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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

My Stars, it’s a book review.

This is a review of the book “One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and The Twelve Steps” by Kevin Griffin. The book was suggested to me by Richard, the store owner at Easy Does It Books and Gifts in Long Beach, California. The author is a Buddhist meditation teacher and a member of a Twelve Step fellowship.

I was interested to see how a Buddhist “no god” religion could be interlinked with a western God concept program. I was also eager to find out more about the Buddhist practice or style of meditation as I travel a path nearby there regularly.

This book is worth the time to read and contemplate. Many concepts are explained with examples of how they applied to the author’s life and how they might be applied to the readers’ life. There are spots in the story that seemed to ramble but that was his life at the time. The author did a good job of marrying the two philosophies.

This was done by reducing both philosophies to the most basic: whether talking about Buddha or Bill Wilson (A.A. founder), there are three characteristics of all existence.

1. Impermanence

2. Suffering

3. Not-self

These are well detailed in the book. The author went through this process of duality in his life to save himself. It was ultimately a practical move on his spiritual path. The Afterword of the book gave me some additional insight into the author as a result of the original publication. Be sure it check it out.

One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps

Here is a quote from Goodreads. ”One Breath at a Time, describes the convergence of two vital traditions, one ancient, the other contemporary, and shows how they are working together to create a rich spiritual path for our times.”

Need Stars? let’s go with 4 out of 5.

 

Some things that can change your life

Twitter post from American Nomad

-making time to talk to friends/fam

-stretching

-taking care of your skin

-smiling more

-doing more of what you love doing

-exercising

-being in nature

-hydrating

-long walks

-going to concerts, parks, museums

-reading

-petting animals

 

Be healthy,

Dave

Not A Tie Again

What does he like and what will he use? I looked at several sites to find things of interest.

1.Fitbit Alta HR, Black, Large (US Version) Men’s Health likes it.

2. Kindle Paperwhite – Now Waterproof with more than 2x the Storage – Includes Special Offers. If he already has a Kindle, Amazon has a reasonably priced waterproof case. Temdan Kindle Paperwhite Waterproof Case Rugged Sleek Transparent Cover with Built in Screen Protector Case for Kindle Paperwhite.

3.Stamina 36-Pound Adjustable Kettle Versa-Bell. Another Men’s Health idea.

4.Wireless Portable Chargers 10000mAh, Hokonui Fast Wireless Charger Smallest Portable Charger with High-Speed 18W PD 3.0,QC 3.0 Port and LCD Display USB-C Power Bank for iPhone,Samsung and More -Black. Good price for all the bells and whistles.

5.WHITIN Men’s Quick Drying Water Shoes for Aqua Hiking Trail Running Sport Minimalist Barefoot Wave Walking Beach Swim Surf Outdoor Kayaking Athletic Male Blue Size 13

Be Healthy, your purchase from this site helps support it.

Please make sure you are following; valuable information is pending,

Dave

 

 

My Fit to Fat and Back blog is one year old. That is 27 posts and about 12,000 words. “Back to fit” the journey is not over. The year was my second at watching my weight. I am down 32 pounds total with 22 of those pounds in the last year. I lead a better life in 3 areas: 1. I eat a healthier diet, 2. I exercise more regularly, 3. I meditate and pray regularly.

Area 1. Eating better is the result of being more food aware or food conscious. After I moved away from “fast food” because of its poisonous and additives qualities, I next moved away from prepackaged foods as I learned to do a better job of label reading. I eat both of these things only occasionally. This leaves me with a diet of lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, and better quality meat. I have a limited GPS rule; limit Grains, Potatoes, and Sugar.

Area 2. Regular exercise is still a work in progress. I am dealing with some old health issues. There are old surgeries and old football and wrestling injuries which seems to be aggravated by some activities, weight, and age. I turn 72 this year. Progress is being made by carving out time for activities in my 2 job work schedule. I must get out there and get moving.

Area 3. The area of spiritual practice involves some reading and learning. I practice this daily. Start daily with a prayer of gratitude and hope. I find time to meditate for 5 to 30 minutes daily, beginning by being conscious of my breath. I would like to improve in this area to have a better relationship with all the people in my life.

The mechanics for the blog are still not perfected. The marketing of the blog as a product is still not a smooth seemed item. I want it to reach and benefit thousands and I’m at 30. I still have work to do.

The Pointers for Today:

Read the labels

Practice portion control

Eat fresh, local product when possible, and organic when possible

Exercise regularly, get up and move

Name 5 things you are grateful for in 30 seconds

Have an attitude of gratitude.

Books I am currently reading:

My daughter gave me this one, it’s great. This is really well written.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

This is a re-read for me and great beginners guide to meditation. I have it on my FIRE from Amazon.

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
I bought this one from Easy Does It Books in Long Beach, California. It’s a good read from a great little store.

One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps

My next read:

This one comes recommended by my jungle trail running buddy. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery

Be Healthy,

Dave

 

Once again I dove into a project without all the information I needed. I was sure it would be okay. Sagittarius enthusiasm would carry me through whatever came up. I went on a detox and purification diet about 4 years ago. It was a 21-day program. The first 10 days of the program were meatless with a pretty specific menu of regimented veggie recipes choice to follow. There were good supplements and juice shakes with protein powder to consume daily. I lost 7 or 8 pounds the first week even though it wasn’t designed to be a weight loss program. The program meals required prep time and, of course, no “out to eat” meals.

NutriBullet NBR-1201 12-Piece High-Speed Blender/Mixer System, Gray (600 Watts)

I fired up my Nutribullet and followed the program. By day 4 I hit the lack of energy wall plus the “brain fog” thing was real. When I finally reached day 11 and was allowed to add small portions of clean meat back into my diet, I hoped to brain fog would lift. No luck, the mid-day slump continued.

Day 12’s meal plan was similar to the others except the dinner included a baked whole sweet potato. I had only eaten the holiday version and was not a big fan. That fact made this baked, buttered, and cinnamon tuber in med detox a heavenly rescue for my program. The brain fog lifted and my energy returned. At the end of 21 days, I had learned a lot and I saved the excellent veggie recipes.

After thinking there must be something wrong with this program, I went back over all the literature to see if I had missed something. I found that I had misread the directions and was supposed to have made myself another veggie juice shake with protein powder added about the time of my regular afternoon slump. It was my fault, not the program.

In the late 1980s, I belonged to a backpacking club, The Sunset Beach Trudgers. We would head into the local mountains once a month for an overnight outing. The group was almost all novice hikers of various ages and physical abilities. There were a couple of organizers who would scout out spots and acquire any needed permits. Alton was a sort of spiritual leader of the group. He was in his 60’s and fit. The group always had some new young enthusiast, who would have the latest rental gear from REI. Alton’s gear was from garage sales. Our newcomer would snack on the latest protein bar from Whole foods. Alton had a baked sweet potato wrap in foil. By the end of the hike, Alton was still full of energy and our newcomer was learning a nutrition lesson.

The baked sweet potato is now on my regular menu.

***Nutrition Facts

Baked Sweet potato, boiled Sweet potato, mashed Sweet potato

Amount Per 100 grams 1 sweet potato, 5″ long (130 g)1 cup, cubes (133 g) 1 cup, cubes (133 g)

Calories 114

 

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0.1 g	0%
Saturated fat 0 g	0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0 g
Monounsaturated fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0%
Sodium 73 mg	3%
Potassium 448 mg	12%
Total Carbohydrate 27 g	9%
Dietary fiber 4 g	16%
Sugar 6 g
Protein 2.1 g	4%

 

Vitamin A	377%	Vitamin C	5%
Calcium	4%	Iron	4%
Vitamin D	0%	Vitamin B-6	15%
Cobalamin	0%	Magnesium	8%

Be Healthy,

Dave