Sunday, January 3, 2010

New Year's Resolution - Eat Less, Walk More


Walk along with our Erickson-Bisch shadows as we chat about our New Year's Resolution to eat less, walk more. Drop in on a short segment of our conversation as we walk 3.5 miles through King Estate's vineyard on a beautiful, crisp January 3, 2010 afternoon. Wait for the winery to come into view.






If you don't own a pedometer, I highly recommend you get one and start walking with us. Read the stickK Experts Word on Getting from Resolution to Real Change and visit Wonders of Walking for inspiration. I took a 12-week contract out on myself last year with stickK to exercise/walk 3 or more times a week. My daughter was my referee. If I didn't met my weekly goals, I set up my contract commitment to send money from my checking account to a non-profit I did not want to support... if I failed. Worked like a charm; I met every goal for 12 weeks. I just renewed my commitment for 2010.

A note about weight control: While at the used bookstore the other day, I picked up a 10-year old booklet Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar, which happened to be sitting on top of a pile of books I was passing by between bookshelves. An odd coincidence, as earlier in the week I was thinking about adding cider vinegar to my daily regime to aid digestion and weight control.

The recommendation is to drink a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of warm water before each meal to melt away excess pounds. The author Earl L. Mindell claims that it works, although no one really knows why. He suggests that it either (1) really does burn calories, (2) takes the edge off of the appetite or (3) just fills the stomach. No matter what the science proves to be, the effect is the same - weight loss. I'm willing to give it a try, besides, apple cider is known to have many curative benefits to our health... to numerous to mention here, but there are many publications and online resources out there dedicated to the subject of apple cider vinegar.


If you are thinking about adding another cookbook to your library, I recommend The Sustainable Kitchen published in 2004 by Stu Stein, Mary Hinds and Judith H. Dern to share their passionate cooking inspired by local and regional farms, forests and oceans. At one time, Stu Stein was the executive chef at King Estate Winery.

5 comments:

  1. I love your candid video and the honesty of your New Year's resolutions. It's going to be a great year on soooo many levels! Congratulations on starting it off right with a beautiful walk to King Estate!

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  2. Yes, it is! We are blessed in the Willamette Valley to have so many beautiful, lush, green places to walk and hike. Here's a stickK goal for me/us: hike to the top of Mt. Pisgah this summer... http://mountpisgaharboretum.org/.

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  3. Truly a wonderful day...beatiful views, and a great walk together. There are many routes thru the vineyards to explore.

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  4. My mother-in-law swears by cider vinegar (the good cloudy stuff with the "mother" in it). She drinks vinegar/honey tea every day, and we also drink it in our household when we are feeling less than optimal. We also have a book about its many wonders.

    Another good essential food is honey, which we also eat a spoonful of every day.

    On the "eating less" topic, one method I employ at home is that I serve myself on a salad plate rather than a dinner plate. The plate is full and I'm still satisfied. I heard about this from a book titled "Why French women don't get fat..." or something like that. The explanation was that French women eat a few bites of something and enjoy the flavor and sensation, and then are done.

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  5. Thanks for your post, L.O.! Yes, I've read that is much more beneficial to drink apple cider vinegar with the mother in it. A good brand is BRAGG.

    We buy our honey from local apiaries. One apiary sells us poison oak honey that not only builds up one's immunity to the plant, but it also helps reduce inflammation from arthritis.

    I have the audio of "Why French Women...". I love it! Thanks for the reminder about smaller plates. My husband now sets the table for us with our 9-inch dinner plates instead of our 11-inch chop plates, thanks to you!

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