Archives for May 2020

1day1pose1year May 2020

2020-05-28 by laura

Holy crap it’s (pretty much) June. Not only is the calendar year half done, but I am officially six months through my year of doing tadasana/mountain pose. I started this in mid-December.

Time flies, especially when we’re in a pandemic and now experiencing much civil unrest due to racism and racist cops killing black people with impunity.

It’s been hard to be consistent. Our lives have changed suddenly and aren’t likely to return to the way things were in the “before times.”

I missed eight days, which is a big jump from missing only three last month. I have, however, been doing more than simply a minute of tadasana when I do yoga every day. Sometimes it’s a full sun salutation or two, occasionally it’s been a half-hour yoga DVD, and sometimes it’s been some poses that have also been prescribed to me as physical therapy.

There has been no change in my posture or pain levels. Healing chronic tendon pain is a slow process. Sadly.

I aim to do better in June.

Review: Mama O’s kimchi paste

2020-05-26 by laura

Last time I made sauerkraut on Fermenting Friday I decided to try out Mama O’s super spicy kimchi paste to create an easy kimchi. I let my batch ferment about two weeks and finally tasted it today.

OMFG!!! It tastes sooooooo good. And wow! It was plenty spicy for me and I love hot and spicy things.

I was conservative and only added a teaspoon to my quart jar of kraut. When it comes to spiciness, one can always add more spice but one can not remove the heat if it’s too much. This variety says “super spicy” right on the Mama O’s kimchi label so I thought it best to keep the amount minimal until I could taste for myself

I’m glad I held back. I found 1 teaspoon of Mamo O’s super spicy kimchi paste to be about right for my taste. I may decide to do a batch with 2 teaspoons because I love that endorphin rush of peppers. I eat kraut/kimchi every day though I don’t need a side veg that overpowers the rest of my meal. I think the extra hot batch will be good as a condiment. I’ll let you know how I decide to use it when I take on the extra kimchi paste.

Solid product. I give Mama O’s super spicy kimchi paste 10/10 both on taste and on the absolute ease of simply adding it to the sauerkraut you’re already fermenting. I would most definitely buy it again and try Mama O’s other sauces.

Bonus: their web site is super cute and they have kits where you can make A HALF GALLON of kimchi plus they give you detailed instructions on how to make it

Fix food fast: strawberry kefir shake

2020-05-21 by laura

I keep making kefir and my results are getting better but still not quite there. I’ll talk details on next month’s Fermenting Fridays. Meanwhile, I need to consume the 1/2-1 cup that I produce every day.

It’s a natural step to make smoothies with kefir, especially if you’re one who wants to cover up the sour tart flavor. I like plain yogurt and kefir but I also like variety.

My kefir has been coming out with a lot of effervescence. Using bubbly kefir in a smoothie gives the drink a very airy texture which is almost like whipped cream.

I use thick smoothie shakes to quell ice cream cravings. Strawberry “ice cream” from frozen berries is a favorite. I’m liking this variation quite a bit and foresee making more kefir shakes with different fruits throughout the summer.

Ingredients

1 cup kefir
1 serving protein powder (optional – I like to use strawberry/berry powders to compliment the fruit)
1 cup frozen strawberries
to taste frozen greens (optional)
to taste stevia (optional)

Instructions

It’s pretty basic. Place ingredients into high speed blender. Blend to desired consistency.

Tips

Put the liquid in first to keep things moving better.

Put in the protein powder second it incorporates better on it’s own. When you put everything in together the powder may not incorporate and and you’ll get a thinner result.

Notice how bubbly it gets from the effervescent kefir!

Today I felt like having a milkshake not a smoothie so didn’t add my usual greens. In fact, I made it as thick as a “frosty” from a well known fast food chain.

Frozen fruit is preferable but you can use fresh. The more you add in the thicker your shake will be. You can also keep it thick while exercising portion control if you start with less liquid. Today I felt like having a milkshake not a smoothie so didn’t add my usual greens. In fact, I made it as thick as a “frosty” from a well known fast food chain.

If I wanted to make it more interesting I could have put toppings on it like nuts or coconut or goji berries or …. and I would have had the home version of those super expensive smoothie bowls at trendy juiceries.

This hit the spot and made it way more pleasant getting into the office earlier.

Stick to exercise and eating healthy by having a plan B

2020-05-19 by laura

Having a plan B is one of my favorite positive mindset tricks. It’s fairly self-explanatory. It’s helpful to have a back-up if a plan falls through.

Having a plan B means you have considered alternatives or a back-up and, more importantly, it means you have prepared yourself to eat healthy and do your workout no matter what. No self-discussion. No excuses.

You can’t talk yourself out of eating the healthy option or skipping the gym because Plan B is the answer to whatever you’re telling yourself. It’s pretty close to the cognitive therapy techniques of challenging thoughts and re-framing.

It’s also a way to avoid decision fatigue. You’ve already decided and created the contingency plan. No fuss no muss.

All it takes is asking yourself, “what will I do if I can’t do/have x?” and making room for plan B to happen. My frequently used plan B is going to the 5pm spin class that day if I can’t make my regular 8:30am class.

My other favorite plan B is taking a piece of fruit, a baggie of carrots, or some other healthy snack to supplement a restaurant meal if I am not choosing the place. Some eateries do not have a lot good options. I’m less apt to abuse the bread basket or indulge in food that doesn’t agree with my needs.

It’s annoyingly true that failure to plan is planning to fail. All I can add to it is that it hurts to land on your ass when you don’t have a fallback. See if you can think of one before the next time you’re in a situation where your consistency is going to be shaky.

Fermenting Friday: making sauerkraut with kimchi paste

2020-05-15 by laura

My friend Jennie wants to save money on probiotics. Probiotics are spendy. Yet, she’s uncertain on how to go about fermenting foods for herself to get those beneficial organisms into her gut. Sauerkraut is the easiest, simplest, can’t-possibly-go-wrong way to ferment food, in my opinion. So, this week I am making sauerkraut on Fermenting Friday.

More accurately I’m making kimchi. I found this Mama O’s premium super spicy kimchi paste the last time I braved a trip into the local swanky natural foods store chain. The paste is going to allow me to avoid making kimchi from scratch, which is a whole other blog post.

I started my adventures in fermenting with basic sauerkraut. I wrote a how to make sauerkraut page if you’d like a more detailed step by step instruction with photos.

Cabbage is cheap so you won’t feel like you’ve wasted money if it doesn’t turn out. It also allows you to practice making fermented foods. A LOT. Because cheap.

There isn’t really a recipe per se for sauerkraut. Shred cabbage, make it juicy, submerge cabbage in juice, store it in anaerobic conditions, wait while checking on it periodically.

Simple but not necessarily easy.

Preparing fermented foods is more of an art than a science. Sure, there is a lot of interesting scientific information underlying the process. There are many variables in how the end product ends up. Hence the need for you to experiment in a playful non-scientific way. You’re going to have mistakes and failures. That’s ok. Having fun with the process goes a long way towards making it easier to incorporate fermenting into your life.

I’m making a series of “how to” pages. The how to make sauerkraut one is the first of many. It shows me going through the process if you’d like to peek at how I’m making sauerkraut. Pictures are by the amazing Collective 70 photography.

Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for eating healthier

2020-05-12 by laura

I have often mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy (abbreviated to CBT). I realized that I haven’t yet actually detailed my favorite ones on Smart On Health.

I talk about CBT techniques so much because they really work to stop emotional eating or avoiding that work out. I am not a therapist. But, I’ve done a LOT of therapy. I have found CBT tools to be invaluable in helping me stick to healthy eating and exercise most days.

I was using cognitive behavioral therapy tools quite successfully already when I ran across Judith Beck’s book, “The Beck diet solution” , which has become one of the things I love. Even if you already know some CBT techniques, Beck’s book provides many practices that you may not have heard about. I found many additional exercises in Beck’s book that I had never considered.

CBT can be simple, but not easy. My favorite ones are thought stopping, challenging beliefs, and re-framing. The three of them work together in a progression. You stop, challenge, then reconstruct what you’re thinking.

Thought stopping is what it sounds like. When you realize you’re having a troublesome thought you give yourself a cue to stop! Visualize a stop sign or something that communicates “halt” to you. Now you can unpack the chain of events that led you to the difficult spot. For example, my brain is my harshest critic. When it says, “holy #%^ what you just did was stupid” I say “stop” to myself quite emphatically. Then I picture a crossing guard holding up traffic.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to just stop. If you have a mood disorder your brain might ruminate. If that happens to you, you change the channel. Just like when you’re watching TV, there are repeats. When that happens, take a breath and think about something that makes you happy and relaxed. Narrate the scene to yourself in detail and imagine the physical sensations. I like to remember watching sunsets on the beach at my family’s summer cottage. Sometimes all I need is to see the sunset in my brain. Other times, I have to picture myself walking out the door, feeling how the sand feels under my feet as I take the path to the beach, and the smell of the pine and birch trees that leave dead needles on my route.

Challenging beliefs is also just what it says. When you say something nasty to yourself, you challenge that statement. Ask, is what I just said true? Usually it isn’t. Ask yourself, am I fortune telling? You might be projecting the future, thinking about a bad outcome.There are some tricks to figure out if a thought needs to be challenged. Words like “always,” “only,” “never” exaggerate reality. You probably don’t always or only or never do that thing.

Re-framing is the add-on to challenging your thoughts. Counter that negative outcome. When you’re fortune telling say to yourself, “nobody knows what is going to happen for sure.” Maybe you’re rehashing something that happened in the past. This is where you fight back with your brain and talk to yourself like you would talk to a loved one. Phrases like, “that may have happened but I learned from it and don’t do that anymore.” My favorite come back for those past regrets is, “it’s better this way.” Once I say that, I list all the good things that happened in my life that would not have occurred if I hadn’t lived through that event.

Re-framing beliefs is pretty much a “yeah but…” response where you talk about the situation positively instead of negatively. It is admittedly a bit pollyanna-ish to contradict the negative with a bright sunny positive. This is the hardest one of the three techniques IMHO. My biggest example of re-framing is how I managed my attitude when I got pushed out of a job I loved due to bullying. I felt defeated, worthless, and incredibly sad to lose the best job I’ve ever had. I had to take a job that involved a really long commute. Yeah, but I also got to work at a prior employer where I hadn’t quite vested in my retirement. I didn’t need much more time in that system to ensure thousands of dollars more in my retirement funds. I also got to start a brand new department, which was something I’d never done before. It’s true that sometimes a situation really sucks. It is possible to find the silver lining, however.

The three CBT techniques have an immediate positive impact on one’s mood. They allow you to pause and possibly avoid reaching for the comfort food or skipping the work out because you have taken the time to see the chain of events and statements in your brain that cause duress. They allow you to substitute another soothing practice or give yourself some positive motivation to change into those running shoes. Try it for yourself and see how it goes.