Month: July 2019

Moderation, Where are the lines?

TODAY

Before noon today: I spent a little time in Morning Prayer and Meditation. I had a nice ocean swim at Seal Beach. I ate a healthy breakfast. I did a little internet and email work, and I wrote the rough draft for this blog. 

Blog Altruism

This blog started as a chronicle of my “return to fitness”. I was fat and out of shape. I felt crappy all the time and I was on my way to a catastrophic medical event. It was to help keep me motivated and on the path: fit to fat and back. At some point, it turned into a place to share the information I was collecting regarding the integration of diet, exercise, and spiritual fitness.

It still is all of that. It consumes a big portion of my time and thoughts. The amount of information available is beyond my capacity to sort. The sorting involves a landfill of trash and false information. I must stick to the basics so as to not be part of the landfill provided by the processed food producers, marketeer Doctors, and plain old charlatans. Everything has a price, I get that. 

Blog Altruism also has its limit for me. The blog needs to pay for itself, cover it’s out of pocket costs. I am not a professional blogger, my degree is in Physical Education. I am not a skilled writer, this copy has to go through grammar checking software. The remedy I came up with was not based on internet savvy. I put up a “donate” button. One friend put in $10 dollars, cool. Another friend put in $10 dollars but forgot he did it. When the accounting came he reversed the donation and “PayPal” send him the money back and then charged me a $10 dollar fee for that. The result was zero for the site. Next, I set up to be an “amazon affiliate”. Everyone trusts Amazon. I posted a few links to related stuff. One lady saw something she was thinking about, but when the link transferred her to amazon, the site change scared her and she backed off. My son saw a book I was promoting and bought it through a site where he found it cheaper. A daughter saw my marketing fitness list for fathers day so she referred her sister to it. She bought a nice gift for me through Amazon but not through my affiliate link. I have no amazon sales and they are telling me I have 90 days to get sales or I’m out. Well, that sucks.

Gratitude is a prime component of healthy living. Clearly, I don’t have the marketing thing figured out. If the goal is healthy, wealthy, and wise, maybe I’m batting 300. I am grateful for family, friends, health, and home.

This is some top pick gear from Amazon. If you go through this link you will pay nothing extra, but I will get credit for it.

INEVIFIT Body-Analyzer Scale, Highly Accurate Digital Bathroom Body Composition Analyzer, Measures Weight, Body Fat, Water, Muscle, BMI, Visceral Levels & Bone Mass for 10 Users. 5-Year Warranty

Sunny Health & Fitness SF-B1002 49lb Flywheel Belt Drive Indoor Cycle Bike

Simple Modern Summit Water Bottle + Extra Lid – Wide Mouth Vacuum Insulated 18/8 Stainless Steel Powder Coated

Check this out: “The C Word”. 50% of people will get cancer. 70% of the cancers are preventable. Sugar is bad. Get some good information from this Netflix documentary. Check it out.

To be healthy, eat wisely. Eat clean, local, fresh, organic vegetables. Eat free-range, ethically raised and butchered meat and wild-caught fish. Exercise daily for 30 minutes or more, you choose the activity. Pray and meditate daily, inner peace will breed outer peace.

Be healthy,

Dave

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is my “go to” spot. It is almost 1200 acres of urban wilderness and bird wetland across PCH from the State Beach. This area has an interesting history from Native Peoples to Spanish Rancho to Duck hunters to WWII coastal cannon site and oil wells to upscale housing. You can google the details. Its location along Coast Highway makes it a very unique area. It has a good hill in it with some trees to give the walk some variety. I bought new hiking boots last week. There was a sale and my old boots had always pinched my toes. I found a new pair of boots that fit well so I had to test them out. That’s what got me to The Bolsa Chica this time.

I entered off of a lower lot which has access to a path which I seldom use. I wanted something different with new dirt for my new boots. It was an overcast morning which is common this time of year, sort of leftover “June gloom”. I trudged forward. It was a wet winter here so the grass and scrub brush was shoulder high and already browning. It was a great walk for spiritual renewal and for breaking in my new boots.

Where is your spot to renew your spirit and break in new boots?

4 Week Walking Plan

Today I am reintroducing the starter plan for daily walking. If you are just considering a diet and exercise routine, this is for you. https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/4-week-walking-plan-for-weight-loss/

My Fitness Pal has a phone app so you can track your activity. It is a good starter plan. You will burn 200 to 300 calories a day on this plan and then you can step it up. The app will also track food for calories and nutrition which will enhance your food awareness. This is a healthy eating practice.

5 Easy ways to eat more fruit and veggies from diet.mayoclinic.org.

Make fruits and veggies the star of your daily diet with these ideas:

1. Snack smart. Keep vegetables washed and cut in your refrigerator for quick snacks. Or reach for vegetables that require little preparation, such as baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Keep a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter. Just be sure to limit your intake of dried fruits because they’re not as filling as whole fruits and they have a lot more calories in a smaller volume of food. For example, 1⁄4 cup of raisins has the same number of calories — about 100 — as almost 2 cups of grapes.
2. Experiment with new combinations. Try mango or peach slices on whole-wheat toast with a little peanut butter and honey. Toss some mandarin orange or peach slices into a salad.
3. Choose recipes that have vegetables or fruits as a main ingredient. Try pineapple-chicken stir-fry, tomato-basil pizza or vegetarian chili.
4. Start your day with a fruit or vegetable. Sprinkle a handful of blueberries on your morning cereal or oatmeal. Saute red peppers, tomatoes or spinach into your scrambled eggs.
5. Drink your fruits and vegetables. But don’t reach for prepared fruit juice! Instead, turn the whole fruits and vegetables into a refreshing drink. Make a smoothie with plain low-fat yogurt and your favorite frozen fruits. Or puree together bananas, berries, lemon, mint, ice and 2 cups of fresh raw baby spinach — this green concoction may look odd, but it tastes delicious!

As you can see from these suggestions, sneaking more fruits and veggies into your diet can be easy, convenient — and fun!

Be healthy,

Dave

 

 

We cooked and cleaned, that’s what we do when we are going to entertain. Dr. Robin and I unspokenly went about our duties of preparation. I grumped and groused as I always do. In the end, our friends showed up and we had a great time. We were eating a healthy fare and telling stories, planning some hikes and camping trips. There were conversations about work and children and all was as it should be. There is no “other shoe” to drop, we enjoyed the company of our friends.

The backyard highlights included 4 hawks in a fly by to a power wire, 2 fighter jets in a fly by from some other event and 2 pineapples maturing in a patio pot. Now that is not deep but it is eclectic.

We relocated from the back yard patio where we had gathered around the grill to the front driveway so we could enjoy the neighborhood fireworks. They were grand. Everything the stadium show would have was scattered throughout the neighborhood. Our personal show had a finale of a firework that looks like the jumbo bucket of popcorn from the movies. It went on and on to our cheers. It was grand.

My thought for today is from Emmet Fox: God knows me, and loves me and cares for me. I am just as dear to him as any human being who has ever lived.

I’ll be out walking today, I hope to see you.

Be healthy,

Dave

What to eat at the 4th of July gathering?

When it comes to blogging more often would be good. I am getting requests for more information about what I am doing to stay fit and eat right. I will try to be more informative and consistent.  The 4th of July is here and we are having a couple of friends over. The menu will be a healthy one; chicken breast k-bobs, zucchini k-bobs, corn on the cob, and cauliflower rice.

Doctor Robin and Dave’s Vegan and Paleo Cauliflower Rice

One Cauliflower head

One small onion

One garlic clove

A ¼ cup of organic vegetable broth

Salt & pepper

Rice the cauliflower in a food processor

1 tablespoon of coconut oil hot in a skillet

Add chopped onion and garlic, cook until soft

Add riced cauliflower, cook for about 5 minutes

Add broth and salt and pepper, cook about 3 minutes more.

Optional garnish with basil or parsley or cilantro.

 

As many of you know I am outside a lot with my work and play.

Here is a good product I am using to protect the skin on my arms.

They are not expensive and they are really comfortable.

UV Protection Cooling Arm Sleeves – UPF 50 Compression Sun Sleeves for Men & Women for Running, Cycling, Fishing, Golf, Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball & Football – Skin Cancer Foundation Recommended

Here is a link to a really good article about salt consumption. Salt consumption is a place where less is better.

Why High And Low Salt Diets Can Be Unhealthy by Steven James Humphreys

 

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/116936004/posts/20596

 

You can enjoy the fun on the 4th guilt free, just use a little food awareness.

Be healthy,

Dave