Blueberries

For goal #9, I've decided to add more blueberries to my diet. Blueberries are a really good source of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, manganese, and fiber. Additionally (and perhaps most importantly) they contain a wide array of antioxidants. There is an explanation here of how antioxidants are beneficial to our bodies. Blueberries are often called a "superfood" because they contribute to better health in so many ways. Some health benefits commonly associated with consumption of blueberries are a reduction in the risk of heart-disease and cancer, as well as a reduction in inflammation in all areas of the body.

My two favorite ways to eat blueberries are with plain goat yogurt and walnuts (I call this a "scone substitute" since it kind of scratches my itch for a blueberry scone, with more nutrition and far less saturated fat and empty calories from sugar) or just by themselves as a snack. In the winter, fresh blueberries are expensive and usually come from far away (sometimes as far away as Chile), so right now, I am buying and eating lots of frozen blueberries.  My goal is to eat a cup of blueberries at least 3 times a week.

Urban Wildlife

Tonight Zach and I took a lovely walk around Capitol Lake. It was a quintessential Olympia evening- silvery, misty and cool. As we rounded a corner, I noticed a small brown animal munching on the grass. It let us get close enough to take some pictures and it didn't seem scared at all. After looking at some pictures online, I think the animal we saw was probably a nutria. For a time when I was young, my family lived near a creek and one of the ways my parents kept me from going to the creek alone was to warn me of the dangerous nutria that lived in the water. I pictured a sea monster sized animal, with claws and fangs, and it wasn't until I was in my late teens that I discovered that a nutria is about the size of a housecat and totally adorable. At any rate, it was a treat to see this little critter out enjoying a snack. We also saw a blue heron and a bunch of ducks that were bathing and looking for dinner. I feel lucky to live in a place where there are so many beautiful places to explore and enjoy. For those of you looking for a place to get in an easy and relaxing walk, Capitol Lake is just the place. A short, 1.5 mile loop, and especially nice on a weekday evening or a lunch break.

The Habit That Started It All

I took a picture of my breakfast kale this morning. Kale for breakfast is what got me thinking about this whole 52 Ways thing in the first place. I've been eating kale every morning for breakfast for at least the past two years, and at this point it has just become a part of my routine. When I was trying to imagine what it would look like to add a bunch of healthy habits that would improve my health and life, I kept thinking about having kale for breakfast. It's something I enjoy and look forward to. It's something that I make a priority because it makes me feel great and I know it's good for my body. But really, it is something that is easy because it's become a habit. I could just as easily have developed a habit of eating doughnuts for breakfast, and in a way, it makes me realize that the bad habits I do have (nutritionally or otherwise) are really just patterns that I set in place by doing them enough times that they start to feel normal. I want the 52 ways that I change this year to be habits that I will sustain and enjoy for the rest of my life.

Working Out

Seeing this sign almost always makes me happy. I associate going to the gym with feeling physically good, being proud of myself for making the time to take care of my body, and with having fun. I didn't always feel that way though. There was a time when going to the gym caused me anxiety- I didn't know how to use much of the equipment and I didn't believe that I belonged there. Several years back, a friend and co-worker who is interested in fitness took the time to go to the gym with me and helped me develop familiarity with the equipment and a good work out plan. Now going to the gym feels really comfortable; the Y feels like "my place", and instead of bringing me anxiety, it is just the thing to relieve it. Although I am pretty dedicated to working out, there are times when I slip up and make excuses in my own mind about how I am "too busy" or "too tired" to go (sometimes this is legitimate, but often I could re-work my schedule to fit it in if it is truly a priority to me).  Goal #8: to work out at the gym at least twice a week during the rainy season. (I'm only including the rainy season in this goal because I think I may end up spending a lot of the summer on the water working on my paddleboard!). This goal should be easy since I am already meeting it most of the time, but I think having it on the list will help me to make working out a priority at those times when making excuses is easier.

The Set Up

This morning I woke up super early and decided to take advantage of this by getting my salad veggies ready for the week.  I think this is one of the simplest things I do that greatly improves my diet. Having all of the fixings for salads ready to go makes it so much easier to make a healthy choice for lunch or dinner. I often will top my salad veggies with some beans or fish, a little cooked grain (brown rice or quinoa) if I have it, maybe throw on a little cheese or a few nuts and call it a meal.

I actually really enjoy the time I spend setting up my salads for the week. I often put on some nice music and think of it as my time to relax and  make my health a priority. A few kitchen things things that are key: a salad spinner for quick and easy lettuce cleaning, a sharp chef's knife, a large cutting board, and a few containers for storing veggies. Total time to get my salad stuff ready for the week was 45 minutes- an amount that I could easily spend online or watching television. Those things are not always a bad way to spend time, but once a week, it definitely pays off to spend my time doing something that makes the rest of my week healthier and easier.

50 Shades of Green

My last few posts have alluded to my work life being a little stressful lately. On Friday, when I was at work, I was trying to maintain a positive attitude and was thinking about the part of my job I love the most- bringing fresh, organic produce to the community I live in. A shopper who regularly comes in when I am working told me that she hopes I will keep working in produce until she dies (she's in her 70s). It was a funny conversation; she was kind of joking, but also kind of serious. She expressed gratitude that I put so much care and work into making sure that the produce the Co-op sells looks great and is fresh. It was really a bright spot in my week- realizing that the work I do has a positive impact on her and that she places such a high value on it.

In talking to her, I realized that the part of my work that involves making the produce rack look good is really important to me. I want Co-op shoppers to feel so intoxicated with the beauty of produce that they feel compelled to eat more of it. Call it better nutrition through visual seduction. To me, setting up a produce rack is a lot like working on a painting or making crafts- you want the colors and textures to complement one another and make the eye flow from one part of the "painting" to another. When you are working with produce instead of paint or felt, however, you have to get really good at working with the color green.  So this is me, proudly kicking it with my 50 shades of green (and a few other colors too)!

A lovely space to start the weekend right

See that beautiful living room? Notice how clean and inviting it looks? Makes you want to hang out in there, doesn't it? Me too! When my house is clean and tidy, it reduces my stress a lot. I am more inclined to spend time in my house reading, cooking, making art, and hanging out with my honey, all of which are great stress-reducing activities. So I've decided that goal #7 will be to clean my house after work on the last day of my work-week. That way, I can start my weekend with a clean house and focus on relaxing and having fun on my days off. My house is small so it doesn't take long, and I've found that if I come straight home after work and get my housecleaning done, it helps me shake off work, get settled into my home life, and hits the reset button.