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New Year's Day has come and gone did you make a resolution? Many people do and if it works for you - YEA! I made my final resolution in 2000 vowing to never make a resolution on January 1 again and it has worked for me.
While a new year is a good kickstarter, it rarely holds much past mid-January. Why? Oh, there are many reasons least of all there are so many options presented to us via television, social media, links promising success, and then there are those who have had success sharing their how-to! Well, be that as it may, until you are ready to make a change it just won't happen. Recently, it was suggested I try Noom and yes, I'm calling them out specifically because it is just one of the many ways to create failure. I paid their whopping 3-month fee and was pumped and ready to go. In the first three weeks I did lose a respectable amount, impressing even my nurse practitioner. But the kudos stop there. While the 'lessons' were somewhat helpful it wasn't anything I didn't already know. And, yes, I gave it my all! About midway, I found my scale inching up. I hate food logging mostly because I make all my own food so breaking down recipes was a pain in the you know what! But, I was dutiful and hopeful. When my 3-month stint was coming to an end, I reached out to Noom inquiring how to transition to their free version. After all, I had done all my lessons (yeah, that's the psychology part of the program), saved them for future reference (as suggested by the customer service person) and as my renew date approached I was pumped to do it on my own! I felt ready even though my scale was not my friend. As much as I love accountability, I was disappointed at my obvious failure. But, I was ready to move on. After several ... rather, many attempts to make the free version work giving me access to the lessons and food diary, as promised all I got were incessant pleas from Noom to upgrade. The free version never did what I was told it would do. Then, another plea to upgrade, but now it's free for a short time. After numerous emails and texts, I blocked them. I'm done with you, Noom. You are scamming the public with your promises of personal coaches - yeah, there aren't any, just if you join a community then maybe, possibly, a coach will pipe in. Then, get this ... I could be a coach, too ... apparently, anyone can be a coach. Oh, please ... Bottom line? I went back to MyFitnessPal ... logging food is still a pain, but it is considerably more user friendly - maybe it's because I 'grew up using it' or perhaps, it really is a better app. Then, get this ... on my Fitbit, they now offer a 'food' tab allowing me to enter my food. All in all, it is a struggle for me. Now, if you know me personally, you know I'm pretty fit, and depend on my village to keep me that way. What village, you ask? Ah, so easy ... as we age stuff starts to happen - stupid stuff that we either ignored as younger people or it wasn't a big deal because we healed more quickly. Now that I've hit 75, it takes a wee bit longer to 'get over' whatever it is. Who's in my village? My chiropractor - two visits a month keep me aligned. My massage therapist - one to two visits a month to work out the knots I create playing pickleball, walking, exercising, etc. My physical therapist who is always just a prescription away! Oh, yoga. My yogis cover me inside and out! But, the biggest part of my village is my husband, Tom. He is my rock ... always.
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Happy 77th birthday to my DOH, Tom.
His goto breakfast has always been waffles! Give him a hot waffle slathered in grassfed butter, with a side of bacon and an ice cold glass of milk and he will smile all day! As a young woman, I was always told, "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach!" Fortunately, I enjoy cooking and Tom is always quick to say I am a magician with it comes to preparing our meals. Most cooks can throw a meal together with little effort - we're the ones who shop, know what we have 'in stock' and have learned the trick of modifying! Happy birthday, sweetheart! Eating low-glycemic can be a challenge especially when I'm looking for something sweet. I know it's best to eat sweet foods with a healthy fat and protein but sometimes it's hard. Imagine my surprise when I have some apple left over from another recipe that I remembered one of my grandkid's favorites snacks ... apple nachos!
The wonderful crunch from the apple, coconut, and pecans, the tartness from the lemon juice, plus the mellow, melt-in-your mouth peanut butter just made my day! This recipe is so open to variations that you can pretty much do what you want! Apple Nachos Everyone - well, if you're over 60 - is thinking about brain health these days. All of us have misplaced our keys, phone or walked into a room wondering why. It happens. We're busy, we're tired, and we're old. But what can we do about our forgetfulness? Is it something to worry about? Yes and no.
Don't panic. Just take a look at what you're eating and see if you can make some changes ... and by all means don't do it all at once or your family and friends will notice!! Recently, I have been reading about dementia and wondered why the US is riddled with dementia patients. What gives? I thought long and hard about it and wondered if the craze for low fat diets was really as helpful and we were being told. I don't think so. Our brain needs GOOD fats and sadly Americans are eating way too much food and BAD fats. Yes, it makes a difference. I'll let you do your own research, so don't just listen to me. What I do works for me - at least so far - and my husband and I are happy with our choices. Here is a link to get you started ... please remember ... not everything thing you read, hear, learn, and utilize is the final answer. Research continues daily ... be a life-long learner. Here's your link: https://www.eatingwell.com/article/290813/mind-diet-best-foods-to-eat-to-keep-your-brain-young/ I'll admit it! I am a butter snob. Recently, I went to a local restaurant and asked the waitress if they used butter or margarine. "Oh, honey, we only use real butter!" she said. "It comes in a big brown tub."
Sigh. "Oh, honey," I said, "that isn't butter, it's margarine." I got the deer in the headlight look and she walked away. I don't even care for American butter ... it just doesn't taste the way I think it should. I remember the days of my mother baking bread. As we walked in the door after school, my siblings and I couldn't wait to have a piece or two or three slathered with real butter! We could easily devour the entire loaf. Ah, those were the days of real food. A little Google search took me to an interesting site about the preferred butter of famous chefs. Interested? CLICK. I'm always talking about food. I admit it. I love food - and all aspects from researching recipes to preparing shopping lists and meal plans, and of course, cooking to cleaning up! My home is my happy place, especially my kitchen. It isn't anything fancy, but it's filled with everything I need.
So often people ask me where I get my food. I love high quality foods, raised sustainably with respect for the animals. I have shared my goto online stores above and often with referral links, if you're interested in checking it out. Click 'COMMENTS' below the title to share your thoughts.
So many folks have asked for my homemade dog food recipe and I have promised many I would add it. Well, it's simple until it's not. First of all, it's best if your diet is well beyond what our government deems adequate. Fresh, wholesome meals filled with organic fruits and vegetables, whole ancient grains, lean meats, and lots of love!
Your pups are as fussy as you are ... if you wouldn't eat it save it for the compost pile! Over the years we have had two Irish Wolfhounds (the reason we started making our own food), a German Shepherd, a darling, sweet Airedale and a long list of rescues, strays, and giveaways. To date, those mentioned lived well beyond the expected years. OK, OK ... here you go ... Start saving your fruit and vegetable scraps in your freezer (we use a square tub that fits well in the corner of our freezer drawer). If you're not sure about giving your pup a particular food, don't do it. We often find ourselves saying, "Alexa, is pumpkin safe for dogs?" She promptly said, "Yes!" Here are some ingredients OK for dogs: Vegetables: carrots, celery, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, pumpkin. Say NO to onions, garlic, mushrooms, chives, and corn on the cob, in fact, avoid corn all together! Fruit: blueberries, watermelon, bananas, cantaloupe, avocados, pumpkin, berries, mango cucumbers, apples, pears, cranberries. Just like us, limit sweets! Meats: chicken thighs (breast is OK, too, but thighs taste better!), wild caught fish, ground beef/pork/turkey, organ meats. Grains: Grains are not required, but we do feed our babies quinoa. We also give our pups store bought dry food. The crunch is good for their teeth and makes dinner more interesting. Our preferred brand is Sam's Club Jinx food. Having one baby left, our sweet Luna, who is a Jackador, we make food about once a week. Each batch is put into small baggies - two for the frig and the rest for the freezer. This recipes should serve a 40# dog for about a week. Luna gets 1/2 cup of dry food and a 1/2 cup of homemade food, twice a day. 
Our sweet Luna ... after many, many pets, we are down to Luna and two cats, Gracie and Bob.
There are several ways to prepare food for your dogs and we've done them all ... stovetop, crockpot, InstantPot, and oven. Our favorite way is our InstantPot.
Click 'COMMENTS' below the title to share your thoughts.
Today, I spoke with a friend who is dealing with some medical challenges. I offered her a book to provide information not about her challenges, but how to make life as it today, less challenging. If you noticed the blog graphic, I quote an English Proverb, "Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork." This quote says it all. My friend agreed wholeheartedly, then she said, "If it's approved by the FDA, I'll pass."
Sad, isn't it that we are still looking for answers ... I believe we need to ask different questions.
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