bunsofaluminum's journal

[ncyg46]

it's Susan Powter...and she hasn't changed any!!!! lol!
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[sksamboots]

Congrats on the weight release!

[toadfood]

I'm going to have to look for Conductorcise. My favorite Richard Simmons DVD is Party Off the Pounds -- it's fun to do and it makes me laugh, and it's also a really good sweaty workout.
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I have to stay with my turtle energy. Slow and steady wins the race. -- Letha

[bunsofaluminum]

hahaha! "Sweatin' to the WAAAAY Oldies" hee hee hee

hey, it kicked my butt, seriously! and it was SO joyous. I had to remind myself "You're all alone. no one is watching. GO FOR IT!" So I did! ha! I ended up laughing and dancing around, waving my arms. Got my heart rate up, got a sweet pretty flush on my face, and worked up a sweat. The conductor is just as cute as I thought, even singing "the words" to The Toreador Song from Bizet's "Carmen"...and it is the words *I* know, too

To-re-a-do-re don't spit on the floor...use the cuspidorrrrrr. THAT'S what it's FORRRRRR Lots and lots of fun, if not as long nor as challenging as Richard Simmons. Because it's all "arms up" and moving, it is a real workout. I'll do it every day this week. I can picture it really firming up my arm flaps!

talkingmountain I remember Susan Powter. There was a recipe from one of her books that used broccoli and roasted garlic, pureed, as a sauce over pasta. Oooh now i want to hit the library again and get that book...find that recipe....slurp.

Thanks for dropping by toadfood, skamboots, and ncyg46 It's been a most enjoyable day God is good.
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Blessings, Heidi
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/w0gaN88/]

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The Best Foods Don't Need Boxes Or Any Labels---SactoBob

[ncyg46]

Susan has a podcast but is still a bit off the wall! She was on the Vegsource Get Healthy dvds in 2004 and is still crazy to listen to! She is also on Twitter but I never go to my account!
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[bunsofaluminum]

Oh, dear. I have the pill in my hand...do I swallow it and find the truth, or...well, there is no option. I already know too much NOT to swallow the pill. The question is, do i become an obnoxious activist type, willing to rain on everyone's food all the time?

The Pill is this book "Eating Animals" and the first 20 pages or so are invading my consciousness and raising it rapidly. Reminding me of things I already knew. For instance, I already knew I would never eat shrimp again, even when I was still thinking I might have fish once in awhile. Why not shrimp? Because the trawlers that are used to scoop shrimp off the bottom of the ocean floor are destroying this planet. Seriously, the ocean is in so much trouble, and so much of that is this destruction of ocean habitat by shrimp boats that scrape up everything, and throw back 260 times the amount that they bring to the market. That is, in "fishing" for shrimp, 26 lbs of "bycatch" is destroyed for every ONE POUND of shrimp that is brought in. (this factoid is in the book, just reinforcing my determination not to eat fish, for it reminded me that seafood of any stripe is harvested using fishing factories that are destroying the very bottom of the food chain for THE ENTIRE PLANET)

On Jeff's forum, a thread rose up that I got engaged in, essentially an argument with someone who thinks eating animals is immoral. I was arguing the position of my faith, which is that all foods are permitted. What is immoral is how factory farms produce the animal products in our culture. The discussion was interesting, but it did evolve into arguing about religion, unfortunately. That was never my intention...but I did think up a cool little argument for "the other side" to ponder: in Africa a family might live if they had chickens, or die if they had to rely on plant crops which fluorish or fail based on weather. Should the African family raise chickens for eggs, meat, and resale?

But the book tells a story about the author's gramma, who survived the holocaust including literally scavenging her food through towns and countryside. How that trauma shaped her life and influenced the way she raised her children and grandchildren...but the story goes, that she was starving and a farmer was kind to her and brought her some meat. She couldn't eat it. It was pork, and she was Jewish.

My mother's specialty dish is soda cracker pie, made with crumbled soda crackers, broken walnuts, sugar and egg whites. I can't eat that...it is counter to my own ethical standards about food. With punkin pie, tofu is a suitable substitute for the egg...there isn't anything that can replace the egg white in soda cracker pie.

I already knew I couldn't eat anything made with factory farmed eggs, because of how layers are housed...let alone the absolute CRIME of what happens to male layer chicks ...

Now, I know someone who has a family member that raises chickens for eggs...maybe I can buy a dozen eggs from her. They would be locally raised on a family farm (it is not a big farm factory, but some backyard chickens that make these eggs) but I won't eat the pie if it is made with Cruel Eggs.

The answer for that African family dilemma is the truism that meat and animal products are survival foods. I think that's valid. In a prosperous society such as we have, we have the option of eschewing animal foods. Because we spend less time and energy on surviving, we have the leisure to think about the underlying implications, the consequences, of our food choices. The African family beset by drought, whose crops have failed for three years in a row, maybe doesn't think about those things. When the primary thought is "How do I feed my children?" the right or wrong of animal food goes out the window, eh?

That Jewish gramma, though! starving, and refusing meat that is from the pig.

What do I do? I'm a very laid back person, living by the maxim "Live and let live" and not likely to speak up about this kind of thing. I hate it when someone corrects grammar or questions another person about things "How can you eat that?" is my LEAST favorite phrase, because my mom gave it to me every day starting at age 13...my thinking still is that each person must make up their own mind about whether to eat animal foods from factory farms, or not.

Educate them...it's obnoxious to have someone in your face about things like that. My sister, showing our sister-in-law the label of a baby forumula with "Look at the ingredients in this! you should nurse!"...sorry, but that was OBNOXIOUS and it didn't change my sister-in-law's mind about bottle feeding vs. breast feeding. It just made her feel bad about herself when she was in the middle of fighting some very tough battles (we didn't know it, but she was using meth and THAT is why she wasn't nursing...)

ah...what a way to start the morning, and I haven't even finished. If you've read this far...sorry bout that. I may pick it up again later in the day.

Current conundrum: how to be part of my world when I am this much changed and want people to know WHY I am making the choices that I am. How to inform people without being obnoxious.
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Blessings, Heidi
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The Best Foods Don't Need Boxes Or Any Labels---SactoBob

[talkingmountain]

A very compelling dialogue, Heidi.

Personally, I've never seen "force-fed information" teach or change anybody.

What I've seen change people is when they see someone else living in a way that inspires them, and then they want that too. Whether it's living in a way that has brought them better health, better looks, greater peace, or whatever.

When someone sees you with your healthy glow, your greater mobility, your lower medical costs, and your sense of peace with the world because you don't feel guilty about eating cruelly-raised animals -- when they see that, if they are open to change they will ask you. You can count on it.
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Cured: severe reflux, chronic pain, pre-diabetes.
Improved: cholesterol, energy. More to come!

[seestorcoo]

Sounds like you are doing some deep thinking there. Hope you figure out what to do.

Otherwise, hi and have a good day. I've posted too much already today and am running out of words but I have good thoughts for you!
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If you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits.

www.thefeetinmyshoes.blogspot.com

[bunsofaluminum]

today was a good day, food-wise. I ate

B: cream o'wheat w/frozen peach slices and cinnamon sugar
L: sweet potato and Annie's vegan lentil soup
D: mashed potatoes and vegan brown gravy 3 svgs

Activity: none to speak of. It was a full 8 hour day...oh, balderdash. I just slacked with the exercise. Got home well before dark, and could easily have done a 30 or more minutes walk, but I just didn't. Hm...a vid workout? and let my kid laugh at me?

Looking at the cupboards, I'm realizing that a simple diet is a Good Thing, Man. Between paychecks, and I paid a large-ish bill and rent of course, so I won't be able to do grocery shopping until the 15th. Good thing I have squash all over the place, beans, rice, quinoa, black sticky rice, lentils, onions, six grain cereal...look at all the FOOD! not to mention an entire shelf of my cupboard dedicated to Indian spices It's all good.

Maybe time for a Mary's Mini, BEFORE thanksgiving.

Reading more in the book...I just got to the part where he goes on a raid with an animal activist to a turkey farm...

My kids like almond milk so I may have to start making it at home, since it's so expensive to buy. I'm watching my 16 yr old drink a big tumbler of it. Just drink it.

About a month ago, I made a big pot of soup out of tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, etc. and unlike any other recipe I've tried, I couldn't eat this all gone. I sat down to a bowlful on the third day and just couldn't stomach it. Something about it was very unappealing. I thought maybe I'd just had enough, after lunch and dinner for three days...So, I froze the last serving back then,and this morning got it out. It is not any more appealing now than it was, at least not to look at! Maybe I'll throw it in some soup. Or the compost pile!

I just figured out the "big pot full" I want to make: split pea soup! yum!

and that's all, I guess. Tomorrow has GOT to be a more active day, and that's all there is to it.
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Blessings, Heidi
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/w0gaN88/]

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The Best Foods Don't Need Boxes Or Any Labels---SactoBob

[bunsofaluminum]

whew what a morning.

I dreamed about a cooking class with eggplant and rice being taught, which segued into a dream about a former friend, my "soul sister", who left my life right as my ex-husband was exploding my marriage.

This former friend had bariatric surgery for weight loss, because she was overweight and had every marker for the bad health consequences of obesity: sleep apnea, pre-diabetes, crippled knees, heart problems, high bp. On top of the obesity illnesses, she has lupus and her kidneys were going out. Well, we haven't seen each other in over two years, after a friendship of 15 years. I don't know why she stopped, and I asked her via letter, to which she didn't respond. Mostly she is not in the front of my mind. It hurt a lot, but it happened while I was in therapy for the marriage explosion (my husband approached my then 19 year old daughter "inappropriately" and I found out, he had done the same with my 11 year old daughter, the year before ***blch***)

so, I was in therapy because of that upheaval and huge pain, when my "best" friend abandoned me for no reason...much pain, but being in the middle of a big growth spurt and working on my self at the time meant I could assimilate that abandonment a little bit more readily. I am emotionally neutral about it. I would embrace closure, but the ball is in her court. Well, I dreamed about her, which meant writing in my dream journal, which also meant READING my dream journal...which made me cry.

I did pray for the friend. Released her, asked God to be with her. But the tears were for the lonely time I am in right now. It's good. Don't get me wrong. I am in a time of retreat right now, and it's okay. I am becoming myself, growing up. For me, that is something done pretty much alone. Still, "alone" becomes "lonesome" once in awhile and the dream this morning, and reading previous dreams, just brought the tears. And tears are healing...but what a morning! whew!

Today's plan:

B: mashed potatoes and vegan brown gravy
L: mashed potatoes and vegan brown gravy
D: split pea soup over rice

I am also going to be mixing dyes with my sister, for a tie-dye party we are having tomorrow. And, going to make a three sisters soup to bring to the tie-dye party! ha!

activity: playing w/Mr M at work. My ADHD man, who can't sit still for two minutes. yay! He'll keep me busy.

also going to practice my piano. A friend, who is involved in a church plant in SLC, wants me to play for a little worship service she leads at the VA. Gotta put together a few hymns and practice them.
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Blessings, Heidi
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/w0gaN88/]

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The Best Foods Don't Need Boxes Or Any Labels---SactoBob

[Yomom]

Hey Buns, hang in there. I'm sorry about the pain and sadness you have been experiencing.
K
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• 176 lbs Nov 19 • 205 lbs July 2009 • 5'8"

[seestorcoo]

when people leave your life and you don't know why. Hope you feel better soon.

Have a good day, Buns! Enjoy that piano.
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If you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits.

www.thefeetinmyshoes.blogspot.com

[sksamboots]

Transitions are hard. Here for ya

[bunsofaluminum]

Sleepy day yesterday. The only activity I got was grocery shopping for a client, but that was a workout since I had cat litter and four (4) 12 packs of coke to buy for them. It was sort of embarassing, pushing a cart full of garbage around the store, especially knowing how extremely ill all the people in that household are.

Oh, well. At least the cart was heavy so it was more like exercise

I made a batch of split pea soup, but the split peas didn't cook soft. I have some kind of gas from THAT! I'll be cooking it more thoroughly this morning.

Today's plan:

B: split pea soup
L: three sisters soup, veggie stix
D: pan seared cabbage, rice

activity: tie dye party, playing with dogs, garden work ? maybe. I have a neighbor who cleared his leaves yesterday and told me he would mulch them and bring them over. Now to find a moment when I'm actually HOME. The weather has been so nice, I'd like to take a walk, too.
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Blessings, Heidi
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/w0gaN88/]

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The Best Foods Don't Need Boxes Or Any Labels---SactoBob

[Becky]

Just dropping in to say hello, and hope you are having a great weekend!
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I lost 17 pounds & lowered my cholesterol
from 252 to 135 on the McDougall Plan!
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