Pinterest HealthFest -- Good Day Sunshine!

Source: etsy.com via Andrea Roemhild on Pinterest

While yesterday was a glorious sunshiny almost-spring day, today was not. Today was cold rain and damp socks and I longed for the warmth and light of yesterday. I love the sun and all of its Vitamin D producing benefits, but I have to be very careful with sunlight. I use sunscreen 95% of the time and am prudent about reapplying when I am at the beach. I've had biopsies, treatment for pre-cancerous spots on my face and reconstruction of my ear. Gratefully, all of these numerous incidents were benign. But I love my skin as it is and want to keep it and all of me healthy, so I've become a hat and sunscreen gal. I haven't checked the weather, but I'm hoping tomorrow is a hat and sunscreen kind of day, and not a damp socks day.

I've got a nice day planned for tomorrow. Services in the morning, lunch with a friend and a walk in the afternoon. I'm going to focus on books for my decluttering time tomorrow and also do some paper shredding, which is sorely needed. I'm looking forward to starting the day with the New York Times, a pot of coffee and a hot shower and nowhere I have to be until 10:30 a.m., which feels so luxurious.

Wishes for a luxurious Saturday to you! 

Pinterest HealthFest -- Sweet Dreams!

Source: enchantingquotes.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

Once again Pinterest Healthfest, a Friday feature, appears on Saturday. Once again, it was delayed so I could  get a good night's sleep. My goal was a success. I went to bed at 10:00 last night and spent very little time on the computer, but I slept well. I did wake up several times during the night, but I was able to turn over and not get out of bed until 7:30 am. A complete success!

Until the official dawn of middle age in my early fifties I was a great sleeper. After that I became very well acquainted with three o'clock in the morning, and I didn't enjoy it. I was grateful to have avoided hot flashes, but sleeplessness was my particular symptom. Gradually several years ago I noted that I was spending less time between two a.m. and five a.m. at the computer or tossing on the couch, but the days when I could go to bed at night and wake up in the morning were gone. I am so grateful for a night with only one quick trip to the bathroom. I am working diligently to get at least six hours sleep and generally am succeeding.  

When I think about feeling healthy I think about getting enough sleep. Is this something that's an issue for others in Buttercupland?  

I'm having a totally relaxed day today, with no commitments. I am hoping to walk to Michael's and Whole Foods for a little healthy shopping and later do some blog visiting. The sun is shining brightly and it's a great day to be outside. Wishing you a bright and sunny Saturday and sweet dreams tonight!

Pinterest HealthFest -- Keep Calm!

Source: jessicapatient.tumblr.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I may appear calm in Buttercupland -- no calories, no taxes, no pressure and everyone is nice -- but in Stinkweedville, my other universe, I am sometimes far from calm. This week I lived more in Stinkweedville than Buttercupland. My prolonged visit to Stinkweedville led me to think about an important part of health, relaxation and calmness, and my need to keep a center of calm in my life.

I searched Keep Calm on Pinterest, thinking of the famous Keep Calm and Carry On posters and found an extraordinary array. I liked "Keep Calm and Eat Cake Pops," but knew that would only get me on a sugar high. "Keep Calm Harry is Still Single" was fun, but not in the spirit I was looking for. "Keep Calm and Eat Veggies" was closer to my intent, but didn't convey the peacefulness I wanted to find. Then I found the poster shown above and I felt calm. I liked the dog, the flowers, the hammock and the peace I felt when I looked at the picture.

I don't have a dog and it's the middle of winter in New York City, so a hammock in the park is out. But I can settle on my couch with a cup of tea and a good book and find the calm center in myself. Keep Calm is only a book and a cup of tea away!

Keep Calm and Read a Book!

Pinterest HealthFest -- Good and Good for You!

Source: 8weekstoabetteryourecipes.blogspot.com via Carol on Pinterest

Veggies and fruit are great, but sometimes I want a sweet treat that's a little more fun. I have a terrific sweet tooth and I'm working on taming it, but I know I will always think that a "real" dessert is cake or pie. I don't indulge that often, but I was delighted to find this option on Pinterest. I like banana bread and using honey and applesauce instead of sugar and oil tipped the scale to the healthier side. Portion is still my issue and I'm wary of keeping a whole cake around. I've solved this problem with ice cream by buying single cup servings, but haven't found a good way with cake. Single slices seem to be so expensive. What's your go-to treat for healthier choice desserts?

So happy the weekend is here. I've got very few plans and am delighted for a quiet time. I want to get in a walk -- or two! -- services, cooking for the week, groceries and relaxing with the New York Times, and lots of blog visiting. Sounds great to me!

Wishes for a sweet weekend!

Pinterest HealthFest -- Fruity Tutti!

First, I want to apologize for being a day late for my Friday Pinterest post. Yesterday was a long day at the office and after staying late and stopping to get something for dinner, it was nine o'clock when I got home. I took a few quick peeks at email, made a phone call and then I was asleep.

So without further ado, a great chart on all the good health benefits from eating fruit.

Source: healthyisalwaysbetter.tumblr.com via Carol on Pinterest

The health food store on the next block has been having a sale on kiwis and I've been walking past them, but I think I need to make another visit and bring a few kiwis home.

I'm excited about my plans for this afternoon...Blogger Meetup! You know there will be pictures to follow and yummy food and fun and laughter. Hope your day holds fun and laughter, too!

Pinterest HealthFest -- Good and Good for You!

And Me!

Source: healthy-sexy-happy.tumblr.com via Carol on Pinterest

Last week's focus was vegetables and this week it's fruit. Unlike any laziness with veggies, I buy fruit all year round. Right now I have fresh clementines and bananas and frozen strawberries and pineapple. Most mornings I try to make a smoothy and I use a banana and at least one kind of frozen fruit. I add yogurt and juice and it's one of my favorite breakfasts. I feel good knowing I got at least two servings of fruit first thing in the day. 

I'm trying to replace my sugar tooth with a fruit tooth and this treat looked like a good replacement for times I have a craving.   

Source: weheartit.com via Carol on Pinterest

What are your favorite fruits and fruit treats? Besides my smoothies, I like baked apples, frozen bananas and just about any kind of fresh fruit. 

Wishes for a sweet, happy and healthy weekend!  

Pinterest HealthFest -- The Treasure of Vegetables

Source: wholefoodsmarket.com via Jeana on Pinterest

I chose this photo on Pinterest and I noticed only after I uploaded it that it was from Whole Foods. I live directly between two beautiful Whole Foods stores. One is a little over a mile away and one is slightly less than a mile. They each have a staggeringly wonderful array of vegetables. An array, that would have caused my great-grandmother to wander through the aisles in unbelieving ecstasy at the agricultural miracles she was seeing. I evoke my great-grandmother, for whom I am named, because in the village in the Ukraine in which she lived in for the first forty plus years of her life she lived on root vegetables all the long, long Russian winter.  A tomato or cucumber or a fresh mushroom would have been an incomparable treat.

I was born into a different world and sadly I take these treasures for granted. I find it difficult to make time to cook fresh vegetables, even though they are so easy to buy and so delicious. I like vegetables a lot. I like cabbage and mushrooms and brussel sprouts. And that's only the beginning of my list. But I am lazy when it comes to preparing them. There is no other word to describe it. I will not plead too busy. I cannot lie to the citizens of Buttercupland. I am lazy about vegetables. The awful truth has been spoken.

Laziness, be gone! When I look at vegetables and the gift of health that they provide I know my laziness has to end. January is not just a no spending month, it's an eating vegetables month. I will be at Whole Foods tomorrow morning. It is two blocks from my opthamologist's office, so I have no excuse not to stop in and buy vegetables to prepare over this long weekend.  

Do you cook vegetables regularly? What are you favorites? Appreciate any veggie inspiration you can lend.

Stay tuned for a fun post tomorrow starring Pepe and a box of soup!

Wishes for a cozy and sweet weekend!

Pinterest HealthFest

For the last three months we've had a lot of fun on Pinterest Fridays. There have been yummy pumpkin, cranberry and gingerbread recipes. But in this new month and new year we're going in a totally different direction, but I still think it will be fun. For the next two months it's HealthFest Friday and the theme is finding  inspiration for healthy habits. This week, I'm going to try and put down the diet coke and not order the pumpkin latte and just drink water, lots and lots of water.

Source: forthesakeofpretty.tumblr.com via Carol on Pinterest

I find it hard to drink four glasses of water daily, and eight seems a near impossibility. But I'm going to push myself this week and will try for a healthy compromise of six glasses daily. How much water do you drink? Do you have trouble drinking eight glasses or six glasses? Inquiring minds want to know.

Have a calm and well hydrated weekend!