Breakfast: Fruity Protein Shake, Greens Shake, Berry Zinger Tea with Beyond C powder, supplements.
Lunch: Greens+ Chia Energy bar, Apple, water
Snack: Carrot, cherry tomatoes
Snack: Strawberries
Snack: 2 slices of Ezekiel bread with Earth Balance Buttery Spread
Supper: Baked Salmon, Ginger Stir-Fry Veggies, Peas, Green beans, Almond Mashed Potatoes, Water
Snack: Almonds
Bedtime: Bone Cocktail with Beyond C powder, supplements
Tags: Daily Diet, osteoporosis
Fairly often someone will say they’d like to go on my diet…then they add the tag, “But that will take all the fun out of life.” With that comment, they defeat themselves before they even start.
It’s like Jesus said about loving God. You’ve got to do it with all your soul and all your mind and all your will and all your strength. Everything in you has to be headed in the same direction, aiming for the same goal, hoping for the same result. If your goal is optimal health and energy, then you can’t let a craving for unhealthy foods get in your way. Instead, you provide delicious alkalizing foods for yourself that will build a healthy body while satisfying the desire to enjoy what you eat. It’s not impossible. It just takes a clear vision of what you REALLY want, and aligning every part of yourself–mind, body, and spirit–toward achieving that vision. It helps to have friends and family in your corner, too!
Need a bone-building buddy? Write me anytime. That’s why I’m here.
Tags: bone health, Faith Reflections, Motivation, osteoporosis
Some days you just gotta have treats!
Breakfast: Fruity Protein Shake, Blueberry Tea with Beyond C powder, supplements
Snack: None
Lunch: Chia Energy Bar, Apple, Coconut Pecan Cookies, water
Snack: Coconut Pecan Cookies
Supper: Crock Pot Chicken Breasts, Steamed Cabbage with Turkey Sausage Medallions, Carrot-Pineapple Salad, 1/2 cup of decaf coffee (a rare treat!), water
Bedtime: Bone Cocktail with Beyond C powder, supplements
Tags: Daily Diet, osteoporosis
People tell me all the time that I’m “so organized” and that they wonder how I get so much accomplished. My secret is the legal pad system.
In the old days when I used to be stressed and obsessed, I carried around two planners and scheduled every moment of my day so that I could exercise the utmost efficiency. Nowadays I am more peaceful. I don’t schedule every moment of my day. In fact, my one organization tool–outside of the family wall calendar in the kitchen–is a pink legal pad.
Here’s how it works: First, I divide the legal pad into two column with a pencil and a straight edge. I label the left column, “To Do,” and the right column, “Notes.” Then I proceed to write down everything that I need to do. That goes in the left column, of course.
I check the list ever so often as the day unfolds. If it seems like the right time to take care of one of the items on the list, I do it and check it off. If it seems like I need to put off an item until tomorrow or next week, I put an “X” beside it and write it on the sheet underneath it. I’ll work on that list for a day or two–or maybe for a whole week–before writing a new list on a clean sheet. If I didn’t finish the list, no problem. I just write whatever didn’t get done on the next page, which is now the new list.
The right side of the pad is for making note of things that people tell me that I need to remember, or for writing down an interesting thought or a book title that someone recommended, or whatever else comes up. Eventually, I put this information to use, but it’s nice to have a place to put it, so it doesn’t get lost.
It’s a gentler, easier way to approach my life’s work. No more frantic pressure to get everything done in one day. After all, the Bible says God took seven days to create the world, and I’ve heard that God’s days are like a thousand years!
And you know what? I think I get more done now at this peaceful pace with my legal pad in hand than when I hurried and worried with my detailed planners. There’s a saying that goes, “There’s more to life than increasing its speed.” I think I’m finally beginning to believe it!
Tags: Motivation, osteoporosis, planning
What’s up, Doc? Here’s just what the doctor ordered: a bone-healthy recipe for carrot cake! This delectable dessert doesn’t need icing!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square glass pan with stick-free cooking spray.
Mix together dry ingredients:
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Mix*
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup Xylosweet*
Add, stirring well:
2/3 cup canola oil
2 beaten eggs
Add, blending in well:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts & pecans)
1-1/2 cups grated carrots
Bake about 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Serve with Soy Whip* for an extra treat!
*Item available at DeLand Bakery & Natural Market.
Tags: Desserts, osteoporosis, Recipes
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35
A few years ago, a friend of mine planted a butterfly garden at the school where I teach. I ate lunch there today. I ate lunch there yesterday, too.
It’s a lovely place, a refuge from the busy life of a middle school and from the anxious talk about the recent budget cuts from the state. I counted six monarch caterpillars munching on milkweed leaves today. I saw dragonflies flitting in the shade of flowery bushes, wasps eating aphids that would harm the milkweed plants without the wasps’ help, and one lovely monarch butterfly that hovered and landed on bush after bush. I assume it was laying eggs. I hope so.
In more than one place in Scripture, it is said that Jesus would go off to solitary places to pray after spending time with the crowds. On days like today, I understand why. It is in places of such beauty and peace as the butterfly garden that we can recover the beauty and peace of our own souls.
I read recently that “health” can be defined as complete trust in God. If so, then I am recovering my health in the garden, too. When I watch the caterpillars become chrysalises, I am reminded that God cares for me, just as he does for these tiny creatures. And when the chrysalis breaks open and a butterfly emerges, I know in my heart that what Jesus said is true: Death is not victorious. We will rise again! There is a heaven, and Jesus will come for us just as He promised, so that we may be with Him where He is.
Thank you, Joel, for the gift to our school of the butterfly garden.
Tags: bone health; faith reflections, butterfly garden, osteoporosis
These cookies are so scrumptious, it’s hard to believe they’re actually good for you, BUT THEY ARE!
To make 4 dozen cookies, you will need:
1 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
2 eggs
2 cups Xylosweet
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Quick-Cooking Oats
2 cups pecans (Note: I tried using walnuts when I ran out of pecans, but it’s just not the same!)
2 cups unsweetened organic flaked coconut
Cream together first four ingredients, using a mixer on low speed.
Add the dry ingredients, mixing well.
Line 8″ x 13″ glass pans with aluminum foil.
Pick up cookie dough by the tablespoonful, and roll in to a ball. Flatten, if desired. Each glass pan should hold about a dozen cookies. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Hint: If it’s gets hard to roll the last few cookies into balls because of the loose coconut and pecan pieces at the bottom of the mixing bowl, never fear! You can spoon what’s left into a Pyrex custard dish and cook alongside the cookies in the oven. Delicious!
Tags: Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, osteoporosis, Recipes
