Category: Health and Fitness
Challenge: Eat an organic breakfast
Sponsor: Stonyfield Farm
Action: My remake on blueberry muffins: organic flour, egg whites, stonyfield yogurt (vanilla) & lots of blueberries as the star of my show. YUMMY
Nova's Thoughts:
I am constantly playing with recipes to make them healthier. There are many reasons behind my doing so (health & fitness is important to my family and my son is a picky eater). But ultimately, it's because I LOVE to cook! I am passionate about cooking and discovered I'm pretty good at it too.
In trying to settle into be domesticated, I started cooking after I got married almost 12 years ago. I baked and cooked according to family recipes, cook books, and TV shows. After giving birth to our son, the weight gain didn't come off so easily. Also In 2004, we found out that my mother's health was worsening. She had diabetes at a young age and it was now affecting her blood pressure. Even her kidneys were in renal failure. Some of the complications my mom experienced could have been controlled or even avoided through changes in nutrition and exercise.
In January 2008, my husband started working out. And although I didn't join him, I began modifying how I cooked for our family. One day while I was cooking, trying to remake a healthier breakfast omelet, it dawned on me that life is about choices. I was choosing to make something healthy. And at the rate I was going, my health could potentially take the same path as my mom's health took. So I became determined to make some changes. I jumped on our treadmill, and I began to lose weight. After some weeks of treadmill workouts, something inside of me said, "see if you can run." I hadn't run since high school but I thought, why not? So I gave it a shot, but I couldn't run a quarter mile without it hurting. My breathing was off and it just flat out hurt. But I was determined to run again. So in the weeks to come I found myself working towards running a mile without stopping. After a couple of weeks, I did it! I ran a full mile without stopping! I was so excited that I accomplished what I set out to do.
So fast forward to present time 2010: I've lost 35 pounds, and my husband and I have kept our weight off. I am now training to run a marathon in 2011. Never in my dreams did I think I'd be training to run a marathon. My mom moved in with us this year and it was a delight to show her how I could prepare healthy food that tastes great-even my picky eater will eat (he especially loves the muffins I make). Unfortunately, my mom passed away on September 3, 2010 and I will dedicate the marathon I run to her.
In the last year I got involved with a non-profit running group where I help mentor others through the ups & downs as they begin to learn how to run. I hope that I can inspire them to cook healthier, too. I am so thankful that I realized I have a choice. And if life is about the choices I make, then I choose to be healthy for me and my family.
The attached picture is of my mom & me at a 5K race this year. I got to push her in her wheelchair.
Nova, this is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing!
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