Hows your health? I want to live a healthier lifestyle

During my first year of marraige I gained at least 15 pounds. It snuck up on me slowly and I didn't realize it until one day I looked in the mirror and realized my clothes no longer fit and my body and face had lost their definition. When I was in high school I was in amazing shape. I ran every day and did weight training a few times a week. But I never really ate well. I was pretty healthy, but with unhealthy habits. Fast forward into marriage, abandoning my daily exercise routine, and continuing to eat poorly and its no wonder I gained the weight.

Once I realized how it happened, I started watching what and how much I ate and made sure that I exercised somewhat regularly. It helped, I lost the extra weight and felt better. But I still had unhealthy habits that I hadn't broken, and for a few years I yo-yo'd between eating really healthy and eating very poorly.

A couple months ago I decided it was time to really focus on living healthier. I'm not overweight and don't have a specific goal weight in mind. But I could feel that my body was weighed down, sluggish, and not where it should be. Additionally, a number of bad health things run in my family (like heart disease, breast cancer, osteoperosis, high blood pressure, etc). I set a goal to live healthier. I figured I can do my best to improve my chances of not having serious health problems by eating right and exercising. Plus it comes with the benefit of feeling better, being alert, and having more energy on a day-to-day basis.

The two main parts of my goal are to eat better and exercise regularly. Everyone knows that we should try to do these things, but we have so many excuses and its easy to ignore.

Food: I've been focusing on eating more veggies and fruits each day, and cutting back on the amount of carbs and sweets I eat (because I was eating almost completely carbs). My biggest motivator is reminding myself that food is fuel and trying to pick things that will fuel my body in a good way.

Exercise: I used to run all the time, but I injured my knee this past year and it hasn't fully recovered yet. Instead, I've been doing interval and circuit training at the gym. It was easy for me to fit into my schedule because Jeff normally goes to the gym after work, so I started going after work as well. And I've been consistent! I even made the top 10 users list for June!!

Progress so far: After almost 2-3 months of eating healthier and exercising consistently, I feel great - physically and mentally. I'm determined to keep it up. I've been roping friends into it so that I'm not alone in my quest to be healthier ;] I'm not on a diet or a exercise fad. I'm working towards a healthier lifestyle. One that is maintainable and enjoyable.

I would love for you to join me!

If you have any recipes you want to share or ideas on how to prevent giving up on your goals, please share them in the comments below! What are your biggest challenge related to food and exercise?


Connect with Harmony:  Like the Facebook page  |  Visit the Website  |  Email Harmony

Betty’s Coffeecake Recipe | My Grandmother’s Cookbook

This weekend I baked my first recipe from my Grandmother’s cookbook. And so thus begins my latest project. ;]



I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this new project yet or not, so here’s the background (to skip just keep scrolling down):

Last September my Grandmother passed away. Before and after her memorial in San Diego my aunt and mom were sorting through her things. I inherited a great deal of art supplies, a kiln and kick wheel, and jewelry. But one other thing interested me –– Her well used green binder of handwritten recipes and recipe clippings. The pages were old and yellowed, with recipes scrawled out in a barely legible deep blue pen. At the time I was still trying to decide on a topic for my thesis and had been pondering the idea of a recipe/cookbook dealing with the baking heritage that has been passed through my family. My aunt took the cookbook binder, and had planned on typing up all the recipes so we could each have copies. And that was the last I’d heard about the cookbook until this past month.

My aunt was had a double knee replacement surgery (I know… she’s crazy ;] ), and my grandfather had driven up from San Diego to stay with her and help her with her recovery. On his way back home, he stopped at my parent’s house to take a couple-day break from driving. And as we always do when he’s in town, we had a group dinner. When I walked through my parent’s door, my grandpa handed me my grandmother’s cookbook and explained the history behind the book, as far as he knew. He told me that my aunt realized her idea of typing all the recipes just wasn’t going to work, and she knew I had been interested in it and so was handing it down to me.

After some detective work in the cookbook binder, I’ve determined that my great grandmother handwrote a majority of the recipes. I found a letter from ‘mom and dad’ to Lane and Jeanne (my grandparents), and the cursive scrawl perfectly matches that of the blue ink recipes. So I think that this binder was originally hers, with her recipes and clippings and then she gave it to my grandmother or my grandmother inherited it when she passed away. Either way, this recipe book has at least 4 generations of hands on it. [great grandmother, grandma, aunt, me].

After my cookbook I created for my bookarts class last year dealing with recipes and childhood baking memories with my mom and grandmother, I felt that I could do an extension of that project with this cookbook. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but I know that it will at least involve cooking/baking recipes out of the book, photographing the result, and reflecting on the heritage of baking and cooking in my family. As I start I’m sure my ideas will become more concrete.

Anyway, this weekend I tried my first recipe: Coffeecake Betty’s. I’m guessing Betty was a friend or neighbor of my great-grandmother. And Betty can bake. ;]

The recipe was simple, and the result was delicious. (I of course had this idea I’d make a fluted dish by using a normal cake pan and then a small metal bowl in the middle and aluminum foil to hold the batter in place…. And it did, but it also prevented me from removing the coffee cake in one piece. It broke apart as I attempted to peal away the aluminum foil and I ended up cutting it into pieces.

I brought it to church on Sunday and shared it with friends during our lunch fellowship, and everyone LOVED it. Like really loved it… as in each person that tried it said something along the lines of “this is so yummy” or “that’s delicious!” once, twice, or even three times.



With such great results from my first recipe, I can’t wait to try another. ;]

Viva Las Vegas

Hola from sunny and sweltering Las Vegas. I’m in town for the RESNA conference – two days of meetings, and two days of conference/exhibit as well as my very own poster presentation.



Yesterday morning I woke up early to fly down wth my boss. He has his own little plane, and so he, his wife, daughter, and stacked up our luggage and hopped in. It was a beautiful 2 hour flight. Everything looks so different from an airplane viewpoint. Rivers and mountains become swirling and branching patterns. Houses, cars, and swimming pools look like miniature replicas like a model train set. Clouds are no longer floating above you, but soaring past your windows or below you – like a blanket of white cotton.



We landed at the N. Las Vegas airport and were welcomed by a thick wave of heat. The airport was almost empty, so I took advantage of the lack of inquiring eyes to take a couple pictures.

Our hotel was off in the distance, a good 15-25 minute drive from the strip. But it was still enormous and beautiful. The perimeter was loaded with palm trees and exotic fountains and fire displays. Inside the hotel, it was just as fancy. They had gigantic chandeliers, shiny tile, large art pieces, double arching staircases, and rich red velvet enclosing a lounge area. We checked our luggage, grabbed some food, and headed out to valet to collect the car to go exploring.

It was too hot outside so I flipped around to head back inside to wait outside of the heat. As I did, a woman exiting the hotel caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks, did a double take and shouted “Bianca?!” She glanced over and froze. We both stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded before coming to our senses. Bianca and I lived a few blocks apart during elementary school in Lake Tahoe. She and I were best friends – we danced together, had sleepovers and playdates, etc. etc. We were “bonk bonk” and “harm harm.” Both her family and mine had moved from Tahoe to Carson, within a few months or years of each other. Then a few years later her family moved to Las Vegas, and I hadn’t seen her since. We found each other on facebook a few years back, but hadn’t really kept in touch.

So to my surprise, of all the hotels in Vegas, of all the people at that hotel, of all the moments in time to get the car… it was that moment that she had stopped by to grab a coffee and I had decided it was too hot – we bumped into each other. We caught up shortly while my group waited for the car, exchanged numbers and then went on our ways. We’ll catch up more when we grab lunch or coffee before I leave.

The rest of the afternoon was long and tiring – too many places, hot hot heat, and not-so-great-for-walking shoes. When we finally returned to the hotel (9:30p) I was worn out and cranky and couldn’t help but think to myself that my afternoon had been a exhausting waste of time. But then I remembered that if I had decided to stay at the hotel and not go out and about, I never would have run into Bianca… and so it was all worth it.

Plus I got to see the street characters – you know the people that dress up like famous people or characters and work based on tips. I saw an awesome Jack Sparrow, Iron Man, Batman, Elvis, and a couple Michael Jacksons. If I were going to be a street character I’d either be a robot like character – like Transformers or Iron Man, or a pirate.

My hotel room is gorgeous. If it had a kitchen, I’d move in permanently. The bedroom area is spacious, beautiful colors, a large flat screen tv, bose radio system, desk, beds, chaise lounge, and benches. The bed is incredible. Super soft down pillows, incredibly high thread count white sheets, and a pillow-top or down topped mattress. I felt like a princess. The bathroom is probably my favorite part. Two sinks, bathtub with tv mounted to the wall, hidden toilet, and tiled shower. Plus they gave me shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion, facial soap, oatmeal soap, sewing kit, and a few other odds and ends. [I don’t know about all of you, but one of my favorite parts of staying in hotels is the little toiletries you get to use and can take home… I love them so much, I hide each day’s in my bag so they’ll give me more! Ssshhh don’t tell, k?]

By the time I went to bed last night I was thoroughly exhausted. I sunk down into the deep pillows and fell asleep in an instant, and didn’t wake up until my AM alarm [despite a band playing at a pool party outside and down 15 floors].

Today was completely booked with meetings, a short lunch break, and some diner. I drank a ton of water, and iced tea. I was up and down visiting the little girl’s room. And although I probably consumed a gallon or two of water, it’s hot down here, so it’s okay. For dinner we went to Hatchi, an Asian restaurant. The architecture and design was absolutely stunning. An original Takashi Murakami large wall piece was along one wall. The opposite wall had huge framed prints of cherry blossoms. There were glass flowers hanging from the ceiling, and fun textures and shapes all around the walls. I ordered a couple sushi rolls. My food came out last, but it was worth the wait. It was the best sushi I’ve ever eaten. Jeff and I love to go to Ming’s in Carson. But this sushi made Ming’s sushi look like it was store bought junk. Incredible. I think I might go back there for dinner another night before I head out [if I can… and I really hope I can].

Tomorrow morning will be another day of meetings - I’m so bummed I can’t play hooky and go to church :(

Anyway.. I can’t believe how quickly my time down here is flying by. I’m staying for nights, and tonight is already my second night! [ that means 2 more days of free toiletries! ;) ]

Sugar Withdrawls

For the last few weeks I've been feeling completely and utterly BLEH. For the last few months I've felt off, but since Single's Conference I've just felt horrible. Jeff and I volunteered at Single's Conference as chaperones. The first night the dinner that was served by the conference center was penne pasta with chicken in a broccoli alfredo sauce. It was delicious, but a select few of our group got sick. One girl threw up, a few others had tummy aches. I got really bad indigestion and then nausea. Since then, no matter what I eat it I get bloated and really bad indigestion and tummy aches. Now I'll admit I haven't been eating great. I eat way to much sugar, lots of breads and chips and other crap. I eat because I'm bored or whenever I crave anything. So its no wonder I feel like junk.

In the last few months I've heard about multiple different food plans (diets if you must) to help people eat healthier, eat based on heritage (eat for your blood type), identify foods you have an intolerance to (elimination or rotation diet), cleanse, renew, etc. etc. So I started looking at these and its really crazy how food can affect you. Since these past few weeks I've been feeling like crap, I decided it was time to figure out what I eat that my body can't handle. I was looking at the elimination diet first. The premise is that you cut out the majority of foods that are commonly allergy or intolerance triggers in people. You eat a very basic food plan until your symptoms go away, then add one food back in each week or so and see how your body reacts. Its a great way to figure out what foods individual people react to. However, since it is designed for the general population (not specialized for individual people) it cuts out everything! I started reading the list of what you can't eat, and compared it to what you can.. and came to the conclusion it would be impossible for me to try at this moment. You can't have any dairy, wheat or breads, pastas, legumes, chicken beef or pork, most fish, most fruits, etc. Basically you eat lamb and pears - exotic but not cheap or easy to follow. (I don't think I've ever tried lamb...) I was also looking at doing a cleanse, but just for a weekend (not a whole week or 10 days like some people do). It seems like the most common one is the water, lemon, maple syrub and chili pepper mixture.

Anyway, I really wanted to start identifying whatever was causing me to feel so yucky. Monday I decided I'd start by cutting out breads, chips, sugar, and processed foods to see if that helped at all. The first few days were rough. We have tons of bread/chips/desserts in my house and (knowing I couldn't eat them) I wanted to eat them even more! I went grocery shopping on Tuesday and bought lots of fruits and veggies and some dried fruits (which I reasoned would be my replacement for chips and desserts). I figured I should add something else into my food groups and so I bought some cottage cheese too. I hate cottage cheese. I've never been able to stand the texture of it. But I decided to give it another chance. I was able to fight it down with fresh blackberries. I hadn't really felt any different yet, but I figured it would take more than a couple days to allow my body to catch up.

Last night we went to my parents house for dinner [Happy Birthday Mom!]. We started talking about trying to eat better [they tried to do the elimination diet but couldn't stick to it] and my mom told me I might have a dairy or lactose intolerance (because she does, and her mom did, and so on). So I decided to cut out dairy as well, and today was my first day adding that into the mix - no milk, cheese, etc. I had a smoothie (homemade) for breakfast and then some roasted pepper tomato soup from trader joes for lunch. But partway through my soup I realized it was really creamy... and when I looked at the ingredient list - voila! First ingredient was milk fat. So today didn't work. But I plan on continuing with my cut out stuff and see if my body BLEH goes away.

Until then, I'll make it through. I turned down icecream last night and opted just for berries, and again today at work. I can do this! Hopefully I'll be able to identify what I can and can't eat!

In honor of not eating sweets... I'll be posting my recipe for Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting... to share with all of you! Check back!