Is sauerkraut my new miracle food?

When it comes to how I eat, there are a few holdovers from my childhood in New York. When kids here were eating hot dogs with chili and coleslaw, I was eating them with sauerkraut and mustard. I eventually adjusted to the southern way, but I still like sauerkraut a lot. I don't buy it that often because for a long time I was the only one in the house who ate it. After my experience this week, I may keep a jar or two in the fridge all the time.

From time to time, I wake up with my stomach burning. Usually I drink ginger ale, which eases it a little but not much. Last week, I had this problem again and I happened to have a jar of sauerkraut in the fridge. Lunch was to be hot dogs and sauerkraut, so that's what I ate. The next day I had the same thing again for lunch. It didn't hit me until the third day that my stomach burning was gone. Last night it came back, so I had some sauerkraut again today to see if it helps again.

I've been reading about the Paleo way of eating, and one of the things mentioned in the book Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle is that fermented foods like sauerkraut are good for stomach health. I'm not ready to embrace the entire Paleo lifestyle, but I think I can manage eating a little sauerkraut every day if it will save me some misery.

Trying the 5K walking plan again

During the spring of 2011 I wrote a post about starting the 5K Your Way walking plan on the Sparkpeople website. I didn't post again because I didn't stick to it. Last year I tried it again and didn't make it past the second week of the five-week plan. Today I started over for the third time.

The focus of the program alternates between time and distance. The first day you walk for 15 minutes, the second day you walk one mile, the third day you walk 1.5 miles, the fourth day you walk 25 minutes, and so on. The first few sessions will be a piece of cake because I've already been walking at that level for a while. Where I have run into problems the last two times I tried this plan was when I had to walk any further than 1.5 miles. I can walk for about 40 minutes but I really start slowing down after 20 minutes. That means it takes me 60 minutes or longer to walk two miles. The last two times I ended up quitting before I had to do the two-mile walk because I don't want to spend an hour on the treadmill or walking around my neighborhood.

If I already know I can't stick to the plan, then why am I trying it again? Well, I'm hoping that my ultimate goal will encourage me. ABM and I will be taking a vacation in September and he has promised me that he would do a walking tour with me. Usually he goes for activities like para-sailing while I sit in a lounge chair reading. To get him to walk around a city and visit museums and such with me will be a real treat, so I want to make sure I can handle it. Most of the tours I've seen involve being on your feet for two hours and walking about two miles. For that I will definitely need stamina and it is worth it to me to give this walking plan one more shot.

Natural hair hitting the mainstream is good for the budget-minded

I've been trying to rock my natural hair off and on since the mid-1980s. The biggest issue I faced in the early days was finding products that worked for natural hair, so I would always end up going back to natural hair in frustration. Then about five years ago, with the growth of natural hair communities online, I started learning about product lines that people were starting on a shoestring with all-natural ingredients. Unfortunately for me, they were not available in my local stores and the cost was prohibitive. Spending $50 for a styling product is too much for me, especially if it is meant to be slathered onto my hair with abandon. I also don't want to risk spending that much on a product only to find that it doesn't work for me.

Lately, I have noticed that products for natural hair are becoming more accessible. Target seemed to be at the forefront of this. Miss Jessie's and Jane Carter, two "boutique" brands that were only available to me online before, are now available at Target and in sizes that make it more affordable to try. I would much rather spend $9 on the 2 oz. size than $50 on the 16 oz size if I am trying it for the first time.

Product lines aimed specifically at natural hair are showing up in other chains, too. I've seen ads for lines at Walgreens, CVS, and Target. Some of these are add-ons to lines from big cosmetics companies. Organic Root Stimulator has Curls Unleashed. L'Oreal has Evercurl from L'Oreal Paris and Au Naturale from their ethnic Dark and Lovely brand. All of these lines have products in the $7 to $10 range. Depending on the company, there may not be any black women pictured in the advertising but the ad copy uses many of the natural-hair community code words like "sulfate-free" and "curl definition".

I have never been a product junkie. When I was younger, most of the products for black-girl hair were basically some form of grease and I couldn't stand the feeling of it on my hand or on my relaxed hair. I've gotten over that, but now I rebel against putting too much product in my hair because it has been so costly. Many of the styling techniques that I have marked off as "not for me" may not have worked because I didn't put as much gel or curl-defining cream in my hair as other women do. I'm anxious to try some of these new products now that I can run down the street to get them and not break the bank.

Does the universe want me to get some sleep?

I am starting to believe that it is dangerous for me to think about getting up early. Yesterday I was in a Facebook conversation about about getting up early to exercise, and that put the thought out in the universe. Everything went downhill from there.

Lately I've gotten in the habit of watching TV until midnight or 1a with ABM, then playing on my iPad, then playing on my iPhone until I am super drowsy. Last night ABM fell asleep at 11:30p. Next my iPad decided to act up, so I turned it off. When I grabbed my phone, I found that my daughter had drained the battery without telling me. So I had no choice but to go to sleep. Then I woke up this morning at 5:30a, which is crazy-early for me.

This is not the first time this has happened to me. It seems that if I formulate the thought that I should get up to exercise or do something productive, the universe conspires against me to make it happen. Of course, waking up early doesn't always mean that I do anything worthwhile. I am typing this at 2:30p, and all I've managed to do is get dressed and drink coffee. I haven't even eaten yet. I did unfold the treadmill when I went down to get the coffee, hoping it will be easier to convince myself to exercise since the furniture has already been moved. Maybe tomorrow I can do a little better.

Update on the butternut squash

Remember when I made butternut squash soup on Sunday and said it was so bad that we poured it down the drain? Well, it turns out that wasn't the entire truth. I thought that everyone hated it. It turns out that C1 liked it and she held some back for herself. She had tasted a soup made from butternut squash and pumpkin when we were on our last cruise and really liked it. I didn't remember this because we let the kids sit at their own table and order for themselves when we are on a cruise.

Another development:  a couple days after the soup flop, ABM turned to "Iron Chef America" and was rather interested in what they were doing with the different varieties of squash. Judging from the actions of at least two of my family members, I may be trying butternut squash again, after all.