headaches and significant heart palpitations—a sensation of fluttering, or even thumping, in my chest—as though my heart was skipping a beat.  My doctor sent me to a top-notch cardiologist, who ordered a full work up of tests—I had an echocardiogram, blood work, and even wore a heart monitor for three days.  In the end, my heart was fine—for now.  But thankfully the cardiologist was not content to just prescribe the BP meds and send me on my self-destructive way (did I mention she’s top-notch?).  She put an invaluable packet in my hands, which contained the tools I needed to understand what was happening to me, and told me that I could affect change to my condition immediately.  The answer I found in this packet:  The DASH Diet. 

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and virtually all of the nutrition information I’m going to share with you comes from the packet, entitled “In Brief:  Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH.”  You can get your own copy here: 

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/dash_brief.pdf

In essence, the DASH plan helps to bring blood pressure down through your food choices, rather than medication.  It allows us to take control of the situation ourselves, rather than passively accepting meds as the answer.  The key for me with DASH was controlling my salt intake!!!  I have always liked salty, savory foods—I crave them, in fact, much more than sweets.  So hearing my doctor say I needed to cut sodium immediately was not shocking—but definitely depressing.  I was thinking about all I’d have to give up, imagining feeling hungry, having to eat the savory equivalent of baby food—and  also anticipating failure, as I expected to cave to my cravings soon after starting.  But here’s what actually happened:

•  My blood pressure dropped 18 points in three weeks, from “pre-hypertensive” to perfectly normal.  Bam!
• I dropped nine pounds in those same three weeks.  While that wasn’t the primary reason for going on the DASH diet, it was certainly a great bonus!  And really, it was pretty predictable—try eating an apple every time you want some Doritos—good things will happen!
• The diet did not leave me hungry, or feeling like I’d given up all of my favorite foods—in fact, many of them are perfectly acceptable.  And I really was full enough that I couldn’t even eat all of the servings of each category that I was allowed each day.
• It wasn’t difficult to follow the diet’s requirements.  I already pack my lunch anyway, and it doesn’t get much easier than making a turkey on wheat to go!
• The foods I ate were low in sodium--but I did not let them get low in flavor!  I experimented with lots of salt-free seasoning blends.  My favorites are Penzey's Mural of Flavor and Penzey's Arizona Dreaming. Order online here:  http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html
• I learned a TON about hidden salt in the prepared foods we eat.  For example, my cardiologist said to check nutrition fact labels on all of the foods we purchase, and I should only eat foods that had 5% or less of the daily value for sodium.  Those foods are out there--but it takes effort to find them! This became a fun family challenge when we went grocery shopping; I’d put one child in charge of finding a salsa “that Mommy can eat,” while the other one was searching for an acceptable pasta sauce.  (Of course, homemade is best, but in our crazy, busy house, some prepared foods are a necessity.)
•  Eating out on the DASH diet can be tough; my cardiologist recommended avoiding it during my three week stretch.  For example, I always felt proud of myself for getting a salad with grilled chicken (halo, please) at Chick Fil-A…but did not know that my favorite avocado-lime dressing has 22% sodium!  (No wonder it was my favorite!)
• Because my DASH experience annihilated my blood pressure problem, I shared the packet with my friends that I’d mentioned above—who by that time had been on BP meds for a few months.  They embraced the DASH plan, are now completely off of their meds, and have added moderate exercise to increase their weight loss.

The DASH packet will give you everything you need to get started, but here are some specific things that worked for me.

My favorite breakfasts:  Toasted whole wheat English muffin with Olivio spread, or low fat/low sugar Greek yogurt, or scrambled egg whites with feta cheese & Penzey’s Mural of Flavor (Sodium-Free seasoning blend)...each with a piece of fruit.

My favorite lunch:  Reduced sodium turkey (available on request at deli counter) on whole wheat bread, with 2 Tbsp olive oil mayo, mustard, lettuce & tomato, with two clementines.

My favorite dinner:  Whole wheat pasta with low-sodium tomato sauce & a little parmesan, with my favorite salad: lettuce, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, &  yellow/red/orange peppers, “wet” minced garlic, Penzey's Mural of Flavor seasoning,  feta, low-sodium savory croutons, and oil & vinegar (whisk 3 tsp olive oil with 1 tsp cider, balsamic, or other flavored vinegar).

My favorite snacks:  Planters’ salt-free trail mixes, Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds (warning: these are totally addictive), hummus with red peppers & baby carrots.  

Eating the DASH way involves making some very easy, common sense adjustments to your diet.  But the benefits of keeping our blood pressure in the healthy range--reducing risk of strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, shortness of breath, headaches--far outweigh the minor effort it takes to follow this healthy eating plan.  

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, and if you try the DASH diet to reduce your own hypertension, I'd love to hear how it worked for you!  And here's a much healthier way that we can all use salt:  "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone."  Colossians 4:6  

By  Jennifer Margerum

10 Minute Lentil Taco Bowls

I'm inspired by Tina's recent posts about lentils to share something I made a couple of weeks ago: Lentil "Taco" Bowls.

This made a very fast dinner. It really took me all of ten minutes to make, thanks to a package of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils. The longest part is just waiting for the lentils to simmer with the taco spices. It's also great reheated and very easy to pack for lunch the next day.

Build the bowl however you want - I used brown rice, but feel free to use quinoa or even polenta. Top with your favorite veggies, cheese, or whatever floats your boat!

-- Erin

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10 Minute Lentil Taco Bowl
1 package of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils  - or - 2 1/2 cups cooked lentils
2 Tbls homemade taco seasoning or 1 taco seasoning packet
1 cup of water
1/2 cup brown rice per person/serving
Lettuce
Pico de gallo
Cilantro
Sliced green onions
2 Tbls 0% Greek yogurt

Place the lentils in a medium sized saucepan with taco seasoning and water over medium high heat. Bring the mixture up to a hard simmer and then turn down to simmer. Stir occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes until the lentils are heated through and spices are absorbed. Serve 1/2 cup of lentil mixture over 1/2 cup brown rice. Top with veggies and fat free greek yogurt. Enjoy!

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5 servings | 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus