healthy and beautiful

I haven’t written in a bit but I have a good reason. I was in food shock.  It started a few weeks ago. We decided- I should say I decided to replace our cracked kitchen tile and countertops. My husband gave me the “is this really necessary?” line.   The truth is that his kitchen experience amounts to occasional coffee making, gluten free beer opening and table clearing when he’s in a helpful mood. I could’ve wasted my time pointing out that the kitchen to me was the equivalent of the golf course for him but I had a more productive idea. I selected the countertop material   (Caesar stone) and flooring (light wood planks). I presented my husband with two samples of each that were basically the same so he could “choose” and put him in touch with the kitchen guy. Our division of labor for any renovation is design- me and construction- him. This proved to be a mistake. Two weeks ago today, the boys had started spring break and I was enjoying not having to be out of the house a...

Whenever I am asked food or nutrition books I recommend, Mindless Eating tops my list. So when I learned that Brian Wansink has a second book out, called Slim by Design I couldn’t wait to read it. That’s actually an understatement, I felt like a groupie who had to get their hands on that brand new album. The premise of this book and much of Wansink’s research is that our environment (think kitchens, offices etc.) influences the way we eat. From the opening lines of the book “becoming slim by design works better than trying to become slim by willpower. It’s easier to change your eating environment that to change your mind.” And the book is a page-turner (what, you don’t think that’s possible with a book about eating?) there’s humor and anecdotes, my family was making fun of me because I couldn’t put it down. Some of my favorite lessons were: In buffet situations slim dinners scan all the options first, seat themselves as far away from the food as possible and do not face toward the fo...

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF Believe me this has been a lifetime learning journey and it feels really good to be in this place…peaceful existence, balance with life and self, and overall feeling of AWWW…Life is BETTER than Great! I can remember being caught up in the stuff that really does not matter in the BIG scheme of life…the house looking just right, what people thought, oh my…my body is not quite there…is that fat on my butt…really???   How many times am I going to give myself the outer thigh pinch test for crying out loud.   Oh…I burned this, and that food presentation does not look perfect, oh…am I saying that just right,   am I doing this right, and, oh no…my diet was not clean today and I have just ruined everything…REALLY?   Enough of that crap already…whew…like I shared earlier…I am so glad to NOT be there anymore.   We really can be our own worst enemy if we let ourselves.   Thoughts of “not good enough” swirling around in my head years ago are...