Be a Healthy Living Superhero – No Cape Required

Note: This article first appeared in Cincy Chic, an online publication for which I am the monthly Healthy Living columnist.

When it comes to healthy living, sometimes we think we have to be super-heroes or heroines to make the magic happen. Able to work out daily at 5AM without an alarm clock! Able to resist the donuts and birthday cake on every floor of the office! Able to whip up healthy gourmet meals in the blink of an eye! It’s daunting to think that we may be missing some rare gene or bionic chip that is required to live well.

Yet, in my experience, being a superhero is simply not required. Instead, healthy living is all about stringing together small, intuitive, simple practices that together create a rhythm of vibrancy and vitality that will only make you FEEL like you have super powers.

Healthy living is not about extremes – there’s no need for ironclad willpower or a superhuman metabolism. There is no secret formula. It’s not about no carb or no fat or no red meat. It’s not about marathons and triathalons and insane workouts from infomercials. You don’t have to meditate for an hour a day.

Healthy living is far simpler than that. It’s about knowing yourself. It’s about having clear-minded intention and staying focused on how you want to feel and what you want from life. It’s about eating well, and moving your body. It’s about getting adequate rest and making ongoing adjustments to your lifestyle that continually raise your energy level. It’s about learning to be gentle with yourself as you make changes to the way you live.

I am fortunate to spend my days helping people figure out how to integrate healthy living practices into their lives. I’m no superhero and neither are my clients, but together we are able to transform lives, one small step at a time.

If you’re reading this and wondering where to begin, I would suggest you start by choosing one practice you think you can implement with consistency beginning today. Just one.

  • Eat breakfast.
  • Or spend 10 minutes stretching in the morning.
  • Or upgrade your donut to a bowl of oatmeal.
  • Or get 8 hours of sleep.
  • Or drink one fewer soda each day.
  • Or go for a walk at lunchtime.

You probably have a list much longer than this in mind of healthy habits you could do or should do. But remind yourself that you don’t have to do them all at once. Just pick one thing that you believe with all your heart you can do…and see how doing it makes you feel. When you connect your chosen action with the inevitable result of feeling better, you’ll be far more apt to repeat it, and to find the next action, and then the next. On and on you’ll go until before you know it, your life has been transformed. Choose one thing and commit.

You can do it, Wonder Woman.

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The best spring pasta ever

I’m one of those people who subscribes to cooking magazines, zealously cuts out a jillion things that look good, and then waits for-ev-er before actually making any of them. Usually. But this cover recipe from the April issue of Cooking Light broke me right out of that rut. It kept calling my name from its perch on the coffee table until I gave in and made it a few weeks ago.

It.   Was.   Amazing.

Easy, creamy, healthy, fresh – reminiscent of a pesto sauce but even better. I could have eaten the entire recipe myself. But my husband and those three little people who live with me were pretty enamored with it as well and so I had to share. Sigh.

I made a few substitutions to suit our taste which I’ve included below. If you’d rather try it as written, by all means have at it! But make this. Please. And will you invite me over for dinner when you do?

 

Pappardelle with Swiss Chard, Herbs & Ricotta

with some significant adaptations,  from Cooking Light April 2011

serves 4 (unless you are dining with me!)

 

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) (I used extra wide Amish noodles – no pappardelle at Kroger)
1 tsp. kosher salt (original called for 1 Tbsp – yikes!)
1/3 cup  part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cups Swiss chard leaves, cut to 2″ pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (original called for dill- not my favorite)
3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiana Reggiano (original specified Romano)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain in a colander,  reserving 1 c. of cooking liquid.

2. In a nonstick skillet, saute Swiss chard in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until tender.

3. Combine 1/2 cup reserved hot cooking liquid, chard, and ricotta cheese in a food processor or blender, and process until well blended. (I did this so my kids wouldn’t flip out about big pieces of chard in their pasta – you could leave the chard out to stir in later.)

4. Combine hot pasta, cheese/chard mixture, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Add additional cooking liquid if needed. Serve.

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Get up and move

You heard me. Right now. Wherever you are reading this (okay, NOT if you are in your car – you shouldn’t be doing that anyhow now should you?) just stand up and MOVE something! Stretch your arms. Tilt your head from side to side. Twirl your ankles and wrists. Take a walk down the hall. Get a glass of water. Just move! Then come back and finish reading of course.

Why? Because you need to move frequently throughout your day to stay sharp and focused. Sitting in one place for too long is exhausting. Literally. Sitting constricts the blood flow to some of the largest muscles in your body and that zaps energy. In some offices it’s easy to sit at a desk in the morning and not get up again until lunch. Ugh. It makes me tired just thinking about it! Find reasons to move.

It doesn’t take a lot of activity to boost your mental focus and overall energy level. Just one or two minutes of moving your muscles will be a big help. Add a glass of ice water to the mix for even better results. By 3 or 4PM you may think you need caffeine, but a little movement and a glass of water will do wonders. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, my friends. Now get up and move!

PS – For those of you at home with small children who have been laughing since you read the first line…(“HA! Sit in one place for too long? In my dreams maybe!”) you have a fair point – tuck this away for the  day several years from now when you actually have your bottom in a chair for more than four seconds at a time….but still get that glass of water if you can. Drinking it from your child’s sippy cup still counts.

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