Crowding the Mushrooms

A couple of years ago when the movie "Julie and Julia" came out in theatres, I knew I had to see it.  Not only do I absolutely love cooking, but *obviously* have some interest in blogging as well, so I figured it would be right up my alley.  Actually, it turns out I was rather disappointed with the movie - the plot line was a little boring and I really did not find the "Julie" character to be at all endearing ... she whined way too much for my liking and I often found myself wishing the director would just stick with the story of Julia Child's life and leave the flashbacks to "Julie's" life in the ditch.  However, there is one line of the movie that has stuck with me.  It resonated in my head as soon as I heard it.  For some reason, it was one of those lines that you can instantly recognize for it's literal and metaphoric truth.   So ... after that great build up ... here's the line in question:

Don't crowd the mushrooms!

It really does make a difference!  Put too many mushrooms in the frying pan, and they just seem to get all mushy and gushy and don't saute properly.  But, if you just scatter them in their sparsely, they brown up in such a delicious manner!   The problem is, though, that I really don't want to take so much time when I'm preparing a meal.  I want the maximum result for the minimum time investment.  I want my mushrooms nicely browned, but I want to crowd them all together in the pan so I don't have to cook them in batches.

The same is so true of my life.  I want results but I often don't want to slow down and invest enough time in a project, a relationship, even in myself sometimes (!) to get the results that I desire.  I want to make a success of all that I attempt, but I don't want to spend time perfecting my craft so that I will be a success.  I want my relationships to be deep and meaningful, but can't we just text meaningfully back and forth a couple of times a day and make a go of it?   I want to manage stress better, but I don't always want to take the time to breathe deep, centre myself, and let go of the bad energy.  I want short cuts, recipes that involve nothing more than 3 steps, 5 ingredients and one pan, and problems that can be resolved in the same length of time it takes to play a few rounds of Bejeweled.

Since "Julie and Julia," I find myself periodically taking a deep breath and reminding myself not to "crowd the mushrooms."  With all the emphasis on "quality" vs. "quantity" that seems to pervade our culture, I need a constant reminder that there is no replacement for investing large amounts of time into the areas of my life that really count.  Whether it is my own physical and emotional fitness, my relationships, or my work, the measure of my success will in a large way be accounted for by how much time I have invested.   And the bottom line is that I am worth the investment.  We are given 24 hours in each day.   I'm determined in 2011 that I won't get caught up in "crowding the mushrooms" and racing around in those 24 hours, trying to fit so much in that nothing gets done properly.  Instead, I'm going to invest enough time into my own well-being to ensure success.

27 - It's not a magic number, but still feels great!

Twenty-seven pounds!  Yes, I am very proud to report that after what appeared to be an endless PLATEAU of non-weight loss, I am finally down another couple of pounds, bringing my total weight-loss to date to twenty-seven pounds.  This method of weight loss has not proven to be the "Speedy Gonzales" method by any means.

I'm hoping, however, that it will prove more like the case of the tortoise and the hare ...

And hopefully by changing my life-style in small increments rather than by following some radical diet plan, I will be able to keep the weight off once it's gone, and have a healthier lifestyle pattern.

So, here are 27 things I have been doing differently that are all helping me to have a healthier lifestyle, some of which are contributing to my weight loss:

1).   Almost entirely switched from white flour to whole wheat flour.

2).   Endeavouring to eat 80% fruits and vegetables and 20% starch and protein every day.

3).  Trying to remember to DRINK LOTS OF WATER!  (although I often forget this one!)

4).   Walking every day - a brisk walk of between 3 and 4 kms.

5).   Drinking 2 oz of Noni Juice everyday.  It tastes hideous but Dr. Oz highly recommends it.

6).  Taking my multivitamin every day.

7.)   Taking 100 mg of B6 every day.

8).  Taking 25 mcg of Vitamin D every day - which, by the way, comes in the form of a soft chewy chocolate so I consider it my chocolate fix for the day.  (Most days this works, although once and a while I feel the need for a bigger chocolate fix!)

9).  Taking my EstroSense everyday - a herbal blend that includes calcium, green tea extract, indole 3 carbinol (an extract from cruciferous vegetables), sulforaphane (broccoli sprout extract), turmeric (curcumin), milk thistle extract, rosemary extract, and lycopene (tomato extract) - all of which is supposed to do wonderful things for me.

10).  Sneaking veggies into everything!  Especially having veggies ready to snack on around 4 in the afternoon when I suddenly feel at my munchiest.  And trying to get the most "bank for my buck" with veggies in that I'm trying to focus on those veggies that are really crunchy and satisfying to chew.

11).  Eating an apple a day.  Yup, I know it's simple.  But it has really become something I look forward to as an extra treat during the day.

12).  Taking my metamucil once a day ... maybe this TMI, but the thing is, I have struggled with irritable bowel syndrome for most of my life and this really helps.  Also, it's supposed to help lower bad cholesterol so it seems like a good idea to take it.

13).  Wear bright colours every day.  The thing is, I love colours and it cheers me up to wear bright colours.  Maybe this sounds weird to stick this in here on the list of healthy life style choices, but if wearing a bright colour helps me feel better about myself and my day, then I figure it's a very inexpensive, painless way to help myself.

14).  Making myself find something humourous every day about my life.  Seriously (or actually, not seriously!), I sometimes forget to take a light-hearted approach to life and laughter really is great medicine!  So, I'm trying to focus on the funny side of life more often and I'm sure I'll lose weight by exercising those laugh muscles!  As a result, I am finding myself noticing more funny and peculiar things that come across my path during the day and I take great delight in sharing them with my husband so we can both have a  good laugh at the end of the day.  Like this hotel sign and the random weirdness of the picture ....

15).   Eat less, exercise more.  Yup, it really is that simple!

16).  Think about my husband's needs more than my own.  Once again, perhaps an unusual thing to throw on a list about healthy living, but healthy living does include mental health and one of the drawbacks of not having children, is that I can become a bit to self-absorbed sometimes.  It's really good for my mental health to think about someone else's needs.  It also makes it much easier to do my daily tasks (like laundry, house-cleaning,  and washing dishes) with a cheerful attitude when I look at them as ways to help Mr. Magnolia's life become easier, rather than just chores that need to be done.

17).  Okay, I admit it, I'm pretty much stumped at #17.  I can't really think of too many other things - except maybe to repeat the DRINK MORE WATER one since that seems to be one I have to constantly repeat to myself.  Maybe by the time I've lost 50 pounds, I'll have come up with 50 inspiring things to help with my healthier lifestyle.  But for now I guess I'll have to stick with 17 .... unless perhaps, I include one more ...

18).  Take time to celebrate the victories!   Yup, whether it's another pound lost, or another day of positive thinking, I am taking time to celebrate the victories along the way.  I am celebrating the fact that I am feeling stronger and healthier than I have in a long time.  And even though I don't want to get all obsessed with numbers, I am celebrating that there are 27 less pounds now that I have to lose than when I started!  :)