Saturday, February, 16, 2013
I took a few days off recently to go snow skiing. I’ve been skiing for 20+ years, but my favorite fella is relatively new to skiing. Skiing on a gentler area of the mountain with him gave me lots of opportunity to observe kids and adults in ski school.
Maybe it was the thin air above 10,000 feet making me loopy, but in watching kids as young as 3 learn to ski, I learned a few lessons. Not lessons that apply just to skiing, but lessons that apply to life and more specifically, to the challenges of eating healthier foods or eating with a dietary restriction.
I saw this ski instructor loading a 3 year old up on a chair lift. Chair lifts can be scary, but apparently not to 3 year olds. Well, at least not until you get to the top of the mountain. Then sometimes you need a little assistance. A handy loop on the back of this cutie’s jacket made it easy for the instructor to pick her right up and set her down on her skis at the top of the lift.
Sometimes, I need a loop on the back of my jacket, too, for those moments when I reach the really challenging part of any task and need a little support or encouragement. I’m grateful for those around me who don’t hesitate to grab me by the back of my jacket and firmly place my feet beneath me. When I get discouraged that eating healthy doesn’t make me as thin as I wish or that eating gluten-free isn’t always easy, I’m thankful for that loop on the back of my jacket.
From the chair lift, I saw another little kid, surely under 5, in a group class. The instructor was waiting just a bit down the mountain. First, the kiddo was skiing great, facing forward, yet very quickly got turned around backwards. Rather effortlessly, he was gliding down the hill backwards. The entire class, kids and the instructor, kept cheering him on! “You’ve got it, keep coming this way!”
Boy, did I recognize this position. Sometimes I’m moving the right direction, down the mountain or toward the finish line, yet I’m looking the opposite direction. And there’s my tribe, my wonderful group of encouragers, keeping me on task, cheering for me, directing me to my goal. I think this may be the most critical element in making dietary changes, having folks who will cheer you on even when you are looking the opposite direction.
And then there were the tumbles. People learning to ski, and even more so, people learning to snowboard, fall A LOT. The little kids on the slopes rebound quickly, pop right back up and head on down the mountain. Some folks are a little less reluctant to try again, maybe they’ve already fallen 50 times that day, maybe snowboarding isn’t coming naturally to them. But the important thing is that they get back up.
I’ve tumbled, stumbled and fallen a lot in my quest for health and on my weight loss journey. Some days, I pop back up like those little kids learning to ski and get right back to it. Other times, I’ve taken much longer to get back on track. I’ve considered trudging down the ski slope in clunky boots instead of learning to ski. Guess which method is more effective?
The last little tidbit I learned came on the very last day of our ski trip. My favorite fella doesn’t really dig snow skiing. It’s getting easier for him and he falls a lot less these days, but I’m never certain he enjoys it as much as he tolerates it because I enjoy it. So on the final day of our trip, he said, “I’m gonna learn to snowboard today.” WHAT?!? It’s hard, many folks spend their first 3 days falling and falling and falling some more. How much could he learn in half a day and how frustrating would it be?
I went skiing by myself for awhile and after a few hours, skied over to where he was taking a class.
Imagine my surprise–he was upright. He was making smooth turns and it was obvious he was actually enjoying it! So after three years of trying to ski and not really digging it, he tried something slightly different and found his nitch.
I know about this. I’ve tried and tried to stick with eating plans that were overly restrictive but promised to make me healthier, tried the current trendy “lose weight fast” plan and struggled. It wasn’t easy, wasn’t enjoyable, didn’t work for me. Not that everything has to be easy or enjoyable, but I know now that I’m much more likely to stick with a plan if it is. The lesson, in short, if you are doing something that isn’t really working for you, change it up!
So that’s it on my deep thoughts from ski school. I’ve returned to lower elevation and am all set to put some of the lessons into play. And the next time I’m in the mountains, I may just learn to snowboard…
Tuesday, January, 01, 2013
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
My favorite fella and I have a tradition of sharing dessert with our friends/chosen family on Thanksgiving. Most years, it is just the two of us for Thanksgiving dinner, which we both really enjoy. It’s a quiet day together and then a laughter-filled evening with friends and lots of dessert.
This year, the first holiday season for Kansas City to have Cafe Gratitude, we volunteered to serve food. Cafe Gratitude offers a free vegan meal on Thanksgiving.
It had been 20 years since I had been in a commercial kitchen where food was being prepared for customers. My recent exposure to commercial kitchens is limited to teaching culinary classes, a very different experience from serving food on demand.
I met some really great people that day. It was no surprise that there were like-minded folks in the kitchen. We talked about dehydrators, raw desserts, eating for endurance training, adventure races, doctors who get it…It was such a nice way to spend the holiday!
We plated food (salad, a beautiful , veggie patty with a hearty gravy and pumpkin pecan truffles), helped with dishwashing, served food, helped out wherever we were needed. While I know it isn’t like this on most days in restaurants, this was a fun adventure for me. And really, how could it have not been fun? We ate really well!
That wraps up my twelve adventures of 2012. I had more fun that I can ever recall having before in 2012, learned so much that I am sometimes overwhelmed and am seriously excited about 2013. While I don’t have an adventure blog series planned, I do have lots in store for the blog. Thanks for sticking around to see where this crazy journey of mine takes me…and you!
Monday, December, 31, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
One of the most fun adventures of the year for me was visiting the Southernmmost Point of the Geographic U.S. and the Southernmost Point of the Continental U.S.
The Southernmost Point of the geographic U.S. is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the windiest places I’ve ever visited. The trees were growing sideways.
There was an abandoned wind farm (for some reason almost as creepy as an abandoned amusement park):
A functioning wind farm and not much else.
It seemed nearly every piece of real estate was for sale and it was obvious most of the homes were not occupied. I wondered what would make someone considering living there, as the wind was really strong and we were told we were there on a calm day.
The ground felt very unstable to me, like how it feels for a few minutes after an earthquake. Perhaps that is because of the crashing waves or the combination of wind and waves or, well, I don’t know. All I can say is that I wanted to either sit on the ground or get away from the ground quickly. It felt very odd there. That aside, it was very beautiful and seeing the ocean from that vantage point is something I’m happy to have experienced.
You’ve probably seen oodles of photos of the Southernmost Point of the U.S., located in Key West, Florida. The big buoy announcing 90 Miles to Cuba may be the most photographed icon of Key West. I’ve been there several times in my life, but new to me this year was a line to take pictures. We biked to the Southernmost point and were surprised to find a line more than a block long of tourists, many from China, waiting to get their picture taken. Hence my photo on the least photographed side of the monument.
I tried to find a common thread between the two Southernmost Points. Both are tropical, on the water and that’s about it. No one was selling margaritas at the Southernmost Point in Hawaii and no one is giving up valuable land in Key West to build a wind farm. Both are worth visiting but they are certainly a world apart.
Sunday, December, 30, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
Here I go again, sharing an unplanned adventure…
For our seventeenth wedding anniversary, my favorite fella and I found ourselves on the road. We were headed out of town to work for a couple of weeks and decided we’d stop overnight in St. Louis for dinner and a visit to the botanical garden to see the Chinese lantern exhibit.
I had visited the exhibit earlier in the year when I went to Food Media Forum and had shared the photos with John. I had also dined at a terrific raw vegan restaurant and stayed at a lovely hotel for a great price thanks to Priceline. We made plans to have dinner at the wonderful restaurant, PuraVegan, visit the botanical garden and stay at the same hotel. I snagged the bargain room rate, made sure the restaurant was open…and neglected to buy advance tickets to the botanical garden. Who knew a weeknight would sell out?
So we had to roll with it. Instead of going to the botanical garden at night, we took a helicopter flight over it during the day.
There’s a heliport on a barge in the Mississippi river near the Arch. We took off and landed from there.
We flew over the botanical garden and several other St. Louis landmarks.
This made for a much better adventure than fighting a sold out crowd at the botanical garden on a hot August night anyway!
Sunday, December, 30, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
We have a tiny flock of backyard chickens, pets with benefits I like to say. Our ladies keep us laughing with their antics and keep us stocked with fresh eggs, usually enough to share with friends and neighbors.
I say usually because our black cochin Geni often gets broody. She likes to collect all of the hens eggs and sit atop them, hoping to hatch babies. We were cautioned that we should break her of this behavior, quickly collect eggs and lock her out of the coop. We tried, but it made her nearly crazy. For two years, she kept trying off and on to tell us she wanted nothing more than to be a mama.
So we relented. We managed to get six fertilized eggs from a friend who keeps a rooster along with his hens. One warm evening we put them in the nesting box and sat Geni atop them.
For twenty-one days Geni sat on those eggs. We took food and water to her, as she was insistent on not leaving the eggs even for a moment. Our formerly-sweet and cuddly hen had become ferocious to anyone who dared get within a foot of her. We read somewhere that we should encourage her at least once a day to get up and walk around so we did. She would pace frantically for five minutes or so before running back to the eggs.
During those brief moments away from her eggs, we would sneak the eggs inside the house and candle them, using a flashlight to see if chicks were actually growing. Early on, we could see movement in all six eggs but after 17 days, we couldn’t see anything. We worried our attempt at helping Geni be a mama had somehow failed. We continued caring for Geni, who had taken on a very zen-like demeanor. Even her breathing would slow when we returned her to her eggs. She would gently use her beak to roll each egg into just the right spot beneath her, close her eyes and just breathe. She was intensely focused on hatching chicks.
On the evening of day 20, I lifted one very cranky Geni off of her eggs. I could see pip holes, the tiny little holes made by the chicks beaks as they begin to hatch, in 4 of the eggs. That seemed like a pretty good outcome, 4 of 6 eggs appeared to be hatching!
By morning, we could hear chicks chirping away beneath Geni. We couldn’t see them, as she had them all tucked tightly beneath her. We knew we needed to remove the egg shells so we attempted to lift her off of the chicks. She had become ferocious and fought like a rooster, not like a petite hen who likes to sit on your lap. We finally succeeded in lifting her just slightly off of the chicks and discovered 5 of the 6 eggs had hatched! Tiny little chicks, fuzzy little balls of joy, squirmed in the nesting box. We quickly tidied up the now-empty shell and left the sixth egg just in case, even though it had no pip holes, no sign of hatching.
A couple hours later, fellow chicken keeper Renee dropped by to see the new chicks and to our surprise, we found we now had SIX little chicks. The final egg had hatched!
For two months, we watched Geni mother those chicks. They were nearly an obsession for her, this is what she was meant to do. She would sit in her nesting box at night with the chicks first tucked beneath her breast, then as they grew she would spread her wings at night, tucking them all beneath her. It looked so uncomfortable, she would nearly flatten herself to get all of her babies close to her.
After a few weeks, the baby chicks started climbing on Geni, jumping over her, generally causing a ruckus. But she remained patient. Her focus was on keeping the chicks safe and teaching them everything they need to know. We watched as she taught them to scratch for food, chase after bugs, bathe in the dirt of our garden. In the evening, she would round up her chicks and wait on my favorite fella to come push them toward the coop.
Two months into motherhood, Geni started needing a few moments to herself, a bit of peace and quiet away from the chicks. We knew it was time to send four of her chicks to the friend who gave us the eggs. We worried that Geni would panic but she never let on that she was missing them. She got up the next morning and got busy, bossing around the two chicks we kept for our flock. Occasionally, she would snap at them, as does any overwhelmed mom. Within three months, the chicks we kept in our flock had grown bigger than their mama but to this day, they mind her and she definitely holds a higher spot in the pecking order than they do.
Because not every adventure is perfectly full of unicorns and rainbows, I feel like I should share that the four chicks who went to the egg donor’s farm were snatched by a coyote or fox, along with all but one bird from their flock. I was very sad at hearing this news, but also know this happens often with those who raise backyard chickens and ducks. Those folks now have created a chicken fortress and have one of the nicest backyard chicken environments I’ve seen. While those chicks were lost to nature, their current backyard flock is better because of the unfortunate incident.
The two chicks who joined our flock are Chia and Lily. Lily was the fair-headed chick, one of the smallest. This is ironic because she has grown into the biggest chicken we have ever had. Her cluck sounds like an old lady who smokes two packs a day, if such a lady were to cluck. While not as cuddly as Geni, she tolerates being held and lets us know when it is time to collect her daily egg with her gruff clucking.
Chia is an odd chicken. She is very skittish, even though she grew up with plenty of human interaction. She is often by herself, but within sight of the rest of the flock, doing her own thing. When she decides to rejoin the flock, she goes this funny run/fly thing that barely has her feet off of the ground. She is definitely the quickest of our chickens but isn’t quite sure what to do with her speedy ability. Once in awhile she will eat from my hand, but rarely lets me hold her.
Perhaps the most challenging part of raising chicks was integrating them into our flock, which means we had to get the elder chicken, Ashley, to accept them. Ashley is an old lady, hasn’t laid eggs for a long time, but retains her position at the top of the pecking order. Once the chicks got closer in size to her, she softened a bit in her crankiness toward them. Occasionally she will even share her bench with them.
In my mind, once Geni had chicks her broodiness would subside. But no. She has already been found hoarding eggs. We had a firm conversation recently, where I reminded her how much sleep she had lost raising those chicks, how annoying they can be as adolescents. She quietly relented, let me collect the eggs and sulked off. I hope she is content for awhile, as I’m not ready for the stress and anxiety of an entire flock of newborns again! For now, there are plenty of eggs thanks to her chick-raising abilities. Both chicks are reliable egg-layers and seeing Geni hatch and raise them was one of the best adventures of 2012.
Friday, December, 21, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
For almost as long as I’ve been a business owner, I’ve been an avid reader of Seth Godin’s books and blog.
And often, when I have a business conundrum, I re-read his books or his blog posts.
On more than one occasion, I’ve said aloud that if I could only spend a day with Seth Godin, I would find the solutions to the questions I have about business, about blogging, about helping more folks find healthy food that actually tastes good, about how to encourage others to eat a cupcake with good ingredients and not feel guilty about it.
So I went to NYC for 36 hours to attend a Seth Godin conference. I had the opportunity to ask my question, which essentially was, “How do I connect with more people who need the knowledge I have to share?” Yes, I was asking Seth Godin how to build a tribe. A tribe of healthy eaters who appreciate a slice of pie, a tribe of people who have dietary restrictions, medically necessary or by choice. A tribe of people not afraid to make a ruckus when it comes to the food they share at the dinner table.
His answer was helpful, but also left me feeling a bit deflated. I need to define the scale of what I am doing, I need to realize many people are untrusting of someone suggesting they can eat differently and still eat well, I need to understand not everyone wants to eat better. I need to know that many people pursuing this line of work fail.
Ouch.
I’d like to say the opportunity to ask my one question was the big take-away of the day. It wasn’t. I learned so much listening to the other 80 attendees questions and hearing Seth’s suggestions to them. I had a great conversation at lunch that opened my eyes to a different way of thinking about balancing my two businesses, about spending more time sharing my food knowledge while still pursuing my other passion as a balloon sculptor. And there was that fabulous dinner with strangers that I mentioned here. I learned much at that dinner, had my faith in dining out gluten-free bolstered, talked with people who have challenged me with ideas I had never considered, made great connections with people who are in very different lines of work but have similar goals.
I have to tell you about my nametag. We were asked to write our names and a fact about ourselves or the best job we’ve ever had or our favorite Girl Scout cookie. My nametag announced my love of kale. At day’s end, I stopped for a photo opportunity with Seth Godin. We exchanged a few words about my commitment to succeeding in my food blogging-culinary coaching-changing how the world looks at food project. And then Seth said, “I have an Eat More Kale” bumper sticker on my car.
So maybe I didn’t need to feel so deflated after all. If Seth Godin eats kale, if I eat kale, maybe we can get a few more folks to eat kale. And healthy cupcakes.
I’m still putting into action what I learned that day. You’ve probably already noticed changes around here. I’m taking risks, I’m making a ruckus and I’m so glad you are along for the journey. What a great adventure it is going to continue to be!
Tuesday, December, 11, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
While I work really hard to make this eating gluten-free thing look easy (and actually BE easy), there’s a comfort that comes with being around others who understand. One of my favorite adventures of the year was attending the gfe-Gluten Free Easily retreat at Shirley’s beautiful home, which I consider to be a retreat center. Keep reading, you’ll see why…
I drove from DC to Shirley’s beautiful home in a wooded area with a lake. I had not met Shirley in person, but really felt like I knew her because she has always been such a great source of support for the entire gluten-free community online. She is every bit as warm and inviting in person and her home reflects that. I knew the minute I arrived leaving was going to be difficult. It was so peaceful!
Over the weekend, I met many more fabulous ladies and reconnected with Diane of The Whole Gang. Diane was almost always in the kitchen, seamlessly creating meals for the vegetarians, the dairy-free folks, whatever food challenge was at hand. She made it look easy and it was always delicious. It was here that I fell in love with the Hurom juicer and learned about guaco-tacos. I’m rarely without a jicama after learning this great trick.
I really enjoyed meeting Debi of Hunter’s Lyonesse and we’ve since shared a meal closer to her home than mine or Shirley’s. She keeps her camera at the ready and that makes me feel comfortable–being with others who photograph food like I do is a treat. There was certainly no shortage of food photography in this group of ladies!
The angel food cake Linda of Gluten-Free Homemaker shared made this trip worth it, even if all I did was eat cake. And the incredibly simple, insanely delicious chocolate fondue Kim of CookIt Allergy Free whipped up to go with it? Divine! These ladies are truly masters of the kitchen.
Shirley did an amazing job showing us her part of the country. We saw beautiful historic sites, went on a horse and carriage ride and even had a bit of local food.
Here’s Diane showing Heather of Gluten Free Cat the how-tos of steamed crab. While not something I eat, it is always interesting to me to see local food and I’m glad I had to chance to join these gals for a regional meal.
Visiting the local farmer’s market was another highlight of this trip for me. I brought home tomato basil jam and had a delicious gluten-free muffin at the market made by a bright young lady, Maren, who surely has a future in baking. I also visited the water the same day, such a beautiful part of the country!
Just so it doesn’t sound like all we did was eat and sight-see, I’ll share a bit more. One night we had a lovely lunar yoga class with Jennifer. Jennifer isn’t a blogger but should be. She’s witty and smart and savvy to the ways we should treat our bodies. I adore her and am so glad to have met her.
We also had down time to catch up with the cyber world and to laugh. Boy, we laughed A LOT. There’s such a sense of ease with these ladies, knowing we all get each other from a place of more than just food. That sure did make for a fun weekend full of food and laughter. And there’s was this handsome pooch, Sonny. Icing on the cake for me, a lovely group of ladies AND a dog!
I’ve traveled several times since going to Shirley’s wonderful retreat and each time I’ve thought about how easy it was, how much fun I had, going to a place full of other gluten-free folks. While I have no plans of moving to a gluten-free commune, it sure was fun spending time with a group of gluten-free folks in a beautiful setting. I hope to do it again one day soon!
Monday, December, 10, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
This adventure lasted more than a day and was by far one of the most fun adventures of the year…
I belong to a wonderful group of bloggers called BlogKC. We meet once a month, sometimes more, to talk about blogging, learn about blogging and have a little fun. Ok, we always have a lot of fun. I’ve met really terrific folks through this group and have been given many opportunities because of the people I’ve met in this group. A great example of the goodness in this group is the fabulous duo, Kathy and Roxanne.
These ladies have been working in the food world for many years. Their knowledge about cooking, recipe development, and all that is food astounds me. With several cookbooks to their credit and long-term relationships with companies in the food world, they are great role models to me. When they asked me to contribute to two of their upcoming cookbooks, I was absolutely ecstatic. Prior to that, my professional recipe development work had come to me a single recipe at a time. To be given an opportunity to develop multiple recipes at a time was the best kind of adventure I could imagine!
Do you know about these clever little appliances? Perhaps you’ve seen the Babycakes line at Kohl’s or Michaels or JCPenney or any of the many stores carrying them. Here’s what is so very different about the Babycakes line: instead of the pamphlet with 7 or 8 recipes that typically comes with an appliance, Kathy and Roxanne have been busy creating full-on cookbooks to go with these appliances, hundreds of recipes! There are now two cookbooks to go with the cupcake maker and two cookbooks to go with the cakepop maker.
Before you tune me out and say, “I don’t need another single-use countertop appliance,” let me share a few tidbits with you. I am not a fan of lots of little appliances either. I do not own a fortune cookie maker or a food-on-a-stick device. But I have made room in my kitchen for both of these appliances. Our Thanksgiving pumpkin pies were made in the cupcake maker. One guest proclaimed they were the best pumpkin pies he has ever had. For our small household, we are enjoying making recipes that don’t feed a small army and cook up in a hurry.
These appliances are sticking around in my kitchen and they may be a good fit in yours, too, especially when you read what’s in the cookbooks. For several days, I created in the kitchen, baking cupcakes and pies for the cupcake maker. And then I spent more days in the kitchen making sweet cake bites and savory quinoa fritters and even vegan hushpuppies for the cake pop maker. The goodness I was able to bake up in these appliances has made me downright giddy!
In 175 Best Babycakes Cupcake Maker Recipes: Easy Recipes for Bite-Size Cupcakes, Cheesecakes, Mini Pies and More!, you’ll find some of my favorites such as Bourbon Pecan Fig Hand Pies and Salted Caramel Apple Mini Pies. The Raspberry Coffee Cake Bites are one of my favorite ways to start the day.
In the 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Recipes, there are even more of my favorites, like Spicy Tempeh Bites, Zucchini and Sundried Tomato Fritters and of course, a few sweets like Autumn Apple donut holes. I’m proud of the recipes in these books and hope you’ll try them. It’ll be like you tagging along with me on one of my crazy adventures and this one is guaranteed to have tasty food we can all enjoy!
All of those recipes I mentioned are gluten-free, many are also dairy- and egg-free and plenty of modifications are included to make them work for you. Part of what made this such a terrific project for me was that recipes with special dietary considerations were being included in mainstream cookbooks. What a great day for all of us who aren’t exactly typical in how we eat!
During every single minute of this project, this adventure, I was aware THIS is where I belong. In the kitchen, creating food that everyone can enjoy, dietary restriction or not. I am beyond grateful for this adventure, so thrilled to have had a chance to work with Kathy and Roxanne.
More adventures coming your way this week…but first, I’m off to make some Chocolate Mint Cake Pops!
Friday, December, 07, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
My friends make me smile with their crazy ideas. That’s right, I’m blaming this one on Renee and Robin.
There was a Groupon/LivingSocial/SweetJack kind of thing for a series of belly dancing classes at nearby yoga studio. So we went, several times. We even got jingly scarves, which went great with our yoga attire.
Here’s what I learned about belly dancing: it’s an intense ab workout. The three of us girls met at the gym, we’re a pretty fit bunch, but this was a great workout for us. Just a few minutes into the first session, I realized our slightly-fluffy instructor had some serious ab definition going on underneath her pleasant plumpness. This is hard to describe, because she didn’t look like a fitness model by any means, her physique was softer, but that certainly did not define her level of fitness.
That was my big takeaway: don’t judge someone’s level of fitness by what the media or society has told us fit looks like. Also, get comfortable with what you’ve got. Our belly dancing instructor was so insanely comfortable with her body, a body that most wouldn’t associate with what a fitness instructor looks like. I left this series of classes realizing “fit” comes in may shapes and sizes. And jingly scarves go with everything.
Thursday, December, 06, 2012
In 2012, instead of a 52 project, I did a 40+12 project, 40 Days of 40 Favorite Things for my 40th birthday plus 12 Adventures. This post is one such adventure. While it does not include a gluten-free or healthy recipe, it is part of my healthy approach to life lived well. I hope you’ll read along when I write about my adventures, they are an important part of the journey to health!
I really enjoy kayaking. Just me and my kayak floating along in the ocean. Me and a kayak, no passengers, no co-captain of my tiny little ship.
That’s where the adventure comes in here. See, when I’m in a kayak by myself, I have some false illusion of being in control. It’s up to me to stay upright in the boat and I can paddle wherever I’d like to.
That’s where the adventure comes in. I’m not a fan of tandem anything. I’ve got issues, y’all! My favorite fella, love him, kayaks with me in the ocean in his own kayak but has had a few awkward and unplanned exits from his watercraft. He’s not quite as comfortable with the kayak as he is with a mountain bike. We balance each other that way, as I’d rather be in a kayak.
But I really wanted to see the Captain Cook Monument on Hawaii’s Big Island. It’s only accessible by water and requires a government-issued landing permit if you intend to get out of the water to see the monument, which is technically on British soil. We need an outfitter with a permit and found a great one, except they only had tandem kayaks.
While there is definitely a learning curve, it wasn’t bad at all. The kayak loading area was one of the scariest I’ve seen, huge waves crashing against a concrete boat launch with a 4 foot drop down so we literally jumped into our boats while local kiddos held the lines in exchange for a couple bucks. We saw less adventurous sorts taking large boats out to the area later in the day and realized they had missed all of that fun.
On the paddle out, we saw spinner dolphins. They put on quite a show. Once at the monument, we snorkled for a few hours, had a light lunch and paddled back. I’m not usually an early morning person, but was glad we had gone early, as the large boats of tourists arrived later and it became a little less tranquil.
If getting into the boats had been slightly scary, paddling back into the boat launch area was WAY scary. The waves were intense and pulled us back out as quickly as we could paddle in. After 3 attempts, we managed to get close enough to toss a line up to one of those cute kids who yanked us in and held the boat steady long enough for us to toss our gear bag up and climb up the concrete wall. Pegs of re-bar sticking out provided a few places to grab on but I think adrenaline may have been the critical tool in getting back on land.
Would I tandem kayak again? If it is all that is available. I still prefer being solo but I did it and it was fun. Actually, more than fun. It was a great adventure!
