Tag Archives: #AtoZChallenge

E is for Exercise

I do a lot of exercise. Believe it or not, I even like it! I’ve been a walker for a lot of years. For most of my walking miles, David has been with me and I think of it as our alone time where it’s just us and no distractions. But even when David hasn’t been home, I still walk.

walk

I was waiting to lose down to a certain weight to start running again. I used to run a lot in the early 1990s but felt like I was just too heavy to run now even though my walks were getting faster and faster and I had friends on the runkeeper app encouraging me to just run.

When we moved here, I left the scale behind. Because I had no idea if I was at the magical number that would allow me to begin running, I just started running. And it was hard. No, it was HARD. 😀 I ran quite a lot of distance back in the day and I just don’t remember it being so hard back then. Of course I was 25 years younger so that could’ve had something to do with it. But I persevered telling myself, “pretty soon, this will be your warm up”.

run

Now, I’m not there yet but I have been able to to gradually increase my mileage and I’m now up to two miles a day. Best of all, I’m getting air all the way down to the bottom of my lungs the whole run. Which is great since I like to breathe.

And cycling. How I love that. I’ve been doing that twice a week since I got my bike. I go a little further each time and it’s just fun.

Every day living here in Downtown San Jose, involves a lot of exercise. Unless I have the dog or something really heavy, I always take the stairs. Our apartment is on the third floor and the garage is even one floor further down. I walk every where downtown. Library, grocery store, post office, dinner. It’s great. I’ve been more active here than I have been in a lot of years.

And I like it. I really do. I love feeling strong when I’m walking down the street. I love feeling accomplished when I get done with a run or bike ride. I know this is good for my health but it’s also good for my mind. I am a rare person who doesn’t wear headphones while exercising. I have deep discussions with my inner self and I come to a lot of conclusions, make a lot of plans this way.

If you don’t exercise every day let me encourage you to give it a try. Even just a ten minute walk to start is better than nothing at all. Then work your way up little by little until you are enjoying more physical and mental well being. You’ll be glad you did! 😀

D is for Devine Grind

devine_grind

I was excited when I learned that for the Saturdays in April’s A to Z Challenge, I could find coffee places to visit. Today, the first Saturday, is D and Devine Grind is right around the corner from where we live. I walk by all the time and was happy to finally go inside.

devine_grind_pastries

We were greeted by Winifred, the owner. I was excited to see an almond croissant and told her that I was going to have one in honor of my half-birthday. She asked me what a half birthday was and seemed tickled at the idea and wished me a happy half birthday. Noticing her accent, I asked her where she was from. She told me Nigeria. At that point, David jumped in because he’s done a lot of work in Nigeria and they chatted about that for a little bit.

devine_grind_coffee

We placed our order which Winifred offered to heat up for us. Then we took our coffee outside to sit. It was such a lovely morning and I’ve felt “outside eating” deprived for a long time and sit outside every chance we get.

devine_grind_patio

The almond croissant was delicious! I haven’t really eaten sugar like that since before September 1, 2014 and it made me feel a little wasted but it was such a nice treat along with the delicious coffee.

devine_grind_almond_croissant

David got a breakfast burrito that had eggs, sausage, hash browns and cheese, served with a side of salsa. He said it was really good, too.

devine_grind-breakfast-burrito

When we came back inside to drop off our dishes and say good bye, we got a chance to meet Winifred’s husband, Joseph. They are such nice people and our experience at Devine Grind is one I’ll look forward to replicating many times in the coming months! 🙂

B is for Bananas

It was about a year ago that David and I went to Banana Island. Banana Island, you ask? Where is that? Well, Banana Island is essentially a cleanse where you eat only bananas. We did it for three weeks and we felt amazing.

bananaa

I figured it was an easy way to get started on the high carb, low fat, raw vegan lifestyle and I was right. It’s the only thing I ever did where I didn’t have sugar withdrawal. Now, bananas are a HUGE part of our lives and we go through a lot of them each week.

Because we eat so many bananas each day, we always have to have some ripening. Since we moved, we still haven’t gotten far enough ahead of the game to have some to freeze and make ice cream out of which is a deficiency I need to correct. Soon. Spooning banana ice cream (frozen bananas put through the juicer with a blank = soft serve) off of celery sticks is a taste treat like no other. I also saw a recipe for mint chocolate chip ice cream yesterday that I’d like to try. Anyway, I digress.

rack

Bananas are super good for you. We wait to eat them until they have brown spots on them. This makes them easier to digest and gives you a whole range of health benefits.

brown

The other day, I got the surprise of a lifetime when I opened a banana and found twins inside! Trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of bananas in my 54 years and I’ve never seen this before. I was so weirdly excited.

twins

I have blogged about bananas before but in the event you missed why I eat so many, the reason is because they are calorically dense. I’m a pretty large (5’11’ on a large frame) and extremely active person. If I eat a pound of lettuce, which is a lot of food, it’s still only around 100 calories which isn’t good enough. The bananas help to keep my calorie levels up.

They are also a good workout. When I buy a case of bananas, 15 bunches, it’s somewhere around 40 pounds. I have to squat those babies eight times to get them from the car to the apartment. 🙂

So, anyway, that’s the story of bananas in my life. I love them, they fill me up, they’re delicious. 🙂