Exercising for the Health of It

I started exercising my junior year of high school - I'd run on the treadmill in the workout room in our apartment and swim laps in our tiny pool.

(Honestly, though - the running was just because I could watch Friends at 7:30pm while I ran. And my mom wouldn't let me watch it with my younger siblings around. Something about promiscuous values. But, anyway.)

I haven't always had the best relationship with exercise - I've often viewed it not primarily as a way to relieve stress, be healthy, or feel good - but as a way to lose weight.

Let me be clear - I am a, dare I say, thin person. I've never really had real issues with my weight (Well, okay, there was that time in college I worked at Coldstone for two months and gained 10 pounds. Mmm...milkshakes with cookie dough.) Of course, because I objectively haven't had weight issues doesn't mean I'm not a typical woman with insecurities and silly moments where I crumple into a heap on the floor over my tummy pooch.

I love to run, though. LOVE.

However, about a year ago, I began to suffer from what I think is illotial band syndrome - which causes knee pain when running. That, combined with my insane ability to somehow not gain weight despite occasionally eating cookie dough (Confession: I buy Trader Joe's cookie dough for the explicit reason of popping chunks of it for dessert. Who needs baked cookies?) and running less made me feel like a sloth.

No one likes to feel like a sloth.

Even though I was effortlessly weighing less than I did in high school - I wasn't moving. The novel idea that, "Hey! I can exercise for other reasons too!" hit me and I've started walking.

Yes. Walking. (What? It's totally exercise!)

I figure, I'm going to be a power walking mom one day, might as well get a head start.

I even got a pedometer. It's true. I have no hope of ever being a hip 20 something.

For the past few weeks, I've been getting up at 6:45 instead of 7:30 and heading outside for a 30 minute stroll. It's wonderful to spend some time outside before stuffing myself into dress pants and a cubicle. I love moving around before I sit down for 8 hours. I get some time to myself and work up a tiny sweat. Plus, walking around outside is far more relaxing than running on a treadmill next to other people while we're all rigged up to our TV screens.

Walking allows me to be able to think about the day ahead of me and pay more attention to my surroundings. I still adore running and getting all sweaty (seriously. I do.), but until I figure out how my health insurance will allow me to get physical therapy (without my knee problem becoming a "pre existing condition" when I change jobs in July. Argh!) - I'm sticking with the slower paced, more relaxing morning walks. Mmm.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Yesterday as we were wheeling our bikes out of the grocery store parking lot, Mike said:

At first, I saw a Prius, and I was like, "Yeah Prius! Woohoo!" then I was like, "You know what's better than a freaking Prius?!? Riding your effing bike to the store!"

He then proceed to analyze how Americans just love to purchase stuff. ANY stuff, especially if that stuff is supposed to be good for us. We can be "green" and still be hardcore consumers! Have our cake and eat it, too! All is good in the world!

That mentality is obviously wrong in so many ways, but it's not surprising - billions of dollars get pumped into the marketing and advertising industry in this country. People are paid to make us think we need more stuff. Lots of stuff. And we do like to shop - it's practically our national pastime.

Let's think about exercise for a minute, shall we? Our grandparents didn't have to exercise - they had chores and walked or biked places. They got fresh air because computers, video games, and TVs didn't keep them inside all day. They didn't have to carve out special time for exercise, they just stayed in shape doing everyday activities.

Today? We have machines and tools to make our lives easier -- from our power vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers to the car-centric suburbs...As a result, we have to do less physical work. Which I'm sure many people would praise. But then, since we sit at a desk and/or in a car most of the day, we either get fat or have to haul ourselves to the gym and jump on another machine to get into shape.

I'm totally a product of this culture - on my college campus, everyone was constantly either on their cellphones or listening to their ipod. But I wonder if it sort of ruins our sense of community when everyone is always by themselves - in their car alone, or on a treadmill with their earbuds stuck in their ears, or chatting on their cellphone as they walk their dog around the block. A professor in college mentioned one day that if we run or walk outside while listening to music, we miss so much. We miss the chance to clear our minds and be connected with what is around us.

At first, I balked. I ran to be in shape, my ipod made it more bearable. But then I tried it - running at night with no music, just the street in front me. I became addicted. (Check out this ode to running on my old blog.)

Now, I'm glad we live somewhere we can walk across the street for some coffee or ride our bikes to the market. I like to be outside and interact with people! And get exercise while doing something else, instead of forcing myself to because I'm "supposed to" and because "it's healthy." (Bonus: If you bike or walk places, you are likely supporting local businesses. Unless you happen to live really close to a suburban-sprawl-chain-store-strip-mall area.)

I guess what I'm really wondering is: Why can't we just simplify instead of making everything so complicated??

When I lived in Hawaii, this was my only mode of transportation.

What was Hawaii like, you ask?

Well, that was my school.

And that was my chubby self after working at Cold Stone :)

Yep, I liked it there.

Proof Being A Vegetarian Doesn't Suck

Delicious, delightful baked potato chips

It's as easy as 1-2-3 to enjoy...
1) Cut a washed potato into thin slices
2) Toss with olive oil and desired spices. It's fun to experiment!
3) Broil on a flat cookie sheet for around 10 minutes, turning once. Keep your eye on the oven.

Enjoy! (With ketchup if you like!)

And if you want to make ANOTHER simple snack that I adore:

Healthy Peanut Butter Bites
1/2 cup peanut butter (preferably natural)
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup dry nonfat milk powder
1/4 cup ground flax or wheat germ
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

- Use a coffee grinder (or blender or food processor or a mortar and pestle) to grind up the coconut.
- Mix all ingredients together
- Form into 1 inch (2.2 cm) balls
- Place on wax paper (or if you're me, place in lots of random plastic tubs)
- Refrigerate - you can eat them after one hour (If you can wait!)
- The keep in the fridge for a week or so. I wouldn't know, we eat them in a FLASH!

*If you don't like coconut, just double the amount of wheat germ.

Happy eating!

Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit.

I don't eat meat, so to get protein I consume lots of beans. We use beans for hummus, quesadillas and to add to mac and cheese, salads, stir fries and sooo much more. (FYI: The average American consumes 50% MORE protein than the RDA. So eating beans, grains, and veggies gets us enough protein without needing supplements.) Beans are a fantastic nutritional source - there's more calcium, less fat, and more potassium in black beans than in 95% fat free beef. As an added bonus, they are more affordable in comparison. Especially if you’re like me and decide to buy dried beans. It always seemed like such a pain to worry about rinsing, sorting, soaking, and cooking beans that you could just as easily pop open a can and dump into a bowl.

Then, as always, Crunchy mentioned something about beans and I gave it a try. I had never even so much as looked at the dried beans at the grocery store, but when I did. WOAH. Less than a dollar for THAT much beans!? Being Young, Fabulous, and Broke, I decided to quickly snatch up half a dozen bags of beans. What a steal! I could figure out how to cook them later.

I am lazy and therefore half read the instructions on the back of the package. Three cups water, one cup beans – boil until they’re soft. That’s my Cliff Notes version. There are all kinds of options like quick soaking and overnight and blah blah blah. My lazy girl method seems to work so far*. But if you’re cooking chickpeas (for yummy hummus; which is consequently the cornerstone of my husband’s diet. I swear that if I didn’t cook he’d eat cereal for every meal of the day. Not that I have anything against cereal. Mmm. Cereal.) you need to add fresh water a couple of times because it boils down. I learned the hard way last week when I set off the smoke detector and found a saucepan of blackened chickpeas. (Yes. I used them still. Blackened chickpea hummus is a delicacy in some places.)

So bottom line. Beans are delicious and nutritious. They’re REALLY cheap if you can handle a little more work and get some dried beans. Throw them in anything for a great meal. Uh, except for waffles. Or oatmeal. That could be weird. (Although authentic Chinese food does involve some interesting sweets with red beans.) Get creative though!


*If you prefer, you can be a lazy girl (or boy) with your slow cooker as well. I fully support that.

A Perfect Saturday Morning

* Wake up and do some some yoga with Baron Baptiste.

* Go to the market downtown, grab some yummy food and some fair trade, organic coffee and check out what the adorable Amish grandpa has today. This time of year it's likely to be lots of baked goods, some potatoes he's been able to keep fresh, several jars of his wife's famous pickles, and a dozen starter basil plants. Then we visit with several other vendors we've come to know, including the man at the bulk foods store, who's always ready with a joke. We've bought handmade soap and lotion from a mother-daughter business and the hydroponic vegetable stall, the farmer (who ALWAYS wears a straw hat. I love the Amish.) has a quote posted:

"Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place. It involves farmers with first names, who show up week after week."

~ Barbara Kingsolver

It honestly is an amazing place to be - a place for the community to gather, a venue where growers can meet consumers, and an opportunity for small businesses to flourish.

* After filling our tote bags with delicious fresh food, we head over the public library and spend our time leisurely perusing the shelves. Mike fills his arms with jazz CDs while I find a book and settle into a chair. We come out with at least a dozen books and records. I absolutely adore the public library - anything you want! for free! Right now, I'm eagerly awaiting our turn for Flight of the Conchords (the MOST hilarious show ever, ever, EVER. Plus, they totally promote sustainability: "Then you go sort out the recycling, that's not part of it, but it's still very important.")

This is why I love my Saturday mornings.

(But it would be admittedly even MORE perfect if it included these two:)

Oh well, only 11 more people until I get my request from the library.

Remember the One Where Rachel Was Laundry Virgin?

Let’s talk for a moment about laundry. I’ve already told you that I’m cheap and lazy.

But! I do spend a little more money on detergent because, like, did you know how nasty the chemicals are in regular detergent?

At my job, I’ve recently been learning about water pollutants with the middle schoolers (taught by the local college students). When they mentioned laundry detergent causes a main source of phosphates in the river, I was shocked. Too much phosphate means plants and creatures in the river are killed, and biodiversity affects everyone. (I know it’s hard to really care about river health when you can’t imagine how it could ever affect you.) Anywho, it shocked me that something so very common could be polluting the water. Shouldn’t there be more of an effort to encourage the public to NOT use the synthetic chemically laden laundry detergents?

Besides keeping chemicals out of the water stream, we’re also consuming less petroleum. Most laundry detergents are petroleum based, so using vegetable based saves tons of oil (Whhhhy didn’t anyone tell me these things?). As a bonus, our detergent is fragrance, chlorine, and dye-free, so it will never irritate our skin, is gentler for our clothes, and the planet. ☺ That’s a pretty great deal for a little more change. (As an added measure, we also get powder instead of liquid detergent to avoid non-biodegradable and possibly non-recyclable plastic.)

PS: I think I (might) overuse (parentheses). Maybe I should, use commas for the (clauses) and asides; more often. ☺

Cauliflower, Sweet and Sour, Half An Hour*

This may not be a popular way to reduce our consumption and waste, but it’s time to talk about it.

Eat less meat.

Wait! Don’t go! I promise it’s not that bad. You can totally eat delicious food without eating meat every meal. We are both vegetarians, but anyone who chooses to eat less meat really helps.

Here’s my story (it’s not easy to relate to. I’ve never liked meat. Talk to Mike, re: Trying to eat less meat when you love it): Meat was gross to me unless it was super thin lunch meat or salami and pepperoni. My dad told me I couldn’t be a vegetarian in high school because I wouldn’t get enough protein. So I’d eat two bites of meat when we had it for dinner. But my family isn’t big on meat; our entire family of seven would have two or three chicken breasts for dinner. No joke. Though my mom did like to sneak tofu into everything from milkshakes to lasagna to pancakes. The idea of meat was kind of gross to me, something that was confirmed the first time I tried to cook chicken (the tendons! Oh the tendons! or whatever those stringy things are!) The turning point from disliking meat to really avoiding it came when I mentioned to my dad that I didn’t like meat because it “feels like I’m chewing on flesh.” To which he responded, “Well…You are.”

So I avoided meat my first year and a half of college, when I started researching vegetarianism. I never wanted to “declare” myself one simply because I didn’t want to cause problems. I’m indecisive, noncommittal, and a people pleaser. You make waves when you tell people you’re a vegetarian. People get really defensive. They don’t understand how you can LIVE without MEAT!? Your grandma claims she doesn’t know what to cook for you without meat.

I couldn’t ignore the evidence; a healthy vegetarian diet had health benefits, was better for the environment, and was nicer for animals. (Let’s get this clear – I’m not an animal rights activist. At ALL. PETA is too crazy for me. But factory farms are nasty, nasty, NASTY! Research them.)

So about two and a half years ago, I took the plunge. Let’s talk about how eating less meat (I’m not trying to make everyone vegetarians, don’t worry) can help the environment:

• No deforestation for cattle to graze.
• Animal waste is a huge source of greenhouse gases (there’s more poop than we know what to do with!)
• Meat is inefficient – it takes tons more energy to get one pound of meat than one pound of grain.
• Meat and Poverty: Just a quick note – meat production uses about 44% of the world’s grain production. While people are going hungry, we’re using grains to feed our meat. Make sense?

Try eating one or two meals a week without meat – any little bit helps.

Meals without meat aren’t deprivation. We’re not fancy around here, mostly because I don’t get home until 8pm and our oven is the size of a breadbox. We eat lots of beans, whole wheat tortillas, some cheese, almonds, whole wheat pasta with homemade pesto or spaghetti sauce, pizza, cous cous with beans and veggies, smoothies, veggie burger stir fry, Indian food, salads, veggie corn dogs…I’m getting hungry!



*My apologies if VeggieTales annoys the beejeezus out of you. :)

Must. Have. Coffee.

In elementary school, I loved the smell of coffee. When I'd go to the grocery store with my mom I'd sneak a few coffee beans from the coffee aisle and secretly enjoy their smell all day. I have loved coffee ever since high school, when I discovered Nescafe living in Malaysia (yeah, not the most gourmet coffee. Shut up.) Then I discovered Coffee Bean and Starbucks and Gloria Jeans and I was hooked. Espresso, lattes, and macchiatos, oh my! Mmm. I still absolutely love coffee, but I try to make socially and environmentally conscious decisions about my addiction.

Fair Trade: Coffee growers are mostly in developing countries and can be compensated with reallly unfair, crappy prices for their coffee. Fair trade means they are given much better returns. So no more unfair corruption. Or...at least less.

Shade Grown: I just learned about this one! Did you know that for many coffee plantations, rain forest may be torn down or at least damaged? Shade grown means they harvest coffee beans among the plants that are already there - so no deforestation. :) Everyone wins, even the workers, because wouldn't you rather work in the forest than in a field under the hot, hot sun??

Organic: Safer for the workers, for the environment and for you.

Locally Roasted: Good for local economy, less CO2 from travel, and tastes better.

Enjoy!