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Focus on Family and Food

November 22, 2021 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

This week I have a lot of focus on family and food. It is Thanksgiving week and I’m texting lists of food with my sisters. We are trying to figure out who is bringing what part of the meal! We’re planning to have a family get together and my Mom wants all the traditional fixings.

Because we skipped Thanksgiving last year, I think this year has a whole lot more to be thankful for. I’m very thankful for the vaccine. Without it, I don’t think we would be gathering again this year. Even so, it will be a smaller group than in years past.

I went shopping several times this past week in preparation for Thanksgiving. Most recently, When I looked into my cart, I hardly recognized it. A huge bag of potatoes. Five loaves of bread. Several huge yams. A pumpkin pie. Mushroom soup and French fried onion rings. Not my usual cart, that’s for sure!

I know I could probably revise each recipe a little (or a lot) to make them more healthy. I’ve done that many times on other years. I’m still going to bring a spring mix leafy green salad and roasted vegetables. Most of the dishes I am making will have lots of leftovers that will go home with other people.

Afterwards, I always love making a turkey vegetable soup and I think I love eating that during the next few days more than the actual turkey dinner.

I also know most of the discussion that afternoon will be about recipes and food and meals we’ve had in the past. I’m going to go with the one plate plan on Thanksgiving.

This year will be the year of photos I think. Before, during and after dinner! I want to count my blessings even more this year.

Exercise
Besides family and food, one tradition that I’ve kept to the last ten years, (except during the 2020 pandemic,) is the special Thanksgiving classes at the gym. I’m looking forward to their special Thursday morning classes for turkey day because I usually get some things going in the crock pot before I head to the gym and everything is well under control when I get back from the gym.

One tradition that I’m really missing is the annual turkey trot. Jill and I did it several years in Twinsburg (see photo on the left from when Jill won an age group award!) and although it was a five mile race with hills, the weather usually cooperated.

My first turkey trot was in 2009 in Aurora and I didn’t realize that it was four miles. I had only trained for a three mile race, so I felt very accomplished when I crossed the finish line!

Due to ongoing issues with my Achilles tendon, I haven’t run much at all during the past several years. I have done bike riding, group exercise classes and some weight training, but I gotta admit I do miss the fun we had at the running races!

Do you keep family and food as your tradition during thanksgiving… and what about exercise? Any fun traditions that you would share?

Trying Out the Peloton App

November 18, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I got a free 30 day subscription so I’m trying out the Peloton app. I don’t have the Peloton bike or treadmill but my daughter-in-law suggested that I try out the exercise classes on the Peloton app or website. The classes are led by instructors and include a wide variety. I’ve been trying out different ways of getting a workout so I liked the idea of trying the Peloton classes.

Trying Out the Peloton App

The classes are well done. They tell you in advance what equipment you need. I took one class that required a dumbbell which fortunately I had. Most of the classes have just needed a mat and use bodyweight. The videos are well done and I think the instructors do a good job of explaining what they’re doing.

I noticed that the instructors give advance warning of what’s going to happen next. If your mind wanders, it’s possible that you might get a big confused by that at times. I don’t want to say that’s what happened with me but I am a daydreamer by nature.

I struggle with doing workouts at home but these worked pretty well. Part of the problem with working out at home is that my dog Penny just goes bonkers when I get on the floor. That seems to be a universal trait for dogs. Try doing yoga in your living room and soon there’s a dog trying to join you in downward facing dog.

Also, you can slack off in class because nobody is actually watching you. So it depends on your personality, I suppose.

Conclusion

I’m using the 30-day free subscription. Hopefully it won’t be hard to cancel. If it is, I’ll update my review with that information. After that, it costs $12.99 (US) as of today. This could certainly change. It’s less expensive than most gym memberships but of course the gym provides the equipment.

I think the classes are well produced and the instructors are good. If you like working out at home, this might be a good fit for you. For me, it reminded me why I like to go to the gym so I’m going to cancel the membership.

A member of the Becoming Elli Facebook Group is using HasFit. It sounds like a similar program but is a bit less expensive. I’ll check that out next and let you know.

Let me know if you’ve used the Peloton workouts and what you thought or let me know if you’re using a different at home program.

Spicing Up My Bland Vegetable Soup

November 11, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I made a pot of vegetable soup the other day using my Instant Pot. My son and daughter-in-law were coming to visit and I wanted to have soup since it was one of the first cooler days of fall. I was rushed and just sort of threw the soup together. It wasn’t bad but it was rather bland. It definitely needed some spicing up.

Here’s how I made the soup. I used:

Onions
Carrots
Celery
Cabbage
Potatoes
Chicken
Can of diced tomatoes
Chicken broth

Because I was rushed, I didn’t sauté any of the vegetables before adding the other ingredients. I decided it didn’t really matter. The Instant Pot was full, almost overly so. I cooked the soup and served it up right away when my guests arrived.

I shouldn’t have been surprised but the soup was bland. It wasn’t bad but it sure wasn’t the best soup I’ve ever made.

Ideas for Spicing Up My Bland Vegetable Soup

I asked for advice on the Becoming Elli Facebook Group on spicing up my bland vegetable soup. Here’s the list of suggestions I received.

RustySue said to try Sriracha. That would add some kick, for sure.

Souza recommended adding carmelized onions. I wouldn’t have thought of that. I definitely wouldn’t have had the patience for this batch of soup but it’s great advice for a later batch.

Janet said she uses a veggie juice like V8 as the broth in place of water. I remember using V8 in the past but had forgotten about it. It’s a good way to add some flavor to the soup.

A couple of spoons of basil pesto was suggested by Karen. I would never have thought of that but it would be a nice addition.

Sherry had a suggestion that I could use on the bowl of soup. She said, “top it with some garlic bread croutons and feta cheese!” I think this would have been a great addition to my soup.

Spice Recommendations

Beth recommended adding bay leaf or cumin. I had both of those in my spice cabinet. That would have worked.

Lisa suggested garlic and lots of salt. I didn’t have garlic cloves but could have used garlic powder. I definitely under-salted the soup. Lisa said she’s learned that salting more heavily really brings out the flavors in food.

A little tomato sauce, garlic, salt, and bay leaves while cooking was Patty’s recommendation.

Barbara said, “I add a beef billion cube, oregano, basil and garlic.” That would definitely spice up the soup. The bullion usually adds a lot of sodium so you get a lot of salty flavor.

“Six pepper, sparingly”, Laureen said. She added, “It adds flavor, a little heat.” I did not know this spice blend so I had to look it up. It’s a spice blend made up of a mix of black and white pepper, red and green bell peppers, plus chili peppers. I suspect this would be a fantastic way for spicing up bland vegetable soup.

A suggestion made by MiMi was to add curry. This is a great reminder that I have a cabinet full of spices and that I could simply rummage around in it and find some easy ways to spice up any dish I’m making.

Bobbie’s answer was turmeric and cayenne pepper. For a while I was a big turmeric fan. I added it to a lot of things but then got out of the habit. I do like to use cayenne pepper too.

Start at the Beginning

Kathy provided a detailed response:

I always find it difficult to season a soup after it’s been made, I usually try to add no sodium type flavors in the very beginning – you might try beginning with a bit of olive oil in the pan and adding just a few red pepper flakes, let cook a minute, then add onions until translucent, during this time, add pepper, paprika, a bit of garlic powder and if you want to kick it up a bit, cayenne pepper, or cumin depending on the flavor profile you like, cook for a minute or so, then begin to make your soup, see if this helps.

I think that is good advice.

Nourishing Slow Cooked Vegetable Soup

Sue passed on a link from the Women Living Well after 50 website for a great sounding vegetable soup. I like the recipe and thought adding ginger was a fantastic idea.

Conclusion

After reading everyone’s suggestions, I’m now much more prepared to make a zestier vegetable soup. Also, I realized that our private Facebook Group is a great source of ideas. I just bought some greens and can’t decide what to do with them so I guess I should go to the Becoming Elli Facebook group and ask for advice.

Do you have any suggestions for spicing up my bland vegetable soup?

Healing through Better Sleep with Karese Laguerre

November 9, 2021 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Episode 94- Healing through Better Sleep

In episode 94, Jill and Chris talk with Karese Laguerre, an Orofacial Myologist about improving sleep and breathing with myofunctional therapy.

Karese Laguerre, like many parents, suffered in silence while her children struggled with the symptoms of undiagnosed sleep and breathing issues. One visit to a pediatric dentist changed the trajectory of their lives. Already a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH), Karese, trained with Sandra Holtzman, Lois Laynee and Sarah Hornsby to establish her orofacial myology knowledge. With this initial training and numerous others, in a few short years she has not only resolved all her children’s issues, but helped hundreds of patients, children and adults alike, discover how great life can be functioning on full.

Her private practice, The Myo Spot is now a leader in the quest for myofunctional therapy awareness and public education. Her latest published book, Accomplished, delves into how to sleep better, eliminate burnout, and execute goals. Karese’s mission is to transform and positively impact as many households as possible through dynamic breath, brain, and body work.

Karese explains that she works like a personal trainer for the hundreds of muscles between the eyes and the shoulders. The results from these workouts improve functional breathing and the upper respiratory system.

In this episode we discuss:
* How poor sleep impacts the brain
* Detoxing and cleansing the brain through sleep
* Personal training for the face and neck
* How to integrate this into daily life
* Breathing and sleep disorders
* Various sleep stages
* Keeping oxygen saturation above 95% during sleep
* Proper daily nasal hygiene
* Brain fog and short term memory loss

“Snoring is common but it isn’t normal.” Karese said that snoring is when the air meets resistance passing through the respiratory system and the soft tissues relax. “imagine if those muscles were well toned and can stay open.”

Links mentioned during the podcast:
Her book: Accomplished: How to Sleep Better, Eliminate Burnout, and Execute Goals
Karese Laguerre’s The Myo Spot website https://www.themyospot.com
Karese Laguerre’s Airway Matters blog

Habits Help Me Stay Fit

November 6, 2021 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

While this past year has not been one with a lot of big activity for me, some of the routines and habits I have put in place are really helping me to stay fit.

I noticed that I automatically do some things, mostly out of habit, but they are helpful, healthy routines that I thought I’d share.

The things that I learned – especially about habits – have really helped me to stay more fit and active than I would have.

Over the past year+ (during the Covid pandemic), I haven’t had the type of big goals like I did set a few years back. However I’ve still been able to keep up some exercise. While I’m not running any races right now, I still try to continue a healthy eating, an exercise routine and get good sleep.

Here is a look at the 3 key areas of fitness and how my routines and habits are helping me.

1) Food -I’m in the habit of roasting veggies in the morning when I’m preparing my breakfast. I don’t seem to want to overeat or emotionally eat at breakfast time so it’s an easy way to prep for dinners or late afternoons when I feel more like indulging. If I have healthy foods prepared, I’m so much less likely to eat something that I regret. Cooking up some quinoa, or roasting veggies, or popping something into the slow cooker always is a good thing. I weigh myself every morning and make sure to drink enough water.

Eating a meal outside at an area restaurant with a friend is a huge indulgence for me these days. I’m pleased that I ordered a spinach salad and that steak on top was delicious too. Dressing on the side means I cut a lot of nasty fats/sugars that I really didn’t want. One beer felt extremely indulgent for me. This photo was taken back in September and I’m still reveling in the time together.

Eating outside in the open air made the restaurant meal feel less worrisome to me.

I know that 80% is food and 20% is exercise when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.

2) Working Out – I’ve barely been to the gym in the past 20 months, but I am doing a lot more gardening and lawn work. It’s not the same kind of exercise but it’s still getting me out of the house and off the couch. This past week I actually made it to the gym three times and got a spinning class in as well. It took a lot of mental discipline for me to walk through the door as I deeply concerned about spreading germs. But I know I need more cardio and strength training than I can do for myself at home.

Some of the exercises involve walks with Peanut, others are lawn work. This past week three of my exercise sessions are from going to the gym. My mantra is “progress not perfection” at this point. Some of the exercise is raking leaves, pulling out overgrown vines and cutting back my perennials. I continue to do strength work at home with some heavy (for me) weights, but I could really do with increasing it to keep my muscles strong.

3) Sleep – I’ve written about sleep issues before and some of the routines I do to improve my sleep. A lot of times people don’t consider sleep as key ingredient, but I know if I don’t get enough good sleep, eating right is a huge challenge. It’s like my energy levels are much lower the next day and I crave sugar and caffiene to feel peppy. If I get a good night’s sleep, I can eat right and feel like doing more activity.

I have downloaded many books on the library Libby app to learn more methods of meditation, Yoga Nidra, deep breathing exercises and other ways to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. All these have definitely benefited my sleep.

Some nights my sleep is still is plenty elusive, so having these tools has been a great help.

Another useful app I’ve really enjoyed is called insight timer which has many sleep recordings from bedtime tales (who doesn’t like a book read to them), naturescape recordings of things like rain, ocean and crickets/toads, as well as sleep meditations. I have not yet subscribed but when an audio book can’t lull me to sleep, the insight timer app usually comes to the rescue.

My favorite “go to” is the hour long Deep Sleep Guided Meditation by Kenneth Soares. Second favorite is the 20+ minute Yoga Nidra for Sleep by Jennifer Piercy.

Do you listen to sleep meditations?If so, what are your favorites?

What habits for healthy eating, fitness and sleep do you have as part of your routine? Please leave an email (chris@becomingelli.com), or a comment below, or even a voicemail at 330-970-6662.

My Return to Boot Camp Class

November 4, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I’d like to say that my return to boot camp class at my gym was a great success and that I left the class in a moment of triumph. It wasn’t quite that exciting, I confess. In fact, I felt glad that I managed to scrape through the session.

I realized that I had not been to boot camp class in almost two years. How is that possible? I went to this class every Saturday morning for several years. Well, I was dealing with some family issues out of town in the beginning of 2020 and then of course the gyms as well as the world just shut down.

I returned to the gym over a year ago but at first the classes at the gym had not resumed. Then, when they did, I just couldn’t get the motivation to show up at the class.

A couple of weeks ago, I was heading into the gym locker room on Saturday morning and ran into one of my fellow boot camp attendees. She said, “are you going to boot camp?”

I answered, “No, I’m going swimming today. I don’t feel like I’m boot camp worthy right now.”

She said, “Oh sure you are. You should come.”

Return to Boot Camp Class

That actually motivated me so I returned to class last Saturday.

The class was a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session. We just discussed on the podcast episode with Pam Semanik about the benefits of doing HIIT so I was pleased. The class was basically 30 seconds of exercise broken with 15 seconds of rest. We did strength exercises with kettlebells (squats, skull crushers, biceps curls, etc.) and more cardio based exercises (burpees, jumping jacks, ice skaters, etc.)

Those cardio exercises were tough for me. I guess I hadn’t done them in those two years so I was struggling. I’ve been keeping up on strength workouts so I didn’t have as much difficulty with them.

After we finished the HIIT portion of class, we did a number of abs workouts followed by a stretching cool down.

It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces and hear people say how good it was to see me. It made me happy to return to boot camp class.

I guess I need to return to my routine and keep going to boot camp. I suspect I can get back into shape fairly quickly.

What have you struggled to get back to after the break in our normal activities? Let me know!

Running in the Fall with My Dog

October 28, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

What could be better than running in the fall with my dog, Penny? It’s been several months now that Penny has been doing her canine Couch to 5K plan with me. We actually abandoned the official plan and just went with a run-walk program. I use my Garmin to set times for running and walking and we go from there.

On a beautiful fall day, this is the face I saw at the top of my stairs.

What a dejected looking pup! I said, “come on, Penny, we’re going for a run.”

We drove to the Towpath Trail in the neighboring town. It’s a lovely trail that runs along the Cuyahoga River. I wanted to run a section of the trail to figure out the distance between two towns so it seemed like a good day to do it.

We had a great time though the change in seasons has introduced a lot of new scents for Penny so we had to stop periodically so she could sniff. I’m assuming that’s why she was so interested in sniffing.

We didn’t set any records for speed but the day was so gorgeous that walking was as enjoyable as running. We ended up walking more than running but the distance round trip was five miles and Penny’s record before that was four miles. So, walking more was probably a good thing.

How is Penny doing with her running? She seems to enjoy it but she struggles with bikes passing us. I believe that she’s afraid of them but she’s getting used to it. She still gets out of the way but she doesn’t bowl me over getting off the path. She actually listens pretty well when she’s running. More than she does when she’s walking, which is curious.

I like running with Penny but if I’m trying to actually go for a serious training run, I find I’m better leaving her at home. I end up concentrating on Penny more than on my running. Perhaps as we get more used to running together, this won’t be such an issue.

The day was so pretty that we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The trail ended up with a fair amount of traffic but we handled it without problem.

I think Penny is going to become a good running companion. This summer she was still young but next year she should be able to run without being too distracted.

Do you run with your dog? Let me know what works best for you. I will appreciate any training advice.

Improving Brain Health with Dr. Angela Ridgel

October 26, 2021 / Chris Brown / 2 Comments

Episode 93 – Improving Brain Health

In Episode 93, Jill and Chris talk with Dr. Angela Ridgel, a Professor in Exercise Physiology and the Associate Director of the Brain Health Research Institute at Kent State University.

Her research focuses on how exercise and movement therapy improves brain health and function in older adults and those with neurological disorders.

She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from The College of William and Mary, a Master’s degree in Biology at Villanova University and her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Marshall University. Dr. Ridgel completed her Post-Doctoral training at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Ridgel has published over 40 scientific papers, co-authored two textbook chapters and is inventor on two U.S. Patents. Her research has been funded by National Institutes of Health and the Davis Phinney Foundation.

She is also a a competitive multisport athlete, a USA Cycling certified coach, a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the owner of Stelleri Performance Training– an endurance coaching business.

We discuss:

Her work and findings in helping those who have like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.
How to avoid getting progressive brain diseases
How to improve brain health through high intensity exercise.
How the brain is rewired successfully to improve strength, balance and walking abilities
Dopamine and how it affects the body and mind

Links:

Her bio as a professor
Stelleri Performance Training
Watch her TedTalk here: Rewire the Brain
In Motion organization in Northeast Ohio

Finding Inspirational Music for My Running Playlist

October 21, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I often listen to music when I run by myself so I’ve created my running playlist on Spotify. I wrote about this in 2018 (wow, that seems so long ago!) and was just making the transition from playing music from a variety of sources to using Spotify. Now I just have my playlist and listen to that when I need some motivation or distraction or just a good beat to run with. I don’t usually listen to music when I’m running with someone or if I just want to listen to the sounds of nature.

I see that some of the songs that I mentioned in my earlier post are still on my playlist. Some of them I’ve forgotten about. Also, I said I was considering adding Lady Gaga to my playlist. I did that ages ago. Her music usually always has a strong beat.

Inspirational Music

There’s always music to listen to that keeps you moving. Figure out what song makes you want to dance when it plays and that’s a good candidate for your running playlist. Anything that makes you want to move can go into your playlist.

I find it helpful though to have songs that not only want to make me move but also inspire me to keep going. You know, songs that just motivate me.

There are a few songs on my playlist right now that have inspirational lyrics for when you’re slogging through a long run.

The first is I Run for Life by Melissa Etheridge. She obviously wrote it to promote breast cancer awareness and I can just see her singing this song before a Relay for Life event or some kind of fund raising race. I find it to be motivational.

The second is The Champion by Carrie Underwood and Ludacris. She wrote this for a Super Bowl but the lyrics really apply to anyone. The emphasis is on athletes but it works for me.

I think my favorite inspirational song is Hall of Fame by The Script, featuring will.i.am. It gets me moving and gives me something to think about while I’m running. The lyrics are inspirational and the music is great. I highly recommend this song.

My playlist is lengthy but these three songs stand out for being inspirational.

Finding Inspirational Music

You may ask how do you go about finding inspirational music. I ask around for advice on songs. I also read what people post for playlists and look for songs that I think I’ll like. This works for finding songs with a good beat.

Spotify and Pandora both have their own running playlists so I read through what they suggest and tag the ones that I want to add to my own playlist. This is a really easy way to add songs to the list.

One way that I’ve found to really find inspirational music is to listen to the soundtrack for videos for sporting events. For example, I watch some Youtube videos about triathlons and they always have inspiring music in the background. If you don’t recognize it, you can use Google to identify the music. I just ask Google, “what song is this?” and it usually identifies the song without problem.

Conclusion

I’m constantly adding songs to my playlist. I periodically go through and remove some but I don’t do this as often as I add to the list. So, the list gets pretty long. Fortunately if a song comes on that I don’t want to listen to, it’s easy to skip it and go on to the next.

Let me know what songs really motivate you. I’d love to add your recommendations to my playlist.

The Wonders of Bacon

October 18, 2021 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I received an email from some website suggesting that I should write a blog post about the wonders of bacon because “everyone loves bacon.” I thought, yes, perhaps that’s true but it doesn’t seem to fit with the Becoming Elli motif. We’re the group who does the Veggie Challenge. We’re a group of women who eat in a variety of ways but we do try to focus on being healthy.

Bacon is popular right now with the Keto followers because it’s a good source of fat and protein. It’s a very fatty meat, regardless of the source of the pork.

The Wonders of Bacon

I remember frying up lots of bacon to go with pancakes when my son had a birthday sleepover to celebrate turning 13. Those boys wolfed it down. One boy complained that he couldn’t eat the pork bacon so the next time I bought both pork and turkey bacon. Those boys ate all of both kinds of bacon. They weren’t fussy.

I went through a phase of cooking turkey bacon. My husband was supposed to eat a low fat diet. (This was probably close to 15 years ago.) Turkey bacon was considered to be better for him. Perhaps it was, but it was hard to say.

Continuing with my history with the wonders of bacon, I quit eating bacon for several years. Then I began to make occasional visits to a local farm’s butcher shop. They had natural bacon, not treated with anything, and it was so good. It was expensive enough that I only bought it as a treat but when I had it, I enjoyed every strip.

BLT Sandwich

Because of the pandemic for the past year and a half, I didn’t make it to that shop until this summer. I bought a package of bacon to enjoy. I fried up several slices and made myself a BLT. Because I don’t normally eat bacon and rarely eat bread, this was a treat. I bought a good loaf of sourdough bread, some locally grown leaf lettuce and tomatoes and made my sandwich. Oh, was it good.

I have no idea if my BLT qualifies as healthy eating but I enjoyed every bite of it.

Now, here’s the sad part of the story. I cooked more slices than I needed for my sandwich so decided I would use those extra strips for a sandwich the next day. When I went to put them in the refrigerator, they were gone. Penny, my Irish doodle, had counter surfed the bacon. That really expensive bacon that I bought as a treat for myself. She clearly enjoyed it too because I caught her looking for more.

So yes, when the email says write about the wonders of bacon because “everyone loves bacon,” they are correct. Even my dog loves bacon.

Categories

Trying Out the Peloton App

Conclusion

Ideas for Spicing Up My Bland Vegetable Soup

Spice Recommendations

Start at the Beginning

Nourishing Slow Cooked Vegetable Soup

Conclusion

Return to Boot Camp Class

Inspirational Music

Finding Inspirational Music

Conclusion

The Wonders of Bacon

BLT Sandwich