Ten Thousand Steps of Pure Health

Pot of Scotch Bonnet Peppers with California medley veggies

This Christmas season fuels my desire to continue eating well. Not that I had any choice in the matter. My body rebelled and decided to reject everything man-made that comes boxed, canned, packaged, and otherwise assembled in a way that Mother Nature never intended.

Hence I cut off a lot of carbs from my diet. An example is this Christmas meal that my daughter and I prepared in her new home. It was so simple and so healthy that I thank my body daily for speaking to me and for demanding that I yield not to the food pressure of the seasons: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and any other occasion where we indulge according to societal pressures and dictates rather than eating according to the health benefits of food.

Black-eyed peas, mashed sweet potatoes, Jasmine rice

topped with chicken stew, and roasted broccoli and 

carrots

As Cassie and I cooked (and as if planned), the PBS (Public Broadcasting Station) food documentary “In Defense of Food,” played in the background and seemed to validate what we were cooking: fresh and healthy food.

With my body seeming to control everything I do lately, it has become necessary to listen to it and to push it to its utmost. Therefore, I have taken to walking ten thousands steps or more daily. I used to tell my doctor of the aerobics and my “weapons of mass destruction” (see my blog of October 22, 2017). She seemed unimpressed. When I mentioned that I walked for 30 minutes, she was elated. Well, if a mere 30-minute walk can impress my doctor and save me from whatever disease she knows I am preventing without me being aware of it, then, by golly, I will walk for four or five times that length.

Before school vacated for the Christmas holiday, I averaged 3,000 steps a day; pitiful and sedentary. Here is a breakdown of my walking since last week (even as chocolate attempted to sabotage my efforts).

December 16, 2017:  5,415 steps

December 17: (stranded at Hobby Airport in Houston due to the power outage in Atlanta Hartsfield): 7,229

Bowl of pepper salad (diced bell peppers and cucumber) with vinaigrette dressing

December 18: Not much physical activity; finally got on the plane: 3, 019

December 19: 12,552

December 20: 11,206

December 21: 16,676 (I was worn out!)

December 22: 10,756

December 23: 13,508

December 24, 13,856

December 25: 3,521

December 26, 13,558

December 27: only 3, 859 (It is too cold to go walking.)

December 28: Looking forward to it even as the forecast indicates only a high of 42°.

Monopoly glasses to drink out of as we play the game.

--Frances Ohanenye maintains this unusual site. Click on the "Open Source Cooking" tab for enlightening information. Thanks for visiting. Have a fruitful day!