It’s weird. I was moved to open my Bible and pray a verse or chapter that was there on the page I opened to. I usually read the Bible on my phone, but I felt the need to have the paper pages under my fingers, and so there we were.
This weekend isn’t going quite as I planned. Not that I really planned anything, but let’s just say it is a little off the rails. And I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. A little voice in my head said, “Pray, Mary. Give it to God.” So I did.
I opened my Bible to Isaiah 40. Not on purpose, but by chance. Also happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. For a few of reasons.
1. Comfort. The first word is Comfort. Comfort. Isn’t that what every “off the rails” situation needs?
2. Isaiah 40 is also featured in Handel’s Messiah. Tenor recitative and aria. I equate it with my dad. Always. I’m pretty sure the first time I heard the chapter was from my dad’s mouth. I didn’t know what any of this stuff meant. It was just Daddy singing words. Isaiah 40 = dad.
3. Foretelling the coming of Christ. John the Baptist was the voice in the wilderness, exclaiming that a messiah is coming…is here. Isaiah lived 740 years before the birth of Christ! A lot of what Isaiah prophesied matches the stories in the Gospels. The book of the prophet Isaiah is one of my favorites because it tells the story before the story occurred. And, some of the poetry is incredible. No wonder Handel chose so much of it for Messiah.
I seek, from time to time, comfort in literature…whether contemporary trash or ancient prophecy. Today I felt drawn to The Bible and I think it’s no coincidence that Isaiah 40 was where the book fell open. I needed my dad and my heavenly father.
I admit. I was disappointed in myself. I had this goal. I set the goal because I could see it on the horizon – the brass ring I could ALMOST reach as my carousel horse made it’s rounds. 100 pounds overhead by my 60th birthday. I thought I had my eye glued to the prize. And then my shoulder started hurting. And my knee was giving me problems. Then my back tweaked. I began wondering if this was what being 60+ was going to be like for me because that was NOT the plan I had for the “back 40” … so to speak.
In typical fashion, I kinda wallowed in self pity. 60 was not giving me any hot-flash relief, I haven’t lost a single pound since I turned 55, and now I was getting weaker and injuring myself. My original “why” was gone since mom passed away. So…why AM I getting up at 4:30 every morning and doing this? What is my new “why”? I just couldn’t figure it out and all of a sudden, I saw things I had been working on for so long begin to decline. Had my obsession with CrossFit run its course? Was I quitting like I’ve done with pretty much everything else in my life?
I spend a lot of time listening to CrossFit-adjacent podcasts and following my favorite elite athletes on Instagram. I draw a lot of inspiration from them and have learned a lot about myself through their stories, photos, and interviews. I’ve learned to follow some of the coaches (both athletic and nutrition) that have influenced them. I’ve tried to dig into my feelings about my relationship with food, my jacked up body image, and the overall feeling I have about turning 60.
Oddly, pushing myself to FIGURE OUT all this stuff did not make me feel better. Quelle surprise.
I think after carrying the weight of all that and all my other emotions on my own shoulders for … far too long, my husband finally kinda shook me and said (not for the first time, I will admit), “Let me help…” and this time, I just had to. Believe it or not, that happened within the past 2 weeks. It’s been a rocky couple of weeks but after all the rocks settled….this week some stuff changed. And mind you, these are just the physical changes. There have been mental and emotional changes too.
Monday I back-squatted 105 pounds. That’s a best. Today, I deadlifted 145 pounds. That’s a best. And I’m most proud of the fact that I split-jerked 80 pounds. It means I put 80 pounds overhead.
Admittedly the shot is mainly of my foot position for my coach, but there’s a 15, a 5, and a 2.5 pound plate on each end of a 35 pound barbell. 80 pounds
I haven’t had 3 personal records/personal bests in a week since I started CrossFit. Back then, every time I picked up a barbell, it was a personal best. And then when I got my own barbell and a few bumper plates, I also pushed up a bunch of PRs. I’ve been a bit stale, lifting-wise lately. I managed a few decent benchmark workouts – Helen, and a couple of long rows. I did a complete half-Murph this year. So these are all good things…however, I was living in my “missed goal” instead of looking at how I can continue to make gains.
I want to say to everyone out there that is at a certain age…if you have goals…if you have something you want to achieve or accomplish…you may, at times, feel like you’ve failed to reach the goal or achieve the achievement or accomplish the accomplishment. Instead of beating yourself up about it and never getting back on the horse, wallow for your moment. Then GET.BACK.OUT.THERE. Go do the thing. Whatever the thing is. Doesn’t have to be lifting weights. Doesn’t have to be writing the great American novel. Give yourself a bit of grace and then go at it again.
Life is short, in the big picture. Do all the things you can while you have the time.
FYI This is not a political commentary, it’s a PLEA to the idiots who are in the “print” media to LEARN SOME FORM OF GRAMMAR. Just a little, PLEASE!
Headline from some media outlet named Business Insider: “Dianne Feinstein returns to the Senate following a nearly 3-month absence and calls for her resignation from fellow Democrats”
I read that and thought, “Wow, she must be senile because she’s returning to the senate and calling for her own resignation…”
Let me teach you now. That sentence says that Dianne Feinstein returned to the Senate and called for her own resignation.
For what it’s worth, the article focuses more on her shingles infection and how she’s sometimes confined to a wheelchair, but luckily, bullet points before the article begins clarifies that even some Democrat peers are calling for her resignation.
I get click bait, but due to the OTHER grammatical mistakes in the article, I don’t believe it was a click-bait-headline. I think it was sheer laziness and outright stupidity.
I know, I know. I’m so grumpy about grammar but here’s the thing. If you’re being paid to write an article, you should not assume that your readers are as dumb as you are. (Gee whiz, I got this kick ass job and I just barely graduated college with a 1.9 GPA….and a degree in basket weaving)
I’m not saying you should be a Rhodes scholar (that’s a really smart person) or be nominated for a Nobel prize (also *usually* a smart person) but if you know you don’t swim well in the pond of correctly phrasing your random thoughts…FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HAVE SOMEONE WHO IS VERSED IN GRAMMAR EDIT YOUR CONTENT. Especially if it’s YOUR JOB to write.
In this world of instant news, the consumption of said “news” shouldn’t be difficult. I do realize that English is a difficult language to master…but I’m not talking about the complicated decisions to be made with regards to using appropriate pronouns or asking for clear definition of what the future-perfect tense of a verb is….no, just clarity in writing.
Let me dig in just a little deeper with that one sentence: “Dianne Feinstein returns to the Senate following a nearly 3-month absence and calls for her resignation from fellow Democrats”
A clearer way to state the same thing would be:
Dianne Feinstein returns to the Senate following a nearly 3-month absence amid calls for her resignation from fellow Democrats.
OR even: Dianne Feinstein returns to the Senate following a nearly 3-month absence. Fellow Democrats call for her resignation.
Whether you want her to resign or not…whether you care if she’s in Washington or not…whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Octogenarian, or just a human being who wants people *who should not be sounding stupid* to stop SOUNDING STUPID…
Sometimes it’s hard to tell, I know, but I’m a writer. By day, I write content for a company so my published content is consumed by a private audience. HOWEVER, I don’t allow my content out of my hands and into the “wild” without my team’s *very experienced* editor combing through it and ensuring I have followed the letter of the law.
My blogs are stream of consciousness therefore not edited by anyone except for me…sorta. And, the fiction I have written sits in notebooks and on my Google drive because I don’t have anyone to edit them and I won’t “self publish” something that hasn’t been looked at by an editor.
So you see, having a tiny bit of self respect, and assuming someone in my audience *might* find some of my ramblings hard to read (especially if they paid for said ramblings or I have been paid for said ramblings) keeps me from putting poor content out.
Y’all are reading this for free. Read at your own risk.
Final FYI: If you are out there thinking, “I’m awful at grammar and now I’m paranoid that I’m annoying Mary…” Grammarly is an online grammar checker. Microsoft Word has an on-board grammar checker. Google “Free Grammar Checker” and you will have resources at your fingertips. It’s not hard.
Also, I don’t “grammar check” my friends. I do “grammar check” people who are being paid as “reporters” and “journalists” or just generic writers. If you got paid for what I’m reading, then you’re in my cross-hairs.
A dear friend emailed me last night to tell me that someone from my youth had passed away. At my advancing age, this is NOT surprising but still, it frequently shakes me. The news has me wandering down memory lane to a much sweeter time…back when my summers were filled with “weekend” trips to Tanglewood because my parents both sang in the Tanglewood Festival Chorus from 1974-1990ish. My dad actually joined in late 1972 – I think he auditioned for a men’s chorus one-off thing. Maybe Mahler or something like that. Mom made the plunge one full season later.
For those of you who aren’t from Massachusetts, lest you get confused with some “modern day” Tanglewood, this is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Lenox MA. Serge Koussevitzy was known to be the first BSO conductor to lead the symphony at it’s “permanent” summer home on the estate land of Mrs. Gorham Brooks and Miss Mary Aspinwall Tappan. The estate had a cottage on the property where Nathaniel Hawthorne is thought to have written his “Tanglewood Tales” (thus the name of the property). The BSO began performing in at Tanglewood in 1937 (officially) but had appeared in one performance in 1936 at Holmwood, another property located in Lenox, in 1936. If you want to read more about Tanglewood, you can find more info on wikipeda. I’m including a link to the Tanglewood Festival Chorus wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanglewood_Festival_Chorus
The summer series of concerts would feature the Tanglewood Festival Chorus four or five times. We always referred to them as Tanglewood weekends because they definitely used up an entire weekend, as they typically spanned from Wednesday through Sunday. Sometimes the performance would be Saturday night but we were most often traveling the length of the Mass Pike on Wednsdays and Sundays.
Members of the chorus had their room and board paid for by the symphony, so mom & dad lived for free for the weekend. Mike & I were paid guests. We stayed at what was originally called Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, MA. Basically the next town over from Lenox. It seemed like a sprawling, never-ending building…with a massive “southern” staircase in the foyer. We were blessed to usually get the “family” room, where all 4 of us could stay together but it was sometimes a special treat to get to stay in a room that wasn’t with mom & dad.
We spent endless hours wandering around the grounds at Tanglewood, playing in the East and West Barn, swimming in the lake at the bottom of the hill (no idea what lake it was, we just walked down the hill from the East & West Barn)…and of course observing/watching/listening to the weekend concerts.
One summer, I remember asking everyone who was a guest artist for their autograph. Everyone was so very sweet about it…except Arthur Fiedler. He was grouchy. I also remember that I got to see Leonard Bernstein conduct the BSO and TFC. No idea what he conducted…I just know I was there and my parents worked under him. I know I saw Aaron Copeland once. Typically, the symphony would open their annual “Tanglewood On Parade” concert with Fanfare for the Common Man.
When I started this diatribe, I was going to tell the story of one weekend when we stayed at Simon’s Rock (another small school in Great Barrington that became part of Bard College). For some reason, Simon’s Rock had different “rules” and the dorm doors were locked at a certain hour – maybe 11 PM. Of course, since I was likely 9…we were well asleep by 11 PM and I’m sure this was later than 11 when a light rap came on our window in Mike & my room.
A voice whispered (loudly), “Mary Margaret…Mary Margaret…It’s Jane…”
My pre-teen voice, sleep addled, replied, “Jane who?”
Had I been awake, I would have known full well it was Jane Stein, manager of the chorus and probably the person responsible for ensuring my mom & dad had the family rooms, were always taken care of in such a way that their small family was expected and we (the kids) were never bothered about pretty much anything. She was someone I admired. I probably didn’t know it back then, but she was a strong, smart woman who knew how to manage a large group of people, ensure they were well represented to a larger organization, and knew how to be the go-between…ruffling feathers when necessary, but always attempting to keep the peace so that the show could go on. Jane managed most of the summers that I went to Tanglewood. Of course, once I had a job in college, I didn’t go to Tanglewood as much and she may not have been the chorus manager then, I don’t know. Regardless, she was a staple in my years as a TFC brat and part of the amazing memories I recall now – not knowing how incredibly blessed I was at the time.
It is totally hindsight being 20/20 where I can see how blessed I was. My parents were incredibly gifted musicians…I have no proof of that other than many people telling me they were…and what I know in my heart. Too many of their friends and compatriots of the Boston music scene have joined them in heaven. My belief is they’re having quite the reunion and practicing up for the first big choral concert where we ALL will sing to the glory of God.
This is dad in the East Barn, I believe. I have other T’wood pics but it would take me too long to find them.
I guess since I get up at 4:30 AM Monday through Thursday, waking up at 7 AM on a Saturday is considered “sleeping in”… not like my youth when sleeping in meant I’d get up at noon and that was early.
Now, when I get up and it’s super quiet, I usually have the urge to be creative. Morning creativity tends to be baking. This morning, I briefly felt like making a coffee cake, but before I hauled all the ingredients out for that, I remembered I had bought Greek yogurt to make the 3 ingredient bagels. This morning, they are POWER bagels since I used Oikos Power Plain yogurt. 25 g of protein per serving.
It 8:19 AM. They should be all done by 9:00 AM. I’m not sure waking up at 7 is considered insomnia. It definitely has allowed me to be productive!
I went back and counted. Since I began my CrossFit journey, I have created 12 blogs about CrossFit. Counting this one. So clearly, you can see that this one is a CrossFit blog too. This one is all about Community and Connection.
You all know that I’ve been doing CrossFit in my garage gym since…November 2019. Okay, if you didn’t know that, I’VE BEEN DOING CROSSFIT IN MY GARAGE GYM SINCE NOVEMBER 2019. Now you do know (not trying to be snarky, just trying to be funny…)
When you work out alone in your garage, you tend to lose the concept of community that CrossFit thrives upon. As much as I love my online CrossFit community (WODprep…you should check it out), there is a “disconnect” with online communities where you don’t have the immediate feedback of a CrossFit Affiliate (the gyms we go to…that aren’t in our garage). It’s fine. I’m not complaining because I have made some very very very dear friends through WODprep and I love and support them as much as they love and support me….you hear the “but” coming, don’t you?
Community is the fabric of CrossFit. Sure, it’s a sport that we (the participants) love…and it’s fun to watch the elites claw their way to the podium but it’s not about who wins at The Games. It’s not about who is the fittest man or woman in the world…it’s about incremental improvement. It’s about comparing yourself to yourself. You today vs. you yesterday or you last week or you last year.
I didn’t understand that at first. And sometimes I still don’t, I admit. Frequently I get angry with myself for not being able to go as hard as people half my age. I get angry at myself for not being active my entire life. Not starting athletics as a kid. I even get mad at my parents (who are both dead, as long time readers know) for being musicians instead of athletes. Encouraging piano lessons instead of gymnastics. Things I can’t change now. Things that are beyond the reality of my situation.
After reading all that, you’re probably thinking, “Great, so where does Community come in, Mary?” Recently, I traveled to Miami to attend Wodapalooza. It’s a functional fitness festival which includes some competitions. It also includes some really cool scenarios to meet elite athletes, get autographs and photos elites, and….meet the general CrossFit community which includes (at least for me), WODprep staff and athletes, A-list coaches like Aimee Everett, get some cool swag, and meet some of the “media.”
I got to meet my coach, Savannah. She is the best and she is everything I imagined she would be. Smart, helpful, strong, understanding, kind, and a SUPER coach. I got to meet Ben from WODprep. Like meeting a CrossFit rockstar to me. I’ve been watching his videos since I started in April 2019 and have been a loyal fangirl ever since. I also got to meet some cool WODprep athletes like Ulrika and Michelle. Both of them are exactly as I expected. Super fit, really cool, and awesome to chat with. And, I got to meet John Wooley, a.k.a. @MakeWODsGreatAgain … cohost of the Kettlebells and Cocktails podcast and the Scale and Bail podcast. Both Savannah and John made the Wodapalooza experience a very positive one for me, although it could have gone horribly wrong (mostly because I haven’t been in a crowd that large and that loud in several years…pre-lockdown.
Fast forward to this past weekend. Jim & I got home from church on Sunday and there was a package at our front door. I was pretty surprised to see it came from John. He shared that Savannah gave him my mailing address and so he sent me a gift – two things that had been mentioned to him (one by me, one by Savannah) which just totally brightened up my day. The community connection which normally is fostered through in person training and interaction is still pretty strong … across the interwebz.
I have one more piece of community that is truly essential and this is my opinion, no science behind it. A key to the community aspect of CrossFit is having someone who supports you and is in your corner forever…a trusted friend, a parent, or a spouse/significant other. I have that. When I want to give up and just let myself be crushed by the world, my continual injuries, my lack of motivation, my stress of the work week…Jim is my rock. He never limits me, he never puts down my efforts, he never makes disparaging comments. Quite the opposite. He almost embarrasses me by telling everyone that I do CrossFit and I’m strong. And he is behind whatever effort I want to make. If you don’t have a partner in crime like that, even if it’s only a gym-buddy…well…you are missing a vital part of the community. Jim doesn’t do CrossFit but he accepts it as part of my life. He is the best part of my community.
I’ve been making my own granola because I haven’t been able to find my favorite protein bars. I have approximate macros if anyone is interested. This is just what I made for a “big batch”
1/2 c pecan chips (I buy them already minced)
1/2 c unsweetened, flaked coconut
1 c rolled oats
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/3 c dark chocolate chips
1/4 c protein powder (I’ve used both chocolate and vanilla, vegan and whey…any kind or flavor works
1/4 c coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/4 c egg whites
1 tsp local honey
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a medium sheet pan.
In a dry pan, toast pecans, then coconut, then oats. Combine in a bowl and set aside.
Combine cranberries and chocolate chips in a small separate bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, combine protein powder, coconut oil, egg whites, and honey. Whisk until completely smooth.
Pour liquid mixture over oat mixture and combine well. Press into sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Break into clusters (whatever size you prefer and mix with chocolate chips and cranberries.
I’ve decided to do it. Focus my blog on getting and being strong, keeping my mind healthy, and talking to other WOMEN who have similar goals – strength, health, overcoming the horrifying stereotypes women have to deal with in the fitness/health community.
So you know, every few weeks, I’m going to select 3 women from my incredibly small list of friends (who knew my list was small…reach out if you want to be added to the list) and ask 3 questions. I’m also asking for photos but that’s not required…and I can keep you anonymous if you want. Those are the only ground rules. You’re a woman, and you want your voice to be heard.
This past week, Chris answered my call. (Others may too, but Chris did for sure, so I’d like you all to meet Christine (or Chris), also known as @Healthy_Strongr_LX Here are Christine’s 3 questions/answers:
What is my Why? I’ve been working out in some form for 40 years (running, aerobics, cycling) but never weightlifting. When I started doing CrossFit 6 months ago at 59, I realized the years of not lifting heavy things has cost me a lot of muscle loss. My Why is so I can increase muscle and bone density so I can feel good, stay mobile, balanced, and active. Plus, the endorphins from a hard workout are so wonderful. I need that high!
A lot of women (and men) go into their 60’s expecting that aches and pains are a part of aging. I’ve never believed that and I don’t want any part of my body to hurt — ever.
What workouts motivate me? I’m motivated most by any lifting workout. Since I’m so new at it, I can see an improvement in technique and weight each week and that’s super motivating. Even on the days I have to scale everything, I’m motivated by knowing I’m getting stronger every day.
What workouts crush me? I find that I really dread it when I see wall balls, box jumps, and bikes on the WOD so I guess those are the crushers. The whole time I’m doing them I feel like I should be in so much better shape than I am – which is a crappy feeling. I am still scaling a lot of the workout so there is probably more that would really crush me but since I scale them, that will come later.
Here’s Christine after her Deadlift PR:
I’m not sure how I’m going to go about this in the future, but I want to thank Christine for answering my questions and being an Instagram pal. If you’re on Instagram, you should follow her. And me (@1charlestonsc) ….
Most seriously, if you are a woman who wants to contribute to the “awakening” of the media/social media to those of us who are a. older women (older than 25), b. not stick figures (mature, curvy, muscular, healthy), and c. interested in health (fitness, clean eating, avoiding pill-popping to cure), please feel free to reach out to me at 1CharlestonSC@gmail.com and I’ll include you in my 3 questions.
I hope to ask some “elite athletes” to contribute occasionally too but that’s not a thing yet. For now, let’s give Christine a round of applause and some LIKES and FOLLOWS!!
I get pretty passionate about CrossFit. I know it may seem like I’ve been indoctrinated into a cult but I wish I could explain fully what the CrossFit community means to me. It’s great that we work out and do hard things and root for each other. Each of those components are super important to me. And those three components break down into many reasons why I love the CrossFit way of life. Let’s take those three components and expand on each of them.
Workouts
If you hadn’t heard, exercise is a fantastic way to prevent disease. The more I read about aging and strength training, the more I’m convinced that I’m doing the right thing for my overall health and my aging body. I’d love to say that I’m not growing older, but that’s just fantasyland. The reality is, as we age, we naturally lose muscle mass…and some studies I have seen recently indicate that menopausal and post menopausal women lose muscle mass more substantially after a certain age – dependent on when you enter menopause, etc. Because all this is “new science” (which is odd to me because aging has been around……..for ages, and so has menopause) the facts/figures are all over the place but a couple of articles I’ve read seem to say that the drop off into almost muscle atrophy is significant as you get into your 60s. I feel that the benefits I’ve seen in just my overall health – decrease in “bad cholesterol”, ability to lift stuff without hurting myself, reduction of “down-time” due to my persistent back issues – prove this one hundred times over. If I could just encourage one person to look into CrossFit as a regimen … even if exercise is brand new to you … and especially if you are a female … then I feel as if my journey would be beyond just a personal journey to fitness. CrossFit is accessible and DOABLE by all, especially if you commit and get the right help. The workouts can be scaled to any fitness level and the gains are extremely measurable.
Do hard things
I’ve exercised. I’ve exercised off and on since 1990. Each time I stared exercising, it was hard. But, I also know myself and usually when things get hard, I bow out. If I had all the time in the world and a good shrink to help, I think I’d probably discover that I don’t like pain and I don’t like to look like a loser/weakling so instead of getting to that point….I drop out. BUT, what CrossFit has taught me is that hard things build stamina and improve ability to complete everyday tasks exponentially. Because CrossFit is, at it’s heart, functional fitness – what we do as an exercise has a direct correlation with daily tasks such as reaching, bending, and stepping – I feel the change in my body’s ability to carry groceries, get up from the ground if I have to dig through a low cabinet, and pick up awkwardly shaped items when cleaning or moving things to our storage unit. Again, as we age, we find some of our “tasks” become more difficult or impossible due to “not flexing the muscles”. Instead of allowing that to happen, I fight it with every ounce of my being. And, even more than the physical doing of things, I show up regularly. Some people find it hard to work out alone. Even some CrossFitters don’t like the idea of being a garage-gymer. I love the community environment of CrossFit at an actual gym but since I have very specific time-frame issues for working out, I just can’t go to a local box because none are open at the time I work out. I’ve learned to get my inspiration and motivation from within and from my online community. The not-in-person aspect does make the whole experience a bit harder.
Let’s GO!
I think what I love the most about CrossFit is this part. While I don’t work out in a “Group” setting, I have. And, one of the things that KEPT me interested in the CrossFit style of working out was the feeling that my last place finish was equally as vital as the first place finisher. While listening to “Miles to Madison” yesterday, one of the judges for the CrossFit games was speaking of the iconic finish of The Capital event from 2022 where Rebecca Fusilier had the “power of the crowd” behind her as she struggled her way up the Wisconsin State Capital steps to finish (last) in that event – and he said (of the crowd) – “They will cheer for the person in first just as much or more than the person in last….that’s just the CrossFit way.” First or last, all are important. Everyone matters. Fittest to not, elite to novice, young, old, black, white, purple, male, female, either, neither….all matter in CrossFit. You stay til the last participant finishes and you cheer as loudly for the last as you do for the first (maybe moreso!!) I mean, when does THAT happen, huh? You get cheered on as you come in last as much as the person who came in first. It’s all about remembering that everyone can do this. EVERYONE. It’s accessible to all at any level. (If you remember nothing but those words from this blog, my job is done…)
Gotta throw a couple of photos to drive home the community aspect but also the fact that smallest to largest and weakest to strongest … all matter in CrossFit.
BeforeDuring
FYI – THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS – THEY ARE FROM CROSSFIT HQ MEDIA
I will 100% credit Dr. Ruth Roberts for the basis of this recipe, but I’ve thought multiple times about writing down my bastardization of it and now I am…For a friend.
I tended to get everything organic and tend toward items that were non GMO.
3 lbs meat – I used to mix it up – 1 lb turkey, 1 lb chicken, 1 lb lamb
6 cups of greens (again, I tend to mix it up, but kale or spinach were my go-to
1 cup of vegetables (I tended toward carrots and green beans but broccoli or cauliflower would also do))
2 sweet potatoes or yams
1 can of kidney beans (although you might think GASSY, they will be cooked to DEATH and the gas will be gone)
1 Tums tablet (yeah, really)
1 cup of broth (chicken, beef, lamb) NO SODIUM!
Put in the crock pot in the order shown. Cook on low for 8 hours (I did overnight). Then add 1 cup of barley. If you don’t think your dog can digest barley (or quinoa or farro or even a small grain pasta like Orzo), add another cup of potatoes cut into small dice and cook for another hour.
Once it’s all done cooking, use a potato masher or a meat fork to smoosh it into small bites – also, consider (once cooled) using a food processor and just pulsing a few times.
I always froze half and then stored the other half in the fridge. Serving size depends on the dog. For my greyhound it was 1 cup. Sometimes I would add it to some high end kibble, if she was eating it.
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