Getting In Gear

The calendar still says February but the warm temperatures this weekend offered me hope that Spring is close to arriving in my area of the world.

I think my neighbors felt the same way because all weekend I saw them emerging from their homes of hibernation, waving hellos and walking around their yards picking up recently fallen branches and small sticks and checking out winter's damages.  It was also nice to see the baby brigade out and about with strollers and young toddlers in tow.  While doing my errands, everyone seemed to be energized by the warm and shining sun.  Coats disappeared and even some shorts and flip flops appeared on a few righteous teenagers.  

 

Stretching and breathing in fresh air was the order of the day and it just felt great all around.  Even though I felt the tug of the next episode of "House of Cards" mentally calling me to the computer, I ignored it's mesmerizing pull and instead went for a long walk for at least a mile or two.  It's definitely a good walk when I lose track of time and distance and it's also definitely amazing how a walk can reset your outlook and change your mood.

 

 

We've gotten a lot of snow this season so it's been harder to go outside and exercise but I try to remind myself that I always feel better when I get myself in gear and do some sort of exercise whether it's walking, bicycling, dancing or running.  I tell myself myself that exercising offsets the bad effects of sitting in front of the computer for hours a time but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be true according to some recent news stories. 

 

It's a fact of life that I spend a lot of time in front of the computer.  Hours and hours.  When I am at my full-time job five days a week, I try to periodically get up and walk around the office to squeeze in some exercise time and then I try to do the same when I am at home writing Cry Laugh Heal which is not work at all but truly a passion for me.

It's a constant battle and as I get older I can see that activity truly is the key to having and maintaining good health.  I like to sometimes follow these three simple suggestions from The American Diabetes Association on how to increase physical activity in your daily routine: 

 

--Take the stairs, not the elevator.
--Park further away from your destination, so you have to walk more.
--At home, make several trips upstairs to building extra cardio into such things as putting away laundry or other household chores.

Good luck with your personal fitness and here is the link to the National Public Radio story that made me think differently about sitting around and vegging out:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/19/279460759/sit-more-and-youre-more-likely-to-be-disabled-after-age-60?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20140223&utm_source=mostemailed

Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Spread

I am tired of wearing layers of clothing.

Black and grey, grey and black.  Thin T-shirts under sweaters, sweaters over sweaters, vests over sweaters, socks inside socks, scarves over turtlenecks.  I think you are getting the picture of what it takes to stay warm when a polar vortex is happening.  I am more than ready to chuck my winter coat and boots and break out my fun clothes, my jammin' summer clothes.

But the calendar tells me otherwise.  For now, I must go with warmth because snow and ice and brisk winds will still be hanging out in my area of the world at least for another month. 

Besides the bulkiness and weight of the layers of clothes, the other downside of dressing like this is that you feel like you can indulge in comfort food since no one can see you in anything that's form fitting.  I try to remind myself that the food decisions I make today in the cold of February will determine how much I will have to diet in the warmth of April but the calendar's clinical numbers just don't seem to intimidate me.

My healing solution is to get off the sugar wagon and go for healthy, fresh foods that are tasty, yet low in fat, and no one does that better than Ina Garten, foodie and home entertainment expert extraordinaire who is also known as the Emmy Award winning host of the Food Network program, Barefoot Contessa. 

Ina's style is easy and uncomplicated and so are her recipes.  I share with you today Ina's Roasted Eggplant Spread which she says is "not only good, it is good for you."  Ina also says in her Barefoot Contessa cookbook that this recipe has "almost no fat for customers who like to save their calories for dessert."  She's so smart!

We all are trying to work more veggies into our diets and this is one way of doing it.  Ina recommends serving this with hummus, pita bread, Greek olives, feta cheese and stuffed grape leaves.  Check out Ina's recipe and I think you will agree that it's perfect served hot or cold:

 

Ina Garten's Roasted Eggplant Spread
Photo: Melanie Acevedo

 

Roasted Eggplant Spread (Serves 6 to 8 )  

I medium eggplant, peeled
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes.  Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread them on a baking sheet.  Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.  Cool slightly.

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend.  Taste for salt and pepper.

Falling Can Make You Stronger

One of my sisters sent me the video posted below that's about Moms and the endless, loving support they give their children.  In the case of this video, it shows Moms and their budding athletes in the beginning stages of learning their sports skills and then the years of repetition, the daily practice, practice, practice performed by the children until they reach the ultimate competition of the Olympics.

It's a wonderful video, tracing the path of infants and babies falling, getting back up, trying again and again, finally learning to ice skate, snowboard and ski so that they may perform more accomplished routines.

 

 

On another level, the video is also about raw persistence, resilience, determination and the commitment to never give up on your passions and your dream no matter what you decide to pursue in life.

Emotional resilience doesn't come to you just like that.  Unfortunately, you don't wake up one morning and suddenly you are resilient.  But don't be discouraged.  Resilience is the ability to become strong, healthy, bounce back or rebuild again after a loss, or a personal crisis.  The good news is resilience is something that can be developed within you.

 

You can gain strength through pain.  And little by little I bet you are doing it every day and you may not realize it.  Always get back up.  You can do it!

 

Here's the "Thanks Mom" video:

 

 

White House Market Day Is Back!

The farmer's market near the White House is now open for business on Thursdays and I'm so happy that fresh fruits and veggies are close to my office for the picking.

 

 

I'm so proud of myself! I took these pics myself!

There was almost a party atmosphere as I arrived at the market today around 1 pm.  When I walked to the market area which is one block from the White House (www.freshfarmmarkets.org), there were almost 200 people shopping and sampling local produce.  People were spilling out of their office buildings, shaking off the cold weather, happy to be outside and become reaquainted with the farmers and other vendors they hadn't seen for months.

 

Browsing through the stalls today, I saw the season's freshest selections of kale, spring onions, baby cucumbers, leeks, beets, sweet potatoes and even some tomatoes.  I was really looking for strawberries but it is not yet their time.  I was told that it might be another week or two for ripe and juicy strawberries because Washington, DC had a bit of an unseasonable cold snap.

 

 

 

 

I came to the market for the opportunity to support local farmers and buy fresh produce but I also made a wonderful connection.  I was at the FRESHFARM Markets table looking for information about the vendors when a woman named Terry started chatting with me.  She asked if she could help me and I told her about Cry, Laugh, Heal and how I write about working through grief by trying to take care of yourself through exercise and eating healthy and generally staying resilient and positive.

 

She said she loved the name of the blog and she had experienced a time of laughing that turned into crying and then laughing again.

 

Terry said she was at a relative's funeral and this relative happened to be the kind of person who really liked playing jokes on people and making people laugh.  The person who got up to deliver the eulogy at her uncle's funeral walked to the front of the room to start talking.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, the speaker's zipper on his pants was unzipped.

People in the audience tried to make signals to him that he needed to zip up his pants and in the process of signaling, people began to laugh.  But then in the laughing they remembered they were at a funeral.  And then they started crying a bit but then they also couldn't stop laughing because the speaker was oblivious to his zipper being open.

 

EXACTLY!!  That's what's so great about the FRESHFARM farmer's market.  Every week is an opportunity to meet new people and share our stories about crying or laughing or healing.

 

Today I'm so glad to have met Terry and know that the farmers' healing fruits and vegetables are just a couple of blocks away for me for the rest of the summer and early fall!

Rock on farmers!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

A Positive Saturday Morning

Happy to wake up to a beautiful Saturday morning. . . time to try and undo the knots and tension from the work week. . . Easing into the day by taking deep breaths, stretching and slowly going about my tasks.

Today I'm in search of a good solid positive vibe.  Last weekend it was all about inner beauty and the way we see our fabulous selves.  Let's also go for broke in the health department. 

One of the ways I take charge of my wellness is by wearing A LOT of sunscreen to protect my skin from the aging rays of the sun and also by drinking LOTS of water!

I'd love to hear how you accentuate your inner beauty and your precious wellness!

Two Life Tips

 

 

Say Ohmmmm!

 

My mother gets more magazines than anyone I know.  She always has a huge stack of magazines near her chair and after she whips through them she is always happy to get rid of them.

 

This weekend I stopped by my parents' house to visit, catch-up and check in on them to see how things are going and she gave me at least 25 magazines to take home.  Oh don't worry.  My Mom still has more magazines for herself.

 

I am always looking for information on how get healthier and de-stress and while reading a December 2012 Family Circle magazine, I came upon an article by Sharon Boone about how to avoid a meltdown during the Christmas season.  Now Christmas may be over, but for me there is always the possibility of a stress build-up from any number of sources and anything that can help me make my stress work for me is a good thing.

 

Here are two life tips that popped out for me:

 

--Say  Ohmmm: Meditation can slow a racing heart, decrease blood pressure, steady breathing and even stop checkout lines from driving you crazy. (Well, maybe.)  "By eliminating all distractions save the sound of your breath, meditation transforms the body's fight-or-flight response to relaxation," says Jay Winner, M.D., author of Take The Stress Out of Your Life.

 

--Appeal To A Higher Power: People who prayed before performing a task -- say, preparing dinner for 30 people -- had lower blood pressure and felt less anxious than those who did not.  Researchers theorize that prayer creates the sense of having a nonjudgmental and powerful support network.

 

It's all about my choices and as I jump into a new work week, I am going to try and find strength in the positive and kick the negative stuff to the curb!

Staying Young At Heart

Next week is Thanksgiving!! How did that happen?

The calendar says November (I checked it!) but I feel I'm still mentally stuck in the summertime.  I really am having a hard time this year getting used to daylight savings time and it being dark so early.  It doesn't feel great to leave work, walk out of the building and it's already night time.  It is just not my thing at all.  I love it when it is 7 or 8 o'clock at night and it's still light outside!

 

It's the best!

Plus this year, Thanksgiving seems early and then all the shopping and parties start and before you know it, Christmas is here.

I'm looking forward to catching up with my son who has been away for months and other members of my family I haven't seen for awhile.  Then there are always those memories of holidays in the past which sometimes sit in the back of my brain, vying for attention.  These memories can be triggered by a person, a song, even the smell of particular food.

 

For instance, whenever I smell that burnt, roasting smell of chestnuts cooking, I am instantly in New York City with my husband.   And whenever I smell turkey stuffing or the ingredients of stuffing cooking, I am back in the kitchen of my childhood.

 

I think it's healthy to take these good and bad holiday memories "out" shall we say, and visit with them but not obsess over them.  Acknowledge that they happened, talk about them or write about them if that makes you feel better and then put these past memories back in their mental place.

 

Today is what counts.  Not something that happened many years ago that you can't change and might not want to change.  Express what is appropriate and then move on.

 

This holiday season my priority is to stay emotionally well and appreciate simplicity.  In browsing the web to research ways to reinforce this idea for myself, I came upon a short list of tips written by Joan Westlake for healthkey.com that I think is a good starting point for being positive and staying young at heart:

1. Love

Affection and companionship are the best medicines for the heart.  Fabulous friends, great grandchildren, salubrious siblings and nice neighbors keep you involved in life.  Revel in romance.  Pets provide unconditional love plus the hugs and warmth on which the soul thrives.

2. Give

What you give truly comes back 10-fold.  There are children longing for someone to read them a book, homeless folks hungry for a helping of kindness with their soup, homebound people waiting for a ray of humanity to brighten their day and friendly dogs needing a walk while the hope for a forever family.

3. Move

Get on the go.  Swimming is one of the best ways to keep in shape well into your 90s.  Start your day off with a walk or hike.  Take a dance class and get out and Salsa, Two-Step or Disco.  Tai chi and yoga guide you in ancient movements to enrich your body and soul.

4. Explore
Take a trip.  Learn a new language.  Start a new business.  Go live in the place of your dreams.  Find your spiritual nature.  Go boldly into new worlds.

5. Party
Celebrate and embrace each birthday!  Invite friends of all ages.  Dance and play loud music.  Eat cake and steak and have that rowdy shot of tequila or expensive glass of wine. 

You're worth it!!

California Eating

When I go grocery shopping, I like to read the labels.  I like to know what I'm eating because I think it can make a huge difference in my mental and physical health.  Healthy and fresh foods keeps  my immune system and healing powers strong which keeps me in the game.

This label reading started about 10 years ago when I was very sick and my doctor put me on a strict low-fat diet.  I started reading the labels on everything: salad dressing, cereals, crackers, pudding, chicken and anything frozen.  I was really surprised by what I found but also glad that the information was there so that I could decide for myself what I wanted to buy.

 

When I feel healthy, I have more energy and then I feel positive, which in turn affects what I do with my life.  So I try to stay away -- as much as possible -- from processed junk that is chock full and shot through with who knows what kind of chemicals and preservatives.  Take a look around the next time you're in a grocery store and find out for yourself.

And while you're looking at those food labels, ask yourself this:  do I want to buy food that is fresh or do I want to buy food that a company has toyed around with?  Knowledge in truly power in this instance.  It seems to me that if you are running a food company you want to take care of your customers.  Right?

 

Not always.  Among all the hot-button-empower-the-masses issues on state and national ballots that Americans had a chance to vote on last week, there was a West Coast issue I have been following for while that unfortunately was defeated by the voters of California: labeling genetically modified foods.

Since the measure, known as Prop 37, was defeated in California, it now means that genetically engineered foods made from plants or animals that is sold in California will continue to have no specific labeling requirements and can be  displayed and sold from the shelves just like everything else.  Monsanto, DuPont and Dow spent millions of dollars to defeat the measure, arguing that it would add hundreds of dollars to the average consumer's grocery bill.  This time Monsanto, Dow and Dupont were successful.

But I feel strongly that the issue of labeling genetically modified foods has not died and in fact will come back stronger.

If you support the idea of transparency in food labeling, here's a link to the Environment Working Group's statement on Prop 37:

http://www.ewg.org/release/ewg-president-ken-cooks-statement-california-proposition-37

Farmers Are The Best!

Elmer's Fresh Veggies

My vacation sadly has ended and as I drive home I'm thinking about all the fun and relaxing  things that I had a chance to do: eating delicious steamed crabs at Mickey's, swimming in the ocean, sleeping in, finishing a powerful book titled Mary's Mosaics, shopping at the outlets and hanging out with great friends.

But the drive home also has a time-honored ritual that I look forward to:  stopping at a farmer's stand to buy fresh, fresh, fresh vegetables and fruit.

When I was a child, my parents would always stop at Addams market which is the first market you see when you cross over the Delaware state line.  For years, Addams was the agreed road stop until I got married.  My husband didn't want to go to Addams, he preferred Elmer's.  These are not the only two markets on the drive to the beach.  There are scores of other stands, one of which is called Ma and Pa's.

Anywho, the first year my husband and I traveled to the beach, he did compromise (surprise!)and we stopped at Addams but he really didn't like it so the next year I said it would be okay if we stopped at Elmer's and now it has been Elmer's ever since.

I must say Elmer's has the sweetest cantalopes I've ever eaten and their corn on the cob and tomatoes are also very good!  They also sell plants and homemade breads and jams.  This year I am taking advantage of the wonderful Eastern Shore crops that have been harvested and waiting for people to grab them, cook and eat!  I think there is something about the soil on the Eastern Shore that adds a special zing to the produce grown there.

I wish I had a garden so that I could eat my own home grown fruits and veggies but my gardening efforts never succeed so I have stopped trying.  I can grow herbs in a pot which I do -- rosemary and mint -- but I can't grow a tomato if my life depended on it.  My tomato plants grow tall but then they never bloom.  It's very sad but that's why I think farmers are the best!!

Speaking of gardens, here is a YouTube video about the White House garden which I would love to visit if it were open to the public: