ahhh

i went to a yoga class last night. i was really surprised how much i needed it. most of my gym attendance is high intensity aerobic classes. so it was a big change to participate in yoga for 90 minutes. i. loved. it. so. much. i'm trying to figure out how to go to it next week in the midst of our move. i'll find a way.

omahamandy: Links to love

omahamandy: Links to love

so proud

i'm so proud today. one of our photographers from the wedding, one of my favorite people of all time just got accepted into the duke divinity doctorate school...as the first african american woman.

it is 2010.

she is incredibly inspiring. pushes me to write my book. inspires me towards health. and i'm looking forward to the things that will come from her.

anticipating lent

i noticed that my heart is preparing itself for lent. i don't know how to explain it. something shifted today and i knew that it was about to be the season of lent. i felt that God was pressing on my heart to be present in this moment of the season. i enjoy having things planned out...i like learning workout routines...i like to know what to expect. but this season of Lent i want to be present to this moment (like i said). i will give things up, i will add things. but i know that i'll be present. that's it.

nasty

sometimes people eat some nasty stuff for the sake of saving calories. i read a few weight loss journey blogs and sometimes they are the best and sometimes they are the worst. someone decided that oatmeal would be good with eggs and salsa. mixed in. and all under 300 calories. that's just some nasty you know what.

just eat an egg on the side, with salsa...and have some oatmeal. and if you cannot stand to have calories, throw some spenda on there. but if you have some calories to spare and you want some nutrients maybe...add a piece of fruit. but seriously. don't skimp on taste. that's just nasty.

eating well

i think that we think of eating well in a few forms.
we hear about all of these diets/fads that promise we'll lose 15 pounds in 15 days.
then we hear about plans that are not diets, they are ways of living. those plans typically acknowledge that our life has to change when we eat well and that results take time...how much time...we don't know. we're all different.

and then, there's another part of eating well within those eating well plans. we can choose to eat good and rich foods in moderation. i've mentioned that before. or we can eat substitutes that try and mimic those good and rich foods.

del marie's blog gives a good perspective on eating well.

to me eating well is eating food closest to its natural form. the farther away we get from food in its natural form the more good 'n' bad extras we'll have in our food. eating well is also eating with respect to our bodies, others and the earth. we have to fuel our bodies with good food. this afternoon i was at subway and no joke, one of the employees asked...um, does this tea have calories in it? (ask me to say that outloud for you, it's pretty funny). i said, unsweetened tea doesn't have any calories, the green tea over there, yes, yes it does. but green tea is good for you. we've demonized so many types of foods because of calories, fat grams and carbs that we don't even know what good food is anymore. there's a bit of theory behind how we make our food decisions. if i could find that paper, i'd post it. it's a grad paper for a theories class. i did well on it :) anyway, the idea is that our food decisions are a cycle based on what is popular in diet fads...so, remember a few years ago? low-carb/south beach diet was all the rage...then all of the restaurants changed their menus to match it....we all bought into it and ate low carb/south beach...we fed the diet fad by eating the diet fad food. we kept it going. weird huh? so, if we look around at the ads we're seeing, what are we being told? what are we listening to? what are we believing?

anyway. this is a long blog. i hope we can find ways to figure out how to eat well as a community. i believe that it's a sign of hope for the future.

my campaign for more yogurt

alright, it's true, i want more del marie yogurt. yes, i'll be okay if i don't get it until it's on the market sometime this spring. but this week has been a great breakfast week. i decided that i would have yogurt each morning for breakfast. it's been a week and it's been a great week. the combination of lowfat granola, splash of fiber one and yogurt have made me crave breakfast each morning. today was the best breakfast so far. it was a variation of a breakfast that daphne made me with yogurt on thursday. yogurt, granola and an orange. heaven.

i'm not sure what i'll do now that i'm without yogurt. maybe i'll go back to my trusty oatmeal. or maybe i'll boycott ;). either way, i've appreciated del marie and the lovely yogurt they will be providing for the omaha area. we need this.

good, rich food part two

i had more of the delmarie yogurt. i shared it with one of the creators, daph. we had a little granola, pecans and oranges. after daph put some oranges in hers, i did, too. it was delicious. i came to the conclusion that good, natural food enhances the flavor of other good, natural food. that's why good, rich coffee goes well with good, rich chocolate. it just makes sense. no preservatives, just the goodness in its original form. i think that's why i adore plain oatmeal.

good, rich food

i like good food. when i eat good, rich food, i'm much fuller than if i eat a substitute. it's a true story. i'd rather have a homemade cookie...savor it rather than eat through a 100 calorie pack of small cookies. with recent stories about fake sugar being bad for our bodies...i'm trying to figure out how to incorporate more natural sweeteners. (basically, bodies have a hard time distinguishing between fake sugar and real sugar...so, when we eat a lot of fake sugar our body wants to actually get those fake calories, does that make sense?) anyway, i have some real, yummy yogurt...it is natural, full fat and it's so worth it. i have just a half a cup...and it's only 2 points (ww) and it's decadent. i could easily get a 1 point or 2 point substitute but i wouldn't be satisfied.

our obsession with food has taken away one of the things that I do think that God gave us...the sense of taste. we don't need to overeat or obsess over food. i think we can just enjoy it...in freedom.

so this week i'm going to have this yogurt and granola each morning and see how i feel. i noticed today that i was full until lunch and was craving it when i got home :) i think that's good food. thanks delmarie.

so i'm finding freedom in this journey. more and more freedom that i am really thankful for today :)