Building The Love Shack

 

This month’s bloggers question were about health. I can give you my answer on how we do things, but because I am a Nurse does not mean what I do is right for everyone and it is not Medical Advice.

1. How do you function so well with your health problems?

This is a question even the doctors can’t answer. They call me the Fibro Poster Child.

I made up my mind after being stuck in the bed and could barely walk for three months that I was not going to spend the rest of my life sitting in pain. It was a Slow Process but with doing a little every day I got my legs working again and then I kept going.

I don’t know if you get used to pain or you learn to ignore it. I ignore it most of the time and when it wins, I have learned to give myself permission to rest.

I believe that my job actually helps me because I’m moving all the time and when I am not working I do the same.

I wear a Fitbit on my arm and watch my steps every day. While I am writing, I have a timer set on my phone which goes off. After forty-five minutes of writing, I get up and go walk through the house. That used-to-be about the time I would go for a smoke. Now I throw some laundry in or get something out of the freezer or simply go out with the dogs for five minutes.

The answers for me is staying active.

2. You seem to like to bake and cook a lot. How do you stay in shape?

First, thanks for the compliment, but the truth is, we are not.  When we quit smoking in March, we both put on a lot of weight and are feeling it. Normally the answer is the same as answer number one.

We have both always been very active. Me having two major surgeries in twenty-two months and the joining the non-smokers has hit us hard. We are just now getting back into adding extra time with the gym.

I do like to cook and we are foodies. Normally we have a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Also when you look at my recipes, they are mostly low in fat, sugar, and salt. Many are Gluten-Free. That is our normal way of eating.

Dessert is allowed once a week, which a friend who is a trainer, taught me many years ago. I still remember her telling me that life and exercise both works better with rewards.

I also think the scale was a terrible invention. I also only use the BMI as a reference point. I don’t go by numbers. The way I feel and how my clothes fit is the guild-lines for me.

What I consider a healthy weight now at soon to be fifty-six and what I considered healthy weight at thirty are far from each other, only because when I was in my younger years I stayed on the low side of the healthy weight.

If you want expert and individual advise I highly recommend finding a Doctor who works well with you and a dietitian who understands your needs. I know that is not easy to do, but don’t give up, they are worth the find.

When is your cookbook coming out? And where do you get your ideas for recipes?

The Cottage Cook Book has no specific time of release. I have been working on it for many years. When I am totally happy with it, I will release it. In the meantime, I will keep sharing recipes from it.

The ideas come from everywhere.  Some are family recipes, some are recipes given by friends and others I find in cookbooks or online and some happen by what I call kitchen accidents or experiments.

I will find a recipes try it, change it and make it my own. Some get changed during the first cooking process. Others I change after eating it. But all of them I make over and over again until I think they are right.

My friends and family eat a lot of food. They are my testing fields and get to be honest about what they like and don’t like.

Sometimes, we end up eating takeout cause it just didn’t turn out well. I call them kitchen flops.

Something that looks good on paper or in a picture does not mean it taste good. And other times, I see a recipe and think why would you mix that together and it actually turns out well.

 

Thanks for your questions. I enjoy getting them. I hope my answers are helpful.