Vibram Five Finger

I took my barefoot lifestyle to a whole new level this week when I purchased a pair of Vibram Five Finger barefoot shoes.  If you haven't seen a pair yet, they are shoes with separate toe spaces.  The look like mittens for your feet.  I love my new barefoot shoes.  I walk in them, run in them and wear them every chance I get.  I'm looking forward to wearing them in Mexico for the three-day walk.  Here's a link to the website to see for yourself.

Resolutions

The Year is 2012.  It will be a fantastic year for me. Here are my goals, in no certain order.

MIND
Read/Fastidiously- My reading challenge will be to read something for my pure enjoyment and 
                                     edification once a month
Bi/Lingual- My goal for this year is to become conversational in Spanish and Haitian Creole


BODY            
Walk/Barefoot- I plan to improve my posture, foot health, and overall fitness stamina by going barefoot 
                         as often as possible, but especially when I walk or run my three miles a day
Squat/Regularly- In place of sitting in conventional chairs, I plan to sit on either my mostly deflated 
                          fitness ball or tailor sit on the floor
Swing/Kettle- My weight training will consist of swinging the kettle bell with increasing reps and
                       increasing weights
Eat/To live- I will choose my foods based on my metabolic and energy needs and less on cravings,
                      habit, social pressure,or boredom 


SPIRIT
Breathe/Silence-  I will seek out daily meditative silence, and solitude and cultivate the discipline
                             of practiced deep breathing

Here's to a prosperous and fabulous New Year.

Breakthrough

My journey toward weight loss has been ongoing.  For several months, I was in Weight Watchers and it was working for me- until I lost my job, could no longer afford the monthly fees, and was booted out.  I could feel the few pounds I lost on WW creep back on in the two months since I've not has access.  I just finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  My friend Morningstar suggested it since it was about Indians of Mexico, near where we will be going for a pilgrimage in January (more on that later).  The book really changed my view about running, and even inspired me to try it.  I have been an avid walker for years and have been trying to boost my endurance for the five day pilgrimage in Mexico where I'll be walking up to 20 miles a day.  Strangely enough, the book also got me rethinking my diet.  I've been on a journey for years trying to discover the correct way for ME to eat. This book gave me some serious clues.  I have made progress now in a couple of areas.  I'm an avid water drinker- it is now my drink of choice.  I crave greens and try to eat them daily.  I still go back and forth on the consumption of meat.  I still think juicing is important.  I'm happy to cut back on dairy and increase my whole grain, beans, fruit, and vegetable consumption.  I find that I'm having to change some of my assumptions about food, and learn ways to prepare foods that I want to add to my diet.  It is a fun and challenging experiment.  Add to the complexity that I live with seven other people who just want me to cook like I always used to- although two of my six kids have become vegetarian.

For now I will continue my daily 3 mile walking/running circuit.  Add a daily free weight work out for replacing some of this fat with muscle.  Boost greens, grains, and beans and juicing- and decrease dairy and meat.  I can feel my body changing with this plan.  I'm grateful to be learning more and more about what works for me.  My body feels like an ally.

Green Pineapple

Today my morning juice was a recipe of fresh pineapple, red and green grapes, and spinach. I'm finding that a little bit of alkaline vegetable juice cuts some of the acidity/sweetness of my fruit juices for a nice balanced and fresh flavor. I usually use celery for this effect, but I've been experimenting with fresh spinach and I like how it mellows the juices. Most of the recipies call for half a glass of juice and the rest water, but I haven't been doing that. The impact on my colon results in a laxative effect. I'm not sure if its because I'm consuming too much fruit juice or what. I'm only drinking one glass a day. I plan to go on experimenting with my new juice book. I also walked with weights yesterday at the mall. My plan is juice for breakfast, raw at lunch, and vegetarian or vegan at dinner. I'm trying to make a plan that is workable for me, without feeling deprived. I find my morning juices are a great way to start the day.

Green Juice

My odessey continues as I try to do this weight loss thing. My latest kick: I went to see the movie, "May I be Frank" and found a new epiphany. I loved this movie (see the link to its homepage). I was so inspired that I made a 40 day plan for myself and I've been scurring around putting the pieces into place (more about that on an upcoming post). I made myself a nice glass of green juice this morning. I've been really getting into juicing these past frw months and want to make it a daily discipline. When I went to the screening of the movie, they served this juice and handed out the recipe. I loved it and couldn't wait to make it at home. The recipe is so simple: 2 granny smith apples, a nice juicy lemon, and a couple handfuls of spinach. Yummy! My first green juice. I had been reluctnant to add greens until I tried this concoction. I'm drinking a lovely green juice right now and I do love the way fresh juice makes my body feel, all tingly and alive. I strain the juice into a glass of ice to cut down on the foam. So fresh juice is my daily breakfast. I'm trying to incorporate it into lunch as well. Next on my to do list: Raw food. I found a nice website here to start me off. I'm also headed to the bookstore today to find a raw foods cookbook. Right now, I'm off to the mall to walk. I'm learning to enjoy the journey. I want to enjoy everyday of my weight loss journey, not just pine to be thin. I want to enjoy my body and my size whatever size I am. Cheers!

Women, Food and God

I've been reading a fabulous book, "Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth. I saw her on Oprah earlier this week, and it just so happened that I had picked up her book in a bookstore the previous week and flipped through it. I went back the next day and purchased it. It has been a very good read. I feel as though I got the exact same message when I read, " The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle. Both books have confirmed my internal wisdom about the folly of diets. (I purchased the 'Biggest Loser' books but have never read them.) I believe I can and will lose weight by being more conscious in my eating. The one thing I have taken from Geneen's book, is self kindness. I have become kinder to myself. An interesting offshoot of that, is that I am kinder to others as well. The other big change in my life? Getting back to gardening. My mental health is greatly improved to same degree that I spend time in my garden. I feel more balanced, more even. Who would have thought digging in the dirt would accomplish that? Still losing weight even if in tiny bits. Will review the Roth book when I finish reading it.

Modest Loser

The year is off to a grand start. I've been keeping my committment to myself to work out 30 minutes a day, and eat more consciously. My consumption has become less mindless and automatic as I really think about everything I put into my mouth. I'm thrilled with my modest weight loss this past month. I'm taking a look at the biggest loser diet and how it works to give myself some bounderies. I appears very doable, even though I've resisted diets in the past. I'm considering giving it a shot.