falling off the proverbial wagon

It happens to all of us now and then.   We have our healthy habits, we're conscious of why those habits are important and then WHAM, you find yourself picking up a McDonald's cheeseburger and some fries and wondering what the heck happened! 

Yup, that about represents the last 2 weeks for me.  McDonald's (and yes, I deeply, DEEPLY regretted it about a half hour after eating it), more dinners out, skipping breakfast and/or lunch, picking up the chocolate bar for a quick sugar hit in the afternoon...  and I know exactly why I sit here with a dull, pounding headache.  

So how exactly do we find ourselves in this situation from time to time?   For me, it's busy at work, busy with studying, busy teaching and I forget to take the chicken out of the freezer.  We get home from work, I haven't thought about dinner and boom "let's go to Chuckles Jack or Bistro 54"!  Next thing you know, I've chowed down on deep fried dill pickles and butter chicken (maybe a piece of chocolate cake too...) at Chuckles Jack or Caesar salad, pasta carbonara and homemade gelato at Bistro 54.  Oh, and don't forget the wine...   I don't even want to think about how many calories I've consumed!!!  (Seriously though, if you're ever in the area, these are 2 of my fav restaurants - awesome people and even better food!) 

But here comes my question - is it really all that bad?  That is in part a rhetorical question of course.  Here's my take: while these foods are not going to contribute to a slimmer waistline, they're also not going to kill me IF (BIG IF!)  these food choices are not my norm (and I assure you, they are not).  To me, it's all about balance - that McDonald's cheeseburger served significant value - reminded me why I eat them oh so rarely!  But it, along with the myriad other less than healthy things I've consumed over the last couple of weeks remind me to pay attention - to what I eat, what I don't eat (as in, skipping meals), that I stay active and make time for myself.  

So, why the long-winded post about my slip up?   Because it happens to everyone, because I think it's normal and because it's a learning moment.   Take the slip ups for what they are, don't dwell since you can't change it and move onward and upward, learning to make better choices.  

Back onto the wagon I get (though I will still enjoy the occasional piece of chocolate cake)!   

giving thanks

Our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend is coming to close, and as I slow down before getting ready for my week ahead, I'm taking a few moments to acknowledge how truly fortunate I am.

This weekend was full to the brim with family, great friends and much too much food!  Friday brought family from out of town, dinner at mom and dad's with them and late night chatting; Saturday some work around the house followed by an awesome evening with friends and family, some of the best local cheese around along with some fine Canadian Scotch, Glen Breton and some lovely Porto; Sunday, my mom's awesome as always turkey dinner, again with family and friends; and holiday Monday brought a great workout then off to fly for an hour with friends (who knew you could rent a plane for an hour and head out?!)

More than anything, it's the time spent with family and friends that is most welcomed and most appreciated.  It is a reminder of what is truly important and of value in my life. The hours of Trivial Pursuit Sunday was a refreshing tradition that we had at some point given up - why, I'll never know!  I mean what's better than a game of trivia, a bit of friendly competition, girls against the guys, ESPECIALLY where the girls win - and on a golf question, no less :-)   Sitting around at a friend's place Saturday evening just relaxing and catching up was a welcome escape from the distracting busy-ness I sometimes find myself in the midst of.  It is sometimes the perceived mundane aspects of our lives that actually have the most to offer - something I commit to reminding myself of when I start to carried away.

So, on this absolutely gorgeous and cool fall evening, before setting out for the work week, I thank all of you for an absolutely awesome Thanksgiving long weekend and for the subtle reminders of everything I have to be thankful for!

busy, busy, busy

The last 6 weeks have been chaotic.  And I mean chaotic in the best of ways - filled with good things, great people and new ideas.

The newest of new ideas is the creation of a recreation association in our community.  I'm volunteering my time with a group of other health and wellness oriented people to create The Hub, a recreation association that will provide access to fitness, activities and recreation for all members of our community and to those of surrounding communities.

The history goes a little something like this - formerly a provincial hospital, a massive 800,000 square foot facility on 350 acres is closed, left vacant in 2008.  Said facility has a pool, gymnasium, auditorium, classrooms - but is closed, no longer available for use and has a massive for sale sign on the front lawn.  Prospects are grim; not only has this facility closed, so have a couple of others, resulting in hundreds of job losses in a town of 9,000.    Not good (and did I mention I had just moved here!?)

Fast forward to 2011.   In general, the town's prospects are looking better - slowly (we are the turtle, not the hare).  While searching the world for someone to buy up this huge facility, the town inadvertently misses a local solution.  The sale of the facility is announced and as it turns out, a local family in the construction business has purchased it - welcome now to The Gallipeau Centre!  The idea is to build a community within a community - residential dwellings, commercial ventures, medical facilities and the list goes on.

Fast forward again to 2012, when a local businesswoman (and my mentor) Darlene Maclachlan brings a bunch of us together to talk about the possibilities.  It wasn't long before we had a laundry list of ideas, volunteers, people to talk to, presentations to do and most importantly - plans to make!

We've come a long way in a couple of months and I'm proud to be able to say I get to work alongside some amazing people (including my Dad!) to figure out how to make this a reality.   It's a little bit daunting some days, but oh so rewarding!  The possibilities are endless and the benefits immeasurable, which is why I continue to believe this will become a reality.  

If you're reading this and have the opportunity, check out our idea here - it's a competition that provides funding to community oriented ideas.  For us, this will be seed money to get the pool fixed and re-opened.   If you have a moment and can sign up and vote for us, that would be awesome!  More than anything, we're working to create awareness of the benefits this will provide to all members of our community and if you can help us with that, we'd be oh so grateful.

cheers,
A

ah, vacation...

I'm just back from a few days vacation with my better half - we spent 5 awesome fun-filled days in New York City.

I love New York.  I know it's a cliche, but I really do.

There is just so much to see and do, and if doing the touristy thing isn't your game, then there's lots to just enjoy.  I had already been and visited Rockefeller Centre, The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the like.  This trip, we decided to skip the typical tourist sites and just enjoy the city. We missed Central Park altogether thanks to mother nature and particularly nasty thunderstorm, but it'll be there next time we go, so I'm not too fussed.

Walking was the name of the game and other than a couple of cab rides back to the hotel after long days, we walked everywhere.  We spent most of our time in Midtown, shopping on 5th Avenue, taking in Grand Central Station and its beautiful architecture, and just generally anything that caught our eye, including little bistros to stop in for a snack. Another full day walking the High Line and then the neighborhoods around Greenwich Village and Soho was filled with beautiful brownstones, some wonderful tapas at Boqueria and some unexpected Christmas gift opportunities (I'm the one who you'll see running around the week before Christmas doing my shopping!) and to finish off our day - the most amazing pizza I have ever had in my life at Lombardi's.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention 2 of my favorite restaurants - Bobby Flay's Bar Americain and a new discovery Rue 57.   I'm slowly amassing a list of "favorite" restaurants that I've decided just means I need to stay in NYC longer :-)

Next week it's back to work and back to reality, but not without some superb memories of NYC in the summer!

It was a great reminder that vacations are made for memories, so don't forget to take yours and make some of your own memories!

eating local

I happen to live in a rural area where farmers are plentiful, meaning we have ready access to locally grown foods from late spring through fall (nada in winter, but more on that).  That's not to say I don't stop by the grocery store - no matter how hard I wish or pray, avocados, lemons and limes just aren't going to grow here and I love them!

A couple of years ago, while out at a local restaurant for brunch, I commented on how incredible the eggs were - turned out they were from a small family farm right down the road.  The restaurant owner was all too happy to give me their contact information and before I knew it, we had ready access to farm fresh, free run eggs!

Not long after, we signed up to participate in their seasonal CSA (Community Support Agriculture) program and a now 3 year relationship with Heritage Harvest Farms began!  As you'll see from their website, Heritage Harvest Farms is a small (well relatively speaking anyways), local, family run farm.  This year was the launch of their year round CSA program whereby for a set fee, we receive a weekly delivery of goodies throughout the year, a sample of which you see below.

What you can't see here are the dozen eggs, as well as meat products we receive every week.  The produce includes large tomatoes, a bagged mixture of grape/cherry tomatoes, various varieties of peppers, lettuce, various types of greens, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, purple beans, beets, fresh herbs and 2 loaves of homemade artisanal bread EVERY WEEK!  During winter months, the produce is expected to consist of things like carrots, parsnip, squash, potatoes, etc - the cold weather stuff.

The CSA model, if you're not familiar with it, basically requires the consumer pay a set fee for an agreed upon period of time and in return gets a share of the expected crop.  Obviously with farming, there is a risk/reward component and it mostly involves mother nature (assuming you've found a trustworthy farmer to work with).  When mother nature cooperates, there's the potential for significant bounty; if not, well... you get the picture - there's no guarantee.  You share the risks but you also share the rewards!

I love my farmer (yes you, Angie); our families have become acquainted, we stop by the farm and visit (albeit short visits given how much work they have to do!) and in general we have developed the kind of lasting partnership a foodie (that would be me!) can only dream of.

Here's to all the farmers out there making a difference for families like mine - thank you!!!

letting yourself off the hook

My usual browsing about the web this morning yielded an interesting read by Dr. Lissa Rankin, The Pressure to Be Perfect.  It got me thinking about all the things I do less than perfectly: meal planning, working out, cleaning and tidying the house, walking the dogs, spending more time with my spouse... and the list goes on and on and on.

And now I'm wondering, why?  We eat relatively healthy meals most of the time, I do workout, the dogs are happy creatures and so is my better half (as am I) so what exactly is wrong with all that?!  When it comes to cleaning the house, I recently did what I thought was copping out - I hired someone to clean it for me and I LOVE it.  I did that because I felt I didn't do a good enough job at keeping the house clean, certainly not the way I would have liked to.  Now I'm seeing that hiring someone to do that actually relieves the pressure to be perfect at cleaning the house and gives me the gift of time to spend being better at something else, like walking our dogs or planning and preparing awesome meals!

So what to make of this pressure to be perfect?  I'm not sure, to be honest.  I do know that I hate the feeling of falling short but it it has got me thinking that striving for perfection is over-rated - WAY overrated.  After all, if you've achieved perfection, that would suggest there's nothing more to learn and that I don't buy for a single millisecond.  

More than anything, this has me reflecting on acceptance; acceptance for the way things are; acceptance that I have the ability to change or influence how things are (eg I can simply choose to walk the dogs more); and accepting that I am learning every day and therefore not perfect and never will be. 

So, here's to being imperfect, in all sorts of ways!

gluten free CAN be yummy!

In my intro, I mentioned that one of my food sensitivities is to gluten.  I don't know about all of you, but I LOVE bread and pasta!!!   A life without them seemed just... wrong!  I won't lie and tell you I'm 100% gluten free.  I take liberties with mom's home made apple pie and some wicked artisanal bread a friend makes but I try and keep it to a minimum.  If I don't pay attention and eat more than I should, the headaches remind me when I've overdone it!

In the early days of my gluten free lifestyle, I basically avoided anything that remotely resembled wheat or a formerly consumed wheat product - veggies, fruit, meat were my staples.  No bread, no pasta, oh and no tacos at the local Mexican restaurant (who knew that even their hard shell tacos were made of wheat flour!)  Reading labels became a part time job and, as a result, I just shopped the outside aisles - though I have discovered those tricky grocery stores have moved the bakeries...where?  To the outside aisles of course where that fabulous smelling, freshly baking bread could be found.  Why does baking bread have to smell so damn good?!?!

Anyways, on to successes!  I slowly started experimenting and have since discovered all sorts of wonderful gluten free carbohydrate-ridden indulgences. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Rice paper rolls filled with chicken, julienned carrots and cucumber, fresh basil and cilantro topped with some homemade peanut sauce.  Just takes some practice working with the rice paper, but not rocket science
• Corn or quinoa pasta with our homemade pasta sauce and fresh basil with a little parmigiano reggiano
• Oatmeal - my personal gluten-free favorite is Glutenfreeda plain instant oatmeal as I can avoid the sugar that I'm also sensitive to.  Add a little maple syrup, goji berries, flax seed, some coconut butter to make it nice and creamy and voila!
• Corn tortillas - awesome corn flour by Maseca - add a little water, salt then shape and roll out the dough.  I "bake" my rolled out tortillas in a dry non-stick frying pan, then put them into a warm (not hot!) oven wrapped in a moistened tea towel to soften them (best to put the tea towel into a cake pan or something like it).  Fill with anything your heart desires!  Add a little honey or maple syrup to the water when making your dough and you have an awesome dessert base!
• Quinoa, quinoa, quinoa!  Cold or hot, it's fantastic and filling (with the nutritional profile it has, you MUST add this even if not on a gluten free regimen).  Add anything you like to it - grilled veggies, sun-dried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds along with some gluten free tamari, a little olive oil and fresh herbs is spectacular, especially a day later! 
• Soba noodles are a great addition to soups, just make sure you check the ingredients to ensure there's only buckwheat in there!
• Rice noodles are a also a great addition to soups.  My fav is having them as a cold salad gado-gado style with veggies (it's really just an excuse for me to eat peanut sauce!)

So you see, you really can experience incredible cuisine being gluten free, it just takes a little exploration and practice!  I'll be starting some experimenting with buckwheat flour (for crepes which I adore) and a heritage variety of wheat (red fife) which apparently tends not to cause the same reactions as modern hybridized varieties of wheat.  Will keep you posted on any successes with those.

Until next time, enjoy your gluten free goodies and share any of your favorites here as well!