Reasonable Newsletter
from Sandra Ahten

Bringing you peace of mind with regards to your diet, life and overall wellbeing.

January 21, 2010 (Volume 7, Issue 1)

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Great information and motivation for your diet and wellness plan --

Musings from your diet coach

Sandra Ahten,
Motivation Expert
Diet, Life, and Wellness Coach

Winter Greetings!

Yes, that really is a picture of me on roller skates. I’m still not actually claiming that I am ever going to skate in a Roller Derby match, but I am training with our new local league. And although at 48, I am the oldest woman on the team I am NOT the slowest or the least graceful. I am totally skating like a grrrrl!

Tonight I’m actually ordering my own skates… so I must at least be semi-serious about it (Though it scares me to say so.) I’ll keep you posted.

Hope you enjoy this addition of the newsletter. If you are feeling pulled in too many directions as you try to stay on track with your New Years resolutions take some time to read the reasonable MOTIVATION article about “Competing Priorities.”

Enjoy the foodie tips and check out the new groups I have forming too!

Warmest regards,
Sandra

p.s. There is a link to a free gift for you too!

Competing priorities

What are your competing priorities?

Name Your Competing Priorities

So many of you are successful in most areas of your life (college, kids, job, spouse, extended family, hobbies, volunteering), but have one area that still plagues you. Perhaps it is your weight.

Why are you successful in these other areas? Because you have directed your resources toward these areas ... but then you have perhaps neglected to use your resources for your wellness goals.

WHAT RESOURCES?
~~ Time
~~ Money
~~ Energy
~~ Thoughts

Does it take resources to lose weight or establish other wellness habits? You bet it does:

It takes time to try new recipes. You spend money on gym memberships. You expend energy in your kitchen, and then there is all that thinking and planning when you are counting calories.

COMPETING PRIORTIES

So all of these very important things in your life have been competing for your resources.

Perhaps you are at a place in your life where you are ready to make weight loss (or some other wellness issue) a priority. That is where I meet most of my clients. They are successful in most areas of their life and believe they are ready to make dieting a priority.

But still they struggle.

Today I want you to reflect on FOUR QUESTIONS so that you can be fully prepared to spend the resources that are necessary for you to be successful at reaching your goals.

1. What are my competing priorities? (Where do I spend most of my time, money, energy, thoughts?)
   
   
2. Do I see how this weight loss (or other wellness goal) is as important as those priorities? Keep in mind that as your new habits are established it will take less of your resources to maintain your momentum. So ask yourself this question also:
   
   
3. At this time of my life am I willing to re-prioritize so that I can gain some momentum with my weight-loss/wellness goal?
   
   
4. If so, what part of my life am I willing to temporarily put on the back burner?

These are not simple questions to answer, and these questions must be reexamined regularly as you go through process of establishing a reasonable diet -- because your life is not a straight line but a journey of twists and turns.

Bear in mind that you can’t squeeze in a goal of any magnitude without your whole life shifting. If you can not give your diet or wellness goal more priority than you have in the past, so that you can get momentum going, then deal in that reality. I don't want to say that you have to accept a scaled down goal, but you will need to adjust your expectations. There is another adage... do what you've always done... you'll get what you've always got. You don't want that, so make an real effort to see where you can, at least temporarily, shift your priorities.

THE GOOD NEWS!!!

The good news is, that if you follow the path and make the effort, your diet will become habit -- and as the habits are formed the actions will take fewer resources.

Even more wonderful is that your resources will actually increase. You will have more energy. More energy will result in more productive time. And you know the old adage. Time is money.

You may spend a lot of “thought resources” getting into the dieting process, but you will soon come to find out that that those “thought resources” are a whole heck of a lot more useful than your current wheel-spinning thoughts of regret and remorse.

I hope you’ll allow me to be part of your journey and that together we will witness 2010 being your best year ever.

Warmest Regards,
Sandra

Affirmation CD/MP3

May All Be Well
Affirmation Recording.

Please accept this affirmation CD as a gift from me. Listen at your computer or better yet download my affirmation recording May All Be Well.

I made this as a gift for my listeners as I celebrated my 100th Six Minutes of Sanity Podcast. You don’t have to be podcast savvy to take advantage of it. Simply “right click” on the little pod and “save link as” to your desktop and then use your computers software to burn a lovely CD.

Try starting and ending your day, as I do with the soft words of encouragement. Try it and enjoy a refreshing dimension of peace and joy about your body.

Try fresh ginger

Ginger 101

An easy way to peel fresh ginger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-boCCGtwggk

Ginger in the kitchen:
(Courtesy of “The World’s Healthiest Foods” website at www.whfoods.org)

• Turn up the heat while cooling off by making ginger lemonade. Simply combine freshly grated ginger, lemon juice, cane juice or honey and water.
• Add extra inspiration to your rice side dishes by sprinkling grated ginger, sesame seeds and nori strips on top.
• Combine ginger, tamari, olive oil and garlic to make a wonderful salad dressing.
• Add ginger and orange juice to puréed sweet potatoes.
• Add grated ginger to your favorite stuffing for baked apples.

Spice up your healthy sautéed vegetables by adding freshly minced ginger.

Carrots with Ginger and Garlic

Carrots with Ginger and Garlic

Original recipe from All You magazine.

• 1.5 pounds carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or other oil
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 1 2-inch piece chopped or grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon sugar, honey or other sweetner

1. Slice carrots diagonally, about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add salt and bring to boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook until almost tender, about 3 minutes.
4. Drain and rinse carrots under cold running water.
5. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped garlic clove and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. Add 1 chopped 2 inch piece fresh ginger and cook 2 minutes longer.
7. Add carrots and 1 teaspoon water.
8. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ready in: 20 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 126.2 calories; 42% calories from fat; 6.2g total fat; 15.3mg cholesterol; 409.0mg sodium; 551.2mg potassium; 17.7g carbohydrates; 4.8g fiber; 8.8g sugar; 1.7g protein.

TIP
Make it a meal: Stir in a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed and serve with brown rice.

reasonableFOOD

Favorite bottled salad dressing

Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing

This is my favorite bottled salad dressing. I also use it as a “marinade” when I roast vegetables.

reasonableSUPPORT

Last chance for free month

LAST CHANCE for free Partner Program

This is your last chance to participate in the Reasonable Diet partnership program at no cost. I hope you’ll join me. FREE!

The regular $47 / month plus $47 joining fee will resume on February 1, 2010.

I’m looking forward to helping you achieve weight loss and peace of mind.

All the details are here.

reasonableREADING

A blog worth reading

You think you’ve got priorities that compete with your diet and wellness goals? You’ll be thankful for your own competing priorities when you read Rebecca’s account of her year battling sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect almost any organ in the body. It causes heightened immunity, which means that a person’s immune system, which normally protects the body from infection and disease, overreacts, resulting in damage to the body’s own tissues.

Rebecca is a talented writer, with amazing self-insight and if you have time I would suggest reading the whole thing. If you want to save a couple of minutes start about 8 paragraphs down where it starts ...

… My year began like a New Year’s resolution run amok …

READ MORE HERE