Getting back to healthy

I still don't know what general direction my blog is going in these days, but right now I am writing here to make myself start that "going on a diet" I keep going on about. I need to lose a significant number of pounds after slowly, sneakily gaining a LOT of weight over the last three months or so.

I plan to eat smaller portions (eat one helping slowly instead of having two), log my eats and any feelings at/before/after eating times, and stick wholeheartedly to veganism (with an occasional egg). I am going to limit drinks to water, unsweetened teas, and the occasional decaf coffee with soy milk. nothing with added sugar, even vitamin water which i love from time to time. Red wine now and then is exempt ;-)

I am going to cook in water and low sodium veggie broth and skip the oils mostly.

I am going to eat as unprocessed as possible, staying away from even organic prepackaged crackers, etc. I don't believe in forgoing carbs but instead of gluten-heavy pasta I might use quinoa, for example. I also am going to cut back on the fake bacon, tofurkey, even on tofu, and just fill up on natural protein sources like lentils and beans instead.

No vegan ice cream. No dairy. No French Fries, and NO potato chips. These are my WORST weaknesses. When I crave them I am going to ... I don't know, have a big glass of water. Or come up with an alternative to feeding myself when I most certainly do not need to be fed! Maybe just remembering the truly hungry people in developing countries or heck on our own streets will be enough :-(

Right now, I'm having a "last meal" of a slice of pepperjack cheese and saying goodbye to all things cow, with any luck for good this time! Those of you who read me regularly know what a constant battle this is for me between body and psyche.

I am also committing to being more active, to start with at LEAST a good brisk 1/2 hour walk a day, but more ideally at least an hour every day TWICE a day between hiking and walking. I plan on doing at least a sun salutation or two a day toward my yoga practice. I don't think this is unreasonable.

If anyone else has any good advice for me, I'd love to hear it. I'm ready to get my healthy body and body image back.

I'll be in Boston tomorrow and Tuesday and will be hitting a game up at Fenway park. Can't wait! Don't worry I'll do my best to eat well! ;-)

Plans for the rest of my time here: more hiking. more beach. vegan baked something with the blueberries i picked. maybe with a local egg snuck in.

I'm looking forward too to being home in Kentucky again and showing you the progress on our apartment/"homeschool" !!!

anxiety relief, found again in nature

quite a while back, i gave up keeping close tabs on the news.

somehow, recently, i started that up again.

now i know why i quit. too much sadness. disbelief at what human beings do to each other. what we are doing to our world. it goes on.

does anyone else feel overwhelmed and hopeless and powerless by the media machine?

i needed some time in nature, really. it was long overdue.

i found this little piece of heaven in a corner of CT called Cornwall and hiked it for three hours. Ate lunch on a rock. Made friends with a heron, a deer, a cottontail, butterflies, birds, bugs, and a crab skeleton.

i drove home in blessed pouring sweet smelling summer rain.

i got excellent coffee (on a strange starbucks kick recently).

i decided to give up the news and just go for the cursory headline checks again. just too much anxiety. why, when all we can change is our corner of things in the hope of a ripple effect?

hoping you are at peace as well, dear readers. i'm feeling a bit better listening to gillian welch's wonderful new album.

i'll be at hot yoga in the morning, letting go.

i'll leave you with a few more pictures of my hike today. can you spot the gentle deer i spotted less than 10 feet from me? what a treasure!

peace to all beings.




love and light,
k.

vacation, pretty sweet

check these out ... i could not resist. they are adorable ... and a steal at $18!!

so far, vacation is going well.

day one - beach

day two - goodwill shopping (found a $2 silky nightgown AND two vintage dresses, AND vintage-looking brown heels, yee haw!!), vegan pistachio ice cream

day three - bought trail shoes and the new Gillian Welch album. gillian's coming to louisville at the end of august. oh i also bought my harry potter ticket for friday!

day four - will be spent on a long hike followed by an evening of yin yoga

i am avoiding, of course, thoughts of a research paper topic that still needs to be narrowed down and approved ... and too many thoughts of the small business i have yet to start. not that i'm not super excited about both my papers and my business ... but i like having daydreaming thoughts about teaching myself sewing in my sweet little studio and receiving banjo lessons. and getting back into cooking! my favorite cookbook author has a low-fat, vegan cookbook just out - I'll be getting that and cooking for the boyfriend and myself very soon. we also need a freezer for all the food i plan on putting by once i'm back in august! hello craigslist...no luck yet but i have faith. why in heaven are modern freezers so small?

also, i have some bling picked out ... let's just say a proposal looms large on the horizon!! it's recycled, blood-free bling...even better.

i'm on a diet of portion-control. i stepped on the scale here and no one's denying it when i say "I can't believe I've gained all this weight!" goes to show even vegans can't escape the huge stomachs we americans have inherited. i'm also avoiding most oils and sugars and added sodium for the time being. after three days i'm doing okay. a bit hungry. oh well. i also need to be more active, i'm thinking exercise twice a day, just basically ramping up the swimming-walking-hiking-yoga thing.

this blog is still feeling somewhat directionless so maybe i should keep posts shorter. i'm still not totally happy with it. it's supposed to be a simple living blog at its heart ... not just a ramble of daily activity. i don't know ....

stay tuned for more soon. i'm trying to be better about posting more frequently.

love and light,

karen

I've decided on YES.

**wrote this the other night but for some reason blogger wouldn't publish....so...here you are!**


...a scene from the inspiring Columbia River Gorge ....

So. School is now over, and after writing two major research papers due Oct. 1, my master's degree in Montessori education will be complete.

Big news for you (and for me, really!): I am going to start up my own business running classes for homeschooled children, or young children who just aren't going to a half or full-day preschool.

Classes will start Oct. 3. I will start small. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I do know WHY I'm doing it. The reasons are personal, but I've blogged about them before, being the open book I am.

I will probably be running these out of other people's homes, but I would like to open my own home to something at least once a week.

I will create a Web site. Any advice on this? I want to do it all myself and have it be tech-anxiety friendly. Should it just be a blog?

Other goals this late summer/fall include learning how to sew and play the banjo, and increasing my knitting repertoire on ravelry. And erm, painting the ugly kitchen cabinets. And getting one more couch and a really sweet table good for dinner parties.

You'll probably be hearing a lot more about this business thing soon. I'm so excited! But for now ... three weeks of vacation in New England!

Love and light,

Karen