Protien, How Much Is Enough?

PROTEIN -  how much do we actually need? It seems like the new hot topic for us middle aged, and beyond girlies.  Getting more protein to build and maintain muscle mass. As we age we need more protein to be fit in general, and it plays an important role in keeping us healthy. And of course, none of us want our skin hanging off our bones!  And if you're trying to lose weight, (hello 10 lbs. of grief weight), protein can help.  At least I'm hoping!

Popular opinion from experts in the menopause community and various health organizations vary, with the gap between 50 - 100 grams a day.  So, what's a girl do?

Try this free calculator, just enter your stats and it will give you your range. You can also go to my bestie, Chat GPT, and get a more specific number.  Chat GPT told me100 grams per day.  Then I joined an online fitness program and the coach really analyzed my stats, (fat and all 😝).  I've never taken pictures of my fat spots for anyone before.  It was traumatic.  They may be on the dark web by now, I see blackmail in my future lol.  Anyway, her number for me is 104 grams.  We are all unique, so it helps to figure out how much works for you. 104 grams of protein per day may sound like a lot but it's really not and you can keep track until you get the hang of it with any food app. I like My Fitness Pal. (it's free), you log your food and then if you scroll down there is a tab for nutrition at the bottom and you can track your protein intake, along with everything else.  Very helpful when you're trying to lose 10 lbs. of stubborn grief fat.  

https://www.calculator.net/protein-calculator.html

I'm finding that if I incorporate a good protein along with a salad or vegetable and/or fruit at each meal and snack, I can get 104 grams.  Here are some of my go to healthy options that will give you 15 - 25 grams of protein...

BASICS

• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt - 15-20 grams depending on the brand. I use Trader Joe's nonfat plain which gives me 17 grams in 3/4.  I add almonds, 1 tbs adds 3 more grams which make it an even 20 grams of protein.

• 1 scoops of protein powder.  I'm currently using Truvana, it's 20 grams of protein per scoop in my morning shake.

• I also add collagen to my shake.  I'm currently using Anthonys Collagen Peptide powder which gives me 17 grams of protein in 2 tbs.  I also add a handful of fresh spinach to my shake as well for about 1-2 grams of additional protein and then 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk for 1 gram.  

• This is my breakfast and mid-morning snack so by lunch time I've already had about 60 of my 104 grams.  If I have my yummy salad (recipe below) for lunch or dinner that makes the 104 grams. Easy Peezy.

• Lunch and Dinner are both some form of protein and salad/veggies.  Below are some basic healthy protein options I like and my favorite salad recipe.  I make the salad on Sundays and have it ready for the week.  It's great as is, and some days I add chicken breast and spinach.

• 2 ounces of chicken = 15 grams of protein 
• 2 ounces of salmon = 14 grams 
• 1 cup of garbanzo beans = 20 grams
• 1 cup off tofu = 20 grams
• 1 can of tuna, solid white in water = 26 grams
• 1 cup cottage cheese = 28 grams
• 1/4 cup pistachio nuts = 6 grams
• 1 medium avocado = 4 grams
• 1 egg = 6 grams
• cheese - all cheese has protein, parmesan has the highest protein content with 15 grams per ounce

Make a list of the food you like to eat and research the packages or google them for their protein count.  Then it's easy to plan your days around your protein number.

MY HIGH PROTEIN MEDITERRANEAN SALAD 

This salad has two-star ingredients, the garbanzo beans with 20 grams of protein per can, and the feta cheese with 20 grams of protein per cup. Use measurements according to your taste, if you love olives add more, if you love onions add more, etc...And you can double it for left overs because the longer it's in the fridge the better it gets.

2 can of garbanzo beans (AKA chick peas)

1-2 cucumber chopped in small pieces, I like using the small Persian cucumbers for this salad

A handful of small colorful tomatoes, if they are cheery tomatoes I cut them in half

A few green garlic stuffed olives sliced in half 

A bunch of black kalamata olives (no pits)

1/4 cup red onion diced small (again according to how much you like onion or leave it out if you don't)

Crumbled Feta, I love feta so I use 1/2 cup

DRESSING

Experiment with this, taste as you go, these measurements are if you like it zesty

• 1/4 cup with olive oil 
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 
• 1/8 - 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• about 1 tbs Dijon mustard, more or less depending, on how sharp you like your dressings
• lemon juice, I use about half a lemon 
• Put it all in a glass jar and shake it up, then pour it on the salad
• The dressing will congeal in the fridge, just mix it up on the second and third day, (if you don't eat it all at once), it gets better and better...

Bon appetite protein style!

Navigating Grief Over The Holidays and Life Lately:

The holidays have special challenges for us grievers.  In saying goodbye to 2024 I am focused on gratitude for all that has come my way this year.  Life is good.  It's odd to say that, because, you know, my husband's still dead.  I know it's confusing and people think that if you're happy, your grief is gone.  Sadly, it doesn't work like that. 

When our loved ones die the love doesn't die, it becomes grief.  Grief is love, that's why it lasts so long, as in forever.  You can't get grief out of your heart, unfortunately, but you can navigate it out of your body so you don't get sick.

I use my crystals to help with this in a little ritual with an amethyst and rose quartz.  These are the best crystals to use when managing grief.  Hold one in the palm of each hand and feel the vibration of healing wash over you.  Ask grief to leave your body.  Breathe deeply until you feel a sense of calm.  You can also put these crystals under your pillow.  Grief is a robber of sleep.  Under your pillow crystals can improve the quality of your sleep, protect you from negative energy, and promote personal growth.  Growing through grief will show you how strong and resilient you are.  I'll be adding some crystal healing rituals to Gretta in Gratitude in 2025.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here and coming back to read my blog when there's a new post.  If just one person takes something away that resonates for them it makes me so happy.  I recently wrote a long post in my women's grief group.  It was funny and I was hoping it would give some of them a laugh.  Well, it spurred on a huge conversation that by the end of the day that had reached over 300 of them and some said it was the first time they laughed since their husbands died.  It made me so happy.  Laughter is the best medicine and happiness is healing.  Choose it.

Here's a bit of what things look like around here lately.  I guess you could say that I'm a holiday decorating over achiever...

Wishing You The Merriest of Holidays And An Incredible 2025!

May All Your Dreams Come True.

MY PACKING SECRET TO 14 DAYS IN FRANCE WITH 1 CARRY-ON:

14 days, 1 carry-on.  I know, where do the shoes go?  One of my girlfriends told her husband that I was going away for 14 days with just a carry-on and she said he laughed his head off, he knows me well.  I don't like to check bags anymore, it's time consuming and you risk lost luggage and aggravation.  However, I usually don't go away for14 days at a time.  Since on this trip to France 5 of us we would be traveling by train from Paris, and then in an SUV, we needed to make sure all our stuff would fit so we agreed to bring one carryon size luggage and a tote bag.   I've linked a few things in this post that I've been asked about after I posted about the trip.  If you missed that post, you can read it here.

I'll start with the secret to my packing success, these right here, Vacuum Storage Bags. You fill them with clothes, close them up like a zip lock bag and use a little plastic pump to sucks the air out, (no cord, no battery, and you take the pump along). Your clothes flatten into a flat pancake packet.  It's amazing!  I experimented before the trip to see how easy or difficult this would be since we would be on the move a lot, packing and unpacking.  Also, how wrinkled would my clothes be? (I'm not an ironer).  Much to my surprise when you let the air out, the clothes fluff right back up.  This is seriously genius!!!  And they are reusable and inexpensive.  I used three medium size bags (the box comes with a bunch of different sizes) and three fit all the items on my list below. Here's how it works...

This is all you need, bag, pump and the little blue thing that slides across when you close the bag just like a zip lock lunch bag.

This is about 1/3 of my packing list below.  One pair of jeans, one big scarf/cape, three long sleeve T-shirts, one sweater, one jacket.

Put it all inside the bag, screw the cap off and attach the pump, it's super easy like a bicycle tire pump, only the air is coming out instead of going in.  

If it's a little lumpy that's OK.  I used 3 medium sized bags and here's what I brought. Everything is mix and match, easy if you keep the color palette simple.  And everything can be layered.  The pancakes bags, as I call them, all fit on one side of the suitcase leaving the other side free for 3 pairs of shoes, loafers, ballet flats, and boots, I wore these sneakers on the plane.  I even had room for an extra purse. (If you know me, you know).  My hair dryer brush fit too. This thing is also amazing.  I have very curly hair and with the L'ange dryer brush it only takes 15 minutes to dry and straighten, as opposed to 30 minutes with a regular hair dryer.  I also had room for a small fold up umbrella.  Paris was rainy.

Here's what I brought...

• 4 T-shirts 1 black short sleeve, one black long sleeve, one leopard print long sleeve, one cream color long sleeve.  I don't like to take a heavy jacket if the temps are in the high 60's.  I'd rather put a t-shirt under a sweater and then a little jacket or cardigan.
• 1 big brown and beige sweater 
• 3 turtlenecks, one black fitted, one black boxy, and 1 stripe I also worn on plane
• 1 black and cream stripe sweater set
• 1 pair dark wash denim jeans, also worn on plane
• 2 pairs of pants, 1 black and white, 1 solid black pair
• 2 skirts, both plated, 1 knit, 1 pleather
• 1 black and white big wrap scarf/shawl.  These are great for the plane especially coming home because if you can't fit your purse into your carry-on tote and it's a small cross body, you can slide it around to your back and keep the shawl closed, works every time.
• 1 black cardigan, worn on plane
• 2 boxy Chanel type jackets, 1 black, one cream (I LOVE this jacket and it comes in tons colors)
• 1 pair black leggings (for morning yoga)
• I pair of pajamas, socks, undies, hat

Cosmetic bag / toiletries, journal, vitamins, jewelry, and snacks went into my carry-on tote bag.

That's a lot right!  If you need to pack light, these vacuum bags are the way to go!  I can't wait for my next trip...

Happy Travels!

GRIEF, A NEW CHAPTER, AND MY TRIP TO FRANCE:

I was thinking this morning, while still playing French cafe music as I got dressed for work, that grief is like an onion.  It has lots of layers, makes you cry a lot, and it really stinks.  The first layer is the obvious, you miss your person.  The next two layers are not so obvious.  Us grievers also miss the future plans we had with our person.  Those plans die too.  And the third layer, you grieve for them and all the things they're missing out on.  It's a lot to carry and process while trying to move forward into a new chapter.  

When you say you're starting a new chapter, people tend to think that you're leaving the past behind you.  But the thing about new chapters is that you must bring the old chapters with you too.  It's like reading a book.  If you closed a chapter and tried to forget it, the new chapters would have no meaning. You'd be in the middle of the book not knowing what's going on.  So I packed up my grief, and all my previous chapters, and started a new one, with a trip to France...

After Mike died, I knew I wanted to continue having travel adventures like we had and I knew I wanted to get back to Europe in 2024.  I thought about a solo trip, but that didn't feel right.  I had always wanted to go on one of Kathy's planned trips.  A few years ago, I was introduced to Kathy Camp on social media by a mutual acquaintance.  I've participated in some of her Wisdom Circles and drooled over her trip photos, trips for women only, limited to six and totally dreamy.  When she posted about the trip to France, I knew it was perfect for me.  

I loved this trip so much.  Everything Kathy arranged, from our amazing and diverse accommodations to our activities, (I think French cooking class was my favorite), to the wonderful restaurants she chose for us, everything was fabulous.  I'd do it all again in a minute!  Also, at this stage of my life I find I crave connection with women my age, and I want to make new friends.  I also don't like rigid tours, so this way of travel seemed perfect for me.  It felt like just a bunch of girlfriends on a trip with Kathy as our fearless leader.  As an added bonus, my sister came too.  I even stopped in NY to meet her so we could fly to Paris together.

Paris / Montmartre / Eiffel Tower

This was my second time in Paris. Something about Paris makes me start dreaming of going back the minute I get home. We had an amazing time in beautiful Montmartre. We stayed in an incredible artist’s loft, visited Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, dodged raindrops at the wall of love, climbed a million steps, and I ate my weight in baguettes. Montmartre is on a large hill in Paris in the 18th arrondissement. It has a small community vibe. The cafe on the corner across from the apartment was my favorite. Montmartre has lots of steps, 300 each time, yes, I counted. 300 up, 300 down, and 300 back up when we went the wrong way... I huffed and I puffed and I lost six lbs in spite of all the bread and cheese I ate!

On my first trip to Paris, I did not get to see the Eiffel Tower at night when it's lit up so I was very excited that we were taking a boat ride on the Seine and planned it just right. The boat ride was leaving at 7 and we hurried to make it from across town, (I was bringing up the rear as usual), but we made it! Not only did we see it lit up, but when they first light it, it sparkles like diamonds for about 10 minutes. I don't think there was a person on that boat that wasn't smiling from ear to ear. If you want to see the sparkly moments, I have a video on my instagram. I guarantee you all the feels. 💖

 

Dijon

We took the train from Paris to the Burgundy region, Bourgogne in French, and to the town of Dijon. Where the mustard comes from! I love mustard. Although the station was crowded and the trains were delayed due to the rain, I found the train station very exciting. It had an old world vibe with people hustling everywhere.

Dijon is the capital city of the Burgundy region in eastern France known for its traditional mustard and its vineyards. When we arrived (about two hours from Paris) it felt like we traveled back in time. I loved this town so much. It had a medieval feel but in a warm comforting way.  Dijon felt like a soft hug.

We toured the town, learned the history, shopped, and of course rubbed the good luck owl embedded in the gorgeous church. I’m a little owl obsessed now. We strolled the food market, the flea market, slept in castle rooms in a spectacular ancient building and had a proper 5 course French lunch at a Michelin Star listed restaurant.

Beaune

We left Dijon by car and drove through the countryside on our way to Annecy. We stopped half way to spend the day in beautiful Beaune. Beaune is at the center of the Burgundy winemaking region surrounded by the Côte d'Or vineyards and renowned for its annual wine auction held at the Hotel-Dieu the Hospices de Beaune, a museum, at which we had a lovely tour. From the stunning architecture and fascinating history of The Hospices founded in 1443, to an amazing lunch and my first beef bourguignon. I mean, when they wheel over the entire cheese cart you know it’s a serious culinary event!

 

Annecy

After lunch we hopped back in the car and bid au revoir to beautiful Beaune and headed to Annecy. I thought we had already seen so much amazing beauty, but then we arrived in Annecy. OMG!

I'm going out of order and starting with the cooking class because it was just so amazing and so much fun. We drove to the Chef's neighborhood about 20 minutes from the city center and old town where we were staying. It was a lovely neighborhood and we walked with the chef to her local farmers market where we picked up the ingredients for the gourmet meal we would make in her lovely kitchen. Then we feasted at her beautiful dining table set with Limoges. Our meal was so good and more incredible that it seemed effortless to make, all working together while nibbling on cheese. This was definitely all my French cooking class dreams come true.

Beautiful Annecy stole my heart! This first picture is a spot I looked at so many times online. It's the old jail on the canal and I couldn’t wait to stand there and take my own picture from that exact spot. Annecy is a resort town known as the Venice of the French Alps. And you can actually see the Swiss Alps in the background. Kathy found us an amazing flat in old town on a cobblestone street with frescos on the walls and ceilings, and views of the lake, it was spectacular. We also visited and walked across Les Gorges du Fier, a wooden bridge suspended 25 meters over the gorge which opened to the public in 1869. We walked it, very high up, in the rain. Totally out of my ‘I don’t like heights’ comfort zone! But I did it! Mike was cheering me on.

Lyon

And last but not least, we drove to beautiful Lyon! Kathy arranged a private tour guide for us. He was a certified historian and adorably passionate about everything he showed us. He even had secret codes to secret places . We took the funicular up to Fourviere Hill to see the view and the Roman ruins. My jaw dropped when we walked into the Basilica, it’s absolutely stunning. At the end of the tour our guide left us at a "non-tourist" restaurant that was below street level in a “cave”, where the locals eat. Another delicious lunch. Then we said our goodbyes at the train station . I was sad to see it end.

Back to Paris

My sister and I headed back to Paris by train for another two nights. We squeezed in as much as we could, walked another million steps, and I ate many, many croissants.  

If you're interested in a guide of what to see and do I have details and links from my first trip to Paris here.

P.S. - Packing - since we were going to be traveling by train and then all in an SUV, we agreed to only bring a carry-on suitcase and tote. Standard airline size, not very big. In fact, when one of my friends told her husband I was going on this trip with just a carry-on bag she said he said no way and couldn't stop laughing! 😂 I'll be sharing my packing secrets in my next post. 😉