8 Weeks To Optimum Health – Back on the Wagon

I suppose it’s time to dust off The Book and get back into the swing of things.  I’ve completed half of the program.  If you have any interest in Weeks One through Four, all of my posts are in the Health and Wellness category link on my sidebar.

Today I begin Week Five.

I usually post my progress in recaps, but since it’s been a while, and because I have at least one faithful reader playing along with me, I think I will post the goals for this week along with my menu plan.

1) Locate a steam bath or sauna that you can use.  Use it for up to 20 minutes one day.  YAY!  I’m looking forward to this.  Although I don’t know where to go.  I guess the YMCA has one, right?

2) Buy a piece of fresh gingerroot and make yourself some ginger tea.  Also try some crystallized ginger to see if you like it.  The recipes he provides using crystallized ginger sound pretty icky to me.  BUT.  My dear aunt in Maine, known around these here parts as Midlife Mom, gave me a couple of Barefoot Contessa cookbooks that she doesn’t want anymore (can you IMAGINE??)  In Barefoot Contessa At Home (a fabulous cookbook, by the way, full of great recipes as well as secrets for making guests feel welcome and comfortable in your home and photographs of her dishes and her gorgeous home), Ms. Garten has a recipe for the "ultimate ginger cookie" with crystallized ginger. 

Now yall KNOW that there is nothing, NOTHING I lurv more than a cookie.  So I do believe I will give this recipe a try.  As far as the ginger tea is concerned, well, if you’ve been around a while, you know that I detest tea.  So I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t read that part.

I will also use Dr. Weil’s stir fry recipe this week, and it has ginger root in it, as well as garlic, which is another ingredient I am supposed to be incorporating into my diet.

3) Be certain that you are consuming sufficient calcium every day.  I suggest women supplement with 500-700 milligrams of calcium citrate in divided doses with meals.  I need to check how much calcium my multivitamins contain.  I do have some calcium citrate on my windowsill in the kitchen, but I often forget to take it.  Since I don’t drink milk, I really need to pay more attention to my calcium intake.

4) Increase your aerobic walk to thirty minutes, five days of the week.  After a two-week break, I resumed my walking regimen this morning.  And did it feel GOOD!  It was hard to get up in the dark, but I’m so glad I did.  We walked 40 minutes at a fast pace.  My walking partner wants to reduce our walking to three days a week, so I need to find time to walk by myself or with Husband the other two days.

5) Extend your news fast to three days this week.  Easy peasy!  I rarely watch the news.   

6) Practice daily the breathing exercises you have learned, and add the Stimulating Breath procedure.   These breathing exercises are interesting.  I have never done breathing exercises before.  I really like the one from Week Four, the Relaxing Breath.  I’m going to give this Stimulating Breath a try.  You can find a description of each of the breathing exercises here.

7) Listen to a piece of music that you find inspirational and uplifting.  Okay.  Interesting.  I live by my iPod, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Bring more flowers into your home this week.  Given my new "no frivolous spending" resolve, I don’t think I can justify this indulgence, and my rose bushes aren’t giving me much to work with at the moment.  But I do agree that having fresh flowers around does wonders for my state of mind.

9) Optional: Try a one-day "fruit fast", eating as much fresh fruit as you like but nothing else except water and herbal tea.  Take vitamin C but skip the other supplements on this day.  I’m not sure if I can do this.  I should.  It would help take off those extra vacation pounds.  But it is pretty unrealistic for a mom with a family of five.  I’ll let you know what I decide to do about this one.

I haven’t yet read the commentary section, where Dr. Weil expounds on these assignments.  I’ll try to get to that later today.

As far as my menu plan is concerned, I am incorporating the assignments from previous weeks, which I assume is the goal here.

Breakfasts — Thomas’ Whole Grain English Muffins or oatmeal.

Lunches — At least two salad lunches this week.  Tuna salad on whole grain bread once this week.

Snacks – Chocolate covered soybeans (YUM!), whole grain goldfish crackers, Activa yogurt, apples, berries, peanut butter filled pretzels from TJ’s, Ina’s ginger snaps.

Dinners –

MONDAY — Grilled chicken marinated in Italian salad dressing, brown rice, steamed fresh broccoli with garlic.

TUESDAY — Grilled wild salmon fillets, brown rice, roasted asparagus.

WEDNESDAY — Turkey Lasagna (my son’s request) and salad.

THURSDAY — Chicken and vegetable stir fry with Dr. Weil’s sauce, brown rice.

FRIDAY — Homemade pizza on whole wheat crust with cheeses, spinach, and chicken.

SATURDAY — Leftovers.

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