June 30th, 2016
I need to apologize right off the bat for my title. It's self-indulgent and silly but I just had to do it. You see, the topic for today is my weight. I am puzzled by my own behaviours. Right now, I am eating some BBQ chips as I type. As I reach for the bag, leftovers from the girls' sleepover party, I know it is not a healthy food choice and yet here I am. What is even more surprising is how many times throughout the day my brain reminded me that I really need to resume my exercise routine and eat healthy. I had loads of veggies and fruit earlier today, more leftovers from the party.
In 18 days, my mother-in-law will fly from England to Canada to meet the girls and I for the first time. Can there be any more motivation? I want to have a healthy weight and fit into my pretty dresses when she visits. I also want to feel fit and energized so I can keep up with my girls this summer. So, why am I eating chips? Why have I dumped the gym? Why is my workbook detailing all the exercises I can do at home still in the car? I don't know!
This is not a post with advice for you. There is no story about how I turned it all around and ended up on a beauty pageant. This is an exploration of what the heck is going on. It baffles me. I have always been skinny. For most of my life my body looked very much like a stick figure, no bumps or curves just one straight line. When I got pregnant with my first and my body got voluptuous I was ecstatic. I looked and felt like a woman. I walked every day because there were sidewalks where I lived at the time and there were places within walking distance. I could get groceries, do some banking or grab a Tim's before heading home. After my second pregnancy, we lived out here where there are no sidewalks, nothing is within walking distance and I knew no one. I mainly sat on the floor to play with my eldest or sat on the couch to breastfeed. I shed some of the weight but the stress in my life led to my midsection staying bigger than the rest of my body.
This worries me because carrying more weight in your midsection is correlated with a higher risk of many illnesses including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. I want to live. I still have so much to do. I love my daughters and want to see them grow up and be a part of their lives. I know what to do to lose weight: eat more veggies and healthy protein, drink more water and less coffee, cut out sugar, processed food, limit my grain intake and exercise three times weekly.
I buy the green tea, the lemons and the veggies. I eat really well then I panic. Why? I am so hungry! I always hit this point where I am starving and I can't find anything to eat that is ok and satisfying. I love salad! I can make really good ones but I need to buy the ingredients and because they are fresh I may not get more than two days out of them. Also, even a succulent salad can be boring after a week. So I give up, I give in and I go back to eating whatever is available. I know I am not alone.
The sad thing is I love my body. I am strong, I have fantastic genes and I have been through some pretty stressful times. My body has pulled through for me. I am so grateful to my body. I did a meditation the other day. I sent love to every cell in my body and felt love flowing through me. I pledged to take better care of my body. I meant it.
So why am I eating BBQ chips? Good question. If you struggle with your weight, have successfully lost weight or know the answer to this question, I would love to hear from you.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Thursday, 30 June 2016
Monday, 16 May 2016
Broth Power!
May 16th, 2016
Last Friday, I met my mother in downtown Ottawa and got her signed up with Vrtucar. This means she can leave her home and visit us whenever she wants for as long as she wants. She can now be more independent. I felt so relieved.
Usually, I try to pack as much into Friday mornings as I can, knowing that it's my last day of productivity for the week before the children are home and I switch gears for the weekend. I am aware that I need to leave at around 1pm to pick up my mother so she can come and spend some time with her grandchildren.
My mother was raised in the country and felt very isolated during her teen years. She enjoys visiting our home but I can tell she is getting antsy by Saturday afternoon. She doesn't like to stay over more than one night which means I have to get her back to her home by late Saturday afternoon.
When the children were younger, I could get away with the 90 minute round trip because they always fell asleep. Now that they are older, they hate the drive into town. They always want to stop somewhere, like a toy store, to make the trip worthwhile. This is not an option because I have no intention to buy them toys every Saturday afternoon. So, there is usually some tension in our home as I coax the girls into the car for the round trip into town.
By the time I rushed home to get the children off the bus last Friday, I was feeling exhausted. I knew my body was fighting something off. I haven't been sleeping well due to a nasty cough I picked up when I was sick in April.
Luckily, I just happened to hear about the benefits of drinking broth from Heather Dane. She is one of the Hay House authors participating in the Hay House Summit. Apparently, drinking broth is "in" right now. I had never heard of this. My husband looked it up and there are restaurants devoted solely to broth in New York City. The idea is, you create a batch of broth and reheat it every day. You can bring some to work in a thermos to drink throughout the day (instead of coffee).
In the notes that were attached to her presentation, she outlines how to create three broths- a bone broth, a veggie broth and a meat broth. Heather explains that drinking bone broth can increase your collagen levels (think tighter skin) and seal your gut. Broths also help strengthen your joints, build muscle and lose weight.
Does this sound too complicated? If creating broths sounds like a chore, reminiscent of your grandma standing by a stove all day, you can relax, Heather makes it easy. You get a paper bag, open it and stick it in your freezer. As you cook throughout the week, you place bones, meat pieces and vegetable trimmings into this bag. Once the bag is full, you can empty the contents in a stock pot (or slow cooker), cover it with water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for a few hours.
I made my first batch of stock this weekend to mend my compromised immune system. I used a head of garlic, two leeks, carrots, cauliflower, kale, peppercorns, sea salt, turmeric, cilantro, thyme and bones from local, grassfed beef. I covered it with water, brought it to a boil then covered it and let it simmer for three hours. I went out for errands and returned to a home that smelled like grandma's house. I filled six mason jars and let them cool. Then I put them in the fridge.
This morning, my husband and I both sipped some broth. We skimmed off the layer of fat from the surface and re-heated it just warm enough to drink. I like that it feels like a warm cup of coffee but is actually really healing. I have a hard time drinking herbal teas because they are thin and watery. Texture is important to me. Broth has a creamy texture to it, similar to coffee, without the dairy. Drinking broth doesn't feel like a sacrifice.
I have been working on taking care of myself. That means making others responsible for themselves. When my children ask me for some juice and they left their container upstairs, they need to get their container for me so I can refill it. Now that my mother has a Vrtucar account, she can be responsible for her schedule and her trips to and from my home. When students contact me to come and work with me, I no longer rush in to create an exciting learning experience for them. I tell them about my next workshop and ask them to suggest an activity they could help lead. Taking the pressure off of myself allows me to focus my energy on my priorities. Taking care of my health is a priority. Making the time to create healthy, delicious, healing broths is just one more step in the right direction. I hope you will take some time to create broths as well. To your health!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Last Friday, I met my mother in downtown Ottawa and got her signed up with Vrtucar. This means she can leave her home and visit us whenever she wants for as long as she wants. She can now be more independent. I felt so relieved.
Usually, I try to pack as much into Friday mornings as I can, knowing that it's my last day of productivity for the week before the children are home and I switch gears for the weekend. I am aware that I need to leave at around 1pm to pick up my mother so she can come and spend some time with her grandchildren.
My mother was raised in the country and felt very isolated during her teen years. She enjoys visiting our home but I can tell she is getting antsy by Saturday afternoon. She doesn't like to stay over more than one night which means I have to get her back to her home by late Saturday afternoon.
When the children were younger, I could get away with the 90 minute round trip because they always fell asleep. Now that they are older, they hate the drive into town. They always want to stop somewhere, like a toy store, to make the trip worthwhile. This is not an option because I have no intention to buy them toys every Saturday afternoon. So, there is usually some tension in our home as I coax the girls into the car for the round trip into town.
By the time I rushed home to get the children off the bus last Friday, I was feeling exhausted. I knew my body was fighting something off. I haven't been sleeping well due to a nasty cough I picked up when I was sick in April.
Luckily, I just happened to hear about the benefits of drinking broth from Heather Dane. She is one of the Hay House authors participating in the Hay House Summit. Apparently, drinking broth is "in" right now. I had never heard of this. My husband looked it up and there are restaurants devoted solely to broth in New York City. The idea is, you create a batch of broth and reheat it every day. You can bring some to work in a thermos to drink throughout the day (instead of coffee).
In the notes that were attached to her presentation, she outlines how to create three broths- a bone broth, a veggie broth and a meat broth. Heather explains that drinking bone broth can increase your collagen levels (think tighter skin) and seal your gut. Broths also help strengthen your joints, build muscle and lose weight.
Does this sound too complicated? If creating broths sounds like a chore, reminiscent of your grandma standing by a stove all day, you can relax, Heather makes it easy. You get a paper bag, open it and stick it in your freezer. As you cook throughout the week, you place bones, meat pieces and vegetable trimmings into this bag. Once the bag is full, you can empty the contents in a stock pot (or slow cooker), cover it with water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for a few hours.
I made my first batch of stock this weekend to mend my compromised immune system. I used a head of garlic, two leeks, carrots, cauliflower, kale, peppercorns, sea salt, turmeric, cilantro, thyme and bones from local, grassfed beef. I covered it with water, brought it to a boil then covered it and let it simmer for three hours. I went out for errands and returned to a home that smelled like grandma's house. I filled six mason jars and let them cool. Then I put them in the fridge.
This morning, my husband and I both sipped some broth. We skimmed off the layer of fat from the surface and re-heated it just warm enough to drink. I like that it feels like a warm cup of coffee but is actually really healing. I have a hard time drinking herbal teas because they are thin and watery. Texture is important to me. Broth has a creamy texture to it, similar to coffee, without the dairy. Drinking broth doesn't feel like a sacrifice.
I have been working on taking care of myself. That means making others responsible for themselves. When my children ask me for some juice and they left their container upstairs, they need to get their container for me so I can refill it. Now that my mother has a Vrtucar account, she can be responsible for her schedule and her trips to and from my home. When students contact me to come and work with me, I no longer rush in to create an exciting learning experience for them. I tell them about my next workshop and ask them to suggest an activity they could help lead. Taking the pressure off of myself allows me to focus my energy on my priorities. Taking care of my health is a priority. Making the time to create healthy, delicious, healing broths is just one more step in the right direction. I hope you will take some time to create broths as well. To your health!
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)