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Struggling to be Fit and Strong

October 6, 2022 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I’ve been struggling lately with living my fit, strong life. I’m having a hard time getting myself to the gym or out for anything more strenuous than walking Penny. I’m also not eating as well as I would like. I know this is just a mental block on my part but I’m having a hard time getting over it.

I thought perhaps if I wrote about it here, it would help. You know, share my misery and see if that helps. Sometimes sharing the things you struggle with really helps relieve some of the struggle.

I’ve allowed sweets to come back into my life. I was doing so well with not eating sugar but suddenly I’m back to eating baked goods. I slipped in some ice cream but it made me feel so sick that it was easier to remove that from my life.

Being around people who eat in a healthy way makes it easier for me but since I no longer spend much time around people, that support has disappeared.

I also struggle with having a schedule because I’m able to create my own schedule. I really don’t manage to do that so my eating has become erratic.

I’m not complaining because I know I could make some simple changes and things would get better, even if only a little bit.

Perhaps if I make one or two small commitments to myself, I’d get back on track.

The problem is that if I’m not exercising and eating well, my moods plummet. If I’m feeling down or anxious, it becomes difficult to exercise and eat well. You know, a Catch 22 sort of thing.

If you have any advice for me, I’d love to hear it. I know we all struggle with things at different times but right now I’m struggling to be fit and strong.

Curry Popcorn Recipe

September 29, 2022 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

A friend made me this curry popcorn one year for my birthday. I thought it was the best snack food I’d had in a long time so I asked her for the recipe. She made a copy for me and I made it several times.

Then, as life happens, I moved and boxed everything up and didn’t unpack things as well as I packed. I was looking for this recipe and couldn’t find it. Recently I opened a box I’d stored in the closet in my office and there was the recipe for curry popcorn. I got the munchies just thinking about this popcorn.

The funny thing is that I wrote a lengthy list of healthy snacks in an earlier blog post but I didn’t mention popcorn at all. It must have been in one of my phases of avoiding grains.

This popcorn is no harder to make than regular popcorn. The advantage to it is that it’s got a lot of flavor so you don’t need to douse it in melted butter. Not that I don’t love buttered popcorn but it’s not the best snack for you.

This recipe calls for making the popcorn on the stove, which, of course, requires you to use some oil. I’m not sure that you could make this with popcorn popped in the microwave. I mean plain popcorn popped in a microwave popper, not the bags of microwave popcorn. Of course you can’t doctor the bags of popcorn. I often make popcorn in the microwave because it doesn’t require any oil. It’s like air popcorn.

What oil to use?

The ingredient list says oil of choice. The original recipe just called for vegetable oil but I used coconut oil in this many times and it works great. The popcorn also tastes great when popped in coconut oil. My current batch was made with avocado oil because that’s what I had. It also worked well.

What popcorn to use?

You can use any regular popcorn that you can pop. I usually buy organic popcorn (Trader Joe’s carries this) or I buy Amish popcorn. I like to buy non-GMO popcorn but that’s a personal preference. I used to buy a tub of popping corn from the Boy Scouts but I no longer know any scouts selling popcorn.

Curry Popcorn

This popcorn is even better the second day, after making it the day before.

Ingredients

1 tsp cumin, ground
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil of choice
½ cup unpopped popcorn

Directions

Mix the spices together.

Heat oil in a large pot with a lid. Add one or two kernels. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn. When those kernels are getting ready to start popping, add the spices.

Shake the pan continuously until the popcorn quits popping.

Pour into a bowl and enjoy.

Important Note:

Do NOT breath in the fumes of the heating spices and do NOT put your face over the pot.
Use a sealed lidded pot if possible, one without a vent.

Storage

This does make a lot so if you’re going to not eat this in one sitting, you can store it in a large plastic bag or a bowl with a lid. If it doesn’t get moist, it will last for a few days.

Variations

Stir in two minced garlic cloves

Use a different spice combination. Mix together:

½ tsp cumin
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne

Or try a spice combination of your own creation. I wonder how a pumpkin pie spice blend would work.

I think this popcorn makes a great snack. It’s flavorful and not covered in butter. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Weight Loss after 50 with Lisa Swanson

September 27, 2022 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Episode 115 – Weight Loss after 50 with Lisa Swanson

In episode number 115, Chris and Jill speak with Lisa Swanson, a sought-after expert who helps women over 50 crush their weight loss goals in a naturally progressive way that boosts metabolism, burns belly fat and keeps it off.

Through her signature B.A.S.E. model, combining fitness, nutrition and mindset, women over 50 get the results they’ve been struggling to get on their own without deprivation diets or hours in the gym.

She teaches her clients how to enjoy the journey and let go of limiting beliefs that may hold them back.

Lisa is a Certified Health Coach, personal trainer, orthopedic exercise specialist through the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and a nutritionist through Precision Nutrition and the American Academy of Sport Dietitians and Nutritionists (AASDN) and she has 35 years of experience.

During this episode we discussed:

Why weight loss after 50 is different than when we were younger
How does menopause affect our bodies
What weight and fitness problems are linked to menopause
Why she combines fitness, nutrition and mindset in her work
How she handles fitness, nutrition and mindset with her clients
How she helps her clients stay motivated
The value of goal setting
What she recommends for cardio and weight training for women over 50
The metabolic framework
Her personal morning routine

Links to follow Lisa Swanson:
Website: www.bodyandsoulcoaching.com
Instagram LisaSwansonFit
LinkedIn: LisaSwansonFit

Yuka App Review

September 20, 2022 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

When I heard about the Yuka app I thought it was something to do with Yuka plants, but that is something different.

I am trying an app called Yuka that is supposed to help you make the right choices for your health by deciphering product labels and analyzing the health impact of food products and cosmetics.

Right off the bat, I realized the food without a label is most likely 100% whole food (apples, bananas, etc) and therefore gets a great rating. But I was curious if it would help me figure out some of the other things I eat… and stuff I put on my skin. It’s easy to forget that the skin is our largest organ and it’s important to know that it allows things to get into the body too.

This app been around since 2017 when it was first launched in France. Yuka is now available in 8 other countries and has 18 million users. It’s available for both iPhone ios and for android.

I use Cetaphil daily scrub almost every day on my face. Hmmm

I’m going to ask my dermatologist for a recommendation of what would be a better choice for my face. It’s been my experience that a lot of the skin care items are very expensive and not that great for the price. (If you have something you swear by, please let me know!)

When I tested some butter, the only thing good about it according to the app was that it didn’t have sugar! Ha ha. I guess we all know butter isn’t considered a health food.

Next I tried a couple of “whole” foods to see what it said:

Not too bad.

I love to add Ro-tel tomatoes to chili or cooked cabbage recipes

Glad that my go to tea came out with an excellent.

I was a little worried about bread but was pleasantly surprised when I checked this out!

I usually get the green wrapper with sesame seeds, so I’ll have to check that one out too.

Do you have any experience with this app or one like it? Do you use it’s guidance or do you rely on common sense? Let me know if the comments below.

Sharing Love of Tennis with Katie Orlando

September 13, 2022 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Episode 114 – Sharing Love of Tennis with Katie Orlando

In episode 114, Jill and Chris talk with Katie Orlando, a professional tennis player. Katie played college tennis at the University of Akron where she was All MAC Conference in 1993 and now is in the University of Akron’s Sports Hall of Fame. In August 2022, she was inducted into the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Midwest Hall of Fame. Katie was also named the 2019 USPTA Midwest Professional of the Year.

She is currently the Tennis Director at Towpath Tennis Center in Akron, Ohio. Katie is sponsored by Wilson for racquets. She has won numerous awards for her volunteer work in tennis.

Katie enjoys passing her passion for the game of tennis to others. She wants to bring her love of tennis to all the communities she can and is also teaching adaptive tennis.

During the podcast, we discuss:

How she motivates herself to stay fit
Why tennis a good activity for women over 50
How does she protect her knees, elbows, and other joints
Types of cross-training
Advice on getting started
Mental, physical and social parts of the game
Important lessons she has learned as a professional athlete
How healthy eating influences her game
How she fuels when she is on the court for 3 to 3 1/2 hours at a time

Links:
Website: Towpath Tennis Club

Tomatillias – a New Vegetable for Me

August 27, 2022 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

We’ve been growing tomatillias in the garden!

A while back we had a veggie challenge and I find I am still adding new vegetables to my meals, especially in the summer.

I didn’t know a whole lot about tomatillias. They’ve been on the edge of my veggie list for a while. Maybe you aren’t familiar with them either. If you’ve ever had verde salsa, you’ve probably eaten tomatillias. That’s the green salsa. Until this summer, that’s been the extent of my knowledge about the tomatillia.

They are a vegetable fruit – basically a member of the nightshade family, like the tomato. (Other nightshade members are eggplant, peppers and . They often have a little elf cap on their stem.) When they grow, they’ve got a husk surrounding the fruit.

It’s been quite fun growing them in the garden, because they are little different.

Some of the husk layers on this plant have turned purple-ish which reminds me that this is a cousin of the eggplant.

The plants like to grow leggy like tomato plants, so staking them or using tomato cages tends to help the plants from drooping and the fruit laying on the ground.

Each tomatillia is covered with a thin skin layer, a husk. It didn’t remind me of corn because there isn’t any silk.

You know when they are ripe because the fruit inside the skin is as large as the skin. Usually the husk begins to darken as well. There are different varieties. We have the green tomatillias but I understand that there are some that are purpleish also.

You can see the fruit of this vegetable underneath of the husk. The husk should be more tan, so this one isn’t quite ripe.

One of my favorite ways to eat them are chopped up and tossed in a salad like the photo below, with tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped onion and avocado. I’ve enjoyed this veggie salad with tomatillias several times this summer. tomatillias salad

Besides eating them in a salsa or salad, I understant that the tomatillia is great in a chilim too.

Here’s one of my favorite salsa recipes:

I chop up the veggies and throw them into the vita mix. If you don’t have a vita mix, then you may want to continue chopping until the pieces are very small, like diced or minced.

Chop up:

3 large tomatoes
3 medium green peppers
1 medium onion
3 medium tomatillias
fresh cilantro
parsley

Add to this:

small clove of garlic
add a little salt
dash of lime juice

Put into your Vitamix or blender and pulse it until it gets to the consistency you like. Serve!

Do you enjoy tomatillios? How do you prepare them. Leave a comment below or send an email to Chris@becomingelli.com. Thanks!

#VeggieChallenge

Not Your Average Runner with Jill Angie

August 23, 2022 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Episode 113 – Not Your Average Runner with Jill Angie

In episode 113, Jill and Chris interview certified running coach and personal trainer Jill Angie.

Jill Angie is the author of the book, Not Your Average Runner; Why You’re Not Too Fat to Run and the Skinny on How to Start Today. She has also published 5K and Half Marathon training plans for beginning runners.

She hosts the “Not Your Average Runner” podcast and website to show that runners come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds. She wants to live in a world where everyone is free to feel fit and fabulous at any size. Jill and her coaches help women to start running or to improve their running.

In this episode, we discuss:

Mindset and her Not Your Average Runner philosophy
Cross training
Running equipment – bras, shoes
Joints – misconceptions about running hurting your knees
Coaching women who feel they are too old, too fat or too slow
How she helps women start running with the body they have now

Links:

FAQ Ask Us Anything with Chris and Jill

August 9, 2022 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Episode 112 FAQ – Ask Us Anything with Chris and Jill

In episode 112, Chris and Jill answer frequently asked questions from listeners and women over 50 in the Becoming Elli Community.

In this episode we discuss:

Getting started with Strength Training
The importance of Light and Sleep
Recipes for Sheet Pan Dinners, Instant Pot, Grilling
Summer Exercise

Links mentioned:

Beginning Strength Training
The Importance of Light and Sleep:
Sheet Pan Recipes
- Joyce Gunther’s favorite sheet pan dinner recipe for Mediterranean Chicken Sheet Pan
- Jill’s sweet pan veggies chopped up with olive oil and spices like garlic, red pepper, salt, pepper.
- Salmon sheet pan dinner with lemon and
- Chicken Fajitias or shrimp fajitas
In the Instant Pot
Summer Exercise and Activity
- Replacing Electrolytes
- Casual summer activities like Kayaking and Bike Riding
- Rock Climbing with Carol Simpson

Have any comments about this episode? Or do you have a question that you’d like discussed on the Fit Strong Women Podcast? Please leave a comment below or email us at Chris @ BecomingElli.com or Jill @ BecomingElli.com. We’ll do our best to add this to our future podcasts. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Zucchini Casserole Recipe from Marcia Allen

July 27, 2022 / Chris Brown / 3 Comments

Looking for a delicious zucchini casserole recipe? A few weeks ago I mentioned that my zucchini plants were doing well. Wow, the zukes are coming in strong now.

A special thank you to Marcia Allen who posted a couple of great recipes in the comment sections of that post yesterday.

I tried the casserole and am posting my step by step photos here. Immediately I realized I don’t have the right cheese (Shredded Parmesan or Asiago Cheese), but I did have just a bit of a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese to add to it. When I make it again, I’m going to use the right cheese because I know it’d be even better!

First I cut the zucchini into round slices, The sprayed some olive oil onto the bottom of a glass round pie plate and added some marinara sauce and then laid in the slices.

Then I sliced very thin slices of a sweet onion and a green pepper to top the zukes.

Added more sauce to the Zucchini Casserole and repeated with more zucchini rounds, onions and peppers.

Topped with more sauce and then the sprinkle cheese.

Baked at 350 for 45 minutes.

Delish!! This is also a great veggie challenge recipe too, if you’re challenging yourself to add more vegetables into your meals.

Taking responsibility for your life with Renee Suzanne

Taking Responsibility for Your Life with Renée Suzanne

July 26, 2022 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Episode 111 Taking Responsibility for Your Life with Renée Suzanne

In episode 111, Jill and Chris talk with Renée Suzanne, who is a special kind of coach. She helps women with self awareness and self confidence, persistence, positive mental attitude, self love and acceptance.

Renée Suzanne helps women over 40 start dating better men immediately so they can meet and marry the man of their dreams. She is the creator of the COURTED method, a process that helps women date in order to create the lasting connection they really want.

Renée is the author of “Beloved: How to go from relationship-challenged to relationship-ready” and “Ten things you can do to upgrade your love life”. When she’s not helping women find true love, she is out ballroom dancing with her husband or walking her dog on the trails near her home in Chicagoland.

Her coaching principles for improved dating reach into many areas of reaching goals.

Ways you can begin taking responsibility for your life:

Identify what you want
Articulate your desired goal – it’s a big step to admit you want something
Own it and commit to yourself
Do it – Take action
The more you get into it, the more you can stretch what is possible
Things become possible that you never would have considered.
The power of progression
Really love yourself and have your own back

Links:

Website Renée Suzanne Coaching
Kindle book on Amazon Beloved: How to go from relationship-challenged to relationship-ready
Kindle book on Amazon Ten things you can do to upgrade your love life