New to Holly Springs NC, I wanted to check out to see what they had for outside activities. I stumbled on to Bass Lake off of Bass Lake rd not to far from downtown Holly Springs.
It was a pretty easy hike that took me around most of the lake. If you go far enough and go into the woods right before it deadends there is one hill otherwise very straight. This lake was very popular, probably part of the reason was it being 63 on new years day. The only downfall was it was short and you have to turn around after a little over a mile. The hike was a little over 2 miles and took me just under an hr to complete. It was very peaceful, couldn’t really here any traffic.
Well, the year is almost coming to a close and it is this time of year that many of us reflect on the past year as well as make resolutions of change for the year to come. 2011 was an exciting year for me. I moved across the country from Minnesota to the beautiful state of North Carolina, bought a new house, started a new job, made some new friends. It was definitely a year of change and growth. I am very proud of what I have accomplished in this past year, but all of this change in my life has definitely caused some stress that has affected some of my healthy living habits. Now is a great time for me to refocus on maintaining my physical and mental wellness.
As I think about what I would like to accomplish in 2012, the list seems so long that I feel as though I will have failed before I have even begun. I want to spend more time excercising and having fun, more time with friends, more time in my studio painting, and less time cleaning my house. I want to have better control over my finances, do better at planning our meals in advance, and lose some weight in the process. I also would like to start a garden, travel to some new destinations, and reduce my carbon footprint.
Wow, I told you it was a long list. It does seem a bit over whelming, but with any such task, I feel that the best strategy is to divide and conquer. This year, instead of making a resolution for the whole year, I think I’ll break them up into monthly resolutions. One thing to focus on per month, slowly developing better overall habits throughout the year. I think I’d better start in January by focusing on simplifying my life, to try to free up some extra time to accomplish all of the other things on my list. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
I was not born with the natural ability to stay organized. My daily routines easily disintegrate into chaos, and I am readily distracted from my tasks. Yet, when things in my life are organized, I feel a great sense of peace and control. On the other hand, I do believe that there is such a thing as being too organized. I don’t want to plan out every minute of everyday and lose the spontenaity that I so adore about myself. So, the art of staying organized is really a balancing act between structure and confusion. This is a balancing act, that we all must do, and we all will do it differently. I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things that I do in my life to help balance order and chaos.
Keep lists:
Lists are the the most vital tool that I have used in my battle against constant disorder. They are so simple, and everyone knows how they work, we all use lists for some aspect of our lives, but it is a habbit that is easy to fall out of because a list is something that can be completed, then disgarded. I’m not suggesting that we track every aspect of our lives with an constant string of lists, but when my world seems to be tumbling into a state of dissarry, I have to take a step back and create a couple of new lists to help get things back on track. A quick shopping list can save you a lot of time at the store. A meal list can save you time in your kitchen. A revolving task list and give you a sense of what large projects you have looming over you. Sometimes on the weekends, I like to start the morning listing all of the things that I want to get done that day – don’t forget to add fun things. This not only helps me organize my day, but it also helps give me a sense of whether I have over comitted my time and need to prioritize and cut some things out. There is nothing more frustrating then getting to the end of your day and realizing that you didn’t have time to accomplish one of your most important tasks. It is also very satisfying to check off items on your list.
Get rid of clutter:
Get rid of clutter. When I am surrounded by clutter, it fills not only the space in my house, but also space in my head. It makes it difficult to accomplish task and to even think clearly. If your house is filled with clutter, it may take a little time to get on top of it, but start with something small like a closet, or the kitchen counter tops. Don’t be afraid to throw things out. If you haven’t used in the past year, chances are you don’t need it. If you have a lot of things that you don’t need anymore, start a pile of things that can go to good will, or have a garage sale.
Make it easy:
There are several tasks that we need to accomplish everyday that seem to consume huge amounts of our time, like cleaning and cooking. When you are doing these tasks, think about ways to streamline the process. Some of the things that I have done to streamline my process is to keep a seperate cleaning supplies in each bathroom, and in the kitchen, that way I don’t need to run across the house to get supplies everytime I want to clean. I also try to streamline my meal process by doing the prep-work for a few meals at one time. Pre-mixing the dry ingredients for pancakes and biscuits can really help save some time also. (See my post on Pancake Mix). I also try to make it easy for me to keep problem areas more organized. A shoe organizer at the top of the coat closet is great for organizing hats and gloves.
All of these things help me keep my life somewhat organized. I don’t follow all of these rules all of the time, but they are a great thing to come back to when things seem to be getting a little out of control. I think that you will find that just little changes can have a huge impact on your state of mind.
Another beautiful day to go hiking, since I have hiked all of umstead off of hwy 40, I decided to head to the other end of the psrk, which is located off of hwy 70 in raleigh. To find this trail I had to go to the last parking lot. Sycamore Trail was a pretty good hike. It took you into the woods where all you could here was the rustling leaves, the birds and insects singing. The trail itself was 7.2 miles and took me a little over 3 hours to complete. It was pretty hilly with tree roots and rocks for a klutz like me to stumble over. I did enjoy walking along side the creek. At one point I walked on the rocks in the middle of the creek bed to get a good picture, hoping that I wouldn’t slip and fall. Even though this was a very long hike and I was kicking myself once again for not bringing water, one day I will learn, I really enjoyed this hike.
Pecans are a great source of protein, fiber, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and antioxidants. They contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals – including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, several B vitamins and zinc. Bottom line is that they are good for you, and you should eat them. Dont get the salty ones from the snack aisle, those are loaded with sodium. If you want your pecans a little crunchier, try toasting them, it really enhances the flavor without any added salt. I love to toast up a bunch and keep them around to throw into salads and on top of pancakes and french toast.
Toasted Pecans are great for salads or as a pancake topping.
Ingredients
- Raw Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Spread your pecans out onto a stainless steel jelly roll pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes, and then gently stir the pecans.
- Bake for another 5 minutes, and then stir again.
- Repeat this process until the pecans are a golden brown color.
- Remove the pecans immediately from the pan or they will continue cooking.
- Cool and eat!
Google Recipe View Microformatting by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://startlivingfit.com/?p=148I am re-posting the pancake mix recipe in a nicer format. enjoy…
This is a basic pancake mix that can be used to make several different types of pancakes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup skim milk
For the Mix
Basic Pancakes
Instructions
- Put the ingredients into a pint sized canning jar in the order listed.
- Put the lid on the jar, and store it until you want to make pancakes.
- Pour the mix into a mixing bowl
- Add egg, milk, and applesauce to the bowl and stir well.
- Heat griddle to medium and spray with cooking spray.
- Pour about 3/4 cup of batter for pancake.
- Cook until slightly brown on the bottom, and then carefully flip over.
- Cook until slightly brown on the bottom
- Serve warm with pure maple syrup, honey, or fresh fruit.
For the Mix
Basic Pancakes
Google Recipe View Microformatting by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://startlivingfit.com/?p=137With the lack of regulation on cosmetics it can be tough to know which products you can trust. So many commercial shampoos and conditioners contain harsh chemicals that damage your hair. This is why I have gone completely away from commercial hair products and taken a more natural approach.
I love washing my hair with a natural shampoo/soap bar. I get mine at the local farmers market, but you can also find natural soaps and shampoos at a natural foods store. Natural soaps don’t strip all of the natural oils out of your hair the way that many of the commercial products do, because of this, I’ve found that I really don’t need to use a daily conditioner. The shampoo bars may run a little more then some of the cheaper shampoos that you find at the discount stores, but In the long run you’ll save money on other products.
As I already stated, I don’t condition my hair daily. I never have a problem combing through it, and it doesn’t seem to get overly dry. Every few weeks I will condition it with a vinegar rinse. It is really easy to do, and very inexpensive. Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 1 part warm water. Shampoo your hair as you normally would. As a final rinse, pour the vinegar mixture onto your hair (careful not to get it in your eyes because it will sting). Don’t rinse the vinegar mixture out of your hair, just squeeze out the excess, towel dry it, and let it finish drying naturally. By the time that it dries, the vinegar smell should be gone, and you are good to go. You’ll notice that the vinegar makes your hair very soft.
I’ve started making my own hair gel also. It is so easy to make a flax seed and aloe gel, and so much cheaper then buying it. to make your own, put about 1/4 cup of flax seeds into a sauce pan and cover with about 1 1/2 cups of water. Boil the seeds until the liquid thickens up quite a bit. Strain the liquid into a bowl and discard the seeds. Add about 1/2 cup of pure aloe vera and wisk the mixture together. That’s it, just put in into a jar or bottle, and you have wonderful hair gel.
Every once in a while I’ll want to give my hair a deep conditioning. A great way to do this is with an avacado conditioner. To make one, scoop out an avocado and through it in a blender with a little milk. Rub the mixture into your wet hair, and carefully comb through it. Wrap a paper grocerie bag around your hair and leave the mixture in for about 1/2 hour. Shampoo your hair as you would normally.
Since I’ve started using natural hair products, my hair seems a lot easier to manage, and much healthier. Give it a try and see what you think.
Crabtree Lake County Park Trail
Sunday morning was beautiful, so I decided to get up and head over to crabtree lake in Morrisville. I pulled into the first parking lot and found the lake trail. I didn’t do any research or grab a map thinking it couldn’t be that bad of trail. It started out very easy, the only thing to worry about was areas of the trail being flooded, I was very glad I wore my boots and decided to roll up my jeans so they didn’t get wet or muddy. I then spent a little more then 1/2 a mile following the road. Having cars fly by and being honked at not very peaceful. After that most of the hike was thru the woods. The trail started off very easy but about mile 3 there were more hills and roots to stumble over. Since I didn’t check to see how long this hike was, after going up and down the hills for awhile I thought I had to be close to the end, only to find out I was halfway done. At least at mile 4 it turned to pavement for awhile. This is where I saw my first wildlife. A couple pointed out 2 deer that were back in the woods, we could barely see them, so taking a picture of them would of been like a where’s Waldo picture. Another half mile and I was back in the woods on narrow path, this part of the path allowed biking, which I met a lot of people biking. At the end of the hike I got a little lost and went on a different trail for a while until I figured out I had gotten off the path. All together the Lake trail was 6 miles and it took me about 2 1/2 hrs to hike. Two things I wish I had on this hike was my sunglasses, which I left at home and water.
Trail through Cox Mountain
Sunday was a beautiful day so I headed over to Cox Mountain at Eno River State Park in Durham. At the beginning of the trail it meets up with Eno trace trail which was down some steep stairs. The only thing I really enjoyed was the river bank otherwise the trail was very narrow and not well marked. I went back up to Cox Mountain trail and followed this trail. It takes you across a suspension bridge and up the mountain, the trail is wide most of the way and in pretty good condition. Half way around trail it interests you with Fanny Ford trail. This trail was very relaxing, it took me thru the forest and along the riverbank. I meet back up with the first trail. After again walking next to the river I started a climb up the hill, which was never ended and reminded me how out of shape I really am. I walked thru the forest for awhile but of course what goes up must come down. The trek down was a lot easier then the trek up. This whole hike was about 5 miles.
Fill at least half of your plate with fruits and vegetables!
I remember learning about the food pyramid when I was young. It was heavily weighted at the bottom with bread, cereal, pasta, and rice. This most likely is what prompted the over-whelming number of starches on the dinning room tables all over America. Things have changed, and there is now a new pyramid that emphasizes fruits and vegetables. The model that I find the most helpful though in illustrating proper proportions is the new food plate icon. If you look at this new model, the fruits and vegetables take up half of the space on your plate. When is the last time that your plate looked like that? I think the new emphasis on Fruits and vegetables is great, they are such an important part of a balanced diet because the provide the most substance for the fewest amount of calories, and they also provide us with so many of the vitamins and nutrients that we need – not to mention the antioxidants!
Even with all of this new found publicity, fruits and veggies still seem to be struggling to find a place in our diets. This is probably mostly due to the fact that so many of us eat on the run. I’ve found that a lot of people that I talk to struggle to get enough servings of fruits and vegetables in there diet. Here are few tips that might help…
- Add fruit to your breakfast. You can eat it on the side or pile berries, peaches, bananas or apples on your cereal, pancakes, or french toast.
- Cut up and wash your vegetables right when you bring them home. This makes them easier to grab as a snack or through onto your plate with dinner.
- Keep lots of whole, easy to eat fruits in the refrigerator. It’s so easy to grab an apple, banana, peach, pear, etc… for a snack.
- Pack your lunch with extra fruits and veggies. Maybe you can curb that mid-morning hunger with a banana, apple, or a few carrots or snap peas, and stay away from the vending machine.
- Eat raw veggies or fresh fruit with dinner. You don’t always have to cook your side dishes. try a bowl of fresh snap peas and a bowl of fresh cut strawberries with your meal.
- Fruit smoothies! This is one of my favorites. When your bananas and other fruits are getting over-ripe and at risk of going bad, throw them in the freezer in a zip-loc bag. Then, when your looking for a healthy snack, throw them in the blender with some milk. Add a little honey if you want it a little sweeter.
Hiking
