Nourish and Move

A nearby neighborhood has steeper and more numerous hills than my own, so I walked three miles there on Wednesday. My Fitbit tells me the route is comparable to climbing ten flights of stairs. So, since the sun was shining and we had temperatures in the sixties, I was compelled to be outdoors after three days of rain.

This is an example of how my outfit morphs throughout the day. I often tweak the looks to be more appropriate or comfortable for what I am doing. If you want to see a post about the transition of a basic combination, let me know in the comments.

The jeans and shirt are what I wore to take my mother grocery shopping earlier in the day. I removed my jewelry, switched loafers for sneakers, a cashmere sweater for a hoodie, and added a ballcap and sunglasses to keep the sun and my hair off my face. The excellent new lip color is Cherry here. My priority is comfortable shoes and a hat, but I usually wear street clothes to walk in the neighborhood.

What is your favorite exercise? I move purposely for at least thirty minutes daily but try to stay active all day, rarely sitting for long periods. I enjoy various activities, including walking – Pilates – yoga – weight training – swimming – biking – hiking – beachcombing.

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Friends still ask me, “What do you eat?” More important is what I don’t eat because I eat a wide variety of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, wild-caught fish, full-fat plain Greek yogurt, and lots of other delicious, whole foods. So what do I never eat? That list includes processed foods, fast foods, refined products, pre-made items, and vegetable seed oils. I also avoid salty, sugary, or fried foods and most food-like products in the center of a grocery store. Typical meals are pictured below.

Grazing or snacking all day never allows the gut to rest and energy to be redirected toward healing and cell replenishment. So I don’t snack and usually eat only two early meals daily. I intend to consume whole food in its natural state, meaning I try not to cook it or add many ingredients. However, the entire digestive tract needs to be fed, not just our taste buds. Fermented foods such as kimchi, yogurt, tempeh, and sauerkraut are excellent for your microbiome.

Above is another typical meal. But, again, the key is consuming fiber, highly nutritious foods, and fermented foods for a healthy gut and overall health.

Butterhead lettuce is the salad’s foundation; toppings include kimchi, sliced cherry tomatoes, cannellini beans, baby peas, and a soft-boiled cage-free organic egg. I top salads with fresh ground pepper, Himalayan salt, aged balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil.

Most of my meals at home are Nourish Bowls. They start with a bed of dark leafy greens; baby kale and arugula are favorites, and I eat beans daily. Beans provide protein, fiber, folate, iron, potassium, and magnesium while containing little or no total fat, trans-fat, sodium, and cholesterol. Saute mushrooms, sweet onion, and garlic until tender and fragrant, then add the drained and rinsed beans to warm them. Room temperature is best for your body. I don’t use ice and always let hot foods rest before consuming them.

I also often have a bowl of oatmeal (recipe here) with blueberries as breakfast.

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