Menu Monday – Eat to Live – Resigning as the General Manager of the Universe

An Attitude of Gratitude Experiment 2.0 Day 41 - Today I am grateful for Sabbath activities. Today I am grateful for Lilli’s enthusiasm regarding her new fish… a shrimp she named Barry after Barry Allen, the Flash, a black gold fish named Bruce after Bruce Wayne, Bateman, and Richie after Richard, Robin. It’s fun her hear her excitably share. Today I am grateful that… Continue reading

Healthy Reboot… AGAIN! - Mondays are hard. I didn’t feel like eating this morning. I had a cup of herb tea, a few crackers and a piece of Swiss cheese. At lunch I ate a protein bar. At the end of school I was pretty hungry so a I ate a different kind of protein bar that John found… Continue reading

Week Two of Mindful Eating Reboot. - I am finding it very hard to pack foods I can eat at work. Most work days I can’t just sit and eat. I need to eat something on the go. Monday I ate left over wild rice and veggies, topped with an egg for breakfast. For lunch I ate a protein bar and the… Continue reading

Resetting my mindful eating goals - Okay… I am going to try again to document what I put into my mouth just to help me be mindful of the things I am choosing to nourish myself with. I am hoping that mindful eating will help me rejuvenate my healthy eating habits. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that helps a person… Continue reading

Second Jump Start – My Health Journey - I am still working on my health journey, but I have lost focus… especially in taking pictures of meals and reporting… and even in tracking every morsel, calorie, and mirco-nutrient. I think that I lost focus and interest in tracking all that stuff when after being on a plateau for several months. Sure, I lost… Continue reading

Can I Eat Like a Buddhist? - I’ve been thinking about how I can get my rear in gear and get back into the habit of tracking my meals and help. I have also been reading a little about the diets of practicing Buddhist and Hindu. There is a little of what I have learned that can assist me in my efforts… Continue reading

at it again… well at least i’m trying - Well… it is time to focus and work harder at making good choices when it comes to food. I need healing food. So… that is what I am attempting to do. Monday – I had a green smoothie with apple, pear, spinach, cucumber, etc; a smoothie with strawberries, avocado, pea protein powder, and a banana;… Continue reading

Reality Check - Okay. Time to get serious about taking pictures of all my food intake… again. My last doctor visit proved that my weight hasn’t changed in a year and my blood pressure is not improving. It is very discouraging. I guess I should expect it because I have not been hard core Dr Fuhrman diet style.… Continue reading

Working to Keep My Head Above Water - My life is a bit out of control. I am rarely home, and I am struggling to keep my plant-based diet a healthy plant-based diet. All too often, it takes a lot of prep work (time), and eating time to make a plant-based diet a success. Not only that, most of the people living in… Continue reading

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise… in Progress - I am working on “wealth.” Health seems to be ever elusive. I do know that it’s all in my choices. I was all set to eat more salads and then the Romaine lettuce scare took all the lettuce and pre-chopped salads out of the stores. It makes it real hard to eat a salad a… Continue reading

Lacking in Progress - Don’t I know it! I was sick last week… a cold. Said cold came with a fever and chills. I really wasn’t interest in making food, but I did. It wasn’t all the best choices, but hey, I tried. Monday I ate some of the left over black bean soup that is more like dip… Continue reading

two weeks in one post - Okay… it’s been two weeks since I posted my food choices on my blog. Last Monday I was little busy driving home from my weekend away. Thus, the blog was ignored on Monday. These were my choices a couple of Mondays ago. I had a nice fruit shake and some crackers for lunch and a… Continue reading

Starting Again - Restarting my commitment today. You see… the production of Mamma Mia consumed my life. I was luck to get energy for something, sometime during the day. I didn’t exactly go crazy. I just wasn’t as mindful as I should have been, and had been in past year. I still was eating a plant based diet. … Continue reading

Love Yourself to a Healthy Lifestyle - Okay… the week has been a wild ride and I didn’t get a picture of every meal. But I have stayed within a plant powered lifestyle… I’ve just had more restaurant food then I would regularly want to consume. It happens when I rarely come home. With the show opening, I had so much to… Continue reading

Struggling to Eat Healthy with a Busy Schedule - I started the week doing a decent job recording my meals via a photo. Then…. it all fell apart. Got too busy with getting the show ready for tech. As tech neared I found it harder and harder to get meals, let alone, take a picture. All I can say is, I did my best… Continue reading

Powered by Plant for One More Week - The hardest thing about trying to follow Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live lifestyle is feeding my family. No one really wants to eat the amount of plants I eat, nor do they save out the things I would usually eat for my food. I can’t seem to find a balance of foods I will… Continue reading

Wrapping up September with Plant Power - People still look at me funny when I say I choose not to eat meat.; that I do eat an occasional egg and have even had a little yogurt or cheese here and there. However, as a whole, I just stay away from animal products… and I feel better. My skin, hair and nails look… Continue reading

Pushing Forward - I continue down the path of incorporating life-enhancing, delicious, plant power foods into my diet. I continue to significantly cut back on animal products. However, struggle to be as strict with the “rules” of Eat to Live due to my lack of time. I struggle to find time to prep my foods and I struggle… Continue reading

E - I discovered over the past few weeks that I am lacking a variety of colors in my plant foods. As I look at the pictures of the foods I ate over the past couple of weeks, I am seeing a trend toward a bland pallet. I should changing things up in the coming weeks. However,… Continue reading

Ending My Summer, but Keeping Plant Power! - Okay… I really need to make more time for food. Today I had trouble finding the time to make and eat food. So much to do and so little time to do it! I am happy to report that I didn’t cave and eat crappy food just because I was starving. Last week was a… Continue reading

Veggies and more veggies - It’s been a good week for veggie eating. Monday I had a dentist appointment and my face was numb for half the day. Jamba Juice to the rescue! I had a Greens with added ginger smoothie. When my face woke up I had a veggie dog… plain. Dinner was a cabbage from the garden with… Continue reading

Food on the Road - It is harder than you think to get a normal veggie meals when you are not in your own house. I spent the week visiting my daughter. She did her best to provide meals that had veggie options. It just wasn’t my normal menu. And I didn’t get normal pictures either… so this is the… Continue reading

Keeping it Healthy… almost? - Monday plant eating opened with some of the best black berries I have ever eaten. I got them at the farmer’s market. I think they called them triple berries. Whatever they are called, they were so juicy and sweet. I ate 2 boxes. That led to my down fall of eating a few potato chips.… Continue reading

- I am enjoying all the fresh fruits and veggies that are available. Cherries are some of my favorites! On Monday I enjoyed cherries and a veggie burrito. Then, I enjoyed a great salad with a Mexican twist. On Tuesday I ate the leftovers of the marinara sauce full of shredded zucchini from my garden and… Continue reading

Bombed that Week! - OKay… my busy week got away from me. I did not make the wisest choices. I ate potato chips more than once and I ate some onion rings. Here’s the thing… my husband was gone on business all week and I didn’t have time to shop or to prep. On potato chip day, it was… Continue reading

Struggling to Keep the Plants Healthy Plant Food - Snap! It is hard to keep up good eating habits when I am NEVER home! As a result I end up grabbing things I know are not the most helpful. But I do what I can and sadly, feel frustrated that I don’t have time for better choices. Monday I ate a lasagna I made… Continue reading

Veggie Life on the Run - It’s been a good week of eating a plant based diet. The thing is, the garden, the farmer’s market and the farmer’s co-op makes it so easy! The only real complication is time… time to prepare and time to chew. It seriously takes more time to chew fresh, raw plants, then it does to chew… Continue reading

Back to Picture Journaling My Food. - I am so excited my husband was able to fix the camera on my iPhone. Now I can take pictures of my food and truly report what it is I am consuming. I haven’t gotten on a scale, but the most exciting thing happened today. I put on some shorts I haven’t worn for a… Continue reading

Plant Power - My husband fixed my phone camera yesterday, so I will have pictures of foods next week! I am so excited! However, I did not get pictures of foods I ate last week. I am loving eating a plant powered diet. My garden is giving me beautiful berries and lettuce. The farmer’s bounty basket is giving… Continue reading

Lovin’ the Farmer’s Market - Okay… still no camera. I can’t record my meals. However, I am still doing well enough. Still eating salads. Still eating fruits. My favorites are the strawberries and raspberries from my own garden. I’ve done better with reducing pastas and breads this week. Dairy is still reasonable. I only had a light Greek yogurt here… Continue reading

This is Not a Diet - Sadly, there is still no camera to record my eating and to keep me in check. On the up side, I have succeeded in continuing to eat a plant based diet. I did have one exception this past week when I went to dinner with my good friend. I ate Eggplant Parmesan. It was the… Continue reading

Not the Wisest Choices - I am still unable to take a picture and record what I ate. I have also found that a small lack in accountability has given me licence to “cheat.” For example, we went to the Tillamook cheese factory and bought my daughter squeaky cheese. I love squeaky cheese. I ate some. I did pay for… Continue reading

My End of Dieting - So… my fall last week broke the camera on my phone. I am now left with nothing to visually record my success and meals, at least for further notice. I can say that I have been good about eating salads for lunch and something veggie like for dinner. It was a busy week, so I… Continue reading

More of the Same - I’ve been doing well with my walking… except yesterday when I was walking home from church and bit the dust for real. Anyway, I’ve succeeded in a 45 minute walk 6 days last week and I must be speeding up my waddle because my fitbit says I now walk 1.86 miles in those 45 minutes. … Continue reading

Week 4 of Intermittent Fasting and 60 Week’s as a Nutritiarian - Is this a habit yet. Actually… no. Everyday I make a choice. Some days the choices aren’t as good as other days. There are those busy days where a lack of planning bites you, or those days you attend a party and the best you can do is to eat a piece of cheese pizza… Continue reading

Week 3 of Intermittent Fasting and nearly 60 weeks of Nutritiarian Living - It was a good week for nutrition. I still haven’t completely given up salad dressing. Maybe I will give that a shot this week. Who knows. I guess it all depends on my mood. (Cheesy grin). I am finding that my energy, in general, has been a ton better now that I have a few… Continue reading

Continuing My Quest For Better Health - I am really getting into this intermittent fasting thing. I am not seeing physical changes, but I am feeling better and I am sleeping much better! I read two books on fasting for better health. One was called The Scientific Approach to Intermittent Fasting by Dr. Micheal VanDerschelden. The other book was Fasting and Eating… Continue reading

58 weeks and counting! - Week 2 of intermittent fasting using the 16:8 eating style. Interestingly, I have plenty of energy. I think I actually feel better without a constant surge insulin coursing through my body with snacking and small meals throughout the day. There is something to this… for my body at least. The scale? That is still a… Continue reading

57 weeks of Nutriarian Life style - It has been 403 day since I started my nutritiarian life style. That makes this past week week 57. I am super proud of how this has been the longest I have ever stuck to any health improvement plan I have ever tried. Go me! I have been very good about keeping it plant based. … Continue reading

Trying Something New to Get Ogg This Stale Mate - This past week I tried “intermittant fasting.” I went with the 16:8 theory for this first time trying out this new craze. You may be asking, “why do this now?” Well… I’ve been in a rut. My health progress has been stale. I’ve been hoovering at the same weight for about 3 months. I was… Continue reading

Busy Life means Simple Meals - Things are moving along in my busy life. I haven’t been home on a Saturday for food prep for months! Thankfully, I found these in the freezer of my local grocery store. They save my bacon in the morning. I dump one of these in the blender, add 1/2 of chai tea, 1/2 of almond… Continue reading

Eating on the Road is Not Easy - Last week we were on the road. Let me tell you. It is hard to eat well while on the road! One day I only had a strawberry lemonade because my options were not good, not that a strawberry lemonade is a good choice, but it was better than the rest of the choices that… Continue reading

Still working on a Veggie Life - It has now been 1 year and 100 pounds since I started this “nutritiarian” way of life. I can’t say it’s been easy, but I can say it has been worth it. I am hopeful that this next year I will be successful in ridding myself of an additional 100 pounds. I still won’t reach… Continue reading

Eating While sick… hard to track - I did not get many pictures for food over the last week. I had great intentions… and then the germs took over. I was sick in bed from Tuesday night through Monday morning. Today was the first day I really got up and did anything. Better luck next week. Being sick, I didn’t eat much.… Continue reading

Wake up call - Okay.. Last week wasn’t the best in eating. It’s not like I went crazy and ate a bag of M&M. In fact, I didn’t eat sugar. I didn’t drink soda. I didn’t eat a steak. I just didn’t eat the whole foods and veggies I normally do. I didn’t take the time for a veggie… Continue reading

Not the Best Week, But Hanging In There - What a week! I opened a show and I think I was home to sleep. That was it. Man! It is hard to eat well when you never see a kitchen. For breakfast I had a smoothie. One day I ate mixed veggies. I was craving my mushroom, onion and spinach thing and didn’t have… Continue reading

It Can Be Done – Even on Busy Weeks - This week I drank a smoothie every morning… along with my apple cider and lemon juice water. I had a salad for lunch everyday. The hours I keep are rough around the time I am trying to open a show. Thankfully, there are pre-made salads in the veggie section of the store. No chopping involved. … Continue reading

Another Week, A Few More Veggies - Most mornings during the past week, I enjoyed a smoothie of some sort. I did add onions, mushrooms, and spinach one morning. I ate salads all week for lunch… That’s when I took the time to eat. Getting ready for my show keeps me so busy I often don’t take to eat. Some days, if… Continue reading

What Was For Dinner Last Week? - Well… I am still doing what I can to eat healthy and to kick myself off this weight-loss Plateau. Everything remains the same. GAH! Oh well. It isn’t really about the weight loss. It’s about a healthier me… although a few less pounds would be nice and would go a long way in helping me… Continue reading

Eating Well - It’s been a great week for eating! I feel successful, especially with how busy my life has been. I really should resign as the general manager of the universe. LOL. I’ve been beginning every day with 32 oz warm water, 2 Tbs apple Cider Vinegar, a dash of pink salt, and 2 Tbs lemon juice… Continue reading

I am Still Alive - My life has been nuts! I have not been able to blog. however, I have kept the food under control and I have not fallen off the wagon… just so you all know. No junk food… but not enough water. I’m telling you, this life style is hard to keep up when you aren’t home… Continue reading

Eating for My Health One Day at a Time - Nearly ever person who asks me about my “diet” doesn’t believe I don’t feel hungry. I really don’t. I stopped feeling hungry a long time ago. I discovered for myself that the discomfort and the hunger that I felt was really more like with-drawl. What I felt was more related to the process of detoxification… Continue reading

Busy Week! - I’d say I had an ok week eating wise. I do need to get a handle on what time of day I eat. I often get home late and end up eating dinner around 9 or 10 pm. With my busy schedule (work/school, rehearsals, and performances) I need to find a way to prep and… Continue reading

Holiday Eating Success! - Christmas and New Year have come and gone and I feel like I weathered the holiday eating very well! I didn’t binge on sugars and fats. I tried to be mindful of the food I ate and tried to choose foods that were high in nutrition. The food I made for Christmas Eve and for… Continue reading

Menu Prep Done! - Meal prep for the week done! … except the ratatouille on on the stove ready to go in the oven. I am looking forward to some yummy veggie meals this week. We like Chinese food for New Year’s Eve so I have veggie pot stickers ready to go and a Chinese chicken salad (tofu for… Continue reading

Holding on During the Holidays - Before I started my newest lifestyle change I was suffering from aching muscles and joints, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t move well, and over all, felt like crap. I thought I was doing all the right things for my body. I thought I was eating well. I counted calories. I counted carbs, proteins and fats. Now… Now… Continue reading

Some weeks you win… some you don’t - This week was crazy busy. I had a concert every single night. I had a hard time getting health food for myself every day. I have to admit, I didn’t make the right choice every time. Now, don’t go thinking I fell off the wagon and dove into sugar and a carnivorous lifestyle. I didn’t… Continue reading

Slow Progress is Still Progress - Eight month ago I started a new journey in health. I had mustered all the courage I had left and visited with my doctor. He gave me a book that changed my look at health and well being… The End of Dieting by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (click here to get this book for yourself off… Continue reading

Another Week of Success - It’s been a good week of eating… even it I tried a new recipe that I wasn’t a fan and didn’t eat much of it. I was able to stay on track and eat healthy foods all week. Monday I started the day with a berry smoothie for Breakfast. I went across the street and… Continue reading

First Week of the Holiday Season – Success! - Last week was a crazy good week of eating! I succeeded in staying away from unhealthy, inflammation causing foods. Although I had a couple days of horrible leg cramps, I made it through Thanksgiving and actually LOST weight! When does that happen? Monday looked like this: Jamba Juice for breakfast; a yummy salad with a… Continue reading

Menu Monday – Still Waiting for Variety - My life is still so fast paced that I haven’t been adventurous with food. I haven’t even taken pictures of what I am eating. I will do better this coming week. Again, I ate veggies or a smoothie for breakfast. Again, I had a salad or soup for lunch. I made Asparagus and Sunny Side up… Continue reading

Eating Well… Even on Vacation - I got a little more variety this past week. For breakfast most days, I had a smoothie with berries from my freezer,spinach and a banana. On most days for lunch I had a salad or some soup. Last Tuesday was National Nachos Day. I decided to make my own Healthy Instant Pot Refried Beans. The family… Continue reading

Ready for Some Variety - A crazy week with four shows didn’t allow for much time at home to create meals… again. I am ready for some evenings at home where I can create some meals that will give some variety to what we eat. I haven’t bailed on the new plan… it’s just that I have been eating the… Continue reading

Soup 3 meals a Day - It’s been a long week getting my show open. Thankfully, my husband did all the food prep for the week. He made 4 different pots of soup and got them in the fridge. That made it easy to have healthy food… but I did eat soup 3 meals a day. LOL. Here are the soups… Continue reading

It’s not a Diet… It’s a Lifestyle - It’s been a busy week. I didn’t get pictures of any of the food I ate, but rest assured that I have been successful in my Eat to Live goals. Fast food and crap food avoided. I survived because this week my husband was willing to do the prep work, and a good friend brought… Continue reading

It Can Be Done – Even When You are Insanely Busy - Wow! What a week! The next 2 weeks look just as nuts. However, eating well can be done! This past week I ate a ton of salads. My friends Rachel continued to bring me soup. I did make a couple of yummy things. This week I made Wendy’s Tomato Pie I love this recipe! I… Continue reading

Wendy’s Red Kidney Bean Chili - Ingredients 1 pound dry kidney beans soaked overnight and drained 1 c chopped carrots 1 onions, chopped 1 c bell peppers, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 28 oz canned tomaotes 4 c vegetable stock 1 jar salsa 3-5 Tbs chili powder 4 bay leaves 1 Tbs cumin Directions Saute garlic, peppers and onions until… Continue reading

Another week of Progress - I have a show opening in 2 weeks and I am rarely home. My Saturdays have been taken up working on getting my set done. This past week it was ok. I was able to get a little prep work down so I could have the veggies I wanted for breakfast and lunch… this past… Continue reading

Win Some Lose Some - Breakfast consisted of sauted vegetables or a smoothie. Lunch was always a small salad and a bowl of soup and mixed nuts and seeds. Dinner was a salad and soup. It was a busy week so a large pot of soup got eaten for nearly every meal. Nothing like a crock pot to save the… Continue reading

A Menu of Plants - Life is running along quite quickly. It would have been tough week getting nutrition if I didn’t have a prepped and stocked fridge. Because I took the time to chop and store veggies and fruits for the week I was successful in eating healthy, nutritious food everyday. Breakfast looked like this every day: I would… Continue reading

Soup is on the Menu - It’s been a busy week. I am discovering that I really loving vegetables for breakfast. The veggies I saute in the morning include zucchini, mushrooms, onions, summer yellow squash, asparagus, green beans and tomatoes. Every morning I mix up a different combination and cook them in my copper no stick pan. My favorite from last… Continue reading

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail - Food is no longer entertainment at my house… if you don’t count the personal pizzas we made with the grand kids yesterday. Food is fuel. That doesn’t mean that we don’t eat well. We do! Food is tasty in it’s natural state. I am enjoying food more than I have before. Today I have decided… Continue reading

Wrapping up August in fresh veggies - It is great to live in a beautiful place where many things grow. This week we enjoyed fresh plums, peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, yellow summer squash, onions, green beans, raspberries and strawberries. I didn’t really make “recipes” for meals. Some meals were just 1/2 a cantaloupe and a spoon. 🙂 Other meals… Continue reading

Yummy Things at My house - Oh the bounty of veggies that are in my valley at this time of year! It’s great! We eat like royalty… vegetarian royal family. Teehee. Today I am not going to give a play by play of what I ate. Breakfast was usually a fruit and greens smoothie or sauted veggies of some sort. I… Continue reading

Bountiful Veggies - This has been a week of gorgeous produce – from my own garden and from the local farm we get all of our vegetables from. Earlier this spring, my husband and I decided to invest in a local farmer and bought a co-op share in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. BEST DECISION EVER!!! Bermudez… Continue reading

What’s on the Menu - I have realized 2 things in the last couple of weeks… I am still adjusting my recipe size. I used to make dinner for 7 or more. Now I make dinner for 2 and sometimes, four. (My kids aren’t ready to give up former foods, even if they are making some effort here and there).… Continue reading

Menu Monday – an example of a Lack of Preparation - This past week was a long one at work. We were in full production which left me with little time to prepare. It was all doable… if I took the time. At the beginning of the week I made a plan. However, I wasn’t good at that by the end of the week. Here is… Continue reading

Menu Monday – What’s for Dinner - So… Many people may be wondering Just how I eat with this new plan… lots and lots of veggies. LOL. It’s a little hard when I am on the go every day. At least veggies are easy to come by right now. My garden and the bountiful basket thing we belong to are supplying all… Continue reading

Menu Monday – Eat to Live - It all started with this book. Well… Maybe a little before this book, but this book is what has rocketed my journey forward. For the past year I have been feeling pretty crappy. Headache. Sore feet that are so bad I can’t walk well. Sore knees and hips. Poor sleep. Now I am not one… Continue reading

Pumpkin soup - Many people have ask how I made my pumpkin soup. To be honest, I am mainly a dump-in-what-I-can-to-come-close-to-the-recipe kind of cook. Thus, the following is as close as I can get to the recipe I made for… 4 tablespoons butter (I used Smart butter) 1 cup chopped onion 1 clove garlic, crushed 1-2 tablespoon Thai red curry… Continue reading

Turning the Food Pyramid Upside Down - Every waking minute of every day we are bombarded with mixed messages about what to eat and what not to eat. It is hard to wade through the myriad of “knowledge” that can be found in the big wide world. Fast food, comfort/reward food, snack food, convenience food, fad diet plans with their very own… Continue reading

Stone Soup - What’s for dinner? That is one of the hardest questions to answer. Stone Age women had no choice but to make do with whatever food their men brought back to the cave after a hard day’s hunting. Me? I have to sort through recipes, diets, allergies and picky kids. It just might have been easier… Continue reading

Death By Affluence - I am a BIG fan of mysteries. As a kid I rode my bike down to the library and checked out 70 of the 82 Agatha Christie books and read them by the time I was 15. As an adult, I learned to love TV shows like Castle, NCIS, and even Hawaii 5-0. Today, I… Continue reading

Stressed – OUT… and dealing with it - Staying focused is sometimes a very difficult thing to do. Most of us know what our triggers are. Triggers are situations and circumstances that put us at our weakest point in terms of staying on track. I have to admit my greatest trigger is stress… any and all stress: job stress, financial stress, teen stress,… Continue reading