My Fresh Perspective

5 Goals for November

Hi Friends!

How’s it going? Are you having a spectacular morning so far? If you’ve been reading along this week, you may have seen my October Goal Check-In on Tuesday. As with all new months, I am setting 5 new goals. By the end of December, I’ll have set a total of 60 monthly goals for myself in 2011, which I think is pretty cool, don’t you? Granted, they haven’t all been accomplished to the same extent (umm… “go for at least 5 outdoor runs in May”, I’m looking at you!) but I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot this year.

Here’s what’s on the agenda for November:

1. Buy my domain name and switch my blog over to self-hosted.

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now, and the time has come to actually get it done! In fact, the move is actually taking place today, (hopefully) without any of you even noticing that anything is going on behind the scenes. After today, my new home will be eat-spin-run-repeat.com. (As I publish this, there is nothing at that link, but there will be soon!!)

A few things to know:

Don’t worry – you don’t have to copy and paste your favourite recipes off of my Recipes page because everything will be transferred over to the new location.
I’ll be putting a re-direct in place so that if you still access this site (https://eatspinrunrepeat.wordpress.com), you will automatically be taken to the new one.
If you subscribe via Google Reader, BlogLovin, or another similar program, you should still be seeing my new posts once I put the re-direct in place. However, if you don’t, please add http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com to your readers.
Similarly, if you subscribed by typing your email into the sidebar at the right of this page, you should still receive new posts by email once I activate the re-direct. I plan to install a similar plug-in in my new blog home, and when you see it, please re-subscribe

I have been told that this will go seamlessly, and I’m very much hoping that that will be the case! If you notice anything not working quite right over the next 24 hours, just know that there is some background work going on. The end result will be a much better Eat Spin Run Repeat, and I’m super excited to be able to bring you more greatness once the move is complete.

In addition to moving to eat-spin-run-repeat.com, I plan to make some additional visual improvements to the blog, so stay tuned!

2. Finish my Christmas shopping.

My roommate is all over this – in fact, I’m pretty sure she’s already finished! I love shopping, but hate the pressure of being in a crowded mall with only a day or so to find a gift for someone. It seems whenever I’m looking for something specific, it’s nowhere to be found. On the other hand, browsing around tends to give me the most success. Therefore, I plan to get a major jump-start on this one and start this weekend. I’ll be seeing all of my immediate family members over the holidays at some point (a rare case), so this year I can freely buy them things without having to consider whether the shipping will cost more than the actual item itself. And call me a nerd, but I’m secretly excited about listening to the Christmas songs playing in the mall. 😉

(Source)

3. Eat slowly.

I believe this is the second time I’ve revisited this goal this year, but it is one on my 2011 vision board, and one I really want to accomplish. I’ve talked about this before, and it is indeed a very general, broad goal, but I’m determined to make progress. In short, I’ve noticed (and not just recently) that sometimes I eat like I’m in a race. It might be because I’m busy and feel that I don’t have time to sit and slow down. Other times, it might be because I’m tense or stressed and the pace of eating just sort of picks up to match my quick short breaths. Having read Savor back in September and Eating Mindfully last month, I’ve learned a few things that should help me out with this. I’ll expand a bit more next week when I do my book review of Eating Mindfully, so stay tuned!

4. Get the flu shot.

My mum convinced me to do this one after I called her in tears on Sunday, complaining about my excruciatingly sore throat. I’ve never received a flu shot in the past, but it’s not because I have a fear of needles. Even though it’s already November, I’m thinking that it’s still not too late to get one, and once I kick this sore throat business for good, I’m heading straight to the nearest clinic!

5. Contribute towards a charitable cause.

Growing up, my parents always made my sister and I give 1/3 of our weekly allowance to charity. This could have been any charity or charitable act that we wanted, but the one that was my favourite was Operation Christmas Child. In case you haven’t heard of it before, it is a campaign organized by Samaritan’s Purse and it aims to share the joys of Christmas with young boys and girls in less-fortunate countries. I don’t normally post anything overly religious on my blog, but here’s a video with American Idol 10 winner Scotty McCreery to explain how it works:

This is an activity that a lot of churches participate in as a group, but it’s also something you can totally do on your own. This month I plan to spread the word at work, and pack a box or two of my own. If you’re interested in taking part, check out the Samaritan’s Purse website. You’ll find a list of gift suggestions, promo materials that you can order for your church/company/school etc, and more information about other ways to get involved. If you want to know where your nearest collection point is, click here. National Collection Week (for Canada) is November 21-27th. If you are in the US, use this site, and your National Collection Week is November 14-21st.

Alright, that’s my 5! Now I want to know..

What goals do you have for November?
Do you participate in any special charitable causes around Christmas time?

November 3, 2011 at 5:00 am 16 comments

Recap: Try Something New Tuesday 81

Good morning! 🙂

How are you today? Thanks for all your comments on yesterday’s post – it sounds like some of you had some great goals for October! I’ve got 5 new ones coming up tomorrow for this month, but today, it’s all about new things! I’ll dive straight in – here’s your weekly edition of Try Something New Tuesday!

1. Recipe of the Week: Shrimp and Pumpkin Curry. Yes I know it’s not October any more, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there can be no more pumpkin! I was absolutely thrilled when my roommate came home and told me that she’d been given a pie pumpkin at work and really didn’t know what to do with it. I assured her I’d put it to good use, and that I did!

The heat in this recipe isn’t overly spicy, but if you make it and find that there’s way too much spice, you can tame it by stirring in a little extra plain yogurt. Alternatively, if you’re a fire master, go ahead and throw in a little more chili powder!

2. Russet (or Bosc) Apples. Nope, not Bosc pears, and not Russet potatoes. Apples. When I first saw these at Sobeys, I thought they were either mislabeled, or bad apples because they were brown. Most folk probably wouldn’t go near a brown apple, but after 80 past Try Something New Tuesdays, you guys know that I’m not like most folk when it comes to produce.

According to Wikipedia….

Russeting on apples is a particular type of skin, slightly rough, usually with a greenish-brown to yellowish-brown colour. Many apple cultivars have some natural russeting, but some are almost entirely covered in it. Russet apples often exhibit a scent and flavour reminiscent of nuts, and are often very sweet. Despite this, modern apple breeders rarely accept russeting in new apple cultivars. The amount of russeting can be affected by various factors including weather, disease, or pest damage and agrochemical applications (e.g., insecticides, fungicides, and growth regulators).

So what did I do with mine? First, I washed it. I know that the peel of many fruits contains the most nutrition, but something about this russeting business just had me stuck in the mindset that the apple was dirty. After a good rinse, I popped the core out and gave the slices a generous sprinkling of cinnamon and cloves. Then it was into the oven at 375F for about 10 minutes, which made my kitchen smell absolutely divine.

Served with a bit of vanilla Greek yogurt for dipping…

Mmmmm! Perfect for a cold fall morning. I like my apples to be moderately tart – as in, more tart than a Gala apple but not as sour as a Granny Smith. One of my apple pet peeves is when you take your first bite, only to get a flour-y texture – yuck! I’m pleased to announce that this was totally not the case. This apple had a good amount of firmness which helped it stand up to the baking well, and it had the perfect amount of zing to it. I want to track some more of these down ASAP!

3. Juicy Fruit Desserts gum in Apple Pie. Yesterday was a big day for apples! A while ago, I tried to give up gum because I felt I chewed way more than I should. This went ok… but after a while, I began to miss it. It seems to help me concentrate when I’m working on projects at work, and sometimes it’s just nice to have something to freshen your breath. I usually go for mint, but recently I saw an ad for Extra Dessert Delights in a magazine for a new flavour, Apple Pie. When I was in Pennsylvania in June, I found the Mint Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie versions, (both tasty), so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this new one. I looked in tons of shops in San Francisco to find it but had no luck.

Recently I was at one of the wholesale food stores that I occasionally visit, and immediately, this caught my eye:

It’s not Extra, but I guess Wrigley is branding the same gum as Juicy Fruit here in Ontario. (The company owns both brands.)

Brand name aside, I couldn’t wait to try this one. I patiently waited until yesterday to take the plastic off the package, and my first few chews were the stuff dreams are made of. A little apple tartness, with a bit of cinnamon spice to go with it. All in the same stick of gum. Pretty genius, don’t you think? The only complaint I have about this (and I found the same was true of the Mint Chocolate Chip and Key Lime Pie versions) is that the flavour doesn’t last very long. I’d say it’s good for about 4 or 5 minutes, but then it gets quite tough and flavourless. Obviously, I know that gum is made of artificial sweeteners and chemicals, and thus probably doesn’t even deserve a mention on a healthy living blog, but as I’ve said before, I believe in everything in moderation. This flavour isn’t going to freshen your breath, but if you’ve got a craving for something sweet after a meal, or at any time, I’d give it a shot.

Ok, that is all for me this morning! Finally…

Questions for today:

What’s your favourite gum flavour?
Have you spotted any unusual produce lately? Tell me about it and it just may appear here over the coming weeks if I can find some!

Have a lovely day!

November 2, 2011 at 8:09 am 17 comments

October Goal Check-In

Good morning friends!

Happy 1st of November! How are you doing this morning? I hope you had a lovely Halloween yesterday and that none of you are suffering from any sugar hangovers (or any other sort of hangover!) Are you ready to start off a new month with a bang? Before we do, it’s time for another one of these….

I’m super pleased to announce that this month there were NO glaring fails on any of my 5 goals – YAY! It was a busy one, but I managed to make time for almost everything. Here’s how it went, starting with the first one on the list:

This month I decided to complete Eating Mindfully by Dr. Susan Albers, Psy.D. I have to say, for someone that doesn’t do a whole lot of reading outside of blogs and magazines, I’m actually really enjoying this activity! You may remember that last month I read Savor, and found it to be a little too focused on basic nutrition principles as opposed to exactly how to eat mindfully. Well, I’m pleased to report that Eating Mindfully by Dr. Albers was exactly what I was looking for – the how.

I plan to dedicate an upcoming post to a complete review of this book, but for now, I’ll just mention a few things I liked about it:

The advice was practical and based on Dr. Albers’ experiences with clients
It was a short read
Her advice was straight-to-the-point, and delivered in easily understandable lessons
There are tons of tips for putting the lesson material into practice

This book definitely made me think more about how food makes me feel. It also gave me some ideas for increasing the enjoyment I get out of eating, as opposed to just eating because ‘it’s time’, or because the people around me are.

I’m giving myself a B+ because I managed to accomplish 50% of this goal really well! In addition to being away in San Francisco for about a week, I ended up with a lot of other commitments to fulfill on the weekends and totally ran out of time for the apples. Although my roomies and I didn’t make it out to an apple farm, pumpkin carving was one of the highlights this month.

For more photos from our carving adventure, check out this post.

I was so close to making this one! I made it to a Wednesday night Pilates class after work 3 times, but had to swap it for a core conditioning class the week that I was traveling. Over the course of the month, I definitely noticed an improvement in my flexibility and my ability to do core exercises that previously made my hip flexors scream for mercy. In terms of toning, I didn’t really see much of a difference but I imagine that this could be achieved over a longer period of time.

One big difference between Pilates and the core conditioning class was the focus on breath. The Pilates instructor that taught the classes I went to constantly cued when to inhale and exhale, and as repetitive as it became, I can see how a participant could become easily confused without this. Mat-style Pilates isn’t really something I can say I’ve fallen in love with, but I’d be interested in trying it on a reformer, just for the sake of comparison.

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I’d also need someone to show me how to use it, because I wouldn’t even know where to start!

Done, and I’ve been for it as well! I was quite surprised that I managed to get an appointment in the same month that I booked it, especially given the crazy long waiting times I’ve been given in the past. I have to go back in November for a follow-up appointment, but I’m happy and relieved that I finally have a doctor to see. And how’s this for progress: They sent me for fasting blood work and I’ve already had that done too. Hopefully the follow-up appointment will go just as well as the first!

Yep, definitely did this! Our Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun, and although my sister wasn’t there, I still got to spend a lot of time with my mum, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I’ve also been Skyping my sister a lot more now (why do I not use Skype more!? It’s fantastic!) and am really looking forward to seeing her and my dad at Christmas.