I'm feeling very motivated, finally, after nearly 6 years postnatal, to return to regular exercise, which I used to crave and accomplish 6 days a week. My poor old bod shows and feels the wear and tear and I'm not able to do all the stuff I want to do (a massive understatement, and I do mean massive). As this concerns homeschooling, I am limited in our movement circle activity choices, too, so that's been a difficulty. Husbo helps supplement these areas in his play with DS, but I'm also glad to have found an alternative that employs many of the base sense activities found in Enki's movement circle as well as the nature mimicry: Marsha Wenig's YogaKids videos. We're not frequent tv watchers, so I feel all right using these 30min programs a few days a week... it's not exactly overkill on the media front around here. :)
We also recently purchased a used recumbent bike for exercising indoors when weather requires and I'm feeling so ready to get in motion that I have a feeling I'll double up and both walk and bike most days. I think I'll try riding it during DS's YogaKids video and see how that goes. I can't fully do the video with him and he prefers to do it without me, anyway. So, if I occupy myself nearby on the bike perhaps I can at least model exercising with him, as well as be present and attentive without being up in his grill. I'll check back in on how it goes.
I'd like to try using our movement circle opening and closing activities, still... so, for the Enki mamas and papas out there, for us that entails:
1) Opening: "Golden in the Garden" 3x times through:
- Marching to the verses, adding each month's verse as we come to it
in the year. We're marching from August through May now. - Round two: Mom keeps marching, DS starts skipping
- Round three: DS jumps to the beat on his mini-trampoline,
I sorta bounce along, too.
3) Closing: "Our Home" fingerplay followed by story.
On the days we go out for the walk, we'll just sing "Golden in the Garden" on the way there, and when we get back home and settle in for story, we'll do "Our Home." I'm not sure if the latter will still work as a transition piece, but perhaps it will ritually mark the beginning of story time. We did it that way today and it went well. I also like how "Our Home" seems very in sync with Enki's developmental theme for kindergarten: venturing out from home and returning safely and unchanged, so even if it's used more as an intro to the stories than as a closing for the movement, I think it's still a keeper.
Other progress on the health front: Diet & Nutrition
For this first month or so, or until the exercise gig feels stable, I don't plan on kicking my own butt on the diet front. After all these years exploring various diet plans, I feel ready to let that quick fix mode go and opt for the slower, steady readjustments of long term lifestyle changes. For now, I plan to just eat when and what I want to, hopefully within reason, even if that means a little stress eating as I wait for the exercise endorphins to start working their magic. Later, I'll work more intently on diet and nutrition. In the meantime, though, I expect to see my food cravings naturally evolve towards the healthier choices I tend to make when exercising regularly.
And I'll be taking great vitamins and a few supplements that have significantly improved my chronic fatigue and immune system issues: CoQ10, Omega fatty acids, extra vitamin C, and an adrenal complex. I take Source Naturals brand LifeForce women's multi in three single pill doses a day. I can tell a vast difference with using these over not using them, and over using another reputedly good brand, Rainbow Light's Advanced Nutritional Therapy multi. I didn't notice any difference with those, so there's that reference point to indicate the effect of the Source Naturals vitamins aren't just wishful thinking. The other supplements are NSI brand and I order them for 50% off retail through VitaCost online.
In addition to at least taking good supplements, I'm also reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" and letting it inspire me to become more and more a locavore and seasonal eater. I don't see any 100% conversion happening this year, due to finances and home garden limitations. But I do hope to frequent the farmer's market for fresh, seasonal, local, and organic veggies each week, and to chronicle what I find in the market each month as a way to plan ahead next year. One reduction diet benefit to eating seasonally, at least through the early fall, is that we can eat lots of fresh, whole, low carb veggies. For the rest of May, we should still be in leaf lettuce weather, so now's the time to eat those salads. If we start to burn out on any particular food, the beauty of eating seasonally is that we'll be moving on to a new repertoire soon, not to return to the other for a whole year! This makes asparagus and fresh salads more precious and craveable when their time comes. Here's a great resource for finding what's local each month in your state: http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/
I also hope to take advantage of being near a great natural foods co-op in our new town, and have already started frequenting the bulk aisle, enjoying whole, organic grains and easy to prep mixes like taboule, falafel, low fat refried beans, black bean dips, soup mixes, etc. We've become big fans of the Brown Cow yogurt we can buy there, to the degree that all other yogurt, even Stoneyfield organic, pale in comparison. And, if I can get out there and get it going, I hope to garden at least a few main veggies like tomato, peppers, green beans, and basil. More on that project later. So, all's not put off in the diet department... I'm just not going to be working out calorie balanced menus or making any huge efforts to avoid any particular cravings for a while yet. Reclaiming the exercise habit is top priority for now, the rest will follow in due time.
As for today's progress, I made a huge vat of taboule, first of the year. It isn't entirely seasonal, though it could've been close if I'd made to the market for those baby cucumbers that are available right now. I use canned tomato, which would be better if they were home canned from fresh, local tomatoes, but maybe that'll be the case one of these days. But it's very healthy, fresh, good carb, high fiber, veggie rich food and I can make a ton for the whole week without slaving in the kitchen. I'm quite the epicure, but not a diehard chef, by any means... I've yet to make it a zen experience, despite years of trying, so I'm a fan of knocking cooking tasks out with once or twice a week bulk cooking. I'd rather repeat a good meal two or three times than repeat a meal prep any more than is necessary).
Here's my recipe for tabouleh:
4.5 C bulghur wheat (or bulk aisle tabouleh mix)
7.5 C boiling water
8 Bigelow Teas Mint Medley tea bags
2 C minced fresh parsley
2 C chopped green onions
4 diced cucumbers
2 cans diced tomato, undrained
Dressing:
3-5 tsp salt
1-2 tsp black pepper
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C lemon juice
4-6 C crumbled feta
Bring water to a boil and then steep the tea bags in it for 5-10min, then squeeze the tea bags and pour the hot tea water over the bulghur wheat (or over the same amount of bulk aisle tabouleh mix, it'll just have a richer flavor with the extra dry lemon, mint, and dry herbs already included, but cut the salt back to 3tsp). Let stand until wheat has soaked up all the liquid, usually 20-30min.
While the bulghur soaks, chop, dice, or mince the veggies and toss together with the dressing mix, reserving the feta for mixing in at the end, or for separately adding to individual servings.
Add the soaked bulghur to the veggies and dressings and toss, then toss in the feta if desired.
Serve on a bed of lettuce, or in cucumber boats with seeds scooped out, or in toasted pitas (my favorite!). Makes enough to feed an army (probably about a gallon). Great for a week of lunches and good enough to eat every day for even longer!. :) Full of whole grain fiber and fresh veggies.
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