This beautifully green breakfast smoothie was made with collard greens, frozen bananas, and the vegetable that ranks number two on the Dirty Dozen list of foods that retain the most pesticide residue: SPINACH. And it was delicious. By now, I assume most of us are aware that the Dirty Dozen I’m referring to here isn’t…
When I was younger, living in my parents’ home and then in my own, I ate sweet potatoes in one of three ways: sliced and pan-fried; sliced, seasoned and drizzled with sugar then baked in the oven; or peeled, boiled and mashed for sweet potato pie. Back then, extra sodium and fat seemed to…
My life has been a series of hills and valleys where I’ve looked for myself in all the wrong places. I joined the Army when I was younger because my mother said I should. I stayed in abusive relationships because I feared not being loved. I wouldn’t speak up in controversial situations at work because…
My adopted mother used to say that I did things backwards. For the life of me I can’t recall what she was referring to at the time (that was about 40 years ago and could have been a number of things). But for most of my 20’s, 30’s and a good portion of my 40’s,…
There’s a yogi on Instagram I follow who regularly posts a saying that always speaks to me: “You have the tools; you’re just distracted.” I mostly apply that to my writing projects; but recently I started applying it to my physical fitness. Six years ago, when I was 50 years old, I would leave…
Challenges: weight loss, eating less fat; eating more veggies, exercising more; cutting out cookies, and cakes, and sodas, and salt for seven days; 30 days, and so on. I understand the basic concept of challenges: to jumpstart a change in eating or physical exercise lifestyle, hopefully forming a habit that will continue. But do they…
There are some actions I perform in my life that, in the past, I haven’t allowed much brain time. If it’s something Ifeel I need to do, I just do it. Like spending money on a Lyft ride to work when it’s freezing cold outside. (I DESPISE the cold weather) I spend part of…
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, particularly about my career choice as a nursing assistant. I’ve always believed that I belonged in a helping career. Years ago, in high school, becoming a social worker was my chosen path but then life took me down another path – a couple of them…
I read a lot about secrets. The secret to eating healthy; the secret to losing weight. And as a 56-year-old who has starved herself, spent probably hundreds of dollars on diet pills: Dexatrim, Hydroxycut, Green Tea Fat Burner, Jillian Michel’s Fat Burner; I’m here to tell you, THERE IS NO SECRET. It all boils down…
Who knew? Well, apparently vegans all over the world. 🙂 I’ve been a vegetarian for 20-plus years; and not even during the two years that I ventured into the vegan world did I ever try the dehydrated veggie burger recipes I’d see on the Internet. And what was I waiting for? Beats me! Just look…
Change Grow SHINE! 