Being In The Zone!

Being In The Zone 
and
Knowing What Your Zone Is

This  wonderful thing happened to me around late July. I felt good about my body shape. I wasn't model perfect. But I was in my zone and I could feel it and see it. I could go out shopping and try on new clothes. I was stepping out more and more and then I got on a scale. (Well, I had to. I was beginning cancer treatment and they make you weigh in a lot.) So I got not just a sense of how it feels, but a sense of what it translates to actually.

Now, for me –I'm 5' 6-1/2"– I have a pretty large zone, about twenty-five pounds in which (so long as I am exercising and keeping up my muscle tone) I look and feel pretty good about myself.

At the top of my zone, I look good in and out of clothes. Above the top of it, I feel unable to get on a scale (i.e. fat).

At the lower end of the scale, I'm model thin or what I weighed when I was fourteen, only I'm more shapely in good ways. Below that, I feel and look anorexic and sickly.

However, for the most part, anywhere in my zone is a good place to be because none of it is *bad.* And even gradually moving towards hanging out in the middle of my zone is even more rewarding. It's healthy, alive, vibrant, and attractive.

Arriving in one's *zone* is a really cool thing if you've ever been out there in outer-zone space. It means you can relax. It's also motivating. You're not "on a diet" so much as you're in a LIFEstyle!

It is also helpful at the entrance of your zone for you to also get on the scale a LOT so you know what's going on within your zone. It's kind of like a doable reality check and check-in to keep you on track. For example, I go up and down by 2-4 pounds depending on what I've eaten. And *in the zone* a girl is more apt to lose any remaining weight slower and that's okay now, 'cause you're in the zone.

So right now, I'm in the middle of my zone, which is exactly where I want to be right now as I am also just starting radiation therapy and I might lose the rest of my lower zone with that, so I need my buffer. But I am also in a very good place too: my muscles like to move and I'm eating healthy, delicious foods.

Folks, I am doing the zone dance.

Here's to all of you getting to and being in your own zones!

-bbffair

 <p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2365">Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

My First Adventure With The Mysterious Eggplant

Stuffed Eggplant

I believe in letting certain foods call out to me and, while shopping last week, these beautiful baby eggplants drew me close. They were perfect with unblemished, shiny skins and radiated health.

I have often loved eggplant in restaurants, but never knew how to cut or cook it. It seemed a very mysterious plant to me. But these called my name. It was time for me to delve into that mystery and go on an eggplant adventure.

I bought five of these small creatures and spent a few days admiring them in my kitchen. They seemed succulent and full of the promise of delight.

So, it was off to the internet, where I perused numerous sites, recipes, and youtube videos. I gleamed enough information to dare to try a recipe of my own and see where it might take me.

I decided to make stuffed eggplant.

I began by cutting the tops and ends off of two. Then I cut them both in half the long way. There were, to my surprise, no seeds to speak of. So I scooped out a cavity in each half but kept the pieces too.

Next –and this is important to preparing eggplant and something I didn't know but that the internet advised me on– I salted both sides of each piece and each half of the little creatures and left them on a paper towel covered plate for 40 minutes. This is to remove any of the potential bitterness. I have since learned that more seeded and thicker skinned eggplants are more bitter, that some eggplants with thicker skins need to be peeled. that some thinner skinned eggplants have delicious skins, and that there are over a dozen varieties. From what I now understand, they all will benefit from this salting which causes them to weep fluids and remove any bitterness.  At this point, I confess I was just getting introduced to an eggplant that hadn't yet told me it's kind. (When I looked up varieties on the internet, I thought the kind I had were too large to be baby eggplant. Later, I discovered that they can vary and that these were indeed baby eggplant, just a little larger than the internet examples, and grown hydroponically in Canada by Pure Flavor (www.pure-flavor.com). The picture -above- is from their website too.)

After 40 minutes, I rinsed my halves and pieces well in cold water. I am not a salt eater generally, so I wondered about this, but they washed very clean. I patted them dry and placed them in the refrigerator.

Next, I threw out my old olive oil. I smelled it and it seemed off. I think it is always important to smell the foods and ingredients you use. So I used my sunflower oil and about two teaspoons of Earth Balance soy free blend (from the health food cold section in my store). I heated this up hot in a skillet and chopped two big white button mushrooms into bits and threw them in and cooked them until they were very small and very browned. I added black pepper, lemon pepper, parsley flakes, and paprika as I cooked these.

I added one chopped fresh tomato and several tablespoons of DelMonte original stewed tomatoes (both pieces -that I chopped in the pan with my spatula- and juice).  I threw in bits of fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme and shook three shakes of cinnamon into the mix. Then I cooked and stirred this concoction for a while. When it all reduced, I threw in a couple of good splashes of vegetable stock (chicken would have worked too) and stirred all the reduced flavors back up from the bottom of the pan and cooked this until it was thick.

At this point, I removed it from the heat and stirred in a big handful of fresh baby spinach leaves, wilting them. I then added a handful of pine nuts and a handful of grated Romano cheese.

I pulled my baby eggplant halves and pieces out of the fridge, coated a round glass pan with olive oil Pam, took a spoon and amply stuffed the halves (but not packing it down) with the mixture and put the remainder over the pieces in between the halves.

I took an open jar of Paul Newman's Sockarooni spaghetti sauce from the fridge and topped each half and piece with a big spoonful.

Then I put the pan, -without a top- into a preheated 400 degree oven for 50 minutes.

I served these with grated Asiago cheese sprinkled over the tops with a few fresh cilantro leaves.

OMG!!!!!  It was delicious!!!!!!!  It was Dinner!!!!

Yeah Adventures in Foodland that make you feel Awesome!

-bbffair

Ingredients List:

2  (five to six inches long or the equivalent) baby eggplants
salt
Olive Oil and Soy Free Earth Balance
2 big fresh white button mushrooms
black pepper
lemon pepper
parsley flakes
paprika
1 medium fresh tomato
Del Monte original stewed tomatoes
fresh rosemary
fresh sage
fresh thyme
cinnamon
chicken or vegetable stock
fresh baby spinach
pine nuts
grated Romano cheese
Paul Newman's Sockarooni spaghetti sauce
grated Asiago cheese
fresh cilantro

Eat Your Broccoli!

EAT YOUR BROCCOLI!

Fresh vegetables are *GOOD* for you!

Lucky for me that I love my veggies.

It also seems that broccoli is making news as a cancer fighter.


Yeah!!! Go broccoli!

So, for me, having had breast cancer, I am now even more passionate about eating things to help my body get and stay healthy! So, along with my steamed veggies and healthy protein, I am definitely adding in eating raw as well.

This afternoon, I made a huge tray of raw fresh broccoli, white button mushrooms, parsley, tomatoes, and carrots. I even used ample dip. I ate all I wanted (about half the whole platter) and couldn't finish what was in front of me. Afterwards, for my protein, I finished with about 1/2 ounce of walnut halves mixed with about 1/8 cup of dried Michigan cherries.

My total calorie count was 330.

My nutrition count was 100%, tasty, filling, balanced, cancer-fighting, whole food.

Bon Appétit!

-bbffair

{Broccoli, photograph courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net <p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net">Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>}

Sleep

 Getting Your Beauty Sleep

I've been on a post-surgery sleep schedule. Which means my body wants to sleep and heal. It really works too. The more I sleep, the more I heal.

Sleep is a luxury for many. But it is a dieter's best friend and it also is pretty darn good for your skin too.

I am noticing that the more I can sleep, the more my body relaxes and lets go of what it doesn't need, (i.e., extra weight)! Seriously, this is very effective for losing those pounds and building health. So give yourself a sleep regimen and see for yourself if it doesn't make a difference.

Isn't this kitty cute? I have only to look at pictures like this and I get all sleepy in the best and most relaxing ways. I think I might need a picture* of a cat sleeping next to my bed at night for when I need help drifting off into those zzzzzzs.

-bbffair

*(My two sheepdogs might object to a live kitty and I am allergic to cats, but otherwise a real kitty can be helpful in the z-department too!)


<"Sleepy Cat" by ShivaPrasad Madaiah, courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net>