Do you ever stand in line at the supermarket and read the headlines of the magazines sold there? It can make your head spin! Love your body! Improve your body! Love your cellulite! Get rid of your cellulite! Love your stomach! Flatten your stomach! And that is just one magazine cover! It is no wonder that women end up with serious self image problems. I grew up in the time before the internet and 10000 tv stations. Even then I found myself trying to compare my body to the images in magazines, the actresses on Charlie’s Angels and with the females around me. I always came up short, in my mind. I thought my thighs were too fat, my arms too flabby and my hair too mousy. I spent hours that I will never get back worrying about how I compared and it was never good enough. Now I look back at pictures of me and realize I looked fine and find myself wishing I could get into that pant size again and have no wrinkles on my face.
WHOA!! Back up! Now I am comparing myself to myself and still coming up short!
How do we stop this? I started writing this blog in the hopes of providing some support to you in our ongoing journey of living a healthy and rewarding life. Too often we beat ourselves and each other up because we do not measure up to an unrealistic goal that some media mogul has advertised. We are too fast to criticize. I admit that in the 20 years I spent working in restaurants I was guilty of seeing someone order a pepperoni pizza, a side of fries and a diet coke and I would think to myself, “perhaps a salad and a glass of water would be a better choice.” How arrogant of me! I knew nothing of their story and yet I tried to pass judgement.
When did being kind to ourselves and others become so hard? It is tough to be a woman when there are so many mixed messages thrown at us. It is difficult to tune it all out and find our own path. 49 years and I am still a work in progress! I am my own work, though, not anyone else’s. I alone know what is best for me. If I am not happy with my weight, my looks, my job, my eating habits, etc. then it is up to me to decide to make a change. I hope to live many more years with a high quality of life and I have taken steps that I think will make that happen. No more looking backwards and wishing my life away. And when I see another woman, I look for something I can compliment her about. It makes me feel so much better to tell someone how great they look in the color they have on or that their haircut looks great on them than to silently pass judgement on their lifestyle that I know nothing about.
In conclusion, I hope we can all find the happy place where we are comfortable in our own skins. My place is accepting I am healthy, strong, loved and in love. All that with cellulite all over my thighs!
Another thing I am is vegetarian. I know, you already knew that, but with Thanksgiving coming up I need to come up with something for my husband and I to have for dinner. This recipe is perfect! Easy, delicious and the perfect accompaniment for mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberries and vegetables. It uses tempeh. 
Tempeh is made from soybeans, like tofu, but is much less processed. The whole bean is preserved in the finished product and it resembles a thin, firm rectangular patty, rather than the mushy tofu cake. Tempeh must be cooked in some way before eating. You can slice it, crumble it, and even grate it. Soyboy Tempeh is made right here in Rochester and is organic and GMO free (always important when using anything made with soy) and is available at Wegmans.
Almond Crusted Tempeh Patties
adapted from Keepin’ It Kind
Serves 2
Ingredients:
8 oz package of tempeh, sliced in half horizontally and then cut into triangles (will end up with 4 triangles)
1/4 c veggie broth
1/4 c amino acids or low salt soy sauce or tamari sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 cup toasted, chopped almonds (a cross between small bits and ground. Best done in food processor)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup cornstarch
Directions:
