My Divas for a Healthy Lifestyle Group.

My Divas from my Healthy Lifestyle class, are doing great. Everyone made it through the detox week.  Once your body goes through that detox period, you can’t help but give it the best foods nature has to offer. I feel like every mouthful of healthy food that I eat goes right to work. The nutrients are absorbed right into my system; they do what they are supposed to do. It’s a great feeling. Another thing, my tummy loves being full of nutrient dense foods.

The group overall is moving along with weight loss and also with learning about nutrition. We vent about what is working and what we need to work on and we have shared healthy receipts and wholesome snacks.

I tell my group that this class is about real life, it’s not about being a robot opening up prepackaged diet foods or opening up fat free snacks full of artificial sugars and fats. It’s not something you learn over night. It’s an ongoing commitment we make to ourselves. It’s been a wonderful experience so far.

Overall, we have had a great start to our Healthy Lifestyle Group.

A Nice Easter.

This year was a little different because my father and his lady friend were unable to make it up from Jersey.  So it was not the same as the past years but I am sure they will be up next year.
This year my daughter and her husband and my granddaughter came for dinner and my son and fiancee and step son all came up for dessert.  All in all it was a very nice day. The weather couldn't have been any better.  We had a little egg hunt for my granddaughter, which was so exciting.  She's a pro.

Dinner was delish.......I made a honey ham with fresh pineapples, garlic mash potatoes, sweet corn casserole, home made Coleslaw and fresh baked dinner rolls.  So I didn't go overboard.  I also made a homemade bunny cake.  I am happy to say I used fresh ingredients with everything I made.  No processed foods.  Everything  was tasty.

    I hope everyone else had a happy, healthy and peaceful Easter !  

Slow Down and Enjoy the Simple Things

You know sometimes we are in such a rush to do things and get to where we need to be. It’s always wake up, hurry up to get to work or to an appointment. It's always rush, rush, rush. It just seems to be the American way. No wonder so many of us have high blood pressure, or problems with stress. I am just sick of the high paced life we live, I really am. The thing is if we somehow get ourselves to slow down whether it is through yoga, meditation, a vacation or prayer as soon as we jump back into the rat race of life, everyone around starts rushing you. It's a stinking vicious circle. So, we do what we can to be centered. I enjoy deep breathing through simple yoga moves and sitting in a tranquil setting and praying. I would like to say I do this every day, but I don't. I wish I could become more religious with this practice. Oh well, I will just keep trying.

I was at home this morning, making my midmorning snack and was getting ready to just put my apple on a paper towel and just go sit down and eat it. Then I remembered years ago when I watched an Oprah show. John Travolta was her guest and he was explaining how he likes to use his good china/dishes every day, even when he is on the set. He went on to say, “What are we all waiting for ? Why not treat yourself to the good stuff everyday?”  He then said, how we need to slow down and enjoy the little things…..even if that means enjoying your tea in a pretty cup.

So, Today I slowed down a bit and enjoyed my midmorning snack of a few apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon and a cup of low fat soy milk, on the dishes my grandmother gave to me over 20 years ago. I am going to make more of an effort to slow down and enjoy simple pleasures.

A simple healthy snack, set for a Diva!

Passing up a Danish.....

Saturday morning we drove down to our shore place.   Home Depot  was coming out to measure for the flooring on our addition.  So, while my hubby was waiting for that to be done, I was going to Ocean City's Do Da Parade with my sister and her puppy Zoe. We were going to meet up with some other Divas (we didn't end up meeting, hopefully next time) while we were there.   It's a fun parade celebrating the ending of tax season and the beginning of the Spring fun. Well, the weather wasn't so promising, lots of wind and rain. Due to the weather, they only had half of the parade and it wasn't very good.

While I was waiting for the parade to start, I began to get hungry. This worried me because I didn't bring any prepared snacks and I needed to eat something healthy. I spotted a pastry shop and a donut shop. But I couldn't find a shop where I could go in and buy some fruit or a yogurt. I can't go past 3 hours with out a small snack and I was pissed at myself for not being prepared.  At one point, I even walked into the pastry shop......MMMmmm it smelled so good.  I walk very quickly out.  I dodged that disaster. I was so proud of myself.  It sounds like no big deal.....but for me it's a big deal, because it would have been so easy to just grab a danish or a donut.

 Yay for me :)

Ps.  When I  left the parade I headed out and bought a salad with chicken breast.

I started a “Divas for Healthy Living” group after work  this week. We are going to meet once a week for the next 6-8 weeks.  The goal for the group is to learn how to eat healthy with clean fresh foods and loose weight as we as we go along.  I am excited and I am sure we will all do well because there is power in numbers.

We are starting this program with a detox week. This is all done with real foods, nothing artificial. The first week’s goal is to get rid of the sugar overload and junk in our body. We are doing this by eating lots of veggies, proteins, water, herbal tea and citrus fruits. No more prepackaged or processed foods. We deserve to treat our bodies with respect and honor.

We are also detoxing from caffeine. This can be hard for me because I sure do like my morning coffee. Although, one week isn’t going to hurt me or anyone for that matter. Well, actually withdraw from caffeine can cause headaches. We are adding exercise for those who are not doing in now and upping it for those of us whom are.

This is the first time I held a class like this. I feel like I am finally putting my nutrition education to good use (other then for the food program for the daycare). I hope it will be successful for the gals in the class as well as for me holding the class. You know what……? I know it will be successful. I will make sure it is. I am super excited about working with these women. I think it's going to be fun too.

I am feeling real good about this. Okay, I am off to make myself an egg white omelet with spinach and cheese.

Veggies from my garden last year.  I can't wait to start my garden this year.

A Great Start To The Week!

I knew I had to drag my butt out of bed and get to the gym bright and early this morning. I knew this was going to be a hard thing to do after a weekend of celebrating. I downright ate too much. This was why my heart was saying get out and get moving, make some real good choices today. So, I did just that. While I drove to the Gym I made sure I didn’t turn on the radio. I knew once I was in the gym the music would be on and I just wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet before I entered the Gym. Once I was there I noticed something about myself. I noticed calmness……for those of you that know me; I am not a calm person. I am much more of a high energy gal. This calmness was so relaxing, and soothing. I did some stretches and then decided to get on the treadmill. I still felt nice and calm. I loved this feeling. I wanted to box it up. I wonder if others feel this way more often then not.


I noticed the people that were in the gym at that time of day were older (the definition of older, is 10 years older than your age..ha ha) and I noticed that most of them smiled at each other and said good morning and other pleasantries. You don’t see or hear that at night. Plus there was such a positive feeling in the air compared to when I would work out at night. But then again this maybe because I was calm and was more in tune to what was going on around me.

I am determined to get back to working out 3 to 4 times a week (I was on a down swing of 1 or 2 times a week) and I want to try to go in the morning. In between work outs at the gym, I will do some Yoga at home. I want to keep myself focused and calm. I know that is not something that will happen all the time but being in that zone this morning was so enjoyable. I noticed those around me, where normally I just go and do my thing and then just get out of there. Getting a smile and a good morning from people that you don’t know on a Monday was a Great Start to my week. On top of that I got a good work out in. All in all it was a nice Monday.

I missed my Arby this weekend.
Walking with him along the bay was always a relaxing time.

                                           

The Wedding Shower.

This past weekend we celebrated a couples style wedding shower, for my son and my future daughter in law. To say it was a wonderful experience would be putting it mildly. It was a fun event shared by the bride and groom, as well as the families. What a nice way to bring two families together. These two families will soon become a united family for my son and his bride.

I have always just been to the traditional "women only" showers. I wonder why our side of the family never tried a couple’s shower before. I really enjoyed meeting and intermixing with my future daughter in laws side of the family as well hanging out with my family... You know it’s always nice to have any reason for families to get together, but what better a reason then a wedding shower?

The bride’s mother and step father did a fantastic job putting this shower together. They really worked hard to pull it all together and it showed.  The food was amazing. The cake was delicious; it had a layer of raspberry filling between the cake and the icing. YUM! The place it was held at was incredible; it was an “After School Rock and Roll” facility. The building was so cool and had so much character in itself. There was a band that played current music with a twist of rock and a hint of folk style music. The music couldn’t help but get you singing along or tapping your toes to the beat of whatever song they were singing.  Plus it was such a hoot watching my granddaughter shaken her little bottom to the music.

It was nice to see my son and all his buddies together too. It’s been a while since the last time I’d seen them all together. Seeing them together brought back a lot of memories.

I could tell my son and his fiancé were thrilled to have their, family and friends join them in this exciting celebration. And OH BOY did they get a ton of wonderful gifts.

I told myself before the shower to soak up this wonderful event, absorb it into my heart and just enjoy the day.  And you know what? I did just that.

All in all it was a blast. The bride looked beautiful and my son looked so happy. What more could a mother ask………but to see their child happy.