I managed to catch a cold while in Florida. The good thing is that I was in Florida, didn’t have to work, got to lie about and relax, lie in the sun, and eat fresh-picked citrus! So I was only sick for about 3-4 days. It goes to show you, when you really take care of yourself you don’t stay sick long! Ron caught my cold and is going through it now. We’re using neti-pots, nasal sprays, elderberry, echinacea/goldenseal throat, spray, and zinc. I’m going to keep up the immune boosters and the cleaning the whole season! 

It’s a great time for those New Year’s Resolutions, but don’t feel like you have to do everything all at once. For example, if you want to lose weight, a good rule of thumb is to plan to lose 10% of your body weight in 7 months. If you give yourself that timespan, you’re more likely to make lasting changes and keep it off!  There are numerous top 10 resolution lists available, but some of them are: change your diet/eating habits, exercise more, lose weight, take control of your finances, tidy up the house. Don’t overwhelm yourself! A great thing to do is to take some time to take an inventory of your life and write down what you’d like to change. You can review it weekly, or as you’d like, and do small bits of each item as you have time. Trying to tackle everything at once or when you’re tired usually results in frustration, and people giving up on resolutions by February! A great one to start with: Be good to yourself. Really, you’re doing fine!

We reviewed a couple of the new vegetarian burgers again. We looked at the Impossible Burger, which is being sold at a number of fast food establishments. Well, if you really want to eat a meat substitute, you might try it, but it has oils that concern me, like sunflower oil and refined coconut oil that winds up getting heated and hydrogenated, more carbs and salt than a beef burger. If you want a meat-like treat once in a while, it might be fine, but it’s much better to eat the ingredients separately and without added sugar, dextrose, yeast extract, and high sodium. They Beyond Burger is made from pea protein, which I like, but again has refined coconut oil and canola oil, which may present some hydrogenation issues. In the end, have it occasionally and saute the ingredients in real virgin coconut oil or olive oil most of the time!