Happy Saturday! Around here it is cool and gloomy. I am loving it because it means we still have at least a few days of winter left before things heat up.
I had a day full of fitness planned and started it off by sleeping too late to make it to the gym for spinning! Oh well, the rain has come now and I wasn’t feeling up to a walk through it anyway. However, I do need to get back into spinning or some other cardio to balance out my running. I’m really craving some cross-training.
Today I also wanted to mention that, if you haven’t noticed, my posts are swaying much more towards the Brazilian side of things lately. I have a feeling this is going to be a theme for the next couple months. We move back to the US in October and I am feeling the need to try out many of the recipes I’ve had on my list here and keep putting off. The time is now or never, it seems.
So if you enjoy that cultural side of things, stay tuned! The blog is going to be evolving A LOT this last half of the year. As I move from Brazil, to our trip in SE Asia and back to settling into a makeshift US kitchen and then perhaps a permanent one a few months later if we found a house, things are sure to be interesting!
Here are a few of my favorite things from the week. I hope you enjoy your weekend!
Food o’ del Mundo posted a tasty Curried Rice Salad this week. I love the use of dried cranberries. I never have been able to get into raisins, but the cranberries I like.
A Life Less Sweet posted one great pie this week with Fantasma Pizza. Cathy participates in Meatless Mondays and this is a recreation of one her favorite pizzas from a local restaurant. I’ll be trying it soon!
Not Derby Pie put a refreshing spin on a tart and tangy dessert with her Cherry Pistachio Crisp. It looks wonderful and I never would have thought of adding pistachio nuts to a crisp dessert. Yum!
Tossing Out the Diet and Embracing the Fat was an article from the NY Times this week. I enjoyed the fact that they included Steven Blair’s research. I’ve heard him speak several times and I enjoy learning about his findings. He is a major researcher in the whole “fit and fat” philosophy.
My personal opinion is that health is about fitness, not weight. It should be about how you feel. If you truly feel great, then that may be the best weight for you. At the same time though, I don’t believe in using that as an excuse. If you say you feel great yet you are overweight, get no exercise and eat fast food five times a week, well, I don’t think you are being honest with yourself.
Eat right, exercise and strive to be at a weight where you feel vibrant and energized! If that is 15 pounds more than what tables and charts tell us it should, so be it.
Photo of a sunset on the island of St. Lucia, 2007
Thanks for the plug! I’m envious of your travel schedule and am looking forward to your Brazilian recipes!
enjoy your last too months love the last statement lol
I love hearing about brazil and the food there so I am excited. That Cherry Pistachio Crisp sounds freaking awesome
Thanks for those usuful links! Have a great Sunday!
Love the sunset picture!
I need to start to live healthier 🙂
It’s great that you can make the most of the rest of your time there. Thanks for the great healthy links.
Couldn’t agree more with your thoughts on fat & fitness. It can be easy to get caught up with what other people say you should or shouldn’t weigh and common sense doesn’t seem to get applied as often as it should.
What is winter typically like in brazil? How cold does it get?
foododelmundo – No problem. Loved the recipe!
Chow and Chatter – Thanks! I’ll do my best. 🙂
Erica – Thanks! I’m glad to hear that. Doesn’t it sound great!?
Sophie – Your welcome. You too!
Selba – Thanks. It is one of my favorites.
Deb – You are welcome!
Daily Spud – Definitely agree. Honesty and commone sense go a long way.
Alison – It depends on where you are in the country. Here we have a couple months that are much like autumn in somplace like KY. Sunny and 70s or gloomy with rain and cool enough for a lightweight jacket like in the high 40s to 50s at night. In Curitiba, it can get down to freezing, but there are no heating systems! Sao Paulo has felt much like Curitiba, but I’ve only been there a couple times in the winter and that was for a flight. Other than that I figure as you get closer the equator the warmer it is, but I haven’t been to the north.
Hope your having a great and healthy weekend! I’m off to check out the links – the pizza one sounds interesting!
I definitely agree with the mentality that when you truly feel great you are where you should be health-wise.
I’m excited to read your book review post you have planned that you tweeted about!
LOVED this post! I definitely agree, too, that health is NOT equal weight! You can be of a coveted low weight, but NOt be really fit at all!
And LOVING the Brazilian theme! keep them coming! It’s such a breathe of fresh air!
Alright, the weekend’s over but I’m still enjoying these links, particularly the NYTimes article. I wholeheartedly agree with your point: that being obsessive about weight rather than health is itself unhealthy (I learned this the hard way).
I am so looking forward to reading about all the exciting experiences that are coming up for you!