Posted by terrepruitt on December 16, 2010
I had a friend visiting from Colorado that actually came to one of my Nia classes this week. I am so blessed to have friends that come to my class when they are visiting California. So many of my friends have moved from the Bay Area so when they come visit they often have a list of people to visit so I am always very grateful when they take time out of the schedule to come to a Nia class. After Nia we went out to breakfast in Willow Glen. My friend was telling me that she had employed a Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light tactic for her children in regards to food. Instead of saying “bad food”, she uses the lights. I love that. I told her I was going to use it for a blog post and she told me who she actually got it from, but I forgot. My mind was already racing—GREEN LIGHT!
She used “Red” as treat food; hot dogs at a summer cookout, cup cakes at a birthday party, food that is served on special occasions. I would imagine that red could be used for foods you don’t eat at all. I think that the method is awesome and it can be tailored to fit the family, individual. I just like it instead of saying the food is “bad” or I was bad. I could say, “Oh, I had some red light food.” The idea for the red light is to stop and think before you proceed.
Yellow is food you eat but with caution. You might have it more often than a red light food, but it is still not the food you eat freely.
After I started typing this I looked up “red light food” and I see that on one site someone mentions Weight Watchers doing the red light food, I see on another site that it has been attributed to a Lola O’Rourke (“of the American Dietetic Association”). I am seeing a lot of different ways to design it and — as with anything — it should be tailored to your own individual needs. But it can be a useful tool in how you think about what you are eating.
Red light foods would be sweets, treats, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, soda, maybe even cheese and dairy (depends on the needs of the individual). Yellow light food could be healthy fats. Even though they are healthy we don’t want to consume too much. Meat could be in this category. Veggies, for most people, would be a green light food. As with fruit and whole grains. But there are people who can’t eat certain vegetables due to medication and then there are those who are gluten sensitive.
So what food are included in your light scheme would be up to you. I just thought it was a cool way to think about it. I really thing it is a great way to teach kids. I’ve mentioned before that I am not a fan of (even though I still say it!) saying food it “bad”, or I’ve been “bad” when referring to eating unhealthy food.
So what do you think? Might you want to play “Red light, Yellow Light, Green Light”? 🙂
Posted in Food | Tagged: American Dietetic Association, bad food, Bay Area Nia, California Nia, green light food, healthy food, Lola O'Rourke, Nia, Nia Bay Area, Nia California, Nia class, Red light food, sweets, treats, Willow Glen Nia, yellow light food | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 14, 2010
I once mentioned to a friend that I had a cough or some congestion in my lungs/chest, she suggested I take yarrow. She had said that it aides in lung health. When I looked it up, I remember finding information supporting that, but that was some time ago. I bought a bottle of capsules and took them on and off until they were gone. When I tried to find it again I had a difficult time finding it. It took me a long time to find another bottle. I think this all happened over a period of two or three years. So now here I am thinking I could post about it and the information I am finding on the internet is vast and interesting.
As with any supplement you are thinking about taking you should talk to your doctor so s/he can advise you of any adverse side effects that might occur when mixed with any medication you are currently taking.
As I look at the information out there today I cannot find but one thing that says it helps with “upper respiratory phlegm”, but not more about lung health. There is a lot of information that says it helps with a lot of things that could be associated with lung health. It actually looks as if this herb does everything. I see that it is used as an antiseptic and an astringent.
Information states that it aides in digestion and is used to treat inflammation.
It is used to treat colds, flu, and hay fever. Since it is used as an anti-inflammatory then it makes sense that it would be a good thing to use if you have a cold, flu, or hay fever because inflammation is a symptom of those ailments.
Yarrow contains flavanoids which are linked to antioxidants.
It is used to help with muscle spasms, gas (both preventive and expulsion), and over production of sweat.
As with most herbs there are several ways to use or take Yarrow. I myself have capsules and a liquid. There are oils and teas and compounds that can be applied topically.
I think that some of the things that yarrow is stated to help might actually need medical attention so even though this herb sounds great be cautious and don’t necessarily substitute medical attention with an herb. For me, even though herbs have side effects and we cannot always be certain of the purity of our herbs, I personally believe that herbs are a good thing to take as a supplement to a healthy diet.
What do you think about herbal supplements?
Posted in Flowers, Misc | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, cold help, digestion aid, flavanoids, flu help, hay fever, healthy diet, help congestion, herbal supplement, lung health, upper respiratory, Yarrow | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 11, 2010
Ok, so every year at Christmas my friends and I get together to celebrate. Today is our 24th year. I am explaining that because I am in a rush but I want to post something. I know if I don’t do it before I leave I won’t do it when I come back. Since I have my injured toe all I was able to do yesterday was teach my Nia class and decorate the tree. It takes me a long time to do anything so my posting is a little rushed. But . . . . I still think this is a great idea . . . .and that is why I am posting it. Its about the Honey Do List.
Are you lucky enough to have a partner that helps with things? Do you make a list? Well, I am lucky enough to have a hubby that does things. He always helps me a lot when I have company coming over and he is REALLY doing a lot because he wants me to rest my foot. I am going to share something with you that I think should be on EVERY Honey Do List all the time.
I think it is nice to let your honey know that s/he is appreciated. So I include that on the list of things to do. Yup. The list might look like this:
Silly, maybe, but I think this is part of wellness. My hubby works hard and I think it is important to let him know that he is appreciated. Everyone likes to know they are appreciated. I think it goes a long way. If your honey is looking at the list of things to do and sees that it could make his/her day. I think happy and positive go a long way. If your partner is running around doing things in a state of “grump” that just adds to the negativity out there. If s/he is running around in a state of “I’m appreciated”, it adds to the positivity out there.
Well, that is my take on it. What do you think?
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: appreciated, chores, Christmas, Christmas celebration, happy vibes, Honey Do list, how to get your honey to do things, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, positive vibes | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 9, 2010
I have to save up most of my “vertical” for my Nia classes right now. Even though I have injured/broke my toe I am still teaching my classes because Nia really is about the individual moving in his or her own way. But I still need to rest it as much as possible. Even though I am “letting go” of doing a few things this season, I am still trying to make it look “Christmasy” in the house. Since I was moving a lot today I was trying to come up with an easy dinner. Also, since I need to rest my foot my hubby has been cleaning the kitchen every night. So needing a quick easy dinner AND trying to use as few dishes that need hand washing as possible, AND trying not make a mess I was not thrilled with the thought of the mess that preparing broccoli makes.
I am going to admit that I have been making less broccoli than I think we should eat because I do not like to deal with the mess it makes. I usually just cut it in the sink so I can just rinse all the little particles down the drain, but I didn’t even want to stand that long. So I realized that I could just cut it while it was in the bag. YAY!!! No broccoli mess. No little particles all over the place.
Ok, I know this is a silly thing, but I thought it was a good idea. Saved me a lot of time. Since I am short on time that I can be ‘doing’, both this quick post and the quick tip are part of doing what I have to do in order to get to resting my foot in order to be ready for my Nia class in Los Gatos tomorrow.
Do you have any quick tips about dealing with broccoli?
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: broccoli, broccoli mess, broccoli particles, broccoli tip, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Nia Class, Nia class, Nia Classes, Nia Los Gatos, Nia Teacher | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 7, 2010
In my most recent Nia class, I decided that I wanted to help people focus on the good of the season. I think that sometimes there is a lot of negative emotions around the Holiday season. By negative emotions I mean the way people actually feel during this time of year. There is always the ever present I-don’t-believe-in-Christ-so-I-don’t-agree-with-any-of-it, the it-makes-me-sad-so-therefore-I-am-going-to-be-sad, the WHAT?-ITS-CHRISTMAS! The feelings of inadequacy; there is not enough money, goals for the year were not accomplished, baking isn’t getting done, cards aren’t being sent, house isn’t getting cleaned, nothing is enough, there is too much . . . . .oh my the pressure! I was thinking all of this is negative stuff. So in class the focus was pushing away the negative, somewhat rejecting it, with the intent of bringing in the positive.
Both the “negative” and the “positive” is different for everyone so that was a very individualized point. We didn’t discuss anything that I mentioned above, so everyone could rid themselves of whatever they needed and attract whatever they wanted. It was very nice. It is a focus and an intent that can be used any time, I just thought we’d give it a spin this season.
As with all focuses and intents we use in a Nia class they can be carried into one’s day and/or daily living. This is where the thought of “letting go” keeps popping into my head. I love this season. I love cleaning my house, getting it all ready to put up the decorations. Then I love spending days . . . at least two or three days decorating the tree and the house. I always laugh because sometimes I can’t remember where I “normally” put something and it might end up in a new spot. Then I spend the season either saying, “Yes, that’s good.” or “No, that really doesn’t work.”
I sometimes feel very foolish for the sheer joy I feel when I look at a silly Christmas decoration that I cherish. But I do. I feel joy at the beauty and the sparkle of Christmas. This year since I am a bit limited in my movements I am having to really draw on that joy. I am going to have to strategically place things so that I can see “Christmas” everywhere yet not have as many decorations out and up.
Things tend to work in concert. We ended up with a much, much smaller tree than usual. Cool, since my hubby had to handle it without my help. Since it is smaller it will require less ornaments which will allow me to stay off my foot. Also a small tree requires less maintenance and the couches didn’t have to be moved. See? It is all gonna work out fine, I just need to let it go. Reject the negative when I start to feel a pout coming on. It’s ok that it is my favorite time of year and I can’t run around. Oh well. I can walk. My toe/foot IS healing. It is all good. For heaven’s sake its Christmastime. Let the negative go, embrace the season, embrace the unity.
Posted in Just stuff, Nia | Tagged: Christmas, Christmas cards, Christmas decorations, Christmas Tree, Christmas tree ornaments, Christmastime, Holiday season, Holidays, Nia, Nia class, Nia focus, Nia intent, unity | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 4, 2010
I know sweet potatoes are full of good stuff. They are good for you to eat, but I didn’t think I liked them. I mean they are SWEET right? Well, recently I saw a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes. You know how I love roasted veggies. So I thought I would give it a try one day. While my hubby and I were buying veggies today we bought some sweet potatoes. Today was the day! By the time we got home from our Christmas Tree excursion, I didn’t want to look for the recipe. I figured that just knowing you can roast them was good enough for me.
Since I am not familiar with sweet potatoes I didn’t know what flavor to give them. My plan was onions and shallots, but my hubby was saying that they ARE sweet so I thought maybe a more sweet flavor would be better. Hmmmm? So I decided on both.
I cooked a pan of “sweet” sweet potatoes and a pan of savory sweet potatoes. Now I know why I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes . . . . they ARE sweet. So to me they don’t need to be cooked with sweet flavors.
In my “sweet” pan I used lemon olive oil, lavender salt, and salt. In the savory pan, I used garlic olive oil, shallots, white onions, smoked garlic salt, and salt. I decided I liked the savory ones better. The potatoes themselves are sweet enough, to me they don’t need additional sweet flavoring. As you may remember sweet potatoes were on the list of anti-inflammatory foods. Yay! So that is one of the health benefits. They are also a great source of complex carbs and antioxidants! Here is some nutrient information about sweet potatoes:
(a cup of baked sweet potato with skin has about:)
—-180 Calories
—-72 mgs of sodium
—-41 grams of carbohydrates
—-7 grams of dietary fiber
—-4 grams of protein
—-769% of the RDA’s Daily Value of Vitamin A (WHOA!)
—-8 % Calcium
—-65% Vitamin C
—-8% of Iron
Eating a little “good” fat with this (like the olive oil) helps your body absorb that vitamin A (beta-carotene).
This veggie really packs a punch. I am going to try cooking it different ways. Do you eat sweet potatoes? How do you cook them?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, beta carotene, Christmas, Christmas trees, how to cook a sweet potato, inflammatory, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, shallots, sweet potatoes, vitamin a | 13 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 2, 2010
For some reason, unknown to me, my hubby does not like medical shows. Medical dramas he will watch, but if I have on a show that is a doctor talking about anything he won’t watch it. So needless to say, I don’t watch those types of shows. I don’t know when they are on, but every once in a while I will turn on the TV when he is not home and there is one on. Like recently when I watched the Dr. Oz show when he was talking about foods that starved cancer. I just think all that stuff is interesting. I love to hear what they learn about the body. It is fascinating. Well, today I sat down for a moment and turned on the TV and Dr. Oz was on. I really should find out when it is on and just make a point to watch it when my hubby is not home because I always learn something when I watch his show.
I only saw a few minutes but it was really interesting. He was saying that it is important to change your home’s filter, ya know for central heating, every three months. I know we don’t do it that often, but after what he said I think it might be something to consider. I have always known that it helps trap dust and pollen and things floating around in the air that might help to aggravate allergies. But I never really thought about insect parts. Ewwwwww. He said that insects and their parts are a very common allergen. YUCK. Not something I really want to dwell on, but one of those things that I like to know, deal with, then forget about, ya know?
Also he has said that certain foods; onions, apples, and citrus contain Quercetin. Quercetin acts as an antihistamine. Which is something that most allergy sufferers take in pill form. It is awesome to me to be able to get some anti itch help from the food I eat!
The information I am seeing as I look around also states that Quercetin is also considered an anti-flammatory agent . . . and a lot of allergy symptoms are from inflammation so something that acts as an anti-flammatory is amazing to me.
I am very happy to have come across this information. I don’t always EAT white or yellow onions, but I do put them in food for flavor. I am starting to eat the red onions they tend to be less sharp. I do eat apples, but I don’t believe I eat them as often as I should, so I will step up my apple consumption. Although I like oranges, I don’t eat them that often because it is difficult to find good flavorful ones in the store, but I will work on that too. If these foods will help quell my allergy symptoms . . . . I am there!
Have you heard of Quercetin before? Do you eat onions? What about apples and oranges? Do you have hay fever/allergies?
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: Allergies, allergy sufferers, allergy symptoms, anti-flammatory. heating filter, cancer, Dr. Oz, inflmmation, medical dramas, medical shows, quercetin | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 30, 2010
After my Nia class this week, my students told me soak my toe in an epsom salt bath. I had actually been told about them before. They have been around forever. Ya know one of those things that used to be used in simpler times when there wasn’t something fancy to take its place. It is a natural mineral, magnesium sulfate.
I had originally been told about them for sore muscles. In fact a lot of bath salt products on the market contain magnesium sulfate. The instructions on the container state to use two cups of the salts in a tub of water and soak. The mineral is absorbed into the skin and it helps reduce inflammation and soreness. This can help with sprains and strains and muscles that have been exercised. A soak in water with epsom salts can also help relive itching of some illnesses or issues.
Epsom salt is thought to help relax the body as well as the mind and draw toxins out of the body. Soaking one’s feet can help both neutralize foot order and make the skin soft. Soaking in water with salts in it can help soften the skin, but the salts themselves can also be used as an exfoliator. Rubbing the skin while wet then rinsing throughly. Also the salts can be used to help with acne and breakouts.
Now that I actually have a container of them I might start using them more often to soak my feet and exfoliate them. How about you? Have you used them before?
Just as a note: Table salt is sodium chloride it is different substance than magnesium sulfate.
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: acne treatment, epsom salt, epsom salt bath, natural mineral, Nia class, Nia students, skin softener, sore muscles | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 27, 2010
This Thanksgiving, I was blessed with two different Thanksgiving dinners. On Thanksgiving we went to my in-laws in the San Jose area. Then after I taught my Nia class in Los Gatos on Friday, we went to another family members and had ANOTHER Thanksgiving dinner. What do you do with your leftover turkey meat?
If I am lucky enough to get any (my mother-in-law gave us a huge bag full—yay!), I usually make turkey sandwiches, but they are usually pretty plain. Bread, cheese, mayo, and lettuce. Well, that is for my hubby, I usually have cheese OR mayo. What about you? Do you make sandwiches out of your leftover turkey? How? Toasted whole wheat? A dinner roll? Do you use all the fixins? The cranberries and everything? What about avacado?
Do you make turkey chili? A turkey salad? Or turkey salad . . . . .like chicken or tuna salad but with turkey instead. If you have enough left over you can make a multitude of things and never really eat the same thing over again.
I am seeing information that turkey is a super food. Ya know, that “super food” stuff, but it is in a lot of the websites so it must be considered one of those foods.
Here is an idea of what you are getting when you eat your turkey. Either right after it is cooked or when it is remade into a new meal.
A portion of turkey about the size of a deck of cards is as follows:
–Breast with skin has 194 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 29 grams of protein
–Breast without skin has 161 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 30 grams of protein
–Leg with skin has 213 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat without skin has 192 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
From http://urbanext.illinois.edu/turkey/nutrition.cfm
I am just about to make myself a plate of leftovers, but I would still love to hear what you do with yours leftovers. Do tell!
Posted in Food | Tagged: dark meat, Los Gatos Nia, Nia class, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, super food, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey chili, Turkey dinner, turkey leftovers, turkey meat, turkey protein, turkey sandwich, white meat | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 25, 2010
My post last year said I didn’t like Thanksgiving, which is not true and in the sentence following I explain it is all of the traditional foods that I don’t go ga-ga over. I do love the thought of giving thanks and spending time with family. I was thinking about family traditions and some of the food traditions familes have. I have a friend whose family has a tradition of creamed onions. I have never even heard of creamed onions. I asked her about it and she said that over the years the recipe has been altered but it is something that they have had for years.
I love stuff like that. Hearing what families have at family dinners. I know of families that have jello salads. I knew a family that had pistashio salad. Some familes have a tradition of homemade bread. Some families always have to have green salad, no matter what other vegetable is being served there has to also be a green salad. Or what about the infamous green bean casserole? I think a lot of familes do that one. What about the spinach dip? Do you know a family that has to have spinach dip before dinner? Deviled eggs is also a big tradition with some familes. Oh, and sushi, my husband’s family loves the sushi.
What about the turkey itself? There are roaster families and barbeque familes. And then of course, the fryer families. I worked with a guy who said that his family fries the turkey and they also tell all the neighbors to come over so they can do theirs too because—he was explaining—that once the oil is hot it is easy just to keep cooking them. That way all that oil doesn’t go to waste. I have never had a fried turkey but from what people tell me is that it is cooked so fast the turkey doesn’t even absord that much oil.
Then there is dressing vs. stuffing. As much as I love bread, I am not really a fan of either. Oh, and cranberries. What about mashed potatoes?
What is the traditional cooking style of turkey for your family? What Thanksgiving food traditions does your family have?
Posted in Food | Tagged: creamed onions, deviled eggs, dressing, food traditions, fried turkey, giving thanks, grean bean casserole, Green Salad, homemade bread, jello salad, mashed potatoes., stuffing, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey | 2 Comments »
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