Mama Fit Grammar

I used Grammarly to grammar check this post because it allowed my fitness-addled-brain to take a break from considering whether or not the parallelism of my phrases was "faulty" and other such delights that only a true grammar geek would enjoy. Grammarly would also like very much to help me with my run-on sentences and keep me from ending a sentence with a preposition. I can see this becoming habit-forming. It really covers the whole gamut of English usage, from spelling of "to, too, two," to use of verb tenses and beyond. Sometimes I simply write too fast to be as precise or as careful as I'd like to be.

Exercise has become the same way. I have been twiddling my thumbs and wringing my hands the past two days over a lack of time to fit in a work-out. Making that time is a priority, you know it is as well as I do, but time is not, alas, elastic.

Part of staying healthy is being able to forgive yourself for your short-comings, and get on with life. I plan to chill reading to my kids for awhile, then go out and enjoy date night with T. I will get up and go to the gym tomorrow morning, no regrets.

Full disclosure: Grammarly invited me to test their grammar check program. I did so over a period of time, and with thoughts of whether or not this would be useful to homeschoolers and bloggers. After thoroughly testing it with excellent support from their tech team, I decided to accept their offer of sponsorship; it is a top-quality product.

Cleansing Recipies: New and Improved

 Last week, I gave some ideas for cleanses, based on what I've used over the years. Here are a few more details on how to prepare each one and hints for success, by which I mean creating something that tastes good so that you will be happy to come back to it over and over.

French-style: bouillon de legumes

This is as it sounds, as least in French: boil vegetables and drink the broth, or eat the vegetables as well for a little additional fiber.

Basic bouillon: 3-4 boiled leeks. What is a leek? Look for it in the cold section of the produce aisle; near the radishes, collard greens and spinach. It looks and smells like a giant green onion.

Optional: carrots, broccoli and any other veggies you may have in the fridge; no potatoes this time.

Optional: bouillon packet (most cubes have msg). In France, we put bouillon in everything. My favorite way to go is Better than Bouillon, a jar you can find in the same spot as the cubes or packets, it really is good stuff.

-Wash and slice leeks in half. Keep the white part and some of the green: soak and scrub to remove the sand from under the layers.

-Rinse, soak, rinse again, there is a lot of sand in normally grown leeks.

-Wash and peel or scrub additional vegetables.

-Slice, chop or otherwise make into smallish pieces.

-Add them to a boiling pot of salted water and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Serve hot or cold, with or without pieces. You can drain the broth, mix it all in a blender/food processor, or eat it as is. Some kids will eat it blended but not "with pieces." Once they get used to the taste, they may want to try it unmixed.

Cold smoothies:

Basic detox cleanse: (makes 10 7oz servings)

Spinach, kale, other greens: Note about greens and your typical mixer: even my great Ninja Kitchen System 1100, which makes any soup into a velvety smooth beverage, cannot handle lettuce or kale. The only thing that can make those into something palatable for me is a juicer. However, spinach is soft. Spinach has saved my green smoothies. You can put in as much as you like, with a little water and a little stuffing down of the leaves with a spatula as you go along, and it will mix up like a dream. I now look forward to my healthy morning and noon drinks.
I used 2 big bunches of spinach
1c frozen blueberries
2 cucumbers
Water (add little by little as the ingredients blend)
Cinnamon

Wash and blend all but the cinnamon in a blender until completely smooth. Tip: I start with the spinach, as described above, add the berries, and finally the cucumbers and water.  Divide into 10 portions and freeze 9, drink the other. I use plastic cups and plastic wrap to freeze a batch for the week. I do not microwave them, but set a cup out 30 minutes before a meal in warm water and eat it with a spoon. Cinnamon is optional for flavor; it is also known to kick-start your metabolism and help with weight loss.


Week 2: more substance: (makes 10, 7oz servings)

Spinach
Frozen strawberries
Frozen orange juice
Greek yogurt
Water/almond milk

Wash spinach and/or other greens, place in blender with a little water, blend. Add other ingredients and blend, adding water and or almond milk as needed. See above for divvying up into portions and freezing.

Bon appetit!

No Such Thng as a "Typical Homeschooler"

It all started with a glance in the mirror and the thought, "My, you look almost civilized, no one would guess you were a muddy, sweaty mess out gardening 10 minutes ago." I realized, incidentally, (since we were out of milk and I was dashing to the grocery store), that none of us had any inkling what the others might have been up to 10 minutes before they arrived at the store. People could have been doing all sorts of things just prior, but now they were cleaned up (for the most part), with their public masks on; and they looked the part of the innocent shopper, just as I did.

Of course, one thing led to another, as it will, and after considering a few of the possibilities of what other shoppers might have been up to just before arriving at the store, all purtied up; like massive water-balloon fights, finger-painting, cleaning out horse poo from the stables, I had an elucidated moment. Homeschoolers are just like this. The only part of us that's showing is what we choose to communicate to the world, and the image they see when we are outside our homes. There is no one recipe or formula for the way our days go "as homeschoolers." Even writing down what happens all day in a home is a tricky affair, since it changes from day to day, from season to season, from sickness to health and from child to child.

A friend may say; "Oh, we did nothing today," but what she is omitting may be life-shattering in the real world. They might have cooked enough food for a week's worth of meals. Perhaps she ran five miles behind a stroller carrying two children. Volunteered at a nursing home, finished reading Narnia aloud to her children. Maybe a pet died and the whole family is in mourning. When we say "nothing," and we have a house full of people, this is a misrepresentation of facts. We can judge ourselves too harshly, allowing for only academic activity to count as "something" worth mentioning. 

No one need start confessing their every whim and burden (some of us do enough of that already), but look perhaps, with more compassion at others, and judge not homeschooling styles.

Update: Workout

This ubiquitous American term "work-out" seems to have two connotations. For guys, it means pumping iron in a sweaty gym full of guy-guys, for women, some aerobics class full of skinny women in spandex. I never gave it much thought, except to wonder what the question pertained to when it was asked. (Do I lift? Do I go to the gym? I walk and swim, is that what they mean?) Then I realized it was just a conversation filler when it was in a question form.

Now I guess I can say I WORK OUT, for real, and I love it! I still prefer to walk for miles outdoors and always will, but this new dimension to fitness is empowering; I did not think I would make it through even one class, and this morning I am heading out the door to yet another one, no spandex, just a water bottle, a towel and awaiting barbells at the Y. 

The only sore spots were my quadriceps after class number one. It really is fun, give it a try!

The Adventure Blog

Get your family excited about being outside, being active enough...to live a real adventure! This blog:The Adventure Blog is the place to see, hear and learn about the people exploring the world over on a daily basis. I feel like an armchair traveler when reading it, seeing the planet; places both familiar and new from a whole new perspective. We use it in our homeschool world to spice up geography. You can point to a continent or a river on the globe, but to see someone climbing a mountain in the Antarctic, here: http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/video-last-great-climb-trailer.html or racing canoes on the Yukon River: http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/rowers-look-to-set-new-speed-record-on.html puts it into a much more exciting context. How about a small island becoming the place Amelia Earheart lived her last moments? http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-data-supports-theory-that-amelia.html. History and incredible exploit.

A friend I have known for a very long time, Kraig Becker, started this blog to prove a point to a friend who lamented that "there were no more adventures to be had today." He has been posting daily for years now and is never short of fantastic material.  He also writes first-hand of his own extreme fitness; running, climbing mountains, you name it. The Adventure Blog is a celebration of a world that has not become the mundane place that we may think it has.

Inspire yourself, your children, your parents, to do more than merely observe life. Check out this multi-faceted, fun blog... and then get moving. 

Active Kids

This morning I was pondering how to tell you the ways in which we have motivated our kids to stay fit through the years. We haven't, not really. As I mentioned yesterday, there has not been an intentional decision somewhere along the road to do so. Our family is active because we've followed our interests and the kids follow us and then expand into their own. 

Sure, there have been a couple of classes along the way (like martial arts in a hot, muggy dojo every summer), but we believe in simplifying life as much as we can, so kung-fu and dance are the only classes they take, and these were both child-led and remain so today. My son saw his future kung-fu master (sifu) at a Manga festival (where his artwork was displayed) and the connection happened for him like magic. The others decided they wanted to give it a try too. Valentine has been crazy about dance for years, and she finally took lessons this year.

Sailing is what we do in the summer. It is quite physical, because before you can stand and look pretty for a photo you have to prep the boat; get it from the dry dock to the water (a huge effort), clean, take out the sails and connect them, wrestle the picnic and sunscreen and supplies into the boat and then actually sail it.

Hiking is a favorite all year, but especially in the spring and fall, in the winter we go sledding or play outside. The photos are for ideas of how to keep moving.

Way to Move

 Find a master

Explore current events, on foot 

 Go for a swim

Walk or run a 5k 

 Climb a mountain

Break out the golf clubs 

 Dance away your troubles

Try a tournament 

 Enjoy nature's follies

Check out local sites 

Mama Fitness: My First Weight-Training Class

I joined the Y, three weeks ago. Today, I took my first-ever weight training class. My life is forever changed. I walked into the 8am class with a fierce expression on my face, hoping to look BA enough that no one else would even look twice at me. (Please don't watch as I drop a weight on my foot or trip.) Perfect posture (well, I tried), no new kid "uuums?" I had no idea what I was doing, but a nice woman helped me set up; you need platforms, mats, barbells, weights, clips and hand weights, the whole thing would need three suitcases to carry and they would have to be very odd-shaped ones at that. The instructor, Stacia Carroll, helped me find the right weights for a beginner and gave me options each time a new move started. 

So, the class, Les Mills Body Pump, is, from the Y's definition: "the original barbell class that strengthens your entire body. This 60-minute workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls." It was great! 

The repetitions were easy to understand, not fast or complicated enough to lose me, but continual and flowing and kept us moving the entire 60 minutes. I felt that I was working hard, but not to the point of needing to quit. The teacher was informative and clear, but not chatty or annoying. The music was loud: remember, I am a yoga or walk through the woods person, but the beat helps you keep up with the movement. I did not use heavy weights, so I was easily able to do all of the upper body movements, but the legs!!! My knees are still wobbly from the squats and lunges. Stacia told me to sit back more for the squats; "you will feel like you are almost falling backwards." (and end up on my derriere, I thought, since it is round. And does she not get that there is about zil counterweight on me?)

Why did I wait until now to ever try strength training?! I guess I thought years of carrying babies around was resistance and endurance enough, and it was, then, but I am no longer lugging around infants and toddlers. My friend, Melanie Moore (you can find her on FB with great photos and stats of her own fitness journey), was my inspiration for starting now, as well as my son, D. who has been trying hard to get us to do his favorite "insanity" routine. They are both looking so good after months of working out that I started to have toned-arm and back envy. I'm on my way.

The YMCA: Up until this week, joining a family health club has had no impact on my fitness. I've been taking the kids to the pool and knitting while they swam.  My hands were pretty much crippled with eczema, so the pool was out, weights were out, zumba has never even been an option (see posts on Jazzercise and lack of coordination.) From the first day I read the description of the classes, Pilates and Body Pump were my choices. 

Yesterday I met with my wellness coach for our first one on one, current perk of Y membership. When I walked in to make my first appointment, she asked if I knew which trainer I wanted to work with. I sighed and asked if they had another mother of five who would "get my life." I wasn't serious, but she was! She offered, as a working mother of 3, to try and help. Joan is great; she helped me come up with a plan and will help me learn the different ways I can implement it through exercise and nutrition (which is, by the way, 80% of weight loss). She is encouraging and positive...and realistic. She and I do have a lot in common; we both run, we both hate it while we are doing it. She spent a weekend becoming a certified zumba instructor, just to prove to herself that she could do it. She has never used that training since; zero coordination, but she thinks Body Pump is a fantastic class. I have been attending belly dance classes, which I love,  for over two years, but have no confidence to dance in public; not even for an audience of sleeping old men. You never know when they might wake up and look. So it is partly, at least, beginner's enthusiasm, but I am excited about the changes I anticipate!

For the locals: I go to the Bettendorf Y, and the fabulous trainers I have worked with are: Joan Rusk and Stacia Carroll.

The Fitness Bug and Children

This is not a manual on "how to turn your kid into an athlete," you'll find that in the gymnasium/pool/ tennis bubble down the street. I am talking about how to awaken in your child the natural instinct they have to move and stay active that has a tendency to fade away about the time they acquire a favorite tv show or learn to love video games.

Seeing the example of their parents making healthy choices and keeping active is the foremost influence on both children and teens. I have seen mine become immersed themselves in running and strength training and biking as their dad and I increase our own efforts. I've always been careful to avoid negative body-image talk around my girls, because the media and society is so full of them already. I want my kids to be healthy in body and mind, not sickly-skinny or artificially pumped up. 

The only very deliberate decision I made concerning my kids' outdoor time was probably the result of having the lowest opinion of television, even for adults (think of how often Really Important People, like Sting or Mother Theresa, bothered with tv watching). Don't you want your life to be full of Really Important Activities? You only get to do this once, you know. *

So that leaves one with a lot of time to just enjoy life...and to muck around outside, especially in nature. My first two children think they were the luckiest ducks in the family; they got to live on the coast for a few years of their lives. Yes, the ocean was swell, and I miss it, a lot. The woods and the creeks and the rivers of Iowa are also wonderful. For one thing, the bike path along all of the above is litter, dog doo and algae-free. All of those were the obstacles keeping me on my toes and oft my double stroller on its side wheels as we navigated those early years of exercise with mommy. A run along the beach, in the dull, gray winter, but nevertheless, with the spray of the ocean and the smell of the salt water...and my feet getting tangled in mounds and mounds of sea-weed as I try to simply jog along. I love our creek down the street and seeing the woods and prairie change with each season; it keeps us coming back all the time (will we see Mother Fox today? have the tadpoles hatched, is the woodpecker back?), which keeps us moving.

Find a reason to go out and move. Maybe you start to say hello to the same man walking his dog each day and keep a treat in your pocket for the puppy. Are there construction projects happening in the neighborhood you could check on, a favorite tree to visit where their father saw a fairy years ago? Negotiate less written math if they will march out the times tables with you or find words that begin with every letter of the alphabet along the way.

It's rainy, snowy, too hot to trot? Dance inside to good music, hold a weekly yoga session, let the kids who are in kung-fu or swimming teach you how to do push-ups and leg lifts the way they do them in class. My children love to teach and train me...and I need it! Try workout online videos or DVDs from the library or from the thrift store, they get tossed a lot. Watch and try the video together, help each other improve your posture and accuracy.

Make movement and healthy eating part of your life and enjoy it. The kids will follow your example and make their own way to lifelong fitness.

*I am not a big joiner, but I joined two organizations; CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood) http://www.cbf.org/ncli/action/about  and No Child Left Inside: http://www.cbf.org/ncli/action/about. Check them out if you are interested.

Mama Fitness: Vacation vs.Real Life

I often return from a holiday with mixed feelings concerning diet and exercise. On one hand, we were outdoors (we almost always camp), and active so much more of the time than we ever are at home, on the other, I overindulged, just because it was vacation. I always mourn needing to return to an inside environment after experiencing wildlife, birdsong and fresh air for days on end. No matter how I try, there is never enough time or reason to be outside as much in daily,"normal" life. And there is so much to be done inside! 

Here are photos from this year's adventure; 16 hours in a car with 5 children, 6 fabulous days in a cabin in the Rocky Mountains; hiking the trails up mountains, along waterfalls, through the woods, seeing everywhere we looked, mule deer and elk and almost touching those big, velvety antlers, they were so close. We went horseback riding, walked everywhere, and met up with good friends for a few days of bliss.  Then another 16 hours home again.

How do you manage to keep up a proper diet when you are away from home? How do you balance being at home and in the office with spending lots of time out of doors? Ideas and suggestions welcome!

Mama Fitness

What a process it is to get back into shape after a certain lapse, or even without a lapse really, but a decreasing metabolism, less daily exercise and maybe a little more chocolate than is strictly necessary for mental and physical health reasons.

Stay tuned as I outline a plan for any mother to strengthen, tone and slim their figure and give the kids an example to follow.

Mama Fitness: Stage One

Making time...for exercise, for your partner, for pure pleasure. This new series of articles is a how-to guide and recorder of anecdotes on re-sculpting, as it were, one's body after childbirth, a busy career or life just happening way too fast. Things happen, despite great resolutions, here is how to get back the mojo once you've fallen off the wagon. As I begin this series, I am in need of dropping the 25 or more pounds that have snuck up on me over the past three years. I am determined to do so in a way healthy for both body and mind. So, grab a cup of tea and your motivation and let's take a look at the stages of exercise after baby.

Getting Some/Any Exercise at any time postpartum; a timeline according to number of progeny you have at any given moment.

Stage One: baby in carrier or stroller; easy and efficient. This is the fun stage at which one can walk and talk to a friend, because the baby is mostly a sleepy slug, especially when you are moving about. It is the early stage, before they are talking or grunting, asking for things or swiping the croissant of the child ahead of them in the line at the store, causing a Big, Fat Incident you will remember forever. In my life, this stage was quickly followed by two babies in a double-stroller, not quite as easy, but burning twice the calories. Major part of Stage One: school was a 25-minute walk and I had no car. Man, did I complain about it then, especially on the rainy Atlantic coast of France, (and have my very first fantasies of home education,) but I was in great shape!

Notes on Stage One: Sister, get out there and move! It doesn't matter what time of day or night you have a few free minutes; use them.  A fussy baby is an excellent excuse for a walk with their sweet little body in a sling/wrap/stroller, whatever works best for you.

Mama Fitness: Stages 2-3.1

Note on Stages 1, 2, 3...never mind, at any point in your fitness journey: after 40, one also needs to curb one's calorie intake to a reasonable amount at the same time. It is all too easy to continue to eat as though we are eating for two post-partum. You do need an extra 500 calories a day if you are breast-feeding, but they do not need to come from an entire bag of miniature Hershey bars or an entire carton of Edy's double-fudge-brownie ice-cream. This is one of my particular weaknesses; can you tell? "I have given birth, thus, I eat." After the really hard work of nine months and labor, I always felt a false sense of entitlement; "dang, I did a great job! Have you seen that beautiful baby face? Kindly pass the mousse au chocolat."

Stage Two: anything in between Stage One and Stage Three. In this category I include: walking children (way too fast during the last month of pregnancy, painfully slow once we've recovered), who cannot yet bike, children who can bike but not fast enough to make it worth your while. You may be pregnant and tired, or maybe recently divorced and on your own most days. Maybe you have a husband who can watch the kids while you exercise, but finding a free minute is another story. In the category of "close but no cigar": a bike trailer with four others who can ride, but can't go far enough for it to be a work-out. It is still movement, and still has the benefits as such, of fresh air and a minimum of exercise.

I started running last summer with my daughter. She is up to 8-mile runs, and I am still lippity-lipping along at 2 or 3 mile treks. There are two very good reasons for this; one is age. The second one is probably related to age, though one might say that I was just always a klutz. I broke a toe in August last year, total recoup time; too long! 2 months or so. Then I periodically pull something that takes a couple days to heal. My latest mishap was while running down a mountain in the Rockies with C. and D. There was a stone in the path (it was a mountain, there were a ton of stones), and I sprained my ankle. It has been 2 weeks and it is still sore. I had a good walk on it yesterday, it will be fine.

This winter I bought my very own mini-trampoline and have enjoyed my mornings jogging on it while watching a show or listening to an audio book. It has been a great indoor workout, though prone to interruptions from munchkins and dogs needing to be let in.

Stage Three: aaaah. The last child has learned to ride a 2-wheeler with aplomb. Day One, the break-through, or so I thought,. It was our first sunny, warmish day of spring. The kids rode their bikes and I ran. I had calculated* that the route to their favorite park, right along the bike trail we always take anyway, was 1.2 miles from home; a perfect run. That is, it would be if I could go there and back. Flooded plains along the way with geese in them, new plants growing, the creek all muddy and tempting, swings and a slide in the park, slowed things down considerably, as they were so very interesting. It took about 21/2 hours in all, but they were not hours filled with much movement. Dang, I am not getting any younger either.

Stage Three Point One: yesterday. I put on my running shoes, ignored the dog whining for his leash and dashed out the door. I ran alone, all the way there and back, and the kids were ready to go when I got home. They rode their bikes, I followed on foot, at a leisurely pace, with the dog on a leash, coffee and a good book in my backpack. We all had a grand time, the older ones explored a little off-shoot of the creek and ended up muddied from the waist on down, they were so pleased with themselves. G. and I played on the swings, read and drank coffee. and I got in 4 miles instead of 2.4.

Follow-up on Stage Three Point One: I cannot stand up very well today. Somehow, my legs seem to have become giant cramps from the knee on up. It could have something to do with my super-sprints in between walking on the way home, catching up to bikes. And I thought I was so cool. 

As you care for your family, don't forget to make time for yourself. Your health and well-being may seem secondary, but more and more I realize how important for everyone else it is that you, mom or dad, take care of yourself. Does that help? Putting it in an unselfish context; THEY need YOU to be happy and well, now can you picture it? So, if you cannot fathom "me" time, try thinking of it as "becoming a better mother/father/spouse" time. And please, share your secrets: how do you combine homeschooling/parenting with the things you need/want to do? 

Technology Note: Several new aps for ipods or smart phones are making keeping track of exercise and nutrition much easier.

One of my favorites is: "Map my Run." It mysteriously converted my smart phone into a GPS that even tracks the bike path (first map ever to include it), and shows the exact path and mileage of a walk or run during and after. This despite my phone having no data plan, but the GPS works anyway...whatever. I'll put understanding that technology on my to-do list, right after repainting the underside of the cupboards in the basement...which I actually have to do at some point.

Another one I use every day is: "My Fitness". It is a calorie and exercise tracker, very efficient. I have not counted calories since college, but with the stubborn weight NON-loss of the past year, I have given in to the need for more accountability in my consumption, so I've been entering my data regularly. The end of the day will be in either red or black, just like a bank account. If you are under by even 2 calories, you get a lovely speech about being sure to eat enough each day, it's like having a warm, loving house mother who just wants to cook for you...sort of. 

Mama Fitness: Nutrition and 2 Recipes

Nutrition...and will-power. We all know that we need to eat less sugar, fat, meat and caffeine and more fruits and vegetables and chocolate. I made up that last one, just to make us all feel better. We must drink more water and less beer, even less wine, which is a true tragedy. 

Life is just too short to constantly deprive yourself of what you love each and every day. Why bother? The weight isn't exactly flying off anyway. Enjoying a good meal is akin to enjoying a beautiful piece of artwork, a master novel, a night at the symphony or a hike in nature. Unless you have a cold, or a headache or a twisted ankle, then all of those become simply a chore and a bother and even painful. 

There is the reason, the one that has meaning and enduring value...health. If I am not healthy enough to enjoy the pleasures of life, great and small, they are worth nothing. This has to be my motivation, because fitting into the pants I wore two years ago compared with a good Bordeaux, a steak and homemade fries, with pumpkin pie for dessert, just holds no water. Yes, I am sick of being 25-30 pounds overweight, but life is short...and I will try to remember that I will enjoy it more and longer if I am in shape. 

I am in the middle of a little "jump-start" cleanse to losing weight. This time I have prepared enough smoothies, recipe below, for 5 days, and I am trying nutritional shakes made for diabetics to help me with the faintness and hunger tremors that usually make me give up on living and cleansing at the same time. 

The key will be to eat and drink in moderation after my cleanse. So often I tend to start a cleanse before a big event and inevitably the event means food; an anniversary, a family celebration. Then I eat too much and think: what the heck, I messed up again, it was all for naught, I'll start again on Monday...does this sound familiar? 

All right, so let's get off the "poor me" binge eating wagon and onto a healthier lifestyle, for real, for life.

Here are two recipes I use for a cleanse of 3 or 4 days, the first one is savory, inspired by postpartum French women I had my exercise classes with years ago (the government health-insurance allows for 10 sessions of abs and kegels with a physical therapist post-baby), the other is with fruit and greens, a little sweeter.

Bouillon de legumes:
Leeks (cut in half, soak, scrub out dirt, slice into 1/2 inch pieces)
Carrots (sliced)
Cabbage, broccoli, whatever else may be in the fridge, no potatoes or starches

Boil all ingredients, with a little salt and a lot of water, for 45 minutes, strain and drink warm or cold. You can eat the vegetables as well, if desired, or puree the whole thing.

Green smoothie:
Green leaf lettuce
Spinach
Kale (if you do not have thyroid problems)
One cucumber
Blueberries
Strawberries
Water

Blend all ingredients to form a liquid about as thick as soup. It will be watery, compared with my yogurt, berry, banana, almond milk and orange juice smoothie.  I pack them into individual cups; about 5-6 oz. each, seal with a little saran wrap and have 3 serving a day. 

I still drink my tea and coffee with almond milk, and as I mentioned, have nutritional shakes to survive the yucky feeling I get from fasting. How do you cleanse/detox/start your healthy diet over after over-indulging for too long? 

Rocky Mountain National Park

 Mule deer

 

Rock climbing 

Outside my cabin window

First horseback experience 

 

A springtime hike

 

 

Bear Lake (freezing cold) 

Waterfalls aplenty